Jewish News, Nov. 3, 2023

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GATHERING TOGETHER

MESA WRITER EXPLAINS ‘REBEL TEENS’

An interfaith prayer service at Temple Beth Shalom of the West Valley drew prayers for peace

Author Steve Bergsman shares insight on his new book about “The Wanderers” movie

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Senator Sinema talks to Jewish News about her support of Israel

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CJP’s emergency campaign is a ‘great path’ to provide immediate aid to Israel MALA BLOMQUIST | MANAGING EDITOR

SHANNON LEVITT | STAFF WRITER

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rizona Senator Kyrsten Sinema visited Israel only a few months ago, gathering insights and expertise on tunnel technology from the Israel Defense Forces. Some of that expertise has been put to use in Yuma recently to counter tunnels built by drug cartels, the senator told Jewish News in a one-on-one interview Thursday, Oct. 19.

Sinema described her July trip as “a wonderful visit,” where she was able to celebrate the Fourth of July at the American embassy in Jerusalem with many American friends living in Israel.

“I am really lucky to consider a number of individuals who live in Israel personal friends,” she said.

So when Sinema released a statement on Oct. 7, denouncing that day’s attacks on Israel as “horrific” and saying “our hearts are with the Israeli people,” she was responding both as one of Arizona’s top political leaders and a stalwart supporter of Israel, and as a shocked citizen worried about people she knows and cares about.

Since the attack she was able to confirm that “everyone that I know personally is safe. But there are individuals who are connected to our team and folks that we love, who we know are not safe right now,” she said.

She said that she is working closely with the American and Israeli governments “to recover hostages who are still being held captive by Hamas.”

Though Sinema is not Jewish, she has supported Israel “long before I was elected to any public office,” she said. When she was elected to Arizona’s House of Representatives in 2004, she worked to pass legislation that SEE SINEMA, PAGE 3

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COURTESY OF THE CENTER FOR JEWISH PHILANTHROPY OF GREATER PHOENIX

n response to one of the darkest moments in Israel’s history, the Oct. 7 attack by the Palestinian militant group Hamas, Jewish Federations of North America (JFNA) launched its Israel Emergency Relief Campaign to support the Jewish state and its people. Initially, JFNA set the goal at $500 million but soon realized that figure would not adequately cover the need. As of Oct. 26, JFNA raised more than $550 million.

“I was in Israel when Hamas attacked,” said JFNA President and CEO Eric Fingerhut in a statement issued on Oct. 12. “Their cruelty was shocking and the images of their crimes against Jews — the worst since the Holocaust — will stay with me forever. But I have also been privileged to see Israelis pull together as one nation like never before, volunteering their time, organizing relief efforts and getting the truth of what happened to the world. This moment requires our support and Jewish Federations will provide it both financially and by mobilizing our communities to sustain backing for Israel in the weeks and months ahead.”

As stated on JFNA’s website, “the funds will be divided, as needed, between urgent humanitarian needs, such as medical supplies and equipment and housing, and longer-term rebuilding and SEE CAMPAIGN, PAGE 2

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White House convenes meeting to address spike in campus antisemitism during Israel-Hamas war

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In a shift, Democrats are focusing their Jewish campaign on Israel policy

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rehabilitation, ranging from rebuilding homes and infrastructure to trauma counseling.” Already, JFNA has distributed over $120 million dollars to more than 60 organizations providing emergency relief in Israel including the Jewish Agency for Israel, American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee, World ORT, Israel Trauma Coalition, United Hatzalah, Magen David Adom, ZAKA Search and Rescue, Barzilai Medical Center and the Soroka Medical Center.

JFNA has established goals for its network of federations across the country including Arizona. On Oct. 12, JFNA requested the Center for Jewish Philanthropy of Greater Phoenix (CJP) raise $2.35 million for the emergency campaign. As of Oct. 30, CJP raised more than $1 million.

Richard Kasper, CEO of CJP, said that JFNA had done emergency campaigns in the recent past that CJP contributed to, such as the war in Ukraine, but not one with specific targeted goals for each community.

“This is an entirely different situation.

It’s unlike anything most of us have ever seen,” he said. “I’m sure there were campaigns for the Yom Kippur War, but that was 50 years ago.”

Julie Platt, JFNA’s chairwoman, said she remembered similar periods when she was a child and her parents were active in pro-Israel fundraising — during and after the 1967 Six-Day War and the 1973 Yom Kippur War. Then, as now, American Jews feared for Israel’s survival and opened their pocketbooks in response. *Best of Magazine “Since the Hamas attack, it doesn’t feel **Annual Directory like a trickle of support,” she said.

“It feels like a flood.”

Kasper said this campaign allows WWW.JEWISHAZ.COM Greater Phoenix’s Jewish community

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about her Judaism with her fellow council members and speaking out for her rights and beliefs.

CAMPAIGN THROUGH CJP AND JFNA said JonTHE Meyers, director of ADDPC. She already has some practice at “Our hope is to create and promote advocating for herself.

IS POSITIONED PERFECTLY TO ADDRESS opportunities for people to be embraced, “One time, I was in class and someone become part MOST of the community and find THE URGENT NEEDS THE GROUND, calledON me the R-word and I told him not equitable opportunities wherever they to. The teacher was in the hallway and INCLUDING TO repeated THE VICTIMS might live,” he said. DIRECT ASSISTANCE another student the word,” she Meyers first came to know Stern said. Rather than letting the situation go, OF TERROR, THOSE INJURED, DISPLACED AND through her mother, Amy Silverman, who she told her theater teacher, who was able read her personal essays about raising INDIVIDUALS ONa THE FRONTLINES. to intervene. daughter with Down syndrome on KJZZ, “If someone has a disability, saying National Public Radio’s Phoenix affiliate the R-word is like saying the F-word,” RACHEL HOFFER station.

Stern said.

Meyers was so captivated by the essays performing in the musical to respond effectively and nimbly. “It’s of While the attack and in the long term.

They that he reached out to Silverman, and the “Hairspray,” she had another occasion important that people, if they have a have identified clear categories of needs two became friends. to tangle with the offensive word, which favorite organization, support them but including transport, housThat’s how Stern first learned of the appears in evacuation, the script. please do this, too. This isn’t benefiting ing, support for frontline communities, open council seat, but there’s no doubt “That’sforreally badof and my friend said our organization financially; if anything, funding victims terror, assistance she earned her position, Meyers said. it on stage.

I was not OK with that, so I we are committing resources to this.” to vulnerable populations, trauma relief/ To become a council member, Stern went to the director and told her it was He also noted that every penny that psychosocial support, emergency medihad to apply and demonstrate that she had a bad word for people with disabilities, comes to the CJP for this campaign goes cal services/healthcare and emergency something valuable to contribute, he said. but she wouldn’t take it out,” Stern said. immediately to JFNA, who, in turn, allo- operational support.

“She’s on the council because she She let funds her mother know about the cates it to emergency assistance in Israel.

“These go to partners that have deserves to be on the council,” he said. conflict and they were able to convince JFNA stated that to ensure transparency, many, many years and a long history of Stern is creating a life and career as a the director of the need to remove the it aims to announce all allocation deci- being on the ground in Israel,” said Gail member of her community, which makes word from the script. sions publicly within 24 hours.

Baer, CJP’s vice president of philanher a great addition.

“My friend wastime nexttotomake me when “The campaign through CJP and JFNA thropy.

“This isAlthe a gift Stern graduated from McClintock I told the director and he gave me the is positioned perfectly to address the most to those trusted partners because they High School in Tempe last year and now biggest hug ever and said that he loved urgent needs on the ground, including are already there, and the groundwork is attends Glendale Community College, me so much,” Stern said. Sadly, Al died direct assistance to the victims of terror, already done, and that’s what’s needed in with a focus on dance. She is a regular in a car crash on Oct. 24, 2021. those injured, displaced and individuals an emergency such as this.” performer at Detour Company Theatre, “Thathundred was hard; it’s very hard to get on the frontlines,” said Rachel Hoffer, One percent of CJP’s board a Scottsdale theatre company for adults emotions out and I was very, very upset,” board chair for the CJP and board chair members have donated to this camwith intellectual, developmental and she said. of the Jewish Agency for Israel – North paign and it is being supported by physical disabilities.

On the recent anniversaryasofwell. his death, American Council. “Over $120 million some local organizations The In fact, when Stern attended her first Stern made a cake and took it to the dollars has already been allocated to Valley of the Sun Jewish Community council meeting in January, sheneeds couldn’t crash site.

60-plus organizations and the are Center (VOSJCC) in Scottsdale, through wait to tell people of her involvement with don’t raised know how did it without prioritized and money disbursed every its“Iboard, over I$100,000 and Detour and share information about its crying.

I’m so proud of myself,” she said. few days.”

Scottsdale’s Congregation Or Tzion also upcoming shows. how to deliver aid Amya commitment.

Hummell, executive director of JFNA determines made “There’s no questionto that she is going Resources, that quickly and strategically ensure that the Gesher KasperDisability hopes their actions agreed will inspire to thrive,” Meyers said.

“She’s very Stern is a good fit for ADDPC because most urgent needs are met and that col- other synagogues and Jewish organizagregarious and passionate about the tions of her to ability lective philanthropy will have the greatest get to onself-advocate. board and offer their things that matter to her.”

Hummell co-hosted a book event impact now, in the immediate aftermath support.

Stern looks forward to sharing insights with Meyers a few years ago for “My SOPHIE STERN

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Sophie Stern at her high school graduation in 2022 COURTESY OF SOPHIE STERN

Heart Can’t Even Believe It: A Story of Science, Love and Down Syndrome,” Silverman’s book about her daughter.

When Gesher’s speakers’ bureau, Damon Brooks & Associates, was asked to find a speaker about Down syndrome for an event this spring, Hummell first asked Silverman to speak, thinking Stern might be too young.

They decided instead that Stern should tell her own story; it’s a real bonus that she is not afraid of public speaking.

“It’s not the same when someone tries to tell a person’s story for them,” Hummell said.

Additionally, helping people with disabilities find jobs was one of the reasons for acquiring the bureau. Unemployment in the disability community is upwards *Best of Magazine of 75% and of that percentage, 75% are ready, willing and able to work — but **Annual Directory haven’t been given the opportunity, Hummell said.

“People have it in them to speak up but WWW.JEWISHAZ.COM don’t know how, and often they’re not cheered on. Sophie has family support

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LOCAL He also emphasized the importance of CJP’s annual campaign.

“We’re raising money for our local community, some of which was already being allocated for a variety of programs and organizations in Israel,” he said. “But this is a separate campaign, so we are going to have to move forward on two fronts — and we will.”

“This type of campaign is also an anomaly because we are asking people to go over and above everything that they normally do. It’s not an ‘instead of’ but an ‘in addition to,’” said Baer. “But this is personal for all of our families and people have responded incredibly generously.”

“Honestly, I’ve asked quite a lot of people to contribute to this and not one person has turned me down — Jewish and non-Jewish,” added Kasper.

“I’ve also been extremely moved by the financial, and emotional, support my nonJewish friends have offered,” added Hoffer.

Kasper said that the campaign provides an opportunity right now because people want to give money to help Israel.

“So many of us want to assist and contribute to helping those in Israel, any way we can, and this campaign is a great

path,” said Hoffer.

“We need to be available and create those opportunities for them to do what, in their hearts, they know is the right thing to do and that they desperately want to do,” added Kasper.

Platt said that giving was the most immediate and convenient thing a Jew could do, in the face of the helplessness they felt, when confronted with images and accounts of Hamas terrorists murdering families in their homes and young adults at an outdoor party.

“You’re able to express your emotions in this way,” she said. “It’s the one very concrete and tangible thing that we can do. It’s a way for us to express our deep grief and fear and love for the people of Israel.”

