June 2023

JUNE 2023 | SIVAN/TAMMUZ 5783

JEWISHRHODY.ORG

Try Something New? Check out this Moroccan Fish Lisa Raiola talks food startups

Gershon Stark on Lashon Hara

Maven's Deli in the works

2 | JUNE 2023

Jewish Rhode Island | jewishrhody.org

Tamarisk Assisted Living Residence Spacious studio, one or two bedroom apartments Studio or companion apartments in our Memory Care Program

Join us!

FOOD FOR THOUGHT Summer Series

Living at Home vs.

Living at Tamarisk Join us on

Wednesday, June 21st,

at Noon or 5:30 PM for a Lively and Informative Talk!

Indulge in a Delicious Sampling of Our New Summer Fresh Menu.

For inquiries or to RSVP call Andrew Levin at 401.732.0037 or check out our website at TamariskRI.org The Phyllis Siperstein Tamarisk Assisted Living Residence is a community of Jewish Collaborative Services | JCSRI.org

NEW 2023 RANGE ROVER VELAR

THE AVANT-GARDE RANGE ROVER

Refinement and Luxury Immerse yourself in Range Rover Velar. A calm sanctuary and elegant simplicity await.

Land Rover Warwick 1346 Bald Hill Rd, Warwick, RI 02886 www.landroverwarwick.com Vehicle shown: 2023 Land Rover Velar. 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. Drzziving 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. © 2021 Jaguar Land Rover North America, LLC

JUNE 2023 | 3

jewishrhody.org | Jewish Rhode Island

Let’s fight hate together WE ARE LIVING in highlycharged, tense times. I have watched as Americans, and even members of our local Jewish community, have become stratified. Left.

Right. Far left. Far right.

Pro this. Anti that.

Meanwhile, civility has declined. It has become so bad that many of us are unable to even discuss or debate our differences.

How could this happen even in the Jewish community in southeastern New England, where we have so much in common?

I have been a pretty staunch advocate of a middle-of-the-road approach for most of my life and as editor of this newspaper. We have a wide range of opinions in our Jewish community, but I have always believed we have more to bind us together than separates us.

Unlike in many countries, newspapers in the United States historically were not known as leaning right or left because we have deep traditions and professional standards that dictate that we remain neutral and provide balanced coverage; we try to reflect the viewpoint of the entire community, with its many sides. In turn, there has always been an expectation that you will read about a variety of opinions, and make your own decision, no matter the issue.

So, sometimes you’ll see a conservative column that is right next to a liberal

column. And that’s OK, and even desirable, because it educates readers on multiple perspectives, which can help them decide where they stand on an issue.

Recently, I watched as a diverse group of Rhode Islanders put aside their differences and spent a day discussing how to work toward a common goal: fighting hate in the Ocean State.

There was good representation from marginalized communities across the state. The conversations included antisemitism, but they certainly weren't limited to hatred of Jews.

As Jews, we focus on antisemitism. But plenty of other groups suffer discrimination, of course, including Blacks, LGBTQ+ members, Muslims and Asians. Hate impacts all these communities.

The summit had representation from each of these communities. And antisemitism was front and center.

Rabbi Sarah Mack sat on a panel about local hate, while Peggy Shukur, of the Anti-Defamation League, was on the panel that discussed national hate. She presented the big picture when it comes to antisemitism. You can read more about the summit on page 17 of this month’s paper.

Everyone left that meeting feeling inspired to work

together to fight the growing instances of hate in our state.

We can all help by working together to track hate – and that includes antisemitism – using the wide range of trackers that are available to us. They are included in the story on page 17.

Antisemitism is a huge and growing problem for the Jewish community in the United States and around the world.

President Joe Biden has just issued the U.S. government’s official policy on combating antisemitism. And while we might not all agree on the entire policy, let’s agree that it’s a step in the right direction to hold bigots accountable for this kind of terrible hate.

Some will claim the summit wasn’t inclusive enough, while others will accuse the government of using the “wrong” wording and definition of antisemitism.

But I would hope we can all make it our responsibility to fight against antisemitism and hate in general, and not get caught up in fighting with one another over which words offer the right way to fight hate.

Quite simply, there are some things we shouldn’t be fighting about. Antisemitism and other forms of hate are some of those topics where we should all focus on our common ground. Let’s focus on what brings us together instead of what divides us.

ANTI-HATE SUMMIT 17 | OPINION 18 | COMMUNITY 20 | BUSINESS 29 | OBITUARIES 30

RHODE ISL AND

www.hattieidechaffee.org

Fran Ostendorf Editor

D'VAR TORAH 5 | CALENDAR 6 | FOOD 8 | COMMUNITY VOICES 10 | ISRAEL AT 75 16

JEWISH

Now Serving Kosher Cuisine.

VOLUME XXX, ISSUE VII JEWISH RHODE ISLAND

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

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.

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 advertisements for pork or shellfish.

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

DESIGN & LAYOUT Alex Foster

PERIODICALS POSTAGE PAID at Providence, R.I.

ADVERTISING DEPARTMENT Peter Zeldin | 401-421-4111, ext. 160 pzeldin@jewishallianceri.org

POSTMASTER Send address changes to: Jewish Rhode Island, 401 Elmgrove Ave., Providence, RI 02906.

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.

CONTRIBUTORS Cynthia Benjamin, Sarah Greenleaf, Robert Isenberg, Emma Newbery

PUBLISHER

ON THE COVER: Moroccan Fish photo by Nataly Hanin, iStock.

EDITOR Fran Ostendorf

COLUMNISTS Michael Fink, George M. Goodwin, Larry Kessler, Patricia Raskin, Rabbi James Rosenberg, Daniel Stieglitz

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

4 | JUNE 2023

Jewish Rhode Island | jewishrhody.org

UP FRONT

Lisa Raiola

PHOTO | MARIANNE LEE

More than food; founder Lisa Raiola dishes on Hope & Main

BY ROBERT ISENBERG

B

ristol resident Lisa Raiola is best known as the founder of Hope & Main, the food incubator and industrial kitchen based in Warren. She

has appeared in scores of articles, mostly about Hope & Main and the legion of culinary entrepreneurs who have graduated from its training program. In photographs, she appears confident and fashionable, the sage architect of a successful startup.

HOPE & MAIN has grown significantly since its opening in 2014. The number of business owners who got their start at the food incubator

has climbed to 450. And a new venture, the Downtown Makers’ Marketplace, has opened in Providence, serving breakfast and lunch

and selling food products developed in the Warren headquarters.

With each milestone, Raiola reappears in the media, remarking on small business empowerment and Hope & Main’s impact on Rhode Island.

But who is Lisa Raiola?

If you only know her as a local food-enterprise guru, her life story will be full of surprises. She didn’t cut her teeth in the restaurant industry. She’s not a Rhode Island native. She has no Italian ancestry. Instead, her biography is full of twists and serendipities.

Here are some

unguessable highlights from Raiola’s life:

She’s Jewish!

Born Lisa Wurtzel, Raiola grew up in a Jewish family in a mostly Jewish neighborhood in Philadelphia.

Her father was the founder of an investment company and her mother was a homemaker.

Raiola so embraced her heritage that she considered going to rabbinical school.

“I was pretty religious,” she recalls. “I like Jewish philosophy, culture, family.

I was probably more spiritually religious than my parents were.”

Raiola’s upbringing in Philadelphia remains a point of pride. She can rattle off decades worth of her favorite players from the Eagles, Flyers and 76ers.

She still appreciates the diversity of the city and its many ethnic neighborhoods.

When she was 13, Raiola’s family moved to the suburbs in Bucks County, which promised a better school system, but she fondly remembers those formative years in the Center City neighborhood of Philadelphia.

CONTINUED ON PAGE 5

JUNE 2023 | 5

jewishrhody.org | Jewish Rhode Island

Getting lost might be just what we need

D’ VA

IN APRIL, I had the pleasure map has all the functional of seeing the Arctic Playutility as the ability to drive house’s production of “The a horseless carriage.

39 Steps” (my spouse, Annie, All we need these days is a was in the cast), a comedy smartphone and an address, based on Alfred Hitchcock’s and we can get absolutely 1935 film. anywhere. And even when In the play, we err, our phones (with a the protagohelpful, soothing voice) nist must efficiently correct our travel mistakes by “reroutfrom ing” us to minimize London the consequences of to the a wrong turn. north of Indeed, our perScotland sonal traffic deity to clear is eternally vigilant, his name, RABBI HOWARD notifying us and, since it VOSS-ALTMAN about what’s is 1935, he must coming up, such find his destination on a as accidents and speed map. We then watch, with traps, as well as the time of increasing hilarity, as he is our arrival, and, my perforced to unfurl and unfold sonal favorite, the tantaliza map several feet long, ing possibility of a faster twisting and turning it in route. every direction to discover Simply put, it’s an unqualhow to proceed. ified miracle.

The scene is nostalgically But for every technologfunny because so many of ical breakthrough, there’s us recall growing up in the always a cost. And for me, 20th century, when being what’s troubling is that I able to read a map (not to might never be lost again. mention knowing how to I realize, of course, that fold and unfold it) was a being lost isn’t much fun. necessity.

There’s the anxiety, the Today, of course, for both tension and the uncertainty; the directionally chalthe possibility that it might lenged and the directionally be hours (or minutes that literate, the ability to read a feel like hours) before I

R

TO R A H

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 4 “That city never really leaves you,” she says.

She has a bachelor’s degree from Brown Raiola enrolled at Brown University at age 16, not long after earning her driver’s license. She had considered becoming a physician, but she ended up studying biomedical ethics.

“I was more interested in systems and ideas,” she says.

“Health-care administration, even medical ethics, were pretty new fields. Health-care was kind of a cottage industry 40 years ago. Building new health-care systems was more interesting to me than treating patients.”

She raised her kids in a multifaith household Raiola’s married name came from her first husband, Jimmy Raiola, who grew up Catholic. They met at Brown, where Raiola was an assistant football coach. Before their wedding, Raiola took a “Pre-Cana” course, which offered practical advice about marriage and Catholicism.

There was both a priest

and a rabbi at their wedding, at the Four Seasons Hotel in Philadelphia.

When they started to consider how to raise their children, they decided that their daughter, Stefanie, would be raised Jewish, while their son, Austen, would be raised Catholic.

“My parents never thought it was a great idea,” Raiola says with a laugh. “But we learned a lot about each other’s religions. I always said, ‘It’s my job to give you a religious education. It’s not my job to give you religion.’

To this day, I would do it the exact same way.”

Health-care administration was her first career In 1991, Raiola earned a master’s degree in epidemiology and health-care administration from Boston University.

For the next 10 years, she worked for Harvard Community Health Plan, first as executive director of human resources and organizational development, then as creator and director of the organization’s ethics program.

In 2000, Raiola started teaching classes in public

find my way. In all likelihood, getting lost means that I’ll be late, miss my appointment and be inconvenienced.

And yet, even with all of its potential downsides, I fear that the near elimination of “lost-ness” will exact a psychic toll. Think of all of the great novels and films that take us on a journey of self-discovery, that offer a narrative of losing and finding oneself on the road, from Dickens (“David Copperfield,” “Great Expectations”) to Salinger (“The Catcher in the Rye”) to our most heralded films (Hitchcock’s “North by Northwest,” Dennis Hopper’s “Easy Rider”).

These days, authors and screenwriters are all too aware that our heroes and heroines can never be realistically lost. Thanks to their phones, they’ll always know where they are and, even worse, they’ll know where they are going.

As we head into the summer months, the theme of being “lost” feels particularly resonant. We are, in our Torah cycle, in the midst of Bamidbar, a time when we are not only physically lost in the wil-

derness, but also spiritually go, or experience the rush of lost, wandering aimlessly not knowing what’s on the through crises of leadership other side of the hill. and rebellion. Moses is Enjoy the weeks ahead, challenged on many fronts, the sunshine and the with complaints about the warmth, and be sure to visit food, the spies, the water, a place you’ve never been the lack of direction and before. even his new marriage.

And who knows? Being In the wilderness, everylost might be exactly what thing is off-kilter, and no you were searching for. one, not even Moses, seems to be able to walk with any RABBI HOWARD VOSS-ALTMAN certainty. is the spiritual leader Our Torah makes it clear of Temple Habonim, in that every person, and every Barrington. community, must first experience loss and anxiety before we find our way back to security and stability.

As the weather warms up, and as we spend more time outside (perhaps in the wilderness, perhaps not), perhaps we might all benefit from a few minutes, a few hours, or even a few days, without our miraculous satellite companJune 2 7:54pm ions.

Perhaps we’ll June 9 7:59pm visit a place we never intended to

Candle lighting times June 2023

Greater Rhode Island

June 16

8:02pm

June 23

8:04pm

Founding Hope & Main was kind of an accident

building in the East June 30 8:04pm Bay, but she wasn’t sure if it was in Warren or Bristol.

When Raiola maintains a largely Ayurvewent to Warren dic diet, she doesn’t consider Town Hall to ask about the herself a gourmet and isn’t building, she was told about fussy in her tastes. What she a much larger structure that loves about Hope & Main is was for sale: a former schoolits impact on the community, house, built in 1915. she says.

When Raiola toured the “Maybe if I had been [in property, she said she felt the food industry], I might overwhelmed by its size. not have done it, because “I needed 1,500 square feet. it’s so hard,” she says with a This was 18,000 square feet,” knowing chuckle. “But what she says.

I realized is, sometimes you But as she looked around teach best what you most the voluminous rooms, she need to learn. thought: I’ll bet there are a “I thought of Hope & Main lot of people like me, who are as primary care for food busiinterested in starting a food nesses: We are going to help business but don’t exactly you in every way to empower know how to begin. you to start this business and In a flash, she dreamed up do it affordably and accessithe phrase “food incubator,” bly.” not realizing that the concept had already been successful ROBERT ISENBERG (risenberg@ in many other American jewishallianceri.org) is the cities.

As she puts it: “This project multimedia producer for the Jewish Alliance of Greater found me.”

Rhode Island and a writer for Raiola doesn’t consider herself Jewish Rhode Island.

Emboldened by her concept, Raiola looked around for a space. She spotted a small

Although Raiola is conscious about the food she eats and

health and medical ethics at Brown.

Raiola is a cancer survivor Raiola was diagnosed with cancer in 2003, and underwent treatment for several years. The symptoms finally prevented her from working, and Raiola began to focus on nutrition and its effects on the body.

“What can I do to take back my health?” she remembers thinking. “I thought a lot about food. Food is something I can really change in my life. And I did – I radically changed my diet.”

But the cancer treatments left Raiola so exhausted, it was nearly impossible to visit a supermarket or make meals. This situation sparked a groundbreaking idea: What if homebound people could order a healthy meal online and have it delivered to their doorstep? This was in 2009, when services like DoorDash didn’t yet exist.

a foodie

6 | JUNE 2023

Jewish Rhode Island | jewishrhody.org

CALENDAR HIGHLIGHTS FOR COMPLETE MONTHLY LISTINGS, VISIT JEWISHRHODY.ORG

Temple Torat Yisrael Jewish Literacy and Culture. Sundays 10:30-11:15 a.m. 1251 Middle Road, East Greenwich. Taught by Rabbi David Barnett. Based on the idea that there are a certain number of informational items necessary for functional and cultural literacy, Joseph Telushkin put together a curriculum to apply this approach to the Jewish world. Each class sessions is distinct. Information and RSVP, deanna@toratyisrael.org.

Project Shoresh Ladies’ Partners in Torah Night. Sundays 7:45-8:45 p.m. Providence Hebrew Day School, 450 Elmgrove Ave., Providence. Partner-based study group. On-site facilitators available.

Temple Emanu-El Mahjong.

Tuesdays 11 a.m.-1 p.m. New and advanced players are welcome.

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

Let’s Talk Hebrew. Mondays and Tuesdays. 6:30-7:30 p.m. Current session thru 6/27. In-person classes at Dwares JCC, 401 Elmgrove Ave., Providence. Monday evening beginner level offered in person; Monday evening intermediate level offered virtually; Tuesday evening advanced beginner level offered both in person and virtually; Tuesday evening advanced class offered in person. Information, Toby Liebowitz at tobyaane@gmail.com.

Project Shoresh TNT (Tuesday Night Torah). Tuesdays 7:45-8:45 p.m. Ohawe Sholam, 671 East Ave., Pawtucket. Warm yourself up with the flame of Torah. If you would like a study partner or to be a part of a learning group, please contact Rabbi Naftali Karp. Drop-ins welcome. Refreshments served.

Information, Rabbi Naftali Karp at naftalikarp@projectshoresh.com or 401-479-6953.

Temple Habonim Lunch and Learn. Thursdays noon-1:15 p.m.

