Oregon Jewish Life March 2018 Vol. 7/Issue 2

MARCH 2018

CAMPS: TM

Helping kids grow

PASSOVER Seders, recipes & traditions

Art reflects octogenarian's colorful life PDX Hillel honors

ROB & MARA SHLACHTER A lifetime of mentoring and community building

OREGON JEWISH LIFE | MARCH 2018 1

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OREGON JEWISH LIFE | MARCH 2018 3

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Oregon Jewish Life | March 2018 | Adar- Nissan 5778 | Volume 7/Issue 2

16

COVER STORY

ALL ABOUT CAMP

Shlachters move mountains to help next generation 26 PDX Hillel 10th Anniversary 30

Kids grow at camp

32 Camp Newman recovers from fire 34 Jewish camps are thriving 36 Parent’s summer camp blues 38 What’s New at Camp

40 BB Camp launches day camp 42 Solomon Schechter has new director 43 Camp and Hebrew school 44 Camp Directory

45

FEATURES

26

44

JEWS WITH ATTITUDE Solutions Journalism has answers

10

BUSINESS Eugene gets NY-style bagels Ins & Outs

12 14

KIDS & TEENS

FRONT & CENTER Author brings Bal Shem Tov to Oregon

Author series at the J Corvallis sets first Jewish Film Fest NW Nosh: Farm fresh dining

46 47 48 50

JLIVING

ACTIVELY SENIOR Art reflects colorful life “Living While Dying”

51 54

PASSOVER

51

Seders on Shabbat

Make Passover a pleasure Jerusalem artichokes for Pesach New ideas for Passover

A glimpse of Passover in Temple era Seders around the state

15 16 18 20 22 24

Teens learn advocacy at workshop Kids & Teens Calendar

Journalist Susan Stamberg to headline brunch

Raoul Wallenberg Exhibit Previews New leaders in Eugene FACES & PLACES Calendar

Chef’s Corner by Lisa Glickman NW Nosh by Kerry Politzer

PHOTO BY DONNA KLEINMAN

4 OREGON JEWISH LIFE | MARCH 2018

58 60 61 62 64 66

COLUMNS

COVER: Rob and Mara Shlachter.

60 62

56 57

18 50

A HISTORIC EVENING WITH

Anne Frank's Childhood Friend & Stepsister

EVA SCHLOSS

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To our monthly and annual donors and partners, thank you! Your sustaining joyful Judaism in our community makes historic moments like tonight happen each day.

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FIGHTING THE “ENEMY WITHIN”

Cindy Salt zman Publisher

"How do we justify playing Russian

roulette with our

children's lives every time we send them to school? "

When we moved to Israel in the mid-nineties, one of the first things my husband and I did was to look at the preschool options for our young children. As a young Americanborn mother, I couldn’t help but be a little unnerved when I noticed that all the preschools and educational facilities had an armed guard in front. Since I understood that the threat to our children was real I soon decided that one armed guard could be picked off too easily and decided instead to move our children to the neighboring Kibbutz preschool where any terrorist who wanted to harm innocent children would have many more layers of security to pass through and would hopefully be thwarted in time.

Even in the tension-filled days of the intifada, as we experienced that surreal moment of watching our children walk off to school with a lunchbox in one hand and a gas mask in the other, we at least knew we were protecting our children from an “outside enemy,” an enemy we could identify, not an “enemy within” who resides in our schools and blends in.

Fast forward to today in the United States, as I watched a news broadcast of yet another horrific school shooting, I kept asking myself, How do we justify playing Russian roulette with our children’s lives every time we send them to school? And how dare we expect our teachers, those who have devoted their lives to educate, inspire and mentor our children, to now be their physical protectors and the first line of defense from a crazy person armed with an AR-15?

Today in the U.S. we are fighting a different type of enemy, This enemy looks like all of us and in many ways acts like all of us. In so many ways these enemies within are the net result of our society’s failures – the failure of our mental health care system, gun laws and legislators, indeed the failure of all of us to take action.

If the health of a society is judged by how it treats their young (and their elderly), then America, we are failing. But there is hope.

Young people are taking decisive action to stop the gun violence. They are impatient and fed up but also smart and savvy and learning to work the system for change. Like any powerful social change, this one is starting organically and authentically.

Now is the time to throw apathy and fear to the side and do what is right, Right Now. We are our children’s keepers and protecting them is very much a Jewish thing to do.

“Whoever saves one life, saves the entire world” ~The Talmud

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H OW T O R E AC H U S

10 Salt zman Cindy

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A DV E R TI S I N G A N D E D ITO R I A L D I R EC TO R

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Stor y ideas for features and special sec tions are due 45 - 60 days prior to public ation.

CONTRIBUTING WRITERS Mala Blomquis t Rich Geller Jane L arkin Joseph Lieberman Liz Rabiner Lippof f Gail Mandel Polina Olsen Amy Beth Starr Teddy Weinberger

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The content and opinions in Oregon Jewish Life do not necessarily reflec t those of the publishers, staf f or contrac tors. Ar ticles and columns are for informational purposes only and not intended as a substitute for professional advice. Although ever y ef for t is made to ensure the accuracy of our published materials, Oregon Jewish Life, and its agents, publishers, employees and contrac tors will not be held responsible for the misuse of any information contained herein. The publishers reser ve the right to refuse any adver tisement. Publication of adver tisements does not constitute endorsement of produc ts or ser vices.

OREGON JEWISH LIFE | MARCH 2018 9

Jewswith

Attitude

David Lippoff: A journalist at heart

citizenry is required for democracy. The traditional role of the media is to provide that service.”

After 35 years in broadcast journalism as a television reporter, David hastens to say that solutions journalism is not advoproducer, news director and station manager, David Lippoff cacy. It doesn’t profess to offer the answer. It looks at solutions left the industry because “it wasn’t fun or rewarding” and he that have succeeded in other areas – with success defined and didn’t like the direction it was headed. A decade later he saw an supported by facts. It is rigorous, evidence-based reporting opportunity to restore the heart of journalism. about responses to significant social issues.

He now volunteers his time and experience to serve as the He calls investigative reporting the “watchdog” of a commuPortland coordinator of Solutions Journalism. nity and solutions journalism the “guide dog.”

The mission of the Solutions Journalism Network “is to “We have a lot of reporting about problems that are not spread the practice of solutions journalism: rigorous reportunique to our area,” says David. “So taking the time to see if ing on responses to social problems. We seek to rebalance the other places are having success is worthwhile energy that goes news, so that every day people to the heart of what journalism is are exposed to stories that help supposed to be about. Solutions them understand problems and journalism provides a framework for challenges, and stories that show that kind of storytelling.” potential ways to respond.”

He considers the approach one That mission spoke to David, so effort to bring journalism back to its he contacted the network in 2016 original purpose. and asked if they had plans to exHe believes “how” is a very pand to Oregon. The answer was important word that frequently gets “yes,” and David came on board short shrift in today’s reporting. in a volunteer capacity.

Not just how did we get into this Any and all interested journalsituation, but how do we get out of ists, be they reporters, editors, still it. How the situation is dealt with and video journalists, freelancers elsewhere is important information as well as members of news orgathat should be included in reportnizations and journalism students ing. and educators, can go to the SJN “I don’t see or hear a lot of website, solutionsjournalism.org, evidence on issues and problems – and sign up for free. By doing so, about how or if these problems are they gain access to the Solutions being addressed or solved someStory Tracker database and can place else,” says David. He adds that find out about workshops and reporters using solutions journalism events in their local area.

“Don’t take a position or say this is In 2017, 35 people turned out the only solution.” for the first Oregon workshop to For instance, homelessness is a learn about solutions journalism. frequent news topic in the Portland David Lippoff Now 75 people have signed up to area. “We know there are districts be part of the area network. Pamplin Media Group is the first around the country taking different approaches (to the probnews organization to join the network. But the University of lem) and have great success. But I don’t see a lot of coverage Oregon School of Journalism includes solutions journalism in here about that.” its third-year curriculum. And the local chapter of the Society Reporting on how a problem is being addressed elsewhere of Professional Journalists and the Oregon Newspaper Associa- should also consider if the solution is transferable. “Can the tion have co-sponsored or promoted trainings. approach be adapted to be applied in other places, and what are “Journalism is storytelling that informs your audience – the the pitfalls and problems?” he says. public – and gives them enough background to understand David points to two Portland groups that have looked for situations and make informed decisions based on facts and evand found solutions outside the community with good results. idence as opposed to only emotions,” says David. “An informed One example is Cedar Sinai Park’s adoption of the Green

By Deborah Moon

10 OREGON JEWISH LIFE | MARCH 2018

House model to replace the traditional nursing home with households where elders live in a home rather than a facility.

Another example is the recently constructed Unity Health Center. Emergency medical services, police and mental health and addiction service providers have all come together to help create this revolutionary model to care for mental health and behavioral health emergencies after exploring existing organizations across the country that were doing the same type of work. Philanthropists and four major health-care organizations – Adventist Health, Legacy Health, Kaiser Permanente and OHSU – came together to develop Portland’s response to mental health crises.

David says when people only see problems reported, they tend to get pessimistic and disengage. By also reporting solutions that have worked in other places, people re-engage with the media and their community.

In addition to training, SJN offers a searchable story database of verified stories on a range of topics. The group also offers grants to freelancers who need funds to finish a story; up to $750 is available for travel to research solutions.

David has seen firsthand solutions in his travels, first as a journalist and later for Sustainable Harvest Specialty Coffee, a for-profit “social enterprise” that pours half of its revenue back into training for growers. David traveled to Peru, Columbia, Mexico, Tanzania and Rwanda. With a grant from the Jane Goodall Institute, Sustainable Harvest set up a project in Rwanda to teach women how to grow coffee and engage in international-level business. He went to Rwanda to set up the program in coordination with the Rwandan government before he retired in 2013. In 2016 the government invited him to return to see the project’s success.

“It transformed these women,” says David.

David was born in Portland to Lorraine (Horenstein) and Marvin Lippoff, z”l. He grew up at Congregation Neveh Shalom and went to Camp Solomon Schechter for many years.

Rabbi Joshua Stampfer officiated at his marriage to Liz (who is a regular contributor to Oregon Jewish Life).

After graduating from the University of Oregon with a degree in journalism, he worked at KGW. From 1981 to 2002, he worked in major markets across the country before returning to Portland to serve as vice president and general manager of KOIN Channel 6. After three years he moved into public relations/new business development and then joined Sustainable Harvest as communications manager. Since his retirement in 2013, David has continued to travel – now for pleasure with Liz (often to visit their daughter Samantha in Washington, D.C., or daughter Rachel and granddaughter Avery, 7, in New Jersey). He also has become an avid volunteer. He volunteers two days a week as a tutor at Madison High School, and he served on the board of LifeWorks NW for eight years, including a term as president. Before his retirement, he served on the Allocations Committee of the Jewish Federation of Greater Portland for four years. The couple belongs to Congregation Beth Israel, and Liz serves as president of the board of Cedar Sinai Park.

“Everything I’ve done going forward is what I have chosen to do,” says David. “I look for things I want to give my time to.”

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OREGON JEWISH LIFE | MARCH 2018 11

Business

By Aliya Bree Hall

Eugene gets “real” bagels

Lox, Stocks and Bagels in the south hills of Eugene brings traditional East Coast staples to Oregon’s southern Willamette Valley.

Owned by New Jersey native Scott Lilly, the shop sells a wide assortment of bagels, as well as soups, salads and bagel sandwiches. The shop opened last summer in the Edgewood Center at 40th Avenue and Donald Street in Eugene.

Scott, 54, noticed a lack of what he calls “real bagels” when he moved to Oregon in 2007. Although he isn’t Jewish, the interest in bagels came from living on the East Coast.

“I thought this area needed something like this,” he says of his shop. “Hopefully, I’m right.”

Scott’s New York-style bagels are made by boiling dough in a solution of water, sugar, baking soda and salt before baking; this results in a crispy crust.

Scott is no stranger to the restaurant business. In 1992 he started as a cook, working his way up to management positions.

In the past 10 years, Scott has managed Sweet Waters, Ambrosia and The Bridge, all in Eugene; the Vintage Inn in Cottage Grove; and a Taco Bell in Springfield.

He says his previous experience showed him the ins and outs of restaurant budgeting and how to manage inventory and order food.

“Some people who open restaurants have experience in the kitchen or the front of the house, but not really both,” Scott says. “I have a little of both.”

Scott says he was encouraged to open the business by his friend, Boris Wiedenfeld-Needham, the owner of Bo’s Wine Depot, also in the Edgewood Center.

When a storefront became vacant next to Bo’s Wine Depot, Boris says he considered expanding into the space before think12 OREGON JEWISH LIFE | MARCH 2018

ing of Scott. He knew that Scott was managing the Taco Bell, and “it was pretty clear he wasn’t happy there.”

“I said half-jokingly, ‘Hey, Scott. You should quit your job and open a bagel joint next door.’ As soon as I had said it, I realized that might really work,” Boris says. “I could tell that he was not opposed to the idea, and maybe six months later he opened.”

The shop’s name originated from a Facebook post, in which a friend of Scott’s wrote: “Here’s your one and only chance to name a bagel shop.”

“People replied, and my favorite one was actually the first response,” Scott says. “Then it got snarky after 10.”

He opened the shop on Aug. 9 and has 10 employees. He says “business has been very good.”

“We have a Facebook page and Yelp, but haven’t really advertised,” Scott says. “We did a grand opening mailer, but otherwise it’s been word of mouth. And we’ve been doing really well. Sales have been increasing pretty dramatically over the past couple months.”

He is projecting sales of $300,000 in the first 12 months.

As the name suggests, the shop offers more than just bagels and lox. “Stocks” refer to the shop’s made-from-scratch soup stocks, Scott explains.

“We make everything homemade, including the soup,” he says. “We make it from bones and veggies. We smoke our own fish and cure our own lox. Nothing is frozen. Nothing is premade, except for the cream cheese.”

Meat is purchased locally from Long’s Meat Market and fish from Newman’s Fish Market. Coffee and espresso are from the Coffee Plant Roaster in Eugene.

Scott makes 11 different types of bagels, including salt bagels, which are an East Coast staple and his personal favorite. Bagels cost $1.25 each and are available in a baker’s dozen for $12.

Breakfast and lunch bagel sandwich options include lox and cream cheese, chopped liver, egg salad and smoked white fish with cream cheese. The shop sells three different salads and a soup of the day.

Prices vary from $1.75 for a bagel with butter, jam or honey spread to $9 for a lox and cream cheese bagel.

Catering services are also available with platters of bagel canapés. Canapés can include pastrami with cornichon and spicy mustard, lox with cream cheese and Bo’s red wine salt, chopped liver with egg salad, and smoked sable with horseradish cream.

Business is lively between 8 and 10 am and noon to 2 pm. The shop offers a

Scott Lilly displays some of the 11 varieties of bagels made daily at Lox, Stocks and Bagels.

A New Jersey native, Scott missed "real bagels" when he moved to Oregon in 2007. Scott’s New York-style bagels are boiled before baking, resulting in a crispier crust. Photo by Aliya Bree Hall

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student discount of 50-cent bagels, which contributes to a busy time after school gets out.

Scott says community response to the shop has been excellent.

“A lot of people are excited we’re open,” he says. “There’s no one selling what we’re selling.”

He says the most rewarding aspect of opening the shop has been the positive response of customers to his bagels, which confirmed the need for New York-style bagels in Eugene.

“Finding out there is a large group of people who actually want New York-style bagels,” he says. “Thank goodness.”

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OREGON JEWISH LIFE | MARCH 2018 13

INS & OUTS

Artists Repertory Theatre Artists Rep receives $7 million donation

Artists Repertory Theatre announced on Feb. 2 that it had received an anonymous donation of $7 million. This historic gift is in support of Artists Rep’s mission to produce intimate, provocative theater and provide a home for artists and audiences to take creative risks.

This is the largest donation made to Artists Repertory Theatre in its 35-year history and one of the largest gifts ever made to an Oregon arts institution. The funds are unrestricted and have been made available immediately.

This exceptional contribution has allowed Artists Rep to pay off its mortgage and other debt. Earlier this month, news reports focused on financial challenges, leadership transition and Artists Rep’s intention to sell half of its property to create a sustainable home and operating model for the organization. Artists Rep will proceed with the sale of the building.

This gift gives Artists Rep the stability to examine and consider this building project from all angles and make the best decisions for the organization throughout the process. Artists Rep will maintain the south side of block, located on Morrison Street, between SW 15th and SW 16th Avenues. The plan empowers Artists Rep to remodel the south half of the block in a way that right-sizes its facility by creating two theaters, multiple rehearsal spaces and offices, including space for the many theater organizations that call Artists Rep home via its ArtsHub residency program. Artists Rep looks forward to working with the buyer, Wood Partners, the City of Portland, the ArtsHub companies, audiences and the neighborhood throughout this process. artistsrep.org Portland Parks and Energy Trust partner for sustainability

Portland Parks & Recreation earned more than $250,000 in rebates in 2017 for the bureau’s efforts toward energy efficiency and sustainability. The savings to taxpayers are thanks to PP&R staff efforts and a partnership with the Energy Trust of Oregon.

The bureau will be reinvesting those rebates to launch an energyand water-saving project at 48 sites, which marks an effort toward sustainability on a much larger scale.

Portland Parks & Recreation is making a significant contribution toward the City’s commitment to using 100% renewable energy by 2050. This mark was established by a unanimous City Council vote in 2017, and Portland’s elected officials continue to recognize the 14 OREGON JEWISH LIFE | MARCH 2018

Solar panels at Matt Dishman Community Center

importance energy efficiency plays in reaching that achievement.

“Portland Parks & Recreation is leading the way towards sustainability and energy efficiency,” says Portland Parks Commissioner Amanda Fritz. “Our city must move towards sustainable practices as soon as possible. PP&R’s programs, sites and staff are becoming a model of how city government can embrace sustainability while reducing costs to taxpayers.”

Portland Parks & Recreation earned $267,191 in rebates from Energy Trust of Oregon in 2017, and thanks to ongoing energy-saving efforts, the bureau has another $120,841 in further credits earned for next year already. The credits were awarded in large part for upgrades to various building-control systems. portlandparks.org | energytrust.org Nominations are due for Jewish professional award

Nominations for the 2018 Laurie Rogoway Outstanding Jewish Professional Award are due at noon March 2. The award was established four years ago to honor Laurie Rogoway, a pillar of Jewish professional leadership for over 30 years in Portland.

The purpose of this award is to recognize an individual currently working in a professional capacity at a Jewish communal organization in Greater Portland. This is for early to mid-career professionals (minimum three years in Portland Jewish community). The nominee must demonstrate outstanding professional work and a commitment to the field of Jewish professional leadership.