Another way people in Greater Phoenix can show their solidarity and support for Israel is by wearing a blue ribbon. Blue Ribbons for Israel states on its website, “wearing a ribbon publicly unites you with people of all religions, races, nationalities, ethnicities, ages and generations and demonstrates for the people of Israel that they are not alone and that good people across the globe are with them

and their families during this dark time.”

A blue ribbon also symbolizes the safe return of the hostages taken by Hamas terrorists in Israel.

A JFNA campaign, CJP is making ribbons available to organizations that would like to distribute them. For the general public, a basket of ribbons is located at the welcome desk at the Ina Levine Jewish Community Campus in Scottsdale.

“It is a show of solidarity with the people of Israel and particularly the people who have been taken hostage and their families,” said Kasper. “It is a visible, physical reminder when we are out in public that, regardless of what you think about the situation in the Middle East, these people can’t be forgotten.” JN For more information on Blue Ribbons for Israel, visit blueribbonsforisrael.org; to donate to the Israel Emergency Relief Campaign, visit phoenixcjp. org/cjp-israel-emergency-efforts.

Reporting from Jewish Telegraphic Agency (JTA) contributed to this article. Jewish News is published by the Jewish Community Foundation of Greater Phoenix, a component of the Center for Jewish Philanthropy of Greater Phoenix.

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SINEMA

divested the state pension funds from Iran or any business that engaged with Iran, she said.

In her time in the U.S. Senate, Sinema has supported funding for Israel’s Iron Dome missile defense system and voted for the Strengthening America’s Middle East Security Act, which allows a state or local government to adopt measures to divest its assets from entities that boycott Israel.

The week of Oct. 16, Sinema was one of a group of senators to encourage President Joe Biden to transfer requested defense weapons to Israel. On Oct. 18, she added her name to the proposed Revoke Iranian Funding Act, which, if passed, will prevent Iran from accessing and using the $6 billion currently held in Qatar. The money had previously been held in a South Korean bank under an agreement during the Trump administration for the Asian country to buy Iranian oil. Its transfer to Qatar was part of an agreement for Iran to release American prisoners.

Part of Sinema’s personal admiration for Israel is based on her own abhorrence for governments and political leaders “that think an appropriate solution to a political problem is to eliminate the existence of another group of people,” she told Jewish News. “The Holocaust was the greatest example of this — and by greatest I mean, the worst example — in our world’s history.”

Her thinking on this issue was clarified by her doctorate in justice studies and her study of the Rwandan genocide, which

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Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (third from right) stands in Israel with U.S. government and Israeli government ofCOURTESY OF SEN. KYRSTEN SINEMA’S OFFICE ficials in July 2023.

was the subject of her book, “Who Must Die in Rwanda’s Genocide?: The State of Exception Realized,” published in 2015.

“What I learned was that the government of Rwanda basically used a Nazi playbook to plan and carry out the genocide of the Tutsi people in Rwanda. Other governments have done this over time as well, where they have replicated the belief, the propaganda and the activities of the Nazi regime to seek to eradicate an entire group of individuals,” she said.

Knowing that not only could certain governments put these ideas forward but that members of the public would allow it “was really abhorrent to me,” she said.

Subsequently, her goal in public service is “never to allow that type of political regime to grow or to take root,” she said.

Sinema told Jewish News she has also been in close contact with members of the Jewish community throughout

Arizona. She is especially concerned about “the growing tide of antisemitism” in the country and “and a very troubling increase in a mistaken belief that seeks to find equivalency between what Hamas has engaged in, which is outright terrorism, and the work that Israel is doing to defend herself from this terrorism, which is appropriate behavior,” she said.

She acknowledged that there are “innocent civilians who live in the Gaza region and who are being used as political pawns by Hamas,” and was happy about President Joe Biden’s agreement with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to move humanitarian aid into Gaza through Egypt.

“That is the right step forward. We all stand united in wanting to ensure that we’re protecting the lives of innocent civilians. The steps that were taken Wednesday were important ones,” she said. JN

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Interfaith prayer service in the West Valley draws tears and prayers for peace SHANNON LEVITT | STAFF WRITER

B

arbara Gabriella Sodos uttered only a few words on the afternoon of Tuesday, Oct. 17, before she started to cry. Sodos was at Temple Beth Shalom of the West Valley’s (TBS-WV) interfaith prayer service to share her personal experience of the Hamas attack on Israel that began 10 days earlier.

Jan Sodos, TBS-WV member and Barbara’s grandmother, quietly rose from her seat and walked to the podium in the Sun City sanctuary to offer support and encouragement to her granddaughter once it was clear she could not continue.

Jan told the few hundred attendees about Barbara’s first trip to Israel as a teenager — a bat mitzvah gift from Jan and her husband. Barbara called her at 6 a.m. from the top of Masada to say that when she graduated high school she would return to Israel. She kept her promise and entered the Lone Soldier program. (Lone soldiers are members of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) without immediate family in Israel.)

Now Barbara lives in Holon, south of Tel Aviv. She was a platoon medic but blew out her knee during her Lone Soldier service, which is why she is not currently in the battle. She just flew to Arizona from Israel on Oct. 16.

“Since she was 18 months old, she’s been scaring me and that has not changed now that she’s 25,” Jan said.

Finally, with her grandmother’s encouragement, Barbara found her voice and told the crowd about running to the bomb shelters and trying to check in with friends. Her friend lost a cousin but the family didn’t know it for a few days because the body had been “blown to bits” and took time to identify.

“Everyone I know knows someone who’s either missing or dead; our friends are missing,” Barbara said through tears.

“Barbara is a survivor and she will return to Israel, which will prevail,” Jan said.

TBS-WV invited representatives from different religious faiths to come and show solidarity with Israel at the service.

Attendees joined together in prayer for Israel and its citizens, the hostages’ safe return and healing for innocent wounded civilians.

“We want to build a large unified interfaith community in the West Valley that will support Israel in its time of need,” said TBS-WV Rabbi Dana Evan Kaplan.

“The religious leaders gathering together are very different in their religious views and political opinions, and we want to

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NOVEMBER 3, 2023

concentrate on the need for prayer in response to the terrible atrocities that Hamas committed against innocent Israeli civilians, foreign tourists, students and agricultural workers.”

Steve Bold, TBS-WV’s board president, said the prayers included “a lot of innocent people in Gaza,” a sentiment Kaplan echoed.

Kaplan also reflected on the words of the U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, who, after recounting some of the horrors of the Hamas attack, asked, “How are we to digest this?”

The gathering was one small step in beginning to digest the sad news still coming out of the Jewish state, Kaplan said.

Interspersed with songs, original compositions by TBS-WV Cantor Baruch Koritan, were prayers and brief remarks from religious leaders, including Christians, Jews and a Buddhist.

“I made them promise no more than two minutes,” Kaplan quipped.

Ed Casper, a representative of the Soka Gakkai International Nichiren Buddhist community in Phoenix, quoted Martin Luther King, Jr., who said, “I’m cognizant of the interrelatedness of all religious communities; injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.”

“Those words could have been written by a Buddhist teacher,” Casper said.

Words have been failing him since he heard of the Hamas attack. “At times, language is simply inadequate.”

Rabbi Mindie Snyder, a chaplain for Sun Health Communities, recalled the words of the assassinated Israeli prime minister, Yitzhak Rabin: “Enough blood and tears!” and mentioned his commitment to peace.

“You must not remain indifferent,” Snyder said.

Rabbi Jeff Lipschultz, chaplain at Avista Hospice Arizona and The Palazzo senior living center, wrote a poem after hearing about the attack on the children of Israel.

Lipschultz, who has three sons, wrote to those young people now being sent into battle.

“May they march to victory, then come home,” he wrote.

One TBS-WV congregant, a retired dentist, recalled his time in Sderot in the early 1980s working in a dental clinic.

He remembered the concrete buildings, all replete with bomb shelters. He also remembered having to learn some basic Hebrew because very few people in the town spoke any English. He learned

Barbara Gabriella Sodos (left) is the granddaughter of Temple Beth Shalom member Jan Sodos. Barbara lives in Holon, Israel.

COURTESY OF BERNIE ARUM

Rabbi Mindie Snyder, chaplain for Sun Health Communities Department of Spiritual Life, said a prayer during the interfaith prayer service to stand in solidarity with Israel.

COURTESY OF BERNIE ARUM

Rev. Sharon Connors of the Unity Spiritual Center in Sun City (left) is shown with Temple Beth Shalom of the West Valley Rabbi Dana Evan Kaplan during an interfaith service in support of Israel at Temple COURTESY OF BERNIE ARIUM Beth Shalom on Oct. 17.

how to say, “Open your mouth” and ask, “Where does it hurt?” The only problem was he didn’t understand their responses, he joked. After hearing of the Oct. 7 attack, he immediately prayed for Sderot, a town less than the length of a football field away from the Gaza border, and one he has many fond memories of.

A member of a nearby Christian church talked about having visited Israel with a church group and what it was like to see people observing Shabbat and the marvel

of walking on the streets of the old city of Jerusalem. He broke down and said his heart breaks for the people of Israel. The crowd applauded him.

Kaplan asked that everyone stand and recite the Mourner’s Kaddish before ending with a benediction and singing “Hatikvah,” Israel’s national anthem. JN

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ASU grad’s effort to take down X co-signed by two Greater Phoenix rabbis SHANNON LEVITT | STAFF WRITER

T

wo weeks after Elon Musk took over X almost a year ago, antisemitic posts referring to Jews or Judaism rose more than 61%, according to the AntiDefamation League (ADL).

In the months since, the volume of antisemitic tweets more than doubled.

Arizona State University graduate Elad Nehorai, who watched with growing horror as his oft-used social media site became more dangerous for Jews, said his final straw was seeing Musk elevate the #BantheADL campaign.

In September, Musk engaged with the hashtag, a campaign created and promoted by white nationalists and farright extremists, claiming the ADL was censoring X’s users and attempting to pressure advertisers away from his company.

Musk tweeted that domestic advertising revenue is “still down 60%, primarily due to pressure on advertisers by @ADL (that’s what advertisers tell us), so they (ADL) almost succeeded in killing X/Twitter!”

Additionally, Musk accused ADL of “trying to kill this platform by falsely accusing it & me of being anti-Semitic,” something he has denied repeatedly.

However, by giving oxygen to the oncesmall “Ban the ADL” hashtag, he made it much more visible and antisemites piled on.

Not only did Nehorai, who is Jewish, realize that Musk had elevated dangerous people by engaging in the campaign but he felt the media covered it only “as a simple grudge Musk had against (ADL) instead of a conspiracy theory used to represent Jewish power,” he told Jewish News.

Nehorai, a writer, left-wing activist and political commentator, writes often about antisemitism. However, after this recent antisemitic activity on X, he realized he needed to take more direct action.

He drafted a letter and asked Jewish leaders to sign on. The letter, “X Out Hate,” asks that big advertisers end their relationship with X and calls on Apple and Google to remove the platform from their app stores.

So far, two Greater Phoenix rabbis, Rabbi Andy Green, the spiritual leader of Scottsdale’s Congregation Or Tzion and Rabbi Dr. Shmuly Yanklowitz, the president and dean of Valley Beit Midrash, have signed the letter.

Yanklowitz, who said Musk is becoming “more and more unhinged,” was “astonished” by his promotion of the “Ban the ADL” campaign and cited it as “a big factor” in why he signed the letter JEWISHAZ.COM

and encouraged others to do the same.

The notable rise of antisemitic incidents over the last few years has made Yanklowitz more wary and watchful of the way social media affects social discourse.

“Social media, especially X, allows people to spew hate and we know that rhetoric leads to actions,” he told Jewish News.

Green heard about the letter, published on Sept. 26, and signed it online. He had just given a sermon “expressing the same sentiments,” he told Jewish News. He also encouraged his congregation to deactivate the app.

