SJL NOLA, Feb. 2013 issue

February 2013Volume 23 Issue 2

Southern Jewish LifeP.O. Box 130052Birmingham, AL 35213-0052

Southern Jewish LifeCelebrating the Federation’s Centennial

New Orleans Edition

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Southern Jewish Life February 2013 3

Southern Life

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It’s Southern clockwork: Every few years there is measurable snow in the Deep South. Every few years, a hurricane hits some-where along the Gulf Coast. And every few years, our Baptist neighbors make a big deal of trying to convert us.

The latest manifestation came in the Jan. 24 issue of the Alabama Baptist, which had a cover story, “Sharing Jesus with Jews.” Much of the feature interviews an “Alabamian who serves as a Christian worker among the Jews,” who gives his view of how best to reach us. He speaks at length about the messianic movement, and the piece notes two Southern Baptist Messianic Fellowships, in Bessemer and Tarrant. In the article, his name was changed “for security reasons.”

The piece lists Jewish populations in Alabama not only by county but by denomination.

One sidebar starts, “Jews in Alabama and the rest of the Unit-ed States haven’t heard the gospel enough, and that’s because sharing with them is hard,” because we don’t see the gospels as divine. That shouldn’t be any more of a surprise than the Baptist rejection of the Book of Mormon or the Koran.

Haven’t heard the gospel enough? Anyone who thinks Jews in the Deep South are unfamiliar with the story of Jesus is clearly out of touch.

One way to supposedly appeal to us is to point out the Jewish-ness of Jesus and the apostles, appealing to our sense of mish-pocha (since the Holocaust supposedly made us so distrustful of outsiders). Again, we know full well that Jesus and his early fol-lowers were Jews, but that doesn’t make him the Jewish messiah, any more than Bar Kochba, Shabbatei Zevi or Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson, who also claimed or were believed to be the messiah and were all Jews.

In a particularly chutzpadik statement, the piece claims Jews must see belief in Jesus as acceptable in Judaism. To that end, it states groups like the messianic movement are becoming more accepted in the Jewish community — but that ignores reality. No Jewish com-munity lists messianic groups as part of the community resources, nobody who professes belief in Jesus as divine counts toward a Jewish prayer quorum. It’s up to us, not the Christian world, to de-fine who is a Jew and what is Judaism. With almost 2,000 years of precedent, we’ve made our view on the subject clear.

How can there be Jewish atheists and not Jewish believers in Jesus, the piece wonders. Simple — an atheist is regarded as struggling over or questioning the existence of God (which is acceptable in Judaism) but has not left the Jewish people. The believer in Jesus has adopted a separate belief system that is foreign to Judaism.

There is a fallacy that the only difference between Judaism and Christianity is over whether Jesus was messiah. Judaism does not allow for belief in a human being as God, or that God can be divided into parts. Jews have a direct relationship with God and are not to separate ourselves from God by putting an intermediary in between.

We do not hold that people are born sinners because of Original Sin, which is a cornerstone in Christianity of why man needs Jesus to intercede

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4 February 2013 Southern Jewish Life26� September 2010� Southern Jewish Life

Publisher/Editor:Lawrence M. Brook, [email protected]

Associate Publisher/Advertising:Lee J. Green, [email protected]

New Orleans Bureau:Alan Smason, [email protected] Muldoon, Gail Naron Chalew

Creative Director:Ginger Brook, [email protected]

Photographer-At-Large:Barry C. Altmark

Contributing Writers:Doug Brook

Mailing Address:P.O. Box 130052, Birmingham, AL 35213

Telephone:Birmingham: (205) 870-7889FAX: (866) 392-7750

Story Tips/Letters:[email protected]

Subscription Information:Southern Jewish Life published monthly and is free by request to members of the Jewish community in our coverage area of Alabama, Louisiana, Mississippi and NW Florida. Outside those areas, subscriptions are $25/year or $40/two years. To subscribe, call (205) 870-7889 or mail payment to the address above.

The publisher is solely responsible for the contents of SJL. Columns and letters represent the views of the individual writers. All articles that do not have a byline on them are written by the publisher.

Southern Jewish Life makes no claims as to the Kashrut of its advertisers, and retains the right to refuse any advertisement.

Advertising rates available on request.

Copyright 2010. All rights reserved, reprints only by permission of publisher.

Philosophy:To link the Jewish communities of the Deep South, to tell you the fascinating stories of one another, and to document and preserve the news of events large and small, all a part of the rich culture of Southern Jewry.

Southern LifeWe often spend time on the back roads around the region, looking

for the unusual and the unique, and there is plenty of it in the South. Still, it was a bit jarring when we were driving along one of the main roads in Gardendale, just north of Birmingham, and came upon the

road that is pictured on the front cover of this issue, Jew Hollow Road.

In this day and age, such a street name would likely be considered politically incorrect. Being Southerners, we knew what the term

“hollow” refers to, so we figured there had to be a story behind the name, and sure enough, there is. That story is in this issue.

It kicks off what will be a recurring series in the magazine, “Jews on the Southern Map,” where we explore the history of places around

the region that have been named for Jews.

Many years ago, there was a reference guide that listed towns across America that were named after Jews. Two were in Alabama (neither currently has any Jewish community). We have since found others, and there are numerous such places in Mississippi and Louisiana.

Originally, we were going to limit the series to town names, but there are many other interesting places that we have found, so we will be

including parks, and even streets, as we are doing this month.

As the series unfolds, we will have it on our website, www.sjlmag.com. That way, if you are taking a road trip,

you can stop by these places yourself.

As the High Holy Day season fades into memory and we move into prime time for organizational activities — especially the upcoming General Assembly in New Orleans — enjoy the season and keep

turning to Southern Jewish Life for the latest on what is happening in our neck of the woods.

Larry BrookEditor / Publisher

sjlmag.com

Publisher/Editor:Lawrence M. Brook, [email protected]

Associate Publisher/Advertising:Lee J. Green, [email protected]

New Orleans Bureau:Alan Smason, [email protected]

Creative Director:Ginger Brook, [email protected]

Photographer-At-Large:Rabbi Barry C. Altmark

Contributing Writers:Doug Brook

Mailing Address:P.O. Box 130052,Birmingham, AL 35213

Telephone:Birmingham: (205) 870-7889Toll Free: (866) 446-5894FAX: (866) 392-7750

Story Tips/Letters:[email protected]

Subscription Information:Southern Jewish Life published monthlyand is free by request to members of theJewish community in our coverage area of Alabama, Louisiana, Mississippi and NW Florida. Outside those areas, subscriptions are $25/year or $40/two years. To subscribe, call (205) 870-7889 or mail payment to the address above.

The publisher is solely responsible forthe contents of SJL. Columns and lettersrepresent the views of the individualwriters. All articles that do not have abyline on them are written by the publisher.Southern Jewish Life makes no claims as to the Kashrut of its advertisers, and retains the right to refuse any advertisement.Advertising rates available on request.

Copyright 2013. All rights reserved,reprints only by permission of publisher.

Opinion

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on our behalf. Good and evil both were cre-ated by God; there isn’t a cosmic battle of God versus a different, evil entity.

The article is critical of the notion that Jews still have a special relationship with God and need not be saved through faith in Jesus, but that is precisely the direction where more Christians are going today.

A decade ago, Southside Baptist Church in Birmingham opened its doors to Temple Emanu-El for over a year while Emanu-El’s sanctuary was being renovated. Rev. Steve Jones caught a lot of flack from colleagues, who were astonished he wasn’t using the op-portunity of having so many Jews in his build-ing as a chance to spread the Gospel.

John Hagee, who founded Christians United for Israel, has said it is “fruitless” to target Jews for evangelism. While he does not go out looking to convert Jews, he states that if a Jew were to walk into his church and inquire about Christianity, he would certainly answer — which is to be expected.

Many on the Christian Right now say that it is up to God, not them, to “turn the heart” of Jews and others toward Jesus, and the best witness is simply to set a good example.

Hagee has said that if he were walking in Jerusalem with an Orthodox rabbi and the messiah walked up the street, he knows one of them would have to make a radical theo-logical transformation — but until then, we should work together on where we agree.

