June 2024

JUNE 2024 | SIVAN 5784

JEWISHRHODY.ORG

Dancing in the street Culture Fest a day to remember Mouthwatering dairy recipes for Shavuot

Elihay Skital reflects on 2 years in Rhode Island

Hadassah’s Books on the Beach is back

2 | JUNE 2024

Jewish Rhode Island | jewishrhody.org

SERVING ALL IN RHODE ISLAND At JCS, we pride ourselves on leaving no one behind. If we don’t have the services you need, we will still help you find someone who does.

Call us at (401) 331-1244.

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ADVENTURE AND EXPLORATION AWAIT

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

Driver should not assume that these systems will correct errors of judgment in driving. Do not use Land Rover InControl® or Pivi Pro features under conditions that will affect your safety or the safety of others. Driving while distracted can result in loss of vehicle control. Land Rover InControl has a number of purchasing options available. As we systematically roll out the Land Rover InControl suite of products, specific features, options, and availability remain market dependent. Certain Pivi Pro features use an embedded SIM card and may require a data plan with separate terms and conditions and an additional subscription after an initial term. Mobile connectivity cannot be guaranteed in all locations. The Land Rover InControl AppsTM and Land Rover RemoteTM smartphone apps will work with AndroidTM devices from version 4.1 and Apple® devices from iOS 7.0 and must be downloaded from the Apple App Store or Google Play Store. Please see your local authorized Land Rover Retailer for more details, visit LANDROVERUSA.COM or call 1-800-FIND-4WD / 1-800-346-3493. © 2024 Jaguar Land Rover North America, LLC.

JUNE 2024 | 3

jewishrhody.org | Jewish Rhode Island

JEWISH RHODE ISL AND

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

VOLUME XXXI, ISSUE VII JEWISH RHODE ISLAND

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

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

PUBLISHER

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

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

Rhode Island Press Association.

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

ADVERTISING: We do not accept adver-

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

ON THE COVER: Dancing to the music of RAZA at the Jewish Culture Fest June 2 are Rachel Rockwell, of Bridgeport, Connecticut, her son Aorth Rockwell, right, of Cambridge, Massachusetts, and Ariel Wyner, of Cambridge. The two men are members of Jacob’s Ladder, a band that played before RAZA. PHOTO | GLENN OSMUNDSON

Change is in the air JUNE ALWAYS SEEMS like a month of transitions to me.

There are school graduations and moving up a level in a sports league. Organizations hold their annual meetings.

Your son or daughter or grandchild marks a milestone at school? Transitions!

Volunteers receive a year-end award? Synagogues elect a new board? Transitions!

Even gardens are in transition. Last month, I mentioned pollen allergies, and many of you told me that you identified with that. Now, we’ve moved from flowering trees to blooming grasses and new bushes. That sweet smell in the air and the yellow dust covering the car signals that the sneezing and wheezing goes on.

But there is good news, too. The flowers are coming out, and birds and butterflies are back. Those signal an important transition to the warm weather that is here to stay.

The first sign of this transition is seeing garden centers packed with both plants and plant lovers. Then, the pots on our decks at home start filling with beautiful flowers.

My husband has taken on the planting duties, and he does a beautiful job. His planting efforts are a transition I look forward to each year.

It started a dozen years ago, when vacations weren’t in our budget, so he set out to make our

outdoor spaces more inviting and relaxing. He’s adding swaths of perennials to parts of the yard that will pop up each year on their own. His expanding gardens will be lovely year after year.

Even the newspaper embraces transitions at this time of year. This month, we bring you photos of the Jewish Community Day School of Rhode Island’s annual Zimryah (song fest).

Next month, we’ll have the graduation ceremonies for Providence Hebrew Day School and the New England Academy of Torah. We will also have photos from area camps, including Camp JORI, as youngsters make their favorite transition: from school to the joys of summer.

Remember to check Jewish Rhode Island’s website, www.jewishrhody.com, and to sign up for our midmonth newsletter to keep up with everything that is happening!

And please send us your transition photos! Going on a trip? Take us along and send a photo for “We are Read.”

Have a simcha? Planting a new garden? Send us those photos, too. We will share them online or in the paper.

Send those photos to editor@jewishallianceri.org.

Transitions are a part of life that keeps us going.

Embrace the transitions.

Fran Ostendorf, Editor

Become part of Jewish Rhode Island Our Jewish community needs your help

bringing news, people and events to life on the pages of Jewish Rhode Island.

If you’ve worked in media or marketing; want to have a chance for a byline of your own; love writing and storytelling; love meeting people and exploring new things, we’re looking for a couple of freelance writers to help cover our diverse community – from Woonsocket to Westerly.

We’re looking forward to hearing from you.

Please send a resume or a description of your background and links to something you’ve written to Fran Ostendorf, editor, Jewish Rhode Island: editor@jewishallianceri.org.

D'VAR TORAH 5 | CALENDAR 6 | COMMUNITY VOICES 8 | OPINION 12 | FOOD 14 JEWISH CULTURE FEST 16 | COMMUNITY 18 | BUSINESS 28 | OBITUARIES 29

The Voice of Greater Rhode Island’s Jewish Community

JEWISH RHODE ISLAND

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.

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

4 | JUNE 2024

Jewish Rhode Island | jewishrhody.org

UP FRONT Jason Sugarman turns his Jewish deli dream into Maven’s

BY ROBERT ISENBERG

A

peppy pink sign beckons from the far end of the Blackstone Place parking lot, in Pawtucket: At long last, Maven’s Delicatessen is here.

THE GLINTING glass doors of the “Authentic Jewish Deli” open every day at 8 a.m. Spindles of bagels jut out from a wall. Blown-up vintage photos hang above the booths. A sign advertises “Mahjong Mondays.”

A quote from the writer Damon Runyon is prominently stenciled across the dining room: “There are two types of people in the world, those who love delis and those you shouldn’t associate with.”

This is the place that Jason Sugarman, 42, had dreamed about for years.

“This is my passion,” says Sugarman, a serial entrepreneur who lives with his family in Cranston. “I love delis. I love the history of delis. Delis are embassies for our culture. I want to fully commit to it.”

Sugarman has a boyish face and thick-framed glasses. His conversational style is rapid-fire, jumping from one industry anecdote to another.

“I’ve always loved restaurants,” says Sugarman, whose father, Lloyd, is a prolific franchisee. “I grew up around people who made [restaurant] concepts. I used to sleep in the basement of [his parents’] restaurant when my parents were working.”

Sugarman was born in Rhode Island, but his family moved to Arizona when he was young, followed by stints across California.

When Lloyd Sugarman bought into the chain diner Johnny Rockets, he became close with the franchise’s founder, Ronn Teitelbaum.

“He was always over at our house,” remembers Sugarman. “He was like a brother to my dad. Thick as thieves. He always spent time with me and wanted me to learn a lot of stuff. He taught me that a good way to teach is to ask questions. He would always say, ‘You can learn from anybody.’ ” Sugarman already excelled in academics, and when the time came for college, he returned to his birth state to study at Bryant College (now Bryant University). His father’s business had expanded into New England, and Sugarman helped his father with the restaurants even while he majored in management and computer science, with a minor in psychology.

When Sugarman graduated in 2004, he started to work full time for his father, rising through the ranks for more than a decade.

Sugarman tried his hand at owning restaurants as well, including a small deli in a shopping mall and his own Johnny Rockets location. And when Lloyd invested in Pokéworks, a franchise specializing in Hawaiian poké, Sugarman wanted to get into the action as well.

Lloyd opened Pokéworks locations in Somerville and Cambridge, Massachusetts. Jason opened his first Pokéworks restaurant on Thayer Street in Providence in 2018. Soon, Jason had four Pokéworks across New England.

Lloyd Sugarman never expected his son to follow in his footsteps, yet Jason has embraced the same industry, and succeeded as a businessman.

For years, he imagined a deli like Maven’s, describing his dream to anyone who would listen.

Maven’s is a labor of love that transcends established branding. This place is personal. “[My family was] never deeply rooted in our religion,” says Sugarman, who now attends Temple Beth-El, in Providence, with his wife and two children, Ari and Jacqueline. “We went to temple when I was younger. But every time we moved, it was like, ‘OK, we’ll join a temple later.’

“I always went to JCC [Jewish Community Center] camp when I was younger, and I always loved it. I wanted my cultural roots. I want to grow something that makes a difference for me and the community, and that’s kind of cool.”

Maven’s was also a chance for Jason to collaborate with his wife, Lauren, also 42. The couple was introduced in 2006.

“We met in true Rhode Island fashion, on a blind date arranged by friends,” Lauren quips. They’ve been married for 15 years.

Lauren is a graduate of the Rhode island School of Design and a freelance graphic designer. Her handiwork is everywhere at Maven’s: She created the menu, T-shirts and wall displays.

But she doesn’t hang around the

Jason Sugarman restaurant. “Jason would fire me,” she jokes.

The hype around Maven’s reached a fever-pitch long before Maven’s opened, on Dec. 3. Throughout 2023, Providence residents chattered excitedly about the new deli that was rumored to open any month now. Many delis had closed in Rhode Island in recent years, so there were high expectations for Maven’s.

“I know we had a hard opening,” Sugarman concedes.

His chef suffered a broken arm, and staff required extra training, delaying the opening. Sugarman takes pride in Maven’s “scratch kitchen,” but it placed heavy demands on new employees.

When the Boston Globe asked him when Maven’s would open, Sugarman offered a date that seemed far in the future – but caught up with him quickly. The grand opening was pushed back, stoking anticipation.

By the time Maven’s did open, Sugarman was startled to see the hundreds of customers lined up outside. Some hopefuls waited all day

and never stepped inside the door.

Now that Maven’s is in full swing, the deli seems like it was always there. A steady stream of customers comes through the door, and soon they will be treated to an expanding menu of salads and vegetarian options.

The wait is over, and Maven’s welcomes customers every day with its “Jewish” sign: “Est. 5783.”

“We wanted people to be excited about it,” Sugarman says of the opening. “But anyone who builds a restaurant, delays. It’s super common.”

He adds, “It’s a challenge, but it’s worth doing, in my mind.”

Maven’s Delicatessen, 727 East Ave., Pawtucket, is open seven days a week, 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. (9 p.m. on Fridays and Saturdays). https://www. mavensdeli.com, 401-205-8560.

