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Southeastern Virginia | Vol. 60 No. 1 | 29 Elul 5781 | September 6, 2021
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6 Super Sunday Sunday, September 12
23 Camp JCC: Where kids could be kids
25 Lorraine Fink Retrospective On view through Sept. 30 Reception with the artist: Sept. 12
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30 Inaugural Sababa event is ‘Cool’
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UPFRONT
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FBI reports drop in number of antisemitic crimes in 2020 amid rise in total hate crimes
Published 20 times a year by United Jewish Federation of Tidewater.
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Ben Sales
(JTA)—The FBI recorded the largest number of hate crimes last year since 2008, including spikes in the number of anti-Black and anti-Asian hate crimes. Anti-Jewish hate crimes dropped from 953 in 2019 to 676 last year, a decrease of 29%. Anti-Jewish crimes again made up the majority of hate crimes based on religion in the annual report, which scholars and officials have cautioned not to view as a comprehensive reflection of the state of hate crimes in America. In total, the FBI announced Monday, August 30 that it recorded 7,759 hate crimes nationwide in 2020, a slight rise from the 7,314 it recorded in 2019. There were 2,755 anti-Black hate crimes in 2020, up from 1,972 the previous year, and 274 anti-Asian hate crimes, up from 161 in 2019. Asian-Americans drew attention last year to a rise in anti-Asian hate crimes due to the COVID-19 pandemic, while the increase in anti-Black racism came against the backdrop of last year’s racial justice protests. Meanwhile, the number of Jewish incidents decreased last year relative to 2019, a year that was punctuated with three lethal antisemitic attacks and a wave of antisemitic street harassment in New York City. Those incidents became far less common in 2020 once street life, and in-person gatherings at synagogues, largely ceased during the pandemic. The report looked only at 2020, before the conflict between Israel and Hamas in Gaza in May 2021 drove a spike in reports of antisemitic incidents.
The FBI relies on reports of hate crimes from more than 15,000 police precincts nationwide, and a report from the Department of Justice last year found that 87% of precincts reported zero hate crimes in 2017. A book on the subject from this year by two criminal justice professors said the annual number stands at 89%. In an audit released earlier this year, the Anti-Defamation League reported more than 2,000 incidents of antisemitism in 2020, a slight decrease from 2019. The discrepancy between the ADL’s and FBI’s numbers is due to differences in methodology. The ADL gleans its tally from individuals, organizations, and media reports, as well as police. In addition, for the FBI to count an incident, it has to rise to the level of a crime, while the ADL includes a broader range of allegations. ADL CEO Jonathan Greenblatt said the lack of reporting by police precincts is “simply not credible.” “Data drives policy and without having a complete picture of the problem, we cannot even begin to resolve the issues driving this surge in hate and violence,” he said. The FBI recently embarked on a national campaign to encourage people and police to report hate crimes to its 56 field offices around the country. “We know that hate crimes are underreported,” the FBI told the JTA in a statement earlier this month. “It is our goal to increase this reporting, from law enforcement agencies and the public alike, so we can gather more information to identify trends and take action to stop these crimes from occurring.”
The report looked only at 2020, before the conflict between Israel and Hamas in Gaza in May 2021 drove a spike in reports of antisemitic incidents.
Upfront . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
Special Section: High Holidays. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
Briefs. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
TJF’s Simon Family Passport to Israel changes lives. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
Beth Sholom Village’s Micro Farm . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 Hurricane Ida relief efforts need your help. . . . . . . 5
PJ Library in Tidewater hosts end of summer Shabbat . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
Super Sunday, September 12. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
Camp JCC 2021: Much more than fun! . . . . . . . . 23
PJ Library in Tidewater receives grant . . . . . . . . . . 7
What’s Happening. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
Jewish groups help Afghan refugees. . . . . . . . . . . . 8
Calendar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
Son of Holocaust survivor flew Afghan refugees to US . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
Who Knew?. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
Biden and Bennett hold first meeting. . . . . . . . . . 10 Tidewater Jewish community talks about mental health. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
Obituaries. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28 Sababa Social Club’s kickoff is “cool”. . . . . . . . . . 30
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CANDLE LIGHTING
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CONTENTS
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—page 12
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jewishnewsva.org | September 6, 2021 | JEWISH NEWS | 3
BRIEFS BIDEN NOMINATES RAHM EMANUEL TO BE AMBASSADOR TO JAPAN President Joe Biden has nominated Rahm Emanuel to be the next ambassador to Japan. Emanuel, 61, who was Chicago’s mayor from 2011 to 2019, previously served as a congressman and Barack Obama’s White House chief of staff. He has attracted opposition from progressives due to how he handled the 2014 police killing of Laquan McDonald, a Black teenager. “I would proudly represent our nation with one of our most critical global allies in one of the most critical geopolitical regions,” Emanuel said in a statement, according to the Washington Post. “Our Ambassadors to Japan have a long history of distinguished public service from both parties and I am humbled to follow so many statesmen who have served in this role.” Emanuel, whose father was Israeli, attends an Orthodox synagogue in Chicago, Anshe Sholom B’nai Israel. One of his brothers is Ari Emanuel, a Hollywood agent who inspired a character in the HBO show, Entourage, and his other brother, Ezekiel Emanuel, is a prominent bioethicist. His appointment is subject to confirmation by the Senate. (JTA) AMSTERDAM TO RETURN KANDINSKY PAINTING TO JEWISH FAMILY FOLLOWING PUBLIC OUTCRY Following an international outcry, Amsterdam said its city-owned museum should return a Wassily Kandinsky painting that it had acquired from a Jewish family that was under duress during the Holocaust. Possession of “Painting with Houses,” which is believed to be worth at least $22 million, should be transferred from the city-owned Stedelijk Museum to the family of Irma Klein, which has been fighting for about a decade in court to retrieve the painting, the municipality said in a statement last month. The museum and city are in talks with the family about making the restitution
happen in the near future, the report said. Klein and her husband sold “Painting with Houses” in the 1940s for the modern-day equivalent of about $1,600 because they needed money to survive the Holocaust. The Conference on Jewish Material Claims Against Germany considers the painting stolen. Dutch authorities recognized this but have said the “public interest” of having the painting on display at the Stedelijk outweighs that of the family trying to retrieve it. This position, which diverges from international restitution norms, has provoked international pressure and protests, including by Dutch officials entrusted with handling restitution claims. (JTA)
POLITICO EMPLOYEES WILL NOT HAVE TO SIGN THEIR NEW PARENT COMPANY’S PRO-ISRAEL MISSION STATEMENT Ben Smith hid a significant nugget deep within his latest New York Times story, on the billion-dollar sale of Politico: The magazine and news site’s new owners, German publishing powerhouse Axel Springer, will not require its newly acquired American employees to sign the company mission statement pledging support of Israel. Axel Springer, named after the journalist who founded it in the 1940s, has long been a staunch supporter of Israel. On its website, the second of the company’s five core principles reads, “We support the Jewish people and the right of existence of the State of Israel.” The company, which owns some of Europe’s most-read publications, including Die Welt and Bild, apparently requires its European employees to sign a pledge in support of “the trans-Atlantic alliance and Israel, among other favored values,” according to Smith’s report. In May, during the latest round of fighting between Israel and Hamas in Gaza, the company’s headquarters raised an Israeli flag as a show of support. In June, Matthias Dopfner, CEO of the German company, reportedly said that
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any employees disgruntled by the move should leave the company. “I think, and I’m being very frank with you, a person who has an issue with an Israeli flag being raised for one week here, after antisemitic demonstrations, should look for a new job,” he was quoted as saying by Israel Hayom. Smith’s column dissects the Axel Springer purchase and its significance in the wider American media landscape. Dopfner told Smith the Politico purchase “cemented the company’s American future.” (JTA)
A TALIBAN SPOKESMAN SAT DOWN WITH ISRAELI STATE TV. HE SAYS HE DIDN’T MEAN TO. The interview that aired last month was surprising not for what the Taliban spokesman said, but because of who was conducting it: a reporter for Israel’s state TV news channel. Suhail Shaheen, who has been giving interviews in English from Qatar since the Taliban retook control of Afghanistan, said he had no idea that he was speaking to someone from an Israeli news organization. The Taliban, an Islamic fundamentalist group, has a history of supporting al-Qaeda, which routinely makes threats against Israel and uses anti-Israel rhetoric in its propaganda. When Shaheen spoke over video with journalist Roi Kais at Kan, the Israeli broadcaster, Kais named his network, but did not tell Shaheen that he or it was Israeli. In the interview, Shaheen said the Taliban would protect non-Muslim minorities within Afghanistan, including Zebulon Simantov, understood to be the last Jew living there, whom he said he did not know. He also said the Taliban does not have ties to Hamas, the Palestinian militant group that runs Gaza and opposes Israel’s existence. Kan’s interview circulated widely, eliciting surprise that Shaheen consented to speak to an Israeli. But several hours after it aired, Shaheen tweeted that he hadn’t understood who he was speaking to. “I do many interviews with journalists
every day after the falling of provincial centers of Afghanistan and the capital Kabul to the Islamic Emirate,” he wrote. “Some journalists maybe masquerading but I haven’t done interview with any one introducing himself he is from an Israeli media.” (JTA)
HURRICANE IDA DESTROYS ONE-TIME JEWISH FAMILY’S RESIDENCE THAT WAS LOUIS ARMSTRONG’S SECOND HOME Hurricane Ida flattened the New Orleans home where a youthful Louis Armstrong spent time with a Jewish immigrant family who mentored him. CNN reported Monday, August 30 that the Category-4 storm destroyed the brick structure on South Rampart Street where the Karnofsky family lived and ran a tailor shop at the turn of the 20th century. Starting at about age 5, Armstrong was friends with the five Karnofsky sons and the family would have him over for meals, leading to Armstrong’s lifelong love of matzah. His first job was blowing the tin whistle on the family’s coal and junk wagon, alerting potential customers. A musicologist has said that the whistle was Armstrong’s first instrument. The Karnofsky patriarch bought Armstrong’s first trumpet, with the repayment being Armstrong would ride on the wagon for a year and blow the whistle. The famed jazz musician was reputed to wear a Magen David and have a mezuzah on his door, said the musicologist, John Baron. “The Karnofskys were a tremendous warm influence in his life,” Baron said in 1999. One of the Karnofsky sons, Morris, opened the first jazz record store in New Orleans and was a lifelong friend of Armstrong, who became a seminal figure in modern American music. The building was long shuttered, although there was talk of restoring it as an homage to Armstrong’s New Orleans roots. (JTA)
YOUR DOLLARS AT WORK
Beth Sholom Village’s Micro Farm
Marcia Futterman Brodie
F
arm to table has become accessible to Beth Sholom Village Beth Sholom Village by way of a very futuristic-looking farm. The” farms” are in towers that resemble modern art sculptures. The crops can be seen in the beautiful six-foot case that emits a warm light and varying hues of green. One “farm” is in the dining room of The Berger-Goldrich Health Care and Rehabilitation Center, and the other is located in the Terrace living room.
