Southern Jewish Life, Deep South, November 2021

Southern Jewish Life

THREEFOOT RISES AGAIN IN MERIDIAN November 2021 Volume 31 Issue 11

Southern Jewish Life P.O. Box 130052 Birmingham, AL 35213

shalom y’all While the world has been dealing with a pandemic for almost two years now, there is also an epidemic of stupidity.

Sometimes, it seems that it would be easier to list the politicians who haven’t compared Covid mandates to Nazi Germany.

Proof of vaccination requirements are likened to wearing a yellow star or a number tattoo if one refuses. Vaccine mandates are seen as the government taking away freedom, “just like Nazi Germany.” Show your papers…

Such comparisons are idiotic and overwrought, rhetoric that reaches an absurd end.

There have been many in this region who have made the comparison, and some have made headlines and received the requisite outrage. Many have changed their ways, though others have chosen to double down despite the criticism.

Some have been quietly approached and informed about the poor analogy, realized their error and apologized.

But is such talk, as many have charged, antisemitic?

Talk about the Holocaust meeting antisemitism generally happens in the context of Holocaust denial, or saying the Holocaust didn’t go far enough. Comparing Israel’s actions to Nazi Germany is also an increasingly popular form of antisemitism. In all those cases, the objective is to insult or demean the Jewish community.

Is that the motivation here? Antisemitism implies a hatred or bias against Jews.

That doesn’t seem to be the case with these politicians and activists. In a way, it is a backhanded compliment — they think they are standing up against something heinous, and the way to convey that is to hitch their star, you should pardon the expression, to the most heinous crime in human history.

For the most part, the intent isn’t antisemitic.

Nevertheless, the Covid comparisons can be seen as a form of Holocaust minimization, which can be construed as antisemitic because it trivializes the enormous horcontinued on page 19

SJL Online: sjlmag.com Southern Jewish Life is an independent Jewish periodical. Articles and columns do not necessarily reflect the views of any Jewish institutions, agencies or congregations in our region.

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November 2021 • Southern Jewish Life

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commentary

MESSAGES

Maccabi USA leader praises Birmingham Games I have had the honor of attending many Maccabi competitions around the world. From Israel to Australia to South America, Europe and the JCC Maccabi games around the United States and Canada, I have logged many miles seeing how sports can be a vehicle to help build Jewish identity, especially in our young.

Covid: The problematic “excused absence” from synagogue for American Jews

felt honored to come to Birmingham for the first time and fell in Will love with notadults just the city pens after Covid?

Jewish find their

By IGabrielle Williams but the people. You have taken Southern hospitality to a new level with your kind and caring way back to synagogue?

Or will the convenience On thisto Covid-modified approach the JCC Maccabi Rosh Games.Hashanah, I did what any good Reform American Jew is of online services become the new way of norLed byto thedoSokol and Helds, your hard-working volunteers were wonderful. They partnered expected on the High Holidays: I attended malcy?

According to JCC the Pew Research with your outstanding staff, led by Betzy Lynch, to the 2017 Maccabi gamesCenter a hugeSurhit. services. The only caveat being that the services make vey of U.S. Jews, about one-third of American Iwere want to take this opportunity as executive director of Maccabi USA to say thank you on behalf online. of With everyone the involved. rise of the delta variant, my fam- Jewish adults belong to a synagogue. Of those belong to Temples, the community plays ily Iand decided virtual saferWorld option as who games had Ijust returned fromwas thea20th Maccabiah in Israel with a U.S. delegation of a significant role in their lives. At least 20 peropposed towho going to synagogue.

Unfortunately, over 1100, joined 10,000 Jewish athletes from 80 countries. Back in July the eyes of the entire cent of Jewish adults attend services at least about minutes the onlineand service, I fell Jewish30 world were into on Jerusalem the Maccabiah.

This past month with 1000 athletes and once a month for the main reasons of “finding into a deep sleep.

So deep of a sleep that woke coaches from around the world being in IBirmingham, you became the focal point. it spiritually meaningful” and having a “sense of up only to hear the closing song and watch the Everyone from the Jewish community and the community at large,present including a wonderful belonging. ” Being in the physical space zoom screen turn black, creating the feeling of police force, are to be commended. These games will go down in history as being afriends seminalis what and connecting with family and an empty pit in the bottom of my stomach. moment for the Jewish community as we build to creates the future by providingfor such wonderful Jewish this experience most.

I never found services boring growing up. In memories.

Synagogues also provide Religious and Hefact, I even LIKED services. The music, warmth, brew schools, host B’nai Mitzvahs, and enhance Jed Margolis words, and atmosphere of a synagogue around festivities during holidays. This is all done for Executive Director, Maccabi USA the high holidays is something unique, and I althe sake of Jewish children: to teach them about ways felt happy and grateful to be part of it. Even ancestry, observe religious traditions, and enduring the rest of the calendar year, I’ve stayed supremacists would like to see pushed back courage them to continue practicing Judaism On Charlottesville active in my Jewish community. It is awfully into a corner and made to feel lesser.

We stand into adulthood. strange to think that less than two years ago, I with and pray for the family of Heather Heyer, Furthermore, synagogues provide a place for Editor’s Note: Kindergarteners This reaction to the in was teaching onevents the weekends who who was there upservices to the face of but thisdeJews mightstanding not attend often, Charlottesville, written by Jeremy Newman, and often attending Friday night services simply hate. serve a religious, traditional place to observe the Master ofI enjoyed the Alpha Epsilon Pi Theta Colony because being at Temple. orthe attend a Baroforthe BatAmerican Mitzvah.

WeHolidays recognize essence at This Auburn University, was shared by AEPi is when I gathered it must have been High If American Jews fail to return to Temple upon narrative as a two-century old struggle to rid National, which called it “very eloquent” and the online component of services which led to the termination of the Covid era, the lack of ourselves of such corners, and allow those insopraised “our brothers at AEPi Theta Colony at my napping. I asked my family if we could atcial, spiritual and financial support will cause them the seat at the table that they so deserve.

Auburn University and… the leadership they tend in-person services for Kol Nidre, and they congregations across the nation to permanently It is the struggle to fulfill the promise of the display on their campus.” agreed. switch to online services.

Once services go are onDeclaration of Independence, that “all men However, with my mask on, looking around line, I fear Jews will either watch half-heartedly created equal… endowed by their Creator with a sparsely-filled sanctuary that usually brims White supremacy has been a cancer on skip them entirely.rights.

Synagogues mayour be forced certain unalienable ” We know work with thousands of members, I once again felt or our country since its beginning, threatening to close their doors for good. is far from finished, but we know we will not unbearably sleepy and sad. The social aspect of its hopes, its values, and its better angels.

Without synagogues, any and all opportunibackwards. synagogue was lost. There was no hugging of move The events that took place in Charlottesville ties for religious observance — many of which friends, kissing Bubbies on the cheek, or even When men and women, fully armed, take represented the worst of this nation. Those American Jews take for granted — will be unseeing someone smile when they say “Shanah to the streets in droves with swastikas and who marched onto the streets with tiki torches available, and the decline of vibrant Jewish life Tovah.” other symbols of hate, it is a reminder of how and swastikas did so to provoke violence and in America will continue in descent The sense of community that comes with relevant the issues of racismits and anti-Semitism fear. Those who marched onto the streets did is acall sophomore at Tulane celebrating holidays and embracing traditions areGabrielle today. It Williams is a wake-up to the work that so to profess an ideology that harkens back to from Dallas, andaisbetter, pursuing a major with other Jews has significantly changed. For University needs to be done to ensure more a bleaker, more wretched time in our history. neuroscience and a minor in Jewish studies. now, we can blame it on Covid. But what hap- in A time when men and women of many creeds, welcoming country. But it should not come without a reflection on how far we’ve come. races, and religions were far from equal and far

“Southern Jewish Life is a vital community asset”

America was born a slave nation. A century from safe in our own borders. A time where into our history we engaged in a war in part Americans lived under a constant cloud of to ensure we would not continue as one. We racism, anti-Semitism and pervasive hate. The events that took place in Charlottesville served found ourselves confronted by the issue of civil rights, and embarked on a mission to ensure as a reminder of how painfully relevant these Help Support Independent,the Quality, fair treatment of all peoples no matter their issues are today. skin color. Although we’ve made great strides, Auburn’s AlphaSouthern Epsilon Pi stands with the Journalism!

Original Jewish it is a mission we’re still grappling with today.

Jewish community of Charlottesville, and

We for yourthe continued as we America wastell also born an immigrant with thethank Jewish you people around country support country.

As early as the pilgrims, many and our around the world.

We also standofwith the stories — the stories Southern Jewish Life! groups and families found in the country the minorities who are targeted by the hate that opportunity to plant stakes, chase their future, was on display in Charlottesville. We stand and be themselves. Few were met with open with the minorities of whom these white

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agenda interesting bits & can’t miss events

On Oct. 22, the University of Alabama Hillel celebrated a Homecoming Shabbat dinner

Baton Rouge congregations take unification steps New name among current projects as first board elected As the Jan. 1 unification date approaches, the two Baton Rouge congregations are taking more steps toward their merger.

The congregations, which voted overwhelmingly in August to reunite from the 1945 split, have already mostly stopped using the previous names, B’nai Israel and Beth Shalom, using forms like Synagogue New or the Unified Jewish Congregation of Baton Rouge, and referring to the buildings as Kleinert Avenue or Jefferson Highway.

During the exploration process, the congregations held a joint Shabbat service monthly. Starting with Nov. 5, the decision was made to have a single service that would alternate between locations, at Jefferson Highway on Nov. 5 and 19, and Kleinert Avenue on Nov. 12 and 26.

The board of the unified congregation elected Steven Cavalier as the first

president. Scott Berg is vice president, Mitch Rayner is treasurer and Heather Folks-Givens is secretary.

Cavalier said transition teams are working on facilities, finances, ritual, education, programming and other areas, continuing the groundwork laid by the Joint Synagogue Exploratory Committee.

Suggestions for the congregation’s name are being accepted through Nov. 11, and the finalists will be revealed at Naming Shabbat on Nov. 19. Voting will follow online and by paper ballot, with congregants choosing their top three. In-person voting will be held on Dec. 3 at the Chanukah Shabbat Shared Tailgate at Kleinert Avenue. If needed, a second round of voting will be held to break a tie.

A joint celebration event will be held in January, by which the new name will be announced.

B’ham Federation announces annual award recipients The Birmingham Jewish Federation and Birmingham Jewish Foundation announced this year’s community award recipients.

The awards will be presented at the organizations’ annual meeting on Jan. 23 at Temple Beth-El. The event will be livestreamed for the community.

David Sher will receive the Susan J. Goldberg Distinguished Volunteer Award, which is given to an individual who represents “significant leadership ability and a high level of volunteer involvement.”

Carlie Stein Sommerville will receive the Joanie Plous Bayer Young Leadership Award. Given to someone age 40 or younger, the award recognizes young leaders in the community.

The Foundation announced that Eric Siegel and the late Rhonda Siegel will receive the N.E. Miles Lifetime Achievement Award from the Birmingham Jewish Foundation. The award is presented to a couple or individual who exhibits a lifetime of leadership giving and endows a Federation annual campaign gift.

The annual meeting will include board installations and information about the Federation’s strategic plan.

November 2021 • Southern Jewish Life

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agenda Museum group honors Museum of the Southern Jewish Experience The new Museum of the Southern Jewish Experience in New Orleans received two Gold and one Bronze award in the areas of exhibitions and technology at the 2021 Southeastern Museums Conference, the largest regional museum conference in the South.

“We are thrilled to be recognized by our peers in the museum industry,” said Executive Director Kenneth Hoffman, “and I am particularly proud of the creativity and hard work of our staff and of our design partners, Gallagher & Associates and Cortina Productions. Weaving more than 300 years of Southern Jewish experiences into engaging, accessible, and relevant exhibits — during a pandemic, no less — was quite an adventure.”

The opening core exhibition, honored with the top designation in the “Over $1,000,000 Budget” category in the SEMC Exhibition Competition, features the diverse experiences of Jews in the American South from Colonial times to today. Through interactive exhibits, artifacts, and stories, the core exhibition explores themes that connect visitors of all backgrounds, including immigration and civil rights.

The Community Quilt interactive experience won the Gold award for

Gallery Installations. The expeience is based on a quilt from the Museum collection that was stitched in 1885 by the Jewish Ladies Sewing Circle of Canton, Miss. Visitors use a touch screen to express their own identity and communities using custom fabrics, patches and drawing tools to craft their own unique square. When complete, guests “stitch” their patch into the museum’s community quilt to create one beautiful canvas from disparate elements — a metaphor for not only the Southern Jewish experience, but also the American experience.

The orientation film shown at the beginning of the tour won the Bronze award in media production.

Curator Anna Tucker represented the museum at the SEMC Museum Technology Showcase on Oct. 26. Award winners were celebrated at an Birmingham Jewish Federation, Civil Rights Institute Oct. 27 ceremony in Chattanooga and will be featured in the Fall 2021 Edition of INSIDE SEMC, a digital publication of the Southeastern Muleaders holding conversation seums Conference. This designation recognizes Museum of the Southern The Jewish Community Relations Council of the Birmingham Jewish Jewish Experience’s contribution to professional standards in SoutheastFederation and the Birmingham Civil Rights Institute are hosting a Couern museums. rageous Conversation of Healing between Danny Cohn, Federation CEO, and DeJuana Thompson, BCRI President and CEO, on Nov. 16 at 7 p.m.

Sherri Jackson of CBS-42 will moderate the event, which will be The Pensacola Chabad will celebrate three years in the community streamed on the Institute’s Facebook Live.

The program is seen as “just a first step towards more meaningful col- with the dedication of a new Torah on Nov. 14 at noon.

The scroll, which is being dedicated “in honor of the protection, health laborations that will benefit both our communities, and as a result, our city as a whole.” The aim is to bring the Jewish and Black communities and prosperity of the Pensacola community,” will be welcomed with mutogether “not only to understand the issues that are most concerning us, sic and dancing, food and l’chayims. The mayor and some city council members are anticipated to be in attendance. but to also listen to each other and heal.”

