CT Jewish Ledger • March 12, 2021 • 28 Adar 5781

Friday, March 12, 2021 28 Adar 5781 Vol. 93 | No. 11 | ©2021 $1.00 | jewishledger.com

INVESTIGATING

ISRAEL 1

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INSIDE

this week

CONNECTICUT JEWISH LEDGER | SINCE 1929 | MARCH 12, 2021 | 28 ADAR 5781

8 Briefs

11 Purim Around CT!

16 Torah Portion

17 Crossword

19 Milestones

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Outrage at the BBC........................ 5 The BBC broadcasted a debate over whether Jews should be considered an ethnic minority, featuring a panel of four non-Jews and a Jewish commentator. And it went downhill from there.

50 Years and Counting................. 5 Solomon Schechter Day School is celebrating half a century of educating Jewish children in the Greater Hartford area.

Arts & Entertainment................. 20 The normally raucous Golden Globes ceremony took on a more subdued tone, thanks to Covid-19 restrictions. Still, even the pandemic couldn’t stop the show from having its usual share of fun Jewish moments.

What’s Happening

24 Obituaries

25 Business and Professional Directory

26 Classified Look, up in the sky….........................................................10 Siegmund Breitbart could bend rods into horseshoes and bite through chains. He thrived at a time of rising anti-Semitism in Germany prior to the Nazi era.

Around CT.............................................................................12 A record 500 guests were treated to an evening of poignant tributes and lots of laugher at the Bi-Cultural Hebrew Academy’s virtual dinner.

CANDLE LIGHTING ON THE COVER:

Several American legislators and world leaders, as well as a the heads of numerous pro-Israel organizations and Middle East scholars, are speaking out against the International Criminal Court’s decision to investigate Israel for alleged war crimes.

International Criminal Court building (2016) in The Hague, Photo by OSeveno via Wikimedia Commons. PAGE 14 jewishledger.com

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OUTSIDE: A COVID-19 FAIRY TALE CONVERSATION WITH ETGAR KERET A Film by: Etgar Keret & Inbal Pinto Speaker: Etgar Keret Thursday, March 11, 2021, 4:00 PM This seven-minute film is the first ever collaboration between author Etgar Keret and choreographer Inbal Pinto. The film is based on the short story “Outside,” written by Etgar Keret during the Covid-19 lockdown in Israel. It was filmed entirely during the pandemic both in Tel-Aviv and Tokyo and features Israeli and Japanese actors, musicians, and dancers. The film explores what it is like to step outside once the pandemic is over. . jewishledger.com

UP FRONT

CONNECTICUT JEWISH LEDGER | SINCE 1929 | MARCH 12, 2021 | 28 ADAR 5781

BBC debate on whether Jews are an ethnic minority group sparks outrage

BY CNAAN LIPHSHIZ

(JTA) – The BBC has been accused of bias in its coverage of Israel for decades. Now the public broadcaster is taking flak from British Jews for coverage much closer to home.

What’s causing their biggest dispute in years?

It’s the broadcast of a debate over whether Jews should be considered an ethnic minority – a panel discussion featuring four non-Jewish panelists and a Jewish commenter as a guest.

Monday’s discussion touched raw nerves in the organized community, where many Jews feel marginalized by allegedly hostile media treatment and the rise of antisemitism both from the far right and at the heart of the Labour Party.

The broadcast was prompted by comments made last month by Labour lawmaker Angela Rayner, who congratulated a Scottish lawmaker of Pakistani descent as “the first-ever ethnic minority leader of a political party anywhere in the U.K.” Some Jews protested on social media, noting that Jews had led parties, from Conservative Prime Minister Benjamin Disraeli in the 19th century to former Labour leader Ed Miliband starting in 2010.

Whether or not to designate Jews as members of an ethnic group – a debate among Jews themselves – has political and cultural implications. Many Jews and others consider Jews an ethnic entity cemented by culture, tradition and genetics. The late former chief rabbi of Britain, Jonathan Sacks, famously argued, by contrast, that Jewishness is not an ethnicity but a “bricolage of multiple ethnicities.”

Others, including many anti-Zionists, refuse to recognize Judaism’s peoplehood dimension altogether, saying Jews should be regarded strictly as members of a religion. The definition of “ethnic” has implications under laws preventing discrimination, as well as in the court of public opinion.

The BBC controversy echoes a debate in the United States over whether most Jews should be considered white and thus privileged, members of a vulnerable and protected minority, both or neither.

On Monday, the United Kingdom’s jewishledger.com

Solomon Schechter Day School of Greater Hartford celebrates 50 years

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BY STACEY DRESNER

THE BROADCASTING HOUSE AT BBC HEADQUARTERS IN CENTRAL LONDON IN 2017.

(VUK VALCIC/SOPA IMAGES/LIGHTROCKET VIA GETTY IMAGES)

largest news organization sought to address some of these issues during the television program “Politics Live!” Far from settling the question, however, the discourse further angered Jewish community leaders and members at a time when many of them are reeling from rising antisemitism.

“Imagine if I was Black and four white people were asked to judge if I was a member of an ethnic minority. It would be as offensive,” Benjamin Cohen, the Jewish guest, tweeted. Cohen is the 38-year-old CEO of an online newspaper for the LGBT community.

The show’s host, Jo Coburn, who is Jewish, asked the four non-Jewish panelists – two lawmakers, a think tank leader and a newspaper columnist – whether Jews did indeed constitute an ethnic minority. The lawmakers were noncommittal, with one of them, Labour’s Stewart Wood, saying some of his Jewish friends aren’t sure themselves of the answer. Cohen and the think tanker said Jews do indeed form their own ethnic minority.

Coburn suggested that Rayner’s comments may reflect that many Jews in Britain have succeeded in reaching high political office and therefore “don’t need to be seen as a group needing recognition in

the same way as others.”

That ruffled Cohen’s feathers.

“We face antisemitism and racism very clearly,” Cohen told Coburn. “We’ve just seen that with the many years of racism and antisemitism within the Labour Party, so it suggests that Jews don’t face racism and therefore we’ve reached such a high office that we’re not an ethnic minority. It’s frankly ridiculous. Frankly the notion of this debate is ridiculous.”

It wasn’t the first debate in the U.K. about whether Jews are an ethnic minority and whether they benefit from so-called white privilege.

A similar debate arose in 2018 after a politician of Pakistani descent was again hailed as the first member of an ethnic minority to be named Home secretary – an office previously attained by two Jews.

“Part of the complication is that we are seen primarily as a religion rather than a race or ethnicity,” Abi Symons wrote in an op-ed in The Jewish Chronicle at the time.

“But another part of this is the perception of our privilege.”

Jews, she wrote, “pass as white if that’s your skin tone and therefore on physical

EST HARTFORD – Solomon Schechter Day School of Greater Hartford will mark its 50th anniversary on Sunday, March 14 with a virtual celebration that will tip its hat to the school’s founders and to the families who have supported the school for the past five decades.

“It is a time for the community to come together to honor all that has come before us,” said Head of School Andrea Kasper. “We are on good footing and looking forward to the next 50 years.”

Along with speeches by Kaspar and Lauren Eisen, president of the Schechter Board, and entertainment by comedian Joel Chasnoff, the evening will highlight families who have been Schechter mainstays. This includes the family of Adam z”l and Alice Leshem, whose three children and 11 grandchildren – three of whom are currently enrolled -- attended Schechter.

“We came the first year it was in existence,” recalls Alice Leshem. “It was just like yesterday that we walked into The Emanuel Synagogue basement. It’s amazing how fast it flew by.”

Solomon Schechter was founded in 1971 by a group of West Hartford parents who sought a Conservative Jewish day school education for their children. At that time, the Modern Orthodox Hartford Yeshiva was the only Jewish day school in the area. (The Yeshiva morphed into the Bess and Paul Sigel Hebrew Academy in Bloomfield, then merged in 20?? with the Hebrew High School of New England to become the New England Jewish Academy.)

“There was a group of people who had been thinking about starting a Conservative day school for many years, including Rabbi Stanley Kessler [then spiritual leader of Beth El Temple in West Hartford] and Rabbi Philip CONTINUED ON PAGE 7

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first impressions carry the privileges associated with appearing to be part of the powerful majority.”

Jewish observers were primed to distrust Rayner, a supporter of former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn, who backed a boycott of Israel and whose critics say allowed antisemitism to flourish within Labour’s ranks. Rayner also praised Norman Finkelstein’s controversial book “The Holocaust Industry,” which accused Jews of exploiting the genocide for personal and political gain. Rayner called it “seminal.”

The Board of Deputies of British Jews said in a statement Monday that it was “disappointed by the lack of sensitivity shown by the BBC.” The umbrella group added: “Jews, regardless of whether they are at all religious or not, are subjected to antisemitism every day – and have been subjected to mass murder, in living memory, on the basis of their ethnicity. Our community should expect solidarity and support, not questions about whether we deserve any.”

More than 1,000 people have signed a petition titled “BBC: Apologise now for suggesting Jews might not ‘count’ as an ethnic minority.”

BBC’s immediate response was to double down.

“According to the Government – not Politics Live! – Jews aren’t an ethnic group in the UK. So, if you believe they should be, please tell Government as it’s their policy,” BBC’s editor of live political programs, Rob Burley, tweeted in response to the critics.

Burley cited a government document that lists, for census purposes, several ethnic groups, but not Jews. However, the document does not say Jews are not an ethnic minority. It also features five categories classified as “other” and a disclaimer saying that the list does not represent “how all people identify,” encouraging residents to write in their own ethnicity on official government documents.

The United Kingdom’s Home Office did not reply in time for this article to a query on whether Jews are an ethnic group.

The BBC program, wrote Stephen Pollard, editor of The Jewish Chronicle, “provoked genuine rage from across the spectrum of Judaism,” and the corporation’s unbending reaction to criticism only made it worse.

Some have written about how the program “reflects the false notion that Jews are ‘white’ and so cannot be a proper ethnic minority – and thus antisemitism is not proper racism,” Pollard said. “I’m sure that’s right. But there is something else at work here – an arrogant ignorance that brooks no contradiction and refuses to bend.”

Lazowski [then spiritual leader of Beth Hillel Synagogue in Bloomfield]. But it was Rabbi Howard Singer of The Emanuel Synagogue who got it moving,” Schechter founder Arlene Neiditz told the Jewish Ledger in 2011.

“In the ’60s and ’70s, during a time of ethnic pride in the U.S., many young parents in the more liberal Jewish movements began to feel that the afternoon religious school was not the sufficient or efficient way to create an environment where kids would really be in love with their Jewish heritage,” said Neiditz, who chaired the original education committee and served as Schechter’s second president.

“It was a way to offer a more enhanced learning environment for Jewish children in a very positive Jewish setting, to give them the education and the confidence to be affirming, affirmative Jews.”

Founding Schechter was a grass-roots effort led by the parents who held Board meetings in their living rooms; organized fundraising events and donated funds for textbooks and teachers’ salaries; and oversaw the required legal and state licensing work.

West Hartford’s Emanuel Synagogue offered to house the school in its basement and Ruth Weiner was named organizing principal. When the classrooms were not quite ready the day before school was set to begin, the parents pitched in and saw to it that classes could begin the next day. Some parents even taught classes until enough teachers were hired.

“They took their dream and their sweat and tears and here we are,” Kasper says.

“Like the founding of any start-up you have a set of people who are ready to just go all in and do whatever it takes to make it happen…One of the things that really attracted me to the school when I was interviewing was a very strong sense that people in this school community were all really willing to roll up their sleeves and do what had to be done. As I was learning about more of the history of Schechter I thought, that’s in the DNA; that is how it was founded, it’s how it was maintained and how it continues.”

At first, Solomon Schechter’s original open classroom concept, imported from England in the ‘70s and popular throughout the U.S. at that time, made it possible to function with a small student body. When the school opened, 32 children were enrolled in kindergarten through second grade. For a time, Schechter consisted of one classroom for all its students, but grades were added gradually as the students progressed and enrollment grew.