The article quotes a messianic lawyer in Jerusalem who bristles at the criticism that missionizing to Jews is a spiritual Holocaust. One must be careful to invoke Holocaust metaphors, but the end goal is the same — no more Jews. Of course, the missionaries are coming from what they consider extreme benevolence, since they are trying to share

the ultimate truth and provide eternal salva-tion, not commit genocide. They say it is anti-Semitism not to try and reach Jews with the gospel, and their faith requires sharing the good news.

From our perspective, saying our faith, our very core of being, is deficient and needs to be replaced isn’t exactly being respectful. These same missionaries would have choice words for any Muslim who made a similar effort toward them.

Trying to reach us through redefining our faith and replacing it with a form of Chris-tianity that wears a yarmulke and sprinkles in Hebrew words is identity theft (ironically, Birmingham’s messianic congregation is holding a program on identity theft in April. Insert your punch line here).

It is that hubris of having the only truth, and believing that everyone else must accept that truth, which led to centuries of persecu-tion. Not far down the slippery slope was the rationalization that a few hours of torture in this lifetime is worth it to convince someone away from eternal torment in the next life.

But even with all the bluster, one fact remains: There are few Jews who formally convert to Christianity. A far greater drain on Jewish numbers is apathy and assimilation into nothingness.

So in a sense, stories like this one in the Ala-bama Baptist are a blessing in disguise — they remind us that we are different, they force us to pay attention to who we are and why.

In that respect, thank you, Alabama Baptist, but we’re happy with who we are and our re-lationship with God, just as you are happy with your relationship. I’m sure you’ll be checking back with us again in a few years, though.

Larry BrookEditor/Publisher

The Krewe of Mardi Gras Merriment Mitzvah Makers paraded through Touro Infirmary and Malta Park in New Orleans on Jan. 13, bringing Mardi Gras to those who would otherwise be unable to see the parades. The annual tradition began as a project of B’nai B’rith.


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Rabbi Uri Topolosky, Bob Berk leaving positions: Rabbi Uri Topolosky, who has led Beth Israel through its post-Katrina rebuilding process in Metairie, announced that he will be leaving New Orleans this summer. A week later, Bob Berk, head of the Community Day School, announced that he will be leaving his position this summer in hopes of returning to public schools.

Topolosky informed the board on Jan. 1, saying he would not seek a contract renewal, and sent a letter to the congregation saying “It is with a broken heart” that they have decided to leave this summer “to seek a different educational and social environment” for their children. He noted that he is exploring several options, including being closer to family in Maryland.

The Community Day School, formerly the New Orleans Jewish Day School, goes through fifth grade, their older son is currently in third grade.

This is a typical concern for Orthodox, and even Conservative, rabbis in smaller communities. They often leave for larger communities when the oldest child graduates from the Jewish Day School if there is no Jewish high school or middle school option.

Topolosky said “our hearts are broken because we understand how special this place is and we will miss it, and all of you, dearly.”

Topolosky came to the New Orleans community in the summer of 2007, less than two years after post-Katrina flooding inundated the Orthodox congregation’s building in Lakeview. It was the only synagogue in the New Orleans area that had to relocate and build anew from flood damage.

As part of the cooperative spirit in New Orleans’ Jewish community post-Katrina, the Orthodox congregation found a new home inside a Reform congregation, Gates of Prayer, until the dedication of a new building last August on land purchased from Gates of Prayer.

Topolosky is a native of Sharon, Mass., and also grew up in Silver Spring, Md. He studied in a yeshiva in Israel before attending the University of Maryland, where he was president of an Orthodox student group. He worked for Isralight, a birthright Israel group, before starting rabbinic studies.

He came to New Orleans after being an associate rabbi at the Hebrew Institute of Riverdale in New York. He was ordained at Yeshivat Chovevei Torah in 2005, and YCT

founder Rabbi Avi Weiss came to New Orleans in late 2007 to install him in a ceremony that also marked the dedication of a fourth Torah, donated from families across the country to replace ones lost in the flood.

During his tenure, the congregation raised funds for the new building, negotiated the purchase of land next to Gates of Prayer, and dedicated five new Torahs.

Last August, Weiss returned to New Orleans for the dedication of Beth Israel’s new building.

When Topolosky arrived, he felt that different groups within Judaism should respect and learn from each other. He holds regular study sessions with Rabbi Robert Loewy of Gates of Prayer and Rabbi Ethan Linden of Shir Chadash, the community’s Conservative congregation. Recently, he and Linden spearheaded a learning weekend for

Orthodox and Conservative rabbis from across the country, held in New Orleans.

Last month, the three rabbis teamed up for a three-part session on the Holocaust, held at the three Metairie congregations.

The Beth Israel dedication weekend was seen as a symbol for the Jewish world of cooperation among denominational lines, as the Torah procession started at the Reform congregation and wound up next door at the Orthodox congregation.

Topolosky also embraced New Orleans, even certifying the kashrut of one of the city’s symbols, the Café du Monde beignet.

Wife Dahlia, a psychologist, heads the New Orleans Parents Club for Jewish Family Service, which is now registering participants for the February to April workshop.

While the Topoloskys arrived six years ago with two sons, they added two daughters during their time in New Orleans.

“I am so proud of all this community has accomplished and I am honored to have played a small part in our great story,” he said, but added there is still unfinished work. The daily minyan needs to be strengthened, the Day School “bolstered” and a community mikvah established.

“I will assist in any way I can to ensure a smooth rabbinic transition period,” Topolosky noted. “We want you to know how much we love you and cherish this Beth Israel family.”

Berk said he is leaving the Day School in June to return to his original passion of public education “after 10 great years in Jewish day

Rabbi Uri Topolosky

6 February 2013 Southern Jewish Life

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Purim goes adult — mostly: Gates of Prayer in Metairie will welcome Temple Sinai for adult Purim festivities on Feb. 23 at 7:30 p.m. The clergy and staff of both congregations will do a megillah reading “as you have never heard it before,” said Rabbi Robert Loewy. Adult beverages and appetizers will be served, and the event will be followed by a concert with the Baal Shem Tones, coordinated by the Institute of Southern Jewish Life. The event is for ages 21 and up. The family Purim event at Gates of Prayer will be Feb. 24 at 11 a.m.

Temple Sinai’s family event will be a megillah reading Feb. 24 at 9 a.m. with the Temple Sinai Puppets, followed by a Brotherhood Family Fun Day in Audubon Park.

Touro Synagogue will also be holding an adults-only Purim party the night of Feb. 23 at 8 p.m. At 10 a.m. on Feb. 24 there will be a family Purim celebration with Frank Levy.

While Gates of Prayer welcomes Temple Sinai, the other two congregations in Metairie’s Jewish Corridor — Beth Israel and Shir Chadash — will have a joint celebration at Shir Chadash on Feb. 23 at 7 p.m. There will be a pizza and beer dinner with the Panorama Jazz Band, and kids’ activities. The megillah reading will include special “voices.” Costumes are welcome.

Beth Israel in Metairie will hold a megillah reading on Feb. 24 at 8 a.m., followed by a Purim visit to Woldenberg. Rabbi Topolosky will host a musical Purim meal at his home at 4 p.m.

Chabad will have a Rockin’ Moroccan Purim on Feb. 24 at 5:30 p.m., at Chabad of Metairie. There will be a full Moroccan menu and décor, with masquerades for adults and children. Moroccan-themed costumes are encouraged. Sefardic singer Yossi Nachmias will perform.

Anshe Sfard, New Orleans, will have a community Purim party, Feb. 23 at 7 p.m. Music will be provided by the Bone Tone Jazz Band. Food and hamantashen will be served. There is a suggested donation of $10.

The New Orleans Jewish Community Center will have an Adloyadah carnival on Feb. 24 from noon to 4 p.m. at the Uptown location. The back field becomes the carnival grounds, with rides, music Israeli food, hamantaschen and snowballs. There is a costume parade led by a stilt walker. The event is free and open to the community, with food available for purchase. All-day game bands for children are $12, or $10 with a donation to Second Harvest.

school education.” He became head of the school in 2008, when his wife, Rabbi Alexis Berk, became the rabbi at Touro Synagogue.

He noted that it was a difficult decision for him, and he wants to work with parents and faculty to ensure a smooth transition.