ROBERT ISENBERG is a freelance writer and multimedia producer based in Cranston. His latest book, “Mile Markers: Essays on Cycling,” was published this spring.

JUNE 2024 | 5

jewishrhody.org | Jewish Rhode Island

Shavuot, the Torah and the sound of silence

“O

n the first day of the second month, in the second year following the exodus from the Land of Mitzrayim, the Lord

spoke to Moshe in the wilderness of Sinai, in the Tent of Meeting, saying…” (Numbers 1:1)

AR

This is because we had not yet received the Laws of Kashrut pertaining to the proper eating of animals.

Today, on Shavuot, our meals consist of a blintz casserole, about 268 calories a serving, and cheesecake, about 400 calories. Thank God Shavuot comes once a year, but since it lasts one day in Israel and two here, no wonder the typical Israeli weighs less than we do!

On Shavuot, we read the Megillat Rut, or the Book of Ruth. It is the beautiful RABBI RICHARD story of a Moabite PERLMAN woman who chose to live her life as do the Jewish people. “Your people will be my people; your God will be my God.” There are other traditions that tie this festival to the learning of Torah. Many Jews will stay up all night studying on the first night of Shavuot. Many synagogues hold all-night study sessions called Tikkun Leil Shavuot.

This is based on a midrash that when B’nai Yisrael was ready to receive the Torah, they overslept, and Moshe had to go from tent to tent to

TO R A

JEWISH

RHODE ISLAND's

This Month in

History

H

D’ V

WE BEGIN reading the fourth book of the Torah, called Numbers in English and Bamidbar in Hebrew, which translates to “in the wilderness.”

Outside of Israel, this book is always read on the Sabbath before Shavuot, the festival of the giving of the Torah. The rabbis noted that the Torah was given in the wilderness so that no nation could claim ownership; the Torah is open to everybody.

Seven weeks from the exodus from Mitzrayim, B’nai Yisrael traveled to the foot of Har Sinai. There they received the Ten Statements or, as tradition teaches, the entire Torah.

Shavuot is called Z’man Matan Torateinu, the “time of the giving of the Torah.”

Soon, we will explore exactly what we received at Har Sinai.

Shavuot is not known for its obvious observances, as are other festivals; we dwell in booths on Sukkot and we eat matzah on Pesach. What is interesting is that Shavuot has developed its own observances, such as eating dairy.

wake them up. Most Reform congregations hold Confirmation services on Shavuot, honoring the teens who have continued their Jewish learning beyond B’nai Mitzvah.

The giving of the Torah is the central defining event in Jewish life, but really, what did we actually receive at Har Sinai?

The traditional opinion is that Moshe received two Torahs, the written Torah and the oral Torah. In fact, one rabbinic teaching even says that everything any student of Torah will say to his teacher in any generation was already given to Moshe at Har Sinai. This was not to be taken literally; what they meant is that all Torah teachings in every generation were contained in the Torah given to Moshe.

Personally, I like that, but I also like other answers to “What did God give B’nai Yisrael at Har Sinai?” Some say God gave only the first two of the Ten Statements there. These are the only two written in the first person: “I am the Lord your God” and “You shall have no other Gods before Me.” By the third Statement, it is Moshe, not God, who is speaking when he says, “Do not take the Lord’s name in vain.” This, we are taught, is because the people were much too frightened to understand God’s voice directly, so God asked Moshe to do the speaking.

Some say that God only gave the first word of the first Statement, “Anochi – I.”

After one word from God, the people were so frightened, God asked Moshe to finish the Ten Statements.

The Hasidim take this notion even further: God only spoke the first letter of the first word. They teach that it was not God who told Moshe to continue, it was B’nai Yisrael, who, in their fright, asked Moshe to continue.

The first letter of the first word is an aleph, a silent letter. B’nai Yisrael standing at Har Sinai could hear God’s voice in silence. In other words, “The Sound of Silence” was heard, even though it was thousands of years before those two Jewish boys, Simon and Garfunkel, sang their great song of the same name.

What happened on Shavuot? B’nai Yisrael gathered at Har Sinai and heard the true sound of silence. They had an overwhelming sense of God’s presence, but Moshe would speak the words of God. At Har Sinai, B’nai Yisrael knew that there are Godgiven commitments that make us Jews.

If Pasach is about freedom, Shavuot is about commitment.

Without commitment, there can be no true freedom. Oh, and of course, cheesecake.

So, let us break out the cheese blin-

tzes and the cheesecake, read Megillat Rut, study a bissel (little) Torah. Let us all make a commitment to celebrate one of the most important festivals in the Jewish cycle of festivals. And don’t worry, you’ll shed the calories the days after.

Shalom to all and Moadim l’Simcha, may you have a joyous festival.

RABBI RICHARD PERLMAN is the senior rabbi at Temple Ner Tamid, in Peabody, Massachusetts, and a chaplain in the Peabody Police Department and the Massachusetts State Police.

Candle lighting times June 2024

Greater Rhode Island June 7

7:58pm

June 11

8:01pm

June 12

9:14pm

June 14

8:02pm

June 21

8:04pm

June 28

8:04pm

Erev Shavuot Shavuot

This Day School in History PROVIDENCE HEBREW DAY SCHOOL is such a pillar of local Jewish life, it’s hard to believe that classes operated out of a building on Waterman Street for its first 15 years. The simple modernist complex on Elmgrove Avenue was dedicated on the morning of June 11, 1961. Beneath this invitation, the Herald also published a short letter from then-Israeli president Yitzhak Ben-Zvi, who wrote, “I have heard much that is praiseworthy about your excellent school… may it be God’s will that you prosper in your undertaking for the glory of Torah and may you be successful in

raising a generation of Jewish youth.” More recently, PHDS celebrated the completion of $2 million in renovations.

Newspaper courtesy Rhode Island Jewish Historical Association

6 | JUNE 2024

Jewish Rhode Island | jewishrhody.org

CALENDAR HIGHLIGHTS FOR COMPLETE MONTHLY LISTINGS, VISIT JEWISHRHODY.ORG

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

In-person (and on Zoom most Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays) programming from 11 a.m.-noon followed by lunch and discussion noon-1 p.m. Closed on 6/12 and 6/13 for Shavuot. Every Wednesday is chair yoga with Neal from 11-11:45 a.m. Seniors aged 60 and older as well as younger adults with a disability of all faiths and backgrounds are welcome. Suggested donation: $3 per lunch. 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, Tyler at tyler@jcsri.org or 401-4214111, ext. 107.

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.

Free. Information, projectshoresh. com.

Let’s Talk Hebrew! Mondays 6 p.m. Thru 6/17. Dwares JCC, 401 Elmgrove Ave., Providence. In-person multi-level classes. Virtual advanced intermediate classes.

Cost: $100 (scholarship available).

Information, Toby Liebowitz at tobyaane@gmail.com.

Temple Habonim Drop in to Mah Jongg. Mondays 7-9 p.m. Thru 6/24.

165 New Meadow Road, Barrington.

Open to all skill levels; must know the basics of the American version of the game. Games follow National Mah Jongg League rules. Bring your 2024 Mah Jongg card if possible.

Cost: $5 cash. Information, Leslie Katz at vp@templehabonim.org.

Writing Community. Mondays 6-7:30 p.m. Current session thru 6/17. Dwares JCC, 401 Elmgrove Ave., Providence. Instructor Jim

Levanos will provide lessons, guidance and creative writing prompts to help writers find their voice. Package of 4 classes: JCC Members: $25 | Non-members: $35; individual class: JCC Members: $8 | non-members: $10. Information, Devorah Phillips at dphillips@ jewishallianceri.org or 401-421-4111, ext. 163.

Temple Emanu-El Mahjong.

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

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

Temple Sinai Shabbat Evening Service. Fridays 6 p.m. or 7:30 p.m.

30 Hagen Ave., Cranston. Song, prayer and reflection. With Rabbi Jeffrey Goldwasser and Cantor Deborah Johnson. Information, dottie@templesinairi.org or 401942-8350.

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

In-person and livestreamed on website, Facebook, Cape Media, YouTube and Community Television Comcast channel 99. Information, 508-7752988 or capecodsynagogue.org.

Temple Beth-El Torah Study.

Saturdays except second Saturday of the month 9 a.m. 70 Orchard Ave., Providence. Information, Jillian Brosofsky at jbrosofsky@temple-beth-el.org or 401-331-6070, ext. 100.

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

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

Temple Habonim Torah Study.

Most Saturdays 10-11 a.m. Rabbi Howard Voss-Altman leads weekly Torah study on current portion. Via Zoom. Information, Adina Davies at

Monument or Marker | No liner required Section: 15 A — plot 108, grave 2 $2800 — includes perpetual care.

Call Allen: 401-732-4627

office@templehabonim.org or 401245-6536.

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

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

Temple Sinai Shabbat Morning Service. Saturday mornings – check website for time. 30 Hagen Ave., Cranston. In-person and via Zoom. Information, templesinairi.org or Dottie at 401-942-8350.

Friday | June 7 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, drink and bring photo ID. Information, RI Blood Center at 401-453-8383.

Temple Emanu-El Annual Meeting, Shabbat Chai and Centennial Kickoff. 5:15-8 p.m. 99 Taft Ave., Providence. Information, Shoshana Jacob at shosh@teprov.org or 401331-1616.

Temple Beth-El Pride Kabbalat Shabbat and Dinner. 5:45 p.m. 70 Orchard Ave., Providence. Service followed by 6:30 p.m. dinner and 7 p.m. performance by S. Bear Bergman. Information and RSVP, Jillian Brosofsky at jbrosofsky@ temple-beth-el.org or 401-3316070, ext. 100.

Temple Habonim Tot and Graduation Family Shabbat Under the Stars. 5:45 p.m. Outdoors at 165 New Meadow Road, Barrington.

5:45 p.m. Tot Shabbat: Half-hour interactive service, designed for families with young children, offering an opportunity to experience Shabbat through music, story and prayer. 6:15 p.m. Pizza Dinner. 6:45 p.m. Graduation Family Shabbat.

Information, Adina Davies at office@ templehabonim.org or 401-2456536.

Beatles Shabbat at United Brothers Synagogue. 7:30-9 p.m. 205 High St., Bristol. Enjoy the songs of the Beatles at this unique service in which their songs and Jewish liturgy merge. Shireinu, Temple Sinai’s volunteer choir, and a band of five musicians will accompany Cantor Deborah Johnson during this special service. Information, 401-253-3460.

