Atlanta Jewish Times, Vol. XCI No. 9, March 4, 2016

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MARCH 4, 2016 | 24 ADAR I 5776

Mysteries of the AJMF

INSIDE

Calendar ���������������������������������� 2 Candle Lighting ����������������������3 Local News ������������������������������ 4 Opinion ����������������������������������10 Israel News ����������������������������12 Music Festival �����������������������13 Arts ������������������������������������������21 Education ������������������������������ 22 Business �������������������������������� 24 Obituaries ����������������������������� 28 Crossword ����������������������������� 30 Cartoon �����������������������������������31

WILD ESCAPE

SOJOURN’s honoree ponders Purim off Ponce amid a grueling legislative fight to prevent discrimination. Page 6

HOMETOWN PICK

The Marcus JCC searched nationally but found its new CEO in the building. Page 9

UGA WALKOUT

Pro-Israel student groups unite after protesters disrupt a StandWithUs talk. Page 23

SPECIAL NIGHTS

Galas at Congregation Beth Shalom and Chabad of Cobb honor community members and milestones. Pages 26-27

Armed with a music video, catchy Yemenite folk beats and a colorful look, three sisters from southern Israel have become unlikely YouTube sensations. On March 26, A-WA will headline the Atlanta Jewish Music Festival’s main event at Terminal West with Jaffa Road. Read about the trio and other AJMF7 artists in our special pullout section, Pages 13-20

Anti-BDS Bill Passes State Senate

T

he Georgia Senate voted 45-6 Friday, Feb. 26, to bar the state government from doing business with any boycotters of Israel.

Senate Bill 327 makes Georgia one of more than a dozen states that are considering some form of legislative response to the anti-Israel boycott, divestment and sanctions movement. South Carolina and Illinois passed anti-boycott laws last year.

Under S.B. 327, introduced by Sen. Judson Hill (R-Marietta), a company or individual seeking a contract worth at least $1,000 with any state agency would have to certify playing no part in a boycott of

Israel. That’s defined as any action meant to limit commercial relations with Israel or with those doing business in Israel or in Israeli-controlled territories.

In presenting S.B. 327 on the Senate floor, Hill said the growing effort to boycott Israeli-made products “discriminates against Israel and Jews, and I believe that’s wrong.”

No one else spoke about the bill.

Democrats Gail Davenport of Jonesboro, Ed Harbison of Columbus, Harold V. Jones II of Augusta, David Lucas of Macon, Valencia Seay of Riverdale and Freddie Powell Sims of Dawson cast the no votes.

Americans for Peace Now is among the groups opposing such state legislation for offering anti-boycott protection to Jewish settlements in the West Bank.

The bill has about two weeks to win passage in the House this session.

Hill and co-sponsor Sen. Hunter Hill (R-Smyrna) had less success with a proposed constitutional amendment to bar state retirement funds from investing in nations that sponsor terrorism or companies that do business with such nations.

S.R. 725, meant to permanently replace an expired law barring state investment in Iran, stalled in committee. ■

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CALENDAR THURSDAY, MARCH 3

Asking why. The six-session “Jewish Course of Why” begins at noon at the Intown Jewish Academy, 928 Ponce de Leon Ave., Midtown. Tuition is $99; www.intownjewishacademy.org or 404-898-0434.

ORT dinner. ORT Atlanta presents its Young Leadership Award to Goza Tequila’s Adam Hirsch at 7:30 p.m. at Park Tavern, 10th and Monroe streets.

Tickets are $36; bit.ly/1lmfmgH or ealberhasky­@ORTAmerica.org.

FRIDAY, MARCH 4

Shabbat in the Highlands. As part of NJOP’s Shabbat Across America, Congregation Anshi S’fard, 1324 N. Highland Ave., Virginia-Highland, offers an uplifting Shabbat dinner around 7 p.m. after a service at 6:18. Dinner is $18; info@anshisfard.org.

SATURDAY, MARCH 5

Black-Jewish symposium. The DeKalb History Center, 101 East Court Square, Decatur, hosts “Roots of Friendship: African Americans and Jews in Atlanta, 1900-1950” from 10 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. with lunch and speakers including Melissa Fay Greene and Sandy Berman. Admission is $40 for DHC mem-

bers and $50 for nonmembers; conta. cc/1Xs4pIs or 404-373-1088, ext. 20.

“Good Shabbos, Atlanta!” Congregation Anshi S’fard, 1324 N. Highland Ave., Virginia-Highland, holds its monthly game show at services at 10:45 a.m., followed by a Kiddush lunch featuring Greg Brenner’s pareve cholent.

Free; www.goodshabbosatlanta.org or info@goodshabbosatlanta.org.

Purim off Ponce. Georgia Equality Executive Director Jeff Graham is the honoree at the fundraising party for SOJOURN from 8 p.m. to midnight at Le Fais do-do, 1611 Ellsworth Industrial Blvd., Atlanta. Tickets start at $75 in advance, $100 at the door; www. sojourngsd­.org/purim.

Cello concert. Maya Beiser performs “Films in Cello,” including a version of Kol Nidrei composed by PalestinianAmerican Mohammed Fairouz, at 8 p.m. at Georgia Tech’s Ferst Center, 349 Ferst Drive, Midtown. Tickets are $24 and $34; peotest.ad.gatech.edu/PEO or 404-894-9600.

Mystery night. Young Israel of Toco Hills, 2056 LaVista Road, plays host to a political murder mystery with an open

bar, heavy hors d’oeuvres and a silent auction at 9 p.m. Tickets are $60 each or $110 per couple for members and $72 or $130 per couple for nonmembers; www.yith.org or 404-315-1417.

SUNDAY, MARCH 6

Audience Award screening. The Atlanta Jewish Film Festival’s best documentary, “Breakfast at Ina’s,” shows at 12:20 and 6:35 p.m. at GTC Merchants Walk, 1301 Johnson Ferry Road, East Cobb.

Tickets are $13; ajff.org.

Audience Award screening. The Atlanta Jewish Film Festival’s winner for best narrative film, “Naked Among Wolves,” shows at 2:20 and 8:15 p.m. at GTC Merchants Walk, 1301 Johnson Ferry Road, East Cobb. Tickets are $13; ajff.org.

Handel concert. Zimria Festivale Atlanta, conducted by Amy Thropp, presents “Judas Maccabaeus” at 3 p.m. at Congregation Beth Shalom, 5303 Winters Chapel Road, Dunwoody. Tickets are $12; www.festivalsingers.org.

Musical show. The Molly Blank Jewish Concert Series continues with Theatrical Outfit’s “Somewhere Over the Rainbow: The Music of Harold Arlen” at the Breman Museum, 1440 Spring St.,

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Midtown, starting with a reception at 4 p.m. Tickets are $49 for museum members and $59 for nonmembers; www. thebreman.org or 678-222-3700.

Audience Award screening. The Atlanta Jewish Film Festival’s best short film, documentary “To Step Forward Myself,” shows at 4:55 p.m., followed by a question-and-answer period with the filmmaker, Yael Luttwak, at GTC Merchants Walk, 1301 Johnson Ferry Road, East Cobb. Tickets are $8; ajff.org.

Chocolate exploration. The Sisterhood at Temple Sinai, 5645 Dupree Drive, Sandy Springs, takes a trip “On the Chocolate Trail” with Rabbi Deborah Prinz, a chocolate historian, as well as chocolates from diAmano Chocolate with wine pairings and a coffee bar, at 7 p.m. Free for Sisterhood members, $10 for others; templesinaiatlanta.org.

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 9

“Annie.” Atlanta Jewish Academy fifthto eighth-graders perform the musical while high-schoolers run things behind the scenes at 4:15 p.m. at 5200 Northland Drive, Sandy Springs. Performances also are March 10 at 7 p.m. and March 13 at 11 a.m. and 4 p.m. Tickets are $10 in advance, $12 at the door;

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CALENDAR CANDLE-LIGHTING TIMES

Parshah Vayakhel Friday, March 4, light candles at 6:19 p.m.

Saturday, March 5, Shabbat ends at 7:15 p.m.

Parshah Pekudei Friday, March 11, light candles at 6:25 p.m.

Saturday, March 12, Shabbat ends at 7:20 p.m.

Sign Up for Purim Parade Congregation Beth Jacob’s 25th annual community Purim parade will roll down LaVista Road in Toco Hills on Sunday, March 20.

The parade will start at 11 a.m. behind the Pike Nurseries store at the Toco Hill Shopping Center and end at Beth Jacob, 1855 LaVista Road, where a Purim festival will begin at noon and continue until 3 p.m. with food, rides, arts and crafts, and costume prizes.

The festivities are open to everyone, and businesses and Jewish organizations are welcome to participate in the parade at no cost. You can enter a float — which can be a truck, a car or a group walking with a banner — at bit.ly/1QmNYs2.

For more information, contact Sarah Faygie Berkowitz at sfberkowitz@bethjacobatlanta.org or 404-633-0551, ext. 233.

Caregiver workshop. Congregation Or Hadash, 7460 Trowbridge Road, Sandy Springs, hosts Weinstein Hospice’s “Kibud Av V’eim: Navigating the Journey From Child to Caregiver” workshop at 4:30 p.m.; the program continues at the same time March 16. Free; rabbianalia­@gmail.com.

THURSDAY, MARCH 10

Jewish Breakfast Club. The Atlanta Jewish Times welcomes speaker Michael Coles at 7:30 a.m. at Greenberg Traurig, 3333 Piedmont Road, Suite 2500, Buckhead. Admission is $15; RSVP to jbc@atljewishtimes.com.

Elder care workshop. The Intown Jewish Academy, 928 Ponce de Leon Ave., Midtown, offers Jewish perspectives and guidance on caring for parents at 7:30 p.m. The cost is $18; 404-898-0434 or www.intownjewishacademy.org.

SUNDAY, MARCH 13

Hunger Walk/Run. The fundraiser for the Atlanta Community Food Bank starts with registration and entertainment at noon, followed by the 5K walk and run at 2 p.m., at Turner Field’s Green Lot, 755 Hank Aaron Drive, downtown. Registration is $25 to walk or $35 to run in advance or $5 more the day of the event; www.acfb.org.

Israeli film screening. Greater Atlanta Hadassah’s Mount Scopus Group opens its 2016 Israel Film Festival at 1:15 p.m. by showing the 2010 comedy “The Human Resources Manager,” which won five Israeli Academy Awards, at the home of a Mount Scopus member. The event includes kosher snacks and a sale of Silpada jewelry. Admission is $12; RSVP to Edie Barr at embarr1@bellsouth.net or 404-325-0340 by March 10.

SATURDAY, MARCH 12

Mussar program. “Seeking Everyday Holiness in Recovery” provides a practical introduction to the transformative teachings and practices of Mussar every other Sunday from 6 to 7:30 p.m. at Temple Kehillat Chaim, 1145 Green St., Roswell, with no Hebrew required.

The cost is $45; RSVP to TKCrabbi@ gmail.com.

FIDF fundraiser. The Southeast Region of Friends of the Israel Defense Forces holds its young leadership casino night at 8:30 p.m. at the Westside Cultural Arts Center, 760 10th St., West Midtown. Tickets are $60 in advance or $70 at the door; fidfseylcasino.splashthat. com or 678-250-9027.

Women’s class. The Rosh Chodesh Society, an educational series for women, continues at 7:30 p.m. with a session on “Architecture: Edifice & Environment” at the Intown Jewish Academy, 928 Ponce de Leon Ave., Midtown. The cost is $10; www.intownjewishacademy.org or 404-898-0434.

Art auction. Temple Beth Tikvah, 9955 Coleman Road, Roswell, holds an art auction with wine and appetizers at 7 p.m. Tickets are $18 in advance, $25 at the door; www.bethtikvah.com.

MONDAY, MARCH 14

Send items for the calendar to submissions@atljewishtimes.com.

Find more events at atlantajewishtimes.com/events-calendar.

MARCH 4 ▪ 2016

www.atljewishacademy.org/index. php/upcomingevents.

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LOCAL NEWS

Breman Named State’s Best as 20th Birthday Nears

By Michael Jacobs mjacobs@atljewishtimes.com

T

he William Breman Jewish Heritage Museum is still planning how to mark its 20th anniversary, but it already has a big award to kick-start the celebration.

The Georgia Association of Museums and Galleries named the Breman its Institution of the Year at the organization’s annual conference Jan. 22 in Albany.

Kennesaw State University history professor Catherine Lewis, who heads KSU’s Museum of History and Holocaust Education and serves as the GAMG president, said the Breman was selected “to honor the great work they have done in our community since its founding, from innovative public programs to compelling exhibits that engage diverse audiences. We were pleased to recognize their accomplishments, especially under the leadership under Aaron Berger.”

Berger, the Breman’s executive director, said it always means a lot when the museum receives any honor, such as recent recognition from USA Today

as one of Atlanta’s Top 10 museums, but “this one is particularly special, at least to me, because it’s recognition by our peers in the museum industry.”

He added, “It’s really humbling and very motivating.”

The award is the third the Breman has received from GAMG since opening in the summer of 1996, Berger said. The others were for Exhibit of the Year for “Return to Rich’s” in 2013 and a commendation for work with Holocaust survivors.

Now that the museum has captured the top state honor, it’s looking into possible regional recognition.

“It’s raising the bar, no doubt about that,” Berger said.

It’s also a good way to launch the Breman’s 20th year, he said. The board and staff had a small celebration, including cake, and are mapping out anniversary plans, to be announced soon.

Meanwhile, the museum is going beyond history and archival research to cover culture, such as the Molly Blank Jewish Concert Series.