“At its founding there was a really strong feeling from these families that they wanted a Conservative Jewish day school,

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an option that wasn’t Orthodox. And that piece is probably what has evolved the most,” says Kasper. “We are a school that offers a non-Orthodox day school education, but rather than define us as to what we aren’t, I think really what we have become is a Jewish community day school where we really run the entire gamut from secular Americans to Israelis and Russians to Orthodox families. I think one of the beautiful things that has emerged in this school is a real sense of inclusivity and non-judgment. However you come is how we welcome you. And I think that culture is something that has evolved here over time and it has been a real strength for the school.”

A close-knit community After its growth during the first decade, Schechter moved to the building that formerly housed Bridle Path Elementary School and Hartford Christian Academy on Buena Vista Road in West Hartford. The building was renovated and a new wing was added in 2000.

“It’s really a family,” says Board president Lauren Eisen. “My daughter is a graduate and my son, an eighth-grader, has been there since the twos and all the way through to middle school. Of course, people have come and gone, but there is a core group and everybody in the school is like a family -- the staff and the teachers and the students.

“Before Covid, on Friday mornings,

we used to have this wonderful Shabbat program where the whole school would come with families in the morning before schools started,” Eisen adds. “It was so wonderful that we would all be starting Shabbat together. It’s a really nice, warm, comfortable environment.”

Ed Leshem recalls attending Schechter when it was still located at The Emanuel Synagogue.

“It was very similar to how it is now. It was pretty small but a really comfortable, safe and family-friendly environment,” he recalls. “We ended up, 20-some years later, having our kids go there. It was nice to attend and then send our kids to a school with such a close-knit community of students and parents.”

Alice Leshem says that she and her husband, who arrived in the U.S. in 1968 from Israel, chose Schechter because their children were bilingual – in both English and Hebrew – and because they liked the open classrooms and the individualized attention.

But now, she says the sense of Jewish identity that Schechter fosters and its impact on her children and grandchildren, is just as important to her, citing anti-Israel sentiment on college campuses and the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement.

“It gave the children an identity; they know who they are,” she says. “ And the children at Solomon Schechter know exactly who they are. They are Jews and they are comfortable in their own skin.”

SARAH KAY MONTAG, SOLOMON SCHECHTER DAY SCHOOL’S DIRECTOR OF TEACHING AND LEARNING, LEADS 5TH GRADERS IN A TORAH READING, AS PART OF A PRE-SIMCHAT TORAH SERVICE. OWING TO THE PANDEMIC, THE TORAH READING WAS HELD OUTDOORS.

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Briefs ‘Shtisel’ Season 3 Netflix release date announced (JTA) – Season 3 of the hit haredi Orthodox drama series “Shtisel” will debut on Netflix on March 25. The first two seasons of the show, which follows members of an Orthodox family in Israel, became popular with audiences around the globe, Jewish and non-Jewish, after being distributed by Netflix. The third season will be the first branded as a Netflix Original.

The show just finished its initial run on Israeli TV. The narrative picks up four years after the conclusion of the events of the previous season.

State Dept. nominee contributed to book claiming ‘Israel lobby’ controls politics (JNS) Uzra Zeya, who has been nominated as undersecretary for civilian security, democracy and human rights in the State Department, worked for the magazine Washington Report on Middle East Affairs and its publishing group, American Educational Trust in 1989 and 1990. The Washington Report has questioned the loyalty American Jews have to the U.S.; published accusations against the “Jewish lobby”; claimed American Jews control the media; and accused the Mossad of perpetrating the assassination of former President John F. Kennedy and the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks.

While a magazine staff member, Zeya compiled research for a book arguing that “the Israel lobby has subverted the American political process to take control of U.S. Middle East policy” through a secret network of “dirty money” coming from political action committees that bribe and pressure congressional candidates into supporting proIsrael policies, reported the Washington Free Beacon. For her work, Zeya is credited in the acknowledgments section of the American Educational Trust’s 1990 book Stealth PACs: How Israel’s American Lobby Took Control of U.S. Middle East Policy. The book states: “The inevitable public perception is that such ardent supporters of Israel have no real interest in making the United States a better place for all of its citizens, but only in making Israel a more secure and prosperous place for Jews.”

It further claims that AIPAC gives secret orders to American Jews on who to vote for and financially support, according to the Beacon.

‘Jewish ideas poison people,’ State Dept. official writes on Christian blog (JTA) – A U.S. State Department employee named Fritz Berggren has been moonlighting as a blogger devoted to attacking Jews and promoting white Christian nationalism. “Jesus Christ came to save the whole world from the

Jews – the founders of the original Anti-Christ religion, they who are the seed of the Serpent, that brood of vipers,” Berggren wrote in and Oct. 4, 2020 on his website titled “Jews are Not God’s Chosen People. Judeo-Christian is AntiChrist.” Later in the post he writes, “Jewish ideas poison people.”

Berggren has been sharing his extremist and antisemitic views under his real name for years while working as a mid-level civil servant.

Politico first reported the connection on Friday, Feb. 26 after being tipped off by current and former State Department officials.

Berggren espouses the idea, common among the far-right, that white people are at risk of being eliminated through demographic change and organized persecution. He commonly rails against Black Lives Matter and other social movements identified with the left.

On Friday afternoon, he published a new post titled, “Welcome, Politico readers!” He concluded the post with a PS: “If you have not already surmised, my ideas are my own and not a reflection of any employer, company, agency, country, etc. ” Politico reported that Berggren works for a State Department unit that handles special immigrant visas for Afghans. He has been identified as a Foreign Service worker since as early as 2009. According to biographical information shared by Berggren online, he has a doctorate from the University of Miami. His name is indeed listed the university’s website, indicating he completed a doctoral dissertation in 2001 about Gerardo Machado, an early 20th-century Cuban dictator.

Airline forcibly removes Jewish family from flight (JNS) Frontier Airlines has been accused of antisemitism after forcing a Jewish family to deplane on Sunday, Feb. 28, allegedly because an infant was not wearing a face mask. The incident involved Martin Joseph and his Orthodox Jewish family members who were on a Frontier Airlines flight from Miami to New York. Joseph told ABC’s “Eyewitness News” that the crew “asked one of my daughters and son-in-law – they had a baby of 15 months old – where is the mask for the baby? My daughter explained that the law doesn’t require a mask.”

The airline’s own policy during the coronavirus pandemic states that children under two are not required to wear face masks while flying.

Joseph said that he and 21 family members were then ordered off the plane. Frontier Airlines eventually canceled the flight.

Later on Sunday, the airlines claimed that the issue was with adults in the group “who refused to wear masks” and that “repeated requests to comply with federal law necessitated their removal from the flight.” However, Joseph said videos from the plane show that all the adults in his group were wearing face masks.

According to the Orthodox Jewish Public Affairs Council (OJPAC), multiple eyewitnesses said that as the Jewish passengers started leaving the plane, Frontier crew members “applauded, exchanged high-fives and one allegedly said ‘a job well done to those Jews.’” jewishledger.com

OJPAC accused the Frontier crew of “bigoted behavior.”

The Anti-Defamation League New York/ New Jersey on Monday called for a “full and transparent investigation” into the matter, adding that there were “apparent antisemitic comments made by crew or others.”

Yeshiva University men’s basketball is on a 35-game winning streak (JTA) – Yeshiva University’s men’s basketball team is riding a 35-game winning streak, picking up from last season when the Maccabees reached the Sweet 16 of the NCAA’s Division III national tournament before the pandemic shut down the rest of the event.

The unbeaten streak is the third longest in Division III men’s basketball history, and the longest among all current NCAA Division I, II and III teams. Y.U., the Modern Orthodox flagship university in Manhattan, has started the 2020-21 season at 6-0 and is ranked No. 4 in the D3hoops.com Men’s National Poll. The Maccabees, the defending Skyline Conference champion, haven’t lost since the opening game of the previous campaign.

D3hoops.com also named senior forward Gabriel Leifer of Lawrence, New York, to its Team of the Week on Tuesday. Leifer, a returning fourth team All-American, is just the fourth men’s basketball player, and seventh overall, in the 24-year history of D3hoops.com to be named to its Team of the Week in four separate seasons, according to Y.U. The team will still be denied the chance for a tournament title for the second season in a row: Due to low participation numbers among member schools, NCAA Division III winter championships are canceled for the 2020-21 academic year.

Israeli rookie Deni Avdija selected to NBA Rising Stars World Team (Israel Hayom via JNS) Washington Wizards Israeli rookie forward Deni Avdija has been selected to the 2020-21 NBA Rising Stars World Team roster, the National Basketball Association announced on Wednesday,March 3. He will be joined by his teammate Rui Hachimura of Japan, who is in his second year in the league, said the NBA. Avdija is averaging 6.0 points and 4.6 rebounds in 29 games this season. He has posted four games of 10-plus points this season, including a season-high of 20 points versus Miami on Jan. 9. The Israeli phenom has two games of 10 rebounds and ranks seventh among all rookies in rebounds per game.Due to the coronavirus pandemic, the NBA Rising Stars will not be played this year because of the limitation of having All-Star events all on one night.

PA denies accusations of cronyism in vaccine rollout (JNS) The Palestinian Authority on Tuesday, March 2, denied accusations that its vaccine jewishledger.com

rollout plan was based on cronyism and lacked transparency. The finger-pointing was raised in a letter sent by the Palestinian Independent Commission for Human Rights to P.A. Prime Minister Muhammad Shtayyeh on Monday.

The ICHR, established by PLO chairman Yasser Arafat in 1993, stated in the letter that it had “documented cases where the vaccine was administered based on mediation and personal relationships, without a justified medical priority,” according to Reuters. The ICHR also said it had monitored cases of “officials assisting their relatives in obtaining the vaccine, without any medical justifications that would give them this priority.” The P.A. Health Ministry said in a statement that 10 percent of its 12,000 COVID-19 vaccine doses had been administered to the Palestinian national soccer team, government ministers, presidential guards and members of the PLO Executive Committee. A further 200 doses, it said, had been sent to the Jordanian royal court as per a request from Amman.

The ministry insisted that the other 90 percent of the vaccines had gone to health workers treating COVID-19 patients in intensive-care units and emergency departments, and to Health Ministry workers.

However, the ICHR charged that the P.A. had released “no clear, specific and transparent information” about the limited number of vaccines available to Palestinians or how they were distributing them, including “who enjoyed priority and the oversight mechanism for that.” The group further urged that priority should be given to the most vulnerable groups, particularly the elderly and those with chronic diseases.

To date, Palestinians in Judea and Samaria, and the Gaza Strip, have received 34,700 vaccine doses, all of which have been donated

by Israel, Russia and the United Arab Emirates, according to Reuters.

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UAE’s first ambassador to Israel takes his post (JTA) – Tweeting in English, Arabic and Hebrew, the United Arab Emirates’ first ambassador to Israel celebrated his first day on the job. Mohamed Al Khaja posted photos with captions in the three languages on his social media feeds on Monday, March 1. “I look forward to representing my beloved country and working to strengthen cooperation and relations between our two countries,” Al Khaja said in a typical entry, which was accompanied by a photo of him presenting his credentials to Reuven Rivlin, the Israeli president in a ceremony in Jerusalem. He also posted photos of meetings with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and with senior Israeli foreign affairs officials.

Al Khaja is the first ambassador from the four Sunni Arab countries that reached normalization agreements last year with Israel brokered by former President Donald Trump.

Another of the countries is Bahrain, which in the late 2000s was the first Arab country to CONTINUED ON PAGE 23

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Opinion

The Jewish muscleman who likely inspired the creators of Superman

EDITORIAL Stacey Dresner Massachusetts Editor staceyd@jewishledger.com • x3008 Tim Knecht Proofreader

BY TZVI SINENSKY

(JTA) – With the new TV series “Superman and Lois,” recently premiering on the CW network, it’s a good time to recall that Superman was the 1938 brainchild of Jewish creators Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster. Many have suggested that the pair were inspired by their own Jewish backgrounds to create Superman as the paradigm of a hero who defended vulnerable populations from their enemies.

But there is reason to suspect that a more specific encounter may have inspired them to craft the Superman persona.

The years 1923 and 1924 saw a phenomenon in the United States: tours by Siegmund Breitbart, known as “The Jewish Superman,” across North America. Breitbart performed in Cleveland and Toronto, Siegel and Schuster’s respective hometowns.

While it is nearly impossible to prove – there are no records of Siegel or Shuster mentioning Breitbart – there is reason to surmise that the strongman may have served as something of an inspiration. He wore a cape and was advertised as capable of stopping speeding locomotives.

