Jewish News April 6, 2020

INSIDE jewishnewsva.org

Southeastern Virginia | Vol. 58 No. 13 | 12 Nissan 5780 | April 6, 2020

8 Tidewater’s first online Bar Mitzvah during pandemic

Jewish Community During the Pandemic • COVID-19 Emergency Relief Fund opens for Jewish Tidewater – page 3 • Area rabbis respond to life and death concerns posed by COVID-19 – page 6 • Jewish Tidewater’s Virtual Resources – page 7

10 Passover Reflection: The Eleventh Plague

11 SIA’s Distance Learning quickly set in motion

5000 Corporate Woods Drive, Suite 200 Virginia Beach, Virginia 23462-4370 Address Service Requested

Non-Profit Org. US POSTAGE Paid Suburban MD Permit 6543

14 Camp and Jewish identity go together

Coronavirus Pandemic

Your Money is Safe with us!

OP EN A LA N GLEY PL ATIN UM MONEY M A RKET TO DAY. We’re not attached to the stock market.

The money you tuck away is yours to keep.

Open Yours Online or Visit Us Today!

LangleyFCU.org | 757-827-5328

Not a member; that’s okay, at Langley EVERYONE can Save, Borrow and Spend Wisely.

Visit us today to hear more.

2 | Jewish News | April 6, 2020 | jewishnewsva.org

Save,Borrow & Spend Wisely

Astronaut Jessica Meir offers advice on isolation from the International Space Station JERUSALEM ( JTA)—Jewish astronaut Jessica Meir has advice about how to stay mentally healthy while living in isolation, as the people on Earth she left behind last fall now are because of the coronavirus pandemic.

Meir spoke on Friday, April 3 from the International Space Station, where she has lived since late September with a handful of other astronauts, in a clip posted on the Twitter feed of the United States Embassy in Jerusalem.

“It is very strange and a bit surreal for us to see it all unfold when we’ve been up here for the entire duration of what’s going on down on the ground and it seems that we will be completely going back to a different planet,” Meir said.

Meir recommended that people in isolation in their homes stay mentally and physically healthy by sticking to their regular routines, exercising and staying in regular contact with friends and family.

In March, Meir posted on Twitter a photo of Tel Aviv that she took from space, in which the usually bustling Israeli city is seen looking desolate amid the spread of the coronavirus.

“Gazing down at the city in which my father was raised, I take to heart one of his most uttered expressions, ‘This too shall pass’. Wise words to remember, in both good times and bad. Goodnight #TelAviv #Israel! #GoodnightFromSpace #TheJourney #EarthStrong,” she tweeted at the time.

Adam Sandler pays tribute to doctors and nurses Forget about The Chanukah Song. Actor Adam Sandler’s latest earworm is a tribute to doctors and nurses and an exhortation for people to stay home to stop the spread of the coronavirus.

Sandler debuted Quarantine Song from his home during a guest appearance Thursday, April 2 on The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon. Fallon was broadcasting from his home as well.

Sandler pulled a hoodie over his baseball cap and put on sunglasses (so viewers would not see him reading the lyrics, he

said) before he began strumming on his guitar.

“Doctors and nurses will save us from this mess if we give them the supplies that they need / And I hope they save us really soon because I’m getting really sick of my family,” Sandler sang in the light-hearted, yet incredibly serious song.

“We gotta build some ventilators and make some more masks / We got to now, so let’s all come together / I’m teaching math to my kids, and that can’t be good for America,” he also sang.

At the end of the song, Sandler implores listeners: “Stay home as much as you can, make sure to wash your hands / Let’s make this damn thing go away.”

(JTA)

Pop star Pink, having recovered from coronavirus, donates $1M to fight the disease Jewish pop star Pink and her 3-year-old son have recovered from the coronavirus, she announced on Twitter.

She and her son Jameson were sheltering at home in Los Angeles when they began experiencing symptoms and tested positive for COVID-19 two weeks ago, she wrote in a series of tweets Saturday, April 4. A retest in recent days came back negative, she said.

She added that she was donating $1 million to fight the coronavirus: $500,000 each to the Temple University Hospital Emergency Fund in Philadelphia and the City of Los Angeles Mayor’s Emergency Covid-19 Crisis Fund.

The donation to Temple, she wrote, is in honor of her mother, Judy Moore, who worked there for 18 years in the Cardiomyopathy and Heart Transplant Center.

“Thank you to all of our healthcare professionals and everyone in the world who are working so hard to protect our loved ones. You are our heroes!” wrote Pink, whose real name is Alecia Beth Moore.

She also took aim at the Trump administration’s handling of the pandemic.

“It is an absolute travesty and failure of our government to not make testing more widely accessible. This illness is serious and real,” she said in the tweet. (JTA)

upfront

Jewish news jewishnewsva.org

Relief Fund Opens. All Dollars to Stay in Tidewater.

EVEN APART, WE STAND TOGETHER.

COVID-19 Emergency Relief Fund Kol Yisroel Aravim Zeh b’zeh.

All Jews are responsible one for the other.

A

s we enter the season of Passover—a holiday steeped in traditions of coming together with family and friends for the Seder—we know that this year will be different, as the COVID-19 pandemic forces us apart.

For many in our community, hardships are extending beyond the disappointments of not gathering for Seder. Loss of loved ones, loss of income, and loss of ability to receive basic services are all devastating. United Jewish Federation of Tidewater, Tidewater Jewish Foundation, and its constituent agencies are dedicated to helping these members of our community during these unprecedented times. We are asking for your assistance to enable us to provide that help.

Now more than ever, as a Jewish community, we need to make a difference. Now more than ever, our work and our responsibility to take care of one another is urgent and its substance essential.

100% of the funds raised through this effort will go directly to meeting the unprecedented needs of Jewish Tidewater. Your gift will help our most vulnerable community members and protect our vital institutions.

Your gift will help with personal protective equipment for residents and staff of Beth Sholom Village, as well as patients and staff of Jewish Family Service and Freda H. Gordon Hospice and Palliative Care.

Your gift will help feed hungry families, and help pay basic bills for newly unemployed or underemployed. Your gift will also help our cherished institutions through these unnerving months.

There has never been a time when your involvement and support has been more crucial.

Let us hope that this dark period passes quickly…and that the days which follow bring relief and resiliency for all of us, as well as a return to Tidewater’s strong and vibrant Jewish community.

Please go to JewishVa.org or send a check to: UJFT, Attention: COVID-19 Emergency Relief Fund 5000 Corporate Woods Drive, Suite 200 Virginia Beach, VA 23462

The appearance of advertising in the Jewish News does not constitute a kashrut, political, product or service endorsement.

The articles and letters appearing herein are not necessarily the opinion of this newspaper. © 2020 Jewish News. All rights reserved.

Subscription: $18 per year

JewishNewsVA

For subscription or change of address, call 757-965-6128 or email mcerase@ujft.org.

Women Summer Healthcare Men Seniors Legal

April 10 April 24 May 8 May 22 June 5 June 26

Friday, April 10/16 Nissan Light candles at 7:18 pm

Briefs. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

SIA and Distance Learning . . . . . . . . 11

“Our community’s response

Coronavirus’ unwanted symptom in France: anti-Semitism . . . . . . . . . 5

Obituarie. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12

to the current unpleasantness

Bubbies and bunkmates: Jewish identity. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14

is united and thoughtful.”

Film opportunities during pandemic . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15

United Jewish Federation of Tidewater Amy Levy, President Alvin Wall, Treasurer Stephanie Calliott, Secretary Betty Ann Levin, Executive Vice-President jewishVA.org

Candle Lighting

The 11th plague. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10

Bar Mitzvah and more during COVID-19 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8

Terri Denison, Editor Germaine Clair, Art Director Lisa Richmon, Staff Writer Sandy Goldberg, Account Executive Ronnie Jacobs Cohen, Account Executive Marilyn Cerase, Subscription Manager Reba Karp, Editor Emeritus

April 27 May 11 May 25 June 8 June 22 July 13

Upfront . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

Jewish Tidewater’s Virtual Resources. . 7

QR code generated on http://qrcode.littleidiot.be

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

Upcoming Deadlines for Editorial and Advertising

Quotable

Contents

Published 20 times a year by United Jewish Federation of Tidewater.

