The Observer Vol. 77 No. 21 – November 30, 2012

VOL.77 NO. 21November 30, 201216 Kislev 5773

www.jewishnashville.orgwww.jewishobservernashville.org

A Publication of

2 November 30, 2012 The Observer

He’s watching and learning. How you walk to temple together, rain or shine. The way you speak gently to Aunt Ruth. And your gift for making the holidays feel miraculous. Best wishes for a happy Chanukah.

Life is a Miracle.

The Observer November 30, 2012 3

Operation Pillar of Defense comes home to NashvilleBy Kathy Carlson

Through eight days of hos-tilities between Israel andterrorist groups in Gaza,Nashville’s Jewish com-munity connected withIsraeli friends and family

in person and in spirit.Teens – and people of all ages – kept

in touch online and by phone.Congregation Micah members visitedIsrael on the cusp of fighting. A coupleon a family visit in Ashdod experiencedeveryday life, including sirens and sprintsto safety from rockets.

Operation Pillar of Defense –Israel’s effort to halt missile attacksfrom Gaza – began on Nov. 14, follow-ing four days of intensifying rocket fireinto southern Israel. Fighting escalatedafter Israeli military killed a Hamasmilitary chief.

Fighting continued over eight daysas militants in Gaza launched some1,500 rockets into Israel. Israel’s IronDome defense system intercepted anddestroyed most rockets headed for popu-lated areas. A cease-fire ended the fight-ing on Nov. 21 and brought a sense ofrelief to many.

High school senior Ben Davis hasIsraeli friends after participating in theNashville community’s Get Connectedteen trips to Israel this past summer. Heand other Nashville teens stayed withfamilies in Hadera, Israel, paired withNashville and other American cities inthe Jewish Agency’s Partnership2Getherprogram. Davis’ family and others host-ed Hadera teens when they visitedNashville a few weeks later.

“Being there (in Israel) changesyour view,” Davis said, adding that visi-tors begin to feel Israelis’ love for theircountry as they spend time there.

One of Davis’s friends has gonethrough basic training in the militaryand is now a full-time IDF member.Another friend serves in a tank unit thatdeployed in late summer. “A couple ofkids I know have already started fillingout their paperwork” to serve in the mil-itary, he said.

“We’ve been talking a bunch,”Davis said. In Hadera, north of Tel Aviv,“they’re OK; everything’s good. They’refar enough away from Gaza that they’renot affected but they have heard thesirens” from Tel Aviv, he said.

Akiva School teacher DganitEldar’s sister teaches in northern Israel,where people open their homes andbusinesses to host families from thesouth. Her sister has taught studentsfrom the southern cities duringOperation Pillar of Defense. “I am veryproud of how Israelis (are) embracingeach other in time of trouble.”

“As a Jew and Israeli who lives inthe United States it is important for meto make sure people understand that

Israel responds to the Hamas attacks onIsrael in order to protect Israeli civil-ians,” she said. “Hamas declared war onIsrael, not vice versa.

“…Israelis want peace and quiet.Our young men and women are moreinterested in being busy studying, work-ing and moving on with their careers andlives, than being involved in (military)activities in Gaza,” she continued.

“I want to reassure those who stillhave doubts that Israel is committed tothe safety of its civilians while keepingthe international human rights law anddoing more then any country ever doneto also spare the lives of innocentPalestinian civilians.”

Nashvillian Avi Poster and his wife,Joie, were visiting Avi’s sister in Ashdodthroughout the hostilities. Palestinianrockets reached the city of 200,000 short-ly after they arrived, and the Postersquickly learned the drill for reaching asafe room in his sister’s home and thenwaiting for a boom that indicated the IronDome had nabbed an incoming rocket.

“We decided that after three days inthe house ... after literally 20-plus saferoom runs ... that we would hightail it toTel Aviv for the day,” Poster wrote in ane-mail. While in Tel Aviv, another sirenwent off necessitating a run to a stairwellfor safety.

"I previously commented that ourtrips to my sister’s safe room have beencalm and amazingly routine ... this raceto the stairwell was anything but ... andwas the first such trip that actually shookus up given the number of people whogathered,” he wrote. “…Several folksgathered with us noticed our upset anddevoted their time with us to soothingand assuring us that all would be OK.Soon after, everyone went about theirbusiness.”

Congregation Micah members leftthe United States for Israel on Nov. 4,arrived the next day and left on Nov. 15.

Participants knew that rockets had

Cyclists take a break near one of Israel’s Iron Dome stations, in background at left. JTA PHOTOGRAPH

been fired from Gaza into southernIsrael, that there was unrest on all ofIsrael’s borders, and that there was a newgovernment in Egypt, Rabbi Laurie Riceof Micah said. Participants were happy,comfortable and excited to be in Israel,she said. They learned from the experi-ence, were moved, and weren’t worried,despite the continuing civil war in near-by Syria and the news from Gaza.

“We didn’t know Israel was going tostrike back, that it was reaching a boilingpoint from rockets coming from (Gazainto) Israel,” she said.

“We were most surprised to turn onthe news the day we had left and seethere had been such a pointed and accu-rate targeting (of the) military leader.”

How to help

The Jewish Federation ofNashville is joining with theJewish Federations of North

America and its members to supportIsrael through the Israel TerrorRelief Fund.

This fund will help supportefforts of Federation partner agencies– the Jewish Agency for Israel, theAmerican Jewish Joint DistributionCommittee, and ORT – to aid theresidents of Israel’s south, who havebeen targets of rocket fire from ter-rorists in Gaza. Services include trau-ma counseling, financial assistance,and portable bomb shelters. To con-tribute, click on the link at theNashville Federation web site,www.jewishnashville.org, or send acheck to:

Jewish Federation of NashvilleATTN: The Israel Terror Relief Fund801 Percy Warner Blvd., Suite 102Nashville, TN 37205

Rice described “an incredible visitwith a tank battalion in the field in theGolan. … Here are these kids … worriedwhether they’re going into a groundincursion on Gaza.” Meanwhile, tripparticipants had children the same ageconcerned about college life, she said.

The Israeli soldiers “are here to pro-tect what’s ours…,” Rice said. “Here atThanksgiving we need to show ourthanks for what they do for us.” c

Congregation Micah members relaxed in the Dead Sea during their November 5-15 visit inIsrael.


c c c cc c c c

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Beginning in January 2013,the Observer will become amonthly publication, offer-ing more of a magazine feelto readers. In addition, inkeeping with a trend toward

greater use of online media, readers canrely on more frequently updated newsposts on the Observer web site, jew-ishobservernashville.org.

There will be one more Observer for2012, dated Friday, Dec. 14. The dead-line for submitting ads and articles forthis Observer is one week earlier, orFriday, Dec. 7.

Deadlines will be easy to rememberonce the Observer becomes a monthly

publication. Ads and articles should besubmitted on the 15th of the monthbefore the Observer is published, unlessthe 15th doesn’t fall on a business day.For example, the deadline for the January2013 Observer will be Friday, Dec. 14,because Dec. 15 falls on a Saturday.

The format in which we delivernews is changing but our commitmentto inform you remains the same. Therecent Operation Pillar of Defense,aimed at curtailing the ability of terror-ists in Gaza to attack Israel, illustratesthe role of the Jewish media in provid-ing the Jewish public with informationand perspectives not available else-where. We’ll continue to bring you

reports from JTA and other Jewishmedia sources, along with stories aboutthe local Jewish community.

We also offer advertisers a uniqueopportunity to reach Nashville’s Jewishcommunity either in print or online. Inaddition to timely news, each monthlyissue of the Observer will include a themecomponent – simchas, for example – and

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Contact Observer editor KathyCarlson at [email protected] Advertising Manager CarrieMills can be reached [email protected]. c

New deadlines as Observer goes monthly Jan. 1

AMHERST, MA – What is Tent?Tent offers twentysomethings a chanceto explore their area of interest throughthe lens of Jewish culture. Tent is animmersive, intense, series of weeklongworkshops for young Jewish adults focus-ing on comedy (Los Angeles in March),creative writing (Amherst, MA in June),and theater (New York City in August).Each of these subjects – comedy, creativewriting, and theater – have rich Jewishhistories and Tent’s goal is to provide anopportunity for participants to connectwith those histories. The workshops aredesigned to help participants understandtheir place as Jews in a multiculturalsociety, to answer their questions aboutwho they are and where they come from,and to help them explore the vast, com-plex, and immediately relevant culturalside of their identity.

An appreciation of Jewish culturecan be a portal into deeper and more

informed Jewish self-awareness. Tentaims to offer young North American Jewsa new way of seeing their Jewishness: assomething deep, rich, alive, and insepara-ble from cultural forms to which they arealready committed.

“Modern culture can inspire us tothink imaginatively about whatJewishness means. And vice versa,” JoshLambert, Tent's program director said ina news release. “Many of the young JewsI know feel more connected to Jewishculture than to religion or politics. Tentwill be about exploring how these cultur-al enthusiasms – for comedy, cooking,law, and so many other fields – canbecome a bigger part of the national dis-cussion of what it means to be Jewish.”

According to Lambert, “The paucityof substantive Jewish cultural educationfor twentysomethings is emphaticallynot the result of apathy. When it comesto cultural expression, Jews in their

twenties are anything but apathetic. Goto a stand-up comedy show, an indie rockconcert, or an Off-Off-Broadway per-formance and you’ll find throngs of effu-sive young Jews. Glance through thestacks of applications to MFA programsand you’ll discover hundreds of Jewishyoung people competing for the opportu-nity to discuss literature or art. Speak tolaw students about tort reform, or toyoung foodies about local produce: thepassion is already there.”