Saturday | June 8 Temple Beth-El Shabbat Morning Service. 9 a.m. 70 Orchard Ave., Providence. In-person service.

Information, Jillian Brosofsky at jbrosofsky@temple-beth-el.org or

401-331-6070, ext. 100.

Friday | June 14

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

1251 Middle Road, East Greenwich.

In person with Zoom available.

Information, temple@toratyisrael. org.

Temple Beth-El Kabbalat Shabbat Service. 5:45 p.m. 70 Orchard Ave., Providence. Information, Jillian Brosofsky at jbrosofsky@temple-beth-el.org or 401-331-6070, ext. 100.

Temple Beth-El Lindenbaum Dinner. 6 p.m. 70 Orchard Ave., Providence. David Cicilline, president and CEO, The Rhode Island Foundation, is receiving the 2024 Charles Lindenbaum Person of the Year Award at Temple Beth-El’s 101st Brotherhood Annual Meeting. Information and RSVP, Jillian Brosofsky at jbrosofsky@temple-beth-el.org or 401-331-6070, ext. 100.

Sunday | June 9 Hadassah RI Honoring and Remembering Our Presidents. 11 a.m. Private home, North Kingstown.

Dairy potluck, music and stories.

Information and RSVP, chapri@ hadassah.org.

RI Jewish Historical Association Hahn Memorial Tour. 1:30 p.m.

Roger Williams National Memorial, 282 North Main St., Providence.

Delve into the history of the well, a gift to Providence in 1932 by Judge Jerome Hahn. National Park Ranger Andrew Schnetzer will present the history of and insights into this important landmark. Free. Information, info@rijha.org.

Temple Beth-El Kadima Cocktail Hour. 3-5 p.m. Clementine, 200 Washington St., Providence.

Temple Beth-El’s young professional group is hosting a cocktail hour.

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

Monday | June 10 Jewish Alliance of Greater Rhode Island’s 13th Annual Meeting. 7-9 p.m. Dwares JCC, 401 Elmgrove Ave., Providence.

From presenting awards to some of the most devoted volunteers to confirming the 2024-2025 Board of Directors, celebrate and honor the community. Information, Gail Putnam at gputnam@jewishallianceri.org or 401-421-4111, ext. 158.

Thursday | June 13 Temple Habonim Historical Exhibition with George Goodwin.

6-8 p.m. 165 New Meadow Road, Barrington. This exhibition celebrates Mishpakha and commemorates the story of a once thriving Jewish community in Woonsocket.

Wine and light hor d’oeuvres will be served. Information, Adina Davies at office@templehabonim.org or 401-245-6536.

Temple Torat Yisrael Virtual Kabbalat Shabbat Songs & Torah Services. 5:45-6:15 p.m. By Zoom only. Information, temple@toratyisrael.org.

Saturday | June 15 Temple Torat Yisrael Virtual & In-Person Shavuot Shabbat Service with a Yizkor. 9:30-10:30 a.m.

1251 Middle Road, East Greenwich.

In person with Zoom available.

Information, temple@toratyisrael. org.

Monday | June 17 Richard Bornstein Memorial Dwares JCC Golf Classic. 11:30 a.m. Wanumetonomy Golf & Country Club, 152 Browns Lane, Middletown.

38th Annual Golf outing. 11:30 a.m. registration; noon lunch; 1 p.m. shotgun start; 6 p.m. cocktail reception.

Your support allows the Alliance to continue to provide meaningful and engaging programming for Rhode Island’s Jewish community and beyond. Information, Brigitte Baum at bbaum@jewishallianceri.org.

Tuesday | June 18 Jewish Young Professionals of RI: “Screams Before Silence.”

6-8 p.m. Rochambeau Library, 708 Hope St., Providence. Directed by former Meta COO Sheryl Sandberg, this hour-long film portrays the systematic sexual violence perpetrated by Hamas during the terrorist attacks in Israel on Oct. 7. Includes first-hand accounts. Discussion following film screening. For adults.

Free. Registration required. Information, Maria Friedman at maria@ ricoalitionforisrael.org.

Temple Beth-El: Cookbook Author Joan Nathan. 7 p.m. 70 Orchard Ave., Providence. Joan Nathan will discuss how cooking has shaped her life’s journey. David Cicilline, president and CEO of The Rhode Island Foundation, will moderate a Q&A. Free. Registration requested. Information, Jillian Brosofsky at jbrosofsky@temple-beth-el.org or 401-331-6070, ext. 100.

Thursday | June 20 Gallery Night at the Jewish Alliance. 5-8 p.m. Dwares JCC, 401 Elmgrove Ave., Providence.

Dining in the Diaspora shares stories of food, diaspora and art about the act of welcoming. Curated

by Artist-in-Residence Zo Baker, the exhibition features works of 20

JUNE 2024 | 7

jewishrhody.org | Jewish Rhode Island

local artists ranging from animations to installations, to photography and painting. Information, Devorah Phillips at dphillips@jewishallianceri. org or 401-421-4111, ext. 163.

Friday | June 21 Temple Torat Yisrael Virtual Kabbalat Shabbat Songs & Torah Services. 5:45-6:15 p.m. By Zoom only. Information, temple@toratyisrael.org.

Temple Habonim Shabbat by the Sea. 6:15 p.m. Barrington Town Beach, 87 Bay Road, Barrington.

Bring a chair or blanket, and welcome Shabbat on the beach. In case of inclement weather, services will be moved inside to Temple Habonim.

Information, Adina Davies at office@ templehabonim.org or 401-2456536.

Temple Beth-El Shabbat Under the Stars. 7 p.m. 70 Orchard Ave., Providence. Outdoor Shabbat evening service. Information, Jillian Brosofsky at jbrosofsky@temple-beth-el. org or 401-331-6070, ext. 100.

Saturday | June 22 Temple Torat Yisrael Virtual & In-Person Saturday Morning Shabbat Services. 9:30-10:30 a.m.

1251 Middle Road, East Greenwich.

In person with Zoom available. Information, temple@toratyisrael.org.

Wednesday | June 26 Farewell Party for Elihay. 7 p.m.

Dwares JCC, 401 Elmgrove Ave., Providence. Wish community shaliach Elihay Skital a bittersweet “farewell” as he completes his twoyear shlichut at the Alliance. Enjoy an ice cream bar and celebrate all of Elihay’s amazing accomplishments.

Free. Information, Dori Adler at dadler@jewishallianceri.org.

Summer J-Camp June 24 – August 23

Friday | June 28 Temple Torat Yisrael Virtual Kabbalat Shabbat Songs & Torah Services. 5:45-6:15 p.m. By Zoom only. Information, temple@toratyisrael.org.

Temple Beth-El Kabbalat Shabbat Service. 5:45 p.m. 70 Orchard Ave., Providence. nformation, Jillian Brosofsky at jbrosofsky@temple-beth-el. org or 401-331-6070, ext. 100.

Saturday | June 29 Temple Torat Yisrael Virtual & In-Person Saturday Morning Shabbat Services. 9:30-10:30 a.m.

1251 Middle Road, East Greenwich.

In person with Zoom available. Information, temple@toratyisrael.org.

J-Campers | Grades: K-6 Counselors in Training (CITs) | Grades: 7-10 Summer J-Camp provides a diverse and welcoming environment for all our campers.

Using an experiential learning model, campers will participate in swimming lessons, sports, the arts, science, and many more activities. The daily schedule will rotate through every activity we offer, as we strive to focus on the specific interests of each camper. We provide lunch daily and have weekly field trips and specials guests.

Registration now open! Visit JewishAllianceRI.org/Camp or scan the QR Code:

401 Elmgrove Avenue, Providence | jewishallianceri.org | 401.421.4111

Jewish Alliance of Greater Rhode Island’s

SAVE 13 ANNUAL THE M E E T I N G DATE Monday, June 10 @ 7:00pm th

Dwares JCC | 401 Elmgrove Avenue, PVD

HARRIS CHORNEY Chair of the Board

ADAM GREENMAN President & CEO

8 | JUNE 2024

Jewish Rhode Island | jewishrhody.org

COMMUNITY VOICES

Small but magnificent, my new space has become my sanctuary

“L

oft,” ‘library,” “museum,” “he-shed” or “time-out space” might work, but I still haven’t decided: The new space above

our former garage is so simple, useful and beautiful that all kinds of labels could apply.

BETSEY AND I love our Arts & Crafts bungalow, where we’ve lived 27 years. In a city brimming with historic architecture, our home, built in 1920, was once the youngest honored with a plaque from the Providence Preservation Society.

We were partially attracted to this abode because of its similarity to Prairie-style homes designed by Frank Lloyd Wright, who spent a

M US

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S

few years of his childhood in Pawtucket but, sadly, built nothing in Little Rhody. (In 1946, he did receive a commission from William and Eleanor Slater for a relatively modest home in Warwick, but the young couple decided when construction was about to GEORGE M. begin that they GOODWIN could not afford such a luxury.

Wright’s response to the Slaters? As the couple once told

me, “You’re young enough; go out and earn the difference.”)

Our children, Molly and Michael, spent most of their childhood years in our delightful home, walking to and from the former Alperin Schechter Day School at Temple Emanu-El. Yes, we could have benefited from a larger house, but we felt so comfortable – if not privileged – to inhabit such a harmonious and distinctive structure.

Once the kids departed for college, our home seemed to grow larger, but Betsey and I kept acquiring beautiful things, including furniture, books, paintings, sculptures and family heirlooms.

Mysteriously, our home also seemed to grow ever smaller.

One simple solution might have been limiting new acquisitions to essential needs. But what is more essential than beauty, learn-

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ing and comfort?

Betsey and I always hoped that the RISD Museum would become seriously interested in our collection of Mexican folk art. It would quite logically complement its fine collection of modern Latin American paintings and sculptures. We also approached some other wonderful art museums in New England, but no curators were able to see with their own eyes what is so profoundly simple and joyful.

Meanwhile, we continued to give away books to some favorite school and college libraries, as well as to our temple’s magnificent Braude Library.

Fortunately, over many years, Betsey and I played with various color schemes, added a tile mural in the kitchen, remodeled a bathroom and made several improvements to our diminutive front and backyards.

