SJL New Orleans, June 2017

Southern Jewish Life NEW ORLEANS EDITION

INSIDE:

June 2017

Volume 27 Issue 6

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2 Southern Jewish Life • June 2017

Deadline is June 27

shalom y’all shalom y’all shalom y’all Look for Usually, when we hit June things slow down a bit.

For some reason, this past month or so has been unusually busy with a lot of large breaking stories, some of which are in this issue. Many communities in the region are seeing huge changes in the next few months, and we will be here to tell you all about it.

in the center of this issue of Southern Jewish Life

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(That also means that many things intended for this month will instead be in the July issue).

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Hundreds of campers are preparing for their summers at the numerous Jewish sleepaway camps in our region, summer trips to Israel or other adventures.

This summer also brings the World Maccabiah Games in Israel, with many participants from our region. You can read about them in this issue.

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Also, the JCC Maccabi Games are less than two months away in Birmingham. Jewish teens from across Alabama will be competing for the home team, while almost 30 other communities, including New Orleans, will be bringing delegations.

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Naturally, we will be covering those competitions extensively, so follow our Twitter and Facebook feeds for updates.

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Meanwhile, enjoy your first batch of Southern Jewish Life summer reading! /sjlmag

Neal Auction Period Antiques, Fine Paintings & Decorative Arts

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June 2017 • Southern Jewish Life 3

June 2017

opinion

Southern Jewish Life

Don’t Go Down The Summer Slide

by Dr. Sharon Pollin

What I’m Reading Right Now!” Choose the Right Books: Think of this as the “Goldilocks Effect.” If your child’s book is too easy, she’ll get bored. If her book is too hard, she’ll get frustrated and give up. When your child reads a “just right” book, she should be challenged and engaged. Check out the Jewish Community Day School’s Berenson Library web page where librarian Debbie Schlackman has put together great reading lists for all elementary grade levels. Take advantage of your local library. Ask for help selecting books that match your child’s age, interests and abilities. If you’re unsure, don’t hesitate to email your child’s teachers — they will be glad to help! Libraries often run summer reading programs that motivate kids to read, so find out what’s available in your area.

Read Something Every Day: Encourage your child to take advantage of every opportunity to read. Reading can be easily incorporated into activities throughout the day: Keep Reading Aloud: Reading aloud benefits all children and teens, especially those who struggle. One benefit is that you can read books your child can’t, so she will build listening comprehension skills with grade-level and above books. This practice, as it provides a loving parent-child interaction, also increases knowledge and expands experience with text. You will see improvement the next time your child reads to you!

And finally…

It was too difficult to limit myself to only five favorites, so here are the Final Four rolled into one: Give books as gifts – get the grandparents involved!

Have your child create a Buddies Book Club, in person, via email, Skype, Face Time.

Set a reading goal, either by time spent reading or number of books, and celebrate when it’s reached.

“Steal Minutes.” The Book Whisperer author Donalyn Miller writes extensively about “stealing minutes” in her book. Even in small bits, time set aside for reading can make a big difference in children’s attitudes and affinity.

With access to books and reading encouragement, your children can enrich their summer as they avoid summer slide. Happy reading!

You did it! You cajoled, praised, pried out of bed, organized — and maybe even bribed — your children through another school year rich in learning and growth. Now you’re ready for fun and some relaxing family time to enjoy the long summer days. Yet, you may also be wondering: What is this Summer Slide I’ve heard about, and what can I do to make sure it doesn’t happen to my kids?

“Summer slide” is the decline in reading achievement children suffer just from being away from school. Summer slide can happen to the best of students in the shortest of time periods. Many children, and especially struggling readers, forget some of what they’ve learned or slip out of practice during the summer months.

In fact, over the course of an eight week break, many students will experience a commensurate or even greater, achievement regression; that means a two to three month loss as they enter their new grade in the fall.

The Campaign for Grade-Level reading, a collaborative effort among dozens of organizations, lists summer learning loss as one of the three major obstacles to grade level reading proficiency. However, there is good news. Reversing the summer slide can be as simple as reading more books.

In a recent study, Professor Richard Allington of the University of Tennessee and his colleagues found that “giving kids 12 books to read over the summer was as effective as summer school in maintaining — and even raising — student reading scores.” Other research suggests that reading just four or five books over the summer can be enough to maintain reading skills.

Here is what families need to know: Kids who read, succeed: The amount of time that students spend reading for fun is the key predictor of students’ lifetime academic achievement.

It takes practice: Reading, like playing a musical instrument, is not something that is mastered once and for all at a certain age. It is a skill that continues to improve through practice.

They’ve got to have the books: We can talk about reading all we want, but unless children have “Just Right” books in hand, reading won’t happen.

Role models matter: Students who see adults reading daily or weekly tend to read more and have higher reading scores than those who don’t.

Here are the Top Five Ways you can help your child read and thrive all summer long: Read, Read, Read: As simple as this may sound, viewing parents and other loving adults Dr. Sharon Pollin is the Oscar J. Tolmas Head of reading establishes credibility and inspires chil- School at Jewish Community Day School of Greatdren. What have your favorite reads been this er New Orleans. She’d love to talk about reading year? Put a sign on the fridge that says, “Ask Me with you! Contact Sharon at spollin@jcdsnola.org 4 Southern Jewish Life • June 2017

PUBLISHER/EDITOR Lawrence M. Brook editor@sjlmag.com ASSOCIATE PUBLISHER/ADVERTISING Lee J. Green lee@sjlmag.com ADVERTISING SPECIALIST Annetta Dolowitz annetta@sjlmag.com CREATIVE DIRECTOR Ginger Brook ginger@sjlmag.com SOCIAL/WEB Eugene Walter Katz eugene@sjlmag.com PHOTOGRAPHER-AT-LARGE Rabbi Barry C. Altmark deepsouthrabbi.com CONTRIBUTING WRITERS Rivka Epstein, Nathan Klein, Tally Werthan, Bebe Hudson, Belle Freitag, Claire Yates, Doug Brook brookwrite.com BIRMINGHAM OFFICE P.O. Box 130052, Birmingham, AL 35213 14 Office Park Circle #104 Birmingham, AL 35223 205/870.7889 NEW ORLEANS OFFICE 3747 West Esplanade, 3rd Floor Metairie, LA 70002 504/780.5615 TOLL-FREE 866/446.5894 FAX 866/392.7750 connect@sjlmag.com ADVERTISING Advertising inquiries to 205/870.7889 for Lee Green, lee@sjlmag.com or Annetta Dolowitz, annetta@sjlmag.com Media kit, rates available upon request SUBSCRIPTIONS It has always been our goal to provide a large-community quality publication to all communities of the South.

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

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

agenda interesting bits & can’t miss events

On May 6, Beth Shalom’s Jewish Journeys in Baton Rouge had an Israel Independence Day pool party, barbecue and Havdalah at the home of Linda and Mark Posner.

Arnie Fielkow returning to New Orleans as Jewish Federation director Clearly, he missed New Orleans.

Arnie Fielkow, former president of the New Orleans City Council, will be returning to the city as the new chief executive officer of the Jewish Federation of Greater New Orleans, the Federation announced on May 17.

He will succeed Michael Weil, who will return to Israel after finishing an 11-year tenure at the Federation at the end of September. Fielkow, who left New Orleans in 2011 to become executive director of the National Basketball Retired Players Association, was selected after a national search.

“We have a great affection for the city and all the great friends we met over the 12 years” before taking the NBRPA position, Fielkow said. “We have missed it every day since… we decided we really wanted to return.”

His wife, Susan, had a “tremendous opportunity to rejoin Ochsner and head their developmental pediatrics section,” and “fortunately some friends told me about the Federation opening.”

Fielkow said he is “extremely excited to join the Jewish Federation of Greater New Orleans as its new executive officer. For more than 100 years, the Federation has been a major part of bettering the greater New Orleans Jewish and non-Jewish communities — and it is an absolute honor and a privilege to be afforded the opportunity to work with Federation’s dedicated Board of Trustees, other organizational leaders and Federation’s constituent and beneficiary agencies in once again giving back to a community my family and I dearly love… we are so excited to

return home!”

A Wisconsin native, Fielkow originally came to New Orleans in 2000 to become executive vice president of the New Orleans Saints. He was fired when he refused to resign and sign a confidentiality agreement after vehemently disagreeing with the idea of the Saints moving to San Antonio after Katrina.

That stance helped him win election to the city council in 2006, and he was re-elected in 2010. During his time on the council, he was a leading force in the rebuilding of New Orleans post-Katrina, helping lead the Council’s efforts in improving city finances, economic development, youth development, recreation, contracting, and governmental transparency.

During his NBRPA tenure, Fielkow helped the association reach unprecedented financial success, doubled the NBRPA membership levels, and helped grow membership programming and key business and com-

June 2017 • Southern Jewish Life 5

agenda

3

munity partnerships, including with the NBA. “Arnie has done a tremendous job taking the National Basketball Retired Players Association to the next level,” said NBRPA Chairman of the Board Dwight Davis. “He has had a strong presence with our business partners, whose respect he quickly earned, and he has well served our members. We thank Arnie for his outstanding and tireless contributions to our association and wish him continued success.”

Fielkow was a participant in the 1997 World Maccabiah Games, as part of the U.S. basketball team that won the silver medal. He spearheaded fundraising for the U.S. JCC Maccabi games to be held in New Orleans in 2006, but the recovery from Hurricane Katrina caused the games to be moved to another city.

Federation President Edward L. Soll said Fielkow’s return “gives the Federation an experienced community leader to continue the dynamic progress we’ve achieved in the decade since Katrina. We welcome Arnie and his family back home and celebrate Arnie’s new leadership role in our community.”

Henry Miller, Federation president-elect, said, “I look forward to working with Arnie as he assumes the office of chief executive. His professional accomplishments are stellar and I am highly confident he will lead the Federation and community to unprecedented success in the coming years.

Miller also thanked the members of the search committee “who were so dedicated and worked conscientiously and tirelessly to ensure a successful outcome. Special appreciation to Rea Kurzweil, search consultant working with us through JFNA’s Mandel Center for Leadership Excellence for all her guidance and leadership as well.”

Fielkow praised Weil for his “outstanding job rebuilding a community that was so devastated after Katrina, bringing the numbers up and ensuring the infrastructure was created to support the Jewish community.”

Now it is time for the next phase, to “grow and enhance the Jewish community not only in terms of numbers, but in terms of services, programs and relationship building” in the Jewish community and greater community. He plans to further relations with the African-American, Muslim and Christian communities, and reach out to the growing Hispanic community.

He plans to meet with the lay and professional leadership of each Jewish agency, to learn more about their objectives and mission, “making sure the Federation is a helping hand as an umbrella organization for Jewish New Orleans.”

Fielkow said there is a great deal of untapped potential in the community. “New Orleans is a unique community in the sense that it is made up of a multi-generational Jewish community, but also a new and emerging younger community” from the post-Katrina influx.

He to build further programming and outreach to the diversified community, “that would be of interest not only to native New Orleanians but also younger millenials who have moved to New Orleans in the last decade, some of whom may be less affiliated” or have other interests.

Fielkow will start at the Federation in mid-August so there will be a transition time before Weil leaves at the end of September. The Federation’s annual meeting and campaign celebration gala is scheduled for Sept. 14.

Hadassah Young Professionals having snowball happy hour The Young Professional Society of Hadassah New Orleans will have a Free the Tatas Snowball Happy Hour on June 29, from 6:30 to 9:30 p.m. at Pete’s. The Snowball Happy Hour is a Big Easy Twist on the traditional Happy Hour. There will be a sampling of appetizers and drink specials, and discounted appetizers from 5 to 8 p.m.

Pete’s is located on the first floor of InterContinental New Orleans.

6 Southern Jewish Life • June 2017

agenda P R O V I D E R

P R O F I L E

HEATHER RAZMUS, APRN-CNM

Louisiana Community Mikvah project may break ground by end of the year

H

eather Razmus, APRN-CNM, is a certified Nurse-Midwife with Crescent City Physicians Inc., a subsidiary of Touro Infirmary. She is a New Orleans Native and Dominican High School Alumna, excited to finally practice Midwifery in her hometown.

Heather received midwifery training in Minnesota and has been practicing in Michigan for the past thirteen years. Her interests include water birth and Polycystic Syndrome, and she is committed to helping women achieve their birth goals. As a certified nursemidwife, Heather can care for women of all ages, at every stage of life.

In the coming months, construction may finally begin on a long-anticipated project in the New Orleans area — a community mikvah.

The Louisiana Community Mikvah is a joint project of all 10 synagogues in the New Orleans and Baton Rouge areas, from Reform to Chabad.

Bobby Garon, who is chairing the project, said Rabbi Uri Topolosky, who was rabbi at Beth Israel from 2007 to 2013, was really the one who launched the project through the Rabbinic Council.

There was a community mikvah at Beth Israel’s Lakeview building before Katrina. When the levees broke, Beth Israel had over 10 feet of water, rendering the building unusable.

After the storm, those needing a mikvah for conversion or other purposes traveled to Houston, which Topolosky pointed out was “impractical in the long run.”

Beth Israel’s new building in Metairie did not include a mikvah, so members of the community approached the Rabbinic Council to spearhead the project.

In a paper documenting the project and arguing for its completion, Topolosky said “the country’s economic downturn, and the overwhelming needs of already existing projects looming in the Jewish community slowed interest in a new mikvah.”

Chabad also addressed part of the need with the opening of Mikvah Chaya Mushka in 2010. Originally built in 1989, the new Chabad mikvah is located in the RINGGER Women’s Center and is for women to use.

The community proposal was soon picked back up, and about three years ago the Jewish Federation of Greater New Orleans was approached to help the project reach “critical mass.”

Garon said the community mikvah will be available for anyone affiliated with any of the congregations in Greater New Orleans or Baton Rouge.

For those elsewhere in Louisiana who want to use the mikvah, Garon said a connection should be made through their local rabbi.

Topolosky wrote that the “explicit intention” is “to create a mikvah open to any Jew, or those becoming Jewish, for any immersion purpose.”

The construction and maintenance of the facility would be to a standard acceptable to all congregations.

Land for the mikvah is being donated by Shir Chadash, and the freestanding building will be behind the Conservative congregation, in what is now a grassy area next to the alley.

