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Avoiding Rosh Hashanah schedule conflicts in Birmingham

Mountain Brook football game, major Museum of Art program shifted to avoid the holy day

With Rosh Hashanah approaching and starting on a Friday night this year, schedule conflicts are inevitable. Birmingham’s Jewish Community Relations Council noted that two big conflicts have been averted, thanks to the responsiveness of the groups involved when the JCRC sent out a reminder about holiday schedules.

In the South, Friday night means high school football. But for Rosh Hashanah this year, Mountain Brook has rescheduled its game for Thursday night, Sept. 14, at Woodlawn. Mountain Brook has by far the highest number of Jewish students in the state, though the proportion in the student body is probably no more than 10 percent.

Amanda Hood, director of student services at Mountain Brook High School, said they would have a meeting with the new athletic director on how to routinely work around significant holiday dates in the community.

“This was a direct result of our JCRC’s strong relationship with Mountain Brook Schools,” said JCRC Director Joyce Shevin. “This is a terrific accommodation, and we are so pleased at how quickly this change was made.”

Another schedule change came from the Birmingham Museum of Art, which is planning a major event connected to the 60th anniversary of the bombing of 16th Street Baptist Church. The attack, which killed four girls, happened on Sept. 15, 1963.

From Sept. 8 to Dec. 2, the museum will show photographer Dawoud Bey’s “Birmingham Project,” symbolically commemorating the four girls, and two boys who were killed later that day during the violence after the bombing. Bey photographed girls, women, boys, and men who currently reside in Birmingham. The subjects represent the ages of the young vic- tims at the time of their deaths, and the ages they would be were they alive today.

The exhibit also includes a video he assembled of a typical Sunday morning in Birmingham.

The museum invited Bey to give their annual Chenoweth Lecture, in conversation with Birmingham native Imani Perry of Princeton University. Figuring that most major events commemorating the bombing would be on Sept. 15, they originally planned for Sept. 14, the night before Rosh Hashanah.

Museum CEO Graham Boettcher explained that “as it turns out, other people had the same thought,” and the church itself was hosting a Sept. 14 event with Princeton Professor Eddie Glaude. The museum was considering moving its event to Sept. 15, but then the email reminder from the JCRC about the High Holy Days schedule came in “at a critical moment” during the rescheduling discussions, and “I’m happy to report that our Chenoweth Lecture with Dawoud Bey and Imani Perry will take place on the evening of Wednesday, Sept. 13.”

Boettcher shared the JCRC email with colleagues and added the holiday dates to the museum calendar to make sure they are aware for future years. Generally, JCRC distributes calendars that have Jewish holiday dates going three years in advance. For schools in particular, this is to help raise awareness and make it easier when Jewish students request days off for holiday observances. This year, most holidays are Saturday-Sunday, and of the seven traditional work-restricted days, only Yom Kippur falls on a weekday, on Sept. 25.

Southern Jewish Life receives three Rockower Awards at AJPA convention

Co-hosted national event in New Orleans with Crescent City Jewish News

Southern Jewish Life magazine once again picked up multiple awards in the 42nd annual Simon J. Rockower Awards for Excellence in Jewish Journalism.

The regional publication with offices in Birmingham and New Orleans received three awards in what is regarded as the “Jewish Pulitzers.” The Rockowers were presented on July 11 at the American Jewish Press Association annual convention in New Orleans, and this year the Rockowers set a new record for most entries.

Southern Jewish Life received first place in Excellence for Writing About Sports for “From the Plains to the Promised Land: Auburn Basketball in Israel,” coverage of the Auburn university basketball team’s groundbreaking trip to Israel in August 2022. The coverage was written by editor Larry Brook.

Richard Friedman won second place in Excellence for Writing About Health Care for “Fighting for their Lives,” his profile of Morissa Ladinsky, co-leader of the University of Alabama at Birmingham’s Youth Multidisciplinary Gender Health Team, where she is challenging new Alabama laws restricting treatment of youth who have gender dysphoria. The piece also had a sidebar with the experiences of a transgender male who grew up in a very small Southern Jewish community.