There are dedication opportunities for the new scroll, and there will be A founder of Woke Vote and Think Rubix, Thompson was named the Institute’s interim CEO in March. Cohn became CEO of the Federation an opportunity to help write a letter during the ceremony. Dedicating a letter is $54, a verse is $180, a parsha is $1,000 and a full book is $5,400. in March 2020.

Opening a dialogue

Pensacola Chabad to dedicate new Torah

6 November 2021 • Southern Jewish Life

agenda New series of virtual Israel tours begins The Atlanta Jewish Coalition is bringing back its popular “Re-Discovering the Land of Israel” virtual tours, with tour guide David Sussman.

The series of five Sunday tours is produced in partnership with the Consulate General of Israel to the Southeastern U.S., Jewish Federation of Greater Atlanta and the Atlanta Jews of Color Council.

Sussman visited Israel in 2001 and never left. In 2009, he became a licensed tour guide after graduating from the Archeological Seminar’s two-year course. A combat lone-soldier in the Second Lebanon War, he had a near death experience, where he realized the importance of teaching people about Israel.

The first tour, on Nov. 14, will be Israel’s Hula Valley and the Great Bird Migration. The Hula Valley divides the Golan Heights from the Naftali Heights and the city of Tzfat, with biblical archeology like Tel Dan, and over five million birds pass through it every migration season. This tour Caesarea is during the migration season, exploring its national parks, biblical archeology, and beautiful nature.

The Nov. 28 tour is Ancient Caesarea. Built over 2,000 years ago by King Herod, this was the first-ever man-made port. Built to compete with Athens, it could fit over a hundred ships at a time. It made Caesarea one of the most important cities along the Mediterranean shore during the Roman period.

Masada will be the focus in Dec. 12. The fortress in the Judean Desert is one of the most popular places to visit in Israel. People from all faiths and walks of life visit this mountain even though there is no mention of it in the Bible. The session will explore the reason for Masada’s popularity, and recount the final moments of the great revolt and the fall of Masada.

The Jan. 9 session visits Eilat, the Southern port to Asia, which has amazing nature, modern history, innovative farming, and great museums.

The series concludes on Jan. 23 with Haifa, the location of Mt Carmel, the Bahai, the Druze and so much more. The holy site for the Bahai, the world’s newest monotheistic faith, is in Haifa, and the tour will include a visit to meet the Bahai.

Registration is free and is available at bit.ly/TourIsraelWithAIC. One may select one tour or all five, and all tours are at 8 a.m. Central.

Israel Unplugged mission planned Been to Israel and want to go again, but want to see something other than the usual sights?

The Birmingham Jewish Federation is planning an Israel Unplugged trip for Oct. 24 to Nov. 1, with an optional Jerusalem extension at the end.

The trip, for active adults, is chaired by Marjorie Perlman, and Seth Wolnek and Michelle Bearman-Wolnek.

Mission highlights include a Jeep tour at the Ramon Crater, Segwaying in Tel Aviv, wine tasting at the Nana Vineyrd, testing the Israel Air Force flight simulator at The Squadron, and dinner at the Tel Aviv Cooking Studio.

The cost is $4,000 plus tips, Covid fees and air fare.

The Federation is also taking part in Momentum, an international program designed for women with children 18 and under. The program includes monthly meetings and finishes with an Israel trip, Nov. 14 to 21, 2022.

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November 2021 • Southern Jewish Life

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agenda With everyone staying home because of Covid, the Jewish Federation of Greater New Orleans put together a series of virtual missions, visiting Jewish communities around the world. Over the summer there were visits to Copenhagen and Budapest, but a planned Mission to India was postponed because Covid spikes there made it difficult to organize the program. The mission has been rescheduled for Dec. 5 at 9:30 a.m. The mission is free and open to all. Zoom links will be sent to those who register. A virtual mission to Bahrain is also being organized.

Eruv expert Rabbi Stephen Belsky has been consulting with the Metairie community on what it will take to make the eruv in the West Esplanade area kosher again, and repairs are being planned. Problems with the route along the levees has rendered the 10-year-old eruv unsuitable for now. An eruv allows the carrying of items outside of homes on Shabbat or holidays. A new eruv in Uptown was temporarily down following Hurricane Ida. Hillel at the University of Alabama is holding its first-ever Jewish Alumni Weekend, for alumni of all eras. The weekend will be held April 29 to May 1, and include campus tours, a briefing with University President Stuart Bell, an inside look at Bryant-Denny Stadium and a late night party on The Strip. Details and registration will be announced soon, but the Hillel website already has a priority registration form to express interest and receive updates.

Silvana Berlinski, recent past president of the Jewish Federation of Arkansas and long-time JFAR officer and volunteer, has been named the Federation’s interim executive director. She will work 20 hours per week in the position while continuing as a bilingual medical interpreter.

The Mobile Area Jewish Federation will have an Iron Bowl Tailgate with Alabama and Auburn Hillel, at the Springhill Avenue Temple parking lot, Nov. 21 at 3 p.m.

Because of Covid restrictions, L’Chaim League in Montgomery will be unable to do its usual Thanksgiving meal and Bingo at Capital Heights Place. Contributions are being accepted for the meal, which will be delivered and distributed to the residents on Nov. 18.

Beth Israel in Gulfport resumes its themed Shabbat dinners with a Mexican buffet dinner, 6:30 p.m. on Nov. 19. Reservations are $10 for member adults, $18 for non-members, $5 for children. Sponsor level is $180.

Birmingham’s Temple Emanu-El will have its Temple’s Got Talent show on Dec. 5 at 10:30 a.m.

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The Beth El Civil Rights Experience “soft launch” of a new audio tour of downtown Birmingham civil rights and Jewish sites was postponed from Oct. 17 to Nov. 14. The tour is also supported by the Alabama Humanities Alliance, and for the launch, Temple Emanu-El is a partner so the overall Jewish community can take part in engaging with local history. For the tour, there will be timed slots every 20 minutes from 1 to 2:40 p.m. The groups will embark on the tour together, with limited slots per group in keeping with Covid protocols. The walking route is about 1.5 miles round-trip, and participants who register will receive a map, arrival information and instructions on how to access the audio tour. The tour is free, but donations are accepted and will go toward development of the project.

Tuscaloosa’s Temple Emanu-El will resume in-person services on Dec. 3, with masks and proof of vaccination required indoors. There was concern that the return could be delayed further because of recent roof leaks that must be addressed, but several inspections continued on page 25

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agenda Tobiasse exhibit opening in Monroe “Textural Emergence,” a long-awaited exhibit of the art of Theo Tobiasse, will open at the Masur Museum in Monroe on Nov. 19.

Tobiasse is a French Jewish artist whose family was forced into hiding during the Nazi occupation of France. His works are influenced by surrealism, expressionism, and modern primitivism, and his paintings explore themes of mythology, Biblical stories, exile and his own past.

The exhibited works come from his later years and are part of the permanent collection at the Alexandria Museum of Art. B’nai Israel in Monroe is hosting the screening of “The Woman in Gold,” starring Helen Mirren, on Nov. 18 at 5:30 p.m. at the Monroe Civic Center. The film depicts an Austrian woman’s journey to reclaim a family portrait seized during the Nazi occupation. After the film, there will be a discussion with Brian McGown and B’nai Israel member Ron Israel.

Other complementary programs planned for the exhibit include a Jewish film series, lectures on Jewish holidays and symbolism, and a presentation by the son of Holocaust survivors. Rabbi Judy Caplan Ginsburgh of B’nai Israel will lead a lecture tour in January.

The exhibit runs through Feb. 5.

ORT America planning centennial celebration weekend in New Orleans For an anniversary party, what better place than New Orleans? ORT America will celebrate its centennial with a celebratory mission to New Orleans, Jan. 16 to 18.

The weekend will include visits to the Museum of the Southern Jewish Experience, National World War II Museum, Whitney Plantation and Touro Synagogue. There will also be a l’chayim on Bourbon Street.

While the MSJE visit will be a major highlight of the trip, Tova Kantrowitz, ORT America director of communications, said the World War II Museum visit “is particularly significant for our organizations as survivors of the war were given a second chance after receiving ORT training at DP camps in Europe before coming to the U.S. to start new lives.”

There will also be a meeting with the Jewish Federation of Greater New Orleans and many other leaders in the local Jewish community, a lunch at Rimon in Tulane Hillel, and an optional service project.

The idea for the mission came from Austin Center in Chattanooga, a national board member who touts the Jewish history of the South.

The approximate per person cost, not including travel to New Orleans, is estimated around $1600.

ORT was founded in 1880 in Russia to teach Russian Jews essential trades and professions. Now in over 30 countries, ORT schools teach skills to empower people and strengthen communities, with high-level science and technology education, “bridging the gap between ability and opportunity.”

For more details and to register, visit www.ortamerica.org/new-orleans. Because of the uncertain times, there is a no-commitment pre-registration form available.

November 2021 • Southern Jewish Life

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A New Hotel in a Threefoot Space New life for long-vacant Mississippi Jewish landmark A Jewish landmark that is the tallest building in eastern Mississippi has finally reopened its doors after languishing for years.

The Threefoot Hotel, a Marriott Tribute Portfolio hotel, opened at the beginning of November after several years of renovations.

Ascent Hospitality Management of Georgia purchased the building “as is” in 2015 for $10,000 and committed to a renovation costing at least $14 million.

John Tampa of Ascent Hospitality said “We are proud to give the Threefoot new life as downtown Meridian’s cornerstone luxury hotel.”

They sought to preserve the building’s Art Deco style and position it as a throwback to the “Golden Age of Travel” while offering modern amenities. “Through the preservation and restoration, we have prioritized creating a property that serves the community as well as her visitors,” Tampa said.

Jeremy Campbell, area director of sales, said a major emphasis of the project is telling the story of Meridian. The Jewish community plays a large role in that story, he said, and

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November 2021 • Southern Jewish Life

they are eager to tell it.

In the early 20th century, Meridian was the largest city in the state, with five rail lines and 44 daily trains.

Originally, the Threefoot was destined to be a Courtyard

by Marriott, but Campbell said that earlier this year, Marriott changed the designation, making it easier to tell a local story.

Tribute properties have much more flexibility to adapt to the historic nature of buildings, while Courtyards are more regimented and standardized.

“It allows us to tell our story, the story of the Threefoot building, the railroad history,” Campbell said.

The hotel has 110 regular rooms, 19 suites and two 14thfloor presidential suites with balconies. One meeting room is available.

The colorful exterior mosaic and terra cotta work were preserved in the renovation. The elevators feature the original etched brass doors, and the elevator lobby has its original marble wainscoting, flooring, mail chute and the original art deco light fixtures.

Even the sidewalk pavers are historic, original bricks from when the streets in the area were brick. They were excavated in recent road projects and preserved.

Campbell said they are working on using the mail chute to offer guests a chance to send a card down, where it will be postmarked by the hotel as a souvenir of the visit.

Two vestibules feature original 1929 Victorian era brass lanterns with frosted and cranberry glass accents. The directory from the building’s days housing offices is in the lobby and is being utilized as a fundraiser for the Threefoot Preservation Endowment for the Temple Theater. Former tenants, businesses and occupants can contribute at least $200 to the fund and have their name in the directory.

Tampa offered the premium space in the directory to the preservation group, which had just established its fund for the theater. The society announced on Oct. 7 that the first nomination for the directory is Samuel Abraham Threefoot.

The property includes two restaurants. At street level, 601 Local is casual upscale, with breakfast and dinner service.

A farm-to-table establishment, 601 Local will have a Southern progressive menu, emphasizing fresh, seasonal, locally sourced ingredients.

A wall in 601 Local has a historical display about the building, the Threefoot family and their griocery business.

Located on the 11th floor roof, The Box Car offers small plates and a bar, with views of the city that most people in the city have never seen. Part of the nearby view is the Threefoot Brewing Company, which is unrelated to the hotel project.

For train enthusiasts, the Box Car offers a view of the entire railroad route through Meridian. The train heritage continues with numerous touches throughout the building, such as having the check-in desk behind a metalwork screen reminiscent of railroad ticket booths.

For history buffs, Meridian is also known as the Queen City.

While many assume it is because it is where Kelly Mitchell, Queen of the Gypsies, is buried, the city had that designation before her funeral.

community Mitchell, 47, died during childbirth in 1915 in west Alabama. About 20,000 Romani came to the funeral, and from one of the 14th floor suite balconies, one can see the entire story, from St. Paul’s Episcopal Church, where the funeral took place, to the entire procession route past the funeral home and up to Rose Hill Cemetery in the distance.

Campbell said the Threefoot is the final piece of a major downtown revitalization that has taken place over the last several years. A block away is the Art Deco touches in 601 Local Riley Center, which was developed in the old Marks-Rothenberg Building, another site with Jewish history.

The Threefoot Building was immortalized by Ripley’s Believe It Or Not as “a 15-story building on a three foot lot,” playing off the name of the family that developed it.

Abraham Dreyfus immigrated from Germany, and his name was transformed into Threefoot. He made shoes for the Confederacy, then he and his brothers arrived in Meridian to sell fine saddles and harnesses, then get into the wholesale grocery business. Later, the family went into the cotton brokerage business.

In 1890, Abraham’s two sons married into Meridian’s noted Rothenberg family, combining their grocery businesses.

In the 1920s, Sam Threefoot built what was Meridian’s only skyscraper, completing it in 1928 on the previous site of the Threefoot Brothers Wholesale Company. At the time, it was the tallest building in the state.

Campbell said the building cost $750,000, which would be the equivalent of just over $12 million today.

In the late 1920s, the Jewish community of Meridian numbered about

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November 2021 • Southern Jewish Life

575 and the downtown was filled with Jewish names on buildings.

The Great Depression depressed the building’s occupancy rate. The building became a drain on the family’s finances, and the family lost the building.

It continued on as an office building, but suburban development in the 1960s and 1970s led to downtown’s decline and it became vacant.

In 1979 the building was added to the National Register of Historic Places. In 2006 there was a proposal to develop the building into a hotel, but it fell through during a change of city leadership. In 2010, the National Trust for Historic Preservation placed it on its list of America’s 11 Most Endangered Historic Places.

In 2013, a volunteer group called the Threefoot Preservation Society started meeting under the leadership of Amos Jones to try and stabilize the building in hopes it might attract a developer. At the time, there were “weeds, grass, debris of all kinds” on both sides of the building. Every month they would do basic restoration and preservation work.

