Jewish News, March 12, 2021

Jewish groups say it's time to talk about it

March marks a year of praying, learning and playing differently

SHANNON LEVITT | MANAGING EDITOR AND NICOLE RAZ | STAFF WRITER

Rabbi Aviva Funke misses the sound of other people humming and singing along to her music.

“When we can’t sing together, it feels not only isolating, but it feels like something is missing from my soul,” said Funke, a community rabbi and principal of the Bureau of Jewish Education's Hebrew High.

Funke regrets the way the pandemic has altered Jewish life, pointing out that people are unable to hold one another while singing “Oseh Shalom” or sit shiva together in person. “The fact that we have not been able to physically be together has rippled through the fabric of our people,” she said.

And yet, after dealing with the fallout from COVID19 for a year, many in the Jewish community have come to terms with new and virtual ways to be together. Some leaders see real value in these methods and plan to keep using them even once COVID restrictions are lifted. But it’s a mixed bag. Many people appreciate that technology has made the pandemic more bearable, but it still has felt like a lost year for others.

Funke pointed out that while virtual programming in synagogues, schools and camps might be here to stay, COVID has been nothing if not a wake-up call for the community. Across the board, there’s a sense of longing for the time before, she said. Now’s the time “to really assess how valuable our traditions and our customs are now that we haven’t been able to have them.”

‘Friendships blossom over Zoom’

Precautions against the spread of COVID have kept people physically apart and away from religious services and gatherings. A year ago, as people were preparing for

Jewish community prepares for another virtual Passover

Aaron Morrill created a special Passover Haggadah last year once it became clear there would be no normal, in-person celebration. He thought of it as a fun opportunity — something special for a difficult time. And he intended to use it only once. But at the end of this month, he and his family will dust it off for one more Passover on Zoom.

“When I was writing it I would have bet money that we would not be using it, at least in this pandemic, ever again,” said Morrill.

He has celebrated Passover in Phoenix with his grandparents just about every year of his life. He was 19 the last time they shared a seder, and he knew then he wouldn’t spend all his future holidays with them — he just never expected 2020’s abrupt halt. Now 21 and a student majoring in Jewish thought and data science in New York, it just feels “weird” not to be together, he said Jane Wabnik, Morrill’s grandmother, said his Haggadah was the “biggest gift” that came out of 2020’s forced distance.

Last year, she hosted two guests in person and held a mini-seder over Zoom with her daughter, son-inlaw and two grandchildren. Despite the distance, they were still able to have some fun at the seder, and this year’s second edition of Passover in a pandemic

celebration. Rabbi Yisroel Matusof read the Megillah while vaccinated, masked and socially-distanced seniors enjoyed the beautiful Purim weather. To see more community photos, go to p. 22.

PHOTO BY RABBI LEVI LEVERTOV

NICOLE RAZ | STAFF WRITER

Passover, they weren’t quite sure how they would be able to pray or celebrate together — and they struggled to cope. “In a way, COVID lowered all of our defenses,” said Rabbi Julie Kozlow of Temple B’rith Shalom in Prescott. “We just needed each other.”

As Passover approaches once again, people are starting to look forward to the day they are vaccinated and can be safely together for services and holidays. And yet, numerous area synagogues and religious leaders have decided the virtual programming they had to incorporate to survive the pandemic will likely have long-lasting benefits.

Kozlow said initially the transition to Zoom was “technologically traumatic,” but now it’s become her “best friend.” It allows her to connect with more people and open up new programming for her congregation. She intends to keep using the platform even when it’s safe to return to the synagogue.

When Congregation Or Tzion closed its doors a year ago, “we immediately had to come to grips” with how to cope, said Mitch Ross, chair of the synagogue’s COVID-19 committee. Or Tzion also pivoted quickly to Zoom and has been using it for interactive weekly services, holiday gatherings, trivia nights and “all kinds of online programs that were never available before,” he said. “And people can really participate in ways that they didn’t have access to previously.”

Frank Jacobson, president of Or Tzion’s board of directors, said he is seeing regulars and new faces participating online, even from out of state. “There’s a wide connection now that we just didn’t have before,” he said.

One of the downsides to not having in-person programming is not

being able to provide that option for people who want it, Ross said. On the other hand, Ross and Jacobson said more people are now engaged and attend services.

Families that might not have been able to commit to three hours on a Saturday morning, for example, can now attend with relatively little effort and feel part of things even if they can’t stay for the entire service. Extended family is now also able to attend bar and bat mitzvahs more easily, without needing to travel.

At Temple Solel, engagement specialist Jacquelyn Null also said families with young children tune into virtual programming that they might not have in person. That also applies to people who have trouble making it out of the house.

Virtual services aren’t for everybody, though. Howard Rosen and his wife used to attend Friday evening services in person about once a month at Solel, where they are members. But he doesn’t do the virtual services, as he doesn’t get the same “feeling of Shabbat” from them, he said. Still, both attend virtual weekly

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Torah study.

Funke also developed and participates in a number of virtual Jewish offerings, and while technology allows innovation in the kinds of classes she can offer, she is getting a real sense of Zoom fatigue.

“I think many of us have prayed for the day we will just be face to face having real conversations,” Funke said. People live on screens all week and they may not want to live on a screen on the weekend, she added.

Temple Solel and Congregation Or Tzion are contemplating hybrid models for the future. “I think it will be a bigger conversation of which programs work better streaming, and which ones are more geared to in-person,” Null said.

Rabbi Levi Levertov, director of Smile on Seniors Arizona, also acted quickly last year to use technology for his programming. He knew seniors would need engagement, especially those who are widowed or don’t have family nearby. He started offering virtual programs just a week after last year’s Purim celebration,

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Author Judy Laufer presents one of her books and discusses her career path during a Smile on Seniors Zoom program. PHOTO BY RABBI LEVI LEVERTOV

will look much like the first. Wabnik plans to cook her two usual main dishes: orange roasted chicken and a brisket. Others are also feeling more prepared this time around.

Alan Zeichick and his wife are empty nesters, and they usually do one synagogue community seder and one seder at a friend’s house. Last year was the first time they cooked a Passover meal in almost 10 years.

“Instead of just saying, ‘What time do you want us to be there and can we bring anything?’ We actually had to think it through,’’ he laughed.

This year he and his wife are planning to cook chicken soup, roasted chicken and mashed potatoes and host a family friend for some “talking and eating and drinking and talking.” Pretty much like last year.

Passover is a very serious holiday with a very serious message, he said, “but it’s also a very silly holiday with a very joyous, celebratory message.” And the seder is “as silly as can be.”

He likes to bring out his 10 finger puppets for each of the plagues. “You can’t do a seder without silly finger puppets for the plagues,” he said.

Wabnik also enjoys some silliness at her seder.

“We’ve always had a lot of fun,” she said. “Somehow we all become children again — we love the songs and we love the lessons, but we also talk very seriously about people who are currently enslaved or who do not have the freedoms that we have, or what it is to be free and how we maintain our freedoms,” she said.

Though she’s disappointed not to host a large in-person seder, she isn’t surprised.

“As I watched what was going on with the pandemic, I figured we would not have one this year,” she said.

Wabnik usually looks forward to hosting a seder for at least 14 friends and family members. She is happy to use her grandson’s Haggadah again, which was designed to capture the essence of what his family would normally do but with a shorter seder.

full-time as a prosecutor for the Maricopa County Attorney’s Office. But, the pandemic is still raging and an in-person seder isn’t in the cards.

Rather than be sad and dwell on the things outside of her control, she is going to make the best of it and tune into a seder online offered by JewBelong, an organization designed to help people connect to their Judaism. She learned of JewBelong’s virtual Passover seder, dubbed “Burning Man-ischewitz,” on Instagram.

“Every Pesach, we say, ‘Next year in Jerusalem,’” she said. “‘Next year in Jerusalem’ would be fabulous, but at this point, I would be happy with, ‘next year in person.’”

Tanisha Henson is also more prepared to fly solo for Passover this year.

Last year, she skipped celebrating Passover altogether. Henson, who moved to Arizona last August, was in Pennsylvania when the pandemic struck, juggling attending Widener University Commonwealth Law School, studying for the first-ever online bar exam and working a job without pay.

“But when the first night came, it did hit me that I was missing something that is actually really important,” she said.

“Sometimes sacrifices must be made and I figured it would be my last time to sacrifice because 2021 would be better.”

So far, this year is better for her. She passed the bar and is now working

Robin Meyerson, co-director of Project Inspire Arizona and chair of the Shabbos Project Arizona, said it can be difficult to find inspiration for Passover as the pandemic continues to wreak havoc and keep family members apart. She recommends spending time learning about and preparing for Passover before the holiday begins as a way to create inspiration.

“It’s actually a Torah obligation — even if you are by yourself — to tell yourself the story of the miracles,” she said. If nothing else, the pandemic almost makes the plagues more relatable, she said.

Morrill’s Haggadah concludes, “Passover remains a time to meaningfully reflect on the state of our current lives as Jews, and the state of the world that we live in, religiously and otherwise. I hope that this Haggadah can serve this purpose for however long it is needed.”

He created it to serve as a sort of bridge between the time before COVID and whatever comes next, which he hopes is not too far off. JN

PHOTO BY ALAN ZEICHICK

"'NEXT YEAR IN JERUSALEM' WOULD BE FABULOUS, BUT AT THIS POINT, I WOULD BE HAPPY WITH, 'NEXT YEAR IN PERSON.'"

when it became clear people couldn’t gather safely.

“This provided a very important social outlet,” he said. “We have truly seen friendships blossom over Zoom.” SoS virtual programming includes trivia nights, comedy acts, educational lectures and more.

“We try to keep a very diverse set of programs,” he said. On average, 30 to 40 people tune in to watch.

Even though Kozlow has become a fan of Zoom, she recognizes the loneliness of the last year. “We’re not meant to be alone, and we’ve all been alone way too much,” she said. “The day we get to be together, we’re not going to take it for granted. We’re going to squeeze every ounce of joy that we can when we’re in person.”

‘Just trying to get through to summer’ Last July, when parents and teachers didn’t know whether schools would open their doors to in-person learning, Amanda Garcia considered herself lucky. She was able to stay home with her kids, who attend Sand Piper Elementary in the Paradise Valley Unified School District.

She considered keeping her kids at home the safest decision — both for her kids and the teachers.

She watched the rising stress levels of parents on the Sandpiper Facebook group

PESACH at Beth El

who couldn’t stay home. They were looking for answers to tough questions: Who will monitor our kids while we’re at work? Will the instruction be good enough? How will we know when it’s safe enough to send them back?

Garcia decided to take a break from work to devote her attention to her kids’ schooling, an option many others didn’t have.

She kept her children home throughout the fall and early winter and wondered what would happen when someone inevitably got sick. She described her children as “germ magnets” and worried about the virus’ spread in a school setting.

But by February, even though none of her safety concerns had dissipated, she was ready to put her kids back in school.

“It’s been terrible,” she said. “Their grades, their social and emotional lives — everything was suffering.”

Her daughter, who is in the gifted program, didn’t do well with online classes, and now she has a lot of catching up to do. Her son in fourth grade is also “definitely behind,” and missed out on fractions.

The kids have never gone to summer school, but this year they will. “I’ll jump on it,” Garcia said.

Still, she doesn’t regret keeping them at home while cases were high. Now that teachers are vaccinated she feels better about her kids going back. She sees it as a matter of fairness for the teachers.

And she still worries about the virus’ spread in the classroom. On the second day back in school there was a COVID case in her daughter’s class.

She hasn’t let herself think about next fall. “I’m just trying to get through to summer,” she said. “It’s been a tough year — for everybody. But I’m hopeful. It just can’t get any worse.”

Julia Fathe, a public high school teacher and parent of two young children, understands.

Now that half her students have returned to the classroom, there are constant quarantines as multiple COVID cases get reported. “I had 18 kids in my classroom, then the basketball team had to quarantine and six kids had to go back to remote,” she said. “It’s going to continue like that. It just requires so much flexibility on everyone’s part and it’s exhausting.”

Looking back over the year, she feels that for most of her older students, the last several months of online learning has gone pretty well — especially for the selfstarters. But some students are struggling because they don’t know how to ask for help online, she admitted. Those kids “are falling through the cracks.”

That is one reason she’s glad to be back in person. It’s also good “to see people’s faces — or eyeballs” in order to build a better rapport. “It feels like I’m just getting to know my kids now,” she said. Her students feel the strangeness, too. Ordinarily, by February they would

be chattier while working together, and they would require a bit of scolding. “But now you could hear a pin drop, they’re so quiet,” Fathe said.

For the rest of the year, she’ll teach students in class and online, which is a “double-edged sword,” she said. As happy as she is to see students in person, it is difficult to teach both ways and takes an extraordinary amount of preparation. Next year, she said, her school district won’t require teachers to do in-person and online instruction simultaneously. She’s just hoping things will feel more normal by August.

Fathe is more pessimistic when it comes to younger students. She suspected the missed socialization would be harder for elementary students, and she was very happy that her five-year-old was able to start kindergarten at Pardes Jewish Day School in person last fall.

“My concerns as a teacher are completely and utterly different from my concerns as a parent,” Fathe said. “Kindergarten is a completely different animal. I’m a high school math teacher. I can’t help a kindergartner. I just can’t.” She suspects that if she had tried to keep her daughter home it would have led to a lost year for her academically and emotionally. “Some friends have told me it’s been lost, but my kid was in person and has had a great year,” she said.