SJL also received second place among all publications for Excellence in Editorial Writing, for “You are the enemy,” about the lack of outrage when an official with a Muslim self-described civil rights organization referred to most American Jews and mainstream Jewish organizations as “the enemy”; “Say goodbye to the Presbyterian Church (USA),” about how the Jewish community should shun the church because its obsessive anti-Israel activism has crossed the line into overt antisemitism, and “Now what, ADL?” for its admission that its longtime No Place for Hate curriculum for schools had veered off a mainstream path and became “mis-aligned” with ADL’s values, seemingly confirming accusations of critics in Mountain Brook schools the previous year.

As a magazine, for most categories Southern Jewish Life competes in a division with monthly newspapers and magazines, many of which are national in scope, such as Moment, Hadassah, Lilith and the Orthodox Union’s Jewish Action. The editorial award was combined into one division with all publications, including weeklies, wire services and online sites.

El Al expands Florida flights to Israel

Less than a year after El Al Airlines moved its U.S. headquarters from New York to Florida, the airline is expanding its offerings in the region.

More than 100,000 people flew El Al’s Miami to Tel Aviv route in 2022, which the airline said highlighted a need for more flights in Florida. This spring, El Al increased its weekly flights from Miami International Airport to Ben-Gurion International Airport from five to six.

In September, El Al plans to debut direct flights from Fort Lauderdale to Israel, at first seasonally around the High Holidays in midand late September, and Sukkot, late September into October. By the spring of 2024, El Al intends to have daily service to Israel from the Fort Lauderdale airport.

Mayor of Broward County Lamar Fisher stated that the new El Al service “will help to boost business, tourism and trade opportunities between the Middle East and Broward County.”

Gates of Prayer Brotherhood gets national honors

The Brotherhood from Gates of Prayer in Metairie received two awards during the Men of Reform Judaism’s 100th Anniversary convention in June, held at Temple Beth El in Providence, R.I. The chapter was recognized for Outstanding Social/Interfaith Programs and for Outstanding Service to the Temple Community. Both awards were for Brotherhood’s involvement in the Thanksgiving Interfaith Service with St. Clement of Rome. John Shalett, a past president of the Men of Reform Judaism, and Mike Fein, a member of the MRJ Executive Council, accepted the awards on behalf of the Gates of Prayer Brotherhood. Pictured here, Andy Chait presents the awards to Mike Fein and John Shalett.

This brings Southern Jewish Life’s cumulative total to 25 Rockowers, having received four last year.

The Forward led the night with 32 Rockowers, while the Jewish Journal of Greater Los Angeles tallied 21. Among magazines, Moment and Jewish Currents each received 15.

In the region, the St. Louis Jewish Light received four awards. The Jewish Herald-Voice of Houston received three, while the Jewish Observer of Nashville and the Atlanta Jewish Times each received two. Additionally, Dave Schechter received second place for Best Freelancer, with pieces for the Atlanta Jewish Times as part of his submission.

The conference was co-hosted by Crescent City Jewish News, headed by AJPA President Alan Smason, and Southern Jewish Life. Smason presented Brook with a Volunteer of the Year award for his work on the convention.

Next year’s convention is tentatively set for Nashville.

HUC honors Millsaps’ Bowley

Hadassah Shabbat in Baton Rouge

The Baton Rouge Chapter of Hadassah hosted a Hadassah Shabbat at the Unified Jewish Congregation of Baton Rouge on May 19. Members of Hadassah helped lead the service, with music by Charlene Gubitz. Susan Smolinsky, Hadassah Southern Region President, talked about “Hadassah: Past, Present, and Future.” At the Oneg dinner, Hadassah’s Life members and Associates were celebrated and there were videos featuring several programs Hadassah sponsors, Hadassah Medical Organization and its stateof-the-art hospitals, and the youth Aliyah village, Hadassah Neurim. Pictured left to right: Marla Kameny, former Hadassah Southern Region President; Susan Smolinsky, current Southern Region President; Rabbi Sarah Smiley, UJCBR; Eileen Shieber, co-program host; and Ellen Bander, program host.

Amy Jill-Levine to speak in Mobile

One of the foremost Jewish scholars about Jesus and the Jewish roots of Christianity will be speaking in Mobile in August, and Dauphin Way United Methodist Church has invited the local Jewish community to attend the program.