“Elon Musk’s comments about ADL are slanderous and unfounded. Additionally, it’s a dog whistle for antisemites and when Jews or Judaism are being attacked in the public square, it’s important to stand up collectively and defend ourselves,” he said.

Signing the letter is one more way to articulate the Jewish community’s objections to “the proliferation of antisemitism on X,” he said.

On Wednesday, Oct. 4, ADL announced it would resume advertising on X; Musk responded with a tweet: “Thank you for clarifying that you support advertising on X.” However, the letter is still online.

Thus far, the letter has been signed by 161 Jewish leaders from across the ideological spectrum.

Musk calls himself a “Free Speech Absolutist,” but Yanklowitz said that while free speech should be protected, hate speech crosses a line.

“I’m worried about the future and security of Jews and other minorities if we allow conspiracy theories and antisemitic tropes to go unchecked,” he said.

The letter specifically calls out X and Musk for engaging and spreading antisemitic conspiracy theories, as well as “reinstating some of the most vicious antisemites in America and beyond.”

Yanklowitz said that was another reason to sign the letter. He hopes that if enough Jewish leaders sign on, it can put enough pressure on Musk to “consider putting together a responsible, moral policy on red lines,” he said. “It can’t be all about profits.”

Nehorai wants “to affect the narrative” and is glad to see the media attention the letter is receiving. But he won’t know if the venture was a success until he “sees how it’s framed by the media and other influential people,” he said. JN For more information, visit xouthate.org.

JEWISH NEWS

NOVEMBER 3, 2023

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HEADLINES LOCAL

Chabad prayer rally for Israel filled with reminders of ‘Jewish joy’ SHANNON LEVITT | STAFF WRITER

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hen “proud Chabad member” Ari Simones first learned about Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack on Israel, he thought immediately of his family members and friends living throughout the Jewish state. Within days, his cousins and younger brother were called from the reserves to join the frontline.

Recounting it all before a standingroom-only crowd at Chabad of Arizona, Simones paused to tamp down the emotion before adding that in all the chaos and misery of Israel’s predicament there were also surprises that “amazed and inspired” him, happy surprises that he chose to focus on.

For example, his family and friends have been resolute in their determination “to stand firm” while simultaneously keeping a sense of normality in their communities by telling “pleasant jokes” about the kids having time off from school even while rocket sirens blared in the background.

The amount of donations and broad support from around the world has also heartened him because “it’s what Israel needs, now more than ever,” he said.

Simones spoke at Chabad’s “Arizona Stands with Israel: One Hour, One People” prayer rally on Sunday, Oct. 15. The bulk of the event was hosted at Chabad headquarters on Lincoln Drive in Phoenix, while seven co-hosting Chabad locations — Bukharian Center, Flagstaff, Fountain Hills, Lake Havasu, Oro Valley, Prescott and Sierra Vista — were featured on monitors placed at the front of the Phoenix center, thereby connecting people around the state.

The display of monitors also provided an interactive component to the evening, as a representative from a co-hosting center would read a prayer in Hebrew while another in a different location would then translate the prayer to English. Several other Chabads in Anthem, Downtown Phoenix, Goodyear, North Phoenix, Paradise Valley, Peoria, Scottsdale, Sedona and Tucson also joined virtually.

Held more than a week after the first attacks, the Jewish community had regained some of its equilibrium and the mood in the room was more celebratory than mournful, helped along by Rabbi Tzvi Rimler’s singing and an emphasis on Torah, prayer and mitzvot. Rimler is co-director of Chabad’s C-Teen of Phoenix.

As people headed into the event, several Chabad rabbis helped men put on tefillin.

For some, it was the first time they had ever done it and some were merely out of practice and needed a reminder.

After Israel’s Six-Day War in 1967, 6

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Rabbi Zalman Levertov, founder of Chabad of Arizona.

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Ari Simones addressed the crowd gathered at Chabad of Arizona on Oct. 15.

Rabbi Menachem M. Schneerson, the Lubavitcher Rebbe, began his famous “tefillin campaign.” He told his followers, “Go out into the streets and find a Jew who has not yet put on tefillin and help him with this special mitzvah.”

Schneerson emphasized tefillin because “the Talmud tells us that the enemy will see it on our heads and be afraid.” “That campaign was to help the soldiers,” Rabbi Zalman Levertov, founder of Chabad of Arizona, told Jewish News. Now, he hopes it will help Israel’s soldiers again.

When Levertov spoke to the crowd on Sunday, he did so not as a teacher and leader with all the answers but as a seeker himself. Asking God why things happen is something everyone does. “Rabbis are no different — we don’t have the answers,” he said.

He has found some answers in the many teachings of Schneerson. In the face of tragedy, Schneerson would say, “It’s not a time to cry. It’s not a time to be depressed or anxious. It’s a time to do. It’s a time to go on and it’s a time to do it with joy.”

Levertov recently heard about two Chabad rabbis in Israel who visited a family sitting shiva for their murdered daughter. They asked a 13-year-old boy who was there sitting shiva if he would like to put on tefillin. Suddenly, in a house of tears, there was also laughter and joy in the celebration of a mitzvah.

Rabbi Mendel Lieberman of Chabad of Ashkelon in Israel, who Zoomed in from a bomb shelter, shared a similar message about the importance of joy and mitzvot.

Given that it was 4 a.m. his time, he was surprisingly upbeat and joked about living

in a city with “the dubious distinction of being hit with the most prestigious, most expensive rockets.”

Lieberman recalled that after the Yom Kippur War, Schneerson said, “The only way that we will overcome this situation is with Jewish joy, with happiness and fortitude that will bring us a much better situation,” and applied them equally to today’s situation, just as the Torah portion from Genesis were the same then and now.

Lieberman reflected on the phrase, “And there was evening, and there was morning the first day” and why the separation between evening and morning was emphasized in every subsequent verse.

He agreed with Schneerson’s interpretation: “This is how life is. You have evening and then morning. Evening has problems, difficulties, challenges. The only way to reach a new morning, a new light, is to have the darkness beforehand.”

Reflecting on what to do in the face of the attacks, Lieberman said, “We have to work to bring a new light, a new level of kindness, a new level of connection between all of us that are sitting here today and those that are not sitting here today.”

In the face of all the rockets raining down on his city, Lieberman said he and his fellow citizens have not been demoralized but rather galvanized to bring more light, “light on a different level, to help every single person in this city on the level that they need.”

A lot was packed into the hour-long event, including more Torah from more Levertov rabbis. In addition, several

JEWISH NEWS

COURTESY OF JEWISH NEWS

Rabbi Mendel Lieberman spoke from a bomb shelter in Ashkelon, Israel.

COURTESY OF JEWISH NEWS

elected officials were present in Phoenix and at the co-hosting locations, though only two spoke.

“Here in Phoenix, we are blessed to have a proud Jewish mayor,” Simones said when he introduced Mayor Kate Gallego. In bringing U.S. Congressman Greg Stanton to the podium, Simones again was overwhelmed with emotion.

After returning home from a trip to Israel in 2017, Simones and his wife found a swastika and the word “Jew” spray painted on their house. Stanton was mayor of Phoenix at the time and “he was one of the first to respond and provide support and comfort. He’s a friend of the local Jewish community and a friend of Israel,” Simones said.

Also in attendance were Phoenix City Councilman Kevin Robinson, Paradise Valley Mayor Jerry Bien-Willner and Vernon Parker, its former mayor.

The evening was brought to a close by everyone linking arms and singing “Oseh Shalom.” JN JEWISHAZ.COM

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Contact Jessica Mannon with any questions at JessicaM@vosjcc.org or 480-481-7010

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NOVEMBER 3, 2023

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HEADLINES LOCAL

‘Both these and those,’ Phoenix lecture tests Jewish value of conflicting ideas SHANNON LEVITT | STAFF WRITER

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hen the United States House of Representatives voted to oust Republican House Speaker Kevin McCarthy from his job on Tuesday, Oct. 3, it was a first for the political body. Some pundits seemed shocked but others shrugged it off as par for the course in a country where unprecedented things keep happening.

Partisanship — both between parties and within them — is now a given and theatrics, even violence — think Jan. 6, 2021 — are the results of a political landscape gone very wrong.

Last year, Pew Research Center recorded that both Democrats and Republicans have the highest level ever of very unfavorable opinions of one another, in fact, double what it was the first time the Times Mirror Center for the People & the Press, Pew’s precursor, asked the question in 1994. (The Pew Research Center was established in 2004.) Today, 72% of Republicans regard Democrats as more immoral, and 63% of Democrats say the same about Republicans.

Most notable to Pew was the rising number of people in the two parties who label those in the opposite party as “more closed-minded, dishonest, immoral and unintelligent than other Americans.”

However, pessimism is not universal and not everyone is consigned to the inevitability of “civil war.”

About a year ago, Rabbi David Saperstein pitched an idea to his old friend and political counterpoint, Tevi Troy.

Wouldn’t it be fun if the two of them, both committed Jews who represent two very different political points of view, came together and talked about politics in the run-up to the 2024 presidential election? It would serve as an example

“WE CAN HOLD OUR ABSOLUTE WHILE HOLDING SPACE FOR OTHERS’ ABSOLUTES — EVEN WHILE DISAGREEING.” Tevi Troy was walking in the neighborhood of the Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism (RAC) in Washington, D.C. and texted his friends Rabbi David Saperstein and Rabbi Jonah Pessner, the RAC’s current director, to come out and have a chat with him in May. From left: Pessner, Troy and Saperstein.

COURTESY OF TEVI TROY

of how political disagreements can be discussed in a friendly, constructive and, most importantly, respectful manner.

Saperstein has an impressive list of liberal credentials: He is the former director of the Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism and president of the World Union for Progressive Judaism and also served as the U.S. Ambassador for International Religious Freedom in the Obama Administration.

Troy has equally compelling but conservative credentials: He is a former Deputy Secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, senior White House aide to President George W. Bush and White House Liaison to the Jewish Community.

TWO LOCATIONS 3409 NORTH 7TH AVE - 602-314-5675 1141 EAST GLENDALE - 602-576-1923

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RABBI DR. SHMULY YANKLOWITZ

“Yes,” Troy told his rabbinical friend.

“It would be fun.” And so a lecture series called “Eilu v’Eilu – A Debate on Jewish Values and American Politics” was born.

Eilu v’Eilu means “both these and those” and comes from the Jewish concept that conflicting ideas can simultaneously be true.

The series was audience tested first at Temple Chai in Phoenix, on Sunday, Oct. 15, for Valley Beit Midrash’s (VBM) annual Zeichick Family Lecture.

Saperstein and Troy each presented their own political view on a host of issues, ranging from U.S. policy on Israel, the war with Hamas, climate change, immigration, religious freedom, etc., and made a case for progressivism or conservatism based on Jewish values.

“Nothing was off limits,” Troy told Jewish News.

The concept of pluralism is key to VBM, but “that’s not the same as relativism or saying ‘anything goes,’ which would be a distortion of Judaism,” said Rabbi Dr. Shmuly Yanklowitz, VBM’s executive director.

“We can hold our absolute while holding space for others’ absolutes — even while disagreeing,” he told Jewish News.

It’s also Saperstein and Troy’s friendship in a nutshell. The two first met when Troy worked for the Republican Bush administration and he was able to meet Jewish leaders across the political spectrum. The two became friends and have maintained a relationship for almost 20

JEWISH NEWS

years. The fact that they disagree on a lot of things is “part of the fun,” Troy said.

Recently, Troy wrote about combating antisemitism for National Affairs, a conservative political journal, in which he recounted his opposition to federal involvement in the issue when he was a White House aide in the early 2000s.

Saperstein called him up to let him know that he read the article. “He gleefully told me that we would duke it out on stage over this one,” Troy said.

Troy laughed and said that he was just heartened that Saperstein was reading National Affairs.

He’s optimistic that Saperstein and Troy were able “to model civil discourse even in the most passionate of times.”