—page 6

Friday, April 17/23 Nissan Light candles at 7:24 pm Friday, April 24/30 Nissan Light candles at 7:30 pm Friday, May 1/7 Iyar Light candles at 7:36 pm Friday, May 8/14 Iyar Light candles at 7:42 pm Friday, May 15/21 Iyar Light candles at 7:48 pm

jewishnewsva.org | April 6, 2020 | Jewish News | 3

BRIEFS Israel’s spy agency acquires ventilators, coronavirus test kits and 10 million masks Israel’s spy agency, the Mossad, has acquired ventilators and other medical equipment, along with 10 million surgical masks, in the fight to halt the coronavirus, all from unnamed countries.

The agency brought in 27 ventilators, 20,000 test kits, and N95 masks, which include air filters, Israel’s Channel 12 News reported. The Mossad is expected to obtain another 180 respirators after getting components for 400,000 test kits.

The Israeli media have speculated the equipment came from countries that do not have diplomatic relations with Israel.

Last month, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced that the Mossad would take over the purchase of medical equipment from other countries.

The Mossad also brought in 700 overalls for Magen David Adom ambulance personnel. Magen David Adom is handling the initial diagnosing and transporting of suspected COVID-19 cases. (JTA) Bernie Sanders’ Florida campaign office vandalized with swastikas A Florida campaign office for Bernie Sanders was vandalized with swastikas.

A tweet from the Florida for Bernie account showed two large swastikas painted in black and the words “voting didn’t stop us last time.” It did not say where in Florida the office is located.

“Didn’t know if we should share, but one of our grassroots Bernie offices in Florida was vandalized with swastikas.

Sheriff sent a team to clean it up. But Bernie is just another old white man, right?” it said.

Several replies called the vandalism “fake.” Others accused a Sanders staffer of drawing the graffiti.

Last month a protester identified as a known white supremacist unfurled a Nazi flag at a Sanders rally in Phoenix.

Sanders has been more open about his Jewish identity during the current Democratic primary contest, but he trails former Vice President Joe Biden in the race.

Sanders, in a tweet attached to an AntiDefamation League condemnation of the 4 | Jewish News | April 6, 2020 | jewishnewsva.org

vandalism, noted the loss of his extended family during the Holocaust.

“Anti-Semitism and Nazism destroyed a good part of my family,” he said. “I’ll fight to make sure hatred has no place in our country.” (JTA)

Israel’s National Library to document impact of covid-19 on Jewish community The National Library of Israel has created an archive to document the impact of the coronavirus on Jewish communities around the world.

The Jewish Community COVID-19 Archive will be made up of “ephemera items”—materials not generally intended for long-term preservation. Such items often help scholars understand daily life and social trends, the library said in a statement.

“As the dynamic institution of national memory for the State of Israel and the Jewish people worldwide, we see it as a very natural and critical role for us to be collecting and preserving materials related to how coronavirus is impacting Jewish life and practice,” said Yoel Finkelman, curator of the library’s Haim and Hanna Salomon Judaica Collection.

The library is asking for contributions of materials that document the impact of the virus, including emails about online synagogue services, appeals to help isolated community members, and announcements about innovative Jewish law rulings. Materials can be emailed to ephemera@nli.org.il. ( JTA)

Haredi rabbinic leader calls on followers to pray alone Rabbi Chaim Kanievsky, a prominent leader in the haredi Orthodox community, called on his followers to pray alone without a prayer quorum.

The ruling last month came after a steep rise in the number of coronavirus cases in Bnei Brak, a mostly haredi city in Israel, and following a funeral of Rabbi Tzvi Shinker, which was attended by hundreds of people despite Health Ministry directives limiting funerals to only 20 people.

Kanievsky said that refraining from praying with others is a matter of “pikuach

nefesh,” or saving a life.

Two weeks prior, Kanievsky called for haredi schools and yeshivas to remain open despite Ministry of Health limitations. (JTA)

Philadelphia 76ers co-owner will produce masks for pandemic responders Michael Rubin, a partner in the NBA’s Philadelphia 76ers and the owner of Fanatics sportswear, plans to make a million masks and gowns for emergency workers out of the same material used for Major League Baseball uniforms.

Rubin told Sports Philadelphia, an NBC affiliate, that he was working with Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf, Attorney General Josh Shapiro, and MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred to repurpose a plant in Easton, Pa., to make the gear.

“We’re fortunate to have this giant factory in Pennsylvania that makes all these baseball jerseys,” Rubin said, “and to have the commissioner of baseball behind us, and to have the governor and attorney general saying, ‘How do we make a difference?’”

Rubin founded his first business, a ski shop, when he was 14, using bar mitzvah money as seed money. (JTA) Ralph Lauren’s foundation to donate $10 million to coronavirus fight Ralph Lauren’s foundation will dedicate $10 million to people affected by the coronavirus.

The company he founded will continue to pay its workers through the pandemic and will manufacture gowns and masks for medical workers.

A statement posted on the company web page said the money would go toward employees affected by the virus and to the broader fashion community, to cancer patients vulnerable to the virus and to the World Health Organization’s COVID-19 Solidarity Response Fund.

Elle reported that separately, the company said on Instagram that it would pay employees while the business was closed.

Women’s Wear Daily reported that the company is ready to manufacture 25,000 gowns and 250,000 masks for

medical workers.

Lauren, born Ralph Lifshitz, is the son of Jewish immigrant parents from Belarus. He stepped down as CEO of the company in 2015, but remains its chief creative officer. (JTA)

Larry David wants ‘idiots’ to stay home and watch TV Comedian Larry David called on “the idiots out there” to stay home and watch TV in an effort to curb the spread of the coronavirus.

David’s 90-second rant is a new public service announcement for the state of California released by the office of Gov. Gavin Newsom on social media.

“You’re going out—I don’t know what you’re doing. You’re socializing too close, it’s not good,” the Curb Your Enthusiasm creator and star said.

“You’re hurting old people like me— well, not me. I have nothing to do with you.

I’ll never see you. But, you know, other— let’s say, other old people who might be your relatives! Who the hell knows.”

David said that people who are going out when they should be hunkering down due to the deadly virus are missing a “fantastic opportunity, a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity” to stay at home.

“Go home! Watch TV! That’s my advice to you,” he said in the message to Californians. “You know, if you’ve seen my show, nothing good ever happens going out of the house, you know that. It’s just trouble out there. It’s not a good place to be.” (JTA) Ruth Bader Ginsburg is working out in the Supreme Court gym during the pandemic Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg is working out at the high court’s private gym, with precautions, during the pandemic, her trainer said.

“Everybody’s been shut down,” Bryant Johnson told Law 360, a legal news website. “The only reason why I didn’t shut the justice down is because, hey, she ain’t having it.”

Johnson said he takes precautions, including wiping down the equipment before the 87-year-old Ginsburg works out and social distancing. (JTA)

Coronavirus Pandemic

An unwanted symptom of the coronavirus crisis in France: Anti-Semitic conspiracy theories Cnaan Liphshiz

( JTA)—Anti-Semitism has plagued French society for centuries, flaring up in times of crisis—especially during epidemics.

In the 14th century, for instance, Jews were massacred in France during the Black Death epidemic after they were blamed for spreading the disease by poisoning water wells. In the city of Strasbourg alone, 2,000 Jews were burnt alive by orders of the local council, according to the historian Robert Gottfried’s book Black Death.

