Jewish News - December 19, 2022

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Future is bright for Jewish Tidewater

As we light our menorahs during Hanukkah and approach the end of 2022, I think back on all we have accomplished together.

When Russia attacked Ukraine, Jewish Tidewater responded quickly, as we always do, raising almost $800,000 to provide support directly to Ukrainians through the creation of our Tidewater Ukraine Emergency Fund. This was in addition to the more than $4,800,000 in funds United Jewish Federation of Tidewater allocated through our 2022 Annual Campaign to meet the needs primarily of local institutions and organizations, in addition to vulnerable populations around the world through our overseas partners.

Our community joined together to build the Marty Einhorn Pavilion on the Reba and Sam Sandler Family Campus of the Tidewater Jewish Community. The 2,400-square-foot outdoor structure quickly became a gathering place for outdoor learning for the students of Strelitz International Academy, for campers at Camp JCC, and for community members through numerous celebrations and gatherings throughout the year.

Our community came together for Yom Ha’Atzmaaut— more than 2,000 strong—to celebrate Israel’s 74th birthday. The Campus had a “pre-pandemic” feeling of togetherness and COMMUNITY which continued into the summer and fall

CONTENTS

through various events, and as we prepare to celebrate Israel at 75!

Through your support, these accomplishments, these events, and so many more, the bright light of Jewish Tidewater proves to be strong and enduring.

There perhaps has never been a more important time for the Federation to shine our light, which your support makes possible, to support Jewish education, Jewish identity, care for the vulnerable, secure our community, and combat hate, bigotry, and antisemitism.

Thank you for your generosity, your involvement, and your commitment to our community and its future.

From my family to yours, I wish each of you a safe, meaningful, and festive season as, together, our community continues to shine bright.

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Reba and Sam Sandler Family Campus of the Tidewater Jewish Community 5000 Corporate Woods Drive, Suite 200 Virginia Beach, Virginia 23462-4370 voice 757-965-6100 • fax 757-965-6102 email news@ujft.org

Terri Denison, Editor

Germaine Clair, Art Director

Sandy Goldberg, Account Executive Debbie Burke, Copywriter

Marilyn Cerase, Subscription Manager Reba Karp, Editor Emeritus

United Jewish Federation of Tidewater Laura G. Gross, President

Alvin Wall, Treasurer Mona Flax, Secretary

Betty Ann Levin, Executive Vice President

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from the new Museum of Broadway 39

Jan. 23 Foodie/Romance Jan. 6 Feb. 6 Invest/Retire Jan. 20 Feb. 20 Mazel Tov Feb. 3 March 6 Camp Feb. 17 March 20 Passsover March 3 April 3 Israel at 75 March 17

April 24 Mom/Women/Camp April 7 May 8 Summer at Home April 21

CANDLE LIGHTING QUOTABLE

Friday, December 23/29 Kislev

Light candles at 4:35 pm

Friday, December 30/6 Tevet Light candles at 4:40 pm

Friday, January 6/13 Tevet

Light candles at 4:45 pm

Friday, January 13/20 Tevet

—page 5

Light candles at 4:52 pm

Friday, January 20/27 Tevet Light candles at 4:59 pm

Friday, January 27/5 Shevat Light candles at 5:07 pm

“Now, it’s up to the governor to decide what to do.”

United Jewish Federation of Tidewater/Simon Family JCC

Betty Ann Levin.

BRIEFS

‘SILENCE IS COMPLICITY’: BIDEN CALLS ON POLITICAL LEADERS TO DENOUNCE ANTI-SEMITISM

President Joe Biden, reacting after the latest station in Kanye West’s dolorous journey, explained that Hitler was bad and the Holocaust was real and chided politicians like his predecessor Donald Trump who give the rapper’s antisemitism oxygen.

“I just want to make a few things clear: The Holocaust happened. Hitler was a demonic figure,” Biden said on Twitter. “And instead of giving it a platform, our political leaders should be calling out and rejecting antisemitism wherever it hides. Silence is complicity.”

Biden’s statement did not call out anyone by name. But the most immediate reference Biden was making was to a threehour appearance by West, also known as Ye, on Infowars, the streaming show hosted by conspiracy theorist Alex Jones, in which he repeatedly praised Adolf Hitler, said he loved Nazis and denied that the Holocaust happened as it did.

Biden also appeared to be referring to Trump, who had West over for dinner, along with Nick Fuentes, a prominent antisemite and Holocaust denier. Biden has denounced antisemitism and Trump’s proximity to it since the first speech of his presidential campaign.

By saying “silence is complicity,” Biden may have been referring to those who had not condemned Trump for hosting West, or who would not directly criticize Trump. Since Biden’s statement, almost all top Republicans have denounced the dinner, though some with sharper criticism of Trump than others. (JTA)

VOLODYMYR ZELENSKY NAMED TIME’S ‘PERSON OF THE YEAR’

Volodymyr Zelensky, the Jewish president of Ukraine, was named Time ’s “person of the year” for galvanizing “the world in a way we haven’t seen in decades,” in the words of the magazine’s editor-in-chief.

“From his first 40-second Instagram post on Feb. 25—showing that his Cabinet and civil society were intact and in place—to daily speeches

delivered remotely to the likes of houses of Parliament, the World Bank, and the Grammy Awards, Ukraine’s President was everywhere,” Edward Felsenthal wrote in an article explaining the choice. “His information offensive shifted the geopolitical weather system, setting off a wave of action that swept the globe.”

Zelensky is the fifth Jew to claim the honor in the magazine’s almost 100 years of awarding it. Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg earned it in 2010, former Treasury Secretary Ben Bernanke won it in 2009, former business executive Andrew Grove won in 1997 and former U.S. Secretary of State Henry Kissinger earned the award in 1972.

Since the outbreak of Russia’s war against Ukraine in February, Zelensky has emerged as a Jewish symbol around the world. The former comedian and actor, first glorified for staying put in Ukraine as the violence threatened his life, is seen by many as a tough “modern Maccabee.” His Jewish heritage is widely acknowledged as historically significant in a country with a bloody Jewish history, and he and his allies have used his identity to dispel Russia’s arguments that the war was meant to “de-Nazify” Ukraine.

Throughout the conflict, Zelensky has also repeatedly called on Israel, citing his Jewishness, to break its strategic connections to Moscow and join the wave of Western nations that supplied Ukraine with aid and arms. (JTA)

BIPARTISAN SLATE OF 125 LAWMAKERS CALL FOR ‘WHOLE OF GOVERNMENT’ APPROACH TO COMBATING ANTI-SEMITISM

A bipartisan slate of 125 lawmakers from both chambers are calling on the Biden administration to adopt a “whole of government” policy to combating antisemitism.

A letter sent to President Joe Biden, spearheaded by the chairmen of congressional task forces for combating antisemitism, called for action from officials from an array of agencies, including the Department of Homeland Security, the Department of Justice, the FBI, the

State Department, the White House, the Department of Education, and the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum.

The letter pushes for the creation of “an interagency task force led by an official at the Assistant Secretary rank or higher,” and it cites an FBI report saying there was a 6% rise in antisemitic hate crimes in 2020.

“Because many individual agencies play a critical role in combating antisemitism, closer coordination is needed to share best practices, data, and intelligence; identify gaps in efforts; streamline overlapping activities and roles; and execute a unified national strategy,” the letter said.

The letter came a day ahead of a roundtable on antisemitism at the White House bringing together top administration officials with Jewish organizational leaders, and a week after the Department of Homeland Security issued a terrorism advisory bulletin saying that the Jewish, LGBTQ, and migrant communities face a “persistent and lethal threat.”

The chairs of the task force in the U.S. House of Representatives are Kathy Manning, a Jewish Democrat from North Carolina, and Chris Smith, a New Jersey Democrat. The chairs in the Senate are Jacky Rosen, a Jewish Democrat from Nevada, and James Lankford, an Oklahoma Republican. (JTA)

a theater in Jaffa popular among Arab Israelis, planned to screen it. Its director, Darin Sallam, has said she based the film off twice-removed real-life testimony from a Palestinian refugee of 1948 who ended up in Syria.

But Israel has attacked the film and its producers over what the government says is an unfair portrayal of the IDF.

“To me, it is ridiculous that Netflix chose to release a film whose entire purpose is inciting mockery against IDF soldiers,” Israeli Finance Minister Avidgor Lieberman told Israeli media.

Lieberman further suggested the treasury could withhold state funding from the theater unless it canceled plans to screen the film, saying, “The choice of a cultural institution funded by the State of Israel to screen the above-mentioned film is already unacceptable.” Israeli law permits the finance minister to withhold funding from any cultural institution that recognizes the Nakba by commemorating Israel’s Independence Day as a day of mourning.

In response, producers of Farha released a statement accusing the Israeli government of launching a disinformation campaign against the film.

ISRAEL CONDEMNS

NETFLIX MOVIE ABOUT 1948 WAR OF INDEPENDENCE

Israel’s government has lashed out at Netflix over a new Jordanian movie that they say disparages the country’s military and their actions in the War of 1948 that led to Israel’s independence.

Farha , Jordan’s entry into the Academy Awards’ best international feature race, is a historical drama about the “Nakba,” or “catastrophe,” the Palestinian term for the events that led to the founding of the State of Israel. In the film, a Palestinian teenager locked in a storage room witnesses a family being slaughtered by the Israel Defense Forces. Two small children and a baby are among the victims.

The movie debuted on Netflix on Thursday, Dec. 1, and Al Saraya Theatre,

“These attempts to silence our voices as Semite/Arabs and as women filmmakers to dehumanize us and prevent us from telling our stories, our narrative and our truth are against any freedom of speech,” reads the statement by Sallam and producers Deema Azar and Ayeh Jadaneh.

Another film that has provoked controversy over its depiction of the events of 1948, the Israeli documentary Tantura, opened in U.S. and Palestinian theaters this week. Tantura plays oral testimony from former members of the Israeli military who recall slaughtering hundreds of Palestinian residents of the village of Tantura and dumping their bodies into mass graves to pave the way for a kibbutz.

A theater in Ramallah in the West Bank is currently showing Tantura , which its distributors say marks the first time a theater in the Palestinian territories has shown an Israeli documentary. (JTA)

ANTISEMITISM

Combating Antisemitism report addresses laws, education, definition, and law enforcement

Terri Denison

Established by Gov. Glenn Youngkin, the Virginia Commission to Combat Antisemitism released its report earlier this month, receiving national, as well as international attention.

On January 15, 2022, his first day in office, the governor signed Executive Order 8, “Establishing the Commission to Combat Antisemitism.” The 15-member commission was convened on May 6 and from Tidewater, included Art Sandler as its vice chair and Connie A. Meyer as a member.

The commission was chaired by Jeffrey Rosen, who served as the acting U.S. Attorney General in the Trump administration’s last month.

Even if only some of the suggestions are adopted, it will make an enormous difference in the lives of Jews in Virginia for generations to come.

The meetings were all open to the public.

“We met five times (in addition to sub-committee meetings) and had a lot of lively discussion,” says Sandler. “There was very little argument—the members were all very smart people.”

Sandler also credits Robin Mancoll, who oversees United Jewish Federation of Tidewater’s Jewish Community Relations Council, with providing the committee valuable data and connections with law enforcement and educators around the state.

“We are glad we were able to contribute to the Commission’s work and look forward to advocating for and helping to

implement these important recommendations,” says Betty Ann Levin, UJFT executive vice president/CEO.

In addition to a brief history and overview of the current state of antisemitism, the comprehensive report includes multiple examples of antisemitism that have taken place throughout the Commonwealth, including the fliers left on driveways in Virginia Beach this past summer.

Another example mentioned in the report that has received much coverage is the inclusion of the line, “Even a former president recently met with two notorious antisemites,” referring to former President Donald Trump’s dinner with rapper Kanye West and Nick Fuentes. ADL calls Fuentes a white supremacist.

“One of the members brought up that we should include the dinner as an example,” says Sandler. “We didn’t mention Trump’s name because we didn’t want it to be political.”

The dinner, Sandler notes, shows that antisemitism no longer just lurks in the dark corners of society, but is now mainstream. The committee voted and approved of its inclusion in the report.

The report proposes policy reforms in four specific areas:

1) Definition and Scope of Anitsemitism;

2) Educational Responses to Antisemitism;

3) Law Enforcement and Security Responses to Antisemitism; and

4) Trade, Laws, and Legislation to Combat Antisemitism.

Within these four areas, 21 substantive recommendations are outlined.

One of the report’s recommendations is that Virginia adopt the IHRA Working Definition of Antisemitism—including its “contemporary examples.” The uniform definition of antisemtism allows for the accurate collection of data.

Among those commending the report is the Brandeis Center, which announced “its willingness to provide the support that

the Commission urges Virginia state officials to seek from the Center and other organizations.”

Under education, the report suggests that Virginia: expand Holocaust Standards of Learning; include Study of Judaism in World History (including the establishment of the modern state of Israel and its impact geographically and globally on the region and the world); increase educator access to antisemitism non-profits and materials; ban academic boycotts (so that no institution funded by the commonwealth or any of its localities could boycott a foreign country not on a terrorist list); advance the study of antisemitism and the law; prohibit indoctrination in public education (to avoid the politicization of history and the present); and require recognition of religious holidays in K-12 education (so that no student is penalized for missing school for a religious holiday), among others.

Under Law Enforcement, the commission recommends that Virginia State Police and local police departments encourage proactive policing during religious holy days, and that police departments educate and train their staff for incidents; expand hate crime training; and support youth initiatives to mitigate radicalization.

Considering antidiscrimination protections, the report recommends that Virginia adopt a law that would bar public entities from following the positions of the

Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) hate movement. Other states have passed such laws.

“In my humble opinion, it (the report) is excellent and exhaustive in its depth and breadth; even if only some of the suggestions are adopted, it will make an enormous difference in the lives of Jews in Virginia for generations to come,” said Rabbi Rosalin Mandelberg in her sermon at Ohef Sholom Temple on the Shabbat following the report’s release.