Pardes opened with both in-person and online instruction last September. As of now, the plan is to return to all in-person instruction in the fall. Masking and social distancing will continue to play a role. According to Peter Gordon, head of school, “predicated on how the world is going, we will respond to what’s in the best interest of our students and families.”

The Pardes community has been committed to living by safety guidelines and procedures, said Gordon, and it’s been able to maintain its high

education standards.

“The essence of Pardes is that we’re not stagnant,” he said. “All of our things have moved forward just as it would have without COVID.”

Anna Lock, Pardes’ academic principal, highlighted the “tremendous commitment” of Pardes’ teachers who made students’ learning possible “regardless of where they were,” she said. Despite COVID’s obstacles, they stayed focused on their academic and professional development goals.

‘We’ve learned a lot’ Jewish summer camps were also upended by COVID and the need to keep campers and staff safe. Some camps didn’t open at all in 2020. Shemesh Camp at Martin Pear Jewish Community Center did, albeit in a more circumspect way.

“Turn a bummer into a fun summer” was the official motto of Shemesh last summer. Kim Subrin, chief officer of camping and family services of MPJCC, said that phrase really summed up the feeling among the staff. After making big modifications, Shemesh opened in order “to offer our campers a little bit of normal again,” she said.

Looking back now, she feels that last summer was all about fearing the unknown. “There’s no fear anymore,” she said. “We know now and we plan for it. We know how to work with COVID. Because we didn’t know everything last summer, we were extreme. Now we know how to keep the building and campers safe and let them move through the building.”

Shemesh was one of the first camps in the country to open. “We didn’t have anybody else to lean on,” Subrin said.

When they started requiring all campers older than kindergartners to wear masks, Subrin wasn’t sure how it would go. But

Kids are getting ready to spend another summer at Shemesh Camp.

PHOTO BY KIM SUBRIN

Judaism and climate change conference hosted by ASU highlights activism, veganism

NICOLE RAZ | STAFF WRITER

Rabbi Dr. Shmuly Yanklowitz is fighting climate change one vegan meal at a time.

Veganism transforms an individual and the whole family unit, because it makes people more thoughtful about what they are eating and why, according to Yanklowitz. It also heightens awareness of the impact people are having on the environment.

“I’m very grateful for those working on political revolutions, but I want to be on the side of a spiritual revolution that starts person by person, home by home,” he said.

From changing an individual’s diet to garnering community support for legislative changes, Jewish leaders across the country gathered virtually to discuss the best ways to take on climate change. Yanklowitz was one of five activists who addressed the relationship between Judaism and environmental

activism during the Judaism, Science and Medicine Group’s annual conference hosted by Arizona State University via Zoom on Feb. 28, 2021.

In 2014, a Public Religion Research Institute survey found 78% of American Jews consider climate change either “a crisis” or “a major problem” — the highest proportion of any religious group in America.

But that sentiment doesn’t necessarily translate to action.

“There was amazing work happening, there continues to be great work happening and we need more — for the Jewish community to fully show up in all of our people and power and play a critical role in the larger national climate movement, and in turn, the global climate movement,” said Rabbi Jennie Rosenn, founder and CEO of Dayenu. She launched the organization last April to mobilize the American Jewish

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community to confront the climate crisis.

Rosenn wants to spur legislative action to address climate change. Leading up to the 2020 election, Dayenu and 43 other Jewish organizations mobilized 800 Jews across the country and together reached out to more than 750,000 American Jewish voters concerned about climate change, calling on them to elect leaders who have the “chutzpah” to take “bold action.”

The PPRI survey also found nearly 70% of American Jews are supportive of tougher laws and regulations to protect the environment, even if it raises prices or costs jobs. However, that differs by political affiliation, with 26% of Jewish

Republicans in favor compared to 68% of Jewish Independents and 81% of Jewish Democrats.

Mirele Goldsmith, co-chair of the Jewish Earth Alliance, is working to change laws by participating in climate

IN COMMEMORATION OF YOM HASHOAH

Rabbi Dr. Shmuly Yanklowitz, a vegan for more than a decade, eats a banana on Friday, March 5, 2021.

PHOTO COURTESY OF RABBI DR. SHMULY YANKLOWITZ

Jewish infertility summit offers resources, seeks to reduce stigma

NICOLE RAZ | STAFF WRITER

Chani Levertov always appreciates getting a pregnancy announcement from a friend or family member. “There’s absolutely room in my heart to be joyous for them, as well as feeling sad feelings for my struggle,” she said. “There’s always room for both.”

In 2013, Levertov experienced secondary infertility. After a second child, she and her husband were having a difficult time conceiving again. She didn’t know where to turn for support. Friends and family didn’t know how to help or what to say.

“Chances are, everybody knows somebody going through [infertility] because the statistics are one in eight couples, which is quite high. It’s time for us to come together as a community and really support our loved ones,” she said.

Levertov, co-director of Chabad of Arizona’s Smile on Seniors, launched Fruitful in November 2018. The organization holds monthly support groups, as well as educational and social events for people who are struggling with primary and secondary infertility. Fruitful was one of 12 Jewish organizations that participated in a virtual Jewish fertility support summit on Feb. 22.

The event was spearheaded by Aimee Baron, founder and executive director of I Was Supposed to Have a Baby. The event aimed to bring the issue of infertility out of the shadows, raise awareness about Jewish organizations that offer resources and provide people with the tools to better support their friends and relatives who may be struggling. More than 1,800 people participated.

“We are finally talking about something that has been just swept under the covers and shrouded in secrecy, shame and

stigma,” Baron said. “We are finally at this point where we’re ready as a community to address this and finally support our loved ones.”

Ideas for supporting family and friends who are experiencing infertility, the loss of a pregnancy or the loss of a child were widely discussed at the summit.

The person who needs support should get to define what that support looks like, said Malkie Klaristenfeld, director and founder of New York-based Knafayim, which supports families facing pregnancy and perinatal loss.

“What we think might be the right approach might be very, very different

of the Georgia-based Jewish Fertility Foundation, which provides financial, emotional and educational resources for people struggling with infertility. While going through her own struggle with infertility, she often wanted to be included and invited to celebrate the milestones of her friends with babies. “I also wanted them to understand that, at various points throughout the journey, it was OK to opt out.”

When it comes to participating in family gatherings and religious occasions, Levertov advised offering people a choice whether to come. “This is so different for everybody,” she said. “Finding a balance and sharing your joys while your friend is struggling may seem difficult. However, with the right sensitivities, the conversation can go such a long way.”

People should reflect on their intentions before broaching the subject with a loved one who might be struggling, said Rabbi Idit Solomon, founder of Californiabased Hasidah, which builds awareness, connects people to support resources and provides financial assistance for IVF.

“Am I prepared to listen and support them? Because that’s the only reason to ask. It’s the only reason to be involved,” she said. Listening without judgment or giving advice is one way to be supportive. Offering to help someone research options is another. “Most importantly, you can remind them that they’re not alone, that you love them, and you’ll be there,” Solomon said.

than what your friend actually thinks is comforting and supportive,” Klaristenfeld said. One of the kindest things people can do for their loved ones is to remember and acknowledge anniversaries of due dates. Remembering is a way to honor the child and proclaim that life was important, she said.

While people may be reticent to share birth announcements or baby news with family and friends dealing with loss, many participants warned against excluding them.

“You would be surprised with how many people actually want to help you, but honestly just don’t know how,” said Elana Frank, CEO and founder

Elana Storch, a board member of Fruitful, watched the summit with her husband from their home in Phoenix. She had a late-term miscarriage in 1991. “We had each other and a book,” she said. Seeing the amount of resources available today, especially within the Jewish community, moved her and her husband to tears.

Levertov said the summit’s national reach felt like the stigma around infertility is finally being broken. “Hopefully, we can all come out with a better understanding and be more sensitive and know how to support those navigating infertility,” she said.

Baron said she plans to have the 12 organizations gather again on an annual basis. JN

To watch a recording of the summit, visit youtube. com/watch?v=jIYbdAyqNqk&amp%3Bfeature= youtu.be

Aimee Baron speaks during the virtual Jewish fertility support summit on Monday, Feb. 22, 2021. SCREENSHOT

"WE ARE FINALLY TALKING ABOUT SOMETHING THAT HAS BEEN JUST SWEPT UNDER THE COVERS AND SHROUDED IN SECRECY, SHAME AND STIGMA."

Phoenix activist values her work with Syrian refugees

JENNIFER BAUM

When Stacy Augustine met a man who had lost both legs during Syria’s civil war, she knew she could help. Using a friend’s truck and ramp, she delivered her deceased father’s scooter to the man, giving him back his dignity and independence. “He dreamed of getting to the mosque on his own,” she said. “Now, he was actually able to do that.”

Augustine began volunteering with Refugee Connection Phoenix and Let’s Read, Neighbor in spring 2017. Together these informal, volunteer ad hoc groups have approximately 1,200 members on Facebook. One of RCP’s functions is to match things with people who need them. Someone might say, “I have a dining set,” and a member will respond, “I have a family of seven who needs it.” Most matches are more prosaic than Augustine’s example.

The number of refugees resettled in Phoenix changes annually. In 2008, the city hosted 3,392, while in 2018, the number was 1,054. Arizona has generally been a welcoming place for refugees. Most famously, Phoenix was the location of the Arizona Lost Boys Center, which found homes for many young boys displaced by the civil war in Sudan.

Three years ago, all immigration from Syria was halted, including for refugees who’d had multiple background checks, were already cleared for placement and were coming for medical treatment.

“This was not a matter of safety, but of playing to prejudices,” Augustine said. With a recent shift in immigration policy, Augustine expects to be assisting new Syrian refugees in Phoenix soon.

And being Jewish plays a role in her work. “The refugee story is our story, which helps most Jews relate to the plight of others forced from their homes,” Augustine said. Every Passover, her family imagines themselves required to flee. “You have one hour

before you leave forever. What three things would you take?” they will soon be asking one another with the holiday fast approaching.

Judaism encourages involvement with the world’s problems and directs Jews to help refugees, she said. From the ethical teachings of Pirkei Avot to the Torah’s commandments to love and welcome the stranger, she feels morally obligated to help immigrants.

“I love that justice and charity are combined in the single Hebrew word tzedakah,” she said.

In 2017, Let’s Read, Neighbor connected Augustine with a Syrian family with five boys who had arrived before the ban on Syrian refugees was realized. She and Hanan, the wife and mother, had Turkish coffee and cookies while Hanan communicated she was trapped at home and needed to learn English.

When they first met, Hanan’s husband was working a minimum-wage job that he held for three years before being laid off due to COVID-19. In some countries, refugees begin working only after they’ve had ample opportunity to learn the local language. “Our system handicaps them, trapping them in menial jobs,” Augustine said.

Hanan was delightful, eager to learn English, make American friends and understand American culture, said Augustine. All this despite the trauma and pain she experienced fleeing to Turkey from Aleppo after her apartment and business were bombed.

Hanan had terrible tooth decay, and the state doesn’t provide dental care for adults. Neither do minimum wage jobs. Through RCP, Augustine connected a dental hygiene student in need of volunteer hours with Hanan. In addition, Augustine completed paperwork for benefits, apartments, school enrollment, green cards,

insurance and myriad other situations.

Since the pandemic began, Augustine has seen less of the family, but there were periods when she visited five days a week. “The children call me grandma,” she said. She believes the most important thing people can offer is sincere welcome and friendship.

“It’s human beings who inflicted harm, and it’s human beings who can give back,” she said.

The family knows Augustine is Jewish but have no real understanding of what that means. They’re observant Muslims and know little about other religions, except for a vague idea of what Christianity is and who Jesus was, according to Augustine.

“Hanan declared, ‘I love all people.’ Despite everything her family has been through, this remains true,” said Augustine.

Within her various volunteer groups, Augustine has witnessed anti-Catholic bigotry, anti-Muslim bigotry and anti-Mormon bigotry, and said her work has revealed some of her own false assumptions. “I’ve experienced anti-Semitic micro-aggressions, but not from refugees,” Augustine said. “It’s always misguided and misinformed.” She’s aware that the families she’s involved with will eventually be exposed

to anti-Semitic tropes and ideas, and is hopeful that knowing her will forestall prejudices.

Augustine is an admirer of Rabbi Shmuly Yanklowitz and Arizona Jews for Justice’s work with asylees. She would like to see the rest of Greater Phoenix’s Jewish community get involved, especially since more refugees will likely start arriving in the fall.

Regardless, she will continue her own work. “Helping refugees has been one of the great honors of my life,” she said. JN

You should know ... Laura Bercovich

SHANNON LEVITT | MANAGING EDITOR

Laura Bercovich was interning for Martin Pear Jewish Community Center in Scottsdale, when she realized what she wanted to do with her life. While writing press releases and doing other public relations work, she was asked to design a flyer for an event. It turned out to be the “most fun” part of the job, she said. “This is really what I want to do.”

The first step in realizing her dream was graduate school in San Francisco. That led to a job with Lucasfilm designing “Star Wars” patterns for lunchboxes and T-shirts — a cool job that didn’t pay much. Next was Old Navy where she worked on designs for clothing stickers, gift cards and social media.