Board president Dashka Roth has appointed a search committee, chaired by Hugo Kahn, to search locally and national for a successor. They met with parents on Jan. 11 to update them on the news.

Roth said “We have a challenge and an opportunity in finding a new Head of School. Sometimes what seems to be a sad change turns into an unexpected opportunity. I trust that our search for a new Head of School will be just this kind of opportunity.”

Under Berk’s leadership, last fall the school changed its name from the New Orleans Jewish Day School and broadened its outreach to the community.

Bob Berk

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Shabbat and Mardi Gras Parades: With New Orleans Mardi Gras parades taking the Feb. 1 weekend off for the Super Bowl, Touro Synagogue’s annual Mardi Gras Shabbat schedule is on non-consecutive weekends. Because the parade route is just outside, the congregation holds early Shabbat services at 5 p.m. so congregants can go outside afterward and watch the parades.

This year, the parades are on Jan. 25 and Feb. 8. The Feb. 8 service, Shabbati Gras, will be casual and lead by JewCCY. A family dinner follows in Bowsky Garden during the parade. Dinner reservations are $5, or $15 for families.

Touro will also have the TnT Bacchus Bash on Feb. 10 from 3 to 9 p.m. There will be all-you-can-eat burgers, hot dogs and snacks, along with beer, margaritas and soft drinks — and all-important restroom access. TnT is Touro’s group for those in their 20s and 30s. Cost for members is $40 if reserved by Feb. 8, non-members $60. Tickets for ages 3 to 17 are $20, and babysitting is included for those 5 and under. Tickets at the door are $60. To reserve, email [email protected].

In Metairie, Gates of Prayer will hold its services on Feb. 1 and 8 at 6 p.m., with pre-Oneg at 5:30 p.m., due to increased traffic for parades.

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The Community Day School in Metairie is hosting Sylvia Rouss, author of the children’s book series “Sammy Spider” and “The Littlest,” on Feb. 25 at 9:30 a.m. for a book reading, signing, and Parent-Teacher question and answer session. She will read her newest “Sammy Spider” book, “Sammy’s First Purim,” and “No Rules for Michael.”

After the reading and book signing, there will be a Sammy Spider activity and snacks for the children while Rouss meets with parents to discuss the books, educating through literature, or being a children’s author.

All area kindergartens, nursery schools and younger children are invited. There is no charge, but reservations are requested by Feb. 18 to Lauren Ungar, [email protected].

Beth Israel in Metairie will have an NCSY Shabbat the weekend of Feb. 15 as 35 students from Mayanot Girls’ High School in Teaneck, N.J., will be visiting. There will be an NCSY-run service at 5:30 p.m. on Feb. 15 concurrent with the adult service. A joint dinner will follow. On Feb. 16 at 10 a.m. there will be a Kids Carnival, a Shabbat morning program.

Seudah Shlishi and a musical Havdalah will be at the Topolosky home at 5 p.m.

The New Orleans Jewish Community Center Uptown is looking for volunteer hamantaschen bakers, Feb. 20 from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. The hamantaschen will be served at the Adloyadah, Feb. 24 from noon to 4 p.m.

At the National Council of Jewish Women’s Washington Institute in March, Melissa Harris-Perry of New Orleans will be presented the Woman Who Dared award. A professor of political science at Tulane, Harris-Perry is founding director of the Anna Julia Cooper Project on Gender, Race and Politics in the South.

She is also host of “Melissa Harris-Perry” on MSNBC and a columnist for The Nation. Her books include “Sister Citizen: Shame, Stereotypes, and Black Women in America” and the award-winning “Barbershops, Bibles, and BET: Everyday Talk and Black Political Thought.” The luncheon is at noon on March 18.

NCJW honoring Kullman: The National Council of Jewish Women, Greater New Orleans Section, will present its 2013 Hannah G Solomon Award to Ruth S. Kullman. The luncheon will be at the Westin at Canal Place on Feb. 25 at 11:30 a.m.

Kullman is being honored for her interest, activity and stand on issues with which NCJW is in sympathy, and for the leadership and volunteer time she has given to important community programs and services in New Orleans.

She has served on many volunteer boards and commissions and has been selected to serve as board president of five organizations with very different missions —Committee of 21, Planned Parenthood, New Orleans Outreach, Touro Synagogue, and Touro Infirmary.

Tickets are $60 per person. Checks payable to NCJW should be mailed to Dana Shepard, 5485 Bellaire Drive, New Orleans, LA 70124.

National Jewish music event at Tulane: The American Society for Jewish Music is holding its first-ever Jewish Music Forum in the South, March 3 and 4 at Tulane University in New Orleans.

Now in its ninth season, the forum is held in New York City and other venues across the country. The March 4 conference will be “Jewish Music in New Orleans.”

The conference will have three main sessions in Rogers Memorial Chapel. After a welcome from Michael Leavitt, president of the society, there will be an exploration of the European roots of American Jewish Music. The 9 a.m. session will feature Tulane historian Brian Horowitz and Hebrew Union College musicologist Mark Kligman.

At 11 a.m., Michael Cohen of Tulane and Judah Cohen of Indiana will speak about American adaptations of the European experience.

The final session, at 2:30 p.m., will explore the New Orleans experience vis-à-vis the European roots and general American experiences. Brandeis historian Stephen Whitfield will be joined by local historian Jack Stewart, who will speak on Jewish musicians in New Orleans in the jazz era.

On March 3, there will be a concert of Jewish Music in New Orleans, at 8 p.m. in the Dixon Performing Arts Center annex. The concert is co-sponsored by the Newcomb Music Department, and is open to the public without charge.


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Rabbi A. David Packman was honored at Temple B’nai Israel in Monroe the weekend of Dec. 7 as he retired from being the congregation’s visiting rabbi. Packman is rabbi emeritus of Temple B’nai Israel in Oklahoma City, where he served for 28 years, retiring in 2004. At the Dec. 7 service, the congregation held its Confirmation. Pictured at a Dec. 8 dinner in his honor are B’nai Israel President Susan Marx, Rabbi Packman, and Ron and Sara Israel.

Shul, church pair for Ettinger events: The weekend of Feb. 15, B’nai Israel Synagogue in Pensacola will team with the First Pentecostal Church for a series of events with retired Ambassador Yoram Ettinger.

Ettinger is no stranger to the region, having served as Israel’s consul general in Houston in the 1980s, where his territory included the region from Louisiana to New Mexico. In the 1990s, Alabama Governor Fob James named him as Alabama’s trade representative in Israel.

He is editor of “The Ettinger Report” and director of “The Second Initiative,” which is dedicated to generate out-of-the-box thinking on US-Israel relations, Middle East politics, the Palestinian issue, Jewish-Arab demographics, Jerusalem, Judea and Samaria. After serving in Houston, he was director of the Israel Government Press Office, then was Minister for Congressional Affairs at the Israeli embassy in Washington.

The events at B’nai Israel will be part of a Shabbaton that will kick off a drive to commission the writing of a new Torah for the congregation.

Following the Shabbat morning service on Feb. 16, Ettinger will speak about the demographics of Israel. That evening, he will speak on the importance of Judea and Samaria to Israel’s security. The presentation is open to the community.

On Feb. 17 he will speak at a private luncheon for community leaders, discussing the implications of the recent Israeli election.

That evening, he will speak at the 6 p.m. service at First Pentecostal Church. The service will be led by Pastors Brian Kinsey and Matthew Johnson. Ettinger will speak on “The Foundations of the US-Israel Covenant – Shared values from the 17th Century Pilgrims and the Founding Fathers to 2013.” The event is open to the general public and will be followed by a reception.

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Chosen Food exhibit at Breman: Hungry for knowledge about Jewish food?

The Breman Jewish Heritage Museum in Atlanta is opening “Chosen Food: Cuisine, Culture and American Jewish Identity” on Feb. 7. The exhibit will run through June.

For Jews, as for other Americans, food is never just about consumption: food is a means to observe and to celebrate, to maintain tradition and to mark transition, to preserve memory and to produce new meaning. American Jewish food culture, in short, open up a host of conversations about the history and experience of being Jewish and American in the 21st century.

