SJL New Orleans, December 2014

Southern Jewish Life

NOW INSIDE:

ANDREW JACKSON POLLACK’S GLASS JUDAICA OUR LONE SOLDIERS SPEAK OUT SOJOURN, ISJL SLINGSHOT INNOVATORS SHARON POLLIN DISCUSSES COMMON CORE DELTA JEWISH OPEN NOLA STORIES AT RABBI GREENBERG’S INSTALLATION HONORING OUR VETERANS

December 2014 Volume 24 Issue 12

Southern Jewish Life 3747 West Esplanade Ave, 3rd Floor Metairie, LA 70002

PRSRT. STD. U.S. POSTAGE PAID IWS 33764

shalom y’all shalom y’all Look for In this profession, there are many contrasts and different perspectives to explore, and one recent 24-hour period drove home the wide range that is out there.

The first event was a panel at the University of Alabama at Birmingham, claiming to provide answers to “everything you ever wanted to know about Palestine but were afraid to ask.”

in the center of this issue of Southern Jewish Life

The four panelists were all hostile to Israel, though it was pointed out (by the organizers) that there was someone Jewish on the panel. Yes, David Gespass, who has been a long-time vocal critic of Israel was on the panel, but in such a manner as to say “see, we are balanced, even

Cover Image: Courtesy Haspel

On the cover: Chanukah Menorah by

Cover Image: Courtesy Haspel Andrew Jackson Pollack.

See page 30.

Read SJL Anywhere Read SJL Anywhere Our digital

editions are Our digital always available editions are at sjlmag.com. always available You may also atchoose sjlmag.com. to go You may also paperless and choose to gomonth’s have each paperless magazineand delivered have eachinbox. month’s to your magazine delivered to your inbox.

a Jew thinks this way.”

While I’ve seen worse events, there were plenty of howlers as Israeli history was warped and Israeli security concerns dismissed.

The biggest howler came after one of the roughly 15 Jewish and pro-Israel audience members asked a panelist who works with Palestinian health care groups why, if the humanitarian situation is so dire, did Hamas spend so much to build the tunnels from Gaza instead of helping Gazans.

The answer? Those were for commerce and so Gazans could escape the “open air camp” much like the Jews tunneled out of the Warsaw Ghetto.

sjlmag.com sjlmag.com

A more asinine statement would be difficult to fathom. Exactly what commerce was Hamas planning to do with the villages on the Israeli side of the Gaza border — the villages they kept firing rockets into?

And of course, any time an anti-Israel speaker can compare Israeli actions to the Holocaust, so continued on page 44

/sjlmag /sjlmag

@sjlmag /southern /sjlmag jewish life @sjlmag /southern /sjlmag jewish life

Sheriff Newell Normand Jefferson Parish Sheriff’s Office

Larry Brook EDITOR/PUBLISHER

Larry Brook

EDITOR/PUBLISHER

EDITOR@SJLMAG.COM

EDITOR@SJLMAG.COM

Happy Chanukah to all of my supporters in the Jewish community It is my honor to serve the citizens of Jefferson Parish

1233 Westbank Expressway • Harvey, LA (504) 363-5500

NOLA

December 2014 • Southern Jewish Life 3

commentary

December 2014

The administration condemns U.S. citizens who engage in terror — unless they are Palestinian

by Moshe Phillips and Benyamin Korn Another young American man has given his life while fighting in the ranks of Islamist terrorists abroad. But this time, instead of being met with universal condemnations and scorn, the young terrorist is being greeted with sympathetic news accounts and “even-handed” statements from the State Department — all because he joined the politicallycorrect terrorists, that is, the Palestinians.

Just think. When Eric Harroun of Arizona joined an Al Qaeda group fighting in Syria last year, he was arrested as soon as he tried to re-enter the United States.

When Douglas McCain of Minnesota was killed in August while taking part in an ISIS attack in Syria, a senior Obama administration official told NBC that “the threat we are most concerned about to the homeland is that of fighters like this returning to the U.S. and committing acts of terrorism.”

When three young Muslim women from Colorado were caught on their way to try to join ISIS, the Obama administration strongly condemned them.

But when U.S. citizen Orwa Abdel Hammad, a former resident of New Orleans, took part in an Islamist terrorist attack in the Middle East in October, the response from the Obama administration was oh-so-different.

Hammad was a Palestinian Arab with American citizenship. On Oct. 24, he decided to take part in the wave of Islamist violence against Jews that has been engulfing Israel in recent weeks.

Hammad positioned himself alongside Highway 60, north of Jerusalem, and prepared a Molotov cocktail. Spotting an approaching Israeli motorist, Hammad rose to hurl the flaming bottle of gasoline. The goal was to set the Israeli car on fire, so that its drivers and passengers would be burned alive.

Because they were Jews.

Fortunately, Israeli soldiers on a stakeout shot Hammad dead.

It turns out that Hammad was the cousin of a Palestinian terrorist who murdered 10 Israelis in an attack in 2002. He was the nephew of a terrorist who died in a terrorist attack in 1989. And one of Hammad’s own cousins admitted to the Israeli

newspaper Haaretz that he and Hammad were among a group of Palestinian Arabs who were taking part in attacks on Israeli motorists.

The New York Times’ account of the attack did not mention anything about Hammad’s quite relevant family lineage or his cousin’s testimony.

The Times’ headline on the story began “Israeli Troops Kill Palestinian Teenager…” not “Palestinian Teenager Tries to Burn Israelis Alive…”

And while the dead terrorist Douglas McCain was denounced by the Obama administration as a grave threat to America, the dead terrorist Orwa Hammad was warmly embraced by the Obama administration.

State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki announced that the administration had sent its “deepest condolences” to the Hammad family. Psaki demanded that the Israeli government undertake “a speedy and transparent investigation” of the killing of Hammad. She called on “all parties to help restore calm and avoid escalating tensions in the wake of the tragic recent incidents in Jerusalem and the West Bank.”

Psaki in no way called on the Palestinian Authority — in whose territory Hammad resided — to investigate its young people who are trying to burn Israelis alive.

Nor did Psaki make any distinction between Palestinian terrorists and Israelis acting in selfdefense. Instead, it was the fearsomely familiar Obama moral equivalency: “all parties” should be “calm”; “all parties” should “avoid escalating tensions.”

Psaki called the killing of Orwa Hammad “tragic.”

She got her tragedies wrong.

It’s a tragedy that the Palestinian Authority actively incites its young people to try to murder Israelis.

It’s a tragedy when American citizens take part in Islamist terrorism, whether in Syria or Israel.

And it’s a tragedy — actually, an outrage — when the United States government cannot distinguish between victim and aggressor, between right and wrong, or between good and evil.

The authors are members of the board of the Religious Zionists of America.

Southern Jewish Life PUBLISHER/EDITOR Lawrence M. Brook editor@sjlmag.com ASSOCIATE PUBLISHER/ADVERTISING Lee J. Green lee@sjlmag.com CREATIVE DIRECTOR Ginger Brook ginger@sjlmag.com WEB EDITOR Eugene Walter Katz eugene@sjlmag.com PHOTOGRAPHER-AT-LARGE Rabbi Barry C. Altmark deepsouthrabbi.com CONTRIBUTING WRITER Doug Brook brookwrite.com BIRMINGHAM OFFICE P.O. Box 130052, Birmingham, AL 35213 13 Office Park Circle #6 Birmingham, AL 35223 205/870.7889 NEW ORLEANS OFFICE 3747 West Esplanade, 3rd Floor Metairie, LA 70002 504/780.5615 TOLL-FREE 866/446.5894 FAX 866/392.7750 connect@sjlmag.com ADVERTISING Advertising inquiries to Lee Green, 205/870.7889 or lee@sjlmag.com Media kit, rates available upon request SUBSCRIPTIONS It has always been our goal to provide a large-community quality publication to all communities of the South.

To that end, our commitment includes mailing to every Jewish household in the region (AL, LA, MS, NW FL), without a subscription fee.

Outside the area, subscriptions are $25/year, $40/two years. Subscribe via sjlmag.com, call 205/870.7889 or mail payment to the address above.

Copyright 2014. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced in whole or part without written permission from the publisher.

Views expressed in SJL are those of the respective contributors and are not necessarily shared by the magazine or its staff. SJL makes no claims as to the Kashrut of its advertisers, and retains the right to refuse any advertisement.

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

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

NOLA

4 Southern Jewish Life • December 2014

agenda interesting bits & can’t miss events

Students at the Jewish Community Day School in Metairie heard from Judge Sol Gothard on Veteran’s Day. More, page 43.

Chanukah celebration features David Broza Jewish Cultural Arts Month concludes on Dec. 14 with a 2:30 p.m. community Chanukah celebration featuring David Broza. The month, hosted by the New Orleans Jewish Community Center, was sponsored by Cathy and Morris Bart.

One event, the appearance of author Tova Mirvis on Dec. 11, had to be rescheduled when it was learned that Israeli Ambassador Ron Dermer would be speaking at the Uptown JCC that evening. As of press time, the Mirvis appearance had not been rescheduled.

One of Israel’s best-known singers and songwriters, Broza’s music fuses the three countries where he has lived — Israel, England and Spain.

He is also known for humanitarian activism, especially in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Broza is currently touring for his latest album, “East Jerusalem West Jerusalem,” presenting the story of the album that was made in the East Jerusalem, Palestinian studio Sabreen, with Israeli, Palestinian and American musicians and produced by Grammy winner artist Steve Earle along with some tracks produced by Steve Greenberg. Four days after the New Orleans concert, a film based on the album will screen in Jerusalem. It has already been screened at a couple of festivals in the U.S. His hit song “Yihye Tov” (It will be good), written after the Camp David peace accord with

Egypt, has become the anthem of the peace process and was included on the “Shalom Chaver” CD that was released after the assassination of Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin.

Broza was awarded a Spanish royal medal of honor by Spain’s King Juan Carlos I, for his longtime contribution to Israel-Spain relations and his promotion of tolerance.

In 2010 Broza released the album “Night Dawn: the unpublished poetry of Townes Van Zandt” to worldwide acclaim.

The concert is free and open to the community, and a reception will follow.

L.J. Goldstein, founder of Krewe du Jieux, has a new photography show opening this month, “The Sacred Areas.”

For over 20 years, Goldstein has been taking pictures of New Orleans street celebrations, such as second lines, jazz funerals and Mardi Gras Indian gatherings. In 2008, he traveled to Egypt and Israel, photographing the areas where Moses and the Israelites traveled.

The show combines two areas, exploring the spirituality of both. His black-and-white works are shown with his full color photographs for the first time.

The exhibit is at the Brass Camera Fine Photography Gallery from Dec. 4 to March 4. An opening reception was scheduled for Dec. 6 at 4 p.m.

NOLA

December 2014 • Southern Jewish Life 5

Happy Chanukah to my friends and supporters in the Jewish community Judge Regina H. Woods Orleans Parish Civil District Court Division B

Happy Chanukah!

agenda Gourmet latke bar, JCRS musical legacy at Chanukah event Jewish Children’s Regional Service will host “Latkes with a Twist,” a community-wide Chanukah celebration, on Dec. 11 at 8 p.m. at Bellocq at The Hotel Modern.

The event will go on as planned though there was an Israel Bonds event featuring Israeli Ambassador Ron Dermer scheduled for 7 p.m.

The evening will feature live music by Mark Rubin, a past JCRS aid recipient and member of the Austin Music Hall of Fame, a complimentary latke bar by Chef Alon Shaya of Domenica, drink specials and a silent auction.

Tickets are $25 per person and can be purchased at www.jcrs.org or by calling the JCRS office at (504) 828-6334.

Funds raised through the event will support the PJ Library program, which provides free monthly gifts of books and music to Jewish children through age 8. In addition, proceeds from the event will enable JCRS to directly assist greater numbers of vulnerable Jewish youth and families with college aid, Jewish summer camp grants, and assistance to families with children with special needs.

JCRS now annually serves 35 percent of all Jewish youth in Greater New Orleans. In 2013, JCRS reached more than 1500 youth across seven mid-South states.

Sponsors to “Latkes with a Twist” include Bellocq, Domenica, Herman Herman & Katz, The Hotel Modern, Rubensteins, Sazerac and Wisznia.

Kim Phillips reuniting with Rabbi Berk at Touro artist weekend

Largest selection of Wine, Cheese, Beer and Spirits in Louisiana Largest selection of Prime Beef in St. Tammany Parish Plenty of Kosher products

125 E. 21st Avenue • Historic Downtown Covington, LA www.acquistapaces.com • 985-893-0593 6 Southern Jewish Life • December 2014

Touro Synagogue will welcome Judaica artist Kim Phillips for a scholar in residence weekend, Dec. 12 to 14, but it will also be a rabbinic reunion for the Nashville artist.

Phillips produces a colorful array of papercut art with Jewish themes, but when she started as an artist she did not do paper cuts, her art was black and white, and she wasn’t Jewish.

In 2000 she wanted to learn more about her Jewish friends and went to Congregation Micah. In a 2012 interview with SJL, she said “I realized that it wasn’t that I didn’t believe in God, I just didn’t believe in the one described to me” when she was growing up.

She converted in 2001 under the guidance of Rabbi Alexis Berk, who is now rabbi of Touro. Upon emerging from the mikvah, Phillips saw the world in color. A visit to Israel exposed her to leading papercut artists, and she was a quick study.

The weekend will be an exploration of Jewish values through creativity.

On Dec. 12 at the 6 p.m. service she will discuss “creative Judaism.”

From noon to 5 p.m. on Dec. 13 there will be a lunch and study session with Rabbi Berk, followed by a hands-on workshop on Jewish papercutting. The afternoon will finish with Havdalah. The fee for lunch, workshop and materials is $18, and reservations are requested.

On Dec. 14 Phillips will lead a 9th and 10th grade workshop on “Tikkun Olam: A Jewish Frame on the World.”

Stay Updated: www.sjlmag.com NOLA

Photos by Michael Maples

Talora Gross shows one of the artworks to be auctioned by Ruthie Winston of Winston & Associates

Bra-Veaux, New Orleans Hadassah New Orleans Hadassah held Bra-Veaux, an Uplifting Event, to raise funds for breast cancer research, on Oct. 25 at the Lakefront Airport terminal.

The evening included silent and live auctions, including Hadassah members’ artistic creations involving bras.

At the event, the chapter honored the memory of Pearl Daube. A native of England, Daube administered first aid at a chemical plant during World War II. A “war bride,” she became a doctor’s assistant in New Orleans, then the family spent time in Jamaica and back in England, finally returning to New Orleans.

Daube was an active member of Hadassah but always avoided the limelight. She was selected the chapter’s Woman of Valor in 1997.

Happy Chanukah

Above from left, Albert Daube’s granddaughter Gia Miller Daron, Albert Daube, his son David Daube and daughter-in-law Sue Daube. Front: Talia, Albert Daube’s great-granddaughter. Guest of honor Albert Daube’s wife, the late Pearl Daube, was honored at Bra-Veaux.

to my friends and supporters in the Jewish community New Orleans Hadassah President Ilana Reisin, Bra-Veaux Co-chairs Barbara Kaplinsky and Miriam Waltzer

Above, Gail Fenton Pesses, who coordinated decorations, and Carrie Pailet, who coordinated registration for BraVeaux. Right, Charisse Sands admires one of the many displayed art bras created by Hadassah members.

Judge Candice Bates-Anderson Juvenile Court, Section C

NOLA

December 2014 • Southern Jewish Life 7

agenda

Happy Chanukah to my friends in the Jewish community, and thank you for your continued support

Councilwoman Cynthia Lee-Sheng Jefferson Parish Council District 5

Home Cooking always pleases…

Casual dining Specializing in Italian cuisine and seafood

OPEN

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

724 MARTIN BEHRMAN AVE METAIRIE • 504-834-5646 www.furysrestaurant.com

Wishing all my friends and supporters in the Jewish community a very Happy Chanukah

Judge Sidney H. Cates, IV Orleans Civil Court, Division C 8 Southern Jewish Life • December 2014

Beth Israel in Metairie will host a Sinfonia Outreach Concert of the Greater New Orleans Youth Orchestra on Dec. 14 at 3 p.m. Now in its twentieth season, GNOYO provides young musicians the opportunity to participate in a high-quality full orchestra program. Beth Israel members Ethan and Avishai Taylor are in the orchestra.

Gates of Prayer in Metairie will hold its annual fundraiser, Rock of Ages, on Dec. 13 at 7 p.m. A patron’s party will start at 6 p.m. The event, which will feature Latin musician Javier Gutierrez and DJ Jim Hanzo, will be at Hurwitz Mintz. Cathy and Morris Bart will be honorees. There will be a live and silent auction, open bar and food from area restaurants.

A highlight will be his and hers Baume and Mercier watches from Adler’s Jewelers, valued at $4150. Patron levels start at $250 and include a signed print from Joshua Nidenberg.

Touro Synagogue announced that the 2015 L’Chayim Award will go to Susan and Lou Good on Jan. 25. There will be a wine reception at 6:30 p.m., with dinner and the presentation to follow at 7 p.m. Invitations will be mailed shortly.

The Shabbat speakers program continues at Anshe Sfard in New Orleans on Dec. 13 with Rabbi Barbara Metzinger, a chaplain at Ochsner Medical Center. She is also visiting rabbi for B’nai Israel in Monroe. Her talk will follow the 9:15 a.m. service, which will then be followed by a luncheon. On Jan. 24, Ronna Burger, the Sizeler Professor of Jewish Philosophy at Tulane University, will speak about “In the Wilderness of Sinai: Moses as Lawgiver and Founder of a People.”

The annual Big Buddy Shopping Spree sponsored by the B’nai Israel Men’s Club in Baton Rouge will be on Dec. 10 from 5 to 8 p.m. at the Mall of Louisiana’s Macy’s. Volunteers from the Jewish community team up with Big Buddy and Macy’s for the annual event to help young children buy presents for their families. The congregation’s fundraising goal is $5,000, and volunteer slots are available for those who want to help the kids shop and wrap the presents.

Niche.com, a website that ranks colleges in the United States, issued its first-ever rankings of private schools. According to the website, Isidore Newman ranks first among Louisiana private schools, with Metairie Park Country Day School right behind, followed by the Episcopal School of Acadiana. Isidore Newman was originally founded to serve students from the Jewish Children’s Home. Most rankings deal only with public schools, which are required to report a great deal of data about student performance. Private schools do not have to disclose that information.

Rabbi Gary Gerson will lead a five-part exploration of the world’s religions at the Mautner Learning Center at Touro Synagogue in New Orleans. The first session, on Christianity, will be on Jan. 7 at 7 p.m. The course will study Christianity, Mormonism, Islam, Sufism, Baha’i, Hinduism, Buddhism, Zoroastrianism, Jainism, Sikhism, Confucianism, Taoism, Shintoism, Native American religion, Wicca and Scientology.

Rabbi Marshal Klaven, who recently left the Goldring/Woldenberg Institute of Southern Jewish Life in Jackson to become rabbi of Congregation B’nai Israel in Galveston, was named to the 2014 Forward 50, “the 50 American Jews who have had the most impact on our national story.”

Gates of Prayer Sisterhood in Metairie will have a Rosh Chodesh celebration on Dec. 23, featuring artist Cara-Lyn Regenbogen Solomon leading a spiritual painting session. The gathering will be in the art room at 7 p.m. Reservations are requested by Dec. 19.

Deborah Sacks Mintz has been named the new director of education and family programming at Shir Chadash in Metairie, starting in January. She is the wife of newly-installed Cantor David Mintz of Touro Synagogue.

December 25 programming at Touro Synagogue in New Orleans will be dinner and a movie, “Opposite Day,” starting at 6 p.m. Touro will also host Christmas lunch at the Rebuild Center.

NOLA

All aboard the B’nai Israel Turkey Train On Nov. 16, the Turkey Train pulled out of the station at B’nai Israel in Baton Rouge with a special delivery.

The Turkey Train began in 2009 to provide turkeys to the St. Vincent de Paul dining room, which serves over 230,000 meals to the needy each year.

Congregants and religious school students transported 100 turkeys this year. They work with Bill Hounshell of Matherne’s Market on Kenilworth to bring in the turkeys, which the market delivers to B’nai Israel the morning of the train.

Michael Acaldo, president and CEO of St. Vincent de Paul, said “We are so thankful for the Congregation of B’nai Israel… On Thanksgiving Day, we will serve many more meals than we do on a normal day. Many of the people who come to us have gone for days without a nutritious meal and even longer without a safe place to sleep.

Some are fleeing abusive situations. Others are suffering from chronic illnesses. They come to us because they are desperate and have nowhere else to turn.”

Julie Tepper, assistant religious school director at B’nai Israel, said St. Vincent de Paul is the largest hot meal provider in Baton Rouge, with thousands coming through the doors over Thanksgiving weekend.

Photo by Rebekah Westover

Interfaith learning weekends with Jewish scholar of Christian Bible Amy Jill-Levine, a self-described “Yankee Jewish feminist who teaches in a predominantly Christian divinity school in the buckle of the Bible Belt,” will be the featured speaker at two scholar in residence weekends, in New Orleans and Greenwood, Miss.