The award will be presented at Federation’s Annual Meeting on June 14. The recipient will receive up to $1,800 to participate in a professional development experience.

For more information or a nomination form, contact Caron Blau Rothstein at caron@jewishportland.org or 503-245-6449.

Jewishportland.org

Biz Ins & Outs submissions Oregon Jewish Life welcomes submissions of news items for our Business Ins & Outs column. Please submit a brief write-up (up to 200 words), contact information (phone, email and/or website) and a photo of the person or product (attached jpg at largest available size). Submissions should be sent to Editor-in-Chief Deborah Moon at deborah.moon@ojlife.com by the 10th of the month for inclusion in the next month’s issue.

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15 Seder on Shabbat 16 Change-up your holiday 18 Bring Jerusalem (artichokes) to Pesach 20 Israeli suggests innovation 22 Glimpse Temple era ritual 24 Seders around the state

Passover

(March 31-April 7, 2018)

P

assover, also known as Pesach, is the eightday observance (seven in Israel) commemorating the freedom and exodus of the Israelites from slavery in Egypt. The seder plate with six symbolic foods takes center stage at the seder, a lavish ritual meal where we retell the story of Passover by reading the Haggadah.

In addition to the items on the seder plate, each of which represents a piece of the Exodus story, matzah is featured at both the seder and throughout the festival to represent the unleavened bread the Israelites ate when fleeing Egypt.

The first seder will be March 30. In the Portland area, you may eat chametz until 11:07 am. Burn remaining chametz crumbs in your home

by 12:11 pm. Candle lighting (one set works for both Shabbat and Passover) in the Portland area is 7:19 pm.

“Friday night, first seder, Shabbat kiddush is included in the kiddush as well as some other minor liturgical additions for Shabbat,” says Rabbi Tzvi Fischer, head of the Portland Kollel.

“Additionally, all cooking would need to be done prior to the onset of Shabbat.”

The second seder is Saturday evening, March 31. The seder begins after Shabbat ends at 8:22 pm in Portland. “The kiddush includes a special version of havdalah known by the acronym yaknehaz,” says Rabbi Fischer. “Usually havdalah concludes with ‘blessed be the Divine who separates between holy and mundane;’ here it concludes “who separates between holy and holy.’”

OREGON JEWISH LIFE | MARCH 2018 15

Tips for a pleasurable Passover

By Mala Blomquist

P

assover, which begins this year at sundown on March 30, is one of the most widely observed Jewish holidays. Every year families gather around the seder table to celebrate their Jewish heritage and commemorate the freedom of the Jewish people from Egyptian slavery and their Exodus from Egypt more than 3,000 years ago.

Often Jewish families integrate the old traditions they have shared for generations with innovative elements to keep the children (and many of the adults too!) alert and engaged during the seder. We have compiled some new ideas that you might consider integrating into your seder this year.

COVER YOUR CLOCKS Before the seder begins, cover all the clocks in your home and ask all of your guests to remove their watches. Also, ask guests to put their phones in a basket and put the basket in another room. This way everyone can completely focus on the seder. Talk about being a “slave” to time and technology and see what it’s like not to check the time (or texts or emails) for an evening.

PLACEMAT PUZZLES While most young children enjoy the seder, some moments may not hold their attention as long as others. Homemade placements can create a useful diversion when they get distracted. Use poster board or construction paper to create placemats decorated with Passover games and age-appropriate questions. Some ideas can be to create a maze (children can use their fingers to trace their way from slavery to freedom); do a “search and find” where Passover symbols are hidden in a picture; draw two Pharaohs with slight differences and see if the children can find them all; make a word search using Passover terms.

CHOOSING A HAGGADAH There are more than 3,000 editions of the Haggadah cataloged in the great library of the Jewish Theological Seminary, and every year more versions appear. The titles show the extensive variety: The Haggadah for the Liberated Lamb (for vegetarians), The Pride Freedom Seder Haggadah: The Stirring of Those Now Chosen (for the LGBTQ community), A Common Road to Freedom Haggadah (reflections by Jewish and African American leaders) and more that touch on topics of modern-day slavery, ecology, peace and justice. Then there is the old standby The Maxwell House Haggadah that was printed originally as a marketing promotion for Maxwell House coffee in 1932 and has been printed continuously ever since. There are estimated to be more than 50 million copies in print!

WAIT … THERE’S MORE THAN HAGGADAH Think of ways to tell the story that supplement the Haggadah. You can download a 10-minute play for free at Haggadot.com (you have to register, but it is quick and easy). If you are looking for more humorous options, check out the book Passover Parodies: Short Plays for the Seder Table by Shoshana Hantman. Passover Parodies consists of a series of 10-minute plays designed to entertain and educate.

You can also plan to telephone someone you love who isn’t at your seder. Put them on speaker phone, so the person can read a passage from the Haggadah.

16 OREGON JEWISH LIFE | MARCH 2018

FOUR QUESTIONS … AND MORE After the traditional Four Questions have been asked and answered, invite seder guests to answer four trivia questions that you’ve developed about historical events. They can be questions about Jewish athletes, actors, leaders or something non-Jewish. Have fun and be creative!

MATZAH FUN FACTS Cut up small squares of paper and design it to look like matzah on one side (or you can find paper that actually looks like matzah at some scrapbooking suppliers). On the plain side, write interesting matzah facts you have found through research. For example, did you know, in 2010 Chef Jon Wirtis of Shlomo and Vito’s New York Delicatessen in Tucson, created the world’s largest matzah ball. The 426-pound monstrosity was made from more than 1,000 eggs, 125 pounds of matzah meal, 25 pounds of schmaltz (fat) and 20 pounds of potato starch – and was created for the Tucson Jewish Food Festival.

Every time you eat a piece of matzah at the seder, have your child read an amazing matzah fact.

POURING PARTNERS Since everyone can pretend to be like royalty on seder night, and kings and queens certainly do not pour their own beverages – everyone gets a “pouring partner.” This person will fill their glass with wine or grape juice at the appropriate time. Your guests can pair up and have fun with this.

TASTE TESTS During the maror (bitter herb) section of the seder, you could have a “taste test” to have your guests try different foods and rank their bitterness. Traditionally horseradish and romaine lettuce are used, but neither one is typically “bitter.” Try items such as arugula, broccoli rabe, chard or turnip greens for a change.

You can also have your guests taste matzah from various sources to see which one is the best, or have different guests bring their best charoset and see whose wins a taste test. Just be sure to keep the chef of the charoset a secret until voting is complete.

HIDE AND SEEK Many a child is upset at not being the one to find the afikoman (the middle portion of matzah on the seder plate, which is hidden and then redeemed for a prize). One way to include everyone in the search is to create a scavenger hunt. Make envelopes with the children’s names on them holding clues inside. Only the child whose name is on the envelope gets to open that clue. The clues will guide the children to different places where the envelopes will be found. Once the last envelope is found, that clue will lead them all together to the place that the afikoman is hidden. Then, of course, everyone who participated in the search gets a prize.

WELCOMING ELIJAH AND ?

Before you open the door for Elijah to enter, have guests write down an imaginary guest that will enter with Elijah and what they would say when they first walked in. This can be anyone they want – living or dead. After singing “Eliahu Hanavi,” read the answers aloud. You may be surprised at who your guests invite in!

Whichever traditions you choose to incorporate into your seder doesn’t matter as much as the fact of sharing these traditions, whether new or old, so that they can continue to be passed down to the next generation as they have for almost 3,000 years.

OREGON JEWISH LIFE | MARCH 2018 17

Next Year in Jerusalem

By Lisa Glickman

I

began this day as I often do. I saw my son off to school then met up with my friend for our twice weekly morning walk with my dog. I returned home and made a second cup of coffee, then went out to feed and water my four chickens. Today, to my surprise, I discovered two perfect eggs waiting for me in the nest. I smiled as I realized that along with the crocus flowers that are beginning to poke out of the ground, these are sure signs of the beginning of spring.

Spring means the renewal of trees and flowers. The sun rises just a bit earlier and hangs out just a bit longer. We begin to feel a rejuvenation of spirit from the long dark days of winter, and rebirth begins to happen all around us. Springtime is also when we observe the holiday of Passover (March 30-April 7). The Passover seder calls us to retell the story of the Exodus of the Jews from Egypt. We remove chametz (leavened bread) from our homes and eat matzah instead of bread. The removal of chametz commemorates the fact that the Jews left Egypt in a hurry and did not have time to let their bread rise. It is also a symbolic way of removing the “puffiness” (arrogance, pride) from our souls.

The beauty of the renewal of spring is that though the telltale signs may look the same as the year before, we also have the opportunity to plant new seeds and enjoy an entirely new beginning. Just like the seasons, change is always inevitable. I always look forward to spring to celebrate all of the new life happening around me, and sometimes I see something I appreciate even more than I did the year before. It may be something large or just a small shift that turns life in an entirely new direction. For now, I’m just feeling grateful the chickens decided to start laying again!

This exciting new main dish for your Passover seder is an Lisa Glickman is a private chef and teacher adaptation of a recipe I found in my new cookbook, Jerusalem, who lives in Portland. She has made TV

by Yotam Ottolenghi and Sami Tamimi. Jerusalem artichokes appearances on COTV in Central Oregon and Meyer lemons, both sure signs of spring, come together and appeared on the Cooking Channel’s with floral saffron, fresh thyme and tarragon to create this “The Perfect Three.” simple dish that is marinated overnight then roasted in one She can be reached at lisa@lisaglickman.com. pan. It would be perfect served with a green salad and maybe a potato kugel on the side.

18 OREGON JEWISH LIFE | MARCH 2018

ROASTED CHICKEN THIGHS WITH JERUSALEM ARTICHOKES AND MEYER LEMON 1 pound Jerusalem artichokes (sunchokes), peeled and cut into 1-inch chunks 3 tablespoons freshly squeezed Meyer lemon juice 12 skin-on, bone-in chicken thighs 12 shallots, peeled and cut in half lengthwise 12 cloves of garlic, sliced thin 1½ whole Meyer lemons, sliced thin (save the remaining half for finishing the dish) 1 teaspoon saffron threads ¼ cup olive oil 1 teaspoon Aleppo pepper 8-10 sprigs of fresh thyme 1 bunch tarragon, leaves removed and finely chopped, divided 2 teaspoons salt ½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper Place the Jerusalem artichokes in a small pan with enough water to cover. Bring to a boil and cook for about 10-15 minutes until tender, but not soft. Drain and leave to cool. Place them and all other ingredients EXCEPT the last half of the lemon and half of the fresh tarragon in a large bowl and use your hands to mix everything together well. Cover and leave to marinate in the fridge overnight or for at least 2 hours.

Preheat the oven to 475 degrees.

Arrange chicken pieces skin side up in a large roasting pan and spread the rest of the ingredients around the chicken. Roast for 30 minutes.

Cover the pan with aluminum foil and continue to cook for another 30 minutes. At this point the chicken is done. Just before serving, turn on broiler. Uncover chicken and place under broiler for just a few minutes to brown the chicken.

Watch carefully so as not to burn it. Remove from oven and garnish with remaining lemon juice and fresh tarragon.

Stir sauce and taste. Add more salt if needed. Serve at once.

OREGON JEWISH LIFE | MARCH 2018 19

New melody and new question for Pesach

By Teddy Weinberger

A

s I was thinking about the upcoming Passover preparations, two distinct thoughts entered my mind. This year, I want to share two recommendations for Passover.

1. We all have our favorite Passover seder melodies. If we are guests at a seder where they sing a different melody to that passage of the Haggadah, then it just doesn’t feel right.

Sometimes even within one family there can be competing “must sing” versions of the same passage. Often the solution is to sing both versions. Something incredible, however, has happened to one traditional song of the Haggadah: a competing contemporary melody has succeeded in making it into many homes without having to settle for equal billing with the traditional melody. The new melody has totally displaced the old.

I am speaking of the passage “Vehi She’amdah.”

In 2009, American-born Israeli singer and songwriter Yonatan Razel created a new melody to “Vehi She’amdah” (“And it was this that has stood for our parents and for us”). He then teamed up with American Hassidic singer Yaakov Shwekey. It became a smash hit not only for Passover and not only for religious communities, but all across Israel. What makes Razel’s rendition so wonderful? As a way of answering this question, we can first consider why the traditional (Ashkenazi) melody held sway for so long. The old melody sounds remarkably close to a work song, which is what we are expecting in this part of the Haggadah (the next passage speaks about how the Egyptians “persecuted us and put us under hard labor”). Thanks to the old melody, you can almost see the slaves groaning under their load of heavy bricks.

Along comes Yonatan Razel’s song, and suddenly we realize that the words of this passage don’t jibe with a slave’s work song.

In this song, we have a kind of broad take on Jewish history smack in the middle of the Haggadah’s narrative. Razel’s melody, which begins with a feeling of starstruck wonder, gives beautiful voice to the riddle behind “and this has stood.” Just what is “this?” What precisely has stood in our favor despite all our enemies? Answer: I’m not telling. It’s a mystery – and a good discussion starter for your seder.

It is the second part of Razel’s song, so climactic and so powerful, that sends the old melody to the history bins. Rather 20 OREGON JEWISH LIFE | MARCH 2018

Yonatan Razel at the piano, his instrument of choice.

PHOTO BY OHAD ROMANO

than a recapitulation of the beginning melody (as in the traditional version), Razel’s ending feels like some kind of resolution to the problem of theodicy (how evil can exist if God is all powerful and all good). God is present in the face of all of our enemies. God saves, and as evidence we are still here to sing about it.

The melody is so magical that (as in some of the recorded versions) many people repeat the song as a niggun, without the words – something no one was ever tempted to do with the old melody. If you have not yet adopted this song for your Passover seder, Rabbi Google will be more than happy to help you out.

2. At the end of Passover last year, my son, Elie, asked me, “Did you grow spiritually during the holiday?” And I was taken aback. Because in the middle of the many details of Passover, it’s easy to lose sight of this question. After all, Passover is a most demanding holiday. There is much cleaning to do in the days leading up to the holiday and the seder is a major production. The week of Passover cooking on Passover implements with Passover food can be quite challenging.

Amidst everything it is good to remember Elie’s question. I am a religious Jew, and I believe that all the holiday’s laws and details are indeed designed for some kind of spiritual benefit, some kind of deepening or uplift. If I go through the entire Passover holiday without thinking about my relationship with the divine, then I have missed something. So this holiday, I’m going to try to remember Elie’s comment beforehand and not after the fact, and I encourage you all to do the same.

Happy Passover.

TEDDY WEINBERGER

Teddy Weinberger, Ph.D., writes from Givat Ze’ev, a suburb of Jerusalem just over the Green Line. He and his wife, Sarah Jane Ross, made aliyah in 1997 with their five children.

Teddy is director of development for Meaningful, a company that works with Israeli nonprofit organizations.

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Kosher slaughter offers glimpse of Passover in Temple era

By Rich Geller

W

ith the arrival of Passover later this month, most of us are looking forward to our seders. But for our distant ancestors Passover looked very different from today’s holiday. For the ancient Israelites, the primary Passover observance was not a seder but the ritual slaughter of a goat or lamb. While the seder may seem as if it came down from the time of Moses, it didn’t actually. The seder as we know it is a more recent innovation that didn’t really blossom until after the destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem in 70 C.E. However, for centuries while the Temple stood, Pesach was synonymous with the sacrifice of the Paschal or Passover lamb. The sacrifice was

conducted to commemorate the Exodus from Egypt and the lamb that Jews had to slaughter in order to smear blood on their doors to warn the angel of death to “pass over” their houses.

Passover was a pilgrimage festival, and people would gather from far and wide in Jerusalem. On the afternoon of the 14th of Nissan, each family would bring a 1-year-old goat or lamb, without blemish, for sacrifice to the high priests, who would slaughter the animal. The priests would collect bowls of the animal’s blood and pass them to other priests who would sprinkle the blood upon the altar. The animal was skinned, the entrails removed and fat from the abdomen placed on the altar to be burned as an offering to G-d. The family would take their lamb or goat home to roast and eat with unleavened bread and bitter herbs. There would be a telling of the story of the Exodus during the course of the meal. The feast had to be completely consumed by midnight on the 15th of Nissan. With the Temple’s end came the end of the Paschal lamb sacrifice. Today the shank bone on the seder plate represents the Paschal lamb of long ago.

We roast the bone just as the lamb was roasted in ancient times.

For Jews, especially at Passover, food both connects us to our past and ensures our future. Last Animals roam freely on the Weisman family farm, where the family is closely connected to its food supply.

The shochet’s knife, a challif, must be smooth and sharp.

22 OREGON JEWISH LIFE | MARCH 2018

year, I had an experience that really drove this point home. I was invited to a kosher slaughter. Using much the same methods as those used in the Paschal lamb sacrifice, kosher slaughter today is like living history.

Eliyahu Weisman is a yeshiva scholar in his mid-30s who has recently become a shochet (kosher slaughterer). I met Eliyahu through my work at Trader Joe’s. We struck up a conversation about kosher food in the Portland area, and he mentioned he had moved to Portland from Jerusalem with his wife, Malka, and their four children. He invited me to witness a shechita (slaughter). A city boy, I had never seen anything larger than a spider killed and was used to my meat magically appearing on grocery shelves in shiny plastic packages! Nevertheless, my curiosity was piqued.

Born and raised in Los Angeles, Eliyahu spent the last 16 years studying at Brisk Yeshiva in Jerusalem under the tutelage of Rabbi Dovid Soloveitchik. He began slaughtering animals in anticipation of his move to Portland. Uncertain of the kosher meat supply in Oregon, Eliyahu seized the opportunity to learn from a top Israeli shochet in Jerusalem, Rabbi Avraham Cohen.

Eating, especially for Jews, is about much more than simple nutrition. Eliyahu cites spiritual reasons as well for choosing to nourish his family on meat he slaughters himself. He believes that eating meat helps him to better serve G-d, citing the great sage Maimonides, who emphasized that “One cannot serve G-d if one is … malnourished.” In other words, eating well and taking care of one’s health is a necessary prerequisite for being present as an observant Jew. For countless generations, meat consumed by Jews was procured locally and slaughtered by those familiar with kosher slaughter techniques. This method of slaughter, known as shechita, was intended to be as compassionate as possible, granting the animal a quick, painless death.

The Torah implies that a method of ritual slaughter exists, but does little to define it. “You may slaughter any of the cattle or sheep that the Lord gives you as I have instructed you.”

Deuteronomy 12:21. The Torah prohibits the consumption of blood, which must be drained and removed.

