Mazel Tov
Dear Readers,
We joke about it – “They tried to kill us, we survived, let’s eat!” But the truth is that whenever possible, Jewish people look for a way to celebrate, for reasons to proclaim, “Mazel Tov!”
B’nai Mitzvot teens, for example, hear those congratulatory words following their call to the Torah and the conclusion of the Shabbat morning service. For their Mitzvah Projects, however, probably not so much, though these diligent students should receive multiple rounds of applause and shouts of “Mazel Tov!” for all they have accomplished for others. Some recent teens and their creative, thoughtful Mitzvah Projects are highlighted beginning on page 20.
For another group, their “Mazel Tovs!” this year were accompanied by Happy Birthday songs. Leonette and Beryl Adler, Lenny Brooke, and Lorraine Fink celebrated major milestone birthdays in 2024. This inspiring collection of people share a few words with readers about their very full lives. “We should all live so long!” Page 25.
Just like bagels are no longer considered exclusively a Jewish food, “Mazel Tov!” appears more and more often in mainstream conversation, songs, and theater. Stephanie Peck’s article about this phenomenon is on page 31.
We hope you enjoy these and the other articles within the section – and that when you’re about to celebrate any occasion, you consider choosing one of our advertisers to make your celebration just right.
Mazel Tov!
Terri Denison
Mazel Tov
Mitzvah Projects deserve their own “Mazel Tov!”
Stephanie Peck
Becoming a bar or bat mitzvah is a multi-faceted time for 13-year-olds and their families.
Preparations for this special milestone include studying Jewish history and Hebrew, learning how to conduct a Shabbat service, interpreting a parsha, and applying its meaning to current events. Many b’nai mitzvah students also take the extra step of completing a mitzvah project.
These local teens, who recently completed the b’nai mitzvah process, share why they chose their Mitzvah Projects and how they completed them. From raising money to raising awareness, their efforts offer hope for a bright Jewish future.
Walden Beha
Son of Lynn and Jonathan Beha Congregation Beth El
Bar Mitzvah: June 22, 2024
Great Bridge Middle School
Mitzvah Project: Gathered donations for the animal shelter.
Jewish News: Why did you choose this project?
Walden Beha: I’ve always liked animals, and the animal shelter was one of the few options I had for mitzvah projects.
JN: Who benefitted from this mitzvah project?
Walden: The people running the animal shelter had to spend less money on food and other supplies, and I bet the animals were pretty happy.
Lila Friedman
Daughter of Mindy and Howard Friedman Congregation Beth El Bat Mitzvah: May 4, 2024 Great Neck Middle School
Mitzvah Project: Jewish Family Service Food Pantry
Jewish News: Why did you choose this project?
Lila Friedman: I picked this as my mitzvah project because I know a lot of people are struggling right now and it’s important to give back to our community and help others who are less fortunate. I had a lot of friends and family from around the country and locally who wanted to support my project. We turned some of the donations into centerpieces for my bat mitzvah to show everyone who came and who donated how their donations were being used.
JN: Did anyone inspire you to pursue this mitzvah project?
Lila: When I was in the four-year-old class at Strelitz, we collected canned goods for the food pantry as part of my Family of the Week project. We thought it would be good if we did something like that again for my bat mitzvah project.
JN: Who benefitted from this mitzvah project?
Lila: My whole family benefitted from this project as well as the people in the community who rely on the food pantry for support. My sister and I helped stock the shelves and got to see how the pantry worked and where everything was stored. My whole family helped transport three carloads of donations to JFS and helped keep everything organized as we got so many donations. We had fun making the centerpieces and a lot of people at my bat mitzvah commented what a great project we had and how they were proud of me. We know a lot of people had a little extra food because of the kindness and generosity from those who helped support my project.
Mazel Tov
Wesley Jones
Son of Lisa and Andrew Jones
Temple Israel
Bar Mitzvah: May 4, 2024
Old Donation School
Mitzvah Project: Created a Virtual 5K Run for Neve Michael’s Children Village in Israel.
All profits from this virtual 5K went directly to Neve Michael, which is a children’s home for more than 400 disadvantaged children. Neve Michael was established in Israel in 1943. The proceeds were used to purchase sports equipment. As part of this project, Wesley created the virtual 5K sign-up website, promoted the race, made medals, and participated in the 5k.
