The Jewish News - July 2015 by The Jewish Federation of Sarasota-Manatee

“In the middle ages, Jews were hated because of their religion. In the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, they were hated because of their race. In the twenty-first century, they are hated because of their nation state. Anti-Zionism is the new anti-Semitism.” — Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks

Fighting Anti-Semitism Today

READ MORE BELOW

Celebrating Jewish Life in Sarasota and Manatee Counties, Israel and the World FEDERATION NEWS

Serving our community since 1971!

Published by The Jewish Federation of Sarasota-Manatee www.jfedsrq.org

July 2015 - Tammuz/Av 5775

Volume 45, Number 7

INSIDE THIS ISSUE: 9 12 15 19 22 25 27

Community Focus Jewish Happenings Jewish Interest Israel & the Jewish World Commentary Focus on Youth Life Cycle

VOICE

Q: What Are Your Thoughts on the Current State of Anti-Semitism?

The mainstreaming of hatred

like to feel that I am part of the global collective effort to make this world a better, more hopeful, and safer place. I like to believe that it is our basic differences that make us all the same. By Isaac Azerad I like to think that we are the same in our uniqueness, our desire to of my aspire to survive, e, andthe live aJews meaningful life. Igeneration, like to hope for and work toward a legacyphilosophical of tolerance and honesty understanding allow us to incoexist, andthat emotional thrive, and live side by side comfortably. I believe without bias that by trospection. As such, when we react visaccepting what we each think and believe and what we have at the cerally to ofdisplays of isdirected we to that source our moral core the same. Ihatred, believe that the tend questions we all have, the thingsand that even we think about, theour problems need to analyze our reaction question ownwe lack solve and the opportunities that we strive for all come from the same of intellectual ﬂexibility. Are we source. That which will allow us to carry on the purpose of mankind is a overreacting to anti-Semitism in the collaboration of perspective, beliefs, ability to consider others, and

STEP Beach Bash a success!

W 6 Federation’s Volunteer appreciation celebration

all its forms? The answer, in my opinion, is a categorical no. The difference between gratuitous hatred and anti-Semitism (read anti-Jews) lies in subtle distinctions. Hatred Isaac Azerad is a tool of offense and prejudice often lacking precise direction or political motive and emanating from ignorance and unfamiliarity with the recipients of such hatred. The manifestation

supposed to be a civilized society. Racism, sexism, anti-Sem any other form of prejudice and/or phobias are all the sa motive is hatred and the root of hatred is evil. It’s a sad comme hear the young minds of future leaders preach the rhetoric o of anti-Semitism allcenturies. its forms is benothing that existed inin past It should on collegevague. campuse hope for a new paradigm of a “Beloved Community” finds its In its precise targeting, it does not allow for any nuamong young minds. By this time in human history, thes anced interpretation. Often, it is the political motive minds should see humanity as one, thereby engineering brid that drives will the bringhatred. us together. However, to suggest and agree that a people should not exist only shows one’sbirth, paucity Egypt, of unders Having witnessed the not country of my it also tells the rest of society one’s lack of capacity to reason.

emptying itself of 80,000 Jews within a span of two anti-Semitic verbiage andthe violence rise in the world par decades,Asonly to experience emergence of aand culcollegeof campuses, this is timerebirth where “good men mustand seek minatingoncrisis anti-Semitic in France into being a real order of justice.” We must now stand and sp other parts of Europe, I ask to be forgiven if my sen-i against injustice and hatred everywhere. Anti-Semitism problem. It is is a problem for humanity. sitivity toJewish anti-Semitism non-nuanced. Forgive me if allusions to extinction and existential threats Dr. John Walker, currently Pastor of Beth El Church, received a leave Doctor o from Ashland Theological spirit. Seminary. That He serves as Chaplain for me with degree an uncompromising my demise County Sheriff’s Office, Ringling College of Art and Design, Univ. of as a JewSarasota-Manatee should be Campus, negotiable on ofour college New College Florida, and is ancaminstruc Academy of Public Theology, Birmingham, AL. He is a past participant on T puses and genteel society is simply not acceptable. Federation of Sarasota-Manatee’s Interfaith Mission to Israel and is a mem Israel Advocacy Initiative That thisHeller fundamental right Executive is put Committee. to question simply bafﬂes me. That Zionism, as a manifestation of the

continued on page 2

A love From a millennial, with

s a student at New College of Florida, a radically far-lef I walk through a campus of people that know I’m an ou Zionist, and I routinely am ostracized because of my p beliefs. Beyond textbook examples of anti-Semitism By Jessi Sheslow seeing Swastikas around town and hearing people ma Anti-Semitism, among the unlimited number of prejudices Jewish jokes, there is another issue some people fail to se think you and I can agree that there is a problem Collegeand notwithstanding, her experience is that we have developed as a worldwide community is present, on New Semitism anti-Israel sentiment are inevitably inter and rife. In celebration of the season for Embracing inpervasive our world today for Jews. Anti-Semitism is our indicative what many other and/or My of school fundsso a “Daughters for Life”pro-Israel program, which includ Name: ________________________________________________ Invoice Ref #: ________________ it is time to actively reject the prejudiced and publicly Middle Eastern country except for Israel. across Jewish students on onDifferences, the rise, everywhere. Where we may differ is Jewish students on college campuses our naexpressed opinions of others and instead find strength and celebration are afraid to speak out against the anti-Israel sentiment on how we address it.allTwo Jews, right? As a Jewish Federation, we will not in what makes us so unique. Ourthree missionopinions, is simple in its complexity: tion experience. out of fear of losing friends. What’s more: there is an organiz To find a place of acceptance a world that an is asidea mixed up shy away Thisandispeace whyin we took fromcalled this “STOP: kind Students of controversy or discuscampus Targeting Oppressive Powe as it is today since the beginning. of their list. In the cafeteria, there is a bulletin wit from the Federation’s Commusion. WeIsrael willat the nottopremain silent no matter how diffi from civil rights activists that are taken out of context and pu Nelle Miller is on the nications Board of The Jewish Federation ofto Sarasota-Manatee Committee create a as cult the conversation can be. Anti-Semitism, which is Israel, with a slash through the country. There are signs co immediate past president and a member of numerous committees. She also Voice” opinion veiledcase in anti-Israel behavior, is directly the Ferguson and police brutality cases around the Unite serves on the Board of“Community Governors for the Jewish Agency, MASA and UIAfoin Israel, often thinly National Women’s Philanthropy at JFNA, and several other local and national Israel’s current government. a radical notion swee rum in The Jewish News. This is affectingtothe next generation ofThere our isvibrant, rich and

Temple Emanu-El Mitzvah Day draws 330 volunteers

possibility of changing our minds, admitting when we are wrong. This includes tolerance for acceptance and the celebration of what makes us unique as individuals, communities, and members of something much larger than ourselves.

the Family Jeweler

proof

boards both within and outside of the Jewish community.

not rhetoric, it’s honesty. In our inaugural “Community Voice” This Proof must be signed and returned before we asked the plan. question: What are and When evil men plot, good men must When evil men burn “Focus we can proceed Jessi with your order. This is your Sheslow bomb, good men must build and bind. When evil men shout ugly your thoughts on the current state Proof prior to printing. Please examine all spellon Youth” words of hatred, good men must commit themselves to the glories of anti-Semitism? gathered opinions from four ing and information carefully. RFJD willWe not be of love. Where evil men would seek to perpetuate an unjust status photo held responsible for quo, any unnoticed errors. Any community members who haveintovastly good men must seek to bring being adifferent real order ofexjustice. printing be customer’s of the errors found after periences. All of the opinions were important to hear, — Dr.will Martin L. King, Jr.sole fromI was Madison Bryan, a New College of a blessed with an opportunity to co-moderate month responsibility. especiallyecently panel on anti-Semitism at the Florida Studio Theatre. It afforded Approval Florida student who lives with this daily. One facme the opportunity to become enlightened with the data about her characterization of a program Approvedtual mistake provided concerning anti-Semitism around the world and particularly

on college campuses right here in these United States of America. Approved with Corrections This is the land where humankind is supposed to be treated New Proof Required A publication of The Jewish Federation of Sarasota-Manatee equally regardless NON-PROFIT ORG. of race, gender, age, portfolio, or faith

Klingenstein Jewish Center, 580 McIntosh Rd., Sarasota, FL 34232 tradition. Yet, how can any person with faith or morals continue sit in U.S. POSTAGE Annual voluntary subscription: $25 silence when those who are supposed to be change agents for the new Authorized Signature PAID

14276

exceptional community. I see anti-Semitism on college campuses as the modern day “Jewish Problem.” What are we going to do with these pesky Jews and their privilege? This is something I have heard and read about recently from anti-Israel activists: “Jewish Privilege.” The ﬂaw in that notion is that it purports that Jews have never been poor or disenfranchised in America or the world – because we have. We became experts in

continued on page 2

Keep it in the Family...

campus, as well as campuses around the nation, that Israel bad, oppressive power that needs to be stopped. Images o century continue to spread the same hate verbiage regarding people bloodied, images from decades ago of people hung (with no e who are different from themselves, specifically, the Jewish community? MANASOTA FL of its occurrence in Israel), and more are scattered around a lis They are as hypocritical with their statements of justice as those who Murray Margolis Date PERMIT 167 Gazan Children Killed” that I get to look at every d believe another group in humanity does not have the right to exist. E x t r ao rInnocent d i n a ry S E l E c t i o n o f f i n E J E w E l ry I eat lunch. New College’s administration funds talks that im As a faith community, this is intolerable. We must stand together to Certified WatChmaker appraisals in order to “Obtain Peace in theexpert MiddleJeWelry East,” werepairs must “abolis fight such bigotry and strive to build Dr. King’s “Beloved Community. ” Telephone Number WatCh Batteries all Work donewill on siteassum Of course,restringing people who do not know any better begin Israel is a brutally oppressive Unfortunately, people bel full-service jewelry center power. | Buying Precious Metals As one who belongs to a people who have been disenfranchised since Your one-stop hoax, without paying any mind to the current terrorist organ our ancestors’ feet touched this continent, I understand the hurt behind Fax Number Th i ly inJthe e Middle w e lEast. e rHamas and ISIS aren’t the issue to the hatred that ignorance continues to perpetuate among what is e F a mpresent 8342 market street • lakewood ranch • (941) 907-3418 • www.thefamilyjeweler.com

July 2015

Ros Mazur appointed to National Women’s Philanthropy board By Ilene Fox

os Mazur was recently appointNorth American communities, Israel ed to the National Women’s and the Jewish people. The NWP repPhilanthropy (NWP) board resents Federations of all sizes from of The Jewish Federations of North across North America and hundreds America (JFNA). She joins Nelle Millof thousands of donors at all levels of er, past Federation president, who has giving, all around the world. The NWP served on the board for six years. board serves a critical role on both a Ros is the co-founder national and local and co-chair of the Fedlevel. Nationally, the eration’s Women’s Givboard sets the tone ing Circle, which in 2015 by engaging women completed its second year at the highest levels of allocations with more of decision-making than 50 women participatwithin the system. ing. She has been a memThe NWP board prober of the Federation’s vides resources to loboard of directors and cocal communities and chair of Nashim L’Tova inspirational leader(Women for Good) for ship to advocate for three years. Ros and her Federation programs family sponsored the Len and services around Ros Mazur Mazur Memorial Lecture the world. On a local on anti-Semitism featuring Professor level, the NWP board serves as liaiAlan Dershowitz in February. She has son between communities and NWP been a participant on the JFNA Camin order to ensure that the community paign Chairs and Directors Mission, is aware of programs and initiatives and has attended the International Lion of JFNA and the board and, alternaof Judah Conference. She was the 2012 tively, that the board is informed of the recipient of Federation’s Woman of needs of the communities. NWP board Valor Award and has served on many members serve as role models to other Federation committees. women and men in the community, and Inspired and guided by traditions inspire others to get involved and beof tzedakah (righteousness/charity) come leaders in their own right. and tikkun olam (repairing the world), Mazel tov to Ros on this well-deNWP is dedicated to the continuity, served appointment! connectivity and thriving future of our

140 kosher characters

twitter.com/jfedsrq

Lund University Foundation Presents

The Ravensbrück Archive – A Lost Treasure! Tuesday, June 30 at 6:30pm The Jewish Federation Campus

Bea Friedman Theater

idden for 70 years, the Ravensbrück Archive contains 500+ detailed interviews with women and children concentration camp survivors, lists of prisoners, maps, notebooks, diaries, artwork, and memorabilia carried out of the camp by survivors while escaping.

Richard Ohlsson and Robert Resnick from Lund University Foundation, welcome you to a unique unveiling of artifacts and special Ravensbrück Archive presentation by Håkan Håkansson, Associate Professor at Lund University in Sweden. We are displaying never before seen Holocaust materials in the lobby area and there will be a Q&A session after the presentation.

FEDERATION NEWS Isaac Azerad...continued from page 1 aspiration of the Jewish people for their one and only homeland in this world, should be displeasing or questionable to a group or a society is threatening, saddening and disheartening. AntiSemitism is a societal pathology that decays the heart of human discourse. Its consequences, often miscalculated, have resulted in historical catastrophes. In a zero sum game mentality, there are no winners. The following is part of an analysis that appeared in Tablet Magazine on February 25, 2015, in the ﬁrst of a ﬁvepart series, entitled “A Polite Hatred.” Howard Jacobson, the literary voice of British Jewry, has captured the fear and self-loathing that now surrounds the issues of Israel and antiSemitism in Britain in his two most recent books: The Finkler Question and J. “Israel has become the pretext [for anti-Semitism] not because I choose it to be, but because they have. All the unsayable things, all the things they know they can’t say about Jews in a post-Holocaust liberal society, they can say again now. Israel has desacralized the subject. It’s a space in which everything is allowed again.” The difficulty all British Jews face with growing anti-Zionism is how to interpret it. What is legitimate criticism and what is something else?

Sometimes it is clear when the line has been crossed, such as when swastikas and the Magen David start appearing on placards together. But other times it is far less clear, woven into a complex mix of genuine and excessive outrage. Jacobson’s strength on this issue is his ability to sort the anti-Semitic wheat from the anti-Israel chaff. As Americans we cherish our freedom of speech and we treasure the opportunity to elevate debate to a lofty level. We have seen, with great distaste, the deterioration of many societies falling into the trap of hatred and intimidation as we are urged, at times, to silently gloss over an uncomfortable subject. We owe it to ourselves to entertain thought-provoking dialogues. Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks, commenting on the sometimes tense dialogue between differing opinions among Jews said: “You don’t have to agree with me. But as a fellow Jew, you have to love me.” “A Polite Hatred” is the first of a five-part series on growing anti-Semitism in the United Kingdom by Ben Judah and Josh Glancy; February 25, 2015; Tablet Magazine. The first part of the series, “The Jewish Jane Austen, or England’s Jeremiah?” examines the celebrated novelist Howard Jacobson’s views on anti-Semitism.

Jessi Sheslow...continued from page 1 certain fields because we weren’t allowed to join the general work population. We had to start our own banks, or medical practices, or law offices. We did this because we had to, not because we were privileged enough to have a silver spoon. In fact, there are points in our history when we didn’t even have a spoon. “Community Voice” was not intended to pick a fight; we are standing up for ourselves and being a voice for members of our community who we should support. Killer. Oppressor. Colonizer. Hitler was right. These are all things that our pro-Israel and Jewish students hear on many college campuses around our nation. Our students, Jewish and non-Jewish alike, are being bombarded by hate-filled experiences at a time and place when learning and dialog are meant to be paramount. At a time in their lives when young adults are meant to enjoy their campus experience, meet new friends and join student groups from all walks of life, they are pigeonholed and intimidated when they are simply being who they are in public. Often, the line between being critical of Israel and being anti-Semitic doesn’t exist. Our students need our support, they need our help, and they need to feel proud of who they are and what they believe. There are daily reports about antiSemitism toward students on college

campuses, including UCLA, Stanford, Columbia, Northwestern, NYU, Wesleyan, Penn State, DePaul, Brandeis, the University of South Florida, and New College of Florida to name just a few. Free speech is vital to everyone in our community. Faculty and students alike should feel free to speak out without retribution. We need to create space for conﬂicting views. Above all, we need to safeguard students’ safety on campus. The Jewish Federation of Sarasota-Manatee has started an initiative that I care about deeply and hope you will, too. It’s called FAST – Fighting Anti-Semitism Today. It is co-chaired by Iris Nahemow and Sandra Rifkin, and powered by concerned community members: Adam Caldwell, Madison Bryan, Deb Bryan, Sylvia Samet, Andi Munzer, Bob Munzer, Hannah Weinberg, Norman Weinberg, Judi Kersun, Paul Gandel, Anita Cohen, Michael Cohen, Joan Cohen, Sy Goldblatt, Toby Kaulkin, Marvin Kaulkin, Hedria Saltzman and Roz Kane. In the coming year, you will see FAST take ﬂight on the Suncoast to support our next generation of college students. If you have any questions about this initiative, please email me at jsheslow@jfedsrq.org. Jessi Sheslow is the Director of Community Relations at The Jewish Federation of Sarasota-Manatee, the Heller Israel Advocacy Initiative and FAST.

What do you think? The Jewish News wants to know!

Send an email to jewishnews18@gmail.com. Letters Policy

Letters must include the author’s name, full address and daytime phone. Letters should be no longer than 300 words. We reserve the right to edit for length and/or accuracy. Letters do not necessarily reflect the viewpoint of The Jewish News of Sarasota-Manatee or its advertisers. We cannot acknowledge or publish every letter received.

