January 2024

JANUARY 2024 | TEVET/SHEVAT 5784

JEWISHRHODY.ORG

The stories of our life What we talked about before Oct. 7 Rhode Island lights up Hanukkah

Many ways to stay healthy in 2024

Local emissary supports college students

2 | JANUARY 2024

Jewish Rhode Island | jewishrhody.org

JCS’ Kosher Senior Café invites you to the 2024

SWEETHEART

DANCE SAVE THE DATE

FEB

9

2024

11 AM - 1 PM Good Company Live Music Dancing & Lunch

Learn more at JCSRI.org

ENDLESS ADVENTURES AWAIT

Land Rover Warwick 1346 Bald Hill Rd, Warwick, RI 02886 www.landroverwarwick.com Vehicle shown: 2024 Defender 110. Vehicle Image for illustrative purposes only. Retailer price, terms and vehicle availability may vary. These systems are not a substitute for driving safely with due care and attention and will not function under all circumstances, speeds, weather and road conditions, etc.

Driver should not assume that these systems will correct errors of judgment in driving. Do not use Land Rover InControl® or Pivi Pro features under conditions that will affect your safety or the safety of others. Driving while distracted can result in loss of vehicle control. Land Rover InControl has a number of purchasing options available. As we systematically roll out the Land Rover InControl suite of products, specific features, options, and availability remain market dependent. Certain Pivi Pro features use an embedded SIM card and may require a data plan with separate terms and conditions and an additional subscription after an initial term. Mobile connectivity cannot be guaranteed in all locations. The Land Rover InControl AppsTM and Land Rover RemoteTM smartphone apps will work with AndroidTM devices from version 4.1 and Apple® devices from iOS 7.0 and must be downloaded from the Apple App Store or Google Play Store. Please see your local authorized Land Rover Retailer for more details, visit LANDROVERUSA.COM or call 1-800-FIND-4WD / 1-800-346-3493. © 2023 Jaguar Land Rover North America, LLC.

JANUARY 2024 | 3

jewishrhody.org | Jewish Rhode Island

JEWISH RHODE ISL AND

EDITOR Fran Ostendorf DESIGN & LAYOUT Alex Foster ADVERTISING DEPARTMENT Peter Zeldin | 401-421-4111, ext. 160 pzeldin@jewishallianceri.org CONTRIBUTORS Cynthia Benjamin, Sarah Greenleaf, Robert Isenberg, Emma Newbery COLUMNISTS Michael Fink, George M. Goodwin, Larry Kessler, Patricia Raskin, Rabbi James Rosenberg, Daniel Stieglitz

VOLUME XXXI, ISSUE I JEWISH RHODE ISLAND

(ISSN number 1539-2104, USPS #465-710) is published monthly except twice in May, August and September.

PERIODICALS POSTAGE PAID at Providence, R.I. POSTMASTER Send address changes to: Jewish Rhode Island, 401 Elmgrove Ave., Providence, RI 02906.

PUBLISHER

The Jewish Alliance of Greater Rhode Island, President/CEO Adam Greenman, Chair Harris Chorney, 401 Elmgrove Ave., Providence, RI 02906.

401-421-4111; Fax 401-331-7961 MEMBER of the

Rhode Island Press Association.

COPY DEADLINES: All news releases, photographs, etc., must be received on the Wednesday 10 days prior to publication. Submissions may be sent to: editor@jewishallianceri.org.

ADVERTISING: We do not accept adver-

tisements for pork or shellfish. We do not attest to the kashrut of any product or the legitimacy of advertisers’ claims.

ON THE COVER: Israelis protest against the government’s planned judicial overhaul, outside the Supreme Court in Jerusalem, March 27, 2023.

PHOTO BY JAMAL AWAD/FLASH90 VIA JTA The Voice of Greater Rhode Island’s Jewish Community

JEWISH RHODE ISLAND

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@JewishRhody

You may not agree with everything we print – and that’s fine WE ARE A COMMUNITY of divergent views.

If you are reading this, chances are you are Jewish.

But maybe not. You could be a non-Jewish partner, spouse or advertiser, or perhaps you picked up the paper in a coffee shop to see what we are all about.

But let’s focus on the Jewish part of our readership community. Diversity is in our DNA. I’ll bet that if I chose a dozen readers from a list of our subscribers and sat each of you down at a table, you would share only a few of the same opinions.

On religion, on politics, on food and even on the weather.

And on Israel? Well, I’d venture to guess that would cause the most heated discussions of all.

Because right now, any discussion of Israel would have to include Zionism, antisemitism, the status of Palestinians and the war.

You may be American or Israeli, and you may have served in the U.S. military or the IDF, or not at all. But I guarantee you have strong opinions about everything Israel. And they’re not going to be the same as the person sitting next to you at the table.

What does that mean for Jewish Rhode Island?

This paper is a Jewish community newspaper. We are tasked with covering the Jewish community in Rhode Island. All of it. That means all of those beautiful divergent views.

Do we agree with all of them? Not important. Do we represent one view over another? Nope. Not our job. If you look at our coverage over time, I hope you will realize that we’ve provided a wide swath of representation.

We are small and monthly, so you have to look at the long term. With our limited space, each issue typically doesn’t have enough perspectives to represent the whole community, but we take a long-term view.

In this era of stratification, we have been labeled left-leaning, liberal, not pro-Israel enough. I will let you continue to argue these points. Are we right wing or left wing? Do we lean left or right?

Are we liberal or conservative?

As editor of this newspaper for close to 10 years, I can tell you that in every issue, we aim for balance, taking into consideration what else we have in the paper and what we have run in previous issues.

And please remember that each reader defines an issue and his or her stance a little differently.

Your definition of pro-Israel might not match your neighbor’s, just as your definition of anti-Zionist might not match the person next to you.

What we should all agree on is that here in the United States, open and civil discourse is important. And your Jewish community newspaper aims to reflect the Jewish community at large.

See something you don’t like? Write a letter to the editor. Want to give us your opinion? Write an opinion piece. How are these different? For starters, a letter is shorter (300 words maximum) than an opinion piece (500-700 words). Letters typically address a single issue or a story in the paper. Opinion pieces offer thoughts on a particular issue of the day, and can be educational.

Keep in mind that we reserve the right to edit all submissions. We also reserve the right to not publish your article. We’re not interested in personal attacks, unsubstantiated points, inappropriate subjects or inflammatory language. We prefer commentary that offers insights while also showing respect for others’ viewpoints.

As the war continues, your monthly Jewish community newspaper will strive to bring you news and opinion pieces about Israel that you might not see elsewhere, in addition to as much news about our Rhode Island Jewish community as our limited staff can produce.

Please let us know if we are missing something that you’d like to see.

Fran Ostendorf, Editor

D'VAR TORAH 5 | CALENDAR 6 | FOOD 8 | COMMUNITY VOICES 9 | OPINION 12 HANUKKAH 14 | COMMUNITY 16 | BUSINESS 25 | OBITUARIES 26

THE MISSION OF JEWISH RHODE ISLAND is to communicate Jewish news, ideas and ideals by connecting and giving voice to the diverse views of the Jewish community in Rhode Island and Southeastern Massachusetts, while adhering to Jewish values and the professional standards of journalism.

ALL SUBMITTED CONTENT becomes the property of Jewish Rhode Island. Announcements and opinions contained in these pages are published as a service to the community and do not necessarily represent the views of Jewish Rhode Island or its publisher, the Jewish Alliance of Greater Rhode Island. We reserve the right to refuse publication and edit submitted content

4 | JANUARY 2024

Jewish Rhode Island | jewishrhody.org

UP FRONT Barry Zeltzer artfully elevates nursing-home living

(Above) Rachel Balaban leads an activity at Hattie Ide Chaffee.

PHOTOS | ROBERT ISENBERG

(Right) Barry Zeltzer

BY ROBERT ISENBERG

A

dozen seniors sit in a semicircle and dance. They raise their arms, tap their toes and swivel in their chairs. They follow the movements of their gregarious instructor, Rachel

Balaban, as the Irving Berlin standard “I’ve Got My Love to Keep Me Warm” plays in the background.

MANY OF THE SENIORS smile and laugh, hugging themselves with each refrain. Others concentrate with a serious mien – but everyone is participating.

In the back of the room stands Barry Zeltzer, 68, CEO of the Hattie Ide Chaffee Home, a nursing home in East Providence. Zeltzer watches as music therapist Shelley Katsh plays piano and gets the group singing along with her. He watches instructor Jada Wooten lead her own choreography to “Baby It’s Cold Outside.” He watches acting teacher Barry Marshall improvise a snowy scene and

guide the group through simple pantomimes.

Zeltzer’s expression as he watches is a mix of intensity and pride.

“I’ve always been interested in the arts,” he says. “My goal is to create a model of nursing care that’s special.”

This is the Hattie Ide Chaffee Arts Academy, a year-old performing arts program for residents that was designed and organized by Zeltzer. Briefly described, the workshops might seem like typical nursing-home activities, intended to help

residents pass the time. But Zeltzer has bigger ambitions: He has gathered seasoned professional artists to lead the classes.

For example, Marshall taught theater at Moses Brown for nearly 30 years, and Balaban co-founded the integrative Artists and Scientists as Partners program at Brown University. The academy’s team works closely together, so that each session has continuity and clear goals.

Zeltzer sees many nursing-home

programs as a shrugging afterthought; the arts academy, he vows, will be a pioneer in quality.

“I wanted to make Hattie Ide Chaffee different,” says Zeltzer, who became CEO in late 2021.

“Today, you have to step out of the box. Nobody wants to be in a nursing home. Our mission is to care for our residents in a dignified manner, and to extend that to their families.”

Zeltzer is trim, perhaps owing to his precise diet, with pinprick eyes and careful speech. He looks 20 years younger than his actual CONTINUED ON PAGE 5

JANUARY 2024 | 5

jewishrhody.org | Jewish Rhode Island

Live up to your name

T

he title of this week’s parashah, Shemot, means “names,” and refers to the names of Jacob’s sons, who entered Egypt as free men. However, in the biblical account of the

centuries of bondage that followed, no one in the Israelite nation that sprung from them was given a name until Moses. Until then, Israel was a faceless mass.

D’ VA

TO FREE HIS PEOPLE, Moses had to grow up away from them, so that he would not absorb their slave mentality. In the pharaoh’s palace, he received his name, an active form meaning “to draw forth”; he would draw his people out of the depths of slavery.

Lists of names occur frequently in the Bible, and evidence is abundant concerning the high significance of individual words. To this day, the Jewish name of every child is announced at their baby-naming ritual: boys at their brit milah, girls at special ceremonies like simchat bat; in this way, we welcome them into Jewish life.

R

Why are names so important?

Or, in Shakespeare’s famous line, “What’s in a name?”

A name is a means of identification, a manner of asserting the uniqueness of each individual. David is David, and Simon is Simon. It is no accident that prisoners are given numbers instead of names. It is certainly against the spirit of Judaism to degrade people by depriving them of RABBI DANIEL their personality in this manner.

KRIPPER The Talmud observes that the names of the angels were mentioned only due to the Babylonian captivity. In

TO R A H

the earlier portions of the Bible, the angels have no names precisely because angels were seen as performing specific roles without possessing any real personalities.

Animals, too, have no names.

One dog does not differ from another in the way David differs from Simon. The common practice of giving names to pets is, of course, anthropomorphic, endowing animals with human characteristics.

The fact that no two people are alike constitutes evidence of human dignity and supreme worth.

As our rabbis say, just as no two human beings have the same face (and, as we now know, the same fingerprints), so, too, the mind of each is different.

This unique Jewish approach to names can be seen as a mighty protest against totalitarianism, which aims to efface individuality and distinctiveness.

Have we not experienced firsthand, as a people, the evils of totalitarian regimes in our times?

According to an old regulation, a synagogue has to have 12 windows, corresponding to the Twelve Tribes, with each window facing

heaven. One might add that each member of each particular tribe has a fragment of the divine light, which only they can reveal. David cannot do that for which Simon was created; neither can Simon do that for which David was created.

Every person is a world by themselves, and each possesses both idiosyncrasies and potential.

The Torah challenges us to thrive and live authentically, achieving our full potential.

RABBI DANIEL KRIPPER is the rabbi of Temple Shalom in Middletown.

Candle lighting times January 2024

Greater Rhode Island CONTINUED FROM PAGE 4 age, and he talks about Hattie Ide Chaffee with unwavering reverence.

“One of the most important things for me in developing this program,” he says, “is to bring an imaginative quality of life to our residents. I put myself in these residents’ shoes, and I think about, ‘What if I was in a nursing home? How would I want my lifestyle to be?’ ” Zeltzer holds a PhD in Gerontology and Geriatric Psychiatry from the Union Institute & University, in Cincinnati. He served for four years as CEO of the New England Homes for the Deaf, in Danvers, Massachusetts, and three years as executive director of the former Ballou Home for the Aged, in Woonsocket. He also earned an MBA from Bryant University, which speaks to Zeltzer’s entrepreneurial management style.

A songwriter and visual artist himself, Zeltzer teaches a course called “Creative Arts with Seniors” for the Warren Alpert Medical School at Brown University.

He speaks eloquently about the cognitive and emotional needs of seniors and the general state of elder care, and he wants to see tangible results from the academy.

“Hattie Ide Chaffee residents experienced improved

mood, mobility and cognition in the pilot project based on observational and survey data,” Zeltzer wrote in an email. “Residents also demonstrated greater use of their bodies. For instance, some elders who initially had difficulty lifting their feet off the floor or arms in the air

clearly skewed toward Christmas. Yet Zeltzer has overseen a kosher meals program and educational programs around the Jewish holidays that are open to all.

“We share Jewish values,” says Zeltzer. “There’s so much that we do here, as a group, [that is] just giving

‘When I see what each artist-in-residence brings to the table, it’s amazing.’ can now extend their legs to hip level and complete a full circle with their arms. Other elders’ increased mobility is a result of improved cognition.

“Arts programming helped residents become more verbal, willing to interact, and encouraged eye contact.”

While Hattie Ide Chaffee is open to residents of all backgrounds, Zeltzer wants the facility to openly welcome Jewish seniors, and he invites all residents to learn about Judaism.

Zeltzer grew up in an Orthodox household in Providence, and he attended the Providence Hebrew Day School. Zeltzer, who no longer keeps kosher, recalled trying his first cheeseburger when he was a student at Classical High School.

Out of 63 residents at Hattie Ide Chaffee, only eight identify as Jewish, and the facility’s decor in December

back. It’s not all about how much money [we can] make.

It’s about what we can do for our population of residents.

When I see what each artist-in-residence brings to the table, it’s amazing. They do their 50-minute workshop, but they do a lot more than that. There’s so much of their time that’s given to this organization and to this project that makes a huge difference.”

Bolstered by a grant from the Rhode Island State Council on the Arts, Zeltzer handpicked the instructors, all of whom he already knew well before soliciting their help.

Early recruits included Balaban and her dance-instructor colleague at Brown, Julie Strandberg, who specializes in neurodiverse dancers.

“I’ve always been very inspired by [Zeltzer’s] creativity and his vision,” says Balaban, who has known

and collaborated with Zeltzer for about a decade. “Whenever he gives me a call, I’m always really eager to meet with him. His vision aligns with so much of the work that I do, which is bringing movement to people of all ages, but particularly to people with movement challenges.”

Zeltzer wants his academy to set a high bar and serve as a showcase for other nursing homes that have what he considers apathetic programming.

He is planning a weekly “Voices of the Elders Program,” a multi-activity storytelling series that will include residents as well as family and staff members.

He also wants to expand his roster of academy volunteers and increase funding.

Hattie Ide Chaffee already has a rigorously organized

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garden club, with its own board and bylaws, as well as a range of outdoor gardens.

“If we can bring people and resources and different kinds of lifestyles for our residents to enjoy, that’s important to me,” says Zeltzer. “I want people to automatically say, ‘This is exceptional.’ ” Watch the performing arts program in action at JewishRhody.org.

ROBERT ISENBERG is a Cranston-based freelancer who writes for Jewish Rhode Island.

