Federation Star - January 2016

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Celebrating Jewish Life in Collier County, Israel and the World

Federation Star Published by the Jewish Federation of Collier County serving Naples, Marco Island and the surrounding communities

www.JewishNaples.org

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January 2016 - Tevet/Shevat 5776

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Vol. 25 #5

INSIDE THIS ISSUE:

5A 6A 9A 12A 14A 20A 22A 24A 25A 27A 28A 30A 31A 1B 7B

Men’s Cultural Alliance Women’s Cultural Alliance Community Focus Tributes Jewish Interest Business Directory Israel & the Jewish World Commentary Focus on Youth Synagogues Organizations Community Calendar Community Directory Jewish Happenings Jewish Book Festival

6A WCA programming: What’s your favorite?

20A Dvir Bar-Gal, our man in Shanghai

5B The “Jewish Deli Fest” of Marco Island

15B Community Chanukah Celebration photos

Jewish Federation of Collier County Inc. 2500 Vanderbilt Beach Rd., Ste. 2201 Naples, FL 34109

Prsrt Std US Postage Paid Permit #419 Ft Myers FL

Like us on Facebook!

ConneCt with your Jewish Community

www.facebook.com/ facebook.com/jfedsrq JewishFederationofCollierCounty

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Federation Star January 2016

JEWISH FEDERATION

Renee’s community program & events corner Renee’ Bialek Community Program Coordinator

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appy New Year! Let’s start this New Year 2016 with a variety of activities and programs. In order to pull this off, I need you – the Jewish Federation members – to sign up for the groups you are interested in. Please email me at rbialek@jewish naples.org and let me know which ones you are interested in joining.  Crochet/knitting group – knit newborn hats and booties to donate to NCH  Mix and Mingle - senior Jewish singles  Jewish singles for ages 40s-50s  Jewish singles for ages 25-35  Chess club  Backgammon club  Jewish professionals  Girl Time: spa, dinner, movies, comedy clubs, museums and more, meeting after work or over the weekend  Young adult book club for grades 4-8  Youth group for grades k-5: puzzles, board games, activities, book club, playground time and more

Chess on Wednesdays: Upcoming events: Wednesday, January 20: Annual RSVP to me at Monday, January 4: Let’s see what Naples Klezmer Revival Band Concert rbialek@jewishnaples.org. you can draw! Practice how to draw from 6:00 to 7:30 p.m. at the Collier January 6 from 2:00 to 4:00 p.m. pictures using circles, squares and County South Regional Library, 8065 January 13 from 3:00 to 5:00 p.m. triangles. Open to all ages from 3:30 Lely Cultural Parkway. Featured guest January 20 from 2:00 to 4:00 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. at the Jewish Federation. is Pete Rushefsky. RSVP requested to January 27 from 2:00 to 4:00 p.m.

RSVP by January 3.

239.252.7542.

Volunteers are needed at Federation Tuesday, January 12: “Learn How to Monday, January 25: Israel Day at Volunteers are needed to answer the Manage Your Medical Conditions With Estero High School phones at the Jewish Federation office.

Natural Healing Instead of PrescripTuesday, January 26: Youth Group If you are available during the week and tions,” with Dr. Jerry Kumin from 1:00 event at the Jewish Federation from 4:00 would like to help out, please contact to 2:00 p.m. at the Jewish Federation. to 4:45 p.m. Join us for fun and games. me at rbialek@jewishnaples.org.

Space is limited. RSVP by January 8.

RSVP by January 22.

Volunteers are needed for the Evy Tuesday, January 12: Jewish ProfesBackgammon on Thursdays: Lipp People of the Book Cultural Event sionals will meet and eat from 6:00 Contact Dena for reservations at on Wednesday evening, February 17 at to 7:00 p.m. at the Jewish Federation. dena_robbins@me.com.

Temple Shalom. We need volunteers to Please bring a snack, appetizer, vegJanuary 7 from 1:00 to 4:00 p.m. collect tickets at the door, to be ushers, etables or fruits to share. (No pork or January 14 from 12:00 to 3:00 p.m. and to help us out throughout the event. shell fish, and please don’t mix meat January 21 from 1:00 to 4:00 p.m.

Please email me if you’re interested. and milk.) RSVP by January 8.

January 28 from 1:00 to 4:00 p.m.

Monday, January 18: Wear blue and white and come join us at 9:00 a.m. on Broad Ave. S. & 3rd St. S. Let’s hold the Jewish Federation banner together at the Martin Luther King, Jr. Parade.

Tuesday, January 19: Learn how to make origami animals with instructor Dave. Join us at this free event at the Jewish Federation from 4:00 to students sing for an audience of 400 at the Jewish Federation’s Community Chanukah Celebration 4:45 p.m. Limit 25 peo- Temple Shalom Preschool at the Mercato on Monday, December 7. For more photos, please see page 15B. ple. RSVP by January 15.

Join Federation at the Martin Luther King, Jr. Parade Monday, January 18 at 9:00 a.m.

Broad Avenue S. and 3rd Street S.

A New Year’s resolution you can make…and keep Alvin Becker

Wear blue and white, and walk with us.

We will have a banner: “We share the dream”

New Day & Time!!

The Melton course, Jews in America, is now being offered on Wednesday afternoons from 12:00PM to 1:30PM

Jews in America: Insiders and Outsiders

This course provides students with the opportunity to consider the challenges of Jewish acculturation to American life and the sacrifices as well as the contributions that have been made over the past 200 years.

Classes begin January 27, 2016 Space is Limited To Register: www.events.org/MeltonNaples

Federation Board Chair

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number of local organizations promote Jewish continuity by providing a Jewish education and experience for our young people.

Other groups seek to keep Israel safe, strong and prosperous. Still others support Jewish practices and perspectives that enrich our lives and draw us closer to family, friends and community. Other organizations seek to support the most vulnerable people in our community – children and the aged and those suffering humanitarian emergencies. Finally, some promote advocacy to ensure that our voices are a prominent force in policy decisions.

But ONLY the Jewish Federation

of Collier County includes all of these priorities in its work as an important force in our community – creating, building, supporting and strengthening much needed groups here and abroad.

On page 5 you will find a list of organizations and programs that were supported, in part or in whole, by Federation dollars last year. I am confident that you will find one or more groups or programs that strike a responsive chord in your supportive thoughts.

Note that the list is long, but so are the needs. And those needs are immediate and continue to grow. Don’t wait to make a contribution to the Jewish Federation of Collier County until later in 2016. The beginning of the year is a wonderful time to be part of a caring community that gives back.

Donate now. Volunteer now. Resolve to make a difference now. You’ll have the whole year to feel good about what you’ve done.

Happy New Year!

PLEASE SUPPORT OUR ADVERTISERS

THEY HELP MAKE THE FEDERATION STAR POSSIBLE.

This month’s advertisers

Adult Only Lear�ing

Temple Shalom 4630 Pine Ridge Road Naples, FL 34119 239.455.3030 www.naplestemple.org

A Workout For The Brain

at Temple Shalom

This publication is brought to you each month thanks to the support of our advertisers. Please be sure to use their products and services, and mention that you found them in the Federation Star.

Beth Adelman, Realtor®......18A A. Stephen Kotler, Attorney.18A Alpha Epsilon Phi Alumnae..2B Dr. Gary Layton, DDS...........9A ArtsNaples..........................14B LTCi Marketplace...............18A CallSaul-YourPersonalDriver.18A Miromar Outlets.................22A Center for Performing Arts..13A Naples Envelope & Printing.18A Clive Daniel Home..............23A Naples Jewish Cng.10A,18A,4B Chellie Doepke, Realtor®.......3A Naples Jewish Film Festival.16B Entertainment Direct.............8A ORT America......................16A Estero Fine Art Show..........11A Palm Royale Cemetery........12A FGCU.................................12A P.B.S. Photography Studio..26A Fuller Funeral Home.............4A Preferred Travel..................15A Dr. David Greene..................7A Senior Housing Solutions...18A Gulfcoast Foot & Ankle......17A Stage 62 Delicatessen...........5B Temple Beth El.....................3B Gulfshore Playhouse.............5B Hodges Funeral Home.........17A Temple Shalom...............2A,6B Humanistic Jewish Hvrh..6A,9A The Carlisle Naples............19A Jewish Museum of FL-FIU...4A Zen Aveda Salon.................14A JNF...............................8A,32A Zionist Org. of America.20A,1B JWV Post 202.......................3B Debbie Zvibleman, Realtor®.10A

JEWISH FEDERATION

January 2016 Federation Star

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BBYO Naples helping shape the lives of Jewish teens

By Marc Saperstein, co-chair BBYO Naples Friends and Alumni Board

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in with the release of the final Hunger Games movie. BBYO teens also took part in both the Naples Jewish Community Chanukah Celebration and the Chabad of Naples Chanukah Festival.

Over the past three years, many of the teens have attended North Florida Regional Conventions with their peers from Sarasota, Tampa and Orlando.

They’ve become leaders in their chapters and even on the North Florida BBYO Regional Board. They’ve participated in BBYO International Convention with over 2,300 other BBYO teens from around the world. They’ve attended BBYO summer programs, March of the Living, and engaged annually in J-Serve, a national community service day for all Jewish teens.

BBYO Naples fosters Jewish pride, community involvement, and a steadfast commitment to Israel, while building lasting friendships and individual leadership skills. We are helping assure Jewish continuity here in Naples and across the world.

In Naples, our unique partnership with the Jewish Federation of Collier County, Temple Shalom, Chabad of Naples, and Beth Tikvah is a wonderful model of how the Jewish community can work collaboratively to make a positive difference. We are very appreciative of the support of our partners and those in the community who have supported us financially.

If you would like to help support our efforts, visit https://fan.bbyo.org/ support/donate/nfr and donate to BBYO Naples, or send a check to BBYO Naples c/o Skylar Haas, Jewish Federation Collier County, 2500 Vanderbilt Beach Rd., Suite 2201, Naples, FL 34109. All local funds raised help grow BBYO Naples.

Please note that on January 8 and 9, we are celebrating BBYO Naples Shabbat where our teens will participate in services at Temple Shalom on Friday night, and Chabad of Naples and Beth Tikvah on Saturday morning.

Naples BBYO teens gather for a pool kickoff party at the start of the term We encourage the community

t officially started in late summer 2012 when a small group of Collier County Jewish teens got together to elect officers for their two BBYO Naples chapters. That first year, 24 teens joined either Negev AZA or Sababa BBG. Under the leadership of teens and eBBYO staff professional Skylar Haas, .the chapters have grown their membership to 36 high school teens in 2013-14, t45 teens last year, and have set a goal of 60 teens for this year. There is still yopportunity for further growth. This doesn’t count the success of BBYO Connect for middle school teens, which oreaches an additional 25-30 Collier ,County 6th-8th graders annually.

In a time when many Jewish organizations are struggling, BBYO International has grown significantly, from 13,000 teen members when it became independent from B’nai B’rith over a decade ago. Today BBYO reaches over 48,000 teens in North America, plus many more in the 32 countries around the world where BBYO has partner organizations. BBYO Naples is an inspiring example of this successful growth story.

BBYO Naples teens now meet every Thursday night at the Jewish Federation of Collier County office where they engage in social, Judaic and educational programming that they develop and lead. In addition, the teens have been involved in community service projects with a host of local organizations. Most recently the teens collected food for the JFCS Food Pantry as part of their “Hunger Is Not a Game” program tied

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Happy New Year 2016 Jeffrey Feld

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Federation President/ CEO

t seems like just yesterday that I was wishing everyone a Happy New Year for 2015. Time does fly!

Time seems to go even faster when you are busy. Here at our Federation, and in our Jewish Community, we are very busy! Just look at all the program information included in this issue of the Federation Star.There are at least five programming highlights for Federation and for our community over the next two months. First, we will have the opportunity to kick off Campaign 2016 with an event to recognize our Major Gifts & Lion of Judah Donors.

Yes, Campaign is starting all over again! And we need everyone to participate in the Campaign so that we can meet the ever-growing needs of our community. Next, on Saturday night, January 16, you are all invited to the Power of Community Celebration – our Federation’s gala event – at which time you will hear about the accomplish-

ments of our community, as well as what more we must strive to accomplish. To top off the evening, you will be entertained by comedian Freddie Roman, star of stage and screen, with a “Return to the Catskills” performance. Rabbi Joseph Telushkin will be our featured speaker for the 2016 Evy Lipp People of the Book Cultural Event on Wednesday, February 17. And, the very next day will be the inaugural event of the Jewish Book Festival – a new program and series for our community. There will be a total of 11 Jewish Book Festival events, with 23 authors, between February 18 and March 14.

The Federation is working collaboratively with ArtsNaples World Festival to bring the Jerusalem Symphony to Naples. That concert will be conducted on Saturday night, February 27. This only begins to tell you part of the story.

We are a vital, vibrant Jewish community and we are growing. There are more people, more families and more needs.

The growing needs are here at home in greater Naples/Collier County, in Israel and around the globe. We need your support and campaign participation in order to begin addressing all of these issues.

No gift touches more lives!

Read the current and previous editions of the Federation Star online at www.jewishnaples.org.

to come join us at these services and their respective onegs afterward.

We are justifiably proud of our progress in BBYO Naples and again thank all in the community who have helped

make this happen. We are excited by the challenge of reaching more Naples Jewish teens and the opportunity to offer powerful Jewish experiences that are affordable and accessible.

Gabby Van Slyke leads a program during a Thursday evening BBYO chapter meeting at the Jewish Federation office

Are you considering buying or selling your home?

CALL ME…I can help!

Chellie Doepke Premiere Plus Realty, Co.

239-877-1722 seachell2@hotmail.com www.sells-naples.com www.facebook.com/chelliedoepkerealtor

Making real estate dreams reality

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Federation Star January 2016

JEWISH FEDERATION

Southwest Florida premiere of major documentary that sets the record straight on the Jewish homeland Producer/Director Gloria Greenfield interviewed by Jeff Margolis Editor’s note: The Israel Advocacy Committee of Collier County and the Southwest Florida Chapter of the Zionist Organization of America are pleased to present a special showing of the film Body and Soul - The State of the Jewish Nation on Wednesday, January 27 at 7:30 p.m. at Hodges University. For details and ticket information, see the ad on page 1B. hy did you decide to make this movie?

I founded Doc Emet Productions – a not-for-profit 501c3 film production company – in 2007 with the mission of producing and distributing educational films that strengthen Jewish identity, Jewish nationhood, and the values of freedom and democracy. Doc Emet Productions’ first release was The Case for Israel - Democracy’s Outpost (October 2008), which I produced. It features law professor Alan Dershowitz along with 28 other leading experts in international law, history, archaeology, political science and media.

After traveling extensively with The Case for Israel, it became clear to me that the next issue that needed to be addressed was the resurgence of lethal Jew hatred in regions around the world, and its connection with growing calls to destroy the Jewish state. Unmasked Judeophobia, which I produced and directed, was released by Doc Emet Productions in October 2011.

And then while traveling extensively with Unmasked Judeophobia, it became clear to me that there needed to be a film that examined the history of the relationship between the Jewish people and the land of Israel since ancient time as well as the legal history of Jewish rights to sovereignty in the Land.

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I reached this decision because of two critical factors: the growing campaign

by Islamist ideologues to erase Jewish history and fabricate pseudo-history; and the growing level of Jewish illiteracy (lack of education and knowledge of Jewish history, Jewish liturgy and our foundational texts). Body and Soul - The State of the Jewish Nation was released in October 2014.

Gloria Greenfield

How long did it take to make?

From concept to release was 18 months.

Did you go into the work with any preconceived notions?

Since the goal of the film is to be a strong and inspiring educational resource, I understood that it was critically important for me to interview the world’s leading scholars and experts in history, archaeology, international law, media, political science and Jewish philosophy. I interviewed 50 such scholars and experts in Israel, North America and Europe; 36 of these scholars and experts appear in the film.

Did the movie confirm or change any of your ideas?

The process of interviewing the 50 scholars and experts was very educational for me, and consequently it broadened and deepened my understanding of the history of the more than 3,000-year relationship between the Jewish people

DISCOVERY AND RECOVERY: PRESERVING IRAQI JEWISH HERITAGE

and the land of Israel.

To what mix of audiences have you shown your movie?

Since the film’s release, I have toured with Body and Soul - The State of the Jewish Nation throughout South Africa, Israel, the United Kingdom, Canada and the United States. The venues have been theaters, community centers, synagogues, churches, university campuses and high schools.

And in many venues, the audience is very diverse. For example, at a recent community screening in Toronto, among the 16 community partners sponsoring the showing were B’nai Brith Canada, International Christian Embassy Jerusalem, Muslims Facing Tomorrow, Canadian Friends of Jesus Christ, The Canadian Jewish Civil Rights Association, Muslim Committee Against Antisemitism, Speakers Action Group, Hillel of Canada, and Hasbara Fellowships. Body and Soul has also been broadcast on television in Sweden, Finland and Estonia, and is currently being translated into Arabic, French, German, Hebrew, Italian, Portuguese,

Russian and Spanish. The film has also been released on iTunes.

What is the most positive comment you have received?

I have received so many heartfelt expressions of gratitude for the film, but I suppose the most public praises include The New York Times review which called Body and Soul a “skillful recounting of the story of the Jewish people and their connection to the land of Israel… the film is as cogent as it is inspiring.”

The Hollywood Reporter review declared that “Body and Soul represents a vital cinematic addition to Jewish scholarship…the film is destined for a long life in ancillary outlets.” And The Algemeiner stated that the film is “lavishly illustrated and lucidly narrated.”

Has there been any negative reaction?

There are always some individuals who prefer propaganda films over educational films.

Have you planned another project?

Yes, but folks will need to come to the screening in Naples to hear about my next project.

Naples Klezmer Revival Band concert

By Stu Warshauer

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ete Rushefsky, internationally wife, Madeline Solomon, a Yiddish acclaimed for his performances singer who also performs on flute and on the tsimbl (cimbalom), will accordion. Madeline has performed be the featured soloist at the Naples across Europe, Canada and the U.S. for Klezmer Revival Band’s concert at the over twenty years. She is the founder South Regional Library on Wednesday, and director of the “Music Garden,” a January 20. music, movement and puppet program The tsimbl is the traditional hamfor children, and has developed a dance mered dulcimer of klezmer music. It therapy program for parents and infants is a string instrument played like a for the 92nd Street Y. xylophone, with the player striking the The Naples Klezmer Revival Band strings with mallets has performed at the padded with cotton South Regional Library or leather. Its multifor many years in Januple strings provide a ary (Florida Jewish rich and often hauntHistory Month) under ing sonority as well the sponsorship of the as virtuosic melodic Jewish Federation of passages.

Collier County. AdmisRushefsky has sion is free, but reserbeen touring with vations must be made violinist Itzhak Perlby calling the Library man in a program at 239.252.7542. This that features klezmer concert is usually heavrevival legends Hanily booked. kus Netsky and the A limited number Pete Rushefsky Klezmer Conservaof $100 tax-deductible tory Band. He regularly performs and sponsorships are available to help defray records with the leading contemporary the cost of bringing the outstanding soperformers of klezmer music and has loists to Naples. Sponsors receive two performed at Carnegie Hall, the Hollyreserved seats and acknowledgement in wood Bowl, the Kennedy Center, Bosthe program. Checks should be made ton Symphony Hall and Amsterdam’s out to the Jewish Federation of Collier Concertgebouw. He has been featured County. on NPR’s Prairie Home Companion Interested sponsors should contact and All Things Considered, and PBS’s me at 239.273.8059 or stuwarsh@ nationally televised Great Perforhotmail.com, or Renee’ Bialek at the Federation at 239.263.4205 or rbialek@ mances. jewishnaples.org.

Pete will be accompanied by his

On View Through February 14, 2016

Exhibition details the dramatic recovery of historic materials relating to the Jewish community in Iraq from a flooded basement in Saddam Hussein's intelligence headquarters, and the National Archives' recovery work in support of U.S. Government efforts to preserve and make these materials available.

This exhibition was created by the National Archives and Records Administration, Washington, DC, with generous support from the U.S. Department of State.

Local support received from Congregation Beth Jacob, Nancy G. Pastroff, Kenneth and Barbara Bloom, Elliot Stone and Bonnie Sockel-Stone, and Isabel Bernfeld Anderson.

More information is available at www.ija.archives.gov.

“Serving the Jewish Community for Over 14 Years” Traditional Jewish Services

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January 2016 Federation Star

JEWISH FEDERATION

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MCA activities: something for everyone

By Jeff Margolis

Published by

2500 Vanderbilt Beach Road, Suite 2201 Naples, Florida 34109-0613 Phone: (239) 263-4205 Fax: (239) 263-3813 www.jewishnaples.org Email: info@jewishnaples.org Officers

Board Chair: Alvin Becker Vice Chair: Kevin Aizenshtat Vice Chair: Phyllis Seaman Secretary: Wallie Lenchner Treasurer: Jerry Sobelman Immed. Past Chair: Judge Norman Krivosha

Board of Directors Joshua Bialek Rosalee Bogo David Braverman Harvey Brenner Dan Carp Stephen Coleman Karen Deutsch Michael Feldman Alan Gordon Neil Heuer Joel Pittelman Jane Schiff Arlene Sobol Michael Sobol Steve Strome Dr. Daniel Wasserman Beth Wolff Edward Wollman Barry Zvibleman

Past Presidents

Gerald Flagel, Dr. William Ettinger, Ann Jacobson, Sheldon Starman, Bobbie Katz, Rosalee Bogo

Board Members Emeritus Hans Levy Shirley Levy

Synagogue Representatives Cantor Donna Azu Sue Baum Rabbi Ammos Chorny Phil Jason Rabbi Adam Miller Suzanne Paley Rabbi James Perman Dr. Arthur Seigel Neil Shnider Rabbi Sylvin Wolf Rabbi Fishel Zaklos

Federation President/CEO Jeffrey Feld

Staff

Renee’ Bialek, Community Prog. Coord.

Stacy Hersha, Business Oper. Mgr. Julie Hartline, Administrative Assistant Federation is the central Jewish community-building organization for Collier County, providing a social service network that helps Jewish people in Collier County, in Israel and around the world. As the central fundraising organization for Jewish communal life in our area, strength is drawn from organized committees of dedicated volunteers.

Programs include: • Annual Campaign & Endowment fund • Educational & cultural programs • Israel Advocacy Committee • Jewish Book Festival • Jewish Community Relations Council • Jewish Russian-American Cultural Alliance • Men’s Cultural Alliance • Publication of the Federation Star, Connections and Community Directory • Strategic Planning • Women’s Cultural Alliance • Women’s Division • YAD – Young Adult Division • Youth Activities Committee – sponsoring youth education and scholarships for Jewish Summer Camp and the Israel Experience

The work of the Jewish Federation of Collier County represents both our community and our community’s most generous tradition – to give to others even in the most difficult times.

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appy New Year to all of our MCA members! We are pleased to announce that our membership is approaching 400 strong. The New Year 2016 is going to be fantastic with a whole host of events for members. Our luncheon meeting series continues on Thursday, January 14 at the Club at Pelican Bay. The featured speaker will be Thomas Shelby Bridges, Principal at Geneva Advisors. He will present “It’s The Economy, Stupid!,” an in-depth look at the year-end economy and the outlook for 2016. How do the leading candidates intend to improve our economy? What effect will the recent international terror incidents have on the economy? Mr. Bridges will address these and other economic issues that affect all our lives. The cost for the luncheon is $28.For reservations and information, please email Meir Kehila at mkehila@aol.com.

Sunday, January 17 will be our annual new-member brunch. The program will begin at 9:00 a.m. in the David G.

Willens Community Room of the Jewish Federation of Collier County. For information and reservations, email Les Nizin at MCAnaples@aol.com.

The MCA speaker series continues on Wednesday, January 20 with a presentation entitled “The United States Supreme Court.” Our speaker will be Alan Lippitt, former Assistant Attorney General for the State of Michigan and an adjunct professor at Wayne State University. The program will be held in the David G. Willens Community Room at 10:30 a.m. RSVP to Wayne Kargher at W8jkargher@aol.com.

There are several special events taking place during the month of January.

On Tuesday, January 19, MCA will hold its first ever Volunteer Day. We will be partnering with Habitat for Humanity.

For more information, please email Sandy Mintz at SandyMintz1@gmail. com.

Join fellow MCA members for a special tour of the Collier County Jail and Courthouse Complex on Tuesday,

January 26 from 9:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m.

Learn about the Collier County judicial system. There will be an optional tour of the Collier County Museum. The cost of $18 includes lunch catered by Jason’s Deli. This program is limited to 25 members. Reservations are required.

Contact Larry Hecht at lhecht@mymts. net.

Please note: The Sweetheart Doo Wop Dinner Dance on Saturday, February 13 is sold out! Thanks for your support.

Save the Date: MCA’s annual night at the Everblades will be on Wednesday, February 24 at 7:30 p.m. Tickets are $25 and include an Everblades cap. For information and reservations, email me at jamcounsel2@gmail.com.

Please see the MCA weekly eblasts and link to the MCA Program Guide at http://jewishnaples.org/mca for information on our dozens of ongoing activity groups and special events. To join MCA, use the membership form on the following page.

Federation’s campaign and future Phyllis Seaman Federation Vice Chair

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s we start the new year and our 2016 campaign, our Collier County Jewish community looks to have a very bright future as it keeps growing.

Many of us in the Naples area are doing very well financially, but are we doing good for our community?

An annual gift to Federation is like making a deposit in your checking account, with funds to be used in the near term. When an endowed or legacy gift is made, it is like a deposit in a savings account for the future.

At this moment in time, Jewish Federations across the country as well as most synagogues and organizations are all reaching out to donors to consider endowments and legacy gifts. Many of us are engaged in the community over a lifetime, but don’t make an afterlife commitment.

Small Federations like ours need legacy gifts to survive. Our community is growing and so should our endowment and legacy gifts for the future of our community.

A legacy gift gives our donors an opportunity to do something significant in their lifetime.

Many of you give annually to the Federation, which makes you an investor in our community, Israel and over 60 countries around the world.

By 2025, 20% of our operating budget should be coming from endowments.

Despite their desire, 20% of people die without a will or plan.

For years, my husband Michael and I talked about updating and revising our wills, which we finally got to last year.

That gave me the opportunity to endow my Lion of Judah gift, so that my annual gift will continue to provide funds to our Federation after my death. We have also planned a legacy gift to Federation, our synagogue, Neve Michael in Israel (Home for Children in Crisis) and some other charities of importance to us. I never expected to feel so good about signing my will. We shared our plans and wishes with our children and they were quite supportive.

I have always tried to lead by example. As Chair of Women’s Division, Lion of Judah and Endowments, it is incumbent on me to give you as much information on the needs of our community and how you can help. Please see the “Where Your Dollars Go” block to the right. Nowhere does your dollar

go further.

Life takes many turns. As insurance protects your family, a legacy gift or endowment protects and helps our Jewish community thrive and survive.

It’s insurance for our future.

For the New Year, please consider your legacy to our community! Information can be obtained from Federation President/CEO Jeffrey Feld at 238.263.4205.

Lions, please consider joining me and endowing your Lion. Any new Lions in the community who are considering moving their gift or anyone who would like to become a Lion of Judah, please call Jeffrey Feld.

Save the date for the Lion of Judah

Conference on September 11-13, 2016 in Washington, D.C. Join me to show our Pride. More info in the coming months.

In the next few weeks I hope to see many of you at the following Federation events:  Major Donor/Lion of Judah – Thursday, January 7  Power of Community Celebration – Saturday, January 16 at The RitzCarlton Golf Resort, Naples  Evy Lipp People of the Book Event – Wednesday, February 17 at Temple Shalom

We Are the Strength of a People – The Power of Community

WHERE YOUR DOLLARS GO Youth Programs & Youth Education Î Beth Tikvah Youth Education Î BBYO Naples Î Camp Scholarships Î Chabad - Camp Gan Israel/Preschool of the Arts/Hebrew School Î Jewish War Veterans Post #202 Î Temple Shalom - Preschool & Religious School Scholarships Î Hillel at Florida Gulf Coast University Israel & Overseas Humanitarian & Social Services Î American Jewish World Service Î JFNA - Overseas Core Assessment Î JFNA - Israel Action Network Î JFNA - Stop the Sirens Campaign Î JNF - Sderot Emergency Fund Î JNF - Red Mountain Therapeutic Riding Center Î Neve Michael Children’s Village Î Yad LaKashish Î Sapir Community Center, Kfar Saba Î WUPJ - HaTikvah Preschool in Ukraine Î Birthright Israel Î ORT (World ORT/ORT America) Local Humanitarian & Social Services Î Jewish Family & Community Services  Senior Outreach & Support  Developing Healthy Socialization Skills  Counseling & Mental Health Support Cultural Programs & Adult Education Î Anti-Defamation League Î Beth Tikvah Scholar-in-Residence Î Catholic-Jewish Dialogue Î Evy Lipp People of the Book Event Î Fund for Human Needs Î Holocaust Museum & Education Center of SWFL Î Israel Advocacy Committee Programs Î Jewish Community Relations Council Î Men’s Cultural Alliance Î Naples Jewish Congregation Cultural Program Î Stand Up for Justice Grant Î Temple Shalom Men’s Club Î Jewish Cong. of Marco Island - Jewish Film Festival Î Jewish Cong. of Marco Island - Cultural Series Î Women’s Cultural Alliance

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Federation Star January 2016

JEWISH FEDERATION www.WomensCulturalAlliance.com / 215-820-6697

WOMEN’S CULTURAL ALLIANCE

WCA programming: What’s your favorite?

By Susan Pittelman, WCA Publicity Director

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n late August, WCA Members received the WCA 2015-2016 Program Guide, which lists the programs for this year. In addition, each Thursday morning, the WCA Weekly eblast features new and exciting programs that have been added to our programming calendar. Creative programming never stops at WCA! Thanks to the huge efforts of Paula Handloff, WCA Program Director, and Elaine Soffer, President, with the assistance of numerous members, including Dina Shein - Naples North, Lenore Greenstein - Naples South, and Michelle Levine-Troupp - Full Timers, WCA offers a wide variety of programming that includes something for everyone. The challenge is that with so many wonderful choices, it is often difficult to choose which events to attend!

Thinking about the wide range of interesting programs that WCA is offering in the new year, I asked a sampling of WCA members, “Which WCA program are you most looking forward to this coming season? And why?”

I was impressed by the diversity of their responses – there is little overlap in their answers. This confirmed my belief that WCA is very successful at offering a colorful palette of programs to ensure that each member will find something that personally resonates with her. Below are some of the upcoming WCA activities that women are most looking forward to. How does it compare to your own list?

The WCA Salon is my favorite event of the year, and Tuesday, January 26 will be the fifth annual Salon.

It will showcase the outstanding talent of member writers and musicians. The

2016 Salon will also incorporate the talents of the WCA Foodies Group.

Wine, words and song, what could be better? ~ Iris Shur The New Yorker group is amazing.

Filled with bright, insightful and talented women, our discussions always open a whole new world of ideas and interpretations. We discuss one fiction and one non-fiction article each month. ~ Nancy Kahn The favorite thing I do with WCA is the trips we go on. What better way

The women in The New Yorker group enjoy the stimulating discussions as well as each other’s company

to get to your destination in a relaxed, social way! I am especially looking forward to the Coconut Grove Art Festival and others, too, that I would never do on my own. ~ Barbara Suden I love starting off the new year with WCA Tai Chi! It makes me feel centered and balanced. The slow, deliberate movements reduce stress and bring a feeling of relaxation and well-being. I enjoy the feeling of a group of women moving together as one. I cherish the friendships I have found. ~ Donna Goldstein I am most excited about the Clyde Butcher Photography Exhibit and Tour

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being offered by WCA South. It will take place at the amazing Marco Island Historical Museum on Tuesday, January 26 and will also include the history of Marco Island. ~ Lenore Greenstein The Serious Foodies group. I’m all about food, so it is no surprise that “Foodies” is my favorite. Whether it’s a “how to” demonstration in someone’s home, a cooking class with a famous chef, coffee clutching with friends over home-made yummies, or just enjoying a new restaurant, I always love the

Are You Just Are You Just Millions ofJewish?

Jews connect with Jewish?

Jewish culture but not –with Seeking a musician professional or

Humanistic Jewish Havurah of Southwest Florida Millions of Jews connect with with Jewish Millions of Jews connect Jewish traditional Judaism. student –with interested in accompanying culture but not Judaism. culture but not traditional with traditional Youbemay be them. one of them.Judaism.

You may You mayone be of one of them. our holiday programs.

Traditional and CheckCheck our Event Calendar and Visit Us! Us! our Event Calendar and Visit

non-traditional music will be utilized. If Congregation for for Congregation interested, please contact Paula Creed at Humanistic Judaism Humanistic Judaism Unity, Unity, 30233023 Proctor Rd, prcreed725@gmail.com.

Sarasota, FL FL Proctor Rd, Sarasota, 239.495.8484 or 941.929.7771 www.chj-sarasota.org 941.929.7771 www.chj-sarasota.org

experience, especially with my Foodie Friends. ~ Susan Dean I am looking forward to stimulating book discussions and fun mah jongg games, and getting to know more likeminded women.” ~ Sheila Frank Our Let’s Knit and Stitch group.

We have approximately 26 women who are so interesting. We meet the fourth Wednesday of the month and have such a good time sharing our experiences and our knowledge. Many women have said that they think this is the best special interest group in WCA! ~ Barbara Karp I can’t wait to go on the tour of the Costume Museum and Wick Theater.

I had not heard of this museum. Once again, WCA has found something new and exciting to experience! I can’t wait to see Old Broadway and hear the songs of Irving Berlin. ~ Harriett Kleinman I’m really looking forward to the Jewish Book Festival. What a wonderful opportunity to gather and to meet so many interesting authors. ~ Mary O’Haver The Contemporary Fiction group.

I read every book on the list and look

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p forward to the inspiring and intelligentN discussion. Every season, I try to fa-s cilitate at least two book discussions,c and they never fall flat because of thea level of participation. Sue Bookbinder’sF leadership provides inspiration to us all. ~ Lisa Freund T The special interest group “Food-B ies.” What’s not to love? Deliciousi food, cooking demonstrations, sharingC our passion for food, cooking, exchang-b ing recipes, and great women. “Food-t ies” has social events that encompassi all of these things. ~ Lea Bendes The new Couples Canasta group!

Through WCA, I learned to play canasta and met a fabulous group of women.

Sadly, the men in our lives did not have this opportunity. But now there is a Couples Canasta group. I am also really looking forward to the special Couples Canasta Evening in January being jointly sponsored by WCA and MCA. ~ Nina Iser I am very excited for the Joan Jacobs Art Talk series, which resumes in January. Joan’s lectures are always full of information; I feel that I really “know” the artists and their work after attending her presentations. It is great that WCA offered tickets to this wonderful series! ~ Joni Zalasky I am looking forward to Chair Yoga and Meditation with Jean Erlbaum. I took the sample class with her last year and thoroughly enjoyed it. My joints are already thanking me! ~ Paula Handloff If you haven’t signed up for some of these programs – and now wish that you had – it might not be too late! Check the WCA 2015-16 Program Guide for further information about the program, or check the sidebar on the WCA weekly eblast. But you must be a WCA member to be able to register for a WCA program or event.

To join WCA, please use the membership form on this page or go to www. womensculturalalliance.com. Join today – you will be glad that you did!

WCA is a proud sponsor of the Collier County Jewish Book Festival.

For information on the Festival, see pages 7B-10B.

Women’s Cultural Alliance 2015-2016 Membership Form

Our membership year runs from September 1, 2015 to August 31, 2016.

(Dues for members who joined after March 1 of this Season will also cover the 2015-2016 Season.)

Fill out the form below or, to complete the form online, visit www.womensculturalalliance.com and follow the prompts.

PLEASE fill out this form completely, PRINTING clearly.

Please check: New____ Renewal____ There is NO CHANGE to my contact info from last year______

Men's Cultural Alliance of Collier County Men's Cultural Alliance of CollierForm County 2015-2016 Membership

2015-2016 Membership Form 31 of the next year.

The membership year is from November 1 until October The membership year is from November 1 until October 31 of the next year.