Who was this man Breitbart, lauded during his lifetime as the strongest man in the world, The Iron King, Jewish Hercules and a modern-day Samson?

Siegmund “Zishe” Breitbart was born to a family of locksmiths in Lodz (now Poland, then Russia) in 1893. In his autobiography, he reports that his family discovered his unusual strength when, at age three, he extricated himself from beneath an iron bar that had fallen on him in his father’s store.

By four he was casting iron in his family shop.

His early years were difficult. Expelled from a number of religious schools for using force against fellow students, Breitbart was captured by the Germans while serving in the Russian army during World War I. After the war he remained in Germany, subsisting on the money he earned by performing feats of strength at local markets.

It was at one such 1919 performance that the German Circus Busch, famed for featuring Harry Houdini and other top performers, spotted Breitbart and brought him on board to perform its opening act.

Breitbart’s strongman routine skyrocketed in popularity, and he quickly was moved from sideshow to main event.

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SIEGMUND BREITBART COULD PULL HEAVY WEIGHTS WITH HIS TEETH. (U.S. LIBRARY OF CONGRESS/WIKIMEDIA COMMONS)

Notwithstanding the fast-rising tide of antisemitism in Germany and Austria, Breitbart, who often wore the Star of David while entering the circus ring, achieved a mass Jewish and non-Jewish following in Berlin, Vienna, Prague and Warsaw.

Breitbart’s act was based on his early experience working with iron. He bent rods into horseshoes, bit through chains and pounded nails into boards with his fist. He could draw chariots with his teeth.

And his image undercut racial stereotypes about Jews. As musclemen were seen as representing the proud, strong German male throughout the opening decades of the 20th century, Breitbart was in effect also embodying quintessential images of German masculinity.

As Breitbart’s legend grew, he increasingly became the talk of each town in which he performed. One reporter noted that “Not only do gymnasia students and high school girls talk about him; even first graders know how strong Breitbart is.”

A tavern proprietor complained, “My tables are studded with holes because my customers test their strength by hammering nails into them with their open hands. All Viennese women are in love with this new Samson. Racial hatred, pride or prudishness – all of it is useless here.”

Capitalizing on his popularity in Europe,

| MARCH 12, 2021

Breitbart spent much of 1923 touring the United States. Ultimately the Breitbart craze resulted in product endorsements, a starring role in the 1923 film “The Iron King” and a Breitbart physical health correspondence course.

Breitbart’s career came to an abrupt end in 1925 when a stage accident involving a rusty nail led to a fatal case of blood poisoning. He was buried in Berlin.

Unfortunately, the Nazi destruction of Polish Jewry largely extinguished the rich oral legends that perpetuated Breitbart’s memory. But his legend has not fully disappeared. A 2001 movie, “Invincible,” featured a fictional account of his life. A children’s book titled Zishe the Strongman appeared in 2010.

What do we make of this seeming paradox: a Jewish superhero who at a time of rising antisemitism, and during an era when Jewish men were derided as sissies, became a folk hero of able-bodied masculinity?

Some saw Breitbart as a sort of vindication of the then-German and Austrian embrace of male bravado. In this view, that he was also Jewish rendered him something of a freak to the average German, making him all the more compelling as

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AROUND CONNECTICUT

Purim is Back!

This time last year, COVID-19 came in like a lion…and Purim went out like a lamb, with all the fun inherent in that most raucous of Jewish holidays toned down to barely a whisper. A year later, however, Purim is back! And students throughout the state were ready to party!

In Stamford

BESS YASGUR FLITTED ABOUT GRACEFULLY AT STAMFORD’S BI-CULTURAL HEBREW ACADEMY IN STAMFORD, KINDERGARTEN PURIM PARTY.

In Trumbull

PRESCHOOLERS (L TO R) NICHOLAS HOWARD-ROSS, HENRY COSTA, REMI STROSBERG, AND HUDSON CREHAN, WHO ATTEND THE CONGREGATION B’NAI TORAH NURSERY SCHOOL PRESCHOOLERS HUDSON IN TRUMBULL, TAKE ONE LAST LOOK AT THE HAMANTASCHEN THEY MADE FOR PURIM, BEFORE POPPING THEM IN THE OVEN.

LIFE & LEGACY is a new program

in Greater Hartford to help the Jewish community secure resources for generations to come.

To learn more about the program, please contact Elana MacGilpin at the Jewish Community Foundation: emacgilpin@jcfhartford.org

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Congratulations to the Fourteen Organizations Selected to Participate: Charter Oak Cultural Center Congregation Beth Israel Congregation Kol Haverim The Emanuel Synagogue Farmington Valley Jewish Congregation Hebrew Senior Care Jewish Family Services Jewish Federation of Greater Hartford Mandell JCC New England Jewish Academy Solomon Schechter Day School Temple Beth Hillel Voices of Hope Young Israel of West Hartford

JEWISH LEDGER

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AROUND CONNECTICUT Stamford school honors outgoing head of school Jackie Herman A record-breaking 500 guests attended the annual Bi-Cultural Hebrew Academy Celebration Dinner on Sunday evening, Feb. 28. Held virtually, the gala event honored several prominent leaders of the Fairfield County Jewish community.

In a nod to the challenges posed over the past year by the COVID-19 pandemic, the evening’s theme was “Fortitude.”

“It goes without saying that this has been a year to remember,” noted BCHA Head of School Jackie Herman, in addressing those gathered online. “Which is why this year’s dinner theme – “fortitude” – is so perfect. It reminds us of the extraordinary challenge our community faced over the course of this past year, as the COVID- 19 pandemic hit. And it epitomizes the strength, grace, determination and resilience, which we drew upon to overcome that unprecedented challenge.”

Herman, who after 10 years at the helm of the Stamford day school will step down in June as head of school, was presented the school’s inaugural Walter Shuchatowitz Award for Excellence in Education, named for the school’s founder and first principal, who died in November 2019.

The evening’s other honorees included Guests of Honor Stephanie and Josh Bilenker and Young Leadership Award recipients Nicole and Jonathan Makovsky.

The Morton G. Scheraga President’s Award was presented to Doris Zelinsky by David PItkoff, president of the BCHA Board of Trustees. Pitkoff, whose tenure as Board president is coming to an end after five years, was also honored during the evening.

The 2021 Alumni Award was presented to eight BCHA graduates currently serving in the Israel Defense Forces. Along with the many other BCHA alumni who have previously completed tours of duty in the IDF, the eight students honored were Meital Wiederhorn, Judy Fogel, Nathan Haron, Nathan Links, Mia Brenner, Maya Wiener, Ella Feuerstein and Michal Yaari.

BCHA TEACHER ILANA BERMAN SENDS A HEARTFELT MESSAGE TO OUTGOING HEAD OF SCHOOL JACKIE HERMAN IN A VIDEO SCREENED AT THE SCHOOL’S CELEBRATION DINNER.

BCHA HEAD OF SCHOOL PRESENTS A GIFT TO OUTGOING BCHA BOARD OF TRUSTEES PRESIDENT DAVID PITKOFF.

Attention 10th-12th graders in Stamford, New Canaan and Darien Applications are now open for the 2021 Cohort of the Kuriansky Teen Tzedakah Corps – a program of United Jewish Federation of Greater Stamford, New Canaan and Darien. Directed by Jonathan Fass, this elite leadership training program explores the fundamentals of philanthropy, preparing teens to become communal leaders. The program will begin March 21 and applications will be accepted until March 10. To learn more about this high impact program visit ujf.org or contact Diane Sloyer at dianesloyer@ujf. org, (203) 321-1373.

GUESTS OF HONOR STEPHANIE AND JOSH BILENKER ACCEPT THE GIFT PRESENTED TO THEM AT THE BCHA VIRTUAL CELEBRATION DINNER.

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JEWISH LEDGER | MARCH 12, 2021

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Investigation or Antisemit INTERNATIONAL CRIMINAL COURT OPENS WAR-CRIMES PROBE TARGETING ISRAEL

BY SEAN SAVAGE

(JNS) The chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court in the Hague announced on Wednesday, March 3, her intention to open an investigation into war crimes allegedly committed by Israelis and Palestinians since 2014.

The announcement was strongly denounced by Israel, but welcomed by the Palestinian Authority, which had requested the probe. It comes less than a month after the ICC ruled that it had jurisdiction to open an investigation.

“The investigation will cover crimes within the jurisdiction of the court that are alleged to have been committed in the situation since 13 June 2014, the date to which reference is made in the referral of the situation to my office,” said Chief Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda in a statement. “Any investigation undertaken by the office will be conducted independently, impartially and objectively, without fear or favor.”

By choosing June 13, 2014, as the start date for the investigation, it will not look into the murder of three Israeli Jewish teenagers– Eyal Yifrach, Gilad Shaar and Naftali Frenkel–that happened the day before.

“The decision to open an investigation followed a painstaking preliminary examination undertaken by my office that lasted close to five years,” wrote Bensouda.

“During that period, and in accordance with our normal practice, the office engaged with a wide array of stakeholders, including in regular and productive meetings with representatives of the Governments of Palestine and Israel, respectively.”

“We have no agenda other than to meet our statutory duties under the Rome Statute with professional integrity,” she added.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu blasted the ICC investigation, calling it “the epitome of antisemitism and hypocrisy.”

Similarly, Israel’s President Reuven Rivlin called the decision to investigate Israel

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“scandalous.”

“We will not accept claims against the exercise of our right and our obligation to defend our citizens. The State of Israel is a strong, Jewish and democratic state that knows how to defend itself and to investigate itself when necessary,” he said in a statement.

However, the P.A. praised the decision, saying that it would be ready to provide “any assistance required … to realize justice for the Palestinian people.”

“This long-awaited step serves Palestine’s tireless endeavor to achieve justice and accountability, which are indispensable foundations for the peace that the Palestinian people demand and deserve,” said the P.A. Foreign Ministry.

Hamas also welcomed the decision by the ICC; however, the Palestinian terror group is also directly implicated in the war crimes the court is investigating. Hamas has said that the terror group’s actions are “legitimate resistance.”

Orde Kittrie, senior fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, told JNS that the decision is “politically driven.”

“It is contrary to international law, the ICC’s legal mandate and the institutional interests of the International Criminal Court,” he said.

Kittrie argued that the ICC has no jurisdiction in this case and that it has been backed up by several countries around the world.

“Bensouda has claimed ICC jurisdiction over alleged Israeli war crimes because they occurred in the Palestinian Authority, which has purported to join the ICC as a state.

However, Palestine’s status as a state for ICC purposes has been refuted by numerous submissions to the ICC, including by the Obama administration’s point persons for ICC issues and by several European and other governments, including those of Australia, Canada, the Czech Republic and Germany.”

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ICC PROSECUTOR FATOU BENSOUDA IN DECEMBER 20 (MIKE CHAPPAZO/SHUTTERSTOCK)

U.S. State Department has ‘serious concerns’ While Israel and several world powers – the United States, Russia, China and India – are not members of the ICC, any decisions by the court could make life difficult for Israeli officials and military leaders.

Although the ICC doesn’t try states, it can target individuals with international arrest warrants. Israel is concerned that its officials and military officers could face arrest warrants, while also providing a boost to the BDS campaign against the Jewish state.

Professor Eugene Kontorovich, director of International Law at the Jerusalem-based Kohelet Policy Forum, told JNS that the investigation highlights how the ICC has become a politicized tool to attack Israel.

“The decision has no basis in law or precedent; rather, the ICC has become just another anti-Israel international organization.

But it is important to remember that the Palestinian Authority brought this about, in contradiction of all their commitments under Oslo. Israel cannot be expected by the Biden Administration to negotiate with the P.A. while under an investigation instigated by the P.A.,” he said.

Indeed, the ICC investigation may force the Biden administration to get more involved in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict at a time when it is dealing with other more pressing foreign and domestic concerns.

Last year, the Trump administration imposed sanctions on top officials in the ICC, including Bensouda and Phakiso Mochochoko, head of the court’s Jurisdiction, Complementarity and Cooperation Division.

These sanctions, which were over the court’s attempts to prosecute U.S. soldiers in Afghanistan, included revoking visas of ICC officials.

