Jewish News, November 15, 2024 by jewishaz

Rabbi Dr. Shmuly Yanklowitz hosted an online interfaith discussion with Dr. Mehnaz Afridi

HIDDEN IN THE HILLS

Two local artists are among the 179 participants in this annual event

Arizona, swingstate rabbis reflect on Trump’s win

MALA BLOMQUIST, JACOB GURVIS | MANAGING EDITOR JN, JTA

The Associated Press declared President-elect

Donald Trump the winner in Arizona on Saturday, Nov. 9, after vote updates in Maricopa and other counties added to his overall lead, putting the state out of reach for Vice President Kamala Harris.

Trump swept all seven of the hotly contested presidential battleground states, winning 312 electoral votes, compared to 226 for Harris. The number needed to win the presidency is 270.

Before the election, Cave Creek’s Congregation Kehillah Rabbi Bonnie Sharfman educated congregants on the sacred mitzvah of voting and Jewish textual sources on civic obligation.

Post-election, she advised everyone what to do if they were pleased or displeased with the outcome of the election, including “safeguarding our values by acting responsibly, modeling chesed and speaking up for those who can’t speak for themselves. In other words, what we should always be doing.”

Rabbi Debbie Stiel of Temple Solel in Paradise Valley acknowledged in her Shabbat message to congregants that “within our community, we have people who are happy with the results of the election, others who are disappointed and still others who are terrified.”

She reminded everyone that Shabbat is a muchneeded time to disconnect briefly from the stress of the world, as well as a time to think about our highest ideals and aspirations.

“Torah teaches us that leaders need to have a strong moral compass and to be concerned for the greater good,” she said. “So, for our judges, congressional representatives, governors and presidents, may we always remind them of the importance of caring for justice and every person.”

RABBIS, PAGE 2

Music festival survivor shares details of Oct. 7 at JNF event

When Jewish National Fund-USA announced an opportunity to volunteer in Israel with communities along the Gaza border after Hamas’ attack on Israel on Oct. 7, Francine Coles knew she needed to go. “Israel was calling,” she said. “This past February, just four months after that devastating attack, I found myself on the ground in Israel.”

Supporting soldiers

The community can send Chanukah greetings to lone soldiers through the East Valley Jewish Community Center Lone Soldier Project. See page 17.

MALA BLOMQUIST | MANAGING EDITOR

Speaker Sapir Golan shared her experience as a Nova music festival survivor at the Jewish National Fund-USA Women

Israel Luncheon on Nov. 6.

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

Stiel also stated that Jewish values do not change no matter who is in office. “We will continue to advocate for a better world, as Judaism tells us to. Repeatedly, Torah instructs us to look out for the widow, the orphan and the stranger. That mandate is ever before us, and we must continue to hear the call to be an or l’goyim – a light to the nations.”

The Jewish Telegraphic Agency (JTA) spoke to several swing-state rabbis ahead of the election, which was dividing Jewish communities across the seven battleground states. They each said tension was present in their communities — and that U.S.Israel relations were at the top of many congregants’ minds.

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two became friends.

open council seat, but there’s no doubt she earned her position, Meyers said.

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That’s how Stern first learned of the open council seat, but there’s no doubt she earned her position, Meyers said.

To become a council member, Stern had to apply and demonstrate that she had something valuable to contribute, he said.

She already has some practice at

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

“One time, I was in class and someone called me the R-word and I told him not to. The teacher was in the hallway and another student repeated the word,” she said. Rather than letting the situation go, she told her theater teacher, who was able

She already has some practice at

“If someone has a disability, saying the R-word is like saying the F-word,”

While performing in the musical “Hairspray,” she had another occasion to tangle with the offensive word, which

After the race was called early Wednesday, Nov. 6, JTA returned to those same rabbis to gauge how they and their communities were processing the results. An NBC News exit poll released Tuesday night indicated 21% of American Jews voted for Trump, with 79% of Jews voting for Vice President Harris.

While performing in the musical “Hairspray,” she had another occasion to tangle with the offensive word, which appears in the script.

“That’s really bad and my friend said it on stage. I was not OK with that, so I went to the director and told her it was a bad word for people with disabilities, but she wouldn’t take it out,” Stern said.

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According to the Jewish Virtual Library, Trump earned 30% of the Jewish vote in 2020 and 24% of the Jewish vote in 2016.

how Jews will be treated given Trump’s promises to round up and deport migrants, as well as the rhetoric from his campaign about minorities. Those dynamics, he feels, often spell trouble for Jews.

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Prior to Election Day, Rabbi Abe Friedman, senior rabbi of Temple Beth Zion-Beth Israel, a Conservative synagogue in Philadelphia, shared that he has two rules for discussing politics from the pulpit: The topic must be Jewish, and the message can’t just be tied to a specific moment.

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Now, after the vote that returned Donald Trump to the White House, Friedman said this moment required a rabbinic response — even if it risked breaking his own rules.

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“We have no idea what’s going to happen in January, but on the campaign trail, he said a lot of things that, as a close reader of Jewish history, have left me very uneasy,” said Friedman.

Friedman is especially concerned about

“She’s on the council because she deserves to be on the council,” he said.

To become a council member, Stern had to apply and demonstrate that she had something valuable to contribute, he said.

Stern is creating a life and career as a member of her community, which makes her a great addition.

“I think it’s cause for concern for Jewish communities, if there are any minority groups that are being targeted,” Friedman said. “It doesn’t always start with us, but it finds us, one way or another.”

“She’s on the council because she deserves to be on the council,” he said. Stern is creating a life and career as a member of her community, which makes her a great addition.

Founder of Arizona Jews for Justice, Rabbi Dr. Shmuly Yanklowitz, said that many of the people he works with, who are deeply marginalized and living in poverty, are terrified.

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groups. As a Jew, when I see a disregard for truth or malicious threats on the news, I’m committed to doubling down on striving to live with integrity and compassion for all those we serve.”

Stern graduated from McClintock High School in Tempe last year and now attends Glendale Community College, with a focus on dance. She is a regular performer at Detour Company Theatre, a Scottsdale theatre company for adults with intellectual, developmental and physical disabilities.

“Asylum seekers we work with, and their families, are afraid for their lives that they may be deported back to villages where they will be killed,” said Yanklowitz in an email. “As a rabbi, I just wish to be a pastor where people can cry on my shoulder. As an activist, I’m committed to resisting injustice. As an educator, I wish to preach hope and resilience. As a pluralist, I am committed to building bridges between different ideological

She let her mother know about the conflict and they were able to convince the director of the need to remove the word from the script.

For Rabbi Asher Lopatin in suburban Detroit, the prevailing reaction to Tuesday’s election results has been hope. And he gave a nod to the reasons that many Jewish Trump supporters cited when explaining their support for the former president.

She let her mother know about the conflict and they were able to convince the director of the need to remove the word from the script.

“My friend Al was next to me when I told the director and he gave me the biggest hug ever and said that he loved me so much,” Stern said. Sadly, Al died in a car crash on Oct. 24, 2021.

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In fact, when Stern attended her first council meeting in January, she couldn’t wait to tell people of her involvement with Detour and share information about its upcoming shows.

“I’m always hopeful, and I always see the positive side of things,” Lopatin said. “I’m hopeful that the people that [Trump] surrounds himself with are good and honest people, and people that will look out for the good of our allies, such as Israel, and will be strong against our enemies, such as Iran.”

“There’s no question that she is going to thrive,” Meyers said. “She’s very gregarious and passionate about the things that matter to her.”

Stern looks forward to sharing insights

“There’s no question that she is going to thrive,” Meyers said. “She’s very gregarious and passionate about the things that matter to her.”

Stern looks forward to sharing insights

“That was hard; it’s very hard to get emotions out and I was very, very upset,” she said.

“My friend Al was next to me when I told the director and he gave me the biggest hug ever and said that he loved me so much,” Stern said. Sadly, Al died in a car crash on Oct. 24, 2021.

“That was hard; it’s very hard to get emotions out and I was very, very upset,” she said.

On the recent anniversary of his death, Stern made a cake and took it to the crash site.

“I don’t know how I did it without crying. I’m so proud of myself,” she said.

But while many Jewish voters approached the election with Israel as their top issue, in Savannah, Georgia, Rabbi Samuel Gelman said the first congregants he spoke to after Election Day prioritized domestic policy concerns.

“I don’t know how I did it without crying. I’m so proud of myself,” she said.

Amy Hummell, executive director of Gesher Disability Resources, agreed that Stern is a good fit for ADDPC because of her ability to self-advocate.

Hummell co-hosted a book event with Meyers a few years ago for “My

Amy Hummell, executive director of Gesher Disability Resources, agreed that Stern is a good fit for ADDPC because of her ability to self-advocate.

Hummell co-hosted a book event with Meyers a few years ago for “My

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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.

March

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.

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 of 75% and of that percentage, 75% are ready, willing and able to work — but haven’t been given the opportunity, Hummell said.

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

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Sophie Stern at her

Sophie Stern at her high school

Local rabbis, clockwise from top left, Rabbi Aviva Funke, Rabbi Debbie Stiel, Rabbi Bonnie Sharfman, Rabbi Dr. Shmuly Yanklowitz, Rabbi Bonnie Koppell and Rabbi Andy Green shared their thoughts after the election. COMPILATIONCOURTESYJEWISHNEWS

SURVIVOR

Coles shared the story of the work she did in Israel in front of a sold-out crowd during “The Sounds of Resilience: A Women for Israel Luncheon,” inside the Grand Ballroom at the Arizona Biltmore. Coles was a co-chair of the event along with Nicole Zeff.

She said the most impactful moments came from her time visiting the grounds of the Supernova “Nova” music festival.

“My heart shattered as I walked among the memorials with victims of this unspeakable massacre. It struck me deeply that those could have been my children,” she said. “It was one of the saddest moments of my life. Yet, amid this tragedy, trees were planted in memory of every life lost, a powerful symbol that life grows from despair.”

The keynote speaker for the event was a survivor of the massacre at the Nova festival. Sapir Golan, 24, volunteers with Israel-is, an apolitical Non-Governmental Organization (NGO) whose mission is

“empowering young Israelis to share their unique experience on the global stage.”

One of the NGO’s initiatives, Survived To Tell, shares the stories of survivors from that tragic day with audiences around the world.

Golan is from Ramat Gan, Israel, and the first slide she shared was of herself and her best friend, Liron. The two became friends when Liron was her commander during boot camp in the Israel Defense Forces (IDF).

“You might think that this photo is from the Nova festival, but it’s from a festival that took place in April, a couple of months after the Nova festival,” she explained. “Everything I wanted to take away from that period is that we chose life. Everyone in Israel chose life, and we keep choosing life every day.”

Even before the invention of Instagram, Golan liked “taking pictures and videos of everything, especially the small moments and simple things of the day.”

So, it was no surprise that she was filming herself and Liron before they

“MY HEART SHATTERED AS I WALKED AMONG THE MEMORIALS WITH VICTIMS OF THIS UNSPEAKABLE MASSACRE (AT THE NOVA MUSIC FESTIVAL SITE). IT STRUCK ME DEEPLY THAT THOSE COULD HAVE BEEN MY CHILDREN.”

entered the Nova music festival at 3 a.m. on Oct. 7.