Once renovations were underway for the hotel, Campbell said it was a challenge. “You have an old building that has sat vacant for 30 years.”

They retained as much of the historical details as possible and created “a showpiece.” He added, “this has been a long time coming, and to see it in its final stage is incredible.”

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community

New mikvah to open in Mobile For the first time in at least two generations, Mobile will have what many consider to be a cornerstone of Jewish life — a mikvah.

Chabad of Mobile is currently constructing a mikvah to serve the area, with plans for it to be open in the next couple of months.

Mobile was part of an online effort by Chabad emissaries to raise $1.5 million for the establishment of mikvahs in seven small communities that have not had access to a mikvah. In addition to Mobile, the Bring Mikvah Home campaign benefited Saskatoon and Regina, Saskatchewan; Fargo, N.D.; Kelowna, British Columbia; Arcata, Calif.; and Salem, Ore. Mobile’s goal, the second smallest of the seven, was exceeded, raising just under $220,000.

Fundraising began at the end of January, and ground was broken in April.

Rabbi Yosef Goldwasser said many people have said that even though they won’t use the mikvah themselves, “they feel privileged to make it happen, because a community is not complete without one.”

Having a mikvah “brings an extra level of purity to the city, it’s a very spiritual thing,” and its presence allows for the observance of a more traditional life.

The Mobile mikvah will be used by women for ritual purity, not for conversions.

Typically, one visits a mikvah before getting married, and women visit it monthly for “family purity,” when marital relations are able to resume a week following menstruation.

While some have regarded that practice as archaic, there has been a renewed interest in the mikvah among non-Orthodox women as empowering, and giving attention to the reproductive cycle.

Traditionally, “mikvah is the cornerstone of Jewish family life,” Goldwasser said.

Goldwasser said some long-time Mobilians recall a mikvah at the Conti Street location of Ahavas Chesed, which, like most Conservative congregations in the region was considered Orthodox until the 1950s.

The congregation moved from Conti to Dauphin Street in 1956, then to its current location in 1990.

Currently, there are four mikvahs in Alabama. In Birmingham, they are at Chabad of Alabama, Knesseth Israel and Temple Beth-El. In Montgomery, there is one at Agudath Israel-Etz Ahayem. Chabad in Huntsville hopes to establish that community’s first mikvah before long.

There are plans to build a community mikvah in New Orleans that would adhere to the most traditional standards, but would be available for any purpose, including conversions.

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November 2021 • Southern Jewish Life

Summer camp scholarship applications now available Applications are now open for 2022 summer camp assistance in the region.

The Jewish Summer Camp Experience Incentive Grant program, administered by the Jewish Endowment Foundation of Louisiana, provides up to $1,500 for a Jewish child attending a Jewish not-for-profit sleepaway summer camp for the first time.

Jewish Children’s Regional Service, based in New Orleans and covering a seven-state region, has a new option in its popular need-based scholarship program.

The Incentive Grant, underwritten by the Goldring Family Foundation, is open to every Jewish child in Louisiana, Alabama, Mississippi and the Florida Panhandle who has never attended a not-for-profit Jewish sleepaway summer camp. It is not need-based.

Since 1999, this program has helped send 1,632 children to Jewish summer camps. Deadline for next summer is March 1, and more information is available at jefno.org under the Youth and Camping tab.

The Jewish Endowment Foundation also oversees the RoseMary and Saul Brooks Fund for Jewish Youth Engagement, which provides scholarship assistance to Jewish campers who are full-time residents of Louisiana but outside of a major metropolitan area, such as New Orleans and Baton Rouge.

The rural Louisiana scholarships are for those entering grades one to 12, and the application deadline is March 1. Recipients can re-apply for future years.

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The roof of the new mikvah structure has been completed, and work is continuing on the interior.

When one visits the mikvah, nothing is to come between the person and the water — clothing, makeup or jewelry. Preparation rooms have a shower so one can properly prepare for the immersion.

There will be two preparation rooms with completely separate entrances to the mikvah, also ensuring that only a mikvah attendant would see someone.

The mikvah water has to come from a natural source, rather than a tap. Usually, mikvah water is collected from rain, which should not be a problem in Mobile. Modern mikvahs have filtration and disinfecting systems, and heaters. Many mikvah facilities are built to resemble day spas.

After giving the bathrobe to the attendant, the person going into the mikvah goes down the steps and submerges completely, as many as three times to be sure every part of the body has been touched by the water.

Goldwasser said as the building nears completion, there will likely be a small campaign for furnishings and to cover the first year of operations.

R

The longstanding JCRS summer camp scholarship program provides need-based award based on family circumstances. Last year, JCRS provided partial scholarship funding to over 300 campers.

This year, the JCRS is introducing a short form with a $250 grant, or the traditional longer application with the possibility of a larger amount, to be determined by the award committee on a case by case basis.

The JCRS scholarships are for those in third to 12th grades, residing in Alabama, Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Oklahoma, Tennessee or Texas. Camps must be non-profit, and programs in Israel or other countries are not eligible.

The priority deadline for applications is Feb. 15, and the application process is done online at jcrs.org.

JCRS also does need-based college aid, special needs programs and a Chanukah gift program for children in challenging situations.

community Effort launched to bring Ninja playgrounds to communities near Gaza Spearheaded by Birmingham’s Michael Duvdevani, who grew up two miles from the border When conflict broke out yet again between Israel and Gaza, Birmingham’s Michael Duvdevani wanted to come up with something the community could do for Israel, “specifically for the kids living in the communities surrounding Gaza, in the moshavim and kibbutzim.”

In those areas, routinely bombarded by Hamas rockets fired randomly from Gaza, when a rocket is detected one has about 15 seconds to reach a shelter or safe space. Even in times without open conflict, there have been waves of balloon arsons, where incendiary devices are attached to balloons or kites and even made to look like children’s presents, to set fire to Israeli fields and communities.

Duvdevani, owner of Complete Feet, knows about the Gaza border communities, having grown up in one — Moshav Talmei Yosef, where his parents still live.

His brother also lives there with his three children, and “all my childhood friends live there with their families,” so doing something there “is close to my heart,” as “I know first-hand what their children have gone through.”

He is now spearheading an effort to raise funds and build a new type of playground in 50 border communities, “not like any regular playground,” but one which “will challenge the kids and really make a difference from a personal growth and believing in themselves… as they accomplish the challenges.”

Ninja Champion is a company established by two friends in Israel who wanted to develop a playground based on the “Ninja Warrior” competi- The Ninja Champion “Hurricane” playground

November 2021 • Southern Jewish Life

15

community

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tion television show. They now manufacture the playgrounds in Bat-Yam, near Tel Aviv.

The playgrounds are designed to always have something new to do — a new challenge or task, or a previous best time to beat. Among the 17 challenges are fire rings, monkey bars, Olympic rings, a Solomon ladder, fly board, bungee grip, iron finger board and hanging cones.

After the conflict in Gaza this past May, where Hamas launched over 4,000 rockets into Israel, Ninja Champion offered to place their largest model, the “Hurricane,” in three communities near Gaza, to help the children living under the threat of rocket attack, both physically and emotionally.

In a Facebook post, they asked for community nominations, and within 24 hours there were 43,000 views and 50 communities nominated. According to the company, parents “commented with emotional and painful messages that revealed their children’s suffering, and their feelings of helplessness in coping with the terrible effects of war on their children.

Parents shared their stories of severe emotional distress, fears of leaving the house, using the toilet alone, of children sleeping in bed with their parents at night, and of their kids need for psychiatric drugs.”

They decided to try and install the “Hurricane” in all 50 communities.

Duvdevani, who also saw the Facebook post, contacted the company and agreed with the plan, then set out to raise funds for the project.

The kids, he said, “suffer from PTSD symptoms” from having rockets fired at them all the time. Not only will these playgrounds, which are different from any they are used to, help build their confidence, they will “lower the stress and tension they experience on a daily basis.”

He noted that current teenagers in those areas have lived under this threat their entire lives.

Duvdevani said that because this is a grass-roots fundraiser, there is no overhead and everything raised goes directly into funding the playgrounds, supporting the communities and an Israeli start-up company.

The company installs the playground in a central location in each community.

“They’re really not that expensive,” Duvdevani said. The “Hurricane” generally sells for about $4,600, but the company is making the 50 playgrounds available, completely installed, for about $3,500 each, making the total project about $175,000.

Thus far, seven of the 50 playgrounds have been installed, and there has been “great feedback from the moshavim and kibbutzim where we have installed them,” Duvdevani said.

The situation there was not always as stressful. In 2005, Israel withdrew from Gaza completely, uprooting a couple of Israel communities and leaving behind the communities’ economic infrastructure for the Palestinians to use. Instead, the Palestinians demolished it.

The next year, Hamas forcibly took over Gaza and began hostilities toward Israel, including digging “terror tunnels” under the border with the idea of abducting Israelis. Faced with a regime in Gaza that is sworn to the elimination of Israel, Israel had to reinforce the border and limit the importation of materials that could be used to further hostilities. Egypt similarly closed its border with Gaza in an even more restrictive manner.

It is far different from when Duvdevani was growing up there. “The fence between us and Gaza was one that looked more like the fence in your backyard,” including the occasional holes, he said. “When I was young, we’d go to Gaza, to the markets, to the beach” and visit friends.

Today, Gaza is “the most secure border in the country… it’s unbelievable.”

Nevertheless, he is still in touch with Gazans who used to work at the moshav, calling them when there are hostilities to make sure they are safe.

“Regardless of our national conflicts, we still have really good and really close interpersonal relations with individuals.”

To participate, contact Duvdevani at michael@completefeetusa.com.

16

November 2021 • Southern Jewish Life

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November 2021 • Southern Jewish Life

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community Hillel at Miss. State responds to Nazi imagery in Covid protests

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November 2021 • Southern Jewish Life

Hillel at Mississippi State University issued a statement on Oct. 26 that “strongly condemns” the use of Nazi imagery, especially swastikas, by those opposing the university’s Covid mask mandate and vaccine mandate for faculty.

The Hillel executive board stated that as a “vowed” apolitical organization, it is unusual for them to speak out “on ongoing political matters and debates” but felt compelled to do so in the face of current anti-mandate protests.

Anti-mask signs were posted around the research park and Drill Field, saying “Heil State” with a swastika in place of the s, criticizing University President Mark Keenum with “Hitler, Stalin, Biden, Keenum” or stating “F--- Keenum” with a swastika replacing the k and a Soviet hammer and sickle replacing the c. The signs “are not political activism,” the Hillel statement read. “They are blatant examples of anti-Semitism and wholly inappropriate,” poorly serving the messaging of anti-mask activists.

In the Facebook post announcing the statement, Hillel said “Being required to wear a mask in campus buildings is not at all akin to the horrors of Nazism, and those horrors must not be belittled in this way.”

They cited how Mississippi State hosted Holocaust survivor Sam Steigmann two years ago, and that the university as a whole “has been extremely welcoming and accepting of its growing Jewish population,” along with setting up the first Jewish student scholarship in the state.

They added, “Mississippi State University is one of the most ideal universities a Jewish student can attend in the SEC.” In the statement, the Hillel leaders said anti-Semitic sentiment is “exceptionally rare” on campus, but “it is vitally important” to renounce the imagery on the signs. “To those who posted the signs, we encourage you to familiarize yourself with the egregiousness of the Holocaust in order to understand why the inclusion of Nazi imagery is unreservedly inappropriate in your political messaging,” and though those who made the signs may have been ignorant of the context, “you have unnecessarily shaken the Jewish students of our campus.”

It is estimated that there are a couple dozen Jewish students at Mississippi State.

community >> Commentary

continued from page 3

rors of what happened alongside World War II and takes that mantle for a much lesser cause.

But they don’t see this as a much lesser cause, they see it as a societal disaster, the first steps on the road to totalitarianism and the crushing of dissent. The comparison isn’t to the concentration camps, but to the earlier days of the Nazi regime as increasingly restrictive laws were put into place. It is a reaction that isn’t far removed from those who wondered if the Trump years were 1938 all over again.

Nevertheless, the idea that we could be on the road to rounding up and executing those who refuse a lifesaving vaccine is beyond ludicrous.

And even the freedom argument is a stretch. There is no such thing as absolute freedom in a society, for that would be anarchy. We are in a pandemic that has killed millions in the world, the best defense currently is a vaccine which has been scrutinized heavily and billions of doses administered. Some can’t receive it and rely on the rest of us to build a herd immunity to make Covid go away. Yes, there is a “needs of the many” aspect to it, but that doesn’t make it Marxist or totalitarian.

Why can’t I drive 110 miles an hour on the left side of the road? What are you worried about, since you have airbags and seatbelts that you say are safe and effective.

You can’t smoke in public because of the health effects on others. You may claim the freedom to park where you want, but unless you have the proper tag, you’ll get a ticket if it’s in one of the spaces near the door.

Of course, using the Holocaust for political activism is nothing new.

The Middle Passage of slave ships going from Africa to the Americas is also often referred to as the Black Holocaust.

For decades, anti-abortion activists have referred to the procedure as America’s Holocaust. One of the more bizarre scenes along those lines played out in a University of Alabama at Huntsville lecture hall in the mid-1990s where a prominent Holocaust denier was holding forth, and a couple dressed in what looked like concentration camp uniforms sat quietly in the front row. When the time for questions came, one of them stood up, revealing a huge yellow star on the back of the uniform — with the drawing of a fetus inside it. He praised the denier for his bravery to speak unpopular views and hoped he would have the same courage in his anti-abortion crusade.

It is beyond amusing to see many anti-abortion activists suddenly advocate the idea of “my body, my choice” when it comes to the Covid vaccination. Keep the government out of your arm? Okay, sure…

When part of Holocaust education is to apply the lessons of that time and make them more universal, one might expect comparisons to be made, no matter how much we remind people that it was a unique event in history.

Finding true, blatant antisemitism in some quarters of the anti-vax movement isn’t difficult. After all, if there’s a conspiracy to be had, it’s only a matter of time before the Jews are brought into it. One such conspiracy talks about Jews getting rich off the vaccines, or putting things into the vaccines to control everyone else. Or the Jews were behind the shutdowns. Or Israel has some nefarious role. Or the virus is a hoax that is being perpetrated by the Jews, or it’s real and being spread by the Jews. At the beginning of the pandemic, there were people urging others to cough on Jews, to spread the virus, or expressing the hope that more Israelis would get Covid.

