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Southeastern Virginia | Vol. 52 No. 20 | 2 Tammuz 5774 | June 30, 2014
g n i t a r b e l Ce y l u J f o h t F ou r t a b b a h S on
29 12th Melton Graduation
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30 Jewish Family Service’s Biennial Meeting
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upfront
T
20 world mayors condemn Israeli youths’ abduction
wenty mayors from around the world condemned the suspected kidnapping of three Israeli youths in the West Bank. The condemnations by the mayors of Berlin, Frankfurt, Buenos Aires, Sarajevo, Marseilles, Nice and Entebbe, among other cities, came in a joint statement to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on June 18 during a conference of mayors in Jerusalem. “We were all saddened and deeply disappointed to learn of the boys’ abduction,” wrote the 20 mayors in Israel to attend the 29th Israel International Mayors Conference in Jerusalem. “Kidnapping, as well as taking hostages, is a violation of internaional law.” Eyal Yifrah, Gilad Shahar and Naftali Frenkel were last seen on June 12 in the West Bank. Netanyahu has said they were abducted by the Hamas terrorist group. “Israeli suffering has to be understood,” the mayor of Buenos Aires, Mauricio Macri, told a reporter at the conference. “From afar it is easy to give advice, but you have to be in Israel to really understand the situation.” Macri, who himself spent 14 days in captivity during a kidnapping for ransom in 1991, added that abduction “is the most perverse situation you can find yourself in. I do not know if it is worse for the victim or the family.” Macri was invited to the conference by Claudio Epelman, the Latin-American representative of the World Jewish Congress. (JTA)
Actor Gary Oldman apologizes for Playboy comments
A
ctor Gary Oldman apologized for defending Mel Gibson’s 2006 drunken anti-Semitic rant and saying that Jews run Hollywood. In an open letter to the Anti-Defamation League sent late Tuesday, June 24 and published online by Deadline.com, Oldman wrote, “I am deeply remorseful that comments I recently made in the Playboy interview were offensive to many Jewish people. Upon reading my comments in print—I see how insensitive they may be, and how they may indeed contribute to the furtherance of a
false stereotype. Anything that contributes to this stereotype is unacceptable, including my own words on the matter. “I hope you will know that this apology is heartfelt, genuine, and that I have an enormous personal affinity for the Jewish people in general, and those specifically in my life.” Oldman also said that he had just finished reading An Empire of Their Own: How the Jews Invented Hollywood, by Neal Gabler. “The fact is that our business, and my own career specifically, owes an enormous debt to that contribution,” he wrote. ADL said in a statement issued after the letter became public that the apology was “insufficient.” “While his apology may be heartfelt, Mr. Oldman does not understand why his words about Jewish control were so damaging and offensive, and it is therefore insufficient,” the statement said. “His reference to the Neal Gabler book he was reading only reinforces the notion that Jewish directors, producers and financiers are there in Hollywood as Jews. They’re not, and the book does not draw that conclusion.” The ADL in a statement issued earlier Tuesday condemned Oldman for his remarks, saying he “should know better than to repeat tired anti-Semitic tropes about Jewish control of Hollywood.” In the interview with Playboy magazine, Oldman said of Gibson, “He got drunk and said a few things, but we’ve all said those things.… The policeman who arrested him never used the word n***** or that f***ing Jew?” Gibson had said during the rant that “the Jews are responsible for all the wars in the world.” Oldman added, “So they persecute. Mel Gibson is in a town that’s run by Jews and he said the wrong thing because he’s actually bitten the hand that I guess has fed him—and doesn’t need to feed him anymore because he’s got enough dough. He’s like an outcast, a leper, you know? But some Jewish guy in his office somewhere hasn’t turned and said, ‘That f***ing kraut’ or ‘F*** those Germans,’ whatever it is? We all hide and try to be so politically correct.” He did not apologize in the letter to other groups he insulted in the interview, including gays and African-Americans. (JTA)
conte nts
quotable
Up Front. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
Melton Graduation. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
Briefs. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
Beth El studies Torah. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
Torah Thought . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
JFS holds 62nd Biennial Meeting. . . . . . . 30
Reclaiming Hebrew . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
Rug from Hap Unger goes to HAT. . . . . . 31
Canadians split on support . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
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briefs U.S. Consulate issues warning on West Bank travel American citizens should take precautions and avoid demonstrations during travel in the West Bank, the U.S. Consulate in Jerusalem warned. The Security Message for U.S. Citizens was emailed Monday, June 16 to American citizens living in Israel who are registered with the consulate. It follows the increased security presence and operations by Israeli and Palestinian forces throughout the West Bank, particularly in the Hebron area, following the kidnapping of three Israeli teens on June 12. All travel by U.S. government personnel into the West Bank in the Hebron area and parts of the Gush Etzion, a bloc of settlements located south of Jerusalem, have been suspended until further notice, according to the message. “The U.S. Consulate General takes this opportunity to remind U.S. citizens that even demonstrations intended to be peaceful can turn confrontational and possibly escalate into violence,” the message said. The Consulate General also warned Israeli-Americans to maintain valid travel documents. The U.S. State Department frequently issues travel warnings for the West Bank and certain areas of Israel. (JTA) Iron Dome intercepts rockets over Ashkelon Two rockets fired from Gaza at Ashkelon were intercepted by the Iron Dome anti-missile system, while two others landed in open areas of the southern Israeli city. Israel’s Air Force retaliated for the attack late Sunday, June 15 by striking five terrorist-related sites in Gaza. Israeli military aircraft bombed three weapon storage and manufacturing facilities as well as two terror activity sites, the Israel Defense Forces said in a statement. The two rockets intercepted by Iron Dome were headed for populated areas of the city. No injuries and some shrapnel damage were reported from the rockets that landed in southern Israel. More than 200 rockets have been launched from Gaza at Israel since the beginning of the year, according to the IDF. (JTA)
Men, apparently armed, threaten Paris cops outside synagogue Two men pointed what appeared to be firearms at police stationed outside a Paris synagogue in one of several anti-Semitic incidents in and near the French capital. The incident involving the police officers occurred Saturday, June 14 outside the synagogue on Julien Lacroix Street in eastern Paris, according to a report posted the following day on the website of the National League for Vigilance Against anti-Semitism, or BVCA. The two men approached the police officers on motorcycles when one of them produced what appeared to be a handgun, pointed it at one police officer and shouted “bang bang.” His accomplice did the same with what appeared to be an AK-47 assault rifle before escaping. The synagogue was empty at the time. Other incidents included two assaults of Jews on the subway. On June 12, the anti-Semitic taunting by three passengers against a Jewish man and woman escalated into a physical assault of the man, according to the BNVCA report. An hour earlier, a Jewish girl, 14, was assaulted while traveling on a subway to her Jewish school in northeastern Paris. Three young girls and an adolescent, whom she described as having African and Middle Eastern appearance, pushed the girl around and said “f*** your whole race.” Also on June 14, various objects including a knife were hurled into the interior yard of a synagogue in Garges les Gonesses, a northern suburb of Paris. The objects were thrown down at the synagogue from apartments around the place of worship, BNVCA wrote. The synagogue was not damaged and no one was hurt. (JTA) Netanyahu slams Presbyterian divestment Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu criticized the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) vote to divest from three companies that do business with Israeli West Bank security forces. Netanyahu, speaking to Jewish journalists from around the world at the inaugural Jewish Media Summit in Jerusalem, said the vote this month to divest from Caterpillar, Motorola Solutions and Hewlett-Packard
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was misguided because Israel protects civil rights in a region with rising tides of Islamist extremism. “The only place where you have freedom, tolerance, protection of minorities, protection of gays, of Christians and all other faiths is Israel,” he said. Netanyahu suggested that American Presbyterian leaders “take a plane, come here and let’s arrange a bus tour in the region. Let them go to Libya, Syria, Lebanon, Iraq.” The prime minister told the more than 100 Jewish journalists gathered for the fiveday summit that he sees three threats facing the Jewish people worldwide—heightened anti-Semitism in Europe, weakened Jewish identity in the United States and the rise of radical Islamist forces in the Middle East. He lamented the June 12 kidnapping of three Israeli teenagers in the West Bank, as well as the death of a 13-year-old Israeli killed by an explosive in the Golan Heights. “We as a people, our heart is broken about the kidnapping of every youth and the murder of every youth,” he said. Netanyahu also repeated his call for the world to prevent Iran from attaining nuclear weapons capability. He connected Iran’s Islamic government to conflicts between Sunni and Shiite groups in Iraq and Syria. “It is the height of folly to allow one of the Islamist camps to have nuclear weapons,” he said. “It will change history.” Speaking before Netanyahu at the summit, outgoing President Shimon Peres praised Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas’ condemnation of the teens’ kidnapping and said Abbas is a good peace partner for Israel. Peres encouraged Israel to restart peace talks, which Israel suspended in April after Abbas signed a reconciliation pact with Hamas, the terrorist group that governs Gaza. “I think he is the best partner Israel ever had, and has now,” Peres said of Abbas. “I know him for 20 years. I think he’s a man of his word. I think he’s a man of courage.” Netanyahu said earlier that Israel has clear evidence that Hamas participated in the kidnapping. The Jewish Media Summit, organized by Israel’s Government Press Office, is set to occur every two years. More than 25 countries were represented at the event. (JTA)
Metropolitan Opera canceling broadcast of ‘Klinghoffer’ The Metropolitan Opera is canceling a global simulcast of an opera about the 1985 Achille Lauro hijacking in which Palestinian terrorists murdered an elderly New York Jewish man in a wheelchair. The New York company nixed the broadcast of John Adams’ The Death of Klinghoffer in response to concerns that it could encourage anti-Semitism around the world or legitimize terrorism. “I’m convinced that the opera is not anti-Semitic. But I’ve also become convinced that there is genuine concern in the international Jewish community that the live transmission of The Death of Klinghoffer would be inappropriate at this time of rising anti-Semitism, particularly in Europe,” the Metropolitan Opera’s general manager, Peter Gelb, said in the Daily News. In a news release, the Anti-Defamation League welcomed the decision and said it followed a series of conversations between Gelb and its director, Abraham Foxman. Foxman, who the ADL said was representing the interests of Leon Klinghoffer’s family, shared concerns that the opera justified terrorism by juxtaposing Palestinian and Jewish suffering. Klinghoffer was 69 years old when he was shot in the head and thrown overboard the Achille Lauro cruise ship in the Mediterranean. The Met’s co-production with the English National Opera is scheduled to premiere in New York on Oct. 20. In addition to canceling the simulcast, which would have been broadcast in more than 2,000 theaters in 66 countries, the Met has agreed to include a statement from Klinghoffer’s daughters, Lisa and Ilsa, in the printed program during the opera’s scheduled run, the ADL said. In the ADL release, Lisa and Ilsa Klinghoffer said, “The Death of Klinghoffer perverts the terrorist murder of our father and attempts to romanticize, rationalize, legitimize and explain it. The political approach of the composer and librettist is evident with the opera’s disingenuous and dangerous juxtaposition of the plight of the Palestinian people with the coldblooded, terrorist murder of an innocent American Jew.” (JTA)
Torah Thought
360 Years of Jewish Life in America: A thought for Independence Day
J
ews first arrived in what is now the United States of America in 1654 — 360 years ago. A small group of Sephardic refugees, fleeing the Inquisition when the Portuguese conquered Brazil from the Dutch, suffered a series of misfortunes and were off-loaded, penniless, in New Amsterdam (as New York City was then called). The Dutch governor, Peter Stuyvesant, didn’t want to admit them, because he felt that he already had too much diversity in the colony—Lutherans as well as Calvinists. But he was overruled by the Directors of the colony, back in the Netherlands, and the Jews were allowed to stay. Since that humble beginning, the Jews of America have gone on to create a center of Jewish life that fully equals the great, earlier centers of Jewish civilization in the Diaspora: Eastern Europe of the past few centuries, the “Dutch Jerusalem” of the 17th and 18th centuries, France and Germany in the High Middle Ages, Andalusia in the 9th and 10th centuries, Baghdad in the Abbasid period, Babylon under the Sassanid emperors. The vigor of Jewish life
in America, the contributions of our people to the general welfare of our society, and the synthesis of Jewish and democratic values actually exceed the accomplishments of earlier Jewish societies, hemmed in as they were by the corporate nature of the broader, general conditions of life. Only in America and a few other modern countries have our people enjoyed the opportunity to be citizens as well as Jews. Precisely because we are so free, there is paradoxically a danger to Jewish continuity in America: the danger of assimilation. In medieval France or North Africa, a Jew could not leave his community without joining the majority Christian or Muslim group, and that was often distasteful even to a marginal Jew; hence, we kept our cohesiveness. But the very tolerance of American society makes assimilation an easy path…all too easy for increasing numbers of our co-religionists. We have had thousands of years of experience in coping with the mainstream marginalizing us. Now, we need to be able to experiment with new strategies, to cope with the new challenge, of no longer being marginal. But, as Sam the piano player sings in Casablanca, “the fundamentals still apply”—Jews who prioritize the triple values of God, of Torah and of Israel (people, land and state) are able to participate fully in the blessings of living in the “land of the free and the home of the brave” while still being part of the time-transcending story of Jews and Judaism. Happy Independence Day! —Rabbi Michael Panitz, Temple Israel
Only
in America and a few
other modern
countries have our people enjoyed the opportunity to be citizens as well as Jews.
