Jewish News, Jan. 18, 2019

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Since 1998, Jewish Baby University has helped about 1,300 parents spiritually prepare for their babies

The New Yorker’s Masha Gessen comes to Valley to speak about totalitarianism

NICK ENQUIST | STAFF WRITER

Bjorn Krondorfer is worried about what lessons from the Holocaust people will remember and apply to the present.

Krondorfer, director of the Martin-Springer Institute of Northern Arizona University (NAU) and a professor of comparative cultural studies, looks to Russian emigre, New Yorker staff writer and LGBTQ activist Masha Gessen to bridge the lessons of the past to the present rise of global totalitarianism. Gessen will be speaking at NAU’s International Holocaust Remembrance Day event on Jan. 27.

“It is a rare opportunity for students at NAU to be exposed to such an active, intellectual mind, fearless journalist, and also LGBTQ advocate, especially in the regions of Eastern Europe,” Krondorfer said. “The talk will center on how the imagination of individuals and entire societies are shaped by what we remember, or the stories we can tell about what we remember.”

Born in Moscow, Gessen worked as a journalist for multiple outlets and has written several books.

In 2013, Gessen left Russia for New York City after witnessing an increase in antigay violence.

One of Gessen’s books, “Ester and Ruzya: How my Grandmothers

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Rabbis, Jewish organizations commit to MLK march in show of unity

NICK ENQUIST | STAFF WRITER

This year, the Jewish Community Relations Council (JCRC) is dedicating itself to having a stronger Jewish presence at Phoenix’s annual march and festival to honor Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

“We have invited all Jewish organizations and synagogues to walk with us,” said Rabbi Bonnie Sharfman, member of the JCRC’s board of directors. “We want to join together so that there’s a

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‘Three Identical Strangers’ is among the films that will be screened at the 14th annual West Valley Jewish Film Festival hosted by Beth Emeth Congregation in Sun City West. The festival runs from Jan. 26 to 28. ‘Three Identical Strangers’ tells the story of triplets Eddie, David and Bobby, who were separated at birth and reunited as young men. Read more on Page 11.

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From left, Rabbi John Linder of Temple Solel, Rabbi Ilana Mills formerly of Temple Solel, Rabbi Jeremy Schneider of Temple Kol Ami and Rabbi Bonnie Koppel of Temple Chai in Washington, D.C., at the 2015 ‘America’s Journey for Justice March.’ Schneider is holding a Torah.

visible show of support from the Jewish community marching as one.”

Sharfman added that the most important aspect of building a relationship with the larger community is to listen. Listening, conversing and standing in solidarity during events like marches can help create a stronger sense of unity, Sharfman said.

This is the first year that the JCRC has made an official initiative to have a larger Jewish presence at the MLK march and festival.

The march and festival take place Monday, Jan. 21. The march begins at the Pilgrim Rest Baptist Church in Phoenix at 8:30 a.m. and winds its way to Margaret T. Hance Park.

Although the march has taken place since 1985, Arizona was one of the last states in the nation to recognize the Martin Luther King Jr. Day holiday. In 1983, President Ronald Reagan declared the third Monday in January a national holiday to honor the slain civil rights leader. Three years later, Arizona Gov. Bruce Babbitt signed an executive order recognizing the federal holiday at the state level.

Just a year later, Babbitt’s successor, Gov. Evan Mecham, rescinded the order and moved the day Arizona would honor King to the third Sunday in January.

The move sparked protests and boycotts against Arizona, but voters in 1990 turned down a proposition to create the holiday. It wasn’t until the National Football League pulled its 1992 Super Bowl from Arizona that voters approved the creation of the holiday. Arizona’s first MLK Day was observed in 1993.

As always, Phoenix’s march is committed

“There is a shared history between the black community and the Jewish community that people in my generation attach a great deal of pride to,” Sharfman said. “I think that history is starting to become forgotten by some. There was a time when we walked together.”

In addition to Congregation Kehillah, other synagogues such as Sun Lakes Congregation, Congregation Beth Israel and Temple Kol Ami have committed to attending and bringing congregants to the march.

The Bureau of Jewish Education also will be participating.

“We stand together with those who speak up against injustice, and Martin Luther King did just that in America in our lifetime,” said Myra Shindler, director of the BJE. “He was successful at using peaceful means to stir passions and initiate change.”

the civil rights movement and sought to call attention to other social issues, such as raising the minimum wage and providing children of color with equal access to education.

Schneider was one of a few Phoenixbased rabbis who marched in “America’s Journey for Justice.” He’s working to attend the upcoming march with his congregation as well, because he has been looking for more meaningful activities in which members of his synagogue can participate.

Schneider said he wished there was no need to march, but there is so much polarization in America right now that he is compelled to make the trek.

After seeing many examples of racial bias from police and citing the mass shooting in a church in Charleston, S.C., he said he believes he has a responsibility to march.

to honoring King’s legacy and promote cultural diversity and awareness.

Sharfman has attended the march for well over a decade and is excited to be representing Congregation Kehillah this year. Sharfman believes that by simply attending a march, the Jewish community will be showing a great deal of support and solidarity for other communities.

Sharfman cites Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel, who joined King at the pivotal 1965 Selma, Ala., to Montgomery, Ala., march, as one of her great spiritual heroes.

Shindler also noted that King utilized passages from the Torah in many of his speeches, including the famous “I Have a Dream” speech in 1963.

For Rabbi Jeremy Schneider of Temple Kol Ami, marching in solidarity is an act he has some familiarity with.

In August 2015, he marched in the NAACP-organized “America’s Journey for Justice.”

The 40-day, 860-mile march beginning in Selma and ending in Washington, D.C., commemorated the 50th anniversary of

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“I do this because we have to get outside of our own reality and face the other’s truth and challenges in this community and world,” Schneider said. “We ‘do Jewish’ when we do more than help individual victims of a society. We march for racial equality. We march for human dignity. And we pray with our feet as we march.

“We can’t individually save the world, and collectively we may not even make a dent. But we still have to try. And our relationships deepen when we do it together.” JN

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“WE ‘DO JEWISH’ WHEN WE DO MORE THAN HELP INDIVIDUAL VICTIMS OF A SOCIETY. WE MARCH FOR RACIAL EQUALITY. WE MARCH FOR HUMAN DIGNITY. AND WE PRAY WITH OUR FEET AS WE MARCH.”

RABBI JEREMY SCHNEIDER, TEMPLE KOL AMI

HEADLINES Survived Hitler’s War and Stalin’s Peace,” looks at two of the deadliest totalitarian regimes in the 20th century by using Gessen’s own Jewish-Russian family history.

Described as Russia’s leading LGBTQ rights activist, Gessen will be focusing on topics such as political science, journalism and history.

Having lived as a journalist in Moscow, and with family ties to Polish and Russian Jewry during the Holocaust and Stalin’s reign, Gessen also explores issues of political choice.

Gessen has written extensively on rise of totalitarian regimes in Russia, specifically on Vladimir Putin.

Gessen’s latest book, “The Future is History,” follows the lives of four individuals who were born during Russia’s dawn of democracy, only to see their country devolve back into autocratic leadership.

This most recent book will be the basis of Gessen’s lecture at the Martin-Springer Institute event.

“Totalitarian regimes aim to make choice impossible” Gessen said. “What interests me now is that I think resistance can take the shape of making a choice, even when the choice is framed as one between unacceptable options.”

The Martin-Springer Institute was founded by Holocaust survivor Doris Martin and her husband, Ralph, in 2000.

On the institute’s website, the Martins state that their mission is to apply the lessons of the Holocaust “in order to relate them to today’s concerns, crises and conflicts. Our programs promote the values of moral courage, tolerance, empathy, reconciliation and justice.”

Doris Martin wrote about her family’s survival in the book, “Kiss Every Step: A Survivor’s Memoir from the Holocaust.”

In past International Holocaust Remembrance Day events, the MartinSpringer Institute has brought in film director Spike Lee, Rwandan humanitarian Paul Rusesabinga and Father Patrick Dubois.

Dubois is the leader of the French organization Yahad-In Unum, which

locates the mass graves of Jewish victims of Nazi mobile killing units.

Krondorfer has been the institute’s director since 2012 and has followed Gessen’s work for a while.

He believes that Gessen’s commentary is worth examining and says the writer’s experience provides a strong perspective on the rise of totalitarianism.

This lecture is important, Krondorfer said, because Gessen has personally witnessed how a country can change its political landscape.

“My hope is that people, especially students, walk away from the event understanding that democracies cannot be taken for granted,“ Krondorfer said. “They are fragile and they need our investment.”

Krondorfer said history doesn’t simply go away with each generation’s passing. He stated that history can repeat itself, but never in the exact same way.

He anticipates that Gessen’s lecture will help illustrate what to look for in the greater conversation of approaching totalitarianism and its true effects on the people who endure it.

Gioia Woods, a professor of humanities at NAU, will be introducing Gessen at the event.

She thinks that Gessen’s teachings are especially relevant to students in colleges now as the “creep” of totalitarianism and authoritarianism becomes more potent and timely.

“Masha argues that if a nation silences its academics and drives its sociologists, psychologists and philosophers into a corner, it cannot know itself, nor will it have the tools to save itself,” Woods said. “It’s important for students to understand that their studies have real consequences for their lives and the life of democracy.

“Masha’s skill as a storyteller is incisive. Masha is able to animate the human costs of totalitarianism in vividly rendered reallife characters.” JN

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The Masha Gessen lecture will be held on Sunday, Jan. 27 at 7 p.m. in the Prochnow Auditorium at NAU. The event is free and open to the public.

Above: Bjorn Krondorfer is director of the MartinSpringer Institute at Northern Arizona University.