The Commission had one assignment —to develop the report—which is complete. “Now, it’s up to the Governor to decide what to do,” says Sandler. “A report doesn’t do a thing if the political leadership doesn’t enact it.”

Still, Sandler says he “strongly believes that the Governor and Executive Branch is very serious about the report and will take to heart the recommendations and will implement as many as possible.”

Forever Helping Others

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Jewish Tidewater 2022…another busy year

Terri Denison

television program, film, or even a Jewish or Israeli recipe.

Bill Goldback’s legacy lives on through the arts.

Bill, who died in 2007, left a donation in his will for the performing arts in Hampton Roads.

The William A. Goldback Fund continues to support arts groups and other causes in our community.

Visit LeaveABequest.org

Jewish-related

news made more mainstream headlines in 2022 than most of us could ever recall. The topics receiving the most national and global coverage included news about Ukraine’s Jewish president, Jewish U.S. politicians, Israel’s election (again!), the synagogue hostage situation in Texas, Holocaust education in schools, security needs for synagogues and Jewish organizations, and certainly not to be omitted, blatant antisemitism. Occasionally, some good and pleasant news also appeared…perhaps about a Jewish holiday, actor, book,

This review of 2022, however, concentrates only on Jewish Tidewater as reported in Jewish News. With the return to in-person gatherings, there was plenty to write about! This is, however, just a sample, as space is limited. Want more? Go to JewishNewsVa.org, click on the E-Edition icon and you can re-read all of this year’s issues, as well as years and years of past newspapers.

In 2022, Jewish Tidewater was generous, caring, active, inquisitive, and had fun, too.

JANUARY

Former Norfolk resident Bob Saget , comedian and actor famous for playing a wholesome sitcom father figure, but who never lost his flair for raunchy comedy, dies at 65, shortly after performing in Orlando, on Saturday, January 8, where he had delivered a show with his trademark mashup of dark humor and dad jokes that he first developed while misbehaving in Temple Israel’s Hebrew school.

On his first day in office, Saturday, January 15, Governor Glenn Youngkin issues an Executive Order establishing a commission to combat anti-Semitism in the Commonwealth of Virginia. “Virginia must once again lead the way in ensuring religious freedom and equality for all citizens,” he says.

Virginia Jewish Advocacy Day[s] 2022 takes place via Zoom. Meetings with Delegates and Senators are held Monday, January 31; Tuesday, February 1; and Thursday, February 3.

FEBRUARY

Local Holocaust survivors, New Americans, Jewish Family Service Senior

Acculturation Case Manager Alla Gean, and volunteers living at Granby and Suburban Houses gather at the home of Semen Shilman to honor him and his family to celebrate Shilman’s 100th birthday on Friday, Feb 4. A Veteran of WWII, Shilman received a Certificate of Recognition, a bouquet of roses, and $100 in gift cards from JFS.

Chabad of Tidewater’s Family Havdallah Glow Party is a huge hit. The event takes place after Shabbat on Saturday, February 5 at Chabad House to welcome the new week in style.

29th Annual Virginia Festival of Jewish Film , presented by Alma & Howard

Laderberg takes place February 24–28. Four fascinating films with diverse topics are shown.

MARCH

The Tidewater Ukraine Emergency Fund is established at United Jewish Federation of Tidewater. 100% of donations will be distributed to UJFT’s overseas partners: JDC, JAFI, ORT and others. Tidewater Jewish Foundation provides a $25,000 match opportunity for donations to this fund.

“Not much is more important than the security of our community,” says Betty Ann Levin, UJFT’s executive vice president/ CEO.

To better protect the Jewish community who worship and attend area synagogues, day schools, and other Jewish agencies in Tidewater, United Jewish Federation of Tidewater with support from a Tidewater Jewish Foundation community impact grant, joins with

Judy Rosenblatt and Bob Saget at age 13.

Harley Lubic looking glowtactic.

Roie Galitz.

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the Jewish Community Federation of Richmond and United Jewish Community of the Virginia Peninsula to partner with Secure Community Network to enhance local security programs in 2020.

Secure Community Network was established under the auspices of the Jewish Federations of North America (UJFT’s national umbrella agency) and the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations.

SCN strives to enhance the safety and security of those within 147 Federations, the 50 largest Jewish non-profit organizations in North America, and more than 300 independent Jewish communities.

For a couple of days, meetings and trainings are offered by UJFT in partnership with SCN and the FBI Norfolk Chapter of InfraGard at the Sandler Family Campus for all members of all faiths of the Jewish and greater Tidewater communities. InfraGard is a partnership between the Federal Bureau of Investigation and members of the private sector for the protection of U.S. Critical Infrastructure. More than 500 people attend the various sessions over the course of two days, including Representative Elaine Luria and Attorney General Jason Miyares.

Operation Hamantaschen joins forces with Sunday Fun Day.

PJ Library in Tidewater, in partnership

with Strelitz International Academy and Camp JCC, gather with the community at the Sandler Family Campus for a Purim celebration on Sunday, March 13. Dressed in colorful costumes ready to participate in Operation Hamantaschen, families receive everything they need to make their own hamantaschen cookies.

The Guiding Hand: The Barr Foundation Collection of Torah Pointers exhibit opens March 24 at the Chrysler Museum of Art. The extensive collection of Torah pointers assembled by Clay Barr is the first exhibition of Judaica at the Chrysler

Museum several decades.

Approximately 150 Torah pointers, or yads, from the Barr Foundation collection are included in the months long exhibit.

Seth Michael Carlson, (American) Polyhedra Torah pointer, 2018 Silver and gold Lent by the Barr Foundation

Charlie Nusbaum receives the VCIC Humanitarian Award on Thursday, March 24 at an event in Virginia Beach.

At Strelitz International Academy’s Evening of the Arts: How We Express Ourselves, parents watch their children perform on stage, many for the first time, on Thursday, March 24

Twenty Tidewater middle schoolers and teens attend the first “Dive in Movie” in the Simon Family JCC indoor pool on Saturday, March 26.

Teens enjoy competitive relay races as a part of the Teen Dive in Movie program.

APRIL

Through the efforts of its rabbi, Ellen Jaffe-Gill, Tidewater Chavurah receives a Torah scroll to use during Shabbat and holidays. Rabbi Jaffe-Gill acquires the scroll through the Jewish Community Legacy Project , an organization that helps small congregations with planning resources and solutions.

Since its inception in 2011, Beth Sholom Village’s The Janet Gordon Annual Mah Jongg Event and Luncheon never missed a year…until COVID-19 hit. An event

continued on page 8

Curtis family.

that evolved from a tournament with competitive play to a day of play with a smaller group of die-hard tournament players, returns with much appreciation on Sunday, April 3.

More than 40 seniors enjoy matzah and music as they celebrate Passover at a festive community Seder at the Simon Family JCC on Tuesday, April 12.

The first Virginia Congressman to sign the bipartisan Pascrell-Latko letter, demanding increased funding to protect synagogues and houses of worship, the now late Congressman Donald McEachin visits the Sandler Family Campus for a quick conversation and lunch with a diverse group of members of Tidewater’s Jewish community.

Emphatically stating that he is “Proud to stand with Israel,” McEachin recalled that he learned from his parents to “stand by your friends.”

Recently announced by Tidewater Jewish Foundation and the Feldman Family, The Feldman Family Medical and Health Professions Scholarship Fund is an annual scholarship that will award up to $10,000 a year to Jewish students living in Virginia—with priority given to Hampton Roads residents—who have been accepted to matriculate at a Virginiabased institution for a degree in their chosen healthcare field.

Yom Hashoah Commemoration takes place on Wednesday, April 27 at Congregation Beth El. The Holocaust Commission of the United Jewish Federation of Tidewater’s

annual community event to honor the Holocaust Day of Remembrance, includes as guest speaker, Holocaust survivor Dr. Al Munzer, a candle lighting ceremony, and prayers from area clergy and leadership.

More than 20 members of the community join Jeffrey F. Brooke in a letter to Virginia Governor Glenn Youngkin and others asking them to consider appointing Jewish judges to the Virginia Supreme Court. The letter is sent on April 13. The letter highlights the fact that there has never been a Jewish judge on the Virginia Supreme Court.

In late April, Annie Sandler, along with eight other board members and staffers of the JDC (Joint Distribution Committee) and student volunteers from Active Jewish Teens (AJT), travel to Poland to visit Ukrainian refugees

MAY Jewish Family Service’s Annual Run, Roll, or Stroll returns on Sunday, May 1 to the 31st Street Park in Virginia Beach. After two years of postponing due to COVID, this year’s Run, Roll, or Stroll has a record turn-out, with more than 350 people registering.

Yom Ha’Atzmaut attracts one of its largest crowds on Sunday, May 1 at the Sandler Family Campus. The Israel Independence Day celebration is the first large-scale in-person event for the holiday since before the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.

United Jewish Federation of Tidewater’s Society of Professionals’ “Power Series” presents The Wind is Blowing Our Way, with a panel of experts on Tuesday, May 3 at the Sandler Family Campus.

B’nai Israel’s Annual Ann Zukerman Scholar in Residence features Rabbi Tzvi Flaumm Thursday, May 19–Saturday, May 21.

The mitzvah of disposing of Jewish text takes place with a clean up and burial on Sunday, May 22 at Mikro Kodesh Cemetery

The Simon Family JCC’s Annual Fishing Derby on Sunday, May 22 at the Sandler Family Campus is a success with many participants reeling in the fish from Lake Sandler.

Seventy five years of Jewish News are explored and celebrated in a special issue of the paper.

29th annual celebration of National Senior Health + Fitness Day on Wednesday, May 25 at the Simon Family JCC includes group fitness classes, raffles, games, prizes, and featured speakers.

AUTO ACCIDENTS | SERIOUS INJURY | WRONGFUL DEATH

Annie Sandler with Diego at Operation Blessing tent. All of the tents were at a border crossing at Medyka.

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JUNE

On Wednesday, June 1, United Jewish Federation of Tidewater’s Women’s Cabinet hosts its annual Spring Lunch at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Virginia Beach. The topic that resonated with everyone there was…Ukraine.

A good-bye Kiddush at B’nai Israel and night of learning in honor of Rabbi Sender Haber and his family takes place around the Shavuos holiday of June 5–6.

Congregation Beth El bids farewell to Rabbi Arthur and Miriam Brunn-Ruberg on Saturday, June 11 at Shabbat morning services. A festive luncheon follows.

Jewish News celebrates recent graduates

Jewish geography: Who Knows One? takes place on Thursday, June 30, at the Sandler Family Campus. The evening is filled with laughs.

JULY

Brith Sholom Annual’s Indoor Picnic and Bingo is held on Sunday, July 3 at the Masonic Temple in Norfolk.

Primary years students at Strelitz Internation Academy enjoy a Shavuot Mitzvah Fair on Friday, June 3. Richard Glasser’s family dedicates the unique holiday celebration in his memory.

Wonderful Wednesdays, with a variety of musical performances, begins its season at The Jewish Museum and Cultural Center on Wednesday, July 6.

Charlie Nusbaum is elected Tidewater Jewish Foundation chair,

Local golfer Jeffrey Flax competes in the 2022 Israeli Maccabi Games with the U.S. Masters Golf Team (for 50 and over). The team consists of six players from all over the U.S. Flax wins an individual Bronze medal as well as helps the U.S. Masters Golf Team bring home the Gold.

Evan Nied, a Virginia Beach teen, wins the $36,000 Diller Teen Tikkun Olam Award from the Helen Diller Family Foundation for his work in planting trees to mitigate the disastrous effects of climate

change. The award is for his nonprofit organization Planting Shade, which has not only exceeded its initial goal of planting 1,000 trees with nearly 12,000 trees across different states, countries, and continents, but also increases literacy about the impact of climate change.

Residents in the Little Neck community of Virginia Beach woke up on Sunday, July 24 to find antisemtic fliers scattered throughout multiple neighborhoods. The United Jewish Federation of Tidewater’s Jewish Community Relations Council (JCRC) was notified and quickly in touch with local, state, and federal law enforcement partners, as well as the AntiDefamation League (ADL) and Virginia continued on page 10

Charlie Nusbaum.

Evan Nied.

Photo courtesy Mona and Jeffrey Flax. Jeff Flax (third from left) with U.S. Masters Golf Team.

YEAR IN REVIEW

continued from page 9

Center for Inclusive Communities (VCIC). Virginia Beach law enforcement quickly responded, collected the fliers, and spoke to many who received them. Similar fliers have been distributed in Richmond, Tampa, Fla., and elsewhere, by the Goyim Defense League (GDL), a group the ADL notes as “a loose network of individuals connected by their virulent antisemitism.”

Governor Youngkin appoints David Abraham, Beth Sholom Village’s president and CEO. to the Virginia Health Workforce Development Authority.

Tidewater Jewish Foundation hosts Sofer Rabbi Moshe Druin for an evening educational experience. Rabbi Druin spends nearly a week in town examining area congregations’ torahs.

AUGUST

Team Virginia Beach competes at JCC Maccabi Games in San Diego

Nancy Engel retires as Jewish Family Service’s executive administrative assistant on August 4 after serving the organization more than 33 years.

SEPTEMBER

Sunday, September 18 is called a “Super Day” for the Sandler Family Campus. Dedication ceremonies for the Marty Einhorn Pavilion brings out nearly 100 people to dedicate the new outdoor structure in memory of a beloved member of the community.

The U.S. wrestling team in Jerusalem.

Super Sunday follows the dedication, raising $209,203.50 for the 2023 Community Campaign.

Sunday Fun Day takes place at the same time as Super Sunday for families.

The Strelitz Golf Tournament takes place on Monday, September 19 at Cavalier Golf & Yacht Club in Virginia Beach.

Area congregations welcome congregants for the High Holidays with updates on COVID and other safety protocols.