“What we’ve learned while preparing for this exhibition is that the Jewish community pitches a big tent,” said Timothy Frilingos, Exhibitions Manager/Curator. “That means that your Jewish food may not be the same as my Jewish food. And that Southern Jewish foods fused with traditional Jewish foods can result in some unexpected surprises. Jewish food includes Thanksgiving turkeys, Chanukah gingerbread

houses, and Oreos-themed birthday parties right along with the matzah balls in chicken soup and falafel in pita bread.”

“The Breman Museum is featuring this exhibition originally created by the Jewish Museum of Maryland because we noticed how topical food is in conversation and our collective experiences” explained Frilingos, “It seems everyone has something about Jewish food.” “Chosen Food” will explore the unexpected variety of foods that can be identified as Jewish; the ways American Jews modulate tradition in their kosher and non-kosher kitchens; what happens when a family recipe is brought to America; how identities are forged around the dinner table; the Jewish meanings of eating out, including delis and Chinese food; the important role of the caterer as “translator” of “American” into “Jewish” food; and the issues inherent in “ethical eating.”

Along with the exhibition will be a series of programs and events featuring food experts and topics.

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Before and after: Sometimes government takes a while to respond, but not this time. On Jan. 8, Stanley Best contacted the city of Shreveport about a historic marker outside the Rutherford House, marking the previous location for Agudath Achim. The sign had been weathered and faded to being almost unreadable. Best also contacted the local Jewish institutions to gain their support in having the sign replaced.

The congregation was located there from 1939 to 1980. The building now houses the treatment, educational and recreational services for Rutherford House, a residential facility for troubled youth. Rutherford has preserved some of the congregation’s history that remains in the building.

The next day, David Miles from the city’s engineering department had the 15-year-old sign removed, and within a week new signs were up.

Best credited efforts from B’nai Zion Rabbi Jana de Benedetti and City Councilman Jeff Everson with getting the job done. He said everything was accomplished before he could get in touch with Agudath Achim Rabbi Foster Kawaler.

The old sign facing the other direction, while worn, was in much better condition. Miles gave it to Best, who then gave it to Kawaler.

The Jewish Federation of Pensacola and University of West Florida will present “From Jewish Promised Land to Christian Holy Land: Palestine in the Age of Constantine,” on Feb. 28. The speaker is Ray Van Dam, professor of history at the University of Michigan. There will be a 5:30 p.m. reception, followed by the 6 p.m. presentation at the UWF Center for Fine and Performing Arts Music Room. On March 1 at 11:30 a.m. there will be a luncheon discussion at Temple Beth-El. Lunch can be reserved by calling (850) 449-2409.


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Springhill Ave. Temple facing expensive tornado damage repairs

At noon on Dec. 26, Rabbi Donald Kunstadt was walking around the property of Springhill Avenue Temple in mid-town Mobile, looking at the damage a tornado had caused the previous evening.

The F-2 twister hit at 5 p.m., right at sunset. Had it been any other Tuesday instead of Christmas, rush-hour would have been in full swing; instead the roads and the Temple were quiet.

The tornado, unusual for a city more accustomed to hurricanes, cut a swath over several blocks, damaging Mobile Infirmary and Murphy High School. The Reform Temple is on a direct line between the two. Another tornado had gone through Mobile a week earlier, causing damage on Springhill Avenue just over a mile to the west.

After a thorough examination of the damage, a final figure is still pending, but the congregation’s insurance deductible is $70,000 — and everything outside the building, such as trees, fences and lights, is not covered.

In a Jan. 25 letter to the congregation, Kunstadt, congregational president Nate Ginsburg and Stanley Small stated that the out-of-pocket expense for the congregation may well exceed $150,000 — and they will also have to bring the building up to current codes. A Tor-nado Fund has been established for donations “to this very necessary project.”

The large number of tree limbs littering the yard came from the 200-year-old oak trees that grace the yard. None, however, hit the building, though one tree blocked the western driveway no more than 10 feet in front of the building.

Much of the copper flashing from the roof had been blown off, in-cluding a 20-foot section that had wrapped around a nearby power line like a tallis. Unike a nearby historic Episcopal church, the roof was still on the building — but it had apparently been raised off the build-ing slightly and settled back into place, causing structural issues.

In one of the main interior corridors, there was a hole in the ceiling where a beam had been propelled by the tornado “like a missile” and driven through the roof.

In just about every other classroom, a window or two had been blown out, scattering glass and papers, and bringing leaves inside. Two windows in the large Kindergarten room were blown out, but through-out the building there was little evidence of water getting inside.

One of the large windows in the social hall was completely dis-lodged, but all of the stained glass windows in the sanctuary were intact. Kunstadt said the congregation had installed plexiglass covers that can withstand 150-mile winds, though they did so with an eye toward hurricanes. The F-2 tornado had winds estimated at 110 miles per hour.

Rabbi Donald Kunstadt surveys the damage at Springhill Avenue Temple the morning after a tornado went through Mobile.


The sanctuary and chapel were untouched. On the western side of the building, a section of exterior brick had been peeled off from the building.

Outside, a wood fence between the Temple and nearby houses was blown down, but the congregation’s vegetable garden was intact, with collard greens ready for New Year’s Day. Some of the houses lost sections of their roofs, so the Temple was relatively lucky by comparison.

Several air conditioning units and the boiler were destroyed, and the insurance adjuster recommended removing all furniture in the social hall and classrooms, and removing all drapes and linens.

Within a few days, the congregation’s ex-tensive and irreplaceable archives had been assembled in 125 boxes under the care of ar-chivist Susan Thomas and sent to an archival storage facility downtown.

Some Temple members were at Mobile In-firmary when the Dec. 25 storm struck that facility, as they were finishing the last shift of the annual Pinchhitters Program, where Tem-ple members volunteer at area hospitals so non-specialized employees can have Christ-mas day off.

After two Shabbatot away from the building — the first one at Ahavas Chesed, the second in a private home — the chapel was deemed structurally sound, so services resumed there on Jan. 11.

The opening event for the Mobile Jewish Film Festival on Jan. 6, slated for the Temple, was relocated to Via Services. That was the previous location for Ahavas Chesed, before they built their current building in 1989.

The Fran and Paul Brown Scholar in Residence program featuring Ron Wolfson, scheduled for Jan. 11, was cancelled, and an adult b’not mitzvah service on Jan. 18 was postponed.


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Something funny about the Jewish Children’s HomeJCRS Gala celebrates Jewish comedy, but Home produced some characters

Th is year’s Jewish Children’s Regional Service Gala concentrates on comedy. While last year’s theme, jazz, included tales of many for-mer residents of the Jewish Children’s Home who made their mark in music, there aren’t stories like that when it comes to making it big in comedy. But the home did produce its fair share of characters who were known for their humor.

Humor has played an important role in dealing with stress, disap-pointment and adversity. Many of the children whom JCRS assists today, and the 1700 Jewish youth who lived in the former Jewish Chil-dren’s Home in New Orleans between 1855 and 1946, encountered more than their share of personal challenges, including the loss of a parent and the disintegration of their two-parent family unit.

One former Jewish Children’s Home resident, Houstonian Joseph Samuels, spent the last half of his 95 years of life as editor and publish-er of the Jewish Herald-Voice. Virtually no conversation with him was devoid of a variety of his clever jokes, parodies, stories, or parables, designed to make one laugh. Sometimes, in a conversation with Samu-els, one even forgot what the original subject matter of their mutual conversation was all about. His primary careers, however, were insur-ance and publishing, and neither enterprise was built on a foundation or reputation of humor.Taking wooden nickels

Louis Berkie (Berkowitz) lived in the Home from 1917 to 1928 with his sister Libbie, following the death of their father. Prior to their years

in the Home, the siblings lived in Dallas and Galveston, and upon Berkie’s discharge from the Home, he relo-

cated to San Antonio. In the 1940s, he opened his San Antonio magic shop and by the early 1950s, he claimed that he had the largest mail order magic tricks catalogue in the United States.