jewishnewsva.org | June 30, 2014 | Jewish News | 5
OP-ED
American Jewry must reclaim Hebrew by Ari Rudolph
NEW YORK (JTA)—A key component that unifies a people or nation is a common language. The Jewish people are no exception; the Hebrew language is an essential element of what constitutes the Jewish nation. Hebrew often is the only common language in the room—the lingua franca— when Jews from different parts of the globe get together (native English-speaking Jews aside, for the most part). Conversely, the lack of a unifying language creates a great gulf between people. It leads to misunderstandings and frustrations on both sides, and ultimately lessens the fraternal bond. So for the sake of the Jewish future, the American Jewish community needs to reclaim Hebrew. Hebrew is more than simply a medium of communication. It is our heritage. It’s a
Semitic language that has its roots in the Middle East, thus linking the Jewish people to the region. It’s the liturgical language of Judaism, thus connecting the Jewish people to their faith. And it’s the biblical language, thus binding the Jewish people to their history. Unfortunately, however, Hebrew is lost on the American Jewish community as a whole. Leon Wieseltier of the New Republic writes, “The American Jewish community is the first great community in the history of our people that believes that it can receive, develop, and perpetuate the Jewish tradition not in a Jewish language. By an overwhelming majority, American Jews cannot read or speak or write Hebrew, or Yiddish. This is genuinely shocking. American Jewry is quite literally unlettered.” Indeed, many Jews are averse to learning Hebrew. They are turned off when
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they hear it spoken or see it written in the public domain because they see it as elitist and exclusionary. This could simply be a result of not being accustomed to seeing a second language in public. Yet many societies around the world are bilingual, even trilingual. The issue of Hebrew in the American Jewish orbit may cut to a far deeper question: If one’s Americanness is paramount to an American, and speaking English is the “American thing to do,” then is promoting another language, by definition, un-American? By promoting Hebrew, does the Jewish community run the risk of undermining all it has done to achieve its place in general society, or is the American Jewish community finally secure enough to freely embrace its own heritage? For those who are scared of Hebrew or its elevated status outside of Israel, they need not fear; Hebrew is not going to replace English as the everyday language of the Jewish community in North America anytime soon. It could, however, be the bulwark against assimilation. A common misconception is that Hebrew is simply the Zionist language, i.e. the State of Israel’s language. In protest of Israel’s policies vis-a-vis the Palestinians, Alice Walker, an American writer, refuses to translate her Pulitzer Prize-winning book The Color Purple into Hebrew. Walker’s is not an isolated case, as the Scottish author Iain Banks and the Swedish author Henning Mankell have similarly refused to allow their books to be translated into Hebrew. Their hypocrisy and bigotry aside, one point does come through: The writers see Hebrew as the language of the State
of Israel, not of the Jewish people. This view, unfortunately, is common around the world, including within the American Jewish community, where Hebrew is no longer defined as the Jewish language but is considered to be the Zionist language. But Hebrew is not a Zionist language. It is the Jewish language, the language of the Jewish Bible, also known as the Hebrew Bible, and the only language that has any formal standing in Judaism. It also predates modern Zionism by about 3,500 years. Zionists, and by extension the State of Israel, rightly chose to use Hebrew as their language precisely because it is the Jewish language. The causality flows from Judaism to Zionism, not the other way. So how do we go about promoting Hebrew? Many will be relieved to learn that it doesn’t simply translate into mandatory, universal ulpan. It means appropriately encouraging Hebrew in a variety of formal and informal settings, supporting Hebrew literature, film and the like, and generally taking pride in the unique place Hebrew should hold within all of our communal institutions, synagogues and schools. And yes, speaking Hebrew would help. The time has come for a serious discussion of the place Hebrew should occupy in the Jewish world and, if we believe in the future of the Jewish people, how we can best leverage Hebrew as a common and unifying force. Bringing Hebrew to the Jews of North America will be no small task, but nothing compared to the miraculous revival of Hebrew itself. —Ari Rudolph is a planning executive for UJA-Federation’s Commission on the Jewish People.
Canadians split on support for Israel and Palestinians, poll finds TORONTO (JTA)—Canadians were evenly split in their support for Israel and the Palestinians, according to a new poll. The survey by the Toronto-based Forum Research found that 17 percent of respondents sided with Israel in the Middle East conflict, while 16 percent favored the Palestinians. Fully 64 percent said they lean toward neither side, and 3 percent said they did not know. Despite Canada having the most pro-Israel government in its history, the findings reflected a drop in support for the Jewish state since the question was last asked in December 2012, when Canada voted against recognizing Palestine at the United Nations. At that time, 22 percent of those polled favored Israel and 15 percent leaned toward the Palestinians. However, the latest figures closely resembled results in July 2012, when 16 percent of respondents leaned toward Israel and 17 percent toward the Palestinians. Frank Dimant, CEO of B’nai Brith Canada, sees a “disconnect” between the latest survey results and past public opinion polls on Israel. “In the past, there was a much stronger sense of identification with the Israeli cause,” he says. The newest figures “give us
cause to be concerned.” But Dimant predictes a “dramatic” shift toward Israel in Canadian public opinion in light of current developments in the Middle East, including a Sunni insurgency in Iraq and the kidnapping of three Israeli teenagers by Palestinian terrorists. The numbers were culled from an automated telephone survey of 1,694 randomly selected adults. The margin of error is 2 percentage points. In the poll, support for Israel was especially common among Canadians aged 55–64, at 23 percent; among males and middle-income earners, each at 21 percent; and among Conservative voters, 37 percent. The survey suggests that support for the Palestinian side was most common among the young, at 20 percent; males, 19 percent; lower-income groups, 21 percent; and those earning $80,000 to $100,000 annually, 24 percent. Support for Palestinians was high in Quebec at 22 percent and Alberta at 19 percent; among left-leaning New Democrats, 27 percent; those with a post-graduate education, 23 percent; non-Christians, 20 percent; those with no religion, 27 percent; and Francophones, 23 percent.
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Germany, Israel to cooperate on finding heirs to Nazi-looted art BERLIN ( JTA)—Germany and Israel agreed to cooperate on finding the heirs to art that was stolen or looted from Jews during the Nazi era. German Minister of Culture Monika Grutters and her Israeli counterpart, Limor Livnat, signed an agreement this month in Jerusalem on the terms of their cooperation aimed at correcting decades of injustice, the German news agency dpa reported. Through the sharing of databases and training of experts, German and Israeli authorities will work together in search of the provenance of works whose fate during the Third Reich remains unclear. The agreement is an outgrowth of revelations of a controversial collection of more than 1,000 works confiscated from the Munich apartment of Cornelius Gurlitt in 2012. Under pressure from international organizations representing survivors
and their heirs, Germany established a task force to research the provenance of hundreds of works, including some by Picasso, Matisse, and others. The task force includes German, Israeli and U.S. experts. Gurlitt died in April at 81, leaving the entire collection to the Art Museum Bern Foundation, Switzerland. It is unclear whether the museum will accept the gift, which includes the duty to continue the provenance research. In 1998, 44 countries—including Germany—signed the Washington Declaration committing themselves to seeking long-lost artwork that ended up in museums and other public collections. But the pace has been painfully slow, some say, because museum directors are reluctant to spend money and personnel on research that could lead to the loss of works from their collections.
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jewishnewsva.org | June 30, 2014 | Jewish News | 7
Picnic or Shabbat dinner,
recipes for a delicious and easy 4th of July celebration by Laine Mednick Rutherford
F
or many Tidewater residents, Fourth of July celebrations conjure up vivid images of picnics in a park or on the beach, festive red, white and blue neighborhood parades, cookouts with family and friends, and fireworks lighting up the night sky. This year’s celebrations may be more, or less elaborate for Tidewater’s Jewish community members, depending on the degree of Shabbat observation, since the holiday falls on a Friday. Options abound, however. Many have the day off and can gather as a group for a patriotic breakfast or mid-day backyard meal, rather than dinner. Or, for those who choose, host a Shabbat, Fourth of “Jew-ly” cookout or attend one where you know you’ll have a good view of the sparkly light shows— near the Virginia Beach Oceanfront, Mount Trashmore, downtown Norfolk, Portsmouth, Chesapeake, Suffolk. (See our link on JewishNewsVA’s Facebook page for fireworks displays.) The Jewish News spoke with two Tidewater Jewish community foodies about their favorite recipes for the Fourth, or any summer Shabbat.
Neal Schulwolf Neal Schulwolf describes himself as a “tomato connoisseur.” No distance is too far for the Virginia Beach resident to drive in his hunt for the perfect tomato; no hour too early to ensure he gets the peak selection at a farmers market or vegetable stand. Whether it’s Richmond, Pungo, or a
neighbor’s beautiful potted tomato plant, if it feels right in the hand and looks good to his experienced eye, Schulwolf will bite into the fruit and relish the flavor. He’ll only eat tomatoes in the summer, when they’re in season, which translates into a unique view of the Fourth of July as mostly red—white and blue are merely sidebars to the opening of “the season.” Where some go home and have a glass of Scotch or wine after work, Schulwolf heads straight for his fridge where he keeps his weekly supply of tomatoes. Over the years, he’s simplified and refined his recipe: Neal Schulwolf’s Tomato Tips, and Simple Recipe •T ry to find heirloom tomatoes—Better Boys are good choices. •L ook at the tomatoes. Ugly does not mean bad, in fact, the uglier they are the better they usually are. • Touch them—you want a firm tomato, but not hard. Go through every fruit at the stand, if necessary, to find the perfect one. Smaller tomatoes tend to have more flavor. • Buy one, cut it open and taste it. If it’s good, buy more. Take them home. • Slice the tomato, add a sprinkle of kosher salt, and perfection. Nothing more is needed. Schulwolf notes tomatoes are delicious chilled from the fridge; he buys six at a time, puts them in a paper bag and says they keep just fine.
Linda Peck Linda Peck is known throughout Tidewater as an exceptional cook, chef and baker. She has a photo of herself at three, rolling out cookies with her grandmother, but says her first cooking lesson was from Janie
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• You have to watch it carefully so it doesn’t overcook! It’s so easy and very delicious.
Linda Peck with her grandmother.
Jacobson, another local resident known for her culinary skills. “She taught me how to make Spaghettios,” says Peck, director of Congregational Life at Ohef Sholom Temple in Norfolk. “You know how to make Spaghettios, right? You open the can, pour them in a pan and heat them up!” Self-effacing humor aside, Peck studied cooking and pastry at two of the finest schools in the world: Le Cordon Bleu London and the Ecole Ritz Escoffier in Paris. She hesitated when giving us her recipe for grilled salmon, because of it’s simplicity, but she says it is delicious and would recommend it for any summer cookout. “Working full time, I need to make a Shabbat dinner that is pretty quick to assemble. The salmon is one of my favorites,” she says. “My other standard cookout fare is Grilled Mole Chicken.” Linda Peck’s Grilled Salmon •L arge piece of salmon •P aul Prudhomme’s Blackened Redfish Magic (It’s Kosher) •O live Oil • S prinkle the salmon with the Paul Prudhomme seasoning, and brush with olive oil. Place on grill and cook for about 4 minutes per side.
Linda Peck’s Grilled Mole Chicken • Make a Mole rub with: 3 tablespoons of ancho chile powder 1 tablespoon of dark brown sugar 1½ teaspoon cinnamon 1½ teaspoon cocoa 1 teaspoon of cumin 1 teaspoon of oregano • For each pound of boneless breast of chicken, combine 2 teaspoons of the spice rub with ¾ tsp. kosher salt and ½ tsp grated garlic. • The morning you intend to cook the chicken, coat the breasts in the rub and refrigerate. • Before putting the chicken on the grill, brush the breasts with oil. • Grill the chicken until its cooked through—anywhere from 6 to 8 minutes a side. • (If you can’t get to a grill, you can cut the chicken into small pieces, and make sure they are all nicely coated. Saute in a little oil in a pan over medium heat until cooked through). Peck serves the chicken with warmed tortillas, chopped tomatoes, salsa, guacamole, and scallions.
These recipes please most guests at a Shabbat or summer cookout, Peck says, adding a few side dishes that add color and flavor to the proteins. After I take the fish or chicken off, I love to throw fresh asparagus tossed with olive oil, salt and pepper on the hot grill. You can either place them directly on the grill on or in a grill basket. They’re done in about five minutes,” she says. “We love an Israeli salad. I dice red, yellow and orange peppers, cucumbers, scallions (or red onions) the night before. Before serving, I season the mixture with freshly squeezed lemon juice, olive oil and salt and pepper to taste.” As a special treat to honor America’s Independence, and the Jewish immigrant experience that is a large part of Tidewater Jewry’s heritage, Peck shares her favorite challah recipe. “I grind my whole wheat flour from wheat berries so it’s light, fresh and really healthy. Freshly ground wheat is better than store bought wheat as they have to remove the healthiest part of the flour, namely the wheat germ, so the “whole” wheat will have a longer shelf life. When you grind your own wheat, you really get the whole wheat with all the natural nutrients. It’s also lighter and fluffier than products made with store bought whole wheat,” she says. (If anyone wants to try fresh ground wheat, contact Linda, and she’ll I’ll grind you some!) The trick to making challah when you don’t get home until 5 pm, Peck says is this: Make the dough the night before and let it rise in the refrigerator. Take the dough to work the next morning (She uses a large zippered plastic bag) and store it in a refrigerator there. About an hour and a half before leaving work, take the dough out of the refrigerator so it can come to room temperature. By the time Peck gets home, it will be ready to braid. It will rise in the 45 minutes to 1 hour that it takes to get the rest of the meal prepared. “Bake it as directed, and your house will still smell like bread when your guests come!”
4.5 cups whole wheat flour 4 eggs ¾ cups sugar ¼ cup honey 1 cup oil 3 teaspoons salt egg, for brushing sesame seeds or poppy seeds, for garnish Directions
1. Combine yeast in warm water w/ a little sugar and flour 2. Mix remaining ingredients with yeast mixture. Add enough flour to get a smooth yet sticky consistency. Turn into a greased bowl, cover and let rise 1 ½ hour or overnight 3. P unch down. Let rise again for 45 minutes 4. D ivide into 3 or 4 sections for 3 or 4 challot 5. B raid and let rise 45 minutes. Brush w/ egg and sprinkle with seeds. 6. Bake 365 for 30 -35 minutes Enjoy your Fourth of July celebrations, and Shabbat Shalom!