H
urricane Ida has torn through much of the Gulf Coast, leaving survivors devastated by its damage. Roofs have blown off buildings, homes and businesses are severely flooded, while power lines are down and phone service and electricity are out for hundreds of
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Exploring Questions &
Residents can watch the growth progression of red lettuce, cabbage, and herbs over time while dining. BSV’s food service Babylon Micro-farms team works the fresh vegetables into the daily menus. In addition, BSV’s Recreation Therapy team will incorporate cooking, planting, transplanting, and harvesting the crops into the weekly activities with residents. This is part of a series of articles spotlighting local and overseas partner agencies that are beneficiaries of the United Jewish Federation of Tidewater’s annual Community Campaign.
thousands of residents. As a collective, Federations are there, delivering emergency relief support to all those who have suffered most from the damage. Donate directly to the https://jfeds.org/hurricaneida.
efforts
at
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Ruth’s Life Said a Lot About Her As a “pink lady” Ruth Goodman volunteered more hours than anyone else at the Norfolk hospital where she greeted visitors for years.
SUPER SUNDAY
Super Sunday Community Campaign Kickoff: We’re back together again (indoors and outdoors) Sunday, September 12, Sandler Family Campus Lisa Richmon and Matthew Kramer-Morning
E Before she died in 1995, Ruth arranged for a Hampton Roads Community Foundation bequest to forever give good health to the community she and her late husband Victor loved. This year 15 students are studying to become physicians, physical therapists, nurses and other medical professionals thanks to scholarships generated by Ruth’s generosity. Many more Goodman Scholars will follow every year. Write your prescription for a better future by ordering a free bequest guide. Learn how easy it is to leave a gift for charity. Adding Charity to Your W or IRA ill
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Inspiring Philanthro py. Chan ging Lives .
ach year, United Jewish Federation of Tidewater’s Super Sunday marks the biggest day of impact for Tidewater’s Jewish community. Hundreds of community members participate by answering the call from dozens of volunteers, thus ensuring that the Federation can effectively meet the needs of the community through the Community Campaign. Super Sunday is one of the most impactful and widest reaching programs run by UJFT—a direct result of community involvement. While Super Sunday directly supports the Federation’s Community Campaign, it also builds community, engages Jewish community members at all levels (sometimes the only Jewish conversation they have all year), and allows time to check-in with those community members (which is especially important during these COVID/Delta isolation days). “Super Sunday is more than asking for money,” says Matthew Kramer-Morning, UJFT Young Leadership Campaign director. “We want people to understand that this year has been hard. These phone calls serve as touch points and check-ins with community members. With so many folks shut in their homes out of an abundance of caution, the conversations often begin with: ‘how are you doing these days?’ and move from there to questions of whether the community member can help out with a gift of support…or whether we as a community can help support the donor.” It can be delicate when a volunteer caller hears a hardship story from one of his prospects, or a need for assistance and support. “I’ve seen cases in other communities I’ve worked where an individual has given to their community for years; then
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something happens and they need assistance. Often they don’t realize they can turn to the very community they’ve been supporting.” Kramer-Morning says that this year especially the volunteers will be trained to pick up on these kinds of needs, and respectfully ask, “Can we be of any help to YOU?” “Our donors give for many reasons,” says Kramer-Morning. “Whether it’s to support Israel, feed and support the hungry, or to build a foundation of Jewish education and Jewish continuity. All of these reasons (and others as well) are meaningful and thoughtful. And each gift is meaningful— whether it is a first-time gift of $36 or a $5,000 Lion of Judah gift! Growing and strengthening community through Super Sunday and the Federation’s yearly campaign make the difference between a strong community and an excellent community.” This year’s Super Sunday marks the kick-off to the Federation’s 2022 Community Campaign. As the paper goes to press, Super Sunday is scheduled to take place in-person at the Sandler Family Campus, including under a large outdoor tent. Due to the unpredictable nature of the Delta variant and the possible need to transition to virtual for extra safety precautions, organizers are prepared for a last-minute switch. Details will be announced to volunteers who have signed up closer to the event. Those who are interested in making calls this year, either at the Sandler Family Campus or from home, should please
sign up for a volunteer calling shift at JewishVA.org/SuperSunday. Even without volunteering to make calls, it is still possible to help by taking the call on September 12. Or, make a commitment to the community by visiting JewishVA.org/ Donate today… and to have a gift counted in the Super Sunday total, please write SUPER SUNDAY in the comments section of the donation form. “As we hopefully emerge from the strange situation which characterized last year’s Super Sunday and entire campaign… we look ahead to plan for our Jewish future,” says Kramer-Morning. “As we kick-off the 2022 Community Campaign with Super Sunday, we continue our work of strengthening community and securing our Jewish future.” This year’s theme is “Today, Tomorrow, Together.” Together, community has been built. Together, it has been strengthened. And together, a strong, vibrant, Jewish community for children and grandchildren is ensured. For more information about Super Sunday or to speak to someone about a 2022 commitment to the Tidewater Jewish Community through the UJFT Community Campaign, contact Matt Kramer-Morning at mkmorning@ujft.org.
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JEWISH TIDEWATER
PJ Library in Tidewater receives grant to strengthen social connections, increase opportunities for Jewish experiences and learning
T
idewater families raising Jewish children will now have more opportunities to participate in Jewish life, thanks to a grant recently awarded to United Jewish Federation of Tidewater by PJ Library®, the flagship program of the Harold Grinspoon Foundation that provides free books to families raising Jewish children throughout the world. PJ Library in Tidewater received $8,000 to launch the PJ Library in Tidewater Parent Connector program, which helps Jewish families connect more to one another and to local Jewish events and learning opportunities. Tracy Newman, director of community engagement for PJ Library, says, “These grants reflect incredible creativity and flexibility in how our implementing partners are approaching our work during this unprecedented time. All funded grants showcase PJ Library’s best practices on engaging families in Jewish life, while adapting to the current realities of virtual and social-distancing modalities.” “PJ Library in Tidewater is honored to receive this grant and thrilled to be part of the global PJ Library community reaching more than 667,000 children and their families across 32 countries,” says Sierra Lautman, UJFT’s director of Jewish Innovation. “By empowering and supporting parents to get to know new families and create small group gatherings in their neighborhoods, we are able to strengthen the web of Jewish connection in Tidewater.” The 13 winning grant proposals were chosen through a competitive process open to organizations implementing PJ Library programs across the United States and Canada. A survey of 800 participants in previous grant-funded projects showed:
• 85% of families connected socially during the programs. • 64% of families followed up with the social connections afterward. • 76% of families sought out or attended other Jewish programs. • 99% would recommend the programs to friends. “PJ Library’s impact goes well beyond the more than 251,000 books we send out each month across the United States and Canada,” says Debbi Cooper, director of engagement for PJ Library. “We have worked closely with our local partners for over a decade to help advance Jewish family engagement, and we are grateful to be able to add financial support to help ensure the success of great initiatives.” PJ Library Alliance partners who have joined the Harold Grinspoon Foundation in funding these engagement grants, include: William Davidson Foundation; The Marcus Foundation, Inc.; The Azreili Foundation; Genesis Philanthropy Group; Jim Joseph Foundation; The Micah Foundation; Sam Berman Charitable Foundation; Carl and Joann Bianco; The Crown Family; Marilyn Einstein and Steven Sim Charitable Fund; Dr. Steven Grinspoon; Klaff Family Foundation; One8 Foundation; Howard and Geraldine Polinger Family Foundation; Stephen and Bebe Saks Family Foundation; Sherrie R. Savett Family Foundation; Mike and Sofia Segal Family Foundation; Susser Family Trust; Walter, Arnee, Sarah, and Aaron Winshall; Zucker Family Foundation and three anonymous partners. To learn more PJ Library in Tidewater Parent Connectors, or to apply to become a PJ Library Parent Connector, contact Nofar Trem, PJ Library program coordinator, at ntrem@ujft.org or 757-321-2334.
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Classes are Back!
WORLD
Jewish social services groups kick into high gear as Afghan refugees begin to arrive in US Philissa Cramer
Fall Classes Start Sep 13th Enrollment is open! Classes in Hip Hop Musical Theater Acting Jazz Tap &
More For Ages 5+ More information at www.hurrahplayers.com To Enroll Call 757-627-5437
( JTA)—Jewish communities around the world are reactivating their refugee-support networks as they prepare to help resettle Afghans who have fled the Taliban takeover of their country. In recent weeks, tens of thousands of Afghans have been airlifted from Kabul after the Taliban retook control of Afghanistan with the U.S. exit from the country after 20 years. Many will spend time in another country while they wait to be admitted to the United States, but some are already arriving—and needing support as they adapt to a sudden relocation and a new country. The importance of welcoming strangers is so deeply rooted in Jewish tradition and experience that immigration issues
have long enjoyed a bipartisan consensus in Jewish communities even amid deep polarization on other topics. Many cities have social services agencies that began to support Jewish immigrants and now work with new arrivals of all backgrounds, often coordinating with HIAS, formerly the Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society, to identify refugees and meet their needs. Those agencies—and the Jewish communities that support them—are now scrambling to prepare for a wave of new arrivals as the United States waged an around-the-clock effort to remove as many people as possible who supported the U.S. military mission in advance of an Aug. 31 withdrawal deadline. In California, Jewish Family Services of Silicon Valley and Jewish Family &
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Community Services East Bay are preparing to support 130 families, according to J., the Jewish News of Northern California. The East Bay organization has been helping Afghans resettle for years, but has never tried to support so many families so quickly, the newspaper reported. “This whole thing has been just super expedited,” the group’s senior director of development, Holly Taines White, told J. “Doing this work is deeply rooted in our history and our values.” White noted that the new arrivals hold what’s known as special immigrant visas, or SIVs, because they collaborated with the United States, meaning that many have experienced trauma throughout the upheaval in their country. “Every single SIV we’ve resettled has had threats against them or their family members, or had a family member killed, or had a family member kidnapped, or had a friend who also worked with the United States who was pulled out of their house and killed on the street,” White told the newspaper. In Southern California, Jewish Family Service of San Diego told the Times of San Diego it has resettled 74 Afghans since Aug. 6 and is preparing for an untold number of additional arrivals. “Most cases are assigned to JFS with little more than 24 hours’ notice before arrival, though all have prior connections—whether family or friends—to the San Diego region,” Etleva Bejko, the director of refugee and immigration services for the nonprofit organization, told the paper. As of last month, Jewish Community and Family Services of Pittsburgh had already learned that it would resettle two Afghan families, including one that arrived on a tourist visa and now will be able to stay in the country. But it anticipated that the number would rise. “We’re planning as if we’re going to receive more than a handful of families,” the local group’s director of refugee and immigration services told the Pittsburgh Jewish Chronicle. “We won’t see hundreds
Local Relationships Matter
WORLD of people arriving at the same time, but this is going to be a slow process of refugees arriving for a long time.” In Tampa, Florida, Gulf Coast Jewish Family and Community Services has resettled six Afghan families and expected four more, according to the Tampa Bay Times. The group pays for housing until refugees can begin working, but a representative told the newspaper that the tight housing market has made it challenging to find apartments for the new arrivals. Jewish Social Services, the only refugee resettlement agency in Madison, Wisconsin, has resettled 61 refugees from Afghanistan since 2017, including 14 in the past three months. It’s expecting an influx now, the group told WMTV, a local TV station. “We’re reaching out to potential landlords, we’re reaching out to hotel managers to say this is what we expect to happen, we don’t know when it’s going to happen, we don’t know for how long
it’s going to be happening for, but as our partner, we would like you to know about it,” the group’s executive director told the TV station. Jewish social services groups in Kansas City, Delaware, and Seattle have all told local news organizations that they are standing by to support refugees who arrive in their areas. Efforts to support Afghan refugees span the globe. In England, British Jews are drawing on their collective memory of the Kindertransport, which brought children from Germany to England during the Holocaust, as they gather money and goods for refugees who arrive there. The Bushey United Synagogue in Hertfordshire told the local Jewish News it had experienced an “overwhelming” response after asking for donations to support 30 Afghan families in the area. We “recognize that our grandparents came into this country as refugees and all we’re trying to do is pay it back forward,” the synagogue’s rabbi told the BBC.