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Jewish Rhode Island | jewishrhody.org

CALENDAR HIGHLIGHTS FOR COMPLETE MONTHLY LISTINGS, VISIT JEWISHRHODY.ORG

Ongoing Kosher Senior Café and Programming. In-person lunches 11 a.m.-1 p.m. Monday – Thursday at the Dwares JCC, 401 Elmgrove Ave., Providence; Fridays at Temple Sinai, 30 Hagen Ave., Cranston.

No Café on 1/15. In-person (and on Zoom most Tuesdays and Thursdays) programming from 11 a.m.-noon followed by lunch and discussion noon-1 p.m. Every Wednesday is chair yoga. On 1/18, there will be a special program, “Operation Dugo,” including a falafel lunch. On 1/25, Neal Drobnis will lead a book chat on “The History of Love” by Nicole Krauss. Seniors and adults with disabilities of all faiths and backgrounds are welcome. Suggested donation: $3 per lunch for those age 60 and older as well as for younger adults with a disability. Other adults may purchase a meal for $6.50. The Kosher Senior Café is a program of Jewish Collaborative Services and is supported by the Jewish Alliance of Greater RI and Blackstone Health. Information and RSVP, Neal at neal@jfsri.org or 401-421-4111, ext. 107.

Project Shoresh Ladies’ Partners in Torah Night. Sundays 7:458:45 p.m. Providence Hebrew Day School, 450 Elmgrove Ave., Providence. Partner-based study group.

On-site facilitators available. Free.

Information, projectshoresh.com.

Let’s Talk Hebrew! Alef (Beginners). Mondays 5:30-6:30 p.m.

Current session thru 2/5. Dwares JCC, 401 Elmgrove Ave., Providence. An introduction to alef bet and basic Hebrew phrases.

Will work with a book. Cost: $125 (scholarship available). Information, Toby Liebowitz at tobyaane@gmail. com.

Writing Community. Mondays 6-7:30 p.m. 1/8 thru 3/25. Dwares JCC, 401 Elmgrove Ave., Providence. Instructor Jim Levanos will provide lessons, guidance and creative writing prompts to help writers find their voice. 4-week block: JCC Members: $25 | Non-members: $35; individual class: JCC Members: $8 | non-members: $10.

Information, Devorah Phillips at dphillips@jewishallianceri.org or 401-421-4111, ext. 163.

Let’s Talk Hebrew! Bet (Advanced Beginners). Mondays 6:30-7:30 p.m. Current session thru 2/5.

Dwares JCC, 401 Elmgrove Ave., Providence. Basic Hebrew reading skills and beginning Hebrew conversation. Will work with a book.

Cost: $125 (scholarship available).

Information, Toby Liebowitz at tobyaane@gmail.com.

Let’s Talk Hebrew! Daled (Advanced Intermediate).

Mondays 6:30-7:30 p.m. Current session thru 2/5. Virtual only. For those able to converse in present, past and beginning future tenses and who can read and comment on easy Hebrew stories and newspaper articles. Will work with a book.

Cost: $125 (scholarship available).

Information, Toby Liebowitz at tobyaane@gmail.com.

Temple Emanu-El Mahjong.

Tuesdays 11 a.m.-1 p.m. 99 Taft Ave., Providence. Both new and advanced players are welcome.

Drop-ins welcome. Information, Shosh@teprov.org.

Let’s Talk Hebrew! Gimmel (Intermediate). Tuesdays 6:307:30 p.m. Current session thru 2/6. Dwares JCC, 401 Elmgrove Ave., Providence. Offered both in person and virtually. For those who can read and write Hebrew, and who can converse using basic vocabulary in the present and some past tense. Cost: $125 (scholarship available). Information, Toby Liebowitz at tobyaane@gmail.com.

Let’s Talk Hebrew! Hey (Advanced). Tuesdays 6:30-7:30 p.m. Current session thru 2/6.

Dwares JCC, 401 Elmgrove Ave., Providence. For those who can speak Hebrew easily in all tenses, can read articles and poetry, and can discuss a variety of current topics. Cost: $125 (scholarship available). Information, Toby Liebowitz at tobyaane@gmail.com.

Core Connects RI “Writing with the Parsha.” Wednesdays. Noon1:30 p.m. Thru 1/24. Join Sherri Mandell and Elissa Felder on Zoom for a 4-part writing workshop.

Connect in real ways in response to the current situation in Israel.

Cost: $125 (scholarships available).

Information, Elissa Felder at CoreConnectsRI@gmail.com.

Pottery Classes. Wednesdays 6-8 p.m. 1/17 thru 3/20. Dwares JCC, 401 Elmgrove Ave., Providence.

Taught by long-time potter and ceramics teacher Sally Merino, classes will combine throwing on the potter’s wheel with hand-building methods to create exciting works. For all experience levels.

Ages 18+. JCC Members: $350 | Non-members: $425. Information, Devorah Phillips at dphillips@jewishallianceri.org or 401-421-4111, ext. 163.

“Classics of the Golden Screen.”

Thursdays 4-6:30 p.m. 1/11 thru 3/14. Screen a varied roster of Oscar winners and nominees that underscore why their appeal continues to the present day. Taught

by Thomas Skouras. Ages 18+. JCC Members: $250 | Non-members:

$300. Information, Devorah Phillips at dphillips@jewishallianceri.org or 401-421-4111, ext. 163.

Temple Sinai Shabbat Evening Service. Fridays 6-7 p.m. 30 Hagen Ave., Cranston. Song, prayer and reflection. With Rabbi Jeffrey Goldwasser and Cantor Deborah Johnson. Information, dottie@templesinairi.org or 401-942-8350.

Cape Cod Synagogue Shabbat Services. Fridays 7 p.m., except second Friday of the month 6:30 p.m. when Family Shabbat Services take place. 145 Winter St., Hyannis, Mass. With Rabbi David Freelund.

In-person and livestreamed on website, Facebook, Cape Media, YouTube and Community Television Comcast channel 99. Information, 508-775-2988 or capecodsynagogue.org.

Temple Torat Yisrael Virtual & In-Person Saturday Morning Shabbat Services. 9:30-10:30 a.m.

1251 Middle Road, East Greenwich.

In-person with Zoom available.

Information, temple@toratyisrael. org.

Temple Sinai Shabbat Breakfast & Torah Study. Saturdays 9:30-11 a.m. 30 Hagen Ave., Cranston.

Breakfast followed by interactive discussion at 10 a.m. with Rabbi Jeffrey Goldwasser or others in our community. Breakfast RSVP and information, dottie@templesinairi.org or 401-942-8350.

Temple Habonim Torah Study.

Most Saturdays 10-11 a.m. Rabbi Howard Voss-Altman leads weekly Torah study on current portion. Via Zoom. Information, Adina Davies at office@templehabonim.org or 401245-6536.

Cape Cod Synagogue Shabbat Services. Saturdays 10:30 a.m.

145 Winter St., Hyannis, Mass. With Rabbi David Freelund. In-person and livestreamed on website, Facebook and YouTube. Information, Cape Cod Synagogue at 508-7752988 or capecodsynagogue.org.

Temple Sinai Shabbat Morning Service. Saturdays 11 a.m.-noon (10:30 a.m. when celebrating a Bar or Bat Mitzvah). 30 Hagen Ave., Cranston. In-person and via Zoom.

Information, templesinairi.org or Dottie at 401-942-8350.

Friday | January 5 Temple Torat Yisrael Virtual Kabbalat Shabbat Songs & Torah Services. 5:45-6:30 p.m. By Zoom only. Information, temple@toratyisrael.org.

Temple Beth-El Shabbat Service.

7 p.m. 70 Orchard Ave., Providence.

Join us for Friday evening services.

Information, Jillian Brosofsky at

jbrosofsky@temple-beth-el.org or 401-331-6070, ext. 100.

Saturday | January 6 Temple Beth-El Guest Speaker Torah Study. 9 a.m. 70 Orchard Ave., Providence. Special Torah Study with a guest speaker.

Information, Jillian Brosofsky at jbrosofsky@temple-beth-el.org or 401-331-6070, ext. 100.

Sunday | January 7 Temple Emanu-El and TEQ Movie and Discussion: “Sublet.” 2 p.m.

99 Taft Ave., Providence. In this Israeli gay romantic comedy, a New York Times travel writer comes to Tel Aviv after suffering a tragedy.

In English (not subtitled). Starring Etan Fox and directed by John Benjamin Hickey. Free. Registration requested. Information, Temple Emanu-El office at 401-331-1616.

Wednesday | January 10 Israeli Culture Series: “Israeli Zumba and Smoothie Bowl Night.” 6:30 p.m. Dwares JCC, 401 Elmgrove Ave., Providence. A fun evening of rhythm, movement and healthy food led by Israeli shaliach Elihay Skital. Wear workout clothes.

Open to all ages. Free. Information and RSVP (required), Elihay Skital at eskital@jewishallianceri.org or 401-864-3786.

Friday | January 12 Temple Torat Yisrael Virtual Kabbalat Shabbat Songs & Torah Services. 5:45-6:30 p.m. By Zoom only. Information, temple@toratyisrael.org.

Temple Beth-El Shabbat Service.

7 p.m. 70 Orchard Ave., Providence. Friday evening services.

Information, Jillian Brosofsky at jbrosofsky@temple-beth-el.org or 401-331-6070, ext. 100.

Saturday | January 13 Temple Beth-El Shabbat Service.

9 a.m. 70 Orchard Ave., Providence. Saturday morning services.

Information, Jillian Brosofsky at jbrosofsky@temple-beth-el.org or 401-331-6070, ext. 100.

Sunday | January 14 Day at the J. 8 a.m.-2 p.m. Dwares JCC, 401 Elmgrove Ave., Providence. Enjoy family swim, jumpy house, gaga, crafts, open tumbling (ages 4 and under), group ex classes (Spin, Zumba, Restorative Yoga, Boot Camp), open gym and open art exploration (adults) as well as a “No Registration Fee Membership Special.” Information, see Upcoming Events at Jewishallianceri.org.

Wednesday | January 17 Virtual Art Lecture Series “Diane Arbus: Photographer of the Marginalized.” 7-8 p.m. Second of three virtual art lectures presented

by Ronnit Vasserman, founder of Art Connect Group. Explore the best-known photographs as well as early works of Arbus, an influential photographer of the 20th century.

Suggested donation: $10. Via Zoom.

Information, Devorah Phillips at dphillips@jewishallianceri.org or 401-421-4111, ext. 163.

Thursday | January 18 Teen Night at Temple Beth-El. 6-8 p.m. 70 Orchard Ave., Providence.

Enjoy dinner and an evening of meaningful discussion. Information, Jillian Brosofsky at jbrosofsky@ temple-beth-el.org or 401-3316070, ext. 100.

Friday | January 19 Jewish Alliance Hosts Blood Drive. 8:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m. Dwares JCC, 401 Elmgrove Ave., Providence. Donations by appointment.

Walk-ins if availability permits at time of arrival. Eat, hydrate and bring identification with you.

Information, Stephanie Hague at shague@jewishallianceri.org or 401-421-4111, ext. 127.

Temple Torat Yisrael Virtual Kabbalat Shabbat Songs & Torah Services. 5:45-6:30 p.m. By Zoom only. Information, temple@toratyisrael.org.

Temple Beth-El Shabbat Hallelu Service. 7 p.m. 70 Orchard Ave., Providence. Music-filled Friday night Shabbat service. Information, Jillian Brosofsky at jbrosofsky@ temple-beth-el.org or 401-3316070, ext. 100.

Saturday | January 20 Temple Beth-El Torah Study. 9 a.m. 70 Orchard Ave., Providence.

Torah study. Information, Jillian Brosofsky at jbrosofsky@temple-beth-el.org or 401-331-6070, ext. 100.

“Picking Up Stones: An American Jew Wakes to a Nightmare.”

3 p.m. Unitarian Universalist Congregation of South County, 27 North Road, Wakefield. This one-woman play is writer and performer Sandra Laub’s reaction to the Israel/Hamas war from Day 1 through Day 30. Cost: $20. Adults only due to graphic description of war. Information, uucscri@gmail. com or 401-783-4170.

Temple Sinai and Bethel AME Church of Providence present “The Afro-Semitic Experience.”

6:30-9 p.m. 30 Hagen Ave., Cran-

JANUARY 2024 | 7

jewishrhody.org | Jewish Rhode Island

CALENDAR ston. Concert and reception in honor of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. No cost to attend. Preregister (required) via link on temple’s homepage at templesinairi.org.

Information, dottie@templesinairi. org or 401-942-8350.

Sunday | January 21 Tu B’Shevat Celebration. 10 a.m.-noon. Providence Children’s Museum, 100 South St., Providence. Celebrate the birthday of the trees with a tree-themed program. Enjoy stories, plant seedlings, meet important critters (worms!), create tree designs and share a birthday treat. Program is free; museum nonmembers must pay museum admission.

Sponsored by the Jewish Alliance and the Providence Children’s Museum. Information, Lyndsey Ursillo at lursillo@jewishallianceri.org.

Tuesday | January 23 Behind the Book: “We Need to Talk About Antisemitism.”

6-7 p.m. Author and Rabbi Diana Fersko will discuss her book in which a millennial rabbi explores why we’re reluctant to discuss antisemitism. Via Zoom. Free.

Event made possible by a partnership of the Jewish Alliance and the Jewish Book Council.

Information, Stephanie Hague at shague@jewishallianceri.org or 401-421-4111, ext. 127.

Thursday | January 25 Teen Night at Temple Beth-El. 6-8 p.m. 70 Orchard Ave., Providence. Enjoy dinner and an evening of meaningful discussion.

Information, Jillian Brosofsky at jbrosofsky@temple-beth-el.org or 401-331-6070, ext. 100.

Friday | January 26 Temple Beth-El Shabbat Shira Service. 7 p.m. 70 Orchard Ave., Providence. Music- and song-

filled Friday evening service.

Information, Jillian Brosofsky at jbrosofsky@temple-beth-el.org or 401-331-6070, ext. 100.

Saturday | January 27 Temple Beth-El Torah Study.

9 a.m. 70 Orchard Ave., Providence. Torah study. Information, Jillian Brosofsky at jbrosofsky@ temple-beth-el.org or 401-3316070, ext. 100.

Temple Beth-El K’tantan PJ Library Havdalah. 5:30-7 p.m.

70 Orchard Ave., Providence.

Havdalah, a concert with Rocka-Baby and a pizza dinner. For families with young children.

Sponsored by TBE’s Sisterhood.

Information, Jillian Brosofsky at jbrosofsky@temple-beth-el.org or 401-331-6070, ext. 100

Sunday | January 28 Tu B’Shevat Bonsai Bar. 1-3 p.m.

Rhodium Spirits and Distillery, 40 Bayley St., Pawtucket. Celebrate the Jewish New Year for Trees. Instructors will introduce core concepts and guide your experience as you pot, prune and design your bonsai tree, and grab a drink. Ages 21+. JCC Members: $65 | Nonmembers: $75.

Information, Devorah Phillips at dphillips@jewishallianceri.org or 401-421-4111, ext. 163.

Tuesday | January 30 Behind the Book: “The Ways We Hide.” 7-8 p.m. Bestselling author Kristina McMorris will discuss her WWII tale of an illusionist whose recruitment by British intelligence sets her on a perilous, heartrending path. Via Zoom.

Suggested donation: $10. Event made possible by a partnership of the Jewish Alliance and the Jewish Book Council. Information, Devorah Phillips at dphillips@ jewishallianceri.org or 401-4214111, ext. 163.

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8 | JANUARY 2024

Jewish Rhode Island | jewishrhody.org

FOOD

Two delicious treats for your immune system (FAMILY FEATURES) Bolstering your immune system during winter, when coughs and colds seem to take control, is a must for the entire family. Supporting your wellness can start in a simple place – with the foods you eat and drink.

Consider an easy choice for any season like Florida orange juice, which can help you and your loved ones get the vitamins and minerals you need all winter long.

With 100% of the daily recommended value of vitamin C in every 8-ounce serving along with key nutrients like potassium and magnesium, there’s a reason it’s referred to as the “Original Wellness Drink.”

With no added sugar or artificial flavor, it provides the benefits you need without the additives. It contains natural sugar from the whole fruit for a delicious solution that’s one of nature’s nutrient-rich foods with vitamins, minerals and phytonutrients. Plus,

it’s easy to use as a nutritional ingredient in wintertime favorites like this comforting Orange Juice and Coconut Chickpea Soup or to start your day strong with a Superfruit Breakfast Smoothie.