Jewish News: Why did you choose this project?
Wesley: I like running and sports and Dr. Rabbi Michael Panitz told me about the children’s home, Neve Michael, in Israel. I wanted to raise money to help these children buy sports equipment like what I am fortunate enough to have.
JN: Did anyone inspire you to pursue this mitzvah project?
Wesley: Dr. Michael Panitz helped inform me of the children’s village in Israel.
JN: Who benefitted from this mitzvah project?
Wesley: Neve Michael’s children as well as the participants in the 5k race benefited from exercising for a great cause.
Mya Gadell
Daughter of Adina and Timothy Gadell
Ohef Sholom Temple
Bat Mitzvah: October 26, 2024
Old Donation School
Mitzvah Project: Neighborhood trash clean ups.
Jewish News: Why did you choose this project?
Mya Gadell: Because my neighborhood is on the Elizabeth River and, if we keep the neighborhood clean, we contribute to the cleanliness of the river.
JN: Did anyone inspire you to pursue this mitzvah project?
Mya: No, I chose this project on my own. Keeping our natural environment clean, alive, and well has always been a passion of mine.
JN: Who benefitted from this mitzvah project?
Mya: Not only did my neighborhood benefit from this, but so did the Elizabeth River Foundation. I sent them the amounts of trash picked up so they could enter it into their system. I was happy to have aided their mission and contributed to keeping the river and my neighborhood nice and clean!
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Eli Lomogda
Son of Julie Blumenthal and Jonathan Lomogda
Ohef Sholom Temple
Bar Mitzvah: November 2, 2024
Norfolk Collegiate School
Mitzvah Project: Organized a sneaker drive to help migrant workers who do seasonal labor harvesting crops on farms on the Eastern Shore of Virginia.
Eli thought it was important to raise awareness about the importance of shoes for people working long hours on their feet. He decorated large donation boxes and placed them throughout the community. One donation box went to his current middle school at Norfolk Collegiate, one box went to his elementary school at Strelitz International Academy (SIA), and one box went to the JCC. “The response has been amazing, and I have had so many people generously donate their shoes!!” he says.
Jewish News: Why did you choose this project and what inspired you?
Eli Lomogda: The idea for my mitzvah project was inspired by: (1) a message from my Torah portion which is
about the promise of a new tomorrow (rainbow) especially after a difficult time (flood), and (2) my love of sneakers … I’m a self-described “sneaker head.”
JN: Who benefitted from this mitzvah project?
Eli: Migrant workers – many of whom come from Central American countries.
In doing this mitzvah project, I learned that: (1) there are people in my community who need help, (2) there are generous people in my community who want to help people in need, and (3) kids can be leaders in making their community better.
I am proud of this mitzvah project and see it not as an end but as a beginning of a lifetime of mitzvot!
Magnolia Lynn Moore
Daughter of Erica and James Moore
Ohef Sholom Temple
Bat Mitzvah: October 19, 2024
Kempsville Middle School
Mitzvah Project: Spread awareness and raised money for the Autism Society of Virginia.
Jewish News: Why did you choose this subject?
Magnolia Moore: With a strong support system and special services, differently abled people, like my brother, Hunter, can live full, joyful lives. I want to make sure that he and others like him have faith in G-d and in a family and community who always love and support them. I want to help other families who are like us. I hope that others will contribute and be part of the circle of family and friends and support those who are in need on the spectrum.
JN: Did anyone inspire you to pursue this mitzvah project?
Magnolia: My brother Hunter and others on the spectrum.
JN: Who benefitted from this mitzvah project?
Magnolia: The Autism community in Tidewater. I was successful and met my goal!
Mazel Tov!
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Mazel Tov
Ella Orloff
Daughter of JoEllen Rose and LCDR Ben Orloff
Ohef Sholom Temple
Bat Mitzvah: May 25, 2024
Norfolk Academy
Mitzvah Project: Partnering with the Virginia Aquarium and a college student to host trash clean ups and index the information to better understand what specific problems need to be addressed to keep our area clean.
Ella presented the information and ways to help the cause to her synagogue and scout troop.
Jewish News: Why did you choose this project?
Ella Orloff: I chose the project because I wanted to help the people in my community as well as the unique area we live in.