Dues received after April 30 will be applied to the next season.

Dues received after April 30 will be applied to the next season.

Please check one: New Please check one: ☐NewRenewal ☐☐ ☐ Renewal

Name__________________________________________ Spouse/Partner Name__________________

fill the out the formcompletely completely and PRINT CLEARLY!) (PLEASE(PLEASE fill out form and PRINT CLEARLY!)

Name: Name: Spouse or Partner Name, if applicable: FL Street Address_____________________________________________________________________ Spouse or Partner Name, if applicable: Local Address: FL City______________________________________________State____________ Zip_____________ City: State: Local Address: Community in which you live_____________________________________________________________ Email (very important): City: State: Florida phone: Cell or alternate phone: FL Phone_________________________________ Cell _______________________________________ Email (very important): Northern Address: Northern Street Address and City _________________________________________________________ City: State:phone: Zip: Florida phone: Cell or alternate Email (print clearly!)___________________________________________________________________

Zip:

Zip:

Northern State/Province _________ Zip__________ Northern Phone____________________________

In Southwest Florida: full-time ☐ part-time ☐ (from to ) Northern Address: Membership fee: $56 (US Funds only, Minimum for the year; includes Federation membership.)

City: State: Zip: NAME BADGES

In FL: Full Time______ Part Time______ (from ___________________ to _______________________) Membership Fee: $90.00 (US Funds only) Dues include a $36 donation to Federation

$ 90.00

badgefull-time will be issued you at no charge you are a NEW member.

In SouthwestA name Florida: to ☐to part-time ☐if(from

)

I want a replacement name badge: Yes ☐ No ☐ Fee: $8. If you checked yes, submit a total fee is $64.

Namefee: as you want(US it toFunds appear on the name badge Membership $56 only, Minimum for the year; includes Federation membe Additional donation to the Federation is voluntary and encouraged.

Total Enclosed $_______________________ NAME BADGES

I am also including a voluntary donation to the Federation in the amount of $_______________________

Please make your check payable to Jewish Federation of Collier County (JFCC) and mail with this formA to: WCA/JFCC, 2500 Vanderbilt Beach Rd., #2201, Naples, FL 34109.

You must sign the waiver below, and return this completed membership form with your check.

(To be included in the WCA Membership Directory, you must return this form with your check

by August 1, 2015.)

Please your check Federation of Collier County and mail with this form to: name badge willmake be issued to payable you at to: no Jewish charge if you are a NEW member.

MCA/ Jewish Federation of Collier I want a replacement name badge: YesCounty ☐ No ☐ Fee: $8. If you checked yes, submit a total fee i Vanderbilt Beach Rd, Ste. 2201 Name as you 2500 want it to appear on the name badge Naples, FL 34109 Additional donation to the Federation is voluntary and encouraged.

I would like to volunteer for WCA: Please _____ Chair or Co-Chair a Program ______Be a Speaker or lead a Workshop on these topics:_____________________________________

I would like to volunteer my services/expertise and would be willing to chair or co-chair a meeting/outing

make on your payable to: Jewish Federation of Collier County and mail with this form to the check following topic or topics: MCA/ Jewish Federation of Collier County EVENT PARTICIPATION WAIVER By signing below, I accept the terms of this waiver.

EVENT PARTICIPATION WAIVER 2500 Vanderbilt Beach Rd,in Ste. 2201 By signing below, I am indicating my acceptance of the waiver.

As a participant an MCA event, I , acting for myself, my executors, administrators, heirs, next of kin agree As a participant in a WCA event, I, acting for myself, my executors, administrators, heirs, next of kin agree as follows: as follows: That I waive all rights, claims, cause of action, of any kind whatsoever that I or my heirs, legal Naples, FL 34109 I waive all rights, claims, cause of action, of any kind whatsoever that I or my heirs or my legal representatives may

representatives may claim to have against either The Jewish Federation of Collier County, and or the Men’s Cultural Alliance of Collier County, their members, agents, servants, and or employees, for any loss, injury, I would like to my services/expertise and would be willing to chair or co-chair a meeting/ or volunteer damage sustained by me while participating in an MCA event.

This waiver and release shall be construed broadly, under Laws of the State of Florida. topic orthe topics: Your membership payment is your permission for Women's Cultural Alliance to take and use photographs/videoson for the following

claim to have against The Jewish Federation of Collier County, the Women’s Cultural Alliance, or their agents, servants, and or employees, for any loss, injury, or damage sustained by me while participating in a WCA event. This waiver and release shall be construed broadly, under the laws of the State of Florida. appropriate purposes in accordance with WCA's mission.

Signature______________________________________________Date__________________________ Any questions? Contact Nancy Kahn, dearnancykahn@gmail.com.

Signature

EVENT PARTICIPATION WAIVER By signing below, accept the terms of this waiver.

For more information: Contact Steve BrazinaI sbrazina@aol.com

JEWISH FEDERATION

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January 2016 Federation Star

Tau Epsilon Rho and the Cardozo Society of the Jewish Federation to honor ADL’s Abe Foxman

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be Foxman, recently retired National Director of the AntiDefamation League, will be presented with the prestigious Benjamin Nathan Cardozo Award of the Tau Epsilon Rho Law Society at a gala dinner co-sponsored by Tau Epsilon Rho (TER) and the Cardozo Society of the Jewish Federation of Collier County.

This major event, to be held on Tuesday, February 9 at the Naples Beach Hotel & Golf Club, is being held in conjunction with TER’s 95th Annual Convention. A cocktail reception will begin at 6:30 p.m. followed by dinner, the awards ceremony, and a stimulating interview of Mr. Foxman.

Abe Foxman, an American lawyer born in Russia, has long been the leading voice in the United States in the fight against anti-Semitism. He retired last summer after spending fifty years with the Anti-Defamation League, and since 1987, as its National Executive Director.

Tau Epsilon Rho is the oldest Jewish law society in the United States, and is proud to include within its membership judges, lawyers and law students of all faiths. During the past five years, Federation has worked closely with TER, honoring U.S. Supreme Court Justices Ruth Bader Ginsburg, John Paul Stevens and Antonin Scalia, as well as former Pennsylvania Governor

Edward Rendell.

TER chancellor David Marion, of Philadelphia, commented, “We are delighted to have the Jewish Federation of Collier County co-sponsor this exciting event honoring Abe Foxman, a luminary of the American Jewish community, and to invite the local Jewish community to participate.”

Yale Freeman of Naples is the local TER Event Chair (ytfreeman@ ytfreemanlaw.com), and David Liner of Sarasota is the TER Convention Chairman. For information on TER and the convention, contact Mr. Liner at dliner@ropertech.com.

Reservations for the reception/

dinner can be made b y c a l l i n g Ya l e Freeman’s office at 239.530.2500. All Abe Foxman members of the community are invited to attend, and the cost is $150 per person. Seats are limited.

A Shabbat dinner will also be held as TER’s opening event on Friday, February 5 (see article below for details).

Jeffrey Feld, Federation President/CEO, remarked, “The Jewish Federation of Collier County is pleased to be working with Tau Epsilon Rho on both of these exciting events, and encourages participation by the entire Naples Jewish community.”

Tau Epsilon Rho and the Cardozo Society invite the community to a Shabbat dinner

Israel Advocacy Committee community programs

By Jeff Margolis

T

he Israel Advocacy Committee of Collier County and the Southwest Florida Chapter of the Zionist Organization of America are pleased to present a special showing of the film Body and Soul - The State of the Jewish Nation on Wednesday, January 27 at 7:30 p.m. at Hodges University.

The New York Times noted that this film is a “skillful recounting of the Jewish people and their connection to the land of Israel…the film is cogent and inspiring.” This powerful 64-minute documentary not only presents the historical connection between the Jewish people and the land of Israel, but also proceeds to debunk propaganda and misinformation that have been accepted as the truth.

Director/producer Gloria Z. Greenfield of Doc Emet Productions will lead a post-screening discussion. This is Greenfield’s third feature-length documentary film. Her other credits include The Case for Israel - Democracy’s Outpost (2008) and Unmasked Judeophobia (2011). The public is invited to this important event. Admission is $20 in advance and $22 at the door. For information and reservations, please call 914.329.1024.

Other upcoming events The Israel Advocacy Committee in partnership with the local ZOA chapter will be presenting a program with Dr. Mordechai Kedar on Tuesday, January

13 at Chabad Naples. Dr. Kedar is a renowned Israeli scholar of Arab literature and a lecturer at Bar Ilan University, and served for 25 years in IDF Military Intelligence and is an expert in Israeli Arab populations. Since 2012 he has promoted a Palestinian-Israel Peace plan referred to as the “Palestinian Emirates” or “eight-state solution.” Admission is $20 in advance and $22 at the door. For more information and reservations, call 914.329.1024.

The Jewish community of Collier County is invited to participate in the annual Martin Luther King, Jr. Parade to be held in downtown Naples on Monday, January 18. Anyone interested should meet at 9:00 a.m. at Broad Avenue South and 3rd Street South. Please wear blue and white. For more information, please contact Renee’ Bialek at the Federation office at rbialek@jewishnaples.org. The Israel Advocacy Committee is supporting this event.

Circle your calendars now for the Celebrate Israel program at the Mercato on Sunday, May 15 from 1:00 to 4:00 p.m. This celebration promises to be a spectacular and inspiring event for the whole family. There will be entertainment, activities for children, a variety of food, and exhibits from many Jewish organizations. For more information or to volunteer to help at the event, please contact Event Chair Jeffrey Randall at jeffreymrandall@gmail.com.

Israel Advocacy Committee Program Schedule

ÎÎ January 5, 2016 - “The Israel Connection” Education Series, Program #2, 7:00 p.m., JFCC ÎÎ January 13, 2016 - Former IDF Intelligence Officer and Senior Arabic Lecturer at Bar Ilan University, Dr. Mordechai Kedar, Chabad (coership.) sponsored by ZOA) ÎÎ January 27, 2016 - Screening of Body and Soul with Producer is $64. Gloria Greenfield, Hodges University (co-sponsored by ZOA) ÎÎ February 9, 2016 - “The Israel Connection” Education Series, Program #3, 7:00 p.m., JFCC ÎÎ February 23, 2016 - Screening of Moriah Films’ newest production o: of The Prime Ministers: Soldiers and Statesmen, Temple Shalom.

This film was shown in a sneak preview in August to rave reviews. ÎÎ March 7, 2016 - “The Israel Connection” Education Series, Program #4, 10:00 a.m., JFCC ÎÎ May 15, 2016 - CELEBRATE ISRAEL, 1:00 to 4:00 p.m., Mercato /outing “The Israel Connection” Education Series will consist of a small group video and discussion program and will be limited to the first 30 reservations.

Reservations are required for all of the above events by email only to iacnaples@gmail.com.

Collier County is pleased to welcome TER back to Naples for its annual convention, and to celebrate Shabbat dinner together.” David Marion, Chancellor of TER added, “For the past six years the Naples Jewish community and the Cardozo Society of the Jewish Federation of Collier County, in particular, have been so welcoming and helpful to us that we wanted to share this special evening together.”

The local event chair is Yale Free-

man (ytfreeman@ytfreemanlaw.com), and the TER convention chair is David Liner (dliner@ropertech.com).

Full program details will be announced at a later date, but the cost of the dinner and program will be $70 per person. A brisket dinner will be served, with a vegetarian option also available.

You do not need to be a lawyer to attend this event. Reservations can be made by calling Yale Freeman’s office at 239.530.2500.

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US-41

Epsilon Rho Law Society’s 95th Annual Convention.

Tau Epsilon Rho (TER) is the oldest Jewish law society in the United States, and is proud to include among its membership judges, lawyers and law students of all faiths.

Jeffrey Feld, Federation President/ CEO, said, “The Jewish Federation of

Goodlette Road N.

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Shabbat dinner will be held on Friday, February 5 at 6:30 p.m. at the Naples Beach Hotel & Golf Club, and the entire community is invited to attend. This event, which is being co-sponsored by the Tau Epsilon Rho Law Society and the Cardozo Society of the Jewish Federation of Collier County, marks the opening of Tau

Colonial Square Plaza

US-41

Jewish Historical Society of Southwest Florida invites you to celebrate Florida Jewish History Month Wednesday, January 6, 2016 at 2:00 p.m. at the Collier County Museum 3331 Tamiami Trail East, Naples

A Special Event Honoring Local Jewish Pioneers The Southwest Florida Jewish Pioneers documentary series short-film premieres of: Gloria & William Lipman, Two of the 6 “L”s & Richard Segalman and His Art William Lipman and family

Richard Segalman

Dignitaries and special guests at the 2015 Jewish Historical Society Inaugural Event

Jewish Historical Society of Southwest Florida a 501(c)(3) organization 899 Vanderbilt Beach Road, Ste. 116 Naples, FL 34108

www.jhsswf.org

Free admission ~ Donations encouraged RSVP to 239.566.1771 or jhsswf@gmail.com

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Federation Star January 2016

JEWISH FEDERATION

Meet your Federation board: Edward E. Wollman

By Jean Amodea

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in civic service and philanthropy within vice, but I failed. The executive director, and outside of their Jewish community. the arts director and the gentleman in “Witnessing their service became charge of community relations of the habit forming for me,” he said. von Liebig Art Association approached Volunteering one’s skills and applyme to join the board, and I did. I am also ing them to the work of the a member of the Executive community is an act that Board of The Golisano ideally should be imitated Children’s Museum of by all within the scope of Naples (C’mon). the Federation’s reach.

What do you see as a sitTruly, a role model, ting member of various we chatted with Wollman boards? to learn more.

You have to look at the What drew you to serve organization at its core. I as board member? began to see the same isI have been sought by sues all boards face: how charities for expertise with much money can be raised philanthropy. As a result, and how can they get out of Edward E. Wollman I sit on these boards not debt. I am gratified to be because of an enormous passion for the able to participate in their success as we organization, but because of what we turn their financial pictures right side up. can do together. Then, as you sit on the I have a passion for what I do – which boards, the passion grows as you learn is sit on boards and help them develop, more and you can embrace their goals. help them with governance and help On what boards do you sit and have them with fun. You have to put the fun you served on? back in fundraising. If people are not I was on the Avow Hospice board for ten entertained, they will go do something years, culminating as chairman. I was else. a founding member of the Parkinson How did you come to join the FederaAssociation of Southwest Florida, Inc. tion board?

(PASFI), and was very involved on the Temple Shalom created a leadership board of directors for the American Candevelopment class, and Rabbi Emeritus cer Society, among other organizations.

James Perman served as my mentor.

In 2009, feeling burned out, I wanted to At the same time, my wife was on the take a year sabbatical from board serJFCS of Southwest Florida executive board and helped open the JFCS Senior Center. I always think in terms of collaboration. So, instead of taking a leadership role on the temple board, and because I wanted to see how all of the Get the latest information on upcoming community events Jewish organizations collaborated, and and cultural activities, news from Israel and lots more. wanting to be involved in ensuring there was collaboration and not fractionalization of the organization, I joined.

So you believe that collaboration is vital to a board’s success?

dward E. Wollman, J.D., LL.M., CAP serves his clients as copartner in the law firm Wollman, Gehrke & Solomon, P. A., Consultants, specializing in philanthropic and estate planning.

A board-certified wills, trusts and estates attorney, with an advanced degree in taxation, Wollman is AV rated

by Martindale-Hubbell and was named a Florida Super Lawyer in the annual Florida Super Lawyers edition of Law and Politics, 2007 to 2014.

Established in 1986, the practice has enjoyed success. Wollman said he took “the quality and the expertise of the big firm and the heartbeat of the small firm” to create his boutique law firm.

Recently completing coursework in specialized education in philanthropy, Wollman earned the designation as a Chartered Advisor in Philanthropy (CAP). As such, he brings an advanced level of service and expertise to his clients, assisting them in the options available for the planning and execution of their philanthropic objectives.

It is this very skill set that Wollman brings to the Federation and other local boards, parlaying his experience into action plans for their financial stability and success.

Also an active public speaker, Wollman said that as a child, he witnessed his family members’ active involvement

SIGN UP FOR THE FEDERATION’S WEEKLY COMMUNITY eNEWSLETTER! Send an email to info@jewishnaples.org.

I do believe that it is important that we work toward a unified Jewish community, because we are better together than we are apart. There are so many new organizations popping up that we could run into cross purposes, and we don’t need competition among friends.

What is the most important goal of the Federation?

To continue to expose the greater Naples area to the diverse function of the Federation both near and far, in particular to support those in need and to give new Naples residents an opportunity to connect with fellow Jews.

Why should people get involved in the work of the Federation?

Not getting involved is missed opportunities to give back in a grassroots sort of way that will give you joy on several levels. And, it’s not just for the tax benefits, but because you can’t give kindness away – my favorite expression. The more you do, the more you get. There’s a big movement toward finding fulfillment rather than happiness, because happiness is fleeting but fulfillment is lasting.

What do you think is the most pressing issue facing modern Jewry today?

I think it is the need to keep the traditions and to increase our cultural awareness. Organizations like the Naples Jewish Film Festival, which I sponsor, is an example of how we can grow our Jewish community and educate our children.

Jean Amodea, a former school principal from New Jersey, is a freelance writer for the Naples Daily News and its community publications as well as director of Peter Duchin Music of Naples/Entertainment Direct. She also performs with her husband Ron’s dance band, jazz ensemble and Caribbean quartet.

Reach Jean at jeanamodea@gmail.com.

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January 2016 Federation Star

COMMUNITY FOCUS HOLOCAUST MUSEUM & ED CTR OF SWFL

9A

www.holocaustmuseumswfl.org / 239-263-9200

New exhibit: At War’s End Executive Director

R

ecent commemorations marked the 70th anniversary of the end of World War II and the liberation of concentration camps. With the ground and air war over, a new phase of battle was taking shape for the former combatants: International Military Tribunal trials for war crimes committed by the military and political leaders of Nazi Germany.

Time was of the essence in preparing for these trials, as crucial evidence was being destroyed or hidden by the Nazis. Some materials were even taken as souvenirs by Allied soldiers.

It was also feared many high-ranking Nazis were slipping out of Europe undetected, disguised as civilians, in the chaos following the end of the war. The multinational legal team and support staff assembled had an enormous job ahead of them. They had to gather and process mountains of evidence for the multi-defendant trial. In addition, nearsimultaneous translations were to be provided for the defendants, and trials were to be audio-recorded to preserve evidence of a fair trial. Former U.S. Attorney General Francis Biddle was one of the judges at the main trial, where U.S. Supreme Court Justice Robert Jackson served as a prosecutor.

The decision to hold the trials in the German city of Nuremberg was two-

Gary A. Layton, D.D.S. and second opinions

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n Thursday, January 14 from 6:30 to 8:00 p.m. at North Collier Regional Park (15000 Livingston Road, Naples), there will be a clergy panel discussion on “Forgiveness in a Wounded World.” This event is presented as one of the programs related to The Sunflower by Simon Wiesenthal, the “One Book Southwest Florida” selection.

David Prager, Simon Wiesenthal Center’s Southern Region Representative, will moderate the clergy panel which includes: Rabbi Adam Miller

Nuremberg Trial defendants

present-day International Court of Justice at The Hague in The Netherlands.

The legal foundation laid by the trials also impacted the classification and prosecutions of modern-day genocides in Rwanda and the former Yugoslavia, and may play a role in current refugee situations around the world.

For more information, please visit www.HolocaustMuseumSWFL.org.

of Temple Shalom, Rev. Lonnie Mills of the Macedonia Missionary Baptist Church, and Sister Patricia Roche, Principal of St. John Neumann Catholic High School. The clergy will give a short overview of how forgiveness is viewed and taught in their religious denominations and take questions from the moderator. Members of the audience will be able to submit questions in the final half hour of the program. Reservations are required for this free program.

Call the Museum at 239.263.9200.

For a continuously updated community calendar, visit www.jewishnaples.org.

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Nazi defendants, and the development of the Military Tribunal charges.

Rare copies of Allied prosecution team briefing reference books, donated to the Museum by Esther SandnerPetersen, will also be included in the exhibit.

Associated events will include a presentation

by Fred Balfour, a sound technician at the first International Military Tribunal.

While the Nuremberg Trials were criticized by some as flawed, they did bring the Nazi High Command structure to justice for war crimes and crimes against humanity. The Trials had an influence in the eventual development of international criminal law procedures, the founding charter of the United Nations, and the operations of the

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fold. The city’s Palace of Justice courtroom and prison complex sustained only minor damage during the war, and fit the requirements for holding such a big trial. Nuremberg was also a symbolic choice. It was here the Nazi party held national rallies. The city also lent its name to the infamous “Nuremberg Laws,” instrumental in creating and enforcing the structured dehumanization and eventual destruction of millions of European Jews.

The first, and most significant, trial dealt with members of the Nazi High Command. It took place between November 1945 and October 1946. Twenty-four other trials were held following the war in Allied-occupied territories.

The latter trials dealt with lower level military, civilian and industrial personnel charged with war crimes.

Defendants were to be tried on four charges including the charge of “Crimes Against Humanity.” This charge was created to specifically deal with the crimes perpetrated against European Jews.

The Museum’s new exhibit, At War’s End, will be on display from January 12 through May 1. It focuses on the background and legal proceedings of the first and most important of the Nuremberg Trials. The exhibit is a joint creation between the Museum and the Museum Studies class at Florida Gulf Coast University. Students designed the overall concepts and displays under the direction of Professor Noemi Creagan and Curatorial Specialist Cody Rademacher. As part of their research, students reviewed historical records and transcripts, the backgrounds of the

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10A Federation Star January 2016

COMMUNITY FOCUS

JFCS Food Pantry Dr. Jaclynn Faffer

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JFCS President/ CEO

mong our core services is Financial Assistance, which includes the JFCS Food Pantry.

In 2014, 48 million Americans lived in food insecure households. In Collier County, right here in the “paradise” that we call our backyard, 42,980 individuals, or 13% of the residents, report issues of food insecurity and hunger. This is not a surprise to me or anyone else at JFCS of Southwest Florida.

Week after week, we have generous people drop off food for our JFCS Food Pantry, and almost as soon as it is sorted and shelved it is given out to carefully vetted individuals and families in need. This past year, after the High Holiday Food Drives that Beth Tikvah Congregation, Jewish Congregation of Marco Island and the Naples Jewish Congregation generously conducted for our pantry, I recall standing in front of close to 100 bags of food and wonder-

ing how long it would last. This is quite an evolution from when I first came to the community five years ago and our food pantry was a bookshelf in one of our offices and we called people to let them know they could come in! Now we provide food for almost 200 people a month who schedule appointments to “shop” at the JFCS Food Pantry, as well as just walk in.

We are deeply appreciative of our friends in the community who collect food for the JFCS Food Pantry, the weekly deliveries from Temple Shalom, the special food drives that are held for

us, and our partnership with the Harry Chapin Food Bank. During our winter months we get regular deliveries of fresh fruits and vegetables from one of our generous supporters. All of this makes it possible for JFCS to address food insecurity in our community.

I am often asked what our food pantry needs the most. We have the list on our website at www.jfcsswfl.org, but among our most needed items are:  Cans of tuna fish  Cereal  Jars of peanut butter  Pasta  Soups

 Paper goods, such as paper towels, toilet paper and feminine hygiene products Please be sure to check the dates on the food you donate. We don’t give away any food that is beyond its expiration date.

On behalf of the JFCS board and staff, as well as those we serve, I thank you for helping us address the challenge of food insecurity in Collier County. We could not do it without you!

For more information, please contact me at 239.325.4444 or jfaffer@ jfcsswfl.org.

The Naples Jewish Caring Support Group Next meetings: Mondays, January 11 & 25 10:30 a.m. to noon at JFCS, 5025 Castello Road, Naples

Call Donna Levy at 239.325.4444 for more information.

An extraordinary duo to be honored at Hadassah event

By Iris Shur

I

da and Jeff Margolis, Vineyards Naples residents, have had a huge positive influence on the Naples area since they moved here only a few years ago. Collier/Lee Hadassah didn’t have to look far to find a deserving couple to honor. They will be celebrated for their outstanding community service at a gala benefit, “Sail Away with Hadassah,” at 6:00 p.m. on Tuesday, March 1

at Heritage Bay Golf and Country Club.

Ida, a child of Holocaust survivors, is the chair of GenShoah, an organization providing educational programming about the Holocaust for children of Holocaust survivors. In Ida’s mind it is important to remember the discriminatory practices that brought on the Holocaust in the hopes that we can learn to embrace differences.

When we moved to Naples several years ago, we began looking for a Jewish congregation to join. After visiting several congregations, a Google search showed a listing for the Naples Jewish Congregation.

We attended a Shabbat service and were warmly greeted. We loved the Rabbi, Cantor, pianist and the choir. Everyone was really enjoying the service. Most of the members were just like us, happy and retired. At the Oneg Shabbat, many members introduced themselves and made us feel very welcome.

We joined soon after, and NJC has become an integral part of our lives.

We attend Shabbat services almost every Friday night and go to most of the activities. We have met many fascinating people whom we now call friends. To top this off, the dues are very reasonable! Naples Jewish Congregation is a warm, happy, haimish place and we love it.

– Eve and Charles Naumoff, Treviso Bay

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Do you remember the local performances of Warsaw, a musical interpretation of the Warsaw uprising? Two years ago Ida brought Warsaw here, chairing it as a fundraiser for Collier/Lee Hadassah. Naples suddenly became home for a week to about forty Broadway entertainers and crew who flew here on their own dime to participate in this production. In total, more than one thousand Naples and Fort Myers residents attended the three productions of this poignant show.

Ida’s daughter, Jamibeth, a New York City director, gathered the needed outof-town professional talent. Ida then had to coordinate host homes for all of them, arrange venues, rehearsal times, publicity and tickets – all of the things that go into a successful production. She was on the move every second making Warsaw a reality.

Maybe you know Ida as an author.

Along with her friend, Rhonda Brazina, she wrote a children’s book called Carrots for Charlie. The book was easily two years in the making and was written to emphasize the importance of healthy eating for children – and pets.

If you attended some of the Catholic-Jewish Dialogue events in Naples then you surely ran into Ida. She was the co-chair of the Readers and Thinkers Group. Didn’t see her there? Well then certainly you bumped into her at the Safe and Healthy Children’s Coalition of Collier County where she participates in fundraising activities. Most recently, Ida took on the role of co-chair of Community Outreach for the Blue Zones Project.

By now maybe you remember meeting Ida at one of the many organizations she participates in, but if not, there is more. She is Vice Chair of the Jewish Community Relations Council.

She leads a non-fiction book club for Collier/Lee Hadassah. She organized the One Book Southwest Florida project last year and is doing it again this year.

Jeff and Ida Margolis

Ida is also on the committee bringing the first Jewish Book Festival to our community. She writes articles for the Federation Star. She is a member of the Naples Press Club. And in her “spare” time she participates in activities with the WCA (Women’s Cultural Alliance).

Jeff has been busy as well. He volunteers with the Holocaust Museum & Education Center of Southwest Florida.

He goes on the road with the boxcar project – a real World War II boxcar that serves as a traveling museum about the Holocaust. He also lectures at the Museum.

The Israel Advocacy Committee of the Federation was lucky to have Jeff help plan its programming. He writes articles for the Federation Star.

He is an original board member of the Mens’ Cultural Alliance (MCA). He is a board member of Beth Tikvah and of the Naples Press Club. And he has also spent many years as a Shriner, raising money for their causes.

So what do Ida and Jeff do for fun on their vacations? They visit Presidential Libraries. There are thirteen and, so far, they have visited all but the Herbert Hoover Library in Iowa. Not only do they take pride in their local community but in our country as well.

You can share in the community’s pride of the “dynamic duo,” Ida and Jeff Margolis, at the gala on March 1. The event will benefit Hadassah Medical Organization and Hadassah Projects.

For more information, call Lynn Weiner at 239.598.1009.

Are you looking for delicious kosher food?

Chabad of Naples has partnered with the well-known Aroma Kosher Market and Catering of Cooper City, Florida, to bring kosher food to you. Please call the Chabad office at 239.262.4474 for an order form and instructions. Aroma Market delivers orders to the Chabad of Naples, 1789 Mandarin Road, once a week.

COMMUNITY FOCUS

Upcoming GenShoah films and speakers

January 2016 Federation Star

11A

Can We Kvell!

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will be a number of local events centered on the topic of forgiveness and e what may be considered unforgiveable. For more information about Mark GenShoah Weitzman’s appearances, see the article on page 2B. President k Was the world’s indifference to the plight of European Jewry on the eve of e enShoah SWFL, is a group the Holocaust forgivable? Robert Kraopen not only to children of kow, producer of the film Complicit: Holocaust survivors (the SecThe Untold Story of Why the Roosevelt ond Generation), but to all those who Administration Denied Safe Haven to are interested in the mission of GenSJewish Refugees, will present his film hoah: Preservation of the history and at Temple Shalom on Wednesday, Febmemories of the Holocaust, promotion ruary 10 at 7:00 p.m. This film, which of Holocaust education and human contains archival footage of the St. rights, connection of members of the Louis, explores the controversial topic Second Generation with one another, of FDR and the U.S. State Department’s and support of the Holocaust Museum & response to the Holocaust. A display Education Center of Southwest Florida. about the St. Louis will be available Consistent with the mission of Gen for viewing at 6:30 p.m. A discussion Shoah, this group presents with the producer and a St. a series of public programs Louis survivor is scheduled in addition to meetings for to take place after the film. members.

Space is limited and Facing Fear, the Acadreservations are required emy Award Nominee for for all events. Donations Best Documentary that will so that GenShoah can conbe presented on Sunday, tinue to present exceptional January 17 at 5:00 p.m. at programming will be rethe Holocaust Museum, quested and are greatly deals with forgiveness, appreciated. which is also the topic of GenShoah meetings the “One Book Southwest are usually held at the HoAt last month’s GenShoah Florida” selection, The locaust Museum from Ocmeeting, Sam Geist, a child of Sunflower by Simon Wi- Holocaust survivors, facilitated tober to April on the third esenthal. More information a discussion on the importance Sunday of the month from about this film and other of the trial of Adolf Eichmann 4:30 to 5:00 p.m. Addiprograms appear in the box below. tional information about GenShoah Prior to the “One Book Southwest meetings and events are now emailed Florida” January appearances by Mark in a monthly newsletter.

Weitzman, globally recognized expert To receive emails, to RSVP for in international relations and Director events, for additional information or to of Government Affairs and the Task make a tax-deductible donation to GenForce Against Hate and Terrorism for Shoah, contact me at genshoahswfl@ the Simon Wiesenthal Center, there icloud.com or 239.963.9347. g r

Ida Margolis

G

Local artist Madeline Sugerman was selected to create a “Turtle On the Town.”

Madeline’s “Namaste Turtle” is on display in front of Marissa Collections on Third Street S. in Naples. Madeline also created the Tree of Life artwork for the 2015 Yom HaShoah commemoration, that is hanging at the Federation office.

GenShoah of SWFL: Upcoming Meetings & Public Programs

” h Sunday, January 17, 2016 . 4:30 p.m.: Meeting

5:00 p.m.: Film - Facing Fear - Haunting account of an attack on a young gay boy by a neo-Nazi skinhead and their chance meeting twenty-five years later, and their & journey of forgiveness and reconciliation Holocaust Museum, 4760 Tamiami Tr. N., Naples

r r Special Community Event: t Thursday, January 21, 2016 at 7:00 p.m. e Mark Weitzman, Director of Government Affairs and the Task Force Against

e . e s f o g

Hate and Terrorism for the Simon Wiesenthal Center is the keynote speaker on The Sunflower, the “One Book SWFL” selection Temple Shalom, 4630 Pine Ridge Rd., Naples

Special Community Event: Wednesday, February 10, 2016 6:30 p.m.: Display about the S.S. St. Louis 7:00 p.m.: Film - Complicit: The Untold Story of Why the Roosevelt Administration Denied Safe Haven to Jewish Refugees; followed by a discussion with the producer and an S.S. St. Louis survivor - Explores the controversial topic of FDR’s and the U.S. State Department’s response to the Holocaust Temple Shalom, 4630 Pine Ridge Rd., Naples

Sunday, February 21, 2016 4:30 p.m.: Meeting o 5:00 p.m.: Presentation by Maud Dahme, Holocaust educator, subject of the film t The Hidden Child, and inductee in the New Jersey Hall of Fame Holocaust Museum, 4760 Tamiami Tr. N., Naples

o y Sunday, March 20, 2016

4:30 p.m.: Meeting s 5:00 p.m.: Film - Hitler’s Courts: Betrayal of the Rule of Law in Nazi Germany f Examination, using interviews and archival footage, of how those charged with e defending the rule of law betrayed that trust during the Nazi era Holocaust Museum, 4760 Tamiami Tr. N., Naples

l . Sunday, April 17, 2016 r 4:30 p.m.: Meeting

5:00 p.m.: Program TBA

RSVP required for all events.

Contact Ida Margolis at genshoahswfl@icloud.com or 239.963.9347.

PLEASE SUPPORT OUR ADVERTISERS THEY HELP MAKE THE FEDERATION STAR POSSIBLE

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12A Federation Star January 2016

Tributes

COMMUNITY FOCUS Tributes require a minimum donation of $18.

Tributes to the Jewish Federation Campaign

To:

Joan Thompson In honor of your 70th birthday From: Maxine & Harvey Brenner

To:

To:

To:

To:

Jeffrey & Susan Feld Mazel Tov on your new home; health & happiness always From: Phyllis & Michael Seamen Karen & Ed Ezrine

Irv Berzon In memory of your beloved wife, Muriel From: Phyllis & Michael Seamen

Elinore Weinhaus In memory of dear husband, Sidney.

Our deepest sympathies. He was such a gentle man.

From: Maxine & Harvey Brenner

To:

Harrilee Shevin Get well soon, our best wishes From: Phyllis & Michael Seamen

A

Karen & Ed Ezrine In appreciation of your friendship and warm hospitality From: Rosalee & Jerry Bogo

The Jewish Federation of Collier County extends condolences to: • Irv Berzon & Family on the passing of his beloved wife, Muriel

To:

Harvey Brenner Speedy recovery, our best wishes From: Phyllis & Michael Seamen

To place a Tribute in the Federation Star in honor or memory of someone, please contact Iris Doenias at the Federation office at 239.263.4205 or iris@jewishnaples.org. Tributes require a minimum donation of $18. A note will be sent to the person you are honoring.

Tributes help further the work of the Jewish Federation of Collier County.

To:

Nat & Susan Ritter Many years of happiness in your new home From: Arlene & Sam Shlesinger

Temple Shalom’s 2016 fundraiser to honor four “Stars”

By Carole J Greene

M

embers of the Temple Shalom congregation will gather at Wyndemere Country Club on Saturday, March 26 to honor the inaugural “Star of David” recipients.

This major fundraising celebration of the year, promoted as “Dream On! – A Night of Stars,” features a delectable dinner, a live band, both silent and live auctions, and – oh yes, stars.

The temple will celebrate two couples long active in all-things-temple: Howard and Janet Solot, and Dr. Mark and Anne Rubin. While the activities of the Solots include everything from baking for onegs to holding performance reviews of the staff, those of the Rubins involve “being cheerleaders for Temple Shalom,” as Anne put it.

The Solots, enjoying active retirement, have more time to devote to volunteering. Janet, a homemaker by profession, prepares meals for temple congregants experiencing illness or a death in the family. Her delicious desserts regularly grace Sisterhood’s Oneg Shabbat tables. Howard, a mechanical engineer, brings to his volunteer roles a lifetime of business experience. His main focus has been the financial health of the temple, as he has served on the fundraising, endowment and strategic planning committees. He worked for a decade as a member of the Board of Trustees.

The Rubins, on the other hand, are immersed in their careers. Mark is one of the busiest cancer specialists in the

Naples area. His involvement in support of Temple Shalom occurs primarily behind the scenes, to make sure things that are supposed to happen do happen.

Anne, educated as a psychologist, now enjoys her job as a stay-at-home mom, perhaps using that psychology expertise on her ten-year-old twins. While she volunteers for the temple “doing whatever needs to be done,” she has no official titles. Except “cheerleader.”

