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Southeastern Virginia | Vol. 52 No. 19 | 18 Sivan 5774 | June 16, 2014
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for Business & Legal Society
Holocaust Commission goes to Yad Vashem
—page 8
10 10th Annual Week of Healthy Living
12 Alene Kaufman retires
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Published 22 times a year by United Jewish Federation of Tidewater.
State Dept.: ‘Nothing has changed’ in Alan Gross case after Taliban prisoner swap
Likud’s Reuven Rivlin is elected president of Israel
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JERUSALEM ( JTA)—Reuven Rivlin of the Likud party was elected president of Israel in a campaign that was fraught with scandal. Rivlin was elected in the second round of Knesset balloting on Tuesday, June 10, defeating Meir Sheetrit of Hatnua in a 63-53 runoff vote. The former Knesset speaker becomes Israel’s 10th president and succeeds Shimon Peres. Considered a Likud elder statesman, Rivlin was one of five candidates running for the largely ceremonial post chosen by the parliament every seven years. He will be sworn in on July 24. Eliminated in the first round of voting were former Supreme Court judge Dalia Dorner, Nobel Prize-winning chemist Dan Shechtman and ex-Knesset speaker Dalia Itzik. Labor party lawmaker Binyamin BenEliezer pulled out of the race over the weekend following accusations that he illegally received millions of shekels from private sources and used the money to buy a luxury apartment in Jaffa. Last month, Energy Minister Silvan Shalom decided to end his bid for the presidency after allegations of sexual impropriety surfaced; the allegations were never substantiated. Rivlin was first elected to the Knesset
in 1988 and twice served as its speaker. A self-identified disciple of Revisionist Zionism founder Zeev Jabotinsky, Rivlin opposes territorial concessions to the Palestinians and wants Israel to retain the West Bank. He has said that he supports giving Israeli citizenship to West Bank Palestinians. Rivlin drew criticism from Reform and Conservative rabbis for past negative statements about Reform Judaism. He called Reform Judaism “idol worship” in 1989 and in 2007, in a run for president, would not say whether he would refer to Reform rabbis by their title if he were elected. “I respect any person chosen to lead his or her community, and God forbid I invalidate him because he is from one stream or another,” Rivlin told The Jerusalem Post in an interview published June 6. “The President’s Office represents all streams and denominations in society. The job of the president is to bridge conflicts, not create conflicts.” In a statement congratulating Rivlin, Peres said the presidency “is a position that brings with it responsibility, you have to consider your every word and every action, but you will do it successfully because you are, to your core, a good person.” Peres also told Rivlin in the statement, “I am sure you will fulfill this role excellently.”
conte nts Up Front. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 Briefs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 Temple Sinai’s new rabbi . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 Eric Cantor’s defeat . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 What We Carry at Yad Vashem. . . . . . . . . . 7 Business & Legal Society at the Ballpark . 8 10th Annual Week of Healthy Living. . . 10 Alene Kaufman retires. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12 Special Section: Celebrating Seniors. . . . 15 Beth El’s Shabbat dinner program. . . . . . 27 BINA in New York . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27 Jewish educator of the year . . . . . . . . . . . 28
The United States has not changed its stance on trading Cuban prisoners for American aid worker Alan Gross, notwithstanding a recent prisoner swap with the Taliban. The U.S. agreed to exchange five Taliban prisoners being held in Guantanamo Bay for Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl, who had been held by the Taliban in Afghanistan for the past five years. In response to a reporter’s questions, State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said that “nothing has changed” in Gross’ case. Since Gross’ arrest, Cuba has sought the return to Cuba of five imprisoned spies in return for Gross. Two of the “Cuban Five” have been released earlier than the maximum time served and returned to the island. “Every circumstance is different,” Psaki said, while emphasizing that Bergdahl is a member of the U.S. military. Gross, 65, of Maryland, is serving a 15-year sentence in Cuba for “crimes against the state” following his 2011 conviction. He was arrested in December 2009 as he was leaving the country. Working as a subcontractor for the U.S. Agency for International Development, Gross was on a mission to connect Cuba’s small Jewish community to the Internet. (JTA)
quotable Yom Hazikaron at HAT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . HAT 2014 graduation. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Book Reviews. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Jewish Morocco . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Visiting professor at ODU . . . . . . . . . . . . What’s Happening . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Calendar. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Mazel Tov. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Who Knew?. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Family loves Camp JCC. . . . . . . . . . . . . . Obituaries. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Diamond minds . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
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briefs Abbas invokes sovereign state in peace prayer with pope, Peres Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas called for “freedom in our sovereign and independent state” during a prayer for peace with Israeli President Shimon Peres and Pope Francis. Vatican officials had called the service on Sunday, June 8 at the Vatican a “pause in politics” with no political intentions. Abbas, Peres and the pope planted an olive tree in Vatican Garden following prayers by Jewish, Muslim and Christian leaders and invocations by the three leaders. They then entered the Vatican for a private meeting together. In his invocation, Abbas spoke about the importance of Jerusalem to the Palestinian people and thanked God for blessing the Palestinians with Bethlehem. Along with speaking of a sovereign and independent state, the Palestinian leader asked Allah for “a comprehensive and just peace for our country and our region.” Francis during his invocation said, “More than once we have been close to peace and the evil one has prevented it. That’s why we are here today. We need to lift up our eyes toward heaven and recognize we are the children of one father.” Peres said in his invocation, “I was young and became old. I experienced war, I tasted peace. Never will I forget the bereaved families—parents and children —who paid the cost of war. And all my life I shall never stop to act for peace, for the sake of the generations to come. Let us all join hands and make it happen.” The Israeli delegation included rabbis, Druze leaders and imams. The Palestinian delegation included Islamic and Christian leaders. Rabbi Abraham Skorka and Muslim professor Omar Abboud, two friends of the pope’s from Buenos Aires, also attended. Francis tweeted about the service, “Prayer is all-powerful. Let us use it to bring peace to the Middle East and peace to the world.” The pope made the invitation following the celebration of Mass in Manger Square in Bethlehem during his visit last month to the Palestinian West Bank city. The offer came a month after the collapse of nine months of U.S.-brokered peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians. Peres leaves office at the end of July. (JTA)
Complaints about Hitler video led to firing says Jewish banker A former executive at BNP Paribas North America Inc. filed a federal lawsuit alleging that he was fired by the bank after complaining about a training video that featured Nazi imagery. Jean-Marc Orlando said in the suit filed Friday, June 6 in Manhattan U.S. District Court that he was terminated as managing director in the bank’s fixed-income division in New York after complaining about the video portraying the head of a competing bank as Hitler. Orlando, who was fired in 2012, had worked for the bank for 18 years, including in France. He is seeking $40 million in monetary and punitive damages. Orlando, who is Orthodox Jewish, in the suit said the video was his “worst nightmare,” Reuters reported. He and other managers watched the video at a training meeting in Amsterdam in 2011. According to the lawsuit, the video created by BNP employees parodied the 2004 film Downfall, which depicted the final days of Adolf Hitler’s Nazi regime. Following his complaints about the video, the bank gave him an “unusually and suspiciously poor performance evaluation,” the suit alleged. (JTA) Jewish teens say they escaped axe attack near Paris Two Jewish teenagers told police they narrowly escaped an attack near Paris by a hatchet-wielding man and three others. The attack occurred late at night on June 4 in Romainville, a northeastern suburb of the French capital, according to a report by the National Bureau for Vigilance Against Anti-Semitism, or BNVCA. The teens, aged 14 and 15, said they were walking to the Lilac Synagogue with their grandfather to attend Tikkun Leil Shavuot, a custom in which Jews study scripture all night. While crossing the town’s Market Square, the two boys and their grandfather, all wearing kippahs, said they were followed by a tall man in his 20s wearing a long beard. They described the man as having an athletic figure and an Arab appearance. Producing a hatchet, the man began to chase the two boys, according to the BNVCA
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report, then whistled to three other men who joined the chase. The boys and their grandfather filed complaints with police. Last month, BNVCA and SPCJ, the watchdog of France’s Jewish communities, documented two suspected anti-Semitic beatings of Jews in the Paris suburb of Creteil. Also last month, police received a report about three men who were filming the entrance to the local Jewish school of Creteil, Otzar Hatora. In March 2012, France saw a sharp increase in anti-Semitic acts following the murder by an Islamist radical of four Jews at a Jewish school in Toulouse. On May 24, four people were killed in an armed attack at the Jewish Museum of Belgium in central Brussels. French and Belgium police believe they were shot dead by Mehdi Nemmouche, a 29-year-old Frenchman whom French authorities said fought in Syria with jihadists last year. (JTA)
Body of missing Holocaust scholar Robert Kuwalek is found The body of Robert Kuwalek, one of Poland’s foremost Holocaust scholars, was found days after he had been reported missing in Ukraine. Kuwalek, 47, had been reported missing June 5 while on a visit to Lviv. The Polish consulate in Lviv confirmed his death, but no details about the cause of death were released. Kuwalek, who was not Jewish, was an expert on the Holocaust in southeastern Poland and what is now western Ukraine. Based in Lublin, Kuwalek was a curator and educator at the State Museum at the former Majdanek concentration and death camp and also had served as director of the museum at the former Belzec death camp. He published widely on topics relating to the Holocaust and also on Jewish heritage and history. (JTA) Study links circumcision, lower rates of prostate cancer A new study from Canada indicates a possible connection between male circumcision and a lower likelihood of prostate cancer. The study, published in the British urology journal BJU International, was based on interviews with more than 3,000 men in the Montreal area between the ages of
40 and 75. The study’s authors found that men who had been circumcised, whether in infancy or later in life, had lower rates of prostate cancer than those who had not. Overall, the study found that circumcised men were 11 percent less likely to develop prostate cancer than those who were not circumcised, a differential that the authors dismissed as not statistically significant. However, the difference was much more marked among black men, with the study finding that circumcised men were 60 percent less likely to develop prostate cancer than those who were uncircumcised. The study also found that prostate cancer was 45 percent less likely to develop among men circumcised after age 35. The authors of the study stopped short of recommending circumcision as a preventative measure to stop prostate cancer, saying their findings were preliminary. Other medical professionals in the field cautioned that the number of participants in the study was too small to draw reliable conclusions. (JTA)
Ready for Hillary launches Jewish outreach A political action committee preparing the ground for a Hillary Rodham Clinton run for the presidency launched a Jewish outreach. Jewish Americans Ready for Hillary launched just before the Shavuot holiday. It is attached to Ready for Hillary, a so-called Super PAC founded in January 2013 by former staffers and loyalists to the former first lady, secretary of state and U.S. senator from New York. Among those spearheading the outreach are Steve Rabinowitz, a Washington publicist close to a number of national Jewish groups who is a veteran of the Clinton White House communications team; Marc Stanley, the immediate past chairman of the National Jewish Democratic Council; and Fran Katz Watson, a veteran fundraiser for Democratic and pro-Israel causes. Clinton, has not yet announced her intention to run again for the presidency. Super PACS may raise and spend unlimited funds but cannot donate directly to candidates. Ready for Hillary has so far raised close to $6 million. (JTA)
Temple Sinai names new rabbi
Make it Happen
by Christina Verderosa
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he membership of Temple Sinai of Newport News has approved hiring Severine Sokol as its new rabbi. After a congregational meeting April 27, where Sokol was approved unanimously, Congregation president Paul Brindza praised Temple members for their support in bringing in Rabbi Sokol. “For a congregation this size to take such a step is just tremendous,” he said. “We are just thrilled.” Sokol has been rabbi and cantorial soloist at Congregation B’nai Chaim in Morrison, Col., a Denver suburb, since 2011. During her time there, Sokol led services, organized and conducted life cycle events, supervised religious school operations and taught classes for children and adults. She was active in community outreach, providing pastoral care and organizing a number of arts and cultural programs. Previously Sokol served as rabbi and education director of Congregation Kol Am in St. Louis. Sokol is a native of France. Her mother emigrated as a teenager to France from Morocco with her family, fleeing a rising tide of anti-Semitism. Her father, as a result of his and his family’s experiences during World War II, had turned away from religion. She says that it was only through a “chance encounter with a welcoming Reform Jewish congregation in England” as a teenager that she realized there was a place in Judaism for her. Her decision to become a rabbi “was a surprise and challenge to my family.” When Sokol was ordained as a rabbi at
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Rabbi Severine Sokol.
Leo Baeck College in London in 2003, she became one of only two French women who successfully sought ordination in England. She was also the first Sephardic French woman to become ordained in Progressive Judaism history. Sokol served at a number of congregations and Jewish organizations in England before coming to the U.S. “I believe that a synagogue should be a place where all are welcome. We live in an age where we yearn now more than ever for room to emotionally grow. People seek a home to create and nurture a meaningful spiritual life.” Sokol said in her application. Sokol is married to writer Neal Sokol and the couple has three children. She assumes her new position July 1, replacing interim rabbi, Rabbi Lawrence Forman.
