Making Our Way to the Promised Land: Stories About Purpose, Journeys, and Belonging

Making Our Way To The Promised Land STORIES ABOUT PURPOSE, JOURNEYS, AND BELONGING

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havath Achim cultivates a Jewish community of purposeful belonging. We inspire and support spiritual journeys by deepening relationships with one another. We believe it is at the crossroads of our spiritual paths that life’s purpose and God might be found.

Ahavath Achim creates a vibrant, inclusive, spiritual community that empowers individuals to connect Jewishly beyond themselves.

f AhavathAchimSynagogue l @aasynagogueatl t @AASynagogueATL y Ahavath Achim Synagogue D www.aasynagogue.org V 404.355.5222 ] 600 Peachtree Battle Ave NW Atlanta, GA 30327

CLERGY

Rabbi Laurence Rosenthal Rabbi Sam Blustin Rabbi Neil Sandler Rabbi Arnold Goodman Senior Rabbinic Scholar

AA embraces interfaith families who desire to be part of our Jewish community. Our spiritual community serves all who wish to connect with us. Learn more about our interfaith values at 18doors.org.

WEEKLY SERVICE SCHEDULE Morning Minyan (Monday - Friday)

7:15 am

Morning Minyan (Sunday)

9:00 am

Evening Minyan (Sunday - Thursday)

6:00 pm

Shabbat Evening Service (Friday)

7:30 pm

Shabbat Morning Service (Saturday)

9:30 am

STAFF

Barry Herman Executive Director Miriam Habif Director of Outreach & Engagement Sharon Graetz Director of Education Jackie Nix Director of Youth & Family Engagement Chris Carr Director of Facilities Investigator Joe Jones IV Director of Security Beth Arnold Helmey Ahava ELC Director Emily Kessler Serafin Ahava ELC Assistant Director Lauren Dube Marketing Coordinator & Graphic Designer Catherine Ficke Executive Assistant to the Executive Director Jill Rosner Executive Assistant to the Rabbis Stan Vogel Finance Manager Fern Schorr Receptionist Wesley Coney Facilities Anika Johnson Facilities Ken Johnson Facilities Marcus Thomas Facilities Heidi Herman Ahava ELC Administrator Susan Goff Ahava ELC Bookkeeper

OFFICERS OF THE BOARD

Gerry Benjamin President Gary Alembik Executive Vice President Michael Plasker Financial Vice President Nikki Crohn Vice President Allen Soden Vice President Betty Sunshine Vice President Allison Feldman and Rachael Joseph Sisterhood Co-Presidents Matthew Aftergut USY and Kadima President

1 • Making Our Way to the Promised Land

ABOUT THE COVER

Festival of Spring, a paper cutout collage illustration by AA member and visual artist, Flora Rosefsky, expresses Passover symbols like matzah, the Elijah’s cup, and seasonal spring flowers with a bird in flight (often known as a harbinger of good things to come). Festival of Spring is one of the many names Passover is called.

To see more of Flora’s work, visit florarosefsky.com.

A Message from the President

By Gerry Benjamin

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he past year has clearly been like no other, requiring each of us to adjust nearly every aspect of our daily lives to ensure our very safety, and that of our friends and family members.

Notwithstanding, I’ve be gratified to observe first-hand how our AA family has met these challenges head-on, continually exhibiting deep concern, creativity, and kindness in converting these challenges into opportunities.

With the Covid-19 vaccine providing a path for our return to more normal times, I have great confidence that the many innovations enacted during the past year, in concert with our establishment of a material AA Permanent Endowment Fund, will serve to both secure and propel our synagogue forward in a fashion that allows us to touch more of our AA family members wherever they may be on their spiritual journeys.

Chag Sameach.

From hosting virtual daily minyan and Shabbat services allowing for broad participation, to the daily acts of loving-kindness extended by our Chesed Committee, to the care and diligence expended by our Ad Hoc Committee of medical and healthcare specialists in advising on safety protocols, our AA clergy, professional staff, lay leaders, and members continue to demonstrate an unwavering commitment to the vitality of our synagogue.

‘Necessity’ is often referred to as the ‘mother of invention.’ From our drive-in Rosh Hashanah Shofar Service and the No ‘Mo Turkey Thanksgiving Weekend Jazz Concert [co-hosted with Neranenah (formerly the Atlanta Jewish Music Festival)], both held in our AA lower parking lot, to thousands virtually attending this year’s timely and stimulating Fran Eizenstat and Eizenstat Family Memorial Lecture featuring PBS Managing Editor, Judy Woodruff, to the fantastic attendance at our many Mature Active Adult Community (mAAc) cultural and educational events, to the innovative melodies and song being introduced into our weekly Shabbat services by Rabbi Blustin, our synagogue continues to innovate while serving a vital role in the lives of our AA family.

Making Our Way to the Promised Land • 2

A Message from the Senior Rabbi

By Rabbi Laurence Rosenthal

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few years ago, our congregation adopted a Mission and Vision statement to offer guidance as we move our community forward into a new Jewish world. There was no way that we could have known how important such guidance was going to be as we approached the year 2020 (5780 - 5781). As we emerged into 2021 and made our way into our spring holidays, our sacred days celebrating our redemption, salvation, and freedom, our mission and vision become vitally important as the path forward is wild and untamed. When we set out to write the new vision statement for Ahavath Achim synagogue, we not only imagined the future but also looked towards our past. This wasn’t easy, because the stories of our congregation, its myths and tales, shrouded the truth. The truth is in there but, as with all great stories, embellishments and exaggerations have rerouted the moral of our stories and focused on a new center. In looking back, listening, wondering, researching, it became clear that what has always made Ahavath Achim sacred was its people. The holiness of our congregation lies in the souls and passions of those who call our community their sacred home. With this understanding, we sought to define a vision and a mission that centered on AA’s people. We believe that our future will be strengthened if we are able to honor, uphold and support the diverse journeys of our spiritual family. Therefore, our new vision and mission read as follows: Vision: Ahavath Achim cultivates a Jewish community of purposeful belonging. We inspire and support spiritual journeys by deepening relationships with one another. We believe it is at the crossroads of our spiritual paths that life’s purpose and God might be found.

3 • Making Our Way to the Promised Land

Mission: Ahavath Achim creates a vibrant, inclusive, spiritual community that empowers individuals to connect Jewishly beyond themselves.

We recognize that there are a lot of amorphous words here: ‘Purposeful Belonging;’ ‘Spiritual Journeys;’ ‘Spiritual Paths’ and even ‘Connect Jewishly Beyond Themselves.’ These words were purposely left open ended. In one way, there is a communication strategy at play. Nike never explained their iconic ad campaign, ‘Just Do It,’ and Coca-Cola never felt the need to explain their slogan, ‘Open Happiness.’ They believe that their consumers will interpret and act on these messages differently, and therefore, trust them to define the experience for themselves. For our community, the same is true. ‘Purposeful belonging’ wears differently for everybody; each of our ‘Spiritual Journeys’ taste different at various times in our lives. Sometimes, our journeys are sweet and other times they are bitter. Regardless of their taste or how comfortable they feel on our feet, all spiritual journeys run on holy ground and need to be supported, inspired, and cultivated in their own way.

However, there is more than just communication and marketing tools being heaved upon our congregation. The only way our community is going to thrive in our uncharted future is if we strengthen our greatest resource - you. As was true in the past, people’s journeys have the power to inspire others, providing support to one another and through those acts of chesed (loving-kindness), deep relationships are formed. Years ago, Rabbi Sandler shared his vision for our community, a kehilla kedosha, a sacred community. Our job now is to share our personal holiness, the passions and purpose that make our lives sacred, with one another. For some of us, that purposeful belonging is clear.

For others, our purpose and belonging are still undiscovered. It is our collective task, a sacred responsibility, to help each other realize our purpose and belonging. If we do this, I have no doubt that God will be found in our souls.

Shabbat and Chag: What to do on Saturday Night

By Rabbi Sam Blustin

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his year, many of our holidays happen to begin on Saturday evening, and Passover is no exception! However, with this start time, comes all sorts of confusion about the order of blessings at the beginning of the seder. There are two important notes here, which may differ from a normal year: how to light our chag candle and how to say kiddush/havdallah.

First, while kindling a new fire is not permitted on Yom Tov, transferring a flame is. In normal years, we light our candles before chag has started (like we do with Shabbat candles).

However, in years when the holiday begins immediately after Shabbat (as well as lighting on the second night of chag), we need a pre-lit candle, since the holiday has already begun when we light. In order to do this, we must light a candle prior to Shabbat that will burn for at least 25 hours, if not longer, such as a yahrtzeit candle.

When we’re ready to light candles following Shabbat for Passover, the chag candles should be lit from these existing flames and not from a new match, and you should not blow out the object you used to transfer the flame (such as a match) but rather allow it to burn itself out.

Second is the order of kiddush and havdallah. The havdallah liturgy focus on separation - typically between kodesh and chol, the holiness of Shabbat and the routine of the normal weekday. But, when Shabbat transitions into a holiday, we have a different liturgy - one marking the transition between kodesh and kodesh, the higher holiness of Shabbat with the still (but less) holy holiday.

In this transition, kiddush and havdallah get all wrapped into one as a part of the seder.

To remember the order of all these blessings, the rabbis came up with a mnemonic – YaKNeHaZ (which I’ll admit is not so helpful, but bear with me).

The mnemonic breaks down as follows: • Y: Yayin - Wine • K: Kiddush - The special blessing said for kiddush for the holiday we’re entering into.

• N: Ner - The blessing we say over the candle, which is the same blessing as Shabbat havdallah. Ideally, you should use the candles that you lit for chag as your havdallah candle.

Do not use a havdallah candle, as you’re not allowed to extinguish the flame on Yom Tov, and do night light a new candle. Existing lights in the room, such as a lamp, maybe used as well • H: Havdallah – A modified version of the last blessing of havdallah from Shabbat, specifically for the transition between Shabbat and chag • Z: Zman – Another name for the shehechiyanu blessing That’s YaKNeHaZ! To further help you remember the mnemonic, many haggadot will have a picture similar to the one below, featuring a hare hunt (here from an Ashkenazi Haggadah c. 1460). As it turns out, the German expression for rabbit hunt, ‘Jag den Has,’ sounds like the mnemonic and was an old symbol of spring and renewal, which fits well with the theme of Passover. Fortunately, no bunnies were actually harmed in the making of this mnemonic.

Making Our Way to the Promised Land • 4

Here are the blessings in order, as you should do them at the first seder! .‫ּבֹורא ְפ ִרי ַהגָ ֶפן‬ ֵ ‫ֹלהינּו ֶמלֶ ְך ָהעֹולָ ם‬ ֵ ‫ָברּוְך ַא ָתה יי ֱא‬ ‫רֹומ ָמנּו ִמכָ ל לָ ׁשֹון‬ ְ ְ‫ ֲא ֶשר ָב ַחר ָבנּו ִמכָ ל ָעם ו‬,‫ֹלהינּו ֶמלֶ ְך ָהעֹולָ ם‬ ֵ ‫ָברּוְך ַא ָתה יי ֱא‬ ‫ ַחגִ ים ּוזְ ַמנִ ים‬,‫ֹלהינּו ְב ַא ֲה ָבה מֹועֲ ִדים לְ ִש ְמ ָחה‬ ֵ ‫ וַ ִת ֶתן לָ נּו יי ֱא‬.‫וְ ִק ְד ָשנּו ְב ִמצְ ָֹותיו‬ ‫ כִ י‬.‫ זֵ כֶ ר לִ יצִ ַיאת ִמצְ ָריִ ם‬,‫ ִמ ְק ָרא ק ֶֹדׁש‬,‫רּותנּו‬ ֵ ‫ זְ ַמן ֵח‬,‫ ֶאת יֹום ַחג ַה ַמצֹות ַהזֶ ה‬,‫לְ ָשׂשֹון‬ .‫ ּומֹועֲ ֵדי ָק ְד ֶשָך ְב ִש ְמ ָחה ְּוב ָשׂשֹון ִהנְ ַחלְ ָתנּו‬,‫אֹותנּו ִק ַד ְש ָת ִמכָ ל ָהעַ ִמים‬ ָ ְ‫ָבנּו ָב ַח ְר ָת ו‬ .‫ ְמ ַק ֵדׁש יִ ְש ָר ֵאל וְ ַהזְ ַמנִ ים‬,‫ָברּוְך ַא ָתה יי‬ .‫אֹורי ָה ֵאׁש‬ ֵ ‫ּבֹורא ְמ‬ ֵ ,‫ֹלהינּו ֶמלֶ ְך ָהעֹולָ ם‬ ֵ ‫ָברּוְך ַא ָתה יי ֱא‬ ‫ ֵבין‬,‫חשְך‬ ֶ ְ‫ ין אֹור ל‬,‫ֹלהינּו ֶמלֶ ְך ָהעֹולָ ם ַה ַמ ְב ִדיל ֵבין ק ֶֹדׁש לְ חֹל‬ ֵ ‫ָברּוְך ַא ָתה יי ֱא‬ ‫ ֵבין ְק ֻד ַשת ַש ָבת לִ ְק ֻד ַשת יֹום‬.‫ ֵבין יֹום ַה ְש ִביעִ י לְ ֵש ֶשת יְ ֵמי ַה ַמעֲ ֶשה‬,‫יִ ְש ָר ֵאל לָ עַ ִמים‬ ‫ ִה ְב ַדלְ ָת וְ ִק ַד ְש ָת ֶאת‬.‫ וְ ֶאת יֹום ַה ְש ִביעִ י ִמ ֵש ֶשת יְ ֵמי ַה ַמעֲ ֶשה ִק ַד ְש ָת‬,‫טֹוב ִה ְב ַדלְ ָת‬ .‫ברּוְך ַא ָתה יי ַה ַמ ְב ִדיל ֵבין ק ֶֹדׁש לְ ק ֶֹדׁש‬,ָ .‫עַ ְמָך יִ ְש ָר ֵאל ִב ְק ֻד ָש ֶתָך‬ .‫ֹלהינּו ֶמלֶ ְך ַהעֹולָ ם ֶש ֶה ֱחיָ נּו וְ ִקיְ ָמנּו וְ ִהגִ ָיענּו לַ זְ ַמן ַהזֶ ה‬ ֵ ‫ָברּוְך ַא ָתה יְ י ֱא‬

Baruch Atah Adonai, Eloheinu Melech ha’olam, borei p’ri hagafen.