PHOTO PROVIDED BY THE MARTIN-SPRINGER INSTITUTE

Left: Russian emigre and writer Masha Gessen is the guest speaker at the International Holocaust Remembrance Day event hosted by the MartinSpringer Institute.

PHOTO BY TANYA SAZANSKY

Jewish Free Loan helps federal employees affected by government shutdown

JANET PEREZ | MANAGING EDITOR

As the federal government shutdown drags on, Arizona’s Jewish Free Loan is ready to help furloughed employees.

“We want to get the word out in Arizona that if they’re a member of the Jewish community and they’re a furloughed government employee and are in need of cash flow for the next few weeks they can come to us,” said Tina Sheinbein, executive director of Jewish Free Loan (JFL). Other JFLs across the nation also are offering loans to government employees.

According to the Arizona Office of Economic Opportunity, there are more than 58,000 people in the state employed by the federal government. Sheinbein said it’s still unknown how many federal employees will have access to JFL’s loan

program. Leaders of other Jewish organizations that rely to some extent on the federal government, such as Jewish Family & Children’s Service and Jewish War Veterans, said they have yet to see any effects from the shutdown.

JFL’s main role is to provide members of the Jewish community with emergency loans to help pay for such items as rent, food and medical care. All loans are interest free. Sheinbein said JFL has suspended its regular loan process for furloughed employees. Federal workers will not have to get a guarantor and go to the organization every two weeks to provide an update on their financial situations.

“If you’re a furloughed government

diligence,” Sheinbein said. “We will fast track the applications. All we need is to see some identifying material that lets us know that you are a government employee.”

In addition, furloughed federal employees will be encouraged to ask for larger amounts of money — between $3,600 to $5,000 — so they won’t have to visit JFL as often to access funds. Also, the requirements for paying back the loan are different for furloughed government workers.

“Traditionally, if you get a loan on Jan. 1, then usually the week of Feb. 1 is when we expect the first loan payment,” Sheinbein said. “However, in this case government employees are not going to have a paycheck in a month necessarily, or if they have their paycheck they will have so many things that they have to pay

first. I have authorization from national Jewish Free Loan leadership that our date of repayment for furloughed government employees will start one month after they are back to receiving their pay.”

Currently, the cap for JFL loans to individual government employees is $10,000. If the shutdown continues for months, Sheinbein said the board of the International Association of Jewish Free Loans in American communities will have to discuss how to proceed and may have to ask the community for help.

“We are prepared for the short term and then we will begin planning on the long term implications of a lengthy government shutdown.” JN

For more information, visit jewishfreeloan.org.

Jewish Baby University has brought families together for 20 years

JANET PEREZ | MANAGING EDITOR

At least 660 Jewish children and young adults ranging in age from 20 to newborn already have university experience. They just don’t remember it because they weren’t born yet.

Since 1998, Jewish Baby University, a Bureau of Jewish Education (BJE) program, has been providing Jewish parents-to-be in the Valley with classes that not only prepare them for the physical part of having a child, but also the spiritual part.

There are three six-week Baby U sessions every fall, winter and spring, with each class averaging about 12 couples. The classes take place in various synagogues. Along with volunteer doctors, rabbis also address the class to provide insight.

“It’s about trying to raise a child in a Jewish home, but it’s open to interfaith couples, too,” said Linda Feldman, family education director at BJE and Baby U coordinator. “We’re just trying to meet everyone’s needs in that regard and that’s the beauty of the program.”

Expectant parents in the Baby U courses often build a support network with members of their class. Andrea Cohen, youth philanthropy director at the Jewish Community Foundation of Greater Phoenix, and her husband were in the very first Baby U class. Her son, Max, is now 20.

“In addition to learning how to prepare a Jewish home for a Jewish baby, we created lifelong friendships with the families we eventually raised Max with,” Cohen said. “We went through so many of life’s experiences with them — the happy stuff — baby namings, preschool, Hebrew school, bar and bat mitzvahs, and high school graduations. But we also have held each other up through times of darkness, such as sickness and death. We treasure the friendships of these Baby U families.”

Feldman holds Baby U reunions for each class not long after the last infant in the group is born. She is amazed at the bonds among Baby U families.

“One group’s kids are all turning 10,

so the parents are having a special party for them and I’m invited,” Feldman said.

Baby U can thank a Hollywood power broker for its creation.

“Steven Spielberg grew up here and he has a fondness for Arizona and Phoenix and our Jewish community,” Feldman said. “He donated money in 1997 for family education.”

Baby U was started with some of the money Spielberg donated. To publicize the program, Feldman received a small grant to advertise. She has never had to buy advertising since because word-ofmouth from satisfied parents has been enough. With the first course of 2019 yet to begin, expectant parents already are signing up.

Feldman attributed Baby U’s success to the Valley’s constantly churning population that leaves many new Jewish residents looking for opportunities to meet fellow Jews. That was the case with Maya Axt and her husband when they were expecting their daughter, Emma, four years ago.

“We had just moved to Scottsdale from New York City a few months prior and didn’t have any friends,” Axt said. “If we hadn’t taken this class, we probably would have strongly considered moving

back to New York. I could not have made it through the first couple of years of motherhood without the ladies I met in this class.”

In all, Feldman said more than 1,300 people — couples and single parents — have gone through the doors of Baby U. But Axt thinks she may be unique among the hundreds of students.

A potluck was planned for the last day of Axt’s Baby U course. While shopping for ingredients to make a pasta salad, Axt began having contractions, but she was determined to attend her last class.

“I called my husband, Brian, when I got home and he kept insisting that we should not go to class,” Axt said. “I insisted we had to go because A, there was a potluck and I already had the ingredients to make the pasta salad; B, because I wanted to learn how to swaddle a baby and change a diaper; and C, I needed to see everyone.

“So I spent that class pacing the room and breathing through some strong contractions. That night, about an hourand-a-half after the class ended, we were on our way to the hospital and Emma was born the next morning.

“As far as I know I’m the only person who has been in labor during a Baby U class.” JN

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Graduates of the first Jewish Baby University class, held in 1998, attend a 2016 celebration with program founder Linda Feldman, front. The former students are, from left, Scott Quen, Andrea Quen, Andrea Cohen, Tiffany Bachus, Dan Bachus and Greg Cohen.

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Tu B’Shevat expresses ancient connection between Jews and the Earth

JANET PEREZ | MANAGING EDITOR

As a true child of the ’60s, Nina Perlmutter, now a rabbi, was concerned about the war in Vietnam, civil rights and helping the poor. But caring for the environment was not one of her concerns; she considered it selfish to put it ahead of the needs of people.

a long and strong tradition of promoting stewardship of the environment.

In 2007, the Rabbinical Council of America (RCA) announced that it supported working with environmental groups to foster knowledge about the environment from a Torah perspective.

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Raised a secular Jew, Perlmutter did not realize that along with social justice, Judaism prizes the world God created for them. As the turmoil of the 1960s and 1970s faded, Perlmutter began paying attention to environmental problems and the effects they had on all people, particularly the poor.

“The was part of what helped me come home to Judaism,” said Perlmutter, rabbi emerita for Congregation Lev Shalom in Flagstaff. “Jews of my generation either thought there was no environmental ethics or concern in Judaism, and if you cared about the environment you should become a Buddhist or Taoist. I thought it was like a criminal act to go support Earth Day because you should be fighting for social justice.”

On Jan. 20, three days after Tu B’Shevat, Perlmutter will speak at Temple Chai about ancient and modern teachings that look at the relationship between humans and the non-human world.

In the Middle Ages, Tu B’Shevat, sometimes called Rosh HaShanah La’Ilanot — the New Year of the Trees — began featuring a seder in which the fruits and trees of the Land of Israel were given symbolic meaning.

Since the founding of the state of Israel, Jews around the world began celebrating Tu B’Shevat by planting trees. Today, the holiday is used to bring a wider awareness of the environment.

“The Torah expresses that our species lives within a whole,” Perlmutter said. “It’s not either/or. It’s not humans or the environment. It’s humans within the environment.”

As she delved more into her Judaic studies, Perlmutter discovered that Jews had

In its declaration, the RCA called “upon its members to take personal and communal action within synagogues, schools, and homes to protect the environment and … to educate themselves and their constituents both scientifically and halakhically about the environmental challenges we face, and consider their implications for Jewish law.”

Although not speaking specifically about Tu B’Shevat, the managing attorney for Earthjustice’s office in Washington, D.C., David Baron, spoke at the Cutler-Plotkin Jewish Heritage Center on the Jan. 17 about environmental issues. His lecture is called “Cleaning It Up: Making America Beautiful Again.”

“The speech is completely coincidental, but the holiday has become, particularly in the last 20 years, an occasion for us to reflect on how we could better protect the natural world,” Baron said in an interview before the lecture.

Baron spoke as part of the Tikkun Olam 3 – Repairing the World art exhibit. The third in a yearly series, TO3 showcases artists whose work reflects repairing the world in relation to environmental justice, sustainability and climate change. The exhibit ends on Jan. 23.

“Some people are moved by photographs or stories, and some people are moved by creative expressions,” Baron said. “I’m going to talk about ways people can make a difference.”

Simple things like sending emails and letters about your environmental concerns to political leaders could make a change, Baron said, especially if you don’t let up.

“Keep at it, keep telling people that you care about these issues and you want action.” JN

Editorials

Women’s March’s anti-Semites

Almost everyone agrees that the first Women’s March two years ago was impressive. Hundreds of thousands of women and their supporters marched on Washington, D.C., in the name of human rights, gender and racial equality, and freedom of religion. Recognized as the largest singleday protest in U.S. history, the event came one day after President Donald Trump’s inauguration, and provided the intended counterpoint to the divisiveness engendered by his campaign.