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Cantor’s loss leaves Jewish Republicans bereft by Ron Kampeas
WASHINGTON ( JTA)—Eric Cantor’s defeat in one constituency, Virginia’s 7th Congressional District, triggered mourning among another: Republican Jews. Since 2009, Rep. Cantor (R-Va.) has been the only Jewish Republican in Congress. After the 2010 GOP takeover of the House, he became the majority leader. He is the highest-ranking Jewish lawmaker in congressional history. But the meteoric rise of Cantor, 51, came to a screeching halt on Tuesday, June 10 when he was trounced in a major Republican primary upset in his Richmond-area district by a poorly financed Tea Party challenger, Dave Brat, an economics professor. “Obviously we came up short,” Cantor told his stunned followers in a Richmond hotel ballroom. “Serving as the 7th District congressman and having the privilege of being majority leader has been one of the highest honors of my life.” The defeat, with Brat garnering 55 percent of the vote to 44 percent for the incumbent, was a shock to Cantor and especially to Republican Jews for whom Cantor was a standard-bearer. “We’re all processing it,” said Matt Brooks, the president of the Republican Jewish Coalition. “He was an invaluable leader, he was so integral to the promotion of, to congressional support of the pro-Israel agenda. It is a colossal defeat not just for Republicans but for the entire Jewish community.” Cantor also was a natural ally for socially conservative Orthodox Jews who at times have been at odds with the Obama administration on religion-state issues. In a statement, Nathan Diament, executive director for public policy of the Orthodox Union, called Cantor a friend who has “been a critical partner for the advocacy work of the Orthodox Jewish community on issues ranging from Israel’s security and the security of Jewish institutions in the United States, to religious liberty to educational reform, and opportunity to defending the needs of the nonprofit sector.” Cantor was elected to Congress in 2000, at the age of 37, after having served nine years in the Virginia legislature. From the start he made clear that he had three bedrocks: his faith, his state and his conservatism.
His first floor speech, on Jan. 31 2001, was in favor of making the Capitol Rotunda available for Holocaust commemoration, and in two minutes Cantor wove together the importance of Holocaust education -- a nod to two Virginia founding fathers and an embrace of the foreign policy interventionism that would guide the George W. Bush administration. “The remembrance of this dark chapter in human history serves as a reminder of what can happen when the fundamental tenets of democracy are discarded by dictatorial regimes,” a hesitant and nervous Cantor said. “While we in the United States, the birthplace of Thomas Jefferson and James Madison, have experienced years of peace and prosperity, we must not forget that genocide and human rights abuses continue to occur elsewhere around the world,” he said. “As the leader of the free world, the United States must use its power and influence to bring stability to the world and educate people around the globe about the horrors of the Holocaust to ensure that it must never happen again.” Cantor’s popularity in his district, his ability to garner supporters in the Republican caucus and his fundraising prowess soon caught the eye of Rep. Roy Blunt (R-Mo.), who in 2003 was set to become House majority whip. Blunt named Cantor his chief deputy, a stunning rise for a congressional sophomore who had not yet reached 40. Cantor’s Jewish involvement deepened as his days grew busier. Raised in a Conservative Jewish home, he started to keep kosher and take private classes with Orthodox rabbis. His three children with wife Diana, whom he met at Columbia University, were active in Jewish youth movements. Confidants say his commitment to Israel intensified after a cousin, Daniel Cantor Wulz, was killed in a 2006 suicide bombing in Tel Aviv. For Jewish leaders, Cantor was a critical address within the Republican Party for the Jewish community’s domestic agenda, said William Daroff, the Washington director of the Jewish Federations of North America. “When there was a need for a heavy lift for much of our Jewish federation agenda,
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we could count on being able to call Eric and have him help us get to the finish line,” Daroff said. Cantor at first seemed to be riding the Tea Party wave. During the 2010 midterm elections, he joined with Reps. Paul Ryan of Wisconsin and Kevin McCarthy of California, calling themselves the Republican Party’s “Young Guns” in setting up a political action committee that championed younger conservatives in a GOP that they said had become too moderate and complacent. In a book co-written by the three at the time, Cantor welcomed the Tea Party wave. “They saw that the powers in charge here are ignorant of what the people want and frankly arrogant about it,” Cantor said in the book, referring to the protests against President Obama’s health care plan that had sparked the Tea Party movement. In the book, he again rooted his conservatism in the South and in his faith. “I pray on Saturday with a Southern accent and Paul and Kevin go to church on Sunday and talk to God without dropping their ‘G’s,” referring to his colleagues. At the time, Cantor seemed to think he could harness the Tea Party insurgency. “Tea Party individuals are focused on three things: One, limited, constitutional government; two, cutting spending, and three, a return to free markets,” he told JTA in an October 2010 interview on the eve of the midterm elections. “Most Americans are about that, and the American Jewish community is like that.” As majority leader, Cantor stayed to the right of Rep. John Boehner (R-Ohio), and many believed he would soon challenge Boehner to become the first Jewish House speaker. Cantor and Obama have not had a good relationship—Cantor has not attended a single Jewish event at the White House during Obama’s two terms, although he has been invited to all of them. Until two weeks into the October 2013 shutdown of the federal government, Cantor resisted agreeing to a deal, and he conceded only when it became clear that the shutdown was damaging Republican electoral prospects. Heeding a Republican establishment that believed the Tea Party had gotten out of hand, Cantor more recently tilted
Eric Cantor
toward the center, championing job creation programs, criticizing foreign policy isolationists within the GOP and expressing a willingness to consider elements of the 2013 Senate immigration reform bill, although until now he has resisted bringing it to the House floor. That tilt and, according to some local news reports, a perception that Cantor was not sufficiently invested in his district helped contribute to his defeat. Brat especially focused on criticizing Cantor’s tentative embrace of a path to citizenship to undocumented immigrants who arrived in the United States as minors. Hadar Susskind, the director of Bend the Arc, a Jewish group that is a leader on immigration reform, said it was bizarre to accuse Cantor of being overly accommodating on immigration. “He has been the single largest obstruction in the effort to reform our immigration laws, so those efforts lose nothing with his defeat,” Susskind told JTA. Democrats immediately seized on Cantor’s loss as evidence that the Republican Party is becoming increasingly extreme. “When Eric Cantor, who time and again has blocked common sense legislation to grow the middle class, can’t earn the Republican nomination, it’s clear the GOP has redefined ‘far right,’” Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-Fla.), the chairwoman of the Democratic National Committee, said in a statement. Steve Rabinowitz, a publicist who represents Jewish groups as well as liberal and Democratic causes, said he was conflicted about Cantor’s departure. On the one hand, he couldn’t help but be amused that Cantor’s flirtation with the Tea Party came back to haunt him. On the other, Rabinowitz suggested that Cantor’s defeat was a minus for the Jewish community. “Wearing my mainstream Jewish skullcap, it’s clear the community needs people like Eric Cantor,” Rabinowitz said. “This is a loss for the Jewish community. I have my disagreements with him, but he’s been there for the community.”
Holocaust Commission program to be featured at Yad Vashem conference by Laine Mednick Rutherford
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wo of the suitcases Elena Barr Baum will take with her to Israel when she travels there in July are pre-packed, and not her own. They belong to the Holocaust Commission of the United Jewish Federation of Tidewater, and are filled with reproductions of mementos significant in the lives of two Holocaust survivors whose stories are featured in the Commission’s compelling educational program, What We Carry. Baum, director of the Holocaust Commission, has been invited to present a synopsis of the program to other Holocaust educators from around the world at the Ninth International Conference on Holocaust Education, July 7–10, at Yad Vashem in Jerusalem. Established in 1953, Yad Vashem was designed to be the Jewish people’s living memorial to the Holocaust. Considered one of the must-see places to visit in Israel, Yad Vashem is a center for documentation, research, education and commemoration of the Holocaust. “When you look at the list of presenters at this conference, it’s like a Who’s Who of
Holocaust education,” says Baum. “When we found out in February that we had been invited to lead one of the 38 breakout sessions (and four of those are in Spanish), we were honored that the educational leadership of that the most august Holocaust organization in the world had chosen What We Carry as something they wanted us to share with others.” The two-and-a-half-year-old What We Carry program consists of four mini-documentaries featuring Tidewater Holocaust survivors who share their past experiences and their hopes for the future. As the film plays, images change from footage of the survivor speaking, to archival Holocaust era footage, and photos of the survivor during that time and afterward. An original musical composition plays in the background. When presented in schools, for community groups, government agencies and at military installations, an educational component includes scripted, docent-added information, and the interactive display of the opened suitcases, with contents such as passports, a patch with a yellow Jewish star, even a doll, that can be touched and examined.
For the conference at Yad Vashem, Baum and her colleagues have created a Power Point presentation, will unpack the contents of the two What We Carry suitcases she’s bringing, and will show portions of the documentaries. Attendees will receive a DVD of the film’s trailer, information about the program, its talented filmmakers and the Holocaust Commission of the UJFT. “When I went online to finish registering for the conference in early June, I saw that two of the 34 English breakout sessions were already booked,” Baum says. “One of those was What We Carry, which thrilled me.” Traveling to Israel to present the program with Baum are film co-producer Janice Engel, and former Holocaust chairs and current Commission members, Mickey Held and Deb Segaloff. “I went to this conference in 2004, and I was so moved—sitting with people from Japan, from China, from all over the world—at the level of concern, and of the great emphasis placed on teaching the Holocaust to future generations,” says Segaloff. “The question repeatedly asked was how will we be as effective in teaching about the Holocaust without live witness—without our survivors, our righteous gentiles, our liberators? To develop What We Carry as a real answer to having an effective way to continue to bring survivors into the schools, so that people in our community should remember David Katz*, Hanns Loewenbach*, Kitty Saks and Dana Cohen, two or three generations from now, and to be able to share this with other communities around the world, is very exciting and should be a huge source of pride to our little Jewish community of 12,000 people,” says Segaloff. Harry Graber, executive vice-president of the UJFT, says the invitation to present at Yad Vashem validates the hard work, creativity and resources that went into developing, promoting, and continuing to create new What We Carry documen-
Elena Barr Baum
taries, and the community’s continued support of the Federation and its Holocaust Commission. “Our challenge is to carry on the memory of our survivors and other courageous members of our community who can testify to experiences they had during the Holocaust, and to share these very important lessons—through the Holocaust Commission’s educational programs—with this and future generations,” says Graber. “It is a tremendous honor for our community to have our efforts recognized by such a renowned organization as Yad Vashem.” In addition to the thrill of sharing What We Carry with others at the Conference, Segaloff says the Tidewater representatives will be able to learn about other innovative and effective programs, hear from some of the world’s most renowned Holocaust educators in the world, and in turn, bring new ideas and concepts to share with Tidewater when they return. Find out more about the Holocaust Commission of the UJFT, its mission, its programs, and how to help support it, at www.holocaustcommission.org. *Of blessed memory.
jewishnewsva.org | June 16, 2014 | Jewish News | 7
Ballpark event a homerun for Business & Legal Society strongly considered before going forward. “We’re looking at demographics of this area and what makes a venue tick,” said Ken Young, owner of the Norfolk Tides and the Norfolk Admirals and one of the evening’s highlighted experts. Shayna Horwitz and Amy Weinstein, director of UJFT’s Young Adult Division. “We’ve had a lot of success with the Tides and the Admirals, but that doesn’t Article and photos by Laine Mednick Rutherford necessarily mean it transfers to what’s he theme of the Business & Legal needed for success with this project. It’s a Society of the United Jewish pretty tough road to hoe, and $10 to $12 Federation of Tidewater’s final tickets are a lot easier to sell here than what event of the year involved a ser- a major league team would command. I’m endipitously timed topic: the construction pretty open, though, to hear more.” Jeff Cogen, chief executive officer of of a proposed 18,000-seat arena in Virginia Beach, and attracting a major league sports the National Hockey League’s Nashville Predators and that city’s Bridgestone Arena, team to make the arena its home. As 85 members of the community ate was also a featured speaker. Cogen shared dinner at Hits at the Park at Norfolk’s his firsthand, real-world experiences of Harbor Park and listened to two sports working with a major league franchise and executives discuss the viability, prof- operating an arena in a city comparable in itability and probability of the project’s size to the Hampton Roads area. “If there’s a political will, and taxsuccess, members of the Virginia Beach City Council were, at the same time, voting payer appetite, and the owner of a major league team who wants to invest $300 to on the proposal. The council agreed to proceed with $600-million—in the team alone—then negotiations to build the $200-mil- these are good investments,” said Cogen, a lion arena, while the guest speakers at Newport News native and Old Dominion the Society’s May 27 event, Scoring Big: University graduate. “But these are three pretty big hurBringing the Pros to Hampton Roads, suggested that economic realities needed to be dles. Our arena is number six in North
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Joel Flax, Merle Cogen, Gail Flax.
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America—ahead of Madison Square Garden—and we have a good public-private partnership in Nashville…but we still lose in the neighborhood of $6- to $12-million a year,” Cogen said. “And our team is ranked 22, we sell-out games, and it still loses about $6- to $10-million a year. If you’re going to build the building, I highly suggest you have a major tenant.” Members of the audience ranged in age and occupation from business executives and law partners to budding entrepreneurs, college students and interested sports fans. There were also friends and relatives who came to share an evening with Cogen, including his wife Jill and his mother Merle, a Virginia Beach resident. Cogen says he will be a visiting the area more frequently in the future; his son Matt will attend ODU this fall on a baseball scholarship. Ken Young’s beaming smile and affable presence are fixtures at Harbor Park during Tides games, and at Norfolk’s Scope when the Admirals play. Kirk Levy, co-chair of the Business & Legal Society, says that the steering committee didn’t know the City Council would be voting on the arena issue the same night as Scoring Big, but it was a demonstration of how timely and interesting the Society’s programs are and will be again when events kick off in the fall. In addition to dinner, the insights of the guest speakers, and the lively discussions that followed, Scoring Big attendees were able to watch part of the first game of a Tides doubleheader against the Lehigh Valley IronPigs, and stay for the second game. Jacob Levy threw out the ceremonial first pitch of the game, and Neal Schulwolf and
Eric Smith with sons Riley and Max.
David Jacobson were winners in Scoring Big’s personalized bobblehead giveaway. The Business and Legal Society of the United Jewish Federation of Tidewater is a network of Jewish professionals dedicated to education, social and philanthropic activities that focus on the betterment of Jews in need locally, in Israel and around the world. To find out more, visit www.JewishVa.org/BusinessAndLegalSociety, or email shorwitz@ujft.org. To see more photos from the event, Like the Jewish News or UJFT Business & Legal Society on Facebook.