Baruch Atah Adonai, Eloheinu Melech ha’olam, asher bachar banu mikol am, v’rom’manu mikollashon, v’kid’shanu b’mitzvotav, vatiten-lanu Adonai Eloheinu b’ahavah moadim l’simchah, chagim uz’manim l’sason et-yom chag hamatzot hazeh.

Z’man cheiruteinu, mikra kodesh, zeicher litziat mitzrayim. Ki vanu vacharta v’otanu kidashta mikol ha’amim. umo’adei kod’shecha b’simchah uv’sason hinchaltanu. Baruch Atah Adonai, m’kadeish Yisrael v’hazmanim.

Baruch Atah Adonai, Eloheinu Melech ha’olam, borei m’orei ha’eysh.

Baruch atah Adonai, Eloheinu Melech ha’olam, hamavdil beyn kodesh lichol, beyn or lichoshech, beyn yisrael la’amim, beyn yom hashvi’i lisheshet yimai hama’aseh. Beyn kidushat Shabbat likidushat yom tov hivdalta, v’et yom hashvi’i misheshet yimai hama’aseh kidashta; hivdalta vikidashta et amcha yisrael bikidushatecha. Baruch atah Adonai, Hamavdil beyn kodesh lechol.

Baruch atah Adonai, Eloheinu Melech ha’olam, shehecheyanu, v’kiyemanu, v’higiyanu, laz’man hazeh.

5 • Making Our Way to the Promised Land

Two Cups and Two Candlesticks

By Marcia A. Spielberger, Editor

P

assover is my favorite holiday!

Why? Perhaps it is the memories.

Perhaps it is the symbolism. I think it is both - and much more.

It is a way that I bring stories and thoughts of my forebearers and my own past together to create a 2021 Passover.

When I set my single Passover place setting at my dining room table last year, as did many others, I had a lot of nostalgia, and more than a few tears - some sad and some happy. What pulled me through this difficult time? Leading a Zoom seder with my family both near and far with a lot of singing and a few laughs.

Though I may be physically alone and observing Passover via Zoom again this year, having those candlesticks and cups at my table brings me joy! I hope you will find joy in your celebration; however unique it may be! Chag Sameach!

Marcia A. Spielberger, a native of Shreveport, Louisiana, has been a Sandy Springs resident for many years. She is an educator in world languages and has worked at the local, regional, national and international level. Currently, she teachers at Georgia State University in the College of Education and Human Development. Marcia is very connected to her Judaism and enjoys her AA family. She has a wonderful circle of friends and has a large family that includes ten grandchildren who range in age from 4 to 26!

Despite all of the work a seder during nonpandemic times entails, I have always enjoyed the planning, preparing and serving. It is a time to pull out all the beautiful seder plates and special serving pieces for the various steps of the seder. I never cared how exhausted I was from preparing a seder for two, three or four or twenty-four because I have always enjoyed the preparation and, in recent years, also leading the seder. I must admit that leading the seder and orchestrating the serving is a challenge, but one I hope I will have again!

The three most significant items I have are the candlesticks and two silver bekhers that were brought from eastern Europe by my paternal grandparents. My daddy, Leon Abramson, who spent the last years of his life at AA every Shabbat, always used the short one from his mother’s father, for Elijah. The footed one belonged to my paternal great-grandfather and was given to me by my uncle. I think I will drink from it this year! The candlesticks were also brought from Europe by my bubbie. All three connect me to my past and truly represent l’dor v’dor and remind me that the seder tells the story of what God did for me when I left Egypt.

Making Our Way to the Promised Land • 6

Cup 1 Purposeful Belonging T

he first cup is filled with Purposeful Belonging. We asked people to share with us how they would answer the question for themselves. What is their purposeful belonging? What are they passionate about? How did that become their passion and even their spiritual purpose? Where did it come from? What feeds it?

Brandon Goldberg The part of my Judaism about which I am most passionate is our inherent drive to help others. We look out for each other, and we always strive to be a source of support.

Throughout my life, I have seen the deep kindness in our community. It is always present. We help each other during the difficult times and celebrate each other’s successes during the positive times.

This is an attribute that is as outward-looking for our community as inward-looking. For generations, the Jewish community has fought for the rights of others on the large scale and showed acts of kindness and support to our neighbors and friends on the local scale. There is no better city that exemplifies that service than Atlanta.

work we do and the opportunity to show others the kindness and engagement of the Jewish people.

Brandon Goldberg is an attorney and resident of midtown, Atlanta. He is a candidate for a city-wide seat on the Atlanta City Council in the November 2021 election, and he is actively engaged in numerous community organizations.

Alan Reitzfeld ‫שיר‬-‫מבין בכלי‬ My father died in April 2020. ‫שיר‬-‫( מבין בכלי‬a person who appreciates fine music) is being inscribed on his tombstone. He and my mother instilled a strong sense of Judaism and music in me and my sister, Sharon (a retired music teacher), from a very early age.

My parents were among the founders of the Elmont Jewish Center (“EJC”) in Elmont, NY. As a youngster, I joined the EJC High Holiday Choir for a short period. I rejoined in junior high, and I was the leader my senior year. Years later, and while I no longer lived in Elmont, I rejoined the choir and re-introduced choir melodies from years past. I sang in the choir, and was its leader, for more than another 35 years. During most of that time, my sister’s husband, Paul Pesenti, was the cantor. The very strong sense of Judaism and music instilled by my parents led to decades of beautiful songs in the choir.

Our synagogue carries that tradition forward. We consistently maintain programming, outreach, and efforts aimed at making our city a safer, better, and more fulfilling place to live. It is exactly why I found AA to be the perfect place to call home. As I build on the lessons of my upbringing and find ways to better my city, it is so meaningful to find a community of people Last Fall, my sister and I joined the Queens with the desire and organizational drive to put College Choral Society. The online rehearsals those beliefs into practice. I am excited about the on Wednesday evenings conflicted with virtual 7 • Making Our Way to the Promised Land

services at the synagogue at which I am saying 11 months of Kaddish for my father. I searched online and was fortunate to find the very beautiful services at Ahavath Achim Synagogue.

I was welcomed very warmly by Rabbi Sandler, Rabbi Blustin and congregants such as Gary Alembik. They made me feel at home, and I was comforted by the ability to continue to say Kaddish daily for my father. My brother-inlaw, Cantor Paul Pesenti, began attending the Wednesday evening services also; he likewise was welcomed very warmly. The services are very beautiful, both musically and religiously.

Many, many thanks to your wonderful synagogue!

Ambassador Stuart E. Eizenstat My Jewish identity was shaped by my parents and their long-time commitment to the Ahavath Achim Synagogue. My father, Leo Eizenstat, was a Biblical expert, tutored by the late, great Rabbi Tobias Geffen [who gave Coca-Cola its first hechsher (kosher certification) in the 1920s]. Dad was often given the lengthy Haftorah from the Book of Jonah to read at the AA during the afternoon of Yom Kippur, which emphasized God’s willingness to forgive those who repent. He was a fluent Yiddish speaker and had an endless series of wonderful Yiddish jokes. Dad was jokingly called the ‘pinch hitter,’ because, on short notice, if the designated Torah or Haftorah reader was ill or unable to attend services, Dad was asked to ‘pinch hit.’ I distinctly remember asking him, on one occasion when he got a last-minute call, if he didn’t need to practice. He smiled and said “no,” he knew all the portions and the trope for the entire Bible and Prophets.

was a particularly difficult passage, he would say, “Let’s see what Rashi (the 12th century French rabbi and still most famous Biblical commentator) has to say about this.” He would read from Rashi’s interpretation in tiny Hebrew script. I have continued this tradition of giving the D’Var Torah each Friday night, even when I was U.S. Ambassador to the European Union in Brussels, having the first kosher residence there.

My wonderful mother, Sylvia, was a leader in several Atlanta-based Jewish organizations, like Pioneer Women and the Minyanaires for preBar Mitzvah students at the AA. So, with the encouragement of both my mom and dad, I had my Bar Mitzvah at the old AA Synagogue on the south side of Atlanta. Throughtout high school, I went to AA’s Hebrew school (under the excellent instruction of Leon Steinberg, Mr. Zelman, and others) and Sunday school (with Dave Alterman and other volunteers).

While at the AA, I was inspired by the remarkable sermons of Rabbi Harry Epstein, who was at the AA for over 50 years, and later, Rabbi Arnold Goodman. My wonderful wife, Fran (z”l), was another major influence. She graduated from Brandeis University and spent junior semester studying in Jerusalem. For two summers, she took our boys, Jay and Brian, to Israel for long periods of time, and it was at Fran’s insistence that we koshered our home.

I have tried to give back to the Atlanta Jewish community and the AA Synagogue something of what they gave to me. When Fran and I returned to Atlanta, after I served on the White House Staff of President Lyndon Johnson and research director of the 1968 Hubert Humphrey presidential campaign against Richard Nixon, Fran and I worked with Leon Spotts, the head of the Atlanta Bureau of Jewish Education, and created the Adult Institute of Jewish Studies, where, for several years, we had dozens of classes for over 250 Jews throughout the Atlanta area at the Atlanta Jewish Community Center (on whose board I served). Fran and I sent our boys, Jay and Brian, to Jewish schools in Atlanta and Washington. To give back to the AA some part of what it has given to me, I have created One of my most vivid and enduring memories (initially for my dad, mom, Uncle Berry, and was that after Friday night dinner, Dad would Aunt Bessie and now Fran) the Fran Eizenstat take me into the den and read and interpret the and Eizenstat Family Memorial Lecture Series, weekly portion from the Bible, reading from the which, for 32 years, has brought to AA and the Hebrew, with no English translation. When there entire Atlanta community four Nobel Peace Making Our Way to the Promised Land • 8

Prize winners, two Pulitzer Prize winners, three American presidents, two Supreme Court justices, two Israeli prime ministers, several Israeli ambassadors, and, most recently, Judy Woodruff of the PBS News Hour. It is my hope that my sons, Jay and Brian, and their families will continue this series when my time has passed.

I have dedicated a substantial part of my public career in four U.S. presidential administrations and as a chief negotiator of the Jewish Claims Conference, to providing belated Holocaust justice for Survivors. Growing up in Atlanta, I do not remember meeting a survivor, and the Holocaust was not a topic of conversation in our home even though my dad and two uncles served in the U.S. military during World War II. My epiphany occurred in 1968, when a coworker in the Humphrey presidential campaign, Arthur Morse, published a path-breaking book, While Six Million Died, shockingly describing what President Roosevelt and his administration, and for that matter many national Jewish leaders, knew about the genocide of the Jews and failed to act upon. I vowed as a young 25-year-old, that if I ever had the opportunity, I wanted to help rectify this injustice. Decades later, I helped create the US Holocaust Memorial Museum with my 1978 memorandum (along with Atlanta native and White House Counsel Bob Lipshutz) to President Jimmy Carter. In the Clinton and Obama administrations, I have negotiated over $8 billion in recoveries from Swiss and French banks, German and Austrian slave labor companies, European insurance companies, and the French government for their deportation of Jews on the French railway and also obtained restitution and compensation for Naziconfiscated art. Since 2009, while I have served as the lead negotiator for the Jewish Claims Conference with the German Finance Ministry, we have obtained over $9 billion in worldwide home care and social services (including survivors in Atlanta), increased pensions, child survivor programs, and expanded hardship payments. Our most recent negotiation with the Germany, only a few months ago, led to receipt of another $700 million, including, for the first time, a three-year commitment by Germany to fund Holocaust education around the world, up to $18 million by 2023.

Happy Passover!

9 • Making Our Way to the Promised Land

Rebbe’s Tish

By Steve Grossman

At the Passover Seder, we traditionally drink four cups of wine (although other symbolic cups have been added in contemporary times).

One of the explanations for the four cups are the four references in Exodus 6:6-8 where God’s promise to take the Israelites out of Egypt are: I shall take you out...

I shall rescue you...

I shall redeem you...

I shall bring you…

Well, I was thinking about the first cup, about taking us out of Egypt, and why we were stuck there. Why couldn’t we get out of Egypt without God’s help?

Sometimes we are stuck in a groove, and we need someone’s help to help us out of that rut.

Back in the day, (you know when we had to walk six miles in the snow to get to school; ask your parents), there was a thing known as a record, which was played on a record player. When I thought of being in a rut, this song, by John Hartford, came to mind. Those of us who played vinyl can appreciate humor in the chorus...

Don't leave your records in the sun They'll warp and won't be any good for anyone Don't leave your records in the sun They get all wavy and they just won't run They just won't play, just won't play, just won't play, Just won't play, just won't play, just won't play, Just won't play, just won't play, just won't play, Just won't play, just won't play no more…

Yes, the song played “just won’t play” over ten times, and the person listening to the song for the first time really thought the record was stuck.

Those of us who still have records know a scratch causes the record to keep repeating the same phrase, as the needle is stuck in a groove.