Whether or not comparing vaccine or mask mandates to Nazi Germany is antisemitic, the fact remains that it is an idiotic thing to say, and it is highly offensive.

To anyone thinking of doing so: Just don’t.

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community Life insights of a soccer legend

Growing up in 1950s-60s Birmingham propelled Preston Goldfarb forward

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Southern Jewish Life Thanks, Giving

At Southern Jewish Life magazine, we are grateful for a lot — especially during this Thanksgiving season.

Thanks to advertising revenue, donor contributions and our determination to sustain the Deep South’s only nationally-honored Jewish publication, we continue to not only weather the pandemic but also to grow.

Through our online and print publications, we‘ve expanded our coverage of Jewish personalities, trends and happenings in our four state region.

We also continue to unite Jewish communities and connect Jewish readers throughout the Deep South by sending our monthly print magazine free to every known Jewish household in Alabama, Louisiana, Mississippi and NW Florida.

More than 150 donors have made financial contributions this past year ranging from $18 to $1800.

So if you’d like to say THANKS to Southern Jewish Life for GIVING you quality independent Jewish journalism that enriches Jewish life throughout our region, please consider becoming a Southern Jewish Life donor.

Just send a check to Southern Jewish Life, P.O. Box 130052, Birmingham, AL 35213, or go to https://sjlmag.com/contribute/ (Donations to Southern Jewish Life are not tax-deductible.)

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November 2021 • Southern Jewish Life

In smaller Southern Jewish communities such as Birmingham, there is a sense that longtime Jewish residents know one another.

That’s true in many cases — but not all.

Yes, we may know one another, but we don’t always know about one another, which is the main thing that makes Preston Goldfarb’s new book, “Tenacity of Purpose,” so interesting to read.

Subtitled “Coach Preston Goldfarb’s Journey through life, loves and soccer,” this book is more than an autobiography. It’s a compendium of insights from a guy who is still embracing new challenges as he turns 74 in December and who is continuing a seemingly never-ending trajectory that has touched countless lives around the world, both on and off the soccer field.

One recurring theme is Goldfarb’s pride in his Judaism, a commitment forged through the crucible of encountering antisemitism, particularly while growing up in Birmingham in the 1950s and 60s, and “how it propelled me to go forward.” He details several powerful and transformative incidents.

The book also is the story of how a young man from Birmingham, whose first sports love was basketball, gravitated toward soccer with some colorful encounters along the way, including actually enjoying his military service and interviewing for the CIA. Over time, Goldfarb’s name would become locally, nationally and internationally synonymous with soccer.

He mainly built his legacy as head coach of Birmingham-Southern College’s soccer team for decades, but also for leading the U.S. men’s team to unprecedented back-to-back gold medals in the Maccabiah Games, a worldwide Jewish athletic competition held in Israel every four years.

Peanut Butter and Jelly

Goldfarb’s book, like his approach to soccer, is straightforward, even blunt at times. Over and over, he emphasizes his core philosophy: “Peanut butter and jelly sandwich on white bread with a glass of milk.”

That philosophy of just sticking to the basics with nothing fancy is reflected throughout his book. He is direct, unvarnished at times and seems to cut to the chase in every situation he encounters.

“Tenacity of Purpose” also contains a substantial amount of “soccer talk” — which might not be familiar to those who aren’t attuned to the intricacies of the sport. However, he explains them in such a way that you not only get a sense of the dynamics of his strategy, but also the overall picture of what he is trying to achieve, particularly in motivating his players to buy into what Goldfarb calls “his system.”

Like a coach, as an author he never loses sight of his mission: to interest the reader in his own personal story and to share the lessons he’s learned which, though varied, reflect an unyielding determination to prevail coupled with a willingness to embrace thoughtful risks.

A crowning achievement, which Goldfarb pridefully recounts, is his election to three Halls of Fame — Birmingham-Southern’s, where the soccer field is named in his honor; the National Association of Intercolle-

community giate Athletics Hall of Fame and the Jewish Sports Heritage Hall of Fame.

Today, though retired from Birmingham-Southern, the energetic Goldfarb keeps on kicking.

Goldfarb clearly has built his life driven by the words with which he has entitled his book: “Tenacity of Purpose” — and in getting to know the long-time coach even better from reading his new autobiography, you can sense that for him the game is far from over.

“Tenacity of Purpose” is available on Amazon and at Barnes and Noble.

Metairie Eruv remains down Eruv expert Rabbi Stephen Belsky has been consulting with the Metairie community on what it will take to make the eruv in the West Esplanade area kosher again, and repairs are being planned. Problems with the route along the New Orleans levees has rendered the 10-year-old eruv unsuitable for now. An eruv allows the carrying of items outside of homes on Shabbat or holidays.

A new eruv in Uptown was temporarily down following Hurricane Ida.

Touro Infirmary Foundation holding in-person events This year, the Touro Infirmary Foundation is returning to live events for the Judah Touro Society Award presentation and gala, but to limit the number of guests at one time in the age of Covid, the two events are being separated.

Last year, Touro’s healthcare heroes were honored virtually.

The award event will be held on Nov. 11 at 6 p.m. at the Audubon Tea Room, honoring Fr. Doug Brougher. The evening includes a seated dinner, music and the award presentation.

On Dec. 9, the gala will be done as a casino night, also at the Audubon Tea Room, with a silent auction and raffle prizes.

Both events benefit the new Breast Care Center at Touro, which was announced at the Pampered and Pink event on Oct. 14. The center will not only provide the region with a state-of-the-art facility with advanced treatment options for breast cancer, but will bring a Breast Cancer Center of Excellence to a community in need.

The Napoleon Imaging Center will be transformed into the new center,

boosted by a $3 million campaign chaired by Phyllis Alltmont.

A New Orleans native, Brougher is being honored for almost 60 years of ministry. He studied in Rome as Vatican II was taking place, and was ordained in December 1962.

In New Orleans, he has served numerous congregations, most recently Good Shepherd Parish.

He began the chaplaincy program at Touro Infirmary 35 years ago, working solo for 15 years before being joined by a second chaplain. While working with those of all faiths, he also started the Eucharistic ministry program, which now has almost 20 volunteers serving the Eucharist to Catholic patients six days a week.

Tickets to the casino night start at $150, or $250 per couple. The awards gala is $200 per person.

Higher levels are available at $1,500 for the Judah Touro Society and $2,000 for the Bensadon Physicians Giving Society, which will include two tickets to each event.

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November 2021 • Southern Jewish Life

21

Chabad on Campus

Right, Chabad at Tulane held a Freshman Challah Social, which included a challah making class.

Below, on Oct. 17, Chabad at the University of Alabama held a Girls Night Out, with warm tea and tie-dyeing.

22

November 2021 • Southern Jewish Life

community Miraculous encounter leads to novel about sisters murdered in Holocaust Retired Mississippi teacher discusses life-changing educational project Sometimes, writing an article can be life-changing for a journalist.

Joy Lucius of Tupelo said two girls who were murdered in the Holocaust unexpectedly “changed my life and they’ll change yours.” Their story is detailed in her new book, “Rose and Odette,” which was published this summer by the American Family Association, where she is a staff writer.

The book is the first in a planned series, “Priceless Pennies,” which ties in to how this odyssey began.

Two years ago, Lucius went to Memphis to interview Diane McNeil, who heads the Unknown Child Foundation. The foundation grew from an effort by two students at Horn Lake Middle School in Mississippi to teach their middle school students about the magnitude of the Holocaust by collecting 1.5 million pennies, to represent the Jewish children who were murdered by the Nazis.

The Pennies Project, which was successful, Two names grew into plans for a children’s Holocaust meout of 1.5 morial.

In preparing for the interview, Lucius went million through photos of child victims of the Holocaust, and one photo in particular struck her — that of sisters Rose and Odette Aboulafia, who were deported from Paris, where the family had immigrated to from Turkey, and executed at Auschwitz. “I couldn’t let go of it, because it reminded me of my sister and myself,” she said. “I couldn’t imagine a life without my sister.”

She printed it out and kept it with her, then later she took a tour of

the Unknown Child exhibit at the Desoto County Museum in Hernando.

McNeil said that part of the exhibit is a looped recording of about 80 to 100 names of children killed in the Holocaust.

Rabbi Levi Klein from Chabad in Memphis and a student from one of the local Jewish schools did the recording after consulting with Yad Vashem.

Toward the end of the tour, they realized that the tape had not been playing.

“Just as they were apologizing because the sound wasn’t working, the soundtrack came on,” Lucius said — and the first two names that came over were Rose Aboulafia and Odette Aboulafia.

“I screamed, stop, stop!” she said.

“We didn’t know what was happening,” McNeil said, until Lucius rifled through her purse and brought out the picture that she had been carrying.

November 2021 • Southern Jewish Life

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community

Happy Chanukah from

“Out of 1.5 million children, there were only two names I heard that day, and they were the names of the two Sephardic Jewish girls from Paris,” Lucius said.

She knew then that she had to learn more about the family. While she had previously dismissed the idea of writing a book about them, the museum encounter “was a clear sign from God. Right then, I knew I had to write this book.”

The young-adult novel echoes Lucius’ own journey, giving the Aboulafia sisters’ story through current-day fictional sisters in a small Southern town who have a school project on the Holocaust. Their research changes their lives, and those of the previously undocumented Aboulafia survivors.

During her research, Lucius found that the sisters had two older brothers who were smuggled out of Paris in the bottom of a garbage truck. Both survived the war and moved back to the area, and there are six known living survivors of that family.

Though she had been a teacher for 23 years, she said it was “humbling” to realize how much she did not know about the Holocaust.

She is now working on the next book, about two boys, and also researching and writing about children who were on the MS St. Louis, the ill-fated 1939 voyage of 937 passengers, almost all of them Jewish refugees, who were refused entry into Cuba, the United States and Canada, and were forced to return to Europe.

Of them, 254 were killed in the Holocaust.

Meanwhile, the Unknown Child Foundation is continuing to work on plans to establish its memorial on the grounds of the Circle G Ranch, which is best known as Elvis Presley’s honeymoon retreat. McNeil said this is part of the growing acknowledgement of and respect for Elvis’ Jewish ancestry.

Oy, Chanukah!

See the Chanukah House as part of the 10th annual Birmingham Wacky Tacky Holiday Light Tour

Dec. 14-16 and Dec. 21 For Tickets: wackytacky.org 24

November 2021 • Southern Jewish Life

Lucius said “as a retired school teacher from Mississippi and as a Christian, I’m just honored that God has given me another assignment in this stage of my life.”

Her goal is to help “the next generation of Americans know that we have to remember, we cannot forget, or there will be more stories and more little girls who never got the chance to grow up and live happy, productive lives.”

According to a release from the American Family Association leadership, “These two little French girls were so important to God that He miraculously introduced them to a retired Mississippi schoolteacher, a grandmother who lives a world and a lifetime away. Rose and Odette mattered to God, they matter to me, and I pray they will matter to you.”

community >> Agenda

continued from page 8

showed no mold damage.

An eight image series by Chuck Lisner depicting the Days of Creation is part of “Creation,” an exhibit at Gallery 1060 in Pensacola. The commentary for each day includes thoughts from the early Jewish sages. Each day is a digital representation of The Creation that provides the viewer a new way of thinking about the first chapter of Genesis. The show runs through Nov. 14.

The launch of the Jewish Mobile Oral History Project will be on Nov. 18 at 4 p.m. at the Marx Library Rodning Gallery at the University of South Alabama. Josh Parshall, director of the Institute of Southern Jewish Life history department, will speak.

The Sisterhood of Temple Emanu-El, Tuscaloosa, will have a flower arranging and afternoon tea, Nov. 14 at 2 p.m., at Emanu-El unless building repairs are still ongoing. Cost is $40 to cover materials.

The North Louisiana Jewish Federation will have an information session on its upcoming Israel trip, Nov. 14 at 9:30 a.m. at B’nai Zion, or Nov. 18 at 7 p.m., at Agudath Achim and on Zoom. There will be a discussion of the itinerary, flight options and some helpful Hebrew phrases. The trip is planned for Feb. 14 to 24.

On Nov. 19, Congregation New in Baton Rouge will have Naming Shabbat during the 6 p.m. service at the Jefferson Highway location, for community members who either don’t have a Hebrew or Yiddish name, or who would like to change theirs. Others will affirm their names in a ceremony during the service. The finalists for the joint congregation’s new name will also be revealed.

Birmingham’s new sports boutique located in Homewood right next to Savage’s Bakery. Community based sports and athleisure apparel, along with sports equipment, uniforms and much more.

bandwagonsports.com

2920 18th Street South

Temple B’nai Sholom in Huntsville is holding a Chanukah Craft Fair on Nov. 14 from noon to 4 p.m.

Bais Ariel Chabad in Birmingham will host a Red Cross blood drive on Nov. 21 from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.

There will also be Red Cross blood drives at the Levite Jewish Community Center in Birmingham on Nov. 22 from noon to 4:30 p.m. and Dec. 15 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. and Dec. 29 from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Registration is required.

To acquire more office space, Beth Shalom in Fort Walton Beach is cleaning out its library. Every Thursday in November from 9 a.m. to noon there is an opportunity to see what books are available, and add to one’s personal library.

The Pensacola Jewish Federation will have Café Israel on Nov. 15 at Calvert’s in the Heights. Dinner is at 6 p.m., followed by a 6:30 p.m. discussion of “Holidays Celebrated in Israel Today That You’ve Never Heard Of.” The N.E. Miles Jewish Day School in Birmingham will have a Young Scientists Science of Propulsion program for preschoolers, Nov. 14 at 10 a.m. There will be rocket building, an experiment with Alka-Seltzer rockets and a Whoosh experiment.

The Pensacola Interfaith Thanksgiving Service with downtown congregations will be Nov. 21 at 5 p.m. at Allen Chapel AME Church.

The annual joint Thanksgiving service with Temple Beth Or, Church of the Ascension and First United Methodist Church in Montgomery will be Nov. 21 at 4 p.m., hosted by the Methodist Church.

