32 minute read
Oct. 17 Legal Sept
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reflection on their personal growth. And the Yom Kippur-themed eScapeGoat (also known as @Apologybot) appeared on Twitter in 2013 and would “collect” users’ sins when tagged.
That bot was created by Russel Neiss, a Jewish technologist and educator who coded Repentance Bot and worked with the Jewish digital consulting company Tiny Windows to produce it on Ruttenberg’s behalf.
Repentance Bot, as with many similar bots, has a sense of humor. It is meant to be “fun and funny,” while also serving as an educational tool, says Ruttenberg, who last month announced that she would be donating to the National Survivor Network to begin to make amends for personally benefiting from a Jewish foundation tied to sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
“People will engage with it to have a little fun with it as well as trying to do meaningful public education,” she adds.
In one meta-example, Repentance Bot had published a tweet in a robotic font that was not compatible with ALT text, an HTML attribute that allows for verbal image descriptions. Visually impaired readers may rely on a program that reads ALT text aloud, and if there’s no ALT text, they may not be able to interact with the text or image at all. Repentance Bot learned of the incompatibility and wrote an apology note for the error, along with an updated version of the previous tweet and a promise to “teach other bots this important human factoid.”
Those vows reflect the to-do list in the bot’s comic strip, which begins with taking responsibility without making excuses and ends with making a different choice in the future.
Repentance Bot is about “distilling [apologies] down to really oversimplified, easy steps,” Ruttenberg says. “And they’re not easy. None of those steps in real life are easy.”
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Rosh Hashanah
Two simple questions on 5783
Debbie Burke
As we prepare to turn the page to another Jewish New Year, many people talk about their hopes and dreams, while others consider the issues we face every day in our local community and the world around us. A handful of Tidewater residents shared with Jewish News what they look forward to this holiday season and what their hopes are for 5783.
CARA HERMAN
This holiday season offers us all a time to reflect and evaluate. I think about what I want to do differently and what I hope to achieve in the upcoming year.
I recently moved to Virginia Beach from Washington, D.C. After moving here, I attended a few events hosted by the Young Adult Division of United Jewish Federation of Tidewater in an effort to meet other young Jewish adults in the community. I left every YAD event feeling inspired and motivated to help sustain and enrich this vibrant community.
I was disappointed to hear about the antisemitic flyers that were recently found in a Virginia Beach neighborhood. I will not stand for this act of hate. We must build our community through empathy and acts of kindness and decency. I hope this year ushers in a collective sense to do better.
RABBI ELLEN JAFFE-GILL Tidewater Chavurah
The Pilot recently ran a column by Leonard Pitts Jr. in which he posited that 2022 is going to turn out to be The Year (Bleep) Got Real. At this writing…there’s already been a year’s worth of horrific events swirling around us. Natural disasters all over the world, including relentless flooding in eastern Kentucky and uncontrollable wildfires in the West, due in large part to climate change. Endless shootings, mass and otherwise.
But I can’t curl into a ball in front of my congregants. I tell them repeatedly that the only way to protect our community, our people, our democracy, and our planet from decisions made out of greed and fear is to be courageous and speak out. To do that, you have to believe that the world (which includes your world) is worth saving and that the possibility exists that it can be saved. You have to have hope. Pitts does: He thinks that enough evidence of (bleep) getting real will produce action that also makes 2022 The Year (Bleep) Got Saved. That’s a powerful thought.
It’s something to latch onto as Jews; remember, the Hebrew bible is full of examples of the Jewish people making progress by moving two steps forward, one step back.
So on erev Rosh Hashanah, I will gather my little synagogue congregation and urge them to hope, and to combine hope with voting and lawn signs, door-knocking and rallies. Maybe 5783 will be a year during which we can be proactive and fearless enough to face the (bleep) in our world and start cleaning it up.
RABBI RON KOAS Congregation Beth El
Imagine the year as a mountain, with the High Holidays as its peak. The climb up the mountain is full of joy and solemnity, feasting and fasting, prayer and inspiration, and hopefully, an uplifting spiritual journey.