Levine is University Professor of New Testament and Jewish Studies, E. Rhodes and Leona B. Carpenter Professor of New Testament Studies, and Professor of Jewish Studies at Vanderbilt University Divinity School and College of Arts and Sciences in Nashville. Her books include “The Misunderstood Jew: The Church and the Scandal of the Jewish Jesus” and “The Meaning of the Bible: What The Jewish Scriptures and the Christian Old Testament Can Teach Us.” She will be the 2014 Usdin Lecturer at Temple Sinai in New Orleans, in conjunction with Trinity Episcopal Church. On Dec. 12 she will speak at the 6:15 p.m. Shabbat service at Sinai, discussing “Hearing Jesus’ Parables as Jewish Stories: Pearls, Pharisees, and Tax Collectors.”

On Dec. 13 at 6 p.m. she will speak on “How Jews and Christians Read Scripture Differently,” in a 6 p.m. program at the home of Joan and Julian Feibelman, Jr. Space is limited and reservations are requested to Temple

2415 Canterbury Road Mountain Brook, AL 35223

By appointment 205-970-6767 TheWhiteRoomBirmingham.com

December 2014 • Southern Jewish Life 9

agenda

Large room for hosting Simchas • Kosher-style catering available

Happy Chanukah from Chef Andrea Apuzzo!

Purchase two entrees and get two appetizers free Offer valid through January 31, 2015 with this ad

Come experience tasty “Mexinese” sushi soy wrap burritos, sushi tacos and more.

Sinai.

On Dec. 14 she will speak at Trinity’s morning services, discussing “The Prodigal Son: Hearing the Parable through Jewish Ears” at 9 a.m. and “The Good Samaritan as a Jewish Story” at 10:30 a.m.

The Episcopal Church of the Nativity in Greenwood is partnering with Ahavath Rayim and the Episcopal Diocese of Mississippi for a weekend with Amy Jill-Levine entitled “Jesus and Judaism: Why the Connection Matters.”

The weekend will begin with a Shabbat service at Ahavath Rayim, a “traditional” congregation that is the last historically-Orthodox congregation in the state. Rabbi Jeremy Simons from the Institute of Southern Jewish Life will conduct the 6:15 p.m. service on Jan. 16. Afterward, Levine will speak on “How Jews and Christians Read Scripture Differently.”

There will be three sessions at the Church of the Nativity on Jan. 17, starting with breakfast at 8:45 a.m. “Hearing the Christmas Story through Jewish Ears” will be at 9:15 a.m., followed by “Hearing the Parables through Jewish Ears” at 11 a.m.

Lunch from the Delta Bistro will be available for $14, pre-registration is required.

At 1:15 p.m. Levine will lead a session on “Understanding Jesus in His Jewish Context.” This session is intended for those who teach, preach and study the Christian Bible.

On Jan. 18 at 10:30, Levine will deliver the sermon at the Church of the Nativity’s Eucharist service.

The Jan. 17 seminar is free, but donations are encouraged. A block of rooms has been reserved at the Alluvian Hotel, which is across from the church and five blocks from Ahavath Rayim.

Ramah Darom launches four-week camp for teens with autism

Many kosher-style menu options.

Please call us about catering/trays for your Simchas.

4120 3rd Avenue South • Birmingham • (205) 703-8891 www.wasabijuan.com • 11-9 Tue-Thu, 11-10 Fri-Sat, 11-6 Sun

Colonial Oaks Living Center Across from East Jefferson Hospital Emergency

Providing long-term care services in an atmosphere of caring and compassion

METAIRIE’S PREMIER SKILLED NURSING FACILITY

Medicare Skilled Planned Activities Tours Offered Daily Private Pay Social Worker On Staff Three Home-Cooked Meals Daily

4312 Ithaca Street • (504) 887-6414 10 Southern Jewish Life • December 2014

Ramah Darom, the Conservative movement’s summer camp in north Georgia, announced the launch of a new Tikvah Program for summer 2015 and the addition of Audra Kaplan to its professional staff.

The Tikvah Program will offer a four-week summer experience for children ages 12 to 17 years who have been diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder. Kaplan, who will direct this new program, is a clinical psychologist with extensive experience in Jewish camp and in working with children with disabilities.

Geoffrey Menkowitz, director of Ramah Darom, said “We are thrilled to be able to open our doors wider and give more children the opportunity to experience the magic of our camp. The Tikvah program will enhance the entire camp, enabling us to teach our campers by experience what a truly inclusive Jewish community can look like and inspire them to bring that model home to their schools and synagogues.”

Debra Michaud, president of the Ramah Darom board, added “As we celebrate the 18th anniversary of Ramah Darom, this is a significant milestone for our organization. We are proud to build upon our commitment to being an inclusive community, which began with Camp Yofi and will continue with this exciting program.”

With this new program, Ramah Darom will build upon the expertise gained from 10 years of running its nationally recognized Camp Yofi — a 5-day camp for families of children with ASD. Ramah Darom will also expand the reach of the National Ramah Tikvah Network of programs in the Ramah overnight and day camps across North America that serve Jewish children, teens, and young adults with a variety of disabilities.

Camp Ramah Darom’s Tikvah Program will be the first program in the Southeast focused on providing a traditional, immersive, Jewish summer camping experience to Jewish teenagers with autism spectrum disorder.

The program will be fully integrated into a community that is steeped in Jewish celebration, learning, and ritual.

community Israeli Ambassador to speak in NOLA Ron Dermer, Israel’s ambassador to the United States, will speak in New Orleans on Dec. 11.

The briefing will be an Israel Bonds event, at the Uptown Jewish Community Center. Doors will open at 6:15 p.m., with the program starting at 7 p.m. There is no charge.

Born and raised in Miami Beach, Fla., Dermer earned a degree in finance and management from the Wharton School of Business at the University of Pennsylvania and a degree in philosophy, politics and economics from Oxford University. For three years, he was a columnist for the Jerusalem Post.

In 2004, Dermer co-authored the best-selling book, “The Case For Democracy: The Power of Freedom to Overcome Tyranny and Terror” with Natan Sharansky. The book has been translated into 10 languages.

From 2005 to 2008, he served as Israel’s Minister of Economic Affairs in the U.S. From 2009 to 2013, he served as senior advisor to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

The JCC was originally scheduled to host author Tova Mirvis that evening as part of Jewish Culture Month, but her visit will be rescheduled. The Wine and Wonder evening planned by the Jewish Community Day School for Dec. 11 is cancelled. The Jewish Children’s Regional Service “Latkes with a Twist” fundraiser at Bellocq will go on as scheduled, opening at 8 p.m.

Pre-registration with the Israel Bonds regional office in Atlanta and ID are required for Dermer’s talk. Reservations can be made by calling (800) 7525649 or emailing Atlanta@israelbonds.com.

Hoops coach Pearl kicks off campaign season in Montgomery On Oct. 23, Auburn University Head Basketball Coach Bruce Pearl was the featured speaker at the Jewish Federation of Central Alabama’s annual campaign kickoff dinner at the Capital Club in Montgomery.

The campaign has a goal of $400,000 by Jan. 10 and as of Nov. 17 was at $220,000. Of that, $66,700 was pledged at the campaign dinner. A Stop the Sirens emergency campaign during the Gaza operation in the summer brought in just over $50,000.

December 2014 • Southern Jewish Life 11

community Accounts differ on death of Palestinian teen with New Orleans ties in the territories A Palestinian 14-year-old with New Orleans ties was killed in a clash with Israeli forces about 20 miles north of Jerusalem on Oct. 24.

Israeli soldiers patrolling north of Ramallah near Silwad said Orwah Hammad had taken a position along Route 60 and was preparing to throw a firebomb at traffic, and a sniper fired at him when he lit the fuse.

An Israeli army spokesman told Reuters the soldiers “managed to prevent an attack when they encountered a Palestinian man hurling a molotov cocktail at them on the main road next to Silwad. They opened fire and they confirmed a hit.”

A cousin, Moath, was quoted by the Associated Press as saying that Hammad had been part of a group throwing rocks at Israeli soldiers.

An uncle, Hakeem Khalek, told the New Orleans Times-Picayune that he didn’t consider the incident a clash — “little kids throwing rocks or pebbles against live ammunition.”

The incident will be investigated by Israeli authorities. The U.S. State Department called for a “speedy and transparent investigation” while expressing “deepest condolences to the family of a U.S. citizen minor who was killed by the Israeli Defense Forces.”

Hammad’s funeral was held on Oct. 26 to allow his father, Abd al-Wahhab Hammad, time to travel from New Orleans. Thousands attended the funeral, which was followed by clashes with Israeli soldiers.

Hammad’s body was THE U.S. STATE adorned by a green DEPARTMENT Hamas headband.

CALLED FOR A Though some re“SPEEDY AND ports said Orwah was TRANSPARENT” born in New Orleans, INVESTIGATION he was born in the territories and visited New Orleans frequently. His father split time between them and New Orleans.

According to media reports, Silwad residents said Hammad was the cousin of Ta’er Hammad, who killed 10 Israelis in a sniper attack in 2002 near Shilo. An uncle of his was reportedly killed in the first intifada.

His older brother has been detained numerous times for stone throwing, and most recently was released from detention in September.

The stretch of Route 60 is the site of frequent demonstrations and rock-throwing by Palestinian youth.

Hammad’s father told Ha’aretz that in a phone call half an hour before the incident, he reminded his son not to go to the road, which he referred to as Route 90 instead of 60. Ha’aretz 12 Southern Jewish Life • December 2014

noted the father, who “barely agreed” to talk with them, has a used-car dealership on U.S. 90 in New Orleans.

He said the family moved back to his hometown in 1999 because “I wanted a quiet, safe place, where my son could get a less dissolute education than in the United States, and have a more tranquil, less stressful life than in New Orleans. But you never know what God has in store for you.”

After news of the incident broke, the Jewish Federation of Greater New Orleans said “We were saddened to learn of the death of Orwah Hammad… Our fervent sympathies are with his family, as the loss of any life is always tragic and painful. The incident is being investigated by the Israeli authorities, but as we wait to learn more about what happened, we continue our prayers and hopes for a meaningful peace that allows Israel and a Palestinian state to live together side-by-side as neighbors.”

Many of Hammad’s relatives attend the Muslim Academy in Gretna. School President Nabil Abukhader told the Times-Picayune that they will discuss his death on Oct. 27. “We’ll mention the nature of his death (and) at the same time in that moment of sorrow, that violence does not lead to any happy endings.”

The incident took place during a time of heightened tensions. On Oct. 22, a Palestinian motorist plowed into a crowd at a Jerusalem light-rail station, killing a 3-month-old girl who was a U.S. citizen, and a 22-year-old student from Ecuador. Numerous other attacks have taken place since then.

The week after Hammad’s death, State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki was asked about the reports of a Molotov cocktail, and Psaki stated she did not agree with Israeli assertions that Hammad was “essentially a terrorist” and said she did not have “any more details on the circumstances.”

Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman Paul Hirschson said “We do think that when somebody is throwing Molotov cocktails with malicious intent at cars on a highway because they don’t like Israel, I think it qualifies as terrorism.”

Hirschson told The Blaze that he had no problem with the official expression of condolences to Hammad’s family. “It wasn’t the parents who threw the Molotov cocktail and if you want to give condolences that’s fine.”

But throwing Molotov cocktails deserves “stark criticism and condemnation, first and foremost from the Palestinian Authority,” which instead is encouraging it, he added.

New Orleans stories, connections at Rabbi Greenberg’s installation The installation of Rabbi Gabe Greenberg at Beth Israel in Metairie was a blend of the past, the future and family.

The installation weekend culminated in an installation ceremony and congregational fundraiser at the Audubon Tea Room on Nov. 2.

The weekend began with a Shabbat service and dinner on Oct. 31, with guest speaker Ruthie Simon, director of placement and alumni affairs for the rabbinical school at Yeshivat Chovevei Torah.

Greenberg, wife Abby and daughter Adra arrived in New Orleans during the summer. Greenberg succeeded Rabbi Uri Topolosky, who came to New Orleans in 2007 and moved to Maryland in 2013 to become rabbi of a congregation in the community where he grew up.

A native of Newton, Mass., Greenberg was a “lifer” at Camp Ramah of New England, and his grandfather was a long-time pulpit rabbi.

He was on the track team at Wesleyan University, which he said has a reputation of being the most God-less university in the country, but he kept pursuing opportunities to study Judaism and seek leadership roles.

He decided to study at a yeshiva for one year in Israel, but that turned into three, after which he returned to the U.S. and entered Yeshivat Chovevei Torah.

He became active in environmental concerns, especially their relationship to Judaism. He founded and ran the Kayam Farm Kollel outside Baltimore, where he met Abby.

While in rabbinical school, Greenberg served congregations in Norwich, Conn., and Berkeley, Calif. He was also the first rabbinic intern at the Hillel of the New School in New York.

Upon ordination he became rabbi and senior Jewish educator at Hillel at the University of California at Berkeley.

When Beth Israel started looking for a successor to Topolosky, Simon mentioned Greenberg to Bradley Bain, who chaired the installation weekend. Bain reached out to Greenberg “unofficially while he was at Hillel.”

Bain noted, “He hadn’t thrown his hat into the ring, we had just heard that he was a young, dynamic rabbi and that he would be a great fit for the community.” Then Bain discovered that Greenberg’s wife was from Houston, had family in New Orleans and had attended Tulane.

“What was supposed to be a five minute call turned into an over an hour conversation,” Bain said.

Greenberg had a contract with Hillel through the summer of 2014, but Beth Israel was hoping to hire a rabbi to start during the summer of 2013. The committee tried to convince Greenberg to go ahead and apply, even promising that his moving truck would not be broken into as had happened the year before when he moved to California, but he insisted on fulfilling his commitment to Hillel.

That “really frustrated but also impressed the committee,” Bain noted.

As interviews continued, Bain said they brought in an “incredible selection of candidates… but in the back of everyone’s mind, they were just no Gabe Greenberg.”

They brought in Greenberg for an official weekend, but as his daughter had just been born his wife did not accompany him. Bain gave “a perspective of how impressed we were” with him because they decided to offer him the position “not knowing the whole package.”

And, he said, Beth Israel hired him “knowing they would not be here

December 2014 • Southern Jewish Life 13

community

General Dentistry Cosmetic Restorative Implant

Timothy Delcambre, DDS, MHA 504.895.6657 3426 Coliseum Street New Orleans www.yourneworleansdentist.com

BUY ONE SANDWICH, GET ONE FREE VALUE OF EQUAL OR LESSER

Value With Coupon, Dine-In Only, Up To $6.95 SJ Coupon Good Through 1-15-15

PIZZA WEDNESDAYS

Sushi Thursday • Fried Chicken Friday

ONE STOP KOSHER FOOD SHOPPING

ns for your Chanukah Celebratio Eat In — Take Out — Catering -3pm Mon-Thu 10am-7pm • Fri & Sun 10am (Closed Saturday)

3519 Severn•(504) 888-2010 www.koshercajun.com

14 Southern Jewish Life • December 2014

for a full year.”

Greenberg did come in for several weekends during the interim year, and this summer when he arrived for good, he was put into action immediately.

Bain said he officiated a funeral, an unveiling and a bris, “all the weekend before his contract officially started.”

Bain told Simon that “you’ve truly made today possible.”

Eddie Gothard, who emceed the installation, noted that Bain had been elected president of Beth Israel on Rabbi Asher Lopatin, Richard Stone and Allen Fagin Oct. 26, then the next day he and wife Daniela had their second child. more time,” and especially for his late cousin The Oct. 27 birth was an emergency and her descendants.

C-section after a screening showed a previouslyRabbi Asher Lopatin, president of Chovevei undiagnosed heart defect. On Nov. 5, the Torah, referenced the week’s Torah portion newborn underwent an eight-hour operation in where Abram left his ancestral home to go Boston. where God instructed. “In your lech lecha, you Despite more pressing concerns with have come to a place steeped in tradition,” he the birth, Bain continued to coordinate the said. weekend. Gothard told Bain “I can’t express…

Lopatin charged Greenberg with the how much you have amazed and inspired responsibility of working with all of the everybody you have come into contact with.” congregations and rabbis in the New Orleans Greenberg said one of the best aspects of area. being at Beth Israel for the last few months is He called Greenberg “a standard-bearer for learning the family stories in the congregation. modern Orthodoxy, committed to our tradition One such story at the installation came and unafraid to build and rebuild for the future.” from Richard Stone, past chairman of the Lopatin said “This is an incredible community Conference of Presidents of Major American for you to serve and to lead, and together to Jewish Organizations. Stone noted that “I kind show the world that we can rebuild, we can of pushed myself into this event” to become one reunite, we can pick up the pieces and move of the speakers. ahead stronger and more vigorous than ever.”

He said he returned to his hometown In introducing Allen Fagin, executive vice congregation because “I have a lifelong president of the Orthodox Union, Gothard spoke attachment to Beth Israel,” but there was a much of how the OU had stood by the congregation more personal family connection. when its building was made unusable by the He explained that he left New Orleans flood following Hurricane Katrina in 2005. after high school “with very strong feelings of “The OU has stood by us to provide the Yiddishkeit,” which he especially developed in resources and support, without which we may Bogalusa with his grandparents. not have survived, much less flourished,” he “Over the years I discovered how many great said. scholars in the European yeshivas ended up Rabbi Eitan Katz, New Jersey regional briefly in Bogalusa or were related to people in director for NCSY, was at the installation and Bogalusa,” he said. was recognized for leading over a dozen youth “We had Yiddishkeit in the air in Bogalusa,” trips to New Orleans for service projects and but also “on my father’s side at Beth Israel on rebuilding efforts through Alternative Spring Carondelet Street,” and he often returned to Breaks.

Beth Israel, including the weekend before Fagin spoke about how Judaism does not have Katrina. a holiday celebrating the building of anything, But what brought him to the installation but there are celebrations about rebuilding, and went back to his Bogalusa days, when relatives the strength needed to rebuild is greater than from Houston would often visit the “family what is needed to build in the first place. headquarters.”

Before joining the OU staff, Fagin was As a child, Stone developed a fondness for one chairman of the Proskauer Rose law firm. cousin in particular, who later died young after About a decade ago Fagin was “privileged” having three children. “One of those children, to open an office for the firm in New Orleans.

Risa, is here today. She is the mother of Abby “Many people questioned what a large Greenberg.” international law firm was doing opening an He added, “If Beth Israel has come to office in New Orleans,” he noted.

Bogalusa, I gotta come back to Beth Israel one But “the plans we worked so hard to

community accomplish were subject to forces we don’t control,” because shortly after the office opened, Katrina closed it. The office was relocated to Boca Raton, Fla., after making sure every staffer was accounted for.

The firm procured condos on the beach in Florida, arranged schools for families and took care of their needs. “We had them really well set up in Florida,” Fagin said.

Not long afterward, Howard Shapiro, the person who had been running the New Orleans office, said there was a hospital and grocery store that had reopened in New Orleans, and “we all want to go back.”

Fagin said it was “a really remarkable lesson in the power of resilience and a really remarkable testament to a remarkable community, and the love that every member of that staff had for their city, for their community and its future.”

Fagin praised the work of Greenberg’s predecessor, Rabbi Uri Topolosky, in the last few years. “The transition of leadership is a core value for a vibrant and forward-looking community,” Fagin noted.

He added, “We’ve been with you in times of pain and we’ve been with you in times of joy… I’m honored to share this event with you.”

In his four months in New Orleans so far, Greenberg said, “I learned quickly that the most important question you can be asked is what high school did you go to. I, of course, don’t have a good answer.”

Members have shown him all sorts of congregational memorabilia, including a program from a 1970s Israeli folk song sing-a-long, something “which we’re going to bring back soon.”

After a long day during his interview, even though it was almost midnight he was urged to watch the DVD of Beth Israel’s building dedication from two years ago, to better understand the congregation.

“All of theses stories, customs, traditions that these parents, grandparents and greatgrandparents planted and have grown,” he wondered, “How do I tend to these trees? Our physical structure is mostly new… but what are the spiritual elements, the vision, Bradley Bain and Eddie Gothard the values planted by the progenitors go over the day’s schedule of Beth Israel that we choose to make our central beam going forward?”

The first aspect he mentioned is “a shul community deeply devoted to Jewish education.” Every child in the shul is entitled to weekly one-on-one learning with Greenberg. “This program has been a joy for me” in getting to know the families better, and he also is emphasizing adult education.

He also mentioned love of the Jewish people and the land of Israel, encouraging learning, connection and love among Jews of different “denominations and flavors.” He noted the close relationship with Gates of Prayer, the Reform congregation next door.

He also mentioned Shabbat as “a centerpiece of Beth Israel life.”

He mentioned increasing the role of women “within the bounds of halacha” and keeping the building available for use by the greater community.

After Greenberg concluded his remarks, impromptu dancing broke out in the front of the room.

Jefferson Parish President John Young made brief remarks, and Rabbi Ethan Linden of Shir Chadash led the Hamotzi.

During the luncheon, artist Alex Harvie painted a portrait of the installation. The painting was raffled off at the conclusion of the luncheon.

Greenberg was seen as part of the New Orleans community nationally in the ninth episode of “NCIS: New Orleans.” He was cast as — what else?

— a rabbi, and part of the episode was filmed in one of the local Jewish cemeteries. The episode, “Chasing Ghosts,” aired on Nov. 25.