In 2013 Tent will launch with threeprograms, each of the workshops isoffered free to accepted participants; theonly cost is travel. In the following yearsTent will grow to include 30 programs by2016. Tent’s three pilot programs are:

Tent: Comedy, a weeklong seminarin the theory and practice of comedythrough a Jewish lens, will take place inLos Angeles from March 17-24, 2013.Participants will explore stand-up,

improv, and sketch forms with comedi-ans from the country’s leading comedytroupes, and meet with performers andwriters working in film and television,see Sarah Silverman’s show at Largo,talk shop with Jill Soloway, writer/pro-ducer of “Weeds” and “Six Feet Under,”and more.

Tent: Creative Writing, modeled onthe Bread Loaf Writers Conference, willbe geared toward aspiring and practicingwriters and will take place at the YiddishBook Center in Amherst, Mass., fromJune 2-9, 2013. Have your fiction work-shopped by your peers and criticallyacclaimed visiting writers, talk aboutwhy Jews are such a bookish people andwhy they’ve done so much writing, meeta New York-based literary agent and theNEA’s literature director, Ira Silverberg,and more.

Tent: Theater is a weeklong semi-nar about Jews and performance in NewYork City, August 4-11, 2013.Participants will meet actors, play-wrights, and directors, will participatein a Q&A with playwright TonyKushner, and will attend several currenttheatrical productions, Off-Broadwayand elsewhere.

Applications and information areavailable at tentsite.org. Applications forTent: Comedy, the first program, are dueJanuary 7, 2013 and can be submittedonline here. Tent, a program of the theYiddish Book Center, is funded throughthe generous support of Judy andMichael Steinhardt. c

“Tent” invites young adults to apply for workshops in Jewish culture

The 2013Guide

to JewishNashville

to hit thestands soon

Be sure to be a part of this annual issue.

Deadline for ads is November 30, 2012

Contact Carrie Mills, Advertising Manager

615-354-1699e-mail

[email protected] 615-352-0056


The warmth of the candles reflect our appreciationfor your friendship and business.

Happy ChanukahLORNA M. GRAFF

Broker, ABR, CRS, GRI

Lifetime Member, Gold Award of Excellence

Office: 615.371.0185Residence: 615.373.3154Cell: 615.351.5343E-mail: [email protected]: Lornagraff.com

Nashville’s delegation tothe recent GeneralAssembly of the JewishFederations of NorthAmerica spent timewith one of the Jewish

world’s heroes, Natan Sharansky. A for-mer dissident imprisoned for years overhis fight for fellow Jews to leave whatwas then the Soviet Union and makealiyah, Sharansky currently serves aschairman of the Jewish Agency forIsrael. JAFI is one of the major agenciesthat our Nashville Federation supports inorder to assist Jews in Israel and aroundthe world. Most recently, during hostili-ties between Israel and Palestinian ter-rorists in Gaza, JAFI aided Jews under

fire from Palestinian rockets. In one pro-gram, JAFI gave children from southernIsrael – the area most affected by rocketattacks – a day of respite activities sothey could have fun and blow off steamafter days of trying to stay out of harm’sway. Jewish Federations in NorthAmerica and Canada covered the costsfor the JAFI children’s program. In all,JAFI took nearly 30,000 children for restand respite out of rocket range.

This year’s GA was held in Baltimoreon Nov. 11-13 and brought togetherthousands of Jews from the United States,North America and around the world totackle issues facing the Jewish communi-ty. More information is available atwww.jewishfederations.org. c

From left, front row, Carol Hyatt, Risa Klein Herzog, Natan Sharansky, Mark Freedman, andHarriet Schiftan; back row: Fred Zimmerman, Sandy Averbuch, Andy May, Steven Hirsch.

Nashville group talks with JAFI’s Sharansky at GA

2000 Richard Jones Road Nashville, TN 37215

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GJCC taps current CFO as interim executive director

Jared Book, chief financial officerof the Gordon Jewish Commun-ity Center, has been named theGJCC’s interim executive direc-tor. The GJCC board of directorsand i t s pres ident , HowardKirshner, made the announce-ment earlier this month.

Book joined the GJCC staff as CFOin the summer of 2011. He holds a mas-ter’s degree in business management, witha specialty in finance, from theUniversity of Redlands. Before joiningthe GJCC, Book had been chief financialofficer of LawFinance Group Holdings,

parent companyof finance com-pany subsidiariesheadquarteredin Californiaand Nevada. Hehas spent morethan 25 years insenior manage-ment includingadministration,financial opera-tions, account-ing and treasuryoperations. cJared Book

HappyChanukah


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HAPPY CHANUKAH

GJCC winter camps willrock your child’s break

Winter Break is just afew weeks awayand there is notime like the pres-ent to sign yourkids up for a fun-

filled and exciting camp at the GordonJewish Community Center.

Camps offered and the dates theywill be available are:

• Silly Science: Dec. 20-21; Dec. 24-28

• Lego Camp: Dec. 31; Jan. 2-4• Totally Toys: Dec. 20-21;

Dec. 24-28• Winter Wonderland: Dec. 31;

Jan. 2-4Silly Science will be led by the

GJCC’s favorite Science Man, Mr. Bond.

Kids will spend the morning exploringthe mysteries of science and learningwhile having a great time.

Have a Lego fanatic in your house-hold? Then Lego Camp is a must.Campers can build from their own imag-ination or choose from a wide array ofLego sets.

If your camper is more the playfultype, then Totally Toys and WinterWonderland are for you. All camps havea lunch option available and camperswill enjoy a swim in the indoor saltwaterpool in the afternoon.

If you have any questions or wouldlike to inquire about registration, pleasecontact Claire Bernstein at (615) 356-7170 or email her at [email protected]. c

Teen Israel Experience: Does it make a difference?

You bet it does! More than 30years of research on theimpact of the IsraelExperience has shown thatteens are at a critical time ofdevelopment when they are

shaping their patterns of adult Jewishidentity and loyalties. An Israel programcan enhance or complement a formalJewish education. It can also affect thosewho may have been deprived of a richJewish life. Positive moments and memo-ries are central factors in the developmentof affirming group identification. The pur-pose is to strengthen Jewish identity.

The next generation’s commitmentto the Jewish people can be greatlyaffected by the experience of being inIsrael as a teen. The Jewish Federation ofNashville realizes this benefit and

encourages families to consider sendingtheir young people to Israel by offeringincentive grants. These grants are avail-able to 8th-12th graders as well as col-lege students through the Mary & HarryZimmerman Youth ExchangeEndowment Fund. Programs that mayqualify for partial scholarship grantsinclude March of the Living, JCCMaccabi Xperience, NFTY, Ramah,USY, Volunteers for Israel, High Schoolin Israel and BBYO.

For information or to request a grantapplication, contact Vanessa Leibowitzat the Jewish Federation office, 345-1624, or by email at [email protected]. Please share this articlewith any teen who may be considering atrip. Applications submission deadline isMay 1. c

Read the Observeronline at www.jewishobservernashville.org


By Ron Kampeas

WASHINGTON (JTA) – Thedebate about red lines on Iran appears tobe over.

With its massive increase of opera-tive centrifuges at a secured uraniumenrichment site, Iran appears to havemoved beyond the question of whethercapability to build a nuclear weapon oractual acquisition of a nuclear weapon isthe appropriate red line.

Iran already has achieved nuclearweapons capability, according toMichael Adler, an Iran expert at theWoodrow Wilson International Centerfor Scholars.

Adler studied the latest report of theInternational Atomic Energy Agency onIran, which was leaked in mid-November. It said that Iran soon coulddouble the number of operating cen-trifuges at its underground Fordo nuclearsite from 700 to 1,400. In all, the site hasnearly 2,800 centrifuges in place, accord-ing to the report.

Fordo, near the holy city of Qom, isbuilt into a mountainside. Israeli andWestern officials say the site has beenfortified against attack.

“As always with Iran, as time goeson they increase the facts on theground,” Adler said. “Let's see what theydo with the facts on the ground. Whatthey do with their capability will deter-mine whether they intend to be morethreatening or reassuring.

“They’ve built up capacity – let’s seewhether they use it or not,” Adler said.

The notion of what constitutescapability to produce a nuclear weaponlong has been controversial. Groups thatoppose military engagement with Irancharge that the term itself is unclear andthe aim of those promoting it as a redline was to encourage a military strike.Others argued that with evidence of ura-nium enriched to "medium" levels – justa step or two short of weapons grade –Iran already had capability.

A recent Gallup poll found thatAmericans cited keeping Iran fromdeveloping a nuclear weapon as amongthe top three priorities of PresidentObama's second term, with 79 percent ofrespondents ranking the issue as"extremely" or "very" important.

For years, Israeli Prime MinisterBenjamin Netanyahu’s government had

led calls to set nuclear capability as thered line. Both parties in Congressbacked that language, inserting it into anumber of laws. The Obama administra-tion resisted, instead seeking throughdiplomatic and economic pressures topersuade Iran to halt its suspectednuclear weapons program.

Netanyahu appeared to back downin September following months of pres-sure from Obama administration officialsseeking to head off an Israeli strike onIran. In a U.N. speech, Netanyahu setthe Israeli red line at the point whereIran has made the decision to manufac-ture a bomb – essentially the positionObama had staked out.

In that speech at the U.N. GeneralAssembly, Netanyahu said that pointmight come as soon as spring, andObama appears to agree. Last week,Obama said the window for diplomacy isseveral months.

“I will try to make a push in thecoming months to see if we can open upa dialogue between Iran, and not just usbut the international community, to seeif we can get this thing resolved,” theU.S. leader said. “I can't promise thatIran will walk through the door that theyneed to walk through, but that would bevery much the preferable option.”

Western diplomats have told JTAthat such a dynamic likely would culmi-nate in one-on-one talks between theUnited States and Iran. The New YorkTimes last week reported that theObama administration was seeking suchtalks, though the White House denied it.

Heather Hurlburt, a speechwriterduring the Clinton administration whonow directs the National SecurityNetwork, a liberal/realist foreign policythink tank, noted that administrationofficials did not reject outright theprospect of one-on-one talks.