Rosh Hashanah is the ‘head’ of the Jewish year, the time when God created the world. We announce it with shofar blasts and celebration. Ten days later, the High Holidays reach their peak (within the peak!) with Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement.
On Yom Kippur we fast; we don’t eat or drink for 25 hours. It’s customary to dress in white like angels and pray in the synagogue as we seek atonement both individually and communally.
But wait, the best is yet to come: A couple of days later and we are in the festive holidays of Sukkot and Simchat Torah, descending the mountain with joy and celebration.
I am looking forward to having meaningful services over the High Holidays and inspiring each and every participant. I hope we can use the High Holidays as a jumping point for a peaceful year ahead.
JOSH LIEBOWITZ
I’m looking forward to spending my first holiday season in Hampton Roads in about 13 years. I moved here almost a year ago right after the holidays, so it’ll be a good experience. Normally, my brother and I
Cara Herman.
L' Shanah Tovah!
Ohef Sholom wishes you a Happy & Healthy New Year!
Visit ohefsholom.org/high-holidays for dates and times regarding in-person and streamed Children’s and Adult Services, Yom Kippur Adult Study Sessions, and Break-the-Fast. All are welcome!
Founded in 1844, Ohef Sholom Temple is the oldest and largest Reform Congregation in Southeastern Virginia.
• Religious School • Family Programming • Toddler & Infant
Activities • Adult Education • Library & Archives • Judaica Shop
For more information please contact Director of Engagement, Nina Kruger
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Rabbi Ellen Jaffe-Gill. Rabbi Ron Koas.
Josh Liebowitz.
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would visit to spend time with family and potentially interact with the Jewish community for about a day or so.
This year, I look forward to not only spending time with family, but also learning about the community during these fall months and holidays.
SHALOM MARKMAN
The Rosh Hashanah holiday season is usually right when the kids start school. We can finally celebrate and take a deep breath. Looking forward to the holiday season also comes with its dose of awe and humility.
There’s a sense of personal responsibility that dons as the first blast of the shofar is heard 30 days before Rosh Hashanah. Its blow does a pretty decent job of waking me up from my summer slumber. My next almost two months (Elul, the end of Tishrei) are spent living on another sphere of meaning and purpose.
The High Holidays are my recalibration, but I’ll keep it at once yearly. My hopes for this coming year are not only will this coming year be a good one for the entire Tidewater Jewish community, but may we all merit experiencing the sweetness this year has in store.
RABBI ARI OLISZEWSKI Temple Emanuel
On Rosh Hashanah, we celebrate a new anniversary of the creation of the world, the creation of the human being, and as the Torah reading on this day shows, it is the beginning of Judaism based on the family. The Jewish family, community life, and the experiences of Jewish life are fundamental to maintaining the eternal flame that was given to the Jewish people on Mount Sinai. Rosh Hashanah invites us to enjoy Jewish life on family, sharing, learning, and passing on the tradition and stories that our zeides passed on to us. In this year in which we gradually return to the synagogue in person, it will be a huge challenge to be able to find ourselves with what we used to feel. We are all waiting to experience the reunion again. To vibrate with our families and friends at the time of the shofar, to get emotional at Yizkor, wish everyone an Aguit Iomtef at the synagogue door, next to the synagogue members. The year 5783 will be the year to share spaces, times, feelings, and experiences in ‘family and with friends.’ May God let us share many moments together, getting to know each other, enjoying, and knowing that the path that awaits us for this 5783 will be only of Brachot. Shanah Tovah!
DAVID PROSER Hampton Roads Board of Rabbis and Cantors president
As far as what we wish for all Jews, I don’t think the list ever changes: Protection from the rise of antisemitic attacks, peace for all people of Ukraine, continuation and expansion of the peace and commerce agreements between Israel and Arab nations, safety, and security for the people of Israel, and, closer to home, a return to the ability to respectfully listen and discuss the differences between people of opposite political viewpoints.
Oh! And of course health, prosperity and shalom bayit!
Shalom Markman.
Rabbi Ari Oliszewski. David Proser.
