Atlanta Jewish Times, No. 45, November 27, 2015

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VOL. XC NO. 45 NOVEMBER 27, 2015 | 15 KISLEV 5776

Calendar 3Candle Lighting 3Remember When 5Israel 8Opinion 10Education 15

Business 20Arts 22Simchas 25Home 26Obituaries 28Crossword 30

HEROIC TALKA tank officer who held off the Syrian on-slaught in 1973 explains why he’ll speak at an FIDF event. Page 8

CAMP TRIBUTEJewish friends whose coun-selor drowned at Camp Thunderbird will remem-ber him by watching his college basketball team play Tech. Page 6

MIDLIFE SHIFTWriter Alfred Uhry ex-plains how the real-life inspiration behind his “Atlanta Trilogy” brought him Tony- and Oscar-win-ning success. Page 22

TRIBE TRIALJennie Rivlin Roberts’ minishop at The Tem-ple could be the model to solve many syna-gogues’ woes. Page 21

ART HOMEGary Bodner’s abstract expressionism deliv-ers the color, style and drama inside his family home. Page 26

Jewish Family & Career Services has entered the final, public phase of its capital fundraising campaign to expand and improve its campus in Dunwoody next year.

JF&CS has raised about $5 million of its campaign goal of $5.1 million and, if it gets the additional $100,000, is on track to break ground in March for a project that will last nine to 12 months, agency CEO Rick Aranson said.

The problem for JF&CS is that construction and regulatory costs have risen dur-ing the capital campaign, so to build its original plans and deliver a first-class facility for staff and clients, the agency will need to raise $350,000 beyond the goal.

Because the project cost would go up about 1 percent for every month’s delay in the groundbreaking, construction will begin in March as long as the fundraising reaches $5.1 million. But if the total raised doesn’t quickly approach $5.5 million, Aran-son said, the plans will be adjusted during the work to find the savings. That’s why the capital campaign involves urgency. You can give at ytfl.org/completeourcampus. ■

Next week: What JF&CS will build

JF&CS Capital Drive Enters Final Phase With Urgency

The gathering space at the front of the renovated JF&CS headquarters will be a place for the public as well as agency staff, clients and family members to spend time together.

Fourth-generation Jewish Atlantan Leah Michalove has been named a 2016 Rhodes Scholar.

The Emory University senior and Sandy Springs native is one of 32 Ameri-can college students and two Georgians announced as winners Saturday, Nov. 21. Emory reported that she is the 19th student from the university to win one of the world’s most prestigious scholar-ships, which provides two or three years of study at Oxford University and is worth up to $50,000 per year.

Michalove, who is majoring in Mid-dle Eastern and South Asian studies and minoring in anthropology, plans to use the scholarship to pursue the M.Phil. degree in social anthropology. She then plans to pursue a doctorate in anthropol-ogy, focusing on the Middle East.

“I’m so excited and grateful. I wouldn’t have gotten here without the support of friends, family and Emory. It’s going to give me an amazing opportunity to study at Oxford and build relation-ships with outstanding students from the U.S. and around the world,” Michalove said in an Emory announcement.

A graduate of the Davis Academy and veteran of the Reform movement’s NFTY teen program, Michalove is the treasurer and outgoing president of Emory’s chap-ter of J Street U, which she helped found.

She was one of eight Atlanta-area college students who went to the national con-ference of J Street, the left-leaning pro-Israel lobbying group, in Washing-ton in the spring. She told the AJT be-fore that conference

that she had visited Israel three times, most recently with Birthright Israel.

She has been an active campus pro-ponent of a two-state Israeli-Palestinian solution and an advocate of Israeli civil rights and pluralism, as in an AJT column she wrote a year ago to criticize a propos-al for separate Jewish and Arab bus lines into the West Bank.

“As the inheritors of the legacy of Jewish civil rights, we are compelled to pursue justice and democracy and to hold those organizations and govern-ments who seek to represent us truly ac-countable,” Michalove wrote.

At Emory, Michalove is a Dean’s Achievement Scholar, a member of Phi Beta Kappa, a recipient of the Amy John-son Study Abroad Award and an active member of the Emory Scholars Program. In theater, she has served as artistic direc-tor, production manager and stage man-ager for Dooley’s Players and as technical theater staff for AdHoc Productions.

She tutors students in Hebrew and Arabic and organizes Emory’s monthly Arabic Round Table. She spent a semes-ter in Morocco, leading to her senior the-sis on young Moroccans’ self-identity in an increasingly interconnected world. She focused on how modern Moroccan women express themselves through fash-ion and appearance. ■

Emory J Street U Leader Wins Rhodes Scholarship

Leah Michalove

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3AJTSend items for the calendar to [email protected].

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CALENDAR www.atlantajewishtimes.com

CANDLE-LIGHTING TIMESParshah Vayishlach

Friday, Nov. 27, light candles at 5:11 p.m.Saturday, Nov. 28, Shabbat ends at 6:09 p.m.

Parshah VayeshevFriday, Dec. 4, light candles at 5:10 p.m.

Saturday, Dec. 5, Shabbat ends at 6:09 p.m.

Corrections & ClarificationsSome 150,000 Jews were deported to the Theresienstadt concentration camp dur-ing World War II, including 15,000 children. An article about a Daffodil Project planting in the Nov. 20 issue incorrectly attributed all 150,000 to one town in Czechoslovakia.

SUNDAY, NOV. 29Leo Frank exhibit. “Seeking Justice: The Leo Frank Case Revisited” closes at the Southern Museum of Civil War & Locomotive History, 2829 Cherokee St., Kennesaw. Museum admission is $7.50 for adults, $6.50 for seniors, $5.50 for ages 4 to 12, and free for ages 3 and under and for Southern Museum and Breman Museum members; www.southernmuseum.org.

TUESDAY, DEC. 1“Heroic Children.” Rabbi Hanoch Tell-er discusses his new book at Congrega-tion Beth Jacob, 1855 LaVista Road, Toco Hills, at 8 p.m. Free; 404-633-0551 or [email protected].

WEDNESDAY, DEC. 2Charitable giving. Financial experts discuss the methods, benefits and chal-lenges of giving at 7 p.m. at Temple Si-nai, 5645 Dupree Drive, Sandy Springs. Free; templesinaiatlanta.org.

THURSDAY, DEC. 3“Alice in Wonderland.” The Marcus JCC, 5342 Tilly Mill Road, Dunwoody, hosts its adult Collective Dance Project and youth J Dance Company in a modi-fied version of the “Alice” ballet at 6 p.m. Tickets are $10 for members, $14 for nonmembers; www.atlantajcc.org. The show repeats Sunday, Dec. 6, at 2 and 6 p.m. for the same prices.

Art opening. Frameworks Gallery, 1205 Johnson Ferry Road, Suite 110, East Cobb, holds an opening reception from a collection of oil paintings by Debra Nadelhoffer from 6 to 9 p.m. Free; www.frameworksgallery.com.

Alembik Lecture. Dentist Irwin Becker addresses “Spirituality, Ethics and a Code to Live By” at 7 p.m. in a lecture sponsored by the Michael Alembik Me-morial Endowment Fund at Temple Si-nai, 5645 Dupree Drive, Sandy Springs. Free; templesinaiatlanta.org.

Infertility support. The Wo/Men’s In-fertility Support Havurah presents a discussion at 7 p.m. at Temple Sinai, 5645 Dupree Drive, Sandy Springs, on how to get through the winter holidays despite all those painful family ques-tions. Free; www.wishatlanta.org.

Hadassah installation. Greater Atlanta Hadassah’s Ketura Group installs its of-ficers and board at 7:15 p.m. at the San-dy Springs Diner, 8612 Roswell Road. Admission is $25; RSVP to mslcaras@

comcast.net or 770-509-1797.

FRIDAY, DEC. 4Rabbi installation. Congregation B’nai Israel, 1633 Ga. 54 East, Fayetteville, in-stalls Rabbi Rick Harkavy at 7:30 p.m. with a service followed by a reception. Free; RSVP to 678-817-7162.

Uhry play. Alfred Uhry’s “The Last Night of Ballyhoo” opens at 8 p.m. at Act3 Productions, 6285-R Roswell Road, Sandy Springs. Other 8 p.m. shows are Dec. 5, 11, 12, 18 and 19; a 3 p.m. show is Dec. 19. Tickets are $15 to $23; www. act3productions.org or 770-241-1905.

SUNDAY, DEC. 6Chanukah bazaar. Congregation Or VeShalom, 1681 N. Druid Hills Road, Brookhaven, holds its 40th annual ba-zaar, featuring member-made Mediter-ranean cuisine, from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.; orveshalom.org or 404-633-1737.

Chanukah family festival. Chabad In-town and the PJ Library present a par-ty, a magic show, crafts, food, and mu-sic by Sammy Rosenbaum and Rabbi Jake from 2 to 4 p.m. at Inman Middle School, 774 Virginia Ave., Atlanta. Free; chabadintown.org or 404-898-0434.

Menorah lighting. Congregation B’nai Israel celebrates Chanukah, culminat-ing in lighting a chanukiah, at 5 p.m. at the fountain near the county offices, 140 Stonewall Ave. West, Fayetteville. Free; bnai-israel.net or 678-817-7162.

Menorah lighting. Chabad of North Fulton celebrates Chanukah at North Point Mall, 1000 North Point Circle, Alpharetta, at 5:30 p.m. Free; www.chabadnf.org or 770-410-9000.

Chanukah concert. Chabad of Gwin-nett holds a concert with Prodezra Beats and lights a 10-foot menorah at 6 p.m. at Thrasher Park, 1 Park Drive, Norcross. Admission: $4 at the door or free if you RSVP: www.jewishgwinnett.com. For more information, call Rabbi Yossi Lerman, 678-595-0196.

Latkes and laughs. Camp Living Won-ders celebrates Chanukah with latkes, dreidels, and the improv comedy of The Troupe at 6 p.m. at Temple Sinai, 5645 Dupree Drive, Sandy Springs. Tickets through Nov. 30 are $15 for adults and $10 for ages 12 to 15 at tickethookups.com/events/1018666. Tickets at the door are $25 and $10; www.campliving-wonders.org or 404-946-8043.

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Atlanta

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GrandChanukahMenorahLightings

Remember When10 Years Ago Nov. 25, 2005

■ Philanthropist Erwin Zaban was honored at a ceremony at the William Breman Jewish Home on Nov. 16 with the unveiling of a statue called “A Dance With Papa,” donated by Steven and Candy Berman. Steve Berman said he has often called Zaban “the architect of the 20th-century Jewish community,” but Zaban said, “Everyone has really given me more credit than I deserve.”

■ Gil Adam Berman of Atlanta, the son of Daniel and Lau-ren Berman, had his bar mitzvah ceremony Saturday, Nov. 19, 2005, at Congregation Beth Shalom.

25 Years Ago Nov. 30, 1990

■ Atlantans form the largest contingent of a mission to Israel organized by the American Jewish Committee in

response to the drastic drop in tourism to Israel since Iraq invaded Kuwait on Aug. 2. Of the 116 U.S. Jews participat-ing in Operation Undaunted, leaving Nov. 29, 14 are from Atlanta. The mission will meet with Prime Minister Yitzhak Shamir and other Israeli leaders.

■ Eve and David Adler of Atlanta announce the birth of a daughter, Kayla Sarah, on Nov. 6.

50 Years Ago Nov. 26, 1965

■ Radio station KTYM in Inglewood, Calif., was charged with broadcasting “blatant anti-Semitism” in a complaint filed with the Federal Communications Commission by the Pacific Southwest Office of the Anti-Defamation League of B’nai B’rith. The commission was asked to consider whether a renewal of KTYM’s license would be in the public interest.

■ Mr. and Mrs. Sam Abrams of Atlanta announce the engagement of their daughter, Harriet Ann Abrams, to Gary Stephens Barnett, son of Mr. and Mrs. Herman Barnett of Savannah.

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LOCAL NEWS www.atlantajewishtimes.com

By David R. [email protected]

Dunwoody High School fresh-man Ben Sokolik was looking forward to a summer full of

sports, friends and fun when he arrived at Camp Thunderbird in June.

Part of a cabin filled with close friends from Atlanta, he was even more excited when he found out that one of his counselors was going to be Wof-ford College basketball player Jeremiah Tate. Sokolik, who is an avid basketball player, immediately took to the 19-year-old first-time counselor.

“He was a great counselor,” Ben said. “From the first day we met him, he was very helpful and extremely nice. If it got too overwhelming or loud in the cabin, he would tell us to stop. He was just a really good person in general.”

Ben and his Jewish cabinmates from Atlanta — Daniel Lewis, Sam Dankberg, Daniel St Amand, Daniel Stern, and twins Ryan and Justin Kap-lin — settled in for a summer of late nights, campfires and good times with Tate.

Ten days into the camp session,

tragedy struck. On his night off, Tate jumped from

a bridge into Lake Wylie with another counselor to go for a swim. The other counselor was fine after the leap, but Tate did not resurface, prompting res-cue teams to be called.

Tate’s body was found 120 yards from shore after more than two hours of searching June 22. He had drowned.