Continental fine dining with Creole/Cajun and European influences, from award-winning Chef Nick Gile

Live Music 7 Nights A Week Craft Martinis Impressive to the Most Refined of Palates

Dinner 4-10pm Sun-Thurs, until midnight Fri-Sat Breakfast 6:30-10:30am daily Jazz Brunch 11:30am-2:30pm Sat-Sun

504-586-0972 • richardfiskes.com 301 Dauphine St. inside the Chateau LeMoyne Hotel

December 2014 • Southern Jewish Life 15

community

IO N A T A Tree Service

L

N

SOJOURN joins ISJL on Slingshot innovators list

Experience Matters

Trust the care of your trees to the professionals Specializing in Commercial & Residential Dangerous Tree Removal • Tree Trimming • Crane Work Stump Grinding • Lot Clearing • Bobcat Work Over 40 Years Experience Free Estimates 24 Hour Emergency Services

205.956.3000 nationaltreeservice.com

16 Southern Jewish Life • December 2014

While the Jackson-based Goldring/Woldenberg Institute of Southern Jewish Life continues to be recognized as an innovative organization by Slingshot, an Atlanta-based regional organization in its first year of existence also made the list this year.

The Slingshot Guide, now in its 10th year, was created by a team of young funders as a guidebook to help funders of all ages diversify their giving portfolios to include the most innovative and effective Jewish organizations, programs and projects in North America.

SOJOURN: Southern Jewish Resource Network collaborates with religious and secular institutions to promote “equality and inclusion for gender- and sexually-diverse people from a Jewish perspective.” In addition to running inclusion training workshops for Jewish organizations throughout the South, SOJOURN has also contracted with the state of Georgia to train clergy of all faiths to address these issues in their communities.

Within the Jewish community, SOJOURN’s Welcoming Communities program works with synagogues and Jewish organizations to welcome and grow policies inclusive of LGBT people in all areas of Jewish life. SOJOURN also runs suicide prevention workshops in deeply Christian rural areas in the Deep South and regularly influences local Georgia politics. They plan to keep expanding the area they serve.

Founder Rabbi Joshua Lesser said “SOJOURN has been vital in creating a strong foundation of inclusion of GLBTQ people in Southern Jewish communities and beyond. SOJOURN embodies the best of Jewish and humanistic values around welcoming difference and recognizing the dignity of all people especially as we learn and grow together.”

This is the ninth time that ISJL has been included in the guide. The guide states that ISJL “works as a laboratory to develop methods that engage small and far-flung Jewish communities across the American South” and has “mastered this delicate process.” Itinerant rabbis make 90 visits to 44 communities in 13 states, and the ISJL standardized religious school curriculum serves 3,000 students in 69 communities where the teachers are often congregational volunteers who are only a few steps ahead of their students.

Other groups in Slingshot with branches in the region are AVODAH: The Jewish Service Corps, Challah for Hunger and Moishe House.

AVODAH has locations in four cities, including New Orleans. About 10 Jewish young adults spend a year living in the AVODAH house and working at anti-poverty organizations, giving those groups added staff capabilities.

Challah for Hunger gets campus student volunteers to bake challah, sell them and donate proceeds to Mazon and local anti-hunger groups.

One chapter is located at Tulane University, while others are at Texas, Emory, Georgia and Florida.

Moishe House, which has a location in New Orleans, provides young Jewish adults subsidized rent at a communal home in exchange for planning events for the local Jewish community, from learning programs to Shabbat and holiday celebrations, and social action projects. There are 69 Moishe Houses in 17 countries.

Photo by Rabbi Barry Altmark

Andy Saag, Judge Joseph Boohaker, Harold Ripps, Asaf Stein, Sheryl Kimerling, Louise Abroms and Jim Abroms at the joint Birmingham Federation, Foundation and Israel Bonds event

The stories behind the headlines Birmingham Federation, Israel Bonds event discusses Christians in Middle East, has presentation from Birmingham’s Lone Soldier This year’s annual joint event with the Birmingham Jewish Federation, Birmingham Jewish Foundation and Israel Bonds focused on aspects of the Middle East that aren’t widely reported in the United States.

Judge Joseph Boohaker, a Lebanese-American Christian, spoke about the plight of Christians in the Middle East, while Birmingham’s Asaf Stein spoke about his experiences as an Israeli soldier in Gaza this past summer.

The event, held on Oct. 29 at Temple EmanuEl, included a presentation of the three agencies’ annual awards.

Speaking about the rise of ISIS, Boohaker said “there is a cancerous tumor going in the neighborhood” and “the nutrient it demands is manpower and money.” It gets manpower from Turkey and money from oil, he said, which is provided to them at $30 a barrel and then resold at market prices.

ISIS is perpetrating “ethnic cleansing at its very worst” against Christians across the Middle East.

ISIS has not turned its attention to the U.S. or Israel, Boohaker noted, but “if not checked, they will soon.”

He urged the community to “seek and define common cause with the Christians of the Middle East… our common humanity once again depends on it.”

He also warned about possible Iranian nuclear weapons making their way to Lebanon, resulting in “nuclear blackmail on Israel’s northern border.”

He compared it to Soviet nuclear weapons in Cuba in 1962, and those were 90 miles across a sea. Still, “the United States didn’t stand for that and neither should Israel.”

Boohaker said he made his first trip to Israel a few years ago, and “now that I’ve been on both

sides of the border, we are the same people… who are ignorant of each other.”

Three days before the Birmingham event, Stein was on the Syrian border manning a machine gun, making sure the fighting in Syria did not spill into Israel.

A member of the Golani Brigade, Stein grew up in Birmingham. After graduating from the University of Alabama at Birmingham, he decided to move to Israel and was accepted into the Golani Brigade in the summer of 2013.

Jimmy Filler, Birmingham’s Israel Bonds chairman, recognized the N.E. Miles Jewish Day School, where Stein’s mother teaches. “Our Day School produced Asaf,” Filler said. “Asaf is what it is all about.”

Stein recounted how, as a Lone Soldier without family in Israel he was allowed one trip home per year, and was in Birmingham in June. He was speaking at a Friends of the Israel Defense Forces event in Atlanta on July 10 and was instructed to return to Israel the next morning. “I had no idea how I was going to find my unit, they were already in Gaza,” he said.

Twenty minutes after landing in Israel, he saw his first demonstration of the Iron Dome missile defense system.

When he got to the Gaza border he found his team and also ran into Daniel Duvdevani.

The Duvdevani family moved to Israel from Birmingham over 30 years ago, living on a moshav two miles from the Gaza border. “It was fantastic to see Daniel,” Stein said. “The family showed me immense generosity from the moment I arrived in Israel.”

Stein’s cell phone was taken, and he couldn’t even say that they were going into Gaza. “It’s an intense few days before the invasion,” but there was no choice, they had to go in.

He noted that the IDF “is the most moral

explore experience

excel At BSC, we prepare the professionals of tomorrow by giving our students every opportunity to apply what they learn to the real world.

Whether it’s an internship, study abroad, research partnership, or service, you’ll find your passion and learn from the very best.

That’s the pathway to success.

are you ready?

BSC

Birmingham-Southern College

December 2014 • Southern Jewish Life 17

community army that has ever been.” They started going into Gaza on a Friday night but stopped in mid-stream, delaying for 24 hours. Not enough Palestinian civilians had evacuated from the areas where they were heading.

“Hamas, at gunpoint, forced them to stay,” he noted. Hamas knew that dead civilians would “pay dividends in the international community.”

The soldiers evacuated a lot of Palestinian wounded to be treated at Israeli hospitals. “That was my first exposure to the morality of the IDF… the way we fight, the way they fight.”

When a cease-fire was declared, it was so “Israel could bring in supplies to Gaza to alleviate suffering — food, medical supplies. Hamas took the opportunity to launch more rockets.

“You see rockets flying into Israel and the trucks going into Gaza. That’s telling you all you need to know about Israel and Hamas,” he said.

After two weeks in Gaza he had a break on the Israeli side and got his cell phone back. The first picture he saw was students from his elementary school, the N.E. Miles Jewish Day School, holding posters they had made in his honor, along the front porch of his family’s Birmingham home. “To say it was touching would be an understatement.”

The overwhelming show of support from the Birmingham Jewish community and community at large was very important, having “seen everything that is wrong with humanity, and then seeing everything that is right with humanity.”

They received care packages and donations of goods from around the world. “It’s not just that you need these things… it’s that you see people care.”

He related that their boots weren’t well suited to their mission. Back in Birmingham, Michael Duvdevani placed “one call” to Jimmy Filler, and new boots were on the way to the unit immediately. They arrived while the unit was in the staging area, and Stein explained that the boots had come from his community. “They couldn’t pronounce Birmingham,” though. “They’re fantastic boots,” he added.

“You can’t imagine what these donations do for morale, which is critical for soldiers.”

Coming home, “it makes you realize everything about the Birmingham Jewish community — how warm our community really is. And it’s something special.”

Two days after the event, Stein visited the Day School for Kabbalat Shabbat, where he was honored and the students recited the prayer for Israeli soldiers — while holding their posters from the summer.

Awards presented

It’s Greek to you… from us!

18 Southern Jewish Life • December 2014

The Federation presented Andy Saag with the Joanie Plous Bayer Young Leadership Award. The award was presented by his mother, Amy Saag, a past president of the Federation and Foundation.

“My generation should think creatively about how our community agencies and religious institutions can work together to meet our community needs,” Andy Saag said.

Sheryl Kimerling received the Federation’s Susan Goldberg Distinguished Volunteer Award. Executive Director Richard Friedman said “Never in my 32 years as Executive Director of our Federation, have I worked with a volunteer leader who is any more positive, accessible, pleasurable to deal with and supportive than Sheryl.”

Louise and Jim Abroms were presented with the N.E. Miles Lifetime Achievement Award from the Foundation. Louise Abroms noted that she taught at the school named for Miles, and “we are so proud and humbled to receive this award that bears his name.”

Israel Bonds presented the Star of David Award to Harold Ripps, Filler noted that Ripps does not like to be in the spotlight, but “when called on for our BJF, his temples, Israel Bonds, and other Jewish causes, Harold Ripps stands tall.”

At last year’s event, it was announced that Ripps had committed over $10 million to the Next 100 Years initiative through his estate.

Being in IDF a “dream come true” for Colman Now that Josh Colman of New Orleans is in the Israeli military, he knows first-hand how important it is for Israel to know that there is support from around the world.

In 2008, Colman traveled from New Orleans to Israel on a Birthright trip, and one moment in particular gave him a “very strong connection” to the land.

The group had just visited Yad Vashem, Israel’s Holocaust memorial, and was at Mount Herzel, the military cemetery. At that moment, “I knew I was going to do the army,” he said. “I didn’t know when or how.”

In 2010 he went for a six-month trip, and it took him two months to move to Israel. It took another 18 months for him to get into the Israel Defense Forces.

Joining the IDF “was very important to me. It was almost like a dream come true.”

When he went into the army, he didn’t know “any Hebrew, really,” but he quick“THE ONLY REASON ly found that “you’re not alone… I didn’t I’M ALIVE AND MY realize when I made that decision how BUDDIES ARE ALIVE IS many people were going to be like me” BECAUSE OF THE IRON from around the world.

DOME… IT SAVED SO He is known as a Lone Soldier, one who MANY LIVES” does not have any family support system in Israel. But, he noted, “If you are a Lone Soldier, they really take care of you.”

Putting on the uniform for the first time and going to the Western Wall and Yad Vashem was incredibly emotional, he said, and saluting the flag

is “one of the most amazing things.”

He became part of the homefront command, a search and rescue unit. A lot of his friends went into Golani and other fighting brigades, but Josh Colman, right, with fellow Lone Soldier “I wanted to do some- Gabriel Ben-Naim, who was wounded in Gaza. thing that was more of a rescue, helping people if there was a missile attack or chemical attack.”

He was training to be on the fighter side, but after three months he hurt his knee. Because of the injury, his responsibilities were lowered so he is now working in the armory. While that was a disappointment, “at the end of the day you’re doing something, and every job is important,” such as repairing a gun so it fires properly for a soldier.

His base is on the border with Gaza, and he casually mentions that they were subjected to “about 100 rocket attacks” this summer. Because of the proximity, they have only six seconds from detecting a rocket to seek safety before it hits.

“The only reason I’m alive and my buddies are alive is because of the Iron Dome” anti-missile system, Colman asserted. “I got to see it plenty of times. It saved so many lives.”

The experience gave him an appreciation of the pressure of Israeli society. “I didn’t realize how much on a daily basis there’s always something…

ISRAEL BONDS SOUTHEAST REGION INVITES YOU TO AN EXCLUSIVE BRIEFING FROM

RON DERMER

ISRAEL'S AMBASSADOR TO THE UNITED STATES

THURSDAY, DECEMBER 11, 2014 6:15PM DOORS OPEN ∙ 7:00PM PROGRAM BEGINS New Orleans JCC - Uptown · 5342 St. Charles Avenue · New Orleans, LA FOR INFORMATION CONTACT: atlanta@israelbonds.com ∙ 800.752.5649 Pre-registration and ID required for entry to event · Invitation non-transferable Space is limited ∙ Event is complimentary This is not an offering, which can be made only by prospectus. Read the prospectus carefully before investing to fully evaluate the risks associated with investing in Israel bonds. Member FINRA Development Corporation for Israel

December 2014 • Southern Jewish Life 19

•

• FREE CONSULTATION Medicare Supplement And Long Term Care • What long-term care is, and why you and your loved ones are at high risk for needing care at home or in a facility

Find Out

• Why the limited benefits from Government (Medicare or Medicaid) are not a good choice for your long-term care needs

• At what age should you consider buying longterm care insurance. You will be surprised to know why and how buying at a younger age is better for you.

• Compare different Medicare Plans and determine which is best for you

• Find which company offers the most competitive rates for the plan you want.

Milton Goldstein, CLTC

Certified Long Term Care Specialist

Cell: (205) 907-0670 E-mail: miltgold@bellsouth.net Visit My Website www.goldsteinltc.com Licensed in 11 States

•

•

community it’s amazing what they have to go through. But they continue their daily lives.”

One rocket attack damaged some stores near him. “They were open for business the next morning,” he said.

Hamas operatives came through a border tunnel and tried to infiltrate his base, Colman noted. “They didn’t succeed.” After that, there was a barrage of 40 rockets in a three-hour span.

Because of the activity around the base, most of them were moved to Netivot, a nearby town, where they slept on the floor of a sports facility.

His unit was responsible for going door-to-door in the town, making sure everyone was okay, and reassuring the children.

The assistance went both ways. One night a caravan of 10 cars pulled up, with volunteers bringing food, flags and necessities for the soldiers. More important was the implicit message: “We are here with you through this.”

A moment of pride was when he received a package from the Temple Sinai Brotherhood in New Orleans, containing shirts, socks and other items for his unit. “They were so happy to have that. And more so, that it was from America.”

During the summer, a delegation from New Orleans visited Israel, and he was able to spend time with them. Part of the delegation was his father, Temple Sinai Cantor Joel Colman.

During a group visit to Sheba Tel-Hashomer Hospital, they saw Gabriel Ben-Naim, who Colman had trained with. A Lone Soldier from France, Ben-Naim was injured in Gaza entering a booby-trapped home, which then exploded around him.

Colman said Ben-Naim was hoping he could go back into Gaza. “They want to be there, no matter what happens.”

They also visited the family of a soldier who had been killed in Gaza.

Colman said it was very significant for them to know “that they weren’t alone, even in the lowest point in their lives, they had that support.” It was also meaningful to them that Kaddish had been recited for him at Temple Sinai, a place where nobody had ever met them.

Colman came back to New Orleans for a visit in late October, speaking at Temple Sinai on Oct. 31.

Colman said it is vital that people see Israel for themselves instead of on the news, and then let people know the truth about the conflict. He also hopes to see more Southern Jews coming to Israel and joining up.

Looking to the future, his service will end next summer, and “I want to contribute more.”

Your Place to Belong Experience the Jewish Greek experience at University of Alabama, College of Charleston, Emory University, Florida State University, University of Georgia, University of Texas and Tulane University.

Mississippi Governor Phil Bryant led a trade mission to Israel, with 10 Mississippi companies taking part and meeting with over 40 Israeli companies. While in Israel, Bryant was the only governor to speak at the Third International Conference on Homeland Security, on Nov. 11.

A quick greeting with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu turned into a 45-minute conversation. For more coverage, visit sjlmag.com.

www.sigmadeltatau.com SDTsorority

20 Southern Jewish Life • December 2014

SDT Southern Jewish Life Summer2014.indd 1

@SDTsorority

6/13/2014 1:00:16 PM

Nashville Pastor Lyndon Allen starts his message at the Night to Honor Israel in Birmingham with blasts from the shofar

Jews, Christians rally in Alabama to support Israel On Nov. 18, representatives of Alabama’s Christian community stood up and proclaimed their support for Israel and the Jewish people, and representatives of Birmingham’s Jewish community welcomed the support.

Christians United for Israel held a pastor’s lunch at Temple Emanu-El, drawing about 50 pastors, then had a Night to Honor Israel at the Levite Jewish Community Center, drawing about 150.

CUFI, founded by Pastor John Hagee in 2006, is the largest pro-Israel organization in the nation, claiming 1.8 million members. Nights to Honor Israel have been held nationwide, including in Shreveport and Jackson. Events were also held last month in Columbus, Ga., and near Chattanooga.

Pastor Lyndon Allen, who has been CUFI’s central region coordinator since January, was the keynote speaker. He is pastor of Woodmont Bible Church in Nashville, and in 2012 established Total Life Victory, which teaches the Hebraic roots of the church.

Allen spoke about how the United States “was designed to stand with Israel and must do so, regardless of what comes out of the White House.”

He also pointed out that ISIS is “definitely Islamic” despite President Obama’s assertion otherwise, and that the administration’s use of the term ISIL is “a slap in the face to our most trusted ally in the Middle East,” because the Levant refers to a land mass that includes Israel.

Pastor Reginald Gibson, who co-chairs CUFI in Alabama, said “the church needs to stand up. Christians need to stand up and support Israel in every way possible.”

Birmingham Jewish Federation Executive Director Richard Friedman explained that the Federation’s vision is to be “a gathering place for Jews and Christians to come together around a sacred and common cause… that transcends whatever differences we might have.”

Friedman said to his knowledge Birmingham is the only Federation that has an employee whose task is outreach to the pro-Israel Christian community, and one of the few making allocations to groups aiding Christians who are being persecuted in the Middle East.

CUFI “is the partner we’ve been waiting for,” he said.

At the pastor’s lunch, Federation Assistant Executive Director Daniel Odrezin said “we are proud to be partnering with all of you in creating a strong pro-Israel alliance.” He said the Federation works on three issues — combating media bias regarding Israel, anti-Israel activities on campus and dealing with the security threats against Israel.

Emanu-El Rabbi Jonathan Miller told the pastors about his personal journey, explaining that he grew up in the north just after the Holocaust in an atmosphere where Jews felt “friendless” and nobody else could be trusted when it came to the welfare of Jews.

Miller told the pastors “I am grateful to God that God has turned my heart toward you as you have directed your hearts and energies toward the people of Israel.”

(Additional coverage on sjlmag.com)

Give a child the gift of CAMP this Chanukah!

601.885.6042 • JACOBS.URJCAMPS.ORG

!

y Happ

ukah Chan

Chocolate -the Perfect Holiday Gift Favors, Party and Corporate Gifts We Have Kosher Chocolates • Shipping Available

5707 Magazine Street • New Orleans www.bluefrogchocolates.com 504-269-5707

December 2014 • Southern Jewish Life 21

community

Alabama Baptists take a stand for Israel, condemn anti-Semitism

Now Open in Hoover Experience Middle Eastern and Greek specialties prepared the authentic way, always with fresh ingredients Premium Black Angus meats Wood-fired grille

Call us for Take-out and Catering

1870 Chace Drive, Hoover (Behind Legacy Bank and CVS) cedarschaselake.com • (205) 988-5993 • cedarschaselake@gmail.com Mon-Thu 11am-9pm • Fri 11am-10pm • Sat 11am-10pm • Sun 9am-9pm Brunch Saturday 11am-3pm • Brunch Buffet Sunday 9am-2:30pm

22 Southern Jewish Life • December 2014

At a time when some church denominations, such as the Presbyterian Church (USA), are considering or passing one-sided resolutions critical of Israel or, in the case of PCUSA, divesting from businesses they see as profiting from Israel’s “occupation,” Alabama’s Southern Baptists said that won’t fly with them.

At the Alabama Baptist State Convention, held Nov. 11 and 12 at Lakeside Baptist Church in Birmingham, resolutions were passed “In Support of the Right of the State of Israel to Exist” and “In Opposition to Anti-Semitism.”

At a Christians United for Israel pastor’s luncheon at Temple Emanu-El in Birmingham on Nov. 18, Rev. John Killian informed pastors about the resolutions and that they had passed unanimously. Killian, immediate past president of the Alabama Baptist State Convention and pastor of Maytown Baptist Church, told the CUFI gathering “let’s let everybody know Alabama Christians stand for Israel.”

According to the Alabama Baptist, the convention’s 13 resolutions passed with “no significant debate nor changes.”