But it was while at Minted, an online market for a community of independent artists, that she decided to start Modern Mitzvah, an online Judaica store. She designs and sells a plethora of items like certificates for b’nai mitzvah, certificates for baby namings and greeting cards — her biggest sellers. Her cards’ whimsical Jewish greetings, such as “You had me at Shalom” and “Challah if you knead me,” stand out to people searching for something fun yet specific.

The idea for the business came to her when she was expecting a baby and attending the Bureau of Jewish Education’s Jewish Baby University. Someone mentioned making a baby ketubah. When she learned it was a babynaming certificate she knew she could design her own. Classmates sought out her help with their versions, and soon a business idea was born.

Bercovich talked to Jewish News about designing for a Jewish audience, her conversion to Judaism and how her art came full circle.

How did Jewish Baby University inspire a business?

In one class someone mentioned a baby ketubah , which is essentially a babynaming certificate. At the bris you can have your friends and family leave their fingerprints on a design that the parents and rabbi signs. Then you frame it and have it as a keepsake and piece of art in your home. I had never heard of this before, but I really wanted one. And I decided to make my own. My friends in the class started asking if I would make them one too.

While I was on maternity leave, I thought maybe I’ll just open a little Etsy shop and throw these up online and see if anybody wants them. And then, to my surprise, people started buying them. So it was really just this little side shop that I didn’t devote too much time to. But once I lost my job last April I thought,

silly greetings on the cards, and people are kind of delighted by how playful and how different my products are.

Also, some of them are really meaningful pieces for special celebrations like a bar mitzvah. It’s special with that religious aspect to it. Sometimes these designs really mean a lot to their customers and it’s very sentimental.

It’s really nice to be a part of that back and forth with the customer to customize it to whatever their event is. I’ve even had someone reach out after they lost a baby, and they wanted to make the baby certificate to commemorate the child that they lost.

Do you have to put time into researching Judaism for your design ideas?

I’ve always found religion really interesting. I minored in religious studies because I like reading about it. And I have taken a good amount of Jewish classes because I am a convert.

My stepdad is Jewish, and my mom is not. But my mom’s not religious, and it was as if I grew up in a Jewish household. Judaism was the main religion that was part of my life growing up. Ever since I

Jewish. And I did convert, right before I got married.

Do you think you’ll branch out to other areas or stay more focused on Jewish designs?

I have so many different business ideas, and I’m still trying to figure out what I want to do and where I want to invest my time. I am an artist for Minted, one of those independent artists, and I just started licensing some of my designs to Postable.com. I’ve been looking into other places to license my artwork too. But I don’t see myself having the bandwidth to open a whole other website with cards and artwork in addition to Modern Mitzvah.

I’m really inspired by Jewish art because there are these really elaborate intricate designs, and a lot of them come from Israel where maybe there’s a 75-yearold guy and he’s hand-cutting these incredible designs or something. There is all this beautiful work out there, and a lot of times I see designs in the world and I think about how I would change it or try to make it better, how I might modernize it. A lot of times I see Jewish

make it my style.

I’ve always wanted to see my designs in some of the bigger retail stores. But in the past couple years. I’m really starting to see the value in smaller businesses. Supporting these smaller local businesses is great for the economy and your local neighborhood. I don’t know that the big retail idea is really my ambition anymore. Right now my focus is to produce new artwork and create things for all the Jewish holidays. I’m working on some stuff for Passover. My focus right now is just kind of serving the audience and growing that audience.

Do you ever think back to that internship at the JCC?

I never would have known that all this would come full circle. I realized that I wanted to do graphic design at the Jewish Community Center here in Scottsdale. Now that I’m doing graphic design for Jewish products, it’s kind of crazy. That’s really where I got my start and now I have come back to the Jewish community and have my daughter at The J — it’s just crazy. It’s like I’m right back where I started. JN

After Coyotes, Ahron Cohen looks to the future of fitness

NICOLE RAZ | STAFF WRITER

It took Ahron Cohen a few months to figure out his next move after leaving the Arizona Coyotes as its president and CEO last May. All he knew was that he “wanted to do interesting things with interesting people,” he said.

Becoming a venture partner at ADvantage Sports Tech Fund, a fund focused on growing sports-focused technology companies, fit the bill.

ADvantage is a joint venture between OurCrowd, billed as Israel’s most active venture investor, and LeAD, a startup accelerator initiated by the grandchildren of Adidas’ founder Adi Dassler.

As a partner, Cohen hopes “to provide meaningful operational support to a growing portfolio of highly innovative technology companies, side-by-side with some of the industry’s leading investors,” he said, via email.

Cohen also plans to take what he learned from running a professional hockey team and use it to help shape the future of sports and fitness. The 2018 repeal of the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act, which allowed states to legalize sports betting, combined with the pandemic’s devastating impact

on sporting events, has created an opportune environment for innovation in the industry, he said.

Cohen sees “new ways to connect with fans beyond the standard viewing experience.” Instead of sports fans just watching a game on TV, he imagines different channels offering fans different viewing experiences. In-game sports betting or the ability to view play from different camera angles, such as from the perspective of the referee, are innovative options.

“Fans always want to see a peek behind that curtain,” he said. “They want to feel like they’re in the locker room, on the sidelines or in the huddle with their favorite team. And through social media, and through new technology, and through enhanced camera angles and 4K television, I think we’re further giving fans that opportunity to feel like they’re fully integrated into that team.”

In terms of fitness investments, Cohen said he’s searching for the next at-home fitness company. Peloton, best known for its stationary bikes that cost between $1,895 and $2,345, is his model. The company announced its second quarter

results in February, boasting a sales growth of 128% and 1.67 million subscribers to its streaming fitness classes.

After the last year, Cohen said the pandemic has opened up some new paths in the fitness world.

“I can’t even begin to list all of the negatives associated with this horrible pandemic. But, you know, I tend to be a glass halffull type of person,” Cohen said. He likes that the pandemic has pushed forward technological trends, making people re-imagine what they thought they knew about sports and fitness.

Jeremy Pressman, founding partner of ADvantage, said Cohen’s perspective from being a team operator adds value to the fund. While with the Coyotes, Cohen helped make record increases in TV ratings, merchandise, ticket sales and corporate sponsorships for the franchise. Pressman thinks he can bring that same skill to ADvantage.

“Adding a seasoned operator of Ahron’s caliber to the team is highly complementary to both us and our

portfolio companies that do business with many of the largest leagues and media operators across the world,” he said, via email.

Cohen, winner of the 2019 ADL Arizona’s Torch of Liberty Award, was also drawn to the fund’s ties to Israel. He is also keeping his eye out for local startups.

“It’d be wonderful if there was an opportunity to invest in a company right here in Phoenix and play a role in helping this community grow,” he said. JN

A step toward religious freedom in Israel

Last week, Israel’s Supreme Court ruled 8-1 that non-Orthodox conversions must be recognized for purposes of citizenship under Israel’s Law of Return. The decision was a welcome step toward making the Jewish state a land of religious freedom for Jews.

Unfortunately, the realities of Israeli politics could lead to the ruling being overturned by the Knesset. The court decision — which came as a surprise to most — related to cases that had been on hold for 15 years, as the court waited for the government to address the issue through legislation. Finally recognizing the futility of waiting, the court ruled.

The International Criminal Court

Nonetheless, according to Feldman, the ruling was a signal “that the country’s legal elites are tired of deferring to the de facto Orthodox monopoly over defining Judaism in Israel,” and a forceful nod by the justices “in support of intra-Jewish egalitarianism.”

The ruling was largely celebrated in the Diaspora, where the issue of religious pluralism is a big deal. In Israel, however, the issue has less currency. So it was primarily the religious and political leaders in the country’s haredi community that reacted most strongly — and their criticism was stinging.

No one favors genocide, war crimes, crimes against humanity or wanton aggression. Despite that near universal revulsion, few want the International Criminal Court to investigate citizens of their country for these unspeakable acts. That’s why the United States and Israel are among the states that don’t belong to the ICC.

in, participate as a state in, or delegate jurisdiction to the ICC.”

But even though the ruling is significant for Law of Return purposes, it did nothing to loosen the haredi Rabbinate’s stranglehold on personal status issues in the Jewish state.

Israel’s Law of Return, which confers a fast track to citizenship, defines a Jew as “one who was born to a Jewish mother or converted, while not being a member of another religion.” The court held that conversion in Israel under Reform or Conservative auspices met that test. As noted by Harvard law professor Noah Feldman in Bloomberg Opinion, “The question before the court was not whether Conservative or Reform conversions were religiously valid, but whether they counted socioculturally as ‘Jewish.’” The court concluded that for those purposes, non-Orthodox conversions counted.

Greater Phoenix needs true Jewish community high school

The Jewish Community of Greater Phoenix is the only large city that does not have a full service Jewish community high school. Last week’s Jewish News featured a story about a new high school called Shalhevet Scottsdale in “Jewish high school plans to open in 2021.” I

Chief Ashkenazi Rabbi David Lau said those who undergo Reform or Conservative conversions “are not Jews.” And according to Chief Sephardic Rabbi Yitzak Yosef: “What the Reform and Conservatives call ‘conversion’ is nothing but a forgery of Judaism.” Interior Minister Aryeh Deri, of the haredi Shas party, pledged to overturn the decision through legislation, since it constitutes “a mortal blow to the Jewish character of the state” and the “complete demolition of the status quo [on religious affairs in Israel] that has been upheld for over 70 years.”

The “status quo” to which Deri referred dates back to a time when Israel’s character, population and politics were much different than they are today. Much has changed since 1948. Non-Orthodox streams of Judaism account for the vast majority of the world’s Jewish population, and their influence is growing in the majority secular Jewish state. That is an issue Israel will have to address as it works to sustain its foundational commitment to being both Jewish and democratic.

In the meantime, a move toward religious freedom and religious tolerance is a good thing. Last week’s Supreme Court ruling is a step in the right direction. It is something to be celebrated. JN

The Palestinians, however, who are recognized by the ICC as the State of Palestine, are members. And it was a request from the State of Palestine that spurred ICC prosecutor Fatou Bensouda to announce last week that after a five-year examination, the ICC determined it has

Israel needs to decide how it will respond to an international investigation it doesn’t recognize. It could cooperate to a limited extent; it could serve notice that it intends to conduct its own investigation so that there’s no need for the ICC to intervene; or it could simply ignore the investigation. Although Israel’s Justice Ministry has said it is prepared to fully defend any citizen liable to be investigated, no formal decision on approach has been made.

And that makes sense, since things might change in a few months when Bensouda completes her term and will be succeeded by British jurist Karim Khan, who may reconsider the wisdom of the undertaking.

attended a Parlor meeting for the school and learned that it is an extension of a Modern Orthodox school located in Los Angeles. Students here would learn online and be required to go to Los Angeles at least eight times a year. With due respect to the organizers of this school, it does not fulfill the needs of our community. It’s doubtful a non-Orthodox or secular

jurisdiction to investigate “the situation in Palestine, and that the territorial scope of this jurisdiction extends to Gaza and the West Bank, including East Jerusalem.”

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu immediately denounced the decision as “anti-Semitism.” U.S. Secretary of State Tony Blinken’s response was more analytical. He said: “The United States firmly opposes and is deeply disappointed by this decision. The ICC has no jurisdiction over this matter. Israel is not a party to the ICC and has not consented to the Court’s jurisdiction, and we have serious concerns about the ICC’s attempts to exercise its jurisdiction over Israeli personnel.” Blinken also observed: “The Palestinians do not qualify as a sovereign state and therefore, are not qualified to obtain membership as a state

As for the announced investigation, it will focus on Israel and Hamas, which fought a 50-day war in 2014. The start date of the investigation is June 13, 2014 — the date specified by the State of Palestine. That’s significant, since the day before the start date Hamas terrorists kidnapped and murdered three Israeli teenagers in the Gush Etzion area of the West Bank. It would seem that anyone wishing to conduct a meaningful investigation into the “situation in Palestine” should certainly want to include that cold-blooded and heartwrenching incident.

In the end, the actions of the International Criminal Court are not likely to make much difference. But the distraction of the exercise is another reminder that Israel’s ongoing, unresolved issues with its Palestinian population have consequences. For those of us who have long held Israel in esteem, it is heartbreaking to see the Jewish state accused like some petty dictatorship or warlord in an international criminal court. JN

Jewish student would attend this school.

JN also reported last fall on a proposed coed community high school called The Oasis School, which will be open to all students, regardless of observance. It will attract students from schools such as Pardes Jewish Day School and the Phoenix Hebrew Academy.

I understand supporters of both of these

schools were negotiating to form one school here in Scottsdale. Unfortunately, that didn’t happen. I would implore those involved to come together to create one viable school here for all students. We need it, and we must unite for the benefit of our children.

Alan C. Jablin, Scottsdale

are a diverse community. The views expressed in the signed opinion columns and letters to the editor published in the Jewish News are those of the authors. They do not necessarily reflect the views of the officers and boards of the Jewish Community Foundation, Mid-Atlantic Media or the staff of the Jewish News. Letters must respond to content published by the Jewish News and should be a maximum of 200 words. They may be edited for space and clarity. Unsigned letters will not be published. Letters and op-ed submissions should be sent to editor@jewishaz.com.

THE RULING WAS LARGELY CELEBRATED IN THE DIASPORA, WHERE THE ISSUE OF RELIGIOUS PLURALISM IS A BIG DEAL.

ISRAEL NEEDS TO DECIDE HOW IT WILL RESPOND TO AN INTERNATIONAL INVESTIGATION IT DOESN'T RECOGNIZE.

