CT Jewish Ledger • July 9, 2021 • 29 Tammuz 5781

Friday, July 9, 2021 29 Tammuz 5781 Vol. 93 | No. 28 | ©2021 jewishledger.com

WIKIPEDIA WARRIORS fight to make Isaac Bashevis Singer Jewish, again.

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INSIDE

this week

CONNECTICUT JEWISH LEDGER | SINCE 1929 | JULY 9, 2021 | 29 TAMMUZ 5781

8 Around Connecticut

14 & 16 Briefs

17 Crossword

18 What’s Happening

19 Torah Portion

Conversation with…........................ 5 Sarah Wildman tells the unlikely story behind her new book Paper Love: Searching for The Girl My Grandfather Left Behind.

Pedal Pushers................................... 5 Team Israel StartUp Nation, the first Israeli team to race in the Tour de France, began this year’s event chock full of optimism… despite a spate of crashes and mishaps.

The Bitcoin Rabbi............................ 4 Rabbi Michael Caras is fascinated by the way that Bitcoin relates to halacha. Now, strangers slide into his Twitter messages asking for guidance on both Judaism and cryptocurrency.

A Fond Farewell................................. 8 The Fairfield County Jewish community gathered together one recent evening to bid farewell to Jacqueline Herman, who retired after more than a decade as head of school of Bi-Cultural Hebrew Academy.

Those were the days............................................................................................... 10 The Surfside tragedy recalls South Florida’s long hold on the Jewish imagination and reality, writes author Thane Rosenbaum who grew up just next door in Miami Beach.

19 Obituaries

21 Business and Professional Directory

22 Classified

ON THE COVER:

A story in The New York Times referring to the late Nobel Prize laureate Isaac Bashevis Singer as a “Polish-American author” sets off a Wikipedia war between a Polish college student and a Jerusalem-based scholar and writer living whose research on Singer appears in academic journals. Pictured on the cover: Isaac Bashevis Singer outside the S. Rabinowitz Hebrew Book Store on New York’s Lower East Side in 1968. (David Attie/Getty Images) PAGE 12 jewishledger.com

CANDLE LIGHTING

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JEWISH LIFE

Meet the beloved ‘Bitcoin Rabbi’ of Twitter

BY LEIGH CUEN

(JTA) – Many of Twitter’s cryptocurrency zealots are often notorious trolls, but one particular thought leader stands out from the rest. He happens to be a rabbi. ”I enjoy connecting with my two communities through Twitter, both Jewish Twitter and Bitcoin Twitter,” says microinfluencer Rabbi Michael Caras, also known as @thebitcoinrabbi.

Caras, a rabbi associated with the hasidic Chabad-Lubavitch movement, is fascinated by the way that Bitcoin, both the network and the asset, relates to halacha (Jewish law). And since he’s quite vocal about it online, Caras says that strangers slide into his Twitter messages each week to ask for advice and spiritual guidance on the topic.

Caras, who studied at Yeshiva Ohr Tmimim in Israel and now teaches both Judaism and technology classes at Maimonides Hebrew Day School in New York, has been interested in Bitcoin since 2017, and in 2019 he published a children’s book about it that has sold more than 10,000 copies. The book, a secular introduction to basic economics for kids, tells a tale of children learning about how to use Bitcoin as money by running a lemonade stand in a town called Bitville.

Caras has also spoken at synagogues and Jewish youth groups about Bitcoin and Judaism, including how the history of money is discussed in the Torah.

“There are people who are Jewish but not observant who have never talked to a rabbi any other time,” he says. “Because they feel some type of kinship with me through Bitcoin Twitter, they’ll feel comfortable that I will give them relevant information without lecturing them. I also have a WhatsApp chat where people often ask me privately for guidance as well.

Sometimes they have a Bitcoin question, in some way, and I’m happy to help. I’m happy to be that resource for the community, especially for things like private key management.”

Although there are thousands of things now called cryptocurrency, Bitcoin is the world’s oldest and most decentralized blockchain network, with the most diverse population of users as of 2021. People can store, send and receive currencies like Bitcoin without a third party, like a bank.

Most avid cryptocurrency users keep track of transactions with a public network and a ledger called a blockchain. For example, the Bitcoin ledger is a record of all transitions with bitcoin (the asset).

However, many cryptocurrency traders prefer to use mainstream financial marketplaces (such as Fidelity or the Israeli 4

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company eToro), which don’t necessarily need to use the public blockchain for all transactions.

Caras is among the avid users who prefer to participate in the grassroots Bitcoin network, transacting with open source tools rather than merely trading cryptocurrency like stocks.

Caras, like many rabbis, is a huge fan of old records, ledgers and sacred secrets. With regards to the “private key management” he mentioned, bitcoin users keep track of their bitcoin using a unique password called a ‘private key’ – protect that key, and the bitcoin will remain in your custody. That’s why knowledge related to private key management is so important to Caras. The public blockchain ledger is not unlike the way Jewish communities maintained written records about their societies for thousands of years. This combination of history and technology fascinates Caras.

“We have a ‘the chain of tradition’ quite literally in Hebrew, this point of following the tradition back in written history,” he says. “We are continuing a chain, and it is a continuous chain. There are soft forks and hard forks within Judaism, different customs, like protocols, that are compatible with each other.”

Caras, 31, was raised in a “fairly secular” household, he says, and considered a degree in computer science before switching to rabbinical school. His brother, also a wellknown Bitcoin advocate, became more religious after visiting a Chabad house as a teenager and Caras followed suit.

Now a father of six, Caras finds many similarities between the cypherpunk ethos and Judaism. He’s not alone, as there are numerous WhatsApp groups for Jewish crypto fans, including the “Jewish Crypto Chat” where Caras is among nearly 190 participants.

“Judaism has a lot of legal frameworks for how money is used. A Jewish wedding is a transaction. The groom puts a ring on her finger because he needs to give her something of value under the chuppah. [In private DMs] I address questions like, could that wedding transaction be done with bitcoin?” he says.

As a family, Caras and his wife see Bitcoin stewardship as part of their household virtues.

“Hopefully, the majority of the time, we use this technology for good,” he says.

“That’s what I like to encourage people to think about.”

There’s always a way to apply guidance from the Torah to new conundrums in the modern world. Some people have asked

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Caras about running trading bots or bitcoin mining on Shabbat, or if checking the always fluctuating bitcoin price (it’s value compared to the dollar) disrupts from a day of rest.

Bitcoin is often used for donating to charity and securing savings. On the other hand, there are, of course, controversial and harmful ways to use bitcoin. For example, Hamas, the terrorist group that rules the Gaza Strip, has reportedly fundraised using cryptocurrency.

Caras, who lived in Israel for four years of rabbinical school and has a brother who lives there, says he’s been thinking a lot about the Holy Land since the most recent conflict. It’s impossible to say exactly how many bitcoin users there are in Israel, although some local exchanges have garnered more than 55,000 users (each) and thousands of people work in the local crypto industry, including some companies that expanded globally to serve millions.

(On a much smaller scale, some Palestinian bitcoin dealers also get their wares from Tel Aviv’s same crypto hubs.)

Caras strongly believes in Israel’s right to defend itself, and hopes that Bitcoin could present economic opportunities that could lessen the stranglehold he says that Hamas has on the population of Gaza.

Before the pandemic, in 2019, several Gazan Bitcoin dealers were reportedly transacting with more than $5 million worth of cryptocurrency each every month for civilian use cases like international shopping, paying tuition abroad or accepting freelance payments without PayPal or credit cards.

“I’m not concerned about Hamas using relatively small amounts of bitcoin to fund their terrorism, as it seems rather insignificant compared to their other funding methods,” Caras says. “Terrorists use cellphones and electricity and every other type of technology that most people use for good peaceful purposes.

“I am glad that individual Palestinians can use a money which can’t be easily controlled or taken from them by the Palestinian Authority or Hamas.”

This sentiment is common among Caras’ Twitter compatriots. Israeli investor Eylon Aviv of the crypto-savvy fund Collider Ventures, who knows Caras and enjoys his Twitter feed, says “the promise here is for Palestinians to not be dependent on the financial services provided by these terrorist organizations.”

Aviv also agrees with Caras that the Bitcoin ethos complements Jewish ethics.

“Basically every holiday is ‘insert an overpowering someone who tried to kill us,’

RABBI MICHAEL CARAS (COURTESY OF CARAS)

they fail, and we celebrate. The celebration is about the freedom and liberation that happens around the unsuccessful elimination attempt,” Aviv says, adding that censorship, resistance, loss and liberation are all recurring themes throughout Jewish history.

As a tool for self-sovereign transactions, people fleeing a dictatorship or freely transact despite persecution often use bitcoin.

Some Jewish users like Aviv wonder if Bitcoin would be useful if a Holocaustlike situation were to arise again, with governments and armies seizing assets from Jewish communities. Bitcoin would be easier to escape with.

Israeli crypto industry veteran Danny Brown Wolf thinks so. “Being Jewish, we pretty much all have in our family history some form of immigration story that involves being forced to leave assets behind,” he says.

“Given this history, Jews of all peoples ought to appreciate financial sovereignty,” she says.

To be clear, Caras isn’t an advocate for any “blockchain revolution.” He only answers questions when asked and firmly considers himself a “maximalist,” meaning he only uses Bitcoin, no other cryptocurrency. He thinks users’ energy is best spent on Bitcoin rather than exploring new token experiments.

“I’m a hardcore maximalist. I don’t believe the blockchain has any use case outside of Bitcoin and securing the Bitcoin blockchain,” Caras says. “My brother in Israel tells me about every blockchain thing under the sun, but I’ve yet to see anything positive that it’s useful for beyond that.”

Instead, Caras prefers to contemplate what Jewish law says about loans and earning interest, for example, so he can learn for himself and help others learn how to apply Jewish ethics to the way he manages his Bitcoin.

“Every piece of technology in this world, it’s up to us to choose for ourselves,” Caras says, “whether we use technology for good or bad.” jewishledger.com

UP FRONT

CONNECTICUT JEWISH LEDGER | SINCE 1929 | JULY 9, 2021 | 29 TAMMUZ 5781

CONVERSATION WITH SARAH WILDMAN

THE LEDGER SCOREBOARD

Journalist embarks on a journey to learn the fate of her grandfather’s lost love during the Holocaust

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ournalist and author Sarah Wildman will discuss her new book, Paper Love: Searching for the girl my grandfather left behind,” on Zoom, Tuesday, July 12 in an evening hosted by Voices of Hope, an organization comprised of the children and grandchildren of Holocaust survivors that is dedicated to furthering Holocaust education.

Wildman tells the story of her grandfather, who left behind the woman he loved when he escaped from Vienna in 1938. He eventually settled in Pittsfield, Massachusetts, where he practiced medicine for more than 40 years. The discovery of the woman’s existence sent Wildman on a journey to learn of the young woman’s fate.

Wildman is working on turning Paper Love into a feature film, with the help of a grant from the Jewish Writer’s Initiative.

She recently spoke to the Jewish Ledger about her book and how she researched her grandfather’s remarkable story.

JEWISH LEDGER: How did you find out about the relationship your grandfather had in Europe before the war?

