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Post-Storm Surge in Jewish New Orleans (Katrina), DeKalb Schools Pass Holiday Test, Education, Chabad Growth, Oy! in Smyrna, Yellow Fever (Beth Jacobs Viral Campaign), Youth Appeal (Reform Synagogues)
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VOL. XC NO. 32 WWW.ATLANTAJEWISHTIMES.COM
Simchas 3Calendar 4Candle Lighting 4Remember When 6Israel 9Opinion 10
INSIDEBusiness 20Arts 26Education 27Obituaries 28Crossword 30Marketplace 31
Post-Storm Surge Jewish New Orleans thrives 10 years after Katrina
AUGUST 28, 2015 | 13 ELUL, 5775
Main photo by Michael Jacobs; inset photo by Gil RubmanAfter Hurricane Katrina and the floodwaters that followed drove away thousands of New Orleans’ Jewish residents, the fu-ture of the community was in doubt amid the devastation typified by Congregation Beth Israel, whose destroyed sanctuary in the Lakeview neighborhood is shown at the end of December 2005, four months after the storm. But the celebration seen at the opening of the new Beth Israel in Metairie in August 2012 (inset) reflects the community’s revival. Stories, Pages 22-25
DeKalb Schools Pass Holiday TestJewish public school parents in DeKalb
County declared victory Tuesday, Aug. 25, when Superintendent Stephen
Green announced a testing schedule that eliminates High Holidays conflicts.
“It is a testament to the power of the people — several concerned parents who raised their voices and inspired a broader community to take action,” parents group Resolve DeKalb ITSB Testing posted on its Facebook page. “We are delighted.”
DeKalb’s schedule for the Iowa Tests of Basic Skills, used in identifying gifted students, had included Sept. 15, the sec-ond day of Rosh Hashanah, and Sept. 23, Yom Kippur. Rosh Hashanah’s first day was the makeup date for another stan-dardized test, the Cognitive Abilities Test.
Rich Litner, Alan Kitey and Shari Magnus organized a parents meeting Sunday, Aug. 23, at Congregation B’nai Torah, Litner’s synagogue, with DeKalb school board member Stan Jester and his wife, county Commissioner Nancy Jester, who offered support for the cause.
Parents launched a letter-writing campaign, and rabbis including B’nai Torah’s Joshua Heller and Temple Sinai’s Ron Segal applied pressure.
“The revised school testing calendar removes all conflicts with religious holi-days while ensuring timely testing for students,” Green said Aug. 25. ITBS test-ing now will occur three days before Rosh Hashanah and three after. Yom Kippur is one of four ITBS makeup dates.
The schedule does create a conflict between the CogAT and Shemini Atzeret and Simchat Torah. Cobb County has the same problem with its ITBS testing and a CogAT conflict with Sukkot Day 2. ■
YELLOW FEVERBeth Jacob goes viral with a campaign to welcome newcomers to High Holiday learn-er’s services. Page 6
YOUTH APPEAL Meet three people leading new efforts to engage with young congregants at Reform synagogues. Page 18
BIG BITESSherry Habif’s cater-ing recipes help her son get a taste of the restaurant business at Oy! in Smyrna. Page 20
JELF EDUCATIONHawks CEO Steve Koonin and a Georgia Tech loan recipient help teach a crowd of 315 the value of the Jewish Educational Loan Fund. Page 8
CHABAD GROWTHA new Torah in Kennesaw and a new student cen-ter for Georgia State and Tech are the latest signs of Chabad’s expanding com-munity. Page 14
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MANY OF ISRAEL’S BEST FRIENDS LIVE HERE.
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SIMCHAS
EngagementWasserman-TaylorMarilyn M. Wasser-
man of Decatur an-nounces the engage-
ment of her daughter, Sharon Irene, to Thomas Andrew Tay-lor, son of Lorayne Taylor of Clive, Iowa, and James Taylor of Wichita, Kan.
Sharon is also the daugh-ter of the late Allan Wasser-man. She is the granddaugh-ter of the late Marion and Leo Wasserman and the late Ethel and Reuben Margolis.
Sharon and Thomas met as teenagers at Playland Skat-ing Rink in Atlanta and recon-nected 32 years later.
Sharon is a magna cum laude graduate of the University of Georgia. She works as a user experience/interface designer for Tekscan in Boston. Thomas is employed by FedEx Freight in Boston.
A May 2016 wedding is planned in Atlanta at the Georgian Terrace hotel. The couple will continue to live in Boston.
EngagementOreck-WeissMark and Debbie Weiss of Roswell announce the engagement of their son,
Matthew Michael Weiss, to Stephanie Rose Oreck, daughter of Michael and Susan Oreck of Minnetonka, Minn.
Matthew is the grandson of the late Mannie and Natalie Berlin and the late Jerry and Rose Weiss. He graduated from the University of Georgia with a major in political science and earned a juris doctor degree from the University of Geor-gia School of Law. He is a lawyer with the Dentons law firm in Atlanta.
Stephanie is the granddaughter of Merton and Leslee Shapiro of Minneton-ka, Marshall and Julie Oreck of New Orleans, Lillian Orenstein of Minnetonka, and the late Norman Orenstein. Stephanie graduated from Indiana University with a major in Jewish studies. She is employed by the Jewish Federation of Great-er Atlanta.
An October wedding is planned in Minneapolis.
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CALENDAR www.atlantajewishtimes.com
CANDLE-LIGHTING TIMESParshah Ki Tetze
Friday, Aug. 28, light candles at 7:51 p.m.Saturday, Aug. 29, Shabbat ends at 8:46 p.m.
Parshah Ki TavoFriday, Sept. 4, light candles at 7:41 p.m.
Saturday, Sept. 5, Shabbat ends at 8:36 p.m.
THURSDAY, AUG. 27Kosher festival. The adults-only Ko-sher Food & Wine Atlanta festival runs from 7 to 10 p.m. at the Georgia Rail-road Freight Depot, 65 Martin Luther King Jr. Drive, downtown. Admission is $70 for ages 21 to 30 or $90 for those older; www.KFWAtl.com.
Justice talk. ACCESS Atlanta and the GALEO Leadership Council present “A Conversation on Justice in America” at the Latin American Association, 2750 Buford Highway, Atlanta, at 7 p.m. Free; RSVP to [email protected].
Fall Bargainata sale. The National Council of Jewish Women’s semiannu-al sale of used clothing and accessories holds its preview night from 7 to 10 at 6125 Roswell Road, Sandy Springs. Ad-mission is $25 in advance or $35 at the door for the preview and free for the regular hours, 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Friday and Saturday and noon to 4 Sunday; www.ncjwatlanta.org or 404-843-9600.
SUNDAY, AUG. 30Civil rights struggle. Reform congrega-tions’ role in the civil rights movement and continuing struggle for justice is explored at the Center for Civil and
Human Rights, 100 Ivan Allen Blvd., downtown, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. with keynote speaker Rebecca Stapel-Wax of SOJOURN and such panelists as Rabbi Peter Berg of The Temple, Janice Roths-child Blumberg and center interim CEO Deborah Robinson. Attendance, including lunch, is $36; www.cvent.com/d/8rqvj5 or [email protected].
Torah restoration kickoff. Congrega-tion Beth Shalom, 5303 Winters Chapel Road, Dunwoody, launches its Holo-caust Torah restoration with brunch, a chance to help sofer Rabbi Yochanan Salazar write a letter and an educa-tional program at 10 a.m. Free with required RSVP; cbshalom.wufoo.com/forms/torah-restoration-brunch-rsvp.
Chabad center opening. Chabad of Downtown Universities celebrates the opening of the Rohr Chabad House, 471 10th St., midtown, to serve Geor-gia State and Georgia Tech. noon. Free; www.chabaddtu.com.
Teen program. Chabad Intown launch-es its CTeen program for the school year with a yacht party at noon; www.chabadintown.org or 404-898-0434.
Lebanon War film. Hadassah’s Mount Scopus Israel Film Fest presents “Zay-toun,” about a downed Israeli pilot in the 1982 war and the Palestinian refu-gee boy who helps him, at 1:15 p.m. at the Central DeKalb Senior Center, 1346 McConnell Drive, Decatur. Tickets are $12, payable by check made to Hadas-sah and mailed to Melanie Doctor, 3825 LaVista Road, J-1, Tucker, GA 30084. RSVP to Regine Rosenfelder at [email protected] or 404-633-1849.
Camp day. The Jewish Federation of Greater Atlanta, with the Camping Initiative and PJ Library, holds a fam-ily fun day from 1 to 3 p.m. for children interested in or recently returned from Jewish summer camp at the pavilion at Brook Run Park, 4770 N. Peachtree Road, Dunwoody. The event includes free snacks, food for purchase, bounce houses, a balloon artist, face painting, music and stations from participating camps. Admission is $5 for adults and free for children; [email protected] or 678-222-3730.
Israeli film screening. Israeli director Eran Riklis, artist in residence at Emo-ry University, introduces a showing at 4 p.m. of his 2004 movie, “The Syrian Bride,” about a Druze woman in the Golan Heights. The screening in White Hall Room 208 includes a discussion and reception. Free; filmstudies.emory.edu/home/events/film-series/eran-rik-lis-residency.html.
America’s music. The Jewish Federa-tion of Greater Atlanta hosts the one-man show “Hershey Felder as Irving Berlin” at 5 p.m. at the Buckhead The-atre, 3110 Roswell Road. Tickets are $18; www.jewishatlanta.org/hersheyfelder.
End-of-summer barbecue. Congrega-tion Beth Jacob, 1855 LaVista Road, Toco Hills, holds a cookout, rain or shine, with music, a free kids show, a free car-icaturist and food for purchase from 5 to 7 p.m. Free; RSVP to [email protected] or 404-633-0551.
Bowling kickoff. The Atlanta Jewish Bowling League holds a reception at 6:30 p.m. at Brunswick Zone Roswell, 785 Old Roswell Road. The Sunday night bowling league starts play Sept.
20. For information or reservations, call Roz Brotman at 678-393-6339 or Alex Schulman at 404-667-7752.
Infertility support. The inaugural communitywide event for the Wo/Men’s Infertility Support Havurah is a panel discussion featuring experts on fertility, mood disorders and legal is-sues related to fertility challenges, as well as radio personality Jenn Hobby, who has struggled with infertility, at 7 p.m. at Temple Sinai, 5645 Dupree Drive, Sandy Springs. Free; www.wishatlanta.org.
MONDAY, AUG. 31Iran lecture. Kenneth Stein of the In-stitute for the Study of Modern Israel addresses “Iran and Other Israel-Relat-ed Matters That Make You Nervous” at 7:15 p.m. at Congregation B’nai Torah, 700 Mount Vernon Highway, Sandy Springs. Free; ismi.emory.edu/home/index.html.
TUESDAY, SEPT. 1Israeli film lecture. Israeli director Eran Riklis, artist in residence at Em-ory University, speaks about “Israeli Cinema: The Way We Were” at 7:30 p.m. in the Jones Room of the Woodruff Library. Free; filmstudies.emory.edu/home/events/film-series/eran-riklis-residency.html.
WEDNESDAY, SEPT. 2Kollel networking. Rabbi Mordechai Blecher speaks during the Atlanta Scholars Kollel’s networking event, “Unity, Pleasure and the New York Jets,” at 5:30 p.m. at Atlanta Jewish Academy, 5200 Northland Drive, Sandy Springs. Admission is $25 online, $30 at the door; www.atlantakollel.org.
Israeli film screening. Israeli director Eran Riklis, artist in residence at Emo-ry University, introduces a showing at 7:30 p.m. of his 2008 movie, “The Lem-on Tree,” about Israeli-Palestinian ten-sions over a lemon grove. The screen-ing in White Hall Room 208 includes a discussion and reception. Free; film-studies.emory.edu/home/events/film-series/eran-riklis-residency.html.
FRIDAY, SEPT. 4LimmudFest. The Labor Day weekend
For seventeen years providing theseservices for the entire community.
Reserve your tickets at www.shemaweb.org
We’re always open.You’re always welcome.
Come to the High Holidays
at
Shema YisraelThe Open Synagogue
Reserve your tickets at www.shemaweb.org
SHEMA YISRAEL’S COMMUNITY HIGH HOLY
DAYS WORSHIP SERVICES
Held at UNITY ATLANTA 3597 Parkway Lane - Norcross Traditional Services or Reform Services It’s your choice! Everyone is welcome There is never a ticket charge
The Halpern Center 4381 Beech Haven Trail, Smyrna GA 30080
(off Cumberland Parkway)There is no charge
Another community event from Kol Echad and Shema Yisrael- The Open Synagogue
Ticket reservations immediately on-line at www.shemaweb.org
We’re always open.You’re always welcome.
Come to the High Holidays
at
Shema YisraelThe Open Synagogue
Reserve your tickets at www.shemaweb.org
SHEMA YISRAEL’S COMMUNITY HIGH HOLY
DAYS WORSHIP SERVICES
Held at UNITY ATLANTA 3597 Parkway Lane - Norcross Traditional Services or Reform Services It’s your choice! Everyone is welcome There is never a ticket charge
The Halpern Center 4381 Beech Haven Trail, Smyrna GA 30080
(off Cumberland Parkway)There is no charge
Another community event from Kol Echad and Shema Yisrael- The Open Synagogue
Ticket reservations immediately on-line at www.shemaweb.org
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Atlanta
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APRIL BASLERDAVID BENKOF
JORDAN GORFINKELYAACOV NOAH GOTHARD
LEAH R. HARRISONMARCIA CALLER JAFFE
RANDY KESSLERKEVIN MADIGANDAVE SCHECHTERCADY SCHULMANCHANA SHAPIRO
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Corrections & Clarifications
• Temple Sinai Rabbi Emeritus Philip Kranz did not sign the Ameinu let-ter in support of the Iran nuclear deal, as reported in the Aug. 21 is-sue. We received incorrect infor-mation from Ameinu and failed to confirm it before publishing it. • Guy Tessler is the president of Conexx: America Israel Business Connector. His title was incor-rect in an article about the Israeli Consulate in the Aug. 21 issue. • The Latin phrase on Leo Frank’s gravestone is Semper Idem (always the same). It was incorrect in an ar-ticle in the Aug. 14 issue.
celebration of Jewish learning starts with arrivals between 2 and 6 p.m. to-day and runs through midday Monday, Sept. 7. Registration fees range from $199 to $799 per person, depending on accommodations; www.limmudse.org.
TUESDAY, SEPT. 8Blood drive. Temple Kol Emeth, 1415 Old Canton Road, East Cobb, holds a Red Cross blood drive from 3 to 8 p.m. Email [email protected] for an appointment.
Israeli film lecture. Israeli director Eran Riklis, artist in residence at Em-ory University, speaks about “Israeli Cinema: Forging an Identity” at 7:30 p.m. in the Jones Room of the Woodruff Library. Free; filmstudies.emory.edu/home/events/film-series/eran-riklis-residency.html.
THURSDAY, SEPT. 10Israeli film lecture. Israeli director Eran Riklis, artist in residence at Em-ory University, speaks on the topic “Of Conflict and Optimism: My Personal Cinematic Voyage” at 7:30 p.m. in the Carlos Museum reception hall. Free; filmstudies.emory.edu/home/events/film-series/eran-riklis-residency.html.
SATURDAY, SEPT. 12Comedy show. Lenny Marcus performs adults-only standup at the Marcus Jew-ish Community Center, 5342 Tilly Mill Road, Dunwoody, at 8:30 p.m. Tickets are $18 to $25; www.atlantajcc.org/in-terior-pages/arts-and-culture-theater-productions or 678-812-4002.
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LOCAL NEWS www.atlantajewishtimes.com
By David R. [email protected]
It started with a little chutzpah and a lot of dough.
Last fall, as part of the world-wide Shabbat Project movement, 350 Jews gathered at the Marcus Jewish Community Center to bake challah. The inaugural event was so well re-ceived that the center and Shabbat Project are partnering again Oct. 22 to teach the importance of observing the Sabbath and preparing challah.
“Last year was a sellout. We actu-ally had to close the event off,” said Rabbi Brian Glusman, the Marcus JCC’s outreach and engagement direc-tor. “People showed up that night and weren’t allowed to participate because we ran out of ingredients.”