The Torah also teaches us that prior to the flood, humans were primarily vegetarian. “I give to you every seed bearing plant upon the Earth…they shall be yours for food.” Genesis 1:29. After the flood, G-d informs Noah and his descendants that meat-eating is permissible “Every creature that lives shall be yours to eat; as with the green grasses …You must not, however, eat flesh with its lifeblood in it.” Gen 9:3. It was not until the Torah was revealed at Mount Sinai that the full flowering of kashrut went into effect.

Extrapolating from the barebones description provided by the Torah, the oral law or Mishnah (considered to have been revealed at Sinai contemporaneously with the Torah) contains a highly detailed set of rules pertaining to slaughter. The Mishnah was redacted and committed to writing in the first and second centuries of the Common Era by a group of rabbis. The chapter that codifies ritual slaughter is entitled Chullin.

The shochet’s knife is called a challif. While metal knives are most common, technically any material can be used in a challif, as long as it is sufficiently smooth and sharp.

The shochet gradually became a professional position requiring training and certification. The town shochet was a person of great honor in the community. A shochet must be a pious and “blameless Jew.” Just as kosher meat must be without blemish, so must a shochet be a man without blemish of the soul.

When I met with Eliyahu and his wife and daughter at Garden Vineyards in Hillsboro, I was under the impression that I would be merely observing a kosher slaughter for the purpose of this article. Eliyahu had other plans. He asked me if I would participate! After a moment’s hesitation, and with my manhood clearly on the line, I said yes!

The weather that morning was what my mom used to call “raw.”

A deep, bone-chilling cold hung in the late-winter air. A couple of farmhands led Billy the ram to a small field, where we laid the animal down on its back. I held the rear legs, while one of the farmhands held the forelegs. Eliyahu snipped the dark brown fur away from the animal’s neck. He examined the knife a final time and almost under his breath recited the prayer just before the incision was made. To be a kosher cut, the shochet must cut cleanly through the trachea and esophagus. The cut was made, and the head was turned to allow the blood to drain out of the neck.

The ram exhaled a final breath in a cloud of condensation and kicked one final reflex kick.

An examination found no defects in the lung or other organs, so the meat was kosher! Eliyahu skins and butchers the animal himself. He has a large freezer at home for the meat he brings home.

Eliyahu describes the moment of the kill as a moment of intense awareness. “Clarity of perception through the prism of the laws enables one to know if the shechita is kosher.” There is also a humbling sense of responsibility. “This animal gave its life for you. You had better do something positive with the energy you get from eating that animal. You better perform a mitzvah.”

Eliyahu has consulted with renowned animal rights activist Temple Grandin on keeping the animal calm prior to slaughter.

She gave him the following advice: “You should do what keeps the cow calm. It is important that it does not see a lot of movement.

You may be interested to read my book Thinking in Pictures. In two chapters, I discuss kosher slaughter.” Grandin has helped to move kosher slaughter into the 21st century by devising advances in animal restraints that hold an animal calmly in place for the shechita.

Today shechita is under assault across Europe as animal rights activists have carried out successful lobbying campaigns that have resulted in shechita being banned in countries such as Sweden, Norway and Denmark.

Yet in the end, the shochet with the sharpest knife often has the kindest heart. Writing in the forward of her book, Grandin stated, “If the cut is made correctly and the knife has no nicks the animal feels little or no pain.”

We live in an age when so many of us are so utterly disconnected from our food supply. Learning about and experiencing shechita with Eliyahu has provided me with much food for thought.

OREGON JEWISH LIFE | MARCH 2018 23

Seders around Oregon MARCH 22 19th annual community intergroup Passover seder.

6 pm at the MJCC, 6651 SW Capitol Hwy., Portland. RSVP

by March 8: 503-245-6219 or laurar@jewishportland.org

MARCH 30 Vancouver Passover Seder.

7:30 at Chabad Jewish Center of Clark County, 9604 NE 126th Ave., Vancouver. RSVP: jewishvancouverwa.com/ holiday-celebrations

Crowley Ave. SE, Salem.

RSVP at JewishSalem.com or call 503-383-9569

Hillsboro Pesach Seder.

7:30 pm at Chabad Jewish Center of Hillsboro, 965 SE Brookwood Ave., Hillsboro.

Registration required: ChabadH.com or 503-747-5363 Chabad at Reed Student Led Passover Seder (10th Annual).

7:15 pm at Chabad HouseJewish Student and Community Center, 3355 SE Steele St., Portland. All college students are welcome. Free. RSVP to RabbiDov@JewishReed.com

Salem Seder.

7 pm at Chabad Center for Jewish Life-Salem, 1370

Family Style Community Seder.

7:30-10:30 pm at the Chabad Center for Jewish Life: 2858 NE Sandy Blvd., Portland. RSVP by March 25: JewishNortheast.com/seder Community Passover Seder as Theatre. 5:30 pm at Gesher, 10701 SW 25th Ave., Portland.

Info: gesher@comcast.net or 503-246-5070. RSVP necessary: ourjewishhome.org

Young Adult Seder sponsored

by Moishe House.

6-8 pm at Congregation Beth Israel, 1972 NW Flanders, Portland. hersch.moishepdx@gmail.com

MARCH 31

Passover Seder as Theater for Families with Younger Children. 4 pm in Gesher’s Passover Tent, 10701 SW 25th Ave., Portland. Role play the Passover story. Info: Rabbi Laurie at gesher@comcast. net or 503-246-5070. RSVP necessary: ourjewishhome.org

SE Portland Passover Seder (10th Annual). 7:15 pm at Chabad House-Jewish Student and Community Center, 3355 SE Steele St., Portland. Large family discounts available.

RSVP: RabbiDov@JewishReed.com Passover: A Redemption Song/traditional seder.

6:30 doors open, 7 pm seder at Congregation Shaarie Torah, 920 NW 25th Ave, Portland. RSVP by March 26: shaarietorah.org or 503-266-6131 Havurah Shalom Community Seder.

6-8:30 pm at Havurah Shalom, 825 NW 18th Ave., Portland. Vegetarian, with gluten-free, nut-free and dairyfree options. RSVP by March 23: tinyurl.com/HSeder2018 Community Passover Seder sponsored by Kol Shalom Community for Humanistic Judaism.

4 pm check in/social hour, 5 pm seder at the Starlight Room, 1125 SE Madison St. Portland Reservations: kolshalom.org, info@kolshalom.org or 503-459-4210

24 OREGON JEWISH LIFE | MARCH 2018

Second Night Seder with Portland Unshul.

6 pm at The Q Center, 4115 N. Mississippi Ave., Portland. rabbidebra@asthespiritmovesus. com

APRIL 1 Passover Seder for Men with Rabbi Gary.

6 pm at 10701 SW 25th Ave., Portland. Men in the making (adolescents) welcome. Info: Rabbi Gary at gesher@comcast. net or 503-246-5070. RSVP necessary: ourjewishhome.org

APRIL 6 Passover Seder for Singles and Couples (Adults only, all relationships welcome).

6 pm in Gesher’s Passover Tent, 10701 SW 25th Ave., Portland. Info: Rabbi Laurie at gesher@comcast.net or 503 246-5070. RSVP necessary: ourjewishhome.org

THE HAROLD SCHNITZER FAMILY PROGRAM IN JUDAIC STUDIES Upcoming Events

More information at www.pdx.edu/judaic/events • Contact us at judaicst@pdx.edu MONDAY • APRIL 9 • 2018

SUNDAY • APRIL 15 • 2018 SUNDAY • APRIL 22 • 2018

WEDNESDAY • APRIL 25 • 2018

Dr. Timothy Snyder

Dr. Aviva Halamish

The 2018 Lorry I. Lokey Program "Not What You Think: The Role of the Holocaust in the Establishment of Israel" with Dr. Aviva Halamish (Open University of Israel) 6:30pm 238 Smith Memorial Student Union, Portland State University

History of Antisemitism Two-day mini-course with Dr. John Efron (UC Berkley) 9:00am to 5:00pm 350 Karl Miller Center, Portland State University

The 11th Annual Sara Glasgow Cogan Memorial Lecture "Resisting Tyranny: Lessons from the European 20th Century" with Dr. Timothy Snyder (Yale) 7:00pm Hoffman Hall Portland State University (1833 SW 11th Ave)

OREGON JEWISH LIFE | MARCH 2018 25

Photo by Donna Kleinman

26 OREGON JEWISH LIFE | MARCH 2018

COV E R S TO RY

F ROB AND MARA SHLACHTER Connecting young people to a brighter future

By Deborah Moon

or decades Rob and Mara Shlachter have opened their hearts and home to youth and young adults.

They have donated their time and money to create or enhance programs that give young people the skills, confidence and connections they need for a bright future.

In Portland alone, they have been instrumental in creating or enhancing several organizations and programs.

When one takes the lead in a project, the other is always on hand to provide backup and support. For Mara’s part, support almost always includes food and an invitation to the couple’s Portland home or vacation home on the coast. Many of the young people they work with maintain lifelong connections with each other and the couple.

“Rob and I can’t help it; maybe we’re too much family oriented,” says Mara. “That is how we are and that is how we treat the students.”

“We love being around young people,” Rob adds. “We like those formative years. … It keeps us young and current on pop culture and everything else.”

In 1995 Mara organized Portland’s first JCC Maccabi team and served as delegation head for nine years; Rob coached whichever sport Mara needed a coach for each year. For more than 20 years, the two have coached high school mock trial teams, first at Catlin Gabel and now at Lincoln High School. Three of those teams became state champions. The two provided key leadership and funding to create the Hillel of Greater Portland, with Rob serving as the first board chair. Rob mentored five young professionals in Jewish Federation of Greater Portland’s first cohort of PDX Pathways; Mara hosted events at their home for Rob’s group and an anniversary dinner for everyone involved in the first year of the program.

PDX HILLEL HONORS COUPLE Now one of those organizations, Hillel of Greater Portland, has chosen Rob and Mara as the honorees at the 10th Anniversary Celebration of PDX Hillel (see page 30). Neither Rob nor Mara do what they do expecting recognition, and they both say they accept the honor as a way to draw attention to Hillel.

“I’m so embarrassed,” says Mara of being honored. “So many people do so much in this town. But I’m happy if we are bringing important attention to Hillel.”

OREGON JEWISH LIFE | MARCH 2018 27

MO

NT DEO EV I

Above: Mara and Rob (at right) Shlachter hosted educators, community leaders and philanthropists at their home in 2012 to showcase the wonderful connections and programs that developed at the Greater Portland Hillel during its first three years.

POR TL AN D

Right: The third of nine Portland JCC Maccabi teams Mara coached won 40 medals in 1997. This article in the Jewish Review showcased the team of 43 12- to 16-year-old athletes who experienced friendship, tzedakah, sports and fun among some 1,100 young Jewish athletes from around the country.

Rob and Mara Shlachter (seated far right) coached this Lincoln High School Mock Trial team to become State Champions in 2003. The team included several Jewish teens, including daughter, Jenna Shlachter (who was on all three state championship teams the Shlachters coached). Other Jewish teammates (pictured) were Brian Kettler, Sam Zackheim, Matt Berning, Scott Rosenthal and Maura Kaminash.

28 OREGON JEWISH LIFE | MARCH 2018

ROB AND MARA SHLACHTER Rob adds, “This is nothing we seek. The important thing is that this event is able to draw attention to the good work Hillel is doing. If people see this because of our names, we are honored. It is about the mission, not the honorees.”

PDX Hillel Director Rhonda Abrams thinks it’s about the honorees too: “Rob and Mara are well-deserving of this honor.

Personally, I wouldn’t be in this role today if it weren’t for Rob’s mentorship in the Jewish Federation PDX Pathways program, and his seat on the PDX Hillel board of directors. I can’t imagine how many other young adults’ lives they have touched.”

Current PDX Hillel Board Chair Debbie Plawner also believes the couple richly deserve the recognition.

“We are honoring Rob and Mara because as one of our founders, our first board president and an active board member for each of our 10 years of existence, Rob has given voluntary leadership, financial support and wisdom to almost every committee, program, staff member, student leader and board member of our organization,” says Debbie. “He and his wife, Mara, are devoted to building the next generation of Jewish leaders. From hosting Shabbaton retreats and holidays to generous support for a broad range of Jewish educational experiences, Rob and Mara model for our local Jewish college students what it means to be Jewish leaders. When I look at how PDX Hillel students graduate and become Jewish community leaders, I can almost see the spark that Rob and Mara passed on to them through their mentorship, kindness and inspiration.”

Attendees at the anniversary brunch will have the opportunity to hear one example of how Hillel alumni “exemplify Jewish leadership and credit PDX Hillel for the development of their skills and life purpose.” Noa Raman, who will be a speaker at the event, is the Northwest campus director of StandWithUs, an Israel education organization. While a student at Lewis & Clark College, Noa went on a Birthright Israel trip during the Gaza war. When she returned to Portland, she saw the political climate surrounding discussion of Israel worsening. “I felt it was my duty to step up,” says Noa. “I organized a Hillel event focused on presenting Jewish perspectives on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict that featured representatives from AIPAC and JStreet. This ignited a passion within me to help students seek the truth and become responsible lifelong learners.” It also set Noa on her path to becoming a leader in the broader Jewish community.

PATH TO PDX HILLEL BEGAN IN URUGUAY But what set Rob and Mara on their path to help found PDX Hillel?

In 2003 their son, David, graduated from college and their daughter, Jenna, graduated from high school, both intending to take a gap year.

“They came to us and said let’s do something as a family,” says Rob. “When your 18- and 22-year-old kids want to spend time with you, you don’t say no.”

So they began researching safe places to spend three months.

The family already had lived in Israel for three months in 1998/99 while David attended Alexander Muss High School.

“Through our connections at federation, we were told about a new Hillel in Montevideo (Uruguay),” says Rob. “We contacted

people there, and they said they would find us a place to live and things to do.”

Find things to do they did. In addition to volunteering at the Hillel, they also volunteered at the Jewish day school.

Soon after the family arrived in Uruguay, Mara wrote the following in an email to friends: “We are all teaching English about five hours a day. In addition, Rob and Dave have started a basketball clinic, Jenna has begun teaching rugby, and I have been teaching art classes and preparing curricula in tzedakah and tikkun olam, which the entire high school will begin teaching next week. Dave and Jen also run an English conversation class at Hillel on Wednesday nights.”

David and Jenna formed lasting friendships with the Hillel students. The two arrived in Uruguay a week before their parents and ended up staying at the Hillel all week to participate in “Survivor Sukkah,” which was adapted from the TV show “Survivor” to celebrate Sukkot at the Hillel.

When Rob and Mara arrived they were very impressed by the Hillel, which unlike most Hillels was not based on one campus – it was a city Hillel for all college students in Montevideo. Rob says Montevideo and Portland are similar in the size of both the general and Jewish populations.

“The building was fabulous,” says Rob. “It was in the city and very functionally built.

It was needed. We liked the direction. … We felt Portland ~Mara Shlachter deserved a Hillel.”

Three years later the idea resurfaced during a conversation with Aaron Pearlman, the community outreach director for the Harold Schnitzer Family Program in Judaic Studies at Portland State University. “Aaron said, ‘We need Hillel and I’d like to be the first director,’ ” says Rob. “I said, ‘We’d like to be involved.’ ” In May 2008 more than 40 people gathered to collaborate on the need for a Hillel in Portland.

“My wife and I said we would help get it off the ground and commit funds with two conditions,” says Rob. Those conditions were a pledge of support for three years from the Schnitzer family and buy-in from the Jewish federation with a commitment for three years. Rob wanted to guarantee funding for three years “so we wouldn’t have to worry about funds for tomorrow from day one.”

That summer JFGP made a three-year commitment of $35,000 from funds outside the annual campaign to help Hillel. When The Harold/Arlene/Jordan Schnitzer Family pledged funds for three years from their CARE Foundation, Rob and Mara also made a

“I was raised that if you see something that needs to be done, just do it; don’t wait for someone else to do it because they probably won’t.”

OREGON JEWISH LIFE | MARCH 2018 29

Right: Mara Shlachter designed this chuppah and ketubah for the 2009 marriage of David Shlachter to Orlee Rabin. Since she could never persuade her son to help her set up the family sukkah each year, she designed this chuppah to become an easy-to-erect sukkah for David and Orlee each year. She designed the four posts as trees, which she had made by a local metalworker.

GREATER PORTLAND HILLEL 10TH ANNIVERSARY BRUNCH WHEN: 10 am, April 29, 2018 WHERE: Mittleman Jewish Community Center, 6651 SW Capitol Hwy., Portland HONORING: Rob and Mara Shlachter TICKETS: $36 available at pdxhillel.org/celebrate10 or 503-867-3646 Mara Shlachter designed a logo for each JCC Maccabi team she headed.

30 OREGON JEWISH LIFE | MARCH 2018

ROB AND MARA SHLACHTER three-year pledge, and Rob agreed to serve as the first board chair.

The Greater Portland Hillel, or PDX Hillel, was founded in 2008 to serve the Jewish students attending schools in the greater Portland area – primarily on the campuses of Portland State University, Reed College and Lewis & Clark College.

The first three years created a successful addition to the community. In 2012 Rob and Mara invited community leaders, educators and philanthropists to their home for an overview of the Hillel’s success and the need for ongoing financial support.

CONNECTIONS, COMMUNITY & CONTINUITY Two years ago when PDX Hillel needed a new director, Rob reached out to PDX Pathways. Rhonda (Kruschen) Abrams, who had been in Rob’s mentor group, jumped at the opportunity and is now in her second year as executive director. She will be leaving after the 10th anniversary event to accompany her husband, Daniel, to Chicago, where he has been accepted to the University of Chicago Law School.

For Rob, having one of his mentees become the head of an organization he helped create is just one more example of the connections, community and continuity he and Mara strive to build. Another one of his mentor group, Ben Weinstein, is now on the Hillel board. Two past student board presidents, Marcus Dorsen and Kelsey Kaplan, also serve on the PDX Hillel board.

“That is how you build community,” says Rob. “I love that kind of stuff.”

Looking back on Hillel’s first decade, both Mara and Rob say they are proud of all that has been accomplished, and they look forward to an even more successful second decade.

“We hope to expand services and reach more students and have more contact with the students we already reach,” says Rob. “We want to bring more Jewish experiences and meaning into their lives and be a resource for challenging times and fun times.”

While one might think Rob and Mara spend all their time volunteering, that is not the case.

Rob is a trial lawyer and a partner at Stoll Berne Lokting & Shlachter in Portland. On March 16, he will be awarded the Owen Panner Professionalism Award by the Litigation Section of the State Bar of Oregon, about which he says, “I am very proud of this award.”