Son of Holocaust survivor who flew Afghan refugees to US: It was easy to ‘put myself in their position’ Gabe Friedman
(JTA)—Last month, Delta Airlines pilot Alexander Kahn flew hundreds of Afghan refugees from Germany to Dulles Airport outside Washington, D.C., as part of a U.S. government partnership with commercial airlines. It had extra special meaning for Kahn, as he told CNN, for a few reasons—first and foremost, his own father was a Holocaust survivor who immigrated to the U.S. in similar fashion. “I’m the son of an immigrant in the United States, my father was a Holocaust survivor, he was liberated from Buchenwald concentration camp by Patton’s Third Army and came to the United States not much differently than
the people that are coming to the United States now,” Kahn told Jewish anchor John Berman on CNN’s New Day on Friday, August 27. “He was coming with the clothes on his back, no family, no English skills, and had to start life over again. Luckily he was starting life over in the land of opportunity.” When asked how he felt on board, Kahn said that he was able to “put myself in their position.” “This is going to be a frightening experience for them, but it has the potential to be an excellent experience for them. My father made it into the United States, learned English, put himself through school, became a doctor, and years later actually was back in West Germany as a
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physician for the U.S. army…at the tail end of the Cold War,” he said. The Ramstein Air Base in Germany was where Kahn flew his first plane in training, and it’s where he flew the Delta flight of refugees fleeing the Taliban. Kahn noted that the flight’s attendants prepared for the trip the night before by using their own money to buy things for the Afghan flyers, such as diapers, books, candy, and other supplies, “because we knew these evacuees were coming with no opportunity to prepare,”
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he said. Berman asked what Kahn would tell his passengers years from now, if he had the chance. “I think I’d probably ask them, how’s their experience? Have they been able to reach goals that they never dreamed possible? And to give them hope, to show them that we are a land of legal immigrants and this is what built the United States. We’re a generous country because we’re a generous people, and the future is theirs,” Kahn said.
jewishnewsva.org | September 6, 2021 | JEWISH NEWS | 9
USA AND ISRAEL
Biden and Bennett focus on Iran in first meeting: ‘If diplomacy fails, we’re ready to turn to other options’ Ron Kampeas
Naftali Bennett.
WASHINGTON (JTA)—In his first meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett, President Joe Biden said that although he prefers diplomatic means to keep Iran from acquiring a nuclear weapon, he is not afraid to “turn to other options” on the issue. The pledge captured what both men, who are in varying degrees of political precariousness right now, hoped to extract from the meeting: A bigger focus on what they agree on than what they disagree on, and the start of a new era in relations between Israel and U.S. Democrats. “We’re going to put diplomacy first and see where that takes us,” Biden told the press alongside Bennett during a
10 | JEWISH NEWS | September 6, 2021 | jewishnewsva.org
break in their meeting on Friday, August 27. “But if diplomacy fails,” he added, his voice raising in volume, “we’re ready to turn to other options.” For Biden, it was a welcome momentary distraction from the chaos unfolding in Afghanistan. The meeting, originally planned for the previous day, was delayed after bombings at the Kabul airport killed 13 U.S. troops. Back home, Bennett is presiding over a fractious political coalition with a single vote majority, struggling to control a new COVID-19 surge that has dented his popularity and dealing with the fallout of an embarrassing phone call, in which he confused the name of a fallen soldier. But for a few hours at the meeting, the two leaders were able to pivot to Iran
and other issues of import to Israel— a significant gesture on Biden’s part, given his preoccupations with the Afghanistan situation. Pro-Israel officials briefed on the meeting said that it went well for a first visit; there was chemistry between the two men, and it went longer than planned. Bennett opposes Biden’s efforts to reenter the Iran nuclear deal—the diplomacy Biden referred to—but unlike his predecessor, Benjamin Netanyahu, he is realistic about the prospects of dissuading Biden from trying. So, extracting a robust promise from Biden to consider “other options,” including possible military ones, will allow Bennett to claim he influenced the president. “The Iranians are spinning their
USA AND ISRAEL centrifuges in Natanz and Fordow,” Bennett said, referring to two uranium enrichment facilities. “We [have to] stop it, we both agree. So, we’ve developed a comprehensive strategy that we’re going to be talking about with two goals. The first goal is to stop Iran on its regional aggression and start rolling it back into the box. And the second is to permanently keep Iran, away from ever being able to break out the nuclear weapon.” Beyond Iran, Biden also emphasized the defense assistance the United States delivers to Israel, and reiterated a pledge to fully restore Israel’s Iron Dome capability, after the short range anti-missile defense system was depleted by Hamas rocket fire during the latest Gaza conflict, in May. “We’re also going to express the unwavering commitment we have in the United States to Israel’s security, and I fully, fully, fully support Israel’s Iron Dome system,” Biden said. Bennett thanked Biden for the support, and returned to the prevalent theme of his visit: reestablishing amicable ties between Israel and both parties in the United States, after years of tensions between Netanyahu and Democrats.
We’re also going to express the unwavering commitment we have in the United States to Israel’s security, and I fully, fully, fully support Israel’s Iron Dome system.
Cooper Hurley Injury Lawyers congratulates Joe Biden.
“You are going to write yet another chapter in the beautiful story of the friendship between our two nations, the United States of America, and the Jewish and democratic state of Israel,” Bennett told Biden. Biden made clear that there was still lingering bafflement—if not anger— among Democrats at the hostility Netanyahu evinced toward Biden’s old boss, former President Barack Obama, who launched the most generous defense assistance package to Israel in history, $3.8 billion a year. “You give me credit, much of which should go to Barack Obama,” Biden said. “Please thank him as well,” Bennett said. Only Biden mentioned a peace deal with the Palestinians, and in passing—his aides have said that they recognize that substantive moves toward peace are not in the cards right now, particularly given the unwieldy political coalition Bennett leads at home. They talked more about each country’s respective battle to combat the resurgent coronavirus. Afghanistan, and more specifically the Taliban, have historically not posed issues for Israel. Bennett began the talk by expressing condolences for the dead in Afghanistan, but he also used the moment to get back to his main concern. “These days illustrate what the world would look like if Iran or a radical Islamic regime acquired a nuclear weapon,” he said.
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jewishnewsva.org | September 6, 2021 | JEWISH NEWS | 11
JEWISH TIDEWATER
Tidewater Jewish community addresses mental health awareness Sunday, October 3 and Monday October 4 Sierra Lautman
T
his year’s Milton Mickey Kramer’s Scholar in Residence Fund of the Congregation Beth El Foundation’s Tidewater Together will bring mental illness and addiction out of the shadows and consider ways that Tidewater’s organized Jewish community can support those who need help. To begin this important work, Tidewater will welcome author and journalist Stephen Fried, who has dedicated the past five years of his career to engaging Jewish communities in supporting, including, and understanding those with mental illness and addiction, their families, caregivers, and clinicians. On Sunday, October 3 at 5:30 pm, Fried will join some local Jewish clergy: Rabbi Rosalin Mandelberg, Rabbi Michael Panitz, Rabbi Ron Koas, Cantor Jennifer Reuben, and Cantor Wendi Fried, for a discussion on brain health and faith. They will focus on why brain health and mental well-being matter to the Jewish people, and what can be done as a Jewish community to bring these topics forward. Monday, October 4 at 7:30 pm, the entire Tidewater community is invited to learn about the important work being done locally to address mental well-being, what needs to be done, and how to help. A panel discussion will feature Stephen Fried and representatives from Jewish Family Service, the National Alliance of Mental Illness (NAMI), the Virginia Beach Crisis Intervention Team, I Need a Lighthouse, and the VB Strong Center. This topic is timely “From its very beginning to its contemporary iterations, our Jewish tradition teaches that the most essential fact of being human is our tzelem elohim, the divine image that inheres in each of us,” says Rabbi Michael Panitz of Temple Isreal. “Not our powers, not our areas of excellent ability, not the ‘best foot forward’ that we strive to project, but “the image”—that’s the most important 12 | JEWISH NEWS | September 6, 2021 | jewishnewsva.org
human quality. We always need to keep that prominent in our consciousness. “This fact came into high relief during the recent Olympics with the angry chorus of condemnation that erupted just in the face of the acknowledgement by champion gymnast, Simone Biles, that mental health issues were serious enough to sideline her,” continues Rabbi Panitz. “This shows just how woefully ignorant much of our society is about the reality of the emotional component of wellness. For shame! That people who literally haven’t got a clue about the life-limiting, even life-threatening, mental challenges that can wreck the quality of one’s life, would rush to judgment. Clearly, they have not given even a moment of thought about how unreasonable it is to suppose, as they evidently do, that this young woman, having literally dedicated her entire life to the pursuit of excellence in gymnastics, would give it up because of a single failure, a moment of weakness. Alas, Americans have so far to go.” It matters to the Jewish people “Judaism teaches that we are all created in the image of God, meaning every aspect of each of us is sacred. This goes for our physical bodies, and also our mental states,” says Rabbi Rosalin Mandelberg of Ohef Sholom Temple. “Everyone struggles at some time in our lives. We experience loss, anxiety, and depression and our instinct is to isolate ourselves and not let anyone see our pain. The irony is that none of us is perfect; that is why the purpose of Judaism is tikkun olam, the repair, healing, and wholeness of the world. And tikun olam must always begin with tikun atzmi, healing of self. “Our community of faith and love and hope ought to be a place of support and strength for those who are suffering,” says Rabbi Mandelberg. “We try woefully hard to reach out to those who are in need through the incredible work of our Caring Committee—helping the stranger, feeding the hungry, and clothing the naked.