BUY • SELL • TRADE • SERVICE

Lund University Foundation is a U.S. non-profit 501(c)(3) organization. For more information about the event or Ravensbrück, please email

EXPERT FINE WATCH REPAIR

SPECIALIZING IN ROLEX AND ALL HIGH END WATCHES

Richard.Ohlsson@lunduniversityfoundation.org or call 941.544.2895.

Envision Enterprises, Inc. 4180 South Tamiami Sarasota, FL (Just South of Walt’s Fish Market) M-Th: 10a-6p F: 10a-6p Sat-Sun: Closed

Light refreshments and inspiring conversation will be served! FREE ADMISSION

Klingenstein Jewish Center 582 McIntosh Rd, Sarasota • jfedsrq.org

RESTORATION • MODERN & VINTAGE

941.953.1315

We are not affiliated with Rolex USA

SHOP ONLINE www.SarasotaWatch.com

ROLEX ROLEX SERVICE SPECIAL

SERVICE OVERHAUL OVERHAUL $350

$ 350 (VALUE $795)$795) (VALUE

Not valid with any other offers or discounts. Restrictions may apply. Must Expires 7/31/15 9/30/14 Must present present coupon. Expires

$ 8 BATTERY

1 YEAR WARRANTY ON ALL BATTERIES Not valid with any other offers or discounts. Restrictions may apply. Must present coupon. Expires 7/31/15

July 2015

FEDERATION NEWS

Federation grants college scholarships to 30 students

ing fulltime undergraduate studies at -universities, colleges or community colleges, and have demonstrated strong ycommunity service and religious involvement, good academic records, and financial need. d Award recipients and their families were welcomed at a reception at ethe Federation on Wednesday, May 20, -where scholarship fund holders were

able to meet and present certificates to recipients of their respective scholarships. Haven Miller, who received one of five Betty Schoenbaum scholarships, spoke about how Federation programs and scholarships for community youth have shaped her academic goals and passion for Israel. Maria Wirries, a Robert Michelson Interfaith Scholarship recipient and musical theater major at Penn State, performed “Don’t Rain on My Parade” and “Almost There.” Roxanne Felig, who received awards from the Edith Becker Lilienfeld Scholarship, Meyer Sarkin Schol-

arship, B’nai B’rith Gulf Coast Lodge #2004 Scholarship, and The Jewish Federation of Sarasota-Manatee College Scholarship, was there to testify how scholarships helped her in her quest for higher education. “The Jewish Federation of Sarasota-Manatee has played an integral role in my life for many years. I was fortunate to participate in the Florence Melton Communiteen Program as well as the Bob Malkin Young Ambassador mission and the March of the Living mission. Since graduating from Pine View, these past two years were no different, as I have received very generous college

s o u

t , e s 2015 college scholarship recipients and fund holders (photo by Cliff Roles)

Making “Never Again” a reality

, e w By Brody McCurdy . ach year, Pine View’s Stur dents Working Against Genoe cide Club, also known as Save Darfur, holds a weeklong event called r “Save Darfur Week,” where students o on campus rally for an end to genocide everywhere and call attention to ethe current conﬂict going on in Darfur. uThis year’s event took place in March. “Many students are unaware of the g genocide that is taking place in Darfur d right as we speak,” said Naba Rahman, , ythe club’s president. “People always nsay ‘never again’ when we talk about ithe Holocaust and genocide, but geno-cides have continued to occur. This event makes students aware of these lconﬂicts and calls on them to take a ,stand.” At the climax of the week, thanks a to the help of The Jewish Federation eof Sarasota-Manatee, the Save Darofur club was able to arrange for Hoelocaust survivor Paul Molnar to come

s t

and speak to the students on campus about his experience as a Hungarian Jew under the Nazi regime during the Second World War. A witness to the horrors of Auschwitz during his first day in camp, Molnar traveled to various other concentration camps where he experienced, firsthand, the terrors of life for Jews, homosexuals, prisoners of war, the disabled, and the millions of others whom the Nazis deemed unfit for society. “Mr. Molnar was the highlight of the week,” said Jenny Li, an officer for the club. “His story of survival helped put things in perspective, knowing that atrocities like the ones that Mr. Molnar experienced are still going on today. We owe the Federation and Mr. Molnar a huge thank you for making this year’s Save Darfur Week so successful.” Brody McCurdy is a student at Pine View School.

NEW VIEW CLEANING SERVICES, INC. Professional • Prompt • Polished • Polite • WINDOW CLEANING • PRESSURE WASHING

Licensed and Insured since 1994

W. 941-955-4060 • C. 941-544-2895

Richard Ohlsson Richard@NewViewInc.com

www.NewViewInc.com

Program/event ads featured in this issue Masa Israel Travel Scholarship......26 Newcomers....................................4 PJ Library®....................................26 Send-a-Kid-to-Israel Program.......26 Shalom Baby.................................27

Speakers Bureau - Holocaust.........23 Speakers Bureau - Israel.................20 Uncovering Ancient Israel...............6 The Ravensbrück Archive................2 Women’s Giving Circle.................10

941.371.4546 TheJewishFederation.org

scholarships from The Jewish Federation of Sarasota-Manatee to help defer the cost of my college education. These are but a few of the ways The Jewish Federation gives back to our community and encourages our youth to embrace Judaism. Without these scholarships, attending college would have been a huge financial burden. I am so lucky to live in a community with an organization that fosters such amazing opportunities for our youth.” College scholarship award presenters took a moment during the reception to reﬂect on the meaning of the scholarships and what they hoped the students would be able to achieve as a result of receiving a scholarship. For some, easing the burden that college debt places on their families was paramount. For others, remembering how the Jewish community or Federation helped them achieve their own goals was the catalyst. For everyone, the hope that a scholarship from The Jewish Federation of Sarasota-Manatee would inspire the hundreds of recipients throughout the years to give back to their Jewish community in some way exemplifies the tradition of “L’dor V’dor,” from generation to generation.

Who does the Jewish community turn to for the most trusted service in real estate? the

Ackerman

BARBARA

REALTOR®

GROUP

The name to know in real estate

The #1 group in Sarasota and Manatee Counties & all of Southwest Florida for 2013

941-387-1820 Direct 800-910-8728 Toll-Free

barbara@barbaraackerman.com www.barbaraackerman.com Coldwell Banker Residential Real Estate 201 Gulf of Mexico Drive, Suite 1 • Longboat Key, FL 34228

Braendel Painting, Inc.

BAC0814-019 jewish ad.indd 1

8/7/14 12:08 PM

2059 19th St.,

Sarasota, FL 34234

941.923.1968 Fax 941.906.8557

www.braendelpainting.com

Welcome to the Neighborhood We are a Concierge Holistic Family Medical Practice with a focus on wellness.

• Longer appointments • Minimal wait time • Same-day sick appointments • Cell phone/text/email access to providers • Personal call with lab & test results • Monthly e-newsletter WHERE WELLNESS IS NOT A CLICHÉ n trust, who cares enough to get • In-office wellness seminars r you ca “ Finding a new docto nt and not always easy after a move. rta po im WELCOME TO OUR NEW is borhood. to know you, lcome you to the neigh , MD we e W PREMIER PROGRAM, THE –Laura Hershorin NEXT GENERATION OF Schedule your HEALTH & WELLNESS. complimentary

We are pleased to announce that we are now offering CONCIERGE-STYLE medical care with: Longer appointments Minimal wait time Same-day Shaun Dumas, AP, DOMsick appointments Susan Schussler, RD, CDE Acupuncturist Nutritionist Cell phone/text/email access to providers Personal call with lab and test results Monthly e-newsletter In-ofﬁce wellness seminars

6120 53RD AVENUE

Laura Hershorin, M.D.

Ashley Metzgar, PA-C

“Meet the Doc” appointment to see if concierge medicine is right for you.

941-364-4411

Laura Hershorin, M.D.

Ashley Metzgar, PA-C

www.SarasotaCenter.com Schedule your complimentary “Meet the Doc” appointment to see if concierge medicine isIN right BRADENTON for you. EAST/SR70 941-364-4411

1673150

s sBy Andrea Eiffert g he Jewish Federation of Sarat sota-Manatee is proud to anx nounce that $71,400 has been .awarded to 30 college scholarship rescipients from Sarasota and Manatee tcounties. All recipients will be pursu-

Acupuncture The Jewish News is a monthly nonprofit newspaper supported by generous readers, committed advertisers andwww.SarasotaCenter.com The Jewish Federation of Sarasota-Manatee. & Nutrition Consults

July 2015

FEDERATION NEWS

STEP Beach Bash a success!

Rescue Adoption Education Resource Center

By Federation Staff

Cat Depot Supply and Gift Store – Open Daily – unique gifts, wet and dry cat food, litter, calming products 2542 17th Street, Sarasota, FL 34234 www.catdepot.org 941.366.2404

ant to know more about ice cream cone s’mores? Just ask the more than 20 high school teens from Sarasota and Manatee counties who attended the STEP Beach Bash on Siesta Key in May. Teen leaders Adam Caldwell, Isadora Gruber and Erica Brown coordinated the afternoon event which, in addition to s’more fillings stuffed into wafﬂe cones, wrapped in foil and grilled to ooey gooey perfection, included beach volleyball and a guys versus girls dodge ball game. Adam Caldwell, who had just returned from the March of the Living, took a few minutes to talk about how it further strengthened his connection to Judaism. He spoke about what it meant for him to hear from Holocaust survivors, firsthand, about the horrors they experienced in the very places he was visiting with them in Poland. Par-

ticipants were brought into the discusback-to-school pool party is scheduled sion with questions about their own for August and, from there, the discusexperiences with anti-Semitism. Orna sion will continue with local teens, Nissan, Director of Holocaust EducaJewish youth professionals, educators, tion and Israel Programs at The Jewclergy and parents. ish Federation of Sarasota-Manatee, Want to know more, share a great idea, or be part of the planning? Conprovided insight into ways students tact STEP coordinator Andrea Eiffert can stand up and empower themselves at 941.552.6308 or aeiffert@jfedsrq. and others against anti-Semitism. org. And join Jewish Federation SRQ Siesta Key Beach provided a prime STEP or Sarasota Jewish Teens on location for teens to meet, socialize Facebook. and just be Jewish together. It was also a catalyst to begin a discussion about what kinds of activities will attract more Jewish teens and how to work together to strengthen and unite our Jewish youth communiMaking s’mores at the STEP Beach Bash ty. For starters, a

Ashlyn Downey, Caroline Colburn, Mackenzie Grace, Sammi Zelitt

(Left front to back) Daniel Nissan, Baron Carvel, Josh Yunis, Jeremy Caldwell, (right front to back) Sam Sklar, Isadora Gruber, Elinor Sevy

Intern opportunity for computer-savvy teen! By Andrea Eiffert

ooking for some community service hours you can earn from your own computer at your convenience? The Jewish Federation of Sarasota-Manatee is seeking a high school teen who is detail-oriented, organized, computer-savvy and reliable to oversee a new community calendar initiative.

Dedicated to Keeping Sarasota Athletes IN THE GAME Since 1993 Shapiro Sports Medicine concentrates on helping athletes maintain optimum health and peak performance.

The purpose of the calendar is to house all local Jewish events, programs and happenings in one easy-toaccess location for the benefit of all area Jewish teens. Everything from youth group conventions and social events to scholarship application deadlines and community service projects can be submitted to the student intern

who will then add them to the calendar. Teens will be able to access the calendar and then easily import events to their personal calendar ensuring they never miss another important date! For more information, or to apply, please contact me at 941.552.6308 or aeiffert@jfedsrq.org.

REACH YOUR TARGET MARKET

Advertise in

Dr. Shapiro received his fellowship training in sports medicine from Stanford University.

Robin Leonardi • 941.552.6307

rleonardi@jfedsrq.org

6050 Cattleridge Blvd.

I Sarasota, FL 34232 I (941) 365-0655

www.TheJewishNews.org

www.ShapiroSportsMedicine.com

SPRING IS IN THE AIR GET OUT AND WALK, HIKE, CLIMB, TRAVEL … IN NEW CASUAL WEAR AT ENVIRONEERS

Looking to connect with other members of the Jewish community?

We Welcome You!

The Jewish Federation would like to welcome you to the area. We hope you feel at home and become active members of the Sarasota-Manatee Jewish community.

5373 Fruitville Rd., Sarasota 941.371.6208 | environeers.com

July 2015

FEDERATION NEWS

A U.S.-Arab Summit and what it means for Israel

By Rabbi Howard A. Simon, co-Chair of The Robert and Esther Heller Israel Advocacy Initiative Established 1971

PUBLISHER The Jewish Federation of Sarasota-Manatee Klingenstein Jewish Center 580 McIntosh Road Sarasota, FL 34232-1959 Phone: 941.371.4546 Fax: 941.378.2947 E-mail: jewishnews@jfedsrq.org Website: www.jfedsrq.org Published Monthly Volume 45, Number 7 July 2015 28 pages USPS Permit No. 167 August 2015 Issue Deadlines: Editorial: June 30, 2015 Advertising: July 2, 2015 PRESIDENT Nancy Swart EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR Howard Tevlowitz COMMUNICATIONS CHAIR Linda Lipson MANAGING EDITOR Ted Epstein COMMUNICATIONS Isaac Azerad ADVERTISING SALES Robin Leonardi PROOFREADERS Adeline Silverman, Harold Samtur, Bryna Tevlowitz, Deb Bryan, Sandra Hayden MIMI AND JOSEPH J. EDLIN JOURNALISM INTERN Marinna Okawa MISSION STATEMENT: The Jewish News of Sarasota-Manatee strives to be the source of news and features of special interest to the Jewish community of Sarasota-Manatee, to provide a forum for the exchange of ideas and opinions in the Jewish community, and to communicate the mission, activities and achievements of the Federation and its Jewish community partners. OPINIONS printed in The Jewish News of Sarasota-Manatee do not necessarily reflect those of The Jewish Federation of SarasotaManatee, its Board of Directors or staff. SUBMISSIONS to The Jewish News are subject to editing for space and content, and may be withheld from publication without prior notice. Approval of submissions for publication in either verbal or written form shall always be considered tentative, and does not imply a guarantee of any kind. Submissions must be sent electronically to jewishnews@jfedsrq.org. LETTERS to the editor should not exceed 300 words, must be typed, and include the writer’s name, mailing address and phone number. Letters can be submitted via snail mail or email (jewishnews@jfedsrq.org). Not all letters will be published. Letters may be edited for length and content. ADVERTISING: Publisher reserves the right to refuse any advertisement and may require the words “Paid Advertisement” in any ad. Publication of advertisements does not constitute endorsement of products, services or ideas promoted therein.

resident Obama and his advisors dent does not want to see happen but have held a six-nation summit to may not be able to stop. discuss concerns in the Middle It would appear that, in a world of East, nuclear development and Iran, disorder, which describes the Middle and the role the United States wishes to East today, the belief is growing that play in the area. The goal was to have countries can count less on the United the leaders of the Gulf CoopStates and must instead eration Council – Saudi Arafocus on what each bia, the United Arab Emirates, country can do for itQatar, Kuwait, Bahrain and self. The United States Oman – all in attendance to is no longer viewed as talk, reason together and come the partner par excelaway, the President hoped, lence that will keep the unified regarding future deMiddle East safe and velopments in the region. nuclear-free. This is so Prior to the conference, even though President Saudi Arabia’s King Salman Obama reaffirmed our and Bahrain’s King Hamad county’s commitment Rabbi Howard A. Simon bin Isa Al Khalifa decided they would to defending the six nations of the Gulf not attend the summit. Why did they Cooperation Council against outside back out of this important gathering? aggression, and deepen security coThey did so because they believed not operation and speed arms transfers to enough progress had been made in these Sunni Arab states. The problem narrowing the differences with Washis the GCC lacks confidence in the ington on issues such as Iran and the President’s statements and fears he is Syrian civil war. solely concerned with obtaining, at any What really has taken place in councost, a nuclear agreement with Iran. tries like Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Turkey, Israel views all of this and how the United Arab Emirates and Qatar is does she feel, faced with such discusthat they are focusing their attention on sions and deliberations? The answer is gaining more advanced weaponry to she feels isolated and very much alone. counter an Iran they do not trust. They Israel believes the primary concern of wish to obtain surveillance equipment, the United States is Iran and all else cruise missiles and drones. Each countakes a very distant second place in our try is also considering the development nation’s thinking. Israel sees the GCC of its own nuclear capability to counter concerned more and more with proany nuclear agreement with Iran. This tecting itself, which means obtaining quest for nuclear arms in an extended newer and more powerful weapons to Middle East area is just what the Presiface the dual threat of Iran and ISIS.

Israel sees itself left alone to deal with more missiles for Hezbullah, ISIS on the Golan Heights, and Iran seeking to obtain more missiles to add to its defense program. Israel believes the Middle Eastern countries have all turned away from both friend and foe as they look within, seeking to gain access to more weapons, newer and faster planes and, of course, nuclear weapons to provide a defense arsenal. The future is indeed grave. Fighting continues in Syria and Yemen. The threat of escalation of armed conﬂict exists everywhere. The leaders of the Middle East are confused, unsure about tomorrow, and feeling a gnawing distrust of the United States, regardless of the promises made by President Obama. Each nation, including Israel, feels as if it is on its own. Each feels it must defend itself and its land. Each must protect its own people. All must be vigilant, and trust has become a word bandied about, but not believed in. The Middle East thus stands at a crossroads, not sure which way to turn and what the future holds. The clock is ticking and the need to act becomes more real with the passing of each day. Time will tell what will be the eventual outcome. As time passes, fears mount for one and all. For more information about the Heller IAI, visit www.sarasotalovesisrael.com or contact Jessi Sheslow at jsheslow@ jfedsrq.org or 941.343.2109.