“It’s just the perfect first step,” Berger said of the award. “We’ve got some good things coming.” ■

‘Rainbow’ Leads to Gold

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he Breman Museum has expanded beyond history into the arts, including the Molly Blank Jewish Concert Series, which museum Executive Director Aaron Berger said has hit the right formula in its third year.

The goal of the series is to show Jewish contributions to music across genres and periods, and with the help of partners, the series this year is presenting three very different programs.

The first program, held Jan. 24 with the Atlanta Opera, featured selections of music that the Nazis considered degenerate and examples that the Nazis celebrated as pure. Two children of Holocaust survivors, Atlanta Opera maestro Arthur Fagen and Kennesaw State music scholar Laurence Sherr, provided insights into the music and its history.

The second show, Sunday, March 6, at the Breman, 1440 Spring St., Midtown, is “Somewhere Over the Rainbow: The Music of Harold Arlen,” the Jewish composer of the “Wizard of Oz” theme, “Stormy Weather” and 400 other songs.

Theatrical Outfit, a first-time Breman partner, is putting on the show, Berger said. “We originally pitched to them another concert idea. They came back and said, ‘What we’d really like to do is a night of Harold Arlen.’ The more they showed us, the more excited we got.”

Such shows also are producing excitement beyond the museum membership. Berger said 40 percent of last year’s Molly Blank audience had never attended a Breman program, and 20 percent at the January show was not Jewish.

The Arlen show starts with a reception at 4 p.m.; the performance is at 5.

Tickets, available at thebreman.org, are $49 for members, $59 for nonmembers.

The series concludes May 15 with a night of Benny Goodman music in partnership with the Atlanta Jazz Festival. It might be worth the price of admission just to see an 18-piece swing orchestra crammed into the Breman auditorium. ■

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10 Years Ago March 3, 2006 ■ Emory University professor Deborah Lipstadt, who already won a victory in a British courtroom after Holocaust denier David Irving unsuccessfully sued her for libel, had the added pleasure in February of seeing Irving sentenced to three years in prison for Holocaust denial in Austria. In addition, her book “History on Trial: My Day in Court With David Irving,” has won a National Jewish Book Award.

■ Allison Jodi Donner of Sandy Springs announces the birth of her son, Jonathon David, on July 13, 2005.

25 Years Ago March 1, 1991 ■ After the Georgia General Assembly’s defeat of a hate crimes bill, Jewish political activists are turning to two other pieces of legislation in the waning days of the session.

Groups such as the American Jewish Committee and the

National Council of Jewish Women are advocating the Family and Medical Leave Act, to provide 12 weeks of unpaid leave, while the Anti-Defamation League is among foes of a proposal to move primary elections to Saturdays.

■ The bat mitzvah of Ellen Claire Mills of Tucker, daughter of Harvey and Sheila Mills, will take place at 9:30 a.m.

Saturday, March 9, at Beth Shalom Synagogue.

50 Years Ago March 4, 1966 ■ A scholarship to Massey Junior College will be offered through The Southern Israelite. The offer was made by Dr. Edward Porter, Massey’s president, and accepted by Adolph Rosenberg, editor and publisher, in behalf of The Southern Israelite. The scholarship will cover tuition for two years, amounting to $2,000 for the regular course or $2,700 for a special course in fashion and merchandising.

■ Leslie Shetzen, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Edward Shetzen of Atlanta, became the bride of John I. Benator, son of Isaac M. Benator of Atlanta and the late Mary Benator, on Feb. 13.

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LOCAL NEWS

SOJOURN Honoree Battles ‘Organized Opposition’

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MARCH 4 ▪ 2016

ne of the leaders of the Georgia opposition to the proposed First Amendment Defense Act and other legislation related to the tabled Religious Freedom Restoration Act is Jeff Graham, the executive director of Georgia Equality.

Graham has waged a constant fight online and in the Capitol against the legislation in the belief that it would legalize discrimination against the LGBT community, same-sex marriage, and, in the case of FADA, many others who might run afoul of some people’s faith-based morality.

As the General Assembly enters the final stretch of the 2016 session, Graham and his allies will get a break from the battle for one night when he’s

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honored with the Michael Jay Kinsler Rainmaker Award at the 10th annual Purim off Ponce, the costume party and fundraiser for SOJOURN: Southern Georgia Equality Jewish Resource Executive Director Network for GenJeff Graham der and Sexual is receiving SOJOURN’s Kinsler Diversity.

Rainmaker Award.

Graham also took a brief break to answer a few questions.

AJT: How has the reality of the General Assembly’s RFRA/FADA-type

legislation and the related debate compared with your expectations?

Graham: We knew going into this session that it would probably be the most anti-LGBT session we had seen since the constitutional ban on (samesex) marriage was passed in 2004; we were prepared. The sheer volume and breadth of bills introduced to establish broad religious exemptions have been a record. So far we have had nearly a dozen bills introduced that could open the door for religion to be used as an excuse to promote bias against others.

And many of these bills have implications beyond the LGBT community and would extend to unmarried couples, interfaith couples, single parents, members of minority faiths and women.

Thankfully, we have a strong coalition that includes hundreds of faith leaders, businesses and social justice advocates.

As the session enters its final weeks, the number of bills we are actively concerned about will begin to focus on three or four bills that could make it into law.

It’s important for people to realize that these types of legislative attacks are not isolated to Georgia or the South.

National organizations that track this legislation, such as the Equality Federation, Freedom for All Americans and the Human Rights Campaign, report that over 120 anti-LGBT bills have been introduced in state legislatures across the country this year alone. It is clearly an organized opposition to the recent advancements that gay and transgender people have made in gaining social acceptance and legal protections.

AJT: How have you felt about the response from rabbis and other religious leaders?

Graham: We would not be successful if it weren’t for the dedication and support of the broader faith community. After one critical vote, Lt. Gov. Casey Cagle tweeted that the vote represented a “victory over radical atheist organizations.” Having leaders from dozens of Jewish and Christian faith traditions standing united makes an important statement that standing against discrimination is not standing against religion or faith. Rabbis and other leaders within the Jewish community have been especially important. Not only has the Jewish community been unified in opposition to these bills; it’s so critical that the media and our elected leaders be reminded that “people of faith” is not a term reserved only for Christians or only for Christians of a certain denomination.

AJT: We saw this fight last year before the Supreme Court decision. We’re seeing this fight this year after the Supreme Court decision. What will it take for Georgia to move beyond “religious liberty” as a dominant issue every year?

Graham: We have advocated taking this debate in a different direction entirely. Few people realize that outside a fair housing statute, Georgia is one of five states without a civil rights law of any kind. People are also surprised to learn that there are no federal laws that explicitly provide protections based on sexual orientation and gender identity. We know that people within the LGBT community experience discrimination on a regular basis

LOCAL NEWS and that the fear of discrimination is even more widespread. That is why we need to change these laws to provide protection. However, if some people of faith have similar concerns, let us all come together and work on developing a Georgia civil rights law that can address the concerns of the LGBT community as well as people of faith, women, racial and ethnic minorities, people with disabilities, and those who worry their age may leave them vulnerable. …

Furthermore, those who say that some of these laws simply mirror the federal 1993 Religious Freedom Restoration Act that had broad bipartisan support in Congress need to recognize that this support was a result of the process that was used to create the legislation. For a period of three years or more, organizations from all sides of the religious and political spectrum came together to iron out their differences and find compromises that all sides could agree to. If people are truly interested in addressing discrimination in all of its forms, and not simply making comments that incite fear in an effort to garner votes or push a narrow political agenda, then I hope that they will be open to changing the dynamics and tone of the debate.

AJT: What does it mean to you to be the honoree for the 10th anniversary of Purim off Ponce?

Graham: I couldn’t be more humbled to be this year’s honoree. I have known and respected so many of the previous honorees, and SOJOURN is an organization that is near and dear to my heart. My mother is coming in from out of state to attend and has been learning about Purim from her Jewish friends, which fills my heart with joy. I just hope I can pull off the costume to do the event justice! ■ What: Purim off Ponce Where: Le Fais do-do, 1161 Ellsworth Industrial Ave., Atlanta When: 8 p.m. Saturday, March 5 Tickets: $75 in advance, $100 at the door; www.sojourngsd.org/purim

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AJT: Purim off Ponce falls at the height of the legislative session. Is it a distraction? A much-needed release? A parallel universe to the Golden Dome?

Graham: It is a much-needed release from the day-to-day struggles at the legislature, and it creates at least one night when we can all come together, regardless of our religion, sexual orientation, gender identity, marital status or even ability to pull together a decent outfit, to celebrate and support the great work of SOJOURN.

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LOCAL NEWS

Beating the Terrorists in Court

Nitsana Darshan-Leitner explains her legal strategy

By Tova Norman

N

itsana Darshan-Leitner fights terrorism.

Through her Tel Avivbased organization, Shurat HaDin, the Israeli mother of six works with Western intelligence agencies, law enforcement and volunteers around the world to file legal actions against terrorists, those who support them and those who threaten the Jewish state.

Inspired by the pro bono cases she handled as a law student, DarshanLeitner and her friends started the organization 12 years ago. Named by The Jerusalem Post as one of the 50 most influential Jews in 2014 and by The Algemeiner as one of the Top 10 living Jewish female role models in 2015, Darshan-Leitner is known as an expert at using the courts against terrorism.

Her organization has won judgments worth hundreds of millions of dollars, including $655 million in February 2015 against the Palestinian Authority for support of deadly attacks during the second intifada.

On Tuesday, March 15, the Jewish Women’s Connection of Atlanta is offering the opportunity to hear Darshan-Leitner speak.

She spoke to the AJT by phone.

AJT: Many of your cases seem to be trying to get money from terrorist organizations. Why go after the money?

NDL: The goal of the litigation and the goal of the organization is to go after terror funding. If there is no money,

Nitsana DarshanLeitner leads Shurat HaDin: Israel Law Center.

there will be no terrorism. So we went after those who fund the terror organizations and those who are aiding and abetting them. When we get judgment, we are able to collect assets and to make their lives much harder financially.

AJT: What has been your greatest success?

NDL: I think the greatest success was the recent victory against the Palestinian Authority of $665 million on behalf of 10 families. We filed the suit in 2004, and last year we went to trial. … That was the first time that such a type of case went before a jury.

There was a big risk, but there also was a big hope that finally a New York jury will find the PA responsible for the attacks of the intifada. The decision made the front page of The New York Times and was covered by international media.

AJT: What has been your greatest challenge in doing this work?

NDL: Actually every step of the way is a big challenge. When you look at it, even the simple fact of serving the lawsuit to the defendant, sometimes it’s mission impossible. If you want to serve Hezbollah, which person can be

served and your service will be considered lawful? And if you want to serve banks, they hire the best lawyers in the country, so you find yourself against the biggest shark.

When you win a judgment and you want to execute it, where can you find money or buildings or any kind of asset that belongs to terror organizations who themselves try to escape from the law?

AJT: How do you keep motivated with all these challenges?

NDL: In the end of the day when you come to a family of terror victims that lost their loved one and you give them a victory, and sometimes you can A amount of even give them a significant money that will give them A some hope to start all over again … and they say to you that they get revenge, that now loved ones actually received justice.

That keeps me going.

And also the fact that nobody else can do this work. Governments cannot do the work that we do. The Israeli government cannot file lawsuits against terrorist groups or other countries and can’t defend themselves in international court. There is nobody else to do it, so we have to keep going.

TASTE of TASTE

victims from around the world go to us.

AJT: Do you feel like your work can be complete? If so, what would that mean?

NDL: I wish. When Arafat died, and the terror attacks kind of started to die down, we thought, “Here. Now there will be an end to our work. We’re going to finish pending cases, and we’ll close the organization and go home peacefully.” As a country that lives with hostile neighbors around hostile organizations and us, our work will probably not come to an end as soon as we expect it.

AJT: Is there anything else you think our readership should know about you and Shurat HaDin? NDL: Our work is basically a way for the private sector to fight back, and a lot of people who are not necessarily lawyers can join this fight, can spread the word, can support this organization, can come on our missions and can take part in a conference.

Israel faces a lot of challenges and faces a lot of threats. It is up to the Jewish community around the world to step up and fight back and defend Israel with all means they have. And the legal aspect is one of them. ■

GOOD of LIFE GOOD LIFE

AJT: Now that terrorism is more international, has your role as a group changed?

NDL: We have cases that do not necessarily have to do with Israel and Jews, just because we have the experience, knowledge and reputation. A lot of

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AJT 8

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LOCAL NEWS

Powers Promoted to Marcus JCC CEO

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he Marcus Jewish Community Center spent six months searching nationwide for a CEO, only to confirm that the right candidate was already at Zaban Park: Jared Powers.

The center’s chief program officer since 2010 became the chief executive officer Tuesday, March 1.

“Jared’s track record of financial growth, combined with his leadership and bold vision, make him the ideal person to take the helm as CEO,” former center President Sherie Gumer, who led the search committee, said in a news release from the center. More than 200 candidates were considered.

“I am so excited to continue to be a part of the JCC in this new role,” said Powers, who began with the center in 2005 as assistant camp and sports director at Shirley Blumenthal Park in East Cobb. He became senior program director, then chief program officer.

But his ties to the Marcus JCC go back more than 35 years to when his family moved to the area from Toronto in 1979. He attended the center’s Ajec-

omce summer day camp, was a camper and counselor at Camp Barney Medintz, was the president of his BBYO chapter, played in the youth sports Jared Powers leagues, then played in the adult leagues after he graduated with a finance degree from the University of Florida.

“It’s everything,” Powers said of the center. He and his wife and two sons, who went to the Weinstein School and participate in the Club J after-school program, live nearby in Dunwoody.

“We’re at the center literally seven days a week, whether it’s business or personal. It’s a part of our life. We’re part of the community in every sense.”