The Oscar J. Tolmas Trust provided a “significant gift” as seed money for the project, and the Tolmas name will be on the building. About three-fourths of the fundraising goal has been achieved through a “soft solicitation.”

As they near the goal, Garon said they are embarking on finding an architect and designer, and they hope to break ground by the end of the year.

He noted that Rabbi Yossi Nemes of the Chabad Center in Metairie has been “extremely supportive” and is advising on the halachic aspects of the mikvah’s construction.

The mikvah is a ritual purification pool that is filled from natural water, such as stored rain water. Women traditionally use it for purification each month, and many men and women use it prior to a wedding or any other time they desire a spiritual boost. Among the non-Orthodox, the most common use is for conversion to Judaism, though more women are rediscovering the mikvah. The Conservative movement requires mikvah as part of conversion, and in 2001 it was recommended by the Reform movement.

A mikvah facility includes private changing rooms and bathing facilities, as one submerges entirely in the mikvah with no clothing, makeup

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June 2017 • Southern Jewish Life 7

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New Katz-Phillips class announced The Jewish Federation of Greater New Orleans announced the participants in the 2017 to 2019 Katz-Phillips Leadership Development Program class.

The program trains outstanding Jewish young men and women in the Greater New Orleans Jewish community for positions of leadership.

Participants in the program are selected from self-nominations or nominations made by past participants and New Orleans’ Jewish community leaders. The program is two years in length and includes a mission to Israel, monthly meetings and a weekend retreat.

Graduates of the program have served on the boards of every Jewish agency, synagogue and organization in the community, and have used the knowledge gained from the program to benefit the wider New Orleans community as well.

The new class includes David and Betsy Becker, Dan and Cat Forman, Josh and Carli Gertler, Matt and Jeri Ann Glodowski, Chris Kornman and Arian Elfant, Jon and Michelle Lappen, Greg and Rebecca Roques, Oren and Sarah Tessler, Mark Vicknair and Mindy Brickman, Mark Wagner and Melissa Harris, Shael and Laura Lee Wolfson, David and Rella Zapletal.

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Metairie Oncologists Jayne Gurtler, MD • Laura A Brinz, MD & Janet A Burroff, MD

Welcome to the Practice Dr. Melanie Sheen, MD Specializing in breast cancer treatment, genetic breast cancer risk counseling and treatment options

Threefoot restoration begins in Meridian

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or anything else that gets between the body and the water.

Other contemporary uses, Topolosky noted, include “to mark a year of cancer remission; each month of sobriety; the end of a relationship; a move to a new home; the transition of a Hospice worker after a client dies; a year of mourning; the start of a new job; a divorce settlement; a birthday; or a personal prayer during the ninth month of pregnancy.”

Other mikvahs in the area include Chabad, Knesseth Israel and Temple Beth-El in Birmingham, and Agudath Israel-Etz Ahayem in Montgomery. Achdut Israel in Panama City Beach opened its mikvah in February 2014.

OPEN

Monday-Friday 11am-9pm Saturday 4:30-9pm

The landmark Threefoot building in downtown Meridian, a significant site in the city’s Jewish history, will undergo renovations starting in mid-July.

Ascent Hospitality Management is converting the 16-story building into a 135-room Courtyard by Marriott, with retail space on the ground floor. The $22 million project is expected to take 18 months.

The company also renovated a historic building in downtown Montgomery into a Hampton Inn, and is set to open the Elyton Hotel in downtown Birmingham’s 1909 Empire building this month.

New Orleans-based architectural firm John T. Campo & Associates is also involved in the project.

The Threefoot family was involved in the grocery business in the early 20th century and built what was Mississippi’s tallest building when it opened in 1928. The Great Depression took a toll on the business, and the building became an office building, changing ownership a few times.

By 1990 it was all but abandoned.

Gates of Prayer in Metairie will honor Rabbi Alexis Pinsky for her two years with the congregation, during which she helped create TRIBE and taught all ages. She will speak at the June 16 Shabbat service, starting at 8 p.m. An oneg in her honor will follow. This coming year, she will serve Touro Synagogue on an interim basis.

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8 Southern Jewish Life • June 2017

The next TRIBE Shabbat will be June 9 at 7 p.m., at The Courtyard Brewery.

Participants in the New Orleans Jewish Community Mega-Mission to Israel will discuss their experiences at the joint Reform summer service, June 23 at 8 p.m. at Gates of Prayer in Metairie. About 75 are signed up for the mission, which will be from June 5 to 13.

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Padilla-Goodman leaving ADL in New Orleans to lead Atlanta office Allison Padilla-Goodman will become the new regional director of the Anti-Defamation League office in Atlanta in August.

Since April 2014 she has headed the South-Central region ADL office, based in New Orleans. That office covers Louisiana, Mississippi and Arkansas. The Atlanta office covers Georgia, Alabama, Tennessee and South Carolina.

“It’s an exciting move,” Padilla-Goodman said, “but certainly bittersweet to leave New Orleans.”

A fourth-generation New Orleans native, Padilla-Goodman is an alumna of Isidore Newman School. Before joining ADL she was director of special projects at Harriet Tubman Charter School, a field instructor at Lingnan University in Hong Kong, and director of youth programs for Silence is Violence in New Orleans.

A search is underway for her successor in New Orleans.

Mr. Chen’s Authentic Chinese Restaurant and Hometown Supermarket

Many healthy and kosher-style choices on the menu

Waidenbaum new rabbi at Pensacola’s B’nai Israel On May 27, Rabbi Sam Waidenbaum took the pulpit as the new rabbi at B’nai Israel in Pensacola.

He was previously at Rego Park Jewish Center, a “traditional Conservative” congregation in Flushing, New York, since 2010. Before that, he was at congregations in Montebello, N.Y., and Staten Island.

In the 1980s, he was at Beth Israel in New Orleans.

Following in his father’s footsteps, Waidenbaum became a rabbi and cantor. He studied at Ponevitz Yeshiva in B’nai Brak, Israel, and the Boston Rabbinical Seminary before receiving his ordination from Marbitzei Torah Institute in Brooklyn. He studied voice for 15 years with famed Cantor Avshalom Zifra.

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Wearing the same clothes from the day they arrived at the Goldring/ Woldenberg Institute of Southern Jewish Life in Jackson on June 1, 2015, the 2015-2017 Education Fellows pose on the final day of their two-year term on May 26. Pictured are Becca Rosenthal, Elias Chajet, Ali Duhan and Shira Moskowitz.

June 2017 • Southern Jewish Life 9

Seth Cohen named to tennis team Seth Cohen of Birmingham will be part of the U.S. Open tennis team at the World Maccabiah. Head coach Lonnie Mitchel announced the team on Feb. 23.

Cohen picked up tennis “when I was six or seven years old” and played on the junior high and high school teams. He was ranked the No. 7 player in the state and now plays club tennis for the University of Alabama.

He was part of the 7A state champion Mountain Brook High School tennis team, winning the five seed singles championship in April 2016.

In 2012, he won gold in table tennis at the JCC Maccabi Games in Memphis, and competed in tennis in the 2013 Maccabi Games in Austin.

During his first semester last fall, he traveled to Long Island for the tryouts, then found out by email that he had made the team.

He said it is “great” and “humbling” to represent the U.S., but he is most looking forward to just seeing Israel. A former student at the N.E. Miles Jewish Day School, “I’ve learned about it all my life, but I’ve never seen it,” he said.

Blitz heads to Maccabiah after second All Big Ten softball season The 20th World Maccabiah Games, sometimes referred to as the “Jewish Olympics,” will open in Israel on July 4, with several representatives from this region on the United States team.

The games are viewed as the third-largest sporting event in the world. It has been held in Israel every four years since 1932, with a hiatus from 1935 to 1950. Maccabi USA will bring a team of around 1,100 athletes who will join 8,750 Jewish athletes from 80 countries, participating in 43 different sports.

Competition is in four categories — Junior, for ages 15 to 18; Masters, for older competitors; Open, for the best athletes regardless of age; and Paralympic, for those with physical or intellectual disabilities.

Amir Peled, chairman of the 20th Maccabiah, said “it brings together Jews to meet each other here in Israel, and unite around their common love of sports and of the Jewish people.”

The Maccabiah opening ceremony will take place on July 6 at Teddy Stadium in Jerusalem. The Games will be held throughout the country through July 18.

Jerusalem Mayor Nir Barkat said “This year, in addition to hosting the 20th Maccabiah games, Jerusalem will be celebrating 50 years of the city’s reunification. It is amazing to see the extent to which the city has developed, grown, and improved in all areas, and especially in the field of sports.”

10 Southern Jewish Life • June 2017

Birmingham’s Rebecca Blitz will be part of the U.S. Open women’s softball team. She recently completed her junior year at Indiana University, where the outfielder was second team All Big Ten for the second year in a row, and second selection Academic All Big Ten. For the second year in a row, Blitz led the team with a .338 average, 54 hits and 16 stolen bases.

She had a team-high .357 average in Big Ten play, with 25 hits and 13 runs coming in conference games.

For her career, Blitz has a .344 average, good for seventh in program history. Her 104 career runs is sixth in Hoosier history and makes her just the ninth player to score 100 or more runs. In addition, her 60 stolen bases puts her fifth all-time at IU.

After four Pan Am games, Martin Freeman going to World Maccabiah Martin Freeman, who will be making his first trip to the World Games in Israel, became involved with MaccabiUSA in 2003 when he offered free massages to any of their athletes in the Washington area.

“I quickly received an email asking if I would be interested in going to Chile in December with TeamUSA for the Pan Am Maccabi games,” he said.

Freeman graduated from Auburn and got his law degree at Cumberland School of Law in Birmingham. “Once I was well established in my job” at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, he went to massage therapy school at night. “I was always interested in massage therapy growing up,” he said.

He has been a massage therapist for the U.S. team for the last four Pan Am Maccabi Games, and will have that role with the U.S. team in Israel this summer.

Though he lives in Maryland, he maintains his Alabama ties as a member of both Huntsville congregations, and plans to build a home on retirement property near Lake Guntersville in Scottsboro.

He also opened two funds to support and grow Jewish life at Auburn, the Martin Moss Freeman Auburn University Hillel Fund and the Auburn University Jewish Scholarship Fund.

community Rugby leads to rediscovered heritage NOLA’s Chance Doyle heads to Maccabiah not long after discovering his Jewish ancestry When Chance Doyle leaves New Orleans for the World Maccabiah Games this month, winning the rugby competition is certainly a priority — but Doyle has more personal business to explore.

Having discovered only last year that he has Jewish ancestry, he is on a quest to pick up a torch that those who came before him felt compelled to put away.

Born and raised near Cottondale, Ala., Doyle grew up without much structure, and had a rural education in trailers. He excelled in sports, but dropped out of school, which eliminated any chance of Chance Doyle in Vietnam, getting an athletic scholarship to college. 2015 At age 15, he was in New Orleans when Katrina hit. He explained, “I’ve had a coming and going relationship with New Orleans since I was a child,” since his mother was a jazz and blues singer.

He emerged from Katrina with nothing but a single bag of possessions, but he ended up “picking up an oddly-shaped ball and diving into it.”

Because he wasn’t in school, rugby “was the only thing I could play” competitively, and he did it well.

He quickly advanced to the top levels of the sport in America, and “that led to a tremendous network of individuals.” He wound up with the Maryland Exiles, living with the team captain. “They did a lot for me,” including paving the way for him when he was invited to try out for the national Under-19 squad.

He later moved to Atlanta and played rugby at Life University, becoming the first in his family to graduate from college.

Since returning to New Orleans, he has played for New Orleans RFC of the Red River Rugby Conference Division 1. He played with the USA Rugby South Panthers in 2013 and 2015, and in 2014 he played for the Elite Houston Sevens and Austin’s Negro y Azul.

He embarked on a global journey in 2015, having been invited to play for Johnsonville, New Zealand.

After New Zealand, he spent time in numerous countries, including Thailand, Vietnam and much of Europe, staying in homes and learning about different forms of spirituality.

In a lot of cultures, he appreciated that “there is a lot of connection to family.” In Polynesia, different generations are all under one roof. That was a connection he didn’t feel growing up.

When he returned to the U.S., he was determined to find “any and all family members I could.” He found a great aunt in Florida that he had never met and asked if he could visit, figuring she at least might welcome having a young guy around who could do things in the house.

They connected immediately and talked extensively. At one point, she mentioned how he had Jewish ancestry on his mother’s side. The family had fled persecution in Hungary, and “through mis-happenings,” they wound up in rural Alabama and “were persecuted.”

By the time he came along, “Judaism had kind of been left behind closed doors” and he had no idea of his family history. “When she shared it with me, it was that spark.”

“I’d never connected as anything,” he said. “I’d never been baptized.”

He has taught spirituality in several situations, worked with Catholic groups, but “I’d always for some reason stood separate from everything.”

When he was working in New Orleans before Katrina, “I, like so many troubled kids just believed in being the best of who is around us… if all

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June 2017 • Southern Jewish Life 11

community you know is dealing drugs and you’re a naturally successful person, you’ll be successful at dealing drugs because that is what is around you,” but if they had been in the suburbs being measured by grades, they would be the most successful student.

An older couple took him in after the storm.

“They changed how I saw the world.”

Now, aside from pursuing rugby, Doyle makes himself available as a mentor while working as program director for Café Hope, a nonprofit culinary arts and life skills program for opportunity youth ages 17 to 24.

The faith-based organization is centered on a non-profit restaurant in Marrero that provides culinary training and life skills courses to the students. The seed-to-table restaurant has a 1.2

acre community garden providing most of the restaurant’s produce.

“The real job is creating a structure for the young people to excel in, and facilitate their growth,” he said.

Meanwhile, he is exploring what it means to be Jewish. “I’m very new to Judaism. I’m very new to all of this,” he said. He attended his first Seder at Chabad two months ago.

Last September, U.S. Maccabiah Rugby Coach Shawn Lipman was with the Maccabiah team in Aspen for the Ruggerfest tournament when he met up “with my old Eagle teammate and U.S. rugby legend Gary Lambert.” Lambert told him about Doyle and how he “relatively recently discovered his Jewish identity and had an amazing story,” so Lipman got in touch with him.

“In addition to him being an excellent rugby player, having played age grade national level and having played overseas, the most impressive thing about him was his sincerity about rediscovering his identity and representing his country in Israel,” Lipman said. “I had no hesitation in appointing him to the U.S. team.”