SARAH WILDMAN: I was in my grandparents’ house in Northwest Massachusetts in the Berkshires. And I was kind of rooting around in an old cabinet and came across an old album, the kind with photo corners and block pages with images that were clearly from Europe. And in that book were photos of my then-very young grandfather and his sister and other family members. A small note fell out of the album – the note had four quadrants and each quadrant had an image of this woman, and under each was a caption… things like, “no call today? Maybe tomorrow, surely tomorrow there will be a letter.”

I showed it to my grandmother and she sort of dryly and inexplicably said, ‘It was your grandfather’s true love,” and left the room. I didn’t quite know what to do with that. My grandfather was no longer living at the time, so I called his sister Cilli.

Cilli said the woman’s name was Valerie Scheftel – Valy – and she had come alone to study medicine at the University of jewishledger.com

Tour de France’s Israeli team tested by crashes, maintains optimism

BY STACEY DRESNER

BY HOWARD BLAS

The 108th Tour de France started on Saturday, June 26, 2021 in Brest, France and will end on Sunday, July 18 as riders cross the finish line on the Champs-Élysées in Paris. The race consists of 21 stages and is approximately 2,121 miles long. This report was filed as the Ledger went to press on June 29.

Vienna where my grandfather was a medical student in the early 1930s in what was then Czechoslovakia. She had fallen in love with him immediately, apparently, and he had sort of ignored her. Then one summer he realized he loved her too and raced to tell her and they had this whirlwind romance.

As they watched what was happening in Germany, they planned to escape together.

Instead, he escaped with my greatgrandmother and his sister, his five-yearold nephew, and his brother-in-law.

Cilli then wrote me a letter and said, essentially, ‘I’ve always wondered what happened to Valy – maybe you’re the one to tell her story.’ And at the time, I thought, well, how would I even do that? I was only a few years out of college at the time I first found out about Valy, and I thought, how would I go about finding this one person who didn’t have a digital footprint of any kind – where would you start? Even so, it changed what I understood of my family’s story. Of course my grandfather had not escaped with everyone – how could he?

At first, I didn’t think I could find Valy.

But in my journalism work, I began writing more and more stories about the Holocaust that broadened my understanding of the period. I kept wondering who were the

regular people? People like me. What happened to them?

Then, after a couple of years had passed – my grandmother had died at this point – I came across an old file box among my grandfather’s papers. It was labeled “Patient Correspondence A-G.” I went through it one night and realized the box was mislabeled: Inside were hundreds and

(JNS) Days before the start of the annual Tour de France, cycling’s most prestigious race, the Israeli national team’s star rider and four-time winner of the event, Chris Froome, was enthusiastic and optimistic.

Froome has been working hard to return to his previous level of performance following the severe injuries he sustained in a 2019 crash that occurred while he was previewing the time trial course at the 2019 Critérium du Dauphiné. He suffered a double femur fracture to his right leg, multiple additional fractures and a collapsed lung.

Yet in the “Israel Start-Up Nation” team’s pre-Tour de France press conference, Froome expressed hope that this year’s Tour de France, held from June 26-July 18, “will be a steppingstone to get to my formal level of racing. I am really hoping to be on the starting line and put my recovery process behind me.”

Little did Froome know that a few days after those comments, he would be involved in another, highly preventable crash. On the first day of the Tour de France, a spectator stepped into the path of the riders to unfurl a sign, causing a massive pileup of cyclists.

Consequently, seven of eight riders for Israel Start-Up Nation crashed in Stage 1 of the race.

Froome did not sustain any broken bones and the new injury was to his left leg, not the one fractured in 2019. He experienced swelling and bruising to CONTINUED ON THE NEXT PAGE

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Tour de France

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hundreds of letters from my grandfather’s entire exploded Viennese world. And there were dozens and dozens of letters from this woman, Valy.

Tell us about your grandfather, Karl Wildman?

My grandfather Karl was born in the town of Zaleszczyki, in the Austro-Hungarian empire but came as a toddler – at just about two years old – to Vienna. He was a part of the wave of what they called “Ostjuden” – Eastern European Jews who flooded in from all parts of the empire during the First World War. He and his family settled in the second district of Vienna.

He was always known in my family as incredibly clever, and insatiably curious.

He was also magnetic – the kind of person everyone loved to be around. Even today, many years after his death, I still run into people who knew and loved him.

Did he finish medical school in Vienna or when he arrived in the U.S.?

He was very fortunate in that he finished medical school in Vienna. But when he arrived in the United States it was a time of aggressive lobbying against Jewish refugee physicians. Karl was helped by a group called the National Committee for the Resettlement of Foreign Physicians. That was how he ended up in the far northwest corner of Massachusetts, as they tried to help settle Jews and helped set them up with some grants because most of them were penniless.

The archives of that group are held at the University of Minnesota. Remarkably, they had dozens of pages of correspondence with my grandfather – he first wrote from Vienna, then continued to write to them through the time he settled in Massachusetts. The notes showed that the family was incredibly impoverished when they arrived, and for more than a year after they got here. The family had sold his mother’s jewelry and they existed on very little money. Once he found safe haven, my grandfather was also being written to by relatives and friends stuck in Europe asking him for help – for money, for tickets – but he was barely surviving. It was surely terribly hard to know he could do so little.

When the United States entered the war, Karl enlisted in the U.S. Army. He was sent to the Pacific, where he served in a M.A.S.H. unit. While he was there, he did research on malaria. For that work he won a big award, was brought back to the U.S. to lecture on his findings, and eventually left the service after being promoted to the rank of Major. Before he deployed he married my grandmother, who was from Pittsfield.

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What led you to write about the letters you found?

What were you doing at that time that you began working on this project?

Around the same time that I found Valy’s letters, I started hearing about the International Tracing Service Archives in Bad Arolsen, Germany. They were among the last closed Holocaust archives. I wondered: what If I could go with the first group of scholars when they open it and investigate what’s inside?

At first, I set out to write a series of stories for Slate about the archives, and Valy. I wanted to be able to tell the story of the archives, by understanding how to search for a single person there, and what I could find about her. I was curious what I’d find. It wasn’t clear at the outset.

Now they’ve been digitized but at the time, they weren’t. When I arrived, almost everything was just paper and cardboard boxes. It was a bit like the last scene of “Raiders of the Lost Ark” – miles and miles of boxes and files. This is what the book was born out of, which was originally looking at these archives.

I received grants to work on a five-part series of stories for Slate on the last Holocaust archives. I was an Arthur F. Burns Fellow in Germany and also was an American Council on Germany Fellow. With those grants, I went with the first group of scholars from the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum that was organized to see the archives at Bad Arolsen when they began to open. Then I stayed on in Germany to continue the search. My work also took me to Vienna, Czechoslovakia, Israel, and London.

What did you find in the archives?

In Bad Arolsen, I asked if they had what was called a “Tracing and Documentation” file for Valy. That meant a file created when an individual was searched for. Amazingly, they did have one. But it hadn’t been my grandfather who had come looking for her. In other words the information was tantalizing, but unclear. So while I considered what to do to find that searcher, I decided to first retrace Valy’s steps.

In the letters she wrote to my grandfather, I saw she ended up leaving Vienna and returning to her town in Czechoslovakia, which was, in mid 1938, still free. The Munich agreement changed that. After the Sudetenland became part of the Reich her town became too antisemitic to stay. She ended up going into Berlin to look for work. It was 1939. She continued to write my grandfather, from there, desperately asking him for help through 1941 – first for herself, and then for herself and her mother.

I retraced her steps. I went to all the places that she went to try and figure out where she had gone, how she had lived, and what she went through.

I followed her steps until the U.S. entered the war when her letters were cut off. And at that point, I thought, I don’t know where to go from here. One of my colleagues said, ‘Why don’t you look for the woman who searched for her?’ The results of that search changed my whole trajectory of understanding what happened to Valy.

But for that you’ll have to read Paper Love.

How did trying to find your grandfather’s “true love” affect the way you saw your grandparents’ relationship?

I think “true love” represented everything that had happened before he was forced to flee. It was the life he’d lived, the people he’d known, the world he was from. In some ways, she was a representative of that lost world.

And yet, despite that – my grandfather lived with a tremendous amount of joy.

He loved Vienna and went back again and again...starting in 1950, to search for those who remained. And also because, I think, he refused to let them take his Vienna from him.

I pursued this because I was drawn to better understanding the totality of my grandfather’s story – and therefore my own.

What does it mean to carry this legacy, to know these people, to be the bearers of their stories? How can we continue to tell their stories, as we lose witnesses?

Valy was this incredibly modern woman, an intellectual, one we wouldn’t know if my grandfather hadn’t preserved her words and maintained the dignity of her individuality.

Her words became my witness in Paper Love.

his left inner thigh. He also slightly injured his thorax, which initially affected his breathing.

He underwent scans and checks until 1 a.m. and was able to resume riding in Stage 2.

In regard to his left leg, Froome reported, “It’s pretty swollen and pretty painful, it hurts when I stand up but it’s alright. I was able to get through today and if I take it one day at a time, I can try and survive until the time trial.

Then I can maybe take it as a recovery day. I hope to come round and give more to the team over the next week.”

Ultimately, all of the Israeli team’s riders completed Stage 1, with experienced Tour de France rider Guillaume Boivin ranking as the team’s best finisher in 31st place. After the stage, Boivin recounted, “My teammates had told me that the first day would be hectic and they were right on the money on that one. For sure, it’s not ideal to start a Grand Tour like this, but we also have to remember that this is a three-week race….We have to put this behind us and look forward. There is still a lot of

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“A Conversation with Sarah Wildman” will be held on July 12 at 7 p.m. over Zoom. The program is free and open to the public. To register, visit https://voices-of-hope-inc. networkforgood.com/events/30568an-evening-with-sarah-wildman or Voices of Hope’s Facebook page or website www.ctvoicesofhope.org.

CYCLISTS FROM TEAM

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acing to come.”

Israel Start-Up Nation bounced back during unday’s second stage. Michael Woods, the eam’s leader, was true to his word from the re-race press conference. At the time, he eported, “I think I can be quite competitive. I m one of the stronger climbers on the world our.” Indeed, he was competitive on the climbs nd on the uphill finish of Stage 2 on Mûr-deretagne, though he acknowledged the day was ough and that he was shaken up by Saturday’s rashes.

“Mentally, it was a struggle out there today,” Woods said Sunday. “After the crash yesterday, was pretty scared all day. However, my legs elt really good. When Van der Poel took off, was a little too far back. I tried attacking ut I didn’t want to play the GC (general lassification) game, so when the win wasn’t an ption anymore, I just sat in. Still, I’m really appy to bounce back like this and see that I’m ble to climb with the best guys. This gives me lot of confidence for the mountain stages.”

Woods finished Stage 2 race in an impressive 11th place. He is humbled to be leading the Israel-Start Up Nation team, saying, “If you had told me earlier in my career I’d be leading a national team, I wouldn’t have believed it.”

Stage 3, from Lorient to Pontivy, also featured several crashes – but the Israeli team was not involved in them. Boivin was the team’s best finisher, in 23rd place. Israel StartUp Nation’s sports director, Rik Verbrugghe, said Monday, “Today was a really nervous stage, especially towards the end…but the good thing is that we passed this stage without any crashes. Now, we look forward to tomorrow.”

On Tuesday, on the 150 flat kilometers (93 miles) from Redon to Fougeres, Israel Start-Up Nation was blessed with its first top 10 result in this year’s Tour de France. André Greipel was 10th in the bunch sprint on stage 4.