Little Rock legend “Maxie” Itzkowitz


Featured in a full-page story in the September 1992 issue of People magazine, Berkie re-called how he responded to a 1950 ad in Billboard magazine, claiming “100 wooden nick-els for $1.50.” After some brief correspondence, he bought the business for $50. When the article appeared in People, Berkie was cranking out 4 mil-lion wooden nickels a year, commemorating everything from political campaigns to cir-cumcision ceremonies. How-ever, any visit to Berkie’s Elbee Company would reveal that he apparently not only bought out his colleagues in the magic or wooden nickel enterprises, but his store was also a repository for the merchandise of other long-forsaken San Antonio souvenir shops and stores sell-ing various novelties and gags, from postcards and customized business cards, to newspapers with “do-it-yourself” headlines.

Berkie sold out in 1996 at the age of 84 and died the following year. The mischievous but soft-spoken Berkie had spent over 50 years in San Antonio, teaching generations of chil-dren and adults their first magic tricks, dem-onstrating the “special effects” of a whoopee cushion, and greeting friends and customers alike with the old reliable “shocking-buzzer” handshake.Going out of business, again

When “Maxie” Itzkowitz died in Novem-ber 1989, the colorful 77-year-old pawn shop owner had become a Little Rock legend, known for five decades of “going out of busi-ness” sales and slogans. True, his shop and merchandise shuffled between a few locations over those 50 years, but Maxie always reap-peared, ready for his next pawn transaction, prepared to accept some merchandise that was beyond description, and looking forward to his newest slogan or catchy business card. “Sock it to me — hock it to me,” “Put it in hock in Little Rock” or “If you’ve got the girl, I’ve got the diamond“ described his willingness to engage customers, while at the same time, he coined 50 years in variations of store liq-uidation themes. “I’ll be through in ‘72” was eventually replaced with “I don’t mean maybe; Maxie will be through in 1980!”

Max Galinsky was born in Poland in 1912 and came to the United when he was nine months old. His father died when he was very young. His mother was living in Fort Smith, Ark., when she sent three-year-old Max to the

Home, where he lived for the next two years. He left the Home and returned to Arkansas in 1917, after his mother married Joseph Itzkow-itz. Max grew up lean but tough. He earned the nickname, “Slapsie Maxie” as a Golden Gloves Boxing champion, and later enlisted in military service during World War II.

In 1988, one year before Maxie died, the City of Little Rock purchased the property where Maxie’s last pawnshop stood, and Maxie announced a final “going out of busi-ness auction.” A local television news crew covered the event and the store quickly filled with a circus atmosphere and various bar-gain hunters, many of them perplexed at the true purpose and identity of the numerous business machines and unusual objects that Maxie had taken in pawn over the years. At the conclusion of the auction, someone blurt-ed out that Maxie had previously moved his best merchandise across town to his brother’s pawnshop and would be back in business the next day.

The Nov. 10, 1989 edition of USA TODAY listed 50 deaths, one from each state. In-cluded was a Connecticut Academy Awards nominee, an Idaho state senator and an Iowa Supreme Court Chief Justice. California listed trumpeter Lu Watters, who helped revive New Orleans jazz in the 1940’s. Arkansas listed “Maxie Itzkowitz, pawn shop owner, tempted customers for decades with going-out-of-business sales.” His surviving nephew, Marvin Itzkowitz, mused to the Arkansas Gazette “He’d probably (slogan it) End of the Line in ’89!”

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In April 1963, a group of eight Birmingham clergy — including Temple Emanu-El’s Rabbi Milton Grafman — wrote an open letter to Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr., asking that planned demonstrations in Birmingham be postponed so the city’s new government could have time to deal with issues of desegregation. King’s response, the famous “Letter from Birmingham Jail,” is studied worldwide.

Far less known is an earlier open letter from Grafman and the same clergy members, published just after Governor George Wallace’s Jan. 14, 1963 inaugural address, where Wallace promised “segregation now, segregation tomorrow, segregation forever.” Among the three additional signatories on the January statement was Rabbi Eugene Blachschleger of Temple Beth Or, Montgomery.

A group of clergy gathered at the Tutwiler Hotel in Birmingham on Jan. 16 to issue “an appeal for law and order and common sense,” criticizing inflammatory remarks and recommending against defying court orders that mandated desegregation.

The statement was a reworking of an October 1962 statement by the Huntsville Ministers Association. Grafman said just after it was re-leased that it had been planned before Wallace’s remark, but Wallace’s comment made the statement “very well timed.”

The statement, signed by 11 clergy members, was delivered to the two Birmingham newspapers and appeared on Jan. 17, then across the state over the next few days. It stated that “hatred and violence have no sanction,” laws must not be ignored by individual whims, court decisions must be respected, and every person’s freedom should be equally protected. Immediately, a backlash came from segregation-ists, many of whom couched their objection to integration on Biblical grounds.

At the time, ministers who spoke about “moderation” were seen as promoting integration, and often lost their pulpits. Stephen Grafman, son of Rabbi Grafman, said at a Temple Emanu-El talk last month that a statement like the seventh point of the January letter, “That every human being is created in the image of God and is entitled to respect as a fellow human being with all basic rights, privileges, and respon-sibilities which belong to humanity,” was very difficult to say in the Birmingham of 1963.

A few years earlier, vocal public support of the Montgomery bus boycott was a major factor in Agudath Israel parting ways with Rabbi Seymour Atlas.

(In the next couple of issues, we will examine the effect of the Letter from Birmingham Jail).




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Security guard may face hate crime charge in Tenn. Torah vandalism

A 24-year-old security guard at the Doubletree Hotel in Jackson, Tenn., was arrested and charged with vandalism after damaging a To-rah and other religious items on Jan. 12.

Students from the Margolin Hebrew Academy in Memphis were in the hotel at the beginning of a school Shabbaton to Gatlinburg. The items had been left in one of the hotel’s conference rooms on Friday night, and the damage was discovered Saturday morning.

Police were called at 8:20 a.m. Aside from the Torah, Jewish books, musical items and “several religious venerated items” had been “marked on, torn or otherwise damaged or defiled,” according to a po-lice report, which estimated the damage at over $60,000. The damage included written phrases of “Gentiles win, Jews lose” and “Submit to Satan,” the Memphis Commercial Appeal reported.

The Jackson Police Department was joined by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and Tennessee Department of Homeland Security. As the investigation continued, the overnight security guard, Justin Shawn Baker, became a suspect. His employer, Maxxguard, sent a su-pervisor to the hotel to review security logs. The supervisor called in Baker, who was interviewed by police and taken into custody.

Baker worked for Maxxguard since October without incident, and is an Iraq War veteran with several service medals. He has been sus-pended without pay and the state informed of the arrest so his license will be suspended.

According to a police statement, the crime was “opportunistic in nature” and “specifically directed at the objects representing the Jew-ish faith.”

The Jackson Sun reported that Baker waived his Miranda rights and admitted “knowingly and intentionally vandalizing the religious arti-fact... because they belonged to the Hebrew Academy and represents (sic) Judaism.” He also placed one of the desecrated prayer books out-side a guest room where students were staying.

Baker was arraigned yesterday in Jackson City Court, and bond was set at $100,000. At a preliminary hearing on Jan. 24, the case was sent to the grand jury, and a request for bond reduction was denied. He faces a Class B felony charge, with a possible sentence of 8 to 12 years. Federal hate crime charges may also be forthcoming.

Rabbi Gil Perl, dean of the school, said they have been advised to not give interviews during the investigation. “It was an awful crime which thankfully our kids are handling very well and from which we hope they will only grow stronger,” he said.

Jackson has a Jewish community of about 35, and their Congrega-tion B’nai Israel holds weekly services. Lisa Silver, communications chair for the congregation, said the vandalism “has been difficult for us all, though it did not touch our Jewish community directly.”

Rabbi Jordan Parr, who is visiting rabbi for the congregation, thanked “the good people of Jackson, the Police Department, FBI and other government agencies who have come together so quickly to ap-prehend this suspect and determine if this is an isolated incident. I surely hope that this is the case.”

He noted that it “is especially painful that the accused is a decorated veteran of our armed forces, one who has defended our country with honor overseas.”

Silver hopes the incident will prompt greater “religious conscious-ness” in the community and prompt learning about different faiths, though she stated that “The Jackson area has embraced its Jewish community for years and we have been blessed to not know the face of hate previously.”