When Doyle joined the team in Las Vegas for an international tournament in February, Lipman said “Chance showed not only is he a top class rugby player but a true leader on and off the field.”

He is going into the tournament with a sense of responsibility.

“I feel as though my ancestors went through a lot,” he said. “It’s exciting for me to do something boldly representing the things they had to not be bold about.”

And the way for him to do that is through rugby, because it is one thing he can do “at a level to pay them respect” and “represent them.”

Knowing his Jewish roots, there is a sense of belonging “I’ve missed all my life,” he said. “Everything else is lagniappe.”

He is looking forward to his first Israel trip as his “first opportunity to represent that part of my heritage. It’s such a tremendous opportunity.”

Lipman said “I am so proud to see Chance have this life-defining experience playing the sport he loves, but also see him reconnect with his heritage, Israel, and bond with other Jewish rugby players and athletes from all over the world.”

Lior Berman makes Junior hoops squad Lior Berman, who just finished his sophomore year at on the varsity basketball team at Mountain Brook High School, is pulling double duty this summer, competing on the national Juniors basketball team at the World Maccabiah Games, then coming back to Birmingham to compete in the JCC Maccabi Games.

Berman, a 6-foot-3 guard, started playing basketball at the Levite Jewish Community Center. He participated in tryouts in Philadelphia last September and made the team. Mountain Brook won the 7A state championship, and Berman has seen recruiting interest from the University of Iowa.

Also on staff at the Maccabiah Games will be accommodations manager Kyle Southall and athletic trainer Daniel Lindsey of Birmingham.

Steven Pearl, assistant basketball coach at Auburn, will be an assistant coach for the U.S. Open men’s basketball team. A Tennessee alumnus, Pearl was part of the gold-medal U.S. team at the 2006 Maccabi Games in Sydney, Australia, and the 2009 World Maccabiah in Israel.

12 Southern Jewish Life • June 2017

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June 2017 • Southern Jewish Life 13

community After 2013 gold, Goldfarb aims for soccer repeat

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In the sports world, there is nothing like going out on top, and after leading the U.S. men’s open soccer team to its first-ever gold medal at the World Maccabiah Games in 2013, that’s what Coach Preston Goldfarb intended to do.

“It’s hard to go back when you’ve reached the mountaintop,” he said.

Instead, the recently-retired legendary head coach of Birmingham-Southern College is now preparing for another trip to Israel as head coach, with a repeat in mind.

Goldfarb said the 2013 team “became the ‘Impossible Dream’ Team by winning the first ever gold medal by an Open Men’s Soccer team for the U.S. We believe our 2017 team will continue that ‘Impossible Dream’ by becoming the ‘Forever Team’ and make history again by going ‘Back-to-Back for Gold Medals’.”

Goldfarb was head coach for the open men’s soccer team at the Maccabi Australia International Games in 2010 and for the junior boys’ soccer team at the 2009 Maccabiah. The 2009 team lost the bronze medal game to Brazil, 1-0, but was the only U.S. soccer team to play for a medal.

In 2016, Goldfarb was named chair of U.S. soccer for the Maccabi Pan Am Games in Chile, and co-chair for the 2017 World Games.

His assistant coach from 2013 was slated to be head coach this year, but was unable to continue. Goldfarb was originally asked to be the assistant coach for 2017, then was named the head coach last July after his friend convinced him that he’d be unable to continue in that role.

Goldfarb said it turned out to be a positive development for him. Having just finished his Birmingham-Southern career, this gave him something to ease his transition into retirement.

Repeating the 2013 feat will be “more diffi-

cult” this year, partly because there is a “bad schedule” for every team, and the U.S. is in a challenging preliminary group with Great Britain, Venezuela and Australia.

The first match in pool play will be on July 5.

Opening ceremonies are on July 6, then the next match is on July 9, followed by a third match on July 10. For those who advance from pool play, the quarterfinal matches are on July 11 — three matches in three days in Israel’s heat. “Last time, we played every other day,” he observed.

Making it more difficult, the tournament has limited substitutions and no re-entry into matches. Goldfarb proposed greater substitutions, if for no other reason than each player has to raise or pay $8,000 to go to the games, and the current structure ensures at least four players will not play in a particular match. “To have four kids sit out each game is wrong,” he said.

The team heads to Israel on June 25 for a couple of training days, then will tour the country.

“On paper we’re probably better than we were in 2013, but the key element in 2013 was great chemistry among the players,” he said. If they find good chemistry this year, “we’ll be okay.”

There are five starters from 2013 on the team.

The team includes Sam Raben, who plays for Wake Forest. His father, David, is an oncologist at the University of Colorado whose first faculty position was at the University of Alabama at Birmingham in the 1990s.

While the pursuit of gold is going on, Goldfarb said “these Games are not only about winning and competing, but more importantly about the life altering experiences we will all have together in Israel, not just for a month, but for ‘forever’!”

He will be blogging about the Games at pgoldfarb47.blogspot.com.

One more time around the bases for Maren Angus

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Competing in the World Maccabiah Games softball tournament is Maren Angus’ comeback in the sport, and it provides a poignant bookend to the end of her playing days.

Angus, who lives in Hendersonville, Tenn., was selected for the Open Women’s softball team, coached by Nicky Arias. She will be accompanied by Rebecca Blitz of Birmingham, who plays for Indiana University.

Born in Los Angeles, Angus started playing softball at age 4. She grew up in Tennessee and played for Station Camp in Gallatin, east of Nashville.

Her senior year, Station Camp was seeded third for the district tournament, and the top two teams would advance to the regional. For two years, they had finished third, and this was going to be the year they broke through.

But heavy rains forced the cancellation of the 2009 tournament, the top two seeds moved on automatically and she didn’t get a chance to play in the postseason. It was an unfulfilling end to her softball career.

“I knew I wasn’t going to play in college,” because the previous summer, when she would have been undergoing the recruiting process for college scholarships, she had the opportunity to go to Israel. Figuring she wasn’t going to be making a living playing softball, she chose to go to Israel instead. Now, she writes for fastpitchnews.com, covering Southeastern Conference softball.

She tried to walk on at Arizona State, then wound up at Middle Tennessee State, coaching and giving private lessons.

Last June, she was visiting friends in Cali-

community fornia who played for a co-ed fast pitch league. The team they were playing had a couple of guys on the Maccabiah team, and they urged her to try out. Living an hour from the nearest Jewish Community Center, she said “it’s not like I was active” in the community.

When she got home, she started training in Tennessee and at Auburn University, where Softball Coach Clint Myers gave her access to the facilities.

“I cover Auburn softball more than anything,” she said, and spent much of the past year going back and forth to Auburn.

Last July, she headed to Chicago for the tryouts, and weeks later found out she had made the team.

The team will head to Israel on June 28 and have a week to get to know each other before the games begin.

“This is the most proud I have ever been,” she said. “Playing Maccabi is an opportunity not many girls from Tennessee get to do. I can’t wait to not just represent my family and my country but my heritage as well. “ It is also a chance to work on some unfinished business. “It’s bringing my career full circle,” she said. “The reason I stopped playing is the reason I’m coming out of retirement.”

But after the games, back to retirement, and writing about the game that she loves.

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June 2017 • Southern Jewish Life 15

Maccabi Games preparations move into high gear Call goes out for volunteers, more host families to showcase community In just under two months, 850 Jewish teens from around the country and across the world will converge on Birmingham for the Jewish Community Centers Maccabi Games, and the organizing committee is working hard to make sure the community is ready to greet them.

The JCC Maccabi Games is part of the Jewish Community Centers Association, and three communities across North America host the games each summer. Thousands of Jewish teens from ages 13 to 16 participate each year in an Olympic-style sporting event. It is regarded as the second-largest organized sports program for Jewish teens in the world, and Birmingham is the second-smallest Jewish community to host the games since they were founded in Memphis in 1982.

The Birmingham Maccabi Games will be held July 30 to Aug. 4.

Bruce Sokol, who is volunteer co-chair of the Birmingham games with Layne Held, said the biggest challenges are housing and recruiting volunteers. “We feel we will get there,” he said.

Levite Jewish Community Center Executive Director Betzy Lynch said they currently have about 250 homes signed up. A Maccabi Games requirement is that all visiting athletes receive home hospitality in a Jewish household, and roughly 300 houses are needed.

Lynch said all that is needed is a place to sleep and get breakfast. There will be two drop-off points, one over the mountain and one closer to the LJCC, where the athletes will be shuttled through the Maccabi Games transportation system. After the athletes are dropped off in the morning, host families don’t have any responsibility until the evening.

Hundreds of volunteers needed

For the games, there are 1200 volunteer slots available. Volunteers have to be at least 17 years old for daytime events, 21 for evening events. One need not be Jewish to volunteer, and one can sign up for multiple slots.

There is a wide range of positions available, from registration before the games begin, to airport greeters, food servers, transportation system facilitators, airport logistics, traffic control, opening ceremonies, office work, VIP reception, JCC Cares assistance, Hangtime room supervision, hospitality at hotels and venues, venue assistants, evening event chaperones, safety and security, medical team, and ice and water stocking.

The marketing and public relations team includes videography, photography, media, press room, signage and score reporting.

Sport volunteers are needed for scoring and other tasks for baseball, basketball, flag football, soccer, swimming, tennis, volleyball and dance.

Civic support

A typical Maccabi Games budget is around $1 million in cash and in-kind donations, with the host community having to come up with about two-thirds of that amount.

Sokol said that with the LJCC in need of major updating and a capital campaign likely in the near future, they decided not to approach the Jewish community for the games, only to turn around and solicit for a campaign afterward. Instead, the emphasis was pitching the games to the corporate community as a boost to the city overall.

Held said over 70 companies around Birmingham and in nearby communities have stepped up, and they foresee total fundraising of about $700,000.

Sokol noted that having the games in Birmingham will have an impact of several million dollars to the local ecomony.

It is likely, Held said, that 90 percent of those attending the games “would not have a reason to ever come to Birmingham. We’re giving them a reason.”

The city of Birmingham is a title sponsor, and major grants came from the Mayer Electric Foundation and the Birmingham Jewish Foundation.

In turn, Sokol said, the Maccabi Games could be a platform to launch enthusiasm for a campaign to update the building.

Because the fundraising was aimed at the corporate community, “we’re asking the Jewish community for time and commitment,” Held said.

The LJCC staff “has given so much effort to this in addition to their regular jobs,” he noted.

The opening ceremony will be held on July 30 at the University of Alabama at Birmingham’s Bartow Arena, with about 5,000 expected to attend. The opening ceremony includes a parade of delegations, much like the Olympics opening cere16 Southern Jewish Life • June 2017

community mony, and a torch lighting.

There will be 29 delegations, including nearby communities such as New Orleans, Memphis, Atlanta and Charlotte. Other teams are coming from as far as New York, Minnesota and California.

Along with the opening ceremony speakers, renowned Cantor Alberto Mizrahi will sing, joined by Temple Emanu-El Cantor Jessica Roskin.

Mizrahi will also be at the July 28 Shabbat service at Emanu-El. The 10-foot cauldron for the torch lighting is being forged at Sloss Furnace, and after the games will be displayed at the LJCC. Lynch said that is part of an effort to put a Birmingham stamp on every aspect of the games. For example, all of the chips will be Golden Flake, the cookies will be from Bud’s Best.

The Day of Service will provide an opportunity to explore Birmingham’s civil rights history. The athletes will be divided into three groups and rotate among the Civil Rights Institute, Kelly Ingram Park and the 16th Street Baptist Church.

That day’s hands-on project will be assembling school supplies that all of the delegations are bringing. A similar drive is now underway at the LJCC, and the supplies will be donated to Birmingham schools, so teachers can distribute them to students that start the year unable to bring their own supplies.

The Block Party one evening will involve the McWane Center and the new food hall at the Pizitz building.

Venues include Birmingham-Southern College, the CrossPlex, Altamont School and UAB. The LJCC will be the hub for lunch, Maccabi Central and Hangtime.

“We’re showcasing the great things about our city,” Held said.

The closing ceremony on Aug. 3 will be at the LJCC field, with entertainment and the passing of the torch to the 2018 venue. Red Mountain

Entertainment, which organizes concerts and festivals in the region, is coordinating entertainment for the evenings.

While Sokol said they want everyone to participate in this “big party,” everyone attending any event has to be credentialed, due to longstanding security policies for Maccabi Games.

Another goal was to have a large host delegation. Held said Birmingham has never sent more than 15 athletes to a Maccabi Games. This year, the home team will have about 75 athletes from across Alabama, along with teens from Birmingham sister cities, Rosh Ha’Ayin, Israel, and Vinnitsa, Ukraine.

Held said “this is an event for the entire Jewish community to showcase our community, our people and the city.”

In addition to the athletes, there will be about 2,500 relatives, friends and coaches visiting “who want to see what our Jewish community is like,” Held said.

Sokol said hosting the Games “is the most important thing to happen to the Birmingham Jewish community in my lifetime.”

Held said “it does not matter if you are member of the JCC, or what Temple you belong to… everyone gets to come together as Jews to put this set of games on.”

LJCC President Allison Weil said “It’s now up to us, the Birmingham Jewish community, to open our homes to the athletes and give of our time during the games to make them successful. Don’t wait for someone to call and ask you to host or volunteer. Come to the J or call us, and we will get you on board.”

Sokol added “We want this to be the best Maccabi Games ever.”

More information on the Maccabi Games, housing and volunteering can be found at jccmaccabibham.org.

June 2017 • Southern Jewish Life 17

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community

Avodah honors Pamela Steeg, Deborah Cotton as Partners in Justice Avodah recognized Pamela Steeg and Deborah Cotton at the sixth annual Partners in Justice awards, April 23 at Temple Sinai in New Orleans, an event that included the announcement of a fifth Avodah house in the United States, modeled on the New Orleans experience.

Dani Levine, who heads the New Orleans branch of Avodah, said Steeg and Cotton are “incredible examples of what Avodah is trying to do.”

Avodah fights against the root causes and effects of poverty, bringing together a group of young Jewish adults to “live and grow and learn together” in a “professional, personal, spiritual and communal framework.”

This year, there have been 10 Avodah members in New Orleans, working at non-profit agencies in New Orleans to supplement their staff. They live together for one year in the Uptown Avodah house.