This year’s event will be held in the JCC gymnasium to accommodate an expected crowd of 600 people. Nearly 600 pounds of flour, double the amount of last year, will be brought in to make challah.
The challah bake is part of the worldwide Shabbat Project, a week-end full of events across the globe to encourage Shabbat observance. The movement was started in 2013 by War-ren Goldstein, the chief rabbi of South Africa, and last year spread to more than 450 cities.
“For me, the Shabbat Project is about being Jewish regardless of your affiliation,” said Robyn Regenbaum, who serves as the Atlanta coordinator for the movement. “It’s knowing how important Shabbat is regardless of how you celebrate and accepting everyone for who they are.”
In addition to the challah bake,
the Atlanta Shabbat Project will host a Havdalah concert at the Atlanta Jewish Academy auditorium Saturday night, Oct. 24, featuring Hasidic soul band Zusha.
Besides the two events, Regen-baum said, it’s up to you and your fam-ily to decide how to observe Shabbat on your own.
“For me personally, I celebrate Shabbat as an Orthodox Jew,” said Re-genbaum, who grew up in South Afri-ca. “However anyone else wants to cel-ebrate is fine with me; my issue is just getting people to observe Shabbat. It’s important to keep Judaism alive.”
The worldwide Shabbat Project has roots in Orthodox Judaism, but the movement includes the entire Jewish community in Atlanta.
Shabbat is the most important ritual observance in Judaism and is the only one instituted in the Ten Com-mandments.
“Growing up as a traditional Jew, I didn’t know there were other opportu-nities or methods of enjoying Shabbat,” Rabbi Glusman said. “When people tell me they don’t have time to make a traditional Shabbat with chicken and kugel, I say have a Shabbat over pizza. Light your Shabbat candles and have challah. It’s possible to celebrate in a variety of ways.” ■
Have Shabbat Your WayProject promotes challah-ic observance
What: The Great Big Challah Bake
Where: Marcus JCC’s Zaban Park, 5342 Tilly Mill Road, Dunwoody
When: 7 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 22
Tickets: $10, advance reservation and payment required; atlanta.theshabbosprojectusa.org
Last year’s Shabbat Project challah bake at the Marcus Jewish Community Center was so well attended that the Atlanta Shabbat Project and the center
will again partner to teach the importance of Shabbat observance.
Minyans of Minions
Jewish versions of the Minions, those yel-low creatures made
famous in two “Despi-cable Me” films before headlining their own cartoon blockbuster this summer, are popping up everywhere at Congre-gation Beth Jacob. You can find them in hall-ways, above doorways, in bathrooms and across a banner alongside LaVista Road. Rabbi Aiai Glesses, Rose Shytell and Ken Naynahora are never in the same places for more than a week, and their specific messages may vary. But the bottom line is the same on every flier and sign featuring the trio: Invite and attend the learner’s services be-ing led by Matt Lewis for Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur at the Orthodox shul in Toco Hills. With the support of Rabbi Ilan Feldman, Lewis and Joel Alpert are behind the guerrilla marketing campaign for the free services. You can follow the Minions’ minyans exploits at www.facebook.com/HighHolidayMinyans. ■
Outside, Joel Alpert checks on Beth Jacob’s roadside minyans banner, while inside Minion Ken Naynahora is in the face of anyone drying his hands in the bathroom.
Remember When10 Years Ago Aug. 26, 2005
■ The 90th anniversary of the lynching of Leo Frank was commemorated with a ceremony that celebrated the changes in Cobb County while remembering the injustices done to Frank. A crowd gathered by the Anti-Defamation League and area rabbis near the site of the 1915 hanging included descendants of Frank’s defenders and his lynchers.
■ Herman and Nina Fishman of Atlanta, married June 15, 1950, in Tulsa, Okla., celebrated their 55th wedding anniversary with a river cruise in Eastern Europe.
25 Years Ago Aug. 31, 1990
■ Iraq’s invasion of Kuwait not only has sparked an international crisis that has resulted in U.S. troops being sent to the Middle East, but also has put Jewish organizations in the awkward position of having to answer charges that Saddam Hussein is standing up to Israel on behalf of all Arabs. The Atlanta Jewish Federa-tion has avoided issuing a position on the Persian Gulf crisis.
■ Jennifer and Harvey Rickles of Atlanta announce the birth of a daughter, Julia Sarah, on July 9. Rabbi Arnold Goodman officiated at the naming ceremony.
50 Years Ago Aug. 27, 1965
■ Some of the most successful Tau Epsilon Phi alumni in the world will be in At-lanta for the fraternity’s national convention Sept. 1 to 4 at the Americana. Those expected to attend include Herbie Flam, a former member of the U.S. Davis Cup team; Arnold “Red” Auerbach, coach of the Boston Celtics; and Benny Goodman, “Mr. Clarinet.” Atlantan Mendel Romm Jr. will be installed as national president.
■ Mr. and Mrs. Henry Wisebram of Barnesville cordially invite their relatives and friends to attend the bar mitzvah of their son, Steven, at 8:30 a.m. Sunday, Aug. 29, at Ahavath Achim Synagogue.
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LOCAL NEWS www.atlantajewishtimes.com
AtlantaHistoryCenter.com/Filming
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Atlanta History Center
Through November 20, 2015Hollywood directors John Ford, George Stevens, and Samuel Fuller created American cinema classics, but their most important contribution to history was their work in the U.S. Armed Forces and Secret Services.
An exhibition by the Mémorial de la Shoah, Paris, France.
Last December as pundits specu-lated whether ISIS fighters or Ferguson rioters would be Time’s
Person of the Year, reason prevailed: Dr. Bruce Ribner and other Ebola health care workers took the honor.
Ribner also was selected by At-lanta Magazine in July as the top doc in infectious diseases.
He may be the most fa-mous man you have never heard of. Ribner, a product of Princeton University and Harvard Medical School who has a master’s in public health to go with his M.D., serves as the director of the Serious Communi-cable Disease Unit at Emory Univer-sity Hospital. He restored calm to the public by executing the 13-year plan of the isolation unit to treat infected health care workers during the 2014-15 outbreak in West Africa.
We were glued to the sight of Ribner on the major news channels, and then I saw him opening the ark at Ahavath Achim Synagogue. My son saw Bob Dylan on Yom Kippur at Beth Tefillah. Services are the place to be for more than one reason.
Jaffe: You have been called the only man truly prepared to deal with something like the Ebola virus. You began the isolation unit and protocol 13 years ago. Did you ever doubt your decade-long course?
Ribner: For a while I was com-pared to Noah building an ark for a storm that was not coming. There is value in a certain high level of insur-ance. Infectious disease physicians have to really know everyone’s special-ties to prepare for the unimaginable.
Jaffe: What does an isolation unit consist of?
Ribner: Six hundred twenty-two square feet for two patients, special ventilation, and the ability to care for the sickest patients.
Jaffe: Emes (tell the truth). Did you ever feel that you were in harm’s way — of contracting the disease or spreading it to your loved ones?
Ribner: Sanjay Gupta asked me the very same thing. I never had fear. I have great faith in our policies and procedures.
Jaffe: Did you ever harbor the no-tion that Ebola could have become an epidemic in the U.S.?
A Medical Pioneer Among Us
Jaffe’s Jewish JiveBy Marcia Caller [email protected]
Ribner: No, I didn’t. It was never a threat to the general public. Our public health infrastructure is too strong. But don’t relax as being out of the woods. Ebola might come back. We have to plan and adjust. In the next three to five years, we might see MERS, avian influenza, SARS or a totally new agent. Nature … throws curve balls.
Jaffe: During the crisis, did you find yourself working under extreme pressure?
Ribner: Yes, it was very labor-intensive. We worked around the clock caring for four patients. Remember, it was an intensive-care setting.
Jaffe: What do you think is your main contribution?
Ribner: Our mission was to educate the public with the confidence that we could clearly handle the situ-ation. We also owed it to healthcare workers to add to our knowledge about this disease. We at Emory set the national example.
Jaffe: You’ve been a physician for four decades, and now you’re Time magazine’s Person of the Year. How do you prepare yourself for all the public-ity? Does your family tease you about getting a big head?
Ribner: Well, I never anticipated this international spotlight. My family is proud. My granddaughter (while researching Ebola in the school library) was overheard bragging to her classmates that she had a famous grandfather. Actually, we handled the press fairly well. One of our patients came and left before the press knew a month later. We treated three patients from West Africa with high-risk exposures that the press never knew about. Total secret until now. Patient confidentiality is tops.
Jaffe: So where are we now with Ebola?
Ribner: The American public has a short memory. People abroad are still suffering, and we are still observ-ing. The vaccine used in Sierra Leone is promising. Two agents we tried here showed no benefit. One patient was
given a different experi-mental agent after a high-risk exposure and never got sick. We are learning a great deal.
Jaffe: Do you come from a medical family?
Ribner: Growing up in New York City, my dad was a dentist. My older brother is a neurologist. My wife was a nurse/health care administra-tor, faculty research nurse. I majored in chem-istry and knew that I didn’t want to end up doing basic science research.
Jaffe: Are your sons in medicine?Ribner: They are all successful
professionals: one mechanical engi-neer, one attorney, and one (here in Atlanta) is CEO of a flooring company. But the star this week is my 18-year-old grandson graduated from the Weber School and is joining the IDF.
Jaffe: So what do you do to relax?
Ribner: I just came back from Banff, Canada, giving a lecture, then staying over to hike the glaciers with my wife. My hobby is woodworking; I recently made a grandfa-ther clock.
Jaffe: Do you look to religion in your work?
Ribner: As a Jew, my primary mission would involve saving lives. On a more practical level, we developed an alternate
protocol in case we had to cremate a victim … should Jewish observance come into play. Fortunately, it did not. But we were prepared.
Jaffe: Giants in medicine. We’ve all seen the pride lists of what Jewish physicians and scientists have contrib-uted to society: Salk, Einstein, Freud, Jarvik. Now Ribner.
But I did wash my hands after exiting the infectious disease hallowed halls at Emory. ■
Emory infectious diseases expert Bruce Ribner
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LOCAL NEWS www.atlantajewishtimes.com
By Marcia Caller [email protected]
Over 315 people gathered Wednesday, Aug. 19, at Mag-giano’s Buckhead to salute the
good works of the Jewish Educational Loan Fund with featured speaker Steve Koonin, the CEO of the Atlanta Hawks.
The first star of the evening was Georgia Tech senior Rivka Jacobs, a JELF recipient majoring in biomolecu-lar chemistry, who emotionally ex-plained how the interest-free loan has pushed her professionally, personally and Jewishly.
Jacobs’ mother, a labor and deliv-ery nurse, was asked to adopt her literally at her birth. Par-ents Rachel and Gary Jacobs rel-ished the oppor-tunity to raise her but already had college-age children, deplet-ing the family’s ability to pay college tuition when Rivka’s turn came.
Introduced by his vivacious wife and JELF ac-tivist, Eydie, Koo-nin took center stage and shared his work experi-ence with Coke and TNT/Turner B r o a d c a s t i n g , leading to his leadership role with the Hawks.
“Building a winning brand” e n c o m p a s s e d Koonin’s vision for the Hawks after he handled the crises involving racial comments by one of the former owners and the general manager.
Under the new ownership group led by Tony Ressler, Koonin wants the Hawks to “excite and unite” while he brings in a more diverse, loyal custom-er base, primarily in the 18-to-44 age range.
Koonin challenged the audience to connect with the hometown Hawks.
The University of Georgia grad also took a humorous jab at Jacobs by refer-ring to Georgia Tech as a “trade school.” Jacobs shot back: “I’ll take that with a grain of salt.”
The Koonins volunteered to match the donations made that night, up to $20,000.
JELF supporter Dr. Ramie Tritt said, “I believe in helping those willing to work hard towards building a better future.”
JELF board President Rob Rickles said, “When people get involved with JELF, it helps take us to the next step in community visibility — and more stu-dents in need can be helped.”
JELF Vice President Stan Lowenstein not-ed that JELF of-fers “final dollar” loans to Jewish students from Georgia, Florida, North Carolina, South Carolina and Virginia and has a 99 percent repayment rate.
JELF has been led for just over a year by Executive Director Jenna Shulman, who had been with another educa-tional organiza-tion, the Atlanta office of ORT America, for nearly a decade. She is one of the 25 nonprofit innovators rec-ognized this summer by the Atlanta Jewish Times.
T h r o u g h JELF, the Jew-
ish community is stepping up to help those with a true financial need. While JELF lent out $800,000 this year, the organization fell $200,000 short of its applicants’ needs.
JELF supporters and community members like Eydie Koonin participate in JELF’s loan review process, held at multiple times throughout the year, to make the difficult decisions about how to allocate the loan funds. ■
Koonins Help JELF Build Winning Brand
By Michael [email protected]
A guest speaker involved in tak-ing Jewish mothers on spiritual trips around Israel will help the
Jewish Women’s Connection of Atlanta kick off its second year of reaching out to and educating women.
Canadian television personality Adrienne Gold, one of the trip leaders for Lori Palatnik’s Jewish Women’s Re-naissance Project, will speak to an ex-pected crowd of 120 women at a Sandy Springs home Sunday, Aug. 30.
JWRP is like a Birthright Israel or-ganization for Jewish mothers. Women who have children under age 18 at home and haven’t been to Israel as adults are eligible to take 10-day trips with other women from their home city. Women must pay their own air-fare, but the travel within Israel is free.
Three of the women on the first JWRP trip from Atlanta about six years ago, Helen Zalik, Karen Kaplan and Bev Lewyn, are the organizing force behind JWCA, which aims to bring the spirit of that Israel trip home to Atlanta.
“We just loved what we had experi-enced. We wanted to give that inspira-tion, that connection, to more people,” said Lewyn, who serves as co-president of JWCA with Zalik while Kaplan leads the group’s communications.
JWRP works with the Atlanta Scholars Kollel, and for a time the kol-lel was able to support the efforts of At-lanta trip alumnae to remain connect-ed and reach more women. But what Zalik calls a “sisterhood without walls” and a “spiritual JCC” outgrew the kollel and its women’s group, Bena.
Bena head Julie Silverman said her wing of the kollel focuses on in-reach, providing learning opportunities at the Congregation Beth Jacob and Congre-gation Ariel campuses for women who have a solid base of Jewish knowledge. JWCA, which also is a kollel project, is about outreach; it’s an entry point for Jewish women of all backgrounds to learn and be inspired.
“I think the main thing is just we know what being deeply inspired feels like,” Lewyn said. “It really is coming from a sense of love and wanting to share that spirit with others.”
The group connects women from all streams of Judaism, including the unaffiliated. JWCA’s focus on spiritual
meaning sets it apart from other cross-denominational groups, Lewyn said.
“We want to bring back the power of the Jewish woman and the ability to be powerful and unified,” said Kaplan, who envisions a time when Jews again fill the roles that feel right without ap-plying divisive labels such as Orthodox, Conservative and Reform.
“There is a thread among us, a ne-shama that’s burning bright,” she said. “We have to do good in the world, have to be connected and unified.”
Zalik said the idea behind the group is that if you inspire the moth-ers, you change the families. She’s an example: That first JWRP trip changed the Soviet native from a skeptic about the Jewish community to someone who sends her daughters to the Epstein School, serves on the board of the Jew-ish Federation of Greater Atlanta, and is devoted to the idea of Jewish unity.
JWCA takes a three-prong ap-proach to build that unity: education that inspires women and provides practical knowledge; experiences that are social and spiritual; and encourage-ment to take the JWRP trip, although typically only 50 women a year can go (the next one is Oct. 19 to 28).
“Change the woman, change her home, change the community, change the world,” Kaplan said of the process. “Come join us for an afternoon of inspi-ration and feel the power of the Jewish woman.”
JWCA holds an event each month, Zalik said, with a large event — an out-of-town speaker such as Gold or a Shabbaton — every six months.