Paired with a healthy lifestyle, 8 ounces of 100% orange juice may help support a healthy immune system as an excellent source of vitamin C and a good source of vitamin D in fortified juices. Vitamin C is commonly associated with helping maintain and strengthen healthy immune systems by protecting cells and promoting the production and function of immune cells. Meanwhile, vitamin D also plays an important role in regulating immune response by helping immune cells fight off bacteria and viruses.

“Safeguarding your health against the spread of illness is important yearround, especially during colder months when reports

of cold and flu increase,” said Dr. Rosa Walsh, director of scientific research at the Florida Department of Citrus. “A key step in supporting your immune system is maintaining a well-balanced diet that is high in essential nutrients.”

Beneficial plant compounds, like those in orange juice, along with flavonoids and colorful carotenoids work to support the immune system by fighting inflammation and helping cells communicate, which can help strengthen immune responses when encountering infections.

Additionally, orange juice is a source of phytonutrients like hesperidin, which has been shown in clinical studies to have antioxidant-like properties, heart health benefits and may help reduce inflammation. Hesperidin has also been linked with benefits related to cognitive function, immune system function and bone health.

Orange Juice and Coconut Chickpea Soup Servings: 8

INGREDIENTS 1 tablespoon olive oil 1 cup diced yellow onion 1 red bell pepper, diced 1 1/2 cups diced carrots 1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt 3 cloves garlic, finely grated 1/2 teaspoon ground cardamom 1 quart vegetable broth 1 can (14 ounces) light coconut milk 1 can (14 ounces) chickpeas, drained and rinsed 1/2 cup orange juice Chopped cilantro (optional)

DIRECTIONS In medium saucepan over medium high, heat olive oil until it shimmers.

Add onions, bell pepper, carrots and salt; cook until onions are translucent, 5-7 minutes.

Add garlic and cardamom; cook 1-2 minutes, or until garlic is fragrant. Do not brown.

Add vegetable broth, coconut milk and chickpeas; bring to simmer.

Decrease heat to low and cook until carrots are tender, about 10 minutes.

Add orange juice, remove from heat and stir. Taste and adjust seasoning as desired.

Serve garnished with cilantro, if desired.

Superfruit Breakfast Smoothie Servings: 2

INGREDIENTS

DIRECTIONS

8 ounces orange juice 4 ounces dark sweet cherries 2 ounces pomegranate juice

In blender, puree orange juice, cherries and pomegranate juice then serve.

JANUARY 2024 | 9

jewishrhody.org | Jewish Rhode Island

COMMUNITY VOICES

The music of my youth still reverberates

USE CODE: JRI10 FOR $10 OFF TICKETS GAMMTHEATRE.ORG/VIRGINIA

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hile growing up in Los Angeles, my twin brother, Theo, and I could play outside every day. Both our maternal

grandfather and our mother were baseball fans, so we often played catch with each other. We also enjoyed an outdoor Ping-Pong table.

AND BY THE TIME our younger sister, Betty, came along, we Goodwin kids enjoyed a backyard swing set and then a tetherball pole. Our paternal grandmother taught us to ride bicycles, and our family loved spending a day at the beach.

Nevertheless, as much as we enjoyed these activities, and others at sleepaway camps, by the age of 8 or 9, we Goodwin kids could not be considered athletic.

A far higher priority – for our parents, at least – was going to religious school on Saturday mornings at the Wilshire Boulevard Temple. We would ride on a yellow bus for an hour each way, even though classes lasted only two hours. Given that considerable distance, Mom was hardly eager to drive us to and from Hebrew school at a different time, so Theo and I were tutored at home.

Both of us took other kinds of lessons too, perhaps the most enjoyable of which was painting. By the time we were 8 years old, Mom would shlep us to Mrs. Abbey’s backyard studio, where we often portrayed gorgeous arrangements of flowers or fruit.

Although I took years of drawing and painting classes as an adult, I don’t think that I ever exceeded my childhood accomplishments. Indeed, I still much enjoy looking back at many framed examples.

In addition to taking classes in ballroom

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dancing, Theo and I were expected to learn to play musical instruments. But this also meant that Mom had to drive us back and forth to Mr. Walecki’s music store, which had small studios in the back for private lessons.

Despite my lack of any musical ability, I loved playing flute, which led, eventually, to something far louder: alto saxophone.

For some GEORGE M. strange reaGOODWIN son, however, Theo was rather talented. After doing well on clarinet, he moved to oboe.

At the luncheon following our Bar Mitzvah, Theo and I, along with a dozen of our Jewish and gentile buddies, performed a concert of popular and classical music.

Music had already become a key ingredient of our religious education. That is, we learned to enjoy organ and choral pieces – even though we could never see any of the performers in our temple’s vast and magnificent sanctuary.

Until Theo and I attended B’nai Mitzvah at Conservative congregations, we never heard or saw a cantor.

But music became an important and fun component of our upbringing for another quite important reason: I doubt that we auditioned, but Theo and I performed for several years in the orchestra that CONTINUED ON PAGE 11

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10 | JANUARY 2024

Jewish Rhode Island | jewishrhody.org

COMMUNITY VOICES

It’s no fable: Jewish culture is far-reaching and enslaved by

the Athenian Greeks: Is the central moral of his tales, in any sense, Jewish?

WELL, THE VERY WORD, or name, “Aesop” is probably a variation of the title “Ethiope,” and John Singer Sargent painted a close-up portrait of Aesop that ambiguously suggests a racial mix.

The theme of many of the fables is that the smallest

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was taken hostage

ally can come to the rescue of the powerful. A sculptor named Nancy Schon made a choice of certain plots to illustrate, and to display lavishly in a nearby public library.

The trouble is that people prefer to reduce folklore to a childish level, and to emphasize sound advice for toddlers and other youngsters. Advice, useful guidance, that sort of thing.

My all-time favorite of

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esop, of the Fables,

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the Aesop plots is, however, the plight of a stag that is blinded in one eye by hunters, with an arrow. So, the stag climbs a mountain, with an ocean view, and thus survives for a spell. But wait! The cruel hunters find a MIKE FINK boat and figure out how to sneak an attack from the sea.

“Ah,” proclaims the doomed and dying stag, “I see now, you cannot escape your fate.”

BOOK

In real life, Aesop the artist was indeed murdered by being thrown from a cliff, just as he seemed to predict.

There was a period in northwestern Ethiopia, in the Simien mountains, when the Jewish heirs to the bond between ancient Israel and its African allies survived and flourished and led them to modern Israel and the rescue of the remainder!

I wished and hoped that the artist Nancy Schon had added some images from stranger and more melancholy messages from the mysterious Aesop. Nevertheless, I want to thank my

son, Reuben, for driving me to Wellesley, Massachusetts, and recording our visit in quest of questions not only about this particular wondrous storyteller but for perhaps a wider search.

Is the “Wandering Jew” not only an often antisemitic parable of punishment, but maybe, as well, a recognition of how widespread the Hebrew people, and their culture, was and remains, to our day and beyond?

MIKE FINK (mfink33@aol. com) is a professor emeritus at the Rhode Island School of Design.

The good, the bad and the ugly at the dawn of 2024 H

ere are 10 thoughts, along with my observations, to usher in 2024:

1

Almost four years removed from the start of the pandemic, COVID-19 is now more or less just another thing to contend with,

G OU K IN

2

I desperately wanted this column to be free of the ugliness that has followed the carnage of Oct. 7 and the ensuing Israel-Hamas war,

but some behaviors must be called out. I never thought I’d see people in high places defend loose talk of genocide.

If any other minorities were

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thanks to vaccines and boosters.

But it still stinks to get a positive test – especially when it comes after you’ve done all the right things.

I received the two original vaccines in 2021, three boosters over the next year-plus and the latest one this past fall. I also received the flu and RSV vaccines. Nonetheless, I wound up getting a rather disappointing “gift” on the third day of Hanukkah: a cold that, two days later, turned out to be COVID. There may no longer be a stigma or a high probability of severe sickness with COVID, but the disease still disrupts your life. I had to cancel a couple of appointments, including a follow-up to a tooth extraction.

But as distressing as testing positive was, I’ve resolved to never again live in fear of the disease. Still, I will probably continue to wear a mask when shopping at large stores, pharmacies and at medical offices; getting COVID still messes with your head.

mentioned during the questioning of the college presidents in Congress, I firmly believe that there would have been no equivocating at all, but it seems that antisemitism has become far too widely accepted, even by people with advanced degrees and visible leadership positions.

What should have been said is that it’s never acceptable to be wishywashy about genocide, and there’s NO context where it’s ever OK to do so, period.

LARRY KESSLER

4

It’s customary at this time of the year to wish for peace, and

this year, we really need those wishes and prayers to be sincere and heartfelt. The killing must stop in the Middle East and Ukraine. Civilians are getting slaughtered in both devastating wars, and we run the risk of becoming accustomed to such suffering.

Voicemail has been around for a long time, but credit card and cable companies need to wake up and establish an option that immediately connects callers to a person. Calls to my cable company are something to dread because you’re put in voicemail purgatory for several minutes before speaking to a real human.

5

Speeding on local streets has reached epidemic proportions since the pandemic, which spawned

a colossal lack of respect for laws and authority. It’s almost impossible to go the speed limit on side streets and town roads, and even on major roads such as Route 1, without being tailgated by people driving

big vehicles – especially SUVs and trucks.

I’ve often been passed on those roads, even when a double-yellow line prohibits it. Not long ago, while adhering to the 40-mph speed limit, I was passed on Route 1 in North Attleboro by a vehicle going 50-60 mph.

The refusal to go the speed limit sadly extends to school zones, where the limit is 20 mph. One day, while driving by North Attleboro High School, I was passed by two consecutive cars going 40-50 mph.

6

That leads me to lamenting again that there’s too much anger out there. Road-rage incidents

seem to be occurring more frequently, one more example of people acting without regard for others’ feelings or viewpoints.

That anger has led to the refusal of political leaders to compromise, and it has negatively affected our institutions at the national, state and local levels.

That negative atmosphere makes you yearn for the days when House Speaker Tip O’Neill and President Ronald Reagan could bicker about policy and still quaff a beer or two.

People must realize that we’re all going to wind up the same way – 10 feet underground – so we had better start acting like menschen before it’s too late.

7

The dysfunction of our political system is why volunteering beats political service by a long shot.

Helping community groups work on projects is a far more meaningful way of making an impact.

8

Reality shows, including many new ones, dominated the fall TV lineup because of the prolonged actors’ and writers’ strikes, which

pushed the debut of scripted TV series to January or February.

My two favorite reality series remain two of the longer-running ones: “Survivor” and “The Voice.”

The former, on CBS, never gets old and reveals a lot about human dynamics. The latter, on NBC, is not only a contest show that lets the public pick the winner, but it never fails to showcase plenty of superb and inspirational musical talent.

9

Is it just me, or do medical and dental offices think that people over 65 have no brain cells left? Why

else would they routinely bombard us with a plethora of text messages, emails and phone calls about upcoming appointments? There’s no question that too many of those offices treat you differently as you age.

10

Last, but never least, I’m always grateful for the camaraderie of good friends,

including many with whom I go back decades. And I’m humbled and thankful for the love of my family, especially my wife, Lynne, and daughters, Arianna and Alana.

As I get older, that support means everything to me.

LARRY KESSLER (larrythek65@ gmail.com) is a freelance writer based in North Attleboro. He blogs at larrytheklineup.blogspot.com.

JANUARY 2024 | 11

jewishrhody.org | Jewish Rhode Island

COMMUNITY VOICES

For better mental health, challenge the stories you tell yourself

T

he National Institute of Mental Health has written an article,

“Caring for Your Mental Health,”

Eat healthy, regular meals and stay hydrated.

Make sleep a priority.

Try a relaxing activity.

Set goals and priorities.

Practice gratitude.

Focus on positivity.

Stay connected.

I AM NOT elaborating on these tips, because they are fairly self-explanatory and because I think there is a much more fundamental issue underpinning all of

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 9 accompanied the religious school’s Purim pageant.

This was not a goofy production performed primarily for laughs. Rather, it was a carefully rehearsed spectacle that was performed on the stage of the religious school’s huge auditorium.

Immediately following classes and a bite to eat, the student musicians practiced on Saturday afternoons.

But this inevitably created a transportation problem.

So Theo and I, lugging our instruments, rode a public bus down Wilshire Boulevard to our side of town, and then called Mom from a pay phone to come and get us.

One reason that Theo and I loved playing in the Purim orchestra was our admiration for its conductor, Leon Guide, who was a music teacher in public schools and also the leader of his own dance band.

His insistence on high standards and his sense of humor surely led to kids having a good time.

Unfortunately, after per-

HEA

Get regular exercise.

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Stories We Tell Mold Our Future,” at Chabad.org, Tzvi Freeman writes, “The narratives of humankind have driven tribes to conquer and grow to empires, sustained civilizations and allowed them to fall and then regenerated them from the dust. …

“More than PATRICIA any other tool RASKIN of humankind, our legends have been responsible for building the world in which we currently live. Our faith in those mega-stories will determine whether that world implodes, decays or flourishes.

“So too the micro-stories each of us tell of our own private dramas determine the conquest of our personal destinies.

Stories are the channels

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that offers the following tips:

this: Our emotional health, the way we think, our selftalk and our attitude.

If we don’t understand and work on our emotional health, it may be difficult for these tips to apply because we might not truly believe in what we are doing. A good analogy is the foundation of a house that is not strong enough to support a sustainable structure.

One of the reasons that I practice positive thinking and have interviewed thousands of people who have overcome obstacles, transformed problems into solutions, and survived horrific events is because it has helped me to adapt a mindset that has led me to move forward.

In the article “How the

forming in our final Purim ly’s home. pageant, 60 years ago, Theo Mr. Guide was married and I never again saw Mr. twice, but never had children Guide. But, like several of our of his own. religious school mentors, we Having served in the Army could never forget him.

Indeed, a few weeks ‘His insistence on high ago, given my devotion to genealogical research, Theo asked standards and his sense if I could find out more about him. of humor surely led to The eldest child of Russian immigrants, kids having a good time.’

Leon Guide was born in Istanbul in 1921.

By the time he turned during World War II, he is 2, his family had sailed to buried in Riverside National America. Their ship arrived Cemetery, east of L.A. His in Providence on Nov. 11, grave is decorated with a 1923.

Jewish star, but not a clef.

The Guides soon moved Theo and I fondly rememto Chicago, where Leon and ber several of our religious his two younger sisters grew school teachers. Mr. Sherup. He studied cello in high man, for instance, once asked school before majoring in our class, “How would you music at Northwestern Unidefine Judaism?” His evenversity. tual answer: “A way of life.”

Mr. Guide taught in L.A.’s In Mrs. Langley’s class, public schools for approxithe kids were required to mately 40 years. He also led visit and write reports about orchestras at the Westside social-service organizations.

Jewish Community Center Theo studied Cedars-Sinai and University Synagogue, Hospital, and I learned about which was close to our famithe Jewish Federation. Our

we dig within our psyches through which our past will flow into our future.”

As I practice the tips above from the National Institute of Mental Health, I pay attention and listen to the stories I tell myself and

‘I pay attention and listen to the stories I tell myself’ the interpretations I make, and I question them and validate the facts of the situation.

This has been a very tough time to see positive outcomes and paint positive pictures. It is so easy to catastrophize and draw conclusions based on the past, instead of the present.

Of course, it is important to look at the past, as it gives us important information, but totally basing

class also visited an Orthodox congregation to experience a service.

To prepare for Confirmation, all 160 kids had to write a paper on “Who and What is an American Jew?” Needless to say, I procrastinated.

Then, without asking any teacher’s permission (but perhaps with Mrs. Abbey’s blessing), I created a poster with portraits of 24 famous Jewish men and women, including musicians.

My teachers were appalled, but the temple’s senior rabbi loved it. Indeed, my poster hung in a hallway for many years.

After a decades-long

our next course of action on what has transpired in the past limits our ability to clean the slate and see a different outcome in the current circumstances.

Here’s to hearing and dealing with our inner voices, to lead us to caring for our mental health and positive outcomes!