LARRY WEINSTEIN Temple Emanuel president
I hope that 5783 will be a year of peace and prosperity, health and happiness.
For my family, I hope that my son
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finishes planning his wedding (seven months and no date yet). For Temple Emanuel, I hope that Rabbi Ari gets his visa and joins us as soon as possible (10 months and no date yet, but we just passed the first hurdle!).
When Rabbi Ari joins us, we can look
forward to a year of renewed energy and renewed spirituality. A year of being challenged, not necessarily to be more observant, but to enjoy our Judaism more. To throw our sins to the seagulls (I mean into the ocean) for Taschlich, to really celebrate Sukkot (hopefully including Burgers and Brews in the sukkah), to Larry Weinstein. have more Shabbat guests, to become more of a holy community, to do more for the less fortunate in our synagogue and in our communities, to grow spiritually.
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High Holiday updates on COVID and other safety protocols for area congregations
Debbie Burke
According to the results of a recent COVID poll (the New York Times Morning Section, Aug. 22, 2022), “One of the central findings is how much attitudes have changed since the spring. Americans are less worried about the virus today.”
How does this translate into what’s happening at local temples when it comes to COVID protocols? Along with this, Jewish News asked about another kind of safety and security, that of keeping houses of worship and congregations safe from outside threats and harm, with an eye on the recent national uptick in antisemitism. Not surprising, area congregations are prepared to keep their members safe.
B’NAI ISRAEL Jeffrey Brooke, president On COVID:
B’nai Israel has returned to in-person worship (“davening”) for many months now. During the worst of the pandemic, we were in touch with Rabbi Dr. Aron Glatt, an infectious disease doctor in New York and an expert in halacha (Jewish law). We were fortunate to be able to draft protocols in accordance with the CDC and the Orthodox Union for whom Rabbi Dr. Glatt was consulting. Those protocols have been relaxed over the past few months as the pandemic has (baruch Hashem) somewhat relented. We now simply advise attendees: “COVID-19 Policy: Anyone exposed to COVID-19 or experiencing symptoms must consult with a physician before attending synagogue.” A few members do still wear masks, and this is encouraged where appropriate.
On Security:
B’nai Israel was fortunate to receive a significant tranche of grants from United Jewish Federation of Tidewater, Tidewater Jewish Foundation, and the Department of Homeland Security. This allowed us to install a robust system of security equipment and devices. Thanks to our security chairman, Lt. Cdr. Adam Goldberg (USN, retired), we have brought online a series of interlocking and redundant systems which protect the exterior of the synagogue and those davening within. We also expect the return of our armed security personnel from the Norfolk Sherriff’s Office this year. (Many thanks to Deputy Jody Drowns, who makes us all feel safe and is a favorite with the kids!)
We also appreciate the regular briefing and intelligence updates we receive from the Secure Communities Action Network. The consideration of security issues reminds us of the constant balancing effort required of a Jew. A Jew must trust but also act to protect himself. I am confident our congregation is up to the task this year, and we look forward to the Yamim Noraim (High Holidays) on which the whole world is judged with what I believe is a proper mix of trepidation and excited anticipation.
Give Heed to the Sound of the Shofar
May it ring in a New Year of Blessings for All
Please join us for services. Contact Pam Gladstone 422 Shirley Avenue Norfolk, VA 23517 757.625.7821 bethelnorfolk.com
Sharing Judaism. Enriching Holidays.
CONGREGATION BETH CHAVERIM Chad A. Bornstein, president
We are not requiring any COVID protocols during services, but will have hand sanitizer at every door and a Zoom option for all.
CONGREGATION BETH EL Deb Segaloff, president On COVID:
This year, we are going to make masks optional and have open seating. We are encouraging everyone to join us in the sanctuary, but we will still be on Zoom and will be livestreaming.
On Security:
We always have security for the holidays. We have six officers for Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, and four officers for Kol Nidre. Since last year’s High Holidays, we’ve put new doors on the back of the sanctuary and a handicap ramp on one side. We’ve also upgraded our security system. All members and guests will have 2022 High Holiday tickets in addition to an ID card, or they can show their driver’s license if they don’t have an ID card. We also require special tags to be on the members’ rearview mirrors if they drive down Shirley Avenue or park on any of our lots.