“We got woken up in the middle of the night by police and one of the heads of camp,” Ben said.

“Nobody knew what was going on, not even the counselors. I didn’t find out what happened until the next af-ternoon.”

Camp Thunderbird, which is un-

der the YMCA um-brella, brought in grief counselors, but Ben took the loss of Tate harder than most.

“The day after the tragedy I headed up to the camp, given that my son was quite upset,” Sharon Soko-lik said. “After speak-ing with the camp

and seeing the direction they were tak-ing with the grief counseling, I realized that this cabin full of Jewish boys was not necessarily going to relate to the way the pastor was presenting the con-cept of death.”

Sokolik reached out to Rabbi Noam Raucher of Temple Israel in Charlotte, about an hour away from the camp. Rabbi Raucher spent a few hours with the boys and talked with them about Tate and his impact on their lives. The entire group said Kad-dish for their counselor.

“I was really surprised to hear about this cabin full of Jewish boys at a YMCA summer camp,” Rabbi Raucher said. “It was really beautiful the way they were all supportive of one another and resilient as well. They were really tapped in to their connection with Jere-miah and the way that he had inspired and touched their lives. All the boys were mensches.”

Ben and the rest of his cabin re-mained at Thunderbird the rest of the

summer. When Ben’s mother heard that

Wofford’s basketball team was playing at Georgia Tech on Tuesday, Dec. 1, she jumped at the chance to honor Tate’s memory and bring the boys some clo-sure.

Sokolik and Tracy Dankberg, an-other camp mom, contacted Wofford assistant coach Dustin Kearns and ar-ranged to have the boys attend Wof-ford’s practice the night before the game and meet the team. The boys will attend the game in Midtown and sit be-hind the Wofford bench.

“I’m excited for the boys to meet the Wofford basketball team next week because they will get to see their per-spective of Jeremiah and share their time with him with his teammates,” So-kolik said. “Especially since they were the last ones to see him alive. The kids are thrilled to go.”

In total, 36 people, including five Camp Thunderbird representatives, will attend the game in memory of Tate. It will be the first time since the summer that the entire cabin has been together.

Ben said he talked with Tate about watching him play for Wofford. Had he not drowned, Ben said, his cabin would have jumped at the chance to see him play Tech.

“I think Jeremiah would be really proud and happy that we are repre-senting him and Wofford at the game,” Ben said. “He was the best counselor I’ve ever had.” ■

After Camp Drowning, Game Offers Kids Closure

Jeremiah Tate (top left) poses with his cabin on one of the first days of camp.

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ISRAEL NEWS www.atlantajewishtimes.com

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Zvika Greengold was a somewhat reluctant 21-year-old Israel De-fense Forces tank commander on

leave at his kibbutz in the western Gali-lee when roughly 1,500 Syrian tanks and 1,000 artillery pieces drove across the border about 2 p.m. Oct. 6, 1973.

The surprise attack helped launch the Yom Kippur War.

Recognizing the signs of war, from plumes of smoke to flying formations of fighter jets, Greengold hitchhiked from Kibbutz Lohamei Hagetaot, near Haifa, to the nearest army base.

The only tanks available were two damaged but usable British-made Centurions, and he quickly assembled a squad to go into battle in the Golan Heights. What became known as the Zvika Force sped to the front line and destroyed an estimated 20 to 40 Syrian tanks.

Under cover of night, Greengold halted the Syrian advance, tricking the enemy into thinking that the IDF reserves had arrived with reinforce-

IDF Hero to Speak at Temple Zvika Greengold won Medal of Valor for 1973 stand against Syrians

ments. His heroics earned Greengold the IDF’s highest award, the Medal of Valor, one of eight awarded for the Yom Kippur War and 40 ever given out.

Now 63 and a retired captain, Greengold will speak at The Temple on Tuesday, Dec. 8, at a Friends of the IDF Southeast Region event. He spoke to the Atlanta Jewish Times by phone from Israel.

AJT: How did you get invited to At-lanta?

Greengold: The FIDF contacted me a few weeks ago and asked me if I could give a presentation for people in Atlanta. I said, “With pleasure.” Then she asked me if I will take money for that. I said, “No, this is my mission since I was awarded the IDF Medal of Valor on behalf of many people who died in my brigade.” I look at myself as a representative of that, and my mis-sion since then is to tell the story to anybody who wants to hear.

AJT: How often do you tell people about your story?

Greengold: I’m traveling over the

last 42 years — in Israel mainly, but I have come to America before. I talk to students, soldiers and many other groups.

AJT: What should be the top prior-ity for the state of Israel right now?

Greengold: My parents arrived to Israel in 1948 right as David Ben-Gurion declared Israel the home of the Jewish people. They left the refugee camps in

Italy and built for themselves a home in a kibbutz and a family. One of the most important issues for our country is to be able to defend ourselves. From my point of view, the army of Israel is an army for the nation. It’s one of the most important things. Israel should not have to depend on anyone for pro-tection.

AJT: Why is it so important for you to speak with people in America?

Greengold: Maintaining contact with our brothers overseas is very ex-citing. Of course, I want all of you to come and live in Israel, but still I think that the society of the United States and the values that you have influence Israel, and for us it is very good. ■

Zvika Greengold made a heroic stand as a tank commander in the Yom Kippur War.

What: Legends and Heroes of the IDF: Yom Kippur War

Where: The Temple, 1589 Peachtree St., Buckhead

When: 7 p.m. Tuesday, Dec. 8

Tickets: $50, or $36 for those under 35 (minimum donation to the FIDF annual campaign required); www.fidf.org/idflegends

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ISRAEL NEWS www.atlantajewishtimes.com

For More information contact Bonnie Cook, Admissions, [email protected] or Diane Marks, Matthew Blumenthal M’silot, [email protected]

404.843.9900

“When looking for the right school for our son, we could never have imagined that we would find the perfect place for him! He loves going to school and for the first time in years is proud of himself and loves reading. We are all so thankful that there is a kind, warm and loving environment for him to learn in and express himself.” — AJA Parent

Israel on HBO. HBO has bought the rights to the Israeli TV series “Nevelot” (“Bastards”), about two Palmach veter-ans seeking revenge on a society that is spoiled and has forgotten them. The U.S. version, being produced by Adam Sandler’s Happy Madison, productions will focus on two Vietnam vets who go on a violent journey in Miami.

Writer on the money. Israeli poet Na-than Alterman, who was born in War-saw in 1910 and died in Tel Aviv in 1970, is featured on the new 200-shekel note, a blue bill due to be issued by the Bank of Israel in December. The 200-shekel note is worth about $51.60.

Prize for studying brain link. On the anniversary of Chaim Weizmann’s death, KKL-JNF awarded the Blum-berg Outstanding Medical Research Scientist Prize to Weizmann Institute professor Michal Schwartz for her groundbreaking research into the con-nection between the brain and the im-mune system.

An Israeli elephant never forgets. The Jerusalem Biblical Zoo donated $1,500 for an elephant hospital in Lampang, Thailand. The check was delivered to the Thai ambassador to Israel by a Bib-lical Zoo elephant named Tamar, who presented the check in her trunk.

Training Latin American water ex-perts. Two dozen water experts from 10 Latin America countries took part in a water resources management course run by Israel’s Center for International Agricultural Development Coopera-tion and MASHAV.

Truly high-speed Internet. Israeli chip design startup Sckipio is working with Intel to deliver Internet access at 1 giga-bit per second across existing copper phone lines.

Catching the rain in Kenya. Israel’s ambassador to Kenya launched the first of 45 Catch the Rain projects in Kenya’s Kisii County. Each project includes a 30,000-liter (7,925-gallon) rainwater harvesting kit, a fish pond, a greenhouse and drip irrigation units. Israeli-run Amiran Kenya supplied much of the equipment for the project.

Israel’s largest solar field. Israel has inaugurated its largest photovoltaic energy field with a capacity of 55 mega-watts. Built by Enlight Renewable En-ergy, the field covers 200 acres in the

western Negev and contains 180,000 solar collectors.

Open the bottle to make a wish. Coca-Cola Israel worked with Gefen Team and Qdigital to produce special bottles that, on opening, send a WiFi signal to a small drone that then flies to an al-titude of 1,000 feet and releases a fire-work that resembles a shooting star.

Starting up with the right team. The best businesses are run by the best teams. So Israel’s Maverick Ventures organized the Co-Founders Speed Dat-ing and Pitching Event in Tel Aviv to enable entrepreneurs, programmers and marketing experts to build teams that could launch the next Waze.

Deer returned to Carmel forest. Fal-low deer have been released into the wild of Carmel Park. It is an encourag-ing sign of the restoration of the forest nearly five years after the largest fire in Israeli history swept through the area, destroying much of the natural habitat.

Hipster neighborhood. Gan Hahash-mal (“Electric Garden”) is home to a growing community of young indie fashion designers and other artistic types in southern Tel Aviv. The quarter is spread over the streets of Allenby, Yehuda Halevy, Barzilay and Hahash-mal and offers a host of boutiques, res-taurants, cafes and creative spaces.

Cornell double play. Chris Cornell will

give two concerts in Israel in May, one in Tel Aviv and one in Caesarea. Cornell was the lead vocalist for Soundgarden and Audioslave and was ranked fourth on a list of “Heavy Metal’s All-Time Top 100 Vocalists.” He performed the theme to “Casino Royale.”

Life continues. Israeli Moran Zur’s father died in 2002 and missed his wedding. That moment gave Moran the idea to offer absent relatives the ability to leave video messages to their loved ones. In 2012, Moran’s wife was diagnosed with advanced brain cancer, prompting him to develop SafeBeyond.

Compiled courtesy of verygoodnewsisrael.blogspot.com and other news sources.

Israel Pride: Good News From Our Jewish Home

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www.atlantajewishtimes.comOPINION

Editor’s NotebookBy Michael [email protected]

One of the reasonable reactions to the terrorist attacks in Paris is fear of the refugees pouring into Europe and knocking on our doors.

The 10,000 refugees the United States has agreed to accept, of the millions looking to escape Syria and other violent parts of the Middle East, represent a scary combination of the known and the unknown.

We know that most of them come from areas where Islamic State is operating or threatening. We know that the majority are Muslim, which provides one more connection with Islamist-motivated terror-ist organizations than most of us have. We know that most have been taught to hate the West. We know that some refugees entering Europe have used false identities and lied about where they came from.

We don’t know whether Islamic State or other terrorist organizations are infiltrating refugees to gain entry to Europe or the United States. We don’t know how widely Islamic State’s twisted theology ap-peals within the Muslim world. Those of us outside the immigration system don’t know how well the screening process for refugees works.

All of those knowns and unknowns make the American public receptive to demagoguery about the threat posed by the refugees and the need to turn them away to keep our homeland secure.

From a Jewish perspective, however, we don’t see how the United States can say no to the few refugees the Obama administration has agreed to take.

We know that at least a quarter-million people have died in four years of the Syrian civil war and that, short of a diplomatic miracle, tens of thousands more will be killed before it’s over, so we know that taking in refugees is saving lives. We know of no higher mission in this world than saving innocent lives and thus the generations to come.

As human beings and as Jews, we are horrified at the prospect of condemning thousands of people to death at the hands of Islamic State, which kills more Muslims than any other group, or the Assad regime or the various other fighting forces on the ground in Syria or the foreign air forces flying overhead, all for the “crime” of being different.

At such times, we of course think back to the 1930s and the Jewish refugees whom the United States and other nations turned away instead of sav-ing them from the Nazis. It’s worth remembering that one of the justifications for rejecting those Jewish ref-ugees was the fear of saboteurs and insurrectionists hidden among them.

But that was then; this is now. And now we know a simple truth: Those who wish to do us harm don’t need to hide among refugees. In fact, they would be fools to subject themselves to the multiphase scrutiny of the U.S. refugee process when they can so easily en-ter the United States in other ways, from obtaining tourist or student visas to sneaking across our porous southern and northern borders.

Let us not forget that from the 9/11 attacks on the United States to this year’s January and November at-tacks on Paris, the culprits were either legal residents or illegal immigrants, not faux refugees. To use their evil as an excuse to turn our backs on real refugees is to condemn ourselves as accessories to murder. ■

Combine a retired German diplomat who used to be ambassador to Libya, a couple of repre-sentatives of Taiwan, a leader of the local Mus-

lim community, a state legislator/peach farmer from 100 miles south of Atlanta, a county commissioner from 90 miles northeast of Atlanta, and a congres-sional aide, throw in assorted members of the south-side Jewish community, and stir well with a tornado warning, and you get what I like to call Wednesday night.

So maybe Nov. 18 wasn’t quite a normal Wednesday night.

Not when it involved AJT contributor Al Shams and myself making the hour-plus drive around Atlanta to get from Sandy Springs to Peachtree City, with stops along the way to deliver hot-off-the-press newspapers to Congregation B’nai Israel and Chabad of Peachtree City (the latter site reached after we drove through torrential rain while hoping the National Weather Service was right that the tornado that touched down in Coweta County would stay just north of us).