The Southside Faith Communities in Birmingham will have their annual Thanksgiving service on Nov. 23 at noon, hosted at Temple Beth-El. Registration will be on the Beth-El website, and this year’s of-

YOU'LL FIND MORE THAN A COLLEGE ON

the hilltop YOU’LL FIND A WORLD OF OPPORTUNITY.

BSC

Birmingham-Southern College

bsc.edu

November 2021 • Southern Jewish Life

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Smile With Confidence

community

BRACES INVISALIGN

fering will be for the Alabama Interfaith Refugee Partnership.

Virtual Appointments Available

The annual Big Buddy Shopping Spree with the B’nai Israel Men’s Club in Baton Rouge will be on Dec. 8 from 5 to 8 p.m. at Macy’s in the Mall of Louisiana. Donations are welcome, as it costs roughly $150 per child in need to put presents under their family’s tree.

Temple Emanu-El’s Feeling Gelty is being joined by Birmingham’s Temple Beth-El, Trinity United Methodist Church and Urban Ministry to provide Christmas gifts for students at Hemphill Elementary School.

Childrens’ lists can be picked up in early November, and gifts should be delivered to Emanu-El by Dec. 3 for the Shabbat service. They will be distributed on Dec. 10.

ovortho.com • 205‑942‑2270 Homewood at the Depot: 415 West Oxmoor Rd., Birmingham

The Jerusalem Market in Shreveport, a Halal establishment, will receive its first kosher shipment on Dec. 1, including kosher meat.

The Pensacola Jewish Federation’s Chai Discussion Group will meet at Temple Beth El on Nov. 18 at 11:45 a.m. for “Should Our Border Be Better Secured?”

Reshet Ramah, the alumni group for the Camp Ramah system in the United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism, has released its “Ramah On Campus 2021 survey of “Top Ramah colleges” attended by the 1,300 college-age staffers who worked at the Ramah camps, including Ramah Darom in Georgia, this summer. Tulane University ranked eighth, with 17 students. Topping the list was Michigan, with 33, followed by Maryland and Binghamton with 29 each. Florida and Emory also were listed as having at least 10 Ramah staff this past summer.

Chanukah Events

The Chanukah House will once again be a featured stop on the Wacky Tacky Holiday Lights Tour in Birmingham. The tours benefit Fresh Air Family’s summer camp scholarship fund for children in need.

Buses depart every 15 minutes starting at 6 p.m. Dec. 14 to 16, and Dec. 21. Tickets are available at wackytacky.org.

Chabad of Baton Rouge will hold its annual Chanukah at the State Capitol, Dec 5 at 4 p.m. There will be a hot latke bar, face painting, chocolate gelt drop and Kona ice. The event is free and open to the community.

The united Baton Rouge congregation will have a Shabbat Chanukah tailgate with latke bar, Dec. 3 at 6 p.m. at the Kleinert Avenue location.

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November 2021 • Southern Jewish Life

Chanukah in Pensacola

community Dec. 5 at 5 p.m.

Beth Shalom in Fort Walton Beach will have a Havdalah and Chanukah Night to Remember, Dec. 4 at 6 p.m., with live music, Israeli folk dancing, food and treats. The event is open to the community.

Temple Beth El in Anniston will have a Chanukah covered dish celebration on Dec. 3 at 6 p.m., Latkes and Popeye’s chicken will be provided. Services will be at 7 p.m., during which there will be a Zoom presentation with Rabbi Sally Priesand speaking about her experiences as the first female ordained rabbi.

The annual Grand Menorah Lighting at Bridge Street in Huntsville will be on Nov. 28.

The Grand Menorah Lighting at the Summit in Birmingham will be on Nov. 28, with festivities at 4:30 p.m. and the lighting at 5:15 p.m. A menorah lighting will also be held at Vestavia City Hall on Dec. 1, and the car menorah parade will be on Dec. 5.

Chabad of Alabama, Temple Beth-El, Temple Emanu-El, You Belong in Birmingham and the Birmingham Jewish Federation’s NextGen group will host The Matzah Ball, Dec. 2 from 8 to 10 p.m., upstairs at Avondale Brewing, for ages 21 to 40. Tickets are $18 until Nov. 19, then $20 until Nov. 29. Masks and Covid vaccines required, and the event is cocktail attire.

The Southeast Chavurah is coming back post-Covid, with a Chanukah party as the first gathering. Archaeology Professor Terry Daughtrey will be the speaker for the Dec. 4 event, which will be at 11:30 a.m. in the Chart Room at the Original Oyster House in Spanish Fort. There will also be a candle lighting ceremony. Reservations are capped at 20.

Emerald Coast Chabad in Destin will have its Chanukah Celebration at the Harbor on Nov. 28, a ladies’ night out on Nov. 30, and a young adult event on Dec. 5.

Beth Israel in Gulfport will have Light Up The Night on Dec. 2 at 7 p.m. at Quakes in Ocean Springs, with kids’ crafts, doughnuts, latkes and the lighting of the largest menorah in the state. There will be a Strikes and Lights bowling event on Dec. 4 at 7 p.m. at Cypress Lanes in D’Iberville, $5 per person with reservations required. The Chanukah carnival will be Dec. 5 at 3:30 p.m. with an inflatable obstacle course, latkes, fair games, arts and crafts, and a raffle. Grand menorah lighting will be at 5 p.m. Kid bracelet and meal are $25, latke tickets are $18 and raffle tickets are $5.

Congregation members receive a 20 percent discount on kid’s bracelets and dinner tickets.

Chanukah at Riverwalk in New Orleans will be on Nov. 28, from 4:30 to 6:30 p.m. The

Greater Birmingham Ministries Safe Food Distribution

Desmond Tutu said, “Hope is being able to see that there is light despite all of the darkness.”

Hope soothes our souls, lifts our spirits, and keeps us going when times are difficult.

The mission of Greater Birmingham Ministries is to “Serve People. Build Community.

Pursue Justice.” For us that means addressing needs.

And to do so with hope.

The wonderful thing about hope is that it’s a gift we carry in our hearts and souls, and it’s also a gift we give to others. Sometimes we give it, sometimes we receive it, and often we do both. Hope begets hope — it ripples out to others. The effects are immeasurable.

For fifty-two years, Greater Birmingham Ministries has worked across lines of race, religion and economic status to make hope manifest in the lives of the least of these — our neighbors.

And, in working with others to build community around the needs of ‘the least of these,” the hope that springs from shared community blesses us all.

We want to share some of the gifts of hope our supporters have helped deliver to others in our community.

Ms. D came to GBM feeling very low after losing her job because her company downsized. She was determined to go back to work, but hadn’t found another job in time to pay her utility bill. Her lights were turned off, she didn’t have money to buy food, and she needed clothing for a job interview. Thanks to the GBM community she left our office with money to pay her utility bill, a big bag of food, and clothes for her interview.

And she left with something more — hope for the future. She was so grateful to the GBM community and told us she felt confident again and certain she’d get the job.

Another of our clients spent years trying, unsuccessfully, to register to vote. Once GBM became involved in his case, we were able to discover, after quite a lot of research into court records and with the help of outside voting rights legal counsel, that the State of Alabama was mixing up our client with a female by the same name who did have felony convictions that barred her from voting. With GBM’s assistance, our client’s case was resolved and he got his right to vote.

It is our hope that you will share the gift of hope with Greater Birmingham Ministries, a service, faith and justice organization of Jews, Christians and Muslims; and help continue to bring the light of hope to our shared community.

Phone (205) 326-6821 Email info@gbm.org gbm.org 2304 12th Avenue North Birmingham, AL 35234

November 2021 • Southern Jewish Life

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community “From Generation to Generation” event will include a Chanukah story trail, latkes, dreidels, children’s activities and more.

The New Orleans Uptown Jewish Community Center’s Chanukah celebration will feature a concert by the Maccabeats. The celebration will be on Bart Field starting at 2 p.m. and is free and open to the community. Advance registration and proof of vaccination for those age 12 and older are required.

Ahavas Chesed in Mobile will partner with Dumas Wesley, collecting gifts for needy children. New unwrapped gifts can be brought to the shul until Dec. 5, when there will be a short Chanukah gathering.

Temple Emanu-El, Dothan, will have its Chanukah Potluck and service, Dec. 3 at 6 p.m. Latkes, jelly doughnuts and drinks will be provided. Reservations are $10 for adults, $5 for children.

The L’Chaim League in Montgomery will have its Chanukah lunch on Dec. 1 at noon, at Sinclair’s on Vaughn Road. Reservations are $18

by Nov. 26.

Chabad of Mobile will have a Giant Menorah Lighting on Dec. 2 at Fairhope Pavilion at Fairhope Pier. The Menorah Car Parade will be on Dec. 5 from Chabad to the Eastern Shore Centre.

The North Louisiana Jewish Federation’s annual Chanukah party will be Dec. 5 at 5 p.m. at Agudath Achim. At 6 p.m. there will be a concert by Noah Aronson. Registration will be required.

B’nai Israel in Monroe will hold its Chanukah dinner on Dec. 3 at 6 p.m.

Birmingham’s Temple Emanu-El will have a Chanukah celebration Shabbat with the Henry S. Jacobs Camp, Dec. 3 at 5:45 p.m.

Chabad of Panama City Beach will have a public menorah lighting and Chanukah celebration, Nov. 29 at Pier Park, at 5 p.m.

Gemiluth Chassodim in Alexandria will have a Chanukah Shabbat on Dec. 3 at 6 p.m. with a community candle lighting and latkes.

Reiki Association opens space at Beth-El

Refining the Heart of the Home www.katrinaporterdesigns.com 28

November 2021 • Southern Jewish Life

The Reiki Association of the Southeast has established its new home at Birmingham’s Temple Beth-El. In that space, Terri Ann Heiman, Rhonda White, Paul Wolff and member Bo Andrews will be available for lectures, classes, healing circles and private treatments. There are also many monthly events available.

A Community Reiki Circle will be held on the third Wednesday of each month at 6 p.m., to experience the healing energy of Reiki, sound bowls and meditation. No experience is necessary.

Heiman will offer a course combining breathing, Restorative ‘Ki’ Yoga and Reiki for Self-Care for those with some experience with Reiki who want to continue their practice. This class is on the fourth Wednesday of the month at 6 p.m.

Starting in November, a Reiki and Meditation group will be offered on the first Wednesday of the month at 6 p.m. Meditation and breathing techniques will be introduced as well as Reiki energy to ease into the practice.

Heiman will also be offering a Reiki and Art group on the second Wednesday of the month, at noon. Art with rock painting, mixed media, crystals, wood, feathers and jewelry making will be offered each month.

Due to Covid restrictions, registration on the website is requested.

The association plans to partner with other health and wellness providers, clinics, hospitals and agencies in the southeast to add Reiki to their healing skills and treatments. The second goal is to support the professional practice of all Reiki practitioners in the healing arts.

gift guide

chanukah

Let’s Get This Party Started IT’S NOT CALLED THE HOLIDAY OF LIGHTS FOR NOTHING. USE THOSE EIGHT DAYS FOR CHIC, SPARKLE AND SHINE.

1. WISH THEM A HAPPY HOLIDAY WITH CUSTOM CARDS Your favorite shayna punim gets the cover on personalized cards.

Cost varies according to quantity ordered.

Rudman’s Gifts

741 Veterans Memorial Blvd Metairie 504/833.1286 rudmans.com Rudman’s is a gift, stationery, invitation and greeting card shop with Judaica and unique gifts, and they are especially proud to offer locallly designed and produced Louisiana products. Individualized service is a specialty with wording and design assistance on any time of personal or business correspondence, and their partnership with industry leaders guarantees a top-notch finished product.

Customer service they’re famous for, plus free gift wrapping and at-cost UPS shipping Bandwagon Sports around the country make selecting and sending any gift a pleasure.

2920 18th St S Homewood 205/582.2092 bandwagonsports.com Bandwagon Sports has scored with customers since opening earlier this year with its focus on serving the local community and supporting its teams.

2. REMEMBER: BLUE AND WHITE The Homewood sporting goods store opened its doors this past JanuARE TRADITIONAL FOR CHANUKAH ary in a temporary location and moved into its current permanent facility in late September.

There’ll be no forgetting this holiday.

“Our kids are active in sports and we’re involved in the community,” Price upon request. said owner David Knight. “We talked to a lot of friends (involved with local athletics) as we started planning Wellington Bandwagon. Our was to open &goal Company Fine Jewelry a modern-day sports boutique that supplies what the 505 communities are New Orleans Royal Street looking for.”

504/525.4855 wcjewelry.com Bandwagon Sports carries Mountain Brook High School Spartans, Vestavia Hills High School Rebels and Homewood Patriots wear, Wellington & Co. Finewith Jewelry’s team of plans to expand outside of the area as interest might warrant. jewelry associates possesses more than half a The store carries traditional sporting goods such as bats, tennis rackcentury ofshirts, antique, estate and contemporary ets, gloves and balls. Bandwagon also offers polo belts with local fine jewelry knowledge and sales experience. team insignia, bags and even blankets.

At Wellington & Co., their passion for what “When we started, we thought 50 percent of what we sell would be they do, combined with the store’s warm apparel and 50 percent would be sporting goods,” said Knight. “But it has and inviting atmosphere in the heart of New been about 80 percent apparel to 20 percent sporting goods.”

He also said with the new, larger location,Orleans’ they have not only greatly historic French Quarter enables expanded theirvisitors stock, from but the sizes they offer inwith men’s/boys and womthem to provide around the world a unique and inviting shopping en’s/girls. Bandwagon also has added new sweatshirts andexperience fleeces for the unlike any other. winter.

“We’ve been really pleased by the response,” said Knight, who also is a co-owner for Knight-Eddy sports marketing. “Our customer base has grown every week and we continue to evolve the store based on what our customers tell us they want.”

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chanukah gifts

Mon Ami

Little Hardware

Mon Ami is French for “my friend,” and the Mountain Brook children’s clothing store prides itself on being a friend to the community.

“We really appreciate our friends who shop locally,” said Aja Michel Powanda, who opened Mon Ami in February 2019 with her mother, Farren Michel.

They’ve even reached out by going to their customers. “We do local delivery and pick-up on approvals for those who want to try things on at home,” added Powanda. Customers can also order online from www.monamibham.com.