For example, we built, and then rebuilt, a deck, and also installed a stone patio. Perhaps inspired by Thoreau, we also acquired a table, chairs and an umbrella to help us delight in nature.

Betsey and I are friends with two architects, a married couple who live across the street from us. More than a year ago, Mark Hallee asked if I wanted to take a walk with him to see a house that he was renovating. No changes were visible on its exterior, but its vast interior, still under construction, looked entirely original.

Then I asked Mark if it might be possible for him to redesign our detached, one-car garage, which stands at the back of our narrow driveway. “Of course,” was his reply.

The problems were finding an experienced contractor, agreeing on a budget, and then completing construction within a reasonable amount of time. Far from easy tasks!

Fortunately, these creative and practical feats were completed in September, and Betsey and I are now savoring Mark’s wonderful vision.

Betsey is delighted by the extra space – and by seeing and hearing so much less of me!

For better or worse, there

were several municipal restrictions on what we were allowed to build. There could not be an apartment, for example. For that matter, not even a bathroom or a kitchen.

Thus, I tend to occupy my new space for only a few hours at a time.

The first floor consists of a large storage area for patio furniture, tools, paint and grandchildren’s toys. There’s also a dramatic stairway with gallery lighting that leads to the second floor. The tall windows on the structure’s north and west sides provide wonderful views of our home and some neighbors’, as well as towering trees. In addition to an extensive lighting system, there are skylights high above the western and eastern sides.

What, you may ask, is missing from this solitary enclosure? Well, quite a few things – at least for now. There’s no table, desk, cabinet, computer, TV or refrigerator.

There are two leather easy chairs and a wooden armchair. Betsey and I are also quite fond of carpets from many corners of the world, so there’s a large, brightly colored Turkish kilim beneath the easy chairs.

And this new space is overflowing with other treasures: an almost countless array of large and small books, sculptures, paintings, prints and liturgical objects displayed on dozens of built-in wooden shelves. There are also scores of pots and ceramic toys that our kids made in classes at the Jewish Community Center. Further, there are numerous family mementos that once belonged to our grandparents, parents and other dear relatives.

There’s also a beautiful bouquet of dried flowers from a neighbor’s sumptuous garden. But there’s no mirror because the entire space reflects our family’s lives and values. Indeed, they are also documented in nearly 100 brightly colored photo albums!

My new loft, library or museum can be a perfect place to tune out the world and take a nap. But it is also a place to sit quietly and CONTINUED ON PAGE 9

JUNE 2024 | 9

jewishrhody.org | Jewish Rhode Island

COMMUNITY VOICES

June holidays, then and now CH

As for the Jerusalem Day holiday in Israel, I relive my early visit to the Western Wall, when I hid my prayer among the stones for the creator to bless my own then forthcoming days as a father.

Returning to the white menu and the meaning of Shavuot, I know that, like my two brothers, I was breast-fed by our belated noble mother, so my wife’s MIKE FINK profession has a quite special meaning for me, a totally intimate tradition, from generation to generation.

I hope to dwell on these sacred things as I stroll the shoreline from The Towers in Narragansett to the birthplace of the sanderlings and piping plovers at Narrow River. I also hold eagerly onto my prayer for another V-Day, a victory for my beloved Israel and a defeat for the foes of our homeland, among which I sadly list my former friendly campus communities at Yale, Harvard, Brown, the Rhode Island School of Design, Columbia and Cornell … the allies of yore, but no more!

So on my forthcoming strolls, hopefully heading for a dip and a float where beach curves into tidal estuary, I will pray silently with a l’chaim for the newborn creatures of this troubled world, who are sorely in need of our prayers!

BOOK

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IT’S THE TIME OF YEAR to eat white foods, and maybe also to remember your first sip of the white blessing at your mother’s breast.

My wife is a heroic and devoted lactation consultant at Women & Infants Hospital, and I admire her dedication with all my heart and soul, this month as always.

In addition to Shavuot, it is also the month of Flag Day, Father’s Day and the start of summer. These days mix and stir memories, personal, historical and “political.”

I miss the American flag of my boyhood and youth, when it stood for the patriotic hope of victory over the nation’s foes. I regretted the addition of the phrase “under God” to the salute to our stars and stripes, because here in Rhode Island, we stood for freedom from religion, as well as for religions. I believed it was a cowardly concession to the House Un-American Activities Committee years, the obsession with our Cold War anti-Soviet “atheism.”

Something like that.

As for Father’s Day, I enjoy coming across photographs of my dad as a youthful person and treasure my thoughts about our evolution in chapter after chapter of our shared lives.

The start of summer, like each phase of the moon, has its ironies and paradoxes.

Summer days will shorten as the first day of winter will introduce the return of ever-lengthening daytimes.

Osmundson Photography

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 8 ponder our family’s past, present and future.

This, I believe, is a holy place – my Beth-El – for it makes me ever more thankful for countless blessings.

In many unforeseeable ways, this new space, small but glorious, has become my sanctuary.

Unlike a pharaoh, I do not need to build a pyramid to

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

transport my plunder into another world. My blessings, evoked three-dimensionally, abound right here!

I am profoundly grateful within my humble, soaring and peaceful abode.

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

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

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COMMUNITY VOICES

Accommodating food preferences and needs is an act of love

PATRICIA RASKIN

Can you share with us a recipe, particularly a kosher recipe, that you really love to make and that most of your children or grandchildren love?

MERCEDES BENZ VOLKSWAGEN MINI PORSCHE

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Great quality work in a timely fashion and great communication.

Highly recommended.”

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Service

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

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More than just the specific foods I make, it’s a philosophy of wanting everyone to be comfortable in all areas, Cabbage soup! It is deliand food is one of them. cious, rich, hearty and subFor example, one son-instantial, and has a wonderlaw doesn’t like tomatoes. ful flavor that appeals to all When we have salad while ages. See recipe at bottom he is here, I serve tomatoes What about separate cooking on the side, and those who want can add them. utensils, and safe snacks?

My oldest grandson was Since I use a lot of nuts the first one with food allerwhen allergic grandchilgies in the family, to peadren are not here, I am carenuts and tree nuts. Before ful to rewash my cooking he comes, we go through implements prior to cooking the house and we put all the for them. If I am reusing nuts and foods containing parchment paper, I will nuts up out of reach. write “nuts” on the paper It was scary when he was so I won’t use it if they are younger and he didn’t know coming. to be careful. Now that he is What about things like dairy, older, he is very aware and will ask “does this have nuts?” Rather than be BMW AUDI MERCEDES BENZ VOLKSWAGEN MINI insulted that he doesn’t trust me, I am grateful that he asks! I would never want to serve him something by mistake.

If your ego is not in “German Motors and its staff the picture, then it’s (Tracey rocks) personify customer really about making sure service as it used to be. If you want people are not overlooked somebody to answer the phone, greet and everyone feels valyou, efficiently and professionally ued. service your car…with a smile…

If I cooked with make it your service center.” tomatoes every time my – Karen B., Providence, Audi Q5 son-in-law came over, he G E R M A N M O T O R S INC wouldn’t feel very welcome. Whether it’s things Sales & Service you leave out or things 879 North Main Street, Providence, RI 02904 you put in, it’s about 401-272-4266 focusing on what your Email us at: germanmotorshelp@gmail.com loved ones appreciate.

Don’t view their unique needs as a burden. Focus on the person and your relationship with them.

Each person is unique, as are their needs. Have little expectation for what and who you want them to be, and appreciate who they are.

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.

Her “Positive Aging with Patricia Raskin” podcast is broadcast on the Rhode Island PBS website, ripbs. org/positiveaging.

INGREDIENTS 1½ pounds ground beef 8 cups water 15 ounces tomato puree 1½ to 2 (14- to 16-ounce) bags of cabbage (coleslaw mix) or 2 pounds fresh sliced cabbage 1/3 cup honey 1 teaspoon salt 1/4 cup lemon juice

DIRECTIONS Place meat and water in a large soup pot. Break the meat apart. Cover and simmer for 1 hour.

Add remaining ingredients and simmer for an additional 1½ hours, or longer. Serves 8-10 Enjoy!

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BMW AUDI MERCEDES BENZ PORSCHE VOLKSWAGEN MINI COOPER

How do you accommodate your grandchildren’s food needs and preferences when they visit?

What would be your advice to families with different food needs and preferences?

BMW AUDI MERCEDES BENZ PORSCHE VOLKSWAGEN MINI COOPER

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HEA

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MERCEDES BENZ VOLKSWAGEN MINI PORSCHE

What I serve my grandchildren is very similar to what I served my children when they were younger. I use very little sugar, serve lots of fruits and vegetables, and whole grains, and try to make sure it is yummy.

Cabbage Soup

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879 North Main Street, Provide 401-272-4266 Email us at: germanmotorshe

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Neither of these are issues for family members, but they are for other guests.

Since most of our hosting is on Shabbos, and we serve meat, dairy is not an issue.

Our gluten-free guests don’t have my challah, but most everything else I serve is easily made gluten-free.

This makes it very easy to enjoy them, love them and prepare food that they are going to want. It’s just another way of welcoming your loved ones into your home and into your life, enveloping them, so they can feel safe, happy and wanted.

OLKSWAGEN MINI

or gluten, things that people often have allergies to?

What snacks do you share with your grandchildren that are pretty much universal and healthy?

NG

FOR THIS FOOD ISSUE, I interviewed my sister-in-law, Devorah Raskin. She and my brother, Russell, are the parents of eight children, and have many beautiful grandchildren – which adds up to lot of different diets, food preferences and even some serious food allergies. I wanted to know how Devorah coped with all these diverse needs.

The following interview has been lightly edited for clarity.

12 | JUNE 2024

Jewish Rhode Island | jewishrhody.org

OPINION Jewish American Heritage Month

Jeffrey Gladstone, Esq. Warwick, RI

THESE ARE HARD TIMES for any of us who are struggling to develop or to continue our relationship with God. To echo the words of the Irish poet William Butler Yeats: “Things fall apart; the center cannot hold; / Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world, / ... The ceremony of innocence is drowned; / The best lack all conviction, while the worst / Are full of passionate intensity.”

For us Jews, how much the more so. The barbarism of Oct. 7. The ensuing brutal and ongoing war in Gaza. The explosion of antisemitism here in the United States and around the world.