That kind of disease-related conspiracy theory hasn’t widely manifested itself for centuries. Now, however, the coronavirus is reigniting that strain of anti-Semitism in France.

“It’s deeply saddening and it’s revolting, but the coronavirus pandemic is a reminder that Jews will be blamed whenever there’s an epidemic, be it today or 1347,” says Marc Knobel, a historian who since 2002 has been the head of studies at the CRIF umbrella group of French Jewish communities.

In recent weeks, a caricature of Agnes Buzyn, France’s previous health minister who was Jewish, pouring poison into a well—a depiction of one of the most prevalent theories that led to pogroms during the Black Death plague—has made the rounds on French social media. It’s been shared tens of thousands of times.

Another viral image superimposes Buzyn’s face on the “happy merchant” anti-Semitic caricature, which shows a grinning Jewish man rubbing his palms together.

Then there’s a widely shared video accusing Buzyn and her husband, Yves Levy, also Jewish, of withholding chloroquine—an anti-malarial drug being touted as a possible coronavirus antidote by some, including President Donald Trump, but whose effectivity against the coronavirus is unproven—from the French public for financial gain. It garnered 170,000 views on YouTube before being deleted.

Alain Soral, a Holocaust denier with multiple convictions for inciting hatred against Jews, says in a video he posted on YouTube that the virus is being used by “the luminary community, which we are forbidden to name” that “wants to cash in on the backs of the French to weaken French people by the sheer weight of the death toll.”

The statement, which echoes similar allegations made against Jews during the Middle Ages, was unusual for Soral, who likes to cloak his hate speech in academic language and pseudo-rational constructions that he delivers dispassionately.

But to Knobel, the historian, the video’s reach was even more surprising. Its 406,000 views made it the second-most popular video on Soral’s YouTube channel, Kontre Kulture, which he launched eight years ago.

Dieudonne M’bala M’bala, the anti-Semitic French comedian and a friend of Soral, has aired similar theories on his YouTube channel, which has hundreds of videos. His first post about the virus received 410,000 views—his highest number of clicks in more than six months.

Mainstream French media has taken notice of the anti-Semitic chatter around Buzyn, including the Voici news site and France Inter public radio, which says the pandemic was “triggering a wave of anti-Semitic rhetoric.”

In the United States and beyond, anti-Semites have seized on the coronavirus to spread their messages, the Anti-Defamation League said in a March 17 report on the phenomenon. But the trend has been most troubling in France, where Knobel says the authors have done well to fit anti-Semitism into the leading item on everyone’s agenda.

“The rhetoric comes from the same crowd of anti-Semites who trafficked in other kinds of anti-Semitic content before the corona crisis,” he says. “They just adapted their hate speech to fit the main topic of discussion to make it more effective.”

Anti-Semites have adopted the virus as

Zionist,” until police intervened to bring him to safety.

The bar for coronavirus anti-Semitism is getting lower by the day. For instance, Meyer Habib, a French-Jewish lawmaker, tweeted recently about the death from the virus of Maurice Bidermann, a Holocaust survivor, who he eulogized as a “humanist and Zionist.”

Bidermann’s family later said he had died of natural causes, but Habib’s tweet still triggered a slew of anti-Semitic vitriol, including by one user who wrote: “One less Israeli crook, but the list is still long.” Another said: “Shame he didn’t pay his taxes in France, maybe we would have had more beds for the ill.”

“There is apparently neither a cure nor a vaccine against the virus of anti-Semitic hatred,” Knobel says, “we need to reflect long after this virus is vanquished.”

a theme to push their message to a large, frightened, and angry viewership. Knobel says that with everyone locked inside, the loyal viewers of people like Soral and Dieudonne inevitably will consume and disseminate more. He also says that the anti-Semitism in France is also showing “how fragile French society is, how polarized and confused.”

A recent example of unrest in France shows how anti-Semitism can follow crisis quickly there. Demonstrations by the Yellow Vests—populist protesters pushing for economic reforms, so named for the reflective safety vests they wear— included signs and slogans describing President Emmanuel Macron as a “whore of the Jews” and their “puppet.” At one protest last year, Yellow Vests mobbed the prominent French-Jewish philosopher Alain Finkielkraut, calling him a “dirty

No appointment for allergy shots – JUST WALK IN! Leaders in food allergy detection and treatment.

If you are suffering from allergies or asthma, please contact us. We can help.

Providing Care to Children and Adults for Over 60 years

Dr. Gary Moss

Dr. Greg Pendell

Dr. Craig Koenig

Dr. Marguerite Lengkeek

We make it as easy as possible on the patient and referring physician by ACCEPTING MOST INSURANCES. Lisa Deafenbaugh PA-C

June Raehll FNP-BC

Kim Pham NP-C

www.allergydocs.net Virginia Beach (757) 481-4383

Chesapeake (757) 547-7702

Norfolk (757) 583-4382

jewishnewsva.org | April 6, 2020 | Jewish News | 5

Coronavirus Pandemic

Area rabbis respond to life and death concerns posed by COVID-19 Terri Denison

P

rojections about COVID-19’s impact on the nation’s health, economic, and emotional wellbeing evolve daily as the virus spreads through large cities and small towns. Last month, the White House coronavirus coordinator predicted that the pandemic could kill as many as 200,000 Americans.

The probable needs of healthcare providers as well as of the overarching healthcare system in anticipation of the unique and tragic events that are approaching the Tidewater community caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, prompted Jordan Asher, MD, senior vice president and chief physician executive at Sentara Healthcare, to ask

Alan Wagner, MD, about the Jewish response to autopsy during this unique circumstance.

Wagner, an ophthalmologist, and an active member of Tidewater’s Jewish community, set out to find the answer. Along the way, he enlisted the assistance of Harry Graber, immediate past executive vice president of United Jewish Federation of Tidewater.

Jewish communities throughout the world are grappling with a host of concerns as they pertain to COVID-19’s impact on halakhic principles, Jewish law, and customs, including burial on Shabbat and having a minyan to say Kaddish.

As a Jewish people, “we are always concerned about the quality of life, but we are also concerned about the quality

of death,” says Wagner.

“We must have a clear understanding of how our people, traditions, and laws deal with delays in burial, need for post mortem fluid sampling, and autopsy,” says Wagner.

It speaks well of our Jewish community that, at a time of bruising polarization, we are able to create a consensus statement

NOT SURE WHAT TO DO WITH YOUR ANNUAL IRA DISTRIBUTION?

with the good of the entire community at the center of our joint focus.

CREATE A LEGACY WITH A QUALIFIED CHARITABLE DISTRIBUTION (QCD)

IF YOU ARE 70.5 OR OLDER, GIVING FROM YOUR IRA MAY REDUCE YOUR TAX BURDEN AND CAN BE USED TO MAKE A LASTING IMPACT IN OUR COMMUNITY. For more information, contact Kaitlyn Oelsner koelsner@ujft.org | 757-965-6103 foundation.jewishva.org/qcd

6 | Jewish News | April 6, 2020 | jewishnewsva.org

During this time of a public health care crisis, Wagner and Graber asked, “what are the guidelines and circumstances under which a deceased Jewish person may undergo an autopsy or have fluids drawn without the authorizing party being in violation of Jewish law?”

“The rabbis all agreed that in a healthcare emergency such as the one that currently exists where and when the performance of an autopsy on a deceased Jewish patient is done for the specific purpose of benefitting the health of human life, that it is allowed,” says Graber.

Chabbad’s Rabbi Aaron Margolin’s

immediate response was that an autopsy is not generally allowed. But, he says, in unusual circumstances, it’s okay if it is necessary to wait to have a funeral, and an autopsy is allowable if it can save another life. There must be, he says, “an identifiable purpose” for performing the autopsy.

According to the Reform Movement, if a life is being saved, performing an autopsy is allowed and doesn’t require further discussion. “Saving a life is of utmost importance,” says Rabbi Rosalin Mandelberg of Ohef Sholom Temple.