We reach out to those who are p h y s i c a l l y Stephen Fried. i l l — checking in on them, providing for medicines, doctor’s visits, and meals. But for those who are mentally unwell, often we are afraid or ill equipped to help. It is so important for our community to de-stigmatize the diseases that afflict our loved ones and temple family members and to garner the training and resources to be and do better. “That is why creating a Tidewater Together program on the topic of mental health is so critically important. We may feel on top of the world today and that is awesome; but someday, sometime, we or someone we love will falter and it is then that I pray our Jewish community and congregations can be present to extend ourselves with compassion.” Out of the shadows “I wish to create a space at Congregation Beth El where there is little to no stigma about discussing our mental health issues. People should feel as comfortable talking about their depression as they do about a broken ankle! Through learning sessions and dialogues, we can discuss how ancient Jewish ideas connect to modern mental health treatment,” says Congregation Beth El’s Rabbi Ron Koas. “My hope is that Congregation Beth El can become a space where people who are comfortable can talk about their experiences—no matter how difficult they may be. Hopefully by reducing this stigma we can show that there is no shame in receiving treatment and support for both your physical and mental health.” For more information or to register for these FREE and open to the community events, visit JewishVA.org/TidewaterTogether or contact Sierra Lautman, director of Jewish Innovation, at SLautman@UJFT.org or 757-965-6107.
h g i H s y a d i l o H Supplement to Jewish News September 6, 2021 jewishnewsva.org | September 9, 2021 | High Holidays | JEWISH NEWS | 13
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High Holidays Dear Readers,
A
recent JTA piece by Rabbi Shira Koch Epstein began, “Over the past year, I have led efforts to teach, guide and coach rabbis and other clergy of every Jewish denomina-
tion. We have worked with over 500 individual members of the clergy, serving hundreds of thousands of people since the COVID-19 pandemic began. “So, let me say this to my dear clergy colleagues: As we celebrate another High Holiday season under the shadow of the pandemic, I know that there is nothing you need more than support in making (or when prevented from making) impossible decisions about vaccinations, masks, social distancing, and the integrity of worship. “Which is why I am baffled as to why some would add to your burden with irresponsible, pain-inducing criticism that could only worsen the challenge, trauma, and moral injury that our clergy are experiencing at this moment.” Rabbi Epstein currently serves on the faculty at the Shalom Hartman Institute of North America and is executive director of the Center for Rabbinic Innovation, where she teaches Jewish clergy of all denominations, so she’s probably heard plenty of stories from across the nation. Last year, I was deeply involved with making decisions for the High Holidays for my congregation, so I know well the stress. This year, from my perch as Jewish News editor, I see what our local congregations continue to grapple with…laboring over plans and then making last-minute changes. It’s not easy—weighing tradition against the latest health and safety recommendations. As we begin the High Holidays, please consider Rabbi Epstein’s observations and instead of criticizing, express appreciation to our congregations’ clergy, staff, and lay leaders who are working overtime to keep everyone safe this season—managing expectations, altering plans, creating new prayer options—all while attempting to provide spiritual, meaningful, and beautiful services. During uncertain times, one of the best proven remedies to combat the cycle of anxiety is to express gratitude. So, let’s make ourselves feel better (if motivation is needed) and say thank you to everyone involved for their dedication to making our entrance into 5782, the safest, healthiest, and happiest possible. Thank you all!
Terri Denison Editor
2021
L’Shanah Tovah,
jewishnewsva.org | September 9, 2021 | High Holidays | JEWISH NEWS | 15
High Holidays SUKKOT BEGINS AT SUNDOWN ON MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 20
Sukkot’s message is essential during our climate crisis Esti Shapiro
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(JTA)—Growing up in the temperamental weather of Denver, Colorado, it was not at all unusual to experience rain, high winds, heat waves, or even snow on Sukkot, the Jewish harvest festival that typically falls in September or October. Some years even saw all of these dramatic weather conditions over the course of the weeklong holiday. This always made the exercise of building a sukkah, a temporary and fragile structure to “dwell” in for the week, feel all the more absurd. Yet Sukkot has always been my favorite holiday. At its core, the exercise of building and being in a sukkah is one of both trust and humility. While we try our best to construct a sukkah that is stable, we don’t go to extraordinary lengths to fortify it; impermanence and fragility are a feature, not a flaw. We design our sukkah to be easily disassembled and reassembled each year, often replacing materials such as the natural roof, or schach, with time. This annual ritual of (re)construction is also a celebratory moment, an opportunity to acknowledge the cyclical nature of Jewish time and life. When I was in architecture school, we learned about the Ise Jingu Shrine in Japan, which has been ritually deconstructed and reconstructed on two alternating sites every 20 years for over a thousand years. This practice is designed explicitly to preserve the knowledge of traditional Japanese wood joinery techniques and craft as well as the physical condition of the structure itself. In designing something to be temporary, and crafting it out of renewable materials (in this case lumber grown in vast forests surrounding the site of the shrine), a far greater permanence is achieved. Ultimately the ritual lasts much longer than any building or structure constructed only once, regardless of how impenetrably it was designed, can. The similarities and shared wisdom of this shrine and the sukkah are evident.
16 | JEWISH NEWS | High Holidays | September 6, 2021 | jewishnewsva.org
These examples of ancient construction knowledge and ritual run counter to everything else we think we know about architecture. We tend to think of construction as an exercise in dominance over the environment, an attempt to protect ourselves from the natural forces of weather and erosion. But the impulse to build bigger, stronger, more monumental, and longer-lasting structures is one of the most direct and harmful contributors to our current climate crisis. Today, concrete is the most widely used construction material globally, accounting for approximately 8% of carbon emissions worldwide. More broadly, nearly 40% of global carbon emissions are a result of building construction and operation. The combative attitude that most of our structures express toward the environment is quite literally destroying it in real time at this very moment. Conversely, on Sukkot we acknowledge that no construction endeavor is ever so enduring. We recognize uncertainty and vulnerability as fundamental to the human experience. We do not allow ourselves to be fooled into thinking that building something strong enough to resist the weather outside makes us impervious to the more pervasive element of time. A sukkah does not attempt to resist these conditions; it tenuously embraces them. It is in this very act of humility, in recognizing the need for continuous rebuilding, that the ritual remains enduring. There are few structures in the world older than the practice of building sukkahs on this week of each year. When I teach about Sukkot to my religious school students, we talk about leaving our homes for the fragility of the sukkah as a metaphor for venturing outside of our comfort zones. The vulnerability of the holiday challenges each of us to leave what we know—what is easy—for an opportunity for growth. I would argue that this is an urgent and
timely lesson, not just for Jewish people, and not just this week. The reality of climate change is that it will make almost all of us a whole lot less comfortable over the coming years and decades. With unprecedented forest fires, floods, hurricanes, and other natural disasters across the United States and world, our current condition is requiring us to drastically reconsider the ways we live and interact with our environment. Acting with humility and acknowledging our vulnerability may mean accepting a broader range of temperatures as “comfortable” on our thermostats or resisting the convenience of personal car ownership. More importantly, however, this will require us to act not just as individuals but as a collective through policy and structural change to resist the tendencies of human ego toward building bigger and stronger and more destructive societies. On Sukkot, and all year, we should remember that endurance is achieved not through material monumentality, but through the much more nebulous constructions of the social: tradition, interpersonal connection, ritual, and celebration. So this year, when I bundle up in extra layers and blankets to brave a brisk autumn evening for a holiday dinner, I will take an extra moment to appreciate the insight of our ancestors. As I take in the familiar sound of wood-framed canvas walls gently swaying, the smell of pine branch schach overhead, and the glimpse of a full moon through its needles, I will consider how our tradition has always recognized the means to a healthy, livable, harmonious, and enduring, if uncertain, future. Esti Shapiro is a designer and writer, trained as an architect, as well as a religious school teacher. This article originally appeared on Alma, a sister site of JTA.
High Holidays
New children’s books for Yom Kippur and Sukkot Penny Schwartz
BOSTON (JTA)—Jewish families can bid farewell to the summer and usher in the Jewish New Year by cracking open these engaging new holiday books. Jonah’s Tale of a Whale Barry L. Schwartz; illustrated by James Rey Sanchez Apples & Honey Press; ages 5–9 Kids will be engrossed by this cartoonlike, age-appropriate retelling of the story of Jonah based on the eponymous biblical book
that is read aloud in synagogues on Yom Kippur. Jonah the prophet is not happy when God instructs him to warn the people of Nineveh to change their wicked behavior, thinking Israel’s enemies should be punished for their misdeeds. To avoid doing what God asks, Jonah flees on a ship, is thrown overboard in a storm and swallowed by a whale. Jonah realizes he was wrong, however, and when he is freed from inside the whale, he warns the people of Nineveh, who take heed and begin to act kindly to each other. Barry L. Schwartz, a rabbi and acclaimed author, balances the captivating adventure with the moral tale of the power of forgiveness. James Rey Sanchez’s colorful, cinematic illustrations bring the action to life with drama and touches of humor.
Starlight Soup: A Sukkot Story Elana Rubinstein; illustrated by Jennifer Naalchigar Apples & Honey Press; ages 7–10 Just in time for Sukkot, Saralee Siegel is back in a chapter-book series about the endearing, spunky schoolage girl whose magical sense of smell saves the day in the original, Once Upon an Apple Cake: A Rosh Hashanah Story. Saralee’s grandfather, Zayde, the patriarch of the family’s popular Siegel House restaurant, asks her to create a zippy new recipe to excite customers for the
seven-day fall festival, when Jews eat in small, open-roofed huts and welcome guests. Standing in her family’s large sukkah, Saralee’s senses waft up to the starlit skies and fill her with the fragrant aromas. Magically the flavors transform pots of boiling water into Starlight Soup— it tastes like everyone’s favorite food. Meanwhile, Saralee’s best friend, Harold, whose family owns a rival Jewish restaurant, is plotting his own Sukkot celebration. Trouble stirs the pot when Saralee’s soup overpowers everyone’s taste buds and ruins their appetites. What will Saralee do to make it all better? The book’s school setting is Jewish with racially diverse kids. Jennifer Naalchigar’s black-and-white, cartoon-style illustrations enliven the pages.
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EAT WELL. BE HAPPY.