When that situation occurs, it just continues to repeat, unless someone actually gets up and moves the needle. Until that happens, the song can’t continue. The record needs help and requires someone to ‘take and lift the needle’ so that the song can continue.

The Inside View Making Seder Fun for Families

It’s the same with us - we all get in a rut sometimes - whether it’s repeating the same behavior over and over or being addicted to having to do everything the same way, unable to change.

Once we are aware that we are slaves to our own habits, we need to take the first step - ‘move the needle.’ Our song of life can’t move forward until we take that first step or have someone help take us out of the rut. Each of us is not only capable of being in a rut, but we are also able to help take other people out of a rut, so they can move forward.

So, when we drink that first cup of wine, let us remind ourselves that we need to rely on our community, our friends, our family to help take us out of the rut and “move the needle” - help us get out of our bad habits, our enslavement, and help take us out of the rut, so we can move forward.

And, we also need to become ‘one’ to ‘take them out’ and take the responsibility of helping our community, our friends, and our families to help them out of their rut. This is the first step of redemption.

The Rebbe’s Tish is a space for our congregation’s rabbis to share some insight into the Passover Seder.

We hope you will bring some of these ideas to your own Passover Tish (Table), sharing the wisdom and meaning of the holiday.

With Passover quickly approaching, it’s not too early to start thinking about your Passover seder!

Whether virtual or in-person, Passover seders can be long and challenging for kids to sit through.

We asked our AA clergy and staff to share some of their favorite ways to add some fun to your seders.

Rabbi Sam Blustin suggests - add some music!

Parodies of popular melodies are fun for the whole family! There are some great Passover parodies. Check out ones for “She’ll Be Coming Round the Mountain,” “(These are a Few of) My Favorite Things,” “Frozen,” “I’ve Been Working on the Railroad,” “Take Me Out to the Ballgame,” and more! When singing “Chad Gadya,” assign each guest an animal noise, and have him or her do it at the appropriate time. Additionally, sing the order of the seder song completely at the beginning. Then, prior to each step of the seder, sing all the previous steps, finishing at the current step. By the end, you’ll feel a great sense of anticipation and accomplishment that you completed the whole song!

Rabbi Laurence Rosenthal suggests - introduce games! Have a plague hail-throwing contest.

1. Buy kosher-for-Passover marshmallows.

2. During the section of the plagues, kids try and throw the marshmallows across the table into the mouth of an adult.

3. Make a point system if you want to make the game competitive.

4. Safety suggestion - don't do the toss in reverse, because it could be a choking hazard if children try to catch marshmallows in their mouth!

Making Our Way to the Promised Land • 10

Sharon Graetz, Director of Education, suggests - offer snacks (and start early)! When hosting a seder with young kids, start your seder early, and offer a variety of snacks. Prepare a special plate of your kid(s)’ favorite kosher-for-Passover foods as an incentive to keep them happy at the table. Our rabbis’ seder was an all-night affair, so if long seders are your jam, wait until after your kid's bedtime (or until they are excused from the table), to engage in those heady conversations.

Jackie Nix, Director of Youth and Family Engagement, suggests - introduce fidget toys!

Everyone loves a fidget toy, so adorn your table with things that everyone can play with to represent different parts of the seder. Plague bags have become a huge hit in recent years offering both a physical tool to help learn the different plagues and give you something to play with if you need to fidget. You can buy the toys or make them yourself with items like cotton balls for hail, sunglasses for darkness, plastic jumping frogs for frogs, and so much more.

Beth Arnold Helmey, Ahava Director, suggests - consider the space! Create an environment that mimics a desert Bedouin tent in which to hold the seder. Rather than all sitting around a table, drape scarves and fabric to make sort of a tent, have a blue scarf or something similar to create the Nile river going through it, and have Moses (a doll) in the weeds in a basket… and have everyone sit on pillows on the floor around several low tables. I did this when my children were young, and we had a blast!

Bonus suggestions: • Include your family in the preparation for Passover – searching for chametz and creating table décor.

• Add in some skits to bring the story to life.

• Create your own Haggadah.

The Inside View is a space for our synagogue staff to share some of the insight, wisdom, and resources that make our synagogue life vibrant.

11 • Making Our Way to the Promised Land

Cup 2 Spiritual Journeys T

he second cup is filled with Spiritual Journeys. We asked people to reflect on the places that their journey has taken them. Where they are now and where they might be going. And most importantly, who has been a part of their spiritual journey?

Sherry Rudnak Returning to Judaism and Atlanta I grew up at AA decades ago. My parents, Philip Okun (z”l) and Lois Okun Bialac (z”l), joined the shul when they moved to Atlanta in 1972. My brother, Joel, and I both attended the Epstein School where we were part of the countless fortunate kids to have Miriam Belger (z”l) as our teacher.

My husband, Derek Rudnak, and I relocated back to Atlanta this past April after spending the last 20 years living in California. We regularly attended services there, where I would often chant Torah. However, as the pandemic was well underway when we returned to Atlanta, I did not anticipate joining a shul or chanting until after everything went back to normal.

I come from a long line of cantors, including my grandfather, Morris Okun, who was close to Cantor Goodfriend, and my great-grandfather Adolph Katchko, a liturgical composer of the Golden Age whose canon is still taught at the School of Sacred Music. Although not a cantor himself, my father led the High Holiday overflow services from 1960 until 2015 at Temple Beth El in Richmond, VA, where his father served for over 40 years. Chanting Torah lets me practice Judaism in a way that feels deeply personal and connects me to my family.

After several months of lock-down, I reached out to the AA clergy. I missed chanting and wanted to talk about my father with people who knew him. I know he had attended AA minyan

services, if only to say Kaddish for his parents, often asking to lead the service. Daily minyan in Ellman Chapel is a source of beautiful memories of him. I can remember going together after school let out and watching him wrap tefillin. I also remember getting bored and braiding the fringe of his tallis. That must have been in 1978.

After he passed, and I wore his tallis, I found that those braids are still there.

AA reminds me of my father and his devotion to Judaism. It’s nice to be welcomed back so warmly by the clergy and lay leadership after being gone for so long. I’m grateful that they’re allowing me to chant at the shul where I first learned trope. I look forward to doing so in person as soon as health protocols permit!

Melissa Baden “And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And a wind from God moved upon the face of the waters. And God said, Let there be light; and there was light” (Beresheet 1:2-3).

Spirit: animating or vital principle in man and animals, derived from the Latin spiritus (soul, courage, vigor, breath). In the beginning, when darkness was upon the void, there was a wind from God. And so, it was with me. From as early as I can remember, I have felt the need for something more - a sense of connection... a yearning for something I did not yet understand.

I found that through music. Music was something I could turn to when nobody else was there. Music was a friend, a lover, a confidante.

In my youth, I worshiped music like a god. My Making Our Way to the Promised Land • 12

first introduction to music was through song.

When I used my voice to create beautiful waves of sound, specifically with others, time stood still. None of my worries mattered, because, in that moment, I had the all-consuming power of communal music. I was present and patient with my breath and my body, allowing my voice to unfold with those of my peers into intricate harmonies that became emotional experiences for both performer and audience. My breath was a birthright in a world where nothing made sense.

Though I lacked spiritual guidance, I was given an idea of God from a young age which, left to my own devices, remained child-like. This was the Santa Claus God. The Foxhole God. The Supreme Being who rewarded good deeds and punished those He deemed negative. The Ruler who would listen to my prayers if I were good enough. So, I tried my best to be good enough.

And then the day came when my prayers weren’t answered, and my goodness was not in question. I lost my grandmother to cancer when I was nine years old, and I could not fathom a god who would do such a thing after having specifically asking Him not to. So, I broke up with Him. We did not speak again until I was asked to become involved in religious music as a teenager. I experienced many negative events at the religious institution in which I was involved, and I broke up with God for a second time.

This time, I meant it. I spent years renouncing all things spiritual, all the while searching for something I had been missing for as long as I could remember.

In my early 20s, a series of life events led to what I have come to call an existential crisis.

I began to reconsider religion and spirituality, devouring every religious text and history book I could find. On my quest for answers, I reconnected with Judaism. The more I read about the Jewish faith, the more at home I felt.

I remembered growing up with my Yiddishe grandfather and the many colorful expressions he used with joy. I remembered lighting the chanukkiah and staying home from school on the High Holidays (even if I had no idea why). I remembered playing Dreidel and reading books that had Hebrew writing in them. The memories rekindled a deep passion for my roots, and they led me to run toward ritual with a thirst I haven’t yet been able to quench. I have not yet disclosed this to anyone at AA, but at 23 years 13 • Making Our Way to the Promised Land

old, AA was the first shul I’d ever set foot in.

And, though I have since found a home here, at the time, what I craved was the structure of orthodoxy. I needed to understand all the whys and hows of what we do, so that I could later find where I felt I belonged. I moved to Toco Hills, began attending Beth Jacob, and was Shomer Shabbat for six months. Deciding that was not for me, I took a long and winding road through many different parts of Judaism, with plenty of detours and breakups with God along the way. What I have learned in my journey is that it is okay; however, I feel, whatever I need to say to God, wherever God and I meet, is okay. Even breaking up for a while is okay, so long as I turn and seek connection once again.

In continuing to seek that connection, I’ve discovered that my view of God is ever changing and expanding. I have found that the more I seek, the more I understand, and the more I understand, the less I understand anything at all.

Today, I still find my connection in very much the same way I always have: through ruach, breath, spirit. When I have lost my way, I can meditate, breathe deep, and find my center. I can breathe deep, and open my lips in songs of praise, whether I feel like praising or not. I can open my lips, curse everything, and lament.

Then, I can breathe deep and find my way back to center once more. In this way, musical connection is my perpetual form of teshuvah.

I am returning, over and over again, to the ‘wind from God.’ I am returning, over and over again, to the stillness between each breath, which whispers ‘I am here.’ I am returning, through davening, to my community and my responsibility to my fellow Jews to carry the light and keep the traditions. I am returning, through motherhood, to ritual and festival, education, and learning. I am returning, through my daughter, to play and laughter, as much with God as with her. And I am returning to leadership in hopes that the light I carry will spark another’s light, illuminating the path for those yet to find their way. We are all together on this journey of returning to what we have always known, walking each other home to prayer, song, breath, and spirit. May we keep it, and each other, well.

and lifting their voices, and with them, our spirits. I left that experience committed to creating that sort of prayer experience back

By Rabbi Sam Blustin home, and have spent much time in that pursuit Spiritual Insight Into the Second Cup of Wine over the years since.

Rebbe’s Tish

For much of my youth, I felt different, Jewishly, from most of my friends. For me, in ways that I didn’t understand and couldn’t express at the time, Judaism was a core part of my identity, a sort of stained glass reflecting the light of all that passed through me.

For many of my friends, however, it was only a piece of their identities, like a hat they put on to express their ‘fandom’ when convenient. Time and time again, I found myself in this dynamic, constantly seeking to understand my own passion for Judaism in order that I could express it and share it with those about whom I cared deeply. Looking back, it was clear that I sought out opportunities to welcome my friends into my own spiritual journey, in the hopes that it would spark something in them.

One of these passions came in the realm of prayer. Prayer – and especially the music of prayer – have long been my primary spiritual language. Throughout high school and college, I sought after some of the most elusive questions our siddur prompts in me: “What’s the purpose of prayer? What’s supposed to be going on inside of me when I pray? What should I feel? What should I be thinking about?” It’s these questions which led me deeper into the world of the siddur, which led me into all corners of our Jewish library. It’s there that I discovered that my questions were some of the very questions our tradition has been asking for thousands of years.

There are two experiences that stand out to me which have ignited and shaped this passion.

One came unexpectedly, on a Shabbos morning in Jerusalem, when I was in high school. I remember opting into a davening experience at an orthodox shul gathered in a small bomb shelter in Nachlaot, and it was like nothing I had ever experienced. For the first time, I experienced what I now call ‘souls-on-fire davening’ - a room full of people pouring out their hearts in prayer, beautifully harmonizing

The second experience came when processing the success of the prayer community I created in NYC called Shira B’dira (singing in an apartment).

Gathering groups of 25 - 50 (and sometimes 70+) 20 - 30-year-olds in an apartment for uplifting prayer and a kosher potluck, I realized something fundamental about prayer: the effect of praying in community goes far beyond the moment of prayer itself. A heart-opening davening creates the space to build a welcoming and loving community where people can engage with each other over a shared meal in a deeper way, and that deep engagement opens the space for even more vulnerable and uplifting prayer at the next gathering. When facilitated expansively and sensitively, prayer can transform a community.

This is the base of the passion that I bring to AA and that I hope we can create together. I hope you’ll join me for prayer soon!

The Rebbe’s Tish is a space for our congregation’s rabbis to share some insight into the Passover Seder.

We hope you will bring some of these ideas to your own Passover Tish (Table), sharing the wisdom and meaning of the holiday.

The Inside View

By Beth Arnold Helmey Spiritual Journeys Relationships. When it comes down to it, that’s what it’s all about, right? The connections we make with other people, and the strength of those connections, are what enable us to live lives rich in learning and growing.

Think about all the things you learned when you were a child.

How did you learn them? Who was there for you? What about when you were a teenager? A young adult? Did you Making Our Way to the Promised Land • 14

have a mentor, a best friend, a close sibling?

Someone with whom you connected around common interests or goals, someone with whom you felt safe and secure in revealing your feelings, insecurities, and doubts? If you are familiar with the Ahava Early Learning Center, then you may know that we believe our business is relationships. In fact, our vision states that “Ahava believes in connected communities and the power of Wonder to change the world.”

It means that we pay attention to how we speak to children, and that we engage with learning more about the importance of strong bonded relationships with children in group care environments.