The never diminished shadow of Auschwitz.

Feeling a suffocating sense of foreboding regarding the future of the State of Israel and the very survival of democracy here in this country, I have recently come to a place of some solace within the pages of a volume I found by chance hiding among our large collection of poetry books: “Creator, Are You Listening? Israeli Poets on God and Prayer,” (2007), by David C. Jacobson, professor of Jewish Studies at Brown.

Jacobson’s very first sentence makes clear his intention: “The purpose of this book is to challenge the conventional wisdom that Hebrew poetry by contemporary Israeli writers is essentially secular in nature.”

My decades-long encounter with the poetry of Yehuda Amichai (19242000) attests to Jacobson’s thesis.

Ever since I first tasted Amichai’s poetry, back in the mid-1960s, I have been struck by what one might call his God-wrestling – a God-wrestling not dissimilar to my own.

In many ways, Amichai has echoed my own lover’s quarrel with God, my own growing arguments with traditional Jewish texts, which I continue to love even when I cannot hold to traditional interpretations of what these texts are saying.

To label Amichai’s poetry as “secular” is to be deaf to the complexity of his lifelong religious struggle.

In addition to devoting one of the six chapters in his book to Amichai, Jacobson has introduced me to the work of five other relatively contemporary Israeli poets: Zelda Mishkovsky (known in Israel as, simply, Zelda), Asher Reich, Rivka Miriam, Hava Pinhas-Cohen and Admiel

EM

Kosman. The first-born of these six poets is Zelda (1914-1984), while Asher Reich, Rivka Miriam and Admiel Kosman are still alive. Hava Pinhas-Cohen died in 2022.

What all of these poets have in common is that, like Amichai, they are wrestling with Judaism’s biblical, rabbinical and especially liturgical sacred sources.

Many of them grew up in traditionally observant homes, where from early on they developed a knowledge of our fundamental religious texts and observances.

However, as they turned away from RABBI JAMES Orthodox interpreROSENBERG tations of these texts and practices, they felt compelled to pour their new, sometimes radical, interpretations into the old bottles of traditional Judaism. At times, these poets’ reinterpretations are angry, and at times sarcastic, but at other times warm and loving.

In exploring their work in the original Hebrew, these poets have given me permission, as it were, to continue my personal God-wrestling during these dark and threatening days.

I am focusing on Jacobson’s chapter on Amichai because he is the contemporary Israeli poet with whom I am most familiar. I am not at all surprised that out of Amichai’s hundreds of poems, Jacobson has selected “God Full of Mercy” (“El Malei Rachamim”) as one of the dozen or so that he chose to highlight.

This poem drips irony. As many of you know, “El Malei Rachamim” is a traditional Jewish prayer of mourning, recited at almost every Jewish funeral, as well as at a number of collective memorial services throughout our liturgical calendar.

With what appears to be an exercise of great bitterness, Amichai twists the opening words of the prayer to make it say the opposite of its original intent: “God full of mercy, / if God were not so full of mercy, / there’d be mercy in the world, not just in Him.” As is the experience of so many of us, when we seem most to need God – at the death of a loved one, say – what we feel is not God’s compassionate presence but rather God’s

S TO M

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JEWISH AMERICAN HERITAGE MONTH, celebrated in May, is meant to highlight Jewish history and connections with America.

Jewish history in the United States traces its origins to 1492 Spain, when the Inquisition forced its large Jewish population, living in the Diaspora, to once again seek a safe haven.

For some 200 years the Jews were scattered throughout Europe when, in 1654, the first recorded Jewish group immigrated to New Amsterdam. The early Jews found a home in Newport and other port cities, such as New York.

It is interesting to note that the early American Jews were Sephardic Jews who made their way to Spain from North African and Middle Eastern countries, including Iran, Algeria, Libya, Tunisia and Morocco, among many others. Israel’s Jewish population today is comprised of Mizrahi (Middle Eastern), Sephardic (Spanish) and Ashkenazi Jews (Eastern Europe).

The American Revolution was a turning point not only for this country but for those groups that were seeking a safe and welcoming place to practice their religion. The United States was the first major country that committed itself to religious freedom, tolerance and democracy.

Jews were drawn to this land of promise, where they hoped to practice their faith in safety and prosperity. But, like other minority groups, Jews still had to fight prejudice on the state and, at times, national level.

Historically, Jews throughout America fought for their own rights, as well as the God-given rights of other minority groups.

The oldest synagogue in the United States is the Touro Synagogue, right here in Newport.

Touro is a National Historic Site and stands as a symbol of religious freedom for all. Famously, George Washington visited Touro in 1790 in a show of support for the entire Jewish community in the new, evolving United States of America.

In his address to the Newport congregation, President Washington famously stated, “To Bigotry No Sanction, To Persecution No Assistance.”

May his words continue to ring true today. God bless America and the Jewish people.

Wrestling with God in troubled times

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IN THE NEWS

absence and silence.

Amichai’s combat experience in Israel’s wars adds to his sense of God’s absence: “I, who brought corpses from the hills, / can say for sure that the world is empty of mercy.”

“God Full of Mercy,” published in 1958, is one of Amichai’s earlier poems. His final collection, “Patuach Sagur Patuach” (“Open Closed Open”), published in 1998, testifies to his softening, the warming of Amichai’s attitudes toward traditional texts and to the God reflected in these sacred writings.

These final poems contain extended meditations on such biblical characters as Abraham, Isaac and King David. Gone is the angry stance against Tradition, with a capital T, found in Amichai’s earlier work.

To the contrary, Amichai’s final poems seem to reflect his coming to terms with his mortality and with his place in the millennial stream of Jewish history. He seems to be celebrating his lifelong wrestling with God and with those sacred texts that manage to embrace some of our ancestors’ varied views of God. Jacobson chose as his last text from Amichai’s work a short section from “Gods Change, Prayers Remain Forever,” a long, multisectional poem found in “Open Closed Open”: “Verse of Psalms: Innocence rises up from human beings / like steam of warmth from a cooked dish rising up / and becoming God and sometimes other gods.”

Jacobson concludes his chapter on Amichai with these words: “Not one to be tied to a single, eternally fixed image of God, the poet has his speaker declare rather playfully that as the steam rises, it may not be the one God of Israel that will emerge, but one of many possible alternative gods that might even be more appropriate for the spiritual needs of humanity in our time.”

But, perhaps we contemporary God-wrestlers have it all wrong. Perhaps we should not be asking, “What are the spiritual needs of humanity in our time?” – but rather, “What are God’s needs for humanity in our time?”

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

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 2024 | 13

jewishrhody.org | Jewish Rhode Island

OPINION

Exhausted by the Israel discourse?

Blame backlash fatigue.

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

BY ANDREW SILOW-CARROLL — JTA

I

’d mostly forgotten about Ivan Boesky when I heard he died May 20 at age 87. But news of his death brought me back to some of my earliest assignments as a Jewish journalist – and how they

relate to the controversial Washington Post story about a group of Jewish machers seeking to influence the debate over Israel.

IN 1987, Boesky, a high-flying investor with a lifestyle to match, pleaded guilty to insider trading. Not every crime perpetrated by a Jew is a “Jewish story,” but because Boesky was a generous donor to Jewish organizations, Jewish leaders freaked out.

I remember reporting on anguished internal conversations about accepting philanthropy from tarnished donors, but if anything the “external” discourse was even more fraught. In his greed, in his celebration of excess, in his illegal manipulation of the financial system, Boesky – like his erstwhile ally, “junk bond king” turned convicted felon Michael Milken – was an antisemite’s fever dream. Jews braced for a backlash they considered inevitable.

The Boesky scandal also landed just a few years after Jonathan Pollard, a U.S. Navy analyst, was arrested for spying for Israel. Pollard embodied a different category of antisemitic stereotype – “dual loyalty” – which was even more of a threat to the Jews’ sense of security.

Jews watched the horizon for a wave of antisemitism that never came. In May 1987 the American Jewish Committee commissioned a poll asking if Americans thought any less of American Jews as a result of Pollard’s and Boesky’s bad deeds. The answer in both cases turned out to be no. “No more than 1% of the respondents attributed Boesky’s malfeasance to his ‘Jewish background,’ ” JTA reported at the time.

Nevertheless, the Jewish fear of being implicated by the bad behavior of another Jew is persistent, and captured in a famous Yiddish phrase: “a shanda fur die goyim,” or “a shame before the gentiles.” It’s an expression of insecurity, articulating a sense – well founded in history – that the Jews’ precarious status as a minority can be undermined by a homegrown villain or a society looking for scapegoats.

Groups like the Anti-Defamation League often brace for a backlash

an article on a group of pro-Israel “billionaires and business titans working to shape U.S. public opinion of the war in Gaza.”

The article reports on a WhatsApp group chat in which the “titans” appear to arrange for the screening of Israeli government films documenting Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack on Israel and strategize how to use campaign contributions to reward pro-Israel politicians. The article also cites sources and WhatsApp messages to report on a Zoom chat between members of the group and NYC Mayor Eric Adams, urging the mayor to send cops to clamp down on the pro-Palestinian encampment at Columbia University. Some members even offered to “pay for private investigators to assist New York police in handling the protests.”

The ADL tweeted that the newspaper “should be ashamed of publishing an article that unabashedly (and almost entirely on anonymous

after high-profile cases of calumny

by Jews. When Bernie Madoff admitted in 2008 to masterminding a Ponzi scheme that duped Jewish individuals and organizations, the ADL carefully tracked the antisemitic fallout – even while pointing out that Jews were the victims of Madoff’s scheme and explaining that Madoff represented Madoff, not “the Jews.”

There is at least one significant difference between the Boesky era and the ‘The insinuation that Jewish Madoff era: the internet.