Experience you can count on. Personal attention you deserve. A name you can trust... in your community. Lives change every day due to the negligence of others. Loved ones are lost. Families face mounting medical bills. Paychecks stop. Lives unravel. You need an attorney you can trust... one who personally helps you. you can count on dan dannheisser to... Aggressively represent you and use his three decades of trial experience and all of his firm’s resources to obtain the very best possible outcome and recoveries for you.

Call Dan at 702-2103 to schedule your free consultation. Community Leadership At a time when our community and many charitable organizations continue to struggle, they need our support more than ever. 5% of my fees received from personal injury litigation will be donated to Judaic organizations & other local charities.

1834 Main Street • Sarasota, FL 34236 • 941.702.2103 • dandannheisser.com

Wrongful Death • Personal Injury • aCCIDents • auto & MotorCyCle aCCIDents

Merrill Lynch welcomes Kasie Rubin to the team Meyers, Rubin & Associates. Connecting your financial life to what matters most begins with a conversation. With 49 years of financial experience, Meyers, Rubin & Associates can work with you to cultivate a deep understanding of your unique situation and the life you want to live. Quite simply, your goals are theirs.

Meyers, Rubin & Associates Kasie S. Rubin Financial Advisor 941.364.5685 • kasie.rubin@ml.com Thomas M. Meyers, CFP® Senior Vice President – Wealth Management Wealth Management Advisor Portfolio Manager

Kevin A. Rubin Senior Vice President – Wealth Management Wealth Management Advisor Portfolio Manager Merrill Lynch 1819 Main Street, 12th Floor, Sarasota, FL 34236 http://fa.ml.com/meyers.rubin

STAY CONNECTED

Life’s better when we’re connected®

Merrill Lynch Wealth Management makes available products and services offered by Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith Incorporated, a registered broker-dealer and Member SIPC, and other subsidiaries of Bank of America Corporation.

Investment products: Are Not FDIC Insured Are Not Bank Guaranteed May Lose Value The Bull Symbol, Life’s better when we’re connected and Merrill Lynch are trademarks of Bank of America Corporation. Certified Financial Planner Board of Standards, Inc. owns the certification marks CFP® and CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNERTM in the U.S. © 2015 Bank of America Corporation. All rights reserved.

.com/jfedsrq

ARL5HKX8 | AD-06-15-0081.B | 470958PM-0615 | 06/2015

Read the current and previous editions of The Jewish News online at www.jfedsrq.org.

July 2015

FEDERATION NEWS

Volunteer appreciation celebration

R i

By Jeremy Lisitza

n Tuesday, April 21, The Jewish Federation of SarasotaManatee held a special party in appreciation of its hard-working, generous volunteers. The event was co-chaired by Bunny Skirboll and Sue Shimelman. Patti Wertheimer, Federation’s board president-elect, said the volunteer celebration reﬂected the positive energy generated by volunteers and Federation members at the past season’s numerous successful events,

many of which received groundbreaking attendance. Volunteers shared how their roles connected them to a community of friends, shared interests and stimulating programs. “It was great to celebrate with my colleagues in the volunteer community,” said Bert Sheffer. “I feel proud to do my part in adding to the success of The Federation.” June Sobol agreed with Bert and added that she’s been delighted to “not only give back but to make last-

Bunny Skirboll, Barbara Jacob, Joan Feldman, Adeline Silverman

AJC’s 2015 Summer Lunch & Learn Series! July 28 11:30 a.m. – 1:30 p.m. Michael’s On East, Sarasota Only $28 Per Lecture—Includes Luncheon! Reservations Required. R.S.V.P. to 941.365.4955 or email: sarasota@ajc.org

ing friendships.” Gail Leavitt said that it feels good “to know how much our volunteer efforts are valued and appreciated.” If you would like to become a part of this integral component of The Federation, sign up online at www.jfedsrq.org and click on “Volunteer,” or contact me at 941.343.2113 or jlisitza@jfedsrq.org.

I Louise Westelman, Gail Leavitt, Patti Wertheimer

Y c Fifty Shades of “J” Happy HourE June Sobol, Jacki Levin, Louise Westelman, Bert Sheffer, Jane Wexler

By Jeremy Lisitza

little rain couldn’t keep more than 40 people from attending a celebratory happy hour for singles and couples at Mattison’s City Grille in May. Mattison’s treated the group to delicious pizzas and salmon sliders, and a great time was had by all. As a new Fifty Shades member,

Fae Beloff said, “I loved it! People were very friendly. I invite everyone reading this to come to our next gathering!” For more information on Fifty Shades of “J” Happy Hour, contact me at 941.343.2113 or jlisitza@jfedsrq. org.

T U E SDAY, JULY 28

Dina Siegel Vann AJC’s Director of the Belfer Institute for Latino & Latin American Affairs Changing Tides for the U.S., Cuba, and Israel How will a rapprochement between the U.S. and Cuba affect Latin America as a region, and what will its impact be for U.S. and Israel’s relations?

Joan Miller, Marlene Baron, Ira Press, Mia Mallett, Ellis Goodman

Sponsored by

Temple Emanu-El is taking “Splash Shabbat” on the road! This annual fun morning of water play for young Jewish and interfaith families will be held this year at Central Park in Lakewood Ranch. Beat the heat at the playground’s fantastic splash park, then enjoy a bagel breakfast and age-appropriate Shabbat prayers, songs and movement with Rabbi Brenner Glickman. An “oneg” of popsicles concludes the morning. “Splash Shabbat” is sponsored by Temple EmanuEl and The Jewish Federation of Sarasota-Manatee. All are welcome at 10:30 a.m. at Central Park at Lakewood Ranch, 11803 Gramercy Park Avenue. Free, but advance reservations required. For more information or to RSVP, contact Rabbi Elaine Rose Glickman at 941.379.1997 or elaineglickman@comcast.net.

SUNDAY, JULY 19 Temple Emanu-El’s Israeli Wine-Tasting If you missed Temple Emanu-El’s free wine-tasting event last summer, you won’t want to miss this one! Please join us for a lovely evening of good conversation and good cheer and hear Rabbi Brenner Glickman share his insights on the vintages and regions of the Israeli wine we will sample. This wonderful event is sponsored by Temple Emanu-El’s Outreach Committee. It begins at 6:30 p.m. at Fresh Start Café, 630 South Orange Avenue in Burns Court, Sarasota. Free admission and wine tasting; freshly-prepared Mediterranean light bites will be available for purchase. Reservations are required by July 13. To RSVP or for more information, email TEEwinetasting@gmail.com.

Sarasota Liberal Yeshiva LATE SUMMER SEMESTER 2015 – EIGHT WEEK COURSES

Join us for a gathering of mommies and babies to sing Jewish and Israeli children’s songs, and bond with other moms! The fun begins at 11:00 a.m. in the Hecht Building on the Federation Campus, 580 McIntosh Road, Sarasota. Free with registration. To RSVP or for more information, contact Jessi Sheslow at jsheslow@ jfedsrq.org or 941.343.2109. Sponsored by

“Time to Talk About Tisha B’Av” Whether or not you fast on Tisha B’Av, its history is relevant to today’s Jewry. Learn the background of this “national” day of mourning for the Jewish people, discuss its liturgy, and share a kosher brunch with us. Examine the extraordinary catastrophes that have befallen the Jewish people on this day for centuries and why Tisha B’Av is observed around the world since it was instituted in the second century as the saddest day of the year. Join us at 11:00 a.m. at the Al Katz Center, 5910 Cortez Road West, Bradenton. Cost: $7 per person; healthy kosher foods and discussion materials included. To RSVP, call Beverly Newman at 941.313.9239.

MONDAY, JULY 27 “Hatikvah: The Hope” Learn the meaning of the words of Israel’s National Anthem and the historical background of this perfect song that reaches the souls of millions worldwide across the generations. Listen, learn, sing, and share a kosher brunch with us in celebration of the song of the State of Israel. How does “Hatikvah” match the collective soul of the Jewish people? What are its origins? Watch “Hatikvah” performed in video clips from around the world! Join us at 11:00 a.m. at the Al Katz Center, 5910 Cortez Road West, Bradenton. Cost: $7 per person; healthy kosher foods and discussion materials included. To RSVP, call Beverly Newman at 941.313.9239.

TUESDAY, JULY 28

SARAH: THE MATRIARCH AND OTHER SARAHS

Tuesdays 10:30 AM – 11:45 AM • Starting August 4

Sarah, the Matriarch, holds a very special place in our tradition as the wife of Abraham, the first Jew and founder of monotheism. Scripture lacks a lot of detail about the life of Sarah but we glean a great deal when we visit other Jewish sources: Midrash, Talmud, the Women’s Bible, etc. Her life will unfold before our eyes as we review this remarkable heroine of the Jewish People. Her name serves as a blessing for all female converts whose new Hebrew name includes “bat Sarah” (daughter of Sarah). During this course we’ll introduce you as well to other notable Sarahs. Fee $50.

JEWS BY STATES

Fridays 10:30 AM – 11:45 AM • Starting August 7 Jewish people can be found in every one of the 50 United States and US territories. The history of Jewish wandering is an age old tale but how much do we know about Jewish settlement in the USA. Each state has a distinct history, set of characters, and record of institutional development. This course is a modern history study of how Jewish communities were established throughout the land ever since 1654. We’ll examine population statistics, notable sons and daughters from each state and unusual tales of exploration and public response to Jewish settlement. Fee $50.

BEING JEWISH

Mondays 4:15 PM – 5:15 PM • Starting August 10 We live in a most remarkable and hectic time in human history having survived as a Jewish People since the great exodus from Egypt some 3500 years ago. A course has been designed to learn about how Judaism has settled into the modern period. Unusual stories of discovery and adaptation will tickle your fancy and bring you up to date on being Jewish in the contemporary world. The Jews’ contributions to civilization are well-known but with seemingly increased anti-Semitism and the international isolation of Israel, there is much to learn and do in order to feel more comfortable in a rapidly changing geo-political climate. Fee $50. Classes are held on the Campus of the Jewish Federation, 580 McIntosh Rd. in Sarasota. To register or seek more information, please contact Marden Paru, Dean and Rosh Yeshiva at 941.379.5655 or marden.paru@gmail.com. Please make checks payable to the Sarasota Liberal Yeshiva and mail to Marden Paru, 2729 Goodwood Court, Sarasota, FL 34235. NOTICE OF NONDISCRIMINATORY POLICY AS TO STUDENTS: The Sarasota Liberal Yeshiva admits students of any race, color, national and ethnic origin to all the rights, privileges, programs, and activities generally accorded or made available to students at the school. It does not discriminate on the basis of race, admissions policies, scholarship and loan programs, and other school-administered programs. The Sarasota Liberal Yeshiva is a 501(c)3 non-profit agency. It is funded, in part, by a grant from The Jewish Federation of Sarasota-Manatee.

AJC’s Summer Lunch & Learn Series AJC (American Jewish Committee) is proud to present keynote speaker Dina Siegel Vann for a discussion of “Changing Tides for the U.S., Cuba and Israel.” Ms. Siegel Vann, AJC’s Director of the Belfer Institute for Latino & Latin American Affairs, will examine the possible effects a rapprochement between the U.S. and Cuba will have on U.S.-Israel relations. The event takes place from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. at Michael’s On East, 1212 S. East Ave., Sarasota. Williams Parker is the generous sponsor of this three-part Summer Lunch & Learn Series. The cost of $28 includes the lecture and luncheon. Advance registration is required. Contact West Coast Florida AJC at 941.365.4955 or sarasota@ajc.org.

THURSDAY, JULY 30 “Jewish Mothers Who Changed History” It is impossible to identify and assess the praiseworthy achievements of courageous Jewish mothers in building outstanding leaders in every conceivable field of human endeavor. From Sarah, mother of the Jewish people, to Blume Naidtich, mother of Golda Meir, motherhood has always been a sacred art for Jewish women, passed from generation to generation. How does motherhood make greatness? How is Jewish motherhood especially difficult or distinctive? Share your experiences and insights with us. Join us at 7:00 p.m. at the Al Katz Center, 5910 Cortez Road West, Bradenton. Cost: $7 per adult; $3 per student; healthy kosher foods and discussion materials included. To RSVP, call Beverly Newman at 941.313.9239.

F A Q

How do I get items in The Jewish News? Email your articles and photos to jewishnews18@gmail.com. What are The Jewish News deadlines? Items are due the 25th of each month, or earlier if the 25th falls on a weekend or holiday. Where can I get a copy of The Jewish News? Papers are available at more than 50 locations, including several local libraries, synagogues and offices throughout Sarasota-Manatee. See the ad on page 22 for locations. How do I place an ad in The Jewish News? Contact Robin Leonardi, account executive, at rleonardi@jfedsrq.org or call 941.552.6307.

July 2015

JEWISH INTEREST

France and the Shoah: ﬁrst measures By Paul R. Bartrop, PhD

hen reﬂecting on the perpetrators of the Holocaust, of course most people immediately think about Germany and the Nazis, which is both right and proper. The extermination of the Jews was, of course, their own genocidal project. But in July of 1940, developments in France actually preempted any demands Germany might have had for the French government to toe the Nazi Dr. Paul Bartrop line on Jews. The Fall of France took place 75 years ago this month. On July 10, 1940, Marshal Philippe Pétain (18861951) established an authoritarian regime centered in the city of Vichy, when the French National Assembly, in naming him President of the Council, granted him full and extraordinary powers. With that, the Third Republic was dissolved, and an entirely new regime, “Vichy France,” was established for that part of the country that was not occupied by the Germans. Within a week, on July 17, 1940, the first anti-Semitic action was taken against the Jews of France. This saw the expulsion of all Jews from the eastern province of Alsace, where a large and ancient community of Jews lived. Almost immediately, Alsace was then incorporated directly into the German Reich. On the same day, initial anti-Jewish measures were introduced by the Vichy government. A new law was created prohibiting the employment by public and government institutions of any aliens not born in France; from this point on, all civil servants had to have been born to a French citizen and themselves be a citizen of France. The only exception was if the person in question had served in the army (or if their son had). Then, on July 22, Deputy Secretary of State Raphaël Alibert (1887-1963), an ardent follower of the extreme nationalist Action Française movement, established a committee to review all naturalization certificates – numbering some half-a-million – granted since 1927. The upshot saw 15,000 people deprived of their French nationality and rendered stateless. At least 40% of these were Jews. From this point on, the collaborationist Vichy government intensified its measures against Jews – always referring to “alien,” rather than “French,” Jews. In August, for example, a second order was passed that was directed at alien (read Jewish) physicians, dentists and pharmacists, who were forbidden from practicing. Then, on October 3, 1940, the first laws specifically intended for French Jews were promulgated. These laws now excluded Jews from the army, press, commercial and industrial activities, and the civil service. One day later a second law, covering “Aliens of Jewish Race,” was passed. This allowed for the immediate internment of “foreign” Jews, leading to the arrest and confinement of 40,000 Jews in a variety of French-controlled internment camps. Behind these measures was the four-time Prime Minister of France, Pierre Laval (1883-1945). Serving Pétain as Vice-Premier and then as Prime Minister, Laval had a long and somewhat distinguished political career before the outbreak of war, even being named as TIME magazine’s “Man of

the Year” in 1931. Opposed to Nazi Germany during the Third Reich’s early years, he unsuccessfully attempted to enter into an alliance with Italian dictator Benito Mussolini as a way to strengthen his own power base in France, but with the German occupation of France in 1940 he saw that only through complying with German demands could France retain any semblance of autonomy. In next to no time he began to pursue a pro-Nazi position, in doing so embracing an anti-Semitic agenda. With this, he can be credited with designing and implementing the Vichy government’s anti-Jewish policies, including the later roundup and transport of French Jews to the death camps in Poland. Before the war, the population of French Jewry numbered approximately 350,000, about half of whom were foreign born. The anti-Jewish measures of Vichy aided directly in facilitating the murderous objectives of Nazism, and included the roundup of Jews, their transportation to the East, and their eventual extermination. The majority of those deported, estimated at just under 80,000, were sent straight to Auschwitz via the transit camp of Drancy, outside Paris. Most of them perished; two-thirds were foreign-born. And things did not stop there, as further laws continued to be passed throughout the war until France’s liberation in 1944. For all that, most native-born French Jews were not deported. The survival rate of the French-born Jewish population was close to 75%, representing one of the highest survival rates in Europe. This cannot, however, exonerate the French record. The laws enacted by Vichy were in many instances copied directly from Nazi laws dating to the 1930s, and were, moreover, initiated independently and in advance of any German demands to do so. One further July anniversary must be marked at this time, which took place 73 years ago this month: the roundup of Jews at the Vélodrome d’Hiver (the Vel’ d’Hiv) in July 1942. Here, the French police, under the orders of René Bousquet (1909-1993) and his Paris lieutenant, Jean Leguay (1909-1989), organized a raid on July 16-17. The police arrested over 12,000 Jews, comprising 3,031 men, 5,082 women, and 4,051 children (who the Gestapo had not asked for). All were sent to Drancy, and then to Auschwitz. Only 811 would come back after the end of the war. In July 1995, on the occasion of the 53rd anniversary of the round-up, French President Jacques Chirac (b. 1932) acknowledged French complicity in the Holocaust, but even today the scars have yet to heal, and French attitudes, sadly, remain polarized in many areas – a situation not helped by the rise of anti-Semitic radical Islamist groups throughout the country. The position of France’s Jews would seem to be more difficult today than at any time since that awful time, 75 years ago, when a French government turned its back on its Jewish population and began to execute the will of the murderous regime from across the Rhine. Dr. Paul Bartrop is Professor of History and the Director of the Center for Judaic, Holocaust, and Genocide Studies at Florida Gulf Coast University. He can be reached at pbartrop@fgcu.edu.

For a continuously updated community calendar, visit www.jfedsrq.org.

