With this issue, we are rebooting the print edition, as part of an overall reworking of SJL. We are changing our print distribution, adding a new venue for even more stories, and enhancing our weekly e-news.
Two major factors have influenced this. First, we have far more stories than pages, so we are launching a Substack, a website where writers publish and are supported by readers. Much of the additional content on the Substack will be free, and we encourage everyone to sign up for it, but much of it will also be premium content — by subscription (there is also a founder’s level, which will include a signed prepublication copy of one of our two forthcoming books — one is a collection of greatest SJL stories from the last 35 years, the other is based on our series of articles about the Southern Jewish community during the civil rights battles). Some premium pieces will be features or in-depth news, there will also be a new weekly editorial, and access to the long-delayed community guide. Please visit southernjewishlife.substack.com to check it out and subscribe (you can also scan the QR code to the upper right on this page).
We are also asking everyone who wants to receive the print magazine to let us know. The second factor is that printing and postage have gone up 65 percent in three years, in a shrinking print advertising world (and postal delivery has been a challenge as well). That makes it impossible to send free to everyone in our coverage area, and it is increasingly difficult to get updated mailing lists from communities. Many of our colleagues’ publications have shrunk, and the Atlanta Jewish Times recently introduced a “voluntary subscription” for its free distribution.
Those in Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana and the Florida panhandle who want to keep receiving the magazine can email us at subscribe@sjlmag.com, mail us, or automatically stay on the list by subscribing, free or paid, to our new Substack. Outside the coverage area, the print magazine is still available by paid subscription, whether standalone or
continued on page 14
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interesting bits & can’t miss events
As Danny Cohn heads to St. Louis, Newcomb named interim Federation CEO With
BJF assistance, her family immigrated to Birmingham when she was 6 years old
A lot of Jewish organizations expend a great deal of effort in developing young leadership. The Birmingham Jewish Federation did so with an unexpected path.
Florina Newcomb was named interim CEO of the Federation, succeeding Danny Cohn, who left in March to become CEO of the Federation in St. Louis. In her opening remarks to the community as CEO, Newcomb said “We are a vibrant, cohesive, and supportive community, and I look forward to leading during this transition as we search for the next CEO.”
Her Birmingham journey to interim CEO started when she was six and arrived in the city as one of the first New Americans after the fall of the former Soviet Union, as the Federation and affiliated agencies geared up to resettle dozens of families.
Born in Kishinev, Moldova, Newcomb left with her family in 1989 when she was five years old. “This community embraced us, and it shaped who I am today,” she said. “Growing up here, I experienced firsthand the power of a strong, vibrant Jewish community, and it is now my privilege to give back to the organization that played such a crucial role in my own journey.”
She attended the N.E. Miles Jewish Day School and graduated from Birmingham-Southern College. In 2015 she joined the Federation, with roles that included overseeing the Annual Campaign, Women’s Philanthropy, PJ Library, the Israel-World Jewry Bureau and community programming. She had most recently been assistant executive director.
In 2023, she returned to Moldova on a Federation mission, meeting with refugees from the war in Ukraine.
She said the Federation and Foundation “are in an incredibly strong
position — both financially and programmatically — because of the leaders who came before me and because of our generous and committed donors. Their unwavering support ensures that we can continue to serve and strengthen our Jewish community today and for generations to come.
Farewell service
Cohn arrived in Birmingham in 2020 on the seventh of Adar, and he noted that his final weekly message to the community was on that same day, five years later. It is also the day of Moses’ birth, and the day he died 120 years later.
Danny Cohn speaks at his farewell Shabbat at Temple Emanu-El on March 7
He arrived as the world was shutting down as the Covid pandemic was beginning, making it difficult to meet the community. His five years would also include navigating the community through a war in Ukraine that hit close to home for many in the community, and then October 7 and its aftermath in Israel.
On Feb. 17, Jews Against Gassing held a press conference on the steps of Touro Synagogue in New Orleans to protest the state’s new death penalty procedure, which involves the use of nitrogen gas. Full story available on our SubStack site.
Screenshot
“Together, we have written a meaningful chapter in the enduring story of Jewish Birmingham, one rooted in our shared values, history, and vision for the future,” Cohn said.
A farewell Shabbat for Cohn was held at Temple Emanu-El on March 7, and Rabbi Adam Wright said his departure “hurts,” and when he heard Cohn was leaving he “knew we were going to have a void in Jewish Birmingham.”
He said “I know your tenure here was only five years, but in five years you have accomplished decades of work for Jewish Birmingham.”
Newcomb said that Cohn led the Federation “with passion, with vision, and with an absolutely unshakeable belief that more is always more.”
Though he arrived during a pandemic, “you hit the ground running. You had big ideas, boundless energy and a talent for making every meeting feel like a Ted Talk, a stand-up routine and a Broadway audition all at the same time.”
She said Cohn “cared deeply for this community, you have shown up for us in hard times, you’ve fought for our future and you have done it all with enthusiasm, dedication and passion.”
Cohn admitted that it was only then that the reality of his leaving started to set in. “There are a lot of people in this community who have made me successful, and I stand on the back of giants,” he said.
He concluded with “I leave with profound gratitude for each of you who has enriched this journey.”
Wright and Cantor Robby Wittner then blessed Cohn’s family in front of the ark, with the Debbie Friedman song “Lechi Lach,” a song for forthcoming lifechanging travels.
Rawl resigns as New Orleans JCC CEO
The New Orleans Jewish Community Center announced that CEO Michael Rawl has resigned for personal reasons. Rebecca Friedman, who became the JCC board president on Feb. 2, will become the interim CEO and has agreed to a one year commitment.
Robyn Nowak, who had been the executive vice president and now becomes the JCC president, made the announcement on behalf of the board.
Rawl arrived in New Orleans in November 2023, having been the executive director of the JCC in Buffalo. “We are grateful to Mike for his contributions to the JCC,” Nowak said, “including the introduction of innovative new offerings in the performing and culinary arts and expanded programming for adults and families across education, fitness, and more.”
A New Orleans native, Friedman graduated from Yale and worked for McKinsey and Company before returning to New Orleans, where she has been a freelance journalist. She has been on the JCC board since 2014, and has also been active with the New Orleans Museum of Art. Nowak said Friedman “is deeply invested in this community and in maintaining the standard of excellence which has always been the hallmark of the JCC.”
Friedman said she is “excited to join the dedicated team here at the New Orleans JCC and honored to contribute to our work in a new capacity. There are so many special things happening at the J, and I look forward to sharing them with our community.”
JCC plans Jazz Fest events
The New Orleans Jewish Community Center will have special Jazz Fest events at the Uptown location, with Mike Dillon’s New Orleans Percussion Consortium, featuring Jason Marsalis, Stanton Moore, and Earl Harvin on April 26. On May 3, The Astral Project will be featured.
Dillon is a world-renowned percussionist, composer and “punk jazz provocateur” known for his fusion of jazz, punk and experimental sounds. A longtime New Orleans fixture before relocating to Kansas City, he founded the New Orleans Punk Rock Percussion Consortium, a bold project that blends raw energy with intricate percussion arrangements.
The powerful 15-piece percussion ensemble will perform original compositions, offering an electrifying, high-energy experience.
The Astral Project began in 1978 when Tony Dagradi gathered the brightest, most energetic young players in New Orleans to shape the modern jazz scene, with its unique brand of cutting-edge improvisation and near-telepathic interplay over deep New Orleans grooves.
The show is for all ages. Tickets are $20. Doors will open at 7 p.m. for the 8 p.m. performances.
New JLI explores “colorful profiles”
The new Jewish Learning Institute class will feature short stories of extraordinary and unexpected characters from the past 2,000 years of Jewish history.
“Colorful Profiles” includes 12 profiles, including courageous converts to Judaism, influential Jews who integrated Judaism into their actions, unsung heroines in Jewish history, and heroes and hostages including four rabbis captured by pirates in the 10th century, Germany’s foremost Jewish leader held for ransom, and thousands of East European Jews in Ottoman slave markets.
In Baton Rouge, the course will meet for four Mondays starting April 28, in person at 11 a.m. at the main library at Goodwood, or at 6 p.m. on Zoom. Registration is $98, there is a 10 percent discount for returning students and couples.
At Chabad in Metairie, the course will be offered on Tuesdays at 10:30 a.m. or 7:30 p.m., from April 29 to May 20. The first class is a free standalone event, and brunch or dinner will be served. Registration is $89, with a 20 percent discount for couples or returning students. Online participation is also available.
Chabad Uptown in New Orleans will offer the class on Wednesdays at 7 p.m. from May 7 to 28, or Thursdays at 10 a.m. from May 8 to 29. Registration is $89, with a 10 percent discount for couples or groups, or for returning students. Birmingham details have not been announced as of press time.
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DeLucca to head Manheim Gates Preschool
Gates of Prayer in Metairie announced that Mary DeLucca has been appointed as director of the Louise Hayem Manheim Gates Preschool. DeLucca had been serving as interim director.
Dan Forman, president of the congregation, said she “demonstrated exceptional leadership and an unwavering commitment to our school community. She worked tirelessly to earn the trust and confidence of parents, teachers, and students – fostering a warm, collaborative, and supportive environment.”
He added, “We are confident that under her direction, Gates Preschool will continue to thrive and provide an exceptional educational experience for all of our students.”
“Only Miracles” rescheduled for May
Last April, an innovative theatrical experience about the Holocaust made its debut at Touro Synagogue in New Orleans. On May 12, the show returns to Touro at 6:30 p.m., a production that was postponed by the January snowstorm.
Dodd Loomis wrote and produced “Only Miracles,” based on the story of Rose Rosenkranz, his wife’s mother. Rosenkranz was a “miracle baby” born in a labor camp in 1944.
The program will explore the use of theater as a transformative educational tool, focusing on Holocaust remembrance and sharing personal narratives.
The program is co-sponsored by the Stuart and Suzanne Grant Center for the American Jewish Experience at Tulane. Tickets are available online.
BR holding program with camp liberator
The Jewish Federation of Greater Baton Rouge and the Unified Jewish Congregation of Baton Rouge will hold a Holocaust Remembrance program on the 80th anniversary of liberation, featuring concentration camp liberator Bill Kongable, May 4 at 2 p.m. at UJCBR.
Kongable is a veteran of the 89th Infantry Division, a member of the 354th Infantry Regiment Anti-Tank Company, part of General George Patton’s 3rd Army. He was involved in liberating Ohrdurf on April 4, 1945, the first camp liberated by U.S. troops. That was the camp where Gen. Dwight Eisenhower made sure everything was recorded, to refute future deniers.
Kongable, who lives in the Houston area, did not speak about his experiences until he was in his 70s. A reception will follow the program.
Melamed to explain Middle East
The Cathy and Morris Bart Jewish Cultural Arts Series at the New Orleans Jewish Community Center presents “Understanding the Middle East” with Avi Melamed, May 15 at 6:30 p.m., Uptown.
Melamed is founder and CEO of Inside the Middle East Intelligence Perspectives, and has been on an extensive tour of campuses and JCCs around the country. A former Israeli intelligence official and senior advisor on Arab affairs, Melamed undertook high-risk assignments and predicted key events in the region.
He was appointed a Fellow of Intelligence and Middle East Affairs at the Eisenhower Institute in Washington, where he developed an experiential education course for undergraduates that later expanded to Capitol Hill, providing apolitical, non-partisan, contextualized education about the Middle East and developing critical thinking and media literacy skills. The course then developed into ITME.
The talk is free and open to the community, registration is available on the JCC website.
Yosef Eliyah of West Monroe has accepted the part time rabbinic position at B’nai Israel in Monroe. He has spent the last several years as an educator in Israel.