Guest speakers Ken Young, Norfolk Tides owner, and Jeff Cogen, CEO of Nashville Predators.
Nathan Levy and Charlie Nusbaum.
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The dynamic decade Jewish Family Service wraps up 10th Annual Week of Healthy Living
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by Amy Cobb
unday, May 4 was a picture-perfect morning with clear blue, sunny skies and comfortable temperatures for the more than 450 runners and walkers who gathered at 24th Street Park at the Virginia Beach oceanfront for Jewish Family Service’s 10th Annual Run, Roll or Stroll. The event, which included an 8K run, 5K run/walk and 1-mile run/walk, is held each year as part of the agency’s Week of Healthy Living. “We were thrilled to have so many in our community join us as we celebrated our 10th anniversary of the Week of Healthy Living,” says Betty Ann Levin, JFS executive director. The Week of Healthy Living continued on Wednesday, May 7, with a program on Advances in Cancer Immunotherapy, in partnership with the Maimonides Society of the United Jewish Federation of Tidewater. Dr. Evan Lipson, a melanoma specialist with Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center, shared the innovations that have been made in immunotherapy research. The event began with a cocktail reception with JFS donors and Maimonides Society members, which was generously underwritten by WealthQuest Financial Services. On Thursday, May 8, more than 150 people heard Dr. Kris Kennedy speak on The Art and Science of Healthy Eating. Kennedy discussed ways to eat “cleaner,” mainly by cutting out processed foods. “If you can’t make it in your own kitchen,” she said, “you shouldn’t eat it.” “We sincerely thank all our sponsors, our volunteers, and everyone who attended our events for making our 10th Annual Week of Healthy Living a success,” says Dr. Marcia Samuels, JFS president. To see more photographs from the Week of Healthy Living, visit the JFS Run, Roll or Stroll Facebook page and the JFS Facebook page. To view race results, visit www.jfsrunrollorstroll.org. Jewish Family Service is a constituent agency of United Jewish Federation of Tidewater.
The start of the Run, Roll or Stroll 1 mile race.
Sam Levin, age 6, and Avi Cardon, age 6.
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The Bartel family. Front: Haley Bartel, Carley Bartel, Jody Bartel. Back row: Gary Bartel, Dolores Bartel, Craig Bartel and Dr. Alan Bartel.
Dr. Marcia Samuels, JFS president with Lawrence Steingold, incoming president for 2014-2016.
Harry Graber and Dr. Eric Werner.
Patti and Jules Wainger.
Dr. Michael Gross and Betty Ann Levin, JFS executive director.
Team Tiger won the team award for schools for having the most team participants at the 10th Annual Run, Roll or Stroll.
Jacqueline Strelitz with her mother, Renee Strelitz.
Jonah Abrams and Marc Abrams. Joan Lederman, Jeff Cooper, JFS board member, and Dr. Ira Lederman.
Sondra Pietrzak, rn, and Allison Madore, rn— JFS Home Health Nurses participated in the race by running and volunteering. Hannah Mancoll, age 10, and Jody Bartel, age 10, show off their tattoos.
Karen Pearson, Dr. Ed George, Dr. Evan Lipson from Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center, and Patricia Ashkenazi. Photography by Laine Mednick Rutherford jewishnewsva.org | June 16, 2014 | Jewish News | 11
Alene Kaufman, who retires at the end of June, carries a long list of titles and accolades over her 36 accomplished years with the Hebrew Academy of Tidewater Konikoff Center of Learning and the Strelitz Early Childhood Center preschool.
Alene Jo Kaufman retires from HAT
Positions Preschool teacher (4-year-olds) Early childhood coordinator Extended Day program director Kindergarten Judaic studies teacher 7th and 8th grade Judaic studies teacher Early Childhood director Judaic studies director HAT Program Director Editor of Happenings, weekly school newsletter Co-chair of the first VAIS accreditation study Founder and director of Camp Kova (Hebrew word for HAT) Awards Tidewater Jewish Educator of the Year, celebrating teachers and Jewish learning in Tidewater. Presented by the Simon Family Jewish Community Center, sponsored by the United Jewish Federation of Tidewater, and underwritten by the Lee A. and Helen G. Gifford Jewish Education Council Fund of the Tidewater Jewish Foundation; 1989. Safe Harbor Award, bestowed on the Strelitz preschool while under Kaufman’s direction. Given by the non-profit United Way agency and the Children’s Harbor Early Care and Education Centers, for hard work and dedication in making a significant difference in the lives of Hampton Roads’ children; 2011. Professional Service Award for Outstanding Achievement in Jewish Communal Service by the United Jewish Federation of Tidewater; 2005. The Jewish Programming Award presented by the Simon Family JCC for the Strelitz Early Childhood Family Model Seder while under Kaufman’s direction, for insuring that the lessons of freedom, faith, and struggles are passed from generation to generation; 2008. Chai and Double Chai Longevity Recognition Awards from the Jewish Education Council of Tidewater.
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by Dee Dee Becker
t’s the end of a “double chai” era. Thirty-six years in which Alene Jo Kaufman led, taught and touched the lives of hundreds of the community’s children and families at the Hebrew Academy of Tidewater Konikoff Center of Learning and Strelitz Early Childhood Center preschool. A Hofstra University graduate, Kaufman majored in elementary education and Judaic studies with an eye toward rabbinical school. Plans changed, she earned her MS Ed from Old Dominion University and, alas, this remarkable educator was led to HAT’s doorstep for a long and notable career in Jewish education. Today, Kaufman’s impact has generated a ripple effect that extends near and far to students who, many now adults, live everywhere from Hampton Roads and across the country, to Israel and elsewhere abroad. L’dor v’dor. “My babies” as she affectionately calls them, in some cases, are now parents who send their own children to Hebrew Academy and the Strelitz Early Childhood Center preschool —Michael Zitron included, having been one of her first students. Coming full circle, Zitron’s son, a rising first grader, was one of Kaufman’s last. “As I embraced my son’s upbringing at the Strelitz preschool,” says Zitron, “Alene never ceased teaching me. In her genuine way, she showed me the strength and meaning of community by bridging the gap from my youth to that of fatherhood.” Like Zitron and so many others, Kaufman has loved and kvelled with these students and their families through every lifecycle event possible, from births and b’nei mitzvot to graduations, weddings and loss. What are some of the key memories etched firmly in her heart? The seemingly infinite holiday celebrations…the middle school trip to Israel that she and her mensch of a husband Ron took together as chaperones…and memories of watching her preschoolers learn to recognize their names or sing the Four Questions for the first time
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Alene Jo Kaufman (holding granddaughter, Maya), husband Ron Kaufman (holding granddaughter Lillian), and (seated) sons Adam and Jason Kaufman, and daughter-in-law Jessica Kaufman at the brunch.
ever. When Kaufman walks out the door as the preschool director one last time later this month, she will also remember the many unshakable bonds she formed with several colleagues across the decades. Here’s a walk down Memory Lane with some of HAT’s school family…. Alene Kaufman joined Hebrew Academy in 1978 at the Thompkins Lane location as the new four-year-old preschool teacher. Annabel Sacks and Eilene Rosenblum were serving as interim co-directors while Rabbi Aaron Baer (of blessed memory), then head of school, was recuperating from a heart attack. “From the moment she began teaching,” says Rosenblum, “Alene became our Jewish Pied Piper. Everywhere she went, little children followed, and she shared her love of Judaism with them all.” Still true! Through Kaufman’s talent and gifts, the preschool program continued to grow and Ada Michaels (of blessed memory), then head of school, realized the need for an early childhood program coordinator. Kaufman was tapped for that role. “While I truly valued my years of experience in the classroom, I was excited to work in this new capacity. My goal was to
build our program into one that would not only educate our children but more fully involve our families, immersing them into the tapestry of the school. What I have loved most about working here is seeing multiple generations gather together in celebration like we do with family picnics, Model Seders, Shabbat sing-alongs, Chanukah Mini-Zimriyah and other holiday celebrations. There is something so powerful about the sense of community that is created. Families bond, lifelong friendships are born and memories become timeless. I know of no other educational institution like ours,” says Kaufman. A pivotal point in Kaufman’s career came in 2004 when Hebrew Academy made its grand move to the Sandler Family Campus. Two years after moving to the campus, she took on the dual role of Judaic Studies director for two years while simultaneously serving as director of the newly evolved Strelitz Early Childhood Center preschool, an educational partnership of Hebrew Academy and the Simon Family Jewish Community Center. “Alene was instrumental in transitioning HAT to its new home,” says Miles
Leon, board president during that era. “I can’t imagine how difficult it would have been if she was not a part of our leadership during those years. Her dedication, hard work and, most of all, the love she had for the kids was price- Alene Kaufman accepting 2011 Safe Harbor Award. less. She raised the bar for our school and community, and we come responsibilities which include devotare better off because of her contributions.” ing more time to my parents and enjoying “The move to the Sandler Family my children and grandchildren. I’ll never Campus,” says Kaufman, “was an exciting be able to put into words what this school evolution for the preschool and for me. I and community mean to me. I am grateful recall like yesterday the numerous archi- that my sons had the opportunity of a day tectural meetings to discuss the design school education. The impact this instiof the classrooms and the playground. I tution has had on our lives as a family is remember all the communications and immeasurable.” While it’s not easy to say goodbye to rebranding efforts with new brochures and logos…and I remember the hilarious such a valued member of HAT’s famiand sometimes crazy logistics of the move ly, Kaufman is leaving the Strelitz Early —outstanding teamwork by our faculty, Childhood Center preschool in good stead administration and campus professionals. with Lorna Orleans. A past HAT parent, It is a rare opportunity to be a part of Orleans has also been an integral part of the re-birth of such a remarkable Jewish the preschool for the past 16 years. “It has community day school. The atmosphere been my honor to be a part of the lives of was exhilarating, filled with infinite pos- the children of our Jewish community,” sibility and potential. It’s hard to believe says Kaufman. “I know that under Lorna’s we’ve been in this building for more than a direction, the Strelitz Early Childhood decade already—and serving our commu- Center (its teachers and its programs) will continue to have a lasting impact on the nity for nearly 60 years now.” Burle Stromberg, immediate past pres- future of our Jewish world.” On Sunday, June 1, on the Sandler ident of the board, agrees and can attest to how quickly time passes. “It has been a Family Campus, Alene Kaufman was honpleasure working with Alene in my profes- ored at a reception for her 36 years of sional role as president over the last three devotion and service to Hebrew Academy years. I have also had the pleasure of being and the Strelitz preschool. “Alene’s proa parent who saw three children through fessional life and passion have revolved the preschool program under Alene’s lead- around our beloved school, and she has left ership. She has a phenomenal and caring her indelible mark on the very fabric of our way with her students and we will miss institution,” said Rabbi Mordechai Wecker, head of school. “I salute her myriad contriher greatly.” “Looking back,” Kaufman says, “I’ve butions and will miss my daily interactions worked for 10 heads of school, five general with her both as a respected colleague and studies directors, and 17 board presidents. a dear friend. We wish the best of everyThroughout this period, I also gave birth thing to Alene and her family as she enjoys to my son Adam, married off my older son this next chapter in life.” Hang on to your “HATs” everyone. Jason and became a savta to two gorgeous The final bell has rung. Alene Kaufman baby girls. I am counting my blessings, including the fact that Ron and I both still is leaving the building. Hebrew Academy of Tidewater is a constituent have our parents, who range in age from 84 to 94. With these very special blessings agency of United Jewish Federation of Tidewater.
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jewishnewsva.org | June 16, 2014 | Jewish News | 13
Accepting Jewish values prize, Bloomberg strikes universalist tone by Ben Sales
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JERUSALEM ( JTA)— Michael Bloomberg received the $1 million Genesis Prize for embodying Jewish values. The billionaire and former New York City mayor said they could Michael Bloomberg just as well have been Christian, Muslim or Hindu values. In Jerusalem last month for the first awarding of what some have called the Jewish Nobel, Bloomberg made a day of it. He appeared with Jerusalem Mayor Nir Barkat to discuss urban innovation, spoke to the media and received the Genesis Prize from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at a grandiose ceremony hosted by Jay Leno. The prize honors a laureate “whose actions, in addition to their achievements, embody the character of the Jewish people through commitment to Jewish values, the Jewish community and/or to the State of Israel.” Bloomberg praised Israel and remarked fondly on his Jewish upbringing that set him on the path to success, first as the founder of a major financial software and media company, then as a threeterm mayor of America’s largest city. But he noted repeatedly that the values he absorbed as a child could have come from any culture or religion. “No one religion has a lock on great people or terrible people,” Bloomberg said at a news conference preceding the award ceremony. “The values I learned from my parents are probably the same values I hope Christians and Muslims and Hindus and Buddhists teach to their people.” The Genesis Prize is a joint project of Israel’s Prime Minister’s Office, the Jewish Agency for Israel and the Genesis Philanthropy Group, a coalition of Russian Jewish philanthropists who funded the prize. The group also funds organizations and programs that engage Russian-speaking Jews in Israel, the United States and the former Soviet Union. In selecting Bloomberg, the Genesis group chose a fellow billionaire who is
perhaps better known for defending Muslim rights than Jewish ones. As New York City mayor, Bloomberg was a strident defender of plans to build an Islamic cultural center near Ground Zero in Lower Manhattan, a controversy he brought up at the news conference. “There was a brouhaha in New York when they wanted to build a mosque near the World Trade Center,” he said. “If I’m going to be able to build my shul, they need to be able to build their mosque.” Bloomberg had said last year that he would use the $1 million to promote Israeli-Palestinian business cooperation. But at the news conference, he said the Genesis group had dissuaded him from that course, urging him instead to fund the Genesis Generations Prize, which will provide 10 grants of $100,000 each to candidates with the best “big ideas” guided by Jewish values that benefit the world. NonJews will be eligible for the grants. In his address at the award ceremony, Genesis Philanthropy Group co-founder Mikhail Fridman said Judaism is a roadmap to success in life. “Our forbearers have left us something far more valuable than land, castles or titles,” Fridman said. “They left us the word, the book and a set of values and rules which, if understood correctly and applied diligently, lead to the ultimate reward in life—a sense of fulfillment and self-actualization.” Bloomberg is a frequent visitor to Israel who once came to show solidarity with the country’s embattled towns during the Gaza war in 2009. He paid tribute to the country, asking, “If the dream of Israel can be realized, what dream can’t be?” But he also made sure to emphasize his universalist bent. “We are as one with this city and this country as we can be, to build a brighter future for everyone,” he said. “With enough hard work and faith in our convictions, we can build a better world for our children and their children.”