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High Holidays Is it safe to attend High Holiday services? Should kids? COVID-19 High Holiday questions, answered. Philissa Cramer
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18 | JEWISH NEWS | High Holidays | September 6, 2021 | jewishnewsva.org
(JTA)—For the second year, COVID-19 has made it so Jews who want to attend High Holidays services must undergo a complicated risk calculation. Is it safe to go to synagogue for Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur? Should children attend? Is the shofar—the horn whose blasts punctuate the holy days—a potential vector of disease? Last year, five months into the global pandemic that has killed more than 4.5 million people globally, the answers were fairly straightforward, if dispiriting: Stay home, or at least stay masked and very far apart. Anyone could be carrying the disease, and anyone could catch it. This year, the situation is more complex. Most American adults have been vaccinated, with the uptake of vaccination among Jews among the highest of any religious group, but children under 12 aren’t eligible for vaccination. For a small, but vociferous segment of Americans, grudging acceptance of masking last year has morphed into antipathy this year. Meanwhile, the highly transmissible Delta variant, alongside evidence of potentially waning protection from vaccines and emerging data showing that even vaccinated people can catch and transmit COVID-19, further complicate the picture. “This is going to be a personal decision that will be dependent upon many factors,” says Dr. Aaron Glatt, a rabbi and epidemiologist who has spent the pandemic making medical information accessible to others in his Orthodox community in suburban New York. “What type of shul you will be going into, the incidence of vaccination in that shul, the incidence of risk factors in your personal family—is everybody vaccinated? If they are, are they high risk? There are a tremendous number of variables,” says Glatt, who is the chief of infectious diseases and hospital epidemiologist at Mount Sinai South Nassau on
Long Island and an assistant rabbi at the Young Israel of Woodmere. He adds, “And it also depends on the level of risk that people are willing to take with all those variables taken into account.” So, what is a Jew supposed to do? We’ve answered a few of the most frequently asked questions about how to observe High Holidays during the coronavirus pandemic, round two. Is it safe to travel for Rosh Hashanah? The appeal of getting far-flung family members together to share the holiday is undeniable. And a lot has been learned about how to manage risk during pandemic travel. So, jumping on a plane may feel like a better idea this year than last year. But there are some caveats: Someone who is vaccinated and heads to visit people who are vaccinated in an area with a high vaccination rate is at less risk than if one party isn’t vaccinated or even if both are, but there is a high level of community transmission. Glatt advises people considering traveling to consider “where you’re traveling to [and] the incidence of COVID in that area.” In some parts of the country, especially in the South, hospitals are near or even over capacity amid the Delta-fueled surge. They may not be safe destinations when it comes to COVID-19 or any other health issue that can arise while traveling. The Centers for Disease Control is advising Americans to delay travel until fully vaccinated, and even then, to wear a mask while in shared transportation. Unvaccinated travelers, including children, are urged to test before and after traveling and stay away from especially vulnerable people upon their return. Is it safe to attend synagogue for Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur? Here, again, context matters, and so does one’s own risk tolerance. In a community where transmission is high and vaccination
High Holidays rates are relatively low, the risk from praying together in person is going to be higher than in a community where most people are vaccinated and there are relatively few cases. People who are unvaccinated are always at more risk than people who have been fully vaccinated: They are much more likely to require hospitalization or to die after catching COVID-19. The synagogues being considered to attend almost certainly have policies in place. It’s also generally possible to request more information before deciding whether to attend. What is the congregation’s policy on masking? A mask requirement offers a low-cost, low-effort safeguard against transmission. It is also a good signifier of a conservative approach to safety. Are vaccinations required for eligible people? Some synagogues are strongly urging vaccinations, while others are requiring them for everyone over 12. Some are even requiring attendees to prove their vaccination by sharing their vaccine card ahead of time or at the door. (In some places, including Florida, requiring vaccination or asking for evidence of vaccination is illegal.) Is any prayer taking place outdoors? Some synagogues are moving as much of their services as possible outside, to open-sided tents where transmission is less likely. Glatt says all communities should strive to offer some outdoor options for people who feel more comfortable there. How well does air circulate? Since last year, it’s become clearer that good ventilation is an important factor in preventing the spread of disease. Synagogues that have good airflow will offer safer experiences than synagogues with poor air circulation. Many Jewish communities, especially Orthodox ones, are home to a wide range of perspectives on whether masking and distancing should be required at this stage of the pandemic. Glatt says synagogues should be advocating vaccination, calling that “the correct medical and halachic recommendation,” referring to Jewish law. But he also says he believes that synagogues can safely accommodate people with a wide range of approaches to COVID-19. “There should be areas where people
who are vaccinated and are concerned should be able to daven [pray] with a mask on, and everybody in that area should have a mask on,” he said. “At the same time, I have not made the recommendation that everybody should be masked in every situation at every shul. I think there are people who might be uncomfortable with that for various reasons and we need to try to accommodate them as well.” Should children under 12 go to High Holiday services this year? Children under 12 are not yet eligible for vaccination in the United States; government approval for a vaccine for kids is expected sometime before the end of the year. That means the children’s services that most synagogues hold on the High Holidays are effectively for unvaccinated people only, at a time when the Delta variant has elevated pediatric hospital admissions to pandemic-high levels. It also means that including children in adult services reduces the proportion of vaccinated people in the room. Glatt describes the question of whether and how to include children as one that is concerning, with no one-size-fits-all answer. “I think that’s a decision that every shul has to make, how they wish to handle that. If you’re dealing with an elderly population, to have them sitting next to younger children that aren’t vaccinated and their mask wearing is of some concern…I think that needs to be addressed,” he says. “If you’re dealing mostly with a younger population, they’re vaccinated mostly, they’re willing to take the chance—that may be a different situation. It’s a concern.” Many synagogues are holding their children’s services outside to mitigate risk. But not every synagogue has that option, and in some communities, that may not be everyone’s preference. It also could be uncomfortably hot in much of the South at the beginning of September. Glatt says parents should take appropriate precautions, but he notes that many children are in communal settings already by attending school, which conveys an equivalent level of risk. (Tens of thousands of children nationwide have
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www.altmeyerfuneralandcremation.com already spent time in quarantine this school year because of in-school exposures to COVID-19.) “I do think children should be in shul,” Glatt says. “If this was the only situation where they were being exposed, that might be a different story. But they’re getting together anyway.” Is it safe to blow the shofar in an indoor space? Images of people blowing shofars with surgical masks over their openings became a visual trademark of last year’s
High Holidays. This year, vaccines and widely available COVID-19 testing mean it’s relatively straightforward to ensure that the shofar does not spread disease. “If the person blowing the shofar is vaccinated and asymptomatic, that should be fine. Let it blow, possibly not right next to everybody else,” Glatt says, noting that the person should also have no known virus exposures. Some synagogues are bringing their congregations outside to hear the shofar at the end of the service, rather than during continued on page 20
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ב״ה
High Holidays continued from page 19
it. To play it extra safe, others are requiring a negative PCR test—the more reliable type of test on the market—for shofar blowers in the days before the holiday.
EAT.
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D A NC E .
CE L E B R A T E .
Thursday, September 23 ~ 5:30-7:00 PM Chabad House Sukkah, 1920 Colley Avenue Dinner, Sukkos Dancing, Lulav & Etrog, Crafts, Bounce House, & More! $10 Per Person. RSVP by September 19 @ www.chabadoftidewater.com/danceparty
Chabad's Annual Simchas Torah Celebration! Tuesday, September 28 @7:30 PM! at the Chabad House, 1920 Colley Ave
*Kiddush & Dinner! *Hakafos With The Torah! *Magic Show For The Kids! *L'Chaims!
20 | JEWISH NEWS | High Holidays | September 6, 2021 | jewishnewsva.org
What if someone at services had COVID-19? That’s a realistic concern. If Rosh Hashanah were today, the virus is so prevalent in the United States that in some places, there would be nearly a 100% chance that someone in the room would have COVID-19 for any event of 100 people, a typical size for smallerthan-usual services. That includes almost all counties in Florida, currently the hardest-hit state, according to an online “COVID-19 Event Risk Assessment Planning Tool” produced by a team of researchers. The CDC has clear guidelines about what to do if someone is exposed to COVID-19—which it says happens when spending more than 15 minutes total over a 24 hour period near someone with the virus. If that happens, get tested 3–5 days after the exposure and wear a mask around other people until receiving a negative result. If the result is positive, isolate for 10 days, even without symptoms. In the early days of the pandemic, worship services were identified as key vectors of disease in both the United States and Israel, in part because some people continued to attend them after reducing other contacts and in part because of the kinds of activities—including singing—that typically happens at them. So following post-exposure recommendations could be key to making sure that High Holiday services don’t become spreading events. What if the person who had COVID19 was all the way on the other side of the room during services? Does that count as an exposure? Glatt’s answer points to the uncertainty that’s swirling as the Jewish world prepares to enter 5782. “I don’t think so,” he says. “But it’s really unknown.” Shira Hanau contributed reporting.
JEWISH TIDEWATER FIRST PERSON
Simon Family Passport to Israel: Ethan Prince has life-changing experience in Israel Ethan Prince
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n July 12, I hopped on a nine-and-ahalf-hour plane ride with two of my best friends and 41 other teens to visit the land of Israel for 22 days. I always knew that visiting Israel would shift my perspective on being Jewish, but being able to experience that change with 43 other like-minded teenagers was one of the most life-changing experiences I’ve ever had. My most memorable event happened on the sixth day when we took a trip to the Western Wall. Being able to pray next to 20 other Jewish boys with our tallises and tzitzit in the blistering heat will be an experience I will never
forget. Other than visiting the holy sites of Jerusalem, we did so much more. We experienced life as a bedouin, hiked Masada at the peak of dawn, layered ourselves in mud when we went to the Dead Sea, and so much more. Our trip wasn’t only about experiencing the wonders of Israel, but to educate us on the founding of Israel, real-world conflicts, and how Israel has advanced as a society. Aside from all the fun I had experienced in the Israeli culture, the biggest takeaway was the value of learning Hebrew. Hebrew is intertwined with Judaism itself, thus prompting me to learn Hebrew when I got back home. This trip allowed me
to meet people from Minnesota, Washington, and New York. It has also allowed me to get more in touch with myself. Ethan Prince traveled to Israel with funding from the Tidewater Jewish Foundation’s Simon Family Passport to Israel Program. The next round of applications opens on October 1, 2021. For more information, visit bit.ly/ tjf-passport, contact Ann Swindell, TJF donor relations and grant manager, at aswindell@ujft.org or 757-965-6106.
Ethan Prince plants a tree in Israel.
G’mar Chatima Tova
May you be inscribed for good. The Tidewater Jewish Foundation wishes you and your loved ones a year of peace, health, and happiness.
foundation.jewishva.org | 757-965-6111 | tjfinfo@ujft.org
jewishnewsva.org | September 6, 2021 | JEWISH NEWS | 21
L’Shana Tova!
IT’S A WRAP
Wishing you and your loved ones a
sweet, healthy, and Happy New Year!
End of Summer Shabbat includes competitions, blessings, and dinner
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JF S i s s o g r at ef ul f or t h e g e ne r o u s s u p p or t o f o u r co m m uni ty ! w w w. j f s h a m p t o n r o a d s . o r g
orty families gathered by the pool at the Reba and Sam Sandler Family Campus to welcome Shabbat on Friday, August 27. Hosted by PJ Library in Tidewater, in partnership with United Jewish Federation of Tidewater’s Young Adult Division, the night began with pool games, including a swimming The parent relay competition. relay for parents, and for all ages, a bucket relay and a penny dive tzedakah contest. Dave Flagler, director of Camp and Teen Engagement, led families in Shabbat songs and blessings over the candles, challah, and wine. Adults mingled and met new people, while children swam and played, running back to the dinner table for quick bites. For more information about PJ Library in Tidewater, or to register for upcoming events, visit JewishVA.org/PJLibrary or contact Nofar Trem, PJ Library program coordinator, at NTrem@UJFT.org or 757-321-2334.
A perfect day for a pool party.
22 | JEWISH NEWS | September 6, 2021 | jewishnewsva.org
Penny dive Tzedakah contest.
IT’S A WRAP
WHAT’S HAPPENING Sababa in the Sukkah
Camp JCC 2021: Much more than fun! Sierra Lautman
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his summer, Camp JCC provided consistency and happiness—what campers so desperately needed after a difficult year. Campers were able to be kids again, counselors were able to role model while showing off their silly side, and families had a sense of routine and normalcy that wasn’t so available last year. With many families registering for additional weeks throughout the summer, it was clear that kids just couldn’t get enough of the pool, popsicles, friends, and fun. Campers who attended school virtually last year, flourished surrounded by new friends. As one camper was overheard saying as she walked out of camp,
“This was the best summer ever! I want to go all next summer. Mom, wait! I don’t want to wait until next summer to see all of my new friends!” Good news for this particular camper, as well as for other children anxious to see their camp friends again: the Simon Family JCC is already planning plenty of children and family programming throughout the year.
Sunday, September 26 5:30–7:30 pm
J Jordan Cubitt, one of the Tel Aviv/Jaffa group campers, on a kayak adventure.
For more information about Camp JCC’s summer camp and year-round programming, or to get on the list for early bird rates, visit CampJCC.org or contact Dave Flagler, director of Camp and Teen Engagement, at DFlagler@UJFT.org or 757-452-3182.