Luxury

THE

15 C O L L E C T I O N

SarasotaCondoChannel.com Sarasota

Luxury Condominiums for Sale in Downtown Sarasota, Florida Our FlexList tm Program Saves Sellers Thousands! Awarded 14 times: 5 Star Best Real Estate Agents Sarasota Magazine • RE/MAX Platinum Club Award Top 6% of Agents Worldwide • 28 Years Real Estate Experience

RON & BOZENA SUPONCIC

941.350.2453

The FLORIDA HOME CHANNELtm Team RE/MAX Alliance Group bozena@suponcic.com ron@suponcic.com Mowie po Polsku Each office independently owned and operated. RE/MAX 100,000 Agents. 6,841 Offices. 97 Countries.

THE UROLOGY TREATMENT CENTER

Winston E. Barzell, M.D., FACS Alan R. Treiman, M.D., FACS Kenneth J. Bregg, M.D., FACS Joshua T. Green, M.D., FACS Robert I. Carey, M.D., PhD, FACS Daniel M. Kaplon, M.D.

Diplomate of the American Board of Urology 1921 Waldemere Street, Suite 310, Sarasota 5350 University Parkway Suite #207, Sarasota

(941) 917-8488

www.urologytreatmentcenter.com

Excellence in Foot and Ankle Care

WITH YOU EVERY STEP OF THE WAY.

Foot & Ankle Care for the Whole Family • 6 Highly Trained Doctors • Serving Manasota 30+ Years • Same Day Appointments • Friendly Staff / en Español

Cortez Foot & Ankle Specialists

BACK: Dr. G. Harte, Dr. S. Handley, Dr. P. Baldinger, Dr. R. Berkun FRONT: Dr. C.J. Addison, Dr. R. Katz

Sarasota

941.360.9300 |

CortezFootAndAnkle.com

Bradenton 941.758.8818 |Parrish 941.776.5199

We’ll Point You in the Right Direction There’s no need to search all over the West coast ... Our Certified Senior Advisors will chart a course directing you or your loved one to an Assisted Living or Memory Care Community.

• • • •

We Help Families Find Independent Living, Assisted Living, Memory Care and In Home Care Options We Review the Care and Violation History of the Communities With Whom We Work We Personally Tour With You to Recommended Facilities That Meet Your Needs We are a NO COST Community Service!

Call Wendy Merlino MBA, CSA to steer you to the caring community perfect for you or your loved one.

www.CarePatrol.com •

941-237-0846

Serving Sarasota & Manatee Counties

Skin cancer affects 1 in 5 Americans. Skin cancer has a better than 99% cure rate if detected and treated early. Source: Source: https://www.aad.org/media-resources/stats-and-facts/conditions/skin-canc https://www.aad.org/media-resources/stats-and-facts/conditions/skin-cancer er

When was your last skin exam? As a MOHS Surgeon and a fellow of the American Society of MOHS Surgery Dr. Abrams is highly recognized in treating skin cancers. Dr. Abrams is A.O.B.D Board Certified Dermatologist & Dermatologic Surgeon. Brad Abrams, D.O., Sheryl Wilson, ARNP-C & Catherine Deans L.E. will ensure that you have healthy skin from head to toe, and will help you look your best. Bradley J. Abrams, D.O.

Healthy

& Beautiful

Adult & Pediatric Skin Exams MOHS Surgery Skin Cancer Screenings Wart & Mole Removal Hair & Nail Disorders Acne & Rosacea

Facial Fillers Botox & Dysport Photo-Rejuvenation Sclerotherapy Laser Treatments Facials & Peels Anti-Aging Treatments ®

Sheryl Wilson, ARNP-C

Catherine Deans, L.E.

Accepting New Patients & Most Insurances

3 3 2 8 Be e Ridge Rd. S arasota| 9 4 1 .9 2 6 .2 3 0 0 | abram sde rm .c om

July 2015

JEWISH INTEREST

Jerusalem Post Crossword Puzzle “Waters of Babylon” By David Benkof

Difﬁculty Level: Easy

47 48 50 52 54 59 62 65 66 67

68 69 70 71 Editor: David Benkof, DavidBenkof@gmail.com Solution on page 23 << Theme: Hollywood Jews with bodies of water as their last names >> Across 23 Mila Kunis’s baby daddy Kutcher 24 Great Plains st. with seven 1 160 meters, for Jerusalem’s synagogues Bridge of Strings 5 Huevos haminados is the term 26 Her children included Reuben, Simeon, Levi and Judah for a Sephardi way of preparing them 29 What some residents of Crown Heights did in 1991 9 Kosher fork of a kind 13 Lashon ___ (gossip) 33 1993 book: “Adult Children of Jewish Parents: The Last 14 Oregon capital whose name is Recovery Program You’ll ___ related to a Hebrew greeting Need” 16 2003 Woody Allen film 37 Transport pulled by dogs on the “Anything ___” “Burning Bush Adventures” 17 Italian Mexican Jew Garcetti Jewish trip to Maine (LA’s current mayor) 39 Danish pianist and comedian 18 Feature of Israel’s Luna Gal Victor water park 40 Kind of Isracard 19 “___ should kiss him who gives a 42 Daniel Day-Lewis’s country: right answer” (Proverbs 24:26) Abbr. 20 Director of the blockbuster 43 “L’chaim” alternative “Transformers” series 44 Birkat Hamazon is the one after 22 “___ in Show” (2000 movie meals starring the Christopher Guest 45 Corey Pavin plays it on greens troupe)

140 kosher characters: twitter.com/jfedsrq

www.jfedsrq.org

DON’T MISS OUT! Registering for The Jewish Federation’s weekly email means you won’t miss important community events or notices. Get updated every Thursday!

Just click the button and enter your email address! www.jfedsrq.org 941.371.4546

72 73

“Auld Lang ___” (song for New Year’s Erev?) Ron Blomberg was one when he became baseball’s first designated hitter One could be kosher, another could be vegan Some kibbutzim have them for guests Medina location “Let’s Make a ___” (Monty Hall game show) Originator of the catchphrase “Can we talk?” With 35-Down, one of Israel’s most storied orators Last name of the twins who starred alongside Bob Saget in TV’s “Full House” On May 22, 2015, Barack Obama told a Jewish audience that a nuclear agreement with it would be good for Israel Place to hang your tallit in shul Site where a recent search for “Jew” brought back more than 13 million hits Prefix before -diluvian indicating a time before Noah’s ﬂood Financial inst. on which Muriel Siebert was the first woman to own a seat Israelis include their arnona tax when they pay it every month ___-do-well (schmendrick)

Down 1 ___ Yisrael (Jewish credo) 2 French city where Jean-Marie Lustiger was Cardinal for more than 20 years 3 “If I Were ___ Man” 4 “Die ___ zu begraben” (German title of the Holocaust book “Night”) 5 They formed a Dead Sea sect 6 Chutzpah 7 What Tom Cruise called Matt Lauer in a 2005 interview 8 One way to Ben Gurion Airport 9 Director of “Young Frankenstein” and “Blazing Saddles” 10 Nobelist Wiesel

11 12 15 21 25 27 28 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 38 41 46 49 51 53 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 63 64

Pharaoh symbols in hieroglyphics Check if someone has the TaySachs gene Mobster Lansky Judd Apatow still uses it for email Funny ones say things like “I lost it at my bris” and “Mommy’s little matzah ball” Alternative persona for Borat and Bruno ___ the Great (leader who built Masada and expanded the Second Temple) Gentile actor Gentile (“The Goldbergs”) Susan who originated the role of Belle in the Ashman/Menken musical “Beauty and the Beast” Mark from a Jerusalem Post editor Like Sarah Silverman’s humor Fashion designer Wang who married Arthur Becker in a Baptist-Jewish ceremony See 65-Across Talk show hostess who played a rabbi in 2009’s TV movie “Loving Leah” Place for a good nosh Bar mitzvah boy, for one Biblical words of reassurance Savor, as a knish ___-state area (part of North America with the most Jews) Alternative to the Hebrew calendar type Kind of animals the Torah says to shoo from a nest Swiss capital where Chaim Weizmann studied before World War I Filled with righteous indignation Ed of “Up” “Oy gevalt!” Site for buying everything from Bibles to bagel-slicers Aleph-bet alternative Arthur ___ Stadium (location of a 20,000-strong Hasidic rally denouncing the Internet) It’s a sign?

K’zohar Ha-Ivrit

B’ri-ut – Health By Dr. Rachel Zohar Dulin

ven though summer is here and the flu season is hopefully behind us, sneezing and coughing is probably here to stay. In many cultures around the world sneezing is perceived as either a symptom of illness or a deed of the devil. Therefore, it is customary to wish one well after sneezing in order to avert the evil eye. In the Dr. Rachel Dulin American-English culture, for example, the correct social etiquette is to say “Bless you” or “Gesundheit” after one sneezes. “God bless you” after a sneeze originated in the 6th century CE to protect one from the ills of sneezing, perceived to be a symptom of the Bubonic Plague. The German “Gesundheit,” which means “health” and “wholeness,” entered the English-American culture in the latter part of the 20th century, influenced by German immigration to the U.S. In the Hebrew culture, the custom of saying a blessing for protection from the ills of sneezing goes as far back as the Second Temple era and maybe beyond. In those days, the word to avert the ills of sneezing and assure good health was marpeh, meaning “healing” or “soothing” (B’ra-khot 53:1). Later, in the 8th century, we find that it was customary after sneezing to bless one with cha-yim, meaning “life” (Pirkay de-R. Elazar 52). In the days in which Aramaic influenced the Hebrew language, the word a-ssu-ta, meaning

“health,” was the expression of politeness after a sneeze. Today, a-ssu-ta is the name of a hospital in Tel Aviv. The modern way of wishing one health after sneezing is either lab-ri-ut (“to the health”) or liv-ri-ut (“to health”), as in Yiddish tzu gesunt. The word b’ri-ut (“health”) is a post-biblical word derived from the verb le-hav-ri, meaning “to become healthy” (Shabbat 19:5), and refers to b’ri-ut haguf or “physical health,” b’riut ha-ne-fesh or “mental health,” and b’ri-ut ha-se-khel or “healthy intellect.” In the Bible, the adjective ba-ri appears 14 times and, although derived from the same root, it means “fat” (Gen 41:2; Jud 3:17 et al). Later, inﬂuenced by Aramaic, we find the noun bo-ri (Yerushalmi Nida 49:2) and the adverb ba-ri (Baba Kama 118) used not only to mean “health” but also “certainty,” “clarity,” “truthfulness” and “completeness.” Phrases like He-e-mid davar al boor-yo, meaning “he made the matter certain and clear” (Gitin 89) and ba-ri li, meaning “certainly, it is clear to me” (Hulin 2), are but two examples. And so, to reiterate the words al boor-yam, namely to say it clearly, it is fascinating that already in the days of old, the Hebrew mind viewed b’ri-ut holistically. From this perspective, true b’ri-ut is the combined health of body, soul and intellect. I wish all our readers ne-fesh b’ri-ah be-guf ba-ri, in short, complete health. Dr. Rachel Zohar Dulin is a professor of biblical literature at Spertus College in Chicago and an adjunct professor of Hebrew and Bible at New College in Sarasota.

July 2015

JEWISH INTEREST

Stars of David

Interested in Your Family’s History?

By Nate Bloom, Contributing Columnist Editor’s note: Persons in BOLD CAPS are deemed by Nate Bloom to be Jewish for the purpose of the column. Persons identified as Jewish have at least one Jewish parent and were not raised in a faith other than Judaism – and don’t identify with a faith other than Judaism as an adult. Converts to Judaism, of course, are also identified as Jewish. ably the first Jew on the board of a “big three” company. In 1953, he bought back Hertz from GM and spun it off as a successful, publicly-traded independent company. Affirmed was raced under his stable name, Harbor View Farm. The co-owners of the farm were famous Florida businessman LOUIS WOLFSON (1912-2007), and his second wife, PATRICE JACOBS WOLFSON, who is now about 75. She was in the stands at Belmont, cheering for American Pharoah. At the Movies in July PAUL RUDD, 46, stars in the title role of Ant-Man, which opens Friday, July 17. This is the first time that AntMan, a founding member of the Marvel Comics’ Avengers, has hit the big screen. Ant-Man is really master thief Scott Lang. He has a suit that allows him to shrink in scale but increase dramatically in strength. The suit was developed by his mentor, Dr. Hank Pym (MICHAEL DOUGLAS, 70). Lang, in the words of a publicity release, “has to channel his inner-hero to help his mentor and keep the secret of his suit from a new generation of towering threats.” One of those possible threats is Darren Cross, aka Yellowjacket, who has developed a similar suit. He’s played by COREY STOLL, 39 (House of Cards, The Strain). Opening the same day is Trainwreck, which has got great advance “buzz.” It stars really hot comedian AMY SCHUMER, 34, and she also wrote the film. It’s directed by JUDD APATOW, 47, the master of romantic comedy with some raunch. The capsule plot: Since she was a little girl, it’s been drilled into Amy’s (Schumer) head by her dad (Colin Quinn) that monogamy isn’t realistic. Now a magazine writer, Amy lives by that credo – enjoying

Ten years of doing a Jewish celebrities column has turned Nate Bloom (see column at left) into something of an expert on finding basic family history records and articles mentioning a “searched-for” person. During these 10 years, he has put together a small team of “mavens” who aid his research. Most professional family history experts charge at least $1,000 for a full family tree. However, many people just want to get “started” by tracing one particular family branch.

So here’s the deal: Send Nate an email at nteibloom@aol.com, tell him you saw this ad in The Jewish News, and include your phone number (area code, too). Nate will then contact you about doing a “limited” family history for you at a modest cost (no more than $100). No upfront payment. what she feels is an uninhibited life free from stiﬂing, boring romantic commitment – but in actuality, she’s kind of in a rut. When she finds herself starting to fall for the subject of the new article she’s writing, a charming and successful sports doctor named Aaron Conners (Bill Hader), Amy starts to wonder if other grownups, including this guy who really seems to like her, might be on to something.” Opening on Friday, July 24 is Paper Towns, a coming-of-age story (with comedy and drama) from a best-selling novel of the same name. The author says the lead characters are “probably Jewish,” but that’s not mentioned in the text. Set in Orlando, it centers on Quentin’s search for his old friend Margo, played by Cara Delevinge. Margo has mysteriously disappeared,

SH ES

U SH

SO LA RS CR EE

941.360.9200

I ER

CALL TODAY 941.360.9200

Showroom - 2123 University Parkway • www.blindsanddesignsofflorida.com

HELPER-COMPANION Mature, cheerful, reliable woman can accompany you to appointments, grocery shopping, run errands, escort you places. Whatever you need.

Days and hours flexible and affordable.

Carol (941) 373-6450

Be a Part of History at

Siesta Beach

FOREVER Commemorate

CALL TODAY for Current Discounts & Rebates! R TE

but she has left behind some clues as to where she’s gone. Quentin is played by NAT WOLFF, 20. Aiding Quentin in his search are several old friends, including Lacey (played by HALSTON SAGE, 22) and Ben (played by AUSTIN ABRAMS, 18). Abrams was born and raised in Sarasota, the son of two local physicians.

*a family vacation

UP TO

75% off *a

milestone

*a memorial

Limited Time Offer

June 1-August 30, 2015

ORDER Online:

www.foscp.org selected items CLICK ON

155478

Triple Crown Winner! As you no doubt heard, American Pharoah, who is owned by AHMED dZAYAT, 73, won the Belmont Stakes on Saturday, June 6, becoming the first horse since Affirmed in 1978 to win the Triple Crown (the Crown is awarded to a horse that wins, in the same year, the Kentucky Derby, the Preakness and the Belmont Stakes). Zayat is an Egyptianborn Orthodox Jew who lives in New Jersey with his family. Zayat’s wife, JOANNE, spoke to the New Jersey Jewish Standard newspaper not long after the Derby win. Here’s one interesting “Q and A” from the interview: “What is it like being Orthodox Jews at the Kentucky Derby?” “There is no conﬂict,” Ms. Zayat said. “Most of our big races are on Saturdays, so we walk to the track. [They stay at a hotel in Louisville, which is an easy walk on race day, and get kosher meals from a caterer.] But for the Preakness and the Belmont,” Ms. Zayat added, “we can’t walk from any hotel, so we rent a [big] trailer.” For the full article, visit http:// tinyurl.com/n995dkf. By the way, Zayat is not the first Jewish owner of a Triple Crown winner. Twelve horses have won the Crown since 1919. In 1943, the Crown was won by Count Fleet, who was nominally owned by FANNY KESNER HERTZ (1881-1963). She was the Jewish wife of the horse’s “real” owner, Jewish businessman JOHN D. HERTZ (1879-1961). He was a co-founder of the famous car rental company that bears his name. He was also the founder of the Yellow Cab Manufacturing Company of Chicago, and headed the company that owned Yellow Cab and Hertz rental until he sold it to General Motors in 1926. He then joined the board of GM – prob-

PAVER

Free Estimate - Free Professional Measuring - Free Installation Showroom - 2123 University Parkway

Now Accepting New Patients.

Friends of Sarasota County Parks is a 501c3 raising funds in support of Sarasota County Parks, Recreation and Natural Resources

www.blindsanddesignsofflorida.com

L’Chayim

HERE’S “TO LIFE” ON THE GULF COAST

Dermatology by Newman

C A S T LE

CONNOLLY TOP DOCTO R S

}

Joshua M. Newman, M.D. Medical/Surgical Dermatologist

Named a “Top Doctor” by Castle Connolly Medical, Ltd. For clear, healthy skin through the expert diagnosis and treatment of: • Skin cancer • Skin growths • Skin disease • Mohs Micrographic Surgery

Joshua M. Newman, M.D.