Amy Jill-Levine will speak on “Jesus in his Jewish context,” Aug. 24 at 7 p.m., part of the Stephen and Ruth Dill Lecture Series.

The first Jew to teach New Testament at Rome’s Pontifical Biblical Institute, an elected member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and the first winner of the Seelisberg Prize for Jewish-Christian Relations, Jill-Levine describes herself as an unorthodox member of an Orthodox synagogue and a Yankee Jewish feminist who works to counter biblical interpretations that exclude and oppress.

She is Rabbi Stanley M. Kessler Distinguished Professor of New Testament and Jewish Studies at Hartford International University for Religion and Peace, and University Professor of New Testament and Jewish Studies Emerita and Mary Jane Werthan Professor of Jewish Studies Emerita, at Vanderbilt.

Her publications include “The Misunderstood Jew: The Church and the Scandal of the Jewish Jesus,” “Short Stories by Jesus: The Enigmatic Parables of a Controversial Rabbi;” and “The Jewish Annotated New Testament,” co-edited with Marc Brettler. Her book, “The Gospel of Luke” with Ben Witherington III is the first biblical commentary co-authored by a Jew and an Evangelical.

Alabama

Riva Cullinan, an alumna of Magic City BBG, has been named the new city director for BBYO in Birmingham. After the start of the school year, Zoe Goldberg from the BBYO national office will be in town for a meeting with parents. In Birmingham, BBYO consists of Mesch AZA and Magic City BBG, for high school Jewish youth.

The Birmingham Jewish Federation will have its 2024 Annual Campaign kickoff on Aug. 27 at 3 p.m. with a concert by Nefesh Mountain, at Temple Beth-El. The family-friendly event will include drinks and snacks. Tickets are $18 and must be purchased on the Federation website, as they will not be available at the door.

B’nai Israel in Florence is going to a summer schedule, doing a live online stream when there is an in-person service in the sanctuary on the last Shabbat of the month. In other weeks, there will be a live online service. After a Labor Day weekend break, there will be a live online service on Sept. 8, and in-person starting with Rosh Hashanah on Sept. 15.

The Israel Movie Series at Birmingham’s Levite Jewish Community Center, celebrating Israel’s 75th birthday, concludes on Aug. 7 with “The Women’s Balcony,” a 2016 dramatic comedy where an accident during a bar mitzvah celebration leads to a gender rift in a devout Orthodox community in Jerusalem. There will be a 1:30 p.m. schmooze and 2 p.m. showtime, with snacks provided. Registration is requested.

Birmingham’s Knesseth Israel welcomes back Isaac Friedman and his Torah Tour, Aug. 4 to 6, with a Shabbat evening dinner, reservations are $18 per person. There will be a Torah Tour event after lunch following the Aug. 5 service, and a tefillin workshop on the morning of Aug. 6.

Birmingham’s Collat Jewish Family Services will offer a Grief Support Group, for 10 Wednesdays from Sept. 6 to Nov. 8, noon at the Levite Jewish Community Center. Registration is required, and new members are admitted through the third session. The group is offered in partnership with Community Grief Support.

The next Shabbat Halicha hike for Birmingham’s Temple Emanu-El will be on Aug. 12 at 10 a.m., meeting at the Frankfurt Drive entrance of Red Mountain Park.

Florida Panhandle

Beryl Trauth-Jurman, a student at the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College, will be leading monthly, in-person Shabbat services at Temple B’nai Israel in Panama City, beginning Aug. 18.

Temple Beth El in Pensacola will hold its second Jews Who Cook event, Aug. 12 at 5 p.m., with over 30 star chefs competing in several categories. Each chef will have a tip jar, and the chef with the most tips in each division wins. Tickets are $50 in advance, $65 at the door.

Louisiana

Touro Synagogue in New Orleans announced that the honorees for this year’s L’Chayim event, on Nov. 12, will be Shannie and Rabbi David Goldstein.

Gates of Prayer in Metairie will have a Summer BBQ and fantasy football draft party on Aug. 20. The draft begins at 4 p.m., followed by the congregational BBQ, and at 6 p.m. there will be a watch party for the Saints versus the Chargers.

The Tulane Chabad Graduate group and Jewish Medical Student Organization will have a Shabbat dinner on Aug. 11, with Daniel