In my ark …

JODIE GOLDBERG

any of us have read the story of Noah and the Flood. In Genesis Chapter 8, we read that there was a flood, Noah built an ark, Noah took the animals two by two alongside his family into the ark and then there was a flood that decimated the city. While this series of events unfolds, seldom do we pay close attention to how the story ends.

We make the assumption that Noah was looking for land to get off the ark, but is that assumption correct? At the end of the story, we read in Genesis 8:15 that God tells Noah to “Come out of the ark, together with your wife, your sons and your sons’ wives.” Why does God have to tell Noah to get out of the ark? Why doesn’t he just leave? You would think after 40 days and 40 nights with the same people, food, nightly rituals, that for Noah, it would have been enough. When this pandemic is all said and done, are we going to willingly “get off the ark” and re-enter the world that we once knew? In the past year, our lives were upended, and for many, this has

Mnot subsided. We are confined to our “arks,” restricted from many activities we enjoyed. Many people have and still are suffering immense pain and loss. This experience has changed us.

In my ark, I have learned that I no longer view settings in which human interactions occur in a binary manner, in which in-person experiences are “good” and online experiences are “bad.” Rather, I think about which platforms provide us “opportunities” and which ones offer “challenges.”

In my ark, I have learned to adopt a family-centered approach — no longer prioritizing lavish parties or Broadway shows. I put my family’s health and needs first. In my ark, I have found time to think not just about what show to watch next, but to ponder life’s big questions: Who am I? How can I make a difference in this world? In my ark, I have given familiar words a new meaning. I define “traveling” as a walk to the bakery, “adventure” as talking with an old friend I haven’t spoken to in years, and “community” as a chevruta (Jewish study partner) learning session over Zoom. When it is finally time to leave and re-enter society, will we be ready? At

this moment, it might be easy to say yes; yearning for a hug from a loved one and witnessing a live concert among thousands of other people might be some of the experiences we crave. I wonder if these moments will feel the same once we leave our respective arks. Will the only way to show appreciation for a musical artist be to physically show up for them in a crowded arena? Will we still need a hug from someone to know how much we are loved by them? If the answer is “no” to such questions, then maybe it’s more than our preferences that have changed — it’s our values.

Noah is not ready to disembark even when he sees that the land is dry and plants are growing. These symbols of renewal give us hope for a future that feels bright, and yet, Noah remains tethered to his newfound place of comfort. When we are experiencing our own symbols of renewal that could come in the form of a vaccine or herd immunity (and, some could argue, plain old sunshine), will we be bold enough to enter a changed world? I wonder if the anxiety of leaving will overwhelm us, or the death and destruction we witnessed will discourage us from re-entering society.

This time in the ark has been exhausting, unfamiliar and foreign at times because it has forced us into a deeper relationship with ourselves. Before this experience, I would have been the first person to tell you that I know myself, my quirks, and, most importantly, the qualities I strive to embody. My time in the ark has tested my patience, and at times even my sanity, but has also revealed qualities I now deem essential to the person I want to become.

Instead of eyeing perfection, I strive to be more nimble; instead of silencing emotions, I find time and space to acknowledge and explore them. I am learning to deploy empathy, center gratitude and institute rest as part of my daily routine. These qualities we have learned are the same ones that we will need to walk off the ark.

As we look towards the future, may we not wait for God to call us outside, but find the strength to leave on our own with courage, dignity and renewed spirit. JN

Religious pluralism won’t be achieved in the courts

JONATHAN S. TOBIN

eactions to this week’s Israeli Supreme Court ruling about recognizing the validity of conversions to Judaism by nonOrthodox denominations are all out of proportion to its actual significance in terms of the number of those affected by the decision. Representatives of both Reform and Conservative Judaism, as well as other liberal groups, hail it as a breakthrough towards greater respect for Jewish religious pluralism in the Jewish state. Meanwhile, the ultra-Orthodox political parties in Israel are denouncing it as a “mortal blow to the Jewish character of the state.”

The truth is that the substance of the ruling doesn’t represent much progress towards genuine religious pluralism any more than it represents much of a threat to the institutional power of the Orthodox rabbinate, let alone to Judaism. The decision was extremely narrow in its scope, being strictly limited to the question of whether those who convert

Rto Judaism via Reform and Conservative rabbis inside of Israel can be considered Jewish and eligible for Israeli citizenship under the country’s “Law of Return.” That means Israel’s Interior Ministry will recognize such persons as Jewish for the purpose of citizenship. But that will affect the lives of only a few dozen people a

on lifecycle events. So for the purposes of getting married, these converts will still be considered non-Jewish. And the rabbis who supervised the conversions will still not be formally recognized by the state as having any authority over religious questions. And when you consider that for the purpose of citizenship, Reform

of Jewish religious pluralism, including the ongoing debate about the Western Wall or the status of Reform and Conservative rabbis?

The answer has more to do with Israeli politics and the ongoing battle over how much power the Supreme Court should have relative to that of the Knesset than it does about pluralism.

year since the non-Orthodox movements continue to have relatively few adherents inside Israel, and the number of those who seek conversion under their auspices is smaller still.

Unaffected by the ruling is the haredicontrolled state rabbinate’s stranglehold

and Conservative conversions conducted abroad were already recognized, the change is even less earth-shattering than it seems.

So why the fuss over something that changes very little and resolves none of the ongoing sore points about Israel’s lack

If the haredim and their political parties were up in arms over the ruling, it was not because it took away any of the vast power that they retain over the lives of Israeli citizens — the vast majority of whom, whether religious or not, deeply resent the rabbinate. But coming only weeks before another Israeli election, the court’s decision to act after sitting on the petitions for years was a shot fired over the bow of the Knesset. The legislature has proven unable or unwilling to pass legislation that might resolve or clarify any of the complex issues that the courts are asked to rule on with respect to the limits of rabbinical power and Jewish identity in a country where that means so much.

Jodie Goldberg is a teen-engagement consultant at The Jewish Education Project. This article first appeared on JNS.org.

THE TRUTH IS THAT THE SUBSTANCE OF THE RULING DOESN'T REPRESENT MUCH PROGRESS TOWARDS GENUINE RELIGIOUS PLURALISM ANY MORE THAN IT REPRESENTS MUCH OF A THREAT TO THE INSTITUTIONAL POWER OF THE ORTHODOX RABBINATE, LET ALONE TO JUDAISM.

To the ones ‘endowed with divine spirit’

ollowing the catastrophic events of Ki Tisa, last week’s parshah, we begin this week with the final construction of the portable Mishkan in the wilderness.

And Moses said to the Israelites: See, Adonai has singled out by name Bezalel, son of Uri son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah. God has endowed him with a divine spirit of skill, ability and knowledge in every kind of craft. (Exodus 35:30-31)

The commentators were interested in the descriptors given to Bezalel. What does the Torah mean when it teaches us that he was endowed with “skill, ability and knowledge?”

Our tradition’s great commentator Rashi (1040-1105) explains that “skill” is the trait of an individual who learns from others, “ability” comes as the product of one’s own insight and experience and “knowledge” is the manifestation of divine inspiration.

TOBIN

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It’s also a reminder that in the absence of a written constitution that would define a clear separation of powers between the legislative and judicial branches of government, the high court still thinks there are few limits on its power. In practice, that has meant that it has reserved the right to dive into a wide range of issues and make rulings that either override the will of the voters or to essentially make the laws themselves, rather than merely interpreting or enforcing them.

Though Israel’s leaders like Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu sometimes pay lip service to the way the lack of religious pluralism inside Israel alienates most American Jews, they have little incentive to do anything about it.

The disrespect shown by the rabbinate and by the two haredi political parties — the Ashkenazi-run United Torah Judaism and the Mizrahi Jews’ Shas — towards the denominations that are supported by most American Jews is disgraceful. But the Reform and Conservative movements lack the political muscle to compete with the Orthodox. And in a country where rabbis are paid by the state, the question of “who is a rabbi” — and not just “who is a Jew” — will remain

FFrom Rashi’s commentary we learn that Bezalel was truly gifted: a “triple threat” of talent, creativity and experience. It would likely be impossible today to find one person who could list all three of these “skill sets,” on a resume. Yet, for anyone who has participated in any construction project, whether it be for a sacred space or not, we seek individuals who have the skills, abilities and knowledge to create places and spaces which reflect our own ideas and vision.

Thus, I would posit it was Bezalel’s skill, ability and knowledge that enabled our ancestors to find salvation from the sin of the Golden Calf and experience the Divine Presence. Like our own synagogues today, the paradigmatic Mishkan represented a renewed partnership between the Israelites and God. Under the direction of Bezalel (and Oholiav) and with the “free will” offerings of every Israelite, the Mishkan itself was both necessary and sufficient in enabling God to “dwell” with them.

Among the many difficult lessons of these turbulent times, we have learned that our leaders, both elected and otherwise, play a critical role in shaping the spiritual and mental psyche of a

community. At a time where we face our own catastrophic events, as we witness the suffering of others both up close and from afar, and at a time when social distancing has become social isolation for so many, we crave the leadership and direction of individuals who have the skills, ability and knowledge to carry us to the “other side.”

In the absence of such leaders, we have learned how effortlessly and quickly we fall into the spiritual abyss of both time and space; a dark place where the influences of evil, fear mongering and conspiracy theories prevail. The question remains now as it did then, who can save us?

Given the chronology of this portion and the juxtaposition of this week’s narrative to last week’s, we may arrive at an important insight. Namely, miracles and the theophany at Mt. Sinai were not sufficient in truly delivering our ancestors from slavery to freedom. From this we may learn that human beings do not necessarily need divine intervention to survive times of suffering. Rather, we need each other as exemplars to create spaces and places of connection with the Divine.

In truth, like our ancestors in the

SHABBAT CANDLE LIGHTING

MAR. 12 - 6:16 P.M.

MAR. 19 - 6:21 P.M.

SHABBAT ENDS

MAR. 13 - 7:12 P.M.

MAR. 20 - 7:17 P.M.

wilderness, the harsh lesson of the tragedy of the Golden Calf was (and is) that we need each other. We need each other’s skills, abilities and knowledge to create a community — not in the abstract — of value, reason and meaning. We need each other to be reminded that the salvific force of goodness, mercy and “walking humbly with God” is within each one of us.

We need each other as reminders of God’s everlasting presence; that within us is both the individual and collective creativity, wisdom and skill to build spaces and places where God is indeed dwelling among us. JN

a function of politics.

Since Netanyahu continues to count on the support of the haredi parties, as well as the nationalist Modern Orthodox parties, he won’t be sticking his neck out on behalf of the non-Orthodox. The only way there will be any progress towards pluralism will be if the next government can be formed without the participation of UTJ and Shas.

Even if that happens, the point most Diaspora Jews who care about this issue often fail to realize is that while most Israelis would be happy to be rid of the rabbinate, support for treating Reform and Conservative Judaism as equals is not a priority. While both movements have much to offer Israelis, Orthodoxy still is regarded as having a legitimacy the liberal movements lack, despite the fact that this infuriates many American Jews.

While Americans may regard the state recognition of Orthodox Judaism as inherently wrong, the notion of a wall of separation between Judaism and the state is one that is bound up with other issues of much greater importance to Israelis than what most of them regard as the minor issue of pluralism.

In a country that self-consciously defines itself as a “Jewish state,” pluralism is mixed up with controversies about what exactly that means. Israelis struggle to balance the need to ensure equal treatment for all citizens with the imperative to also protect the Jewish nature of the state. And that is where the Supreme Court and its periodic interventions on behalf of pluralism come in.

The reason why a majority of the Knesset voted in 2018 to pass a basic or constitutional law that explicitly stated that Israel is the “nation-state of the Jewish people” is that an activist Supreme Court often intervened on issues far afield from its legal responsibilities that tipped the balance between democracy and Jewish identity in ways that undermined the latter. Acting in a manner that demonstrated the judges’ belief in their untrammeled and unaccountable power, the Supreme Court has generated a powerful backlash from right-wing parties that not unreasonably believe the judiciary has wrongly undermined the power of the Knesset, as well as the whole point of Zionism.

In the name of protecting democracy, as some on the left put it, the court has

actually undermined democratic rule. Thus, even if you think the court is right to act where it can to boost pluralism, it’s also possible to decry the lawless nature of those interventions. It’s also possible to support pluralism while being concerned about the influence of those who are critical of all expressions of Jewish identity enshrined in Israeli law, such as those relating to the anthem, holidays and the historic rights of Jews to the land.

If true religious pluralism for the different streams of Judaism is to come to Israel — and that is a cause both just and necessary to promote unity between Israel and the Diaspora — it cannot be imposed solely by the courts or by the pleas of Diaspora communities. In order for that day to come, it must, instead, be a product of the democratic will of the Israeli people. It is Israel’s voters who must, by one means or another, eventually strip the haredi rabbis of their power while still retaining Judaism’s special place in the laws of a nation that must and will remain a Jewish state. JN

Rabbi Stephen Kahn is the senior rabbi at Congregation Beth Israel.

Find area congregations at jewishaz.com, where you can also find our 2021 Community Directory.

Jonathan S. Tobin is editor-in-chief of JNS, where this article first appeared.