Both couples recognize the importance of contributing their time, their talents and their financial treasure to support the congregation. They understand how crucial it is to fund the religious school as well as adult education, projects like “Mitzvah Day” that promote social justice, the temple’s open-

door policy to the community for all its activities, and programs to strengthen the connection between Temple Shalom and Israel. All offer worthwhile opportunities for living Jewish values.

Knowing that their support makes a difference, brings these stars pleasure and the warm feeling that comes from giving of themselves.

Even so, they don’t view themselves as “stars.” They just do what needs to be done for the temple they love. This “Star of David” honor is Temple Shalom’s way of loving them back.

For more information, please contact the Temple Shalom office at 239.455.3030.

Eva Mozes Kor enthralls FGCU audience

By Jeff Margolis

W

hat if you and your family were herded onto a crammed cattle car with dozens of other people not knowing where you were going? What if, in just one day, you lost all of the members of your family, and you and your twin sister were whisked away to a strange and sinister place? What if you became a “guinea pig” for one of the world’s most notorious doctors, Joseph Mengele? Would you be able to live a productive and

purposeful life?

You would if you were Eva Mozes Kor. Born in Portz, Romania, in 1934, Eva Kor, now 81 years old, enthralled a mesmerized capacity audience at the Cohen Center of Florida Gulf Coast University in November when she shared her remarkable story of survival in Auschwitz despite the macabre experimentations of Dr. Mengele, The Angel of Death, and his staff.

After being liberated by the Soviet

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Army on January 27, 1945, Eva briefly retuned to Romania, just as it was being taken over by the Communists. In 1950, Eva and her twin sister Miriam immigrated to Israel where she attended an agricultural school and joined the Israeli Army Engineering Corps, rising to the rank of Sergeant Major.

Eva married Michael Kor, another Holocaust survivor, and moved to the United States where she became a U.S. citizen in 1965. It was only after the highly-acclaimed television miniseries The Holocaust aired, that Eva decided that she needed to do something to both share her story with the world and to also try to locate other Mengele twins. Eva and Miriam helped to establish CANDLES, Children of Auschwitz Nazi Deadly Lab Experiments Survivors.

In 1995, Eva helped to establish a Holocaust museum in her hometown of Terre Haute, Indiana, with the intent on educating visitors on the horrors of Auschwitz and the work of Dr. Mengele.

Through all of her travails, Eva has found it in her heart to forgive Dr. Mengele. She believed that only through forgiveness, could she heal herself of the pain and trauma of her childhood.

Her act of forgiveness, and sharing her story with others has helped to free her.

She noted that we can forgive but we can never forget.

Eva Mozes Kor is the author of several books, most notably Surviving the Angel of Death, The True Story of a Mengele Twin in Auschwitz and Echoes from Auschwitz: Dr. Mengele’s Twins: The Story of Eva and Miriam Mozes.

Center for Judaic, Holocaust, and Genocide Studies Dedicated to educating all sectors of society about Jewish civilization, the Holocaust, and genocide through: • scholarship • outreach • inquiry • sharing knowledge • preserving the record • helping teachers • encouraging students

Visit www.fgcu.edu/hc/ Dr. Paul Bartrop, Director

COMMUNITY FOCUS

Artist profile, Ynon Mabat

By Jeff Narozny

A

ccountant-turned-artist Ynon Mabat has a unique approach to photography: adding paint to it.

Highly-acclaimed mixed media photographer/artist Ynon Mabat was born in Argentina and moved to Israel with his parents as a child. After military service he studied photography at Hadassah College in Jerusalem. Furthering his education with a degree in accounting, he worked exclusively in that field until 1997 when he made the transition to full-time artist, opening an art gallery in Israel in 1999.

He met his American-born wife in Israel while they were both serving in

Ynon Mabat

the Israeli Army. They were married in 1974 and have three children. Income from the gallery was disappointing and, in 2003, it was closed. The family then immigrated to America – to Orlando in 2004 – with hopes of bigger dreams and aspirations.

While attending an art festival in Orlando, Mabat met veteran Orlandobased artist/photographer and exhibitor Les Slesnick, who would unknowingly reignite Mabat’s career path as an artist.

Slesnick encouraged Mabat to return to his true passion – art – and helped guide

him through the laborious path as a fulltime, successful, art fair artist.

Over time, Mabat’s combination of photography and painting morphed into a unique post-modern style that makes his mixed media digital work gravitating and curious. The recurring motifs in his work are chairs, barns and olive trees. According to Mabat, “A chair is a place for contemplating and the seat of the soul. Olive trees symbolize life itself, being rooted to earthiness for food for body and soul.”

His paintings are a mixture of painting and photography combined digitally. The work has a distinctive objective-subjective approach that blends photo reality with abstract painting that lends a dramatic perspective, and has earned many awards at dozens of shows around the country.

The accuracy and organization of his accounting background is reflected in his work. What lies beneath is the precision of photo realism, but more interestingly, what lies on top is the creative expression of changing the ordinary into the extraordinary. Mabat calls it “organized randomness” that adds additional textures through thick brush strokes, sharp lines using watercolors, and then combining it all digitally. He takes simple mundane subject matter and adds mood and vitality to ordinary landscapes with the use of rich, saturated colors and large brushstrokes that redefine his subjects. The work takes on a new life of its own. The artist aims for a balanced relationship between the figurative, abstract, color and textural components of the finished piece.

He and his wife currently reside in Longwood, Florida.

Ynon will be presenting his newest work at Hotworks’ 17th Bi-Annual Estero Fine Art Show™ on Saturday and Sunday, January 2-3 at Miromar Design Center – its new home. The Estero Fine Art Show™ was recently voted as one of the top 100 art fairs in the country among 2,000+ art fairs, as evaluated by Sunshine Artist magazine, America’s most trusted publication for independent artists.

The patrons have been the pinnacle of support for the Estero Fine Art Show™ in achieving its goals to move even higher on the list of top art shows in the country. More than 130 juried fine art and fine craft artists will be selling their original and personally handmade art at the show. Event hours are 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. daily. A $5 donation supports the Institute for the Arts & Education, the 501(c)(3) non-profit arm, which focuses on visual arts, diversity, community enrichment, and fostering art education among the youth.

While at the art fair, be sure to visit the Youth Art Competition for grades K-8 or ages 5-12, in which students are encouraged to submit their original and personally handmade art. All youth entries are exhibited in a prime location at the show under the “Youth Art Competition” tent. Sponsored by Monkey Bars Storage Solutions of Southwest Florida, it is not to be missed.

There is $350 in Youth Art Awards, to be presented on January 3 at 3:00 p.m.

For more information, please visit www. hotworks.org.

Jewish Genealogy Group Meeting The next meeting of the Jewish Genealogy SIG (Shared Interest Group) at the Jewish Federation of Collier County offices (2500 Vanderbilt Beach Road, Suite 2201, Naples) is on Tuesday, January 12 at 10:00 a.m.

Seating is limited. RSVP to genresearch13@yahoo.com.

You will receive an acknowledgement that you have a reservation. Bring a notebook and pen with you to the meeting.

January 2016 Federation Star

13A

Centers for the Arts Bonita Springs

Art-Theater-Dance-Music-Classes Painting - Drawing Clay - Workshops Mosaics - Dance Fused Glass - Jewelry Printmaking - Music Sculpture - Lectures One Evening Classes

Live Music Perfomances

Meet Composers Meetthethe Composers Jan. 3 & Feb. January 3 &7February 7 Motown in Motion Motown January 8 in Motion O Som Do8Jazz January January O Som16Do Jazz Quattro Divos January 416 February Tea for Three Quattro Divos February 9 February 4 Jonathan Edwards February 11 BonArts Chamber Music Series February 17 Riders in the Sky February 25 Dan Miller February 27

Live Theater & Comedy Improv Tonight January 2 & February 6 Southern Gothic Novel January 17 Hairspray the Musical January 29-31 Assisted Living the Musical February 19-21 Kevin Farley February 18

Bonita Springs National Art Festival Bonita Springs National Art Festival Riverside Park Saturday & Sunday 10:00am-5:00pm January 9 -10 & January 30 - 31

200 National & International artists sell & display their work in this top rated festival.

w w w. a r t c e n t e r b o n i t a . o r g / a r t f e s t

Bonita Springs International Film Festival February 12-16

Presenting over 70 carefully curated narrative, documentary, animation and short films from around the world

National & Local Exhibitions Annual Members Exhibition

Opening Reception & Campus Open House Friday, February 5, 6-8pm On display February 5 - 25

Center for Visual Arts

26100 Old 41 Road Center for Performing Arts 10150 Bonita Beach Road Bonita Springs • FL 34135 www.artcenterbonita.org 239-495-8989

14A Federation Star January 2016

Jerusalem Post Crossword Puzzle “Accommodations” By Yoni Glatt

Difficulty Level: Medium

Editor: YoniGlatt, koshercrosswords@gmail.com Solution on page 6B Across 21. Big bird where they light Chanukah candles in summer 1. Two tablets, maybe 5. Not like Samson 22. Shabbat item, for some 23. Where to talk trash in Vegas?

9. Prayer sites 14. Life lines?

27. Eglon had a big one 28. Actress Brenneman 15. Idolatrous queen 29. Jordan preceder?

16. It (still) has more kosher restaurants than any city in Europe 30. Locale for Julianna Margulies on “ER” 17. Places to stay during Tishrei?

20. Daughter of Tzelafchad 31. Belonging to the one who reared

JEWISH INTEREST Samuel 34. Robbie Krieger’s band, with “The” 38. Where Adam and Eve stay in Miami?

42. “___ to recall...”

43. Yonah but not Daniel 44. Hank who coached Larry Brown 45. Famous orbiter or a biblical sister, for short 47. Genre of Joe Trohman’s Fall Out Boy 49. One’s longer than 5,776 50. Where to stay on Yom Kippur?

55. Sammy Davis Jr. book, “Yes, ___” 56. Start of Roth’s band 57. El Al info: Abbr.

58. Where to stay near the Kotel?

64. ___stellar, sci-fi hit produced by Lynda Obst 65. She played Simka on TV 66. El Al info: Abbr.

67. Like many a bar 68. Hurried to get home for Shabbat dinner 69. Sondheim’s “___ in the Clowns” Down 1. Word from the father of Krusty’s biggest fan 2. ___-Wan, character Kasdan wrote as a ghost (sort of) 3. One’s on a 100 Shekel note 4. (Jewish) values 5. P!nk’s “___ Knew 6. Eilat reef denizen 7. Rabbi Kaplan 8. Pashta’s partner 9. Make like Mossad, at times 10. Hod ___, Israel 11. Husband of Bathsheba 12. Fibers brushed off a tallis 13. Some could start with 180

18. “Good shtick!”

19. Angelic light 23. Creator of Ford’s Indiana Jones 24. Sign from a 43-Across 25. “The ___ Curtain” (1982 Billy Joel album) 26. 1997 Soulfarm album, with “The” 27. Best Picture of 1958 produced by Arthur Freed 32. “___ man die...” Job 14:14 33. Baby name suggested by George on “Seinfeld” 35. Get set (at Bar Ilan) 36. Follower of “I” in a notable Asimov work 37. Ben Gurion action for bags 39. Meshuggah 40. Arab chieftain 41. Cost of a call, when Wilder was making films 46. Virtually every “Schindler’s List” review 48. Rabin was the last Prime Minister to visit this country 50. Bit of work for Spielberg 51. What the Hebrews made when leaving Egypt?

52. Moses had several 53. Where Goldstar might be found 54. Reiner’s hero in “The Princess Bride” 55. Nile bird 59. Like Larry Miller’s humor 60. Netanya to Tiberias dir.

61. Notable Sea 62. Option for getting to South America from Israel 63. Rabbi Zalman Schachter-Shalomi wrote about experimenting with it in the ’60s

URJ Biennial and WRJ Assembly 2015

By Susan Pittelman, WRJ Board of Directors

C

an you imagine welcoming Shabbat with 5,000 other Jews from throughout North America at a Kabbalat Shabbat Service that incorporates both traditional and contemporary music sung by a remarkable URJ Biennial Choir comprised of cantors and talented singers from throughout North America? And then being part of the largest Shabbat Dinner on record?

I was fortunate to have that experience when, in early November, as part of the Temple Shalom delegation, I attended the joint Union for Reform Judaism (URJ) and Women of Reform Judaism (WRJ) Biennial Convention in Orlando, Florida.

Temple Shalom President Neil Shnider, One Family co-Chair Tussy Shnider, Sisterhood President Debra Antzis, Temple board member Daryl Sissman, Rabbi Adam Miller, Jennifer Siegal-Miller, Jonah and Gabriel Miller, Cantor Donna Azu, Director of Congregational Education Anna Salomon, Engagement Coordinator Alicia Browner, and my husband Joel and I were proud to represent our congregation at this seminal gathering. We were also joined

by Former Temple President Connie

Mansfield.

While the joyful and amazing Shabbat services are always a highlight of the biennial conventions, they were only a small part of all that we experienced. We were addressed by outstanding speakers, including Vice President of the United States Joe Biden, who spoke about U.S./ Israel relations, and also gave voice to many issues facing synagogues in today’s changing world.

At the Opening Plenary Session alone, we heard a keynote address by New York Times columnist Nicholas Kristof; listened to a panel on “Audacious Hospitality” that included Oscar winner and activist Michael Douglas and Shake Shack founder and Union Square Hospitality Group CEO Danny Meyer, and was moderated by Jodi Kantor, New York Times journalist and author; paid tribute to Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin on the 20th anniversary of his assassination; and gave a standing ovation when Charles Bronfman accepted the Eisendrath “Bearer of Light” Award on behalf of Taglit–Birthright Israel in recognition of its 15 years and 500,000 program participants.

We each participated in a variety

of workshops and learning sessions led by knowledgeable experts and scholars.

The sessions for the URJ were organized into four tracks: Strengthening Congregations, Audacious Hospitality, Tikkun Olam, and Transforming Texts.

featured 2015 WRJ Jane Evans “Pursuit of Justice” Award recipient Lilly Ledbetter, the plaintiff in the employment discrimination case Ledbetter vs.

Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. Delegates to the Assembly passed a resolution to

Members of Temple Shalom were part of the largest Shabbat dinner in North America

As a board member and former officer of Women of Reform Judaism, I joined with approximately 500 Reform/ Progressive women to participate in special programming offered by WRJ. We came together to learn best practices, make decisions about the future of WRJ, and connect with other leaders within the Reform Movement. WRJ’s 50th Assembly, a biennial tradition since WRJ’s founding in 1913, was attended by women from across the U.S., Canada, Israel, Spain, Guatemala, Brazil and Argentina. WRJ offered a wide variety of workshops and seminars designed to help Sisterhood leaders learn new skills, share ideas and expand their knowledge.

(I presented a session for new and future Sisterhood presidents.)

During the WRJ Assembly, Temple Shalom Sisterhood President Debra Antzis and I attended a gathering for the Sisterhood members in WRJ Southeast District during which many of the more than 125 women present shared successful programming and fundraising ideas. (Southeast District is comprised of 58 Sisterhoods – totaling more than 7,000 members – in Florida, Georgia, Alabama and South Carolina.)

The WRJ Assembly included a focus on WRJ’s Pay Equity initiative and

mobilize Sisterhoods to work toward pay equity. Delegates also passed resolutions advocating for paid family and medical leave policies, and for distracted driving preventive measures.

In a landmark decision, the WRJ delegates voted to expand WRJ’s membership beyond WRJ’s affiliated Sisterhoods to enable women who identify with WRJ’s values and objectives – but do not belong to a congregation – to become individual members of WRJ. Inspired by the worship services, educated and enlightened by the workshops and seminars, motivated by the outstanding speakers, and challenged

by URJ President Rabbi Rick Jacobs to practice “Audacious Hospitality” within our own congregations, we returned to Temple Shalom and to our Naples Jewish community spiritually uplifted, eager to share what we learned, and grateful for having had the opportunity to participate in this remarkable Biennial Convention.

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15A

January 2016 Federation Star

JEWISH INTEREST

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16A Federation Star January 2016

JEWISH INTEREST

Stars of David

Interested in Your Family’s History?

By Nate Bloom, Contributing Columnist Editor’s note: Persons in BOLD CAPS are deemed by Nate Bloom to be Jewish for the purpose of the column. Persons identified as Jewish have at least one Jewish parent and were not raised in a faith other than Judaism – and don’t identify with a faith other than Judaism as an adult. Converts to Judaism, of course, are also identified as Jewish.

Jewish Athletes of the Year I asked my friend, SHEL WALLMAN, the editor of Jewish Sports Review, to draw up a shortish list of the outstanding Jewish athletes (pro/college) of 2015. Please subscribe to the Review, a great print publication and a non-profit labor of love (Jewishsportsreview.com). Here’s Shel’s list: NHL - MIKE CAMMALLERI – New Jersey Devils - center from Richmond Hill, Ontario. After slowing down the past couple of seasons, Mike is off to a particularly fast start this season. JASON ZUCKER - Minnesota Wild - forward from Newport Beach, California. A star in the making and this could be his breakout season.

NFL - MITCHELL SCHWARTZ - Cleveland Browns - Right tackle from Pacific Palisades, California. Mitchell is in his fourth NFL season with the Browns and has started every game during that period. ALI MARPET Tampa Bay Buccaneers - Offensive guard from Hastings-on-Hudson, New York. Was drafted in the second round from a Division 3 college (Hobart) and has been a starter in every game.

MLB - KEVIN PILLAR - Toronto Blue Jays - Centerfielder from West Hills, California. In his third year of MLB and his first as a starter, Kevin has been called a ‘human highlight film’ by SPORTSNET and was named Wilson’s Centerfielder of the Year and placed #2 as a centerfielder for the American League Gold Glove award.

IAN KINSLER - Detroit Tigers - 2B from Tuscon, Arizona. At age 33, Ian hit .296, his best since 2008, with 11

homers and 10 stolen bases, while continuing his excellent defensive play at 2B (was Wilson’s Defensive Player of the Year at 2B in 2014).

PGA - DANIEL BERGER, only 22, of Plantation, Florida, the son of former tennis star JAY BERGER, has erupted onto the pro golf scene and his future seems bright. ALEXANDER LEVY, 26, of France, has developed into a strong force on the European PGA Tour.

Boxing - CLETUS ‘The Jewish Hammer’ SELDIN of Shirley, New York, is the WBC Jr. Welterweight title holder with a record of 15-0 (12 KOs).

As you can guess from his record, Cletus is a brawler who knows only one way to fight – coming directly at his opponent.

College Football - JOSH ROSEN - UCLA - QB from Manhattan Beach, California. Josh is starting at QB as a true freshman for the Bruins. His poise in the pocket and strong, accurate arm make it unlikely he will last in college until graduation. MIKE BERCOVICI - Arizona State - QB from Calabasas, California. Mike earned the loyalty of Sun Devils fans and staff alike by refusing to transfer out when it seemed certain he would not get the chance to start until his senior year. As it turned out, an injury to the starting QB after the midway point of the 2014 season gave him the chance to prove his worth somewhat earlier than anticipated.

WOMEN: MORGAN PRESSEL of Boca Raton, Florida, continues to be an effective force on the LPGA golf tour; CAMILA GIORGI of Italy is a

Ten years of doing a Jewish celebrities column has turned Nate Bloom (see column at left) into something of an expert on finding basic family history records and articles mentioning a “searched-for” person.

During these 10 years, he has put together a small team of “mavens” who aid his research. Most professional family history experts charge at least $1,000 for a full family tree. However, many people just want to get “started” by tracing one particular family branch.

So here’s the deal:

Send Nate an email at nteibloom@aol.com, tell him you saw this ad in the Federation Star, and include your phone number (area code, too).

Nate will then contact you about doing a “limited” family history for you at a modest cost (no more than $100). No upfront payment. quality member of the women’s Professional Tennis Tour; ARIELLE SHIP of Westlake Village, California, a junior soccer forward at USC (14-5-1), scored 34 points and was named AllPAC 12, 1st-team; JACKIE FRIEDMAN of Rancho Santa Fe, California, a senior soccer defender at Dartmouth, was named the Ivy League Defensive Player of the Year.

NOTE: Two readers contacted me and asked about Julian Edelman, the star New England Patriots receiver.

In common parlance, he is 1/8 Jewish (his paternal great-grandfather). However, he visited Israel during the offseason and has done several pro-Israel events in the Boston area. A reader tip led me to confirm that he has attended 2014 and 2015 Yom Kippur services at a Boston-area Conservative shul. We just have to wait and see what this all

means in terms of a conversion or not.

You Can’t Know All the Jews in a Sandler Song Without a Program You’ve probably heard that a new “Chanukah Song” by ADAM SANDLER, 49, was released last month (on YouTube; entitled “Chanukah Song Part 4”). As usual, Sandler doesn’t identify by name every Jewish celeb – so if you view the video, here are the “toughies.”

‘Olaf’ refers to the character Olaf the Snowman in Frozen. Olaf is voiced by Florida born-and-raised actor JOSH GAD, 34; ‘Punky Brewster’ refers to a sit-com role played by actress SOLEIL MOON FRYE, 39; ‘Google founders’ refers to LARRY PAGE and SERGEY BRIN, both 42; ‘Harry Potter’ references DANIEL RADCLIFFE, 26; and IDINA MENZEL,44, plays Elsa in Frozen.

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January 2016 Federation Star

17A

A Brazilian dimension of the Holocaust

By Paul R. Bartrop, PhD

E

xactly 75 years ago this month, on January 1, 1941, a passenger ship set sail from Marseille, France, with a large number of Jews on board. Almost all of them were carrying forged visas, the work of a remarkable Brazilian diplomat, Luis Martins de Souza Dantas. His story, and that of the SS Alsina, provides yet another case of “who knew?” to the vast number of resDr. Paul Bartrop cue accounts still yet to be accorded the broad recognition they deserve.

Born in Rio de Janeiro in 1876, Souza Dantas was a career diplomat with a long record of service in France prior to the outbreak of war in 1939.

After the Fall of France in 1940 and the establishment of a collaborationist government at Vichy, he was asked to stay on as Brazilian ambassador, even though by then he had formally retired.

Noting the perilous position of the Jews under Vichy rule, he requested permission from the Brazilian Foreign Ministry to issue migration visas to a small number of French citizens, without specifying that they were Jews.

This was a breach of existing rules, as Brazil had a closed-door policy regarding Jewish immigration. Despite this, he continued granting diplomatic visas to Jews without official approval, while at the same time masking their Jewish identity.

His actions in granting these illegal visas would, as it turned out, save hundreds of Jews from certain deportation at the hands of the Vichy authorities.

Moreover, in many cases he pre-dated the visas to ensure that any subsequent ban on their use would be negated.

He applied himself to the task of rescue through subterfuge, granting diplomatic visas to those holding passports without going through the usual laborious application processes.

He would write on the documents in French rather than Portuguese, for greater ease of egress at the ports of departure, at the same time following all other official procedures to ensure that the documents would be acceptable.

He also assisted with the provision of visas for Jews seeking entry through other embassies, interceding personally to claim Brazilian “citizenship” for those who were actually refugees.

When the SS Alsina departed from Marseille in January 1941 carrying more than 500 refugees, hopes were high that this would not be a repeat of the debacle that took place two years earlier involving the SS St. Louis.

However, as the ship approached Dakar, Senegal, in French West Africa, it was learned that the Vichy government ruling the territory was going to forbid it from continuing.

Desperate, those on board the Alsina were at once confused and anxious, fearful that they could at one blow be returned to an uncertain future in Europe. With their fate in the balance, the Alsina remained anchored for four months in tropical heat, with the Jews on board confined to the cargo hold.

Britain’s Royal Navy then intervened, and in June 1941 the ship was allowed to proceed to Casablanca, Morocco, where the passengers were interned.

Four months later, they were released and put aboard the SS Cabo de Bueno Esperanza, bound for Brazil.

By this stage the visas granted by Souza Dantas had expired, but he arranged for them to be renewed. Although the Jews managed to move on

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to Rio de Janeiro, their visas were rejected once the ship reached port. Fortunately, all managed either to remain in Brazil or to secure a temporary stay while they searched for further refuge.

The actions of Souza Dantas flew in the face of Brazil’s dictator, Getúlio Dornelles Vargas, whose regime tolerated anti-Semitism. It was not long, therefore, before he became the object of official inquiries. He knew his actions were illegal, but nevertheless continued to work on behalf of Jews whenever – and for as long as – he could. Recalled for disciplinary hearings, he defended himself on the ground that he was motivated by “Christian feelings of mercy” regarding Europe’s persecuted Jews.

When the investigation into his behavior was opened by Brazil’s Ministry of External Relations (known colloquially as the Itamaraty), the charge was one of granting irregular visas. He was found guilty of contravening Brazil’s immigration policy, but escaped punishment on a technicality: since he was theoretically retired and only working for the government as a special favor during the period in which he forged the visas, he was not bound to the same standards as a full-time permanent rep-

resentative. It was a minor point, but it saved him from severe punishment.

After the war Souza Dantas returned to Paris, where he lived out his days in obscurity. His career as a diplomat was long over, all previous honors being withdrawn after his recall. The memory of his actions on behalf of those being persecuted during the Holocaust was forgotten for several decades, recalled only by those whose lives he had saved. He died in Paris in 1954.

Overall, Luis Martins de Souza Dantas saved the lives of upwards of 800 people, including 425 confirmed Jews. In the eyes of some, he became the Brazilian equivalent of the German rescuer Oskar Schindler, though in entirely different circumstances.

The most important feature linking the two was the duty each felt toward the saving of human lives, and for this, on December 10, 2003, Luis Martins de Souza Dantas was recognized by Yad Vashem as one of the Righteous Among the Nations.

Dr. Paul Bartrop is Professor of History and the Director of the Center for Judaic, Holocaust, and Genocide Studies at Florida Gulf Coast University. He can be reached at pbartrop@fgcu.edu.

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18A Federation Star January 2016

JEWISH INTEREST

Dvir Bar-Gal, our man in Shanghai

By Goldie Wetcher

M

y husband Ken and I planned our first trip to China this past summer and solicited the help of well-traveled friends as to what we should do in Shanghai to learn about its Jewish history. What a coincidence, we thought, when two couples from different parts of the country who did not know each other gave us the same recommendation. “You need to contact Dvir Bar-Gal, an Israeli guide who lives in Shanghai.” We learned after meeting him and going on the tour that this was no coincidence. There are over fourteen pages of excellent reviews about Dvir on the Internet. As our friends said, “His tour will be one of the highlights of your trip to China,” and so it was.

We were a bit anxious as we took the short walk from our hotel, the Peninsula, to the Fairmont Peace Hotel,

Ye, who we had been traveling with for three weeks, to meet an unknown person. Would we recognize him in the crowded lobby of the hotel? But there he was, a well-built man, leather and canvas briefcase over his shoulder, with the unmistakable stride of an Israeli, authoritative and in control of his mission to show us Jewish Shanghai. A small group had begun to gather around him – people from South Africa, Canada, the U.S. and Great Britain.

When everyone had gathered, Dvir walked us back to a seating area on the Bund, always mindful of the safety of our large group. The Bund is a social mecca with people walking and exercising. And that day, many brides in red or white gowns were being photographed.

Chinese people gathered around us in an effort to hear what Dvir was saying.

Perhaps that was because we were a group of Westerners. Google and other media are blocked by the Chinese government so people would naturally be curious about us.

Dvir began by telling us his story.

He was born in Israel in 1965 and arrived in Shanghai fourteen year ago as a journalist. By chance he came across some Jewish gravestones in an antique shop and began to trace their history.

There were no Jewish cemeteries left, no record of the rich Jewish history of the city. He began to search for the gravestones and he finally found some of them, in the countryside, buried in the mud or put to some practical use by the villagers. He learned that the graveyards had been paved over and, with them, the

Goldie Wetcher and Dvir Bar-Gal

strolling along on the Bund, a magnificent walking promenade bordering the Huangpu River that divides parts of the city. We were leaving our small group and delightful young guide, Michael

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history of the Jewish people in Shanghai. His mission became to discover and restore as many gravestones as possible and to display them as a memorial to this nearly lost history of the Jewish contribution to this city.

It should be noted that the desecration of graves by the Communist government Dvir Bar-Gal leads a tour group in Shanghai in the new China, which Park to see the memorial of the “Desigbegan in 1949 with the Chinese Comnated Area for Stateless Refugees” due munist Revolution, was not an act of to the construction, but we stood by it on anti-Semitism. All real estate in China the sidewalk, listening to Dvir describe was nationalized and the rich or foreign this area’s multi-layered history. people left for Nationalist China for The second wave of immigration other parts of the world. The Chinese arrived here from the turmoil of early do not bury their dead, and cremation is twentieth century Russia, escaping potheir preferred choice, so cemeteries are groms, the Russo-Japanese war, the not part of Chinese culture now. Howdisorder of WW I and the Russian Civil ever, there are now some three thousand War. They were small-business people to four thousand Jews living in Shanghai and lived in European-style tenement alone and there are three Chabad Houses houses, creating businesses, cafes and as well as two synagogues for the comKosher delis. The neighborhood began munity. The Chinese government has to be called “Little Vienna” because of constructed a Jewish Museum near the its uniqueness and charm. These Jewish Ohel Moshe Synagogue built at the turn immigrants built the Ohel Moshe Synaof the twentieth century by Russian imgogue which we visited later. migrants who were escaping oppression, so the Jewish community is growing and China is changing rapidly.

Dvir began his tour by asking us to turn around as we sat on the Bund and look across the street at the landmarks established by members of the earliest Jewish community. He pointed out the Peace Hotel, built by Victor Sassoon in the 1920s, and the ultra-modern Peninsula Hotel recently built by the Kadoorie family who now live in Hong Kong.

The lovely Nanjing Road where we met Dvir was developed by Silas Hardoon at the turn of the century. He was a man who started as a night watchman for the Sassoons, became “the real estate king,” and helped turn this street into the “Fifth Avenue” of China. Dvir assured us that he could talk all day about this first wave of the more than a thousand Jews from Baghdad that came to Shanghai in the late nineteenth century. “Why did they come?” he asked the group, and continued, “I will give you ten points for the It was to Hongkou that over 20,000 correct answer.” We didn’t earn many to 30,000 Jews came fleeing the horrors points. Dvir had a lot to teach us from of Nazi persecution. Why did they come his encyclopedic knowledge about the to Shanghai we were questioned? “BeJewish communities of Shanghai. cause it was an open port in the storm,” We left the downtown area, which said Dvir. Shanghai was their last refuge was humming with energy and growth, and they survived there despite great and took mini buses to another historic hardships. The Holocaust Museum & Jewish area, Hongkou, where Jews came Education Center of Southwest Florida escaping oppression. It was a modest in Naples has a room devoted to this hisarea of small shops and brick apartment tory. Two brave men were instrumental houses bustling with construction and people. We could not enter Huoshan continued on next page

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January 2016 Federation Star

JEWISH INTEREST

19A

In a Brooklyn warehouse, part gun range and part synagogue, trouble is brewing Book review by Philip K. Jason, Special to the Federation Star The Book of Stone,

by Jonathan Papernick.

Fig Tree Books. 400 pages.

Trade paperback $15.95.

W

ho is susceptible to the morbid attractions of terrorism?

Our popular media have made clichés out of a half a dozen answers. Jonathan Papernick has created a terrifying novel e that illuminates the dark corners e of those souls who will give n their lives for a y cause without regard for their own e suffering or that l of others. e Phil Jason Though this t beautifully written book teems with d fully realized supporting characters, n most of the insights derive from the f portrait of the central character – Matthew Stone. This portrait is so magnificently painted, Matthew is so brilliantly and precisely individualized, that the

continued from previous page

in issuing passports to the beleaguered Jews. Sugihara, the Japanese Consul in Kovna, Lithuania, issued 20,000 permits for transit. Dr. Ho, a Chinese diplomat in Vienna, gave transit papers to 10,000 Jews. His story only became available about eighteen years ago through his granddaughter. Conditions for the refugees became even worse in 1937 under the Japanese occupation of Shanghai when the authorities designated the immigrants, including Chinese in Hongkou, as “stateless refugees,” and created a loosely structured “Ghetto” with

stock responses to the important quesunderstand his needs and play upon his fears and insecurities. tion are overwhelmed and transformed.

Matthew is characterized in part by No more glib talk. Real life.

We meet Matthew, a 25-year-old his many self-inflicted cigarette burns. loser with no job, no accomplishThey are at once self-punishment for ments and no self-worth, as he shakily his unworthiness, pains that mask other pains, and pains that awaken him from responds to his father’s death. Judge the foggy depression in Walter Stone is a version of “the great man.” A giant in which he spends his life his profession, disgraced by and allow him to focus. his own drives, he had given Finding, committing to, and providing effective Matthew the toughest kind of love – absence and denigraaction in the service of his tion. Yet he remained a giant defining cause (counteramong militant Zionists. ing Palestinian legitimacy and murdering Palestinian The judge’s father, also leaders and partisans) bea Zionist hero and a similar kind of disapproving parent, comes his way of escaping Jonathan Papernick was a feared gangster. from negative self-judgment; joining an elite community; and Through his father’s horde of valuing, loving, and finally honoring books, annotated with what seem like his father through redeeming action. clues for Matthew’s destined role in life, and through the approaches of But it is all a grotesque sickness.

Most important to the success of Jewish terrorist leaders planning a mathe novel are Papernick’s depictions jor offensive, Matthew finds his cause. of Matthew’s key relationships. The Or is he carefully manipulated into it?

Or is it his DNA patrimony? first among these is with his mother, Those handling his indoctrination who has been manipulated by an FBI

agent to return to the son she had abandoned many years ago “for his own good.” Next is Matthew’s tenuous love affair with a young woman who has equivalent emotional scars. Finally, his relationship with his father’s former colleague, a rabbi who needs Matthew to transfer funds sequestered for Zionist terror operations.

Just wait until you discover what goes on inside that Brooklyn warehouse and how the Days of Awe and Jewish rituals figure in this astounding exploration of morality and madness.

This review originally appeared in Jewish Book World (Fall 2015) Vol. 33 No. 3. It is reprinted by permission.

Philip K. Jason is Professor Emeritus of English from the United States Naval Academy. He reviews regularly for Florida Weekly, Jewish Book World, Southern Literary Review, and other publications. Please visit Phil’s website at www.philjason.wordpress.com.

restrictions to commerce.

Dvir pointed out many important landmarks including the former site of the Joint Distribution Committee, the former site of the Ward Road Heim which was a shelter for Jewish refugees, and the Jewish Museum. Our last stop was to the home of a former guide of the Museum, Mr. Wang, who lives in this area. Dvir wanted to give us some idea of the living conditions of the refugees.

He also showed us his documentary about the hunt for the gravestones and the unrecognized history of the Jew-

respect for learning. In addition, they have business success, intelligence and the ability to survive. It goes without even saying the Jews and Israel can benefit from China’s friendship. And hopefully, Dvir’s dream of resurrecting the Jewish Memorial will be realized with enough understanding and support so that the Jews of Shanghai will also be recognized as an important part of the city’s history.

Please look for further information about a possible visit and presentation from Dvir to our Naples community.

ish migrations. Currently, the Chinese government does not place Judaism among its recognized religions or in its 56 minority groups.

What is the future of the Jewish community in Shanghai and China? To be successful, the people need what the Chinese call “Guenxi” or connections.

Dvir pointed to the rapid growth of the Jewish community in China, particularly Shanghai and Beijing. The climate appears favorable because there is evidence that the Chinese admire Jewish values like the tradition of education and

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20A Federation Star January 2016

JEWISH INTEREST

Ask the Rabbi: Zionism Jean Amodea interviews Rabbi Ammos Chorny of Beth Tikvah

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eth Tikvah, a conservative congregation, is self-defined as “an outreach community devoted to inspiring Jews of all ages and personal beliefs to embrace a meaningful Jewish identity,” and “a community with a close connection to the State of Israel and Zionism.

Rabbi Ammos Chorny, Beth Tikvah’s spiritual leader, is a natural-born instructor, whose passion is fueled, as he says, by his “his love and dedication to teaching.” We asked him to address the origin and mission of the Zionist movement, and he presented a brief primer with clarity.

Oftentimes clouded with different meanings to both secular and religious Jews, the ultimate goal of the Zionist movement remains singular – that of the aspirations of our forefathers to return and reside in the Promised Land.