Nobody expected this series to change minds, “the audience wanted their priors validated,” Troy said. But doing that in a respectful way is useful, he added.

To avoid anyone in the audience from getting overheated, there was not an open mic on Oct. 15. Anyone with a question submitted it in advance, Yanklowitz said.

Apart from “a fun and respectful debate that recognized we all share in this enterprise of America that believes in liberty for all mankind,” Troy most looked forward to the opportunity to hang out with an old friend, dining and kibitzing together before they hit the stage. JN For information on Valley Beit Midrash programming, visit valleybeitmidrash.org.

JEWISHAZ.COM

RELIGIOUS LIFE TORAH STUDY

Digging deep and finding strength RABBI YISROEL ISAACS PARSHAH NOACH: GENESIS 6:9 - 11:32

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his Shabbos marks four weeks since Simchat Torah.

Rabbi Moshe Levertov Immediately after COURTESY OF RABBI MOSHE LEVERTOV the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) recovered from the shock of the brutal massacre of thousands of our siblings, the government and media began using the term “Fog of War” in their updates and reporting.

Many of us still feel enveloped in fog.

We’re paralyzed, shocked by the reactions we’re seeing all around the world. There is so much antisemitism and hate on social media, on college campuses, throughout our country and other Western capitals.

There’s no discrimination. It comes from the right and from the left. Liberals, progressives and conservatives. People that we’ve agreed with and respected are showing their true colors now.

What are we to do? How are we to stay safe and survive — to feel secure?

The Torah prefaces the birth of Yitzchak with “And G-d remembered Sarah.” The Talmud tells us that the essential things in life are not based on merit but on “mazal,” the luck of the draw. Like Sarah, we need to be remembered by G-d himself for the blessings of children, health and sustenance.

We’re also taught that “Ein Mazal L’Yisroel,” there are no chance happenings in life! Or, in the words of the Baal Shem Tov, Jews believe in divine involvement in every aspect of one’s life.

To make sense of these two, the words of our sages need to be read differently, Ein, None, IS the luck of the Jews.

It’s not that we have no luck. On the contrary, we are guided by the greatest influencer; G-d Himself (None/Ein) IS the luck of the Jewish People.

Why is He called None — the one that isn’t?

This same term is used in Psalm 121, when King David cries out, “From where (Ein) comes my salvation?!” In difficult times, when it seems like G-d isn’t with us,

the rules of nature seem to be in control and we feel at a loss. In truth, though, the unseen force of G-d is always present. And that’s truly what the Psalmist meant — in troubling times our salvation can only come from G-d.

He alone is what influences the life of a Jew. Today, as we feel isolated and down, let’s do what has always kept us strong. The Jew’s default in harsh times is turning to G-d. This begins with the above recognition that None isn’t a lack of influence but the source of all influence and comfort.

In the Shema we are twice told to love G-d with all our heart and with all our soul. To devote all that we have, all our resources, to bringing G-d into our lives.

To use all of our talents in service of G-d.

In the first paragraph, though, it also says to love Him with all our might.

All our might means digging deep and finding new strengths and potential that we don’t always see. That we don’t really know we have. It means not rationalizing how we feel, what we have and can bring to the table in this relationship.

It means just turning to G-d and con-

SHABBAT CANDLE LIGHTING NOVEMBER 3 - 5:16 P.M. NOVEMBER 10 - 5:10 P.M. SHABBAT ENDS NOVEMBER 4 - 6:11 P.M. NOVEMBER 11 - 6:06 P.M. Find area congregations at JewishAZ.com, where you can also find our 2024 Community Directory.

necting with Him. Giving our entire being over to Him. Finding the None within us and placing it in G-d’s hand.

Actualizing his first paragraph of the Shema is called “doing the will of G-d.”

Or, more precisely, we are making the will of G-d. We create within G-d a desire to remember us, to influence, support and bless us in new and revealed ways.

To shower us with clear and identifiable blessings.

To no longer feel None at our side.

Rather, to be comforted with G-d’s obvious and felt presence in our lives.

To feel, see and know and that He is with us, at our side. JN Rabbi Moshe Levertov directs the Jewish Care Network in Phoenix.

OPINION

Commentary

In favor of the GO Bond BOARD OF RABBIS OF GREATER PHOENIX

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e, the executive officers of the Board of Rabbis of Greater Phoenix, wholeheartedly support the Phoenix General Obligation (GO) Bond. We encourage you to Rabbi Jeremy Schneider support questions is the president of the 1-4 with a “yes” vote Board of Rabbis of during the Special Greater Phoenix.

Bond Election on PHOTO COURTESY RABBI JEREMY SCHNEIDER Nov. 7. Ballots were mailed to City of Phoenix voters on Oct. 11. The GO Bond is a commitment to our future, ensuring that Phoenix continues to be a thriving, safe and inclusive place for generations to come. The bond will invest $500 million in essential areas like community safety, transportation, parks and libraries.

Passing this bond is crucial since it will also help create a new Holocaust Education

PASSING THIS BOND IS CRUCIAL SINCE IT WILL ALSO HELP CREATE A NEW HOLOCAUST EDUCATION CENTER AT THE CUTLER PLOTKIN JEWISH HERITAGE CENTER SITE IN PHOENIX. Center at the Cutler Plotkin Jewish Heritage Center site in Phoenix. This 17,000-squarefoot, state-of-the-art facility will house the Robert Sutz “We Remember” art collections, a special exhibit gallery, classrooms and event space. Phoenix is currently the largest city in the nation without its own Holocaust museum. Given the resurgence of antisemitism, hate speech, religious and racial violence, we must invest in educating future generations about the Holocaust’s history.

The Holocaust Education Center will be a beacon of remembrance and a powerful tool for fostering empathy, understanding and tolerance. It will help educate the broader community about marginalized communities’ specific threats and the dangers of discrimination. We must remember

that when one group’s freedom is curtailed, everyone becomes susceptible to prejudice and injustice.

As we navigate uncertain times, we must seize opportunities for positive change. The Phoenix GO Bond provides an opportunity to shape the future according to the values of compassion, justice and community responsibility. By voting “yes” on questions 1-4 on the ballot, Phoenix can continue to be a safe, vibrant and inclusive place for all.

We can build a more resilient and compassionate Phoenix that embodies our values.

Ultimately, the choice is clear: a “yes” vote for questions 1-4 is a vote for a brighter, more inclusive and more resilient future. May our collective action inspire positive change and may Phoenix continue

to be a shining example of the values we hold dear. Thank you for your support and let us embrace the opportunity to invest in our shared future.

Board of Rabbis of Greater Phoenix: President: Rabbi Jeremy Schneider Vice president: Rabbi Sara Mason-Barkin Secretary: Rabbi Nitzan Stein Kokin Co-treasurers: Rabbi Mark Bisman and Rabbi John Linder Member at large: Rabbi Andy Green JN For more information about the Special Bond Election, visit phoenix.gov/elections.

CORRECTION In “I got hurt. Now What?” Oct. 20, 2023, the article stated incorrectly the author was M.V. Moorhead. The correct author is Avery Crossman.

The Jewish News regrets the error.

A NOTE ON OPINION

We are a diverse community. The views expressed in these opinion pieces do not necessarily reflect the views of the officers and boards of the Jewish Community Foundation, Center for Jewish Philanthropy, Jewish Federation of Greater Phoenix, Cleveland Jewish Publication Company or the staff of the Jewish News. Letters must respond to content published by the Jewish News and should be a maximum of 200 words. They may be edited for space and clarity. Unsigned letters will not be published. Letters and op-ed submissions should be sent to editor@jewishaz.com JEWISHAZ.COM

JEWISH NEWS

NOVEMBER 3, 2023

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Conservative Jewish leader steps down from ‘healthy, modern, vital’ women’s organization SHANNON LEVITT | STAFF WRITER

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or a brief moment this summer, Debbi Kaner Goldich got a break from leading a large Jewish organization for the first time in three years. Just as she stepped down from the presidency of Women’s League for Conservative Judaism (WLCJ) on July 16, she was preparing to step up as the chair of the board of the Ziegler School of Rabbinic Studies on Aug. 1, leaving barely enough time between gigs to read a classic novel or binge the latest Netflix series.

That’s OK with the “organized, type A-plus” Goldich, who lives in Scottsdale most of the year and doesn’t mind her 80-hour work weeks. Before retirement eight years ago, she was an advanced practice nurse with two master’s degrees and a leader of synagogue sisterhoods. In terms of synagogue membership, she’s an overachiever. She belongs to four synagogues, two on the East Coast and two in Greater Phoenix — Scottsdale’s Congregation Or Tzion and Beth El Phoenix.

“Some people buy shoes; I pay synagogue dues,” she quipped. “The best thing that I can do with my money is to support all these synagogues.”

When she learned in October 2019 that she would become president of WLCJ, an international network of individual members and 400 sisterhoods and synagogue women’s groups, she set herself some pretty lofty goals and more than three years later, feels that she’s met them.

“I wanted to modernize all of our systems — our communications, everything we did — I wanted to bring us into the 21st century,” she said.

Years ago, people thought of the synagogue sisterhood as the ladies who do the kiddush lunch on Saturdays. “In my generation, it was very normal for young people to join a synagogue but the movement was not yet egalitarian and the only way women could have leadership in their synagogues was through the sisterhood,” said Goldich, 68.

Those same women also found friendship and community, just as she did.

When her nephew died, it was the women in her sisterhood group who cleaned her home in preparation for shiva, made the meal and supported her through the traumatic experience.

Now, in addition to friendship and leadership, this fellowship group also offers education and programming.

“It’s what makes us different from Hadassah, ORT and other Jewish wom-

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en’s organizations. Our mission is to educate our women so that they feel they are part of the Conservative movement,” she said.

Another difference is that while the WLCJ has a few professional staff members, it is volunteer-led. Thus, the first step for Goldich’s modernization plans was to include committee leaders in her administration with professional experience in the jobs she needed them to do.

For example, she asked a woman with expertise in human resources to be the organization’s personnel chair; her budget and finance chair held the title of CPA for Fortune 500 companies.

“These were difficult positions and I utilized women who were professionals,” she said.

Some of her plans were upended by the COVID-19 pandemic that kept people at home starting in March 2020, a few months before she assumed the presidency in July. However, WLCJ had already been using Zoom for nearly a decade and “our women knew how to get on a Zoom call, lead a Zoom call — even 90-year-old women were doing Zoom calls regularly with us, so that was no big deal,” she said.

The pandemic notwithstanding, Goldich was fortunate in that, at least, because after professionalizing her administration her other big priority was expanding the education programming “to ensure that we would still be here in 25 years,” she said.

For that, her organizational skills came in handy. People complained that classes coincided with meetings. Thus, she created a central calendar for all to consult.

WLCJ is divided among 13 regions, and she asked every region to send her a list from which she could design a calendar, giving every committee a night of the month.

“That eliminated the chaos, but it took me a little while to put it in place and to convince everybody this was going to work. But three months into it and people were saying, ‘This is like the best thing since sliced bread!’” she said.

By the time the High Holidays were over in 2020, she had programming in place every day and night for members, many of whom were isolated by the pandemic. All of the programs were vetted by the professional staff and reached a wide audience.

A professor at SUNY Binghamton led

a course on Jews in film that 780 women watched. Another about how to talk to your child or grandchild about coming out of the closet reached more than 1,000 and was led by two Conservative women rabbis, who were married to one another. Some of the older women told Goldich their children and grandchildren had started using terminology they didn’t understand. WLCJ designed programming for them.

“We did things that were way out there, and people told me, ‘You gave me permission to do all kinds of things that no one’s given me permission for before.’ I told them that’s because I want us to be the group that does those kinds of things,” Goldich said.