The U.S. State Department said last month that it had “serious concerns” over the ICC’s ruling on its jurisdiction to investigate Israel and that it represented a biased attack on the Jewish state. More recently, a bipartisan group of senators urged U.S. Secretary of State Tony Blinken to more strongly denounce the ICC’s investigation. (See story p.15) The investigation comes as Bensouda’s term nears its end. U.K. prosecutor Karim Khan is set to take over in June and could decide to end the probe.

“Bensouda’s aggressive move against Israel is also surprising from an institutional perspective. It comes just three weeks after Karim Khan, a respected British attorney,

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tism?

019.

was elected to replace Bensouda when her term expires on June 15. Khan defeated Fergal Gaynor, an Irish attorney who has long been the leading outside advocate of the ICC investigations of the United States and Israel.

Bensouda appears to be trying to box in her successor,” explained Kittrie.

Kittrie said that it appears that Bensouda– who has faced criticism from an independent investigation last year over her leadership of the ICC, including allegations of bullying and sexual harassment under her watch–may be trying to prevent herself from facing legal jeopardy. “Bensouda appears to be taking these inappropriate steps on her way out the door in an effort to distract from her mismanagement of the ICC and perhaps try to insulate herself from legal jeopardy by appealing to anti-U.S. sentiments,” he said.

Kittrie said she is going “beyond the ICC’s mandate to pursue the United States and Israel, non-members of the ICC, for how they defend themselves against terrorism while leading her own senior staff to believe they are immune from any consequences for sexual harassment.”

PRO-ISRAEL, JEWISH GROUPS REACT TO ICC DECISION (JNS) Pro-Israel and Jewish groups weighed in on the controversial decision announced on Wednesday, March 3, by the International Criminal Court that it would open its investigation into alleged war crimes conducted by Israel and the Palestinians since 2014.

AIPAC said that the ICC investigation into Israel represents “significant overreaches of the ICC’s mandate and jurisdiction that must be condemned by the administration and Congress.”

The lobby group called on Biden to maintain sanctions on the ICC. It also pushed that “the administration must continue to enforce U.S. law which prohibits assistance to the Palestinian Authority and the maintenance of a Palestine Liberation Organization office in Washington due to the P.A.’s active support for the ICC’s investigation of Israel.”

President of B’nai B’rith International Charles Kaufman and CEO Daniel Mariaschin said that there is “no moral or legal equivalence whatsoever between Israel, a democratic state seeking responsibly to protect the lives of its diverse civilian population, and Palestinian terrorist groups openly committed to indiscriminate atrocities and the very destruction of the Jewish state.”

“Above all, the acquiescence of the prosecutor to politicize the ICC and exploit

CLOSE-UP VIEW OF THE SIGN OF THE INTERNATIONAL CRIMINAL COURT (ICC).

CREDIT: FRIEMANN/SHUTTERSTOCK.

for political purposes, the Palestinian Authority inflames existing tensions and obstructs the path to peace. The only solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is direct, bilateral negotiations between the two parties involved. We call on the international community to speak out in forceful objection to this disgraceful action by the ICC.” The left-wing Jewish group Americans for Peace Now did not condemn the decision, saying instead that it highlighted the need for Israel to “end its occupation.”

Pro-Israel Christian groups generally condemned the ICC decision.

International Christian Embassy Jerusalem president Jürgen Bühler noted that “this indefensible move by the outgoing ICC chief prosecutor Fatou Bensouda is a shocking display of a vanishing moral conscience within the international community. This probe completely undermines the credibility and impartiality of the International Criminal Court and only draws comparison to some of the past blood libels against the Jewish people.”

SENATORS URGE BLINKEN TO MORE STRONGLY CONDEMN ICC WAR-CRIMES PROBE OF ISRAEL

U.S. SECRETARY OF STATE TONY BLINKEN. CREDIT: MCCV/SHUTTERSTOCK.

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it as a propaganda tool not only batters the standing of the court and distracts it from truly grievous and systematic crimes around the world, but also intolerably stands to handicap law-abiding nations’ abilities, rights and fundamental duties to combat the brutal asymmetric warfare of terrorist organizations,” they said.

Rabbi Jonathan Guttentag, international liaison of the Coalition for Jewish Values, said the “ICC said nothing while Hamas lobbed thousands of missiles at Israeli cities, awakening only once Israel responded. By ‘investigating’ defense against terrorism, the International Criminal Court is openly encouraging terror and the murder of [Jewish] civilians, while also calling it a crime for Jews to live in Judea.”

Guttentag added: “The inherent moral equivalence of an ICC investigation targeting both Hamas, an internationally recognized terror organization with genocide enshrined in its charter, and the IDF, an army recognized for its high moral standards in warfare, has dark overtones of classic Jew-hatred.”

Chairman Arthur Stark, CEO William Daroff and Malcolm Hoenlein, vice chair of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, said in a statement that “by continuing these efforts to weaponize a judicial institution

(JNS) Sens. Ben Cardin (D-Md.) and Rob Portman (R-Ohio) are urging U.S. Secretary of State Tony Blinken to take a stronger position against the International Criminal Court’s ruling that it has jurisdiction to open a war-crimes investigation against Israel.

In a letter circulating among their colleagues and obtained by Haaretz, the two senators said Blinken should “issue a more forceful condemnation of the court’s actions” after the ICC announced on Feb. 5 that it has territorial jurisdiction to investigate Israel for committing war crimes in the West Bank, eastern Jerusalem and the Gaza Strip.

The U.S. State Department came out with a statement expressing “serious concerns” about the ruling and opposing the court’s “attempts to exercise its jurisdiction over Israeli personnel.” Cardin and Portman, both members of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, are now calling for more action from Blinken.

“We also urge you to work with like-

minded international partners to steer the ICC away from further actions that could damage the court’s credibility by giving the appearance of political bias,” said the letter.

“We ask that you give this matter your full attention and that you continue to defend Israel against discriminatory attacks in all international fora.”

Cardin and Portman said they are “concerned that the court’s recent actions” have “inappropriately infused politics into the judicial process.”

“The ICC’s mandate should not supersede Israel’s robust judicial system, including its military justice system,” added the senators, explaining that “it is not within the authority of the ICC to accept or deny any party’s claims to these disputed territories, nor has the court ever before formally investigated allegations taking place in disputed territories. This unprecedented action by the ICC’s Pre-Trial Chamber unfairly targets Israel, biases any subsequent investigation or trial, and hinders the path towards regional peace.”

JEWISH LEDGER

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TORAHPortion Vayakhel

T

BY RABBI SHMUEL REICHMAN

his week’s parsha, Vayakhel, opens with the command to keep Shabbos – the Sabbath – a focal point of Jewish life.

It is striking to consider how fundamental and central Shabbos is in Jewish thought and practice.

When we consider whether or not someone is an observant Jew, we usually ask whether he or she is “Shomer Shabbos,” Sabbath observant. Why is this the defining feature of religious observance? What makes Shabbos a root mitzvah and why do we see it as the measuring stick for all of Torah observance?

Theme of the Day Usually, when we have a specific time of kedushah, a holy point in time, there is a unique positive act that we associate with it. On Rosh Hashanah we blow shofar, on Succot we sit in the succah and shake the lulav, on Chanukah we light the menorah, on Purim we read the megillah, on Pesach we have the seder, and on Shavuot we

learn Torah.

On Shabbos though, we tend to think less about what we are meant to be doing, and more about what we are not allowed to do. The prohibition against creative work on Shabbos, dominates our focus. We can easily fall into the trap of associating Shabbos with only restrictions.

These prohibitions can take over the day, leaving us feeling restricted, limited, or even trapped.

A Taste of Olam Habah In an enigmatically cryptic manner, the Gemara (Brachos 57a) compares Shabbos to Olam Habah (the world to come). The exact terminology is “mei’ein olam habah”, Shabbos is a taste of the world to come.

To understand the deeper meaning of Shabbos we must first understand the nature of Olam Hazeh (this world) and Olam Habah (the world to come).

Olam Hazeh is the place of process.

In this world, you choose who you will become, you have the ability to build, mold, and create yourself. Every single day presents you a new opportunity to become greater than you were the day before. This

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world is therefore the place of movement and becoming, where we progress along our personal path of change and growth.

Olam Habah, in contrast, is the place of being, where you experience everything you have built in this life. No longer can we move or become, no longer can we build. Rather, we experience a static world, lacking both movement and process, where we enjoy everything we created during our lives in this world.

The joy of this world is the ability to grow, to learn, to become. The pain is that it is limited; we are only in this world for a short amount of time before we leave.

The joy of the world to come is the ecstatic pleasure of experiencing everything we have built during our lifetime. The pain is that it’s only that, nothing more. All the potential we failed to actualize will remain eternally so: potential.

It is essential to understand that the reward in the world to come is you, the consciousness and self that you created during your lifetime. As the Ramchal and the Nefesh Ha’Chaim explain, when you die, your mind and consciousness are peeled away from your physical body and you exist eternally as the essential being that you have created.

Weekdays and Shabbos The weekdays are an experience of this world, a time to physically create, build, and grow. Shabbos is more than just a day of rest, it’s a taste of Olam Habah.

On Shabbos, we cease creative physical activity and experience what it means to simply exist. This is the spiritual parallel to our transition from this world to the next. In this world we have the chance to grow and build, in the next we cease our creative activity and experience everything we have built. Shabbos is the ultimate reminder that our lives have an end point, and that the result is only as great as every bit of effort that we have invested into building it.

This is why, despite the fact that we may pause our physical growth on Shabbos, we don’t stop our spiritual growth; in fact, we place special emphasis on it. The experience of Olam Habah that we taste on Shabbos should compel us to take full advantage of this world, to further build, develop, and grow. Shabbos is the reminder that one day we will no longer have the opportunity to take advantage of this world; our response should be to redouble our conviction to do so. We can then enter the next week rejuvenated and inspired to become even more.

Shabbos is a glimpse of another dimension, the faintest taste of the world to come. This is the ultimate oneg Shabbos, the pleasure of experiencing a taste of Olam Habah.

The Goal of Shabbos It is all too easy to lose focus of the bigger picture, of what is truly important in life.

Many people are stuck in an endless cycle of work, eat, sleep, repeat. However, this is not what we were created for. Each and every one of us has the potential for greatness, and our job in this world is to find our unique greatness and bring it to life. Shabbos is the time to ask ourselves: “Where am I going in life? What are my goals? What am I trying to accomplish?”.

Shabbos is an opportunity to solidify past growth and propel ourselves towards future greatness. The first step to achieving this is to look back at everything you have become until now, and to enjoy the person you have created. The second step is to take a reflective step outside of yourself and view yourself objectively. We need to have the courage to ask ourselves the important questions: Who am I? What drives me? What makes me unique? What are my talents? What are my passions?

What can I contribute to the Jewish people and the world as a whole? Most importantly, how am I doing in life? Am I achieving my goals? Is there anything which needs more work?

Our lives are built through the decisions we make, and Shabbos provides us with the ideal opportunity to make the decision to become more. Every decision you’ve ever made in your entire life has led you to this very moment, and any decision you make going forward can forever alter your life for the better. Shabbos is when we regain perspective on who we are, where we are headed, and what decisions we must make to become our best and truest selves.

May we be inspired to fully experience Shabbos, a taste of Olam Habah, and use this taste of destination to unlock our true greatness.

Rabbi Shmuel Reichman is an author, educator, and coach who has lectured internationally on topics of Jewish thought and Jewish medical ethics. Contact him at ShmuelReichman.com.

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Opinion

THE KOSHER CROSSWORD MARCH 12, 2021

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 10

“Auto Fill” By: Yoni Glatt

entertainment on the vaudeville circuit.

Others saw Breitbart as a model for the new Zionist Muscular Judaism. A popular Yiddish saying went, “If a thousand Breitbarts were to arise among the Jews, the Jewish people would cease being persecuted.” Breitbart himself was a proud Jew and often performed while flanked by the Zionist flag. He refused to return to a Warsaw restaurant that declined to play “Hatikvah” to greet him.

He supported Zeev Jabotinsky’s idea of a Jewish army. Legend has it that Jabotinsky and Breitbart hatched a plan in which Breitbart would become the general of a one-day Jewish army in Palestine.