Powers launched the center’s inclusion program, which he said is his proudest achievement. While he has been the chief program officer, the center has expanded its day camps and its preschools to be the largest such programs of any JCC in the country.

“Nothing is done by one person;

nothing going forward will be done by one person,” he said.

Powers replaces Gail Luxenberg, who resigned in August. She now heads Habitat for Humanity in Seattle.

She was the third CEO Powers served under, after Harry Stern and Michael Wise, not counting interim CEOs Howard Hyman in 2010 and 2011 and Douglas Kuniansky since August.

Wise and Luxenberg came from outside the community; Powers said he sees a benefit to being a longtime metro Atlanta resident and JCC employee.

“Most of the people that are our stakeholders and are our members and are the rest of our community, I have known. To be able to hit the ground running and not take a year or two to get to know the community and get to know the players I think is a big advantage,” he said.

He said he has a clear vision for where he wants to take the center, but he declined to share that vision and the strategies to achieve it before presenting those plans to the staff. That attitude is part of what he called the main tenet of his vision, kavod (respect).

“That’s respect for staff, respect for the

community, respect for our lay leaders, and that’s something that’s very important for me.”

He said he has a democratic leadership style that encourages community input (reach him at jared.powers@ atlantajcc.org or 678-812-4050). “I believe in collaboration. I believe in idea sharing. I believe in getting the right information to make a decision, and that is process-oriented. And that is how I lead, and that is how I make decisions.”

Kuniansky, the Marcus JCC’s board chairman, said Powers is perfect for the position because of “his professional experience in operations, programming and finance, along with his positive relationships with staff and members and his love for the MJCCA.” Powers cited his passion for the center as key. “I came back to the J because it was the one thing I’d always been passionate about growing up,” he said. “I could tell right away that I was able to have an impact and that what I did made a difference. I got that feeling 11 years ago, and I knew that this was the agency that I wanted to be in long term, and I think that my passion just became very evident.” ■

MARCH 4 ▪ 2016

By Michael Jacobs mjacobs@atljewishtimes.com

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www.atlantajewishtimes.com

OPINION

Our View

Generation Now

B

MARCH 4 ▪ 2016

ack in the late 1970s and through the 1980s, Jewish Atlanta saw a new generation of communal professionals emerge. Now another set of leaders in their 30s and early 40s is stepping up to guide the community into the future.

In recent weeks we’ve shared the news of a new head of school for Atlanta Jewish Academy, a new CEO for the Marcus Jewish Community Center, and new senior rabbis at Congregations Shearith Israel and Etz Chaim, all under age 45. The youngest is 33.

We’re reminded that last year before the American Jewish Committee presented its Selig Distinguished Service Award to him, Eliot Arnovitz lamented the lack of younger leaders taking center stage.

He was talking about lay leaders, but the thinking applies as well to communal professionals. One of the persistent concerns in the Jewish community is engagement with young adults; it stands to reason that it’s easier for other young adults to make and maintain the necessary connections.

It’s not that the older generation — including most of us producing the Atlanta Jewish Times — falls short in energy or enthusiasm, lacks new ideas, or is befuddled by such gizmos as the iPhone 6s and Snapchat. But after 10, 20, 30 or 40 years of doing the same job, it’s far too easy to become set in your ways and far too hard to relate to the concerns and interests of people who could be your children or grandchildren.

As much as we like to put our communal leaders, especially rabbis, on pedestals, they’re only human, and few mere mortals can approach that 20th Rosh Hashanah sermon, that 25th annual honor dinner or the 30th annual fundraising campaign with the same vim, vigor and bright-eyed hope for the future.

The four new leaders announced in recent weeks — Rabbi Ari Kaiman, Rabbi Daniel Dorsch, Rabbi Ari Leubitz and Jared Powers — are coming here from different places with backgrounds ranging from Orthodox to Reform. What they share, in addition to work with Jewish youths, is an infectious optimism.

That is something too often missing in Jewish communities. We fret over demographic trends pointing to assimilation if not annihilation and polls indicating a disconnect with or even rejection of Israel. We worry about flat fundraising and outdated facilities. We fear a rise in anti-Semitism.

This new generation, however, arrives with confidence — in themselves, in their institutions and in the Jewish future. To talk with these emerging leaders, along with other post-baby boomers who have risen to lead crucial agencies in recent years, such as Dov Wilker at the American Jewish Committee and Rick Aranson at Jewish Family & Career Services, is to believe that Jewish Atlanta is in good hands to carry us into the middle of the 21st century.

There is, of course, a major institution still without a leader: the Jewish Federation of Greater Atlanta.

We hope the search committee under Gerry Benjamin heeds the lessons all around our community.

This is not the time for a wise old hand to steer the ship; it’s time for the bold, creative person who can re-energize Federation with a vision that will leverage the raw numbers of our growing community 10 into a vibrant force for American Jewry’s future. ■

AJT

Students With Nothing to Discuss

N

ow’s the time of year when many high school or engage in dialogue — although the student proseniors are deciding where they’ll go to coltesters weren’t too principled to feast on free pizza lege, which means it’s a nerve-racking time before interrupting a speaker, and they took their for their parents. plates with them if they weren’t done eating.

The list of considerations in the decision-makThe scary part for any parent is the intimidaing process is long, from academics and cost to distion. The protesters demanded that the university tance and Jewish life. Most of the issues are the same stop allowing pro-Israel speakers, and while they as in my college days, albeit with a few more options must realize that’s a fruitless quest at UGA, they for majors (urban studies?) and could hope to scare a lot more worry about expenses pro-Israel students (at least until Santa Bernie Sandinto canceling such Editor’s Notebook ers makes everything free). programs.

By Michael Jacobs But as detailed on Page 23, If that was the mjacobs@atljewishtimes.com an incident at the University of intention, however, Georgia on Monday night, Feb. the disruption failed.

22, was a reminder of a scary Pro-Israel student new reality on many campuses: rising anti-Israel leaders said the incident has brought organizations sentiment. together, starting with the observance of Israel Peace It’s a problem around the nation, particularly Week. The pro-Israel community isn’t going away at at state campuses in California; certain parts of the UGA; Georgia, after all, is far from California.

Midwest, such as Oberlin College and the University Athens for Justice in Palestine does deserve of Michigan; and the Northeast. praise for one thing: After a brief disruption, the Andy Borans, the national executive director of protesters left and let the event continue. At other Jewish fraternity Alpha Epsilon Pi, told a meeting campuses, demonstrators have shut down lectures. of the Hebrew Order of David a year ago that the Sadly, a walkout is the best possible outcome threat rises and falls as anti-Israel organizations find when AJP and similar groups show up. In violation instigators at specific campuses. of the spirit of inquiry and discussion at the heart My older son is finishing up his fourth and final of academic life, they aren’t interested in learning year at UGA, and I can’t remember him mentioning about different views or making the case for their Athens for Justice in Palestine. To the contrary, UGA perspective. They aren’t interested in peace; they gained notice last year when the student government voted to expand study-abroad options in Israel. reject dialogue because they know the outcome they seek, the elimination of Israel, is not achievable But AJP seems determined not to go unnoticed through discussion or negotiation. while this year’s high school seniors are studying in Let’s hope the pattern Borans described last year Athens the next four years. The group disrupted a plays out at UGA: A few years of increasing disrupDawgs for Israel-sponsored Soldiers’ Stories event, tion will end when the agitators move on. Until then, featuring two Israel Defense Forces veterans touring we all need to offer support to Jewish students and the Southeast with StandWithUs. other backers of Israel, through Hillel and other The anti-Israel crowd showed up at the event strictly to cause a scene, with no willingness to listen organizations, so they can stand strong. ■

OPINION

A Day in History 30 Years Later

emotional plea.”

The board granted that application “without attempting to address the question of guilt or innocence and in recognition of the state’s failure to protect the person of Leo M. Frank and thereby preserve his opportunity for continued legal appeal of his convic-

From Where I Sit

By Dave Schechter dschechter@atljewishtimes.com

tion, and in recognition of the state’s failure to bring his killers to justice.”

The pardon changed public discussion of the case. “Especially after we got that pardon, it was like a big catharsis. People who hadn’t talked about the case suddenly were telling their grandchildren,” Schwartz said last summer. “People began to talk about it. It was like lifting a burden off their shoulders.”

Contacted a couple of weeks before this year’s 30th anniversary, Schwartz said, “I remember the great joy I felt when I got news of the pardon’s having been granted! We had worked on this case for over five years.

I remember thinking that the AntiDefamation League could finally close its case No. 001 after over 70 years and that the ADL and the KKK were still bitter enemies. I recalled the opening words of the brief written by Charles Wittenstein and me: JUSTICE, JUSTICE SHALT YOU PURSUE!” That day stood out for another reason. Schwartz was returning from Asheville, N.C., with his attorney, Eddie Garland, after the dismissal of a federal indictment against him stemming from work on an immigration case.

“When I pulled my car up under the wing of Eddie’s plane, I turned on WGST Talk Radio to see if they were reporting the dismissal against me.

Lo and behold, the news announcer said: ‘We bring you this breaking news.

Today the Georgia Pardon and Parole Board granted a posthumous pardon to Leo M. Frank, the Jewish businessman who was lynched in Cobb County in 1915.’

“I started crying, I was so happy.

My wife, Susan, looked at me and in her usual understated way said, ‘You know, as days go, this wasn’t a bad day!’ ” ■

MARCH 4 ▪ 2016

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he reminder came from Jerry Klinger, the founder and president of the Jewish American Society for Historic Preservation.

The retired financial services executive has dedicated years to ensuring that noteworthy pieces of American Jewish history are not forgotten.

On a stifling day last June, Klinger participated in the dedication of a plaque outside the Atlanta History Center to honor Gov. John Slaton for his commutation of Leo Frank’s death sentence to life imprisonment June 21, 1915. (Frank was scheduled to be executed the next day. Two months later, on Aug. 17, he was kidnapped from the prison in Milledgeville and lynched in Marietta.)

Klinger emailed the Jewish Telegraphic Agency dispatch reporting that on March 11, 1986, the Georgia Board of Pardons and Paroles issued a posthumous pardon to Leo Frank.

Today, Dale Schwartz is a prominent immigration attorney. Thirty years ago, as a member of the AntiDefamation League’s Southeast Region board, he was the lead counsel for the pardon application process.

Last summer, Schwartz described that effort as being “like Sisyphus pushing that rock up a hill.”

Part of that rock included Atlanta’s Jewish community. Schwartz recalled a meeting of 300 to 400 people at the Jewish Community Center. The ADL, American Jewish Committee and the Atlanta Jewish Federation — the organizations behind the appeal — were urged to leave the past alone.

“People begged us not to do it,” Schwartz said.

In 1983, the Georgia board rejected a pardon application filed after 85-year-old Alonzo Mann came forward with his memories of April 26, 1913, the day 13-year-old Mary Phagan was murdered at the National Pencil Co. factory in downtown Atlanta.

(Schwartz remembers Mann saying he heard anti-Jewish epithets as he entered the courthouse to testify.)

The state board determined that “it is impossible to decide conclusively the guilt or innocence of Frank,” the plant manager arrested and convicted of Phagan’s murder.

Three years later, Schwartz and his colleagues made “not a legal argument so much as a political or

AJT 11

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ISRAEL NEWS

Israel Pride: Good News From Our Jewish Home Detecting the dangers in ICU. Netanya-based startup Intensix is testing an intensive care unit patient monitoring system at Tel Aviv Sourasky (Ichilov) hospital. Using data collected from 8,000 patients the past eight years, the system gives an early warning of impending sepsis and organ failure.

abilities, visual impairments, and developmental and intellectual disabilities, and it can help people learning Hebrew. The keyboard was developed through a collaboration of SAP and Ra’anana-based charity Beit Issie Shapiro.

Disease control through gene deactivation. Scientists at the Technion have discovered how to use proteins to suppress unwanted gene activity. The procedure could lead to a cure for cystic fibrosis and sickle-cell anemia, as well as other diseases that are caused by gene activity or mutations, including many forms of cancer.

Egypt’s first ambassador since 2012.

Egypt’s new ambassador to Israel, Hazem Khairat, who filled a 4-year-old vacancy, told Israeli President Reuven Rivlin that he is happy and proud to be in Israel and hopes for a situation in which Jews and Arabs can live in peace. Toward that end, a new Egyptian schoolbook is the first to teach about the country’s peace treaty with Israel.

Wall of science. Visitors to Israel and Israelis returning from foreign travel soon won’t be able to miss the story of Israel’s world-changing scientific contributions. A yearlong wall exhibit of 60 Israeli developments and discoveries is scheduled to open just past passport control at Ben-Gurion International Airport on Monday, March 7.

An app to check your eyesight. Tel Aviv-based startup 6over6’s GlassesOn

New Israeli Faces

Photo by Laura Ben-David, courtesy of Shavei Israel

Newly arrived from the Chinese Jewish community of Kaifeng, (from left) Li Yuan, Yue Ting, Li Jing, Li Chengjin and Gao Yichen visit the Kotel on Monday, Feb. 29.

The women are the first to immigrate to Israel from Kaifeng in more than six years.

Shavei Israel, a nonprofit organization founded by Michael Freund to assist isolated Jewish communities, helped the women make ali-yah. “After centuries of assimilation, a growing number of the Kaifeng Jews in recent years have begun seeking to return to their roots and embrace their Jewish identity,” Freund said. “These five young women are determined to rejoin the Jewish people and become proud citizens of the Jewish state, and we are delighted to help them realize their dreams.”

smartphone app helps you check your lens prescription without a visit to an optometrist. The app also can help people buying glasses online or in developing countries. The app won the startup contest at the Mobile Health

Israel Conference in Tel Aviv.