JN: Did anyone inspire you to pursue this mitzvah project?
Ella: My troop inspired me to pursue this project from all the trash pickups we’ve led and the conversations about keeping our environment clean.
JN: Who benefited from this mitzvah project?
Ella: Organizations that study and use the information such as NOAA benefited from my project, the animals in the area benefited from the cleaner space, and I benefited because I was able to learn about the process of putting together events like these and learning how to lead groups in a project.
Emmett Stuart Smith
Son of Diana and Brennan Smith
Ohef Sholom Temple
Bar Mitzvah: May 11, 2024 Salem Middle School
Mitzvah project: Collected non-perishable food and monetary donations for a Military Food Pantry with a special focus on specialized diets such as gluten free, dairy free, etc.
JN: Why did you choose this subject?
Emmett: I chose a mitzvah project that would line up with all of the lessons my portion talks about. One that would help others and still foster independence for those who need some extra help. I have had dietary needs such as not being able to eat things like gluten, dairy, or soy, and it was hard to find things at first, but after a while, it got easier and easier to find not only food that tastes good but food that I can eat regularly. This process of finding good food took a while, so now I am on a mission to help make this food accessible to those who need it. When volunteering at my mom’s work, I helped in the food pantry and realized the need for specialized foods. I thought about this lack of specialized foods, so I decided to dedicate my project to the Patriot’s pantry at the ASYMCA. Not only is it a military food bank, but I also have close relationships with the kind people who work there.
JN: Did anyone inspire you to pursue this mitzvah project?
Emmett: My mom because she works for the Armed Services YMCA and my dad, since he’s in the military.
JN: Who benefitted from this mitzvah project?
Emmett: Military families struggling with food insecurity. I raised boxes and boxes of food and over $2,000 in monetary donations.
Major birthday milestones to celebrate Mazel Tov
Stephanie Peck
A fortunate group of people celebrated major milestone birthdays this year. Beryl and Leonette Adler, Lenny Brooke, and Lorraine Fink all live at home, stay active in their different pursuits, and celebrated with their ever-growing families. Happy Birthday and Mazel Tov to these incredible people still making certain their lives are well-lived!
Beryl Adler
95 years old
A retired estates attorney with Pender & Coward, Beryl Adler is a Norfolk native. He attended Taylor Elementary, Blair Junior High School, and Maury High School – all in Ghent. Married for 69 years to Leonette, whom he met at a dance at Hunter College where she was studying, he has three daughters, five grandchildren, and two great grandchildren.
Jewish News: How did you celebrate your milestone birthday?
Beryl Adler: I was with my dear wife. Leonette Adler: We had a big party at Dockside. Huge balloons and everyone was there. We sat outside on the deck with our family.
JN: How do you spend your days?
Leonette Adler
90
years old
The “Best in Show” winner of the first Boardwalk Art Show in July 1956, Leonette Adler is a native of the Bronx, N.Y. She moved to Norfolk to marry Beryl Adler, then a young Navy lieutenant. In addition to painting, Adler spent many years teaching art at the Jewish Community Center, Tidewater Community College, and Norfolk Academy.
A mom to three daughters, grandmother to five, and great grandmother to two, she can still be found in her studio painting, with her works sold at various shows.
BA: I think about my good fortune a lot. I read multiple newspapers each day.
JN: What are you grateful for?
BA: I am grateful for my good health that I enjoy at 95. I even have my wits about me most of the time!
LA: And he’s still driving!
JN: What was your favorite decade?
BA: Most of my memories of things in the past are all very good. I don’t have any issues that give me any pause.
LA: Beryl has memorable moments as a lawyer, a judge, and the dad of three girls.
JN: What words of wisdom would you like to pass on?
BA: Make the most of any opportunity that comes your way.
JN: How do you spend your days?
LA: I walk every day. And I paint, read, and cook, and the day disappears!
JN: What are you grateful for?
LA: I am grateful for each day.
JN: What was your favorite decade?
LA: My whole married life was, and is, memorable and joyous. We have been married for 69 years.
JN: Do you have words of wisdom to pass on?
LA: I don’t think so; I haven’t got a clue!
Jewish News: How did you celebrate your milestone birthday? Leonette Adler: We went out with my children and their husbands.
Leonette and Beryl Adler.