Teammates Rick Zabel and Boivin Guillaume finished 15 and 21 respectively.

M ISRAEL START-UP NATION COMPETING IN THE TOUR DE FRANCE. CREDIT: TEAM ISRAEL START-UP NATION/TWITTER.

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AROUND CT

In Stamford, an Evening of Celebration and Fond Farewells

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he mood was both festive and bittersweet on Thursday evening, June 17, when close to 150 guests gathered on the athletic field of the Bi-Cultural Hebrew Academy campus in Stamford to bid a fond farewell to Head of School Jackie Herman who retired at the end of June after 13 years of service. Those in attendance enjoyed live jazz, cocktails, and a sidesplitting video “roast” of Mrs. Herman.

Rabbi Tzvi Bernstein, who previously served as BCHA dean and is taking over as head of school, unveiled a plaque dedicating the office of the head of school in honor of Jaqueline Herman; and longtime faculty member Yospa Lieberman shared lots of laughs and warm memories. The evening wrapped up with a “paddle raise” to benefit the newly established Jacqueline Herman Excellence in Education Fund.

BCHA FACULTY MEMBER YOSPA LIEBERMAN PAID A HEARTFELT – AND OFTEN HILARIOUS – TRIBUTE TO JACKIE HERMAN, WHO STOOD BY LISTENING, ALONG WITH THE NEW BCHA HEAD OF SCHOOL, RABBI TZVI BERNSTEIN, WHO PREVIOUSLY SERVED AS THE SCHOOL’S DEAN. BCHA PRESCHOOL TEACHER NICOLE MAKOVSKY INTERRUPTED HER MATERNITY LEAVE TO STOP BY TO WISH JACKIE HERMAN WELL.

MANNING THE CHECK-IN TABLE WERE MEMBERS OF THE CELEBRATION COMMITTEE (L TO R) MANDY LEWITTON, MARIA REICIN AND MEG HARON.

Israel Cancer Research Fund to honor Stamford’s William Meyers NEW YORK New York – William Meyers, a resident of Stamford, will be among those honored at the Israel Cancer Research Fund (ICRF) Ribbons of Hope Virtual Gala on Tuesday, August 10, at 7:45 p.m. Actor Richard Kind will serve as the evening’s master of ceremonies.

Meyers, who has served for more than six years as a member of the ICRF Connecticut Chapter Board, is a 12-year survivor of glioblastoma – one of the most

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IN ADDITION TO A DELICIOUS SPREAD OF HORS D’OEUVRES, GUESTS WERE TREATED TO BOX DINNERS. SEEN HERE SAMPLING THE DELECTABLE GOODS ARE (CLOCKWISE FROM BOTTOM LEFT): JANICE CHAIKELSON, STACEY MINSKOFF, ELIOT ESSENFELD, DAVID KWESKIN, LORRAINE KWESKIN, AND GAIL TRELL.

aggressive and deadliest forms of brain cancer. According to Meyers’ neurooncologist at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, he is his longest living patient with a glioblastoma.

After receiving this devastating diagnosis in 2009, Meyers, who was then just 41 years old, underwent a craniotomy, radiation and 18 months of chemotherapy.

Incredibly, he was able to continue to work for five years before leaving his 25-year career in equity research at several firms, including Lehman Brothers and Barclays. He holds a BA from Brandeis University and both an MA and MBA from New York University Stern School of Business.

In addition to his leadership on behalf of ICRF, Meyers has served on the Board of Congregation Agudath Sholom in Stamford, CT, where he is currently a member of the

Finance Committee.

Meyers first learned of ICRF many years before his own personal battle, after his 28- year- old cousin, Ira Sohn z”l, tragically passed away from cancer in 1993, leaving behind a wife and six- month- old daughter. The experience inspired him to become a dedicated supporter of ICRF’s mission for over two decades prior to his own diagnosis and his decision to join the chapter’s leadership in 2015.

Meyers and his wife Kori are the parents of Devorah (and Michael), Sam (and Emma), and Ben. The Israel Cancer Research Fund (ICRF) was founded in 1975 by a group of North American physicians, scientists and lay leaders who sought to ensure adequate funding for high-potential cancer research investigations. ICRF grants are selected after an intensive peer review by a Scientific

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Lee Gold named chairman of Chabad House of Greater Hartford WEST HARTFORD – Chabad House of Greater Hartford announced recently the appointment of Lee Gold of West Hartford as the synagogue’s new chairman of the board.

An attorney with Butler, Norris & Gold in Hartford, Gold presently serves on the West Hartford Town Council.

The Gold family has supported Chabad House of Greater Hartford for close to 40 years. Gold, whose family has supported Chabad House for almost four decades, joined the Board in 2018. He succeeds Alan Lazowski as chairman. Lazowski has led Chabad’s Board of Directors for 16 years and will continue to serve as a senior member.

“It has been a great honor to serve as Chabad’s Chairman of the Board,” said Alan Lazowski. “I am incredibly proud of our accomplishments, especially during the pandemic. I am confident that Lee’s leadership will be an asset as Chabad continues to grow and expand in our local community.”

“Lee will bring a new vision to the Chabad House of Greater Hartford, which is in a state of expansion,” said Chabad’s Director Rabbi Joseph Gopin. “Throughout the pandemic Chabad House of Greater Hartford has been on the front lines of providing social, humanitarian and spiritual support to the local community. We are now seeing new families moving to this area and joining our Chabad programs, the Hebrew School, summer camp, adult education and other programs offered.

We have established 10 centers in the Greater Hartford area, with special focus on youth and college campuses. We are about to embrace new teen and young professionals divisions, adding new staff to lead these programs. Lee’s leadership and strategic vision will help us go to the next level.”

“I look forward to Chabad’s continued expansion and growth, I am excited about this opportunity and know that with the help of all those involved we can achieve great success in

LEE GOLD

the present and future,” said Gold.

Lee holds a bachelors degree in History from Lehigh University, where he was a member of the national honor society Phi Beta Kappa. A graduate of the University of Connecticut School of Law, he is active in several bar associations, including the Connecticut Bar Association, the Connecticut Trial Lawyers Association, and the Hartford County Bar Association.

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JULY 9, 2021

9

OPINION

The Surfside tragedy recalls South Florida’s lon imagination and reality

BY THANE ROSENBAUM

(JTA) – Until a 13-story building inexplicably collapsed in the middle of the night, placing the whereabouts and lives of 159 residents in doubt, few gave Surfside, Florida, very much thought before last week. The town was, after all, a South Florida misnomer. There’s no surfing. The white caps on the Atlantic Ocean never provide enough tubular lift. The people of Surfside skew older. Nearly half its 6,000 residents are Jewish, and of those, many are Orthodox.

You can call Surfside sleepy, but even that wouldn’t describe it. Nothing truly special had ever happened there. Now, with a tragedy so titanic – and still unfolding – its name will become synonymous with misery.

To the casual observer, Surfside was a breakaway township from its more widely known neighbor, Miami Beach, just to its south. Those over the border on Miami Beach, and in Bal Harbour, the village to Surfside’s immediate north, for many decades had good reason to regard themselves as South Florida’s very own Old City of Jerusalem – a mixed enclave with a major Jewish quarter, and a bit more decadence.

Surfside didn’t have the Art Deco Jazz Age

sparkle or swinger elegance that the Eden Roc and Fontainebleau hotels offered back in the 1950s into the ’70s. In Surfside, the Americana was the swankiest hotel. It once showcased a very young Jackson 5, long before any Billie Jean took notice of Michael. A rare excitement, but the town’s residents didn’t beg for more.

Surfside enjoyed the stillness – on land and sea.

I know about Surfside. I grew up on 74th Street on Miami Beach. The horrific spectacle that FEMA has now declared to be a national emergency site is on 87th Street. By the time the Champlain Towers was built in 1981, I had long decamped for college and then New York.

I frequently return to Miami Beach, but mostly in my imagination. Many of my novels have featured scenes with Miami Beach as the backdrop. My last one, How Sweet It Is!, selected by the City of Miami Beach as its Centennial Book, is a nostalgic return to 1972 – a valentine, I call it – when Miami Beach was, oddly, the center of the world.

During that summer, Miami Beach hosted both the Democratic and Republican nominating conventions. Unlike the infamous Democratic National Convention in Chicago

MIAMI BEACH, FLORIDA, APRIL 1974.

(BERNARD GOTFRYD PHOTOGRAPH CCOLLECTION/LIBRARY OF CONGRESS)

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in 1968, the Miami Beach police somehow avoided clubbing the heads of Vietnam War protesters.

Jackie Gleason, who no longer had his TV variety show – once filmed live on Miami Beach – was palling around with his buddy, Frank Sinatra, who had recently retired – for the first time. You could find them drinking in hotels along Collins Avenue, recapturing the easy camaraderie of their younger days at Toots Shor’s saloon near the Theater District in Manhattan.

The cavalcade of stars did not stop there. Muhammad Ali sparred at Angelo Dundee’s 5th Street Gym and did speed work on the quicksand of the beach – in heavy sweat clothes. He was trying to reclaim the heavyweight championship forfeited when he conscientiously objected to fighting the Vietcong.

Meyer Lansky, the notorious Jewish gangster who two years later would be fictionalized in “The Godfather Part II,” had in 1972 just been extradited from Israel back to Miami Beach to stand trial for tax fraud. He would spend his days at Wolfie’s Restaurant on 21st Street surrounded by an aging crew of

Jewish wise guys still smarting over Fidel Castro’s takeover of their Havana casinos in 1959.

All of them appear in How Sweet It Is! (ye Gleason’s signature signoff), reimagined, of course – along with one more special guest.

The Yiddish novelist Isaac Bashevis Singer, not long thereafter a recipient of the Nobel Prize for Literature, was spending the winters in Surfside. While there he unsparingly fictionalized the Jews of Poland before the Holocaust, and those who survived and lived i New York thereafter, capturing their comical lives of heartbreak, betrayal and loss.

Ensconced just over the Miami Beach city line, situated right in between two Jewish enclaves populated with those who had fled or escaped one hardship or another, Singer made a canny choice for a writer with a gravitationa pull for the shortcomings and desperate mora choices of humankind.

One wonders what he might have written about the Champlain Towers today, a short distance from his own apartment.

All the avenues of Surfside were named for American and British authors. (Just west of the Champlain are Carlyle, Dickens, Irving an Emerson avenues.) Eventually a street would be named for him. He must have enjoyed the irony that some of the hotels of Surfside once restricted Jews. One shamelessly boasted “Always a view, never a Jew.” Singer strolled the sunbaked landscape in white suit and impish teardrop fedora. Always taking notes, he fiercely studied and measured the patterns of these transplanted Jews: melting snowbirds and Holocaust survivors looking to the sun to cure memories of more ashen, cloudier days; widows and divorcees looking for a male ticket back to the Northeas or out of loneliness; young families tired of the transit strikes and crime waves of New York; Hasidim who dressed in the sweltering Sunshine State as if still in Lublin; and vaudevillians wearing makeup suitable to the burlesque surroundings of Miami Beach.

All of them immortalized in Kodak color, or in the pages of My Love Affair with Miami Beach, a book of photos by Richard Nagler, fo which Singer wrote the introduction in 1990.