Easier typing in Hebrew. The IssieBoard is an adaptive Hebrew iPad keyboard that makes typing easier for children and adults with learning dis-

First visit by Kenyan president in two decades. Uhuru Kenyatta recently made the first state visit to Israel by a Kenyan president since 1994. The three-day visit focused on economic and security cooperation. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said, “Israel is coming back to Africa, and Africa is returning to Israel.”

Award-winning seedless papaya. The Aurora, a seedless papaya from Israel, won the Fruit Logistica Innovation Award 2015. The fruit began as an accidental mutation, and Assaf Avizohar spent 12 years developing hybrids with better taste and color.

A better way to get a better job. Tel Aviv-based job-matching startup Woo connects people with tech jobs via an anonymous employment platform that provides tailor-made offers. Woo recognizes that 75 percent to 80 percent of people don’t actively look for jobs but would accept a better job if offered. The company recently raised $2.35 million.

MARCH 4 ▪ 2016

Self-driving technology for Nissan.

Japanese automaker Nissan and Jerusalem-based Mobileye have signed a memorandum of understanding to integrate Mobileye’s Road Experience Management digital maps technology into Nissan’s vehicles. Mobileye also has deals with GM and Volkswagen.

AJT 12

Happier drivers. Israeli-American Talmon Marco is launching Juno as a driver-friendly alternative to Uber.

Juno, which is starting in New York in the spring, will take only 10 percent of each fare, compared with 20 percent to 25 percent taken by Uber.

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

Jewish Jams Return to ATL www.atlantajewishtimes.com

ATLANTA JEWISH MUSIC FESTIVAL 7

Meet the Purim Party Headliners

What: Purim party featuring A-WA and Jaffa Road

Where: Terminal West, 887 W. Marietta St., West Midtown When: 8 p.m. Saturday, March 26 Tickets: $20 in advance, $25 at the door, 18 and older

So Who Is A-WA Anyway?

A

catchy old folk song was turned into an electronic dance number, and that was all it took. After more than 2.5 million YouTube hits, an unlikely phenomenon emerged in the past year as three Israeli-Yemenite sisters calling themselves A-WA (Arabic slang for “yeah”) scored an international hit with “Habib Galbi.”

Tair, Tagel and Liron Haim will coheadline the Atlanta Jewish Music Festival on March 26 and will be joined onstage by Hod Mushonov on keyboards, Yogev Glosman on bass and Amir Bresler on drums.

The sisters come from the village of Sharahut in southern Israel’s Negev desert and sing in English, Hebrew, Arabic and the Yemenite dialect. Though absent on the night, a big influence on the proceedings will be Tomer Yosef, vocalist for the Israeli-American elec-

tronica-world fusion band Balkan Beat Box. Yosef produced the syncopated hit single for A-WA and directed the muchviewed and infectious video that accompanies it.

The Atlanta Jewish Times tried without success to contact members of the trio for comment.

Festival Executive Director Russell Gottschalk told us they were booked for the event because of their “lively, energetic, party-atmosphere music.”

Gottschalk compared A-WA and co-headliner Jaffa Road by saying the two acts are similar yet different. “Similar in that they are both doing world music that’s great for dancing but different in that Jaffa Road is a little more traditional and A-WA is bit more progressive,” he said. “A-WA will have more of an electronica, hip-hop vibe.”

Most artists at the seventh AJMF are either local or from elsewhere in the United States, Gottschalk said, and to have international musicians such

The mysterious music trio that is A-WA rolls into town March 26 to headline AJMF’s Purim party.

as A-WA and Jaffa Road is a special op-

off their music and their backstory

portunity for the Atlanta community.

of being this trio of Yemenite Israelis.

“A-WA is an incredible group,” he said. “They’ve become really popular

Jaffa Road Finds Way Back to AJMF

By Kevin Madigan kmadigan@atljewishtimes.com

T

he last time Jaffa Road played the Atlanta Jewish Music Festival, in 2011, it was only the Canadian band’s second appearance in the United States. The group has done few gigs here since then and is eager to become better known.

“We had a great time last time,” Jaffa Road’s Aaron Lightstone said on the phone from Toronto. “Most of our touring has been in Canada. We’re looking forward to expanding our audience base in the U.S. You’ve got 10 times more people than we have, and our population is so spread out, which makes touring very difficult.

“In the U.S. you could play many towns within a one-to-four-hour drive of each other. But you fly in for a gig in Winnipeg — where (else) are you going to play?”

In 2011 at AJMF2, Jaffa Road coheadlined the festival’s closing event with Brooklyn-based Sway Machinery.

On March 26, the group will again coheadline the main event, but this time with international viral YouTube sensation A-WA. Jaffa Road’s sound will appeal to fans of jazz, dance, Jewish and Middle Eastern music, and it is “sprinkled with Indian and African music,” Lightstone said.

He plays the oud, a pear-shaped, stringed instrument that originated in the Middle East; other instruments in the five-piece band are guitars, synthesizers, a saxophone, keyboards, a bansuri (flute), a variety of percussion, and a Bass Veena, invented by bassist Justin Gray.

“Where the Light Gets In,” Jaffa Road’s second album, was nominated for a Juno Award. The band was named World Music Group of the Year at the

I think it will be great music to party to.” ■

Jaffa Road returns to the AJMF for the first time since 2011 on March 26.

2013 Canadian Folk Music Awards.

“We’re a whole interesting blend of disparate music styles,” Lightstone said. “It’s a lot of different ingredients; it covers a pretty wide dynamic range, I would say. We’ve been told over and over again that it works.”

The kind of music they make is

reflective of the multicultural environment in Toronto, Lightstone said. “The band is made up of musicians who really dove into studying jazz or Indian or Middle Eastern music. We like to play together, and it all comes out in this natural, organic way. Sometimes it 13 can get pretty rocking.” ■ MARCH 4 ▪ 2016

By Kevin Madigan kmadigan@atljewishtimes.com

AJT

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ATLANTA JEWISH MUSIC FESTIVAL 7

Jazz With a Side of Hummus Hadar Noiberg Trio kicks off the festival

By David R. Cohen david@atljewishtimes.com The March 26 Purim-themed main event might be the seventh Atlanta Jewish Music Festival’s largest concert, but don’t overlook what could be the most unusual act of AJMF7.

The Hadar Noiberg Trio, a New York-based world music/jazz group led

by Israeli-born flutist Hadar Noiberg, is opening the festival at Steve’s Live Music on Thursday, March 10.

Noiberg is one of the world’s premier jazz flutists, and her trio’s compositions blend exotic Middle Eastern melodies with traditional jazz to create a distinctive sound.

“There aren’t too many flutists in jazz that are primarily flute players and don’t play other instruments,” Noiberg said in an interview. “In Middle Eastern cultures, flute is a very spiritual leader, and I’m so influenced by that. My band, which is just flute, bass and drums, has an amazing amount of energy between the three of us.”

Originally from Holon, Israel,

Steve’s Live Music, one of Atlanta’s most intimate music venues, is hosting Noiberg as she opens AJMF7 with two sets at 7:30 and 9:30 p.m.

The Sandy Springs venue has hosted AJMF events each year since opening in 2012. Noiberg’s performance could be the festival finale for the Hilderbrand Drive site, however, because owner Steve Grossman announced in January that he’ll likely close or move

if he can’t find a partner to handle food operations.

“If you want to see something unique, AJMF is always providing those experiences,” Grossman said. “You wouldn’t ordinarily be able to get a group like this here without the festival putting them on. Having the sponsors for AJMF bring in this kind of talent is exceptional.”

Noiberg was introduced to AJMF Executive Director Russell Gottschalk

by Yonit Stern, the director of cultural affairs for the Israeli Consulate in Atlanta.

The flutist, drummer Allison Miller and bassist Haggai Cohen Milo also are performing at a special jazz Shabbat service Friday, March 11, at 6:30 p.m. at Congregation Or Hadash in Sandy Springs.

“I feel compelled to present the flute as a very powerful leading instrument,” said Noiberg, who plays a 100-year-old black wooden flute. “We put on a very free-flowing, energetic and dynamic concert. I think people there will be surprised.” ■

er-known musical acts with small but passionate followings.

The music of A-WA and Jaffa Road should fit right in at the 7,000-squarefoot venue.

“We are extremely excited to have booked and be hosting the AJMF Purim party at Terminal West this year,” said

Trent Allison, one of the general managers at Terminal West. “I, myself, am of Jewish faith, so it hits pretty close to home for me. Needless to say, we are counting down the days till the AJMF Purim party on March 26 and are looking forward to the incredible weeks full of live music.” ■

Hadar Noiberg’s performance at AJMF7 will be her first in Atlanta.

Noiberg moved to Brooklyn 11 years ago and tours worldwide with her jazz trio and other projects. She recently returned from two weeks in Europe with stops in Munich, Paris and Vienna.

Her performances at AJMF7 will mark her first visit to Atlanta.

“I’ve heard Atlanta is smaller than New York City for sure,” she said. “I’ve also heard there is actually a lot of great music happening there.”

Purim Party for the Ages AJMF switches its Spring Fest venue

By David R. Cohen david@atljewishtimes.com

MARCH 4 ▪ 2016

For the past three years the Atlanta Jewish Music Festival has held its main Spring Fest event at Variety Playhouse in Little Five Points, but the 7-year-old festival is moving its headliners to one of the hottest music venues in Atlanta.

Terminal West, which opened in West Midtown in 2012, is the location for the AJMF Purim party, featuring A-WA and Jaffa Road.

The festival moved from Variety because of concerns over the venue’s availability and because of the need to find a space better suited to the AJMF crowd, Executive Director Russell Gottschalk said.

“We knew the ownership of Variety was going to be in flux,” Gottschalk said. “We weren’t sure when it would be sold and when it would be closed for renovations. The other reason we switched is the size.”

Terminal West has a room with a capacity of 625 people; Variety holds more than 1,000, he said. “We’re usually in the 400 to 700 range at our Spring 14 Fest, which is a perfect-size crowd for

AJT

Terminal West.”

An added bit of fun to the festival’s main event is the Purim theme, with attendees invited to dress up in costumes. Purim actually is March 23 and 24, but the AJMF event March 26 promises to offer enough upbeat music and drinking to make people forget that small fact.

Want to go but can’t afford a ticket? The Marcus Jewish Community Center’s Young Adults group purchased 200 tickets and is giving them on a first-come, first-served basis at atlantajcc.org/pldb-live/purim-party-31972.

“Terminal West is an amazing venue,” AJMF programming team co-chair Eli Sperling said. “The sound is incredible, and it’s in a great convenient location. We feel that A-WA is one of the most cutting-edge bands in Jewish music today, and we are thrilled at the opportunity to bring them to Atlanta and share their sound.”

The building that now houses Terminal West operated as an iron and steel foundry for more than 100 years before being converted into a concert venue in 2012.

The site now regularly hosts less-

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ATLANTA JEWISH MUSIC FESTIVAL 7

Classic Klezmer With a Twist

Expect strange and wonderful things from Klezmer Local 42 Lovers of traditional music are in for a treat when Klezmer Local 42 appears as part of the Atlanta Jewish Music Festival on Sunday, March 13, at Congregation Beth Jacob.

The gig will include a diverse mix of styles, according to bandleader Daniel Horowitz. “We are not purists or reverent reproducers of some genre,” he said from Athens, where the group is based. “We definitely stretch out in different directions. A lot of bands do that, but I guess we take it further than some. It’s traditional klezmer, but then we’ll work in classic rock and strange things.”

Klezmer is Jewish music with Eastern European roots, Horowitz explained. “Those scales and chord structures are strange. What seems major is minor and vice versa. That crazy Freygish scale I love so much — it’s like a magic scale that’s in a lot of tunes.”

Horowitz formed the band in 2009 after failing to find the right musicians for his own wedding. He has listened to

traditional Jewish music all his life and first discovered klezmer through his father’s records.

“Klezmer has been a personal journey for me, discovering what it’s all about,” he said. “Actually figuring how to play it is very different from just listening to it, and it’s fascinating. It’s like learning about jazz. It was so mysterious before I started. How do you actually do it? That’s a journey in itself.”

Horowitz also plays in Five Eight, a longtime Athens rock band known for its intense live shows.

“I’ve always wanted to play totally different types of music, and I’ve never wanted to join any other rock band.

Five Eight pushes me to the rock limit in a really good way. I play electric bass for them, and I rock out, and it’s loud,” he said.

Klezmer Local 42’s lineup tends to vary, and Horowitz is not sure how many members will be at the Atlanta concert.

“We are seven usually,” he said.

“Very occasionally we are eight, and sometimes we’re five or six. I made the band big, so if someone can’t make it,

Klezmer Local 42 bandleader and bassist Dan Horowitz says he has been listening to klezmer music his entire life.

it’s not that big a deal.”

Band members who do turn up will be playing tracks from the group’s new album, “Fear of a Yiddish Planet,” and merchandise on the night will in-

clude cans of Jittery Jews, the band’s own coffee brand.

“I chose a lovely blend of three kinds of dark-roasted coffee beans,” Horowitz said. “It really is good.” ■

MARCH 4 ▪ 2016

By Kevin Madigan kmadigan@atljewishtimes.com

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ATLANTA JEWISH MUSIC FESTIVAL 7

Meet the Featured Artists

By David R. Cohen david@atljewishtimes.com

is a great chance to enjoy some fun-filled music at one of the city’s newest venues, Venkman’s. Also check out the duo’s podcast, “Ear Snacks,” at andrewandpolly. com.

Here’s what you need to know about the featured artists at the seventh Atlanta Jewish Music Festival.