During the global pandemic, many of us have learned the value of being more accepting, less judgmental, and gentler with each other, because, maybe for the first time, we have tried to walk in someone else’s shoes and discovered You may ask, “Why?” What do connected how difficult it can be. We have been quicker to communities and wonder have to do with what forgive, quicker to let go of a grudge, or quicker children should learn in school? The answer to let someone else see our vulnerabilities. is everything. Relationships have everything We have been less afraid of asking for help or to do with how we move through the world, admitting that we need it. These are good things what we learn, how we learn, how we manage to come out of the shared experience of living our lives, and how we feel and think about through a pandemic together. Striving to provide our own capacities. Relationships exist in our consistency for children through this time has lives without our really having to do much been one of our challenges. Out of the many to recognize them or maintain them; yet we changes Ahava has employed to remain open talk about deepening relationships, and what safely during the pandemic, one of the most really does that mean? In the early childhood experimental (requiring a waiver from the State world, there exists a microcosm of the larger of Georgia to implement) has been our model world around us. There are experts, novices, of grouping siblings together in classes, thus experienced and inexperienced people, young, having a wide range of ages in each class. This old. And in between people, religious, creative, varies greatly from the traditional age-based scientific, and anxious people. We come together classes with which most of us are familiar, and out of need, and we stay together because of it has allowed us to observe, with great curiosity, the connections we make. New parents connect the ways in which siblings interact and look with teachers and other parents to learn about out for each other in the classroom while also their child and the way in which development working and playing independently from each occurs. Teachers connect with children and learn other. Ahava sought to implement this model to observe the different ways in which children to mitigate exposure risks. It has done that, communicate wants and needs. Teachers and more. It has afforded teachers a hands-on connect with each other because their common opportunity to explore how different ages in the experience gives them support, feedback, ideas, classroom can facilitate social and emotional and validation. All these relationships exist out growth, as well as cognitive development. It has of necessity; yet they flourish and thrive because afforded children, yanked out of care suddenly of the connections made and the trust that grows last March, the opportunity to re-enter and feel out of a common bond, a shared interest, the safe because of the proximity of their siblings, child. and it has afforded parents and teachers a unique opportunity to deepen relationships through the Ahava, founded and built as a school inspired lens of the whole family. by the Reggio Emilia approach to early learning, understands that strong relationships between As we continue to move through this adults and children are crucial to a child’s unpredictable time, Ahava will continue to positive social and emotional development. One reflect on the value of relationships and to of the principles of the Reggio approach is the model for children the empathy and trust that is belief that children are competent from a young foundational for the journey of a lifetime. age, capable of communicating their interests and engaging meaningfully with materials and The Inside View is a space for our synagogue staff to experiences. Relationships begin from a place of share some of the insight, wisdom, and resources that respect for children and their rights. It’s a huge make our synagogue life vibrant. shift in perspective to consider the rights of a child and to engage with children respectfully.

15 • Making Our Way to the Promised Land

Cup 3 Deepening Relationships T

he third cup is filled with Deepening Relationships. We inquired about how some people in our community have sought to deepen their relationships with one another. To share examples of meaningful connections they have made with others in our congregation and how they achieved these connections. Finally, we asked what they might recommend to others who want to develop similar friendships and connections.

Doris H. Goldstein Strangers When I was a newly married young woman in a new city, my mother died unexpectedly, and I knew I was required to recite Kaddish. Each Friday night, I drove to a large Conservative synagogue, sat in the same row, seated next to the same woman.

She never spoke to me or acknowledged my presence in any way. We began and ended the year as we began… total strangers.

When I came to Atlanta and joined Ahavath Achim a few years later, I was not a complete stranger as my sister was already a member and I knew a smattering of people from having worked in a Jewish summer camp that attracted campers and staff from across the South.

The first High Holidays, however, were still overwhelming; a sea of strangers.

Joining Sisterhood was the beginning of my journey to belonging. My first real assignment was to edit the first kosher cookbook, Mind Over Platter. This required speaking to those who submitted recipes, many of whom were part of the interwoven families of the synagogue.

Gradually, I was able to connect the names with the faces and relationships. The next entry point was a social club called the Mr. & Mrs. Club which hosted a few events during the year.

There I met the first person (Alice Kaplan) who significantly reached out; she invited us to her son Scott’s Bar Mitzvah! I will never forget that gracious gesture.

I soon realized, however, that, not out of snobbery or exclusiveness, these large, interconnected families had little space for another relationship. Nevertheless, through my continued activity in Sisterhood, I formed wonderful, meaningful relationships with other women, among them Rae Alice Cohen (z”l) and Diane Bernstein, who were part of the established families but were open to a new friendship.

If I wanted to truly belong, I had to be my own engine and create my own ‘family’. As my children grew and we began to attend Shabbat and Holiday services more regularly, it was easy to recognize a stranger. The next logical step was to approach an individual with a word of welcome.

Sometimes, it was embarrassing when I was informed that his/her family had been members for five generations. Undaunted, I continued the practice and have ultimately met and embraced a huge circle who have enhanced my life a thousand times over: a physicist who worked on the Manhattan Project during WWII, a Dutchman who ultimately converted in order to marry his French Jewish girlfriend, a couple visiting an Making Our Way to the Promised Land • 16

adult child, a movie editor stuck in Atlanta for six months and others who I can’t remember.

I always had the image of that unknown woman who sat next to me for a year and never spoke.

Now it is once again Passover.

“Remember the Stranger as you were once Strangers in Egypt.” - Passover Hagaddah Doris was born in New Orleans, LA. She has been a member of Ahavath Achim since 1963 when she came to Atlanta and has been actively involved since then.

She is currently the chair of Museum Committee.

Gary Alembik The Blessings of a Quilt In the fall of 2015, my partner, now husband, Steve, and I were asked to participate in a synagogue initiative, that transformed my relationship with my shul, God, and what soon became my Ahavath Achim family.

Our involvement in this project was prompted by a phone call to us from Rabbi Rosenthal asking if we would assist him in launching a project that would involve displaying quilts from the NAMES Project AIDS Memorial Quilt in our shul and implementing programming that would honor the individuals and history that these quilts depicted and memorialized. Our goal was to secure quilts that identified individuals and included visual narratives that offered the viewer a connection to AA and our Jewish community.

At the time, the NAMES project was headquartered in Atlanta. I recall combing through the large warehouse-like facility that housed hundreds of AIDS Memorial quilts to select the most fitting quilts that were to be displayed in our shul. I remember the emotions that came over me when I happened upon a quilt, neatly folded on a shelf, that featured the name of a Hebrew Academy grammar school classmate of mine who died of AIDS in the late 1980s. This was a bittersweet moment for me.

17 • Making Our Way to the Promised Land

I paused as I reflected on the loss of someone whom I had not seen in years, but who I remembered as kind and compassionate. My sadness was compounded by the thought that my friend and I shared a similar path in life. It could have been me featured on that panel, I thought.

My sadness quickly morphed into excitement when I realized that my synagogue was about to honor my friend and his short-lived, but meaningful, life by prominently displaying his panel in our holy space.

I lost many friends, some close, some distant, to AIDS. Many of these friends battled this deadly disease without any support from their families, churches, and synagogues (including our own).

Some died alone. Many died without the proper love, support, recognition, and respect that they so deserved.

My mom and dad joined Ahavath Achim in 1987.

I often accompanied my parents to services, but in all those years, I never felt a sense of belonging. I recognized that Ahavath Achim did not fully embrace people like myself. This knowledge impeded my spiritual journey, and my faith in God and in people.

You cannot imagine how excited I was when Rabbi Rosenthal invited me to view the installation of the AIDS quilts that we selected.

I recall walking into Srochi Hall on a quiet winter afternoon and being overwhelmed by emotions. It was at that moment that I came to the realization that my community cared about me, and others like me. I felt like I belonged!! On that day, I, along with my heart, became a part of the AA family.

The highlight of the quilt experience came when Steve, I, and several members of our AA family came together to construct panels that were to become part of the official quilt collection. This experience offered Steve and me a window into the beauty of our newfound community. We collaborated to create something special and meaningful. We united to make a difference and to express compassion and love to the many beautiful souls who lost their lives to AIDS. I find it fitting that the symbolic bridge that brought me into the AA family was made up of many diverse panels and fabrics stitched together to form a quilt. You see, our AA family is, like a quilt, made up of a patchwork of panels

and fabrics. Each panel consists of different stories, histories, and journeys. Our panels are neatly stitched together by a common history and faith. We are bound by the fabric of a caring and loving community.

Stephen Graves and Gary Alembik are married and live in Morningside with their doodle Bennie. Gary is a native Atlantan and is the Executive Vice President of Ahavath Achim. Gary is an attorney specializing in family law. Steve is a native of Florida and is a Gator fan. Steve worked for IBM for many years before transitioning to Chick-fil-A where he serves as a principal program lead specializing in analytics.

“It’s not.” In our heads we admitted that this wasn’t a bad idea! But a few other families would quietly say “I like your sukkah” and a connection was made. A quick exchange of phone numbers and a simple follow up text later, and we discovered have Jewish neighbors that we never would have known about.

This was not our only method of course. As simple as it sounds, we asked! We asked the office staff for a list of other AA members in certain zip codes around us and almost like magic we had a list of new connections. Slowly we went through the list, inviting AA strangers into our home for Shabbat dinners, trying to turn them into AA friends. More often than not, people are VERY receptive to this ask. And it doesn’t hurt to feature that fresh baked challah It can feel, even in the aroma when they walk in. We also learned that most ‘Jewish’ of Atlanta sometimes receiving a “no” isn’t saying no areas, that we are to connecting, but rather to the time or place. swimming through a Shabbat dinners didn’t work for some, but they sea of church fliers, loved the idea of bagels on Sunday morning, or Christmas trees, and getting the kids together to run through a park.

Easter egg hunts. I If someone is reaching out to you, find a way to think what I’ve found say ‘yes.’ most revealing is not the lack of This ongoing adventure in relationship building representation of others has had instant rewards. We now almost always in our faith, but rather see a face at shul that we not only know but how internal some of which has also been at our home. Some of our traditions are these connections have introduced us to others compared to those blatantly externally-facing within the community. Others have, perhaps ones of our neighbors. Our menorahs are up for a begrudgingly, admitted that we are closer in week, blazing brightly in our kitchen, as the age with their own kids and we are now friends outdoor Christmas trees are lit for what feels like with those kids as well. These connections and more weeks each year. Our homes fill with the relationships continue to grow and branch out, scent of freshly baked challah on Fridays, but and our AA experience has been made so much those walking by would never know. Our better because of them. neighbors have assumed that everyone around them is Christian, and we, at times, had assumed Sara and Mark Papier are East Cobb residents the same. We were wrong. and members of Ahavath Achim along with their daughter, Avery, and son, Micah. They are the chairs What changed? How did we come to this of the Engagement Committee and Membership discovery? How did we begin a quest of forging Committee respectively, combining synagogue relationships with other AA members as well as life with their love of entertaining and building other Jewish neighbors? First, we took a page friendships. from our non-Jewish community and displayed our Judaism on our lawns. We built a BIG sukkah in our backyard, and we left it up for a while (partially because we wanted it there for this very reason, and partially because we just didn’t want to take it down yet). It was still up during Halloween. “Is that a haunted house?!” a few excited kids would ask. Out loud, we’d answer

Sara and Mark Papier

Making Our Way to the Promised Land • 18

Rebbe’s Tish

By Rabbi Neil Sandler

Korech - The Hillel Sandwich As we approach our delicious seder meal (finally!), I always have the same thought when we read the section called Korech… aka The Hillel Sandwich. I try to stifle the words before they escape from my mouth. “Hmm…,” I think. “A little lamb, a little spicy mustard and, if it wasn’t Passover, a nice rye bread… perfect deli sandwich… that Hillel was a genius!” You can understand why I, a rabbi no less, try to keep the thoughts of my irreverent mind to myself and not allow others to hear them…

nature of lasting redemption?

3. The verse (Numbers 9:11) that appears at

the end of the Hillel sandwich text contains the instruction concerning eating the lamb, matza and maror together. But its setting in the Torah is within what is known as Pesach Sheni. Under particular circumstances, if a person could not offer the Passover sacrifice at the established time, he was given the opportunity to do so one month later. A second chance to do the right and necessary thing! Should we have second chances? More importantly, should we offer others a second chance to do the right thing?

Chag Kasher V’sameach, everyone! Susan joins me in wishing you and all your loved ones a happy and meaningful Passover! Stay safe and well!

The Rebbe’s Tish is a space for our congregation’s rabbis to share some insight into the Passover Seder.

We hope you will bring some of these ideas to your own Passover Tish (Table), sharing the wisdom and meaning of the holiday.

Truth be told, I’m not certain the Hillel sandwich we actually eat at the outset of our seder meal (without the lamb) is so tasty. However, I find

By Barry Herman wisdom in that sandwich that I hope you will reflect on. Please consider these points for potential discussion at your seder:

The Inside View

1. The paragraph we read immediately before

the Hillel sandwich informs us that this sandwich connects us to the Temple in Jerusalem. I find that connection today to be rather curious! After all, Passover commemorates our people’s Exodus; ‘exodus’ infers continuing movement. Our ancestors were ‘getting away from Egypt.’ They had not yet ‘arrived in the Promised Land.’ And yet, the Temple represented completed settlement in the Land. Why should we think for a moment about the Temple, a site associated with our supposed stability, at the time of the Exodus? Are we ever really ‘settled?’