Not when it brought us to our destination, the home of German Consulate employee and Jewish community member Mike Posey, for what can be de-scribed only as an eclectic gathering — one in which South Asian hotel owners and Czech beer Pilsner Urquell helped complete our virtual (albeit much more functional) United Nations.

The official reason Posey invited us all over was to hear some insights about the Middle East from a diplomat who, among other things, knows firsthand what Libya was like after the Arab Spring broke Muammar Gaddafi’s dictatorship. But while the ambassador was charming and his comments were interesting, it was the crowd itself that made it worthwhile for people to drive up to 100 miles each way to spend two to three hours at the Posey house.

The trade representatives from Taiwan and I talked a lot about Israel, about China, and about how Jewish and Asian parents raise their kids to be top achievers at school. I learned that Dickey Farms in Musella, west of Macon, has legendary peach ice cream. I observed some important networking that could someday bring Israeli businesses to rural Habersham County. I got to visit Posey’s babies, a

couple of pristine classic cars.

I caught up with Chabad of Peachtree City Rabbi Yossi Lew and discussed the efforts to build and serve the growing Jewish community

in the area of Peachtree City, Fayetteville and Tyrone. Rabbi Lew was among several people who happily shared a few thoughts about the state of the world when put on the spot by Posey (fortunately, not be-ing an elected official or a rabbi or the head of the Islamic Speakers Bureau, I was not one of them).

Did I come through that journey through the storm with any better understanding about the fu-ture of Libya or the fighting in Syria or the millions of Middle Eastern refugees? Probably, although more from learning about the background and the context than about any specific facts.

Far more important was the opportunity to enjoy that thing so many college students claim to want these days without understanding what they’re talking about: a safe space. But Posey provided a true safe space, a place where people of diverse backgrounds could get together to learn about one another, exchange ideas, and even disagree without getting angry or trying to silence the other.

It was a time and place for listening, not just talking, and that made all the wind and rain and miles more than worthwhile. ■

A One-Night Listening Tour

Our ViewLike Refugees

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Dear Jeff,I read your story with

great interest and felt com-pelled to respond; it pulled at my heartstrings. Discovering your Jewish roots and connecting to G-d in a more meaningful way is like unearthing buried treasure. I commend you, Jeff, and wish you well.

As you know, one of the funda-mental underpinnings of Judaism is honoring your parents. So, my friend, you must tread with caution.

Your first step, as you wisely intuited, is to try to understand your parents’ feelings and concerns. Why are they so upset about your decision? What is it about your increased knowl-edge and observance that is rattling them?

When you step out of the box-ing ring and view them with love and empathy, the bleak picture changes. They are not obstacles impeding your climb to a mountain summit; they are loving parents who gave you life and want what is best for you. Yet they fear estrangement, especially considering what happened to your uncle when he chose a different path.

They probably view your new-found interest as personal rejection. “What, the Jewish heritage that we transmitted was inadequate? We took you to Hebrew school, made Passover seders, gave you a gala bar mitzvah.” Few things are more painful to parents than to be found wanting by their adult children.

If you’re afraid of another erup-tion when you sit down to talk, per-haps you should preface your meeting with a letter. Write how much you love them, how grateful you are for all they have done for you and for helping you every step of the way, and that no mat-ter what, even if you change your level of observance, they will always be your parents and nothing will replace them or preclude a loving relationship with them.

Tell Mom and Dad that you plan to continue with college, and men-tion Rabbi Hillel’s idea of receiving college credit for your year in Israel. Their concern that if you don’t fol-low through with college, you might have to settle for a lower-paying job and struggle to make ends meet is valid. Express appreciation for their concern, and reassure them that you will do your part to make responsible choices.

Often religious differences in

Shared SpiritBy Rachel [email protected]

Building Bridgesfamilies lead to conflict, so your parents’ fears are not figments of overactive imaginations. “What, you won’t eat my food? But I made your favorite supper!” “What do you mean you won’t come to pray with me in our synagogue? It’s not good enough for you because the men and women sit together?” “We can’t go to the movies on Saturdays? But that was always our

family day!”Expert gardeners, your parents

have tended your family’s growth for years, nourishing their saplings with warmth and dedication. Suddenly, religious observance seems to spring forth like weeds, interfering with the normal growth of the flowers and trees they have planted and nurtured. Naturally, your parents want to excise the weeds and resolve the problem.

As they digest all the cannots of your potential lifestyle, tell them about all the cans. You can enjoy hearty kosher meals together, and Saturdays can still be family time, just of a dif-ferent nature. Meals can be connec-tive opportunities, and sitting down to a nice game together or taking a leisurely stroll on Shabbat can segue into chances to share and bond.

As you close your letter, Jeff, reassure them of your love and ask them to let you know when you can sit down and talk. They sound like parents who, above all, treasure their relationship with you and won’t allow small or even large hurdles to impede their goals.

Do you wonder who I am to give you advice? Been there, done that: I took the same route as you, Jeff. Ini-tially my parents balked at my choices, but now you will be hard pressed to find prouder and more loving grand-parents. Throughout the journey, I constantly reassured them of my love and continually invited them to be part of our lives.

I don’t mean to make it sound simple. It’s not, and we’ve had our mo-ments. But it’s only after we struggle and emerge victorious that we earn the winner’s cup — a cup of pure gold that will last for eternity.

Best of luck to you, Jeff. You can do it.

Fondly, Diane Love ■

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One Man’s ViewBy Eugen Schoenfeld

A few weeks ago Jerry Brown, the governor of California, an-nounced that his state was join-

ing Oregon, Vermont and Washington in legalizing medically assisted suicide. People who are declared by two physicians as having incurable diseases and suffering from intense pain may chose to end their lives peacefully and with dignity.

Of course these four states are in the moral avant-garde. Most people, especially those strongly committed to Christianity and Judaism, consider suicide immoral and a sin. No wonder, then, that Brown had to overcome his own inner battle before signing the bill into law.

“I do not know what I would do,” he wrote, “if I were dying in prolonged and excruciating pain. I am certain, however, that it would be a comfort to be able to consider the options af-forded by this bill. And I wouldn’t deny that right to others.”

My wife died a year ago, succumb-ing to Burkitt lymphoma, one of the most aggressive forms of cancer. Luck-ily, she only had three painful days when she was completely sedated. The minute the morphine was losing its grip on her, she began tearing off her clothes, clearly indicating her pain and distress.

I do not know how I would have felt should my wife have been suffer-ing pain and living with indignities. Would I have supported her if under such conditions she would have cho-sen suicide?

Traditional Judaism considers suicide a sin, and it is punishable by

As chair of the board of the Jew-ish organization committed to caring for Jews in need and

building a strong Jewish community in Atlanta, Is-rael and around the world, I am thankful.

I am thankful for the honor of this position. I am more thankful for the opportunity to work with dedicated volunteers, donors, professionals, affiliates and partners who provide the programs and services we all support. Programs and services that educate children, give seniors the ability to live full lives in the comfort of their homes, develop

Life Without Pain but With Dignityforcing the sinner to be buried in the least desired place — next to the cemetery fence. I remember that in

the shtetl where I lived, committing suicide brought shame to the family, and people only whispered about it in the belief that whispering would be less likely to intensify the shame the family felt.

From a traditional perspective we have accepted Rabbi Elazar HaKapar’s view that humans have no choice but to accept life as G-d ordained. In “Ethics of Our Fathers,” he is quoted as saying: “Without your will you are formed, without your will you are born, and against your will you live and without your will you die.”

In the Yad Avraham commentary quoting a noted scholar in Babylon, the following argument is brought forth: There are times when man is so afflicted with suffering that he prefers death over life, yet G-d does not allow him to die. Rashi proposes that we deposit or entrust our existence to G-d every night while we are asleep, and when our soul ascends to heaven, the tormented person asks G-d to keep him there forever, but the soul must obey G-d’s wishes and must return to the body to stay alive against his will.

Before I continue, I must define what I mean by suicide. Suicide is any act when the performer of the act

A Word of Thanks

Guest ColumnBy Howard Feinsand

knows that it will end in his demise. Now I point out that not all suicides are considered by Jews or by Chris-tians as sins. There are conditions when one who commits suicide is given the status of a hero. When in the heat of battle one throws himself on top of a grenade, knowing well that he will die but by so doing will save his comrades’ lives, his suicide is consid-ered a heroic act, and he is seen as a hero to be honored.

But the fact remains that our hero has by defi-nition committed suicide.

I guess most readers have, as I did, stood on top of Masada think-ing about the thousands who in the final hours of their rebellion against Rome, not wishing to be enslaved, chose to die as martyrs, which in this instance was a form of suicide.

On the High Holidays I have often read in the sections we call Zichronot (remembrances) the descriptions of Jews committing suicide during the Crusades so that they would not be desecrated and tortured and finally killed by the Christian hordes. These are people who died for the sake of G-d and hence are martyrs to be honored.

Historian Lewis Namier, when asked why he, as a Jew, devotes himself to English history and not to Jewish history, replied: “There isn’t a modern Jewish history; there is only Jewish

martyrology.” In short, Jewish history is resplen-

dent with people committing suicide, but their acts are defined as death for the sake of heaven.

Why, then, is Judaism against suicide? Of course, one could say that when a person chooses to die, he defies the will of G-d, who chooses that he should live. If I were a theologian, per-

haps I could argue as Job’s friends did that G-d gives us tsuris (distress) as punish-ment.

As I have said in other essays, I do not believe in the ex-istence of a punitive G-d. I do not believe that G-d would want us to continue to live even for a few months in pain often coupled with indignity. If anything,

I believe in the freedom of the will, coupled with the value of tzar bal chai, our duty to abolish as far as we can both physical and emotional pain.

This is part of the Jewish value of g’milat chassodim. I do not believe that the Lord who advised us regard-ing the abolition of pain in the laws of tzar bal chai would take delight in the suffering of any human being. He who instructed us about not shaming others, who taught us about maintain-ing the dignity of the blind and the deaf, and who gave us the privilege of choice would not force anyone to live and suffer the pain and indignities that are associated with many incur-able diseases. ■

future leaders, are inclusive for every-one to participate, and so much more.

In light of this month’s horrific

tragedies, however, my gratitude has found its focus on my thankfulness for our community. Our Jewish communi-ty. Thankful for the Jewish community that embraces its responsibility to care for one another, from one generation

to the next. We don’t take care only of our-

selves in our individual homes and neighborhoods. We take care of one another wherever those suffering from violence may be, Jewish or not. Our hearts are heavy after the recent tragedies that have befallen France and have occurred elsewhere around the world, including yet another act of terror in Israel and the loss of an innocent, young American.

The unspeakable loss of lives on 9/11 still weighs on us after almost 15 years, but our strong Atlanta Jewish community, which takes care of those in need, both within our walls and outside them, enables us to maintain

our balance and optimism despite these tragedies.

In this 2015 Thanksgiving season, I am thankful. I am thankful that the community I live in helps take care of me and my family and friends and also helps take care of our world fam-ily. Let us all be thankful for the good fortune and community that we have and do our parts to nurture it for a long, lasting future. Get involved today because tomorrow may not be soon enough.

Shalom (peace). ■

Howard Feinsand is the chair of the board of the Jewish Federation of Greater Atlanta.

Jewish history is resplendent with

people committing suicide, but their

acts are defined as death for the sake

of heaven.

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Have you and your 8th gradervisited Weber this year?

Schedule your tour today with Rise Arkin, Director of Admissions · 404-917-2500 ext. 101 · [email protected]

weber students win!

Words can’t describe it. A visit will.

Letters to EditorTerrorism And The Home Front

We are frequently reminded to remember “the heart of a stranger in-asmuch as we were once strangers in a strange land.”

Repeated violence against the or-dinary citizen in every corner of the globe starkly reminds us of the depths of human depravity and our need to defend against this scourge. However, the political attacks on immigrants in the guise of concerns for homeland se-curity fail our values in several ways.

First, they ignore that terrorists carry not only foreign passports, but passports of the countries whose citi-zens they cavalierly slaughter.

Second, they ignore the more mur-derous and widespread carnage car-ried out on our own soil, in our schools and public places, by gun toters who can obtain firearms as easily as chil-dren can get candy from a gumball machine.

Third, they ignore the evidence from our law enforcement agencies, which have concluded that the deadli-est extremists in our midst are home-grown cells of bigots.

None of the above sneaked through the narrow door for refugees, who face tons of investigative procedures to es-cape the plagues of pogroms, brutality and enslavement meted out by tyranni-cal and homicidal regimes. Shall they be left to die of starvation, exposure and the perils of flight simply because our native pundits want to score cheap political points?

Jean-Claude Juncker, the president of the European Commission, said it well about the Paris attacks: “Those who organized, who perpetrated, the attacks are the very same people who the refugees are fleeing and not the op-posite, and so there is no need for an overall review of the European policy on refugees.”

There is a huge difference between fear and fearmongering. A fundamen-tal Jewish moral principle asserts that no one is obligated to risk his/her life to save another life if danger to both is im-minent. But this is not what confronts us. The danger to shoppers at Lenox Mall of welcoming Syrian refugees can’t hold a candle to the immediate danger of freezing on the fields of Slo-venia, drowning in the Mediterranean, getting bombed in Aleppo or being be-headed in Raqqa.