My Favorite Challah by Linda Peck Ingredients
4 packages yeast 2 cups warm water 2 teaspoons sugar 4.5 cups bread flour
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t a l a Kabb m o o b Ka Celebrating the Fourth on a Friday by Edmon J. Rodman
LOS ANGELES ( JTA)—Part God Bless America, part Shabbat Shalom, the Fourth of July this year falls on a Friday. In this land of religious freedom, how do we plan to observe both? As the sun sets over the “fruited plain,” will we be lighting Shabbat candles and fireworks? How will the Sabbath Queen look in red, white and blue? Those who traditionally observe the Sabbath by not kindling fire surely will take a pass on the “rockets’ red glare.” But for many U.S. Jews and congregations, the day rep-
resents an opportunity to integrate Jewish themes into a national day of celebrating our freedom. As a kid, like many boomers, I remember the Fourth as a day of firecrackers, spark-shooting fountains, backyard barbecues, parades and family picnics. Several synagogues this year will incorporate the same elements into their congregational programming. On that Friday, when singing Lecha Dodi and hearing the boom of fireworks, or seeing them explode in the sky, I wonder how the verse “Awake and arise to greet the new light, for in your radiance the world will be bright” will resonate. Could it apply to celebrating the birth of a nation? The folks at Temple Emanu-El in Dothan, Ala., will discover how the day’s two liturgies relate. First they’ll gather in the garden of a congregant’s home for a short Shabbat service before enjoying what the synagogue’s website calls “an old-fashioned picnic.” “Wear red, white and blue and bring your lawn chairs,” the site urges. “No alcohol please,” an accompanying flyer says. I suppose that means grape juice for Kiddush. Congregation B’nai Israel of St. Petersburg, Fla., is having a “Musical Kabbalat Shabbat honoring U.S. independence,” according to the synagogue website. Its Cuba-born rabbi, Jacob Luski, will deliver a message on a “patriotic theme.” Luski, who moved to the United States when he was 11, said that after the congregation sings God Bless America, The Star
THE SUMMER
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Spangled Banner and America the Beautiful, he plans to ask, “What are we celebrating? Barbecues, watermelon and a big beach day? Or are we thinking about how and why our families came to America?” The rabbi says he wants his congregants to think about their connections to the U.S., about “Who in their families were the first born in America.” Luski recalls his own roots—grandparents who moved to Cuba from Russia-Poland, and parents who immigrated to America. “I appreciate being accepted in the U.S. as an immigrant,” he says. Perhaps with that journey in mind, Luski offers a unique connection between the Statue of Liberty and a mezuzah. “Just as a mezuzah welcomes you into your home with the values of the Torah, the Statue of Liberty reminds us to treat everyone with friendship, compassion and justice,” he says. In 2010, near the 50th anniversary of his family’s coming to America, Luski recalls U.S. Rep. Bill Young of Florida inviting him to deliver the opening prayer before the House of Representatives. “What a Jewish journey,” the rabbi exclaims. On the West Coast, too, fireworks will add to Shabbat’s “joyous song,” though it might be more like “joyful noise.” In Santa Rosa, Calif., Congregation Shomrei Torah is situated on a hilltop half a block away from a professional fireworks show put on at the Sonoma County Fairgrounds, according to Denise Harrison of the temple’s office. Each year on the Fourth, the synagogue grounds become a prime fireworks viewing area for 200 to 300 congregants and their guests. With a service timed to end
before the show begins, this year, though, Harrison says, “people have to come to services to see the fireworks.” Let’s hope the sermon doesn’t run long. In Glencoe, Ill., in addition to parading with the Torah on Saturday morning, members of Aitz Hayim Center for Jewish Living will be parading on the Fourth with a 1953 pickup truck in parades there as well as in nearby Highland Park, which has five synagogues in a city of 30,000. Along the parade routes, “We pass out small American and Israeli flags,” says Todd Jacobs, the executive director of a congregation he calls “post denominational.” “In Highland Park they prefer the Israeli flag.” The truck has a sound system that Jacobs says plays “a mashup of The Yankee Doodle Boy by George M. Cohan and a niggun by Shlomo Carlebach.” Aitz Hayim Center has been in the parades for 20 years, and Jacobs is proud of the banners they put on the truck. “Values by Lincoln, Body by Ford,” it read one year. Jacobs recalls that one year, seeking to make a Jewish connection to the Fourth, a member dressed up like the Statue of Liberty while holding what looked like a Torah. On years the Fourth has fallen on a Saturday, Jacobs says that in an effort not to offend observant Jews, the group walks and doesn’t use the truck. Perhaps seeking a historic Jewish connection to Independence Day, one year the truck banner read, “Half of the first graduating class of West Point was Jewish.” “That year,” Jacobs explains, “there were only two graduates, and one of them was Jewish.” —Edmon J. Rodman is a JTA columnist who writes on Jewish life from Los Angeles. Contact him at edmojace@gmail.com.
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At World Cup, Argentina couple kicking Jewishness into high gear by Hillel Kuttler
(JTA)—When Argentina played its opening-round matches in the World Cup, Mariano Schlez of Buenos Aires was screaming his support from the stands. But taking in his home country’s matches in Brazil isn’t all that is occupying Schlez
for the first fortnight of the monthlong soccer spectacle. Also filling his calendar are 14 “Jewish” events that he and his wife have organized in seven of the host cities. They include Shabbat evening prayers, beach soccer games leading into Saturday night Havdalah services, pickup games and
the Tulsa, Okla.-based Charles and Lynn Jewish heritage tours. For Schlez, 38, and his wife, Paola Schusterman Family Foundation. Large Salem, 37, the World Cup being played in and small businesses donated funds and the region prompted them last winter to products, while others provided discounts mull opportunities to fashion Jewish expe- for printing promotional flyers and embroiriences for fellow soccer fans. They figured dering the 400 kippahs that Schlez brought along to give away at the Shabbat events. on organizing two or three activities. At the Havdalah services, soccer-themed Now, though, “the project is bigger than note paper will be distributed for parwe’d thought at first,” Salem says. Their goal was to bring together inter- ticipants to write messages heralding the coming week. The messages national Jewish visitors will be collected and disalready united by a pasplayed, Salem says. sion for soccer—known The gatherings promise throughout the world, but to be a multicultural cholent not in America, as football. that thrills Salem. “It’s great to connect Kippahs embroidered for the “Connecting Jewish peoJewish football fans,” Schlez Shabbat events ple from all over the world is says. “I love football, I’ve what I love,” Salem says. “It’s played it all my life and I’m a like a dream.” teacher of lots of kids in this The dream began taking lovely sport, so it was an opportunity to make a connection between shape at a family dinner when Schlez, a longtime fan of the Boca Juniors team— my love for football and my Jewish life.” His friends Maxi Klein and Damian Diego Maradonna, who led Argentina to Beker joined him on the 1,800-mile, three- the 1986 World Cup title, was his favorite day drive from Argentina. They’re helping player—expressed a desire to attend the out in the Jewish programming, too. All Brazil tournament. The couple mulled prothree work for the Maccabi youth sports gramming ideas before approaching the Schusterman foundation. organization in Buenos Aires. Returning from a camping trip in While remaining at home with the couple’s two children, Salem is serving as a January, they learned that their grant one-woman command center, responding request was approved. That’s when the to inquiries posted on the project’s two planning gears really started churning. The World Cup programming doveFacebook pages—Jewish Soccer Fanatics Traveling to Brazil in 2014 and Jewish tails with the aim of Turismo Judaico, Connect at the World Cup Football 2014— a company Salem launched to provide along with maintaining communication Jewish travelers with information such with Brazilian Jewish organizations helping as Shabbat candle-lighting times, kosher to organize the events in the seven cities: dining options, and sites of cultural and Belo Horizonte, Fortaleza, Manaus, Porto religious interest. The foundation, which encourages Alegre, Recife, Rio de Janeiro and Sao Paulo. Fans from approximately 20 coun- Jewishly focused initiatives for young people tries have exchanged information on the under the theme “Make It Happen,” deemed Facebook pages about the events and such the World Cup programming a creative key matters as procuring World Cup tickets way to build community, says Seth Cohen, Schusterman’s director of network initiatives. and places to stay, she says. “We think that young adults are the Those wishing to attend any of the Jewish events—all are free—must register, levers of change in the Jewish world and with Salem passing along the informa- in the world Jewishly,” Cohen says, and tion to security officials at the venues. the Brazil events bring “a Jewish lens to an Volunteers are offering their services experience the entire world is watching.” “The eyes of the world are on Brazil. through Facebook. Salem says she budgeted for $9,000, Let’s shine a light on the Jewish community with $5,000 covered by a grant from there as well.”
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Legal Matters
in the Jewish community
Supplement to Jewish News June 30, 2014 jewishnewsva.org | June 30, 2014 | Jewish News | 13
Legal
Dear Readers,
A
profession often comprised of activists, the community of Jewish
attorneys in Tidewater is known for its activity not just in the courtroom, but also in boardrooms and classrooms and political arenas throughout the region. In this special section, we profile several local Jewish attorneys who exemplify the commitment and subtle expression of Jewish values that reaches beyond
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
their families and friends—to clients, the greater community in general, and, in some cases, far beyond Tidewater’s watery boundaries. David Cardon, Lonny Sarfan and Debbie Mancoll Casey are three area lawyers who share a list of their activities in the Jewish community, as well as some of
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their strongest Jewish-associated memories. Attorneys like these raise the bar, so to speak, of admiration for other legal professionals, and their humility and stories are inspirational. Another story in this Legal section
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highlights an attorney who no longer practices law. Why include Jody Wagner’s profile? Because her insights about the transition from high-powered attorney (and government appointments and a stint in politics) to small business owner are fascinating, and refreshingly honest. Wagner could be the female protagonist of a novel, but she really did trade in her partner’s salary, power suits and swanky offices to become—a popcorn maven. Pop on over to the next pages, and read more about robots, legal issues in Israel and, of course, the U.S., as well as about the United Jewish Federation of Tidewater’s own Business & Legal Society—grab a healthy snack (popcorn?) while you’re at it, The staff of Jewish News
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About the cover: Photograph of Jody Wagner at Jody’s Popcorn headquarters by Laine Mednick Rutherford. QR code generated on http://qrcode.littleidiot.be
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From corporate law to the Capitol to caramel corn: Jody Wagner’s journey continues article and photos by Laine Mednick Rutherford
W
afting through the air on 31st St. near the corner of Atlantic Avenue, stronger than the smell of the ocean and more enchanting than the aroma of suntan lotion, is the scent of freshly popped popcorn. That memorable smell draws people into Jody’s—the gourmet popcorn shop that’s become a destination for many tourists and locals—who buy a bag of caramel or chocolate drizzle corn to eat on the spot, and a bag, or two, or 10, to take home. Which is just how Jody Wagner, the store’s namesake and president, intended it when she and her husband, Alan, opened their business in 2005. What Wagner didn’t intend was making Jody’s Popcorn a career—which it has become for her. “I thought it was just going to be this little, simple side business,” says Wagner, who, in addition to running the company, is the secretary of the Tidewater Jewish Foundation, a past president of Jewish Family Service of Tidewater, and a past vice-president of the United Jewish Federation of Tidewater, in addition to numerous other board and volunteer positions. Jody’s has proven to be more complicated, time consuming, and, Wagner emphasizes, “real” then the cute little grab and go popcorn shop retail store the Wagners initially envisioned. Most days, Jody Wagner puts in about 10 hours at Jody’s Popcorn headquarters, an 8,000-square-foot Kosher-certified, gluten-free facility off of Birdneck Rd. She also attends industry trade shows throughout the year. (Alan Wagner is busy, too; he’s a board certified ophthalmologist specializing in vitreoretinal surgery and founder of the Wagner Macula & Retina Center). Working in a building where popcorn crumbs are a given and equipment repair is never ending, Jody Wagner is worlds away from where she thought she’d be at this point in her life, and from her past careers
and workplace environments. From 1980 through 2002, Wagner worked as a successful lawyer, becoming a partner specializing in securities, corporate and banking law at Kaufman and Canoles in Norfolk. “I never anticipated leaving the legal field,” Wagner says. “That wasn’t something I planned on doing, or tried to do. I loved practicing with my partners. It was a great firm, it was just that my direction went a little different then expected.” In 2002, Wagner accepted an appointment from Governor Mark Warner to become Virginia’s State Treasurer. Her tenure in Richmond continued in 2006, when Governor Tim Kaine chose her to be Virginia’s Secretary of Finance. Wagner resigned her Finance position in 2008 to enter politics. She won the run-off in the Democratic primaries to become the party’s Lt. Governor candidate, and spent a year on the campaign trail. While she didn’t win the election, she did earn respect and recognition from voters throughout Virginia and beyond—and ironically, she says, not necessarily for her highly regarded legal and government jobs. “The funniest thing is, when I ran for Lt. Governor, the experience quotient was that I’d been Secretary of Finance under Kaine and State Treasurer under Warner. But some people I’d meet seemed to be sort of disinterested,” says Wagner. “Then I’d say, ‘And I run a gourmet popcorn company,’ and they’d say, ‘Oh, really!’ In fact, I had volunteers who were getting petitions signed to get me on the ballot, and this one guy in Northern Virginia told me, ‘Truthfully, people didn’t really care about signing until I told them you had a gourmet popcorn company.’ It was then that I became real to them,” says Wagner. Wagner has proven her abilities to manage multiple responsibilities and career commitments at the same time. Jody’s 31st St. retail store opened during her appointments in Richmond, the business
moved into its headquarters and manufacturing plant during her campaign year, and she and Alan are the parents of four very accomplished children: Rachael, Jason, Lizzie and Max. Wagner says she has learned things she never really thought about before, or didn’t need to know, such as what a pallet is, or that Jody’s kernels come from nonGMO corn grown in the Midwest, or learning—through error—the importance of FedEx and UPS’ dimensional weight rules. She dresses casually for work, lauds her dedicated management staff and the 10 or so fulltime employees who operate the giant popcorn popper, conveyor belts, caramelizing vat, bagging machine, labels, and assorted bags of popcorn that share building space with her, and Wagner is quite happy and proud to discuss them all. The newly discovered realities and education of being a small business owner are both appealing and quite challenging to Wagner. They provide her with the impetus to increase the wholesale side of the business—in the gift, private label foods and fundraising markets—while still serving customers at the retail store. “I thought about practicing law again after the Lt. Governor campaign ended. When I was doing securities law, the thing I liked the best was that you would get really immersed in a customer’s business, for a three month or six month period, where you knew so much about it…but then, when the deal was over, I would go back to my office and I’d move on to the next deal, so I never felt like I was building something real—something tangible,” Wagner says. “The difference here is, you’re really building a going concern and delivering
something that people actually touch and feel,” she says. “I like being able to watch the development and the growth and feel like we’re creating memories. We’ve had people that email us who get engaged and who say, ‘I did it over a bag of Jody’s popcorn while we were watching such and such a movie,’ and it’s those kind of things that make me feel like I’m affecting lives in a positive way. “I wouldn’t change any of the time that I spent in state government. I really learned a lot there and I really enjoyed it—in law, you’re constantly learning, too, but here, it’s a different kind of learning. “An example of the biggest difference, is when you’re with Kaufman and Canoles, or when you’re with state government, if your computer breaks, you call the IT department and they get right on it. And within a very short period of time, you either have a new computer or they fixed it. “Here, when a computer breaks, someone comes in and says, ‘Jody, our computer broke. What are you going to do about it?’ You suddenly realize all of the little things that businesses have to deal with. It is a completely different perspective. You have a much deeper appreciation for the frustrations that the average businessman goes through, not the big businessman but the smaller businessman. And that makes me so much more realistic.”