But neither of these fully captures the story of Breitbart, who was more than just a proud Jewish strongman. He highly esteemed rabbis and Jewish intellectuals, and according to one report, he amassed a substantial personal library that contained 2,000 books on Roman history. He performed for a group of Yiddish thinkers and wrote a personal letter of support on their behalf. He met and performed personally on behalf of the Radzhiner Hasidic rebbe and donated 30 pounds of Passover flour to the rebbe’s followers following the meeting.

Even more remarkable, “Zishe” (literally sweet) was eulogized by numerous individuals as exceptionally sweet, highly emotional and filled with “edelkeit” (Yiddish for a sweet, caring person). One reporter who met with Breitbart expected a tough guy. Instead, he subsequently characterized The Iron King as “the embodiment of edelkeit.” Similarly, the chief rabbi of the Orthodox Jewish Community (Adass Yisroel) in Berlin, Dr. Esra Monk, saw Breitbart as a “modern Samson the hero” who also possessed a tender demeanor.

Like Clark Kent, Breitbart’s persona was far richer and more well-rounded than his stage persona allowed. He was a mixture of elements – brains, brawn, a gentle nature and fierce Jewish pride.

And he’s still inspiring nearly 100 years after his untimely death.

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29. Look fondly on 30. *Ancient book full of false

gods, with “The” 34. Goals for 68-Down 37. Very dark, to poets 39. Yemen’s largest city 40. *Moses’ staff, at times, perhaps 43. *Victim of Abraham?

44. *Making one is a big no-no on Shabbat 45. Amazon option 46. Not so close 48. Uber driver’s aid, briefly 49. *Starting point 51. Marshy plant 54. Ethiopian rabbi 55. *Columbus, e.g.

59. Org. that might check your pockets 62. Rickman of “Harry Potter” movies 64. Utterly absurd 65. *One living in the Golan 69. Steve Cohen’s new stomping grounds 70. Remove data from 71. The location of Rachel’s is debated 72. Couple 73. Seder part 74. It’s light-sensitive 75. Pixar movie...or an alternative title to this puzzle

Down 1. Indian stringed instrument 2. Orange or Indian 3. Good way to learn Hebrew 4. Left a lily pad 5. PC counterpart 6. Dude, to Eyal 7. Abrade by rubbing 8. Dump a stock 9. 1989 Cameron sci-fi film, with a far superior “Director’s Cut” 10. Ex-egg, perhaps 11. Fixes, as an election 12. Cousins of psalms 13. Send, as dough 19. Pb is its symbol 21. Many a sports star has a healthy one

25. Participated in a mitzvah on 9 Tishrei 26. Messing and Winger 28. “Achshav!”, in the US 30. Book about revolutionary Karl 31. Hitting one can ruin a plan 32. Famous lawman of the West 33. Shmoozes 34. “The Mandalorian” rating 35. Straits or consequences preceder 36. Go for the gimmel 38. One tripping over his own feet 41. Jerusalem’s Refaim 42. Closed again, as a plastic bag 47. One in Cong.

50. Fisher of film 52. Samuel’s mentor

53. Best known Maverick, now 55. Where Samuel was brought back 56. Eastern yogurt condiment 57. Go on in 58. Champagne-producing city of northeast France 59. Him and her 60. Ben ___, controversial ancient Jewish scribe 61. Samuel gave him quite the headache?

63. Not for 66. Hong Kong’s equiv. of the Dow 67. Brit. record label 68. Some NFLers

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MILESTONES Emma Strumpf joins staff of U of Hartford Hillel WEST HARTFORD – Emma Strumpf has been appointed manager of programming and engagement of the University of Hartford Hillel, it was announced recently by the organization’s director of Jewish Student Life Lisa Langsner.

Strumpf recently completed a two-year Hillel International Springboard Innovation Fellowship with the University at Albany Hillel, where she was successful at engaging students of all backgrounds and building an inclusive Jewish community across campus.

A Connecticut native, Strumpf served as president of the University of Connecticut Hillel while a student the Storrs campus.

She graduated from UConn with a Bachelors degree in history, as well as dual minors in human rights and Judaic studies.

“We are thrilled to welcome Emma to the University of Hartford,” said Langsner in announcing Strumpf’s appointment. “Emma’s training in design thinking methodologies paired with her enthusiasm for building community make her an excellent partner in increasing our engagement strategy across campus. In this newly created role, Emma will extend

Hillel engagement across the University, connecting even more students to Jewish life on campus and in the greater Hartford community.”

According to Langsner, in her new role Strump will be responsible for enhancing support for Jewish life across the University of Hartford by creating new communitybuilding and educational opportunities for Jewish students and their friends. Through her efforts, it is expected that Hillel will continue to form meaningful partnerships with other campus organizations, increase Shabbat and holiday offerings, facilitate lifechanging immersive experiences, and build leadership in the University of Hartford community and beyond.

The new position of U of Hartford manager of programming and engagement is made possible through the support of the Jewish Community Foundation of Greater Hartford, Hillel International, and the University of Hartford.

To learn more about University of Hartford Hillel programs, contact Lisa Langsner at langsner@hartford.edu.

Rabbi Carl Astor appointed interim rabbi of BEKI in New Haven NEW HAVEN – Rabbi Carl Astor, who served as spiritual leader of Congregation Beth El in New London for 32 years before retiring in 2013, has been appointed the interim rabbi of Congregation Beth El-Keser Israel (BEKI) in New Haven. Rabbi Astor is stepping in as spiritual leader while the congregation conducts a search for a permanent rabbi, following the recent departure of the its long-time spiritual leader, Rabbi Jon-Jay Tilsen.

“My wife, Sharon, and I have been BEKI members for three years now since moving here from New London, where I served as rabbi of Congregation Beth El from 1981 to 2013 when I retired,” Astor wrote in a letter to congregants. “We have known Rabbi Tilsen since he first came to Norwich and then on and off as he served here in New Haven. We both have deep respect and admiration for his integrity and humility.”

“Although I will be working as a part-

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time interim, I will participate in and oversee most of the services and will be here for you. of course, BEKI is blessed with an amazing number of extremely capable volunteers who will help me immensely.”

Astor told congregants he looks forward to re-opening the synagogue building for in-person services in the not to distant future. Like most other synagogues, BEKI shut its doors at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic and has yet to re-open.

“One of my priorities will be to gradually resume in person services as soon as possible. …With more and more of us receiving vaccines and positivity levels falling, I am hopeful that it will not be long before we can get back to being together,” he wrote, adding, “These are trying times for us all, but I am excited for the opportunity to fill in and to help with our congregation’s transition to new leadership in any way that I can.”

At the Hebrew Center for Health and Rehabilitation, we understand that comfort and familiarity is a key part of the journey to wellness. We also understand that maintaining your religious beliefs and principles is fundamental in continued enrichment of life.

Our Kosher meal services allow residents to maintain their dietary requirements throughout their stay with us. At the Hebrew Center, we ensure we follow all principles of Kosher including purchase, storage, preparation, and service.

At the Hebrew Center for Health and Rehabilitation, we also offer a variety of other services and amenities to ensure your stay is as comfortable as possible.

THESE SERVICES INCLUDE: • Passport to Rehabilitation Program • Long-Term Skilled Nursing Care • Specialized Memory Care • Respite Care Program • Palliative Care and Hospice Services Coordination

OUR AMENITIES INCLUDE: • Barber/Beauty Shop • Café • Cultural Menus • Laundry and housekeeping services • Patient and Family education • Life Enrichment

HKC

‫כשר‬

For more information on our Kosher program, please contact: DIRECTOR, PASTORAL SERVICES - (860) 523-3800 Hebrew Center for Health and Rehabilitation One Abrahms Boulevard, West Hartford, CT 06117

L IKE U S ON

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ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT GOLDEN GLOBES: SACHA BARON COHEN WINS BIG, AND OTHER FUN JEWISH MOMENTS

BY GABE FRIEDMAN

(JTA) – Sacha Baron Cohen’s Borat character is going out on a high note.

Cohen won best actor in a comedy or musical, and his “Borat” sequel upset the Disney+ adaptation of “Hamilton” by winning best film in the category at the Golden Globes on Sunday night.

Like its predecessor, “Borat Subsequent Moviefilm” poked fun at the blatant antisemitism found in parts of Eastern Europe.

Recently, however, Cohen said that his disguise days – the Borat character included – are over. In his acceptance speech for the best comedy actor award, Cohen thanked his bodyguard, who he said protected him from getting shot twice during the filming of the Borat sequel.

Cohen also couldn’t help but poke fun at Donald Trump, whose presidency motivated Cohen to take formerly uncharacteristic public stands against hate speech and social media disinformation. “Hold on, Donald Trump is contesting the result,” he said after winning the actor award. “He’s claiming that a lot of dead people voted, which is a very rude thing to say about the HFPA,” the Hollywood Foreign Press Association.

Despite the historic nature of the Globes ceremony – hosts Tina Fey and Amy Poehler were featured in a split screen from opposite coasts, and small in-person audiences were made up only of essential workers who were all tested for COVID-19 – the show had its usual share of fun Jewish moments.

SACHA BARON COHEN SMILES AFTER WINNING ONE OF HIS TWO GOLDEN GLOBES VIA VIDEO STREAM, FEB. 28, 2021.

(HFPA VIA GETTY IMAGES)

Dan Levy pushes inclusion The final season of “Schitt’s Creek,” the riches-to-rags comedy featuring the Jewish father-son team of Eugene and Dan Levy, finished its historic award show run with a couple of accolades: Golden Globes for best TV comedy series and best actress in the 20

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same category for Catherine O’Hara.

Inclusion was the theme of the evening. Multiple Globe winners used their acceptance speeches to push the film and TV industry to work harder at bringing diverse voices to the table. Dan Levy put the theme at the heart of his speech.

“This acknowledgement is a lovely vote of confidence in the messages ‘Schitt’s Creek’ has come to stand for: the idea that inclusion can bring about growth and love to a community,” he said. “In the spirit of inclusion, I hope this time next year this ceremony reflects the true breadth and diversity of film and television being made today because there is so much more to be celebrated.”

Aaron Sorkin quotes Abbie Hoffman Sorkin, the heralded Jewish screenwriter, won his third Globe for best screenplay for a drama film, for “The Trial of the Chicago 7,” which chronicled the backstory of the riotous protest at the 1968 Democratic National Convention. Cohen was nominated as well for best actor in the drama category for his performance as Abbie Hoffman, a very Jewish icon of the anti-war movement of the 1960s and ’70s. (He was beaten out by the late Chadwick Boseman for “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom.”)

In his acceptance speech, Sorkin said that Cohen emailed him a quote from Hoffman during each day of filming. (Cohen wrote his college thesis at Cambridge University on the American civil rights movement, so he’s pretty familiar with the era.)

“I don’t always agree with everything that characters I write view or say,” Sorkin said, “but here’s something Abbie said: ‘Democracy is not something you believe in or a place to hang your hat. But it’s something you do. You participate. If you stop doing it, democracy crumbles.’” He added: “I don’t need anymore evidence beyond what happened on Jan. 6 to agree with this.”

Norman Lear gets a “progressive” tribute Connecticut resident Norman Lear, the Jewish creator of several memorable TV shows, is still winning at 98. The Globes gave him the honorary Carol Burnett Award, which since 2019 has recognized “outstanding contributions to television on or off the screen. In narrating a

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video tribute to Lear, comedian Wanda Sykes called him the “most progressive” television producer in history for bringing uncomfortable issues around race and class into mainstream American TV screens through series such as “All in the Family” and “The Jeffersons.”

Other Jewish winners and losers

Ben Stiller shows off his baking skills

– Shira Haas was nominated but didn’t win the best actress in a limited TV series category. She drew acclaim for her performance in “Unorthodox,” about a young Hasidic woman who leaves the community.

Stiller presented the best actress in the musical or comedy category, but got everyone’s attention by bringing food to the stage. After lamenting a full year of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Jewish actor said: “Like many of us, I’ve used that time to really look inward and grow. I’ve come to fully understand the nature of cryptocurrency. I read a book. I finally got around to dying my hair gray. And like so many other resilient Americans, I learned to bake.” Then he revealed a banana bread in the shape of a Golden Globe trophy.