The anti-Semitism resolution cites increasing anti-Semitism and Holocaust denial in Europe and supports the right of the Jewish community “to fellowship without harassment.” It concludes that “Alabama Baptists will teach respect for our Jewish neighbors and would discourage those anti-Semitic attitudes which may seek to find a place in public policy.”

The Israel resolution notes the “historic connection” of the Jewish people to the land of Israel, and that in 1943 Alabama was the first state to pass legislation calling for a Jewish homeland.

It expresses “abhorrence” of terror, denounces “revenge in any form as a response” but supports “the right of sovereign nations to use force to defend themselves against aggressors.”

Israel, the resolution adds, must be held accountable in the same manner “as any other nation,” and the Palestinian people are called upon to “reform their government structures to repudiate terrorism and tyranny.”

One passage likely to raise eyebrows on both sides states that “We affirm God’s love for and offer of salvation in Christ to all people, including both Jewish and Palestinian people.” The next statement then says “Both Old and New Testaments affirm God’s special purposes and providential care for the Jewish people.”

The resolution concludes with “we pray that the true peace of our Lord will reign in the lives of the Israeli and Palestinian people and that this peace will bring blessing to this war-torn land.” (Full text at sjlmag.com).

Nationally, the Jewish community and the Southern Baptist Convention have had a roller-coaster relationship given the Southern Baptist Great Commission mandate to witness to the entire world, including the Jewish community. Calls to evangelize the Jewish community, including a controversial 1996 resolution, have been widely criticized in the Jewish community, as has Southern Baptist support for “messianic” congregations.

commentary

NAGHI’S

Comprehending Common Core: Upside, Downside & “My Side”

by Sharon Pollin The Common Core is causing an uproar.

Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal enthusiastically supported the state’s adoption of the national standards in 2010.

In 2012 Jindal outlined his plans to reform Louisiana’s education system, and included the standards as part of his strategy.

Now, in 2014, Jindal has filed two lawsuits designed to derail educators from aligning their teaching to the standards.

As with most innovations, there are those who are in favor, Byron Garrett, CEO of the National Parent Teacher Association, said the standards “support teachers in preparing students to thrive in a democratic society and a diverse, changing world as knowledgeable, creative and engaged citizens and lifelong learners.”

Conversely, the Utah County Republican Platform states that “Schools or other government entities should not invade the privacy of parents or their children. We favor local accountability and control in all aspects of the education system.”

I believe the Common Core State Standards Initiative has much to offer America’s schoolchildren.

According to the National Center for Education Statistics, in 2012 the U.S. eighth grade mathematics scores were lower than the average for all Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development countries.

Twenty-nine education systems had higher average mathematics scores than the U.S. average score.

In the same year, 22 education systems had higher average science scores than the U.S., and 19 education systems had higher average reading scores than the U.S. Those higher ranking education systems range from Shanghai, Singapore, Hong Kong and the Republic of Korea, to Liechtenstein, Switzerland, the Netherlands, Estonia, Finland, Canada, Poland, France, Iceland and Belgium, among many others.

Also in 2012, only 25 percent of high school seniors were ready for college in all four subjects tested by the ACT college readiness assessment.

According to several national measures, Louisiana ranks 48th in K-12 achievement.

These statistics should make all Americans, and certainly all Louisianans, sit up and take

notice. In terms of excellence in education and global competitiveness, our schools are not doing so well. Why not?

Prior to the Common Core Initiative, each school, each school district and each state established its own curriculum standards, the educational requirements in each subject area at each grade level that students are expected to learn and teachers are expected to teach.

Although created with the best of intentions, individual state standards have often been broad, vague, lengthy, difficult to assess, and vary from state to state. Particularly in mathematics, individual state standards have generally pushed for an enormous shopping list of math topics to be ‘covered’ in an entire year. Such ‘coverage’ does not lead to rich student learning.

The way math has been taught in the United States is often described as “a mile wide and an inch deep.” The average American 4th grade math textbook is 530 pages, compared to the international average of 170.

In order for publishers to sell to a broad range of consumers, i.e., school districts, the content is not aligned to a single set of standards or measurements. In the 29 countries that outperform us, “teachers may spend a month on a topic, while we spend days,” says William Schmidt, the U.S. research coordinator for the Third International Math and Science Study. The result is the next year, teachers must re-teach the same material, students having rarely acquired the necessary deep conceptual understandings upon which to build new knowledge.

To address the lack of preparedness of our nation’s young people to effectively participate in the world around them, and the wildly uneven expectations of student learning from state to state and school to school, the states-led initiative to develop the Common Core State Standards was launched in 2009 by state leaders, including governors and state commissioners of education from 48 states, two territories and the District of Columbia, through their membership in the National Governors Association Center for Best Practices and the Council of Chief State School Officers.

Louisiana was well represented in the endeavor, with many local educators, college faculty and experts joining their colleagues from other states to create and revise the standards.

The work focused on key goals to ensure U.S.

Diamonds Platinum 14&18k Gold Antiques Estate Judaica

633 Royal St. • (504) 586-8373

H A P P Y C H A N U K A H

Aunt Sally’s has a range of Pralines for your celebrations and parties Kosher (Dairy) Pralines • 100% Gluten Free

Visit us at 810 Decatur Street and 750 St. Charles Avenue Pralines Shipped Everywhere

1-800-642-7257

www.auntsallys.com

December 2014 • Southern Jewish Life 23

commentary students graduate from high school with the skills and knowledge necessary to succeed in college, career and life, regardless of where they live.

There are three major shifts in each large content area.

In math there is a deeper focus on fewer topics, a linking of topics across grades to ensure a solid foundation, and a rigorous conceptual understanding, with procedural skills and fluency, and how to apply them.

A fifth grade question in the former standard would read: “Donna buys 40 apples at 35 cents each. She eats 2 apples and sells the rest for 45 cents each. How much money does she make?” This question requires only the use of simple arithmetic.

The Common Core standard question would be: “Donna buys some apples at 35 cents each. She eats 2 apples and sells the rest for 45 cents each. She makes $4.40. How many apples did she buy?” This question requires the student to formulate an algebraic strategy in order to answer the question.

English Language Arts standards include regular practice with complex texts and their academic language; reading, writing and speaking grounded in evidence from texts, both literary and informational; and building knowledge through content-rich nonfiction.

Here is a comparison of questions from reading “Charlotte’s Web,” by E.B. White.

The former standard’s questions would be “Who is telling the story in Charlotte’s Web? How does Wilbur feel towards Charlotte at the end of the story? How do you know?”

The Common Core questions are “What is your point of view about Wilbur? How is it different from Fern’s point of view about Wilbur? How

24 Southern Jewish Life • December 2014

is it different from the narrator’s point of view?”

From analyzing the text, the new expectation requires students to explain that characters see the world differently. The reader learns about the characters from the narrator as well as by what they say to one another and how they act in different situations.

The U.S. education system has been accused of preparing students for a world that no longer exists. Think about how the world has changed since you were in school.

Think about what the world will be facing 20 years from now. Two billion more people. Climate change. Subsiding coastlines. Microbiological resistance. The continuing mingling of the world’s cultures. Immediate information access.

Our students require skills as well as habits of mind and behavior to succeed in their world. They need to be deep thinkers, problem solvers and collaborators who are able to apply the skills they’ve learned in school to the very real issues of the 21st century. The goals of the CCCS are to provide a path to achieve that.

Are they perfect? No. Are they a huge step forward for our youth? I believe so.

At Jewish Community Day School, we understand that learning is a progressive continuum. Our teachers utilize the standards as a blueprint that guides curriculum planning and instruction. Instruction at JCDS is guided by these standards, by the Partnership for 21st Century Skills and by the treasured values of our Jewish heritage.

Sharon Pollin is Head of School for Jewish Community Day School in Metairie.

community

Happy Chanukah from ARC Realty

JCRS to honor four families, celebrate 160th at musical roots gala This coming year’s gala for the Jewish Children’s Regional Service will celebrate the unique agency’s 160th birthday and honor four families for their contributions and passion for Jewish youth.

The “Jewish Roots of Music” will be directed by renowned musician Harry Mayronne, who created this year’s JCRS “Jewish Roots of Broadway” production at the National World War II Museum. Mayronne’s credits include musical direction of the Big Easy Awards and co-writing and producing the off-Broadway production of “Waiting Around — The Restaurant Musical.”

The event, which will be on March 7 at the New Orleans Hyatt, will recognize the Cahn and Goldring families of New Orleans, the Klein family of Louisville, Ky., and the Grinspoon family from Western Massachusetts.

Originally formed as the Jewish Children’s Home in New Orleans, JCRS became a social service agency when the home closed following World War II. Serving seven states, JCRS provides need-based assistance for Jewish summer camp and undergraduate college aid, along with outreach and case management services. The agency serves over 1500 Jewish youth annually.

The Goldring family is well-known locally, nationally and internationally for its numerous philanthropic endeavors that support many causes within the civic and Jewish communities. The Goldring Family Foundation was created by the late Stephen and Mathilde Goldring in 1957, and its vast work has continued to be carried out through their son, Bill, and grandchildren Diane Franco and Jeffrey Goldring.

Mike Cahn, a Mississippi native, and Blanche Lazard, a New Orleanian, met and married in New Orleans in 1911. They had two sons, Emile and Jules. Their two sons, together with their spouses, Adele and June, carried on a tradition of passionate and involved philanthropy, that has now passed down to their children, New Orleanians Jimmy and Marie Cahn, and Richard and Vivian Cahn, through the Cahn Family Foundation.

Mike and Blanche Cahn were already supporters of, and mentors to, the residents of the former Jewish Children’s Home in the early part of the 20th century, when in 1936, their son, the late Emile Cahn, married Adele Karp. Adele was one of four Karp sisters raised at the Home. Today, at age 97, Adele Karp Cahn is one of the oldest and most proud surviving alumni of the Jewish Children’s Home.

Like Adele Karp Cahn and her three siblings, Elias Klein and his brother, Ike, in the 1930s, found themselves in need of assistance from the Jewish community of New Orleans and the former Jewish Children’s Home.

Elias and Ike were child refugees, who were sent out of Nazi Germany by their parents, who were left behind. The community helped to place the boys with New Orleanian Lillian Greenwald, who became their foster mother.

Elias married native Beverly Aronowitz in 1948. The couple was residing in New Orleans in 1981, when a teaching position at the University of Louisville Medical School lured Elias from his position as the director of the Gulf South Research Institute. In appreciation of the support that the young Klein boys received from New Orleans Jewish institutions, Elias and Beverly have given back to New Orleans, and together with their children, have created a college scholarship fund at JCRS that supports children from refugee families.

In 1993, Harold Grinspoon a real estate developer, created a family foundation whose original mission was to support services for residents of Western Massachusetts and to support a variety of programs for various Jewish communities. Over time, both the mission of the Harold Grin-

Happy Chanukah to our Camp Barney Medintz families

December 2014 • Southern Jewish Life 25

community

RAMAH DAROM IS AN EXPERIENCE THAT LASTS A LIFETIME.

Delta Jewish Open, Delta tamales intersect

Give your child the gift of camp this summer.

ramahdarom.org (404) 531-0801 SJLad.indd 1

26 Southern Jewish Life • December 2014

spoon Foundation and the number of his own family members that he involved in the foundation has grown exponentially.

One deep passion for Grinspoon is his desire to enhance Jewish continuity, and to channel that passion through programs for Jewish youth and young families. In 2006, the Harold Grinspoon Foundation launched the PJ Library, a program that now provides free, monthly Jewish-themed books to 136,000 Jewish youth in North America. PJ has also expanded into South America, Australia, and Israel. With additional local support from the Goldring Family Foundation, JCRS administers PJ in New Orleans and across parts of six states, providing over 900 Jewish youth each year with book subscriptions.

The Grinspoon Foundation also believes strongly in the value of Jewish overnight summer camping, which is also one of the primary initiatives of JCRS. The JCamp 180 program works with over 75 camps on consulting and grant-matching.

12/12/2012

The 27th annual Delta Jewish Open was held in Greenville the weekend of Oct. 18. About 75 attended the dinner at Hebrew Union Congregation, then the four-man scramble tournament began the next morning with a shofar start.

The winning team was Eric Miller, Greenwood; Fred Miller, Rolling Fork; Jimmy Stewart, Franklin, Tenn.; Rabbi Ted Riter, Jackson.

Second place was Mauri Turner, Monroe; Barry Piltz, Greenville; Sam Goodman, Greenville; Fred Miller, Palm Harbor, Fla.; Richard Dattel, Greenville. The third place team was Phil Co11:22:58 AM hen, Lexington, Miss.; Sam Silverblatt, Shreveport; Alan Silverblatt, Indianola; Samuel Cohen, New Orleans.

Corky Goodman, below, was named Queen of the Hot Tamale Festival, which took place the same weekend.

W 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 Earthborn Pottery wording and design assistance on any time of personal or business correspondence, and their partnership with industry leaders guarantees a top-notch finished product.

The Gallery at Earthborn Customer service they’re famous 7575 Parkway Drive Leeds, Ala.for, plus free gift wrapping and at-cost UPS shipping around the country make selecting and sending any gift a pleasure.

205/702.7055 earthbornpottery.net

Fine Jewelry • Antique and Estate Jewelry 505 Royal Street | FRENCH QUARTER | 504.525.4855 Complimentary One-Hour Parking at the Omni Royal Orleans

www.wcjewelry.com • Become our fan on Facebook!

Earthborn Studios came about through Tena Payne’s work with Chef Chris Hastings of Birmingham’s James Beard Award-winning Hot & Hot Fish Club. They designed beautiful and durable dinnerware that 2. REMEMBER: BLUE AND WHITE has now gone world-wide and is used in dozens of restaurants — and ARE TRADITIONAL FOR CHANUKAH countless homes. When Hastings took on Chef Bobby Flay on “Iron Chef America,” the winning dishes were plated on Payne’s pieces. this holiday.

There’ll be no forgetting Earthborn dishes are used at the Bellagio in Las Vegas, and to showPrice upon request. the durability, the dishes from the original order 10&years ago areFine still Jewelry Wellington Company in service.

505 Royal Street New Orleans 504/525.4855 wcjewelry.com The dishes are also used at double James Beard Award winner Peche in New Orleans, and at Jia in the Beau Rivage in Biloxi.

Wellington & Co. Fine Jewelry’s team of

Earthborn does custom corporate orders all the time, pressing comjewelry associates possesses more than half a pany logos into the clay used for the dishes. So, a set of pieces with century of antique, estate and contemporary Judaica designs would be something they could easily handle.

fine jewelry knowledge and sales experience.

At Wellington & Co., their passion for what they do, combined with the store’s warm and inviting atmosphere in the heart of New Orleans’ historic French Quarter enables them to provide visitors from around the world with a unique and inviting shopping experience unlike any other.

Nov2014.indd 59

10/20/2014 2:21:34 AM

December 2014 • Southern Jewish Life 27

ous

book

Dot

chanukah

Petcetera New Orleans

3205 Magazine Street New Orleans 504/269.8711 petceteranola.com

Gifts For Chanukah... and All Your Simchas

Your boss has everything, and anything he or she doesn’t have is beyond your gifting budget. Even the toughest of bosses melts when their pet is happy. The best way to a pet’s heart is a new toy or treat. Petcetera carries squeaky and squeakerless toys that go from very inexpensive to modestly priced for the more designer and tough toys.

Select several smaller items for a pet gift basket, contained in environmentally-conscious decorative plant pots.

Gifting to the boss’ pet can solve the gift problem and open the door to a great conversation with someone you just may want to impress.

A’mano Gifts

2707 Culver Road Birmingham 205/871.9093 amanogifts.com

3168 Heights Village, Cahaba Heights Between Sexton Seafood and Regions Bank 205-970-2077 • www.alittlesomethingbham.com

Challenge the Mind. Engage the Heart.

Hone the Intellect. Nurture the Spirit.

At Millsaps College, we celebrate common understanding and learn from the wisdom of other faiths. www.millsaps.edu

Delicious

Flickr DeliciousFacebook Twitter Flickr

Flickr

Twitter

MySpaceRetweet TwitterStumbleUpon

Slash Dot Mixx MySpace StumbleUpon Facebook MySpace

Digg

Skype StumbleUpon

Retweet

Digg Retweet

Digg Technorati

28 Southern Jewish Life • December 2014

Mixx Slash DotReddit Skype Mixx

FriendFeed Technorati Skype YouTube

LinkedIn Technorati

A’mano has a wide range of gifts, including a few Judaica selections — books like “Bar Mitzvah — A Guide to Spiritual Growth” and a beautiful mostly photo book “The Light of Jerusalem,” which contains a foreword by Elie Wiesel.

A’mano also has artistic/crafty gifts by Jewish designer Jonathan Adler, such as picture frames and paperweights. They also carry Ceri Hoover Handbags, handmade leather handbags from Nashville. Hadakin, out of New Orleans, makes handbags and laundry bags.

December 2014 • The Jewish Newsletter 1

2 The Jewish Newsletter • December 2014

From the New Orleans Jewish Community Center Thanks to our 2014 Center Celebration Sponsors

SAVE THE DATE: iBERIABANK Uptown Classic 5K and Family Fun Run Registration is now open for the 3rd annual IBERIABANK Uptown Classic 5K and Family Fun Run, presented by the JCC on Sunday, February 1. This exciting race follows a scenic route along Prytania to Audubon Park and back to the Uptown JCC. Prizes will be awarded in each age group. A post race party features food, refreshments, and entertainment for all ages. Take advantage of the family rate and enjoy the day as a family, or gather five friends and receive a group discount by signing up as a team! Register online at www.nolarunning. com, or complete the registration form, which is available at the JCC reception desks and at many local running stores.

Thanks to all who supported the JCC by attending its annual fundraiser, Center Celebration, presented by the Lupin Foundation. It was a fun evening that would not have been possible without the generosity of so many donors and sponsors. Special thanks to all of the lead sponsors, who helped make Center Celebration so successful.

The Lupin Foundation Jane and Rodney Steiner Whitney Bank Cathy and Morris Bart Goldring and Franco Families Fitness Expo Anne P. Lowenburg Marriott Metairie at Lakeway Banners in 48 Hours Creative Zumo Corporate Lighting and Audio Longleaf Canteen Vending Services Offset Printing Southern Jewish Life

Upcoming Events: December 11, 7 PM: Ron Dermer, Israel’s Ambassador to the United States, provides an exclusive briefing on Israel and the Middle East. Doors open at 6:15 PM. Must RSVP and show ID to attend. Event is complimentary.

December 14, 2:30 PM: David Broza performs at the JCC’s 9th annual Community-wide Chanukah Celebration. Latkes and other Chanukah treats will be served after the concert. Free and open to the community.

December 2014 • The Jewish Newsletter 3

From Jewish Community Day School Light Up the First Night of Chanukah with JCDS & the Pelicans A Basketball Benefit for Jewish Children’s Education in the Greater New Orleans Area will be held Dec. 16, on the first night of Chanukah. Tip-off is at 7 p.m. at the Smoothie King Center as the Pelicans play against the Utah Jazz. Students from the Jewish Community Day School will open the game with the National Anthem.

Discounted Lower Level tickets are available for $32 and balcony tickets are $14. They can be ordered online at the jcdsnola.org website by Dec. 8. Checks can also be mailed to JCDS, c/o Deb Marsh, 3747 West Esplanade, Metairie, 70002. In both cases, purchased tickets will be available at “Will Call” on game night.

Local Jewish children’s education leaders will collaboratively determine how best to use the funds to promote excellence in Jewish children’s education in Greater New Orleans.

There will be a menorah lighting at halftime, and Hebrew Pelicans t-shirts will be available for $5.

Calling all Mommies and Babies under three!

The Jewish Community Day School Jewish Babies Club will be held Friday, Dec. 19, 11 a.m. at Jewish Community Day School and will feature Deborah Mintz for a “Shabbat Shalom-a-long!” This program is designed to build baby’s social and cognitive development.

There is no fee to participate. Email Lungar@jcdsnola.org to join. For more information and future dates, visit jcdsnola. org early education page.

A generous portion of the proceeds from group tickets sales will benefit Jewish Children’s Education programs.

“Glowin Down the Bayou”, an original Chanukah Production JCDS students will perform a Chanukah Musical play entitled “Glowin’ Down the Bayou.” This original production, written by JCDS faculty members Lauren Gisclair and Aleeza Adelman, will be held Dec. 18 at 6 p.m. in the JCDS cafeteria, 3747 West Esplanade, Metairie.

The musical takes place in New Orleans, where the children go on a journey to find the candles for the Chanukiyah. Their adventures will take them to Cafe du Monde, the Audubon Zoo and the Superdome in search of the candles for the first three nights of Chanukah.

The music will include popular Chanukah favorites such as “The Dreidel Song” as well some original songs including “Let it Glow!” This fun-filled production is open to the community and is free of charge.

4 The Jewish Newsletter • December 2014

From the Jewish Endowment Foundation of Louisiana JEF Grants Make A Difference Every year, the Jewish Endowment Foundation of Louisiana allocates a portion of its General Fund to make grants to our community’s constituent agencies: Jewish Family Service, the Jewish Community Center, the Jewish Community Day School and Tulane Hillel. This allocation is known as the Constituent Agency Block Grant. These grants are announced annually in the pages of this publication, but you may have wondered what effect they have on the organizations they go to and the people they serve, so we asked representatives of these agencies to tell us in their own words how important this funding is to them. Their quotes are featured on this page.