Same day appointments available. Call 941-488-2020

Committed to the Jewish Community for almost 20 years, Stacy is passionate about real estate and strives to build everlasting relationships based on exceptional service, uncompromising values and a strong work ethic.

Stacy Hanan, Realtor 941.266.0529

Maria V. Tindal, MPAS, PA-C Dermatology Physician Assistant

StacyHanan@michaelsaunders.com

CenterForSight.net | 941-488-2020 See, Hear and Look Your BeSt™

1801 Main Street | Sarasota, Florida 34236 | 941.951.6660

July 2015

JEWISH INTEREST

New studies illuminate the years leading up to Israel’s rebirth By Philip K. Jason, Special to The Jewish News To the Gates of Jerusalem, James G. McDonald; Norman J.W. Goda, Barbara McDonald Stewart, Severin Hochberg, and Richard Breitman, eds. Indiana University Press. 320 pages. Hardcover $30.00. ~ The Reckoning: Death and Intrigue in the Promised Land, by Patrick Bishop. Harper, 320 pages. Hardcover $26.99.

erhaps no one had a better ringside and inside seat at the deliberations that eventually led to the United Nation’s actions paving the way to Israel’s 1948 declaration of statehood than James G. McDonald. His dogged and dexterous work as a key member of the Anglo-American Committee of Inquiry was positioned between two more notable posts: the League of Nation’s High Commissioner for Refugees in the Phil Jason 1930s and the first U. S. Ambassador to Israel from 19491951. The Committee had the double charge of proposing solutions to the enormous problem of Jewish refugees at the close of WWII and to the academically separate, but finally inseparable issue of the British Mandate for Palestine’s eventual resolution. McDonald’s diary entries throughout the entire work of the Committee constitute a unique primary source of information about the progress of the Committee on its way to its ultimate recommendations. The hearings, the partisan bickering and bargaining, the drafting and redrafting, the mixture of tedium and emotionally supercharged moments are captured in a sturdy, often eloquent style filled with colorful descriptions and sharp judgments. McDonald’s

comments about his fellow committee members are fully engaging, as are his descriptions of travels, accommodations and recreations that were very much part of the experience. McDonald’s record of abominable refugee camp conditions crosses paths with notes on concerts, museum visits, glorious sightseeing and grand dinners without any apparent irony in the juxtapositions. The cast of characters with whom McDonald was in touch goes far beyond the Committee members to major government officials and leaders of international associations, all of them vying for inﬂuence – especially with regard to the partition and immigration issues. Indeed, it becomes clear that Truman’s final position on a Jewish state was largely shaped by McDonald’s shrewd management of the frustrated, suspicious president. Surrounding the diary excerpts, the editors provide – as if with a single voice – expansive contextualizing commentary, biographies of key players, and a constant stream of useful, well-turned footnotes. Unusually engaging and suspenseful for a scholarly enterprise, To the Gates of Jerusalem is a must for all university libraries and all collections focused on the history of the Middle East in the twentieth century. This volume, published in association with The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, is the third in a fourvolume series of McDonald’s papers.

ost literature about the steps that took Mandate Palestine to its demise and Israel to its rise focuses on Zionist enterprise in Europe, the U.S. and Palestine. In such explorations, little attention is paid to the purpose and effectiveness of the Palestine Police Force as a primary agent of British rule. What’s fresh about Patrick Bishop’s The Reckoning is his decision to focus on the PPF.

In the book, we see less of the usual gallery of Jewish heroes and more of the upper-level British governing establishment in Palestine. Ultimately, it is an archetypal David and Goliath story. David, in this case, is the Jewish terrorist cop-killer (freedom fighter?) Avraham Stern. Goliath is Geoffrey Morton, assistant superintendent of the Palestine Police Force. Morton is a rigid law-and-order man – a purist. In his own way, Stern is also a purist, his fanaticism more obvious and much closer to madness. Bishop judiciously takes advantage of previously published writings while introducing newly discovered sources to sharpen his portraits of the times and the personalities battling over Israel. He creates complex depictions of his combatants, taking them back to their roots and up to the moment of ultimate confrontation. For this reader, for all of their differences, both men shared the capacity for imagining a perfected self, role-playing that self, and becoming the part they played. Zionist Stern was far more ﬂamboyant in dress and manner, but Morton had an edge to his conventionality. Neither respected shades of grey. Spinning around these central figures are well-managed contextualizing treatments of the overall British mandate administration and its quagmire in which the promise of the Balfour Declaration kept butting heads with the need for Arab oil. The obvious Arab alliance with Nazi Germany was something Britain allowed to be colored by its nostalgia for its disappearing colonial heritage and its long relationship with Arab populations. Bishop is also able to give an impactful sense of the Yishuv, the organizing Jewish community in Palestine, and its love-hate relationship with Stern. Major Jewish political forces in Palestine did not buy Stern’s assertion

It was hard facing the fact that my mom couldn’t live independently anymore. Knowing that

she is comfortable, happy and flourishing Jennifer Fuse, executive director, with resident Margaret

helps me sleep at night.

Personalized Memory Care At Inspired LivingSMat Sarasota, our residents are an inspiration to us. They fuel our passion and give us purpose to be more than a place where your loved one lives. They inspire us to be the home where he or she loves to live. • Person-centered care focuses on individual preferences • Resident location technology enhances safety • Licensed nursing care available 24/7

InspiredLivingSarasota.com

Aquarium rooms with hand-painted, realistic undersea murals help soothe and stimulate the senses.

Call to schedule a tour today!

(941) 357-2168

1900 Phillippi Shores Drive | Sarasota, FL 34231 (Next to Kalin’s Furniture on the Tamiami Trail) ALF #12463

that the British were the real enemy of Zionism. Stern saw the policy of restraint following Arab attacks – in an attempt to win sympathy and favor in British and world opinion – as foolish. Whether called the Stern Gang or the Stern Group, the Zionist leader’s insistence on terrorist tactics made him public enemy number one; wanted posters were everywhere. It was Morton’s job to maintain law and order, to put an end to the bombings and shootings of PPF personnel for which Stern was happy to take credit. In this tale, of which we know the outcome – Stern dies at the hands (bullets) of Morton – it is still possible to build suspense. Bishop manages this, in part, by creating a sense of the events happening now. He provides a wealth of precise, vivid detail that bridges the distance between the 1940s and today. He emphasizes what’s at stake for each man. He alternates points of view so that the emotional story of each contestant is interrupted by that of his counterpart, allowing a suspense-building delay before returning to the other perspective. Like any good journalist, Bishop has occasion to weigh contradictory evidence. Sometimes, this is a matter of evaluating written or recorded testimony. How do you measure a statement from many decades back against a more recent one? What does “consider the source” really mean? Case in point: Just what did happen in the final minutes of Stern’s life? Did Morton shoot him in cold blood? Did he shoot him to prevent Stern from escaping? Did Stern resist arrest in order to die a martyr? Witness memories and testimonies vary. With Bishop’s guidance, we test the logic of the statements in terms of other things we know about the conditions and the actors. We wonder about motives for a suspect action detail and about information withheld. Sifting through such variations and lacunae has its own strong attraction and suspense. Morton had a much longer life than did the man he shot. In following Morton’s diminished career and considering his way of dealing with his shrinking importance, Bishop suggests a kind of posthumous victory for Stern. In fact, it did not take long for Stern’s position to gain strength after his death, leading to the Mandate’s end in 1948. In 1978, an Israeli postage stamp was issued in Stern’s honor. Three years later, a town was named after him. Patrick Bishop has given us a sturdy, lucid and highly colorful look at the no-win situation of British governance during the closing years of the Palestine Mandate. His book reads like a thriller, with the added attraction of providing a compelling account of how history unfolds and memory is shaped. These reviews were first published separately in (respectively) Jewish Book World Summer 2015, Vol. 33 no. 2 and Washington Independent Review of Books (posted January 29, 2015). Reprinted by permission. Philip K. Jason is Professor Emeritus of English from the United States Naval Academy. He reviews regularly for Florida Weekly, Jewish Book World, Southern Literary Review, and other publications. Please visit Phil’s website at www.philjason.wordpress.com.

July 2015

ISRAEL & THE JEWISH WORLD

Nepalese see Israel as source of inspiration How several Israeli professionals are giving Nepal villagers tools to rebuild their houses and their lives after the earthquakes. By Abigail Klein Leichman, ISRAEL21c, www.israel21c.org, May 24, 2015

hen Israeli trauma specialist Naomi Baum arrived in the Nepal village of Mahadev Besi on May 4, not one of the 80 families still had a roof over its head. The April 25 earthquake destroyed every house. “Some houses are standing and fsome are rubble, but they’re all un-inhabitable. Everyone is living outnside,” the Israeli psychologist tells ISRAEL21c. The retired founder-director of the rResilience Unit at the Israel Center sfor the Treatment of Psychotrauma of eJerusalem’s Herzog Hospital went to dNepal for a week with the center’s Nili -Lavi at the request of Tevel b’Tzedek, oan Israeli NGO involved in community development in impoverished Nepal nvillages since 2007. They assessed needs and provided psychological support to Tevel’s paid -staff and volunteers (some of whom olost relatives and homes in the quake),

y -

e . h

g Tevel building latrines for Nepali villagers -to Israel Embassy employees and to the

villagers Tevel is assisting. In Mahadev Besi, Baum and Lavi ytaught stress-busting techniques to two rgroups of 40 local women, using hast-ily prepared copies of their resilience -workbook translated into Nepali. She treassured them that their tears and -fears were normal, and no different than those of disaster victims she’s -counseled in Israel, Haiti and New Or?leans. She aimed to impart a sense of ?hope along with the information. m “I also heard again and again their -fear of the next quake. We helped them address that fear by letting them know sthat everyone was feeling this way,” tsays Baum. f Indeed, their fears were realized -when another strong quake hit the retgion on May 12, the day Baum and dLavi landed back in Israel along with gthe Israel Defense Forces’ medical deleegation. Trauma center staff in Jerusalem will remain in touch with Nepal’s

e g s s A women’s group meeting for psychosocial

,support in Mahadev Besi (photo by Naomi Baum) . mental health authorities to offer assistance, according to Herzog Hospital s spokesman Stephen Schwartz. Before the monsoons a Tevel b’Tzedek founder and director k Micha Odenheimer tells ISRAEL21c that the organization is providing ure gent necessities – such as rice and tin e roofing material – to 3,400 families (20,000 people) in the four most badly w damaged villages in which the NGO regularly provides aid. Tevel brought an Israeli building h engineer and mud-building expert, . along with Indian architects, to demonw strate how to build sturdy shelters. Lat. er, Tevel staff and volunteers will help families build permanent earthquakeproof housing. “Now we are also building lar trines. That’s really important before , the monsoons arrive in June because r of the danger of cholera,” says Odenheimer. “After natural disasters and dis-

placement there is an increased risk of disease and widespread illness. To prevent outbreaks in our working areas, we are promoting healthy living by distributing hygiene supplies and conducting campaigns about the need

Nepali children using toothbrushes supplied by Tevel b’Tzedek

for tooth-brushing and hand-washing.” Tevel brought medical teams from two other Israeli NGOs, Natan and IsraAID, to tend the villagers physically, and volunteers such as Baum and Lavi to provide psychosocial support. “We will continue to do workshops on resilience and talking about feelings. People who’ve experienced trauma find it more difficult to act quickly and we’re training them to get past feelings of paralysis and fear,” says Odenheimer, who was there for 10 days. Tevel is creating temporary learning spaces because schools will stay closed for at least another two weeks. “It’s important to keep kids in a routine that helps them recover from trauma and to keep them away from playing in rubble, while giving parents a chance to get their lives together.” Bishnu Chapagain, the Nepali director of Tevel’s activities in Nepal, earned his PhD in plant science in Israel at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev. His agricultural training is critical to Tevel’s long-term project to introduce Nepali farmers to Israeli farming practices. Many villagers, especially women whose husbands work abroad or in cities, tend family rice paddies and need greater economic stability in order not to fall prey to human trafficking. Israeli-trained agronomists currently are leading projects in seed production and establishing ginger plantations. Caring for Nepalese in Israel Three days after the deadly April 25 earthquake, Prof. Richard Isralowitz of Ben-Gurion University’s social work school got a call for psychosocial assistance from the director of the Arava International Center for Agricultural Training, where 116 Nepalese citizens are taking a 10-month training course on advanced farming techniques. The students were distraught over the tragedy in their homeland but their families had urged them to remain in Israel. Every one of the trainees found out that their houses were destroyed, and many were grieving the deaths of relatives and the loss of valuable livestock. Ten young mothers in the class were consumed with worry for their children. The next morning, Isralowitz arrived with two colleagues, Prof. Orly Sarid and Dr. Dorit Segal-Engelchin, director of BGU’s Center for Women’s Health Studies and Promotion. They discussed stress, stress responses and coping strategies, and then led artbased intervention sessions developed at BGU as an effective way for trauma victims to share and normalize emotions and fears. “It was a moving experience,” Segal-Engelchin tells ISRAEL21c. “We spent four hours with them and they were very grateful.” In the art sessions, all 116 participants chose to participate in drawing what they were stressed about. Many drew dead people and animals, destroyed schools and houses. After

talking about the pictures, they drew depictions of coping resources. Finally, the students were asked to integrate the two drawings into one. “We asked them to assess their level of stress from 1-10 before and after the intervention,” says SegalEngelchin. “We saw an amazing, statistically significant, reduction in stress levels among all participants, proving that this tool is effective even for those exposed to trauma indirectly.” One of the participants prepared a PowerPoint presentation showing how Nepal looked before and after the earthquake and “kept relating to Israel as a source of inspiration for building something from nothing,” she relates. “He encouraged them to use this disaster as an opportunity to better their

BGU Prof. Isralowitz (center) with some of the 119 Nepali students receiving psychosocial support in Israel (photo by Dorit Segal-Engelchin)

lives and make changes by bringing home the knowledge they are acquiring in Israel.” Abigail Klein Leichman is a writer and associate editor at ISRAEL21c. Prior to moving to Israel in 2007, she was a specialty writer and copy editor at a daily newspaper in New Jersey and has freelanced for a variety of newspapers and periodicals since 1984.

Effective Solutions. Compassionate Care. Rebecca Cohen, M.D. is an expert clinician in psychopharmacology (medication management) and Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS). She treats a broad range of psychiatric symptoms and disorders. Now in private practice, Dr. Cohen is accepting new patients. For more information, please call 941.404.0545 or visit rebeccacohenmd.com. Rebecca S. Cohen, M.D., LLC Board Certified | Adult Psychiatry | Psychopharmacology

3665 Bee Ridge Road, Suite 306, Sarasota | rebeccacohenmd.com

Dear Friend, The Jewish Federation of Sarasota-Manatee’s mission is “to save Jewish lives and enhance Jewish Life in Sarasota-Manatee, in Israel an around the world.” For the last 13 years, small grants have been given out locally that support the Federation’s mission. Through many directions/efforts over the last years, our Federation has become extremely innovative and creative. In the spirit of continued innovation while reaching the needs of the times and community, we are changing our granting process this year. We would now like to do something totally new — something very inventive, imaginative and original with “YOU — OUR COMMUNITY PARTNERS!” We are looking for a new idea which will potentially bring about a positive impact on the lives of all people residing in Sarasota/ Manatee. We are looking for a “GAME CHANGER!” We’d like you to think “outside of the box!” Put on your thinking caps and then send us a brief description of your project/idea/concept/ program — stating what needs/wants are being met, the length of the project, who will be reached, what groups would be involved and the main objectives and goals. It should be cooperative, collaborative, innovative, engaging and enriching to the community.

The deadline is Wednesday, July 15th. Once all of the “ideas”

are received and reviewed by our committee, we will select those that meet our criteria for further consideration. We will then request a formal proposal for the “game changer” idea. For any questions, please contact Howard Tevlowitz at htevlowitz@jfedsrq.org.

All submissions should be sent to Jewish Federation of Sarasota-Manatee address at jnew@jfedsrq.org. Thank you in advance for all your creative thoughts — we are looking forward to the development of a project/projects which will be advantageous to everyone in our community!

Fran Braverman, Chair Jewish Federation ad hoc innovation committee

941.371.4546 | jfedsrq.org

July 2015

ISRAEL & THE JEWISH WORLD

BRIEFS WHY THE RATE OF PTSD IN THE IDF IS 1 PERCENT

PTSD is a natural response to danger. From an evolutionary perspective, it’s exactly the response you want to have when your life is in danger: you want to be vigilant, you want to react to strange noises, you want to sleep lightly and wake easily, you want to have ﬂashbacks that remind you of the danger. It’s almost unavoidable in the short term and mostly self-correcting in the long term. The American military now has the highest PTSD rate in its history – and probably in the world. PTSD claims to the Veterans Administration have reportedly risen 60% to 150,000 a year. Anthropological research from around the world shows that recovery from war is heavily inﬂuenced by the society one returns to, and there are societies that make that process relatively easy. Israel is arguably the only modern country that retains a sufficient sense of community to mitigate the effects of combat on a mass scale. Despite decades of intermittent war, the Israel Defense Forces has a PTSD rate as low as 1%. Two of the foremost reasons have to do with national military service and the proximity of the combat – the war is virtually on their doorstep. “Being in the military is something that most people have done,” I was told by Dr. Arieh Shalev, who has devoted the last 20 years to studying PTSD. “Those who come back from combat are reintegrated into a society where those experiences are very well understood.” (Sebastian Junger, Vanity Fair)

eBlast

THE PLIGHT OF THE MIDDLE EAST’S CHRISTIANS

The Christian communities of Syria and Iraq have survived 2,000 years of tumult and war, but now tremble on the brink of destruction. Almost 1.5 million Christians lived in Iraq under Saddam Hussein and 3/4 are believed to have ﬂed since 2003. Of the 300,000 Christians remaining in 2014, some 125,000 have been driven from their homes within the past year. In Syria, hundreds of thousands of desperate Christians have ﬂed the current civil war, along with millions of their Muslim fellow citizens. Other Christian populations in the Middle East have been almost entirely wiped out or displaced. In 1900, most of Constantinople’s residents were Christian; today, fewer than 150,000 of Istanbul’s population identify with any faith other than Islam. (Walter Russell Mead, Wall Street Journal)

ISRAELIS AND SAUDIS REVEAL SECRET TALKS TO THWART IRAN

Since the beginning of 2014, representatives from Israel and Saudi Arabia have had five secret meetings to discuss a common foe, Iran. Recently, the two countries came out of the closet by revealing this covert diplomacy at the Council on Foreign Relations in Washington. Anwar Eshki and Dore Gold presented identical messages: Iran is trying to take over the Middle East and it must be stopped. Saudi Arabia and Israel are arguably the two

eXclusive!