165 New Meadow Road, Barrington.

Join Rabbi Howard Voss-Altman in person for weekly Torah Study on Pirke Avot: A Modern Commentary on Jewish Ethics. Free. Information, Adina Davies at office@templehabonim.org or 401-245-6536.

Project Shoresh Lively Kabbalat Shabbat. Fridays. Services will begin at the commencement of Shabbat. Be in touch for exact timing each week. Providence Hebrew Day School (side entrance), 450 Elmgrove Ave., Providence.

Welcome Shabbat with a few

inspiring words, melodious songs and traditional services. Open to all.

Information, Naftali Karp at naftalikarp@gmail.com or 401-632-3165.

Temple Sinai Shabbat Evening Service. Fridays 6 p.m. 30 Hagen Ave., Cranston. Song, prayer and reflection offered in person or on Zoom. With Rabbi Jeffrey Goldwasser and Cantor Deborah Johnson.

Zoom link at templesinairi.org.

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. Services are in person with proof of vaccination; masks optional. Information, 508775-2988 or capecodsynagogue. org.

Temple Beth-El Shabbat Morning Service. Second Saturday of the month 9-10:30 a.m. 70 Orchard Ave., Providence. Shabbat morning minyan with lay participation incorporating study, Torah and Haftarah readings. In June, we will also be celebrating our adult B Mitzvah class. In person or via Zoom. Information, Joie Magnone at jmagnone@temple-beth-el.org or 401-331-6070, ext. 100.

Temple Beth-El Torah Study.

Saturdays except second Saturday of the month 9-10:30 a.m. 70 Orchard Ave., Providence. Delve into the weekly portion with Rabbi Sarah Mack and Rabbi Preston Neimeiser. In person only. Information, Joie Magnone at jmagnone@ temple-beth-el.org or 401-3316070, ext. 100.

Temple Torat Yisrael Virtual & In-person Saturday Morning Shabbat Services. Saturdays 9:30-10:30 a.m. (9:30 a.m.-noon when Bar or Bat Mitzvah.) 1251 Middle Road, East Greenwich. Led

by Rabbi David Barnett. Informa-

“PRICE IS RIGHT” “They are very helpful, they explain things clearly.

They have no hidden agenda and the price is right.”

– Fiona A., Rhode Island, Audi Q5

G E R M A N M O T O R S INC Sales &

Service

879 North Main Street, Providence, RI 02904 401-272-4266 Email us at: germanmotorshelp@gmail.com

BMW AUDI MERCEDES BENZ PORSCHE VOLKSWAGEN MINI COOPER

BMW AUDI MERCEDES BENZ VOLKSWAGEN MINI BMW AUDI MERCEDES BENZ PORSCHE VOLKSWAGEN MINI COOPER

Kosher Senior Café and Programming. In-person lunches 11 a.m.-1 p.m. Monday – Thursday at the Dwares JCC, 401 Elmgrove Ave., Providence, and Friday at Temple Sinai, 30 Hagen Ave., Cranston. In-person (and on Zoom most Tuesdays and Thursdays) programming from 11 a.m.-noon followed by lunch and a guest speaker or discussion noon-1 p.m. The second Tuesday of the month is “Susie’s Corner” with Susie Adler. Every Wednesday is “Exercise for Everyone” with Laura Goodwin, sponsored by the Mayor’s Office, City of Providence. The third Thursday of the month is a book chat with Neal Drobnis. Monday, 6/20, field trip to RISD Museum. 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, Elaine at elaine@ jfsri.org or 401-421-4111, ext. 107.

Free. Information, projectshoresh. com or Naftali Karp at naftalikarp@ gmail.com or 401-632-3165.

MERCEDES BENZ VOLKSWAGEN MINI PORSCHE

Ongoing

tion, Temple@toratyisrael.org.

Temple Sinai Shabbat Breakfast & Torah Study In Person and via Zoom. Saturdays 9:30-11 a.m. Temple Sinai, 30 Hagen Ave., Cranston. Breakfast followed by interactive discussion at 10 a.m. with Rabbi Jeffrey Goldwasser or others in the community. Zoom link at templesinairi.org. Information, dottie@templesinairi.org or 401942-8350.

Temple Habonim Torah Study.

Saturdays (no Torah Study when there is a Bar or Bat Mitzvah) 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 401-245-6536.

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. Services are in person with proof of vaccination; masks optional. Information, Cape Cod Synagogue at 508-775-2988 or capecodsynagogue.org.

Temple Sinai Shabbat Morning Service. Saturdays 11 a.m. (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 | June 2 Temple Torat Yisrael Family-led Youth Shabbat with Potluck Dairy Dinner. 5:30-7:30 p.m. 1251 Middle Road, East Greenwich. Innovative, creative family-led service intended for families with children of Hebrew school age followed by potluck dairy dinner, where Rabbi Barnett will greet families. Information, Temple@toratyisrael.org.

Temple Beth-El PRIDE Shabbat.

5:45-8 p.m. 70 Orchard Ave., Providence. Shabbat service, featuring guest speaker Representative Rebekah Kislak, followed by a congregational Shabbat dinner.

Information, Joie Magnone at jmagnone@temple-beth-el.org or 401-331-6070, ext. 100.

Temple Torat Yisrael Virtual Kabbalat Shabbat Songs & Torah Services. 5:45-6:30 p.m. Led by Rabbi David Barnett. Information and Zoom link, Temple@toratyisrael.org.

Congregation Agudas Achim Kabbalat Shabbat. 7-8:30 p.m. 901 N. Main St., Attleboro, Mass. Information, office@agudasma.org.

Sunday | June 4 Celebrate Israel Parade: NYC. 7:30 a.m. Depart from Dwares JCC, 401 Elmgrove Ave., Providence.

Attend the annual parade on a Jewish Alliance-chartered coach bus; limited seats. Cost includes bus transportation, T-shirt and kosher dinner. Bring a bag lunch. Adults: $54 | Children & teens: $36 (grades 7 & older) | Family rates available.

Information, Elihay Skital at eskital@ jewishallianceri.org.

Tuesday | June 6 Rochambeau Library presents: “Stories of Exile” Reading Groups for Public Libraries.

2-3:30 p.m. 708 Hope St., Providence. Discussion of Book Two of “The Glatstein Chronicles – Homecoming at Twilight,” which resumes after the narrator’s mother’s funeral in Poland and ends with his impending return to the United States. Program, which will continue in the fall, made possible by the Yiddish Book Center. Information, rocadults@clpvd.org.

Wednesday | June 7 JCDSRI Annual Meeting. 7-8 p.m.

85 Taft Ave., Providence. Annual meeting of the board of trustees.

Information, Meredith Friedman at mfriedman@jcdsri.com or 401-7512470.

Thursday | June 8 Camp Ramah “TheRetreat 2023.”

3 p.m. thru 1 p.m. 6/11. 39 Bennett St., Palmer, Mass. Pray, study, sing and relax. President of Worcester Red Sox will speak about Jews in professional sports. Enjoy Jewish Jeopardy, The Gadget Guy and Poker Tov tournament to benefit special needs children. For Jewish men. Information, Martin at martinpaley@paleygroup.com.

Friday | June 9 Temple Beth-El Artisan Marketplace Artists’ and Makers’ Registration Deadline. Temple Beth-El is seeking artists and makers to show and sell their work at its 1st annual Artisan Marketplace to be held on 11/12. Information and registration (by 6/9), Judy Goldberg, Sisterhood committee co-chair, at tbesisterhood70@gmail.com.

Temple Torat Yisrael Virtual Kabbalat Shabbat Songs & Torah Services. 5:45-6:30 p.m. Led by Rabbi David Barnett. Information and Zoom link, Temple@toratyisrael.org.

Temple Beth-El Kabbalat Shabbat Service. 5:45-6:30 p.m.

70 Orchard Ave., Providence. In person, via Zoom or on Facebook Live. Information, Joie Magnone at jmagnone@temple-beth-el.org or 401-331-6070, ext. 100.

Saturday | June 10 Congregation Agudas Achim Shabbat Services. 10 a.m.-noon.

JUNE 2023 | 7

jewishrhody.org | Jewish Rhode Island

CALENDAR 901 N. Main St., Attleboro, Mass.

Information, office@agudasma.org.

Sunday | June 11 Hadassah RI Gift Wrapping Golden Jubilee Brunch. 11 a.m.

Private Home, North Kingstown.

Celebrate over 50 years of volunteer work at the Warwick Mall, and honor Judy Silverman, the pioneers of the Hadassah RI Pawtucket chapter and the many women and families who contributed through the years. Information, chapri@ hadassah.org.

Temple Emanu-El Book Discussion: “Squirrel Hill: The Tree of Life Synagogue Shooting and the Soul of a Neighborhood.” 4-5:30 p.m. 99 Taft Ave., Providence.

Author Mark Oppenheimer will speak about the devastating shooting at the Tree of Life Synagogue and the aftermath in the community.

In person and on Zoom. Sponsored

by TE’s Rosen Library Committee.

Free. Information, Donna Marks at dpmarks1@yahoo.com.

Thursday | June 15 Project Shoresh Jewish Young Professionals Summer Kickoff BBQ. 5:30-7:20 p.m. Lincoln Woods Park Pavilion B, 2 Manchester Print Works Road, Lincoln. Enjoy a tasty, relaxed and fun-filled summer evening including football, frisbee and cornholes. For Jewish men and women ages 25-44. Cost: $8 thru 6/10 | $12 day of event. Information, Noach Karp at rnoachkarp@gmail. com.

Jewish Alliance’s Twelfth Annual Meeting. 7 p.m. Dwares JCC, 401 Elmgrove Ave., Providence. Installation of officers and board members, and recognition of community members. Information, Gail Putnam at gputnam@jewishallianceri.org or 401-421-4111, ext. 158.

Friday | June 16 Congregation Agudas Achim Kabbalat Shabbat. 7-8:30 p.m. 901 N. Main St., Attleboro, Mass. Information, office@agudasma.org.

Temple Beth-El Shabbat Under the Stars. 7-8:30 p.m. 70 Orchard Ave., Providence. Gather together on the Julie Claire Gutterman Biblical Garden patio to greet Shabbat with song and stories. Information, Joie Magnone at jmagnone@temple-beth-el.org or 401-331-6070, ext. 100.

Temple Torat Yisrael Friday Night Live (FNL) Service. 7:30-9 p.m.

1251 Middle Road, East Greenwich.

Service led by Rabbi David Barnett with Oneg to follow. Information, Temple@toratyisrael.org.

Monday | June 19 37th Annual Dwares JCC Golf Classic. 11:30 a.m. Wanumetonomy Golf and Country Club, 152 Brown Lane, Middletown. Registration followed by lunch at noon, shotgun start at 1 p.m. and cocktail reception & awards at 6 p.m. Sponsorship and participation helps ensure that the Alliance can continue to be the center of the community. Information, Abi Weiner at aweiner@ jewishallianceri.org or 401-4214111, ext. 146.

AN INTIMATE VENUE IN DOWNTOWN NEW BEDFORD

SAT JUNE 24 8PM TICKETS FROM $ 49

Friday | June 23 Jewish Alliance Hosts Blood Drive. 8:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m. Dwares JCC, 401 Elmgrove Ave., Providence. Donations by appointment.

Walk-ins welcomed 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.

Men of Reform Judaism’s Centennial Celebration & Conference.

9 a.m. thru 11 a.m. 6/25. Temple Beth-El, 70 Orchard Ave., Providence. Conference speakers will include Rabbi Rick Jacobs, President of the URJ; Narragansett Tribe member Silvermoon LaRose; Keith Stokes of the 1696 Heritage Group presenting “American Irony: Religious Freedom & Slavery in Colonial Newport”; and Congressman David Cicilline. Information, www.goprovidence.com/menrj/.

Temple Torat Yisrael Virtual Kabbalat Shabbat Songs & Torah Services. 5:45-6:30 p.m. Led by Rabbi David Barnett. Information and Zoom link, Temple@toratyisrael.org.

Saturday | June 24 Congregation Agudas Achim Shabbat Services. 10 a.m.-noon.

901 N. Main St., Attleboro, Mass.

Information, office@agudasma.org.

Friday | June 30 Temple Torat Yisrael Virtual Kabbalat Shabbat Songs & Torah Services. 5:45-6:30 p.m. Led by Rabbi David Barnett. Information and Zoom link, Temple@toratyisrael.org.

Temple Beth-El Kabbalat Shabbat Service. 5:45-6:30 p.m.

70 Orchard Ave., Providence. In person, via Zoom or on Facebook Live. Information, Joie Magnone at jmagnone@temple-beth-el.org or 401-331-6070, ext. 100.

Congregation Agudas Achim Virtual Kabbalat Shabbat. 7-8:30 p.m.

Via Zoom. Information and Zoom link, office@agudasma.org.

ALAN CUMMING and ARI SHAPIRO

OCH & OY!

A Considered Cabaret

e tt e d a n r e B AN EVENING WITH

PETERS

THURS JUNE 29 8PM TICKETS FROM $59

PERFORMANCES, FILMS, CLASSES

ZEITERION.ORG | 508.994.2900

2 0 2 2|2 3 SEASON SPONSOR

8 | JUNE 2023

Jewish Rhode Island | jewishrhody.org

FOOD

Make Moroccan Fish just like an Israeli

BY ELIHAY SKITAL

M

any Americans are surprised to learn that Moroccan cuisine has influenced Israeli cuisine in various ways. One of the most

popular dishes that has made its way into Israeli kitchens is Moroccan Fish. This delicious dish has become a staple on Friday nights in Israel, with families gathering around the dinner table to enjoy the flavors of their past.

WHEN ISRAEL WAS FOUNDED, the new nation drew thousands of people from all around the world, including a lot of Arab countries. As a result, Israeli cuisine is diverse, unique and delicious (in my humble opinion).

My grandparents came from Yemen, and, like many immigrants, their food and customs mixed with many others in Israel. One example is jachnun, a traditional Yemenite pastry that is now served at most Israeli tables on Saturday mornings.

Moroccan Fish in Israel can be traced back to the large influx of Jewish immigrants from Morocco when Israel was first established.

These immigrants brought their culinary traditions, including an array of seafood dishes.

Moroccan Fish is typically made with tilapia, which is cooked with a variety of spices and herbs, including paprika, cumin, turmeric, garlic and cilantro. The fish is then served with a flavorful tomato sauce and accom-

panied by challah and hummus – or at least this is my favorite way to eat it.

The popularity of Moroccan Fish on Friday nights in Israel can be attributed to several factors.

First, the dish can easily be prepared ahead of time and reheated, making it a convenient option for the Sabbath meal.

Second, fish is considered a symbol of fertility and abundance in Jewish tradition, and is therefore often eaten on Shabbat. Also, the spices and herbs used in Moroccan Fish are said to symbolize different aspects of life, such as good health, happiness and prosperity, making it a meaningful dish for the Sabbath.

In my family, we believe it is a mitzvah to eat fish on

PHOTO | ROBERT ISENBERG

a Friday night, as our sages said: Ha’ochel dag beyom dag, nitzal midag which basically means, “If you eat fish on Saturday, you will be saved from hell.” That always sounded to me like a convenient way to earn a place in heaven, and it’s another reason my family traditionally eats fish.

Finally, the combination of aromatic spices and fresh fish culminates in a unique and flavorful dish that has become a favorite for many Israelis.

Moroccan Fish is now

so popular in Israel that it’s on the menus at many restaurants and is often served at weddings and other celebrations. The dish has evolved over time, with different variations and interpretations of the classic recipe emerging in different regions of the country. The following recipe stays true to the original.

ELIHAY SKITAL is the Israeli shaliach (emissary) to the Rhode Island Jewish community.

Moroccan Fish INGREDIENTS 2-3 potatoes 2 tomatoes 1 red pepper 2 hot peppers of your choice A pound of tilapia, about 4 to 6 fillets Water 1 tablespoon turmeric 2-3 big garlic gloves 1 bunch cilantro 1 teaspoon salt 1/2 cup canola oil 2 tablespoons paprika 1 tablespoon of soup powder (or chicken, fish or vegetable bouillon) Pinch of sugar, optional

DIRECTIONS Peel the potatoes and cut them and the tomatoes into slices. Cut the red pepper into strips.

Put the potatoes, tomatoes, red pepper and the whole hot peppers into a large pot. Place the fish on top of the vegetables and cover the fish with

water. Turn the heat to medium and put the turmeric on the fish.

While the fish is on the stove, cut the garlic into slices and add to the pot.

Chop the cilantro and put half in the pot; save the rest for use later. Add the salt to the pot and let it simmer for 5-7 minutes.

While it’s cooking, mix the oil, paprika and soup powder or bouillon together and pour over the fish. Let the pot simmer, uncovered, until most of the water evaporates.

When most of the water has evaporated, remove the hot peppers and add the rest of the cilantro and a pinch of sugar, if you like.