“Due to the generosity of JEF, the JCC has been able to bring outstanding Jewish entertainers to perform at our Community-Wide Chanukah event each year. The first community-wide concert was in 2006 shortly after Hurricane Katrina, when the renowned singer/ songwriter Debbie Friedman performed at our “One People One Community Rebuilding Together” event. JEF’s grants have allowed us to continue to celebrate together as a community each year.

This year we are pleased to bring Israeli superstar David Broza, who blends modern pop and Spanish music with his famous guitar playing, to the JCC. Thanks, JEF, for your continued support.”

Leslie Fischman, Executive Director, Jewish Community Center “These grants are so important to the work we do in the community. We are so grateful to JEF for their recognition and support.

Intensive Case Management is one of the most intricate, yet important services we provide. It sometimes requires the collaboration of caseworkers with clergy, lawyers, landlords, medical staff and family members to resolve issues on behalf of a client in crisis. Our work with the Jewish Community Day School has also been incredibly fulfilling because it has allowed us to directly partner with one of our fellow agencies and to provide our expertise for the benefit of students, faculty, administration and parents.”

In addition to the Constituent Agency Block Grant, JEF also makes grants to other organizations and projects of Jewish interest as well as emergency grants to Israel and to areas experiencing natural disasters. Just this year, JEF’s Board approved a grant of $10,000 to Jewish Federations of North America’s “Stop the Sirens” campaign to support efforts to defend and protect Israeli citizens during the recent conflict with Gaza. JEF has also made grants this year to Avodah, Baton Rouge Hadassah for a Women’s Retreat, WYES to support the local broadcast of PBS’s The Story of the Jews, and to the JCC for the expansion of their Pre-K Program.

Rachel Lazarus Eriksen, Director of Clinical Services, Jewish Family Service “Over the years, JEF has provided essential financial support for the Day School. This year, JEF is funding our Educational Programming and Counseling Enrichment Program, which is a joint program with JFS. The goal of the program is to facilitate positive social and emotional development for students; support teachers as they design safe, supportive and functional learning environments; and guide parents in developing their own parenting skills. Without JEF’s support, our ability to provide this support to our school community would be severely limited. We are so grateful that JEF has been there for us for so many years.”

All of these grants are from JEF’s General Fund. The General Fund is one of the most important ways JEF insures the security of our Jewish community now and for future generations. Your gift to the General Fund allows JEF to use the funds when and where they are most needed. JEF can accept gifts of cash, securities or other valuables. No gift is too small. A cash gift is tax deductible. Other types of donations are deductible according to federal tax laws as they apply to your personal financial situation.

Sharon Pollin, Head of School, Jewish Community Day School Members of Tulane Hillel’s flagship program, Tulane Jewish Leaders, have access to panels and speeches geared toward their developing role within the University and beyond as well as the individual attention of their staff mentors. In one-on-one meetings throughout the semester, students receive the guidance and funding necessary to create engaging initiatives and service opportunities that serve the communities of which they are a part. Without the grant provided annually for TJL by JEF, Tulane Hillel would be unable to run this program that is so essential to our people’s future.

Richard Cahn, President of JEF’s Board of Directors, says, “The vision of the community leaders who founded and continue to lead JEF and the generosity of our donors have made it possible for JEF to make grants to Federation’s constituent agencies and other organizations. I cannot emphasize too strongly the importance of giving to JEF’s General Fund so that our Jewish community can continue to thrive.”

Rabbi Yonah Schiller, Executive Director, Tulane Hillel

JEF Constituent Agency Block Grants 2014 • Community-Wide Chanukah Concert, Candle Lighting and Dinner (JCC) • Summer Day Camp Shlichim (JCC) • Expanding Shabbat Dinner on Campus (Hillel) • Tulane Jewish Leaders Program (Hillel) • Marketing Campaign (Day School) • Intensive Case Management (JFS) • Educational Programming and Counseling (JFS and Day School joint program)

“I can only echo Richard’s sentiments,” adds Sandy Levy, JEF’s Executive Director. “Through our General Fund, we are supporting programs that maintain and enhance Jewish life in our community. The needs will always be here and, with a healthy General Fund, JEF will be here to meet them.

For more information on how you call support JEF’s all-important General Fund, please contact Sandy Levy at (504) 524-4559 or sandy@jefno.org.

December 2014 • The Jewish Newsletter 5

From Jewish Family Service of Greater New Orleans Friends of JFS Campaign in Progress!

Take advantage of this limited-time promotion and call us today, (504) 831-8475! You may ask for Jane Levine, ext. 128; Once a year, we ask the community to help support the Lindsie Cohen, ext. 166; Jan Miller, ext. 126 or Harrison work that we do for the benefit of over 10,000 in the Greater Wool, ext. 163.

New Orleans area. Our programs serve all ages and all faiths – from Teen Life Counts, our teen suicide-prevention pro- JFS Offers Counseling Services gram; to Bikur Chaverim, which offers companionship and friendship for the home-bound or partially home-bound; to Across the Metro Area our extensive counseling services for individuals, couples and Counseling for individuals, couples, families and groups families; to Lifeline and Passover baskets, among others. is one JFS’s core programs. Services are provided by licensed We are able to offer our services on a sliding fee scale be- behavioral health professionals and fees are assessed on a slidcause of your generosity and we thank you for keeping us in ing scale basis. Appointments are available at all three offices mind during the holidays and into 2014. Visit our website to — Metairie, Uptown and the Northshore. donate today! http://www.jfsneworleans.org.

Please call us to set up an appointment: (504) 831-8475, Metairie and Uptown; (985) 253-1619, Northshore.

Lifeline Announces New Service and Special Offer

Now available through Jewish Family Service, GoSafe Mobile System is Philips Lifeline’s newest, most advanced personal emergency response system. If you are active and busy but risk needing assistance when you are outside of your home, GoSafe is an ideal service for you. Locating you via GPS technology, Lifeline responders will know exactly where to find you no matter where you are in the continental U.S. Through December 31, 2014, Jewish Family Service of Greater New Orleans is offering free installation on all Lifeline products — an $80 savings — for new clients. When calling Jewish Family Service to receive the free installation, speak to a Lifeline staff member and say “I would like the Gift of Independence” to activate your service.

VOLUNTEER OPPORTUNITIES JFS is looking for volunteers to help with several program areas including Teen Life Counts (or TLC), which reaches over 5,000 students each year by offering suicide prevention workshops at schools in Orleans, Jefferson and surrounding parishes; Lifeline, a personal emergency response system, needs help making calls to subscribers to remind them to test their equipment; and Bikur Chaverim, which pairs volunteer Visitors with Friends in order to reach out to those who are homebound or partially homebound.

For more information on volunteering with JFS please call (504) 831-8475.

From Tulane Hillel Celebrating Tulane Hillel’s Diverse Student Involvement One of the things that Tulane Hillel is most proud of is the diversity of students involved in its programming. Students of many backgrounds and interests come together to participate in the Jewish community that Tulane Hillel has created, and this is perhaps best illustrated by the Shabbat calendar this Fall.

People are more invested in things that they do themselves, which is why Tulane Hillel believes it is essential to not only provide great programming for students but to involve them in the design and implementation of these programs as well.

Plus, student-led initiatives are the most effective way of ensuring Tulane Hillel’s relevance within the campus communiIn an effort to engage all students, Tulane Hillel often ty — students are the in the best position to know what kinds co-sponsors Shabbat dinner with various groups on campus. of events and resources their peers want and need.

This brings in fresh faces and exposes all attendees to the exThis is why Tulane Hillel is so passionate about its flagship citing opportunities available here at Tulane. This year, an av- program — Tulane Jewish Leaders, which provides emerging stuerage of 200 students have attended each Shabbat as a result dent leaders with the mentorship, guidance and funding necof our work with Tulane’s Health and Wellness Center, the essary for them to turn their personal passions into initiatives Green Club, Tulane A Cappella, Teach for America, Queer that serve the greater community and further the Jewish ideal of Straight Alliance, Green Wave Israel Scholars, Sigma Delta “tikkun olam.” This spring, Tulane Hillel will add 70 students Tau and Zeta Beta Tau. to what has become a prestigious network of campus leaders.

6 The Jewish Newsletter • December 2014

December 2014 • The Jewish Newsletter 7

8 The Jewish Newsletter • December 2014

chanukah

A fun, new Chanukah tradition

by Lee J. Green The new Funukkah doll and book brings a fun, new way for kids to learn more about Chanukah and being good. But this brainchild came from two seriously talented entrepreneurial Jewish girls who live just south of Atlanta.

Twelve-year-old Ellie and 10-year-old Anabelle Taylor live with their parents Brian and Ashley 30 miles south of Atlanta in Griffin, Ga. There are very few other Jewish kids in that area, so most of their friends celebrate Christmas.

“The girls wanted to have an elf-like figure that they and others could embrace for Chanukah,” said Brian Taylor. “We really got into the ‘Shark Tank’ TV show and they were inspired to come up with the idea for the Funukkah dolls and story. I told them if they would design them we would get them made.”

It took a year of design work and they went through 20 different prototypes before coming up with the Funukkah doll and story book that is now on sale at www.funukkah.com.

Each 13-inch-tall doll is carefully made of plush materials, to make them both extra huggable and safe, said Taylor. They come with a colorful backpack along with a Star of David pattern printed on their clothing.

The Funukkah hard-cover story book introduces families to the village the Funukkah dolls come from. It explains how the village spends all year preparing for Chanukah all over the world.

“Each doll and the box set come with the Funukkah rules. The rules let a child know the importance of being good and how to play with their Funukkah doll throughout Chanukah,” said Taylor. Some of those rules include saying please and being thankful; respecting family, along with giving the Funukkah dolls names.

The dolls are put to bed by the child at the child’s bedtime. While the child sleeps, the dolls “come to life” and with a little help from the parents, they “hide” in the home for the children to search for the next morning.

The Funukkah Kid’s backpack “magically” produces the Shamash candle for the following evening.

If a child has been especially good and has followed all the rules, then the child may also find a gift or that the doll has played a fun trick. This nightly routine repeats itself for all eight nights of Chanukah.

Taylor said a significant portion of the profits will go to benefit the ADL, which is where his cousin works in Atlanta.

He said that if Funukkah is successful, Anabelle and Ellie have already said they plan to spend their winter break this year coming up with ideas and designs for a Passover doll and story book.

“I am just so proud of them for their creativity, passion and working hard to see this vision through,” said Taylor.

U.S. 78, Leeds, Ala. (east of Birmingham)

December 2014 • Southern Jewish Life 29

chanukah Four things Adrian’s Tree Service is proud of from 5754 (2013-14): • Formosan termite treatment in New Orleans Garden District: 250 trees in 75 city blocks of historic homes, with our “Pork’n’beans” mixed with 2 million gallons of water (Aug.-March) • Final tree treatment for Mountain Pine Beetle at Art Janklow’s Mystery Mountain Resort, Rapid City, S.D. and the collapse of the beetle epidemic in the Black Hills. (Oct.) • Planting 108 shade trees in memory of Art Janklow II at Henry S. Jacobs Camp, Utica., Miss. — a diversity of 25 species (Oct-Feb.) • First bottling of American Chestnut honey from Gerd Oppenheim’s farm in Norwood, La. (August). Chestnut honey usually has to be imported from Italy.

Abita Springs, LA

504-367-1160 • 504-259-2031 www.adrianstrees.com

Come See Our New Bar and Expanded Dining Room Perfect for private parties and other simchas

Enjoy the nice weather by dining on our patio!

Shrimp and Grits Seafood Local Organic Produce and Meats Contact us for your catering needs!

Now Open on Mondays!

Open for Lunch and Dinner Mon-Sat 11a-2p & 5-9p www.bistro-v.com

521 Montgomery Hwy, Suite 113 Vestavia Hills (205) 30 Southern Jewish Life • December 2014

823-1505

NOLA’s Pollack shapes glass into holy, secular items On a crisp October weekend near Tuscaloosa, amid the hundreds of artisans and self-taught artists at Kentuck displaying pottery, paintings and letterpress prints was a New Orleanian with a wide range of glass mezuzahs and Chanukah menorahs, and a couple of Torah pointers.

Judaica is a large portion of what Andrew Jackson Pollack makes in his New Orleans studio. An Atlanta native, Pollack was enamored by a visit to JazzFest and decided to move to New Orleans in 1997 to attend Loyola University.

He was already an artist in a family of artists. His mother, who did ceramics, was making glass beads when he was 12, and “I went from making beads of clay to making beads out of glass when I was 15.” Naturally, his first efforts at glass, the beads, were a natural fit in New Orleans.

He enrolled in glass blowing classes at the New Orleans School of Glassworks and Printmaking. Before long he became a member of the faculty, coordinating the lampworking department.

He has also studied at the Penland School of Crafts in North Carolina and the Corning Museum of Glass in New York, working with some of the top artists in glassmaking.

Pollack left the New Orleans School shortly before Katrina hit and established his own studio. With the flood, “we were lucky” being Uptown. An aunt and uncle lived in Lakeview by the 17th Street levee breach and had 10 feet of water in their home.

Pollack had gone to Atlanta just before the storm, and they remained there for eight months while their relatives lived in their Uptown home, until the Lakeview house was habitable. “We knew we were coming back,” he said.

Upon returning to New Orleans, he established Andrew Jackson Pollack Designs and started looking for clients and wholesale accounts, continuing “one person production but as more of a business.”

Fashioning Judaica goes back to the beginning of his artistic career.

“Probably one of the first things I tried to make out of glass” was a mezuzah, he said.

He came up with a Judaica line of designs after Katrina when he began wholesaling. Though he has certain designs, “none will be the same” as he does everything new.

He does about a dozen Chanukah menorahs per year. He also does Kiddush cups, dreidels, Torah pointers and even a Seder plate. He estimates that in 20 years working with glass he has done “a couple thousand” mezuzahs.

Aside from Judaica he does sculptures, perfume bottles, candleabras, jewelry and goblets, among other items.

Currently, a lot of his work includes birds, especially Louisiana birds such as pelicans. “I really enjoy bringing out their personalities” with the glass, he said. A few years ago, fish dominated his works, as he has been a scuba diver for years.

He no longer goes the wholesale route, because “I find I can only make so much.” There are a few places he has worked with for years that carry his pieces, but “it’s hard to keep up as one artist” who makes everything as a one-of-a-kind piece.

Pollack is also a home brewer, and this month was scheduled to do a show of beer-related glassware at The Avenue Pub. He also reclaims beer bottles that have the labels etched into the bottles, turning them into drinking glasses.

His works are carried at Rhino Gallery at Canal Place, and at Dashka Roth in the Quarter. He teaches classes at YAYA Creative Glass, and goes to art festivals from Texas to Georgia. His works are also available through his website, andrewjacksonpollack.com.

chanukah

GET IN THE

HOLIDAY SPIRIT!

A great new tradition for Jewish children and families during Hanukkah

The Funukkah Kids travel from the village of Funukkah to good girls and boys all over the world. They come right before the start of Hanukkah and spend all eight nights with your family. The fun and magic really starts to happen when the child goes to bed the night before the first night of Hanukkah.

Each Funukkah kid comes with “the Story of Funukkah” book, their list of rules, and a magical backpack which (with a little help from the parents) holds the Shamash candle to be used later that evening for the lighting of the Menorah.

A gift and a mitzvah — A significant portion of the profits will benefit the Anti-Defamation League!

Order Today at www.funukkah.com

December 2014 • Southern Jewish Life 31

chanukah Let us make your New Orleans vacation the best ever — for FREE!

New Orleans Discount Tours We can plan every aspect of your visit Transportation • Lodging Dining • Riverboat Cruises Discount Tours: City Tour, Swamp Tour, Airboats, Walking Tour, Plantation Tour, Ghost Tours

Jewish New Orleans Tours! $5 OFF any city, swamp or plantation tour for SJL readers

504-302-4961

NewOrleansDiscountTours.com Also on Facebook and Twitter

occasion

R IS E TO T H E

BOOK BY MARCH 31ST FOR

15% OFF

EVENT CATERING *

The best of everything, exquisitely presented.

Our romantic hotel in the heart of the French Quarter is the perfect venue for your wedding. With our Food is Art philosophy your wedding will be as delicious as it is tasteful.

*Mention this ad and book your event valued at $10,000 or more by March 31, 2015 to receive 15% off of your entire catering order. See your event manager for more details. Restrictions may apply. Kosher style menus available.

Call today and speak with one of our wedding specialists at 504.553.2205.

300 Bourbon Street | New Orleans, LA | 504.586.0300 | Sonesta.com/RoyalNewOrleans

32 Southern Jewish Life • December 2014

NOLA native Emily Stone asks, “Did Jew Know?”

Did you know that New Orleans native Emily Stone wrote a book entitled “Did Jew Know?”

The “handy primer on the customs, culture and practice of the Chosen People” is a witty presentation of the breadth of the Jewish experience, “from Saul to Seinfeld.”

Part of a family rooted in Louisiana, Stone moved to New York as a child. Her father, Harvey Stone, got a job as a U.S. Attorney in the 1970s and moved the family to Brooklyn, which “was not even starting to gentrify at that time,” she said.

Growing up, Stone visited New Orleans two or three times a year, and sometimes would also visit Bogalusa. “The Jews who grew up in Uptown and went to Newman… that is the New Orleans I know,” she said.

She also went to “the seven restaurants my grandparents went to,” and assumed that like New York, everyone was Jewish in New Orleans because “that’s who was at Chris’ on Sunday night or Galatoire’s for lunch on Saturday… when my mother told me New Orleans is only 3 percent Jewish, I said we must know the entire 3 percent.”

Of course, her experiences in both worlds drove home the notion that “the New York Jew is so different from the Southern Jew.” “Did Jew Know” has been described as irreverent but “deceptively comprehensive.” Stone has said the Judaism is still mysterious and foreign to many people, including Jews.

Aside from being a writer, she has taught yoga for 12 years and became the head writer and co-creator of The Yogapedia Project, an interactive series of ebooks for yoga teachers and dedicated yogis.

She noted that Bhakti yoga is a devotional practice that “includes chanting to Hindu gods, which isn’t exactly the way to go in Judaism.”

There are a lot of Bu-Jews, Jews who follow Buddhist teachings, and she has been referred to as a Hin-Jew. Recently, though, her brother has become more observant Jewishly. She has followed suit, and “become more uncomfortable with the Bhakti practice of yoga… it’s been an interesting journey.”

She added, “I’m returning now to Jew. The Hin part is fading.”

She thinks her next writing will be about returning to faith, about keeping Shabbat and what it entails, and talking with others who are traveling that path.

culture art • books • apps • music • television • film • theatre

Charles Bell American, 1935-1995 Cats’s Eye and the Best of ‘Em, 1993 Oil on Canvas

MUSEUMS

Photorealism: The Sydney and Walda Besthoff Collection Considered one of the finest photorealist collections in the United States, more than 70 works from Sydney and Walda Besthoff are now on exhibit at the New Orleans Museum of Art. The paintings represent works from 1969 to those of recent vintage and include those by premier artists Chuck Close and Richard Estes.

The image that is shown partially above, of Charles Bell’s “Cat’s Eye and the Best of ‘Em,” came after a meeting with the Besthoffs at which Bell offered the couple a handful of marbles and a mirror, with the opportunity to arrange the marbles as they wished. They, however, declined and left the composition to the artist.

The museum’s Odyssey Ball last month was centered around the exhibit, with Sydney and Walda Besthoff serving as honorary chairs. Scriptura used “Cat’s Eye and the Best of ‘Em” for the event invitations, and Cafe NOMA morphed into a K&B diner for the event.

The exhibit is accompanied by a fully illustrated catalog, “Photorealism: Beginnings to Today.” Declared “mind-blowing” by the Times-Picayune’s Doug MacCash, the exhibit will be on view through January 25, 2015.

BOOKS

The Bible’s Cutting Room Floor

by Joel M. Hoffman (Thomas Dunne Books)

The Bible you usually read is not the complete story.

Some holy writings were left out for political or theological reasons, others simply because of the physical restrictions of ancient bookmaking technology. At times, the compilers of the Bible skipped information that they assumed everyone knew.

An impressive blend of history, linguistics and religious scholarship, “The Bible’s Cutting Room Floor” reveals what’s missing from your Bible, who left it out and why it is so important.

APPS

Israel. You Dig? A free app from the Israeli Antiquities Authority, “Dig Quest: Israel,” is geared toward getting children interested in what archaeologists do, and virtually include them on some of the greatest discoveries of the last 2,000 years, including the Dead Sea Scrolls and a Roman period mosaic at Lod. At each of the two simulated dig sites, players solve puzzles, take fast-paced quizzes, and are able to get the feel of some of what the IAA does, like the laboratory use of advanced spectral imaging process. Excerpts from the Dead Sea Scrolls are translated and spoken. Each site features discoveries that explain the artifacts found, and those artifacts can be placed in the player’s own collection box.

Gabe, the character host, is inspired by real IAA archaeologists, and the game includes over 30 levels and 50 images of historical treasures. Find the game by searching “Dig Quest: Israel” at the iTunes store.