Birmingham’s Temple Beth-El will have a Civil Rights Experience Shabbat on May 2 and 3, with a musical Kabbalat Shabbat at 5:45 p.m. on May 2, followed by a Springtime dinner. Reservations for the dinner are $25, $10 for under 12. On May 3, the docents and committee members will be honored at the 9:30 a.m. service, with guest speaker Rev. Thomas Wilder of Bethel Baptist Church. A luncheon will follow, and a special exhibit from the Alabama African American Civil Rights Heritage Sites Consortium will be displayed throughout the weekend.
The newly-formed Mensch Club at Sea Shul on 30A will have its first Golf Tournament on June 1 at Legacy Golf Club in Panama City Beach. Check-in will be at 8 a.m., followed by tee time at 9 a.m.
Hebrew Union Congregation in Greenville reports that this year’s Corned Beef Luncheon in March resulted in the sale of over 1,600 meals.
Birmingham’s Temple Emanu-El will have its Mitzvah Day on May 4 at 9:30 a.m., with numerous projects around the community, including cleaning around the neighborhood or at the Black Warrior River, or volunteering at the Jones Valley Teaching Farm or Grace Klein.
The next Torah on Tap with Rabbi Steven Henkin of Birmingham’s Temple Beth-El will be on May 7 at 7 p.m. at Good People Brewing, with the Beth-El Men’s Club. First round is complimentary.
Birmingham’s Levite Jewish Community Center has instituted a weekly Havdalah Hike with Terri Heiman, Sundays at 9:45 a.m.
The next Honor Our Parents Shabbat lunch and service at the Levite Jewish Community Center in Birmingham will be on May 9 at 11 a.m., with Rabbi Steven Henkin. Reserve by May 7.
You Belong in Birmingham will have a Nosh and Learn, with a Mitzvah Project, on May 8 at 5:30 p.m. at the Levite Jewish Community Center. The program will be about caring for elders, followed by a hands-on service project to pack visit bags for the Collat Jewish Family Services Friendly Visitors program.
The Alabama Holocaust Education Center and Temple Beth-El Movie Talk Village will host “A Pocketful of Miracles: A Tale of Two Siblings,” a film screening and in-person talkback with filmmaker Aviva Kempner, May 4 at 2 p.m. at Birmingham’s Beth-El. She will discuss her mother’s and uncle’s journey of survival and the lives they built in America. Kempner previously directed films about Gertrude Berg, Hank Greenberg, Julius Rosenwald and Moe Berg. Tickets are $10.
Birmingham’s N.E. Miles Jewish Day School will have its annual meeting and board installation on May 22 at 6 p.m.
The Men’s Club at Birmingham’s Temple Beth-El will have a group outing to the Birmingham Stallions game against San Antonio on May 4 at 3 p.m. Tickets are $20 through the group.
Hadassah Birmingham will celebrate its 2025-27 Directory with a special performance by local storyteller Dolores Hydock, “Loveman’s: In Her Own Fashion.” Hydock will tell the stories of Ninette Griffith, the former fashion coordinator for Loveman’s Department Store in downtown Birmingham during the 1950s and 1960s. The anecdotes are based on interviews Hydock did with Griffith over 18 months, when Griffith was in her 90s. The event will also honor the team behind the chapter’s iconic directory. The event will be on May 13 from 1 to 3 p.m. at the O’Neal Library in Crestline. Tickets start at $36.
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Alabama bill calls for “Judeo-Christian” prayer in public school classrooms
Districts would lose funding for noncompliance
The Alabama legislature is considering a bill that would mandate “Judeo-Christian” prayer in the state’s public school classrooms — with a 25 percent reduction in state education funding as an enforcement mechanism for districts that fail to comply.
House Bill 231, introduced by Rep. Reed Ingram, a Pike Road Republican, fashioned the bill as a constitutional amendment, requiring a threefifths vote by the two legislative chambers, followed by a referendum on the next statewide ballot.
The bill was sent to the House Committee on State Government on Feb. 6, clearing the committee on Feb. 12 and being placed on the calendar. As of mid-April, it has been reported out of committee and placed on the House calendar.
The bill apparently builds on a 2022 law that mandates the Pledge of Allegiance at the beginning of each day, but had no penalties for non-compliance. Ingram’s bill calls for “requiring that The Pledge of Allegiance be conducted to the United States flag and a prayer consistent with Judeo-Christian values be conducted at the commencement of each school day in each public K-12 school.”
The bill does not define or specify any examples of a “prayer representative of the Judeo-Christian values upon which the United States was founded.”
Rabbi Scott Looper of Temple Beth Or in Montgomery said it won’t be easy to come up with examples. “The term ‘Judeo-Christian’ is not representative of Judaism, nor of common Jewish usage. It describes a Christian faith idea in which the Jewish bible (Old Testament for some) is mined for its ethical dictates. However, the Jewish interpretation of each ethical command is not present in Christian interpretation.”
He added that “any suggestion that Judeo-Christian prayer is neutral for Jews and Christians is incorrect,” not to mention how it ignores the concerns of Muslim, Hindu, Buddhist, atheist and other communities.
At its most basic, if a prayer is done in Jesus’ name, it instantly excludes the Jewish community.
Rep. Phil Ensler of Montgomery, the only Jewish member of the Alabama Legislature, says he has “deep concerns” over the constitutionality of the bill, as it excludes students and teachers who are not Christian.
“Our public schools should be inclusive environments in which people of all faiths are welcome,” Ensler said. “As a proud Jew and former Teach for America corps member in Montgomery Public Schools, I would have felt excluded every day if such a prayer was required when I was in the classroom.”
He added that the punitive aspect of the bill would “have devastating consequences” on school systems, and the legislature should focus on ways to support all students.
The Wisconsin-based Freedom From Religion Foundation has vowed
Israel’s president praises Auburn Coach Bruce Pearl for advocating for the hostages at the NCAA Tournament
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Effort in Congress to honor Roddie Edmonds, who saved Jewish U.S. soldiers from the Nazis in World War II
Disturbed’s David Draiman defends Israel in the music industry
community
to challenge the law in court, if it passes. “This bill is an outrageous attempt to impose religion on captive public school students even as young as 5,” said FFRF co-president Annie Laurie Gaylor. “Public schools exist to educate, not to evangelize. Religious instruction should be left to the home, where it belongs.”
During the committee hearing, Ingram said there would be no penalty for any student who refused to participate, just for schools that refuse to follow what would then be the state law. The bill says this requires schools “to give all students the opportunity to voluntarily recite” the Pledge and the prayer.
Violations would be reported to the State Department of Education, and the State Superintendent would be required to withhold 25 percent of state funding “to the offending local board of education” if there is “a continued pattern of intentional refusal to comply.”
Violations after that would be subject to further funding cuts by the Legislature. Ingram did not respond to requests for comment from this publication.
Prayer will be “contagious”
In an interview with the Alabama Citizens Action Program’s Priority Talk, Ingram said when he was a student, prayer and the Pledge were “as common as going to lunch.”
“A lot of things were better back then,” he said. “You had a lot better attendance at church, a lot better attendance in the military… We need to get back to those morals, back to the basics.”
He envisions schools having it led over the intercom or through in-classroom volunteers. In the interview, he said “the prayer is based on Christianity. We don’t want it to get out of line, this is what this country was built on. The kids don’t have to participate, they just can’t be interruptive.”
He admitted that not every student would want to participate, citing how Hyundai and other international companies are in his district, and “you can’t make that kid say the Pledge when they are from another country.”
Even in terms of prayer, “as long as the kid is silent, they don’t have to participate,” he said. “But I think it will be contagious once we start doing it, I think they will want to do it. And when they go home, their momma and daddy, maybe they will want to say the Grace before they eat… hey mom, let’s take me to church, I kind of like this, these people there are praying, are good people.”
Ingram added that doing this as a constitutional amendment would help in any court challenge, as he could point to it as being supported by a vast majority of the state.
During the interview, he did not use the term “Judeo-Christian.”
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Billboard fighting antisemitism defaced
A billboard in New Orleans condemning antisemitism was defaced, to the applause of local anti-Israel groups.
The billboard on the 1800 block of North Rampart was purchased by JewBelong, a national nonprofit known for its pink billboards promoting Jewish inclusiveness and combating antisemitism, often with pointed messages. This billboard read “Standing against antisemitism is standing with America.”
The billboard, which went up around March 3, was defaced within a couple days, with matching pink paint obscuring the JewBelong and October 7 Coalition logos, and changing the text to read “Stand against antisemitism and stand with Palestine.”
A banner was hung underneath the billboard, reading “Never again
“Our billboard mentioned neither Israel nor Palestine. Defacing a message fighting Jewish hate highlights the antisemitism rampant among us,” says JewBelong co-founder Archie Gottesman. “Vandalism is vile and cowardly, and counterproductive to the goal of peace.”
He added that a police report had been filed, and the vinyl would be
On Instagram, the organization noted that “the irony is not lost on us that the words ‘JewBelong’ were erased, and a banner hung that declares ‘Never again for anyone.’ If you have to erase the Jews to make your point — you’re displaying textbook antisemitism.”
The statement referenced the banner by saying “the Nazis attempted to annihilate all of Europe’s Jews. This is not what is happening between Israel and the Palestinians, and saying it is, is a false and slanderous attack on Jews, Jewish memory, and Jewish identity. One can disagree with Israeli policy, but saying Israel is perpetrating a ‘second Holocaust’ against the Palestinians is not only factually wrong, it is antisemitic.”
The Palestinian Youth Movement New Orleans posted on Instagram that “If you’ve seen these billboards put up by Zionist orgs around town, it looks like one of them has gotten a much-needed upgrade. Never again means never again for ANYONE.”
The local Jewish Voice for Peace chapter also celebrated the vandalism, posting online that “someone fixed the billboard.”
One commenter, who referred to the Oct. 7 massacre on their own Instagram as “indigenous prisoners broke down walls and escaped to collectively scream loud enough so the entire world could finally hear them,” offered to buy lunch for whoever did the vandalism.
Many commenters also claimed that the billboard’s placement was a provocation, as there is an Islamic center two blocks away.
Anti-Israel establishments
The Palestinian Youth Movement also recently launched a “No Appetite for Apartheid” campaign, with stickers identifying grocery stores and restaurants that “deshelve” and boycott products and companies “that are complicit in the colonial occupation of Palestine.”
The stickers have a silhouette of the entire area from the Jordan River to the Mediterranean.
Thus far, 14 establishments have signed on, mainly in the Westbank, Arabi and Meraux. Also participating are Lowpoint coffee shop in St. Claude, Espiritu Mexican restaurant in the Warehouse District, Mona’s Café in Mid-City and Kased’s International Halal Market in Kenner.
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Mississippi-Israel Legislative Caucus launched
On Feb. 25, Mississippi joined the growing number of states to have an Israel Legislative Caucus.
Consul General Anat Sultan-Dadon, from Israel’s consulate to the Southeast in Atlanta, visited the state to announce the launch, and make numerous other visits.
“This bipartisan and bicameral caucus will serve as a platform to further strengthen our strong relations,” Sultan-Dadon said.
The bipartisan caucus will be headed by Jeremy England, a Vancleave Republican, and Heidelberg Democrat Juan Barnett in the Senate, and by Republican Hank Zuber of Ocean Springs and Democrat Otis Anthony of Indianola in the House.
England said he was invited by Reeves to meet Sultan-Dadon during a previous visit a couple years ago and they became “fast friends.” The idea of the caucus was mentioned a month ago, and “I agreed immediately.” England said the caucus “will strengthen the already-close bond between Mississippi and Israel, and I look forward to working with the Consul General to maintain a long-lasting and mutually-beneficial relationship between Mississippi and Israel.”