OCTOBER

Aya Sever and Alma Ben Chorin, Tidewater’s Shin Shiniot arrive in Norfolk on Thursday, August 18.

End of Summer Family Shabbat and Pool Party takes place on Friday, August 19 at the Simon Family JCC.

Holocaust Commission holds 15th Educators’ Conference: Reflections of the Past: Words STILL Matter. This year’s conference is a partnership between the Commission, the Virginia Beach Public Schools, and Echoes & Reflections, a leading professional education organization for teachers of Holocaust in the country.

Ohef Sholom Temple celebrates Music Director Chuck Woodward’s 40th anniversary with a special service and Oneg Shabbat.

Israel Today holds the first of six monthly briefings on Thursday, October 6 to learn what’s happening in Israel with Jerusalem Post’s Lahav Harkov.

Lahav Harkov.

David Proser assumes helm of Hampton Roads Board of Rabbis and Cantors.

United Jewish Federation of Tidewater’s

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Yellow is the color of remembrance at Jewish Museum and Cultural Center on Sunday, October 16. JMCC in Portsmouth hosts its first event in partnership with the Atlanta-based Daffodil Project and Am Yisrael Chai. The site of the daffodil garden is the lot next to the museum.

A thoughtful discussion on the “art” of community building is a topic of conversation at United Jewish Federation of Tidewater’s Women’s LionTikva-Chai Lunch at the Sandler Family Campus.

Barbara Dudley, Women’s Cabinet chair, opens the lunch with a welcome and campaign update. Mona Flax, immediate past Cabinet chair, recognizes the community’s newest milestone givers in the women’s division and calls the names of the community’s beloved endowed Lions, of blessed memory.

BeAR literacy program welcomes new and returning mentors for the 2022/2023 school year on Oct. 24.

Joe Perlov speaks on Shifting Borders: The Map of Israel Past and Present on Wednesday, October 26 at the Sandler Family Campus. His presentation receives rave reviews as people say they now understand Israel’s map.

NOVEMBER

Perspectives on basketball, the Holocaust, and what one author calls “Grace,” Dan Grunfeld speaks on Wednesday, November 2 as part of the Lee & Bernard Jaffe Family Jewish Book Festival.

Congregation Beth Chaverim celebrates its 40th anniversar y on Sunday, Nov. 6.

Wiesenthal…a one-man show at the Wells Theater on Tuesday, November 15 has a packed house with students from across Tidewater viewing the show at a special performance the next morning.

JDC’s country director briefs community groups on ongoing efforts in Ukraine

Tidewater’s Jewish community celebrates its beautiful new Mikvah Taharas Chaya on Sunday, November 20. The Mikvah is located on Spotswood Avenue in Norfolk.

Ohef Sholom Temple and Freemason Street Baptist Church’s 95th annual Thanksgiving Service takes place this year at the church with Rabbi Roz speaking on Wednesday, November 24.

U.S. Attorney’s Office hosts ‘United Against Hate’ on Wednesday, November 30 at the Sandler Family Campus.

DECEMBER

Tidewater Jewish Foundation receives Coastal Virginia Magazine’s Giving Back Award.

An evening of song and music at Congregation Beth El on Sunday, Dec. 4 features Cantor Michelle Cohn Levy of B’nai Vail Congregation and Coleen Dieker, a composer, arranger, and vocalist.

The Commission to Combat Antisemitism releases it’s report on Antisemitism in Virginia on Monday, December 5. The report receives both local and national attention.

Local Relationships Matter

MEET: Bob Lehman, MD

“We have to give back. This community has been generous to me and I want to do all I can to help the community and those who live here. There isn’t a week that goes by that I don’t try to do something for someone in the community.”

“The [Payday] staff is dedicated and helpful which I think reflects the attitude from the top. So many of the employees have been there long term which speaks well for a business. Many of the employees bring their children to me. I feel as if we are family.”

Our client relationships are anything but transactional. We are long-term partners, dedicated to the success of our clients, and most importantly, their people.

A conversation with author Jessica Nordell on  The End of Bias: A Beginning takes place on Thursday, December 8 at the Sandler Family Campus.

Groundbreaking for Aviva Pembroke , an independent living com plex, is well attended by local politicians, members of

the Jewish community and Pembroke Square Associates executives on Friday, December 9.

Hanukkah Sunday Fun brings more than 150 people to the Simon Family JCC on Sunday, December 11 for an early holiday

Joe Perlov.

Dan Grunfeld.

Barbara Dudley.

Need money for college? The Stein Family College Scholarship is now offering up to $20,000 a year for four years! The largest scholarship in Jewish Tidewater, this annual college scholarship is awarded to Hampton Roads Jewish students entering college. Applicants are evaluated on financial need, Jewish/community engagement, and academic potential. Scholarship applicants must:

• Identify as Jewish

• Maintain residency in the Tidewater region

• Demonstrate academic ability

• Demonstrate a history of service and engagement in their academic, Jewish, and broader communities through extracurricular and volunteer activities

Application is open until March 1, 2023. To apply or for more information, visit:

The Stein Family College Scholarship is dedicated in loving memory of Arlene Shea Stein who was unable to finish college due to financial hardship.

Anti-Defamation League acquires Jewish investment watchdog to fight threats to Israel on Wall Street

Asaf Elia-Shalev

(JTA)—The Anti-Defamation League is bolstering its advocacy on Wall Street by absorbing JLens, an organization known for rating companies on their alleged support for the Israel boycott, according to an announcement by the ADL.

Founded in 2012, JLens was for years one of the only groups pressing pro-Israel positions in the growing environmental, social and governance movement, known as ESG, which advocates for a form of corporate decision-making in which profit is not the only priority.

Over time, JLens managed to raise awareness that Israel could get ensnared in ESG filters used by investors who wish to avoid doing business in conflict zones or with companies implicated in human rights abuses.

As the field of ESG investing grew to encompass a significant chunk of the world economy, affecting the direction of some $35 trillion in investments in 2020, JLens’ profile increased as well.

A slew of major Jewish organizations, including the ADL and the Jewish Federations of North America, partnered with JLens in a campaign against Morningstar, a company providing investment advice across the business world.

The campaign claimed victory last month when Morningstar agreed to overhaul parts of its systems to eliminate the potential for bias that might discourage investment in Israel.

In the view of JLens and the ADL, there’s a threat to Israel from pro-Palestinian activists who hide behind the language of ESG to promote the Israel boycott—an accusation that the activists are hijacking

the movement for what the two groups consider antisemitic purposes.

“ESG is the latest frontier in the fight against antisemitism, with radical Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions activists trying to push their agenda,” says ADL CEO Jonathan Greenblatt. He called JLens a “pathbreaking organization.”

Greenblatt also says JLens is aligned with his organization’s belief in the importance of corporate behavior, offering the example of companies such as Adidas that cut ties with Kanye West following his antisemitic comments, and such as General Mills and Unilever that have been targeted by Israel boycott activists.

As part of its mission, JLens also urges investors, especially Jewish organizations with significant endowments, to prioritize Jewish concerns in deciding where to put their money. JLens says more than 30

Jewish organizations have opted to invest nearly $200 million according to JLens guidelines.

The ADL says it will put “some” endowment funds into JLens’ portfolio. In 2020, the most recent year for which records are publicly available, the ADL had a budget of about $91 million, up 60% from its $57 million budget in 2015.

“ADL’s strategic approach to advocacy and coalition building aligns with JLens’ approach,” says JLens CEO and founder Julie Hammerman, who will continue to helm the project under the ADL. “ADL’s expertise and convening power will propel JLens’ work forward to advance Jewish leadership in impact investing, and elevate Jewish communal concerns through investor advocacy.”

YEAR END/INVESTMENTS

Tidewater Jewish Foundation earns recognition for

prudent management of invested funds

Randy Parrish

As investment stewards, Tidewater Jewish Foundation’s Investment Committee recognizes its fiduciary responsibility to oversee the investment of the community’s assets and continues to review TJF’s Investment Policy Statement (IPS) and evaluate its implementation.

TJF’s Investment Committee recently completed an extensive review of the implementation of the “Main Investment Pool” as it is described in the TJF IPS. TJF’s Main Pool of nearly $95 million serves as the primary and default pooled investment vehicle for the community’s long-term assets under TJF’s and its affiliates’ endowed funds. It also serves as the investment pool for many of TJF’s other funds, including donor-advised funds that do not qualify for separate investment accounts as specified under the IPS. Since 2009, the implementation of TJF’s Main Pool has been through the partnership with the Jewish Community Endowment Pool, LLP (JCEP), managed by the Combined Jewish Philanthropies of Greater Boston (CJP).

In early 2021, the TJF Investment Committee began a process to review other “Outsourced Chief Investment Officer” (OCIO) programs with an initial RFI (request for information) and then a more formal RFP (request for proposals) over the summer. Several firms responding to the RFP were selected as finalists for interviews, along with the option of maintaining the implementation of the Main Pool’s investment through the existing partnership with JCEP. At it’s March 14, 2022 meeting, TJF’s board of

directors endorsed the TJF Investment Committee’s recommendation to continue the relationship with JCEP for the implementation of TJF’s Main Investment

its

For its fiscal years 2011 through 2022, TJF has been awarded a certificate of conformance to the Best Practices under the Global Fiduciary Standard of Excellence.

Pool.

The third quarter of 2022 ended with the Tidewater Jewish Foundation’s Main Investment Pool posting a quarterly return* of -2.3%, leading its composite benchmark return of -2.9% for the quarter. The JCEP quarterly return ranks in the 4th percentile of the Endowment and Foundation Universe of funds in excess of $50 million. The -10.9% return over the last three quarters, since the current market downturn began early in 2022, exceeds the benchmark as shown below by 200 bps, and ranks in the 10th percentile on a relative basis. All longer-term JCEP returns are also exceeding the composite benchmark.

The JCEP historical performance has generally met the overall objective of supporting ongoing spending needs for community programs. JCEP’s primary investment objective is to attain an average annual real total return (defined as a nominal return net of fees and inflation) of at least 5% over the long term (rolling five-year periods) to support program requirements. This objective may not be achieved in all periods. Prior to these most recent three quarters, when inflation rates approached historic highs, the trailing returns for longer periods exceeded that real 5% return after inflation (CPI-U + 5%). This is not currently the case.

Lower volatility results, in part, from lower participation in market downturns, as is occurring now in 2022. The blue line in the chart below shows how

JCEP’s capital preservation traits have generated downside protection, decreasing less when equity markets decline.

In order to continue to support the ongoing spending needs for community programs and preserve the capital for permanent endowments, TJF returns need to be balanced against risk. And risk metrics continue to look favorable, with JCEP demonstrating an upside capture ratio of 111.9% and downside capture ratio of 92.2% when compared to the benchmark over the past 10 years.

One of the most important services that Tidewater Jewish Foundation provides to its donors and affiliates is the prudent management of invested funds. There are clear and quantifiable ways to measure investment performance both in absolute and relative terms, but how can one evaluate the quality of the investment process itself?

For its fiscal years 2011 through 2022, TJF has been awarded a certificate of conformance to the Best Practices under the Global Fiduciary Standard of Excellence. The assessment process is built upon the Fiduciary Quality Management System, as established by the Centre for Fiduciary Excellence. In the execution of The Colony Group’s fourstep assessment process, TJF documents and recordings were reviewed, including: TJF’s Investment Policy Statements and Asset Allocation Analyses, Investment Committee Meeting minutes, and By-Laws, as well as other investment governance records maintained by TJF.

YEAR END/INVESTMENTS

With the end of the fiscal year closing in, people tend to think more about charitable giving (potential tax breaks as incentives, not withstanding). Noting that in 2021, Americans donated nearly $485 billion, up 4% from the previous year, the personal-finance website WalletHub released its report on the Most Charitable States for 2023.

To determine where the most generous Americans are inspiring others to be more selfless, WalletHub compared the 50 states based on 19 key indicators of charitable behavior. The data set ranges from the volunteer rate to the share of income donated to the share of sheltered homeless.

Generosity in Virginia (1=Most Charitable; 25=Avg.): 23rd—Charities per Capita 17th—% of Donated Income 19th—% of Population Who Donated Time 3rd—% of Population Who Donated Money 11th—% of Population Collecting/ Distributing Food 21st—Volunteer Rate 9th—Volunteer Hours per Capita

When asked about advice for choosing the right charity, Margaret F. Sloan, Ph.D., director, professor and advisor, Nonprofit and Community Leadership Concentration at James Madison University, says, “The right charity is the charity that resonates with a donor’s values, stewards their money well, and demonstrates impact or the ability to impact the world through its mission.

“Of course, you want to be a wise steward of your funds, so check the organization’s financial outlook through annual or financial reports that transparent organizations will have access to on their websites or you can find financial documents for many charities on Candid, formerly GuideStar,” says Sloan.

“I encourage folks to look across three to five years for a stronger understanding of your charity’s financial health than just a one-year snapshot. Also, some watchdog charities such as the Better Business Bureau’s Wise Giving Alliance or Charity Navigator rate organizations and can offer additional information about an organization’s adherence to best practices regarding board governance or financial reporting, but donors should also know these ratings do not tell much, if any, of the story about an organization’s impact.”

What percentage of income should households donate to charity?

Beyond the financial benefits of reducing tax burdens, charitable giving promotes deeper feelings of personal satisfaction, higher morale, and lower stress.

“In short, greater than zero,” says Robert K. Christensen, Ph.D., professor and research fellow at Brigham Young University.

“The benefits of including charitable donations in one’s budget are fairly well documented. Beyond the financial benefits of reducing tax burdens, charitable giving promotes deeper feelings of personal satisfaction, higher morale, and lower stress.

“Identifying the specific proportion of one’s budget that should be dedicated to charitable donation should, like other budget decisions, be systematically reviewed. As particular needs arise, e.g., the pandemic, or as a household’s financial capacity increases, having an up-to-date giving plan is key. Including other members of the household and, when helpful, a financial planner, is a smart approach. Much like planning and budgeting for a vacation, planning and budgeting for giving can be a very rewarding process in and of itself.”