2. We no longer offer or eat the Passover lamb.

Yet, if we did so, we would be consuming a symbol of God’s redemption of our people (passing over the Israelites’ homes during the final plague) along with symbols of hasty departure and simplicity (matza) and bitterness (maror). Is it possible, on this symbolic level, that the Hillel sandwich can share an important thought with us about the 19 • Making Our Way to the Promised Land

Moshe and Esther are shipwrecked and are washed up on a deserted island. Esther is distraught. “‘We are doomed to die here’” she says. Moshe bursts out laughing - “‘Don’t worry dear, the shul will find us. It is time to make our chai pledge!’”

All jest aside, we are so fortunate to have ended the month of December in an incredibly strong financial position. Thanks to the generosity of our beloved community, we are on track to balance our budget this year, raising almost $500,000 in Yom Kippur and Chai donations, one of our best fundraising years. We are so blessed!

We are open 365 days a year, offering three services daily, albeit virtually. Attendance at our daily and Shabbat services is robust.

We play an important role in all life stages, whether it is celebrating a simcha or consoling

in bereavement. During these times of intense emotion, community is the place that we turn to share, especially as we faced the many challenges over the past year.

In pondering our fortunate position, I was reminded of a conversation that I had with my brother some years back. He remarked that the act of giving can be selfish in many ways, making the givers feel really good about themselves while supporting what is important to them. It reminded me of a quote from the Midrash Leviticus Rabbah 34:10: “The blessing of tzedakah is greater for the person who gives than for the person who receives.”

Participation is as important as the dollar value of your donation. The Jewish people participated in the upkeep of the Mishkan with the donation of a half shekel. “This shall be given by everyone who passes through the counting, from twenty years old and up, a half shekel from the holy shekel coin, a half shekel as a gift to Hashem” (Shemot 30:13).

The use of the half shekel made it possible for everyone to be able to participate, no matter their financial position.

Heidi and I have made our Chai contribution to the congregation at the $10,000 level this year.

Please consider joining us to ensure that we continue to be able to continue to serve you all.

I can be reached at 404.603.5746 or bherman@ aasynagogue.org and would be honored to help.

May this coming year be filled with blessings.

The Inside View is a space for our synagogue staff to share some of the insight, wisdom, and resources that make our synagogue life vibrant.

Making Our Way to the Promised Land • 20

Cup 4 Crossroads T

he fourth cup is filled with Crossroads. In this section we think about the way that our life has intersected with others. Are these meetings just coincidence or is there something more going on? Maybe those chance meetings were besheret (destiny) providing opportunities for our spiritual journeys to cross and support one another.

Myrtle Lewin and Patsy Little

gratitude. Todah Rabah, Patsy!

After years in academia in Israel, South Africa, and the U.S., Myrtle came to Atlanta in 1983 to teach mathematics at Agnes Scott College. After her two daughters left home, she got involved as a volunteer with Trees Atlanta and teaching ESL to refugees from the former Soviet Union. This work carried her into retirement volunteer life, both at the AA and elsewhere.

Patsy Little When Myrtle started working with others, several years ago, to make our AA community more environmentally conscious, I was awed at her perseverance. And she didn’t stop with Myrtle Lewin providing recycling bins in Srochi Auditorium.

She leveraged her background as an educator to My first calendar entry with Patsy Little reads: teach us that caring for our planet is everyone’s “Patsy Little with a truck and wheelbarrow.” responsibility. Think of our Great Big Recycling This is totally fitting - it was Mulch Day at the events. We have all seen our outdated computers, AA, post-Hurricane Irma, and pre-2017 High styrofoam, fluorescent light bulbs, etc., once Holy Days. She invited me to Rosh Hashanah destined for the landfill, spread out on tarps. My dinner a week later, and an amazing friendship husband, Bill, a huge fan of Myrtle’s, loads all began. We discovered quickly that we shared a of this into his truck and we head off to CHaRM deep love of the outdoors and of digging in the (Center for Hard to Recycle Materials). The dirt. We had both experienced living outside the maintenance staff holds discarded shelving and continental U.S., and we share many core values. other metal items for Bill to take to a different We are both aware of the impact of the climate recycler. We at AA are becoming serious about crisis. Both of us are engaged in a journey to reducing waste, more knowledgeable about how understand these things through a Jewish lens. to do it, and why it should be done.

Rabbi Rosenthal once told me, “The work we do is part of our spiritual journey.” For me, this work during the past several months has been made much less lonely, because Patsy has been there to share ideas, plans, and insights with me and to teach me to express happiness and 21 • Making Our Way to the Promised Land

Over time, if one of us has found an opportunity to volunteer, often the other has gotten involved as well. Before Covid, we became involved with tutoring ESL in the Clarkston refugee community as part of AARI (Ahavath Achim Refugee

Initiative). Myrtle continues via Zoom. In Covid times, through Concrete Jungle, we each call homebound food pantry recipients to remind them to expect their weekly food deliveries. And sometimes, at the end of the day, we call each other and marvel at these folks’ tenacity - and their gratitude. It’s work made more meaningful, more enjoyable, because we can share.

And we surely do love to play in the dirt. We’ve dug and planted and weeded, challenging our bodies but refreshing our spirits, happy to be in the great outdoors, focused on a project, chatting or not, and safely at arms-length. Fun. Purposeful.

Crossing paths with Myrtle has shown me that one person really can make a difference. Myrtle and I can do more together; and she and I and others can do even more to improve our world.

Todah Rabah, Myrtle!

Patsy has been an Atlanta native and AA member since 1982. Over the years, she has become more involved at the synagogue, where she’s crossed paths with many interesting people and made many dear friends.

Adam Hirsch

and somebody told us we should meet since we both were in involved in the Atlanta production scene. At the time, we were both at crossroads in our own careers and both looking for new collaboration opportunities. Film making is an art form but it’s definitely an art that is best suited to be done through collaboration.

Rabbi Rosenthal reached out to me about producing some content for AA Synagogue, and I asked Jacob to work on the project with me. We decided to work together on this project which in turn led to several other new and exciting projects. This year, we worked together on creating stories for the AA Yom Kippur Appeal as well as elements to create a more dynamic High Holidays experience for the congregation.

This was a very fulfilling opportunity to work on making everybody’s High Holiday experience more special during these difficult times.

Jacob and I love to give back to the community that has been so giving to us. It is our love for community and the visual arts that has made our friendship so gratifying and we are both lucky our paths have crossed. It is friendships like this that make me realize how wonderful it is to be a part of the AA family. I always love meeting new members at AA and I have met most of them while working with Jacob. I look forward to finding new projects to work on and new ways to continue to be part of the AA community.

Rebbe’s Tish

By Rabbi Hillel Norry A Personal Redemption

Tradition guides us to drink four cups of wine at the seder, each one symbolic of a particular I once read a quote that really had meaning for aspect of the universal me. I don’t know who wrote it, but it said, “We exodus experience. I don’t meet people by accident. They are meant to suspect that, in some cross our path for a reason.” In many ways, this Jewish households, is the best way to describe my professional and there are those who are personal relationship with Jacob Ross. asleep sometime before the fourth cup is Jacob is a talented filmmaker who has recently poured. It’s like the moved back to Atlanta. Even though he is an youngest child at the Atlanta native, the landscape had changed seder. But the fourth dramatically since he moved back home from cup is the cup of redemption and renewal living in Israel. We met at an AJC ACCESS event geulah. We Jews don’t put much time into Making Our Way to the Promised Land • 22

thinking about redemption beyond the exodus story. There was one great historic redemption - God redeemed us from Egyptian slavery. We recall our national redemption every day in tefillah, but, since we don’t really worry about being ‘saved,’ we rarely consider our personal geulah.

The Exodus story and the Haggadah both present the moment of redemption as a moment of conflict, between Pharaoh and Moses, God, and Egypt. At the end of the Haggadah, we declare “God, pour out Your wrath on those who do not know You.” And sing triumphantly of our return to Israel. Redemption is liberation from something, and is visualized as a physical movement from one place to another.

I believe that this is a vital reminder at the end of the Haggadah, and an important touchstone worthy of its own cup of wine. Our national redemption from slavery, and our national renewal through the State of Israel (next year in Jerusalem), are foundational points of Jewish self-definition. We are sometimes too hesitant or constrained in celebrating our victories and our journey from Egypt to Israel.

This year, in addition to thanking God for our communal victories, let’s also consider our own personal redemption.

Bob Marley famously sang: “Emancipate yourself from mental slavery, none but ourselves can free our minds.”

The Haggadah is not only a history lesson but also a map to our inner emancipation story.

Elijah is invoked, not as a Biblical prophet, but as a personal guide and helper. This is the essential charge of the commandment, in each generation to “see ourselves, as if we, too were liberated.”

This year, you can add these questions to the standard seder questions, and consider: Where is my personal Egypt? My pharaoh? What is my ‘mental slavery?’ From what/whom am I trying to emancipate myself? Who could be an Elijah for me? What role does God play in my own journey from slavery to freedom? What thoughts and ideas do I hold on to which prevent me from being more free? What does my personal geulah look like?

Chag Sameach. L’chaim.

23 • Making Our Way to the Promised Land

Steeped in traditional Jewish worship, Rabbi Norry has developed a philosophy of spiritual practice that draws inspiration from creative arts, martial arts, and other spiritual traditions. A scholar of both ancient and contemporary meditation and rituals, he is widely recognized as a scholar and dynamic motivational speaker. He is currently the interim rabbi for B’nai Zion in Chattanooga, TN. The Rebbe’s Tish is a space for our congregation’s rabbis to share some insight into the Passover Seder.

We hope you will bring some of these ideas to your own Passover Tish (Table), sharing the wisdom and meaning of the holiday.

Cup 5 Elijah's Cup T

he fifth cup is filled with Aspiration. This is reminiscent of Elijah’s cup which represents a dream of a world not yet realized. Just like Elijah, who is to herald the coming of the Messianic Age, our fifth section in this newsletter encourages us to dream about what our community can be. We are always in a moment of becoming. Our aspirations are not signals of our present shortcomings but instead, they act as a reminder of the great adventure we can have ahead if we allow ourselves to dream.

Annsley Klehr and Rebecca Sokol The Beauty of Kesher

Each Sunday morning, parents overhear their students try to extract meaning from what they learn and apply it to their lives. Several weeks ago, after learning about ometz lev, (loosely translated as ‘courage’), some of the students shared their own ometz lev. One child reported, “I used my ometz lev to cross a wooden bridge.”

This kindergarten child brings to life a Jewish value and recognizes that he was courageous by overcoming his own fear to walk across a bridge.

Sharon recalls ‘sitting in’ on a class of K - 2nd graders while the students shared how they experienced sukkat shalom, a sense of peace in their lives. During uncertain times like these, the Jewish value of sukkat shalom helps students recognize beauty and find peace. Some students found sukkat shalom in a corner of their room while others expressed finding it with a parent or sibling.

The Education Committee, along with our new Director of Education, Sharon Graetz, continue to explore and re-imagine the vision that is Kesher. Kesher continues to help children process while also growing and changing with the needs of This year presented Sharon and the Kesher our children and those of our world. Kesher families with a daunting task. Sharon was hired helps our children see the beauty of themselves as a director to take Kesher in a new direction, and our community as they process and grow; one that would engage the curiosity of our changing with their evolving needs as they children and their growing Jewish identities. interact with the larger world. We hope to see Thinking on her feet, she re-envisioned Kesher continued enrollment and vested interest from as the supplemental Jewish education program our AA family. that could now support the needs of our children virtually. Sharon met the Covid challenge with Annsley Klehr and Rebecca Sokol reconnected and determination and passion, introducing the kids became fast friends while serving on a former AA to a virtual, hands-on curriculum that inspires Education Committee. Both Annsley and Rebecca social-emotional growth through a Jewish lens. are active in the Synagogue and sit on several other committees. Annsley has two children in Kesher, a

Making Our Way to the Promised Land • 24

second grade son and a sixth grade daughter. Rebecca has a first grade daughter and a sixth grade daughter.

Both families are beginning to prepare for Bat Mitzvahs in the coming year.

Mark Stern I was sitting in the third row of Ellman Chapel on the semi-soft cushions and the old dark wood pews, looking up at my 13-year-old daughter (who is now 25!). It was the Thursday before her Bat Mitzvah and she was reading Torah in front of me. At that moment, I was more present than I had been all month. It was in that moment that the beauty of my Judaism, the beauty of my shul and the beauty of my family came together.

I took a breath and took it all in. Yes, I was thinking about l’dor v’dor, but it wasn’t the past so much as the future and the potential I saw up on the dais before me.

This chapel, this synagogue, meant so much to me in that moment. I had my family around me, but I also had my shul around me, enveloping us in the love and beauty of the moment. And it was not just this moment, but all of the little shul moments, and being a part of something greater leading up to this point, that made this experience so special to me. This, to me, is the beauty of our shul; this to me is what I want our shul to be for all involved.

As we enter this Passover season, I wish for our shul that we continue to innovate and create and nurture an environment where our children and our children’s children grow up with shul being an integral part to their maturation as children, young adults, and adults alike in our community.

The added depth that shul brings to our daily lives in both the social and spiritual spheres adds a richness to life that makes it meaningful in a way that is unique and special.

Just as Miriam’s cup is filled with water, symbolic of water as the basis of what nourishes 25 • Making Our Way to the Promised Land

our physical life, the Ahavath Achim Synagogue provides the nourishment for our spiritual and communal life.

Mark is a multigenerational member of AA. His parents were married in Rabbi Epstein’s study in the early 1960s. His children have grown up in the soul and Tamar, and he hopes the next generation of Sterns go through their milestones at the soul too.

Gerry Benjamin

will all be proud.