Leonette and Beryl Adler.
Leonette and Beryl Adler (center) with their family.
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Lenny Brooke 90 years old
The former owner of Southern Packing Corporation, Lenny Brooke has been married to Ellie for 63 years and is nearly as active as ever. His son, Jeffrey Brooke says, “Even now after my father has turned 90, he still calls on a few customers from Southern Packing Corporation and goes out to the plant in Chesapeake to make sure Ronnie and Todd (his cousins, to whom he sold the business) “don’t screw it up.” He has three grandchildren and six great grandchildren.
Jewish News: How did you celebrate your milestone birthday?
Lenny Brooke: We celebrated at my son, Jeff’s, house. We had a deluxe meal with two of our grandchildren and four of our great-grandchildren. One grandchild lives in Israel with his family and couldn’t join us.
JN: How do you spend your days?
LB: I still deliver Meals on Wheels. I meet with friends and play golf. My wife, Ellie, and I do many things together.
JN: What are you grateful for?
LB: I am grateful to be alive! I feel good and have no old age characteristics; I get up and go. Ellie and I are very fortunate to be so active for our ages.
JN: What was your favorite decade?
LB: The best decade was the 60’s. We got married in 1961 and those were our early married years.
JN: What words of wisdom would you like to pass on?
LB: I am thankful for my wife and my good health and welfare. We celebrate Judaism together. We are ambulatory and active. A gift that will be enjoyed every time it is used!
Ellie and Lenny Brooke with one of their great granddaughters.
Lenny and Ellie (center) with their family.
Mazel Tov
Lorraine Fink
100 years old
The oldest in this esteemed group, Lorriane Fink manages to find humor in almost every situation – at her 99th birthday, for example, she suggested the cake be turned upside down to make her 66! She’s an award-winning artist, a retired art teacher from Old Dominion University, Virginia Museum of Contemporary Art, Chrysler Museum, and the Peninsula Fine Arts Center, and her paintings and other works of art hang in various museums and galleries throughout the area. Fink has five children and nine grandchildren and was married to Bill, her late husband, for 63 years.
Jewish News: How did you celebrate your milestone birthday?
Lorraine Fink: Most of my family came in for it. We partied; it was written up in the newspaper. It was a very family-oriented celebration. Plus, the family re-enacted a portrait taken more than 25 years ago – with everyone dressed in the same colors as they were then.
I spent 15 years at ODU getting my bachelor’s and master’s degrees. ODU had a 100th celebration for me and an art exhibit with a lot of my artwork. ODU asked to borrow the artwork for incoming students to see in the art education building. They had a reception for me.
JN: How do you spend your days?
LF: I am still working. And I’m happy to be breathing in and out! I’m busy thanking God. My work is my artwork: painting, drawing, collage. Friends and family come over to do artwork together with me.
JN: What are you grateful for?
LF: I’m grateful for today and every day.
JN: What was your favorite decade?
LF: My favorite time is when all the kids were home, and my husband was with me. Nothing like having all the kids around and my husband at home.
JN: What words of wisdom would you like to pass on?
LF: Be with people you look up to – that’s what it’s all about. Having respect for each and every individual.
Lorraine Fink with her son, Edward, prepares to cut the cake at her birthday celebration.
Loraine Fink (center) with her family’s re-enactment of a photo from more than 25 years ago.
Family recovers Monet pastel generations after Nazi looting
Asaf Elia-Shalev
(JTA) — When Adalbert and Hilda Parlagi fled Vienna in 1938, a month after the Nazi annexation of Austria, they left behind a collection of artwork, which they and their heirs spent decades trying to retrieve.
Last month in New Orleans, FBI agents presented the couple’s grandchildren with one of the looted works: a pastel drawing by French impressionist Claude Monet. “Our grandfather would have been so happy to
fi nd out this Monet was being restituted after all his attempts over the years,” the heirs said in a joint statement. “This is a very moving and exceptional day for us, a day neither of us ever thought would happen.”
The 1865 Monet measures 7 by 11 inches and is titled “Bord de Mer,” which means “Seaside.” It depicts a rocky section of the Normandy coast, where Allied forces landed on D-Day in 1944, beginning their liberation of Nazi-occupied France.