TEMPLE ISRAEL Nancy Tucker, executive director On COVID:
Everyone who attends services must be vaccinated and wear a mask at all times. They must either bring their vaccination card with them or send it in prior to services. We are also asking people to social
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distance themselves.
On Security:
We want our members to be safe, and feel safe, when they come to their synagogue. With security visible, they know they will be safe in the building.
TEMPLE EMANUEL Larry Weinstein, president On COVID:
We expect that we will probably follow CDC guidelines. This means that we will probably not require masking or distancing. There will be a separate distanced seating section with required masking for people who are more comfortable that way. Masks could also be required on the Bimah when it is crowded.
On Security:
We will have security measures in place for the High Holidays. This includes both hardened facilities courtesy of a security grant we received a few years ago and security personnel. While the probability of an antisemitic attack during the High Holidays is extremely small, it is not zero, even in such a welcoming community as Virginia Beach. It is important to take reasonable precautions to reduce the likelihood of an attack and to reassure our congregants that we can gather safely during this sacred time.
TEMPLE LEV TIKVAH Rabbi Doctor Israel Zoberman On COVID:
We meet in a church so we follow the dictates of the Church of the Holy Apostles, which is both Catholic and Episcopal. Last year, we met in-person and via Zoom, but I feel more will go to in-person services. People are hungry for a living community. My sense is that more want to be in person.
On Security:
We are covered by the leadership of the church. They have very good security, so we are protected. They take special responsibilities and they like to look over us. These are dangerous times and we just have to abide by the Jewish supreme mitzvah to defend our lives and saving lives is very critical.
KEHILLAT BET HAMIDRASH Alene Kaufman, first vice president On COVID:
Last year, we were totally virtual. We’re now going to be doing a hybrid approach, with Zoom and in-person. For in-person, we are planning to continue with our current Shabbat protocols: proof of vaccination and masks.
On Security:
We have congregation members who are trained and licensed volunteer security guards who we will supplement with police officers for the High Holidays. We also received a national security grant, so we are going to add more security measures.
OHEF SHOLOM TEMPLE Steven Kayer, executive director On COVID:
Current Ohef Sholom Temple policy mandates that upon entering our building or attending any OST-sponsored event whether in or outside of the building, anyone (except children under age two) who is not fully vaccinated and (to the extent eligible) boosted must wear a mask over the mouth and nose. This rule applies to all activities including Soup Kitchen and any facility rentals. In addition, anyone with a temperature of 100.4° or over, who feels ill, or who knows they have been exposed to COVID-19 should stay home and not enter the temple building.
All services will be in-person and available via livestream.
On Security:
We always have security at every event at the Temple, which is increased for the High Holidays.
David Jarvis, chair of OST’s Security Committee, the committee, our staff, and our security consultant work year-round to assure that our congregants are properly protected whenever they enter the building, which is constantly being made more secure. In addition to our increased police coverage for the holidays, our ushers and staff have participated in a series of security trainings.
L'Shana Tova 5783
THE BOARDS AND STAFF OF THE UNITED JEWISH FEDERATION OF TIDEWATER AND THE SIMON FAMILY JCC WISH YOU A SWEET & HAPPY NEW YEAR!
“To save one life is to save the world entire.” — The Talmud
This High Holiday season, as we seek spiritual and physical renewal for ourselves and our loved ones, let us also remember those in Israel who nurture and renew life every day. Whether it’s treating civilians wounded in terror attacks or responding to any number of at-home medical emergencies, no organization in Israel saves more lives than Magen David Adom. No gift will help Israel more this coming year.
Support Magen David Adom by donating today at afmda.org/support or call 866.632.2763. Shanah tovah.
afmda.org/support
Rosh Hashanah
This Jewish family has been making honey wine for 150 years
Stacey Pfeffer
Rachel Lipman cares deeply about preserving her Jewish family’s fifth-generation winemaking business, Loew Vineyards, but the 28-year-old is keeping an eye on the future, too.