Making allies for Israel on campus

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Photo by Lauren Clarice Cross

Chloe Valdary started Allies of Israel at the University of New Orleans

Unlike Tulane University across town, the University of New Or-leans has a tiny Jewish student population and hasn’t seen a lot of pro-Israel activism. That is changing in a major way, thanks to a 19-year-old UNO student — who isn’t Jewish.

New Orleans native Chloe Valdary, a sophomore majoring in Interna-tional Studies, formed Allies of Israel last summer, and while the group currently has just nine members — though there are about 200 follow-ers on Facebook — it was preparing for its first big event on Jan. 28.

“Declare Your Freedom” was billed as a “pro-Israel, pro-America” event, Valdary said. Daniel Pipes, executive director of the Middle East Forum and Campus Watch, was the keynote speaker for the noon event at the UNO amphitheater. Long before the Sept. 11, 2001 terror attacks, Pipes was sounding the alarm about the threat of global jihadists. Jazz great Kermit Ruffins was scheduled to start the event by playing the Na-tional Anthem, and jazz pianist Stephen Roberts performed “Hatikvah.” Many other local and national figures were also on the program.

Valdary said the event was to show “the importance of having a strong pro-Israel stance and also combatting anti-Semitism through innovative ways.”

Valdary grew up with an awareness of Israel in a spiritual sense. Her family is among a small group of Christians who keep Biblical laws, including Shabbat, the festivals and the dietary laws. That helped give her an affinity for the Jewish people and is “part of the reason why I do what I do today.”

Exposure to Middle East politics came much later. The first R-rated film she was allowed to watch was “Schindler’s List.” She read several of Leon Uris’ works, including “Exodus” as she finished high school.

A graduate of the New Orleans Center for Creative Arts filmmaking program, she started working on a script about the Middle East. Meet-ing another filmmaker who had done a project on Israel further kindled her interest, and she began studying international relations at UNO.

Last spring, “when the opportunity presented itself to do a research paper” on the Arab-Israeli conflict “I just jumped on it.” As she worked on it, she discovered the prevalence of anti-Semitism in the conflict and “it really began to terrify me.” She saw the “Orwellian” effort of those who “bow to the feet of Hitler” then turn around and compare Jews to Nazis.

She started Allies of Israel to advocate for a strong Israel, but also


to fight global anti-Semitism, which is on the upswing and is at the root of the conflict.

As part of this effort, Valdary has launched “Once And For All,” which aims to take the fight against anti-Semitism into popular cul-ture. She is currently trying to raise $10,000 to launch the campaign through “film, music vid-eos, mixed media and other artistic measures” and take it worldwide from New Orleans.

“Film has the power to spark revolutions, change minds, and improve the lives of many for generations to come,” she said.

The first planned video will convey “the resilience of the Jewish people in the face of violent bigotry utilized by malevolent ideo-logues, such as those representing Hamas, the PLO, the PA, and various other groups hold-ing the same malicious intent.”

She has a director who is interested in working on the project, and has partnered with a pro-Israel group in Britain to take it worldwide.

On the Jewcer website where the fundraiser is hosted, the highest-level donation of $3,000 or more is referred to as “Hamas’s worst nightmare.”

At the Jan. 28 event, a “Once And For All: The NOLA Campaign to End Anti-Semitism” poster, signed by New Orleans Saints quarter-back Drew Brees, punter Thomas Morestead and several others, was auctioned.

The group also sells T-shirts and brace-lets that remember terror victims in Israel. Valdary wears a bracelet that reads “St. Sgt. Ehud Efrati. Killed by Terrorists 10-29-07. Age 34.” She said the victims of terrorism have often gone unnoticed.

General donations to the group are also welcome.

Recently, the American Israel Cooperative Enterprise did a study on anti-Israel activities on campus, and listed UNO as a place with an anti-Israel student group but no corre-sponding pro-Israel group. Valdary said she hasn’t seen an organized opposition to Israel at UNO, but there have been individuals who have approached her or otherwise registered their opposition.

Driftwood, the student newspaper at UNO, quoted a Muslim Students Association mem-ber responding to Valdary’s call for Americans to be pro-Israel with “Maybe if they support violence against innocent civilians.”

Valdary has met with local rabbis and oth-ers in the Jewish community, who have be-come involved with the group.

She noted that the African-American com-munity has a lot in common with the Jewish community “in terms of our history” and “can advance each other’s interests if we work to-gether.” It is important for Jews and non-Jews to stand together in a united front, she said.

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Wolfson on making the synagogue a more welcoming place

Building relationships is key to congregational success, Ron Wolf-son said during a tour of several Southern communities last month.

During stops in New Orleans, Baton Rouge, Alexandria, Jackson, Birmingham and Pensacola, he spoke about building welcoming con-gregations, and did family workshops with his book, “God’s To-Do List.” His visit was coordinated by the Goldring/Woldenberg Institute of Southern Jewish Life after Macy Hart promised to feed him grits during the trip.

At Gemiluth Chassodim in Alexandria, members prepared a meal for his presentation, including a cheese grits souffl é that he marveled at in subsequent stops. “Th e hospitality has been extraordinary. I had high expectations and they have been surpassed,” he said.

Two days after the BCS National Championship game he spoke in Birmingham, and started with “congratulations, Mazel Tov, yasher ko-ach” on Alabama’s title, while holding up a copy of the Crimson White newspaper he picked up at lunch in Tuscaloosa.

Congregationally, the Jewish community needs to “become much more welcoming and much more engaging.” In terms of outreach and relationship-building, Wolfson said Chabad is “kicking our butts in America, and I’m tired of it.”

Chabad’s model is “radical hospitality,” he said. You meet a Chabad rabbi, “within 10 minutes you’re invited to his house for dinner,” then to come and study, and you’re grateful for the relationship. Th at’s how Chabad raises as much money as the entire Federation system each year, he said.

Congregations need to reach out earlier, rather than waiting for young Jews to marry and join when the fi rst child is ready for religious school — and drop out after the last Bar Mitzvah. And it can’t just fall on the rabbis — congregational leaders need to work on it. “A board member ought to be building a community.”

He added, “it shouldn’t have to be hard to break into a synagogue” socially.

When there are divisive issues, everyone needs to shift from a cul-ture of blame to a culture of honor. “In a sacred community we treat each other with respect” even when there are passionate diff erences.

In Pensacola he spoke at First United Methodist Church. He doesn’t speak at churches that often, but “God’s To-Do List” has been em-braced by some churches. Every semester he takes his students to visit Rick Warren’s Saddleback Church to see how megachurches are so welcoming.

Ron Wolfson speaks at Birmingham’s Temple Beth-El

Seniors


By Lee J. Green

More than 80 percent of seniors have high blood pressure, and some may suffer from hypertension but not even know it. That is why St. Vincent’s Health System in Birmingham offers an opportunity for heart disease screening at a greatly reduced rate, Feb. 16 from 6 to 11 a.m.

Those who register before the deadline can receive four heart tests for $40 (normally $350) — EKG, Lipid Profile, Blood Pressure Screen-ing and Basic Metabolic Profile.

“The screenings also offer a great opportunity to engage in dialogue with qualified medical professionals,” said Dr. Michael Bailey, an elec-trophysiologist/cardiac specialist for St. Vincent’s Birmingham Heart Clinic, P.C. “Many people wait until they feel symptoms or feel very poorly. It’s a good idea to get the screening, even if someone is not in one of the major risk categories or feels fine at the time.”

Dr. Bailey said that in most cases, people cannot feel hypertension in the heart or tell if they have high blood pressure. “It is very hard for someone to self-diagnose,” he said. “Hypertension was the number one cause of heart failure until in recent years we learned how to treat this. We can catch this if people come in.”

He recommends a heart-healthy lifestyle including a diet low in salt, low in saturated fats and a routine involving regular aerobic activity. Bailey said that those who have obesity issues have a greater occur-rence of high blood pressure, which can lead to heart disease. But some cases are surprising.

“I had a (senior-aged) woman come to me and she was as thin as a rail — she couldn’t have weighed more than 100 pounds. But her blood pressure was very high and there are several factors that go into that,” he said.

The major risk factors for coronary disease are based on age, sex (men have a greater risk), diabetes, family history, smoking, increased cholesterol and obesity. Even if someone does not have one or multiple risk factors, Bailey recommends that males ages 45 and up as well as women ages 55 and up come in for the heart screenings.