The two often attend “rave parties” together and they have a tradition of doing a shot and saying a blessing, usually l’chaim. This time, Liron added, “May this evening pass in peace.”

“Everything was great. It was one of the most beautiful stages I have ever seen in my life. So many people from work, the army, my job, from high school and the kids I led in the Israeli Scouts. So many people from so many parts of my life. Nothing could get any better,” Golan remembered. Her sister was also there with a dozen friends.

Following is a timeline of what she experienced that day.

6:30 a.m.

Golan started hearing noises and seeing flashes in the sky. Liron had left to get closer to the stage, so Golan asked someone nearby what was going on and they replied it was fireworks. But then someone else said, “It’s rockets. We need to get the hell out of here, now!”

She texted Liron, and with no shelter nearby, Golan got down on the ground.

“I’m on the ground; I’m scared to death,” she said. “I lay on the ground with my hands on my head because that’s what we do in Israel when you have rockets and sirens.”

Her sister came up and asked, “What are you doing? Go home.” When Golan told her she was waiting for Liron, her

From left to right, Francine Coles, event co-chair; Sapir Golan, speaker; Brooke Levy, Jewish National Fund-USA Desert

Nicole Zeff, event co-chair.

Gelman led a morning prayer minyan on Wednesday with members who, he said, skewed younger and more liberal than his overall community.

“This might go against the grain: From congregants who are disappointed, I heard very little about Israel,” Gelman said. “Even from the one or two this morning who were more happy, the conversation so far — we’ll see how it progresses — has not really been about Israel; it’s been about America.”

Rabbi Andy Green of Scottsdale’s Congregation Or Tzion stated, “This election’s rhetoric, protests, attempted assassinations and results challenged our assumptions and tested our nation.” He said in an email to Jewish News that “the discourse surrounding the election characterized the futures of America, Israel, democracy and the world.”

In the election’s aftermath, he said people may feel unease or relief, grief or celebration and he added, “For those jubilant with this outcome, may you find the grace and generosity to uplift the despondent. And for those processing feelings of dismay, anxiety or fear, may you find the resilience and hope to resist despair.”

Rabbi Aviva Funke, principal of Hebrew High in Scottsdale, said the teens she works with, even though not old enough to vote, were dealing with many of the same feelings of jubilance and dismay as adults regarding the election’s outcome.

She recently ran a Rosh Hodesh Heshvan program called Bitter-to-Better (The Hebrew month of Heshvan is also known as MarHeshvan, Bitter Heshvan), which gave teens a chance to share something bitter in their lives, and then write about how they could make things better.

“So, what I’m actively telling my students is: Whatever is bitter, hard or uncomfortable in your life, this is the season to do something about it,” she told Jewish News in an email. “What is one small thing we can do to help make that bitter reality a bit better, even if it doesn’t change the

fact that the problem still exists? Hebrew High is interested in providing tools for resilience, confidence and empowering them to problem solve.”

Maybe one way to solve the problem at this time is not to address the election directly, as Rabbi Bonnie Koppell, associate rabbi at Temple Chai in Phoenix, planned. Koppell, a veteran herself, held an annual Veterans Day service Friday night, Nov. 8, where she “recognized and thanked those who support our democracy and the commitment to freedom and justice for all.”

In the end, Friedman said he realizes that different sorts of Jews may experience the Trump administration differently: He said that LGBTQ Jews or Jews of color “are going to face a whole different set of ramifications than other people in the Jewish community.” But he also hopes to send a unifying message.

First, he said it was crucial for congregants to know that “their rabbis are here and available to listen, to support people in working through whatever it is that’s coming forward.”

Second, Friedman said there were Jewish lessons he hoped to provide for this tense political moment, including the ideas that everyone is created in God’s image and that Jews are commanded to look out for one another.

Finally, he said, he hopes to return to a common Jewish rallying cry — “Am Yisrael Chai,” or “the Jewish people live” — to remind his community that Jews are resilient. True to his rules, it’s a message Jews have invoked from time immemorial.

“We are a people who have endured thousands of years of hardship and challenge and uncertainty, and I have no doubt in my mind that we will persevere through all of the uncertainty and upheaval that, frankly, this election has already brought, and that we have every reason to think is going to continue into the future,” Friedman said.

He added, “We need to remember that the Jewish people have made it through hard times before, and we are the keepers of that flame of courage that will get us through at this time, too.” JN

SURVIVOR CONTINUED FROM PAGE 3

sister said, “I don’t want you to wait, the party’s over.”

Just then, Liron came up with three guys and they all ran to the car.

In the car, Golan got in the driver’s seat and turned on her camera. In the video, it’s apparent she is having a panic attack and cannot drive. Someone helped her out and before she got into the backseat, she threw up and then passed out for a bit, her phone falling to the floor.

Meanwhile, her sister is calling and texting, trying to tell Golan it’s a terrorist attack.

One of the guys started driving, but there was traffic and gunfire, so they decided to get out of the car. When Golan went back months later, she found her car with three bullets lodged in the back door, right where she was sitting.

One of the guys took her hand and as they ran, she realized Liron was not with them. Retracing her steps, she saw Liron back at the car, looking for something.

When Golan asked her what she was looking for, her friend responded, “I came back to get your phone. I know you can’t go on without it.”

8:15 a.m.

They continued running back through the festival area and spotted a trailer used by the production team. About 40 to 45 people were hiding inside. A police officer was by the window, so the two felt they would be safe there. Golan took some pictures inside the crowded trailer. Being claustrophobic, Liron opened the door for some air and closed it fast. She told her friend that they had to get out of there.

“I was like, ‘No. I’m in a safe place. There are so many people in here, there is a police officer, why would I want to get out of here?’” Golan said.

Liron told her when she opened the door, she saw terrorists outside.

“In the back of my head was, ‘She’s your commander. You will do what she said, no questions asked,’” recalled Golan.

Liron opened the door and Golan followed her out.

While they were running, they heard automatic gunfire from the direction of the trailer and screaming and shouting. “Her choice to get out of that trailer probably saved my life,” said Golan.

They kept running and met up with a group of people. One girl said she couldn’t keep going anymore. Golan told her that she had to run like her life depended on it. But she insisted she couldn’t go any further, so Golan told her to stand by a tree and that she would find water.

“I opened the water bottle and as her hand was touching mine, she got shot in the head. I don’t know her, I don’t know her name, but I have a lot of nightmares because of that situation. I don’t remember much of her face, but I’m carrying her with me,” she said.

9:10 a.m.

They continued running and saw an IDF tank and thought that someone had come to rescue them, but the driver inside was dead. There was an area with thick brush where they hid with others until the police arrived.

11 a.m.

“We were one of the last ones taken off that field,” said Golan. “That drive was one of the most horrible things I have ever seen. There were so many bodies that the car needed to go off the road. All you can see through the window is dead bodies, burnt cars and burnt fields — that’s a picture that I can’t get out of my head.”

2:20 p.m.

The group stopped at a gas station in Re’im before continuing to the police station in Ofakim, where she was reunited with her sister and her sister’s boyfriend. Of the 12 that arrived with her sister at the festival together, only six survived.

6:30 p.m.

Twelve hours after the nightmare began, Golan was home.

Golan admitted that as horrific as Oct. 7 was, that’s the moment when life started to get hard.

“There are people who are still living that day in Gaza, in the tunnels,” she said. “That’s something I want to remember, that there are people still living that day and want to be home.

“And I’ll be going out to parties and festivals in Israel — around the world — and I will go on vacation, find a job, get married and I will have a life in Israel because that’s my home. Because we choose life every day.” JN

“EVERYTHING I WANTED TO TAKE AWAY FROM THAT PERIOD IS THAT WE CHOSE LIFE. EVERYONE IN ISRAEL CHOSE LIFE, AND WE KEEP CHOOSING LIFE EVERY DAY.”

SAPIR GOLAN

It Takes Two To Torah: Finding What Unites

Board Members Staff Members

ABOUT THE EVENT:

Valley Beit Midrash wishes everyone a shana tovah, a happy new year ﬁlled with joy and love. We invite you to join us in pursuit of improving lives in our communities through transformative learning and action. Here’s how you can plug into our work this year:

1. Learn with us at our upcoming classes. We have multiple pluralistic o erings each week and options for both virtual or in-person learning.

Orthodox Rabbi Dov Linzer and Reform Journalist Abigail Pogrebin will be in conversation with Rabbi Shmuly Yanklowitz about their unlikely journey together through the Five Books of Moses during two of the most turbulent years in American history.

2. Serve with us and volunteer with Arizona Jews for Justice to help uplift the most vulnerable members of our community.

ABOUT THE SPEAKERS:

3. Reach out if you are looking for internship or fellowship opportunities for teens and young adults. We would be thrilled to tell you more about our leadership development programs.

4. Become a Legacy donor. By joining the Jewish Education Legacy Society of Valley Beit Midrash you will ensure VBM has the ability to provide engaging learning opportunities and save lives in our communities for many years to come.

We hope this year will be a time of renewal and growth and that we will experience many joyful moments together in the year ahead.

Abigail Pogrebin is the author of the National Jewish Book Award ﬁnalist My Jewish Year: 18 Holidays, One Wondering Jew” and “Stars of David: Prominent Jews Talk About Being Jewish”. She’s written for The Atlantic, the Forward, and Tablet, and moderates public conversations for The Streicker Center and the Jewish Broadcasting Service.

Rabbi Dov Linzer is the President and Rosh HaYeshiva (Rabbinic Head) of Yeshivat Chovevei Torah, an Orthodox rabbinical school and Torah center, which promotes a more open and inclusive Orthodoxy. He has written for the Forward, Tablet, and The New York Times, and hosted highly popular Torah podcasts.

Schenkein

Steve Shobin

Dr. Noah SnyderMackler

Founding Chair: Stan Hammerman

Chair: David Lieberman

Having the hard conversation: Muslim-Jewish dialogue after Oct. 7

SHANNON LEVITT | STAFF WRITER

One week before the U.S. election, Arizona Jews for Justice founder, Rabbi Dr. Shmuly Yanklowitz, hosted an online interfaith discussion with Dr. Mehnaz Afridi, a professor of religious studies and director of the Holocaust, Genocide and Interfaith Education Center at Manhattan College in New York.

While the discussion began with explanations of how democracy and a pluralistic society are compatible with both Judaism and Islam, it quickly moved on to themes plucked from the headlines of election coverage and the sometimes ugly reality of America’s partisan divides.

Feedback to the discussion was “very positive,” Yanklowitz told Jewish News in a text. “There is a real hunger for allyship and bridge building right now.”

Yanklowitz spoke about the need “to figure out the most noble parts of liberal ideology and conservative ideology rather than just pointing out the worst of it all. We need to figure out how to build

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bridges along these ideological divides,” he said.

He hopes that after the election, Americans can get “unstuck” and cultivate tolerance while reducing violence and division. Religion has a role to play in “lowering the temperature.”

For her part, Afridi decried the public perception that giving one group of people, such as women, equal rights somehow means that another group of people, such as men, loses them.

“No, it doesn’t work that way. That isn’t how the political system works. We are not going to lose anything if we give pluralism a chance. We can coexist that way,” she said.

Yanklowitz extended that point by describing the current “society of fear” and “a scarcity mentality” wherein people fear others getting ahead of them.

“That scarcity mentality enables us to be afraid and to hate” at a time when it’s important to remember “we’re all in this together,” he said.

