Accentuate the positive

Chabad in Pensacola promotes kindness in response to swastika-laden brick thrown through window

Rabbi Mendel Danow of the Pensacola Chabad Jewish Center says that the person who threw a swastika-laden brick through a window at the center on July 17 is going to regret his actions. Not because of what would happen to the “crazy dude” if he is caught, but because of how Chabad is going to turn his action into an engine of Jewish engagement and overall positivity throughout Pensacola.

“It will spark so much positivity,” Danow said, “we’re going to make the guy who threw the brick regret throwing it.”

The incident happened at 8:10 p.m. There was the sound of broken glass, and a brick covered in swastikas and antisemitic messages was on the kitchen floor, surrounded by glass shards.

Two Chabad students are currently in Pensacola assisting at the center, and one of them had been standing in that spot moments before, according to COLlive.

Video footage shows an individual exiting a vehicle around the corner from Chabad, going to the side of the building and throwing the brick at the window, then running back to the car.

The incident is being investigated by law enforcement.

The center’s response includes “Light Up Pensacola,” a Shabbat of light, starting at 6:30 p.m. on July 21. The event was intended “to increase both the physical and spiritual light in the community,” and the community wasinvited to attend, or to light candles on their own. A unity Shabbat dinner was held after a brief service.

B’nai Israel, the city’s Conservative congregation, cancelled its service so they could be at Chabad. Beth El, the Reform congregation, already had its installation scheduled for that evening.

Chabad also launched an ARK campaign — Acts of Routine Kindness. Special charity boxes are being ordered for distribution throughout Pensacola. “It’s not only for Jews,” Danow explained, “it’s something which is city-wide, for everyone to participate in… to add acts of goodness and kindness on a daily basis.”

The idea is that individuals, families, schools or businesses will have the boxes as an aid to develop a habit of giving, and when the box fills up, the contents can be given to someone in need or a charitable organization — and then the box can be refilled.

Danow said that for now, the boxes can be ordered at $2 each, and can be either picked up at Chabad or shipped.

“We can generate change in ourselves and in our community with the simple act of consistent giving. Keep it handy, use it daily, and together we’ll achieve Acts of Routine Kindness,” Danow said.

The next phase of the response to the brick will be an accelerated timetable for the new Chabad center in Pensacola.

The Danows arrived in Pensacola to establish the center in September 2018, and within a year, there was a drive to purchase the building that now houses Chabad. Because of the level of programming, in December 2022, there was a campaign to purchase a nearby building.

“We weren’t sure when we would be there,” Danow said, but after the attack, they decided to “take the deep dive and make it happen” and work on getting into the new, larger building in the next few months.

Originally, they planned to build a mikvah on the new property and then work on the building, now they will do both simultaneously.

The new building is “essentially triple the size of the (current) Chabad House, and G-d willing, triple the amount of programming,” Danow said, adding, “that brick will be the cornerstone.”

But, he reminded, “we want to focus on the inspirational part. We don’t want to put the focus on the hate and the negativity.”

Still, part of the Protect the Light online campaign to raise $100,000 toward the new building is the opportunity to “buy a brick” for $54.

The center has received “an outpouring of positive reinforcement” since the attack, Danow said. “People are shocked and pained by it, people are stopping me on the street and saying, rabbi we are with you.”

He added, “this act of hate does not define Pensacola in any way.”

Kate Lollar, president of B’nai Israel, echoed that in her message to her congregation. “This is the first time as far as I can remember that something like this has happened in Pensacola,” she said. She reminded her congregants of security measures they have in place, and for everyone to be aware of their surroundings.

Danow said there have been some random swastika scrawlings in that part of town recently, including a couple days earlier at an animal hospital a few blocks away.

But “we’re just going to do our thing,” Danow said. “We’re not going to focus on the negative because that is not going to help.

“You have to reinforce the positive, which shows we still have a lot of work to do.”

ISJL hosting virtual Rosh Hashanah baking class with Julia Turshen

New York Times bestselling cookbook author Julia Turshen will lead a virtual cooking class on Rosh Hashanah cake, through the Goldring/Woldenberg Institute of Southern Jewish Life’s Fall Food Fest.