Last fall, WLCJ and the Federation of Jewish Men’s Clubs developed an inclusion guide for Jewish groups and congregations, “to create an environment that makes all underserved communities feel welcomed and embraced in the Jewish Community,” according to WLCJ’s website. The guide encourages adopting practices that “provide equal access to opportunities and resources for people who might otherwise be excluded or marginalized,” such as Jews of color, LGBTQ+ Jews and disabled Jews. Jews who have been incarcerated and would like to reintegrate into a synagogue community are also marginalized, though less discussed. The guide is for them as well, Goldich added.

With all the new programming and organization she’s put in place, the thing that Goldich is most proud of is a three-year curriculum for women to become a bat mitzvah. Forty women signed up when the program launched.

For three hours on the third Thursday of every month, these women studied together on Zoom with the help of various Conservative women rabbis.

They studied multiple topics and learned Hebrew, a requirement for them to read the Torah portion at their bat mitzvah.

The Hebrew classes, beginner, intermediate and advanced, were open to all WLCJ members and over the last three years, 750 women learned to read Hebrew.

At the international convention in July, during which Goldich handed her leadership crown to a new president, she watched her crowning achievement as 40 women, between the ages of 40 and 93, became a bat mitzvah, 36 in person and four on Zoom.

JEWISH NEWS

Debbi Kaner Goldich speaking at the July conference.

COURTESY OF DEBBI KANER GOLDICH

Some of these women missed their chance when they were teenagers because they grew up a time before the Conservative movement was egalitarian, and others missed out because their parents couldn’t send them to Hebrew school.

“When I say we’re different from other Jewish women’s organizations because we focus on education, that’s what I mean. We offer opportunities that women might not have had and that’s an amazing accomplishment,” Goldich said.

“Debbi is an extraordinary woman who gives her life to ensure the future of Conservative Judaism. She is a true inspiration and a leader who not only empowers, but cares, supports and loves.

It’s a gift to know her,” said Rabbi Aviva Funke, associate director of the Bureau of Jewish Education of Greater Phoenix and principal of Hebrew High.

Funke composed and per formed “Daughters of Yisrael” at the July conference at the invitation of Goldich’s sister, Ellen, who lives in Peoria. Funke’s original song was inspired by “Debbi’s mission — the village it takes to build the world we need and the commitment we must have to pursue it,” she said.

One of Goldich’s lone regrets is that when she was installed as president it was over Zoom rather than during an elegant evening in a big hotel ballroom due to COVID. Happily, her colleagues made her departure experience a bigger deal than it would have been otherwise.

During the July international conference, she finally got to wear her fancy dress and stand in front of her members in person. Most importantly, she’s leaving the organization in capable hands and with a bright future.

“It’s all good. We’re very healthy, we have money in the bank and we have women actively seeking leadership positions,” she said. JN To learn more, visit wlcj.org.

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The silent pandemic: Solo aging and the looming crisis BOB ROTH | COLUMNIST

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s the world grapples with the challenges of a rapidly aging population, one issue is emerging as a silent pandemic of our times: solo aging. Dr. Joseph Coughlin from the MIT Age Lab has noted that nearly onethird of our population aged Bob Roth COURTESY OF BOB ROTH 6 5 a n d o l d e r is now solo aging and this number is expected to surge towards 50% between 2040 and 2050. Solo agers, those who age alone, represent a growing demographic and their unique needs and challenges demand our attention.

Solo agers are rewriting the script on aging and retirement. They are living longer, maintaining active lifestyles and

embracing technology in their daily lives.

Yet, beneath this veneer of independence lies a stark reality. Many solo agers face problems all too common to seniors, such as isolation, loneliness, depression and often resort to self-medication (alcohol and drugs). The absence of a support system, especially in times of need, presents one of their greatest challenges.

Traditionally, the responsibility for long-term care in old age has fallen on the shoulders of adult children. These adult children often serve as caregivers, help with housing issues, offer emotional and financial support and provide socialization opportunities. However, solo agers lack these familial supports and must navigate a system that often assumes adult children are available. According to the Value of Home Care Report that was put out by the Home Care Association of America in partnership with the Global Coalition on Aging, the average distance between family members — primarily adult

IN PLANNING FOR THE FUTURE, IT IS IMPERATIVE TO ACKNOWLEDGE THAT THE POSSIBILITY OF AGING ALONE IS BECOMING A REALITY FOR AN INCREASING NUMBER OF PEOPLE EACH YEAR. children and their parents — is 280 miles.

The most pressing challenge for solo agers is the specter of isolation and loneliness. With nearly one-third of seniors living alone, social isolation has become a common and perilous issue.

While living alone doesn’t automatically lead to loneliness, the two frequently coexist. As of June 2020, a staggering 56% of older adults reported feeling isolated, more than double the number from 2018. This social isolation can have dire consequences, including depression, weight loss, cognitive decline and other medical complications.

The implications of these realities are immense as the boomer generation continues to age. Without family to provide support, solo agers may find themselves vulnerable due to a shrinking market for paid caregivers and the cost of care. Senior lifestyle communities, such as Continuing Care Retirement Communities (CCRC’s), are certainly an option that one should consider.

These communities offer not only essential support that may otherwise be lacking but also a vibrant community of peers with whom to socialize. This is SEE SOLO AGING, PAGE 12

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SPECIAL SECTION SENIOR SOLO AGING

proportions that demands our collective attention and action.

particularly crucial for individuals who have experienced the loss of a spouse, an experience that can be emotionally devastating without a robust support system. CCRC’s are also feeling the challenges with a shrinking labor pool market for care personnel and other personnel required to run the day-to-day operations such as housekeeping and food services.

The loss of a spouse or partner is a heart-wrenching ordeal and the absence of emotional support can exacerbate the pain. Professional in-home supportive care services with the right caregiver match along with senior lifestyle communities can provide a lifeline by fostering a sense of belonging and companionship among residents, both options can mitigate the devastating effects of isolation and loneliness.

In planning for the future, it is imperative to acknowledge that the possibility of aging alone is becoming a reality for an increasing number of people each year. Understanding the challenges and exploring available alternatives is crucial. We must recognize that solo aging is not just an individual issue; it is a societal challenge of pandemic

Addressing solo aging requires a multifaceted approach:

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 11

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NOVEMBER 3, 2023

Promoting awareness: First and foremost, we must raise awareness about the prevalence and challenges of solo aging. This includes educating the public, policymakers and health care providers about the unique needs of this demographic.

Community support: Encouraging the development of more senior lifestyle communities and affordable housing options for solo agers is essential. These communities provide not only a safety net for care but also a social safety net, reducing isolation and loneliness.

Access to services: We must ensure that solo agers have easy access to a wide range of services, including healthcare, transportation and in-home assistance.

These services should be tailored to their unique needs.

Family and friend networks: Encouraging the cultivation of robust friend and neighbor networks among older adults can provide vital emotional support and a sense of community.

Technology integration: Leveraging technology to connect solo agers with healthcare professionals, social groups and virtual companionship can help alleviate isolation. New developments with artificial intelligence may play a key factor.

Financial planning: Supporting solo agers in their financial planning for long-term care is crucial. This includes exploring insurance options and affordable ways to secure their future.

Solo aging is a silent pandemic that is poised to affect an ever-increasing portion of our aging population. If left unaddressed, the consequences of isolation and loneliness among solo agers could become a societal crisis. It is incumbent upon us as a society to confront this issue head-on, ensuring that solo agers receive the support, care and companionship they deserve in their golden years. Our collective response to this challenge will define our commitment to the well-being of all generations, young and old alike. JN Bob Roth is the managing partner of Cypress HomeCare Solutions.

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Helping you Navigate Your Medicare Options

Arizona HealthPlan Advisors

Jon Aries

(602) 400-2632 mobile/text (602) 671-0194 recorded line jon@azhealthplanadvisors.com

azhealthplanadvisors.com Medicare Supplement • Medicare Advantage Prescription Drug Plans Arizona HealthCare Advisors LLC does not offer every plan available in your area. For 2024 we represent eight insurance carriers which offer 156 products in Arizona.nPlease contact Medicare.gov, 1-800-MEDICARE, or your local State Health InsuranceProgram (SHIP) to get information on all of your options.

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Mesa author explains ‘Rebel Teens’ in November MALA BLOMQUIST | MANAGING EDITOR

I

t’s an accomplishment for any author to see their book published, but 74-yearold Mesa resident Steve Bergsman quadrupled his celebration this year, with the arrival of four of his works in print.

“Although one shouldn’t be thankful about COVID for anything, especially since I barely survived it myself, but when the disease arrived in this country and everyone went into lockdown, I just got in front of my computer screen and kept working and working,” said Bergsman.

“When the disease began to affect the supply chain in the publishing world and some books were delayed, that’s how I ended up with four books being published this year.”

Bergsman and his wife, Wendy, are members of Temple Beth Sholom of the East Valley and moved to Mesa in 1976. He began his career as a business writer specializing in real estate and has contributed to more than 100 magazines, newspapers and wire services over the past four decades.

He wrote five real estate books, his first being “Maverick Real Estate Investing:

The Art of Buying and Selling Properties Like Trump, Zell, Simon, and the World’s Greatest Land Owners.” Included in the book was information gleaned from a 45-minute interview with Donald Trump.

After the book was published in 2004, Bergsman started following its ranking on Amazon and noticed the numbers climbing up the chart. “I went from a ranking in the millions to 10,000 and then I broke the 1,000 mark and eventually ended up at like 32nd,” he said. “I couldn’t figure it out at first because there was no promotion going on for my book. I couldn’t figure out why I was selling so many.”

Bergsman finally made the connection when he saw Trump promoting his new television show “The Apprentice.”

“I had Donald Trump’s name in the title and he was on every news station, the cover of magazines and was being interviewed everywhere about this new television show and I was along for the ride,” said Bergsman. “I remember my first book was kind of a best seller and, as with many authors, they have a good start and never get there again.”

After writing about real estate, he wrote a memoir and travel books before turning his focus to the music industry.

“I have always been a sort of amateur musicologist,” he said. “You know, how did we get from swing music in the 1940s to rock and roll in 1955? That’s always been a question that intrigued me.”

The four books that Bergsman released to the public this year include: “The Wanderers: Killer Teens, Rebel Teens, Gang Teens and the Evolution of the Last Great Greaser Feature,” “Earth Angels: The Short Lives and Controversial Deaths of Three R & B Pioneers,” “What a Difference a Day Makes: Women Who Conquered 1950s Music,” and “All I Want Is Loving You: Popular Female Singers of the 1950s.”

On Nov. 13 at 1 p.m. at the Ina Levine Jewish Community Campus, Bergsman will be hosting a discussion and book signing of “The Wanderers: Killer Teens, Rebel Teens, Gang Teens and the Evolution of the Last Great Greaser Feature,” along with a showing of the 1979 film, “The Wanderers,” which

MAR AVILL A

Steve Bergsman

COURTESY OF STEVE BERGSMAN

inspired the book.

Bergsman was intrigued by the comingof-age movie and concern about teen gangs becoming part of the zeitgeist of America in the 1950s. He remembers being 13 years old at a dance and seeing “these kids hanging out smoking cigarettes, looking very cool, and they SEE AUTHOR, PAGE 14

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SPECIAL SECTION SENIOR AUTHOR

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 13

all had that sort of shiny silk jacket,” the kind worn in the movie.

“I guess it’s that memory that led me to ‘The Wanderers’ and to write about it,” he said.

His research began with Dion DiMucci, who wrote the song “The Wanderer” in 1961. Dion was from the Bronx and before he became a rock and roll star, he was in a gang.

“I decided to look at ‘The Wanderers’ and how we got to the evolution of the movie,” he said.

In the book, he talks about the gangs and how Dion came to write the song, which was followed by Richard Price’s book of the same name. Then, Phil Kaufman came across Price’s book and decided to make a movie based on it.

Bergsman explained the history of “teen gang” movies that began with Marlon Brando’s “The Wild One” and went on for two decades, mainly as “B” movies.