After the agreement came a much more complicated conversation: the difficulties Jewish-Muslim partnerships have faced in the wake of Hamas’ attack on Israel on Oct. 7.

Afridi called the last year painful and traumatic and acknowledged that many such partnerships have been broken.

“But you know what? I’m here because I want to solve this, and I want to be part of the peace. Peace is courageous,” she said.

She spoke passionately about having to stand up for both her Jewish and Muslim brothers and sisters “who are in deep pain and who are suffering and in shock.”

This is the time for faith leaders to take a risk, “come to the table” and acknowledge what happened on Oct. 7 and what has happened since, she said. The terror of that day, the hostages still held and the deaths of thousands of Palestinians need to be acknowledged and part of any meaningful conversation.

Renee Joffe-Hrlevich

Administrator,

Congregation Kehillah

“If you’re willing to have this dialogue, you have to risk your own pain and suffering and listen to the suffering of the other because their suffering is not less or more than yours. It is a very important time for all of us, Jews and Muslims, to have these conversations,” she said.

Yanklowitz said he had also been part of partnerships that had dissolved since Oct. 7, and he recognized that to reach a place of dialogue, everyone must begin by “naming all of the pain and not hiding from it.”

He reminded viewers that the previous week’s parshah contained Cain’s famous question: Am I my brother’s keeper?

“We have to start with a resounding ‘Yes.’ We are responsible for humanity’s welfare,” he said. “Muslims and Jews are used as pawns in political games, raising

the temperature to the point where it’s hard to know who to believe.”

The enormous interest in polling Jewish and Muslim voters has come down to examining only a couple of issues around antisemitism and the Middle East, when they actually have a range of views and priorities. Again, he emphasized that the way around it is through religious principles.

“Peace is a sacred concept, something beyond non-violence — true harmony in the world,” he said.

Afridi talked about the rise in antisemitism and Islamophobia, reminding viewers that a lot of the hate crimes against both Jews and Muslims have been instigated by people who are neither. She also talked about the importance of Jewish support in New York for Muslims when Donald Trump tried to institute a Muslim ban in 2017, as well as Muslims in the city coming to the side of Jews as they cleaned up a defaced cemetery.

“We need to hold each other and come up with some solutions,” she said.

Yanklowitz said that when he started doing interfaith work and bridge building, he may have been naive and overly optimistic. However, he has seen powerful alliances, which he hopes can be rebuilt where they’ve been strained or fallen apart.

“In America, where Jews are minorities and Muslims are minorities, we can create a model together that can have a ripple effect into the Middle East,” he said.

“We will continue to deepen these sacred partnerships,” he told Jewish News. JN For

Rabbi Dr. Shmuly Yanklowitz, right, and Dr. Mehnaz Afridi held an online discussion titled, “Bridging Faiths: Jewish-Muslim Collaboration for Democracy and Tolerance,” on Tuesday, Oct. 29.

Give the Gift of Education with an AZ529 Savings Plan this Holiday Season

By Hon. Kimberly Yee, Treasurer of Arizona

Every child deserves the best education that positions them for success in life. As a mother, I understand the importance of paving a pathway for our children to experience a future with boundless opportunities. That’s why, as Arizona’s State Treasurer, I’m expanding opportunities for all Arizona families to access higher education, from traditional college to vocational training and apprenticeship programs.

What is the AZ529 Education Savings Plan? The AZ529 Plan is a tax-deferred investment plan designed to help families save for their children’s or grandchildren’s future education expenses. Savings in an AZ529 plan are free from federal income tax, and withdrawals remain tax-free when used for qualified education expenses. Contributions to an AZ529 Plan can be deducted from your Arizona state income taxes of up to $4,000 per beneficiary for a married couple filing jointly or up to $2,000 per beneficiary for single filers. There’s no limit on the number of beneficiaries for your tax deductions.

How can the funds be used? AZ529 savings can be used to pay for a variety of higher education expenses, including tuition, fees, room, board, books, supplies and even internet access. AZ529 funds may be used at accredited public and private colleges, universities, community colleges, technical training schools and apprenticeship programs. Additionally, AZ529 savings can even be used on school tuition for private and religious K-12 educational institutions.

What if the child doesn’t go to college or use all their 529 money? There is good news! Beginning this year, families now have the option of transferring qualified “leftover” 529 funds, up to $35,000, into the account beneficiary’s Roth IRA retirement funds, free of any tax, penalty or applicable income limits.

Who can participate? Anyone can contribute to an AZ529 Account and receive the tax benefits for their contributions! Parents can save for their children. Grandparents can save for their grandchildren. Aunts and uncles can save for their nieces and nephews. Friends can save for their friends. You can even open your own AZ529 Plan and save for yourself!

With the holiday season quickly approaching, consider giving your loved ones the gift of saving for their future education by

contributing to their AZ529 Education Savings Plan. Contributions from parents, grandparents, relatives and family friends provide gifts with long-term meaning for their youngest loved ones to help them save for their future education. However, if giving children a card that says, “I helped you save for college,” seems less than magical, I have 4 suggestions that will get them excited about their future education.

1. Inspire them with a career costume.

Give your little one a chef’s hat, astronaut costume, or other career dress-up option with a note saying you believe they can be whatever they desire in the future, and that you have contributed to their AZ529 Plan to help them achieve their future dreams.

2. Help them learn more about different careers.

Find a book about a future career that they might find interesting about a “Dream Job” and then give them the book with a bookmark that says you have contributed to an AZ529 Plan to support their future dream career.

3. Experience the future.

Take children to a museum or activity that helps inspire a future career, or purchase a season pass to the Science Center, Natural History Museum, Musical Instrument Museum or other destination. Children are full of passions waiting to be discovered! When they see the endless possibilities of what they can accomplish in the future, let them know that you have contributed to their AZ529 account.

4. Split it 50/50.

If a physical toy or gift to unwrap is a requirement, you can split the cost of what you normally budget for the entire present and take half the funds to spend on the physical gift item while contributing the other half to the child’s AZ529 account.

As we enter this holiday season, I extend my sincere wishes for a special and joyous time shared with your loved ones. Investing in a child’s education is a unique and meaningful gift that will go a long way. The smart financial choices and planning you do now for your child’s or grandchild’s future can ensure that they will experience the education they desire while securing the financial freedom they deserve.

Kimberly Yee is the Treasurer of Arizona.

Peoria to Jerusalem: Arizonan loves her new Israeli life

SHANNON LEVITT | STAFF WRITER

Annika (Nechama) Erickson came to an important life decision while living and working in Israel during the summer of 2023. After she graduated from college, Erickson knew she would make Aliyah and live in the Jewish state.

“I couldn’t imagine being anywhere else,” Erickson told Jewish News.

Now, she’s living her dream with the assistance of Nefesh B’Nefesh, a nonprofit organization that promotes, encourages and facilitates aliyah (Jewish immigration to Israel) for North Americans. Nefesh B’Nefesh works in partnership with Israel’s Ministry of Aliyah and Integration, the Jewish Agency for Israel, Keren Kayemeth LeIsrael and Jewish National Fund-USA.

Some might be surprised at Erickson’s path. Growing up in an unaffiliated family in Peoria, few might have predicted that as a young adult, she would not only move to Israel but also identify as Haredi, a term she uses cautiously.

“There are so many stereotypes around that word. Americans think of Haredi

Jews as ‘those crazy, insular people,’ but it’s not like that. It fits underneath a much wider umbrella here in Israel,” she said.

Her family moved around a lot when she was a kid, and she lacked an integral community, she said. Now, her religious life is “something I deeply connect with. It informs every aspect of my life, and I really appreciate and love it,” she said.

Erickson is not afraid of changing her mind about big things. After all, in high school, she was convinced she would become a doctor. Taking biology changed her mind, however. She ended up studying linguistics at New York’s Barnard College, an official college of Columbia University, and Judaism and the Hebrew Bible at the Jewish Theological Seminary. She learned biblical Hebrew and Aramaic and was also a part of her college’s Hillel and Chabad programs.

Erickson graduated from college last spring after a year that put college campuses in the spotlight thanks to protests over the war in Gaza, especially Columbia. She said

there were reporters everywhere. She even ended up in the background of a photo that appeared in the New York Times while she was just on her way to the library.

She remembers getting calls from the friends she made while working in Israel the summer before, who wanted to check in with her and make sure she was alright.

“I told them, ‘You should not be checking in on me, I should be checking in on you.’ All of the craziness got a little turned around in our heads,” she said.

Erickson’s first trip to Israel was with Birthright when she was 18. She went back last summer with a Camp Ramah counselor program. When the program ended, she hung around and worked at a hostel. The country suited her perfectly; her degree would allow her to work remotely, and she knew she wanted to be in Israel.

“The community in Israel is not like anything you can find in the United States, on an interpersonal level or a religious one. It’s unique and very important

to me,” she said. She works remotely from her home in Jerusalem, where she lives with seven other women, as a linguistic consultant, in charge of transcribing audio into phonetic transcriptions for her company. She also works in an elementary school, a job obtained through Israel’s Lone National

Annika (Nechama) Erickson in Jerusalem’s Merkaz Ha’ir neighborhood. COURTESY

Holocaust-surviving Torah donated to Israeli yeshiva

SHANNON LEVITT | STAFF WRITER

On Sunday, Nov. 17, East Valley Jewish Community Center (EVJCC) CEO Rabbi Michael Beyo will fly to Israel on a very special mission. He has arranged for a Holocaustsurviving and refurbished Torah to be delivered and donated to an Israeli yeshiva at a ceremony to be held on Nov. 19, on the site of the Supernova “Nova” music festival, one of the bloodiest targets of the Hamas terrorist attack on Oct. 7, 2023.

“I thought, what better place to give this sefer Torah that survived the Holocaust than a place where it’s going to be used on a regular basis,” Beyo said. “In my mind, this creates a connection between the people who originally wrote it and those who will use it today.”

The Torah in question was originally written in the late 19th Century and was discovered amid the rubble in Marseille, France following World War II. In the years since, a Jewish family visiting France found it in the possession of a man who had unrolled it on his floor. That family purchased it and brought it home. Eventually, the family decided to sell the Torah, and the EVJCC purchased it for an educational project in 2019.

Beyo thought it made perfect sense to use an important Jewish artifact from the Holocaust to help Arizona students learn Holocaust history. Additionally, he believed it would be a great tool to teach people about the process of writing a Torah scroll, especially given that it was being restored.

However, once the COVID-19 pandemic struck, that plan was shelved. Even after the pandemic began to wind down, more urgent needs kept Beyo and the EVJCC too busy to return to the original project.

Then came Oct. 7, 2023. Beyo traveled to Israel the month following the attack and during his trip, he learned about the work of Machane Shura, the Israel Defense Force’s Casualty Treatment Unit. This is a unit charged with iden-

FROM PAGE 8

Service Volunteer program and will hold this position for a year.

“The school where I work is a great place. I taught at a religious school in New York for two years, and really enjoyed it,” she said.

Her Hebrew is constantly improving and she loves her neighborhood. Relaxing in her apartment last month, she took pleasure in hearing her neighbors in the

tifying slain soldiers and preparing their bodies for burial, in essence preserving the dignity of the dead.