There are almost 1000 alumni across the country, and in 9 years New Orleans has provided 86 members at 35 non-profits, serving over 25,000 people.

Temple Sinai Rabbi Matthew Reimer said it was clear that those in the room were there to live out the words of “Justice, justice shall all of us pursue.”

“Our goal is to build lifelong leaders for social change, Levine said.

An alumni study showed that 75 percent are still working in the social change field.

As “a little lagniappe,” Levine said, about one-third of the New Orleans Avodah alumni are still in the area.

Cheryl Cook, Avodah national director, said she came to New Orleans two years ago and “kept talking about it… I was so impressed by what is happening in this city.”

Avodah’s other three sites are in some of the largest communities in the country — New York, Chicago and Washington. The New Orleans group was established in 2008, as volunteers flocked to be part of the post-Katrina rebuilding.

Cook said that as she traveled in New Orleans, “one of the comments that really stuck with me… was that we stayed” while many groups worked for a while and left.

She said it has been a success “because we had an incredible Jewish community here that saw the potential of having Avodah here, woven into the fabric of the community.”

The success in New Orleans “has inspired us to think about growth again,” expanding on “what have we learned.”

She said the next community for Avodah would be based on the New Orleans model “where we can be a part of the community, and like New Orleans, be a place that has really good food.”

Cook announced that the next Avodah site will be in Kansas City. “We know we can make a difference and the Jewish community has an important role to play, she said. And Kansas City will benefit “because of the inspiration of being here.”

She also urged the community to embrace the soon-to-be alumni from this year’s Avodah class. “Some of them want to stay in New Orleans… entice them, help them stay here.”

Tamara Kreinin and Rosalind Hinton, event co-chairs, introduced Steeg.

Kreinin said that while one of Steeg’s signature accomplishments was the new building for Planned Parenthood, “She knew life for women and young people in the state goes far beyond a building” and requires services, education and advocacy, and to “change policies and social norms so women and young people in this state have choices.”

An emotional Steeg started off by saying “I see so many women in this room whose work I love and admire.”

She directed her remarks to the current Avodah participants. “It’s about honoring those of you who are involved in this important work…

community

and to thank those who leaders who have allowed me to work with them in the important social justice work of their organizations.”

Steeg arrived in New Orleans “eager not to go back to Minnesota.” She was able to chart a path professionally and was quite content.

But, “life intervened and I became educated.

I stopped being ignorant about the pain and the heartache in the life of others.” It started when she volunteered for the Jewish Family Service suicide prevention program.

Entering the public school system, “I began learning to see” that others faced obstacles “that did not exist for me and I could never have begun to imagine.”

A believer in the American Dream, she said “Learning that the dream was not available for all broke my heart.”

Steeg currently serves as chair of the Planned Parenthood Louisiana Leadership Advisory Council, and sits on the Oschner Health Foundation Board and Planned Parenthood Gulf Coast Board. She has also served as the chair of the Oschner Clinic Foundation Pediatric Board of Councilors, a board member and treasurer of Agenda for Children, a member of the Women of the Storm delegation to Congress advocating for Louisiana wetland protection, and Mayor Mitch Landrieu’s Task Force on Youth and Families.

For 35 years, she noted, Planned Parenthood in New Orleans had been in a “decrepit” building, and she was part of the campaign to build a $4 million facility on South Claiborne, a “much needed state of the art health care center,” she said. Ground was broken in 2013.

It should have been a time of celebration, she said, but “a campaign of hate and intimidation was begun by those who oppose Planned Parenthood,” including against the contractor who was hired to build the building.

After difficulty hiring subcontractors, they reached out to minority subcontractors who often do not have the opportunity to work on such projects.

The clinic finally opened in June 2016.

Steeg concluded by thanking Avodah members “for everything you have done for New Orleans” and urged them to stay.

Cotton died four years after shooting Avodah recognition came a week earlier

She may have lived in New Orleans for just 12 years, but when word came of Deborah Cotton’s death, her life was celebrated as that of a New Orleans original.

Cotton was one of 19 people injured during a shooting at the 2013 Mother’s Day parade of the Original Big 7 Social Aid and Pleasure Club. She died on May 2 after dealing with complications from the shooting for four years, requiring 30 surgeries.

Just over a week before she died, she was honored as a Partner in Justice by Avodah, in an April 23 ceremony at Temple Sinai. She had been hospitalized before the event, collapsed soon after and was hospitalized again until she died.

A native of Texas and Oklahoma, Cotton attended San Francisco State University, then was a union organizer in Los Angeles. She moved to New Orleans in June 2005, going to Texas during Katrina but returning quickly to help rebuild the city.

The child of a Jewish mother and black father, she set out to document

June 2017 • Southern Jewish Life 19

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community the underreported parts of New Orleans. She wrote under the name Big Red Cotton, and said it was “strange and ironic” that second-line parades and other aspects of black culture that are so integral to New Orleans were underreported or completely ignored.

“No one was publicizing second line parades,” she said. “These things happen every Sunday for four hours.”

In 2009, she started writing for Gambit, and at the Avodah event she said “they gave me the keys to the car and said write what you want.”

She published second line routes and videos, and it quickly became one of the site’s highest-trafficked pages. Gambit noted “she was the first journalist to take on second-line culture as a beat.”

She also smoothed the sometime contentious relations between the second-liners and local officials.

Cotton said her two cultures “give me my fortitude, my gasoline, my perspective.”

In 2007, she published “Notes From New Orleans: Spicy, Colorful Tales of Politics, People, Food, Drink, Men, Music and Life in Post-Breaches New Orleans.”

She was covering the 2013 parade for Gambit when Akein Scott and Shawn Scott opened fire on the crowd.

“I was filming the parade, moving around with the band,” she said. “I looked over and saw one of the main shooters. Everyone else was running.”

She said the shooter she saw “reminded me of my nephew. My gut instinct was to run over and stop him, take the gun, run with him.”

After it was over, “the irony was I was the worst injured of the 19,” she said.

Cotton was shot in the stomach, and the bullet went through internal organs. She lost a kidney, her gall bladder and half of her stomach, and was in the hospital for a couple of months, three weeks in intensive care with 11 surgeries.

She was struck in an area that surgeons call the “soul hole” because it is rare to survive an injury there.

Her feelings for the shooters was “sorrow.”

“I thought, this boy hasn’t even started life yet. And he’s already ended his life” because he would likely never get out of jail.

She began to speak out, and “people were stumped that I would actually feel compassion” toward the shooters. When it came time to give the victim impact statement, she emphasized that “I am not a victim, I am a survivor.”

She also stipulated that “I want to be able to say to them what I want to say.”

Her message to them was “I don’t know what happened to you in your life… but I still love you. And I’m not talking fake love. I am going to be here for you.

“You weren’t born to shoot up a parade,” Cot-

ton related. “You still have the capacity to do good, to make a difference, to change the world.

Even from behind bars. And I’m going to be here to support you, to cheer you on.”

She said she and Akein Scott have been in contact with each other, and she said he simply was never given the opportunities to shine, having been born into a drug trafficking gang that was behind the shooting.

The sentence range was 20 years to life, and she urged the judge to give them the minimum so they would have a life, since she was the most badly injured yet she was still around. The judge imposed life sentences, which she was still fighting. “I wanted those boys to have another opportunity at life.”

She told the Avodah crowd, “one of the Jewish tenets I live my life by is tikkun olam, and if I don’t do anything else before I leave here, I need to have made my presence felt and do what I can to repair the world.”

She speaks out for prison reform, noting “we finally got a new governor who has the cojones to put money behind reform,” and funding an organization supporting crime survivors and showing that “we deserve the support and a voice in sentencing.”

She blasted “bubblehead” Leon Cannizzaro, Orleans Parish District Attorney, “who thinks with his old school mentality” and “wants more bodies in jail,” and also arrests crime victims who do not cooperate with the prosecution.

On May 4, the New York Times published an essay she wrote against arresting crime victims who refuse to testify. That same day, the New Orleans City Council passed a resolution urging Cannizzaro to stop the practice, with Councilman Jason Williams reading parts of Cotton’s essay during discussion.

On May 2, there was a brass band tribute to Cotton at Tuba Fats Square in Treme. On May 14, the Zulu Social Aid & Pleasure Club held a second line in her honor during Zulu on the Bayou Mother’s Day Festival.

Dani Levine, New Orleans director of Avodah, said Cotton “is a titan who is deeply missed. An incredible role model and teacher and just all around real life embodiment of chesed.”

Cheryl Cook, national director of Avodah, said “Deb leaves behind a powerful legacy of forgiveness, strength, and an unwavering belief that one person can make a difference, no matter their circumstances. Her remarkable resilience and untiring commitment to creating a kinder world is a source of inspiration. There is no one we could have been more honored to recognize at our Partners in Justice event in the city she loved most.”

In Congress, Rep. Cedric Richmond read a tribute to Cotton, saying her “legacy will forever be a part of the city and her dedication to community embodies the spirit of New Orleans.”

June 2017 • The Jewish Newsletter 21

22 The Jewish Newsletter • June 2017

June 2017 • The Jewish Newsletter 23

24 The Jewish Newsletter • June 2017

Jewish Community Day School Kabbalat Siddur

Back row (R-L) Isabelle H., Elizabeth G., Cecelia P., Jeremy D., Evellen B.; front row (R-L) Meir Michael F., Lily H., Joshua S., Benjamin S., Elizabeth H., and Zoey P. all proudly show off their new Siddurs.

Each May, Jewish Community Day School 1st and 2nd graders, along with family members and special friends, join together in the JCDS Beit Midrash for a very special ceremony. All year students have developed a deeper understanding of Jewish values, traditions and texts. An integral component of the curriculum is becoming fluent in the morning Shacharit service and creating personal connections to the prayers.

Parents proudly present each student with their own prayer book that includes a thoughtfully designed cover inscribed with a personal blessing on the inside cover. Children are delighted to see the parents’ creations and overjoyed to have a “forever” Siddur of their own. The joyous ceremony ended on an extra sweet note with a delicious cake from Kosher Cajun.

Exploravision Look for Sam Shaya’s “Endangered” and Avery Hart’s “Autumn,” accepted for publication to Bazoof.com! Sam’s poem will appear in issue #59, coming soon, and Avery’s in the fall. Congratulations to our young poets!

These poems are a piece of the students’ larger ExploraVision projects, which is a competition for K-12 students which engages them in real world problem solving with a strong emphasis on STEAM. ExploraVision challenges students to envision and communicate new technology 20 years in the future through collaborative brainstorming and research of current science and technology.

Autumn

By Avery Hart Autumn sparkles like diamonds blue Her eyes are kind and orange She moves magically and

Reminds me to be healthy and happy An apple a day keeps the doctor away!

Her hair twists like red twigs Endangered

By Sam Shaya I am here A river full of green alligators Free as the gray wind blowing past.

Catfish and water snakes Have coffee along the river bank Every day over-growing The sound of my deep red voice Beautiful as the river seems It can be fierce and strong against Our levees trapping it Keeping it from being free as it once was Becoming slave to the slave master Us Not letting it flood to its full potential, Instead making it pull and push heavy boats of goods And endangering every living thing.

We are losing our beautiful state we call Louisiana

June 2017 •The Jewish Newsletter 25

Jewish Endowment Foundation Can you use Life Insurance to create a fund at JEF? Yes! When you donate an existing or new life insurance policy, JEF becomes the owner and beneficiary of the policy. The premiums are paid by JEF and reimbursed by you through a tax-deductible donation to JEF. If you donate an existing policy, you may also take an immediate charitable deduction for the fair market value of the policy.

A life insurance policy is a great way to create a Designated Fund to endow your annual gift to Federation in perpetuity or to benefit one or more of your favorite charities. The reasonable cost and tax benefit make this a particularly appealing option for younger donors.

Gifting a life insurance policy can greatly reduce your taxable estate, which can save thousands of dollars in estate taxes for upper-income taxpayers. It can also yield a current income tax deduction of the policy’s fair market value. This deduction can be quite significant in some cases.

Perhaps most importantly, the charity will receive the entire face value of the policy upon the death of the insured.

There is no limit on the size of the policy that you may donate, since charitable donations have no ceiling for estate tax purposes. This strategy also does not impede your current investment strategy, and can also provide a useful way to dispose of an unwanted policy that was originally purchased to cover a need that no longer exists.

Donors who wish to leverage their cash donations to charity can use life insurance as an excellent means of accomplishing their goal. By either gifting a policy outright or naming a charity as beneficiary, you can provide the charity of your choice with a large sum of money that can provide a lasting legacy for the causes that are important to you.

To learn more about using life insurance to fulfill your philanthropic goals, please call (504) 525-4559 or email Sandy Levy (sandy@jefno.org) or Patti Lengsfield (patti@jefno. org).

JEF’s Donor Advised Incentive Program Off to a Great Start!

In 2016, the Jewish Endowment Foundation of Louisiana started a new initiative: The Donor Advised Fund Incentive. Since the program’s inception, 14 donors have taken advantage of this opportunity to establish their own philanthropic funds. “We are delighted to welcome these new donors to our JEF family,” said Executive Director Sandy Levy.

What is the Donor Advised Fund Incentive?

It is an extraordinary opportunity for you to open a donor advised fund at JEF.

Why extraordinary?

Because you contribute a minimum of $4,000 and JEF adds $1,000. You get an extra $1,000 to grant to non-profits you care about. And you learn how easy and advantageous it is to have a donor advised fund at JEF.

How it benefits you: • You select the nonprofits you want to support on your timetable.

• You contribute cash, appreciated stock, or other assets and receive a very nice tax deduction on donations to your DAF. • JEF handles all of the administrative details and your charitable giving paperwork is simplified.

• You support your community and establish a personal relationship with JEF.

How it works: • The fund must be opened by a new donor or fund-holder. The fundholder must be a Louisiana resident.

• There is an annual administrative fee of 1 percent.

• A minimum of $1,000 from your DAF must be donated to Jewish nonprofits and a minimum fund balance of $1,000 must be maintained for two years.

If you are interested in learning more about how you can take advantage of this extraordinary opportunity, please call (504) 525-4559 or email Sandy Levy (sandy@jefno.org) or Patti Lengsfield (patti@jefno.org) to have a confidential conversation.