“As the teenagers from the ‘50s grew up and were in their 30s and early 40s, they became nostalgic for their teen years and this was epitomized by the ‘greaser,’ the guy with the slick back hair and leather jacket.”

He said this nostalgia was the impe-

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tus for the 1974 movie “The Lords of Flatbush,” the sitcom “Happy Days” (which also launched in 1974), “Grease” (1978) and “The Warriors” (1979). “’The Wanderers’ came out in 1979 and that’s pretty much where the whole teen gang theme played out,” said Bergsman. “People have watched this movie dozens of times and there’s a whole group of people on social media that follow the movie.”

Bergsman is not done writing books.

He said that his wife, who is retired, appreciates that it keeps him busy.

He just finished working on singer Carol Connors’ memoir. Connors (born Annette Kleinbard) was the Jewish lead vocalist on the Teddy Bears’ single, “To Know Him Is to Love Him,” written by the late Phil Spector and co-wrote “Gonna Fly Now,” the theme song from the movie, “Rocky,” which earned her an Academy Award nomination. The book is expected to be released February 2024.

“She’s in her 80s now, a lively woman with many stories to tell,” said Bergsman.

“Her first lover was Elvis Presley and there were many lovers since then. That’s all I’m going to say — you’ll have to read the book.” JN Steve Bergsman’s books are available on Amazon.

For more information on the Nov. 13 event, visit vosjcc.org/program/movie-club-the-wanderers/.

YEARS

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As an AE, you will have myriad opportunities to earn an income that increases with every sale you make, through advertising sales for our newspaper, magazines, digital and more.

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Borrowed sukkah ‘closes the circle’ for Greater Phoenix’s Jewish community SHANNON LEVITT | STAFF WRITER

S

ukkot is known to be a time to rejoice with family, loved ones and the Jewish community, so when a few special Jews needed some assistance about a week before the start of this year’s holiday, Greater Phoenix’s Jewish community was all too happy to lend a hand — and a sukkah.

This particular part of this sukkah’s stor y started when Amy Hummell, executive director of Gesher Disability Resources, got a call from Mark Stodola in the final days of September. Stodola’s son, Andy, is a resident at Keshet House, one of the homes owned and managed by Gesher. Andy, 37, and two other disabled adults have resided together in the threebedroom house in Phoenix since it was purchased by Gesher in 2011.

Mark went to the garage to retrieve the sukkah but found it hadn’t been stored well; its metal bases were completely rusted and the rest of it was gradually eroding and falling apart, making it essentially unusable.

According to Jewish law, all meals are to be eaten in a sukkah, the temporary huts built for the weeklong holiday that recall the ancient Israelites’ time spent in the desert and spotlight their need for divine protection. Keshet needed a replacement, fast.

Mark’s first call was to Hummell, who immediately put out feelers to the community.

Debbie Yunker Kail, executive director of Hillel at Arizona State University, let Hummell know that, indeed, Hillel did have a sukkah for Keshet. She also told her another part of this sukkah’s sweet history.

At one time, Hillel at ASU students didn’t have their own sukkah and instead ate and celebrated in the shared one on campus, set up every year on the Orange Mall. In 2015, when Yunker Kail was still pretty new to her position, some students approached her about taking more leadership in the community and in programming decisions. One of those students, the son of New Shul Rabbi Michael Wasserman and Rabbi Elana Kanter, proposed that Hillel should have its own sukkah.

He also had inside information that his parents’ Scottsdale synagogue happened to have a spare sukkah because its congregants preferred hosting one another in their home sukkahs, instead of the synagogue parking lot, where Wasserman had been used to setting one up.

Wasserman was only too happy to let Hillel keep it.

JEWISHAZ.COM

Building the sukkah at Keshet House.

COURTESY OF GESHER DISABILITY RESOURCES

Hillel also used its parking lot for the sukkah, and to distinguish it from the campus sukkah, it took on the title “parking lot sukkah,” but not for long.

A few years ago, Sukkot happened to fall on Hillel’s family weekend and the good ol’ parking lot sukkah was just too small to contain everyone. Yunker Kail had to purchase materials to build a bigger one, something she did with the helpful advice of Smile on Seniors Rabbi Levi Levertov, who told her where to get everything at a reasonable price.

So, when Yunker Kail learned of Keshet House’s need, she had the extra sukkah to lend. Happily, she had already arranged for movers to take the latest parking lot sukkah out of storage, so she asked them also to grab the New Shul sukkah, which is how it’s still labeled.

“I always want to say yes if I can,” she said. It turned out that the instructions were long gone, so she was relieved to hear that wasn’t a problem for the two students from ASU’s Alpha Epsilon Pi (AEPi) chapter, a Jewish fraternity, who built the sukkah.

Alex Feinman, an ASU junior and AEPi’s community relations chair, couldn’t go, so he recruited two of his brothers. It’s a cause close to his heart, though. He has a cousin with autism and Feinman has volunteered with disabled children in sports for years. AEPi held a fundraiser for Gesher last spring.

“It’s my volunteering of choice,” he said.

Mark, his wife, Susan, and Andy have been members of Temple Chai in Phoenix for close to three decades. Andy pays his own membership dues.

“He looks forward to going to services and really enjoys singing,” Susan said.

“In his own way, it’s a very moving part of his life.”

Andy and the other two residents enjoyed using the sukkah, especially given that the weather was a bit cooler during Sukkot.

Susan said having the students there was a real treat for all of them as well, and she would love to have them come back any other time, “even if it’s just for a visit with the guys or to go for a walk with them,” she said.

Barry Markson, emcee for Gesher’s annual gala, came to Keshet House’s small celebration on the second day of Sukkot. He had never been to the house before and was impressed by “how these adults with special needs are able to live independently with the pride that gives them,” he said.

Seeing “the nice Jewish college kids helping out” was also great to see, he said.

Temple Emanuel of Tempe members Ed Katz and his son, Jared, were there too. Jared, 43, is also a member of Gesher but lives with his family.

“We came to sing songs, say prayers, do some arts and crafts,” Ed said. Gesher celebrations are familiar and that’s essential for Jared, who is uncomfortable with noise.

“Jared couldn’t normally participate, but Gesher gives families like us a chance to observe and celebrate our Judaism in an environment that’s comfortable with him,” Ed said. Gesher has been “so meaningful to us, and I hope that other Jewish parents of kids with special needs find it.”

Wasserman, who “always enjoys working with Gesher,” was “delighted” to hear that the New Shul’s sukkah had found a home at Keshet House, he said.

“This is a nice way to close the circle,” he said. JN

Inside the sukkah at Keshet House. Pictured from left are: Jared Katz, Ed Katz, Stacy Rosenthal (Gesher’s director of programs), Andy Stodola and Robbie.

COURTESY OF GESHER DISABILITY RESOURCES

ASU’s campus sukkah with staff from Olami, Chabad at ASU and Hillel at ASU. COURTESY OF HILLEL AT ASU

IT TAKES A COMMUNITY TO FIGHT HUNGER Support the Creighton Community Foundations Hunger Relief work across diverse low income communities in desperate need, helping relieve suffering in lives that are downtrodden

Make a tax deductible donation today and help us uplift those in need while maximizing your impact.

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(Your donation may be deductibe under the Arizona Qualified Charitable Organizations Tax Credit)

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SPECIAL SECTION CHARITABLE GIVING

Take Arizona’s tax credits today — your support will echo throughout the community for years JANET SILVA | SPECIAL TO THE JEWISH NEWS

H

olidays are a time for giving and as you gear up for Tax Day, Arizona of fers you a unique opportunity to make a difference while reducing your state tax liability. Discover the Arizona tax credit programs that empower you to contribute to nonprofit organizations, receiving a dollarJanet Silva for-dollar credit.

COURTESY OF JEWISH TUITION These credits include ORGANIZATION the Qualifying Charitable Organization (QCO), Private School Tuition Organization (STO), Qualifying Foster Care Charitable Organization (QFCO), Arizona Military Family Relief Fund and public school credits. Additionally, there’s a low-income corporate private school tuition program with its own requirements and deadlines.

PROVIDING SERVICES AND RESOURCES TO FOSTER CHILDREN THROUGHOUT ARIZONA

For corporate program details, get in touch with a school tuition organization (STO) or visit the Arizona Department of Revenue website at azdor.gov.

These tax credits funnel crucial funding into various qualifying organizations.

For example, the private school tuition program provides scholarships for students to attend schools tailored to their specific educational needs. The public school tax credit supports field trips and after-school activities, while contributing to a qualifying charitable organization sustains a range of impactful programs based on the organization’s mission.

Each tax credit has its maximum amount, which can var y. Married taxpayers can leverage multiple credits, potentially exceeding $5,000, while single taxpayers may receive more than $2,600.

Contributions can be divided within each category but should not surpass the maximum for that category. For instance, in 2023, the maximum amount for the private school tuition tax credit is $1,307

ARIZONA FOSTER CARE TAX CREDIT 2023

INDIVIDUAL DONORS UP TO $526 JOINT FILING DONORS UP TO $1051

WHEN YOU SUPPORT A JEWISH TAX CREDIT ORGANIZATION, YOU MAKE A LASTING IMPACT ON MEMBERS OF YOUR OWN COMMUNITY, AND YOUR GENEROSITY WILL RESONATE INTO THE FUTURE. for individuals and $2,609 for married couples. You can donate the maximum to one STO or distribute your support across multiple STOs, provided it does not exceed the maximum for the private school tuition tax credit. These dollar-fordollar credits enable you to support causes close to your heart without straining your family budget. Detailed information about qualified organizations and specific credit types is available on the Arizona Department of Revenue’s website.

With each new year comes fresh opportunities to offer your support.

Many charities introduce new programs, expanding their reach. The Charitable Organization tax credit has seen its first increase in many years. It’s essential to stay informed about contribution limits for each organization and any program changes you would like to support but did not in the past. While taking advantage of these tax credits does not impact your family budget, it makes a significant difference to those in need throughout the community.

Several organizations, including the East Valley Jewish Community Center, Gesher Disability Resources, Jewish Free Loan, Kivel Campus of Care, Jewish Family & Children’s Services and the Jewish Tuition Organization have come together at jewishtaxcredit. org to facilitate easy support. The Jewish

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RECEIVE A DOLLAR FOR DOLLAR CREDIT WHEN FILING YOUR 2023 ARIZONA STATE TAXES

Tuition Organization serves as a school tuition organization, while the other five members of this collaborative group are qualifying charitable organizations.

This group formed over a decade ago to streamline community support by offering a brochure mailing at year-end or the convenience of jewishtaxcredit.org.

In the case of the Qualifying Charitable Organization tax credit, the maximum amounts for 2023 are $421 for individuals and $841 for married couples, marking a 5% increase from 2022. Similar to STOs, you can allocate the maximum amount to one qualifying charitable organization or distribute it among several organizations.

When you support a Jewish tax credit organization, you make a lasting impact on members of your own community, and your generosity will resonate into the future. As you prepare your 2023 taxes, seize the opportunity to take the credit and provide crucial assistance to a student, a family or someone in need while championing a cause that is personally meaningful to you. JN The Jewish Tuition Organization has broadened its scholarship program from six Phoenix-area Jewish day schools to qualified Jewish day schools statewide. For more information, visit jtophoenix.org.

Janet Silva is the executive directory of the Jewish Tuition Organization in Scottsdale.

YEARS

2023

Be a part of our upcoming special sections Celebrations • Arts and Entertainment

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November 10:

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COMMUNITY

Bar mitzvah in a small town

Celebrating Jewish pride

The musical ‘13’ opened last weekend at Desert Stages Theatre in Scottsdale and runs through Nov. 12. The protagonist is a Jewish boy from New York, who is becoming a bar mitzvah but moves to a small Indiana town where his is the only Jewish family. Several members of the cast are Jewish, including Samantha Arko, who is preparing for her own bat mitzvah in a few months.