Hadar Noiberg Trio

Performing: March 10 at Steve’s Live Music and March 11 at Or Hadash Sounds like: Herbie Mann made aliyah Why you should go: Jazz flutist Hadar Noiberg doesn’t take any cues from Jethro Tull or even Ron Burgundy. Instead, the New York-based bandleader combines Middle Eastern roots and traditional jazz music for an exotic trip around the world. Attend a performance to see one of the world’s premier jazz flutists jam with her talented band of drummer Allison Miller and bassist Haggai Cohen Milo.

Joe Buchanan

Performing: March 12 at Dunwoody Nature Center Sounds like: Zac Brown Band went on tour with Safam Why you should go: Joe Buchanan is forging into the uncharted territory that is Judaic Americana music. Listen to the Jewish convert from Texas and you can hear the soul in every note he sings. Go to his outdoor performance if you want to see a fresh take on what Jewish music can be. You will leave inspired.

FSQ

Klezmer Local 42

Jaffa Road

Performing: March 13 at Congregation Beth Shalom Sounds like: Klezmer and Gypsy jazz Why you should go: Who doesn’t like klezmer? Athens-based Klezmer Local 42 is one of the few purveyors of this traditional music in Georgia and is playing what looks to be a wildly entertaining show at Beth Shalom. Besides klezmer, these talented musicians mix it up with some Gypsy music and other surprises.

MARCH 4 ▪ 2016

Andrew & Polly

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Performing: March 20 at Atlanta Jewish Academy Sounds like: Matisyahu’s beats crossed with Dave Matthews’ jams Why you should go: At $36, tickets to KehillaFest at AJA are the most expensive of any show at AJMF7, but Soulfarm, a New York-based rock/jam band from Israel, should be well worth the price. You’ll witness a high-energy, fast-paced musical journey through American and Israeli music while helping raise money for The Kehilla.

Sammy Rosenbaum

Performing: March 13 at the Hunger Walk/Run and March 25 at The Temple Sounds like: Bob Marley and Debbie Friedman’s love child Why you should go: Sammy Rosenbaum is one of the few local artists featured at AJMF7. He also happens to be one of the Southeast’s pre-eminent Jewish singer-songwriters. Rosenbaum’s performance with the AJMF All-Stars at the Hunger Walk/Run is sure to be one of the highlights of the festival. We can only hope the weather cooperates.

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Soulfarm

Performing: March 19 at Venkman’s and March 20 at Marcus JCC Sounds like: Raffi meets Alex & Sierra Why you should go: Take your kids and see this award-winning interfaith musical duo. The Los Angeles-based children’s musicians don’t come to Atlanta very often, and this

Performing: March 22 at Aisle 5 Sounds like: George Clinton, Big Gigantic, Daft Punk Why you should go: AJMF’s first EDM event features interfaith DJs Chuck “Da Fonk” Fishman and Sa’D “The Hourchild” Ali. They make up FSQ, which stands for Funk, Style, Quality. This performance is part of the AJMF House of Peace. Check out this event if you’re a fan of electronic music or if you just want to dance the night away to some funky beats.

Performing: March 26 at Terminal West Sounds like: Middle Eastern jazz rock electronica fusion Why you should go: Toronto-based world music group Jaffa Road borrows from nearly every musical genre. In the process, the group, led by vocalist Aviva Chernick and guitarist Aaron Lightstone, has created an entertaining blend of musical styles that should satisfy everyone at the AJMF Purim party. Attend the festival’s main event in costume to see Jaffa Road and A-WA break a few musical boundaries together.

A-WA

Performing: March 26 at Terminal West Sounds like: Yemenite folk-inspired EDM Why you should go: A-WA burst onto the scene with a wildly popular YouTube video for the song “Habib Galbi,” which has more than 2.5 million views. But the group, consisting of three sisters from southern Israel, hasn’t even released an album yet. Check out this performance to see one of the hottest EDM acts in the world take the stage at one of Atlanta’s best venues and to see what other treats the trio has to offer.

www.atlantajewishtimes.com

ATLANTA JEWISH MUSIC FESTIVAL 7

18 Days of Jewish Music

The seventh edition of the Atlanta Jewish Music Festival features 16 events over 18 days and includes local, national and international artists performing at venues across the city. For tickets, visit www.atlantajmf.org.

Opening Night featuring Hadar Noiberg Trio New York-based trio led by Israeli flutist and composer Hadar Noiberg. Shows at 7:30 p.m. and 9:30 p.m. Tickets are $10 to $20. All ages.

Steve’s Live Music, 234 Hilderbrand Drive, Sandy Springs

FRIDAY, MARCH 11

Jazz Shabbat service featuring Hadar Noiberg Trio Trio joins Or Hadash’s talented house band to welcome Shabbat at 6:30 p.m. Free. All ages.

Or Hadash, 7460 Trowbridge Road, Sandy Springs

SATURDAY, MARCH 12

Joe Buchanan Texas-based folk singer/songwriter joins local musicians to conclude Shabbat outside.

In partnership with Temple Emanu-El. 5 p.m. Free. All ages.

Dunwoody Nature Center, 5343 Roberts Drive, Dunwoody

SUNDAY, MARCH 13

AJMF All-Stars featuring Sammy Rosenbaum AJMF All-Stars Stage at the Atlanta Community Food Bank Hunger Walk/Run, Atlanta’s biggest fundraiser to support organizations fighting hunger.

Some entertainment begins at noon. AJMF All-Stars perform during the walk/run from 2 to 3:30 p.m. Registration is $25 to walk and $35 to run in advance, $30 and $40 on event day.

Turner Field, green parking lot, 755 Hank Aaron Drive, downtown Atlanta Klezmer Local 42 Athens-based band brings traditional klezmer energy for a night of toe-tapping fun. Doors

open at 7 p.m.; music at 7:30.

Free. All ages.

Congregation Beth Shalom, 5303 Winters Chapel Road, Dunwoody

FRIDAY, MARCH 18

Ruach Shabbat featuring Beth Tikvah musicians Beth Tikvah’s house band ushers in Shabbat with a rockin’ service. 6:30 p.m. Free. All ages.

Temple Beth Tikvah, 9955 Coleman Road, Roswell Kirtan Shabbat featuring Gayanne Geurin, Will Robertson and Sunmoon Pie Longtime collaborators celebrate their independently released chant albums with the first of two Shabbat services.

7:30 p.m. Free. All ages.

Ahavath Achim Synagogue, 600 Peachtree Battle Ave., Buckhead

SATURDAY, MARCH 19

Kirtan Shabbat featuring Gayanne Geurin, Will Robertson and Sunmoon Pie Longtime collaborators’ second of two chant Shabbat services.

10 a.m. Free. All ages.

Congregation Bet Haverim, 2074 Lavista Road, Toco Hills

Andrew & Polly children’s concert Interfaith musicians offer entertainment for children and young families. Shows at 5:30 p.m. and 7 p.m. Free. All ages.

Venkman’s, 740 Ralph McGill Blvd., Atlanta

SUNDAY, MARCH 20

Purim family concert featuring Andrew & Polly 10 a.m. Free. All ages.

Marcus Jewish Community Center, 5342 Tilly Mill Road, Dunwoody Soulfarm at KehillaFest The Kehilla’s annual fundraiser features American music rooted in Israeli flavor. Doors open at 6 p.m. with music at 7.

Tickets are $18. All ages.

Atlanta Jewish Academy, 5200 Northland Drive, Sandy Springs

TUESDAY, MARCH 22

AJMF House of Peace featuring FSQ Interfaith DJs Chuck “Da Fonk” Fishman and Sa’D “The Hourchild” Ali unite to start the party at AJMF’s first EDM event. Doors open at 9 p.m. with music at 10. Tickets are $5 in advance, $10 at the door.

Ages 18 and up.

Aisle 5, 1123 Euclid Ave., Atlanta

targeting young professionals.

8:30 p.m. Free.

The Temple, 1589 Peachtree St., Midtown

SATURDAY, MARCH 26

Purim party featuring A-WA and Jaffa Road International world music artists bring the beat to a communitywide Purim costume party.

Traditional Middle Eastern melodies mix with a variety of contemporary music genres.

Doors open at 8 p.m. with music at 9. Tickets are $20 in advance, $25 at the door. Ages 18 and up.

Terminal West, 887 W. Marietta St., Atlanta

SUNDAY, MARCH 27

Teen Battle of the Bands Festival’s inaugural competition for teen musicians. 1:30 p.m. Free. All ages 595 North Event Center, 595 North Ave., Midtown

THURSDAY, MARCH 24

Music at the Mikvah featuring Aviva Chernick and Aaron Lightstone Leaders of Jaffa Road powerfully connect to the mikvah through intoxicatingly soulful music. 7:30 p.m.

Tickets are $10. All ages.

MACoM, 700A Mount Vernon Highway, Sandy Springs

FRIDAY, MARCH 25

The Well featuring Rabbi David Spinrad and Sammy Rosenbaum Come with spirit, leave with soul at The Temple’s monthly service

MARCH 4 ▪ 2016

THURSDAY, MARCH 10

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www.atlantajewishtimes.com

ATLANTA JEWISH MUSIC FESTIVAL 7

All-Star Sounds to Help Fuel Hunger Walk

By Leah R. Harrison

T

he Atlanta Jewish Music Festival will once again entertain the crowds at the Atlanta Community Food Bank’s annual Hunger Walk/ Run on Sunday, March 13, with the appearance of the AJMF All-Stars featuring Sammy Rosenbaum.

The band will play for the duration of the 5K Hunger Walk/Run, which kicks off from Turner Field’s green parking lot at 2 p.m. and meanders through downtown Atlanta for about 90 minutes.

One of five bands performing for all participants along the route, the group will play on the namesake AJMF All-Stars Stage on Pollard Boulevard, close to the end of the walk.

This is the second year that the AJMF is providing music at the Hunger Walk.

“Knowing their event coincides with our multiweek festival in March, we approached them a couple of years back to see if we could participate by providing some live music to both give back to the community and promote our signature Spring Festival,” AJMF Executive Director Russell Gottschalk said.

Gottschalk called the All-Stars a supergroup, which bandleader Sammy Rosenbaum said includes festival

board members who are professional musicians.

Joining board members Rosenbaum, Cantors Lauren Adesnik and Beth Schafer, Becky Herring, and Mark Gallegos are local artists Bonnie Puckett and DJ Burel on drums.

“I’m getting really excited to work with all these awesome musicians that I get to see in a boardroom but rarely get to see behind a microphone, so it’s really going to be a treat,” Rosenbaum said.

The band will play a dynamic mix of songs they like and those they’ve written. Rosenbaum said the All-Stars will be “switching out instruments, switching out lead singers and backing each other up, and it’s going to be fun.

We’re completely collaborating on the event.”

Rosenbaum and Gottschalk said the Hunger Walk provides a special opportunity to perform in front of a large and varied Atlanta audience.

Gottschalk said the crowd will be the festival’s largest audience and likely its least Jewish one.

Anne Melanson, the coordinator of route entertainment for the walk, said the 12 entertainment stops will include youth drum corps and steel drum bands from churches, a drum circle, the Georgia Tech Glee Club, and “a couple of surprises along the way.”

The 4th Ward Afro Klezmer Orchestra plays at the first AJMF stage at the Hunger Walk/Run in 2015.

There also will be jugglers, face painters, clowns and a house band on the stage inside the park.

Walk organizers advise everyone

to arrive early. Entertainment at the park will start at noon, and some of the main streets around Turner Field will close at 1:30. ■

Embrace Your Spiritual Side Jewish ritual meets soulful music

By Leah R. Harrison

T

MARCH 4 ▪ 2016

he Atlanta Jewish Music Festival offers several opportunities for you to get your jam on while you nourish your Jewish soul.

Born from the vision of Bram Bessoff, the outgoing AJMF president and board co-chair, to decentralize festival programming, events this year will be held at six synagogues and three other Jewish institutions, in addition to seven other venues. One of Bessoff’s main goals was “to get as many if not all of the congregations and Jewish organizations across Atlanta to hold their own events under the AJMF moniker instead of trying to force our entire community to come to one event, and to allow any that wanted to be involved.”

The festival provides the following opportunities to mix music and reli18 gion:

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• Jazz Shabbat service at Congregation Or Hadash on March 11 — After opening the festival with two shows the previous night, the Hadar Noiberg Trio teams up with the talented Or Hadash house band for a soul-rocking Friday night.

• Ruach Shabbat at Temple Beth Tikvah on March 18 — The Roswell congregation opens its quarterly Ruach Shabbat to the public. Bessoff, a Beth Tikvah member, described it as “a standard Reform Friday night Shabbat service, but all of the prayers are played in musical form with a full ensemble.

We have percussion, flute, violin, several guitars and our chorus. Music is critical to Ruach Shabbat.” Beth Tikvah Cantor Nancy Kassel leads the service.

• Chant Shabbat at Ahavath Achim Synagogue on March 18 and Congregation Bet Haverim on March 19 — Inspirational chant leader and vocal coach Gayanne Guerin teams

with composer, singer and multiinstrumentalist Will Robertson and Jewish-inspired soulful hometown music group Sunmoon Pie for two transcendent spiritual Rabbi David Spinrad services. Geurin said the services use chant leadership for simple phrases in Hebrew with instrumental accompaniment to help attendees experience Shabbat through a different lens.

• Music at the Mikvah at the Metro Atlanta Community Mikvah on March 24 — Jaffa Road members Aviva Chernick and Aaron Lightstone bring a program Chernick created for MACoM to connect the dynamic water, her music and the spirituality of the rituals of immersion. According to MACoM Vice

President Caryn Hanrahan, Chernick hopes to “demystify the practice of immersion and offer a beautiful background to allow individuals to learn about mikvah and how it is being used in new and nontraditional ways to mark transitions in life both good and difficult.” The acoustics of the mikvah should intensify the effect of the raspy timbre of Chernick’s vocals.