The ADL tracked dozens donors secretly plotted of antisemitic comments about Madoff on financial to influence government bulletin boards, the comments sections of local and operations is an all too familiar national newspapers and extremist websites – all just antisemitic trope.’ coming into their own. If more than 1% of Americans were thinking antisemitic sources) plays into antisemitic thoughts about Boesky in 1987, it tropes by inferring a secret cabal was much harder for them to get the of Jews is using wealth & power to message out. influence governments, the media, In the context of 2024 and the Israthe business world & academia.” el-Hamas war, it is almost quaint to This came after Fabien Levy, consider how a Boesky or a Madoff Adams’ deputy mayor for communicould send chills down the spines cations, said that he was “shocked” of Jews. In retrospect, the scandals by the Post story. “The insinuation were ripples; the backlash over the that Jewish donors secretly plotted war has been a tsunami. It doesn’t to influence government operations matter if Jews agree or disagree is an all too familiar antisemitic with Israel’s actions: Their Jewishtrope,” Levy, who is Jewish, said in a ness makes them targets of the curpost on X. rent backlash. On college campuses, Levy also notes in the story that in progressive circles, in literary when the NYPD twice entered and artistic settings, they are being Columbia’s campus to disperse isolated and excluded for showing a protesters, it was in response to hint of empathy for or attachment to “specific written requests” from a Jewish state. university leadership, including Jewish and Middle Eastern the school’s Muslim president, restaurants and other ostensibly Minouche Shafik.

“Zionist” places have been targeted The story appears to go out of by protesters and vandals. Synaits way not to describe the group’s gogues have received bomb threats. members as Jewish, although all of Jewish musicians have had their the members it names – including concerts canceled. Pro-Palestinian “Kind snack company founder Dandemonstrators protested at the open- iel Lubetzky, hedge fund manager ing of a Holocaust museum in the Daniel Loeb, billionaire Len BlavatNetherlands. nik and real estate investor Joseph It is in the context of this barrage Sitt” – are. of anti-Jewish scapegoating that the Yet it abounds in the kind of ADL bashed the Washington Post for language about power, finance and

collusive influence that triggers Jews sensitive to antisemitism: The group “privately pressed” Adams (as opposed to what?); the group’s activism “has stretched beyond New York, touching the highest levels of the Israeli government, the U.S. business world and elite universities”; members of the group “wielded their money and power in an effort to shape American views of the Gaza war, as well as the actions of academic, business and political leaders – including New York’s mayor.”

On the other hand, the challenge for the ADL and other watchdogs is to explain why a report on Jewish and pro-Israel political influence is prima facie antisemitic when Jewish mainstream groups like the American Israel Public Affairs Committee are organized specifically – and proudly – to assert just that influence. More than one X user tweeted back at the ADL that “the truth can’t be antisemitic.”

Except when it can. As the story moved downstream, it fueled the kind of gleeful commentary that can often seem indistinguishable from antisemitism. The New York news site Hellgate asked, “Who should have a voice in deciding [emphasis added] whether” the NYPD should be deployed in breaking up a campus protest? It’s a good question if the subject is campaign financing and how money and connections subvert the political system. It’s a more loaded question when it suggests that there is something “remarkable” about a group of deep-pocketed lobbyists donors seeking to influence elected officials.

You can also read the WaPo story the way many Jews read about the Boesky and Madoff affairs and direct your ire at the Jews who reinforced antisemitic tropes through their illegal or, perhaps in this case, ill-advised behavior. Of course, that raises the question: Should influential Jews not lobby for their shared interests, lest it be seen as reinforcing anti-Jewish stereotypes?

To be a Jew has always meant to be on guard against shande and brace for the antisemitic backlash.

It’s a measure of the super-heated atmosphere since Oct. 7 that it also means guarding against behaviors that in another time would have been considered legal, conventional and uncontroversial. In New York last week, a theater canceled a play with Holocaust themes, according to the Dramatists Legal Defense Fund, because of security concerns raised by its insurance company.

If Jews seem a little defensive, you might blame backlash fatigue.

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Jewish Rhode Island | jewishrhody.org

FOOD

Mouthwatering dairy recipes for Shavuot

BY FRAN OSTENDORF SHAVUOT IS COMING, at sundown on June 11, and to many of us, that means dairy!

Cheesecake, blintzes and noodle kugels are traditional choices, but this year, why

not add something delicious and new to your Shavuot menu? We’re talking cheese.

Angie and Joe DiMeo, of East Side Cheese & Provisions, in Providence’s Wayland Square, are all about cheese. They chose, tested

and photographed two recipes for Jewish Rhode Island’s readers to enjoy during the holiday – or any time, really.

“For both recipes, we used one of our favorite cheeses, Bellwether Farms Basket Ricotta, handcrafted in

Petaluma, California,” Angie DiMeo said. “The fresh, pillowy texture and nutty, slightly sweet flavor work well in all types of recipes and add an extra layer of richness to both the quiche and dip.”

Of course, this cheese, and many others, are available at their shop, 17 South Angell St., Providence.

FRAN OSTENDORF is the editor of Jewish Rhode Island.

Asparagus Quiche with Ricotta & Goat Cheese INGREDIENTS

1 bunch asparagus (about 8 ounces) chopped into 1-inch pieces 1 small yellow onion, halved and sliced 2 tablespoons olive oil 1 teaspoon kosher salt, plus more to taste Freshly ground black pepper, to taste Store-bought 9” pie crust 6 whole eggs 1/4 cup chopped flat-leaf parsley ½ cup high-quality ricotta, like Narragansett Creamery or Bellwether Farms 1/2 cup whole milk 4 ounces fresh goat cheese, crumbled

DIRECTIONS

Preheat oven to 425ºF. Place the asparagus pieces and sliced yellow onion on a rimmed sheet pan and toss with 2 tablespoons olive oil. Season with salt and

pepper to taste and roast for 15 minutes.

Set aside.

Press the pie crust into a quiche dish or pie pan.

Lower the oven temperature to 400º.

Whisk the eggs, parsley, ricotta, whole milk and 1 teaspoon salt in a large bowl.

Pour the mixture into the prepared dish.

Use a slotted spoon or fish spatula to scoop up the roasted vegetables without too much of their liquid and scatter them evenly over the egg mixture. Sprinkle the crumbled goat cheese on top of the quiche.

Bake for 35-40 minutes, or until slightly puffed and golden around the edges.

Let the quiche cool for at least 10 minutes before serving. Enjoy!

Adapted from a recipe at edibleBoston.com, tinyurl.com/zap5f599.

PHOTO | ANGIE DIMEO

Whipped Ricotta Dip with Honey INGREDIENTS

12 ounces high-quality ricotta (we used Bellwether Farms Whole Milk Basket Ricotta for its richness and creamy texture) 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil Lemon zest (from about ½ lemon), divided use ½ teaspoon fine sea salt 1 tablespoon honey 2 to 3 teaspoons fresh thyme leaves Black pepper, to taste

DIRECTIONS

Whip ricotta: Add ricotta, olive oil, a bit of lemon zest and salt to a food processor.

Whip for a minute or two, until smooth PHOTO | ANGIE DIMEO

and fluffy. Spoon into dish and chill overnight.

Garnish: When ready to serve, remove ricotta dip from refrigerator and drizzle with the honey of your choice. Top with fresh thyme, lemon zest and pepper.

Serve with “dippers” of your choice, such as crackers (our favorite is Maine Crisp Buckwheat Crackers, and they are gluten-free too), crostini or crudité.

Enjoy!

Adapted from a recipe posted at loveandlemons.com: www.loveandlemons.com/ whipped-ricotta.

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jewishrhody.org | Jewish Rhode Island

FOOD

Summer food program feeds campers at no cost

P

ROVIDENCE – 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 Rachel Accettturo 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.

In accordance with federal civil rights law and U.S. Department of

Agriculture (USDA) civil rights regulations and policies, this institution is prohibited from discriminating on the basis of race, color, national origin, sex (including gender identity and sexual orientation), disability, age, or reprisal or retaliation for prior civil rights activity.

Program information may be made available in languages other than English. Persons with disabilities who require alternative means of communication to obtain program information (e.g., Braille, large print, audiotape, American Sign Language), should contact the responsible state or local agency that administers the program or USDA’s TARGET Center at (202) 720-2600 (voice and TTY) or contact USDA through the Federal Relay Service at (800) 877-8339.

The Jewish Alliance is an equal opportunity provider.

75 years of compassionate skilled care Newly constructed state-of-the-art Rehab wing  CMS 5-Star rating Private Rooms and Bathrooms | Kosher Cuisine Arts Academy | RI Federation Garden Club

200 WAMPANOAG TRAIL | RIVERSIDE, RI 02915

Adam Greenman welcomes the crowd at the Jewish Culture Fest while Jacob’s Ladder looks on. Below, street scenes on Elmgrove Avenue from the daylong festival

A Celebration of Jewish Culture

Jewish Culture Fest draws a crowd PROVIDENCE – Bright blue skies and warm temperatures on June 2 made for the perfect day for the inaugural Jewish Culture Fest, held inside and outside the Alliance’s Dwares Jewish Community Center.

Organized by the Jewish Alliance of Greater Rhode Island, with the support of sponsors from around

Rhode Island, the festival featured music, food, an artisan’s market, information booths and a kids’ area. Estimates of attendance hovered at more than 1,000, according to Alliance sources.

The daylong festival was intended to support and celebrate the Jewish community while sharing

PHOTOS | GLENN OSMUNDSON

its culture with the whole Rhode Island community. Many of those who attended said it did just that.

From noshing on deli sandwiches to dancing to the live bands, everyone seemed to have a good time.

You can still view “Dining in the Diaspora,” an exhibit by local artists, which will be on display in the lobby of the JCC, 401 Elmgrove Ave., through mid-August.

Fran Ostendorf, Editor

Festival fun (clockwise, beginning top left): “Dining in the Diaspora” inside the JCC; fun on the bouncy slide in the kid’s area; whiskey tasting in the JCC lobby; festival staff gathers for a photo; game tables set up in front of the JCC attracted players throughout the day. Bottom (left): RAZA sings and a member of Jacob’s Ladder.

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Jewish Rhode Island | jewishrhody.org

COMMUNITY

BUSINESS 28 | OBITUARIES 29

Departing shaliach Elihay Skital reflects on his eventful 2 years in R.I.

BY DORI ADLER

E

lihay Skital, the Jewish Alliance of Greater Rhode Island’s shaliach (emissary from Israel), will be completing his two-year

shlichut (mission) at the end of June.

SKITAL AND I RECENTLY connected for a reflective conversation on his experiences at the Alliance and the strong ties he has made with the Jewish community in Rhode Island.

Skital describes the shlichut position this way: “In essence, I feel that I am a cultural ambassador. As a shaliach, the essence of the shlichut position was to serve as a cultural bridge, sharing my Israeli identity and traditions while simultaneously absorbing and learning from the local community.