Rabbi Shalom Malool, the rabbi of Machane Shura, is also the rosh yeshiva (head of school) of Yeshivat AMIT Ashdod, a yeshiva in Ashdod, Israel, with hundreds of students, all of whom will become soldiers upon graduation. Beyo described Malool as “very sweet and very connected to the work that he does.” After learning more about the yeshiva, Beyo began pondering the idea of the Holocaust-surviving Torah and how it could be connected to the tragedy of Oct. 7.

“I thought about the connection between the two events and the idea of donating this scroll to a community in Israel, that would make use of it, started to make sense in my mind. This scroll desecrated by the Nazis could be used in memory of those who perished, and in honor of soldiers and others who protect us,” he said.

For the moment, the Torah is with a scribe in Miami who has been refurbish-

sukkah enjoying one another’s company.

“It’s very different to be Jewish here than in the U.S.,” she said.

One difference she didn’t expect was her first name. Israelis had some trouble saying Annika so she decided to use Nechama instead. That might signify the least significant change that’s happened to her life in the last year. Though change is never easy — “people aren’t built for it” — she’s adjusted well.

“Every act of transition is difficult. But

ing it to its former glory. The process to kosher it once again took nearly a year. The scribe will meet Beyo in Israel with the Torah in tow. At the ceremony on Nov. 19, the final verses of the Torah will be completed and, “as we do in Judaism, we’ll move from the sadness of Oct. 7 to the happiness of bringing a renewed Torah scroll to these students,” Beyo said.

“These young kids will be on the front line soon. By connecting the Holocaust in Europe to the Oct. 7 pogrom in Israel, we are honoring the memory of all those who perished and honoring the future soldiers with a survivor Torah.”

Beyo and the EVJCC invite members of the Greater Phoenix Jewish community to participate in the Nov. 19 dedication of the Torah by purchasing portions of the Torah, such as a word, verse or parshah. Anyone donating will receive a certificate showing their contribution. JN

To contribute to this project, visit eastvalleyjcc. givingfuel.com/sefer-torah.

I simply didn’t see any other option for myself,” she said.

Still, there are elements of home she misses.

“I miss driving in Arizona; I miss Target and Trader Joe’s,” she said.

Sometimes she passes a bit of landscape that reminds her of the agricultural section of Peoria where she lived.

“When I see farms here, I think, it looks like home,” she said. JN

Rabbi Michael Beyo is taking part in a ceremony in Israel during which a Holocaust-surviving Torah’s refurbishment is completed and donated to a yeshiva.

COURTESY OF RABBI MICHAEL BEYO

How many Jews voted for Donald Trump? How many for Kamala Harris?

PHILISSA CRAMER | JTA

The first rule of exit polls is to be careful about interpreting early exit polls, which aren’t always accurate.

The second rule is that, for now at least, they represent the best information we have about the question occupying Jews of all political persuasions: How many Jews voted for Donald Trump? And how many voted for Kamala Harris?

In recent decades, between 20% and 30% of American Jews have supported Republicans in national elections. The GOP hit a high-water mark in 1980, when Ronald Reagan won some 40% of Jewish votes, but the more typical split makes Jews among the most reliably Democratic demographics in the United States.

But this year, with some Jews feeling alienated from the left and others all-in on the right due to Israel, some speculated that Trump could post an unusually strong showing among Jewish voters.

Initial polls suggest that was not the case, at least in the aggregate. The

National Election Pool, which produces an exit poll for a consortium of major news organizations, found that 79% of Jews said they voted Democratic, compared to 21% who voted Republican.

A second major analysis, for Fox News by a nonpartisan polling firm using data from the Associated Press, found lower but still substantial support for Harris. It concluded that 66% of Jews voted for her.

Edison Research, which conducts the national pool poll, surveyed voters in 10 states: Arizona, Florida, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Texas, Wisconsin. It did not survey voters in New York or California, which are home to the largest Jewish populations and also reliably vote Democratic by wide margins.

It did not immediately release details about how many voters were surveyed and cautioned that the results could change as polling continued and results were adjusted to reflect the real vote tallies, a process called weighting that is

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a standard component of survey methodology.

If accurate, the National Election Pool’s result would be the lowest proportion of Jewish votes for a Republican presidential candidate in 24 years.

But that’s a big if: Exit polls are notoriously unreliable, with famous examples of polls failing to reflect the real results of elections.

Some have shifted in methodology as the proportion of voters casting ballots in person on Election Day has fallen over time. And like all polls, they can also reflect the partisan bent of their pollsters.

Fox News, which is right-leaning but has a reputation for reliable polling, conducted its own Election Day “voter analysis” that it said solved for some of the problems in traditional exit polling. It found that 66% of Jews voted for Harris, compared to 31% for Trump. The poll still found that Jews voted for Harris at higher rates than members of any other religion.

The Fox News analysis, which was conducted by the nonpartisan firm NORC using data collected by the Associated Press, covered more states and also broke down the results by state, enabling an analysis of the Jewish vote by state. It found that 55% of Jews in New York and 56% of Jews in Florida voted for Harris, likely reflecting the impact of the states’ significant Orthodox populations.

In contrast, the poll found that 76% of Jews in California voted for Harris. The number of Jews in most states was too small to allow for state-level reporting.

Both the Fox News poll and the National Election Pool asked voters about their opinions on Israel. The Fox News poll found that 56% of Trump voters strongly or somewhat support “continu-

ing aid to Israel in the war against Hamas and Hezbollah,” while 58% of Harris voters strongly or somewhat opposed doing so.

The National Election Pool survey asked voters whether they thought U.S. support for Israel was too strong, not strong enough or just right. Voters were evenly split among the categories, with Democrats making up 68% of those who said U.S. support for Israel was too strong and Republicans making up 81% of those who said it was not strong enough.

Prior to the election, a September poll by Democratic-affiliated pollsters found that 68% of American Jewish voters said they planned to vote for Harris. More recently, a similar poll found that 71% of Jews in seven competitive states said they would vote for her.

A different pre-election poll, commissioned by the conservative Manhattan Institute, found that Harris was on track to post the smallest margin of victory among Jews of any Democrat over a Republican in more than 40 years. The National Election Pool’s margin for Jewish voters is wider than in 2016, when it found that Hillary Clinton outperformed Trump by 47 percentage points. That was the last time the National Election Pool reported the Jewish vote. In 2020, it sampled too few Jews to report the Jewish vote, leaving conclusions about how Jews voted to partisan pollsters. A poll commissioned by Republicans said the Jewish vote shifted Republican and a poll commissioned by Democrats said it shifted toward Democrats. JN

Voters cast their ballots at a polling station on Nov. 5, 2024. COURTESY OF DAVID BECKER/GETTY IMAGES

Learning from our forefathers

Vayeira, is one of the most vivid and instructive portions in the Torah. It’s filled with stories about our forefather Abraham, each one offering timeless lessons on what it means to live a life of true Jewish values. As our sages say, ma’aseh avot siman lebanim — the stories of our forefathers serve as a sign and guide for us, their descendants.

According to the Ramban-Nachmanides, the stories and actions of the forefathers teach us on three different levels: The forefathers serve as role models, showing us how to behave for certain situations by virtue of being the founders of the nation; G-d sets the future course of the descendants based on what happened to the forefathers; and the actions of the forefathers actively shape the future of their descendants.

One of the core themes of Vayeira is hospitality, a quality for which Abraham is famous. The Torah opens with Abraham who, despite recovering from his circum-

Commentary

cision, sits at the entrance of his tent, eagerly awaiting guests. He embodies the mitzvah of hachnasat orchim, welcoming guests — a mitzvah so essential that it has become a hallmark of Jewish life. Through Abraham, we learn not only to open our homes but to do so with genuine warmth and care. He offers food, provides comfort and escorts guests on their way.

A second, more challenging lesson is the idea of setting boundaries when kindness is misplaced. When Sarah sees that Ishmael’s negative behavior could be a harmful influence on Isaac, she insists that he be sent away. Though Abraham is reluctant, G-d tells him to heed Sarah’s voice. In this, we learn that kindness must be guided by wisdom and tempered with judgment. There’s a Talmudic teaching: “Those who are kind to the cruel end up being cruel to the kind.” Sometimes, for the good of our family, community and our people we must draw firm lines, even if it may be difficult.

Lastly, we encounter the theme of Mesirat Nefesh, self-sacrifice. In the profound story of the Akeidah, the binding of Isaac, Abraham is willing to give up what is dearest to him for the sake of G-d. While few of us are called to such extraordinary sacrifice, we each face moments when

we’re asked to give of ourselves and go beyond our comfort zones. It’s an opportunity to prioritize our spiritual values over worldly ones.

These lessons resonate with us today. Hospitality isn’t just a custom; it is one of the greatest indicators of the kind of home we are building. When our children see us open our doors to others, especially on Shabbat and holidays, they are more likely to carry these traditions forward. And for those who cannot host, supporting Jewish institutions that offer Shabbat hospitality, Shabbatons and community events is a beautiful way to fulfill this mitzvah.

There’s a story told about the saintly brothers, Rabbi Elimelech of Lizensk and Rabbi Zusha of Anipoli, who traveled disguised as beggars, inspiring people with wisdom and kindness. One evening, still disguised as beggars, they arrived in Lodmir and knocked at a wealthy man’s door, seeking shelter. The man dismissed them, directing them to the poorhouse by the synagogue. They continued on and found a modest scribe who welcomed them warmly, offering what little comfort he could.

Years later, the brothers returned to Lodmir, this time as famous and revered rabbis. The wealthy man, now eager to host them, prepared his home for their

arrival. Following their instructions, the coachman brought their luggage and horses to the man’s residence, but Rabbi Elimelech and Rabbi Zusha went to stay with the scribe instead.

Confused and offended, the wealthy man rushed to the scribe’s very modest house, demanding an explanation. Rabbi Elimelech gently replied, “You are hosting us — at least, the parts you desire to host. The last time we were here, with no coach or fine clothes, you turned us away. So, it seems, it’s not us you wish to host, but our possessions, which are now enjoying your hospitality.”

The brothers’ message was clear: true hospitality is about welcoming people, not their status or belongings.

May we all merit to be worthy guests at the ultimate feast as we welcome Moshiach. May the final redemption come speedily in our days. JN

When the Nazis attacked synagogues on Kristallnacht, they were targeting Judaism’s heart and soul

MICHAEL BERENBAUM | JTA

Eighty-six years ago last week, a series of pogroms took place in Germany and Austria. More than 1,000 synagogues were burned, their pews destroyed; sacred Torah scrolls and holy books were set aflame. More than 7,000 Jewish businesses were ransacked and 30,000 men aged 16-60 were arrested and sent off to newly expanded German concentration camps. These pogroms were given a rather elegant name, Kristallnacht (The Night of Broken Glass), and it is by that name that they are best known.

Over the past 30 years the Germans have ceased to refer to the events as Kristallnacht but as the Reich Pogroms of November 1938. Crystal is beautiful, and has a certain sound and delicacy to it, but “Reich Pogroms” tell the much deeper truth of sanctioned violence against the Jews.

The synagogues that burned on those days were not just convenient targets for the Nazis and their allies; their attackers knew that they were a public manifestation of the role Jews had assumed in German society. Before World War II, there were 2,200 synagogues in Germany for 525,000 Jews.