From the oppression of the pharaohs to the modern-time embodiments of anti-Semitism and evil through two world wars, the internally driven goal of fully occupying Eretz Yisrael in body, mind and spirit has not been shaken.

Rabbi Chorny explained.

What is the essence of the Zionist movement?

The evidence of Zionism as a movement has been seen since the exodus from Egypt. The idea and the yearning to occupy the land promised to the Jews by God through Abraham and his followers has been with Jews since ancient times.

In 3,000 years of Jewish history, we have been able to have autonomy in our land, and though it was often removed from us, that yearning has remained alive and the flame inextinguishable in the hearts of Jews throughout history.

How did it originate and what is the goal of Zionism?

In the late 1800s, an Austrian reporter,

Theodor Herzl, who reported on the Dreyfus affair in France (a political scandal that divided France), advocated that the Jews be allowed “to return” to their ancestral homeland – Zion. He convened what was to become the first Zionist congress in Switzerland, in 1898. The idea was to create a consensus among the Jews of Europe and the world of the need to establish a movement

Rabbi Ammos Chorny

where all Jews dispersed worldwide could once again return home – to establish a Jewish homeland for Jews to feel they can always return to their ancestral home. He is considered the father of the Zionist movement.

Was it started as a secular movement?

It is a secular movement although there are religious Zionists. It was started by secular Jews who had enjoyed the benefits of emancipation in Europe – in Germany, England and France – who had become immersed in the cultures and to some degree accepted in secular society but who still felt they should have been able to establish their families in the Jewish homeland. The idea was to raise consciousness and funds to start this process.

At first, Herzl found great opposition in many different camps. Some of those were emancipated European Jews who questioned the need for a homeland since they had finally gained emancipation and acceptance as citizens where they were living. But the truth is that there was anti-Semitism, segrega-

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tion, persecution and discrimination against the Jews, particularly in light of a pamphlet published in Russia at the same time, The Protocols of the Elders of Zion. That publication came to light due to the efforts of the Russian secret police to discredit the Jews.

Who authored The Protocols?

At the time, it was an anonymous publication. The idea was to disseminate the notion that the Jews were out to conquer the world and that there was a subversive underground Jewish initiative to monopolize and control the world. The pamphlet took hold in Europe, and the United States, due to the efforts of the great industrialist, Henry Ford, who was also a great anti-Semite. He used his own funds to translate and publish The Protocols in North America. Combatting it was a heavy uphill battle.

What ideas for a Jewish homeland were suggested?

At some point, immediately after WWI and before WWII, a worldwide initiative was created to allow the Jews to create a homeland in Uganda. They were saying, if you want a homeland, go to Uganda.

Herzl, as well as the Jewish establishment, denounced the idea as ridiculous.

If there was to be a Jewish homeland, it had to be in Palestine, Israel – so they continued campaigning.

Although founded by Herzl, a secular Jew who did not practice the tenets of the Torah, is there a religious aspect to the movement?

One of the 613 commandments instructs us to live in the land of Israel. So, we see that all Jews should live in the land of Israel. Today, some religious Jews have OF COLLIER COUNTY embraced the idea and live in Israel even though they don’t recognize the government and theTHE establishment the modSTRENGTH OF A of PEOPLE. POWER OF COMMUNITY. ern State of THE Israel.

There are Jews who understand that only when the Messiah

Jewish Federation

arrives will he re-establish the Jewish homeland. Thus, anyone who does so before the Messiah arrives is establishing a country that is not sanctioned, so to speak, by Jewish law.

What is your opinion?

My opinion is that given the reality of history and the fact Jews have been persecuted for so long, particularly in the wake of the Holocaust and World War II, there has never been a more important time for Jews to have a homeland and a place they feel is their own, not only as a refuge from persecution anywhere around the world, but also as their Godgiven right to live in peace within their own borders.

What is the position of the Conservative movement?

It is extremely Zionist and has a very strong footing in Israel called Masorti.

We have institutions of learning, synagogues and initiatives that support the state as well as Israeli ordained rabbis that serve Israeli congregations. We believe that it is important for us to be able to bring Conservative Judaism to Israel as an alternative to the Orthodox establishment that was created at the time of the independence of the State of Israel in May 1948. As a result, we certainly encourage our congregants and our children to learn both traditional and liturgical Hebrew as well as modern spoken Hebrew, and we encourage them to not only visit Israel but, if it is manageable in their lives, to also settle in Israel.

Have a topic or question you would like one of our local rabbis to respond to?

Send the details to jeanamodea@gmail.com.

Jewish Federation OF COLLIER COUNTY

THE STRENGTH OF A PEOPLE. THE POWER OF COMMUNITY.

ZIONIST ORGANIZATION OF AMERICA

Southwest Florida Chapter

Wednesday, January 13, 2016 at 7:30 P.M. The Chabad Jewish Center of Naples 1789 Mandarin Road, Naples, FL 34103

Dr. Mordechai Kedar Life

in the

Shadow of Islam On Wednesday, January 13, 2016 at 7:30 P.M. the greater Naples community will be honored to have one of the pre-eminent Israeli scholars of Arabic literature speak at the Chabad of Naples. Dr. Kedar is a lecturer at Bar-Ilan University, where he holds a Ph.D. in Islamic history and culture.

His presentation will highlight the conditions to which Jews and Christians have been mandated to live under Islamic suzerainty from the time of Mullah Omar, the second Muslim Caliph, and how those depredations have continued under the resurgence of Islamic radicalism.

Admission: $20.00 prepaid $22.00 at the door Student with valid ID $7.00

Make checks payable to: ZOA/SWFL 4003 Upolo Lane Naples, FL 34119 914-329-1024

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JEWISH INTEREST

January 2016 Federation Star

21A

SHOW YOUR SOLIDARITY

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Through Federation, you stand shoulder to shoulder with Jews everywhere.

Through Federation, you stand shoulder to shoulder with Jews everywhere.

Europe,where whereJews Jewsare arefacing facingattacks attacks on on schools schools and and businesses. businesses. On North InInEurope, American college campuses, where Jewish students are all too often encountering On North American college campuses, where Jewish students are all a hostile environment. too often encountering a hostile environment.

Donate.

You are standing up for any Jewish community in need of support, protection and You are standing up for any Jewish community in need Volunteer. solidarity. Please give to <<NAME.>> today. of support, protection and solidarity. Please give to Get involved. the Jewish Federation of Collier County today.

239.263.4205 www.jewishnaples.org

YOU MAKE IT POSSIBLE!

Everything Federation does is made possible through the generous donations from members of the community. Please consider making a gift today!

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 I hereby pledge and promise to pay my Federation for the 2016 JFCC/UJA Annual Campaign a contribution of:  $36  $72  $180  $540  other $_________  Contribution enclosed (Check #__________)  Please charge my:

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22A Federation Star January 2016

ISRAEL & THE JEWISH WORLD

November 29: A significant date in Arab-Israeli history

By David Harris, Executive Director, AJC, November 29, 2015

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ovember 29 is a noteworthy date for all those interested in Israel and the Middle East.

Sixty-eight years ago, following the recommendation of a decisive majority of the 11-member United Nations Special Committee on Palestine, the UN General Assembly met to consider Resolution 181. The measure called for the creation of independent Arab and Jewish states in the land west of the Jordan River, which for decades had been governed by Great Britain under a mandate, first, from the League of Nations, then the UN. The final vote was 33 countries in favor, 13 against, and ten abstentions.

To this day, it remains important to recall how each UN member state at the time voted.

Those in support were: Australia, Belgium, Bolivia, Brazil, Byelorussian S.S.R., Canada, Costa Rica, Czechoslovakia, Denmark, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, France, Guatemala, Haiti, Iceland, Liberia, Luxemburg, Netherlands, New Zealand, Nicaragua, Norway, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Philippines, Poland, Sweden, Ukrainian S.S.R., Union of South Africa, United States, U.S.S.R., Uruguay and Venezuela.

In opposition were: Afghanistan, Cuba, Egypt, Greece, India, Iran, Iraq, Lebanon, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Turkey and Yemen.

Abstaining were: Argentina, Chile, China, Colombia, El Salvador, Ethiopia, Honduras, Mexico, United Kingdom and Yugoslavia.

Among the proposal’s supporters, the eloquent words of Ambassador Enrique Rodriguez Fabregat of Uruguay stand out to this day: “Both peoples [Jews and Arabs] are fully ripe for independence. We are not here to give lessons in organization to two peoples in their infancy, two peoples

whose destinies are just beginning.

The Jewish effort in Palestine is, in many respects, exemplary, and this is confirmed in both the reports of the Special Committee on Palestine. And the ability of the Arabs to shape their own destiny by their work, their initiative and their courage is shown not only by their present achievements but by their glorious past. Those of us who are voting for partition are not voting against either of these two peoples, against either of these two sectors of social reality in Palestine. We are voting for both of them, for their progress, their civic development, their advancement within the community of nations, so that they may not only never come into conflict, but may combine in a multitude of productive undertakings, thus ensuring that economic unity for which the plan under discussion definitely provides.”

He laudably chose to strike a note of optimism, believing that both Jews and Arabs could fulfill their respective national aspirations through this two-state resolution. And he earnestly hoped that the end result would not be conflict, but mutually beneficial cooperation. Alas, his vision was not quite fulfilled.

The Arab nations categorically rejected the resolution, denied any Jewish link to the land that was, in fact, associated with the Jewish people for millennia, and declared they would not be bound by its terms. They chose to go to war, with the goal of seizing all the land and preventing a Jewish state from coming into being. Despite vastly larger populations and territories, they did not succeed in their quest.

There are at least five important takeaways from this dramatic chapter in history.

First, actions have consequences.

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The Arab world opted for confrontation, not compromise. They gambled and lost. They paid a price, as have all defeated aggressors in history. They could not have it both ways – losing a war they began, then claiming victimhood.

Second, as the Uruguayan envoy stated, another path was possible. There could have been two states living side by side – one Jewish, the other Palestinian (though the UN language at the time referred to an Arab, not a Palestinian, state) – in peaceful coexistence for the past 68 years. The Jews, joined by a clear majority in the international community, sought precisely that outcome, but the Arab world rejected it out of hand. It turned into a clash in this instance between Arab maximalism and Jewish pragmatism. The latter won out.

Third, the UN recognized the validity of a Jewish state. In November 1947, no one knew what the name of the state would be – it was only announced on May 14, 1948, the actual date of Israeli independence – but what was clear to all was that it would be a Jewish state, and rightly so. The Jewish people fully merited a sovereign home in their ancient land and had every right to chart their own destiny, the UN General Assembly affirmed.

Insofar as there is some debate today about the “legitimacy” of a Jewish state, that question was, in fact, addressed 68 years ago by the UN General Assembly.

Fourth, much is still made of the Arab refugee population from the 1947-48 period, which resulted from a number of factors in a tumultuous era.

For 65 years, there has been a special UN body, UNRWA, to deal with the issue, but not, it must be noted, for purposes of resettlement, as with all other refugee groups in the world, but rather to keep alive the issue from generation to generation as a festering wound and permanent grievance against Israel. At the same time, some Arabs chose to

stay in Israel after its creation in 1948.

Today, their share of the total population is approximately 20 percent, and they enjoy equal rights and protection under the law.

Meanwhile, less well-known, there was a second refugee group from the very same years – roughly an equal number of Jews from Arab countries who were forced from their homes, expelled from the ancestral lands where many had lived long before the Arab invasion and conquest in the seventh century, and too often victims of deadly pogroms.

Why has so little been heard about the 750,000-850,000 Jewish refugees?

Among other reasons, because they were offered a haven in Israel (and other countries) and opted to start anew, rather than follow the Palestinian example of remaining in camps as wards of the international community, while nurturing dreams of revenge against the detested Jewish state.

And fifth, the Israel that emerged from this defining period was only a part of the land under discussion in the 1947 UN debate. The West Bank and eastern Jerusalem were entirely in the hands of Jordan, while the Gaza Stripc was controlled by Egypt.

C During the ensuing years, Egyptr and Jordan had uncontested power toS create a Palestinian state with easternS Jerusalem as its capital, precisely whats the Palestinian leaders today claim theya seek. But, alas, no such state emerged.m To the contrary, Jordan annexed its terri-t tory, a step recognized by only two otherb nations in the world. Meanwhile, Egypts imposed harsh military rule on Gaza. d In other words, the history of theo past 68 years could have been very different, but the all-or-nothing approachI of Arab leaders at the time was a ca-H lamity for the Palestinian people, theI larger Middle East, and the course ofI modern history. i For more information, visit www.ajc.org.a

BRIEFS

POLL: ISRAELI JEWS AND ARABS OVERWHELMINGLY G t PREFER TO STAY IN ISRAEL

BEIJING TO HOST MAJOR CHINA-ISRAEL INVESTMENT EVENT

A China-Israel Investment Summit will be held in Beijing on January 4-6, hosting more than 1,000 entrepreneurs, businesspeople and investors from the two countries, as well as senior Chinese and Israeli government officials.

The objective is to encourage collaboration in technology, innovation and investment. Infinity Israel-China Fund managing director Eyal Rosenthal said, “We expect, as a result of the meetings that will be held at the China-Israel Investment Summit, the signing of NIS 1 billion in deals in a range of fields.”

(Globes)

ISRAEL TO RESPOND AGAINST EU COUNTRIES THAT SUPPORT PRODUCT LABELING

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Israel has decided to respond against 16 European countries that pushed for labeling goods produced in the West Bank and the Golan Heights. The measures include a re-evaluation of the EU role in the peace process; summoning the ambassadors for an official rebuke; and restricting meetings to low-level Israeli officials. Israel will be far stricter regarding entry of foreign delegations to the West Bank and will also be stricter about which EU projects it permits in the West Bank and Gaza.

“You can’t act against us and then expect that everything will continue as normal,” a senior Israeli official said.

“We decided (the steps) for each country on their own merits. This is not mathematics but diplomacy; clearly, the measures are not going to harm our own interests.” (Itamar Eichner, Ynet News)

The Israeli Democracy Index 2015 survey, conducted during April and May, found that 84.5% of Jews and 83.4% of Arabs in Israel reported that they are not interested in emigrating to a Western country even if offered citizenship in that country. (Tamar Hermann, Israel Democracy Institute)

ISRAEL’S GULF BREAKTHROUGH

At the end of November, the United Arab Emirates gave Israel formal permission to establish a diplomatic office in Abu Dhabi under the auspices of the International Renewable Energy Agency. Although officials from both governments noted that the office is solely intended to facilitate Israel’s membership in the agency, the announcement should be seen in the context of improving Israeli-Gulf relations. In fact, the new office is Israel’s second diplomatic presence in a Persian Gulf country. This latest advance should also be seen as a consequence of the Obama administration’s perceived embrace of Iran. (Simon Henderson, Washington Institute for Near East Policy)

ANXIOUS FRENCH RUSH TO ISRAELI TECH TO CHECK ON FRIENDS

In the wake of the Paris tragedy, some 4.1 million people checked in with friends and relatives using Facebook’s Safety Check feature, developed at the Tel Aviv headquarters of Facebook Israel. Around 360 million people received automatic messages through it from friends in Paris who had marked themselves as “safe.”

Paris marked the first time Safety

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ISRAEL & THE JEWISH WORLD

January 2016 Federation Star

23A

Locals attend Friends of the Israel Defense Forces Leadership Mission to Israel

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aples residents Rick & Ellaine Rosen and Ron Kaplan & Dr. Arline Shapiro, as well as Paul & Sylvia Simko of Fort Myers, joined thirteen other members of the Greater Miami Chapter on the 2015 Friends of the Israel Defense Forces (FIDF) Leadership Mission to Israel from November 13 to 20.

They visited soldiers at several bases, including Ovda Air Force Base, the Home Front Command’s Zikim Training Base, and an Iron Dome Battery.

The group had the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to see a live-fire training exercise at the Shizafon Army Base.

The group also met with high-ranking Israeli leaders, including President of Israel, Reuven “Ruby” Rivlin. It was a wonderful experience for the group.

A highlight of the trip was the “Salute to the IDF” event where hundreds of IMPACT! students along with Israel Defense Forces (IDF) commanders and other dignitaries come together to meet

and become part of the large FIDF family. The 2015 Leadership Mission was an amazing experience for all of the participants.

Friends of the Israel Defense Forces was established in 1981 by a group of Holocaust survivors, under the leader-

BRIEFS

above the OECD average of 34% and the second highest rate of all member countries. In addition, 85% of the population ages 25-64 has completed upper secondary education, above the OECD average of 76%. (Lidar GraveLazi, Jerusalem Post)

continued from previous page Check was activated following a terror attack. Facebook Growth VP Alex Schultz said: “We chose to activate Safety Check in Paris because we observed a lot of activity on Facebook as the events were unfolding. In the middle of a complex, uncertain situation affecting many people, Facebook became a place where people were sharing information and looking to understand the condition of their loved ones.” (Abigail Leichman, Israel21c)

ISRAELIS AMONG HIGHEST EDUCATED IN DEVELOPED WORLD

Israelis are among the highest educated in the developed world, according to an OECD report released recently.

According to “Education at a Glance 2015,” 49% of Israelis have attained higher education degrees, well Federation-halfPg-9.75X7.5_Layout 1 12/8/12

ship of John Klein, z’l, to provide for education and wellbeing of the men and women who serve in the IDF, as well as the families of fallen soldiers.

Headquartered in New York City, FIDF is a 501c3 not-for-profit corporation that operates 15 regional offices in the

FIDF National Leadership Mission at Ovda Air Force Base

ISRAEL’S IMPRESSIVE ECONOMY

The Israeli economy remains an incredible example of a developed country’s ability to achieve sustained economic growth, a strong testament to the powerful influence of a market-based, democratic economy and the virtues of a well-educated and disciplined labor market.

According to the International Monetary Fund, among the 37 advanced economies, only three did not experience a contraction in the aftermath of the global financial crisis: South Korea, Australia and Israel.

The IMF projects 3.3% growth for Israel in 2016, among the highest 5:19 PM Page growth rates1 for all developed nations.

Clive and Daniel at their bar mitzvahs

Israel’s economy has doubled in size since 1996 while the U.S. economy has increased just 50% and the EU economy just 24%.

These achievements are quite remarkable given the political tensions both in-country and regionally. (Alex Brill, Detroit News)

IN ISRAEL, MOST MUSLIMS WANT PEACEFUL COEXISTENCE WITH THEIR JEWISH NEIGHBORS

Israel’s 8.4 million inhabitants include 1.8 million Muslims, most of whom are Israeli citizens. In most ways they know they are better off in Israel than if they were under the control of the Palestinian Authority. Family income in Israel averages around $35,000 a year for both Jewish and non-Jewish residents, while Muslims in Ramallah earn $13,000 a year and those in Gaza subsist on $3,000 a year. While living just about as well as their Jewish

United States and Panama.

The strength of the IDF, which has been guarding the State of Israel since it declared independence in 1948, derives from the selfless determination and great capabilities of the young men and women who form it. At the tender age of 18, all Israelis are drafted into the IDF. Those who serve, commit to uphold the difficult tasks of defending Israel’s borders and guaranteeing the safety of its people.

The Israeli government is responsible for training IDF soldiers and providing them with the necessary tools for their service. FIDF is committed to providing these soldiers with love, support and care in an effort to ease the burden they carry on behalf of the Jewish community worldwide.

FIDF initiates and helps support educational, social, cultural and recreational programs and facilities for the young men and women soldiers of Israel who defend the Jewish homeland.

neighbors, they are exempt from the mandatory military service required of Jewish men and women.

Many sympathize with their Palestinian brothers and there are a few small pockets of active support for the Palestinian cause, but that rarely translates into action against Israel itself.

(David Keene, Washington Times)

400 SECURITY CAMERAS COVER JERUSALEM’S OLD CITY

The Jerusalem Police’s Mabat 2000 unit operates some 400 security cameras in the Old City. These cameras documented many of the recent terror attacks and helped police track down the perpetrators, leading to their quick arrests. “We have a 95% identification rate,” said Doron Turgeman, commander of the Jerusalem Police’s David subdistrict. The unit’s command center has dozens of screens that show what’s happening in the Old City in real time. (Roi Yanovsky, Ynet News)

Proud to be part of this SW Florida community since 1977.

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24A Federation Star January 2016

Adult enrichment – a challenge Rabbi Sylvin L. Wolf

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s I reported at a recent Shabbat service, The Pew Report, a Report of Jewish Americans, listed the nine essentials to being Jewish. Number four is being intellectually curious. No mention about being intellectually curious about Jewish subjects.

Among the nine there is no mention about Jewish learning or study.

For the years I’ve been with Naples Jewish Congregation, we’ve continued to have adult study each year. We’ve had Torah study, reading several books of the Bible, and Jewish mythology.

Last year the curriculum was entitled “Heroes, Saints, Villains and Fools.”

This year the curriculum is titled “Love: Devotion, Desire and Deception.” I send out resource materials prior to each session. We’ll also be reading a book titled Wrestling With Angels.

We meet at the Jewish Federation of Collier County office the 2nd and 4th Sunday of the month from 10:30 a.m. to noon. Our January sessions will be held on January 10 and 24.

Following are the titles of several sessions for this season: “Balancing Love and Obedience: The Curious Case of Nadav and Avihu” - How do we balance love and obedience in the service of God? In this session, we will explore the death of Aaron’s sons, Nadav and Avihu, at the dedication of the Tabernacle. The incident raises questions about the tension between spontaneous religious expression and obedience to a religious system.

“Fathers, Sons and Brothers: A

Story of Love and Hate” - In this session, we explore the role of favoritism in the Torah. Does too much parental love result in sibling hatred? Is reconciliation ever possible?

“Is Love Always Good?” - In Judaism, individual human emotions are considered neither “good” nor “bad.”

How does this fundamental idea at the core of Jewish belief apply to love?

“Love and Deception: The Story of Jacob, Rachel and Leah” - After Jacob deceives his father to receive the firstborn blessing, he is sent to his mother’s birthplace to find a wife. There he encounters Rachel and falls in love. This session explores their love story, the deception involving Laban and Leah, and the definition of true love. The Torah’s description of Jacob, Rachel and Leah leads us to think more deeply about the different kinds of love.

“Loving and Waiting: A Talmudic Perspective on Relationships” - The rabbis of the Talmud had strong opinions about romantic love. What can these stories teach us about how to balance competing loves?

“Loving God and Loving Ourselves” - What does it mean to love God? Can a relationship with the Divine lead us to love ourselves?

“Loving the Ger: Who is the Stranger in our Midst? - Being commanded to love is unusual, yet the Bible clearly instructs us to love the stranger/convert.

I challenge you to consider making Jewish learning a 10th Jewish Essential.

Please let me know whether you will join us so that I can make arrangements for space at the Federation, and put you on the list to receive materials.

I would welcome your inquiries and responses at slw.5693@comcast.net or 239.431.3858.

Rabbi Sylvin Wolf serves at Naples Jewish Congregation.

COMMENTARY

One road, two worlds Rabbi Adam F. Miller

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ne Tuesday morning, I drove out of my development and turned right. I turned right countless times before, but this was different. That day I stayed on the road, passing places I normally stopped, and kept driving. Almost thirty miles later, that same road brought me to another world within Collier County: Immokalee.

This was my first trip to Immokalee, but I know it will not be my last. My travels came as part of a group of rabbis participating with T’ruah: A Rabbinic Call for Human Rights. Since 2011, more than seventy Reform, Conservative, Reconstructionist and Orthodox rabbis, from communities across the country, visited Immokalee with T’ruah to meet with the Coalition of Immokalee Workers (CIW). Affectionately called Tomato Rabbis (#tomatorabbis on social media), these groups spend three days meeting the farm workers, learning the history of the CIW, and bearing witness to the transformation that has led to justice in our fields.

One’s heart breaks listening to the stories of the workers and the conditions that existed prior to the Fair Food Program. Workers were not guaranteed shade or break times. Wages were at sub-poverty levels and stagnant, and wage theft was rampant. Sexual harassment was used to threaten and demean female laborers. One worker was beaten for stopping to drink water, with the crew leader saying to the others, “Are you here to work or drink water?” In the most extreme cases of abuse, workers were kept in modern-day slavery, and

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the CIW helped to prosecute cases that led to 1,200 being freed.

There is a Haitian saying, “A bullB would not let a child lead it if it knew its own strength.” The workers began to realize that they had the strength to change their situation. Lucas Benitez, one of the founders of the CIW, explained, “Immokalee was a desert of justice. We searched for hope, and discovered the waters of justice.” The effort began with actions to push the growers to improve conditions. Later, the CIW realized that the chain really went beyond the growers up to the buyers – the corporations that purchased the tomatoes for restaurants, grocery stores and other food services.

After fifteen years of farmworkers and consumers calling on corporations to join the Fair Food Program, fourteen major corporations have joined this effort, including Taco Bell, McDonald’s, Aramark, Compass and, more recently, Ahold (Stop & Shop and Giant) as well as Walmart. Each corporation commits to paying a penny per pound of tomatoes that goes directly to the farmworkers and commits to a human rights code of conduct in their supply chain, which includes zero tolerance for slavery and sexual harassment.

Torah teaches in Deuteronomy, “Tzedek, tzedek tirdof!” – “Justice, justice, shall you pursue!” Once several corporations had joined, the first two growers to agree to participate to implement these human rights changes in the fields were Lipman Produce (then 6 L’s) and Pacific Tomatoes – both started and owned by Jewish families. These two growers served as models for the other tomato growers. Soon thereafter, the majority of Florida’s tomato growers joined in – representing 90% of all tomatoes grown in Florida. Working together in partnership, a third-party monitoring body, the Fair Food Stan-

continued on next page

The Jewish future

By David Harris, Executive Director, AJC, November 29, 2015 Seventy thinkers, leaders, and clergy were asked: “What will be the condition of the Jewish community 50 years from now?” Below is AJC Executive Director David Harris’s response: et me be honest. I have no clue what the Jewish condition will be in the year 2065. In fact, I am hard-pressed to predict what things will look like tomorrow.

Indeed, had I been asked to participate in a similar Commentary symposium in 1965, could I have foreseen the Six-Day War only two years later, and its aftermath?

Or the astonishing success of the Soviet Jewry movement at a time when the word emigration was absent from the Kremlin’s lexicon?

Or the downfall of the USSR and its satellites, and the rebirth of Jewish communities in places where Jewish life was assumed to be nearing its end?

Or, on a related note, that nations such as Bulgaria, Poland and Roma-

L

nia would one day speak of Israel as a “strategic” partner?

Or that Germany would become the home of the fastest-growing Jewish community in the world?

Or that Israel would sign peace treaties with Egypt in 1979 and Jordan in 1994?

Or the remarkable flourishing of U.S.-Israeli relations, even as France’s close ties with Israel withered?

Or the recrudescence of anti-Semitism in Western Europe, fueled principally by elements of a growing Muslim presence and an extreme right-wing backlash to this immigration?

Or Israel’s population more than tripling from 2.5 million to more than 8 million?

Or the rescue of tens of thousands of Ethiopian Jews, who for centuries dreamed of Zion but, in their isolation, thought they might be the only Jews on Earth?

Or the toppling of the remaining barriers to full Jewish participation in American life, with Fortune 500 executive suites, Ivy League presidencies, and presidential candidacies now wide open to Jews?

Or Israel’s foreign-policy pivot to Asia, with India as a showcase of new friendships?

Or the emergence of the Internet, creating previously unimaginable forms of Jewish connectivity, JDate among them?

Or the ordaining of women rabbis, the establishment of LGBT-friendly congregations, or the development of Chabad’s worldwide outreach network?

No, I could not have foreseen these startling developments in 1965.

So what is even remotely foresee-

able from today’s vantage point?

First, Israel will continue to grow and thrive. True, the religious, social and ethnic fault lines in Israeli society will not suddenly disappear. But the state will somehow manage them and blaze a trail in the 21st century as a global, sought-after leader in entrepreneurship, cybersecurity, water management, counterterrorism, renewable energy, medical research and breakthrough technologies.

Second, while Israel’s neighborhood might possibly improve one day, affording new opportunities for regional cooperation, in the meantime the Jewish state will be ready for whatever ominous new threats surface from both state and non-state actors.

As the story goes, God was so angry with the world that he announced, in two weeks’ time, a massive flood as punishment. On hearing this news, the French president told his citizens that the world would come to an end in 14 days, so there would be no more work, just joie de vivre, until the last minute.

Meanwhile, the Israeli prime minister informed the Israeli people that “we have exactly two weeks to learn how to live underwater.”

Third, the universal vaccine against anti-Semitism is unlikely to be discovered by 2065. For a while, many thought that post-World War II liberal democracy was the antidote, but the rise of Judeophobia in several Western countries, abetted by the receding memory of the Holocaust and its lessons, means that all bets are off.

Fourth, America’s special ties with Israel will come under increasing challenge. There are seismic demographic changes happening in the United States, many college students are being exposed to the BDS movement on campus, and, with the passage of time, fewer Americans are able to recall the events of 1967 and how Israel unexpectedly became an “occupying power.” Absent an Israeli-Palestinian peace accord, the battle for American public opinion will grow still more intense.

Fifth, even as Jews confront the inevitable external challenges, there will be no shortage of internal debates and divisions that stretch the notion of am echad, “one people,” to the breaking point. To cite just one telling example, the fast-growing Haredi population at one end of the spectrum will be matched by the equally fastgrowing population of Jews with an attenuated identity, two groups with essentially nothing in common. Then again, we’ve just about always been an argumentative and fractured people, sometimes, alas, to the point of self-destruction, so why should that suddenly change?

And sixth, in 2065, Commentary will hold a symposium on the next 50 years of Jewish life, and the magazine will have no difficulty identifying another group of contributors willing to ignore the late Yogi Berra’s sage words: “It’s tough to make predictions, especially about the future.”

For more information, visit www.ajc.org.

Opinions and letters printed in the Federation Star do not necessarily reflect those of the Jewish Federation of Collier County, its Board of Directors or staff, or its advertisers.

January 2016 Federation Star

FOCUS ON YOUTH

25A

Federation is proud to provide scholarships to camps and other programs

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lBy Beth Wolff, Scholarship Committee Chair t’s no secret that attending a Jewish Roth, a University of Florida sophow camp has proven to create lasting, more, attended Birthright last May. n long-term positive influences in I have complied some of the leto keeping children engaged in Jewish life ters of appreciation we have received , as adults. Camps help to engage Jewish since the summer. Most of the students children in education and help provide and their families wish to keep their them with a safe, structured environanonymity so we are only publishing d ment to socialize with other students excepts of their letters. I think you will e find their words inspiring! efrom communities all over their state, our country and even with international “I want to thank you for giving me , Jewish students they may not ever oththis scholarship. Some of the memories y I will remember the rest of my life have -erwise meet. been made at camp and it wouldn’t be How exciting for the children e from Naples to be able to go to Camp possible without your help.” s Coleman, Camp Shalom and BBYO’s “All in all, I would like to show my International Leadership Training Congratitude for allowing me to go back to camp this past year. I hope to be back sference this past summer. Also, Lindsay

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The Israel Advocacy Committee of the Jewish Federation of Collier County is pleased to invite the community to

Celebrate Israel

Photo courtesy of The PJ Library

lRabbi Adam Miller...continued from previous page

dards Council, was established to staff a 24-hour worker complaint line, ensure compliance by the growers, and monitor ethe buyers.

Conditions in the fields have improved dramatically in recent years.

Participating growers provide shade stations, water, time-clocks for fair wage management, and education to identify and prevent sexual harassment and other abuses. As evidence of the CIW’s success, there have been no incidents of violence toward workers in the fields in the last year.

The New York Times recently identified the Florida tomato industry as an exemplar in the field of agriculture.

Once known as ground zero for modernday slavery, the CIW and its partners

have transformed tomato farms into fields of justice, where the workers’ dignity as human beings is upheld. Efforts continue to expand participating buyers and to move into other fields of agriculture. Campaigns exist to encourage Publix and Wendy’s, two corporations that have refused to meet with the CIW, to treat our neighbors, the farmworkers of Collier County, fairly and with respect.

One road links together two worlds.

It is a road less traveled by many of us – yet it is a road to justice. May we heed the call to pursue justice, support the right to human dignity, while ensuring that fairness, equity, safety and freedom are experienced by all.

Rabbi Adam Miller serves at Temple Shalom in Naples.

COMMENTARY BRIEFS THE SAME FIGHT AGAINST RADICAL ISLAM

Most mainstream media outlets, which usually avoid any mention of the word “terrorism” with regard to terrorist attacks in Israel, found no difficulty in calling the Paris attacks by their rightful name. Agence France Presse published a list of worldwide terror attacks since 9/11. Only one country was completely missing from the list: Israel. The world embraces France with sympathy and solidarity and declarations that this terrorism must be fought hard, even with the same kind of retaliatory airstrikes that the world so intensely deplores when Israel conducts them.

As Israelis and human beings, we also show solidarity with the French.

We only wish this solidarity was truly universal and not something reserved only for Western Europeans or Americans. Israel suffers abuse for daring to defend itself against terrorism, with everyone voicing their opinions on how Israel must “show restraint.” Israel and the rest of the West are fighting the same enemy – radical Islam. Fail-

greater Naples Jewish community. Your kindness made my summer eye-opening and magical, and I thank you.”

The students come back with a deeper understanding of what it is to be Jewish in our community. They understand our steadfast connection with Israel and feel an incredible bond with other Jews. This is why it is so important for our Federation to raise funds so that we can, in turn, use the monies to help send students to Jewish camp and Jewish programs.

Partial scholarships will again be available for programs in 2016. If you have a student who would be interested in going to camp or attending a Jewish program, please contact me at winggy1@gmail.com or Jeffrey Feld at at jfeld@jewishnaples.org for the application and more information.

Join us in celebrating Israel, its culture and its people on its 68th Anniversary of Independence

Sign up for The PJ Library and you’ll receive a FREE, high-quality children’s book or CD each month. The PJ Library will enrich your family’s life with Jewish stories and songs – and it’s absolutely FREE for families with children from six months up to eight years of age in Collier County.

The PJ Library is brought to the Collier County community

by JFCS of Southwest Florida.

For more information, please call 239.325.4444.

this summer.”

“Every day, all day, we kept busy with many activates to choose from, so the days flew by as did camp. Three weeks seems like a long time, but once you are at camp, the summer is over before you know it.”

“I liked Shabbat, it was a great feeling being with everybody who is Jewish and sharing that one common bond with everyone. It was fun to sing the songs and prayers all together.”

“Being around 250 young leaders from all around the globe was mindboggling and quite humbling. We represented BBYO’s best of the best as we pushed ourselves to go beyond our perceived limits and took chances.

I am grateful for the generosity of the Federation for helping me attend ILTC 2015 and for its continued support of the

ure to acknowledge this undermines the West’s own fight against it. (Judith Bergman, Israel Hayom)

IMAGINE ISIS WITH A NUCLEAR REACTOR

In 2007, Syria was suspected of initiating a nuclear program – quite possibly designed to produce weapons-grade plutonium, with a sizable assist by North Korea. When it became clear that the U.S. was not going to intervene, Israel went for it herself, and destroyed the Al Kibar nuclear reactor construction site, located in Syria’s Deir ez-Zor region.

Despite serious concerns about Syrian retaliation, Israel acted out of conviction of the necessity of a strike and a belief that it is the supreme duty of a state to protect its citizens. That decision was validated four years later when the International Atomic Energy Agency officially confirmed that the site had been a nuclear reactor. Had it never been destroyed, the reactor would have been smack in the center of Islamic State territory.

continued on page 27A

Sunday, May 15 1:00-4:00PM at the Mercato Free Admission There will be representatives from El Al Airlines and Stand With Us, live entertainment featuring “Simcha” playing and singing traditional and contemporary Israeli music, Israeli dancing, children’s games and crafts, a Mount Masada climbing wall, artistic depictions of Israel and other art, jewelry crafted with Israeli artifacts, cosmetics made in Israel, travel information and trips relating to Israel, kosher-style food (including falafel, humus and refreshments) provided by Stage 62 Deli, area synagogues and congregations. Southwest Florida Evangelical Pastors (speaking on their behalf will be author Pastor Gaspar Anastasi) and other Jewish and non-Jewish organizations and officials will be on hand to celebrate and show support for Israel, its culture and its people.