jewishnewsva.org | Legal | June 30, 2014 | Jewish News | 15
Legal
Fifty years later, rabbis jailed in civil rights protest return to St. Augustine by Dina Weinstein
ST. AUGUSTINE, Fla. (JTA)—For Rabbi Richard Levy, it was an emotional return to this historic northeastern Florida city. The first time Levy came to St. Augustine 50 years ago, he and 15 other rabbis and a Reform Jewish leader endured taunts from segregationists armed with broken bottles and bricks. They were jailed along with other civil rights activists after taking part in protests at a segregated motel. “As I came here and saw the sign that said St. Augustine, I was stunned,” the Los Angeles resident told a standing room only crowd of over 250 people at Flagler College. “I never thought I would come back here.” The rabbis’ June 18, 1964 pray-in outside the Monson Motor Lodge and
Restaurant served as a decoy maneuver for other black and white demonstrators who jumped together into the motel’s segregated pool. Police responded forcefully. Associated Press photos of the angry motel owner pouring acid into the water and of a fully clothed police officer jumping in to haul out the protesters were splashed across newspapers the next day as the U.S. Senate voted to approve the landmark 1964 Civil Rights Act. Levy was speaking on the 50th anniversary of those events. Of the 17 members of the Reform delegation who were arrested that day, eight are still alive. Levy and five others returned to St. Augustine for commemorative events titled “Justice, Justice 1964” that were organized by the St. Augustine Jewish Historical Society.
The rabbis had come to St. Augustine a half-century ago at the invitation of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., whose Southern Christian Leadership Conference was working with students and activists to fight Jim Crow segregation in the city. A focal point for the protests was the 400th anniversary celebrations of the city’s founding by the Spanish explorer Pedro Menendez. Blacks had been excluded from the committee that planned the federally funded commemorations. Media coverage of the ongoing St. Augustine protests and the violent resistance to them by segregationists had put pressure on Congress when the Civil Rights Act was facing a filibuster. A week before the rabbis’ protest, King himself had been arrested outside the
Monson Motor Lodge. King penned a “Letter from the St. Augustine Jail” to his friend and supporter Rabbi Israel Dresner of New Jersey asking for help. “We need you down here with as many Rabbis as you can bring with you!” he wrote. The rabbis came directly from the Central Conference of Rabbis meeting in Atlantic City, N.J., where Dresner read the message from King. Rabbi Jerrold Goldstein still remembers the introduction for the rabbis at a church rally, recalling someone saying, “Here come Moses’ people.” Goldstein told The Florida Times-Union, “They all cheered, like I’d just walked across the desert. They were so happy to [see] us; I know they felt so isolated, so endangered.”
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Legal The landmark
Rabbi Allen Secher recalled being shocked by the violence of white law enforcement officials as he and others were hauled off to the St. Johns County Jail. “An officer decided that a young white woman was not obeying his commands,” Secher said. “He turned on his electric cattle prod and shoved it into her rear end. I can still hear her screams.” King had called St. Augustine one of the most violent places he had ever visited. On the 50th anniversary visit, much had changed. The rabbis were feted and welcomed by the mayor and the St. Augustine 450th commemoration officials. “We don’t want you to lionize us,” Rabbi Israel Dresner, 85, told the crowd at the opening panel. “The real heroes are the ones who stayed and fought the battle.” The St. Augustine Jewish Historical Society brought back Levy, Dresner, Goldstein and Secher, as well as Rabbis Daniel Fogel and Hanan Sills, to shine a light on values that motivated the Reform rabbis and their allies in pursuit of justice. The Union for Reform Judaism’s Religious Action Center in Washington, D.C., played a particularly important part in the push for civil rights. The landmark Civil Rights Act and the 1965 Voting Rights Act were drafted in the RAC’s conference room by civil rights leaders. “From these events we see a coalition of people can change America,” Al Vorspan, the now-retired Reform leader who was arrested along with the rabbis, said in a telephone interview. At the time of his arrest, Vorspan was the director of the Commission on Social Action at the Union of American Hebrew Congregations, the URJ’s predecessor. Today, the RAC is mobilizing support for a Voting Rights Amendment Act, a response to the Supreme Court’s decision in Shelby v. Holder last year that struck down a key provision of the Voting Rights Act.
The Jewish liberal advocacy group Bend the Arc has launched its own campaign in support of the voting rights legislation. It sent out an email appeal from David Goodman, the brother of one of three civil rights workers—one black, two Jewish— murdered in Mississippi only days after the rabbis’ arrest in St. Augustine. Fifty years ago in St. Augustine, from the cramped and steamy cell in St. John County jail where they spent the night, the Reform leaders penned a letter titled “Why We Went.” Rabbi Eugene Borowitz, today one of Reform Judaism’s most eminent theologians, organized the effort. It was drafted on the back of two sheets of a Ku Klux Klan flier. “Here in St. Augustine we have seen the depths of anger, resentment and fury; we have seen faces that expressed a deep implacable hatred,” the rabbis wrote. “What disturbs us more deeply is the large number of decent citizens who have stood aside, unable to bring themselves to act, yet knowing in their hearts that this cause is right and that it must inevitably triumph.” The six rabbis who came back to St. Augustine read the moving letter aloud to another capacity crowd. Like rock stars, the rabbis signed a blown-up draft featured in an exhibit on the area’s African-American history. The commemorations wound up with a heartfelt concert that brought together a number of clergy and choirs from the St. Paul A.M.E. church and Bet Yam Reform synagogue. Anniversaries, Dresner reflected, are beneficial to revive the memory. “We have not finished the job,” Dresner said. “They are still trying to restrict people of color in voting. They’re cutting early voting, requiring IDs. That generally affects black and Latino voters. There is always more work to be done.”
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Legal David Aaron Cardon Firm: Cardon & Goodman, P.C. Specialty: Traffic Criminal and Personal Injury law Education: B.A. from College of William & Mary; J.D. from University of Richmond, T.C. Williams School of Law Jewish organizations: Past Super Sunday co-chair, past Tidewater Jewish Film Festival co-chair, past participant in Tidewater Couples Project, past participant in Hineni! Currently serves as secretary of executive board of Hebrew Academy of Tidewater and chairman of the Annual Hebrew Academy Golf Tournament. Family: Wife: Elyse Tapper Cardon. Children: Bella (10), Sylvie (8) Avi (6) and Flora (3) all at Strelitz preschool or Hebrew Academy. Favorite Jewish holiday: Shabbat—a day of rest with family and friends every week! Most memorable Jewish milestone/lifecycle event: Bar and bat mitzvah— incredibly meaningful Jewish ceremony marking the transformation of a person from adolescence to adulthood. Most admired Jewish lawmaker: Theodor Herzl, the founder of the State of Israel. Personal legal milestone: Arguing a case before the Virginia Supreme Court just two years out of law school. (Unfortunately, my argument was unsuccessful!) Most memorable case: Recently I was hired to represent a lady for a serious traffic offense. During the trial, I was able to make a legal argument that caused the judge to dismiss the case. After we walked into the hallway, my client asked me what had happened because it happened so quickly, she had no idea it was dismissed! After she cried tears of joy she asked if she could give me a hug. Her reaction makes being an advocate for people so satisfying. How has an understanding and/or commitment to Jewish values entered into your decisions or actions as an attorney?: I have learned that having an excellent reputation is one of the most important qualities. Without it, a lawyer can not be entirely effective. I have learned that to protect my reputation, I must always act with honor, integrity, and civility; attributes I’ve learned from being raised Jewish.
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ADL welcomes Redskins’ patent revocation WASHINGTON ( JTA)—The AntiDefamation League welcomed the cancellation of the Washington Redskins trademark by the federal patent office. “The decision by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office represents a significant step forward in fighting prejudice, discrimination and hurtful stereotypes, particularly in the professional sports arena,” the ADL said in a statement after the announcement of the revocation. “The Washington Redskins name is deeply offensive to Native Americans, rein-
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jewishnewsva.org | Legal | June 30, 2014 | Jewish News | 19
Legal Robots and Jewish Law
Should robots count in a minyan? Rabbi talks Turing test by Adam Soclof
NEW YORK (JTA)—Robots can hold a conversation, but should they count in a minyan? A chatbot at Britain’s University of Reading was heralded this month as passing the Turing test, showing a conversational ability that managed to fool people into thinking it was human. Using the fictional identity of a 13-yearold Ukrainian boy with the name Eugene Goostman, the robot convinced a third of a panel’s members that they were interacting with a fellow human being. While some have expressed skepticism about the achievement’s significance, the advance of artificial intelligence raises profound questions.
“From the practical legal perspective, robots could and should be people,” Rabbi Mark Goldfeder wrote in an article published on CNN’s website in response to the robot’s feat. “As it turns out, they can already officially fool us into thinking that they are, which should only strengthen their case.” Goldfeder, a fellow at Emory University’s Center for the Study of Law and Religion, is working on a book on robots in the law tentatively titled Almost Human. An Orthodox rabbi, Goldfeder spoke via online chat with JTA about whether robots could some day be welcomed as members of the Jewish community and what the Jewish tradition has to say about this issue JTA: What got you so interested in the topic of robots in Jewish law?
Goldfeder: It was a natural evolution from apes actually. I started off looking at the line between humans and non-humans in Jewish law, and realized that the demarcation was not as clear cut in ancient times as appears to be now. Throughout the discussions in rabbinic literature we find creatures like Bigfoot, mermaids, centaurs, etc., and yes the golem, who in many ways resembles a robot. Once you assume it may not be a strictly speciesist argument, the move from great apes to robots is quite understandable—
given, of course, the caveat the robots may not be technically alive in the classical sense. What are the basic criteria that would make a robot/monkey/mermaid Jewish? Well, we start with the Talmud in Sanhedrin, which tells us the story of Rava sending a golem to Rabbi Zeira. Rabbi Zeira ends up figuring out that the golem was not human—it couldn’t communicate effectively and couldn’t pass the Turing test, apparently—and so he destroys it. The halachic literature asks why this was
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Legal not considered “ba’al tashchis,” wasteful, since maybe the golem could have counted in a minyan. While they conclude that this golem at least was not able to be counted—they leave open the possibility of a better golem counting—it seems then that creation by a Jewish person would give the golem/ robot presumptive Jewish status. For living things there is always parentage and conversion. I should of course clarify that this entire discussion is “l’halacha v’lo l’maaseh,” a theoretical outlaying of views. Good clarification, though being a robot seems like a convenient excuse to opt out of a bris. In halachic terminology we would consider him “nolad mahul” (i.e., it is like he comes from the factory pre-circumcized). Theoretically speaking, say a robot walked into your office and said, “Rabbi, I want to count in the minyan.” Would that be enough evidence for you to count him? Not necessarily. For the purposes of this discussion, I would accept the position of the Jerusalem Talmud in the third chapter of Tractate Niddah that when you are dealing with a creature that does not conform to the simple definition of “humanness”—i.e. born from a human mother or at least possessing human DNA, but it appears to have human characteristics and is doing human things—one examines the context to determine if it is human. When something looks human and acts human, to the point that I think it might be human, then halachah might consider the threshold to have been crossed. This makes sense from a Jewish ethical perspective as well. Oftentimes Jewish ethics are about the actor, not the one being acted upon. If I see something that for all intents and purposes looks human, I cannot start poking it to see if it bleeds. I have a responsibility to treat all that seem human as humans, and it is better to err on the side of caution from an ethical perspective.