Rob served as a board member of the Jewish Federation of Greater Portland for almost 20 years and was president from 2001-03. He was on the board of the MJCC during its renovation. He is presently a member of the Oregon Jewish Community Foundation and Greater Portland Hillel boards.

Beginning in 1969, Mara was a nurse active in women’s reproductive rights; she retired from nursing in 1983 to spend more time with her kids. She had started creating Judaic artwork in 1982, making chuppot and ketubot for weddings and tallitot and kippot for b’nai mitzvahs. That evolved into an event-planning business while the family lived in Los Angeles.

CREATING PROGRAMS BEGAN WITH KOALA Los Angeles is also where Mara created her first program. The school district had cut funding for art and physical education, so

Mara started an afterschool program at her children’s elementary school. Following the mantra that it is better to seek forgiveness than ask permission, Mara says, “I got if off the ground then went to the school district and asked ‘Did I need a permit to do this?’ ” Her KOALA (Kids on a Learning Adventure) became a pilot program for the district.

“I was raised that if you see something that needs to be done, just do it; don’t wait for someone else to do it because they probably won’t,” says Mara.

When the Shlachters moved to Portland in 1991, Mara continued creating Judaica. Her tapestries can be seen twice a year at Portland congregations. Every year during High Holiday services, Havurah Shalom hangs the tapestries she created for David’s and Jenna’s bar and bat mitzvahs. And the tapestries that Barb Schwartz commissioned for her twins b’nai mitzvah are now draped on the sukkah at Congregation Neveh Shalom every year.

Since she and Rob are now grandparents (Sigal is almost 3 and Zev is 1), Mara has “officially retired” as a Judaic artist. But she occasionally succumbs to requests from someone she made a bar mitzvah tallit for years ago who now wants her to craft the ketubah for their wedding.

She also continued volunteering and creating programs when she saw a need.

“If someone says it can’t be done, that’s my thing,” she says.

For example, Portland didn’t have a Maccabi team, so in 1994 she arranged for David to play on the Seattle soccer team at that year’s JCC Maccabi Games. She tagged along and hung out with the delegation coach. The Los Angeles delegation coach mentored her, too. The next year, she started a team in Portland and took seven kids to compete at the games in Los Angeles. One year during her nine years as delegation head, she took 63 kids to compete.

“It was a way to keep them engaged in their Judaism,” says Mara.

She also joined Rob coaching Mock Trial, originally at Catlin Gabel where David was a student. When David moved to Lincoln High School, Rob and Mara started coaching there. While Jenna was on the team, Lincoln won three state championships. Among the many other Jewish students who were part of their teams were Andrew and Scott Rosenthal, Emily Lande, David Barker, Maura Kaminash, Brian Kettler, Erica Mandell, Julie Becker, Britta Lokting, Max Masin, Marty Berger, Simon Yugler, Sam Zackheim, and Joel and Matt Berning.

Mara says she has seen kids develop lifelong friendships through the Maccabi Games, Mock Trial and at Hillel. The students also stay in touch with the Shlachters.

Every year Mara hosts a Mock Trail holiday party and of the 225 kids they coached over the years, about 50 show up each year.

Rob receives a phone call or email almost every week from one of their “kids” who went through one of their programs.

Mara says she often hears from kids five, 10 or 15 years later.

“They call and say, ‘This specific skill came in handy for this situation at work.’ …We give them a sense of confidence and accomplishment.”

Those lifelong connections mean everything to the Shlachters and speak glowingly to the inner satisfaction of giving back.

OREGON JEWISH LIFE | MARCH 2018 31

32 Gain lifeskills at camp 34 Fire can’t dim spirit 36 Jewish camps thrive 38 Parent’s summer blues 40 News from camp 42 BB launches day camp 43 Solomon Schecter grows 44 Camp-Hebrew school tie 45 Camp Directory

A KIDS GROW AT OVERNIGHT, DAY AND JEWISH CAMPS

32 OREGON JEWISH LIFE | MARCH 2018

necdotal evidence has long shown that summer camp helps children learn valuable life skills that enhance their lives in college and beyond. Jewish sleep-away camps have the added benefit of creating confident, engaged Jewish adults.

In recent years, two studies have come out with statistics that prove the stories.

The 2011 Camp Works study from the Foundation for Jewish Camp (jewishcamp. org) revealed that adults who attended a Jewish camp in their youth are “30% more likely to donate to a Jewish charity; 37% more likely to light Shabbat candles; 45% more likely to attend synagogue monthly or more; and 55% more likely to be very emotionally attached to Israel.”

Last year, the American Camp Association (acacamps.org) completed Phase 1 of its five-year Youth Impact Study.

ACA Director of Research Dr. Laurie Browne says these preliminary findings point to the numerous ways camp prepares children for college, careers and beyond.

Following are some of those emerging themes: Camp appears to be a key context for developing relationship skills. Preliminary findings suggest that camp is an integral

part of a young person’s overall learning, alongside school and other educational contexts. Camp is a unique learning experience that appears to promote skills transferable to 21st-century school and work contexts. Camp gives campers the opportunity to practice being around and appreciating people with attitudes, values and abilities different from their own.

Year two of the study will determine the most distinct and transferable outcomes of camp and the camp mechanisms that promote these.

Fortunately, families do not have to limit themselves to one type of camp. Many families opt to send kids to sleep-away camp for a portion of the summer and then use day camps as an add-on option for kids who still have free time before school starts.

Day camps are perfect for kids who have other part-time summer obligations such as sport teams or family vacations. Day camps allow children to explore new interests or develop existing skills. Special-interest camps such as art, theater, science and sports camps give children the chance to explore their interests or to experiment with a new area in a nonthreatening setting.

OREGON JEWISH LIFE | MARCH 2018 33

Wildfire destroyed the site but not the spirit of URJ Camp Newman

By Mala Blomquist

W

ithin three weeks of the Oct. 8, 2017, wildfire that destroyed URJ Camp Newman, a site to hold their 2018 summer camp was located.

The Union for Reform Judaism camp will convene at the California State University Maritime Academy in Vallejo, about an hour southwest of the Santa Rosa camp.

“We have exclusive use of the facilities while we are there.

It will be smaller, but we are excited to be able to run camp and offer it to the community,” says Camp Director Rabbi Erin Mason.

Last year, URJ Camp Newman celebrated 70 years of Jewish camping in the West. Although they have had various 34 OREGON JEWISH LIFE | MARCH 2018

Above: Amid the charred vegetation, Camp Newman’s Star of David survived.

Right: URJ Camp Newman Executive Director Ruben Arquilevich hold prayer books and tallitot that were stored in a shed that escaped fire damage.

names and locations over the decades, they had been at the Santa Rosa location on Porter Creek Road for more than 20 years.

They have no idea when they will be able even to begin the process of rebuilding as they are still waiting for the U.S. Army Corp of Engineers to begin their clean up.

“We have been pushed back a few time due to the enormity and vast amount of clean up in the area,” explains Erin. “We have been told three different dates when they think clean up will be complete, but they are really just starting the process.

Once they come in and clean up, then we have to go back in and see what it looks like from there. We are not going to know our timeline for at least another six months.”

There are a couple of things that survived the devastating fire, and when you consider that they are made of wood – it’s pretty extraordinary. The first is the giant Star of David that sits on the hill. The Star is constructed of wood but is mounted on a large rock. “It is a sight – seeing it in person,” says Erin. “When you are standing in the middle of camp and you can look up and see the Star – it’s pretty amazing.”

Another survivor of the fire is a shed that contained sacred texts, prayer books and the tallitot. “It’s a wooden shed that you can see where the flames went underneath, and you can see where the flames were on the trees around it, but the shed is untouched,” says Erin.

The outpouring from the camping community has also been incredible. In addition to their summer camp program, Camp Newman also offers retreats throughout the year to local congregations and other organizations. Trying to find a new location for these retreats has proved challenging.

“Every time we call someone and ask to set up a tour [of their camp facility] the first thing they say is, ‘Our hearts are with you. We will do whatever we can to help you,’ The feeling is not only from the Jewish camps that are part of our network in the Bay Area and California but across America,” explains Erin.

Many individual campers from across the United States are doing mitzvah projects for their b’nai mitzvah that benefit Camp Newman. Two children from sister camp URJ Goldman Union Camp Institute in Indiana are making mezuzot and sending them. “We need a mezuzah for every single dorm room,” says Erin.

From that first evening when they were processing what was happening, Erin says they knew one thing for sure: “Camp Newman is about community; ... people and the community that we create together – that is stronger than any site.”

Even though they felt this way, camp staff was still nervous about how the community would react to having camp at this new location. When they opened up summer registration, the reservations started pouring in.

“It was such a validation of what we had already felt from our community – that they just want to be together, they want the experience that being at Camp Newman gives them,” says Erin. “Even though we are at a different place, we are going to have the same ruach, we are going to have the same

community, and we are going to have the same love of camp that we had when we were at Porter Creek.”

California State University will offer some opportunities that their forest location did not have including an Olympicsize swimming pool and an indoor beach volleyball court.

But there are also significant activities that they don’t offer, including the high elements ropes course. “That is an integral part of our program, and we think it is so important in terms of building confidence, resilience, trying new things and pushing yourself to new heights – literally,” says Erin. They are currently looking for a place to take campers offsite so they can still create this experience for them. They are facing each new challenge as it arises.

“This whole experience has been such a dramatic learning curve,” explains Erin. “You never wish to learn, in this way, how you or your community respond to tragedy and crisis.

What we’ve found is such positivity and support for the work that we do. It’s really been uplifting to our whole team.”

For more information on URJ Camp Newman, visit campnewman.org.

6POINTSSPORTS.ORG/CALIFORNIA CAMPNEWMAN.ORG 6POINTSSCITECH.ORG/WEST OREGON JEWISH LIFE | MARCH 2018 35

Jewish camps are thriving

By Deborah Moon

While visiting camps and meeting camp leaders in Oregon, Foundation for Jewish Camp CEO Jeremy Fingerman stopped by to see an old friend, Rabbi Joshua Stampfer, who officiated at Jeremy’s 1973 bar mitzvah in Jerusalem. Jeremy says, “I brought with me the Tanakh which Rabbi Stampfer inscribed to me as follows many years ago: ‘Presented to Jeremy Fingerman in the Eternal City, Jerusalem, on Shabbat Vayigash, December 29, 1973, in celebration of his Bar Mitzvah at the World Council of United Synagogue Center.’ Very special indeed!” In 1954, Rabbi Stampfer founded Camp Solomon Schechter near Olympia, WA.

I

have the best product to sell – Jewish summer camp,” said Jeremy Fingerman, CEO of the Foundation for Jewish Camp, during a visit to Oregon last August. Quite a statement from a man with a 20+ year career in consumer packaged goods – beginning at General Mills Inc., then Campbell Soup Company and finally as CEO of Manischewitz.

Since Jeremy became FJC CEO in 2010, the number of Jewish campers has increased by 17% to 90,000 annually across North America. Since 2006, there has been a steady rise in campers, camps and the number of campers per camp; the number of campers has grown by 23%, with the number of camps in the FJC network growing by 13%. FJC now works with more than 300 day and overnight camps and summer experiences from all streams of Jewish belief and practice to promote excellence in their management and program. FJC also works with communities to increase awareness and promote enrollment.

“There is nothing else in our Jewish community that is as effective as camp,” says Jeremy. “It is joyous Judaism. Kids are having a wonderful Jewish experience at 160 different overnight and 150-plus day camps. The smiles are the same. Judaism is vibrant and alive.”

Jeremy discovered the joy of Judaism and made lifelong friends as a child during many wonderful summers at Camp Ramah in Wisconsin. He started his Jewish communal work in high school, serving as international president of United Synagogue Youth.

A self-proclaimed “camp fanatic,” Jeremy says his goal is

36 OREGON JEWISH LIFE | MARCH 2018

to get more kids to Jewish camps. To achieve that, he focuses on three areas: building leadership through professional development; amplifying Jewishness and Israel education at camps; and expanding the field by attracting more campers.

FJC’s One Happy Camper grants of $1,000 for first-time campers has had a tremendous impact on increasing camp participation. In Oregon alone, 374 new campers went to camp with this incentive grant over the past five years. And the retention rate is amazing – “87% return for year two,” says Jeremy. “Once we get them in the door, they stay. Camp delivers.”

“Jewish camps are in the business of making mensches,” says Jeremy.

As a “brand guy,” Jeremy says he wants to expand the FJC brand to include Israel trips in addition to overnight camp and day camp. “We have had camps expand their brand,” he says.

For instance, this summer BB Camp will offer a day camp in Portland (see page 42). “Day camps are the first Jewish experience for many families,” says Jeremy.

Specialty camps are another area for expansion. There are now specialty Jewish camps including sports, wellness, environment, outdoor adventure and business.

“Not every camp is right for every camper,” says Jeremy.

“Jewish kids shouldn’t have to give up anything for choosing a Jewish camp.”

During his Oregon visit, Jeremy reconnected with Rabbi Joshua Stampfer, who officiated at his bar mitzvah. He also toured the Mittleman Jewish Community Center Day Camp, met with Camp Solomon Schechter leadership, spoke at an intimate community reception and visited B’nai B’rith Camp.

“We are delighted the Jewish Federation (of Greater Portland) could provide One Happy Camper incentive grants to 118 new Jewish overnight campers attending 11 different camps spanning seven states,” says JFGP President and CEO Marc Blattner of the 2017 grants. “For many of these campers (and their families), Jewish camp is a gateway into Jewish community. Moreover, the intentionality of Jewish programming and Judaism can lead to a lifetime of Jewish involvement and commitment.”.

OREGON JEWISH LIFE | MARCH 2018 37

Summer Camp (Parent) Blues

By Amy Beth Starr

L

ike many parents, for me this time of year signifies both an overwhelming sense of relief (Yesss! No more homework or projects!) and stress (What am I going to do with Roxy and Everett all summer?!?). This year has presented unique challenges for my family because I now work from home and can’t possibly spend my days on the beach with the kids while juggling conference calls and Google Adwords, no matter how much I want to, nor can I physically run around with them at more than six months pregnant. Roxy wants to do “tween” things with her girlfriends and at 9 years old her focus is on nails, music and learning the latest dance craze. Everett at 6 prefers to spend his days dreaming up new ways to make his sister crazy by setting up Lego booby traps around the house and playing pranks on her while idolizing every move she makes. The realization of needing summer activities came way too late, and suddenly school was ending and panic set in.

In my perfect world, this would have been the ideal summer for them to both start camp. Overnight camp. JEWISH overnight camp. I felt like it would have been an uphill battle that only I understood. Their dad thought they were too young for overnight camp. The kids were apprehensive about going away where they didn’t know anyone. My bank account laughed at me after talking to the Reform Jewish camp director and learning how much it would really cost me to send them. We talked about scholarships.

I researched it online. I considered asking family for help. But in the end, it was not to be, because the kids had scheduling conflicts with local and family activities that made the discussion a moot point. Yet I ached inside, saddened to know yet another summer would go by without a Jewish camping experience.

Their dad and I finally worked out a plan for the summer and two weeks ago they started camp at our local town recreation center. They are loving their first camp experience. They are with both established and new friends and come home at the end of the day happy and exhausted. They love going on field trips and having action-packed days, but I know in my heart something is missing. My Jewish kids in Maine are completely disconnected to Jewish life now that school is over. Hebrew school doesn’t start up until the fall. There are no holidays to celebrate. With the chaos of living in two houses, I’ll admit that Shabbat just doesn’t happen in our house every week. When I go on Facebook I feel a twinge of jealousy when friends post pictures of their own happy campers being dropped off at a URJ overnight camp because I’m wishing so deeply that Roxy and Everett were part of this tradition.

To add insult to injury, the kids have been obsessed with a book Everett received recently from PJ Library called No Baths at Camp!, which basically follows a child through each day of a Jewish camp experience through the beauty of Shabbat. They

38 OREGON JEWISH LIFE | MARCH 2018

are enthralled by this book and the activities presented and take turns reading it to each other, carefully pronouncing the Hebrew words and reveling in the excitement of the Shabbat description presented.

I take comfort as they absorb the experience through the words on the pages, yet desperately wish they could be there in person. We talk about it each time using words like “Next summer you’ll get to do this” and “One day you’ll help camp get ready for Shabbat” and “Do you think you’d be good at Israeli dancing?” I long for them to be part of Jewish overnight camp because I know how much of an impact it can have on identity and connection, especially after years of working professionally in the Jewish community.

Except here I am, a mom of two camp-aged kids with a third on the way and I couldn’t figure out how to make it happen for them.

I cried one night when they were at their dad’s house, feeling like I’m failing them. My boyfriend, who isn’t Jewish, comforted me and agreed that if I couldn’t make it happen this summer that next summer was a must, and how good it would be for both of them. To have him truly get why it was so important to me for them to be there means so much, because I know that when it comes time for this baby to be of camp age, there won’t be a question, just love and support. He groans along with me when No Baths at Camp inevitably makes its way into the living room, and I catch him laughing listening to them try to pronounce the counselor’s name with an Israeli accent.

Matt still doesn’t have a clue about this whole Jewish thing, but he knows that having a connection to Jewish life is pretty important to me and the kids and has made it clear he’ll help me navigate these types of hurdles when and as best he can.

This summer I will embrace their first camp joys. Summer is already going by faster than I’d like it to, and before I know it we’ll be preparing backpacks for the first day of fourth and second grade while welcoming this baby into our family. Today I will look at this as a Shecheyanu moment, a thankfulness for new things, growth for all of us and an ever-evolving connection to our faith. It might not be a Jewish overnight camp, but Roxy and Everett have started along their own camp journey, one that will change over time, and maybe just maybe include some Israeli dancing.

This story was originally published on interfaithfamily.com.

Amy Starr is a single Jewish mom navigating a new-ish life in the Portland, Maine, area with her two kids and one crazy hamster.

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CAMP NEWS

MJCC adds Counselor in Training Program

T

his summer the Mittleman Jewish Community Center Day Camp will add a Counselor in Training program for students entering seventh to ninth grade.

CIT campers can sign up for one or more weeks of the CIT program, which was created to offer 21st-century skill building to teens, helping to prepare them to enter the workforce. The program runs July 9 to Aug. 24 from 9 am to 4 pm, MondayFriday.

CIT is a leadership development program designed to empower teens by providing them with the training and skills needed to take on new responsibilities and challenges. CIT participants will work with younger campers to give them the skills to be leaders and positive role models. MJCC’s Sports, Recreation and Camps Manager Scott Reese has helped to develop and implement CIT programs in other organizations, and they have been quite successful.

Teens will work closely with trained and experienced staff in a fun, fast-paced setting. They will encourage campers to go

40 OREGON JEWISH LIFE | MARCH 2018

out of their comfort zone and try new things. They will also have the opportunity to create and run activities.