Celebrating Seniors HAPPY, HEALThY LIVING Supplement to Jewish News June 16, 2014
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heart-warming article about a couple that has made it for 60 years, Kitty and Abbott Saks. Their story is inspiring. It’s nearly impossible to pick up a paper or magazine that doesn’t have an article touting the benefits of exercise, especial-
Published 22 times a year by United Jewish Federation of Tidewater. 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 www.jewishVA.org Terri Denison, Editor Germaine Clair, Art Director Laine Mednick Rutherford, Associate Editor Hal Sacks, Book Review Editor Sandy Goldberg, Account Executive Mark Hecht, Account Executive Marilyn Cerase, Subscription Manager Reba Karp, Editor Emeritus Miles Leon, President Stephanie Calliott, Secretary Harry Graber, Executive Vice-President 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. © 2014 Jewish News. All rights reserved. Subscription: $18 year For subscription or change of address, call 757-965-6128 or email mcerase@ujft.org.
ly on aging bodies. Our exercise article, however, doesn’t delve into the medical pluses of keeping moving, but rather focuses on the fun of a group class at the Simon Family JCC. Give it a read, and then maybe join the class! Shelby Tudor of Tidewater Jewish Foundation offers some thoughts on
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financial planning, especially for those
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who are considering charitable bequests. According to her, it’s never too early to begin the process. Of course, there’s more to read about what we all are…aging! Think young and stay young and enjoy each day, Jewish News staff
16 | Jewish News | June 16, 2014 | Senior Living | jewishnewsva.org
About the cover: Zumba Gold class at Simon Family JCC. Photograph by Laine Mednick Rutherford
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Senior Living
There’s a party going on right here he scene outside the large group exercise room in the Simon Family JCC’s gym on Tuesdays and Thursdays at 11 am is quiet and generally serene. Members of all ages are concentrating on their weightlifting sets and getting heart healthy on the various cardiovascular machines. Inside Group Exercise Room 1, though, there’s a party going on. The music’s lively, the energy is high and a regular group of between 25 and 30 (mostly) senior citizens are working out with smiles on their faces, a bounce in their steps, and a professed devotion to
ly popular since they first were introduced in the United States over a decade ago. A combination of dance, aerobic and strength moves are demonstrated or called out by an instructor, and the class follows along as best it can. The music is upbeat and rhythmic and when paired with an experienced instructor and enthusiastic classmates, it’s nearly impossible to stay still for any of the 45-minute class. At a recent Tuesday class at the JCC, Giannelli played Latin and African themed music over the speakers –and even a country song—and directed the 25 seniors in the room to grapevine, merengue, flick kick, and salsa. “This is the most highly spirited class
their Zumba Gold class and their regular instructor, Sharon Giannelli. “This class is the most fun ever,” says Angie Aresco, 62, who’s been taking Zumba Gold since joining the JCC in February. “What’s really great is that no one’s any better than anyone else, and we all just love it.” Zumba classes have become increasing-
I’ve ever taken, anywhere,” says Libby Predmore, a class member whose trim body is a testament for continuing to work out, no matter what birthday is coming up next. “Sharon is a miracle who works magic, and we just leave here feeling so upbeat, and so positive.” In the front row of exercisers, Dorothy Zimmerman, a petite, spritely, and energet-
Article and photos by Laine Mednick Rutherford
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Zumba Gold at the Simon Family JCC gym, for active seniors or those new to exercise
“It keeps me ic senior, puts her all into the young,” Goldberg movements and glistens—and says, smiling. grins—as she dances. While Giannelli “I’m on the JCC board and I gets credit from her started because I heard Sharon Tuesdays and students for being come talk to us about the class Thursdays, such a motivationat a meeting,” says Zimmerman. 11 – 11:45 am, al instructor, she “That was a year ago and I’ve Group Exercise says it’s the class been coming ever since—and Room 1 that deserves to be never want to miss it. admired by others. “We have people in this “If you want to see class who have lost weight, who have reduced their cholesterol, and what active seniors can look and feel like, who have made friends because they’re in then this is just the best place to see it,” says Giannelli, director of group exercise at the JCC. this healthy, social setting.” “The members who come keep me Women make up the majority of the class, but there are a handful of men who on my toes, they inspire me, and they’re are also regulars. Joe encouraging and supportive of each other.” Goldberg, 80, doesn’t skip a beat while fol- To find out more about Zumba Gold and lowing Giannelli’s other group classes at the JCC, appropriate for seniors or exercisers of all ages, visit www. instructions. “I come every Tuesday simonfamilyjcc.org/fitness-wellness. The Simon and Thursday,” Goldberg Family JCC is also a participant in the Silver says, “after I’ve taken two Sneakers program for senior citizens. For more Silver Sneakers earlier in information, visit www.simonfamilyjcc.org/silver-sneakers/ the morning.
jewishnewsva.org | Senior Living | June 16, 2014 | Jewish News | 17
Senior Living From the Department of Health & Human Services Administration on Aging
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egular exercise is essential to healthy aging. It lowers risk factors linked to the development
of chronic disease, such as, obesity, high blood pressure, diabetes, and high levels of triglycerides. In turn, physical inactivity has been linked to the development of heart disease and stroke. The American Heart Association (AHA) cites physical inactivity as a major risk factor for developing coronary artery disease. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) highlights regular physical activity as one of the most important steps to take to prevent serious health problems that can occur with age. Different activities lead to different health benefits. Some forms of exercise, such as strengthening exercises, improve flexibility and balance. Aerobic exercise increases cardiovascular fitness and endurance. Examples of aerobic activities include brisk walking, bicycling, jogging and dancing. CDC’s guidelines recommend that older adults 65+ who have no limiting health conditions participate in moderate-intense aerobic activities for at least two and a half hours every week. It also recommends including muscle-strengthening exercises, such as, lifting weights, working with resistance bands, heavy gardening, or yoga on two or more days every week. Strengthening exercises can increase a person’s flexibility and balance, which reduce the likelihood and severity of falls.
18 | Jewish News | June 16, 2014 | Senior Living | jewishnewsva.org
Senior Living
Planning for the future by Shelby Tudor
E
state planning is the process by which an individual or family arranges for the administration and transfer of assets in anticipation of their incapacitation or death. When contemplating such transfers, it has been said that every parent has one additional child to remember in his or her will: the Jewish community. A charitable bequest is perhaps the easiest way to ensure Jewish continuity. A charitable bequest may provide for a percentage of an estate or a specific dollar gift or specific asset(s) to be given to support the community. It may also be in the form of a gift of the remaining assets of an estate after other specific designations are made. Like other gifts, a charitable bequest can be designated for a wide range of purposes or given without restriction. Designating a bequest that creates a single fund at the Tidewater Jewish Foundation can provide annual support to community agencies as desired. Charitable bequests: • May be established through a will • May be in any amount • Provide an estate tax deduction if the estate is taxable • P rovide permanent resources to support organizations important to the individual. By deciding to leave a bequest in a will, a permanent legacy can be created. Gifts may be in the form of cash, securities or other estate property—and the estate will receive a tax deduction in the amount of the charitable bequest. Those who have already drafted their wills, can have their attorneys help arrange or change a charitable bequest with a simple amendment or codicil. An easy way of establishing a legacy is
Shelby Tudor
through the designation of retirement plan assets. Too often, the estate and income taxes imposed on these plans make them a poor choice for passing on to heirs. As charitable gifts, however, retirement plans can be powerful tools for endowing a charitable legacy to the community. By careful planning during one’s lifetime, a loving parent can give a sizeable gift to the community that could otherwise create a heavy tax burden on their heirs. These plans may also be used to create a testamentary charitable trust as part of a will with significant benefits to both heirs and the community. No one is ever too young to make plans for the future. Contact your attorney or financial professional for guidance on how best to ensure your legacy. A planned gift enables you to be present forever. You may also contact TJF for assistance and for a copy of the Wills Planner to aid in this process, www.jewishva.org.
jewishnewsva.org | Senior Living | June 16, 2014 | Jewish News | 19
Senior Living
Transitioning to an Assisted Living Facility: Suggestions for success by Laine Mednick Rutherford
in with family member, or downsize to
medications to end of life care.
Assisted Living Administrator of the Year.
S
where to live as they grow older.
high rises to converted mansions, pro-
at Beth Sholom Village, spoke with the
to an assisted living facility is before issues
If possible, and if they still want to,
vide services to seniors who still have
Jewish News and offers the following tips
start to arise in the seniors’ life. It’s better
seniors can remain in their homes, either
the ability to live fairly independently,
and suggestions for those considering a
to ask these questions too early, rather than
taking care of themselves, or having oth-
but need help with some of the aspects
transition. Guthrie has worked at Beth
too late.
ers—whether hired caregivers or friends
of daily living. That help can range
Sholom for more than 25 years and in
and family—helping out. They can move
from personal grooming to administering
2013 was named the Virginia Center for
smaller residences.
Seniors in Hampton Roads have a vari-
enior citizens—and their fam-
Another viable option is moving into
ety of choices when it comes to assisted
When is the right time to consider
ilies—have a lot to consider
an assisted living facility. These facilities,
living facilities. Pam Guthrie, administra-
a move?
when thinking about how and
which can vary from newly constructed
tor of The Terrace Assisted Living Center
The time to start thinking about moving
Ask the following questions while seniors are still active and capable:
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• When do you think it would be appropri-
• If it’s a married couple, when one
ate for you to move into a facility where
spouse is starting to endanger their
you can get the care you need?
own well-being in order to meet the needs of the other
• W hat do you think are the limitations
• A lso for couples, when the healthy
we should look for as signs that you
spouse starts to lose or neglect their
need to be living in a place that better
own social contacts
suits your needs? What are important factors to look for in Can you share some of the benefits of
an assisted living facility and how should
moving into an assisted living facility?
we proceed?
• Often, particularly in a facility with
• Get ratings and survey scores from
multiple levels of care, seniors are
each facility. The Department of
able to age in place.
Social Services for the city where the
• Seniors are with peers who have sim-
facility is located can provide these.
ilar physical limitations because of
• Find out about programming in the
the aging process, so they don’t feel
facility, as well as opportunities for
the constant need to compete, or to
seniors to enjoy activities away from
compensate.
the facility.
• No more worrying about grocery
• Cleanliness and conditions of the
shopping, or meal planning, or caring
facility are important for comfortable
for a house.
living.
• R ather than focusing energy on trying to ensure others that help
• See if residents look engaged and happy.
is unnecessary, seniors can enjoy
• When looking at staffing statistics,
living—with caring and qualified
pay attention to staff longevity. A
people to help them.
facility that has a lower turnover of
• Socialization, if desired.
staff indicates employees like where
• Privacy, when desired.
they work, and what they’re doing. • Facilities that offer a variety of level
Are there ways to tell if a senior needs t
of care within the assisted living reg-
o consider moving now?
ulations mean fewer transitions when
A brief checklist of signs that you, or some-
additional care becomes essential.
one you know, could be helped by a move into an assisted living facility:
• Get brochures, look at floor plans, find out about pricing and seek out
• Frequent emergency room visits
information about a variety of facili-
• Increasing forgetfulness
ties, but when it’s time to visit, only
• Staying in more than you’re going
choose a few of them. Too many
out/lack of social interaction • Avoidance of questions • A decline in personal appearance, hygiene, or housekeeping
visits can result in confusion and frustration. • Choose the facility that best meets your, or your loved one’s, needs.
• Excuses
jewishnewsva.org | Senior Living | June 16, 2014 | Jewish News | 21
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22 | Jewish News | June 16, 2014 | Senior Living | jewishnewsva.org
T
he Mary and Avalon S. Krukin Award for Senior Adults was presented to Marilyn Moranha at the Simon Family JCC’s annual meeting on Monday, May 19. Morhana received the award because of the time and energy she devotes to the seniors at the JCC. This is her sixth year serving as president of the Seniors Club, and prior to that, she held the position of treasurer for several years. As president, Moranha conducts all business and news in the beginning of each monthly meeting, saving the lighter fare such as joke time or entertainment for the end of the hour. This month she has lined up a master gardener to speak and will bring a country singer in for July. Moranha is very visible at the JCC each week between the Senior Current Events Club, mahjong, and the Senior Club. “The Seniors need to feel that they are a part of a being at the JCC,” she says. “We go on trips, we see shows and it’s all very socially engaging for us.”