“We hope they take away many things,” from spiritual growth and a connected feeling to an increase in their number of Jewish friends, Zalik said. “We want them armed with a strong Jewish identity and inspired to live a Jewish life.” ■
Group Connects Women With a Unifying SpiritSpeaker kicks off JWCA’s second year
Who: Adrienne Gold
What: Jewish Women’s Connection of Atlanta kickoff
Where: 4889 Northland Drive, Sandy Springs
When: 2 p.m. Sunday, Aug. 30
Cost: Suggested $10 donation; RSVP to [email protected] to secure one of the 120 spaces
Information: www.facebook.com/JWCAtlanta
Top: Steve and Eydie Koonin flank JELF recipient Rivka Jacobs, a Georgia Tech senior who told her story at the JELF event Aug. 19.
Bottom: Joanne Birnbrey (left) and Dawn Tresh served as co-chairs of the JELF event.
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ISRAEL NEWS www.atlantajewishtimes.com
Israel Photo of the WeekClean, Clear Water
Many years of drought in Israel, coupled with an increased demand from the rapidly growing popula-tion, drained the country’s limited natural water re-sources, but Jewish National Fund (www.jnf.org) has worked the past three decades to alleviate Israel’s chronic water shortage, primarily through the construction of recycled-water reservoirs that have increased the water supply by 12 percent. In addition to helping build more than 200 reservoirs, JNF established the Parsons Water Fund to expand on this vital work and deal with the threat of future water challenges.
Surviving an amniotic embolism. In a medical first, a 43-year-old woman who was declared clinically dead after suffering an amniotic embolism dur-ing a Caesarean section has woken up. Doctors at Petah Tikva’s Rabin Medical Center removed a massive blood clot from her lungs with new technology. Her new daughter is also doing well.
Tumor removed from womb of preg-nant woman. Doctors at Rabin Medi-cal Center also have succeeded in re-moving a 7-inch-long tumor from a woman’s womb in the middle of her pregnancy without harming her or the baby. Danielle Skald later had a normal delivery of a boy.
Bacterium or virus? MeMed, based in Carmel, has discovered a protein in blood called TRAIL that dramatically increases during a viral infection but decreases in response to a bacterial infection. MeMed has developed pro-prietary algorithms and a blood test called ImmunoXpert that could save hundreds of thousands of lives in Eu-rope alone by detecting whether an in-fection is viral or bacterial.
Medical aid for Taipei burn victims. Is-rael is donating two skin graft meshers, worth more than $10,000 each, to hos-pitals in Taiwan after 498 people were injured (202 in need of skin grafts) in a water park explosion in Taipei.
Israeli hospital treats Hamas officer. Nayef Rajoub, a senior member of Hamas and the brother of senior Pal-estinian Authority figure Jibril Rajoub,
is recuperating in a private hospital in Tel Aviv, apparently after spine surgery.
World-class universities. Six of Israel’s eight universities are in the top 500 of the 2015 Academic Ranking of World Universities produced by Shanghai Jiao Tong University. The Hebrew Uni-versity of Jerusalem was ranked 67th, and the Technion in Haifa was No. 77.
Israel promotes science in Ghana. Israel has flown two female science students from Ghana to the World Sci-ence Conference in Israel. Lilian Abrafi Yeboah and Nana Esi Nyarko were giv-en free trips to join 400 young science masterminds from over 70 countries, as well as 15 Nobel laureates.
Exercise to earn computer play. Israeli Eylon Porat has built an accessory for his daughter’s computer. It involves an exercise bike that she has to pedal to unlock games on the computer for a certain period. When she run out of credits, the computer locks again until she pedals enough credits to unlock it.
Diesel-free Haifa. For the first time in Israel, a Clean Air Zone will be enacted, banning diesel-powered vehicles from areas of Haifa, as part of a five-year plan to reduce air pollution and envi-ronmental hazards around Haifa Bay.
Polly can park your car. Tens of thou-sands of Israelis have used the Israeli-developed app Polly to park their cars in Tel Aviv. It is being expanded to Jeru-salem. Polly uses GPS, crowdsourcing, municipal information and an algo-
rithm to guide drivers to streets where spaces are more likely to be available.
Israeli wind farms in Ireland. Enlight Renewable Energy, part of Israel’s Eu-rocom Group, has closed a $28 million deal to build Ireland a 14-megawatt wind farm, with more planned. Ireland wants 40 percent of its electricity to come from renewable sources by 2020.
Israel’s largest indoor market. The 93,000-square-foot Sarona Market has opened across from the Azrieli towers in the heart of Tel Aviv. The market of-fers 89 businesses and anticipates up to 15,000 visitors per day.
Rare baby sand cats. Rotem, a sand cat at the Ramat Gan Safari, has given birth to three kittens. The sand cat is the only species of cat that is able to survive in total deserts, but it now ex-ists mostly in captivity.
Torahs for fallen Israelis. Tens of thousands of Israelis crowded into the Kotel Plaza to dedicate 75 new Torahs, one for each Israeli who died in last summer’s Operation Protective Edge. The event typifies Israelis’ resilient re-sponse to tragedy.
Compiled courtesy of verygoodnewsis-rael.blogspot.com and other news sources.
Israel Pride: Good News From Our Jewish Home
High Holiday Services: minyans go back in time
minyans Hotline: 404.633.0551 Beth Jacob Atlanta 1855 LaVista Rd.
minyans go back in time — y’know, God…creation of the world… groups of Jews praying
together. But that’s the big picture. Let’s just start at the beginning…of this New Year!
Join us for minyans -- an untraditional approach to our High Holiday tradition. Interactive, with fewer prayers, more perspective. Inspiring stories, Q&A session, & more.
minyans is free. (Contributions? Sure!) Then join us for lunch (optional) -- chill and celebrate Rosh Hashanah with hosts in the hood. Ba-na-nas? Longshot. Apples? Dipped in honey…yes, please.
PLEASE
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www.atlantajewishtimes.comOPINIONOPINION
Editor’s NotebookBy Michael [email protected]
Our ViewCarter’s Cancer
Former President Jimmy Carter has generally been treated like a secular saint — the grandfather of Habitat for Humanity, the eradicator of the Guinea worm, the winner of the Nobel Peace Prize — since announcing he has melanoma that has spread to his liver and brain, but not so in the Jewish community.
Some people have expressed mixed emotions, unable to offer good wishes to a man seen as hostile to Israel; others have suggested his illness is justice. We find such sentiments upsetting, especially as we near the season of seeking and granting forgiveness.
It’s no secret we are not Carter fans. The Southern Israelite didn’t celebrate when
he became the only Georgian to win the presidency in 1976. The Atlanta Jewish Times dogged Carter for a year with critical coverage of his 2006 book, “Pal-estine: Peace Not Apartheid,” and its aftermath. Our editor in April called the former president a parasite.
We didn’t appreciate that in his cancer press con-ference Thursday, Aug. 20, Carter again blamed Israel for the lack of a peace settlement with the Palestin-ians when he said: “The government of Israel has no desire for a two-state solution, which is the policy of every other nation in the world.”
Regardless of whether the Israeli government’s stated support for a two-state solution is genuine, many nations do not make such a solution their pol-icy because they do not accept Israel’s existence. One of those, Iran, has been in the news a lot lately.
But as wrong as Carter is about Israel, we should never forget the good things he has done for the Jew-ish community.
He was the right man at the right time in 1978 to shepherd Anwar Sadat and Menachem Begin to the Camp David Accords, which removed the most pow-erful Arab nation as a threat to Israel’s existence. One key was that Carter earned Sadat’s trust by treating him as an equal.
Carter in 1978 created the commission that rec-ommended the opening of the U.S. Holocaust Memo-rial Museum and signed off on the project in 1980.
Both the peace treaty and the museum happened in part through the efforts of Robert Lipshutz, the Jewish lawyer Carter took from Atlanta to Washing-ton to be his White House counsel.
Another Jewish lawyer Carter took to Washing-ton was Stuart Eizenstat, whose four years working on domestic policy for Carter launched him into national prominence. If not for that start, Eizenstat might never have been in a position to win billions of dollars in restitution for Holocaust victims.
We also owe Carter for recognizing the talent of Emory professor Ken Stein, the first director of the Carter Center. We’ll never know, of course, but there’s a chance Stein’s knowledge and ability would not have been enough to establish the Institute for the Study of Modern Israel without the public profile gained from his long relationship with Carter. ISMI plays a vital role in teaching educators about Israel so that students in Georgia and elsewhere learn the truth.
Jimmy Carter is not a saint. He is a man, and he has many flaws. We have reason not to love him, but we ought to respect him now and remember him al-ways for his many gifts. ■
The issue everyone is talking about these days is the Iran deal. People keep asking me why we aren’t writing more about it.
Supporters of the deal are eager for pro-deal opinions to balance out the published criticism. Nev-er mind that no one has submitted such a column.
Proponents also point to reports out of Israel about some national security and intelligence officials expressing support for the deal — often actually oppos-ing Netanyahu’s position.
But we’ve seen only anti-deal speakers at local events, and the only local congressman who talked to us during a trip to Israel criticized the agreement, as did Prime Minister Benjamin Netan-yahu during a U.S. webcast. So most of the limited news we have published has been anti-deal.
Still, opponents wonder why we haven’t relent-lessly attacked the deal and covered every disturbing nuance and every Iranian call for the destruction of Israel or the United States. And why did we report on a small number of rabbis backing the deal in-stead of all the others opposing it?
The answer to both sides is the same. Our forte is not international diplomacy and
security. The same is true for every other source for local news, from the Sandy Springs Reporter to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution to local TV newscasts.
None of us has a reporter assigned to the State Department, CIA, IAEA, Mossad or any Middle East capital. The AJT has contact with analysts, experts and well-traveled laypeople who can offer informed opinions, but those opinions usually aren’t news.
We could stray from our core mission of cover-ing the local Jewish community and, in the interest of our secondary focus on Israel, set aside space each week for the deal. We could have compiled press re-
leases and poll numbers and pronouncements from Netanyahu and President Barack Obama.
As editor, I chose not to go that way.The deal is done. Whether it’s good or bad
became irrelevant before the text was even released when Obama vowed to veto any anti-deal action.
Congress is likely to vote against the deal, but Congress is not overriding a presidential veto.
I wish the United States had kept the Iranians talking for another
year and let the sanctions work their magic; maybe Iran would have agreed to limits that put it 25 years away from a nuclear arsenal instead of 10 to 15 years. But Iran was never giving up its nuclear program.
We shouldn’t have ended the ballistic missile embargo under the agreement, especially if we had to leave out Iran’s support of terrorists and holding of American hostages on the theory that the negotia-tions were only about the nuclear program.
But the Jewish community should be focusing energy on what happens after the deal goes into ef-fect instead of spending millions of dollars to save or defeat it. Just think of all the good $10 to $40 million could do if invested in development projects in the Negev or the Galilee instead of D.C. politics.
By the same token, I think our limited news space has been and will continue to be better spent on local stories we report than on secondhand stories about the struggle to pass or block the deal. We welcome opinion pieces on any aspect of the deal or what comes after, but as the congressional votes near, we’ll use the improved atlantajewishtimes.com to keep you up to date while we concentrate our reporting on the newspaper here at home. ■
Accept That the Deal Is Done
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Young Adult Tickets
Jewish Professional Tickets
Vice President Joe Biden
Fran Eizenstat and Eizenstat Family Annual Lecture
at Ahavath Achim Synagogue
presents
“Challenges Facing the U.S. and the World in the 21st Century”
A free public lecture drawing on Vice President Joe Biden’s experiences at the center of domestic and foreign policy and politics.
Thursday | September 3 7:30 p.m.
Open to the public. Tickets and reservations not required. RSVP requested: [email protected] No parking onsite. Parking with shuttle service available at multiple loctions. Check our website.
Uber or other alternative transportation recommended.
Ahavath Achim Synagogue | 600 Peachtree Battle Ave. NW | Atlanta, GA 30327 404.355.5222 | aasynagogue.org
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From Where I SitBy Dave [email protected]
www.atlantajewishtimes.comOPINION
Our youngest is now a couple of weeks into his junior year in high school.
His month began in Dallas, playing soccer in 102-degree heat, representing Team Atlanta at the JCC Maccabi Games.
The past four years, the JCC games have been his final summer activity before school resumed. This year was his last, as he has completed his eligibil-ity (ages 13-16).
Our daughter and two sons played soccer at JCC games in Houston, San Di-ego, Austin, Memphis, Boca Raton and Dallas.
This year, Atlanta sent 90 teenag-ers to Dallas and 22 to Milwaukee, winning numerous medals and plau-dits for their sportsmanship.
Through the JCC games we learned about Maccabi USA, which sent our older son to play in interna-tional competitions in Israel, Argen-tina and Brazil.
At the JCC games, our children competed against and socialized with Jewish teens from throughout the United States and from other coun-tries.
We sent them because in their daily lives being Jewish is a minority religion and culture.
We sent them because we felt it was an opportunity worth the finan-cial cost.
We thank the host families who drove them, fed them, entertained them, cheered for them and even did
their laundry.We thank the coaches and
delegation heads who acted in loco parentis, making sure that Atlanta was represented well during and outside competition.
Looking back several years, we thank Jack Vangrofsky, Howie Rosen-berg, Kenny Silverboard, Art Seiden, Stacie Graff, Libby Hertz, Mike Wolff, Robert Meyer, Roey Shoshan and Anthony Katzef.
Turning to another Jewish athletic endeavor, our softball team ended
its season in the men’s congregation league on something of a high note.
We play in the C division, the low-est, against teams representing larger congregations and on average fielding younger players. (See the C division championship results, Page 16.)
We may remember ourselves as the boys of summer, but more than a few of us can see autumn on the horizon.
Spectators are few: the occasional wife or girlfriend offering moral sup-port or the child who sits in the dugout asking, “When will this be over?”
The banter between opposing players is friendly enough (sympathy for muscle strains), though nerves can fray when playing a doubleheader in 90-degree heat.
If we get through a game with no one pulling (as opposed to just tweaking) a hamstring, even a loss is considered a success.
More players turned up for a bar mitzvah aliyah than most of our games.
We are the only team without uniforms or identifying shirts. Our first baseman wears a jersey bearing the number 1 and “Who” on the back (for those who get the joke).
Our pitcher and manager, whose knowledge of the strike zone and the rulebook is nonpareil, is a member of the Hall of Fame of the North Ameri-can Gay Amateur Athletic Alliance.
My skills have declined steadily since a college intramural champion-ship victory against the faculty team back in the era of vinyl, cassettes and eight-track tapes.
I have moved from playing second base to right field, where picking up the flight of the ball while wearing pro-gressive lenses can be a challenge (and forget about hitting the cutoff man). In baseball parlance, if I once was good field, I remain no hit.
This year we won our first playoff game. I will not name the temple whose team we defeated in a come-from-behind victory, only to be eliminated ourselves in a slaughter-rule defeat by another congregation in the next game.
There’s always next year, but, guys, we have got to recruit some younger players. ■
Dave Schechter is a veteran jour-nalist whose career includes writing and producing reports from Israel and elsewhere in the Middle East.
The Boys and Girls of Summer
Divorce lawyers everywhere are already familiar with the web-site Ashley Madison because
membership on it is almost sufficient proof of an affair by a spouse. Belong-ing to this dating site for married people — whose slogan is “Life is short, have an affair” — is usually enough to convince a judge, a mediator or your spouse that someone is cheating.
Perhaps more impor-tant, divorce lawyers and therapists are acutely aware that the simple desire to cheat is even more of-fensive to a spouse than the actual act of cheating.
Prior to the Ashley Madison data breach, lawyers and clients have engaged private investigators, forensic computer analysts and others to see whether spouses belonged to the site or had used its services.
This breach may make it easier to learn who used it and who didn’t. But unfortunately, what this news may do is give Ashley Madison more public-ity than it has ever had. Certainly the
site’s operators are not concerned that they are perceived as promoting adultery. In fact, they want the word to be spread and for people to use their site to help commit adultery.
Anyone who uses the site must certainly realize that there are risks of being caught.
What if the person you end up meeting on the site is someone you already know or someone who knows your spouse? Or what if your spouse sees the site on your computer one day by accident?
As a divorce lawyer for over 25 years, I do not think this data breach will cause more divorce. Yes, that’s what I wrote.
Those people who use Ashley Madison to have an affair and who
were already headed toward divorce may get there faster now that their secret is out. But this hack or breach may actually have the effect of causing people to hesitate when using such a service.