jewishnewsva.org | Legal | June 30, 2014 | Jewish News | 21
Legal
Israel’s marriage blacklist said to break privacy laws by Ben Sales
JERUSALEM (JTA)—When she decided to split up from her husband, she went before an Orthodox rabbinical court and, after two perfunctory hearings and little discussion, received a religious writ of divorce. It was only months later that the woman
learned that the court had flagged her as an adulteress and placed her on a little-known list that, in accordance with biblical law, prohibited her from remarrying her ex-husband or her alleged paramour. The allegation, which the woman declined to address directly, had never been raised during court proceedings. She
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only learned of it from a clause in the divorce papers she received in the mail. “They accused me of adultery without any basis for it,” the woman, who asked that her name be withheld, says. “I was in shock. I didn’t know where it came from.” The woman, who has petitioned the Supreme Court to have her name removed from the list, is one of more than 5,000 Israelis included on a list of people restricted from marrying based on prohibitions in traditional Jewish law. The list includes children of mothers with non-Orthodox conversions and those who fall into the Jewish legal category known as mamzer, defined as the offspring of certain forbidden sexual relationships, including children of married women who conceive extramaritally and their descendants. Israel’s religious courts, which regulate the state’s Jewish marriages according to Orthodox legal standards, say the list is necessary to ensure marriages are kosher. But a state comptroller’s report from last year says the courts added names to the list illegally. The court “exceeded the limits of its authority,” the report says, by adding people to the list without first giving them a hearing. The practice, according to the report, contravened Israel’s Basic Law: Human Dignity and Liberty, which provides for a right to privacy and intimacy, as well as what the report called “natural laws of justice.” “The state should not be in the business of blacklisting the children of mamzerim,” says Susan Weiss, the founder of the Center for Women’s Justice, a public interest law group that plans to petition the Supreme Court to eliminate the list. “All this bureaucracy that’s been developed and nurtured around the issue should be eliminated.” The notion of a mamzer—a biblical term often translated as “bastard”—is a controversial one in Jewish law, which allows mamzers to marry only each other. In the past, leading rabbis made efforts to find legal loopholes that would avoid branding someone a mamzer and thereby restrict their marriage options. Enforcing those restrictions in modern Israel makes it exceedingly difficult for someone branded a mamzer by the courts to ever be legally married.
Maayan Arviv, a spokeswoman for the religious courts, says that names typically enter the list after rabbinical courts adjudicate personal status questions necessary to reach a verdict in a related case. A higher court then reviews the decision. Even without a formal register, religious courts would decline to allow marriage between a mamzer and another Jew. But without the list, Arviv says, “the marriage registrar could not exercise its authority regarding eligibility to marry.” Arviv says the courts understand that mamzer is a taboo in the Orthodox community and that the need for discretion is paramount. The list is not publicized, she says, because “the rabbinical courts aren’t interested in people knowing what happens in other people’s backyards or inner rooms.” Arviv declines to comment on the specifics of the divorced woman’s case because it is under review by the Supreme Court. Batya Kahana Dror, who advocates for Jewish women seeking divorce, says that in an earlier era, rabbis rarely classified people as mamzers because details of a person’s origins were typically conveyed by word of mouth and were harder to confirm. “There have been mamzerim throughout history, but no one knew,” Dror says. “But now, the way we save information leads us to the present situation.” Others say the whole concept of mamzer is damaging and rabbis should find ways to eliminate it. “The issue won’t be solved until the community frees itself from the idea that we must exclude mamzerim,” says Rivkah Lubitch, a litigator in the rabbinical court system and a Center for Women’s Justice board member. “It’s hard to say I’m a religious person and support a society that hurts people like this.” Beyond the headaches of her legal battle to clear her name, the divorced woman says that being on the list hasn’t made her life harder. The courts are prohibiting her from marrying only two people, neither of whom she wants to wed. But she is fighting the decision on principle. “An adulteress in my eyes is not an honest person,” she says. “It’s one of the Ten Commandments. How dare they do that?”
Legal
As state shifts rightward, North Carolina Jews raise their voices by Anthony Weiss
RALEIGH, N.C. ( JTA)—It was a hot Monday afternoon, but Judy Katzin was standing on the grassy mall outside the North Carolina State Capitol beside the Carolina Jews for Justice banner, as she has many times. Katzin was among hundreds of activists of diverse backgrounds who had come to participate in the week’s Moral Monday protest. This time, however, she had brought a pair of new voices—her grandsons, Carson and Noah Merenbloom. “Most of North Carolina is so conservative,” says Noah, 15. “It’s important to come out here as Jews because we’re a minority.” North Carolina’s Moral Monday protests have garnered national attention as a sign of liberal energy in a state whose politics have shifted sharply to the right. The shift has provoked a confrontational turn in North Carolina politics, with the Republican-controlled state government pushing a strongly conservative agenda and liberal activists responding with acts of civil disobedience at the State Capitol during which hundreds have been arrested. The state’s Jews, a small and traditionally politically low-key community, are speaking with a louder voice. “You’re dealing with a Jewish community in a new era,” says Eli Evans, the author of The Provincials: A Personal History of Jews in the South and the son of a former mayor of Durham, Mutt Evans. “There has been a growth of enormous self-confidence in the Jewish community about politics and about its public stance.” Carolina Jews for Justice was formed in March of 2013, two months after the Republicans took simultaneous control of the state legislature and the governor’s mansion for the first time in more than a century. The new Republican-dominated government immediately set out to implement legislation that would, over time, reduce unemployment benefits, tighten voting regulations, cut state funding for public education, block expansion of Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act, tighten
restrictions on abortion and, most recently, loosen regulations on fracking. Appalled by these legislative moves, a group of people from local synagogues gathered in the Raleigh living room of Terry Grunwald and started to talk about their options. “We felt we really wanted to have a voice, as Jews, coming out of our Jewish tradition and Jewish ethics,” says Grunwald, a board member of Carolina Jews for Justice. “We felt like we wanted an alternative that would be not tied to any particular local institution, whether it’s a synagogue or a federation.” Shortly thereafter, Grunwald recalls, roughly a dozen of the members went to the legislature to lobby their representatives. While they were there, they noticed a large gathering outside, which subsequently came into the building to protest. “We sat there and watched the first Moral Monday at the General Assembly,” she says, referring to the state legislature. “We felt a very strong pull to be a part of that.” The fledgling Jewish organization quickly joined the burgeoning protest movement. “By the third Moral Monday, maybe the second, we were there with our banner,” says group co-founder Jane Pinsky. “We drew people from all over the state simply because we had a banner that said Carolina Jews for Justice. That gave people a place to coalesce.” However, the new alliance with the protest movement also involved some challenges. The Moral Mondays protests were organized by the president of the North Carolina NAACP, the Rev. William Barber, with the assistance of a number of black ministers with roots in civil rights activism. When Carolina Jews for Justice began to participate, a number of its members were disconcerted by the frequent invocations of Jesus Christ, quotations from the New Testament and the generally Christian atmosphere of the gathering. “To their credit, they were open and listened to people who said we want our community to feel comfortable in these
settings as well,” Grunwald says. Carolina Jews for Justice’s participation, in turn, helped broaden the appeal of the Moral Mondays movement. A group of 12 rabbis signed a letter in support of the protests, and Jewish activists appeared before county election boards to argue in favor of preserving Sunday early voting days,
which are popular among black churches, on the grounds that religious Jews couldn’t vote on Saturdays. “It raises interesting issues for those of us who try to keep church and state apart, but in the South it is useful to have a Bible verse you can deliver,” says Rabbi Raachel
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Jurovics, the leader of a Jewish Renewal congregation in Raleigh who has addressed the Moral Mondays gatherings. The efforts of Carolina Jews for Justice, however, have not drawn universal acclaim in the Jewish community. Some of the criticism has been ideological, with some politically conservative Jews pushing their rabbis not to participate. There are differing views as well over whether or not Jews should protest overtly as Jews or rather simply as citizens of North Carolina. “I really don’t feel like Jews have got to be set up in North Carolina Jews for Justice,” says Stanley Fox, a Democratic former state legislator from Oxford. “There are issues we should be protesting, like cuts in teachers’ salaries, but they have nothing to do with being Jewish or gentile or anything else.” A number of North Carolina Jews had played key roles in the civil rights movement, such as brothers Mutt and Monroe Evans, who helped lead desegregation efforts as the mayors of Durham and Fayetteville, respectively. However, many Jews preferred to keep a lower political profile. “Jews generally tended to be moderates or gradualists,” says Leonard Rogoff, research historian of the Jewish Heritage Foundation of North Carolina. “They tended not to be politically involved.” Beginning in the 1960s, the RaleighDurham-Chapel Hill metropolitan area, commonly known as “The Triangle,” became ground zero for a significant shift in North Carolina’s economy and culture. The establishment of Research Triangle Park, a high-tech research and development campus, along with the expansion of the nearby universities of Duke, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and North Carolina State in the capital city all transformed the area into a growth engine for the so-called knowledge economy. That, in turn, brought an influx of highly educated workers from outside the state, including a significant number of Jews. In the Durham-Chapel Hill area, for example, the Jewish population swelled from 545 in 1964 to 3,300 in 1991 and has continued growing since.
Legal Diversity of Deborah (Debbie) Mancoll Casey Business & Legal Firm: Vandeventer Black LLP Society events broadens network Specialty: Community Association Law; Creditor’s Rights Education: Choate Rosemary Hall (1981), Emory University, of participants
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ver the past year, the Business & Legal Society of the United Jewish Federation of Tidewater has hosted events that are as wide ranging as the participants who attend them. From a discussion in September with law professor and counterterrorism expert Amos Guiora, who spoke about the First Amendment and national security, to the popular Scoring Big event at Harbor Park in May, where sports executives discussed the proposed arena in Virginia Beach—and attendees caught a Tides game, Jewish professionals are demonstrating their desire to learn, socialize, and network with their peers. Society events are open to all Jewish business and legal professionals, from small-business owners, salespeople, office workers and entrepreneurs, to business executives and world-renowned attorneys. These events provide an opportunity to integrate professional and Jewish interests in a way that ultimately demonstrates the unique contributions those in the fields of business and law can make to support the Jewish community, and the mission of the UJFT. Attorneys Adam White and Kirk Levy are co-chairs of the Society. They lead a steering committee that currently is planning a summer social for August, and has exciting ideas for upcoming events, which will kick off in September. “The Business and Legal Society provides opportunities to broaden your horizons on whatever timely topic we have, and it’s a great way for Jewish business owners, or employees, or Jewish legal professionals, to get involved in the community,” says Levy. For more information, visit JewishVA. org/BusinessAndLegalSociety, Like the UJFT Business and Legal Society on Facebook, join discussions on LinkedIn, or contact shorwitz@ ujft.org.
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Jewish organizations: Current: Ohef Sholom Temple, board of directors; UJFT Women’s Cabinet and Business & Legal Society; Past: have served on boards of Jewish Community Center, Jewish Family Service and ORT. Family: Proud mother of the three greatest children—Caroline (20), Emily (17) and Ben (14), and part of a large extended family. Favorite Jewish holiday: Rosh Hashanah. It is a time of sweetness and renewal when family and community come back together with a forward look and a great meal, of course. Most memorable Jewish milestone/lifecycle event: My children’s bat/bar mitzvahs. The gifts that our faith and heritage offer through the ages became so clear to me.
Most admired Jewish lawmaker: Golda Meir Personal legal milestone: Fortunately, there have been many, but the real meaning for me is the privilege to work with others who have high standards and are committed to making the world a better place. Most memorable case: They are all memorable. I learn something from each case that helps the next one. How has an understanding and /or commitment to Jewish values entered into your decisions or actions as an attorney?: Tikkun Olam is made for lawyers with its emphasis on social justice and concern for the world. It requires education, advocacy, debate, dispute resolution, truth seeking, ability to understand multiple interpretations and apply guiding principles to our actions and decisions. We are presented with these opportunities and our profession gives us the skills to practice this every day.
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Federal judge’s ruling advances Hamptons eruv A federal judge ruled that markers creating an eruv can be placed on telephone poles in a community in New York’s Hamptons. The East End Eruv Association is seeking to erect an eruv in the Long Island town of West Hampton Beach, in New York. An eruv, a religious enclosure for use on the Sabbath usually marked by nearly invisible wires erected at the height of electricity wires, allows Orthodox Jews to carry items and push strollers on Shabbat. The markers at issue would be placed on about 50 telephone poles out of some 15,000 telephone poles located in the area. The ruling was handed down in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York.