Notwithstanding the impact of Covid-19 upon ‘normal’ synagogue operations during this past year, I have great optimism that the steps currently being taken proactively by our officers, board members, clergy, professional staff, and volunteers alike will propel AA forward in a manner such that we

Not a month has gone by since I started my term of office when I have not received a call, email, or hand-written note from one or more of our congregants expressing appreciation for a recent act of kindness provided by a member of our Chesed Committee. While the simple act of checking in on a member of our AA family experiencing illness, in need of transportation, or simply experiencing isolation may seem rather ordinary, these demonstrations of caring reinforce the comfort that comes from feeling part of a family, in this case our AA family.

Family members frequently have differences.

How such differences are perceived, discussed, and frequently reconciled (or not), speak to the unique nature of family. It is my sincere hope that each of our AA family members will approach different points of view with respect for such differences, while engaging in constructive discussions that promote both learning and greater understanding. The richness of our AA family members’ differences has long contributed to the unique fabric of our congregation. I hope this phenomenon never ceases to exist.

Prior to the start of my term as President, I did not fully appreciate the vast array of committees, programs, and initiatives AA undertakes annually, touching so many of our congregants in so many ways. Wherever your interests may lie, be it spirituality, social justice, adult education, or the cultural arts, AA offers something for everyone. The ambitious breadth of our mission, however, does not come without cost.

The level of generosity that has been demonstrated by our congregants over the past few years has been extraordinary. Despite our elongated Capital Campaign, I am cautiously optimistic that we soon will embark upon the long-awaited modernization of our beloved sanctuary, transforming this sacred space into a more contemporary and intimate setting, yet preserving the flexibility to house large citywide gatherings. With more than 90% of all Capital Campaign pledges now fully collected, I believe we are well positioned, at last, to initiate this exciting project.

As I look ahead, putting in place a permanent endowment, to ensure Ahavah Achim’s financial viability for future generations to come, has become an imperative.

Leveraging the recent generosity of Sanford Orkin and his family in endowing our AA Senior Rabbinical Chair, in combination with a host of additional indicated testamentary and lifetime gifts from select AA family members in connection with our community’s ongoing Create a Jewish Legacy Campaign, positions us nicely as we head out on our way to establishing a much needed $10,000,000+ permanent endowment. Each of you will be hearing more about this vision in the months to come, and I sincerely hope that you will allow us to partner with you in exploring practical and tax efficient methods to accomplish your philanthropic objectives, by including Ahavath Achim in your long-term planning.

While the past year has certainly been both challenging and enlightening, I am extremely grateful to be both surrounded and guided by our past president, Mark Cohen, and a talented and committed group of fellow officers and board members who, I am sure, will carry our congregation forward for decades to come following my term of service. Thank you for

allowing me the honor of serving as your congregation’s President.

Chag Sameach.

Rebbe’s Rish

By Rabbi Chaim Listfield The Cup of Elijah Eliyahu hanavi (Elijah the prophet) lived 2,900 years ago. But he never died. We read in II Kings, Chapter 2, “Elijah went up by a whirlwind into heaven.”

There he waits, until God sends him back to us so he can announce the coming of the Messiah.

With Elijah biding his time in heaven, we Jews think of him as potentially ubiquitous. He might show up anytime, anywhere. Thus, every time we recite the Birkat hamazon, we ask God to send us Elijah.

At every brit milah, we set aside a chair for Elijah.

And, as we prepare for Pesach, we are reminded that, at the Seder, we pour a cup of wine for Elijah.

There are two reasons that we invite Elijah for Pesach. The obvious one is that Pesach celebrates our past redemption from slavery in Egypt, and so, isn’t Pesach the ideal time for our ultimate redemption into the Messianic era? Good question!

Now the other reason for inviting Elijah. We are mandated to drink four cups of wine in honor of the four verbs of redemption. There is, however, a fifth verse: “And I will bring you into the land which I swore to give to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob; I will give it to you for a possession.

I am the Lord” (Exodus 6:8). The question is whether this, too, is part of the emancipation from Egypt and, therefore, should we drink a fifth cup of wine?

Our rabbis weren’t sure. And so, they split the difference: Pour a cup of wine - but don’t drink it. When Elijah does come, he will tell us Making Our Way to the Promised Land • 26

whether the fifth cup really is part of the Seder obligation or if it’s just a scheme of the kosher wine industry (just kidding).

What I ask you to notice in this is Elijah’s versatility. As the harbinger of the Messiah he has an important role in history. He’ll announce that our vexatious human travails are ending, in order to transition into something much more agreeable. In addition, he has an important role in Jewish learning. The man is a super-rabbi. He will answer the questions that even our gaonim (geniuses) couldn’t resolve.

My Pesach wish for you is that we appreciate both aspects of Elijah. I mean - this year in particular - may we ponder the intractable difficulties of history; and may we further our own study of Jewish laws and traditions so that we continue to grow in mind and in spirit.

These are two lessons that I glean from this unique prophet of Israel. Friends, I guess it’s good to live forever. What a role model you can be!

The Rebbe’s Tish is a space for our congregation’s rabbis to share some insight into the Passover Seder.

We hope you will bring some of these ideas to your own Passover Tish (Table), sharing the wisdom and meaning of the holiday.

The Inside View

By Barry Herman Jewish Legacy Ahavath Achim is fortunate to share a storied and rich history.

And we continue to play a vital and important role in the Jewish Community on Atlanta.

In order to continue to fulfill this important role, we need to plan and invest in our financial future. One of the most impactful and meaningful ways is to do this is through our endowment. Several years ago, Ahavath Achim made the decision to participate in an innovative 27 • Making Our Way to the Promised Land

program called Create a Jewish Legacy. The program was a partnership, originally conceived

by The Jewish Federation of Greater Atlanta, designed to encourage local synagogues and Jewish organizations to strengthen their financial standing with bequests and other testamentary giving opportunities.

In the years since Ahavath Achim joined the program, over thirty of our congregants, including current officers and past presidents, have committed to leave a legacy, naming Ahavath Achim as a beneficiary in their estate plans. We want to thank all of those who made initial bequests to that campaign as we work towards ensuring AA’s future for generations to come.

Leaving a bequest is a powerful way to express your faith and values far into the future. With no loss of current income, many of our congregants choose to illustrate their deep commitment to Ahavath Achim through their wills or other testamentary gifts. These gifts may include naming Ahavath Achim as a beneficiary to an existing life insurance policy or retirement account or establishing a gift annuity or charitable trust for the Synagogue’s benefit.

There are a variety of ways for you to leave your Jewish legacy and sustain Ahavath Achim for future generations.

Through your legacy gift, you ensure that our many traditions and our newer innovations alike will be passed l’dor v’dor… from generation to generation. We would also very much like to include and recognize you as a member of the Legacy Society to show our appreciation for your generosity.

For more information on how to make your legacy gift, please feel free to contact me at 404.603.5746 or bherman@aasynagogue.org.

Thank you in advance for your consideration.

B’Shalom.

The Inside View is a space for our synagogue staff to share some of the insight, wisdom, and resources that make our synagogue life vibrant.

Cup 6 Miriam's Cup T

he sixth cup is filled with Inclusion. Miriam’s cup is a recent addition to our Passover seder experience. Noticing the exclusion of the women from the Passover seder experience, Miriam’s cup was introduced to give voice to those who have sat quietly for generations waiting to be noticed, waiting to be acknowledged, waiting for their opportunity to contribute to the spiritual community we are trying to create. In this section we asked what a community that opened its doors and arms to everybody might look like; if we were to abandon our prejudices and our privilege, looking towards people who were once considered ‘the other’ to be full and equal partners in leading our community forward.

Shelly Dollar

true. I know that when I walk into our synagogue, I belong. I have purpose. I both give and receive.

Ahavath Achim’s mission statement begins, “AA cultivates a Jewish community of purposeful belonging.”

This statement alone speaks volumes. Most of us find ways to connect easily with one another.

We participate in services; we dine together for Shabbat; we congregate for events (either in person or Covid-style over Zoom) and dig in the dirt creating a makom kadosh. We study together as children and adults and share our combined experiences freely with one another.

But, what about people that exist on the periphery, where our regular services and activities create challenge rather than a place of belonging? How do we engage people who are home bound, suffer with physical and emotional challenges, have developmental disabilities, or are hearing or vision impaired? How do we not only welcome, but support, the family with a child with autism? The list is much longer than can fit in this small space. How many people are excluded because there is simply not enough or adequate physical and emotional space for them?

I participate in many committees where connections are formed. The Chesed Committee provides support during challenging times in our lives. The Havurah Initiative creates deep connections and bonds between smaller groups of people, sharing life events and supporting one another during happy and sad times. Greening helps with our shared responsibility to the earth and the good stewardship required to leave a healthy planet for the next generation.

One would think that we were totally successful in fulfilling our mission. For most people, this is

My daughter, Gabby, is one of these people that struggles to belong. She requires a wheelchair.

She is considered non-verbal although she talks non-stop with her own verbiage. She is visually impaired. She is developmentally disabled. She drools.

Our synagogue has accepted this challenge to make sure that everyone is included and belongs and thus has created the Inclusion and Belonging Initiative. We have accepted that we can do better at including people who are currently feeling challenges in taking an active part of our community. We have added to the mission statement with an increased vision stating: “Ahavath Achim Inclusion and Belonging initiative seeks to empower people of all abilities Making Our Way to the Promised Land • 28

by creating physical, emotional and spiritual time congregants were identified by where they space so that all people who want to be part of our – and the generations before them – sat in the community feel welcome.” sanctuary, and new people were either ignored or had their motives for being there questioned. Yes, Our amazing community is welcoming, and everyone knew everyone, and the congregation yet we sometimes overlook and cannot find the was proud of its size and importance in the physical and emotional space for individuals community, but it wasn’t inclusive. with struggles. I look forward to a future time Now, with Eric and other volunteers regularly when our shul is physically set up to easily include people who use wheelchairs and walkers. leading Shabbat morning davening and Judy and A physical space that provides infrastructure other volunteers leading Torah study, we have the to meet the needs of the hearing and visually privilege to hear many voices and points of view. impaired. An emotional space where people with It is amazing to see the depth of talent and the developmental disabilities have an active role in willingness to learn within our congregation. We our services. An understanding community that sing loudly to new tunes, study and debate with knows how to interact with people who are very new teachers and chat easily with newcomers. different from themselves. Where diversity is the There is a spirit of openness to new ideas, and norm and all people, of all abilities, feel welcome even more importantly, to new people, whatever and belong. their background or reason for coming. We are delighted by the diverse voices that are leading Shelly Dollar aspires to create an atmosphere of and teaching, davening, and learning. To us, inclusion and belonging in her home, community, and while they may sound different, the Amens seem shul. As a mother and advocate, her role has expanded louder, more heartfelt, and truly joyful. from her family to her community. Her daughter, Gabby, was the inspiration for the Inclusion and Judy Marx and Eric Miller are long-time active Belonging Initiative. members of the AA community. Eric loves to daven and be ‘Zoom guy,’ and Judy loves Torah study and AA Sisterhood.

Judy Marx and Eric Miller Lots of Voices

inclusive.

We are a mixed family.

Eric was born into the AA community and Judy joined when she moved to Atlanta in her 30s, which means our experiences of inclusion - and exclusion - are very different. What we do share, however, is a deep appreciation for how our congregation has grown to be warm, welcoming, and

It doesn’t seem that long ago that the only voices allowed to be heard in our shul were our spiritual and congregational leaders. Congregants were permitted merely an occasional “Amen.”

The atmosphere was high decorum and quiet respect. Involvement, conversation, or differing opinions were rarely, if ever, encouraged. Long 29 • Making Our Way to the Promised Land

Ava Landrum Smith I consider myself so lucky to have the family that I have. I am the daughter of a conservative Jewish mother and a father who made the choice to convert to Judaism when I was born. I am married to a man of a different faith, and we are raising a beautiful Jewish daughter. We are proud members of Ahavath Achim, the same synagogue where my mother and two beloved aunts grew up.

I haven’t always been proud of my Interfaith family. Growing up, I struggled with feelings of being less of a Jew, of being different. I am so happy to say that in the last five years, those feelings of inadequacy have changed to feelings of pride and gratitude.

I am thankful that my father made the decision in 1986 to convert to Judaism, because it made my mother and her family so happy. I am even more thankful that my husband knows in 2021 that my family, the shul, and our community love him no less for making the decision not to convert to Judaism.

I am proud to be a member of a synagogue that not only accepts my family, but celebrates my husband for the commitment that he has undertaken to raise his children in a faith different from his own. A community that does not shun him for being different, but welcomes him energetically and with love.

deafening to many moderns, because our familiarity with Biblical stories about the exodus from Egypt, which shed light on the many women who were instrumental in the redemption of the Jewish people. In the first chapters of the Book of Exodus, women play a central, heroic role. The first character names in the first chapters of the Book of Exodus are two Hebrew midwives, Shifra and Puah. Miriam, Moses’ sister, and Moses’ mother were also crucial figures in our collective redemption. Even Pharaoh’s daughter is honored for her remarkable kindness when she finds baby Moses floating down the Nile river.

The introduction of Miriam’s cup not only offers an important acknowledgment but recalls the continuing journey of our Jewish people through When I was called to the Torah as a Bat Mitzvah the wilderness. Unlike the other five cups on the twenty years ago, my father’s parents were not table, Miriam’s cup is filled with water instead of permitted to join us on the bimah. At Ahavath wine. During our journey, the Jews were blessed Achim in 2020, my husband and I were invited not only with manna falling from the sky but with to open the ark on a beautiful Saturday morning natural springs bubbling up from the ground.

Shabbat service.