– Songwriter Diane Warren won her second Globe for best original song. Her tune “Io si” featured in “The Life Ahead,” in which the iconic actress Sophia Loren plays a Holocaust survivor.

– Jane Levy was nominated in the best actress in a comedy or musical category for her role in “Zoey’s Extraordinary Playlist,” but lost to O’Hara.

– Al Pacino is not Jewish, but he played a Jewish Nazi hunter with a Yiddish accent in Amazon’s “Hunters.” He lost in the best TV drama series actor category.

Friendship between Israeli and Iranian judo champs being made into TV series

BY GABE FRIEDMAN

(JTA) – The stories of Israeli champion judoka Sagi Muki and his friend Saeid Mollaei, who fled his native Iran after refusing an order not to fight Muki in international competition, are being turned into a TV series.

The project is being jointly produced by MGM/UA Television and Israel’s Tadmor Entertainment, with help from the International Judo Federation, Deadline reported Monday, March 1. Neither a release date nor the network that will air it was mentioned.

In 2019, Mollaei said his handlers tried to force him to throw matches at that year’s judo world championship in Tokyo so he would not have to face the Israeli Muki, who went on to win the tournament. Mollaei feared for his life after defying his trainers and fled to Germany, where he achieved refugee status. He now competes for Mongolia, and both he and Muki are on track to qualify for the 2021 Tokyo Olympics.

The pair struck a friendly pose at an event last month in Tel Aviv.

“Sagi Muki and Saeid Mollaei are both inspiring and groundbreaking athletes whose rivalry and impossible friendship has transcended the world of judo to captivate sports fans and hearts across the globe,” MGM/UA Television President Steve Stark told Deadline. A documentary about the duo is also in production.

The news came on the same day that the Court of Arbitration for Sport decided to overturn the International Judo Federation’s ban on Iranian judokas that it laid down after the 2019 scandal. Iranian athletes will again be allowed to compete in international contests, including the upcoming Olympics, barring a successful last-minute appeal.

MGM/UA Television also announced Monday an American series on the life of Golda Meir, the only female prime minister in Israeli history, starring Shira Haas.

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WHAT’S HAPPENING Jewish organizations are invited to submit their upcoming events to the our What’s Happening section. Events are placed on the Ledger website on Tuesday afternoons. Deadline for submission of calendar items is the previous Tuesday. Send items to: judiej@jewishledger.com.

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 10

50 most influential Jews by the Jerusalem Post in 2014. For more information or to register, visit cbict.org/calendar.

MONDAY, MARCH 16 Voices of Hope Winter Speaker Series Voices of Hope Winter Speaker Series: Esther Safran Foer, author of I Want You to Know We’re Still Here, will speak on March 15 at 7 p.m. For more information or to register, visit ctvoicesofhope.org.

The Word Mavens A riotous virtual adventure with The Word Mavens, two Jewish women who will have you on the floor reminiscing and craving rugelach and so much more on March 10 at 7 p.m. Suggested donation of $18 for nonSisterhood members of Congregation Beth Israel. For moer information or to register, contact Rabbi Tami Elliott Goodman at ravgoodman@icloud.com.

FRIDAY, MARCH 12 Organ Sounds Concert Series: A Tribute to J.S. Bach Congregation Beth Israel’s monthly concert series features “A Tribute to J.S. Bach” featuring renowned organist Christa Rakich playing Beth Israel’s historic 1934 Austin 1934 organ. To be held March 12, 6:30 pm.

For more information or to register, visit cbict.org/calendar.

Jewish and Christian Women as Allies in Anti-Racism 15th Annual Lecture in Jewish Christian Engagement: “Lift Every Voice and Sing: Jewish and Christian Women as Allies in Anti-Racism,” with guest speaker Ann Millin, PhD, historian, Ida E. King Distinguished Visiting Professor of Holocaust Studies, Richard Stockton University. A FREE webinar presented March 16 at 7:30 p.m. Co-sponsored by the Bennett Center for Judaic Studies and the Center for Catholic Studies at Fairfield University.Registration required at fairfield. edu/bennettprograms. For information: bennettcenter@fairfield.edu or (203) 2544000 x2066.

THURSDAY, MARCH 18 A Zoom discussion of The Wind by Lauren Gross. Hosted by Congregation Beth Israel, March 18 at 11 a.m. To register and receive a copy of the next short story and a link to the Zoom discussion, email kbeyard@cbict. org.

The Tribe/Super Tribe Havdalah Havdalah followed by a meet and greet for both of Tribe groups, ranging in age from 20-50. Hosted online by Congregation Beth Israel on March 13, 6:30 p.m. For more information: email Tracy Taback at tracytaback@gmail.com.

Blacks, Jews, and Black Jews

SUNDAY, MARCH 14 The legal status of the Reform Movement in Israel Anat Hoffman, executive director of the Israel Religious Action Center (IRAC) and founder of Women of the Wall will discuss “Does the Jewish State Treat All Jews Equally? The legal status of the Reform Movement in Israel on March 14 at 11 a.m.

Hosted by Congregation Beth Israel in West Hartford, the webinar will address the challenges of having Reform conversions and weddings recognized; equal governmental funding; and the challenges facing Reform congregations win Israel.

Anat was selected as “Person of the Year” by Haaretz in 2013 and chosen as one of the 22

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Congregation Or Shalom will host a book club discussion of Such a Fun Age, a story about race and privilege, set around a young babysitter, her well-intentioned employer, and a surprising connection that threatens to undo them both, led by Toby Zabinski on March 18 at 7 p.m. For the link to register email coshalom@sbcglobal.net.

SATURDAY, MARCH 20 Virtual Tot Seder

TUESDAY, MARCH 16

Short Story Coffee Break: The Wind

SATURDAY, MARCH 13

Book Club: Such A Fun Age by Kiley Reid

Susannah Heschel, The Eli Black Professor of Jewish Studies at Dartmouth College, will explore the intertwined dimensions of relations between African Americans and Jewish Americans, Jewish involvement in the Civil Rights Movement, Jewish memory of the Civil Rights Movement in recent decades in light of the rise of white nationalism, and scholarship on racism and what they might contribute to our understanding of antisemitism, in her lecture “Blacks, Jews and Black Jews,” to be held on March 18 at 7:30 p.m. The lecture is part of the 2021 series of virtual lectures surrounding the theme of “The Jewish Roots of Social Justice,” presented by the ALEPH Institute learning initiative and sponsored by the Mandell JCC and UConn Judaic Studies. For more information, visit judaicstudies.uconn.edu or mandelljcc.org.

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Little ones prepare for Passover with our Tot Seder program. We’ll celebrate Shabbat through story and song and experiment with different ways to observe Passover. For more information or to register, visit cbict. org/calendar.

MONDAY, MARCH 29 “Hitler’s American Friends: The Third Reich’s Supporters in the United States” Bradley Hart, PhD, author and associate professor, California State University, Fresno, will discuss “Hitler’s American Friends: The Third Reich’s Supporters in the United States” at a FREE webinar presented March 29 at 7:30 p.m.

Co-sponsored by the Judaic Studies program and the Bennett Center for Judaic Studies at Fairfield University.Registration required at fairfield.edu/bennettprograms.

For information: bennettcenter@fairfield. edu or (203) 254-4000 x2066.

TUESDAY, MARCH 30 Zoom & Learn: “Images of Elijah” See Tuesday, March 23.

SUNDAY, MARCH 21 The Kosher Capones: A History of Chicago’s Jewish Gangsters

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 31

Explore the lives and criminal careers of “Zuckie the Bookie” Zuckerman, last of the West Side Jewish bosses, and Lenny Patrick, head of the Syndicate’s “Jewish Wing,” on March 21 at 5 p.m. Joe Kraus, author of The Kosher Capones: A History of Chicago’s Jewish Gangsters, will take a fascinating in-depth look inside a hidden society and the men who ran Chicago’s Jewish criminal community for more than 60 years. Joe Kraus teaches creative writing and American literature at the University of Scranton. His grandfather and great-uncles, the notorious Miller Brothers of the Jewish West Side, were among Chicago’s early Jewish gangsters. For more information on this virtual event: cbict.org.

The Open MINDS Institute of Fairfield University’s Regina A. Quick Center for the Arts presents “Normalizing Nazism on the Internet” with guest speaker Gavriel D. Rosenfeld, PhD, on March 31 1t 1 p.m.

Rosenfeld will explore the ways in which the internet offers new possibilities for educating people about the Nazi legacy, while simultaneously promoting its trivialization and “normalizing” the history of the Third Reich in contemporary culture.

No registration is required for this FREE virtual program. For more information, visit quickcenter.com or call (203) 254-4010.

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 23 Zoom & Learn: “Images of Elijah” Through the ages, the powerful stories of the Bible have been illuminated in legend and on canvas. In this class, to be held March 23 & 30, 11-12 noon, Rabbi Alvin Wainhaus will discuss dramatically different artistic and folkloristic takes on the prophet Elijah. To register or for more information:coshalom@sbcglobal.net or (203) 779-2341.

THURSDAY, MARCH 25 Voices of Hope Winter Speaker Series Voices of Hope Winter Speaker Series: Ewa Callahan, author of Holocaust and Film, will speak March 25 at 7 p.m. For more information or to register, visit ctvoicesofhope.org.

Normalizing Nazism on the Internet

THURSDAY, APRIL 1 Short Story Coffee Break: author Etgar Keret A Zoom discussion of flash fiction and short stories by the renowned Israeli writer Etgar Keret. Hosted by Congregation Beth Israel, April 1 at 11 a.m. To register and receive a copy of the next short story and a link to the Zoom discussion, email kbeyard@cbict.org.

THURSDAY, APRIL 8 Short Story Coffee Break: A Scrap of Time A Zoom discussion of short stories from A Scrap of Time by Polish-Israeli Holocaust survivor Ida Fink with Rabbi Andi Fliegel.

Hosted by Congregation Beth Israel, April 1 at 11 a.m. To register and receive a copy of the next short story and a link to the Zoom discussion, email kbeyard@cbict.org.

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MARCH 12 – APRIL 26 FRIDAY, APRIL 9

THURSDAY, APRIL 15

Organ Sounds Concert Series

Short Story Coffee Break: The Quiet Americans

Organist Scott Lamlein, director of music for St. John’s Episcopal Church in West Hartford, will perform, April 9 at 6:30 p.m. Program will be announced. For more information or to register, visit cbict.org/ calendar.

FRIDAY, APRIL 10

A Zoom discussion of short stories from The Quiet Americans, led by Erika Dreifus Learning Center (Virtual) Writer in Residence, to be held April 15, a.m. Hosted

by Congregation Beth Israel. To register and receive a copy of the next short story and a link to the Zoom discussion, email kbeyard@cbict.org.

The Tribe/Super Tribe Havdalah Havdalah followed by a meet and greet for both of Tribe groups, ranging in age from 20-50. Hosted online by Congregation Beth Israel on March 13, 6:30 p.m. For more information: email Tracy Taback at tracytaback@gmail.com.

SUNDAY, APRIL 11 Seeking Refuge: Shanghai & Beyond The 4th Annual Henny Simon Remembrance: “Seeking Refuge: Shanghai & Beyond” featuring guest speakers Laurence Tribe, Carl M. Loeb Professor of Constitutional Law Emeritus at Harvard Law School, and teacher Helen Elperina.

This program will explore the desperate search for refuge from persecution and impending death faced by Jews during the Holocaust through the experiences of Ludwig Rosenbaum z”l (father of Henny Simon), Prof.Tribe and Helen Elperina, whose stories converge in 1941. Hosted

by Eastern CT chapter of Hadassah, the presentation will be held April 11 at 2 p.m.

For more information and to receive the Zoom link to the program, contact Karen Bloustine at bloustinek@gmail.com.

TUESDAY, APRIL 13

SUNDAY, APRIL 18 Israel Food Tour A live virtual culinary tour of the foods and culture of Israel on April 18 at 1 p.m. Expert guides immerse you in the history, culture, and people of Israel through unparalleled knowledge and connection to the vendors who make Israeli food come alive. Includes interviews, videos, maps and a Q&A time with a local culinary expert. For more information or to register, visit cbict.org/ calendar.