The online event will be on Aug. 20 at 10 a.m. Central, and advance registration is required.

During the interactive session, Turshen will lead viewers in baking along with her, while she discusses her cooking background and its intersection with her Jewish identity. There will be opportunities for questions and answers while making an applesauce cake with cream cheese icing.

Turshen writes a weekly newsletter and teaches cooking classes most Sunday afternoons. Her latest cookbook, “Simply Julia,” a national bestseller, is the recipient of the 2022 IACP Award for Best Cookbook: Health and Nutrition, and Turshen is the founder of Equity at the Table, an inclusive digital directory of the food industry. She hosts and produces the IACP-nominated podcast called “Keep Calm and Cook On.”

Registrants will be provided with a list of ingredients beforehand. Registration is $18 at isjl.org, but communities and organizations can do a group rate to make it available to their members.

To the Families of New Orleans

Our decision to join the professionals at Lake Lawn Metairie allows us to continue our mission to provide families the highest caliber of care in the most beautiful of surroundings. Lake Lawn Metairie proudly serves all congregations and all local cemeteries. Whether planning in advance or at the time of need, we’re dedicated to serving families with professionalism, compassion and attention to detail that is second to none.

Sincerely,

Stephen Sontheimer & Billy Henry

“Count me in”

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Betty Goldstein remembered for community leadership

By Richard Friedman

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She was a small, soft-spoken woman. In her later years, you had to strain to hear her. Yet, her presence endures. Until her final months, Betty Allenberg Goldstein was an inspiring, indefatigable lioness, fiercely committed to her beloved Birmingham Jewish community.

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Betty passed away on June 4 at the age of 95. Those who knew her will remember her for the rest of their lives. She was a true Daughter of Zion. Tucked inside this diminutive woman was a huge heart. She was one of those people who came to be known simply by her first name — Betty.

She served on important boards and committees. She was proud that she once was a member of the United Jewish Appeal’s National Women’s Division Board. Yet, Betty’s leadership and influence ultimately stemmed from her sincerity, caring and, especially, from just showing up — year after year, decade after decade. She was never not interested in what was going on in the community.

Among her philanthropic passions were the Birmingham Jewish Federation, Birmingham Jewish Foundation, Temple Emanu-El, Alabama Holocaust Education Center, Israel and the Henry S. Jacobs Camp, the regional summer camp in Utica. The connection with Jacobs Camp was particularly important to her because her father, Julian Allenberg, had been one of the camp’s founders.

What Betty will likely be most remembered for is that she “walked the walk” — and did it with humility, passion and a burning interest in all things Jewish. When she couldn’t attend national conferences, she would purchase recordings of the sessions. She never wanted to miss anything.

Announcing Betty’s passing to the Birmingham Jewish Foundation board, executive director Sally Friedman wrote, “As long as she was able, Betty never missed a Federation or Jewish community event. She attended many Lion of Judah conferences and visited Israel multiple times. She was an ‘Energizer Bunny’ when it came to advocating for Israel, our Jewish community and Jacobs Camp.” Friedman shared a secret with her board. “When Betty was in her 70s, we joked that she should win the Federation’s Young Leadership award!”

Betty gave to the Birmingham Jewish Federation Campaign throughout her adult lifetime and endowed her annual campaign gift through the Birmingham Jewish Foundation. For that, she received the Foundation’s N.E. Miles Lifetime Achievement Award. In 2016, at the age of 88, she was honored by the Alabama Holocaust Education Center with its L’Chaim Award for being “a giver, doer, goer, helper and more.”

Mentor is another word that could have been used to describe Betty. Through the support she gave to younger professional and volunteer leaders in the Jewish community, and the interest she showed in each of them, she taught commitment, perseverance and dedication to community causes.

Staff at the Birmingham Jewish Federation and Foundation loved it when she would stop by — often after her fitness workout at the Levite Jewish Community Center. They especially liked that she was not one for small talk. She would get right to the point, wanting to know who was ascending to leadership roles, how the campaign was going, what staff knew about the current situation in Israel. She especially thrived on learning a few behind the scenes tidbits which she faithfully kept confidential.