There are apparently nearly 40 million users on Ashley Madison. There is no way that we will now see 40 million divorces. And the bottom line is that affairs more often truly are the side effect of a bad marriage.
Once someone elects to have an affair, the marriage is often in very serious trouble if not already irretriev-ably broken. Yes, more people will be caught, but perhaps that will actually save some marriages.
Forcing the issue, making people address what they have done, can often lead to reconciliation. The alternative is for the conduct to last so long that the parties become apathetic toward each other.
What this breach may do is to force legislatures to look more closely at this site. Perhaps laws will be gener-ated that prohibit sites like Ashley Madison.
Will the public rise up and de-mand that sites that promote infidelity (which is still a crime in some states) be prohibited? Who knows? But as with all social issues, sunlight remains the best disinfectant, and this data breach shed a lot of sunlight onto a lot of people’s activities.
Maybe it will help. Maybe people will think more before they engage in relationships like those promoted or condoned by Ashley Madison.
As for divorce lawyers, we cer-tainly will now have an easier time proving someone had an affair, and that should save clients a lot of money they might have otherwise spent on private investigators. But other than that, human nature is human nature. Spouses will continue to cheat on each other, and they will continue to get caught. ■
Randy Kessler is the founding partner of the family law firm Kessler & Solomiany (www.ksfamilylaw.com) in downtown Atlanta and former chairman of the American Bar Association’s Family Law Section.
Ramifications of the Ashley Madison Data Breach
Guest ColumnBy Randy [email protected]
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OPINION
MAYER SMITH ASKS
How many of these questions can you answer properly?
Call, Text or e-mail404-725-4841
Mayer Smith CLU ChFC LUTCF [email protected]
1. What 2 important words are missing in almost all benefi -ciary designations in life insurance applications?
2. Can a life insurance company pay benefi ts to a minor?
3. Which is most likely to happen before age 65 ... death or disability?
4. When/how should an insured person want the death benefi t to be paid? Lump sum? or, according to a plan?
5. What percentage of term insurance policies pay off as death benefi ts?
6. What do most people really do with the “difference” when buying term insurance to invest the difference?
7. What happens to a deceased child’s share when an in-sured dies?
8. What are the benefi ts of a “Living Trust”?
9. How can one pass an entire tax deferred fund to heirs “tax free” and still enjoy an income from the fund?
10. Is there a better way to “invest” the unmatched portion of a 401-k?
11. Will you have enough at retirement to assure a decent lifestyle?
Are you satisfi ed with your answer to number 11? If not, we can help you feel more satisfi ed.
Need answers? Want help? All you gotta do is:
Letters to the EditorSupport for ORT
A friend once told me that every August there’s a Christmas song she can’t get out of her head: “It’s the most wonderful time of the year.”
That’s right, our children are back in school. They’ll ask for help with homework, need to be driven to myriad after-school activities, and need help navigating the complex social issues that come with being a kid.
It’s a good time to reflect — and be grateful for — the quality education our children have. Whether in a Jew-ish day school, a public school, or any of the private schools around Atlanta, we can sometimes take for granted the opportunity our kids have to learn reading, problem solving and the social skills needed to be successful adults.
It’s also a time of year I’m remind-ed of how many children around the world, including in Israel and the Unit-ed States, don’t have access to a qual-ity education and what that means for their future. That’s why I became in-volved with ORT. In the world of Jewish nonprofits, ORT is the only one that ad-dresses the educational needs of at-risk children and young adults around the globe, Jews and non-Jews alike.
On Aug. 7 you read in the Atlanta Jewish Times about Hodayot, a board-ing school in Israel that houses, edu-cates and provides technical training to some of Israel’s most at-risk chil-dren. To them, Hodayot is not just their school; it’s their only home. To many, it’s also the only family they have.
However, the renovations Hodayot sorely needs to meet the highest educa-tional standards ORT provides could cost $1 million — a daunting amount, but far less than what our commu-nity has spent to make Atlanta Jewish Academy, Davis Academy, Epstein and Temima the showplaces they are. If everyone were to earmark a small per-centage of annual giving to Hodayot — perhaps 1 to 2 percent — we could accomplish our goal by year’s end.
Perhaps more than any other, our community understands the im-portance and transformative nature of a quality education. So please call the ORT Atlanta office at 404-327-5266 or mail a check with “Hodayot” on it to ORT Atlanta, 270 Carpenter Drive, Suite 360, Atlanta, GA 30328, and give what you can.
I’ll be making my tax-deductible commitment. I hope you’ll join me.
Kerri Katz, Norcross,president, ORT Atlanta
Not a BlipLeo Frank’s murder “a blip on the
line of history,” as Sherry Frank said (“A Century of Awkward Silence,” Aug. 14)? Really?
If this is widely believed, then I guess that the Confederate flag is just a blip, albeit it larger than Leo Frank, on the line of history. We shouldn’t just fo-cus on this flag and what it represents, but we should celebrate the participa-tion of African-Americans in Atlanta in contrast to them being scapegoated, enslaved, murdered, raped.
I don’t think this would go over well in the whole community, and I think that not knowing about the Leo Frank case would be a tragedy. Yes, we should celebrate the positive, but it’s important to know the negative and to learn from our mistakes. It’s a tragedy not to know about and learn from all tragedies.
Walter Kolesky, Atlanta
Misleading About Rabbis
I found the headline in your on-line (“Ga. Rabbis Signal Support for Deal,” Aug. 18) and print (“Rabbis Urge Deal’s OK,” Aug. 21) editions to be high-ly misleading.
The first headline implies that most, if not all, of Georgia’s rabbis sup-port the Obama administration’s nu-clear deal with Iran. The article itself, however, notes that only three Georgia rabbis expressed this support by sign-ing a letter from Ameinu. (One of those three proved not to be a true signatory.)
With probably 75 to 100 rabbis in Georgia, three is a trivial sample. Indeed, had the Atlanta Jewish Times wanted to present a picture of the po-sitions of Georgia’s rabbis toward the deal, the newspaper could have easily surveyed all of the rabbis in the state. That only three of the state’s rabbis signed the letter on behalf of Ameinu suggests that this position is an insig-nificant minority.
In the case of the second headline, found in the print edition, the article would have been more meaningful had it focused on the 340 signatories na-tionally who signed the Ameinu letter. The article then might have provided some balance to the articles regard-ing Rep. Barry Loudermilk’s and Fed-eration’s opposition to the Iran deal. Rather than the article leading with the three Georgia rabbis who signed the letter, that paragraph should have come last.
Steven Chervin, Dunwoody
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By Anna Streetman
There are 304,805 letters in a To-rah scroll. When the first and last letter are put together, they spell
the Hebrew word for heart. On Sunday, Aug. 23, the Chabad Jewish Center in Kennesaw gained a new Torah and a new heart for the community.
Until the new Torah arrived, Chabad had used a borrowed Torah.
The sofer (scribe) for the project, Rabbi Moshe Klein, flew in from New York to complete the scroll with assis-tance from congregation members. His landing was delayed by bad weather as storms moved through that morning, but the wait didn’t stop Chabad from celebrating.
Jews of all ages paraded down Shiloh Road with Chabad’s borrowed Torah. Children danced and waved cel-ebratory flags as music blasted from a truck in front.
Rabbi Klein also arrived to rain, though not thunderstorms, when he visited Cobb County five months ear-lier to complete a Torah for the Chabad center in East Cobb.
Adam Brodofsky donated half the
Kennesaw Chabad Celebrates Growth With Torah$40,000 cost of the West Cobb Torah. The rest of the money was raised in about a year through the commu-nity; donations were made to sponsor letters, words, entire books from the Torah, the yad for the Torah, and so on.
“I grew up around here and always wanted a shul near me,” Brodofsky said of his contribution. “I had the ability and the opportunity, so I decided to seize it.”
Special event programs containing swatches of vel-vet from the Torah’s mantle were presented to guests as gifts; it is an ancient custom to pur-chase a piece of the material used to make the mantle of a new Torah for protection and blessing.
Rabbi Ephraim Silverman, who leads Chabad of Cobb in East Cobb, said of the West Cobb community: “I never would have imagined this type of growth in the Kennesaw Jewish com-munity. It’s an amazing thing.”
The West Cobb Chabad center’s
spiritual leader, Rabbi Zalman Chary-tan, and his wife, Nechami, also run the Chabad program at Kennesaw State University. Their program involves weekly Shabbat dinners and other edu-cational and social Jewish events.
Chabad at Kennesaw State also gives back to the community through service projects such as preparing Shabbat care packages for Jewish pa-tients at WellStar Kennestone Hospital.
Philip Goldstein, who has served on the Mari-etta City Council for more than 35 years, attended the celebration, where he read a greeting on behalf of Republican Sen. Johnny Isakson.
Goldstein’s fam-ily has lived in Marietta since 1912. He expressed delight at the expansion of Chabad in neighboring Kennesaw and called it “a blessing for the commu-nity.”
Tim Lee, the chair-man of the Cobb County Board of Commissioners,
also attended the Torah celebration. In his speech, he voiced strong support for Israel, saying: “As for Tim lee, he stands with you folks very strongly, arm in arm. I am with you 100 percent, not be-hind you, but in front with you.”
Lee concluded: “The Torah has changed the world and changed West-ern civilization with its values of jus-tice, morality, life and the promise of a better tomorrow.” ■
Rabbi Moshe Klein, shown during the March completion of a Torah for Chabad of Cobb, leads a team of seven sofrim (scribes) at eSofer.com.
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Ronnie Minsk AJA Class of 1983
New York University, Leonard N. Stern School of Business, BS, 1987 Harvard University, John F. Kennedy School of Government, MPP, 1989 University of Pennsylvania School of Law, JD, 1996 Special Assistant to the President of the United States for Energy and Environment
By Kevin [email protected]
Jewish students at Georgia Tech and Georgia State now have a nice Jew-ish place to hang out.
The Rohr Chabad House at 471 10th St. in Midtown will officially cele-brate its opening Sunday, Aug. 30, start-ing at noon.
“We’re doing an open-house kind of event,” Rabbi Shlomo Sharfstein, the co-director of Chabad of Downtown Universities, said in a phone interview. “We’ve invited parents of students and alumni to come and participate and celebrate the fact there’s now a perma-nent Jewish space that serves both the Georgia Tech and Georgia State cam-puses. It’s technically on the campus of Tech, but we serve both.”
Rabbi Sharfstein’s co-director is his wife, Shifra. The couple moved to Atlanta from New York four years ago with the goal of creating this space, but it took a while to come to fruition. They started out using a small house several blocks away, and their first event at-tracted only a handful of students.
“Now we’ve done a Shabbat dinner at the new location, even though we’re not officially open yet, and we had close to 70 people,” Rabbi Sharfstein said.
“I was told that last year Georgia Tech had the largest freshman class it has ever had. And from personal ex-perience, it’s also the largest Jewish freshman class ever,” he said. “It’s con-stantly growing. There are somewhere between 500 and 1,000 Jewish students (at Georgia Tech) and probably a simi-lar number at Georgia State as well, so that’s somewhere between 1,550 and 2,000 out of a total student body of 50,000.”
A statement from Chabad in New York said the center acts as “a home-away-from-home, providing educa-tional, social, spiritual and holiday pro-gramming for Jewish students.”
Spokesman Chaim Landa said Chabad aims for students to graduate as stronger and more empowered Jews than when they entered college.
A grant from the Rohr Family Foundation, which has funded hun-dreds of Chabad centers on campuses, enabled the Sharfsteins to buy the property and launch the project. “It’s been a work in progress,” the rabbi said. “It actually took about two years. It’s a completely refurbished build-ing. They literally transformed it into something really beautiful.”
He added that a lot of students’
parents got involved to make the Chabad center happen, contributing time, money and ideas.
The 10th Street building is a vast improvement over the old location, where some visitors had to meet out-side on the front porch because there wasn’t room for everyone inside the tiny structure. “Now they have a nice, home-cooked meal with a fairly Jew-ish atmosphere,” Rabbi Sharfstein said. “That’s very comforting for students.”
In the new house, the main activi-ties will take place in a ground-floor area. The building also includes a large kosher kitchen and master dining room, a living room, a library, and a
lounge. “For the Jewish com-
munity it’s a real sense of pride; we really exist,” Shi-fra Sharfstein said. “Now we have a legitimate place on campus, a place where we can go and feel proud to be Jewish. That’s not an outwardly spoken thing on campus. They come here and say, ‘This is where I belong,’ so it must be a cool place to be.”
She added: “They’re making friends too. Dates are happening.” ■
Chabad Opening Student Center for Ga. State, Tech
Rabbi Shlomo Sharfstein and his wife, Shifra, shown with their children, finally have a Chabad house on
campus to serve Georgia Tech and Georgia State.
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Local BriefsNeuman Can’t Afford Lawyers
The legal team that won Hemy Neuman a new murder trial won’t represent him when he is prosecuted a second time for fatally shooting fel-low Jewish community member Rusty Sneiderman outside a Dunwoody pre-school in November 2010.
In a court appearance Thursday, Aug. 20, The Atlanta Journal-Consti-tution reported, Neuman told DeKalb County Superior Court Judge Gregory Adams that he no longer can afford attorneys Bob Rubin and Doug Peters after more than four years out of work, a criminal trial and appeals that went to the Georgia Supreme Court.
Neuman will get public defenders. His retrial has not been scheduled.
Neuman admitted killing Sneider-man but blamed temporary insanity caused by a romantic relationship he said he had with Sneiderman’s wife, Andrea, who worked for him at GE En-ergy. His murder trial found him guilty but mentally ill and sentenced him to life in prison.
Sneiderman, later convicted of per-jury and obstruction of justice, denies having an affair with Neuman.
The state Supreme Court over-
turned Neuman’s conviction in June on the grounds that the prosecution’s use of reports from defense experts violated attorney-client privilege.
End Nears for BrickeryThe Brickery Grill & Bar is closing
in December, the Sandy Springs res-taurant announced by email and on Facebook on Monday, Aug. 24.
The Jewish-owned restaurant has long been a community gathering place. But its shopping center at Ro-swell and Hilderbrand roads is being replaced by a multiuse development in Sandy Springs’ downtown overhaul, and the nearly 24-year-old restaurant has to vacate by late December.
Owners Bruce and Sally Alterman decided to close instead of moving.
“Time to celebrate what has been a great run,” the restaurant said on Face-book. “We couldn’t be more apprecia-tive of you and your amazing support over so many years!”
The exact closing date hasn’t been determined, although Bruce Alterman told the Sandy Springs Reporter he’ll stay open until Christmas if possible.
Deal Doubtful on Frank CaseThe events marking the Aug. 17 cen-
tennial of Leo Frank’s lynching repeat-
edly raised the idea of exoneration for the Jewish factory superintendent con-victed in 1913 of the murder of Mary Phagan, but Gov. Nathan Deal has put a damper on those hopes.
Deal told The Atlanta Journal-Con-stitution the day after the centennial that the case has run its course, and he’s not comfortable with some of the anti-death-penalty rhetoric linked with the Frank case.
Frank’s trial was tainted by proce-dural errors and public pressure on the jury to find him guilty. The chief wit-ness against Frank, Jim Conley, likely was the real killer, and the evidence against Frank was shaky enough for Gov. John Slaton to commute his death penalty to life in prison in 1915.
The state Board of Pardons and Pa-roles pardoned Frank in 1986 because of the failure to provide him due pro-cess and protect him from the lynch mob that dragged him out of prison in Milledgeville and hanged him in Mari-etta less than two months after Slaton’s commutation. But that pardon did not declare Frank innocent.
Deal said he will discuss the Frank case with Attorney General Sam Olens, the highest-ranking Jewish elected of-ficial in Georgia history. Olens has not offered a public opinion on a Frank ex-oneration, but he did attend several of the Frank centennial events.
JNF Photo Contest OpenJewish National Fund is accept-
ing entries for its second annual Is-rael Photo Contest, which is open to all Georgia residents.
Each entry earns a 5-by-7-inch, pro-fessionally printed photograph and consideration for publication as the Atlanta Jewish Times’ Israel Photo of the Week, as well as inclusion in other newspapers in Georgia and Israel.
The grand prize is a 24-by-36-inch canvas photo print, valued at more than $200.