HEY KIDS! What are your plans for the summers of 2016 & 2017?

Would you like to go to a Jewish Summer Camp or visit Israel?

The Jewish Federation of Collier County, Temple Shalom and Temple Shalom Men’s Club, together offer PARTIAL scholarships for Jewish Summer Camps and the Israel Experience for teens.

There are scholarship opportunities for all Jewish children in the community regardless of congregation affiliation.

For information and a scholarship application, contact your local synagogue or call the Jewish Federation at 239.263.4205.

Scholarship request deadlines: Israel Programs: February 1, 2016 Summer Camps: December 1, 2016

26A Federation Star January 2016

FOCUS ON YOUTH

BBYO Naples update

By Skylar Haas, Assoc. Regional Dir. of BBYO’s North Florida Region

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anuary marks a new term in BBYO Naples. With new teens in executive leadership and a calendar full of upcoming events, the Negev Sharks and Sababa Peacocks are ready for their Spring 2016 term. Starting in December, BBYO welcomes 8th graders to join as official members of North Florida Region. Visit bbyo.org/teens/aza_bbg/ become_a_member/ to find out more.

Over the weekend of January 15-17, Naples teens will be joining chapters from Orlando, Sarasota, Tampa and

Jacksonville for a weekend full of BBYO education, inductions, sisterhood and brotherhood, leadership training, and meaningful teen-led programming.

They are all looking forward to reuniting with their friends from around the region and strengthening their skills to come back and grow the local chapters in our community.

Join BBYO Naples teens as they lead Shabbat services over the weekend of January 8-9 in our very own community. Teens in Negev AZA and Sababa

BBG have been working closely with the synagogues and their respective rabbis to insure a meaningful weekend full of teen-led services and prayer. Friday night services will be held at Temple Shalom at 7:30 p.m., with Saturday morning services at Beth Tikvah at 9:30 a.m. and Chabad Naples at 10:00 a.m.

On Sunday morning at 10:00 a.m., we

will be back at Beth Tikvah for teffilin.

Don’t forget that BBYO Naples now welcomes all 8th graders to join the weekly chapter meetings at the Jewish Federation of Collier County from 6:30 to 8:00 p.m. on Thursday nights. Please contact me at 239.263.4205 or shaas@ bbyo.org for more information.

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BBYO Naples members with visitors from High School in Israel

Temple Shalom Preschool update

By Seyla Cohen, Preschool Director

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brand new year! With the holidays behind us, it’s that time of the year when the children at Temple Shalom Preschool begin to settle into their familiar surroundings.

Here at TSP, their home away from home, students enjoy returning to their classrooms, their comfort zone. Parents, as well students, seem to sigh with relief when the hustle and bustle of end-ofyear activities are behind them. It feels good to calm down and revert back to a more routine lifestyle with more defined schedules. Children strive on structure, so returning to a more predictable routine does them well.

One of the goals of Temple Shalom Preschool is to teach the children, from an early age, the importance of mitzvah, giving back to society. Mitzvah is defined as a religious duty or obligation and one of the commandments

of Jewish religious law.

We are all getting ready for Mitzvah Day on Sunday, January 24. This is an annual event in which temple and preschool families give back to the Naples community. As in the past, we will be helping homeless children of Collier County by collecting toiletries and providing them with much needed necessities. Another favorite activity is baking doggie biscuits for the Humane Society. The children love to make the biscuit dough, shape it and decorate it for the adorable animals. In addition, we will be collecting items for “The Purple Bag Project.” The project helps children going through chemotherapy and delivers chemo care bags to brighten their day and make the process a little easier for them. The TSP children will be making puppets to put in the bags with all the other items collected.

asked the Pre-K classes. They learned Such deeds give meaning to values that Sir Isaac Newton discovered that so important to instill in children at a all things fall to the ground and named tender age. Mitzvah Day brings joy, this gravity. They did an experiment on satisfaction and a sense of accomplishthe center of gravity. The children were ment to both parents and children. What all given a pencil and had to find the a nice way to begin the New Year. middle in order for it to balance. They In January, we welcome our newest also tried the same experiment with a students, our Lil’ Cubs. Those little ones ruler. The children all tried to jump up who missed the cut-off, will begin their and touch the ceiling, but gravity pulled first school experience. Through the them down. help and tender loving care of Miss Jane, our new Lil’ Cubs class will thrive and kids will begin to learn all about independence.

It’s hard at first to leave Mommy and Daddy, but once they catch on to the routine, they will become our newest endearing family members.

Happenings What is gravity? That was the question Ms. Sharon TSP students finding the center of gravity during an experiment

Preschool of the Arts update

By Ettie Zaklos, Preschool Director

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appy 2016! Though it comes right in the middle of our academic year, the New Year always brings a sense of reflection and renewal. It is during this time that we redouble our efforts to make sure that the families in our preschool community are truly getting the most they possibly can from our quality programming. As a director, the fresh start allows me to look back on the unique transition from what was to what will be. We at Preschool of the Arts are thrilled to be part of what will be for our families and students as we enter the next phase of our students’ educational journeys.

It is hard to believe that our incredible preschool is a mere five years old. As I walk through the halls of our beautiful and expansive campus and hear the sounds of children learning and laughing, I think back to when this entire endeavor was just a dream. Since I started my career as an educator I had a dream to be part of a school in which children come first and where there is recognition of the power of the early childhood years. I envisioned a col-

laborative learning environment where progressive teaching techniques and traditional Jewish values could meld together in a perfect symbiosis. Still, I never dared imagine the overwhelming success that is the reality of Preschool of the Arts today.

From our humble beginnings when just my own two daughters were enrolled in the preschool, to its small but steady growth, I have watched this school blossom before my eyes. In the early years, our Chanukah events took place in a single preschool classroom that fit the entire school! Today, our school events, thank G-d, require an oversize social hall, and we have over 100 students with consistently full waitlists.

Our community of engaged and connected families support us every step of the way and always rise to the occasion to make our programs and events successful. This year’s Preschool Chanukah festival “NYC Style” was a huge hit and our biggest turnout ever!

Preschool students performed a medley of Chanukah and NYC-themed songs to

a grand audience, and the entire community enjoyed a fun-filled day of rides and activities, topped off by a grand Statue of Liberty Menorah Lighting!

I am so grateful that the Naples Jewish community has rallied around this vision for excellence in early childhood education. It is parents and stakeholders who wholeheartedly believe in our school’s mission that brought about our tremendous growth. Every day, as I watch children paint, construct and explore, I am reminded of our core philosophies that direct our educational methodology.

At Preschool of the Arts we believe artistic expression is a constant process that begins with our youngest learners and explorers, and is deepened and refined as they form relationships and connections with their world. Each step is part of a larger story or narrative that defines the individual and collective members of our community. The unique custom-tailored, child-centered curriculum allows children to emerge as independent thinkers with the ability to stretch their minds.

Our preschool environment is one that fosters questions, provokes curiosity and stimulates intellectual growth. The outdoor Garden of the Arts, culinary arts and science programs all encourage natural curiosities, while our yoga, music and gym instructors enhance our fine arts curriculum. Each child’s journey has endless possibilities and applications well beyond the walls, spaces and environments that define Preschool of Arts.

Enrollment is now open (and quickly filling up!) for Preschool of the Arts 2016-2017, as well as our acclaimed Summer of the Arts programs. We are honored by the overwhelming response and encourage prospective applicants to register before all our spaces are filled.

We are all excited at the prospect of another fulfilling and growth-filled year at Preschool of the Arts. On to bigger and better!

For more information, contact me at 239.263.2620 or naplespreschool ofthearts@gmail.com, or visit www. naplespreschoolofthearts.com.

The Federation Star is a monthly nonprofit newspaper supported by generous readers, committed advertisers and the Jewish Federation of Collier County.

January 2016 Federation Star

SYNAGOGUES BETH TIKVAH

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www.bethtikvahnaples.org / 239-434-1818

Beth Tikvah update

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Phil Jason President

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u B’Shevat, a minor holiday, has been appropriated in modern times as part of the greening of Judaism. This year, the 15th day of the month of Shevat corresponds to Monday, January 25. Tu B’Shevat is known as the New Year for Trees. Jewish tradition marks Tu B’Shevat as the day when the sap in the trees begins to rise, signaling the earth’s awakening from its winter slumber, and heralding the beginning of spring. This mini-holiday is of major importance to our appreciation of nature and our relationship to it.

We inhale deeply the blossoms of new life at Tu B’Shevat, say the mystics, for the sweet fragrance of God’s creation. (USCJ sources) A nonstop January Subscriptions for the Naples Jewish Film Festival are selling fast. Don’t miss out. For more information, please visit

http://naplesjewishfilmfestival.org/.

Our next Rosh Chodesh Women’s Group meeting will be held on Sunday, January 10 at 10:00 a.m. The facilitator is Beverly Blazar. No Charge. Contact Elaine Kamin at 239.593.6821 for more information.

On Tuesday, January 12 at 7:30 p.m., Dr. June Sochen and Joyce Schrager present a roundup of fact and opinion on “Domestic Politics in the U.S.” Their presentation will be followed by a Q&A session and refreshments. Cost: $5 admission for nonmembers. RSVP by calling 239.434.1818.

On the Shabbat of January 22-23, Beth Tikvah will hold its first Cantorial Shabbaton with Cantor Neil Newman.

Cantor Newman earned a BA in History from Temple University, a Bachelor of Hebrew Literature from Gratz College, as well as a Bachelor of Sacred Music and an MA in Religious Education from the Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion. In 1979, he completed a Doctorate in Educational Administration and Supervision at Syracuse University, and in 2000 was awarded an Honorary Doctor of Music degree from Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute

NAPLES JEWISH CONGREGATION

of Religion. More information on this program can be found on page 5B. On Monday, January 25 at 7:30 p.m., our Book Group will meet to discuss Talia Carner’s Hotel Moscow.

Brooke Fielding, a 38-year-old New York investment manager and daughter of Jewish Holocaust survivors, finds her life suddenly upended in late September 1993 when her job is in jeopardy.

Brooke accepts an invitation to join a friend on a mission to Moscow to teach entrepreneurial skills to Russian business women, which will also give her a chance to gain expertise in this vast new emerging market. Though excited by the chance to save her job and be one of the first Americans to visit Russia after the fall of Communism, she also wonders what awaits her in the country that persecuted her mother just a generation ago.

Carner will speak at the Collier County Jewish Book Festival. Her session is at Beth Tikvah on Thursday, February 18 at 1:00 p.m. Also speaking on the same Russian-themed program is David Greene, author of Midnight in Siberia. Please see the Jewish Book Festival spread in section B of this issue

for more information, including a ticket order form.

On Thursday, January 28, popular lecturer Gerald Ziedenberg begins his three-part series that focuses on Jewish Heroes with “Churchill and the Jews.” Each lecture begins at 7:30 p.m. and is followed by a Q&A session and refreshments. Cost: $5 admission per lecture for nonmembers. Reservations requested. To RSVP or for more information, call 239.434.1818.

Religious services schedule Friday services begin at 6:15 p.m.; Saturday services begin at 9:30 a.m. and conclude with a Kiddush luncheon.

Sunday morning minyan is at 9:00 a.m.

Yahrzeit minyanim upon request. Please join us at any service. Our participatory worship services and most other events are held at 1459 Pine Ridge Road, just west of Mission Square Plaza. For more information, call 239.434.1818, email bethtikvahnaples@aol.com or visit www.bethtikvahnaples.org. You can reach Rabbi Chorny directly at 239.537.5257.

www.naplesjewishcongregation.org / 239-234-6366

Naples Jewish Congregation update

By Suzanne L. Paley, President

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ll that jazz On Saturday, January 23, please join us as we present Dixieland Jazz and other music popular during the era of The Roaring ’20s. Performing their special brand of jazz will be Art Blatt and The White Caps. As an added attraction we will also be entertained by some of the famous Umbrella Ladies!

This event will take place at the Pelican Marsh Community Center from 7:00 to 9:00 p.m. Tickets are $20 in advance, and include a variety of appetizers, beverages including wine and dessert, as well as two hours of joyful jazz. A portion of the evening’s proceeds will be donated to a special program designed to provide weekend meals for the homeless children of Collier County.

This is the third year that NJC has contributed to this program.

For tickets and reservations, please contact Saundra at 239.566.0674 or sCarolyn at 239.566.7339. Tickets will

also be available at the door for $25 per person.

Laughter in Naples On Thursday, February 4, NJC is pleased to bring you Stand-Up Comic, Rabbi Bob Alper, as he returns to Naples. For $45 you will be treated to deluxe appetizers and dessert, and an evening of good, clean, non-offensive humor. This event will be held at the Longshore Lakes Country Club beginning at 5:30 p.m. For $75 you can be a benefactor and enjoy all of the above, plus be entitled to preferred seating and a special gift. Please send your check, payable to Naples Jewish Congregation, along with your name, address and phone number to NJC, PO Box 111994, Naples, FL 34108. For further information, please call 239.431.3858.

On Friday, February 5, during our Shabbat service, Rabbi Alper will present a sermon entitled “The Spirituality of Laughter: A Jewish Look at the Holi-

Commentary Briefs...continued from page 25A

Thinking about the Jewish state’s laction at the Deir ez-Zor reactor site, now in ISIS territory, it might be time to thank Israel. (Shai Baitel, New York hDaily News) s

THE BOYCOTT ISRAEL MOVEMENT IS DRIVEN

BY BIGOTRY

It’s hard to think of any political moves ment as ugly, vindictive and packed with prejudice as the Israel-bashing e BDS movement. Its backers want e every institution, retail outlet and o right-minded person to refuse to have . anything to do with Israel. They want f us to stop buying Israeli produce. To r refuse to read books written by Israeli academics. Even to refuse to listen to the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra.

The ugliness of BDS was thrown l into sharp relief when it was revealed . that a former Cambridge academic refused to answer a 13-year-old girl’s

curious questions about horses because the girl is an Israeli. “I’ll answer your questions when there is peace and justice for Palestinians,” the academic responded.

It’s just cruel to crush a girl’s curiosity after she has sent you a sweet, respectful email. And to hold a 13-yearold responsible for what her government does is bizarre. It takes the foul idea of collective guilt to a new, barrelscraping low. It has exposed the rotten heart of a movement that fancies itself as progressive but is in fact driven by bigotry.

BDS is a force field erected around the chattering classes of the West to protect them from the stuff and thinking of one nation and one nation only.

It’s a moral purity movement, designed to deflect the products of a people that some have judged to be uniquely evil.

Even their kids. (Brendan O’Neill, Telegraph-UK)

For a continuously updated community calendar, visit www.jewishnaples.org.

ness of Humor.” We invite everyone to join us at 7:30 p.m. to worship with us at the Unitarian Universalist Congregation on Napa Woods Way, off Pine Ridge Road.

Game on On Monday, March 14, NJC Sisterhood is sponsoring its annual Game Day to be held at Cypress Woods. Anyone who has attended in the past can tell you that this is a very special event enhanced by beautifully displayed and fantastic tasting food, a terrific silent auction and wonderful prizes. So mark your calendars, gather your friends and be on the lookout for registration information.

You won’t want to miss this fun-filled day.

Jewish Book Festival Naples Jewish Congregation is proud to be a sponsor of this inaugural event.

On Monday, March 14, beginning at 6:30 p.m., two authors will present their books with the theme being

“Inspiration.” We are also pleased to tell you that the Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Greater Naples (where we gather for services) has donated its facility as the venue for this evening. As a special way to close out the Festival, since this is the last of the 11 Festival events, our two congregations will be hosting a dessert reception at the end of the evening. Please see the Jewish Book Festival spread in section B of this issue for more information, including a ticket order form. We hope to see you all there.

Please join us for a Shabbat service and find out why “NJC is where you should belong!” An oneg always follows our services, which gives everyone a chance to greet, meet and chat. For further information about Naples Jewish Congregation, please call 239.431.3858 or visit www.naplesjewishcongregation. org.

BROWNSTEIN JUDAICA GIFT SHOP AT JCMI Looking for the perfect gift?

Choose from our many items: Mezuzahs Menorahs Travel bags Jewelry Gifts for pets Novelty aprons Designer Hand Bags Silk and Handmade Kippot Mah Jongg Jewelry, Cards & Supplies

991 Winterberry Drive Marco Island (239) 642-0800 Hours: Monday - Friday: 9:30 - 1:30 Friday Evening: Before & After Shabbat Service

PLEASE SUPPORT OUR ADVERTISERS. THEY HELP MAKE THE FEDERATION STAR POSSIBLE.

28A Federation Star January 2016

ORGANIZATIONS www.ort.org / 239-649-4000

ORT AMERICA – GULF BEACHES CHAPTER

ORT to eternity Marina Berkovich

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ORT Gulf Beaches President

ven those who have followed ORT’s progress for years may be interested in knowing more about its founders and how ORT has influenced Jews and the world since 1880. (continued from the December 2015 issue) Part III. Leon Bramson At the turn of the 21st century, when I was the Dean of Administrative Services of Bramson ORT and all ORT America U.S. colleges, I often heard and often repeated the story of Leon Bramson starting and funding a sewing school in his own Saint Petersburg, Russia apartment at the turn of 20th century. There, the story goes, some of the Pale of Settlement unskilled Jewry, fleeing the tsunami of pogroms, was able to learn how to put a pocket on a shmata, so that upon disembarking at Ellis Island, they would be immediately employable in the booming beginnings of what would become known as the New York City’s Garment District. It is a great story, even if only partly true, because in it the entire

essence of ORT is alive. ORT teaches for life. ORT gives practical training and the in-demand skills. Leon Bramson, I think, would have loved this story. Or maybe he started it.

After moving the ORT headquarters to Berlin, Bramson helped organize the founding conference of World ORT Union in 1921. There he was elected Vice Chairman of the Central (Executive) Council and member of the board.

In 1922, together with Dr. Syngalowski, he co-founded American ORT Federation, the ORT America predecessor. Aron Syngalowski remained a major driving force for ORT in the U.S. for the rest of his life. (Read more about him in the next issue.)

Following Hitler’s rise to power in 1933, Bramson transferred the ORT headquarters to Paris. His family was living in France when the war reached it, but only in 1941 did Leon leave for Southern France. He fell ill in Marseille and died there of pneumonia on March 2, 1941. Next time you are in Marseille, perhaps you’ll want to make a pilgrimage to his grave. With so many of us tracing our roots to the Pale of Settlement, we owe him at least that.

Collège Lycée ORT Bramson in Marseille and Bramson ORT College in New York City are the two remaining schools bearing Leon’s name.

My namesake, Eugene Berkovich, a respected Israeli blogger, recounts an entertaining incident in Berlin in September 2001, when the then burgomaster was asked to officiate the 80th anniversary of German ORT and admitted to having never heard of it.

He was startled to learn it is a 120-yearold organization. Berkovich writes it’s “nearly impossible to find a similar example of such longevity. The history of ORT inseparably intertwines with the Jewish history of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries and continues into the twenty-first.” (to be continued in February 2016 issue) *** I am asked why I am writing about ORT all the way from its beginnings.

Like ORT, my mission is educating for life. So many of the under-70 generations have little or no knowledge of the wonderful history of ORT or its presentday sphere of activities. I am hopeful that our Gulf Beaches Chapter will spark and/or rejuvenate your interest in ORT, inspire your contributions and, if you are relocating, to transfer to our chapter.

ORT provides scholarships to 300,000 students annually in over 60 countries. GulfBeaches ORT Chapter 2015 fundraising efforts benefit ORT in Israel. Please help us with our financial challenge by mailing your renewal or donation check, payable to ORT America, to Hella Amelkin, 3200 Gulf Shore Blvd. N., #307, Naples, FL 34103.

ORT America (Organization for Rehabilitation through Training) Did you know that:  ORT supports 300,000 students annually in 59 countries by providing technical education that emphasizes employable skills?  ORT’s most famous (and least publicized) mission was to educate Holocaust victims in DP camps so they were able to move on with their lives?  ORT America has four college campuses in the U.S., including two in New York, one in Chicago and one in Los Angeles, that serve the most vulnerable communities?  ORT America is active in Southwest Florida? Please attend Gulf Beaches Chapter events and support ORT’s educational mission.

Help ORT raise funds to save lives through education.

To join/renew/transfer, please contact ORT America Gulf Beaches Chapter President Marina Berkovich at 239.566.1771, or Membership Chair Marebe Crouse at 239.263.4959.

Please visit www.ortamerica.org for a virtual ORT experience.

www.jhsswf.org / 239-566-1771

JEWISH HISTORICAL SOCIETY OF SWFL

January is Florida Jewish History Month Marina Berkovich JHSSWF President

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veryone is invited to the presentation by the Jewish Historical Society of Southwest Florida at the Collier County Museum on Wednesday, January 6 at 2:00 p.m.

Richard Segalman will be the Keynote Speaker at this event. A native of Brooklyn, New York, Mr. Segalman is a Southwest Florida Jewish Pioneer with a story to captivate and inspire. His charcoals, watercolors and oils are part of numerous major collections, such as the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, Fogg Museum at Harvard University, Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden in Washington, D. C., and the Baker Museum at Artis—Naples.

The documentary short about his Southwest Florida presence was pro-



duced by ABG World Video and Audio Production for the Jewish Historical Society of Southwest Florida especially for this presentation and will premiere at the event.

In Richard Segalman, the Man and His Art, the artist reminisces about the challenges the 1950s and 1960s Naples presented for the Jews – the unknown and the well known, the rich and the not-so-very. To the young man he was then, it was the place to find himself, forge lifetime friendships and become an artist.

Richard Segalman’s works have been exhibited locally by Harmon Meek Gallery for over four decades and grace many local homes.

Gloria and William Lipman, two of the 6 “L”s is another documentary short, also produced by ABG World for JHSSWF and premiering at the event.

The film is about William Lipman and his sister, Gloria Goldberg (nee Lipman), two siblings of the six “L”s in the famous Lipman produce growers and packers family. It is largely due to

Jewish Historical Society of Southwest Florida Membership Form

Please send your check (payable to JHSSWF) and this form to: Jewish Historical Society of SWFL 899 Vanderbilt Beach Road, Suite 116 Naples, FL 34108 Phone: 239.566.1771 Email: jhsswf@gmail.com Online: www.JHSSWF.org

the efforts of the Lipmans, who founded the Six L’s, Collier County’s oldest agricultural company, that the county’s agriculture emerged and continues to thrive.

We are hoping to see many members of the Lipman family at the event. Many of the Lipman descendants live and work in the area or winter here. If you know one, please ask them if they have been “located” yet.

This is a historic first Jewish event for the Collier County Museum as well.

The museum’s main location is just five minutes east of downtown Naples at 3331 Tamiami Trail East. If you choose to come early to the Jewish Historical Society’s event, you can tour the museum’s five-acre plot, which includes a native plant garden, orchid house, two early Naples cottages, a logging locomotive, swamp buggies and a WWII Sherman tank. Admission is free and the site is handicapped accessible.

The event is free and open to the entire community. Reservations are a must. Please email jhsswf@gmail.com or call 239.566.1771.

There is a very unique way you can help: become a documentary sponsor.

Please call or email for details about these or any upcoming documentaries.

We encourage you to be proactive.

Know anyone with a family story of Southwest Florida Jewish history? We are seeking all individuals and families who helped the Jews settle in this region, or contributed to its industry, culture, education, politics and community.

To become a member of JHSSWF, a sponsor, business associate and/or donor, contact the Jewish Historical Society of Southwest Florida at 899 Vanderbilt Beach Road, Suite 116, Naples FL 34108, 239.566.1771 or www.jhsswf.org.

Today is the right day to opt-in for the Jewish Historical Society’s mailing list by sending your request to jhsswf@ gmail.com.

The Jewish Historical Society of Southwest Florida is a section 501c3 charitable organization. Make the Jewish Historical Society your favorite local non-profit this season.

Membership Application 2015 Membership Level:

 Student - $18  Individual - $36

 Family - $54  Sponsor - $180

Name(s): _______________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________ Company (if applicable): _________________________________________ Address: _______________________________________________________ City: _____________________________ State: _____ Zip Code ____________ Florida home phone:____________________________________________ Cell phone: ___________________________________________________ Email: _________________________________________________________

The Jewish Historical Society of Southwest Florida, Inc. is a Section 501(c)(3) organization. All contributions are tax-deductible to the extent allowed by law.

January 2016 Federation Star

ORGANIZATIONS

29A

www.hadassah.org / 239-598-1009

COLLIER/LEE CHAPTER OF HADASSAH

Hadassah update

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l k

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Lynn Weiner Collier/Lee Hadassah President

id you know that January is Human Trafficking Month?

Hadassah advocates for various issues, and human trafficking is one of r nthem. If you notice anything suspicious lin a business or neighborhood that you rthink might involve human trafficking, -Hadassah encourages you to report it eto the local authorities. Hadassah also advocates for women’s health-related issues such as breast health awareness, promoting healthy hearts, supporting stem cell research, preventing osteoporosis, preventing/screening for colorectal cancer, and encouraging organ and tissue donation. Hadassah Associates (male affiliates of Hadassah) advocate for prostate screening. In addition, Hadassah advocates to promote voter registration and participation, stop domestic violence, condemn hate crimes, promote literacy and to protect the environment.

You can read more about this at www. hadassah.org under advocacy.

Installation Luncheon I hope you will join us for our Installation Luncheon on Tuesday, January 26 at 10:45 a.m. at Bonita Bay Golf and Country Club in Bonita Springs.

After the Installation, we will have a delicious “healthy” lunch to get ready for our guest speaker, Deb Millsap, the local Executive Director of the Blue Zones Project – an initiative that promotes making positive, healthy lifestyle choices in order to live a healthier, longer life. You will hear all about what’s going in Naples, around the country and around the world. You will also be able

to take the Blue Zones Personal Pledge.

This event is open to the community.

Associates and men are welcome to attend. Advance registration is required.

For details, contact me at 239.598.1009 or lynninaples@yahoo.com, or Elyse Morande at 239.498.0623.

Volunteer celebration On Thursday, January 14 at 7:00 p.m., we will have a celebration for all of you who have volunteered your time to help Hadassah. It will be held at a private home and will be a fun, social event to honor our wonderful volunteers!

To RSVP, contact Lauren Becker at 239.592.5304.

“One Book Southwest Florida” Hadassah is participating in “One Book Southwest Florida” by encouraging our members to read the book The Sunflower

by Simon Wiesenthal. You can hear Mark Weitzman, Director of Government Affairs and the Task Force Against Hate and Terrorism for the Simon Wiesenthal Center on Tuesday, January 19 at 4:00 p.m. at the South Regional Library in Naples; Wednesday, January 20 at 6:00 p.m. at the East County Regional Library in Fort Myers; and Thursday, January 21 at 7:00 p.m. at Temple Shalom in Naples. Reservations are required. See the article on page 2B. Jewish Book Festival I hope you have purchased your tickets for the Collier County Jewish Book Festival. Hadassah is sponsoring the event on Wednesday, March 9 at 6:30 p.m. at Beth Tikvah in Naples, and will introduce Dafna Michaelson Jenet, author of It Takes a Little Crazy to Make a Difference. Dafna currently sits on Hadassah’s National Board.

“Sail Away With Hadassah” “Sail Away With Hadassah” for a spectacular gala evening to benefit Hadassah Medical Organization and the work of Hadassah on Tuesday, March 1 at 6:00

p.m. at Heritage Bay Golf and Country Club. You will dine on cruise-style cuisine, dance and enjoy the professional talent of local and New York entertainers. We will be honoring Ida and Jeff Margolis for their outstanding contributions to the community. Hadassah members will receive invitations at the beginning of January. We are looking for individual and corporate sponsors to be included in our program book. You can also take out an ad or tribute in honor of Ida and Jeff Margolis. Would you like to be a Table Captain and put together a table of eight or your friends? If you would like to participate in any way or receive an invitation, please contact me at 239.598.1009 or lynninaples@ yahoo.com. For more information, see the article on page 10A. For the last two years it has been

my pleasure to stand at the helm of the Collier/Lee Chapter of Hadassah. We have produced Warsaw: A Story in Song, attended Shana and Shlomo’s Wedding, had Epicurean Adventures, Knowledge & Noshes, potluck dinners, membership brunches, Chanukah parties, travel nights, cooking demonstrations, book groups, study groups, amazing speakers, Hadassah Shabbats, Hikes for Health, conventions, exceptional fundraisers and much more. We have had fun, learned, advocated and raised money for the wonderful work of Hadassah Medical Organization and Hadassah Projects. Now it’s time to pass the torch to the capable hands of co-Presidents Karen Cohn and Gayle Dorio, who will proudly continue the work of Hadassah!

It’s been a great ride!

SAVE THE DATE:

 Thursday, January 14: Volunteer Celebration, 7:00 p.m.  Tuesday, January 19: Daytime Study Group, 1:00 p.m., Temple Shalom  Thursday, Jan 21: One Book Southwest Florida Speaker, 7:00 p.m., Temple Shalom  Tuesday, January 26: Chapter Installation Luncheon, Blue Zones Speaker, 10:45 a.m., Bonita Bay Country Club  Monday, February 1: Annual Mahj and Card Party, 11:30 a.m., Cypress Woods Country Club  Thursday, February 25: Spring Meeting and Luncheon, Speaker Dr. Cederquist, 10:45 a.m., Tiburon Golf and Country Club  Tuesday, March 1: Hadassah Benefit “Sail Away With Hadassah,” 6:00 p.m., Heritage Bay Golf and Country Club, honoring Ida and Jeff Margolis  Wednesday, March 9: Hadassah-sponsored Jewish Book Festival event, 6:30 p.m., Beth Tikvah  Thursday, March 10: Evening Activity Group, Speaker Hollis Chalem, 7:00 p.m.  Friday, March 18: Hadassah Shabbat, 7:30 p.m., Temple Shalom  Wednesday, March 23: Knowledge & Nosh @ Noon, Speaker Shelley Goodman, 11:30 a.m., McCormick and Schmick’s  Wednesday, April 13: Knowledge & Nosh @ Noon, Speaker Deena Baxter, 11:30 a.m., Cypress Woods Golf and Country Club  Thursday, April 14: Evening Activity Group, Travel lecture and dinner, Speaker Dori Wexelbaum, 6:30 p.m.

www.hjhswfl.org / 239-398-3935

HUMANISTIC JEWISH HAVURAH

January is a busy month for HJH

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Paula Creed HJH President he Humanistic Jewish Havurah of Southwest Florida begins the 2016 year on Sunday, January 10 with a first-run play by Gulfshore Playhouse at the Norris Center in downtown Naples. Informed Consent, by playwright Deborah Zoe Laufer, was inspired by a recent court case between a Native American Tribe and Arizona State University. The play takes us into the personal and national debate about science v. belief, and whether our DNA is our destiny.

We have purchased a block of tickets so the price is $57 for a seat in the center section. On this date, Gulfshore Playhouse provides a pre-performance discussion beginning at 2:15 p.m. Then, following the matinee, playgoers are invited to join Havurah members for dinner in a private room at Shula’s Steak House at the Hilton Naples on US 41. To secure your theater ticket, mail a check, payable to HJH, to Joan Weinstein, P.O. Box 110285, Naples, FL 34110.

Payment must be received by January 6. For more information, contact Dena Sklaroff at 239.591.0101.

We have another exciting event on the January calendar. On Sunday, January 17, the Havurah will view a

fascinating documentary, Another Road Home, by award-winning documentary filmmaker and cinematographer Danae Elon. The meeting begins at 2:00 p.m. in the David G. Willens Community Room at the Jewish Federation of Collier County office, 2500 Vanderbilt Beach Road, Suite 2201, Naples. A discussion will follow the screening, providing an opportunity for everyone to share their reactions to this most unusual and touching story.

Due to space limitations, reservations are required, so contact Dena Sklaroff to assure your seat.

Shortly after the Six-Day War in 1967, Danae Elon’s parents, noted Israeli author Amos Elon, and former correspondent and literary agent Beth Elon, hired a Palestinian man named Musa, the father of eleven children, to take care of their six-month-old daughter on a daily basis. It was a job he would continue for the next twenty years until she was grown and he was able to save enough money to send all eight of his sons to America for education and career opportunities. The last time Danae saw Musa, in 1991, he proudly showed her the house he constructed in the Palestinian village of Battir. Then, against the mounting tensions of the Israeli occupation and the Palestinian Intifada, the two families lost track of each other.

During that time, Danae began to realize how much of an influence Musa had on her life and sought to reconnect with him. Her quest led her from her home in New York to Patterson, New

Jersey, then to Battir in the occupied territories, and back to her birthplace in Jerusalem. As they carefully break the silence, the encounters between Danae and Musa’s sons, and eventually Musa himself, bring to the surface an emotionally complex story that is ultimately heartwarming and optimistic.

To quote critic Sheri Linden in the Hollywood Reporter, “Another Road Home is a work of powerful humanism that could unsettle entrenched points of view. Danae Elon strips away the dogma and charged emotions that enmesh most discussions of the Middle East. Musa,

a compelling screen presence, a figure of supreme equanimity… emerges as an Old World patriarch in the noblest sense. Elon makes the complexities of the relationship as clear as the profound love. Bottom line: Deeply moving.”

This film received a Sundance grant and was praised as one of the most honest and sensitive films ever made about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

It premiered at the 2004 Tribeca Film Festival and showcased in over 20 international film festivals. We encourage your attendance.

JEWISH WAR VETERANS 239-304-5953

Jewish War Veterans update

By Gil Block, Commander Post # 202

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oin us for our annual fundraiser, a fabulous brunch to be held on Sunday, January 17 at 10:30 a.m. at Chabad Naples. We will have a fabulous assortment of food, catered by Aroma Kosher Market, from Florida’s east coast. We will also show a first-run movie that has a great story.

People have said “This is the best

brunch that I have ever attended in Naples.”

The cost is $20 per person and proceeds from this event will be used to help veterans in need.

To make reservations, please call me at 239.304.5953, or Marty Rubin at 239.352.9911, or Willie Orlove at 239.352.5433. See the ad on page 3B.

Read the current and previous editions of the Federation Star online at www.jewishnaples.org.

30A Federation Star January 2016

COMMUNITY CALENDAR

Get the Service you Deserve January 2016 – 5776 SUNDAY lighting MONDAY Candle times:

January January January January January 3

4

10

11

1: 8: 15: 22: 29:

5:28 5:33 5:39 5:44 5:50

10:00am HM Elliott Katz Lect 1:00pm HDH Board Meeting 3:30pm JFCC Let’s Draw Pics 5:30pm JCMI Bingo

9:00am BT Sunday Minyan 9:00am BT Sunday School 3:00pm NJC Movie

9:00am BT Sunday Minyan 10:30am JFCS Naples Jewish 9:00am BT Sunday School Caring Support Group 9:30am TS Sunday School 1:00pm JCRC Comm Meeting 10:00am BT Rosh Chodesh 5:30pm JCMI Bingo 10:30am NJC Adult Enrichment 2:00pm CHA Sanctuary Event 3:00pm NJC Movie 7:30pm JCMI Cultural Series

17

18 MLK Day

24

25 Tu B’Shevat

8:30am MCA New Mem Bkfst 9:00am BT Sunday Minyan 9:00am BT Sunday School 10:30am JWV Fundraiser 1:30pm HJH Meeting 2:00pm JCMI Film Festival 4:30pm GS Meeting & Film

8:00am TS Mitzvah Day 11:00am JCMI Deli Fest 3:00pm NJC Sunday Movie

31

9:00am BT Sunday Minyan 10:00am TS Scholar-in-Res 2:00pm NJC Welcome Back BBQ

9:00am MLK Parade 12:00pm NJC-S Book Club 5:30pm JCMI Bingo

10:00am HM Elliott Katz Lect 10:30am JFCS Naples Jewish Caring Support Group 11:30am JCRC Comm Mtg 5:30pm JCMI Bingo 7:30pm BT Book Group

WEDNESDAY

TUESDAY

THURSDAY

Due to space considerations, not all events have been included in this printed calendar. Please check the calendar on www.jewishnaples.org for an updated and complete list of events.