What the Nazis did on Kristallnacht was to essentially show in the most physical, the most public way imaginable how far they were willing to go to tear the Jewish community out of the fabric of Germany.

The destruction of synagogues was also an act of grotesque political theater. Non-Jews brought their children to see the burning synagogues, and only three years later ordinary men and women in Latvia, Lithuania, Poland and in other former Soviet-occupied territories would bring their children to see the “Holocaust

should be a maximum of 200 words. They may be edited for space and clarity. Unsigned letters will

by Bullets,” the execution and burial in mass graves of Jewish neighbors.

Americans understood what the pogroms represented. No other event garnered such universal condemnation.

From the extreme right to the extreme left, leadership in the Catholic, Protestant and every other form of religious denomination condemned Kristallnacht.

By attacking the synagogue, the Nazis were attacking not only the heart and soul of the Jewish community, but they were also attacking the institution that was responding to the unfolding catastrophe.

During the day, the synagogue served as a school for Jewish children expelled from German schools.

Synagogues became the place for the distribution of welfare, and for classes teaching Jews mobile professions so they might earn a living in a new country.

In the aftermath of Kristallnacht, the Jews in Germany were left without their synagogues.

The synagogue remains the most important symbol of the Jewish presence in a society.

An attack on a synagogue is an attack on all of society.

As we remember with pride the role of the synagogue and the prominence of the synagogue in German society, and the cruelty that was inflicted on Jews 86 years ago, we must resolve to end the explosive antisemitism we are experiencing today.

To read this piece in its entirety, visit jewishaz.com.

The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of JTA or its parent company, 70 Faces Media.

Rabbi Yossi Levertov is the director at Chabad of Scottsdale and dean of Yeshiva of Scottsdale.

Find area congregations at JewishAZ.com,

Rabbi Yossi Levertov COURTESY OF RABBI YOSSI LEVERTOV

Celebrating Jewish writers in the Valley

SHANNON LEVITT | STAFF WRITER

October was National Book Month, a celebration of reading, writing and literature. The Jewish community in the Valley certainly has its share of readers, and also writers. Jewish News talked with a few authors about their books, their writing process and their route to publication.

Leisah Woldoff, East Valley Jewish Community Center’s director of communications, recently published her book, “52 Weeks in 2021: A Songwriting Journey.” The book came out of a very personal project she took on when she turned the same age her mom was when she passed away from pancreatic cancer.

“It was a way to create something positive in her memory and also to recognize a big lesson I learned from her death: Don’t wait to pursue your dreams because ‘someday’ isn’t always guaranteed,” Woldoff told Jewish News in an email.

The book is divided neatly into a year’s worth of weekly blog posts, including lyrics to one of Woldoff’s original songs: “52 songs in 52 weeks during the year I turned 52.”

The music reflects both Jewish holidays and world events, from the COVID-19 pandemic to billionaires in space. She includes a QR code for people interested in listening to the songs.

“I FOUND MYSELF

The book is intended for people who want to be inspired on their own creative journey — especially songwriters.

“The book aims to serve as inspiration to those who have a dream they want to pursue,” she said.

Luckily, Woldoff was able to depend on all the blog posts she wrote in 2021 when it came to putting together an entire book. Still, it took nearly a year to edit, proofread and format the book before she was ready to release it last May.

Woldoff, who was both a staff writer and managing editor of Jewish News for many years, relied on her old Jewish News colleague, Sal Caputo, for editing help. She decided early on to self-publish, knowing it would ensure she would own the copyright to her lyrics.

Amazon’s process wasn’t difficult but “it was time-consuming because I needed to fit it in between all my other life obligations, such as work and family, so most of it was done during late evenings or weekends,” she explained. Happily, there are many online resources she was able to use as a guide.

Although this book’s subject matter was unique, Woldoff is already certain she’ll write another. However, she’s also certain she’ll be prepared to explore a different writing and publishing process

MOVED AND

INSPIRED

BY THE EXPERIENCES AND ENCOUNTERS THAT GREETED ME EACH AND EVERY DAY. THIS BOOK IS A RECORD OF MY REFLECTIONS ON THOSE MOMENTS AND HOW THEY LED ME TO A DEEPER UNDERSTANDING OF THE CONCISE AMBIGUITY OF WHAT IT MEANS TO BE AN ADULT."

RABBI ROBERT EISEN

time around.

Sandor Lubisch, a retired English teacher, recently released his third book, “Yitzhak’s Escape: The Jewish Flight to Uzbekistan.” It is a work of historical fiction based upon his own family’s

experience of fleeing their small Polish town by joining the Soviet evacuation to Uzbekistan. When he first heard about it, he was intrigued because it was all new to him. SEE WRITERS, PAGE 15

next

Valley authors, from left, Sandor Lubisch, Rabbi David Pinkwasser, Rabbi Robert Eisen and Leisah Woldoff.

PHOTO COURTESY OF SANDOR LUBISCH, RABBI DAVID PINKWASSER, RABBI ROBERT EISEN, LEISAH WOLDOFF

‘A Real Pain’ is Jesse Eisenberg’s love letter to Poland, the country his family left under duress

JACKIE HAJDENBERG | JTA

In Jesse Eisenberg’s new film, a pair of American Jewish cousins on a heritage tour of Poland sneak back onto a train they already had tickets for, after getting off at the wrong stop.

“It’s the principle of the thing,” says Benji, played by Kieran Culkin. “We shouldn’t have to pay for tickets in Poland. This is our country.”

“No it’s not,” says David, played by Eisenberg. “It was our country. They kicked us out because they thought we were cheap.”

It is an exchange that encapsulates the mix of pathos, humor and fast-paced banter that Eisenberg brings to “A Real Pain,” which he wrote and directed in addition to stars in.

Eisenberg, 41, loosely based the script and characters on a composite of real people and experiences, including a 2008 visit with his now-wife to what was once his great-aunt’s house in Poland until 1939 — back when the Eisenbergs were still “Ajzenbergs.”

“I was at this house, I was standing in front of it, and I was expecting to feel something specific and revelatory, and nothing came,” Eisenberg said in a Zoom interview. “That feeling of emptiness kind of stayed with me for a long time. I was trying to diagnose the emptiness, and I was wondering: Is it because I’m an unfeeling person? Or is it because it’s really just impossible to connect to the past in an easy way, in a kind of external way?”

All these years later, “A Real Pain,” which hits theaters Friday, seeks to ask those questions, Eisenberg says: “How do we reconnect to the past? And how do our modern struggles connect to the struggles of our families?”

Eisenberg, best known for his cerebral, often neurotic turns in “The Social Network,” the FX limited series “Fleishman is in Trouble” and a number of Woody Allen films, has returned to the Holocaust as a subject in a number of projects. In 2013 he wrote and starred in “The Revisionist, an off-Broadway play about a Polish survivor of the Holocaust.” In 2020 he took part in a staged reading at New York’s Museum of Jewish Heritage of “The Investigation,” Peter Weiss’ documentary play about the Frankfurt Auschwitz Trials of 1963-1965. That same year he played Marcel Marceau in “Resistance,” about the famed mime’s role in the French resistance.

As in “Treasure,” a movie released this year in which Lena Dunham and Stephen Fry star as a daughter and father

who travel to Auschwitz, “A Real Pain” is about the main characters’ evolving relationship and about the legacy of the Holocaust on American Jews now two generations removed from the genocide.

In Benji and David Kaplan, viewers are introduced to two very different expressions of trauma: Benji feels everything and has no filter and an ability to get people to open up, while David is overly cautious, analytical and takes medication for obsessive-compulsive disorder.

They set out for Poland while reeling from the death of their grandmother, a Holocaust survivor, joining a tour group of adults much older than they are. The group is led by facts-obsessed guide James (Will Sharpe), and includes Marcia (Jennifer Grey), whose marriage recently fell apart, as well as a survivor of the Rwandan genocide, Eloge (Kurt Egyiawan).

Egyiawan’s character is based on a real person, Eloge Butera, who converted to Judaism because, Eisenberg said, “the

only people he felt connected to were older Jewish people who could relate to the experience.” Eisenberg and Butera have stayed in touch since meeting at a wedding years ago, and Eisenberg said he had always thought Butera’s story made him an interesting model for a trip participant.

“As I was writing, of course, it occurred to me that it does this other thing, which is allow the audience to broaden out their perspective,” Eisenberg said from Indiana, wearing the same red Indiana University baseball cap his character wears throughout the film. (Eisenberg dropped out of Hebrew school in his native New York City but has recently begun attending a synagogue in Bloomington, Indiana, where he lives with his family.)

He added, “It allows me to bring in other stories of trauma in a way that’s not kind of academic, but actually in the physical presence of this man who is a survivor.”

As the movie’s characters reckon with

their personal and collective trauma, the main characters’ differences come into stark relief. Benji wisecracks his way across the brittle terrain, while David deals with a sense of guilt for ever having felt like his own problems were legitimate.

On a walk with the group, the cousins briefly imagine what their life would be like if the Holocaust didn’t happen. They would probably be religious Jews, Benji thinks, and have beards, and not touch women, according to traditional interpretations of Jewish law. Bottom line: They would likely still live in Poland.

That’s a scenario with some appeal for Eisenberg, who developed such an affection for the country while filming there that he decided to seek citizenship, an option often available to descendants of Polish Holocaust survivors. He will become a citizen this month and formally mark the occasion at the Polish embassy in Washington, D.C., which will also screen the film.

“I think of myself as a New Yorker through and through, because I go to Broadway shows and I was born here, but the reality of my lineage is that we were Polish for a lot longer,” Eisenberg said. “There’s something so kind of sad about the way things can end so abruptly and be forgotten so abruptly, because to remember was so painful, because of the war and because so many people were killed. And so the way I think about it is I’m trying to reconnect.”

Filming in Poland, Eisenberg said, allowed him to experience the generosity of the people living there who worked to tell his family’s story and preserve the memory of the Holocaust, defying his expectations of contemporary Polish cultural attitudes toward the Holocaust. In 2018, the Polish government, led by the right-wing nationalist Law and Justice Party, passed a law criminalizing speech blaming Poland for crimes committed by the Nazis, part of a broad effort to demand pride in Polish history. (The party was ousted from power last year.) The law created a chilling effect for some stewards of Holocaust history, curbing a public reckoning about the degree to which Poles collaborated with the Nazis.

The crackdown on “unpatriotic” accounts of Polish history also caused a shakeup at the Polin Museum, Poland’s national Jewish museum, where “A Real Pain” had its international premiere in May. A museum leader was pushed out when he sought to stage an exhibit about a wave of antisemitic persecution in 1968. When the museum recently marked its

Benji (Kieran Culkin) and David Kaplan (Jesse Eisenberg) are seen at far right in a scene from “A Real Pain,” directed and written by Eisenberg.

COURTESY OF SEARCHLIGHT PICTURES

David (Jesse Eisenberg) and Benji Kaplan (Kieran Culkin) take a train to Majdanek while on a tour of Poland in “A Real Pain.” COURTESY OF SEARCHLIGHT PICTURES

WRITERS

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 13

“This aspect of the Holocaust is rarely mentioned,” Lubisch told Jewish News.

After he began researching the story, he decided to fictionalize it instead of writing a family memoir because he only had the broad strokes rather than the specific details he felt would be necessary for a nonfiction work. Even with that caveat, he researched the history for more than 20 years before writing it. That process took another two years.