Entries must be emailed as attach-ments at the highest resolution avail-able to [email protected] by Oct. 9. Use “JNF Israel Photo Contest” in the subject line and include your name, address and phone number. You may enter up to four times.
“We are excited to offer our com-munity a means to share their passion for Israel through the creative outlet of photography,” JNF Southeast Regional Director Beth Gluck said. “Israel is a mosaic of cultures, environments, his-toric sites and modern miracles. The camera captures all of these images in a second and creates impressions and memories lasting a lifetime.”
In addition to the AJT, JNF’s part-
ners in the contest are Chuck Wolf’s Photo Design Bar, The Jewish Geor-gian, the Israeli Consulate and the Is-raeli Tourism Ministry.
Winners will be announced Nov. 1.For more information, contact
Gluck at [email protected] or 404-236-8990, ext. 851.
Or Hadash Wins Softball C DivisionAvenging a semifinal defeat, Con-
gregation Or Hadash defeated Temple Kol Emeth twice, 9-2 and 13-7, to win the Atlanta Men’s Synagogue Softball League C division title Sunday, Aug. 23.
On Aug. 30, the rescheduled B divi-sion final will pit Congregation Ariel and Young Israel of Toco Hills, and eight-time defending champion Con-gregation B’nai Torah will play Congre-gation Or VeShalom in the A final.
Catch both championship games at East Roswell Park, 9000 Fouts Road, Roswell, beginning at 3:15 p.m.
Women’s Fund Starts Grant CycleThe Jewish Women’s Fund of At-
lanta has issued its request for propos-als for the grants it will issue in 2016 to benefit girls and women and is accept-ing letters of inquiry from nonprofit or-ganizations and programs that further the fund’s mission and core values.
The full grant application is avail-able at www.jewishatlanta.org/jwfa2016. To encourage innovation, the Jewish Women’s Fund has special funding for pilot programs in Atlanta.
Letters of inquiry are due Dec. 1 to Executive Director Rachel Wasserman at [email protected].
Hawks Hire SaltzmanThe Atlanta Hawks’ front office
took another step toward a minyan Tuesday, Aug. 4, with the hiring of An-drew Saltzman as executive vice presi-dent and chief revenue officer.
Saltzman is best known in Atlanta as co-founder with Steak Shapiro of sports talk station 790 the Zone, which he oversaw as president of Big League Broadcasting from 1997 to 2012. He most recently was the chief revenue of-ficer for PlayOn! Sports and the NFHS Network, a national high school sports media company.
Making room for Saltzman is An-drew Steinberg, who moves from chief revenue officer to executive vice presi-dent and chief business officer, a new position that includes facility over-sight.
Both men answer to the Hawks’ Jewish CEO, Steve Koonin, and an ownership group that is led by Tony Ressler and includes Sara Blakely and Jesse Itzler.
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LOCAL NEWS
By Michael [email protected]
The Jewish Community Relations Council of Atlanta endorsed five national resolutions during a
town-hall meeting Tuesday night, Aug. 18, but the discussions behind the issues were at least as important as the votes.
About 40 people attended the meeting at Congregation B’nai Torah on the five reso-lutions, addressing an-ti-Semitism in Europe and college campuses, changes to laws on marijuana, early child-hood education, man-datory paid sick leave and recognition of the Armenian genocide. The resolutions are on the agenda for the Jew-ish Council for Public Affairs’ national Jewish Community Town Hall in Washington from Oct. 11 to 13.
The first resolu-tion, expressing con-cern about rising anti-Semitism and calling for collaboration with legislators, agencies and interfaith partners to define and condemn it, was timely.
Frida Ghitis, a CNN contributor who travels to Amsterdam every year, shared a common chant among fans of Dutch soccer teams playing Ajax, seen as a Jewish club: “Hamas, Hamas, Jews to the gas.”
She also cited two fresh examples of anti-Semitism: the protest of Paris’ “Tel Aviv on the Seine” beach celebra-tion and Matisyahu’s lost and regained invitation to a Spanish reggae festival.
Paris was continuing a 14-year tra-dition of turning part of the riverfront into a foreign beach for a day when Tel Aviv was chosen for Thursday, Aug. 13. But at least one Paris City Council member tried to stop the Tel Aviv fes-tivities, and anti-Israel protesters chose to make a nearby stretch of sand into a Gaza beach covered with corpses.
In Spain, the Rototom SunSplash
festival asked Matisyahu, who is American, not Israeli, to make certain pro-Palestinian political statements to appease protesters who threatened a boycott. When the singer refused, the festival disinvited him, only to in-vite him back after a public uproar.
Matisyahu performed Saturday, Aug. 22, in the face of Palestinian flags.
Ghitis said a ma-jor problem is that European politicians have nothing to gain and much to lose from fighting anti-Semitism.
The next resolu-tion aims to change marijuana possession from a criminal offense with imprisonment to a public health issue. Lawyer Jay Strongwa-ter made the case for a stronger proposal calling for full decrimi-nalization, regulation and taxation. The JCPA resolution passed.
Georgia Early Education Alliance for Ready Students Execu-tive Director Mindy Binderman explained the need for the reso-lution on affordable, high-quality child care and pre-K education.
She said learn-ing should be seen as
continuous through early childhood rather than starting as day care and shifting to education at age 3 or 4, but “doing it well costs money.”
The measures on early childhood and sick leave passed unanimously.
The last resolution, calling on the United States to use the g-word regard-ing Turkey’s Armenian genocide from 1915 to 1923, was endorsed without con-troversy but with much sympathy.
Georgia is among 44 states that recognize the slaughter of 1.5 million people as genocide.
The JCRCA made the resolution stronger by adding Hitler’s comment on the eve of his invasion of Poland in 1939 that he could act with impunity because no one ever spoke of the anni-hilation of the Armenians. ■
Town Hall Educates More Than Debates5 policy resolutions win support
Photos by Michael JacobsTop: Criminal defense lawyer Jay Strongwater makes the case for decriminalization of marijuana.Bottom: Mindy Binderman, the executive director of the Georgia
Early Education Alliance for Ready Students, addresses the need for increased investment
in education for children from birth through age 5.
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By April [email protected]
Bryan Kellert, who grew up at Tem-ple Emanu-El, became the Sandy Springs Reform synagogue’s first
full-time youth engagement adviser at the beginning of July.
Kellert, 23, graduated from the University of Alabama in De-cember with a double major in marketing and m a n a g e m e n t . He lives in Dun-woody, and be-fore being hired at Emanu-El, he was the part-time youth adviser for Congregation Dor Tamid in Johns Creek.
Kellert was involved with Emanu-El’s NFTY branch, TEFTY, in high school, and now he leads the next generation of Jewish leaders.
“This is where I grew up. It’s my home youth group. I have deep roots here,” Kellert said. “My connection is here, and I want to help them thrive.”
In his senior year at Dunwoody High School, Kellert was TEFTY’s mem-bership vice president. He said that ex-perience led him to get involved in the leadership of Hillel at Alabama and now to be an adult leader for Emanu-El’s youth.
Because Kellert is the congrega-tion’s first full-time youth adviser, Temple Emanu-El is still working on creating a formal job description for his position.
Kellert oversees four areas of youth engagement: Junior TEFTY, TEFTY, the college outreach program, and a group for young adults in their 20s and 30s. Junior TEFTY is for sixth- through eighth-graders and held its first event on Sunday, Aug. 23.
“We’re going to have fun, get to know each other and interact on a so-cial level rather than strictly a Sunday school classroom setting,” Kellert said in advance of the event.
The high-schoolers in TEFTY cre-ate their own programming and set their own goals on how to run the orga-
nization. For the col-
lege outreach program, Emanu-El offers college students a place to go for the High Holidays or sim-ply sends a mes-sage or gift to help them continue their Jewish con-nection after high school.
The 20s and 30s group focus-es on engaging young adults who are starting ca-reers and families so they know they have a home at Emanu-El.
A l t h o u g h new to the posi-tion, Kellert is
passionate about his job working with youths, teens and young adults.
“The thing I like best about my job is the people that I get to work with,” he said. “This isn’t a job where I’m sitting at a desk 24 hours a day.”
Kellert has formed relationships with the youth advisers at other Atlan-ta-area Reform synagogues.
“In the other synagogues, the other youth advisers are in my friend group,” he said. “The new NFTY advisers for the Atlanta area go out to dinner, and we talk and chat and share our ideas. We’re looking to create a community that’s bigger than just the youth groups themselves.”
What does Kellert hope to accom-plish as Emanu-El’s youth engagement adviser?
“I hope to provide opportunities to the younger generation,” Kellert said. “There’s so much out there.” ■
By April [email protected]
Ezra Flom, a native of California, is Temple Kol Emeth’s new youth and family programming direc-
tor. Now a resident of East Cobb, Flom
replaced Jus-tin Blake, who moved to Mem-phis at the begin-ning of July.
A l t h o u g h Flom has lived in the Atlanta area only a short time, he has al-ready had a posi-tive experience working at a Re-form congrega-tion here.
“It’s been amazing. At-lanta’s a great city,” Flom said. “The people are wonderful and friendly.”
H a v i n g grown up in a Conservative congregation, Flom was involved with USY as a teen. He also was in a Jewish Boy Scout troop.
Flom earned a bachelor’s degree in Spanish culture and literature with a philosophy minor at California State University, Long Beach. He earned a master’s degree in education and a bachelor’s in rabbinic literature from American Jewish University in Los An-geles. He also attended Hebrew Union College and earned a preliminary Cali-fornia teaching credential.
Before arriving at TKE, Flom creat-ed experiences for Jewish learners for over 10 years. His previous positions include teaching at a Jewish day school and being an assistant teacher for a sophomore service learning program at American Jewish University.
Flom’s first experience with the Kol Emeth community was assisting with a fifth- and sixth-grade retreat. He was asked to help by a graduate school colleague, Rebecca Tullman, who is Kol
Emeth’s religious school principal.“I participated in the program and
was really blown away by the students and the parents and the community,” Flom said. “I met people and was really impressed by the incredible feeling of family that comes from being here.”
The youth and family program-ming director at Kol Emeth is re-sponsible for all youth and fam-ily programs for children from k i n d e r g a r t e n through high school. Flom is also the adviser for KEFTY, Kol Emeth’s NFTY chapter.
Several up-coming youth and family pro-grams have Flom excited. The first activity is a fam-ily program for Sukkot.
“We’re do-ing Stone Soup
in the Sukkah,” he said. “We are bring-ing the folk tale of stone soup to life here.”
Flom also is looking forward to a High Holiday treasure trail for kinder-gartners through fifth-graders. “We are creating a life-size game board of the Jewish year and holidays.”
So what’s the biggest challenge Flom faces in his new position?
“The most challenging thing about this position is seeing so many oppor-tunities and knowing that I’m just one person,” he said. “That’s the real chal-lenge, holding back and making sure that we’re focusing on doing the best job that we can. That means limiting the amount of programs.”
Flom said he has received a lot of support from other youth profession-als and educators in Atlanta.
“I’m really incredibly blessed to be working with so many people who care about Judaism and the Jewish people,” he said. “Not just as a group, but as in-dividuals.” ■
California Dreamin’ Leads to Kol Emeth
Emanu-El Youth Head Back Where He Started
Bryan Kellert now leads the youth group of which he was a member.
Ezra Flom usually can be seen wearing his hat.
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LOCAL NEWS
By April [email protected]
Molly Okun, a graduate of Florida State University, is Temple Sinai’s new director
of youth and teen engagement. Okun, 23, grew up in Tampa,
Fla., until she moved to Tallahassee to study sociol-ogy. Since the age of 8, Okun had dreamed of being a Jewish summer camp director, and af-ter college she moved to San Diego to work to-ward that dream as the program-ming associate at Camp Mountain Chai.
She worked at the Califor-nia Jewish sum-mer camp for a year and a half and discovered she liked camp mainly during the summer and not as much in the offseason.
“I loved camp during camp (ses-sions), but I really missed the constant teen and youth engagement and work-ing with them during the year,” she said.
Okun decided to change jobs be-cause she wanted to work with teens and younger children on a regular ba-sis while still being able to implement programming, which is one of her pas-sions. In early August, Okun moved across the country to work in Sandy Springs at Temple Sinai.
As a teen, Okun was involved with the youth organization NFTY-STR in Tampa and was on her local youth group’s board and the regional board. In her spare time, she enjoys sports, especially kickball, and is a big hockey fan.
Okun was drawn to Temple Sinai because of the synagogue’s staff, clergy and philosophy.
“The people who work here are so wonderful, so I was really excited to join this team in particular and come into this community, which is so in-novative by thinking outside of the box,” Okun said. “The thing I love most
about Temple Sinai is that we feel very strongly that nothing is one size fits all in our religious school and youth programming. We really strive to have different options for different types of kids.”
Okun oversees Sinai’s five youth groups, spanning from kindergarten through 12th grade. She is also the
youth adviser for Sinai’s high school youth group, SCRUFY, which is a chap-ter of NFTY.
In addition, Okun is respon-sible for the mad-richim, the teens who serve as the religious school assistants. “This year we have 48 madrichim, which is awe-some. It’s more than we’ve ever had.”
One chal-lenge Okun has faced in engag-ing teens and
other youths at Temple Sinai is that she arrived late in the summer, right when much of the programming was about to start, and the High Holidays are right around the corner.
“It’s exciting, but it’s definitely challenging to get the ball rolling with not that much time to let everything happen,” Okun said.
She has plans to implement some new youth programs, such as a Jewish cooking class. For fifth- and sixth-grade girls, Temple Sinai is planning a pro-gram to enhance self-confidence and teach them the importance of having positive body image.
“We want them to recognize that being unique is acceptable. Everyone was born different for a reason, and that’s totally OK,” Okun said.
She and her colleagues are in the process of proposing an internship pro-gram to the temple board in which the teens will be guided by a mentor from the Temple Sinai staff, such as one of the rabbis, the cantor or the education director, on a specific topic.
“We want to provide our teens with unique leadership experience and help them develop skills in specific ar-eas,” Okun said. ■
Sinai Youth Director Looks Outside the Box
Molly Okun has wanted to work with youth since she was a child.
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Herb Roasted Chicken ......................................................................................................................... Thigh Quarter ...............................................................................................4.49 each Breast Quarter .................................................................................................. 5.49 eachSilan Sweet & Sour Chicken................................................................................................................ Thigh Quarter ....................................................................................................4.49 each Breast Quarter ................................................................................................... 5.49 eachApple Cinnamon Chicken ..................................................................................................................... Thigh Quarter ....................................................................................................4.49 each Breast Quarter ................................................................................................... 5.49 eachWhole Chicken Stuffed w/Dried Fruit .................................................................................. 17.99 eachBoneless Stuffed Chicken Breast ......................................................................................... 7.99 eachChicken Marsala (cutlets) ........................................................................................................ 11.99 lbChicken Schnitzel (cutlets) ...................................................................................................... 11.99 lb Brisket ....................................................................................................................................21.99 lbMeatballs Stuffed with Sweet Cherries ...................................................................................... 8.99 lbSephardic Style Stuffed Cabbage ....................................................................................... 3.99 eachSyrian Blackeyed Pea Lamb Stew .......................................................................................... 14.99 lbMeat Stuffed Grape Leaves in an Apricot & Pomegranate Sauce .........................................9.99 for 6
Starters Price
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Available in The Spicy Peach freezer - gefilte fish, kugels, matza balls and delicious parve cakes and much more
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Rosh Hashana MenuPick-up: Fri., Sept 11 9-3pm | Order Deadline: Sun., Sept 6, 2015
TO ORDER CALL 404.334.7200 OR EMAIL [email protected]
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www.atlantajewishtimes.comBUSINESS
The Atlanta Business Chronicle reported Aug. 11 that Smyrna is the No. 4 location in the nation
to open a restaurant. The Jaffes (no re-lation) have taken on that challenge by opening Oy! at 2355 Cumberland Park-way, close to the Home Depot HQ.
Sherry Habif, Adam Jaffe’s cater-ing and party planning mother, was the inspiration. Adam said he and wife Allie opened Oy! on July 18 with “not su-per-complicated or complex food with
great chefs blended with my mother’s background of overindulgence.”