The pastel is one of about 600,000 works of art, along with millions of books and religious items, that were looted by the Nazis during World War II. The FBI’s Art Crime Team, which worked on this case, has helped recover some 20,000 artworks over the years.
Adalbert “Bela” Parlagi was a successful businessman and art collector born in Budapest
who moved to Vienna as a young man. He married his wife, Hilda, who was from Prague, and they had two children, Hedwig and Franz. According to the Associated Press, the couple had abandoned their Jewish identity and raised their children as Protestants. However, under Nazi race laws, they were still considered Jewish, and the family fled to the United Kingdom in March 1938, shortly after the Anschluss.
The Parlagis tried to have their belongings, including the Monet and seven other artworks, shipped to them in London, but in 1940, the Gestapo confi scated their property. The artwork was sold at auction, with the proceeds going into the coffers of the Third Reich.
As soon as the war ended, Adalbert Parlagi began a lifelong quest to recover his beloved paintings, a cause bolstered by a series of international declarations against the market in Nazi-looted art. However, he was thwarted by the Viennese auctioneer who had sold off his looted artworks, as the auctioneer claimed to Parlagi that he had no record or recollection of the sale.
Parlagi died in 1981, and his son, Franz, took up the effort until his own death in 2012.
Two years later, the next generation enlisted the help of the Commission for Looted Art in Europe, a London-based NGO, whose team scoured museum
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Reichsbank gold, SS loot, paintings in a salt mine in Merkers, Germany. April 15, 1945.
archives and online listings for years before making a breakthrough in 2021. The researchers discovered that a New Orleans art dealer had sold the Monet to a local physician and his wife in 2019.
The FBI got involved and soon contacted the unsuspecting couple, Kevin Schlamp and his wife, Bridget Vita, to notify them of the pastel’s history. The couple voluntarily relinquished their ownership rights, according to an FBI press release.
“The Schlamp family’s cooperation was key to the successful resolution of this case, and their integrity in
ensuring the pastel’s return is highly commendable,” the release said.
Vita, whose husband died earlier this year, told a New Orleans newspaper, “We lost a painting, but the Jewish community had lost so much more.”
The Parlagi heirs recovered another drawing in March from the collection of an Austrian museum, but they are still searching for six remaining artworks, including a charcoal drawing by Camille Pissarro and a watercolor by Paul Signac.
Claude Monet, Giverny, France.
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Mazel Tov
The now ubiquitous mazel tov
Stephanie Peck
Sitting in a movie theater, watching a favorite show, or listening to the radio, most Jewish people can’t help but chuckle when Hebrew or Yiddish vernacular is heard, as if they’re the only listener privy to this inside joke. But how, and when, did the phrase “mazel tov” become so ubiquitous in pop culture?
Even rap stars, accused of antisemitism, have been prone to insert these joyful words into their music, albeit among other stanzas laced with expletives and R-rated lyrics.
Mazel, which is translated as “luck,” literally means “constellation” or “planet.” The Talmud explains that a person’s fortune is influenced by the position of the heavenly spheres, according to chabad.org. Our mazel, our luck, is determined when we are born.
In Hebrew, tov translates to good.
So, there it is – Good Luck!
In an article on forward.com, Julie Potash refers to “mazel tov” as the most celebratory Jewish lyric of all time. In the song, I Gotta Feeling, The Black Eyed Peas croon, “Fill up my cup (drink)! Mazel tov (l’chaim)!” Potash interprets this as the overwhelming emotion one experiences when a grandchild or great-grandchild is dancing joyfully at a bar or bat mitzvah. What a feeling, to see the fruits of Jewish history, together, celebrating in the same room. Potash asks, “Did will.i.am (of The Black Eyed Peas) have a profound understanding of this, feeling so deeply connected to the Jewish experience that he was moved to write a song of celebration in the language of the Jews?”
Mazel Tov, a restaurant in Hungary, serves as one of the most popular culture clubs in Budapest’s Jewish Quarter. The
place operates in the spirit of diversity and acceptance and provides not only Mediterranean cuisine and cocktails, but hosts various cultural events, too, according to welovebudapest.com. One of Mazel Tov’s primary goals is to provide a space for everyone who believes in an open and inclusive world; the programs also aim to convey these messages.