December 2014 • Southern Jewish Life 33

culture

A 65 Year Old Variety Store

Take a step back in time! Aisle after aisle of great gifts

Seasonal items Huge selection of Toys Great Gifts Jewelry & Accessories Maui Jim sunglasses Largest selection of ribbon in Alabama Monogramming Invitations Imprinting Baby gifts Candy by the pound

Normal hours 8:30-5:30 Mon-Sat Seasonal hours 8:30-7 Mon-Sat Noon-5 Sunday (11/30 to 12/20)

2715 Culver Road Birmingham, AL (205) 871-0841 Become our fan on Facebook

Success Team Tuning Management Development Employee Engagement

Success is built by clear purpose and good planning.

Courtesy 20th Century Fox © 2014

FILM

Exodus: Gods and Kings This month, director Ridley Scott’s (“Gladiator,” “Prometheus”) adventure “Exodus: Gods and Kings,” the Biblical story of Moses (played by Christian Bale) and Ramses (Joel Edgerton), will be released. Using state-of-the-art visual effects and 3D immersion, Scott seeks to bring new life to the story of the terrifying plagues God sets upon Egypt, and the epic journey of the hundreds of thousands of Jews who escaped.

“Exodus: Gods and Kings” will be in theaters December 12.

Start anew to do and be the best you can in all ways.

Let RPS coaching help you build that plan.

TELEVISION

Radiant Professional Services, LLC

Anita Diamant’s best-selling “The Red Tent” has been made into a miniseries premiering December 7 and 8 at 8 p.m. on Lifetime.

Photo by David Appleby © 2014 Told through the experience Minnie Driver as “Leah” of Dinah, daughter of Leah in Lifetime’s “The Red Tent” and Jacob, the women who dwell inside the red tent share the traditions and turmoil of ancient womanhood.

Business Coach for Managers and Leaders

We make your light shine brighter

(205) 919-2359 http://radproserv.com coach@radproserv.com

Keeping You Covered…

The Red Tent

The all-star cast includes Academy Award, Golden Globe and Emmy nominee Minnie Driver (“Return to Zero,” “About a Boy”), Emmy nominee Morena Baccarin (“Homeland”), Golden Globe nominee Rebecca Ferguson (“The White Queen”), Iain Glen (“Game of Thrones”), Will Tudor (“Game of Thrones”) and Academy Award, Golden Globe and Emmy nominee Debra Winger (“Terms of Endearment”).

Home • Auto • Business • Life Jimmy Quinn

205-655-8040 800 Watterson Curve #206 • Trussville jimmy@centralalabamains.com www.centralalabamainsurance.com 34 Southern Jewish Life • December 2014

ONLINE COURSES

Jewish History, from MIT

MITOpenCourseWare makes available online, at no charge, actual MIT graduate and undergraduate courses. Among those available now, “Jewish History from Biblical to Modern Times” with instructor, Professor Peter Temin. ocw.mit.edu

culture

INTEGRATED PAIN AND NEUROSCIENCE BOOKS FOR CHILDREN

SIMON AND THE BEAR a Hanukkah Tale

IS PlEASED TO wElCOmE

DOmENICK GRIESHABER, mD AND ANDREA O’lEARY, mD

Eric A. Kimmel, Illustrated by Matthew Trueman

Simon seems to have lots of luck, as he considers how many miracles he has received to begin his trip to America.

When things go wrong, he remembers the miracle of Hanukkah and learns that, indeed, miracles can happen to anyone, anywhere, even in the darkest of times.

LATKE, THE LUCKY DOG

ERIC I. ROYSTER, MD

AARON J. FRIEDMAN, MD DOMINICK GRIESHABER, MD

BOARD CERTIFIED PAIN MEDICINE AND ANESTHESIOLOGY

NEUROLOGY AND ACUPUNCTURE

Clinic Locations: 2801 Napoleon Avenue, New Orleans, LA | 8050 W. Judge Perez Dr. Suite 2900, Chalmette, LA 1849 Barataria Blvd. Suite C, Marrero, LA | 2965 Gause Blvd. Suite A, Slidell LA 1972 Ormond Blvd. Suite A, Destrehan, LA

Now Offering Same Day Access and Saturday Appointments!

205-598-4441

Martha Seif Simpson, Illustrated by Durga Yael Bernhard

At One Hour® We Offer the Following Services: • • • •

Repairs & Replacements Duct Cleaning Indoor Air Quality Maintenance Agreements

©2014 Clockwork IP, LLC

At Benjamin Franklin Plumbing® We Offer the Following Services:

Debbie Rivers-Moore, Illustrated by Caroline Davis

• • • •

$1000 OFF A HIGH EFFICIENCY SYSTEM Coupon must be presented at time of purchase. Cannot be combined with any other offers. Expires 12/31/14.

www.onehourbirmingham.com

THE STORY OF HANUKKAH Fun, fun, fun!

Beginning with the traditional holiday story, the book is filled with lively games, activities, puzzles, mazes, stickers and more! Perfect for preschool/early elementary ages.

ADULT AND CHILD PSYCHIATRY

www.PainIsaPuzzle.com

THE DREIDEL THAT WOULDN’T SPIN The most beautiful dreidel the shopkeeper has works only for the one who is most like the true spirit of Hanukkah.

ANDREA O’LEARY, MD

504-300-9020

Ellen Fischer, Illustrated by Tiphanie Beeke

Latke, given the name at the shelter because of his golden brown fur, discovers what a lucky dog he is, being adopted as a Hanukkah pet by a family who cherishes him, even though it takes him a few days to learn the house rules!

PAIN MEDICINE AND ANESTHESIOLOGY

Clogged drain lines & Sewer Replacements Sump Pumps and Back Up Sump Pumps Water Heaters & Water Conditioning Leaks and Repairs

www.benfranklinplumberbirmingham.com

$499 ONE SYSTEM DUCT CLEANING Coupon must be presented at time of purchase. Cannot be combined with any other offers. Expires 12/31/14. ©2014 Clockwork IP, LLC

$99 DRAIN CLEAN Coupon must be presented at time of purchase. Cannot be combined with any other offers. Expires 12/31/14. ©2014 Clockwork IP, LLC

BF Lic. # 01166 / OH Lic. # 14057

©2014 Clockwork IP, LLC

Drug Tested, Background-Checked Employees • Straightforward Pricing® • Fully Licensed and Insured

December 2014 • Southern Jewish Life 35

culture You can relax…

LARGE FORMAT BOOKS

BEYOND THE FOREST Jewish Alscan’s new network-based security systems can be monitored and controlled from anywhere

Our Business is Minding YoursTM CCTV

ACCESS CONTROL Atlanta

PERIMETER PROTECTION Birmingham

www.alscaninc.com • 800-951-0051

Family Owned and Operated Providing chemical management of lawns and shrubs to over 1400 accounts in the greater Birmingham area Our Team Has Over 50 Years Experience Our small size gives you successful services because of our experience and the consistency of having the same tech working on your lawn

Trust us to ensure you have the best possible lawn!

Fertilization Weed & Vegetation Control Lime Insecticide Fungicides Fire Ant Control Aeration Tree and Shrub

(205) 683-6933 • 5703 Shadow Lake Drive • Pinson 36 Southern Jewish Life • December 2014

Presence in Eastern Europe, 2004-2012

Loli Kantor (University of Texas Press)

Beginning in 2004, Loli Kantor, the daughter of Holocaust survivors, traveled in Ukraine and Poland, photographing Jews in their everyday lives and listened to their stories in their homes, synagogues and other gathering places. Her luminous black-and-white and color images eloquently reveal the honor of the past and building of the future.

MAH JONGG: The Art of the Game Ann M. Israel and Gregg Swain Photographs by Michel Arnaud (Tuttle)

Offering an intimate look at the history of the game as well as the visual beauty of the mah jongg tiles, this book chronicles sets from the most basic, made simply of paper, to the most precious materials such as ivory and mother-of-pearl.

Recognized and respected scholars and game experts contribute important chapters on the game’s history and its pieces as well as technical information on the tiles.

Lastly, great collectors from around the globe have shared their incredible sets and memories for the first time in one book for everyone to enjoy.

The perfect gift for the mah jongg maven in your life.

THE JEWISH WORLD: 100 Treasures of Art & Culture, The Magnes Collection Alla Efimova, Francesco Spagnolo (Skira Rizzoli)

A fascinating survey of Jewish art and history from one of the most comprehensive Jewish collections.

Through beautiful photographs and insightful texts, this richly illustrated book brings to light masterpieces of Judaica and craftsmanship — from classical paintings to lush illuminations, from intricate silverwork to modernist sculpture — from The Magnes Collection, one of the world’s largest and most preeminent collections of Jewish ceremonial, modern, and contemporary art, music, rare books and manuscripts.

AUTHORS

Marcie Cohen Ferris

Author of “Matzoh Ball Gumbo: Culinary Tales of the Jewish South,” Marcie Cohen Ferris pens “The Edible South: The Power of Food and the Making of an American Region,” a 480-page, heavily-footnoted history of how Southern food shapes our identity, past and present. Of particular Jewish interest are gems such as how Eli Evans’ family store kept their position as the only integrated lunch counter in downtown Durham, subverting Jim Crow laws by removing seats and adjusting the counter top to elbow-leaning height.

In 2005, you broke new ground with your acclaimed book “Matzoh Ball Gumbo.”

In “The Edible South,” you offer an extraordinarily ambitious, wide-reaching social history of the foodways of the American South over more than five centuries. Why is food a particularly revealing lens through which to look at key historical events?

Food is history. Food is place. Food is power. When we examine the historical arc of food in the American South, we encounter the tangled interactions of its people over time, a world of relationships fraught with conflict, yet bound by blood and attachment to place. The contradiction between the realities of plenty and deprivation, of privilege and poverty in Southern history resonates in the region’s food traditions. Today, Southern food has become untethered from the history responsible for this cuisine. This history helps us understand why Southerners eat the way they do, and why we think of our foods as deeply Southern.

Any myths or stereotypes about Southern food that you hope to dispel?

Fried chicken, biscuits, and pitchers of sweet tea — the caricatures of Southern foods are so “super-sized,” enriched, sweetened, and filled with butter that these iconic foods have become unrecognizable to native Southerners. Despite the exaggerated versions of Southern food we see on television and in popular, Southern-style, “country” restaurant chains, a core culinary grammar and history remains at the heart of these foods, whether it be the rich desserts of the plantation South or the plain meals of working-class and impoverished Southerners. Consider the Southern larder of seasonal fruits and vegetables — greens, ramps, butter beans, home-made preserves and pickles, oysters, shrimp, cured hams, stone-ground grits, peanuts, Carolina Gold rice, roasted sweet potatoes, a piece of hot cornbread.

Southern food is a distinctive, innovative cuisine that is grounded in the world of local agrarian traditions — soil, waters, region, season, flora and fauna — and the influence of global cultures. Southern food also embodies the memory of racial and class trauma, land loss, poverty and disease.

What important changes and struggles might lie ahead for the evolutionary South?

Both the creativity and the crisis of Southern foodways are exemplified by two poles in the region today — one of distinctive, innovative foods grounded in tradition, story, and the influence of global cultures, and the other, an inheritance of racial and class trauma. To visualize a dynamic, just and healthy future for all Southerners, we must learn from the region’s history, in which progress and resistance to change have done constant battle. Southern food today reflects the rapidly changing food geography of the region as Latino, Asian, Eastern European and Middle Eastern Southerners have influenced Southern cuisine.

A conversation with Marcie Cohen Ferris, author of “The Edible South: The Power of Food and the Making of an American Region” (University of North Carolina Press, Fall 2014). The text of this interview is also available at http://www.ibiblio.org/uncp/media/ferris_edible_south/

3200 Greensboro Ave, Tuscaloosa • We Deliver to Birmingham Come By for the Ultimate Chanukah Present!

December 2014 • Southern Jewish Life 37

culture

Happy Chanukah

Simchas are just cooler with planes

LOCAL AUTHORS

10 DON’TS ON YOUR DIGITAL DEVICES Daniel Bachrach and Eric Rzeszut

With the proliferation of security and privacy threats online, as well as scams that seek to snare the unsuspecting, how can one stay safe?

tthew courtesy Caitlin and Ma

oto Gretchen B. Ph

graphy

Call us to book your bar mitzvah, wedding reception, fundraiser, corporate meeting, or reunion.

205.833.8226

southernmuseumofflight.org

“Supporting the South’s Future in Flight” Save $200 on your rental by mentioning you saw this ad in Southern Jewish Life. Expires Jan. 31, 2015

In “10 Don’ts on Your Digital Devices,” Daniel Bachrach and Eric Rzeszut use personal anecdotes and news stories to illustrate what can happen when individuals are careless with their devices and data. Each chapter takes on a different “don’t” and explains how common blunders can render one vulnerable — and what to do about it.

The book teaches non-technical readers 10 key lessons for protecting digital security and privacy with the same care they give to physical security and privacy. Strategies in the book help prevent phishing, giving away passwords, getting lost in the cloud, doing secure transactions in insecure places and many more common problems.

Bachrach is the Morrow Faculty Excellence Fellow and Professor of Management at the Culverhouse College of Commerce at the University of Alabama. He has published extensively on employee and team performance drivers, transactive memory systems, and organizational citizenship behavior.

Rzeszut recently moved from Birmingham to Charlottesville, Va., where he is the help desk manager at the University of Virginia’s McIntire School of Commerce. Previously, he was an IT manager at the University of Alabama at Birmingham and a founding member of the UAB Enterprise Information Security Council.

LIFE’S FINGERPRINT: Your Birth Order Robert Hurst

For Authentic itAliAn cuisine…

That’s Amore

Is the order in which you were born the key to your personality? Robert Hurst, who has been in private practice in orthodontics in Covington, La., for 40 years, says he realized through his practice that each patient’s birth order was key to understanding behavior patterns, and being aware of it facilitated treatment.

Birth order is a person’s rank by age among his or her siblings. Those family roles and interactions carry over to the workplace. That order, which Hurst calls a “life fingerprint” is key to understanding people.

Greystone Center 5510 Hwy 280 S Suite 116 Birmingham For Reservations Call 205-437-1005 WWW.LETSAMORE.COM 38 Southern Jewish Life • December 2014

He writes about how birth order affects one’s path through life in “Life’s Fingerprint: Your Birth Order.” He also has a lecture series, and blogs about current events by analyzing the individuals through their birth order.

During the summer, for example, he analyzed Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, stating that as a second-born he is outgoing, competitive and has his own value system that he will stick with. Having lost his older brother in the Entebbe raid in 1976, he also has taken on some first-born personality traits. As most world leaders are first-born, his acting that way while responding like a second-born is why world leaders often are frustrated with him, Hurst wrote — but at this time, “there could not be a better man for the current job of protecting Israel.”

pet care an annual SJL special section

Photo by Marcelo Rabelo

Hollywood Feed offers Chanukah pet safety tips The holiday season is filled with good food, fun decorations and family gatherings that bring joy to everyone. Don’t let the festivities turn to turmoil by neglecting to remember the holiday season can also be a dangerous one for your pets.

Many Chanukah traditions can spell disaster for your dogs and cats, but there are ways to prevent tragedy. Be mindful of everything during the season, and remember to explain the rules to houseguests. Everyone should be on the same page and understand that sad puppy eyes are never a good excuse to dole out table scraps.

Always pay attention to where one places decorations and foods. Traditional Chanukah foods such as doughnuts, latkes and chocolate coins wrapped in gold or silver foil can cause harm to pets.

Doughnuts, also known as sufganiyot, are packed with calories, sugar and fat. Ingestion can cause diarrhea and pancreatitis in pets.

Latkes can give your dogs the same gastrointestinal upset as doughnuts but can become considerably more dangerous. Consumption of onions, one of the main ingredients in many latke recipes, may result in Heinz body anemia — which could be fatal.

Chocolate coins and their metallic foil wrappers can be toxic to pets.

Theobromine and caffeine are found in chocolate. If ingested it can lead to severe medical complications and can be fatal. The wrappers can cause stomach upset and other gastrointestinal problems.

Never leave these foods out where a curious pet can happen upon them. Store them out of reach in secure containers. It’s also important to remember to keep a secure lid on the trash can to prevent pets from stealing a surprise from the garbage.

A traditional game played during the holidays can also pose a significant danger to pets. The dreidel might spark enough interest in your dog that he or she accidently swallows it. If ingested, this whirling top can cause life-threatening gastrointestinal obstructions.

The menorah is an important part of the eight days of Chanukah. But

imagine a lit menorah being knocked over by an excitedly wagging tail, or a dog bumping into furniture and the menorah falling to the ground?

There are pet-safe options available, including a battery-operated flameless menorah instead of customary candles. .

Just Happy Hounds keeps tails wagging

by Lee J. Green Dogs boarded at Just Happy Hounds in Birmingham’s Southside are never bored. They receive much attention and care so they can enjoy carefree fun. Dog days, in this case, are good.

“We’re all dog lovers and owners. We think the best people are dog owners,” said Just Happy Hounds Owner Charlie Hopkins. The 10,000-square-foot indoor/outdoor day care, boarding, training and grooming business opened this past July. “We want to make sure our clients are comfortable with us caring for their dogs and to know their dogs will be well cared for.”

Hopkins said with people’s busy work schedules, they might not get the opportunity to give their dogs the attention and exercise the pups want and need. That’s where Just Happy Hounds comes in.

“One of the greatest benefits is that the dogs here exercise and can interact with other dogs all but one hour during the day,” he said. “Our trainer takes the dogs on walks and we also have a treadmill for the dogs.

That way when you pick the dogs up after work, they are happy and just as tired as you are.”

Hopkins opened up Just Happy Hounds on the advice of retired veterinarian Dr. Chandler McGee, who is on staff to monitor but does not perform medical procedures. They also employ a trainer, groomer, two vet techs and other caring staff. continued on page 42

December 2014 • Southern Jewish Life 39

pet care

Riverview Animal Clinic offers advice on keeping pets well

by Lee J. Green Pets are just like their people in that they are happiest and healthiest when they eat the proper foods, get regular exercise, and have plenty of love and socialization opportunities.

Arthur Serwitz and the rest of the doctors and staff at Riverview Animal Clinic want to help ensure that pets get the care they need at the veterinary clinic as well as regularly at home.

“For dogs especially, training, socialization and proper exercise and nutrition are so important,” said Serwitz. “Giving pets as gifts is not recommended. There are too many personal situations regarding ability, knowledge and resources to know if the timing is right and the pet is the right choice for the personalities and their circumstances.

“It’s best when everyone understands and embraces all the responsibilities that come with owning a pet,” he said, adding that Riverview Animal Clinic sees not just dogs and cats, but also “exotics” such as birds, snakes, rabbits, ferrets, “pocket pets” like hamsters, guinea pigs, and rodents, reptiles, amphibians, chinchillas, and hedgehogs.

If people are thinking of getting a new pet, consider the many rescue groups, shelters and humane societies. It would be a very good thing to “save a life” and can be the most rewarding.

Busy work schedules, along with home and children responsibilities sometimes conflict with giving and getting pets the necessary exercise and socialization. Many resources are available for meeting these demands, such as personal trainers, doggy day care facilities, play groups, pet sitters and pet walkers, dog parks. Be sure to check out the facilities personally and get referrals.

Living in the South exposes pets to many environmental “incitants” and allergens. Consider the warm and humid climate and the prevalence and variety of grasses, pollen, trees, insects, insect parts, molds, weeds, pesticides, herbicides, as well as fleas and ticks. Some animal breeds may have a prevalence for “allergy problems.” Investigate breed health resumes and history for choosing the right pets.

Environmental concerns would be another consideration for “puppy or kitten proofing” one’s home environment. Scented candles, Airwick plug-ins, perfumes, strong household cleaners especially chorine/Clorox based products, toxic plants, human medicines, yard chemicals and even plastic toys can be hazardous.

Today’s veterinary practices have taken advantage of the latest medical technologies and resources, offering advanced dentistry, advanced imaging, new and updated lab testing and clinical diagnostics, cancer diagnosing and therapies, intensive and urgent care facilities, hospitalization, preventive care, and specialized veterinary practice with “boarded” veterinarians in the fields of internal medicine, surgery, dermatology, ophthalmology, dermatology, oncology, cardiology, as well as others.

“We are lucky in Birmingham to be within a few hours driving to some of the very best veterinary schools in the country: Auburn, Tuskegee, Mississippi State, Georgia, Tennessee, Louisiana State, North Carolina State, Virginia Tech and Florida,” said Serwitz.

He also noted that “micro chipping” has become more widespread and accepted in identifying pets. The technology has been around for many years. It is a simple, safe, and affordable method to help with lost pet identification, added Serwitz

Celebrate!

13 wonderfurry years of loyally serving our four-legged friends.

Toys H Beds H Treats H Bowls H Clothing H Portraits H Grooming H Pet Sitting H Dog Bakery H Dog Walking H Natural Food H

Fetch our monthly anniversary specials at our website!

3205 Magazine Street • New Orleans, LA 70115 • 504-269-8711 • petceteranola.com Petcetera 12-21-14 Southern Jewish.indd 1

40 Southern Jewish Life • December 2014

11/21/14 3:27 PM

pet care

Just Happy Hounds Doggie Daycare Packages from

$18 a day!