FRIDAY 1 NEW YEAR’S DAY 5:30pm TS Table Shabbat 6:15pm BT Services 6:30pm TS Shir Joy Shabbat 7:30pm NJC Services 7:30pm TS Services 8:00pm JCMI Services

SATURDAY 2

8:30am TS Torah Talk 9:30am BT Services 10:00am CHA Services 10:00am TS Services

10:00am BBYO Board Mtg 10:00am TS-S Board Mtg 10:00am TS Yiddish Club 12:15pm BT Torah Study 1:00pm JCMI Duplicate Bridge 1:30pm CJD Committee Mtg 4:00pm BT Torah Study 4:00pm JFCC Exec Board Mtg 7:00pm IAC Class

1:00pm JCMI Bridge 1:00pm WCA TS Canasta 2:00pm JFCC Chess Club 2:00pm JHSSWF Event 4:30pm BT-CHA-TS Hebrew Sch 6:00pm CJD Film Presentation 7:30pm BT Torah Study

11:00am JCMI Mah Jongg 11:30am CHA Men’s Club 1:00pm JFCC Backgammon 5:30pm TS Rosh Chodesh 6:00pm JFCC Major Gifts/LOJ 6:30pm BBYO Youth Activity

7

8

12

13

14

15

16

10:00am Jewish Genealogy 11:30am TS-S Luncheon 12:15pm BT Torah Study 1:00pm JCMI Duplicate Bridge 1:30pm JFCC Dr Kumin Pres 4:00pm BT Torah Study 6:00pm JFCC Jewish Prof Grp 7:30pm JFCC Board Meeting

1:00pm JCMI Bridge 1:00pm WCA TS Canasta 1:30pm IAC Comm Mtg 2:00pm JFCC Chess Club 4:30pm BT-CHA-TS Hebrew Sch 6:30pm TS Adult B’nai Mitzvah 7:00pm IAC/ZOA Speaker 7:30pm BT Torah Study

11:00am JCMI Mah Jongg 11:30am CHA Men’s Club 12:00pm JFCC Backgammon 12:00pm NJC Board Meeting 3:00pm HM Exec Comm Mtg 5:00pm One Book SWFL Event 6:30pm BBYO Youth Activity 7:00pm HDH Volunteer Event

6:00pm TS New Member Potluck Dinner 6:15pm BT Services 7:30pm NJC Services 7:30pm TS Services 8:00pm JCMI Services

9:30am BT Services 10:00am CHA Services 10:00am JCMI Services 10:00am TS Services 6:00pm JFCC Power of Community Celebration

20

21

27

28

5

19

10:00am TS Yiddish Club 11:00am JCMI Book Club 12:15pm BT Torah Study 1:00pm HDH Daytime Group 1:00pm JCMI Duplicate Bridge 1:30pm One Book SWFL Event 4:00pm BT Torah Study 4:00pm JFCC Origami Class 7:00pm TS Exec Comm Mtg

26

10:45 HDH Luncheon 12:15pm BT Torah Study 1:00pm JCMI Duplicate Bridge 4:00pm BT Torah Study 4:00pm JFCC Youth Group 7:00pm TS Board Mtg

6

9:30am HJH Board Mtg 12:00pm NJC-M Meeting 1:00pm JCMI Bridge 1:00pm WCA TS Canasta 2:00pm JFCC Chess Club 4:30pm BT-CHA-TS Hebrew Sch 6:00pm JFCC Klezmer Concert 6:30pm TS Adult B’nai Mitzvah 7:30pm BT Torah Study 1:00pm JCMI Bridge 1:00pm WCA TS Canasta 1:30pm JFCC Theatre Event 2:00pm JFCC Chess Club 4:30pm BT-CHA-TS Hebrew Sch 6:30pm TS Adult B’nai Mitzvah 7:00pm IAC/ZOA Film 7:30pm BT Torah Study

11:00am JCMI Mah Jongg 11:30am CHA Men’s Club 1:00pm JFCC Backgammon 1:30pm TS-S Book Bag 4:00pm BT Board Meeting 6:30pm BBYO Youth Activity 7:00pm One Book SWFL Event

11:00am JCMI Mah Jongg 11:30am CHA Men’s Club 1:00pm JFCC Backgammon 3:00pm HM Board Meeting 6:30pm BBYO Youth Activity 7:00pm JCMI Board Meeting 7:30pm BT Lecture Series

2:00pm S. Reg. Library Film 6:15pm BT Services 7:30pm NJC Services 7:30pm BBYO - TS Services 8:00pm JCMI Services

22

5:41pm CHA Community Services & Dinner 6:15pm BT Services 7:30pm NJC Services 7:30pm TS Services 8:00pm JCMI Services

29

9:00am WCA Board Meeting 5:00pm TS Scholar-inResidence 6:15pm BT Services 7:30pm NJC Services 7:30pm TS Services 8:00pm JCMI Services

9

9:30am BBYO - BT Services 10:00am BBYO - CHA Services 10:00am JCMI Services 10:00am TS Services 6:00pm JFCS Annual Event

23

9:30am BT Services 10:00am CHA Services 10:00am JCMI Services 10:00am TS Services 7:00pm NJC “The Roaring ‘20s”

30

9:30am BT Services 10:00am CHA Services 10:00am JCMI Services 10:00am TS Services 10:30am TS Scholar-inResidence

Throughout the year, some holidays fall within the normal work week. The Federation office will be closed in observance of those holidays which are listed in all CAPITAL LETTERS.

Key: • AJC: American Jewish Committee • ATS: American Technion Society • BT: Beth Tikvah • CHA: Chabad Jewish Center of Naples • CHA-M: Chabad Men’s Club • CJD: Catholic-Jewish Dialogue • GS: GenShoah of SWFL • HDH: Hadassah • HJH: Humanistic Jewish Havurah • HM: Holocaust Museum of Southwest Florida

Federation Star Publication Policy The Federation Star is a subsidized arm of the Jewish Federation of Collier County (JFCC).

Its purpose and function is to publicize the activities and programs of the Federation, and to publicize the ongoing activities of the established and recognized Jewish organizations within Collier County.

The mission of the JFCC is to reach out and unite all Jews of the greater Collier County area. While offering opinions and points of view do, and will continue to, exist about many issues of importance to Jews, the Federation Star will confine itself to publishing ONLY items that report the facts of actual events of concern to Jews and will only offer commentary that clearly intends to unite all Jews in a common purpose or purposes.

Critical or derogatory comments directed at individuals or organizations will NOT be published in the Federation Star.

PLEASE SUPPORT THE ADVERTISERS WHO HELP MAKE THE FEDERATION STAR POSSIBLE. Be sure to mention you saw their ad in the Federation Star.

• JCMI: Jewish Congregation of Marco Island • JCMI-M: JCMI Men’s Club • JCMI-S: JCMI Sisterhood • JCRC: Jewish Community Relations Council • JFCC: Jewish Federation of Collier County • JFCS: Jewish Family & Community Services • JHSSWF: Jewish Historical Society of SWFL • JNF: Jewish National Fund • JRCA: Jewish Russian-American Cultural Alliance • JWV: Jewish War Veterans (Adopted by the Officers and Board of Trustees of the Jewish Federation of Collier County 1/98) To avoid misunderstandings, controversies and destructive divisions among our people, the Officers and Board of Trustees of the “Federation” have adopted the following publication policy: Advertisements: All advertisements, regardless of their sponsor, shall be paid for in full, at the established rates, prior to publication. The contents of all advertisements shall be subject to review and approval of the Federation Board or its designee. Commercial advertisers may make credit arrangements with the advertising manager, subject to the approval of the Federation Board.

Regular Columns: Regular columns shall be accepted only from leaders (Rabbis, Presidents, Chairpersons) of established and recognized Jewish organizations within Collier County and the designated Chairpersons of the regular committees of the Jewish Federation of Collier County.

Create a Jewish Legacy I give, devise and bequeath…

Create a legacy to benefit the Jewish Federation of Collier County and our overall Jewish community in your will or trust.

Call 239.263.4205.

"I did not find the world desolate when I entered it.

And as my parents planted for me before I was born, so do I plant for those who will come after me."

-The Talmud

• MCA: Men’s Cultural Alliance • NJC: Naples Jewish Congregation • NJC-M: Naples Jewish Congregation Men’s Club • NJC-S: Naples Jewish Congregation Sisterhood • ORT: Organization for Rehabilitation/Training • TS: Temple Shalom • TS-M: Temple Shalom Men’s Club • TS-S: Temple Shalom Sisterhood • WCA: Women’s Cultural Alliance • ZOA: Zionist Organization of America

Special Announcements: Special announcements shall be accepted from established Jewish organizations within Collier County and may, at the discretion of the Federation Board, be subject to the conditions applicable to paid advertisements, as set forth above.

News Items: Only those news items pertaining to matters of general interest to the broadest cross-section of the Jewish Community will be accepted for publication.

Note: Items of controversial opinions and points of view, about political issues, will not be accepted for publication without prior approval of a majority of the Federation Officers and Trustees.

All persons and organizations objecting to the actions and rulings of the Editor or Publications Committee Chairman shall have the right to appeal those rulings to the Officers and Board of Trustees of the JFCC.

January 2016 Federation Star

COMMUNITY DIRECTORY TEMPLE SHALOM OF NAPLES (Reform) 4630 Pine Ridge Road, Naples, FL 34119 Phone: 455-3030  Fax: 455-4361 Email: info@naplestemple.org www.naplestemple.org Rabbi Adam Miller Cantor Donna Azu James H. Perman, D.D., Rabbi Emeritus Neil Shnider, President Dr. Anna Solomon, Dir. of Cong. Ed. Seyla Cohen, Preschool Director Peter Lewis, Organist/Choir Director Shabbat Services: Shabbat Eve - Friday 7:30 p.m.

Shabbat - Saturday 10:00 a.m.

Sisterhood • Men’s Club • Adult Education Havurot • Youth Groups • Religious School Judaic Library • Hebrew School • Pre-School Adult Choir • Social Action • Outreach Naples’ only Judaica Shop

CHABAD NAPLES JEWISH COMMUNITY CENTER serving Naples and Marco Island 1789 Mandarin Road, Naples, FL 34102 Phone: 262-4474 Email: info@chabadnaples.com Website: www.chabadnaples.com Rabbi Fishel Zaklos Dr. Arthur Seigel, President Ettie Zaklos, Education Director Shabbat Services Shabbat - Saturday 10am • Camp Gan Israel • Hebrew School • Preschool of the Arts • Jewish Women’s Circle • Adult Education • Bat Mitzvah Club • Friendship Circle • Smile on Seniors • Flying Challah • Kosher food delivery The Federation Star is published monthly, September through July, by the Jewish Federation of Collier County.

2500 Vanderbilt Beach Road Suite 2201 Naples, FL 34109-0613 Phone: 239-263-4205 Fax: 239-263-3813 E-mail: info@jewishnaples.org Website: www.jewishnaples.org Volume 25, No. 5 January 2016 48 pages USPS Permit No. 419 Publisher: Jewish Federation of Collier County Editor: Ted Epstein, 239-249-0699 fedstar18@gmail.com Design: Federation Media Group, Inc. Advertising: Melody Klein 239-633-2895 February Issue Deadlines: Editorial: January 4 Advertising: January 7 Send news stories to: fedstar18@gmail.com

31A

JEWISH CONGREGATION OF MARCO ISLAND

NAPLES JEWISH CONGREGATION

BETH TIKVAH

991 Winterberry Drive Marco Island, FL 34145 Phone: 642-0800  Fax: 642-1031 Email: mgr.jcmioffice@embarqmail.com Website: www.marcojcmi.com

Services are held at: The Unitarian Congregation 6340 Napa Woods Way Rabbi Sylvin Wolf Ph.D, DD 431-3858 Email: rabbi@naplesjewishcongregation.org www.naplesjewishcongregation.org

1459 Pine Ridge Road Naples, FL 34109

Hari Jacobsen, Cantorial Soloist Sue Baum, President Shabbat Services Friday 8:00 p.m.

Torah Study and Saturday Services Sisterhood • Men’s Club Brownstein Judaica Gift Shop

(Reform)

(Conservative)

(just west of Mission Square Plaza)

Phone: 434-1818 Email: bethtikvahnaples@aol.com Website: www.bethtikvahnaples.org

Suzanne Paley, President Jane Galler, Cantorial Soloist

Rabbi Ammos Chorny Phil Jason, President Sue Hammerman, Secretary

Shabbat Services Friday evenings at 7:30 p.m.

May - August: services once a month

Shabbat Services Friday evenings at 6:15 p.m.

Saturday mornings at 9:30 a.m.

Sisterhood • Men’s Club Adult Education • Adult Choir Social Action • Community Events

Youth Education Adult Education Community Events

Sneezy, Grumpy, Dopey, Doc, Sleepy and Happy

Jewish Organizations to Serve You in Collier County

(All area codes are 239 unless otherwise noted.)

Jewish Federation of Collier County

And you thought there were seven?

Well there are. We’ve been called a lot of the above, but number seven we’re not.

Bashful.

We’d like you to make a lifetime gift or bequest to the Endowment Fund of the Jewish Federation of Collier County that will benefit the Jewish community.

Happy? It will dwarf anything else you do.

Snow joke.

For more information on gift planning, call Jeffrey Feld at the Federation at 239.263.4205.

Please note our email addresses: Jeffrey Feld, Federation President/CEO – jfeld@jewishnaples.org Renee’ Bialek, Community Program Coord. – rbialek@jewishnaples.org Stacy Hersha, Business Operations Mgr. – shersha@jewishnaples.org Julie Hartline, Administrative Assistant – jhartline@jewishnaples.org General information requests – info@jewishnaples.org Melody Klein, Advertising Account Rep – mklein@jewishnaples.org Ted Epstein, Editor, Federation Star – fedstar18@gmail.com

Like us on Facebook!

ConneCt with your Jewish Community

www.facebook.com/ facebook.com/jfedsrq JewishFederationofCollierCounty

Phone: 263-4205  Fax: 263-3813 Website: www.jewishnaples.org Email: info@jewishnaples.org • Federation Board Chair: Alvin Becker • Federation President/CEO: Jeffrey Feld

American Jewish Committee

• Regional Dir: Brian Lipton, 941-365-4955

American Technion Society

• Chapter Dir: Kelley Whiter, 561-395-7206

Collier-Lee Chapter of Hadassah • President: Lynn Weiner, 598-1009

Friends of the IDF • Exec. Dir.: Dina Ben Ari, 305-354-8233

Holocaust Museum & Education Center of Southwest Florida • President: Joshua Bialek, 263-9200

Humanistic Jewish Havurah of Southwest Florida • Paula Creed, 495-8484

Israel Bonds

• Reva Pearlstein, 800-622-8017 • Tyler Korn, 354-4300

JFCS of Southwest Florida Phone: 325-4444 • Chairperson: David Rutstein • President/CEO: Dr. Jaclynn Faffer

Jewish National Fund

• West/Central FL Office, 800-211-1502 Uri ext 8910, Beth ext 8911

Jewish War Veterans Post 202,Collier Co. Chapter

• Commander, Gil Block, 304-5953 • Senior Vice Commander, M/Gen. Bernard L. Weiss, USAF Ret. 594-7772

Men’s Cultural Alliance

• President: Steve Brazina, 325-8694

Naples Friends of American Magen David Adom (MDA)

• SE Reg Dir: Joel Silberman, 954-457-9766

ORT - Gulf Beaches Chapter

• President: Marina Berkovich, 566-1771

Women’s Cultural Alliance

• President: Elaine Soffer, 431-7905

Zionist Organization of America • President: Jerry Sobel, 914-329-1024

Federation membership

According to the By-Laws of the Jewish Federation of Collier County, members are those individuals who make an annual gift of $36 or more to the Annual Federation Campaign in our community. For more information, call the Federation office at 239.263.4205.

32A Federation Star January 2016

JEWISH NATIONAL FUND NAPLES

TREE of LIFE

TM

AWARD DINNER Honoring

David Braverman Anthony Solomon Dr. Bernard Lublin

Lifetime Achievement Award Honoree THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 4, 2016

6:00 pm Cocktails • 6:45 pm Dinner and Program

TWINEAGLES COUNTRY CLUB 11725 Twineagles Blvd. • Naples, FL 34120

Register by January 25, 2016 at jnf.org/naplestol For more information, please contact Beth Morris at bmorris@jnf.org or 727.536.5263.

Sponsorship Levels Jewish National Fund invites you to attend and become a sponsor of the Naples Tree of Life™ Award Dinner.

___ Gold: $10,000

___ Bronze: $3,600

Table of 10 • Membership in JNF’s President’s Society Full page ad as Gold Sponsor in Tribute Journal Donor recognition in American Independence Park in Israel

Table of 10 • Listed as Bronze Sponsor in Tribute Journal

___ Patron: $1,200

___ Silver: $5,000

Two dinner tickets Listed as Patron Sponsor in Tribute Journal

Table of 10 • Membership in JNF’s Herzl Society Full page ad as Silver Sponsor in Tribute Journal

___ Individual Tickets: $250 per person: __________

Please make checks payable to JNF. Amount enclosed: ________________ Or charge my __Visa __Mastercard __American Express __Discover Account #________________________________________Exp._____________ Signature ______________________________________ Name____________________________________________ Address _________________________________________City__________________ State______________________ Zip code _______________ Phone ____________________ Email _________________________________________ Please indicate sponsorship name to be printed: ___________________________________________________ In accordance with IRS regulations, your contribution exclusive of the $68 per person value is tax deductible.

jnf.org • 800.JNF.0099

Celebrating Jewish Life in Collier County, Israel and the World

Federation Star Published by the Jewish Federation of Collier County serving Naples, Marco Island and the surrounding communities

www.JewishNaples.org



January 2016 - Tevet/Shevat 5776

Vol. 25 #5



Jewish Happenings

“So many books and authors, how do I choose?”

By Ted Epstein, Jewish Book Festival co-chair

I

’ve been asked this question by several people who have heard or read about the first annual Collier County Jewish Book Festival. So what’s my initial reply? “Attend them all!”

And you don’t have to read the books to enjoy the authors’ presentations. After all, these authors were chosen, from a pool of more than 250, based on their two-minute elevator pitches at the Jewish Book Council’s Network Conference I attended in New York City last May. I’m quite sure, though, that once you hear the authors talk passionately about their books, you’ll want to own copies. So after each presentation, books will be available for purchase and signing.

Patron Festival Package Of course, the Jewish Federation of Collier County, host of the Festival, would love everyone to purchase a Patron Festival Package. For only $180, you get to hear all 23 authors at 11 events, including the two special events (one

SPECIAL JURY REMI WINNER

48th Annual WorldFest-Houston International Film Festival 2015

with a continental breakfast and one with a champagne & cheese reception).

You also get reserved seats in the front rows at each event, an invitation to a Patron Reception with one of the authors, and your name listed in this newspaper. And $51 of the package is a tax-deductible contribution to the Federation. It’s also your vote that you’d like this type of cultural programming to be presented to the community every year.

Even if you can’t make it to all 11 events, the tickets are transferable and make great gifts for your friends, colleagues and family members. So come to eight programs and have your friends thank you for giving them tickets to hear several outstanding authors!

9-event Book-Lover Package You may also choose the 9-event BookLover Package, which entitles you to hear 20 authors for the low price of $79.

That’s less than $4 per author! And you can always add on one or both special events.

Official Selection

Palm Beach Jewish Film Festival 2015

Official Selection

Mobile Jewish Film Festival 2015

Official Selection

Vancouver Jewish Film Festival 2014

5-event package Even if you have a busy schedule, try to make the time to attend several of the events. For just $49, you can sign up for any five of the nine non-special events.

Choose the themes, authors or books you’re interested in, or those events that fit your schedule.

Event schedule The events take place during a fourweek period on various days of the week, at several venues, and at different times. Can’t make it to the evening events? You have seven daytime events to choose from. Work during the day and can’t get away? We have four evening events for you to attend. Play canasta on Monday afternoons and golf on Tuesdays? There are three events each on Wednesdays and Thursdays. We created the schedule so it would be easy for everyone –regardless of lifestyle, interests, obligations, vacations, etc. – to attend at least a few author presentations.

Official Selection

New Hampshire Jewish Film Festival 2014

Official Selection

Rockland Int’l Jewish Film Festival 2015

Sponsors and venues Several local Jewish and non-Jewish organizations and businesses have become sponsors of the Jewish Book Festival.

We cannot thank them enough for their

continued on page 12B

As can be expected when a book festival includes 23 authors, one or more may have a change of plans. A few days before this issue went to press, I received an email from Sherre Hirsch, one of the presenters for the Monday, March 14 event, who had to cancel her Naples appearance. While that was disappointing, I am thrilled to say we quickly confirmed author Megan Feldman Bettencourt to take her place. See her bio and book synopsis on page 9B. And we’ve had a change of venue for the Thursday, March 3 event. It will now take place at Temple Shalom.

SOUTHWEST

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The State of the

Jewish Nation

GENERAL ADMISSION: $20 IN ADVANCE, $22 AT DOOR STUDENTS: $7.50 AT DOOR WITH VALID ID DISCUSSION WITH PRODUCER/DIRECTOR

Gloria Z. Greenfield FOLLOWS SCREENING SPONSORED BY

SOUTHWEST FLORIDA CHAPTER

“Skillful recounting of the story of the Jewish people and their connection to the land of Israel...the film is as cogent as it is inspiring.”

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Hodges University Professional Cir

Oakes Blvd Northbrooke Plaza Dr

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Immokalee Rd Immokalee Rd

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DIRECTIONS Stock Building Hodges University 2647 Professional Way Naples, FL 34119

Professional Ln

ADVANCE RESERVATIONS: 239-325-8694 OR SBRAZINA@AOL.COM

OF COLLIER COUNTY

Northbrooke Dr

— New York Times

The Israel Advocacy Committee of

FOR MORE DETAILS: 914-329-1024

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Federation Star January 2016

JEWISH HAPPENINGS

“One Book Southwest Florida” events to feature Mark Weitzman, expert in international relations

By Ida Margolis

M

ark Weitzman, Director rity and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), of Government Affairs and and co-chairs the Working Group on Director of the Task Force International Affairs of the Global Against Hate and Terrorism for the Forum on Anti-Semitism. Weitzman Simon Wiesenthal Center, is scheduled is also a participant in the program on to be the featured speaker Religion and Foreign Policy for this season’s “One Book of the Council on Foreign Southwest Florida.”

Relations and is a longSimon Wiesenthal, autime member of the official thor of this year’s selection, Jewish-Catholic Dialogue The Sunflower, is famous for Group of New York. He has his efforts to bring to justice authored many publications Nazi war criminals and coand books and is a co-editor founding the Jewish Docuof Antisemitism: The mentation Center in Austria.

Generic Hatred, EsThe Simon Wiesenthal Censays in Memory of Mark Weitzman ter is named in his honor.

Simon Wiesenthal, Weitzman, who will be speaking the winner of the 2007 National about “A Personal Perspective on Simon Jewish Book Award for the best Wiesenthal and His Lessons for Today,” anthology. is a member of the U.S. Delegation to the Discussions, films and a International Holocaust Remembrance clergy panel relating to The SunAuthority, where he chairs the Comflower: On the Possibilities and mittee on Anti-Semitism and Holocaust Limits of Forgiveness by Simon Denial. He is a member of the advisory Wiesenthal are among the events panel of Experts on Freedom of Religion that have been scheduled prior to local or Belief, of the Organization for Secuappearances of Mark Weitzman. The

Calling all Alpha Epsilon Phi Alumnae of SW Florida Let’s get together for brunch/lunch on Sunday, January 31 at 11:30 a.m. at Brio, Waterside Shops, Naples, to meet and schmooze.

RSVP to Lynn Prosten, Past AEPhi Foundation Vice President, at abbymont20@aol.com or 301-641-6432.

Should be a blast!

film, I Have Never Forgotten You: The Life and Legacy of Simon Wiesenthal, will be presented at the South Regional Library on Tuesday, January 12, at 2:00 p.m. Thomas Eastwood will be giving a lecture on “Nuremberg-Military Tribunals” at South Regional Library on Thursday, January 7 at 10:00 a.m.

“Forgiveness in a Wounded World,” a clergy panel discussion moderated by David Prager of the Simon Wiesenthal Center, will take place at North Collier Regional Park on Thursday, January 14 at 6:30 p.m.

Book discussions will take place on Wednesday, January 6 at 4:00 p.m. at South Regional Library and on Monday, January 4 at 3:30 p.m. at East County Regional Library in Lee County. Beautiful sunflower notecards have been created by local prize-winning artist Madeline Sugerman, and will be offered for sale at some

of the events, and can also be purchased at the Holocaust Museum & Education Center of Southwest Florida.

Mr. Weitzman is scheduled to be at South Regional Library on Tuesday, January 19 at 4:00 p.m., at East County Regional Library in Lee County on Wednesday, January 20 at 6:00 p.m., and at Temple Shalom in Naples on Thursday, January 21 at 7:00 p.m. One hundred reserved sponsor seats will be available for Mr. Weitzman’s presentation at Temple Shalom.

Reservations are required for all events. For the clergy panel and events at the Holocaust Museum, call 239.263.9200. For events at South Regional Library, call 239.252.7542, and for events at East County Library call 239.479.4636. For Weitzman’s presentation at Temple Shalom and the remaining sponsor seats, and for information about “One Book Southwest Florida” contact me at onebookswfl@icloud.com or 239.963.9347.

The Interview at Federation Intimate performance limited to 40 ticket buyers

C

ollier County Repertory Theatre is pleased to present The Interview by Peter Swet at the Jewish Federation of Collier County on Wednesday, January 27 at 2:00 pm.

The play is a provoking episode in the lives of Abraham Moscowitz and Jim Shannon. Moscowitz, an aging Jewish tailor, has a small shop on Manhattan’s Lower East Side.

Shannon is the insurance investigator who interviews the old tailor after he puts in a request to raise the value of his life insurance. Shannon’s questioning of Moscowitz becomes relentless, and it is then that the old man’s long-ago experiences from a concentration camp, and Shannon’s own personal issues, are

CALLING ALL JEWISH BUSINESS PROFESSIONALS JEWISH PROFESSIONALS MEET & GREET

Join other professionals at the next networking event and make connections to help your business grow.

TUESDAY, JANUARY 12 6:00 – 7:00 pm

Jewish Federation of Collier County 2500 Vanderbilt Beach Road, Suite 2201 Please bring a snack, appetizer, vegetables or fruits to share. (No pork or shell fish, and please don’t mix meat and milk).

If you would like to discuss a topic of interest at this meeting, email rbialek@jewishnaples.org.

Hosted by

RESERVATIONS REQUIRED by January 8 to rbialek@jewishnaples.org.

revealed.

The Interview is powerful, poignant and not easily forgotten. It is presented by special arrangement with Dramatists Play Service, Inc., New York.

Admission tickets will be sold at the door for $35 starting at 1:15 p.m. The show will start promptly at 2:00 p.m. and runs about an hour. The actors will provide a talk-back for attendees after their performance. The event is limited to 40 people. Please make your reservations via email to rbialek@ jewishnaples.org.

A portion of the proceeds from this performance will benefit the Jewish Federation of Collier County.

Catholic-Jewish Dialogue Of Collier County Schedule of Events for the 2015-2016 Season Jan 6th 7:00 PM. Jan 6th 7:00Jewish PM. Film, “The Nov. 7th 7:30 PM.Cardinal.”

Film, “The Jewish Cardinal.”

The story of how a young Jew converted to Cathol“Thetouching Inextinguishable Symphony”

The touching story of how a young Jewasconverted to Catholicism and retained Jewish heMartin rose through the Book discussion andhis signing byidentity the author, Goldsmith, icism and retained his Jewish identity as he rose through the ranks of the Church.

NPR & Sirius Classical Radio host. Mr. Goldsmith tells the

ranks of the Church.

St. John Evangelist Church Ballroom story of his parents andCatholic their participation as musicians in St. John theAve. Evangelist Catholic Church Ballroom 625 111th N. the Jewish Culture Association during the time of Nazi 625 111th Ave. N. Germany leading up to WWII, and how their participation March 13th 2:00 PM March 13thGod’s 2:00 Paths” PM in the Association most-likely their lives.

“Walking Film saved and discussion, “Walking Paths” Film and discussion, Books will be available sale.videos Part two ofGod’s a series of sixfor short designed to discuss the Part of aand ofPine six short designed toand discuss the Bethtwo Tikvah ,series 1459 Ridgevideos Rd. differences commonalities of Christian Jewish differences and commonalities of Christian and Jewish religions.

Nov. 8th 2:30 PM. religions.

St. John the Evangelist Catholic Church Ballroom Service.

77th Anniversary of Kristallnacht Commemorative

St. John theAve. Evangelist Catholic Church Ballroom 625 111th N. Kristallnacht is recognized by most historians as “The Night 625 111th Ave. N. The Holocaust Began.”

Apr. 17th 2:00 PM Apr. 17thAetate, 2:00 PM Principal Speaker – Martin Goldsmith “Nostra 50th Anniversary” “Nostra Aetate, 50th Anniversary” Topic “Alex’s Wake, My Family’s Presentation by Dr. Jack Conroy,Saga.”

Presentation Dr. Jack Conroy, St. William Church, Seagate Drive The Vatican Catholic IIbydocument that changed the course of history The Vatican II document that changed the course of history for Jews Dec. 6thand 2:00Christians.

PM. “ for Ann Jews Catholic and Christians.

St. Rooney Hall “The Sunflower”Church

by Simon Wiesenthal St. Ann Catholic Rooney Hall 985 Ave.Southwest S. Church “One3rd Book Florida” 985 3rd Ave. S. Readers Theatre Presentation Please RSVP cjdialogue@naples.net for all events Exploring the to limits and possibilities of forgiveness.

Please RSVP to cjdialogue@naples.net for all events St. Peter Catholic Church Ministry Center The of the Catholic-Jewish Dialogue is to engage 5025purpose Rattlesnake Hammock Rd.

For a continuously updated community calendar, The purpose of the in Catholic-Jewish to engage Jews and Catholics understanding Dialogue their pastishistory and visit the Federation’s website at www.jewishnaples.org.

Jews and Catholics their pastand history and advancing the causein of understanding mutual understanding apprecia-

January 2016 Federation Star

JEWISH HAPPENINGS

ZOA Southwest Florida Chapter update

By Gene Sipe, ZOASWFL Vice President

J

anuary is an exciting month for Zionist programs in Southwest Florida. The ZOA Southwest Florida Chapter is delighted to bring two outstanding opportunities in January. On Wednesday, January 13, we will present a lecture by Dr. Mordechai Kedar, an Israeli author/scholar of Arabic literature and lecturer at Bar-Ilan University. Then on Wednesday, January 27, we present the film “Body and Soul - The State of the Jewish Nation, with an introduction by, and opportunity to Q&A with the film’s producer, Gloria Greenfield.

Dr. Kedar served for twenty-five years in the IDF Military Intelligence, where he specialized in Islamic groups, the political discourse of Arab countries, the Arabic press, mass media, and the Syrian domestic arena. The Los Angeles Times’ Edmund Sanders described him as “one of the few Arabic-speaking Israeli pundits seen on Arabic satellite channels defending Israel.” Based upon Islamic tribal traditions, Dr. Kedar will discuss a novel peace initiative that might actually work. This program will be offered on January 13 at 7:30 p.m. at the Chabad Jewish Center of Naples, 1789 Mandarin Drive.

Gloria Greenfield brings over 30

years of strategic planning, marketing and management experience to her “must-see” film about Jewish identity and Jewish nationhood. Arutz Sheva columnist, Prof. Phyllis Chesler, writes, “In only 65 minutes, the viewer comes to understand who the Jews are to the land of Israel, and what the land of Israel is to the Jews, to Judaism and to history.” Through incisive conversations with key experts in history, archaeology, international law, political science and media, this film shows the undeniable historical connection between the Jewish people and the land of Israel.

It also succeeds in debunking the propaganda, myths and misinformation that have become deeply entrenched in public discourse. This program will be offered on January 27 at 7:30 p.m. at Hodges University, 2655 Northbrooke Drive, Naples.

All programs are open to the public and the charge for attendance at each of these programs is $20 in advance and $22 at the door. RSVP with a check payable to ZOA SWFL, and mail it to 4003 Upolo Lane, Naples, FL 34119.

For additional information, please visit www.zoaswfl.org, email info@zoaswfl. org or call 914.329.1024.

The Israel Advocacy Committee presents The Great Debate: “The Two-State Solution or Illusion” with Carolyn Glick, Jerusalem Post columnist, and Ari Shavit, author of the bestselling My Promised Land. (Glick and Shavit will not be present.)

Tuesday, January 5 at 7:00 p.m. in the David G. Willens Community Room at the Federation office To enable full participation by attendees and maximum educational benefit, this program is offered at no charge and is be limited to the first 35 reservations. This is an educational program that is recommended for those who want to increase their knowledge and understanding of what we see and read in today’s mass media concerning Israel. RSVP to sbrazina@aol.com.

3B

Mix & Mingle – Jewish senior singles update

T

he Mix & Mingle group has its own eNewsletter. To be added to the list, please email your full name and email address to rbialek@ jewishnaples.org.

Two successful events have already been held. The November 5 dinner at Inca’s Kitchen in the Pavilion Plaza had 46 people in attendance. The December 6 Latke Party at the Lalique Club House in the Vineyards had 40 people welcome Hanukkah.

The group is well underway toward establishing itself in the local Jewish senior community.

Saint Laurent + Halston: Fashioning the ’70s Our next event will be at noon on Sunday, January 31, when we visit the Baker Museum at Artis—Naples for a docentguided tour of the beautiful new exhibit, Saint Laurent + Halston: Fashioning the ’70s. Direct from the Museum of the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York City, this is its only exhibit outside New York City. We have an opportunity to see and recall the beautiful couturier designs of women’s clothing in the hands of two master designers.

Space is limited so sign up early via email to Bill Kaye at wmkaye@gmail. com, or Karen David at KKD51@yahoo.com. The cost is $10, unless you are a member of the Museum, in which case it is free. Mail your check, payable to the Jewish Federation of Collier County, to Bill Kaye, 670 Lalique Circle, #104, Naples, FL 34119. Add an extra $10 for

a Mix & Mingle annual membership if you are not already a member of the group.

Mix & Mingle goes to the symphony Mix & Mingle members will be sitting together to hear the Jerusalem Symphony Orchestra on Saturday, February 27 at 8:00 p.m. at the North Naples Church, 6000 Goodlette Road.

Tickets are $62 and $97. Mail your check, payable to the Jewish Federation of Collier County, to Michael Rubner, 5880 Northridge Drive N., Naples, FL, 34110. Checks must be received by January 25.

Catholic-Jewish Dialogue presents The Jewish Cardinal Wednesday, January 6 at 7:00 p.m.

St. John the Evangelist Catholic Church Ballroom 625 111th Ave., Naples The film tells touching story of how a young Jew converted to Catholicism and retained his Jewish identity as he rose through the ranks of the Church.

JEWISH WAR VETERANS OF COLLIER COUNTY POST 202 ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★

★

Third Annual

Fund Raiser Sunday, January 17 at 10:00am Chabad Social Hall 1789 Mandarin Road, Naples

Our fabulous brunch, catered by Aroma Caterers, followed by a first-run movie (our movies have been big hits) $20 per person Consider your attendance a “Mitzvah” as we work to keep our post #202 going.

Pelican Preserve Golf Club (Osprey Room) 9802 Pelican Preserve Boulevard, Fort Myers

$100 per person with “Dinner by the Bite” & Signature Cocktail ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★

★

FOR RESERVATIONS, call GIL BLOCK at 239-304-5953 or 239-272-8112

4B

Federation Star January 2016

JEWISH HAPPENINGS

Brown Bag Lunch Mini-Series: “The Jewish School of Paris 1905-1945”

T

Ellaine has appeared several times on television, and has published a book and scholarly articles on Jewish art that appeared in prestigious journals such as the Journal of the Jewish Theological Seminary of America. She is a university-trained art historian coupled with a strong background in Judaica.