Opponents of the eruv, including many non-Orthodox Jews, had argued that it would change the character of the neighborhood. Similar arguments are being made in Quogue and Southampton, where groups also are seeking to erect eruvs. Proponents of the eruv in West Hampton Beach are affiliated with the Hampton Synagogue, an Orthodox shul led by Rabbi Marc Schneier. The judge must still rule on whether putting up an eruv would violate the establishment clause of the Constitution, which provides for separation of church and state, according to the Forward. (JTA)
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You can scan this QR Code with your smartphone or visit sentara.com/knowyourrisk to go directly to the health risk assessment tools.
sentara.com/knowyourrisk | Your community, not-for-profit health partner 28 | Jewish News | June 30, 2014 | jewishnewsva.org
it’s a wrap 12th Melton graduation in Tidewater
Unwrapping the gift of Torah
A night at Beth El’s Conservative Yeshiva
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12th Melton School Graduation Class.Top Row: Sharon Shanker, Davit Adut and Lisa Erich. Bottom Row: Esther Sarah Carroll, Shelley Stein, Lyna Raschdorf, Mindy Schwartz Katz and Debra Kleeger. Missing: Devorah Elstein by Leslie Shroyer
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hen this year’s nine Melton graduates received their certificates, they joined a group of 180 adults in Tidewater who have completed the first two years of the Florence Melton School of Adult Jewish Learning. The students, who took 60 class sessions at the Simon Family JCC over the course of two years, celebrated their accomplishments on Wednesday, June 11 at the JCC with a graduation ceremony. The 12th Melton graduation (which completes 13 years of the Melton school in Tidewater), reflected the hands on, interactive approach pervasive in the Melton classroom, with all graduates participating in the ceremony. Sharon Shanker led the welcome and introduction. Esther Sarah Carroll led the D’Var Torah, followed by Davit Adut, who led what would be a typical Melton reading from the class curriculum. Shelley Stein shared her personal reflections. “We dove into the whys and hows behind the rituals we have as Jews,” she said. She also described how the small class of nine formed a strong bond after the first year, which allowed them to be open and honest when they debated ethical issues in the second year curriculum. Mindy Schwartz Katz gave a tribute to the teachers and presented the class gift, after which Lyna Raschdorf
taught a text from Torah study typical of a Melton class. Lisa Ehrich explained and led the Kaddish D’Rabbanan (the Scholars’ Kaddish), a prayer recited after completing the teaching of a Jewish text. Miriam Brunn Ruberg, local director of Florence Melton School of Adult Learning, noted that there are many options for adult Jewish learning. Melton is distinguished by its excellent curriculum, and does not set out to change lives, yet ends up doing just that, she said. “I have seen many examples where Melton graduates, after understanding aspects of their Judaism better, make personal changes in their observance.” Marty Einhorn, JCC president offered the group a hearty Mazel Tov, congratulating the class for their perseverance and hard work. Linda Spindel, chair of the Jewish Life and Learning committee of the Simon Family JCC, handed each of the graduates their personal certificates from the Hebrew University in Jerusalem. Debra Kleeger gave the closing prayer, after which graduates, friends, and family enjoyed a dessert reception. A new first year class is being planned for Tuesday mornings beginning in October. For more information, contact Miriam Brunn Ruberg 321-2328 or mbrunnruberg@simonfamilyjcc.org. The Simon Family JCC is a constituent agency of United Jewish Federation of Tidewater.
by Jennifer Adut
havuot, the holiday that celebrates the giving of the Torah, is celebrated 50 days after the second night of Passover because the Talmud says that God gave the Ten Commandments to the Jews on the sixth night of the Hebrew month of Sivan. Many Jews commemorate Shavuot by spending the entire night studying Torah at their synagogue or at home. This all-night gathering is known as Tikun Leyl Shavuot. This year, Rabbi Jeffrey and Tami Arnowitz, who both studied at the Conservative Yeshiva in Israel, recreated the atmosphere of a conservative yeshiva for Beth El’s annual Tikun Leyl Shavuot. They wanted to share “Chevruta” style of
learning. In a yeshiva, participants work in pairs to better understand the meaning and significance of passages of Torah. Program participants organized themselves into pairs and, with the help of Rabbi Arnowitz, studied several passages of Torah, engaging in a lively and dynamic debate about each passage. As participants unwrapped the wisdom and insights of Torah through text study, everyone was reminded that although the Torah is 3,500 years old, it is a powerful tool that can serve as a guide and anchor, offering many ways to bring holiness into the world.
The sun sets on Torah on Tap
Torah on Tap participants at the final session of the season.
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n Wednesday, June 18, the last Torah on Tap of the season took place at the home of Marcy and Paul Terkeltaub. Co-hosted by Lisa and Murray Rosenbach, the 25 people who attended ranged in age from 24 to ‘80-something.’ Since its inception, the discussions during Torah on Tap have been engaging and thought provoking. This meeting was no exception, blending current events with biblical teachings. The evening’s topic, “Is Prisoner Exchange A Jewish Value,” centered on the recent kidnapping of three Israeli teens from the West Bank and what, if anything, Israel should do to get them back. These events were compared and contrasted to the kidnappings and prisoner exchanges for Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit
and U.S. soldier Bowe Bergdahl. Rabbi Jeffrey Arnowitz led lively discussions of biblical commentaries, which showed how the Jewish viewpoint has evolved from one of using massive force to negotiating for the return of prisoners. He suggested that the latter position was due to compulsory military service required of Israeli men and women. Their parents wanted to ensure that the Israeli government would do everything in their power to get their children back if captured. As always, there was a great deal of learning and in-depth discussion. Torah on Tap has proven a great way to discuss interesting Jewish topics in a setting outside the synagogue.
jewishnewsva.org | June 30, 2014 | Jewish News | 29
Jewish Family Service: 62nd Biennial Meeting
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n Monday June 9, JFS held its Biennial Meeting to install the new board president and officers. Dr. Marcia Samuels, outgoing president, welcomed Lawrence Steingold, who will serve as president for the 2014-2016 term. The other members of the executive committee are: Jeff Cooper, 1st vice president/treasurer Ellen Rosenblum, 2nd vice president Patti Wainger, secretary Beth Jaffe, member-at-large Dr. Marcia Samuels, immediate past president Elena Barr Baum, past president JFS thanked its outgoing board members Scott Flax and Jerry Meltsner and welcomed incoming board member Steve Suskind, as well as continuing board members Lynn Sher Cohen and Renee Strelitz. JFS also presented several awards and recognitions at the meeting. Betty Ann Levin, JFS executive director, remarked, “Our community should be proud that such a dedicated group of lay leaders are guiding our agency. It continues to be a pleasure to work with our entire board of directors and we look forward to the next two years under Lawrence’s leadership.” Celebrating JFS Employees Each year since 1982, Jewish Family Service of Tidewater has recognized and honored a Home Health Care Employee of the Year. This year, Tanesha Davis, CNA, was given the honor at JFS’ annual Employee Appreciation Dinner. As a high school student, Davis volunteered at Lake Taylor Transitional Care, and in 2010, graduated from Tidewater Community College as a Certified Nursing Assistant. She came to JFS in 2011. Davis not only works as a CNA, caring for JFS’ home health clients, but also helps out in the office. Jan Ganderson, director of nursing, said, “Tanesha is always willing to lend a helping hand and does so with a smile on her face.”
Staff Members Recognized At the annual Employee Appreciation Dinner, JFS managers also recognized employees from each department for their longevity and service to the agency. Ganderson noted that 63 percent of the Home Health Care CNAs, nursing aides, and licensed practical nurses have been employed by JFS for more than three years. The following employees were honored for years of service to JFS: Recognized for 15 Years Marlene Aikman, administrative manager Personal Affairs Management (PAM) Shela Cook, case management team leader Personal Affairs Management (PAM) and also a Home Health Care CNA Judy Saperstein, physical therapist in Home Health Care Recognized for 10 Years Linda Badgley, RN, Home Health Care Lisa Bullock, CNA, Home Health Care Patrice Conley, case management team leader in Personal Affairs Management (PAM) Melissa Diehl, physical therapist in Home Health Care Cathy Gavin, secretary/receptionist in the Clinical department Robert Lang, trusts & assets manager in Personal Affairs Management (PAM) Recognized for 5 Years Shannon Leyton, RN, Home Health Care Heather Smith, RN, Home Health Care nurse liaison Rodney Wilson, CNA, Home Health Care Gwen Zalas, medical records, Home Health Care
JFS board member Randi Chernitzer with former board member Jerry Meltsner and past president Dolores Bartel.
Dr. Marcia Samuels, JFS president for 2012– 2014, presents a special community service award to Dr. Sue Gitlin, Jones Institute of Eastern Virginia Medical School, for her work on the 2013 Tidewater Jewish Community Genetic Screening.
Jan Ganderson, RN, JFS director of nursing with Tanesha Davis, CNA, the 2014 Home Health Care Worker of the Year. Renee Strelitz, past president of JFS with board member Stacie Moss and Marc Moss.
New board member Steve Suskind with Karen Lombart.
Past president Amy Levy with Lawrence Steingold.
Jewish Family Service is a constituent agency of United Jewish Federation of Tidewater.
Betty Ann Levin, JFS executive director, presented tokens of appreciation to three young men for their donations to JFS on the occasion of their bar mitzvahs. Left to right: Benjamin Katz, Andrew Gross, and Grayson Goodove.
30 | Jewish News | June 30, 2014 | jewishnewsva.org
first person
Hap Unger’s rug goes to HAT by Alene Jo Kaufman
Advisor responsibilities include program planning and implementation, attendance at conventions (2 weekends, USY advisor only) and student leadership development (USY advisor only.) Experience in youth groups (as participant or leader) is a plus.
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here are many people who have walked through the halls at Hebrew Academy of Tidewater, wherever it has been located. Some are more memorable than others, but few made as “big” a mark on the school as Harold (Hap) Unger. I first met Hap when his daughter Jennifer started in our program for two-yearolds at the Indian River Road location. I noticed him immediately—it’s hard to miss a man who is 6' 9" and wears a size 14 shoe! Hap was a devoted father whose heart was as big as his body. There was nothing that Hap wouldn’t do for the school. He chaperoned field trips, often accompanying us on the school trips to the roller skating rink where they did have skates to fit him. He pulled wire through the ceiling when the school purchased new computers and we needed to connect them. He worked on our Las Vegas night events. Hap was always there to hang or reach things and just help out wherever and whenever he was needed. He was generous with his time and loved the school, not only until Jennifer graduated, but beyond. Some years ago, I had reason to go to The Rug Shop, the business that he owned with his father, Maurice. I remembered that there was a “Jewish” rug on the wall of his father’s, later to be his, office. If you asked me what was on the rug, the color of it, or any other detail, I wouldn’t have been able to tell you. But I could tell you where it was hanging and I remember that it was an impressive piece and that Hap was very proud of it. Forward ahead to December 2013. Hap passed away unexpectedly. I hadn’t seen him in a couple of years, the last time was at the JCC. I absolutely wanted to see Jennifer, now a poised and articulate young lady. We spent time together in
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a close friend’s home, talking and reminiscing. And then I asked her about the rug. Neither she nor the friend could remember what was on the rug either, but they both thought that they knew where it was—rolled up among Hap’s things in his apartment. Jennifer said that she was curious and that she was going to be sure to unroll it and look at it. A few days later, Debbie Mayer of JFS met with Jennifer to gather some things that she wanted to donate. Debbie and I touched base a few days later and I told her how I had reminisced with Jennifer and we talked about “the rug.” Was I surprised to discover that Jennifer had given the rug to Debbie for her to find it an appropriate home! The rug now has a new home. It is hanging in Hap’s beloved Hebrew Academy. For those of us who knew him, it will be a reminder of Hap and his generous spirit and gift of time. For those who didn’t, the colorful artistic rendition of an observant man blowing the shofar in front of the Kotel will be a visual treat and, hopefully, an inspiration to the students and families of Hebrew Academy of Tidewater for many years to come.
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jewishnewsva.org | June 30, 2014 | Jewish News | 31
first person
what’s happening
Two area students reflect on Birthright Israel
Wonderful Wednesdays Music Series
Memories for a lifetime
A sense of home by Katie Weintraub, George Mason University,
by Sam Sacks, Virginia Tech, class of 2014
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t is incredible what one can experience during 10 days in Israel. Earlier this year, thanks to Birthright and Hillel at Virginia Tech, we were given the opportunity to witness the Land of Israel. Of course, we remember all the fun times (swimming in the Dead Sea, riding camels in the desert, shopping in the markets), but we also remember the moments that left a deeper impact. During our visit to the Golan Heights we heard gunshots ring out from Syria. We also paid our respects at Yad Vashem and Mt. Herzl. But most importantly, we spent five of our days in Israel with IDF soldiers. Despite the fact that we spent less than a week together, we created profound relationships highlighted by the similarities and differences we discovered in one another. Growing up we learned about Israel, but nothing compares to witnessing the land and sharing life-changing moments with fellow Jews. They say what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas; we can now say, “What happens in Israel Sam and Nate Sacks at a waterfall in Ein Gedi. lasts a lifetime.”
32 | Jewish News | June 30, 2014 | jewishnewsva.org
The Jewish Museum and Cultural Center, presents its annual “Wonderful Wednesdays,” a summer music series.
class of 2014
A
s I stepped outside Ben Gurion airport, I was taken aback, not by the fiery Israeli sun, but by the warmth of the welcome of our new Israeli friends. As we journeyed up through the Golan Heights, down to the Katie Weintraub at Dead Sea, and everywhere in between, George Mason graduation. I was equally moved by a truly unique experience. At home I am part of a religious minority; I grew up as the only Jewish kid in the same neighborhood as Pat Robertson’s Christian Broadcasting Network. Being in Israel was an exciting new experience, where being Jewish is more than your religion— it’s the culture, the people and most importantly, being Jewish means belonging to this colossal family. While I attended Hebrew school and had my Bat Mitzvah at Ohelf Sholom Temple in Norfolk, making the journey to Israel was my way to reconnect with my Jewish roots and see this holy land I had only heard about. It’s one thing to read or watch documentaries about Israel, but to actually have that tangible experience was something I craved. That first Shabbat in Tiberias, viewing the Israeli-Syrian border from the Golan Heights, visiting the Israeli Defense Forces base, walking through Yad Vashem and the National Cemetery, and kicking back with our group on the beaches in Tel Aviv—those experiences made Israel tangible, and more than the geo-politically conflicted land often misrepresented and plagued by over-generalization in the media. Trekking around Israel what I found even more remarkable than the generosity of the Israelis we encountered, was how quickly a group of about 40 relative strangers became a tight-knit family. In addition to the experience of Birthright molding our group of Americans and Israelis into a family, we all seemed to find a sense of home in the Jewish homeland. Volunteer at Jewish Family Service! We need... As we all make efforts to stay in touch, • Meals on Wheels driver in Norfolk on Thursdays plans to return to Israel, as well as make plans to host our Israel friends after they • Someone to help file in our Personal Affairs Management (PAM) office finish their service in the army, it is clear • Friendly visitors to visit with our clients in Norfolk and Virginia Beach that the warmth we experienced through• Knitters to join our Knitters Club on Wednesdays out our journey left us with bigger hearts and a deep connection with the nation and For more details or to volunteer, call Jody Laibstain, JFS Volunteer Coordinator, people of Israel. at 757-321-2227 or email jlaibstain@jfshamptonroads.org
Want to Make a Difference?