• The Well at The Temple on March 25 — Rabbi David Spinrad explained the name of the service: “In the Jewish biblical tradition the well is a gathering place for people to meet and to find physical, emotional and spiritual sustenance. The Well aspires to be precisely this.” The Well is a soulful and spirited young-adult musical service that has gained popularity and momentum the past two years, with Rabbi Spinrad, Sammy Rosenbaum and other local artists. “Come with spirit,” Rosenbaum said. “Leave with soul.” ■

www.atlantajewishtimes.com

ATLANTA JEWISH MUSIC FESTIVAL 7

Fierce Competition

Tiger design wins festival poster contest

By Kevin Madigan kmadigan@atljewishtimes.com Katie Welch, a senior at Georgia State University with a passion for illustration, won the plum assignment of designing the poster for this year’s Atlanta Jewish Music Festival.

Welch’s ferocious tiger got the attention of AJMF head Russell Gottschalk, who told the Atlanta Jewish Times he found it “compelling” and his team chose it as the winner because it “pops off the page.”

But why a tiger?

“I wanted something vibrant and fierce, something that would go along with the music,” Welch explained in a phone interview. “A lot of things that I considered felt very static, and that’s not what music is. Music is very alive and vibrant and colorful and tigers really emphasize that.”

A graphic design major, Welch’s work was chosen from all the submissions in her class.

“Each student did two, so we were

looking at about 60 options, and we chose her tiger as the best of the lot. It was really a skilled design,” Gottschalk said.

The AJMF runs a design contest for GSU students every year, and applicants must adhere to certain requirements, such as the use of specific colors and inclusion of the festival’s dates.

“When I saw the deep purples and that bright orange, the first thing I thought of was a tiger,” Welch said. “I think it works with the color palette,” added Gottschalk. “This year it’s orange and red and pink and purple. It’s fire-y and the fact that she thought of a fierce predator I think works really well.”

Gottschalk also likes the fact that this poster looks nothing like previous ones. “That was appealing too, the diversity. Not only does it work well, but it went in a totally different direction from last year. We’ve got tons of positive feedback. I think Katie did a great job,” he said.

Welch, who will graduate in May, worked last summer at HLN (Headline

Katie Welch finalizes the AJMF poster design with Ed Jewell, the owner of Danger Press, before printing.

News) as a freelance graphic designer and acquired some valuable experience.

“I got a taste of what it’s like to work in TV and I just loved it,” she said.

“I did ad designs for a number of different shows; I also worked pretty regularly on Nancy Grace. The graphics people on her show are very particular.”

Welch has been a freelance artist for a long time, she said, and loves

cartoons and animation. “Even though I’m 35 years old I still aspire to work in that kind of environment. It’s always been my dream to work at Cartoon Network.” As well as designing a book for children, Welch is launching a new website in mid-March to showcase her talents and display them to the corporate world.

“I’m excited to graduate and really get out there,” Welch said. ■

One Rockin’ Fundraiser

KehillaFest cuts ticket prices to thank community

By David R. Cohen david@atljewishtimes.com

R

Award-winning Jewish rock band Soulfarm headlines KehillaFest on March 20.

while he lived in Israel.

KehillaFest is the main fundraiser for The Kehilla, which regularly hosts concerts, classes, social events and Shabbat dinners for any and all who would like to attend. The congregation got a big head start on the fundraiser by bringing in $145,204 in 24 hours as

part of the Association of Jewish Outreach Programs’ United Kiruv Giving Day on Feb. 16 and 17.

In celebration of that success, The Kehilla slashed KehillaFest ticket prices in half from $36 to $18.

“We want to show our appreciation to the community and enable ev-

eryone to come out and celebrate with us,” Rabbi Ingber said. “We see this as an incredible partnership with the community, and in gratitude for this outpouring of support, we want everyone to participate and experience our vision of unity and joy that this event 19 represents.” ■ MARCH 4 ▪ 2016

abbi Karmi David Ingber and The Kehilla hosted the first KehillaFest in February 2015 to celebrate five years of his leadership of the thriving Jewish congregation in Sandy Springs.

The event was so successful as a fundraiser and as a concert, drawing more than 500 people to hear the Moshav Band, that The Kehilla is doing it again Sunday, March 20, this time as part of the seventh Atlanta Jewish Music Festival.

“Last year we worked together with AJMF,” Rabbi Ingber said. “And being that we are bringing out a really great band for KehillaFest this year, we decided to combine forces.”

That band is New York-based rock/jam outfit Soulfarm, which plays a high-energy mix of American and Israeli music.

Just as he did at the first KehillaFest, Rabbi Ingber plans to join the featured act onstage for a few songs at the Atlanta Jewish Academy auditorium.

The rabbi is a guitarist and performed with various members of Soulfarm

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MARCH 4 ▪ 2016

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ARTS

Habima’s Youngest Actor Far From Typical

J

erry’s Habima Theatre is known for showing audiences that actors with special needs can perform a professional show, but this year’s production of “Shrek the Musical, Jr.” also has been educational for the cast.

That’s because of the inclusion of 13-year-old Sadie Levy, a neurotypical Epstein School eighth-grader who is the youngest cast member.

“It’s been great working with all of these people,” Sadie said in a phone interview Friday, Feb. 26, the day after opening night at the Marcus Jewish Community Center. “I’ve learned they’re just normal people. They have different personalities and drama just like the rest of us.”

Sadie’s mother, Alane Levy, said the education has worked both ways.

“One of the young men expressed to me that they were so touched that she was willing to be a part of this at her age … to be there for them,” Levy said. “Now she’s like their little sister.

They watch out for her.”

The Levys, who live in Peachtree Corners and are members of Congregation Or Hadash, had to push for Sadie to be part of the cast. Sadie did a stage workshop with Habima’s new director, Mary Nye Bennett, and asked whether she needed another person. Bennett initially said no because of her age but changed her mind when other people involved in the show backed Sadie’s involvement.

“Mary saw Sadie’s ability and wanted to give her a chance,” Levy said.

Sadie said she always went to the Habima shows as a little girl, and “I always thought it would be an amazing experience and a great thing to do.”

Still, Levy said her daughter needed some persuading to commit to spending a couple of hours a day, five days a week, for more than two months with castmates ages 18 to 70. Aside from one neighbor, Sadie hadn’t spent much time with people with special needs, especially adults, and she was nervous.

“It worked out so nicely,” said Levy, who grew up at Congregation Shearith Israel. Watching her onstage as young Fiona, a fairy-tale creature and part of the ensemble, “my husband and I were so proud that she put in all the work.”

Sadie came into “Shrek” with some acting experience in school shows such as “High School Musical” and various workshops and camps, and the future

Weber School student isn’t ready to stop. She said, “If I get invited back, I’d love to do it again.” ■ What: “Shrek the Musical, Jr.” Where: Marcus JCC, 5342 Tilly Mill Road, Dunwoody When: 7:30 p.m. Thursday, March 3, and Saturday, March 5, and 3 and 7 p.m. Sunday, March 6 Tickets: $25 for adults and $10 for children 12 and under for JCC members, $35 and $15 for nonmembers; www.atlantajcc.org/ boxoffice

Sadie Levy (right) spends some time backstage with one of her new friends, Katie Rouille.

MARCH 4 ▪ 2016

By Michael Jacobs mjacobs@atljewishtimes.com

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www.atlantajewishtimes.com

EDUCATION

Groundbreaking Celebrates AJA’s Bright Future

T

he sun has been a rare sight in Atlanta lately, but it shone brightly throughout the groundbreaking ceremony for the Atlanta Jewish Academy expansion Sunday morning, Feb. 28.

Rabbi Pinchos Hecht, who has served as the academy’s head of school through the merger of Yeshiva Atlanta High School and Greenfield Hebrew Academy, noted that the construction project to consolidate students from preschool through 12th grade on one campus is beginning at the same time the Torah is addressing the construction of the tabernacle.

The Torah explains “the building of a space for G-d and man to meet,” which is exactly what a school should be, Rabbi Hecht said.

AJA’s Foundation for Our Future Capital Campaign has raised more than $8.1 million toward its $12 million goal, said academy Director of Development Natasha Lebowitz, who emceed the ceremony.

The project includes science labs, common areas, a beit midrash, a gym and a soccer field, among other enhancements.

The fourth groundbreaking in the school’s history brought together religious and secular leaders, from Congregation Beth Jacob Rabbis Ilan Feldman and Yechezkel Freundlich, Young Israel of Toco Hills Rabbi Adam Starr, and Congregation Ariel Rabbi Binyomin Friedman to Sandy Springs City Council members Andy Bauman and John Paulson. ■

A

B

C

F

E

G

I

H

J

MARCH 4 ▪ 2016

Photos by Michael Jacobs

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M

D

A: Community Rabbis (from left) Yechezkel Freundlich, Daniel Estreicher, Adam Starr and Binyomin Friedman take a turn in the dirt pile.

B: Holding the golden shovel used at the first groundbreaking at the Northland Drive campus, Betty Minsk is joined by other key donors, city and school officials, and construction project leaders in the first group to wield shovels at the AJA groundbreaking.

C: Evie Weinreich, who oversees AJA’s facilities, digs in during the groundbreaking.

D: With some reluctance, AJA President Ian Ratner spends a few moments in the driver’s seat of a Bobcat excavator at the construction site.

E: The AJA groundbreaking crosses generations.

F: Rabbi Pinchos Hecht, the outgoing Atlanta Jewish Academy head of school, guides trustee Henry Birnbrey to the dirt pile.

G: Suffering a little from the warm, sunny weather, a kosher

K cookie from Costco in Brookhaven awaits the crowd.

H: Jill Ovadia helps keep the ceremony moving by handling the distribution of the hard hats.

I: AJA President Ian Ratner, Sandy Springs City Council member Andy Bauman and Head of School Rabbi Pinchos Hecht help gather the first groundbreaking group during the AJA ceremony Feb. 28.

J: Everything is ready for the groundbreaking ceremony Feb. 28.

K: The development team behind the AJA capital campaign does some shoveling.

L: AJA Director of Development Natasha Lebowitz welcomes the crowd to the groundbreaking Feb. 28.

M: Danny and David Frankel get their own turn shoveling some earth because their father, Ephraim, the longtime head of school at Greenfield Hebrew Academy, “built the school,” according to Natasha Lebowitz.

EDUCATION

IDF veterans Isaac and Shir speak at the Atlanta Jewish Academy Upper School on Feb. 22.

By Michael Jacobs mjacobs@atljewishtimes.com

A

n anti-Israel group’s disruption of a University of Georgia presentation has helped unify proIsrael organizations on campus.

The confrontation Monday night, Feb. 22, came during a two-day visit to the Atlanta area by the StandWithUs Israeli Soldiers Tour. Lauren Feibelman, the Southeast campus coordinator for StandWithUs, brought Israel Defense Forces veterans Shir and Isaac to the Atlanta Jewish Academy Upper School and UGA the first day and Georgia Tech and Emory the second day.

The soldiers said they experienced nothing but support at AJA and Tech. At Emory, they faced tough questions, including some from a Palestinian woman, but the exchange was respectful.

The story was different at UGA, where the soldiers’ appearance was sponsored by Dawgs for Israel and UGA Hillel.

Paula Baroff, the vice president of Dawgs for Israel, and Rachel Schwartz, the group’s programming director as well as the Hillel president, said 17 members of Athens for Justice in Palestine showed up, helped themselves to free pizza and sat quietly through Shir’s presentation.

“I was personally thinking they were planning to stay until the end,” Isaac said. But while Isaac was talking about growing up in Argentina and first visiting Israel, the AJP president stood and “just screamed that he was against us talking on his campus.”

Told he had to leave if he couldn’t wait for the question-and-answer session, the AJP leader walked out, followed by the others, in what Baroff said looked like a planned action.

“That hasn’t been the worst that we’ve seen,” Shir said. “Sometimes it’s much worse. They interrupt, trying to not let us concentrate or talk to people.”

A video shows that Isaac and Shir

pleaded with the protesters to stay and talk after the presentation.

“It would be really great to understand their point of view and have a dialogue,” Isaac said.

“We’re willing to have a discussion, an open discussion,” Shir said. “I think it’s a very sad thing that the antiIsrael groups are not willing to have any kind of dialogue.”

It was the first time AJP protested a Dawgs for Israel event, Schwartz said, but relations between the pro- and anti-Israel groups haven’t been peaceful.

“They yell at us a lot” when Dawgs for Israel has an informational table on campus, Baroff said. She said the harassment extends online, and “it’s getting to the point where we do feel a bit threatened.”

Dawgs for Israel President Emilie Vainer said Athens for Justice in Palestine is growing stronger, in part by seeking common ground with other rights-focused and minority groups.

That new strength has raised the issue of boycott, divestment and sanctions before the student government, Baroff and Schwartz said.

But Vainer said the walkout at the StandWithUs event served as a wakeup call for pro-Israel students.

Schwartz said all the pro-Israel groups on campus — Dawgs for Israel, Students Standing With Israel, UGAIPAC and Christians United for Israel — are forming a unified community for the first time, starting with Israel Peace Week from Feb. 29 to March 4. The plan was to staff informational tables, show the positive side of Israel, and promote peace and dialogue.

Vainer said the students are trying to build coalitions with organizations such as the Indian Cultural Exchange to show that Israel is more than politics.

“Other students and other people in the community know that we are working hard to ensure that a peaceful campaign is going to be happening on campus,” she said. ■

MARCH 4 ▪ 2016

UGA Palestinian Protest Unites Israel’s Supporters

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BUSINESS

More than 30 women attend the first Conexx Women event Jan. 28.