Masks cannot conceal the smiles of Tel Aviv/Jaffa group campers.
oin the Sababa Social Club and the In[HEIR]itance Project in the Sandler Family Campus Sukkah for an introductory artistic salon that examines the history and lived experiences of the people of Hampton Roads in relationship to the themes and narrative of the book of Exodus. This conversation, facilitated by In[HEIR] itance Project artists, is part of an open artistic process that invites community members to share their personal insights as inspiration and material for a final play that will premiere at the Virginia Arts Festival in 2022. No experience or preparation necessary. Come ready for a kosher nosh, delicious drink, and to listen and share. Free and open to the community with pre-registration required. For more information and to register visit JewishVA.org/ Sababa9 or contact Jill Grossman, Director, Arts + Ideas, at jgrossman@ujft.org or 757-965-6137.
Bunk 8 campers pose after participating in the annual “Color Run.”
The fish were biting for “Eilat” group campers.
Water play on a hot day.
Jewish News Digital Edition See the paper 3 days before the cover date:
JewishNewsVa.org/digital. To have the paper emailed, send your email address to news@ujft.org. Camp JCC counselors are the best! Dani Byers, Caleb Peck, and Lindsey Foer.
Campers from the “Tiberias” group enjoy a happy moment outside.
jewishnewsva.org | September 6, 2021 | JEWISH NEWS | 23
WHAT’S HAPPENING Melton School of Adult Jewish Learning offers an opportunity to extend the period of reflection and renewal Soul’s Cycles: A Ride Through the Chapters of Life Thursdays, Beginning October 7, 12 pm
A PJ Library in Tidewater Sukkot celebration Sunday, September 19, 5–7 pm Sandler Family Campus Nofar Trem
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ukkot is the only Jewish festival with the explicit commandment to rejoice, and PJ Library in Tidewater wants to celebrate with kids and their families. Join PJ Library in the sukkah for a pizza dinner, a life-sized read aloud, a festive craft, and more. This event is free and open to the community, with registration required.
Miriam Brunn Ruberg
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ach year, Jewish adults have the ultimate opportunity for renewal. The start of Rosh Hashanah, the head of the year, marks the beginning of a year-long journey of learning, growing, and revitalization. Jewish adults in Tidewater will be able to extend the reflection and learning that starts with the High Holidays by learning with the Melton School of Adult Jewish Learning at United Jewish Federation of Tidewater. For so long, the American Jewish community believed that Jewishly educating children, “the next generation,” was the priority. Parents just dropped off their children at the school’s or synagogue’s doorway, and went on their way until “pick up time” a few hours later. Parents often felt inadequate – not being able to help with homework or follow parts of the Shabbat service that their children were learning. Jewish educators began to realize that educating parents, grandparents, and Jewish adults in general, in addition to the children, would strengthen the community. Why? When young people see their parents, neighbors, aunts, uncles, and grandparents studying and taking Jewish learning seriously, it strengthens their perception of the importance and value of Jewish learning. The Florence Melton School of Adult Jewish Learning is a prime example of adult Jewish learning that is serious, but also allows for questions and discussion and engages the minds of educated Jewish
Pizza in the Hut
To learn more about PJ Library in Tidewater and to register for this event, visit JewishVA.org/PJLibrary or contact Nofar Trem, PJ Library program coordinator, at ntrem@ujft.org or 757-321-2334.
Unpacking Antisemitism: An action-based workshop Sunday, October 17, 1 pm adults. The curriculum is for individuals who never had a chance to learn Jewish texts and primary sources or who want to revisit or deepen their understanding of Judaism. Learning in the Melton school emphasizes that Jewish learning is a life-long pursuit worthy of time and commitment. There is no better time than just after the High Holidays’ period of reflection and renewal, to dedicate oneself to pursuing deep Jewish learning. The upcoming Melton course is offered through United Jewish Federation of Tidewater’s Konikoff Center for Learning. The class will journey through the Jewish perspective on some of life’s milestones: birth, Bar/Bat mitzvah, marriage, divorce, mikvah, conversion – a fascinating ride that will deepen participants’ understanding for when these moments happen personally, to family, or to friends. To register for this course or learn more about the Melton School at UJFT, visit JewishVA.org/KCL or contact Sierra Lautman, director of Jewish Innovation, at SLautman@UJFT.org or 757-965-6107.
24 | JEWISH NEWS | September 6, 2021 | jewishnewsva.org
I
n partnership with Old Dominion University’s Institute for Jewish Studies & Interfaith Understanding, the Jewish Community Relations Council is hosting an afternoon workshop to learn strategies to fight the rising tide of antisemitism. Keynote speaker Dara Horn will discuss her new book, People Love Dead Jews, a startling exploration of how Jewish history is exploited to flatter and comfort the living. Additional speakers and workshop facilitators represent organizations that include the Anti-Defamation League, FBI, Robert N u s b a u m Center at V i r g i n i a We s l e y a n University, and Virginia Center for Inclusive Communities. The workshop will leave participants with a better understanding of the history of antisemitism, and concrete methods to address it. This free and open to the community
Dara Horn.
workshop offers in-person and online participation, with registration required for both. Participants will receive supplementary information and a take-home “toolkit” for use after the event. For more information or to RSVP (required), visit www.JewishVA.org/ UnpackingAntisemitism. For more information, contact Elka Mednick at emednick@ujft.org.
WHAT’S HAPPENING Israel Today, Noa Tishby: Defending Israel one Tweet at a time Wednesday, October 13, 7:30 pm
On view in the Leon Family Gallery and throughout the Sandler Family Campus through September 30
Elka Mednick
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ctress, producer, author, and activist Noa Tishby, kicks off the Jewish Community Relations Council of the United Jewish Federation of Tidewater, Simon Family JCC, and Community Partners’ 11th Annual Israel Today and Simon Family JCC’s Lee & Bernard Jaffe Family Jewish Book Festival next month. Tishby has had a long, active career in the entertainment industry, starting as a child actor, then as a soldier performer before becoming a TV regular in her native Israel. Tishby eventually moved to the United States to pursue a career in Hollywood, ultimately finding success in acting and producing, including involvement in the development of HBO’s In Treatment, which is based on an Israeli show. While Tishby is a performer at heart, she grew up in a politically active household, a fact that influences how she interacts with the world. She has devoted much of her professional time in recent years to advocating for Israel in the media. In 2011, Tishby founded an Israel-focused online advocacy and response apparatus—Act for Israel. Hosted on Twitter, AFI works to fact check mistruths on the internet about Israel and the Middle East. Throughout much of her adult life outside of Israel, Tishby has found herself asked numerous questions about the tiny nation. Often, she corrected misconceptions regarding Israeli history and politics. What began as a hobby and part of simple conversation, grew into a vocation that ultimately led to her new book: Israel: A Simple Guide to the Most Misunderstood Country on Earth.
Art, art, everywhere! Then, Now, & Looking Forward: Lorraine Fink Retrospective
Join the artist for a reception: Sunday, September 12, 1–3 pm Jill Grossman
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Noa Tishby.
Part memoir, part explanation of Israeli culture, Tishby tackles much of the popular critiques of today’s Israel. By weaving her own experiences and that of her family with pre- and post1948 history, Tishby’s book has a breezy conversational narrative that invites readers of all backgrounds to learn about the forces of modern Middle Eastern politics without confrontation. Though not a piece of scholarly or historical work, the book “is a powerful antidote to the widespread misunderstanding and willful misrepresentation that often obscures the truth about Israel. Much like the book itself, Noa is a fearless truth teller in an age of fashionable lies,” says Congressman Ritchie Torres. In light of tensions in the Middle East, and an overwhelming misunderstanding regarding the lives of average Israeli citizens of all backgrounds, Tishby’s visit to Tidewater is extremely timely.
ribes, Tribesmen, For the Young at Heart. Silkscreens, collages, photographs, sculptures, and more than 100 ink and watercolor drawings. Dancers, musicians, masked forms, and women morphing into birds are all part of the nearly 300-piece Lorraine Fink Retrospective at the Sandler Family Campus. Fink, 96, a local, contemporary artist, constantly seeks to learn, translating the detail and nuance of all she sees, reads, and experiences into imaginative canvases, works on paper, photographs, and sculptures. Now in her 10th decade, Fink creates works that bear witness to a life rich in experiences of discovery, Mooncycle Transformation to Beast. joy, celebration, and at times memories of sadness. Her three-dimensional works address memories, watercolors express the creation of the world, wingless birds lament individual limitations, humans morph into animals that dance, and discarded objects breathe new life. Fink’s creativity knows no bounds and it is on display in the Leon Family Gallery, in the Cardo, and throughout the Campus’ second floor. Select pieces are for sale. Fink is generously donating a portion of the proceeds from the sale of this collection to the Simon Family JCC and United Jewish Federation of Tidewater’s Arts programming. Meet the artist at a reception on Sunday, September 12. The Leon Family Gallery is located on the second floor of the Sandler Family Campus, 5000 Corporate Woods Drive, Virginia Beach. To learn more or to RSVP for the reception, contact Jill Grossman, Arts + Ideas director, at JGrossman@ujft.org, 757-965-6137, or visit www.JewishVA.org/gallery.
Free and open to the community, RSVP (required) at JewishVA.org/IsraelToday or contact Elka Mednick at emednick@ujft. org or 757-965-6112. Todays Ballet.
jewishnewsva.org | September 6, 2021 | JEWISH NEWS | 25
CALENDAR SEPTEMBER 12, SUNDAY SUPER SUNDAY 2022. Make or take a call for United Jewish Federation of Tidewater. Join community members by answering the call from volunteers, ensuring that UJFT can meet the needs of the community. Sponsored by Tidewater Mortgage Services, Inc. Sandler Family Campus. Volunteer shifts: 10–11:30 am and 11:30 am–1 pm. For more information or to speak to someone about a 2022 commitment, visit JewishVA.org/Donate today or contact Matthew Kramer-Morning, UJFT’s Young Leadership Campaign director. See page 6. THEN, NOW, & LOOKING FORWARD: Lorraine Fink Retrospective Reception. Local artist and arts supporter Lorraine Fink will be celebrated in this first retrospective of her work spanning five decades. The exhibition runs through September 30 in the Leon Family Gallery and throughout the Simon Family JCC. Join the artist for a reception 1–3 pm. FREE and open to the community with pre-registration required. For more information and to register, visit JewishVA.org/Gallery or contact Jill Grossman, director, Arts + Ideas, at jgrossman@ujft.org or 757-965-6137. See page 25. Sunday Fun Day. Pack the family into the car and head to the JCC for a fun-filled afternoon of music, field games, and a sweet treat. Sunday Fun Days are FREE and open to JCC members, Synagogue and YAD members, SIA families, and Camp JCC families. 2 pm. To register, visit JewishVA.org/PJLibrary, or contact Nofar Trem, PJ Library Program Coordinator, at ntrem@ujft.org.
SEPTEMBER 14, TUESDAY 33rd Annual Bob Josephberg Classic Golf Tournament to benefit Strelitz International Academy. Played at Bayville Golf Club, Virginia Beach. 10:30 am registration opens; 12 pm tee-off. Golfer registration includes greens fees; on-course kosher lunch, snacks, and beverages; and after play awards reception with a kosher dinner. To play or donate a sponsorship, register at www.strelitzinternationalacademy.org/support-us/ annual-golf-tournament or contact Carly Glikman at cglikman@strelitzacademy.org or 757-424-4327.