“It is absolutely justified, and the responsible thing to do…especially during a pandemic,” says Mandelberg. She also notes that the patient (or the family, if the patient is unable to decide) should be consulted.

On the subject of burial, B’nai Israel’s Rabbi Sender Haber says, “If in this unusual situation people have to wait to get in to a hospital to be cared for, it’s reasonable to understand that it will take some extra time for them to be buried.”

For post mortem bodily fluid sampling or autopsy, Haber makes clear that there has to be concrete value, a tangible benefit, a clear case to be made “that any and all similar activities will directly help others.” Preventing further loss of life or injury to others being the primary principle to meet. An autopsy should not be performed if it is solely for “accounting purposes,” in other words, not just to add to a count of those with a disease or ailment.

“Where possible,” adds Haber, “a rabbi should be consulted on a specific case, rather than relying on general guidelines.”

“It speaks well of our Jewish community that, at a time of bruising polarization, we are able to create a consensus statement with the good of the entire community at the center of our joint focus,” says Rabbi Michael Panitz of Temple Israel.

“The rabbis are with us,” says Wagner.

“Our community’s response to the current unpleasantness is united and thoughtful.”

Coronavirus Pandemic

Connect with Jewish Tidewater’s Virtual Resources

S

tay connected with Jewish Tidewater through virtual resources, classes, programs, services, and each other.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, physical doors may be temporarily closed, but Jewish agencies, schools, and synagogues are all virtually open.

At JewishVa.org, find everything virtual, including fitness classes, suggestions for celebrating holidays, children and family programs, and arts opportunities.

You can also learn about Israel and issues of importance to the Jewish community, as well as ways to advocate now. And, see what area synagogues are doing for congregants and community members, including holding virtual services, lunch

and learns, and plenty of fun activities, most of which are open to all.

One of the latest additions is Jewish Tidewater Volunteers. This section offers opportunities to assist those in need— individuals, families, and area Jewish

Help with loneliness Beth Sholom Village’s residents are dealing with a crisis unlike anything they or their caregivers have ever experienced. Last month, BSV enacted precautionary measures to keep residents safe, including not allowing

and Jewish Tidewater Volunteers will help facilitate some of the connections.

With options for physical, mental, and spiritual fitness, Jewish Tidewater’s Virtual Community Resources offer an abundance of activities to keep busy.

To get the latest information, updates, and links on services, classes, and more, go to: JewishVA.org • Simonfamilyjcc.org • JewishNewsVa.org

BSV seeks volunteers to work and help to keep residents busy Paid opportunity Beth Sholom Village is considering various scenarios if the COVID-19 situation continues for an extended period of time.

One area of concern is the potential for gaps in frontline staffing. If this happens, BSV is looking for volunteer support.

The current plan is to compile a list of volunteers who will be pre-vetted by state standards, to be on standby to step in, should the need arise.

Volunteers will not be able to help in a clinical capacity, but will serve an equally important role by assisting with tasks such as passing food trays, reading to residents, washing dishes, etc. Specific assignments will be given and wages provided.

To be placed on standby, call 757-420-2512 All are welcome. To be eligible, volunteers must pass a criminal background check.

institutions. For instance, Jewish Family Service might need help in making phone calls or distributing food, while Beth Sholom Village might request cards and art materials for their residents. The community needs each other more than ever

group activities, resident outings, visitors to the building, or communal dining. It is an exceptionally lonely time for all.

The community can help by showing their residents some love! Here are three easy ways to connect with BSV patients and residents: 1. Be a “virtual visitor” to Beth Sholom residents. Send video clips of your kids or family saying “Hi!” to the residents. BSV has an internal channel on the TVs in resident rooms—and videos can be uploaded to that channel. Email your video clip (1–2 minutes) and you will be a STAR on Channel 5. Email videos to jbennett@bethsholomvillage.com.

2.

Help keep activities in full swing with donations of supplies to the Recreation Therapy Department.

3. Send cards and letters to BSV residents. Make it an art project for children, a mitzvah project for teenagers, or create a holiday-themed letter. If you include your return address you may even get a reply!

All items may be dropped off or mailed to: Beth Sholom Village, 6401 Auburn Drive,

Security & Beauty

• Ornamental Fence • Custom Wood • Polyvinyl Fence

• Pool Fencing • Gate Systems Since 1955

SECURITY IN EVERY JOB

HerculesFence.com • 757.321.6700 Norfolk Yorktown Richmond Manassas Jessup

Virginia Beach, VA 23464, Attn: Recreation Therapy. For more information, contact Amy Weinstein at aweinstein@bethsholomvillage.

com or 757-961-3046. Be sure to check out their Facebook Page to see the resident’s reactions to your cards, videos and art supplies. jewishnewsva.org | April 6, 2020 | Jewish News | 7

Bill’s Legacy Lives Forever

Coronavirus Pandemic

Sick with worry, life goes on-line in a new sacred space

Norfolk business owner Bill Goldback valued good health and great arts performances.

Before he died in 2007, Bill arranged for a Hampton Roads Community Foundation bequest to provide grants for performing arts and medicine in Hampton Roads.

Goldback grants are helping Chesapeake Care, Hampton Roads Community Health Center, Todd Rosenlieb Dance and Young Audiences of Virginia do excellent work.

Thanks to Bill’s generosity he will forever help people in his home region.

Connect your passions to the future by ordering a free bequest guide. Learn how easy it is to leave a gift for charity.

Adding Charity to Your W or IRA ill

A quick

guide to the ple of charitab asure and prom ise le bequest s

Lisa Richmon

Mike, Ari, Nate, and Carin Simon.

E

ven before COVID-19, social media has proved itself to both—a cause of, and cure for—social isolation. Then Facebook Live and Zoom zoomed in to save the world.

You know the world has changed when the social editor for the New York Times travel section issues the first reader-generated ‘travel’ column in the paper’s long history. The name alone, 36 Hours in Wherever You Are, is a sign of the times.

The virtual scene is set in Virginia, where members of the Tidewater Jewish community immediately found new footing and blazed new trails.

Nate Simon became the founding member of the future virtual Bar Mitzvah club. After less than one week in quarantine, a virtual Shabbat with several couples via Zoom, was the brainchild of Sharon Debb.

After a solid year of intense study for his March 21 Bar Mitzvah at Congregation Beth El, Nate Simon was bimah bound.

Nate grew up overnight.

His spring-time Bar Mitzvah met up with a pandemic that shuttered any hope of friends and family from around the world coming together in person to hear him recite his Torah reading (Maftir), Haftarah, and D’var Torah—or place him on a chair and toss it around in the air. Instead, the virus tested his mettle, causing unprecedented cancellations and global quarantines.

Keeping a safe distance from the clergy and congregation became the only kosher thing to do.

“Two weeks before the party, we thought we could still do it,” says Nate’s mother, Carin Simon. “But as the situation became ominous, people got more nervous and started canceling. It just made no sense to have a party where we can’t hold hands, do the hora, and enjoy the food. It was a little like a grief process.

First denial, then shock, and eventually acceptance.”

The Bar Mitzvah bonanza was off the table. But not the Bar Mitzvah.

Nate’s determination to have his Bar Mitzvah on that date, and his family’s well of resilience, enabled a traditional religious milestone to morph into a trailblazing virtual home service with two sets of grandparents, one set of parents,

a younger brother, and the family dog.

Simon’s father Mike set the stage for the makeshift bimah. Carin took on the role of event planner, rabbi, cantor, caterer —and proud mother. After the Torah reading and both parents’ speeches, Nate’s brother Ari Simon subbed for all Nate’s friends who couldn’t physically be there, and gave the candy throwing ritual a bittersweet twist.