According to the legislative resolution, the caucus has a goal of “strengthening political, economic, and cultural bonds (that) will be of mutual benefit to both regions, resulting in advancing trade relations, facilitating educational exchanges, and promoting cultural understanding to maintain
and strengthen the overall relationship between Mississippi and Israel.”
Specific areas mentioned at the launch were artificial intelligence, supercomputing and cyber security, as well as medical research into autism and other areas. A cybersecurity center is planned for Keesler Air Force Base in Biloxi, and an AI hub is being built near the coast.
During the Phil Bryant administration, there were several Mississippi trade missions to Israel, and a 2015 Israel Meets Mississippi business summit in Jackson. There was also a homeland security conference in Biloxi in 2018, where most of the exhibitors were from Israel.
In 2023, Mississippi and Israel had about $47 million in trade. In 2023
community
and 2024, the Israeli Navy received two landing vessels built in the Pascagoula Shipyard. Captain Guy Barak, Israel’s Naval Attache to the United States, told Southern Jewish Life that because of the war in Gaza and against Hezbollah in Lebanon, both ships were quickly put into service.
A couple Palestinian protestors showed up for the caucus announcement. Sultan-Dadon noted that to truly benefit the Palestinians, those protestors should be standing with Israel to rid Gaza of Hamas.
During her visit, Sultan-Dadon also met with Governor Tate Reeves and Lieutenant Governor Delbert Hosemann.
She also held a question and answer session at the Jackson Police Department headquarters, moderated by Police Chief Joseph Wade, and spoke at the annual meeting of the Mississippi Federation of Republican Women.
She also spoke to Jackson’s Jewish community at Beth Israel on Feb. 23, in a conversation with Marla Harb.
Sultan-Dadon also paid a return visit to the Mississippi Civil Rights Museum, this time for a tour focusing on Black History Month and key moments in the civil rights battles.
She also spoke at Tougaloo College, a historically Black Christian college. There was a roundtable discussion with the executive cabinet, and another with student leaders. She also toured the Tougaloo Archives.
Tougaloo is where Ernst Borinski taught for 35 years, and he is buried on campus. A German-Jewish sociologist, he escaped Germany as the Holocaust was beginning, and was one of many Jewish scholars who wound up at Southern Black colleges after being frozen out from northern campuses.
Borinski organized integrated gatherings despite Mississippi’s strict segregation laws, and actively worked to undermine Jim Crow.
Caucuses in the region
The Alabama-Israel Legislative Caucus was launched in May 2024. Georgia established a caucus in 2022, and Kentucky formed one in 2023.
In Tennessee, House leaders authorized a caucus led by two House members who recently visited Israel, and a formal kickoff is expected in March. After pushback, the Democrat co-chair, Rep. Torrey Harris of Memphis, reportedly asked for the establishment of a Palestine caucus as well, but that was rejected by House leadership on Feb. 27.
Nashville’s WSMV-TV reported that Tennessee House Speaker Cameron Sexton, a Crossville Republican, said “I am not going to approve of a caucus for the state of Palestine which provides safe harbor to terrorists and rejoices in the destruction and death of Israelis and Americans.”
Rep. Scott Cepicky of Culleoka is the Republican co-chair for the planned caucus.
The other states in the Atlanta consulate’s region are North Carolina and South Carolina. In 2023, an attempt to establish a Jewish caucus in the North Carolina Democratic Party was finally successful in early December after initially being rejected.
>> Editor
with the Substack.
continued from page 3
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GiveNOLA Day on May 6
GiveNOLA Day, a 24-hour online fundraiser coordinated by the Greater New Orleans Foundation for non-profits in the greater New Orleans area, returns on May 6, with 16 local Jewish agencies participating.
The 18 participating organizations in the Jewish community last year raised around $208,185, down significantly from the $332,600 raised the previous year. The decline was entirely from an emphasis shift by the Jewish Federation of Greater New Orleans, which had made a major push in previous years. Last year, the day of giving came not long after its Wonderful Wednesday phone-a-thon.
The overall fundraiser was down slightly, raising $7.369 million through 50,074 donations to 1,004 organizations. The previous year came in at $7.78 million.
This year’s participants include Avodah, Gates of Prayer, Temple Sinai, Hadassah, Jewish Children’s Regional Service, Jewish Community Center, Jewish Community Day School, Jewish Family Service of Greater New Orleans, Jewish Federation of Greater New Orleans, Museum of the Southern Jewish Experience, National Council of Jewish Women, Northshore Jewish Congregation, Shir Chadash, Slater Torah Academy, Touro Synagogue, Tulane Hillel, Beth Israel and the Jewish Community Mikvah.
Last year, the Federation was tops with $43,820, 25th overall. Jewish Community Day School was 40th with $34,988. The Museum of the Southern Jewish Experience was 44th overall, with $34.052.
While the main campaign is from 12 a.m. to 11:59 p.m. on May 6, gifts can also be pre-scheduled from April 29 to May 5.
Sponsors and donors contribute to the GiveNOLA Lagniappe Fund, which is divided proportionately among the participating non-profits based on how much they raise.
There are also hourly Rock Around the Clock bonuses of $500 all day, and any organization with a donation during that hour is eligible for the random drawing — though none of the Jewish participants have received one in the last four years. Pre-scheduled gifts are not counted toward Rock Around the Clock.
The organizations with the most money raised gets a $7,500 bonus in the large, medium and small organization categories. Similar awards go to groups with the most individual donors. Bonuses are given through fifth place.
Also in Shreveport
In Shreveport, the North Louisiana Jewish Federation is participating in the Community Foundation of North Louisiana’s Give For Good on May 6. Donations can be made online from April 22 to May 6.
“Most Fortunate” exhibit opens at Museum of the Southern Jewish Experience
For decades, the Jewish Orphans’ Home was a unique place in New Orleans, and since its closure, the successor organization, Jewish Children’s Regional Service, has continued to help Jewish children in need.
Two years ago, Marlene Trestman finished a history of the Home, “Most Fortunate Unfortunates: The Jewish Orphans’ Home of New Orleans.” At an author program at the Museum of the Southern Jewish Experience, Executive Director Kenneth Hoffman asked her if it would be possible for her to help them do an exhibit based on the book.
On April 9, she returned to the museum to speak again, this time for the opening of that special exhibition, which will run through January 25.
The exhibition explores this unique institution and the legacy it left for thousands of Jews across the South.
Trestman opened her remarks by reciting the Shehecheyanu, which she said was how Rabbi James Gutheim opened the dedication of the Home in 1856 after a yellow fever epidemic. Gutheim, who served Gates of Mercy, had survived yellow fever in 1853 and dedicated himself to looking after the needy in the local Jewish community.
The Home served a seven-state region corresponding to B’nai B’rith District 7, and by the time it closed in 1946, over 1,600 children had found a home there.
At the dedication, Trestman said, the Shehecheyanu “took on heightened meaning — not only had the Jews of New Orleans united to erect the first purpose-built Jewish orphanage in the nation, but those who attended the dedication had lived to see it, and the only thing that stood between each of them and admitting their own children into the home
Where do babies
was surviving the often fatal illness.”
Considered “the pride of every Southern Israelite” while in operation, the Jewish Orphans’ Home was a uniquely nourishing place, defying usual stereotypes and assumptions about institutional homes for children while making a positive impression about Jews in and beyond New Orleans. Residents went on to become successful businesspersons, social and civic leaders, homemakers, military veterans, a police captain, a pioneer
in radiology, and a prolific advocate before the United States Supreme
Trestman has been assembling biographies of the Home’s alumni and
She said the founders were driven by how the Torah has 36 different references to taking care of widows and orphans, and there was also a desire to show non-Jews how the Jewish community cared for its own.
Trestman’s decade of archival research on the Home and interviews with more than 100 residents and descendants were born from a personal connection. “The Jewish Orphans’ Home was deemed ‘a magnificent monument of Hebrew benevolence’,” said Trestman. “As a recipient of aid myself from the Home’s successor, the Jewish Children’s Regional Service, I am excited to share this chapter of the Southern Jewish experience
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Before writing “Most Fortunate Unfortunates,” Trestman wrote the biography of Bessie Margolin, “Fair Labor Lawyer,” the aforementioned advocate before the U.S. Supreme Court. Margolin had been left at the Home at age 4 in 1913, and was raised there for 12 years, with her sister and brother. Writing that biography sparked Trestman’s curiosity about the Home and its other alumni, leading to her second book.
The Special Exhibition contains sections on the formation of the Home, daily and religious life of its residents, its progressive “Golden City” self-governing system, the establishment of Isidore Newman School for the orphans and paying pupils from the community, and profiles of many of the Home’s leaders and residents, composed by Trestman.
Several seldom-seen artifacts from the Home are on display, including an original, handwritten registration book dating back to 1855, a letter from President Theodore Roosevelt, and a plaque honoring Home alumni who served during World War II. Also highlighted are rare personal items owned by residents of the Home, such as photo albums, wedding china, a childhood locket, and the cardboard suitcase that one young man carried when he left the Home in 1934.
While most residents considered themselves relatively fortunate, there were “warts” that are explored in the book and exhibition, including race relations and sexual misconduct allegations.
A large selection of artifacts came from JCRS, with other items from Newman School and descendants of Home residents.
Numerous descendants were in attendance at the April 9 program, including Cliff Kern, the great-great-grandson of Babette Schwartz, who had become a widow at age 35 in 1853 and entered the home with her five children when the doors opened.
But even before that, Esther Carillion and her sister Rachel were accepted as beneficiaries in May 1855 in Mandeville. Esther’s great-great-granddaughters, Rose Gilbert and Betty Porter, were also at the opening reception.
Curator Michael Jacobs said the exhibit “is a story of care, education, tradition and resilience, and one that shaped generations of Southern Jewish life.”
Bonnie Lustig, director of client service at JCRS, who has been with the agency since 2001, said “it is good to see the Home getting the recognition it deserves.” Speaking of Ned Goldberg, the longtime JCRS executive director who died in December 2023, she added, “Ned is here in spirit.”
Trestman said “Ned may be the only person who loved knowing about the history of the home and its descendants more than I do.”
Throughout the exhibit’s run at the museum, MSJE will present a full slate of public programs centered around the exhibition, including presentations by Trestman, a reunion for Home alumni and descendants, and other special events.
This exhibition is made possible in part with support from the New Orleans Recreation and Culture Fund, and the Louisiana Endowment for the Humanities, the state affiliate of the National Endowment for the Humanities.
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community New Barons announcer follows in father’s footsteps
By Lee J. Green
The Birmingham Barons new Director of Broadcasting Doug Greenwald knew from when he was very young that he wanted to follow in the footsteps of his father Hank, who became a Giant in the baseball broadcasting world.
“My dad started as a broadcaster with the San Francisco Giants in 1979,” when Doug was five years old, said Greenwald. “Candlestick Park was my home away from home. I was around some of the greats, including the legendary (Birmingham native Hall of Famer) Willie Mays, and I knew I wanted to be involved with baseball.”
“I at first dreamed of being a player, but when I realized that wasn’t going to happen, I turned my focus to broadcasting,” he said.
Greenwald said his dad was from Detroit and his legal name was Hal. But he wanted to be called Hank to honor the great Jewish Tigers’ slugger Hank Greenberg. Another Jewish legend and Hall of Famer, Al Rosen, who played for the Cleveland Indians in the 1940s/50s, was the general manager of the Giants for several years when Hank Greenwald started working for the club.
“I emulated my dad and studied what he did,” said Greenwald. “I would bring a tape recorder with me to the ballpark or when watching on TV and do my own broadcasts as a kid. A lot of people think I sound like my dad. He had a good sense of humor and a way of connecting with people on a personal level.”