As one of the youngest winemakers in Maryland—if not the youngest—she’s pushing through boundaries in a traditionally male-dominated industry.
But that’s not all: Lipman is also educating customers about her family’s extraordinary legacy of producing unique wines—a 150-year-old family tradition that was nearly eradicated by the Holocaust.
Among the 14 wines currently available on the Loew Vineyards website, four are not wines in a traditional sense. They are meads, or honey wines, made from fermented honey—and therefore are well-suited for the upcoming High Holidays.
Among the available varieties include cyser (mead with apple juice) and pyment (mead with grape juice).
A fifth-generation winemaker, Lipman’s method of making mead is not unlike the way her ancestors did it in Europe.
“My grandfather always says you can’t argue with success,” she says, referring to the family’s proprietary mead recipe.
These days, Lipman uses modern machinery and loves scouring local farmers markets to discover new honey producers with whom she can collaborate.
Mead is having something of a moment. Lipman is naturally thrilled by the development, though she believes there is a misconception that all meads are sweet. Her family’s mead comes in varieties that are dry, semi-dry, and semi-sweet.
“There is a lot of experimentation going on with mead right now, similar to craft beers,” she says. “I even heard of a peanut butter banana mead.”
Central to the story of Loew Vineyards is Lipman’s grandfather, who grew up in Lvov, Poland (now the Ukrainian city of Lviv) prior to World War II. Before the Holocaust, Lvov was home to Poland’s third-largest Jewish population, behind Warsaw and Lodz. The city had a Jewish population of some 200,000—about onethird of the total—but only some 800 survived the genocide. The region also boasted many wineries, meaderies, and distilleries, with the majority owned by Jews.
Lipman has spent much time uncovering her family’s mead-making past.
During the long months of COVID, she sifted through Polish documents, periodicals, and newspapers to learn more. She discovered that the family meadery was in a district that housed warehouses, vodka distilleries, several meaderies, and, yes, even a beer garden. In fact, the family meadery took up the length of an entire city block. The patriarch of the Loew family in the mid1800s was Meilech Loew, who made mead and distributed it internationally. Meilech and his wife, Malka, had 10 sons, two of whom created their own meaderies, while the others ventured into wine distribution and marketing.
One son, Eisig, established the first national meadery and beeswax facility in Poland. He and his wife, Clara, had three sons, one of whom was Wolfgang— Lipman’s grandfather, who Americanized his name to William (Bill) upon immigrating to the United States.
During the Holocaust, the family’s winemaking business was decimated—as were nearly all the members of the Loew family. Bill survived serving as part of the Underground, where his multilingual skills were highly prized. He was imprisoned in a Budapest political prison and
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two concentration camps, and eventually was liberated during a Dachau death march on April 23, 1945, by the U.S. Army’s 99th Infantry Division. Each year, the family commemorates this special day with Bill, 95, who remains involved with the business.
“It’s kind of like a birthday celebration for us,” Lipman says.
Once he arrived in America, Bill attended night school, married Lois Hendrickson, and eventually became an electrical engineer. Yet the sweet smell of the barrels from his family’s meadery always remained a part of him. Upon retiring in 1982, he purchased a 37-acre plot in Frederick County, Maryland, with the aim of planting grapes and continuing his family’s wine and mead-making legacy.
“The way our family oriented ourselves, everything was about preserving the past,” Lipman says. “There was little discussion of the future.”
COVID-19, however, served as a pivotal moment for the family business. Not only did Lipman have to safeguard her grandparents, who enjoyed interacting with customers in their tasting room, she knew she had to implement some operational changes if she wanted a sustainable future.
Citing Hillel the Elder’s iconic quote— “if not now, when?”—Lipman and her family made a significant investment in new fermentation tanks, which has allowed them to increase production to meet growing demand. They also remodeled the tasting room, created an online reservation system, and updated their website to showcase the family’s long history in the business.
Lipman credits her grandmother with helping to facilitate a lot of the recent changes.
“She knows we have something that cannot die,” Lipman says of her grandmother. “Without her, we wouldn’t have been pushing for a future.”