Powanda is from Birmingham and worked for several years as a buyer at a high-end children’s clothing store in New York City. She and her husband wanted to raise their children, 9-year-old Farren and 7-year-old Mavis in Birmingham, so they moved to the Magic City four years ago. “It was always my goal to open my own children’s clothing store here,” she said.

Mon Ami sells formal and casual clothes for boys and girls, sizes four to 18, but it’s so much more than just a clothing store, said Powanda. The store’s selection includes jewelry, watches, accessories, fun Band-Aids, Bluetooth speakers, purses and shoes.

In 2021, they added a line of jigsaw puzzles for kids and those have been very popular.

They also plan to get in Chanukah dreidel Pop Its fidget toys before the holiday starts.

Now everywhere, the Poppits were created by a couple in Israel, Theo and Ora Coster, after Ora’s sister died from breast cancer. Theo was a native of Amsterdam, where he was classmates with Anne Frank.

Little Hardware expects outdoor cooking equipment to be among the hot sellers this Chanukah season.

The “so much more than just a hardware store” in Mountain Brook’s English Village started selling Solo portable backyard firepits. Other popular equipment includes Weber barbecue grills and Komodo Joe cookers.

“We have always had a diverse store,” said Little Hardware Owner Frank Davies, whose father bought the store from the original owner, Lewis Little, in 1964. “But about 10 years ago we expanded what we offer. We’ve got everything from dog food to power tools to grills to housewares to gift items.”

Little started Little Hardware in 1946 and moved from it from its original location in Ensley to Mountain Brook Village in 1959. In 2014, Davies moved the store to its much-larger current location.

He said since the pandemic started, they have seen an uptick in the number of customers getting supplies for home projects, including Stihl power tools and Benjamin Moore paints.

40 Church Street, Crestline Birmingham 205/848.7800 monamibham.com

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November 2021 • Southern Jewish Life

2117 Cahaba Road Birmingham 205/871.4616 little-hardware.com

chanukah gifts

Hollywood Feed

Four Alabama locations, six in Mississippi, and Shreveport hollywoodfeed.com

Hollywood Feed Mississippi Made Donut Dog Beds Limited Edition Fabrics — $84.99 - $149.99 The Mississippi Made Donut Bed gives your pet the comfort of the couch with the durability of high-quality, USA Made fabrics. The unique donut shape allows your pet to snuggle, burrow, and curl up for the ultimate rest — bedtime, naptime, and in between. Both the outer plush ring and the baffled inner pillow retain their fluff for many relaxing ZZZZs. The removable, machine washable cover allows for easy cleaning to keep your pet’s bed fresh.

Ritual + Shelter

HANUKKAH SHOP NOW AT VISITVULCAN.COM

2900 18th St So Homewood 205/388.8793 ritualshelter.com Visitors to a unique store in Homewood can find a different style of gifts for Chanukah, including local art, mirrors, pillows, candles, wellness products and even books about Kabballah.

“Our aesthetic is ethereal, mystical and spiritual,” said Jennifer Dorman, owner of Domicile and Ritual + Shelter. “About 95 percent of our artwork is local and we want to have products that fit well with our vibe.”

For Shabbat, with a Rosh Chodesh motif?

This large match bottle has images of the monthly lunar cycle.

This matte black metal trimmer is handy for keeping wicks at 1/4 of an inch, allowing candles to burn cleaner and longer. To minimize smoke & odor, our matching snuffer easily extinguishes a flame.

HAPPY

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35 showcases of jewelry, silver, and collectibles!

Birmingham’s Oldest and Largest Antiques Mall

2424 7th Ave S • Birmingham, AL • 205-323-6036 hannaantiques.com Open Mon-Sat 10am-5pm November 2021 • Southern Jewish Life

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chanukah gifts

Give the Gift of Gunn This Chanukah!

Stop by for Gift Cards and Favorite Skincare Products Schedule a cosmetic consult and make your wish list to share with your significant other!

Consults are $25 from Nov. 29 to Dec. 3!

Gift a Hydrafacial, Vivace, Botox or favorite treatment Holiday specials on Gift Cards, Filler, Botox, Treatments, Skin Care Products and More!

Follow Us on Instagram @gunndermatology to participate in our “12 Gifts” from Dec. 6 to Dec. 17 For an appointment, call (205) 415-7536 or visit gunndermatology.com 32 Church Street, Mountain Brook, AL

Friendly, Knowledgeable Staff • Family Owned and big Chanukah gifts!

Weber Grills • Yeti Coolers Solo Portable Backyard Fire Pits Kamado Joe ceramic cookers

Crestline Pharmacy

60 Church Street Birmingham 205/871.0317 Crestline Pharmacy not only fulfills prescriptions, but also Chanukah wish lists.

The Mountain Brook holiday store opened Nov. 1 and they have expanded their Chanukah stock by 400 percent from last year’s.

In June 2020, Pharmacist Matt Leach and his wife, Amanda, acquired the pharmacy when the previous owners retired. Crestline Pharmacy has been family-owned since opening in 1950 and Leach has been a pharmacist there for 16 years.

Amanda Leach said, “one of the first things I did was to expand our holiday gift shop and order (Judaica) Chanukah gifts. Our oldest son, Mills, attended school at Temple Emanu-El for a few years and we really wanted to reach out to the community.”

This year they started going to shows and ordering products as early as March, giving them the opportunity to find more Judaica gifts. “I want to work with suppliers to find Judaica gifts that were beautiful, sustainable and unique,” she added.

Some of those Chanukah gifts items new for 2021 include Star of David string lights, menorah, dreidel and Star of David glass ornaments, Chanukah gingerbread houses, various dreidel games, hand towels, cards, wrapping paper and gift tags.

Crestline Pharmacy also sells an assortment of menorahs, candles and tablecloths.

Applause Dance Wear

1629 Oxmoor Road Birmingham 205/781-7837 applausedancewear.net

We Carry…

Benjamin Moore paints Stihl power tools Hardware Housewares Cleaning Supplies, Masks and so much more!

Applause has gift items for dancers of all ages! From Ganz ballerina bunnies for the littles to Bloch bootie keychains and bags for your teens. Applause has restocked on leotards, tights and shoes from top brands, to get your dancer ready for Nutcracker and other holiday performances.

2117 Cahaba Road, English Village • (205) 871-4616 Mon-Sat 8 a.m.-5:30 p.m. www.little-hardware.com 32

November 2021 • Southern Jewish Life

Most Special Section articles by Lee J. Green

chanukah gifts

Pebblehurst Golf and Putter Lab 2915 Linden Avenue Homewood 205/769.6867 pebblehurst.com

Ron Smith’s drive and “fore”-titude led to a dream realized when he opened the Pebblehurst Golf and Putter Lab brick-and-mortar store in Homewood this past April.

“I have loved golf ever since my grandad got me started when I was very young,” said Smith, who started off the business with a website in 2016. “Opening up a shop and helping others who love the game has been a lifelong dream of mine.”

It was earlier that year that Smith and his grandfather visited two iconic golf courses — Pinehurst in North Carolina and Pebble Beach in California.

“The name Pebblehurst came from combining those two course names,” said Smith. “My grandfather passed away a few years ago and I thought this would be a great tribute to him. I know he would be proud of this.”

With Pebblehurst, Smith said he wanted to do something no one had done before. The store carries more than a dozen brands exclusively to Alabama and is the only one in the U.S. to sell Fujimoto.

In addition to equipment, Pebblehurst offers a wide selection of clothes, accessories, some outdoor gear and even Theragon percussion therapy devices.

“We want Pebblehurst to be so much more than just a shop. It’s an experience,” said Smith. “And since putter is in our name, one of the things we specialize in is custom putter fittings and lessons. Putting is 40 percent of the game, yet it is something that you don’t see focused on very much at other places.

They also allow customers to test equipment and PGA-certified professional instructor Garrett Powell — who worked for more than five years at Shoal Creek Golf Course — gives lessons to interested golfers.

And for those who to play 18 holes at Pebble Beach, Pinehurst or other legendary courses, they need only to travel to the Homewood store.

“We have an advanced golf simulator and party room that can be rented by the hour,” said Smith. “It’s great to be able to play 18 holes in an hour, especially when it’s raining or you have limited time. It recreates every detail of these courses and it’s about as close to the real deal as it gets.”

M & M Jewelers

MUSEUM OF THE SOUTHERN JEWISH EXPERIENCE Museum Store is Now Online!

MUGS • MAGNETS • T-SHIRTS • BOOKS • POSTCARDS TOTE BAGS • KEYRINGS • PUZZLES • COASTERS • SOCKS HATS • GAMES • KIDS CRAFTS AND MORE!

msjestore.square.site

One of the largest selections of New, Used and Rare Pinball Machines in the Southeast

and

We Are a Buy and Play Store Largest provider of billiards, table tennis, stand-up and cocktail table arcade games, darts and game equipment!

Game Tables and Pinball Machines for Purchase

ornesBimghaCv40I omelrsbingha.c205/91-3jw

For over 25 years, M&M Jewelers has offered “one to one” personal assistance with finding that special piece of jewelry, no pressure sales, repairs, appraisals, custom designs — and a home town atmosphere.

Pictured here are timeless Stackable Bands.

Come Play! We’re also a great place for a party!

Perfect for: Birthdays • Group Outings • B’nai Mitzvah • Team Building

www.bumpernets.com

www.facebook.com/bumpernets7

Riverchase Galleria Mall • Birmingham • 205-987-2222 Mon-Thu 10am-7pm • Fri-Sat 10am-8pm • Sun 11am-6pm November 2021 • Southern Jewish Life

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A

chanukah gifts ONE STOP

KOSHER FOOD SHOPPING Dine In — Take Out — Catering

Chanukah Is Early This Year!

Order Your Catering Now!

Hanna Antiques

2424 7th Avenue South Birmingham 205/323.6036 hannaantiques.com

-3pm Mon-Thu 10am-7pm • Fri & Sun 10am (Closed Saturday)

10 3519 Severn, Metairie (504) 888-20 www.koshercajun.com a?

Outside the New Orleans are ! you to er ord r you p shi l wil We

No supply chain issues — these antiques were already over here! Visit Hanna for 27,000 square feet of antiques and curiosities, to find something a little different for this year’s gift giving.

English Tea Room

734 East Rutland St. Covington, LA 985/898.3988 englishtearoom.com

A slice of England in Louisiana, the English Tea Room does a full-service breakfast, lunch and High Tea every day from Monday to Saturday, with authentic English dishes and popular cheese boards. The venue is also available for special events and private parties. Not going to be in the Covington area? That’s fine, English Tea Room has over 200 varieties of premium tea that can be shipped nationwide.

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November 2021 • Southern Jewish Life

chanukah gifts

Earthborn Pottery

7575 Parkway Drive Leeds, Ala 205/702.7055 earthbornpottery.net Though palate and palette have different spellings, food and art have a lot in common.

Earthborn Studios provides artistic pottery plates, bowls and related functional artwork to restaurants around the world.

“I think there are a lot of similarities between culinary art and ceramic art,” said Tena Payne, who in 2006 opened Earthborn Studios in Leeds.

“We both make creations. We put them in the oven. What comes out is something so beautiful and expressive. Plus, it’s like alchemy — there is both art and science in our processes.”

Their clients range from the Bellagio Resort and Casino in Las Vegas to Alabama Power.

Payne said Earthborn pottery is organic by nature and design. The clay they use is durable, and the abrasive-resistant glazes are industrial dishwasher safe. Their pottery can be used in the microwave and in the oven.

The pieces she has commissioned are custom works and most employ her trademark design element of an Ammonite fossil. “It is that spiral shape and flow that symbolize the continuation of time, life and art,” she said.

Payne said it’s a family affair at Earthborn — her husband, Wynn, and son, Nathan, both work at Earthborn in the production of the pottery. “It makes it more special and something we can share in,” she said.

Their big annual event also hosts artists of various media the second weekend of December. The Blue Light Special on Dec. 11 and 12 features more than 50 artists who not only bring their best work, but the show also gives them the opportunity to sell some of their artwork with imperfections, whether nicked or slightly damaged in some way, at a discount.

As a part of the Blue Light Special event, attendees can also give back to those in need. Empty Bowls is a hunger-prevention endeavor pairing local potters and local chefs, who will be providing lunch. For a donation of $25, attendees get hot soup and bread served in handmade Earthborn bowls, which they can keep. Proceeds go to First Light Women’s Shelter.

“Giving back is an important part of my philosophy,” said Payne.

“There is so much we can do to make a difference in someone’s life.”

Museum of the Southern Jewish Experience 818 Howard Avenue New Orleans 504/384.2480 msje.org

Every museum now exits through the gift shop, but if you haven’t made it to the new Museum of the Southern Jewish Experience in New Orleans yet, you can check out the merchandise online at msje.org, and get some Southern Chanukah inspiration.

Wearables include MSJE Shalom Y’all shirts and Mardi Gras socks. There’s a museum quilt puzzle, an MSJE dreidel and Chanukah cards depicting the museum’s regional footprint.

Several books detail the Southern Jewish experience, and there are glass mezuzahs from New Orleans artist Andrew Pollack.

Of course, a museum membership also makes a great gift!

November 2021 • Southern Jewish Life

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chanukah gifts

Chanukah Gifts!

Prints Charming

1903 Cahaba Road Birmingham 571/214.9586 printscharmingsoho.com

Mon-Fri 10am-6pm Sat 10am-4pm METAIRIE 5101 W. Esplanade Ave at Chastant

DESTREHAN 3001 Ormond Blvd.

Temporarily Closed due to Ida

504-407-3532 nolagiftsanddecoronline.com

Chateau Drugs & gifts

A visit to Birmingham’s Prints Charming Soho is like taking a trip across the world and back in time.

Opened in October 2020 in Mountain Brook’s English Village, the art antiques store uncovered rare treasures from across the world, dating back to the early 1500s.

“I love finding things that are old, rare and unique,” said Prints Charming Soho Co-Owner Ari Millner. “I’ve always been into history and through years of antiques dealing, I’ve developed some good connections to help procure these treasures and sell them at reasonable costs.”

Those art antiques range from wax seal collections to old lithographs, including one of King David, music sheets, trade catalog pages and ads from the 1800s, schematic drawings for stained-glass windows, pillows and antique furniture.