Doug Greenwald would go on to earn a bachelor’s degree in Broadcasting from Boston University. He would earn some opportunities with single A minor league clubs in Burlington, Shreveport and Modesto before “getting established” in Fresno.
When Greenwald arrived there in 2004, the Fresno Grizzlies were the Triple-A affiliate for the Giants. In 2005, he won Minor League Baseball Broadcaster of the Year and was one step below his father’s beloved ballclub.
Doug’s father retired in 1996, but came back a few years later to do some limited packages for the Oakland A’s.
Then in 2009 while broadcasting for the Grizzlies, Doug Greenwald’s dream of following in his father’s footsteps with the Giants came into fruition.
“One of the Giants’ announcers was doing the national ESPN broadcast and the other’s wife had just had a baby,” he said. “So I was doing my first major league game with the team I grew up loving and I was doing it solo. To say that I was nervous would be an understatement. But I remembered what my dad taught me, and because I had been doing Fresno games for a few years, I knew several of the players on the Giants at that time,” he said. “It was like a dream!” Greenwald would go on to fill in for several more games over the years for the MLB club.
After the Covid year of 2020, in which the minor league baseball season was suspended, Fresno came back in 2021 but went down to single-A. The club struggled, and after a couple years, Greenwald sought out other opportunities.
He had met longtime Birmingham Barons Director of Broadcasting Curt Bloom 20 years ago. In 2014, Fresno had just played a series with the Round Rock Express, outside of Austin. Greenwald had some time off for the MLB All-Star break, and the Rickwood Classic was about to be played at Birmingham’s historic park.
“I contacted CB and said I wanted to come visit. Rickwood Field is the oldest ballpark in the nation and there is so much rich history there,” he said. “It wasn’t too far from Austin so I asked him if I could visit and call one batter. CB let me call a whole inning and was just the most gracious guy I’ve ever met. Calling that inning at Rickwood Field was one of the biggest thrills of my career!”
In 2019, Greenwald came back to Birmingham during the Grizzlies’ All-Star Break to visit Regions Field for the first time.
When a mutual friend in minor league baseball broadcasting mentioned that Bloom was about to announce his retirement, Greenwald texted him. Before he could hit send on the text, he got a call from Bloom.
“He and (Barons GM) Jonathan Nelson wanted a veteran broadcaster and CB put in a great word for me,” said Greenwald. “I’m beyond grateful for the opportunity to follow a legend of broadcasting and a friend.”
The Barons new director of broadcasting said he has enjoyed adjusting to the Magic City and learning more about Birmingham’s rich baseball history, tracing back to the 1885 Birmingham Coal Barons, and in 1921, the Negro League Birmingham Black Barons.
In 1948, while still in high school, Willie Mays started his Black Barons career. Another Birmingham-Giants connection, Jim Davenport, was pitching for the San Francisco Giants when Hank Greenwald started there in 1979.
“It’s just incredible, all of these connections,” he said. “That’s the great thing about this game and minor league baseball. You get to call games for and become friends with players, some of whom became major league legends and hall of famers. I love coming to the ballpark every day.”
Registration open for ISJL’s Southern and Jewish conference
The Goldring/Woldenberg Institute of Southern Jewish Life in Jackson will be celebrating its 25th anniversary at this year’s Southern and Jewish conference, which will be held June 22 to 24 at the Sheraton in Flowood. Last year, the Institute broadened the conference focus from educators to anyone with an interest in Southern Judaism. Previously, the conference focused on the standardized Judaic school curriculum the Institute had developed, with participating congregations sending educators.
This year’s conference theme is “To Creativity and Beyond,” exploring how creativity can shape Southern Jewish communities. The conference is for clergy, lay leaders, educators, parents, synagogue board members,
folks who chose Judaism and/or are raising Jewish children. It draws from across the Institute’s 13-state coverage area for networking opportunities, and attracts national educators as speakers and session leaders.
The conference will have themed learning blocks for a variety of audiences. This year’s themes center on creativity with communication, community building, spirituality, programming , and “beyond the building.” There will also be a “choose your challenge” with a selection of challenging topics.
Featured presenters include the Jewish sketch comedy troupe The Bible Players, and Rabbi Leah Berkowitz, an author and educator whose books include “Queen Vashti’s Comfy Pants” and “The World Needs Beautiful Things.”
In addition to the conference, there are new optional opportunities to explore Jackson before and after the conference. On June 21, there will be a Shabbat experience with Rabbi Salem Pearce, the Institute’s director of spirituality. That will be followed by a trip to the Museum of Mississippi History. On the afternoon of June 24, there will be a visit to the Mississippi Civil Rights Museum with Institute staff.
There is no registration fee for the conference, just the cost of room and meals. Early registration for the conference by April 1 is $500 double occupancy, $600 for a single, and additional night options on June 20, 21 or 24 are $162 each.
community
The next Southern Jewish Voices oral history program at Birmingham’s Levite Jewish Community Center will be on May 21 with Isa Dorsky. The program will be at noon, and a free lunch is available.
The Temple Emanu-El Brotherhood and Sisterhood in Birmingham will have a BBQ Shabbat on May 16, with a dinner catered by Carlile’s following the 6 p.m. service. Reservations are $20 for adults, $12 for ages 12 to 18, free for under 12. All are welcome, paid reservations required.
The final installment of the Alabama Holocaust Education Center’s Taking Action Together will feature Stanlee Stahl, executive vice president of The Jewish Foundation for the Righteous and a renowned Holocaust educator. In “The Mirror of Goodness,” Stahl will address the rescue of Jews by non-Jews during the Holocaust. She will provide some general history on the Holocaust and will then address rescue within the historiography of the Holocaust. The online presentation will be on May 14 at 1 p.m., registration is available on the AHEC website.
New Orleans Area
The Adult Social Club at the New Orleans Jewish Community Center will have an event on May 10 at Evangeline Hall in Hotel St. Vincent from 5 to 7 p.m., in support of the JCC’s Early Childhood and summer camp programs. The fundraiser will be an evening of light bites and beverages, and tickets are $50.
Big Easy BBYO will have Laser Tag and Elections, May 4 from 2 to 4 p.m. at Adventure Quest. Registration is required, and is $5 per person.
The New Orleans Jewish Community Center Aloha Summer Sock Hop will be on May 10 from 7:30 to 10 p.m. Uptown, for grades 5 to 7, and is open to all. Registration is $20, $30
after May 5 and at the door. A $10 snack pass is also available.
The Jewish Federation of Greater New Orleans and New Orleans Jewish Community Center will host a private screening of “October 8,” a documentary about the sudden explosion of antisemitism in the United States, especially on campuses, immediately after the Hamas October 7 attack on Israel. The screening will be on April 29 at 7 p.m. at the AMC Elmwood. Reservations are $18, $10 for JNola and $5 for students.
This year’s Summer Union Shabbat Services schedule for Reform congregations in New Orleans has been announced. Services in June will be at Gates of Prayer in Metairie. July services will be at Touro Synagogue, and August services will be at Temple Sinai.
The Jewish Federation of Greater New Orleans is planning several trips for next year. This winter, there will be a JNOLA service mission to Israel. In Spring 2026, there will be an Israel trade mission, and a community-wide mission from July 8 to 18, 2026. There will also be a Cuba trip from Jan. 22 to 27. More information will be announced in the coming months.
Gates of Prayer in Metairie will host a Tulane alumnus for “An IDF Hero’s Homecoming,” May 7 at 7 p.m., with Friends of the IDF North Texas. The evening features Myles Rosenbloom, a St. Louis native who enlisted in the IDF three weeks after graduating from Tulane. He was a paratrooper in the 101st battalion, seeing action in Gaza, Lebanon and Syria. He was also a first responder for a recent terror attack in Tel Aviv. Registration required.
Jewish Community Day School in Metairie will have a Parents Association wine tasting, led by JCDS parent and certified wine specialist Rebeca Pinhas, on May 10 at 7 p.m.
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New Alabama Holocaust education guidelines said to be nation’s strongest
When the new social studies standards for Alabama schools are implemented in 2026, the state will have what could be the strongest set of Holocaust studies guidelines in the nation.
Dan Puckett, professor of history at Troy University and chair of the Alabama Holocaust Commission, said this has long been a priority of the commission. When he joined as a commission member in 2012, he recalls sitting in meetings at the former Birmingham Holocaust Education Center offices “and we used to talk about how we get this into the curriculum.”
Back then, “it was in vogue to get a legislative mandate” to include Holocaust education, but he remembers that Max Herzel “was so adamant, we don’t need a mandate, we need to work it another way.”
At meetings of the association of Holocaust organizations, he found that almost 30 states have some form of mandate, but there is no enforcement. If Holocaust education is mandated but not taught, “what’s the penalty? There isn’t one.”
Having it in the standards is different, because that is what teachers have to follow in the classroom.
Amy McDonald, director of education at the Alabama Holocaust Education Center in Birmingham, said “educational standards for Holocaust education ensure consistent, accurate teaching about the Holocaust’s history and establishes a foundation of knowledge that empowers students to challenge intolerance, promote human rights, and uphold the values of democracy and justice.”
The AHEC facilitates training sessions for teachers throughout the year, helping them properly incorporate Holocaust education into their lesson plan.
In 2021, the Alabama Legislature passed a resolution promoting Holocaust education and the history of antisemitism, as well as “the impact of personal responsibility, civic engagement and societal response in the context of the Holocaust.” The resolution called for including “components that ensure students learn the breadth of the history of anti-Semitism and the Holocaust” in the then-upcoming social studies revisions. The previous revisions happened in 2010.
Christian United for Israel promoted the 2021 resolution as part of an effort to combat antisemitism in a handful of states, with a local coalition that included the Alabama Holocaust Commission, the Alabama-Israel Task Force, the Jewish Community Relations Council of the Birmingham Jewish Federation, the Jewish Federation of Central Alabama and the Mobile Area Jewish Federation.
Puckett was appointed to the social studies task force, with a handful of other representatives from universities, while the rest were in the K-12 system.
In 2021, though, controversies began to swirl over critical race theo-
Holocaust survivors Max Herzel and Ilse Nathan on the floor of the Alabama House in 2019.
April 17-May 4, 2025
ry and how it affects the way civics material is taught, so the process was postponed.
In January 2024, they began working on revising the way history, geography, civics, government and economics are taught. The Department of Education sent out a notice for public comment, and they received hundreds of responses.
There were also expert reviewers that pointed out weaknesses and went over the drafts.
“We got a lot of feedback from the public on how things had been phrased and how things had been ignored,” he said. “We developed a lot on African-American history, civil rights. We worried there would be pushback, but we did it in evenhanded fashion, trying to strip out any semblance of bias.”
The committee presented its work in November, followed by another round of public comment, which was addressed before the curriculum was presented to the state Board of Education, which passed the 163-page proposal unanimously on Dec. 12.
Overall, some subjects are being spread out over additional years so they can be examined more in depth. Alabama history would go from being just fourth grade to being third through fifth grades. World history would expand from
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two years to three years, from seventh through ninth grades. U.S. history would be from grades 10 to 12.
A social studies textbook committee will meet this year, with a vote on a recommended list of textbooks anticipated in December.
For the Holocaust component specifically, Puckett said they surveyed every state’s standards. “Some were detailed, some weren’t,” and each state had their own reasons for their particular guidelines. They examined states with strong guidelines, “Florida being one of the strongest.”
Arkansas, Tennessee and Florida have Holocaust education requirements, Louisiana and Mississippi do not. In 2004, Mississippi authorized a state commission that has not been active.
Puckett said the Alabama standards were a “group effort,” and cited “the support from the Legislature, the leadership of the Board of Education, the teachers — everyone recognized the need to increase Holocaust standards.”