PARSHAH VAYAKHEL-PEKUDEI EXODUS 35:1-40:38

RABBI STEPHEN KAHN

BJE and JFCS among those offering Passover support

ABBIE S. FINK

The Jewish holidays are ripe with tradition and Passover is no different. Families have long-standing rituals that have been passed down through generations, evoking memories of seder tables, searching for the afikomen, reciting four questions and a delicious meal.

There are several mitzvot associated with Passover. At the seder there is the retelling of the story of the Exodus, eating matzah and bitter herbs, drinking four cups of wine and reclining.

And thanks to the Bureau of Jewish Education, there is another mitzvah — one that has been a Passover tradition in Greater Phoenix for more than 30 years.

The annual Passover Food Drive is a collaboration between the BJE and community organizations such as Jewish Family & Children’s Service, Ezras Cholim and Jewish Free Loan.

The drive started originally to provide a community service opportunity for Hebrew High students and other youth groups, according to Myra Shindler, BJE’s executive director.

“There has always been a need in the Phoenix area to provide this kind of support to Jewish families during the holidays,” said Shindler. “What started as a volunteer project for students some 30 years ago has evolved into what it is today.”

Kosher-for-Passover food supplies, such as matzah, gefilte fish, wine and grape juice, matzah ball and soup mix, candy, cookies and cake mixes, as well as other items, are provided to any family that requests them. All products must be in a sealed container and designated “kosher for Passover.”

Each year, approximately 220 families receive these Passover basics as well as a grocery gift card and a kosher chicken to complete their seder meal.

As this is the second Passover season to be impacted by COVID-19, organizers this year are expecting upwards of 250 families to request a food package.

Many of the families that receive Passover food supplies are participants in JFCS

programs throughout the year, said Kathy Rood, manager of Jewish Programs at JFCS.

“We are thrilled to work with BJE and others in the Jewish community on this annual Passover tradition,” said Rood. “It is a mitzvah for us to ensure those that need assistance can have a traditional Passover meal, with all the basics covered.”

Seniors have been particularly impacted by COVID-19 since it may be difficult for some to get to the grocery store to purchase their favorite Passover items.

“We’ve made sure the seniors who participate in the JFCS Center for Senior Enrichment programs are aware that they can request a food package,” said Jennifer Brauner, director of Center for Senior Enrichment. “It is another great way to keep our Jewish seniors engaged in the holiday traditions.”

Members of the Jewish community who would like a Passover food package have until March 18 to request it.

Cash contributions will be used to purchase perishable items and grocery store gift cards.

Volunteers create the food packages and arrange for them to be delivered. Lisa Blumstein, JFCS’ volunteer coordinator, says this is a fun way to give back to the community.

“On Sunday, March 21, our volunteers will gather at the Martin Pear Jewish Community Center to sort and prepare all the food packages for delivery,” she said. “We’ll follow all social distancing protocols to ensure a safe volunteer experience.”

“We are so grateful to the community for assisting us with this project. Valley synagogues, youth groups, Jewish day schools as well as local grocery stores all make it possible to continue to do the Passover Food Drive each year,” said Shindler. JN

Abbie S. Fink is vice president/general manager of HMA Public Relations.

To request a package, contact Kathy Rood, at 602-762-7319 or via email at kathy.rood@jfcsaz.org; to donate, visit jfcsaz.org or bjephoenix.formstack; non-perishable items can be dropped off at JFCS at 2017 N. 7th St. in Phoenix from 9 a.m.-4 p.m. weekdays until March 16; if you are interested in volunteering, email Lisa.Blumstein@jfcsaz.org.

Time to start thinking about ways to spice up your Passover snacks

JENNIFER STARRETT

We’re not quite there yet, but in a couple of weeks we’ll be preparing our homes and tables for Passover. It isn’t too early to think of fun and creative ways to give your holiday snacks a boost.

Markets in Israel are filled with the delicious smell of fresh bourekas, and this popular baked pastry can be stuffed with practically anything from potato and cheese to meat and vegetables. While my matzah bourekas might not be quite as flaky as the ones you

MATZAH BOUREKAS

1½-2 pounds of potatoes

8 sheets of matzah

4 eggs, beaten

1 cup of matzo meal

Oil for frying

Salt and pepper to taste

Additional filling options:

1 cup of green olives, chopped

1 cup of mushrooms and 1 shallot, chopped and sautéed in olive oil and cooled

½–1 cup mozzarella cheese and ½ cup of tomato sauce (about 1 tablespoon per boureka)

½–1 cup feta or goat cheese

1 cup of ground beef or turkey, browned with spices of your choosing and cooled

can find in Israel, they are a perfect kosher-for-Passover snack or meal that can be made to anyone’s taste and flavor preference.

And since Passover meals can tend to get a bit boring, I hope this internationally-inspired dish helps break up the monotony of your Passover meal planning. Feel free to get creative with the fillings and flavors, because the matzah outside is a perfect base for any flavor profile. My family and I all have different favorites, so I tend to make

a large batch of the potato base, and then add cheese and veggies. Sometimes I use meat as the filling. Variety makes everyone happy.

These are best when served fresh, like most fried food, but if you want to make them ahead of time, I’ve had success freezing the fried matzah bourekas and reheating them in the oven. It gives you a little flexibility. So take a chance, experiment and get ready to make a few bourekas!

Wash and peel the potatoes and cut into large chunks. Place the potatoes in a large pot and cover with water. Bring to a boil and then lower the temperature to continue cooking.

Cook the potatoes until they can be easily mashed (about 20-30 minutes depending on size). Drain water and place cooked potatoes in a food processor or back into the pot and use an immersion blender or hand masher to mash the potatoes into a smooth and even consistency. Set aside to cool.

While the potatoes are cooking, you can prepare the additional ingredients that you’d like to add to the bourekas. Be sure all ingredients are cool before you add them together.

Once the potatoes and any additional ingredients are prepared, combine them together in a bowl to form your boureka filling.

Take the sheets of matzah and wet each piece with water so they are pliable. I find it easiest to wrap the sheets of matzah in a wet kitchen towel and set aside for a few minutes.

Once the sheets of matzah are wet, cut each sheet in half and place ¼ cup of filling in each half sheet of matzah. Roll the matzah over the filling to contain and set aside until all pieces of matzah are stuffed.

Heat a large pan or skillet with about ½ inch of oil. Take your rolled matzah and dip into the eggs and then into the matzah meal to lightly coat the outside. Place the covered rolled matzah into the hot oil and cook evenly for about 3 to 4 minutes on each side until browned and crispy.

Once crispy, place the fried bourekas on a plate that is lined with a paper towel to cool and drain any access oil.

Enjoy fresh or reheat in the oven before serving. JN

PASSOVER

Jennifer Starrett is an events and marketing consultant. Visit jewphx.com, for more of her recipes and blogs.

PHOTO BY JENNIFER STARRETT

We’ve come a long way since last Passover

LINDA MOREL

While vaccines are becoming more widespread, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention still advise against gathering in crowded spaces, such as dining rooms filled to capacity with family and friends, so we are facing our second Passover on Zoom.

A year ago, most of us didn’t know how to mute or turn on the video feature. We certainly couldn’t display Haggadah commentary for everyone at our virtual table to see.

At my seder, which stretched from Connecticut to California, sadly one set of grandparents couldn’t figure out how to connect. A family of five sat too far from their

HERB-ROASTED CORNISH HENS WITH VEGETABLES | MEAT

Serves 8

computer. While we could see them from a distance, we could hardly hear them. Because my grandchildren were attending school virtually, they navigated us through Zoom.

With all its challenges, last year Zoom made celebrating Passover possible. It also brought together loved ones who live so far away, they’d never attended our seders before.

Now that most of us have become proficient with Zoom, order will return to our seders. Because we’ve adapted to virtual Passover celebrations, I suggest revamping our approach to reflect our modern, tech-savvy state.

Vibrant foods show well on camera. Instead of gefilte fish, why not start with a dazzling ceviche made from red snapper

This bright and lively entrée is the essence of spring.

4 Cornish hens, 1½ pounds each

Olive oil for coating pan, plus 2 tablespoons to drizzle on vegetables, plus 1-2 tablespoons for the Cornish hens

1½ pounds fingerling potatoes, halved lengthwise

10 carrots, peeled and cut into thin carrot sticks

Kosher salt to taste

½ teaspoon each: dried rosemary, thyme and basil

Paprika for dusting

1 medium-sized onion, peeled and cut into 4 chunks

Equipment: roasting pan and rack, preferably nonstick; and poultry shears

Preheat your oven to 375 degrees F. Coat the roasting pan and rack with olive oil.

Rinse the hens under cold water, including inside their cavities. Turn the hens upside down, and let water run out of their cavities into the sink. Drain them on paper towels. Reserve.

Place the potatoes and carrots in a plastic bag. Drizzle in 2 tablespoons of olive oil. Seal the bag and shake until every piece is coated with oil. Scatter the pieces around the edges of the roasting pan. Some pieces may go under the rack. Sprinkle the vegetables with salt.

Place the herbs in a bowl and crush them into small pieces and mix together. Rub a little olive oil on the hens to coat. Arrange the hens on the rack with the underside facing up. Sprinkle the underside with half of the herb mixture and salt. Dust with the paprika. Press the seasonings into the skins of the hens. Turn the hens over and repeat with the remaining herbs, salt and paprika. Sprinkle the onion chunks with salt and place them in the cavities of the hens.

Roast for an hour, or until a meat thermometer inserted in the thickest part of the breast reads 165 degrees F. Serve immediately. The recipe can be made to this point two days ahead.

To eat the meal later, cool it to room temperature and refrigerate. Return it to room temperature 2½ hours before serving. Thirty minutes before serving, preheat your oven to 350 degrees F.

Place the hens and vegetables in separate ovenproof pans. Heat the hens and vegetables for 20 minutes, or until slowly sizzling. Cut the hens in half with poultry shears and serve them on a platter. Discard the onion. Move the vegetables to an attractive bowl. Serve immediately.

filets? Try a baby spinach salad bursting with colorful fruit. Consider bypassing brisket in favor of roasted Cornish hens seasoned with herbs.

Select a Zoom-friendly, make-ahead menu, so hosts don’t disappear from the camera while cooking in the kitchen. Zoom allows you to share visuals of the delicacies you’re serving with family who can’t be there in person. Present food in attractive tableware. For snap, garnish dishes with parsley.

A lifesaver during the COVID crisis, Zoom has expanded our horizons. Yet most of us long for the past. Traditionally, seders end with the refrain, “Next year in Jerusalem.” But let’s add, “Next year gathered in one dining room — just like it used to be.”

CEVICHE | PAREVE

Serves 8

The high acidity in fresh lime juice actually cooks fish during the marinating process.

1½ pounds red snapper filets. Ask the fish store to remove the skin and bones.

8 ounces fresh lime juice, about 4-6 limes

6 tablespoons each, chopped: red onion, yellow pepper and parsley

3 tablespoons. minced ginger

4 garlic cloves, squeezed through a garlic press

12 cherry tomatoes, cut in half

1 avocado, diced

Salt and pepper to taste

Sugar to taste, only if needed

With a sharp knife, slice the red snapper into thin pieces and place them in a glass or ceramic bowl. Add the remaining ingredients — except sugar. Gently toss. Marinate from 30 minutes to two hours, tossing several times. The snapper will become opaque. If the ceviche tastes too tart, add a little sugar and a few drops of water. Serve in small bowls. JN

Linda Morel is the food columnist for Jewish Exponent, a Jewish News-affiliated publication.

ALISAFAROV / ISTOCK / GETTY IMAGES PLUS

SUMMER 2021

CTeen adds new Phoenix chapter

SHANNON LEVITT | MANAGING EDITOR

Isabell Kondkhorov, 16, loved her CTeen chapter in Newton, Massachusetts. She even decided to stay as a member once she had moved across the country to Phoenix. Now a sophomore at Pinnacle High School, Kondkhorov is part of three chapters: Newton, Gilbert and the newly-formed Phoenix chapter she helped to start.

CTeen, the Chabad Teen Network, is a global organization with more than 600 chapters in 37 countries across the world. Its goal is to connect Jewish students and inspire Jewish learning, said Rabbi Tzvi Rimler, director of the Chandler chapter.

The new chapter in Phoenix will fill a big need, he said. There are at least six different public high schools within 10 miles of him, “with a number of Jews in each one and nothing being done in a Jewish sense to make them feel part of the community,” he said.

A Jewish high school serving our diverse greater Phoenix community

APPLICATIONS DUE APRIL 1, 2021 for incoming 9th and 10th grade classes

Rooted in an ideology molded and inspired by world-scholar Rabbi Adin Steinsaltz, o’bm: Let my People Know. Ahavat Israel. Divine Presence in a Place of Happiness. Most Important is Deed.

The chapter's first event on March 18 will feature good food and ice breakers “to help the teens get to know each other and set a great vibe,” he said, via email. All that will be followed by a “grand minuteto-win-it tournament” with a grand raffle and games.

Rimler is now directing both the Chandler and Phoenix chapters, but soon someone new will take over in Chandler. “Hopefully that person will be coming in soon to take over the transition,” he said.

Typically, CTeen looks for cities that can use a chapter “to invigorate the masses,” Rimler said. The organization lets Jewish teens know they can do something “Jewishly” with their lives and for their communities, he said.

Right now, Rimler is getting to know the Phoenix students. He sees a lot of enthusiasm and excitement among them already, and said they're learning what it means to be Jewish. CTeen events also give students from different schools an opportunity to discover just how many Jewish teens live nearby.