“There’s this interesting danceabout one-on-one talks,” she said. “It'sclear both sides are looking forward tohaving one on one.”

Obama, after his decisive electionvictory this month, has the mandate forsuch talks, Hurlburt said, partly becausehis challenger, Mitt Romney, toward theend of the campaign aligned his Iran pol-icy with Obama’s, emphasizing diploma-cy as the best way forward.

“There are a number of areas whereRomney adopted the president’s foreignpolicy, and Iran was one,” she said,adding that polling shows the publicprefers a diplomatic option.

Polling also shows that the publicsees Iran as a priority, which could spur

forward Obama administration urgencytoward securing a deal.

Stephen Rademaker, a nuclear armsnegotiator for the George W. Bushadministration, said Obama deservesbreathing space to explore such a deal –but that negotiations should be subjectto close scrutiny.

“I would never fault the U.S. gov-ernment for exploring whether Iran isprepared to reach a diplomatic settle-ment to suspend the enrichment pro-gram. Now is a good a time as any to testthem on that,” said Rademaker, now aprincipal at a lobbying outfit, thePodesta Group. “My larger concernabout negotiations with Iran is that theIranians may say yes to what we see is agood deal, but the reverse is also true.”

One positive outcome, Rademakersaid, would be a verifiable reduction inreadily available enriched uranium,either through export or dedicated use innon-weapon capacities.

Michael Makovksy, a Bush adminis-tration Pentagon official who focused onIraq and now directs the BipartisanPolicy Center’s foreign policy projects,said pressure should increase at leastuntil a deal is achieved.

“You could increase those chances”of a deal “if you have much tougher sanc-tions, a much tougher embargo on Iran,but it's unclear whether other countrieswill go along with that,” Makovsky said.

Another option is to ratchet uppressure by sharing with Israel advancedweapons, including the latest genera-tion of bunker-busting bombs, andincreasing the U.S. profile in thePersian Gulf, he said.

“The element we need to be focus-ing on is boosting the credibility of theU.S. military option and of Israel's,”Makovsky said. c

As Iran achieves nuclear weapons capability, a red line is passed

An Iranian military truck carries a long-range ballistic missile during the annual militaryparade in Tehran on Sept. 21. (JTA PHOTOGRAPH, from Iranian TV image)


HAPPY CHANUKAH


By Ron Kampeas

WASHINGTON (JTA) – Is Morsimorphing into Mubarak?

Last week Egyptian PresidentMohamed Morsi earned U.S. kudos thatwere quickly followed by expressions ofconcern – the former for brokering thetruce that ended the Israel-Hamas mini-war, the latter for then decreeing himselfabsolute powers.

The sequence of events has some inWashington wondering whether Morsiaims for the kind of relationship thathelped prop up his predecessor, HosniMubarak, for decades until the 2011 rev-olution: regional stability in exchangefor unfettered rule by Morsi and theMuslim Brotherhood, the Islamist move-ment that brought him to power.

“It is unclear whether this representsa mistake or an overreach,” said JonAlterman, the director of the MiddleEast program at the Center for Strategicand International Studies, referring toMorsi’s declaration removing judicialoversight of his decisions until a consti-tution is in place.

Alterman leaned toward “mistake,”noting that Morsi and his aides havescrambled to reassure opponents that thedecree is temporary. But Alterman addedthat such a move inevitably remindedEgyptians of Mubarak’s excesses.

“From what he said and how hetalked about it, it seems he was princi-pally motivated by the threat to contin-uing the process” posed by deep disagree-ments over the constitution “rather by adesire to have unchecked power,”Alterman said. “The problem is that indoing so, he raised the worst fears of thereturn of Mubarak-style governance.”

Others were less sanguine. EricTrager, a fellow at the WashingtonInstitute for Near East Policy, argued thatthe Obama administration’s hopes for aMuslim Brotherhood leadership thatwould respect democracy were naive.

“Washington ought to have knownby now that ‘democratic dialogue’ is vir-tually impossible with the MuslimBrotherhood, which is now mobilizingthroughout Egypt to defend Morsi’sedict,” Trager wrote in The NewRepublic. “The reason is that it is not a‘democratic party’ at all. Rather, it is acultish organization that was never likelyto moderate once it had grasped power.”

On Nov. 21, Secretary of StateHillary Rodham Clinton was lavishingpraise on Morsi for his role in ending thefighting between Israel and Hamas.

“I want to thank President Morsi forhis personal leadership to de-escalate thesituation in Gaza and end the violence,”Clinton said in Cairo. “This is a criticalmoment for the region. Egypt’s new gov-ernment is assuming the responsibilityand leadership that has long made thiscountry a cornerstone of regional stabili-ty and peace.”

Israeli leaders also praised theEgyptian president’s role in securing thecease-fire. Israeli Prime MinisterBenjamin Netanyahu expressed his“appreciation,” and Foreign MinisterAvigdor Liberman said that Morsideserves “a word of thanks.”

The expressions of gratitude werestriking given the Israeli leadership’sstrong suspicion of the Morsi governmentin light of the Muslim Brotherhood’s tra-ditional animosity toward Israel andaffinity for Hamas, an offshoot of theEgyptian Islamist movement.

Such concerns were heightenedafter the Brotherhood’s top leader calledin October for a “jihad for the recoveryof Jerusalem” and the surfacing of videoof Morsi nodding along to an imam’santi-Jewish sermon. And in his speech atthe opening of the U.N. GeneralAssembly, Morsi omitted an affirmationof the Arab League’s initiative for a com-prehensive peace with Israel that hadbeen present in an advance copy of hisremarks distributed by Egypt’s U.N. mis-sion – a fact later discovered by JTA.

During the Gaza conflict itself,Morsi’s government expressed strongpublic support for Hamas and con-demned Israel. Egypt’s prime ministertraveled to Gaza in a show of solidarityduring the early days of the fighting. ButMorsi’s assistance in brokering the cease-fire offered a measure of reassurance thathis government would take a pragmaticapproach toward dealing with Israel.

The day after the cease-fire deal wasreached, however, international grati-tude morphed into expressions of con-cern about Morsi's path at home.

On Nov. 22, Morsi issued his decreeremoving judicial review, sparking mas-sive protests in Egypt and causingClinton to voice concerns the next dayabout the move's implications forEgyptian democracy.

“The decisions and declarationsannounced on November 22 raise con-cerns for many Egyptians and for the

international community,” she said in astatement. “One of the aspirations of therevolution was to ensure that powerwould not be overly concentrated in thehands of any one person or institution.”

Jason Isaacson, the internationalaffairs director for the American JewishCommittee, said that Morsi posed adilemma for Israel and its Americanallies who want to maintain the 33 yearsof peace between Egypt and Israel andfear imposition of a Muslim Brotherhooddictatorship.

“The attempt to change the powerstructure appears to have been in theworks for some time,” Isaacson saidMonday, speaking from Cairo, where hehad just met with Egyptian governmentofficials, diplomats and members of thecountry’s tiny Jewish community.

“It did not disrupt the achievementof the cease-fire. … But obviously, [thedecree] raises concerns about human

rights and the rule of law. Those whohave a stake in protecting the principlesof democracy and in human rights, andin preserving the Egyptian role in theMiddle East peace treaty should stayengaged with Egypt and express concernswhen concerns are felt.”

U.S. lawmakers already were threat-ening to redirect assistance from Egypt’smilitary to democracy promotion.

“This is not what the United Statesof America and taxpayers expect, andour dollars will be directly related to theprogress towards democracy which youpromised to the people of Egypt whenyour party and you were elected presi-dent,” Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) toldFox News Sunday.

Ori Nir, a spokesman for Americansfor Peace Now, the American affiliate ofthe dovish Israeli movement establishedin the wake of the Israel-Egypt peaceagreement, said that cutting U.S. aidwould be counterproductive.

“Our focus in terms of aid to Egypthas to do with fulfilling the terms of thepeace agreement Egypt signed withIsrael,” he said, adding that outside actorswould likely not be able to influenceMorsi’s domestic policies in any case.

“The extent to which he will beanother dictator has to do with thedynamic between him and the Egyptianpublic and less so his foreign relations,”Nir said. “One has to hope that theEgyptian public, which has shownincredible fortitude and courage, willreapply that and will demand democra-cy and leadership that is accountable tothe public.”

That, Alterman of CSIS said, isalready playing out, noting the persistentprotests against Morsi’s decree. “The factthat this became contentious is a goodthing, and reflects a broader trend in Egyptthat people are much more willing toprotest than was ever the case before.” c

The two faces of Morsi: Power-hungry peace broker?

Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi, right, meets Hamas Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh thispast July in Cairo. MOHAMMED AL-OSTAZ/FLASH 90 PHOTOGRAPH VIA JTA

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Nashville joined withmore than 330 commu-nities in 50-plus coun-tries to celebrate thethird annual GlobalDay of Jewish Learning

on Nov. 18.The gathering at Akiva School drew

about 125 people from all backgrounds tostudy together on the topic of blessingsand gratitude. Thousands of Jews aroundthe world examined the same theme.

Rabbi Zvi Hirschfield, a scholar and

teacher of Talmud from Pardes Instituteof Jewish Studies in Jerusalem, was theevent’s keynote speaker. Local rabbisand educators taught a variety of small-group sessions on different aspects ofblessings and gratitude.

Rabbi Hirschfield’s appearance wasmade possible through the generoussponsorship of Libby and MosheWerthan. Nashville’s Global Day eventwas presented by the Jewish Federationof Nashville and Middle Tennessee incooperation with Akiva School, B’naiB’rith Couples and Social Unit, B’nai

Rabbi Zvi Hirschfield, at podium, speaks at the end of the day, flanked by teacher-participants.

Nashville, Jews worldwide markGlobal Day of Jewish Learning

One group studies in the afternoon in an Akiva School classroom Small-group study with Rabbi Joshua Barton.