On April 25, Tulane Jewish Leaders honored a local Holocaust survivor and member of the New Orleans community, Jeannine Burk, in order to commemorate Holocaust Memorial Day. She told her incredible and moving story to a crowded room of over 50 students of how she survived the Holocaust. Jeannine opened the conversation up in the format of Zikaron Basalon, which translates to “Memory in the Living Room,” where she welcomed any and all questions. It was an amazing experience for Tulane students to hear a first-hand account of what happened between the years of 1939 and 1945, and the event certainly made a lasting impression on anyone who was there.

26 The Jewish Newsletter • June 2017

Jewish Community Center Summer is just around the corner!

Don’t miss out – register today! Located at both the Uptown and Metairie campuses, the JCC Summer Day Camps have enriched the lives of children and teens for decades, providing a chance to make memories that last a lifetime as campers have fun, explore their interests, and make new friends.

Tailoring programs to match the changing needs of children from toddlers to preteens, the JCC packs summer days with a variety of games and activities including sports, art, drama, music, cooking, science, Israeli culture and swimming. Campers ages 3 and up receive swim instruction from American Red Cross certified swim instructors. Older campers enjoy weekly field trips, Movie night is coming to Metairie! overnights at the JCC, and a special This summer, the JCC is partnering with day trip to Blue Bayou. A separate Sports Camp is offered to campers three Metairie congregations to show a classic entering grades 3 to 5. These camp- Jewish film one Monday each month. ers focus on sports but also swim each day, participate in Oneg Shabbat performances, and join The series kicks off the main camp for the day trips and overnights. on June 12 at CongreCamp runs June 5 to July 28 and sessions are customizable so families can register for the gation Gates of Prayer with a screening of the weeks that best fit their schedules. Early powerful documentary Childhood, General Day Campers and “Rabin: In His Own Sports Campers must enroll in a miniWords.” In it, Yitzhak mum of four weeks, but enrollment does Rabin himself narrates not need to be consecutive, making it eashis biography through ier than ever to coordinate vacation plans a combination of rare with camp fun. recordings and docuOlder campers entering grades 6 – 8 are ments. offered a different topic each week and On July 10, Congregation Beth Israel will receive a $100 discount when registering host “Gentlemen’s Agreement,” Elia Kazan’s for four or more weeks. This year’s topics romantic drama starring Gergory Peck and include Musical Theater, Tennis, AdvenDorothy McGuire, ture Trips, Wacky Science, Emoji Art, Actwhich won three ing for the Camera, Culinary Creations, Oscars at the 1948 Strength and Conditioning, and the always popular week of games and competition, Color Academy Awards and War. Early morning and afternoon care are also available for campers. sparked controversy Applications and deposits are accepted online. Visit www.nojcc.org to learn more about for its exploration of summer at the J! anti-Semitism.

Run to Monday Movies in Metairie!

JSCreen Genetic Testing Do you know what’s in your genes? Research shows that 80 percent of babies with genetic diseases are born to parents with no known family history of that disease. Early genetic screening is an important step in planning for a healthy family. Knowledge is power. It allows individuals to take control and to make informed choices about their future.

JScreen is partnering with the JCC and JNola to provide testing for Jewish genetic diseases on Sunday, June 11 from 12 to 4 p.m. at the Uptown JCC. Tests are just $54 with the New Orleans JCC discount code ‘NOLA54.’

Finally, on August 28, Shir Chadash Conservative Congregation will show “Chariots of Fire,” the story of two British athletes — one Jewish and one Christian — who competed in the 1924 Olympics. Based on a true story, Chariots of Fire won four Academy Awards including Best Picture and Best Original Score.

All screenings begin at 7 p.m. and are free Individuals can pre-register at jscreen.org, but walk-ins are welcome. Individuals who plan to and open to the community. Movie snacks be tested should not eat, drink or smoke thirty minutes prior to testing. will be served.

June 2017 • The Jewish Newsletter 27

Jewish Family Service JFS Expands Health Insurance Providers JFS currently accepts health insurance from the following providers: United Healthcare, Blue Cross and Blue Shield PPO, Blue Cross and Blue Shield HMO, Blue Cross and Blue Shield Blue Connect, Aetna, Gilsbar, and Tricare. A future partnership with Humana is in process.

Counseling for individuals, couples, families and groups is a core community service of JFS. Licensed behavioral health professionals provide guidance and support on how to cope with interpersonal and family problems. Appointments are available at two counseling centers – Metairie and the Northshore. A sliding-fee scale is available for clients without or carrying other insurance. Please call to set up an appointment: Metairie (504) 831-8475 / Northshore (985) 253-1619.

Additional information online at: www.jfsneworleans.org/services/ counseling/

Lifeline

Your connection to immediate help and assistance Lifeline is a personal emergency response system providing subscribers access to emergency services 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. The system is easy to use and designed to reduce the risks of living alone. In the event of a fall or emergency, immediate help is available at the push of a button. Lifeline is locally installed and serviced through JFS. No contracts are required.

No Landline? No problem. Lifeline has GPS and wireless technology services available for your personal emergency help needs.

Lifeline Emergency Response with JFS has been a source of safety and security to hundreds of subscribers in the Metro New Orleans area for decades. New technology now extends this option to those who no longer want or have traditional landline phone service. For more information call (504) 831-8475, or visit www.jfsneworleans.org/services/lifeline/

Staff Updates

Social Workers, Counselors, Mental Health Professionals:

Register Today for the 2017 Summer Continuing Education Series at JFS • DBT: Dialectical Therapy and introduction to theory and techniques. June 16, 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., presented by Daliah Bauer, PhD • Grief: The Human Experience. July 21, 8:45 a.m. to noon, presented by Katie Godshall, LCSW • LGBTQ 101: An Overview of sexual and gender diversity.

August 18, 8:45 a.m. to noon, presented by Carrie Patterson, LMSW • Suicide Prevention: Theoretical, Clinical and Interventional Approaches. September 15, 8:45 a.m. to noon, presented by Lauren Miller, LMSW • Living with Infertility. October 20, 8:45 a.m. to noon, presented

by Teri Groves, LCSW

Participants will receive CEUs for each event. Pricing varies.

All events located at: 3300 W. Esplanade Ave. S., Suite 603, Metairie.

For more information, call (504) 831-8475, or visit http:// www.jfsneworleans.org/services/workshops-continuing-education/

Summer Community Groups JFS runs therapeutic, support, and social skills groups periodically to meet the needs of the community. Register now by calling (504) 8318475, or visit online: www.jfsneworleans.org/services/groups/

Caregiver Support Group

June 13 to July 25, Tuesdays, 4-5:30 p.m.

A support group for families, partners, and other caregivers to talk about the stresses, challenges, and rewards of caregiving. Cost: $50 per person.

Parenting LGBTQ Teens

June 14 to July 19, Wednesdays, 4:30-6 p.m.

Psychoeducation/Support Group for parents of LGBTQ teenagers JFS is pleased to welcome three new staff members. who need help navigating this difficult transition period in their child’s Melinda Ferrell recently joined the Homemaker program and has life. Group topics include how to show support, signs of depression in previous experience at Pontchartrain Heath Center and Home In- teens, and bullying. Cost: $50 per person/couple. stead. Melinda is a friendly person and an exceptional housekeeper.

Erin Grauel is the new Administrative Assistant. She has been employed as an administrative assistant for the past eight years, and is excited to contribute her experience to Jewish Family Service.

Girl Power

June 15 to July 20, Thursdays, 4:30-6 p.m.

A series of empowering sessions for girls ages 8 to 13 who want to improve their Sarah Villien is the new Client and Donor Services Specialist. Sarah social skills. Topics include ways to create moved back from Lafayette, La., where she worked in fundraising and positive friendships and handle peer presvolunteer recruitment across four parishes. Sarah is excited to be back sure and bullying. Strategies to communiin New Orleans working with the JFS team. cate feelings, make positive choices, and cope with stress and anxiety, will also be discussed. Cost: $240 per person (Income based sliding-fee scale available.)

28 The Jewish Newsletter • June 2017

community

SPRING CLEARANCE EVENT

Shaya’s Zach Engel named U.S. Rising Star Chef at James Beard Awards The streak continued for the team at New Orleans’ noted Israeli restaurant, Shaya, at the James Beard Awards on May 1.

Zachary Engel, Shaya chef de cuisine, won the James Beard Award for the U.S. Rising Star Chef.

The award is presented to “a chef age 30 or younger who displays an impressive talent and who is likely to make a significant impact on the industry in years to come.”

Last year, Shaya was named the nation’s Best New Restaurant at the James Beard Awards, and in 2015 Shaya founder Alon Shaya was named Best Chef, South, for his work at Domenica.

Engel grew up in Orlando, the son of a rabbi. While attending Tulane, he decided to become a chef, cooking at Tulane Hillel. As a senior, he worked as a pastry assistant at Domenica.

After graduating in 2010, he worked for long-time friend Michael Solomonov at Zahav in Philadelphia, and spent some time at Catit Restaurant in Tel Aviv.

By coincidence, one of the other four nominees for Rising Star Chef was Camille Cogswell, pastry chef at Zahav, while Solomonov took home the national Outstanding Chef award.

Engel returned to New Orleans after a stint in northern California, working at Gautreau’s. He had the idea of starting an Israeli restaurant in New Orleans, but instead, he became part of the team opening Shaya in late 2014.

Last April, Engel was part of a Partnership2Gether trip to Israel with the Jewish Federation of Greater New Orleans. The mission, celebrating the 20th anniversary of Partnership2Gether, started with all 43 communities from around the world visiting New Orleans’ partner community, Rosh Ha’Ayin, for a New Orleans-style party. Engel and Chris Lusk were the chefs for the event, and over the next week they taught seminars in Rosh Ha’Ayin and experienced Israeli cuisine.

They also had home hospitality in Rosh Ha’Ayin, where Engel learned more traditional Yemenite specialties to bring back to Shaya.

Dave Hardie, director of gastronomy for San Pellegrino, which sponsors the award, made the presentation to Engel.

“To everyone in New Orleans, you’ve been the perfect audience for us to tell this brand new story of Israeli food down in the South,” Engel said.

“I’m so grateful you guys have been so open to it.”

He thanked the “incredible team at Shaya… they are the rising stars today.” To Shaya, he said “you took me in and you showed me how to cook in a way that makes people feel the pure joy of warm hospitality.”

He thanked his parents, who were in attendance, and his wife Meredith. “Six years ago on a trip to Israel, you fell in love with a nerdy know it all line cook with big dreams,” he said.

Engel wasn’t the only member of New Orleans’ Jewish community to be nominated. Neal Bodenheimer’s cocktail bar Cure, which he opened in 2009, was a finalist for Outstanding Bar Program, but the award went to another New Orleans institution — Arnaud’s French 75 Bar.

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June 2017 • Southern Jewish Life 29

Students at Jewish Community Day School in Metairie express thanks to GiveNOLA Day donors

Jewish groups see big GiveNOLA boost Federation repeats as top small-group fundraiser

More Southern

Life online at www.sjlmag.com

30 Southern Jewish Life • June 2017

A year after technical glitches nationwide put a damper on GiveNOLA Day, this year’s event went off without any issues, and many Jewish community agencies attracted significant donations.

GiveNOLA was a day for online giving, from midnight to midnight, on May 2. In all, GiveNOLA Day attracted 38,283 gifts to 710 organizations, bringing in $4,889,567. Last year, about $4 million was raised.

All participating organizations also receive an allocation from the Lagniappe Fund, proportionally based on the dollars each agency raised.

The top earner was the Ogden Museum of Southern Art, with $323,141 on 107 gifts. The highest number of individual gifts was Team Gleason, with 1,415 donors giving a total of $69,327.

The organizations with the most money raised gets a $10,000 bonus in both the large and small organization categories. Similar awards go to groups with the most individual donors. Bonuses are given through fifth place.

With a large final push the Federation has $121,676 on 156 gifts, with the highest take of any small organization and fifth overall. There were eight groups overall that were in six figures.

Among small organizations, the Federation was 16th in the number of gifts. For topping the small organizations in dollars raised, the Federation gets the $10,000 bonus.

The Federation, which raised $96.851 from 119 donors last year, emphasized “Small Gifts, Big Impact” and a goal of 150 donors.

Cait Gladow, director of marketing for the Federation, said “GiveNOLA Day provides an exciting format to engage both our current donors and potentially new donors as well. We tried to appeal to both this year in our messaging, and we particularly emphasized the impact of small gifts.

We’re thrilled at the response from our community, and look forward to GiveNOLA Day 2018.” GiveNOLA will be on May 1 in 2018.

Isidore Newman School had $49,240 on 79 gifts, just making the top 10 in dollars given and eighth among large organizations.

Most Jewish groups participating showed large increases, with Jewish Community Day School, Tulane Hillel and Jewish Family Service each at least tripling last year’s donations.

Jewish Community Day School increased to $15,736 on 91 gifts. Tulane Hillel had 75 donors giving $11,968, and Jewish Family Service took in $9,742 on 55 gifts.

Jewish Children’s Regional Service attracted $4,612 on 66 gifts, Jewish Endowment Foundation had 27 gifts for $4,156, the Anti-Defamation League took in $4,043 from 79 donors. Avodah had 39 gifts for $2,442, the National Council of Jewish Women’s Greater New Orleans Section had 35 donors for $1,529, Hadassah took in $711 from 21 gifts.

Northshore Jewish Congregation in Mandeville had 12 donors give $583, New Orleans Council for Community and Justice had five gifts for a total of $260, and Shir Chadash had $251 on 14 donations.

Four registered groups did not attract any donations, including a ministry that works to “make the good news of Jesus known to the Jewish people.”

The New Orleans Jewish Community Center, which has been working on a capital campaign for its Uptown expansion for the last 18 months, opted not to do GiveNOLA Day “so we can focus all fundraising efforts on finishing the capital campaign.”

real estate/home an annual SJL special section The Rosenstein garden in Metairie

Exterior Designs turns the outdoors into attractive living spaces Upon entering Cathy Green Rosenstein’s garden in Metairie, you cannot help but notice the vibrant colors that greet you. The eye is drawn to a large multi-trunk Savannah Holly tree and an elegant fountain used to anchor the space while setting the stage for a colorful garden that flanks the kitchen window. Intended to be enjoyed from inside the home as well as outside, the garden incorporates varying textures and heights, creating visual interest from both perspectives. Dwarf mondo grass provides a lush filler of dark green blades and is the perfect backdrop for the surrounding pink geraniums, blue salvias and sun-loving impatiens.