SEPTEMBER 19, SUNDAY Pizza in the Hut with PJ Library in Tidewater. Celebrate Sukkot and enjoy dinner with family and friends in the Simon Family JCC sukkah. Festive activities include creating a sukkah decoration, learning
SAVE THE DATE
Tuesday
September 14, 2021 BOB JOSEPHBERG
10:30 am: Registration opens 12:00 pm: Tee-off
about the holiday, singing songs, and a read aloud that is larger than life. Free and open to the community, registration required. 5 pm. Register at JewishVA.org/PJLibrary, or contact Nofar Trem, PJ Library program coordinator, at ntrem@ujft.org. See page 24.
SEPTEMBER 24, FRIDAY Antisemitism: How Did We Get Here? Featuring Meredith R. Weisel, ADL’s Washington, DC Office senior associate regional director, a Jewish Community Relations Council of the United Jewish Federation of Tidewater Virtual Learn@Lunch. 12 pm. Free and open to the community. For more information, or to RSVP (required) contact Elka Mednick, JCRC assistant director, at emednick@ujft.org or 757-965-6112.
SEPTEMBER 26, SUNDAY Sababa in the Sukkah. Join the Sababa Social Club in the Sandler Family Campus sukkah for an evening with The In[Heir]itance Project. Experience an introductory artistic salon that examines the history and lived experiences of the people of Hampton Roads in relationship to the themes and narrative of the book of Exodus. 5:30 – 7:30 pm. Free and open to the community with pre-registration required. For more information and to register, visit JewishVA.org/Sababa9 or contact Jill Grossman, director, Arts + Ideas, at jgrossman@ujft.org or 757-965-6137.
OCTOBER 3, SUNDAY Brain Health and Faith with Stephen Fried. Presented by The Milton “Mickey” Kramer Scholarin-Residence Fund of the Congregation Beth El Foundation, this timely discussion with investigative journalist, Stephen Fried; and local Jewish clergy, Rabbi Rosalin Mandelberg, Rabbi Michael Panitz, Rabbi Ron Koas, Cantor Jennifer Rueben, and Cantor Wendi Fried, will focus on why brain health and mental well-being matter to the Jewish people, and what can be done as a Jewish community to bring these topics out of the shadows. Dinner begins at 5:30, followed by panel discussion. FREE and open to the community. For more information or to RSVP (required) visit JewishVA.org/KCL or contact Sierra Lautman, director of Jewish Innovation, at 757-965-6107 or SLautman@ujft.org. See page 12.
OCTOBER 4, MONDAY Mental Health Awareness in Tidewater with Stephen Fried. Learn about the important work being done locally to address the mental well-being of the community, what work still needs to be done, and how to help in this panel discussion featuring representatives from the National Alliance of Mental Health, the Virginia Beach Crisis Intervention Team, I Need A Lighthouse, and the VB Strong Center. Presented by The Milton “Mickey” Kramer Scholar-in-Residence Fund of the Congregation Beth El Foundation, in partnership with Jewish Family Service. Free and open to the community. 7:30 pm. For more information or to RSVP (required) visit JewishVA.org/KCL or contact Sierra Lautman, director of Jewish Innovation, at 757-965-6107 or SLautman@ujft.org. See page 12.
OCTOBER 7–NOVEMBER 18, TUESDAYS The Melton School of Adult Jewish Learning presents Soul’s Cycles: A Ride Through the Chapters of Life. Ready to flex those spiritual muscles? This six-week course taught by Miriam Brunn Ruberg will lead participants through a focused, high-intensity journey through the Jewish perspective on some of life’s milestones: birth, Bar/Bat mitzvah, marriage, divorce, mikvah, conversion—a fascinating ride that will deepen an understanding for when these moments happen personally, to family and to friends. 12–1:30 pm. For more information or to register, visit JewishVA.org/KCL or contact Sierra Lautman, director of Jewish Innovation, at slautman@ujft.org or 757-965-6107. See page 24.
OCTOBER 13, WEDNESDAY The Jewish Community Relations Council of the United Jewish Federation of Tidewater, Simon Family JCC, and Community Partners’ 11th Annual Israel Today and Simon Family JCC’s Lee & Bernard Jaffe Family Jewish Book Festival kicks off with troll fighter, truth spreader, and rapid responder, Israeli actress and author, Noa Tishby. She will discuss her new book, Israel: A Simple Guide to the Most Misunderstood Country on Earth, and share “everything you thought you might not know, what you ought to know and how to pull the rug out from under a dozen misconceptions about the tiny nation that dominates the news.” 7:30 pm. Free and open to the community, RSVP required. For more information, or to RSVP (required) visit JewishVA.org/IsraelToday or contact Elka Mednick at emednick@ujft.org or 757-965-6112. See page 25.
OCTOBER 17, SUNDAY Unpacking Antisemitism: An Action Based Workshop, in partnership with ODU’s Institute for Jewish Studies & Interfaith Understanding, the JCRC present a workshop to understand and combat modern antisemitism, with keynote address from author Dara Horn. Workshop begins at 1 pm. For more information, or to RSVP (required), visit www.JewishVA.org/unpackingantisemitism or contact Elka Mednick at emednick@ujft. org or 757-965-6112. See page 24.
SEPT. 3
26 | JEWISH NEWS | September 6, 2021 | jewishnewsva.org
Send submissions for calendar to news@ujft.org. Be sure to note “calendar” in the subject. Include date, event name, sponsor, address, time, cost and phone.
WHO KNEW?
Ben Sales
for other unions, including United Steelworkers, before working in baseball. Leading the MLBPA from 1966–1982, he used hardnosed tactics, such as lawsuits and strikes, to scuttle the century-old “reserve clause” which bound players to a team. The move effectively launched the era of free agency. When Miller started, the minimum MLB salary was $7,000 a year; by the time he died, it was $480,000. When Miller retired in 1982, Peter Seitz, the arbitrator who ruled in favor of players in the reserve clause case, told The New York Times that Miller was “the Moses who had led Baseball’s Children of Israel out of the land of bondage.” Miller first made it onto the Hall of Fame ballot in 2003, but until 2020 fell short of the 75% vote ratio needed by the panel. Hall of Fame critics attributed the long wait to lingering resentment among owners, who have a say in the vote. Hammerman noted that the Hall
of Fame has on its website an article lauding Sandy Koufax, the Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher who famously sat out a 1965 World Series game to observe Yom Kippur. “So, what would Sandy Koufax do about this unforced error by Major League Baseball?” Hammerman said. “What should Jews do? If we grant that a World Series game might not be easily moved from its natural October perch, the Hall of Fame ceremony, which typically is in July, most definitely could still be set for a day other than Sept. 8.” Joining Miller on the 2020 induction roster are Derek Jeter, the New York Yankees shortstop; Ted Simmons, the St. Louis Cardinals catcher; and Larry Walker, the Colorado Rockies rightfielder. Miller will be the fifth Jewish hall-of-famer—players Koufax, Hank Greenberg and Lou Boudreau, along with Pittsburgh Pirates owner Barney Dreyfuss, precede him.
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(JTA)—Barbra Streisand has become the only woman to record a top 20 album on the Billboard charts in every decade from the 1960s to the 2020s. The only other person to achieve that feat is Bob Dylan. Streisand’s latest album, Release Me 2, came out last month and debuted at number 15 on the Billboard charts, Billboard reported. The album features archival recordings as well as duets with Willie Nelson and Kermit the Frog. Her first album to chart in the top 20 was her self-titled, Barbra Streisand Album, which debuted at the 17th spot 58 years ago, in 1963. Streisand, 79, is also the woman with the most albums to chart in the top 40, with 54. That’s more than twice as many as the runner-up, Aretha Franklin, who had 26. The overall record for top 40 albums is held by Frank Sinatra, who had 58.
it would be safer to have an in-person ceremony by September. “Planning continues to be adapted to guidelines set forth by the Centers for Disease Control and the State of New York,” said the release, since removed from the Hall of Fame’s website. In a column for Religion News Service, Rabbi Joshua Hammerman of Temple Beth El in Stamford, Connecticut, said the schedule was a “scandal” and decried the silence of American Jews on the matter. “Baseball had plenty of dates from which to choose but opted for one of the three most consecrated days of the Jewish year for this sacred enshrinement,” Hammerman wrote. Baseball players and fans have long advocated for the induction of Miller, who died in 2012 at 95, into the Hall of Fame because of his profound influence on the game. Miller grew up in Flatbush, Brooklyn, rooting for the Dodgers. He worked
22
BARBRA STREISAND SETS ANOTHER RECORD: A TOP 20 ALBUM IN EVERY DECADE SINCE THE 1960S
MARVIN MILLER, THE INFLUENTIAL JEWISH MLB UNION CHIEF, FINALLY GETS HIS HALL OF FAME INDUCTION—ON ROSH HASHANAH Ron Kampeas
(JTA)—It took several tries, but Marvin Miller, the longtime Jewish Major League Baseball Players Association chief who changed the sport by transforming the players’ union into a powerhouse, is finally being inducted into the baseball Hall of Fame. There’s one catch—the pandemic-delayed induction ceremony is set to take place on Rosh Hashanah. The Cooperstown, New York-based Hall of Fame announced last month that the induction will shift from its usual July slot to Sept. 8, the second day of Rosh Hashanah this year. No reason was given explicitly, but a June 9 release suggested the shift was made in hopes that
at
EMERSON’S BAR & GRILL The music and life of jazz legend Billie Holiday Featuring Ashley Bishop-Diggs, Billie Holiday Directed by Anthony Mark Stockard, Director Norfolk State University Theatre Company
OCTOBER 29-31, 2021
HARLEM
ATTUCKS THEATRE, NORFOLK
IOO
Celebrating the 100th Anniversary of the Harlem Renaissance
TICKETS: VAFEST.ORG OR CALL 757-282-2822
Purchase with confidence; CDC and VDH procedures implemented.
jewishnewsva.org | September 6, 2021 | JEWISH NEWS | 27
OBITUARIES CHRISTINE RAFAL VIRGINIA BEACH—Christine Hansen Rafal passed away peacefully in her home on August 24, 2021 in Virginia Beach. She was surrounded by her loving family and friends. She was born in Alexandria, Va. on December 2, 1949 to Mae and Henry Hansen, of blessed memory. Chris went to Old Dominion University where she met and married the love of her life, Nelson Rafal, of blessed memory (son of Cynthia and Bernard Rafal, of blessed memory). She devoted her life to her family. Chris is survived by her daughter Shannon (Roy) Ben-Yoseph and son Jason (Ashley) Rafal; grandchildren Casey and Caleb Rafal and Addie and Elli BenYoseph; sister Sandy (Dennis) Turner; sisters-in-law Renee (Stewart) Segal, Dale (Brian) Atherton; sister-by-heart MaryAnn (Marv) Nordwall; cousin Happy Gibson, nieces, nephews, and friends. A graveside funeral service was held in Forest Lawn Cemetery with Rabbi Michael Panitz officiating. Donations can be made to the Epilepsy Foundation (epilepsy.com). Online condolences may be made to the family at hdoliver.com. STANLEY SAKS PHILADELPHIA, PA.—Stanley Saks, age 100, died August 24, 2021. Husband of the late Miriam Saks, father of Sandra Stern, Donna (Bernie) Greenberg, and Edward (Sherry) Saks; brother of Robert (Yetta) Saks; also survived by 10 grandchildren and 14 great grandchildren. Relatives and friends were invited to graveside services at The Shalom Memorial Park in Huntingdon Valley, Pa. Contributions in his memory may be made to Cong. Tifereth Israel of Lower Bucks County, 2909 Bristol Rd., Bensalem, PA, 19020. www.goldsteinsfuneral.com ED ASNER, STARRED AS LOU GRANT Ron Kampeas
(JTA)—Ed Asner, who trademarked a gruff, flawed, and loving persona as Lou Grant in The Mary Tyler Moore Show and in a spin-off series about journalism, has died at 91.