Rabbi Mark Schiftan, left, at back of table, and Rabbi Yitzchok Tiechtel, sitting next to RabbiSchiftan, teach a class about prayer.

Participants gathered in Akiva’s chapel to begin and end the day.

Kitty Calhoon, David Ettinger

B’rith Maimonides Lodge #46,Congregation Beit Tefilah Chabad,Congregation Micah, CongregationSherith Israel, Gordon JewishCommunity Center and the GJCC EarlyChildhood Learning Center, HadassahNashville Chapter, Jewish FamilyService, NCJW Nashville Chapter, PJ

Library, The Temple-CongregationOhabai Sholom, Vanderbilt Hillel, andWest End Synagogue.

An initiative of the Aleph Societyand Rabbi Adin Even-Israel Steinsaltz,the Global Day of Jewish Learning unitesJews from all backgrounds to celebrateand study foundational Jewish texts. c


Text by Kathy CarlsonPhotographs by Rick Malkin

There were grandparentsand babies, families andsingles, students andteachers – plus lots ofother friends and neigh-bors – at the Nashville

Community Rally for Israel onWednesday, Nov. 28, at the GordonJewish Community Center.

The event drew about 400 peopleand featured more than a dozen speak-ers, including rabbis, Christian clergyand bluegrass music star Ricky Skaggs.The rally was organized to showNashville’s support for the Jewish home-land, prompted by Israel recent effort inOperation Pillar of Defense to defenditself from rocket attacks from Gaza byHamas and other terrorist groups.

Skaggs called for fellow Christiansto support Israel and talked about hisown experiences in Israel. His firsttime in Israel was life-changing, he

said. “I woke up in such peace,” he said,“… a peace in Jerusalem like nowhereelse in the world.” Skaggs stayed for theentire program and chatted with othersafterward.

Metro Councilman Fabian Bednetold how the creation of the state ofIsrael changed life in Argentina for hisfather, because Israel showed the worldthe strength of the Jewish people.

Community shlicha HadarMoskovitz shared what it was like, as acollege student in Beersheva, to beawakened by sirens in the middle of thenight and to run for shelter from anincoming rocket. After the danger hadpassed and everyone was safe, she saidshe wanted to leave Beersheva, but sherealized she loved her life there andwould stay. Staying strong was “theonly option,” even though she andIsrael has come to realize that it’s notjust southern Israel that’s a target of ter-rorist rockets.

“Israel has a right to exist and todefend itself,” she said. c

Nashville comes toget

Sababa, the Akiva School’s singing group, leads others in singing Hatikvah and America’snational anthem.

Everyone shows their spirit for Israel.

Jewish Federation of Nashville Executive Director Mark Freedman and the Deputy ConsulGeneral, State of Israel, Consulate General of Israel to the Southeast, Sharon Kabalo

Lenn Goodman, Roberta Goodman and Pam KelnerCommunity kids show their support for Israel.Sara Rachel Robin and Bob Eisenstein


ther to rally for Israel

People of all ages and from all walks of life fill the Pargh Auditorium at the Gordon Jewish Community Center for an energy-filled rally for Israel.

Community shlicha Hadar Moskovitz takes in the crowd’s enthusiasm. Uzi Shmueli prays with rally participants.

Now More Than Ever We Stand With Israel

Music star Ricky Skaggs


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Are You A Senior?Would you like a little Torah learning

and a taste of Shabbat every Thursday?

Shabbat Calling! brings Shabbat to YOU!

What: A conversation that invites all participants to welcome Shabbat together.

When: Every Thursday morning between about 11:00 a.m. and Noon.

Who: YOU, rabbis and cantors from West End Synagogue, Sherith Israel, Congregation Ohabai Sholom (the Temple) and Congregation Micah.

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Call Cantor Marcia Lane: 615-269-4592, ext. 15

Join the entire JewishCommunity at the GordonJewish Community Center onSunday, Dec. 16, to celebratethe last night of Hanukkahtogether.

This year’s Hanukkah festival,held from 2–5 p.m., will highlight

the sights, smells and sounds of the hol-iday. There will be children’s perform-ances from all of the communitypreschools, a carnival, hanukkiah anddreidel decorating contests, a vendorfair, the Early Childhood LearningCenter Scholastic Book Fair and ofcourse, everyone’s favorite, Bernie’sfamous latkes.

This year’s event is hosted by theGJCC, Jewish Federation of Nashvilleand Middle Tennessee, ECLC, TemplePreschool, Micah Children’s Academy,BBYO, Akiva School, West EndSynagogue, the Temple – CongregationOhabai Sholom, Congregation SherithIsrael, Congregation Micah and theChabad Center for Jewish Awareness.

The Annual Hanukkah Festival isfree of charge with food available for pur-chase. There is also an entry fee for thedecorating contest.

If you have any questions or wouldlike to RSVP, please contact ClaireBernstein at (615) 356-7170 or email herat [email protected] . c

Enjoy flavors of holidayat the GJCC festival


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By Penny Schwartz

BOSTON (JTA) – From Kung Paokosher comedy to a swinging Mardi Grasversion of the “Dreidel” song, two newChanukah-season releases explore theintriguing, delightful and sometimes per-plexing ways in which American Jewshave responded to Christmas.

In a book and an audio CD compila-tion, the holiday season known as the“December dilemma” is seen and heardin a new light. An added bonus: the cov-ers of both are enticing and entertaining.

In “A KosherChristmas” (RutgersUniversity Press,$22.95) subtitled“'Tis the Season to beJewish,” Joshua EliPlaut offers a richlydetailed, page-turn-ing read that drawson historical docu-ments and ethno-graphic researchsprinkled with oftenhumorous images andphotos.

In his introduc-tion Plaut, a rabbiand scholar, admits toa lifelong fascinationwith Christmas. Theson of a rabbi, he recalls as a young childgrowing up on Long Island in the 1960sthat his mother dutifully took him to siton Santa's lap every December.

“She was never worried about anyinfluence on me as a child because myfamily was secure in its Jewish identity,”he writes.

Plaut paints a historical portrait ofthe shifts in American Jewish attitudestoward Christmas -- the only Americanholiday founded on religion, he notes.

Jews have employed “a multitude ofstrategies to face the particular challengesof Christmas and to overcome feelings ofexclusion and isolation,” he writes,adding that Jews actually have played acrucial role in popularizing Christmas bycomposing many of the country's mostbeloved holiday songs.

Going out for Chinese

Plaut treats readers to a chapter onthe popular Jewish custom of eatingChinese food on Christmas, a traditionthat surprisingly dates back more than acentury to Eastern European immigrantson the Lower East Side of New York. Onephoto shows a sign in a Chinese restau-rant window that thanks the Jewish peo-ple for their patronage during Christmas.

In the 1990s,comedian LisaGeduldig hosted thefirst Kung PaoKosher Comedyevening of Jewishstand-up comedy in aSan FranciscoChinese restauranton Christmas. Twodecades later theevent is still goingstrong and beingreplicated in citiesacross America.

On a more seri-ous note, Plautreveals a long historyof Jewish volun-teerism on

Christmas, serving the needy and work-ing shifts for non-Jewish co-workers,allowing them to spend the day with fam-ily and friends.

Plaut also covers the challengesfaced by intermarried families atChanukah and Christmas. He addressesas well the subject of public displays ofreligious symbols, with Jews on both sidesof the issue.

Jonathan Sarna, the AmericanJewish historian who wrote the fore-word, cautions that the book shouldnot be read merely as a story of assimi-lation. In a phone conversation withJTA, the prominent BrandeisUniversity professor argues that if thatwere the case, the book would be abouthow Jews observe Christmas.

Rather, Plaut chronicles how Jews

demonstrate their Jewish identitythrough alternative ways of acting onChristmas that show them to be Jewishand American. Most significant, Sarnaasserts, “A Kosher Christmas” is impor-tant because it portrays how two reli-gions are transformed by the knowledgeof the other.

Chestnuts roastingon an open fire

The CD, “'Twas the Night BeforeHanukkah” ($15.99) is a lively andinspiring music collection gathered bythe Idelsohn Society, a nonprofit volun-teer organization that aims to celebrate aJewish musical heritage that may be lostto history.

The two-CD set includes 17 tracksfor Chanukah andChristmas -- somefamiliar and othersthat are lesserknown. Performerson the Chanukahdisc include WoodyGuthrie, CantorYossele Rosenblatt,Flory Jagoda,Mickey Katz, theKlezmatics andDebbie Friedman.Among the voicesthat croon andswing on theChristmas disc areThe Ramones,Theo Bikel, DinahShore, SammyDavis Jr. and Benny Goodman.

A 31-page booklet of liner notes is afascinating read of short essays, notes onthe songs and colorful reproductions ofold Chanukah recordings.

The project started as an effort topresent a historical survey of Chanukahmusic, according to David Katznelson, aveteran record producer who is one ofthe four principals of the IdelsohnSociety. Other members of the coregroup include Roger Bennett, Courtney

Holt and Josh Kun.As their search deepened, they

found noteworthy Chanukah recordings,Katznelson recalls, some by well-knownperformers, others by little-knownsingers and educators. But the group wasmost struck by the abundance ofChristmas music by Jewish composersand performers.

“The biggest Jewish names inmusic have at least one Christmasrecording in their catalog,” they writein the liner notes.

The group shifted the lens of theirproject to tell the full story “of howAmerican Jews used music to negotiatetheir place in American national cul-ture,” according to the liner notes.

“This was an amazing way to look atJewish identity in the 20th century,through a combination of the history ofChanukah recordings side by side with

Jews performingChristmas songs,”Katznelson affirms.

On the ChristmasCD, Katznelson ismost drawn to Bikel'slittle-known 1967recording of “SweetestDreams Be Thine.”Bikel, the belovedJewish folk singer andactor, performs theChristmas song mov-ing between Hebrewand English.