Can you imagine what the “de-fenders of our borders” would say if the Emanuel AME Church of Charles-

ton barred whites from worship after a chap of such pigment shot to death nine of its members?

The hardened heart penalizes the innocent along with the guilty and estranges itself from what we hold sa-cred.

— Rabbi Scott B. Saulson,Brookhaven

Gentle Response Means Dead Jews

In an era of media bias, headlines scream “Palestinian killed,” and the fact that the Palestinian was killed af-ter stabbing someone (or throwing a firebomb at a soldier or ramming a car into a group of people) is buried in the news article. This makes it especially important to distinguish between seek-ing to “even the score” and legitimate self-defense.

Jewish attacks on Arabs are far rarer than Arab attacks on Jews. Jewish vigilantism elicits revulsion in Israeli society and condemnation by the gov-ernment. In contrast, the press touts Mahmoud Abbas for promoting non-violence even as his government pays stipends to the families of martyrs (people who have killed Jews or have

been imprisoned for trying to do so). Anti-Jewish invective spews from Pales-tinian classrooms, mosques and media outlets. In Gaza, Hamas runs summer camps where teenagers are trained and equipped to kill Jews.

Eugen Schoenfeld (“Retaliation Is Wrong Response to New Intifada,” Nov. 6) is correct that the recent knife at-tacks are a sign of Palestinian despera-tion. However, the attacks are directed at the wrong target.

While Israel has ceded territory, released prisoners, provided medi-cal treatment for Palestinians and re-moved roadblocks to improve the econ-omy in the West Bank, the Palestinian leadership has turned down proposals for statehood and stolen aid money, us-ing it to line personal bank accounts or diverting it to the war against Israel.

Even if a Palestinian state comes into being, Abbas will not grant citizen-ship to the descendants of Arabs who fled the Arab-initiated 1948 war. He still insists that Israel take them in so they can destroy the Jewish state demo-graphically.

Heeding Schoenfeld’s call for a kinder, gentler approach toward knife wielders and firebombers will result in more dead Israelis. It will also em-

bolden the inciters to urge more at-tacks. The first steps on the road to peace must be taken by the Palestinian leadership. Palestinian leaders need to accept the existence of the nation-state of the Jews in the Jews’ ancestral home-land and begin laying the foundations of a Palestinian state willing to live, in peace, beside Israel.

— Toby F. Block, Atlanta

Support Gift ShopsI am writing about Robyn Spiz-

man Gerson’s article in your Nov. 20 issue (“Modern Mix for an Ancient Cel-ebration”). It was a nice article, even though she was pushing some of her own customers and many of the places she talked about were a bit above the average reader.

She left out, however, the best source of gifts in Atlanta: the syna-gogue gift shops. The people who work for the gift shops are all volunteers. The money earned all goes to support the synagogue. Many of them have been forced to close. What the ones left need are more people to know about them and shop. A local paper would be doing a mitzvah to give them publicity.

— Sheila Schwartz, Dunwoody, chair, Congregation Beth Shalom gift shop

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FEBRUARY 13, 2015 | 24 SHEVAT 5775

Atlanta

VOL. XC NO. 5WWW.ATLANTAJEWISHTIMES.COM

Diamant To Help LaunchCommunity MikvahBy Suzi Brozman

[email protected]

Anita Diamant, best known as the

author of “The Red Tent,” is com-

ing to Atlanta to make two public

appearances this month.

Her latest book, “The Boston Girl,”

will be the focus of her visit Feb. 23 to the

Marcus Jewish Community Center. But

the night before she will help local orga-

nizers plunge into a new project, an all-

denominations mikvah at Congregation

B’nai Torah in Sandy Springs.

Diamant’s discussion of reimagin-

ing ritual for the modern age will be free

and open to the public at The Temple in

Midtown to launch the Metro Atlanta

Community Mikvah (MACoM) into the

consciousness of Jewish Atlanta.

MACoM is an independent nonprofit

that plans to start construction of the

community mikvah in May and finish

before the High Holidays. The project will

involve a renovation of the existing facili-

ties at B’nai Torah and has the support of

more than a dozen synagogues and other

organizations.

MACoM’s board reflects diverse sup-

port, including three rabbis and repre-

sentatives of Reform, Conservative and

Orthodox streams of Judaism.

Diamant helped establish the model

for a nondenominational community

mikvah the past 10 years at Boston’s

Mayyim Hayyim (Living Waters).

“People responded to the idea of a

place that was welcoming and beautiful,

for happy occasions and sad, a way to

mark life’s changes,” Diamant said.

See more about her thoughts on the

modern mikvah on Page 6. ■

SPECIAL ABILITYNonverbal autism won’t

stop Dalia Cheskes from

becoming a bat mitzvah

at Beth Shalom.

Page 4

Local News 2

Israel 10

Opinion 12

Arts 15

Calendar 16

Travel 26

POWER OF ONEFederation honors the

many individuals who

make the community

more inclusive.

Page 8

DIGGING INTrees Atlanta gets a

lot of help to

celebrate Tu B’Shevat

in Poncey-Highland.

Page 32

INSIDEEducation 27

Obituaries 28

Simchas 29

Sports 29

Crossword 30

Marketplace 31

Welcome To The Future

Nearly 3,500 leading Jewish teens come to Atlanta to

chart personal and communal paths forward.

Page 18-25

BEST POLICYHonest Tea CEO Seth Gold-

man brings a message of

corporations as change

agents to Emory business

students.Page 3

SCARY WORLDAnti-Semitism isn’t sim-

ple, which means there

are no simple solutions to

the problems facing Euro-

pean Jews.

Page 7

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28 Years of Memories & Miracles

2185 Briarcliff Road (404)636-2473

Choose your new menorah from our vast collection of over 200 styles

Light Your WaY to a Brighter Chanukah

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EDUCATION

Thankful at EpsteinPreschoolers at the Epstein School prepared for Thanksgiving in part by

answering the question “What are you thankful for?” Pre-kindergartners Lexi Poline and Gabe Goodhart, dressed as Pilgrims, offered their responses on the things they appreciate. “My whole family, teachers, and all the puppies and ani-mals in the world,” Lexi said. “My mommy and daddy, my brothers, and my pet fish,” Gabe said.

Teen Philanthropists Seek Applicants for $10,000The Atlanta Jewish Teen Foundation has issued a request for proposals for the

grants it will award in the spring.The decisions on how to award $10,000 in grants will be made by the 21 Jew-

ish high school students from the Atlanta area who are the foundation’s 2015-16 members. The group’s mission statement this year: “The Atlanta Jewish Teen Foundation (AJTF) strives to positively impact the Jewish community by funding organizations that focus on the fields of educational assistance, medical research and mental illness. We give special consideration to those that promote the thera-peutic usage of animals in the cases of education assistance and mental illness.”

The foundation, a philanthropic initiative of the Jewish Federation of Greater Atlanta that is sponsored by law firm Greenberg Traurig, was founded to give Jew-ish students the opportunity to engage in and learn about collective philanthropy.

The RFP targets programs, projects and organizations that promote aid to medical research, mental illness or educational assistance. Applicants must have the 501(c)(3) nonprofit status. The full RFP and grant application are available at www.jewishatlanta.org/teenrfp. Applications are due by 5 p.m. Friday, Jan. 22, to Jillian Wagenheim at [email protected].

The 21 high school sophomores and juniors participating in the foundation go through months of training in interactive sessions to learn to use the tools of strategic philanthropy and explore how to apply Jewish values and teachings related to tzedakah and communal responsibility. They gain skills in planning, communication, social services, grant processing and the group processes neces-sary to effect change in the world.

The students will decide the size and number of grants to make with the $10,000. The awards will be made in mid-May.

Neiman Marcus to Preview Trinity Art ShowThe Neiman Marcus store at Lenox Square in Buckhead will host a preview

gallery Dec. 3 to Jan. 26 for the Trinity School’s annual artists market.The gallery on the store’s main retail floor will provide a sample of the paint-

ings, pottery and other works 24 artists will show at the Trinity market Feb. 1 to 6. All the items at Neiman Marcus will be for sale and will benefit the school, as will sales at the Trinity market in February.

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16AJT

www.atlantajewishtimes.comEDUCATION

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www.atlantajewishtimes.comLOCAL NEWS

THE EPSTEIN SCHOOLSolomon Schechter School of Atlanta







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Rabbi Albert Slomovitz, a retired U.S. Navy captain and chaplain, was honored in a ceremony at

Congregation Etz Chaim on Saturday, Nov. 14.

The ceremony was connected to observances held at the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis the previous weekend and to Rabbi Slomovitz’s ser-vice as only the second Jewish chaplain in the academy’s 170 years.

On Nov. 6 and 7, the Jewish chapel at the Naval Academy commemorated the 10th anniversary of its opening. Formally known as the Miller Chapel, the facility is within the Commodore Uriah P. Levy Center and has a promi-nent location on campus.

As part of the commemoration, several of the Jewish chaplains who have served at the academy since the position was established in 1985 were honored. Being a chaplain at the Na-val Academy means being a part of the Navy family and thus living and breathing Navy football. So each chap-lain was presented a Naval Academy football jersey emblazoned with “Rab-bi” instead of a player’s name and with a number corresponding to the rabbi’s place in the line of service of Jewish chaplains at the academy.

Rabbi Slomovitz could not attend the commemoration because he had committed to participate in a Veterans Day program at Ahavath Achim Syna-gogue in Buckhead.

Rather than mail the jersey to him, though, the staff at the Friends of the Jewish Chapel, an organization that

provides support and funding for the chapel, enlisted Etz Chaim member Stephen Dix, a member of the acad-emy’s Class of 1972; Bob Bachrach, the synagogue’s executive director, and Rabbi Shalom Lewis to surprise Rabbi Slomovitz by presenting the jersey to him during Shabbat services Nov. 14.

Rabbi Slomovitz was asked to at-tend services in his Navy uniform. Without knowing the reason, he was invited to the bimah, where Dix spoke about the importance of Rabbi Slo-movitz’s service to the Navy and to the academy; extended the thanks of the Brigade of Midshipmen, the Navy Chaplains Corps and the Friends of the Jewish Chapel; and presented him with

Navy Honors Slomovitz

After Shabbat, Rabbi Albert Slomovitz shows off his Navy football jersey between Rabbi Shalom Lewis and 1972 Naval Academy graduate Stephen Dix.

Grady Board Adds Arnovitz, FialkowAt least two Jewish community

members, M&P Holdings CEO and President Eliot Arnovitz and former AJT ad sales manager Stacy Fialkow, were among seven people added re-cently to the Grady Health Foundation board of directors for three-year terms.

“We are honored that these incred-ible women and men have agreed to play a leadership role for the Grady Health Foundation and are confident they will contribute greatly to our ef-forts to advance our health system’s mission,” foundation President Renay Blumenthal said.

The board members help raise money and awareness.

The other five new members are the Rev. Joanna Adams of Morningside Presbyterian Church, Derek Bottoms of the Home Depot, David Edmiston of Wells Fargo, John Gregg of SunTrust Robinson Humphrey and Greg Roberts of Georgia Power. ■

his No. 2 Navy football jersey.Rabbi Slomovitz, the former spiri-

tual leader of Congregation Gesher L’Torah in Alpharetta, lives in Marietta and is an assistant professor of history at Kennesaw State University. His in-

volvement with Etz Chaim has includ-ed helping to organize the East Cobb congregation’s commemoration of the centennial of the lynching of Leo Frank with a ceremony, a grave marker and a tree planting Aug. 16. ■

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LOCAL NEWS www.atlantajewishtimes.com

The most impactful, arbitrat-ing, actuarial mind you might never have heard of, Kenneth

Feinberg, will address Atlantans at The Temple on Tuesday, Dec. 15, for the Exchange, the Jewish Federation of Greater Atlanta’s networking and philanthropy event.

The “Pay Czar” Fein-berg will present “The Busi-ness of Providing Hope,” a Jewish look at how he has become the world’s leading claims administrator.

Developing and imple-menting programs com-pensating victims of 9/11, the BP oil spill, the Sandy Hook school shooting, the Virginia Tech shooting, the Boston Marathon bombing, the Aurora, Colo., movie theater massacre, and General Motors’ deadly safety flaws, Feinberg is trusted by both sides in coming to terms with the most profound trag-edies of our time.

In his distinctive Boston accent, Feinberg in our interview revealed the burdens of sharing sorrows and pick-ing up the pieces afterward — in other words, deciding who gets how much money.

Jaffe: How did growing up in Brockton, Mass., prepare you for this responsibility?

Feinberg: My Jewish upbring-ing gave me a basic understanding of compensation and responding to grief. Jewish communities do not grieve alone. Through our shiva, we have a collective response. We rally at the gravesite; we wash and prepare our dead.

Jaffe: What was your first case?