“When they come to our events, it’s cool for them to see Jewish kids they wouldn’t know otherwise because they don’t go to the same school,” he said. He worries that a lot of kids don’t even know who the Jewish students are in their own schools.

“CTeen gives these teens a home and gives them support,” he said.

For more information, visit www.nishmatadin.org

Kondkhorov agrees. She initially joined the Newton chapter because her older sister had taken part. But soon she was all in. Now she’s excited to be in on the ground floor of Phoenix’s chapter.

Before COVID, she attended CTeen’s

last international Shabbaton in New York where thousands of teens descend on the city to study, pray and enjoy a few days together. She had three days of fun and came away with many new friendships that she still maintains.

“It’s eye-opening to see how many Jews you can be friends with and are your age and just as curious as you are,” she said.

“It’s such an amazing program,” she said about the Shabbaton. “If you go, you’re going to make so many friends. The people will be part of your family.” She still texts and calls the friends she made from California, France and Israel. “They’re always blowing up my phone!”

The trip also afforded her the chance to get to know kids in Gilbert because she ended up on the same flight home with them. That cross-country flight got her involved with Gilbert’s chapter.

For Kondkhorov, CTeen is both something social and an opportunity to learn about Judaism. She likes texting “Shabbat Shalom” to friends she’s met as well as praying with other Jewish teens and lighting candles. Even with COVID restrictions, she said the programming is worthwhile.

“They’re awesome and on top of their stuff on Zoom,” she said. “Kids in group chats are always active.”

Rimler said the new chapter’s goal is to be totally up and running by the time kids are back from spring break. The first event falls on Kondkhorov’s birthday, and she will likely share the idea of a food club with cake. “Everyone loves food,” Rimler said. Sharing food, both preparing and eating it, is an easy way for teens to get comfortable with one another.

And that’s CTeen's primary goal: getting kids to know one another. After that, Rimler and other leaders will encourage teens to come to more programs and meet kids in different schools in order to deepen their connections to Judaism and the community.

Kondkhorov is ready. She’s already telling every Jewish teen she meets to come and join the fun. JN

Arizona’s

residential Jewish summer camp!

congregation bethisrael’s

Isabell Kondkhorov and friends at CTeen’s Shabbaton in New York, March 2020 PHOTO COURTESY OF ISABELL KONDKHOROV

Jewish sleepaway camps must build bunks to facilitate social distancing

HELEN CHERNIKOFF

With about three months to go until summer, most Jewish overnight camps are planning to open for the season. They also, however, cherished hopes well into the pandemic that they would be able to do the same last year.

Grand reopening: This year will be different, said Jeremy Fingerman, CEO of the Foundation for Jewish Camp, which helps non-profit camps with training and operations support. Here’s how, he explained: Though lockdowns began in mid-March of last year, many camps had only weeks to make a decision on whether or not to welcome campers that summer. Some camps, like Camp Modin in Maine, actually did open. Others opened and were forced to close. The Jewish camping community is learning from last year’s examples about what to do — and what to avoid.

Natural bubble: This year, camps can anticipate safety concerns in advance, and exploit the inherent advantages that come with running programs that largely take place outdoors. In some ways, camps are very safe places to be in a pandemic, Fingerman said. Much of camp happens outside, or in massive, airy tents. It will be easy for camps to imitate the NBA, turning themselves into a kind of

isolation zone that protects everyone inside from the virus. “There’s good confidence that camp will happen,” Fingerman said. “We don’t know at what cost.”

Headcount: The camps have less clarity on their numbers now than they usually do at this point in the year. While the regulations governing camps will vary state-by-state, Fingerman and his colleagues anticipate mandated “capacity reductions” — similar to those at restaurants and gyms. The pandemic economy has also made it harder for many families to afford camp, which can cost up to $10,000 for a full summer — a luxury for many even in a normal year. As a result, camps might have far fewer kids than usual.

Pent-Up Demand: On the other hand, Fingerman noted, the demand may increase. Children who didn’t get to attend camp last summer will be all the more eager to go this time. The added allure of a summer spent in nature may also be attractive to families whose children have never been to camp but who have been stuck indoors for over a year. “If there ever was a time for camp, it’s now. Kids need it. Parents need it,” Fingerman said. Adding to the number of domestic campers are the American kids who usually go to Canadian camps, but who will stay in the U.S. if Canada continues its closed-border policy.

Structural changes: Camps will have

to adjust to fit the current environment. Capacity restrictions will necessitate more bunks and replacements for other crowded indoor spaces, like art centers. On top of that, the camps will need quarantine units in case of infection. Creating that extra space will also help solve one of last summer’s major concerns: the possibility that camp outbreaks could overwhelm small, rural hospital systems.

The bigger tent: Teams of health experts, architects and contractors are already exploring individual camps and poring over maps, figuring out how to make space for lots of extra beds, Fingerman said. FJC is trying to amplify those efforts by asking the camps to share their ideas — the deadline is Friday. The umbrella group will then offer funds to help implement and share the most useful suggestions at camps around the country. To support its efforts, FJC received funding from the Jewish Community Response and Impact Fund, the $91 million pool of grants and loans created by foundations and federations in response to the pandemic. Early possibilities include renting property from neighbors, tent

villages for older campers and yurts. “A yurt is not all that expensive,” Fingerman said. Lots of PPE: Most camp construction is no-frills and relatively cheap. In addition, FJC, along with the Jewish Federations of North America, will try to help camps coordinate discounts for bulk orders of supplies, including tents, masks and other personal protective equipment. If camps can actually grow their capacity, Fingerman explained, they can grow their profit margin on each camper, and start the process of healing financially. “In normal times, camps are a good business,” Fingerman added. “But they reinvest in themselves.” JN

Helen Chernikoff is The Daily Phil’s reporter. She has worked in Jewish media for a decade, and came to eJP from the Forward, where she was an award-winning senior news editor. This article first appeared in ejewishphilanthropy.com.

Camp directors strive for safe and COVID-free summer experiences

ADAM REINHERZ | CONTRIBUTING WRITER

It's still March, but camp directors and other Jewish professionals are thinking about June's archery, kayaks and rope climbing. With summer camp slated to begin in approximately three months, staff are feverishly preparing for the challenge of operating during a pandemic.

Aaron Cantor, director of Emma Kaufmann Camp in West Virginia, has routinely spoken with partners from the Jewish Community Center Association of North America, and has “relied heavily on CDC reports,” he said.

Cantor, like other overnight camp directors, is also relying on the American Camp Association’s Field Guide and communicating with professionals who safely opened and operated last summer.

In June 2020, the JCC announced that per “West Virginia’s Guidance for Organized Camps,” and its prohibition of groups of more than 25 people, as well as recommendations issued by other local and national authorities, EKC would not operate during summer 2020.

Although COVID-19 cases are currently higher now than they were eight months ago, there’s a real difference between summer 2021 and last year, explained Cantor.

“We’ve had time to prepare, and learn and relearn about how we have to interact in groups of people,” said Cantor. A playbook for the summer, with protocols and procedures, has been developed and should hopefully be available within the next two weeks, he added.

“The health and safety of our families is our first priority,” said Fara Marcus, JCC’s division director of development and strategic marketing.

That mindset dictated last summer’s decisions regarding camp — the JCC safely opened and operated J&R, its day

camp, during summer 2020 — and will do so again this year, she explained.

Rachael Speck, director of J&R Day Camp, has been directing families to the JCC’s website for updates regarding summer 2021. Information regarding meals, before- and after-care, sanitization and staffing is provided.

The JCC has not determined yet whether it will be able to offer bus transportation to the day camp in Monroeville as it did prior to summer 2020, as it “is an inherently difficult task” to ensure full coronavirus safety compliance on buses, officials said. Families will be updated in time to allow alternative transportation plans to be made if necessary.

Camp Gan Izzy, a Chabad camp in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania is in a similar boat, explained its director, Rabbi Sruly Altein.

“If we can do transportation we’ll do it, but it depends on the guidelines,” he said.

Last summer, Gan Izzy opened, but decided to adopt shorter days due to “too many limitations,” said Altein.

This summer, Gan Izzy plans on returning to a full-day schedule.

“We have enough timing to adjust to whatever is necessary,” said Altein. “If there are limitations on field trips then we’ll bring in more programming.”

Hillel Academy of Pittsburgh also abbreviated its camp schedule last summer — the six-week day camp was halved.

Rabbi Sam Weinberg, Hillel Academy’s principal, said camp would certainly be offered again, but wouldn’t commit to how many weeks the program will run.

“This year will depend on the COVID situation,” he said.

Camp Harlam, a Union of Reform Judaism overnight camp in Kunkletown, Pennsylvania, offers two three-anda-half week sessions. In an effort to

create a COVID-free environment, the camp is reducing enrollment by nearly 50 kids. Removing one boys’ bunk and one girls’ bunk is part of a larger camp commitment, explained Lisa David, Harlam’s director.

In addition to asking campers to self-isolate prior to camp, there will be COVID testing upon arrival, ongoing testing and podding, said David: “The hope is that after some period of time, we might be able to open those pods a bit to a more typical camp experience.”

Even so, at least at the start, there will be additional changes to daily camp life. Dining hall operations, trips out of camp, general housekeeping and cleaning practices are all being revisited.

Whereas in past years, visitors have been able to come up to camp for limited periods each session, that option has been changed for summer 2021.

“Anytime anyone is arriving in camp, that’s a risk because it almost hits the reset button with anyone they’ve come in contact with,” said David.

“Camp is needed now more than ever,” she stressed. “Over this past year, there has been a lot of loss and disconnection. The opportunity to come to camp, be outside, unplug and develop social and communicative skills, challenge themselves and have fun is particularly meaningful.”

Robin Anderson, director of Camp Young Judaea Midwest in Waupaca, Wisconsin, agreed. “I think every kid needs to be at camp this summer and be a kid, and not worry about going to Zoom school or not being able

to have a playdate,” she said.

Anderson has been preparing for months to make overnight camp possible for the 200 kids who plan on attending this summer.

“For me as a camp director, I have been looking at this like a marathon, not a sprint,” she said. “We’ve been taking our time and going through this process and looking at every aspect of things, which we will until the start of camp. We’re learning things every single day, and for me, someone who loves to plan, we’ve learned that you can plan only so much in this pandemic — but I also believe that we can open camp successfully and safely this summer.”

Families who are considering summer camp should reach out and ask questions, said Anderson: “Please call. We may not have the answers right now, but we want people to know it’s an option to go to Jewish summer camp this year.”

With everything that has transpired during the past 12 months, she said, “being able to come to camp, and swim, and run around and be free — don’t we all wish we could have that right now?” JN

Adam Reinherz is a staff writer for Pittsburgh Jewish Chronicle, a Jewish News-affiliated publication.

Campers at Chabad's Camp Gan Izzy day camp in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania PHOTO COURTESY OF RABBI YISROEL ALTEIN

Reviews: Fashion’s flaws, getting a get

Beauty hurts in editor’s essays

SOPHIE PANZER | CONTRIBUTING WRITER

“Everybody (Else) Is Perfect: How I Survived Hypocrisy, Beauty, Clicks, and Likes”

Gabrielle Korn

Atria Books

When Gabrielle Korn was a Jewish teenager growing up on Long Island, fashion fell into two categories. Korn and her peers could be either Jewish American Princesses, clad in velour sweatsuits and Tiffany jewelry, or emo kids in black hoodies and Converse sneakers. She fell somewhere in the middle and put together outfits consisting of bat mitzvah jewelry layered over band T-shirts or dresses with combat boots.

In her essay collection “Everybody (Else) Is Perfect: How I Survived Hypocrisy, Beauty, Clicks, and Likes,” the former editor-in-chief of Nylon chronicles her journey to the upper echelons of fashion and beauty media. She also details her fight to use her role to make the industry more inclusive to people of different races, genders, sexual orientations and body sizes.

Korn balances accounts of the misogyny and homophobia she encounters as an out lesbian in a largely straight workforce with her awareness of the privilege that allows her to obtain positions of influence in a system rooted

in white supremacist beauty standards.

“I understood that as a white Jewish lesbian, the parts of my identity that might marginalize me were largely invisible; I was benefiting from the system while being tokenized by it,” she writes.

Toxicity in the fashion and media industries is often played for laughs in pop culture — think “The Devil Wears Prada” or even “Zoolander” — but

Korn articulates the deeply personal and disturbing toll of a workplace that glorifies impossible beauty standards. She battles anorexia for years amid peers who compliment her dangerous weight loss (she weighs around 100 pounds at her lightest and sickest), promote unhealthy fad diets and issue passive-aggressive judgments if she dares to eat a bagel.

Korn is also the grandchild of Holocaust survivors and writes about how she first learned about the atrocity from her parents’ explanations of her grandmother’s hurtful behavior, like telling Korn she was ugly to “ward off the evil eye.” A link between trauma and outward appearances is established early in her childhood, and the pattern reproduces viciously in the fashion world, where constant insecurity is weaponized against workers and eating disorders are common.

Married woman seeks get at knifepoint

JESSE BERNSTEIN | CONTRIBUTING WRITER

“The Slaughterman’s Daughter” Yaniv Iczkovits, translated by Orr Scharf Schocken

The year is 5654 in the Pale of Settlement (1894 to you Gregorians out there).