“Most of what we have is from Europe — with a specialized focus on England and France,” said Millner. “But we also have rare print plates from an Audubon book on birds dating back to the 1840s.”

Prints Charming Soho also sells pre-1850 “wanderbooks.” These “early resumes” were held by trades workers and were stamped by a master of the guild once they completed their jobs.

Millner is originally from New York City and was making a living as an art antiques dealer. In 2017, he was at a show in Nashville when he met the creative director for Victoria magazine, who wanted to do an article on Millner’s collection.

The magazine was part of Birmingham’s Hoffman Media group.

He and Jordan, a Montgomery native and Auburn University graduate, hit it off and began a long-distance relationship. Millner moved to Birmingham in November 2019, and the two got married just more than a week before opening Prints Charming Soho.

“We have very similar tastes in art and antiques,” said Millner. “Prints Charming Soho has really become a labor of love for the both of us from the beginning.”

He said they are always on the lookout for new finds locally, nationally and internationally, rotating their stock on a regular basis.

Currently the oldest items they have in the store are wood-cut engravings from early 16th century Italy. “We’ve developed a niche and bring in things that pair well with our aesthetic,” said Millner.

“The support we have gotten from the local community here has been very encouraging and it’s exciting to connect with those who share a love for these rare art antiques,” he said.

Gates Gifts

4000 West Esplanade Avenue Metairie moderntribe.com/pages/gatesofprayer

Unexpected Elegance 3544 West Esplanade Ave., Metairie Between Severn and Hessmer Aves.

889-2300 • chateaudrugsrx.com

M-F 9am-7pm, Sat 9am-5pm

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FREE GIFT WRAP

November 2021 • Southern Jewish Life

The only remaining congregational gift shop in the New Orleans area is stocked for Chanukah, from Judaica to games and gifts for all occasions. For an even wider selection, or if you can’t get to the shop during regular hours, shop online through ModernTribe Judaica — use the address moderntribe.com/pages/ gatesofprayer, and orders placed on that page benefit the gift shop.

chanukah gifts

Kosher Cajun

3519 Severn Avenue Metairie 504/888-2010 koshercajun.com Have lunch and get your Chanukah shopping done — in addition to the extensive grocery selections, Kosher Cajun has its Chanukah shop open with a wide range of gifts and decor. And don’t forget to get the catering orders in early!

GOURMET & GIFT STORE IT'S TIME TO THINK HOLIDAYS - BRING US YOUR LIST! GIFT SETS - CHARCUTERIE COMBOS COMPLIMENTARY GIFT WRAP

Ramah Darom

70 Darom Lane Clayton, Ga. 404/531.0801 ramahdarom.org

What is the best gift you’ve ever been given?

Sometimes, the best and longest lasting gift is that of a meaningful memory, an experience to treasure for a lifetime.

Ramah Darom, a Jewish summer camp and retreat center in the gorgeous Blue Ridge mountains just two hours north of Atlanta, is a place where children, adults and families come to create priceless memories all year long. Campers and staff were so grateful to be back together running Covid-cautious experiences during retreat season for all to enjoy, and the array of options means there is something at Ramah Darom for everyone! Whether it is bonding time with family at Winter Break Family Camp or the Passover Retreat, celebrating Jewish joy with children at Book it to Shabbat with PJ Library, exploring passions and one’s Jewish journey at LimmudFest and more — experiencing the magic of Ramah Darom is the gift that keeps on giving.

An adventure at Ramah Darom is not complete without a walk to the onsite waterfall, incredible meals from the Executive Chef, coffee in a rocking chair on the porch and a comfy rest at the end of the day in cabin, hotel or cottage accommodations. Ramah Darom takes pride in Southern Hachnasat Orchim, that unique blend of regional and values-based hospitality which reflects an authentic desire to take good care of everyone and make them feel at home.

Check www.ramahdarom.org to learn more about the gifts of exceptional Jewish experiences that await!

261 RELE ST. LANE PARKE ~ 205.703.9003 SHOP US ONLINE - SHIP OR PICK UP IN STORE MOUNTAINBROOKOLIVE.COM

Vulcan Park and Museum

1701 Valley View Drive Birmingham 205/933-1409 visitvulcan.com

Give your loved ones some stunning Vulcan ceramics from Tena Payne of Earthborn Studios, located in Leeds. These products are dishwasher safe, microwave safe and handmade.

November 2021 • Southern Jewish Life

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financial Gyro • Shawarama Falafel • Hummus Fresh Saj Bread

Over 70-½?

You Can Still Benefit Donating from your IRA… and also a nonIRA Charitable Tax Tip

By Barry Dreayer, CPA

2530 Canal Street Inside Red Zone

One Block from the VA Hospital

(504) 766-6519

In December 2019, the SECURE Act changed the law so that you can wait until age 72 before you are required to take money out of your IRA (called RMDs or Required Minimum Distributions).

What did not change is if you are age 70 ½ or older you can still make charitable contributions directly from your IRA. You do not have to wait until you are age 72 to take advantage of this tax-savings opportunity that most taxpayers should utilize.

With the increase of the standard deduction beginning in 2018, most taxpayers are not able to receive a Federal tax benefit for their charitable contributions. However, if you make donations directly from your IRA once you have reached age 70 ½ (or older) you will be able to remove that money from your IRA tax-free. It is one of the few times where you receive a tax benefit at the time you put money into an account but do not have to pay taxes on that money when it is taken out.

Here are three items to consider with regard to donations from your IRA: • If you are over 70 ½ and you are about to write a check for a charitable contribution, stop and consider making it from your IRA. • You cannot donate more than $100,000 in a year from your IRAs. • As our dear friend, Birmingham Jewish Foundation Executive Director Sally Friedman always emphasizes, donations during your lifetime from an IRA cannot be made to Donor-advised Funds such as those at the Foundation. But donations to those funds outside of your IRA can provide similar tax savings that you might want to pursue.

Finally, in 2021 even if you will not be itemizing your deductions on your Federal tax return and instead using the standard deduction, you still will be able to receive a tax benefit for donations made up to $300 ($600 if married filing jointly) outside of your IRA. So don’t miss out on the Federal government “subsidizing” your generosity during this year.

Be sure to discuss the above with your tax and financial advisors for its direct impact on you.

Barry Dreayer is a CPA with Bruce Downs CPA in Birmingham.

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November 2021 • Southern Jewish Life

Gus Mayer continues Pizitz family legacy

By Lee J. Green The Pizitz family has forged a tradition of retail success and community leadership in Birmingham, dating back to Louis and Minnie Pizitz’s arrival in the city in 1898.

Two years later, the first Gus Mayer opened on Canal Street in downtown New Orleans, and eventually there were 20 locations in the region, including a Birmingham store that opened in 1922. In 1976, when the stores were being sold individually, the Pizitz Management Group purchased the Birmingham store, followed by Nashville in 1986, and those are the only two remaining. They moved the Birmingham Gus Mayer to its current 15,000-square-foot space at The Summit in 2011.

“The secret to our success is our people. We consider our employees and customers family,” said Jeff Pizitz, president of the Pizitz Management Group. “That has helped us to pivot and overcome challenges.”

Perhaps the most significant challenge has been the Covid-19 pandemic. Gus Mayer closed for more than two months in the spring of 2020, while developing a re-opening plan.

“Being a smaller operation that has always been focused on providing a high level of customer service helped us to pivot and navigate through,” said Pizitz. “We added an athleisure department and grew our accessories department,” including designer masks.

Gus Mayer President Chuck Mallett said that they reached out to their customers, doing curbside and even doing some home delivery.

“We have the most phenomenal service-oriented team,” said Mallett.

“That allowed us to respond and not change the model, but accentuate it.”

Pizitz and Mallet said that 2021 has been the best sales years to-date for Gus Mayer. “We have really seen a pent-up demand for dresses and more formal wear,” said Mallett.

He said Gus Mayer has significantly grown its selection of gift items for the season, including Michael Aram menorahs, candles and cutting boards, as well as products by other companies including gold and silver seder plates and mezuzahs.

Last year, Gus Mayer also started a kids’ department, featuring some upscale clothes, accessories, toys and gifts for girls.

“We feel good about the robust business trend continuing,” said Mallet.

November 2021 • Southern Jewish Life

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community “We’re also already preparing for the spring of 2022. There has been a greater interest in mood-lifting colors and prints this year and we expect that to continue into next year.”

Retail growth and community involvement

Louis Pizitz opened the Louis Pizitz Dry Goods Company 1899 in downtown Birmingham.

In 1923, he opened the flagship Pizitz department store in an eight-story building he had constructed. A second phase was completed in 1925 to comprise 225,000-square-feet of retail storage space, making it the largest department store in the city.

Louis Pizitz was legendary for his support of the city. During coal miner strikes, he sent truckloads of food to the striking miners. During a slump in cotton prices, he helped farmers by buying their crop at well above market rate, with the idea that he would sell the cotton when the price rose — and share any profit with the farmers. World War I soon followed, causing a major spike in demand for cotton.

When an underfunded school board paid teachers in scrip, his store accepted the scrip the same as cash, without being certain that the school board would ever be in a position to make good on it.

The Pizitz store was very popular and years later a significant expansion plan progressed. Pizitz opened its first store outside of Birmingham in Bessemer in 1956 and other locations would be built in several Alabama cities. At its peak in 1986, Pizitz operated 13 department stores across the state before selling to McRae’s Department Stores the same year.

But while the Pizitz family was building a successful retail business, they took greater pride in supporting the Birmingham Jewish community and overall communities they served.

Louis Pizitz led the fundraising drive that built Temple Beth-El and served as Beth-El’s first president. The Pizitz family also donated land for the middle school in Vestavia that would be named Louis Pizitz Middle School in 1972.

Michael Pizitz, Louis Pizitz’s grandfather and Jeff Pizitz’s father, joined the Pizitz organization in 1955 after graduating with a degree in sociology from Harvard University, and would work his way up to president of Pizitz Inc. He has been a longtime member of Temple Emanu-El and has supported numerous causes in the Jewish community and the Birmingham area.

“We’re on our sixth generation here in Birmingham. We are proud of our long history of involvement in and support of the Birmingham (Jewish and greater) community,” said Michael Pizitz, who is currently a vice president with Gus Mayer. “We’ve had three family members serve as president of the Birmingham Jewish Federation and we have supported many charities that are close to our heart.”

Every year (with the exception of 2020), Gus Mayer sponsors charity events in Birmingham and Nashville. Last month, The Club in Birmingham hosted the 62nd annual Linly Heflin Scholarship Fashion Show.

Gus Mayer brought in a professional team to produce a New Yorkstyle runway show. It showcased the fashions sold at Gus Mayer. Funds raised help women in need get scholarships to attend Alabama colleges and universities. The Nashville fashion show this past spring benefitted the Nashville Symphony Orchestra.

“We are proud to continue to legacy of my grandfather, who believed so strongly in giving back,” said Pizitz.

SUPPORT QUALITY, INDEPENDENT, ORIGINAL SOUTHERN JEWISH JOURNALISM Visit supportSJL.com to contribute 40

November 2021 • Southern Jewish Life

health care focus November is National Hospice and Palliative Care Month

By Amanda Mason, MSW, LCSW November is National Hospice Month and the theme this year is “It’s About How You Live.”

When someone hears the word hospice, they automatically associate it with death.

However, people who have been fortunate enough to experience using hospice services know it is not a death sentence. Instead, they realize that hospice is allowing people to have a choice in how they choose to live.

In 2005, my Aunt Theresa passed away from colon cancer. In 2010, my grandmother Mary peacefully passed away from Alzheimer’s Disease. Both profoundly impacted me, but it was not until 2015 after my 36-year-old brother Jesse passed away from cancer that I found my professional calling as a social worker. It is because of the respect and compassion shown to me by the hospice team during this difficult and intimate time that I was guided in a new professional direction.

Since 2016, I have been working as a hospice social worker in the Greater New Orleans area.

Every day I can help patients and their families navigate hospice services while maintaining their dignity. Since I have prior personal experience with hospice, I can truly understand the emotions and challenges of having to decide if hospice is the right decision.

Hospice is an interdisciplinary team made up of physicians, nurses, social workers, chaplains and certified nursing assistances who collectively follow the patient’s plan of care with the goal of comfort at the end of life. While addressing the patient’s physical needs, the team also assists in ensuring the patient and family’s spiritual and psychosocial needs are met.

Although hospice is defined as “a medical service provided to terminally ill patients who are no longer seeking aggressive treatment,” it is also a choice. It is a choice made by the patient and/or their family on how they choose to live out their final days.

Hadassah tri-region holds Turkey Trot The three regions of Hadassah’s Super South are holding a Turkey Trot in support of Hadassah Medical Organization heart disease research.

The walking, running or trotting virtual 5-kilometer event can be done at any point during November.

Participation can be done solo or as a team.

Registration begins at $36 and is available at www.hadassahsupersouth.org/turkeytrot.

The three regions are Southern, Southeastern and Southern Seaboard, from West Virginia to Louisiana.

The South’s Most Comprehensive Weekly Jewish E-Newsletter Stay Informed Between Print Editions

To subscribe, email subscribe@sjlmag.com

November 2021 • Southern Jewish Life

41

community Music shaped the life of Beatles tribute Rain Jewish creator

By Lee J. Green

PUTTING YOUR SUCCESS FIRST Financial Reporting and Audits • Tax Planning and Compliance Outsourced Accounting and Payroll Technology Consulting, Design and Support At Dent Moses, LLP, we’ll help you create and implement customized financial industry strategies, examine outsourced accounting solutions, and provide reliable professional services built around your accounting, consulting, and tax needs.

Proud to work with the Birmingham Jewish Federation

Lakeshore Park Plaza 2204 Lakeshore Drive, Suite 300 Birmingham, AL 35209 www.dentmoses.com

Beatles fans of several generations will “Come Together” to celebrate the Fab Four in Birmingham on Nov. 10 as “Rain – A Tribute to the Beatles presents The Best of Abbey Road Live” takes to the stage at the Birmingham-Jefferson Convention Complex Concert Hall.

“I have loved the Beatles ever since I saw them on The Ed Sullivan show (in 1964). Music and The Beatles have been a big part of my life for many years,” said Mark Lewis, 70, the founder and manager of “Rain – A Tribute to the Beatles.” “We’ve put a lot of love, time and effort into creating an experience that honors the world’s most iconic band and what they have meant to so many.”