The book is suited for readers of all ages, but a retired school librarian suggested that he gear his book toward middle and high school students. He followed her advice to include a teenage protagonist, not to write about sex or use vulgar language, and when it came to describing atrocities, he didn’t use graphic language. The Phoenix Holocaust Association submitted the book for the Arizona Department of Education’s recommended Holocaust reading list and it was accepted.

Having self-published his first two books, Lubisch attended a seminar about finding a publisher and looked for agents who would accept an unsolicited manuscript. After sending the first 50 pages to a couple of people. and receiving no reply, he decided he didn’t want to wait anymore.

“I’m 75. I don’t have time to keep looking. I want to get this out,” he said. Like Woldoff, he chose to self-publish with Amazon. He said the book has started to find an audience, and he is doing a

first decade, Eisenberg spoke virtually at the gala.

Eisenberg said the political tensions over Holocaust memory did not encroach on him as he filmed on location, including at the interior of the Majdanek concentration camp, which remains remarkably preserved.

“I’m aware of it in a kind of intellectual way, but my experience there was just the exact opposite,” he said. “I was working with a crew of 150 people who were all eager and working their asses off to try to make my personal family story come to life.”

In gaining permission to film at Majdanek, Eisenberg said he benefited from telling a story that is rooted firmly in the present, even though the camp uniquely lends itself to filmmaking set in the past because it remains in roughly the same condition as it was in when the Nazis operated it.

“A few things were in our favor: Most movies want to shoot in Majdanek, and they want to turn it into 1942 Auschwitz, and they want to have 100 extras in Nazi uniforms running around with guns. We were trying to do the opposite,”

few speaking engagements around town, including at the EVJCC, the Arizona Jewish Historical Society and the Sun Lakes Jewish Congregation.

He is already at work planning his fourth book, which will not be historical fiction as the first three were.

Contact the Phoenix Holocaust Association Speakers Bureau to request Sandor as a guest speaker.

Rabbi Robert Eisen moved to the Valley during the pandemic after serving Tucson’s Congregation Anshei Israel for 21 years.

His recently released book, “Confessions of a Contemplative Crossing Guard,” ostensibly describes his time spent as an elementary school crossing guard. However, the book is really about “managing the messiness of adulthood,” he told Jewish News in an email.

“I found myself moved and inspired by the experiences and encounters that greeted me each and every day. This book is a record of my reflections on those moments and how they led me to a deeper understanding of the concise ambiguity of what it means to be an adult,” he said.

The simple act of crossing the road opened up a slew of philosophical questions to consider, such as where people are really going, what they will do once they arrive and why it is worth the effort.

The book’s intended audience are people “who are trying to get the most they can out of life.”

Eisen said the book took about three months to write but twice that long to edit, adding that he never felt discouraged.

Eisenberg said. “What we were trying to do was depict Majdanek as it is now as a tourist site, in an attempt to do the exact thing Majdanek is trying to do itself, which is to try to bring awareness to this, to the horrors that occurred on these grounds.”

He said he had ended up becoming close with a number of young scholars on the staff at the camp memorial. “Our relationship started off with suspicion,” Eisenberg recalled, “and wound up as a beautiful meeting of the minds.”

Eisenberg said he believed that collaborating with others around his age — removed by generations from direct connection with the Holocaust — enabled “A Real Pain” to channel a fresh approach to grappling with the past.

“I’m in a younger generation,” he said.

“I have enough distance to go to Poland … and not feel the kind of visceral memories of pain, but going there with an open heart and mind and meeting people who I love and who are contemporaries and friends and who are working to make the world a better place.” JN

“A Real Pain” is playing in theaters across the Valley.

“As with every sermon I ever gave, I found myself getting engaged with the text to a degree that it was sometimes hard to distinguish between being the writer and a reader,” he said.

The book was published by Wipf and Stock, an Oregon company that publishes mostly works of theology.

He is uncertain about writing another book but he does have a title ready to go: “Nothing Left to Say.” That would be an autobiography filled with his experience as a rabbi.

“It would probably have to be published posthumously, so don’t ask me to hurry up!”

Temple Emanuel of Tempe Rabbi Emeritus David Pinkwasser’s book, “The Adventures of the Rabbi Who Became a Flight Attendant,” came out in paperback in May.

When he retired from the rabbinate, his wife told him to go be a flight attendant, something he had always dreamed of.

“I said, ‘I’m almost 50 years old. They’re not looking for an old guy.’ But she said, ‘If they don’t want you, they won’t hire you.’ So I went for the interview and they hired me instantly,” he told Jewish News.

Pinkwasser spent the next 22 years as a Southwest Airlines flight attendant. Additionally, he was on the critical response team and worked with crews dealing with traumatic events. His rab-

binic training was useful in a crisis, but that wasn’t what he loved most about the job.

“I told jokes and sang songs and I did all kinds of fun things. I probably would have still been there if not for COVID,” he said.

He decided to write down his adventures and share them with others, in a book he hopes will appeal to people of all ages.

“If you have ever had an encounter with a clergy or flight attendant, you’ll find the book enlightening and entertaining,” he said.

The book took him roughly a year to write. He started during the pandemic but was not especially motivated and set it aside for a long period of time before finally finishing it.

Pinkwasser used Amazon’s self-publishing tools, “which did all the leg work for me.” Still, the process was somewhat tedious with several emails filled with corrections, especially Hebrew words that non-Jewish correctors didn’t know.

“I will never write another book. All who have read this book have found it entertaining and an easy read. I have done what I felt was necessary to share my story. Done!” JN

Leisah Woldoff will be speaking at

the East Valley Jewish Community Center on Tuesday, Nov. 19; Sandor Lubisch will be speaking at the Arizona Jewish Historical Society on Thursday, Nov. 21; and Sun Lakes Jewish Congregation on Thursday, Jan. 16, 2025.

‘Hidden in the Hills’ features diverse Jewish artists

AMANDA CHRISTMANN LARSON | SPECIAL TO THE JEWISH NEWS

Arizona’s largest and longest-running artist studio tour, “Hidden in the Hills,” takes place during the last two weekends of November. Coordinated by the nonprofit Sonoran Arts League, the free, self-guided tour attracts thousands of patrons who appreciate fine art and seek a variety of mediums, styles and price ranges.

Scottsdale-based glass artist Jacki Cohen and local abstract painter Loren Yagoda are two of 179 artists participating in the 28th annual event, which features 44 studios throughout Cave Creek, Carefree and North Scottsdale.

Both artists are passionate about creating their original work, and though their mediums and styles are vastly different, both put a contemporary twist on traditional Judaica and provide unique artistic interpretations. Each explores themes of heritage and identity —capturing the essence of the traditions of Judaism they love.

“I’m a very proud Jewish person,” said Cohen, whose business earned the title of Jewish News’ Readers’ Choice Best Judaic Shop in 2022, 2023 and 2024. Her colorful fused glass takes the form of menorahs, mezuzahs, Shabbat candles, contemporary pieces and so much more. “I wear it loud and proud,” she said with a grin.

“My Judaic art is reinforcement for other Jewish people. It also gives me an opportunity to educate people who aren’t Jewish. Sometimes I’ll see someone looking at a mezuzah with confusion, and that gives me a chance to tell them what it is and why it’s important. It starts the conversation and it’s a good learning opportunity.”

Though Cohen’s fused glass works appear carefree and whimsical, they require countless hours of patience and keen attention to detail. First, she creates playful glass embellishments — stripes, dots and other colorful bits — fusing them in a kiln. Then she adds the embellishments to panels of hand-cut glass that will become charcuterie boards, coasters, bowls and fun takes on Judaica.

Everything she makes, from menorahs to wall hangings, are versatile and decorative enough to be used year-round.

Her most recent collection, called “Eighteen,” representing Chai, is a mix of vibrant glass vignettes on metal. Each piece in the series celebrates a different aspect of life — from love to wine.

During Hidden in the Hills, Cohen will showcase a variety of vibrant fused glass art ranging from Judaica and functional pieces to wall hangings, totems and other contemporary glass pieces. Cohen is returning to the tour for her eighth year.

She will exhibit her new work at Wesley Hartin Art Studio No. 8 in Carefree.

A new artist to the Hidden in the Hills studio tour, Yagoda creates phenomenal abstract layered paintings that evoke both emotional depth and meditative presence. Through it, she creates an exploration of soul and self: visual “conversations” that invite viewers to connect with their own inner worlds.

“My art is about those people and paths where secrets live untold,” she says. “Like the bone structure of our anatomy or the lines that create architecture, the construct of our character leaves footprints to those who have shared our time and space. My hope is that my paintings will remind you of your own history and its importance in your existence.”

Much of her work is influenced by her Jewish heritage. The sometimes-subtle abstract connotation of the tallit finds its way into some of her pieces, creating a reminder of reflection and connection.

“The tallit, to me, is a visual symbol of Judaism,” she says. “Visually, that’s the thread that goes into my art. It’s very important to me.”

Despite a rise in antisemitism, both artists continue to express their Jewish heritage, tradition and love through their work.

“When I was growing up, we decorated our whole house with work from Jewish artists. It was part of our identity,” says Yagoda. “Here I am, at the culmination of my career, being who I am. My work is

often inspired by my love of architecture and nature, and I am immensely grateful to be collected by some of the most discerning art patrons in the world.”

Yagoda’s paintings can be found in esteemed collections worldwide. Her work is also part of Restoration Hardware’s “General Public” collection of 3-D prints. Guests to the studio tour can meet her at photographer Carla Meeske’s Milky Night Studio No. 17 in Scottsdale.

Whether through bright glass fusion or bold, contemplative works in acrylics, Cohen and Yagoda are inviting people of all backgrounds to appreciate the richness and diversity of their art. JN

Artist studios are open from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Friday through Sunday, Nov. 22-24 and Nov. 29-Dec. 1. To download a map or get Google directions, visit sonoranartsleague.org/hidden-in-the-hills. For more information on the artists, visit jackicohenglassartdesigns.com and lorenyagoda. com.

Amanda Christmann Larson is a freelance writer with passions for history, the arts and exploring bookshops around the world.

Loren Yagoda’s painting titled “Circle of Life.” COURTESY OF LOREN YAGODA

Loren Yagoda in front of some of her paintings.

COURTESY OF LOREN YAGODA

Jacki Cohen in her glass studio.

COURTESY OF JACKI COHEN

An art piece from Jacki Cohen’s “Eighteen” series. COURTESY OF JACKI COHEN

What is so special about lone soldiers?

DR. MICHAEL W. COHEN | SPECIAL TO THE JEWISH NEWS

Lone soldiers serve in the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) but have no immediate family to support their personal needs while they are on active duty. About 7,500 serve in the IDF at any one time, with about one-half being young adult volunteers from 80 different countries. The rest are Israelis who, for a variety of reasons, have no available family support. As is true for Israeli draftees, half of lone soldiers serve in combat roles.

Several challenges face these soldiers, such as learning Hebrew, adapting to a new culture and institutions, extreme physical and emotional demands of IDF service and loneliness, which typically occurs on weekends and holidays when Israelis usually go home and have their needs met by family and friends.

Since the Hamas atrocities of Oct. 7, 2023, and the pursuing war — which is now being fought on seven Israeli fronts — stressors have all escalated with additional concerns of safety, injury, stress disorders, inability to communicate with families and risk of death.