Happy 2024!

PATRICIA RASKIN, owner of Raskin Resources Productions, is an awardwinning radio producer, business owner and leader. She is on the board of directors of Temple Emanu-El, in Providence, and is a recipient of the Providence Business News 2020 Leaders and Achievers award. Her “Positive Aging with Patricia Raskin” podcast is broadcast on the Rhode Island PBS website, ripbs.org/positiveaging.

hiatus, Theo, who lives in Sacramento, California, not only resumed playing clarinet but also took up classical guitar. He happily performs with a few communal orchestras. Theo is also active in a Reform congregation, but, to the best of my knowledge, he no longer performs in a Purim orchestra.

But, as you can see, our childhood musical memories no longer linger; rather, they resound and reverberate!

GEORGE M. GOODWIN, of Providence, is the editor of Rhode Island Jewish Historical Notes.

Business & Real Estate Disputes

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Richmond Square, Providence | (401) 714-0622

www.KolbLaw.com

12 | JANUARY 2024

Jewish Rhode Island | jewishrhody.org

OPINION Our community must stay united

Alex Cutler, MD Providence, RI

This column originally ran on Nov. 21, 2014, and is relevant today.

PSALM 137 – at least its first six verses – is one of the best known and best loved of our 150 psalms: By the rivers of Babylon, there we sat, sat and wept, as we thought of Zion.

verses of the psalm; I sang the song for years without realizing that the psalm had a most disturbing “Part II”: Pay back, O Lord, the Edomites, for the day of Jerusalem’s fall, the ones who said, ‘Tear her down, tear her down, to her very foundation!’

There on the willows we hung up our lyres,

Daughter of Babylon, destroyer,

for our captors asked us there for songs

happy the one who pays you back for what you did to us!

our tormentors, for amusement.

Happy the one who grabs your babies and smashes them against the rocks!

How can we sing a song of the Lord on alien soil?

If I forget you, O Jerusalem, let my right hand forget its cunning; let my tongue cleave to the roof of my mouth if I cease to think of you, if I do not elevate Jerusalem above my highest joy.

Few words capture more completely the millennial-long love affair between Jerusalem and the Jewish people. To this very day, Jerusalem continues to tug at our heartstrings. The contemporary Israeli poet Yehuda Amichai (1924-2000), writes: “Jerusalem stone is the only stone that feels pain; there is in it a network of nerves.”

This is the very same stone that turns Jerusalem at sunrise and sunset into a magical city of gold and copper and light.

Until my years as a rabbinical student, I never read past the first six verses of Psalm 137. Indeed, during my youthful folk-singing days, I would frequently perform a mournful version of “Al Naharot Bavel” (“By the Rivers of Babylon”), which takes as its Hebrew text the opening

EM

Reading these words makes me squirm. How could this psalm, how could any psalm, celebrate the smashing of babies against the rocks?

Nevertheless, given the historical context of exile in Babylonia, given the helpless impotence felt by the Israelites who were forced to become strangers in a strange land, given the sadistic taunts of our ancestors’ captors, one can understand, if not condone, their rage for revenge. The Israelite exiles were in no position to fight back physically; all they could do is to fight back with words.

In view of the fact that the concluding three verses of Psalm 137 express such RABBI JAMES violent hatred, it ROSENBERG seems strange, almost perverse, that Rabbi Nachman of Breslov (1772-1810) chose to include it as one of “ten psalms of having special power to bring a true and complete healing: R’fuat HaGuf (Healing of the Body) and R’fuat HaNefesh (Healing of the Spirit).”

Rabbi Nachman designated these 10 psalms (16, 32, 41, 42, 59, 77, 90, 105, 137, 150) the Tikkun HaKlali, the Complete Remedy. (“Healing of

S TO M

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I ARRIVED IN ISRAEL in August 2005 to begin medical school at Tel Aviv University, coinciding with Israel’s withdrawal from Gaza. It was a tense period with strong opposition to the withdrawal. Gaza could have been paradise to start a new and independent life for the Gazan citizens, but instead it came under Hamas control and ultimately led to the October 7th terrorist attack.

While the Jewish Alliance has done a great job supporting Israel, I disagreed with aspects of a recently published interview.

It is critical that we educate ourselves about the anti-Israel narrative. One of the growing dangers emerging from the crisis in Israel is rampant misinformation. “Until Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank are free of Israel’s occupation and siege, Israel will not be secure,” was quoted by Ruth Ben-Artzi (December 2023). It is crucial to highlight that, as of 2005, Israel withdrew entirely from Gaza.

There’s no Jewish presence, and no occupation. The Palestinians were given resources to build a self-sufficient state, but it turned into a terror enclave.

I am deeply concerned about global calls for an intifada and rising antisemitism. I am currently president of the Northeast region of the Magen David Adom (MDA) board and I have been closely following the events in Israel and I have been briefed by MDA personnel involved in the conflict. As a consulting college psychiatrist, I’ve witnessed the detrimental impact on the mental health of Jewish students. While differing opinions are valid, promoting the recent interview seems inappropriate for a Jewish organization. Our primary focus should be on unity and bringing the hostages home while keeping Israel safe. The state of Israel is at an existential crossroads, demanding our collective attention. As members of the Jewish Alliance of Greater Rhode Island, we must unite to address these challenges head-on.

I urge our community to consider the broader picture and the potential consequences of internal divisions. Let us prioritize solidarity and save nuanced debates for a time when our unity is not under immediate threat.

A psalm that makes us squirm

IT S E

LETTERS

Soul, Healing of Body,” Rabbi Simha Y. Weintraub, editor, Jewish Lights Publishing, 1994.)

The apparent contradiction between the expressed violence at the end of Psalm 137 and its designation as a psalm of healing is resolved when one interprets exile as a metaphor for illness. As Rabbi Amy Elberg, one of several rabbinical contributors to “Healing of the Soul, Healing of the Body,” wrote in her introduction to this psalm, “I had always read Psalm 137 only in historical terms, the homesick lament of the Jews in exile in Babylon, weeping for Jerusalem, their home. But to read the psalm through Rabbi Nachman’s eyes is to imagine the lament as my own, as a cry of despair and longing in my own times of pain ... when I am disoriented, forcibly removed from the normal, comfortable times and places of my life.”

Illness is exile. Illness takes us far away from the comforts of home by turning us into strangers in a strange land, by closing off all conversation with others and even with ourselves, trapping us in the prison of our own relentless pain. As Bob Dylan begins his frequently performed but ever enigmatic “All Along the Watchtower”: “There must be some way out of here .... There’s too much confusion. I can’t get no relief.”

But there can be a way out of here; there can be some measure of relief from the confusion and the pain that illness brings in its wake. A sustained engagement with our Biblical Tehillim, our Psalms, even those psalms that might make us squirm, can bring us out of ourselves and back into relationship with all those who help us to heal – and back into relationship with the ultimate healer.

JAMES B. ROSENBERG is a rabbi emeritus at Temple Habonim, in Barrington. Contact him at rabbiemeritus@templehabonim.org.

The Jewish story of resilience and hope

BY MARJORIE DAVIS FORMER U.S. AMBASSADOR John Loeb recounted his experience at an elite prep school after World War II. When shown images of concentration camps, his fellow students said, “Well, we don’t like Hitler, but at least he killed the Jews.”

As repugnant as those words are, they perhaps are not as abhorrent as Holocaust denial, a refusal to even acknowledge that Hitler killed Jews. Today we are facing a similar

scourge of disinformation: we are now hearing people say that it was the Israeli government who killed 1,200 Israelis on October 7!

Whether they believe their outrageous statements is unclear. What we do know is that ignorance about the history of the Jewish people and Israel abounds.

In recent years, ethnic studies classes have sprung up in schools across the country. These classes focus far too much on the oppressor/ oppressed narrative, assigning a

binary classification to every group of people.

In a plot twist no one could have foreseen, the Jewish people, the most oppressed people of all time, have now been classified as the biggest oppressors. This new label has fueled much of the antisemitism we are now seeing, especially on college campuses.

It is time to demand that Jewish history be part of the ethnic studies CONTINUED ON PAGE 13

Jewish Rhode Island publishes thoughtful and informative contributors’ columns (op-eds of 500 – 800 words) and letters to the editor (300 words, maximum) on issues of interest to our Jewish community. At our discretion, we may edit pieces for publication or refuse publication. Letters and columns, whether from our regular contributors or from guest columnists, represent the views of the authors; they do not represent the views of Jewish Rhode Island or the Alliance.

JANUARY 2024 | 13

jewishrhody.org | Jewish Rhode Island

OPINION

Despite our anguish, we are commanded to act with compassion

BY MICHAEL FINE AND WAYNE FRANKLIN

W

e lament the brutal invasion of Israel and the

murder and abduction of so many Israelis and others in Israel on Oct. 7. There is nothing

that will ever allow us or the world to excuse or forgive the unspeakable brutality of the Hamas invasion.

WE UNDERSTAND the fear, the horror, the mourning, the sadness and the anger our families and friends in Israel and around the world experienced then and continue to experience now.

All humanity experienced a deep moral injury on Oct. 7, a moment when we had to look into the human psyche, and found a barbarity there that was previously unimaginable.

And yet, we must go on.

None of what the people in Israel, in Gaza, in the Diaspora or in the rest of the world experienced absolves us from the responsibility to be human, to repair what is broken.

Our Jewish tradition teaches us to value all

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 12 curriculum. First and foremost, we need to dispel the lies that have infested the minds of students.

Indeed, the facts are on our side.

No, Israel is not a European colonist state. Only approximately 30% of Israel’s population is of European origin. European Jews who immigrated to Israel were not colonialists. They did not represent a foreign power and never embraced any European connection.

Endless pieces of archaeological evidence show that Jewish people are indigenous to Israel and have lived there for over 3,000 years. Jewish presence in Israel preceded Muslim presence by at least one millennium.

The late Charles Krauthammer said, “Israel is the very embodiment of Jewish continuity: It is the only nation on earth that inhabits the same land, bears the same name, speaks the same

human life and to respect the dignity of others. As Hillel the Elder said, “What is hateful to you, do not do to your fellow.”

To live in the way that we are commanded means we must always defend ourselves, but we also must respect the lives and dignity of others.

During this challenging time, we find ourselves focusing on one central Jewish value, the idea that human life is holy; it is our most precious gift. Our belief in the value of human life is what sustained us as a community when we were despised, when we were driven from place to place, when people tried to force us to convert or take God’s

language, and worships the same G-d that it did 3,000 years ago. You dig the soil and you find pottery from Davidic times, coins from Bar Kokhba, and 2,000-year-old scrolls written in a script remarkably like the one that today advertises ice cream at the corner candy store.”

No, Israel is not a racist or an apartheid state. Arabs represent 20% of Israel’s citizens and have equal rights.

They are part of the Knesset and the Supreme Court. They have a notable presence in universities, hospitals, and the entertainment industry. In fact, Arabs who have Israeli citizenship have more rights and opportunities in Israel than they would have as citizens in any Arab country in the world.

Israel may be the only nation that has airlifted Africans to its country, giving them citizenship.

According to Democracy Index published by the Economist Group, in 2022 Israel’s Democracy Index

name in vain.

So we urge the government of Israel and that of the United States, and people and governments around the world, to make a superhuman effort to provide robust humanitarian and medical aid to the people of Gaza, who are also suffering now, along with assistance to the people and communities in Israel that have suffered unimaginable horrors.

We have no illusions about the dangers that Israel faces or about the many roadblocks to peace.

But we also know that we were strangers in Egypt, and the Torah repeatedly invokes the memory of our suffering there to remind us of our obligation to be compassionate and humane.

We lived in exile for more than 2,000 years; that exile taught us how essential kindness and compassion are for our survival and the survival of all humanity.

We have carried with us a yearning for our homeland that never left us, a determination to survive and a hope

ranked higher than that of the United States. It is particularly noteworthy that Israel’s democracy is considered stronger than the United States’, given Israel’s unique challenges fighting terrorists in its midst.

No, Israel does not engage in ethnic cleansing. In 1948, the Arab population in Israel was 156,000. Today it is 2,100,000.

Conversely, in 1948, the Jewish population in Muslim countries was close to 1,000,000. Today it is under 12,000.

No, the Jewish people are not a privileged group. For 2,500 years, Jews in Europe and Northern Africa were persecuted wherever they lived, facing expulsions, pogroms and genocide.

In the United States during the first half of the 20th century, Jews were discriminated against and not permitted to work in many fields of employment. They were also not allowed to own or rent certain properties.

for a better future, which sustains us to this day.

Who is more determined than we are to take care of one another and keep one another safe and secure?

And who is also better able to understand the yearning and dreams of the Palestinians?

As Jews, we feel a keen sense of responsibility to Israel, to our people and to the world, to help find a pathway to peace. Surely that pathway begins by leaning into the shared humanity of all people, and by acting with kindness and compassion for others in their time of need, even as the IDF does its best to hunt down and destroy the organization that perpetrated the murder and mayhem of Oct. 7.

The hostages must be returned today. We must all do anything and everything to ensure their safe return.

We don’t live in Israel. We don’t know what it is like to live under constant threat.

But we do know that the anguish of Israelis and the suffering of another people

is not a way to peace.

We urge full humanitarian and medical aid to the people of Gaza, and we simultaneously urge the world to understand the depth of Israel’s distress and desire to live in peace and security.

We pray that leaders of both the Israeli and Palestinian people can find the courage and strength to envision and actualize a new reality, in which both can dwell in peace, side by side.

We share the dream of the prophet Isaiah: “In all of My sacred mount [the Holy Land] nothing evil or vile shall be done; for the land shall be filled with devotion to God as water covers the sea.”

Jews were not accepted as members of many clubs and organizations and were excluded from resort areas.

Many resorts would post signs such as, “Always a view.

Never a Jew.” Colleges and universities enforced quotas to restrict the number of Jewish students and professors.

These laws and policies were eventually overturned, but unfair treatment of Jews continued and certainly still exists today. Having attended a public high school in the 1980s, I can attest to the fact that some teachers were determined to make it more difficult for Jewish students to get good grades, once they saw who was absent on Jewish holidays. Our only protest, our only recourse, was to study harder, and that’s what we did.

That the Jewish people were able to succeed despite the many hurdles placed before them should be a source of Jewish pride and an inspiration to others who

believe they face injustices and inequities today.

As Mark Twain said about the Jews, “His contributions to the world’s list of great names in literature, science, art, music, finance, medicine, and abstruse learning are also way out of proportion to the weakness of his numbers.

He has made a marvelous fight in this world, in all the ages; and had done it with his hands tied behind him. He could be vain of himself and be excused for it.”

No, the Jewish people, a mere one-fifth of one percent of the world population, certainly do not control the world, but do punch above their weight in many metrics of academic and financial success, by factors of five, 10, 25, 50, 100 times and more, depending on the metric.

We should not shrink from our success, nor should we apologize for it or defend it.

For far too long, we have let others define who we are.

MICHAEL FINE is a writer, community organizer, family physician and public health official.

WAYNE FRANKLIN is senior rabbi emeritus of Temple Emanu-El, in Providence.

CONTINUED ON PAGE 19

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Jewish Rhode Island | jewishrhody.org

About 80 people from diverse communities attended a statewide Rhode Island summit in May, focusing on hate and how to make everyone feel safer.

In May, more than 800 people attended a celebration of Israel’s 75 birthday.

PHOTOS | JRI FILES

9 stories that defined our Jewish year in 2023 before Oct. 7

BY BEN SALES (JTA)

O

n Oct. 6, JTA led its morning newsletter with an article that had long been in the works – and that we expected to drive conversation

in the days ahead: It was a profile of a Jewish dad in Florida who had pushed to ban hundreds of books – including Anne Frank’s diary – from school libraries.

THE ONGOING SAGA of book bans in school libraries, and how they ensnared works about the Holocaust and other Jewish topics, is a story our reporter Andrew Lapin, and JTA more broadly, had focused on all year. For much of 2023, book bans seemed like one of the topics that would define American Jewish life this year.

Then Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack happened, plunging Israel into war and upending life not only there but for Jews in the United States and across the world. For the past 10 weeks, nearly everything we have covered at JTA – from advocacy for Israeli hostages to antisemitism to discourse on college campuses – has related in some way to the Oct. 7 attack and the Israel-Hamas war.