Become an eXclusive Sponsor of Federation’s weekly eBlast! Showcase your business with a link that drives people directly to your website.

eMailed to over 6,000 recipients each week, our eBlast newsletter highlights upcoming events in the community.

e X clusive you say?

eBlast Sponsorships are the ideal way to reach our demographic.

With a MAXIMUM OF 4 SPONSORS per eBlast, NOT ONLY will your message be read LOUD & CLEAR, but your business or organization is guaranteed to be THE ONLY ONE featured in its category. For example, if you are a realtor, then no other realtors will be represented in our eBlast for the duration of your Sponsorship. Promote your business and support the Federation with an eBlast Sponsorship. eBlast Sponsorships are tax-deductible and are offered in 3 month increments. Due to the exclusivity of this offer, Sponsorships go fast. Already a Jewish News or Connections Magazine advertiser? Reinforce your presence in our Federation publications by being an eBlast Sponsor!

countries most threatened by Iran’s nuclear program, but neither has a seat at the negotiations. Gold said, “Our standing today on this stage does not mean we have resolved all the differences that our countries have shared over the years, but our hope is we will be able to address them fully in the years ahead.” The five bilateral meetings over the last 17 months occurred in India, Italy and the Czech Republic. One participant, Shimon Shapira, a retired Israeli general and an expert on the Lebanese militant group Hezbullah, told me: “We discovered we have the same problems and same challenges and some of the same answers.” Saudi Gen. Eshki notably called for an independent Kurdistan to be made up of territory now belonging to Iraq, Turkey and Iran. (Eli Lake, Bloomberg)

EL AL FLIES RECORD NUMBER OF TAGLITBIRTHRIGHT GROUPS

EL AL Israel Airlines ﬂew a record number of 24 Taglit-Birthright groups in one day, totaling more than 1,000 passengers. All arrived in Israel on Thursday, May 28. A special in-ﬂight announcement welcomed all the Birthright participants. With a dramatic increase in interest to experience Israel by young adults, ages 18-26, EL AL has carried more than 160,000 participants in the past 10 years, with close to 6,000 so far this year. Taglit-Birthright offers complimentary 10-day trips to this age group to experience the country and

strengthen their bond with the land and people of Israel. Taglit-Birthright is also a participant in EL AL’s charitable GlobaLY program, whereby EL AL donates Matmid frequent ﬂyer points to the organization. (EL AL)

THE MIDDLE EAST IS RUNNING OUT OF WATER

Over two-thirds of Iran’s cities and towns are on the verge of a water crisis that could result in drinking water shortages; already, thousands of villages depend on water tankers. Much of the Middle East is running out of water due to population growth, shortsighted dictators, distorted economic incentives, and infrastructure-destroying warfare. In Gaza, seawater intrusion and the leakage of sewage has made 95% of the coastal aquifer unfit for human consumption. In Syria, between 2002 and 2008, water resources dropped by half, as did grain output, causing 250,000 farmers to abandon their land. Hundreds of villages have been abandoned as farmlands turn to desert and grazing animals die off. In Israel, by contrast, thanks to a combination of conservation, recycling, innovative agricultural techniques, and high-tech desalination, the country has all the water it needs. Israel can desalinate about 17 liters of water for one U.S. cent. Desperate neighbors might think about ending their futile state of war with the world’s hydraulic superpower and instead learn from it. (Daniel Pipes, president of the Middle East Forum, Washington Times)

SPEAKERS BUREAU

FOR ISRAEL Educate your civic group, church or synagogue and community about Israel with the Speakers Bureau for Israel. The Jewish Federation of Sarasota-Manatee through the Heller Israel Advocacy Initiative can provide a group of passionate and highly informed speakers to give clear and direct factual information about Israel and current events surrounding Israel both political and militarily.

Request a speaker today to provide this engaging and informative topic for your group and/or congregation.

ADVOCATE

INFORM

For Booking Contact Jessi Sheslow, Speakers Bureau Coordinator

941.343.2109 • jsheslow@jfedsrq.org PROUDLY SPONSORED BY

CONTACT Robin Leonardi 941.552.6307 rleonardi@jfedsrq.org Not signed-up for our eBlast? It’s easy – Just visit www.jfedsrq.org and click the “NEWSLETTER” tab at the top of our homepage.

continued on next page

INSPIRE

The Jewish Federation of Sarasota-Manatee Klingenstein Jewish Center • 580 McIntosh Rd, Sarasota, FL 34232

941.371.4546 • www.jfedsrq.org

July 2015

ISRAEL & THE JEWISH WORLD

Briefs...continued from previous page

PALESTINIAN HUMAN RIGHTS ACTIVIST CALLS FOR GAZAN SPRING

Palestinian human rights activist Bassem Eid told a conference in Jerusalem that Palestinians suffer mainly because of their own leadership. “I want to see a Gazan spring against Hamas that is ruining daily lives.” He described how when Hamas started to build the tunnels, they would pay Gazans $50 to have a tunnel go underneath their house. Gazans have two choices: accept the money and risk Israel potentially destroying their home or be killed. “This is how Hamas is destroying daily lives in Gaza.” In Beit Lehiya, Eid noted, Israel asked the Palestinians to evacuate in order to clear out the tunnels, but Hamas would not permit people to leave the area: “Hamas sent gangsters to Beit Lehiya in Gaza that forced people to go back.” As a result, many Gazans were killed who would not have died otherwise. “But no one speaks about the human shields, not Amnesty International or Human Rights Watch.” (Rachel Avraham, Jerusalem Online)

U.S. APPROVES $1.9 BILLION MUNITIONS SALE TO ISRAEL

The U.S. State Department, on Tuesday, May 19, approved the sale to Israel of a variety of munitions including the joint direct attack munition, laserguided paveway, small diameter bomb, hellfire missile and advanced mediumrange air-to-air missile in a deal worth $1.879 billion. The sale would be a windfall for U.S. arms suppliers, principally Boeing, Lockheed Martin, General Dynamics, Ellwood Group and Raytheon. The U.S. Defense Security Cooperation Agency notified Congress of the possible sale, stating: “The U.S is committed to the security of Israel, and it is vital to U.S. national interests to assist Israel to develop and maintain a strong and ready self-defense capability.” (James Drew, Flightglobal)

EIGHT NATIONS LEARN ABOUT ISRAELI SUCCESSES IN ANTIROCKET DEFENSE

Israel recently hosted a three-day, closed-door conference attended by eight top NATO air defense commanders and senior staff, said Israel Air Force Brig. Gen. Shachar Shohat, commander of Israel’s air defense forces. Countries represented included Canada, Germany, Greece, Italy, the Netherlands, Poland, the UK and the U.S. They were briefed on Israel’s air defense activities in last summer’s Gaza war, when Iron Dome anti-rocket batteries had an interception rate of nearly 90%. “Our achievements in Operation Protective Edge sparked keen interest around the world, and people wanted to come here to hear our experiences and exchange data at the professional level,” Shohat said. (Barbara OpallRome, Defense News)

ISRAELI ARAB DIPLOMAT: ISRAEL IMPORTANT FOR THE SURVIVAL OF DIVERSITY IN THE ARAB WORLD

George Deek, a Christian Arab who is Israel’s deputy ambassador to Norway, sees no contradiction in someone with Arab roots representing Israel. He says: “The biggest challenge the Arab world is facing is that it’s moving from a place of diversity to a place of uniformity, from a place where we had Kurds and Yazidis and Jews to a place where people are hostile to each other just because they’re different... Israel is the only minority in the region which keeps hope alive for the Arab

world. As long as Israel exists, there is a chance we can move back from uniformity to diversity.” (Josh Jackman, Jewish Chronicle - UK)

CHINA INVESTMENT IN ISRAELI COMPANIES RISES

When Israel held its biggest agricultural technology conference, Agrivest, in April, one in 10 delegates came from China. A few weeks before, a large delegation from Alibaba, the Chinese e-commerce giant, had been in Tel Aviv to attend Cybertech, Israel’s main conference on cyber security. Chinese companies are pushing deeper and further into Israel than ever before, and Israeli companies and government officials are returning the embrace. “When you say ‘Israel’ in China they think innovation, they think high technology,” says Ophir Gore, Israel’s trade attache in Beijing. Israel’s trade turnover with China reached $11 billion last year, about double the amount recorded in 2010. (John Reed and Charles Clover, Financial Times - UK)

ILLINOIS PASSES HISTORIC ANTI-BDS BILL, AS CONGRESS MULLS SIMILAR MOVES

The Illinois House recently joined the state’s senate in unanimously passing a bill that would prevent the state’s pension fund from investing in companies that boycott Israel. The Illinois bill is part of a broad political revulsion over the BDS movement (“Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions” – the strategy of economic warfare and delegitimization against Israel). While BDS has gotten most of its successes with low-hanging fruit like British academic unions and pop singers, the anti-boycott efforts are getting an enthusiastic reception in real governments, on the state and federal level. And that is because the mes-

LAWN SERVICE

941 -567-9528

20% OFF your first service

LICENSED • INSURED RESIDENTIAL • COMMERCIAL “He offers very reasonable rates, is reliable, and does great work! I highly recommend him! — Ian Howard, Lakewood Ranch

Arenas Lawn Service, LLC

Reyes Arenas Garcia

Reyesarenas941@gmail.com

sage of the BDS movement – Israel as a uniquely villainous state – is fundamentally rejected by the vast majority of Americans. Indeed, a wave of antiBDS legislation is sweeping the U.S. BDS is not like the civil rights protests, as its supporters love to claim, but rather more like the anti-Jewish boycotts so common in Europe in the 20th century, and in the Arab world until this day. The U.S. has long had legislation criminalizing participation in the Arab League boycott of Israel. The U.S. can just as rightly oppose privately propagated boycotts as it could governmentally-sponsored ones. (Eugene Kontorovich, Washington Post)

CONGRESS CAN FIGHT THE BOYCOTT ISRAEL MOVEMENT

The U.S. has a strong history of taking action to dismantle economic boycotts against Israel. In response to the Arab League boycott that started in 1948, Congress enacted legislation in 1976 and 1979 banning U.S. companies from participating. It worked. The boycott had a marginal impact on Israel’s economy, and the U.S. Commerce Department still maintains an office to ensure American companies live up to the law. A leaked document last year revealed high-level discussions among EU member states working to develop economic sanctions intended to pressure Israel to accept political concessions such as ending the blockade of Gaza irrespective of terrorism from Hamas. Congress is currently debating bipartisan Trade Promotion Authority (TPA) legislation, which stipulates key American objectives in free-trade negotiations with the EU. Included is language I co-authored with Rep. Juan Vargas (D-Calif.), Sen. Ben Cardin (DMd.) and Sen. Rob Portman (R-Ohio) instructing U.S. negotiators to discourage our prospective European trade

partners from participating in boycott, divestment and sanctions. If these countries want free trade with the U.S., they can’t engage in politically motivated boycotts against Israel. These same principles were successfully negotiated into U.S. free-trade agreements with Bahrain and Oman in the mid-2000s, prompting both countries to end their boycotts of Israel. We must not be fooled by those marketing BDS as anything but blatant discrimination against the Jewish state. And we must seize the historic opportunity to push back forcefully against the BDS movement to ensure the strength of the U.S.-Israel relationship. (Peter J. Roskam (R-Ill.), Wall Street Journal)

BDS’ USELESS POLITICS OF CONFRONTATION

Thirty-seven U.S. universities had BDS campaigns this academic year – more than the previous two years combined. According to Gallup, Americans older than 65 support Israel’s actions by a margin of 24 points, but those younger than 30 oppose these actions by 26 points. Additionally, while white Americans backed last summer’s Gaza war by 16 points, non-whites opposed it by 24 points. The driving force for BDS on campus, Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP), has actively sought to attract minority students. Israel’s critics fail to notice that minorities in Israel fare far better than in other Middle East countries. Indeed, context is relevant. The president of Harvard, Lawrence Summers, said: “We live in a world where there are nations in which the penalty for homosexuality is death, in which governments are killing tens of thousands of their own people each year. But the proponents of Israeli [BDS] do not favor any form of pressure against countries other than Israel.” (David Makovsky and Raquel Saxe, Times of Israel)

All Heart

Senior Care, LLC

“Your home is where our hearts are” • • • • • •

Companions Home Health Aides Transport RN Supervision CNA Services Doctor Visits

Private Duty Home Health 24 hour care available

Proudly Serving the Jewish Community with Kosher Catering

www.allheartseniorcare.com

Serving Sarasota and Manatee Counties

Call 24 hours a day

941-954-6565

Co-Proprietors: Phil Mancini & Michael Klauber

Homemaker & Companion License 230910

What’s your Number?

Your Number is: • More important than the Dow Jones Industrial Average 1, the S&P 500 2, the 10-year treasury rate, or the Consumer Price Index 3 • More important than the unemployment rate, or the Gross National Product 4 • More important than the estate tax rate, or your income tax bracket From Planning to Wealth Enjoyment • Your number is a financial vaccine! It Estate can help immunize your way of life from all of these risks Do you know what your number is? Call today to find out at 941-951-0443

Bruce S. Udell

From Estate Planning to Wealth Enjoyment

BruceUdell.com

Jeremy E. Udell

1 Dow Jones Industrial Average: The Dow Jones Industrial Average is a popular indicator of the stock market based on the average closing prices of 30 active U.S. stocks representative of the overall economy. 2 S&P 500 Index: The Standard & Poor’s 500 (S&P 500) is an unmanaged group of securities considered to be representative of the stock market in general. 3 Consumer Price Index (CPI): The Consumer Price Index (CPI) is a measure of inflation compiled by the US Bureau of Labor Studies. 4 Gross national product (GNP): GNP is the market value of all the products and services produced in one year by labor and property supplied by the citizens of a country.

Securities and Investment Services offered through NFP Advisor Services, LLC, Member FINRA/SIPC. NFP Advisor Services, LLC is not affiliated with Udell Associates. NFP Advisor Services, LLC does not provide tax or legal advice.

July 2015

COMMENTARY

Independence Day and Passover From the Bimah Jennifer Singer, MAJE

love July 4th. It’s an exuberant holiday, echoing the exuberance of a young nation taking its first steps toward freedom, both personal and communal. And the things we do on the day are pure fun as we celebrate the birth of our nation with picnics and fireworks and parades. Given that so many of our other national holidays have serious aspects (such as Memorial Day, Labor Day and Veterans Day), it’s a relief that this one is simply fun. Best of all, it’s a purely secular holiday. To be honest, that’s a big part of why I love it. There are (almost) no religious overtones. Aside from sing-

ing “God Bless America,” I can’t think of much else that is particularly religious about the day. It could have turned out differently. There are many parallels that we can draw between the liberty celebrated on July 4th and the liberation from Egypt. The founding fathers knew their Bible well, and they understood the relationship of their efforts to those of Moses and the children of Israel. It wouldn’t have been surprising if we, their spiritual if not physical descendants, had chosen a more religious way to commemorate the holiday. Both Passover and America’s Independence Day feature a newly minted group of people trying to figure out how to govern themselves in a new world. New leaders are emerging, a new nation is forming, a cruel pharaoh/ king has been thrust aside, the enemy defeated. Both holidays feature distinctive (albeit quite different) foods and family gatherings. The two holidays are so similar that over 100 years ago there was a brief movement toward doing away with Passover and replacing it with

EVENT SPACE AVAILABLE FOR PRIVATE PARTIES, EVENTS, BUSINESS MEETINGS FOR ALL YOUR SPECIALTY NEEDS

Breakfast & Lunch Meats and Cheeses

HOLIDAY FOODS

Fresh PRODUCE

DINNERS TO-GO!

Baked Goo ds

15 15--23 South Beneva Rd. @ the Corner of Fruitville -In the Fruitville Forum Shoppes Sarasota, FL 34232 941.924.2705 AWARD WINNING AND RELIABLE FOR YEARS!

www.nelliesdeli.com

Independence Day. The April 1897 issue of The American Jewess had an editorial by Rosa Sonneschein, in which she said: “There is a great similarity between the Fourth of July and the Fourteenth of Nissan, and in celebrating the first some think we could dispense with the latter. Some enthusiastic American Jews would like to eradicate everything not strictly of American origin. They argue… [that it is] foolish, if free-born Jews of our day look back loftily upon the liberation from Egyptian bondage. Between then and now thousands of years have elapsed during which countless generations of Jews have lived and died slaves and outcasts among the nations, till at least we, in America are blessed with perfect liberty.” We can argue about Sonneschein’s claim regarding perfect liberty, because issues around separation of church and state continue to plague our nation, but her point is well taken. Under American law, all religious groups are afforded equal liberty to practice their religions.