Conexx Initiative Offers Networking for Women

By Leah R. Harrison

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THE SONENSHINE TEAM Atlanta’s Favorite Real Estate Team

DEBBIE SONENSHINE STAR NEWMAN KATIE GALLOW Top 1% of Coldwell Banker Internationally Certified Negotiator, Luxury, New Homes and Corporate Relocation Specialist #1 Sales Associate in Sandy Springs Office Voted Favorite Jewish Realtor in AJT, Best of Jewish Atlanta

#2 Team Coldwell Banker Atlanta

Debbie Sells Houses

MARCH 4 ▪ 2016

Spectacular Panoramic Views From Every Direction at The Astoria!!

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harged with enhancing the value of membership for women and other constituencies and engaging new and diverse companies and people to join, Conexx: America Israel Business Connector brought Orna Sharon on board as development coordinator in mid-November.

She has led the launch of Conexx Women, whose first event was Jan. 28.

After talking to Conexx members, Sharon said, it became clear that women “felt that we needed to do something a little bit separate from the general membership in order to unite the women — to give more value to the women — because women connect differently, because women operate differently,” and they weren’t getting as much from their membership as they desired.

She discovered that, because of the constraints of family and home, female Conexx members prefer events around 5:30 p.m. rather than the typical time blocks in the early morning or at night.

Sharon formed a committee of “great women”: Tova Cohen, Sheila Dalmat, Renee Rosenheck, Darrie Schlesinger, Pamela Dubin, Bracha Sokolic and Shira Rosenfeld. They decided to have four events a year.

The launch event Jan. 28 — at 5:30 p.m., of course — was “Taking Chances in Corporate America: An Evening of Daring and Inspiration” with Becky Blalock, the author of “Dare” and a former Southern Co. chief information officer, and Kris Robinson, a former Hewlett-Packard executive who is the executive vice president of ThetaRay. It drew more than 30 women.

Sharon said attendees described the program as empowering and “all about actions and being positive and strong.”

The second Conexx Women event, focusing on strong women in business

Becky Blalock (left) and Kris Robinson offer advice about taking chances as women in the corporate world at the first Conexx Women event Jan. 28.

and startup opportunities, will feature Audrey Jacobs, a vice president of OurCrowd, and Shannon Pierce, a registered nurse and founder of CareCam Health Systems, on Thursday, April 7.

Many organizations and initiatives target women, Sharon acknowledged; the challenge is finding points of differentiation while collaborating with Jewish and non-Jewish organizations. She recently met with the Jewish Federation of Greater Atlanta to investigate ways to connect with Women’s Philanthropy, possibly through a trip to Israel with a business track.

“Our focus is professional women,” Sharon said. “We have to align ourselves with the Conexx mission, which is to connect Israelis and Americans through the platform of business,” while embracing and accommodating the different ways in which women connect and do business.

Of the ways Americans can benefit from Israeli innovation, she said, “Israelis are never inside the box. There is no concept of a box.”

Sharon said there are a lot of nuances, but the Conexx leadership supports the women’s initiative.

“We want to empower women to do business with Israeli companies, take a risk, and think outside the box, embrace technology,” Sharon said. ■

What: “Startups: New Opportunities for Women,” the second Conexx Women event Who: Audrey Jacobs and Shannon Pierce When: 5:30 p.m. Thursday, April 7 More information: Contact Orna Sharon at 914-924-8642 or osharon@conexx.org

LOCAL NEWS

Members of the Jewish community surround Bill Bolling, the Atlanta Community Food Bank executive director from 1979 to 2015, at the 2015 Hunger Walk/Run.

By Leah R. Harrison

M

etro Atlanta residents of all faiths, backgrounds and political persuasions will gather Sunday, March 13, for the Atlanta Community Food Bank’s Hunger Walk/Run. Five faith-based organizations are joining to raise money through the 5K walk and run originating at the Turner Field green parking lot and weaving through the streets of downtown.

In line with a commitment to tikkun olam (repairing the world), the Atlanta Jewish community has always supported the Hunger Walk in a big way. That involvement originated with the Jewish Community Relations Council in the mid-1980s, around the time the walk began 32 years ago, and was taken on by the Jewish Federation of Greater Atlanta in 2010.

This year marks a milestone in that effort.

“The amount raised by the Jewish Federation of Greater Atlanta for the Hunger Walk/Run over the years (we have on record since 1996) is nearly $1 million,” said Amy Hudson, the senior communications manager for the food bank. The total was $986,336 as of Jan. 13, and Hunger Walk/Run project manager Michael DeCoursey said that if the amount hasn’t surpassed $1 million by now, it certainly will by the day of the event.

“Last year alone, the Federation raised $91,562,” Hudson said. “Of the five benefiting partners (organizations that partner with the food bank and benefit from the event), JFGA consistently raises the most funds.”

DeCoursey said, “Federation is the only participating partner that turns around and distributes the money back out to hunger-based organizations.”

Federation and the food bank operate under a 60/40 split, so the food

bank returns 60 percent of what is raised through Federation, to be allocated as the Jewish community sees fit.

That money is disbursed by Federation’s Hunger Walk allocations committee to hunger-related agencies — most within the Jewish community.

Last year the committee granted money to 13 hunger-related organizations that demonstrated need through an application and vetting process.

The food bank retains the remaining 40 percent to continue its work, procuring over 61 million pounds of food and groceries annually and distributing the goods to 600 partner agencies in 29 counties across metro Atlanta and north Georgia.

The co-chairs of this year’s community efforts are Bebe Kaplan and Bob Frohlich. To date, 28 teams are registered through Federation, surpassing last year’s number.

More than 550 people attended from the Jewish community last year, including more than 120 under the age of 18. Teams included the Epstein School, Hillel, BBYO, Camp Ramah Darom, Jewish Kids Groups, the Jewish Community Relations Council of Atlanta, Federation Young Adults and Ahavath Achim Synagogue.

The estimated total attendance was over 17,000.

It’s not too late to participate. Donate, sponsor a friend or family member, join a team, or register yourself online through www.hungerwalkrun.org.

Preregistration is $25 to walk and $35 to run. Onsite registration is $30 and $40.

Activities, food trucks and entertainment at Turner Field begin at noon, and the walk/run starts at 2. ■ Leah R. Harrison is a former Federation Hunger Walk co-chair and current Hunger Walk committee member.

MARCH 4 ▪ 2016

Federation Milestone: $1M for Hunger Walk

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The Grief Recovery Method Grief Support Group

LOCAL NEWS

The Action Program for Moving Beyond Death, Divorce, and Other Losses

People say you have to let go and move on in your life, but they don’t tell you what you need to accomplish that.

The Grief Recovery Method Support Group not only makes it possible, but provides partnerships and guidance to insure it happens during this 8 week action program. The program offers hope and support for any loss.

The group will meet from 7:00pm to 9:00pm for 8 weeks starting March 17th.

Chabad of East Cobb

4450 Lower Roswell Rd. Marietta, GA 30068

All are welcome. To register, please call Simonie Levy at 914-380-2903 or David Pritchard at 770-855-7503

Photos by Michael Jacobs

Rabbi Mark Zimmerman fills the role of Jimmy Fallon on the “Tonight Show” set at Beth Shalom’s “Studio 613.”

Above: Regina Newman as Sonny and Jeff Budd as Cher deliver the show’s finale, “I Got You, Babe.”

Below: Special guest Blanche Horowitz (Star 94’s Steve Tingle) gets a little too close for Rabbi Mark Zimmerman’s comfort while singing of her unrequited desire for the rabbi when he was hired in 1988.

Danny Shapiro performs “Enough Is Enough” as Barbra Streisand and Donna Summer in the lip-sync contest.

Wendy Widis (left) as Art Garkunkel and Michelle Izenson as Paul Simon perform “Me and Julio Down by the Schoolyard” in the lip-sync contest.

HOPE FOR THE GRIEVING HEART

Beth Shalom Co-President Joel Axler cues the crowd.

Beth Shalom’s ‘Tonight’ 40 Years in the Making

MARCH 4 ▪ 2016

A

AJT 26

live studio audience of hundreds of Congregation Beth Shalom members packed the sanctuary Saturday night, Feb. 27, for “The Tonight Show With Rabbi Zimmerman,” a 40th birthday celebration for the Conservative synagogue in Dunwoody.

At least, it has been in Dunwoody since the city formed Dec. 1, 2008. Rabbi Mark Zimmerman, who has led Beth Shalom since 1988 and noted his own lack of a sense of direction, joked that no one knew where they were. Norcross? Peachtree Corners? Duluth?

Regardless, Rabbi Zimmerman said, doing his best Jimmy Fallon, Beth Shalom is in a great location: “I can stand on Winters Chapel Road for an hour and not see a single Jew walk past.”

It was a night packed with selfdeprecating humor covering the congregation’s history, including interesting rabbis, denominational shifts, synagogue presidential politics, and

movement from Stone Mountain to Chamblee to Dunwoody.

Rabbi Zimmerman delved into his hiring 28 years ago with his first guest, Marcia Bergman, who was the congregation president at the time. He had offers in other states and didn’t expect Beth Shalom to try to hire him, but Bergman said the congregation was desperate to have a rabbi in place for the High Holidays.

“I wasn’t the last choice,” the rabbi said. “I was the only choice.”

The night of fun and, of course, food also featured a lip-sync contest, the music of Nick and the Grooves, and a Pictionary-type contest in which Rabbi Zimmerman and “Blanche Horowitz” (Star 94’s Steve Tingle) had to draw representations of the word brit.

If you missed the celebration, don’t worry. David Izenson’s spoof on synagogue announcements included the date for the 50th anniversary: March 10, 2026. Get your tickets early for a $5 discount. ■

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LOCAL NEWS

200 Sheridan Point Lane Mendy Rapaport (left) and Mayer Smith attend the Chabad of Cobb gala, which included raffles and a silent auction.

Taking a spin on the wheel of fortune are Jacob Sherwin (left), Dean Alkalay and Michelle Gilbert.

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Honoree Mitchell Kopelman is joined by sons Justin (left) and Jared and wife Stacey for the honor dinner.

Steve Parker (left) and Rob Kornheiser are having a good time before dinner and the awards ceremony.

CUSTOMER APPRECIATION DAY March 25th: Rabbi Ephraim Silverman, the head of Chabad of Cobb, makes a point during the ceremony.

Rabbi Yossi New, who leads Chabad of Georgia, speaks during the Chabad of Cobb gala.

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Honorees Azita and Iraj Kahen surround themselves with their children, Joshua (left), Rachel and Benjamin.

Photos by Jon Marks, Jon Marks Photography

Chabad Lights Up Cobb

C

habad of Cobb sold out East Cobb’s Pavillion at Olde Towne on Thursday night, Feb. 25, for its annual gala dinner. The event honored Mitchell Kopelman with the Community Leadership Award, Iraj and Azita Kahen with the Community Lamplighter Award, and David Covell with the Community Service Award. ■

Dr. Ted Becker (Ph.D., Northwestern) is Professor of Political Science at Auburn University.

Formerly, The Walter Meyer Professor at NYU School of Law: Chairman, Dept of Political Science, U of Hawaii. becketl@auburn.edu Dr. Brian Polkinghorn (Ph.D., Syracuse) is Professor and Director of the Center for Conflict Resolution, Salisbury U (Maryland); visiting professor of Conflict Resolution at Tel Aviv University each summer.

From AmericAn empire to First GlobAl nAtion

MARCH 4 ▪ 2016

Standing with wife Sheryl, David Covell entrusts his Community Service Award to son Bryce.

The 2-State Solution = Dead The 1-State Solution = No Way A Fenced-in Israel = Ghetto The 51st State Solution = A-OK

AJT 27

Something for Everyone Look for these upcoming special sections in your Atlanta Jewish Times: March 11 — Camp March 18 — Purim March 25 — Simchas April 1

— Finance

To advertise in these or any other issues, call 404-883-2130.

Send story ideas to mjacobs@atljewishtimes.com.

OBITUARIES

Joel Feldman 75, Roswell

The Honorable Joel Martin Feldman, age 75, of Roswell died Saturday, Feb. 27, 2016.

Judge Feldman served as a United States magistrate judge from 1974 until retirement in 2005. He held many positions, including Georgia assistant attorney general; assistant legislative counsel; assistant district attorney for Fulton County; legislative assistant and legal counsel for Sen. Sam Nunn; past president of Temple Sinai; Southeast Region and Atlanta Chapter, Naval Reserve Association; president of the Atlanta Council, Navy League; 29 years in the United States Navy Reserve, retiring as a captain and military judge; United States Air Force Reserve; and director, Federal Magistrate Judges Association.

Survivors include his wife, Debora Feldman; son and daughter-in-law Lawrence (Lon) and Kymbrlye Feldman, Boulder Creek, Calif.; daughter and son-inlaw Allison and Col. Philip G. Labasi Jr., Canton; stepson Marc Hitchcock, Grantville; grandchildren Amanda, Nikolas and Ethan Feldman, William and Jacob Labasi, and Kyle Hitchcock (step-grandson); and several nieces and nephews.

Sign the online guestbook at www.edressler.com. In lieu of flowers, contributions may be made to the American Heart Association, American Cancer Society and Temple Sinai. Funeral services were held Wednesday, March 2, at Temple Sinai. Interment followed at Arlington Memorial Park. Arrangements by Dressler’s Jewish Funeral Care, Atlanta, 770-451-4999.

Ferman Jay 89, Atlanta

Ferman Lloyd Jay, 89, passed away peacefully in his home in Atlanta on Wednesday, Feb. 24, 2016.

He was preceded in death by his wife of 36 years, Esther Cotts Jay, and his parents, William and Ruth Jay. He is survived by his son and daughter-in-law, Gregory and Jan Jay; grandchildren Jared and Rachel Jay; sisters and brothersin-law Zelda and Charles Moog and Sarah and Arthur Schoenburg; his devoted companion of 12 years, Maria Dziewinski; and many loving friends.