Blake Busbin of Auburn, social studies specialist for the Department of Education and a member of the Alabama Holocaust Commission, “was so essential and so supportive,” Puckett said. There was a transparent process with support “from the governor on down.” The governor serves as president of the Board of Education.
The standards begin in grade 5 with the Holocaust introduced in an age-appropriate way as a “major event” in World War II. It is then discussed in greater depth in ninth grade world history, and the American response is explored in 11th grade.
As an example, the AHEC cited current standards for ninth grade history, which mention the Holocaust as a consequence of World War II. The new standards have the Holocaust mentioned in four major standards and seven sub-standards.
“Social studies teachers in Alabama public schools will now be required to not just mention the Holocaust as a consequence of WWII, but will need to trace Hitler’s rise to power, describe Nazi ideology, and describe how the Nazis built on historical antisemitism, and trace the evolution of the Final Solution, to name a few.”
There is also a high school elective course of either a semester or a year that “begins with a contextualization of the origins and impact of antisemitism, then examines the rise of Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party. Course standards focus heavily on the policies and decisions in the 1930s and 1940s that led to the extermination of six million Jews and millions of others by 1945. The course culminates with the aftermath of the mass killings and exploration of the concept of
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genocide.” The course has five pages of content standards, and Puckett noted he had not seen anything that detailed in any other state’s standards.
CUFI applauded the new standards. “Any failure to educate our children about the dangers of antisemitism is tantamount to standing idly by as this scourge infects them,” said CUFI founder and Chairman Pastor John Hagee. “Proper education about world history is vital to ensuring a tolerant and righteous population. I commend the State of Alabama for their newly adopted Holocaust education standards; in Montgomery they are indeed fighting the good fight.”
“Across the country antisemitism has reached fever pitch, and the Alabama Department of Education has risen to the challenge by advancing these strong standards,” said CUFI Action Fund Chairwoman Sandra Parker. We are deeply grateful to the State Board of Education and the numerous allies with whom we worked in the Jewish and Christian communities to see this through.”
Puckett said CUFI “was incredibly supportive” during the process and was prepared to advocate, but “this went more smoothly than any of us expected.”
The AHEC stated that the work of those who developed the standards “will make a lasting impact on our students and future generations.”
Just after the standards were passed, the Anti-Defamation League issued a study stating 71 percent of Jewish parents and 37 percent of non-Jewish parents surveyed reported that their child witnessed or experienced antisemitism in K-12 classrooms or through course materials. There was a “strong correlation” between access to Holocaust and antisemitism education and the ability to recognize antisemitic incidents when they occur.
Puckett said there will be an increased role for AHEC and the Gulf Coast Center for Holocaust and Human Rights Education in Mobile in terms of teacher training. Thanks to their already-established programs, Alabama traditionally is highly represented in national and international educational forums and fellowships.
“Our challenge now is going to be teacher training – how to get the teachers to teach this in the most effective way, and this is where the legislature has to come in,” Puckett said. The state commission has an annual allocation of $100,000, and he feels the new standards should prompt an increase “especially to facilitate more teacher training,” which he said is essential to making sure teachers are equipped to spend a proper amount of time on the subject.
The funds would go to the Birmingham and Mobile groups, as “they are the ones who will be doing the teacher training,” as the state commission is not set up to do that.
Puckett said that “everybody is now energized. We’ve been working toward it, we’ve finally achieved it. Now, let’s run with it.”
Mandeville
Jewish Community Day School
(re)expanding to eighth
grade
In three years, the Jewish Community Day School in Metairie will hold its second-ever eighth grade graduation, almost 25 years after the first.
On Jan. 27, the school’s board voted unanimously to add seventh and eighth grade, providing a full Middle School experience from grades five to eight. Seventh grade will be added with the academic year starting in 2026, and the eighth grade will follow the next year, for a 2028 graduation.
“Expanding to a full middle school is an exciting next step for JCDS,” said JCDS Head of School Brad Philipson. “This growth allows us to provide a comprehensive, values-driven education that will prepare our students for high school and beyond while deepening their connection to their Jewish heritage.”
Founded as the New Orleans Jewish Day School in 1996, the school had 85 students enrolled in 2004, and celebrated its first eighth grade graduation in 2005. Then came Hurricane Katrina in August 2005, with the flooding from the levee breaks scattering the community for months. The school would not reopen until the 2006-07 academic year, and with the task of rebuilding enrollment when many former students were now integrated into their new cities and not returning to New Orleans, the school cut back to Kindergarten to fifth grade.
In 2018, the school added sixth grade, and shortly after that added the Green preschool program.
Citing the school’s continuing current momentum, Philipson said the plan for the middle school came from a strategic planning process five years ago, but two years ago is when planning started in earnest, with
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an eye toward this year. While there was “significant interest,” the numbers for the second expanded class were not there, so it was decided to postpone the expansion. With “significant startup costs,” Philipson said, “we didn’t want to start without momentum.”
The asked interested parents from the first two envisioned classes to sign a non-binding commitment form to express interest, figuring they would need at least half to make it viable. They exceeded it.
The delay also enabled the school to better plan the expansion, especially on the financial side. “Families wanted to see this wasn’t just a sketch on paper, but really seeing a commitment on the part of the school.”
Additional space is needed to house the middle school, and several options were explored. While nothing has been signed, the most likely option is space at Shir Chadash, located across the parking lot from the Goldring/ Woldenberg Jewish Community Campus. The Conservative congregation has an education wing that can be repurposed for the Day School.
JCDS Board Chair Gabe Feldman spoke to his inlaws, “school grandparents” Carole and David Gaunt of Florida, and they pledged a cornerstone gift. Susan and Howard Green, for whom the preschool is named, matched that gift, as has the Lassen Family Foundation. Lis and Hugo Kahn also are taking part, especially for work that would need to be done in adapting the space at Shir Chadash.
The Philipsons and other school administrators also made gifts, and he said all this shows the commitment to the project. He envisions the startup costs at around $500,000, and the school is already over half-way there without the campaign starting. A campaign will be announced to raise the remaining startup funds.
“The overwhelming support we’ve received for the middle school expansion, including raising significant pledges without a formal campaign, demonstrates our community’s enthusiasm and commitment to Jewish education in New Orleans,” said Feldman. “We believe this middle school expansion will be a game-changer for our families and for the broader Jewish community.”
On Jan. 22, a planned information session moved online due to the snow storm. Several current and former JCDS parents spoke passionately about the need for the additional grades.
The middle school program was developed with an emphasis on Jewish values, including Derech Eretz (ethical conduct), intellectual rigor through Sakranut (persistent inquisitiveness), and the pursuit of Tzedek (justice).
The curriculum will feature an advanced math track, Spanish language instruction, critical thinking in Judaics, and enhanced writing skills development.
There are also plans to leverage partnerships with the Alliance of Small Jewish Day Schools, which has joint trips for participating schools. They have a civil rights trip in sixth grade, Washington in seventh grade and Israel in eighth grade.
The school plans to expand its offerings in extracurricular activities, athletics, and the arts.
Philipson also said the school is working on daily transportation to the school from Uptown.
In June 2023, the school was accredited by the Independent Schools Association of the Southwest. Each additional grade will need to go through the accreditation process as it is added.
Additional developments will be announced over the next 18 months as plans are formalized.
Auburn Hillel continues to grow community
Jewish students at Auburn can count on many opportunities for involvement and plenty of support from the basketball coach of one of the top teams in college basketball.
Coach Bruce Pearl “always does a phenomenal job making the students feel welcomed and appreciated,” said Auburn Hillel Advisor Nora Patterson. “He is in every sense a champion of Hillel.”
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On Dec. 1, Hillel took part in Auburn’s annual Holiday Lighting Ceremony on Samford Lawn, where the entire campus and town community gathered for the lighting of a Christmas tree and a Chanukah menorah. Hillel had a table with dreidel games, latkes and gelt, and had a visit from Auburn’s mascot, Aubie.
Hillel President Liana Shapiro helped welcome the crowd and introduced Auburn Mayor Ron Anders.
Hillel Vice President Courtney Caplan introduced the Hillel executive board and Pearl, and gave an explanation of Chanukah. “We’d like to ask you to reflect on ways that you can shine more light into the world,” Caplan said. “Let us shine brightly together as one Auburn family.”
Pearl also spoke, noting that on many campuses, Jewish students are not able to stand before a crowd like that without being protested. He also spoke about the hostages still being held in Gaza.
Two days later, there was record attendance at the Chanukah Party hosted by the Pearl family, also including Athletic Director John Cohen and his wife.
Patterson said they estimate the Jewish student population to be 250. This year they welcomed one of their largest freshman classes of all time.
“We’re seeing an increasing population of Jewish students from out of state who come here in part knowing what a supportive, active community we have here,” said Patterson, adding that they have some new Jewish faculty who have also become active in the community. Last October, faculty, students and alumni got together for a pizza party.
Thus far this semester, Auburn hosted a Welcome Back Shabbat in January; a Havdalah at Temple Beth Shalom with Rabbi Salem Pearce of the Institute for Southern Jewish Life on Feb. 1; a Hillel Valentine’s party, a Purim party, and of course Auburn basketball viewing parties.
They also had events in early February with students from the National Conference of Synagogue Youth who were in town for a high school yeshiva basketball tournament, coordinated with Athletes For Israel. Over 120 Jewish students from around the country took part, and they attended the Auburn-Oklahoma game, garnering a segment on the ESPN broadcast. After the game, Pearl went over to that section to lead a chant of “Am Yisrael Chai.”
They will host a community Passover Seder on April 13. Patterson said they are also planning their first Yom HaShoah event on April 23.
“We also are planning a big Tikkun Olam project for the spring and trying to determine,” said Patterson. “The students play an important role in determining the programs we do for fun and for advocacy.”
Patterson teaches communication and film. She recently won a couple of awards for her book that came out in February 2024 – “Bootlegging The Airwaves” – which explores the sharing of cultural history through the distribution of radio and television “bootleg” tapes from the 1960s through the 1980s.
Most Special Section articles by Lee J. Green
Southern Jewish Education
Alabama Hillel starts Israeli Culture Club
Enrollment and participation continue to be on the rise for the Crimson Tide.
The University of Alabama estimates its Jewish student population at more than 1,000 and involvement with Hillel programming continues to be strong.
“We want to make sure our students know that they are loved and supported,” said UA Hillel Director Lisa Besnoy. “They let us know some of the programs they’d like to have. We work together to create meaningful opportunities to not just for programming but to just focus on the community itself and engaging students in smaller activities.”
This semester they started an Israeli Culture Club every third Sunday of the month, which involves learning about Israel and activities. The first session last month involved painting.
Since Valentine’s Day fell on a Friday, they had a theme Shabbat at which they made knishes – called “Hugs and Knishes.”
“Every week we have Shabbat and Sunday bagel brunches, but we have worked in some themes and activities around some of them,” said Besnoy. The Shabbat dinners routinely attract from 150 to 200 students.
She also said playing and viewing sports are also part of regular Hillel activities. They’ve organized some basketball viewing parties and groups to go to games. Hillel also added a pickleball court for regular games there.
Besnoy said that they are also doing events with other organizations on campus to spread awareness and to help those in need.
They teamed up with the Black Student Association on a March 5 program titled, “Spread Cream Cheese Not Hate,” distributing free bagels and cream cheese to students signing a pledge against hate. A Tikkun Olam event is also planned for this spring to benefit the West Alabama Food Bank.
Besnoy credited the Hillel student leadership for their help in recruiting, and the University of Alabama administration for providing support. With rising campus antisemitism and anti-Israel groups harassing Jewish students and vandalizing buildings elsewhere in the country, places like Alabama have become much more attractive for Jewish students.