Beverly Katz left nothing to chance when her client, Rosenstein, presented her with the challenge to design something special for a rear yard that longed for character, yet needed to be functional. Katz listened carefully, as she does with all her clients, when Rosenstein specifically requested a space for entertaining company and a play area for the children.

Today, the praiseworthy garden addresses everything on Rosenstein’s wish list. Katz delivered an attractive space for entertaining, which also includes a stately custom built fireplace, brick paved courtyard and flamboyantly lush gardens throughout. The brick selected for the fireplace matches what was used on the house originally, blending seamlessly and appearing as if it has always been there.

A cedar fence was constructed to enlarge the rear yard and accommodate the play system. The fence also assists in screening the busy street, offering an escape from the city. On the inside of the fence, trees were strategically placed to provide shade where needed. Assorted crape myrtle varieties and Savannah hollies were selected for their propensity to

June 2017 • Southern Jewish Life 31

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32 Southern Jewish Life • June 2017

thrive in this region, and they did — withstanding high winds and surviving the trauma of Hurricane Katrina. Katz stresses the importance of tree selection, pointing out it is imperative to choose varieties recommended for stability and to endure the region’s weather patterns.

The homeowner wanted to include sasanquas, camellias, hibiscus and azaleas, along with colorful seasonal annuals. And there certainly is no shortage of color in this stimulating garden. Orange bromeliad plants provide an exotic touch and a hint of yellow in the sea of pink and purple of blooming chrysanthemums.

The homeowner especially enjoys the fountain placed outside the kitchen window that creates a therapeutic ambiance with the soothing sound of the water trickling down. Katz compares accents in the garden to accessorizing your outfit with jewelry. Careful thought of placement, shape, color and design of water features, furniture and containers personalize the space.

Pink impatiens hang in baskets and beautiful pots and planters on the cocktail table repeat elements found within the garden. Ivy dribbles at the base of the containers and over the fireplace mantle, drawing greenery off the ground and softening the look. “Just as jewelry makes you feel special, while tying together the overall appearance, art in a garden creates a similar feeling,” she says. “It is the finishing touch.”

Exterior Designs, the original New Orleans courtyard designer, is a full-service landscaping company offering design, construction, installation and project management for residential or commercial landscapes.

Need a new place to call home? Check out The Trails at Cahaba River.

The complex celebrated its relaunch in April, unveiling a restored trail system along the banks of the Little Cahaba River, part of its active lifestyle offerings.

Centrally located on Highway 280 south of Birmingham, The Trails at Cahaba River is near the Grandview Medical Center and The Summit.

The Trails at Cahaba River now boasts upgraded amenities including a renovated clubhouse designed to encourage informal group gatherings and resident meet-ups with a state-of-the-art fitness center and a coffee shop inspired lounge with a foosball table. The property’s two swimming pools now feature cozy fire pits, outdoor kitchens and fresh new furnishings.

The property’s 400 apartment homes are transformed into “Simply Modern” residences with sleek all-electric new kitchen and bathroom finishes, vaulted ceilings and walk-in closets, and smart touches like LED lighting, USB outlets and wood look plank flooring. The private patios and balconies are perfect for unwinding.

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Make downsizing an easy decision at Cahaba Ridge There’s a common perception that retirement is a relaxing time free from the worries of work and raising a family. “We see some seniors sail right into retirement and some who experience stress around the family move, especially as they research transitional living options. Money management, health issues, and the loss of friends and loved ones can also take their toll, which is why stress management remains an important goal throughout our lives,” said Cahaba Ridge Manager JR Jimenez.

Cahaba Ridge, a resort-style retirement community just south of Birmingham, opened to residents in April.

A good diet can also provide the nutrition a person needs to maintain overall health. Living in a community can improve the variety in a person’s diet.

Exercise goes hand-in-hand with nutrition as a major factor in maintaining good health. Senior communities can provide advantages here too, including indoor exercise spaces and safe, well-maintained equipment. “The best retirement community options include a 24-hour fitness center with a full schedule of resident-centric classes designed to improve balance, strength and cardiovascular health,” says Jimenez, who adds, “Great programs like ours offer classes where residents have such a good time they often forget they’re exercising!”

One significant lifestyle change for seniors is often downsizing. Homes of all sizes can be expensive to maintain, upkeep becomes more physically demanding, and staying in a home after the loss of a loved one can affect the lifestyle of a surviving spouse. “Independent Living Senior Communities should accommodate a resident’s need for safety, shelter and companionship, so families are relieved of financial and maintenance burdens, which

improves overall quality of life,” Jimenez says.

Ultimately, companionship and interaction with others are powerful tools in maintaining good health. “With so many entertaining options and our caring community staff on hand to help fill many social needs, Cahaba Ridge truly brings residents together,” says Jimenez. “We welcome companion animals and provide ample opportunities for friends and family to take part in activities. And when loved ones can’t be here, our around-the-clock staff knows every resident. We’re all about fun, which brings peace of mind to Residents and families!”

The luxurious Cahaba Ridge community is the home of happy residents who have the option to engage in a full schedule of activities, from painting classes, fitness events, shopping days and clubs, to live shows in a state-ofthe-art theater, and lunches around town.

The all-inclusive month-to-month rent brings residents the safety and security they need to relax and enjoy retirement living, where fresh chef-prepared dining choices bring everything from fine dining to a casual buffet, to room service.

When residents don’t feel like driving all over town to take care of daily business, Cahaba Ridge has an on-site hair salon, and general store with pharmacy services. The community also has scheduled transportation and 24/7 concierge services. Each apartment home is designed for convenience, comfort and includes a full kitchen, bathrooms with great lighting, and washer/dryer hookups. Maintenance and weekly housekeeping are provided by the professional staff.

June 2017 • Southern Jewish Life 33

real estate/home

Residential and Commercial Services

New Park35 close to the Southside action Park35 offers a wide range of choices for those looking to be near the action in the historic Forest Park area of Birmingham.

Newly opened in April on Clairmont Avenue, Park35 offers 271 one, two and three bedroom apartments across from the Highland Park golf course. It’s a short walk to shopping and the night life in Lakeview, and minutes to Five Points South and the University of Alabama at Birmingham — and not far from Beth-El, Emanu-El and the Levite Jewish Community Center.

All living areas have wood grain plank floors, quartz countertops and stainless steel appliances in gourmet kitchens. The apartments have 9-foot ceilings and walk-in closets, and many have generous balconies.

A luxury pool is perfect for parties or sunbathing, along with two outdoor kitchens, a fitness center, bike storage, a latte lounge, clubhouse and parking garage. A guest suite is also available for nightly rentals.

Parents at Birmingham’s N.E. Miles Jewish Day School thank the following for their generosity in helping make our teacher appreciation pop-ups so much fun this year: Institute of Southern Jewish Life Hibbett Sports Bud’s Best Cookies Aviate shopaviate.com Schaeffer Eye Center Zoe’s Kitchen Jim ‘N Nick’s Bar-B-Q APTV CJFS Vulcan Park & Museum Israel Bonds Baptist Health System Penzeys Spices WBHM The Pantry by Stone Hollow Farmstead Diversified UAB Health System Winn-Dixie IberiaBank Corporation O’Henry’s Coffee o Starbucks 32 A Yogurt Bar Birmingham Botanical Gardens 34 Southern Jewish Life • June 2017

Space, amenities abound at Retreat at Mtn. Brook Technology and nature commune as one at the Birmingham area’s upscale apartment living community, The Retreat at Mountain Brook, which offers everything from a community garden to resident coffee lounges equipped with Wi-Fi and nearby hiking trails, just up the hill from the Eastwood area.

The Retreat, which finished a major renovation in 2016, offers a plethora of modern amenities that include a community garden, three saltwater resort-style pools, two state-of-the-art fitness centers, two resident coffee lounge areas equipped with Wi-Fi, championship-modeled tennis courts and walking trails.

There is also a 6,500-sqaure-foot dog park and a new clubhouse. The apartments feature spacious living and dining rooms; open kitchens with stainless steel appliances; electric fireplaces, designer plank flooring; an entertaining/bar area; oversized balconies; sunrooms and terrace level apartment homes that have fenced-in yard spaces.

real estate/home

If your walls could talk, they’d thank you.

Hobie Hobart, Agent 1311 Decatur Highway Suite A Fultondale, AL 35068 Bus: 205-841-7485 hobie@myagenthobie.com

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by Lee J. Green

It all started in a Birmingham house in 1932, when a friend in the real estate business Ben Mazer was involved with asked him to tear down a house to make room for a new building.

Mazer demolished the house and salvaged the lumber, doors, windows and plumbing fixtures. In short work he sold these used materials to help support his family during the trying times of the Great Depression. He saw the opportunity to sell these items, along with items such as paint, drywall and nails, which could not be salvaged from wrecking.

Fast-forward to two years ago. In 2015, after a four-year hiatus, Ben’s grandson Michael opened Mazer Appliances in Avondale to provide appliance values for their friends in the Jewish community as well as the entire Birmingham area community.

For 85 years, the Mazers have sold products that have found their way into homes across the region. This is a story of business success, ingenuity, adaptation and most importantly, family tradition.

“At Mazer Appliance we specialize in product selection of all types of appliances, but the timeless part remains the same — best prices, best service with integrity. That’s what we’ve always done and that’s what the Mazer name is all about,” said Michael Mazer.

When Michael’s father, Ben’s son J.B., got out of the United States Air Force in 1956, he came to work in the family business.

J.B. would go on to run Mazer’s full-line salvage building supply operations in Avondale, called Mazer Lumber Company. He expanded the business to include closeouts and insurance salvage deals emphasizing homeowner and remodeler projects. For decades, Mazer’s was like a 12acre combination of Home Depot and Big Lots long before those companies were even created.

“We’d sell everything from furniture to building supplies to other hard goods, sporting goods, clothing, even food,” said JB Mazer. “We have been and always will be in the deal business. Every deal and types of products we got into initially seemed to set up its own business.”

Most were successful and continued for many years, especially furniture, building supplies and appliances. A few other ventures — including distressed carpets, wet blankets, Merle Norman cosmetics, prescription drugs and even damaged caskets — were quickly abandoned.

“Years ago we bought 30 caskets with minor damage for $10 each,” said J.B. Mazer. “When we called the funeral homes, they said they even if the caskets had the slightest blemish, they were unsellable.”

J.B.’s wife, Lynette, said that with both the failures and the successes, the family learned and the business adapted. “Sometimes you just need to try something to see if it will work and how people will respond,” she said. “We have great memories and stories about the things that didn’t work just as much as the things that did. It’s all great business and life experiences.”

But what has been most important is the people, the Mazers say — the customers and employees who have become their friends.

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ances were added to the Mazer housing products mix. A second superstore was purchased in Homewood and Mazer Discount Home Centers grew to be the largest independent furniture and appliance dealer in Central Alabama.

In 2011, though, the severe and prolonged housing recession led to the closing of the furniture and appliance campus in Homewood.

The Mazers focused on real estate for a few years but retained ownership of the Avondale land. Back in 1995, Mazer had started buying GE scratch-and-dent appliances, then selling them to customers at significant discounts.

Over the years, because of the good relationships with other companies Mazer forged along with savvy buying practices, the appliance business really expanded.

The Mazers felt that the best opportunity to move forward successfully with the Mazer name as it pertained to retail would be with appliances only.

“The technology has advanced so much and the demand is high for appliances,” said Michael. “We felt that this was the best way to go.”

The technology isn’t just in the appliances.

Mazer Appliance recently completed a significant expansion of its website at www.mazer. com. The extensive store catalogue online lets customers plug in the colors, functions, price parameters and other variables to find the right appliances for them. It also shows photos of the items along with descriptions of any damage.

“These are all high-functioning appliances,” said Michael. Mazer can sell at a significant discount due to the minor blemishes on some of the appliances and the competitive pricing for closeouts.

Added J.B., “For so many years people have come to trust the Mazer name and we don’t take that trust lightly. People know we will be friendly, honest and provide them with the best value on the products they need.”

Bid or consign art and furniture at Neal Auction Neal Auction Company in New Orleans will have its Summer Estates Auction on July 8 and 9. The fully-catalogued auction features property from a Southern museum collection, music boxes and clocks from the estate of Metairie’s Warren George, the estates of Milburn and Nancy Calhoun of Pelican Publishing in New Orleans, aesthetic furniture from a North Carolina antiquarian, Chinese jade from the estates of Maurice and Eunice Lion in Metairie, fine French furniture and decorative arts, and more.

Bidding may be executed in person or through absentee bids, telephone bids, submitted in writing or on-line. Neal Auction also offers live internet bidding.

real estate/home

Alterman Audio offers New Orleans sound advice

by Lee J. Green

Since 1973, Alterman Audio has offered sound (and video) advice to the New Orleans area.

But while the times as well as the products have changed and evolved, one thing remains true — Alterman Audio has vast experience on how to make customers feel they have made sound decisions on their home audio/video equipment.

“Getting the best sound and viewing experience hasn’t changed over the years,” said owner Henry Alterman, an involved member of the New Orleans area Jewish community. “Just because something is the most expensive it doesn’t mean it’s the best. I’ve sold products that were much less expensive than others and you can’t tell the difference. It’s about understanding what works best for someone’s home environment.”

Alterman is from the Miami area. In high school, he got into music, but instead of buying 45s, he used a tape recorder to record songs off the radio. Better speakers and amps made the music sound better.

He attended an experimental public high school with all kinds of high tech, like video production capabilities in every room. To pursue his interests in audio and video he ended up at Tulane University with a major in electrical engineering. But, “that was all math,” so he ended up with a degree in biology because of his other hobby, herpetology.

All the way back in high school at Nova in Ft. Lauderdale, Alterman started taking a keen interest in music and sound. In high school and college he would advise people on what products to buy and where to put the equipment to get the best sound reproduction.

At Tulane, someone in the dorm would be about to buy some speakers and he would offer his “two cents.” Others came and to ask for his sound advice. He found out how to buy equipment wholesale and started selling, not just offering advice. He 1973, he opened Alterman Audio right down the block from Tulane in an old barber shop and paid rent of $75 a month.

“It has been successful since we didn’t just sell, we explain,” he said. “We want to train people on how to notice good sound and the little things we can do to make a big difference. Eighty percent of people who come here thank me for the education.”