Imagine them as Singer once did: plotting affairs, swatting tennis balls, staring at stock tickers, clacking mah jongg tiles, gliding discs along shuffleboard courts and gesturing wildly about socialism.

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“For me, a vacation in Miami Beach was a chance to be among my own people,” Singer wrote.

He found them sitting on the Broadway medians and inside the cafeterias on the Upper West Side, too, of course. But the Jews from Miami Beach were somehow of a different species – and not only because they were more prone to skin cancer.

It was a Shangri-La of Jewish misadventure, a shtetl still trembling but without Cossacks, the Chosen People out of choices, the detour of a once wandering tribe – finally at rest in and around sleepy Surfside.

And now it is home to new waves of Jews, reflecting the area’s diversity: retirees, of course, but also younger and wealthier Jewish families, many drawn to a booming Chabad; a large cohort of Hispanic Jews with feet in North and Latin America; a smattering of Israelis; and more Sephardic Jews than the national average.

The residents of the Champlain Towers were asleep until a nightmare roused them.

Will any survive to tell this tragic tale?

In time, this beachside plot will become another reminder of senseless Jewish death in America – acts of hate, or negligence, or of God: the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire in Manhattan and the massacre at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida; the Leo Frank lynching, The Temple bombing in Atlanta, the Crown Heights riots; and the antisemitic shootings at the Jewish Community Center of Los Angeles and Jewish Federation of Seattle, and then at the Tree of Life Synagogue in Pittsburgh and Chabad synagogue in Poway, California.

At times like these, disasters, whether unnatural or manmade, leave the same feelings of loss.

Miami Beach has served as a refuge for some, and as a playground for others. An infinite coastline of condos always seemed to be rising from the sand. Today, unimaginably, we know that one can come crashing down.

Thane Rosenbaum is a novelist, the author of How Sweet It Is!, The Golems of Gotham, Second Hand Smoke and Elijah Vislble, among other works of fiction and nonfiction.

The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author alone.

jewishledger.com

Join the Jewish community’s efforts to help those affected by the condominium collapse in Surfside, Florida The Greater Miami Jewish Federation has launched an emergency assistance fund for the short-term and long-term needs of those in the Surfside, Florida community affected by the tragic collapse of the Champlain Towers South condominium building on June 24.

Federation together with its partners – Jewish Community Services of South Florida (JCS) and Mishkan Miami: The Jewish Connection for Spiritual Support – will provide financial assistance, chaplaincy support, crisis counseling and social services to people impacted by the tragedy.

The Greater Miami Jewish Federation willl continue to monitor the situation in order to help provide ongoing help to those in need.

Federation will absorb all administrative costs so that 100 percent of funds collected will be used to provide assistance to those affected.

TO DONATE: Visit jewishmiami.org or send checks with the notation “Surfside Building Collapse” to: Greater Miami Jewish Federation, 4200 Biscayne Boulevard, Miami, FL 33137

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JULY 9, 2021

11

ARTS & CULTURE

The NY Times called Isaac Bashevis Singer a Polish writ

BY ASAF SHALEV

(JTA) – Few things rile an online crowd like a mistake in The New York Times. One example is the Twitter account of a contemptuous troll dedicated to pointing out typos and grammar mistakes in the paper of record.

But there’s another category of error – the botching of a fraught historical detail – that elicits a special shock and insult.

In April, novelist Sigrid Nunez, writing an essay about unexpected bonds between strangers in the Times’ style magazine, was found to have committed such a violation. She described, in passing, Isaac Bashevis Singer as a “Polish-American author.”

The various reactions featured words like “yikes,” “obscene,” “disgusting,” aghast” and “shanda.”

“Shame on @NYTIMES for erasing his identity and heritage,” one Twitter user wrote.

It may be true that the Nobel laureate was born and raised in Poland, but Singer is, in fact, best described as a Jewish author, and any labeling that elevates the former while ignoring the latter will strike many Jews as tone-deaf at best. This sensitivity is understandable given that Singer’s hyphenated identities are the result of his immigration to the United States only a few years before the near annihilation of Polish Jewry.

Since Nunez surely didn’t mean to bring about a crime against history, the question is where did she pick up the wording that appeared in The Times?

The likely answer is quite obvious: Wikipedia.

At the time, the introduction to the Wikipedia entry on Singer described him as a “Polish American writer in Yiddish.” The word “Jewish” appeared lower, in the body of the text.

Check now and you’ll see a different first

line: Singer is “a Polish-born Jewish-American writer.” But the process of editing these few words was long and complicated, offering lessons on the pitfalls and continued promise of decentralized knowledge in the era of disinformation, with some possible insights about Polish ultranationalism.

The story of how a set of Wikipedia warriors made Isaac Bashevis Singer Jewish again starts a few years ago with a keyboard battle between two strong-willed strangers on the internet.

On one side: Wikipedia novice David Stromberg, 40, an Israel-born, U.S.-raised literary scholar and writer who lives in Jerusalem and whose research on Singer appears in academic journals.

“I’ve been in this battle since 2019, have gotten really obsessed with it,” he told the Jewish Telegraphic Agency. “You ask yourself, ‘how could this be happening?’”

On the other side: seasoned Wikipedian Oliver Szydlowski, 22, a Polish college student enrolled in a construction management program at the Queensland University of Technology in Brisbane, Australia.

“Wikipedia is a battleground, and you do tend to argue with a lot of people,” Szydlowski told JTA. “What I’m trying to do is to improve every single article as much as possible.”

At first, Stromberg found himself consulting the Wikipedia page on Singer for work. He’s a serious Singer scholar, but the page provided a quick and easy reference for certain details, like the listing of Singer’s published works.

There were little mistakes in dates and titles, and Stromberg fixed them as he went along. Then one day, he noticed Singer was identified as a “Polish American,” so he fixed that, too.

DAVID STROMBERG AT HIS JERUSALEM HOME, MAY 2021.

(COURTESY OF STROMBERG)

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OLIVER SZYDLOWSKI IS A MEMBER OF WIKIPROJECT POLAND. (COURTESY OF OLIVER SZYDLOWSKI)

“And within like an hour it was back,” Stromberg recalled. “So I went and changed it again. And again it was back.”

Stromberg navigated to the backend of the page and searched for who was making the changes. It was a user that went by the Polish-sounding “Oliszydlowski.” A user page for Oliszydlowski seemed to hint at the motivation of Stromberg’s adversary. The page showed that Oliszydlowski was awarded the Polish Barnstar of National Merit, 1st Class by something called WikiProject Poland for having created an article on Polonophilia, which means fondness for Polish culture and history.

To Stromberg, Szydlowski’s Wikipedia profile suggested that he might belong to the movement of Polish ultranationalists who have been fighting to improve the world’s perception of Poland’s 20th-century history. The sanitized narrative advanced by this movement is that the Polish people bear no responsibility for the Holocaust and were themselves victims of the Nazis.

As the back-and-forth over the Singer article continued, Szydlowski’s track record as an editor and knowledge of the Wikipedia rules allowed him to trump Stromberg’s corrections. The Wikipedia administrators who got involved sided with Szydlowski.

Eventually Stromberg’s account was blocked. He had picked the username IBSLiteraryTrust, after the Isaac Bashevis Singer Literary Trust, where he serves as an editor. It was a bad choice – Wikipedia frowns on anything that looks like promotional activity by a business or organization.

Stromberg occasionally felt silly about continuing to fight and thought of letting the error stand, hoping that internet users would know better than to trust Wikipedia. But he also knew that Wikipedia is widely read and worried that the idea of Singer being a Polish American could enter the wider culture – the

kind of scenario that eventually happened wit the phrase’s appearance in The Times.

So Stromberg fought on. He pleaded to have his account unblocked.

“I have been put here in order to stop a clarification that is scholarly in nature and has nothing to do with promotion or sales,” Stromberg wrote as part of a Wikipedia grievance process in November. “User Oliszydlowski is constantly undermining these changes and using all kinds of Wikipedia trick to block my access. Please help!!”

Oliszydlowski, meanwhile, chimed in to sa he merely hoped to enforce Wikipedia’s rules.

According to his understanding, the descripto “Jewish” didn’t belong in the lead sentence.

Only a person’s nationality – rather than religion or ethnicity – is allowed in the lead, and Jewish is not a nationality, he argued.

Stromberg countered by giving the example of articles on important figures whos lead sentence did say “Jewish,” like Walter Benjamin, Martin Buber and Shalom Shabazi.

And he added that according to Wikipedia itself, Jewish can, in fact, be considered a nationality.

“The Wikipedia entry on ‘Jewish’ clearly frames being Jewish as an ethnoreligious group and a nation, and states that ‘Jewish ethnicity, nationhood, and religion are strongl interrelated,’” Stromberg wrote.

Oliszydlowski’s repeated rejections, Stromberg wrote, suggested “national belligerence.”

Nothing worked. Stromberg kept posting the wrong answers from the wrong accounts at the wrong moments and was rebuffed each time. He decided to give up.

“The administrators on Wikipedia were no interested in upholding what might be factual information,” Stromberg said in a recent interview. “Their main concern was that peop should play by their rules. To me, that kind of game is not a game worth playing.”

Then he reconsidered.

“It’s not a game worth playing alone,” he said.

In the 20 years since it was launched, Wikipedia has proven remarkably resilient.

Run by a nonprofit and edited by anyone with an internet connection who would like to volunteer, the site turned out to be reliable in defiance of its early critics while standing as the only noncommercial entity among the mo popular websites on the internet. Wikipedia has become a part of the digital infrastructure Corporate propaganda and political agendas always made the job of Wikipedia difficult, but with the rise of state-sponsored, social media-powered disinformation, the Wikipedia community has struggled to fend o rogue editors and bad-faith revisions. When jewishledger.com

ter. Wikipedia warriors made him Jewish again.

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fighting breaks out in Gaza, for example, mobs wage war over related Wikipedia pages and administrators are forced to freeze editing.

Meanwhile, the entry for the Second Intifada, which ended more than 15 years ago, is still being litigated.

The battle over Singer’s identity didn’t erupt in quite that way, but a small crowd did coalesce after the article in The Times was published. Stromberg recruited help through Facebook; others came from Twitter.

Someone would edit the first line to add the word Jewish, and Oliszydlowski would immediately undo it, adding comments that grew increasingly impatient and acerbic – for example: “Disruptive vandalism” and “No such nationality as Jewish. How hard is that to comprehend[?]”

An Israeli Wikipedia administrator named Amir Aharoni joined the challengers as the matter went into a dispute resolution process.

Aharoni wanted the word “Jewish” added “somewhere, anywhere, in the first, allimportant sentence” of the Singer article, but with his more than 15 years of experience editing Wikipedia – and sorting through countless such disputes as an administrator – Aharoni also felt a responsibility to keep the debate civil.

“With sensitive things like the nationality of famous people, and especially Jews, of course, it’s better to be careful and not fight with other editors,” Aharoni told JTA. (Aharoni, who is an employee of the site’s operator, the Wikimedia Foundation, said he edits Wikipedia as a volunteer, and that the two functions are independent of each other.)

Rather than argue against Singer’s Polishness, Aharoni emphasized his Jewishness by citing sources like newspaper accounts and the Nobel Committee’s summary of Singer’s accomplishment.