Serve with tomato sauce and accompanied by challah and hummus, if desired.

Beh’te’a’von!

Bon appetit!

JUNE 2023 | 9

jewishrhody.org | Jewish Rhode Island

FOOD

Conservative movement OKs vegetarian, vegan restaurants without kosher supervision

BY JACKIE HAJDENBERG (JTA) – For years, a subset of Jews who eat only at kosher-certified restaurants have bent the rules by taking advantage of a growing trend: fully vegan eateries.

Now, a ruling issued by the Conservative movement has given that practice its official imprimatur, declaring that Jews may eat at vegetarian or vegan restaurants that don’t have kosher supervision.

In practice, the ruling’s target audience is small.

Most Jews who eat only in certified kosher restaurants are Orthodox and pay little if any attention to Conservative opinions on Jewish law.

According to a 2020 survey by the Pew Research Center, 17% of Jews identify as Conservative and only a fraction keep kosher at home. Even fewer adhere to the strict dietary laws when they dine out.

But the ruling does represent a change in how the Conservative movement approaches one of the core elements of traditional Jewish life. It comes as an increasing number of Americans are going meatless and amid a broader reckoning

over what counts as kosher, now that products such as Beyond Meat and Impossible Pork, which are plant-based and contain no animal products, are available in grocery stores.

“It has been the case for a number of years already that many people, making a judgment of their own, have begun to eat at vegan restaurants, looking at them and seeing no obvious kashrut problems,” said Rabbi Avram Israel Reisner, the ruling’s lead author.

A study by Dror Fixler, an Israeli religious Zionist rabbi and physicist, also concluded several years ago that Jews may eat in a strictly vegan restaurant, as long as they refrain from consuming vinegar, which could be non-kosher. The ruling also comes after the Conservative movement updated its Passover guide, permitting Jews to purchase certified gluten-free products ahead of the holiday, as long as they were also oat-free.

Previously, the movement deemed that Conservative Jews who keep kosher should eat only at restaurants under kosher supervision. But the

Summer food program feeds campers at no cost PROVIDENCE – With summer right around the corner, it’s time to think about keeping children healthy while school is out. The Jewish Alliance of Greater Rhode Island provides free meals to children during the summer.

This summer, meals will be served at 401 Elmgrove Ave., Providence, RI 02906 on Mondays through Fridays at noon. There are no income requirements or registration. Any child who is enrolled in Alliance programs under age 18 may come to eat. For more information, contact Jim Rawl at 401-421-4111, ext. 140.

Each year, the U.S. Department of Agriculture partners with local organizations like the Jewish Alliance of Greater Rhode Island to provide free meals to children when school is out for the summer. For more information about the national Summer Food Service Program, visit www.fns.usda.gov/cnd/ summer. For more information on summer feeding sites near you including locations and serving times around the state, contact the United Way by dialing 211.

The Jewish Alliance is an equal opportunity provider.

38-page ruling, issued earlier this month, says that without any meat products, many of the concerns surrounding kosher observance are rendered moot. The decision was voted on by 20 of the 25 members of the committee, the vast majority of whom voted in favor.

Without meat, there can be no mixing of meat and milk, the ruling says, and there is also no possibility of eating non-kosher foods such as pork. Even though the vast majority of kosher supervisors say cheese needs certification, the ruling permits eating at vegetarian restaurants on the grounds of a prior Conservative ruling stating that animal rennet is not prohibited.

The ruling is explicit in that it does not apply to restaurants that serve meat or fish but otherwise have vegetarian options, because there is still the risk

of cross-contamination of non-kosher foods.

“The requirement to eat only kosher is not one of health or physical purity, but one of Godliness and the observance of mitzvot,” the ruling concludes. “While there are some levels of risk which the halakhah prohibits undertaking, we have argued that eating in an unsupervised vegan or vegetarian restaurant where government oversight exists and restaurants are generally concerned with their reputations does not overstep that boundary.”

The document adds that ancient rabbinic prohibitions on the consumption of bread baked by non-Jews were instituted primarily to prohibit social interactions with non-Jews.

“The prohibitions are social and unrelated to any concern of kashrut,” the decision says of the ancient ban.

“We see ourselves and our gentile neighbors as equal members of society and reject social discrimination that holds us separate from those of other religious persuasions.”

The ruling notes that one of the reasons for the intricacy and strictness of certain kosher laws is to prevent intermarriage. Reisner said that the new openness to vegan and vegetarian dining does not signal a loosening of the prohibition on interfaith marriage.

“The Conservative movement has for some time been moving away from edicts to maintain social separation, arguing a more humanist position about the desirability of good relations with all of our compatriots,” Reisner said. “Now, that is not the same as to say that it approves of intermarriage.”

PROVIDENCE HEBREW DAY SCHOOL I NEW ENGLAND ACADEMY OF TORAH

76TH ANNUAL AMUDIM DINNER WEDNESDAY, JUNE 14, 2023 I 6 PM

KORN AUDITORIUM I 450 ELMGROVE AVENUE, PROVIDENCE, RI

RABBI SHMUEL & MRS. LEEBA TAITELBAUM

RABBI RAPHIE & MRS. KAYLA SCHOCHET

MR. MOSHE & MRS. ELISHEVA RASKIN

Amudim Award

Rabbinic Leadership Award

Alumnus Award

ADS AND RESERVATIONS CAN BE MADE AT WWW.CAUSEMATCH.COM/AMUDIM2023 FOR MORE INFORMATION, PLEASE CONTACT RABBI PERETZ SCHEINERMAN AT (401) 490-5150 OR YEARBOOK@PHDSCHOOL.ORG

10 | JUNE 2023

Jewish Rhode Island | jewishrhody.org

COMMUNITY VOICES

Despite COVID-19, my new graduate emerged from college as a champion

KI

daughter’s sport, as well as baseball and softball.

As a result of the scheduling conflict, the teams’ seniors were told that if they advanced to the title games, they would be graduating two days later than their classmates, at a small ceremony instead of the 2½-hour undergraduate commencement held May 6 at the Amica Mutual Pavilion, or AMP, in downtown Providence.

That outcome was just one more twist, albeit a pleasant LARRY one, in a college KESSLER career that was overshadowed by the coronavirus pandemic, which upended the final semester of my daughter’s

NG OU

T

S PE A

THE PATH TO MY younger daughter Alana’s college graduation started 21 years ago, when she was adopted in China two days before her first birthday, and ended in an unusual 21-minute ceremony on a Monday morning in May at Johnson & Wales University, when she received a Bachelor of Science degree in culinary nutrition.

The shortened nature of the ceremony for her and other senior athletes was necessitated by their teams’ success and the schedule for championship games in their conference, the Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC). The college competes in lacrosse, my

freshman year and continued to affect her during her sophomore and junior years.

The Class of 2023 had just returned from spring break, on March 12, 2020, when they were told to move out of their dorms and return home. Fortunately for Alana, that just meant traveling several miles up I-95 to her home in North Attleboro, but for many other students it meant scrambling to find transportation to destinations across the country, or even to other countries.

The writer with his daughter and wife at As the COVID-19 graduation. emergency morphed from what initially lockdown with a litany of had been called a two-week confusing, and often contrashutdown into a prolonged T:9.75" dictory, government-imposed

restrictions, their college life stopped. There were no sports, in-person activities, classes or socializing – pretty much everything that college life was known for before COVID-19 turned schools into lonely, depressing places.

Although my daughter was able to take some of her courses online, her lab was delayed until July and August, with an accelerated schedule. That meant masking up and going to campus five days a week so the lab could be completed before her sophomore year began.

When the students returned to school, on a hybrid schedule, in September 2020, they were subjected to spot COVID-19 tests for months, and faced curbs on their movement until the spring of 2021, when, with the CONTINUED ON PAGE 12

T:6.25"

BUILDERS OF MOMENTS LIKE THIS. At Wingate Living, our world-class residences are built to elevate everyday life and make you feel right at home – without any of the stress of maintaining a home. And if your needs change, we’re here for you every step of the way. Our communities offer Independent Living, Assisted Living and Memory Care options to cater to your every need. Call today to schedule a tour and experience the good life.

wingateliving.com

JUNE 2023 | 11

jewishrhody.org | Jewish Rhode Island

COMMUNITY VOICES

Judie Tenenbaum has a sweet talent for making people happy Y L I VI

HEA

TH

Here are excerpts from my interview with Judie:

When did you start baking and how did it become a passion?

I started baking when I was 8 years old, and have never stopped. My mother wasn’t a fan of being in the kitchen, so she was more than happy to have someone else doing the baking!

When I went to college, my mother received care packages from me. I would bake in the little dorm kitchen and would sometimes send what I had baked to my mother.

One time, my dorm friends asked me to bake cookies for them. The problem was that I didn’t have enough butter or sugar in my supplies that I kept on hand. [But] I

BFTPO INGREDIENTS 4 eggs 2 cups sugar 4 ounces unsweetened chocolate 1 cup butter 1 cup flour, sifted 1 cup chocolate chips

had figured out that three pats of butter equaled one tablespoon of butter, and 8 tablespoons of butter made a 1/2 cup of butter. A similar formula worked for the sugar packets.

So, on the day that my friends asked for cookies, we all went through the cafeteria line at school and gathered enough packets of butter and PATRICIA sugar to make RASKIN cookies!

Cookies specifically, and other baked goodies, seem to work magic. If someone is sad, overworked, needing a “you thought about me,” and cookies arrive, it seems to make a difference.

Cookies, and cakes and pies and muffins, etc., are a necessity to celebrate a birthday or any other happy event.

NG

L

I RECENTLY INTERVIEWED Judie Tenenbaum, a member of Temple Emanu-El, who is an attorney, advocate, consummate baker, harpist and Renaissance woman.

I have worked with Judie on the temple’s Yom HaShoah committee for several years, and have always admired her understated strength, talent and contributions.

Judie always brought cookies and other baked goods to our meetings, to the delight of everyone there.

Judie is married, and has been a happy resident of Providence for 24 years. All three of her adult children know how to bake, and now her grandchildren are learning, thanks to their mother, their grandmother (known as “Babka”), and “The British Baking Show.”

How do you make pareve desserts without sacrificing flavor and nutrition?

To make pareve desserts, you have to carefully pick your recipes. Some recipes would be dreadful if adapted to pareve. Other recipes, work perfectly. I always look for recipes, such as an apple cake, that use oil instead of butter. Its flavor is dependent on apples, and cinnamon, and any other spices you’ve added along the way.

You are also a harpist. When did you learn this instrument and why?

I learned to play the harp when I was in middle school.

It is a mystery how I came to be interested in playing the harp. Once I started, there

DIRECTIONS Mix together the eggs and sugar. Melt chocolate and butter. Once melted and cooled a bit, add to eggs and sugar mixture.

Mix in flour. Then mix in chocolate chips. Put in a greased and floured 7-inch by 11-inch pan.

Bake at 350 degrees for 20 to 30 minutes.

Don’t overbake! Enjoy!

recently had a birthday. She requested that I make our special recipe for brownies.

Their nickname is “BFTPO.” It’s a family secret what those initials stand for. [the recipe is below]. My other daughter, Abi, has requested my cheesecake for her birthday.

was no stopping me.

When you see the joy in someone’s face when you have played for their wedding, or a funeral, or at their hospital bedside, or any other occasion, how can you stop playing?

Tell us about how you serve underserved children as an attorney.

I have approximately 50 children clients who are in state custody with the Commonwealth Judie Tenenbaum with her of Massachusetts grandchildren. because of abuse and neglect. I enjoy My clothes are bright and working with kids. I try to colorful! They make me be a little piece of happiness happy! And what’s amazing is in their difficult lives. You’ll that they do that for others! never guess who is happiest Do you have a special baking to receive my cookies!

You also love color and wear such colorful clothes.

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.

story/memory?

My daughter, Tova,

MAKE A DIFFERENCE! Rhode Island area schools seek part-time Hebrew and/or Judaica teachers, and substitute teachers for the 2023-2024 academic year.

JA: Substitute Teacher Recruitment For more information(BW) contact Larry Katz at the Jewish Alliance at 401.421.4111 ext. 179 or lkatz@jewishallianceri.org.

12 | JUNE 2023

Jewish Rhode Island | jewishrhody.org

COMMUNITY VOICES

Boston’s MFA, Jewish art and Providence connections

C

ould I have settled in New England without relatively easy access to Boston’s

Museum of Fine Arts, one of America’s best? Probably not.

EVEN BEFORE Betsey and I were married, nearly 40 years ago, she and I began to explore many of New England’s stellar, hidden and quirky art museums, and I hope that we always will.

An art museum had, in some sense, brought us together. In 1982, when we met at a chamber music concert in LA, sponsored by a Jewish singles’ group, she mentioned that she had grown up in Andover, Massachusetts. I quickly pointed out that six years earlier I had visited the renowned Addison Gallery of American Art at Phillips Academy, in Andover. There weren’t exactly dozens of guys at that concert who’d been there.

Fortunately, Betsey’s parents and brother remained in Andover, so I have happily visited the Addison at least 100 times. Betsey and I would gladly donate a portion of our wonderful collection of Mexican folk art, but the Addison defines American art quite narrowly – in terms of the 50 states.

Of course, the MFA has one of America’s premiere collections of American art, which includes the amazing ensemble of folk art assembled and donated by Maxim Karolik, a Russian-born Jew who married a quite elderly and wealthy Brahmin and resided at her Newport “cottage.” (They probably didn’t meet at a Jewish singles party!)

As a great museum, the MFA’s collection spans millennia and circles much of the world. But not until recent decades, when it was essentially too late, did it embrace 20th-century modernism. No doubt part of this deficiency was due to its disregard for Jewish collectors, from whom the Harvard Art Museums obtained numerous and ravishing gifts.

Indeed, one of the university’s most dazzling collections came from Paul and Meta Sachs. Their grandson, Franklin Robinson, a Providence native, became one of the RISD Museum’s outstanding directors.

M US

I

NG

S

The MFA never planned to build a Judaica collection, but in 2010 it received a notable bequest from Jetskalina Phillips, a Dutch-born convert to Judaism who eventually settled in Kansas. Then, in 2013, Lynn Schusterman, a major Jewish philanthropist and collector from Tulsa, Oklahoma, following a recommendation from a Boston friend, donated her Judaica collection. Later, Schusterman’s Jewish friend, Joyce Linde, established her own MFA curatorship for folk art and works by other self-taught artists.

Over the past five years, much of the credit for the MFA’s considerable success goes to Simona Di Nepi, its quite talented and engaging Schusterman Curator of Judaica.

Though born in Rome, Di Nepi earned a bachelor’s degree at Tel Aviv University and then GEORGE M. a master’s in art history at London’s GOODWIN Courtauld Institute of Art. She began her distinguished curatorial career at two of Britain’s glorious art museums, the National Gallery and the Victoria and Albert Museum, and later served as a curator at the Museum of the Jewish People, in Tel Aviv.

Regrettably, many Rhode Islanders, among others, will recall an unfortunate controversy regarding the MFA’s pursuit of some Judaic treasures. In 2012, some leaders of Newport’s Touro Synagogue thought that they could sell two masterpieces, a pair of 18th-century silver rimonim (Torah finials) to bolster its finances. New York City’s Shearith Israel Congregation, America’s oldest Jewish congregation and the owner of Touro’s land, synagogue and contents, strenuously objected to such a sale.

A bitter and protracted legal battle, which began in Providence’s District Court, ended in 2017, when the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 1st Circuit affirmed Shearith Israel’s ownership of the rimonim.

Nevertheless, these extraordinary pieces are still on loan to the MFA, and they continue to embellish its august gallery of Newport art.

As Betsey and I discovered – almost by chance – on a recent visit to the MFA’s renowned Dutch galleries, the museum purchased an extraordinary pair of parcel-gilt silver rimonim two years ago. Crafted in Rotterdam in 1649,

these are probably the oldest ever made in the Netherlands. The MFA acquired them at a Sotheby’s auction in 2020 from the collection of London’s United Synagogue.

These masterpieces of Jewish ceremonial art were purchased with funds from the MFA’s Van Otterlo Center for Netherlandish Art. This American couple’s extraordinary gifts have elevated the MFA’s major Dutch holdings to an even loftier plateau.

In 2021, the MFA also benefited from a lovely gift of Judaica by a Providence family. An extraordinary, symbolic papercut, about 18” by 23”, was created by a folk artist, Sam Shore (1868-1944), who was born in Russia and settled with his large family in Providence in 1904. Shore is far better known for another creation, the folk art murals adorning Beth Jacob’s sanctuary, the last remaining synagogue in Providence’s North End, where he was also a president.