Mende Speismann’s holy fool of a husband has run off some time ago, leaving her an impoverished agunah dependent on the generosity of her sister Fanny’s comparatively wealthy husband.

In a fit of indulgence, Mende turns the handful of rubles she’s scraped together for survival into a disastrously expensive day at the market, ending her spree only with a plunge into the Yaselda River. She survives, but Fanny, the strange, wolfishly intense younger sister, knows that Mende was born to be a wife and mother, and that she’ll never be happy in the world she returns to unless some things are made right.

Unhappy with her loving but mostly silent husband, and determined to give Mende a better life, Fanny enlists the

assumed town fool Zizek Breshov in her journey to find Mende’s husband and force him to sign a get. The road from Motal to Minsk, it turns out, is longer than the miles the pair sets out to cover; the chaos that ensues will ask them to trek across their entire lives, as misunderstandings and a few sticky rumors soon involve the secret police, hostile locals, the czar’s army and a terrible cantor named Shleiml.

Iczkovits, a celebrated Israeli writer with several novels to his name, sets out to tell a rollicking, madcap tale, and mostly succeeds. He populates his story with a mix of original characters and stock Jews, with a nattering mother-in-law here and a cantor straight out of Chelm there. When Iczkovits stays with the perspectives of his most compelling characters — Fanny, Mende, a painter named Ignat Shepkin and Zizek (forced to leave his Jewish name and past behind after he’s conscripted into the czar’s army) — the book is a pleasure. But the time spent with some of the stock

The title of the book comes from another toxic phenomenon Korn identifies: how often women are willing to declare other women beautiful while privately tormenting themselves over perceived flaws. Even as brands push “woke” lifestyles and people become increasingly willing to support body diversity and empowerment for others, many remain incapable of embracing themselves.

Korn is bracingly honest about her struggles to find meaningful work and healthy relationships in her industry’s vortex of image obsession and personal branding. Even more intriguing are her abilities as a cultural commentator; in one essay, she successfully ties the restrictive skinny jeans trend of the early ’00s to the politics of the Bush administration.

Reading the book during an unprecedented health and economic crisis makes it difficult to sympathize with her stories of six-figure salary negotiations and attending fashion week, but her grueling quest for inclusivity and self-acceptance in an industry built on exclusion forms the basis of a book that is both compelling memoir and haunting exposé. JN

“Everybody (Else) Is Perfect: How I Survived Hypocrisy, Beauty, Clicks, and Likes,” by

characters, as well as with the secret agent of the Russian Empire who’s meant to be somewhat menacing, can be a drag.

Fanny, the vilde chaya of the village and the one-time apprentice to her shochet father, wields her knife across the Pale, slitting and threatening her way to Minsk while she tries to figure out how to reconcile her lives as a mother, wife, Jew and woman.

Iczkovits’ story is often funny, if a bit old-hat in its sense of humor, which makes the conclusions he appears to arrive at regarding religion, conformity and the calamities to come to these Jews of the Pale feel oddly harsh. He demonstrates real love for the characters of “The Slaughterman’s Daughter,” though the space given to some overestimates the extent to which readers might feel the same. And in a 515-page novel, Iczkovits may have done well to take after Fanny, and carve with a little more precision. JN

Jesse Bernstein is a staff writer for Jewish Exponent, a Jewish News-affiliated publication.

“The Slaughterman’s Daughter,” by Yaniv Iczkovits, translated by Orr Scharf COURTESY OF SCHOCKEN

Gabrielle Korn COURTESY OF ATRIA BOOKS

Sophie Panzer is a staff writer for Jewish Exponent, a Jewish News-affiliated publication.

Featured Event

SUNDAY, MARCH 21

The Jewish Perspective on Immigration: 3 p.m. Review the history of immigration from biblical documentation. Rabbi Alicia Magal of the Jewish Community of Sedona and the Verde Valley will discuss how the Israelites formed a nation during the Exodus from Egypt and share biblical laws relating to the equitable and compassionate treatment of strangers. Los Angeles-based Joe Goldman, the Hebrew Immigration Aid Society’s community engagement director for the western region, will share the history of HIAS from its founding 139 years ago. Cost: Free. Contact the JCSVV at jcsvv.org/contact to get a link to the virtual program.

Events

Passover Grain Collection: March 22-26. Cleansing your home of leavened bread? Donate your bread to Arizona Jews for Justice, and we will gift it to our unsheltered neighbors. Drop off grains at 4645 E. Marilyn Rd.

Pick up a Haggadah: Need a Passover Haggadah? Robin Meyerson, co-director of Project Inspire Arizona and chair of the Shabbos Project Arizona, has collected donated Haggadot for anybody who needs one. They are in a box outside of her house available to be picked up. Cost: Free. Email Meyerson at robin@ projectinspireaz.com for her address.

Live Music at The J: Sunday, March 14 at 2 p.m. Come outside the J for an afternoon concert featuring music and samplings from the String Quartet canon. We will be socially-distanced while sitting outside and wearing masks. Space is limited so register now. Cost: $30 for members, $45 for guests. Location: 12701 N. Scottsdale Road. For more information, visit apm.activecommunities.com/valleyofthesunjcc.

Virtual Meetings, Lectures & Classes

FRIDAY, March 12

Holocaust Survivors Speaker Series: 10 a.m.

The Arizona Jewish Historical Society is holding its next online seminar in this series with Leon Kleiner. Learn about a notoriously cruel antiSemite who risked his own life to save a young Jewish boy and his siblings. Cost: Free. RSVP to afusco@azjhs.org.

SUNDAY, March 14

Coffee and Conversation: 11:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m.

American Friends of Magen David Adom is hosting professor Eilat Shinar for a presentation about the lifesaving mission of Magen David Adom in Israel and an update on the Marcus National Blood Services Center. Cost: Free. Contact Sam Mentz at smentz@afmda.org or 323-655-4566 ext. 407 with any questions.

MONDAY, March 15

Beauty, Mystery and Significance: 1-2:30 p.m.

Dr. Jennifer J. Wiseman, the director of the AAAS Dialogue on Science, Ethics and Religion and an astrophysicist at NASA, will give a presentation as part of a national program called “Scientists in Synagogues.” Cost: $18. For more information and to register, visit valleybeitmidrash.org.

TUESDAY, March 16

Yiddish Club: 11:15 a.m.-12:15 p.m. Share the warmth and humor of Yiddish online with Rabbi Laibel Blotner. Cost: Free. For more information, visit jfcsaz.org.

Women in Comedy, A Subversive History: 2 p.m.

The Center for Senior Enrichment, under the auspices of Jewish Family & Children’s Service, is offering a new look at gender in comedy.

Women in Comedy: A Subversive History will be presented via Zoom. For more information, visit jfcsaz.org.

The Way We Were: 11:15 a.m.-12:15 p.m. The Bureau of Jewish Education offers an adult education class that takes a look at American Jews in the 1970s and the 1980s, particularly the women’s liberation movement, growing

secularism, the rise of the Christian right and the growing strength of Orthodox Jews. Cost. $18. For more information and to register, visit bjephoenix.org.

Remembering the Exodus after George Floyd, o”h: 2-3 p.m. The commandment to remember the Exodus serves as both a theological and ethical principle which has accompanied the Jewish people throughout our history. Learn the role the story of the Exodus plays for American Jews and how it informs both our ethical responsibilities today and how we engage in the study of textual traditions composed by those under oppression. Cost. $18. For more information and to register, visit bjephoenix.org.

Career Fair for Veterans: 12-4 p.m. RecruitMilitary and DAV will host the Western Region Virtual Career Fair for Veterans, open to all transitioning members of the military, veterans, military spouses and dependents. RecruitMilitary’s virtual events are technologically enhanced to provide personal interaction among job candidates and employers in large group, small group and oneon-one formats. For more information and to register, visit recruitmilitary.careereco.com/Fair/ UpcomingFairs#1.

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 17

Begged and Borrowed: 1 p.m. The Celtic music duo will perform live online for a St. Patty’s Day Celebration, complete with Celtic harp, flute, whistles and Irish bouzouki. Cost: Free. For more information, visit seniorcenter@jfcsaz.org.

Morning minyan: 8:30 a.m. The Jewish Community of Sedona and the Verde Valley is offering a virtual morning minyan. For more information and to obtain the link, visit jcsvv.org/ contact.

Meditation: 4 p.m. The Jewish Community of Sedona and the Verde Valley is offering a virtual meditation session. For more information and to obtain the link, visit jcsvv.org/contact.

Mystical and psychological perspectives on the seder: 9-10 a.m. Explore the centrality of speech and storytelling to the seder. Cost. $18. For more information and to register, visit valleybeitmidrash.org.

Songs and stories, Argentinian Ardor: 2-3 p.m. The Tango, the dance and its music, is one of Argentina’s most prized possessions. Join Gilda Solve for a live performance. Cost: Free until March 10; $12.50 until March 8; $15 until 1:35 p.m. March 17. Tickets are per device. Contact James at jsokol@marinjcc.org with any questions. For more information and to register, visit mpjcc.org.

THURSDAY, MARCH 18

Tea for Three: 11 a.m. A Betty Ford monologue online featuring Kandyce Hughes will kick off a new monthly series featuring actors from the Herberger Theater. For more information, visit jfcsaz.org.

Torah Study: 4 p.m. Rabbi Alicia Magal of the Jewish Community of Sedona and the Verde Valley will lead a Torah study on the opening portion of Leviticus, Vayikra (Leviticus 1:1- 5:26) telling of the laws concerning sacrifices offered in the Tabernacle. Discussion will focus on how people express a range of emotions such as guilt and gratitude today, and what kinds of offerings

we make that might parallel the sacrifices in ancient times. For more information and to obtain the virtual meeting link, visit jcsvv.org/ contact.

Exploring Broadway: 2-3:15 p.m. As our culture has changed over the years, so too have Broadway musicals shifted to reflect our altering tastes, interests, priorities, lives. Join popular San Francisco Bay Area instructor James Sokol to explore some of the Broadway musicals that broke new ground and shaped the evolution of this popular and indigenous art form. Video performance clips bring the magic & excitement of musical theater into our discussion. Cost: $15 per device. Contact James at jsokol@marinjcc. org with questions. For more information and to register, visit mpjcc.org.

SATURDAY, MARCH 20

Game & Chill night: 7-9 p.m. Hebrew High invites eighth graders to virtually meet other Jewish teens from across the valley including current Hebrew High students and learn about Hebrew High opportunities for high schoolers. The event will start with Havdalah and include games and the chance to win some prizes. Cost: Free. RSVP at bjephoenix.org.

TUESDAY, MARCH 23

FRIDA KAHLO: 11 a.m. As part of the Jane Przelica Presentation Series, learn via Zoom about Frida Kahlo, who is considered one of the great artists of the 20th century. Cost: Free. For more information, visit seniorcenter@jfcsaz.org.

TUESDAY, MARCH 30

Lady in Gold: 11 a.m.-noon. Thanks to the 2015 movie “Woman in Gold,” the portrait of Viennese socialite Adele Bloch-Bauer painted by Gustav Klimt in 1907, has become famous. Learn the stories the painting tells via Zoom. Cost: Free. For more information, visit seniorcenter@jfcsaz.org.

MONDAYS

Partners in Torah: 7:30 p.m. Join a growing group of inspired learners with Project Inspire. Cost: Free. Tune in at: us04web.zoom. us/j/3940479736#success, password is 613. For more information, email Robin Meyerson at robin@projectinspireaz.com.

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

Quotable Quotes by our Sages: 7 p.m. Learn with Rabbi Shlomy Levertov online. Tune in at: JewishParadiseValley.com/class. Cost: Free. For more information, visit chabadaz.com.

Learning to Trust in God: 7:30 p.m. Learn with Rabbi Yossi Friedman online. Tune in at: ChabadAZ.com/LiveClass. Cost: Free. For more information, visit chabadaz.com.

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

TUESDAYS

Keep Calm and Play Mahjong: 6:30-8:30 p.m. Play mahjong from home with myjongg. net. Cost: Free. To join a table, email Nicole at nicoleg@vosjcc.org.

Maintaining an Upbeat Attitude: 7 p.m. A class exclusively for people in their 20s and 30s,

learn how Jewish Mysticism can help with your attitude with Rabbi Shlomy Levertov online. Cost: Free. Tune in at: JewishParadiseValley.com/ YJPclass. For more information, visit chabadaz.com.

39 Ways to Repair the World: In celebration of Rabbi Shmuly’s 39th birthday, he is teaching the 39 melachot over the year (1 per week for 39 weeks). Each session will be between 15-20 minutes long on Tuesdays. Cost: Suggested $18 donation. For more information, visit valleybeitmidrash.org.

TUESDAYS, JAN. 12 - MAY 25

Introduction to Judaism: 7-9 p.m. Learn the basics of Judaism with Rabbi Nitzan Stein Kokin. For more information or to register, visit bethelphoenix.com/adult-education.

WEDNESDAYS

Happiness Hour: 11:30 a.m. An online class taught by Rabbi Pinchas Allouche that delves into texts and references culled from our traditions to address a relevant topic and draw uplifting life lessons from it. For more information or to join, visit cbtvirtualworld.com.

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

JACS: 7:30-8:30 p.m. Virtual 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.