The pro-Passover argument won the day, and today even the most secular of Jews wouldn’t consider giving up the Passover Seder for a July 4th picnic. I think this is because there is one aspect of Passover that is quite different from Independence Day: We tell the story. A significant part of the Passover Seder is a retelling of the Exodus narrative. Not so with Independence Day. Few people take the time to read the “sacred” document of the day, the Declaration of Independence. We don’t recite the names of the people involved, nor tell of their exploits on the road to freedom. We don’t even call it by its real name. Perhaps we Americans are missing something important by not taking the opportunity to retell the story of our nation’s struggle for independence. I know that we Jews are by far the richer for remembering our heritage, and telling our children and grandchildren the story of our struggle for freedom. Jennifer Singer is the Spiritual Leader at Congregation Kol HaNeshama.

The Federation

Blog

www.FederationBlog.org

Join the Jewish Conversation!

NOW AVAILABLE AT MORE THAN 50 LOCATIONS! SARASOTA • SRQ Chamber of Commerce • SRQ Visitors’ Center • Selby Public Library • Newsrack across from Hollywood 20 • Ringling Post Office • St. Armand’s Circle – John Ringling Blvd. • St. Armand’s Circle – Blvd. of the Presidents • Bayfront Park • Nellie’s Deli • Villa Grande • JFCS • Gulf Gate Library • Einstein Brothers Bagels • Landings Racquet Club • Publix at Landings Plaza • Silverstein Institute

SARASOTA • The Jewish Federation Campus • Lakehouse West • SRQ Memorial Hospital – Outpatient • Morton’s Gourmet Bakery • Art Building • Bahia Oaks Lodge • Health Complex East Ave • Kobernick Anchin/Benderson • Fruitville Library • Temple Emanu-El • Temple Beth Sholom • Temple Sinai • Chabad of Sarasota • Founder’s Club • Bird Key Park Newsrack • Temple Beth Israel • Longboat Key Newsrack – Gulf of Mexico Dr. & Cedar St.

LAKEWOOD RANCH/ BRADENTON • Northern Trust Bank • Legacy Golf Club • SMR Corporate Bank • Country Pancake House • Intercoastal Medical Group • FCCI Insurance Group • University Park Country Club • The Meadows • Palm Aire Clubhouse • LakeRidge Falls • LWR Chamber of Commerce • University Cleaners LWR • Dreams Jeweler LWR • Bradenton Library • Bradenton Post Office • Publix at University Pkwy • Bank of America LWR • Women/Children’s Center

LAKEWOOD RANCH/ BRADENTON • Lake Club • Chabad of Bradenton VENICE • The Jewish Congregation of Venice • Venice Public Library • Venice Community Center • Jacaranda Public Library • Chabad of Venice & North Port

Make sure to tell your friends and neighbors! Contact 941.371.4546 x 107 to become a subscriber & receive your copy in the mail

www.TheJewishNews.org

July 2015

COMMENTARY

Eight words from President Obama By David Harris, Executive Director, AJC, May 24, 2015

resident Barack Obama delivered a compelling and heartfelt speech on May 22 at a Washington synagogue. He spoke directly to the concerns and aspirations of the Jewish people, identifying himself squarely with Jewish ethical values and the Jewish historical journey as a metaphor for the universal quest for peace and justice. While not intended as a full-blown policy address, he did touch on the Israeli-Palestinian conﬂict, asserting: “Just as Israelis built a state in their homeland, Palestinians have a right to be a free people on their land, as well. Now, I want to emphasize that’s not easy. The Palestinians are not the easiest of partners.” For starters, like a clear majority of Israelis, I have long believed that the Palestinians have such a right. It would serve not only Palestinian interests but Israeli interests as well, allowing the Jewish state to end an unsought occupation, dating back to 1967, and also shift significantly the demographic balance within its own borders. But there is just one problem, and it is contained in eight words the president expressed: “The Palestinians are not the easiest of partners.” The audience’s reaction was to laugh right after this sentence. But, of course, it’s no laughing matter. Indeed, it’s the heart of the issue, and has been for decades. I don’t say this as a debating point. I’m not trying to win an argument. I have only one obsessive goal: witnessing the day when Israel can live in peace, true and enduring peace, with its neighbors. Nor do I say this to suggest that Israeli leaders, by their words and actions, have always conducted them-

selves in exemplary fashion. Like politicians everywhere in democratic societies, they are human and, therefore, fallible; they are subject to the demands of the electorate and, in the case of Israel, the rough-andtumble of coalition building, and they may have 20-20 hindsight but, alas, not 20-20 foresight. Yet, at the end of the day, the intentions of Palestinian leaders are anything but obvious. Others, from Washington to Brussels, may seek to interpret Palestinian goals. But, in the quest to hasten a solution, they too often ignore, downplay or rationalize those fundamental elements that would otherwise challenge their assertions. Frankly speaking, the Palestinians could have had a state and become “a free people in their own land” on multiple occasions, yet, for reasons perhaps best known to their leaders, they chose not to do so. To many, this sounds totally counterintuitive. After all, if the Palestinians have been clamoring for a state of their own and have been offered most of what they allege they want, how could it be that they remain without a nation? And this is where it gets problematic. Palestinian spokesmen and their enablers find every possible means to divert attention from their own substantial responsibility for the current state of affairs. And too often they find receptive audiences, all too ready to believe – the facts be damned! – that Israel, the convenient whipping boy, is the sole culprit here. But then how to explain the turndown of the UN recommendation for two states, Jewish and Arab, in Mandatory Palestine in 1947? Or the categorical refusal to en-

A POWERFUL EDUCATIONAL OPPORTUNITY HOLOCAUST, GENOCIDE AND TOLERANCE EDUCATION

MANY INSPIRING SPEAKERS TO CHOOSE FROM INCLUDING:

The Holocaust Speakers Bureau offers teachers a unique opportunity to expand their students’ classroom experience. We have a large number of Holocaust survivors who reside in this community. They are very motivated to visit school children and give their eyewitness accounts of the Holocaust. Also available are speakers who were hidden children, those saved through the “Kindertransport”, resistance fighters, refugees, as well as World War II camp liberators.

HILDE MANDEL PAUL MOLNAR RIFKA GLATZ MARK SOLENT HENRY TENENBAUM

gage with Israel after the 1967 Six-Day War, when Israel proposed a land-forpeace deal? Or the Palestinian unwillingness to learn from the examples of Egypt and Jordan, both of which achieved peace on favorable terms with Israel by acknowledging Israel’s right to live in the region? Or the ﬂat-out rejection of Prime Minister Ehud Barak’s offers, fully supported by President Bill Clinton, in 2000 and again in 2001, for a two-state accord, instead triggering a bloody “second intifada” against Israel? Or the failure to accept, or even to make a counteroffer, to Prime Minister Ehud Olmert’s two-state plan in 2008? Or the current Palestinian violations of the 1993 Oslo Accords, by acting unilaterally, circumventing Israel and the bargaining table, and going to UN bodies where the votes are there for the asking? Or the frequent Palestinian resort to incitement, incendiary language such as “genocide,” and deification of terrorists with the blood of Israeli civilians on their hands? Or the inescapable fact that a twostate agreement today is, in any case, rendered virtually impossible because Gaza is in the hands of Hamas, an Iranian-backed terrorist group whose charter calls for the obliteration of Israel, and Mahmoud Abbas’ security in the West Bank is anything but assured (even less so without the unheralded help of Israeli security forces)? As a Jew, I understand that seeking peace is at the core of our identity. The words of the prophet Isaiah – “And nation shall not lift up sword against nation, nor shall they learn war anymore” – define our DNA. But that can’t be the start and fin-

Jerusalem Post Crossword Puzzle Solution to puzzle on page 16

ish of the discussion. There is a second reality. I wish there weren’t, but, alas, it stares us in the face. Invoking the nobility of Jewish values doesn’t make it somehow go away. Peace requires a partner who genuinely shares the goal of an end to the conﬂict, who is also ready to compromise for that aim, and who offers reason to believe the future can provide a promising break from the past. Does Israel today have such a partner? The jury – or is it Jewry? – is still out. But when Israel does, then peace will become not only possible, but, I dare say, inevitable. For more information, visit www.ajc. org.

OPTICAL SERVICES INC. WHAT A DIFFERENCE THE FIT MAKES

W. V. SAM JONES PRESIDENT

1901 SOUTH OSPREY AVE. (Corner Hillview) SARASOTA, FL 34239

366-7866

Our prime meats and fresh seafood are perfect for your backyard barbecue. Ask about our custom cuts and premarinated ready-to-cook items. From ribeye steaks and gourmet burgers to wild salmon and whole chickens, trust Morton’s for your summertime cookouts!

Historic Southside Village 1924 South Osprey Avenue Sarasota ∙ (941) 955-9856 MortonsMarket.com

All speakers are authentic to their respective experiences and feel a strong commitment to bring an awareness of the consequences that result when evil is allowed to flourish. They feel privileged and grateful to live in this wonderful country where their voices are being heard. For Booking Contact

Anne Stein, Speakers Bureau Coordinator 941.923.6470 • luvhula@gmail.com

PROUDLY SPONSORED BY

FINANCIAL SERVICES For Questions Contact Orna Nissan, Director, Holocaust Education and Israel Programs 941.552.6305 • onissan@jfedsrq.org www.TheJewishFederation.org

366-7876

July 2015

COMMENTARY BRIEFS WHY IS ISRAEL CRITICIZED FOR HELPING NEPAL EARTHQUAKE VICTIMS?

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) sent 260 doctors, nurses and personnel trained in finding disaster victims to Kathmandu after the major quake. Criticism of the IDF’s Nepal mission from some well-known anti-Israel activists is to be expected, even if it is bizarre. But for those genuinely interested in human rights it seemed rather odd to call out the Israelis for sending relief. Human Rights Watch’s Ken Roth tweeted: “Easier to address a far-away humanitarian disaster than the nearby one of Israel’s making in Gaza.” Let’s review why it is easier for the Israelis to provide relief in Nepal than in Gaza: 1) Since 2005, about 15,000 rockets have been fired at Israel from Gaza. 2) The Nepalese have not fired a single rocket at Israel. The way Israelis see it, Gaza is rockets and tunnels and terrorists, whereas Nepal is temples, mountains and nice people. Roth does a disservice to both himself and his organization with his ill-considered tweet. When the executive director of Human Rights Watch criticizes the Israelis for providing humanitarian relief, it actually makes it easier to dismiss his criticism of Israel’s human rights record. (Steven A. Cook, senior fellow for Middle Eastern Studies at the Council on Foreign Relations, Newsweek, May 6)

WORLD TURNS A BLIND EYE TO PALESTINIANS IF ISRAEL IS NOT INVOLVED

Western journalists regularly focus on the “plight” of Palestinians, but often turn a blind eye to the daily killings of Palestinians in Syria and the fact that Palestinians living in Lebanon and

other Arab countries are subjected to apartheid and discriminatory laws. A report said that 83 Palestinians died of torture in Syrian prisons during March this year. Similarly, the international media ignores the “plight” of Palestinians living under Palestinian Authority (PA) rule in the West Bank and Hamas rule in Gaza. Last week, the Palestinian General Intelligence Service arrested Khalil Afaneh for “slandering” Yasser Arafat on his Facebook page. On April 25, the PA arrested journalist Ahmed Abu Elhaija of Jenin as he was on his way to attend a conference in Jordan involving Palestinian journalists and bloggers. Jihad Salim was arrested by Palestinian security officers shortly after the Hamas-affiliated Islamic Bloc, of which he is a member, won the student council election at Bir Zeit University. The situation in Gaza is not much different. The continued obsession of the media with Israel allows the Arab countries, as well as the PA and Hamas, to proceed with their systematic violations of human rights and freedom of speech. (Khaled Abu Toameh, Gatestone Institute)

NEW YORK TIMES HEADLINE ELIMINATES PALESTINIAN VIOLENCE

Recently, two Palestinian men were fatally shot by Israeli police after attacking officers with knives. The New York Times headlined the story: “Israeli Officers Kill 2 Palestinian Men,” which whitewashes Palestinian responsibility for the violence. By what journalistic standard is it acceptable to run a headline which reports the effect (Palestinians are killed) and ignores the cause (Palestinians attack), completely distorting the nature of the incident? (CAMERA)

DONATE IT!

THINKING OF SELLING OR TRADING

THAT CAR, BOAT, OR RV?

• Our online form makes it easy. • Support a worthwhile cause. • Receive tax benefits.

Visit TheJewishFederation.org

Unlock your SALES POTENTIAL Advertise in SPACE DEADLINE

ISSUE

July 1 July 30

AUGUST SEPTEMBER

September 1 September 30

OCTOBER NOVEMBER

(Rosh Hashanah issue)

Robin Leonardi • 941.552.6307 rleonardi@jfedsrq.org

www.TheJewishNews.org

COMMENTARY

Letter to the Editor

merican anti-Semitism is roaring back, reaching unprecedented levels in the U.S. not seen since the Cold War. In particular, our high schools/college campuses are experiencing Jew hate and harassment on a daily basis. Many Jewish students are at risk, vulnerable and rightly concerned for their personal safety. This should be a jarring wakeup call for everyone. Numerous national and local Jewish entities are pushing back. Many Jewish groups have organized forums, outreach programs, interfaith (Muslim, Christian, Jewish) workshops, prayer meetings and ongoing discussion groups. These organizations routinely hold public rallies when Israel is threatened or an anti-Semitic incident occurs – all commendable actions. Unfortunately, this is only marginally effective. It spotlights the disgraceful problem to the unknowing or unconcerned public, moreover, predictably preaching to an informed audience, but changes nothing. First, do you know what Jew hate is? Do you think it occurs? Have you experienced anti-Semitism? What was your reaction? Did you ignore it or report it to your rabbi or Jewish leader and follow up with a direct response? Starting now, every Jew must report in detail every incident. Were you called a degrading Jewish name, physically threatened, denied membership or shunned? Most Jews today have not experienced a direct assault on their Jewish Identity, however, this is rapidly changing across many levels of society. Second, to have an effective plan to stop Jew hate, American Jewish citizens must call out, specifically name the individuals. In order to defeat the enemy, you have to identify the enemy, define the enemy, publicize their name, credentials, addresses and profiles. This takes courage but it will stop the

majority in their tracks. Anti-Semites are mostly cowards. Who are these haters? The diplomat? The university professor? The radical Muslim cleric or his congregant? The banker? The businessman? Your neighbor and their kids, the college agitators? Self-hating secular Jews and Jewish apologists? Your real estate agent, doctor or local attorney? Are they college graduates or dropouts? Are they anarchists, social justice activists, disgruntled minorities, jihadists, misfits? The answer is all of them. Third, what are the Jew haters common denominators, besides despising Jews? Many Jew haters participate in the American boycott, divestment, and sanctions (BDS) effort to delegitimize the economic and political integrity of Israel, the most insidious form of Jew hate and anti-Zionism. What are the discernible patterns of similar behaviors among these antiSemites that we can analyze and use to stop them now? What are their personal motivations? Did a Jew slight them in their youth? The more we learn about these people, isolate, identify, photograph and label them, the better we can combat their treachery. Data collection, analysis and public dissemination is essential. Most American and Sarasota Jews live in a sheltered, protected, afﬂuent bubble. Increasing personal danger from the haters will force them to become truthful, brave and courageous, taking a personal stand versus burying their head in the naive sands of ignorance, political correctness and apathy, to confront this evil menace that never retreats and continues to plague Jews worldwide. Our future and future generations are at stake. Once again the perfect storm is gathering against the Jews as history repeats itself. Jew killing has occurred in Paris. It can happen here. Mike Fox, Lakewood Ranch

What do you think? The Jewish News wants to know! Send an email to jewishnews18@gmail.com. Letters Policy

T F

July 2015

FOCUS ON YOUTH

Paver students meet Holocaust survivor Rifka Glatz

n Sunday, May 3, Mrs. Rifka Glatz brought her story of survival during the Holocaust to Paver Religious School children in egrades 4-8. Rifka’s story began during -the war at age five and a half. The fact ?that she had been a child at the time -made her story so relevant and meanringful for the students. They were rivleted as she spoke. Even after the formal ?question-and-answer period, the children lined up for more time with Rifka. e Afterwards, the students reﬂected -on their experiences. Seventh-grader .Eric Miller wrote: “Mrs. Rifka told -us about her experiences as a Hologcaust survivor. She lived in Hungary nwhen the war started. Rifka was given da backpack by her mother just in case ethey were taken by the Nazis. It had fimportant supplies: a blanket, pillow, tin cup and plate, towel and soap – everything you might need if you were ssuddenly taken from your home. “No child should ever have to think about losing his/her home. Rifka’s father was sent to a labor camp earlier where he died. She and her mother tand brother (he was seven years older) n n

were sent to Bergen-Belsen where they were fed a bit of weak soup and one slice of bread each day. The boys and girls, men and women, were separated by a fence. After five months, the family and other Jews boarded Kastner’s Train for Switzerland and from there to Palestine.

tale with us today. She lived in many places during the war and saw minority people (being Jewish meant you were a minority) being killed for no reason at all. Imagine the stresses she lived with.” Noah Neitlich wrote: “Today, a lady named Rifka talked to us about her story of survival. In 1944 her father was taken to a brick factory where he died from lack of food and hard labor. Rifka and her children were taken to Bergen-Belsen in Germany for five months where they were given some horRifka Glatz surrounded by family members rible soup and a slice “Rifka’s family could never be of bread. This needed to last all day. the same, but by having children and, Many of the people died of hunger. slowly, generation after generation, her In the same camp, there was a famous family is rebuilding. At the end, she person who, too, died there. Her name told us, ‘Be proud of who you are and was Anne Frank. own who you are.’” “After five months, the Glatz famiRyan Wasserman wrote: “Mrs. ly was taken to Switzerland where they Rifka lived through things that none stayed for another ten months. We saw of us can even imagine, and shared her photos of the hotel where they stayed.