Jaffe’s Jewish JiveBy Marcia Caller [email protected]

The Hard Work of Offering Hope9/11 claims administrator will address the Exchange

Did you just fall into this specialty?Feinberg: In 1984 I was appointed

by New York Judge Jack Weinstein to mediate the Agent Orange claim. That was the springboard, but I had years of experience as a mediator behind me.

Jaffe: So it’s like an actuarial table

assigning a number as to what any one person’s life is worth?

Feinberg: Yes. Every day in Atlanta, for example, judges and juries attach a value to lives. And rabbis pon-der moral integrity. But we have for-mulas as to what a person would have earned professionally had they lived, based on age and the Department of Labor statistics. Then come the pain and suffering part. Dealing with grief is a very profound responsibility. In some ways it comes out as cold. The hardest part is making the offer. I have to brace myself.

Jaffe: You dole out billions. In some cases your own compensation was $1.2 million a month. That’s pretty astounding.

Feinberg: In cases involving com-panies like BP and GM, that’s what my firm got paid. Remember that in most cases — 9/11, the Boston Marathon bombing and various massacres — we worked up to 33 consecutive months out of patriotic duty (no fee). I have been asked by presidents and have

willingly done so pro bono.

Jaffe: There was press about fraudulent claims, espe-cially in the BP oil spill case.

Feinberg: We are ever-vig-ilant of fraud. Unfortunately, where there is human nature, there is greed. Out of those 1,200,000 cases, 18,000 were suspi-cious. And there were indictments and convictions.

Jaffe: You have also been accused of a lack of transparency.

Feinberg: The public can indeed know the rules of how we decide. What individuals get is not for publi-cation.

Jaffe: You talk about a fireman’s widow spitting at you. What’s your emotional toll?

Feinberg: I spend hours upon hours of listening and counseling victims. It is gut-wrenching. By and large, we rarely have complaints after an award is made.

Jaffe: What’s the oddest decision you have made?

Feinberg: The Zapruder Film, where an elderly Jewish Dallas shop owner, Abraham Zapruder, shot the film of JFK’s assassination that Life magazine and others fought over. I was on a three-party panel where we

awarded $17 million for fair market value.

Jaffe: What was the toughest?Feinberg: 9/11 by far. It was an

unanticipated calamity that scared us all. We still haven’t gotten over it. I conducted over 950 individual hear-ings with victims. There is not one family member I’ve met who wouldn’t gladly give back the check or, in many cases, their own lives to have that loved one back. “Happy” never enters into this equation.

Jaffe: How did you get connected to the Federation?

Feinberg: That’s thanks to my wife, DeDe, who was the former head of the D.C. Federation and now chairs the national executive committee. She is the impetus.

Jaffe: What do you do to relax?Feinberg: Classical music and

theater are my outlets. We love opera. Of course, my three children and grandchildren are tops too.

Jaffe: I saw you on “60 Minutes” and was awed.

Feinberg: How did I do?Jaffe: I was so proud that you had

a Jewish name. That’s what I remem-ber. What a brilliant, kind man. ■

Kenneth Feinberg says the case of the Zapruder Film was his oddest decision.

Who: Claims administrator Kenneth Feinberg

What: The Exchange

Where: The Temple, 1589 Peachtree St., Midtown

When: 6:30 p.m. Tuesday, Dec. 15

Tickets: $40 (a minimum contribution of $365 to the 2016 Community Campaign or $180 for first-time donors and those under age 40 is required); jewishatlanta.org/exchange

By Cole Seidner

Eva Friedlander was happy as a young child in Budapest. She was well-educated, learning English

and German at a young age. She made friends with other children at the park.

But the rise of the Nazis in Ger-many put pressure on other countries, and soon she had experiences with an-ti-Semitism as well. Inviting a friend to play at her home was halted.

“Her mother told my mother that she cannot come,” Friedlander said during a Bearing Witness program at

Against Nazis, Failure Wasn’t an Optionthe Breman Mu-seum on Sunday, Nov. 8. “And this was repeatedly happening, and finally my mother admitted to me that the reason she cannot come was her mother did not want her daughter associated with Jewish children.”

As Nazism took over during World War II, things got worse in Hungary, in-cluding the infamous yellow star.

“There were many instances in grocery stores or in public places where they snickered at me,” Friedlander said.

Her education stopped at age 14. Her father lost his job, then left his family. Young Eva had to find work her-self. She floated from job to job, calling herself Barbara to avoid suspicion.

In effect, Friedlander was hid-ing in plain sight. She met her mother every three to four days and kept in touch, but every day was a struggle for food and for shelter.

“I told myself, ‘Failure is not an op-tion. I must do this,’ ” Friedlander said.

And she did, surviving the war. With her work experience as a secre-tary, she was able to notarize docu-ments and help translate papers.

“We quickly improvised a busi-ness,” she said. It was in this business that she met her future husband. They both wanted to go to America.

They moved to Atlanta, where her husband got a job at Emory.

“You should never despair,” Fried-lander said about what she might tell children, “even when things look so gloomy and rather hopeless. Because somehow or other, there is a solution.” ■

Eva Friedlander

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LOCAL NEWS

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Hadassah Hires GorodRandy Gorod has been named de-

velopment director for Hadassah’s Southeast Region. He is responsible for individual major gifts and the capital campaign, oversees volunteer leader-ship activities, and reports to Hadas-sah’s national chief development offi-cer, David Pasternack.

Gorod, a former executive director of Congregation Etz Chaim and region-al director for Young Judaea, founded and led Pisgah Consulting before join-ing Hadassah. His client base included Hillel International, ORT Atlanta and the Center for the Visually Impaired.

He also has worked in fundraising for the Jewish Agency for Israel, Emory University and the Jewish Federation of Greater Atlanta.

Hadassah’s Southeast Region cov-ers Alabama, the Florida panhandle, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee and southern Virginia.

Federation Picks Security ChiefThe Jewish Federation of Greater

Atlanta has named Cathal Lucy the director of communitywide security. He oversees security and provides the Jewish community and agencies with recommendations on matters of risk assessment and strategic planning.

Federation has provided a Jewish community security director for more than 14 years.

Lucy has more than 25 years’ ex-perience with the U.S. Secret Service, including work with the Presidential Protective Division for two presidents. His most recent role with the Secret Service was senior inspector.

The Boston native holds master’s degrees in security and safety. He and his wife live in Alpharetta.

AJC Adds FundraiserThe American Jewish Committee’s

Atlanta Chapter recently hired Jenni-fer Pardee as its development director.

With 12 years of fundraising expe-rience, Pardee most recently served as the assistant director of advancement and major gifts at the Kinkaid School in Houston, where she coordinated several capital campaigns. She previ-ously directed Kinkaid’s annual fund and managed special events, includ-ing the school’s centennial celebration. She also served on the development committee at Houston Congregation for Reform Judaism.

The Long Island, N.Y., native ma-jored in art history at Princeton and earned an M.B.A. in nonprofit manage-ment at the University of New Mexico.

She and her husband, Mike, have two grown sons.

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Leff Wins 2 PR AwardsMitch Leff and his public relations

agency, Leff & Associates, were award-ed two Phoenix Awards at the Public Relations Society of America’s Georgia Chapter annual awards dinner Oct. 29.

The agency received an Award of Excellence in the research/evaluation category for work done for Sterling Risk Advisors’ new Sterling Risk Sen-timent Index. The agency also won a Phoenix Award in the category of me-dia relations for nonprofit organiza-

tions for regional and national public relations to increase donations after the Nepal earthquake for global health agency MAP International. MAP con-tinues to provide medical relief to the victims in Nepal.

Variety Playhouse SoldLittle Five Points music venue Vari-

ety Playhouse, which has served as the home of the main event for the Atlanta Jewish Music Festival, was sold at the start of November by Jewish commu-nity member Steve Harris.

But the theater is staying within the broad Jewish family: The president of the new owner, Agon Sports & En-tertainment, is Jeff Eiseman, who is Jewish. Agon bought the Georgia The-atre in Athens in August 2014 and also owns a couple of minor-league base-ball teams, the Augusta GreenJackets and the Boise Hawks.

Harris took over the Variety in 1990 after it went out of business as a movie theater and built it into a popular mu-sic venue. He is staying as a consultant

for at least a year.During that time, Agon plans $1

million in renovations, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported, citing Agon managing partner Chris Schoen.

Punchline Laughing AgainSeven months after closing its long-

time home on Hilderbrand Road in Sandy Springs, the Punchline Comedy Club is back in business in Buckhead, replacing Jerry Farber’s Side Door in-side the Landmark Diner at Roswell and Piedmont roads.

The Punchline, owned by manag-ing partner Jamie Bendall (fresh off an appearance at the Book Festival of the Marcus Jewish Community Center at which he did a little comedy while ask-ing questions of authors Judith Viorst and Dani Klein Modisett), Chris DiPetta and Jim Bendall, had to give up its San-dy Springs site after 33 years because of the downtown redevelopment.

The comedy space inside the Land-mark has been expanded from the 90 seats Farber had to more than 150 seats.

“I’ve known Jerry for 20 years and have a great deal of affection for him and his value to the Atlanta comedy scene,” Bendall said. “It was Jerry who actually first suggested we move to the Landmark when we announced we had to leave our original location.”

The closing night for Farber’s Side Door, in operation for nearly six years, was Oct. 28.

Farber headlined at the Punchline for 26 Thanksgivings. This year he is taking the Thanksgiving tradition to the Atlanta Comedy Theater in Nor-cross, where he is the headliner Thurs-day to Sunday, Nov. 26 to 29.

“We want to keep Jerry’s Atlanta Thanksgiving tradition alive with a

fresh, new place to share his brand of well-crafted, old-school comedy,” At-lanta Comedy Theater owner Garrett Abdo said.

Bendall also has said he hopes to keep Farber involved with the Punch-line at its new location, where DiPetta has floated the idea of running com-edy shows 24 hours a day because the Landmark never closes.

Needle Named IP LegendBallard Spahr partner William H.

Needle received the 2015 Intellectual Property Legends Award at a lunch Oct. 20.

The award recognizes people who have made significant contributions to IP in the fields of business, law and ed-ucation. It is given out by Georgia State University, Georgia Tech, the State Bar of Georgia and the Atlanta Bar Associa-tion.

Baseball legend Hank Aaron and Georgia State University law profes-sor Michael Landau also received the award.

Needle is a patent lawyer who has practiced law for 45 years. He founded Needle & Rosenberg in 1983. The firm merged with Ballard Spahr in 2008.

Needle represents clients in patent infringement cases, such as the copy-right and trademark litigation for the Cabbage Patch Kids dolls and the state of Georgia’s infringement cases involv-ing the Vidalia onion trademark. He was an adjunct professor of patent law at the Georgia State School of Law from 1991 until 2011 and the Emory University School of Law from 1983 until 2009. He is also mediator and ar-bitrator for JAMS, the largest private alternative dispute resolution provider in the world.

Leff & Associates owner Mitch Leff (left) shares the spotlight with the

clients for which the agency did PRSA Georgia award-winning work: Katie

Pace of MAP International and Doug Rieder of Sterling Risk Advisors.

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BUSINESS

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By Michael [email protected]

ModernTribe started as an on-line store, then experimented with pop-up locations before

opening a brick-and-mortar store in an unlikely location for a Judaica shop, At-lanta’s Sweet Auburn district.

Now owner Jennie Rivlin Roberts is testing the oldest of old-school out-lets for ModernTribe: The Temple.

At the start of November, Modern-Tribe opened a self-serve store inside the Midtown synagogue’s coffee shop, which itself occupies the space that used to be the congregational gift shop.

The partnership is an attempt to solve the riddle of the synagogue gift shop, which traditionally provides a place to buy such necessities as me-zuzot, simcha gifts and Chanukah candles but can frustrate potential customers with irregular hours. Many congregations have closed their shops.

“Like many gift shops around the country in synagogues, we found that ours was being less and less pro-ductive,” Temple President Jonathan Amsler said. A lack of volunteers led to irregular hours, and sales were low when the shop was open.

To make the space just inside the synagogue entrance more welcom-ing, “we decided to get out of the gift business and into the coffee business,” Amsler said. Any time except Shabbat, people can help themselves at a single-serve coffee machine and use the WiFi.

In the conversion, The Temple left space along the walls for a small gift shop to provide congregants’ necessi-ties, but Amsler said ModernTribe was the only Judaica store that showed any interest in the opportunity.

“ModernTribe was a godsend in some sense,” Amsler said, explaining that Rivlin Roberts provided all the an-swers The Temple needed.

The shop requires no staffing. All the merchandise is on open shelves.

ModernTribe Outlet Opens in The Temple

Customers browse, take what they want and check themselves out on an intuitive iPad-based credit card system, which helps Rivlin Roberts monitor inventory. The Temple offered to in-stall locked glass doors on the shelves to prevent theft, but that setup would have required someone to be available to unlock the cabinets for any sales, un-dermining the self-service model.

Rivlin Roberts said that because it’s a synagogue, she thinks the honor system has a good chance to work. The presence of a security guard a few steps away at the synagogue doors should help, as should the fact that The Temple gets 10 percent of all sales.

“I was very flattered that The Temple reached out to ModernTribe,” even though she had initial skepticism about the idea, Rivlin Roberts said. “They thought ModernTribe had cachet and people would be more excited.”