“Through this profound exchange, I aimed to forge lasting connections between Israel and the vibrant Jewish community here.”

The following Q&A has been lightly edited for clarity.

When you think back on your original expectations for the position, how did the actual experience compare?

Having previously served in shlichut roles eight times, including with HaZamir, as a shaliach at Camp Havaya [in Pennsylvania], and as a unit head in my second year there, as well as guiding other shlichim at the Jewish Agency for Israel, I came to Rhode Island with experience and a profound passion for sharing my story and learning from others. My initial expectations were shaped by these previous engagements and the insights I had gleaned from fellow shlichim in other areas.

Upon arriving in Rhode Island, I found that the experience largely aligned with my expectations. The immense support from my supervisors, Larry Katz in my first year and Dori Adler in my second, played a huge role in helping me under-

stand the nuances of the role.

Moreover, the Jewish Alliance afforded me a great deal of creative freedom, allowing me to make the shlichut position my own and tailor it to my strengths and vision.

While the core responsibilities were familiar, the unique dynamics of the Rhode Island community presented both challenges and opportunities that required adaptation and growth.

Ultimately, this experience has proven to be a profound one, enabling me to acquire new skills and knowledge while staying true to my passion for fostering cross-cultural understanding and connection.

Please share some highlights of your experience.

It’s challenging to pinpoint just one highlight, as there were several profoundly impactful moments. Among the most meaningful were my visits to Scituate High School and the Boy Scouts camp in Rhode Island. These opportunities allowed me to engage with the non-Jewish community, share the richness of Jewish culture, and showcase Israel’s unique identity as a melting pot of diverse Jewish traditions from around the world.

Interacting with these teenagers and addressing their curiosities, misconceptions and questions, sparked by social media, proved instrumental in fostering cross-cultural understanding and appreciation.

Please talk about the relationships that you have made over the past two years.

The warmth and hospitality of this incredible community has been truly remarkable. From being welcomed into people’s homes to the

Elihay Skital countless engaging conversations over coffee, I have felt an overwhelming sense of belonging and acceptance.

The kindness and genuine interest shown by community members have made my time here feel like a home away from home.

Moreover, the immense support I received, especially after the events of Oct. 7, was profoundly touching and provided me with the strength and resilience to serve as a resource, sharing knowledge and insights about the ongoing war through meaningful programs for the community.

Please share something you did that you think had the most impact on you and the community.

If I had to choose one particularly impactful program, it would be hosting the HaZamir [The International Jewish Teen Choir] Jerusalem group here in Rhode Island in April. Over the course of four days, these 11 Israeli teens engaged deeply with our community, visiting schools, synagogues and other institutions. Their performances, including a powerful community event attended by over 200 people, fostered profound connec-

PHOTO | GLENN OSMUNDSON

tions and showcased the vibrancy of Jewish culture.

The ripple effects have been far-reaching, with JCDSRI [Jewish Community Day School of Rhode Island] fifth-graders deciding to sing “Chai” (a very famous song stating we are alive and proud) at their zimryah [songfest] after learning the song from the HaZamir teens.

Moreover, witnessing our own HaZamir Providence teens forge meaningful bonds with their Israeli counterparts was truly remarkable; they hosted them in their homes and were part of the tour.

Seeing over 200 people from our community come to the community event we had with HaZamir, supporting the teens and showing them love, was outstanding and empowering. This experience embodied the essence of cross-cultural exchange and left an indelible impact on both the community and the visiting teens.

Please share something that you struggled with.

One of the most significant challenges I faced was in the aftermath of the events of Oct. 7. Mustering the energy and drive to continue with

my programming responsibilities while grappling with the emotional toll of the situation was immensely difficult. However, the overwhelming support from the community and the Jewish Alliance was instrumental in helping me persevere and regain strength. Their unwavering understanding during that period enabled me to find the fortitude to carry on with my work, ultimately allowing me to navigate that arduous phase with resilience.

How did Oct. 7 change your experience here in R.I.?

The events of Oct. 7 profoundly transformed not only my personal experience but also the very essence of my role. From being primarily a cultural ambassador, sharing my identity and background through various programs, I found myself thrust into the position of an ambassador in the truest sense – a representative defending Israel against the surging tide of hate and antisemitism.

The initial plans for programming underwent a significant shift, with a heightened emphasis on addressing the conflict. Numerous addiCONTINUED ON PAGE 22

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COMMUNITY

Donald and Bonnie Dwares celebrate a milestone with gift to JCC

BY FRAN OSTENDORF

P

ROVIDENCE – Donald and Bonnie Dwares are longtime supporters of the Rhode Island Jewish community, and their support is

continuing: The Dwares recently gifted the Alliance’s Dwares Jewish Community Center with $55,000, in honor of their 55th wedding anniversary. “$1,000 FOR EACH year of marriage,” Donald said of the gift during a phone interview.

Both Bonnie and Donald expressed pride in the JCC and how it has become an outstanding part of the community at large.

They said they want to see it thrive so that it can

continue to serve the entire community, both Jewish and non-Jewish.

“When I pass there and see the activity, it makes me happy,” said Bonnie.

She said people in the East Side often stop her to tell her how much they love the JCC. “We have traditions [in

Judaism],” said Donald.

“Tradition makes it better.

That’s what we want.

Everyone tells me the JCC is fabulous. We want the JCC to keep going.”

Donald and Bonnie Dwares made a $1 million gift to the community in 2012 that helped in the renovation of the JCC. At the time, Donald told what was then The Jewish Voice, “Our parents did so much for us. They taught us to give back to the community that helped us as we grew up. And the Alliance’s JCC is the best way that we can help the community, as it serves all the people in Rhode Island, and especially the Jewish

community.”

The renovation was completed in 2017.

“Donald and Bonnie Dwares have long led by example in this community,” said Adam Greenman, president and CEO of the Jewish Alliance of Greater Rhode Island.

“I hope that others are willing to take the example they’ve set with their generosity, and if they are celebrating a major simcha, they will also consider using it as an opportunity to support our Jewish community.”

FRAN OSTENDORF is the editor of Jewish Rhode Island.

Bonnie and Donald Dwares

Rep. Amo voices support for Israel, fighting antisemitism

BY JEWISH RHODE ISLAND STAFF PROVIDENCE – On May 20, the Jewish Alliance of Greater Rhode Island welcomed U.S. Rep. Gabe Amo, D-R.I., to the Alliance’s Dwares Jewish Community Center for an intimate dialogue focusing on critical issues such as the U.S.-Israel relationship, rising antisemitism and the 2024 election.

Amo’s remarks started the 90-minute program, and were followed by a Q&A moderated

by Stephanie Hague, chief policy officer at the alliance.

“This is a trying time for the world,” Amo said. “We struggle [in Congress] just to do the basics.”

He said much of his focus has been on combatting antisemitism.

“Working for you is my highest honor,” he told the 40 people who attended the event.

Amo, who serves on the House Foreign Relations Committee, responded to a variety of audience questions, including those related to his votes on Israel and the Hamas war, definitions of antisemitism and the general tone of today’s Congress.

He admitted that he struggles with decisions on the Middle East.

“We don’t want to be in the business of attacking a prime minister of a country that we are so aligned with,” Amo said. “I want Israel to have what it needs.”

And he said he thinks there should be “day-after conversations,” referring to what happens when the war ends.

Antisemitism emerged as a central theme at the event, with Amo denouncing all forms of hate speech and discrimination against the Jewish community. He reiterated his commitment to fighting antisemitism and fostering inclusivity and tolerance both in Rhode Island and in Congress.

And he urged people to look beyond the titles of the bills before Congress and into their substance. That’s what he does, he said, adding, “My goal is to know as much as possible.”

As the 2024 election looms, Amo also discussed the importance of engaging with diverse constituencies and his support of President Joe Biden. He reminded the audience how and why communities must continue to engage

Cara Mitnick, Gabe Amo, Harris Chorney and Rich Glucksman. with their elected officials and hold them accountable to their priorities.

He emphasized that Rhode Islanders should not hesitate to reach out to his office with comments, complaints and for help. His Rhode Island office is in Pawtucket (1070 Main St. Suite 300). One of the advantages of being a small

state, he said, is our access to elected officials.

Amo also pointed out how well the Rhode Island delegation works together and how supportive the rest of the delegation has been of him as he learns the ins and outs of Washington during his first year in Congress.

New commission members NEWEST APPOINTED members of the Providence Human Relations Commission with Mayor Brett Smiley. Stephanie Hague, chief policy officer at the Jewish Alliance of Greater Rhode Island, is representing the Jewish community on this commission that celebrates

and elevates Providence’s diverse cultural communities; facilitates workshops and trainings to support civil rights; ensures discrimination complaints are investigated and adjudicated properly and advocates for policies that codify and protect the civil

rights of Providence residents. Pictured at left (L-R): Kannyka Pouk, Mellissa Parham, Wendy Johnson, Mayor Brett Smiley, Stephanie Hague and Cristopher Llopiz Osorio.

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Jewish Rhode Island | jewishrhody.org

Two witty tales set in the theater — from arts critic Bob Abelman . . .

Like an Agatha Christie whodunnit set to a Stephen Sondheim score — with laughs!

A theater critic takes an acting role as a publicity stunt — and gets more of a story than he bargained for.

“A razor-sharp delight!”

“Hilarious, but true to life.”

(Sweeney Todd)

(Pippin, Ragtime)

— Tom Ford, director and Equity actor

COMMUNITY

Doing my own small part to help Israel

— John Rubinstein, Tony Award–winning actor

Available at

BY GARY RABINOWITZ I GAZE AT MY HANDS, with all 10 fingers attached, and I see a miracle. You see, I went to Israel to farm and I didn’t cut off one finger. Prior to going to Israel, my relationship with agriculture was that I might have sliced a cucumber for a salad on occasion.

The visceral reaction that most of us had to Oct. 7 was life-changing. My immediate journey included calls to find a therapist. An incessant search to connect and help in any way possible. Donate.

Volunteer. Go to synagogues for Shabbat services. Be proudly Jewish.

None of this satiated my need to do something.

I am a secular Jew. My grandparents on my mother’s side both escaped Nazi Germany.

They did not know each other in Germany. They crossed paths in Switzerland as my grandmother was heading to New York City and my grandfather to La Paz, Bolivia. My grandmother gave him her address in New York. They exchanged a few letters, and then Fred Herz asked Ruth Wolf to come to Bolivia and marry him. Ruth accepted.