Fulfilling his role as set designer, Mike Simon’s ‘ark’ opened and closed in accordance with the service and consisted of a photo of an open ark and a photo of a closed ark, placed at appropriate intervals on the flat screen tv behind the podium.

Rocky, the bulldog boxer mix, made several appearances on camera meandering nonplussed with his bone, disrupting no one, and taking nothing away from the sanctity of the occasion.

The ‘unorthodox’ event streamed live on FB where hundreds of people watched in awe, and typed various upbeat and heartfelt responses like ‘amen’ after prayers, ‘Yasha Koach,’ after Torah portions and threw virtual candy. Betty Ann Levin is a family friend who texted to say “Can’t even imagine how your heart is bursting right now. Nate did such an amazing job and you are amazing for pulling all of this together and making it so meaningful

Photograph of closed ark.

Photograph of open ark.

Inspiring Philanthro py. Chan ging Lives .

www.leaveabequest.org (757) 622-7951 8 | Jewish News | April 6, 2020 | jewishnewsva.org

Coronavirus Pandemic women who vent, laugh, and lament daily.

During the first week of quarantine life, the idea came to her.

“So, during one of our chats when we were discussing how our kids were talking to their teachers through Meet, it occurred to me that we could do the same.

I suggested we have a virtual Shabbat because no matter how different our daily schedules and struggles get, we all have Shabbat in common,” says Debb.

Leah Flax teaches physics at TCC and is used to problem-solving at work and at home. Flax gladly stepped up as the tech wizard uniting the group through Zoom, wine, challah, and candles.

It’s funny how you miss Mike, Nate, and Carin Simon.

under the circumstances.”

The weirdness Nate might have felt about having one of the first virtual Bar Mitzvah ceremonies was lessened by the fact that everyone he knows is going through something. It showed everyone, ‘this is what we do as Jews. We make the most of things.’ “I’m happy that it was cool in a way that everyone will remember it,” says Simon. “I am disappointed that not everyone was there, but I feel good that it’s done.”

When she’s not playing rabbi at her son’s virtual Bar Mitzvah, Carin Simon is the director of Admissions at Strelitz International Academy where she has recently been speaking to prospective parents over Zoom and giving virtual tours. “I also started a FB group for other parents of bar and bat mitzvah kids who are facing the same thing our family did.

Nothing is the way you think it’s going to be. You have to rethink everything, and everything’s fair game.”

A

nother virtual club founder is Sharon Debb, a Norfolk native who moved to New York, married, and lived in Chicago before returning to Virginia Beach to raise her family. The mother of three digital natives group texts with other Jewish

seeing people who you

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.”

may not have even seen on any given day. After just one week we felt it, and the kids really loved

Start a relationship that matters today, call 757-523-0605.

seeing each other.

Once the group logged on, joined

by Scott and Erica Kaplan in Florida, Stephanie Steerman and her family led the prayers, while everyone lit their respective candles.

“We see each other often at school drop offs and pickups, synagogue, celebrations, and community and private events and it’s always the same greet with a hug and ‘it’s nice to see you.’ While we do mean it, it’s also kind of routine,” says Debb. “It was the best feeling to finally see each other and hear every fifth word or so.

Everyone had the best smiles, except me.

I’m not really an external smiler.”

Before social distancing became the overnight antidote to a planet in peril, social media was often demonized as the great disconnector. Then COVID-19

Comprehensive payroll solutions

HR support center

Time & attendance

ACA compliance & reporting

Labor law poster compliance

Employee/applicant background checks

Accounting software interface

PD-adC-3 eighths V-Jewish News-Bob Lehman-111617.indd 1

became a universal threat sparing nobody, and life changed on a dime.

Amy Weinstein is director of Philanthropy at Beth Sholom Village, and a member of Debb’s tribe. “It was loud, a little crazy, and disorganized, but also the best part of my day,” says Weinstein. “It’s funny how you miss seeing people who you may not have even seen on any given day. After just one week we felt it, and the kids really loved seeing each other. One thing that stood out to me was that everyone was smiling the whole time. It was a long week, and even though it was just the

Finfit employee loans Pay-as-you-go workers comp Payroll debit cards

11/16/17 3:39 PM

beginning of what will likely be a long few months, it was as loud as it is when we’re all together in person!”

As of April, 2020, and the foreseeable future, social media is the only sacred space for people to celebrate, worship, learn, and live life virtually at weddings, bar mitzvahs, shabbat dinners, Passover seders, and happy hour.

For Jewish Tidewater’s Virtual Community Resources, including fitness classes, children and teen activities, synagogue services, and more, go to www.JewishVa.org. jewishnewsva.org | April 6, 2020 | Jewish News | 9

first person

The Eleventh Plague Farideh Goldin

W

hat is Passover without a plague?

This year, an 11th plague!

Passover is also called the second New Year. It often arrives at the same time as Nowrooz, New Day, the spring holiday that is celebrated in Iran, my country of birth.

Judaism draws numerous customs from Zoroastrianism, the faith of our Persian savior Cyrus, the Great, who freed the Jewish people from our Babylonian exile and welcomed us to Persia, today’s Iran.

leading by example

IS OUR LEGACY THE MUHLENDORF FAMILY

TRAVELERS | SEA-LOVING | PHILANTHROPISTS

LEGACIES ARE BUILT DURING YOUR LIFETIME – THROUGH ACTIONS AND WORDS THAT BRING ABOUT A BETTER, STRONGER TOMORROW. Define your legacy with an endowed gift to the Jewish community so future generations have the opportunity to embrace our shared heritage and the values you hold dear. L’dor va dor.

WHAT’S YOUR LEGACY? For more information, contact Kaitlyn Oelsner koelsner@ujft.org | 757-965-6103 foundation.jewishva.org

We ate all the greens, but used green onions to have fun with, beating each other playfully during Dayenou.

Like Passover, Nowrooz celebrates the arrival of spring, the rebirth of life, the rebirth of land. This is the day that Ahriman, the demon of death and destruction, of the cold of winter and barren lands, is defeated by Ahouramazd, the protector God. The seedlings pop out of earth; leaves and flowers cover the trees once more; hope returns to the inhabitants of this earth.

I spent my younger years in Shiraz, just 20 minutes drive from the site of Persepolis, where Cyrus resided as a king.

For the Seders, we sat around a sofreh, a decorated cloth, spread over the Persian carpet in the living room. There was

Old Persian Haggadah.

always a tray of sprouted mung beans, which we had labored for weeks to have ready for Passover. Other Persians created sprouted wheat trays, but wheat was forbidden during Passover; beans were ok.

We are Mizrachim; we eat rice and most beans during Passover.

There were other signs of spring: rhubarb, green herbs, fresh fava beans, green onions, and kangar, a wild thorny green that grew in the mountains. We ate all the greens, but used green onions to have fun with, beating each other playfully during Dayenou to symbolically reenact our slavery, to keep the evil away, and to celebrate the renewal of life, the rebirth of land.

The Zoroastrian motto, Good Deeds, Good Words, Good Thoughts are meant to be the weapon against Ahriman’s death and destruction. As we approach the celebration of Passover this year, cleaning and renewing ourselves, let us push away Ahriman’s plague through Tzedakah, Kind Words, and Positive Thinking.

May this Passover bring the promise of renewal and health for us all.

The green plate used like the rest of Persians.

This one belongs to Farideh Goldin’s sister, Nahid Gerstein.

10 | Jewish News | April 6, 2020 | jewishnewsva.org

Coronavirus Pandemic

SIA Distance Learning is out of this (virtual) world Carin Simon, Admissions Director

I

n a time of unquestionable uncertainty, one thing is certain, the students at Strelitz International Academy continue to learn, engage, and connect virtually with their classmates and teachers since school went online on March 16.

Early in March, when no one would have believed the impact of the Coronovirus on the U.S., Heather Moore, SIA head of school, told the SIA staff to prepare for the possibility of schools closing. Teachers were asked to imagine a virtual version of the same lessons they were teaching at school.

