With Molly, a Nash Metropolitan, outside, imagine the wonders inside the Gerson home. Page 26
Hillels of Georgia prepares to pick the state’s next singing idol at Campus SuperStar. Page 18
Rabbi Adam Starr and Young Israel of Toco Hills win big at the interfaith energy awards. Page 4
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MARCH 27, 2015 | 7 NISAN 5775
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Looks Generation to Generation JCC Intown, To
North Metro By Michael Jacobs mjacobs@atljewishtimes.com
T Photo by Michael Jacobs
Rabbi Ephraim Silverman’s daughters Sara (left) and Mimi keep a close watch as the Chabad of Cobb leader, with the help of sofer Rabbi Moshe Klein, helps complete the congregation’s new Torah on Sunday, March 22. More photos, Page 6
Epstein’s Head Seeks World-Changers By Michael Jacobs mjacobs@atljewishtimes.com
T
he journey that brought David Abusch-Magder to the Epstein School began outside a day care center in northern New Jersey. He had just dropped off his son, Oren, and daughter, Aliza, and was on his way to work at Bell Labs. He couldn’t get any FM stations on the radio, so he switched to AM and heard the news: The
FREEDOM FIGHT
Speaking outside the Capitol, B’nai Torah Rabbi Joshua Heller adds his voice to the opposition to Georgia’s religious liberty legislation. Page 11
World Trade Center towers were on fire. It was Sept. 11, 2001. A classmate of his daughter’s died at Ground Zero. His mother died of cancer four days later. Sometimes “life kind of grabs you by the lapels and says now is the time to take a step back and look at the bigger picture, and for me that was such a moment,” said Abusch-Magder, who will take over as Epstein’s head of school July 1. The Boston native said he loved his work as a physicist researching nanotechnology and wireless networks. But
when he asked himself whether he was making the world better, he said no. “The work that I wanted to be doing, the change that I wanted to be creating, had to do with working with kids, making a difference in terms of their confidence, their capacities, their neshama, their values and then how they could help change the world,” he said. “I wanted to make a difference in the world in those areas that I’m most passionate about,” Abusch-Magder said. Learn more about him on Page 23. ■
NO CARRYING
The Sandy Springs eruv is down, and the effort not only to restore it, but also to expand it won’t be completed any time soon. Page 14
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10 Crossword
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16 Marketplace
31
he Marcus Jewish Community Center came close to adding a VirginiaHighland location but backed off a deal to avoid debt. Marcus JCC President Douglas Kuniansky, due to transition March 24 at the center’s annual meeting to chairman of its newly unified board of directors, said the JCC spent a lot of time and effort on due diligence on property in the VaHi/Emory area before deciding to walk away from high-priced real estate. “We decided we’re not going to go into debt to establish a JCC facility wherever we go,” said Kuniansky, who has led the center’s advisory board for a year. The Marcus JCC operates programs inside and outside the Perimeter, including Camp Barney Medintz in Cleveland. But since selling Shirley Blumenthal Park in East Cobb last year, the center owns only Zaban Park in Dunwoody as a year-round facility. Kuniansky said the intown area on the east side of Atlanta and the North Metro area of Roswell and Alpharetta are appealing for a permanent JCC presence. That might be a lease rather than a purchase, he said; meanwhile, the center is trying to establish more partnerships like it has with Emory University to take its programs where they are needed. The anti-debt attitude perhaps reflects the fiscal realism that allowed the Marcus JCC to streamline its governance at its annual meeting, which occurred after the AJT went to press. For more, see Page 15. ■