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jewishnewsva.org | Senior Living | June 16, 2014 | Jewish News | 23
Senior Living
Bashert: Kitty and Abbott Saks’ 60-year love story
Kitty and Abbott Saks. Article and Photos by Laine Mednick Rutherford
S
he went to the Jewish social for teens and young adults in Norfolk with a date. He hadn’t wanted to go at all, but reluctantly agreed at the urging of friends. What happened to 17-year-old Kitty Friedenbach and 18-year-old Abbott Saks on the night of January 26, 1950 at the United Orthodox Synagogue in Norfolk (now B’Nai Israel Congregation) was, in Kitty’s words, bashert. A Yiddish word, bashert broadly means destiny, and often is used when speaking about something that predestined, that is meant to be. On that night, at that social, destiny stepped in, bearing the name of Harvey Saks* (of blessed memory), Abbott’s younger brother and a classmate of Kitty’s. The details of their first meeting remain vivid to Kitty (Friedenbach) Saks. “Harvey said to me, ‘Kitty, my brother’s here. He’s interested in languages,” the spritely Norfolk resident says. “I said, ‘Harvey, I can’t. I’m on a date.’ He didn’t listen to me. He took me by the hand and dragged me to Abbott.” Handsome, studious Abbott Saks was
leaning against the entrance to the party, looking and feeling uninterested. A freshman at the Old Dominion Campus of William & Mary studying Spanish, Saks wasn’t expecting to meet anyone that evening, certainly not the lovely, feisty, bright-eyed Viennese girl whose family had moved to Norfolk two years previously, after years struggling to survive the Holocaust. As Harvey introduced them and told Abbott that Kitty spoke several languages, Abbott says he woke up. He chatted with Kitty for a while and was intrigued, or in Abbott’s parlance—he’s a master at wordplay, a genius at remembering quotes and quick to provide levity—he was “smitten with the kitten.” “I was fascinated by the fluency of her English after only two years here,” Abbott says. “And she wasn’t a bad looker either.” Kitty remembers Abbott repeatedly saying, “That’s remarkable,” and not seeming so anxious to leave the social any longer. She, though, politely told him goodnight, and went to find her date, who had seen some of what transpired.
24 | Jewish News | June 16, 2014 | Senior Living | jewishnewsva.org
“’Tu t’ais amourer a chez de lui,’ he told me—you flipped over him, didn’t you?” says Kitty. “’I said, how could I? I just met the guy.’ But I had flipped. It was love at first sight.” When Kitty got home that night, she woke her mother up, and in German told her, “Now. I’ve met somebody.” The next day, after classes were over at Old Dominion, arms laden with a stack of school books, Abbott went to the store Kitty’s parents owned on Church Street, three blocks away from the store that his family owned on the same Norfolk street. He introduced himself to her parents, and the rest, as Kitty would say, is bashert. On May 30, 1954, the pair married at B’nai Israel. After a three-day honeymoon in New York, Abbott departed for Army duty as an MP, stationed in Berlin. Kitty didn’t like the thought of them living apart, so she booked passage on the S.S. United States and soon joined him there. “It was difficult going back,” Kitty says. “His barracks were former SS headquarters and that’s where I spent most of my days. Every morning, before he left, Abbott warmed me, ‘Kitty, don’t get into any fights today.’ And I did try, mostly, to stay out of trouble.” After a year in Germany, the couple returned to Norfolk, where Abbott began teaching Spanish in Norfolk Public Schools and Kitty established their home. Within a few years, they had two children: David and Tonie. In the decades that followed, Abbott became a popular Spanish professor at Old Dominion University, eventually earning the honored distinction of teaching there for 50 years. Kitty devoted herself to her children and became an integral member of the Holocaust Commission of the United Jewish Federation of Tidewater’s Speakers’ Bureau. Her Holocaust survival story, which she has shared with thousands, if not
An accomplished educator and poet, Abbott Saks reads a poem he wrote to Kitty in honor of their 25th wedding anniversary, 35 years previously.
Kitty By Abbott Saks Written on the occasion of their 25th wedding anniversary
From the world of waltz by fire swept That ancient faith from ashes kept Our paths entwined right from the start I took her hand she took my heart; Green eye were shy yet did they gleam Dared I to hope, dared I to dream? The sea was calling years ago I knew I could not let her go Beyond Horizons lay great charms I held life’s prize within my arms The ships have sailed, more will depart I have her hand she has my heart.
Senior Living
98
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The Saks’ share their treasured keepsakes, including an autograph book with signatures of Norfolk Tars players, Kitty’s high school photo and the Saks’ on their wedding day in 1954.
tens of thousands over the years, is now preserved on film in the innovative Holocaust Commission documentary and educational program, What We Carry. With the love and support of their A photo of Kitty and Abbott Saks when they were first dating, Abbott Saks was ordered to Berlin as an children, Tonie and taken at the old Ocean View MP immediately after the pair wed. Kitty moved to Berlin soon after. Frank Wilkins, Amusement Park in Norfolk. David and Mary Lou Saks, and their grandsons Elliot and ‘Man is not really complete unless he marAdam Saks, Kitty and Abbott recently ries. And then, he’s completely finished.’” Kitty heartily laughs at this, and many celebrated their 60th wedding anniversary. When considering the secrets of their of Abbott’s jokes and witticisms. She consuccessful relationship and long lasting love tinues to listen to his astute observations story, the couple shares insight, inspiration, and pays attention to his continued zeal for learning. Abbott speaks lovingly and heartfelt emotion, and splashes of humor. “You can’t hold everything in, you have proudly about Kitty—her cooking experto discuss things together,” says Kitty. tise, the inspiration she provided for many “You must be able to converse, and never, of the hundreds of poems he’s written NEVER, go to bed angry. And, you must during their years together, and the full life they’ve shared together. be friends first.” “I’d be nothing without this woman. “And forever,” adds Abbott, completing She’s responsible for all that we are, plain Kitty’s statement. Lightening the mood, his eyes twin- and simple,” says Abbott. “We’re responsible for each other,” says kling with a still-boyish mischievousness, Abbott says, “Always give in when you Kitty. know you’re right. And like God says,
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jewishnewsva.org | Senior Living | June 16, 2014 | Jewish News | 25
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sentara.com/knowyourrisk | Your community, not-for-profit health partner 26 | Jewish News | June 16, 2014 | Senior Living | jewishnewsva.org
it’s a wrap Guess Who’s Coming to Shabbas wraps up first year
C
ongregation Beth El has many programs that are focused on building community within the congregation. One of the newest and most successful of these programs completed its first year with the fourth edition of “Guess Who’s Coming to Shabbas” on Friday, May 16. The goals Shabbat at the Flax home. of “Guess Who’s Coming to Shabbas” (GWCTS) program were to create opportunities for Beth El members to host and get to know other Beth El members and encourage members to celebrate Shabbat together. According to the feedback, these goals were achieved with flying colors. As host Leah Flax says, “We had the best time hosting GWCTS! We always talk about how we want to do more Shabbat dinners as a family and with friends. I think we will do them more often in the future. We loved having everyone over for Ethiopian food. It was so wonderful having all the kids running around the house.” Jalussee Miller and her family enjoyed being guests at Adam and Kristy Foleck’s house. Miller says “Sometimes trying to visit or get to know someone during Oneg or Kiddush can be an overwhelming and a challenge, but the GWCTS gathering was a lovely experience that afforded my family the opportunity to meet and spend time with other members in a more personal way. It really helped to heighten our sense of community. We got to know the people behind the faces we see on a weekly basis.” Fortunately, nearly a quarter of Congregation Beth El has already had an opportunity to participate in this program. More than 100 families have been either
BINA Shabbaton: Connecting with the Past
E
hosts or guests, or both. Many of the guests from the earlier events have later hosted, such as Jordie and Michael Efland who say, “This program was such a fabulous idea! We had such a good time being guests and then hosting our own Shabbos dinner. We will definitely participate again in the fall.” In total, in this first year of the program, approximately 450 people have celebrated Shabbat together with members of their Beth El family. The style of each meal was decided by the host and ranged from intimate to big groups, formal sit-down dining to casual take-out, and included all kinds of delicious food styles such as Mediterranean, tapas, pizza and chicken soup. All of the groups were given grape juice and challah (along with a “Guess Who’s Coming to Shabbas” bag) to use for saying Kiddush and motzi. While all the food was reported to be delicious, the best part was always said to be the company and the experience. “We loved having the GWCTS dinner,” says host Alicia Friedman, “It was so nice to share Shabbat with a family who we all love but never get to see. The program is so great—it gives you the impetus to step out of your normal routine and create a rewarding experience for everyone involved.”
arlier this year, the students of Bina High School (BHS) embarked on a whirlwind adventure of spending Shabbos with the students of Shevach High School (SHS) in Queens, N.Y. Following the eight-hour trip on Thursday, Feb. 6 from Norfolk to Queens, the students enjoyed lunch at Carlos & Gabby, a kosher restaurant in the Kew Gardens section of Queens. After a warm welcome from Rochelle Hertz, principal of SHS, the BINA girls bonded with their new SHS friends during a cake decorating activity. The girls stayed at the homes of SHS students. On Friday morning, the students toured the Living Torah Museum in Brooklyn, which is dedicated to helping those who study Torah get a better understanding of the items mentioned in the Torah by exhibiting authentic ancient artifacts, including some that are mentioned in the Mishna and Talmud. Rabbi Shimon Deutsch, the museum curator, explained the historical significance of hundreds of artifacts dating back thousands of years and the students “touched history” by handling and examining the relics. The students returned to Kew Gardens for a visit with Rabbi Paysach Krohn, lecturer, mohel, and renowned author of a series of “Maggid” books inspired by the stories of Rabbi Sholom Schwadron, known as the “Maggid of Jerusalem.” Rabbi Krohn invited the students into his home and shared stories and inspiring words. On Friday night, the BHS and SHS students had a warm Shabbos meal delighting in the spirit of camaraderie that filled the air. Following the meal, a panel composed of BHS and SHS teachers discussed insights on the theme of the weekend—“Connecting with the Past.” The Friday night festivities concluded with a dessert table prepared by the SHS staff. Following services on Shabbos
morning, a “Connecting with the Past” workshop took place. Shalosh Sueda (the third meal) was hosted at the homes of several SHS teachers. The girls ate, sang and, of course, schmoozed, until the conclusion of Shabbos. For Motzei Shabbos, the girls played an interactive trivia game featuring questions about BHS, SHS, Norfolk and Queens. The girls then heard divre chizik (words of encouragement) from Rabbi Benzion Shifrin, who entertained and inspired the students with humorous stories illustrating and containing important lessons. The evening ended with more food, schmoozing, a basketball game and all around fun. With wonderful memories, the BINA girls returned to Norfolk Sunday morning.
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he 2014 Jewish Education Night awards ceremony included the awarding of Jewish Educator of the Year to Zohar Ben Moshe, Hebrew Academy of Tidewater’s Judaic studies teacher. Jewish Education Night is an annual event that pays tribute to all Jewish educators in the community. Presented by the Simon Family Jewish Community Center, it is sponsored by the Jewish Education Council of the United Jewish Federation of Tidewater, and underwritten by the Lee A. and Helen G. Gifford Jewish Education Council Fund of the Tidewater Jewish Foundation. Each year the awarding of the Jewish Educator of the Year is a highlight of the evening’s program and is awarded to one who rises above all others in exhibiting excellence in Jewish education. In addition, the recipient must be an active participant in the larger Jewish community. Past
recipients have included teachers, administrators, assistants and staff of Hebrew day schools, synagogue religious schools and other area Jewish institutions of learning. “It was quite a humbling experience,” says Ben Moshe. “My colleagues managed to keep it a complete surprise so I had no idea until they called out my name. Everyone knows I’m all about teamwork, so I feel that this award is for the team. I work with a great team of teachers—I couldn’t be where I am today without their support and encouragement. Much of the credit also goes to my students who, over the years, have taught me so much and constantly show me their appreciation in ways that have made me feel right at home since the day I arrived from Israel.” Ben Moshe has been part of the Hebrew Academy family for 15 years. She has worked as a Judaic studies teacher, Hebrew language teacher and music teacher. While she may have been surprised to receive Jewish Educator of the Year, it was not a surprise to those who work with her. “Her students as well as those of us who work with her,” says Rabbi Mordechai Wecker, head of school, “know that she goes above and beyond, working tirelessly and with complete devotion. Not only does she teach her students but she fosters in them a true love of Judaism and a passion for learning that they carry well beyond their years here at HAT…her true hallmark.” Altogether more than 100 people gathered for Jewish Education Night on May 13 to recognize and celebrate those receiving awards who are listed in the program.