We also looked at pictures of Rifka when she was a child. “Rifka taught me to be proud of who I am and to stand up to antiSemitism. At the end, she taught us to be kind to each other and to strangers. After all, we were once strangers in the land of Egypt.” Graycen Schwartz wrote: “Listening to Rifka speak really opened up my eyes and made me realize what it was like to be a child during the Holocaust. She gave us a detailed story of her life and how she survived the tragedy from going to a Jewish day school as a little girl and on to Bergen-Belsen. Rifka was fully open with us and spoke about everything she remembered. Being able to stand in front of an audience and share the atrocities was truly amazing. I learned many things about Rifka, and how lucky she was to be one of the few Jews who were saved by Kastner. I think our school appreciated that Rifka never sugar-coated her story. She made sure to tell us the detailed truth. I will never forget the experience of listening to her.”

Temple Emanu-El families enjoy “Lila Echad” Family Dance Fundraiser

emple Emanu-El Religious t School children, parents, grandr parents and faculty gathered in the congregation’s Benderson Family , Hall on Sunday evening, May 17, for g the “Lila Echad” Family Dance Fundraiser – a spirited and innovative way for young families to support the upr coming renovation of Temple Emanus El’s preschool and religious school building. Chaired by newly-elected Tems ple Emanu-El trustee Marni Mount s and coinciding with the last day of Temple Emanu-El Religious School, “Lila Echad” featured dancing, delicious food and desserts, a green screen

Temple Emanu-El teens Tayla Rosenthal and Emma Katz enjoyed “Lila Echad”

photo booth, and friendly socializing with fellow school families. After a greeting from Temple Emanu-El Vice President of Education Toby Halpern, adults chatted while kids thronged the dance ﬂoor for party games such as “Coke Pepsi,” a hula hooping contest and a Conga line – then all ages enjoyed dancing to everything from ’80s hits like “Let the Music Play” to “We Can’t Stop.” Other favorites included the photo area, where photos could be manipulated digitally to add all kinds of colors and images, a chocolate fountain, and falafel fresh out of the fryer. “Lila Echad” raised nearly $4,000, which will be matched by anonymous donors and then matched again. With vendors such as Soundstation DJ,

Fresh Start Café, Michael’s On East, Polo Grill, Michael Lauber, ZipKord Solutions, and Tapsnap Phototainment donating their services for the event, nearly 100 percent of the event’s proceeds went directly to support the school building’s renovation, which is slated to take place during the summer of 2016, and made a strong impact on the fundraising campaign. For more information about “Lila Echad” or Temple Emanu-El’s renovation plans, please call 941.371.2788.

Marni Mount, newly-elected Temple Emanu-El trustee and “Lila Echad” chair, attended the event with her father Dr. Stephen Altaker

Dr. Michelle Mallitz and daughter Dani had fun coloring at Temple Emanu-El’s “Lila Echad” Family Dance Fundraiser

Get Involved! Become a BBYO advisor.

YOU ARE THE JEWISH COMMUNITY. THIS IS YOUR FEDERATION. TOGETHER, WE DO EXTRAORDINARY THINGS.

The Jewish Federation offers programming for all ages! From PJ Library and ShaLom baby through teen leadership missions to women’s events, CLub Fed, and FiFty ShadeS oF J, to senior services — your Federation provides support throughout Sarasota and Manatee.

Learn more at jfedsrq.org/whatwedo

BBYO offers a variety of volunteer opportunities for young adults in the Jewish Community. Do you want to make a significant impact in the lives of Jewish teens? Become a BBYO advisor, and help a generation of Jewish teens to reach their full potential! Advisors work in partnership with professional staff to mentor and guide AZA and BBG chapters. Advisors serve as positive Jewish role models, exploring challenges and seeking solutions with (not for) the teens, and encouraging BBYO members to strive for excellence. With the guidance of advisor leadership, BBYO teens have the opportunity to grow into dynamic, engaged young Jewish leaders. If you would like to learn more about volunteering with BBYO, contact Lory Conte at 407-621-4032 or LConte@bbyo.org

B’nai B’rith Youth Organization

July 2015

FOCUS ON YOUTH

Temple Sinai SAFETY youth group elects new board and attends LLTI By Deb Bryan, Temple Sinai Youth Director

emple Sinai’s SAFETY youth group recently held its annual elections, and the new SAFETY board has already been on the road meeting people and learning everything they can in order to have a successful 2015-2016. From April 24-26, SAFETY’s four new board members – Marisa Freedman, President; Rachel Towe, Social Action Vice President; Sam Sklar, Religious and Cultural Vice President; and Daniel Nissan, Historian – attended the NFTY-STR Liz Leadership Training Institute (LLTI) in Deerfield Beach, Florida. Joining them were Haley Dennis, 2014-2015 NFTY-STR Regional Religious and Cultural Vice

President, and almost 200 NFTY-ites, grades 8-11, and 35 Youth Professionals.

SAFETY board members (old and new) strike a pose before the installation of the new SAFETY board – Maia Zildjian, Jamie Metzger, Megan Warrenbrand, Rachel Towe, Marisa Freedman, Sam Sklar, Aaron Juceam, Julie Lichterman, Alex Zirkle, Daniel Nissan

Chabad Hebrew School of the Arts Who said learning can’t be fun?

irst in Venice, now in Lakewood Ranch, Chabad Hebrew School of the Arts is a trendsetter in cutting-edge Jewish education. At Chabad Hebrew School of the Arts, learning is loads of fun! The Chabad Hebrew School of the Arts is an interactive, hands-on Hebrew School that offers children the opportunity to explore their heritage through different art mediums, in an engaging and exciting manner. Arts include drama, cooking, music, literary, painting, sculpting and more. “Chabad Hebrew School of the Arts brings Judaism to life!” said Chanie Bukiet, Educational Director at the Chabad of Lakewood Ranch branch. “Our curriculum is designed to inspire your child with a love for our traditions.” School takes place on Sundays from 9:30 a.m. to noon in Lakewood Ranch and on Wednesdays from 4:30 to 7:00 p.m. (older children start later) in Venice, and each day will incorporate hands-on activities covering a wide range of subjects. Participants will learn about Jewish practices, history, culture and Hebrew reading. The Hebrew reading curriculum, Aleph Champ, takes an innovative approach to teaching the skills. Modeled after the karate system, students advance through a range of color-coded levels, motivated to excel and graduate

This was another meaningful event, especially for our incoming SAFETY board. Time was spent with

each stage. “Our warm and loving staff creates a comfortable and friendly environment where your child will thrive,” Rivka Schmerling, Educational Director at the Chabad of Venice branch, stated. “Small classes provide a personalized experience for each and every student.” As one student was recently overheard saying, “I wish I could drop out of regular school and come to Hebrew School fulltime!” Chabad invites all Jewish children – regardless of background, affiliation or financial status – to experience our traditions as never before! Jewish culture, holidays, customs and rites are presented in a stimulating and appealing style. Chabad Hebrew School of the Arts is open for children ages 4-13. Membership is not a requirement. CHS is now accepting new students for the 2015-2016 academic year. For an application to the Venice Branch, contact Rivka Schmerling at 941.493.2770 or rivka@chabadof venice.com; for the Lakewood Ranch branch, contact Chanie Bukiet at 941.284.6390 or chanie@chabadof bradenton.com. More information is available at these Chabad websites: www.chabadof venice.com or www.chabadofbraden ton.com.

a lot of singing, laughing, learning, and loving every minute of it. New friendships were formed and, in the words of NFTY-STR Regional Advisor, Julie Marsh, “It did not matter if this was their first event or their twenty-first, our teens were happy to be together.” The final event of the year was held on Saturday, May 2 at Temple Sinai, when youth group members and their families enjoyed a delicious meal and witnessed the installation of the new SAFETY board. All in all, it was a very good year for our teens. If you would like more information about our SAFETY and JOOSY youth groups, please contact me at dbryan@ sinaisrq.org.

TBS Schools students win awards

wo Temple Beth Sholom Schools students won awards in the InspireSarasota! literary contest. InspireSarasota! is a community-wide celebration of arts and culture in Sarasota County which showcases the talent and accomplishments of youth in our county. Tristyn Opstal (2nd grade) and Kaila Cohen (6th

Tristyn Opstal and Kaila Cohen, winners in the InspireSarasota! literary contest

Grade) were recognized for their work. Tristyn took first place in his age group with his story that completed this prompt: Mrs. White was a hundred-and-one years old. The Thompson children loved to visit her to hear stories of her life when she was a child. Today she told them about the day she became invisible… Kaila placed second by continuing the following: It was midnight. The old man pulled out a key. As he dropped the key into his son’s hand, he whispered, “I hope you know what you are doing.” Tristyn received his $100 prize and Kaila her $50 award at an InspireSarasota! recognition event held on Saturday, May 2 at Five Points Park. Later that day, the Temple Beth Sholom Schools Jazz Ensemble performed at Five Points Park.

“FOCUS ON YOUTH” PHOTO OF THE MONTH

MASA ISRAEL TRAVEL SCHOLARSHIP The Federation will offer scholarships to applicants who have been accepted to a MASA program! Scholarships are first come, first serve. (Up to $2,000 to cover travel to and from Israel only.) Visit www.TheJewishFederation.org.

Klingenstein Jewish Center, 580 McIntosh Road, Sarasota, FL 34232 Andrea Eiffert, Director of S.T.E.P. and Family Programs 941.552.6308 • aeiffert@jfedsrq.org

S.K.I.P

F O R M O R E I N F O CO N TAC T: ANDREA EIFFERT 941.552.6308 O R A E I F F E RT @ J F E D S R Q.O R G

Send-A-Kid-to-Israel Program

Temple Beth Sholom Schools students explored the 39 billboard-size artwork and quotations at the 2015 Embracing Our Differences exhibit at Sarasota’s Island Park. Pictured: First and second-grade students recreate one of the exhibits.

The PJ Library program supports families in their Jewish journey by sending Jewishrelated books and music on a monthly basis to children for free.

facebook.com/pjlibraryofsarasota Visit the Federation website to sign up!

jfedsrq.org/pjlibrary Questions?

Contact Jeremy Dictor at 941.343.2106 or jdictor@jfedsrq.org

TheJewishFederation.org The SKIP program is funded in large part by the Betty and Herb Schiff Send-a-Kid-to-Israel Fund.

r . e

g d d -

e n . d

July 2015

LIFE CYCLE

Sarasota-Manatee Chevra Kadisha

ANNIVERSARIES

70 Irving & Trude Bennett Temple Emanu-El 55th Richard & Marlene Mendelson Temple Emanu-El 50th Leon & Margaret Ellin Temple Sinai 45th Allen & Ruth Friedman Temple Emanu-El 30th Ronald & Celia Cohen Temple Emanu-El 30th Neil & Elizabeth Klaber Temple Emanu-El 30th Joseph & Lou Anne Steinberg Temple Emanu-El th

25 Ron & Sheila Bellamy Temple Sinai 20th Dr. Dori Goldfarb & Jeff Maggard Temple Emanu-El 15th Suzanne & Phil Hurwitz Temple Emanu-El 10th Ian & Sarah Smith Temple Emanu-El 5th Mark Del Pico & Beth Osher Del Pico Temple Emanu-El th

During times of need for generations Jewish members of the Sarasota community have turned to Toale Brothers.

TAHARA admin 941.224.0778 men 941.377.4647 941.484.2790 women 941.921.4740 1050 S. Tuttle Ave., Sarasota, FL 34237

IN MEMORIAM

Martin Arch, 83, of Sarasota, formerly of Harrisburg, PA, May 24 Edythe Baron, 80, of Sarasota, formerly of Pittsburgh, PA, May 21 Dr. John Baron, 82, of Sarasota, formerly of Pittsburgh, PA, May 22 Eva Bornstein, 100, of Sarasota, May 11 Zita Desenberg, 82, of Sarasota, May 20 Thelma Gewirtzman, 95, of Sarasota, formerly of Albany, NY, May 24 Harold Gillman, 82, of Sarasota, formerly of Minneapolis, MN, May 5 Dr. Sanford H. Glassman, of Sarasota, May 18 Simon B. Golden, 82, of Sarasota, formerly of Chicago, IL, May 7 Howard Goldberg, 84, of Sarasota, formerly of Sayville, NY, May 10 Rita Goldstein, 87, of Sarasota, May 19 Louise S. Greenﬁeld, 98, of Sarasota, May 19 Hannah Honeyman, 93, of Sarasota, May 27 Dr. Charles Marks, 93, of Sarasota, May 10 Lyle Rockler, 69, of North Port, formerly of Minneapolis, MN, May 3 Jay B. Rudolph, 98, of Sarasota, May 23 Dr. Marvin Slavkin, 89, of Mount Lebanon, formerly of Pittsburgh, PA, May 5 Theodore Small, 92, of Sarasota, May 21 Rochelle Wetherson, 75, of Venice, May 11

Please submit your life cycle events (births, B’nai Mitzvah, anniversaries) to jewishnews@jfedsrq.org. Photos welcome; please e-mail as JPGs at 300dpi.

SHA LOM BA BY MOMMY & ME Join us for a gathering of mommies and babies to sing Jewish and/or Israeli children’s songs and bond with other moms every fourth Friday of the month!

Read the current and previous editions of The Jewish News at www.thejewishnews.org.

Trust 100 Pre-Arrangement Center Locally Owned & Operated by the Toale Family www.ToaleBrothers.com

Gerry Ronkin

Jewish Family Coordinator Office

941-955-4171 cell

941-809-5195

OBITUARY FOR SYBIL A. GOLDMAN Goldman, Sybil A., 88, of Tamarisk, died Tuesday, May 26, 2015 at Philip Hulitar Inpatient Center. She was the beloved wife of the late Seymour M. Goldman. Born in Fall River, MA, a daughter of the late Samuel and Tillie Dashoff, she had lived in Cranston for 65 years before moving to Warwick a year ago. Sybil was a graduate of Beth Israel Hospital, Class of 1948. She was a nurse at Beth Israel Hospital in Boston. She was a founding member of Temple Torat Yisrael, a former member of Temple Beth-El, a life member of Hadassah, a member of Chabad of West Bay, Ledgemont C.C., and RI Bridge Club. Devoted mother of Robert Goldman and his wife, Luisa, of Venice, FL, James Goldman and his wife, Janet, of Lincoln, and Ellen Silberman and her husband, Michael, of Philadelphia, PA. Dear sister of the late Evelyn Lovit and Carolyn Bogus. Loving grandmother of Mitchell, Shlomy, Tracy, Leigh, Scott, Samantha, and Rebecca. Cherished great-grandmother of Jackson, Liv, Skylar, and Elijah. In lieu of flowers, contributions in her memory may be made to Hadassah, 17 Pocahontas Dr., Middletown, RI 02842, Chabad of West Bay, 3871 Post Rd., Warwick, RI 02886, or Jewish Alliance of RI, 401 Elmgrove Ave., Providence, RI 02906. For online condolences, please visit ShalomMemorialChapel.com.

Q U E S T I O N S? 941.371.4546 info@jfedsrq.org

REACH YOUR TARGET MARKET

The Klingenstein Jewish Center 580 McIntosh Rd Sarasota FL 34232

Advertise in

941.371.4546 TheJewishFederation.org

ns?

stio

Que

Con

rleonardi@jfedsrq.org

9 or

.org

www.TheJewishNews.org

srq jfed

erist

mev

Robin Leonardi • 941.552.6307

rist

Eve

t. 11

6 ex

54 71.4

41.3

tact:

Mary

STAY CONNECTED

FUNERAL SERVICES youtube.com/jfedsrq

STAY CONNECTED

The Area’s ONLY Jewish Owned & Operated Facility Specializing in local interment, out-of-town transfers, and burial in Israel

• Chevra Kadisha • Shomrim • Reform Cremations

2426 Bee Ridge Road Sarasota, FL 34239

(941) 955-1075

24 Hour Information at twitter.com/jfedsrq

www.HebrewMemorialSarasota.com

July 2015

Your life. Your community. Your newspaper.

We’ve worked hard to make The Jewish News an interesting and informative window of our Jewish community with its unique blend of local and international news, features and provocative commentary.

HELP US DELIVER THE ONLY JEWISH NEWSPAPER SERVING SARASOTA AND MANATEE COUNTIES!

Please support our efforts with an annual voluntary subscription of $25 or more.

Keep it coming. Be recognized as an honorary member of The Jewish News production team: • Media Mogul $180+ • Publisher $90-$179 • Editor $72-$89 • Columnist $50-$71 • Reporter $25-$49

Visit www.TheJewishNews.org Jewish News Appeal

I would like to contribute the amount of: o $25 o $50 o $72 o $90 o $180 o$_____________

Mail: The Jewish News, 580 McIntosh Road, Sarasota, FL 34232 Or: www.TheJewishNews.org Name ___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Address _______________________________________________________________________________ City/State/Zip ______________________________________________ Phone ________________________________________________________ E-mail ____________________________________________________________________________ Total $ Enclosed ___________________________

o Check (payable to The Jewish Federation of Sarasota-Manatee)

o Visa o MC o Amex Card # _____________________________________________________________________________________ CID# _____________________________ Exp. Date _________________________________ Signature _____________________________________________________________________________________________ A COPY OF THE OFFICIAL REGISTRATION AND FINANCIAL INFORMATION MAY BE OBTAINED FROM THE DIVISION OF CONSUMER SERVICES BY CALLING TOLL-FREE 1-800-435-7352 WITHIN THE STATE. OUR REGISTRATION NUMBER IS SC-00449. REGISTRATION DOES NOT IMPLY ENDORSEMENT, APPROVAL, OR RECOMMENDATION BY THE STATE.

Jewish matters. Thank you for your support!