The East Valley Jewish Community Center Lone Soldier Project’s goal is to support lone soldiers while on active duty

by partnering with three lone soldiers’ centers in Israel. These centers provide Shabbat and holiday observance, recreational and entertainment opportunities, social networking and counseling. Usually, the project donates funds to support Shabbat and holiday meals, sends gifts of handmade knitted hats (350 sent to date) for winter assignments and sends hundreds of Chanukah cards and letters each year, generated from 50 sites around the state, with messages of appreciation for their role in defending the Jewish homeland.

Local lone soldier veterans have contributed to the project since its inception. Israeli American Council Director of Policy and Legislative Affairs, Jake Bennett, previously a Golani Brigade combat soldier and now a national profile Zionist leader, has served as a helpful adviser from the beginning. Hadar Hamu, whose family had strong ties to the EVJCC, was the first lone soldier we met with, her commitment to Israel solidifying our project choice. Sara Kalamit Turner, Sarah Warner, Chris Stanford, Chaim Price and Meir Ginsburg have told SEE SOLDIERS, PAGE 19

“I LOVE THE RANDOM CARING GIFTS AND LETTERS I GET BECAUSE IT SHOWS THAT SOMEONE CARES ABOUT WHAT I AM DOING, AND THE OUTCOME.”

TURNER

SARA KALAMIT

A couple of lone soldiers express their thanks.

This support group for Israeli expats in New York offers programs in Hebrew, hugs and the comforts of home

JACKIE HAJDENBERG | JTA

The sound of a dozen phones buzzing repeatedly isn’t a given at the weekly meetings that Erela Nornberg organizes for Israeli expats in New York.

But on Oct. 8 at 1 p.m., Iran had just launched nearly 200 ballistic missiles into Israel, and the Israeli support group she works with on New York’s Upper West Side was unusually on edge. Participants were getting calls and texts from loved ones back home, or watching their rocket alert apps go off.

Nornberg, whose day job is a family and child therapist, launched the Israeli Hug Center just days after the Oct. 7 Hamas attacks in Israel last year. The name, she said, is representative of the feeling Nornberg wants its members to have.

“We hugged all Israelis who arrived to NYC after Oct. 7,” she told the New York Jewish Week. “It’s a warm environment where you can feel at home.”

Initially founded to provide immediate relief for Israeli families arriving to the New York area after the Hamas invasion, one year into its existence the Israeli Hug Center has evolved into an full-fledged organization with three staffers, two of whom are paid. These days the Hug Center, which is based at Congregation Rodeph Sholom, a Reform synagogue on West 84th Street, provides robust programming for around 300 Israeli families living in New York City. Its offerings include a support group for mothers and babies, group sessions with a therapist for those affected by the war, lectures on being an Israeli parent in New York, a Hebrew music group and more.

During the New York Jewish Week’s visit in October, about a dozen members of the group discussed how the Iranian missile attack acutely reminded them of Oct. 7, 2023, when they were constantly on their phones, waiting anxiously to hear news from their loved ones. And though Israeli officials ultimately only reported one death from the Iranian strike — a Palestinian man near Jericho — the sense of anxiety in the building’s chapel, where the group convenes, was palpable, as was the sense of comfort everyone in the room derived from being around fellow Israelis.

“When I walked in here with my three children, I didn’t feel any of that

chaos of not knowing,” Gal Kessel, one of the group members, said of her first encounter with the Hug Center. “I came in and it just felt like a warm hug and if I need to go to a corner to cry for a second, I can.”

Kessel added, beginning to cry, “Erela came in with a notebook and asked, ‘what do you need?’ It changed how we were able to deal with the first month.”

Nornberg, who is herself Israeli, raised her three children, now young adults, in New York and sent them to Rodeph Sholom’s day school — which is why she approached the Reform congregation to host the group. Initially funded with UJA emergency funds for displaced Israeli families, the Hug Center now takes donations and is currently supported by Rodeph Sholom.

“This is really part of our DNA and who we are at Rodeph Sholom,” Barbara Zakin, executive director of the synagogue, told the New York Jewish Week, adding that approximately 11 Israeli families who have relocated to the area are enrolled at the school for this year. “We consider ourselves a haven and a community and a place where people can feel safe — emotionally safe and physically safe.”

Now, after 12 months helping Israeli expats adjust to life in New York City following the outbreak of the war, the Hug Center is pivoting once again — this time to connecting its members with American Jews.

Through a partnership with the nearby Marlene Meyerson Jewish Community Center and the Jewish Agency for Israel, the Hug Center is facilitating events around different subjects between Israeli and Jewish American women, including a baking event and an upcoming lecture by a former hostage that is open to the community.

“I feel like I’m translating — instead of language, translating culture,” Nornberg said.

Adaptation to life in the United States has also led to a slight shift in the Israelis’ understanding of what it means to be Jewish.

“For me, my Jewish identity and my Israeli identity are intertwined, so it’s really hard to separate,” said Rotem, who declined to give her last name. “It was important to choose a school for my daughter that’s Jewish. We decided to have another child, because we need to maintain Jewishness going on in the world. It [Oct. 7] didn’t push us to be more religious, but pushed us to be more aware of our Jewishness in our community.”

Kessel said going to meetings inside Congregation Rodeph Sholom has brought her Israeli and Jewish identities closer together.

“In Israel we were not religious, at all,” Kessel said. “If I would tell my husband we’re going now to a congregation or a synagogue, he would look at me like I’m crazy. But then when you do walk in and you feel the hug, and the feeling of family and connection that feels so similar in a place that’s so not similar to what we’re used to — it becomes so much more than just a religion.”

But for many of those who frequent the Israeli Hug Center, it’s still a place to just be with other Israelis. Kessel, who moved to New York almost immediately after last Oct. 7, recalled that the noise and sirens of the city were particularly triggering.

“Then you arrive to 84th [Street] and you walk in and everyone is in the same exact place as you.”

Talking with a reporter over bourekas and salad from Breads Bakery, an Israelifounded chain, a few Hug Center members recalled how, over the winter, the mother of a recently arrived family needed a warm coat — and the group

A children’s group plays at the Israeli Hug Center at New York’s Congregation Rodeph Sholom. COURTESY OF SCOTT HERTZ

their stories to audiences and represented the project, fulfilling our mission to educate the community. Ginsburg is supported by the World Zionist Organization to network and socialize with lone soldier veterans in Arizona. Veterans can contact him at 520-226-7224.

Turner, when asked how the project could support lone soldiers on active duty, said, “Just knowing about what we’re doing. Some people still don’t understand why I am serving. Education is probably the best way of showing support. Also, I love the random caring gifts and letters I get because it shows that someone cares about what I am doing, and the outcome.”

Since the war began, the Lone Soldier Project raised emergency funds, allowing donations to our partner centers to support their massively increased need for services and counseling. After Oct. 7, letters and hats were received from individuals and schools from across

North America. Several Arizonans, while volunteering in Israel, have made a personal connection with The Michael Levin Memorial Base Center in Jerusalem, delivering these supportive messages and hats. If you or others are traveling to Israel and would be willing to deliver our gifts, please let us know.

Now more than ever, soldiers need to know that they are appreciated for their courage and commitment. The challenges and risks they currently face are representing all of us in the diaspora who support Israel. JN For more information, visit evjcc.org/lonesoldier-project/ or contact lonesoldiers@evjcc. org. The current Chanukah Greeting Campaign has been expanded to include encouragement and prayers for safety during the ongoing struggle to return stability and security to Israel and its people. All are invited to upload messages to soldiers by going to evjcc.org/greetings/ and clicking on “upload greeting” before Dec. 5.

Dr. Michael W. Cohen is a volunteer and the coordinator of the East Valley Jewish Community Center Lone Soldier Project.

Lone soldiers gathered to read letter sent to them from students at Pardes Jewish Day School.

Lone soldiers enjoy a Shabbat dinner.

was quickly able to get her one.

Sometimes, however, there’s a disparity between what Israelis actually need and what their American counterparts think they need. One Hug Center member who asked not to be named recalled someone offering 200 used sleeping bags.

“Do you remember when someone kept on giving us muffins or croissants?”

Lisa Schiff, director of the congregation’s early childhood education programming, asked the room. Referencing an Israeli breakfast staple, she exclaimed, “We need cucumbers!”

For Ilit Sheba, who has lived in New York for the past two years and was pregnant with her now-six-month-old son last Oct. 7, the chance to surround herself with Hebrew speakers has been a huge opportunity to express herself fully.

“Being with other Israelis, especially the last year, it’s the closest to family that I have here,” she told the New York Jewish Week, following the screening of a Tel Aviv ceremony commemorating that day’s one-year anniversary of the Oct. 7 attacks.

“It was much better than being alone,” Sheba said of watching the ceremony in community with other Israeli expats. “I was thinking a lot, to come here or not,

and eventually I figured it’s gonna be better to cry together with everybody than to just sit home alone and cry with a baby.”

Sheba, like several other parents, brought her baby to the screening, which approximately 250 people had signed up to attend. Nearly all in attendance were fluent Hebrew speakers.

“That’s what makes you feel home, it’s the language,” said Maya Lev Miller, a social worker and one of the three Israeli staff members who run the Hug Center. Nornberg, meanwhile, is optimistic that no matter what happens with the war between Israel and its adversaries, the Hug Center can continue to provide support for the Israeli community in New

York City into the future.

“It all started with a terrible, dark day, but hopefully this will stay here for the next generation,” she said. JN

For more information, visit rodephsholom.org/ israeli-hug/.

Donate any amount up to $938 for couples filing jointly ($470 for individuals) by 4/15/2025

via check, credit card or on-line at www.kivelcare.org

Submit tax forms, which will be sent to you upon request,* with your 2024 Arizona

Demonstrating

Remembering Oct. 7

New year, new friends

honor those

You deserve a happy hour

NowGen, a program of the Center for Jewish Philanthropy of Greater Phoenix that connects Jewish adults in their 20’s through 40’s in community, philanthropy and leadership, hosted another successful happy hour on Tuesday, Sept. 24, at RnR Gastropub in Scottsdale.

in the Hamas attack on Israel last year.

Working together for Holocaust ed

On Monday, Oct. 7, Reverend Bruce Scott, left, director of program ministries for the Friends of Israel Gospel Ministries, presented Steve Hilton with a $5,000 gift for the Building a Legacy of Hope Capital Campaign. This is the first significant gift from the interfaith community in support of the

Holocaust Education Center, which should break ground next year.

Turning out for veterans

Denise Israel, left, and Rabbi Alicia Magal of the Jewish Community of Sedona and the Verde Valley sing "Lu Yehi," a Hebrew song that speaks of hope for peace during a commemoration service, Remembering Oct. 7, 2023, to

murdered

OF JEWISH COMMUNITY OF SEDONA AND THE VERDE VALLEY

Jewish War Veterans Post 619 members will collect donations for veterans on Veterans Day weekend at several East Valley Fry’s supermarkets. Pictured from left are Bob Howard, Arthur Uram, Elliott Reiss, Michael Dar and Dan Tilsner.