THURSDAY, APRIL 22 “Hava Nagila” – Film Screening and Discussion A screening and discussion of the awardwinning documentary “Hava Nagila” on April 22 at 7 p.m. Follow the story of this infectious party song from the shtetls of Eastern Europe and Ukraine to the Catskills to Greenwich Village to Hollywood in this hilarious and surprisingly deep film.

Featuring interviews with Harry Belafonte, Connie Francis, Glen Campbell, Leonard Nimoy, Regina Spektor and more.For more information or to register, visit cbict.org/ calendar.

The Rise & Destruction of the Jewish Fashion Industry, Berlin 1836-1939

MONDAY, APRIL 26

The Joan and Henry Katz Lecture in Judaic Studies: “The Rise and Destruction of the Jewish Fashion Industry, Berlin 1836 – 1939,” with guest lecturer Uwe Westphal, journalist, and author of Fashion Metropolis Berlin (2019), to be held March 16 at 7:30 p.m. This FREE webinar is co-sponsored by the Bennett Center for Judaic Studies at Fairfield University.

Registration required at fairfield.edu/ bennettprograms. For information: bennettcenter@fairfield.edu or (203) 2544000 x2066.

State of Play: The Political Future of the American Jewish Community

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David Axelrod, American political consultant and strategist; CNN senior political commentator; former chief strategist and senior advisor to President Obama, will discuss the political future of the American Jewish community at a FREE seminar to be held on Zoom, April 26 at 7:30 p.m. Axelrod’s talk is co-sponsored by the Bennett Center for Judaic Studies at Fairfield University. Registration required at fairfield.edu/bennettprograms. For information: bennettcenter@fairfield.edu or (203) 254-4000 x2066.

Briefs CONTINUED FROM PAGE 9

name a Jewish ambassador, Houda Nonoo, to Washington. Nonoo congratulated Al Khaja on Twitter.

“The entire Israeli people welcomes you with joy,” Rivlin said to the ambassador after greeting him in Arabic. “This will be your most important mission – to welcome the hands reaching out to you, to meet the Israeli people and to get to know them up close. Treaties are signed by leaders, but real, sustained peace is made between peoples, face to face.”

Israeli actress Shira Haas to star in new American TV series about Golda Meir (JNS) Israeli actress Shira Haas, best known as the star of the Netflix series “Unorthodox” and for her role in the popular Israeli TV drama “Shtisel,” has been tapped to play Israeli Prime Minister Golda Meir in a new American TV series, announced Deadline on Monday. The 25-year-old actress has won two Ophir awards – the Israeli equivalent of the Academy Awards – for which she was nominated five times. She was also nominated for both a Golden Globe and an Emmy award.

The executive producer is none other than Barbra Streisand, and represents the first time that she has worked on a scripted TV series. The script will be written

by Eric Tuchman, writer and producer of the hit TV series “The Handmaid’s Tale.” Tuchman will also be an executive producer of the project, which will be directed by Emmy winner Mimi Leder of the popular TV series “The Morning Show.”

The series is based on the nonfiction work Lioness: Golda Meir and the Nation of Israel by Francine Klagsbrun.

“The book chronicles the life and career of Meir – one of the most influential figures in the history of Israel and a prominent figure in world history,” writes Deadline. “It spans her birth in Kyiv [in present-day Ukraine] to her American upbringing in Milwaukee, her role in the formation of Israel, and her rise to become the new nation’s first and only female prime minister.”

Charles Barkley gets ready to dance the hora at daughter’s Jewish wedding (JTA) – NBA Hall of Famer Charles Barkley is looking forward to his daughter’s wedding to a Jewish entrepreneur. He’s just a little worried about the hora. “I’ve been really working out hard because apparently they’ve got to pick me up in a chair,” Barkley told Jimmy Kimmel on his talk show Tuesday night, March 2,

about the most harrowing feature of the traditional celebratory Jewish dance. The former power forward, listed at 6-foot-5 in programs, was once known as the “Mound Round of Rebound” for his prowess on the boards and chunky physique.

“Listen, I need all Jewish people on deck, brother. Cause I can only get so skinny by Saturday, man,” Barkley said.

“It’s like I’m a soldier, all hands on deck.”

Cristiana Barkley, a Columbia Journalism School graduate and the basketball legend’s only daughter with wife Maureen Blumhardt, is marrying Ilya Hoffman, founder of the digital marketing company DemandByte, this weekend.

The wedding reportedly will take place in Phoenix, where the basketball star spent part of his career and the rules about gatherings during the coronavirus pandemic are relatively relaxed.

Hoffman is a graduate of the University at Albany who also studied at Baruch College in New York City and speaks Russian, according to his LinkedIn profile.

The wedding comes nine months after Barkley publicly condemned antisemitism expressed by some Black athletes and entertainment figures last summer. “Y’all want racial equality. We all do. I don’t understand how insulting another group helps our cause,” he said at the time.

Kimmel asked if Barkley sees himself as comfortable enough with Hoffman’s family to “hang out” with. “I love his family, they are amazing people, they’ve been living in Long Island for a long time,” he said.

“It’s going to be a welcome addition to my family.”

Once again, Sheba Medical Center ranks as one of world’s ‘Top 10’ hospitals (JNS) For the third consecutive year, Newsweek magazine has ranked Sheba Medical Center among the “Top 10 Best Hospitals in the World,” placing it at #10 in 2021. The magazine’s annual “World’s Best Hospitals” survey, which debuted on the Newsweek.com site on Wednesday, March 3, once again cited Sheba’s superior health care, in addition to its medical innovation and cutting-edge research. Sheba faced stiffer global competition this year, as the annual Newsweek/Statista ranking featured far more countries, expanding from 1,000 hospitals in 2019 to 2,000 in 2021. Despite doubling the number of participating hospitals, Sheba still placed in the “Top 10.” Sheba is located on a 200acre campus and is home to 11 of Israel’s national health centers, four hospitals, two institutes, expansive research laboratories, 159 medical departments and clinics and diverse educational facilities.

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OBITUARIES May her memory be a blessing. Graveside services were held at Congregation B’nai Israel Cemetery in Fairfield, Conn. on March 4. In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to the Dana Farber Cancer Institute and B’nai B’rith International.

BERMAN Harriet Berman, 72, of Hartford, died Feb. 23. Born in Hartford, she was the daughter of the late Laura and Morris Siegel. She is survived by her loving daughter Kimberly Fofana; her grandson Alex; and her sister-in-law Ann Lee Siegel. She was also predeceased by her brother, Samuel Siegel.

BOYARSKY It is with great sadness that we announce the passing of our dear mother, Barbara Joyce Boyarsky, on Sunday, Feb. 28, 2021.

Barbara was born in the Bronx, N.Y. to Louis and Helen Swyer and grew up in Bridgeport, Conn. She went to Central High School in Bridgeport, and graduated from the University of Bridgeport with a secretarial degree.

For many years she worked as a legal secretary at various law offices in the area. Barbara was married for over 62 years to Sam Boyarsky who passed away in 2019. She had one brother, Henry Swyer, he also predeceased her. Barbara and Sam and their family lived for many years in Fairfield, Conn. She was active for many years in various philanthropic activities including B’nai B’rith and her local synagogue. After raising her family, Barbara became a residential real estate agent in the late 1970’s and enjoyed a successful career selling homes in Fairfield County.

She enjoyed bowling, playing Mah Jong, traveling to St. Maarten and Aruba with her husband Sam and spending time with her family. She leaves a son, David A. Boyarsky of Natick, Mass., and a daughter, Janis Schiff (Philip) of Washington, D.C. and a grandson Justin Schiff of Miami Florida.

BUTLER Charles Bruce Butler, 71, of Malden, Mass., formerly of New Haven and West Haven, died Feb. 28. He was the husband of Helen Levy Butler. Born in New Haven, he was the son of the late James Hotchkiss Butler and Eleanor Conner Butler. In addition to his wife, he is survived by his daughters Amy and Rebecca Butler; his son-in-law Ryan Akerley; his brothers, James Butler and his wife Linda, and John Butler and wife Lorraine; his sister Mary Numa and husband Stewart; their children and grandchildren; and his extended family. He was predeceased by his sister-in-law Susan Levy.

GOLDFARB Benjamin S. ((“Ben”) Goldfarb, 98, of West Hartford, died Feb. 23. He was the widower of Dolly (Fiedler) Goldfarb. Born in Toronto, Canada, he was the son of the late Meyer and Sarah (Gopin) Goldfarb.

He served in the U.S. Army during World War II as a surgical technician serving with the 54th General Hospital in New Guinea, the Philippines, and Japan. He is survived by his children, Andrew Goldfarb of San Francisco, Calif., and Katie Ebersman and her husband David Ebersman of Tyngsboro, Mass.; his grandchildren, Caroline Babson of New York, N.Y., Andrew Babson, of Philadelphia, Penn., and Emily and Simon Ebersman of Tyngsboro, Mass.; and several nieces and nephews. He was also predeceased by his daughter Elizabeth

Call 860.231.2424 x3028 to place your memorial in the Ledger.

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CALL 1.800.852.8865 • 203.287.1593 • nolanshamdenmonumentco.com 24

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(“Betsy”) Babson, his brother Harry E. Goldfarb, and his sisters, Ida Shoor and Rose Silver.

ZOREF Geoffrey H Zoref, 39, of died Feb. 28. Born in Washington DC, he was the son of Ellen Zoref, of Simsbury, and Steven Zoref and his wife Jamie of Boynton Beach, Fla. In addition to his parents, he is survived by

his sister Amanda Zeroes and her wife Nora Wilcox of West Tisbury, Mass.; his nephew Mica; and his niece Esme. He was a graduate of Simsbury High School and from Cornell University.

For more information on placing an obituary, contact: judiej@ jewishledger.

David Mintz invented Tofutti as a dairy substitute for kosher meals

BY GABE FRIEDMAN

(JTA) – David Mintz, who invented the dairy substitute Tofutti out of a desire to cater to observant Jews who could not mix meat and milk, died Feb. 24. He was 89.

His death was first reported by COLlive, an Orthodox news site that covers the ChabadLubavitch community. Mintz had a relationship with Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson, the famed leader of the Hasidic movement, and sought his advice before opening his businesses, the site reported.

No cause of death was given.

Mintz was born and raised in an Orthodox section of Williamsburg, Brooklyn, and attended Orthodox schools. Grub Street, New York Magazine’s food blog, wrote that he sold mink stoles before opening prepared food stores, where he employed “Jewish grandmothers” who made Jewish comfort foods like knishes and rugelach.

Although he eventually left the haredi Orthodox fold, Mintz saw a wide open market through his Orthodox customers who under kosher law were prevented from eating dairy during a meal that involved meat. He reportedly first bought a gallon of tofu from a vendor in Chinatown in 1972 and went on to meld the soy-based food into “tofu-filled cookies, cakes, rugalach, tuna casserole” and more, as described in a 1981 New York Times article.

But it took him several years to perfect what would become Tofutti ice cream, his most popular and enduring creation that became a staple in grocery stores across the country – and on Shabbat tables after chicken dinners.

“Everyone said it would never taste good,” Mintz told The Times, which described him as a restless and enthusiastic personality. “Those people are now my biggest fans.”

COLlive reported that Mintz went to Schneerson for reassurance during his years of experimentation, and that he gave generously to Jewish causes, including those connected to Schneerson’s Chabad movement. He also reportedly regularly visited Schneerson’s gravesite, a pilgrimage site for Chabad followers.

“Whenever I met with the Rebbe I would mention what I was doing, and he would say to me, ‘You have to have faith. If you have faith in God, you can do wonders.’ So I kept trying,” Mintz said, according to the site.

Among the flavors and products Mintz tried over the years were several with Jewish influences: A carrot-apple-raisin tofu ice cream, for example, offered some of the flavors of a traditional Rosh Hashanah tsimmes, while blintzes stuffed with his tofu ricotta turned an archetypal dairy dish into something that could be served at any kosher meal.

A traditional way for all Jews since 1898

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The Jewish Ledger assumes no responsibility for the product and services advertised

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CELEBRATIONS • JUNE SENIOR LIVING • AUG.

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PROFESSIONAL SERVICES

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PROFESSIONAL SERVICES

Needed, a live-in caregiver for an elderly female home owner in Bloomfield. Duties include trash out, availability at night in case of emergency - attached apartment provided at reduced rent. Applicant must submit 3 references. Call Vivian at 860301-2066.