Virginians are a generous bunch. Giving can be another form of investing.

Education Matters

Rabbinical student relaunches He’Brew maker Shmaltz Brewing

Andrew Lapin

(JTA)—It seemed like the last keg had been tapped for Shmaltz Brewing Company, until a rabbi-in-training stepped in for a Jewish renewal project.

The Jewish craft beer label, best known for its He’Brew: The Chosen Beer line of drinks, shut down last year after 25 years when its founder, Jeremy Cowan, said he wanted to focus on his other businesses. But now it’s been sold to a new owner: Jesse Epstein, a 26-year-old Reform rabbinical student at Hebrew Union College who first got into home brewing during the COVID-19 pandemic and began looking for ways to work his love for beer into his rabbinical pursuits.

“I started forming in the back of my mind this idea for a Jewish brewery: how to combine these two big passions,” Epstein says.

When he heard that Cowan was winding down Shmaltz, Epstein jumped at the chance to acquire the closest thing the beer world had to a storied Jewish brand—even though he has two-and-ahalf years left of school and is currently a rabbinic intern at Temple Sinai of Saratoga Springs, New York.

Founded in San Francisco in 1996 but now based in Clifton Park, New York, Shmaltz spent 25 years as the king of Jewish craft beer.

Epstein’s aims are different. As a rabbinical student wrestling with surveys showing a shrinking interest in Reform and Conservative affiliations among American Jews, he says his goal with Shmaltz is to use beer as a vehicle for rethinking the idea of a synagogue, and of Jewish communal gathering spaces.

“What about our Jewish values can be used to inform our food practices?” he

asks. “How, through beer, can we embrace the values of welcoming in the stranger, freeing the captive, opening the eyes of the blind?”

The revamped Shmaltz, working for now with an all-volunteer staff, is making Jewish practice and ritual as much a part of its brand as the shtick. Its first year under Epstein’s ownership will consist of a series of pop-up events in partnership with various Jewish groups, starting with a Hanukkah launch party with Brooklyn Jews.

At these gatherings, Epstein says, attendees will do the kinds of activities they might normally come to synagogue for: “Build community, do justice, look at a text, but over a pint of beer.” He sees Shmaltz as a peer of Jewish young-adult gathering projects such as Moishe House, OneTable and Base. But he says it will rely on a for-profit business model rather than institutional Jewish support.

Epstein hopes eventually to start brewing his own selections, which are decidedly more Talmudic in inspiration than the label’s previous offerings: He envisions a Purim-themed beer named “Shushan Beera” (a play on the first line of the Megillah, the scroll Jews read from on the holiday) and, ultimately, beers inspired by each of the weekly Torah portions. The brand’s labels will now include a Jewish blessing for beer, in Hebrew and English.

Ultimately, Epstein says, he would love to run Shmaltz full-time: “I can really foresee it becoming my rabbinate.”

Education Matters

New kindergarten program at SIA will focus on younger students

Carin Simon

Strelitz International Academy plans to launch a new transitional kindergarten program for eligible new and re-enrolling students for the upcoming school year. The SIA TK program is designed for students old enough for kindergarten, but who need an extra year to develop kindergarten readiness skills. Transitional Kindergarten bridges the gap between preschool and kindergarten, providing an extra year to acquire kindergarten academic, social, and emotional readiness for students who need it.

turn six years old as early as October 1. As a result of being so young, some students with summer birthdays find themselves struggling to keep up with their peers. In many cases, an extra year to grow and mature has long-term positive consequences.

The TK program is not for all younger children of kindergarten age. A child’s kindergarten readiness is determined through teacher evaluation and parent observation of both academic and social skills. Children who may be ready for kindergarten academically but may need time to work on impulse control, social skills, and fine motor control may benefit from the new program. Many studies have shown that students who are ahead of their peers in academic, social, and emotional skills reap long-term positive benefits on their social, emotional, and academic success.

In TK, students will have the opportunity to hone this confidence into leadership skills and advanced academics in their later elementary school years and beyond. Transitional Kindergarten gives these students the advantage that many of their older kindergarten peers have, merely as a result of their age. SIA’s transitional kindergarten program is designed to provide parents with a developmentally appropriate, research-based program which grants children that gift.

Over the years, SIA has had parents decide to hold their children back in the EY4 class or Kindergarten in order to give their child the gift of a year. The transitional kindergarten class will give these students the advantages of both the extra play of EY4 and the academic skills of kindergarten. Transitional Kindergarten students will have a similar curriculum to kindergarten, but they will have more time to work on their skills within the IB World School Program. The full day class, 8 am until 3:30 pm, will have an option to include fullcare. Students will work on reading, writing, and math with more time to play. These students will also participate in the same specialty and enrichment classes as the SIA Kindergarten program, including PE, art, music, Hebrew, and violin, with the addition of swimming.

In Virginia, a student must turn five years old by September 30 of their kindergarten year in order to start kindergarten. That means that some students start kindergarten before their fifth birthday, while others on the older end of the group,

While parents are sometimes hesitant to hold their child back due to social stigmas from their own school experience, there are many long-term benefits of delaying a younger child’s start of kindergartern. Instead of struggling to keep up as the youngest students in the class, when completing the transitional kindergarten program, these children might be the leaders in kindergarten the following year.

For more information on Transitional Kindergarten at the Strelitz International Academy, contact Carin Simon, Admissions Director, at 757-424-4327.

Strelitz International Academy is now enrolling for the 2023-2024 school year for all grades.

Strelitz International Academy is a recipient of funds from United Jewish Federation of Tidewater’s Annual Campaign.

Instead of struggling to keep up as the youngest students in the class, when completing the transitional kindergarten program, these children might be the leaders in kindergarten the following year.

Education Matters Be A Reader is roaring back into schools

Robin Ford

The BeAR program started 2022 with plenty of questions, as volunteers were still not permitted in the schools.

Calls to BeAR schools with offers to help resulted in many schools requesting supplies, reading and writing games, and books. They also asked for the BeAR volunteers to create video recordings of mentors reading the books that the program provided. Accepting the challenge, BeAR happily provided school supplies, prizes for school treasure chests, and so many educational games, including Scrabble Jr., Monopoly Jr., and Bananagrams. The reading videos that were created for some of the books began the “great and spectacular BeAR Read-Along.”

Summer school, while still in quarantine, involved new opportunities, as well as new challenges. BeAR adopted Bettie F. Williams Elementary School. This jumpstarted another BeAR’s journey of snacks, books, games, book videos, token gifts (tokens are awarded for good citizenship, friendship, grades, and helpfulness), and even an opportunity to help with their awesome end-of-summer party.

Finally, the 2022–23 school year arrived and BeAR was back in full force. A kickoff and mentor training session took place in October, with more than 50 mentors—new and old.

BeAR returned to Norfolk and Virginia Beach schools in early November. Second grade students who were just starting kindergarten when quarantine began, are struggling in their first full year of school. BeAR’s oneon-one reading program has already made a huge difference for these young people.

One day a week for one hour is life changing for BeAR students, as well as for BeAR mentors. To learn more about being a BeAR mentor in one (or more) of BeAR’s Norfolk or Virginia Beach Elementary schools, contact Robin Ford, BeAR coordinator, at 757-321-2304 or email rford@ujft.org.

Books for second grade to be distributed to participating BeAR schools.

Bernie Mayer and Mai-Ellen Hecht with two of the BeAR books for the 22/23 school year.

Some of the Larrymore Elementary BeAR team with David Faircloth, principal (center).

Education Matters

Hillel: Growing a Jewish connection

Debbie Burke

As the executive director at William & Mary Hillel in Williamsburg, Rabbi Gershon Litt’s responsibilities include development, bookkeeping, education, interaction with the university, counseling, and student and faculty meetings. Add all of that to his having headed up nearly 40 Birthright Israel trips, and it’s a wonder he has any time left over in his day.

“My passion is to work with students in education,” Rabbi Litt affirms. “Jewish education is how all of this started and that is what I enjoy the most—teaching.”

The biggest change from the founding of William & Mary Hillel during the 1960s to now, according to Litt, is a story of growth. “When I started, there was very little at William & Mary. I would gather the Jewish students that we knew about in academic buildings, invite some for Shabbos dinners, and try to get students to come with me on Israel trips, but there were so few Jewish students on campus that building a community was not really possible. It is an entirely different story today. William & Mary has been an incredible partner in helping me locate appropriate land, in the construction of our building, and by offering constant support in everything we want to do at

Hillel and beyond.”

Campus enrollment today stands at around 600 Jewish students. “Our growth began before COVID, then COVID brought about a diversification of programming and engagement. Now we are once again seeing growth as we have moved back to in-person programming,” says Litt.

Last spring, William & Mary had a Purim carnival with hundreds of students, and they took over the Sunken Gardens on campus with hundreds of students for Hanukkah in conjunction with the local Chabad. Just last month, they held a “Friendsgiving” program for students to gather and find meaning in community together before they left for Thanksgiving break.

“We have partnered with the United Jewish Federation of Tidewater and the Jewish Community Relations Council to recently offer Joe Perlov [an Israeli map expert] and other programmatic resources, which are helping to build our strong Israel education program,” Litt adds.

Perhaps his favorite thing to do at William & Mary is lead the Birthright Israel trips, of which he says, “I have led almost 40 trips. When students get engaged in their Judaism, I remember why I do this job. The stronger a student’s Jewish identity, the more likely it is that he or she will remain part of the Jewish community when they graduate and live a fuller, Jewish life.”

Litt says his hope for all Birthright Israel participants is that they come back home with a stronger sense of the people of Israel, the land of Israel, and the Torah of Israel. “Then, I hope that they can internalize that and begin to ask questions that will inspire them to want to be an active participant in the building and maintenance of all three.”

Hillel is 100% student led; the student board plans and executes all events and programs. Rabbi Litt is available as a resource and a provider of resources. “I set up the framework and it is up to them to create the programmatic infrastructure,” he says. “Some of the decisions are made

for them, i.e. kosher food, not conflicting with Jewish practices, etc., but for the most part, if they want a cultural event, Israel event, religious experience, or something else, I help them make those ideas a reality.” Leadership, he says, is key to creating a community, and the student-driven programs help build their skills, self-confidence, and ability to plan.

The organization is open to all Jewish students, regardless of personal observance. All the food at their events is kosher (catered by Meredith Mills under the VAAD Hakashrus of Tidewater). Students can choose if they want to come to services and dinner or just dinner. “We had a Rosh Hashanah meal with close to 100 students who signed up,” he says. “Some of them attended services and some did not. Students ultimately choose for themselves what they find inspiring and what they want their Jewish experiences to be.”

Social events range from game nights to Israel parties and much more. “We recently started Big Brother/Big Sister events where juniors and seniors ‘adopt’ younger students and have events with them,” he says. “Thanks to the Tidewater Jewish Foundation, as well as Nadiv, our students have also benefited from networking with local Jewish-owned businesses.”

Coming together toward a greater good is something Rabbi Litt lives every day, believing that success doesn’t happen in isolation. He says, “Rabbi Heber of Chabad of Williamsburg and I have partnered with many projects over the past two years. We work very well together and I believe that Williamsburg, Va. could be a model that other campuses could use to see how to leverage strengths of complimentary Jewish organizations to

further the goal of Jewish education and Jewish identity. The Jewish people have something very special. Rabbi Heber and I each have something special to bring to the table, so we should work together to achieve our goals as much as possible.”

Every community exposes participants to a spectrum of ideas. “Our goal is for them to ask more questions and take responsibility for their Jewish identity,” Litt says. “Whatever they attach themselves to, whether it is challah baking, Holocaust studies, Israel, or Shabbos—my goal is to make those things relevant to them today so they can make intelligent decisions about their Jewish identities tomorrow.”

For more information, visit wm.edu and under “Departments and Offices,” search for “Hillel.”

William & Mary Hillel is a recipient of funds from United Jewish Federation of Tidewater’s Annual Campaign.

Rabbi Gershon Litt.

Students in front of the Shenkman Jewish Center in Williamsburg.

Students at William & Mary’s Shenkman Jewish Center.

Rabbi Gershon Litt (center) leading a Birthright trip in Israel.

Norfolk Academy offers new opportunities for exploration beyond the classroom

Esther Diskin

In spring 2022, Norfolk Academy launched Maymester, a program that offered students in 10th and 11th grades the opportunity to close the school year with three weeks of experiential learning at sites around Virginia, the United States, and even the world.

Among the more than a dozen opportunities: Exploration of Germany and France, including stays with host families; hiking the Appalachian Trail; studying immigration near the TexasMexico border; examining art history in New York City; the ecology and indigenous population of Lake Superior; and architecture in Chicago.

Judging by student reactions and excitement building for Maymester 2023, this program is already proving as invaluable as it is popular. For students in grades seven through nine, Norfolk Academy also offers a shorter ended-ofyear session, the Mini-mester, that also features an array of courses that involve exploration outside the classroom.

For the first Maymester, John Craig,

Upper School chemistry teacher, led “Go Big or Go Home,” a take on Chicago’s pioneering construction of skyscrapers. In the first week of the course, students got lessons in architectural sketching from Betsy DiJulio, Upper School art teacher and NA parent and architect Rob Reis, who gave them a tour of Hanbury, the firm that designed NA’s award-winning Massey Leadership Center. Students then traveled to Chicago for six days, exploring and sketching major sculptures and historic buildings, from Frank Lloyd Wright’s Robie House to Wrigley Field. After returning, they completed collaborative projects.

“I learned a lot about what a career in architecture would entail, along with all the unseen work that goes into building communities and cities,” student Michael Carofino says. “The second thing I gained from this trip was connections and relationships.”