To some, the success of the Women’s March was viewed as a promise of equality for the future. But two years after that historic day, as we stand on the cusp of the next Women’s March — scheduled for Jan. 19, with smaller marches planned in cities across the United States — we see less unity in the cause of equality. That’s not because the goal has changed or that the objective is any less worthy. Rather, it is because the leaders of the Women’s March movement have betrayed the mission of equality by embracing unapologetic anti-Semites like Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan and by betraying a distressing ease in promoting anti-Semitism.

According to Linda Sarsour, one of the march founders and a PalestinianAmerican pro-BDS activist, one cannot be both a feminist and a Zionist. “You either stand up for the rights of all women, including Palestinians, or none,” she declared. “There’s just no way around it.” But her admonition does not appear to apply when the rights of Jews are involved.

Thus, when Farrakhan referred to Jews as “termites” during a speech in Detroit this past fall, fellow co-founder Tamika Mallory was noticeably silent. Eight months earlier, Mallory attended a Chicago rally at which Farrakhan announced that the “powerful Jews are my enemy,” and that the “Satanic” Jews are “responsible for all of this filth and degenerate behavior that Hollywood is putting out turning men into women and women into men.”

Mallory, who was given a shout-out in Farrakhan’s speech, did not condemn Farrakhan’s remarks. Instead, she doubled down in support of his hateful Jew-baiting and posted an Instagram photo of the two of them with the caption, “Thank God this man is still alive and doing well. He is definitely the … greatest of all time.”

The world has long recognized that the failure to condemn hate speech is to condone it. And the silence of Women’s March leaders in the face of hate speech about Israel and Jews is profoundly disappointing.

Fortunately, not everyone has followed the leaders. Women’s March activists in New Orleans, Chicago, Rhode Island and Florida have either severed ties with the national organization or have canceled their marches. Although those brave women did the right thing, it’s a shame, as the cause of equality will suffer.

On this one, we stand firmly with those who have abandoned the charade of Sarsour, Mallory and friends — self-centered, hate-mongering, hypocritical equality advocates, who don’t want to be infested by Jewish “termites.” JN

Israel’s new moderates

The history of coalition politics in Israel is a familiar story. Since no one party has ever received enough popular votes to constitute a majority, coalition governments need to be formed through what is sometimes a patchwork of deals and compromises which result in shared leadership and governance.

Less than three months before the upcoming parliamentary elections in Israel, the forecast is that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud Party will be far and away the votegetting winner — attaining perhaps 30 seats in the Knesset, roughly twice as many as the nearest competitor — but substantially short of the 61-seat majority needed for a parliamentary majority. In this scenario, Netanyahu or whoever leads the Likud — Netanyahu is under a legal cloud for corruption — will, like every prime minister designate before

A recent poll found that when Israelis were asked who they would like to lead the country, Netanyahu led former IDF Chief of Staff Benny Gantz by just three points. Other polls showed that Gantz’s new party would take 12-14 seats and be the second-largest party in the Knesset.

But the big news regarding the April elections is that they are expected to show the continued withering of two movements that have played major roles in the ruling coalition during Israel’s first three decades: Labor and religious Zionists. Labor was Israel’s founding party; it steered the growth and security of the state until after the Yom Kippur War. Labor could get as few as eight seats, while Jewish Home, the former home of Education Minister Naftali Bennett and the successor to the National Religious Party, could win fewer than four seats, too few to pass the election threshold.

says, subscribe to a “new brand of Judaism,” one that he calls “Jewish-Israeli.”

While fiercely patriotic like their forebears who founded, fought for and led the state under the Labor banner, these new “Jewish-Israelis” have embraced traditional Jewish practice — a marked departure from their secular Zionist forebears. While these “Jewish Israelis” don’t describe themselves as religious, per se, they see traditional religion as part of their lives rather than as an anachronism.

But “Jewish-Israelis,” according to Rosner, are not national religious Zionists either. Bennett, who bailed on Jewish Home to form a new entity eerily, but aptly, called New Right, seems to have understood this.

Ultimately, these are the people that political parties in Israel need to win over: respectful — and somewhat observant — of Jewish traditions, patriotic and less dogmatic than the historic firebrands of the left and the right. In a word, the

Can this election capture their voice? Only time will

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How should Jews react to the Belgian ban on shechitah?

RICHARD H. SCHWARTZ

Recently the Belgian government banned the practice of shechitah (Jewish ritual slaughter). How should Jews react?

Jewish Veg, formerly Jewish Vegetarians of North America, of which I am president emeritus, is against all slaughter, but we object when shechitah is singled out for criticism or is banned. Shechitah was designed to minimize pain, but even if it is carried out perfectly, the many months during which animals are mistreated on factory farms should be considered.

People who think that other methods of slaughter are more humane should read the book “Slaughterhouse: The Shocking Story of Greed, Neglect, and Inhumane Treatment Inside the U.S. Meat Industry” by Gail Eisnitz. It documents the many problems at slaughterhouses where animals are stunned prior to slaughter, with many of the workers becoming sadistic and cruel under the horrible conditions of their daily efforts.

There is a familiar admonition that states that when one is given a lemon they should make lemonade, meaning make the best of what appears to be a negative

situation. I believe this can happen in the case of the Belgian ban on shechitah. While meat-eaters will understandably have a negative reaction to the ban, if it leads some Jews to shift to a vegetarian or vegan diet, there could be many benefits:

• There would be a reduction in the widespread heart disease, several types of cancer, and other diseases afflicting many Jews and others.

• There would be a reduction in the emission of greenhouse gases. While the world is increasingly threatened by climate change, a 2006 U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization report, “Livestock’s Long Shadow,” indicated that animal-based agriculture emits more greenhouse gases (in CO2 equivalents) than is emitted by the cars and all other means of transportation worldwide combined.

• There would be a reduction in environmental problems, including deforestation, soil erosion, water pollution, loss of biological diversity and desertification.

• Resources would be used more efficiently. In an increasingly thirsty

and energy-dependent world, a person on an animal-based diet requires up to 14 times as much water (mainly for irrigating feed crops) and 10 times as much energy as a person on a vegan (only plants) diet.

• There would be a reduction in the number of animals who suffer greatly from cruel treatment on factory farms.

• There would potentially be a reduction in the number of hungry people. At a time when food prices are skyrocketing, an estimated 20 million people are dying annually worldwide from hunger and its effects, and almost a billion of the world’s people are chronically hungry, since 70 percent of the grain produced in the United States and 40 percent produced worldwide are fed to farmed animal. What makes that even more shameful is that the corn, soy and oats that are high in fiber and complex carbohydrates are converted into animal products that are devoid of these nutrients, but high in cholesterol and saturated fat that are so harmful to health.

It should also be considered that plantbased diets are most consistent with Jewish teachings on preserving human health, treating animals with compassion, protecting the environment, conserving natural resources and helping hungry people. Also, such diets are consistent with conditions during the two ideal times pictured in the Jewish tradition: the Garden of Eden (based on Genesis 1:29) and the messianic period, based on Isaiah’s vision of a peaceable kingdom (Isaiah 11:6-9).

The shechitah ban must be opposed, but it is hoped that rabbis and other Jewish leaders will help increase awareness of the many benefits of vegetarianism and of Jewish teachings that point to it as the ideal Jewish diet. This would help revitalize Judaism by showing the relevance of its eternal teachings to current realities, bring many idealistic Jews back to Judaism, and help shift our precious, but imperiled, planet onto a sustainable path. JN

Crackdown in Xinjiang — the Islamic world’s Achilles heel

JAMES M. DORSEY

Adisagreement between major Indonesian religious leaders and the government on how to respond to China’s crackdown on Turkic Muslims raises questions about the Islamic world’s ability to sustain its silence about what amounts to one of the most concerted assaults on the faith in recent history.

Rejecting a call on the government by the Indonesian Ulema Council, the country’s top clerical body, to condemn the Chinese crackdown on Turkic Muslims that has seen up to a million Muslims detained in re-education camps in China’s northwestern province

of Xinjiang, Indonesian vice president Jusuf Kalla recently insisted that the government will not interfere in the internal affairs of others.

The disagreement could take on greater significance after the elections in April, which incumbent president Joko Widodo is expected to win. Widodo’s vice presidential running mate, Ma’ruf Amin, is the Ulema Council’s chairman. Since joining the ticket, Amin has retained his Council position as non-active chairman.

Nonetheless, Kalla’s position is in line with that of a majority of Muslim countries. Eager as they are to attract

Chinese infrastructure investment, those countries have opted to remain silent on the crackdown in a bid to avoid jeopardizing relations with the People’s Republic. These same countries have responded angrily to far less threatening incidents, such as the condemnation of British writer Salman Rushdie for his novel, “The Satanic Verses”; the cartoon depiction in Denmark of the Prophet Muhammad; and the burning of a Qur’an by an American pastor.

In a similar vein, Mushahid Hussain, chairman of Pakistan’s Senate Foreign Affairs Committee, said the cardinal

principle of Pakistan-China relations is to refrain from commenting on anything to do with another other country’s domestic issues — even though some 200 small Pakistani businessmen have been campaigning for the release of their Uyghur spouses from Chinese camps, or for the lifting of travel bans on their children, or for permission to visit them.

“Given the relationship of Pakistan with China, and in the Muslim world in particular, the Chinese narrative is apparently being accepted across the

Richard H. Schwartz, Ph.D., is the president emeritus of Jewish Veg, formerly Jewish Vegetarians of North America.

NJY Camps President Responds to Editorial

There is no doubt in anyone’s mind that new lay leadership is in the best interest of NJY Camps (“When Leadership Is Discredited,” Jan. 4). And as president I can say that we are moving responsibly in that direction. Sadly, your editorial mischaracterizes the situation.