To Oliszydlowski’s point that ethnicity and religion don’t belong in the first line, Aharoni noted the Wikipedia Manual of Style, which says that ethnicity and religion do belong if they are “relevant to the subject’s notability.”

The final decision, based on a consensus, excluding Oliszydlowski, was to identify Singer in his entry’s first sentence as Jewish, not Polish.

“There was a bit of an argument,” Aharoni said, “but it was small compared to many other arguments that happen in Wikipedia.”

A few weeks later, Szydlowski agreed to an interview with JTA. He didn’t sound exactly like the Polish propagandist that Stromberg suspected him of being.

Logging in from Australia, where he is finishing up a bachelor’s degree in construction management and urban development, Szydlowski said he still thinks it’s correct to jewishledger.com

SINGER SIGNS AUTOGRAPHS AT A RECEPTION HOSTED BY MEMBERS OF THE LOCAL JEWISH COMMUNITY IN STOCKHOLM, DEC. 9, 1978.

SINGER WAS IN THE SWEDISH CAPITAL TO RECEIVE HIS NOBEL PRIZE. (CHUCK FISHMAN/GETTY IMAGES)

refer to Singer as a Pole but has accepted the community’s decision.

“Me, personally, I don’t really have an opinion,” he said. “If they concluded that he should be described as this or that does not matter just as long as it’s correct within the Wikipedia guidelines. Really, I’m very neutral in this perspective in this dispute.

I’m satisfied now that it has actually been discussed.”

His argument was that Singer was not only Polish by nationality but that the country played a significant role in his life and career. Singer left Poland when he was in his 30s, Szydlowski noted, having already begun his career as a writer. And the literature he produced examined not just any Jews but Jews in Poland.

Szydlowski doesn’t deny Singer’s Jewishness and, in fact, is something of a Judeophile. He talked about the richness of prewar Ashkenazi culture in Europe and recited statistics on the historical size of the Jewish population of different cities. His user profile says he has Ashkenazi heritage.

Asked about that, Szydlowski shared that his great-grandfather was Jewish and survived the war by concealing his identity.

“I love researching Jewish topics, and I love comparing what Polish and Ashkenazi Jewish cultures were like because the mutual influence was unbelievable,” Szydlowski said.

The Singer dispute is not the only time Szydlowski has insisted on striking “Jewish” from the first sentence of Wikipedia articles on notable Polish Jews. In 2019, for example, he became embroiled in an argument with other Wikipedians over Renia Spiegel, a Holocaust victim whose diary has been compared to that of Anne Frank.

The nerdy-scholastic confidence of Szydlowski appears to have been shaped by years as a volunteer on Wikipedia. Starting as a young teenager, he admittedly had “no knowledge, no experience” and focused on fixing typos and grammatical errors or adding references.

Szydlowski eventually became involved in a group known as WikiProject Poland, one of more than 2,000 such collaborations on English Wikipedia alone. Each country has its own WikiProject with the goal to create standard language, improve the quality of related articles and generate

new content. The 170 or so members of the Poland team help maintain tens of thousands of articles.

“It’s very difficult to say why I do it,” Szydlowski said. “I really enjoy it. I enjoy writing about history and reading about it.”

Asked about Stromberg’s suspicion that he’s a Polish nationalist harboring a certain agenda, Szydlowski denied the assertion. He said that as an editor his job is to enforce Wikipedia’s rule against personal points of view, which includes nationalism.

“I understand where [Stromberg is] coming from because there is a lot of nationalism on Wikipedia,” Szydlowski said.

“It is a battleground, but what he’s saying – no, it’s not true.”

Stromberg said that Szydlowski’s denial belies the record of his actions – his insistence and persistence up until the point that other Wikipedians got involved and an arbitration mechanism was imposed.

“What’s a college student in Australia doing working overtime on the WikiProject Poland?” Stromberg asked. “Would a troll reveal that he’s a troll?”

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JULY 9, 2021

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Briefs Ilhan Omar: Jewish lawmakers who criticize me ‘haven’t been partners in justice’ (JTA) – Rep. Ilhan Omar has sparked a fresh round of criticism from some in the Jewish community by implying in a CNN interview that her Jewish Democratic colleagues who call her antisemitic “haven’t been partners in justice.”

Jewish anchor Jake Tapper asked Omar on air Tuesday, June 29, if she understood “why some of your fellow House Democrats, especially Jews,” have found some of her past comments antisemitic. Tapper cited a 2012 tweet in which the Minnesota lawmaker said Israel had “hypnotized the world” and her 2019 comment that AIPAC, the prominent Israel lobby, is “all about the Benjamins.”

In response, Omar said she has welcomed opportunities to engage with her Jewish colleagues, but added: “I think it’s important for these members to realize that they haven’t been partners in justice, they haven’t been equally engaging in seeking justice around the world.”

Omar has been among the most vocal Israel critics in Congress and supports conditioning U.S. aid money to the country – an option firmly opposed by many of her Democratic House colleagues. She is also one of only a few Democrats in Congress to support the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement against Israel. Her 2019 AIPAC comment and subsequent statements about Israel strained relations with Jews in her state’s district and across the U.S. Conservative Jewish groups such as the Republican Jewish Coalition quickly criticized her comment from Tuesday.

Avi Mayer, managing director of global communications for the American Jewish Committee, said Omar’s words “draw on classic antisemitic themes about Jewish clannishness, the notion that Jews only look out for themselves.”

Other Jews, meanwhile, came to Omar’s defense.

Rep. David Cicilline of Rhode Island said on Twitter that “right wingers in Washington are once again claiming Rep. @ Ilhan Omar said something she didn’t say, and trying to create a controversy where there is none.”

“It’s pathetic that they are (once again) demonizing a young woman of color to score political points,” he added.

Omar retweeted Cicilline’s comments, adding: “It’s their mission to turn and twist everything I say until I am completely silenced.”

On Wednesday morning, Omar also posted a long thread of tweets about the 14

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history of Black-Jewish cooperation, beginning with the statement that “many of my colleagues – both Jewish and nonJewish – deeply share” a commitment to fighting injustice.

“I also know that the Black community and the Jewish community have historically stood side-by-side in the fight against injustice and throughout our history we have faced efforts to divide us based on our differences,” she wrote in one tweet.

Yale student council ok’s statement accusing Israel of ‘genocide,’ ‘apartheid’ (JTA) – Yale’s student council approved a statement authored by a campus proPalestinian group accusing Israel of genocide, ethnic cleansing and apartheid.

Two campus Jewish groups condemned the statement as having “antisemitic overtones.” The Yale College Council, the undergraduate student government, approved the statement on June 27, first authored by Yalies 4 Palestine, in an 8-3 vote with four abstentions, the Forward reported. Yalies 4 Palestine released the statement on May 12 amid the Israel-Gaza conflict. “As Yale students, we condemn the injustice, ethnic cleansing and genocide occurring in Palestine,” it said.

The statement also likened Israel’s actions during the conflict to police violence against Black Americans. “Just as Israel’s military imposes the apartheid system against Palestinians, the US police enforces the system of white supremacy against Black Americans,” it said. A number of left-leaning campus groups subsequently endorsed the statement.

The campus Hillel rallied against the resolution and, once it was adopted, joined the Joseph Slifka Center for Jewish Life at Yale in condemning it has having “antisemitic overtones.” “It characterizes the Jewish state as an agent of the world’s most reprehensible forces and guilty of the most unspeakable crimes – in other words, demonically,” the Slifka/Hillel response states. “This genealogy may be invisible to its authors and adherents because the outsized perfidy they ascribe to the Jewish state is formulated in distinctly contemporary terms – but is clear, terrifying, and familiar to us.”

Israeli Foreign Minister Lapid to Tony Blinken: Let’s keep disagreements private (JTA) – New Israeli Foreign Minister Yair Lapid, meeting with his American counterpart Antony Blinken for the first time, said his government wants to mend relations between Israel and the Democratic Party. “In the past few years, mistakes were made,” Lapid said, referring to the long tenure of former Prime Minister Benjamin

| JULY 9, 2021

Netanyahu, whose divisive political tactics and close relationship with former President Donald Trump angered Democrats. “Israel’s bipartisan standing was hurt. We will fix those mistakes together.”

While the centrist Lapid stressed to Blinken in their Rome meeting that Israel has “serious reservations” with the Iran nuclear deal, the 2015 international agreement that President Joe Biden has said he wants to rejoin, Lapid said he wants disagreements on that issue and others to be a private matter. “We believe the way to discuss those disagreements is through direct and professional conversation, not a press conference,” Lapid said, according to reports. Biden for years has pushed for more discrete negotiations with Israeli leaders, including during his time as vice president under Barack Obama, who sparred publicly with Netanyahu on a host of issues. One was the Iran agreement brokered by the United States and others that Trump exited in 2018.

Blinken and Lapid met during the U.S. secretary of state’s weeklong tour of Western Europe.

Congressman urges Rutgers president to condemn anti-Israel rhetoric (JNS) Expressing concern for Jewish students at Rutgers University who may be targeted for antisemitic attacks after a union of part-time lecturers at the university singled out Israel in a recent statement, Rep. Josh Gottheimer (D-N.J.) sent a letter on June 28 to Rutgers President Jonathan Holloway asking him to “clearly and quickly” speak out against hate-filled rhetoric and misinformation campaign against Israel at the university.

The statement was issued June 12 by the executive board of the Part-Time Lecturer Chapter of Rutgers AAUP-AFT Local 6324 declaring that they, as teacher’s union members, “can no longer allow ourselves to be complicit in the illegal acts of the Israeli government,” and accused Israel of “military actions that have targeted, killed and maimed civilian populations.” The letter also accused Israel of upholding “a regime of legalized racial discrimination perpetrated against the Palestinian people.”

Gottheimer’s letter called for universities to be open to free expression, while remaining inclusive and respectful to people of all backgrounds, religions and nationalities. “To be sure, Rutgers’ parttime lecturers are entitled to hold their own opinions, even those which may be disagreeable. However, it is important to recognize that invective which singles out, disparages, delegitimizes, or demonizes Israel can and in many cases does fall outside of bounds,” he wrote. “In addition, in recent months, we have seen American Jews targeted in a series of unacceptable

anti-Semitic attacks. That is why I am deeply concerned for the wellbeing of Rutgers students who identify as Jewish or pro-Israel and who worry that they might face a hostile environment in the classroom or on campus because of such sentiments.”

Gottheimer asked Holloway to send a clear message so that Jewish and pro-Israel students at the university are not made to feel unwelcome or singled out.

The statement from the union also called for the American Federation of Teachers to divest itself of all Israeli bonds and for the U.S. government to cease financial support to Israel immediately.

Sen. Chuck Schumer to UK: Don’t take Jewish girl off life support (JTA) – Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer is making the U.S. part of a fight to keep British doctors from taking a two-year-old Jewish girl off life support. Schumer, who is Jewish, wrote to Britain’s U.S. ambassador, Karen Pierce, on Wednesday, June 23, asking her government to prevent medical authorities from making any irreversible moves concerning Alta Fixsler, who has been on life support in a Manchester hospital since her birth due to natal complications. “I urge that all health decisions that are against the wishes of the family be suspended until the citizenship process is complete and Alta can travel to the U.S. with her U.S. citizen father, Mr. Abraham Fixsler,” Schumer, a New York Democrat, wrote.