The show includes talented musicians performing “Abbey Road” with updated sets that include state-of-the-art LED, high-definition screens and multimedia content.

Lewis grew up in Los Angeles. His mother played piano and his father sang, inspiring his love of music. Lewis started taking piano lessons at the age of five and became an accomplished pianist by the time he was 13.

“I used some of my Bar Mitzvah money to buy a keyboard,” said Lewis.

“I knew I wanted to play in a band. This was at the time of the British Invasion and I was just so enthralled with the music.”

Flash forward to the 1970s and Lewis joined a band called Reign. The group was comprised of Beatles fans, performing a mix of original music and cover songs, usually including several Beatles songs.

They met the manager of one of the first Elvis impersonators at a Beatles festival Reign performed at. He was looking for a Beatles tribute act and lined up a gig for them to play a Beatles Night at a club in southern California.

“This was 1975 and the Beatles had just broken up a few years earlier,” said Lewis. “The reception from the audience was incredible! There was really an emotional connection and we felt like this was something we were meant to do.”

A few years later someone connected them with Dick Clark, who was producing a television movie called “The Birth of the Beatles.” The band changed its name to Rain, a reference to the 1966 Beatles single on the B-side of “Paperback Writer,” and was hired to perform the music for the movie.

“People raved about the soundtrack and it helped us to evolve our act,” said Lewis. Rain would tour nationally for many years with different members coming in and out of the group.

In 2005, Rain was mostly doing concerts at casinos. Their management team met with producer Jeff Parry about developing a Broadway-style production in the manner of 1977’s “Beatlemania.”

“Rain” ran for more than 300 shows on Broadway starting in 2009, and would then embark on world tours.

“On previous tours, Rain has performed music from different eras and albums of the Beatles,” said Lewis. “We continue to enhance the production and come up with new directions to take it in.”

Lewis lives in Reno, Nev., and has been married for 34 years to his wife, Debbie. He stopped performing in the group Rain years ago, but he still plays piano every day. Both of his sons, Allen, 32, and Gregory, 27, are involved in music writing, producing, performing and study.

Both of his sons had Bar Mitzvahs. “Being Jewish is something I am very proud of. It’s a part of who I am and it has always been important in our lives,” said Lewis.

The Latest News… www.sjlmag.com 42

November 2021 • Southern Jewish Life

counselor’s corner a monthly feature from Collat Jewish Family Services

Assessing Your Aging Parent’s Needs

By Marcy Morgenbesser, LICSW

2901 CROWNE RIDGE DRIVE BIRMINGHAM, AL 35243 205.970.0344 OVERTONVILLAGE@CROWNEAPARTMENTS.COM

CONTACT US

5050 CAHABA RIVER ROAD BIRMINGHAM, AL 35243 205.203.4606 CAHABARIVER@CROWNEAPARTMENTS.COM

The licensed clinical social workers of CJFS are experts in providing Care Management for older adults and support services for their families. Have questions? Contact Marcy Morgenbesser, LICSW, marcy@cjfsbham.org or (205) 278-7101.

CONTACT US

In my role as clinical director for CJFS, I frequently get calls from adult children concerned about their aging parents’ living situations. Often, a son or daughter believes that, in their current residence, Mom and/or Dad are unsafe or that they need more help. Although these family members sense that their parents’ situation needs to be addressed, they may not have any idea what kind of services or living situations are available and which is the best fit. They also may be having trouble figuring out how to approach the subject with their parents or siblings.

I often hear something like: “I think it’s time for Mom and Dad to move into some kind of facility, but my parents say they are just fine in the home where I grew up.” Or: “My sister in California thinks Mom needs to give up driving. But I know that just means I will have to drive her everywhere.”

There is no easy answer or even right or wrong choices for these situations. Rather, a range of factors shape decisions, and no two families will approach them in the exact same way. However, here are a few things to consider when thinking about next steps: • What does my parent want and why? Understanding the desires and goals of the person who is aging is paramount. Discussing this first can often help shape next steps, keeping the goals in the forefront rather than the needed changes.

• How are they managing activities of daily living (ADLs) such as bathing, preparing meals, paying bills, and doing laundry? If they are able to do these independently, it is usually best to encourage them to continue to do so. If not, they may need more care at home or in an assisted living facility.

• How often do they see other people? Socialization and connection to others is important not only to mental health and wellbeing, but also to overall physical health. Finding a more communal living situation with planned activities or group meals may reduce loneliness and isolation.

• In their current living situation, what help do they already have, and what close family members live in the home or nearby? If just a little assistance or companionship is needed, unskilled in-home care may be the right choice or family may be able to fill the gaps.

• Are there worries about mobility and balance? If getting around the home is a challenge, a move to a smaller or single-level home may be an answer. Falling is one of the greatest safety risks for older adults. Falls often lead to hospitalizations in the short term and decreased mobility and independence in the long term.

• What level of support are family members willing/able to provide themselves? While being a caregiver at any level can be an honor and privilege, it can also be stressful and challenging and is a big responsibility.

• Are finances an issue? Figuring out costs for the short and long term is complicated because usually we don’t know how much care will be needed or for how long.

CJFS Social Workers are trained on the resources and options that are available — and on how to approach these topics with other family members. It is never too early to begin to have conversations about aging. Too often at CJFS we have to help in a crisis — after a fall or hospitalization. It is always best to make decisions proactively rather than reactively. It is also important to remember that everyone involved may not be on the same page or want the same things. CJFS offers expertise and guidance in bringing families together and facilitating difficult conversations.

November 2021 • Southern Jewish Life

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Rojo

2921 Highland Avenue Birmingham (205) 328-4733 rojobirmingham.com

A Magickal Place To Shop And Hold Space

Grilled Mahi Mahi Tacos with White Salsa

Tacos: 4 (6-oz) mahi mahi fillets 1/2 white onion, sliced into 4 pieces 1/2 cup orange juice 1/2 tsp chili powder — or to taste 2 cloves of garlic, crushed 1 fresh lemon 1/4 bunch of chopped cilantro, finely chopped Vegetable oil (for brushing) 8 (6”) corn tortillas, warmed Any toppings you want to have, such as chopped cabbage, lettuce, tomatoes, jalapenos.

2900 18th Street South, Suite 110 Homewood, Alabama www.ritualshelter.com @ritualshelter

Instructions: Place the mahi mahi in a dish. Top each piece of mahi mahi with an onion slice. Mix orange juice, chili powder, garlic and lemon, and pour over the fish and onion, and then sprinkle the chopped cilantro over everything.

Let the mahi marinate for at least an hour or so. Build a medium-hot fire in a charcoal grill or heat a gas grill to high. Brush grill grate with oil. Grill fish until cooked through, about five minutes per side. Fill each tortilla with fish and top with white salsa and any other toppings that you wish.

White Salsa Dip: 1 cup mayonnaise 1 cup sour cream Juice of 3 limes 4 cloves garlic, crushed 1-1/2 cups fresh cilantro, finely chopped 1 6-oz can pitted black olives, drained and coarsely chopped 1-1/2 cups scallions, finely chopped 5 Tsp hot pepper sauce, or to taste Salt and white pepper, to taste Instructions: In a medium bowl, combine mayonnaise and sour cream. Add lime juice, garlic, cilantro, black olives, scallions, hot pepper sauce, salt and pepper. Taste and adjust seasonings if desired. Chill until serving.

Serve on mahi tacos or as a dip with blue corn chips.

Rojo

By Lee J. Green Rojo restaurant’s recipe for success includes great Latin and American food, a focus on community and treating its employees like family.

“We’re a (Highland) neighborhood bar and grill. We’re all about being part of the community and creating community,” said Laney Dejonge, who co-owns Rojo with good friend Clark Lopez. “This is food you could make in your kitchen but don’t have to. Everyone can find something they like here.”

Lopez and Dejonge would hang out at the Highland Market and Lopez had worked for La Paz Crestline. After Highland Market closed, they 44

November 2021 • Southern Jewish Life

community >> Rear Pew it’s very easy.

Student: You’re very poetic. *** Student: I don’t know what “afflicted” means.

Teacher: Do you know what “inflict” means?

Student: Yes. Teacher: Someone inflicts something at someone who becomes afflicted by it. Like how I inflict my jokes on you and you become afflicted by them.

(Instant understanding achieved.) *** Teacher: Why didn’t you do verse 13?

Student: I don’t like verse 13.

Teacher: You might like it more if you get to know it better. *** Student: Is it a kadma or a pashta?

Teacher: Yes, it is a kadma or a pashta. *** Teacher: Let’s do that again because it sounded soooo confident.

Student: Was that sarcastic?

Teacher: A little.

Student: Was that, too?

Teacher: Yes. *** (Note: The Hebrew word “sof ” means “end.”)

Teacher: Remember, the word isn’t “vayecheSEF,” it’s “vayecheSOF.” Student: Oh, yeah.

Teacher: Right? The sof of “vayechesof ” is “sof.”

Student: Right.

>> Rojo opened Rojo in its space in 2002.

Lopez said his father is from Peru and their vision for Rojo, Spanish for red, was to have a quality, fast-casual place that served Latin food and American food as they would get at Highland Market.

“At the time, there were very few fast casual places that served alcohol where people could just hang out and feel comfortable,” said Lopez, whose wife, Robin, is an archivist for the Birmingham Holocaust Education Center. “We started with nine items on the menu and just grew it from there.”

They opened a side room in 2004 and have hosted many celebrations for those in the Jewish community, charity events, Sidewalk Film Festival Oscars viewing parties and art shows, Dejonge and Lopez said they were very proud of the way everyone pitched in to help them pivot when Covid hit.

They already had a large outdoor space and the city allowed them to do sidewalk seating.

They also set up a “greenhouse” outdoor booth for when it rains.

continued from page 46 Teacher: Now get out of here, I have to come up with a joke about Sofie’s Choice. *** Teacher: Which trope symbol is that?

Student: Umm...

Teacher: Okay, and how do you say ‘umm’ in Hebrew? *** Teacher: Oh, c’mon. That was funny. <one 5th grader laughs> Teacher: Thank you. See? Student: I laughed, but it wasn’t funny.

Student2: It was like a granddad joke.

Teacher: Wow. You won’t even give me dad joke. You’re sending me straight to granddad.

Student3: I get it, but it wasn’t funny.

Student4: I don’t think even my father would make that joke.

Teacher: When I put this on Facebook later, 150 people are going to agree with you all.

They don’t think I’m funny, either. *** Student: “Look, I drew you running on top of a basketball and then an arrow for where you’ll eventually fall off into a pool of sharks.”

Teacher: “That’s how I feel every Sunday.”

Doug Brook might, by the time you read this, be newly available as a religious school instructor.

Listen to the new Rear Pew Mirror podcast at anchor.fm/rearpewmirror or on any major podcast platform. For past columns, visit http://rearpewmirror.com/. For exclusive online content, follow facebook.com/rearpewmirror.

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continued from page 44

Rojo enhanced its online ordering, pick-up and delivery through a third party. They also reconfigured the inside part of the restaurant to be safer and more efficient.

Dejonge said, “we put our people first and made sure everyone was well taken care of.

We’ve erred on the side of caution and we’ve seen some good things come out of this.”

Rojo’s menu includes a Latin side — with kosher-style items including summer burritos, Mediterranean quesadillas and grilled mahi mahi tacos — and an American side including Beyond Burgers, chicken tenders and panseared tilapia.

They also have a gluten-free menu. “We’re also happy to customize anything to make it kosher-style,” said Lopez. “We’re well-equipped to work with our friends who have special dietary requests.”

Rojo is open 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Tuesday through Sunday with brunch served 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. on the weekend. They can accommodate 100 people outside and about 45 inside the main restaurant area as well as 45 in the side room.

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Most insurance accepted Collat Jewish Family Services www.cjfsbham.org 205.879.3438 November 2021 • Southern Jewish Life

45

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rear pew mirror • doug brook

Tomorrow’s Leaders The Talmud says, “find yourself a teacher.” The rabbis might have been in a tall mood when they said that, but they probably didn’t have in mind what these poor religious school students endured with the teacher they found.

Weep for the future of the Jewish people while reading these actual, real-life accounts of interactions with fifth through seventh graders. *** Teacher: For next time, just one thing to do. Be perfect.

Student: Oh, okay, no presh.

Teacher: Right. No “presh.”

Student: Oh. Umm. Ok. You had to do that. Bye...

(Moral: Teachers aren’t hip enough to say “presh.”) *** Student: <mispronounces “tziVAH” as “tzi-OOH”> Teacher: <corrects student> Student: What does tzivah mean?

Teacher: It means “commanded.”

Student: What does tzi-ooh mean?

Teacher: It means you pronounced the word wrong. *** Teacher: Those four verses were so good you can add the fifth.

Student: And if I’d done them really badly…

Teacher: …you’d still be adding the fifth. *** Student (online): My dad said hi.

Teacher: I’d ask you to tell him how I said you’re doing, but you’ll tell him I said you’re doing great.

Student: Dad, he said I’m doing great!

Dad: I don’t believe him. *** Teacher: Is that letter a Samech or a SHamech?

Student: A shamech?

Teacher: Are you sure?

Student: Why? Teacher: There’s no such letter as a shamech. *** Teacher: I bet you didn’t know your haftarah (from the book of Jeremiah) mentions California.

Student: No, it doesn’t.

Teacher: Sure it does. Right there it says “Carmel by the sea.” Really.

Student: I don’t think they meant the same one.

Teacher: Are you sure?

Student: You’re going to get fired if people start believing you. *** Student: Are we meeting in the chapel?

Teacher: Yes. (Sings:) “We’re going to the chapel, and we’re gonna do Torah reading…” *** Student: Wait, what word am I on?

Teacher: You’re at “v’et mizbach.” Not to be confused with “v’et mizbeethoven.”

(No, the student didn’t get it. Yes, schools need more arts instruction.) *** Student: You make it sound so easy.

Teacher: It is easy. As soon as you make it not be so difficult anymore, continued on previous page

Hebrew School was never like this…

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November 2021 • Southern Jewish Life

November 2021 • Southern Jewish Life

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November 2021 • Southern Jewish Life