“It's the quintes-sential track of thewhole compilation,”Katznelson says. “It'sjust Chanukah and

Christmas, side by side, a perfectmishmosh.”

Katznelson says the society hopesthe music conveys a deeper sense ofJewish history while raising questionsthat provoke conversation about themeaning of the holiday music.

Some may hear familiar songs in anew perspective, he says.

“This is music that is usually in thebackground,” Katznelson says. “We'rebringing it to the foreground.” c

Shining a new light on the Jewish response to Christmas

The Observer is online!You can find the latest issue, past issues, plus streaming

news updates and links to Jewish organizations at

www.jewishobservernashville.org


Whole lotta latkes going on at area congregations

This Chanukah, Nashville’scongregations are servingup lots of activities tomark the holiday.Families can enjoy dreidelspinning, music, contests,

downtown events and more. There notonly will be latkes for eating, but also (atsome events) a latke toss, dreidel fishing,edible dreidels and the Israeli favorite,sufganiyot or donuts. Chanukah beginsthis year on the evening of Dec. 8 andends on Dec. 16.

Here’s what is planned across townfor the Festival of Lights.

Chabad of Nashville will host aChanukah celebration on Sunday, Dec.9, at 5 p.m. at Thyme Café at Chabad’sGenesis Campus in Bellevue. Singer-composer Jeff Jacob will release his newCD, “Jeff Jacob & My 2 Cents,” at theevent, joined by musicians on banjo, fid-dle and upright bass. Jacob will bedonating 50 percent of each CD sale toChabad that night.

On Thursday, Dec. 13 at 4:30 p.m.,there will be a menorah lighting withNashville Mayor Karl Dean and othercommunity leaders at Riverfront Parkdowntown. Also during the weekdays ofChanukah there will be the lighting ofthe State Capitol Menorah at Charlotteand 6th Avenue North downtown.Check chabadnashville.com for theexact date and time.

On Friday, Dec. 14, at 6:30 p.m.,Chabad will host a special Chanukahedition of the TGIS Shabbat celebra-tion. The event will include a spirited

Chanukah Kabbalat Shabbat, and willbe followed by a sit-down Shabbat din-ner that will include various Chanukahdelicacies like sufganiyot, latkes andmore. There is no charge to participatein this dinner; however, please RSVP [email protected].

On Shabbat, Dec. 15, there will be aspecial gathering for women at 1 p.m. atChabad, celebrating the role of Jewishwomen in our homes, and telling thestory of the female heroine of theChanukah story, Yehudit, who killed theRoman general that wanted to annihi-late the Jewish people.

Also, Chabad of Nashville will hosta special Israeli Chanukah party featur-ing songs in Hebrew, sufganiyot and lotsof Israeli spirit. Chabad will distributefree Chanukah kits that include a meno-rah, candles, dreidel and Chanukah giftto all who need one. Feel free to come bythe Chabad Center to pick one up. Formore information, call (615) 646-5750.

Chabad of Nashville and Chabad atVanderbilt University are sponsoringseveral public menorah displays duringthe week of Chanukah at local super-markets, Vanderbilt University andother public venues. Chabad atVanderbilt will host a public menorahlighting on campus along with addition-al holiday events.

Congregation Micah will hold itsannual Chanukah dinner on Saturday,Dec. 8, at 6 p.m. Share stories, singsongs with the Rabbis, Lisa Silver, andthe Micah Kids Choir, and celebrate thefestival of lights. Please bring a vegetable

or salad (non-dairy) that serves 8-10people. We’ll provide the chicken,latkes, and dessert. There’s a cost toattend.

Please RSVP for dinner byThursday, Dec. 6. Your payment is yourreservation. You can pay by check (mailit to us at: 2001 Old Hickory Blvd.,Brentwood, TN 37067), or call theMicah office at 615-377-9799 to make apayment by phone (3% card fee will beapplied). For more information, email usat [email protected].

On Wednesday, Dec. 12, duringMidweek Religious School, Micah willhold a Dreidelfest, featuring a big dancefloor and a dreidel-spinning contest.

Congregation Sherith Israel’sSisterhood is cooking up its AnnualLatke Supper on Saturday, Dec. 8, from6-9 p.m. Participants can enjoy tradi-tional foods and sing Chanukah songs.There’s a fee for the meal.

The Temple – CongregationOhabai Sholom’s W.E.L.L. group(Women Engaged in Living andLearning) will hold Chanukah Hooplahon Sunday, Dec. 9 at 5 p.m.

On Friday, Dec. 14, the TemplePreschool holds a Chanukah party. Alsoon that day at 6 p.m., there will be aChanukah Shabbat Service with dinnerto follow. There’s a fee for the dinner.

Temple’s Next Dor group will enjoyLatkes & Vodka on Saturday, Dec. 15 at7:30 p.m.

West End Synagogue’s ChanukahZimriya (songfest) and Carnival is set forSunday, Dec. 9, from 10 a.m. until 12:30p.m. The event is free and open to the

community.(WES Religious School students

should report to classes at 9:30 a.m.)The suggested age range is for fami-

lies with infants up through 7th-graders.The celebration includes Chanukah

games, activities, crafts, balloon art, air-brush tattoos, a latke toss and edibledreidels, plus prizes.

One area is devoted to families withyoung children and offers card-making,cookie-decorating, dreidel fishing, andother activities for little hands.

Stay for a latke lunch and sufganiy-ot (doughnuts) prepared by schoolgrandparents.

This annual event is sponsored bythe WES Religious School, the JewishFederation of Nashville and MiddleTennessee, WES Families with YoungChildren, WES Sisterhood, WES Men’sClub, and a committee of our kids’grandparents. c


Poll: Interfaith families raise Jewish kids, join in secular Xmas activitiesBOSTON (Interfaith Family) —

Interfaith families raising their childrenJewish are continuing at high and stablelevels to participate in secular Christmasactivities, to keep their Hanukkah andChristmas holiday celebrations separate,and to believe that their participation inChristmas celebrations does not compro-mise their children’s Jewish identity.These trends were confirmed in the ninthannual December Holidays Survey con-ducted by InterfaithFamily, an independ-ent nonprofit. The survey examines howinterfaith couples raising their childrendeal with the “December dilemma,” theconfluence of Hanukkah and Christmas.

Eighty-three percent of interfaithcouples who participate in Christmascelebrations keep them separate fromtheir Hanukkah celebrations, and 80percent think that their Christmas cele-brations do not affect their children’sJewish identity. As one family men-tioned, “One day out of the year isn’tgoing to make or break their Jewish iden-tity. It’s how you raise your kids as Jewsthe other 364 days that counts.”

“Interfaith couples raising Jewishchildren and participating in Christmascontinues to be common,” said EdmundCase, CEO of InterfaithFamily. “Thesefamilies see their Christmas celebrationsas secular in nature and not confusing totheir children's Jewish identity. We notedsomewhat more Christmas celebrations athome this year, but also more Hanukkahcelebrations in the synagogue.”

Some local Jewish community stud-ies (Boston in 2005, New York in 2011)have reported on the frequency of inter-faith families having Christmas trees, butacknowledged that the data does notindicate what having a Christmas treemeans to interfaith families. The respon-dents to InterfaithFamily’s survey madehundreds of comments in response toopen-ended questions that shed light onprecisely that question:

• Christmas does not have religious sig-nificance for many interfaith familieswho are raising their children as Jews.

• They primarily are honoring the tra-ditions of their parent and relativeswho are not Jewish.

• Children can understand clear expla-nations from their parents, such asChristmas is not their holiday.

• Participating in Christmas celebra-tions can strengthen children'sJewish identity by not letting themtake it for granted.

• Jewish identity should be based onpositive reasons, not on what peopleavoid or do not do.

• Interfaith families raising Jewishchildren still experience Jews beinguncomfortable with their celebrat-ing Christmas and do not appreciatebeing questioned, censured orshamed.Some observers of intermarriage

have cast a skeptical eye on interfaithfamilies raising Jewish children partici-pating in Christmas activities, arguingthat interfaith families can’t impart astrong Jewish identity to their childrenand celebrate Christmas. The results ofInterfaithFamily's surveys suggest thatthey in fact are doing so.

This year the percentage of inter-faith families raising Jewish children whoparticipate in Christmas celebrationswas 83 percent, the same as last year.These families still make clear distinc-tions between the holidays and are giv-ing clear priority to Hanukkah overChristmas, as both a family celebration

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and a religious holiday. The overwhelm-ing majority (98 percent) celebratesHanukkah at home, while a little morethan half (56 percent) celebrateChristmas at home.

Hanukkah is much more of a reli-gious holiday for this population than isChristmas. Only 10 percent attendChristmas religious services and only 3percent tell the Christmas story. Whileslightly more families will give Christmasgifts in their own homes this year (63percent) compared to last year (60 per-cent), and slightly more (49 percent)will put up a Christmas tree in their ownhomes than last year (46 percent), 88percent view their Christmas celebra-tions as secular in nature.

Many families (73 percent) cele-brate Christmas at the home of relatives,suggesting that Christmas is largely cen-tered on the extended family.

For more information, the report

“What We Learned from the NinthAnnual December Holidays Survey” isavailable online at: http://www.interfaith-family.com/files/pdf/WhatWeLearnedfromthe2012DecemberHolidaysSurvey.pdf. c

Resources for parents

InterfaithFamily.com has devel-oped a resource page for inter-faith families dealing with the

December holidays that includesresources such as “Handling theDecember Holidays: Ten Tips fromInterfaithFamily.com” and numer-ous articles that help interfaithfamilies have a more enjoyableand meaningful holiday season.For more, visit www.interfaithfami-ly.com/decemberholidays.

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HAPPY CHANUKAH


Simchas & Celebrations Issue!January 2013 We will be highlighting

lifecycle events including Weddings, Bar & Bat Mitzvahs,

Anniversaries and Births. We know that you will want to

be included in this issue. For advertisers who contract

a 1/8 page ad or larger we will be happy to

contact you for articles pertaining to your business.