Last month, a top British court ruled against the family’s petition to have Alta moved to Israel after medical authorities’ decided to pull the plug on the machines keeping her alive. Taking Alta off life support goes against their religious beliefs, the haredi Orthodox parents said, and there may be hope for Alta recovering. Medical personnel expected Alta to die within days of being born.

The action has been delayed amid further appeals by the parents. Israel’s government has also urged the British authorities to prevent Alta from being taken off life support and want the family to be permitted to move to Israel.

Israeli couple in the running for Olympic gold (Israel Hayom via JNS) Qualifying for the Olympic Games is every athlete’s dream.

For Marhu and Selam Teferi, realizing this dream is twice as special, as both qualified to represent Israel at the upcoming Tokyo Games. Marhu is a marathon runner and Selam runs track. “Even in our wildest dreams, we didn’t think this would be possible,” said Selam. Marhu added: “When she qualified for the 5,000-meter [3 mile] CONTINUED ON PAGE 16

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run, two years ago in Belgium, I called her and we both screamed ‘Yes! We are going to the Olympics together!’ We were ecstatic.”

Before flying to Tokyo, the couple will spend a month in Italy training. “We are representing Israel, and it is a dream,” said Marhu. “I participated in the Rio Olympics in 2016, but there is no comparison because this time my wife will be with me. And even though we will stay at two different Olympic Villages, just knowing that both of us are there is incredible for us. We will speak on the phone all the time and encourage each other.” Both Marhu and Selam were born in Ethiopia. Marhu made aliyah to Israel with his family at the age of 14, whereas Selam became an Israeli citizen in 2018. “I’m so excited,” Salem said. “This will be my first Olympics, and it is so special that my husband will be there with me.”

Israeli Foreign Minister: Polish property restitution bill hints at antisemitism (Israel Hayom via JNS) Israeli Foreign Minister Yair Lapid, who on June 24 took a stringent position against a Polish bill to limit the restitution of property stolen from Polish Jews, continued to press the Polish government on Sunday, June 26, urging Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki to “check the facts.” Morawiecki said on June 26 that as long as he was prime minister, Poland “would certainly not pay for the Germans’ crimes: not a zloty, not a euro, and not a dollar.” Lapid responded by pointing out that “millions of Jews were murdered on Polish soil and no legislation will wipe out their memory.

We don’t care about the Polish money. This hints at antisemitism. … We are battling for the memory of the Holocaust victims, the pride of our people, and we will not allow any parliament to pass laws the purpose of which is to deny the Holocaust.”

Also on Sunday, Polish Ambassador to Israel Marek Magierowski received a summons to meet with the head of the Foreign Ministry’s political department, Alon Bar, over the Polish draft bill. Bar expressed Israel’s extreme disappointment that the legislation had passed the lower house and warned Magierowski that if it became law, it would have an adverse effect on Polish-Israeli relations. Bar told the Polish envoy that Israel’s objection to the bill had nothing to do with a debate over responsibility for the Holocaust, but was anchored in Poland’s responsibility to its former citizens whose property had been stolen. After the meeting, Magierowski tweeted that he had tried to “redress the misunderstandings” by explaining the Polish Code of Administrative Procedure to the Israeli public.

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Chairman of the Claims Conference Gideon Taylor said his organization was “very disappointed” by the response of Polish officials, including Prime Minister Morawiecki, to the Jewish world’s response to the draft legislation. “As we have already told the Polish government, the draft bill deals with confiscations that were carried out by the communist authorities after the war and are not related to the terrible crimes the Germans perpetrated in Poland during the war,” said Taylor.

Adam Fox becomes first Jewish player to win a major NHL award (JTA) – It’s been seven decades since the New York Rangers had a star Jewish defenseman. This season they had the best defenseman in the National Hockey League, Jewish or otherwise. Adam Fox, a native of New York’s Long Island and a longtime Rangers fan, was named the winner of the James Norris Memorial Trophy on Tuesday signifying the top defenseman. The 23-yearold, a former star at Harvard, joins Hall of Famer Bobby Orr of the Boston Bruins to win the award in their second seasons.

“It’s special,” said Fox, whose father is a longtime season ticket holder for the Rangers, according to the New York Post.

“You hear your name with [Orr and Leetch], it’s always going to be a special, special thing.” (Brian Leetch, a former Rangers defenseman was also a Norris Trophy winner.)

Along with stopping opposing scorers, Fox led NHL defensemen with 42 assists while finishing second in points with 47. He also was recognized as first team all-league.

Asked by the New York Post about being one of the NHL’s few Jewish athletes, he said in a 2019 interview, “It’s definitely nice to represent a community, for sure.”

Fox follows in the footsteps of one Hy Buller, who played three seasons for the Rangers in the early 1950s. He was named to the NHL Second All-Star Team in 1951-52, according to the iconic hockey writer Stan Fischler, also Jewish.

Fox, like Buller, is 5-foot-11 and weighs 181 pounds, compensating for a lack of size with speed. And he’s a fan favorite, also like Buller. “Buller’s connection to the large Jewish population in New York was used by Rangers management to attract a new audience to the home games,” Fischler recalls one remembrance.

“Banners emblazoned with the Star of David hung from The Garden and his faith was frequently reinforced by sports writers.”

The Rangers also featured Alex Levinsky, a Jewish defenseman in the 1930s.

In 2019, the New Jersey Devils drafted Jack Hughes – the first Jewish player to be picked No. 1.

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Yankees make CT Jewish woman batgirl 60 years after turning her down If Gwen Goldman had been named a batgirl for the New York Yankees and not been given the honor of throwing out the first pitch, it would have been enough. A retired social worker from Westport, Goldman, 70, got to be a batgirl at a Yankees game Monday night, June 28, 60 years after the team turned her down because she was a girl. General Manager Brian Cashman proffered the invite after hearing that she had been rejected for the position in 1961.

Goldman still has the letter she received that year from then-GM Roy Hamey, who explained that “a young lady such as yourself would feel out of place in a dugout.” This week, Goldman not only got a turn in the dugout, but threw out the first pitch, wore the classic Yankee pinstriped uniform and met the players.

“It just kept coming and coming,” she said of the honors, adding “dayenu,” the Hebrew word meaning that just one of the gestures would have been sufficient.

Bahrain officially appoints the first-ever ambassador to Israel (JNS) Bahrain officially appointed the country’s first-ever ambassador to Israel, the state-run Bahrain News Agency (BNA) reported Tuesday. Bahrain’s King Hamad bin Isa al-Khalifa issued a royal decree appointing Khalid Al Jalahma to head the Gulf country’s diplomatic mission to Israel. The King wished the ambassador success in promoting the message of peace and tolerance, according to the report. BNA initially announced in March the appointment of Al Jalahma who had been serving as director of operations at Bahrain’s Foreign Ministry and was previously deputy chief of mission at Bahrain’s embassy to the United States from 2009 to 2013. Israel had said the appointment was approved after a call between Bahraini Foreign Minister Abd al-Latif al-Ziani and former Israeli Foreign Minister Gabi Ashkenazi.

NYC mayoral candidate Curtis Sliwa rejects accusations of antisemitism

to sit down with him to “resolve our differences.” He also reminded potential supporters of his work on behalf of Jews.

“My two youngest sons have been raised Jewish. They need to read this? To say to themselves, my father is an antisemite?

Come on, even my worst critics out there would recognize that’s a shanda,” said Sliwa, who became the Republican nominee for mayor on Tuesday, June 29. “So I’ll reach out to meet with you and hopefully we’ll be able to resolve our differences.”

The original video, which resurfaced Thursday, June 24, showed Sliwa at a meeting of the Reform Party in October 2018 speaking to residents of upstate Rockland and Orange counties. In his speech, Sliwa derided the Orthodox “bloc vote” and suggested they control politicians because of their money. “They don’t vote the way normal Americans vote … They’re being told by the rebbe or rabbi this is who you vote for,” Sliwa said at the time. Agudath Israel of America, representing haredi Orthodox Jews, said it was “outraged” by his remarks, calling them “age-old misrepresentations and distortions that those who hate Jews have used for centuries.”

In his remarks, Sliwa did not apologize or take back his statements. “For 42 years, I’ve been there with the Guardian Angels when Jewish people were in need. Are you forgetting Crown Heights in 1991 when David Dinkins ordered the police to stand back?” he asked, recalling the city’s mayor at the time and the rioting against Jews in Brooklyn. “I and the Guardian Angels were there 30 days and 30 nights to protect the Lubavitchers.”

A growing Orthodox community has become an influential constituency in Rockland and Orange. The state’s attorney general affirmed recently that one Orange County town used underhanded tactics to keep Orthodox Jews from moving in, while a court ruled that an Orthodox-dominated school board in Rockland effectively discriminated against people of color.

Sliwa was a member of the Reform Party at the time of the 2018 video, switching to the GOP in February 2020.

“I’ve been your friend, I’ve been there always, so look I’ll reach out to you and let’s sit down and discuss our differences but please,” Sliwa entreated. “don’t call me an antisemite.”

(JTA) – In a video message Friday afternoon, New York mayoral candidate Curtis Sliwa responded to criticism of a 2018 speech in which he warned residents of the city’s suburbs that Orthodox Jews were trying to “take over your community” and are a drag on the tax system. The Guardian Angels founder declined to apologize in the video shared with the media, instead inviting Orthodox Jews jewishledger.com

THE KOSHER CROSSWORD JULY 9, 2021 “False Gods”

By: Yoni Glatt

Difficulty Level: Manageable

Vol. 93 No. 28 JHL Ledger LLC Publisher Henry M. Zachs Managing Partner

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Leslie Iarusso Associate Publisher Judie Jacobson Editor judiej@jewishledger.com • x3024 Hillary Sarrasin Digital Media Manager hillaryp@jewishledger.com EDITORIAL Stacey Dresner Massachusetts Editor staceyd@jewishledger.com • x3008 Tim Knecht Proofreader

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The publishers cannot warrant, nor assume responsibility for, the legitimacy, reputability or legality of any products or services offered in advertisements in any of its publications. The entire contents of the Jewish Ledger are copyright © 2021. No portion may be reproduced without written permission of the publishers. JHL Ledger LLC also publishes Jewish Ledger MA, All Things Jewish CT, and All Things Jewish MA.

ANSWERS TO JUNE 25 CROSSWORD

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Across 1. Umpire’s call 5. Certain British nobles 10. Monkeys and such 14. Israeli singing star Haza 15. Yutz 16. Part of a three piece suit 17. Inspiring sight for many Holocaust survivors coming to America 20. “Raiders of the Lost Ark” villain 21. Innocent one 22. Toys with likenesses of Gal Gadot and Scarlett Johansson 27. Distinctive group belief

28. Solo of cinema 29. Airplane speed numbers or some razors 31. Kind of cloth 32. Emily of the “A Quiet Place” movies 34. Basic web code 35. Those with connections 36. “Ode on a ___ Urn” (Keats poem) 38. Apple apps use it 39. Bob Dylan or Harrison Ford 42. Actor Morales always in crosswords 43. Peter Pan dog 44. CBS drama set in D.C.

47. Forbidden inks in Judaism 49. Third Commandment sin alluded to by 17, 22, and 41-Across?

52. “L’cha” follower 54. Abodes 55. Women unlikely to be seen in synagogue 58. “Midnight in Paris” actor Wilson 59. “Awww, ___ you sweet!”