So how did the MFA’s Schusterman Curator, Simona Di Nepi, learn about Shore’s artistry? Fortunately, Elizabeth Berman, an art appraiser from Nahant, Massachusetts, who specializes in Judaica, helped make a shidduch with the family of Shore’s great-grandson, Charles Samuel Fishbein.

Unfortunately, the MFA’s marvelous papercut, embellished with watercolors, ink and graphite, has not yet been exhibited. But some day it might be joined by another, since the Fishbeins still own a larger example, which needs extensive and costly restoration.

I do not believe that art museums need to acquire fine examples of Jewish art merely to attract Jewish collectors and donors.

Indeed, I’m opposed to collecting anything for the sake of political correctness. Rather, museums need to overcome traditionally narrow ways of defining, interpreting and valuing art for the enlightenment of humankind.

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

Kessler CONTINUED FROM PAGE 10 advent of vaccinations, college life slowly began returning to normal.

But make no mistake: The pandemic cut deeply into all aspects of college life. Sports wound up being wiped out for months, and my daughter’s hopes of running cross country were dashed as Johnson & Wales eliminated that and other sports due to pandemic-related spending cuts.

Sports eventually returned, and in her senior year, my daughter accepted an invitation to try out for the women’s lacrosse team. She played soccer throughout high school and in her freshman year of college, but hadn’t played lacrosse since the spring semester of her final year at Tri-County Regional Vocational Technical High School, in Franklin, Massachusetts.

But Alana’s enthusiasm, athleticism and speed caught the attention of the Wildcats’ first-year head coach, and she made the team. Though not a starter, she had considerable playing time at both defensive and offensive positions.

While the team, which was undefeated in its conference, was making a strong run at the playoffs, her teammates and coach made sure that Alana scored at least one goal during a game that was well in hand on April 12, her 22nd birthday. My daughter scored three consecutive goals!

But as satisfying as that was, Alana’s greatest joy came from being part of the team’s success, as it finished the season with the No. 1 seed for the playoffs and then captured the championship on a warm, sunny Saturday afternoon at about the same time that most of Johnson & Wales’ Class of 2023 was graduating a few miles away.

Two days later, Alana graduated, along with her four senior teammates and the senior members of the baseball and softball teams.

That was the perfect ending for a class whose future seemed bleak just three years earlier, when their education, and lives, were rudely interrupted by a global health emergency that only recently ceased to be called a pandemic.

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

JUNE 2023 | 13

jewishrhody.org | Jewish Rhode Island

COMMUNITY VOICES

Celebrating with song

The Rhode Island Center for Photographic Arts Presents two photography exhibitions to explore the power of words

Words Matter: a juried exhibition to explore how words combined with images can change your perspective, change your view of the world and to present the positive & humerous power of words

Sticks and Stones: Gershon Stark a portrait series to make visable lashon hara and the lasting harm words can inflict.

Open: Thursday - Saturdays, Noon - 6:00pm or by appointment at gallery@riphotocenter.org Exhibitions open on the third Thursday of each month

AFTER TWO YEARS of virtual events, the Jewish Community Day School’s Zimriyah was held March 24 in front of 300 people at the Alliance’s Dwares Jewish Community Center in Providence. The Hebrew songfest included 96 students and 35 faculty and staff for a celebration of Israel’s 75th birthday and the Providence school’s 45th year. Speakers included Rabbi Alvin Kaunfer and his wife Marcia Kaunfer, founders and original teachers of the school. Ruti Adler and Alison Walter were the coordinators of the event.

SUMMER 2023!

JUNE 26 – AUGUST 25 J-CAMPERS: GRADES K-6 C.I.T. (Counselor in Training):GRADES 7-10

∙ DAILY SWIM LESSONS ∙ WEEKLY FIELD TRIPS ∙ LUNCH INCLUDED

JewishAllianceRI.org REGISTRATION NOW OPEN! 401 ELMGROVE AVENUE, PROVIDENCE RI

Join us Thursday June 15th, 5:00 - 8:00 Opening Reception Second Floor, 118 North Main St. Providence, RI @RIPhotoArts www.RIPhotoCenter.org

14 | JUNE 2023

Jewish Rhode Island | jewishrhody.org

COMMUNITY VOICES

If you’re seeking better understanding and communication to help strengthen your relationship, then we encourage you to contact us. Our unique couple-to-couple approach combines Angel’s skills as a Certified Coach with those of her husband, Charles Granoff, a licensed Therapist.

Charles Granoff, LICSW, LMFT Angel Canada Granoff, PCC

IntentionalDiscovery.com contact@intentionaldiscovery.com | 401-200-8335

NO, NOT THE BRUSH or charcoal, nor the chisel and even no camera! I just use that ancient invention, the scissors. I may cut out one square from the funnies, or I trim an old photo snapshot to focus on a single detail, as in “cropping,” which is not respectable in academic circles.

I find surprises and personal glimpses within my own artistic domain, which is the memoir. Which may explain why I admire and go for the value also of minimizing each passing day. The high moment, the wasted opportunity, not the good joke, but rather the missed chance.

Like, just now, when the “Pickles” grandma muses, “Whenever I meet someone new, I think to myself, why are you here and what do you have to teach me?”

Struck me as the perfect example of the Hassidic concept that every new acquaintance is an angel sent from the firmament above to contribute to your day. I leave out and alone, though, the cat that adds the irony of his feline joke, “I always think, why are you here and what do you have to feed me?”

I also use my trusty scissors to study, close-up, the hidden insights in bad snapshots idly taken perhaps a long time ago. I took a group portrait that included my grandfather, who had walked and camped out across all Europe to get a

T

Life & Relationship Coaching

My scissors memorialize a moment in time

SKE

We're here for you.

CH

job in Whitechapel, London, eons ago. It also contained his newborn daughter and my grampa’s second wife who was holding my late aunt Edith, the infant, in her arms. When I showed this clip to my grown son, his only comment was, “she was an odd-looking lady.”

My focus was on that baby who grew to be my babysitter and companion throughout her lifetime. I stare at my dad’s dad’s MIKE FINK expression and my step-grandma’s features with close attention but no judgment, just fascination and genuine interest.

So it goes. Scissors can reveal and interpret.

My wife brings home from the market bouquets of blossoms in season to decorate the table with lush flowers at the height of their glory. I use those magical scissors to save the last rather shriveled specimen by cutting the stem with an oval long snip and placing it in a wee tiny vase, a survivor that somehow earns another lifetime of a few days on the altar. It really does seem to thrive somehow. So that, or this, is my art form, my genre. Just to make whatever is left ever more valuable, as time goes on. ...

BOOK

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

Business & Real Estate Disputes

William M. Kolb, Esq. ATTORNEY AT LAW

Richmond Square, Providence | (401) 714-0622

www.KolbLaw.com

Jewish Alliance of Greater Rhode Island’s

12 ANNUAL MEETING th

Thursday, June 15 | 6:00pm Reception | 7:00pm Program In person at the Dwares JCC | 401 Elmgrove Avenue, Providence Presentation of Leadership Awards Joseph W. Ress Community Service Award, Samuel D. Zurier Recognition of Three Long-Time Community Educators Upon Their Retirement: Lawrence M. Katz Christine Wendoloski Esta Yavner Board Installations: Jewish Alliance of Greater Rhode Island Jewish Federation Foundation Alliance Realty, Inc. Installing Officer, Rabbi Sarah Mack Jewish Alliance of Greater Rhode Island 2023 - 2024 Slate of Board of Directors Chair Harris Chorney Vice Chairs Marisa Garber, Co-Chair Philanthropy Richard Glucksman, Co-Chair Philanthropy William Krieger, Jewish Life & Learning Sara Miller-Paul, Community Development Mara Ostro, Governance Avi Rosenstein, Communications Treasurer Brauna Doidge Secretary Mara Ostro Board of Directors Jason Bazarsky Reza Breakstone Stacy Emanuel, Chair Appointee Ryan Forman

Susan Froehlich, Leadership Development Sharon Gaines Janet Goldman Robert Landau Rashmi Licht Sara Meirowitz Cara Mitnick, Community Relations Council Jill Padwa James Pious, Immediate Past Chair Rabbi Preston Neimeiser, Rabbinical Representative Eric Shorr Richard Silverman Honorary Directors Melvin G. Alperin Alan G. Hassenfeld President and CEO Adam Greenman 2023 - 2024 Jewish Federation Foundation Board Mitzi Berkelhammer Harris Chorney, Ex-officio Susan Leach DeBlasio Robin Engle Mark Feinstein

Harold Foster Sharon Gaines Marilyn Kaplan, Treasurer Richard Licht Michael Nulman James Pious, Chair Ralph Posner Jay Rosenstein Sally Rotenberg Robert Schloss Robert Sherwin, Vice Chair Herbert Stern Robert Stolzman Cheryl Greenfeld Teverow, Secretary Mindy Wachtenheim 2023 - 2024 Alliance Realty, Inc. Board Robert Stolzman, Chair Sharon Gaines, Vice Chair Marc Gertsacov, Secretary/Treasurer Adam Greenman, President & CEO

16 | JUNE 2023

Israel at 75

Jewish Rhode Island | jewishrhody.org

PHOTOS | ELIHAY SKITAL

MORE THAN 800 PEOPLE celebrated Israel’s 75th birthday on May 21 at Farm Fresh RI in Providence. They danced. They listened to music. They ate good food and visited the many vendors supporting Israel and the Jewish community in Rhode Island.

Elihay Skital, Israeli shaliach (emissary) to the Rhode Island community, welcomed the crowd. “Today, we gather here in the spirit of unity – Achdut, celebration, and deep-rooted

pride as we come together to celebrate a significant milestone—the 75th birthday of the state of Israel!”

He also emphasized the importance of the Rhode Island Jewish community. “Today, we celebrate not only the birth of Israel but also the vibrant tapestry of Jewish culture that has thrived in our own local community,” he said. “Rhode Island, our home, has been a haven for Jewish families for generations – a place

where our traditions, values and customs have flourished. It is within this small state that we have nurtured our sense of belonging, where we have forged lifelong friendships, and where we have shared in both joyous and challenging moments.”

There was no doubt that this joyous moment was a success.

100% Dairy-Free Ice Cream Shop

Knishes, Sundaes Shakes, Floats & more Ice cream cakes to order 401.228.3880

170 Ives Street Providence (EASTSIDE) Kosher

like-no-udder.com

JUNE 2023 | 17

jewishrhody.org | Jewish Rhode Island

Zeneta Everhart, David Neill and Pardeep Kaleka with Stephanie Hague.

Zeneta Everhart speaks during the keynote address.

Rev. Dr. Donnie Anderson and Rabbi Barry Dolinger with Adam Greenman.

PHOTOS | GLENN OSMUNDSON

Anti-hate summit calls for seeing the humanity in all people

BY FRAN OSTENDORF

PROVIDENCE – About 80 people from diverse communities across Rhode Island attended a statewide summit on May 16 that focused on hate: what it looks like in our state, what’s contributing to the rise of hate, what it means to marginalized communities, and how diverse groups can work together to make everyone feel safer.

“Call to Action. A StateWide Summit Addressing Hate” was held at Rhode Island College. Organized by representatives from faith-based communities, law enforcement and groups representing marginalized communities, the daylong conference was funded by Washington Trust, the Rhode Island Foundation and United Way of Rhode Island, with

additional funding from Neighborhood Health Plan of Rhode Island. The Jewish Alliance of Greater Rhode Island provided organizational support.

The summit was a year in the making and featured personal stories of those affected by hate, as well as discussions on how to move forward. The summit addressed all types of hate, including antisemitism and hate aimed at the LGBTQ+ community, Blacks, Muslims and Asians.

Zeneta B. Everhart and Pardeep Kaleka offered a powerful keynote discussion on their experiences. Everhart is the director of Diversity & Inclusion for New York State Sen. Tim Kennedy. She testified before Congress on the need for stricter gun laws, leading to the Safer Communities Act 2022, the first

piece of gun legislation to become law in more than 30 years. She is also the mother of Zaire Goodman, who was seriously injured in the Tops Supermarket mass shooting in Buffalo, New York, on May 14, 2022.

Where is the humanity, Everhart asked.

“Our differences should make us curious,” she said.

“But you don’t need an AR-15 to air out these issues. It’s OK to disagree. It doesn’t have to be solved with guns. We have to get back to seeing the humanity in each other.”

Kaleka has his own tale of tragedy; his father was killed at the Sikh Temple in Oak Creek, Wisconsin, in 2012.

Kaleka has spent more than 25 years in law enforcement, education, social services, counseling and assisting hate-crime survivors. He

is the co-director of Not in Our Town, an organization specializing in community hate-prevention, and a de-radicalization specialist with Parents4Peace, assisting families and individuals to move away from hateful ideologies.

Kaleka spoke about the people he counsels, and called himself an optimist. He emphasized that, “We have to listen [to others]. We have to listen to pain without being personally offended.”

The speakers agreed that building relationships and understanding is key to combating hate.

“We need to get to a place where we see each other as humans,” Everhart said.

Not in Our Town, www. niot.org, has made a series of films about community responses to tragedy. Kaleka

showed part of “Repairing the World: Stories from The Tree of Life,” which chronicles Pittsburgh’s response to the mass shooting at the Tree of Life synagogue in 2018, and the community’s efforts to understand it so it never happens again.

Two panels offered different views of hate in Rhode Island.

The first, including Kaleka, Peggy Shakur of the ADL New England and Brian Pires of the U.S. Department of Justice, and moderated by Jim Vincent, board member of the BLM RI PAC, tackled the rise of white nationalism, domestic terrorism and hate groups in Rhode Island and New England.

The second offered local voices discussing the CONTINUED ON PAGE 28

18 | JUNE 2023

Jewish Rhode Island | jewishrhody.org

OPINION Hadassah memories

Miriam R. Plitt Pawtucket, RI

A FEW WEEKS AGO, Mark Elber, my colleague, friend and fellow poet, sent me a brief email posing the following question: “If you had to pick ten Jewish poems by any writers in any language, do you have an idea of what you would pick?”

Mark’s question has stood before me like a steep mountain, daring me to try to climb it.

But it has not taken me long to realize that, for several reasons, I cannot answer Mark’s question.

In the first place, there is no way I could limit myself to only 10 poems. More broadly speaking, despite the depth of experience that comes with age – I turn 79 at the end of this month – I have no idea what would make a poem “Jewish,” or preclude a poem from being called “Jewish.”

Even more problematic, although I have been writing and translating poems on and off ever since my senior year in high school, I still cannot tell you what makes a poem a poem.

Where to begin?

Our TANAKH, our Hebrew Bible, contains one of the world’s finest collections of poems, 150 of them: Tehillim, or Psalms. Any one of them – depending on an individual’s particular circumstances and on the always changing, always fragile condition of the world in which we find ourselves – could be a worthy candidate for Mark’s Top 10 list. Thus, Psalm 23 speaks to many different people on a wide variety of occasions. Psalm 100 is a consummate poem of thanksgiving. And I confess that I had never paid particular attention to Psalm 42 until my dying sister told me how directly that poem spoke to her as her life was ebbing away.

Other biblical books flow with the music of Hebrew poetry: All of Song of Songs, most of Job, much of our Prophetic literature, the first and last chapters of Kohelet. Our Torah, the first five books of the TANAKH, though largely prose, also contains sections of

EM

intense, energetic poetry.

Consider, for example, Exodus, Chapter 15, often referred to as Shirat Hayam, or Song of the Sea. To this day, our siddur, our Jewish prayer book, highlights words from this ancient song: Mi kamocha ba’elim Adonai, Mi chamocha nedar bakodesh, Nora t’hilot oseh fele. (Who is like you, O Lord, among the mighty?

Who is like you, majestic in holiness, awesome in splendor, working wonders!)

The power of medieRABBI JAMES val Hebrew poetry has ROSENBERG also found its way into our communal worship.

“Adon Olam,” possibly composed in Spain during the 13th or 14th century, is a well-known closing hymn among Jewish worshippers the world over.

One of the many miracles arising out of the creation of modern Israel has been the resurrection of the Hebrew language, a language now spoken by an estimated 8 million to 9 million individuals. Modern Hebrew is, not surprisingly, continuing to expand its dialogue between remembered ancient and medieval texts and the vibrant and expanding expression of its speakers’ everyday needs and concerns.

Modern Hebrew poetry is particularly rich in its often-ironic treatment of the Hebrew Bible. Chaim Nachman Bialik (1873-1934), often called Israel’s national poet, and Yehuda Amichai (1924-2000), Israel’s bestknown contemporary poet, are both particularly adept at standing biblical verses on their heads in an effort to bring together linguistic present with linguistic past; the two of them have produced hundred of works that would qualify as significant, perhaps essential, Jewish poems.