it’s a wrap Yom Hazikaron Commemoration and Day of Learning at HAT by Deb Segaloff
A
meaningful day of commemoration and learning on Yom Hazikaron, Israeli Memorial Day, was held on May 5, 2014/5 Iyar 5774 at the Hebrew Academy of Tidewater Konikoff Center of Learning for students and the community. Beginning at 8:30 am, students, faculty, former IDF soldiers and community members stood in silence at the flag poles in front of the Sandler Family Campus. The Israeli flag was lowered and a service led by students and guests took place. Rabbi Mordechai Wecker, head of school, led students in prayer as he shared his hopes and blessings for all of the Israeli Defense Forces, with specific mention of his 23-year-old daughter who recently made Aliyah and is currently serving in the IDF. Following the flag pole ceremony, everyone moved into the Fleder multipurpose room to continue the service. On each chair in the room was a picture and biography of a fallen Israeli soldier. A video clip expressing the sadness of the sacrifices made by “Reservists” in the IDF was shown and a few Israeli HAT parents shared their personal IDF stories. Students from grades 4 and 5 sang a Hebrew song about friendship and memory and the commitment made by those who lived to remember those who died by promising not to forget their youth, splendor and sacrifice. Three learning sessions were offered after the service. The first, Israel Through Local Voices, featured three community heroes. Maly Jackson began by telling the story of leaving Ethiopia. Jackson, along with her mother, uncle and two-year-old sister left her father, grandparents, and close extended family to trek across the Sudan in hopes of meeting up with members of the IDF to take them to Israel. Making this journey with a group, they could only walk at night for fear of being
robbed and killed. Jackson fell into a snake pit and witnessed people dying around her on their three-week walk. They finally crossed the Ethiopian boarder into Sudan where they stayed in refugee camps for three months and then to another town for four more months. Finally the IDF came and led Jackson and several other refugees to an awaiting airplane headed for freedom and a new life in Israel. Amos Berkovich, whose parents were living in Hungary in an area right near the Romanian boarder, was the second speaker. His mother was from Lublick, Poland and they were very religious, members of the Chasidic Satmar sect. Berkovich’s father, Mordechai Shmuel Kaufman, heard Zev Jabotinsky speak warning of the impending catastrophe facing European Jewry and urging all Jews to make Aliyah. He was hypnotized by Jabotinsky, but the Satmar Rebbe counseled against leaving Europe for Palestine. Kaufman could not be deterred and looked for ways to get to Palestine. A friend of his with the last name Berkovich, had already received papers for Palestine but was waiting on his preferred papers to America. He made a deal that if he received entry to the U.S.A., he would give Kaufman his papers for Palestine. Indeed, this is what happened and Mordechai Kaufman assumed the name Mordechai Berkovich and in 1946, in Palestine, Amos Berkovich was born. Amos’ memories of his childhood were happy. He remembered being joined in Palestine by members of his extended family who had survived Auschwitz, and that he and his parents would sleep in the flower beds outside their home in order for those who survived to sleep in their beds. He told HAT students and guests that they did not have TV, they barely had radio, but they were alive and happy. Avraham Ashkenazi then shared his family’s story of getting to Israel. Born in 1938 in Bulgaria, Ashkenazi lived in a small city near the beach, which was
They
did not have
TV, they barely had radio, but
home to 25,000 to 27,000 Jews. Unlike other European nations, the Bulgarian people, churches, universities and government spoke out against the Nazis and did not ship any of their Jews on trains. Some Jews went to the mountains to become partisans, but overall Ashkenazi remembers having a flourishing Jewish life. In 1948 when ships were allowed to pass through Cypress to go to Israel, Ashkenazi’s family decided to go. They travelled across Yugoslavia by train to the capital Sofia. He and others left with only a suitcase in hand—most of which contained food. Ashkenazi, 10 years old at the time, remembers pulling up to an area with some low lights along the side of the road. There, guys from the Haganah and Palmach met the group and took them to a ship which was loaded with food and provisions. Once the ship was boarded and set sail, its name was changed to Ha’atzmayut —Independence.
The final two learning sessions of the day, World Jewry Answering the Call for a Jewish Homeland and Hatikvah-Israel-The Jewish Hope, were taught by Leon Covitz, HAT teacher, who was instrumental in planning this significant program. The program was also sponsored in part by a grant from the Tidewater Jewish Foundation. “It was a remarkable and moving program. Next year I hope more of the community will come out to pay tribute for the brave men and women who paid with their lives to fight for a strong Israel, “ says Bonnie Brand, HAT trustee. Hebrew Academy of Tidewater is a constituent agency of United Jewish Federation of Tidewater.
they were alive and happy.
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it’s a wrap Celebrating the Hebrew Academy of Tidewater class of 2014 by Dee Dee Becker
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very year comes the bittersweetness of Hebrew Academy’s graduation, a culmination of hard work and determination by children, most who have attended since preschool. While parents and teachers both kvell over the fact that these children have reached this milestone, this particular rite of passage often leaves their parents in a state of bewilderment. Such was the condition of many who attended this year’s June 2 ceremony for the HAT Class of 2014. Heard in the hallways: “Where did all the years go? Weren’t our little ones just toddling around in footie pajamas, singing the ABC’s and drinking out of sippie cups?” As expected, the Hebrew Academy graduation was another unforgettable passthe-Kleenex-Hallmark-card moment with all the regal accoutrements from cap and
gown to awards and speeches—not to mention those larger than life twinkling faces that shined brightly when accepting their diplomas. Each one proudly crossed the stage to accept that very special parchment, shaking the hand of Rabbi Mordechai Wecker, head of school, and stopping to pose for a commemorative photo. Rabbi Wecker offered the following: “Continue to learn, continue to grow. Continue on your upward trajectory as students, and always retain that child-like curiosity about your world that was the hallmark of your time spent here at HAT. Continue to grow as Jews, learning more about your sacred roots, and your responsibilities to G-d.” Awards and Presentations Nine year awards (from preschool, age two– 5th grade)—Mushky Brashevitzky, Shayda
H ONORING
Linda Spindel Saturday, August 16
6 pm Cocktails 7 pm Dinner, Program & Dancing to the Steve Forss Band
Sheraton Oceanfront Hotel Call (757) 456-1119 for tickets and sponsorship opportunities 30 | Jewish News | June 16, 2014 | jewishnewsva.org
Hebrew Academy Class of 2014 Graduates: Mushky Brashevitzky, Lara Leiden, Shayda Rahimzadeh, Blake Brown, Gabe Foleck, Leo Kamer, Danial Watts. Outside left, Janet Jenkins, general studies director; inside left, Sheila Panitz, Judaic studies teacher; outside right, Deb White, general studies teacher.
Rahimzadeh, Blake Brown, Gabe Foleck, Leo Kamer, and Danial Watts. James London Memorial Athlete of the Year—Danial Watts. Middot Award (for the student who most exemplifies the values we strive to live)—Gabe Foleck. Shirley Helfant and Ruth Josephberg Award for Visual Arts—Lara Leiden. Abe and Anna Rudolph Award for Excellence in Mathematics—Blake Brown. Rabbi Charles J. Mantel Memorial Award for Excellence in Judaic Studies—Mushky Brashevitzky. Hyman J. Stromberg Memorial Award for Academic Excellence—Leo Kamer. Most Improved in General Studies— Shayda Rahimzadeh. Members of the HAT Class of 2014 will attend the following schools: Beth T’filoh, Baltimore, Md. Cape Henry Collegiate School Great Neck Middle School’s AVID program with advanced classes in English and Science Kempsville Middle School Norfolk Academy Norfolk Collegiate School Virginia Beach Friends School
It’s not a graduation celebration without cake.
Hebrew Academy alumni who are graduating as seniors and continuing on to college next year are: Edan Cohen, Hannah Diehl, Andi Eichelbaum, Danuta Epstein, Alaysia Freelander, Elliana Friedman, Rose Goodman, Matthew Gordon, Josh Konikoff, Alex Kramer, Lake Maizel, Bessie Miller, Sydnee Millison, Dara Pomerantz, Katelyn Schneider, Sabine Segaloff, Jillian White, and Adam Zelenka. College destinations as reported at publication deadline College of Charleston James Madison University Radford University Smith College Tulane University University of Mary Washington University of Miami University of Virginia Virginia Tech
Book ReviewS frozen latkes. Second, her recipe for “family fricassee” uses two pounds of chicken wings, which can’t be easily skinned and, therefore, are bound to produce a greasy meal. Her meatballs are not seared before cooking—so the resulting product is not likely to be my family’s favorite. I found the index a bit less than user-friendly. Despite these grumbles, the book is full of good ideas, delivered with a healthy dose of self-deprecating good humor.
Briefly Noted Joy of Kosher: Fast, Fresh Family Recipes Jamie Geller William Morrow, 2013 375 pages, $30.00 ISBN: 9780062207821 EBOOK ISBN 9780062207838 $23.99 Jamie Geller is the author of the Quick & Kosher series, magazine publisher and Hal Sacks operates a leading kosher food and recipe website, JoyofKosher.com. She is often called the Jewish Rachel Ray. Geller doesn’t guarantee a healthful and delicious meal in 30 minutes or less, but like Ray she cheats a little. Ray shaves her prep time by doing a lot of pre-preparation when she brings her produce home. (Fans will note that when she goes to the cupboard for anything—it is always right there in front.) Some of Geller’s recipes that call for 15 minutes prep time appear a bit optimistic for the everyday cook. Joy of Kosher has many recipes that require, after minimum preparation, one or two or more hours cooking—which doesn’t quite fill the bill for “fast.” Be careful, however of recipes that appear too easy to be believed. Two come to mind: First, her recipe for latkes is guaranteed to produce a latke that has no texture and might come in second to store-bought
Cooking Inspired: Bringing Creativity and Passion Back into the Kitchen The Best of KosherScoop.com Estee Kafra Feldheim Publishers, 2013 366 pages, $35.99 ISBN: 978-1-59826-048-9 It takes a lot of confidence to publish expensive, glossy cookbooks—and pricey ones at that. Food websites have become ubiquitous, and there are numerous kosher websites with enough recipes to last several lifetimes. We noted above the JoyofKosher. com website; Kafra’s beautiful book is inspired by and derives its recipes from KosherScoop.com. So unless one just likes to have the book at hand, or to give a lovely gift, a visit to the website might suffice. The editors’ premise is that creative cooking does not have to be time-consuming and there are many recipes using fresh and seasonal ingredients that take a short time. Needless to say, the recipes in this book may tend to be a bit pricier to prepare but do have a certain cachet. Few home cooks today are serving capon, or even duck—partly, one suspects, because they are four to eight times as expensive as an equal amount of chicken. Because Kafra is a photographer as well as a writer, there is an emphasis on plating and garnish; the photos of her dishes are beautiful indeed. Not to be missed is her version of Shakshouka and it is clear that like most au courant cooks, she has discovered the absolute necessity of using Yukon Gold potatoes (which don’t turn goopy gray) to make the best latkes. Cooking Inspired has an excellent section on homebaked bread with one gluten-free recipe. Sadly, there are no other gluten free recipes
in the book. I guess there are plenty of cookbooks specializing in recipes for celiac sufferers. My Mother Has the Finest Eyes: A Collection of Poetry and Reflection Lois Zachary, 2013 3rd edition, 51 pages ISBN 978-1-491-20041-4 What’s Left Behind Poems by Michal Mahgerefteh Poetica Publishing, 2013 Second edition, 32 pages, $15.00 ISBN 978-0-9636410-2-5 Michal Mahgerefteh is a poet and artist from Norfolk, Va.Lois Zachary is an internationally recognized expert on mentoring excellence, the president of Leadership Development Services and director of its Center for Mentoring Excellence in Phoenix, Arizona. They have never met, but sadly shared the need to deal with the grief of losing their mothers; Lois’ mother was afflicted with Alzheimer’s for a decade before she passed away. Michal’s mother was first diagnosed with breast cancer when only 41 years old; her father, to whom her slim elegiac volume is dedicated, supported and cared for her mother for more than 25 years, until her passing in 2010. Zachary ends her touching collection by observing that “this is not the first funeral we’ve held for Mom. Nor is it the second, It is, however, the final one…Mom died in pieces and each with a physical loss, something died inside of her. In a very real sense, she was a witness to her own funeral.” Mahgerefteh begs for “No More Hurt … all I want is to flee from your dark days that sealed My Book of Life until the hurt no longer bears your name In the eponymous verse Zachary observes that “My mother has the finest eyes In all the world. Why say, things that to me are dark as night To her are bright as day
And as the disease progresses she notes that Ten years pass in ten days Each visit I meet another stranger Multiple aspects of a decaying person …She has lost her will to go on… Staring into unknown space Resigned, silenced and motionless She has become a stranger to herself. Some of Zachary’s thoughts are delicate sketches, almost like sky writing: GOODBYE How do you say goodbye To put closure on a relationship That endures life in a different time and space? And for Mahgerefteh; The end of life draws near. Birth To death, like the hours before Dawn…darkness dissolves… Author Zachary assembled most of her very moving work some years ago, but has now polished it up a bit (not that it needed any) and given it a deserved life as a published work, for which we have reason to be grateful. In What’s Left Behind, we have a second edition as well, one which reminds us of the unbearable burden that must be borne. And During the Shivah our house holds its breath in mourning Father in his bereavement speaks only when necessary we exchange muted conversations restrained silences he just sits there stiff against the rough Mediterranean till the mist rolls in softening the sharp edges of the shoreline with a slow sway turning into a blue-black bowl of night sky Finally it should be noted that Michal Mahgerefteh is the editor and publisher of Poetica Magazine, the fall edition featured Star of David, poems by Rick Black, winner of the 2012 Poetica Magazine Chapbook Contest. (P.O. Box 11014, Norfolk, VA 23517) —Hal Sacks is a retired Jewish communal worker who has reviewed books for Jewish News for more than 30 years.
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first person
Exploring Jewish Morocco by Rabbi Israel Zoberman
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grew up in Israel of the 1950’s and 1960’s when peace with an Arab state was even beyond a dream. Thus the opportunity to visit an Arab country moves me deeply. Through the years I have had the good opportunity to go on missions with fellow rabbis to Egypt, Jordan and Tunisia. Most recently, from May 11 through May 18, I traveled to Morocco, the Westernmost country in North Africa with a population of 30 million, on a “Jewish Roots & Diplomacy Trip” sponsored by the Central Conference of American Rabbis in association with Arza World Travel. The more than 2000-year-old Moroccan Jewish community with its rich history has been reduced in size to some 7,000 souls, with rising concern for its future given its shrinking numbers. The Muslim environment has largely been appreciative and protective with some notable exceptions, in marked contrast to the Jewish experience in other Arab countries as well as that in Christian Europe, with Kings Mohammad V and Hassan II known for their close bond with Jews. The Jews have immigrated through the years, particularly following the establishment of the State of Israel in 1948, to Israel as well as other parts of the world. Given that French is spoken in Morocco, the legacy of French Colonial Rule, Frenchspeaking destinations such as France and Montreal, Canada, are favorites. Jewish high school graduates opt to go to college outside of Morocco.