When Miriam eventually dies during the long journey through the wilderness, the Torah notes We, as a congregation, have so much to gain that the springs immediately dried up. Miriam’s and to learn from the inclusion of families and members of different faith backgrounds. With our cup offers our Passover experience an opportunity to acknowledge the women in our stories who efforts to make all feel welcomed and included, have meant so much but were often marginalized. our community is growing into an even more In addition, the water reminds us of the many sacred and beautiful place. I consider it an honor blessings that spring up, seemingly from to be a part of that growth. nowhere, which nourish and enrich our lives.

Miriam’s cup stands on our table as a reminder Ava is a proud third generation member of Ahavath and reflection of so much in our life which we Achim. She lives in Marietta with her husband, take for granted. daughter, and two terriers.

Rebbe’s Tish

By Rabbi Laurence Rosenthal Miriam’s Cup

The Rebbe’s Tish is a space for our congregation’s rabbis to share some insight into the Passover Seder.

We hope you will bring some of these ideas to your own Passover Tish (Table), sharing the wisdom and meaning of the holiday.

In our modern time, the introduction of Miriam’s Cup at the Passover Seder was the blending of our ancient rituals (the Passover seder) with our modern sensibilities… acknowledgment of women’s contribution to our communal experience. The absence of women in the Passover experience is Making Our Way to the Promised Land • 30

Passover FAQ Be’ur Chametz Friday Morning, March 26 The burning of chametz should be carried out before noon on Friday, March 26. Then we recite the Be’ur Chametz declaration. From this moment on, the entire house should be ‘Pesachdik.’ No chametz dishes, utensils or pots may be utilized.

Proper Passover Observance in the Home What is Chametz?

If wheat, barley, oats, rye or spelt come in contact with water after being cut off from the ground, it becomes fermented or chametz. The term chametz also applies to dishes and utensils that have been in contact with chametz food during the year.

What is Matzah?

Matzah is made from the same five grains listed above as chametz. But, unlike chametz, matzah is one of these same flours mixed with water and baked in less than 18 minutes. Matzah is both the bread of affliction and the bread of freedom Why must we clean our house thoroughly?

The rule against chametz during Pesach applies not only to eating but also to enjoyment (hana’ah), and so involves removing all the chametz from one’s home. No chametz is even allowed to be in the possession of a Jew during Pesach. To facilitate this cleaning, the following rituals are part of Pesach preparations (the text for the ceremonies can be found in a Haggadah).

Bedikat Chametz Thursday Evening, March 25 We search for chametz using a candle, feather, and disposable spoon. We renounce ownership of any chametz that we may have inadvertently missed.

Mechirat Chametz We are not always able to destroy or get rid of all the chametz. It may be economically disastrous.

So the rabbis ordained a symbolic sale and later buy-back of chametz.

What foods require rabbinic supervision?

Matzah, noodles, candies, cakes, beverages, canned and processed foods, butter, jam, cheese, jelly, relishes, wines, liquors, salad oils, canned vegetables, gelatin, shortening and vinegar. The Kosher L’Pesach label or tag without rabbinic signature is of no value. This applies to products made in America, Europe, or Israel.

What foods can not be used during Pesach?

All these foods are considered chametz and can not be used during Pesach: leavened bread, cakes, biscuits, crackers, cereals, wheat, barley, oats, rye, spelt, rice, peas, dried beans and liquids which contain ingredients made from grain alcohol.

What foods require no certification?

Pure, natural coffee-instant or ground, sugar (not confectioners or powdered brown sugar), saccharin, tea, salt, pepper, vegetables (dried beans and peas are forbidden, string beans are permitted), pure garlic, onion powder, dried fruit, honey, Hershey’s cocoa, pure unadulterated safflower or soy bean oil, nuts (except legumes), dish detergents and scouring powders. These items should be bought before Pesach and remain unopened until Pesach. Fruits and vegetables are permitted for Pesach when packaged in water or their own juices. Avoid cans or packages containing added ingredients.

Can we eat legumes (kitniyot)?

In the fall of 2015, the Rabbinical Assembly’s Committee on Jewish Law and Standards passed

31 • Making Our Way to the Promised Land

two responsa which permit the consumption of legumes (kitnyot) by Ashkenazim. For specific guidance, please consult the rabbis.

Can tuna and salmon be used?

Oil packaging introduces an uncertain element possibly contain­ing additional ingredients.

Therefore, use the “packed in spring water” variety and purchase it before Pesach. Tuna with vegetable broth is not permitted.

Can milk without Hechsher be used?

With modern production, there is little chance for milk to contain any chametz. Milk produced before Pesach is permitted, so buy milk before noon on Friday, March 26. Milk may be frozen.

Can I continue to take my medicine?

Since chametz binders are used in many pills, the following guide­lines are followed: if the medicine is required for life-sustaining therapy, it may be used for Pesach. In all cases, caplets are preferable.

Detergents If permitted during the year, powdered and liquid detergents do not require a “Kosher L’Pesach” label.

Pots and Pans Pots and pans wholly made of metal and used for cooking purposes only (not for baking) must first be scrubbed thoroughly, cleaned and completely immersed in boiling water. Pots should have water boiled in them which will overflow the rim. Utensils should not be used for a period of at least 24 hours between the cleaning and immersion in boiling water.

Tie a string around the utensil and im­merse completely in boiling water. For small items, a cord-netting can be used to dip several at once.

Microwave Ovens These present a special case since the inside surfaces do not become hot. We recommend a thor­ough cleaning and then placing a dish of water in the oven and allowing it to boil.

Which Utensils Can Be “Kashered?”

Dishwasher Thoroughly scour with boiling water and then run it empty for two cycles, one with soap and one without.

The process of kashering utensils depends on how the utensils are used. According to halacha, leaven can be purged from a utensil by the same process in which it was adsorbed in the utensil.

Therefore, utensils used in cooking are kashered by boiling. Those used only for cold foods are kashered by rinsing.

Ovens Every part that comes in contact with food must be scrubbed and cleaned thoroughly. Then the oven should be heated as hot as possible for half an hour. If there is a broil setting, use it. If it has a self-cleaning cycle, use it, too. Continuous cleaning ovens must be kashered in the same manner as regular ovens.

Earthenware/China China, pottery, etc., can not be kashered.

However, fine trans­lucent china which has not been used for over a year may be used if scoured and cleaned in hot water.

Silverware Silverware made entirely of metal may be kashered by scouring thoroughly and then immersing in boiling water. They are then ‘Pesachdik’ and parve.

Glassware All table glassware is permit­ted after thorough scouring. There is also a practice of soaking glassware for 72 hours before Pesach.

Electrical Appliances If the parts that come in contact with chametz are removable, they can be kashered in the appropriate way. If metal, follow the rules for metal utensils. If the parts are not removable, the appliance cannot be koshered. All exposed parts should be cleaned thoroughly.

Refrigerator Remove all chametz food and opened pack­ages.

Clean thoroughly with boiling water and scour the racks. Frozen chametz foods should be put in a special closed-off section and should be sold with chametz.

Making Our Way to the Promised Land • 32

Tables, Closets, Counters If used with chametz, they should be thor­oughly cleaned and covered. They may then be used.

Kitchen Sink If used with chametz, thoroughly clean and cover.

Then it may be used. If, however, dishes are to be soaked in a porcelain sink, then a dish basin must be used.

Chametz and Non-Passover Utensils Non-Passover dishes, pots and chametz (whose ownership has been transferred) should be separated, locked up, covered and marked to prevent accidental use.

Mechirat Chametz and Maot Chitim The Torah commands us that chametz shall not be found in your dwelling places during the Festival of Passover. The literal meaning is that all chametz food and utensils must be cast away.

This poses a great financial hardship. Hence, we ‘sell’ the chametz to a non-Jew who would then own the chametz for the duration of the holiday.

It is customary to appoint an agent, usually a rabbi, to sell the chametz and then repurchase it.

It is also customary to include a contribution to our community’s Maot Chitim (wheat money).

Maot Chitim is an ancient custom in which Jews provide funds to other Jews in need for the purchase of Passover food. Inspired by the passage from the Haggadah, “All who are hungry, let them enter and eat; all who are in need, let them come celebrate Pesach,” Jewish Family and Career Services (JF&CS) supports a group of dedicated volunteers who have taken on the responsibility of Maot Chitim in Atlanta. They coordinate distribution of food and financial assistance for Jewish families.

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To appoint a rabbi and contribute to Maot Chitim, please complete the online form at aasyn.org/ sell-chametz. Sale of chametz will not be accepted after 8 am on Friday, March 26.

Baruch Dayan Emet May God comfort their loved ones along with the mourners of Zion and Jerusalem.

Exalted, compassionate God, comfort the bereaved families of this congregation. Help all of us to perpetuate the worthy values of the lives of those no longer with us. We lovingly recall the members of our congregation and other loved ones who have passed away since the beginning of 5781. They have a special place in our hearts. We pray this day that all who have sustained the loss of loved ones in the months gone by be granted comfort and strength.

We now remember: Sara Alterman Louis Bates Charlene Berman Rita Bessen Richard Born Judy Bressler Lillian Brodey Allan Carp Helen Center Pearl Cohen Sarabel Cohen Marshal Elovich Madalyn Eplan Phyllis Maslia Greenblatt Karen Hartman Edith Kates Theodore Katz Rhona Landis Jean Lawson Elaine Levin Menachem Limor Daniel Lippitt Frank Mandel Ruth Rauzin Arvin Reingold Gerilyn Robbins Carolyn Rose Hymie Sandler Barbara Schatten Roslyn Schloss Lena Sisselman Franceen Tillem Cheryl Tuttle Irma Weiner Marvin Wender Jerry Wiesenberg Ethel Young

Making Our Way to the Promised Land • 34

Thank You to Our Generous Donors Donations listed below were given between July 1, 2020 and February 5, 2021 and include tribute donations, Chai Campaign donations, Yom Kippur Appeal donations, and other miscellaneous donations. Donations made to the Capital Campaign, Rabbis' Discretionary Funds, and Sisterhood are not included. We apologize in advance if anyone was excluded or placed in the wrong donation level.

Chai

($1 - $499) Julie and David Abes Aleece Ackerman Sheryl Adair Douglas Adair Sandra Adair Denise Adelman Toni and Joel Adler Ahavath Achim Sisterhood Janet and Julius Alembik Genevieve and Nannette Alexander Ann and Herb Alperin Elizabeth Alterman Elizabeth Alterman and Joy Grodman Marty and Richard Alterman Judith and Samuel Appel Caren and Larry Appel Aubrey Armento Julie and Mark Arnold Phyllis and Eliot Arnovitz Fran and Jack Arogeti Juliet Asher Frances Astren Rosalind Aussenberg Cherie and Gary Aviv Ellen Azrael Bernice Bach Julie Badger Kenny Baer Terri and Laurence Bagen Nancy and Josh Bailin Claire Blaser Pat and Jack Balser Lisa and Joe Bankoff Elaine Bankoff Louise and Stanley Baum Marcia and Emil Baumrind Sara Bess Baumrind Sandra and Larry Baumwald Linda and Bruce Beeber Barbara and Robert Behar Betty Behr Judith and Stan Beiner Josh Belinfante Timothy Benbow Barbara Benoit Penny Berk 35 • Making Our Way to the Promised Land

Dolores Berlin Candy and Stephen Berman Julia and Terry Bernath Jason Berner Caryn and Jason Bernstein Peggy and Rick Bernstein Diane and Marvin Bernstein Goldie and Louis Bertone Diane Bessen and Steven Weiner Susan and Stephen Blank Toby Block and Jerrold Greenberg Lois Blonder Mona Blumenthal Elaine and Jerome Blumenthal Barbara Bock Rita and Arthur Bodner Sara Bonin Phyllis and Melvin Boros Marilyn Bravman Susan Bravman Margaret and Joel Breiner Robin and Yaron Brill Robin Brodsky Rachael and William Brown Linda Brown Marcia and Bruce Brown Amu and Mark Bubes Leonard Burnham Elaine Carp Stephenie Cattonar and Jerome Drean Ben Cavalier Marla and Michael Chaliff Rufus A. Chambers Katherine “Kitty” and Ezra Cohen Judy and Ronald Cohen Judith and George Cohen Yvonne and Jack Cohen Benita and Ralph Cohen Heidi and Jan Cohen Adrienne Cohen and Kahlil Iny Marcy Cohen Fern and Harry Cohen Lisa and Sherman Cohen Isadore Cohen Avital and Michael Cohen Sarah Cohen Barbara and Alan Cohen Melissa (Lisa) and Walter Cohen Diane and Harold Cohen Carol and Lawrence Cooper

Suzanne Corbett Evelyn and Milton Crane Stanley Cristol Tyler Curtain and Jay D’Lugin Brenda and Stanley Daniels Gail Cohn and Harvey Danits Susan and Darrell Mahler Taylor Davis Robin and Scott Decrispino Christi and Todd DeZoort Linda and Michael Diamond Bryan Dinner Shelly and Allen Dollar Harriet and Sam Draluck Laura and Myron Dwoskin Margery Eden Laura and Harold Einstein Suzanne and Seth Eisenberg Judith Elis Debra Elovich Marian Ely Elise and Jay Empel Ilene Engel Marcia Epstein Marjorie Epstein Linda and Abram Estroff Jessica and Benjamin Ezrine Robert Faneuil Evelyn and Terry Feldman Muriel Feldman Arlene and Stanley Ferman Sherry Feuer Diana Fiedotin Patricia and Robert Fine Daniel Finer Rachel Finglass Neal Fink Deborah and Jamison Fink Marcy and Scott Fisher Donna and Mark Fleishman Lori and Jordan Forman Sara and Robert Franco Salvatore Franco Barry Frankel Nancy and Wayne Freedman Genie and Douglas Freedman Anita and Sidney Freedman Viki and Paul Freedman Sandi and Gerald Friedman Sylvia Friedman Sheldon Friedman