“We can come up with some lifestyle solutions that are easy to fol-low. The heart is a life-organ. It is always better to be proactive with something this important to your health,” he said.

Rocky Ridge’s residents travelBy Lee J. Green

Residents of the Rocky Ridge Retirement Community in metro Bir-mingham can enjoy plenty of activities, amenities and interaction with friends regularly. Then when they travel, residents can enjoy a free stay at any of the other 300 Holiday Retirement communities across the U.S. and Canada.

“This one-of-a-kind travel program allows residents to experience the same lifestyle they receive at their own community at the majority of the other Holiday Retirement communities across the U.S. and Canada at no additional expense. While traveling, residents can stay in a comfortable guest suite; enjoy the chef-prepared meals at no cost, and participate in all the community activities for up to a week at a time per community,” said Rocky Ridge Community Sales Leader Sue Ann Raybon.

In addition to the Hoover independent living community, Holiday also has communities in the region in New Orleans, Jackson, Mobile, Montgomery, Auburn, Pensacola and Panama City.

At Rocky Ridge, there are no buy-in fees and residents can rent on a month-to-month basis. Four-legged family members are also welcome at no additional cost, she said.

“We understand that family members worry about their loved ones needing occasional assistance on an immediate basis. That’s why we have two resident management teams who live in the community and are available around-the-clock,” said Raybon.

“We also know the importance of good, nutritious meals so we have professionally trained chefs who prepare three delicious, perfectly bal-anced meals from scratch every day that residents can enjoy in our restaurant-style dining room,” she added.

For those who need it, Rocky Ridge offers transportation to Riverchase Galleria and Aldridge Botanical Gardens, among other nearby places.

She said they regularly offer educational lectures, exercise classes, on-site entertainment and a variety of activities. Rocky Ridge has four to eight different activities coordinated every day including arts and crafts, bean-bag baseball, exercise classes as well as Wii bowling tournaments to name a few. “Our goal is to provide as many opportunities for our residents to discover a new purpose and passion that enrich their lives,” said Raybon.

Exclusive to Holiday is the international, award-winning volunteer programs Seniors Serving Seniors and Seniors Serving Society. Rec-ognized by the International Council on Active Aging, the program allows residents to help school children to read; collect food donations for those in need, and support the troops, among other initiatives.

Raybon said interested potential Rocky Ridge residents are welcome to come in for a personal tour and complimentary meal. For more in-formation, go to www.holidaytouch.com.

Many with hypertension don’t even know itSt. Vincentʼs offers Heart Day on Feb. 16

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Inside Woldenberg VillageWoldenberg Village was started in 1962 as a “New Orleans home

for the Jewish aged” and acquired by Touro Infirmary in 1998. The residents at Woldenberg enjoy everything from Chanukah parties to Passover Seders to senior exercise classes to Mardi Gras celebrations.

This past December, several local choirs and dance groups came in to the New Orleans continuing care retirement community to entertain for holiday parties. They will celebrate Mardi Gras in early February with a parade and second-line happening at the community located in the City Park area.

Touro and Woldenberg employees joined together this past Decem-ber to donate funds to the Angel Tree Project. This helped a specific group of fellow employees who experienced catastrophic loss during Hurricane Isaac.

Residents at Woldenberg Village can enjoy dining from skilled chefs, social activities, trips, classes, entertainment, cards/games and fitness while not having to worry about yard work, housekeeping, meal prep-aration or transportation if they so choose.

At Woldenberg is The Villas, a community of 60 independent-living garden apartments for active seniors. The one and two-bedroom units are pet-friendly, featuring lofty ceilings, landscaped patios along with large, fully-furnished kitchens. The community amenities include a 24-hour emergency response system, group transportation (with trips to restaurants, the arts, museums, city-wide events, shopping), weekly housekeeping, private dining and a beauty salon.

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Seniors


Long-term care insurance more of a necessity todayBy Lee J. Green

People are living longer today, so more than ever seniors (as well as oth-ers) likely will rely on long-term care at some point in their lives.

According to Milton Goldstein, who represents several long-term care insurance companies, planning ahead before the senior years should a possible need arise remains the best solution. It’s more than just a “seniors issue,” he noted, as 39 percent of people who need long-term care are actu-ally between 18 and 64 years old.

“People are living longer and the Baby Boomers are a big segment of the population that is in the senior age category,” he said. “Medicine continues to develop more cures for diseases, but still dementia and Alzheimer’s are on the rise. Long-term care insurance is protection for an aging popula-tion and their families.”

Goldstein said more than 80 percent of people use long-term health care insurance to allow them to receive care at home. It can cover home health aide services, therapy, medical and non-medical services, as well as assistance with daily living.

In most states, individuals from ages 18 through 84 that qualify can purchase long-term care insurance. Th e premiums are less the earlier one purchases it. Th e average age for new insurance buyers is actually 57 years old. More than 8 million Americans currently own long-term care insur-ance.

“Th ere is no ‘one size fi ts all’ plan, but we work with a policy holder to customize a plan that meets his or her specifi c needs,” said Goldstein. “It’s better to start earlier since you also never know when the need is going to arise. Cost for the insurance protection will be based on your age and your health when you fi rst apply as well as what coverage options you choose.”

He advises those considering a long-term care policy fi nd out about what the costs of care are for where one lives or hopes to retire; be sure coverage includes an infl ation growth option so the pool of benefi ts in-creases each year and to ask about a “shared care” option that enables couples to link their policies in order to share benefi ts in the event one person’s benefi ts are exhausted.

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Birmingham’s Lev-ite Jewish Community Center seniors keep active with everything from bridge to Mah Jongg to senior fi tness. And one of the LJCC’s fastest-growing as well as most-popular, pre-dominantly-seniors groups — the Circle of Life Knitting Society — honored one of its own with a volunteer service excellent award last month.

Roz Feigelson (seated), one of the original members of the group that started eight and a half years ago and meets every Tuesday, earned the fi rst Joyce Rich Benjamin Memorial Award for Volunteer Service Excellence. Th e Circle of Life Knitting Society makes scarves for UAB Comprehensive Cancer Center patients in need each year, donating more than 200 last October.

Honoring the Circle of Life

Southern Jewish Life February 2013 25NOLA

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Past presidents prepare to parade into the Jewish Federation of Greater New Orleans’ centennial celebration on Jan. 15

Federation parades into centennial year, announces endowment drive

Past presidents of the Jewish Federation of Greater New Orleans pa-raded into the Federation’s centennial celebration in the unique New Orleans style — following the Panorama Jazz Band in a second line.

The Jan. 15 event drew about 200 community members to mark 100 years since the umbrella organization was created. Brenda Brasher gave a presentation about the Federation’s history, “The Jewish Fed-eration of Greater New Orleans: A century of Action, Imagination and Resolve.”

Mayor Mitch Landrieu congratulated the community on the Feder-ation’s legacy.

Bill Hess dressed in period clothing to take the persona of his great-grandfather, Julius Rosenwald, who helped bring the Federation sys-tem to New Orleans.

Noted author Rabbi Joseph Telushkin and New Orleans native Rich-ard Stone, who heads the Conference of Presidents of Major Ameri-can Jewish Organizations, were the main speakers, in a conversation format.

As part of the evening, Michael Wasserman explained the new Cen-tennial Endowment Campaign. Annual campaigns are to fund ongo-ing operations locally and around the world, while endowments are a separate effort to establish a community savings account, interest from which can be used for community needs.

The Centennial Endowment is aimed “to safeguard New Orleans’ Jewish community for our children, grandchildren and great-grand-children.” The funds will help meet unfunded needs of Jewish agencies and protect the community in time of emergency or crisis.

Every member of the community is being asked to consider a gift of at least $100 for each person in the household. For donors age 35

Richard Stone and Rabbi Joseph Telushkin held a conversation at the Centennial Celebration


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and under, a gift of at least $18 is encouraged. These gifts are in addition to the regular An-nual Campaign.

Each donor will be individually recognized equally in the 2013 Centennial Journal and on a donor recognition art piece.

A group of philanthropists met in Decem-ber 1912 to consolidate the fundraising ap-peals of the many different organizations in the Jewish community. They chartered the Federation of Jewish Charities with minimum donations of $5.