Upon learning of Debbie Findling’s allegations against Len Robinson regarding his time before coming to NJY Camps, we immediately launched an internal investigation of his tenure with us. The results of the investigations were deeply troubling.

Far from burying it, our entire 60-member board was invited to review the results and was fully briefed by the team that led the investigation. The board then took action to fully implement all of the report’s recommendations. While

it is true that we have not released the investigation to the public, we have done so in order to protect the confidentiality of the brave women who came forward to

governance will not have any impact on our ability to provide an amazing summer for thousands of campers. In fact, we are seeing strong registration numbers for

funders of our operations. Finally, while new board members come in to replace those of us stepping down, the NJY Camps board remains fully operational and will continue to do so through this transition.

Peter Horowitz President, NJY Camps

Clarification

their

share their stories with the investigators. A number of these women have reached out to us in recent weeks to reconfirm that they do not want their identities compromised.

While this has been a difficult year for NJY Camps, the structural changes to our

this summer. Our professional staff is hard at work preparing for the 2019 camping season. I also need to note that while we have always had a strong collegial relationship with the Jewish Federations in New Jersey, they are not sponsors of NJY Camps, nor are they significant

“When Leadership Is Discredited” (Editorial, Jan. 4) may have left the impression that NJY Camps is without governance. The organization has since clarified that regardless of what happens to its current board, there will always be a board and a president. Additionally, Janet Fliegelman is acting as NJY Camp’s interim director.

WHILE THIS HAS BEEN A DIFFICULT YEAR FOR NJY CAMPS, THE STRUCTURAL CHANGES TO ITS GOVERNANCE WILL NOT HAVE ANY IMPACT ON ITS ABILITY TO PROVIDE AN AMAZING SUMMER FOR THOUSANDS OF CAMPERS, SAYS NJY CAMPS LEADER.

The recipe for greatness

PARSHAT BESHALACH, EXODUS 13:17–17:16

Dear parents: There is no question that our child-rearing years can often seem to be the ultimate roller coaster ride. Just as we find ourselves reaching a potential breakthrough, in which our children seem to display the maturity/ kindness/responsibility/etc. for which we had labored mightily to see from them, they can so often slip right into their next difficult phase and frustrate anew we who care most for them.

However, what we must always bear in mind, as challenging as it may sometimes be, is that the difficult stages of our children’s development so often serve as a springboard to their ultimate maturation as a well-rounded adult.

This idea may very well originate from this week’s Torah portion, Parshat Beshalach. After the Splitting of the Sea, the people of Israel found themselves in a place called Mara, unable to drink the bitter water for which the place was named. G-d instructed Moses to place the branch of a bitter tree into the water, and

the water miraculously became sweet, enabling the people of Israel to drink it. Amazingly, this bitter branch turned the bitter water sweet! If we think about it however, this is one of the many amazing miracles in the creation of all the food with which G-d provides us — not merely that water from so long ago. The blessing we say before eating fruit from trees is boreh pri ha’etz, thanking the One who creates the fruit of the tree. We don’t just thank G-d for creating fruit, we also recognize the miracle of creating the fruit, something sweet, from the tree that has a bitter taste. This is similarly true with the blessing said over fruits of the ground and vegetables, boreh pri ha’adamah, where we also recognize

that G-d has created something so sweet from something so bitter, the earth. And so it is with our children. The moments from which we can derive the greatest satisfaction in our raising of them are often a direct result of the times of greater challenge and how we worked with them during those times to persevere. In fact, there is an even greater connection between the growth of nature’s fruits and that of not only our children, but each one of us as well.

In Deuteronomy, the Torah provides an interesting rule of war. When laying siege to a city, we are commanded not to cut down any fruit trees, for we might need to eat from them, and a person is like the tree of a field. How are we to understand this?

Our sages explain that there are two main components to any fruit-bearing tree; the roots that allow for the tree to receive its sustenance, and the fruit that it bears. The roots are always the most important element of any tree and take

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JAN. 26 - 6:33 P.M.

the longest to grow strong; only then, with healthy, strong roots, can the tree and its fruit remain. So it is with a person’s spiritual growth as well.

Just as we are reminded by the verse that we should plan for the future, as we might need the trees, the secret is not to act rashly in our own growth either; it requires careful planning. Then, just as strong roots are essential for a tree’s growth, so too must we slowly build up a strong foundation in our service of G-d, as well. This then, is the recipe for greatness: hard work through challenging times, laying a solid foundation for ourselves and our children, and planning for the future.

May we all succeed in these endeavors and achieve the spiritual greatness of which we are capable. JN

XINJIANG

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 8

board as the one that is correct,” Hussain told the Associated Press.

Turkey, too, despite its ethnic and cultural links to China’s Turkic Muslims and past support for Uyghur aspirations, has adopted a similar attitude as Chinese investment and financial aid expands.

With the exception of a few protests in Bangladesh and India, and some critical statements by Malaysian leaders, Muslims across the globe have largely refrained from pressuring their governments to speak out about developments in Xinjiang. In fact, China retains its status as Asia’s top tourism destination for Muslim travelers.

Nabeel Shariff, founder of U.K.based halal holiday company Serendipity Tailormade, struggled with the ethical aspects of promoting Muslim tourism to China, but concluded that “in a way, it makes sure the Uyghur community are not forgotten.”

Shariff’s justification notwithstanding,

there is little evidence that the plight of China’s Turkic Muslims remains in the Muslim public eye. Muslim and Chinese leaders appear to be betting that the silence is sustainable. That threatens to be a risky strategy.

For one thing, the crackdown in Xinjiang is expanding to the Hui, China’s nonTurkic Muslims. The autonomous region of Ningxia Hui recently signed a cooperation agreement on anti-terrorism with Xinjiang in a bid to learn from the crackdown on the Turkic Muslims, or, in the words of the Global Times, a Communist Party organ, “to learn from Xinjiang’s experiences in promoting social stability.”

Mounting Western criticism of the crackdown, which is toughest on Muslims but also targets other religious groups, including evangelists, puts Muslim nations on the spot. The criticism is likely to lead to Western companies boycotting products made in Xinjiang by inmates of the re-education camps, which China describes as institutions for vocational training.

A recent Associated Press investigation tracked the shipment of sportswear from a factory linked to the camps to Badger Sportswear in the United States, which supplies university bookshops and sports teams around the country. “We will voluntarily halt sourcing and will move production elsewhere while we investigate the matters raised,” said Badger CEO John Anton.

New Jersey Republican Rep. Chris Smith, a member of the House Foreign Relations Committee, called on the Trump administration to ban imports from Chinese companies associated with detention camps.

A potential black swan is anti-Chinese sentiment in a number of Muslim countries, some of which have ethnic links to China’s Turkic Muslims. This could be a result of perceptions that Chinese commercial terms for project finance and loans associated with the People’s Republic’s infrastructure-driven Belt and Road Initiative are debt traps.

In an illustration of the risk, Kunaysh Sultanov, a member of the Kazakh parliament, and former deputy prime minister and ambassador to China, took issue with the government’s attempt to balance its relations with China with its need to stand up for the rights of Kazakhs.

“There should be talks taking place with the Chinese delegates. Every delegation that goes there should be bringing this topic up. … The key issue is that of the human rights of ethnic Kazakhs in any country of the world being respected,” Sultanov said after an escaped Chinese camp worker of Kazakh descent testified in court about what she had witnessed. JN

James M. Dorsey, a non-resident senior associate at the BESA Center, is a senior fellow at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies at Singapore’s Nanyang Technological University and co-director of the University of Würzburg’s Institute for Fan Culture. BESA Center Perspectives Papers are published through the generosity of the Greg Rosshandler Family. This article was provided by JNS.org.

Find area congregations at jewishaz.com, where you can also find our 2019 Community Directory.

Rabbi Yisroel Weiner is the principal of the Phoenix Hebrew Academy.

RABBI YISROEL WEINER

On the big screen: West Valley Jewish Film Festival returns for 14th year

NICK ENQUIST

Strangers,” will play on Jan. 27. It is also a documentary that was released in 2018. Unlike “Heading Home,” “Three Identical Strangers tells a darker story. The film follows triplets who were separated at birth by a Jewish adoption agency working with a researcher on the issue of nurture versus nature. The boys reunited as young adults in college, having never known they had brothers, let alone identical ones. The film details the negative impact the experiment had on them and their families.

The triplets were intentionally placed into different families of various economic backgrounds as a part of a psychological experiment. One was placed in a bluecollar family, one was in a middle-class family and one was raised by a wealthy

intergenerational communication and was very heartwarming.

Along with showing the three films, Beth Emeth Congregation will serve food and refreshments at each screening. The meals will match the film’s themes or setting. For example, during the screening of “Heading Home: The Tale of Team Israel,” there will be kosher hot dogs, soda and big, soft pretzels for the audience to enjoy.

Rosen said that the festival offers an alternate way for congregants to express their Judaism.

“Not everybody chooses to express their Jewish identity by coming to services or celebrating the High Holidays,” Rosen said. “But Jews seeing movies

The movies aren't what they used to be. With the advent of Netflix and other streaming services, movie theaters have struggled to bring in patrons. Film festivals, too, have had to grapple with the lure of the home theater. Fortunately for residents of Sun City West, though, Beth Emeth Congregation’s West Valley Jewish Film Festival, now in its 14th year, continues to thrive.

“This is a long-standing tradition out here for the West Valley,” said Rabbi Tracee Rosen of Beth Emeth. “We're out in a place that doesn’t always have a lot of connection with Jewish life, especially out on the east side. The film festival started as a way to bring Jewish content and Jewish culture to the West Valley.”