He practices personal injury and divorce law while Allie runs the day-to-day operations. Sherry keeps a firm watch on qual-ity control and makes sur-prise visits at least weekly to ensure the chefs — Le Cordon Bleu grads with over 15 years of experience, plus training in Sherry’s
home — are fulfilling her recipes.Marcia: Why did you chose Smyr-
na … off the Buckhead beaten path?Adam: We wanted someplace cute
and trendy. … This location was actu-ally a former restaurant.
Marcia: Other than growing up with Sherry and loving good food, why go into a tough business like this?
Adam: I lived for a bit in New Or-leans and loved the huge portions at the Camellia Grill. I was eating at the Flying Biscuit and thinking, “This can be done even better.” We like to make people happy with rich, delicious food and huge portions. That’s our biggest complaint: “You gave me waaaay too much!” So take it home, we say.
Marcia: Allie, what’s it like to be in a family business with these machers?
Allie: It’s not like work. It’s so much fun. Sherry’s food is to die for, and dining was always my hobby. We are open seven days a week and have done very little marketing. We see lots of different faces here. Families, to-go orders, office lunch workers. We even have a mahjong corner set up for groups to come play and eat. We close at 3, so there are no long night hours. Adam is on site for our lunch rush and all day on the weekend.
Marcia: Sherry, what’s your back-ground in food preparation?
Sherry: The full gamut. In Bir-
mingham I had a catering business in the ’70s. Then I was the outside ca-terer for the famous Coach and Six in the early ’80s. For eight years I was the baker for Ahavath Achim Synagogue and made 200 dozen cookies at a time. That’s a real oy.
Marcia: What are the menu favor-ites?
Adam: Sherry’s French toast caramel casserole stuffed with cream cheese, extreme buttermilk pancakes the size of a pizza with real fruit top-pings, giant six-egg omelets, challah egg soufflé, and Sherry’s famous triple chocolate-chunk cookies. Oops, can’t forget the Juicy Lucy stuffed burger. Our price points are $8 to $12.
Marcia: Aren’t you bucking the health food trends?
Adam: We use no trans fats or animal fat. Our burgers are lean Angus brisket and short ribs. You can also ask for egg whites or no butter. Our veggie burgers are specially made for us with ground mushrooms, oats and brown rice. We also have delish sweet potato hash. But you’re right: It’s not health food. Everyone likes to overindulge a bit. We ensure that there is someplace to do that and make it worthwhile.
Marcia: Are you seeing many fa-miliar Jewish faces?
Allie: We have a diverse clientele. We are very community-friendly. You can give a bridal shower, birthday party, bris or brunch here for no facility fee.
Marcia: How do you two stay so trim and ripped around this food?
Sherry: Oh, they eat sushi and qui-noa when I’m not looking.
Marcia: I think I’ll go take some Lipitor. ■
Caterer’s Recipes Help Son Take On Smyrna
Jaffe’s Jewish JiveBy Marcia Caller [email protected]
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JOIN THE “DAY OF JEWISH UNITY” ON TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 8
In roughly 3 weeks, Congress will vote on the Iran nuclear agreement. The future of the Jewish people worldwide hangs in the balance.
This is a time of crisis and we need to act together now.
If approved in its present form, the Iran deal would place the Jewish nation in harm’s way and pose a grave threat to democracies worldwide. In times of crisis, the Jewish nation has historically turned to prayer in order to help us persevere and overcome the odds. Prayer has been the hallmark of our people since time immemorial.
THIS IS A TIME OF CRISIS – WE NEED TO ACT TOGETHER NOW.On Tuesday, September 8, 2015, just days before Congress holds this important vote, a delegation of rabbis and community leaders will travel to Radin in Belarus in order to pray at the grave of the Chofetz Chaim, who was the beloved and revered leader of world Jewry in pre-war Europe. In conjunction with that special event, coordinated by the Acheinu organization, Jews around the world will be joining together to recite 2 chapters of Psalms in an attempt to deflect the acute danger that would result from allowing Iran a path to obtain nuclear warheads.
The days leading up to the High Holidays are an appropriate time for repentance, reflection and prayer. The days leading up to perhaps the most consequential Congressional vote in our lifetime is a compulsory time for unity and prayer. Join with a projected 500,000 Jews around the world in a Day of Unity and Prayer on September 8.
TO PARTICIPATE IN THIS SPECIAL GLOBAL EVENT, PLEASE RECITE PSALMS, CHAPTERS 20 AND 130 ALONG WITH THE SHORT
ACHEINU PRAYER BETWEEN THE HOURS OF 7am-12pm ON SEPTEMBER 8TH.
Prayers and additional information available at:
DayofJewishUnity.com
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www.atlantajewishtimes.comSOUTHEASTERN NEWS
By Michael [email protected]
The Jewish Community Center of New Orleans had trouble in Au-gust 2005. Its location in subur-
ban Metairie, shared with the Jewish Day School and Federation, was so un-derused that its closure was possible.
Ten years later, JCC membership in Metairie has risen from 300 to 800 families, and the JCC is raising as much as $8 million to expand its main loca-tion in Uptown New Orleans by almost a third to accommodate growth from 1,900 to 2,600 member families, sold-out day camps, and a preschool that fills every spare space in the building.
Before Katrina, JCC Executive Director Leslie Fischman said, “we wouldn’t have dreamed that we would be now outgrowing this facility.”
The improved fortunes for the JCC reflect the renewal of the Jewish com-munity as a whole in the decade since Hurricane Katrina struck the city Aug. 29, 2005, and failed levees left three-quarters of New Orleans underwater.
“The community’s better for it since Katrina,” Fischman said. “We’re working at keeping our strength.”
The core of old-line Jewish New Orleans lies along a 1½-mile stretch of St. Charles Avenue from one Reform congregation, Touro Synagogue, to another, Temple Sinai, which is next to Loyola University and a long block from the first taste of New Orleans for thousands of Jews, Tulane University.
The Uptown JCC, at the site of a former Jewish orphanage, is midway between the synagogues. A Jewish cem-etery is two blocks from the JCC and two blocks off St. Charles.
While most of the city flooded — the century-old Orthodox synagogue, Beth Israel, and its Lakeview neighbor-hood were under 8 feet of water — that “sliver by the river” of Jewish life and history was high and dry by New Or-leans standards. The lack of flooding helped turn the JCC from the center of the Jewish community into a center of the general community’s recovery.
The Federal Emergency Manage-ment Agency ran relief efforts from the JCC, whose fitness center was the first in the city to reopen, providing some normalcy and a place to shower.
Fischman said a communal turn-ing point came Dec. 20, 2005, when the center hosted glass artist Gary Rosen-thal for a Chanukah celebration and homecoming at which more than 500 free spaghetti dinners were served. Her
office holds a menorah from that day.As few as 2,000 Jews were back
that fall, down from 9,500 before the storm. After most of the people who were coming back returned by early 2006, the Jewish population was about 6,000, said Michael Weil, who was hired as the executive director of the Jewish Federation of Greater New Or-leans in the aftermath of Katrina.
“I barely knew where New Orleans was on a map,” said Weil, who was re-cruited from the Jewish People Policy Institute in Jerusalem.
He said the traumatized commu-nity didn’t know how to move forward but was determined to do so and put aside politics and territorialism.
A nine-month effort crafted a five-year strategic plan, which the commu-nity began implementing before it was finished. Weil said he accomplished what he wanted to do in New Orleans within four years, but like so many oth-ers who have moved to the city the past decade, he has no plans to leave.
The plan included the Jewish New-comers Program, which offers finan-cial incentives such as rental and mov-ing assistance and free membership in a synagogue and the JCC to encourage Jews to give New Orleans a chance.
“We didn’t want to buy anybody,” Weil said, and the money wasn’t enough to motivate a move. But for young pro-fessionals following the trend of mov-ing south from the Northeast and Mid-west, the incentives provided a reason to consider New Orleans.
The active program also ensures that the newcomers have contact with Jewish institutions from the start, something growing Jewish communi-ties such as Atlanta haven’t achieved.
Some 2,500 Jews have moved to New Orleans through the program in eight years, Weil said. Partially as a result, the community has 10,300 Jews and is growing by 200 to 300 a year.
Physical signs support the num-bers. At Tulane, Hillel and Chabad have new homes. The city has half a dozen kosher restaurants. A Jewish museum is being planned, as is a community
mikvah to join the concentration of Jewish facilities in Metairie.
Within a few miles of West Espla-nade Avenue are the Kosher Cajun deli, Conservative Congregation Shir Cha-dash, the combined day school/Federa-tion/JCC building and a Chabad center.
Highlighting the community’s co-operation is the block containing the Reform Congregation Gates of Prayer and relocated Orthodox Beth Israel.
Beth Israel accepted an offer to share space with Gates of Prayer until it opened a building in August 2012 on land it bought from Gates of Prayer.
People and activities move be-tween the buildings, said Rabbi Robert Loewy, who has led Gates of Prayer for 31 years. One example is the commu-nity Shabbat observance at the bien-nial LimmudFest, itself a post-Katrina arrival in New Orleans.
Rabbi Loewy said family connec-tions and some shared membership be-tween the congregations were always common, but the cooperation in learn-ing, social action and even worship didn’t happen before the storm.
Now he sees strong cooperation among synagogues and other institu-tions. “I think we’re all looking to the future with a good sense of optimism.”
That optimism is fed by the rever-sal of the longtime flow of young adults
out of New Orleans. Rabbi Loewy said that economy-driven tide began to turn before Katrina and now is a dominant trend. New Orleans’ own young people, even those who go away for college, are staying as adults, and more Tulane stu-dents are deciding not to leave.
The influx of young people with their new ideas and new approaches, Rabbi Loewy said, has created “a rein-
vigorated Jewish community,” includ-ing a bit of a baby boom boosting Jew-ish preschools and religious schools.
One newcomer contributing to that baby boom is Danielle Levine, re-cently back to work as the New Orleans director of Avodah: The Jewish Service Corps after maternity leave with her second child. Both children were born in New Orleans the past three years.
“Six years ago I was looking for friends in their 20s,” she said. “Now I’m looking for a day school.”
Levine, who grew up in Washing-ton, D.C., moved from San Francisco at the start of 2009 with her New Or-leans-native girlfriend, who has since converted to Judaism and married her.
Levine didn’t move because of the Jewish Newcomers Program, but she enrolled and used the free synagogue membership to attend Touro, where she said she instantly fell in love with the diverse, welcoming community.
She found her way to Avodah through program alumnae she met at Limmud, then followed rabbinic ad-vice to pursue the director’s job when it came open in 2010.
“I thought I was going in one direc-tion, but when I got here and became immersed in the community and real-ized how I was spending my time and energy, it became apparent that (Avo-
Katrina Leaves Behind Stronger Jewish Community
Photos by Michael JacobsLeft: Leslie Fischman, an 18-year New Orleans JCC veteran who has been the executive director for five years,
says Jewish New Orleans is stronger than ever. Right: Congregation Gates of Prayer welcomed not only homeless Congregation Beth Israel after the storm, but also a Unitarian church that held Sunday services there.
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SOUTHEASTERN NEWS Annual Conservative Congregations’ Selichot Program
Sponsored jointly by the Conservative Congregations of Greater Atlanta
Ahavath Achim, Beth Shalom, B’nai Torah, Etz Chaim, Gesher L’Torah, Or Hadash, Shearith Israel
Saturday, September 5, 2015 9:15 p.m.
Presentation by Dr. Eric Goldstein,
Director, Tam Institute for Jewish Studies “The Shtetl: An Anatomy of What Jewish Life
was REALLY Like in the Small Towns of Eastern Europe”
• Havdallah • • Reception • • Selichot Service •
Ahavath Achim Synagogue
600 Peachtree Battle Avenue NW | Atlanta, GA
The Conservative Congregations of Greater Atlanta welcome the entire community to this service.
dah) job could be what I wanted to be doing,” Levine said.
Avodah has nine to 10 people per year, and Levine said usually two or three stay in New Orleans. She cited Dana Keren, who arrived with Avodah in 2010 to work with the Tulane Com-munity Health Center and went on to co-found the Birthmark Doula Collec-tive to battle the high infant mortality rate in the black community.
Keren’s ability to quickly make a difference is part of what Levine likes about New Orleans: The city’s small size and big needs lead to openness to new ideas without delays.
That openness, perhaps because of New Orleans’ anything-goes attitude, applies within the Jewish community. Levine said she has play dates with an Orthodox rabbi and his wife, who have a daughter a couple of months older than her first child, and attends tot Shabbats at Shir Chadash.
“I have nothing but tremendous respect for this community,” she said.
Traditional Jewish institutions are looking for more examples like Levine.
“I think all of us are anxious to be able to incorporate the newcomers to the community in the established ways that we’ve always done things, as well as new, creative endeavors,” Rabbi Loewy said. The newcomers present a challenge not only because of their lack of connections to institutions, but also because they are bucking a decades-long drift toward the suburbs and moving into urban areas.
Gates of Prayer, whose member-ship has stabilized at about 450 fami-lies after dropping from 480 to as few as 390 active families after Katrina, responded this summer by adding a second rabbi, tasked with outreach to unaffiliated Jews in their 20s and 30s. The job went to newly ordained Rabbi Alexis Pinsky, an Atlanta native and Tu-lane graduate who is taking services to the areas where young adults live.
“There is so much young life,” Rabbi Pinsky said, mixing those drawn to the city after college and those, like her, who fell in love with the city while attending Tulane and found their way back. With upward of 3,500 Jewish un-dergraduate and graduate students, Tulane alone represents a Jewish com-munity that’s one-third the size of the New Orleans Jewish community.
“People in my age group are very community-service-focused,” Rabbi Pinsky said, and the chance to help re-build a great city “called a lot of people to make New Orleans their home.”
Weil noted that the Jewish com-munity has gotten to show off a bit the past five years. The General Assembly
of Jewish Federations was in New Or-leans in 2010, followed by the New Or-leans Federation’s centennial in 2013 and TribeFest in 2014. He said the Jew-ish singles scene would make much larger cities proud.
After decades of stagnation in terms of facilities and programs, Jew-ish New Orleans has adopted a startup mentality. The barriers to experimen-tation are gone, Weil said.
In addition to Avodah, which ar-rived in 2008 and has become embed-ded in the city under Levine, Moishe House is established in New Orleans, which is the smallest city supporting Limmud. Chavurot and other pro-grams are sprouting up, Weil said.
“Even traditional institutions are transformed. They’re much more on the ball,” he said.
The growth of the community has eased the pressure of eight or nine years ago and allowed some groups to focus more on their own concerns, Weil said, but no one wants to go back to the pre-Katrina Jewish New Orleans.
“The outgrowth of Katrina is quite remarkable,” he said. “This is some-place where Jewish collaboration is working.” He can envision the Jewish community doubling or tripling in size.
“We are going to have an incred-ible community,” Levine said.
Fischman can see that future as she walks around the Uptown JCC, where day campers fill the pool, the gym and the classrooms during the summer, to be replaced by preschool-ers in the fall, and where the fitness center and programming bring New Orleans together all year.
The Uptown JCC is a microcosm of the Jewish community: bustling, full of energy, straining for the use of every square foot, frustrated at the Army Corps of Engineers (a drainage project has torn up the roads around the cen-ter), and prepared for any disaster. The hurricane-ready stockpile of bottled water, for example, kept the center op-erating on a 95-degree day in late July when the city faced a boil-water scare.
So it’s appropriate that the com-munity will gather there Sunday af-ternoon, Aug. 30, to remember what happened 10 years ago and celebrate Jewish New Orleans’ bright future. All 19 Jewish organizations that existed 10 years ago are co-sponsoring the free event, which Fischman said will mimic the December 2005 homecoming.
The event will include a rabbinic prayer, a zydeco performer, and kosher jambalaya and brisket debris po’boys, she said. “We’re going to celebrate ev-erything good about New Orleans — our music, our food, our people.” ■
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www.atlantajewishtimes.comSOUTHEASTERN NEWS
By Yaacov Noah Gothard
Myron Goldberg, a recent presi-dent of New Orleans’ Congre-gation Beth Israel whose Up-
town New Orleans home was flooded and whose clothing business had been looted, was one of dozens of Hurricane Katrina evacuees attending a meeting at the Marcus Jewish Community Cen-ter in Dunwoody one week after the storm made landfall Aug. 29, 2005.