Deadline for ads is December 15, 2012

Contact: Carrie Mills,

Advertising Manager615-354-1699

e-mail: [email protected]

fax: 615-352-0056

Baked latkes for Chanukah, with roasted capon as a main dishBy Helen Nash

(JTA) – When I married 55 yearsago, I knew nothing about cooking. Igrew up during war years in Europe whenfood was not available.

So my exposure to food, and particu-larly traditional food, was nonexistent.After I married, I decided to take cookingclasses, first studying with chef MichaelField, author of the 1965 book “MichaelField's Cooking School.” He realized thatI had limitations because I never ate anyof his meat dishes; I kept kosher. But hewanted to help and gave me substitutesand kept saying, “You can do this.”

From there I moved onto Chinesecooking and classes with Millie Chan,author of “Kosher Chinese Cookbook.” Ialso read many books and took notes.And as ingredients became available inkosher versions, I experimented.Equipped with all of this information, Itested and retested recipes to make themkosher and my own.

Now I am the author of three cook-books, the most recent of which was justpublished this fall, “Helen Nash's NewKosher Cuisine.”

For holidays, I must confess that Ilike traditional recipes, so it is a littleunusual that I would attempt to changeanything in a potato latke recipe. Butsince I also believe in nutritious, healthyeating habits, I had to find a way toimprove on the tradition of frying latkes.

My challenge: to preserve the flavorof the fried potato pancake and at thesame time to make it healthier, less messy(which frying always is) and more versa-tile. In other words, a latke doesn’t haveto be just for Chanukah. It can also be alovely side dish for fish, chicken or meat.It can even be a wonderful appetizerserved with gravlax or as a small horsd’oeuvre topped with smoked salmon.

After many trials, I discovered thatlatkes can be baked with very little oilwhile still preserving their crispy textureand flavor. In addition, my recipe can bemade in batches and frozen in plasticcontainers with wax paper between thelayers. The fact that they can be madeahead of time is particularly helpful forChanukah party hosts, who have somany other responsibilities.

My recipe requires the same tech-nique of grating the potatoes and thesame seasoning, but a fraction of the oilthat normally is used when you’re fryingpotato latkes. The important element isthat the cookie sheets should be of non-stick heavy gauge and the oven tempera-ture quite high.

I've also included a recipe for roastcapons with olives, which makes a greatChanukah dish if you're serving a fullmeal. Capons have a subtly sweet tastethat is quite different from chicken andturkey. The olives add an interesting fla-vor and give the sauce a delicious tasteand texture. My family and friends, espe-cially the olive lovers, always ask for sec-ond helpings.

POTATO LATKESMakes 6 dozen bite-size latkes

Ingredients:4 tablespoons vegetable oil1 medium onion, quartered4 medium Idaho baking potatoes1/4 cup unbleached all-purpose flour1 large egg plus 1 large egg white, lightlywhisked1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Preparation:Place an oven shelf in the lowest

position and preheat the oven to 450degrees. Brush three heavy nonstick

cookie sheets with 1 tablespoon oileach. (The thickness of the sheetsallows the bottoms of the latkes tobecome golden.)

Pulse the onion in a food processoruntil finely chopped. Transfer to a largebowl. Remove the metal blade from theprocessor and put on the medium shred-ding attachment. Peel the potatoes andcut them lengthwise into quarters. Insertthem into the food processor’s feed tubeand grate. Combine the potatoes withthe onion. Add the flour, egg, egg white,and the remaining 1 tablespoon oil andmix well. Season to taste with the saltand pepper.

Place 1 level tablespoon of the pota-to mixture slightly apart on the greasedcookie sheets. Bake the latkes one sheetat a time on the lowest shelf for 11 min-utes, or until the bottoms are goldenbrown. Turn the latkes over and bake foranother 6 minutes, or until they arelightly golden.

Notes: Latkes can be baked earlierin the day and reheated. Arrange on awire rack set over a cookie sheet in a pre-heated 350-degree oven until hot, about6 minutes. The wire rack prevents themfrom getting soggy.

To freeze: Place latkes side by side inan airtight plastic container lined withwax paper, separating the layers withwax paper. To reheat, take them straightfrom the freezer and arrange on a wirerack set over a cookie sheet. Place in apreheated 400-degree oven until hot, 8to 10 minutes.

ROAST CAPON WITH OLIVESMakes 10 to 12 servings

Ingredients:1 capon, about 9 pounds3 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemonjuiceKosher saltFreshly ground black pepper2 onions1 cup tightly packed flat-leaf parsley,coarsely chopped3/4 cup pitted Kalamata olives, quartered3 tablespoons unsalted margarine, melt-ed1 cup dry white wine

Preparation:Preheat the oven to 350. Discard

any excess fat from the capon. Rinse itinside and out and pat dry with papertowels. Season the inside and out withlemon juice, salt and pepper.

Thinly slice one of the onions andset aside. Quarter the other onion andplace it in the cavity along with the pars-ley and 1 tablespoon of the olives. Brushthe capon with the margarine and placeit on its side in a roasting pan. Scatterthe sliced onions and the remainingolives around the pan.

Roast the capon for 35 minutes, bast-ing with one-third of the wine. Turn thecapon on its other side and roast for anoth-er 35 minutes, again basting with a third ofthe wine. Turn the capon breast side up for15 minutes, basting with the remainingwine. Turn the breast side down for anoth-er 15 minutes. The capon is ready whenthe drumstick juices run clear. (The totalcooking time is about 1 hour and 40 min-utes, or about 11 minutes per pound.)

Remove the capon from the ovenand cover it tightly with heavy foil. Letit stand for 20 minutes to let the juicesflow back into the tissues. Place it on acutting board.

Pour the liquid from the baking pan,along with the olives and onions, into asmall saucepan. Place the saucepan inthe freezer for about 10 minutes, so thatthe grease can quickly rise to the top.(This makes it easier to remove.)

To serve: Skim off the fat and reheatthe sauce. Discard the onion and parsleyfrom the cavity. Cut the breast into thinslices and serve with the sauce. c

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To the staff, board, clients, volunteers, and donors of JFS,

Thank you for continuing to openmy eyes to the meaning of blessing andgratitude. It is a blessing to be a part ofan agency that daily serves the changingneeds of the Nashville community withunwavering dedication, professionalismand creativity. This year alone, I havetaken joy in watching a boy not onlyshare his Bar Mitzvah money with JFS,but bring his family for a tour to learnmore about the impact his money will

have in this community. I have takenpride in watching teens participate inJFS’ newest initiative, Rosh Hodesh: It’sa Girl Thing, dedicated to helping youngwomen transition gracefully throughtheir teen years with a Jewish lens. I ben-efited from the opportunity to sit next tomy husband, mother, and baby as welearned from a sensitive and compellingpanel on living and ethical wills at TheGift Initiative, a partnership of AliveHospice, local synagogues, and JFS.

I watched parents grapple with theintense but important topic of teen sui-cide as their teenage children sat inanother room educating and strengthen-ing themselves and their peers.

I listened as two sets of parentsshared their adoption stories, publiclythank JFS, and actively help raise fundsfor the agency because of the support,care, and sensitivity with which theircases were handled. The list goes on.Thank you, JFS, for consistently demon-strating the highest level of excellenceand commitment to this community andfor teaching the beauty and pride in giv-ing and the power of receiving.

Next year, JFS celebrates 160 yearsof service. And while you are, perhaps,the oldest social service agency inNashville, you continue to set the stan-dard and pace for other agencies to fol-low. Thank you, JFS, for another trulyremarkable year.

To another 160 years of vitality,meaning, and strength.

Daniella PressnerJFS Board President

Thank you, JFS, for a yearof blessing, gratitude

Prenatal whole-genome sequencing technology raises ethical questionsBy Joel N. Shurkin

BALTIMORE (JTA) – Expectantmothers long have faced the choice offinding out the gender of their childwhile still in the womb.

But what if parents could get a listof all the genes and chromosomes oftheir unborn children, forecastingeverything from possible autism andfuture genetic diseases to intelligencelevel and eye color?

The technology to do just that --prenatal whole-genome sequencing,which can detect all 20,000 to 25,000genes in the genome from fetal bloodpresent in the mother’s bloodstream -- isalready in laboratories. While not yetavailable in clinical settings because ofthe cost, once the price falls below$1,000 it is likely to become common,according to a report by the Hastings

Center, a nonpartisan bioethics researchinstitute.

With it will come a host of Jewishethical dilemmas.

“We need a serious set of conversa-tions about the implications of this newtechnology,” said Peter Knobel, a Reformrabbi who teaches bioethics at theSpertus Center in Chicago and is thesenior rabbi at the city’s Temple Sholom.

How will parents react to a pregnan-cy destined to produce a child with anunwanted condition? What do parentsdo when genetic sequencing shows a pre-disposition for a deadly disease but not acertainty of it? What about diseases notcurable now but which may be cured bythe time the child reaches adulthood?When, if ever, is the right time to tell achild he or she has a genetic predisposi-tion toward a particular disease?

It likely will be the most con-

tentious social issue of the next decade,predicts Arthur Caplan, director of theDivision of Medical Ethics at NYULangone Medical Center.

”Anyone who thinks that informa-tion that could lead to abortion isn’tgoing to be controversial has been asleepsince Roe v. Wade,” Caplan said.

According to Orthodox Judaism'sinterpretations of Jewish law, abortion ispermissible only when the mother’shealth is at risk. The Conservativemovement agrees, but its positionincludes other exceptions.

“Our real concern will be massiveincreases in the number of abortions,”said Rabbi Moshe Tendler, professor ofbioethics at Yeshiva University. “Youhave a young couple, 22, 23, 24 years old,and they don’t plan to have more thantwo or three children. Why take a defec-tive child? I call it the perfect baby syn-drome. The perfect baby does not exist.”