Your #1 Choice for Doggie Daycare, Boarding, Grooming and Training!

sit…stay…play Bring your pups and tour our facility — your first day of daycare is absolutely FREE! “I have practiced Veterinary Medicine for nearly 50 years, and sincerely believe that JUST HAPPY HOUNDS is the best option for your dog’s Daycare, Boarding, Training and Grooming.”

Chandler McGee, DVM

Make it a Happy Chanukah for your favorite dog lover!

Gift Certificates for all services and products Gift baskets • Free gift wrap

2222 5th Avenue South, Birmingham • 205.419.3300

www.justhappyhounds.com December 2014 • Southern Jewish Life 41

pet care Closeout Pricing on the new Mazda 3 for 2014!

New Skyactiv engine delivers the best fuel economy in its class!

Bobby Bloomston SALES & LEASING

Member of the Mazda President’s Club and Selected to the Council of Automobile Sales Excellence for 10 Years

Med Center

80 Drivers Way • Pelham • Just off I-65 exit 246 • www.medcentermazda.com ALA TOLL FREE 1-800-749-0929 •

205-222-6444

Another current trend is pet insurance. In Europe, approximately 25 to 30 percent of pet owners have pet insurance. Those numbers are closer to 1 percent in the United States.

But with the rising demands for good and advanced veterinary care comes the opportunity to add a dimension of protection with pet insurance. There are at least a dozen veterinary insurance providers.

“It’s important to get a policy when a pet is younger so it is more affordable. Most cover a good portion of major medical, hospitalization, and interventional surgeries,” he said. “It is important to think of the insurance choices in regard to benefits and deductibles.”

Pet feeding, along with advances in nutritional information and counseling, has given people more choices in healthy diets for pets. It is everyone’s job to become informed, he said, such as knowing how to read a label on a pet food. Know the reputation of the company, where the food is produced and where the ingredients have come from, he advised.

“Veterinarians are continually educated regarding newest information on pet diets and special medical diets. We have seen a trend of pets becoming more sedentary and overweight — overfeeding, less exercise, neutering and spaying too young without adjusting diet and calorie needs and keeping up with exercise needs. Know the websites that monitor pet diet recalls. Rely on your veterinarian to help guide you,” said Serwitz.

“The lifestyles and longevity of our pets, along with the human-animal bond have contributed so much to the quality of their lives as well as ours,” he said.

>> Hounds

Continued from page 39

“Dr. McGee and I worked together to ensure that this is a healthy and safe place for dogs as well as people,” said Hopkins.

They brought in an engineer to design and build an advanced ventilation system that draws out odors and airborne germs.

The sealed epoxy floors at Just Happy Hounds keep them from absorbing odors.

The kennel turf outside is over sand and gravel, with it being drained every day. For older dogs, several of the kennels and runways have cushioned gym mat flooring, similar to gym mats at the Levite Jewish Community Center.

Just Happy Hounds can feed the dogs Hill’s Science Diet or clients can bring in foods their dogs are accustomed to. For grooming, they offer a wide variety of shampoos, some for dogs with sensitive skin.

Before a dog is admitted into day care, it must pass a temperament test. Owners cannot be with their dogs during the test but can monitor everything on security screens in the front lobby area.

Speaking of TV screens, some of the boarding rooms at Just Happy Hounds feature flat-screen TVs that can be turned on for the dogs. Bright murals adorn the walls as does dog art by local artist Christopher Davis.

Just Happy Hounds also partners with the Greater Birmingham Humane Society, Hand in Paw, Adopt-a-Golden and other organizations that seek to help dogs in any way that they can.

“Community service is very important to us, especially those who are helping our canine friends,” said Hopkins. “Our dogs bring us so much joy and we want to do the same for them.”

42 Southern Jewish Life • December 2014

the story of us • veterans Students get veteran’s perspective Judge Sol Gothard, the commander of the New Orleans Post of the Jewish War Veterans of America, addressed Jewish Community Day School students at an all-school assembly for Veterans Day. “Every branch of the United States Military as well as the Israeli Defense Forces not only protects our country during times of war,” Gothard said.

“They also perform community services such as helping immigrants, building houses for the homeless and responding in times of disaster.”

Gothard is a veteran of the U.S. Army. He is a former social worker, lawyer, and Judge of the Jefferson Parish Juvenile Court and the 5th Judge Sol Gothard with two Circuit Court of Appeal. He currentDay School students whose ly serves as a full professor of Social parents are serving in the Work and Law at Tulane University military. Gianna Harris’ father, Graduate School of Social Work. He Bryan Harris, is serving in the is a lecturer, actor and consultant.

Army. Joseph Todd’s father, He was recently honored by the James Todd, is serving in the National Association of Forensic SoCoast Guard. cial Work with the creation of the “Sol Gothard Lifetime Achievement Award” and by the National Association of Social Workers Foundation, who recognized him as a “Pioneer in the Field of Social Work”. He is also a recipient of the People’s Health Award.

His three older brothers, Gerald, Jack and Abe, all served in World War II, with Abe being awarded the Purple Heart for serious wounds sustained in battle.

FA M I LY

EYE

CENTER

Kanter honored at World Peace lunch At the National Veterans Day celebration in Birmingham on Nov. 11, Fred Kanter was honored during the World Peace Luncheon. He was one of six veterans presented with the Governor’s Annual Alabama Veteran of the Year Award, given to those who have “done most to foster the highest Ideals in Community Service, Membership, and our American Way of Life.”

He was also presented a quilt from the “Quilts of Valor” organization, whose mission “is to cover service members and veterans touched by war with comforting and healing Quilts of Valor,” made by volunteer quilters.

Kanter served as a communications officer in the U.S. Navy, taking part in the invasion of Okinawa. He received a battle star for his service. He also served as a communications officer in the Korean War. Kanter was commander of Jewish War Veterans Post 608 from 2011 to 2014, revitalizing it after it had been inactive for 10 years. After the luncheon at the Sheraton Birmingham, the JWV post had a car in the Veteran’s Day Parade, which is the largest in the nation.

Ami Abel Epstein, O.D. Former Director of Contact Lens Services at UAB School of Optometry.

Graduated #1 in her class of 1998.

Large Selection of High-Quality, Fashion & Designer Eyewear - MOST INSURANCE ACCEPTED -

NEW LOCATION

3125 Sunview Drive

(by the Cahaba Heights Post Office)

Birmingham, AL 35243 Phone 205-977-2777

L’Shanah Tovah December 2014 • Southern Jewish Life 43

Continued from page 3

much the better in their view.

Any pro-Israel question was dismissed as a “Fox News question” or received howls of protest (they had announced that they would rotate taking questions in “pro-Israel, anti-Israel and neutral” order).

One questioner took issue with a pro-Israel questioner’s characterization of Arabs fleeing of their own accord in 1948, urged by invading Arab armies to get out of the way so they would later be able to return after the Jews were expelled. Why, he belittled the previous questioner, nobody believes that anymore and he hadn’t heard anyone seriously make that argument for 20 years.

Then he apparently hadn’t heard about George Deet, an Israeli diplomat in Norway, whose speech I read the next day and linked to in that week’s e-news (if you missed it, Google him and read the speech).

His family fled from Jaffa in 1948, urged by Arab leaders. Upon arriving as refugees in Lebanon, they decided to return to Jaffa and build lives for themselves instead of being mired in refugee status.

HE ONCE MADE INSTANT PUDDING ALL BY HIMSELF, HID HALF OF IT IN A LAUNDRY HAMPER AND THEN PROCLAIMED HIMSELF “A BIG BOY.” C H I L D R E N A M A Z E U S E V E R Y D AY and at Children’s of Alabama we want to see every child grow up and live to their fullest potential. That’s why we recruit, train and retain the most inquiring minds, the most skilled hands and the most compassionate hearts in pediatric medicine.

1600 7TH AVENUE SOUTH BIRMINGHAM, AL 35233 (205) 638-9100 ChildrensAL.org

Deet called upon the Palestinians to give up the “victimhood” narrative that paralyzes and morally corrupts them, which consigns them to misery.

You know, the narrative presented at the UAB forum.

After an evening hearing about those supposedly-monsterous Israeli soldiers, I interviewed one the next morning — Josh Colman, a Lone Soldier in the IDF from New Orleans. His words showed just how hackneyed the assertions of the previous evening were.

Colman spoke of his extreme pride in putting on the IDF uniform, and about having to counter the deplorable misinformation that those who oppose Israel put out about him and his fellow soldiers.

You’ll find more of his thoughts in this issue.

Then late in the afternoon, the Alabama-Israel Task Force and Birmingham International Center held a forum at Innovation Depot about business opportunities with Israel.

The event was pretty much all business — any mention of conflict was fleeting and peripheral. There was mention of Israel’s defense technology, and that during the Gaza conflict of this past summer Israeli business was not hurt or affected in the least. If anything, one speaker noted, the absence of businesspeople called up to military service forced companies to be even more nimble and responsive.

All of this was within 24 hours. On an individual level, it demonstrated the need to stay well-informed about what is truly happening there (and sadly, relying on much of the superficial mainstream media is a bad idea). On an institutional level, it showed the need to forge ahead with Israel activities that have nothing to do with conflict, building allies through normal interactions.

Sure, those in the fever swamps of anti-Israel agitation will try to have their fun and aren’t going away. They need to be answered and their silliness exposed.

We need to take a cue from Israelis who are great at shaking off the conflicts and forging ahead to build the best, most inclusive society possible, even in the midst of existential conflicts.

Larry Brook EDITOR/PUBLISHER SouthernJewishLife_COA_HeadlineAd.indd 1

44 Southern Jewish Life • December 2014

9/8/14 1:50 PM

EDITOR@SJLMAG.COM

simchas Richman Reinauer of Lake Charles was appointed to the Louisiana Real Estate Commission as an at-large member by Governor Bobby Jindal. He is vice president and property manager at Reinauer Real Estate.

On Oct. 2, Nathan Rickoff was posthumously recognized as the Martin C. Glasser Kiwanian of the Year by the Pensacola Kiwanis Club. This award is presented annually to the club member whose support of club activities both internally and externally helps to promote the Kiwanis mission of “Serving the Children of the World” in the local area. Rickoff, who died in July, was a member of Kiwanis for 64 years. Also installed at the annual meeting were Joel Levin, incoming Kiwanis president, and Chuck Lisner, Kiwanis board member.

Time for a great Chanukah gift

Lila Pinksfeld, daughter of Princess and The YWCA of Alexandria-Pineville held George Cohen, Lake Charles, was named re- its “Decades of Women” luncheon on Nov. 13 gional director of the American Jewish Com- at Alexandria Convention Hall. Among the mittee’s Seattle office. women being honored was Rabbi Judy Caplan Paul Aaron, the Ray Loper Endowed Chair Ginsburgh. Six women, one from each decade in Environmental Geology at the University of of age from the 20s to the 70s, were honored Alabama, was awarded a Lady Davis Fellowship for “community excellence and achievement,” at Hebrew University. He is teaching a graduate nominated by the community and selected by seminar at Hebrew University through January. the YWCA board.

Mountain Brook Shopping Center 205.871.9093

NOBODY HAS MORE CHANUKAH FOR LESS BIRMINGHAM 5287 Highway 280 • 205-995-9440 1615 Montgomery Hwy • 205-824-0750 1608 Montclair Road • 205-957-2111 HUNTSVILLE Valley Bend Shopping Ctr • 256-650-0707 Westside Center • 256-971-0111 MOBILE 300 E Azalea Road • 251-342-0003 MOBILE (SPANISH FORT) 10200 Eastern Shore Blvd.

251-626-1617

MONTGOMERY 2759 Eastern Blvd. • 334-409-0901

SLIDELL 61119 Airport Road • 985-781-7273

BATON ROUGE, LA 9681 Airline Hwy • 225-927-1020 7054 Siegan Lane • 225-296-5522

KENNER 3424 Williams Blvd • 504-443-7622

ELMWOOD Elmwood Shopping Ctr • 504-733-7599

METAIRIE 3009 Veterans Mem. • 504-831-9944

HARVEY 1600 Westbank Expwy. • 504-362-8008

GULFPORT, MS 15224 Crossroads Pkwy 228-539-4476

MANDEVILLE 3371 Hwy 190 • 985-626-5950

FT. WALTON, FL 99 Eglin Pkwy • 850-243-2075

December 2014 • Southern Jewish Life 45

Ace your Chanukah gift to your favorite tennis enthusiast Newly published!

Profiles of dozens of well-known and lesserknown Jewish tennis players from around the world

Now Available in Bookstores, on Amazon or the SJL Bookshelf

simchas Two added to Judah Touro Society On Oct. 11, Harris Hyman III and Salvador Caputto were honored as the 2014 Judah Touro Society Award winners by Touro Infirmary.

Named for the 19th century philanthropist and founder of Touro Infirmary, the Judah Touro Society is composed of benefactors whose generosity and dedication to the values and mission of Touro Infirmary place them among the hospital’s strongest and most committed supporters. Voted upon by former recipients, the award is given annually to individuals who have made outstanding contributions to the welfare of Touro Infirmary.

Hyman was appointed to Touro’s medical staff in 1961 and served as medical staff president from 1977 to 1980. While Chief of Gastroenterology he developed and started the Endoscopy Unit at Touro and performed the first gastroscopy. He was the Silver Scope Physician of the Year in 1967, an inaugural member of the Judah Touro Society, and was a member of the Touro Governing Board.

Photos by Mike Palumbo Hyman’s family has a long relationship Haris Hyman III and with Touro dating back to the late 1800s. His Salvador Caputto great-grandfather, Henry Newman, was involved in the 1890s, and his father and grandfather were board members of Touro.

Hyman has also served as president of Jewish Family Service of Greater New Orleans and on the board of the Jewish Endowment Foundation, and is currently a clinical professor of medicine at Tulane.

Caputto currently serves as the chair of the Continuing Medical Education Committee and is a practicing physician with Crescent City Physicians, in the Hematology/Oncology Division. Caputto joined Touro in the Department of Surgery, Division of General Surgery in 1981.

Among the many in attendance at Mardi Gras World applauding them were their spouses, Barbara Hyman and Luz Caputto; Louisiana Children’s Medical Center Health CEO Greg Feirn; and from Touro Infirmary, President and CEO Jim Montgomery and spouse Donna, Touro Infirmary Governing Board Chairman Hugh W. Long and wife Susan L. Krinsky, Touro Infirmary Foundation Director Shon Baker, and former Governing Board Chairwoman Ruth Kullman with Larry.

The 2014 gala chairs were Adrian Cohn and Shira Glazer, with Sammie Wolf and Matthew Rosenthal. Also in attendance were Clay Smith, Rabbi Edward Paul Cohn, Richard and Flo Schornstein, Jon Brouk, 2004 JTS honoree Jane Bories, 2013 honoree Margaret Epstein with Joe, former board chairman and 2010 honoree Paul Rosenblum with Edie, 2002 honoree George R. Cary Jr., and 2009 honoree Cathy Kahn.

The gala after-party, titled “L’Dor V’Dor,” took place in Mardi Gras World’s Mansion Room and featured music from the Panorama Jazz Band and Mississippi Rail Co.

Greene, Markstein honored at Smart Party The Women’s Fund of Greater Birmingham held its third annual Smart Party on Oct. 16 at Iron City, honoring “10 of Birmingham’s smartest women,” including two in the Jewish community, Susan Greene and Ellen Markstein. Proceeds from the event go to the Women’s Fund programs that help women move beyond poverty.

Greene is the executive director of the Norma Livingston Ovarian Cancer Foundation. Before that, she volunteered extensively in the Jewish 46 Southern Jewish Life • December 2014

simchas Community as campaign chair and president of the Birmingham Jewish Federation, and has served on the board of Temple Beth-El, the N.E. Miles Jewish Day School, the Levite Jewish Community Center and the Birmingham Jewish Foundation. She was also the Development Director for the N.E. Miles Jewish Day School.

Markstein is co-founder and managing director at Markstein, an 11-year-old strategic communications agency that was ranked Alabama’s 2nd largest public relations agency by Business Alabama in 2014. She has provided counsel to clients ranging from blue chip pharmaceutical companies to technology start-ups on international and domestic programs related to Markstein’s four practice areas: Marketing and Public Relations, Digital Influence, Corporate Strategy and Public Affairs.

Lisa Engel, the current president of the Birmingham Jewish Foundation, is on the board of the Women’s Fund.

Where you are the Rock Star!

WorkPlay’s unique vibe will make your event the talk of the town.

We can host anything — “just because” parties, birthdays, charity events, silent auctions, fundraisers, weddings, wedding receptions, Bar/Bat Mitzvahs, corporate events, meetings, luncheons, dinners, art shows…

Wexler receives Compassionate Physician Award from Touro Touro Infirmary physician advisor Nathan Wexler received the Murrel H. Kaplan Compassionate Physician Award on Oct. 22.

The Kaplan Award is an annual honor recognizing a Touro Infirmary medical staff member for values important to Kaplan during his 50year practice: compassion, empathy, respect for the patient as a whole person, and genuine care for the patient’s welfare.

Wexler has been a member Nathan Wexler with Touro Infirmary of the Touro staff for over President and CEO James T. Montgomery 40 years. Kaplan’s son, Jay Kaplan, presented the award in his father’s memory before a crowd of Touro medical staff, leadership, family and friends.

Touro Infirmary Foundation Director Shon Baker said, “Touro Infirmary’s mission is dedicated to providing compassionate healthcare of the highest quality to the people it serves. Dr. Wexler continues this mission as both a physician and administrator and serves as a wonderful model of kindness and compassion for the entire Touro community.”

Wexler graduated from Tulane University and attended medical school at Louisiana State University. After an internship at Touro Infirmary, Wexler joined the Air Force, where he achieved the rank of captain.

After completing residency programs at LSU and Tulane, Wexler joined Touro in private practice from 1974 to 2001 and is currently a Touro Physician Advisor. During his Touro tenure, Wexler has been chief of Urology, a member of the Medical Staff Executive Committee, chairman of the Bylaws Committee, chairman of the Special Care Units Committee and member of the Medical Advisory Committee.

Outside of Touro, Wexler is a former board member of Touro Synagogue and is currently a reader and board member at WRBH Reading Radio for the blind and print disabled. WRBH is the only full-time reading service on the FM dial in the country and one of only three in the world.

For Our Upcoming Concerts Calendar, Visit www.workplay.com events@workplay.com • (205) 879-4773 500 23rd Street South • Birmingham

New Location Open in Birmingham 5479 Hwy. 280

Across from Lee Branch

205-874-9607

Hoover 4741 Chace Circle 205-982-8477 Vestavia Hills 700 Montgomery Hwy 205-979-6827 Montgomery 2920 Zelda Rd. 334-277-0802 Columbus, Ga. 2528 Weems Road 706-322-4517 6am-2pm Mon-Fri 7am-2:30pm Sat-Sun

December 2014 • Southern Jewish Life 47

simchas: b’nai mitzvah Ella Lucinda Rockoff, daughter of Susan and Stuart Rockoff, at Beth Israel, Jackson, on Sept.

13.

Samuel Miller Banks, at Temple B’nai Sholom, Huntsville, on Sept. 13.

Simon Brickman, son of Caroline and Robert Brickman, at Temple Sinai, New Orleans, on Sept. 13.

Esther Feinstein, at Ahavas Chesed, Mobile, on Sept. 13.

Jacob Kipp, son of Naomi and Alan Kipp, at Temple Beth-El, Birmingham, on Sept. 13.

Josh Scherer, son of Lauren and Rich Scherer, at Temple Emanu-El, Birmingham, on Sept. 13.

Hanah Mari Bloom, daughter of Akiko and Al Bloom, at Temple Beth Or, Montgomery, on Sept. 20.

Isabelle Shroyer, daughter of Lori and Lyle Shroyer, at Temple Emanu-El, Birmingham, on Sept. 20.

Julian Box, son of Robin Goldblum and Kent Box; and Max Perlstein, son of Patricia Kissinger-Perlstein and Michael Perlstein, at Temple Sinai, New Orleans, on Sept. 20.

William Goldenberg, son of Doris and Lee Goldenberg, at Temple Emanu-El, Birmingham, on Sept. 27.

Joshua Nemet, son of Jennifer and Gerry Nemet, at Temple Emanu-El, Birmingham, on Oct. 11.

Emma Meyer, daughter of Hope and James Meyer, at Temple Sinai, New Orleans, on Oct. 11.

Emily Bebenek and Alex Bebenek, children of Lisa and Paul Bebenek, at Temple Emanu-El, Birmingham, on Oct. 18 Nola Manning Timmins, daughter of Cheryl Timmins, at Touro Syagogue, New Orleans, on Oct. 18.

Benjamin Zimmerman, at Temple Beth El, Pensacola, on Oct. 18.

Sarah Bronson Webster, at Ahavas Chesed, Mobile, on Oct. 18.

Lester Seigel was presented the Thomas Smith Award for Excellence at the Alabama Choral Directors Association convention during the summer. Nominees for the award must have been in choral music for at least 25 years, providing leadership in the choral arts.