On June 4, 1913, the Jewish Charitable and Educational Federation was incorporated and officially became the umbrella group for Jew-ish charities in New Orleans.

The centennial evening was sponsored by Herman, Herman and Katz, and Postlethwaite and Netterville.Upcoming events:

The Federation will hold its annual Super Sunday on March 3, and volunteers are need-ed. The phoneathon reaches out to over 1,000 community members.

Volunteers are needed for at least two hours between 9 a.m. and 2:30 p.m. at the Jewish Community Campus in Metairie, to man the phones and stuff envelopes, among other tasks. Babysitting will be provided. The PJ Library will provide special programming for ages 3 years and up with stories, songs and crafts exploring tzedakah.

On March 21, the Federation will have its annual Campaign Celebration at the Audu-bon Tea Room. The featured speaker will be Adm. James Woolsey, former director of the Central Intelligence Agency. He was director from 1993 to 1995, and currently has numer-ous ventures, including advocating for secu-rity through energy independence.

Julius Levy, Jr., will receive the Roger Biss-inger Memorial Award at the event. It is open to all who contribute to the Annual Campaign. More details will be announced soon.

Bill Hess as Julius Rosenwald


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A merry mitzvah in New Orleans

With a “good yontif and chag sameach,” Stuart Chalew (below) welcomed dozens of volunteers who spent the morning of Dec. 25 doing mitzvah projects around Children’s Hospital. Despite high winds and threatening skies in advance of the afternoon’s thunderstorms, the volunteers did a great deal of mulching and other landscaping on the hospital grounds. Lee Sands (second photo) prepared breakfast for the volunteers and then for staffers and visiting family members of patients.

Merry Mini Mitzvah Day was coordinated by the Jewish Community Relations Council of New Orleans.

28 February 2013 Southern Jewish Life NOLA

Southern Jewish Life is printed at a plant that is FSC, SFI and PEFC Chain-of-Custody Tri-Certified, and uses soy-based inks.

Chain of custody certification offers paper which has been harvested from responsibly managed forests, then verifiably traced through all stages of print production.

SJL is free to all Jewish households in Alabama, Louisiana, Mississippi, and NW Florida. Outside this area, anyone wishing to subscribe, or to send a gift, may do so for $25/year ($40/two years).

To sign up free inside our area, or to purchase a subscription outside these states, email us at [email protected] or mail: SJL, PO Box 130052, Birmingham AL 35213

If you prefer receiving SJL online — either instead of or in addition to the print edition — send us your email. Every issue is available online in the exact same layout as the print edition. And email = quicker.

How You Get Your SJL is Your Choice: Email or Mailbox, You Can Feel Good About It.

Launching JNOLAOn Jan. 10, about 300 Jewish young professionals attended

the launch of JNOLA, a combination of the Jewish Federation’s Young Adult Division, Jewish Newcomers Program and J-Grad Student Retention Program, and the Jewish Community Center’s Young Jews of the Crescent City. The new organization provides the Jewish Next Gen community in New Orleans, ages 21-45, with opportunities for professional networking, Tikkun Olam, leadership development and enrichment, and social engage-ment.

The party was held at Manning’s restaurant at Harrah’s New Orleans. The Young Fellaz brass band and Archie Manning both made appearances during the party.

The next JNO-LA event will be a Night at the Hor-nets, on Feb. 19. For reservation in-formation, contact Meredith Grabek,

Photos by Donna Matherne

Continued from page 30


New email list for community obituaries

With the cessation of the Times Picayune’s daily publication, it is now likely that members of the Jewish community will find it more difficult to learn about funerals within the community in a timely fashion. “Levayat Hamet” is the mitzvah to attend funerals.

To address this problem, Southern Jew-ish Life Magazine, in cooperation with the Greater New Orleans Rabbinic Council and the Jewish Federation of Greater New Orleans, has offered to provide timely notifications to those who seek it. To sign up for this mitzvah enabling service simply go to http://eepurl.com/pt765. You may also send your email address to [email protected]. Your address will be used only for this specific purpose.

the sumptuous outdoor feasts attract. There’s also that pesky rain, cold, and occasional neighbor’s football coming through the thinly thatched roof and landing in the hummus on the table in front of the one guest still wearing white after Labor Day outside of Atonement Day.

To celebrate some holidays, the rabbis effi-ciently combined the suffering with the food intended to mask it. On Chanukah we cel-ebrate how one day of oil lasted for eight days by using seven days’ worth of oil to make jelly-filled Krispy Kremes and latkes, the leftovers of which are recycled by the NHL as official pucks after the All-Star Break. All this while chocolate gelt is given to soften the blow that the kids aren’t getting real gelt, just real guilt.

Purim retells a light tale of how the Jewish people barely escaped genocide thanks only to a Jewish girl grudgingly entering and winning a beauty contest. Not that they don’t deserve to, but this isn’t a long-term plan for national defense. Let’s eat!

Passover recalls how the Jews were enslaved for 400 years, that their Big G knew it was coming and let it happen, and once they were finally freed they got 40 years of free desert, when they would have preferred dessert. Let’s eat! But if that doesn’t leave a bitter taste in your mouth, try the Shmurah Matzah.

Doug Brook is a writer in Silicon Valley who has dubbed his avoiding bar mitzvah kiddu-shes and parties an act of celebratecy. For past columns, other writings, and more, visit http://brookwrite.com/. For exclusive online content, like facebook.com/the.beholders.eye.

http://brookwrite.com/

http://brookwrite.com/

http://facebook.com/the.beholders.eye


Continued on previous page

The Beholder’s Eyeby Doug Brook

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Not What They SimchaJewish celebrations are renowned for one thing above all else. But

what’s all that food doing there in the first place? Aside from getting cold — or warm, if it’s supposed to be cold — during the sermon?

Every December, Jews hear their neighbors sing about tidings of comfort and joy. Jews can almost relate, with their own year-round sightings of comfort and oy. But don’t write this off as a recent de-velopment in Jewish culture; Jewish suffering (and not just by Jewish mothers) has existed for thousands of years.

The Talmud lists dozens of fast days throughout the year, of which only a handful are observed today — and most of those by only a hand-ful of people.

According to the recently-discovered Mishnah tractate Bava Gump, food is a part of all Jewish celebra-tions to counter all those fast days. However, Bava Gump also presents the dissenting opinion of Rabbi Telfon, the Great Communicator, who said that all those fast days were established by rabbinic dieti-cians to counter all the food at the celebrations.

But are all Jewish celebrations really so positive? Is the ubiquitous food there to mask lurking suffer-ing of which nobody dares to speak?

The Jewish lifecycle starts with a catered celebration, but no Jewish eight-day-old boy thinks that any brisket is good enough to make up for the moyel’s bris kit. For girls, the Simchat Bat — however it’s performed — gives them a name and enough pinched cheeks that collectively seem like they might be the equivalent of a bris. (They aren’t. After all, at a bris the kid is fed Manischewitz — a pain without equivalent.)

Then comes the bar or bat mitzvah, where a heavily catered affair — and, increasingly often, a ludicrous party — masks what is euphe-mistically called the assuming of responsibility as an adult Jew. While the dignity of this longtime tradition spirals toward defeat, it’s still re-ally a fete at the feet of our newly-teened to mark the dubious feat of losing their heretofore lifelong lack of responsibility.

The Jewish wedding involves the bride, the groom, the bride, and — for the chupah — four almost aptly-named polebearers. To save space, simply think of five wedding/marriage jokes you like, and then move beyond lifecycle events to annual celebrations and the skeletons they hide.

Rosh Hashanah, the subject of U2’s hit, “New Year’s Day,” is a day for apples and honey. Except you can’t use your iPhone, which should warn you of the other white canvas shoe that’s waiting to drop after 10 days of reflecting and repenting (as if the reflecting isn’t suffering enough).

On Yom Kippur we wear white, which masks nothing.Sukkot commemorates the Israelites being stuck in temporary,

partially covered huts for 40 years until someone finally got a Real-tor license. So we mask this suffering with… meals in the sukkah. But this backfires thanks to the insects, vermin, and other in-laws that

NOLA Southern Jewish Life February 2013 31

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