Rabbi Avram Reisner, a bioethiciston the Conservative movement’sCommittee of Law and Standards, saysabortion by whim is clearly prohibited.

“Judaism is not pro-life,” said Reisner,the spiritual leader at CongregationChevrei Tzedek in Baltimore. “Jewish lawallows abortion. And it is not pro-choice.It is concerned with managing the healthof the mother. It does not support abor-tion as a parental whim.”

The Reform movement, thoughadamantly pro-choice, has a similarposition.

“Abortion should not take place foranything other than a serious reason,”

said Knobel of the Spertus Institute,“hopefully in consultation with a reli-gious or ethical adviser.”

As far as Jewish ethics are con-cerned, prenatal whole genome sequenc-ing has some elements in common withcurrent genetic testing.

Embryos of Ashkenazi Jews routine-ly are tested for such diseases as Tay-Sachs and the breast cancer genesBRCA -- two illnesses disproportionate-ly common among Ashkenazim.

In haredi Orthodox communitieswhere arranged marriages are common,matchmakers routinely consult databasesthat hold genetic information anony-mously to see whether a match wouldface a genetic obstacle. That practice,and genetic testing during pregnancy,has practically eliminated Tay-Sachs dis-ease in the American Ashkenazi com-munity, according to Michael Broyde,professor at the Emory University lawschool and a member of the Beth Din ofAmerica, an Orthodox rabbinical court.

The difference between prenatalsequencing and current genetic testing isthe amount of information and its useful-ness. Current tests look for specific genet-ic disorders. Prenatal sequencing is a fish-ing expedition, looking at everything.

At present, the information is oflimited use. No one knows what 90 per-cent of genes do, and it usually takesmore than one gene to do anything.Furthermore, genes are not destiny: Justbecause one has the genes for certain dis-eases, such as coronary heart disease,does not mean one will get it. c

HAPPY CHANUKAH


lifecycles

HAPPY CHANUKAH

B’nai MitzvahMakale Ariel Honigsblum will be

called to the Torah as aBar Mitzvah on Sat.,Dec. 1, at CongregationMicah. Makale is theson of Jennifer AbelFerguson of Nashvilleand Abel Honigsblum ofAtlanta. He is big broth-er to Alexa, grandson toElliot and Sandra Abelof Memphis, Alejandra Honigsblum ofAtlanta and the late Aron Honigsblum ofBrownsville, Texas.

Makale is a founding seventh-graderat Boys Preparatory of Nashville where heexcels in all things science and math. Heparticipates in chess club and intramuralsoccer. Makale has spent the last fiveyears dancing and is currently at BellevueDance Center perfecting his tap skills.Makale also plays travel soccer for BoysU13 SSA-Harpeth Futbol Club. In hisfree time he loves to watch movies, listento music and play with his dog Bella.

Makale is dedicated to protectinganimals. For his Mitzvah project he choseto collect supplies for Proverbs 12:10, alocal animal rescue agency. He has alsobeen giving of his time on the weekendsto volunteer with the agency at theiradoption site, PetCo in Bellevue, whereBella was adopted. He is also making afinancial donation to Hadassah and theYouth Aliyah-Children at Risk programwhere his contribution will help support achild in Israel to fulfill the mitzvah ofbecoming a Bar Mitzvah. Makale ispleased to have the support of his familyand friends for this wonderful simcha.

EngagementDr. Robert and Mrs. Barbara Begtrup

announce theengagement oftheir daughter,Rebecca ArielBegtrup, toDavid AndreBroniatowski,son of Dr.Michael andDr. SharonBroniatowski ofCleveland, Ohio. They will be married atthe Schermerhorn Symphony Center inMarch 2013.

Rebecca is currently doing a fellow-ship in eating disorders at Sheppard PrattHospital in Baltimore. She finished herTriple Board Residency in Pediatrics,Child and Adolescent and AdultGeneral Psychiatry from Tulane MedicalSchool in June 2012.

David is currently doing post-doc-toral work at Johns Hopkins Universityin the Department of EmergencyMedicine’s Center for AdvancedModeling in Social, Behavioral, andHealth Sciences. He received his doctor-al degree from Massachusetts Institute ofTechnology.

Both are avid world travelers.

Awards and HonorsThe Social Action Committee of

West End Synagogue held a specialShabbat service and luncheon on

Saturday, Dec. 1, commemorating thework of Dr. Michael Mehlman in therealm of social action benefiting thegreater Nashville community. To honorhim, the committee awarded two mem-bers of the synagogue, Victoria Cohen-Crumpton and Joan Mehlman, with theannual “Social Action Volunteer of theYear” award.

Sympathy… to the family of Lawrence

Mitchell Merin, who died on Nov. 7 atage 61. Larry was the founder anddirector of the Vanderbilt OphthalmicImaging Center at VanderbiltUniversity, and an assistant professor ofophthalmology. Larry was a lovingfather, husband and brother and a giftedphotographer whose work improved thelives of others. He was preceded indeath by his parents, Anne and EarlMerin. He is survived by his wife,Becky; daughter Sydney and son David;sister, Elaine Merin Perri of Chicago;mother-in-law and father-in-law, Estherand John Cervantes; sisters-in-law Julie(Doug) King, Anna (Mike) Lemos andDebra Vazquez, all of California, andmany loving nieces, nephews, great-nieces, great-nephews and cousins.Gifts in memory of Lawrence M. Merinmay be made in support of theVanderbilt Eye Institute and sent toVanderbilt University, Gift Processing,PMB 407727, 2301 Vanderbilt Place,Nashville, Tenn. 37240-7727. Moreinformation can be found atMarshallDonnellyCombs.com.

… to the family of Elsa M.Herzfeld, 93, who passed away on Nov.15 in Montgomery, Ala., after a brief ill-ness. Mrs. Herzfeld was born in Saar-

Louis, Germany on February 25, 1919.She and her family immigrated to theUnited States in 1937. She married Dr.John Herzfeld in 1943 and lived inNashville until moving to Montgomeryin 1997. Dr. Herzfeld died in 2003. Mrs.Herzfeld also was preceded in death byher parents, Isidore and Selma May, andher brother, Max May. She is survivedby one son, Robert (Linda) ofMontgomery; two grandsons, Mark(Jacquelynn) of League City, Texas andRobert (Katherine) of Atlanta; fourgreat-grandchildren (Joshua, Caroline,Zachary, and Robert); niece Emily Mayof Nashville and nephew Rick (Cindy)May of Atlanta. In lieu of flowers, con-tributions in her memory may be madeto PBS, NPR, Temple Beth Or, TheMetropolitan Opera, or the charity ofyour choice.

… to the family of Stanley Doyne,who died on Nov. 16 in Dallas. Stanleywas born on August 8, 1949 in Nashvilleand was the youngest of three sons ofGeorge and Gertrude Doyne. Earning hisundergraduate degree from BradleyUniversity in Illinois, Stanley thenearned a doctoral degree in psychologyfrom the California School forProfessional Psychology in San Diego.For a majority of his career, Dr. Doyneworked as a staff psychologist with at-riskchildren at Jackson Memorial Hospitalin Miami. He loved music, his family,and his cats. Stanley is survived by hisbrothers, Mark (Rita) Doyne and Steve(Beth) Doyne; his nieces, Gail Brooker,Stephanie Perry, Stacey Doyne; and hisnephew, Eric Doyne. The family wouldlike to express its sincere gratitude to Dr.Charles Sledge and all the staff atWalnut Place for their support and theircompassionate, loving care of Stanleyduring the past six years. In lieu of flow-

ers, please make donations to theAlzheimer’s Association, 4144 NorthCentral Expressway, Dallas, TX 75204,or the charity of your choice. Onlinecondolences may be made at www.spark-man-hillcrest.com.

… to the family of Regina Stern,who died on Nov. 4 ather home in Nashvilleat age 86. Mrs. Sternwas born in Lodz,Poland and survived theHolocaust. She was aloving, devoted andcaring family personand worked as a dia-mond consultant atService Merchandise. She was precededin death by her sister, Esther Loeb, ofNashville. Mrs. Stern is survived by herhusband, Irving Stern; children, BellaNomberg Golden and Annette L.S.(Art) Kirshner; granddaughters, EricaBeth Kirshner, Sara Jo Kirshner andLibby Lee Harrison; grandsons, JasonAlan (Maria Friberg) Golden and BillyR. Golden; great-grandsons, WilliamJakob Golden and Erik AlexanderGolden; and cousin, AvrahamKolenbrener of Israel. Donations inRegina's memory can be made to theGordon Jewish Community CenterHolocaust Memorial Fund.

… the family of Elaine Lewis,grandmother of West End Synagoguemember David (Jenny) Lewis. Mrs.Lewis also is survived by great-grandchil-dren Sydney and Zoe Lewis, extendedfamily and friends.

… the family of Rita Engels, aunt ofWest End Synagogue member Adam(Valerie) Landa. Ms. Engels also is sur-vived by Abigail and Zachary Landa.

David AndreBroniatowski and

Rebecca Ariel Begtrup

Regina Stern

The United Synagogue ofConservative Judaism againhas recognized West EndSynagogue ReligiousSchool as a Framework forExcellence School, the

school announced in a news release. WESReligious School is one of 96 schoolsnationwide to earn the recognition.

Framework for Excellence schoolsmust meet rigorous standards in all aca-demic areas that include professionaldevelopment, curriculum developmentand family education, the statementexplained. The schools also mustdemonstrate that they have met all ofthe goals, aims and benchmarks neces-sary to be considered a school of excep-tional academic quality.

As a Framework for ExcellenceSchool, WES Religious School has beenrecognized for its ability to integrate for-mal and informal educational program-ming in a seamless way that further high-lights the importance of both. This stan-dard for academic excellence also recog-nizes the congregation’s success in creat-ing a partnership between the profes-sional staff and the lay leadership inbuilding the kind of relationships thatresult in establishing high-quality, mean-ing-centered religious school learningopportunities.