In the wake of that cataclysm, it sometimes feels like everything else American Jews once thought and talked about has taken a backseat. But before the Hamas attack, there were important and complex topics that occupied and characterized Jewish life this year – not least another upheaval in Israel.

Here are nine stories that defined our year before Oct. 7.

A campaign spreads to ban books, including Jewish ones, from school libraries The book ban movement, driven by conservative “parents’ rights” groups such as Moms for Liberty, wasn’t only a Jewish issue: activists largely sought to ban books about race and

gender, claiming that they were inappropriate for children. But those campaigns, sometimes targeting large numbers of books at once, often swept up Jewish books in their dragnet.

One book that faced challenges in multiple school districts — some of them successful — was a graphic novel adaptation of Anne Frank’s diary. The Holocaust graphic novel “Maus” was also hit with challenges. One of the most prolific participants in the book ban movement was that Florida Jewish dad.

More generally, some American Jews felt that the book ban movement built on a tradition of censorship that has often boded poorly for the Jews. And even when the bans didn’t target Jewish books, Jews were sometimes implicated: A Florida mom who tried to ban an Amanda Gorman poem had also promoted the Protocols of the Elders of Zion. She apologized.

A seismic fight erupts in Israel over the judicial system Before October, if you asked what the most important Israeli news

story of 2023 was, this was the answer, hands down. At the beginning of the year, Israel’s brand-new, hardline right-wing government unveiled a plan to sap the Supreme Court of its power and independence, a plan proponents said would enable the government to enact the agenda of its conservative voters.

The plan sparked an unprecedented protest movement – drawing hundreds of thousands of protesters into the streets who condemned the overhaul as a danger to Israeli democracy. What followed was civil unrest, mass threats by reservists to abstain from military service, a raft of warnings and criticism from world leaders and Diaspora Jewish groups alike, and fruitless negotiations between Israel’s sparring political parties.

In July, the government pushed through one piece of the plan, limiting the Supreme Court’s ability to strike down government decisions. That led to a fresh wave of protests, and anticipation across the country and beyond regarding what else the government would legislate.

Lawmakers were set to

reconvene after the Jewish holidays ended with Simchat Torah – which fell on Oct. 7.

The Pittsburgh synagogue shooter is tried and sentenced to death In 2018, a violent attack on Jews shocked the country and the world. In the spring of 2023, the man who killed 11 Jews at prayer in a Pittsburgh synagogue stood trial, was convicted and sentenced to death.

The shooter’s guilt was never in question; his lawyer admitted as much.

But the course of the trial revealed gruesome details about the attack and – for jurors and others – served as a primer of sorts on American Jews and how they see their place in the United States. And in Squirrel Hill, the historically Jewish neighborhood where the shooting occurred, residents contended with fears of retraumatization and leaned on each other to heal.

The shooter’s lawyers did fight hard to spare him the death penalty. Families CONTINUED ON PAGE 15

JANUARY 2024 | 15

jewishrhody.org | Jewish Rhode Island CONTINUED FROM PAGE 14 of victims and survivors also disagreed over the punishment. But following a months-long trial, the jury handed down a death sentence in August.

Elon Musk’s handling of hate speech on Twitter/X raises alarms Elon Musk, the billionaire tech mogul, bought Twitter in 2022. And over the course of 2023, his shifting approach to hate speech, including the removal of some of the platform’s guardrails, alternately enraged, concerned and confounded Jewish watchdogs and others.

As the year progressed, Musk’s personal pronouncements about Jews began to draw criticism. In May, he posted that George Soros, the liberal megadonor and frequent target of antisemitism, “hates humanity.” He later turned his sights on the Anti-Defamation League, threatening to sue it for billions of dollars and blaming it for rising antisemitism.

This particular story has continued post-Oct. 7. Musk has taken steps to combat anti-Israel rhetoric on the platform, now called X. He visited Israel and toured sites of the massacre. But he also amplified an endorsement of an antisemitic conspiracy theory, leading major advertisers to stop their spending on the platform.

A trio of antisemitismthemed shows run on Broadway For a few days this year,

Broadway fans keen on seeing antisemitism portrayed on stage could go to three shows on the topic.

The musical “Parade,” about the 1915 lynching of Leo Frank, opened in March.

The play “Leopoldstadt,” a semi-autobiographical work

by Tom Stoppard about his Jewish family in Vienna in the years surrounding the Holocaust, opened in October 2022 and ran through July.

And “Just for Us,” a one-man show by Jewish comedian Alex Edelman about the time he attended a meeting of white supremacists, opened in June.

All three received positive reviews, and “Leopoldstadt” and “Parade” won a total of six Tonys in June. And “Parade” wasn’t immune from antisemitism: neo-Nazis protested at its previews.

Christie’s faces blowback for auctioning jewelry with Nazi ties Christie’s, the auction house, achieved a record sale when it put a jewelry collection belonging to Austrian art collector Heidi Horten on the block. But the auction house also faced a wave of blowback from critics who said it obscured the source of the wealth that purchased the jewelry: Helmut Horten, Heidi’s husband and a Nazi Party member who made his fortune from businesses seized from their Jewish owners.

Christie’s pledged to donate a portion of the proceeds to Holocaust research and education, but organizations and institutions devoted to

JEWISH

Holocaust memory castigated the auction house, and the Tel Aviv Museum of Art called off an event about art restitution that had been organized by Christie’s.

In August, Christie’s canceled a planned second auction of the jewelry.

‘Maestro,’ the Leonard Bernstein biopic, reignites a debate over ‘Jewface’ Controversy over the prosthetic nose Bradley Cooper wore in his biopic about composer Leonard Hadassah celebrated 50 years of gift wrapping at the Warwick Mall.

Bernstein began last year, when promothis year that is now in limbo: dominate the headlines, tional shots of the movie synagogues across the United prospects for a diplomatic circulated. But the debate accord between Israel and States were hit with dozramped up this year when the Saudi Arabia. Before Oct. 7, ens of bomb threats. All of first trailer for “Maestro” hit the Biden administration was them were fake, seemingly screens ahead of its Decempushing for the two countries designed to provoke a police ber premiere. to normalize relations – a response. Some of the perpeWas it antisemitic for a step that would signify signiftrators targeted synagogues non-Jew to put on an elonicant warming between Israel that livestreamed their sergated nose for a Jewish role? vices, such that the congrega- and the Arab world and that Should non-Jews play Jewish would transform regional tion could be seen on screen characters at all – a practice relations in the Middle East. fleeing their pews. some call “Jewface?” Those It would be a major coup for This is not the first time questions sparked numerous Israel, which had already waves of fake bomb threats takes online and beyond, but established ties with four have hit Jewish institutions, petered out after the ADL other Arab nations in recent and suspects have been and Bernstein’s family said arrested for the incidents, but years. they had no objections to the There appeared to be they have continued throughmovie, which began streamprogress toward a treaty, out the year. One weekend in ing on Netflix this week. The and the outlines of a deal had December, hundreds of synamakeup artist of “Maestro” gogues across the country got been proposed. But what will apologized anyway. happen next on that front is false bomb threats. unclear: After Oct. 7, Saudi Synagogues face a string Israel and Saudi Arabia Arabia put the talks on hold.

of fake bomb threats

Before reports of rising antisemitism began to

RHODE ISLAND's

move toward a treaty

One major news story from

This Month in

History

A Fine Career TODAY, HOWARD FINE is a legendary acting coach in Hollywood, and his past pupils include Will Smith, Kerry Washington, Jared Leto, Brad Pitt and Selma Hayek, among countless others. He hosts classes at Howard Fine Acting Studio, just a couple of blocks from Sunset Boulevard. Industry rag Backstage Magazine named him “Best Acting Teacher in Los Angeles” in 2006. But back in 1989, Fine was still a newcomer from Cranston. At an early age, Fine showed a superhuman talent for the performing arts, rocketing him through college, graduate school and

early success in New York City. When this story ran in the Herald, 31-year-old Fine had settled in California and was already helping celebrities refine their techniques. In West Hollywood, Fine had just directed the Vietnam-themed stage play “G.R. Point,” by Rhode Island dramatist David Berry. “It’s been an amazing three years,” Fine said at the time.

“Sometimes I have to pinch myself to think this is really what I do.”

Look for an interview with Fine in an upcoming issue of Jewish Rhode Island.

Newspaper courtesy Rhode Island Jewish Historical Association

16 | JANUARY 2024

Jewish Rhode Island | jewishrhody.org

COMMUNITY

BUSINESS 25 | OBITUARIES 26

Hanukkah Happenings!

Ohawe Sholam in Pawtucket hosted a Hanukkah brunch celebration.

PHOTOS | OHAWE SHOLAM

Fun at the Jewish Community Day School of Rhode Island in Providence.

PHOTOS | JCDSRI

Celebrating at Providence Hebrew Day School and New England Academy of Torah in Providence.

PHOTOS | PHDS

Candle lighting at the RI State House inside while outside the State House glowed with Hanukkah colors.

Families enjoyed making burekas at the Jewish Alliance of Greater RI Hanukkah event.

PHOTO | JEWISH ALLIANCE

JANUARY 2024 | 17

jewishrhody.org | Jewish Rhode Island

COMMUNITY

Hanukkah Highlights!

A good time was had by all at the young professional Hanukkah gathering at Riffraff in Providence.

ON DEC. 14, the Jewish Alliance of Greater Rhode Island hosted a young professionals Hanukkah happy hour at Riffraff in Providence to celebrate the last night of the holiday. Gifts were exchanged, dreidels were spun, and

latkes, donuts and drinks were enjoyed. All 8 candles were lit and everyone in the room joined in singing the blessings. When asked for feedback, attendees said they enjoyed meeting friendly people in the cool atmosphere of

Riffraff’s bookstore and bar combo, and one added, “the latkes were fire!” Hanukkah Highlights!

On Dec. 14, the Jewish Alliance of Greater Rhode Island hosted a young professionals Hanukkah happy

PHOTOS | JEWISH ALLIANCE OF GREATER RI

hour at Riffraff in Providence to celebrate the last night of the holiday. Gifts were exchanged, dreidels were spun, and latkes, donuts and drinks were enjoyed. All 8 candles were lit and everyone in the room joined in singing

the blessings. When asked for feedback, attendees said they enjoyed meeting friendly people in the cool atmosphere of Riffraff’s bookstore and bar combo, and one added, “the latkes were fire!”

Tips to cope with the mental-health impact of the war

BY SARAH GREENLEAF

P

sych Hub, an information resource to provide mental-health content to organizations, health-care professionals and individuals, has

turned its attention to the trauma facing numerous communities due to the atrocities of Oct. 7 and the ongoing Israel-Hamas war.

FOUNDED IN 2018 by Marjorie Morrison and Patrick J. Kennedy, Psych Hub, at psychhub.com, evolved during COVID-19 to begin aggregating resources in response to traumatic events. The group has created resource guides to help people cope with events such as the death of George Floyd, the shooting at Uvalde, global conflict and, most recently, the Israel-Hamas war.

Morrison is a Licensed Marriage Family Therapist, Licensed Professional Clinical Counselor, PPS-credentialed school psychologist and the author of “The Inside Battle: Our Military Mental Health Crisis.” The following Q-and-A with Morrison was conducted by

email and has been lightly edited for clarity.

What is vicarious trauma and how can people know if they are experiencing it?

Vicarious trauma, sometimes called secondary trauma or compassion fatigue, is when individuals who are exposed to the traumatic experiences of others start experiencing symptoms similar to those who have directly experienced trauma.

Vicarious trauma can affect anyone. Some signs that might indicate you are experiencing it include: emotional exhaustion; increased emotional reactivity; intrusive thoughts; avoiding situations, people

or conversations that may trigger reminders of the trauma; cynicism or detachment; sleep disturbances; difficulty concentrating; and isolating or withdrawing from social activities and relationships.

If you suspect that you, or someone you know, is experiencing vicarious trauma, consider these strategies: • Focus on self-awareness by honestly reflecting on your emotional well-being, experiences and feelings.

• Seek support by talking to colleagues, friends and family members.

• Prioritize self-care activities that help you relax and rejuvenate, such as exercise, meditation or hobbies.

• Establish clear boundaries to prevent constant exposure to traumatic stories.

• If symptoms persist or worsen, consider seeking support from a mental-health professional who understands vicarious trauma.

In which populations are you seeing the greatest need for mental-health resources right now?

Mental health is an ongoing journey, with areas of broad commonality as well as individualized needs based on people’s unique background, culture and circumstances.

Mental-health challenges affect a wide variety of individuals, yet there are groups who are particularly vulnerable and in need of increased support, including health-care workers, students and young people, frontline workers and first responders, marginalized populations, elderly populations, veterans, individuals with preexisting mental-health conditions, remote workers, parents and caregivers.

How is the war between Israel and Hamas intersecting with other mental-health crises?

What should people be on the lookout for and what can they do?

War and conflict have many negative implications and can exacerbate any

existing mental-health challenges we might already be facing. Here are some potential mental-health impacts and things to be aware of: • Trauma and PTSD: Individuals living in areas directly affected by conflict may experience trauma and develop post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) due to exposure to violence, displacement and loss of loved ones.

• Anxiety and depression:

Prolonged exposure to conflict, uncertainty and security concerns can contribute to elevated levels of anxiety and depression.

• Children and youth mental health: Children may be

particularly vulnerable, experiencing fear, nightmares and behavioral changes. Exposure to violence can have long-term effects on their mental well-being.

• Displaced and refugee mental health: Displaced populations and refugees may face unique mental-health challenges, including the

CONTINUED ON PAGE 23

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COMMUNITY

Holocaust center marks remembrance day with story of local survivors

BY GIOVANNA WISEMAN

P

ROVIDENCE – In honor of International Holocaust Remembrance Day, on Jan. 27, the Sandra Bornstein Holocaust Education Center is sharing the story of Jack

and Sam German, two brothers who survived the Nazi terror and concentration camps, and later immigrated to Providence.

SAM AND JACK were two of six children, born 15 years apart. Their lives before the war were quite different. Sam was the eldest son, a new father and husband in his late 20s when the war broke out.

In contrast, Jack was only 12, and, as the youngest child in his family, was doted on by his parents and four older sisters. Their differences in age and life experience would be bridged by their mutual endurance of the horrors of the Holocaust.

The German family came from Warsaw, Poland. In 1939, after the Germans took over Poland, the family was locked in the Warsaw Ghetto. They survived the squalid conditions by begging for food and taking strength from one another.

Because the family was healthy, they performed forced labor in factories for the Germans, sparing them from the deportations of 1942.

However, their relative “luck” would soon run out.

In 1943, following the Warsaw Ghetto uprising, the ghetto was liquidated and Jack and Sam were forced to go to Majdanek, a slave labor camp. This would be the last time the brothers saw their parents or sisters, and Sam would never be reunited with his wife and baby.

Most of the people in the Warsaw Ghetto were sent to Treblinka, where they died in the gas chambers.

According to Jack, survival became the ultimate objective in the camps. This meant seeking adequate food and warmth, as well as avoiding the ire of the cruel Nazi guards, who often shot prisoners randomly. The brothers had little awareness of the war raging around them, but they knew about the mass killings of Jews in extermination camps in Poland.

Jack worked as a plumber while Sam worked on ammunition construction. Despite the frigid temperatures, neither had coats or shoes; supplies were only brought from Treblinka after being taken from those who were murdered.

Since the brothers worked outside of the concentration camp, they had increased access to food, which Jack credits for keeping him alive. This was their reality for over a year.

They were then taken to another camp, where they were ordered to build roads. In the few months they were there, Jack described poor conditions with little food.

By this point, the Germans were losing badly, and as the Russians advanced further into Nazi territory, the brothers were moved yet again, this time to the Buchenwald concentration camp. There, Jack was put on a work detail clearing debris and repairing German homes damaged by the bombing.

He stayed with hundreds of men

in overcrowded barracks, made up of hard wood and without blankets. On one occasion, he was punished by the guards by being forced to hold two buckets of water while frigid water was continuously poured over his head.