Back when the store started up, it was all record players. Alterman Audio was the place to go to learn about new technology. Alterman Audio introduced the Betamax, the CD player, the DVD, high definition and Blu rays, and they had the first camcorder too. Today the new thing is 4K television and high resolution computer music.

How does Alterman compete against the big box stores? For starters, if Alterman sells the same product as Best Buy, the price is the same.

Alterman Audio has better products, some not available anywhere else in the state.

Alterman or his people explain complex technology in easy to understand plain English. They know the differences between models, and the pros and cons of various brands, not just those Alterman sells. When it comes to installation and running of wires, and cutting holes in walls, Alterman’s right hand man is in charge and has been there over 30 years.

Muhammed Ali proclaimed in a 1978 TV commercial, Henry Alterman was “the greatest in your area.”

I am here to help families find the home of their dreams in the Birmingham area, or make downsizing an easy process http://bridgetsikora.realtysouth.com (205) 910-0594 bsikora@realtysouth.com

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June 2017 • Southern Jewish Life 37

real estate/home

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Those who need anything with wood — from cutting boards to cabinets to countertops to furniture — would be wise to consult with NOLA Boards and New Orleans Woodworking.

“If it’s wood, we can make it,” said Mandy Simpson, who co-owns the businesses with her master carpenter husband, Daren Sumrow. “We can do custom orders with the cutting boards and the ones we have on display have tributes to New Orleans culture and history. Plus, we can make anything from wood for a home, business or Jewish institution.”

Their boards can be seen at the store on Magazine Street as well as a few other New Orleans gift shops.

Simpson has a Master’s degree in social work and had been working with heart transplant patients at Ochsner for 7 years before shifting careers to help Sumrow with the woodworking business in 2014.

Sumrow said he grew up helping in his father’s business, working on decks and with his mom on her crafts business.

“It was definitely something I was a part of growing up and I really loved to help, build and create with wood,” said Sumrow. “When I was 14 years old I made crafts out of wood to sell and sold all of them. I knew then what I wanted to do.”

He served in Desert Storm and Desert Shield with the U.S. Navy, and after he got out of the service, he moved to New Orleans. Just more than five years ago Daren met Mandy and the two were married not long after.

Sumrow contracted with local businesses, such as the New Orleans Audubon Zoo and others, to build what they needed. Through working with restaurants, they were inspired to come up with the idea for NOLA Boards by repurposing the leftover wood from larger jobs.

“New Orleans is such a cooking town. Everyone needs a cutting board and we wanted to make ones with a New Orleans flavor,” said Simpson.

So in the fall of 2015, they started making and selling the boards. The Food Network’s Rachael Ray found out about NOLA Boards and made them one of her top holiday gift recommendations. “We were overwhelmed by the positive support and sales were tremendous. We could barely keep up with demand.”

Seeing that they had carved a niche and interest was strong, they opened up the NOLA Boards store on Magazine Street in March 2016.

They soon realized that they needed more production space, so they found a 5,000-square-foot warehouse in the Bywater to house all of the production for NOLA Boards and New Orleans Woodworking. They plan to continue to add to it, including a special showroom.

Sumrow said they source their wood locally and “we can do anything someone wants.” Simpson noted they have done a few cutting boards shaped as a Star of David. Currently they are also working on a big project to provide cabinetry and display casing for Touro Synagogue’s museum.

Simpson said people seem to be seeking butcher block countertops more than granite today. Clients also want to use reclaimed wood more for their counter top and cabinetry project needs.

Theysaid it’s important to them to give back to the community and offer opportunities to those who might be disadvantaged but seek a vocation.

“We’ve hired some at-risk youth and we mentor kids. We give them skills that can help them master an important trade,” said Sumrow. “We start them out on cutting boards, which is a good entry into the bigger, more difficult woodworking projects. When they make a nice cutting board, it’s immediate gratification. They can see and hold what they made.”

real estate/home

ARC Realty thrives through expertise in niche markets

by Lee J. Green The arc de triumph for ARC Realty and some of its agents has been achieved through strategic partnerships, market niches and knowing what buyers and sellers seek.

One of the Birmingham area company’s more successful teams is married couple Vicki and Robert Warner. Vicki had served as a teacher and interior designer before going until real estate and joining ARC a few years ago.

Her husband has a job in corporate sales management while helping Vicki on the side but decided to join ARC and partner with her full time more recently.

“There is momentum in home sales right now and positive things happening in Birmingham, so the time felt right,” said Robert, who grew up on a farm. “Seeing a piece of dirt evolve from an empty field into a thriving neighborhood never gets dull.”

Adds Vicki, “I love every aspect of this business. The school teacher in me loves working with the first-time home buyers, educating them on how to approach the process,” she said. “The decorator in me loves helping someone visualize the potential of a home.”

The two credit the resources afforded by ARC Realty and their enjoyment of working together as keys to their successes. Vicki said, “for the client it’s two for the price of one. We can always be available to our clients. We both bring different strengths to the table. We feel we can accomplish twice as much being a team.”

Leda Mims and Joanna Ellard echo that sentiment. Leda brings more than 25 years of real estate experience and Joanna five years in their ARC Realty business partnership.

“She is very organized and I am the talker,” said Mims. Adds Ellard of their friendship and partnering together, “we complement each other very well. It’s almost like a good marriage.”

Mims said the two have found niche and good business from lining up buyers and sellers for properties on central Alabama lakes — most notably Smith Lake and Martin Lake.

“Birmingham was a big beach town and a lot of people would travel to the Gulf. Now you are seeing the lake properties becoming more popular. It’s a much shorter drive than the beaches so you can go more often to enjoy,” said Ellard.

Both she and Mims took that advice and bought second properties on Smith Lake. “We’re seeing a trend of people downsizing a bit on their first home to get a second home on the lake,” said Mims. “And unlike being on the coast, you don’t have to worry about getting hurricane insurance.”

She added that those properties are great investments and the rental market on the lakes is on the rise as well.

Ellard said that some more commercial developments are coming up within driving distances of the lakes. “People can get everything they need for a short stay or long term, while still having the serenity of being in a beautiful, uncongested area.”

ARC Realty Agent Jay Humphries, an involved member of the Birmingham area Jewish community, said he has found a niche focusing on the strong and on the rise commercial real estate market in the area.

See a cool summer with Vision HVAC

by Lee J. Green For those searching for heating and cooling solutions in central Alabama, the answer is clear to see — Vision Heating and Air. A locally-owned authorized Bryant dealer, Vision can provide and service units of all kinds.

“Energy efficiency has come a long way, especially in the past 15 years or so,” said Vision owner Tim Bowie. “The efficiency minimums required have increased a few times. Units way back then were built for just a room. They expended a lot more energy. These days the enhanced focus is on comfort and energy savings — you can have both.”

Bowie said the minimum Seasonal Equipment Efficiency Rating went from eight to 14. With a new unit on a 3,500-square-foot house, the average savings per month could be as much as $75, he said, depending on the home’s age, duct system and insulation. “It doesn’t take long for even a topof-the-line new system to pay for itself,” added Bowie.

To keep heating and cooling units running as efficiently as possible, he recommended a consistent maintenance plan of at least two times a year plus changing the filters on a regular basis.

“Systems are made differently, but I would say that once a system is 10 years old it might be time to start considering a new unit,” said Bowie.

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Floor Coverings Int’l has it covered

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For those who need any type of flooring or carpeting in central Alabama, the sky is the limit at Floor Coverings International.

Owner Lindsay Murphy said the fact that they are a locally owned and operated franchise of a large national company, they can offer customers the best of both worlds.

“We can be hands-on and come out to their home to offer free consultations and we have the resources of a national company to get any type of flooring people want at competitive rates since we buy directly from the manufacturers,” said Murphy.

Floor Coverings supplies and installs all types of flooring, including carpet, tile, hardwood, plank, luxury vinyl, waterproof laminate, bamboo, wool and even customized area rugs featuring all the known brands.

Murphy said in Alabama the most popular style would be the wood look.

But due to the humidity, people are seeking flooring that looks like hardwood but is waterproof, easier to clean and less expensive.

“These floors have a very realistic wood look but they are better options than wood especially in places such as basements, where water and moisture can get in more easily,” she said. “Plus these floors aren’t as prone to staining as wood and are easier to maintain.”

As for color trends, she said that more customers tend to go with something “really dark or really light.”

Murphy and all of her Floor Coverings International salespeople are experienced design associates who go through extensive training with the company and the manufacturers.

“We ask our customers the questions and then can do a needs assessment to best determine what flooring will work best for them along with what best matches their style preferences,” she said.

Here to stay 30A Realty sees more permanent residents along Florida Gulf coast

by Lee J. Green 30A Realty offers more than 30 years of real estate experience in the Florida Gulf Coast area and co-owner Alice Forrester said they are happy to help people learn more about the Emerald Coast area.

“We have been here through the good times and the bad times,” she said.

“We’re knowledgeable about the real estate market and this area. Because we’re a smaller company with a lot of experience we’re very friendly and helpful every step of the process — from telling people about the schools to good restaurants in an area.”

Forrester she said more people today are seeking new homes and developments for their first or second home in the area. Although it is still a strong seller’s market, she said the supply continues to increase with new housing developments and condominium projects.

“Before it seemed the trend was to live right in the heart of Seagrove,” she said. “Now people are heading to the west end or the east end of 30A. They are branching out. New commercial developments are coming up and people are moving to these currently less populated areas to be close to these desirable restaurants and shops.”

A majority of the sales still involve investment properties and second homes, said Forrester, but the numbers of permanent residents buying a home in the area are on the rise. “We’ve seen a few new schools open up in the area over the past few years so that’s a good sign that people are moving to the area.”

She added that some of the best deals for buyers can be had a few blocks or so from the beach. “You can get a lot of value. You might not have the oceanfront views, but they are in close proximity.”

real estate/home Brian Shepard following in real estate footsteps and finding good value

by Lee J. Green

Brian Shepard, a real estate agent with Engel and Volkers, grew up in the New Orleans Jewish community with an involved family — both in the community and real estate.

So it was a natural that Shepard would follow in their footsteps and make some strong impressions of his own.

“My uncle is a past president of the board at Touro Synagogue and our family has also been involved in leadership roles with Jewish Family Service,” said Shepard. “As far as real estate, my dad owned, fixed up and leased several investment properties, so I grew up in it. It’s in my blood.”

Ever since Katrina, home prices in several areas around New Orleans “have skyrocketed.” It’s a seller’s market so the challenge is finding the best deal on the right-fit place in a good neighborhood for his clients seeking to buy.

“The good thing is that interest rates are still low and we have some excellent technologies to work with us such as MLS,” he said. “Plus I am a New Orleans native and Jewish community member. That allows me to better help to find them the right place in the part of town they want to be in.”

He said there is limited new construction, with much of that being in Uptown. Shepard is seeing a lot of multi-family properties being purchased where the purchaser lives on one side and rents out the other side of the duplex.

Despite the increasing home costs, Shepard said he has found good value for clients even in high-demand areas of Uptown or Metairie.

“The good thing about New Orleans is that it is not so spread out like some larger cities and traffic is usually manageable, so you can get from just about any spot to another in less than 30 minutes,” added Shepard.

As times change, GTAuctions creates wealth for savvy real estate owners A 20-minute meeting can make all the difference for the investor who has properties that are “about to be invisible real estate to the future generations.”

Jack Granger, auctioneer at Granger, Thagard Auctioneers in Birmingham, notes that certain types of real estate are obsolete, because the demand for them is not there among coming generations — its time has come and gone. “The demand factor is leaving or has left the room” and it makes as much sense as investing in more buggy whip stock.

Granger said owning certain types of real estate will not be as important to the next generation, but “practically all” of that type is owned by aging baby boomers.

“The days of looking at most land, commercial sites/office buildings and large, over-the-top residences with ‘dad’s glasses’ is now over… or it’s getting close,” Granger said. “Leaving it to the kids is problematic,” and many wealth advisors are starting to realize this.

Real estate was the rising tide that raised middle class to wealthy, but the middle class is now smaller with less money. Buying extra real estate and managing it because of need or ability to purchase is on a crash diet.

For investors, knowing when to go liquid and have a bidding war when doing so is a dream scenario. That is what Granger, Thagard does — in a 20-minute meeting, they can explain how to convert stagnant holdings into cash and other income producing products. And because they are auctioneers and not real estate agents, they don’t charge the owners for earnings.

“I will guarantee that one spouse in a ‘client couple’ already knows this is needed,” Granger said.

June 2017 • Southern Jewish Life 41

Above: David Ben-Gurion, played by 2nd grader Jeremy Dvorin, proudly reads Israel’s Declaration of Independence. Middle, Joan Berenson and Rachelle Stein view the museum. Right, JCDS’ Yom Ha’atzmaut Celebration included a Family Artifiact Israel Museum filled with treasures and their stories on loan from members of the Jewish community.

On May 2, Jewish Community Day School in Metairie celebrated Grandparents’ and Special Friends’ Day and Yom Ha’atzmaut. Over 100 members of the community were in attendance.

Guests watched the dramatic re-enactment of the 1947 United Nations vote leading to the recognition of the State of Israel. Children dressed in costumes representing countries of the world and, one by one, cast their vote-“yes, no, abstain”. Votes were tallied and David Ben-Gurion, played

by Jeremy Dvorin, JCDS 2nd grader, shouted, “T’chi Hamedina Hayehudit! Long live the Hebrew state!” The crowd was invited to dance the Hora with the children, now wearing Star of David t-shirts, and everyone finished with singing the Hatikvah.

Attendees then took a self-guided tour through the Family Artifact Israel Museum of items loaned by members of the New Orleans Jewish community. Pictures, Judaica, ancient artifacts, sculptures and jewelry all had a story to tell. A popular Israeli feast followed, with eggplant salad and falafel from Casablanca restaurant in Metairie.

Attendees included Lisa Romano and Vincent Giardina, Trustees of the Oscar J. Tolmas Charitable Trust. During the celebration, Sharon Pollin, Oscar J. Tolmas Head of School Chair, presented the trustees with a plaque. The tribute piece created by artist Harry Rosenthal will be hung in the JCDS Main Hall. It reads, “Honoring the Memory of Oscar J. Tolmas, ‘The world is fruitful because my ancestors planted for me. Likewise, I plant for the children’.”