On a recent Anti-Defamation League campus climate report card regarding antisemitism, Alabama was one of only eight universities to receive an A, out of 135 evaluated.
Israeli Consul General Anat Sultan-Dadon presented University of Alabama President Stuart Bell with The White Rose Award in November 2024. The White Rose name comes from a non-Jewish student resistance initiative during Nazi Germany. The honor is given by the White Rose Society, based in Atlanta, to those who show great support to the Jewish community.
“Dr. Bell has done so much to make the university campus welcoming and inclusive for Jewish students,” said Besnoy. “We’re very grateful.”
At the Nov. 22 White Rose presentation (left to right): Consul General SultanDadon, Mrs. Susan Bell, University of Alabama
President Dr. Stuart R. Bell and White Rose Society Founder Linda Selig
Southern Jewish Education
JCRS plans a gem of a Jewish Roots gala
This year, the Jewish Children’s Regional Service Jewish Roots Gala will focus on “Our Precious Gems.”
The May 17 event in New Orleans will feature a jewelry showcase from world-renowned fine art, antiques, and jewelry dealer M.S. Rau, and a runway-style fashion show by Dillard’s. There will also be the usual cocktail reception and seated dinner.
The evening’s honorees will be Amy Gainsburgh Haspel and Jacqueline Stern, for decades of service to the agency, and for co-chairing the educational scholarship committee.
As JCRS serves a seven-state region of Alabama, Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Oklahoma, Tennessee and Texas, the annual event draws from around the region. The agency’s annual meeting is also held the morning after the gala.
Since the series of Jewish Roots galas began, they have raised over $2 million for the agency’s programs and services.
The best-known programs are need-based scholarships for Jewish sleepaway summer camps, and for Jewish college students. There is also support for special needs children, outreach to Jewish adults who are isolated or in institutions, and a Chanukah gift program for families facing tough times. The agency also coordinates the PJ Library program in areas of the region that do not have another agency overseeing the program. PJ Library provides free Judaic books to children every month.
The 6:30 p.m. gala will be at the Hilton New Orleans Riverside. Tickets and sponsorship levels are available at jcrs.org. Tickets start at $300, $150 for ages 35 and under.
JCRS College Aid program now accepting applications
New Orleans-based Jewish Children’s Regional Service is now accepting applications for college financial aid for the 2025-2026 academic year.
Since 1946, JCRS has provided college or vocational training scholarships based on financial need for students in seven states. Many of the Jewish college students who receive aid from JCRS are from low-income families, but middle-class families are encouraged to apply. Over half of JCRS’s college scholarships are awarded to families whose household income is between $50,000 and $150,000.
For the current school year, JCRS awarded the largest amount of college aid since the inception of the program. In total, JCRS approved over $500,000 in grants and no-interest loans to 120 Jewish college students from its seven-state service region, which includes Alabama, Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Oklahoma, Tennessee and Texas.
“Our two-fold goal for this academic year is to fund more Jewish students who need financial assistance with even larger awards. We are proud to fill this important role within our Jewish communities. We could not do what we do without the support of our generous donors,” says JCRS Executive Director Mark Rubin.
A JCRS college aid recipient stated, “I am so grateful to JCRS for providing me with the resources and scholarship that allowed me to succeed while in college. Through JCRS’s help I was able to alleviate the stress of finances in college and beyond while I currently attend Physician Assistant school to pursue a graduate degree.”
The application is available on the JCRS website, jcrs.org. Priority review deadline isMay 31.
The agency also funds scholarships to non-profit Jewish sleepaway summer camps. That program has already been finalized for this summer. Applications for assistance with special needs children are accepted year-round. Additional outreach programs include the Oscar J. Tolmas Hanukkah Gift Program and the PJ Library program for Jewish children ages 12 and under.
Southern Jewish Simchas
Enhancing events through floral decor
Dorothy McDaniel’s Flower Market continues to grow its floral business, celebrating its 47th year of providing floral arrangements, gifts and floral event décor to the community.
“We have been proud to serve the Jewish community”, said McDaniel. “We do flowers for Temple Emanu-El, Temple Beth-El, including Shabbat and High Holiday celebrations, as well as florals for Bar Mitzvahs, Bat Mitzvahs and weddings.” The functions they have done include venues like Pine Tree Country Club, The Club, Iron City and The Haven.
“We recently did a lovely Bat Mitzvah at Temple Emanu-El and the reception at Top Golf in downtown Birmingham” she said, and “a recent birthday party at the Zoo for a lovely lady turning 100!”
McDaniel said they customize every event to meet the needs of the congregation or simcha hosts. “It’s about creating a mood and feeling that fits. That is done through color, texture, types of flowers and the arrangements. It’s like art on a tableau.”
However, it’s not just flowers. “We also provide invitations for many of these events, and carry many great lines to enhance the overall experience. Our expertise in this area is qualified by over 40 years as stationers.”
Silver anniversary at Ritz-Carlton
The Ritz-Carlton has hosted numerous celebrations for friends in the New Orleans Jewish community. In 2025, they’ll be celebrating their own silver simcha.
The iconic New Orleans hotel turns 25 and will be celebrating throughout the year. They’ll be creating some branded products with the silver anniver sary logo and decorations throughout the hotel.
Celebrations are being planned during the year, with a big party in the fall headlined by local Jazz legend Jeremy Davenport.
The Davenport Lounge inside the Ritz-Carlton is named in honor of the hotel’s headline entertainer, who has composed and will record a song for the 25th anniversary celebration.
Those who have stayed at the Ritz-Carlton and have had special celebra
Southern Jewish Simchas
tions there are encouraged to send in their memories.
The historic building that houses the Ritz-Carlton started as the Beaux Arts-style Maison Blanche building, that was finished in 1909 on Canal Street.
It originally included the Maison Blanche Department Store. The upper floors housed other businesses, even New Orleans’ first radio station, WSMB.
In 1997, work began on turning the upper floors into the Ritz-Carlton. In 1998, the parent company for Maison Blanche was acquired by Dillard’s, and the Canal Street store was closed. The Ritz-Carlton then took over the rest of the building, as well as the Kress building next door, and opened in October 2000.
Today, the Ritz-Carlton offers a variety of event spaces, with 34 event rooms and over 48,000 square feet available, with a ballroom that can hold up to 880. There are also two courtyards and the intimate Library Lounge.
B&A Warehouse hosts wide range of simchas
The “B” in B&A Warehouse could stand for B’nai Mitzvah.
The event facility by Birmingham’s Railroad Park hosted the reception for Zoe Levine’s Bat Mitzvah this past November. It was a glow-stick-themed reception with special musical entertainment from Atlanta. More than 200 people attended.
Then in September 2024, B&A hosted an Around the World-themed Bat Mitzvah for Em Washko — featuring food and cultural learning from several countries around the globe.
Twins Maren and Isla Graham opted for a Silent Disco for their Bat Mitzvah in May 2024.
The B&A Warehouse also hosts several big charity events every year, including the Cornerstone fundraiser earlier this month and the Arty Party for Birmingham AIDS Outreach.
Carrie Brown, who had been serving as Sous Chef, took over as Executive Chef this past December and has already launched some new recipes.
The B&A can hosts events as large as 1,000 people for a stand-up reception.
Haven isn’t just for special events
Haven has hosted several celebrations for members of the Jewish community since opening its southside Birmingham location nine years ago. Now it’s adding parties and events everyone can attend.
“We offer some cocktail making classes and reaching out to local bands to play for some open house concert events during the week when the space is not booked,” said Events at Haven Marketing Director Heather Wood-Roberts. “We thought opening to the public was a great way to show people all that we could do with the space. It’s a great way to show off our diversity.”
They are also hosting public events twice per month with a 1920s-style jazz band playing. This year, they’ve also started doing Golden Hour Yoga, which couples yoga with cocktails.
Haven opened in 2016 in a restored 1924 building that originally housed the Mack Truck Company. It was started by Milo’s Tea CEO Tricia Wallwork and her husband Troy, the CEO of DataPerk. “Troy and Tricia were born and raised here. They wanted a place that Birmingham could be proud of. This is their gift to the Birmingham community,” said Roberts-Wood.
Haven’s 20,000-square-foot space is versatile and can be arranged to accommodate 1,500 people in standing-room celebration or a 900-patron seated dinner.
They hosted the Sydney and Nathan Black wedding a few years ago. It was a traditional Jewish wedding with a chuppah, a 16-piece band and more than 300 guests.
Haven has hosted many community and non-profit events including those for Mitchell’s Place, Crohns and Colitis of Birmingham, the Birmingham Civil Rights Institute, the Alabama Business Hall of Fame, the Women’s Fund, Girls Inc. and the 25th annual Sidewalk Film Festival 10K Raffle Fundraiser.
Kahn twins celebrate 80th anniversary of their B’nai Mitzvah
On March 8, Rabbi David Cohen-Henriquez of Shir Chadash in Metairie introduced two “Bar Mitzvah bachors, young Bar Mitzvah boys” to do the haftorah, at 93 years young.
Twins Hugo and Joe Kahn celebrated the 80th anniversary of their B’nai Mitzvah by taking turns chanting sections of the haftorah.
Celebrating the anniversary of a Bar Mitzvah is a family tradition. On Jan. 4, 1997, their father, Edward Kahn, celebrated the 86th anniversary of his Bar Mitzvah by having an Aliyah and chanting the reading from Shemot. He died two years later, on June 22, 1999, at age 101.
The Kahn twins were born in Germany in 1932. In 1939, the family fled, arriving in the United States in February 1940, and making their way to Omaha. Hugo Kahn moved to New Orleans in 1967, for a position at the Krauss department store.
He noted that he goes back to “923 Napoleon,” the first location for Tikvat Shalom, the first Conservative congregation in New Orleans, which had broken away from Chevre Thilim in 1960 over a mixed-seating controversy at the then-Orthodox congregation. The two congregations reunited in 1999 in Metairie, becoming Shir Chadash, and Kahn remembers the laying of the cornerstone.
He said it was a blessing to be able to look around the room and be able to identify almost everyone, “except for those folks from Westchester,” and to have “such a relationship” with everyone. “We go back a long way. Usually you give a present to the Bar Mitzvahs, but your presence is our present.”
Before they started the haftorah, Hugo noted that “Joe has a much more melodic voice than I do, because he sang in the choir while I was chasing girls.”
Joe responded that “a few years ago I realized that I had to step in for Hugo occasionally, so I became a ventriloquist, and if you listen carefully, and look carefully, you’ll see just how accomplished I am.”
With that, they started the blessing before the haftorah in unison.
After the haftorah, Cohen-Henriquez blessed them both, saying “May you be granted many more years of strength, of health, of wisdom, and the ability to share your gifts with our communities… May this be just one of many more milestones ahead, with gratitude and joy we celebrate you today.”
Hugo and Joe Kahn, and Rabbi David Cohen-Henriquez
Celebrating Israel’s 77th birthday
Sir Frank London, Eleanor Reissa and the Klezmer Brass Allstars will headline New Orleans’ celebration of Israel’s 77th Independence Day, April 30 at 5:30 p.m. at the Uptown Jewish Community Center.
London is a Grammy Award-winning trumpeter and composer, a member of the Klezmatics, and leader of the Astro-Hungarian Glass House Orchestra, the Klezmer Brass Allstars, and his Shekhinah Big Band. He has performed and recorded with John Zorn, Pink Floyd, Mel Tormé, Lester Bowie’s Brass Fantasy, LaMonte Young, Gal Costa, They Might Be Giants, David Byrne, and Itzhak Perlman, appearing on over 500 albums.