With the Allied forces closing in, the Nazis abandoned Buchenwald and sent the remaining prisoners on a forced march across the country. Those who could not continue walking were shot. Jack was extremely weak and unable to walk on his own, so Sam carried him for hundreds of miles, using what little strength he had left to save his brother’s life.

Just when it seemed like all hope was lost, the brothers were liberated by British and Russian troops, on May 2, 1945.

Miraculously, Sam and Jack had remained together the whole time through many camps.

Jack German In the fall of 1949, the two and still be able to rebuild a life for immigrated to Providence, on themselves. the SS Sturgis. Jack went on to be Jack is pictured here in the a plumber for 30 years, using the skills he learned during forced labor uniform he had to wear with his prisoner number on it. Jack credto make a new life for himself in its his older brother for saving his America. Sam, whose profession is life over and over again during the unknown, lived in Rhode Island for many years before he and his family Holocaust, and God for always being with him. moved to New York City.

Many thanks to Paul German, This incredible story was brought Jack’s son, of New City, New York, to the Holocaust center’s attention and Spitzman for getting the story

by David Spitzman, a long- time of these courageous survivors to the board member, supporter and Sandra Bornstein Holocaust Educaspeaker who knew Sam and Jack tion Center. personally as a child. They were friends of his parents, Meyer and GIOVANNA WISEMAN (gwiseman@ Rachel Spitzman, who were both hercri.org) is director of programs survivors themselves. Spitzman and community outreach at the reflected that Jack and Sam were Sandra Bornstein Holocaust incredible people to have gone Education Center, in Providence. through what they experienced

The Afro-Semitic Experience to perform at Temple Sinai CRANSTON – The Afro-Semitic Experience is bringing its unique sound to Temple Sinai on Jan. 20 for a free concert sponsored by The Schreiber Music Fund.

The concert, arranged

by Temple Sinai and Bethel AME Church, of Providence, is being held in honor of

Martin Luther King Jr., whose national holiday is celebrated this year on Jan. 15.

The Afro-Semitic Experience offers a powerful and poetic musical experience that celebrates diversity, promotes social justice and inspires hope and joy. The

band blends Jewish and African-American music to create a dynamic and energizing sound.

Beyond its musical achievements, the Afro-Semitic Experience is committed to building bridges between communities. Band members use their music

to promote understanding, empathy and inclusivity, and have worked with a wide range of organizations and institutions to further these goals.

The concert will be held on Saturday, Jan. 20, at 6:30 p.m., at Temple Sinai, 30 Hagen Ave., Cranston.

Due to the generosity of The Schreiber Music Fund, there is no cost to attend, but registration is required and seating is limited.

To register, go to www. templesinairi.org/afrro-semitic-experience.html.

Submitted by Temple Sinai

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jewishrhody.org | Jewish Rhode Island

COMMUNITY

Hadassah celebrates the ‘miracles’ of Hanukkah and the IDF

BY YARDENA KAPACH WINKLER

O

n Dec. 10, over 25 Hadassah members and friends met for a cozy potluck luncheon in a private home in Pawtucket to light the fourth

Hanukkah candle together and discuss many “miracles.”

MOSHE HERSKOVITS played Hanukkah tunes on a keyboard and Hadassah board member Bonnie Houle-Piszcz lit the Hanukkah candles while guests joined her in singing. Elihay Skital, Rhode Island’s shaliach (Israeli emissary), sang the supplementary stanza to “Maoz Tzur,” about defeating Hamas, written by Israeli Dana Pearl.

The event also featured Rhode Islanders sharing their stories about the Israel Defense Forces and Hadassah “miracles.” Among them was an annual Sar-El volunteer in Israel; a former Forward Observer in the IDF, who wore a military dogtag necklace that read “My heart is captive in Gaza”; an Israeli couple who met during their service; veteran women

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 13 We need to change course. It is time for us to distinguish ourselves from those who march against us. It is time for us to tell our own story.

We are the ones who march peacefully, proudly waving our flags, and singing with hopefulness. They are the ones who scream, harass and burn flags.

Confident in our convictions, we have no need to hide behind masks and scarves.

They, on the other hand, don’t show their faces, but we know who they are.

They are the ones who pat themselves on the back, calling themselves progressives, when in fact they have regressed into the world’s oldest hatred.

They are the ones who tout freedom of speech, when for years, they have shouted down any pro-Israel speaker during college campus events, denying them their right to speech.

They are the ones who have been utterly silent about the 350,000 people killed in the Syrian war, and the 377,000 killed in the Yemen war.

The lives of innocents killed during war matter to them only if they can blame Jews.

of Hadassah doing crucial work; a participant of Friends of the Israel Defense Forces; and members of local Jewish orgaPHOTOS | HADASSAH RI Gift wrapping at Warwick Mall. Hadassah members at the gathering. nizations reporting about actions being taken in our completely filled up through FebruSchneider volunteers in January, community to combat antisemitism. ary, he said. when his ice cream business is slow.

Here are some highlights: Alyse Teitelbaum, a R.I. educator He has served on several IDF army Ken Schneider, a community activand community activist, spoke about bases, from the north to the south, ist and board member of the Rhode the Friends of the IDF (FIDF), a U.S. wherever the IDF needed help.

Island Coalition for Israel (RICI), organization established by Holocaust Schneider said he made many told entertaining stories and experisurvivors in 1981 to provide support friends, both Jews and Christians, ences from his 16 consecutive years for IDF soldiers, veterans and family ages 20 to 80, through this program. of volunteering for the IDF through members.

“It’s like going back to camp,” he Sar-El’s three-week army-service The mother of two former lone solsaid. program. diers, Teitelbaum has been connected Some 11,000 volunteers have travSar-El, an acronym for Sherut to the New England Chapter of FIDF, eled to Israel since Hamas’ deadly Le’Yisrael (Service for Israel), started attack on Oct. 7, and the program is in 1982 during the war with Lebanon.

CONTINUED ON PAGE 23

They are the ones who claim to be concerned about the welfare of the Palestinian people, yet do not protest America’s billions of dollars in aid to Egypt. As a country that borders Gaza, Egypt could save many Palestinian lives but refuses to accept any refugees.

We are the ones who feel sad when we see children suffering in Gaza. They are the ones who happily tear down posters of Israeli child hostages, without an iota of compassion for the suffering of these youngsters.

We are the ones who are angry when we see children suffering in Gaza, but we have the wisdom to understand that Hamas, not Israel, is wholly responsible for this war. The Talmud says, “When someone comes to kill you, rise and kill first.”

The words that Ambassador Abba Eban spoke in 1948 continue to ring true today: “The sovereignty regained by an ancient people, after its long march through the dark night of exile will not be surrendered at pistol point.”

We are the ones who have extended our hands in peace toward the Palestinians in 1947, 1948, 1967, 1973, 1994, 2000, 2008, and 2019, only to

be met with total rejection without any counter offer, and renewed violence each time.

We are the ones who are always accused of the most absurd crimes. No, we did not poison wells to spread disease. No, we did not kill Christian children to use their blood to bake matzah.

No, we were not responsible for the 9/11 attacks. No, we did not create COVID. No, we did not use laser space beams to start wildfires.

We are the ones who are not believed when evil is inflicted upon us. Yes, six million Jews were killed in the Holocaust. Yes, Hamas killed 1,200 Israelis on Oct. 7.

We are the ones who must keep reminding people that there is no equivalence between the release of an Israeli hostage and the release of a Palestinian prisoner who stabbed innocent people.

We are the ones who watch never-ending protests against the Jewish people, while knowing that similar protests against any other group of people would never be tolerated.

When offered a land of our own, a land consisting mostly of seemingly worthless

desert, we are the ones who grabbed it with both hands.

We are the ones who made that desert bloom.

We are the ones who made water out of air.

We are the ones who embody the statements: The difficult we do immediately.

The impossible takes a little longer.

We are the ones who created a modern, democratic, multiethnic country in an area of the world where only backward, repressive, monocultural regimes existed.

We are the ones whose mission is to repair the world.

We are the forward-thinking ones who write the next chapter of our story, while always mindful of our past chapters.

We are the ones who have built museums to document and display the atrocities against our people.

We are the ones who will now need to memorialize yet another atrocity.

We are the ones who have the names of far too many fallen soldiers on the walls of Mount Herzl.

We are the ones who will now add more names of fallen soldiers, killed during yet another war that we did not start and never wanted to

fight.

Amidst our utmost sorrow, we are the ones who dance with unbridled joy in the streets of Jerusalem.

Throughout 2,500 years of exile, we are the ones who looked eastward towards Jerusalem.

We are the ones who fulfilled Theodor Herzl’s seemingly impossible, but ultimately prophetic words, “If you will it, it is no dream.”

We are that candle in the menorah, the one we watch tentatively, the one whose spark we fear will be extinguished. We are that candle that suddenly takes us by surprise, burning stronger and brighter, soaring higher than we could have ever imagined.

Ours is the greatest story.

We need to tell it.

MARJORIE DAVIS lives in Providence. She graduated from Brandeis University and is a Senior Database Specialist in a large, international technology company. This originally appeared in The Times of Israel blog. It is reprinted with permission.

20 | JANUARY 2024

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Bar/Bat Mitzvahs & Weddings glenn@osmundsonphotography.com www.osmundsonphotography.com 401-257-9619

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A 35-year relationship between temple, church fosters understanding NARRAGANSETT – A priest light of the Israel-Hamas and rabbi lead a congreconflict, all collections gation in song and prayer. would be donated to the No, this is not the beginSandra Bornstein Holoning of a joke; this is the caust Education Center, in continuation of a wonderProvidence. ful relationship between Father Swan explains Congregation Beth David the connection between and the Episcopal congrethe two religious institugation St. Peter’s by the tions this way: “I believe Sea – a relationship that is the relationship between now 35 years old! the two congregations Beth David and St. have taught us that Peter’s are just about five although we live in the blocks from each other, same community, enjoy but their nearness goes similar lifestyles and worbeyond a geographical ship the same God, how closeness. They also share we experience world and a deep respect for each other’s worship ‘We look forward to style and the values of ancient texts, and sharing our services…’ a profound connection that speaks of friendship and community events can esteem. differ due to our spiritual The Rev. Craig Swan, understanding. Our ongorector of St. Peter’s, and ing conversations allow us Rabbi Ethan Adler, of Beth to understand the world David, have formed a genfrom each other’s perspecuine and cherished friendtives.” ship over several years.

Rabbi Adler adds, “St. In the past, Adler enjoyed Peter’s has been very open a wonderful affiliation and embracing. We always with St. Peter’s previous look forward to sharing religious leaders. services with them, both In the fall, members at St. Peter’s and at Beth of Beth David join St. David.”

Peter’s for a discussion, Father Swan said it best Sunday worship and a at a recent get-together: dairy luncheon. In the “When we hurt, they hurt spring, members of St. as well,” he said.

Peter’s visit Beth David on Rabbi Adler and Father a Friday night for a light Swan both said they dinner, discussion and the look forward to many Shabbat service. more years of friendship, Beyond services, the two communal activities, congregations have spent congregational sharing time together studying the and working together Bible, cleaning beaches to underscore the posand hosting a blood drive. sibilities when diverse In addition, Rabbi Adler congregations have a goal and Father Swan have of peaceful dwelling with produced several podcasts their brothers and sisters. on various topics.

Submitted by Congregation At this year’s Sunday Beth David gathering, just before Thanksgiving, Father Swan announced that in

JANUARY 2024 | 21

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COMMUNITY

Community donates over $1 million to help Israelis 100% of funds already making an impact

BY JENNIFER ZWIRN PROVIDENCE – 612 community members have contributed to the Jewish Alliance of Greater Rhode Island’s Israel Emergency Fund since it opened Oct. 11 in response to the attacks on Israel. Since then, the greater Rhode Island community has raised nearly $1.1 million to directly support the needs of the victims, from food and housing to medical treatments and trauma counseling.

One hundred percent of all donations directly and significantly impact those living through these atrocities. No amount is too small to make a meaningful difference.

The money is being channeled to the Jewish Federations of North America, umbrella organization of 146 federations nationwide, and sent to Israel in a range of ways, including through our largest international partners – the Joint Distribution Committee (JDC), the Jewish Agency for Israel (JAFI) and Magen David Adom, the equivalent of the American Red Cross – for immediate and on-the-ground medical care, trauma relief, counseling and basic daily needs.

JAFI has shared that its work since Oct. 7 includes direct contact with over 7,450 families in Israel that are victims of terror, and it is currently working to distribute immediate grants to families that have lost homes or relatives.

JAFI reports that over 8,000 calls have been received on its emergency hotline, where trained staff provide information and support to victims and their families.

Most recently, to ensure that children were able to celebrate Hanukkah, the organization distributed gifts and offered holiday camp to over 200 youngsters, ages 5 to 16. This helped the children release stress, manage anxiety and, for a moment, just be kids.

Israel remains in crisis and families are grappling with unimaginable loss each day. JAFI’s future priorities include distributing further grants to an estimated 10,000 victims; continuing to allocate needs-based grants to Israel’s most vulnerable people; continuing to operate

On Volunteering Day (Dec. 13), JAFI Youth Futures participants worked around Israel, including at a nursery near Gaza that had been damaged and in other activities around the country. holiday camps for children; and providing counseling and grief services to high school graduates entering military service. JAFI estimates this will require $110 million.

Because of existing operations like the Jewish Alliance’s Annual Community Campaign, support was in place well before Oct. 7, and it will remain in place long after the war is over.

In its partnership with JAFI, the Jewish Alliance supports a range of critical services and programs that honor Jewish values and bolster a shared vision.

One such program is JAFI’s Youth Futures, funded by the Annual Community Campaign, which focuses on life-skills training, non-traditional teaching and learning for young adults, and group counseling to empower participants and strengthen relationships within families.

Other services, such as the Nativ academic gap-year program in Israel, educate approximately 1,500 Jewish young people every year, creating a deeper sense of global Jewry and identity through a rigorous and interactive curriculum focused on Jewish peoplehood. These programs would not be possible without ongoing support from the Annual Community Campaign.

Projections suggest that the Israel-Hamas war will at the very least last another several months. Terror and trauma are all around. Immediate and long-term needs will only grow exponentially.

Whether you have already contributed to the Israel Emergency Fund, the Annual Community Campaign, or both, every dollar matters and makes a difference.

To donate to the Israel

Emergency Fund and/or the Annual Community Campaign, and for more information, go to jewishallianceri. org.

To stay up-to-date on the impact of Rhode island’s

PHOTOS | JAFI

donations, go www.jewishrhody.com.

JENNIFER ZWIRN is chief development officer at the Jewish Alliance of Greater Rhode Island.

TAKE ACTION: REPORT an INCIDENT www.jewishallianceri.org/report-it/ At the Jewish Alliance, we believe all people should be treated fairly and justly. If you have experienced or witnessed an incident of anti-Semitism or extremism, please report it. Anti-Semitic activity includes overt acts or expressions of anti-Jewish bigotry and hostility. Many incidents are not crimes but are still considered anti-Semitic and should be reported.

This initiative is meant to help track anti-Semitic incidents in the state of Rhode Island. Experiencing any type of anti-Semitism may be traumatic for you or your loved ones. If you need additional support, please contact Jewish Collaborative Services at 401.331.1244 for guidance.

www.jewishallianceri.org/report-it/ 401 Elmgrove Avenue | Providence, RI 02906 | jewishallianceri.org

22 | JANUARY 2024

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COMMUNITY

Giving Tuesday gives back to donors GIVING TUESDAY is a special day each year for nonprofits nationwide. This year, the Jewish Alliance of Greater Rhode Island decided to add to the day by recognizing donors who have increased their meaningful gifts within the $1,000 to $3,500 giving range during the last campaign cycle.

In an opportunity to gather and connect with a message of gratitude, 30 donors from last year’s annual community campaign enjoyed time together in the Riverview Room at Waterman Grille

in Providence, with greetings by annual campaign co-chairs Marisa Garber and Rich Glucksman, as well as board chair Harris Chorney and Alliance CEO Adam Greenman.

The evening served as the perfect way to show guests how appreciative the Alliance is for their ongoing support and generosity on behalf of the entire Jewish community.

As Greenman said to the group, “We thank you for supporting our work and commitment to the community. It is with our vision, our mission, and

you that we may continue to do this work and serve as the community’s connector.”