PHOTO COURTESY OF ELYSSA BLONDER

In a powerful and inspiring evening, the Center for Jewish Philanthropy of Greater Phoenix, in collaboration with the Anti-Defamation League and the Bureau of Jewish Education of Greater Phoenix, hosted an event with Jewish pride influencer Ben M. Freeman at the Ina Levine Jewish Community Center on Monday, October 23, 2023. Event co-chairs Dr. Jordana Jaffee (left) and Keryn Bickman-Solomon (right) stand with Freeman.

COURTESY OF THE CENTER FOR JEWISH PHILANTHROPY OF GREATER PHOENIX

How to make High Holiday treats Smile on Seniors hosted “In the kitchen with Benita” on Sept. 5, where Benita Sonabend taught attendees how to make High Holiday treats. Pictured from left: Robin Singer, Ellie Gersten and Kathleen Darrow.

COURTESY OF SMILE ON SENIORS

Parading for Pride A contingent of hundreds of Arizona Jews gathered to march in the annual Phoenix Pride Parade on Sunday, Oct. 22. AZ Jews for Pride organizes the Jewish marchers and creates a t-shirt in a different color of the rainbow every year.

COURTESY OF AZ JEWS FOR PRIDE

Chabad’s night of comfort food at ASU Chabad at Arizona State University hosted an October evening filled with solidarity and comfort food for all the students who have been feeling down since Hamas’ invasion of Israel on Oct. 7. “It was all love last night at Comfort Food Night,” said Rabbi Shmuel Tiechtel, Chabad at ASU’s director. “Just a reminder, Chabad is here for you!”

COURTESY OF CHABAD AT ARIZONA STATE UNIVERSITY JEWISHAZ.COM

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

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NOVEMBER 3, 2023

17

CALENDAR

Featured Event SUNDAY, NOV. 12 Red Rocks Music Festival: 3 p.m. Paradise Valley United Methodist Church, 4455 E. Lincoln Drive, Paradise Valley. Join the Red Rocks Music Festival for a performance by violinist Shlomo Mintz with pianist Vitaly Serebriakov. Cost: $36 general admission, $15 students. For more information, visit redrocksmusicfestival.com.

COURTESY OF RED ROCKS MUSIC FESTIVAL

For an updated listing of events and resources for supporting Israel, visit JewishPhoenix.com Events FRIDAY-SUNDAY THROUGH NOV. 12 “13:” 7:30 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays, 2 p.m.

Saturdays and Sundays. Scottsdale Desert Stages Theatre at Fashion Square, 7014 E. Camelback Road, Suite 0586, Scottsdale. Join Desert Stages for a teen production of “13,” a musical about a teen trying to plan his bar mitzvah and fit in at a new school at the same time. Cost: $20. For more information, visit desertstages.org.

SATURDAY, NOV. 4 Viva Gesher!: 6:30-10:30 p.m. Ina Levine Jewish Community Campus, 12701 N. Scottsdale Road, Scottsdale. Join Gesher Disability Resources for its annual gala honoring Mark Bregman and raising funds for Gesher’s residential program. For more information, visit gesherdr.org.

MONDAY, NOV. 6 Make Fleece Blankets for Children in Foster Care: 5:30-8 p.m. Valley Beit Midrash, 7580 E. Gray Road, Scottsdale. Join Arizona Jews for Justice to make blankets for children in foster care. For more information or to RSVP, contact roberta@valleybeitmidrash.org.

WEDNESDAY, NOV. 8 JNF-USA Annual Men’s Event: 5-9 p.m. The Vault of Scottsdale, 15882 N. 77th St., Scottsdale. Join Jewish National Fund-USA for an evening of conversation, an Israeli dinner, whiskey tastings, cigar bar and a display of luxury and classic cars. For more information, visit events.jnf.org/e/annualmensevent.

THURSDAY, NOV. 9 Jews on the Move: The Geographic Dimension of Jewish Survival in North America: 1 p.m. Online. Join Valley Beit Midrash for a presentation by economist Michael Weil. Cost; $18.

For more information, visit valleybeitmidrash.org.

Och & Oy! A Considered Cabaret: 7:30 p.m.

Mesa Arts Center, One E. Main St., Mesa.

Join Alan Cumming and Air Shapiro as they join together for an evening of song.

Cost: $35-$65. For more information, visit mesaartscenter.com.

SUNDAY, NOV. 12 “The Devil’s Confession: The Lost Eichmann Tapes”: 11:30 a.m. Harkins Theatres Shea 14, 7354 E. Shea Blvd., Scottsdale. Join the Greater Phoenix Jewish Film Festival, Bureau of Jewish Education of Greater Phoenix and Phoenix Holocaust Association for a screening of the film, “The Devil’s Confession: The Lost Eichmann Tapes.” Cost: $18, free for students, under age 25 and Holocaust survivors. For more information, visit bjephoenix.org.

MONDAY, NOV. 13 Fashion Show: 10 a.m. Temple Beth Shalom of 18

NOVEMBER 3, 2023

the West Valley, 12202 N. 101st Ave., Sun City.

Join the Tikvah West Valley Chapter of Hadassah for a fashion show by New Image Fashions and a catered lunch. Cost: $36. For more information, contact Judi Bourd at zadie3@ aol.com.

TUESDAY, NOV. 14 Leonardo DaVinci and the Power of Observation: 10 a.m. East Valley Jewish Community Center, 908 N. Alma School Road, Chandler.

Join the EVJCC for a presentation by Phoenix Art Museum docent Partrick Ventura. For more information, visit evjcc.org/tuesdays.

SUNDAYS B.A.G.E.L.S: 9-11 a.m.; last Sunday of the month. Valley of the Sun Jewish Community Center, 12701 N. Scottsdale Road, Scottsdale.

Grab a bagel and a cup of coffee at Bagels And Gabbing Every Last Sunday and enjoy some time with your friends and make new ones. You must register to attend. Bagels and coffee will be provided. Cost: Free for members, $5 for guests. For more information and to register, visit vosjcc.org.

THURSDAYS Storytime at Modern Milk: 9:30 a.m. Modern Milk, 13802 N. Scottsdale Road, #163, Scottsdale. Storytime for babies, toddlers and preschoolers. Integrates children’s books and songs while giving parents new ideas for play.

Cost: $5. For more information and to register, visit modernmilk.com/after-baby.

Meetings, Lectures & Classes SUNDAYS Chassidus Class: 9 a.m. Online. Learn about the Chasidic movement with Rabbi Yossi Friedman. Cost: Free. For more information, visit chabadaz.com.

Jewish War Veterans Post 210: 10 a.m. Online.

Any active duty service member or veteran is welcome to join monthly meetings, every third Sunday. Cost: Free. For more information, email Michael Chambers at c365michael@ yahoo.com.

Sundays are for the Family Weekly Feed: 3-5 p.m. Tempe Beach Park, 80 W. Rio Salado Pkwy., Tempe. Join Arizona Jews for Justice and AZ HUGS for the Houseless every Sunday to serve food to those in need. For more information and to RSVP, email Arizonajews4justice@gmail.com.

MONDAYS Mahjong: 1:30-3:30 p.m. East Valley Jewish Community Center, 908 N. Alma School Road, Chandler. Come play mahjong each week. For all levels. Cost: Free; registration required at evjcc.org/mahjong/.

Ethics of Our Fathers: 7 p.m. Online. Learn with Rabbi Zalman Levertov. Tune in at: bit. ly/2Y0wdgv. Cost: Free. For more information, visit chabadaz.com.

Quotable Quotes by our Sages: 7 p.m. Online.

Learn with Rabbi Shlomy Levertov. Tune in at: JewishParadiseValley.com/class. Cost: Free.

For more information, visit chabadaz.com.

Partners in Torah: 7:30 p.m. Online. Join a growing group of inspired learners with Project Inspire. Cost: Free. Tune in at: us04web.zoom. us/j/3940479736#success, password is 613.

For more information, email Robin Meyerson at robin@projectinspireaz.com.

Learning to Trust in God: 7:30 p.m. Online.

Learn with Rabbi Yossi Friedman. Tune in at: ChabadAZ.com/LiveClass. Cost: Free. For more information, visit chabadaz.com.

Torah & Tea: 7:30 p.m. Online. Learn with Rabbi Yossie Shemtov. Cost: Free. For more information, visit Facebook.com/ChabadTucson.

TUESDAYS Let’s Knit: 1:30 p.m. Ina Levine Jewish Community Campus, 12701 N. Scottsdale Road, Scottsdale. Share the pleasure of knitting, crocheting, etc. outside the social hall in the campus. Can’t knit? They will teach you! Every level welcome.

Cost: Free. For more information, visit vosjcc.org.

Maintaining an Upbeat Attitude: 7 p.m.

Online. A class exclusively for people in their 20s and 30s, learn how Jewish Mysticism can help with your attitude with Rabbi Shlomy Levertov. Cost: Free. Tune in at: JewishParadiseValley.com/YJPclass. For more information, visit chabadaz.com.

WEDNESDAYS History of the Jews: 11 a.m. Online. Learn the Jewish journey from Genesis to Moshiach with Rabbi Ephraim Zimmerman. Cost: Free. Tune in here: zoom.us/j/736434666. For more information, visit chabadaz.com.

Torah Study with Temple Beth Shalom of the West Valley: 11 a.m.-12:30 p.m. Online. Weekly study group explores that week’s portion and studies different perspectives and debates the merits of various arguments. Intended for adults, Torah study is open to students of all levels. For more information, contact the TBS office at 623-977-3240.

Happiness Hour: 11:30 a.m. Online. Class taught by Rabbi Pinchas Allouche that delves into texts and references culled from our traditions to address a relevant topic. For more information or to join, visit cbtvirtualworld.com.

Torah Study with Chabad: 12 p.m. Online. Take a weekly journey of Torah with Rabbi Yossi Levertov. Cost: Free. For more information, visit chabadaz.com.

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Lunch & Learn: 12:15 p.m. Online. Grab some food and learn with Rabbi Yehuda Ceitlin.

Cost: Free. Get Zoom link by emailing info@ chabadtucson.com. For more information, visit chabadtucson.com.

JACS: 7:30-8:30 p.m. Valley of the Sun Jewish Community Center, 12701 N. Scottsdale Road, Scottsdale. In person and via Zoom support group for Jewish alcoholics, addicts and their friends and family on the first and third Wednesdays of the month. Cost: Free. For more information, email jacsarizona@gmail. com or call 602-692-1004.

THURSDAYS Ladies Torah & Tea: 10:30 a.m. Online. Learn about the women of the Torah with Mrs. Leah Levertov. Cost: Free. Tune in at: ourjewishcenter.com/virtual. For more information, visit chabadaz.com.

Talmud - Maakos: 11 a.m. Online. Learn with Rabbi Shlomy Levertov. Cost: Free. Tune in at: JewishParadiseValley.com/YJPclass. For more information, visit chabadaz.com.

The Science of Everything: 4 p.m. Online.

Explore the most fundamental work of Chassidut: the Tanya, with Rabbi Boruch. Cost: Free.

Tune in at: zoom.us/j/736434666. For more information, visit chabadaz.com.

Teen Discussions: 7-8:30 p.m. Online. Learn with Rabbi Tzvi Rimler. Cost: Free. Tune in at cteen.clickmeeting.com/east-valley. For more information, visit chabadaz.com.

SATURDAYS Saturday Mindfulness Gatherings: 9:30 a.m.

Online. Hosted by Hospice of the Valley. To join by phone, dial 1-253-215-8782, meeting ID 486 920 2119#. To get the Zoom link or for more information, contact Gill Hamilton at ghamilton@hov.org or 602-748-3692.

Book Discussion: 1:30-2:30 p.m. Online. Join Or Adam Congregation for Humanistic Judaism on the third Saturday of every month for a book discussion. For more information and to register, contact oradaminfo@gmail.com.