Students in Upper School German teacher Kelly Dewey’s course were trekking in the wilderness; over an 11-day period, they hiked 105.6 miles on the Appalachian Trail, some days in the pouring rain. They learned about backpacking and conservation, and they tested their stamina.

“It was a powerful experience,” Van Deans says. “By spending literally every waking moment with the other 12 students and faculty on this trip, continued on page 24

Now Accepting 2023-2024 Applications Prekindergarten-Eighth Grade

Weekly Campus Tours

Tuesday Afternoons Thursday and Friday Mornings

Winter Open House

Sunday, January 8 1-4 PM

The Williams Preschool Opening June 2023

For more information, please visit www.thewilliamsschool.org/admissions

Williams admits students of any race, color, religion, or ethnic background.

we all became very close. We struggled together, sweated, helped each other, and got to really know one another through hours of talking as we walked.”

Not every course or activity involved travel. Students in “Negotiation Boot Camp” studied diplomacy, learning from the coordinator of the Negotiation Task Force at Harvard University. Those in “Podcasting: Narrating Hampton Roads” created individual podcasts. About a dozen students had internships.

“I definitely feel better prepared for my future in terms of finance, budgeting, and applying for and holding a job,” Ruby Garrison says. “I also learned interpersonal skills like communication, problem-solving, and teamwork.”

Sarah Goodson, Upper School assistant director, the program’s faculty leader, says that students’ growth was evident, particularly in terms of their confidence

in taking on challenges that, at times, seemed difficult to surmount. She predicts that the pedagogical lessons would filter into classroom and extracurricular experiences, particularly as the Upper School launches Maymester 2023.

Among the new opportunities this year: Digging into archaeology in Greece; Language immersion in Peru; and exploring the world’s climate.

“The traditional academic classroom will always be important, and there is tremendous value in traditional pedagogical approaches,” Goodson says. “But

when we leave campus, we gain richness in experiences and understanding that can’t happen when we remain in our classrooms.”

Esther Diskin is Norfolk Academy’s communications director.

FOOD AND WINE

Slivovitz, a spirit with a cherished Jewish history, gets UNESCO World Heritage protection

David I. Klein

(JTA)— L’chaim! L’chaim! Živjeli!

Slivovitz, a plum brandy traditionally associated with Passover by many Ashkenazi Jews, has been added to the United Nations’ list of items with “intangible cultural heritage.”

The decision was made at UNESCO’s conference in Morocco earlier this month where France successfully campaigned for the inclusion of the baguette on the list, a complement to the regular tally of physical sites that the agency seeks to preserve.

It wasn’t Jews leading the charge for the hard-burning brandy, but rather Serbia, where the spirit is a mainstay, as it is across much of the Balkans, Eastern, and Central Europe.

That’s where Jews first got turned onto the drink, according to Martin Votruba, a Slovak studies professor whose research included the history of slivovitz and who died in 2019.

“Jews would acquire this local drink after moving into European kingdoms,” Votruba told Moment magazine in 2014. “They would simply pick it up as part of the culture.”

The spirit became particularly associated with Polish Jewry in the 19th century, as Jews became prominent in the field of alcohol production and the running of inns and taverns. They found special utility in slivovitz when it came to maintaining the Jewish laws around keeping kosher.

Unlike wine, traditional brandy and some types of vodka, being made from plums (the root “sliva” means plum in several Slavic languages) meant that slivovitz was not subject to the same stringent rules that apply to grape-based alcoholic beverages. And unlike beer, whiskey, and other types of vodka, it had no wheat or other grains, so it was acceptable for consumption on Passover. It was also relatively inexpensive.

As a result, the Slow Food Foundation for Biodiversity at Italy’s University of

Gastronomic Sciences wrote in a primer on the drink, “the Polish Orthodox Jews adopted the plum brandy as [their] festive spirit,” which in some cases became known in Polish as Sliwowica Paschalna or literally Passover slivovitz.

When masses of Polish Jews arrived in America, they brought slivovitz with them, and it quickly became associated with the Jewish community. Today, much of the slivovitz sold in the United States is marketed to Jewish consumers, typically around Passover each spring.

Though its popularity has waned, it can still be found on some synagogue kiddush tables, and remains in the cultural memory of American Jewry.

Author Michael Chabon chose it as the spirit of choice for his hard drinking, Yiddish-speaking detective, Meyer Landsman in The Yiddish Policemen’s Union, a crime novel set in an alt-history Jewish state in Sitka, Alaska.

Meanwhile, the 1990 Barry Levinson film, Avalon, which tells the story of a family of Polish Jewish immigrants in the United States, presents it as the drink of choice of the main character’s father in the old country.

“He never drank water. And oh, boy, could he drink! What was that stuff called he always used to drink?” one character asks. Another answers, “Slivovitz. Slivovitz. He used to call it ‘block and fall.’ You have one drink of that, you walk one block and you fall!”

Slivovitz gradually gave way to other favored spirits as Eastern European immigrants, Jewish and otherwise, assimilated in the United States. But the drink is having a bit of a nostalgic renaissance: It’s on the menu at several swanky bars in New York City, such as the Second Avenue Deli’s Second Floor Bar & Essen, which makes Jewish themed cocktails with both Manischewitz and slivovitz, as well as Kafana, a high-end Serbian restaurant in Alphabet City.

IT’S A WRAP

Nadiv meets to discuss Jewish values ahead of giving circle donation

Themen’s giving circle through YAD, Nadiv, gathered at the home of Dr. Alan and Jody Wagner on Wednesday, December 7 to discuss the Jewish values that matter to each member of the group—values such as education,

community, Jewish peoplehood, saving lives, and others. YAD is the Young Adult Division of the United Jewish Federation of Tidewater.

The meeting’s purpose was to determine which values the group collectively cares about the most. Once determined, Nadiv will find causes within the local Jewish community that align with those values where the men can donate the giving circle funds. Last year Nadiv donated $6,000. The group hopes to do at least that much in 2023.

To be a member of Nadiv requires a $54 contribution, which doubles as dues to the group. Nadiv currently has 31 paying members and expects to gain more over the next couple of months.

To be part of Nadiv—or the new women’s circle called Adira—contact Matt Kramer-Morning at mkmorning@ujft.org.

Danny Rubin

Avidan Itzhak, Alex Fishman, Solomon Eskinazi, and Max Wagner share the Jewish values that matter most to each them.

Michael Yaary, David Calliott, Tim Thornton, and Mark Gamsey debate the question: If you won the Powerball jackpot of $2.4 billion, how and where would you donate money?

WHO KNEW?

ADAM SANDLER TO RECEIVE MARK TWAIN PRIZE FOR AMERICAN HUMOR

Theeight crazy nights of Hanukkah came early for Adam Sandler when the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts announced Tuesday, Dec. 13, that the comedian and actor would be honored with the Mark Twain Prize for American Humor at a ceremony in March.

The prize is presented annually to individuals “who have had an impact on American society” similar to that of the 19th-century novelist and humorist, “who startled many while delighting and informing many more with his uncompromising perspective on social injustice and personal folly.”

Sandler, 56, got his start as an actor on The Cosby Show and was a cast member on Saturday Night Live for five years, before eventually starring in a slew of blockbuster comedy movies in the 1990s and early 2000s, including Happy Gilmore, Big Daddy, The Wedding Singer, 50 First Dates, and Click

Sandler has also given critically acclaimed dramatic performances, such as one in 2019’s Uncut Gems in which he played a frenetic Jewish jeweler with a gambling addiction. Others include roles in Paul Thomas Anderson’s Punch-Drunk Love (2002), Noah Baumbach’s The Meyerowitz Storie s (2017) and Jeremiah Zagar’s Hustle (2022).

Perhaps unusually for comics of his generation, the Brooklynborn Sandler often places his Jewishness front and center, as in his portrayal of an Israeli fish out of water in Don’t Mess With the Zohan (2008) and especially in his performance of The Chanukah Song, originally an SNL bit in which he name checks dozens of Jewish celebrities. His 2002 animated comedy Eight Crazy Nights takes place during the Hanukkah season.

Sandler, his wife Jackie and their two teenage daughters are set to star in a bat mitzvah-themed movie for Netflix based on Fiona Rosenbloom’s 2005 novel, You Are So Not Invited To My Bat Mitzvah!

Previous Jewish winners of the Mark Twain Prize include playwright Neil Simon, Lorne Michaels of SNL, actors Carl Reiner and Billy Crystal, and comedian Jon Stewart.

There was no Mark Twain Prize in 2020 or 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The previous two winners before Sandler were 2019’s Dave Chappelle and 2022’s Jon Stewart. Chappelle was recently the subject of controversy when he focused part of an SNL monologue on Kanye West’s antisemitic comments and cracked jokes that suggested Jews run Hollywood. In the days following the episode, Stewart, a personal friend of Chappelle’s, weighed in on the monologue and defended Chappelle’s comments. (JTA)

IT’S A WRAP

“Locked In” on fun

The first “Middle School Lock-In” in many years was hosted at the Simon Family JCC on a Saturday evening in November with 24 teens and tweens from across Tidewater’s Jewish community. Camp JCC counselors, lifeguards, and Alma Ben Chorin, one of Tidewater’s ShinShinim, helped facilitate a memorable evening which included pizza, a bonfire, s’mores, glow-in-the-dark capture the flag, and swimming.

United Jewish Federation of Tidewater and the Simon Family JCC is prioritizing re-establishing programming for sixth through eighth graders. As a part of the energizing process, a small focus group of middle school students is meeting to brainstorm, share ideas, and plan for future programming and opportunities to get together. There is intentionality in bringing these youth together despite living in different areas, attending different schools, or belonging to various synagogues. Given the social and emotional challenges stemming from the pandemic, creating the space and facilitating the opportunity for youth to connect is especially important in the continuation and strengthening of Jewish life in Tidewater.

While times are different and the world is full of distractions, middle school students consistently retain their focus on having fun with friends. Although the larger intentionality may not yet be apparent to them, the opportunity for these youth to remain “locked-in” on having fun while building community is an exciting glimpse into the future.

To learn more about other ways that teens can get involved in Tidewater’s Jewish community, contact Dave Flagler, director of Camp and Teen Engagement at the United Jewish Federation of Tidewater, at DFlagler@UJFT.org or 757-452-3182.

GREGORY SPEARS LIBRETTO BY GREG PIERCE

BASED ON THE 2007 NOVEL FELLOW TRAVELERS BY THOMAS MALLON

Dave Flagler

“Locked In” kids enjoy a late night swim.

Adam Sandler 2011.,

Beth Chaverim celebrates 40th anniversary

Staff report

Happiness was overflowing on Sunday, November 6 as current and former members of Congregation Beth Chaverim gathered at the Sandler Family Campus to celebrate the congregation’s 40th anniversary with food, drink, an abundance of hugs, smiles, laughter, and memoires.

Chad Bornstein, president of Congregation Beth Chaverim since 2019, said he was “very honored to work with so many dedicated members who serve on the board of directors and as officers of the congregation.

“I continue to appreciate the dedication shown by the members of CBC, working Bingo for many years to fund the construction of the building, working hard to expand the building, and then fighting to keep the building,” he said. “They did then and continue to do now what we have to do.”

Bornstein took a moment to recount the congregation’s history.

Beth Chaverim started in 1982 with the Levy, Meyer, Feldman, Bass, and Nudleman families. They met in each other’s homes and then in area churches. With community support, the growing congregation built a temple on Stoneshore Road in Virginia Beach, which was its home until 2018. The congregation now meets in Temple Emanuel’s social hall each Friday for services that are also broadcast on Zoom. Once a month the congregation has a short worship then meets at a local restaurant for dinner and drinks.

Bornstein credited Cantorial Soloist Jim Hibberd as “the glue that continues to hold this all together. Without his wonderful music each week we could not continue. His music brings us all together each Friday night and his many roles at High Holidays are immeasurable.”

The congregation continues to have a choir on High Holidays, other holidays, and special events, which Kat SinclairFenter directs.

For the celebration, Rabbi Barbara Goldman-Wartell, Beth Chaverim’s first rabbi, wrote:

“My thoughts went back to that first High Holidays together in the Methodist Church, the first Bar Mitzvah and Confirmation class later that year. Whenever we spoke about doing something, people came forward with ways to make whatever it was happen. We made Havdalah candles on hot plates at our campsite overlooking the ocean when we camped out and did a sunrise service in the morning. The founding families and those who followed brought positive energy and a can-do attitude. We used to have a second Oneg after the Oneg Shabbat in a restaurant on Friday nights for everyone who was setting up and breaking down the spaces for services and our social gatherings.

“I was honored to be part of the early journey of the Beth Chaverim”.

“Synagogues are and will continue to be the center of Jewish life in America,” continued Bornstein. “During times when we are seeing a resurgence of anti-Semitism, it is more important that we support

and sustain the only Reform synagogue in Virginia Beach as a center for Jewish life.”

Acknowledging there are many things that make Beth Chaverim special, Bornstein said, “We remain a close-knit community where people can come as they are, and a community that values life-long learning, innovative approaches to Jewish spirituality, creativity, and tikkun olam —healing the world. That’s what draws people to us from diverse Jewish backgrounds, Conservative, Reform, and non-affiliated.

“As we continue into our 40th year, we think back to our accomplishments and who was there to help us, parents, family, friends, our community,” he said.

“Your support of the legacy of Beth Chaverim keeps us moving towards the future.”

Judy Gill and Robin Herbol, both immediate past co-presidents of Beth Chaverim’s Sisterhood.

Top Row: David Sinclair and Richard Gill. Middle Row: Pamela Jacobson Bowhers, Suzanne Hanson, Debbie Hibberd. Bottom Row: Tina Ritz, Coral Kendall, Karen Bennett, immediate past president.

Karen Kendall, CBC board member and event chair.

Chad Bornstein, Congregation Beth Chaverim president.