To learn more about the Annual Community Campaign, its impact, and ways you may contribute, contact Jennifer Zwirn, chief development officer: jzwirn@jewishallianceri. org or visit https://www. jewishallianceri.org/support-us/featured/donatenow.

Priscilla and Rich Glucksman, Sara Meirowitz and Dan Herchenroether.

Submitted by the Jewish Alliance of Greater RI

Rashmi Licht, Mara Ostro and Adam Sinel with Harris Chorney in the background.

During hard times, JCS is here to help issues have to do with loss of some type: loss of independence, of health, of loved n a Friday in early December, clinicians from ones, of their homes.”

The COVID-19 pandemic Jewish Collaborative Services dropped into a heightened the need for all senior cafe at a local synagogue. They talked of JCS’ services, Harwood says. with the assembled crowd about stress-reducing “I think it did a lot for people to know that we would activities, self-care and Seasonal Affective Disorder. help them try to access the services they needed, even A FEW DAYS LATER, JCS’ to where people need us. … if it wasn’t in the traditional employees were at a differIf we hear there is a need at way,” she says. ent congregation, to meet one of the synagogues, we During the pandemic, JCS with parents about how to can put something together,” expanded its kosher Meals talk to their kids about the says Patty Harwood, JCS’ on Wheels program, moved war in Israel. chief of programs. its food pantry outdoors, and On their faces, the two even distributed toilet paper events might not seem Jewish Collaborative Serto seniors when it became to have much to do with vices, created by the merger hard to find. At one point, each other, but they spring of Jewish Family Services the organization was monefrom the same approach to and the Jewish Seniors tarily supporting more than addressing mental-health Agency, runs a wide array 20 synagogue-going families challenges in the Jewish of social services, including struggling with furloughs or community: “We try to go senior housing, adoption other financial hardships. support, kosher meal proAnd the toll that COVID grams, standalone counselBMW AUDI MERCEDES BENZ VOLKSWAGEN MINI BMW AUDI MERCEDES BENZ VOLKSWAGEN MINI took on mental health was ing and case management. significant, too. JCS opened Every year, JCS distribpsychoeducational groups utes 40,000 meals, provides for staff and community counseling to 800 clients, and organizes visits to “Owning a higher end 10 year old 1,125 isolated seniors.

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the increase in antisemitism, have only worsened people’s anxieties,” Harwood says.

Those mental-health struggles have highlighted the importance of JCS’ relationships with other Jewish institutions across the state; since Oct. 7, several congregations have reached out about organizing workshops for parents and other community members.

JCS’ Kesher program provides access to a social worker through four synagogues across the state: Temple Emanu-El, Congregation Beth Sholom, Temple Sinai and Temple Torat Yisrael. The program connects individual congregants with services (both directly and through the “Kesher Link” newsletter) and runs virtual support groups on topics such as grief, chronic illness and caregiving.

“We also want to make sure that the rabbis and the leadership know who to contact if they have a congregant in need, or if they want a little bit of guidance on how to work with a congregant. The rabbi can consult with us without revealing any identifying information,” Harwood says.

Of course, the organization has to be careful about stretching its staff too thin.

JCS’ counseling center has six clinicians and one case manager. Some of its programs, like home visits, can “only happen if we have

the clinicians who can fit this into their schedules. It obviously takes more time if you’re going off-site,” Harwood says.

Here, too, it is easy to see the toll the pandemic has taken on counseling programs.

“It’s really difficult to hire right now in a lot of different fields, and that is also true for psychotherapists, for clinicians. There’s a high demand now,” Harwood says.

As with every challenge it faces, though, JCS finds a way to make it work. Even in such hard times, Harwood says that JCS continues to look for new ways to be of service and remains committed to living its Jewish values.

“We always want to hear what more we can be providing to the community,” she says.

To donate to the Jewish Alliance of Greater Rhode Island’s community development program, which supports JCS and other Jewish organizations in Rhode Island and around the world, go to https:// www.jewishallianceri.org/ support-us/featured/donatenow.

TUVYA BERGSONMICHELSON is a senior at Brown University and an intern at the Jewish Alliance of Greater Rhode Island.

JANUARY 2024 | 23

jewishrhody.org | Jewish Rhode Island

COMMUNITY CONTINUED FROM PAGE 19 in Boston, for many years.

Lone soldiers, who come from all over the world, are assigned host families in Israel.

“They have somebody to come to, somebody to fill the refrigerator, do their laundry, provide hot meals and light the Shabbat candles with them. You become a part of the family,” she said.

Teitelbaum said FIDF provides emotional and psychological support beyond what the military offers, as well as plane tickets to visit their home country and family during furloughs, planned recreation, extra pay, and scholarships for colleges in Israel through the program IMPACT. Amusingly, Teitelbaum

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 17 loss of homes and social networks, and the stress of adapting to new environments.

• Grief and loss: Loss of life, destruction of property and the overall impact of conflict can lead to profound grief. The mourning process may be complicated by ongoing hostilities.

• Family and community dynamics: Conflict can strain

family and community relationships, leading to increased tension, interpersonal conflicts and strained social-support networks.

• Media exposure: Continuous exposure to graphic images and news coverage of the conflict can contribute to stress and anxiety. It’s important to manage media consumption, especially for individuals directly impacted by the conflict.

• Preexisting mental-health conditions: Individuals with

preexisting mental-health conditions may see a worsening of their symptoms due to the heightened stress and disruption caused by the conflict.

Here are some things people can do to support mental health during these challenging times: • Encourage individuals affected by the conflict to seek mental-health support from trained professionals or local mental-health services.

• Foster a sense of community and solidarity. Building strong support networks can help individuals

said she was taken aback when her son put his host family as an emergency contact on IDF forms!

Sue Mayes, a 4 Generation Life Member of Hadassah, reported on some of the current happenings at Hadassah hospitals: “Since October 7th, over 300 staff members of the Hadassah hospitals have been called up to serve in the military. The hospitals have eliminated all elective surgeries to accommodate the needs of the newest patients, as the hospitals have treated hundreds of both civilians and soldiers since the war began. An underground garage has been converted to add about 250 more beds for both trauma patients and emergencies.”

Teitelbaum also spoke about the miracles of Hanukkah, “the oil, the defeat of the Greek emperor Antiochus, the supremacy of the Maccabees and their followers,” and the miracle of the state of Israel: “In the 20th and 21st centuries, the people of Eretz Yisrael became a light unto the nations, they made the desert bloom, and they created a democracy in the part of the world where there was and still is no other, in the midst of both autocratic and theocratic nations who work to defeat what we created.”

And Teitelbaum spoke about “the miracle of Hadassah”: “The women of Hadassah established our medical center where there was none.

In 1912, those earliest nurses treated blindness among

the people, brought milk to hungry babies and healed the sick.

“They built clinics throughout the land, a medical school, a dental school, a school of nursing, and today, many of those graduates are working at both the Mount Scopus and Ein Kerem hospitals, treating the terrible diseases of today’s world. …

“We have developed systems and cures to care for those damaged by war by our neighbors, and at the same time, many of our staff come to work each day from some of those same neighboring villages and towns. This is truly a miracle.”

She referred to a few patients currently being treated in Hadassah facilities: a baby boy born with

a deformed esophagus and a heart condition, a female soldier who needs to learn how to walk again by using an anti-gravity rehabilitation device, and a grandparent who is being treated for Parkinson’s disease and Alzheimer’s.

“Most likely, you and I will never need treatment there, but we may benefit from some of the research that’s been done at Hadassah,” she said.

Hadassah is now raising emergency funds for a campaign called Heal Israel Now. To donate, go to hadassah. gospringboard.com/secure/ israelatwar.

cope with the emotional toll of the conflict.

• Encourage individuals to limit exposure to distressing media coverage and images.

• Promote self-care practices, including exercise, relaxation techniques and activities that bring comfort and joy.

• Raise awareness about mental-health issues related to conflict and reduce the stigma surrounding seeking help.

• Support and advocate for increased humanitarian aid to provide mental-health services, especially in areas directly affected by conflict.

inadequacy if they perceive their actions or opinions as insufficient. This can lead to increased stress and frustration and sometimes even escalate to cyberbullying and harassment.

Disagreements on social media may also lead to social isolation or alienation from friends, family or online communities, which can contribute to feelings of loneliness and sadness.

To mitigate social media’s potential negative impact, consider the following strategies: • Limit the amount of time spent on social media and establish boundaries to avoid excessive exposure to distressing content.

• Fact-check information before sharing it, and be cautious about spreading unverified news or images.

• Seek information from diverse and reputable sources to gain a more comprehensive understanding of the situation.

• Take breaks from social media to reduce information overload and promote mental well-being.

• Foster respectful and constructive conversations on social media, and be mindful of the potential impact of words on others.

• If the online discourse is affecting your mental health, consider seeking support from friends, family or mental-health professionals.

use of social media with selfcare practices can contribute to a healthier online experience during times of conflict.

that individuals can employ to cope with stress, anxiety and other mental-health challenges. Some suggestions include: practicing mindfulness, and meditation; connecting with others; limiting media exposure; engaging in creative activities such as writing, drawing, painting or playing a musical instrument; educating yourself; making healthy lifestyle choices; and practicing gratitude.

Something in ital to tell how to get a copy of the resource guide; or, better yet, box it.

How is the social-media discourse on this conflict impacting people’s mental health?

Social media can amplify the negative mental-health impacts of the ongoing conflict and increase negative feelings to the point where individuals who are part of the online community are overwhelmed by them.

The constant flow of information, including graphic images and videos, can create information overload. Users may feel a sense of helplessness and anxiety as they try to keep up with the latest developments.

What’s more, opposing viewpoints are often emphasized on social media, forming echo chambers where people are primarily exposed to perspectives that align with their own. Those who feel strongly about the issue may experience guilt or

Ultimately, individuals need to be aware of their online interactions and the potential impact on their mental health. Balancing the

Who do you hope will benefit from the resources Psych Hub has put together?

Traumatic events affect everyone. Although we are all different in how we respond to trauma, the important thing is that we can get evidence-based information at the critical moments that matter most. We hope that people will use and share our collected resources for themselves or the people they are caring for.

What can people without therapists do to cope?

While professional therapy is often beneficial for addressing mental-health challenges, there are self-help strategies

YARDENA KAPACH WINKLER is the president of Rhode Island Hadassah.

SARAH GREENLEAF (sgreenleaf@jewishallianceri. org) is the digital marketing specialist for the Jewish Alliance of Greater Rhode Island and writes for Jewish Rhode Island.

24 | JANUARY 2024

Jewish Rhode Island | jewishrhody.org

COMMUNITY IN THE NEWS Fall River’s Temple Beth El exploring building sale FALL RIVER, MASS. – The board of directors of Temple Beth El is recommending that the temple, on High Street, be put up for sale.

In a Dec. 19 letter to the congregation, temple president Stephen Silverman outlined the current state of membership and finances, which led the board to make the recommendation.

The congregation, the last remaining in Fall River, has seen its membership dwindle to 112 members from 600 in the 1950s. In addition, 35 of the current members live out of town, according to the letter to congregants.

The sanctuary, with its beautiful dome, seats 650.

The endowment fund has decreased 28% over five years as more funds go toward rising expenses. A preschool that rents space in the building has a lease that expires in 2025, and is currently building its own facility. And the 95-year-old temple building itself has a number of costly maintenance needs.

Silverman’s letter asked congregants to comment by Dec. 31. He said if the congregation agrees with the recommendation then the board will pursue hiring a real estate broker to sell the building.

According to reports, the congregation will then look for another venue to worship and stay together.

Fran Ostendorf, Editor

Financial incentive offered to Jewish families to move to Providence YOU MAY HAVE SEEN a well-designed flyer circulating online recently with this message: Move with your friends and family to Jewish Providence.

The flyer features colorful photos of young families, which is meant to attract other families to apply for a $50,000 subsidy toward housing, along with free first-year tuition at Providence Hebrew Day School.

Those who are interested are referred to jewishprovidence.com, a website with everything you need to know about the Orthodox community in Providence and Pawtucket.

According to Beth Abrahim, who serves on the recruitment committee for this initiative, the point of the program is to attract young families and young professionals to the community. She said 15 families have left the community in the last year.

Housing in Providence is expensive, and the hope is that the subsidy will make moving to the area more attractive. Those who are chosen for the program are asked to make a six-year commitment to living in Providence “We hope people will spread the word,” she said.

Fran Ostendorf, Editor

RIIC receives award at Go Global 2023 PROVIDENCE – At the Go Global 2023 Awards ceremony Nov. 7, the Rhode Island Israel Collaborative (RIIC) was the recipient of the Bilateral Trade Association of the Year Award. RIIC founder and CEO Avi Nevel received the award on behalf of the organization and its board. The organization was recognized for its unwavering commitment, dedication and outstanding contribution to economic development setting a benchmark for excellence in the global arena.

The core focus of the organization is developing relations in business, academia and research between Rhode Island and Israel.

At the conference, Nevel participated as a panelist in a session on building strong international

public-private relationships. Two other panelists, from Romania and Turkey, also participated. The focus of the session was technology, microelectronics and cybersecurity.

RIIC is a not-for-profit organization that fosters and strengthens trade, business, academic exchange and research between Rhode Island and Israel to benefit the economy and community of each location. It does this by building and strengthening the relationships between government organizations, businesses, entrepreneurs, investors, members of academia and the research community in Rhode Island and Israel.

The Go Global Awards program is designed to unite business

Avi Nevel receives the award. leaders, government officials and industry organizations to connect and collaborate. The ceremony was attended by 500 people from 83 countries. The three-day event was organized by the International Trade Council and hosted by Rhode Island Commerce.

Israeli emissary is supporting Jewish students on 2 R.I. campuses

BY ROBERT ISENBERG WE CAN’T SHOW YOU a picture of Tal. We can’t even tell you her last name. We can say she’s 25 and grew up in Israel, but we’re discouraged from naming her hometown.

Tal served in the Israeli military from 2016 to 2018, but that’s all we can say about it. She is now the shlichah – an emissary from Israel – for two different college campuses in the Ocean State, but we can’t identify which ones.

These are new rules, drafted by the Jewish Agency for Israel (JAFI), the organization that chooses and supervises shlichim in the United States. None of these identifiers would have been a problem when Tal came to Rhode Island in August. But after Hamas’ attacks in Israel on Oct. 7, and the tidal wave of domestic antisemitism that followed, the agency intensified security for its shlichim.

Here’s what we can say: Tal has yearned for this job for many years. Her journey to the United States felt impossible in the wake of COVID-19, which shut down the Jewish summer camps where she had hoped to work.

“In the back of my mind, I always knew I wanted to be a shlichah,” Tal said during a recent interview conducted in English.

“I wanted to be part of something important and impactful.”

But Tal has another passion: making movies. As a teenager, she was cast in a high school play about incarcerated women. She relished her role as an inmate with

a dissociative disorder. A week after the performance, two strangers approached Tal to praise her performance.

Tal studied communications and media at an Israeli university, focusing on video production. But she had no interest in the technical aspects of filmmaking until she took a photography course.

“I remember telling my friends, ‘I won’t touch a camera,’ ” she says with a laugh. “But I fell in love.

I can’t imagine going anywhere without a camera.”

Tal also met like-minded students, despite the limitations of COVID. She socialized with other communications students through WhatsApp chats, learning about their many overlapping interests.

“I found my crew,” she says. “I think those friends are my cup of tea, so I’m hoping to keep them close.”

Tal had all but given up on her shlichah ambitions when a listing appeared on Facebook for a JAFI fellowship. She applied, interviewed and was shocked to receive her posting.

Despite several trips to Europe, Tal had never set foot in the United States. Incredibly, she had heard of Rhode Island, thanks to episodes of the adult cartoon series “Family Guy.” “Most people don’t appreciate Rhode Island, but everything is so beautiful. I fell in love with it,” Tal says of her five months living here.

She impishly adds: “It’s not that hard to make me happy.”

But in October, Hamas’ brutal attack on Israel sent shockwaves around the world. Tal works for

two chapters of Hillel, and she felt a dramatic shift in atmosphere.

“It changed everything,” she says.

Sadly, Tal is no stranger to tragedy. Five of her family members unexpectedly passed away over the course of two years, mostly due to illness. Tal became practiced in the process of loss.