Seigel is Director of Choral Activities and the Joseph Hugh Thomas Professor of Music at Birmingham-Southern College, where he conducts the BSC Concert Choir, Hilltop Singers vocal ensemble and BSC Opera. He is also Choirmaster and Organist at Canterbury United Methodist Church and founder of the Sursum Corda choral group.

48 Southern Jewish Life • December 2014

Garrett Brainis, son of Amy and David Brainis, at B’nai Zion, Shreveport, on Oct. 24.

Matthew Ethan Winfield, son of Lori and Howard Winfield, at Temple Emanu-El, Tuscaloosa, on Oct. 25.

Eli Benjamin Kanner, son of Robin and Allan Kanner, at Touro Synagogue, New Orleans, on Oct. 25.

Nathan Ruha, son of Jessica and Jason Ruha, at Temple Emanu-El, Birmingham, on Oct. 25.

Aaron Weil, son of Allison and Ben Weil, at Temple Emanu-El, Birmingham, on Nov. 1.

Taylor Maurine Rosen, daughter of Maurie and Lane Rosen, at B’nai Zion, Shreveport, on Nov. 8.

Jonah Grayson Weinberger, son of Lora Asburry and James Weinberger, at Temple B’nai Sholom, Huntsville, on Nov. 8.

Max Moses, son of Leann and Ted Moses, at Temple Sinai, New Orleans, on Nov. 8.

Eric Geoffrey Cordover, son of Jennifer and Andrew Cordover, at Temple Emanu-El, Birmingham, on Nov. 8.

Joshua Feist, at Temple Shalom, Lafayette, on Nov. 8.

Anna Rebecca Zipes, daughter of Lori and Paul Zipes, at B’nai Israel, Panama City, on Nov. 8. Rabbi Matt Dreffen of the Institute for Southern Jewish Life officiated.

Dylan Strasser, at Beth Israel, Meridian, on Nov. 8.

Joshua Bloomston, son of Alana and Barry Bloomston, at Temple Emanu-El, Birmingham, on Nov. 15.

Emily Anderson and Abigail Anderson, daughters of Lorna and Todd Anderson, at Temple Emanu-El, Dothan, on Nov. 21.

Eviana Linder, daughter of Lauren Linder and Pat Langnau, at Temple Beth El, Pensacola, on Nov. 22.

Kayla Tarr, daughter of Sherri and Matt Tarr, New Orleans, was named the Patrick Taylor Science and Technology High School Student of the Year.

community JEF Annual Event At the Jewish Endowment Foundation of Louisiana’s Annual Event on Oct. 26, several Jewish community members were honored for their leadership and generosity. Karen and Eddie Soll received the Tzedakah Award, JEF’s highest honor, for their commitment to justice, righteousness, and doing for others. Andi Lestelle received the David, Helen and Ruth Young Family Award for Professional Excellence, given for demonstrating extraordinary concern for the needs of the New Orleans Jewish community through wise counsel.

The JFNA Endowment Achievement Award, which is given to a lay leader whose leadership, vision and dedication have helped in the successful growth of endowment funds, was presented to Federation president Morton Katz.

Ellie Wainer was honored for her professional accomplishments with the Helen A. Mervis Jewish Community Professional Award.

A special presentation was made to Immediate Past President Carol Wise in recognition of her outstanding service and commitment to JEF.

Above, Karen and Eddie Soll receiving the Tzedakah Award, presented by Maury Herman, Upper left, JFNA Endowment Achievement Award honoree Morton Katz. Left, Ellie Wainer, Helen A. Mervis Jewish Community Professional Award recipient

Above, Sandy Levy makes a special presentation to Immediate Past President Carol Wise.

Below, JEF President Richard Cahn presenting the Young Award to JEF Vice President Andi Lestelle

Giving You Our Best Every Month It’s What We Do. Southern Jewish Life

NOLA

December 2014 • Southern Jewish Life 49

Rock of Ages 12.13.14 Patron Event: 6 pm Auctions, Raffles, Party 7pm at Hurwitz Mintz 1751 Airline Drive

Honoring Cathy and Morris Bart Live and silent auctions!

Open Bar! Food from Local Restaurants!

Dance the night away Latin Musician Javier Gutierrez and DJ Jim Hanzo (504)885-2600 for more information.

Happy Chanukah to my friends and supporters in the Jewish community

community Chanukah event returns to Riverwalk Chanukah returns to the Riverwalk this year.

After two years at the Lakeview Mall in Metairie, the Chabad-sponsored event returns to Spanish Plaza at Riverwalk on Dec. 16 at 5:30 p.m.

There will be a menorah lighting at 6:15 p.m., a hit latke bar, a Dreidel House kids activity center and face painting. Yoel Sharabi will also be in concert.

Parking will be available at the Hilton lot for $5. Rain location will be the Riverwalk indoor food court.

Chabad will also hold its Celebrity Chef Latke Cookoff for Young Jewish Professionals on Dec. 18 at 7 p.m. at the Uptown Chabad.

The annual Mobile Menorah Parade is scheduled for Dec. 20 at 7:30 p.m., and the Israeli Chanukah party will be on Dec. 21, time to be announced.

Chabad is also offering its olive press workshop at Temple Sinai in Lake Charles, B’nai Israel in Baton Rouge, Stepping Stones Montessori, Touro Synagogue, Chabad Hebrew School and Woldenberg Village.

On Dec. 19, Touro Synagogue will have a Chanukah family dinner of fried chicken and latkes, featuring Matthew Noel, the Magic Yoyo. The dinner, which follows the 6 p.m. service, is $15 for adults, $10 for children and $54 for families.

Forum addresses Zionism, anti-Semitism On Dec. 10 there will be a panel on “Z to A: Zionism, Anti-Semitism and Anti-Judaism,” 7 p.m. at Shir Chadash. The program is co-sponsored

by New Orleans Hadassah and Shir Chadash Sisterhood.

Rabbi Ethan Linden will speak about anti-Judaism. Erga Atad, the Schusterman Visiting Israeli Professor in the Jewish Studies Department at Tulane University, will speak about discussions in Israel between the right and left regarding Zionism. Allison Padilla-Goodman, regional director of the Anti-Defamation League, will speak about anti-Semitism in New Orleans and around the world. Barbara Pailet will moderate the discussion.

R. Reid Falconer

St. Tammany Parish Council District 4

MACHINE & CUTTING TOOLS Bringing The World Of Machine And Cutting Tool Technology To You

1-800-462-9519 H Quality Sales and Service Since 1917 H

50 Southern Jewish Life • December 2014

Marc Morial, former mayor of New Orleans and current president of the National Urban League, spoke at Temple Sinai on Oct. 17 and presented Rabbi Edward Paul Cohn with the Urban League’s Living Legend Award. This award honors those who most exemplify the ideals of the Urban League movement. “Rabbi Cohn was the driving force behind the revival of the City Human Relations Commission,” said Morial. He “demonstrated an enthusiastic willingness to work alongside me while I was mayor on very important issues of police reform, public safety, and community inclusion, and continues doing so today.”

NOLA

nosh

jewish deep south: bagels, biscuits, beignets

KOSHER

The Historic Schapiro’s Comeback: Sederade Schapiro’s wine, with the motto, “The Wine You Can Almost Cut with a Knife,” hasn’t been in production for several years now, but the founder’s great-grandson has a plan to bring the family name back to the beverage aisle.

In 1899 in the Lower East Side of New York City, Sam Schapiro added a sweet kosher wine using concord grapes from upstate to his restaurant’s offerings. The restaurant wasn’t a complete success, but the wine absolutely was, and its production and storage eventually took up an entire city block. A series of cellars ran under the store, where the wine was sold and tours were given.

During prohibition, Schapiro was given permission by the city to produce their ‘sacramental’ wine, and it’s been written that a line at the back door of the store came about when customers were looking for the higher alcohol content wine they were more accustomed to.

Recently, Daniel Schapiro, who lives in south Florida and has a background in beverage development, started a Kickstarter campaign for the latest concept for the Schapiro name, Sederade: non-alcoholic fruit-flavored drinks that are kosher for Passover, all-natural, gluten-free and vegan. He set a goal of $10,000 by Dec. 5 for the Kickstarter campaign.

The idea for Sederade may have started as a joke, but Daniel Schapiro thought he could make a go of it. With the name trademarked and using his expertise and contacts, over the course of a year he was able to get samples made and do focus groups to fine-tune the flavors.

The drinks are 100 calories per bottle, in black cherry, orange and lemonade flavor. They will be made in New York, at the Organic Food Incubator.

To find the Kickstarter campaign, search for sederade at kickstarter.com.

COOKBOOK HOLIDAY SPIRITS

Hanukkah, Chanukah Beer

Specifically for the holiday, Schmaltz Brewing Company has developed a new dark ale brewed with — appropriately — eight malts and eight hops. Hanukkah, Chanukah Pass the Beer is available at better beverage outlets.

NOLA

SOUTHERN HOLIDAYS The University of North Carolina Press has published 10 Savor the South cookbooks, and this edition by Debbie Moose includes 50 recipes for 17 holidays. Chipotle Brisket and Sweet Potato Lakes fill the Hanukkah section, and Passover is made up of Matzoh Balls, Cajun Style and Sephardic Matzoh Lasagna. Savannah’s Shalom Y’all Jewish Food Festival is represented as the author returns with recipes for blintzes, chopped liver, and one of the most popular dishes at the festival, ShoLoMein. There’s plenty to make it into the holiday repertoire from other dates as well. After all, we believe in a good Brandy Milk Punch year round.

December 2014 • Southern Jewish Life 51

nosh Proud to be part of the New Orleans Jewish Community

Richard Fiske’s Martini Bar and Restaurant

Nobody does local coverage like

301 Dauphine St inside the Chateau LeMoyne Hotel New Orleans 504/586.0972 richardfiskes.com

Southern Jewish Life Coffee and Coriander-Crusted Rack of Lamb For the Lamb: 1 teaspoon olive oil 1 teaspoon butter substitute 1 whole New Zealand rack of lamb trimmed of fat 1 teaspoon fresh-ground, toasted coriander 1 teaspoon fresh-ground coffee

For the Pinot Noir Buerre Rouge: ½ cup pinot noir 1 tablespoon Worcestershire Sauce ½ teaspoon fresh chopped thyme 1 pinch kosher salt 1 pinch pepper 1 cup soft butter substitute ½ teaspoon finely chopped parsley

Mix all lamb spices together and rub on the lamb. Sear the lamb in oil and butter for three minutes, flip and then o bake at 400 for 7 to 10 minutes. Let rest for three minutes before slicing.

For the pinot noir buerre rouge, mix all the ingredients together except butter substitute and parsley. Bring to a boil, then reduce by 75 percent before adding those two ingredients.

KOSHER-STYLE RECIPE

fruit martinis that are unique and popular. They offer drink and food specials for Happy Hour from 4 to 7 p.m.

He describes Chef Gile’s cuisine as “continental fine dining” and a glance at the menu shows some Cajun/Creole, British,

by Lee J. Green French, Polish as well as other European James Bond and just about anyone who likes influences from Gile’s travels. a good martini, coupled with continental fine Though the restaurant gained a reputation dining and musical entertainment seven nights over the years for its scallops dishes, on the a week, can go to Richard Fiske’s Martini Bar current menu many exquisite kosher-style and Restaurant in New Orleans’ French Quarter. item choices are available — their special In September, the restaurant changed its name Drum entrée, Eggplant Pierogies, Duck Confit, from the Bombay Club to honor the memory Shepherd’s Pie, steaks (all butchered in-house) as of the original founder and beloved personality, well as the Coffee and Coriander-spiced Rack of and moved to a nicer, larger space in the Lamb, a unique twist on a Jewish holiday staple.

Chateau LeMoyne Hotel on Dauphine Street.

“Everything on the menu is made fresh by “We still have all of the same staff (including Chef that day,” said Gross, adding that Richard famous chef Nick Gile) and mostly the same Fiske’s changes its menu for each season but most menu, we’ve just got the new name along with of the entrees and items are available year-round. the new space that allows us more room to The new location has allowed the restaurant host special celebrations… plus some updated to expand what it can do for hosting Simchas. furniture,” said Richard Fiske’s Martini Bar and They hosted the King’s Party for Krewe de Jieux Restaurant Owner Andrew Gross, an involved and some weekends hosts as many as three or member of the local Jewish community and four wedding receptions and rehearsal dinners. president of Krewe De Jieux.

“We have several indoor banquet halls” with Bombay Club opened 20 years ago and for the the largest that can seat about 100, “as well as a past 15 years running has earned the prestigious beautiful courtyard ideal for outdoor events,” New Orleans Best Martini award. Gross said said Gross. “Of course Chef can customize a Richard Fiske’s offers more than 100 martinis, a menu to fit any occasion.” few of which are original recipes.

Richard Fiske’s stays open until midnight “We invented the Cool as a Cucumber Friday and Saturday nights in part to offer a martini and offer everything from the post-show dining option for those who go to the conventional gin martini to the Meat and nearby Saenger Theatre. Other nights they are Potatoes martini, which includes vodka and open until 10 p.m. They also have a Sunday Jazz Andouille sausage,” said Gross, also listing some Brunch from 11:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.

Richard Fiske’s Martini Bar and Restaurant

52 Southern Jewish Life • December 2014

NOLA

Continued from page 54

representing how long it takes to find two rabbis who agree about something. To best symbolize the molassesque pace at which these things occur, Shavuot is represented by the tortoise.

The Tisha B’Av mascot is the pronghorn — the often forgotten second-fastest land animal, for the often forgotten second-most significant fast day.

Long before Saint Valentine shot cupid’s arrow and saw its shadow, giving young couples six more weeks of winter to keep each other warm, Judaism had Tu B’Av. This Jewish date for dating has had a recent revitalization, and in anticipation of the 20th century advent of the Teddy Bear, is symbolized by the bear.

Of course, the holiest day of the year is Shabbat — every Shabbat. What animal best represents the day of rest? The greatest of all sleepers: the cat.

Several rabbis contended that the greatest of all sleepers are, in fact, congregants during sermons. However, to this day, most rabbis agree that, with few exceptions, congregants are not animals — even though several sound like animals while snoring.

Doug Brook is a writer in Silicon Valley who believes every Jewish holiday is better with Animal from “The Muppet Show.” For past columns, other writings, and more, visit http://brookwrite.com/.

For exclusive online content, follow facebook. com/the.beholders.eye.

More Southern

Life online at www.sjlmag.com!

Check our Website for updates between issues

www.bryansubaru.com

NOLA

December 2014 • Southern Jewish Life 53

For babies, Bar/Bat Mitzvahs, Sweet Sixteens, Weddings, seniors and more, Face to Face Photography is your local photography studio for all of life’s photo memories.

This is Your Chai

Mascots unmasked

donna matherne

event photography - weddings - bar/bat mitzvahs - sweet sixteens - debutante balls

the beholder’s eye • doug brook

school photography senior photography professional portraiture modeling portfolios and more!

Call today for pricing and more information!

a. 9029 jefferson hwy suite h, river ridge la 70123 p. 504.738.3008 e. f2ffoto@bellsouth.net w. face-to-face-photography.com

18

In the beginning, there was a Easter has an egg-laying bunny. Thanksgiving has a turkey, a turducken, question. a group of Lions losing, and — if you wake up early enough — a large, It was a warm, sunny, summer helium-inflated hedgehog. Christmas has reindeer, jolly Saint Nick, and Shabbat morning, when an Geoffrey the Toys R Us giraffe. unsuspecting woman was What do the Jewish holidays have? Services. approached in a synagogue parking lot, and asked the question that But wait. For the first — and last — time ever, the long lost, recently would launch a thousand quips. discovered Mishnah tractate Bava Gump reveals the animal mascots “Do you think you know four rabbis who would prefer people sleeping designated for the Jewish holidays. through the sermon, rather than talking during it?” She said, “probably.”

On Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year, everyone eats apples and From that came the headline, “Rabbis prefer sleeping during sermon.” honey. Therefore, the mascot is a bee. Some rabbis suggested basing it on In that first fateful column, 18 years ago, her innocuous “probably” the apples instead, but nobody wanted to wear an earthworm costume. was the basis of the scientific assertion that four out of five rabbis prefer The official mascot of Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement, is the sleeping during a sermon. From where came the fifth rabbi? Simple: cheetah. Of course, the biggest fast day of the year should be represented When was the last time five rabbis agreed on anything? Thus, four out by the fastest land animal. But also, because Yom Kippur is a day for of five. cheaters to repent.

The journalistic integrity and investigative skills demonstrated there Sukkot is honored by the firefly, because they are the least annoying could have easily led to a prestigious career today in covering the Middle — and nicest to look at — of the flying pests that visit these outdoor East for most major news outlets. But instead, this column labored every huts during dinner. (The Talmud makes no mention of this choice being month (except for the ones that were missed), and sometimes twice influenced, or decided, by Israelites drinking Firefly sweet tea vodka in monthly, to bring almost several laughs to its almost several readers. the desert.)

It rode the sound waves of The Southern Shofar though, despite The eighth day of Sukkot, Shemini Atzeret, honors its separation from contractual stipulation, never rode in the seat behind a Southern the rest of Sukkot and its eightness with the ritual octopus. Despite some Chauffeur. It then spoke in its own Deep South Jewish Voice, before beliefs, Shemini Atzeret was not the first time an octopus was thrown settling in to Southern Jewish Life‘s hind end — unless you read the on the ice to celebrate a Detroit Red Wings magazine right to left, which does not make most of the news today make home victory. more, or less, sense.

Simchat Torah, the celebration of the WHY YES, Over the years, this column presented the wisdom of the recentlyTorah, is symbolized with a cow, whose hide VIRGINIA, THERE discovered, long-lost Mishnah tractate Bava Gump which, among other was the original parchment upon which ARE MASCOTS things, teaches how shrimp can be kosher.

Moses wrote the Torah.

ASSOCIATED WITH The column retold the legendary adventures of the beloved young Much like the mascot of the football DIFFERENT JEWISH kabbalist, Harry Plotzer, and his adventures with The Sanhedrin’s Stone, team perennially playing in bowl games HOLIDAYS… through The Chamber of Shpielkis, and with The Prisoner of Ashkenaz this time of year like no other, Chanukah is and The Gabbai of Fire, though not yet getting to The Deadly Challahs. represented by the elephant. Though, while it Occasionally there were guests, such as the recurring one due to a hareseems like Alabama has played in every postseason since ancient times, brained rabbinical typo, Ask the Rabbit, as well as Gurb the Caveman there’s another reason for the elephant — go read the complete Chanukah Rabbi, and the occasional special report from The Oynion. story.

Explored were calendar anomalies and events, real and surreal, such as While you do, you’ll learn why the official tool of Chanukah is the Thanksnukah, Mezuzapalooza, Kol Nidre the 13th, Purover, Chrisnukah, hammer. After one kids party, you’ll learn why the official Chanukah Yomtober, and the pirated Rosh Hashaarrrnah and Day of Aarrrtonement. drink for parents is the screwdriver.

The chorus of “Bubbe’s Been Run Over By a Reindeer” was sung, the Tu B’shvat, the Jewish Arbor Day, appeals to many tree animals. But the Rebbe at the Bat got his bell rung, and the Grinch who hated Jew-ville mascot is the wisest tree denizen of all, the one who can recite the entire had his hatred unstrung.

Torah while standing on one branch — the owl. (You don’t understand In case it wasn’t apparent, this is the 18th anniversary of this space the recitation because you don’t speak owl.) not being for rent. In honor of this Chai anniversary, it would seem Purim’s mascot is the rabbit. What would springtime be without the appropriate to toast it with some chai tea.

Esther Bunny?

Except that chai tea has baffled rabbinic scholars for hundreds of So many animals are involved in Passover, in so many ways. Should its seconds. (“Should we have seconds? Is one cup enough? Let’s drink on mascot be the lamb, of shankbone and Chad Gadya fame? Or the chicken, it.”) After all, chai is not pronounced like Chai, though a cup of chai in case it came before the seder plate’s egg? Or perhaps some recompense makes it easier to pronounce Chai. And some say that chai has properties to the plague-related frog, locust, or cattle that was undeservedly inflicted that help to extend one’s life, one’s Chai. with disease? None of these.

And what is chai tea’s relationship to Thai Iced Tea? Is there such a Passover’s symbol is the gefilte fish – because there is no better use for thing as Thai Chai Tea? If there is, are its effects best described as tai chi all that horseradish. for the digestive system?

It took the Israelites 40 years to cross the desert. Shavuot — beyond These are questions to ponder during this High Holy Day season, commemorating the giving of the Torah — is the festival of weeks, though perhaps not late afternoon on Yom Kippur. This column

continued continued on on theprevious previous page 54 Southern Jewish Life • December 2014

NOLA

Covering The Gulf South... Whatever Your Real Estate Needs, You’ll Find It Here Within The LATTER & BLUM Family of Companies!

Since 1916

Behind the LATTER & BLUM, CJ BROWN, VAN EATON & ROMERO & NOLES FRYE signs, you’ll find a well-established, professional real estate firm that offers a wide range of residential, commercial, leasing, property management, mortgage and insurance services. You’ll also find knowledgeable people who take pride in their work and will exceed your expectations of service!

1-800-428-8294

www.Latter-Blum.com

NOLA

December 2014 • Southern Jewish Life 55