Ellaine is a docent at the Baker Mu-

emple Shalom Adult Education, in partnership with The Senior For’em of Temple Shalom and Mix & Mingle of the Jewish Federation of Collier County, is proud to host a three-part lunch & learn series presented by Ellaine H. Rosen, “The Jewish School of Paris 1905-1945.”

As a connoisseur of Jewish Art,

BOB ALPER

RABBI/STAND-UP COMIC OFFICIAL HONORARY COMEDIC ADVISOR TO THE POPE (YES, REALLY!)

Thursday February 4 5:30pm Longshore Lakes Country Club

• Cash Bar • Reservations required • Only 180 seats available Show Ticket, Deluxe Appetizers/Dessert $45.00 per person

T

Please mail your check made out to Naples Jewish Congregation, along with your name, address and phone number, to: NJC, PO Box 111994, Naples FL 34108, Attn BOB Tickets will be held at the door.

Rabbi Alper will be our guest at Shabbat services, and will give the sermon on “The Spirituality of Laughter: A Jewish Look at the Holiness of Humor.”

Free admission!

Partially funded by the Jewish Federation of Collier County

C

For more information on these events, call 239.455.3030.

BENEFACTOR: Show Ticket, Deluxe Appetizers/ Dessert plus Preferred Seating and a Special Gift $75.00 per person

6340 Napa Woods Way, Naples

into Paris, the center of the art world.

We will also explore which Jewish artists were the original members of the Parisian avant-garde; where they lived, socialized and networked.

Part two focuses on Modigliani,L Chagall, Soutine and Jacques Lipchitz;a their biographies, their women and theiri U masterpieces.

The conclusion to the series con-g fronts the Nazi occupation of Parisi and the response to this horror by thep artists in their paintings. We find out2 who is hunted down, who is rescued,o who successfully hides, and who com-C mits suicide. The session ends with the demise of Paris as the center of the artC world and the rise of New York City asc c its successor.

Don’t miss this stunning seriesm which is open to the community. RSVPn to Temple Shalom at 239.455.3030. a E

Temple Shalom events open to the community

11399 Phoenix Way, Naples

Friday February 5 7:30pm Unitarian Universalist Congregation

seum of Art in Naples. Before that, she was a longtime docent at the Carnegie Museum in Pittsburgh. To add to her qualifications, Ellaine is a docent at the Holocaust Museum & Education Center of Southwest Florida. She is particularly passionate to share her knowledge as to how this marvelous collection of art masterpieces survived the horrors of the Nazi occupation.

The series takes place at Temple Shalom on Thursdays January 7, 14 and 21, with a Brown Bag Lunch at 11:30 a.m. and the lecture at noon.

Part one investigates the emergence of Impressionism, Fauvism and Cubism, and how these movements influenced the rise of Jewish artists in the secular world of art. These movements weakened the second Commandment’s prohibition against artistic creativity, allowing for the flood of Jewish artists

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Rabbi and stand-up comic Bob Alper can be heard multiple times daily on Sirius XM Radio.

He has been featured onThe Today Show, Good Morning America, ABC Evening News, CNN, Comedy Central and in hundreds of newspapers.

Alper will make you laugh in a way that’s uniquely kind, intelligent, and 100% clean.

NAPLES JEWISH CONGREGATION Shabbat services are held every Friday night at the Unitarian Universalist Congregation, 6340 Napa Woods Way, Naples More information at 239-431-3858 or www.naplesjewishcongregation.org

W A R M • R E F O R M • A F F O R D A B L E • A D U LT

orah Talk Join us the first Shabbat morning of the month for a volunteerled discussion of the week’s Torah portion. On Janaury 2 the portion is Shemot. There will be a light breakfast at 8:15a.m. with discussion to follow at 8:30 a.m. There is no charge and all are welcome.

Rosh Chodesh This is an exciting special event for Rosh Chodesh Shevat! Join Cantor Donna Azu and Jane Perman as we celebrate Tu B’Shevat at the Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary on Thursday, January 14 at 9:30 a.m. We will gather together for a private tour led by Temple Shalom members Nancy Brown and Bill Maltby, followed by lunch and a brief Rosh Chodesh service. Please wear comfortable clothes and shoes for walking. General admission is $14. Admission may be paid upon arrival. RSVP to Cantor Azu

by Tuesday, January 5 at dazu@naplestemple.org or 239.455.3030 x.207.

For more information about Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary, please visit http:// corkscrew.audubon.org/.

The Florence Melton School of Adult Jewish Learning Temple Shalom is pleased to announce that we are officially part of the Melton Network and will be offering two

FLORIDA JEWISH HISTORY MONTH FRIENDS OF THE COLLIER COUNTY LIBRARY AND

JEWISH COMMUNITY RELATIONS COUNCIL OF THE JEWISH FEDERATION OF COLLIER COUNTY PRESENT THE

ANNUAL NAPLES KLEZMER REVIVAL BAND CONCERT WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 20, 2016 at 6:00PM COLLIER COUNTY SOUTH REGIONAL LIBRARY 8065 Lely Cultural Parkway

WITH FEATURED GUEST: PETE RUSHEFSKY

Pete is one of the foremost “cimbalom” performers in the U.S., a typical instrument in Central Europe, like a hammered dulcimer. He has performed internationally at venues such as Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, the Concertgebouw (Amsterdam) and Cité de la Musique (Paris). He has concertized and recorded with classical violinist Itzhak Perlman and has played with many of klezmer and Jewish music’s leading performers, including Cantor Yitzchok Meir Helfgott, Andy Statman, the Klezmer Conservatory Band, Alicia Svigals, Michael Winograd, Lisa Gutkin, Michael Alpert, Adrianne Greenbaum, and Jake Shulman-Ment. He also serves as Executive Director of the Center for Traditional Music and Dance in New York City, dedicated to maintaining the vitality of immigrant performing arts traditions. The Center’s An-sky Institute for Jewish Culture works to research and preserve Jewish music and dance traditions.

RSVP requested: 239.252.7542

classes beginning in January: “From Sinai to Seinfeld” and “Jews in America: Insiders and Outsiders.” Registration is required and classes are filling up fast.

Please visit www.naplestemple.org and follow the link for more information and to register.

Sisterhood Book Bag On Thursday, January 21 at 1:30 p.m. we will discuss The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah with facilitator Beverly Moeckler. The book is an epic love story and family drama that portrays two young French women who are plunged into unimaginable chaos by a country at war, yet who must find within themselves the courage to face the forces of destruction in order to keep their families together.

Mitzvah Day Join us on Sunday, January 24 at 9:00 a.m. for the Temple Shalom Mitzvah Day! If you are looking to make a difference in helping combat hunger in our community, you won’t want to miss this. Feel the joy of participating in a great social action event and experience the unique opportunity to help make 50,000 meals with hundreds of our One Family members. Other opportunities to participate include donating blood, donating school supplies and toiletries for students in need in Collier County (and helping to pack them), baking dog biscuits for the animal shelter and more!

For more information on how you can help, please call the Temple Shalom office.

Community Blood Center’s Bloodmobile Please find it in your heart to give the gift of life! As part of Mitzvah Day, Temple Shalom will be hosting the Community Blood Center’s Bloodmobile on Sunday, January 24 from 8:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. There is no upper age limit and teens as young as 16 can donate with parental permission. Please contact Temple Shalom or Jane Perman (permanjane@comcast.net) for more information.

Scholar-in-Residence: January 29-31 Daniel Matt, one of the world’s leading authorities on Kabbalah, will introduce us to some of the central themes of the Jewish mystical tradition. On Friday night he will focus on the concept of Shekhinah (the feminine aspect of God) in the context of Shabbat. In his subsequent presentations, he will show how the Zohar interprets and reimagines the Torah, and how the mystical tradition enables us to discover God in the material world. He will also address the question of “God and the Big Bang,” exploring parallels between Kabbalah and contemporary cosmology, and seeking to find harmony between science and spirituality.

Shabbaton with Cantor Neil Newman, Jan. 22-23 at Beth Tikvah

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antor Newman earned a BA in History from Temple University, a Bachelor of Hebrew Literature from Gratz College, as well as a Bachelor of Sacred Music and an MA in Religious Education from the Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion. In 1979, he completed a Doctorate in Educational Administration and Supervision at Syracuse University, and in 2000 was awarded an Honorary Doctor of Music degree from Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion.

Dr. Newman is a member of the Cantors’ Assembly as well as the American Conference of Cantors, having chaired its Cantorial Certification Committee from 1992-2002. He has made numerous recordings of liturgical music.

Cantor Newman retired to Sarasota after a 30-year career as Cantor of Beth El Synagogue in Minneapolis. Prior to

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his tenure in Minnesota, he served congregations in Philadelphia and Syracuse.

Since retirement as Cantor Emeritus, he continues to return to Beth El Synagogue to conduct High Holiday Services and for other community occasions.

Because of the special Shabbat (“Shira”), Cantor Newman will conduct two illustrated teaching sessions (divrei Torah), each during the Shabbat services: For Friday night: “Name That Tune! - The Components of Synagogue Music.” For Shabbat morning: “The GPS of Torah Reading - Torah Trope and the Special Case of Shirat HaYam.” The Friday evening dinner following the 6:15 p.m. service requires advance registration and $22 payment.

To RSVP or for more information, call 239.434.1818.

YIDDISH CLUB OF NAPLES

meets the 1st and 3rd Tuesdays of December, January, February, March and April at 10:00am at Temple Shalom, 4630 Pine Ridge Road, Naples You don’t have to speak Yiddish to enjoy.

You just have to enjoy hearing it spoken, read or sung.

Come Schmooze and Enjoy!

KRISTEN COURY, PRODUCING ARTISTIC DIRECTOR

Off-Broadway...just off 5th Of

THEY BELIEVED IN PRIVACY. SHE BELIEVED IN PROGRESS.

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The “Jewish Deli Fest” of Marco Island

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he Jewish Congregation of Marco Island (JCMI) will hold its “Jewish Deli Fest” for the entire Marco Island and Collier County community on Sunday, January 24 from 11:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. The grand event will be held at JCMI, 991 Winterberry Drive, Marco Island.

The “Jewish Deli Fest” will feature: Bernie’s Deli: New York-style deli sandwiches of corned beef or pastrami with homemade potato salad, coleslaw and pickles. Enjoy a beverage of your choice or perhaps a nice bowl of home-

made chicken soup with matzo balls or a favorite bean barley soup.

Everyone needs a little sweet to finish the perfect lunch or dinner, so we will feature: Bubbie’s Bakery: Mouth-watering pastries “made with love” from our own Sisterhood members.

Best of all, you can either eat in or take out your deli delights.

For more information, call the JCMI office at 239.642.0800 or visit www. marcojcmi.com.

SIGN UP FOR THE FEDERATION’S WEEKLY COMMUNITY eNEWSLETTER! Get the latest information on upcoming community events and cultural activities, news from Israel and lots more.

Send an email to info@jewishnaples.org or visit www.jewishnaples.org.

Stage 2.0 We’ve set the stage for our next act with a completely new look...continuing all of your favorite dishes and featuring fabulous ★★ new ★★ dinner entrees and craft cocktails!

We look forward to serving you soon!

INFORMED

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JILLIAN, AN AMBITIOUS GENETICIST, HAS LEARNED SOMETHING ABOUT HERSELF. As she struggles with how this knowledge affects her and her daughter, she is brought on to conduct a diabetes study on an isolated Native American tribe. As Jillian’s ethics and methods are being questioned, genomic breakthroughs are happening at breakneck speed. This heartwarming and earnest tale explores what we want to know, what we want to change, and the question of whether knowledge actually IS power.

Our popular new

STEAK FRITES

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Call for Tickets: (866) 811-4111 SEASON BENEFACTORS: PATTY CORPORATE PARTNER:

& JAY BAKER

CORPORATE EXECUTIVE PRODUCER:

EXECUTIVE PRODUCERS: MOSEY & DON GUNTHER, LINDA & BOB HARDEN, CHRISTINE PADDOCK, DOTTIE & JOHN REMONDI, DOUGLAS DANFORTH In Memoriam

In the Mercato | 239-597-2800 www.Stage62Deli.com BREAKFAST, LUNCH, DINNER, COCKTAILS, HAPPY HOUR 4-6

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Federation Star January 2016

NJC events open to the community “The Roaring ’20s” On Saturday, January 23 at 6:30 p.m. at the Pelican Marsh Community Center, Naples Jewish Congregation will present a fabulous event for the entire community. “The Roaring ’20s” will feature great food, great spirits, and dancing to the Dixieland Music of Art Blatt and the White Caps.

The cost for this amazing evening is only $20 per person ($25 at the door), and includes wine, appetizers and dessert. To RSVP or for more information, please call Carolyn at 239.566.7339 or Saundra at 239.566.0674.

A portion of the proceeds will be donated to help provide weekend meals for the homeless children of Collier County. Mail your check (payable to NJC) to NJC, P.O. Box 111994, Naples, FL 34108.

Rabbi/Stand-Up Comic Bob Alper Naples Jewish Congregation is proud

to bring Rabbi Bob Alper, nationallyknown comic, to Naples. He will be featured at two unique events.

On Thursday, February 4, Bob will be doing a 90-minute show featuring his clean, hilarious comedy routines. Join us from 5:30 to 9:30 p.m. at Longshore Lakes Clubhouse for food and a fabulous show. Cash Bar. Tickets are $45 and must be purchased in advance. Mail your check (payable to NJC) to NJC, P.O. Box 111994, Naples, FL 34108.

On Friday, February 5 at 7:30 p.m., Bob will be our guest at Shabbat services and will give the sermon on “The Spirituality of Laughter – A Jewish Look at the Holiness of Humor.” A meet and greet Oneg Shabbat will follow services.

We gather at the Unitarian Universalist Congregation, 6340 Napa Woods Way, Naples. For more information, call 239.431.3858.

Read the Federation Star on your tablet!

Visit www.issuu.com Enter “Federation Star” in the search box and click on the cover image of the issue you’d like to read.

Then simply scroll through the pages.

It’s that simple!

Dream

Federation’s Annual Community Celebration Saturday, January 31, 2015

WE HOPE TO SEE YOU AT THIS SEASON’S TWO BIG EVENTS:

* * * * *

Evy Lipp People of T the Book Cultural Event SOLD OU Wednesday, February 25, 2015

JEWISH HAPPENINGS

Jewish-releated events at Collier County Libraries

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egistration for the library programs below began on Monday, December 7 for members of the Friends of the Library of Collier County, and on Monday, December 14 for the general public. Reservations can be made by either calling the hosting location – South Regional at 239.252.7542 or Naples Regional at 239.263.7768 – or by visiting www.collierlibrary.org and clicking on the program link.

Book Discussion: The Sunflower

by Simon Wiesenthal Wednesday, January 6 at 2:00 p.m. at South Regional Library Denise McMahon, Moderator Simon was taken one day from his work detail to the bedside of a dying member of the SS. The soldier wanted to confess to and receive absolution from a Jew. Wiesenthal said nothing. Years later he wondered if he had done the right thing. What would you have done? In this book, fifty-three distinguished men and women respond to his question. The Sunflower will challenge you to define

Jerusalem Post Crossword Puzzle Solution to puzzle on page 14A

Celebrating Jewish Life in Collier County, Israel and the World

Federation Star Published by the Jewish Federation of Collier County serving Naples, Marco Island and the surrounding communities

www.JewishNaples.org INSIDE THIS ISSUE: 4 6 7 14 20 23 23 25 28 30 30 32 34 35

Men’s Cultural Alliance Women’s Cultural Alliance Community Focus Jewish Interest Israel & the Jewish World Tributes Business Directory Commentary Focus on Youth Rabbinical Reflections Synagogues Organizations Community Calendar Community Directory

6 WCA’s “Season” is off to a resounding start!

8 Subject of Israeli best-seller visits Naples

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28 Naples BBYO teens at Regional Kallah

later in life. First, he became a scientist and worked in the field of ecology. “I would have preferred studying the humanities, but Jews in the former Soviet Union (f.S.U.) weren’t allowed to be historians or philosophers.” Utilizing his fluency in English, he often acted as a tour guide for American ambassadors and members of congress. He took them to Babi Yar, the infamous ravine in Kiev where, in two September days in 1941, German forces and local collaborators massacred nearly 34,000 Jews.

As a rabbi, he says, “I get to combine all of these disciplines, because a rabbi is not only a teacher but also a scientist and a tour guide.”

In addition to Judi Palay at Temple

Shalom, another local connection is the Jewish Federation of Collier County, which currently provides a grant to a Jewish preschool in Kiev.

The rabbi detailed a wish list of ongoing “pockets of need,” for donations from people he meets on this talking tour who desire their own connection to Jews in Ukraine. “We need money for mundane expenses, like rent for premises and salaries for professionals. We also train lay leaders to conduct Shabbat services and do congregational work.

We want to sponsor summer and winter camps that provide education promoting Jewish self-identification.” Noting that in Judaism the primary unit is the family,

continued on page 2

What do you think?

The Federation Star wants to know!

Send your letters and comments to

Jeffrey Feld, Steven D. Goldberg, Rabbi Alexander Dukhovny, Judi Palay, Rabbi Adam Miller

The case for giving at the beginning of the year…and for giving more Alvin Becker

Israeli artist to exhibit at Estero Fine Art Show

Vol. 24 #5

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Kiev rabbi makes connections

By Carole J Greene

eing a journalist provides me opportunities to connect with fascinating people. When Rabbi Alexander Dukhovny visited Naples on November 12, I enjoyed the privilege and pleasure of chatting with him about the challenges and successes of the Progressive Jewish Congregations (i.e.

“Reform”) of Kiev, Ukraine. He is chief rabbi of the present 47 (!) congregations, an impressive increase from the eleven existing when he began. As we talked, the word “connections” came up multiple times.

Rabbi Dukhovny came to the U.S. to foster connections with American Jews and forge new ones. Temple Shalom’s Judi Palay is one of the former connections and she opened her home to the rabbi, whom she’d met when traveling in Ukraine. When he spoke that evening at Temple Shalom, he likened his role on this whirlwind “talking tour” (if it’s Wednesday, this must be Naples) to fertilizing seeds of Progressive Judaism sown by others in Ukraine.

“American rabbis plowed the soil. I’m the fertilizer because I know the culture, the language.”

Although he knew all his life that he was a Jew, he came to the rabbinate

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number of organizations have as their priority to support the most vulnerable people in our community – children, the aged, and those suffering humanitarian emergencies. Other groups seek to keep Israel safe, strong and prosperous. Still others support Jewish practices and perspectives that enrich our lives and draw us closer to family, friends and community.

Finally, some promote advocacy to

Jewish Federation of Collier County Inc. 2500 Vanderbilt Beach Rd., Ste. 2201 Naples, FL 34109

Prsrt Std US Postage Paid Permit #419 Ft Myers FL

ensure that our voices are a prominent force in policy decisions.

But ONLY the Jewish Federation of Collier County includes all of these priorities in its work as an important force in our community – creating, building, supporting and strengthening much needed groups here and elsewhere. Please see page 3 for a list of organizations and programs that were supported, in part or in whole, by Federation dollars last year. I am confident that you will find one or more groups or programs that strike a responsive chord

your beliefs about justice, compassion and human responsibility.

Film: Ushpizin (2004, Israel) Friday, January 8 at 2:00 p.m. at South Regional Library Directed by Gidi Dar Starring Shuli Rand, Michal BatSheva Rand, Shaul Mizrahi An Orthodox Jewish couple’s faith is tested after praying to the Lord for a child on the Succoth holiday. In Jerusalem’s Orthodox neighborhoods, it’s Succoth, seven days celebrating life’s essentials in a sukkah, a temporary shack of both deprivation and hospitality.

(Drama, color, 90 minutes, Hebrew with English subtitles.)

“Israel 101” Wednesday, February 3 from 3:00 to 4:30 p.m. at Naples Regional Library Presenter: Lauren Feibelman, Lecturer “Israel 101” is a comprehensive overview of Israel’s land, history and people. This introduction will review Israel’s history from the ancient period through modern times, the creation of the modern Zionist movement, and the establishment of the State of Israel.

The presentation will also include how Israel got its current borders and the challenges Israel has faced during its short 67 years in existence as a modern state.

in your supportive thoughts.

Note that the list is long – but so are the needs. And those needs are immediate and continue to grow. Don’t wait to make a contribution to the Jewish Federation of Collier County until later in 2015. The beginning of the year is a wonderful time to be part of a caring community that gives back.

Donate now. Volunteer now. Make a difference now. You’ll have the whole year to feel good about what you’ve done.

Happy New Year!

GIVE GIVEYOUR YOURBUSINESS BUSINESS GROWTH GROWTHPOTENTIAL. POTENTIAL. ADVERTISE ADVERTISEWITH WITHTHE Federation Star Contact Jacqui Aizenshtat at 239.777.2889 Robin Leonardi • 941.552.6307 • rleonardi@jfedsrq.org or jacqui1818@gmail.com. www.TheJewishNews.org

You can also read Connections on your tablet. Search for “Collier Connections”.

fedstar18@gmail.com.

On!

A Night of Stars

Join us for a glimmering, shimmering, elegant, fun-filled, five-star celebration and special fundraising event honoring

Anne & Dr. Mark Rubin

Anne & Dr. Mark Rubin and Janet & Howard Solot

benefiting

TEMPLE SHALOM,

our Temple Family and our Future

Janet & Howard Solot

Live Band • Silent & Live Auctions Fabulous Cuisine March 26, 2016 6:00pm Wyndemere Country Club $250.00 per person/$500.00 per couple

For reservations and information about our Temple’s major fundraiser of the year, please contact Dream On Chairs:

Stephanie Heuer 239.877.2557 phone steph@askamommy.com

Veora Little 239.450.2883 phone veoralittle@gmail.com

Presents the First Annual

Thursday, February 18 - Monday, March 14 11 events ~ 23 authors

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Each of the nine events on this 2-page spread are $12 in advance and $15 at the door. See the back of this 4-page pullout for two special events, an order form, Patron & ticket packages, venue locations and more.

Tickets are less than $10 per event when you purchase a 9-event Book-Lover Package or 5-event package.

Purchase a Patron Festival Package and get priority seating (front rows) at all 11 events, an invitation to a Patron Reception with at least one author, and your name listed in the Federation Star.

See the order form for more details.

• Ticket prices are per event and not for each individual author. You get to hear two authors for the price of one. (The Local Authors Event ticket is good for all four authors.)

• Buy your tickets early. Due to limited seating at some venues, events may sell out.

• Tickets will be mailed beginning in mid-January.

• Tickets are NOT tax deductible other than a portion of the Patron Festival Package (see order form).

• Tickets ARE transferable and can be given to others. Consider buying the 9-event Book-Lover Package or 5-event package and give some tickets as gifts to your friends or colleagues.

• Open seating at all events. Front rows will be reserved for Patrons and Sponsors.

• If an author cancels (weather, illness, etc.), we will attempt to reschedule the author in late March or April. Your original ticket will be good for the rescheduled event.

• No refunds unless entire event (both authors) is canceled and not rescheduled (for ticket packages, refund will be prorated).

• Venues may change based on ticket sales, due to limited capacity at some venues. Ticket buyers will be notified.

• All events will take place in Naples.

Thursday, February 18, 1:00 - 4:00 p.m. at Beth Tikvah ~ Topic: Russia Talia Carner ~ Hotel Moscow

David Greene ~ Midnight in Siberia

From the author of Jerusalem Maiden comes a thought-provoking novel that tells the riveting story of a daughter of Holocaust survivors who travels to Russia on business shortly after the fall of Communism and finds herself embroiled in a perilous mafia conspiracy that could irrevocably destroy her life. Brooke Fielding, a 38-year-old New York investment manager, finds her life suddenly upended in September 1993 and accepts an invitation to join a friend on a mission to Moscow to teach entrepreneurial skills to Russian business women. Though excited by the opportunity, Brooke also wonders what awaits her in the country that persecuted her mother just a generation ago. Hotel Moscow is an eye-opening portrait of post-communist Russia and a profound exploration of faith, family and heritage.

Talia Carner is formerly the publisher of Savvy Woman magazine and a lecturer at international women’s economic forums. The author of three novels and numerous stories, essays and articles, she is a committed supporter of global human rights, spearheading projects centered on female plight and women’s activism.

Midnight in Siberia chronicles David Greene’s journey on the TransSiberian Railway, a 6,000-mile cross-country trip from Moscow to the Pacific port of Vladivostok. In quadruple-bunked cabins and stopover towns sprinkled across the country’s snowy landscape, Greene speaks with ordinary Russians about how their lives have changed in the post-Soviet years. These travels offer a glimpse of the new Russia – a nation that boasts open elections and newfound prosperity but continues to endure oppression, corruption, a dwindling population, and stark inequality. Midnight in Siberia is a lively travel narrative filled with humor, adventure and insight. It opens a window onto that country’s complicated relationship with democracy and offers a rare look into the soul of twenty-first-century Russia.

David Greene is a cohost of NPR’s Morning Edition. He is NPR’s former Moscow bureau chief and has spent more than a decade covering politics and events from the White House and abroad. He lives in Washington, D.C., with his wife, Rose, a restaurant owner and fellow traveler.

Monday, February 22, 1:00 - 4:00 p.m. at Temple Shalom ~ Topic: Family Dani Klein Modisett ~ Take My Spouse Please In love as in comedy, timing is everything. One bad night doesn’t mean it’s time to quit. Have patience: great marriages, like a career as a comedian, take time. With her trademark humor and sharp yet reverent tone, writer and comedian Dani Klein Modisett shares a map for navigating your marriage through rough patches, bad jokes, and even nights when you bomb. Dani has interviewed dozens of well-known comedians, comic writers, and marriage counselors to deliver unique marriage “material.” The wisdom gleaned from these devotees of both comedy and marriage illuminates the core premise in every relationship: Humor matters. The celebration of love and humor – from gut-busting celebrity interviews to earnest advice – is the heart and soul of Take My Spouse, Please.

Dani Klein Modisett is a comedian, actress and author. Her comedy act has toured nationally, and her one-woman show was featured at the HBO Aspen Comedy Festival. Her writing has appeared in The New York Times, The Huffington Post, Parents Magazine and Los Angeles Times. She lives in Los Angeles with her family.

Dr. David Bernstein ~ I’ve Got Some Good News and Some Bad News: YOU’RE OLD Written for the aging and the aged, their children, and younger people who aspire to grow old, YOU’RE OLD illuminates the emotional, psychological and spiritual aspects of aging, along with the diverse strategies people use to adapt to its realities. Dr. Bernstein’s compassion and connection with his patients has compelled him to share real patient stories, to explore what happens when we age – physically, mentally, spiritually and socially. Each chapter includes notes on living longer, and resources in each section provide topic-specific information. For a healthy, fulfilling life, he encourages the practice of GRACE: Goals, Roots, Attitude, Companionship and Environment.

Dr. David Bernstein is board certified in Internal Medicine and Geriatrics, practicing in Florida for over thirty years, a graduate of Albany Medical College and on the faculty of University of USF College of Medicine. He is a board member and past chair of Gulf Coast Jewish Family Services for twenty-six years.

Wednesday, February 24, 1:00 - 4:00 p.m. at the Naples Daily News ~ Local Authors Event B.A. Shapiro ~ The Muralist

Marc Simon ~ The Leap Year Boy

Entwining the lives of both historical and fictional characters, and moving between the past and the present, The Muralist plunges readers into the divisiveness of prewar politics and the largely forgotten plight of European refugees refused entrance to the United States.

B.A. Shapiro is the author of the award-winning and New York Times bestseller The Art Forger. She has taught sociology at Tufts University and creative writing at Northeastern University.

Born in Pittsburgh on Leap Year Day 1908, Alex Miller weighs just 2 pounds and is 9 inches long. Although healthy, his body only grows at the rate of ¼ that of a normal child – but his mind grows much faster, as do his special abilities. People see him either as a miracle or a freak.

How Alex saves himself from the designs of others is at the heart of the novel. Marc Simon’s short fiction has appeared in several literary magazines. The Leap Year Boy is his debut novel.

Bob Mandell ~ Stroke Victor

Jerry Greenfield ~ Secrets of the Wine Whisperer

Bob Mandell’s dedication to helping others stricken by stroke has led to a new career path as author, stroke coach, speaker and founder of The Stroke Research Foundation, whose mission is to improve post-stroke lifestyles through advocacy, outreach and 21st century research. In his prior life, he was a corporate marketing executive, partner in an international management consulting firm, an adjunct professor at Fairfield University, and an entrepreneur in the telecommunications field.

Jerry Greenfield’s memoir tells how he and his wife Debi became seduced by the “wine life,” and the adventures that resulted. An experienced public speaker and wine educator, Jerry is no stuffy sommelier; he makes great wine easy and fun to understand...and enjoy. He “de-mystifies” the subject and offers useful hints, tips and information that add elegance and fun to every lifestyle. Jerry holds a Master of Arts degree from the University of Florida, and has lived in Spain and Israel. He is Creative Director of Greenfield Advertising Group.

Monday, February 29, 6:30 - 9:00 p.m. at Chabad Naples ~ Topic: Spirituality Jay Michaelson ~ The Gate of Tears

Sarah L. Kaufman ~ The Art of Grace

The Gate of Tears: Sadness and the Spiritual Path is the sixth book

by Rabbi Dr. Jay Michaelson. Its message is a countercultural one: that sadness and joy can coexist, and that there is a great beauty to the vicissitudes of light and darkness that are inevitable parts of human life. By learning to make space for and even love these difficult emotions, they become like two notes of a minor chord – a song that is both beautiful and wise. With his blend of erudition and accessibility, Rabbi Michaelson weaves together Hasidic tales and Dharma teachings, Leonard Cohen and Langston Hughes. The Gate of Tears draws on his 15 years as a student and teacher of Jewish meditation, the recent passing of his mother, and the peace he has discovered along the way.

Rabbi Dr. Jay Michaelson is the author of six books, editor at The Daily Beast and the Forward, and affiliated faculty member of Chicago Theological Seminary. He has taught at Boston University Law School and numerous Jewish institutions, and has appeared on NPR, CNN, MSNBC and NBC. He holds a PhD from Hebrew University, a JD from Yale, and non-denominational rabbinic ordination.

A Pulitzer Prize-winning dance critic teaches us to appreciate – and enact – grace in every dimension: physical, spiritual and emotional.

Both social and physical graces have been taught since the dawn of civilization. Yet grace seems forgotten in our pushy, hectic modern world. Sarah L. Kaufman argues that we bring it back. She explores the concept of grace in faiths around the world, including Judaism, where grace is seen as a quality that engenders love. She singles out grace in sports, in the arts, and in the everyday ways people interact. Cary Grant is her muse: his uncanny ease flowed from training as an acrobat but equally from his wit, humility and compassion. So too, Kaufman suggests, we might unearth the potential for grace in ourselves.

Sarah L. Kaufman is a Pulitzer Prize-winning dance critic for The Washington Post, where she has written about arts, sports and living for twenty years. A former French-American Foundation fellow, she has lived in France and Germany, and has lectured at universities around the country. She and her husband have three children and live outside Washington, D.C.

Tuesday, March 1, 1:00 - 4:00 p.m. at Temple Shalom ~ Topic: Holocaust Steven Pressman ~ 50 Children

Daniel M. Cohen ~ Single Handed

In the spring of 1939, a Jewish couple from Philadelphia, Gil and Eleanor Kraus, traveled into Nazi Germany in a bold and daring attempt to rescue a group of Jewish children and bring them back into the safety of the United States. Despite incredible obstacles at home – fierce opposition by Jewish community leaders and organizations; rigid U.S. immigration quotas – the Krauses carried out their mission, resulting in the largest single group of unaccompanied children allowed into the United States during the entirety of the Holocaust.

Steven Pressman was born and raised in Los Angeles and worked for many years as a journalist in Los Angeles, San Francisco and Washington, D.C. He wrote, directed and produced the Emmy-nominated documentary film 50 Children: The Rescue Mission of Mr. and Mrs. Kraus, which premiered on HBO and led to his book on the same topic. He and his wife live in San Francisco.

When Tibor Rubin was 13, he spent a year in a Nazi concentration camp. When he was 18, Tibor came to America a penniless immigrant.

A year and a half later he volunteered for the Korean War. When he was 20, Tibor defended a hill from hordes of North Korean soldiers single handed. He was recommended for the Medal of Honor, but a virulently ant-Semitic sergeant ditched the paperwork. After other acts of selfless daring, Tibor was recommended for the Medal again. The same sergeant refused to file the paperwork. When Tibor was 21, he was captured and sent to a Chinese POW camp, where he stole food to keep starving buddies alive. When Tibor was 50, the men whose lives he’d saved lobbied the Army to get him the medal he had been denied. Twenty-five years later, he finally received America’s highest military distinction. Single Handed is the amazing story of the only Holocaust survivor to have received the Medal of Honor.

Daniel M. Cohen is a filmmaker and writer. He wrote and directed the award-winning feature Diamond Men. A film critic and essayist for over thirty years, Single Handed is his first book.

Wednesday, March 2, 1:00 - 4:00 p.m. at Beth Tikvah ~ Topic: Israel Mike Kelly ~ The Bus on Jaffa Road

Jessamyn T. Hope ~ Safekeeping

Mike Kelly tells the story of two New Jersey teenagers who were killed in 1996 in a bus bombing on Jaffa Road in Jerusalem. In pursuit of justice, the parents of these American teenagers encountered political obstacles (from the White House and State Department, among others), adding suspense to the story of crime and punishment. The parents won a tremendous cash verdict against Hamas and Iran when a United States Federal Judge decided in their favor.

Mike Kelly, a journalist for more than three decades, is the author of two books and many prize-winning newspaper projects and columns for the Bergen Record in northern New Jersey. His assignments have taken him to Africa, Northern Ireland, Israel, Palestine and Iraq. He covered the 9/11 attacks, the cleanup of Ground Zero, and the 9/11 Commission hearings in Washington, D.C., and has devoted much of his time to covering terrorism.

Set against the backdrop of Jewish history, Safekeeping is a novel about love, loss and the courage it takes to keep starting over. At its heart stands a sapphire brooch – forged in a medieval ghetto – with a perilous backstory spanning three continents and seven centuries.

In 1994, Adam, a drug addict from New York City, arrives at Kibbutz Sadot Hadar with the priceless brooch. To redress a past crime, he needs to give it to a woman his grandfather loved when he was a Holocaust refugee on the kibbutz 50 years earlier. But finding this mystery woman proves more complicated than expected. On the kibbutz, Adam joins other damaged souls trying to turn their lives around.

By the end of that summer, they each get their last shot at redemption.

Jessamyn Hope’s fiction and memoirs have appeared in Ploughshares, Five Points and Colorado Review, among other literary magazines.

She was the Susannah McCorkle Scholar in Fiction at the Sewanee Writers’ Conference and holds an MFA in Creative Writing from Sarah Lawrence College. Originally from Montreal, she lived in Israel before moving to New York City.

Thursday, March 3, 1:00 - 4:00 p.m. at Temple Shalom~ Topic: Fiction Susan Jane Gilman ~ The Ice Cream Queen of Orchard Street

As a child in 1913, Malka Treynovsky flees Russia for New York with her family – only to be crippled and abandoned in the streets. Taken in by a tough-loving Italian ices peddler, Malka survives. When she falls in love with Albert, they set off together across America in an ice cream truck to seek their fortune. Slowly she transforms herself into Lillian Dunkle, “The Ice Cream Queen of America” – doyenne of an empire of ice cream franchises and a celebrated television personality.

Spanning 70 years, Lillian’s rise – fraught with setbacks, triumphs and tragedies – is inextricably linked to the course of American history itself, from Prohibition to the disco days of Studio 54. And when her past starts catching up with her, Lillian’s world implodes spectacularly.

Susan Jane Gilman was a 2014 National Jewish Book Award finalist. She provides commentary for NPR and has written for The New York Times, Los Angeles Times and Ms. magazine, among others. She earned an MFA in Creative Writing from the University of Michigan.

She divides her time between Geneva and New York.