“All of the agencies and services from Atlanta were there,” Goldberg said. “After all the presentations were made, they asked if we needed any-thing or had any questions. We just sat there. The local rabbi that was there got up and said, ‘You are all in denial. You are in shock, and you are in denial. All of your life you have been givers, and now you are receivers, and you don’t know how to ask.’ He was 100 percent correct. We were in shock.”
Meanwhile, Beth Israel President Jackie Gothard was going to sleep in her son Sander’s home in Dallas, pray-ing to G-d to prevent the unthinkable. “We knew about the breaks in the levee, and we knew that we had water in the shul. I would go to sleep at night pray-ing that the Torah scrolls were above the flood level.”
Jackie’s husband, former Beth Is-rael board member Judge Sol Gothard, said, “We couldn’t come back home for three weeks because there was no pow-er, no working gas stations, no open grocery stores or restaurants, and the city was in a state of emergency.”
When residents returned, Jackie Gothard and fellow congregant Jacob Kansas found destruction at the shul. Gothard said: “The glass walls on ei-ther side of the front doors had been crashed down by the floodwaters that had risen 8.5 feet. Big tree branches were in the building. All the prayer books and tallisim were on the floor, covered with mud. The massive bimah had floated 8 feet up and had come to rest on top of the benches in the wom-en’s section. Black and white mold was growing everywhere.”
The seven Torahs, some as old as the 101-year-old synagogue, were ru-ined despite the effort of ZAKA’s Rabbi Isaac Leder, who had entered the shul in a motorized raft days after the storm.
The $2 million building, its new $175,000 air-conditioning system and its contents were not the only losses. The rabbi moved to New Jersey because he had no place to live, and 30 percent to 40 percent of the members left, Sol
Gothard said. “So I thought, ‘How can this shul possibly survive? How can it possibly exist with extremely dimin-ished membership, no building, no rab-binical residence, no rabbi, no Torahs, yarmulkes, prayer books or tallisim? No income?”
“It was kind of a triage,” Jacob Kan-sas’ son Alan, a law-yer, said of his first few days back. “I had lost my house, my family was liv-ing in a rental house in Houston, and it wasn’t just about the shul. Everyone had their own Katrina saga that they were in the middle of.”
“Once I knew that I and my family were safe and our homes were intact, I could concentrate on seeing what it would take to keep Beth Israel alive,” Jackie Gothard said. “Do we sell the property, fold up as a congregation, let our 100-year-old Beth Israel go with the flow? A few said yes. But those of us whose grandparents and parents were the founding members of Beth Israel said no. I did not want to be remem-bered as the first female president and last president of our beloved congrega-tion. After Rosh Hashanah at Conser-vative Shir Chadash, we decided that we wanted a Beth Israel Yom Kippur. We had nine days to work on it.”
On Oct. 13, 50 of the 400 members
gathered in the lobby of a Comfort Suites on land purchased seven years earlier from Sol Gothard, which he had bought with his father-in-law, Ralph Pressner, 30 years before. “Do you think my dad is smiling down on us as we observe Yom Kippur as a Beth Israel congregation on land he once owned?” Jackie Goth ard asked the congregation. “The way he loved his shul, I certainly think so.”
Eddie Gothard, the only one of five Gothard siblings still living in New Orleans, “had put a box of Kleenex at the end of every other aisle. He was singing Kol Nidre. We were coping. We were trying to pray,” said Goldberg, who made it back from Atlanta for the holidays.
“My 25-year-old son, Aaron, came with me on Kol Nidre, and he couldn’t come back the next day. It was too hard.”
Almost 80 congregants did show up for Yom Kippur day.
“We were all quite fragile and grateful to see each other,” said Debra Namias, a congregation member and social worker. “I was on the road. I was out 10 months and homeless. I used friends, family and faith to cope. G-d was the basis of everything. G-d played a role in this. There was a purpose in it, and G-d had a place for me.”
Yom Kippur “gave us confirmation and hope that we would come through this, and we did,” she said.
Three Yeshiva University students led services with a borrowed Torah and donated prayer books. Irwin Lachoff, whose father, gabbai Meyer Lachoff, had died in a nursing home two days after Katrina, assumed his father’s role.
Jackie Gothard delivered the ser-mon amid the few items salvaged from the synagogue (three brass menorahs, a few yads and a bimah cover), in front of a mechitzah made from sand-filled Home Depot buckets, broomsticks and hotel bedsheets, and with the aroma of waffles and bacon drifting in from the hotel breakfast buffet.
“No rabbi in the world could have given that drash at that point in time at that particular place,” her husband said. “Men are supposed to be a little tougher, and I am not prone to crying so quickly, but this got to me as no oth-er sermon I had ever heard in my life. … Logically, there was no way in the world that this synagogue could con-tinue to exist. It was not possible, but
she made it possible. She willed Beth Israel to exist.”
Jackie Gothard said Yom Kippur made her realize Beth Israel could survive. “I said in my sermon that two weeks after Katrina we read in our synagogues, according to the prophet Isaiah, this promise from G-d: ‘I have sworn that the waters of Noah never-more would flood the earth.’ G-d prom-ised never again to destroy the whole world by flood. Would we dare to say that the floodwaters destroyed our whole world? Of course there is heart-break and sadness and loss of family treasures, but our whole worlds are not our furniture, our roofs, our business-es, our cars, our clothes. Those are only parts of our whole world. The impor-tant components of our world are each other — our loved ones, our friends, our neighbors, our community — and our relationship with our G-d.”
Top left: Former Congregation Beth Israel President Jackie Gothard weeps at the burial of the Orthodox shul’s seven flood-destroyed Torahs in 2005.
Bottom: The new home of Congregation Beth Israel sits on West Esplanade Avenue in Metairie.
Beth Israel Rises From Mighty Waters
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www.atlantajewishtimes.comSOUTHEASTERN NEWS
Her sermon noted some of the di-sasters Jews have overcome, from the destruction of the Temples to the Ho-locaust, and concluded that if the Jewish people could survive those disasters, Beth Israel could come back from Katrina’s floodwaters.
“Listening to the story Jackie told was heart-rend-ing. We had our lives. We had to rebuild with what we had,” Goldberg said.
“The storm was a wake-up call so the synagogue would survive,” lifetime member Dr. Hilton Title said. “A synagogue is the people who make it what it is. The leadership was the guiding light. I think it was the outreach by the Jewish community, nationally and internationally, the outpour-ing of support, that gave our synagogue a flame, a cata-lyst, to survive.”
Three synagogues of-fered to house Beth Israel, which accepted the offer from the Reform Congrega-tion Gates of Prayer, located in Metairie within a half-mile of Congregation Shir Chadash, Chabad of Metai-rie and the JCC/Federation complex. “We are as liberal as an Orthodox congrega-tion can be, and Gates of Prayer is as traditional as a Reform congregation can be, so it was a natural shidduch,” Sol Gothard said. “Their rabbi, Bob Loewy, was also our champion in Federation, as Beth Israel suffered more financial and infrastructure loss than all the other synagogues com-bined. I asked him, ‘Bob, why are you so good to us?’ and he said, ‘Because this community needs you.’ ”
Two years after the storm, the Or-thodox Union sent down three rabbini-cal candidates at Beth Israel’s request. The synagogue chose Rabbi Uri Topo-losky, whose wife, Dahlia, said: “On our first visit to New Orleans together, Uri and I looked at the Hebrew quote on the front of the ruined shul: ‘They shall make for me a sanctuary that I may dwell amongst them.’ We were both thinking the same thing: This was the quote we had chosen to write on our wedding invitation as a prayer for our own lives — our hope to also build a home where G-d’s presence might dwell. And here we were standing in front of Beth Israel, staring at these
same words, and I said, ‘Uri, it’s beshert. This is where we were meant to be.’ ”
Rabbi David Posternock, hired as
the synagogue administrator in 2008, said he also felt a higher calling. “I actu-ally saw the job posting on Valentine’s Day, and it was 2:14 p.m. on Feb. 14, so I looked up Genesis Chapter 2, Verse 14, and it talked about the Garden of Eden. To this day I am convinced that G-d sent me to my Garden of Eden. I walked onto New Orleans soil, I smelled the air, and it felt like home.”
Dahlia Topolosky said: “I was never in a city where there was such a unity of culture and music and spirit. I was never in a city where people loved their city so much. In our shul there was a sense of intergenerational rela-tionship, and I felt as close with people in their 90s as with the young people moving into town. You felt a real sense of family.”
“To use Rabbi Uri’s favorite word,
he was unbelievable,” Jackie Gothard said. “He went all over the country getting financial support. New mem-
bers started join-ing. Congregants became more involved. He was charismatic. Uri stayed with us un-til the new syna-gogue was built, which was his goal.”
Rabbi Topo-losky said: “One of the things I did was I focused a lot on community col-laboration, so that we could be part of the communi-tywide growth. New Orleans has a unique spiritual quality, the Car-nival, that carries over to synagogue life. That positive energy has a won-derful impact on spirituality. You can point to the tireless devotion of Jackie Gothard. You can appreci-ate the dedication of Eddie Gothard and Richard Katz to make sure that the synagogue would be finan-cially viable long term and that we’d have a beautiful sanctuary to walk into.”
Eddie Goth-ard and Alexander Barkoff served as the synagogue construction committee co-chairmen.
On Aug. 26, 2012, almost seven years to the day after the storm, over 400 congregants, guests and dignitar-ies followed an all-female, African-American brass band as five Torahs given by communities across the na-tion were danced from Gates of Prayer to the stunning new sanctuary next door on land bought from the Reform congregation.
“There were hundreds of people from all over the community, all over the country, people who hadn’t been back since the storm, people who had left before the storm and hadn’t seen each other in 20 years,” Rabbi Poster-nock said. “The horns were blazing inside the new sanctuary. You couldn’t
hear yourself think. It was inspiring to feel such love. It was incredible.”
In 2014, a year after the Topo-loskys moved to assume the leader-ship of Beth Joshua Congregation in Rockville, Md., Beth Israel lured Rabbi Gabe Greenberg from the directorship of the Hillel chapter at the University of California-Berkeley.
“The first weekend I came down to visit the shul, they took me out to eat some beignets after Shabbat, and I since inherited the job of ensuring the kosher status of three Café du Monde locations in Metairie and the French Quarter,” Rabbi Greenberg said. “There are two Jewish Mardi Gras crews, Krewe du Jieux and Krewe du Mishi-gas. Every week we sing Adon Olam to ‘When the Saints Go Marching In.’ One of the kosher restaurants made king cakes this year, and we’ve got two more kosher eateries opening soon. It is re-ally sweet living in Metairie and walk-ing to a parade on our street within the eruv on Shabbat.”
He added: “Seeing how the com-munity is growing makes me feel that we are part of a rich, dynamic his-tory that has gone through significant changes for hundreds of years, Katrina being just one of them, and that will continue to change and grow in the future.”
“The storm undoubtedly finished off our shul, but it paved the way for the rebirth of a smaller, brand-new edi-fice that reflected the current smaller, revitalized membership,” Sol Gothard said. “The New Orleans Jewish com-munity is back up from 7,000 to over 10,000. Young Orthodox Jews are com-ing to town with Avodah and Teach for America. The economy is thriving, and all of our shuls are growing.”
“The synagogue that had been drowned came back to life,” Rabbi Posternock said. “The quote engraved in wood over our ark from King Solo-mon’s Song of Songs says, ‘Mighty wa-ters cannot extinguish our love.’ We were in a building committee meeting, talking about carpets and paint for our new edifice, and Uri came up with the pasuk. Everyone went quiet. Everybody in the meeting cried. Some sobbed. It was one of the best moments in my life. When moments like that happen, they are never by accident. G-d allowed us to be in that moment with the perfect description to tell our story. If Katrina, one of the worst storms that ever hit this town, couldn’t destroy us, then nothing can.” ■
Yaacov Noah Gothard, the president of CareerPro Resumes in Sandy Springs, is the son of Jackie and Sol Gothard.
Top: photo by Gil RubmanCongregations across the country donated five Torahs to replace
the ones Beth Israel lost in the post-Katrina flood.Bottom: Photo by Alexander Barkoff
Rabbi Uri and Dahlia Topolosky lead the celebratory procession from Congregation Gates of Prayer to the new home of Beth Israel next door in 2012.
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Singer-songwriter Rabbi Jake Czu-per wants to teach your child the joys of being Jewish.
The children’s entertainer and At-lanta Jewish Academy Judaics educator teaches Jewish values through music in a fun way. This month he released his debut album, “Rabbi Jake Vol. 1.”
The native Atlantan and father of three visited the AJT to talk about the album, what it means to be a proud Jew and the Jewish children’s music circuit.
AJT: So did you start out focused on children’s music?
Rabbi Jake: In general, I play mu-sic of all types, but I’m trying to mostly focus on using music to educate and also using music to give a positive feel-ing and inspiration towards Judaism. I try to speak to the child’s heart. If people come to a Rabbi Jake show, it’s a positive, upbeat, Jewish experience.
AJT: What are the most important Jewish values to teach to children?
Rabbi Jake: The values I stress to children are gratitude, that we should be proud to be Jews and that it’s a mitz-vah to be happy.
AJT: The last track on your album is titled “Proud to Be a Jew.” Why is it important to be proud?
Rabbi Jake: We should be proud of who we are, and we shouldn’t hide it. We’ve been around thousands of years, and we have a mission in this world to make it a better place. The Aleinu LeSha-beach prayer says it is upon us to be the ones who praise G-d, to be the ones who spread the light. … I think we should be proud to have that sacred path.
AJT: What’s the landscape cur-rently of Jewish children’s music in At-lanta and the Southeast?
Rabbi Jake: It’s a genre that there’s not so much out there. There’s one guy in the New York area called Uncle Moishe who’s been doing this for like 30 years. I feel that it’s an untapped area to reach children in.
AJT: Is that one of the reasons that you got in to the genre?
Rabbi Jake: Yes, I just felt there was a void. When I go to an event, I like to create a Jewish experience for these kids but not so intense. It’s very fun and upbeat. The kids learn a few mes-sages, and they won’t even realize it. I’m passionate about finding kids when they’re having fun and giving them some Jewish content at the same time.
AJT: What would you say is the main age group you focus on?
Rabbi Jake: Basically from zero to 10 years old. I have played at camps around for 12-year-olds, though, and sometimes they are more outwardly into it than the little ones.
AJT: Do you tailor your perfor-mances to the age group?
Rabbi Jake: Every concert is unique. I definitely change each show depending on who is there and who I’m performing for. If I have 3-year-olds, I’m going to do something different than if I have 10-year-olds.
AJT: Your new CD is out now. How can people get their hands on it?
Rabbi Jake: It’s available in a vari-ety of formats digitally — Amazon, CD Baby, Google and iTunes. It’s also in the local Judaica store Chosen Treasures. It’s going to be in stores worldwide. ■
Pride in Children’s MusicRabbi Jake releases his debut CD
Photo by David R. CohenRabbi Jake Czuper’s debut CD is available worldwide.
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EDUCATION
Epstein’s Fresh StartPhotos by Coleen Lou
The Epstein School started its first year under Head of School David Abusch-Magder on Aug. 11 (first to eighth
grades), 12 (kindergarten) and 13 (early child-hood program). The character education theme for this year is “Words Matter,” which will be woven into the curriculum all year.
A b u s c h - M a g d e r , known as Dr. D, gets to know first-graders Gavin Cohen and Jeremy Wolf. Leighton Tritt unpacks her backpack on her first day of kindergarten. Teachers Stephanie Lam-pert and Lauren Stur-isky pose with one of their pre-kindergartners, Avi Weiss, who brought a sign announcing his big day. ■
Weinstein School Gains SACS AccreditationThe Marcus Jewish Community Center is rolling out a wellness-based curric-
ulum at its two preschools, one of which recently gained new accreditation.The Weinstein School, based at the Marcus JCC’s Zaban Park in Dun-
woody, added accreditation by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Council on Accreditation and School Improvement to its accreditation from the National Association for the Education of Young Children.
Weinstein School Director Kim Sucan said the SACS CASI accreditation is based on the New Standards for Quality Early Learning Schools. The two accredi-tations put Weinstein at the highest level a preschool can attain and ensure that the school meets high standards for early learning, development and care.