Other recordings include “Ghetto Songs”; “Salomé Woman of Valor” (with Adeena Karasick); “Invocations” (cantorial music); and “Brotherhood of Brass” (with the Klezmer Brass Allstars); the folk opera “A Night in the Old Marketplace”; and four albums with Hasidic New Wave. His first symphony, “1001 Voices: A Symphony for a New America” (text by Judith Sloan, video by Warren Lehrer) premiered in 2012, and his Yiddish-Cuban opera “Hatuey: Memory of Fire” (libretto by Elise Thoron) debuted in Cuba and NYC in 2018.
His band Di Shikere Kapelye, aka the Klezmer Brass Allstars, brings high-energy klezmer to concerts, festivals, parties and parades worldwide. They have released five acclaimed recordings, the live Rooftop Concert film, and collaborated with artists like Eleanor Reissa, Lorin Sklamberg, Sarah Gordon, Michael Alpert, Joshua Nelson, Boban Marcoviç, Mara-
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The evening will begin with an Israel Memorial Day tribute by BAMAH Visiting Artist Orit Tashoma and Or Shovaly, both from Rehovot and are now in New Orleans. “The Thread of Light” weaves Tashoma’s poetry with Shovaly’s musical arrangements.
The event is made possible through a Yamim Grant, a partnership between the JCC Association of North America and the Israeli Government’s Ministry for Diaspora Affairs and Combating Antisemitism.
Birmingham’s Israel Independence Day celebration, “One Nation, One Heart” will be on April 30 from 5 to 7 p.m. at the Levite Jewish Community Center, with an Israeli dinner by Josh Haynes, Israeli music, activities and crafts, including Hebrew bracelet making and Israeli flag themed manicures. Blue and white attire encouraged. In a partnership with ESEK, there will be an opportunity to shop with Israeli artisans and small businesses who have been struggling since Oct. 7, and there will be a raffle for gift baskets with Israeli goods.
Students from the N.E. Miles Jewish Day School will perform. Robin Berger will lead a program for up to pre-Kindergarten at 5 p.m. in the senior lounge.
The event is free, but registration is required through the Birmingham Jewish Federation.
On April 27, the Pensacola Jewish Federation will host events for Israel’s Memorial Day and Independence Day. At 11:45 a.m. there will be
a service at the Temple Beth El garden to commemorate Israel’s fallen soldiers and victims of terror. From noon to 2 p.m. at Beth El, there will be an Israel celebration, with an Israeli dinner, children’s activities and music from Tel Aviv.
The Jewish Federation of Central Alabama will hold its annual Israel Independence Day celebration on May 4 at 11:30 a.m. at Temple Beth Or in Montgomery
Deputy Israeli Consul General for the Southeast Anna Shteingart will attend, along with members of the Israeli Defense Forces stationed in Montgomery. There will be Mediterranean-style food and Israeli music. Reservations are requested by April 28.
The Jewish Federation of Huntsville and North Alabama will have an Israel Independence Day celebration on April 30 from 4:30 to 7 p.m. at The Canteen at Stovehouse. The program starts at 5 p.m., and the first toast is complimentary.
The final Family Shabbat Service of the academic year at Gemiluth Chassodim in Alexandria will be a celebration of Israel Independence Day, May 2 at 6 p.m. A dinner will follow the service.
Explore “The Jewish South”
With a new book that details 300 years of Southern Jewish history, said to be the first comprehensive narrative history of Jewish life in the American South, Shari Rabin is making the rounds of organizations and institutions with an interest in the topic.
“The Jewish South: An American History” is Rabin’s second book, following the award-winning “Jews on the Frontier: Religion and Mobility in Nineteenth-century America.”
On May 6, she will have an online conversation with Shira Muroff, Director of Programs at the Goldring/Woldenberg Institute of Southern Jewish Life in Jackson. The 2 p.m. talk is part of American Jewish University’s Whizin Center for Open Learning.
She will also speak at the Museum of the Southern Jewish Experience in New Orleans on May 22 at 6 p.m. The free in-person event will include a book signing and reception. There will be a virtual option.
Rabin is an associate professor of Jewish studies and religion at Oberlin College, and chair of the Judaic Studies program. She previously was at the College of Charleston, where she was director of the Pearlstine/Lipov Center for Southern Jewish Culture, and co-directed the National Endowment for the Humanities’ Summer Institute for College and University Professors, “Privilege and Prejudice: Jewish History in the American South.”
871-7837
McWane Science Center exhibit explores Sacred Places
By Lee J. Green
The McWane Science Center thinks outside the box when it comes to STEM learning with their latest exhibit, “Sacred Places.”
On display through May 18, the exhibit includes six immersive environments representing some of the world’s major religions. It was designed by the Indianapolis Children’s Museum and Birmingham is its third stop, having just finished a run at the Mayborn Museum at Baylor University.
“The Indianapolis Children’s Museum reached out to us and we thought that – coupled with the lessons of our fantastic educators – was a great way for kids to learn, connect and engage,” said Bob Levine, McWane Master Plan project member. “It allows for greater learning and understanding of faiths, but much of it is about architectural and engineering marvels.”
Levine said that the Judaism section focuses on the Mikvé Israel-Emanuel Synagogue in Willemstad, Curacao. It is the oldest “living” synagogue in the Americas.
A teen leading his congregation at his Bar Mitzvah is at the center of the exhibit. It includes Torah scrolls and yad. “It focuses on the traditions we share. The synagogue is in a place that has a smaller Jewish population, so we can relate to it,” said Levine.
Christianity is represented in a Jordanian site, the Church of St. George and Church of the Beheading of St. John the Baptist. The installation focuses on telling Biblical stories through mosaics.
The other sites are the Great Mosque of Djenne in Mali for Islam, Patan Durbar Square in Nepal for Hinduism, Rapa Nui at Easter Island for the Rapa Nui indigenous spirituality, and Wat Arun Temple in Thailand for Buddhism.
He said the McWane Science Center leadership team met with interfaith groups including the Birmingham Jewish Federation and synagogue leaders prior to the exhibit coming here. “We wanted to have their input in how we can best engage the community and our educators.”
Levine said after the exhibit closes, they will be bringing back the You Built It LEGO-themed exhibit.
This summer, the production and installation of the Basilosaurus will be complete. This 40-million-year-old whale was designated a state fossil of Alabama. The 60-feet-long specimen has a skull the size of a refrigerator.
Other plans include a terrapin hatchery in the World of Water and a STEM-based hip hop permanent exhibit that should be completed in August.
The McWane is Alabama’s only science center, children’s museum and IMAX theater.
“We want to create not just engineers of the future, but doctors, scientists, artists and musicians,” said Levine. “Early learners might be our bread and butter, but we also want to continue to develop programs, exhibits for teens and adults. It’s all about connecting with the local community.”
Mikve Israel Emanuel Synagogue in Curacao
Southern Jewish Food & Dining
Reve a dream realized for Birmingham chef
Rêve is a life dream realized for chef Jacob Stull, as he opened the elegant French fine-dining restaurant at Birmingham’s Pizitz Building in March.
“I’ve been working in restaurants since I was 19,” said Stull, whose family tree branches from France and French Canada. “I said then it was my dream (rêve in French) to open my own restaurant by the time I turned 35 and it’s so exciting to share this food, culture with Birmingham.”
He turned 35 last fall, and started Rêve as a pop-up concept in April 2024. He and a small crew served upscale French cuisine most weekends at The Sage event space owned by Paget Pizitz. This “test kitchen” proved successful and Stull started working on the permanent location at the Pizitz, just above Sidewalk Film and Cinema Center, last October.
“The concept is French comfort food, elevated,” said Stull. “We want to create an experience that people couldn’t get anywhere else – where food connects with diners on an emotional level. The food tells a story. And we use some Southern ingredients to connect them to the French cuisine.”
Rêve serves a six-course and a 10-course tasting menu, as well as a la carte. The menu changes seasonally and everything is made in-house.
The cuisine includes fine French creations such as steak tartare, potato rosti, chocolate souffle and a French-prepared New England halibut.
“When customers make reservations, they can put in any dietary requests,” he said. “We can customize to make just about everything kosher-style if we know in advance.”
The six-course tasting menu consists of small bites, an appetizer, the main course, pre-dessert palate cleanser, dessert, a post-dessert (usually a sweet cocktail). During Passover, Rêve planned to have a special, kosherstyle-for-Passover menu.
Stull led the design of the Rêve space to pay homage to Birmingham’s steel roots, blended with a “Parisian-meets-Manhattan” feel. From a central open chef’s bar, guests can watch “all the magic happening in the kitchen.”
A native of Frederick, Md., Stull would go on to work at restaurants in Washington, New York and Charleston. His honed his passion for storytelling through food in renowned kitchens at iconic New Orleans establishments Brennan’s and the Israeli-owned steak house Doris Metropolitan before moving to Alabama, where he helmed Forté and Roll Call at the Alamite Hotel in Tuscaloosa.
He said he is happy to call Birmingham his home and committed to advancing the reputation of the city as one of the nation’s top foodie destinations.
“I appreciate the support we’ve already received from Birmingham diners and visitors,” said Stull. “I’m so excited to continue building something that will make our community proud.”
Rêve is open Tuesday through Saturday from 5 to 10 p.m.
Southern Jewish Dining
Bud’s Best Cookies legacy of success since 1991
Bud’s Best Cookies’ recipe for success consists of a cup of innovation, a tablespoon of adapting, with big portions of family and community.
The Birmingham-based producer of cookies, crackers and other confectionary items launched in 1991, but traces its roots back to 1970.
That was when entrepreneur Bud Cason purchased Greg’s Cookies in Birmingham. In 1983 he purchased Bishop Baking Company in Cleveland, Tenn. He sold both companies in 1986 and after a five-year non-compete agreement expired, Cason would start what would become a national company and Birmingham legacy.
Bud promoted his son Al Cason, Jr., to company president in 2012. But he remains active with the company he started as the current CEO and chairman of the board.
“Dad is 88 and he still comes in several days a week to help us,” said Al Cason, Jr. “His experience and knowledge are so valuable on every level of our business.”
Cason said that during Covid, Bud’s Best Cookies had to innovate and adapt to a changing climate.“We dealt with some significant challenges keeping up with production, skyrocketing product costs and supply chain issues,” he said. “Our focus remained on quality and keeping our prices level. But we’ve been blessed to have loyal employees, partners and new business opportunities that have come our way.”
The innovation that led to new opportunities has included “repurposing” Bud’s Best Cookies. They now supply crushed up cookie bits to candy companies that use them for inclusion in candy bars, and another company uses them as frozen yogurt toppings.
Bud’s Best Cookies’ top seller, Vanilla Wafers, have found their way
into pudding served by barbeque restaurants and have been used in bakery products worldwide.
“Over the past five years, most of our growth has been through partnerships,” said Cason. “That has helped to get us back to our roots and to do what we know.”
They work with a major kosher brand out of New York, Lieber’s, to make a lot of the company’s cookies. Chabad of Alabama Rabbi Yossi Posner comes in regularly to certify the manufacturing line.
Cason said most of their products are certified kosher as OU-dairy or pareve. “We’re also part of the Safe Quality Food Program that helps ensure everything is made to the highest level of quality,” he added.
Bud’s Best Recipe for success has always been about community and giving back. Cason said they happily donate product to charities and for benefit events. They also hope to get back to doing their famous factory tours, including the Bud’s Best train for the kids.
Cason had just graduated college when his father started Bud’s Best Cookies. He said it has been a big part of his life ever since.
“This all I’ve ever done. I’ve worked in the warehouse, logistics and purchasing,” he said. “To this day I’m very hands-on and help anywhere it is needed. You could say I’m ‘always on call’.”
He said thankfully his wife of 11 years, Jenifer, works side-by-side with him at the company’s plant in the Riverchase Office Park. And every Thursday night, they go to dinner with Cason’s mother and father.