“Our children have been at theWES Religious School since 2002 andwe love it,” said Nancy Lipsitz, whosechildren are in 6th, 7th and 11th grades.

“…The school uses a combination ofancient and contemporary sources forteaching and incorporates innovativeprograms that engage the entire family.

“The teachers enjoy the childrenand they get to know each child indi-vidually,” she continued. “The educa-tors take the school and its missionvery seriously, while understanding thatfamilies today are very busy. Theschool welcomes families from a varietyof backgrounds. The school has deep-ened and enriched my children’s

West End Synagogue named ‘Framework for Excellence’ religious school

knowledge base and Jewish identity,while inspiring them to become life-long learners and active participants ina Jewish community.”

The United Synagogue recognizedthe contributions of WES Director ofLifelong Learning Sharon Paz, CantorMarcia Lane, the Religious SchoolCommittee (chaired by Lauren Hermanand Dr. Jordan Asher), and the facultyand professional staff.

For more information, contactSharon Paz. c

Makale ArielHonigsblum


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How I became a millionaire

Akiva Corner

By Becky Brandt

When I tell people I teach mid-dle-school math and science,they look at me with a com-

bined expression of pity and horror, but Ilove spending my day with 5th- and 6th-graders. Part of the reason is that I amlucky to be a teacher at Akiva.

Akiva is a truly amazing school. Theschool strives to teach meaningful,enriching curriculum and because ofAkiva’s commitment to a smaller classsize, teachers can plan lessons that aretruly individualized for each student.Even more importantly, however, thestudents at Akiva are unique in that bythe time they reach 5th and 6th grades,they have become more than students;they have become learners. They areexcited about learning; they strive to findmeaning behind everything they learn;and they enjoy the process of delvinginto experiments, projects and assign-ments. I see this every day.

For example, last week in math, thestudents were tasked with the applica-tion of formulas to groups of data. Animplicit goal in this project was also to

provide the students with an opportunityto learn about spreadsheets, such as thoseused in computer programs like Excel.While the curriculum provided spread-sheets for our students to look at, at Akivawe value providing students with real-lifeapplication and real-life problems suchthat the learning is not only educationalbut relevant and meaningful to them. Sowe thought of a question that many dreamabout but may not necessarily explore.Last week, we explored the dream of howto become a millionaire.

Each student chose a career andfound the salary range for his/her job ofchoice. The students’ career choiceswere fun and not unlike the dreams ofmany 10-year-olds. To name a few, wehad a zoologist, a writer, an NBA basket-ball player, a chef at a five-star restau-rant, a waiter at the restaurant, and apilot. Each student then determined asalary that they could expect to receivefrom the ages of 10-65 based on a fewfacts. From age 10-18 they reportedtheir allowance, if they had one. In col-lege, we assumed they worked part-time(20 hours/week) at minimum wage,which is $7.25/hour. After college, theybegan their careers at an entry salarylevel for three years and then obtained a10% raise. After eight years, theyreceived a promotion that gave them a25% salary increase and then anotherpromotion with a 25% increase in salaryyear 18. They maintained this top salaryuntil age 65.

After they determined their salaries,I introduced the concept of taxes, so the

students had to calculate the amountpaid to the U.S. government. You shouldhave heard the groans when they realizedthat amount of money they would bepaying. We used the standard 2011 taxtables to determine the rate, rangingfrom 15-33 percent.

We then discussed saving money.Each student calculated the amount ofmoney s/he would save based on 10 per-cent of their after-tax take-home pay.While they could easily calculate theamount of money they could save over alifetime of savings by using Excel, theyrealized that they were nowhere near amillion dollars (except for our NBA starplayer). What was so amazing in thisexperience for them was that they wereconcerned and took this learning toheart, which led to a discussion of savingmoney, for example, 20 percent of take-home pay. Still, many of the students didnot reach the target goal of one million.

Then we introduced the magic –interest and compound interest. I intro-duced the concept of savings accounts,savings bonds and the stock market, andwe discussed the tradeoffs between yields,availability, and security. It was not diffi-cult to convince them that we wanted toinvest in the stock market where wewould get a 6% return on our investments.

With a realistic 6% return, the stu-dents found that they were making moremoney through interest than they hadsaved; however, they still were not reach-ing our target number. Wow, becoming amillionaire is hard work! So we lookedinto the concept of compound interest,

or, as I explained it, interest earned onthe interest. It was amazing that with asmall change in the formulas we wereusing and a literal push of the Enter key,each student (except our hard-workingwaiter) immediately became a million-aire, and many became multi-million-aires, just by saving 10 percent of theirsalary each year.

We also realized that while our NBAplayer had to retire due to injuries at age32 and become a couch potato, hisinvestments were giving him a nice year-ly income of around $200,000.

So, what did the kids learn? Tobecome a millionaire, you can either bean NBA player or you need to get a goodjob, save 10 percent of your after-taxearnings, and invest in a high-yield mar-ket while continuing to reinvest.

I was tickled when one studentcame in the next week and commentedthat we hadn’t planned for everydayexpenses such as gas, electricity, food,etc. Ah, but we had, we still had theremaining 90 percent of their salaries forthese necessities.

The best part about this entire expe-rience is that the students are still askingquestions and thinking about whatchanges they can make and how they canuse Excel for other projects. They haveeven gotten some of the other teachersinvolved and are now helping Akivateachers become millionaires. And atthe end of the day, I realize that I alreadyam one because of the countless ques-tions, hugs, smiles, and laughs that ourstudents share with us every day. c

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ATTORNEYMARTIN SIR, ATTORNEY

Family Law / Personal Injury / ProbateFifth Third Center

424 Church Street, Ste. 1560Nashville, Tennessee 37219

(615) 256-5661www.martinsirlaw.com

HEARING AID/AUDIOLOGY SERVICESAUDIOLOGY ASSOCIATES AND

HEARING AIDS TODAYDr. Jina Scherer, Doctor of Audiology

Specializes in hearing and hearing aid services.

Specializing in the Lyric-extended wear device.

99 White Bridge Road, Ste. 106 615-354-8011

www.hearingaidstoday.com

BALLOON DECORPARTY ANIMALS

Balloon Decor & Entertainment615-941-3177

www.PartyAnimalsTN.com

CARE GIVERFAMILY STAFFING SOLUTIONS, INCStay Independent*At Home*In Charge®

‘Personal Care Assistance At Its Best”2000 Richard Jones Road

Nashville, TN 37215615-383-5656

208 Uptown SquareMurfreesboro, TN 37129

615-848-6774119 McGrew Street, Suite A

Shelbyville, TN 37160931-680-2771

www.familystaffing.com

ELECTRICIANBOB’S ELECTRIC CO.Fair Price - Quality Work Residential - Commercial

Bob Acklin (aka Shira’s Dad), JourneymanPh. 615-584-8197 (m) 615-352-1914 (h)

HOME IMPROVEMENTYOUR HOME HANDYMAN

Rich Adler, Small Job Specialists. Free estimates, Excellent references.615-646-4900 or 615-972-3093 cell

[email protected]

INSURANCEFRIDRICH, PINSON & ROTHBERG

Jamie Rothberg3825 Bedford Ave. Suite 203Ph 327-9105 Dir 277-1483

[email protected]

GIL FOX, LUTCFIndividual & Business Insurance

Life, Disability, Medical, EstatePlanning, Annuities, Charitable

Giving, Long Term Care 7003 Chadwick Drive, Suite 287

Brentwood, TN 37027 • ph. 472-9161

MANAGED BENEFITS, INC.Rodney RosenblumCLU - REBC - RHU

Ruth AlexanderLife Insurance, Health Insurance,

Disability and Long Term Care Insurance 214 Overlook Circle, Suite 251

Brentwood, TN 37027Ph. 615-371-2467 • Fax 615-371-5390

ROBINS INSURANCEBruce Robins, CPCU, CIC, ARM; Tom Loventhal; Marsha Jaffa, CIC;

Van Robins, CICAuto, Home, Life, Health,

Business Insurance30 Burton Hills, Suite 300

Ph. 665-9200 • www.robinsins.com

ZANDER INSURANCE GROUP, INC.Julian “Bud” Zander, Jr., CIC

Jeffrey J. Zander, CICMichael Weinberger

Auto, Home, Life, Health, Business,Long Term Care

212 Oceola, Nashville, TN 37209356-1700 www.zanderins.com

MUSICIANS AND DJsBLUE TONE MUSIC

Jewish Wedding CeremoniesThe Nashville Blue Tones Party Band

DJ Services. 615-352-6358www.BlueToneMusicUSA.com

Jackie Karr, REALTORWebsite: www.JackieKarr.comEmail: [email protected]

Mobile: 615.330.9779Office: 615.463.3333

Patricia Straus, Broker,MBA, CRS, CRS-Divorce, ABR

Marketing Real Estate to a Global ClienteleRE/MAX Elite

[email protected]

615.661.4400 (o)615.305.8465 (m)


ChanukahChanukahCelebratingCelebrating

128

269

Red Tomatoes on the Vine

Kroger Jumbo Russet Potatoes 8 lb Bag

Kroger Vegetable Oil Select Varieties, 48 oz

Manischewitz Chanukah Candles 44 ct

349

Lipton Soup Mix Select Varieties, 1.9-2.4 oz

Manischewitz Chanukah Coins Select Varieties, .53 oz

GoldenBlintzes Select Varieties, 13 oz

Manischewitz Potato Pancake Mix Select Varieties, 6 oz 249

With Card

349lb

Items & Prices Good While Supplies Lastthru Sunday, December 16, 2012

4560 Harding Road &2131 Abbott Martin Road,

Nashville, TN

www.kroger.com

With Card With Card

With Card With Card

With CardWith CardWith Card

3$1for

2$5

99¢

Documents

The Observer Vol. 77 No. 21 – November 30, 2012