WHAT’S HAPPENING

A new Melton course starts in January— Jews in America: Insiders and Outsiders

Begins Wednesday, January 18, 6:45 pm, online

Sierra Lautman

Nearly two and a half million Jews emigrated from Eastern Europe to the United States in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

New to a foreign country and unlikely to speak English, these Jews tended to confine themselves to an urban immigrant ghetto. Their children and grandchildren, however, assimilated at a remarkable pace, integrating almost seamlessly into the highest strata of American society. They grew up to make enormous contributions to American theater, journalism, politics, the arts, finance, the academy, and more.

But Jewish success in becoming insiders raised a critical question: Should Jews merge into the American melting pot, or should they become their own distinctive color in America’s developing multi-cultural tapestry? And, is there room for ethnic and religious distinctiveness, and if so, what form should that distinctiveness take?

Most American Jews answered these questions in their practice as Jews and as Americans. Their stance was reflected in the decisions they made about where to live, how to educate their children, what friends to share, what professions to enter, and how to spend their time, money, and energy.

In a new 10-week Melton course offered by the Konikoff Center for Learning of the United Jewish Federation of Tidewater, students will be guided in considering these

points and more.

The course focuses almost exclusively on the time between 1880 and the present, when the American Jewish population went from a handful of individuals and tiny communities scattered here and there to a rather influential and active minority within America’s multicultural spectrum. Through text learning and discussion, students will consider the dynamism and diversity of American Judaism. Sources range from the high-brow theology of figures such as Abraham Joshua Heschel to a video clip from the television series, All in the Family

This course will be taught by Dr. Amy K. Milligan. The Batten Endowed Associate Professor of Jewish Studies and Women’s Studies at Old Dominion University, Milligan is also the director of the Institute for Jewish Studies and Interfaith Understanding. She

specializes in the study of small American Jewish communities, especially in the South.

For more information or to register for this course, or to learn about other opportunities to engage in deep Jewish learning in Tidewater, visit JewishVA. org/KCL or contact Sierra Lautman at SLautman@UJFT.org.

A Winter Wonderland – Sunday Fun Day. Sunday, January 8, 1– 4 pm,

This afternoon of winter games, crafts, a bounce house, and more will be most enjoyed by children through 8th grade and is free to JCC members, Strelitz International Academy and Camp JCC

Kids Night Out Saturday,

Simon Family JCC

families, YAD, and Tidewater synagogue members. For more information, or register, visit JewishVA.org/PJLibrary of contact Nofar Trem at nmtrem@ujft.org.

January 21, 6–10 pm,

Need a date night? Kids Night Out might be the answer. Simon Family JCC patrons with family memberships can drop off their children and know that the kids will enjoy a night filled with games, crafts, snacks, and swimming.* Children four- to 12-years-old may attend. The cost is $20

Simon Family JCC

per child and each additional sibling is $15 (Max of $50 per household). Register by 4 pm the Friday before by stopping the JCC Front Desk or calling 757-321-2338. Space is limited. *For those that can swim without a floatation device. Lifeguard supervised.

Book Smart, A six-week course by Rabbi Margolin and Rabbi Brashevitzky of Chabad of Tidewater

January 22–February 26

Uncover the magic of Jewish books through an immersive tour of its central titles and influential authors. Attend classes in person at the Chabad House on Sunday mornings, or at the Sandler Family Campus

on Thursday evenings. in partnership with the Konikoff Center for Learning of the United Jewish Federation of Tidewater. An option to join by Zoom will also be available.

Dr. Amy K. Milligan.

WHAT’S HAPPENING

A conversation with National Jewish Book Award winner Jai Chakrabarti

Tuesday, January 17, 12 pm, online, free

In August 1942, Polish-Jewish doctor and educator Janusz Korczak walked with the children of the Warsaw Ghetto to the Umschlagplatz, the train platform for deportations to the camps. While members of the Polish Resistance offered to rescue Korczak, he insisted on staying to care for his children. Their train ride ended at Treblinka.

Just weeks before, Korczak led his children in a production of the play  The Post Office, published in Bengali as  Dak Ghar in 1912 by Rabindranath Tagore. His goal was to help the children have hope during the dark times they were experiencing.

Author Jai Chakrabarti’s novel,  A Play for the End of the World, opens with an imagining of this play in the ghetto with the book’s protagonist, Jaryk, about to go

onstage as the lead actor. As the novel continues, the reader meets Jaryk in the 1970s visiting a rural village in Eastern India, where government protestors are performing the same play he acted in as a child.

Torn between the survivor’s guilt he has carried for decades and his feelings for the woman he loves, Jaryk must decide how to honor both the past and the present and how to accept a happiness he is not sure he deserves.

This unforgettable story is the winner of the National Jewish Book Award’s Goldberg Prize for Debut Fiction. Author of the forthcoming story collection,  A Small Sacrifice for an Enormous Happiness, Chakrabarti’s short fiction has appeared in numerous journals and anthologies.

Chakrabarti is the second author to be featured in the Lee & Bernard Jaffe Family Jewish Book Festival’s Arts + Ideas Book of

the Month series, a collection of conversations with authors surrounding books with intriguing topics, characters, and stories.

The festival, which is a program of the United Jewish Federation of Tidewater and Simon Family JCC, is hosting Chakrabarti in partnership with UJFT’s Holocaust Commission. The online event is free, but reservations are required to receive the Zoom link. Register at JewishVA.org/ BookFest.

For more information, contact Hunter Thomas, director of Arts + Ideas, at HThomas@UJFT.org.

The Lee & Bernard Jaffe Family Jewish Book Festival is held in coordination with the Jewish Book Council, the longest-running organization devoted exclusively to the support and celebration of Jewish literature.

Hunter Thomas

Jai Chakrabarti.

WHAT’S HAPPENING

Exploring a forgotten world through the Cairo genizah Thursdays, 12 pm Sandler Family Campus and online

10-week course begins Thursday, January 19, 2023

More than 100 years ago, Solomon Schechter, a Jewish studies professor from Cambridge University in England, launched an expedition exploring the genizah (a storage vault where decaying books, manuscripts, and other Judaic artifacts are placed for eventual burial so that they are not treated as ordinary waste or garbage) of the old main synagogue in Cairo, Egypt. The genizah housed a treasure trove of Jewish tradition, preserved for centuries in the dry desert air.

A 10-week course taught by Rabbi Michael Panitz, Exploring a Forgotten World: A Social History of Medieval Jewry as Revealed in the Cairo Genizah, invites students to examine history through

selected contents of the documents discovered in the genizah. This course, offered by the Konikoff Center for Learning of the United Jewish Federation of Tidewater, will offer online and in-person options.

The course’s content focuses attention on aspects of the lifestyle and day-to-day behaviors of men, women, and families by looking at their correspondence, travels, and business acumen. It brings to life some of the more well-known Jewish historical figures and shines a spotlight on many lesser-known personalities.

As stated in the course introduction written by the course curriculum’s author, Dr. Shelley Buxbaum, a three-time graduate of the Jewish Theological Seminary, “The unique genizah archive is a rich source of information…about the daily life of the Jew in the Mediterranean area of the Middle Ages. It provides a remarkable insight into the Jewish past and the opportunity of thereby reaching a better understanding of Jewish identity in the present.”

The course costs $295 with $60 off if registered before Jan. 6 by using code T-CG-60 at checkout. For more information, to register, or to learn about other opportunities to engage in deep Jewish learning in Tidewater, visit JewishVA.org/KCL or contact Sierra Lautman at SLautman@UJFT. org.

Date With The State 2023

Wednesday, February 8

Join the Jewish Community Relations Council and Jewish community members from across the commonwealth for Virginia Jewish Advocacy Day at Virginia’s capitol. Advocate on issues important to the Jewish community in meetings with members of the Virginia Legislature and hear from Virginia’s highest elected officials. $36

helps defray the cost of lunch and transportation to Richmond. For information or to register for the day (pre-registration by February 1 is required), visit JewishVA. org/DWTS23, contact Elka Mednick, JCRC assistant director, at emednick@ujft.org or 757-965-6112.

On Assignment with Lahav Harkov in 2023

Thursday, January 5, 12 pm, online

Elka Mednick

Earlier this month, Lahav Harkov joined the Jewish Community Relations Council for the monthly midday current affairs briefing. This time, the topic was an update on the coalition building taking place in the Knesset in Israel.

Harkov, Jerusalem Post ’s senior contributing editor and diplomatic correspondent, explained the current cabinet minister assignments that have been offered by incoming Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to his partners in the government, as well those positions that Knesset members are still vying to fill. Harkov provided insights into why certain parties work to ensure their members hold specific leadership positions in the government.

During this off-the-record briefing, participants were able to ask Harkov questions.

The Israel Today series is presented by the Jewish Community Relations Council of the United Jewish Federation of Tidewater, Simon Family JCC, and Community Partners, including all local synagogues and Jewish agencies.

Register for the next On Assignment with Lahav Harkov to join the conversation from the comfort of your home, office, or wherever you are in the world.

To register, visit Jewishva.org/IsraelToday. For more information, contact Elka Mednick at emednick@ujft.org.

Drinks and Dreidels… an evening of adult Hanukkah fun

Tuesday, December 20, 6–9 pm

Ohef Sholom Temple

Enjoy

drinks, dreidel tournaments, interfaith trivia, raffle baskets, live bands, and more! Ugly sweaters are encouraged for this evening of adult Hanukkah fun. Co-sponsored by United Jewish Federation of Tidewater’s YAD, this event is open to the entire Tidewater Jewish community, ages 21-101. $18 per person or $50 per family (childcare included).

For more information or to RSVP, email reservations@ohefsholom.org or call 757-625-4295.

Sierra Lautman

Lahav Harkov.

Rabbi Michael Panitz.

WHAT’S HAPPENING

We’re going to Israel this Purim! Want to come?

March 1–9, 2023

Amy Zelenka

After a COVID-driven moratorium, United Jewish Federation of Tidewater is re-igniting its Missions Program for next March. Led by mission chairs Laura and Fred Gross, the trip will include an exciting “Purim in Tel Aviv” experience.

Starting in Jerusalem, the group will have opportunities to visit several “partner sites”—places to see campaign dollars at work with vulnerable populations, including children, elderly, and new immigrants. The value of the services provided by UJFT’s partner agencies cannot be overstated – services such as extended school days for at-risk children and educational enrichment at all levels; Hebrew language classes, job skills training, and mental health counseling for new immigrants (especially those arriving from war-torn Ukraine); and supportive communities for the elderly. This mission will offer the chance to meet some of those benefiting from the services, as well as those delivering them.

Jerusalem will also include stops at the City of David archaeological site, Har Herzl Cemetery (Israel’s national military cemetery); Yad Vashem Holocaust Museum; the famous Machane Yehuda Market; the Kotel on Erev Shabbat; and more. Plus, the group will hear from myriad experts (including Israel’s very best tour guide, Zalman Spivak) all along the way.

From Jerusalem, the mission will head north to the Galilee and Golan Heights, stopping en route at Neve Michael Children’s Home to visit the kids and families UJFT helps as they heal from the trauma and neglect they’ve suffered in their homes before arriving at this safe and loving environment (which seeks not only to protect the kids, but to model for them what a functional family can look like and break the cycle of dysfunction in the lives of these young people).

In the North, the adventure continues with nature hikes and ATV rides to Israel’s borders, where the history and geo-politics of the region, as well as some of the risk factors unique to the Jewish state will be

explored. Some of the rewards of the country, which, through its grit, determination, and brilliant innovation have made the North incredibly beautiful and fruitful (pun intended), will be experienced and enjoyed, including sampling some of those fruits at award-winning wineries and distilleries.

On departure from the North, the mission will head into the incredibly vibrant New-Old city of Tel Aviv with its modern skyscrapers, bustling financial district, fabulous arts scene, world-class restaurants, and fascinating history. Stops at the Palmach Museum, Nachlat Binyamin Craft Market, Museum of the Jewish People (ANU) and Sarona Market will go hand-in-hand with unique celebrations of Purim and a peek inside the Start-Up Nation.

Inspiring speakers. Luxurious accommodations. Brilliant site visits. Delicious food and wine. Spiritual connections. All with friends and fellow community members. The planning and logistics are taken care of. Simply come, learn, and enjoy this life changing experience— Community Mission to Israel.

Cost is $5,100 per person based on double occupancy. Does not include airfare. $500 per person early bird discounts are available until December 31. Call Amy Zelenka at 757-9656139 for more details and visit www.jewishva.org/mission to learn more.

Amy Zelenka is United Jewish Federation of Tidewater’s development director and Missions director.

Employment Opportunity

Marketing and Communications Coordinator

Tidewater Jewish Foundation (TJF) seeks an experienced candidate for the full-time position of Marketing and Communications Coordinator. Under the direction and in collaboration with the President and CEO, the Marketing and Communications Coordinator plays an integral role in the advancement of the Foundation’s mission – to support/promote charitable giving and ensure the future of the Tidewater Jewish community through philanthropic fund development.

The Marketing and Communications Coordinatior is the primary communications staff person for TJF, and is expected to provide the expertise needed to drive the planning and execution of a broad, multi-faceted marketing and outreach strategy.

Requirements: Bachelor's Degree in Communications, Marketing, Public Relations, or other related study path. Minimum 3 years of experience in direct marketing, such as leading strategy development and implementation, writing, and editing copy for print and digital viewership, and assessing effectiveness of marketing and communications efforts.

Salary is competitive and commensurate with experience.

Complete job description at www.jewishva.org/TJF

Submit cover letter, resume, and salary requirements to: resumes@ujft.org Attn: Taffy Hunter, Human Resources director. EOE

CALENDAR

DECEMBER 22, THURSDAY

Beyond the Bible—The People Israel in Ancient Empires, a 4-week course (started Dec. 1) offered by UJFT’s Konikoff Center for Learning and taught by Rabbi Michael Panitz. The fathers and mothers of the Jewish people came from Mesopotamia, a real place, during the Bronze age, a real time. How does the history of that time and place correlate with what we know from the Bible? In this course, the task is to build up a picture of actual Jewish history, based on both personal sources and on what can be gleaned from the knowledge of the entire Mediterranean and Persian Gulf region. 12 pm. Course cost is $60 for 4 weeks, offers both in-person and online attendance options. For more information and to register, visit Jewishva.org/KCL or contact Sierra Lautman at slautman@ujft.org or 757-965-6107.