Janet Jenkins, Primary Years director, created a Google booklet of websites and online tools to help teachers make their lessons engaging. “At SIA we take pride in delivering a quality learning experience to our students in order to fulfill our mission,” says Jenkins. “The same is our goal under exceptional circumstances. Should the school be closed for any reason for an extended period of time, we will continue to execute daily lessons through Distance Learning. While we are unable to truly replicate the amazing interactive experiences we offer in our classrooms, we will still provide our students with meaningful instruction that meets expected standards and continues to cover grade-level curriculum objectives.”

“When schools closed starting on March 16, we were ready for online learning,” says Moore. “I was so proud of the faculty and staff at SIA. They have created

and implemented engaging online lessons, assignments, and hands-on activities from the first day of distance learning.”

In fact, SIA was so prepared that Moore says the school has provided assistance and tips on its distance learning program with other schools across the nation.

Lorna Orleans, Early Years director, says she knew this was going to be a learning curve for the teachers, “We are always encouraging learning off screen, and now we would be asking students to get on a screen for their learning.”

Still, the preschool teachers persevered, creating classroom websites, morning meetings, and hands-on lessons to keep the children engaged. They have included active dance vidos, literay challenges, and virtual bedtime stories and Shabbat singalongs.

“I felt that it was very important for our staff and families to stay connected with each other during this stressful time.

Shabbat is a time to relax and enjoy each other, so we wanted to ensure continuity for our little ones,” says Elyssa Brinn, SIA Early Years assistant director.

Rashi Brashevitzky, Judaic Studies director, adds, “here at SIA we take pride in being able to continue to provide fun, interactive, and engaging Judaic programming for our students from a distance.”

Brashevitzky has incorporated puppets, stories, songs, and interactive, digital scavenger hunts and Youtube videos to ensure that students have the tools to learn about and celebrate Shabbat and

Jewish holidays.

The mental health and wellbeing has been an important part of Avi Weinstein giving a thumbs up to his teacher over Google Meet. the transition to distance learning. While students are able to by the comprehensive, content-driven go at their own pace, they are motivated approach, full of warmth and care, shown by the daily instruction and connections by our children’s teachers engaged in with their teachers and classmates during distance learning. It’s clear that the hours class time over Google Meet. Plus, school they put in “on screen” are backed up counselors have been available for stuby numerous hours of preparation “off dents and faculty that need support. screen” and we are so thankful for them.”

Aaron Kass, a parent and board member, says he is pleased with his The admissions office is ‘open,’ schedulchildren’s experiences and in awe of the ing Zoom calls and giving virtual tours so dedication of their teachers. His children that families can continue to enroll for the are currently in grades three and kinder2020-2021 school year. Email Carin Simon, garten, and his youngest will start in EY2 admissions director, to schedule a virtual tour. this fall. “Our family has been blown away csimon@strelitzacademy.org.

DO YOU MAKE MULTIPLE CHARITABLE GIFTS EACH YEAR?

CONSIDER OPENING A

DONOR ADVISED FUND (DAF) USE THIS TAX-SAVVY “BUNCHING” STRATEGY TO MAXIMIZE YOUR CHARITABLE IMPACT AND CREATE A LEGACY. FOR A LIMITED TIME, WHEN OPENING A DAF THROUGH TIDEWATER JEWISH FOUNDATION WITH AT LEAST $7,500, AN ADDITIONAL $2,500 WILL BE ADDED TO YOUR FUND – THAT’S AN EXTRA $2,500 FOR YOU TO GIVE TO CHARITY. For more information, contact Kaitlyn Oelsner koelsner@ujft.org | 757-965-6103 foundation.jewishva.org/donor-advised-funds

EY4 Teacher Nicole Gamboa giving a phonics lesson to her class

jewishnewsva.org | April 6, 2020 | Jewish News | 11

Obituaries Henry J. Abraham Charlottesville, Va.—Professor Henry J. Abraham passed away February 26, 2020 at the age of 98 in Charlottesville, Va. He was born August 25, 1921, in Offenbach am Main, Germany, the older son of Frederick and Liesel Kullman Abraham. He attended elementary schools there and the initial stages of high school at the Realgymnasium (Philantropin) in Frankfurt am Main. When he was 15, his farsighted mother, over the strong opposition of his father, determined that there was no safe future for him in Nazi Germany. She decided to send him to the United States. Wanting him to have a trade prior to his departure, she arranged for an apprenticeship as a printer which he completed while attending school.

He left for the U.S alone in April 1937 and journeyed to Pittsburgh, Pa, where his mother’s sister was a governess/ housekeeper for two orphaned young women. But he could not stay with her.

He attended and finished high school in Pittsburgh. In 1939, he was joined by his parents and beloved brother, Otto, who predeceased him. Because his father’s health was broken as a result of his incarceration in the concentration camps of Sachenhausen and Dachau, following Kristallnacht in November of 1938, Henry was unable to go to college and commenced work as a stock clerk for May Stern & Co., followed by a stint as a bookkeeper for a scrap iron firm.

In 1942, he was drafted in the United States Army and became a U.S. citizen in 1943. After basic training in Fort Eustis, Va., he entered the army specialized training program and was sent to Kenyon College for language training. Following the end of the program, he was assigned to the Signal Corps and ultimately to the G-2 training base at Camp Ritchie, Md. From there he was sent overseas and saw American army service in England, Belgium, Holland, France, and Germany, initially as an interrogator of enemy prisoners of war and ultimately as a member of the 6889th Berlin Documents Center, which was charged with the location, analysis, distribution, and interpretation of principally German documents.

The center had a direct line to the U.S.

Supreme Court Justice Jackson’s office at the Nuremberg War Crimes Trials in 1945–46. Henry was discharged in the spring of 1946 and was determined to enter college under the G.I. Bill.

He matriculated Kenyon in 1946, and having completed two summer schools at Columbia College, received his undergraduate degree from his beloved Kenyon first in his class, summa cum laude, Phi Beta Kappa, with Highest Honors in Political Science in 1948. He received his M.A. degree in Public Law and Government from Columbia University in 1949 and his Ph.D. from the University of Pennsylvania in 1952, where he had joined the faculty as Instructor in Political Science in 1949 at the annual salary of $2,400. Rising through the ranks, he became a full professor in 1962, having received Penn’s first social science undergraduate teaching award in 1959, prior to spending a year in Aarhus and Copenhagen, Denmark, with his family on a Fulbright scholarship. In 1954 he married fellow Penn student Mildred Kosches of Woodmere, N.Y. with sons Philip and Peter arriving in 1957 and 1962.

In 1972, Henry and his family left Penn and Philadelphia for Charlottesville, where he became a chaired professor at the University of Virginia in Government and Foreign Affairs retiring in 1997, but he continued to teach in a program for 55-plus-year-old adults in courses on his specialty, the U.S. Supreme Court. Other than his family, teaching was the love of his life. The dedication he evinced visÃ-vis his circa 25,000–30,000 students over more than six decades, resulted in an abiding relationship, among which a group of 25 with whom he was close to the end, called itself “The Tribe of Abraham.”

Henry’s teaching prowess was recognized in a host of ways. He received the University of Virginia’s highest award, the Thomas Jefferson Award, the first Lifetime Achievement Award of the Organized Section on Law and Courts of the American Political Science Association, the University of Virginia’s Alumni Association Distinguished Professor Award, the Distinguished Service Award of the Virginia Social Science Association, the Kite and Key Service Award, the “Z” Society’s Distinguished Faculty Award, the

12 | Jewish News | April 6, 2020 | jewishnewsva.org

“IMP” Society’s Outstanding Contribution to the University Community Award, the Templeton Honor Roll for Education in a Free Society Award and this non-native American received the 2007 Annual Award for Americanism from the Daughters of the American Revolution.