MJCC and Shaarie Torah team up for adventure camp

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his summer, Shaarie Torah and the Mittleman Jewish Community Center are teaming up to offer Camp Teva, an outdoor adventure camp, for two age groups.

Those entering grades five to seven can experience Judaism, fun and the outdoors July 9-13, with children entering first to fourth grade getting the same opportunity Aug. 6-10.

Campers will navigate Portland’s natural spaces, seek out fun experiences and make friendships with kids from across Portland.

Parents will have the option to drop off and pick up their child either at the MJCC (which would allow them to take advantage of the pre-care and aftercare program) or at Shaarie Torah. Participants will head out via a bus on an outdoor adventure each morning and return in the late afternoon.

The adventures are created and led by Camp Teva Director

Josh Lake. Josh has been leading outdoor adventures for more than 20 years. He is passionate about empowering children to understand the connection between the Torah, our lives and a healthy environment. He has a master’s in Jewish education and is a Wilderness First Responder. Josh and Camp Teva counselors will lead the outdoor adventures throughout the week, while Friday ends with an afternoon at the MJCC enjoying a pool party and fun activities.

Register for Camp Teva on the MJCC website, oregonjcc.org.

B’nai B’rith Camp in last year of Hiddur pilot program

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he concept of beautifying or enhancing a Jewish ritual by appealing to the senses is called Hiddur Mitzvah.

The Jewish Foundation for Camp created The Hiddur Initiative, a pilot program at eight camps, to reinvigorate models of Jewish learning and living at camp and all year round.

“How do we beautify our Judaism at camp?” asks BB Camp Director Ben Charlton. “Deborah Newbrun, former director of Camp Tawonga, has helped us think through what our pluralistic Jewish community can look like.”

Ben, Assistant Camp Director Bette Amir-Brownstein and four lay leaders have mapped out a Jewish curriculum for BB Camp through eight Jewish values – Klal Yisrael: Jewish Peoplehood; Shomrei Adama: Nature and Environment; Ivrit: Hebrew Language; Eretz Yisrael: Connection to Israel; Shabbat: Marking Sacred Time; Tikkun Olam: Social Justice; Tikkun Middot: Personal Ethics; and Kavanah: Spirituality and Mindfulness.

Camp is able to instill Judaism in kids naturally,” says Ben. Through the grant, BB Camp has brought in Jewish educators to work with the teens and adult staff. “The most significant change is in the confidence in the staff to create and lead Jewish programs and infusing Judaism into a large range of activities,” says Ben. “Staff retention has improved. Our staff has increased opportunity, so they grow to their full potential as Jewish educators.”

Last year, FJC CEO Jeremy Fingerman visited BB Camp.

“Each of the eight Hiddur pilots have approached this differently,” he said. “It looks like a great success so far, and we hope to roll it out to more camps.”

Gan Israel adds division heads, CIT program

Gan Israel Day Camp has added division heads for the growing camp’s three divisions to lead the warm, dedicated staff to once again provide a Jewish experience for the modern child. The thoughtfully planned calendar of activities helps foster cooperating, creativity and optimism.

Also this year, Gan Israel will offer a counselor in training program. The CITs, ages 12 and 13, will be empowered to step into their new roles of leadership and responsibility. The program will synthesize the signature Gan Israel experience with trips, activities, teen talk and CPR with hands-on leadership experience. Limited space is available.

The camp will also expand the transportation from Portland’s Eastside.

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OREGON JEWISH LIFE | MARCH 2018 41

BB Camp launches day camp in Portland

By Deborah Moon

A

new day camp in Portland this summer will combine the resources and rituals of B’nai B’rith Camp, the beautiful campus of Congregation Beth Israel and the experience of a former Stephen Wise Temple camp director.

From June 25 to Aug. 17, BB Day Camp will offer eight oneweek sessions of day camp for children entering kindergarten through fifth grade. BB Day Camp provides meaningful and memorable experiences within a safe and nurturing community to build lifelong friendships and deepen Jewish identity. Days will include classic Jewish summer camp activities such as art, athletics, crafts, music, dance, drama, and of course, gaga!

“We will share the resources, ideas and traditions of B’nai B’rith Camp,” says BB Day Camp Director Liz Broberg, 32.

Located on Devil’s Lake near Lincoln City on the Oregon coast, BB Camp has been providing a Jewish summer experience for youth since 1921.

Liz is especially looking forward to adapting BB Camp’s Friendship Circle tradition, where every Shabbat camper goes down a line of campers in their cabin and hugs or connects before they all march off together to celebrate Shabbat. At day camp, she wants to adapt that ritual so each camper connects with every other camper in their group before enjoying Shabbat songs and stories. “I like the idea of taking time to acknowledge each person and connecting to Shabbat in this quiet way. It’s a nice transition.”

“Coming here to BB Camp, everyone has experience at sleep-away camp; mine are from day camp,” says Liz, who spent the past 10 years working at the Stephen Wise Temple in Los Angeles, most recently as the large Reform 42 OREGON JEWISH LIFE | MARCH 2018

Liz Broberg

BB DAY CAMP PORTLAND! JUNE 25-AUG. 17 9 AM-4 PM CONGREGATION BETH ISRAEL TRANSPORTATION AND MORNING AND AFTERNOON EXTENDED CARE AVAILABLE FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE AVAILABLE LBROBERG@BBCAMP.ORG • BBCAMP.ORG

congregation’s day camp director.

“I’ve learned a lot about the differences (from overnight camp),” says Liz. “With day camp, you interface with parents a lot – you connect with the whole family. I learned a lot at Stephen Wise about working with counselors and community building with the staff so they feel supported and connected.”

Counselors who have fun means kids have more fun, too, she explains.

She added that campers at day camp go home every day and then have to reintegrate into camp each day. “I like the pace and the action (of day camp) with a shorter time,” she says.

“I hope people will love it and want to keep being part of BB Camp,” says Liz. “It’s great we are starting a day camp to engage the younger kids. It is such an easy entry point into the Jewish community.

As they get older, they will get excited about going to sleep-away camp, which is so powerful. This provides an entry to that whole world.”

Day campers in weeks three and seven will also get to experience an overnight at BB Camp.

Liz says she also hopes that many of the younger BB Campers will come to the day camp to round out their summer before or after they go to the residence camp on the Oregon coast. In addition, BB Campers will be able to attend the day camp on a prorated basis for individual days before their overnight camp starts, since the overnight sessions typically start mid-week.

Bus transportation will be available from an Eastside and a Beaverton location. Liz hopes to make the two bus stops at a community center with a swimming pool, so if parents want they will be able to sign their children up for swim lessons in the afternoon.

Changes at Solomon Schechter A new director and culinary building shape camp

By Deborah Moon

C

amp Solomon Schechter’s new executive director, Zach Duitch, wants to use his extensive professional ties to help the Jewish camp and Pacific Northwest Jewish communities strengthen their bond and strengthen each other.

Zach has strong ties to CSS, having been a camper there for seven years, a counselor-in-training one year and a staff member for seven, the last year as seasonal assistant director. For the past 17 years, he’s worked at the Stroum Jewish Community Center in Seattle, including stints as youth counselor and summer day camp director.

“I feel a strong camp community is vital to a strong Jewish community and vice versa,” says Zach.

“I want to leverage my relationship (with Stroum),” says Zach. “We can strengthen each other’s programs and the Jewish community.”

Zach has been meeting with Portland leaders, as well, to see how Camp Solomon Schechter and Portland’s youth programs can benefit each other. He recently met with Mittleman Jewish Community Center and Portland Jewish Academy Executive Director Steve Albert, PJA Principal Merrill Hendin and Rabbi Joshua Stampfer, who founded CSS in 1954. About 500 campers a year now spend part of their summer at the lakeside camp near Olympia, WA. Zach says he believes day camps are equally important, but when a youth is ready, Zach wants him or her to try resident camp. To that end, this summer CSS is introducing two new sessions: Schechter Katan ( July 1-4 or 16-19), a four-day session to introduce first- and second-graders to sleep-away camp; and Schechter Shelamu ( July 25-31) to allow Hebrew-speakers in fourth to ninth grade to enjoy summer camp.

This year the camp is also testing programming for children with disabilities and plans to roll out a full program next summer to ensure everyone feels included regardless of special needs.

Inclusion is a big part of Zach’s personal vision for the camp.

His personal vision statement includes: “Create a place where all Jewish children and staff regardless of their socioeconomic background, race, color, sex and their spiritual affiliation have a place to feel safe, celebrate diversity and build a community of friends.”

He praises the Foundation for Jewish Camp’s One Happy Camper grants of $1,000 for first-time campers as an important piece of ensuring camp is open to all.

“Camp should not be considered a luxury,” says Zach. “It should be affordable. We are open to talk to anyone to find out what makes sense for a family. Cost should not be a roadblock.”

He urges families to contact him (zduitch@campschechter. org) or call the camp office (206-447-1967) to explore funding

Camp Solomon Schechter Director Zach Duitch talks about the importance of Jewish camp with CSS founder, Rabbi Joshua Stampfer. Though he had met the rabbi while he was a camper at CSS, this was the first time Zach talked to the rabbi as a Jewish professional.

The new culinary center under construction.

options. He wants all campers to be able to experience “being fully immersed in everything Jewish – friends, role models, food, sports, shirah, dance, experiential learning, Shabbat.”

Campers this year will be the first to use the camp’s new culinary center. Not only will it expand seating in the dining hall by 100, it will also provide access to culinary programs.

The center’s kitchen will include a learning kitchen for culinary programs and cooking classes. Zach adds the new culinary center will also expand CSS’s capacity for rentals for retreats, weddings and other events.

Camp is a magical place with campers fully immersed in Jewish programming that they enjoy with Jewish friends. In Zach’s vision, “Camp will provide cutting-edge fun and create an innovative camping experience that will inspire lasting memories, while fostering a greater appreciation for Jewish life, values, identity and Israeli culture.”

With all the changes coming this summer, Zach emphasizes Solomon Schechter will retain all the rituals, themes and traditions that have made it a special place for more than 60 years.

OREGON JEWISH LIFE | MARCH 2018 43

Why send your kid to Jewish summer camp? It gets him to Hebrew school

By Jane Larkin

I

recently discovered the secret to motivating my son to go to religious school. I stumbled upon it. Hours after Hebrew school last Tuesday while we were eating dinner, my son spilled the beans.

“I had a really bad sinus headache at school this afternoon and felt crummy. I almost went to Nurse Julie to ask her to call you and tell you that I couldn’t go to Hebrew and that I needed to go home. But I was really looking forward to seeing Josh, so I decided to deal with it.”

Wow! Impressive. Typically, an ailment would not need to be that bad to ask for a Hebrew school pass. But knowing that he would see Josh, his best friend from camp, trumped a headache and the pain that is known by Jewish children everywhere as Religious School. The bonds of friendship formed at Jewish summer camp were more powerful than I thought.

Study after study has shown the power of Jewish camp on creating strong Jewish identities in participants. The Greenbook, published by the Jewish Funders Network to inform the conversation of the role of Jewish camp in fostering Jewish

44 OREGON JEWISH LIFE | MARCH 2018

identity says, “Simply put: Jewish camp works to help create a more vibrant Jewish future.”

What the study does not say is that camp can motivate your children to want to go to Hebrew school, but apparently, it does that too! If it is possible to love camp more than I already do, I do.

When my son returned from camp, I suspected that this summer had been different from the previous four. The connections to friends seemed deeper. After all, he had now been with, for the most part, the same group of boys for five years.

And he had discovered three years ago, that several of his camp friends lived in Dallas and went to our synagogue. Summer plus seeing each other twice a week at temple had created a tight bond between these boys.

There is a case to be made for sending your child to any camp, Jewish, secular, near, or far. When a kid is at a camp that is the right fit for him or her, camp is magical. As someone who spent summers at a YMCA camp and now sees Jewish summer camp, I feel there is something uniquely magical about Jewish camp, something that creates a deeper community connection. And I could not be happier that we chose a regional camp rather than sending our son to one farther away because shared year-round experiences, including religious school, enhances the community connection – something made clear to me last Tuesday night.

Jewish camp and the community connection it creates are getting my son to Hebrew school without complaint. That’s a benefit of the Jewish camp experience that any parent who has driven Hebrew school carpool can cheer.

This article originally appeared on interfaithfamily.com.

C A M P D I R EC TO RY DAY CAMPS BB DAY CAMP PORTLAND Located at Congregation Beth Israel 1972 NW Flanders Portland, OR 97210 503-496-7447 bbcamp.org/portland Located at Congregation Beth Israel in Northwest Portland, BB Day Camp offers a warm and welcoming camp experience filled with art, dance, water play, martial arts, gymnastics, music, Jewish enrichment, and Shabbat celebrations for campers entering kindergarten through grade 5. Extended care and bus transportation available.

CAMP TEVA Two drop-off/pick-up locations: MJCC: 6651 SW Capitol Hwy. Portland, OR 97219 Shaarie Torah: 920 NW 25th Ave Portland, OR 97210 503-244-0111 oregonjcc.org/daycamp MJCC and Congregation Shaarie Torah team up to offer this unique, adventure camp where Judaism, fun and the outdoors come together. Camp Teva takes the community and fun of Jewish day camping and elevates it with experiential outdoor adventures. For campers entering grades 1-7.

GAN ISRAEL DAY CAMP 6612 SW Capitol Hwy., Portland, OR 503-246-KIDS (5437) cgiportland.com The thoughtfully planned calendar of activities helps foster cooperation, creativity and optimism, while providing the Jewish experience for the modern child. Part of the world’s largest network of Jewish camps, Portland’s Gan Israel Day Camp has provided Jewish children from diverse backgrounds amazing Jewish summer (and winter break) experiences since 1984.

MJCC SUMMER DAY CAMP 6651 SW Capitol Hwy., Portland, OR 97219 503-244-0111 oregonjcc.org/daycamp MJCC Day Camp offers full day fun all summer long with options from 7:30 am to 6 pm.

Great for working parents and tons of options for your kids from traditional day camp to specialty camps including gymnastics, cooking, soccer and more. Open to everyone! Swim everyday! Ages 3-15.

NORTHWEST CHILDREN’S THEATER SUMMER CAMPS 1819 NW Everett St., Suite 216, Portland, OR 97209 503-222-2190 nwcts.org NWCT’s award-winning theater camps are taught by top theater professionals! Students will hone specific theater skills, such as designing and building costumes or learning the craft of stage combat; audition for, rehearse and perform a play; or explore the world of theater through themed play, art and games!

PJA SUMMER DISCOVERY 6651 SW Capitol Hwy., Portland, OR 97219 503-244-0126 pjaproud.org/summer PJA Summer Discovery offers exceptional classes taught by professional, experienced, passionate teachers. Exercise your brain in a fun way with junior engineering, drama, comic book writing, gardening and more. Create, build or test a new idea. Challenge yourself to learn something new! Full day options. Open to everyone. Ages 4-14.

PORTLAND PARKS & RECREATION SUMMER CAMPS 15 camp sites throughout the city 503-823-2525 PortlandParks.org We offer a variety of camps

including sports, arts, dance, nature, swimming, science and more. Full days, before and after care, partial week – we fit your schedule. Conveniently located at sites throughout the city. Register for summer camps and activities today!

OVERNIGHT CAMPS B’NAI B’RITH CAMP Located on Devil’s Lake Otis, OR 503-452-3443 bbcamp.org B’nai B’rith Camp is a vibrant and inclusive community rooted in Jewish values that offers activities including the arts, athletics, lake activities, outdoors, swimming, leadership development, social action, Jewish identity, Israeli culture and Shabbat celebrations. At BB Camp, every summer is an opportunity for deep, meaningful and lifelong friendships.

CAMP SOLOMON SCHECHTER Mail: 117 East Louisa St., #110 Seattle, WA 98102 206-447-1967 campschechter.org Camp Solomon Schechter has a 60-year tradition of fun, friendship and outdoor adventure in the Pacific Northwest. We create a unique, welcoming and spiritual Jewish environment on our 180-acre wooded facility near Olympia. Sessions for youth of all denominations entering 1st-12th grades.

Adventure awaits at Camp Solomon Schechter.

URJ CAMP KALSMAN

Arlington, WA 425-284-4484 (winter) 360-435-9302 (summer) campkalsman.org Campers from across the

Pacific Northwest call Camp Kalsman home. We are committed to our six core values: friendship, kehilah kedoshah (sacred community), Reform Jewish identity, chesed (kindness), connection to Israel, and our relationship to teva (nature). Camp Kalsman’s 300 beautiful acres offer a great balance of education and recreation.

URJ CAMP NEWMAN 711 Grand Ave., Ste 280, City: San Rafael, CA 94901 415-392-7080 campnewman.org Come for the friendship, adventure, community and love of Judaism. Guided by experienced staff and Jewish professionals. 25 traditional and specialty summer sessions from nine days to eight weeks at the beautiful bay-side campus of Cal Maritime. For campers entering grades 3-12.

CAMPERSHIPS ONE HAPPY CAMPER onehappycamper.org The Jewish Federation of Greater Portland is proud to provide incentive grants for up to $1,000 for your child’s first summer at Jewish overnight camp.

WILLOWBROOK ARTS CAMP Mail: PO Box 3546 Tualatin, OR 97062 Camp: Browns Ferry Park, Tualatin 503-691-6132 (message phone) willowbrookartscamp.org Creativity flourishes in a beautiful outdoor setting!

Children 3-18 explore hands-on experiences in world arts and crafts, nature, writing, ceramics, basketry, filmmaking, theater, music, dance and much more.

Beginners and advanced students sample freely or hone favorite skills. No previous experience is necessary.

Theater productions are open to all ages.

OREGON JEWISH LIFE | MARCH 2018 45

FRONT & CENTER

After 20 years, author breathes life into Bal Shem Tov

Her novel soared to the top 20 of sales in several categories on Amazon The daughter of Holocaust the week it was released. She hoped survivors, Ani Tuzman grew up to go on a book tour, but her son’s on a backroads chicken farm in a health kept her close to home. Portcommunity where anti-Semitism lander Joanie Levine, who was good was common. She took refuge in friends with Ani when they both atwriting and nature to escape the tended Brandeis, saw her old friend’s darkness she saw around her. book and invited her to Portland to When her passion for writing, speak at P’nai Or. In March Ani will nature and meditation merged visit Oregon for a series of book talks, with her interest in the Eastincluding participating in the Author ern European Jewish world her Series at the Mittleman Jewish Comparents left behind, she felt an munity Series (see box). inner call to write about the 18th Ani Tuzman While the advent of her novel was century mystic known as the Baal delayed, her devotion to writing never Shem Tov. After two or three wavered. She founded Dance of the years of research into the life and times of the mystical rabbi Letters, and for 30 years has helped others “find and free their considered the founder of Hassidic Judaism, author Ani set voices or the voice of their hearts.” She continues to lead writthe book aside to care for her “differently abled” son. Her son ing circles and mentor writers of all ages. was born with no sternum and was not expected to live long.