Born Jan. 5, 1927, Mr. Jay was a proud graduate of Buford High School and the University of Georgia School of Pharmacy. He served two years in the United States Navy in San Diego before opening Jay’s Drug Store in Buford. Customers knew that Mr. Jay would open the store day or night, weekends or holidays, to fill needed prescriptions and serve the community. He was more than a pharmacist; he was a friend to every customer. Jay’s Drugs was a fixture and gathering spot in downtown Buford for over 40 years until his retirement in 1993. Mr. Jay found pleasure following his beloved Georgia Bulldogs, traveling, and spending time with his friends, family and grandchildren.

Sign the online guestbook at www.edressler.com. In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to the Ferman Jay Endowed Student Scholarship at the UGA College of Pharmacy, the Jewish Federation of Greater Atlanta, or a charity of your choice. Graveside services were held Friday, Feb. 26, at Arlington Memorial Park, Sandy Springs. Arrangements by Dressler’s Jewish Funeral Care, Atlanta, 770-451-4999.

Harvey Minsk MARCH 4 ▪ 2016

81, Atlanta

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Harvey Edward Minsk, 81, of Atlanta passed away Friday, Feb. 19, 2016.

Born to Annie and Louis Minsk in Atlanta on Jan. 12, 1935, Harvey graduated from Henry Grady High School and the Southern College of Pharmacy. A selftaught engineer, Harvey founded his own communications business and worked on such projects as updating the radio systems in the U-2 spy plane and designing the antenna system for the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta. Harvey served in the Georgia Air National Guard and had a passion for ham radio and all types of computers. A member of both the Georgia Mineral Society and the Atlanta Orchid Society, Harvey loved rock hunting and tending his vibrant greenhouse. Harvey

OBITUARIES was also a fervent sailor and enjoyed sailing Lake Lanier as well as the Southeastern coast of the United States. Harvey played trumpet in many local jazz bands, including his own Big Band Atlanta, and took great pride in teaching each of his three sons using his own cornet.

Harvey is survived by his wife of 57 years, Mildred “Mimi” Cohen Minsk, and his three sons, David (Laura) of Waxhaw, N.C., Brian of Woodinville, Wash., and Robert (Nicole) of Calabasas, Calif. Harvey’s seven grandchildren are Daniel, Justin, Evan, Nathan, Noah, Frances and Avi. Donations may be made in Harvey’s memory to the Association for Frontotemporal Degeneration, Radnor Station, Building 2, Suite 320, 290 King of Prussia Road, Radnor, PA 19087, www.theaftd.org. Please designate your donation for research. Online condolences may be expressed at www.csog.com.

Stanley Tenenbaum 89, Atlanta

EDUCATION

AJA Doubles Its ‘Annie’

A

tlanta Jewish Academy is adopting America’s favorite orphan — times two.

Fifth-graders Miriam Burmenko and Sara Goldberg are sharing the title role in “Annie,” a show both have performed in before.

At 7, Sara played Molly, the youngest orphan, in Theater of the Stars’ production of the show at the Fox Theater, and she reprised the role last year in the Atlanta Lyric Theater’s production.

Miriam’s roles in approximately 20 musical theater productions at the Marcus Jewish Community Center included the “Annie” orphan July.

Q: How is AJA’s “Annie” different from the other productions?

Miriam: The play is the same but without the reprises and “We’d Like to Thank You, Herbert Hoover.”

Sara: Also, we took out the Christmas part.

Q: What do you girls do while the other is playing Annie?

Miriam: We’re still performing.

Sara: When Miriam is playing Annie, I’m in the chorus, and when I’m playing Annie, she is.

Q: What’s best about being Annie?

Sara: I love how she’s so cheerful all the time.

Miriam: My favorite thing about Annie is that she’s tough. ■

What: “Annie” Where: AJA, 5200 Northland Drive, Sandy Springs When: 4:15 p.m. Wednesday, March 9; 7 p.m. Thursday, March 10; and 11 a.m. and 4 p.m. Sunday, March 13.

Tickets: $10 in advance, $12 at the door; www.atljewishacademy.org/index.php/ upcomingevents

Remember the JBC at Snack n Shop?

PLEASE JOIN US FOR THE RELAUNCH OF

The Jewish Breakfast Club With Our Featured Speaker

Michael Coles Thursday, March 10th 7:30 am – 9 am

7:30 am Reception • 8:00 am Program

Being held at Greenberg Traurig 3333 Piedmont Rd NE #2500

Reservation Required RSVP at JBC@atljewishtimes.com

$15.00 cash payment at the door

We require a reservation because the breakfast is catered and we need to be able to plan

JBC

Jewish Breakfast Club

MARCH 4 ▪ 2016

Stanley Edmond Tenenbaum, age 89, of Atlanta died Sunday, Feb. 28, 2016.

Stanley attended the University of Georgia. He was proud to be a part of the Greatest Generation, having served in the European Theater in World War II. After the war he joined his father and uncle at Tenenbaum Brothers Wholesale and later opened Bell’s retail stores. After retirement from retail, he traveled for a year, then joined Kurt S. Adler as a manufacturer’s rep. He remained there until his retirement in January. He loved to travel and enjoyed spending time in the gym at the Marcus Jewish Community Center of Atlanta.

Survivors include his loving wife of 68 years, Shirley Tenenbaum; daughter and son-in-law Marlene and Herbert Gerson, Memphis, Tenn.; daughter and sonin-law Susan and Alan Gerber, Atlanta; daughter and son-in-law Rhonda and Jose Biller, Chicago; grandchildren Leanne and Jason Kaplan, Stefanie and Josh Mintz, Sarina and Robert Gerson, Allison and Joel Gerber, Stuart Gerber, Adam Langley, and Emily and John Schallman; great-grandchildren Matthew and Pace Kaplan, Jonathan and Lizzie Mintz, Max and Cobi Gerson, and Marshall and Carson Gerber; and nieces and nephews.

Sign the online guestbook at www.edressler.com. In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be made to the Marcus Jewish Community Center or Temple Emanu-El, Atlanta. A graveside service will be held Monday, Feb. 29, at 3:30 p.m. at Greenwood Cemetery with Rabbi Scott Colbert officiating. Arrangements by Dressler’s Jewish Funeral Care, Atlanta, 770-451-4999.

AJT 29

CLOSING THOUGHTS OBITUARIES – MAY THEIR MEMORIES BE A BLESSING

www.atlantajewishtimes.com

A Diamond by Any Other CROSSWORD “Who’s No. 1?”

Name Is A Pearl

By Yoni Glatt, koshercrosswords@gmail.com Difficulty Level: Easy

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MARCH 4 ▪ 2016

hen I was a senior in high school, many monumental and not-so-monumental moments were taking place around me.

The Fordham Baldies made it clear to the Fordham Baldettes that the cheerleaders, including the captain of the squad, me, were not to be bothered — the code word for messed with, cut up, beat up. Most important, it meant not having ponytails cut off.

The reason for our dispensation centered on a winning basketball team. G-d, or perhaps the priests at Fordham University directly across from my high school, only knew what great injuries would have befallen us had we not had a winning season.

About the middle of my senior year, these same Baldies attempted to force their way into the school with zip guns, brass knuckles and tire irons in what could have been a major gang war. We were saved because someone ratted them out, and the school went into lockdown.

Girls were flashing diamond rings.

Yes, many of my schoolmates were getting engaged to be married at the end of senior year or were tied to one guy for college. As I recall, a couple of these girls were already with child.

My BFFs were college-bound sans diamonds. We all graduated without a sparkle among us.

I admit that diamonds are beautiful and sparkly and boast to be a girl’s best friend. For me, not so much.

I met the man of my dreams.

We talked the future, very romantic.

The end of summer arrived, time to go back to school. My beloved and I had our Saturday night date. A movie at the Loews Paradise, a walk on the Grand Concourse, but wait — why do I remember us arguing on this lovely occasion? Because we were discussing engagement rings.

I longed for a pearl ring surrounded by small diamond baguettes.

He insisted on a diamond. Had we not gone into Jahns Ice Cream Parlor, I fear we could have come to blows.

I did, however, say yes when he asked me to marry him between spoonfuls of the ice cream sundae we were sharing. Of course I also sipped on my beloved cup of coffee, always 30 black, no milk, no sugar.

AJT

When we arrived home, my sisters looked at me in a strange way, which I did not acknowledge. They were home alone, up to who knows what devilish things. At what surely seemed like the perfect moment, my new fiancé handed me a beautifully

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ACROSS 1. Chicago Mayor Emanuel 5. Demigod Jackson played

by Logan Lerman 10. Kelly on a morning show produced by Michael Gelman 14. Wiesel might have one for a book 15. Limber (like Aly Raisman) 16. Sound at an upsherin 17. Artist whose first No. 1 was in 2014 19. Trei ___ 20. Some herring 21. 2 or 6 in Isr. 23. Yoko who sent an acorn to Israel in 1968 24. Crossword’s kosher ox 25. Artist whose only (solo) No. 1 was in 1975 28. Nahal David and Nahal Og 30. Solo’s son 31. Will Ferrell film with James Caan 34. Show where 25-Across is a member of the Five Timers Club: Abbr.

35. Disney princess who would like Lag B’Omer 38. Artist whose last No. 1 was in 1980 42. Jim on 34-Across in the 1990s 43. “Rocky” where Mickey dies 44. 61-Across danced with an animated one in a music video 45. “Ragtime” and “Daniel” author, initially 46. Solomon and the Ramban had them 49. Artist whose first No. 1 was in 1980 52. Elvis swiveled his 55. Big simcha 56. Suffix that makes ether g-dlike 57. Isis, e.g.

59. Partial toward Israel

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wrapped box celebrating my returning to school. I opened the gift, a school box with two drawers.

Included in the school box were most of the items a college girl would need: pencils, protractor, ruler, pens and other items I cannot recall. Please note the absence of a cellphone or iPad. When I did not check both drawers, my sisters cried out for me to open all of it and check everything. The rest, as they say, is history.

In the bottom drawer was a small eraser. On the eraser was a pearshaped diamond ring with two diamond baguettes. It was extraordinary.

I had never seen a pear-shaped ring.

It looked huge. How was I to know he had purchased the ring at the time we were arguing on the Grand Concourse?

When my parents arrived home a few minutes later — hmmm, was it a planned late entrance? — my sisters and I did something I still find hard to believe. We sat on the floor like hear-no-evil, see-no-evil, speak-no-evil monkeys, legs crossed, arms crossed, left arm in an upright position, and sang as my parents walked in, “See anything new?”

We were singing and jumping up and down. Much joy was shared that night.

Gene lived in the farthest end of Brooklyn, the last stop on the subway.

My family had recently moved to the farthest end of the Bronx, on the Yonkers line.

After switching trains in Manhattan, he traveled to the last stop on the Bronx line, then boarded the bus to my stop. After departing the bus, he had to walk a few blocks to my apartment building. A trip that lasted 2½ hours each way. When it snowed — well, that’s a story for another time. ■

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By Shaindle Schmuckler shaindle@atljewishtimes.com

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61. She had two No. 1s in 1991 64. Never ___ sentence 65. Job for Jonah Hill 66. 4 67. Benjamin, for Jacob 68. “To each according to his ___” (Marx) 69. Kerry arranged one with Iran

might be more of a size med.)

33. Sponges like a schnorrer 35. Rabin’s predecessor 36. It connects nearly all of the world’s kohanim 37. Chabad of San Juan time zone: Abbr.

39. Animal sacrificed many times on Sukkot 40. Make your tzitzit strings blue again 41. Iranian money 46. Comfort for one sitting shiva 47. “___-Team” (2010 movie starring Jessica Biel adapted from a 1980s TV show) 48. One named comic who appeared with Lisa Bonet in “A Different World” 49. Tower site 50. Singer Menzel 51. Asian country where Jews first settled in 1861 53. Aaron Poreda played baseball as one in San Diego 54. Eilat diving activity 57. He sang 17-Across’ No. 1 58. Airline since 1948 60. Joined a seder 62. Salt Lake City college athlete highly unlikely to be Jewish 63. Mixed Jewish-Arab city

DOWN 1. Casspi dunks through them 2. Carrot blessing 3. Israeli drone named after a long-necked, white bird 4. Mitzrayim had 10 5. Slog (through Israel’s mud caves) 6. Albert ___stein 7. NFL linemen like Geoff Schwartz: Abbr.

8. Repeated part of a Shwekey song 9. Memorable role for 38-Across 10. Home of Cape Town’s Jewish community: Abbr.

11. Staying up learning on Shavuot is easy for this one 12. Instrument for 49-Across 13. Susie Fishbein cover?

18. Back end of the Israelite camp 22. Shemoneh ___ 25. Kippah clip alternatives LAST WEEK’S SOLUTION 26. Giora 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 B A R T A C E S K I E R S Epstein’s 14 15 16 A T A H B O A I N N A T E record of 17 jet 17 18 19 T E A S E R R E V E N A N T duels won 20 21 M O R T E N S E N 27. Holocaust 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 U P S E T I N S I D E O U T den___ (like 29 30 31 32 33 N R P E I N O N E R N A Khamenei and 34 35 36 37 38 39 N U N E N D U P C O A L Ahmadinejad) 40 41 42 43 B R I D G E O F S P I E S 29. Trei 44 45 46 47 L O T T O D A Y T R U E follower 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 A N A G A M I R A E A R (prophets) 55 56 57 58 59 L A D L E S O N O F S A U L 31. Decline, 60 61 M I S T R U S T S like Shabbat 62 63 64 65 66 67 68 A L L E G E B R O O K L Y N 32.

69 70 71 Choreographer 72W E I G H T 73A E S 74E S A U N S A D O R M Lubovitch (who E X P A T S

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