You will notice that while Mark Elber has asked me to identify 10 Jewish poems by writers in any language, I have limited myself to poems written in Hebrew. How odd of me, given that most of the roughly 7 to 8 million Jews

S TO M

E

I READ THE WONDERFUL article on Pawtucket Hadassah by Judy Silverman and Karen Beraha in the May issue of Jewish Rhode Island. As a past president of the Pawtucket chapter of Hadassah, along with Roz Bolusky and Ruth Goldstein, this brought back very good memories.

The women involved with the chapter were dynamic and motivated which would transcend in today’s world as: “power women.”

Meetings were well run, educational, with friendship, good discussions, connecting to health, Israel and community. They had everything.

As for the gift wrapping, it was a cooperative effort.

However, I want to focus on Sara Cokin. If Sara were alive today, she could be president of a corporation.

Norm Rousell, advertising business owner, once said to me, “you can't say no to Sara.” She was an incredible fundraiser and recruiter. Believe me, I am not a gift wrapper, but Sara guilted me into gift wrapping and after my first package wrapping, we decided it would be better if I cut the ribbons. A hearty thank you to all those women who deserve to be celebrated.

The unifying power of Hebrew IT S E

LETTER

living outside of Israel are functionally illiterate when it comes to Hebrew. Nevertheless, I would argue that, within our millennial experience, it is Hebrew that lies at the very core of Jewish identity.

Of course, there are innumerable important Jewish poems written in languages other than Hebrew. Yiddish, for sure! Also, Ladino, English, French, German, Spanish, Russian ….

Nevertheless, Hebrew is the fundamental, “founding” language of our long collective history.

I will confess that when I was a young boy joining my father in worship at Temple B’nai Israel, in Elizabeth, New Jersey, a Conservative synagogue, I felt bathed in the sounds of the Hebrew words, even though I had but the vaguest sense of their literal meaning – sounds that comfort me to this very day. What makes a language uniquely compelling is the impossibility of bringing all of its music into any other language.

Listen to our central Jewish prayer, the Shema, the final six words of which we Jews are bidden to utter on our deathbed. It’s pure biblical Hebrew, but somehow embodies the yearnings of other languages of the world. Is it mere coincidence that these six Hebrew words echo the 5-7-5 structure of classical Japanese haiku?

She-ma Yis-ra-el A-do-nai E-lo-hey-nu A-do-nai E-chad I cannot answer Mark Elber’s question for many reasons. Most importantly, I cannot limit my response to 10 poems, or even 100 poems. But I can tell you this: Every one of the most significant “Jewish poems” on my ever-expanding list will be written in Hebrew.

JAMES B. ROSENBERG is a rabbi emeritus at Temple Habonim, in Barrington.

Contact him at rabbiemeritus@ templehabonim.org.

Orthodox rabbis call for release of Gershkovich (JTA) – An umbrella association of American Orthodox rabbis is calling on the Russian government to release Evan Gershkovich, the imprisoned Jewish reporter for the Wall Street Journal.

The Rabbinical Alliance of America said in a statement on Sunday [May 28] that Russia should “do immediate justice by releasing Evan Gershkovich.” The alliance,

also known as the Igud HaRabbonim, says it represents more than 950 Orthodox rabbis, and makes frequent statements on public affairs in the U.S. and Israel.

Gershkovich, 31, who is the son of Jewish refugees from the Soviet Union, was arrested two months ago and charged with espionage, an accusation he, the Wall Street Journal and the United

States government deny. Last week, his pretrial detention was extended until the end of August, and he faces a sentence of up to 20 years in a penal colony.

“As Americans, we condemn how our fellow citizen, Evan Gershkovich, has been unlawfully arrested and detained by Russian officials,” read a statement by the group’s executive

vice president, Rabbi Mendy Mirocznik. “As Jews, we are offended by the apparent resurgence of governmental Russian antisemitism. As rabbis, we protest this injustice and demand that Russia does the just, moral thing and immediately frees Evan Gershkovich so he can safely return to his family.”

Jews in America and around the world have taken

action to support Gershkovich since his arrest, with some reviving practices that recalled the movement to free Soviet Jewry during the Cold War. Earlier this month, the Jewish Federations of North America held a rally calling for his freedom.

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.

JUNE 2023 | 19

jewishrhody.org | Jewish Rhode Island

OPINION

Teens propel a trend toward gender-neutral mitzvah ceremonies This article was produced as part of JTA’s Teen Journalism Fellowship, a program that works with Jewish teens around the world to report on issues that affect their lives.

BY SHIRA NATHAN (JTA)

L

ike many Jewish teens, Ash Brave was nervous for their b’nai mitzvah. Memorizing the Torah portion, sending invitations, planning a party:

It’s a lot for a 13-year-old to think about during what can already be an anxiety-filled age.

DESPITE THE TYPICAL STRESS involved with preparing to enter the adult Jewish community, Brave cheerfully described their gender-neutral b’nai mitzvah last summer, recalling feeling “really supported [by] the whole synagogue.” For teens like Brave, an eighth grader from Boulder, Colorado, who uses he and they pronouns interchangeably, gender-inclusive b’nai mitzvahs (often termed “b’mitzvahs”) offer an opportunity to come of age as their full selves.

Across the country, there is an expanding list of Jewish community centers, day schools, Hillels, organizations and more that include and celebrate LGBTQ+ identities. Many synagogues are following suit with the ceremonies they offer and the language they use. Some congregations are initiating these changes on their own; in other cases, the teens themselves are propelling the shifts.

Traditionally, most synagogues hold gendered b’nai mitzvah, with bar mitzvahs for boys and bat mitzvahs for girls (“b’nai” is the Hebrew plural form meanings “sons and daughters,” although it is technically masculine).

Increasingly, many Jewish congregations are moving toward gender-inclusive b’nai mitzvah ceremonies. Synagogues like Har Hashem, a Reform synagogue in Boulder, have been offering these ceremonies for years at the request of their congregants. Because of these shifts, many gender nonconforming Jewish teens feel a deeper sense of belonging in their religious communities.

According to Rabbi Fred Greene of Har Hashem, the

synagogue holds approximately 25 b’nai mitzvah ceremonies annually. In the last year, three of those were gender-neutral. Although the congregation has offered the option for almost five years, this is the first year they have had teens opting for the inclusive version.

Greene said that the congregation also has teens who have transitioned after their b’nai mitzvah. He estimates that they have 5-7 teen congregants who identify as trans or genderqueer, meaning they do not identify with the gender they were assigned at birth.

B’mitzvahs at Har Hashem mirror the traditional gendered ceremonies in everything but language.

“We have folks that don’t feel like a ‘ben’ or a ‘bat,’” said Greene, using the Hebrew words meaning “son” and “daughter.” “So we come up with other Hebrew terms, [such as] ‘beit,’ which is from “the house of [parent name].” He said that a number of changes can be made to the Hebrew to increase inclusivity, ranging from the creation of new terms to using the infinitive version of words that would otherwise be gendered. “We’re not treating anybody any differently, other than being sensitive to their needs,” he said.

Ruby Marx, a 16-year-old who uses she/her pronouns, had a gender-neutral b’mitzvah with Temple Beth Zion in the Boston area in early 2020, pre-pandemic.

“I always knew that I was gonna have to have [a b’nai mitzvah]. But when it came time to start thinking about it, I was like, ‘I really don’t feel comfortable having a bat mitzvah.’ But I wasn’t

comfortable [having a bar mitzvah], either. So someone suggested that I do something in the middle. And that felt right for me.”

Marx, who describes herself as gender-fluid, was the first teen in her congregation to have a ceremony that didn’t fall within either the bar or bat categories. In the years following, several other teens in her community have had gender-neutral ceremonies.

“I don’t think anyone else had done something like that before,” said Marx. “I think a lot of other kids started to feel comfortable being like, ‘oh, maybe that’s something I would want to do,’ or incorporating different things that they’re passionate about [into their ceremonies].”

For her ceremony, she wore a prayer shawl featuring rainbow trimming and various rock ‘n’ roll patches from her favorite bands. Marx said that the most rewarding part of her experience has been being a trailblazer for inclusion in her congregation. “It definitely feels good to know that I can help other kids feel comfortable being who they are, because I know that sometimes I’m not always comfortable being who I am.

It’s nice to know that kids can look up to me,” she said.

Gender inclusion in b’nai mitzvahs has been expanding for decades, beginning with the American introduction of the bat mitzvah in 1922 for the daughter of Rabbi Mordecai Kaplan, the founder of Reconstructionism, in New York City.

Before that, only boys were allowed to engage in the important coming of age tradition. After Judith Kaplan’s ceremony, the custom slowly spread across the country in non-Orthodox synagogues.

For decades, however, the ceremonies for girls differed from those offered to boys: In many synagogues, girls were not allowed to read from the Torah, and their services were held on Friday nights rather than Saturday mornings. Orthodox synagogues were slow in accepting the bat mitzvah, and still maintain strict gender roles in synagogue.

As feminism progressed both outside and within Jewish communities, girls pushed to be allowed to read from the Torah and to be counted toward a minyan, the 10-person quorum required for public prayer.

Full bat mitzvahs became an accepted norm. A similar pattern is now occurring for b’mitzvahs.

As a coming of age ritual, b’nai mitzvahs occupy a unique role in Jewish life.

Their goal is to integrate young Jews into the broader community, signaling that they have the knowledge and maturity to take on adult ritual responsibilities. Because of this, many young trans Jews wish to have a ceremony that will fully reflect them as they become more involved in their community and beyond.

Brave, the Colorado teen, chose to have their ceremony gender-neutral to ensure it still fit them down the road.

“I don’t really know what I’m going to identify as in the future, because identity is fluid. And while I may be comfortable right now with being closer to a male identity, [later] I might be less comfortable with that,” they said.

Marx, the gender fluid teen outside of Boston, said entering the community as her authentic self was an integral part of her choice. “I had grown up watching all my cousins, and then my sister, have [ceremonies]. Afterwards, they were a lot more independent in their Jewish identity. That was something that appealed to me, because I wanted to be connected to the Jewish community, but I wanted to do it in my own way,” said Marx.

B’mitzvahs aren’t the only gender-inclusive ceremony offered now. Many Reform congregations have also created ceremonies for gender transitions, Hebrew name changes, and coming out, often based on a curriculum offered by the Central Conference of American Rabbis.

“These are holy moments of growth and transformation, and we want to be supportive in their journeys,” Rabbi Greene of Har Hashem said.

Brave also had a ceremony

with Har Hashem to change their Hebrew name, and the synagogue made them an updated yad — a pointer used in reading Torah — to match.

Teens who were not able to do their ceremony gender-neutral say having access to inclusive ceremonies would have increased the enjoyment and meaning of their b’nai mitzvahs. “I would have felt more like I was stepping into my own skin, instead of the skin [of someone] that I was pretending to be,” said Mica Newmark. The 17-year-old, who uses they/them pronouns, had a gendered ceremony at Nevei Kodesh, a Renewal synagogue in Boulder, before coming into their identity more. Since their ceremony, Newmark has grown apart from religion. “I don’t really relate anymore,” they said.

Even teens who were more clear on their identity struggled with having gendered ceremonies. Jay, a 15-year-old from Boulder, came out immediately following their ceremony. (Jay, estranged from a parent who has a leadership role in their synagogue, asked that their last name be omitted.) They found the ceremony “pretty stressful” and their coming out experience difficult, explaining that they wanted everyone to understand the concept of existing outside of the gender binary, but didn’t feel that was possible at the time. “I had really long hair then, so I wanted to cut it, and just be more me,” Jay said. “But I was really stressed, because I knew I was going to get misgendered at the ceremony.”

In the following years, Jay helped to institute the use of pronoun pins at synagogue events, as well as generally making an effort to educate community members on transgender issues. “I think [gender-neutral ceremonies] allow queer Jewish people to embrace their religion and continue to flourish within Judaism without feeling gendered,” they said.

Keshet, a national Jewish LGBTQ+ organization, published a guide for b’mitzvah CONTINUED ON PAGE 22

20 | JUNE 2023

Jewish Rhode Island | jewishrhody.org

COMMUNITY

BUSINESS 29 | OBITUARIES 30

Words matter in 2 new art exhibits in Providence

BY ROBERT ISENBERG

G

raffiti. Road signs. T-shirt slogans. They can all show up in a photograph, along with the words they portray. Some words are

subtle and have little effect. Others seem to leap out of the image and punch us in the heart. Whatever the case, words matter now, as much as ever.

THIS IS THE CONCEPT behind “Words Matter,” a juried art exhibit opening on June 15 at the Rhode Island Center for Photographic Arts, in Providence.

“The exhibit is designed to let us pay a little more attention to the words that surround us and how we react to them,” says Gershon Stark, an art photographer who is one of the show’s three judges.

The “Words Matter” theme is close to his heart.

Stark, a native of New York City, worked extensively in commercial and product photography before settling in Rhode Island with his wife, Jennifer, who also is a professional artist. For the past six

years, Stark has been photographing a portrait series called “Sticks and Stones,” in which subjects display – often on their bodies – the words that have most hurt them.

“In Judaism, there is something called lashon hara, which is translated loosely as ‘evil tongue,’ ” says Stark. “It really draws attention to the power and the pain caused by negative speech.”

Stark finds his subjects organically, usually through referrals or social encounters. The earliest works tended to be photographs of nudes taken in black and white on traditional film. The words appear in many ways, sometimes emblazoned on the subject’s body or painted onto

Gershon Stark an object such as a stone.

More recently, Stark has used digital cameras and made color prints, and most of his models are clothed.

Sessions usually take place in the atelier that the Starks share on North Main Street, which is just down the hall from the photography center’s gallery.

“Words Matter” is an ensemble exhibit, with artworks selected by Stark, gallery director David DeMelim and physician-photographer John Femino. The many artists showing at “Words Matter” will display a wide range of subjects and tones; their single through-line is some kind of verbal element.

A separate section of the gallery will be dedicated to “Sticks and Stones,” where Stark will showcase his own pieces.

“What I’ve been most sur-

PHOTO | ROBERT ISENBERG

prised with is that there are many artists, many people, many photographers, who are attuned to the amount of verbal, visual cues that we get every day in our lives, and how they might affect us,” says Stark.

Stark himself is an observant Jew and has a renaissance personality: He’s a veteran surfer and avid cyclist, and has traveled all over the world, including to long professional assignments in Paris. His most creative projects have strong social themes and real-world applications, such as “Stop Traffic,” about the devastation caused by human trafficking, and the “Zipper Project,” which explores expressions through body ornaments.

“What I would like the viewer to experience or feel or react to is simply an awareness of the power of

words, the power of speech,” Stark says about his series.

“And hoping that in that awareness, there’s the slightest shift toward speaking more positively – not just about others, but even in a sense about themselves.”

“Words Matter” and “Sticks & Stones” will be displayed June 15 to July 14 at the Rhode Island Center for Photographic Arts, 118 North Main St., Providence.

For more information, go to RIPhotoCenter.org.

To see Gershon Stark at work in his studio, watch the video at JewishRhody.com.

ROBERT ISENBERG (risenberg@ jewishallianceri.org) is the multimedia producer for the Jewish Alliance of Greater Rhode Island and a writer for Jewish Rhode Island.

JUNE 2023 | 21

jewishrhody.org | Jewish Rhode Island

COMMUNITY

Author to discuss Tree of Life mass shooting at June 11 program

BY ARLENE S. SIMON AUTHOR MARK OPPENHEIMER will lecture in person and on Zoom at Temple Emanu-El, in Providence, on June 11 about the devastating shooting at the Tree of Life synagogue, in Pittsburgh, and the aftermath of the tragedy in the synagogue’s Jewish community.

Oppenheimer will also discuss the compelling national implications of the antisemitic attack in October 2018, which killed 11 people. His talk will be based on his recent book, “Squirrel Hill: The Tree of Life Synagogue Shooting and the Soul of a Neighborhood.”

Oppenheimer has a B.A. in History and a Ph.D. in Religious Studies from Yale University. He has taught at Stanford, Wesleyan, Wellesley, New York University, Boston College and Yale, where he served for 15 years as the founding director of the Yale Journalism Initiative. From 2010 to 2016, he wrote a biweekly religion column for The New York Times. He has also written for The New York Times Magazine, The New Yorker, Slate, The Nation, Tablet, and numerous other publications, and is the author of five books.

Oppenheimer, who lives with his family in New Haven, Connecticut, also hosted a Jewish-themed podcast, “Unorthodox,” for eight years.

In a recent interview, Oppenheimer spoke about his decision to write about the shooting in the synagogue in the Squirrel Hill neighborhood of Pittsburgh and his extensive research into the subsequent implications for the neighborhood and beyond. The follow-

ing Q-and-A has been lightly edited for clarity.

How did you decide to write about the Squirrel Hill shooting? Do you know people who live there?