“We talk about some business, but mostly it’s just personal. It’s a blessing to be close to them and to be able to thank them for all the love that they gave me,” he said.
Southern Jewish Dining
New owner of Chez LuLu, Continental Bakery embraces tradition
It’s always a “Nice” day at Birmingham’s Continental Bakery and Chez Lulu, whose new owner said he wants to honor the tradition of the restaurants that started 40 and 30 years ago.
In February, original owners Carole Griffin and Shea Rives sold the English Village staples to David Griner.
“I just want to add to what has made this place so wonderful,” said Griner, who came in as a baking apprentice for two months in February 2024, then became general manager before acquiring the restaurants. “(Griffin and Rives) have built a reputation for having high-quality food from the Nice region of France in an inviting, artistic, café-style environment. The plan is to enhance that and to look at new things we can do that fit well.”
Griner had been working in the advertising and graphic design sectors. During the pandemic, he started baking and developed a passion for it. His wife convinced him to seek out opportunities to further his passion.
“I’ve started a couple non-profits and managed departments of business, so I had some experience with that side of things,” he said. “But there was much to learn about hands-on cooking, baking and managing a restaurant. Thankfully a successful recipe was already there.”
The restaurants have gained a reputation for their Nice-style pizzas, tartes and bakery items. Griner said he is seeking to expand the menu with more gluten-free, vegan and kosher-style items available.
Chez Lulu and Continental Bakery use vegetarian stock for all of their soups and have substituted coconut milk for heavy crème.
“We have a Partnerships Manager who makes sure we are supporting small businesses and is looking out for ways to grow new relationships with suppliers,” he said. They work with local farmers to supply many of
their fresh vegetables and eggs. Chez Lulu and Continental Bakery also serve Domestique coffee and a local company brings in chai tea from India for them.
Continental Bakery is open daily from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m., and Chez Lulu from 5 to 9 p.m. Thursday through Sunday. But Griner said the commitment to quality and processes at the bakery are “around-the-clock.”
“I think most people are surprised to learn that we have more than 60 people working here and there is something going on 24 hours a day, seven days a week,” he said. “That’s the nature with a successful bakery and restaurant – it’s very hands-on and labor intensive.” But for Griner, it’s a labor of love.
Jewish Food Festival on May 18
The annual Birmingham Jewish Food and Culture Festival will take the field at the Levite Jewish Community Center on May 18, from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.
A sampler plate will have brisket, whitefish salad, a stuffed cabbage roll, matzah ball soup, potato bureka and sweet noodle kugel. Other dishes include pomegranate-walnut chicken, falafel and corned beef sandwiches. There will be hot dog plates available for kids. Desserts include black and white cookies, Mandelbrot and rugelach, and challah will be available.
There will be entertainment, numerous vendors, and “The Shuk,” a small-scale recreation of an Israeli open air market.
There is also a VIP tent with an all-inclusive buffet, for those who want to skip the lines. VIP tickets are $125 by May 11. All other orders are done at the entrance, with the paid tickets brought to the serving tables.
TIME TO RENEW YOUR CAR TAG
Alabama is one of three states who currently have an ovarian cancer car tag. The Drive Out Ovarian Cancer car tag raises money for research in hopes that one day, doctors will discover an early detection test for ovarian cancer, so that women will be tested for this insidious disease at their annual checkups just like cervical and breast cancers.
The mission of the Norma Livingston Ovarian Cancer Foundation (NLOCF) is to raise funds for ovarian cancer research and to increase awareness about the risks, symptoms and treatments of this disease.
The net proceeds of the $50.00 are distributed to the NLOCF to be used for ovarian cancer research at the UAB hospital. The Norma Livingston Ovarian Cancer Foundation is a 501(C)(3) nonprofit organization. Your $50 contribution is tax-deductible.
Bodega’s Coffee & Red Wine Brisket
(Approximately 6 hours, start-to-finish)
Ingredients
2-3 lbs. beef brisket (trimmed of excess fat)
3 tbsp vegetable or other neutral oil
1 medium yellow onion, medium dice
5 sprigs fresh thyme
5 cloves garlic, smashed with the side of a knife
2 cups unsalted beef stock
1.5 lbs tiny potatoes
6 carrots, cut into 2-inch pieces
5-6 stalks celery, cut into 2-inch pieces
3 tbsp tomato paste
1 cup red wine (drinkable, but nothing fancy, nothing too light and fruity)
3 tbsp ground coffee
¼ cup all-purpose flour
Kosher salt
Special Equipment
5-7 liter Dutch oven
Small cheesecloth bag, or a 1-foot square of cheesecloth with cooking twine
Directions
Remove brisket from refrigerator 30 minutes before cooking, allowing it to come up to room temperature. Preheat oven to 275°.
Heat oil over medium-high heat in Dutch oven. Generously salt all sides of the brisket. Sear both sides of the brisket for 3 to 4 minutes per side, until meat has nicely browned.
Remove meat from the Dutch oven and bring heat down to low. Add the red wine, which should bubble aggressively on contact. Scrape up whatever is left behind in the oil from searing the meat with a rubber spatula or scraper. There’s a lot of flavor in those scrapings!
Stir in tomato paste.
Put ground coffee and thyme sprigs in a cheesecloth bag and tie it off, or tie it in cheesecloth with cooking twine.
Add cheesecloth, garlic, onion, carrots, celery and potatoes to the dutch oven. Nestle the brisket into the vegetables and add beef stock. Cover and cook for five hours.
Carefully remove brisket from Dutch oven with tongs.
Using a ladle, move approximately ½ cup of cooking liquid into a separate cup or bowl. Whisk flour into this cup or bowl until well-blended to make a slurry. Ideally there won’t be any clumps of flour. Stir the slurry into the Dutch oven, place the brisket back into the Dutch oven. Cover and cook on stovetop over low heat for 20 minutes to thicken the sauce.
Slice brisket and serve with a portion of the cooked vegetables. Reserve extra cooking liquid in a gravy boat or bowl for people who would like more sauce.
The Ovarian Cancer Research Tag may be purchased for private passenger automobiles, pickup trucks, motorcycles, and pleasure motor vehicles (i.e., recreational vehicles).
Bodega New Orleans
While Jaryd Kase has been cooking for a long time, having his own restaurant in New Orleans came by accident.
He had a mishap at home when the ladder he was on broke, and he broke his foot, requiring surgery. After a successful lawsuit against the ladder company, he figured “this is my opportunity” to try having a restaurant. He had been a management consultant “and didn’t think I’d pursue cooking professionally.”
During the pandemic, a place across the street from his home became vacant as the po-boy shop there closed. He spoke to the building owners, then after having to deal with the city, he was finally able to open Bodega last December. Even before, he was doing a lot of catering, especially for holidays.
The casual neighborhood lunch spot and market has numerous Jewish influences on the menu, but also a mix of African and South American flavors, making what he has loved from his travels. A Senegalese chicken dish comes from when he lived in that country for a year.
The name is reminiscent of the corner stores, or bodegas, in his native New York. He first came to New Orleans to attend Tulane, and worked at local restaurants. About 10 years ago, he and his wife, Eliza, a Boston native who also went to Tulane, returned to the city. She is currently general studies principal of Jewish Community Day School in Metairie., and since she has Sephardic family, Kase has been able to incorporate those influences beyond his Ashkenaz background.
Kase is continuing to expand the lineup of specialty products in the market, especially kosher products, items that aren’t basic staples but things not generally available elsewhere. A case has grab and go meals, and a recent week’s lineup included turkey meatloaf, an Indian chickpea curry, beef and broccoli, and Mexican spiced chicken with black bean
Safe_Driving_Jewish-Life_7.75x5-PROD.pdf 1 10/31/24 11:12 AM
and corn salad.
He catered the gala at Gates of Prayer, where he is a member, in January, and served at GatesFest. He has also done Bat Mitzvahs, and had a lot of catering orders for Passover. At the restaurant, he had a Passover lunch with chopped liver, mixed greens and matzah. He also has Shabbat dinners to go, with orders in by Wednesday.
Kase does not have a set catering menu, but he has sample menus and then works “with people to get exactly what they want.”
Bodega is open for lunch 11 a.m. to 3 p.m., opens for breakfast on weekends at 9 a.m., and weekday Grab and Go hours are 4:30 to 6 p.m.
he gave chase to the Israelites. As the Israelites were defiantly remaining. As Pharaoh drew near, the Israelites saw the Egyptians advancing upon them.
So, Moses held his arm out over the river, and the Almighty Big G drove forth the river with a strong east wind and turned the dry ground into river. And the Israelites stayed on the dry ground beyond the river, the waters forming a wall for them before all of Pharaoh’s horses, chariots, and riders.
And the Egyptians were wiped out after their long journey — all of Pharaoh’s chariots, riders, and horses — because you can lead a tired horse to a river but you can’t make it drink.
Doug Brook is going to stay, for as long as it goes. And so it goes. To acquire both FIVE-star rated Rear Pew Mirror books, read other past columns, or listen to the FIVE-star rated Rear Pew Mirror podcast, visit http:// rearpewmirror.com/.
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Let My People Stay
And a new king arose over Egypt who did not know Joseph.
And he said to his people, “Look, the Israelite people are much too numerous for us.
“Let us deal shrewdly with them, so that they may not increase; otherwise, in the event of war they might join our enemies in fighting against us and rise from the ground.”
And the Israelites increased and spread out, so that the Egyptians came to dread the Israelites.
And Pharaoh said, “Send their people away, so they may worship their Lord and leave us, going to the land of their ancestors.” But the Israelites were content to stay in Egypt.
So, upon the Israelites the Egyptians set overseers — enforcers whose manner was as cold as ice — to detain them and force them to leave the land of Egypt.
And the Almighty Big G appeared to Moses and said, “the cry of the Israelites has reached Me; moreover, I have seen how the Egyptians gather them.
“I will send you to Pharaoh, and you shall free My people, the Israelites, from being deported from Egypt.”
So, Moses went and said to Pharaoh, “Let my people stay, so they can continue to build here with mortar and bricks, and perform all sorts of tasks in the field that your people don’t want to.”
But the Almighty Big G hardened Pharaoh’s heart, and he would not let the Israelites stay.
Moses replied, “We will all stay — regardless of social station — we will stay with our sons and daughters, our flocks and herds.”
We won’t cross that river when we come to it
And Moses as a messenger of the Almighty Big G was the harbinger of 10 plagues on the Egyptians, each one compelling the Egyptians to let the Israelites stay, only to have Pharaoh quickly change his mind and again order them removed from the country.
For example, Moses held out his rod toward the sky, and the Almighty Big G rained down hail upon the land of Egypt such as had never fallen on Egypt since it had become a nation.
And Pharaoh sent for Moses and Aaron, saying, “I will let you stay, you need to leave no longer.”
Leaving Pharaoh, Moses went outside the city and spread out his hands to the Almighty Big G, and the thunder and hail ceased. But when Pharaoh saw that the hail and thunder had ceased, his heart hardened and again he would not let the Israelites stay.
And the Almighty Big G disposed the Egyptians favorably toward the people. Also, Moses himself was much esteemed in the land of Egypt among Pharaoh’s courtiers and among their people.
A mighty river separated the region of Goshen, where the Israelites resided, from the rest of Egypt. And this river’s waters were eternally held back, and the river bed was dry ground. The waters were always split.
And when Pharaoh was told that the people had not fled, Pharaoh and his courtiers had a change of heart about the people and said, “What is this we have done, letting Israel remain in our service?”
He took six hundred of his picked chariots, and the rest of the chariots of Egypt, with officers in all of them.
The Almighty Big G hardened the heart of Pharaoh king of Egypt, and