Linda and Matthew Fryer Karen and Bruce Gadlin Lisa Galanti and Hal Rabinowitz Naomi and Christopher Gargano Herbert Gelbwachs Barbara Geldbart Cheryl and Roger Gelder Renie and David Geller Darriel and Ronald Gerson Melinda Gertz Anne and Brad Gillman Madeleine and Kenneth Gimbel Riedy and Stephen Gimpelson Terry and Paul Glasser Carolyn Gold Barbara Friedland Gold Judith and Charlie Goldberg Cindy and Howard Goldberg Elsa and Jay Goldberg Arleen and Terry Golden Hershene and Alan Goldman Marni and Daniel Goldman Jill and Ken Goldstein Lynn Goldstein Elise and Philip Goldstein Eve and Joel Goldstein Beth and Adam Goldstein Bernard Goldstein Karen and Steven Goldstein Susan and Neil Gordon Nancy and Mike Greenberg Lauren Gross Heleen and Steven Grossman Christine Guba and Thomas Green Mrs. Sig Guthman Jr. Emilr Hass Sherry Habif Charles Hacker Renie and Frederick Halperin Sharon and Steven Hamburger Marian and Brian Hardwick Saul Harold Fran and Edward Harrell Amy Harris and Paul Weinman Gail Harris Marjorie Harris Natalie and Marvin Harris Beatrice Harman Lee Hebner and Kenneth Nassau Edna Helfer Sheree and Chris Henderson Laura and William Hendrick Helen Hersch Etta Hirsch Gladys Hirsch Michele Hirsh Allison and Darrell Holmes Gail and Gilbert Holzer Jane Horowitz Bick Max Intro Emily Isaacs

Nancy and Joel Isenberg Michael and Martin Itzkowitz Elise and Herb Jacobs Marcia and Richard Jacobson Wyetta Angela Johnson Jeanne Johnson-Whatley Mira Josowicz Susan and Robert Kahn Rhalda Khan Suzanne and Leonard Kantsiper Frances M. Kaplan Pauline Kaplan Shelley and Scott Kaplan Randy Kaplan and Paul Orlando Sally and Philip Kaplan Estelle Karp Kathy and Rick Karsten Catherine and Daivd Kasriel Rachel and Benjamin Katz Adam Kaufman Yakira Kellman Soumaya Khalifa Jenny Kimbrell Linda Klein William Kleinman Nancy Klenberg Michele and Mark Klopper Barry Koffler Sara and Ross Kogon Devra and Walter Kolesky Elissa and Harris Konter Roslyn and Darryl Konter Meghan and Todd Koransky Dorothy Krafcheck Phyllis Kraft Lana and Richard Krebs Sharron Kreindler Lori and Lee Krinsky Gayle Krugman Susan Kupferberg and Richard Mitchell Janet and Hilton Kupshik Mildred and Martin Kwatinetz Marilyn Landau Linda and Kerry Landis Amy and James Landrum Alyson and Brian Lapes Janet Lavine and Rick Williams Lauri and Steven Lavine Jean Lawson Rachel Leeder Bryner Leeder Michael Leff Helen Lefkoff and Robert Faulk Liane Levetan Lindy and Myron Levey Debbie and Eddie Levin Phyllis and Morton Levine Rita and Michael LeVine Esther and Michael Levine S. Jarvin Levison

Susan Levitas Peggy and Maurice Levitt Tamar and Josh Levy Myrtle Lewin Lori Lewis Miriam Lewis Wendy and Steven Light Peggy Lindenbaum and Edward Krebs Esther D Lipman “Dede” Patsy and Bill Little Carla and Ralph Lovell Shaena and Mark Macsween Karon and John P. Maguire Peggy and Lloyd Marbach The Marcus Family Office Charlotte and Joseph Marcus Rhoda and Stephen Margolis Mindy and Andrew Margolis Marsha Marks Natalie and Rober Marmer Jeanie and Albert Marx Norma Marx Carla and Allan Maurer Robert May Suzanne Mazel Berta and Lev Mebel Lee Mendel Joanne Mendel Caki and Larry Mendel Jaqueline Metzel Mr. and Mrs. Nathan Metzger Michelle Migdow Elaine Millen Ivan Millender Lori and Wayne Miller Cathy and Ronald Miller Eric Miller Judith Milstead Glenda and David Minkin Julie and Alan Minsk Shirley and Alvin Minsk Sheila and Donald Minsk Julie and Jeffrey Mokotoff Jackie and Tony Montag Zelda and Charles Moog Susan Moray Jennie and Macy Moret Lynn and Joel Moscow Rosalie Muskatt Keith Nash Henry Nathan Linda Nathanson-Lippit and Alan Lippitt Laura Nelson Shari Neumann Claire and Geoff Nolan Bailey Olim Diane and Walter Orenstein Kenny Orkin Marcelle and Allan Oxman Making Our Way to the Promised Land • 36

Caryl and Robert Paller Hilly Panovka Lyda G. Parker Annice Parker Wendy Pearlman Martha Perlmutter Myra and Milko Pesa Lauren and Bram Philipson Suzanne Silvers and Stephen Phillips Robert Pitchersky Barbara and Richard Planer Tally and Stanford Plavin Ann and Morris Podber Barbara and Leon Pomerance Patricia Popky Dara and Arthur Povlot Deborah Pugh Lynn and Glenn Rainbow Brenda Raymon Lynn and Lewis Redd Sharon and Mark Reich Vickie and Bruce Reisman Susan and Andrew Reisner Lois and Alan Reitzfeld Charlotte and Elliott Rich Anita and Steve Rich Michelle and Craig Rich Lori Rich Shirley Rich Kelly and Craig Richman Faye and Scott Rickoff Susan and David Rifkin Max Ringelheim Renee and Robert Rinzler Karen and Scot Rittenbaum Julie and Gary Roberts Janet and Seymour Rosen Ruth and Mark Rosenberg Jane Rosenblum Lynn Rosenfeld Joanne Rosenthal Abby and Larry Rosenthal Brooke and Laurence Rosenthal Jill and Robert Rosner Susan and David Rosner Robyn and Douglas Ross Fran Rothenberg Judith and Arnold Rubenstein Vivian Rubenstein Ralph Sacks Gail and Barry Saloff Ruth Sandler Karen and Michael Saul Shirley and Brian Saul Gilda Saul Deborah and Steven Saul Roslyn Saul Virginia and Milton Saul Barbara Saul Fleming Cathy and Jeff Schaffer 37 • Making Our Way to the Promised Land

Janet Schtten and Richard Friedman Helen Scherrer-Diamond and David Diamond Susan and Stuart Schlansky LL Schloss Sherry Schneider Temme and Allan Schooler Cynthis Berger and Howard Schulman Rebecca Schumacher Gladys and Robert Schussel Carol and Scott Schwab Anne and William Schwartz Joan and Alan Schwartz Jill and Joseph Segal Betty and Kenneth Seitz Linda and Stephen Selig Sherie Shapiro Sherry Shaw Brian Shemaria Judy and Stanley Sherman Mary Louise Sherman Marsha Sherman Marilyn and Joshua Shubin Betty Ann Shusterman Marianne Shutzberg Karen and Mark Siegel Richard Siegel Eileen and Milton Silberstein Barry Silver Nancy and Gerry Silverboard Diana Silverman Saba and Victor Silverman Martha and Barry Silverman Gloria Smiley Sam Smith Bethany and Taylor Smith Gary Snyder Gail Solomon Gabby and Mark Spatt Jeff Spatz Rosalind Spector Deborah Spector and Jeffrey Victor Sandy and Bill Spett Marcia Speilberger Philip Stark Karen and Sidney Stark Iris and Benjamin Stein Judy and Stanley Stein Gayle and Toby Steinberg Julie and Brian Stifel Roz and Steve Strauss Miriam Strickman Levitas Lori and Allan Struletz Lynn and Bob Sustak Joanne and Dorn Swerdlin Judith Tager Nica and Lee Tallman Robyn Tanenbaum Emily and Aaron Tanenbaum

Rene Tapia Janet and Harold Task Betsy Teplis Paul Teplis Monica Teplis Abbe and Steve Tobin Heather and Mitchell Tonik Robin Torch Sharon Torreyson Meredith Trubitt and Phil Hanldler Renee and Gary Unell Dena and Stanley Vogel Harold Vrono Jennifer Walker Michelle and Steve Waller Cecile Waronker Susie and Jerry Warshaw Jeffrey Wasserman Lori and Jim Weil Rhonda and Harry Weinberg Adele Wineburgh Irma Weiner Shelly Weininger Becky and Richard Weinman Lauren and David Weinstein Debra Weiss Aletta and Greg Weitz Nanette Wenger Carla and Howard Wertheimer Marlene Wexler Perlman Alan Wexler Susan and Jonathan Winner Karen and Eli Wise Ruth and Herschel Wisebram Irene and Alex Wolchansky Rina Wolfe Lynda Wolfe and Michael Cohen Amy and Brent Wolkin Susan and Larry Wolkin Deborah and David Woodsfellow Neal Yarm Judy Zaban Anita and Barry Zipperman Leona and Donald Zivitz Alyson Zonitch

Patron

($500 - $899) Sheila and David Adelman Jessica Arluck and Douglas Ander Cindy and Bruce Becker Meryl Braunstein and Alan Shenberg Stanley Cohen Allison and Joel Feldman Sam Freidman Beth and Jared Friedman Frances and Stuart Galishoff

Laurie and David Ginburg Marlene and Mark Haber Morris Habif Annsley and Benjamin Klehr Carla Koplin Cohn and Cary Koplin Debra Lang Karen Lansky-Edlin and Andrew Edlin Harold Lefkoff Brooke and Randall Levin Barbara and Elliott Levitas Sandra and Bob London Vicki and Steven Morris Donna and Philip Newman Sara and Mark Papier Ralda and Martin Reish Barbara and Bruce Ribner Bonnie and Gary Richman Barbara Lincoln and Gary Rosenshein Susan and Neil Sandler Merna and Allen Stein Mona and Philip Sunshine Lynn Sussman Jeannie and Bob Tepper Valerie Habif and Neil Wasser Kelly Wilburn Sherri and Robert Wildstein

Bronze

($900 - $1,799) Sandy and Davis Abrams Suzanne and Adam Bressler Linda and Richard Bressler Rachael and Jonathan Colton Erica and Andrew Cozewith Stuart Eizenstat Judith Finkel Robert Fischbach Jody and Ramon Franco Ceila and Donald Gilner Margo and Lawrence Gold Kim and Adam Goldstein Liz and Bobby Goldstein Ruth and Jon Gottlieb Sherry Halpern Caryn Hanrahan and Andy Siegel Barbara and Steven Jacobs Alison and Jeff Kaufman Marilyn and Leslie Kelman Laurie and Michael Kogon Mina and Herman Kotler Marsha and Mark Kozinn Harriet Landau and Nathan Segall Helaine and Andy Lasky Michelle and Jonathan Lerner Jo Pichulik Sally and Alan Pinsker

Judy and Alan Schulman Julie and William Segal Gerald Shulman Debra and Philip Siegel Carla and Arthur Silver Brenda Silverman Debbie Smith and Joel Lobel Tamar and Mark Stern Mark Weinstein Zoe and David Zelby

Silver

($1,800 - $2,399) Lorraine (Cookie) and Fred Aftergut Dorita and Hal Arnold Judy and Joe Balaban Danielle and Jason Cohen Susan and Hadley Engelhard Barbara and Kenneth Feinberg Stacy and Emanuel Fialkow Ruth Gershon and Sanford Cohn Gail and Michael Habif Barbara and Jay Halpern Tanya and Scott Jacobson Marsha and Michael Kalson Dee and Gerald Kline Barbara and George Nathan Brenda and Leon Novak Stephen Oppenheimer Lisa and Hal Philipson Jennifer and Joel Rosenfeld Dorothy Rosenthal and William Nerenberg Marilyn and Stanley Steinberg Cathy and Richard Swerdlin Rebecca and Andrew Zager

Gold

($2,400 - $3,599) Irene Aronin Susan Ellman-Zweig and Arnold Zweig Marlene Gelernter and Abraham (Abe) Besser Lori and Richard Harber Barbara and Alan Kaplan Judy and Martin Kogon Elaine and Alan Kolodkin Deboarh and Jay Levin Nancy and Marshall Levine Sherry and Harry Maziar Rosalie and Carl Rosenthal Joanne and Herbert Singer Jill and Jeffrey Vantosh

Leader

($3,600 - $5,399) Judith Alembik Heyman Family Foundation Lois and Laurence Frank Leon Goldstein Carolyn Oppenheimer Judy and Michael Orkin Harriette Oxman Susan and Ray Schoenbaum Judy and Allen Soden

Benefactor

($5,400 - $9,999) Gary Alembik and Stephen Graves Nikki and Randy Crohn Marianne and Stephen Garber Jennifer Glazer-Malkin Ann Kaplan Beth and Gregg Paradies Lynn and Barry Prusin Donald Reisman Sheila and Larry Wilensky

President's Circle ($10,000 - $19,999)

Ellen Arnovitzand Michael Plasker Tova and Mark Cohen Elisa and Robert Ezor Doris and Martin Goldstein Heidi and Barry Herman Gail Heyman and Lyons Heyman Jr. Betty and Alan Sunshine

Rabbi's Circle ($20,000+)

Vicki and Gerry Benjamin Marilyn Ginsberg-Eckstein Michal and Jack Hillman Stuart Harvey Hillman Sanford Orkin Stanley Srochi

Making Our Way to the Promised Land • 38

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