Henry was a prolific author in his field, concentrating on books about the nature of the judicial process, in general, and the U.S. Supreme Court, in particular. He wrote 13 books, all of which were in multiple editions, ranging from two to 10. He also penned some 125 chapters in books and professional articles. He received honorary degrees from Kenyon College, the University of Hartford, Knox College, St. Joseph’s University, and Old Dominion University. During a 30-year period from the 1960’s to the 1990’s, the agencies of the U.S. Department of State utilized his services as a lecturer throughout the world in 65 lands. In the U.S. he was a visiting professor at Swarthmore College, Columbia University, the University of Colorado, the University of Louisiana at Shreveport, the University of Richmond, the City University of New York, and he lectured throughout the states.

Professor Abraham is survived by his wife of 66 years, Mildred; their sons Philip (Janet) and Peter (Anne), grandchildren Benjamin, Lauren, Marnie and Liesel. Interment at Monticello Memorial Gardens was private. A date for a memorial service will be announced later. It was Henry’s wish that any contributions be made to one of the following: Book Baskets at bookbaskets.org; the Antidefamation League at adl.org; The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum at ushmm.org; The American Society of Yad Vashem at yadvashemusa.org or Kenyon College at Kenyon.edu/give-to-kenyon/

Phyllis Landau Lannik Norfolk—Phyllis L. Lannik, a longtime resident of Portsmouth and Norfolk, Virginia died on Wednesday February 27, 2020 at Sentara Norfolk General Hospital.

Born in 1951 in Chicago, Illinois, she received her BA from Washington University in St. Louis in 1973.

Phyllis spent 10 years in office management and personnel matters in a number

of locations. She went on to work advocating and raising funds for multiple Jewish organizations in Tidewater, Virginia. She travelled all over the world on missions to visit Jews who needed help.

Although she loved travel and going through life with good humor and judgment, her primary joy was her husband, son, and granddaughter.

She is survived by her brother Gary Landau, as well as her husband David, and her son Joshua, and grandchild, Ayelet.

A funeral service was conducted at the Norfolk Chapel of H.D. Oliver Funeral Apartments. Burial was at Forest Lawn Cemetery. Memorial gifts to Jewish Family Service of Tidewater.

Cilda Klaff Meltzer Norfolk—Cilda Klaff Meltzer, 89, passed away on April 6, 2020 in her home.

She was a lifelong resident of Norfolk and a graduate of Maury High School and the Norfolk Division of William and Mary, where she lettered in field hockey.

She was predeceased by her husband, Harvey Meltzer; her parents Harry and Rae Klaff; and her sister, Martha Robbins.

Cilda was retired from many years in the fine jewelry business at Thalhimer’s, Hecht’s, and Macy’s. She loved to spend time with her family, and enjoyed watching her grandsons play baseball from t-ball through college, traveling hundreds of miles to see their games. She loved reading, fishing, raising butterflies, and working in her garden.

She is survived by her daughters, Margie Powers, Ruth Alexander and Ruth’s husband, Dan; her grandsons, Zachary Alexander and his wife Carly, and Jacob Alexander and his wife Katie; and her brother-in-law, Bernard Meltzer.

A private graveside service was held.

Memorial donations may be made to the charity of one’s choice. H. D. Oliver Funeral Apts., Norfolk. Online condolences may be sent to the family through www.hdoliver.com.

Henriette “Henie” Friedlander Rose Virginia Beach—Henriette “Henie” Friedlander Rose, 79, passed away in Virginia Beach on Tuesday, March 17, 2020.

Obituaries Henie was born in the Bronx, N.Y. to the late Victor and Hilda Friedlander. She is also predeceased by her brother, Danny Friedlander. She is survived by her children, Ronald and his wife, Melissa; and Jonathan and his wife, Sara; four grandchildren: Emily, Olivia, Julie, and Danny; siblings: Sunnie Fine, Willie Friedlander, Norma Gates, and Emil Friedlander.

Henie was quick-witted, fun-loving and a good-hearted mother, sister, aunt, and grandmother. She was a professional shopper who loved QVC. She loved going to the movies, reading, the latest fashions, gambling, cats, and most all, her grandchildren. She was a member of Temple Israel as well.

A graveside service took place at Forest Lawn Cemetery, Norfolk. Rabbi Michael Panitz officiated the service. Online condolences may be offered to the family at www.altmeyerfh.com.

Stan Lee Shapiro Hollywood, Fla.—Stan Lee Shapiro, 90, passed away on March 16, 2020 surrounded by family members.

He was born to Theodore and Elaine Shapiro on July 10, 1929 in Chester Pa. Stan graduated from Central High School in Philadelphia where he played varsity baseball; he then obtained a pharmacy degree from Temple University. He served as an Ensign for the U.S. Coast Guard at Portsmouth Va., and resided in Norfolk.

As a pharmacist, he owned both Wards Corner and West pharmacies in Norfolk.

He later founded Heavenly Creations and Charade jewelry stores, before working for National Revenue Corp. and relocating to Hollywood, Fla. where he resumed parttime pharmacy employment.

Stan was survived by his wife Shirley Shapiro, step-sons Robert Reider and Brad Reider, Hollywood, Fla.; Jeff Reider, Springhill, Fla; by his children Karen Feinberg, Stamford, Conn.; Richard N. Shapiro and Bari Roistacher, Virginia Beach, Va; and Nikki S. Roth, Avon, Conn.; and a host of grand and great-grandchildren.

He was predeceased by his parents and his sister, Ruth. Stan was an active member of Temple Sinai in Hollywood; his memorial service and burial were

privately held at Beth David Memorial Gardens, Hollywood.

Adam Schlesinger, Fountains of Wayne and ‘Crazy Ex-Girlfriend’ songwriter ( JTA)—Adam Schlesinger, known as one of the lead songwriters of the pop rock band Fountains of Wayne and the musical series Crazy Ex-Girlfriend, died Wednesday, April 1 at 52 from coronavirus complications, Variety reported.

Schlesinger, who grew up in a secular Jewish home, had been in an unnamed hospital in upstate New York for over a week.

Fountains of Wayne’s most famous song was Stacy’s Mom, for which Schlesinger and co-songwriter Chris Collingwood were nominated for two Grammy Awards in 2003. He won a Grammy in 2010 for A Colbert Christmas: The Greatest Gift of All! In addition, Schlesinger garnered a host of Oscar, Tony, and Emmy nominations,

including an Oscar nod in 1997 for writing an original song in the Tom Hanks film That Thing You Do; two Tony nominations for the musical Cry-Baby in 2008; and Emmy nominations for songs on Sesame Street.

In recent years, he worked on Crazy Ex-Girlfriend, the very Jewish musical show that aired for four seasons on the

CW. He co-wrote the majority of the show’s music and won an Emmy for the song Antidepressants Are So Not a Big Deal, alongside the show’s creator and star, Rachel Bloom, and Jack Dolgen.

Schlesinger is survived by his ex-wife Katherine Michel, a graphic designer, and their two daughters.

Southside Chapel • 5033 Rouse Drive Virginia Beach • 757 422-4000

Chris Sisler, Vice President, Member of Ohef Sholom Temple, Board member of the Berger-Goldrich Home at Beth Sholom Village, James E. Altmeyer, Jr., President, James E. Altmeyer, Sr., Owner

Maestas Chapel • 1801 Baltic Ave. Virginia Beach • 757 428-1112

• Family owned and operated since 1917 • Affordable services to fit any budget

Chesapeake Chapel • 929 S. Battlefield Blvd.