“Writing has saved my life,” says Ani. “I adore writing, so I “He’s a walking miracle,” she says, noting his special needs have enjoy sharing with people who dream of writing – with those required much of her time over the years. who have written their whole lives or those who haven’t given “I thought I’d let it go,” says Ani of the novel she intended to themselves permission to write.” write based on the life of Rabbi Yisroel ben Eliezar. “The book “I love doing groups for women 60 and older; I also work never put me down. It never let me go.” with children and teens,” she says.

When she picked it up again after three years, she knew she In Oregon, she will do a writing circle (see box) based on the would stick with the book until it was finished. It took another theme “write your way to inner peace,” a theme she explores in 10 years as she balanced writing with other aspects of her life.

A Tremble of Love.

With her three children grown, she finished the book, but its She also has plans for at least three more books of her own: release was delayed by a family crisis. The book was released one inspired by her parents’ stories of surviving the Holocaust, a month after the presidential election in 2016, remarkable one about the kabbalists practicing in Tsfat in the 1500s and timing she considers “not a coincidence.” one about being a parent of a special needs child.

“The book is a reminder of the immense power of love …

“If God grants me a long life and good mind, maybe all the the power of action taken from love, not from fear,” says Ani. books will be written,” she says.

“People talk about how that message in the book has been anituzman.com sustaining for them. That has been moving to me.”

By Deborah Moon

46 OREGON JEWISH LIFE | MARCH 2018

MJCC AUTHOR SERIES

March 6 - Tom Teicholz Tom Teicholz is a writer, producer and content creator in Los Angeles. Everywhere else he is an award-winning journalist whose work can be found on Forbes.com, The Huffington Post and The Los Angeles Review of Books. His talk will focus on “Jews of the 20th Century” and include his encounters with Jewish authors Jerzy Kosinski, I.B. Singer and Cynthia Ozick, as well as Jewish cultural figures.

March 13 – Susan Simon, Almost a Minyan Susan Simon has been illustrating children's books for over 30 years. Almost a Minyan, her 18th book, aims to help Jewish youth grow into their own in a more modern world.

March 20 – Ani Tuzman, A Tremble of Love: A Novel of the Baal Shem Tov This story is inspired by the legendary spiritual master, Rabbi Yisroel ben Eliezar, known as the Baal Shem Tov, the Good Master of the Name, who beckoned forth love from the hearts of rag pickers, ruby merchants, midwives and murderers.

WHERE: Mittleman Jewish Community Center, 6651 SW Capitol Hwy., Portland TICKETS: Individual events: members $5; guests $8. Series pass: members $12; guests $20.

RSVP: oregonjcc.org/arts-culture/arts-culture-events/authorseries

BB Camp presents

SONGS OF

SUMMER

APRIL 14 6PM CRYSTAL BALLROOM 1332 W Burnside St, Portland $72 PER PERSON/ $180 PER PATRON TICKET

TICKETS AT BBCAMP.ORG/BASH Please join us for our annual fundraiser to help support our campers.

Questions? Please contact mreby@bbcamp.org 503.345.9464

ANI TUZMAN’S OREGON TOUR

The Tremble of Love: A Novel of the Baal Shem Tov Mystical Study Night featuring The Tremble of Love Wednesday, March 14, 7:30-9 pm Hosted by Portland’s UnShul, 3651 SW Custer St., Portland Contact: rabbidebra@asthespiritmovesus.com IN THE PRESENCE OF LOVE: Havdalah with the Baal Shem Tov Saturday, March 17, 7-9 pm Hosted by P’nai Or, 9750 SW Terwilliger Blvd., Portland Contact jlevinehummingbird@yahoo.com Writing Our Way to Inner Peace: A Dance of the Letters Writing Circle Monday, March 19, 6:30-8:15 pm; Please arrive 15 minutes early to register. $15.

Congregation Shir Tikvah, 7550 NE Irving St., Portland Sponsored by: MJCC, Compassionate Listening Oregon, and the Oregon Jewish Museum and Center for Holocaust Education MJCC Author Series (see above) Tuesday, March 20, 7 pm IN THE PRESENCE OF LOVE: Reading, Discussion and a Musical Offering Thursday, March 22, 7 pm Hosted by Temple Beth Israel and Or haGan at Temple Beth Israel, 1175 E 29th Ave., Eugene IN THE PRESENCE OF LOVE: An experience of The Tremble of Love Sunday, March 25, 7:30 pm Hosted by Havurah Synagogue, 185 N Mountain Ave., Ashland

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OREGON JEWISH LIFE | MARCH 2018 47

FRONT & CENTER

Corvallis sets first Jewish Film Festival

By Deborah Moon

Beit Am, the Mid-Willamette Jewish Community, presents the first Jewish film festival in Corvallis on two Sundays in April. The festival will feature three films each day at the Darkside Cinema, 215 SW 4th St., Corvallis.

“We received a small grant to have a program of Jewish culture that was not devotional, not political and was of interest to the whole Corvallis community,” says Mike Aronson, film festival coordinator. The film festival is organized by Beit Am’s cultural committee, of which Mike and his wife, Susan, are members.

of the village were feeding Syrian refugees who were coming through the town. But when he learned the town’s postman, who was running for mayor, was behind the effort and it had driven a wedge between townspeople, he decided to do a fulllength documentary. “It is a microcosm of what is happening in the U.S. on immigration,” says Mike.

With three films on two Sundays (see schedule below), Mike hopes to draw a diverse audience to the festival. For those who want to see all the films, he offers a list of downtown eateries (see box) where people can get a bite between screenings.

SCHEDULE:

APRIL 8 2 pm: “Harmonia,” directed by Ori Sivan 98 minutes – Hebrew and Arabic with English subtitles – Drama Sarah is the harpist of the Jerusalem Philharmonic; Abraham is its conductor. When Hagar, a young horn player from East Jerusalem joins the orchestra, she bonds with Sarah. Hagar offers to have a baby for the childless couple. Years later Sarah also has a child. The two half-brothers eventually seek resolution to their family conflicts through music.

4 pm: “1945,” directed by Ferenc Török 91 minutes – Hungarian with English subtitles – Drama Two mysterious strangers dressed in black appear at the

Harmonia

Mike and Susan are frequent attendees at two existing film festivals in Corvallis, the Crossroads Film Festival in February, and dasfilmfest, which showcases Austrian, German and Swiss films each fall. All three film festivals have agreed to work together to publicize each others’ shows. The festivals all screen their films at Darkside Cinema, which Mike describes as an art house where you can find films you won’t see elsewhere.

Committee members each researched a few of the 30 films on their initial list. After they pared the list to 10, Mike asked the Darkside schedulers to contact distributors to see which films were available. Initially they were able to schedule five films. But Mike was eager to include “Harmonia” in the festival, so he contacted the film distributor in Jerusalem himself.

“Eventually they said yes,” says Mike. Mike was eager to include this retelling of the story of Sarah and Abraham, because it shows Palestinians in a positive light and has lovely classical music and lovely pictures.

Another film Mike is especially pleased to include is “The Good Postman.” Mike says originally the filmmaker went to a small village in Bulgaria because he had heard the women 48 OREGON JEWISH LIFE | MARCH 2018

The Good Postman

railway station of a Hungarian village. In the shadow of Russian occupation, the people of the village are preparing for the wedding of the son of the clerk, but the bride’s former fiancé returns from captivity. Within a few hours, everything changes; secrets, sin, reckoning, love, betrayal.

7 pm: “The Good Postman,” directed by Tonislav Hristrov 82 minutes – Bulgarian with English subtitles – Docudrama The film offers a tragicomic perspective on the refugee crisis of 2015 from a small Bulgarian village near the Turkish border.

Residents observe refugee families from Syria and elsewhere as they cross the border and ponder inviting them to settle

Therapy, Oregon Jewish Museum and Center for Holocaust Education, Block 15 Brewing Co., Grass Roots, Institute for Judaic Studies, Peaceful Family Solutions, John M. Winckler DC DOAC, Licensed to Restore, Balance Real Estate and Paul Spies IronHead Roofing.

ADMISSION: adults $7; seniors, students and military $5; per film INFORMATION: beitam.org/filmfestival

Places to eat if you make a day of it: Comfortable Pubs Block 15 Brewery & Restaurant, 300 SW Jefferson Ave. Sky High Brewing, 160 NW Jackson Ave. Flat Tail Brewery, 202 SW 1st St. Foreign Fare Evergreen Indian Restaurant, 136 SW 3rd St. Sada Sushi & Izakaya, 151 NW Monroe Magenta Restaurant, 137 SW 2nd St. Tokyo Japanese Steakhouse & Sushi Bar, 250 SW 3rd St. China Delight, 325 NW 2nd St. Bombshell, the Hedy Lamarr Story

in the vacant village houses. This proposal polarizes opinions and brings into focus the local people's own fears, hopes and disappointments.

APRIL 15 2 pm: “Bombshell, the Hedy Lamarr Story,” directed by Alexandra Dean 90 minutes – English – Documentary Austrian actress Hedy Lamarr fled an oppressive marriage to create a name for herself as one of Hollywood's top leading ladies in the 1940s. She was also a talented and inquisitive inventor who created a radio system that is now considered the basis of Bluetooth technology.

4 pm: “Fanny’s Journey,” directed by Lola Doillon 94 minutes – French with English subtitles – Drama In 1943 13-year-old Fanny and her younger sisters are sent from their home in France to an Italian foster home for Jewish children. When the Nazis arrive in Italy, these eight children do the impossible and reach the Swiss border to freedom. The movie is a dramatization from the autobiography of Fanny Ben-Ami. 7 pm: “Big Sonia,” directed by Leah Warshawski 93 minutes – English – Documentary In the last store in a defunct shopping mall, 91-year-old Sonia Warshawski – great-grandmother, businesswoman and Holocaust survivor – runs her tailor shop. But when she's served an eviction notice, she must decide to open up a new shop or retire. “Big Sonia” offers a funny portrait of the power of love to triumph over bigotry and truth-telling to heal us all.

SPONSORS: Beit Am Arts and Culture Fund, 2 Towns Ciderhouse, Tom Laster DDS, dasfilmfest, Encore Physical

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OREGON JEWISH LIFE | MARCH 2018 49

FRONT & CENTER

Farm fresh is literally next door at Jory

By Kerry Politzer

ABOVE Black sesame puree with cantaloupe, honeydew, vanilla panna cotta, sesame crisp and granola

According to The Oregonian, Portland chefs adopted the farm-to-table movement in the early 1990s. Our region is uniquely suited to this movement – the fertility of the Willamette Valley is legendary.

RIGHT While many Portland-metro eateries make use of Nori wrapped albacore the glorious local bounty, in Newberg you can liter- tuna with garden squash, ally walk from farm to table at Jory in The Allison chia seed and puffed Inn & Spa. black rice.

Chef Kenny Giambalvo sits down with the farmer to plan out which seeds should be planted.

BELOW The chef remarks that in the past, he felt more Wine flight disconnected from the source while in the kitchen, but he can now walk the rows of the garden for inspiration.

“In the morning, I can see what’s coming up, run back to the kitchen and say OK, this is what I want to do. It’s take care of our guests.” amazing.”

For the month of March, the chef anticipates the beginning Kenny, who hails from an Italian family, is especially interof the salmon season, as well as the arrival of sweet pea shoots, ested in produce that grows in the Mediterranean. He says that sweet onions and green garlic. He hopes for a warmer spring, because of the Willamette Valley’s climate and soil, Jory has which will facilitate earlier availability of some ingredients. been very successful in growing produce that normally wouldn’t Jory is open seven days a week from 5:30 to 9 pm. Reservabe indigenous to our region. tions are highly recommended, as guests from the Allison Inn “There’s a type of chicory called puntarelle, which grows in often populate the dining room.

Italy,” he says. “Its leaves are quite bitter, but there’s a stalk that Jory: Allison Inn & Spa, 2525 Allison Lane, Newberg, 503-554-2526, is wonderful. It does have a bitterness, as is common in chicory, theallison.com/jory-restaurant but there’s great crunch and texture to it. When it’s really finely sliced, it makes a delicious salad. You don’t see it very often, but it actually grows really well here in the Willamette Valley. We have some of that that we are anticipating for early March, so I’m excited about putting that on the menu as a salad feature.”

At Jory, the menu can change from week to week depending on what is growing in the garden. But diners should rest assured that dietary preferences and restrictions are honored. The restaurant has three alternate dinner menus: vegetarian, dairy free and gluten free. Says Kenny, “There is a commitment here to be able to say ‘yes.’ If you have a specific request, as long as I have the ingredients, there is really nothing standing in my way to prepare something that is uniquely designed for an individual’s needs – whether that means omitting or adding ingredients.

The menu is certainly an expression, but if it doesn’t speak to somebody, we will accommodate as best we can; it’s our job to 50 OREGON JEWISH LIFE | MARCH 2018

ACTIVELY SENIOR

Boris Uan-zo-li and some of his art. Photo by Svetlana Sladkova

Octogenarian’s art reflects his life in Russia

By Polina Olsen

Boris Uan-Zo-li’s artwork reflects his fascinating life. Big, bold, varied and colorful, his paintings cover the walls of his Beaverton split-level home. The work is abstract, but his figures are identifiable and often instantly recognizable like the portraits of Woody Allen and personal hero Bob Dylan. I recently sat down around their kitchen table to talk to Boris and his wife, Svetlana, and son, Alexander.

“I love Woody Allen,” Boris says in Russian as his son translates and Svetlana arranges a tray of delectable Russian treats. Alexander emigrated from Moscow to attend graduate school at Virginia Tech. He brought his parents here in 2011 along with 300 of Boris’s paintings and mementos from the three-room apartment where three families once lived. “That was typical of Moscow,” Svetlana says, looking around at her spacious home.

Boris Uan-Zo-li was born in Moscow, Russia, in 1938 to

Lazarus Goyhmam and Julie Uan-Zo-Li. (Yes, Uan-Zo-Li was his mother’s name. More on that later.) His maternal grandfather, Wang Zo Li, came from the Shandong province of China and studied Tibetan medicine in Japan. He moved to Russia, married a Cossack and was exiled outside of Moscow when Stalin banned Tibetan medicine. He had five children, including Boris’ mother, Julie, all of whom worked as performers in the Russian circus.

“They connected to a rope with their hair and came down to the floor while drinking tea,” Boris explains. “They also did magic tricks, and one brother jumped through the hoops.” Julie met her husband, Boris’ father, at a party in Moscow.

Lazarus Goyhmam grew up in Odessa and worked as a civil engineer at a time when being Jewish didn’t pose a problem.

That was about to change.

“There was anti-Semitism during the czar,” Alexander explains. “When Communism first took over, Jews were considered good Soviet citizens. That started changing with Stalin, OREGON JEWISH LIFE | MARCH 2018 51

My Mother an I

Lenin

City of Paris

and by 1948 it was all turned around. People say this was due to Israel being launched and allied with the USA.” In 1953 the government sent Lazarus to a Siberian labor camp until he emerged “fully rehabilitated” in 1955. His crime was mentioning his desire to emigrate to Israel while a “friend,” who doubled as a KGB agent, recorded the conversation. He returned to the shared three-room Moscow apartment where his son, Boris, had been born in 1938.

“It was cozy with photographs,” Boris says, “but 52 OREGON JEWISH LIFE | MARCH 2018

"When communism first took over, Jews were considered good Soviet citizens. That started changing with Stalin, and by 1948 it was all turned around.

People say this was due to Israel being launched and allied with the USA." – Boris Uan-Zo-li

an apartment is an apartment.” He remembers three rooms, a bathroom and a kitchen with three tables, one for each family. A cabinet with a chute to the outdoors provided refrigeration.

Like his father, Boris always enjoyed drawing. Fearing an obviously Jewish surname would prevent his acceptance at college, Julie bribed officials to allow her son to take her maiden name. He graduated from the Moscow Power Institute while taking drawing classes, first at a museum and then from the famous Moscow Polygraphic Institute, now known as the Moscow State University of Printing Arts.

After graduating, Boris worked as an electronics engineer authoring 165 patents while at the same time advancing his artistic career. Boris attributes the beginning of his original style to a 1973 portrait he did of Svetlana. The couple met while on vacation in Crimea and married in 1967. Svetlana also has Jewish roots. As part of a Jewish theater in Moscow, her mother had been

arrested as a Polish spy and sent to a labor camp. Svetlana identified with Judaism, but limited her observance to holidays. She moved in with Boris, who lived with his mother and two other families in the same three-room apartment where Boris grew up. His artwork continued evolving.

“You had to pass low-level censors to exhibit paintings,” he says, remembering the Soviet times. Bureaucrats withdrew his paintings at one exhibition because they didn’t fit in the Communist vision. At another, a woman complained that Boris’ abstract portrait of Lenin was denigrating. Still, Boris’ successes include major exhibits at the Central House of the Artists and other venues. Today, his paintings are privately owned in France, Germany, Switzerland and the United States.

Leaving Russia was an easy decision for the couple. “We have our son and grandchildren here,” Svetlana says. Alexander works for Intel and lives in Hillsboro with his wife and two sons. Both boys attend Caitlin Gabel.

“Family is the most important thing,” Svetlana says. “At first it was tough because we left all our friends, but now we’ve made friends with different kinds of people.” Still, after living in Moscow all his life, Boris continues roaming the streets via Google Earth. “I think he misses it,” Alexander says. The family nods.

See Boris Uan-Zo-li’s work at uanzoli.com or go to artslant. com, enter Uan-Zo-li in the Search Box and press enter.

OREGON JEWISH LIFE | MARCH 2018 53

ACTIVELY SENIOR

Planning for death is part of living

By Deborah Moon

“This film chose me,” says filmmaker Cathy Zheutlin of her surprisingly uplifting 45-minute documentary “Living While Dying.”

When the film premiered last November, she handed out a questionnaire and asked people to share three words that came to mind about the film. The words repeated most often were beautiful, honest, loving, moving, inspiring and poignant.

“The film is more about living than dying,” says Cathy.

The film grew out of a short 3-minute film she produced in 2012 about a music thanatologist, who plays his harp for patients near the end of life to provide musical comfort. Shortly after that, she and her husband, Edis, went to Australia, where she met an aboriginal “deathwalker” named Zenith, whom she refers to as a death midwife.

Just as people create a “birth plan” that lays out when and if they want drugs or other methods to ease the pain of labor, people should also create a “death plan,” says Cathy.