The festival begins Saturday, Jan. 26, and runs through Monday, Jan. 28 at Beth Emeth Congregation. Each night will show a different film for members of the congregation and the general community.

The chairwoman of the film festival, Irene Lehrer, selected this year’s movies, which she thinks are enjoyable and tell powerful, uplifting Jewish stories. She focused on finding films that show different sides to Jewish storytelling. This is her third year as the chairwoman.

“I try to pick movies that are interesting, meaningful and that people other than

Jews will appreciate,” Lehrer said. “We’re in the middle of two churches [Sun City West Christian Church and Advent Episcopal Church] and we have a very wonderful working relationship with both of them. So with their help, we get wonderful participation from the entire community to attend this social event that’s for everyone to enjoy.”

All local neighbors are generally invited to the festival, and space usually fills up for each night of the screenings.

The first of the three films is “Heading Home: The Tale of Team Israel,” which screens Jan. 26. A documentary released in February 2018, the film focuses on the Israeli baseball team of 2017. After years of defeat, Israel was able to compete in the World Baseball Classic international tournament by bringing in many American Jewish Major League Baseball players.

The film follows the team’s journey to the tournament, detailing each player’s relationship with Israel and their religion, and how the players became a sensation in Israel. “Heading Home: The Tale of Team Israel” was distributed by Menemsha Films and won several film awards, including best documentary at the 2018 Gold Coast International Film Festival in North Hempstead, New York.

The second film, “Three Identical

family at the direction of late psychologist Peter Neubauer, who worked in tandem with the adoption agency.

The final film, which will be screened on Monday, Jan. 28, is “The Samuel Project.” The only one of the three films that is not a documentary, the independent drama stars Hal Linden and is about a Holocaust survivor living in San Diego. Linden’s character, Samuel, discovers that his grandson wants to use Samuel’s life as the basis for a high school animation project.

“The Samuel Project” is a personal favorite of Lehrer’s and she considers it one of the best films the festival has ever shown. She thought that the film did a great job of showing the complexities of

that reflect different aspects of being Jewish here in the United States is not only an educational experience, but a real bonding experience for people.”

It also gives seniors in Sun City West who may not be physically able to venture to other parts of the Valley a chance to partake in the events.

“So many of our congregants and members of our community are with walkers that it’s difficult for them to get around,” Lehrer said. “This is a local event that’s easy for them to access, and it’s an entertaining evening out.” JN

Tickets for all three movies can be purchased for $27. The cost to attend individual movies is $10 in advance and $12 at the door. For more information, visit bethemethaz.org.

Beth Emeth Congregation of the West Valley in Sun City West is hosting the 14th annual West Valley Jewish Film Festival.

A still from the film ‘Heading Home: The Tale of Team Israel.’ PHOTO PROVIDED BY MENEMSHA FILMS

DIY enthusiasts tackle kid-centered projects

KIM USLIN | CONTRIBUTING WRITER

It’s a common refrain among parents: “I’d do anything for my children.” And while that’s certainly true of most, a few families are taking the phrase a bit more literally than others. DIY culture is on the rise, inspired by HGTV and similar home shows, as well as the show-and-tell nature of social media.

IKEA pieces. After seeing a hack for an activity tower made from a stepstool, she was intrigued — but thought she could do better.

“I loved the idea of it, that our boys could see what was going on at counter level, but I could see some structural weaknesses,” she says. “I started taking measurements and designing my own.”

As she began working on the project, however, she realized it was more of an undertaking than she had originally intended — but she wasn’t to be deterred. Realizing she needed better equipment, she began looking into tool rental before discovering a tool library. The community organization had exactly what she needed (a drill press and a miter saw for precision cuts), and she was back at it.

“What I thought would be a one-day project ended up taking two and a half days, but I really enjoyed it. I grew up watching ‘This Old House.’ I idolize Tom Silva,” she laughs.

Her son uses the tower every day, and Simmons says she wishes she had the time to build one more for her home and several others for family and friends. Besides the time constraint, however, she recognizes the other major challenge of DIY.

“People think it’s cost-saving, but it’s often not,” she says. “It takes a lot of money and time, but for me it’s a labor of love.”

and effort, but he wouldn’t have it any other way.

“It’s been quite a hit,” he says, both with his children and their friends. “I enjoy building stuff like this. There’s a lot of freedom.”

Johnson says he was able to get more “bang for his buck” by building the set himself.

“If you have some building experience, you can build it stronger and better and save some money,” he said.

modeled after a photo his son-in-law had found on the internet. Ridgely scrounged for materials from his own construction jobs.

He says the project took about three weeks, including cutting, sanding and sealing the wood, as well as adding lights, painting it the signature Caterpillar yellow and applying genuine Caterpillar logos from a few of Ridgely’s friends at the company. (Fun fact: The hubcaps were made from stainless steel mixing bowls.)

Take Baltomore-area mom Jen Simmons. She recently became an avid fan of the DIY site IKEA Hackers, a hub for creative updates to cheap-but-serviceable

This was partially the case for Brett Johnson, who’s currently building a large-scale playset for his son and daughter. The tree house-turnedswing set-turned-all-purpose playset (which includes slides, a tower, and a forthcoming tire swing, zipline and sandbox) has taken plenty of planning

If you don’t have any experience, however, he said you’d better go with a kit.

But while that may be the easier route, it does limit creativity, as Kevin Ridgely knows. Ridgely, a building contractor, recently built a Caterpillar-style digger bed for his three-year-old grandson,

Though the project was fairly advanced, Ridgely said his grandson helped.

“Once you explain something to him, he seems to retain it,” he says. “Even at three years old, he knows what the equipment is and what it does.”

He chuckles. “He’s going to help me build a shed for my wife this year.” JN

Jen Simmons crafted this activity tower for her son.

The playset that Brett Johnson constructed will get some add-ons, including a zipline. The Caterpillar-style bed that Kevin Ridgely designed.

More tips for parent-teacher conferences

STACY WILLIAMS

Establishing a positive parent-teacher relationship can be critical to a successful school year. Proactively, nurturing this relationship is an investment in your child’s education and their ability to maximize their full potential.

As an educator and a parent, I believe parent-teacher conferences can be an effective tool for building a bridge between the family and the school. However, parent-teacher conferences can sometimes be tough to navigate, too brief to discuss anything of substance, or perhaps only called when a conflict arises.

Here are some tips to help you make the most of one-on-one time with teachers:

enjoy the most, what they find easy and difficult about school, and their feelings on their teachers so far. This feedback will help inform your discussion and demonstrate that you are tuned into your child’s thoughts and experiences.

The questions you prepare for the teacher may vary depending on your child’s specific needs, but some sample questions could include:

• What strengths does my child demonstrate?

• In what areas does he/she need additional support?

• When does my child seem most engaged?

Come prepared

Like your kids, make sure you do your homework. Prior to your meeting, come up with a list of clearly defined goals and questions.

The best place to start is with your child. Ask them what subjects they

• Is my child meeting the expectations for this grade level?

• What are some resources to improve their performance or to challenge them if they’re

Make the most of your parent-teacher conference.

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 13

exceeding expectations?

• What can we do at home to support what you’re doing in the classroom?

• Does my child socialize well?

Let your guard down

Teachers like to use this one-on-one time to get to know about your family. While sharing personal information may seem uncomfortable, what they learn could help them teach your child more effectively.

If your family is experiencing challenges that may contribute to poor performance or disengagement in the classroom, share as much information with the teacher as you are comfortable. Teachers appreciate having that context so they can offer appropriate support.

Give the teacher some insight into your child’s personality traits. Let the teacher know if he/she is outgoing or shy, artistic or logical, inquisitive or passive, high-energy or quiet. Share

strategies you use at home to nurture these traits and what challenges you sometimes face.

It’s also important to share your child’s interests and hobbies. At Loyola, our mission is to teach the whole child, which includes understanding what they’re passionate about. This knowledge

helps teachers build positive relationships with students and personalize lessons to meet the needs of all the learners in the class.

Remember that teachers want the best for your child

Never forget that you and the teacher

are on the same team. Like you, educators want your child to thrive and develop socially, academically and personally. However, teachers are human and sometimes make mistakes or may say something that your child perceives not as intended. Your child’s well-being and happiness are important, so you may get emotional when approaching a teacher about a negative situation. Don’t be afraid to express your concerns but also listen to the teacher’s perspective to keep the conversation productive. Follow up with the teacher after the conference to maintain the focus on your child’s progress.

Say thank you

Last, but not least, thank the teacher. After your meeting, follow up with an email or handwritten letter saying you appreciated their insight. Those notes will go a long way in establishing an effective teacher-parent partnership. JN Stacy Williams is a clinical faculty member at the Loyola University Maryland School of Education and a mother of two teenagers.

Concert

Come to your meeting prepared with plenty of questions.

ISTOCK / GETTY IMAGES PLUS/STEVE DEBENPORT

Teaching about Israel at summer camp

MICHAEL JACOBS

The Atlanta-based Center for Israel Education will convene its second Israel seminar this spring to deliver historical context and state-of-the-art educational and experiential methods to Jewish summer camp staffers.

The program, with collaborative direction from the Foundation for Jewish Camp, is the core of an initiative CIE launched in 2018 with a three-year grant from the Legacy Heritage Fund to enhance Israel learning at Jewish summer overnight and day camps.

The CIE summer camp initiative provides Jewish camp staffers a stronger background on Israel’s story, the tools to create meaningful programming, a connection to peers at other camps and the opportunity for follow-up work with CIE professionals, including on-site summer visits.

Staffers from Camp Daisy and Harry Stein in Prescott will be attending the seminar.