JANUARY 5, THURSDAY

Israel Today’s On Assignment with Lahav Harkov. Join Jerusalem Post senior diplomatic correspondent Lahav Harkov to get the inside on all things Israel—news, politics, and more. Presented by UJFT’s Jewish Community Relations Council, Simon Family JCC, & Community Partners. 12 pm. For information and to register, visit JewishVa.org/israeltoday or contact Elka Mednick at EMednick@UJFT. org or 757-965-6112. See page 32.

JANUARY 17, TUESDAY

A Play for the End of the World with Jai Chakrabarti. Watch from home. Torn between guilt and love, a Holocaust survivor must decide how to honor both the past and the present, and how to accept a happiness he is not sure he deserves. Free. 12 pm. For information and to register, visit JewishVA.org/ BookFest or contact Hunter Thomas at HThomas@UJFT.org. See page 31.

JANUARY 18–MARCH 29, WEDNESDAYS

Jews in America: Insiders and Outsiders (online), A 10-Week Melton Course. Led by Dr. Amy K. Milligan, Old Dominion University’s director of the Institute of Jewish Studies and Interfaith Understanding, students will discuss seminal developments in American life, through the lens of Jews straddling their status as both insiders and outsiders. Registration $295. 6:45 pm..Register before January 6 and receive $60 off with code T-JIA-60 at checkout. For more information and to register, visit JewishVA.org/KCL or contact Sierra Lautman at slautman@ujft.org or 757-965-6107.

THURSDAYS, JANUARY 19–MARCH 30, THURSDAYS

Exploring a Forgotten World: A Social History of Medieval Jewry, A 10-Week Melton Course. Rabbi Michael Panitz brings to life an exotic era in Jewish history, revealing the inner thoughts of real-life characters through the Cairo Genizah, a collection of 400,000 worn-out scraps, text fragments, and documents buried for centuries. 6:45 pm. Registration $295. Register before January 6 and receive $60 off with code T-CG-60 at checkout. For more information and to register, visit JewishVA.org/KCL or contact Sierra Lautman at slautman@ujft.org or 757-965-6107.

JANUARY 19, THURSDAY

Why Do Jewish, with Zack Bodner. Insisting that taking action is what matters most, Zack Bodner, CEO of Oshman Family JCC and the former Pacific Northwest regional director for AIPAC, proposes a creative new framework for doing Jewish based on an acronym from the Yiddish word TACHLIS, which means “getting down to brass tacks.” This event is presented by UJFT’s Konikoff Center for Learning in partnership with the UJFT & Simon Family JCC’s Lee & Bernard Jaffe Family Jewish Book Festival. Sandler Family Campus. For more information and to register, visit JewishVA.org/KCL or contact Sierra Lautman at slautman@ujft.org or 757-965-6107.

WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 25, WEDNESDAY

The Whole Body Reset: Your Weight-Loss Plan for a Flat Belly, Optimum Health & a Body You’ll Love—at Midlife and Beyond with Heidi Skolnik. Gaining weight as you age is not inevitable. It’s avoidable and even reversible. In fact, you can help stop—and even reverse— age-related weight gain and muscle loss. Presented by the Lee & Bernard Jaffe Family Jewish Book Festival in partnership with Simon Family JCC’s JFit. 12 pm. $12 admission, $6 ages 55+ (lunch included). $38 for lunch and signed book. Special pricing for lunch and book ends January 18. Sandler Family Campus. For more information and to register, visit JewishVA.org/ BookFest or contact Hunter Thomas at HThomas@UJFT.org.

JANUARY 31, TUESDAY 12:00 PM

Evolve: A Children’s Book for Adults with Jean-Pierre Weill Watch from Home—Register for the link to join. On exhibit in the Leon Family Gallery January – February 2023. ho am I? With this question as its guide, Evolve takes readers on a philosophical and pictorial adventure into the nature of the self through the artistic exploration of three foundational biblical stories. Presented by the United Jewish Federation of Tidewater and Simon Family JCC’s Lee & Bernard Jaffe Family Jewish Book Festival. 12 pm. Conversation with the author, illustrator is free and open to the community. For more information and to register, visit JewishVA. org/BookFest or contact Hunter Thomas at HThomas@UJFT.org.

Send submissions for calendar to news@ujft.org. Be sure to note “calendar” in the subject. Include date, event name, sponsor, address, time, cost, and phone.

From Belarussian “Balaboosta” to Broadway Madam

Reviewed by Skip Sacks

Madam—The Biography of Polly Adler, Icon of the Jazz Age Debby Applegate 553 pp Doubleday, 2021

Frank Sinatra, Walter Winchell, Lucky Luciano, Dorothy Parker, Duke Ellington, Dutch Schultz, Robert Benchley, Desi Arnaz—and likely FDR. This is just a partial list of Jazz Era writers, celebrities, musicians, gangsters, politicians, and other notables who had one thing in common—they were all friends and sometimes clients of Polly Adler, a penniless Jewish immigrant who became the most famous Manhattan madam of the early 20th century.

Polly’s story begins in Yanow, Belarus where Pearl Adler is born sometime around 1900 and raised to be a traditional, Jewish homemaker or balaboosta. In that role, Pearl is expected to run the household and provide her future husband time to study at the local Yeshiva. When Jewish life in the Pale of Settlement becomes untenable due to pogroms and wars, Polly (her Americanized name) travels alone to the U.S. with little more than the clothes on her back.

Although Debby Applegate centers her narrative on Polly’s life, this extensively researched biography provides the reader with a deep dive into one of the most turbulent periods in U.S. history as

urbanization, Prohibition, World War I, and women’s suffrage combined to upend traditional American society and morality. If you think the ’60’s impacted American moral standards, wait until you read about the ’20s!

Ironically, Prohibition was a driving force in these changes. Prior to ratification of the 18th Amendment in 1919, New York society was separated by race, religion, profession, and economic status.

Prohibition created fabulously wealthy bootleggers and left many ordinary citizens united in their rejection of government-imposed morality. Individuals from all walks of society gathered in speakeasies where artists, writers, musicians, politicians, cops, gangsters, and New Yorkers of all races joined to create new social standards. The resulting ferment gave us flappers, jazz music, expanding drug use, and more publicly open sexuality.

Readers may be surprised to learn that in the first decades of the 19th century, many of the most prominent brothels were run by Jewish women from the old country. At that time, Jews made up roughly 20% of New York City’s population, but Jewish women operated an estimated 50% of the “houses of ill repute.” Applegate theorizes that, “The shtetl tradition of the balaboosta—the cheerful, efficient wife who ran the home and family business while her husband studied Torah—developed in many Jewish women the rare combination of practical financial sense and homey hospitality” needed to run a successful bawdy house.

Because of the nature of Polly’s business and the crude, often sexist and racist language of her era, Madam begins with a

warning that some readers may be offended by its content. However, Applegate’s use of the “slanguage” of that time helps immerse the reader in Polly’s world and never comes across as gratuitous.

Occasionally, the narrative bogs down a bit as the author seems compelled to share all the results of her extensive research, though readers will be fascinated by the ongoing parade of fabulous historical characters. Readers will also come away with a deeper understanding of the Jazz Era and an appreciation of the role of the Old World balaboosta in this truly revolutionary period in American history.

Skip Sacks is a native of Norfolk and is Virginia State Counsel for Stewart Title Guaranty Company. Sacks has served as an adjunct professor at ODU and occasionally reviews books to honor the memory of his father, Hal Sacks,

who

Madam with Debby Applegate

Tuesday, January 17, 2023, 12 pm, online

Join Debby Applegate next month when she speaks as part of the Lee & Bernard Jaffe Family Jewish Book Festival.

Applegate’s first book won the 2007 Pulitzer Prize for biography. She spent the next 13 years working on  Madam

To register, go to JewishVa.org/Bookfest.

For more information, contact Hunter Thomas Director, Arts + Ideas HThomas@UJFT. org 757-965-6137

wrote hundreds of book reviews for this publication.

Skip Sacks.

OBITUARIES

THEODORE “TED” KRUGER

NEW ORLEANS, LA.—Theodore Kruger, 94, resident of New Orleans, La. and Norfolk, Va. died peacefully in his sleep in New Orleans on November 28, 2022.

He was born in Berkeley on August 20, 1928 to Eleanor and Abe Kruger, stalwarts of the Berkeley community.

Growing up in Berkeley, Teddy worked in his parents’ grocery store. He shared many stories of how Pop and Bubbi Kruger worked hard to serve the needs of the Berkeley community. This experience influenced his career path in food service.

A graduate of University of Virginia, Ted proudly managed the UVA Baseball team. Teddy, or “Feets” (size 13) as his fraternity brothers called him, maintained his UVA friendships for his lifetime.

Ted’s career in food service established him as a visionary. As owner of Hampton Roads Burger Chef franchise, he developed the first downtown fast food restaurant concept in our area. His Wards

Corner location was a community staple. He went on to develop unique restaurant venues and later used his skills to identify tower sites with Verizon, ushering the local community into the digital age.

Teddy was selfless and totally devoted to his family, friends, and his Temple Israel community.

He greatly valued his friendships through Temple Israel and his beloved minyan, which he attended daily and often led.

He is survived by his daughter Dr. Ellen and her husband David of NOLA, who lovingly welcomed him into their home to live his final chapter. He is also survived by his daughter Shelley and her husband Dr. Jeffrey of Williamsburg. He was most proud of his grandchildren, Kelsey and Dr. Jonathan of NOLA and Dr. Clay of Suffolk and Zach and his wife, Amy, of Calif. He especially adored his great grandchildren: Joelle, Genesee, John, and Winnie. Niece Sara and her

family were like his own children. Ted was predeceased by his loving wife of 50 years, Ina, his dear daughter Terri, and brothers Dr. Howard and Dr. David.

The funeral was held at Forest Lawn Cemetery in Norfolk with Rabbi Michael Panitz of Temple Israel officiating.

Contributions may be made in Ted’s honor to Rabbi’s Discretionary Fund Temple Israel or a charity of the donor’s choice. Condolences may be left online at HDOliver.com.

ARNOLD HARRISON LEON

NORFOLK—After a courageous battle with cancer, Arnold Leon passed away on December 2, 2002, surrounded by his family.

He was born on May 28, 1933 in Norfolk to the late Max Leon and Ida Sinberg Leon and was preceded in death by his loving wife of 56 years, Telsa Learman Leon, and his sister, Charlotte.

An accomplished trial attorney, Arnold was a 1955 graduate of the University of Virginia where he earned his law degree in 1957. He served as president of the Portsmouth Bar Association and was a founding member of Cooper, Spong, Davis, Kilgore, Parker, Leon & Fennell, Ltd. which later changed its name to Cooper, Spong & Davis. He kept an office there until his recent passing. He co-founded American Medical Centers with his good friend, Ronald Dozoretz, and served as president of the company, which was headquartered in Nashville.

Arnold was passionate about service to his community and cherished leadership positions with the United Way, United Jewish Federation of Tidewater, as well as a founder and Life-Trustee of Tidewater Jewish Foundation. He was committed to the strength and integrity of the State of Israel and made dozens of trips there. Arnold served on the Board of Visitors of Old Dominion University as well as the University of Virginia Board of Visitors for seven years. He was proud to have endowed the chair of the Dean of the UVA Law School.

Arnold also served in the Army ROTC and in the Army Reserves as a Lieutenant until he was honorably discharged. He attended Taylor Elementary, Blair Middle

School, and graduated from Maury High School. At 12, he achieved the rank of Eagle Scout.

Survivors include his sons Miles, Stephen, and David; daughters-in-law Sandra and Caren; grandchildren Erin Leon Olson and her husband Charlie, Ben, Mason, Matthew, Isabella, and Emily; as well as a great granddaughter, Telsa. Arnold leaves behind many close friends and relatives including Ella Roth from Tel Aviv, Israel and a favorite nephew, Marc Davidoff.

Funeral services were held at Congregation Beth El in Norfolk followed by burial at Forest Lawn Cemetery. Please do something nice for a friend or stranger. Online condolences may be shared with the family at www.hdoliver.com.

FRANKLIN SWARTZ

VIRGINIA BEACH —Franklin Alex Swartz of Virginia Beach, and Boca Raton, Fla., died on his birthday, December 11, 2022, after a long battle with cancer.

Born on December 11, 1938 in Norfolk, to Hyman and Beulah Tonelson Swartz, “Lyn,” as he was known, was a 1957 graduate of Granby High School, where he excelled both in his classes and in athletics. He made the football team as a freshman, and played on the basketball team coached by the legendary Lefty Driesell. While a 17-year-old student at Granby, he met Ilene Shapiro, with whom he shared 61 years of marriage. Together they have three children: Jeffrey Adam Swartz (Jean), his law partner; Dr. Pamela Swartz (Billy Warwick), an audiologist; and Howard Swartz (Brooke), an Emmy award winning documentarian.

Following high school, Lyn went to the University of Virginia, earning a BA in 1961. During college, he was a handball champion and played in the Mad Bowl for three years. At UVA, Lyn was the president of his fraternity, AEPi, and served as an advocate for students in the Honor System. He earned his law degree at UVA in 1964.