“We have choices in death,” she says. “Especially since scientific achievements can keep our bodies going. We need to think about how much medical intervention we want. There’s no right or wrong, but it’s important to think about it.”

Cathy’s parents, both 92 and long divorced, have diametrically opposite approaches to death. Her father, Dr. Norman Zheutlin, likes access to whatever modern medicine has to provide. He has filled out an advance directive, but he does not want to talk about death. On the other hand, her 54 OREGON JEWISH LIFE | MARCH 2018

mother, Jonnie Zheutlin, “is so comfortable, she discusses death as if planning a picnic.”

“She is ready to die,” says Cathy. Though her mom still works out, takes yoga classes and has an active social life at the retirement community where she lives in Ashland, she has filled out paperwork and is prepared emotionally for death.

“When people plan for the end of life, the outcomes are so much better for the person who is dying and for family and friends left behind,” says Cathy. “There are so many decisions that come up, and if you haven’t thought about it before a crisis it is too overwhelming. If you have time to think about your preferences at the end of life, you are more likely to have your preferences honored, and the people around you have more ease knowing they are honoring your wishes.”

When her mother’s partner, Clair Killen, was diagnosed with a terminal illness, Cathy asked if she could bring a video camera along when she visited him in hospice.

“Clair liked being the center of attention, and he was happy to have a project,” says Cathy. “There is a very beautiful scene (in the film) of Clair in the barbershop,” which she says arose out of Clair’s quest to “find something interesting to film.”

In addition to Clair, her mother and the deathwalker, the film also follows three of Cathy’s friends as they deal with terminal illnesses at about age 60: •“The people in my film have community support; not

everybody has that,” says Cathy. AvYitz, aka Alan Rosenberg, relied on his Jewish community as he faced death.

• Don Offil, whom Cathy knew from tango dancing, told her "dying doesn’t have to be sad" before taking medication available under Oregon’s Death with Dignity law.

• Azul shares his very spiritual approach to dying.

The 45-minute length is perfect for post-film discussions, says Cathy, and she feels those discussions are important.

Though people call her film humorous, hopeful and comforting, Cathy says she has learned the importance of “holding space for silence” as the film ends. “My film reminds people of experiences with death that are very close and personal, and sometimes is a reminder of that grief.”

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SCREENINGS: “LIVING WHILE DYING” Death is a big mystery, and yet the outcome is 100% certain. How do you plan for the unknown? Filmmaker Cathy Zheutlin tells the stories of four friends with terminal illness who chose to live out their final days at home with creativity, humor and courage. livingwhiledying.org MARCH 13 Wondering Jews, Tea for Two presents a screening of “Living While Dying.”

2-3 pm at Congregation Neveh Shalom, Stampfer Chapel, 2900 SW Peaceful Lane, Portland.

Free. programs@nevehshalom.org | nevehshalom.org MARCH 18 March Movie Night, "Living While Dying" 7-9 pm at Havurah Shalom, 825 NW 18th Ave., Portland.

Havurah’s Ma'avar (Transition) Committee will show "Living While Dying," followed by a panel discussion featuring Rabbi Benjamin Barnett, oncologist Charles Blanke, palliative care physician Karen Erde and Susan Hedlund, who worked on the original task force to legalize death with dignity.

Suggested donation: $10 503-248-4662 RSVP: havurahshalom.org/event/living-while-dying APRIL 4 “Living While Dying,” Encore Presentation 7 pm at Clinton Street Theater, 2522 SE Clinton St., Portland The film’s premiere at Clinton Street Theater on Nov. 28 sold out and people were turned away.

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I n de p e n de n t L i v i ng R e s i de nc e s 2420 NW Marshall Street • Portland, OR NorthWestPlaceSeniorLiving.com • 503.388.5417 OREGON JEWISH LIFE | MARCH 2018 55

K I D S

and teens too!

OJCYF Introduces Advocacy Workshop

By Gail Mandel

On Jan. 30 the Oregon Jewish Community Youth Foundation held its first advocacy workshop for students in 6-12th grades. Entitled Hope in Action, the session brought together 11 students to learn how to be an effective advocate for oneself and one’s community, as well as how to plan meetings with stakeholders and communicate with elected officials.

OJCF’s Collaborative Giving Program Coordinator Sonia Marie Leikam taught participants about the principles of lobbying and rules for effective advocacy encounters. In addition, guest speakers Pam Vergun from Plant for the Planet and Linda and Gary Wallmark from 350 PDX: Building the Climate Movement shared their stories of lobbying for clean energy jobs in Oregon.

“It was wonderful to see both middle school students from Portland Jewish Academy and high school students from Cleveland, Wilson, Sunset and the International School of Beaverton come together to learn how to best use their

56 OREGON JEWISH LIFE | MARCH 2018

voices to bring about change in the world,” says Leikam. “I look forward to seeing how the attendees take the information they received and supporting them as they put it into action.”

One advocacy strategy Leikam shared with the students was Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s Six Steps for Nonviolent Social Change. According to Dr. King, advocating for a cause can be broken down into six adaptable steps: identify a problem, get the necessary facts, identify the solution, find the decision makers to engage, build support and locate allies and, lastly, determine the methods to execute one’s advocacy plan.

“The foundation was thrilled to offer this workshop to middle schoolers as well as high schoolers,” says OJCF President & CEO Julie Diamond.

“We look forward to bringing more advocacy programming to the community in the near future.”

Gail Mandel is the legacy development and marketing manager at the Oregon Jewish Community Foundation.

U.S. Rep. Suzanne Bonamici to keynote youth benefit The Oregon Jewish Community Foundation is pleased to announce that U.S. Rep. Suzanne Bonamici will be the guest speaker at this year’s OJCYF Annual Benefit Dinner on Thursday, May 3, at the Mittleman Jewish Community Center. Congresswoman Bonamici has represented the 1st District of Oregon since 2012. More information about the OJCYF dinner is available at ojcf.org.

KIDS CALENDAR

MARCH 18

THE CARL PRESCHOOL FAMILY DANCE BENEFIT: 3-6 pm in Shaarie Torah Social Hall, 920 NW 25th Ave., Portland. Dancing with live DJ with music and a light show, complimentary refreshments and silent auction. Tickets available at the door. Suggested donation $30 per family of 4. 503-226-6131 ext. 236, thecarlschool.com

MARCH 25

PASSOVER FOR PRESCHOOLERS: 1:30 pm, at Matt Dishman Community Center, 77 NE Knott St., Portland. RSVP: pjaproud.org/passover

MARCH 29

BEDIKAT CHAMETZ: Searching for the last leavened products before Passover: 7-7:45 pm at Gesher, 10701 SW 25th Ave., Portland. Families with young children are especially welcome. Search for chametz, the last vestiges of leavened food not eaten on Passover. We use candles and feathers for searching, and make sure to find some tasty treats before we burn the rest of the chametz in a bonfire. Free. RSVP to Rabbi Laurie: 503246-5070 or ourjewishhome.org

RECURRING: SUNDAYS

Shaarie Torah, 920 NW 25th Ave., Portland. For families with children in preschool (ages 2+). Short service with singing, greeting, stories followed by kid-friendly dinner. Free. 503-226-6131

FOURTH FRIDAYS WITH RABBI EVE POSEN: 5:15-7 pm, fourth Fridays. Join Rabbi Eve Posen for this fun Shabbat for young families!

Welcome Shabbat with music and stories. Potluck dinner to follow. Cosponsored by PJ Library. RSVP for more info and location: 503-246-8831 or eposen@nevehshalom.org

SATURDAYS

TOT SHABBAT WITH MINI MENSCHES: 9-11 am, first and third Saturdays at Congregation Beth Israel, 1972 NW Flanders, Portland.

Join us for our special Saturday service for our littlest congregants and the grown-ups who love them. 503-222-1069

TOT SHABBAT: 10:30 am, first Saturdays, at Congregation Ahavath Achim’s Hillsdale location: 6686 SW Capitol Hwy. Eve Levy will lead tots and their parents in singing, dancing, stories and plenty of time for the children (and parents) to have fun. 503-227-0010 YOUNG FAMILY TOT SHABBAT: 10:15 am-12:15 pm, first and third Saturdays at Congregation Neveh Shalom, 2900 SW Peaceful Lane, Portland. Join other young families for singing, dancing, stories, indoor picnic-style lunch and Shabbat fun. Free. Rabbi Eve Posen 503-246-8831 KIDDUSH CLUB FOR K-2ND GRADE: 10:15-11:30 am, first and third Saturdays at Congregation Neveh Shalom, 2900 SW Peaceful Lane, Portland. Sing, hear a Torah story, maybe dance. followed by lunch.

503-246-8831

NORTH STORY HOUR WITH PJ LIBRARY: 9:30-10:15 am, Sundays at New Seasons, 3445 N Williams Ave., Portland. Share in a weekly story hour for families with music and PJ Library Books. (No story hour Nov. 26). rachelr@jewishportland.org or 503-892-7415

TUESDAYS

STORY TIME IN ANNE AND GOLDIE’S CHILDREN’S CORNER: 11-11:30 am, Tuesdays, second floor of the Oregon Jewish Museum and Center for Holocaust Education, 724 NW Davis St, Portland.

Co-sponsored by PJ Library. Caregivers with children are free. ojmche.org

WEDNESDAYS

CHAI BABY + PJ LIBRARY INDOOR PLAYGROUND: 10 am-noon, every second Wednesday (Sept.-June) at the MJCC, 6651 SW Capitol Hwy. For parents and their children up to 5 years old. Playing, running, meeting new and old friends, kosher snacks. Free. 503-244-0111

THURSDAYS

PJ STORY HOUR YAD B'YAD: 9:30-10:30 am, Thursdays at Rose Schnitzer Manor, 6140 SW Boundary St., Portland. Share in a weekly story hour for young families with music and PJ Library books with the residents of Cedar Sinai Park. rachelr@jewishportland.org or 503-892-7415

FRIDAYS

A LITTLE SHABBAT: 5-6:30 pm every third Friday at Congregation

TORAH TROOP FOR 3RD-5TH GRADERS: 10:00-11:30 am, first and third Saturdays, Congregation Neveh Shalom. Meet in the main service for the beginning of the Torah service, and then come out with your friends for a fun and active lesson on the Torah portion (parsha) of the week.

Return to the service to help lead Adon Olam. Free. 503-246-8831 SHABBAT STORYTIME: 9:45-10:15 am, second Saturdays, at Congregation Shir Tikvah, 7550 NE Irving St., Portland. Free. Shabbat gathering of toddlers and their caregivers. Best for kids up to age 5, although older siblings are welcome. Enjoy stories, songs and crafts. Stay afterward for bagels and coffee with Rabbi Ariel Stone. 503-473-8227 TORAH YOGA: 10:30 am-noon every second Saturday at Congregation Shaarie Torah, 920 NW 25th Ave., Portland. 503-226-6131 TOT SHABBAT: 9-9:30 am every second Saturday at Congregation Kol Ami, 7800 NE 119th St., Vancouver. Rabbi Elizabeth Dunsker leads a short Shabbat service with singing and storytelling! Craft-making based on the story and a short oneg follows the service. Ages 0 to 5. 360-896-8088 KESSER KIDS' TIME: 10:45 am-noon every second and fourth Saturday at Congregation Kesser Israel, 6698 SW Capitol Hwy., Portland.

The program is geared for children ages 2-11. Games, songs, learning, food activity. Free. 503-222-1239 OREGON JEWISH LIFE | MARCH 2018 57

g n i v i L

J

Journalist Susan Stamberg to headline MJCC’s Friends Brunch

The Mittleman Jewish Community Center has announced that renowned broadcast journalist Susan Stamberg will headline its annual Friends of the Center Brunch on Sunday, March 4, at 10 am. The brunch is the center’s largest fundraising event of the year. It will feature the induction of two new members to the Oregon Jewish Sports Hall of Fame and present this year’s Harry Glickman Scholar Athlete Awards to two Oregon high school students.

Stamberg replaces the previously announced speaker, comedienne Carol Leifer, who was invited to participate in this year’s Academy Awards ceremony in Los Angeles the same day as the brunch.

“We’re excited to have such an iconic figure as Susan headlining our Friends of the Center Brunch,” says MJCC Executive Director Steve Albert. “The event is a vital component in raising the funds necessary to support our facility and programs that serve the community yearround. It helps ensure that no one is turned away from the JCC due to their financial situation.”

A member of both the Broadcasting Hall of Fame and the Radio Hall of Fame, Stamberg became the first woman to anchor a national nightly news program when she began serving as co-host of NPR’s award-winning newsmagazine “All Things Considered” in 1972. After occupying that chair for 14 years, she began hosting the network’s “Weekend Edition Sunday.” Now she reports on cultural issues for “Morning Edition” and “Weekend Edition Saturday.”

The two newest members of the Oregon Jewish Sports Hall of Fame are NPR’s award-wining sports correspondent Tom Goldman and recent University of Oregon graduate and four-year

58 OREGON JEWISH LIFE | MARCH 2018

starter at placekicker for the Duck’s football team, Aiden Schneider.

During his more than 20 years with NPR, Goldman, a longtime Portland resident, has covered every major athletic competition including the Super Bowl, the World Series, the NBA Finals, golf and tennis championships, and the Olympic Games.

Schneider, over the course of his Duck’s career, was successful on 85% of his field goal attempts and 99% of his extra points, including going 11 for 11 in one game in his senior year.

The Harry Glickman Scholar Athlete Award is given annually to a Jewish male and female high school student in Oregon who “exemplify excellence on the field, in the classroom and in the community.” Award recipients are inducted into the Hall of Fame and receive scholarship funds in the amount of $500. This year’s winners are Layton Rosenfeld of Catlin Gable High School and Laz Glickman of Lake Oswego High School.

Harry Glickman, considered the father of professional sports in Oregon, was one of the founders of the Portland Trail Blazers and was the team’s president from 1987 to 1994.

He is a member of the International Jewish Sports Hall of Fame. Laz Glickman is his grandson.

For tickets to the Friends of the Brunch: oregonjcc.org/ about-us/brunch or call 503-244-0111.

Look for your invitation in the mail for the

Oregon Jewish Community Foundation’s FOURTH ANNUAL

To thank, honor and celebrate you— our community�s legacy donors SPECIAL GUEST SPEAKER

Judith Margles

Jewish Portland's Legacy: Past and Present

Wednesday, March 21, 2018

12:00-1:30 PM

Mittleman Jewish Community Center

By invitation only to legacy donors. If you are not sure if you have made a legacy gift, please contact ojcf to confirm at 503.248.9328.

TM

WANDER NO MORE

We are happy to announce that we are expanding our distribution to serve you better. In addition to all of our current pickup locations throughout the state, now you can find Oregon Jewish Life in racks at all of the Fred Meyer and QFC stores throughout the Portland Metro and Vancouver area.

OJCF

Thank you for your loyalty and support.

Cindy Saltzman • Publisher Deborah Moon • Editor-in-Chief OREGON JEWISH LIFE | MARCH 2018 59

L iving

J

Raoul Wallenberg, a portrait in determination

By Deborah Moon

In just six months Swedish diplomat Raoul Wallenberg saved thousands of Hungarian Jews from the Nazis before he himself disappeared. A new exhibit in Portland provides the historic and personal context to understand a remarkable man and the horrendous situation he found when he accepted the Swedish diplomatic post in Budapest.

“This story requires a lot of context to understand the magnitude of what Raoul Wallenberg did,” says Nordia House exhibit director Chaney Harter.

The 14-panel exhibit at Nordia House in Southwest Portland includes Wallenberg’s birth shortly after his father died of cancer, his education at the University of Michigan, and his early career in South Africa and pre-state Israel. Other panels present the situation in Budapest, background on the Holocaust, the actions Wallenberg took in Budapest and his disappearance.

In addition to the exhibit, Nordia House is hosting programs to provide additional context.

The opening celebration of the exhibit in February featured presentations by April Slabosheski, Holocaust educator at the Oregon Jewish Museum and Center for Holocaust Education, and Leslie and Eva Aigner. Both Leslie and Eva lived in Budapest before the war, survived the Holocaust, made their home in the Portland area and are part

Nordia House Exhibit Director Chaney Harter explains a panel in the exhibit to a visitor. Photo by Deborah Moon

Raoul Wallenberg with his staff at the Swedish Legation in Budapest.

60 OREGON JEWISH LIFE | MARCH 2018

of OJMCHE’s Speakers’ Bureau. A lecture is planned in early March featuring Natan Meir, who is the Lorry I. Lokey Chair in Judaic Studies at Portland State University.

“Historically during times of persecution and oppression, and especially with the use of fear and violence that was so present during the Holocaust, we see bystanders’ values slowly changing and people becoming less likely to intervene when atrocity is taking place,” says April.

“Something I admire about Wallenberg, and the decision of the Swedish Ministry for Foreign Affairs to send him to Budapest, is their strong sense of certainty, selflessness and determination that the persecution of Hungarian Jews was unjust and that something must be done to help.”

PREVIEWS Wallenberg gave thousands of Jews Protective Passports, which gave them temporary Swedish citizenship. Chaney says there are reports of Wallenberg arriving at train stations as transports were leaving for the death camps and writing out passports and pulling people off the trains. She said he would arrive at the depot with a list of Swedish “citizens” to give the Nazis and would add names to the list on the spot.

Wallenberg also rented dozens of buildings in Budapest and declared them Swedish territory. “People lived in these Wallenberg Houses,” says Chaney. Since no precise records were kept, the number of those he saved is uncertain, but estimates range from 15,000 to 30,000. Among the "Wallenberg survivors" were biochemist Lars Ernster and U.S. Rep. Tom Lantos.

April adds, “Wallenberg’s actions remind us that there are methods for intervening when persecution is taking place and offers an example of a time when intervention saved tens of thousands of lives. I think this is of critical importance today, as atrocities continue to take place and we often find ourselves wondering what can be done to help.”

Though both the Nazis and the Hungarian fascists opposed Wallenberg, he disappeared when he and his driver went to a meeting with the Soviets, whose army was approaching the city. Unconfirmed reports indicate he died in Siberia in the 1950s.

The exhibit was created by the Swedish Institute in Stockholm and is sponsored locally by Barry and Darlene Peterson and EPrint, which printed the panels from the digital images provided by the institute. Nordia House will keep the panels and plans to share them with other West Coast venues that want to present the exhibit.

Sandra Nelson Miller, Nordia House interim executive director, says she was excited about the opportunity to participate. “This exhibit is a wonderful reminder about how to think about resistance and how cruel people can be to one another.”

Nordia House is the cultural center of the Scandinavian organization Nordic Northwest, whose mission is to celebrate the contributions of the Nordic countries to the world.