Compassionate Elder Companion - Driver & Cook Beth: alifeofplantsandart@gmail. com.

CHAUFFEUR, WEST HARTFORD will drive you to New York, Boston, New England tri-state area. Reasonable rates.

References. Call Jeff 860-7124115.

CNA - Five or Seven Days - Live In - Seventeen Years Experience - References Available - 860938-1476.

Mary and Alex Housecleaning.

We have experience and references. We are an insured company. Please call or Txt for a free quote. 860-328-1757 or servicesam.llc@gmail.com.

NURSE SEEKING POSITION: GETTING BETTER TOGETHER! Adult care only. Live-in, days or nights and weekends.

Responsible and dedicated caregiver with medical education. Leave message: 860229-2038 No Text or Email.

Caregiver - Willing to care for your loved ones overnight - Excellent local references Avoid nursing home or hospital in light of Covid 19. Call 860550-0483.

Tricia’s Cleaning Service - Residential & Commercial Detailed cleaning for Home & Office - For Free Quote call 860477-8636.

Polish certified nursing assistant.

Twenty years experience in hospitals, nursing homes and private home settings looking to help your loved ones. Please call 860-803-6007.

Certified Home Care Aide - Live-in - HHA Certficate Experience with dementia, stroke, alzheimer’s - Driver’s License - References - Lydia 718864-7600.

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CONNECTICUT September MASSACHUSETTS December For more information on advertising in these magazines, call Donna 860.833.0839 or DonnaE@jewishledger.com 26

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P.C.A. - HHA Caregiver - 17 Years Experience - Available Live In or Live Out - Five Days a Week - Car Available - Have References - Please Call K.B. 860-796-8468.

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Caregiver for your elderly loved one available Thursday evenings to Sunday evenings. Kosher experience, stellar references.

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Home Health Aide - Two Years Experience - Reliable - Livein seven days. References available, negotiable rates. Call Kwasi 774-253-5479.

Driver available for shopping & errands in the greater Hartford area. Reasonable rates, senior discount and references available. Call Ira 860-849-0999.

Caregiver looking for full time live-in job - HHA/Precursor CNA - 12 Years experience - Friendly, outgoing, dependable - Please call Janet at 412-527-9285.

CNA with 25 years experience, reliable car, live-in or hourly.

References available, and negotiable rates. Call Sandy 860-460-3051.

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For lease- Boca Raton, FL. Fully furnished 2 bedroom, 2 bath condo with kosher kitchen in beautiful Century Village. First floor, parking, pool & club house. Call Mike 561-654-4221.

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Third Generation Jeweler - Gold & Diamond Buyer - Is Buying All Gold Jewelry - Sterling Silver Flatware Sets - Diamonds Over 2 Carats - Fast Payment Contact - mitchellrosin@gmail. com.

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Home Health Aide - Companion available for live in/live out Mon. - Fri. Valid driver’s license. Over 15 years experience. Excellent References. Call 860-796-8468.

Reach our highly qualified readers by placing your display classified ad in our digital issue with a LIVE link to your website!

CNA - 8 Years Experience Reliable - Own Car - Live-in 24/7 - Negotiable Rates - Please call Tina 860-461-8692.

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CT SYNAGOGUE DIRECTORY To join our synagogue directories, contact Howard Meyerowitz at (860) 231-2424 x3035 or howardm@jewishledger.com.

BLOOMFIELD B’nai Tikvoh-Sholom/ Neshama Center for Lifelong Learning Conservative Rabbi Debra Cantor (860) 243-3576 office@BTSonline.org www.btsonline.org BRIDGEPORT Congregation B’nai Israel Reform Rabbi Evan Schultz (203) 336-1858 info@cbibpt.org www.cbibpt.org Congregation Rodeph Sholom Conservative (203) 334-0159 Rabbi Richard Eisenberg, Cantor Niema Hirsch info@rodephsholom.com www.rodephsholom.com CHESHIRE Temple Beth David Reform Rabbi Micah Ellenson (203) 272-0037 office@TBDCheshire.org www.TBDCheshire.org CHESTER Congregation Beth Shalom Rodfe Zedek Reform Rabbi Marci Bellows (860) 526-8920 rabbibellows@cbsrz.org www.cbsrz.org

COLCHESTER Congregation Ahavath Achim Conservative Rabbi Kenneth Alter (860) 537-2809 secretary@congregationahavathachim.org

Temple Sholom Conservative Rabbi Mitchell M. Hurvitz Rabbi Kevin Peters Cantor Sandy Bernstein (203) 869-7191 info@templesholom.com www.templesholom.com

EAST HARTFORD Temple Beth Tefilah Conservative Rabbi Yisroel Snyder (860) 569-0670 templebetht@yahoo.com

HAMDEN Temple Beth Sholom Conservative Rabbi Benjamin Edidin Scolnic (203) 288-7748 tbsoffice@tbshamden.com www.tbshamden.com

FAIRFIELD Congregation Ahavath Achim Orthodox (203) 372-6529 office@ahavathachim.org www.ahavathachim.org Congregation Beth El, Fairfield Conservative Rabbi Marcelo Kormis (203) 374-5544 office@bethelfairfield.org www.bethelfairfield.org GLASTONBURY Congregation Kol Haverim Reform Rabbi Dr. Kari Tuling (860) 633-3966 office@kolhaverim.org www.kolhaverim.org GREENWICH Greenwich Reform Synagogue Reform Rabbi Jordie Gerson (203) 629-0018 hadaselias@grs.org www.grs.org

MADISON Temple Beth Tikvah Reform Rabbi Stacy Offner (203) 245-7028 office@tbtshoreline.org www.tbtshoreline.org MANCHESTER Beth Sholom B’nai Israel Conservative Rabbi Randall Konigsburg (860) 643-9563 Rabbenu@myshul.org programming@myshul.org www.myshul.org MIDDLETOWN Adath Israel Conservative Rabbi Nelly Altenburger (860) 346-4709 office@adathisraelct.org www.adathisraelct.org

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NEW HAVEN The Towers at Tower Lane Conservative Ruth Greenblatt, Spiritual Leader Sarah Moskowitz, Spiritual Leader (203) 772-1816 rebecca@towerlane.org www.towerlane.org Congregation Beth El-Keser Israel Conservative Rabbi Jon-Jay Tilsen (203) 389-2108 office@BEKI.org www.BEKI.org Orchard Street ShulCongregation Beth Israel Orthodox Rabbi Mendy Hecht 203-776-1468 www.orchardstreetshul.org NEW LONDON Ahavath Chesed Synagogue Orthodox Rabbi Avrohom Sternberg 860-442-3234 Ahavath.chesed@att.net Congregation Beth El Conservative Rabbi Earl Kideckel (860) 442-0418 office@bethel-nl.org www.bethel-nl.org NEWINGTON Temple Sinai Reform Rabbi Jeffrey Bennett (860) 561-1055 templesinaict@gmail.com www.sinaict.org NEWTOWN Congregation Adath Israel Conservative Rabbi Barukh Schectman (203) 426-5188 office@congadathisrael.org www.congadathisrael.org

NORWALK Beth Israel Synagogue – Chabad of Westport/ Norwalk Orthodox-Chabad Rabbi Yehoshua S. Hecht (203) 866-0534 info@bethisraelchabad.org bethisraelchabad.org

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Temple Shalom Reform Rabbi Cantor Shirah Sklar (203) 866-0148 admin@templeshalomweb.org www.templeshalomweb.org ORANGE Chabad of Orange/ Woodbridge Chabad Rabbi Sheya Hecht (203) 795-5261 info@chabadow.org www.chabadow.org Congregation Or Shalom Conservative Rabbi Alvin Wainhaus (203) 799-2341 info@orshalomct.org www.orshalomct.org SIMSBURY Chabad of the Farmington Valley Chabad Rabbi Mendel Samuels (860) 658-4903 chabadsimsbury@gmail.com www.chabadotvalley.org Farmington Valley Jewish Congregation, Emek Shalom Reform Rabbi Rebekah Goldman Mag (860) 658-1075 admin@fvjc.org www.fvjc.org SOUTH WINDSOR Temple Beth Hillel of South Windsor Reform Rabbi Jeffrey Glickman (860) 282-8466 tbhrabbi@gmail.com www.tbhsw.org

WALLINGFORD Beth Israel Synagogue Conservative Rabbi Bruce Alpert (203) 269-5983 info@bethisraelwallingford. org www.bethisraelwallingford. org WASHINGTON Greater Washington Coalition Rabbi James Greene (860) 868-2434 jewishlifect@gmail.com www.jewishlife.org WATERFORD Temple Emanu - El Reform Rabbi Marc Ekstrand Rabbi Emeritus Aaron Rosenberg (860) 443-3005 office@tewaterfrord.org www.tewaterford.org WEST HARTFORD Beth David Synagogue Orthodox Rabbi Yitzchok Adler (860) 236-1241 office@bethdavidwh.org www.bethdavidwh.org Beth El Temple Conservative Rabbi James Rosen Rabbi Ilana Garber (860) 233-9696 hsowalsky@bethelwh.org www.bethelwesthartford.org Chabad House of Greater Hartford Rabbi Joseph Gopin Rabbi Shaya Gopin, Director of Education (860) 232-1116 info@chabadhartford.com www.chabadhartford.com

SOUTHINGTON Gishrei Shalom Jewish Congregation Reform Rabbi Alana Wasserman (860) 276-9113 President@gsjc.org www.gsjc.org TRUMBULL Congregation B’nai Torah Conservative Rabbi Colin Brodie (203) 268-6940 office@bnaitorahct.org www.bnaitorahct.org

Congregation Beth Israel Reform Rabbi Michael Pincus Rabbi Andi Fliegel Cantor Stephanie Kupfer (860) 233-8215 bethisrael@cbict.org www.cbict.org Congregation P’nai Or Jewish Renewal Shabbat Services Rabbi Andrea Cohen-Kiener (860) 561-5905 pnaiorct@gmail.com www.jewishrenewalct.org

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Kehilat Chaverim of Greater Hartford Chavurah Adm. - Nancy Malley (860) 951-6877 mnmalley@yahoo.com www.kehilatchaverim.org The Emanuel Synagogue Conservative Rabbi David J. Small (860) 236-1275 communications@emanuelsynagogue.org www.emanuelsynagogue.org United Synagogues of Greater Hartford Orthodox Rabbi Eli Ostrozynsk i synagogue voice mail (860) 586-8067 Rabbi’s mobile (718) 6794446 ostro770@hotmail.com www.usgh.org Young Israel of West Hartford Orthodox Rabbi Tuvia Brander (860) 233-3084 info@youngisraelwh.org www.youngisraelwh.org WESTPORT Temple Israel Reform Rabbi Michael S. Friedman, Senior Rabbi Rabbi Danny M. Moss, Associate Rabbi Rabbi Elana Nemitoff-Bresler, Rabbi Educator (203) 227-1293 info@tiwestport.org www.tiwestport.org WETHERSFIELD Temple Beth Torah Unaffiliated Rabbi Seth Riemer (860) 828-3377 tbt.w.ct@gmail.com templebethtorahwethersfield. org WOODBRIDGE Congregation B’nai Jacob Conservative Rabbi Rona Shapiro (203) 389-2111 info@bnaijacob.org www.bnaijacob.org

MARCH 12, 2021

27

Passover

5781

2021

ORDERING DEADLINE 3/17 @ 4PM! This is a HARD deadline.

Choose Thursday 3/26 or Friday 3/27 As Your In-Store or Curbside Pickup Date Local Home Deliveries Are Only Available Thursday 3/26 Whether ordering a returning favorite food or trying something new, celebrating together, as much as we’re able, is always the joy of any holiday!

Chag kasher v’sameach!

The Crown Market 2471 Albany Ave West Hartford, CT 06117

860.236.1965

We Also Offer An Extensive Array Of A La Carte Items, Custom Butcher Department, KFP Groceries And Baked Goods And So Much More!

Order Deadline For In-Store Or Curbside Pickup is 3/17!

Order Deadline For Out Of Town Local Pickups is 3/8!

www.crownmarketonline.com HKC supervises the Bakery, Five o’clock Shop, Butcher Department and Catering.

We’re not JUST kosher...we’re DELICIOUS! 28

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