Begins Wednesday, July 9
Music of Women Wednesday, July 9 Four centuries of music by women composers, performed by Debra Wendells Cross, flutist and Barbara Chapman, harpist, both renowned members of the Virginia Symphony and many chamber groups. Robynne Redmon Wednesday, July 23 A critically acclaimed mezzo soprano who has performed in opera houses and concert halls around the world, Robynne Redmond will present an evening of song. Pavel Ilyashov Wednesday, August 6 A violinist who is on the faculty of the Governor’s School of the Arts and is a fulltime member of the Virginia Symphony, Pavel Ilyashov will offer a program, “Four Strings-One Voice. Music for Unaccompanied Violin.” His recent engagements include concerto performances with the Virginia Symphony, a series of recitals at the Caramoor and Bargemusic Festivals in New York, as well as an extensive tour of North and South America. The Walter Noona Trio Wednesday, August 20 A long-time local favorite, Walter Noona will close the series with an evening of American standards. All programs begin at 7:30 pm. The museum is located at 607 Effingham St. in Portsmouth. For information and tickets, call 391-9266 or visit the website www. jewishmuseumportsmouth.org.
what’s happening Hunger Feast: Tidewater tackles hunger through Tikkun Olam Wednesday, August 6, 6 pm, Simon Family JCC by Jake Levy
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ot far from my Philadelphia apartment, 10-year-old Marcus Gaines, Jr. has to balance school, friends, and the priorities of any other child. Nothing may seem very different for Marcus from many of our childhoods—at least, at first glance. But for Marcus and many of his classmates in Philadelphia, here in Virginia and across the country, they struggle every day to overcome a vicious cycle that can limit or dominate a child’s thoughts, actions and very being. “When I eat and I see my mom and dad don’t, I say, ‘why don’t you eat?’” Marcus shared in a 2011 interview. “It makes me feel nervous and kind of sad and stuff. I worry about them. I try to give them my chicken nuggets.” Hunger plagues a staggering 1 in 7 people in Virginia and the nation, creating a vicious cycle in which children and adults must constantly worry about getting food and where they can next find it. For many children, it limits or even paralyzes their thinking, leaving them living hourby-hour, unable to focus on school, friends or family. Undernourishment kills more people every year than malaria, tuberculosis, and AIDS—combined. For the one billion people who will go to bed hungry tonight,
the painful discomfort and weakness of hunger is more than just a concept—it is an affliction on their very way of life. We live in America, the richest nation at the richest time in history, yet tens of millions of American families still struggle every day just to put food on the table. In Tidewater for our own neighbors, the reality is no different. The Foodbank of Southeastern Virginia and the Eastern Shore was able to distribute 14.2-million meals last year to more than 300,000 individuals in Tidewater and on the Eastern Shore who suffered from hunger. In our own Jewish community, Jewish Family Service provided services to more than 2,700 individuals last year, most who were impoverished and 68% who were not Jewish. Nonetheless, the local Foodbank still runs short of its eventual goal to distribute 16.6-million meals per year. There is still much work to be done. Stop Hunger Now, a major international hunger relief organization, created an innovative, rapid meal-packaging program a decade ago that has made huge leaps toward eliminating world hunger. Amazingly, these quick small meal packets of 21 vitamins and minerals are packed for just 29 cents each - many of which are used for immediate response to crises like famine and natural disasters. But now, here in our Tidewater Jewish
Summer Youth Basketball Camp Ages 6-15
Monday, August 11 through Friday, August 15 9 am–5 pm, JCC Jaffe Gym
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his week-long basketball camp for girls and boys offers group and individual instruction with the experienced instructors of Family First Basketball Association, including former minor league pro player Delshay Lewis and UVa alumnus 6' 8" Jason Clark, the Cavaliers’ fifth all-time leading shot-blocker. Topics include increasing basketball IQ and skills, ball handling, shooting, passing, defense, individual and team concepts, games, and more. Before and after care available at an additional cost. Bring lunch, drinks, and snack. Camp will also have some snacks available for purchase. $275 for nonmembers, $215 JCC members. Call 321-2338 to register.
community, you can be a part of the solution. This summer, I and a coalition of young Jewish leaders in Tidewater led by recent James Feast committee: Jacqueline Strelitz, Ben Klebanoff, Hannah Moss, Sophie Madison University Hunger Levy, Andie Eichelbaum. Not pictured: Becca Shwartzman, Elli Friedman, Max and graduate Hannah Tom Moss, Shikma Rubin, Jake Levy, and Rebecca Curry. Hofheimer Moss are coming together in partnership with JFS to enlighten our community about local and create Hunger Feast, an experimental and global hunger issues. The second part of hands-on event to raise awareness and cre- the event is packing meal bags with Stop ate meal bags to be sent overseas. We are Hunger Now, an international hunger relief a diverse group from virtually every back- agency. We will pack 20,000 meal bags, ground—different high schools, colleges, which will feed 120,000 people. A group of and even professional backgrounds— 30 to 40 volunteers alone can pack 10,000 bringing together our Jewish community bags in just 90 minutes. We need your help, and ask you to join to eradicate hunger in the spirit of Tikkun us in supporting Hunger Feast to learn Olam. The first part of the event will be a about local and international hunger issues “feast” different from what the attendees and to support our meal packaging for will have ever experienced, as everyone is the hungry. We also appreciate financial randomly assigned to one of three “class- support. Recognized giving levels include es” of dining through which participants Planter $100, Grower $250, Harvester will be able to experience first-hand the $500, and Distributor $1,000, though way socioeconomic status affects meals. any amount is appreciated. Contributions People are obviously going to have inter- should be mailed to: JFS, attn: Hunger esting experiences during this segregated Feast, 260 Grayson Road, Virginia Beach, dining, but at the same time, everyone will VA 23462. For more information, email find themselves enjoying the speakers and hungerfeast757@gmail.com. additional activities designed to further
New classes and certifications at the Simon Family JCC fitness center Zumba Very popular among adult members of the JCC, Zumba will be offered for kids over age four, with regular Wednesday afternoon and Saturday morning classes beginning Wednesday, July 2. Special family yoga class Friday, July 18, 11 am-noon Introduce children to the world of yoga. Les Mills body pump classes Begins in September, with instructor training at the JCC on Sunday, July 27.
The JCC instructors join a host of other area experts in expanding and renewing their certifications so that their classes are the best prepared, the latest and greatest, as well as the safest. An aquafitness class will be offered July 3, a kickboxing certification will be offered on August 9, and a Spinning certification will be offered in September. For more information about these classes, email sgiannelli@simonfamilyjcc.org. The Simon Family JCC is a constituent agency of United Jewish Federation of Tidewater.
jewishnewsva.org | June 30, 2014 | Jewish News | 33
calendar JULY 6, SUNDAY Brith Sholom annual picnic at Beth Sholom Home. Charcoal grilled hamburgers, hot dogs and chicken wings with all the regular picnic fare. Bingo with cash prizes. 12 noon. Members and children $7.50; guests $15. Reservations and payment must be received by July 1. Call 461-1150. July 16, Wednesday JCC Senior Club meeting at the Simon Family JCC. Guest performer will be Kathy Whatley, who performs in the style of Patsy Kline. Board meeting begins at 10:30 am, lunch at 12 noon, general meeting follows. For further information, call 338-2676. August 16, Saturday Arthritis Ball 2014 honoring Linda Spindel. 6 pm. 340-5600. 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 Screening of Ida —Sunday, July 13, 7:15 pm at the Naro Cinema
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he Simon Family JCC and the Virginia Festival of Jewish Film, presented by Alma* and Howard Laderberg, are co-sponsoring a one-time-only showing of one of the best films of the year. Ida is a total marvel: beautiful and provocative, just maybe a masterpiece of a movie, with clear Jewish themes. Ida is part of the Naro’s monthly Faith in Film series, hosted by Rev. Scott Hennessy of St. Paul’s Episcopal Church. The JCC’s guest co-host will be Rabbi Michael Panitz of Temple Israel. Visit narocinema.com for more information. *of blessed memory
D IRECTOR
Eric Kline Business Development Danny Kline Vice President
Andy Kline President
F ULL -T IME P OSTION AVAIL ABLE :
OF M ARKETING AND C OMMUNIC ATION The Director of Marketing and Communication develops and ensures the successful implementation of agency branding, marketing, advertising, promotion and communication strategies to support the vision, mission and goals of the United Jewish Federation of Tidewater and Simon Family JCC. Candidate should have proven leadership skills in directing and/or coordinating progressive marketing policies and programs. This position requires hands on experience in the coordination and use of all creative, visual, graphic and written materials required to meet objectives of marketing and communications to reach target audiences and oversee all public relations, advertising and promotional staff, agencies and activities. Education/Experience:
JOB REQUIREMENTS
Bachelor's degree in business, marketing, communications or related field from an accredited college or university; plus a minimum of 7 years of progressive experience including overseeing marketing collateral creation, creative production, writing, and project management OR Master's degree with 5 years of related experience.
Knowledge and Skills: Payroll, Taxes and W-2s • Web Based Time and Attendance NCS Background Checks • Employee Loans • Pay As You Go Workers Comp Insurance HR Answerlink H.R. Legal Resources • Employee Self Service Online Cobra Administration • VISA Debit Payday Cards Call us today to see how we can help, 757-523-0605 or visit us at www.paydaypayroll.com.
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34 | Jewish News | June 30, 2014 | jewishnewsva.org
Ability to manage/supervise employees and workflow; Prioritize responsibilities; Experience with linking marketing efforts to outcomes and establishing metrics for accountability and evaluative purposes; Web site design and content management; Social media and new technologies; Extensive use of computer, proofreading; Teambuilding and collaboration skills; Knowledge of web-based marketing strategies and strong contacts with local media; Willingness to work evenings, weekends and holidays as required; Knowledge of or experience supporting fundraising preferred; Strong knowledge of Jewish heritage, values, traditions and culture.
For a full job description, visit the employment section: www.jewishva.org Submit resumes to: resumes@ujft.org
7/6/11 11:54 AM
who knew?
Mazel Tov to
Michael Douglas, Catherine Zeta-Jones in Jerusalem for son’s bar mitzvah JERUSALEM (JTA)—Michael Douglas and Catherine Zeta-Jones celebrated the bar mitzvah of their son in Jerusalem. The Hollywood power couple arrived in Israel on Thursday, June 19 for the weekend bar mitzvah of Dylan Michael Douglas, Ynet reported. The family stayed in the presidential suite of the King David Hotel in Jerusalem. They toured Jerusalem, including the Temple Mount tunnels, according to the Forward, which noted that Zeta-Jones has considered converting to Judaism.
GRADUATION Samuel Sacks, who just graduated Magna Cum Laude from Virginia Tech. He is working as Development Coordinator for
Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation in Virginia Beach. Sam is the son of Ellen and Skip Sacks and the grandson of Annabel and Hal Sacks.
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.
Israeli Ram Bergman to produce Star Wars films Israeli producer Ram Bergman will make the next two “Star Wars” films. Bergman, who moved to Hollywood from Israel in 1991, will produce Star Wars Episodes VIII and IX, according to the Times of Israel. Bergman was named one of Variety magazine’s Top 10 producers to watch in 2005, the year he produced “Brick.” He also produced the 2012 film “Looper.” (JTA)
correction
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.
Hebrew Academy of Tidewater Konikoff Center of Learning Graduation awards and presentations Nine year awards (from preschool, age two– 5th grade)—Mushky Brashevitzky, Shayda Rahimzadeh, Blake Brown, Gabe Foleck, Leo Kamer and Danial Watts James London Memorial Athlete of the Year—Danial Watts Most Improved in General Studies— Shayda Rahimzadeh Abe and Anna Rudolph Award for Excellence in Mathematics—Blake Brown Shirley Helfant and Ruth Josephberg Award for Visual Arts—Lara Leiden Middot Award (for the student who most exemplifies the values we strive to live)—Gabe Foleck
Harold and Jacqueline Spiro Goodman Award for Excellence in General Studies— Danial Watts Rabbi Charles J. Mantel Memorial Award for Excellence in Judaic Studies—Mushky Brashevitzky Hyman J. Stromberg Memorial Award for Academic Excellence—Leo Kamer Members of the HAT Class of 2014 will attend these schools: Middle Years International Baccalaureate Program at Plaza Middle School Norfolk Academy Toras Chaim
tips on Jewish trips
105-year-old synagogue restored in China The Chinese city of Harbin reopened a 105-year-old synagogue to the public after an extensive restoration. The Main Synagogue on Harbin’s Tongjiang Street was reopened recently after 12 months of renovations at a festive ceremony featuring a performance by the String Quartet of the State Glazunovs Conservatory from the city of Petrozavodsk in Russia, the Xinhua news agency reported. In 19th and 20th centuries, thousands of Jews immigrated to the northeastern city of Harbin to escape persecution in Europe and Czarist Russia, establishing there one of the largest Jewish communities in the Far East. The Chinese government conducted the restoration project with help from Dan BenCanaan, an Israeli scholar who has lived in Harbin for more than a decade and works there as director of Heilongjiang University’s Sino-Israel Research and Study Center. The restored synagogue, he told Xinhua, “looks exactly the same as when the synagogue first opened in 1909, making this a unique location.” Once an Orthodox synagogue seating up to 450 people, the building’s exterior boasts a Star of David sitting atop the rooftop dome. Inside, the women’s gallery on the second floor, the men’s prayer hall and rabbi’s bimah platform have all been restored, complete with safety rails featuring elaborate decorations that combine Jewish and Chinese symbols. However, the reopened synagogue is not meant to function as a place of worship but as a concert theater, according to Xinhua.