Locating historical documents about her family required perseverance. Lipman joined a global Facebook group of mead-makers and posted about her family’s long tradition. Doing so helped her locate mead labels from her great-grandfather’s business, and even an article in a Lvov newspaper about how her mead-making great-uncle collected tzedakah.
She also uncovered many documents that traced the history of mead in Europe— how it was predominantly produced by monks in the 1600s to its heyday in the 1800s through World War II.
“These documents just say the businesses disappeared after World War II,” Lipman says. “It doesn’t say that Jews owned these businesses and that is why they were gone. The people and the industry were destroyed by the Nazis. I intend to make that known.”
As the oldest grandchild, Lipman spent much of her childhood at her grandparents’ vineyard. From cooking Passover meals with her grandmother to riding on her grandfather’s tractors out to the vineyards, Lipman was and remains exceptionally close to her grandparents.
As she got older, her grandfather taught her chromatography, a technique that allows you to investigate the flavor of the wine. Lipman ultimately decided to study plant science at the University of Maryland and even interned at an organic vineyard in France’s Loire Valley.
Lipman doesn’t think her grandparents were intentionally grooming her to work on the vineyard, but does believe “they wanted me to love the vineyard as much as they do,” she said.
“When you are 21, you think, ‘Sure being in the alcohol business sounds great! I worked at beer and wine stores then, but the more I learned about the industry, the more serious I became about it [as a future career],” she says.
Lipman hopes to continue to produce wines well into the future and watch the roots that her family planted so long ago continue to flourish. In the meantime, the Loew family looks forward to saying
“L’chaim!”—“to life!”—over their wines this Rosh Hashanah, knowing all too well the meaning of the phrase.
Honey wine.
This article originally appeared on Kveller.
Please join Temple Israel for the 2019/5780 holidays! Celebrate the fullness ofJewish worship with us as togetherwe find spiritual meaning in the words of our sages. Youwill finda heartygreetingfroma warm congregationthatembracesboththetimelessandtheinnovative. Come join us and let us welcome you home. Please join Temple Israelforthe 2019/5780 holidays! Celebrate the fullness ofJewish worship with us as togetherwe find spiritual meaning in the words of our sages. Youwill finda heartygreetingfroma warm congregationthatembracesboththetimelessandtheinnovative. Please join Temple Israel for the 2022/5783 holidays! Celebrate the fullness of Jewish worship with us as together we find spiritual meaning in the words of our sages. You will find a hearty greeting from a warm congregation that embraces both the timeless and the innovative. Come join us and let us welcome you home. Come join us and let us welcome you home.
7255 Granby Street, Norfolk, VA 23505 757-489-4550 7255 Granby Street, Norfolk, VA 23505 www.templeisraelva.org 757-489-4550 www.templeisraelva.org
Rosh Hashanah
High Holidays provide another reason to establish Legacy at Tidewater Jewish Foundation
Thomas Mills
During the High Holidays, it is common for Jewish people to reflect on what they are thankful for. Gathering with loved ones and friends during this time is a powerful experience, especially after an era of social distancing and virtual calls. It’s not surprising, then, that many donors and philanthropists ask themselves questions, such as: What will my philanthropic legacy be? Will it support the community institutions I care about? Will it reflect my family’s values?
Tidewater Jewish Foundation offers a variety of programs and methods for those looking to establish a legacy. LIFE & LEGACY, made possible through TJF’s partnership with the Harold Grinspoon Foundation, promotes after-lifetime giving to sustain valued organizations and Jewish communities. The program was founded on the principle that everyone, regardless of age, wealth, or affiliation, can make an enduring financial impact. The Jewish Future Pledge, another program offered by TJF, is a worldwide movement working to ensure that vibrant Jewish life continues for future generations. The Jewish Future Pledge is a commitment that at least half of the funds left to charity at the time of one’s death are earmarked to support the Jewish causes and/or the State of Israel.