Chesapeake • 757 482-3311

• Advance funeral planning • Professional, experienced, caring staff • Flexible burial options • Flexible payment options

Denbigh Chapel • 12893 Jefferson Ave. Newport News • 757 874-4200

WWW.ALTMEYER.COM Approved by all area Rabbis and Chevrah Kadisha

Riverside Chapel • 7415 River Road Newport News •757 245-1525

jewishnewsva.org | April 6, 2020 | Jewish News | 13

camp

Bubbes and bunkmates:

Clashing secret weapons foster forever Jewish identity Lisa Richmon

I

n ways both similar and different, Jewish summer camp and Jewish bubbes create a space for kids to grow up feeling good about being Jewish.

The Jewish bubbe is fun, free, and a little twisted: She sees no harm in spoiling her grandkids with chocolate chip pancakes for dinner and television 24/7. Her justification is that she sees them so little, especially if she lives on the opposite coast or in another country.

As a pop-culture fixture, the Jewish grandmother might passively aggressively challenge her daughter or daughter-inlaw’s parenting or cooking skills. On the other end of the spectrum is the liberated bubbe, who was super strict with her own kids. Now she’s the parental wildcard, who lives to spoil her first grandchild with reckless abandon. She might be like Andie Helfant-Frye, a New York hippie who survived Woodstock circa 1969, and can’t wait to tell her grandchild the whole story.

A box of Lucky Charms never crushed anyone’s soul. What remains is memories and bonding, stories shared, sprinkled with a mini-lecture on what it means to be a mensch.

Sleepovers with bubbes look completely different than a week or month at Jewish summer camp, but both build Jewish character. Other than homesickness, nothing about summer camp is fleeting. Camp lessons stick.

Sierra Lautman is the director of Jewish Innovation at UJFT and a former religious educator with deep knowledge of Jewish engagement and bubbe hangovers. “Summer camp and Judaism have a built-in opportunity for song. At camp, singing prayers before meals is a communal experience. It becomes a habit,” says Lautman. “Unlike religious school or any other setting, this communal Jewish experience is seamlessly woven into everyday life and is totally immersive. That muscle memory can deepen into mastery over Judaism, and that’s where passion is born.

Once you master the basics and develop those habits, there’s an open invitation to go deeper.”

Experience as a religious educator and wife taught Lautman that Jewish summer camp is a powerful and sustainable game changer for all Jews. “It doesn’t matter how engaged you are Jewishly, or how strong your family’s Jewish identity is.

Summer camp provides a magical opportunity to spark a connection with your Jewish roots, or ignite true passion.”

Thirteen summers as a counselor, program director, and archery specialist at the JCC summer camp in Pittsburgh made a profound impact on Steven Lautman. Now married to Sierra and living in Virginia Beach where they’re raising two children, Steven Lautman grew up celebrating holidays like Passover and Hanukkah, but basically went through childhood without religion in his life, despite living

14 | Jewish News | April 6, 2020 | jewishnewsva.org

I see friends from high school who have these unbreakable bonds that were forged in summer camp.

in Squirrel Hill, a Jewish neighborhood in Pittsburgh.

Neither his Catholic mother, nor his Jewish father went to church or synagogue. It was his father’s mother who made arrangements for him to Steve and Sierra Lautman. attend a Jewish pre-school. “I’ve always identified more with my Jewish roots, but without going to synagogue regularly or knowing the prayers, I felt like an outsider in the community,” he says. It wasn’t until he was 16, when he had his first job as a counselor at the JCC summer camp, that he was exposed to daily religious practices like singing the hamotzi before meals and snacks, or reciting Hatikvah. When that started to feel more natural, he felt more aligned with his Jewish side. “Before camp, my preference for a Jewish partner didn’t exist.

“Now, I see friends from high school who have these unbreakable bonds that were forged in summer camp,” he says. “It was camp that brought kids together who would not have otherwise connected, and it’s a powerful thing to see.”

Jewish camp is also a wide-open

opportunity to discover myriad activities to enjoy forever. For older campers, leadership skills and friendships for life are the take-away.

“Unlike Jewish summer camp or school, a weekend with my mom is pure downtime,” says Sierra. “Aside from plying my kids with sugar, and lots of kisses, cartoons are also another big one my mother spoils them with.”

That permanent sense of belonging that develops in a religious camp experience is what Steve and Sierra want for their kids. “It’s a powerful thing to see. I kind of envy it,” says Steve. “Sierra and I are in different places when it comes to daily religious practice, and she definitely feels it more deeply than me, but we both wish we had the Jewish camp experience, and are both working to make sure our kids will.”

Coronavirus Pandemic

Forgotten how good The Prince of Egypt is? Well, now it’s streaming.

Gabe Friedman

Social distancing and staying inside is hard.

Thankfully, accessing good things to watch during this time is not. This is the first installation of a column on Jewish movies and TV shows that you should stream in quarantine.

The Prince of Egypt Streams on Hulu. Available to rent on Amazon, YouTube, iTunes and more.

(JTA)—My reconnection with The Prince of Egypt, after what I’m going to estimate as approximately 15 years, was not under ideal circumstances.

I was curled up alone in my childhood bed at my parents’ house in suburban New Jersey, where I have decamped to escape the giant death magnet that is New York City during the coronavirus pandemic.

I was (virtually) with my non-Jewish girlfriend, who had never seen the classic animated DreamWorks version of the Exodus story. It seemed like a nice pre-Passover “date” idea to watch it “together” through our computer screens.

So we downloaded an app called Kast, which promised to allow us to watch the same screen at the same time (you may have heard of the more popular version of this idea, a Google Chrome extension called Netflix Party, but that only works for Netflix).

Despite looking sleek and fancy, Kast didn’t work—we spent almost an hour trying different ways to make it work.

In the end, still determined to watch it together, we decided to do so on our separate computer—we’d just press play at the same exact second. Easy.

Suffice it to say, we couldn’t sync our play button fingers together, no matter

how precise my “3-2-1” countdown was.

While it may not be the perfect animated movie (what is?), The Prince of Egypt is about as good as an hour and 40 minute encapsulation of the Passover story can conceivably get.

It tells the story in full, from Moses being sent down the Nile River to Pharaoh’s palace, to his realization that he is not a prince of Egypt but a Hebrew, to his eventual parting of the Red Sea, to his leading his people from charging Egyptian soldiers to freedom in the desert. While it’s a kids’ movie, it doesn’t brush over the many plagues that befall Egypt, from frogs falling from the sky to the killing of firstborn sons.

It’s funny and entertaining, full of heartwarming music, and captures the incomparably epic nature of the story.

For many of us who were the target audience at the time of its release, the

movie seared the story into our heads.

Yes, we had learned about it in Hebrew school and read through it at Passover dinners. But for young viewers, there’s nothing more effective than an animated feature to make big concepts stick.

The Prince of Egypt doesn’t preach or heavy-handedly shove its moral messages at the viewer—it simply treats the tale as what it is: fodder for epic cinema. .

Oh, and then there’s the incredible cast of voices—a fact that I clearly did not absorb at the age of 6. Did you remember that Jeff Goldblum was the voice of Moses’ brother Aaron? Or that Steve Martin and Martin Short play the comical Egyptian priests Hotep and Huy? So forget about rewiring your old VHS player and stream The Prince of Egypt.

You’ve probably forgotten how good it is.

Fun Summer Camps • Ages 3 -11 • Small Camp Sizes • Art • Music • Science • Adventure • Imagination

O N L I N E R E G I S T R AT I O N : ChildrensMuseumVirginia.com/camps/ Registration deadline is 2 weeks prior to start date. Campers must meet age requirement by start date.

757.393.5258

jewishnewsva.org | April 6, 2020 | Jewish News | 15

9 Weeks of Amazing Adventures!

June 15 - August 14 Weeks of Fun and Friendships for Two-year-olds to Teens

Register by April 30 & Save!* * For rising 1st graders – teens

Swim Lessons • Outdoor Waterpark • Fishing Color Wars • So much more!

campjcc.org 16 | Jewish News | April 6, 2020 | jewishnewsva.org

5000 Corporate Woods Drive, Virginia Beach • 757.321.2342