The benefits of the seminar go beyond summer experiences. Staffers who are college students bring their enhanced Israel knowledge back to campus, where they are able to engage in discussions about Israel with context and nuance that go beyond the conflict and the boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS) movement. When campers go to college in the future, they also will have the knowledge to feel comfortable in discussions about contemporary Israel.

Left: Fourth- through sixth-grade students from Temple Chai enjoy a fall retreat at Camp Daisy & Harry Stein in Prescott. Staffers from the camp will be attending the CIE seminar. PHOTO COURTESY OF TEMPLE CHAI

Owning Israel’s story gives campers a more complete sense of their Jewish identity.

“We’re doing training in what we do best,” said Steve Kerbel, an educational consultant with a quarter-century of experience who is leading CIE’s camp initiative. That means showing how to learn about modern Israel with background and context through ageappropriate games, experiences and other activities that are fun, as well as educational.

For example, CIE advocates using food as a nonthreatening, uncontroversial way to delve into Israel. Kerbel cited two lessons — one focused on hummus, the other on Israeli couscous — that bring Israel’s history, culture, diversity and innovation into the kitchen with campers.

A deeper connection to Israel can come from something as simple as announcing the weather in Tel Aviv along with the camp forecast each morning or sharing Israel’s success in European basketball competitions as part of sports programs.

“Those things don’t make the news,

so our kids don’t know about them,” Kerbel said.

The camp initiative is not meant to replace the work Israeli shlichim (emissaries) d o in serving as the face of Israel for summer campers. Instead, the CIE program augments context and provides background for their programming, Kerbel said.

The first three-day retreat for camp staffers in May 2018 drew 35 participants from Young Judaea and Ramah camps, Camp JORI, URJ Camp Coleman, Atlanta’s In the City Camp, and the Marcus Jewish Community Center of Atlanta’s day camps.

The content included the origins of Jewish identity, peoplehood, Zionism, state making and contemporary issues and led to discussions about how each camp could take advantage of its unique setting to implement experiential programming beyond a single Israel Day during a summer session.

“Some participants wrote feverishly, jotting down ideas from peers. Others challenged their own perceptions of Israel’s story, and still others figured out, through brisk exchanges, how to apply

content to their camp’s settings,” CIE President Ken Stein said. “As a teacher, watching each of them belong to Israel’s story in their unique ways generated similar outcomes to what educators, teens and clergy have experienced in previous Israel learning sessions with us. Common to all of them is understanding content in context and Israel’s complexity.”

Kerbel said camps sent staffers because they recognized the need to improve as Israel educators, not in response to claims from organizations such as IfNotNow that summer camps hide the truth about Israel and the Palestinians. But he said CIE can help camps deal with those issues in a developmentally appropriate way that includes understanding perspective and answering tough questions with appropriate, nuanced responses.

Kerbel said he followed up on the seminar by spending a couple of days doing Israel programming with seventhand eighth-graders at Camp Judaea, and he found they didn’t even know how to start talking about the conflict.

“After allowing myself to sit on the student side of the classroom, learning from the CIE staff and the impressive

young participants, I now feel more properly positioned to encourage these exercises and conversations in camp,” said seminar participant Elana Pollack, the program director at Camp Judaea.

Helene Drobenare, the executive director of Young Judaea Sprout Camps, said participation in the last year’s program added to the staff skill set and helped build a stronger educational team for this past summer.

Camp Young Judaea Sprout Lake staffers said at the end of the seminar that they had gained a better understanding of Israel’s current events, learned how to teach Israel to young children, took away programming ideas and materials on Israeli geography, and gained ways to explain the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and the issues of occupation.

“Our staff returned motivated and excited to create some new programs for our community,” Drobenare said. “They had fresh techniques that really worked at camp.” JN

Michael Jacobs is a communications consultant with the Center for Israel Education. For more information about the CIE Jewish camp seminar, contact Steve Kerbel at steve@israeled.org.

Is your kid ready for camp? Here’s what you need to know

KATIE BEECHER | CONTRIBUTING WRITER

The idea of summer camp can be daunting for both parents and kids, especially if a child has never been. How do you even know if your child is ready to go to camp?

Alicia Berlin, director of Camps Airy and Louise near Thurmont, Maryland, said that children may be ready for camp sooner than parents realize.

“Kids aren’t always going to express an interest in camp, because they themselves don’t know if they’re ready,” Berlin said. She encourages parents to tour the camp with their child the summer before so that they can talk to other campers, families and staff.

It’s also important to have conversations with the child throughout the process. Steve Cusick, assistant director of the Summer at Friends day camp in Baltimore, encourages parents to take a moment to talk through the information about camp with their child.

“They should go through details like

lunch, activities, pickup and communicating with their counselor,” he said.

Parents should realize that they set the tone for camp.

“Parents really influence a child’s success at camp,” Berlin said. “That’s why it’s important to start talking about it in the offseason and to stay positive.”

She warns against any kind of negative talk, because it becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy.

“Parents shouldn’t be voicing their personal worries to the child, because then the child feels responsible for the parent,” she said.

How do parents choose a camp? What kinds of camps are out there?

For an overnight camp, Berlin encourages kids to have a successful sleepover first. If they’re comfortable with that, it’s a good sign to start camp.

“A child really doesn’t know what they can do until they go away and have to figure things out for themselves,”

she said. By living with 12 to 14 other children, they learn how to problem solve and communicate. “They become more independent because they’re responsible for cleaning the bunk, doing chores, choosing activities and making friends.”

What’s more, she added, the experience helps kids form strong bonds and gives them an opportunity to re-create themselves and be who they want to be.

As for day camps, campers can choose from day programs filled with classic camp activities, such as games or arts and crafts, or camps that focus on specific interests, such as arts or technology.

For example, at STEM-based training camps, campers spend their days exploring technologies and participating in engineering projects that include experience in circuitry, programming and flying drones, coding and robotics.

For children who have a passion for sports, Ramah Sports Academy is an example of what’s out there. Located at

Fairfield University in Connecticut, the overnight camp focuses on high-level sports instruction and fostering a love of Judaism.

“We offer three two-week sessions,” said director Rabbi Dave Levy. “Campers pick a sport before they attend, and they focus on that sport twice a day, every day.”

Open to grades fourth to 11th, campers work with experienced coaches in their specific sport for five hours each day.

Jewish education and spiritual development are woven into daily activities, and campers have the option to switch things up and spend some additional time exploring another sport. Levy said parents should be sure their kids are excited about the activities and are willing keep up with the routine before sending them.

“Trying one of the two-week sessions helps a child get their feet wet and get a sense of whether this is something they enjoy.” JN

CALENDAR Events

SATURDAY, JAN. 19

Gesher goes to the Phoenix Symphony – Cirque Swan Lake: 7:30p.m., Mesa Arts Center, 1 E. Main St., Mesa. Troupe Vertigo brings this enchanting fairytale soaring to life alongside The Phoenix Symphony. Information: 480-629-5343 or jacquelyn@ gesherdr.org

SUNDAY, JAN. 20

Jonathan’s Walk 4 Friendship: 12:30 p.m., Chaparral Park, 5401 N. Hayden Road, Scottsdale. Jonathan’s Walk 4 Friendship is a 1-mile walk which raises necessary funds as well as community awareness for the Friendship Circle. Information: 602-861-1600

Day of Friendship: 10 a.m., Cactus Park, 7202 E. Cactus Road, Scottsdale. Join PJ Library, NowGen and Pardes Jewish Day School of a Day of Friendship honoring MLK Day, There will be crafts, games and music. Open to all ages and faiths. Register: vosjcc.org/ friendship.

SATURDAY, JAN. 26

An Evening with the Mentalist Brett Barry: 6:30 p.m., Valley of the Sun JCC, 12701 N. Scottsdale Road, Scottsdale. Brett Barry knows what you are thinking. The question is how does he do it? The event is being held in partnership with Temple Kol Ami. Members: $20; guests: $25 with pre-registration. Members: $25; guests: $30 at the door. Register: vosjcc.org/mentalist

JAN. 26-28

West Valley 14th Annual Jewish Film Festival: 6:30 p.m., Beth Emeth Congregation, 13702 W. Meeker Blvd., Sun City West. The festival will feature the films

‘Heading Home: The Tale of Team Israel,’ ‘Three Identical Strangers’ and ‘The Samuel Project.’ The cost to see all three movies is $27 in advance. Tickets for each movies are $10.00 in advance and $12 at the door. Information: 623 584-7210

Meetings, Lectures & Classes

SATURDAY, JAN. 19

An Evening with Storyteller/Author Marty Brounstein: 6:30 p.m., The Shrine of Holy Wisdom, 5025 S. Ash Ave., Suite B-15, Tempe. Hosted by the Shrine of Holy Wisdom Church and Hillel Jewish Student Center of ASU, Marty Brounstein will tell a true interfaith story of a Christian couple in the Netherlands who saved the lives of more than two dozen Jews during the Holocaust and World War II.

SUNDAY, JAN. 20

Lecture by Rabbi Daniel Cohen: 4 p.m., Congregation Or Tzion, 16415 N. 90th St., Scottsdale. An evening in memory of Stephen Draizin, past co-chair of the congregation’s L’Dor Vador Society. Rabbi Cohen will speak on ‘Becoming a Blessing - The Secret to a Life

Event

MONDAY, JAN. 21

MLK Walk: 8:30 a.m., Pilgrim Rest Baptist Church, 1401 E. Jefferson St., Phoenix. The Jewish Community Relations Council invites people to walk united with the Jewish community of Phoenix to celebrate Martin Luther King Jr. Day. JCRC will bring a large banner and others are welcome to bring signs as well. Information: info@jcrcphoenix.org or 480-481-7149

of Renewable Energy and Eternal Impact.’