Rabbi Israel Zoberman in the Old Jewish Synagogue in Meknes.
Israelis and others of Moroccan descent visit Morocco in search for their roots. Our delegation flew to Casablanca, Morocco’s largest city with more than four million people, aboard Royal Air Maroc from JFKNew York on a 6.5-hour flight. We visited the clinic that provides for indigent Jews along with being the Jewish home for the aged. Both institutions are supported by the Joint Distribution Committee (JDC) and the extended loving care is impressive. (My family and I also benefitted from the JDC while in Germany’s Wetzlar Displaced Persons Camp, 1947–1949.) We toured the Museum of the Jews of Morocco and the Mosque of Hassan II, the third largest Mosque in the world. We explored Fes with its unique aura, where the great Maimonides lived for a while, the Iben Danan Synagogue and El Fassiyim Synagogue, the cemetery known for the famous rabbis (Tzadikin) buried there and of course, the Mellah quarter where Jews lived for centuries.
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Rabbi Israel Zoberman with Sadique, the Muslim tour guide, at the entrance to the Museum of the Jews of Morocco.
We walked on a hot day in a restored Roman outpost from the third century B.C. in Volubilis, a UNESCO World Heritage site. In Meknes, we were greeted in Old Jewish Synagogue, and visited the cemetery, the Royal Stables and the Mausoleum of Sultan Moulay Ismail who made Meknes the capital from 1672 through 1727. In the capital Rabat we visited the Mausoleums of Kings Mohammad V and Hassan II who were close to the Jewish community. Later, we were briefed by Matt Lussenhop, the Deputy Chief of Missions at the U.S. embassy, who referred to Morocco as “A very good partner for the U.S.,” which interestingly claims to be the first to recognize the U.S. following the Declaration of Independence. In Marrakech we enjoyed a Shabbat eve service at Bel-El Synagogue followed by a sumptuous Shabbat meal in the most welcoming home of Chazan Isaac Ohayon with a group of Israelis also being hosted. We roamed the famous Djma El Fnia Square and were entertained by its snake charmers and variety of performers. Of course the Souq (marketplace) with its multiple shops is an unforgettable experience. All that and much more in a land where the old and the new, the traditional and non-traditional have provided for precious memories. —Rabbi Israel Zoberman is the spiritual leader of Congregation Beth Chaverim.
Visiting professor at ODU
T
his summer will see the arrival of Professor Joseph R. (Joe) Hodes who will begin the Fall semester at Old Dominion University in the History Department Joe Hodes teaching three courses. Currently a visiting professor at Tulane University where he has been teaching The Arab Israeli Conflict, History of Modern Israel, History of the Jews in the Islamic World, Jewish Civilization and a History of Islam, Professor Hodes has taught widely about Jews throughout Europe, North America and the Islamic world and came to Tulane from SUNY Binghamton. Born in Toronto, Canada, Professor Hodes’ principal research focus has been on Judaism in the modern period with an emphasis on Israeli, Sephardic and Mizrahi history. His book, From India to Israel, examines a Jewish community that lived in India amongst Hindus and Muslims for almost 2,000 years without persecution, and their absorption into the state, upon arriving in Israel. Following his Master degree work in Middle Eastern History at Tel Aviv University he was a Visiting Research Fellow at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem and has been the recipient of numerous significant awards for his research and teaching. His doctoral work included several extended stays in India and he traveled extensively throughout the Muslim Middle East over the course of the three years spent living in Israel. The Tidewater Jewish community will be pleased to welcome Professor Hodes and his young family, excited to note the commitment of ODU to its Judaic Studies program and the work of the Institute for Jewish Studies and Interfaith Understanding. The efforts of Dr. Austin Jersild, chairman of the Department of History; of Dr. Charles Wilson, Dean of the College of Arts and Letters; and of Farideh Goldin, director of IJIU have been instrumental in advancing this program which promises to greatly enhance Judaic studies, both on campus and within the community.
The American Theatre
what’s happening Israeli Scouts to perform at Simon Family JCC
Art from Beth Sholom Village on display at the Simon Family JCC Tuesday, July 1 through Friday, July 18 Sunday, July 13, 11:30 am–1:30 pm, reception
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eth Sholom Village will display and sell artwork from its residents in the Leon Family Gallery at the Simon Family JCC next month. Those who have walked into Beth Sholom Village through the Berger Goldrich Home and taken a sharp left down the hallway to the Terrace have seen beautiful paintings displayed on both walls and easels. Armond Caplan, of blessed memory, and former Terrace resident, donated the paintings of his wife, Rose Jacobson Caplan of blessed memory, also a previous Terrace resident. These paintings are a reminder that the mind and creativity never stop no matter how old you are, as long as you have the desire to try. Hortense Riddick a former resident is another great example. Riddick learned to paint at the age of 90 after she became legally blind and profoundly deaf. Nancy Dooley, the art instructor at Beth Sholom Village, worked with Riddick to help her see a picture in her mind and transfer it to a canvass. Her artwork was so impressive that The Virginian-Pilot wrote an article on her in March of 2013, just a few months before she passed away.
Monday, June 23, 6:30 pm by Leslie Shroyer
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en 17-year-old Israeli Scouts, along with two leaders, will visit the Simon Family JCC to perform and visit with JCC campers during the following day. The Scouts, or Tzofim, are teens from all over Israel. Each Friendship Caravan consists of five males and five females. The group that will perform at the JCC is one of four touring the East Coast for three months. “The impact that the Tzofim Friendship Caravan has on communities is enormous,” says Shari Farberman, director, Tzofim Friendship Caravan & Tzofim Summer Delegation. “They bring a side of Israel that most do not get to experience, and bring fun and energy through their performance. The time the Scouts spend within the community is equally as exciting and meaningful, and the connections the Caravan makes can last for years to come.” The Scouts are all accomplished performers, chosen as much for talent as verve and enthusiasm. Approximately 1,600
Israeli teens apply to be a travelling Scout. Auditions are held at the local troop level, and then regional and national cuts are made. The result is 75 teens who are either in a traveling caravan or who stay in one camp for the summer. Their talent is evident, as the scouts burst with energy on the stage singing and dancing. From setting up the stage for each performance, to performing several shows, to stage break down to long drives, the routine seems exhausting, especially for an entire summer, but the Scouts outdo themselves each year. They are equally passionate about showing their audiences what their country is all about, sharing Israeli song and dance, and inspiring inquisitive people to visit Israel. “Most Caravan alumni share with me that they stay in touch with their American friends and host families for years to come, and even host them back when they visit Israel,” says Faberman.
Tennis Pro brings new programs to JCC
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ickle-ball anyone? Learn how to play this fast growing sport, as well as tennis when tennis pro Carl Earnshaw brings his racquet programs to the Simon Family JCC. Involved in playing and promoting tennis since 1977, Earnshaw has taught and coached extensively as a player, coach, and tennis camp director. He currently coaches two USTA ladies’ leagues, and runs tennis and pickle-ball classes at several area rec centers. In late June, Earnshaw begins tennis instruction at the JCC, offering group and private lessons. He also hopes to teach clinics for all youth levels as well as for adults,
and to start JCC leagues. Since 2011, Earnshaw has taken a keen interest to the sport of pickle-ball. In this game, which he’d like to start teaching and overseeing at the JCC, whiffle balls and wooden racquets are used on a smaller court. “It’s a great introduction to racquet sports for little ones,” he says. “And for seniors, it’s a perfect way to get exercise and play a competitive sport without overexerting.” Indeed, some 70% of those who play this sport are over age 60. As he looks forward to working with campers and youth this summer, he says, “Let’s start them young and make it fun.”
Sat. June 21, 8pm
John McCutcheon JCC Book Club —Third Monday of the month, 1 pm
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he JCC Book Club meets monthly at the Sandler Family Campus in the Klezmer Room. The book for the July 21 meeting is The First Phone Call From Heaven by Mitch Albom. Free and open to everyone. For more information, e-mail harrietteluto@yahoo.com.
BUY TICKETS AT
www.HamptonArts.net (757) 722-2787 jewishnewsva.org | June 16, 2014 | Jewish News | 33
IS IT NEXT YEAR YET?
calendar June 18, Wednesday The art of Lorraine Fink on exhibit in the Leon Family Art Gallery at the Simon Family JCC closes. 757-321-2338. JUNE 24, TUESDAY 4th Annual Simon Family JCC Presidents’ Cup Golf Tournament at Heron Ridge Golf Tournament. Captain’s Choice with multiple flights. Individual player, $180; Foursome, $720. For sponsorship opportunities and to sign up, call 321-2337. For more information, visit SimonfFamilyJCC.org. June 23, Monday Israeli Scouts to perform at Simon Family JCC. 6:30 pm. See page 33. July 1, Tuesday Art from Beth Sholom Village at Simon Family JCC. See page 33.
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.
what’s happening SOPS Reunion planned Saturday, August 9 and Sunday, August 10 Eric Kline Business Development Danny Kline Vice President
Andy Kline President
F
ormer members of SOPS sorority are planning a reunion and are looking for other former members to be invited…from the sorority’s earliest days to its final days. Contact Judith Gutterman at judithgutterman@gmail.com to be added to the contact list and to supply other names.
Linda Spindel honored at Arthritis event Saturday, August 16, 6 pm
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Seas the Day, Arthritis Ball 2014 will honor Linda Spindel at its gala event, which includes cocktails, a program, live and silent auctions, a seated dinner and dancing. “About nine years ago, my niece, Stephanie, returning from her honeymoon, was suddenly unable to walk. After many doctors’ visits, she was diagnosed with Rheumatoid Arthritis. She has been on so many medications, been through so many procedures, and has suffered more than anyone I’ve known. It has been so difficult to watch the progression of this horrible disease,” says Spindel. “About three years ago, I received a
frantic phone call from my son Kevin. After he regained his composure, Linda Spindel. he told me he had just had an appointment with his doctor and he too, has Rheumatoid Arthritis.” Spindel is a past president of Ohef Sholom Temple and Jewish Family Service, among her many volunteer positions. She says that the Arthritis Foundations offers her an opportunity to help impact “the lives of people in my family.” The event takes place at Sheraton Oceanfront Hotel. Call (757) 456-1119 for tickets and sponsorship opportunities.
Mazel Tov to Achievement Rabbi Israel Zoberman, spiritual leader of Congregation Beth Chaverim, on his statement on Yom HaShoah, Yom HaAtzmut and the CCAR trip to Morocco being inserted into the Congressional Record by Congressman Scott Rigell.
who knew? Birth Joanne Batson and Philip Rovner, on the birth of their newest grandchild, a boy, Benjamin Davis Litner. Parents are Heidi and Rich Litner of Dunwoody, Ga. Benjamin is named after Philip’s brother. This makes five grandchildren for the Norfolk couple.
Family loves Camp JCC and hosting Israeli counselors
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hen Israeli born Cheni Alofer and her husband Sam told their children they were taking a trip to visit family in Israel this June, their son Aaron said, “Will that mean we will miss Camp JCC?” Aaron, a rising first grader at HAT, and his younger sister Natali, will attend camp after their family trip. The two spent most of last summer at Camp JCC, and also hosted an Israeli counselor. “My kids simply love Camp JCC,” says
JERUSALEM (JTA)—Lady Gaga will bring her world tour to Tel Aviv. The Grammy Award-winning singer will perform at Yarkon Park on Sept. 13. The appearance, the provocative musician’s second in Israel, is part of “artRAVE: The ARTPOP ball,” the concert tour named for her album released last November. Lady Gaga will play in Dubai before heading to Tel Aviv and then Istanbul. She performed in Tel Aviv in August 2009, despite attempts by the boycott, divestment and sanctions movement to have her cancel.
Steven Spielberg’s niece auditions for Israel’s ‘The Voice’
Mazel Tov submissions should be emailed to news@ujft.org with Mazel Tov in the subject line. Achievements, B’nai Mitzvot, births, engagements and weddings are appropriate simchas to announce. Photos must be at least 300k. Include a daytime phone for questions. There is no fee.
Cheni Alofer and her children, Aaron and Natali.
Lady Gaga to play Tel Aviv
Cheni Alofer. ”Aaron enjoys outdoor sports activities, especially Gaga and swimming, and raves about his counselors. “The camp experience taught him a lot about sportsmanship, about not caring so much if he wins or loses, but how to become a team player. “ Natali, almost five, loves swimming and her counselors as well, and looks forward to family and late nights at Camp JCC. “Like her brother, she looks forward to going to camp each day, and is never bored, because Camp JCC constantly mixes things up with a variety of activities, themes and field trips.” For two weeks last summer, the Alofers housed Noga, the Israeli counselor at Camp JCC. “I would recommend this experience for any family,” says Alofer. “For us, the connection to Israel is very important, and we like having the kids speak Hebrew with a young person from Israel.” She adds that every family will grow from the experience of housing a counselor. “It’s good for young children to learn how to be a host; you’re doing a mitzvah for somebody. These teens are working hard and it’s our way to show our appreciation in return.” To house a Caravan Scout June 22 through June 24, or to host an Israeli counselor for a week or more this summer, contact Scott Katz at 321-2317.
JERUSALEM (JTA)—Jessica Katz, a niece of director Steven Spielberg, has auditioned for Israel’s version of “The Voice.” Katz, 25, daughter of Nancy Spielberg-Katz, the filmmaker’s sister, participated in the blind auditions for the show’s third season in Israel, according to the Hollywood Reporter. The results of her audition, singing Swedish singer Lykke Li’s “I Follow Rivers,” have not yet been made public. “The Voice Israel” premiered its second season Sunday, June 15 on Israel’s Channel 2. Katz made aliyah three years ago. She performs in Tel Aviv bars both solo and with the band Jessica Rabbit & the Blues Bunnies.