When thinking long-term, updating a will may be a good place to start. By updating or creating a will, it is possible to ensure that philanthropic goals extend to the next generation and the community for years to come. Better yet, a bequest by will is the easiest and most common choice for a legacy gift as it costs nothing today. TJF’s LIFE & LEGACY and Jewish Future Pledge programs also offer options to make commitments through a will, providing current and prospective donors tremendous flexibility to leave a legacy that will last generations. Don’t have a will? TJF works with a variety of lawyers and professional advisors and can make a referral to help get started.
No matter one’s philanthropic goals, TJF has the tools and expertise to help start or continue the process. In fact, the new gift planning section of TJF’s website offers plenty of options—including bequest language—to kick-start a legacy. TJF will work with the donor’s professional advisors, family members, and loved ones to establish the most effective ways to make a legacy last for generations to come.
For more information, contact Naomi Limor Sedek, Tidewater Jewish Foundation president and CEO at 757-965-6109 or email nsedek@ujft.org.
L’Shana Tova!
The Tidewater Jewish Foundation would like to wish you a sweet and happy New Year filled with health and happiness for you and your loved ones.
Rosh Hashanah
Making High Holiday meals pop
Debbie Burke
Although many of us love the traditional brisket and sides, what’s a Rosh Hashanah without adding a little zetz of flavor to remind us of new beginnings in the year ahead?
According to Eric Juergens, externship coordinator and chef instructor at the Culinary Institute of Virginia, EPCI University, “Everyone loves the vibe of the holidays, bringing everyone together. That harvest, those fall seasonings, and those warm flavors are starting to come out. I really like to champion them.”
With most of his career spent in kosher catering, working for a business in New Hampshire run by his roommate’s mother, Juergens now teaches cooking techniques, food safety, meal prep, and making flavors sing at CIV. “For Rosh Hashanah, we’re keeping with the harvest theme and combining them [traditional holiday foods] in different ways. If we are celebrating a new year, a harvest is the start of everything you grew for the entire year.”
The main “show-stopper,” he says, is often brisket, but he likes to riff off that theme. “I like to braise short ribs with apples and honey and even dates,” he says. “I like to think what’s beyond the brisket so I found short ribs to be easier for a personal portion.” Instead of potato kugel, he’s used fall roots, beets or leeks, and shredded veggies like rutabaga, turnip, and celery root. “They are starchy like a potato but I jazz them up with fall flavors. It’s also very bright with colors of orange, purple, and red and it pops on the table.” For spices, think of trying something different. Juergens likes warm profiles like those found in Moroccan, Middle Eastern, and Indian cooking. “It gives a
comfortableness, warming us up on the inside. These menus mean something to the people you are serving them to and they show the love you put into them.” To wash it all down, traditional sweet reds are one option. While finding kosher wine might be a challenge in Tidewater (at least one major retailer here carries it), some Eric Juergens. people order their wine online well in advance of the holidays. “Try to have multiple options for your guests,” he says. “The default is Manischewitz. But there are some beautiful kosher merlots and cabernets.” Breaking the fast after Yom Kippur comes with its own culinary questions. Juergens says the meal lends itself more to a breakfast or brunch-style lineup, such as cold smoked fish, lox, and a schmear… where he says you can just plain go wild. “It used to be just regular herbs like chives, but I’m putting nuts in there, freeze-dried fruits that have an extreme flavor, and honey. Also, I sometimes use very thick Greek yogurt instead of cream cheese.” Besides bagels and lox and the spreads, he sees a lot of salads (tuna and egg). But also this: “I love a great Mediterranean meal with marinated or fresh fish, fruits, figs, tabbouleh, tomato and onion salad, and spanakopita. It’s bright and flavorful. Everyone will have something to eat that’s not heavy.” With this meal, which suggests more of white wines, he says you can also offer mimosas and spritzers. The biggest change he is seeing for the holidays? It’s a good one. “Bringing the family together. We spent the last few years being COVID-cautious, but this year and beyond we’ll be seeing large families come back together. It’s a wonderful trend!”
Please join us in welcoming Rabbi Ariel Oliszewski from Brazil!
Rabbi Ari will be here for 5 weeks during the High Holidays.
Everyone is invited to join us!