Learning about Israeli Independence At Torah Academy in Metairie, Israel spirit week began with a Skype session with a soldier in Israel (left). Tamar Aharon, who has almost completed naval training, shared how she wakes up before the sun rises and how the day proceeds to her classes and exercises. She also told the students that they can protect the land of Israel through the Torah and Mitzvot that they do.

Israel Spirit week continued on Yom Hazikaron, May 1, a special day to commemorate the soldiers who fell while protecting our Holy Land. The students prepared packages to send to Israeli lone soldiers through the organization Chayal El Chayal that provides support to Americans in the Israeli army.

The eighth grade leadership program prepared a well-organized and engaging carnival in honor of Israel Independence Day on May 2. The booths included a bingo game, freshly squeezed orange juice and the opportunity to add a Mitzvah to the Mitzvah tree to help our brothers and sisters in Israel.

The children enjoyed an Israeli lunch complete with Israeli salad and falafel from Casablanca and homemade hummus.

42 Southern Jewish Life • June 2017

New officers installed at NCJW closing event The New Orleans Section of the National Council of Jewish Women witnessed the changing of the guard at the installation dinner and closing event on May 11.

Outgoing President Susan Kierr was honored for her service as the head of NCJW over the past two years while Barbara Kaplinsky was newly sworn in as the next NCJW president.

Vice President and Chairman of the Nominating Committee Barbara Greenberg announced, and NCJW Matriarch Joan Berenson installed, the NCJW slate of officers and directors.

In installing Kaplinsky as the new president, Berenson said that she is “stepping up at the right time.”

“Barbara has a strong mind, tremendous organizational and management skills, she said.

Photo by Linda Friedman

“She has proven that she can ‘multi- multi-task’ and is a fabulous fundraiser.”

She quoted Walter Isaacson, who said that “In these disruptive times all of our work is set for us.” She continued, “We really need new, active members. I hope all of you will not only be ambassadors but also magnets for NCJW.” Keynote speaker Karla Loeb, director of policy and government for Posigen, spoke on ‘Alternative Energy in Louisiana.”

Loeb said sustainable energy and environmental protection is a dire challenge. “We all need to be more acutely aware of the important work we have before us if we want a safe and vibrant environment for the next generation,” Loeb said.

Elected to the position of vice presidents for a two year term were Rollie Rabin and Cole Tro-

sclair. Sarah Covert will serve as vice president to fill a one year unexpired term. Also elected to a two year term was Kathy Shepard, treasurer; Tricia Kirschman, assistant treasurer, Jennette Ginsberg, financial secretary; Fran Dinehart, recording secretary; and Susan Kierr, ex-officio past president.

Board members elected for a two year term are Patty Barnett, Maddie Fireman, Robin Giarrusso, Robin Goldblum, Jenny Nathan, Katie Single and Eileen Wallen. Dana Keren was elected to fill a one year unexpired term.

Continuing through 2018 are Vice Presidents Michelle Erenberg, Barbara Greenberg and Susie Jernigan and Board Members Jody Portnoff Braunig, Millie Kohn, Simone Levine and Emilie Tenenbaum. Rachelle Stein will continue as corresponding secretary.

Photo courtesy Israel GPO/Amos Ben Gershom

Senator Bill Cassidy and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Jerusalem, 2015

Senator Cassidy to speak at Beth Israel on June 16 Senator Bill Cassidy will be the guest speaker at Beth Israel in Metairie after Shabbat services on June 16, discussing “Israel and the Changing Middle East.”

Cassidy became a Louisiana state senator in 2006, succeeding Jay Dardenne when Dardenne became secretary of state. In 2008 he was elected to the U.S. House, and in 2014 defeated incumbent Mary Landrieu for the Senate seat.

In 2015 he traveled to Israel and met with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, to express “my strong support for the nation of Israel.

We share a common goal for peace in the region and a desire to stop Iran from continuing to develop its nuclear program.”

Services will be at 7 p.m., followed by dinner at 8 p.m. Dinner reservations are $18 for adults, $9 per child for members, $25 and $18 for non-members, children 5 and under are free.

Reservations can be made to the Beth Israel office.

June 2017 • Southern Jewish Life 43

community From Temple Sinai teacher to rabbi

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

Southern Jewish Life

For the last four years, New York native Rebecca Lederkramer has taught religious school at Temple Sinai in New Orleans while attending Tulane.

Now that she has graduated, she is continuing her studies — at Hebrew Union College – Jewish Institute of Religion’s rabbinic program.

It isn’t something she has always contemplated, she said. “It’s sort of a product of the last three years.”

She found it difficult to adjust to college life, but “finding myself grounded in a Jewish community and having familiar traditions and prayers, people with similar values who understood that… was really a grounding force and a guiding force for me in difficult times.”

Lederkramer added that she enjoyed having a leadership role in the community “and decided that it was important to me that I continue that.”

Over the last few months, she has seen Judaism at a “really pivotal point” with “a lot of people invoking Judaism in different ways, and in a political climate that I haven’t really seen before.”

That will undoubtedly change during her next six years of study, she said, but “it’s a really interesting time for where Jewish leadership stands and what the role of Jewish communities are.”

She has seen the changing narrative among the generations, going from being a camper to a teacher. “The meaning of what it means to be a Jew and an American citizen is shifting, and that’s a really exciting thing to be a part of.”

She also was able to see, in the hours she spent each week with the eight grade at Temple Sinai, “the role that teachers can have in helping to guide students in informing their Jewish identity and their Jewish practice — I think it’s really powerful.”

JCRS starts taking Chanukah gift program applications Every year, JCRS looks forward to brightening the Hanukkah celebrations of families where parents have indicated to JCRS that they can use help in providing gifts for their children.

Summer may be starting, but it is time for the Jewish Children’s Regional Service Oscar J. Tolmas Chanukah Gift Program to take registrations for this year.

The program provides boxes of gender and age-appropriate gifts to the homes of Jewish youth during Chanukah, where parents have indicated that they need help in providing gifts.

According to the New Orleans-based agency, some of these children are recovering from natural disasters, some have special needs and some are new immigrants. They may have parents who are deceased, disabled, in prison, or deployed overseas. Almost all come from families who are struggling to stay afloat.

Each child in a recipient family is eligible to receive a set of eight small gifts, one for each night. Recipient families must live in Alabama, Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Oklahoma, Tennessee or Texas. A registration form, available through jcrs.org, is required for each child.

New Orleans area families will pick up their boxes at the JCRS office in Metairie. Dallas families will pick up their gift packages at a place and time to be determined. Boxes will be mailed to families in other areas.

Gift cards will be added to gift packages but are limited in number and might not be available for those families who apply after June 30.

44 Southern Jewish Life • June 2017

Continued from page 46

so Noah?

Regardless, Abraham wasn’t there in the rest of the Torah but is mentioned often. Moses is never mentioned in the first book.

It’s actually very simple. Moses had a better agent.

Because comedy works in threes, and the Torah has funny moments, a third nom de voyage for the Torah has been The Law of Moses.

Sounds less familiar than the others? Ironically, it’s the most authentic.

As early as the book of Joshua, the first J.J. Abrams sequel to the Torah, Joshua refers to what came before as “Torat Moshe” — the Torah of Moses, or the Law of Moses.

Of course, there’s a contemporary name for the Torah, popularized by b’nai mitzvah students: homework. But that’s better than calling their Haftarah a half-Torah. There’s no profit in that.

Doug Brook just directed the musical [title of show] — yes, that’s its name — which references, among many other obscurities, the 1950s Broadway musical comedy revue “Bagels and Yox.” To read past columns, visit http://brookwrite.com/. For exclusive online content, like facebook.com/ rearpewmirror.

Groners to direct Chabad Hebrew School The Chabad Jewish Center in Metairie announced that Rabbi Zalman and Libby Groner will be moving to New Orleans, with their daughter Mushka, to direct activities and programs for youth and teens during the coming year. They will also be directing Chabad Hebrew School.

Groner completed his rabbinical studies at Rabbinical College of America in New Jersey. He studied in various Yeshivot and has a degree in Talmud and Jewish law. Since his teens, he has been involved in Jewish outreach and youth activities in Michigan, New York, Peru, Ukraine and Australia.

Mrs. Groner, a New Orleans native, is excited to be returning home.

She attended Torah Academy in Metairie and graduated from Beth Rivkah High School in New York. She also completed Machon Shoshana Institute for advanced Jewish studies in Jerusalem.

She directed many local Chabad youth activities from 2013 to 2015.

She also had an active role in Jewish programming in Ohio, Maryland, Canada and New York, where she has been a preschool teacher the past two years.

Rabbi Yossie Nemes said “We look forward to Zalman and Libby, who will be moving here in early June, running and expanding our existing youth programs, with fresh initiative and vigor.”

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June 2017 • Southern Jewish Life 45

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[title of Torah] Some observers believe that the 21st Century is the Age of Entitlement.

Not that it should be, or that it’s good to be, but that it is.

The Jewish people are known as The Chosen People, originally because all the characters in Chaim Potok’s “The Chosen” are Jewish. Now more than ever, it’s important to remember — as nearly several people still do in this day and age — that there’s a subtle difference between “chosen” and “entitled.” More than just the spelling.

Instead of delving into a scathing assessment of modern society or contemporary bar mitzvah parties, exploration of a more fundamental aspect of “entitlement” at the very core of Judaism is what this column chooses to indulge. It’s entitled.

As Christopher Marlowe once wrote, under his more famous nom de plume, “what’s in a title?”

This begs the question, whether that which we call a Torah, by any other title, would scroll as sweet. The Torah is known by many titles that have confounded handfuls of individuals for nearly five paragraphs of this column.

The Torah is the first five books of the Bible, no matter which bible one subscribes to. Those five books are Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy — names which in no way resemble their original Hebrew names. But that’s a column for another day.

The Torah is not the Bible. Just the beginning of it. For centuries, scholars and laymen alike have debated whether that makes the Torah seem shorter, or the entire Bible seem longer. Rabbi A TORAH BY Akiva once debated this with his students. They came to no conclusion, until they realized that ANY OTHER their long debate had ended but that day’s Torah reading was still going.

NAME STILL The Torah is sometimes referred to as the PenSCROLLS AS tateuch, a Greek word that means “pent up teuch.”

SWEET What a “teuch” is has been lost to history, though some congregants sitting through a full double-parshah reading believe it means “hunger.”

Of course, “penta-“ is a prefix meaning “five,” best known from The Pentagon, whose name comes from its DEFCON levels: five before we’re gone.

Another Greek translation is “five books” or “five scrolls.” Nobody knows why the Greek name carried forward, any more than anyone knows how to pronounce it.

What is the correct pronunciation of Pentateuch? There isn’t one. It seems like the final “ch” should be the typical Hebrew throat-clearing sound. But it isn’t. Pronouncing it like “ck” sounds like a production of “Fiddler on the Roof ” where everyone sings “l’Kayim.” Pronouncing it like a soft “ch” sounds like “tush,” which is just wrong according to one rabbi who chided a columnist for it. Multiple times.

The Torah is also referred to as The Five Books of Moses. Going in, this can seem accurate. There are five books and (spoiler alert:) a lot of it is about Moses.

But when someone sits down to read the Five Books, two things can be said. One, they’re avoiding cleaning the garage. Two, there’s no Moses in the entire first book. What gives?

Isn’t the story of the Jewish people the story of its patriarch, Abraham?

Then again, wasn’t Adam supposed to be the originator? That didn’t work, continued on previous page

46 Southern Jewish Life • June 2017

B’nai Israel holds Art and Soul gala Top right, Lynn Weill, Louann Bombet, Jill Roby Pike, Cathy Duplechin, Linda Dubois, Maia Jalenak and Dani Kaplan were among the organizers of Art & Soul, the biennial fundraiser for Congregation B’nai Israel in Baton Rouge. The April 27 event offered wine, hors d’oeuvres and signature cocktails, along with live jazz.

A silent auction featured more than 125 items, including artwork, trips, merchandise and gift certificates, as well as a framed and autographed Shaquille O’Neal jersey. Hors d’oeuvres were prepared by Chef William Wells and Jennifer Wells with Culinary Productions.

Starring role sponsors were Lipsey’s and the Abraham family. Numerous additional sponsors supported the auction and event, which benefits the congregation’s youth educational programs.

Been through many rabbis: Temple Sinai Gala honors Bartons On May 13, Temple Sinai held its annual gala, presented this year in honor of Herbert and Sue Barton for their more than 50 years of service to Temple Sinai. Herbert is Executive Director Emeritus of Temple Sinai, and Sue is a Sisterhood member and former Temple Sinai president.

A cocktail party for gala patrons and underwriters, with hors d’oeuvres from Ruth’s Chris and Galatoire’s, opened the evening. The formal program began with welcoming remarks from then-President Bob Brickman, the first of many to thank the Bartons for their dedication to Temple Sinai. Senior Rabbi Matthew Reimer gave the opening prayer and blessing.

Dinner for the almost 200 guests was served courtesy of Rommel’s Catering. Cakes donated by Antoine’s Bakery, Dickie Brennan’s Steakhouse, Dorignac’s Food Center, Haydel’s Bakery, Maurice French Pastries, Maple Street Patisserie, Melanie Blitz Catering, Melissa’s Fine Pastries, Omni Royal Orleans, Robert Fresh Market, Royal Cakery, and Windsor Court Hotel were spread out among the tables and allowed guests to mingle as they sampled the different flavors.

Cantor Colman of Temple Sinai and Cantorial Soloist Victoria May of Congregation Gates of Prayer, with Marcus St. Julien on piano, provided the evening’s entertainment. Raffles for a Roberto Coin gold and diamond ring and an Ida Kohlmeyer serigraph print proved to be amusing as well when President Brickman and Herbert Barton were announced as the winners.

“I must say that Temple Sinai has been not only a major part of my life, but a most important part,” said Herbert. “I have been blessed to have worked with Rabbi Feibelman, Rabbi Blackman, both of blessed

memory, with Rabbi Cohn, and now, for almost a year, Rabbi Reimer.

Of course, there were several other rabbis along the way,” Herbert said to the laughter of the crowd.

Herbert and Sue were joined by their children Barbara, Chip, Rozanne, Sherry, and Gus.

June 2017 • Southern Jewish Life 47

48 Southern Jewish Life • June 2017