Julia Dahl ~ Run You Down Aviva Kagan was a just a teenager when she left her Hasidic Jewish life in Brooklyn for a fling with a college boy from Florida – and then disappeared. Twenty-three years later, the daughter she walked away from is a New York City tabloid reporter named Rebekah Roberts. And Rebekah isn’t sure she wants her mother back in her life. But when a man from the ultra-Orthodox enclave of Roseville, NY, contacts Rebekah about his wife’s mysterious death, she is drawn back into Aviva’s world. Pessie Goldin’s body was found in her bathtub, and her husband is certain she was murdered. Once she starts poking around, Rebekah encounters a whole society of people who have wandered “off the path” of ultra-Orthodox Judaism – just like her mother. But some went with dark secrets – and rage at the community they left behind.

Julia Dahl writes about crime and justice for CBSNews.com. Her first novel, Invisible City, was named one of the Boston Globe’s Best Books of 2014 and was a finalist for the Edgar Award, the Mary Higgins Clark Award, and the International Thriller Writers Award for Best First Novel. She was born in Fresno, CA, and now lives in Brooklyn, NY.

Wednesday, March 9, 6:30 - 9:00 p.m. at Beth Tikvah ~ Topic: Memoir Sally Fingerett ~ The Mental Yentl Known for her sharp wit and warm heart, Sally Fingerett is a freespirited, award-winning singer-songwriter who spent twenty-five years touring with the highly-acclaimed musical comedy group, The Four B**chin’ Babes. Holding artistic and contemporary Jewish life up to the light with love, humor and heart, Sally has written down the stories behind her best-loved songs from the stage and recordings. In these hilarious and endearing stories and essays, she celebrates her own personal goofs and flaws: having married, had a baby, divorced, trolled JDate, remarried, blended three teenagers into one family, while feeling that she’s really just a nine-year-old with a credit line. This designated daughter wanted only to fit in, be loved, do the right thing and – oops, almost forgot – have a career. Isn’t this what women do?

Sally Fingerett is an award-winning composer and founding member of the musical comedy group The Four B**chin’ Babes. Sally has appeared on over seven-hundred stages, NPR’s What’ya Know, Mountain Stage, and World Cafe. Sally lives in Columbus, OH.

Dafna Michaelson Jenet ~ It Takes a Little Crazy To Make a Difference

Struggling with her divorce and commitment to life as an Orthodox Jewish woman and mother, Dafna Michaelson takes off to all 50 states to find and share stories of ordinary people solving problems in their community. Driven by her commitment to tikkun olam, she learns as she shares the stories of others to find her place and follow her conflicted heart when her non-Jewish boyfriend proposes. During her travels, Dafna’s quest was shared by Charles Osgood on CBS’s Sunday Morning, driving many to hear the stories of the 500 people she met.

65% of the people she interviewed are Jewish men and women driven to heal the world. The book recounts her journey over one year and shares her struggles with her commitment to faith and community.

Dafna Michaelson Jenet, President of the Journey Institute, holds a BA from Stern College and an MBA from the University of Denver, and is a StorahTelling Maven. She held directorship posts at the Holocaust Awareness Institute and The March of the Living, BJENY. She currently sits on Hadassah’s National Board.

Monday, March 14, 6:30 - 9:00 p.m. at UUCGN ~ Topic: Inspiration Megan Feldman Bettencourt ~ Triumph of the Heart

Goldie Milgram ~ New Mitzvah Stories

Veteran journalist Megan Feldman Bettencourt had never considered herself a forgiving person. She’d just gone through a breakup and felt perfectly justified in hating her ex forever. But then she encountered a man who had truly forgiven the teenager who murdered his only son. How could anyone forgive that? Was there something wrong with him? Or was there something wrong with her? So Megan set out on a global adventure – not just to find out what forgiveness is, but how it works. Examining situations as mundane as road rage, as painful as cheating spouses, and as unthinkable as war crimes, she discovers the physical and psychological benefits of forgiveness, revealing some of the best ways we can learn to do it ourselves. The ability to forgive really is what determines our quality of life.

Megan Feldman Bettencourt is an award-winning writer and adjunct professor of Journalism and Public Relations at Metropolitan State University, Denver. Her features have appeared in magazines such as Glamour, Details and 5280: The Denver Magazine, and in newspapers including Newsday, the Dallas Observer and the Miami Herald.

This collection of 43 true and fictional stories by leading Jewish authors, storytellers and educators has found its audience with all ages and groups across the spectrum of Jewish life. Each tale excites the imagination, opens the heart, and stimulates reflection, discussion and action. The stories pose challenges that highlight the lifeenhancing effect of mitzvah-centered living. Over 60 Jewish values are covered, with stimulating tales about Shabbat and Holy Days to core Jewish ethics like refraining from holding a grudge and taking revenge. New Mitzvah Stories celebrates contemporary Jewish values.

Included are a study guide by co-editor Rabbi Dr. Goldie Milgram, accessibly translated sacred texts, discussion questions, learning activities, and tikkun olam possibilities for all ages and settings.

Rabbi Goldie Milgram is Executive Director of Reclaiming Judaism and Dean of the Maggid-Educator Training Program, before which she served as 92nd Street Y Director of Innovative Jewish Programming.

She is a widely published author, master teacher, public speaker, and professional Jewish storyteller.

Two Special Events:

Tuesday, February 23, 9:00 - 11:00 a.m. at Hilton Naples ~ Topic: Food $25 ~ No tickets sold after February 18 ~ Healthy continental breakfast included Chef Rossi ~ The Raging Skillet

When the microwave replaces her mother’s slow-cooked, traditional Hungarian dishes with meals from a box, Rossi takes to the kitchen – and a chef is born. This heartfelt and hilarious memoir takes us on the wild ride of Rossi’s life, from her Passover seders spent in the family camper to her 1980s Crown Heights adventures as a “wayward” girl living in a Chasidic rabbi’s home, to her observation of the High Holidays at Ground Zero as she served as a cook for first responders in the days just after 9/11. The Raging Skillet shows us how the creativity of the kitchen allows us to give a nod to where we come from.

Includes unpretentious recipes for real people everywhere.

Rossi, as the owner and executive chef of The Raging Skillet, has earned a reputation as the one to call when it’s time to do things differently. The Raging Skillet has been described as a “rebel anti-caterer”

by The New York Times. Rossi has written for Bust, The Daily News, The New York Post, The Huffington Post, Time Out New York and McSweeney’s. She is the host of a long-running radio show called Bite This, and has been featured on The Food Network and NPR.

Thursday, March 10, 6:30 - 9:30 p.m. at Hilton Naples ~ Topic: Powerful Women $25 ~ No tickets sold after March 7 ~ Champagne & Cheese reception Lisa Green ~ On Your Case

Julia Pimsleur ~ Million Dollar Women

Television legal analyst and attorney Lisa Green offers something new: a witty, direct and empowering legal guide for women, filled with accessible information they can employ to understand and respond to common legal issues throughout their lives – from dating, marriage and kids to jobs, retirement, aging parents and wills. Lisa has an urgent message for women of all ages. Whether or not you invite it into your life, the law will find you. When it does, will you be ready to respond? Leveraging her professional training as a lawyer and her personal experience as a wife, ex-wife, mother and daughter, Lisa explains common, even complicated, legal issues in practical, easy-to-understand terms.

Lisa Green is a lawyer and legal analyst, appearing on NBC News and MSNBC. While attending law school, Lisa worked as a columnist for The National Law Journal, after which she practiced law in New York, before joining NBC News – first as a lawyer and then as a senior producer and on-air analyst. She currently serves as communications director for a major NY law firm and is the mother of two young adults.

There’s a lot for feminists today to feel happy about. But there is one stubborn barricade that just won’t come down: the one that keeps women outside the room where the capital to build a big business is doled out. Lots of women start mom-and-pop businesses, and they start businesses at nearly twice the rate that men do. But only 3 percent of female business owners have revenues over one-million dollars – and even fewer of these women are Jewish. So how do you go big with your own business? In Million Dollar Women, Julia Pimsleur shares the inspiring story of building her own company, Little Pim, which produces a program for young children to learn foreign languages, and teaches the concepts, the lexicon, and the steps for heading a multimillion-dollar business. She shows you how to network, when to delegate, and how to overcome the emotional hurdles you have to jump to join the million-dollar club. This is the essential guide for female entrepreneurs, from someone who’s followed the same path.

Julia Pimsleur is the CEO and Founder of Little Pim, a leading system for introducing young children to a second language.

Venue Locations

Jewish Book Festival Committee:

All locations are in Naples (area code 239): Special thanks to Beth Tikvah: 1459 Pine Ridge Road (434-1818) these organizations for Chabad Naples: 1789 Mandarin Road (262-4474) providing space for the Hilton Naples: 5111 Tamiami Trail N. (430-4900) Festival events.

Naples Daily News: 1100 Immokalee Road (262-3161) Temple Shalom: 4630 Pine Ridge Road (455-3030) Unitarian Universalist Cong. of Greater Naples: 6340 Napa Woods Way (455-6553)

Carole Greene Dina Shein Harrilee Shevin Ida Margolis

Co-Chairs: Ted Epstein & Phil Jason Irene Pomerantz Linda Smith Iris Shur Marc Simon Judy Peltz Patti Boochever Lee Henson Robin Mintz

Steve Brazina Sue Bookbinder Susan Pittelman

Festival Sponsors

Book Sales

All of the Festival’s books are on display on the second floor in the Barnes & Noble store at the Waterside Shops. Be sure to pick up a free Festival bookmark while you’re there. Books will also be available for purchase and signing at each author’s event. Books make great gifts for friends and family.

We are grateful to the following businesses and organizations for their support of the Collier County Jewish Book Festival.

Festival Website & Email

Visit the official Festival website at www.jewishbookfestival.org for more information on the authors and their books, event updates and a printable order form. Have questions that have not been answered in this 4-page pullout? Send an email to bookfestival@jewishaples.org. One of the event co-chairs will reply.

Jewish Book Festival Ticket Order Form Patron Festival Package:

Includes all 9 events at right & 2 special events below for $180 # of packages: ___ = total $______

Personalize your festival experience with these options

Includes reserved seat in front rows at each event, Patron Reception with at least one author, and listing in the Federation Star. $51 of each package is tax deductible.

9-event Book-Lover Package:

Includes the 9 events at right for $79 # of packages: ___ = total $______ Does NOT include the two Special Events below.

• Tickets will be mailed beginning in mid-January.

• Tickets are NOT tax deductible other than a portion of the Patron Festival Package (see above).

• Tickets ARE transferable and can be given to others.

• Open seating at all events. Front rows will be reserved for Patrons and Sponsors.

• If an author cancels, we will attempt to reschedule the author in late March or April.

• No refunds unless entire event (both authors) is canceled and not rescheduled.

• Venues may change based on ticket sales, due to limited capacity at some venues. Ticket buyers will be notified.

Event Date - Authors: 2/18 - Carner/Greene 2/22 - Modisett/Bernstein 2/24 - Local Authors 2/29 - Michaelson/Kaufman 3/1 - Pressman/Cohen 3/2 - Kelly/Hope 3/3 - Gilman/Dahl 3/9 - Fingerett/Jenet 3/14 - Bettencourt/Milgram Total:

5-event Individual package: tickets: $49 ea. $12 ea.

Pkgs: ___ ($15 at the door) Please indicate # of tickets:

___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ $____

___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ $____

Special Events: 2/23 - Breakfast - Chef Rossi # of tickets: ____ x $25 = $_____ 3/10 - Green/Pimsleur # of tickets: ____ x $25 = $_____

YES! I’d love to attend the Jewish Book Festival!

Please send me the tickets I’ve reserved above for a total of $_______.  Check enclosed - payable to Jewish Federation of Collier County  Please charge my:  MasterCard  Visa  American Express

Women’s Cultural Alliance

Account #____________________________________ Exp. ____/____ ccv#______ Name: _______________________________________________________________ Address:_____________________________________________________________ City: ____________________________________ ST: ______ Zip: _________________ Phone: _______________________ Email: __________________________________

4 easy ways to order your tickets: 1 Mail this order form to

Jewish Federation of Collier County 2500 Vanderbilt Beach Rd., Ste. 2201 Naples, FL 34109

2 In person

at the Federation office. Please fill out form in advance.

3 Charge by phone 239.263.4205 Please fill out form prior to calling.

4 Fax this order form

with credit card info to 239.263.3813 FS1215

January 2016 Federation Star

JEWISH BOOK FESTIVAL

11B

Book reviews and author information 4th in a series of 5

presented by

Over the course of five Federation Star issues (October 2015 - February 2016), we will present the Jewish Book Festival committee members’ reviews and synopses of the books (and their authors) being featured at the Festival. See the 4-page pullout preceding these reviews for a complete schedule of events, venue locations, author bios, book synopses, ticket packages and an order form.

50 Children by Steven Pressman Review by Mary Anne Kimsey

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gainst the consequences of the restrictive Nuremberg Laws and the nightmare plight of European Jews, an organization called Brith Sholom asked one of its members, lawyer Gilbert Kraus, to assist in rescuing fifty Jewish children from Nazi Germany. Few Americans were thinking about the darkening storm clouds over Europe. Nor did they have much sympathy for the growing number of Jewish families that were increasingly threatened and brutalized by Adolf Hitler’s policies in Germany and Austria. Sadly, it was not Nazi Germany that opposed bringing the children to America, but American politics – stiff immigration quotas, innumerable bureaucratic ob-

stacles, anti-Semitic State Department officials, and opposition by our own Jewish organizations as well as ordinary Americans.

The reluctance of America to open its door to Jews before and during the Holocaust is well known, but Pressman exposes the details of the obstacles facing Jews who were desperate to escape Vienna and Berlin. Pressman writes of parents eager to send their children away, knowing they would never see them again. The parents could not even wave goodbye to their children as the train pulled out, since a wave resembled the Nazi salute, forbidden to Jews. “Juden Verboten” signs were everywhere, barring Jews from restau-

rants, movies and parks.

Along with his wife, Eleanor, Gilbert Kraus works to figure out how to bring the children into the United States.

The Krauses discovered a discrepancy between the number of visas issued and the number of Jews who actually entered the United States. The plan was to reserve fifty of these unused visas for the rescue effort. Eventually, they had to travel to Nazi Germany, placing themselves in danger. There was no assurance that they would be safe; and given the fact they had to deal directly with the Gestapo, no assurance they themselves would not be sent to the camps.

While in Nazi Germany, the Krauses had two young children of their own

Tuesday, March 1, 1:00 - 4:00 p.m. at Temple Shalom

Steven Pressman was born and raised in Los Angeles and worked for many years as a journalist in Los Angeles, San Francisco and Washington, D.C. He wrote, directed and produced the Emmy-nominated documentary film 50 Children: The Rescue Mission of Mr. and Mrs. Kraus, which premiered on HBO and led to his book on the same topic. He and his wife live in San Francisco.

Appearing with Steven Pressman will be Daniel M. Cohen, author of Single Handed.

This program is being generously sponsored by The Holocaust Museum & Education Center of SWFL.

back home in Philadelphia.

50 Children is a story of courage and heroism that offers a unique insight into a critical period of our history.

Against this backdrop, fewer than 1,200 unaccompanied children were allowed into the United States throughout the entire Holocaust, in which 1.5 million children perished. The fifty children saved by the Krauses turned out to be the single largest group of unaccompanied children brought to America.

The book comes from Eleanor Kraus’s unpublished memoir, historical documents, and interviews with more than a dozen of the surviving children.

It is illustrated with period photographs, archival materials, and memorabilia.

The book and documentary based on the book, speak to the determination of individuals to make a difference when so many people and nations were turning a deaf ear and blind eye to the plight of Jews attempting to escape certain death under the Nazi plan of extermination. This determination of spirit represents not only the Jewish values of helping others, repairing the world, and preservation of life, but also the American values of hard work, determination, creating opportunities and forging one’s path.

The Mental Yentl by Sally Fingerett Review by Judy Peltz, Jewish Book Festival committee member

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ally Fingerett, contemporary songwriter and performer, was a founding and touring member of the musical comedy theatre group, The Four Bitchin’ Babes. Her career as an award-winning composer and musician spans more than three decades, with appearances on over seven hundred stages.

She has produced eight Bitchin’Babes CDs and five solo CDs. She begins her unusual memoir with the sentence, “I come from a long line of medicated women, one nuttier than the next,” and dedicates the book as a “love letter to my family’s matriarchs of blessed memory. L’dor v’dor – from generation to generation.”

The book consists of forty-three short pieces – stories, essays, secret family recipes, and “general undefined mishegas” from her childhood to the present. The sections in the book represent events in her life that inspired her most successful songs, and each story ends with the appropriate lyrics.

What is special about this book is that Sally Fingerett focuses on the specific details of her own life, yet transforms them into the universal cycles of womanhood, especially Jewish womanhood. To help, she even includes a Yiddish glossary “for those readers who haven’t been to New York City or seen a Woody Allen or Billy Crystal movie.”

We share her life’s journey as a daughter of a manic-depressive mother, her burgeoning musical career, marriage, motherhood, divorce, single parenting, re-marriage, caretaking aging parents in Delray Beach, losing those she loves, and finally maturing into her own strong self.

Although reviewers have called the book “hilarious,” there are as many heartbreaking and heartwarming moments as humorous ones. Her lyrics express many poignant aspects of life.

When her mother is suffering with terminal cancer, she writes: “You gotta let them go, you gotta let them go,

Wednesday, March 9, 6:30 - 9:00 p.m. at Beth Tikvah Sally Fingerett is an award-winning composer and founding member of the musical comedy group The Four B**chin’ Babes. Sally has appeared on over seven-hundred stages, NPR’s What’ya Know, Mountain Stage, and World Cafe. Sally lives in Columbus, OH. Appearing with Sally Fingerett will be Dafna Michaelson Jenet, author of It Takes a Little Crazy to Make a Difference.

This program is being generously sponsored by the Collier/Lee Chapter of Hadassah.

You gotta let them go, when they want to go, Don’t keep them here – nothing you can say It’s a selfish heart that longs to love for one more day.”

While cleaning out her mother’s belongings, Fingerett finds photos that no one in the family can now identify.

Her song “Faces on my Wall” is a tribute to these long lost people: “Now you’re framed in aging brass, your past is haunting Oh, the stories you could tell, The war, the camps, the boat, the hell Who is left to tell your tale, if not for me?”

Yet Fingerett, The Mental Yentl, always returns to life’s humor. The ingredient list for her Bubbe’s chicken recipe begins with four ounces of Manischewitz wine mixed with two shots of vodka – not for the chicken, for the cook!

By the end of the book, she has reached self-actualization by no longer making annual New Year’s resolutions for healthy eating and gym visitations: “I woulda, I coulda, I shoulda, but I didn’t I didn’t, no, I didn’t, hmmm.”

Hopefully she will perform this song for us at the Jewish Book Festival and we can all joyously sing along.

Additional reviews can be found on the following two pages >>>>>

12B Federation Star January 2016

JEWISH BOOK FESTIVAL

The Leap Year Boy by Marc Simon Review by Philip K. Jason, Jewish Book Festival co-chair

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aples author Marc Simon’s first novel is both historical and whimsical. It exploits readers’ interest in the long ago and the far out.

Set in early 20th century Pittsburgh, it covers about six years in the life of a very special young man. Born on “Leap Year Day” in 1908, Alex Miller has the remarkable distinction of being about one quarter the size of a normal newborn. Moreover, his physical growth is in keeping with the fanciful premise: it takes him four years to grow a year. That is, he grows in terms of his leap year (February 29) birthdays. At the age of six, he is still a small toddler.

Slow as his physical maturation may be, his mental growth is accelerated. He seems exceptionally bright – especially when his precocious articulation is released from his tiny body.

Born into a working-class family with two older brothers, Alex is given

plenty of loving attention. As a freak, Alex is sometimes considered miraculous, sometimes a “little darling” (especially by women), and sometimes people cruelly make fun of him. Essentially, he is “the neighborhood celebrity mascot.” However, he is also spirited and self-aware – at once innocent and mature, if not worldly. Alex has a great deal of curiosity and a thirst for adventure.

But first of all, Alex is himself a curiosity. His brothers are quick to wheel Alex down the street in a wagon to sell glimpses of him, and over the course of the novel, Marc Simon’s interest is to dramatize the propensity of those around Alex to monetize his freaky charm. What people see in Alex tells us much about their own character, and little about his.

After his mother Irene dies during a diphtheria epidemic, Alex is for a long

time cared for by his maternal grandmother, Ida Murphy. He lives with her on the weekdays when his brothers are at school, and his father, Abe, is at work.

This woman, whose mind evolves into religious nuttiness, sees Alex as God’s messenger, maybe even a messiah figure. She gets swept up into revivalist fervor, drinks heavily, and abandons her Catholic church. She ends up dying in a fire accidentally started by Alex when his pinwheel briefly touches a votive candle.

Without any warning or explanation, Alex’s arms suddenly grow several inches. They almost reach the ground, ape-like. His extended arms are strong.

He can throw a ball with skill. Darts, too. You can place a bet on Alex, as his father does, and he’ll win the competition. Also, he’s a terrific pickpocket, helping his brothers in their youthful criminal activities.

Wednesday, February 24, 1:00 - 4:00 p.m. at the Naples Daily News Marc Simon’s short fiction has appeared in several literary magazines, including The Wilderness House Review (where he won the 2006 Chekhov Prize for best story of the year), Flashquake, Poetica Magazine, The Writing Disorder, Jewish Fiction.net and most recently, Slush Pile Magazine. His one-act plays have been three-time winners in the Sugden Theater Etc. Reader’s Theater New Plays Contest. His debut novel, The Leap Year Boy, was published in December 2012.

Appearing with Marc Simon at the local authors event will be B.A. Shapiro (The Muralist), Bob Mandel (Stroke Victor) and Jerry Greenfield (Secrets of the Wine Whisperer).

Alex’s physician, who presides at his extraordinary birth, maintains an interest in the small child. Dr. Sergei Malkin, a successful if shady real estate investor, looks to exploit, for fame and money, any scientific knowledge he can glean from running tests on Alex.

Abe’s gorgeous and self-reliant mistress, Delia Novak, has friends connected with the circus and sees an easy income making Alex into a sideshow performer.

These relationships exemplify the pattern of exploitation designed by Mr. Simon.

He also designs a credible view of Pittsburgh’s material culture in the years leading up to World War I. As readers, we ride the trolleys, feel and smell the pollution-spewing manufacturing industries, and visit the popular Woolworth’s five and dime. We are in awe when the first Model T Ford comes on the scene.

We visit the neighborhood saloon, the Squeaky Wheel, over and over. We attend the opening of Forbes Field, America’s first true baseball stadium.

For all of the tragedies and hard times that it portrays, this book has a light touch. It is hard to determine how serious former comedian Marc Simon is about the serious issues he raises. His plot resembles those of the picaresque narratives of earlier centuries. The Leap Year Boy is a lot of fun, but it’s not what you’re used to.

This review originally appeared in Florida Weekly and is reprinted with permission.

New Mitzvah Stories edited by Goldie Milgram Review by Iris Shur, Jewish Book Festival committee member

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his book reminded me of Aesop’s Fables. Each of the 43 very short stories represents a moral from a Jewish perspective. Goldie Milgram, one of the editors, is a Reconstructionist Rabbi. She travels worldwide as a seeker and teacher of Torah, Jewish spiritual practices, and a specialist in experiential Jewish education.

Rabbi Milgram has many Jewishthemed publications under her belt, either as author or editor. This is the second book of Mitzvah Stories she has edited with Ellen Frankel. One of her other books is called Make Your Own

Bar/Bat Mitzvah.

The stories have been written by “leading Jewish authors, educators and storytellers.” Each story is followed by a brief biography of the author. Their accomplishments are truly outstanding.

This short-story collection covers many ethical questions faced in Jewish life as well as secular life. From false accusations, being gay, to letting someone know that a gift was not to your liking, or the feelings of children who were Holocaust survivors – the 43 stories keep you thinking of what you would do in similar situations.

In the back of the book there is a compilation of all the mitzvot that can be found in the book as well as the first Mitzvah Stories book. All in all, she lists 114 covered in the two books. I find it hard to believe anyone could come up with additional mitzvot after reading the list that includes “visit the sick, be an active citizen, prevent needless pain to animals, and refrain from taking revenge,” to mention a few.

This book would be ideal for a middle school project or as stories to share with grandchildren. After each mitzvah story, Rabbi Milgram presents

Wednesday, March 14, 6:30 - 9:00 p.m. at UUCGN Rabbi Goldie Milgram is Executive Director of Reclaiming Judaism and Dean of the Maggid-Educator Training Program, before which she served as 92nd Street Y Director of Innovative Jewish Programming. She is a widely published author, master teacher, public speaker, and professional Jewish storyteller.

Appearing with Goldie Milgram will be Megan Feldman Bettencourt, author of Triumph of the Heart.

This program is being generously sponsored by Naples Jewish Congregation.

an extensive list of questions to ponder.

They usually start with, “Which mitzvot are illustrated by this story?” After the questions, she presents sacred story and text connections and, finally, projects based on the stories.

Oddly enough, I knew of Rabbi Milgram and, in fact, have emailed her.

I didn’t realize it until I saw that she is connected with Jewish Values Online.

This website (www.jewishvaluesonline. org) allows you to essentially, “Ask the rabbis.” Rabbi Milgram represents the Reconstructionist view and other rabbis the Conservative and Orthodox views.

I don’t remember what I asked about in the past, but in checking out the website now I see questions about such thorny issues as “Can I let single guests stay in the same room?” The rabbis, including Rabbi Milgram, present their Jewish views on the subject.

I suggest you think of some perplexing ethical and moral questions you have been heretofore afraid to ask and bring them to Rabbi Milgram’s Jewish Book Festival session. After reading about Goldie’s background, I know you will be getting some good answers to tough questions.

Jewish Book Festival...continued from page 1B support of this inaugural event: Hilton Naples, U.S. Bank, Florida Weekly, èBella magazine, Barnes & Noble, Women’s Cultural Alliance, JFCS of Southwest Florida, Heddy Z Designs, Collier/Lee Chapter of Hadassah, Naples Jewish Congregation, and the Holocaust Museum & Education Center of Southwest Florida.

The Federation and book festival committee also thank the host venues for providing space for the 11 events: Beth Tikvah, Chabad Naples, Hilton Naples, Naples Daily News, Temple Shalom, and Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Greater Naples.

Let’s prove to the Jewish Book Council and large U.S. cities that Naples can compete with them when it comes to Jewish cultural events! Buy a Patron Festival Package, 9-event Book-Lover

Package or 5-event package, and show your support!

For more information on the authors and their books, event updates and a ticket order form, see the 4-page Festival spread on pages 7B-10B or visit the official Festival website at www. jewishbookfestival.org.

On pages 11B-13B you will find reviews of five of the books that will be featured. Additional reviews were published in the October-December 2015 issues, and several more will be featured in the February issue of the Federation Star.

Have questions that have not been answered in this issue or on the website?

Send an email to bookfestival@jewish naples.org and either Phil Jason, Festival co-chair, or I will get back to you promptly.

Sign up for The PJ Library and you’ll receive a FREE, high-quality children’s book or CD each month. The PJ Library will enrich your family’s life with Jewish stories and songs – and it’s absolutely FREE for families with children from six months up to eight years of age in Collier County.

The PJ Library is brought to the Collier County community

by JFCS of Southwest Florida.

For more information, please call 239.325.4444.

Photo courtesy of The PJ Library

January 2016 Federation Star

JEWISH BOOK FESTIVAL

13B

Safekeeping by Jessamyn T. Hope Review by Dina Shein, Jewish Book Festival committee member

A

beautifully written novel, Safet keeping crosses three continents, n seven centuries and multiple difi eferent cultures and generations. Arriving dfrom New York to an established kibnbutz that his beloved dead grandfather lived in fifty years ago when he was a Holocaust refugee, Adam has with -him a priceless heirloom, a sapphire ybrooch. He is looking for the woman his wgrandfather loved, to give her the brooch and somehow clear his conscience of guilt.

A recovering addict, Adam is a lost .

f

, e

s e . e

d a w n s e p t

h

soul looking for salvation by finding his grandfather’s true love, Dogmar, and thus redeeming himself. On the kibbutz he is joined by other volunteers, a Soviet émigré, Ulya, who disguised herself as a Jew in order to escape her native Belarus. Her dream is to get to New York and become a model. She is ruthless, and when she finds herself pregnant after having an affair with Farid, an Arab farmhand, she knows that her only way out is to steal the brooch.

Ulya’s roommate is Claudette, a French Canadian Catholic with OCD.

At 32-years-old, Claudette is an orphan who has had no contact with the outside world and has no social skills. She forms a friendship with Ofir, an aspiring musician and Israeli soldier of 17 who was wounded in a bus explosion that results in his hearing loss. Their friendship develops into an affair despite their age difference. It is then that Claudette finally begins to come out of her shell and assert herself. She befriends Ziva, an old Socialist Zionist who is one of the kibbutz founders. Ziva is really Dogmar, who gave up love for Israel

Wednesday, March 2, 1:00 - 4:00 p.m. at Beth Tikvah Jessamyn Hope’s fiction and memoirs have appeared in Ploughshares, Five Points and Colorado Review, among other literary magazines. She was the Susannah McCorkle Scholar in Fiction at the Sewanee Writers’ Conference and holds an MFA in Creative Writing from Sarah Lawrence College. Originally from Montreal, she lived in Israel before moving to New York City.

Appearing with Jessamyn Hope will be Mike Kelly, author of The Bus on Jaffa Road.

and her idealism, and does not want to reveal herself to Adam. She refuses to see kibbutz life changing and modernizing to meet the 21st century.

Jessamyn Hope creates a world in which all these characters, even with their share of sorrow and suffering, driven by love, hope, fear and fate, become entangled in their quest to find redemption. The story shifts easily from 14th century Spain to modern New York, from the Orthodox of Brooklyn to the modern Israeli, and to the devout Catholic. We are never lost to follow and wonder, to identify and sympathize, with each of the characters Hope created. It is a story of the inevitability of loss and the courage to keep starting over. It is a dramatic and compelling story, lush with historic detail.

The catalyst is the priceless brooch with its tumultuous history. The irony is that each character’s individuality comes alive in an environment that seeks conformity, a kibbutz. Safekeeping is a complex, beautiful book you can’t put down until you read the last page, while yearning to learn more of these characters who have become so familiar and so close to your heart.

14B Federation Star January 2016

JEWISH HAPPENINGS

The Jewish Congregation of Marco Island in conjunction with the Jewish Federation of Collier County presents The 2016 Saul I. Stern Cultural Series – now in its 22nd year!



Sunday, January 10, 2016, 7:30 p.m.

SHIBLEY TELHAMI is an Arab, born in Haifa, Israel. His family consider themselves Israelis. He is fluent in Hebrew and is Chairman of the Anwar Sadat Institute at the University of Maryland. He has taught at Princeton, Cornell, Columbia and Swarthmore. He is one of the leading pollsters in the Middle East and has become an expert on the area. He is an author and regular commentator on national and international media.

Saturday, February 13, 2016, 7:30 p.m.

THE NAPLES PHILHARMONIC BRASS QUINTET: For the 10th season performing at the Cultural Series, the Phil returns its outstanding musicians with a delightful variety of music and accompanying commentary.

A Viennese table and Starbucks tasting follows the program.

Sunday, March 6, 2016, 7:30 p.m.

DAVID RUTHERFORD, NAVY SEAL: David served eight years in the Naval Special Warfare Community as a SEAL student, Combat Paramedic, Operator and Instructor. He has participated in clandestine operations in the Middle East, South Asia, Southeast Asia, and Operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan. His masterful ability to motivate, enables people from all walks of life to achieve success in any environment imaginable.

THE 2016 SAUL I. STERN CULTURAL SERIES

For more information, call the Synagogue Office at 239.642.0800. Please send this form and payment to the Jewish Congregation of Marco Island, 991 Winterberry Dr., Marco Island, FL 34145.

Please send me tickets for the following Cultural Series programs: ____ $75 Patron, series ____ $50 Series for members ____ $60 Series for non-members ____ $20 Single tickets for members ____ $25 Single tickets for non-members ____ Enclosed is my check payable to JCMI

For those wishing single event tickets: # of tickets:____ Shibley Telhami # of tickets:____ The Naples Philharmonic # of tickets:____ David Rutherford

All events take place at the Jewish Congregation of Marco Island, 991 Winterberry Dr., Marco Island.

____ Please charge my credit card: Credit Card #_______________________________________ exp. ____/____

Please mail my tickets to the address below: Name_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Address______________________________________________________________________________________________________________

A R T O RCH E S T R A CIN E M A C U L IN A RY DA N CE O P E R A FA S H I O N T H E AT E R CH A M BE R M U S IC

City, State, Zip____________________________________________________________ Phone: ___________________________________________

STAY IN MAY

We’ll bring the world to you.

JERUSALEM SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA Debut Concert in Naples

Saturday, February 27, 2016 8:00 pm | North Naples Church Presented in partnership with

OFOF COLLIER COUNTY COLLIER COUNTY

CELEBRATE THE BEST OF ALL WORLDS

April 25 – May 8, 2016

Maestro William Noll Artistic Director

For more information or to purchase tickets, please visit www.StayInMay.com or call 239.390.2788.

JEWISH HAPPENINGS

January 2016 Federation Star

Community Chanukah Celebration

Photos courtesy Ted Epstein For more photos of this and other Federation events, visit jewishnaples.org/major-events or www.facebook.com/JewishFederationofCollierCounty.

15B

16B Federation Star January 2016

JEWISH HAPPENINGS

TICKETS ARE GOING FAST!

FEB-APRIL 2016 | SUNDAYS AT 7:30 PM SUGDEN COMMUNITY THEATRE | 5 TH AVE S FEB 28

RAISE THE ROOF

With help from 300 students and professionals from 16 countries over ten years, artists Rick and Laura Brown reconstructed the elaborate roof and painted ceiling of the Gwozdziec synagogue, destroyed by the Nazis in World War II. The roof was installed as the centerpiece of Warsaw’s POLIN Museum of the History of Polish Jews in 2014.

MAR 13

DOUGH

Widowed and down on his luck, Nat Dayan (Jonathan Pryce) is desperate to save his bakery in London’s East End. In a pinch, he reluctantly hires a teen Muslim boy Ayyash, who deals a little pot on the side. But when Ayyash accidentally drops his stash into the dough, the challah starts flying off the shelf, and an unlikely friendship is formed.

MAR 20

RAISE THE ROOF

SABENA

DOUGH

In 1972, four Palestinian hijackers took control of Sabena Flight 571 from Brussels to Tel Aviv. Over the next 30 nerve-wracking hours, human, military and political drama unfolded inside and outside the plane. A reenactment of the events is woven together with archival material and exclusive interviews for a suspenseful, thought-provoking film.

APR 03

THE LAST MENTSCH

Marcus Schwarz has always denied his Jewish heritage. After surviving Auschwitz, he created a completely new identity in Germany, without any Jewish ties. But now he wants to be buried in a Jewish cemetery, and he needs proof.

Enlisting a young Turkish woman to drive him, the unlikely duo set out on a road trip that will irrevocably change them both.

SABENA

2016 SUBSCRIPTION REQUEST Visit our website or mail this request with a check made payable to: Naples Jewish Film Festival • c/o Beth Tikvah 1459 Pine Ridge Road • Naples, FL 34109 Subscriber(s) / Sponsor(s) _________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________ Email ___________________________________________________________________________ Address _________________________________________________________________________

THE LAST MENTSCH

City/State/Zip ____________________________________________________________________ Phone __________________________________________________________________________

o EXECUTIVE PRODUCER o DIRECTOR o FESTIVAL FRIEND

SPONSORSHIP LEVELS $1,500 • Six tickets to each of the four films $1,000 • Four tickets to each of the four films $500 • Two tickets to each of the four films

all Sponsorship Levels include

• Early entrance for priority seat selection • Private dessert reception opening night • Screen recognition

SUBSCRIBER LEVEL

o SUBSCRIBER $100 X ____ • Private dessert reception opening night

PRESENTED BY

• One ticket to each of the four films • Screen recognition

Single film tickets released January 15 if available Tickets mail February 5

Holocaust Museum

SPONSORED BY

The

&

EDUCATION CENTER OF SOUTHWEST FLORIDA

Jewish Federation OF COLLIER COUNTY

NAPLESJEWISHFILMFESTIVAL.ORG

|

239-434-1818