“We are sorry to say that our beloved patriarch passed away this morning peacefully,” the family said Sunday, August 29, on Asner’s Twitter account. “Words cannot express the sadness we feel. With a kiss on your head—Goodnight dad. We love you.” Asner, who once told The Forward he was “too much of a Jewish bourgeoisie” to play conventional roles, was an established character actor when he signed on in 1970 to The Mary Tyler Moore show to play her boss at a local TV news operation in Minneapolis. In 1977, after the Minneapolis TV station fires all but one of the fictional Mary Tyler Moore characters, the Lou Grant character moves to Los Angeles to helm a print newsroom in Lou Grant. Asner is the only actor to have won two Emmys for playing the same character in two series. The hour-long Lou Grant, considered one of the truest TV depictions of how news is gathered, abandoned the light sardonic touch its sitcom predecessor had in depicting journalists. In a newsroom modeled on the Washington Post depicted in 1976 in All the President’s Men, Grant’s character template was Harry Rosenfeld, the Post’s Jewish city editor known for simultaneously berating and nurturing young reporters. Each episode grappled with an ethical dilemma. In one memorable episode based on a true story, a reporter assigned a profile of a local neo-Nazi discovers that he is Jewish. The neo-Nazi beseeches the reporter not to reveal the truth; the reporter consults with Grant, who counsels her to include the information. The neo-Nazi kills himself, and Grant and the reporter are left to wonder if they made the right decision. With such open-ended stories, Lou Grant heralded the transition from the pat moralistic TV dramatic fare that prevailed until the 1970s to the more fraught and ambiguous fare that has flourished since the 1980s. CBS canceled the series in 1982; it claimed ratings was a factor, but conservative groups had threatened to boycott the network because of Asner’s real-life activism. As president of the Screen Actor’s Guild, Asner spoke out against the Reagan
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administration’s backing of right-wing insurgents in Central America. Asner as a public persona was unabashedly Jewish. In 1981, he headlined a PBS documentary on Passover, and in 2012, he made a Jewish Hanukkah pitch for a charity that distributes cattle to impoverished communities. He joined Jewish Voice for Peace initiatives in speaking out against Israel’s occupation of the West Bank. “I’m amazed by Israel’s militaristic achievements and accomplishments, and yet I think I gloried more at the Jewish image of the Children of the Book,” he told the Los Angeles Jewish Journal in 2005, after receiving an activism award from a Jewish group. In 2019, Asner narrated The Tattooed Torah, an animated version of the children’s Holocaust education tale. “This little Torah is the story of our people, tattoos and all,” Asner says in the narration. But his trademark was a deeply flawed character who finds redemption in an unlikely place or relationship. In the Mary Tyler Moore pilot, Grant badgers job applicant Mary Richards with personal questions: Why did she never marry, what religion is she? When she stands up for herself and says his questions are inappropriate, Grant delivers the one-two that would come to define his characters. “You know what? You’ve got spunk,” says Asner, as Grant. Moore, as Richards, grins. Grant follows up: “I hate spunk.” Yet he hires her. He reprised that journey, from cynic to believer, in 2009’s Up, the Disney/ Pixar feature in which he voices Carl Fredricksen, an elderly man broken and embittered by widowerhood and a modern world seemingly intent on crushing him, who embarks on a balloon journey to South America with a young stowaway. As Grant aged, many of his characters were more explicitly Jewish, from Joe Danzig, a worn-out principal at a troubled inner-city high school in The Bronx Zoo, in 1988, to Sid Weinberg, the abusive stepfather in the recent Karate Kid reboot, Cobra Kai. Grant acted until the end, and the Internet Movie Database lists more than a dozen roles that are in production or post-production, or that had yet to film.
Beginning in 2016, he toured the country playing a Holocaust survivor in The Soap Myth, a run interrupted by the coronavirus pandemic. Grant, born and raised in Kansas City, told interviewers that his parents practiced a “midwestern” orthodoxy, observing many of the religious laws, but driving to shul. More substantially, they instilled in him a belief that Jewish practice was inseparable from activism. “I was raised to believe that giving back to your community is the good and right way above all, and that we were needed to uphold the faith, and if we upheld it, we would be doing right,” he told the Jewish Journal. Like his characters, he told The Forward in 2012 that he had experienced an arc from self-righteousness to self-questioning. “My self-examination could have been more rigorous,” he said “I could have been braver, better, more rehearsed for life.” Asked if he had a wish, he told the Jewish newspaper: “Bury my ashes in Mount Scopus.”
CARL LEVIN, LONGTIME JEWISH SENATOR FROM MICHIGAN Ron Kampeas
(JTA)—Carl Levin, the Jewish Michigander who spent 36 years as a fierce inquisitor in the Senate, has died at 87. The Levin Center at Wayne State University Law School announced Levin’s passing on July 29. It did not give a cause of death, but Levin was diagnosed with lung cancer four years ago. The center, named for Levin, focuses on the passion of his career: government oversight. Levin, first elected to the Senate in 1978, became his state’s longest-serving senator. From 2001 until his retirement in 2015, Levin served as the chairman or the ranking member of the Senate Armed Services Committee. He was always a little disheveled and spoke softly, and his staffers described him as a rarity—a kind and accommodating boss in the world’s most intense pressure chamber. “Carl Levin was a giant of a Senator and a giant of a human being with a big heart and a kind soul. He made his mark and will go down in history as one of the best,” former California Senator Barbara
OBITUARIES Boxer told the Jewish Telegraphic Agency. President Joe Biden, who served with Levin in the Senate for decades, evoked Levin’s signature avuncularity in his remembrance. “With his head tilted down, his eyes peering over his glasses — Carl always looked people straight into their own eyes, listened with an open mind, and responded the way he saw it with respect,” Biden said. Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., who like Levin is Jewish and has a reputation as a relentless inquisitor—in Wyden’s case, the target is the intelligence community— paid tribute to his colleague’s probity. “Every single day for years and years, Carl Levin gave public service a good name,” Wyden told JTA. Levin’s liberal economic outlook was shaped as he watched the diminishment of his once muscular and beloved city, Detroit. He fought hard for car manufacturers in Congress, knowing the lifeblood that they were for his state’s working class. He worked as a taxi driver while in college— he said he knew Detroit’s every block—and on an assembly line at Chrysler. Levin was a dove who spoke out early against the George W. Bush administration’s plans to invade Iraq, but as chairman of the committee that shaped military policy he was also a defender of protections for the armed forces, sometimes to what fellow Democrats felt was a fault. He successfully prevented bids to take investigations of sexual misconduct out of the hands of the line of command. Joe Lieberman, who served for years in the Senate as a Democrat and then an Independent, said Levin’s work ethic endeared him to both sides of the aisle. “He was absolutely trusted by all of us who were privileged to serve with him,” Lieberman, who is Jewish, told JTA. “We trusted his ethics, we trusted his judgment, and we trusted his advice because we knew he had ‘read the bill’ and thought about it before he spoke.” Levin told interviewers he grew up in a middle-class household in Detroit and that his parents, Saul and Bess Levin, were Zionists. Bess was active in Hadassah. His brother “Sandy and I and our sister Hannah used to call ourselves Hadassah Orphans because when we got home
in the afternoon, my mother was never there,” he said in an oral history for the Detroit Jewish Federation. “She was volunteering for Hadassah.” Lieberman said Levin would convene the Jewish senators to partake of pre-Rosh Hashanah goodies. “He also brought us together every year before Rosh Hashonah in his hideaway for apples, honey, and a good cup of sweet kosher wine,” he said. Levin was a go-to senator for lobbyists from the American Israel Public Affairs Committee and was attentive to their requests for defense assistance to Israel. However, he parted ways with AIPAC when the lobby, heeding the Israeli government at the time, opposed the emerging Iran nuclear deal in 2015. Levin’s older brother Sander Levin was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in 1982, and from 2010–2012—when Sander was the chairman of the tax-writing Ways and Means Committee and Carl chaired the Senate Armed Services
Committee—they were the most powerful brothers in Washington. They were throughout their lives the closest of friends. Sander, who retired in 2019—replaced by his son and Carl’s nephew, Andy Levin—described his sadness in 2014 anticipating Carl’s retirement. “We’ve been the longest-serving
siblings in the history of Congress,” Sander Levin told the Detroit Free Press. “We were raised together and have always been very close…we roomed together at law school…whenever there were issues of common interests, we talked quite a lot. And we sat together for 32 State of the Union Addresses. So it will be very different not sitting together this year.”
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JEWISH TIDEWATER
Inaugural Sababa event is ‘Cool’ Jill Grossman
M
ore than 80 people attended Sababa Social Club’s party at the pool. The inaugural event brought friends together —following the past year and a half apart. Sara Jo Rubin, Sababa Social Club’s chairperson, says, “It was wonderful to see so many old friends, as well as meet new people at the first Sababa Social Club event. And Sababa, which is Hebrew for ‘cool,’ is the perfect title for a casual get-together around the JCC pool, and for future activities. We look forward to meeting even more people at the next event.” “What a treat to run into old friends,” Sababa Social Club host committee member Ellen Rostov Hundley, says. “I got teary eyed upon seeing a friend from high school—someone from my past that I have not seen since my childhood. It was a good time with great eats!”
Lewis McGehee with Sara Jo and Joel Rubin, Sababa Social Club chairs.
Ellen Rostov Hundley, Sara Jo Rubin, Joanne Macon, and Fern Leibowitz.
Ken Reid, Kirk Levy, and Jeri Jo and Bill Halperin.
Alene and Ron Kaufman.
Barbara and Harvey Coleman and Lawrence Fleder.
POSTPONED! THE JANET GORDON ANNUAL MAH JONGG DAY & LUNCHEON
SUNDAY, APRIL 3, 2022
Out of an abundance of caution, this event is postponed until the spring of 2022. The safety of all in our community is our top priority! Beth Sholom Village’s annual Mah Jongg fundraiser will be back next year, where 100% of proceeds support our residents! For more information, contact Tanya Glenn-McMurray: tglenn-mcmurray@bethsholomvillage.com | 757.961.3024
30 | JEWISH NEWS | September 6, 2021 | jewishnewsva.org
Year of the Ox
Jeff Cohen, Rachel Abraham, and Catharine Ruditsky.
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Providing high-quality urological care and keeping you safe at Sentara by: • Providing personal protective equipment (PPE) to caregivers & patients • Screening providers & office staff • Ongoing cleaning & sanitizing of all areas • Screening patients for fever & symptoms at the front door
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