“It was a huge amount of grief in such a short time,” she recalls. “It made me more mature.”

Using her experience, Tal began a series of cathartic dialogues with Jewish students at the two Hillel sites. As reports of antisemitism grew, along with unspoken tensions on both campuses, she continued to support students and spearheaded two separate vigils.

To date, she says she has not endured a single hostile incident on either campus.

“I have never felt fear,” she says.

“And I never felt more proud of being an Israeli Jew.” For the next year-and-a-half of her shlichah tenure, Tal does not intend to distract herself with creative pursuits. But when she returns to Israel, she expects to reconnect with her filmmaking peers and develop new projects.

She has already written a script – in Hebrew – with autobiographical elements. The Israeli film industry is small, but she is motivated and readily imagines herself directing movies.

“The world is my oyster,” Tal declares.

ROBERT ISENBERG is a Cranstonbased freelancer and writes for Jewish Rhode Island.

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OBITUARIES Jerome Biern, 71

CRANSTON, R.I. – Jerome “Jerry” G. Biern, of Cranston, passed away Dec. 5, 2023, at Rhode Island Hospital after a brave battle against an aggressive blood cancer for the last year.

Born in White Plains, New York, a son of the late Sam Biern and the late Helen Zbar, he had lived in Cranston for many years where he enjoyed playing senior softball and tending to his various gardens. Jerry graduated from the University of Rhode Island, earning a bachelor’s degree in anthropology.

In taking after his father who was a famous button and accessories designer, Jerry established his early career model making and designing jewelry that was worn and loved worldwide. His entrepreneurial sense and passion for costume jewelry were harnessed to build a successful custom engraving business that he nurtured in his later years. Jerry was an advanced collector of high-end marbles. He was best known in the marble community for his thoughtfully curated collection of MF Christensen, transition and other rare handmade mar-

bles.

Survivors include two loving daughters, Ariel Biern, of Providence, and Lyndsey Pachon and her husband, Jose, of Barrington; two grandsons, Lucas and Samuel Pachon; his companion, Joanne Gemma, of Johnston, and former spouse, Lauri (Lee) Biern, of Florida. He was the brother of the late Arnold Biern.

Irma Bloom, 94

EAST GREENWICH, R.I. – Irma Bloom died Dec. 15, 2023, at HopeHealth Hulitar Hospice. She was the beloved wife of the late Herbert L. Bloom. Born in Chelsea, Massachusetts, a daughter of the late Benjamin and Anna (Hirshorn) Newman, she had lived in East Greenwich and Boynton Beach, Florida. Irma was a member of Temple Sinai, ORT and a life member of Hadassah.

She was the devoted mother of Richard Bloom and his wife, Linda, of East Greenwich; Laurie Golden and her husband, Brent, of Narragansett; and Karen Deluty and her husband, Ed, of Cranston.

She was the dear sister of the late Charlotte Moses. She was the loving grandmother

Certified by the Board of Rabbis of Greater Rhode Island Jacquelyn Aubuchon, Funeral Director

of Lynzie (Sorran), Joshua (Emily), Rachael (Samuel), Alexander, Alana, Evan and the late Matthew. She was the cherished great-grandmother of Shiye, Landon, Aurora, Sloan and Jett.

Contributions may be made to Temple Sinai, 30 Hagen Ave., Cranston, RI 02920, HopeHealth Hulitar Hospice, 1085 North Main St., Providence, RI 02904, or your favorite charity.

Jamie Diffley, 45

WOONSOCKET, R.I. – Jamie Diffley died Nov. 24, 2023, at his home in Woonsocket.

Born in Providence, a son of Marlene (Diffley) Danis and stepson of George Danis, of Warwick, and the late Terrence Diffley, he had lived in Woonsocket for three years.

He was the dear brother of Marcus Diffley.

Contributions may be made to your favorite charity.

Herbert Lubitz, 91

PROVIDENCE, R.I. – Herbert Lubitz, of Providence, passed away Dec. 13, 2023, at Tockwotton on the Waterfront, East Providence. He was the husband of Joan (Biloon) Lubitz, with whom he shared 69 years of marriage.

Born in New York City, a son of the late Benjamin and Pearl (Mohel) Lubitz, he spent his youth in NYC and lived in Wilmington, Delaware, for many years before moving to Rhode Island nine years ago.

A graduate of the Bronx High School of Science, Class of 1950, Herbert earned a bachelor’s degree in chemical engineering from The Cooper Union in New York City and served in the United States Army as an instructor in helicopter instrument maintenance during the Korean conflict. Herb joined DuPont in 1955 where he started in the cellophane plant and retired from the company in 1985 as a program manager of a line of chemicals used to print high-tech circuit boards.

Herb was an active board member of Temple Beth Emeth and the Jewish Federation in Wilmington. He tutored for many years in the Literacy Volunteers program and was an instructor in economics and the philosophy of science at the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute at the University of Delaware. An interest in metaphysics led to

his enduring membership in the Theosophical Society of America.

In addition to his wife, Joan, he is survived by: his son Jeffrey Chase-Lubitz and his wife, April ,of Providence; daughter-in-law, Shirley Lubitz, of Charlotte, North Carolina; five grandchildren, Andrea Robinette and her husband, John-Michael, Carly Lubitz, Jacob Chase-Lubitz, Lily Chase Fielding and her husband, Joseph, and Jesse Chase-Lubitz and one great-granddaughter, Evelyn June Chase-Fielding. He was the father of the late Barry D. Lubitz and brother of the late Sylvia and Raymond Lubitz.

Contributions may be made to The Nature Conservancy at: https://preserve.nature. org/page/81523/donate

Leonard Nulman, 81

RIVERSIDE, R.I. – Leonard Nulman, 81, died Dec. 27, 2023 at the Miriam Hospital. He was the beloved husband of Cynthia (Zarum) Nulman for 60 years. Born in Brookline, Massachusetts, a son of the late Samuel and Dorothy (Stern) Nulman, he had lived in Riverside for 55 years, previously living in Coventry, Connecticut. He was the owner of Methods and Machining Services Company, Inc., Cranston.

He was the devoted father of Naomi Souliere and her husband, Brian, of Oxford, Massachusetts; Adam Nulman and his partner, Stefanie Luft, of Warren; and Davida Marrapese and her husband, David, of Johnston. He was the dear brother of Elizabeth Cohn and Charlotte Rubinoff, both of Sun City West, Arizona. Loving grandfather of Joshua, Zoey and Jack.

Contributions may be made to the charity of your choice.

Marc Rittner, 66

WARWICK, R.I. – Marc Rittner died Nov. 25, 2023, at home. He was the beloved husband of Fran (Blumenthal) Rittner for 41 years. Born in Providence, a son of the late Jerome and Erma (Sachs) Rittner, he had lived in Warwick for 40 years, previously living in Providence. He was a pharmacist for Wakefield Prescription Center for 40 years, retiring in 2022.

He was the devoted father of Michelle Rego and her husband, Blake, of Miami Shores, Florida; and David Rittner and his wife, Julia Berkowitz, of Providence. He was the dear brother of Joel Rittner and his wife, Hope,

of Narragansett; and Karen Zeltzer and her husband, Barry, of Barrington. He was the loving grandfather of Maeve and Anders.

Contributions may be made to dana-farber.org.

Maxine Rosenthal, 77 and Fae Rosenthal, 51

Maxine (Macktez) Rosenthal, 77, died unexpectedly at her residence in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, on Nov. 18, 2023. She is survived by her adoring husband of 56 years, Jay Rosenthal.

Also surviving: a sister, Ruth Macktez Landow of Providence; niece Shoshana Macktez Landow (Ethan Stein), grand-nephews Philip and Malcolm Landow Stein of Barrington; and nephew Noah Macktez Landow (CJ Brody) of New York. Max and Jay were mourning the loss of their daughter, Fae Elise Rosenthal, of Narragansett, who passed away suddenly at the age of 51 on January 25 2023.

Born and raised in Wilmington, Delaware, Fae loved nature and animals, her small but “perfect-for-her” beach house, and her cat Julia. Fae was passionate about her friends and family and leaves behind a truly remarkable number of friends and family whom she loved and who, in turn, returned that love and admiration in full measure. She loved stained-glass making and other crafts, listening and dancing to her favorite bands, and traveling - most often to Delaware and Arizona. But the beach was her home, and though her time here was too short, she wasted little. Her dance card was always full, and we know she felt happy and fulfilled.

Max was born on March 28, 1946, raised in Woonsocket and graduated from Hope High School in Providence.

In 1967, Max graduated from Boston University (Phi Beta Kappa). Upon graduation, she and Jay married and moved to Delaware where they began careers with the DuPont Company.

Max was seen as a rising leader at DuPont where she held numerous analytical and managerial positions.

While working full-time, and raising their beloved daughter, Fae, Max earned a

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jewishrhody.org | Jewish Rhode Island

OBITUARIES master’s in business administration from the University of Delaware in 1982 (Beta Gamma Sigma Business Honor Society). Max was also a talented metalsmith and jewelry maker. After retiring from DuPont, Max pursued a successful second career as a craftsperson. Her jewelry was well respected and received numerous awards in juried craft shows. Her work was featured in galleries in New Mexico, Arizona, Rhode Island, Pennsylvania, Florida, and Delaware.

Max was one of the founders and a chairman of the Delaware Community Foundation’s Fund for Women and was a board and committee member of the YWCA of Delaware. She served as a board member and president of the board of the Mental Health Association in Delaware and was actively involved in the Delaware Center for Contemporary Arts serving as treasurer of the board of directors. She accomplished so much in her lifetime by working hard, making every minute count, and living through kindness.

Harvey Schoenberg, 68

NARRAGANSETT – Harvey Schoenberg, 68, died Jan. 1, 2024, at Rhode Island Hospital. Born in Cranston, a son of the late Leonard and Sylvia (Pedlikin) Schoenberg, he had lived in Narragansett for 30 years. As a freelance journalist, he had a number of articles published in local newspapers. Harvey earned a bachelor’s degree from the University of Rhode Island. He enjoyed baking, photography and was an avid Scrabble player.

He was the dear brother of Robert Schoenberg of Cambridge, Massachusetts.

Contributions in his memory may be made to the American Heart Association, 1 State St., #200, Providence, RI 02908.

Beverly Silverman, 83

PROVIDENCE, R.I. – Beverly Silverman passed away on Dec. 10, 2023, at Elmhurst Extended Care, Providence.

She was the beloved cousin of Deborah Kaplan and her husband, Murray, of North Scituate. Born in Providence, she was a daughter of the late David and Alice (Goldman) Silverman. She attended and graduated from Hope High School on the East Side. She lived in Providence her entire life and truly valued the soul that the small city holds.

She worked in the jewelry

district as a member of the many assembly lines where she took pride in creating beautiful and timeless pieces of jewelry and varied accessories that were shared with her community and many consumers outside of Providence. She spent her time frequenting the halls of the Providence Performing Arts Center and the Columbus Theatre. She also traveled as often as she could.

She was predeceased by her brother, Marvin Silverman.

Contributions may be made to the HopeHealth Hulitar Hospice Center, 1085 North Main St., Providence, RI 02904.

William Snell, 90

WARWICK, R.I. – William Snell passed away on Dec. 1, 2023, at Rhode Island Hospital surrounded by his loving family. He was the beloved husband of the late Doris (Douglas) Snell and cherished companion of Barbara L. Yeles. Born in Providence, the son of the late Nathan and Mollie (Silverman) Snell, he was a lifelong Warwick resident until moving to Hope Valley.

William was in the collections department at Bank of Boston until his retirement. He was a proud Korean Conflict Army veteran, serving in Korea, retiring as a corporal. William was a sports enthusiast who played softball and basketball well into his 60s.

He was the devoted father of Sheri Snell-Goold and her husband, David, and the late Marci Snell. He was the dear brother of the late Shirley Nulman and Albert Snell. He was the loving grandfather of Brandon, Rebecca and Briana.

Contributions in his memory may be made to the Shriners or your favorite non-PETA animal charity.

Kenneth Weber, 77

SAN FRANCISCO, CALIF. – Kenneth J Weber passed away on Dec. 5, 2023, in San Francisco. He was the husband of Linda (Golditch) Weber.

Born in Providence, he was the son of the late Kurt and Annalisa (Traugott) Weber and brother of the late Eileen G. Weber. Ken grew up in Cranston and was a graduate of Cranston High School East and the University of Rhode Island. He was the first member of his immediate family to graduate from a four-year university, and he

would leverage this degree to become a CFO at Fortune 500 companies. He worked in the hotel industry for most of his career and was passionate about his work; he contributed to the success of a number of major hotel companies around the country. Later in life, he spent time mentoring small business owners and entrepreneurs.

In addition to his wife, he is survived by his three children, Stacey Loomis of Los Angeles, California; Matthew and his wife, Emily, of Westfield, New Jersey; and Michael and his partner, Michelle, of San Francisco; and his five grandchildren Milo Pearsall-Weber, William Loomis, Hannah Loomis, Samuel Weber and Brandon Weber.

Donations may be made to the National Kidney Foundation, Alzheimer’s Association or a charity of your choice.

Herbert White, 99

CRANSTON, R.I. – Herbert White died Dec. 22, 2023, at Tamarisk Assisted Living, surrounded by his loving family and supportive staff.

He was the beloved husband of the late Charlotte M. (Shenkow) White. Born in Providence, a son of the late William and Fay (Pearl) White, he had lived in Cranston for most of his life.

He was the owner of four jewelry companies, most recently, Alloy Soldering, retiring in 2012. Herbert was a WWII Army veteran, serving all over the world, finally retiring as Staff Sgt. He was a founding member of Temple Torat Yisrael. He was an avid golfer and a member of Potowomut Country Club.

A devoted family man, Herb is survived by his son Bruce White of West Warwick, and daughter Randie Bazar and her husband, Joel, of Cranston. He was the dear brother of the late Matthew and Stanley White and Beverly Wuraftic. He was the loving grandfather of Shlomy Goldman of Exeter; Mitchell Goldman and wife, Carrie, and great-grandson Elijah of Denver; and Justin Bazar and his wife, Meghan, of Rumford; many nieces and nephews, and his loving caregiver Gina Paliotti of Cranston. A lover of life, Herb is remembered for his generosity, humor, work ethic, optimism and unconditional love – a life well-lived!

Contributions may be made to the Alzheimer’s Association, or Tamarisk, 3 Shalom Dr., Warwick, RI 02886.

Rae Zuckerberg, 78

PAWTUCKET, R.I. – Rae Zuckerberg, of Pawtucket, passed away unexpectedly Nov. 17, 2023, at her residence.

Born in Providence, a daughter of the late Joseph and Celia (Horvitz) Zuckerberg, she was a lifelong resident of the area.

A graduate of Cranston East High School, Class of 1963, she earned a bachelor’s degree in psychology from the University of Rhode Island and later graduated from Rhode Island College, where she earned a nursing degree. Ms. Zuckerberg was a registered nurse, working at several hospitals and medical facilities in the area for many

years before retiring.

Survivors include her brother, Nathan Zuckerberg, and his wife, Lisa, of Silver Spring, Maryland; two nephews, Jacob Zuckerberg and his wife, Stephanie, of Reseda, California; and Jack Zuckerberg and his wife, Carol, of Arlington, Virginia; one niece, Jill Zuckerberg, of Nashua, New Hampshire; and three great-nephews, Hue, Jared and Jason. She also leaves her cousin, Leslie Horvitz, of New York; several other cousins and many friends.

Israel Emergency Fund The Jewish Alliance of Greater Rhode Island stands with Israel and has opened an emergency fund to provide immediate financial assistance and relief to victims of terror and war.

100% of your donation will go toward supporting victims of terror and addressing the unprecedented levels of trauma caused by these horrific attacks.

To support the fund, visit JewishAllianceRI.org or scan the QR Code below.

The Israel Emergency Fund is chaired by Cindy & Mark Feinstein.

401 Elmgrove Avenue, Providence | 401.421.4111 | jewishallianceri.org

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Jewish Alliance of Greater Rhode Island’s

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GOLF

Monday, June 17, 2024

Wanumetonomy Golf and Country Club 152 Browns Lane, Middletown, RI

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