Shabbat FRIDAYS Shabbat in the Park: 10-11 a.m. Cactus Park, 7202 E. Cactus Road, Scottsdale. Join the Bureau of Jewish Education of Greater Phoenix monthly for music, parachute play, crafts and a family Shabbat experience. For more information, visit bjephoenix.org.

Welcome Shabbat: 11-11:30 a.m. Online. Celebrate Shabbat with the JFCS Virtual Center for Senior Enrichment. Each week a different guest host will lead the program with song and JEWISHAZ.COM

CALENDAR celebration. Cost: Free. For more information, visit jfcsaz.org/cse.

Shabbat at Beth El: 11-11:45 a.m. Beth El Phoenix, 1118 W. Glendale. Ave., Phoenix.

Celebrate Shabbat with songs, blessings and teachings with Rabbi Stein Kokin the first Friday of every month. Special guests will be welcoming Shabbat during the remainder of the month. For more information or to join, visit bethelphoenix.com.

Erev Shabbat Service: 5:30 p.m. Online. Rabbi Alicia Magal will lead a service livestreamed for members of the Jewish Community of Sedona and the Verde Valley. Cost: Free. For more information and to obtain the Zoom link, visit jcsvv.org/contact.

Shabbat Services: 5:30 p.m. nosh, 6:15 p.m. service; morning varying dates and times.

Temple Chai, 4645 E. Marilyn Road, Phoenix.

For more information, contact Joan Neer at jneer@templechai.com.

Pre-Shabbat Kiddush Club: 6 p.m. Online. Say Kiddush with Rabbi Mendy Levertov. Cost: Free. Tune in here: ourjewishcenter.com/virtual.

For more information, visit chabadaz.com.

Shabbat Services: 6 p.m; 9:30 a.m. Congregation Or Tzion, 16415 N. 90th St., Scottsdale.

Services are also live streamed at otaz.org/ livestream. For more information about services, events and membership, visit congregationortzion.org or call 480-342-8858.

Shabbat Services: 6:15 p.m; 10 a.m. Congregation Beth Israel, 10460 N. 56th St., Scottsdale.

Services held in the Goldsmith Sanctuary. Participants must pre-register by Thursday at 5 p.m. Priority will be given to members first and then guests. If there are more requests than

available seats a lottery system will be used.

For more information or to make a reservation, visit cbiaz.org/shabbat-services.

will be demonstrated standing, but can also be done sitting in a chair. Cost: Free. For more information, visit jfcsaz.org/cse.

Kabbalat Shabbat and/or Shabbat morning service: 6:30 p.m.; 10 a.m.; dates vary. Congregation Kehillah, 5858 E. Dynamite Blvd., Cave Creek. Join Rabbi Bonnie Sharfman and cantorial soloists Erica Erman and Scott Leader either in person or via Zoom. For safety reasons, please register ahead of time. For dates, visit congregationkehillah.org/event/. Register by emailing info@congregationkehillah.org.

Sip & Schmooze: 11 a.m. milk + honey, 12701 N. Scottsdale Road, Scottsdale. Sip on kosher coffee or tea, enjoy a pastry and schmooze every second Monday of the month. RSVP appreciated to chani@sosaz.org or 602-492-7670. For more information, visit sosaz.org.

Third Friday Shabbat: 7-9 p.m. Group meets at a North Scottsdale location. The Desert Foothills Jewish Community Association hosts a Shabbat service followed by a program.

Contact Andrea at 480-664-8847 for more information.

Shabbat Services with Sun Lakes: 7 p.m. Sun Lakes Chapel, 9240 E. Sun Lakes Blvd. North, Sun Lakes. Sun Lakes Jewish Congregation conducts services on the second Friday of the month. For more information, contact 480-612-4413.

Shabbat Services with Beth Ami Temple: 7 p.m. Gloria Christi Federated Church, 3535 E. Lincoln Dr., Paradise Valley. Rabbi Alison Lawton and Cantorial Soloist Michael Robbins lead Shabbat services twice a month. For more information, visit bethamitemple.org.

Seniors MONDAYS Fitness Xpress Series with Zoe: 11-11:30 a.m.

Online. Presented by JFCS Center for Senior Enrichment. Workout features weight and band exercises as well as yoga poses. Exercises

Featured Presentation: 12:30 p.m. Online. Join Smile on Seniors Mondays and Wednesdays to learn from a variety of presenters about topical issues, like Q&As with medical professionals, entertainers and lectures. Cost: Free. For more information, visit sosaz.org/virtual or email Rabbi Levi Levertov at levi@sosaz.org.

TUESDAYS Movie Discussion Group: 11 a.m. Online. Join Smile on Seniors on the third Tuesday of every month hosted by Issy Lifshitz. Cost: Free. For full details and the movie of the month visit sosaz.org/virtual or email Rabbi Levi Levertov at levi@sosaz.org.

WEDNESDAYS Fitness Fun with Zoe: 10-10:45 a.m. Online.

Presented by JFCS Center for Senior Enrichment. Workout features light chair exercises with optional weights. Cost: Free. For more information, visit jfcsaz.org/cse.

Chair Yoga with Zoe: 11-11:45 a.m. Online.

Presented by JFCS Center for Senior Enrichment. 45-minute chair yoga class. No prior yoga experience required. Cost: Free. For more information, visit jfcsaz.org/cse.

THURSDAYS Memory Cafe: 10-11 a.m. first Thursday; 1-2 p.m. third Thursday. Online. Presented by Jewish

Rita Mae Segal

Ellen Chaprack Katz

Rita Mae Segal (nee Plotkin) of Phoenix, passed away on October 25, 2023.

Ellen Chaprack Katz passed away peacefully on Oct. 13, 2023, at Mayo Hospital, with loving family around her, including her loving husband of 58 years, Larry.

Ellen was born on March 27, 1943, and spent her youth in Roslyn, New York. She went to Roslyn High School and Tufts University, graduating in 1965.

Ellen and Larry met on a blind date in 1962, and it was love at first sight. They were married for 58 wonderful years.

After Larry graduated from law school, they moved to New York, where their two wonderful children, Andrew and Jed, were born. In 1975, they moved to Phoenix. In her 40s, Ellen went back to school to obtain her Ph.D. in psychology from Arizona State University. Afterward, she worked at Del Webb and Boswell Hospitals in Sun City and in private practice. Ellen loved that work, especially being part of a medical team, and felt very fulfilled in helping her patients. She retired after more than 30 years as a psychologist.

Although Ellen was beset by rheumatoid arthritis and other physical problems over the years, resulting in her need to use a wheelchair and oxygen cannula during the last year, she continued to have a very upbeat view of life and never let her ailments depress or dominate her. Her many and varied interests included bridge, Scrabble, Wordle, reading, TV (especially “Golden Girls” and “Seinfeld”), political discussions with her husband, movies and dining out with friends and family.

Ellen and Larry enjoyed two special family traditions: writing funny poems for all important holidays and occasions; and celebrating Thanksgiving with the entire extended family at their home with the main course being Alaskan king crab legs instead of turkey.

Ellen totally adored her two children and five grandchildren, Kylie, Brent, Taylor, Austen and Chloe. She also deeply loved her two daughters-in-law, Dawn and Lisa, and was delighted in how lucky her sons were in finding such terrific women.

Ellen was a spirited, lively woman who never had negative things to say about anyone, was generous, kind and brought great happiness and joy to family and friends. She will be greatly missed, but always in our thoughts.

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Rita was born on September 15, 1937, in Safford, Arizona. She was a member of the first graduating class at Arizona State University (after the name was changed from Arizona State College) in 1959, with a degree in business. This is where she met and married Ralph Segal.

Rita and Ralph had four girls. Her greatest joy was as a wife, mother and grandmother.

She is survived by husband, Ralph; daughters Carin (Roy) Adams, Robin Segal, Sherri (Sandy) Germaine and Natalee (Jay) Josephs; 11 grandchildren and four great-grandchildren: Eric Adams, Elizabeth (Tristen) Young (Noah and Issaiah), Eian (Felicia Cantu) Adams (Emilia and Ellie), Jared and Adam Segal, Stephanee and Justin (Helen) Germaine, Curtis, Asher, Shai and Theo Josephs.

Rita was an active member of her community. She founded and was president of her sorority, AEPhi at ASU, sisterhood president of Temple Beth Israel, a founding member of Temple Kol Ami and on the board of Arizona Theater Company and Arizona Jewish Historical Society.

Funeral services were held on Sunday, October 29, 2023, at Mt. Sinai Cemetery in Phoenix.

Contributions in her memory can be made to Temple Kol Ami.

JEWISH NEWS

Family & Children’s Service. Program for those with changes in their thinking or memory, mild cognitive impairment due to Alzheimer’s disease or a related disorder, along with their care partners. For more information, visit jfcsaz.org/our-services/older-adult-services/ memory-cafe/.

In the Kitchen with Benita: 12:30 p.m. Join Smile on Seniors on the fourth Thursday of every month for some delicious cooking or baking fun! Cost: Free. For full details visit sosaz.org/virtual or email Rabbi Levi Levertov at levi@sosaz.org.

FRIDAYS Welcome Shabbat: 11-11:30 a.m. Online. Celebrate Shabbat with the JFCS Virtual Center for Senior Enrichment. Each week a different guest host will lead the program with song and celebration. Cost: Free. For more information, visit jfcsaz.org/cse.

Sit or Stand Ballet Class: 12-12:45 p.m. Online.

Presented by JFCS Center for Senior Enrichment. Jennifer Cafarella Betts and Friends from Ballet Theatre of Phoenix teach this class.

Grab a chair or you can stand next to a chair or counter. Cost: Free. For more information, visit jfcsaz.org/cse. JN

MILESTONES OBITUARY PHYLLIS WEINSTEIN Phyllis Weinstein of Phoenix died on Oct. 22, 2023. She was 87. Phyllis was born in Detroit, Michigan and was a member of the Women’s League of the United Synagogue.

Phyllis was preceded in death by husband, Bob Weinstein, brother, Eddie Kauffman, and parents, Millie and Joe Kauffman. She is survived by daughters Suzie (Marvin) Goldstein, Carol Weinstein and Marla (Jon) Medwin; 10 grandchildren and four great-grandchildren.

Services were held on Oct. 24, 2023, at Paradise Memorial Gardens and officiated

by Cantor Ross Wolman.

Donations in her name can be made to Hospice of the Valley, Temple Chai and Smile on Seniors. JN BAR MITZVAH ADAM WOLDOFF Adam Woldoff became a bar mitzvah on Oct. 21, 2023, at Beth El Phoenix.

He is the son of Ron and Leisah Woldoff of Phoenix.

Adam’s grandparents are Bob Berkovitz of Mesa and Sarah Woldoff of Phoenix.

For his mitzvah project, Adam raised awareness and funds for the Lone Soldier Project of the East Valley Jewish Community Center, which provides resources for Lone Soldier Centers in Israel.

He also encouraged people to write letters to the soldiers, through the project’s Hanukkah Greeting Campaign.

A student at Pardes Jewish Day School, Adam enjoys playing flag football, running cross country, playing video games and hanging out with his friends and his dogs. JN NOVEMBER 3, 2023

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Israel needs you.

Please give generously.

Through its Israel Emergency Relief Fund, Jewish Federations of North America has distributed over $120M* to 62 organizations providing emergency relief and support in Israel.

ORGANIZATIONS INCLUDING: • The Jewish Agency for Israel • United Hatzalah • Leket • American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee (JDC) • Israel Trauma Coalition (ITC) • Barzilai Medical Center • ZAKA • and many more

Every cent of your donation to the Israel Emergency Relief Campaign goes to support the victims of terror providing for basic needs, trauma support, and rebuilding essential infrastructure.

phoenixcjp.org/SupportIsrael

*As of 10/30/23

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NOVEMBER 3, 2023

Donate to the Israel Emergency Relief Fund

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