RSVP: tinyurl.com/OTDraizin

Ladles of Love: 9 a.m.-noon, East Valley JCC, 908 N. Alma School Road, Chandler. Volunteers prepare kosher meals to deliver to homebound individuals. Drivers also needed. To sign up, visit bit.ly/Ladles2018.

Eco-Judaism: 2-4 p.m., Temple Chai, 4645 E. Marilyn Road, Phoenix. In honor of Tu B’Shevat, Rabbi Nina Perlmutter, rabbi emerita for Congregation Lev Shalom in Flagstaff, will explore ancient and modern Jewish teachings about the appropriate relationship between humans and the nonhuman world.

MONDAY, JAN. 21

‘She Who Dwells Within: Shechinah, the Feminine Face of Gd in Torah, Mysticism, and Our World’: 1-2 p.m., Beth Emeth Congregation of the West Valley, 13702 W. Meeker Blvd., Sun City West. Presented by VBM, the guest speaker is Rabbi Tirzah Firestone, a Jungian psychologist, author, and the founding rabbi of Congregation Nevei Kodesh in Boulder, Colorado. Suggested donation is $18. Register: bit.ly/2BCH8jE

TUESDAYS, JAN. 22 & 27

Knitting Circle at The J: 1:30 p.m., Valley of the Sun JCC, 12701 N. Scottsdale Road,

Scottsdale. Share the pleasure of knitting and crocheting. Can’t knit? We’ll teach you. No reservations required. Information: 480-4817033 or harrietc@vosjcc.org

TUESDAY, JAN. 22

Terrific Tuesdays: 10-11:30 a.m., East Valley JCC, 908 N. Alma School Road, Chandler. Speaker: Bill Gates. Topic: “Is Fake News Real?” Ages 55-plus. Suggested donation: $4. 480-897-0588 or adrian@evjcc.org.

WEDNESDAY, JAN. 23

A Tribute to the Soldiers of WWI: 11 a.m.noon, Valley of the Sun JCC, 12701 N. Scottsdale Road, Scottsdale. Guy Benoit, historical researcher and grandson of a WWI veteran, pays tribute to the soldiers of his French hometown and the Lafayette Squadron and Doughboys, including battles fought by the Allies and the American Expeditionary Forces. Members: $5; guests: $15. Register: vosjcc.org/soldiers

MONDAY, JAN. 28

Cactus ORT: 1 p.m., Mountain Gate Apartments’ Clubhouse, 4602 E. Paradise Valley Parkway North, Phoenix. J.A. Plosker will discuss his book ‘The Nobody Bible.’ Plosker is a 2017 Bookvana Award Winner. All are welcome, free. Questions: Ellen, 602-953-9307

Children & Family

SUNDAY, JAN. 27

Preschool Tailgate Party: 5 p.m., Beth El Phoenix, 1118 W. Glendale Ave., Phoenix. Help honor longtime friend Ros Slovin for her more than 20 years of dedicated service as the office manager of Beth El preschool. Enjoy tailgating while playing outdoor games, bidding at the silent auction and eating yummy sports-themed foods. Tickets are $54 each. RSVP: tinyurl.com/y8vq6hbo or 602-944-2464

Preschool open house: 9:30-11 a.m., East Valley JCC Early Childhood Learning Center, 908 N. Alma School Road, Chandler. Pancake breakfast, activities. Free and open to the public. Reservation by Jan. 23. RSVP: pam@evjcc.org.

Shabbat

FRIDAY, JAN. 18

Music event: After Shabbat services, north Scottsdale location. Desert Foothills Jewish Community Association will present singer Jesse Washington, who will perform a variety of popular songs, show tunes and uplifting music. Dues are $60 per year and the first visit is free. Information: 480-664-8847

SATURDAY, JAN. 26

Simchat Shabbat: noon-1p.m., Congregation Beth Israel, 10460 N. 56th St., Scottsdale. Join Gesher Disability Resources for our monthly special needs Shabbat service. Simchat Shabbat is a free. RSVP: 480-6295343 or jacquelyn@gesherdr.org

Traditional Minyan: Congregation Or Tzion, 16415 N. 90th St., Scottsdale. Rabbi Nate Crane will lead a traditional Shabbat morning service with full p’sukei d’zimra, Amidah with repetition, and Torah study.

Seniors

MONDAY, JAN. 28

Sex, Sexuality & Older Adults in the Sacred Encounter: 1-2 p.m., Valley of the Sun JCC, 12701 N. Scottsdale Road, Scottsdale. Rabbi Richard Address, founder and director of Jewish Sacred Aging, examines human sexuality from a Jewish perspective.

Members: $5; guests: $15. Register: vosjcc.org/sacred

Arts

MONDAY, JAN. 14

BNC Roz Fischer Concerts & Conversations: 1 p.m., Palo Cristi Church, 3535 E. Lincoln Drive, Paradise Valley. Presented by the Brandeis National Committee, Ballet Arizona will showcase two dancers demonstrating classic ballet to ballet music. Cost is $7 at the door, no reservations required. Refreshments are included. Information: 602-971-0012 or joansitver@aol.com

Continuing Chanukah fun

Guests at the Chanukah Continues Party in the Park see who can make the largest bubble. Chanukah may have ended Dec. 10, but Gesher Disability Resources and Hagigah kept the celebration going through

Klezmer music explosion

Jerusafunk gets ready to entertain the audience at the East Valley JCC’s first Klezmer Music Festival on Jan. 13. The Rural Street Klezmer Band opened the festival. The Chai Tones and Yale Strom also performed.

MILESTONES

MARLEE H. LABELL

Marlee H. LaBell will become a bat mitzvah on Feb. 23, 2019, at Congregation Beth Israel. She is the daughter of Ariella and Steven LaBell of Scottsdale. Grandparents are Annette Kanshepolsky of Scottsdale, Dr. Jose Kanshepolsky of Scottsdale and Shelley and Fred LaBell of Phoenix.

For her mitzvah project, Marlee volunteered in a board position with NCL — National Charity League — to work on a variety of charitable projects including collecting, organizing and distributing food and clothes to the less fortunate.

Marlee is a student at Cocopah Middle School and she enjoys playing the violin in the Cocopah orchestra, soccer and spending time with friends and cousins.

Judaism and the afterlife

This COMMUNITY page features photos of community members around the Valley and the world. Submit photos and details each week to photos@jewishaz.com by 10 a.m. Monday.

the late Daniel E. Salcedo and Marijke Velzeboer. Tev has one sibling, Tito Alexander.

ENGAGEMENTS

JACQUELYN DANIELLE NULL AND MICHAEL BLAINE JOHNSON

Jacquelyn Danielle Null and Michael Blaine Johnson of Phoenix announce their engagement. Parents of the bride-to-be are Tom and Lynn Null of Medicine Park, Oklahoma. The groom-to-be’s parents are Kevin Johnson of Emporia, Kansas, and Karen Blucher of Wichita, Kansas.

TEV JULIAN TUCKMAN-SALCEDO

Tev Julian Tuckman-Salcedo was born Nov. 30, 2018, in New York City. He is the son of Nadya Salcedo and Michael Tuckman of Brooklyn.

His grandparents are Ellen and David Tuckman of Phoenix and

Jacquelyn earned her Bachelor of Science in strategic communications from the University of Kansas William Allen White School of Journalism and Mass Communications. She is currently working as a program and marketing specialist for Gesher Disability Resources. Michael earned his Bachelor of Science in aerospace engineering from the University of Kansas. He is an aerospace engineer at Honeywell Aerospace. The wedding will take place March 22, 2020.

From left, panelists Sandy Rife, Rabbi Dr. Shmuly Yanklowitz, Rabbi Pinchas Allouche, Rabbi Micah Caplan and Rabbi Bonnie Koppell gather to discuss ‘A Jewish Approach to the Afterlife,’ which took place at Congregation Or Tzion.

PHOTO COURTESY OF VALLEY BEIT MIDRASH

PHOTO COURTESY OF GESHER DISABILITY RESOURCES

PHOTO BY LEISAH WOLDOFF

BAT MITZVAH

RACHEL BOCHANTIN AND NICHOLAS WARREN

Rachel Bochantin and Nicholas Warren of Aurora, Colorado, announce their engagement. Parents of the bride-to-be are David Bochantin and Amy Rosenthal of Scottsdale. The groom-to-be’s parents are Fred and Lynette Warren of Highlands Ranch, Colorado.

Rachel graduated from the University of Colorado Boulder. She is currently working as a clinical research coordinator at the University of Colorado School of Medicine.

Nicholas graduated from the University of Colorado Boulder. He is a geological technician.

The wedding will take place Sept. 22, 2019, at Lionscrest Manor in Lyons, Colorado.

ERICA MORRIS AND JARED ERMAN

Erica Morris and Jared Erman were married on Dec.30, 2018, in Phoenix. Erica is the daughter of Roger Morris and Rabbi Bonnie Sharfman of Scottsdale, and Jared is the son of Dr. Russ and Anat Erman of Camarillo, California. Grandparents are Barbara Sharfman of Scottsdale and the late Dr. Earl

Sharfman; Marilyn Morris of Scottsdale and the late David Morris; Dr. Seneca Erman of Tucson and the late Dorothy Erman; and Tammy Gill of New Jersey and Tel Aviv and the late Sam Gill.

The bride graduated from Emory University and the James E. Rogers College of Law at The University of Arizona. Following a clerkship for Justice Robert Brutinel of the Arizona Supreme Court, Erica now practices at the law firm of Dickinson Wright in Phoenix.

The groom graduated with a business degree from The University of Arizona and is employed at Charles Schwab in Phoenix as a high-net worth specialist. The couple also teaches religious school at Congregation Kehillah.