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obituaries Jerry Baydush Norfolk—Jerry David Baydush, 75, peacefully died on May 30, 2014 after a devastating illness. He was a very kind, attentive, and loving husband, father, grandfather, uncle, son, brother, and friend. He was a hard working well-regarded businessman and lifelong supporter of Norfolk Academy, from which he graduated in 1957. He remained close with his graduating class through his final days. He played football and basketball for Norfolk Academy. He then attended Virginia Polytechnic Institute, where he also played football. He married Joan Bass in September 1963 and had two children in the following years. Words cannot possibly express how special a husband he was to his forever sweetheart Joanie. They catered to each other with love and respect and were always at each other’s side and in each other’s heart. They were best friends and spouses. He was a doting father and grandfather who cherished his son Alan Baydush, his late daughter Helen Baydush Kehayas Verhulst, and his grandsons Alexander Kehayas and Aidan Baydush. They were treasures to him beyond words and the lights of his life. He adored Alan’s wife, Lori Tebbets Baydush, as he would an actual daughter. His parents, Marion and Junius Baydush, predeceased him, as did his brother Fred Baydush. He leaves to cherish his memory his devoted sister Libby Baydush Furst, her husband Mark Furst, and his siblings Robin Feldman Kyle, Brian Feldman, and Howard Feldman and numerous other cousins, nieces, and nephews on both sides, and many friends. Jerry lived almost his entire life in Norfolk until moving to Lewisville, N.C. after his retirement in 2013. He consistently had a deep interest in spirituality and helped guide his grandsons towards Torah and Judaism. Jerry was a skilled craftsman, gifted chef, and hobbyist with a very strong love of family. He consistently developed friendships wherever he went, even in his final days. While often a man of few words, he let his actions speak loudly for his heart and passion. Graveside services were held at Forest
Lawn Cemetery, Norfolk, by Rabbi Rosalin Mandelberg. Additional remarks were added by Rabbi Mark Strauss-Cohn. Memorial donations to Ohef Sholom Temple, 530 Raleigh Ave, Norfolk or Temple Emanuel, 201 Oakwood Dr, WinstonSalem, NC, 27103 or the charity of one`s choice. H.D. Oliver Funeral Home. Online condolences may be offered at hdoliver.com. Marvin Biberman Norfolk—Marvin Biberman, 88, died at Beth Sholom nursing home on May 30, 2014. He is survived by his brother, Leonard Biberman, MD. He was predeceased by his brother, Sidney Biberman. He has two nephews, Charles Biberman of Fairfax, Va., and Matthew Biberman of Louisville, Ky. His niece, Sandra B. Liederman, lives in Sarasota, Fl. Marvin attended Norfolk schools and went to the University of Va. and Old Dominion University. A graveside service took place at Forest Lawn Cemetery. Altmeyer Funeral Home. Donations to Beth Sholom Village, or Jewish Family Service of Tidewater, 260 Grayson Road, Virginia Beach, Va. 23462 or charity of donor’s choice. Frances Golden VIRGINIA BEACH—Frances Golden, 95, passed away on June 5, 2014. Services took place at Forest Lawn Cemetery, Norfolk. Altmeyer Funeral Home. Robert Kletz Davie, Fla.—Robert Kletz, passed away May 19. Bob was predeceased by his wife Connie and son Gary. He was the beloved father of Debbie (Tony) Lundy and Todd (Susan) Kletz, dearly loved Papa to his grandchildren and great grandchildren and cherished companion to Doris Hurwitz. Services took place at Beth El Memorial Gardens, in Davie, Fla. Elsie Goodman Leviton Palm Beach, Fla.– Elsie Goodman Leviton, described as “a very smart, caring Southern Jewish woman” and in her own words “a born do-gooder,” passed away June 6, 2014, at age 99.
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Mrs. Leviton was born in Portsmouth, Va., and lived in Palm Beach, Fla., for 70 years. She moved to Florida in 1944 with her husband Lory, a pediatrician in the Army, who was stationed at Belle Glade Hospital. She met and married Lory at Northwestern University, Chicago, Ill., where she graduated with a major in Music and English. She was a Centennial Ambassador of the Town of Palm Beach, an honorary appointment for her long-standing historic relationship to the Town; a longtime member of Temple Israel in West Palm Beach, where she founded, managed and chaired the Temple Israel library for more than 50 years. Her civic activities were wide-ranging: President of the League of Women’s Voters of West Palm Beach; lobbied for the Equal Rights Amendment; Democratic Club of the Palm Beaches; first woman to serve on the Palm Beach County’s zoning board; Planned Parenthood; Civic Music Association; the Palm Beach County Library System, where she helped organize the county-wide library system; she taught English as a Second Language and Citizenship for 20 years; and served on numerous boards including the Community Relations Council of the Palm Beach County Jewish Federation, Commission on the Status of Women, Channel 20, Anti-Defamation League, Jewish Family and Children’s Society. She was a dedicated supporter of the State of Israel as well as Jewish organizations Technion-Israel Institute of Technology, Hadassah Hospital and School, AIPACAmerican Israel Public Affairs Committee, and Weizmann Institute of Science. She is survived by her two children, Ann Leviton of South St. Paul, Minn., and Joan Laderberg and her husband Reid of Virginia Beach; her beloved grandchildren Lauren Elise Morgan Mawyer and her husband Jason Mawyer and Benjamin Paul Laderberg. She is also survived by her sister, Zelma Goodman Rivin, as well as her loving nieces and nephews and numerous dear friends. She was preceded in death by her parents, Isaac and Belle Goodman, her sister, Helen Goodman Gifford, her son, Robert Lawrence Leviton, and her husband, Lawrence Robert Leviton, to whom she was married for 65 years. Donations in her honor may be made to the Temple Israel Library or Temple
Israel, the Children’s Home Society, and Jewish Family and Children’s Services, West Palm Beach, Fla. A private funeral was held immediately, followed by a public Memorial Service celebrating Elsie’s life at Temple Israel of West Palm Beach. To express condolences and/or make donations, visit PalmBeachPost.com/obituaries. Lee Liverman Newport News—Anna Lee Vaughn Kahn Goldfarb Liverman left this earth on Friday, May 30, 2014, surrounded by her loving family. Lee was born in Oklahoma and has been a Virginia resident for more than 60 years. Lee was a professional model and actress in her early years and a successful businesswoman until retirement. She owned and operated Guaranteed Foods of VA with her first husband Edward. Lee served myriad of roles including Temple Sinai’s president and Sisterhood president, board member of the National Girl Scout Council, and many other organizations. However, she felt her most important roles were as a wife, mother, grandmother and great-grandmother. Lee was a recipient of multiple community awards and honors. She spent a lifetime making the most of each day, being a loving matriarch to her family and friends and being a world traveler. She is survived by her devoted husband, Robert Liverman; her children, Dianne Haley and David Kahn; her adopted children, Star Carlton and Joel Menco; her stepchildren, Betty Moritz and Nancy Millstein; her grandchildren, Lee Anne Dunn, Eric Kahn, Jill DiGrazio, Michael Saks, and Julianna Kahn; and her great-grandchildren, Haley Saks, Alexander Saks, William Dunn, Dylan DiGrazio, Madison Kahn, Lily Kahn, Devon DiGrazio and Jacqueline Kahn, as well as many nieces and nephews and other extended family and friends. A service was conducted at Ohef Sholom Temple by Rabbi Rosalin Mandelberg with burial at Peninsula Memorial Park. Weymouth Funeral Home. Contributions to the Temple Sinai Edward E. Kahn Biblical Memorial Garden or a charity of choice.
obituaries Evelyn G. Sheffer Virginia Beach—Evelyn G. Sheffer, 97, passed away on June 4, 2014. Born December 20, 1916, she was a loving mother, grandmother and great-grandmother. She is predeceased by her husband David, son-in-law Billy, brothers Abe and Harry. She is survived by her children, Morey (Lynne), Karen Bazar, Hank (Susan), grandchildren Dara (Zach) Tucker, Brad Bazar, David (Julie) Sheffer, Austin Sheffer, great grandchildren Dalton Tucker and Abe Sheffer. Graveside services were held at Woodlawn Memorial Gardens. Donations may be made to Temple Israel, Torah Fund. Shirley Westbrook London, England — Shirley Westbrook, mother of Janice Foleck (Rick)– passed away. Shiva took place in London, England.
World’s oldest man dies two months after achieving title The world’s oldest man, a New Yorker who attempted to flee the Nazi rise to power in Poland in 1939, died at the age of 111. Alexander Imich held the title of world’s oldest validated man for just two months before his death on Sunday, June 8. There are 66 women who were older. Imich was born in Czestochowa, in southern Poland, to a wealthy secular Jewish family, according to The New York Times. He said he was not allowed to join the Polish Navy due to anti-Semitism. He and his wife were sent from Bialystok, Poland, where they fled after the Nazis rise to power, to a Soviet labor camp. Returning to Poland after the war, they discovered that many family members had died in the Holocaust. The couple immigrated to Waterbury, Conn., in 1951. Imich told The New York Times in April that holding the record for world’s oldest
man is “not like it’s the Nobel Prize” and that “I never thought I’d be that old.” He said he never drank alcohol. He and his wife, who died in 1986, had no children. Imich willed his body to the Mount Sinai Medical Center for study. (JTA)
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Diamond minds: Baseball bonds generations of Shapiros by Hillel Kuttler
ABERDEEN, Md. (JTA)—Standing on a hill on a glorious Sunday morning, Mark and Ron Shapiro are kvelling as they watch Caden Shapiro—son of Mark and grandson of Ron—in this city near Baltimore after having been shelved for nearly two months by a broken ankle. Mark Shapiro, the president of the Cleveland Indians, was back recently in his native area for the three-day competition as a coach for his boy’s Cleveland Spiders, not to see his Tribe play the Orioles at nearby Camden Yards. The site for the tournament—a complex of beautifully maintained fields—was named for Hall of Famer Cal Ripken, the most recognizable client of his dad, an eminent sports agent.
At 11, Caden is the latest Shapiro drawn to baseball, a chain emanating from the 1950s, when Ron’s immigrant father, also named Mark, took his young son by train from their home in Philadelphia to a World Series game at Yankee Stadium in New York. Ron and Mark Shapiro have combined for 62 years of baseball-related employment that began when the Orioles’ then-owner, Jerry Hoffberger, asked Ron, a lawyer friend, in 1975 to assist Brooks Robinson with financial problems the team’s All-Star third baseman was experiencing. It launched Ron Shapiro into a lucrative career as an agent representing athletes in contract negotiations. The work appealed to Mark Shapiro, too, but he blazed a different path to his
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baseball life. In 1991, he took an entry-level job with the Indians that included chauffeuring prospective free agents such as pitchers Sid Fernandez and David Wells from the airport. From there he would serve as director of player development, assistant general manager and general manager before being promoted to president four years ago. Their jobs, at least occasionally, would have pitted Shapiro the agent against Shapiro the executive. Instead, they recused themselves from face-to-face involvement. “When it came to doing contracts, he delegated and I delegated,” Mark Shapiro says. “It just seemed like the right way, the honest way, to handle it.” Ron Shapiro says he’s heard plenty of kind words around baseball about Mark’s integrity. “What does a father feel other than unbelievable pride?” he says. “I look at Caden looking at his father, and the relationship continues.” Mark and Ron Shapiro see each other five or six times a year—they had been together a month earlier at the New Jersey bat mitzvah of Mark Shapiro’s niece—but speak by telephone several times a week. “Nothing happens of major importance where we don’t talk to each other,” says Ron Shapiro, 71. “It makes me happy to see kids play and parents and kids interacting around baseball,” says Mark Shapiro, 47. It was Mark Shapiro who co-founded the Spiders—a name the Indians had used in the late 19th century—two years ago to imbue youth baseball with values that he thought were missing. In youth baseball, “the overarching opportunity is character development,” Mark Shapiro says, sitting with his father in the shade following Caden’s game. “Character is how do you respond to adversity [and] setbacks? Being a great teammate, showing respect—that’s at the core of what this experience provides for us as coaches and as fathers.” They have the perfect role model in
Ripken. The Orioles former star infielder, baseball’s ironman, had stood with Ron Shapiro not far from here surveying the acreage that would become a stadium and complex for the minor-league Aberdeen Ironbirds and youth leagues to draw the next generation of players. At the Ripken facility, Mark Shapiro calls over former major-league first baseman Sean Casey to address the Spiders. Casey, coaching his son Jake’s Pittsburgh club, stood beside his own father, Jim, who had enlisted Ron Shapiro as his son’s first agent upon his being drafted by the Indians in 1997. Jake and Caden’s teams would square off that afternoon. Close friends Casey and Mark Shapiro would be in the coaching boxes. “Take it easy on us,” Casey told the Spiders. Coaching the Spiders helped Mark Shapiro overcome the temptation to attend the Indians-Orioles series. So was visiting with his father and stepmother, Cathi, at their suburban Baltimore farm. Father and son exude warmth. Ron Shapiro, unable to stay for the afternoon game, tells Mark upon departing, “Give me a kiss and a hug,” and through their embrace the men uttered their mutual love. Their personal-baseball time together here was a weekend to savor. “For me, baseball has always been relational—and nothing is more relational than family,” Mark Shapiro says. “My love for baseball has always been tied to my father. And to be able to see that relationship and love for the game shared with my son, and to have my dad here, is incredibly special.” Caden gets the whole baseball-family thing. “It’s pretty cool, passing down baseball generation to generation,” he says, grasping the white sphere. “It’s a great experience I’m living with my father and grandfather. Baseball just runs in our family. I’ll pass it on to my grandkids.”
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