Betty never left the Federation office without asking how she could help.

She also was a political activist. For decades, Betty was involved in civic initiatives and political campaigns. In 1975, she worked as a volunteer in the successful mayoral campaign of David Vann, a turning point in Birmingham’s history. At age 90, when most people are retired from community activities, Betty volunteered in the 2018 U.S. Senatorial campaign of Doug Jones, another historic event. Those who worked with her on the Jones campaign affectionately called her “Aunt Betty.”

Epic Era

Betty grew up in Memphis. In 1946, at the age of 18, she married Herman Goldstein and moved to Birmingham. Betty had three children, Edward, Corinne and Amy, along with five grandchildren and four great-grandchildren.

For many years, Betty, who was divorced, dated Morris Sirote, a founder of the Dentons Sirote law firm. As their relationship evolved, Sirote expanded his charitable giving, leaving a large and enduring impact on both the Jewish and broader Birmingham communities. Betty played a critical role in motivating him philanthropically.

Betty’s 95 years covered an epic era in Jewish history. She saw the rise of Nazism in Europe, the murder of 6 million Jews, the rebirth of Israel as a modern Jewish state and the exodus of more than 1 million Jews from the Soviet Union.

She was affected personally by the era in which she came of age. When she was 16, her older brother and only sibling, Edward Allenberg, serving in the American military, was killed in World War II in the Battle of the Bulge. Her children recall that Betty never talked about the loss of her brother, though she did name her first-born son Edward.

Their mother had a remarkable zest for life, her children say, and was determined to savor every moment and embrace every experience, even as she aged and her mobility became limited. The loss of her brother inspired Betty to live each moment to its fullest.

A favorite Betty story is this: One afternoon, she was visited at her Mountain Brook home. She was told that the Federation wanted to start an endowment in the Foundation to provide more funding for staff professionals to attend conferences and travel to Israel. She listened, then interrupted.

“How much do you need?” she asked.

When told the amount, she responded immediately with three words — words that will endure as her community epitaph: “Count me in.”

That was Betty, not just that day but every day. She will be missed.

Nola JFS offers new approach for dealing with childhood anxiety

Jewish Family Service of Greater New Orleans is starting to offer SPACE — Supportive Parenting for Anxious Childhood Emotions. The parent-based treatment program is for children and adolescents with anxiety, OCD and related problems.

SPACE was developed by Eli Lebowitz at the Yale Child Study Center and has been tested and found to be efficacious in randomized controlled clinical trials. At JFS, SPACE will be led by Fran Dinehart, who recently trained in the techniques.

Dinehart, who has been with JFS for 10 years, said “my approach to therapy is dynamic and goal-oriented. I believe that every person is an expert in their own life. My role as a therapist is to provide evidence-based practices to support you in achieving your goals.”

She will lead a Zoom on Aug. 21 at 6:30 p.m. to introduce the new program to the community.

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Maccabi USA brings Ukrainian teens to U.S. summer sports camp

Seven teens from Ukraine are spending a month hearing coaches’ whistles in California rather than air raid sirens, thanks to an initiative by Maccabi USA.

Arnie Fielkow of New Orleans, a vice president at Maccabi USA and former Federation CEO, envisioned time at Ramah Sports Academy in California as a way to support the Ukrainian Jewish community by providing an escape for the summer for some teen athletes.

Maccabi USA is the American branch of Maccabi World Union, which puts on the Maccabiah Games in Israel every four years and promotes Jewish participation in sports.

Fielkow has been spearheading Maccabi USA’s response to the Ukraine war, as it is personal for him. In 2007, he adopted two daughters from Ukraine, and they have relatives still in the country. Last year, Fielkow tried unsuccessfully to get them out of Ukraine. “They are still subject to threats and missiles at times,” despite being in western Ukraine, away from much of the fighting.

He added that the Ukrainians “are fighting so courageously. It’s important for us to support their efforts and protect democracy.”

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