PUBLIC NOTICES | 602.870.9470

JEROME C. SIEGEL

Jerome C. Siegel, 90, died Dec. 29, 2018, in Phoenix. He was born in Chicago and served in the U.S. Army.

Siegel is survived by his wife, Linda Siegel, and stepson, Michael Covert. Services were held on Jan. 2, 2019, at Beth Israel Cemetery and were officiated by Rabbi Jeremy Schneider.

Donations in Siegel’s name can be made to Jewish Family & Children’s Service and the Animal Welfare League.

Arrangements by Sinai Mortuary of Arizona.

Eugene S. Rose passed away on January 7 in Scottsdale at the age of 96. He was a devoted husband, a loving father and an icon of integrity to all who knew him. Gene was born in Vicksburg, Mississippi, on Dec. 24, 1922. He grew up in Depression-era Mississippi as part of a small Jewish community, assisting his parents in running the local drug store. One of his earliest childhood memories was running into the street to see one of the first airplanes to ever fly over Vicksburg. He excelled at academics and enrolled at Mississippi State in 1939 in pursuit of an engineering degree.

Like so many of his generation, he answered the call of duty after Pearl Harbor. He enlisted in the Army Air Force and rose to the rank of major by the end of the war. As a flight engineer, Gene manned B-29s in missions over Japan from his base in Tinian. He returned stateside in 1945 to undergo lead flight school training for the anticipated invasion of Japan. Fortunately, the war ended prior to his return to combat. After the war he used his GI Bill benefits to complete his undergraduate and master’s degrees in aeronautical engineering at the California Institute of Technology.

He worked as an engineer until he met his beloved Jackie on a blind date in 1957. It was love at first sight and for the next 61 years, uninterrupted. They lived in New Orleans, raising their four children. Gene was ever-helpful in assisting with school projects, especially those with a technologic bent. After marrying Jackie, Gene worked for Magnolia Liquor as a vice president, then in 1969 he became a stockbroker at Merrill Lynch. He won numerous awards as a broker and was a trusted advisor to his clients.

Following his retirement in 1988, he and Jackie moved to Scottsdale where they established a wide network of friends. Gene always loved the West, and they spent a great deal of time at their home in Pinetop to enjoy the outdoor beauty offered by the Mogollon Rim.

Gene will be missed by family, friends and acquaintances who were charmed by his casual Southern manners, dignity and grace. His survivors include his loving wife, Jackie; sons Stuart Rose, Ken Rose and Tom Rose; daughter Melanie Rose; son-in-law Steven Glucksman; and daughters-in-laws Beth Silberman, Rona Mast and Mimi Rose. He is also survived by eight grandchildren and five stepgrandchildren as well as a multitude of friends.

Funeral services were held at Paradise Memorial Gardens in Scottsdale on Jan. 10. Contributions can be made to the Hospice of the Valley.

t on or Comp a n To fi e your “Answer” or “Response” take or send, the Answer or Response to the O f f i c e o t h e C e r k o f t h e S u p e r o r C o u r t , Y a v a p a C o u n t y A r z o n a M a a c o p y o f y o ur Response or Answer to the other par y at the address isted on the op o this Summons 3 If h s Summons and the other court papers w e r e s e r v e d o n y o u b y a r e g s t e r e d p r o c e s s server or he Sheri with n the Sta e of Ar zona your Response or Answer must be i ed withn T W E N T Y ( 2 0 ) C A L E N D A R D A Y S r o m t h e date you were served not counting the day you were served If this Summons and the other papers were served on you by a registered process server or he Sher ff outside the State of A r z o n a , y o u r R e s p o n s e m u s t b e f e d w t h n

THIRTY (30) CALENDAR DAYS rom he dat e you were served not counting the day you were served Serv ce by a reg s ered process server or the Sherif s comp ete when made Serv ce by Pub ication s comp e e thirty (30) days after the date o the f rst publ ca on

4 You can get a copy of he court papers f led in this case from Pet tioner at the address at the top of this paper or from the Clerk of the Superor Cour ʼs Cus omer Serv ce Center

5 Requests for reasonab e accommodat on o r persons wi h disab i ies must be made to the off ce of the udge or comm ss oner ass gned to t h e c a s e a t e a s t f v e ( 5 ) d a y s b e o r e y o u r s c h e d u e d c o u r d a e

r Washington NOTICE OF HEARING

Read h s Not ce Carefu ly An mportant court p r o c e e d n g t h a a e c s y o u r r g h t s h a s b e e n scheduled f you do not understand th s not ce, contac a awyer for help 1 NOTICE IS GIVEN that the Pet t oner has f ed w th he Cour a Pet ion for Guard ansh p o a Minor 2 HEAR NG INFORMAT ON A court hear n g has been schedu ed to cons der the Pet t on a s fol ows: HEARING DATE AND TIME 02 07 2019 at 8 30 a m H E A R I N G P L A C E 3 1 3 1 W D u r a n g o P h o e n x A Z 8 5 0 0 9 - 6 2 9 2 C o u r t r o o m 7 HEARING OFFICER: HONORABLE EARTHA WASH NGTON 3 RESPONSE You can f le a writ en response t o h e p e t o n F l e y o u r o r i g n a w r i t t e n r esponse wi h he court ma l a copy of he or g na response to the peti ioner(s), and prov de a copy o y o u r r e s p o n s e o t h e J u d g e / C o m m s s o n er named above at least 5 bus ness days befor e the hear ng Or you can appear n person at he hear ng You must appear at he hear ng only f you w sh to ob ect to the pet t on Jew sh News 1/11, 1/18, 1 25, 2/1

respond to this complaint by f ing an answer w th this cour and payng the court s requ red fee I you cannot a ford t o p a y t h e r e q u i r e d f e e , y o u m a y r e q u e s t t h e c o u r t o w a i v e o r t o d e e r h e f e e 2 If you were served w th this summons in the Sta e o Ar zona, the court must J rece ve your answer o the comp aint wi h n twenty (20) ca endar days rom the date you were served If you were served outside the State of Arizona, th e court must receive your answer to the comp aint with n h rty (30) days from the date of service f the ast day s a Saturday, Sunday or ho iday, you wi l have unt the next work ng day to f le y o u r a n s w e r W h e n c a c u l a t n g m e d o n o t c o u n t t h e d a y y o u w e r e s e r v e d w i h h e s u mm o n s 3 T h s c o u r s l o c a t e d a 6 2 0 W e s t J a c k s o n S t r e e P h o e n x A Z 8 5 0 0 3

4 Your answer mus be in wr ing (a) You may o b t a n a n a n s w e r f o r m f r o m h e c o u r l s t e d above, or on he Se f-Service Center of he Arz o n a J u d i c a l B r a n c h w e b s t e a t h tp /www azcourts gov/under the “Pub ic Services tab (b) You may v s t http://www azturbocourt gov to i l n your answer form electronca ly; h s requ res paymen o an addi ional fee (c) You may also prepare your answer on a p ain sheet of paper bu your answer must include he case number the cour loca on and the names of the par es 5 You must prov de a copy of your answer to the p a nt ff(s) or to he plain if s attorney

MILESTONES

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organizations keep prisoners from being forgotten

Jewish

Donate NICK ENQUIST STAFF WRITER Although Jewish prisoners make up less than 1 percent of the prison population nationwide, Rabbi Menachem Katz continues to maintain contact with prisoners to help provide what they need, such as religious texts, prayer services, and to make sure that they are treated fairly. But his work is not easy. Jewish inmates in Arizona, for instance, have refused to meet with Katz, who works with Jewish prisoners all over the country, because of the fear of white nationalist gangs. “We wanted to come visit them, but they said, ‘No, that will be too dangerous for you,’” said Katz, the Aleph Institute’s director of Military and Prison Outreach in Florida. “In Arizona, there is a concern with white supremacy.” According to Katz, there are currently 40 Jewish prisoners in the Arizona state prisons and 20 in federal institutions. A 2016 ADL report listed California and Texas as having the highest concentration of white supremacist gangs, followed by “problem” states of Oklahoma, Indiana, Missouri, Oregon and Tennessee.

JANET PEREZ MANAGING EDITOR

Yeshiva School girls pray outside Tree of Life. PHOTOBYJIMBUSIS Election update Almost a week after Election Day, three-term U.S. Rep. Kyrsten Sinema has been declared the winner in the race to fill the seat of retiring U.S. Sen. Jeff Flake. She was in a tight race with Republican U.S. Rep. Martha McSally. Sinema is Arizona’s first woman U.S. senator. She is also the first Arizona Democrat to be elected to the upper chamber in 30 years. Two races with Republican Jewish candidates remain undecided. Visit jewishaz. com for election updates. PHOTO COURTESY OF THE KYRSTEN SINEMA CAMPAIGN SEE PRISONERS, PAGE 3 KEEP YOUR EYE ON jewishaz.com

SPECIAL SECTION | 17 FAMILY MATTERS Treating pediatric pain with opioids and helping children and teens navigate the pitfalls of social media Israel halts ceasefire talks Marvel’s Stan Lee dies Toronto: Jewish teens assaulted ISRAEL NATIONAL INTERNATIONAL NOVEMBER 16, 2018 | KISLEV 8, 5779 VOLUME 70, NUMBER 60 $1.50 HEADLINES | 6 MEMORIALPITTSBURGHEVENT Pittsburgh residents, celebrities and dignitaries gathered to honor Tree of Life victims SEE TRAUMA, PAGE 2

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12701 N. Scottsdale Road, Suite 206 Scottsdale, AZ 85254

Arizona’s problem is not as big, but still has an impact on prisoners and visitors. But that has not stopped the Aleph Institute from providing its services.