She spent about $500 on the iPad and related equipment and on signage for the shop, which she stocked with about $3,500 worth of merchandise.

She’s hopeful that the Temple partnership will prove profitable itself and spark additional sales online or at her main store through the marketing value of having the ModernTribe name and products in a prominent place. But the big payoff could come from repli-cating the model.

If the self-serve store works — if theft isn’t a problem and if technical glitches such as the power cord being disconnected are solved — Rivlin Rob-erts said she’d love to have 25 to 50 sim-ilar locations in synagogues and other Jewish facilities that want to provide the service of Judaica sales but haven’t been able to make gift shops work.

She said that expanded retail foot-print also would enable ModernTribe to increase its product development, which now consists largely of T-shirts.

“It’s open, and Chanukah is a good time to test it,” Rivlin Roberts said. “Then we’ll go from there.” ■

The open shelves along the walls of The Temple’s coffee shop offer self-serve Judaica shopping.

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By Leah R. Harrison

On a dark and stormy night, Al-fred Uhry, the renowned play-wright of “Driving Miss Daisy,”

“The Last Night of Ballyhoo” and “Pa-rade,” shed some light on his Atlanta roots, his grandmother and his midca-reer writing decisions that made all the difference.

Before approximately 75 people at Emory’s Woodruff Library on Wednes-day, Nov. 18, Randy Gue, the curator of modern political and historical collec-tions at the university’s Rose Manu-script, Archives and Rare Book Library, led an informal and informative dis-cussion with the venerable writer.

Born in 1936 to Jews of German de-scent, Uhry grew up on Ponce de Leon Avenue at Clifton Road across from Druid Hills Country Club, “which we could not enter,” he said.

He attended Druid Hills High School, where he wrote his first mu-sical, then Brown University, where he wrote two more before graduating in 1958. The first day of theater class at Brown, Uhry met Joanna Kellogg, whom he married at age 22.

They moved to New York, and he worked as a lyricist for a couple of years, writing songs for composer Frank Loesser for $50 per week. Uhry’s jobs then ranged from private school English and drama teacher to comedy TV scriptwriter to lyricist rewriting musicals for Goodspeed Opera House to instructor of lyric writing at New York University.

He transitioned from musicals to drama, saying, “I couldn’t do musicals anymore.”

Uhry decided to write about his childhood and what was happening in Atlanta. “It was just there when I needed it. It was just time for me to do that,” he said. “I can’t explain it any other way.”

With little modification from the first draft, he penned “Driving Miss Daisy,” inspired by his grandmother Lena Fox, who lived with his family, and Will Coleman, who drove her from 1948 to 1973 after she had a horrible driving accident.

“So you were an overnight success at 50?” Gue asked, and Uhry agreed.

A veteran actor but hardly a house-hold name in the late 1980s, Morgan Freeman vied for the stage role of Hoke Colburn. Freeman was in “The Elec-tric Company” on television and had recently portrayed what Uhry called a “repulsive crook” in the movie “Street

Smart.” But Uhry’s reservations about Freeman were quickly resolved.

After one reading of a scene, Uhry asked Freeman, “How can you do that?” Freeman replied, “I think we knew the same man.”

Uhry felt it only fitting that Free-man played the role of Hoke in the 1989 movie as well. Uhry said Eddie Murphy and Danny Glover had been considered for Hoke, while Elizabeth Taylor had been proposed to play Miss Daisy be-fore Jessica Tandy got the role.

The film received the 1989 Acade-my Awards for best picture, best adapt-ed screenplay and best actress. Free-man was nominated but didn’t win for best actor.

That writing Oscar joined the 1988 Pulitzer Prize for drama Uhry won for “Driving Miss Daisy.” He also received the 1997 Tony for best play for “The Last Night of Ballyhoo” and the 1999 Drama Desk Award and 1999 Tony for the book of the musical “Parade.”

Gue asked Uhry whether he need-ed to do research for his subsequent “Atlanta Trilogy” works. Uhry said he was asked to write “Ballyhoo” for the Cultural Olympiad of the 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta. He thought the last time Atlanta was in the international spotlight was for the world premiere of “Gone With the Wind” in December 1939, so he wanted to tie in that history.

Hitler had just conquered Poland, and Atlanta’s German Jews were cele-brating Ballyhoo, a series of dances and activities to help young people meet. There were “Jews that didn’t want to be

Jews,” Uhry said. “When I was growing up, they had Christmas trees and Eas-ter egg hunts, and I don’t know exactly why.”

He said “healthy Judaism” was go-ing on in Atlanta, but for the 10 or so Jewish families who had arrived in the 1840s, it was “really sort of messed up” with a great deal of assimilation.

“They wanted to be Southern be-cause they lived here,” Uhry said. “They wanted to be American, and they were Jewish. … It started out that they kept kosher, and they were religious. The ones that started The Temple were fairly religious, I think, but by the time our parents were children, something happened. And that’s how ‘Parade’ got written.”

That musical presents the Leo Frank case from Confederate Memori-al Day in 1913 to his lynching in August 1915 and provides an explanation for the scars on subsequent generations of Jews in Georgia.

“I knew something was wrong, and I wrote about it,” Uhry said of the Frank case. It was appropriate that Kennesaw State University’s concert productions of “Parade” this month were performed on Marietta Square, a couple of miles from the 1915 lynching site, and at The Temple, with its history from 1867 through the 1958 bombing, described in “Driving Miss Daisy,” to the modern day.

“Musical theater doesn’t have to be musical comedy,” Uhry said of “Pa-rade,” as well as his next project, a mu-sical about Toulouse Lautrec. ■

Real Life Inspired Uhry’s Midlife Success

Photo by Leah R. HarrisonAlfred Uhry (right) speaks after his Emory talk with AJT contributor Dave Schechter,

who had interviewed the playwright over the summer for an article about the

centennial of the Leo Frank lynching.

By Michael [email protected]

Stage musicals don’t have to be carefree or comedic, but it’s still hard to imagine the layers of sad-

ness of the Leo Frank case played out in songs and choreography.

Alfred Uhry’s “Parade,” as per-formed by Kennesaw State University theater students, made it seem like the perfect way to tell the tragic history of the slaying of Marietta teenager Mary Phagan, the railroading and convicting of Jewish pencil factory superinten-dent Frank, and the lynching of Frank.

The show flopped after its Decem-ber 1998 debut on Broadway because it was overproduced, Uhry said, but a revamped version was a hit when it opened in London in 2007.

‘Parade’ Marches to History’s BeatThe concert staging of the show

Thursday, Nov. 19, at the Earl Smith Strand Theatre on Marietta Square was the first performance of “Parade” in Cobb County, where Phagan lived and Frank died, director and Cobb na-tive Harrison Long said. (A scaled-down version of the show was performed three days later at Frank’s synagogue, The Temple.)

As surely as the first of Uhry’s “At-lanta Trilogy” of award-winning stage productions, “Driving Miss Daisy,” was a fictionalized version of real events, so is “Parade,” even though the names of the characters weren’t changed. As he acknowledged during a discussion af-ter the Marietta show, Uhry did lots of reading about the case but never inter-viewed anyone connected to it because he was trying to write a play, not facts.

His imagination gives us a Leo Frank who is unhappy in the South, bewildered by his circumstances, and nervous around his Atlanta-native wife, Lucille. As Leo, Elliott Folds made the tragic figure’s journey to passionate love for his wife and accep-tance of his fate believable.

But the genius of “Pa-rade” is bringing Lucille out of the shadows of history — and the back-ground of Uhry’s childhood as a friend of his grandmother’s — to be the cen-tral character. It is Lucille who suffers from Leo’s Yankee Jewish strangeness and the humiliation of his arrest and trial, who forces Gov. John Slaton to reconsider the case and commute Leo’s sentence, and who arranges a blissful

final day with Leo at the Milledgeville prison, just hours before his abduction.

As Lucille, Avery Rabbitt perfectly hit every musical and emotional note and carried a strong show to unexpect-ed heights.

Onstage after the show, Uhry em-braced Rabbitt, then told the cast: “You guys are remarkable. It was wonder-ful.” ■

Photo by Michael JacobsThe student cast listens to a post-show discussion of “Parade” among Alfred Uhry (right), Kennesaw

State history professor Catherine Lewis and director Harrison Long on Nov. 19.

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The Book Festival of the Marcus Jewish Community Center concluded anoth-er epic season Sunday night, Nov. 22, with Ted Koppel talking about “Lights Out,” his warning about the vulnerability of the U.S. electric grid and the

catastrophic consequences if an enemy leaves us in the dark through a cyberat-tack. The final weekend also included legendary lawyer Alan Dershowitz with his book on the first Jewish lawyer, “Abraham”; Atlantans Josh Levs (“All In”) and Joey Reiman (“Thumbs Up!”); and spiritual writer Laurie Ann Levin (“Life in Life”). ■

Festival co-chairs Deborah Jacobs (left) and Susan Tourial flank Arlene and Alan Alda and a box of customized Ali’s Cookies before the Aldas’ appearance Nov. 15.

Closing the Book for 2015

“Fruitfly Rabbi” co-authors Chana Shapiro and Meta Miller (right) complete their conversation with Rabbi Brian Glusman by taking audience questions Nov. 12.

Atlantan Robert Weintraub, who usually writes about sports, appears in support

of his book about heroic English pointer Judy, “No Better Friend,” on Nov. 19.

Photo by Heidi MortonTed Koppel turns out the lights on the 24th

Book Festival by discussing “Lights Out.”

One of the benefits of the evening events is the special Ali’s Cookies cookie cake for public enjoyment.

Atlantan Harry Lembeck answers questions about “Taking on

Theodore Roosevelt” on Nov. 19.

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By David Ryback

For the Atlanta Jewish Film Festi-val, every year is a new challenge. The world’s largest Jewish film

festival will return for the 16th time, and the second time as an independent nonprofit organization, from Jan. 26 to Feb. 17.

The 15th festival’s 177 screenings of 65 films drew a total audience of more than 38,600 people.

“AJFF is a recognized cultural in-stitution adored by its dedicated audi-ence,” festival Executive Director Ken-ny Blank said. “We offer a surprising diversity of the highest-caliber films, an opportunity for film enthusiasts and the culturally curious to experi-ence unforgettable and universal sto-ries on the big screen. These are often major new releases, direct from the international festival circuit, which would otherwise not be available to At-lanta audiences.”

With the announcement of the lineup for the 2016 festival coming in mid-December, Blank talked recently about the first full year of the festival’s independence from the American Jew-ish Committee and what’s ahead.

Ryback: So, Kenny, what’s on tap for this year’s slate of films?

Blank: Well, we’re still in the pro-cess of making the final selections.

Ryback: What’s the process? How are the films selected?

Blank: To start with, there’s a com-mittee of about 200 people who look at the potential choices. It’s a very re-warding volunteer experience.

Ryback: Wow! That’s a lot of peo-ple.

Blank: Don’t forget that we’re now the world’s largest Jewish film festival, with about 38,600 moviegoers this year. Not that we’re competing, but we’re now bigger than the San Fran-cisco festival. Anyway, we get about 500 to 700 entries for the festival that are evaluated, usually from May to No-vember. They’re either submitted, or we invite them.

Ryback: How do you hear about them?

Blank: Well, the timing is great in that a number of key film festivals take place in the summer and fall preceding ours. There are the Tribeca, Sundance, Berlin and Toronto festivals, for exam-ple.

Film Festival Evolves Through IndependenceR y b a c k :

There are not many of these films coming from Atlanta itself.

Blank: You’re right. Atlanta has closed most of its independent art movie theaters. So that makes for a larger com-munity of movie lovers coming to

our festival. Sometimes we’re the first to premiere highly prestigious films in Atlanta. Some of the better films are released just before our festival, timed to be considered for the Oscars, and that’s great for us — perfect timing, you might say. We try to have a well-rounded set of films. The theme hasn’t been decided yet, but I can easily prom-ise you and your readers that there will be some outstanding films.

Ryback: And the festival is planned for late January, is that correct? Any new venues this year?

Blank: Yes, late January. There are some new venues, as a matter of fact. We are returning to Atlantic Station, Lefont Sandy Springs, Regal Cinema Tara and Regal Avalon on Old Milton Parkway in North Fulton. New ones include SCADshow, the former 14th Street Playhouse space, which SCAD Atlanta has transformed into a state-of-the-art movie theater with new seating. Also, for closing night, we’re moving from the Rich Auditorium to Sympho-ny Hall at the Woodruff Arts Center.

Ryback: Kenny, what is your role as the leader of this complex enter-prise?

Blank: My role is to listen, absorb what the bright staff and volunteer leadership in our organization are say-ing, and then consolidate all that to help grow an increasingly valuable and appreciated community asset. We’re always undergoing transition — that’s what success for us is all about. And all this with a small full-time staff of very hardworking individuals and a budget of over a million dollars.

Ryback: What are some of the challenges for the festival’s choices of film?