Emily Burack, deputy managing editor of the website, heyalma.com, searched Genius, the popular lyric site, for songs containing the words mazel tov. Included in her list are three songs by Jay-Z, Omigod You Guys from Legally Blonde: The Musical, popular Jewish rapper Drake, DJ Khaled, Kesha, A$AP Rocky, Weird Al Yankovic, and Pusha T (a rapper with Virginia Beach roots). Burack even created a “mazel tov” playlist on the digital music service, Spotify. Many of these songs, unsurprisingly, are
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not for the ears of children.
As one of the most celebrated Jewish actors and comedians of his generation, Adam Sandler shares his Jewish wit to nationwide audiences through movies such as The Wedding Singer and You Are So Not Invited to My Bat Mitzvah. Although most famous for his Chanukah song, which does not mention mazel tov, Sandler’s song in Wedding Singer does, and is aptly named Mazel Tov.
Other notable productions which include these two congratulatory words include Love and Mazel Tov (2020), Thoroughly Modern Millie (1967), Mazel Tov ou le Mariage (a 1968 French film translated in English to Marry Me! Marry Me!), and Fiddler on the Roof (1964). More recently, the Netflix show, Nobody Wants This, wouldn’t be kosher without the pronouncement of “mazel tov.” Afterall, one of the show’s main characters is a rabbi.
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Mazel Tov
This year’s USPS Hanukkah stamp is a simple menorah with a warm backstory
Jackie Hajdenberg (JTA) — As an art director at the United States Postal Service, Antonio Alcalá has designed stamps honoring Woodstock, the Emancipation Proclamation, and Ezra Jack Keats’ children’s book classic A Snowy Day. But this year’s Hanukkah stamp is the first that honors an important piece of his own heritage.
“My mother escaped Nazi Germany on the Kindertransport. Many of her family members did also survive, including my grandparents,” Alcalá says.
He adds, “So when I was a child, we would celebrate multiple holidays, including Hanukkah, and as the youngest of three boys, I was the one who always got to light the fi rst candle.”
The postal service has issued Hanukkah stamps since 1996, more than three decades after it first started issuing Christmas stamps. Previous versions have drawn on traditional Jewish art forms — the 2022 stamp drew on a synagogue stained-glass look — included dreidel imagery and depicted a range of menorahs, real and illustrated.
Alcalá’s stamp also showcases a menorah. But unlike the others that Americans
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have used to mail Hanukkah cards, his doesn’t feature any candles.
That’s by design. “The fl ames are shown, but the candles themselves are not present,” Alcalá says. “They’re implied. And to me, that sort of alludes to this sort of aspect of faith that’s both tied to this and also to the larger sort of religious experience.”
The Hanukkah stamp is the only Jewish stamp created by the USPS, which also produces holiday stamps for Christmas, Eid, Kwanzaa, and Diwali.
In drafting this year’s stamp (a process that began in 2022), Alcalá began on the computer, and eventually shifted to paper and ink, which he says, “conveyed a lot more humanity to it, than sort of more mechanical, perfectly created geometric illustration.”
His influences included Andy Warhol, the mid-century pop artist, and the illustrations of Ben Shahn, the Jewish artist known for his work in social realism.
“I don’t think it’s anything that I invented, but it was the language that I thought was appropriate,” Alcalá says. “I was really interested in something that was not so sterile-feeling, but also very simple.”
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Alcalá also channeled his upbringing in what he said was “a secular Jewish family” in San Diego, California. Designing a Hanukkah stamp, he says, was a “huge thrill” given his background and all his mother went through to continue the family’s Hanukkah traditions.
According to an account written by his brother based on a diary their grandfather kept when fleeing Hamburg in 1941, Alcalá’s German grandparents traveled to the United States on the same ship from Portugal as Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson, the late leader of the ChabadLubavitch Hasidic movement. Other
members of the family were murdered by the Nazis, and Alcalá’s mother and her siblings went years without direct contact with their parents.
“It’s one of those things where you wish some of your relatives were still around to see that day. But my brothers are still around, and they’ll get to see it,” Alcalá says about designing the Hanukkah stamp.
“I’m very excited,” he adds. “It’s a piece of my family history that I get to see distributed across the country.”
This year’s stamp was formally issued at an event at the Capital Jewish Museum in Washington, D.C., on Sept. 19.
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