Please call Gail at 757-428-2591 for tickets.
427 25th Street • Virginia Beach, VA 23451 • www.tevb.org
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BOOK REVIEW
A new examination of a familiar story for this sacred season
Unbinding Isaac (The Significance of the Akedah for Modern Jewish Thought)
Aaron Koller The Jewish Publication Society; 223 pages; 2020
Professor Aaron Koller, the author of this engaging and relevant book of impressive scholarly work on a critical Biblical theme with ever-lingering vibrations, variations, interpretations, and implications, teaches Near Eastern and Jewish studies at Yeshiva University and chairs the Department of Jewish Studies at Yeshiva College.
“Over the course of centuries, the story has sat at the intersection of text and life. In every generation, readers have turned to it for help in thinking about the most difficult and traumatic aspects of their own religious lives and in turn have bequeathed to the text a profound, intense, multivalent set of meanings upon which other people can draw,” Koller writes. The author then presents as a model for this creative, even revolutionary, interplay the literary work contained in The Last Trial, Shalom Spiegel’s classic Hebrew publication translated into English by Judah Goldin.
The terse and revealing 300 words in Genesis 22 is the foundational drama of the Akedah, read on Rosh Hashanah: Isaac’s binding by his father Abraham as an intended sacrificial offering to God while binding Abraham to his divine covenant.
The Akedah’s first part of the binding which is terrifying and its second relieving counterpart naturally and understandably provide for a pluralistically wide spectrum of responses, individually and collectively, culminating in a rich legacy that will continue to challenge us. Kierkegaard’s thesis in his influential classic Fear and Trembling was on the believer’s (Abraham’s) faith that God command of him to sacrifice his most beloved son Isaac was to be fully accepted as a reciprocal sign of loving commitment to the Most High.
The author finds fault with Kierkegaard’s view, avoiding the Akedah’s ethical dilemma and practically condoning both God and Abraham for Isaac’s near-sacrifice, which was adopted by two Jewish giants of the 20th century, Orthodox Yeshayahu Leibowitz and Joseph Ber Soloveitchik.
Koller is also critical of faith that centered on the individual’s bond with God, rather than the communal prayer
experience, which he regards as the dominant Jewish expression of faith. We also hear the notable voices of such luminaries as Martin Buber, Emmanuel Levinas, and David Hartman, among others. Koller convincingly stresses that removing the ethical from a divinely ordained act has allowed for our contemporary plague of misguided terrorist crimes for religion’s sake. Without sacred and respectful regard for the individual’s autonomous will as an absolute ethical cornerstone, such as Rabbi Israel Zoberman. overlooking Isaac’s demanded input into his unsettling ordeal, the author rightly fears the worst of outcomes.
Rabbi Dr. Israel Zoberman is founder and spiritual leader of Temple Lev Tikvah in Virginia Beach. He is honorary senior rabbi scholar at Eastern Shore Chapel Episcopal Church in Virginia Beach.
IT’S A WRAP
That’s a wrap: End of Summer Shabbat
Nofar Trem
PJ Library in Tidewater and United Jewish Federation of Tidewater’s Young Adult Division (YAD) teamed up again to host the annual End of Summer Shabbat Dinner and Pool Party at the Simon Family JCC.
Families and friends experienced an evening of good music, pool games, and a community Shabbat. Adults went headto-head in pool competitions while the children tested their speed during beach ball races and a speed slide competition.
Rabbi Yoni Warren helped welcome Shabbat with blessings and songs before families enjoyed a delicious dinner.
For information about PJ Library in Tidewater, contact Nofar Trem at ntrem@ ujft.org. For information about YAD, contact Matt Kramer-Morning at mkramermorning@ujft.org.
Liam and Nina Kruger, Pearl Mitzner, and Molly Futerman welcome ShinShiniot Aya Sever and Alma Ben Chorin.
Rabbi Yoni Warren leads Shabbat Blessings with the Zito family in the background. Danny and Shikma Rubin enjoy pool time with their family.
Explore the History Behind the Narrative!
INSTRUCTED BY RABBI MICHAEL PANITZ