“We were excited to be a part of this SACS accreditation process, which shows our commitment to support the growth and development of our preschoolers in a culture of continuous improvement,” Sucan said.
The Weinstein School and its sister preschool, the Sunshine School at Temple Kol Emeth in East Cobb, are introducing a comprehensive, wellness-based cur-riculum called Discover: CATCH (Coordinated Approach to Child Health).
The JCC Association developed the program with the University of Texas School of Public Health to teach children ages 3 to 5 to love physical activity and develop healthy eating habits. It involves the early childhood, sports and wellness, family engagement, and Jewish life departments at the Marcus JCC.
“Wellness has been an important part of all of our programs,” Sucan said. “By bringing various areas within our agency together and training us all in the same curriculum, we will be united in our efforts to educate both children and their parents on the importance of physical activity and healthy eating.”
Sunshine School Director Raye Lynn Banks added, “It is much easier to instill healthy habits at an early age than it is to change bad habits in older children.”
Among the activities of Discover: CATCH, preschoolers will grow fruits and vegetables in their own gardens. ■
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OBITUARIES
Mary Piha Capeloto 98, Atlanta
Mary Piha Capeloto, 98, of Atlanta passed away peacefully Wednesday, Aug. 19, 2015.
Born in Montgomery, Ala., to Luna and Rubin Piha, both of blessed memory, she moved to Georgia with her family at a very early age and was a longtime member of Congregation Or VeShalom.
Mary was preceded in death by her loving husband of 42 years, Victor; a sis-ter, Regina Capilouto; and a brother, Morris Piha. She is survived by her daugh-ters, Rachel Guillen (Manuel) and Annette Schulman; grandchildren Michelle Lawrence (Chris), Carl Guillen (Laura), Greg Guillen, Rubin Schulman (Bridgette), Jodi Garrett (Bill), Helane Bennett (Kevin) and Susan Gow (Mark); and 11 great-grandchildren.
Sign the online guestbook at www.edressler.com. In lieu of flowers, memo-rial donations may be made to OVS at www.orveshalom.org. Graveside services were held Sunday, Aug. 23, at Greenwood Cemetery with Rabbi Hayyim Kassorla officiating. Arrangements by Dressler’s Jewish Funeral Care, 770-451-4999.
Deborah Schonberger Dix64, Marietta
Deborah Schonberger Dix, 64, died Wednesday, Aug. 19, 2015. She was born June 9, 1951, in Brooklyn, N.Y., grew up in Galveston, Texas, and raised her family in Marietta.
Debby was a loving and beloved wife, mother, grandmother, sister, cousin, friend and teacher. She never let adversity get her down; life was to be lived until it could not be lived any longer.
She is survived by her husband, Stephen; a son, Joshua Aaron Dix; a daugh-ter, Monica Caroline Caron, and son-in-law, Neil Scott Caron; a granddaughter, Isla Jaye Caron; and a sister, Rachel Levit, and brother-in-law, Roy A. Levit.
Sign the online guestbook at www.edressler.com. Graveside services were held Friday, Aug. 21, at Arlington Memorial Park in Sandy Springs with Rabbi Shalom Lewis officiating. In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be made to the Colon Cancer Challenge Foundation, www.coloncancerchallenge.org, or Vitas Hospice, www.vitas.com. Arrangements by Dressler’s Jewish Funeral Care, 770-451-4999.
Phyllis Lazarus66, Atlanta
Phyllis Lazarus, age 66, of Atlanta died Sunday, Aug. 23, 2015.She is survived by her husband of 41 years, Wayne Lazarus; children Jeremy
Lazarus, Zach and Lisa Lazarus, and Joanna Lazarus and Josh Rothstein, all of Atlanta; siblings Meryl and Richard Levitt of Atlanta, Beth and Don Wayne of Cin-cinnati, and Ellen and Michael Levitt of Nashville, Tenn.; grandchildren Jordan, Parker and Pace Lazarus; and mother-in-law Ruth Arnovitz. She was preceded in death by her parents, Meyer and Miriam Goldstein.
Phyllis was born and raised in Louisville, Ky. She taught at the Epstein School for many years and worked for the William Breman Heritage Museum for 10 years. She was active with the 1996 Olympics, including running with the Olym-pic Torch in Gainesville. She volunteered for several communal organizations, including serving as co-chair for the Atlanta Jewish Film Festival film selection committee; chaired missions to Israel for the Jewish Federation of Greater Atlan-ta; and was active in AIPAC. In addition, Phyllis and Wayne were founding mem-bers of Congregation B’nai Torah, and they were active with the Atlanta Literary Society Book Club. Special acknowledgment to the loving care from Weinstein Hospice and caregivers Keisha Gaffney and Gale Walker.
Sign the online guestbook at www.edressler.com. Graveside services were held Tuesday, Aug. 25, at Arlington Memorial Park with Rabbi Joshua Heller of-ficiating. In lieu of flowers, contributions may be made to Congregation B’nai Torah, 700 Mount Vernon Highway, Sandy Springs, GA 30328, or Weinstein Hos-pice, 3150 Howell Mill Road NW, Atlanta, GA 30327. Arrangements by Dressler’s Jewish Funeral Care, 770-451-4999.
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OBITUARIES
Doris Massell89, Atlanta
Doris Massell, wife of former Mayor Sam Mas-sell, died Wednesday, Aug. 19, 2015. A funeral service was held Friday, Aug. 21, at The Temple with Rabbis Peter Berg and Alvin Sugarman officiating. Private in-terment followed at Crest Lawn Memorial Park.
Mrs. Massell was born Nov. 23, 1925, in Griffin, the daughter of Ada and Dee Middlebrooks, and spent her childhood in Hogansville, where she graduated from Hogansville High School; afterward, she moved to Atlanta to attend business school. She later studied art at Georgia State University, where her husband later received his business degree. She learned addi-tional painting skills from Fay Gold and Selma Beard.
She was employed at the Atlanta offices of the Texas Oil Co. for 10 years, after which she worked with her husband and their children in the tourism business they owned for 13 years.
She and her husband were married Oct. 25, 1952. They are survived by their children, Cindy Massell, Steve Massell (and Krista), and Melanie Jacobs (and Jack), and their three grandchildren of Steve and Krista, Dylan, Graham and Isabel. Do-ris was preceded in death by her parents and a brother, Johnny.
In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to The Temple or a charity of your choice. Online condolences may be made at www.hmpattersonspringhill.com.
Theodore Herbert Slotin78, Ormond Beach, Fla.
Theodore Herbert Slotin passed away Wednesday, Aug. 12, 2015, at age 78.Herb was born Nov. 5, 1936, in Augusta. Herb
grew up in McRae, Ga., with his two older broth-ers, Marvin and Philip Slotin. In his youth, Herb was active in the Boy Scouts of America, earning the rank of Eagle Scout. Herb attended the Uni-versity of Georgia and was a member of the UGA swim team and Tau Epsilon Phi fraternity. After college, Herb worked as athletic director at the Atlanta Jewish Community Center and was mar-ried to Peggy Ann Schaffer of Atlanta. After the AJCC, Herb changed careers into the publishing business and served as national sales director for CliffsNotes. Herb was an avid tennis player. He loved collecting American art pottery and became one of the premier collectors of Highwaymen Art paintings in the country. Herb moved in 1990 from Atlanta to Ormond Beach, Fla., where he enjoyed living at the beach, collecting art and taking care of his dogs.
Herb is survived by brother Phillip Slotin; sons Ron, Michael and Steve Slo-tin: and grandchildren Kelly, Taylor and Chelsea Slotin, Emilie and Avi Slotin, and Joshua and Noah Slotin. A graveside memorial service was held Friday, Aug. 21, at the Hillside Cemetery, 215 Seton Trail, Ormond Beach.
Death NoticesIvan Bloch of Atlanta on Aug. 19.Bob Bomes, brother of Temple Sinai member Margie Stern, on Aug. 17.Shirley Feinberg of Philadelphia, mother of Congregation Beth Shalom member Bruce Feinberg, on Aug. 19.Ronald Goldman, 81, of Birmingham, Ala., on Aug. 18. Robert Koch, Temple Emanu-El member, on Aug. 23.Bill Marcum, 65, of Augusta, brother of Temple Sinai member Linda Friedman, on Aug. 13.Celia “Doll” Mermelstein, 87, of Atlanta, sister of Betty Rose Caldwell, on Aug. 24.Louis G. “Sonny” Sherman Jr., member of The Temple, husband of Mary Louise Marx Sherman, and father of Mary Jane and Fred Colen, Dorothy Gross, Michael Sherman, and James and Nancy Sherman, on Aug. 17.
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www.atlantajewishtimes.comOBITUARIES – MAY THEIR MEMORIES BE A BLESSINGCLOSING THOUGHTS
CROSSWORDEditor: [email protected] Difficulty Level: Challenging
“The Real McCoy”
LAST WEEK’S SOLUTION
Chana’s CornerBy Chana Shapiro
ACROSS 1 Bit of karpas, perhaps 6 JNF branch? 10 2001 Tony winner for playing Bialystock 14 Ryan who played Berthe in “Pippin” 15 Israel’s is smaller than New Jersey’s 16 Feynman’s bomb 17 Third word of “Blowin’ in the Wind” 18 Funny Sahl 19 Act like a bedouin 20 Star whose life was like the title of her film “Girl, Inter-rupted” 23 Dead Sea spa sound, sometimes 24 Way to act on Shabbos afternoon 25 Yenta interjection 28 King David Hotel reputa-tion 31 Nosh on 34 Star of 1970’s “Love Story” 37 “Adoni” in Delhi 39 Film set in Islamicist Iran 40 The ones used to make tefillin come from cooked ox hide 42 Chazerai 43 “Jewish ___” (slang for a cash register) 45 She played an English teacher in “Fame” 47 Moses saw many 49 Word that follows “Abra-cadabra” 50 Abba, but not Eban 51 Smallest shekels 53 Santa ___, California (home of Benjies Deli) 55 For a decade, she stared as Lily Aldrin on “How I Met Your Mother” 62 To stop bad luck, say it three times while spitting 63 Occasional anti-Semitic tactic 64 Like many Yom Kippur shoes
66 Fisher’s “Postcards From the ___” 67 Give tzedaka to 68 Answer choice on some surveys about religious identi-fication 69 First word of the title of Pauline Phillips’ long-running column 70 See 9-Down 71 Like land after the shmita year
DOWN 1 ___ Moses Montefiore 2 “No ___!” (“Sababa!”) 3 Tush 4 Location of the Bene Israel community 5 World War II villains 6 “The Jew in the Lotus” personage 7 Word with dome or curtain 8 She played Sophie 9 Superhero whose creator’s last name was 70-Across 10 His name gets 217 mil-lion Google hits 11 Sitting on a dreidel? 12 Second Torah portion 13 Julia Louis Dreyfus and Julianna Margulies each got one on August 25, 2014 21 Teva part 22 Some arms 25 The Mossad might set one 26 Where spy-master Eli Cohen died 27 Obama picked her in 2010 29 Ward who co-starred with Jake Gyllenhaal in “The Day After Tomor-row” 30 Act like a dyb-buk 32 Forward 33 Bess Myerson headgear
35 Treif 36 Dunham of “Dog or Jew-ish boyfriend? A Quiz” 38 TV funnyman Garrett 41 Kind of car that at-tacked Pamela Geller’s “Draw Muhammed” event 44 Oy! 46 Barry Alan Pincus took this name at his bar mitzvah in 1956 48 He illustrated I.B. Singer’s “Zlateh the Goat” 52 Its queen visited Solo-mon 54 Second Temple Period bead material 55 Acted like impressionist Manny Silver 56 Solomon’s mines trea-sure 57 Class at the J, often 58 V’imru ___ 59 Sol, e.g. 60 Reason for Akamol 61 Ten men for a minyan 65 Some Yiddish humor
My friend Meta and I lunch at the Toco Hills Publix on Tuesdays, and we often
discuss books. Meta likes to tell me, “You read
too many detective stories.” She may be right.
For many months, we noticed a lanky, weathered fellow focusing on his laptop. He had a backpack with a lock on it and a couple of small black notebooks on the table beside the computer. He wore shaded glasses and whispered when he was on his cellphone.
He always sat alone in a corner where no one could see what he was working on.
Meta thought he must be a soli-tary writer who came to Publix for stimulation.
I figured he was an undercover agent or a spy.
Then he disappeared. He had become a silent yet reliable fixture of our Tuesday lunchtime, and we missed him. Besides, our curiosity was heightened.
One day I stopped at Publix on a Wednesday, and there he was at his regular table, working on his laptop, just as before. Where was Meta when I needed her?
But it was now or never, so I went over to him.
“I’m sure you don’t know who I am,” I began.
“I’ve seen you and your friend,” he answered, cautiously.
“It’s been a while,” I noted, surrep-titiously leaning over his notebooks and computer to find clues. “I hope everything’s OK.”
“I’m fine,” he deadpanned. “I’m just wondering …” I began. He
sighed and shrugged. He knew he was trapped. “Are you writing a book, or maybe you work for the government?”
“What gave you that idea?” he exclaimed. “I’m an accountant.”
Soon thereafter, I was granted another opportunity for investigation.
As Meta and I bit into our Tuesday sandwiches, an elderly woman in green shorts and a T-shirt picturing Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers came to our table. For a woman her age, she had great legs.
“Are you girls from around here?” she asked. We answered in the af-firmative.
“I’m from New York,” she said
proudly. “Do you know anywhere to go dancing?” We answered in the negative.
“I moved here to live with my son,” she explained, without a word of encouragement from us. “That’s him over there,” she said, pointing to a sul-len fellow staring at us.
He was also dressed in shorts and
was wearing flip-flops. His toes were callused, just like those of a dancer. It was clear that the mother and son both had dancing in their blood.
Ms. Green-Shorts warned us, “Stay away from him; he’s acting mean.” I assumed that his feet just hurt.
“Mom’s crazy!” he hollered. “She thinks she’ll meet Jewish people here because of the kosher deli!” (Well, she did meet us.)
“Were the two of you dancers?” I asked, confidently.
“Dancers!” she chortled. “We stood on our feet every day in a drugstore in Queens.” Her son came over and growled at her. “Now I’m in trouble!” the woman laughed.
As Meta and I watched, the two of them tripped the light fantastic toward the vegetables.
Yesterday, I went grocery shop-ping at Publix. I carefully recon-noitered the eating area through the window.
Mr. Laptop wasn’t there, and the Green-Shortses weren’t there either.
At the checkout line, a dignified, white-haired gentleman, wearing a bow tie, wire-rimmed glasses and a seersucker suit, smiled knowingly at me. I’d occasionally seen him drink-ing tea, reading piles of journals and taking notes.
“I’m usually here on Tuesdays,” he said as he reached the cashier. “I always see you with a friend.”
“I recognize you, too,” I answered. “I bet you’re a professor.”
“I never went to college,” he laughed. “I make all my money in the stock market.”
There are interesting people out there and exciting mysteries to solve, a veritable field day for Miss Jane Marple.
Alas, I’m still a wannabe. ■
4 People I Don’t Know
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www.atlantajewishtimes.com
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MitzvahsWeddings
Formal CeremoniesFormal Dinners
25,000 sq. foot midtown event spacewww.defoorcentre.com
CAREGIVER/NURSECaring hands and loving heart in the comforts of your
own home. Dependable/honest. Excellent References. Please call 678-427-4135
WE ARE HIRING!MERCEDES BENZ TECHNICIAN NEEDED
ATLANTA WEST MIDTOWN LOCATION!Experienced Mercedes Benz Technician needed in busy
independent Mercedes Service & Repair Center.ADDITIONAL POSITIONS AVAILABLE:
Parts Manager for our busy independent Mercedes Benz Service Center needed! Mercedes Benz Experience helpful to
write estimates, order stock parts, & type invoices.Great working environment, competitive salary. No Weekends
fakakta computer?I’ll drive to you!
Fast Appointment SchedulingReasonable Rates
All Services Guaranteed
→ Desktop & Laptop Repair→ Home/Business Networking→ Performance Upgrades→ Apple Device Support→ Virus/Spyware Removal
AUG
UST
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