Lyn entered the US Army in 1964 as a lieutenant 1st class, and was deployed to the Dominican Republic during that country’s revolution. He left the Army as a Captain in 1966, turning down an offer

to go to JAG school, opting instead for the private practice of law before joining the Commonwealth’s Attorney’s Office, where he honed his remarkable skills in front of a jury. He left the Commonwealth’s Attorney’s Office in 1970 for private practice, and earned a reputation as one of the preeminent criminal defense attorneys in Hampton Roads. The list of his accreditations and professional honors is long and storied, and includes serving as chair of the Criminal Law Section of the Virginia State Bar and induction into the elite American College of Trial Attorneys. The May 20, 1991 VirginianPilot and Ledger Star article, Out of the Flock, a Few Legal Eagles, listed him as one of the Best Lawyers in Hampton Roads. He was included in the “Best Lawyers in America” since 1996, and was recognized by Virginia Business Magazine as one of the “Legal Elite” in Virginia, and as a “Super Lawyer” by the Law and Politics section of Richmond Magazine. There is no higher compliment for any lawyer than to be singled out as the one to call when other lawyers need a hand. Attorneys with such exalted reputations among colleagues are called the “lawyers’ lawyer.” Lyn Swartz was that lawyer.

He was a lifelong member of Temple Israel, the synagogue founded in 1952 by his father and other members of the Jewish community. He served as the first cantor of the fledgling congregation, and it was there that he became a bar mitzvah and later a husband. Lyn’s Jewish faith instilled in him a sense of fair play and integrity that informed every decision he ever made and every action he ever undertook.

He had a whip-smart sense of humor and a finely tuned wit, which he used to great effect on friends, family, judges, and

juries alike. Sharply intelligent, with an innate sense of timing, he was a case study in effective communication, whether he was cracking a joke or explaining intricate matters of fact and law.

In addition to his wife Ilene, he leaves his three children and their spouses, and the grandchildren he loved, mentored and cherished: Michael Henry Swartz (Forest), Rachel Swartz Pulsifer (Parker), Joseph Scott Swartz, Joshua Brent Swartz and Benjamin Max Swartz. He is also survived by his sister Betty Lou Swartz Siegel (Barney) and sister-in-law, Elaine Shapiro. He will be mourned by the incalculable host of family, colleagues and friends whose lives he touched, and who universally thought of him as one of their favorite human beings. Everyone could— and did—count on Lyn.

One of the last and greatest joys of his life was officiating at the September 10, 2022 marriage of his only granddaughter Rachel to Parker Pulsifer. It was always his family who were his reason for living. They were the light in his eyes and the joys of his heart. Lyn Swartz was truly the best of men.

A funeral service was held at Temple Israel. Donations may be made to Temple Israel or a charity of your choice. Condolences may be left for the family at www.altmeyerfh.com.

FRANCIS “FRANK” ZIELINSKI

VIRGINIA BEACH—Francis William Zielinski, 73, passed away August 16, 2022.

A native of Lowell, Mass., he was a retired from the U.S. Navy and veteran of the Vietnam War, during which time he was awarded the following commendations: National Defense Service Medal (2), Sea Service Deployment Medal

(5), Navy and Marine Corps Overseas Service Ribbon, Navy and Marine Corps Expeditionary Medal, Presidential Unit Citation, Navy Unit Commendation, Republic of Vietnam Meritorious Unit Commendation with Gallantry Cross, Republic of Vietnam Civil Actional Medal with Palm, Vietnam Campaign Medal with Five (5) Stars, Vietnam Services

Medal and Combat Action Ribbon.

Survivors include one brother, Peter Zielinski; his wife, Sherry Zielinski; his son and daughter-in-law, Aaron and Lisa W. Zielinski; and a grandson and best buddy, Benjamin Zielinski.

Services were private. Hollomon Brown Funeral Homes.

OBITUARIES

HENRY ROSOVSKY, REFUGEE FROM THE NAZIS WHO SHAPED HARVARD UNIVERSITY

Penny Schwartz

BOSTON (JTA)—When Harvard University’s rabbi first pushed to relocate the Hillel from the outskirts of campus to its center, Henry Rosovsky was initially skeptical.

“He was absolutely right. I was wrong,” Rosovsky told the Jewish Telegraphic Agency in 2017, at a 25th anniversary party for the Hillel building that bears his name: Rosovsky Hall.

The event was also a 90th birthday party for Rosovsky, an economist who spent almost all of his career at Harvard, spanning decades in which he influenced the school’s curriculum, led a committee charged with improving conditions for Black students, and shepherded the flourishing of Jewish life on campus.

Rosovsky died Nov. 11 at his home in Cambridge, Massachusetts, where

he lived and worked since joining the Harvard faculty in 1965. He was 95.

“His legacy continues to influence the experience of every person on our campus today,” Harvard President Lawrence Bacow, who is Jewish, says. “With his passing, Harvard has lost one of its greatest champions and its finest citizens.”

At his funeral at Temple Israel of Boston, Rosovsky was remembered by family, colleagues and friends for his brilliance, witty humor, love of tennis and jazz, and his sage advice and mentorship.

His daughter, Leah Rosovsky, said her father took his greatest satisfaction in the role he played in establishing what is now Harvard’s African and African American Studies Program and recruiting its longtime chair, historian Henry Louis Gates Jr., who attended the funeral.

Born in a Jewish family on Sept. 1, 1927 in what is now Gdansk, Poland, Rosovsky immigrated to the United

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States with his parents and brother in 1940, after escaping the Nazis through France, Portugal, Spain, and Belgium. He volunteered for the U.S. Army in World War II and also served in the Korean War, according to an obituary published by Harvard. After graduating from the College of William & Mary, he arrived at Harvard for the first time in 1949 to pursue a doctorate in economics.

In 1965, he returned as a professor of economics, with a specialty in Japanese and Asian economic development. He would stay at the university for the rest of his career, shaping not only the Ivy League college, but Boston’s Jewish community.

As dean of Harvard’s College of Arts and Sciences from 1973 to 1991, Rosovsky led implementation of the school’s groundbreaking core curriculum. He also served two terms as Harvard’s acting president; was appointed a member of the Harvard Corporation, where he was the first Jew on the school’s governing body; and oversaw the establishment of Harvard’s Center for Jewish Studies.

In 1969, with student unrest spurring changes at many universities, Rosovsky led a committee to study the experience of Black students at Harvard. The resulting “Rosovsky report” urged the creation of a standalone department for African and African American studies and other steps to integrate and empower Black students. Rosovsky quit the committee after students were given equal say, a move that he said should have taken place only after careful study. He resumed his involvement shortly before his retirement in the 1990s, recruiting high-profile scholars including Gates to transform the department into an academic powerhouse.

Rosovsky’s 1990 book, The University: An Owner’s Manual, exposed outsiders to the complex operations of a research university. But the former dean was equally helpful to university insiders, Bacow says, noting the time Rosovsky devoted to doling out advice to college presidents. Several of Harvard’s presidents, including Drew Gilpin Faust, Lawrence H. Summers, and Neil Rudenstine, echoed that sentiment in published remarks at the celebration of his 90th birthday.

His reach extended beyond Harvard, too. As chair of the Boston Jewish federation’s strategic planning committee in the 1990s, Rosovsky shared his analytical expertise and his ability to bring people together to help chart a course for Boston’s Jewish community, according to Barry Shrage, who for decades led the Combined Jewish Philanthropies of Greater Boston.

“It was a turning point in terms of Jewish learning, adult Jewish education, building community at the grassroots and engaging synagogues,” Shrage told JTA in a conversation at the funeral. “It all emerged in the strategic plan.”

Shrage added, “He was a secular Jew but his Jewish identity deeply influenced his vision of the world.”

Rosovsky is survived by Nitza, his wife of 66 years and a former longtime curator of the Semitic Museum at Harvard; his children, Leah, Judy, and Michael and their spouses; four grandchildren; and one great-granddaughter.

“He didn’t set out to trumpet his own Jewish identity,” Rabbi Jonah Steinberg, Harvard Hillel’s executive director, told JTA in 2017 about Rosovsky. “By being very honestly who they are, they were an example to others.”

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WHO KNEW?

Seven Jewish highlights from the new Museum of Broadway

Andrew Silow-Carroll

(New York Jewish Week)—There’s a reliably funny Twitter account called @JewWhoHasItAll, which imagines a universe where nearly everyone is Jewish and those who aren’t are the outliers.

That’s the sensation I got on a visit to the Museum of Broadway, which opened last month. A three-story tribute to the Theater District located in its very heart, it is organized around a series of rooms dedicated to landmark musicals and plays, and the majority bear the stamp of Jewish creators: Jerome Kern and Oscar Hammerstein’s Showboat, Richard Rodgers and Hammerstein’s Oklahoma!, Leonard Bernstein’s West Side Story, Stephen Sondheim’s Company, Tony Kushner’s Angels in America

Other projects dedicated to the history of Broadway aren’t shy about noting the over-representation of Jews in the business. Broadway Musicals: A Jewish Legacy, a documentary that seems to run on a nearly endless loop on my local PBS station, notes that “over the [first] 50-year period of its development, the songs of the Broadway musical were created almost exclusively by Jewish Americans.”

If the Museum of Broadway acknowledges this, I didn’t notice. Some might take this as an omission or a snub, the way critics objected when a new museum about the history of Hollywood initially overlooked the essential Jewish contribution to the movie business. But in this case, the Jewishness of Broadway is taken as a given. You’d have to be culturally illiterate not to notice how many of the most celebrated creators are Jewish: In addition to the musical tributes, there are wall placards singling out the contributions of Sondheim and the director Harold Prince, a corner devoted to Fiddler on the Roof and a gallery celebrating Joe Papp (born Joseph Papirofsky) and his Public Theater, that reliable pipeline of breakthrough Broadway shows.

(There were, however, frequent mentions of the specifically African-American contributions to Broadway. That seemed a deliberate attempt to counter perceptions

that Broadway is indeed the “Great White Way.”)

The museum, whose opening was delayed by the pandemic, is a collaboration with Playbill, Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS (which is supported by a portion of the stiff $39 admission charge), the Al Hirschfeld Foundation, Concord Theatricals and Goodspeed Musicals. Its approach is chronological, with a timeline that pulls visitors from room to room, from vaudeville, through Broadway’s “Golden Age” and up to the present. Original costumes and props are on display in Instagram-ready settings that resemble the original sets for various shows.

Among the paraphernalia and stagecraft are a number of Jewish highlights. Here are seven:

A whirligig of Rodgers and Hammerstein musicals

Just past the cornstalks celebrating the ground-breaking 1943 musical Oklahoma! is a wall display showcasing the duo’s most important collaborations, including Carousel, South Pacific, The King and I, Flower Drum Song and The Sound of Music Rodgers, working with Hammerstein and before him Lorenz Hart, wrote more than 900 songs and 41 Broadway musicals. Combine that with Hammerstein’s work with Kern, and it is hard to imagine two more important figures in the history of musical comedy.

Jerome Robbins’ notes on West Side Story

Look closely at this list of proposed scenes for a musical based on Romeo and Juliet and you’ll see the word “seder.” Robbins (born Jerome Rabinowitz) originally proposed that the show focus on a starcrossed love story between a Jewish girl and an Irish boy, but the choreographer and his fellow Jewish collaborators— composer Leonard Bernstein, lyricist Stephen Sondheim and playwright Arthur Laurents—soon felt the interfaith idea had already been exhausted in plays like Abie’s Irish Rose. When the show premiered in 1957, the gangs were Puerto Rican and a medley of ethnic whites.

Florence Klotz’s costume “bible” Costume designer Florence Klotz frequently collaborated with Prince and Sondheim. The museum displays her sketches for Sondheim’s Follies and A Little Night Music. Born in Brooklyn, Klotz would win six Tony awards. She died in 2006. The museum also includes an entire floor dedicated to the “backstage” talent: costume and set designers, stage managers, prop masters and writers.

A shrine to Company

Sondheim and Prince emerge as the museum’s lodestars. “Their intense and fruitful partnership and their creative trailblazing in [the 1970s] resulted in an extraordinary artistic innovation and a slew of provocative new works,” a wall card proclaims. Company (1970) was a largely plotless exploration of urban anomie. The museum calls it a “frank, even painful look at modern life,” perfectly attuned to the upper-middle class theatergoers who, it says, are the “backbone” of the Broadway audience. It’s the show people love or hate if they love or hate Sondheim. The Company exhibit includes photos of the original cast and spare set, and a backdrop that draws on the recent gender-bending revival.

A tribute to Joseph Papp Joe Papp flipped the script on how shows made it to Broadway: His Public Theater produced edgy off-Broadway plays that drew audiences downtown, and then successfully transferred that same buzz to the Big Stem. Papp, a son of Yiddish-speaking parents who grew up in a Brooklyn slum, founded the New York Shakespeare Festival. A section of the museum includes costumes and posters from

important productions that originated at The Public—including wildly popular revivals of The Pirates of Penzance and The Threepenny Opera —and a dress Meryl Streep wore in her Broadway debut, in Trelawny of the ‘Wells.’ Two other musicals developed at The Public— Hair and A Chorus Line —get their own tribute rooms.

Al Hirschfeld’s barber chair

The museum has an entire gallery dedicated to the work of artist Al Hirschfeld and his caricatures of Broadway stars and productions from 1923–2001. His pen-andink drawings were a visual shorthand for “Broadway,” and it would sometimes seem that the stars he drew would come to resemble his drawings, not the other way around. The museum includes his wonderfully kooky Barbra Streisand in Funny Girl and a bearish, brooding Zero Mostel as Tevye. On display is a barber chair similar to the one he used in his studio (the original had fallen apart by the 1990s).

A stage set from The Producers

You can sit behind a desk and pretend you are Broadway producer Max Bialystock, who was played by Nathan Lane in the phenomenally successful 2001 musical adaptation of Mel Brooks’ 1967 film about the worst musical ever staged for Broadway. The display is a reminder of the impact of the show, and not only on ticket prices: It proved the viability of adapting movies for Broadway, and earned a record-setting 12 Tony Awards. The museum calls the musical, with its tap-dancing Nazis and sweet and conniving Jewish protagonists, a “glittering homage to Broadway’s past”—a past that is unmistakably Jewish.