60. “... Give or take” 61. Ensnare 62. Geeks 63. Hannity of note

Down 1. Help letters 2. At the back of a boat 3. Most major league sports teams 4. What one might do before or after the 9th of Av 5. Old McDonald’s refrain 6. “And now, without further ___” 7. Rabbi Isaac Alfasi aka The ___ 8. Texted “ha ha” 9. Risk for a beekeeper 10. 49-Across is one, b’Ivrit 11. Flawlessness 12. Guinness World Records suffix 13. Pig’s place 18. Israeli arms

19. “The Wizard of Oz” author Frank 22. “And step on it!”

23. Bruin or Penguin, e.g.

24. Notable doctor of 2020 25. “Am I right?” sentence ender, to Brits 26. ___ Esreh (prayer) 27. Wallach or Manning 30. Classic Mercedes models 32. “Just a minute,” in texts 33. River of Scotland 36. Insurance giant which featured Europe and Eddie Money in commercials 37. Do or die time in some

baseball games 40. 1969 moon event 41. Luxor and Bellagio 45. Omar who said “Israel has hypnotized the world” 46. Made an oath 47. Be popular on Twitter 48. Mgrs.’ helpers 49. Suggestion 50. 49-day period in Judaism 51. Unpolluted 52. ___ Equis (beer) 53. Have deed to 56. Code-cracking org.

57. Shem to Noah

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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.

TUESDAY, JULY 6 Jewish Life in Nigeria Rabbi Israel Uzan, director of Chabad in Nigeria, will discuss Jewish life in Nigeria on July 6, 7:30 p.m. Learn about the challenges and adventures bringing up a Jewish family and leading a community in this West African country; and about the local community, Israeli backpackers and visiting. Hosted by Chabad House of West Hartford. For information and to register, visit chabadhartford.com. FREE

Bring your kids for ice cream and story time, hosted by PJ Library of UJA/JCC Greenwich at a private home (address provided upon registration). Upcoming PJ Library Storytime Fridays: July 23, Aug. 6 & 20. For information nor to register: ujajcc. org. In advance: $18/family. At the door: $25/family.

SATURDAY, JULY 10 “On the Road Again” in Concert The band “On the Road Again,” featuring musicians Julie Sorcek, Nancy Janutolo and Tammy Lee Dunn, will perform live outdoors (indoors, in case of inclement weather) at the JCC of Sherman, on July 10 at 7 p.m. Reservations are required. Tickets are $20/members; $25/nonmembers; and may be purchased online at jccinsherman. org.

Author Alex Ross will discuss “Wagner, Jews, and Antisemitism,” on July 11 at 7 p.m. Ross, who has been the music critic of The New Yorker since 1996, will untangle some of the complexities surrounding Wagner’s relationships with Jews. He is the author of The Rest Is Noise: Listening to the Twentieth Century, Listen to This, and Wagnerism: Art and Politics in the Shadow of Music. In 2008 he was named a 18

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A Conversation with Sarah Wildman Journalist Sarah Wildman, author of Paper Love: Searching for the Girl My Grandfather Left Behind, will discuss her book July 12, 7 p.m. on Zoom, hosted by Voices of Hope. Wildman is co-creator, producer, and host of Foreign Policy’s First Person podcast and is currently an oped page editor at the New York Times. She is currently in the process of turning Paper Love into a film. To register, visit voices-ofhope-inc.networkforgood.com.

Virtual Book Group: Strangers in Their Own Land

PJ Library Storytime

“Wagner, Jews & Antisemitism” the subject of discussion

MONDAY, JULY 12

THURSDAY, JULY 15

FRIDAY, JULY 9

SUNDAY, JULY 11

MacArthur Fellow. Reservation requested: visit jccinsherman.org, or email info@ jccinsherman.org. FREE, donations are welcome.

A Zoom discussion of the book Strangers in Their Own Land by renowned sociologist Arlie Russell Hochschild will led by Rachel Ranis on July 15, 7 p.m. A finalist for the National Book Award and a New York Times best seller, Strangers in Their Own Land takes Hochschild on a thought-provoking journey from her liberal hometown of Berkeley, Calif., deep into Louisiana bayou country – a stronghold of the conservative right. As she gets to know people who strongly oppose many of the ideas she famously champions, Hochschild nevertheless finds common ground and quickly warms to the people she meets.

For information or to register: coshalom@ sbcglobal.net or (203) 799-2341.

Author Tal Ben-Shahar talks about being happy (no matter what) Harvard Prof. Tal Ben-Shahar, a trailblazing positive psychologist and serial entrepreneur, will discuss his New York Times bestselling book Happier No Matter What: Cultivating Hope, Resilience, and Purpose in Hard Times. A free event hosted

by UJA-JCC Greenwich. Link provided upon registration. To register and for more information, visit info@ujajcc.org.

SATURDAY, JULY 17 Tour of Botanical Garden of Healing Tour the new Botanical Garden of Healing with guides Marlene Pratt, a grieving mother who organized this garden dedicated to victims of New Haven gun violence, and BEKI member Jay Brotman, managing partner at Svigals + Partners, designers of the garden. July 17 after services and kiddush lunch. Meet at | JULY 9, 2021

JULY 6 – AUGUST 2 12:45 p.m. to walk to the nearby garden.

Congregation Beth El-Keser Israel, 85 Harrison St., at the corner of Whalley Ave., in New Haven. Rain date July 31.

For information: office@beki.org or (203) 389.2108.

Bring a blanket or each chair, and hats.

Snacks will be available, but feel free to come early with a picnic supper. For more information: orshalomct.org, (203) 7992341.

Tisha B’Av Service

WEDNESDAY, JULY 28

Tisha B’Av Maariv service with kinnot (dirges) & Eikhah (The Book of Lamentations) July 17, 9:20 to 10:30 p.m., in person and on Zoom. At Congregation Beth El-Keser Israel, 85 Harrison St., at the corner of Whalley Ave., in New Haven For information: office@beki.org or (203) 389.2108.

SUNDAY, JULY 18 Tisha BeAv morning service with Torah reading and the book of Eikhah, July 18, 9 a.m., in person and on Zoom.

At Congregation Beth El-Keser Israel, 85 Harrison St., in New Haven. For information: office@beki.org or (203) 389.2108.

MONDAY, JULY 19 Nature Therapy Placemaking Maura Smotrich, Certified Nature Therapy Guide Maura Smotrich will help awaken your senses through nature – and the lens of Judaism for relaxation and restoration, on July 19 at 10 a.m. Hosted by UJA-JCC Greenwich. Limited spots available. Link provided upon registration. To register and for more information, visit info@ujajcc.org.

FREE

WEDNESDAY, JULY 21 Kumsitz in the Courtyard Kumsitz in the courtyard of Congregation Beth El-Keser Israel (BEKI), especially suited to those nostalgic for summer camp, will feature campfire, traditional American and Jewish songs, and niggunim (Jewish melodies) – which have no words. Song sheets will be provided; July 21, 7 p.m. At BEKI, 85 Harrison St., New Haven. Rain date: July 22. For information: office@beki. org or 203.389.2108.

FRIDAY, JULY 23 Services on the Beach

Elm City Winds Concert in the Courtyard Elm City Winds will perform in concert in the courtyard of Beth El-Keser Israel (BEKI). Composed of Jennifer Sidney Silva, flute; Caesar Storlazzi, oboe; Laura Caruthers, clarinet; Adrienne Gallagher, bassoon; and Emily Fine, French horn, this woodwind quintet performs both classical and popular music; July 28, 7p.m.

Reservations required: office@beki.org or 203.389.2108. FREE, but donations to Jewish Family Services requested. At BEKI, 85 Harrison St., New Haven. Rain date: Thursday, August 5.

THURSDAY, JULY 29 Emanuel Synagogue Solar Panel Celebration The Emanuel Synagogue will unveil its solar energy project at a grand opening ceremony to be held July 29, 5 p.m., on the grounds of the West Hartford synagogue at 160 Mohegan Dr.The project will supply 90 percent of the annual electricity consumption of the synagogue building. The project will produce 198,000 kWh annually, the equivalent of powering 15 average homes annually with clean energy. It will result in the avoidance of fossil-fueled plant emissions of 140 metric tons of carbon dioxide every year. The reduction of the synagogue’s carbon emissions is equivalent to the annual emission from 30 passenger vehicles.

(For more information, see story p5)

MONDAY, AUGUST 2 27th Annual Or Shalom Golf Tournament Save the date for the annual Or Shalom Gold Tournament to be held August 2, 8 a.m. at Orange Country Club. Breakfast and a BBQ lunch are included in the entry fee (kosher dietary laws observed). For information and to register: (203) 7992341.

Congregation Or Shalom will hold Friday evening services on Gulf Beach in Milford.

Drive to the corner of Cherry St. and Gulf St. in Milford; turn left on Gulf St.; proceed to the beach (set your GPS for #460 Gold St.). Services will be immediately on the right, alongside the inlet. Dress casually. jewishledger.com

TORAHPortion Matot-Masei

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BY RABBI TZVI HERSH WEINBERG

have often written about the concepts of “honesty” and “integrity.” But never was I able to articulate their precise definitions and the difference between them as cogently as in the following passage from Stephen Covey’s The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People: “Integrity includes but goes beyond honesty. Honesty is… conforming our words to reality. Integrity is conforming reality to our words–in other words, keeping promises and fulfilling expectations. This requires an integrated character, a oneness, primarily with self but also with life.”

For Judaism, truth, emet, is more than just a virtue. It is one of the three fundamental principles, along with justice and peace, upon which the world stands.

In the words of the Talmud, “The signature of the Holy one, blessed be He, is truth.”

But as rare as the trait of honesty is, the trait of integrity is even more difficult to find. Integrity is the ability not only to say what you mean, but to mean what you say.

This week’s double Torah portion, Matot-Masei, opens with a lengthy and intricate discussion of the concepts of “the vow.” Biblical teachings insist that the words we express must be taken very seriously; indeed, we are taught that our words are sacred. Once a person utters a commitment, he or she is duty-bound to honor that commitment. “Motza sefatecha tishmor ve’asita. That which your lips express must be honored and performed.”

Honesty and integrity are not just descriptors of individual persons’ characters. Rather, they are social values, which ideally should define the essence of human communities and entire societies.

From a Jewish perspective, “honesty” and “integrity” cannot be restricted to individual paragons of virtue, saints and holy men, but must become universal cultural norms.

This is why the laws of vows, unlike all the other laws of the Torah, are explicitly given to rashei hamatot, the chieftains of the tribes. It is to emphasize that the sanctity of speech is not just a goal for a few spiritually-gifted individuals. It must be enunciated as one of the essential mores of the entire tribe.

The Talmud relates the story of an immortal community, a legendary village that knew not death. This was because no one there ever lied. This idyllic existence came to an abrupt end, however, when a young person, eager to protect the privacy of his parent, told an inquiring visitor that his parent was not home. A harmless and well-intentioned remark, common to us all.

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A white lie, perhaps, but a lie nevertheless, and one which ruined forever the eternal life of that fabled village.

Yet another lesson about keeping our word is taught in the opening verses of this week’s Torah portion (Numbers 30:1-17).