My father grew up in Squirrel Hill and was a fifth-generation Pittsburgh resident. His great-great-grandfather helped purchase the land for the first Jewish burial ground in Pittsburgh. I still have aunts there. So the place is very special to me.

When did you first go to Squirrel Hill after the shooting, and with whom did you speak?

I first went a few weeks after the shooting, and I started with a couple of local Jews whose names I had gotten from friends.

From there, I just asked for recommendations – I ended every interview by saying, “Whom should I talk to next?” And it went from there. I was curious how the shooting affected the whole neighborhood.

How did you gather information about the effects of the shooting on the neighborhood and over what period of time? How many trips did you make there?

I made 32 trips over a year and a half, right up to the onset of COVID. And I talked to about 250 people – everyone from rabbis to police officers to caterers. I spoke with anyone who might have been impacted in any way.

What do you see as the national implications, both for dealing with antisemitism at large and for focusing on Jewish security in particular?

I think we have no idea what security practices work, and we are probably making lots of mistakes – which I can discuss.

In terms of national implications, I am more concerned about implications for the Jews – the most meaningful response to Jewish suffering is Jewish joy. We have to have more Shabbat dinners, we have to go to shul more, we have to have more Purim parties, we have to study Jewish texts. We must keep “Jewing it.”

Mark Oppenheimer

THE DETAILS The “Spring Book Discussion with Author Mark Oppenheimer” will be held on Sunday, June 11, 4-5:30 p.m., at Temple Emanu-El, 99 Taft Ave., Providence. To register and for the Zoom link, go to teprov.org/library.

The event is sponsored by the Rosen Library Committee at Temple Emanu-El, and there is no charge to attend. The first 25 people to register

will receive a free copy of Oppenheimer’s book prior to the program, so they will have time to read it. The program will include book signings by the author.

For more information, contact Donna Marks, Rosen Library Committee co-chair at Temple Emanu-El, at dpmarks1@yahoo.com.

ARLENE S. SIMON is a member of the Rosen Library Committee at Temple Emanu-El, in Providence.

Women work to engage, lead and inspire PROVIDENCE – On Thursday, May 11, the Women's Alliance welcomed Meg Waite Clayton, bestselling author of “The Postmistress of Paris,” for a women's exclusive evening at the Alliance’s Dwares Jewish Community Center. This was the group’s first in-person event since reemerging from COVID. Women's Alliance Chair Janet Goldman kicked off the event with a warm welcome to nearly 50 guests, and Hilary Levey Friedman, Brown University professor, sociologist and afterschool expert, served as the interviewer and emcee. Waite Clayton was candid on how she creates her characters and adds per-

Hilary Levey Friedman interviews Meg Waite Clayton. sonal touches to her writing.

A Lions of Judah cocktail party took place ahead of the author conversation and a just-desserts Meet & Greet

followed.

The Women's Alliance looks forward to a range of programs and events in the coming months. To be a part

Meg Waite Clayton signs Sally Chorney's book. of the Women's Alliance or to learn more about its vision, please contact Chief Relations Officer Jennifer Zwirn:

jzwirn@jewishallianceri.org.

Submitted by Women’s Alliance

22 | JUNE 2023

Jewish Rhode Island | jewishrhody.org

COMMUNITY

Sisterhood’s project brings warmth, comfort to children in need

E

AST GREENWICH – Members of Temple Torat Yisrael’s Sisterhood met on a recent Sunday to make a difference in the lives of

Rhode Island children in crisis.

TO SUPPORT PROJECT LINUS, a volunteer, nonprofit national organization, members hosted a Project Linus Mitzvah Day and made fleece blankets to provide security, comfort, warmth and love to children in traumatic situations.

The women began the project with store-bought pieces of cloth, which they altered by hand, either with crocheted edges, sewn-on appliques or tied fringes. Martha Sholes, coordinator of the Rhode Island chapter of Project Linus, along with her assis-

tant, Harriet Wasser, demonstrated how to properly cut and tie the fleece.

Fourteen women, including a mother/daughter pair, spent the morning socializing and working hard to finish their blankets so Sholes could take them with her. She donates at least 125 blankets every couple of weeks to the Hasbro Children’s Hospital, in Providence, other hospitals, children in foster care and the Crossroads Rhode Island homeless shelters in Providence.

Members also generously

donated fabric, batting and yarn.

At one point, Sholes was invited to give an impromptu lesson on her project to the whole Cohen Religious School, as many of the students were curious about the activity and attracted to the multicolored fabrics and notions.

To become a “blanketeer” and make a difference in a child’s life, contact Sholes at esholes@aol.com.

If you are interested in joining the Sisterhood at Torat Yisrael, email TTYSisterhood@ gmail.com. You do not need to be a member of Temple Torat Yisrael to join the Sisterhood, which does activities monthly.

Submitted by Leah Ross-Coke, a member of the Torat Yisrael Sisterhood.

Project Linus Mitzvah Day participants display some of their quilts.

JFF receives RI Foundation award

BY CLAIRE UZIEL AT ITS ANNUAL MEETING on May 17, the Rhode Island Foundation (RIF) presented the Carter Inspiring Partner Award to the Jewish Federation Foundation (JFF) for its support of the Jewish Alliance of Greater Rhode Island. This award is given to donors who practice a thoughtful commitment to philanthropy.

JFF oversees the Alliance’s endowment, so in a sense, it is the Alliance’s largest donor. As such, it enables the

Alliance to enhance and strengthen the Jewish and greater community.

In 2018, JFF and RIF created a partnership benefiting both organizations.

This relationship is only possible because of shared values and aspirations for the community.

Alliance President & CEO Adam Greenman accepted the award in front of 800-900 meeting attendees, many of whom were likely learning about JFF and the Alliance for the first time. He reflected, “The Rhode Island Foundation’s work on behalf of all people

in our state is second to none. To be recognized by them as an inspiring partner is a recognition of our efforts not just to create a vibrant, thriving Jewish community, but vibrant, thriving Rhode Island for all.”

To watch the video RIF created and screened at the event, visit vimeo. com/828381427.

CLAIRE UZIEL (cuziel@jewishallianceri. org) is Endowment/Campaign Operations Manager at the Jewish Alliance of Greater Rhode Island.

Teens propel a trend toward gender-neutral mitzvah ceremonies CONTINUED FROM PAGE 19 ceremonies. “Celebrating the Age of Mitzvah: A Guide for all Genders” includes information from what to call the ceremony to what the dress code should be, all aimed at helping communities create inclusive and meaningful traditions.

The need for the resources came from synagogues and young congregants, said Jackie Maris, the Chicago education and training manager for the organization.

“It’s not just Jewish boys and girls becoming Jewish men and women, it’s Jewish kids of all gender identities becoming Jewish adults,” said

Maris. “Having a tool that helps guide everyone through that process, with gender-expansive language and rituals that include folks beyond the binary, is very needed.”

Keshet recently updated the resources. “Adjusting practices to make them more inclusive is what has always been done in Jewish tradition,” said Maris. “Even ancient practices and rituals have evolved over time, and because they are human constructed, we continue to humanly evolve them.”

However, a number of communities still mainly offer gendered ceremonies. Orthodox synagogues and others that are non-egalitarian have

not made widespread shifts toward gender-neutral ceremonies.

Despite the strict gender separation in Orthodoxy, there is also a growing push for inclusion of LGBTQ+ individuals in these spaces.

Organizations like Eshel, a nonprofit based in the United States and Canada, work to provide LGBTQ+ Orthodox Jews and their families with resources for living and thriving in Orthodox Jewish spaces. Other organizations are targeted specifically at teens, such as Jewish Queer Youth, which engages queer youth from Orthodox, Hasidic and traditionalist Sephardi/ Mizrahi communities.

“LGBTQ youth who live in a community that is accepting of LGBTQ people reported significantly lower rates of attempting suicide than those who do not,” reports The Trevor Project.

For both Brave and Marx, their communities, families and friends were largely supportive of their decision to have non-gendered ceremonies. “It definitely felt like the community showed me a lot of love to be able to do that,” Marx said. “I was really able to be myself.”

By expanding inclusion, Jewish institutions are expanding their reach and impact, as well as creating more engaging communi-

ties. “I don’t think that God creates in vain. And so, while there’s a lot of people that are still learning, including myself, about issues relating to gender and identity, our role as a sacred space and a Jewish community is to have an open tent where folks can enter in any doorway they want, because there are no doors,” said Rabbi Greene of Har Hashem.

Brave said that their ceremony made them feel fully included in their synagogue.

“It felt good to officially be a part of a community that I can’t really get taken away from,” they said.

JUNE 2023 | 23

jewishrhody.org | Jewish Rhode Island

COMMUNITY

R.I.’s Israeli emissary to discuss growing up gay and religious in Israel

BY LARRY KATZ ELIHAY SKITAL WILL SHARE his journey from religious gay man in Israel to acceptance and freedom, on Wednesday evening, June 7.

As Pride Month begins, Skital, the Israeli shaliach (emissary) to Rhode Island’s Jewish community, will share his personal journey, which started as an internal conflict and included conversion therapy. He will talk about the difficulties, his internal struggle with God,

the struggle with himself and then the struggle with his close-knit family.

Skital grew up in a religious family in Ashkelon, along the southern Mediterranean coast of Israel. He will discuss the difficulty and constant struggle to reconcile his own identity as a gay man with the expectations and norms of the community he grew up in. He will also touch on the religious LGBTQ community and organizations in Israel that helped him, and many others, achieve acceptance and freedom.

Skital, 23, was a leader in the Israeli section of HaZamir, the international Jewish high school choir, which brought him to the U.S. for annual performances.

He was also active in an organization for religious and formerly religious gay people in Israel.

In the Israeli army, Skital was a psychotechnic interviewer, helping to decide if army candidates should become combat soldiers or serve in other areas. During that time, he established a chapter of Havruta, a religious gay organization in Haifa.

As a shaliach in Rhode Island, Skital has been working for the Jewish Alliance of Greater Rhode Island, serving synagogues and a day school, meeting with college students (particularly at the University of Rhode Island Hillel), and presenting programs at the Alliance’s Dwares Jewish Community Center, in Providence. He is available for groups that are interested in learning about Israel, such as schools, college classes and Jewish organizations.

In a departure from the regular second Wednesday programs of the Israeli Culture Series, this last program of the season will take place on the first Wednesday of the month, June 7, at 7 p.m., in person at the Dwares JCC, 401 Elmgrove Ave., Providence.

To register for the free program, go to www.jewishallianceri.org/events/ics-june.

For more information, email Skital at eskital@jewishallianceri.org.

LARRY KATZ (lkatz@ jewishallianceri.org) is the director of Jewish life and learning at the Jewish Alliance of Greater Rhode Island.

Osmundson Photography

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

JULY 11

NEWPORT CLASSICAL DAY

The day will include a morning talk and an evening concert by world-renowned Israeli cellist Amit Peled.

Attendees will also have the opportunity to break for lunch, take a tour of Touro Synagogue, and enjoy post-concert cocktails and appetizers.

EVENT INFO AND REGISTRATION ONLINE

JewishAllianceRI.org/events/newport AMIT PELED is praised by The Strad magazine and The New York Times as one of the most exciting and virtuosic instrumentalists on the concert stage today.

24 | JUNE 2023

Jewish Rhode Island | jewishrhody.org

COMMUNITY

Jews of Woonsocket exhibit opens at Museum of Work & Culture B’nai Israel are projected on a wall, with an emphasis on the stained-glass windows.

OONSOCKET – You can spell the Hebrew “Curating the exhibit has word “mishpakha” several ways in English, been really wonderful, and complicated in some ways,” but it always means the same thing: says Krieger. “I grew up in extended family, from the members of your household a different denomination and across the country, and I realized how much I have to second cousins and surrogate aunts. This is the in common with them [the theme of “Mishpakha: Jewish History of Woonsocket,” Jews of Woonsocket]. My Jewish identity connects me a new exhibit at the Museum of Work & Culture. to people all over the world. It made me feel more aware of “IT’S FAMILY, but it’s not just driving by Woonsocket’s how many ways there are to blood relations,” is how DebCongregation B’nai Israel. The be Jewish.” orah Krieger, the museum’s large, modernist synagogue The exhibit has already program coordinator and was designed by renowned sparked interest from syncurator of the exhibit, defines architect Samuel Glaser and agogues and schools across mishpakha. completed in 1962. Today, the the state, and the museum’s The exhibit explores the synagogue is in need of signifi- staff anticipates interest lives and legacy of Woonsockcant renovation, but its unique from locals as well, including et’s Jewish residents, who aesthetic and gorgeous feanon-Jewish patrons. left a remarkable footprint on tures, including magnificent For visitors unfamiliar with this Blackstone Valley mill stained-glass windows by the Jewish culture, Krieger has city. While Woonsocket is best Israel painter Avigdor Arikha, provided explanatory notes known for its French-speaking continue to impress visitors. and a glossary of basic terms. population, Jewish immiInspired by the shul, She also spearheaded the grants arrived as early as the Krieger spent the next year reprinting of the “Community 1860s and became movers and doing a deep dive into WoonCookbook,” which is on sale in shakers in the town’s factories socket’s Jewish past, including the museum’s shop. and business district. At the interviews with locals, books “Mishpakha: Jewish Hiscommunity’s height, as many and volumes of The Call, the tory of Woonsocket” continas 200 Jewish families, or city’s newspaper since 1892. ues through Aug. 26 at the nearly 1,000 Jews, lived in the “I love this kind of detective Museum of Work & Culture, 42 city. work,” Krieger says.

South Main St., Woonsocket.

Krieger was raised in a “Mishpakha” is her first For hours, ticket prices and Reform family in Los Angeles original show for the museum, more information, go to and came to Rhode Island and the fruits of her labors fill RIHS.org/locations/museto earn a master’s degree a room on the building’s secum-of-work-culture. in public humanities from ond floor, with archival photoBrown University. She has graphs, expositional plaques ROBERT ISENBERG (risenberg@ been the program coordinaand sacred artifacts. Visitors jewishallianceri.org) is the tor at the Museum of Work & can see B’nai Israel’s original multimedia producer for the Culture since 2021 and has charter, plus a first printing of Jewish Alliance of Greater spearheaded several traveling the “Community Cookbook,” Rhode Island and a writer for Smithsonian exhibits for the which was published in 1947 Jewish Rhode Island. museum. by the congregation’s sisterKrieger said she got the hood and includes hundreds of idea for the exhibit after traditional recipes. Images of

BY ROBERT ISENBERG

W

Deborah Krieger, top, holds a gragor from the exhibit. Above, some of the many items on display.

PHOTOS | ROBERT ISENBERG

gins, vodkas & liqueurs Kosher, organic & natural Fresh, farmed & foraged flavors Available statewide RI & MA rispirits.com

JUNE 2023 | 25

jewishrhody.org | Jewish Rhode Island

COMMUNITY

Holocaust Stamps Project exhibit opens June 11 in its new home

BY LARRY KESSLER THE HOLOCAUST STAMPS PROJECT, which collected 11 million stamps in memory of both Jewish and non-Jewish victims of the Holocaust, will go on display in its new home in Pennsylvania on June 11.

The postage stamps, which were collected from 2009 to 2017 by students at the Foxboro Regional Charter School, in Foxboro, Massachusetts, were moved to the American Philatelic Center, in Bellefonte, Pennsylvania, in November 2019. The center is a museum operated by the American Philatelic Society, a national stamp-collecting organization.

The Holocaust Stamps Project was the brainchild of the Foxboro school’s now-retired teacher Charlotte Sheer.

She got the idea in 2009, after her fifth-grade class read the best-selling children’s book “Number the Stars,” by Lois Lowry. The book tells the story of a Danish girl who helps smuggle Jewish families out of German-occupied

Denmark during World War II. The project soon took off, and donated stamps poured in from around the globe before the 11-millionth stamp was collected in the fall of 2017. Stamps were donated by people in 48 states, the District of Columbia and 29 countries.

Sheer, in a recent email interview, explained how and why Lowry’s book touched a nerve with her pupils.

“Fourteen years ago, my class was reading ‘Number the Stars,’ by Lois Lowry when I responded with my Jewish heart to a fifth-grade student who asked, ‘Why were Nazi soldiers so mean to the Jewish families?’ The question planted a seed for an activity that grew to become the nine-year-long Holocaust Stamps Project,” she said.

Sheer, who has stayed involved in the project despite her retirement, said she’s extremely pleased with the project’s permanent home.

“When the American Philatelic Society assumed

stewardship of the completed project four years ago, I was excited that the work, begun in my own classroom, had found the perfect public venue for its unique student-created materials to begin serving as universal teaching tools.

“Today, I couldn’t be more grateful for the teamwork at the American Philatelic Society that went into developing the Holocaust Stamps Project into a world-class museum exhibit of Holocaust remembrance.”