Blank: For one thing, we choose to avoid any advocacy influence. We want to present an independent, artistic ap-proach. We need to be independent enough to show a diversity of points of

view, for sure not embracing any par-ticular point of view. I think being Jew-ish means always asking questions.

Ryback: After 15 years of growth, the festival seems to be taking a larger perspective of its mission.

Blank: Yes, I believe it’s more im-portant to understand the communi-ty’s needs than to impose any particu-lar point of view. Don’t forget that our venture includes fundraising and mar-keting as well as film programming. We’re open to input from all segments as to overall direction.

Ryback: So what’s new for this year’s festival?

Blank: Well, two things. First of all, we’re moving more into additional programming beyond the festival’s sold-out screenings. We’re allowing for more screenings throughout the year and potentially going even beyond this to include other types of nonfilm programs. Second, we’re interested in venturing forth into more community engagement — for example, encourag-ing more understanding between Jew-ish groups and the larger community. After all, great storytelling is universal. We want to reach out to other ethnic and cultural groups, such as the Mus-lim and LGBT communities. What are their needs? How can we help create a community more dedicated to a shared humanity?

Ryback: Sounds like a real shift in philosophy.

Blank: Yes, we’re transitioning away from one-way communication to mutual respect and true partnership with other segments of our communi-ty. I’m hoping that these efforts result in more authentic partnerships and programming.

Ryback: Are you having any effect on the Atlanta film-producing commu-nity?

Blank: Actually, we are moving in that direction. The Atlanta Jewish Film Festival is all about great films. So film-making is connected to that. After all, we’re the biggest exhibitor in Atlanta of U.S. and worldwide premieres. So we also want to promote and encourage filmmakers not only here in Atlanta, but also worldwide. That’s a part of our strategic planning, our long-term goals. All this in only 15 years, when the San Francisco Jewish Film Festival is about 35 years old. So I think we’re growing fairly quickly and I hope stra-tegically as well.

Ryback: So is the Atlanta festival becoming a thought leader in film pro-duction?

Blank: We would like to encour-age the next filmmaker generation to consider more Jewish themes, not only locally, but around the world. Over 20 countries are represented in our festi-val. We wouldn’t mind achieving more international recognition.

Ryback: Any changes in the struc-ture of the organization this year?

Blank: This is the first year we’ve become an autonomous nonprofit or-ganization. As I mentioned, our long-term strategy is to become a cultural institution so that those supporting it are not only supporting the screening of marvelous films, but also other re-lated events that go beyond the sched-ule of the screenings. This involves a yearlong planning process, engaged volunteers to advise and inform us to greater heights, and increased finan-cial investment from the community. Don’t forget that ticket sales only cover 20 percent of our expenses. Eighty per-cent comes from funding. So we need philanthropic support for sustainable, long-term growth.

Ryback: So that’s what you see from the center of the enterprise. Do you ever get feedback on your perfor-mance as a great leader of such a suc-cessful venture?

Blank: I just see myself as a stew-ard. When the time comes for me to move, I want to make sure that I leave it in the best place possible. For me, it’s all about integrity — to do my level best getting people fired up to create a festi-val where attendees get a chance to see friends and neighbors so they can com-pare their reactions to the films they see. I love hearing all the people talking in line, commenting on the films that excite them, just enjoying the heck out of this very social annual event. I think it’s quite unique — you don’t see that in commercial theaters.

Ryback: You’re quite right. There’s nothing like the Atlanta Jewish Film Festival in the South, maybe even across the world. There’s a very hai-mish feel to it, coming out of the core of the Jewish community and now reach-ing out to so many other segments, both locally and internationally, as you mentioned. You’re doing a great job, it seems.

Blank: Just a steward. A facilitator and consolidator of others’ efforts. ■

Atlanta Jewish Film Festival

Executive Director Kenny Blank

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Judith AlembikJudith Alembik, 78, celebrated becoming a bat mitz-

vah Saturday, Nov. 14, at Ahavath Achim Synagogue. Alembik is a lawyer and has wanted to have a bat mitzvah ceremony since she was 13 years old. With the encourage-ment of her sons, Marc and Gary, she decided to begin her bat mitzvah study after the death of her husband, Aaron, in 2013.

Lily StoumenLily Stoumen of Atlanta, the daughter of Jill and Lar-

ry Stoumen, celebrated becoming a bat mitzvah Satur-day, Nov. 14, at Congregation Beth Shalom. Lily, a seventh-grader at the Epstein School, has two siblings, Nikki and Adam. She is the granddaughter of Sharon Goldhar and the late Joel Goldhar of Atlanta and Spencer Goldberg and the late Ellen Stoumen-Goldberg of Philadelphia.

For her mitzvah project, Lily organized a mother/daughter yoga event to raise money for Susan G. Komen and for the Zion Orphanage in Jerusalem in memory of

her two late grandparents. Lily also participated in Am Yisrael Chai’s Daffodil Project, which had a planting at Beth Shalom on Nov. 8, and its Holocaust twin-ning program. Lily’s bat mitzvah ceremony honored Genia Goldhar, who was 12 when she was killed in the Holocaust.

Sam WeinsteinSam Weinstein, 96, a resident of Huntcliff Summit in Sandy Springs, finally

celebrated becoming a bar mitzvah at the senior independent living facility Fri-day, Nov. 13, 2015, before a standing-room crowd at Huntcliff’s Shabbat minyan. The ceremony was officiated by Bob Bahr, who regularly leads the Huntcliff min-yan.

Weinstein, who was raised in a home dominated by his father’s Jewish social-ist beliefs, never had the opportunity as a teenager to have a bar mitzvah celebra-tion. After his wife, Rose, died this year after 73 years of marriage, he decided to begin his study. He dedicated the ceremony to his wife’s memory.

Sam Weinstein, 96, (left) receives his bar mitzvah certificate Friday, Nov. 13, from fellow Huntcliff Summit resident Sid Kojac, who was celebrating his 102nd birthday.

B’nai Mitzvah

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Chai-Style HomesBy Marcia Caller [email protected]

Fresh off the boat from a three-week tour from Singapore to Dubai, Dr. Gary Bodner and wife

Melanie returned with a passel of col-ors and scenes to interpret on canvas.

I hadn’t seen Gary since he delivered my son in 1982. That was a worthwhile session, and it was worth the wait to experience his art decades later.

After retiring from his 38-year medical practice two years ago, he can focus on his painting, grand-daughter, travel and bridge. Bodner is modest yet con-fident in his high-octane, aesthetic use of color de vivre — robust designs that come out swinging, spatially interesting yet a bit playful.

Bodner was voted the best painter in the Southeast by the Huntsville (Ala.) Museum of Art, which houses two of his paintings in its permanent collection.

Jaffe: As a child were you show-ing artistic acumen or leaning more toward a career in medicine?

Gary: Actually, I was recognized in junior high for artistic talent, but my parents encouraged me to be more practical. Fast-forward, I got involved with Phil Carpenter at the Chastain Arts Center. I first tried watercolor, but oil painting clicked with me.

Jaffe: How would you describe your style?

Gary: I would say I am an abstract expressionist and colorist. My medium is usually oil, which may start out with acrylic or even house paint. You know oil can be messy and difficult to dry. When I travel, I take photos on my iPad and glean inspiration from colors or settings. My iPad is full of catego-ries, files and 2,000 photos. Recently I saw the old movie “Key Largo” and envisioned doing a painting of the opening scene.

Melanie: I would say that Gary’s strength is in his eye for detail. He notices very specific things like the complexity of shadows.

Jaffe: I see a profusion of aqua in your work and in your house. Where do you paint?

Gary: I have a studio in the base-ment, and also the studio outside by the pool is very inspiring on nice days. In the basement I have a corner area for production and then rotate

Abstract Expressionist Doc Delivers Color, Detailvarious projects in different stages to get alternative angles. I paint four or five paintings concurrently at varying stages.

Melanie: Yes, we coordinated aqua and turquoise into various set-tings like accented with black in the dining room. We don’t adhere to a particular style. We like to travel and

pick up things along the way: a camel bone box from Tangiers, lacquer from Myanmar, pottery from Mykonos.

Jaffe: On the business end, how much can you produce, and what do you charge for a painting?

Gary: I can finish three paint-ings a month. A 48-by-48-inch would sell for $4,700. Smaller would be less, obviously. I also conduct workshops in Atlanta and Charleston. They fill up rather quickly. My work here is at the Anne Irwin Fine Art Gallery. In her book I am noted for my use of color. Actually, today’s art market is leaning toward even more nonrepresentation-al techniques.

Melanie: Gary is also in the Ben-nett Gallery in Nashville, Studio E in Palm Beach and the Shain Gallery in Charlotte. We have many lively discus-sions with other artists in our home. In his workshops, Gary does not teach cookie-cutter art, where everyone leaves with the same still life.

Jaffe: What is your own favorite piece?

Gary: “Mug Shots” in the card room. You see the series of faces. … Note that they are all different, but I reinterpreted this vertical facial line that we all share. I used the lilac to set off the flesh tones and give a focus to the painting. Note also that we all have a fatter lower lip; thus, the top lip has a darker hue. Even in abstract art, it helps to use classic painting rules.

Jaffe: Whose work do you admire the most?

Gary: Certainly German-born Wolf Kahn, whose landscapes are in the Whitney and MOMA. I once came upon him in a museum. As he is not well known, I subtly acknowledged

that I admired his work. Then I’d select John Singer Sar-

gent, who now has a magnificent show at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. He started by doing portraits in the late 1800s of Jewish women who didn’t warrant the top artists commissioned by aristocracy.

In our home, I treasure this Richard Johnson in the front entrance, “Perspective.” I am fascinated by his complex use of light in an abstract work.

Jaffe: The kitchen is delicious with your gourmet food paintings. From what did that stem?

Gary: I donated a painting for a Breman auction and these gourmet food paintings to photograph for the

museum’s cookbook, entitled “Sea-soned With Love.” And I do love good cuisine.

Jaffe: I see a lot of feminine fig-ures in your work.

Gary: I started out doing my wife and daughter, then added the land-scape and still lifes. One of my first paintings is this “Nude on a Chair.” I got the inspiration from her posture in a Calgon ad.

Jaffe: Maybe it’s not a coincidence that you paint women. You have a good jump-start on Grandma Moses, who started painting as a septuagenar-ian.

A final thought from Pablo Pi-casso: “I do not seek. I find.” ■

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Photos by Duane Stork

A. Richard Johnson’s vibrant abstract “Perspective” graces the Bodners’ front entrance.B. Gary Bodner considers his next step on a canvas in progress. He tends to work on four or five pieces at a time.

C. Gary Bodner’s favorite among his works at his home is “Mug Shots,” which interprets facial lines.D. The Bodner family inspired “Simply My Wife and Daughter.”

E. Melanie and Gary Bodner pose in front of his “A Nude.”F. A Calgon ad inspired Gary Bodner’s “Nude on a Chair,” one of his first paintings.

G. The Bodner kitchen and the cover of the Breman Museum’s “Seasoned With Love” cookbook feature his art.H. David Arms’ “Cherry” adds a contrasting touch to the Bodner interior.

I. Gary Bodner’s carefully positioned signature helps tie together the monochromatic “Still Life 1 and 2.”J. The aqua décor accentuates Gary Bodner’s “A New Pose” above the fireplace.

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Joseph Breiner90, Atlanta

Joseph Breiner, age 90, of Atlanta died Sunday, Nov. 22, 2015, only two days after the death of his beloved wife of 65½ years, Pauline, of blessed memory.

He was a loving father, husband, grandfather and friend and will be sorely missed by us all. Survivors include daughter Jeri Breiner of Atlanta; son Steven Breiner of Boone, N.C.; son and daughter-in-law Neil and Tara Breiner of Weaver, Ala.; grandchildren Spencer Breiner and his wife, Yla Tausczik, Noah and Nicole Breiner, and Tim, Courtney and Taylor Hicks; and great-grandchildren Hunter and Kaelyn Hicks.

A graveside service was held Monday, Nov. 23, at Crest Lawn Memorial Park. Sign the online guestbook at www.edressler.com. In lieu of flowers, the family re-quests that donations be made to the Alzheimer’s Association, Congregation Beth Jacob of Atlanta or the Weinstein Hospice of Atlanta. Arrangements by Dressler’s Jewish Funeral Care, Atlanta, 770-451-4999.

Pauline Breiner85, Atlanta

Pauline Breiner, age 85, known to many as “Aunt Pookie” and a native of Atlanta, died Friday, Nov. 20, 2015.

Pauline, daughter of Sam and Sara Bregman, loving wife, mother, friend, and confidante to many friends and loved ones, will be sorely missed by us all. Her loving husband of 65½ years, Joseph Breiner, died two days later. Survivors in-clude daughter Jeri Breiner of Atlanta; son Steven Breiner of Boone, N.C.; son and daughter-in-law Neil and Tara Breiner of Weaver, Ala.; grandchildren Spencer Breiner and his wife, Yla Tausczik, Noah and Nicole Breiner, and Tim, Courtney and Taylor Hicks; and great-grandchildren Hunter and Kaelyn Hicks.