OF JEWISH WAR VETERANS POST 619

Featured Event

SUNDAY, NOV. 17

Building a Bridge:

5 p.m. Arizona Jewish Historical Society Cutler-Plotkin Jewish Heritage Center, 122 E. Culver St., Phoenix. Join the AZJHS for its community fundraiser to replace lost revenue during construction of the Hilton Family Holocaust Education Center and maintain AZJHS’ cultural and education programs. Ticket includes kosher happy hour, dessert and live entertainment by We3 with Sheila Earley and special guest Francine Reed. For more information, visit azjhs.org/our-annual-fall-fundraiser.

For an updated listing of events and resources,

Events

FRIDAY AND SATURDAY, NOV. 15 & 16

Shabbat Unplugged and Community Concert with Dan Nichols: 5:30 p.m. Friday; 6 p.m. Saturday. Temple Chai, 4645 E. Marilyn Road, Phoenix. Join Phoenix Jewish community organizations and Temple Chai for events with Jewish rock musician and founder of the band E18hteen, Dan Nichols. There will also be a Musical Torah Study Experience on Nov. 16 at 10:30 a.m. For more information, visit templechai.com.

SUNDAY, NOV. 17

JWV Speaker Restores Hope to Vulnerable Veterans: 9:30 a.m. Oakwood Country Club, 24218 S. Oakwood Blvd., Sun Lakes. Join Jewish War Veterans Post 619 for a presentation by Raymond Perez, founder of the nonprofit Restoring Veteran Hope, that helps veterans struggling with addiction, PTSD and suicidal ideations. For more information, contact Arthur Uram at 702-884-4175 or uramarthur@gmail.com.

Temple Emanuel Tots: Turkey Day: 9:30-11:30 a.m.-4 p.m. Temple Emanuel of Tempe, 5801 S. Rural Road, Tempe. Join TEOT for Jewish fun with your 2 and 3 year old. Cost: $10 per family. For more information, contact rs@ emanueloftempe.org.

MONDAY, NOV. 18

Mizrachi Music Presented by Jason Hecht and Others: 6-7 p.m. Online. Join Temple Beth Sholom of the East Valley to learn about and hear Mizrachi music. This presentation will include some interactive audience participation with questions and answers. Cost: Free. For more information, visit fjmc.org/ events-2/mizrachi1/.

WEDNESDAY, NOV. 20

Arizona Jewish Academy Open House: 8 a.m.-8 p.m. Ina Levine Jewish Community Campus, 12701 N. Scottsdale Road, Scottsdale. Parents and prospective students are welcome to join AJA for their open house. For more information, contact info@azjewishacademy.org.

Death and Diamonds: The Story of Samuel Soldinger, a Legacy of Oskar Schindler: 10-11:30 a.m. East Valley Jewish Community Center, 908 N. Alma School Road, Chandler. Join the EVJCC for a presentation by author Laura Soldinger Yotter and her book about her father’s survival from seven concentration camps during the Holocaust and his life in America after the war. For more information, visit evjcc.org/generations-after/.

Active Shooter Training: 6-7 p.m. Congregation Beth Tefillah, 6529 E. Shea Blvd., Scottsdale. Join CBT and the Maricopa County District Attorney’s office for a civilian response to active shooter events presented by Lt. Kenneth W. Silva. Cost: Free. RSVP required

to Rachel@BethTefillahAZ.org or contact 480-237-4888.

THURSDAY, NOV. 21

Business & Professionals Fall Gathering: 5-7 p.m. Ina Levine Jewish Community Campus, 12701 N. Scottsdale Road, Scottsdale. Join Business & Professionals, a program of the Center for Jewish Philanthropy of Greater Phoenix, for an evening of technology insights with representatives from Waymo, Wisk and leading Israeli innovators. Cost: $18 per person. For more information, visit phoenixcjp.regfox.com/bp-fall-gathering-devd-6.

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. Use this link: ChabadAZ.com/LiveClass. 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.

Anxiety in the Modern World: 6 p.m. Online. Learn the secrets of the Torah for living stress-free in the current environment with Rabbi Boruch of Chabad of Oro Valley. Cost: Free. Use this link: zoom.us/j/736434666. For more information, visit chabadaz.com.

MONDAYS

Pomegranate Guild of Judaic Needlework, Desert Cactus Chapter: 10 a.m. The Oasis at

Sagewood, 4555 E. Mayo Blvd., Phoenix. The guild meets the third Monday of the month, adjusted when necessary to accommodate Jewish holidays. For more information, visit pomegranateguild.org.

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. Use this link: 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. Use this link: 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. Use this link: 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. Use this link: 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.

Single Parent Zoom: 8 p.m. First and third Monday of every month. Join The Bureau of Jewish Education’s Family University single parents’ group for those looking to form friendships and build their support system with like-minded people. For more information or to register, visit bjephoenix.org/ family-university.

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. Use this link: JewishParadiseValley.com/YJPclass. Cost: Free. For more information, visit chabadaz.com.

Torah Studies: 7:30 p.m. Online. Learn with Rabbi Mendy Levertov. Use this link: ourjewishcenter.com/virtual. Cost: Free. For more information, visit chabadaz.com.

WEDNESDAYS

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.

Lunch & Learn: 12 p.m. Online. Grab some food and learn with Rabbi Yehuda Ceitlin. Use this link: Facebook.com/ChabadTucson. Cost: Free. For more information, visit chabadtucson.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.

The Thirteen Petalled Rose: 1 p.m. Online. Kabbalah class that studies “The Thirteen Petalled Rose” by Rabbi Adin Even-Israel Steinsaltz, focusing on the many concepts of Kaballah and Jewish Mysticism and applying them to everyday life. For more information or to join, visit cbtvirtualworld.com.

Grief Support Group: 5-6 p.m. Online via Zoom. Therapist Susan Charney MCW, LCSW, leads a grief support group every first and third Wednesday of the month virtually for individuals experiencing the loss of an adult child or sibling. In lieu of any fees for these sessions, donations to Temple Solel are appreciated. For more information, contact susancharneycounseling@gmail.com.

History of the Jews: 7 p.m. Online. Learn the Jewish journey from Genesis to Moshiach with Rabbi Ephraim Zimmerman. Use this link: zoom.us/j/736434666. Cost: Free. For more information, visit chabadaz.com.

JACS: 7:30-8:30 p.m. Online. 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. Use this link: ourjewishcenter. com/virtual. Cost: Free. For more information, visit chabadaz.com.

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

CALENDAR

The Science of Everything: 11 a.m. Online. Explore the most fundamental work of Chassidut: the Tanya, with Rabbi Boruch. Use this link: zoom.us/j/736434666. Cost: Free. For more information, visit chabadaz.com.

Mindfulness Gatherings: 12 p.m. Online. Hosted by Hospice of the Valley via Zoom. Cost: Free. To join by phone, dial 1-253-2158782, meeting ID 486 920 2119#, to get the Zoom link or for further questions contact Gill Hamilton at ghamilton@hov.org or 602-748-3692.

Weekly Mahjong: 1-3 p.m. Temple Solel, 6805 E. McDonald Drive, Paradise Valley. Join Temple Solel each Thursday afternoon for mahjong. Lessons available for beginners. Cost: Free. RSVP via email to dottiebefore@gmail.com so they know how many tables to set up.

Teen Discussions: 7-8:30 p.m. Online. Learn with Rabbi Tzvi Rimler. Use this link: cteen. clickmeeting.com/east-valley. Cost: Free. 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 celebration. Cost: Free. For more information, visit jfcsaz.org/cse.

Shabbat at Beth El: 7:15 a.m. and 5:45 p.m on Zoom; 9:30 a.m. at Beth El Phoenix, 1118 W. Glendale. Ave., Phoenix or livestreaming on YouTube. 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 service has varying dates and times. Temple Chai, 4645 E. Marilyn Road, Phoenix. For more information, contact Joan Neer at jneer@templechai.com.

Shabbat Services with Sun Lakes: 5:30-6:15 p.m. Sun Lakes Chapel, 9240 E. Sun Lakes Blvd. North, Sun Lakes. Sun Lakes Jewish Congregation conducts this twilight service

on Aug. 9. For more information, contact 480-612-4413.

Pre-Shabbat Kiddush Club: 6 p.m. Online. Say Kiddush with Rabbi Mendy Levertov. Cost: Free. Use this link: 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 Service: 6-7 p.m.; Oneg at 5:15 p.m. Temple B’rith Shalom, 2077 Brohner Way, Prescott. Join Temple B’rith Shalom for a musical and spiritual Shabbat service. For more information, visit brithshalom-az.org.

First Friday Shabbat Services: 6:15 p.m.; Oneg at 7:15 p.m. Valley Unitarian Universalist, 6400 W. Del Rio St., Chandler. Join Congregation NefeshSoul for Friday night services the first Friday of each month in the sanctuary building of Valley Unitarian Universalist. For more information, contact Jim Hoffman at 480-329-3316.

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.

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.

Shabbat Services: 7 p.m. Temple Beth Shalom of the West Valley, 12202 N. 101st Ave., Sun City. Services are followed by an Oneg. Services are live-streamed on YouTube. For more information and to get the YouTube link, visit tbsaz.org or call 623-977-3240.

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.

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 602-487-5718 for more information.

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

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.

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.

MILESTONES

ANNIVERSARY

SAM AND SHELLY POST

Sam and Shelly Post of Scottsdale celebrated their 50th anniversary at a celebration on July 14, 2024. Sam is a financial advisor and Shelly is a homemaker. Their daughter, Heather Post, lives in Nashville, Tennessee. JN

Dr. Judy Brandstadter

THURSDAYS

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

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.

Musical Friday: 12:30 p.m. Online. Join Smile on Seniors on the first Friday of every month for a musical presentation. Cost: Free. For full details visit sosaz.org/virtual or email Rabbi Levi Levertov at levi@sosaz.org. JN

Michael Wade, born June 10, 1954, passed away on Jan. 10, 2022, in Scottsdale. He attended Public School 47 in Manhattan, New York, and graduated from the Lexington School for the Deaf in Queens. For many years Michael enjoyed bowling with the deaf and other leagues in Phoenix. A devoted Diamondbacks fan, he attended games regularly. Preceded in death by his father, Robert Wade, and his mother, Pauline Janeshewski; he was survived by his sisters Susan (Wade) Marcus and Judith Wade. Michael is dearly missed by all who knew him, leaving behind a legacy of warmth, gentleness and perseverance.

Judith Helene Torche Brandstadter passed away on Oct. 22, 2024. She had a passion for art as well as her children.

Born Oct. 5, 1939, to Oscar Torche and Sadie Weiss, Judy grew up in New York City, with her half-sister, Leona Kennedy. Judy’s pursuit of art and art education included obtaining a Bachelor of Arts from Queens College in 1961, Master of Arts from New York University in 1962, and her Teachers College Professional Diploma and Doctor of Education from Columbia University in 1965.

Judith married Jay Robert Brandstadter in 1965. During their marriage, they resided in Cherry Hill, New Jersey, Livingston, New Jersey and Rochester, New York, until finally residing in Phoenix. Judy remained in the Phoenix/Scottsdale area up until her passing. She was devoted to her art and art education profession as a teacher throughout the years, albeit she spent some time in the sales industry. Her time as an art educator left a lasting positive impact on many of her students.

Judy is survived by her daughter, Ann Elizabeth Brandstadter of Silver Spring, Maryland; and her son, Eric Steven Brandstadter of Overland Park, Kansas. Judy is dearly missed.