The exhibit has taken on added meaning in the wake of the dramatic rise in antisemitism in the United States. A recent report by the Anti-Defamation League said Massachusetts experienced a 41% rise in antisemitic incidents from 2021 to 2022, higher than increases in other New England states and the country. In 2022, the 204 antisemitic incidents reported in New England was a record high since the ADL began tracking such incidents in 1979, according to the report.

The spike in antisemitism recently prompted New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft to launch a $25 million “Stand Up to Jewish Hate” campaign through his Foundation to Combat Antisemitism. The campaign’s main thrust is to make the country aware that even though American Jews make up only 2.4% of the U.S.’s population, they’re now the victims of 55% of all hate crimes, Kraft has said.

Scott English, the philatelical society’s executive director, said the Holocaust Stamps Project exhibit is particularly important now because “a 2020 survey showed nearly two-thirds of millennials and Generation Z lacked basic knowledge of the Holocaust.”

In a news release, he said, “This exhibit brings to life the tragedy of the Holocaust using the voices and artifacts of the victims.

“We have a duty to connect the past to the future so that it never happens again.”

Susanna Mills, the exhibit’s

Collages created by the stamps collected as part of the Foxboro Regional Charter School’s Holocaust Stamps Project are part of the new exhibit at the American Philatelic Center in Bellefonte, Pa. coordinator, said the exhibit’s value lies in making history more accessible.

“A postcard mailed from a Poland ghetto might be the only surviving, tangible evidence of the life and death of a Jewish victim of the Nazi regime. To touch history like that makes it real,” she said.

“The American Philatelic Society is proud to safeguard and share those stories told by stamps and postal relics.”

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

‘Killer’ pastrami, and more on its way to R.I.

BY FRAN OSTENDORF JASON SUGARMAN has had the Rhode Island foodie community buzzing since last fall, when word spread that his new deli, Maven’s, was coming to Pawtucket.

As Maven’s posts began appearing on Instagram, the excitement built.

Then came interviews with Sugarman, newspaper articles, more social media.

So what is the latest on Maven’s?

Clearly, the promise of corned beef this spring has been delayed.

But it is coming.

Sugarman, who is wellknown in R.I. food circles, said in a recent interview that Maven’s Delicatessen faced a delay in getting into its Pawtucket space, at 727 East Ave. in Blackstone Place. (That plaza is home to the Feast & Fettle Neigh-

borhood Fridge, Wildflour Bakery & Cafe, Rasoi, Garden Grille and Antonio’s Pizza.)

He said construction is now underway, and a beer and wine license has been secured.

Sugarman estimates it will take 4½ to 5 months for building and another few weeks for training. So Maven’s should be making corned beef and pastrami sandwiches, along with other Jewish specialties, in the fall. In the meantime, they will be hiring, testing out recipes and doing a few public events.

“The best part is tasting,” Sugarman, said.

He said his team has been working on the pastrami for a long time, and has perfected it. He called both his corned beef and pastrami “killer.”

Maven’s is a passion project for Sugarman.

“I used to go to the deli

with my grandfather when we went to Florida,” he said, adding that those memories have stuck with him.

He said he found similar delis in Los Angeles, but not in Rhode Island.

“We need it here. People want it here,” he said.

Maven’s will feature a sandwich menu along with innovative entrees, hot dogs, hamburgers and breakfast all day. Breads, lox and assorted deli meats are among the foods that will be made from scratch.

Family recipes? Of course, Sugarman said. “We are using the noodle kugel recipe from my grandma.”

The menu won’t be kosher because there will be cheese and meat together. But it will be Jewish-infused, Sugarman said. And he hopes to have a Friday night dinner as part of the takeout menu.

Sugarman, a Rhode Island native, is a staple in the state’s food industry. He has worked with his father, Lloyd Sugarman, who became

the partner of the late Ronn Teitelbaum, founder of the Johnny Rockets chain.

Sugarman is a vice president of operations for 11 Johnny Rockets.

He also co-owns Pokeworks, on Thayer Street in Providence, and other locations in New England, and has been a franchisee of restaurants such as the Sugar Factory, which has a location at Foxwoods Resort Casino, in Connecticut.

Jaime D'Oliveira is his partner at Maven’s, as well as its executive chef. D’Oliveira opened Angels in 1988 and was a previous owner of Mills Tavern and Red Stripe.

Shannon Groshong is the head chef. She previously led the savory team at Seven Stars Bakery and has been running kitchens and creating menus since 2005.

Maven’s will seat about 100 people, with another 20 seats for quick service. Eventually, you’ll be able to grab a coffee and a bagel at the counter, eat there and go. There will

Jason Sugarman, above. Far left is a bagel with beet lox. be newspapers to browse and comic books for kids.

“My ultimate goal is to build a core store and build another smaller store elsewhere. We are trying to build it to grow. We are writing everything down. Recipes never used to be written down,” Sugarman said.

He added, “The deli is an ambassador to our culture at a time when we really need one.”

FRAN OSTENDORF (fostendorf@jewishallianceri. org) is the editor of Jewish Rhode Island.

26 | JUNE 2023

Jewish Rhode Island | jewishrhody.org

COMMUNITY

WAEF celebrates 30 years of philanthropy

BY CLAIRE UZIEL

WITH YOUR MEMBERSHIP YOU CAN: WORKOUT in our state-of-the-art

PLAY basketball or pickleball fitness center with our personal trainers. in our indoor courts.

SWIM laps in our heated pool or join one of our popular aquatics classes.

TRY Zumba, Yoga, Pilates, Spin or one of our many fitness classes.

ALL ARE WELCOME JewishAllianceRI.org 4 0 1 E L M G R O V E AV E N U E PROVIDENCE, RI

EVERY YEAR, members of the Women’s Alliance Endowment Fund meet to decide which grant proposals will be awarded a portion of the fund’s investment income.

But this year, when members gathered on May 3, they also celebrated the fund’s 30th anniversary.

The WAEF was established by the Business & Professional Women Affiliate of the Jewish Federation (which later combined with the Women’s Division to create today’s Women’s Alliance). The goal was to provide for the needs of Jewish women by supporting educational, inter-group relations, civic, cultural, health and social-service projects. Co-founders Selma Stanzler, Janet Zurier and Gloria Feibish were joined by charter members Cindy Feinstein, Susan Froelich, Elaine Hoffman, Barbara Levine, Susan H. Kaplan, Judy Mann, Sandy Messing, Jane Perel, Karen Rakitt and Ruth Sauber.

The founders were honored at the anniversary event, held at the Dwares Jewish Community Center in Providence. Chair Katherine (Kit) Haspel explained that Stanzler now lives in Chicago and Zurier recently passed away, so only Feibish was present. Haspel presented her with an award and said, “Your caring, dedication and thoughtfulness gave you the foresight to create a fund to help others – particularly women and children.

“You have led so many of us over the years to follow your example – such that we’ve built an endowment for needs in Rhode Island and throughout the world.

Thank you so much for your leadership in starting the WAEF. We are immensely grateful.”

Haspel said acknowledgment certificates were sent to Stanzler and to Zurier’s husband.

After lunch, attendees turned to the business of discussing grant applications.

When the fund was created, it was allowed to grow to $25,000 before grants were distributed. In 1997, one

grant of $1,976 was given to the Bureau of Jewish Education. This year, grants totaling $9,350 were awarded to the following programs: Local Jewish Collaborative Services – $600 for Havurah at Tamarisk.

Jewish Community Day School – $1,000 for Social-Emotional Learning Lunch Bunches Temple Sinai – $1,150 for “Stranger/Sister,” an evening for Jewish and Muslim women together Israel Beit Ruth Educational and Therapeutic Village – $1,500 for Outward Bound Supplemental Therapy ELI: Israel Association for Child Protection – $1,000 for Sex Education and Abuse Prevention for Girls Emunah Afula Children’s Center – $1,000 for Social Clowning Therapy Haifa Rape Crisis Center – $1,000 for Sexual Trauma Support Group for Women Jaffa Institute – $1,000 for Welfare to Wellbeing Neve Michael Children’s Village – $1,100 for Therapeutic Judo for At-Risk Children One hundred and fortythree women have joined the WAEF, each making a $1,000 contribution. The fund is invested with the Jewish Alliance of Greater Rhode Island’s endowment and relies on donations from new and existing members to increase the funds available to distribute each year.

Gifting a WAEF membership is a wonderful way to introduce adult children and grandchildren to community philanthropy. If you are interested in becoming a WAEF member or gifting a membership, contact Claire Uziel, WAEF endowment/campaign operations manager, at endowment@ jewishallianceri.org.

CLAIRE UZIEL is the endowment/campaign operations manager at the Jewish Alliance of Greater Rhode Island.

JUNE 2023 | 27

jewishrhody.org | Jewish Rhode Island

COMMUNITY

PHDS to honor pillars of community at annual program

BY RUCHAMA SZENDRO

T

he Providence Hebrew Day School has named Rabbi Shmuel and Mrs. Leeba Taitelbaum this year’s Amudim honorees. The Taitelbaums

will receive their award on June 14, when PHDS holds its 76th annual awards program.

THE COUPLE HAS BEEN associated with the Providence Hebrew Day School/New England Academy of Torah for over three decades.

Rabbi Taitelbaum arrived in Rhode Island as a student at the New England Rabbinical College. Mrs. Taitelbaum came from Louisville, Kentucky, to study at NEAT High School.

After their marriage, Rabbi Taitelbaum joined the faculty of PHDS/NEAT. He oversees the mikveh (ritual baths) and is a member of the Chevra Kadisha (Ritual Burial Society). He is an accomplished sofer (scribe) and mohel (circumciser), and is often consulted for

his expertise in matters of practical halakhah (Jewish law).

Mrs. Taitelbaum, a childcare professional, has been an officer on the PHDS/ NEAT board, and was an active member of the PTF and the Amudim committee for many years. In addition, as co-president of N’shei Chesed of RI, she arranges meals and offers support services for families in need and is heavily involved in running the local mikveh.

Rabbi and Mrs. Taitelbaum are being honored as amudim (pillars) of community service and chesed (altruism).

Rabbi Raphael Schochet

will receive the Rabbinic Leadership Award, in recognition of his 25-year tenure as rosh kollel of the Providence Community Kollel.

Rabbi Schochet arrived in Rhode Island with three young Kollel fellows, Rabbis Dovid Schwartz, Dovid Bielory and Jonathan Beck.

The Kollel’s programs are a boon to Rhode Island, and the young rabbis continued to serve even after graduating from the Kollel.

Rabbi Schochet’s wife, Tichyeh, of blessed memory, was a beloved teacher and principal at NEAT High School. When Rabbi Schochet remarried, his wife, Kayla, a mental-health professional, joined the school staff to supervise the counseling program.

Rabbi Schochet is a masterful teacher. His daily Daf Yomi and weekly Torah-and-cholent classes have inspired beginners and Torah scholars alike. The Kollel offers ongoing learning opportunities throughout Rhode Island.

The Providence Hebrew Day School honors Rabbi and Mrs. Schochet and thanks the Providence Community Kollel and its lay leadership for their continued support of the school.

Moshe and Elisheva Raskin of Providence are being honored with the Alumnus Award.

Moshe Raskin is a proud graduate of PHDS. After graduating from PHDS with distinction, Moshe attended yeshivot in Atlanta, Israel and Baltimore. Elisheva, who hails from Ottawa, Canada, spent two years in Israel, before earning a Doctor of Pharmacy degree at the University of Toronto.

The Raskins both grew up with strong role models of volunteerism and dedication to the Jewish community.

Moshe’s parents have served the Providence community in various roles for over 40 years. In Ottawa, Eli’s mother was instrumental in starting the Jewish day school and volunteers for her shul and the Chevra

Kadisha.

Following the example of their parents, Moshe and Eli combine work, caring for their young family and service to the community.

Moshe played a very active role during the recent PHDS Building Campaign. Without fanfare, both he and his wife devote time to Congregation Sha’arei Tefilla, in Providence, where he is vice president. Their modesty and loving attitude are a credit to their upbringing and schooling.

The awards program promises to be a unique and inspiring event. To attend or to make a contribution in honor of the awardees, go to causematch.com/amudim2023 or email pscheinerman@phdschool.org.

RUCHAMA SZENDRO lives in Providence and is a member of the planning committee for Providence Hebrew Day School’s annual awards program.

THE FOUNDATION FOR RHODE ISLAND DAY SCHOOLS 90% Corporate Tax Credits for Donations to Scholarship Organizations Rhode Island corporations may receive 90% state tax credits (plus Federal tax deductions) for donations that benefit low-income students. Since 2006, RI businesses may donate funds to organizations (Scholarship Granting Organizations—SGOs) that provide low-income students with tuition assistance grants to attend qualified nonpublic schools. The Foundation for Rhode Island Day Schools is the SGO that has been established to enable corporations to support Jewish day schools in Rhode Island. · Participation in this program is highly competitive, so applications are accepted on a “first come, first served” basis and are subject to a drawing. · Applications must be received by the State no earlier than July 1. Applications prepared in June are usually held by this SGO for submission on July 1. Those received or postmarked after this date will probably NOT arrive on time and be deemed ineligible by the Division of Taxation. · Qualifying businesses are: C-Corps, S-Corps, LLCs, and LLPs. For more information, please contact Lawrence Katz at lkatz@jewishallianceri.org or 401.421.4111 ext. 179, or visit Rhode Island Division of Taxation: http://www.tax.ri.gov/Credits/index.php.

401 Elmgrove Avenue Providence, RI 02906 | Phone 401.421.4111 Fax 401.331.7961

28 | JUNE 2023

Jewish Rhode Island | jewishrhody.org

COMMUNITY

Book review: ‘Thistlefoot’: A modern fantasy that explores the past

BY SARAH GREENLEAF

B

aba Yaga lives in the woods. Baba Yaga has a house

with chicken’s feet. Baba Yaga is a mother, a Jew, a crone and a witch, and she eats children, or she saves children – it really all depends on whom you ask.

WHEN FOLK TALES END, we rarely think about what happens next, but in “Thistlefoot” (Anchor Books, 2022),

by GennaRose Nethercott, we find out. When the story ends, it haunts you.

As “Thistlefoot” starts, Isaac and Bellatine Yaga are estranged siblings, a brother and sister who grew up on the road with their parents’ traveling puppet show. Isaac left to see more of the world, while Bellatine rooted herself in the woods of Vermont, attempting to create a quiet life. But both of their lives are upended when they receive a call and later a package about a house left to them by an ancestor. When they go to claim the house in a giant warehouse, they find it has chicken feet and responds only to Yiddish.

The world Nethercott creates in “Thistlefoot” is

almost identical to ours, except in the world of the book, houses can alter in fantastical ways. Homes grow gills to filter air during forest fires, or grow fins during floods – all manner of adaptive strategies to keep those inside its walls safe.

Since some people need to flee, Thistlefoot grew feet.

While this alters the world of the book from our own, aside from Thistlefoot, there are no other mystical homes in the story.

The author is a folklorist, which is apparent in the telling of the stories in the novel, including the central one, about the Yaga siblings. The narrative weaves between Bellatine, Isaac, Thistlefoot as a narrator, the story of the Fool, and more. It can be difficult at times to keep the thread of the present day with so many interruptions from the past. The siblings have this problem too. As one of the narrators says, “To let too many stories in – it will undo you. You could not bear it.”

While I enjoyed the interwoven stories and timelines, there wasn’t as much space dedicated to exploring the siblings’ relationship as I wanted. Isaac and Bellatine are getting reacquainted, but they never develop a rapport.

Sometimes the magic of the world overtakes the heart of the matter – that the stories we tell and the stories we

hide impact our relationship with one another.

The book uses stories well in the macro sense, with the larger plot moving through the pages focused on inherited trauma, a sort of psychic stain on the people and places impacted by atrocities.

As Thistlefoot tells it: “Generations pass, and suddenly, we forget. Our descendants are born yearning and they do not know why, for they have forgotten ….The body remembers. The soured air remembers. We cannot forget. I cannot forget. And if I am to remember, so too, I vow, will you.”

The bigger stories, and the large-scale human cost of forgetting and being forgotten, are compellingly explored in the book. “All it takes is one survivor, and the story lives on. One survivor to carry the poems and the songs, the prayers, the sorrows. It isn’t just taking a life that destroys a people.

It’s taking their history.”

The smaller stories that people tell themselves are less rigorously explored, such as Bellatine’s story about her hands, Isaac’s stories about his travels and the people he’s lost, the stories they tell about one another – the brother who would not stay, the sister who would not accept her gifts. These stories are the ones I wanted most, the ones that wove

between the two siblings, the stories that could give their relationship more shape and complexity. Isaac and Bellatine are archetypes more often than siblings.

Over the course of the novel, mysteries are revealed, the reader is thrown through time and place, and one of the best narrators is a house.