The synagogue was damaged in 1931 by a fire that, according to Ben-Canaan, was started by gangs of anti-communist Russians. It was renovated after the fire and closed down in 1963. It was converted into a hospital and a hostel, leaving its interior badly damaged, the report said. (JTA)
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obituaries Dr. Stanley Darrow New York, N.Y—Stanley Darrow, a New York City dentist and dental professor, died on June 22, 2014 at the age of 87. A native of the Bronx, Dr. Darrow graduated from DeWitt Clinton High School in 1944 after which he enlisted in the U.S. Army. After serving in the Philippines, he attended college at the NYU College of Arts and Pure Science, receiving his BA degree in 1948, and the NYU College of Dentistry, from which he was awarded his DDS degree in 1953. Dr. Darrow subsequently entered the private practice of dentistry, and continued to treat patients until shortly before his death. Dr. Darrow was renowned as a compassionate and dedicated practitioner to celebrities and high profile business executives. In addition, he had a passion for teaching dental students and residents. He maintained an appointment at the NYU College of Dentistry 1953-1976, attaining the rank of associate professor in the Department of Operative Dentistry, and afterward served as attending dentist in the Flushing Hospital Dental Residency Program. A member of the New York State and County Dental Societies, Dr. Darrow was a regular lecturer at the annual meeting of the First District Dental Society. His honors and awards include membership in the Omicron Kappa Upsilon Dental Honor Society and Sigma Xi Scientific Research Society, and fellowships in the American College of Dentists and the Academy of General Dentistry. Dr. Darrow maintained residences on Sutton Place in Manhattan and in Sherman, Conn. He enjoyed traveling and collecting antiques with his wife, Vivienne, listening to Dixieland jazz and swing music, and playing banjo and guitar. He is survived by his sons Jonathan, David, and Andrew; grandchildren Evan, Julia, Emily, Nicole, Joshua, and Gwendolyn; and sister Phyllis. A reception celebrating Dr. Darrow’s life will be held at the family residence in Manhattan on July 12 and 13 from 11am to 6pm. Donations may be made to the Sherman Library, P.O. Box 40, Sherman, CT 06784, or to the Sherman Jewish Community Center, 9 Route 39 South, Sherman, CT 06784.
David Furman Virginia Beach—David Furman, 95, died on Tuesday, June 10, 2014 in a local convalescent center. He was born in Portlock, Va., and as a youngster moved with his family to South Norfolk, both now Chesapeake. He was the son of the late Annie Steinberg Furman and Joseph Furman. David worked with his brother, Morris, in the Morris Furman Wholesale Produce Co. which became D and M Produce. They ultimately decided to try the retail food business and together they founded Farm Fresh Supermarkets of which David served as chairman of the board until he retired. David served in World War II in the infantry on the front line and was honorably discharged after spending months in hospitals in France and England being treated for foot injuries. He was the chairman of the United Jewish Federation of Tidewater, on the board of the Tidewater Jewish Foundation and a member of the National Conference of Christians and Jews. David was chairman of Tidewater Israel Bonds. He received the George W. Bush “Points of Light” Award for his work with Lee’s Friends, which helps people living with cancer in the Tidewater area. He did this in memory of his beloved wife of 35 years, Rosalie. David was one of the founding members of Temple Israel Synagogue. He was a 32nd Degree Mason and a Shriner affiliated with the Berkley Masonic Lodge #167. David received the National Ariel America Friends of Midrasha Philanthropic Testimonial Award. He was a contributor to Tel Aviv University and funded the Professorial Chair at Virginia Wesleyan College Center for the Study of Religious Freedom. He is survived by his son, Dr. Randall Furman and his wife, Jacqueline; a daughter, Jolene Shapiro and her husband, Larry; grandsons, Ryan Shapiro and his wife, Stephanie Bain, Paul Shapiro and his partner, Erica Meier; granddaughters, Erica Gerstin and her husband, Ari, Marissa Furman and Amanda Furman; and great-granddaughter, Layla Gerstin. David was preceded in death by his parents, his brother, Morris, and sisters, Sylvia Kaplan, Alma Belkov, and Bertha Glaser as well as his wife, Rosalie and second wife, Rhonda
36 | Jewish News | June 30, 2014 | jewishnewsva.org
Furman. A funeral service was conducted in the Norfolk Chapel of H. D. Oliver Funeral Apts. with Rabbi Israel Zoberman and Cantor Elihu Flax officiating. Burial followed in Forest Lawn Cemetery with Rabbi Michael Panitz officiating at the graveside. Memorial donations may be made to Beth Sholom Village, Lee’s Friends, Compassion Over Killing and the Humane Society of the U.S. Online condolences may be made at www.hdoliver.com. Joyce Levy Vienna, Va.—Joyce Levy passed away on Tuesday, June 17, 2014. She was the beloved wife of Jerry Levy; mother of Jonathan Levy (Sara) and Julie Levy Kayes (Sean); sister of Richard Lee Sapperstein (Lisa); grandmother of Dylan, Zoey and Bryce. Funeral services took place at Temple Rodef Shalom, 2100 Westmoreland St. Falls Church, Va. Interment was in King David Memorial Gardens. In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to a charity of choice. Jocelyn Levy Kings Point Delray Beach, Fla.— Jocelyn Rita Levy (formerly of Bayonne, N.J.) 90, passed away in her home Saturday, May 24. Born November 16, 1923, the daughter of Dr. George and Jeanette Leder, she is survived by her children Edythe Murray of Norwich, Conn.; Susan Tapper Segal (Nathan) of Virginia Beach, Va.; Alan Levy (Mindy) of Freehold, N. J., as well as her grandchildren Elyse Cardon (David), Marcy Thomaswick (Jeffery), Shari Margulies, Kim Tapper, Jaclyn Levy and Daniel Levy, as well as her great grandchildren Bella, Sylvie, Avi, and Flora Cardon, and Ethan and Jasen Thomaswick. She was predeceased by her beloved husband Jerome Levy, her brother Burt Leder, her grandson Steven Margulies, Sidney Joffe, and Bruce Tapper. A longtime resident of Kings Point in Delray Beach, she was the sweetheart of Normandy S with many loving friends and neighbors. A funeral was held in New York. Donations may be made to Hospice of Palm Beach County or to a charity of the donor’s choice.
Moise Safra, billionaire philanthropist Moise Safra, a billion a ire banker and philanthropist, died at 79 in Brazil. Safra died Sunday, June 15 at the Albert Einstein Israelite Hospital in Sao Paulo two days after suffering a heart attack, according to Reuters. He reportedly had struggled with Parkinson’s disease for several years. Safra and his brothers, Joseph and Edmond, were scions of a Syrian Jewish banking family with roots in Aleppo, where Safra was born in 1935. In the mid-1950s, Safra settled in Brazil and co-founded the Safra Group of Banks with his brothers. In 2006, Safra sold his portion of the family business to brother Joseph for a reported $2 billion, according to Forbes. Bloomberg News reported that at the time of his death, Safra’s net worth was an estimated $3.4 billion. Safra also was a major donor to international Jewish charities, including the Albert Einstein Israelite Hospital. His wife, Chella, is the treasurer of the World Jewish Congress. (JTA)
Rabbi Nachman Sudak, head of Chabad U.K. Rabbi Nachman Sudak, the chief emissary for the Chabad-Lubavitch movement in the United Kingdom, has died. Sudak died Sunday, June 15 in London. He was 78. Directed personally by the Lubavitcher rebbe, Menachem Mendel Schneerson, to move to London in 1959, Sudak lived there for the rest of his life, according to Chabad.org, developing and overseeing a network of Chabad-led institutions throughout the country that now includes 11 campus centers, 25 Chabad houses and 14 schools. “Rabbi Nachman Sudak guided the destiny of Chabad in Britain for more than 50 years, turning it from a marginal presence to one that affected tens of thousands of lives and changed the entire tone of Anglo-Jewry,” said Emeritus Chief Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks, according to the Jewish Chronicle.
obituaries Sudak was born in the USSR band before immigrating with his family to British Mandate Palestine and then in 1954 to Brooklyn, according to Chabad. In 1959, he was married in London to Fradel Shemtov, whose father oversaw the Chabad network in the United Kingdom at the time. In 2001, Queen Elizabeth conferred on Sudak the Order of the British Empire. Sudak, in turn, presented the queen with a mezuzah.
Sudak also served on the boards of several major governing bodies of Chabad, including its umbrella organization, Agudas Chassidei Chabad, and its educational arm. Sudak is survived by his wife and nine children, including his son Rabbi Bentzi Suda, the chief executive of Chabad Lubavitch U.K.
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White City Shabbat breaks Guinness World Record for largest Shabbat Dinner with 2,226 diners in Tel Aviv
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hite City Shabbat set the Guinness World Record for the Largest Shabbat Dinner ever at the Hangar 11 in the port of Tel Aviv when 2,226 attendees were officially inscribed in the Guinness World Record for the Largest Shabbat Dinner on Friday night June 13. Notable diners included Chief Rabbi of Tel Aviv Rav Yisrael Meir Lau, Professor Alan Dershowitz, Ambassador Michael Oren, Israeli basketball legend Tal Brody, Canadian MP Irwin Cotler, MK Elazar Stern, and Mayor of Tel Aviv-Yafo Ron Huldai. At 11pm, a jubilant crowd cheered as the adjudicator from GUINNESS WORLD RECORDS™ (GWR), Pravin Patel, announced the final result. Patel, who was flown in from London especially for the occasion, kept the crowd in suspense as he went through the Guinness rules again and reminded everyone that in order to set the record, GWR demanded that a minimum of 1,000 diners must be in attendance. When Patel finally announced that 2,226 diners were included in the record, the crowd erupted in cheers and hollers, before singing “Am Yisrael Chai.” Patel, who has been an adjudicator for GWR all over the world, said “This is my first time visiting Israel and first time experiencing a Shabbat dinner. It has been ‘officially amazing.’ Congratulations to White City Shabbat and the city of Tel Aviv.” To make the Guinness World Record Largest Shabbat Dinner happen, it took almost a year of preparation, 60 days of crowdsourced fundraising, 800 bottles of wine, 80 bottles of vodka, 50 bottles
Co-director White City Shabbat Deborah Danan; Basketball player Tal Brody; Lawyer and Harvard Professor Alan Dershowitz; Canadian MP Irwin Cotler; Danny Grossman, America oleh and former Israeli fighter pilot; Eytan White, co-director of White City Shabbat; and Jay Shultz, president of Am Yisrael Foundation.
of whiskey, 2,000 challah rolls, 80 long tables, 1,800 pieces of chicken, 1,000 pieces of beef, 250 vegetarian portions, 2,300 diners signed up and another 3,000 on the waiting list. In addition to organizing a dinner for more than 2,000 people, White City Shabbat also had to contend with the laws of kashrut, Shabbat and of course, those of Guinness World Records itself. GWR stipulated that all attendees must be seated and have had their first course served by the waiters all within five minutes, and thereafter must remain at the table for a full hour that it took to eat the traditional Shabbat meal. Table captains were appointed to report to Patel and verify that everyone adhered to the rules. It was also important for the Guinness judge to know that the meal adhered to traditional Jewish customs for Shabbat, including the proper prayers, Kiddush, HaMotzei, and that the organizers weren’t breaking any Jewish religious laws. The evening began with short speeches from Rabbi Yisrael Meir Lau, Alan Dershwitz, Irwin Cotler and Jay Shultz, President of Am Yisrael Foundation, White City Shabbat’s umbrella organization, and was followed by a giant Kabbalat Shabbat prayer service outside of the Hangar. Once the meal was underway, organizers controlled the crowd by holding up large signsat strategic times throughout the meal, including “Shalom Alechem,” “Stand up,” “Sit down.” Many of the key prayers were projected along the inside walls of the venue. After the Golan Heights Winery sponsored Kiddush, Jay Shultz stood on a stage in the center of the room, hoisted a two-meter long challah above his head and roared out the HaMotzei
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benediction which kicked-off the official start of the meal and Patel’s stopwatch. “Tonight, we all came together in the Land of Israel to celebrate Shabbat in unity and strength. There has never been an easier time in history for the Jewish People to live here, and it is clear that Tel Aviv is the most exciting thing happening in the entire Jewish World,” said Shultz, a New Jersey native who has been living in Israel for the past eight years. “May our unity of voice tonight reach and reassure all of Am Yisrael living around the globe, so they too will soon be as blessed as we are, to come Home. L’Shana HaBa’ah B’Tel Aviv!” Various organizations, families, synagogues and groups of visiting tourists had booked tables in advance so they could sit together including, Nefesh b’Nefesh Lone Soldiers, Hillel Latin America, Sackler Medical School and the Israel
Lacrosse team. A range of strategic partners were also involved, including the Municipality of Tel Aviv-Jaffa, the Israeli Ministry of Religious Services, ROI Community and Chabad on Campus who sent a group of young rabbis to help guide the crowd. White City Shabbat is a volunteer-run non-profit organization that acts as the portal for Jewish life in Tel Aviv. The organization serves as a matchmaker for Shabbat hospitality, connecting guests with hosts throughout the city each week in addition to hosting large young professional communal dinners each month, holiday celebrations, a Jewish learning series, beginners learning minyan, and inter-community programming.
Beth Sholom Receives 2014 Bronze National Quality Award Virginia center recognized by national program for commitment to quality care --
Beth Sholom Village has been recognized as a 2014 recipient of the Bronze – Commitment to Quality Award by the American Health Care Association and National Center for Assisted Living (AHCA/NCAL). The National Quality Award program honors centers across the nation that have demonstrated their commitment to improving quality care for seniors and individuals with disabilities.
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