Sometimes, we overextend ourselves and make promises that we cannot possibly keep. In moments of extreme urgency, or sublime inspiration, we are wont to express commitments that are beyond our capacity to fulfill.

Can a vow thus expressed be annulled?

The Torah, ever practical, answers “yes!” and describes some of the procedures designed to release a person from his or her vows. The Talmud, in an entire tractate devoted to this topic, specifies the circumstances and conditions under which such a release can be obtained.

Most well-known among the “ceremonies” releasing us from our personal vows and promises is the Kol Nidrei prayer which ushers in our most hallowed day, Yom Kippur. Not really a prayer in the ordinary sense, Kol Nidrei is a statement in which we declare our past vows null and void. This custom is experienced by many as strange and as an offense to the value of integrity. But I have always found that it reinforces the role of integrity in my life.

During the entire year, we make many commitments and resolutions. With the noblest of motives, we promise things to our loved ones, verbally establish objectives to improve the world around us, or simply vow to lose weight, stop smoking, or start exercising.

As the year wears on, situations change, priorities shift, and we ourselves become different. At least one time each year, on Yom Kippur, we realize how unrealistic we were and that we erred in our assessment of what we could accomplish. And so, we ask that the Almighty release us from these impossible and often no longer relevant commitments, and begin with Divine help a new slate, hoping that the next time we make a promise, it will be one that we will be able to keep.

Judaism teaches us the primary importance of keeping our word. But it does not lose sight of our human frailties and limitations and recognizes that often it is not moral failure that explains our lack of integrity, but simple human weakness, hopefully rare and surely forgiven by God. Integrity is a cherished value for the society at large. The acknowledgement of human limitations in maintaining integrity must be accepted. These are two important and timely lessons from this week’s Torah portion.

OBITUARIES ADLER Ethel Libby (Gillman) Adler, 98, of West Hartford, has died. She was the widow of Julian Adler. Born in Hartford, shewas the daughter of the late Samuel and Frances (Nemeroff) Gillman. She was a life-long member of Congregation Beth Israel.

She is survived by her daughter Laura Valfer and her husband Gilbert; her along grandchildren, Karen and Daniel; her sisterin-law Evelyn Dvorin; and her extended family. Libby was also predeceased by her sisters-in-laws, Fay Rothman and Sylvia Platt.

ENGELMAN Robert J. Engelman, 88, of North Haven, died June 26. He was the widower of Sylvia Karas Engelman. Born in the Bronx, N.Y., he was the son of the late Maurice and Ruth Engelman. He served in the U.S. Army during the Korean Conflict.

He is survived by his daughter Ellen Conboy of Virginia; his brother Richard Engelman; and his grandchildren, Matthew and Jeremey Conboy, and Rachael Engelman.

He was also predeceased by his son Paul Engelman.

FRANK Ilene (Fay) Frank, 74, died June 25. Born in Hartford, she was the daughter of Sophie and Jerry Frank. She is survived by her sister Penny Borses and her husband Doug Borses, her nephew Michael Borses, and her cousin Francine Sandler.

FRANZMAN Leonard (Lee) B. Franzman died June 20.

He was the husband of Karla Franzman.

He was the son of the late Sarah and Meyer Michael Franzman. In addition to his wife, he is survived by his children, Meryl, and Marc and his wife Sherri); his granddaughters, Samantha, Olivia and Ella; and his brother Laurence.

FROMSON Howard Arthur Fromson, 99, of Stonington, formerly of Weston, Hartford and New York, died June 27. He was the husband of Sandra Bender Fromson Born in Cleveland, Ohio, he was the son of the late Morris and Hilda (Bloch) Fromson. In addition to his wife, he is survived by his children, Michele Fromson and her husband Cordell Ho, Michael Fromson and his wife Donna Martinez, Timothy Fromson and his wife Roxanne, and Brett D. Fromson; his grandchildren, Daniel Fromson, Peter Fromson (fiancé Charlotte Welbourn), James Fromson, Zachary Fromson, Mark Fromson, Ally Fromson Ho, Annie Fromson Ho, Evan Martinez and Andrea Martinez Frey (Kelly). He was also predeceased by his brother Milton G. Fromson. He served in the U.S. Army’s Office of Strategic Services (OSS), as part of an intelligence group assigned to prepare for the invasion of Italy as part of the 2677th Regiment of OSS in North Africa attached to General Mark Clark’s 5th Army. He was granted a field commission to Lieutenant.

JAIVEN Leslie Ann Jaiven, 66, of Newington, died June 25. Born in Stamford, she was the daughter of Dorothy (Zelinsky) and the late Leon Jaiven. In addition to her mother, she is survived by her nieces and nephew, Rebecca Jaiven and her husband Evan Daigle of Greenville SC), Matthew Jaiven of Miami, Fla., and Hannah Jaiven and her fiance Alex Petry of Hamilton, Mich.

MI); her brother and sister-in-law, Jerry and Kathy Jaiven of Holland, Mich.; and numerous cousins.

KLEIN Daniel Weller Klein of Nashville, Tenn., died June 26. He was the son of the late Jerome Klein the late Sylvia Weller Fish. He CONTINUED ON THE NEXT PAGE

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OBITUARIES is survived by his children, Jerome Klein and his wife Tiana, and Jackie Babat and her husband Brett; his sibling Macky Miller; six grandchildren; a niece and nephew.

MARK Harry H. Mark, 90, of North Haven, died June 14. He was the husband of Joan Ruth Lipton. He was the son of the late Ruth and Lothar Markiewitz. Born in Breslau, Germany and raised in Israel, with his siblings, Miriam and Gunther, he fought in the Israel’s War of Independence as a radio operator for Moshe Dayan. He was a member of Congregation Mishkan Israel.

In addition to his wife, he is survived by his daughters, Hayley Mark and Tami Mark; four grandchildren, Dylan, Alana, Gabriel, and Laina; and many nieces and nephews.

REZNIKOFF Linda Allen (Stapelton) Reznikoff, 83, of Pittsburgh, Penn., formerly of Stamford, died June 21. She was the widow of the late Dr. Marvin Reznikoff. She was born in Cranston, R.I., the daughter of the late Byron and Doris (Hopkins) Stapelton. She is survived by her children, Melissa Hoch and her husband Jonathan of Stamford, and

Victoria Crowley and her husband John of Pittsburgh, Penn.; her stepchildren, Anne Bratskeir and her husband Stan of Truro, Mass., Alex Reznikoff and his wife Carol of Ventura, Calif, and John Reznikoff of Wilton; her grandchildren, Lauren (Barry), Amy (Darryll), Nicholas (Paris) and Kate (Ben) Bratskeir, Elizabeth, Margaret, Helena, Charlie and Lucas Reznikoff, Brendan and Logan Kevan, Jack and Connor Hoch, and Maren, McKenna, and John Patrick Crowley; and three nieces. She was also predeceased by her sister, Joan Fenner Hall.

ROBIN William Leon Robin, 98, of Bloomfield, died June 21. He was the widower of Elaine Robin. Born and raised in Providence, R.I., he was the son of the late Benjamin and Eva (Lozovitzky) Robin. He was a veteran of World War II. He and brother of Sheila Robin Russo and the late Rob Robin. He is survived by his daughters, Susan Bookbinder and her husband Steve, Ellen Robin and her husband Michael Katz, Beth Robin and her husband Peter Manuel, Deborah Robin and her husband Jack Horak; his former son-

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in-law, Sandy Isenstadt; his grandchildren, Sarah Bookbinder (Harold Park), Rachel Bookbinder, Maya Bookbinder (Jess Cuevas); Ivan Katz (Zoe Unruh), Asher Katz (Abbie Gabrielson), Jonah Katz, Sophie and Lili Manuel, Aaron Isenstadt (Jessie Papalia), and Anna Isenstadt; his greatgrandchildren, Eve and Seth Park, and Zadie Katz; his sister Sheila Robin Russo.

He was also predeceased by his brother Rob Robin.

SMITH Alan Sol Smith, beloved husband, father and grandfather, died peacefully at home surrounded by family, at the age of 87. Alan was president and co-owner of the Crown Market, a kosher supermarket with stores in West Hartford, New Haven and Springfield, MA. The West Hartford store remains an institution in that community and continues to draw customers from around New England, 81 years after the Crown was co-founded by Alan’s father Sam Smith. Alan married his high school sweetheart, Paula (North) on August 16, 1953, and they have shared a long, loving adventure and nearly 68 years of marriage.

Together they raised three children, Steven, Joshua and Tovia, who will remember him for the way he offered unwavering support and grounding, while at the same time, encouraging them to chase their dreams, wherever that may lead. He delighted in watching his children marry, and loved Darci, Lael and Michael as his own, and he adored his grandchildren Jaron, Talia, Arianna, Drew, Sophie Ana, Laina and Jonathan. After graduating

from the University of Pennsylvania Beta Gamma Sigma, with a Bachelor of Science degree in Economics in 1954, Alan went on to become a CPA. He practiced for several years, before taking over the family business, and running the Crown Market for a quarter century. Alan was dedicated to his volunteer work in the Hartford Jewish community, serving on several boards including the Jewish Federation, the Jewish Community Center and the Hebrew Academy of Greater Hartford, (aka New England Jewish Academy), leading the school’s move from Hartford to a stateof-the-art campus in Bloomfield, Conn. He was known for his integrity, his passionate commitment to the community and his philanthropy. Alan first grew to love San Francisco when he was stationed to serve in the U.S. Army at the Presidio in 1954 for two years. After retiring at age 55, he and Paula first enjoyed retirement on the East Coast until 1998, when they made the move back to the Bay Area. Alan is survived by his wife, Paula, their thee children and seven grandchildren.

SOFIAN Walter Sofian, 82, of Shelton, died June 25. He was the widower of Muriel (Blanc) Sofian. Born in Brooklyn, N.Y., he was the son of the late David and Libby (Hertzberg) Sofian. He was an active member of Temple Emananuel in Orange. He is survived by his children, Eileen Fine and her husband Steve, Lisa Hurlbert and her husband Daniel, and Janet Adams and her husband Jeff); his sister Harriet Gorman and her husband Pablo); his grandchildren, Jessica (Randy), Andrew (Beth), Jenna (Fiance), Laura, Destany,Florian, & Rebekkah; his great-grandchildren, Morgan and Ryder. He was also predeceased by his granddaughter Alyssa.

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CLASSIFIED

LOOK for these MAGAZINES in your INBOX!

To Place An Ad: PH: 860.231.2424 x3035 • Fax: 860.231.2485 Email: howardm@jewishledger.com

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

TRENDING

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.

CELEBRATIONS • JUNE SENIOR LIVING • AUG.

MARCH JUNE SEPTEMBER NOVEMBER

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MARCH

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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.

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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.

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

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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.

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

Contact Leslie 860.231.2424 or leslie@jewishledger.com jewishledger.com

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 for Jewish Life 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

JULY 9, 2021

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STAY TUNED!

R

Rosh Hashanah arrives very early this year and we are busy putting the finishing touches on our menu and our NEW AND DRASTICALLY IMPROVED holiday order pickup systems! systems!

We also have some new and exciting news about catering coming VERY soon...

STAY TUNED! The Crown Market 2471 Albany Ave West Hartford, CT 06117

860.236.1965

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

We’re not JUST kosher...we’re DELICIOUS! 24

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