Memory, in this book, is distinctly Jewish. Insistent, haunting, terrifying. What else could it be for a people so frequently displaced, hunted and tossed from their homes? As Bellatine says at one point, “Do you ever think about how there are people who just live regular day-to-day lives without being racked with existential dread? Like my friends back north. They wake up. They go to work. They watch TV. They aren’t in the past or the future, they’re like, right now. And they feel fine. Wild, right?”

To feel fine is not possible when the past is never past, when it is running after you, when it is embedded in your very bones.

The villains in this book are amorphous, like a nightmare half-remembered. The heroes are often vessels for ideas more often than people.

The most clearly drawn character is Thistlefoot itself, who not only functions as a character in the story, but a narrator as well. As the

house says, “Do not mistake Baba Yaga for the hero of my stories. She is not. She is not the villain, either. She is only a woman.”

We are all haunted by things from our past, from our lineage, from our choices, from our lack of choices. We are haunted by the day-to-day realities we face, by information overload, by the pandemic, by mass shootings, by our polarization, by the barrage of news.

“But what is a lie if not a story?” the book asks. “And ah, what power a story has when whispered into the ear of a man with a gun.” A story, it turns out, becomes a horror story when weapons are involved. In this book, sometimes those weapons are of this world, and sometimes the weapon is fear itself.

We too are neither the heroes nor the villains in our stories. We are not simply good or entirely evil.

To be the main characters, though, we must cease our running and begin our fight, make our stand, stake our claim. We must be people worth telling stories about.

in mind that it can be difficult for children to report incidents of hate because of the possibility of bullying. As Tuttle said, “The public needs to know where to go [that’s safe].”

Hate crimes can be reported to local police departments, the RI Attorney General’s office, the RI Commission on Prejudice and Bias, the RI Victim of Crime Helpline, the ADL and the Jewish Alliance of Greater Rhode Island as well as some community organizations.

The members of the local panels also made several suggestions of what people can do to reduce hate. Tuttle

said that reaching out after a hate crime will help us come together as a different community. Chhay said we need to show respect and be kind to each other. Taubman said we need to offer resources to those who need them. Rabbi Mack said we should celebrate our culture and differences.

“That’s the flipside of hate,” she said. “It can happen everywhere.”

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

Anti-hate summit calls for seeing the humanity in all people CONTINUED FROM PAGE 17 current state of anti-hate work and bias incidents in Rhode Island. The panelists included Channavy Chhay of the Center for Southeast Asians in Providence, Rabbi Sarah Mack of Temple Beth-El in Providence, Andy Taubman of Youth Pride RI, and Harrison Tuttle of BLM RI PAC, and was moderated

by Keith Hoffman of the Civil & Community Rights Unit in the Rhode Island Attorney General’s Office.

Key points from the panel discussions:

Hate is on the rise. The FBI’s latest statistics on hate

crimes in the U.S. put the number at more than 8,000, in 2022 the highest ever. Still, most of the panelists agreed that hate crimes in the U.S. are underreported, sometimes because victims are afraid to report.

Shakur pointed out that a hateful act doesn’t always qualify as a crime, leading to “a lot of disillusionment when people report to law enforcement and there is no crime.”

Increased white-extremist activity. Shakur calls these

groups “equal opportunity haters.” Their activity is up 96% in Rhode Island in the last year. She said these

groups are targeting New England.

Counter social isolation. Online groups give isolated people a sense of belonging, growing hate and terrorism. These online communities tell vulnerable people that their biases are right.

Education is critical. We need

to teach critical thinking and active listening. Kaleka said we need to educate people on how to spot good, credible information.

Relationship building is a big

factor in success.

Report hate through all the

available methods. But keep

FRAN OSTENDORF (fostendorf@jewishallianceri. org) is the editor of Jewish Rhode Island.

The Voice of Greater Rhode Island’s Jewish Community

JEWISH

WATCH REPAIR & SALES

EYEGLASSES

RHODE ISLAND

Business & Professional Directory APPLIANCES ATTORNEYS

EST. 1979

WE CARRY THE BEST BRANDS SUCH AS • Subzero

• GE

• Electrolux

• Wolf

• Whirlpool

• Verona

• Thermador

• Maytag

• And many more!

• Bosch

• Frigidaire

HOME IMPROVEMENTS REAL ESTATE

izschwartzappliance.com

CPA

WHEN WOODROW WILSON WAS PRESIDENT, 25¢ COULD BUY A GALLON OF GAS, AND A ‘TWEET’ WAS A BIRD TALKING

WE’VE BEEN HERE SINCE 1 9 1 9 1 73 W I C K E N D E N PV D

f 4 01 /4 2 1 - 5 1 57 www. a d l e r s r i .co m INSURANCE

THERAPY ROCHELLE ELLEN ZIEGLER REALTOR® | Licensed in RI, MA & CT

401.474.0735

Rochelle.Ziegler@NEMoves.com

1000 Division Street, Suite 15 East Greenwich, RI 02818

30 | JUNE 2023

Jewish Rhode Island | jewishrhody.org

OBITUARIES Dr. Stanley Barnett, 87

WAKEFIELD, R.I. – Stanley Marvin Barnett passed away on March 16, 2023, at the Roberts Health Center in North Kingstown. He was the beloved husband of the late Judith (Brodkin) Barnett.

Born and raised in New York City, New York, he was a son of the late Max and Esther (Braunstein) Barnett.

He attended Stuyvesant High School, and it was here that he really strived for the academic success that gave him the opportunity to attend Columbia University, where he received his undergraduate degree. During that time, he met the love of his life, Judy, who was a student at Barnard. Together, they moved to Philadelphia and

Stanley was able to receive a Ph.D. from the University of Pennsylvania. Stanley and Judy began working at the University of Rhode Island as professors, so they moved to Wakefield and remained there for over 37 years.

Stanley spent a lot of time travelling the world and enjoyed working with underdeveloped countries to reverse the effects of pollution. This inspired him in Rhode Island where he started the University of Rhode Island Center for Pollution Prevention with his graduate students at URI. He was for gender equity in STEM positions, and he often pushed his female students toward higher callings and inspired them to push the

envelope. He was a professor in chemical engineering at URI, retiring in 2007. During his time as a professor, Stanley made sure to leave a lasting impression on his students, both local and foreign. He often invited and hosted graduate students, or students from afar who could not return home, to celebrate holidays like Thanksgiving with his family. These students often became lifelong friends to Stanley, Judith and their son Nat. He is survived by many people who loved and respected him over the years, as a father, brother, grandfather, uncle, mentor and friend. He was a devoted father of Nathaniel “Nat” Barnett and father-in law of Alexandra “Lexi” Henshel, both of Wakefield; a dear brother of Sheila Padlipsky, of Pasadena, California; loving grandfather of Cordelia “Coco” Barnett, of Wakefield.

He was an uncle to many nieces, nephews, great-nieces, and great-nephews from the West Coast.

Contributions may be made to support cancer research and patient care at: Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, P.O. Box 849168, Boston, MA 02284 or via dana-farber.org/ gift; Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Development Office, 116 Huntington Ave., 3rd floor, Boston, MA ; Columbia University: Columbia Alumni Center, Attention: Gift Systems, 622 West 113th St., MC 4524, New York, NY 10025, or, Congregation Beth David, 102 Kingstown Road, Narragansett, RI 02882.

Dorothy Brier, 93

NEW YORK, N.Y. – Dorothy A. Brier died on May 12, 2023, at her home in New York City.

She was born and raised in Providence, the daughter of Benjamin and Florence (Genensky) Brier. Dorothy was predeceased by her siblings, Shirley B. Lewis and Milton I. Brier, and her stepsister, Phyllis R. Berry. She is survived by her sister-in-law, Zita G. Brier, and her many nieces, nephews, cousins and friends with whom she maintained a long and loving relationship.

Dorothy was a graduate of Radcliffe College and Smith College of Social Work. She spent her professional career as a social worker and retired in 1992 as the assistant director of social work at Lenox Hill Hospital.

Upon her retirement, Dorothy became an active volunteer, serving as a docent

for the Museum of Natural History and with the American Red Cross Greater New York Region. Dorothy was a pioneer in the field of disaster mental health and established such programs at the Red Cross. She was present at many disasters to provide support, including the 9/11 terror attack and US Airways Flight 1549 “Miracle on the Hudson,” which led to Dorothy’s playing a Red Cross volunteer in the movie “Sully.”

She also traveled on behalf of the Red Cross to aid victims of Hurricane Andrew in Florida and the Oklahoma City bombing. Dorothy received numerous awards and much recognition for her 30 years of professional volunteer service to the Red Cross.

Donations may be made to the American Red Cross Greater New York Region, Smith College of Social Work Class of 1954 Scholarship Fund or a charity of your choice.

Sheldon Kaplan, 82

WARWICK, R.I. – Sheldon D. Kaplan died May 12, 2023, at Trinity Health & Rehab in Woonsocket.

Born in Providence, a son of the late Benjamin and Bessie (Mazo) Kaplan, he had lived in Warwick for well over 50 years.

Sheldon received an undergraduate degree from Providence College and continued his education at the New York Medical College, as a member of the Alpha Omega Alpha Medical Honor Society, and he graduated in 1967.

He was appointed as a Chief Medical Resident for Rhode Island Hospital immediately following graduation, and afterwards, he served the Providence community as a dedicated physician for 43 years. He was a proud member of Temple Sinai for many years. He traveled as often as possible, making sure to see much of the world around him. Following his retirement, he focused his energies on the parts of life that really gave him joy. With the experience he gained as the past president of the Ocean State Orchid Society, he was able to plant and collect many beautiful orchids. His dedication to notably difficult tasks and hobbies was especially appreciated when he began his journey with saltwater reef aquariums.

Sheldon was a devoted brother to Jeffrey and his

wife, Muriel Kaplan, of North Kingstown, as well as Elyse and her husband, Jacob Goldenberg, of Exeter. He was a loving uncle to Brandon Kaplan, Scott Bianchi, Kevin Bianchi, Keith Bianchi and Sara Toso, and a cherished great-uncle of eight. Sheldon was also a dedicated friend of Jeremy Russell and Ruth Taunton for 25 years.

Contributions may be made to the Alzheimer’s Association of Rhode Island, 245 Waterman St. #306, Providence, RI 02906.

Ina Krasny, 88

ROCKVILLE, MD. – Ina Schuster Wynn Krasny (nee Grossman), of Rockville, Maryland, passed away on May 4, 2023. She is survived by her loving children, Steven Schuster (El Murphy), Renee (Steven) Voyta and Susan (Peter) Fish; and grandchildren, Jeremy (Leah) Mallison, Benjamin Fish, Joey Voyta, Jonnie Voyta and Alex Grace. She was predeceased by her beloved husbands, Joseph Schuster, Sonny Wynn and Carl Krasny; sister, Lee Cherniack; and parents, Saul and Jeannette Grossman.

Contributions may be sent to Parkinson’s Foundation, online at parkinson.org, or Lucky Dog Animal Rescue, online at luckydoganimalrescue.org.

Julius Levine, 94

CRANSTON, R.I. – Julius Levine was born Sept. 21, 1928, to Morris and Celia (Weingrowitz) Levine in Brooklyn, New York, and died May 15, 2023. He was the beloved husband of the late Marilyn (Friedlander) Levine; they were happily married for 69 years.

Julius attended and graduated from the Adjutant General’s School, in Fort Benjamin Harrison, Indiana. In 1949, he received a bachelor’s in business administration from Bryant College. Julius was an office manager for the Artcraft Metal Co., Fall River, Massachusetts. During the 1950s, he was a chief warrant officer in the Army Reserve and later became a second lieutenant in the Massachusetts National Guard.

Later, he received a master’s degree in engineering from the University of Massachusetts. Following his honorable discharge, he was employed with the Boeing Company’s aerospace division in Seattle, Washington, to work with their advanced ballistic mis-

JUNE 2023 | 31

jewishrhody.org | Jewish Rhode Island

OBITUARIES sile systems. He later joined the Colfax Company, based in Pawtucket, as their vice president of manufacturing.

Julius proudly served there for 33 years until his retirement in 1996.

He was the devoted father of Leslie Levine, of Warwick; Dianne Gens and her husband, Barry, of Newton, Massachusetts; and Andrea Couch and her husband, Deryl, of Hilton Head Island, South Carolina. He was the loving grandfather of Matthew Gens, Robert Gens, Jason Gens, Savannah Couch, Sydney Couch and Brooke Honer. He was the cherished great-grandfather of Lily and Julia. He is also survived by nieces and nephews. He was predeceased by his sisters, June Heiser-Shub, Irene Weiner and Lila Matlin.

Contributions in his memory may be made to Insight, 43 Jefferson Blvd., Ste. 1, Warwick, RI 02888 or Chabad of West Bay, 3871 Post Road, Warwick, RI 02886.

Leonore Sones

PROVIDENCE, R.I. – Leonore Sones, also known as Mom or Savta, peacefully passed away early in the morning on May 3, 2023, surrounded by family. She was a beloved,

integral part of every community she touched, especially the Providence Jewish community. She was the cherished wife of 61 beautiful years to Cedric Sones.

Born in Brooklyn, New York, to George and Rose Wapnick, Lee was a light in this world from the moment she entered it. She is not remembered through her passing, but rather through the love and amelioration she brought to this Earth.

A learned and academic woman, Leonore received two master’s degrees, in education and Jewish history.

She inspired people through her work as an educational director at Temple Sinai, in Cranston, and was a vibrant community member at Temple Emanu-El, in Providence.

She was passionate about advocating for women in education and Jewish representation in the media. (If you ever see a menorah in the mall, thank Lee!) Her smile was contagious, and her positive attitude uplifted any room she entered. If you are to learn one thing from your relationship with Leonore, let it be to always approach people with positivity, warmth and grace.

Her memory lives on through her children, Allison Sones (wife, Lana Cook) and Emily Sones, and her grand-

JEWISH

children, Jared Weiner and his wife, Meaghan; Jordyn Weiner and Arianna Weiner.

Leonore valued family over everything.

Donations may be made to Temple Emanu-El, 99 Taft Ave., Providence, RI 02906; Sandra Bornstein Holocaust Education Center, 401 Elmgrove Ave., Providence, RI 02906; or Hadassah Women’s Zionist Organization of America (https://www. hadassah.org/donate).

Michael Stillman, 74

PROVIDENCE, R.I. – Michael Berry Stillman died on May 9, 2023, at the HopeHealth Hulitar Hospice Center, in Providence. Born in and a longtime resident of Providence, he was the son of the late Oscar Stillman and Ruth L. (Berry) Stillman Kaufman.

Michael was a jack-of-alltrades who was especially devoted to music.

Michael is survived by his cousins, Maurisa Berry Goldberg, of Cranston, and Joan Berry, of Redwood City, California.

Donation may be made to the HopeHealth Hulitar Hospice Center, 1085 N. Main St., Providence, RI 02904 or to Temple Beth-El, 70 Orchard Ave., Providence, RI 02906 (Rabbi Mack’s Discretionary Fund).

RHODE ISLAND's

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

This Month in

History

A Show for the Ages IN 1936, Providence hosted one of its many Zionist Conventions. What better way to celebrate the occasion than with a concert? And as long as you’re throwing a concert, why not invite a mime, singer and dancer to perform? This brief article reveals so much about a bygone era: Madame Sarah Osnath-Halevy was a guest from the nation known at the time as “Mandatory Palestine” and Newspaper courtesy Rhode Island Jewish Historical Association

so is identified as Palestinian.

Her multi-skilled performance recalls Vaudeville variety shows, which had recently been outmoded by talking pictures. The Metropolitan Theatre was only four years old when Osnath-Halevy graced its stage, but it was eventually torn down in 1961.

The site is now Beneficent House, a high-rise apartment complex in downtown Providence.

Building our future; honoring our past Jewish Rhode Island is the only source for Jewish community news in Rhode Island and southeastern Massachusetts. To continue to provide a vibrant window to everything Jewish in our area, we need your help. Our annual Patron Campaign is now underway. Your donation, large or small, helps us bring you our monthly publication, newsletter and our website.

Patron Campaign 2023 Jewish Rhode Island 2023 Patron Campaign To make a gift by check, fill out the information Jewish Rhode Island below and return it, with an enclosed check, to: 401 Elmgrove Ave. Providence, RI 02906 $18

$36

$54

$72

$100

$250

$500

$1,000

Other $

Donor names will be published in an upcoming issue unless you previously indicated otherwise or do so here:

 Please do not list my name.

To keep your data secure, we no longer accept credit card information by mail.

To make a gift by credit card, please visit JewishRhody.com and click the DONATE box at the top of the page, or call 401.421.4111 ext. 165.

Name Street City/State/Zip Phone

Email

 Check enclosed (please make payable to Jewish Rhode Island)