Torah Studies: Noon. Take a weekly journey to the soul of Torah online with Rabbi Yossi Levertov. Cost: Free. For more information, visit chabadaz,com

Lunch & Learn: 12:15 PM. Grab some food and learn online with Rabbi Yehuda Ceitlin. Cost: Free. Tune in on Zoom by emailing info@ ChabadTucson.com. For more information, visit ChabadTucson.com

Words & Whiskey: 8:30 p.m. Join a free weekly, virtual learning session for men. To RSVP, email rmollenaz@gmail.com or call/text 310-709-3901.

Knit a Mitzvah: 1-3 p.m. On the second and fourth Wednesdays of the month, check in with fellow knitters who are making items to donate as part of this Brandeis National Committee Phoenix chapter study group. For more information, contact Ronee Siegel at ronees@aol.com.

WEDNESDAYS, FEB. 3 - APRIL 7

The Lights of Rav Kook: 11 a.m. Learn the foundational roots of Rabbi Avraham Yitzchak HaCohen Kook’s teachings and the soaring winds of his vision. Cost: $18. For more information, visit valleybeitmidrash.org.

THURSDAYS

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

Watching Sunrise at Mt. Sinai

PHOTO BY: PET_R LICENSED UNDER CC BY-NC-SA 2.0 VIA FLICKR

CALENDAR

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

The Science of Everything: 11:00 a.m. Explore the most fundamental work of Chassidut: the Tanya, with Rabbi Boruch. Cost: Free. Tune in at: zoom.us/j/736434666. For more information, visit chabadaz.com.

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

THURSDAYS, JAN. 14 - MARCH 25

Israel and the Middle East Through the Lens of Ever-Changing Events in the US, Israel and the Middle East: 12:30 -2 p.m. A Bureau of Jewish Phoenix course taught by Meir Jolovitz. An examination of the implications of the election and current events. Cost: $130. For more information or to register, visit bjephoenix.org.

FRIDAYS, MARCH 12-MAY 14

Wise Aging: 11:30 a.m.-1 p.m. A Bureau of Jewish Phoenix course designed specifically to meet the social, emotional and spiritual needs of Jewish seekers entering second adulthood. Explore the tools and resources to age wisely through the lens of Jewish wisdom. Learn positive ways to navigate a meaningful transition to your next chapter on life’s journey. $130. For more information or to register, visit bjephoenix.org.

SATURDAYS

Saturday Mindfulness Gatherings: 9:30 a.m. Hosted by Hospice of the Valley. Join via Zoom. For more information and event link, visit vosjcc.org/j-at-home-adults.

SUNDAYS

Soul Study: 7:15 a.m. An online class exploring the secrets of the Tanya and Jewish mysticism, taught by Rabbi Pinchas Allouche. Cost: Free. Anxiety in the Modern World: 6 p.m. Learn the secrets of the Torah for living stress-free in the current environment in a virtual class with Rabbi Boruch, with Chabad of Oro Valley. Cost: Free. Tune in using this link: zoom.us/j/736434666. For more information, visit chabadaz.com.

Chassidus Class: 9 a.m. Learn about the of the Chassidic movement with Rabbi Yossi Friedman. Cost: Free. Tune in using this link: ChabadAZ. com/LiveClass. For more information, visit chabadaz.com.

Passover Q&A: 7:30 p.m. Have a question related to Passover? Ask it here with Rabbi Mendy Levertov. Cost: Free. Tune in using this link: ourjewishcenter.com/virtual. For more information, visit chabadaz.com.

Jewish War Veterans Post 210: 10 a.m. Any active duty service member or veteran is welcome to join monthly meetings, now virtual, every third Sunday, Cost: Free. For more information, email Michael Chambers at c365michael@yahoo.com.

Shabbat

FRIDAY, MARCH 12

In-person Shabbat Service: 6:15 p.m. Beginning March 12, Friday evening Shabbat services will be held in Congregation Beth Israel’s Rosenzweig Courtyard and will be limited to 30 people, excluding clergy and staff. Members and guests must be at least 10 years old. 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. To make your reservation, contact Gail Gilmartin at 480-951-0323 or at ggilmartin@cbiaz.org.

FRIDAYS

Erev Shabbat Service: 5:30 p.m. Rabbi Alicia Magal will lead a service livstreamed 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.

Pre-Shabbat Kiddush Club: 6 p.m. Say kiddush with Rabbi Mendy levertov online. Cost: Free. Tune in here: ourjewishcenter.com/virtual. For more information, visit chabadaz.com.

Shabbat at Beth El: 11-11:45 a.m. Celebrate Shabbat with songs, blessings and inspirational teachings. Rabbi Stein Kokin from Beth El Congregation will lead us 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.

Welcome Shabbat: 11-11:45 a.m. Join the JFCS Virtual Center for Senior Enrichment each Friday for a soothing and inspiring program to welcome Shabbat. Each week a different guest host will lead the program with song and celebration. Cost: Free. For more information, visit jfcsaz.org/cse.

EVERY THIRD FRIDAY, JAN. 15-DEC. 31

Third Friday Shabbat: 7- 8 p.m. The Desert Foothills Jewish Community Association hosts a virtual abbreviated Shabbat service followed by a program. Contact Andrea at 480-664-8847 for more information.

Seniors

MONDAYS

Dance Fusion with Michele Dionisio: 11 a.m.-noon. Presented by JFCS Center for Senior Enrichment. Cost: Free. For more information, visit jfcsaz.org/cse.

Featured Presentation: 12:30 p.m. 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 full details visit sosaz.org/virtual or email Rabbi Levi Levertov at levi@sosaz.org.

TUESDAYS

Brain Games with Friends: 2-3 p.m. Challenge your brains while having fun. Experts believe that active learning helps maintain brain health by preventing loss of cognitive skills such as memory, reasoning and judgment. For more information or to register, visit vosjcc.org/j-at-home-adults.

Movie Discussion Group: 11 a.m. 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

Chair Yoga with Zoe: 11-11:45 a.m. A guided class in yoga without having to get down on the floor. Presented by JFCS Center for Senior Enrichment. Cost: Free. For more information, visit jfcsaz.org/cse.

THURSDAYS

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

Adult Chair Ballet Class: Noon-12:45 p.m. Join Jennifer Cafarella and Elaine Seretis from Ballet Theatre of Phoenix as they teach a ballet class that will help improve strength, flexibility, movement and balance. No prior dance experience required. Presented by the JFCS Virtual Center for Senior Enrichment. Cost: Free. For more information, visit jfcsaz.org/cse.

Musical Friday: 12:30 p.m. 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

Upcoming Special Sections

Passover

March

Senior Lifestyle

April

Purim costumes galore

Clowning for Purim

Enjoying a clown's life for a day at Temple Beth Sholom of the East Valley’s Purim celebration.

Mishloach manot

around the Valley and the world. Submit photos and details each week to editor@jewishaz.com by 10 a.m. Monday.

Purim brought out a crowd and a plethora of costumes at Temple Beth Sholom of the East Valley

Volunteers gathered to assemble hundreds of mishloach manot bags for Purim. Pictured from left: Jody Bartel, Kim Kotzin, Judy Reichman and Antonia Schnaid PHOTO BY RABBI LEVI LEVERTOV

ANNIVERSARY CONTINUED FROM PAGE 4

Jeri Smith passed away on February 23, 2021, leaving behind her larger-than-life personality and passion for seeking out the newest and best — always on a quest for the next best thing, while never forgetting those she loved.

Born on Sept. 22, 1952, in Phoenix, she enjoyed watching iconic mid-century Phoenix buildings being created as she grew up. The most notable of these buildings was her father’s, Norman Smith, Tower Liquor, a first-of-itskind drive-thru liquor store in Phoenix, which embraced the unique Phoenix mid-century design esthetic. Jeri attended Central High School in Phoenix, graduating in 1970, and the University of Arizona in Tucson, where she met her beloved husband, Bruce Smith. Jeri transferred to Arizona State University, where she graduated in 1974. Jeri and Bruce married that year and moved to New York City, where they started Bruce Smith, Ltd. as equal partners — a diamond dealer and wholesaler doing business throughout the world. Headquartered in Rockefeller Center in midtown Manhattan, they specialized in loose stones and colored diamonds called “fancies.”

Jeri will always be remembered as a maven (an expert and connoisseur) of culture, dining, art, theater and personal advice, whose running commentaries on these interests, as well as issues of the day, were always imbued with New York-style sophistication and satire. Old friends from Phoenix would ask Jeri for the best new places to go in Phoenix, and Jeri always knew even though she hadn’t lived there in over 45 years.

Jeri and Bruce enjoyed a wonderful 47-year marriage, one that Bruce believes was bashert, Yiddish for God bringing two people together as destiny. Jeri and Bruce enjoyed the best of New York’s culture, travels around the world, lifelong friends, and growing up and being together for five decades. Since losing Jeri, Bruce observed, “Jeri was loving and kind, strong and sensitive, and made my life incredible both as my wife and life partner, and as my business partner. My love for her and her love and understanding for me are eternal.”

Jeri was predeceased by her parents Norman and Fern Satin of Phoenix and is survived by her husband Bruce Smith. A private service was held in her memory in Scottsdale.

and the campers getting used to masks, it was critical to remember how much trust the community put in Shemesh, she said. A year later, she is taking all that she learned and preparing to have a summer minus the “bummer.”

While last summer they were primarily focused on safety precautions, now they’ll

CLIMATE CONTINUED FROM PAGE 5

marches and contacting elected officials to advocate for pro-climate policy changes.

“We really need action on all three levels — the individual level, the community level and the systemic level,” she said, but community is the “key” and change starts with an individual.

“People change because of the people around them. It’s all about changing social norms. And I think that’s where the Jewish community can really make such a huge difference,” she said. “If we can change the norms in our communities, we can change the way people behave and the way they get involved.”

Yanklowitz said legislative change is crucial, but it also leaves society in a very “tenuous” and “flimsy” situation because policy changes can be reversed.

“We need a spiritual evolution to save the planet,” he said. He emphasized individual behavioral changes can be better sustained and more reliable in the long term. Again he brought it back

extra time allows kids to build stronger relationships with one another and connect more with their counselors, Subrin suggested.

“COVID made us think outside the box and be more creative,” she said. “And that’s something that won’t go away.” JN

to diet. “This starts with each morally responsible food bite we take.”

Yanklowitz has been vegan for more than a decade.

“My work here is very unpopular,” he said. “I have found that few things are more threatening to people than going after the food they love.”

No matter the vehicle somebody chooses to use, immediate action is necessary, all the panelists agreed. There is no larger-than-life hero coming to save humanity, Yanklowitz said.

Rabbi Ruhi Sophia Rubenstien of Temple Beth Israel in Eugene, Oregon, noted it’s already too late to save everything. “Some things are already lost,” she said, including some cultures and species. “And yet we have to love and save what can yet be saved.”

Rabbi Fred Scherlinder Dobb, rabbi at Adat Shalom Reconstructionist Congregation in Bethesda, Maryland, said climate action now will still have a “small but measurable difference for those in the future.”

Barbara L Serbin passed away in Phoenix, AZ, on 3/1/2021. She was 90. She is survived by her son Gary, her daughters Ellen and Deborah, her daughter in law, Lisa, and her son in law, Eric Swanson; her grandchildren; Daniel, Rebecca, Michael, Jacob, Joshua, Matthew, and Noah; and her great grandchildren, Yaakov and Nosson Tzvi. She is also survived by many in laws, nephews, nieces, and cousins. She was preceded in death by her husband, Dr. Arnold L. Serbin, and her parents Abraham and Pearl (Berlin) Ainbinder. After graduating from Midwood High School, she wanted to get as far away from Brooklyn, NY, where she grew up, as she could and she knew a woman who attended the University of Arizona, so she came to Tucson. One of the first people she met was a guy setting up for a concert. The Arnold Serbin Band was playing out on the steps of the library. She and Arnold Serbin married in 1954 and were married for 58 years. After graduation, she later attended the University of Iowa where she got a Masters Degree. After teaching in Berwyn, IL, she and Arnold and their three children settled in Phoenix in 1963. She was an active member of the community, being active in Jewish Family & Children’s Service, the Beth El Sisterhood, etc... Graveside services will be held at Beth El Cemetery, 2300 W. Van Buren St in Phoenix on 3/2/2021. Contributions can be made to Beth El Congregation, 1118 W. Glendale Ave, Phoenix, AZ 85021 or Hospice of the Valley, 1510 E. Flower St, Phoenix, AZ 85014

Phoenix-based Daniel Stein Kokin, a Jewish studies scholar, was one of 173 people who tuned into the conference. He watched the panel on activism and came away with the conclusion that both changes at an individual and societal level are necessary to address climate change.

“Shmuly is definitely right that you can pass all the legislation in the world, but if you haven’t really changed people’s attitudes, then you give rise to potential difficulties down the road,” he said. “On the other hand, there’s no question that the overall structures of society have a huge impact.”

Stein Kokin credits Yanklowitz for his own reduced consumption of animal

products, and beef in particular.

“I see the research that really points to the production of beef as really the leading contributor to greenhouse gases in the food production system,” he said.

Less than a week after the conference, ASU’s Center For Jewish Studies hosted Stein Kokin to perform his original prayer for the monsoon and discuss the intersection of Jewish thought, liturgy, localism and environmentalism.

“Writing this prayer was an opportunity for me to grapple with the concerns I have about the current drought in Arizona, and to create a kind of public communal consciousness about that situation,” he said. JN

Julia Fathe works on lesson plans for in-person and online instruction.

PHOTO BY KARILEE JEANTET