A graveside service was held Sunday, Nov. 22, at Crest Lawn Memorial Park. Sign the online guestbook at www.edressler.com. In lieu of flowers, the family re-quests that donations be made to the Alzheimer’s Association, Congregation Beth Jacob of Atlanta, or the Weinstein Hospice of Atlanta. Arrangements by Dressler’s Jewish Funeral Care, Atlanta, 770-451-4999.

Jack Goldstein96, Atlanta

Jack Goldstein, a native of Atlanta, passed away Satur-day, Nov. 7, 2015, days before his 97th birthday.

He is survived by his lovely wife of 68 years, Sylvia Goldstein. He is also survived by three wonderful children, Dianne Peikin (husband Stan) of Fairfax, Va., Dr. Michael Goldstein (wife Fern) of Griffin, Ga., and Nancy Ely (husband

David) of Ra’anana, Israel. In addition, Jack has seven grandchildren and four great-grandchildren. One of Jack’s greatest pleasures was to spend time with his family and friends.

Jack grew up in Atlanta and graduated from Emory University. He served in the Army Finance Corps during World War II, where he attained the rank of master sergeant. After his discharge from the service, Jack went to work for the federal government in Washington, D.C., where he spent the next 40 years. He held executive positions in several top agencies before he retired.

Expressions of sympathy in his memory may be made to a charity of your choice. Sign the online guestbook at www.edressler.com. Graveside services were held at Arlington Memorial Park on Wednesday, Nov. 11. Arrangements by Dressler’s Jewish Funeral Care, Atlanta, 770-451-4999.

Betty Jacobson89, Atlanta

Betty Jacobson, 89, a native of Atlanta, passed away peacefully Wednesday, Nov. 18, 2015. The daughter of Rosalee and Sol Romm, both of blessed memory, she grew up in Atlanta, graduated from Girls’ High, and attended the University of Illinois, earning a degree in journalism.

Throughout her life, Betty was known as the consummate community volun-teer. She was the first woman to serve as president of the Atlanta Jewish Federa-

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tion, as well as its first female endowment chair. She was the president of the At-lanta Chapter of the Brandeis University National Women’s Committee and held many leadership positions with the American Jewish Committee, The Temple, the United Way of Atlanta and the Oakland Cemetery Historical Foundation. She was honored with countless awards, most notably the Atlanta Jewish Federation Lifetime Achievement Award and the American Jewish Committee Selig Distin-guished Service Award, and she was a recipient of the YWCA Greater Atlanta Sa-lute to Women recognition. But Betty’s greatest passion was her family. From PTA to Girl Scouts, Betty’s selflessness thrived while she spent time with her children and grandchildren.

Betty was preceded in death by her loving husband of 56 years, Harvey; a daughter, Susan Goldberg; a sister, Marilyn Ehrlich; and a brother, Milton. She is survived by daughter Nancy Freedman (Wayne); son Joe; son-in-law Edward Goldberg; and grandchildren Marc (Hilary), Robin and Allison Goldberg, Eric (Blair), Scott and Jennifer Freedman, and Hanna Jacobson.

Sign the online guestbook at www.edressler.com. Funeral services were held Friday, Nov. 20, at The Temple. Burial followed at Crest Lawn Memorial Park. In lieu of flowers, the family requests that donations be made to the charity of your choice. Arrangements by Dressler’s Jewish Funeral Care, Atlanta, 770-451-4999.

Sarah Belle MillerAtlanta

Sarah Belle Edelstein Miller, daughter of the late Abra-ham I. Edelstein and Jennie Shaefer Edelstein, passed away Saturday, Nov. 21, 2015, in her residence at the Fountainview Center for Alzheimer’s Disease in Atlanta.

She was a beloved mother, grandmother, great-grand-mother, sister, aunt and friend. She enjoyed working at the Jewish Federation of Greater Atlanta for over 12 years. She

was preceded in death by her husband of 44 years, Frederick G. Miller; brothers Benjamin and Asher Edelstein; and sisters Rachel Friedman and Gertrude Broudy.

She is survived by her children, Simon Miller (Sandra), Denise Murphy (Mark) and Abbe Moody (Art); a sister, Katie Berman; nine grandchildren; and five great-grandchildren.

Graveside services were held Monday, Nov. 22, at Greenwood Cemetery. In honor of her memory, donations may be made to the Alzheimer’s Foundation of America. Arrangements by Dressler’s Jewish Funeral Care, Atlanta, 770-451-4999.

Bonnie Pike76, Atlanta

Bonnie Pike, 76, of Atlanta peacefully passed away Friday, Nov. 20, 2015.She was born in Omaha, Neb., to Pauline and Harry Haykin. Bonnie is

survived by her loving husband of 56 years, Larry; daughter Stacey (Jake Sad-owsky); sons Doug (Sunny) and Scott (Kim); grandchildren Alex, Bekah, Avery and Braque; sister Elly Welt; brother Marty Haykin; and her devoted caregivers, Juliana Gyekye and Corlene White. Bonnie graduated from Central High School in Omaha in 1956, and she received her B.A. from SUNY in 1979. She was an ac-claimed playwright, winning the National Play Award in 1984 for “Three Brass Monkeys” while a resident playwright at the Theatrical Outfit. She also was an accomplished lyricist, teaming up with composer Michael Fauss for “Pigs,” “The Judgment of December 23rd,” “Sweet Sweet Auburn” and “Pinocchio.” She edited an English libretto of Franz Lehar’s “Merry Wives of Windsor” for Atlanta Lyric Opera, and she taught humanities at the Paideia School. She loved her family and friends, her work, music, food, and travel.

Sign the online guestbook at www.edressler.com. Memorial services were held Monday, Nov. 23, at The Temple with Rabbi Peter Berg officiating, followed by a reception at The Temple celebrating Bonnie’s life. Burial was due to follow later in the week in Bonaventure Cemetery in Savannah. In lieu of flowers, me-morial donations may be made to the Pike Family Organ Fund at The Temple. Arrangements by Dressler’s Jewish Funeral Care, Atlanta, 770-451-4999.

Death NoticesMariya Gorelik of Alpharetta on Nov. 13.Alan David Platner, 86, of Boca Raton, Fla., father of Temple Kol Emeth member Robert Platner, on Nov. 12.

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www.atlantajewishtimes.comOBITUARIES – MAY THEIR MEMORIES BE A BLESSINGCLOSING THOUGHTS

CROSSWORDBy Yoni Glatt, [email protected] Difficulty Level: Challenging

“Backwards & Forwards”

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ACROSS1. Former chief rabbi of Israel5. Chatzot, at its simplest9. Like Casspi missing a lot of shots14. She was directed by Frank Satenstein on “The Honeymooners”15. Start of a 1969 hit by a Brian Epstein-managed band16. It’s 265 miles from Zion17. Annan who went to Iran and said the Holocaust happened18. Robert in Spielberg’s “Jaws”19. What David and Solomon may have worn20. She wrote for Michaels22. ___-haw, sound from Balaam’s donkey (before she spoke)24. James Goldsmith and Julian Goldsmid25. Actor Teller28. No-no with chalav30. YU Chanukah chagigah, e.g.31. Geller not from “Friends”32. Saul Berenson’s org.34. Absalom was guilty of it36. Purim was one, but not for the Jews39. It comes before Num.40. They surround this puzzle43. Gabriel or Marino44. Cup from Aroma, perhaps47. What Antiochus V did to some wrongs of Antiochus IV51. “The Rocket___,” 1991 Jennifer Connelly film52. Jerusalem has a biblical one53. Jeroboam’s ben Nevat’s was large54. Pri etz hadar56. Actor Sulkin of “Wizards of Waverly Place”58. Presses for shekels60. Hollywood producer ___ C Siegel61. She played Maude62. Philistine god

64. Ship sailing at the time of a notable expulsion66. He played Harrison’s son in 200870. Greece to the Maccabees, e.g.71. Fridays, to Jews72. He tries to kill Menzel’s Elsa in “Frozen”73. The Israeli air force uses it74. Has a prophecy75. Ambassador Eban

DOWN1. Anti-Semitic org. founded in 18652. LBJ’s War on Poverty org.3. Hodor on Benioff’s hit show, e.g.4. Shechita item5. Teen-oriented org.6. Response to a Copperfield trick7. “Somewhere in middle America” song sung by Adam Duritz8. Ted Lerner’s Nationals, to MLB9. Airer of Robert Siegel10. Dara Torres and Joseph Jacobi won them at Barcelona in 199211. David Cross on “Arrested Development”12. Take a shtick too far13. He prophesied to Dovid Hamelech21. What tensions often do in the Middle East23. A Jewish slave may have this pierced to a door25. Problem on a korban26. One of the Shalowitz brothers in “City Slickers”27. Moses may have had one28. Moshav structure, often29. Make like

Elijah after Mount Sinai33. Mary Tyler Moore displayed it in “Ordinary People”35. Verify to a beit din37. Part of the high priest’s garb38. Koch and others41. He directed (Tony) Curtis in “Insignificance”42. Refaeli’s might be a 645. Quaff around Chanukah, but not for Chanukah46. Foe in a foreseen battle47. Esau, compared with Jacob48. Lizard Rabbi Natan Slifkin tried to make a shidduch for in 200949. Dismissed, on a Chuck Barris show50. They perform missions for the IDF55. One of a notable Seven in Judaism57. Doeg, e.g.59. “Brave New World” intoxicant61. Simmons plays it63. Mike Hartman’s former MSG team65. Lois Griffin, ___ Pewterschmidt67. Book before Zephaniah: Abbr.68. Goldmark’s “Piano Quintets ___ -flat Major”69. Al (Jolson), really

I have a very clear memory of an en-tire closet filled with Size 5 shoes.

How did my mom (z”l) walk with such little feet? How did she bal-ance herself? It still amazes me that she did not spend her life falling down and getting up.

Mom was 4-foot-11 on her best days. One of her sisters was even closer to the ground. Somehow Mom managed to make me believe she was a very intimidating 6 feet tall, especially when I did something she did not ap-prove of. Which, by the way, was fairly often.

I was her firstborn, her first-gen-eration American. I felt it my duty to indoctrinate my mom to the reality of being an immigrant mommy with an American child. I must admit: I taught her well, and I paved the way for my two beautiful sisters.

Mom was one of the bravest wom-en I knew. She knew when and how to take risks (except in mahjong and ca-nasta). She immigrated to the United States from Poland at age 15. She left everything she was comfortable with, everything she had ever known. She left her friends, her schoolmates and the Polish children she was tutoring.

In Poland, she was a blond-haired, blue-eyed beauty. In America, she dis-covered she was one of thousands of blond, blue-eyed beauties. She did not speak any English. She spoke Yiddish, Polish, Hebrew and a little Russian.

She entered high school, worked very hard on her studies, learned Eng-lish, graduated and went to work. She passed her citizenship tests with flying colors. Mom was a proud American, the goldeneh medinah (the golden land).

Around the age of 25, her strength of character and bravery served her well when she was asked by a friend to board a ship, alone, and go over to Poland.

The plan was to marry her friend’s brother, a stranger to her, in order to bring him to the United States and live as husband and wife for the obligatory three months, at which point Dad would become a legal citizen of the USA. After three months they would annul the marriage.

Mom was actually engaged to an American-born guy (every immigrant’s dream) when all this occurred. Steve was most unhappy with the pros-pect of her leaving him for such an extended period of time. (Remember, Mom was one very hot ticket!)

Shaindle’s ShpielBy Shaindle [email protected]

My Little MommyShe boarded the ship that would

take her on a very long journey on the ocean and landed in Paris. She then boarded various forms of transpor-tation to meet the man who would become my dad. It took great courage traveling alone to a place to marry a stranger. Mom was on a mission to save this man from certain death.

She carried out the plan, and they married within one month. They arrived in Paris, where the ship that would take them back to the USA was moored. It was necessary to spend a few nights in Paris.

It took just one night in Paris, and she knew she would have to break her engagement. (Whatever you are think-ing, try to remember when you were young and in love.)

This brave woman and her beshert (soulmate, my dad) lived a full and fruitful life here in the United States.

This month I had the distinct honor of meeting another tiny lady at the Book Festival of the Marcus Jewish Community Center. Dr. Ruth, who is 87 years young, is a mere 4 feet 7 inches tall.

From her very first words, she reminded me of my mom. It was her melodic accent, the blond hair, the fact she could barely touch the floor when she was sitting unless she sat toward the edge of her seat, and it was her strength of character, which led to her bravery.

There were so many similarities between these two tiny ladies.

For example, both their lives were informed by the Holocaust and hitler (the small H is deliberate). Dr. Ruth and my mom were both brave women taking on new worlds, traveling alone to places unknown to them and fighting in their own ways for what they believed in. Both were blessed with daughters. Mom and Dr. Ruth were problem solvers. Mom wore her Zionism and Yiddishkeit as badges of honor. Dr. Ruth still wears hers.

I am so proud that I stand on the shoulders of these two little ladies. Two little ladies who took on the world and persevered.

A toast to the little ladies of the world. Thank you (ah shainem dank). ■

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Documents

Atlanta Jewish Times, No. 45, November 27, 2015