“We have always wanted to share the story of Raoul Wallenberg,” says Chaney. “It is one of those stories that give you faith in humanity and makes you want to be braver and stand up for your values.”

“May we all have a little bit of Raoul Wallenberg in us.”

Raoul Wallenberg: To Me There's No Other Choice WHAT: Exhibit about Swedish diplomat Raoul Wallenberg, who saved thousands of Jews in Budapest in 1944.

EXHIBIT: 9 am-5 pm through March 30 PROGRAMS: Les and Eva Aigner, Holocaust survivors who lived in Budapest, share their story, March 4 PSU Judaic Studies Professor Natan Meir, March 7 WHERE: Nordia House, 8800 SW Oleson Road, Portland INFORMATION: scanheritage.org | 503-977-0275 ADMISSION: Free

Shoshana Bean returns to Oregon March 21

To celebrate the release of her fourth studio album, recording artist and Broadway star Shoshana Bean returns home to her alma mater Beaverton High School for a spectacular one-night-only concert.

“Shoshana Bean: Spectrum” will feature backup by an 18-piece big band and special local guests including Michael Allen Harrison.

Ticket sales will benefit BHS performing arts.

Shoshana is a Portland native and became a bat mitzvah at Congregation Neveh Shalom.

She is a veteran of the Broadway stage. She debuted in the original cast of “Hairspray” and starred as the first replacement for Elphaba in Broadway’s “Wicked.” She appeared in the pre-Broadway production of the musical “Beaches” as CeeCee Bloom. She sang back up for Michael Jackson for his 30th anniversary concert at Madison Square Garden and arranged vocals for Jennifer Lopez’s American Idol performance.

Doors open at 7 and the show begins at 7:30 pm March 21 at Beaverton High School, 13000 SW 2nd St., Beaverton. VIP tickets include reserved seating, a signed copy of CD, a signed poster, postshow private meet-and-greet reception and a professional photo with artist. Tickets are $25 general admission/$35 at the door and $100 VIP. Tickets are available at tickettomato.com/event/5367 or 800-820-9884.

OJMCHE presents Defiant Requiem April 4

In conjunction with the current exhibition Vedem Underground, OJMCHE presents an evening of film and conversation with “Defiant Requiem,” at 7 pm, April 4. The film highlights the most dramatic example of intellectual and artistic courage in the Theresienstadt (Terezín) Concentration Camp during World War II. It tells the remarkable story of Rafael Schächter, a brilliant, young Czech conductor sent to Terezín in 1941. He recruited 150 prisoners and taught them Verdi’s Requiem by rote in a dank cellar using a single score.

The Requiem was performed on 16 occasions for fellow prisoners.

The last, most infamous performance occurred on June 23, 1944, before high-ranking SS officers from Berlin and the International Red Cross to support the charade that the prisoners were treated well and flourishing.

Murry Sidlin is a conductor with a unique gift for engaging audiences; he maintains a diverse and distinctive musical career. For eight years, he was the resident conductor of the Oregon Symphony, where he first conducted “Defiant Requiem: Verdi at Terezín.” He is the founder and president of The Defiant Requiem Foundation.

Tickets, $8/members; $10/general, are available at ojmche.org or 503-226-3600.

Call for photo submissions for Yom Ha’atzmaut

Photos of Israel by local photographers are being sought for inclusion in art exhibit in celebration of the 70th anniversary of the modern state of Israel: “Israel from the Eyes of the Community: A Community Art Display.”

Approved submissions will be on display in the Mittleman Jewish Community Center Art Gallery from April 10-30. Community members will vote on their favorite photo from April 10-18 leading up to the Yom Ha'atzmaut Celebration on April 18. Winners will be announced at 8 pm that evening.

Send submissions to lsteinberg@oregonjcc.org by March 16. Email a high resolution digital copy of the photo with a note about where and when the photo was taken. Files should be no larger than 10MB. One photo submission per person.

OREGON JEWISH LIFE | MARCH 2018 61

Rabbi Ozer Moszkowski and Rebbitzen Leah

Eugene Scene:

New leaders arrive at Ahavas Torah

By Joseph A. Lieberman

You could say that Jewish Eugene’s newest spiritual leaders, Rabbi Ozer Moszkowski and Rebbitzen Leah, were fated to come to Oregon together.

As infants in South Africa, their mothers were close friends living one apartment building apart. When Ozer was just 3, his family announced they were moving to England, causing a tearful goodbye between the moms, who thought they’d never meet again. Hashem, however, had other plans.

Three years later (when Leah was 3), her family moved to England as well, and they all ended up in close-proximity neighborhoods in Manchester. The Jewish enclaves of Broughton Park and Prestwich were just 15 minutes apart by walking. The parents reunited with great delight, and although Ozer and Leah were not close play friends as children (a threeyear age difference is a wide gap in our early years), both grew up in this welcoming British environment.

62 OREGON JEWISH LIFE | MARCH 2018

Ozer left home in 2010 studying in top rabbinic training academies in Israel. During that time, Leah went on vacation to Israel, and as a matter of course contacted Ozer. Now young adults, this contact led to their first dates. Eventually, when Ozer returned to the UK during a break in his studies, the couple got engaged and with their parents’ blessings were married four months later.

Back again in Israel, Ozer completed his studies and received his smicha (rabbinical ordination) from Rabbi Yitzchak Berkovits at The Jerusalem Kollel. Although only men are ordained there, Rabbi Berkovits believes that rabbinical couples are a solid team unit, and so he gives the same lessons to women as he does to men.

Ozer and Leah have a daughter, Tehillah. This charming girl is 4 years old and attends the Montessori school. They came to Oregon when the position of spiritual leader at Ahavas Torah became vacant.

Like others before him, Rabbi Ozer’s principal job is to

work with University of Oregon students at Akiva on Campus, similar to Hillel House and Chabad in Eugene. All three Jewish entities offer students Shabbat prayers and four-course dinners every Friday night, and they sometimes coordinate major events together, such as the Purim celebration. There’s a plan afoot to jointly hold community campus Kiddush evenings once each month, with prayer, wine and challah baked by the rebbitzen. The first such meeting took place in January.

I asked Rabbi Ozer if this atmosphere fosters a sense of friendly competition, and he replied, “Trust me, there’s enough Jewish students at UO to go around! There are over 30 religious organizations on campus, and the three Jewish ones each attract a different type of core group. You could say we each present a slightly differently flavored atmosphere. Leah and I see our part as being less of an organization, and more like an extended family, with very personalized, individual attention given to each student.”

That said, many of the students take turns showing up at each off-campus “home,” varying their rounds of all three Jewish groups.

Rabbi Ozer divides his time as well. In addition to UO outreach with Akiva, he serves as rabbi of Congregation Ahavas Torah, where he leads Shabbat services and delivers a d’var torah Saturday mornings. It’s a whirlwind of interdependent activities that are sure to have a lasting and positive effect on the ever-growing Jewish community of Eugene.

503-261-3850 | ozer@akivaoncampus.com

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Save the date:

April 15, 2018 Register and choose your way to do good: jewishportland.org/GDD Contact Caron Blau Rothstein for more info.

(503)245-6449 a special volunteer opportunity for 6-12th graders.

OREGON JEWISH LIFE | MARCH 2018 63

L iving

J

FIDF sweepstakes winner Rita Shmulevsky (sixth from left) and her husband Mark (fourth from left) flew from Portland, to attend the Jan. 24 FIDF Greater Miami Solidarity Gala, which raised some $2.4 million to support well-being and educational programs for Israel Defense Forces soldiers.

Pictured with the couple are FIDF Florida Executive Director Dina Ben-Ari (second from left), FIDF National Director and CEO Maj. Gen. (Res.) Meir Klifi-Amir (center), Israeli Navy Capt. Amir Gutman (right), and members of the Israeli Air Force musical ensemble. The Shmulevsky’s son Arthur had served as a Lone Soldier – one who volunteers in the IDF without any immediate family in Israel.Photo by Carlos Chattah

PDX BUSINESS BREAKFAST – “Building Bridges Between Oregon and Israel" was the topic of the second PDX Business Breakfast hosted by the Mittleman Jewish Community Center Jan. 24. From left are Skip Newberry (president and CEO of the Technology Association of Oregon), Dan Shoenbaum (CEO of Cooladata), Steve 'Rosy' Rosenberg (principal of Aspen Investment Group) and Steve Albert (MJCC executive director). See the story of Cooldata in the April issue of Oregon Jewish Life.

64 OREGON JEWISH LIFE | MARCH 2018

FACES & PLACES

GARDENING – In honor of Tu B’Shevat, Maimonides Jewish Day School partnered with Portland Parks & Recreation to plant flowers and clean up Custer Park.

CHOLENT COOKOFF – Some of the 14 contestants for the first annual Cholent Cookoff held Feb. 10 at MJCC were, from left, Adam Greenman (the winner), Sean Murphy, Peggy Dorf, Zahra Rahmani, Rabbi Ken Brodkin, and Rich Hurwitz (seated). The “first annual” Portland NCSY Cholent Cook-off drew a total of 14 entrants who vied for the title of “Top Cholent Chef” (or “Cholent Master”) with offerings ranging from “BrazilianInfused Cholent” to an “Ashkenazic Adafina” to something called “Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door.” The more than 175 people who came to the “taste-off” voted Adam Greenman’s “Fleishig Fantasy” cholent the winner and recipient of an Instant-Pot — capping a great week for Greenman, who became a grandfather when his daughter, Eleanor Warshaw, gave birth to a daughter on Feb. 5. Century Catering supplied a light lunch with salads to augment the various cholents. Honorable mention to Charles Levy who came in second with his Moroccan cholent.

FACES & PLACES TORAH FAIR – Maayan Torah Day School fourth-grader Amar Cox explains her Torah Fair project to Yosef Katz, a parent of a Maayan student. Torah Fair uses a project-based learning approach that included a board game called “Shalom Solutions – The Game of Life” with scenario cards and a life size board, a creative wax museum about how to honor Shabbat, and even middle school projects all about “false witnesses” and the Jewish Court of Law. Torah Fair is an expression of the mission at Maayan Torah Day School with a student body of close to 100 students, teachers and over 40 families connecting to this Torah Day School in the Pacific Northwest.

TAX REFORM — Two things were clear from the Professional Advisors Group of the Oregon Jewish Community Foundation’s program on the recent tax reform that passed Congress. There will be winner and losers, and the IRS has a lot to sort out. The first major tax reform in 40 years was written in just 5½ weeks with many details scrawled in the margins when Congress passed the measure. OCJF presented a program Feb. 15 to provide guidance to tax and investment professionals. From left are Steve Zipper (JD, Gevurtz Menashe) , OJCF Executive Director Julie Diamond, Amy Kutzkey (CPA, Perkin’s & Co.), Erick Hormel (CPA, Perkins & Co), Marshal Spector (JD, Gevurtze Menashe), and PAG co-chairs Josh Blank and Brian Suher.

PEACE & POLITICS – On Feb.5 Gil Hoffman (center), chief political correspondent and analyst for The Jerusalem Post spoke about Peace, Politics and Plutonium: Israel’s Challenges and Opportunities During the Trump-Netanyahu Era. Hoffman is flanked

by StandWithUs Pacific Northwest Director Randy Kessler (left) and Bob Horenstein, Director of Community Relations at the Jewish Federation of Greater Portland. SWU and the CRC co-sponsored the program. Hoffman noted that as Israel approaches its 70th anniversary, its citizens cannot relax, “We have to focus on challenges” including politics, economy, security and maintaining a bipartisan relationship in the U.S. In an often humorous talk, he mentioned there are peace talks going on now – between the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia and the crown prince of American (Jared Kushner).

TENEMENT MUSEUM –Annie Polland, Executive Vice President of Programs & Interpretation at the Tenement Museum, spoke at the Oregon Jewish Museum and Center for Holocaust Education Brown Bag Lunch Jan. 25. The talk kicked off a new OJMCHE series of informal lunchtime conversations with scholars, museum professionals, historians, and others. That evening Annie Polland presented “Tenement Stories: New York’s Jewish Lower East Side” at the 2018 Gus & Libby Solomon Memorial Lecture, at Portland State University.

MIKVAH DEDICATION – JFGP CEO Marc Blattner wields the scissors aided by Rabbis Tzvi Fischer and Ariel Stone at the ribbon cutting for the Jan. 21 dedication of Rachel’s Well.

More than 100 community members celebrated the grand opening of Portland’s new community mikvah. Owned and operated by the Jewish Federation of Greater Portland, in partnership with the Oregon Board of Rabbis, this new mikvah is open to women and men for traditional and contemporary use. The grand opening was followed by a panel discussion on the multiple uses of mikvah. The two preparation rooms were named in honor of Helen Stern and Jeffrey Weitz. The reception area is named for Carolyn and Robin Weinstein.

Photos by Victor Paru jewishportland.org/mikvah | mikvahpdx@gmail.com

OREGON JEWISH LIFE | MARCH 2018 65

MARCH CALENDAR Through March 30 Raoul Wallenberg Exhibit. See page 60

March 1 Celebrate Purim like it's the ’70s! For young professionals. 5-8 pm at Paramount Hotel, 808 SW Taylor St., Portland. 503-753-4744 or cjyp. eventbrite.com

March 4 Friends of the Center Brunch. See page 58

March 4-9

Israel, 6698 SW Capitol Hwy., Portland. 8:45 am: "Hearing the Cry: The Role of the Community in Combating Abuse." Noon: "Why Can't the Rabbis Just Fix It? 5:15 pm: Mincha and "In the Trenches of Agunah Advocacy." Free. Kesser Israel and Ahavath Achim. 503-222-1239

March 11 “Desert Wounds,” a film that follows two women who fled Sudan and Eritria to Israel. 2 pm at OJMCHE. 503-226-3600

Jewish Art Month features ORA artists Ellen Green, Shirley Rackner, Jack Liskear, Joyce Shileds and Brauna Ritchie at the MJCC. Northwestjewishartists.org

Reducing the Impact of Climate Change: How do you make a difference? 4-6 pm at Temple Beth Sholom, Salem. 503-362-5004 or tbsholom.org

March 4-April 1 “Between Riverside and Crazy” at Artists Repertory Theatre, 1515 SW Morrison. 503-2411278 or artistsrep.org

Jewish Art Month features ORA artists Diane Moeglein, Sharon Segal, Jane Means and Wendelin Russel at the MJCC. Northwestjewishartists.org

March 6

March 13

“Scarlet Street,” the first film in the Jews in Suspense film series curated by film historian Ygal Kaufman. 7 pm at OJMCHE. 503-226-3600

Wondering Jews, Tea for Two presents a screening of “Living while Dying.” See page 54

MJCC Author Series. See page 47

Sephardic Film Fest: “Island of Roses.” 7 pm at Congregation Ahavath Achim, 3225 SW Barbur Blvd., Portland. Screening followed by Sephardic desserts and speaker. 503-750-0888

March 7 Creating an Ethical Will with Laurie Fendel. 6:308 pm, Zidell Hall, Congregation Neveh Shalom, 2900 SW Peaceful Lane, Portland. 503-2468831 or jbezodis@nevehshalom.org Jewish TV Theme Songs with Cantor Eyal Bitton.

7pm at Congregation Neveh Shalom, Stampfer Chapel. Free. programs@nevehshalom.org

March 8 Wikipedia Edit-a-Thon: Jewish Women Artists with social practice artist Shoshana Gugenheim.

Community event that teaches how and supports folks to edit, update and add articles on Wikipedia. 4-8 pm at OJMCHE. ojmche.org Nosh & Drash on Passover Torah with Rabbi Eve Posen. 1 pm at the MJCC. 503-244-0111

March 9-10 Ecology and the Deep Ecumenism: Rev. Matthew Fox Interfaith Weekend at Havurah Synagogue, , Ashland. 800-838-3006 or bpt.me/3233117

March 10 Scholar-in-Residence Rabbi Jeremy Stern, executive director of The Organization for the Resolution of Agunot at Congregation Kesser 66 OREGON JEWISH LIFE | MARCH 2018

March 11-16

Film and conversation with curator Rina Taraseiskey on Vedem Underground, an exhibit that examines the literary magazine written by Jewish teens imprisoned at Terezin. 6 pm at OJMCHE. ojmche.org

SEE KIDS CALENDAR PAGE 57

“Living While Dying” film screening and panel discussion. See page 54

March 18-23 Jewish Art Month features ORA artists Diane Russell, Eddy Shuldman, Buff Medb Neretin and Martha Decherd at the MJCC. Northwestjewishartists.org

March 19 Women’s Passover Experience. 6:30 -8 pm at Congregation Neveh Shalom. programs@ nevehshalom.org

March 20 “The Strange Love of Martha Ivers,” part of the Jews in Suspense film series.7 pm at OJMCHE. 503-226-3600

March 21 Jewish Portland’s Legacy: Past and Present.

OJCF Legacy Celebration with guest speaker Judy Margles. Noon at MJCC. Legacy donors only.

503-248-9328 Shoshana Bean CD release party. See page 61

March 22 Screening of “The Gatekeepers,” a 2012 documentary that features interviews with all surviving former heads of Shin Bet at that time.7 pm, Birnbach Hall, Congregation Neveh Shalom.

503-246-8831 or mvidrio@nevehshalom.org

March 25 Yoga for Back Pain. 1-2 pm at Temple Beth Sholom, Salem. Free, 503-362-5004

Oregon tour by Ani Tuzman, author of The Tremble of Love. See page 46

Art & Spirit Workshop. 2-4:30 pm at MJCC. Led by singer, artist, teacher, writer, ordained Maggid Cassandra Sagan. RSVP: oregonjcc.org/art-spirit

March 18

March 31-April 7

Taste of Temple. 5-8 pm at Castaway, 1900 NW 18th, Portland. Featuring many of Portland's best restaurants, wineries, distilleries and breweries.

503-222-1069 or sarah@bethisrael-pdx.org

Passover. See pages 15-25

Generation to Generation: Healing Generational Trauma. 4-6 pm at Havurah Synagogue, 185 N Mountain Ave., Ashland. 541-488-7716

“Living While Dying” at Clinton Street Theater. See page 54

Marianne Wollstein Mah Jongg Madness Brunch and Tournament. 11 am-4 pm at Congregation Neveh Shalom. Sponsored by Neveh Shalom Sisterhood. RSVP March 12: nevehshalom.org/ mahjongg2018

Post Passover Pizza Party. 6 pm at Congregation Beth Israel. As Passover concludes, join the CBI community for a Post Passover Pizza Party immediately following Friday Evening Services.

503-222-1069

March 14-25

April 4 Film Screening, “Defiant Requiem,” and special guest Murry Sidlin. See page 61

April 6

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