When I was growing up, they didn’t talk about Germany too much, but enough for me to understand that I had the

privilege of loving and being loved by real-life heroes.

Ruth and Fred were together for over 60 years.

One day, while Fred was visiting my mom, he passed.

My mom took care of what she needed to, and then went to see Ruth. My mom took Ruth’s hand and told her it was OK to go. Ten minutes later, Ruth passed. Officially, Ruth and Fred died three hours apart.

I share this story because my connection to Israel has always been deeply ingrained because of my grandparents’ experience.

Fred would always say that the State of Israel was of the utmost importance.

My brother made aliyah at a young age, married an Israeli woman, had two daughters and lived there for over 15 years.

IMMEDIATELY FOLLOWING the Oct. 7 attack by Hamas, the Israeli farming workforce was reduced to 10% as reserves were called to service. International workers fled home. Palestinian workers were no longer allowed. Summer crops were completely lost.

But it’s not just farming.

There are an unlimited number of Israeli industries CONTINUED ON PAGE 21

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jewishrhody.org | Jewish Rhode Island

COMMUNITY

Commission holds multiple programs to mark genocide awareness month

BY GIOVANNA WISEMAN

T

he Rhode Island Holocaust and Genocide Education Commission and its partners were hard at work presenting educational

programs during the month of April, which is Holocaust and Genocide Awareness Month.

THE HOLOCAUST, the Armenian Genocide, the Cambodian Genocide and the Rwandan Genocide all started or significantly intensified during the month of April.

The commission and its partners began educational events immediately, on April 1, with a professional development workshop co-sponsored by the Sandra Bornstein Holocaust Education Center, in Providence, and the Genocide Education Project, in San Francisco.

The presentation by Salve Regina University Prof.

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 20 that have been devastated

by Oct. 7. Tourism is all but gone. Tour guides, some of whom were booked two years out, are left wondering how to pay rent. Shops, restaurants, bars, clubs, cab drivers … all left to ponder what comes next.

Israel Food Rescue provides an opportunity to not only put boots on the ground to help farmers, but also to aid various other aspects of the Israeli economy.

ARRIVING AT Ben Gurion, I was flooded with emotions as I walked past images of the hostages.

Once outside, I saw lots of soldiers and police officers with rifles strapped to their backs. I found this extremely comforting. This is, and always has been, the reality for Israel. When you arrive, their presence lets you immediately know that we “are not Jews with trembling knees,” as former Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin famously said.

Oudi, my cab driver, was on “vacation” from the military.

He had come back from Gaza a short time ago and started working. He was affable, funny, down-to-earth and

Michael Xiarhos focused on the growing use of artificial intelligence in genocide denial.

Professor Xiarhos said AI can fabricate evidence or alter historic records to support claims that the Holocaust and other genocides never happened, or have been greatly exaggerated.

He gave educators tips about how to recognize this technology, while also reminding teachers to stay up to date as its development rapidly accelerates.

On April 5, the Bristol

wise. He had tagged along with his wife on a shopping excursion, and much like me, 37 seconds in, was regretting this decision. Oudi and I bonded over our mutual viewpoint that shopping is a loathsome task that should be avoided at all costs. We made each other laugh often.

Our group was staying in Jerusalem, and each morning we would head out to a farm.

Upon arriving in Jerusalem, my first impression was vibrancy. I had forgotten how cool Jerusalem is! Street musicians everywhere. Eclectic groups of residents walking, eating, laughing and singing. Kids jumping and playing. Teenagers roaming.

I met an elderly British couple who had made aliyah 15 years ago, and a couple of young guys from Belarus who had also made aliyah.

Our conversations were easy and filled with laughter and stories. Politics did not enter into our chats.

That evening, I met the rest of the farming crew, from places across the U.S. Florida.

Iowa. Cleveland. Colorado.

Philly. Two southern boys from Chattanooga. Jews and Christians.

Deep bonds were rapidly cemented, based on laugh-

Holocaust and Genocide Center at Bristol Community College, in Massachusetts, in collaboration with the LusoCentro Porteguese Cultural Center, at BCC hosted a conference on African genocides. The symposium featured a presentation by Veronique Helenon, of the University of Massachusetts Boston, who specializes in the connection between the French-speaking African diaspora and colonialism.

Retired educator Barbara Wahlberg, who is a member of the commission, gave three presentations of her lecture, “America and the Holocaust: Jim Crow Laws, Eugenics and the March Toward Genocide in Nazi-Occupied Europe,” at the Tiverton Public Library, the Cumberland Public Library and the Harmony Library.

Wahlberg also gave two presentations of “The Ten

ter, stories, family and the common need to get to Israel and help.

Remember the movie “Close Encounters of the Third Kind”? In the film, strangers from all over felt this deep, mysterious need to get to Devil’s Tower.

Israel was our Devil’s Tower. Except we knew why we were there. There was no mystery as to how we all ended up with boots on the ground in the Holy Land. We were there to do our small part to help.

THE NEXT MORNING, we loaded up a van and headed out for the 30-minute ride to a farm in Karmei Yosef.

Driving down the dirt road to the farm, the first things I noticed were the vastness and the beauty.

Alex, our leader, provided a quick orientation. We would be harvesting loquats (shesek in Hebrew). Alex had us take a bite out of a yellow one.

Sour! Then an orange one – sweet deliciousness!

We were instructed to try to leave a 1-millimeter stem when we picked the orange loquats. So, armed with clippers, a basket that hung around our necks, and work gloves, we went off in search

Stages of Genocide and How Antisemitism Became an Effective Tool of the Nazis,” at the Willett Free Library, in North Kingstown, and the Newport Public Library.

From the Armenian community, commission chairwoman Pauline Getzoyan and Esther Kalajian gave four presentations of their lecture, “A Journey from Despair to Hope: The Armenian Genocide and the Story of the Armenian Americans of R.I.,” at the Cranston Public Library, the West Warwick Public Library, the Pontiac Free Library Association, in Warwick, and the Langworthy Public Library, in Hope Valley.

The commission closed out Holocaust and Genocide Awareness Month on April 28 with a multidisciplinary program called “Remembrance, Resilience and Renewal: Genocide Awareness through the Arts.”

of ripe loquats.

The rows and rows of trees seemed infinite, but I enjoyed the work. The phrase “low-hanging fruit” was sometimes literal here – easy picking.

But sometimes the good loquats were up high or deep inside the tree. Would my back hold up? Would my artificial hip be OK? The answer was yes. And a shoutout to Barry from Chattanooga who brought a massage device!

After dropping a couple of loads off at a table, the massager was put to good use. None in our group were young bucks, so that thing got a workout.

After we dropped off our loquats, they would immediately be packaged. One of the many gratifying moments of this experience was that one day as we were wandering through the Shuk in Jerusalem, we saw the loquats we had harvested that day being sold. Farm to table at its best!

The sun took its toll as we worked, but my semi-decrepit body held up. I have incessantly encouraged students to “expand their comfort zone,” and farming in Israel had me live those words.

The entire experience opened me to gratitude and

Curated by Judith Lynn Stillman, Rhode Island College’s artist-in-residence, the program brought together musicians, artists, dancers and spoken-word poets from the Cambodian, Rwandan, Liberian, Armenian, Uighur and Jewish communities.

The event not only commemorated these genocides, but also encouraged dialogue and intercommunal support – a valuable resource in this time of rising fear and hatred.

For more information about the Rhode Island Holocaust and Genocide Education Commission, go to its website, at https://www. rihgec.org/home.

GIOVANNA WISEMAN is the director of programming and outreach at the Sandra Bornstein Holocaust Education Center, in Providence.

hope. The people of Israel are an inspiration. The way they carry on while confronted with the devastating war is superhuman. Everyone in Israel knows someone who was murdered or kidnapped.

I know my ability to process this has been tested, but seeing the smiles, the singing and the flourishing provided a sense of gratitude and levity.

Israel needs us. I was happy to do my small part and am counting the days until I return.

Am Yisrael chai – The people of Israel live!

If you would like to learn more about Israel Food Rescue or other volunteer opportunities in Israel, email Gary Rabinowitz at garyrabinowitz5@gmail.com.

GARY RABINOWITZ, of Cranston, is an assistant director at Camp Avoda in Massachusetts and an academic adviser at Johnson & Wales University. He is also a contributor to the digital music magazine In Focus Visions.

22 | JUNE 2024

Jewish Rhode Island | jewishrhody.org

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WAEF awards over $10,000 to Jewish groups in R.I., Israel PROVIDENCE – Formed in 1993, the Women’s Alliance Endowment Fund (WAEF) has awarded nearly $155,000 to diverse organizations serving women and children in Rhode Island and overseas communities. Last year, on its 30th anniversary, WAEF raised more than $12,300 in contributions and new memberships.

WAEF members convened on May 21 to consider submitted grant proposals.

The group, chaired by com-

munity member Katherine (Kit) Haspel, awarded grants totaling $10,600 to the following programs:

LOCAL Congregation Sha’arei Tefilla, $700 for Women’s Day of Inspiration.

Jewish Collaborative Services, $1,700 for Rosh Hashanah recipes and ingredients for Kosher food pantry customers.

Jewish Community Day School, $1,200 for Universal Design

Business & Real Estate Disputes

William M. Kolb, Esq.

Learning (UDL) training.

Temple Emanu-El, $800 for Women’s History Month Series.

University of Rhode Island Hillel, $1,400 for an appearance by Israeli-American actress/writer Iris Bahr.

ISRAEL Beit Ruth Educational and Therapeutic Village, $1,000 for promoting physical and emotional health for at-risk girls through sports.

ELI: Israel Association for Child Protection, $800 for sex education and abuse prevention for girls.

Emunah Afula Children’s Center, $1,000 for strengthening parentchild bonds.

The Feuerstein Institute, $1,000 for academic integration of UltraOrthodox women.

Jaffa Institute, $1,000 for “Welfare to Wellbeing” program.

To date, WAEF has 107 living members. Each one contributed $1,000 to the fund to join. The fund is invested with the Jewish Alliance of Greater Rhode Island’s endowment and relies on donations from new members to increase the funds available to distribute each year.

A gift of a WAEF membership is a wonderful way to introduce adult children and grandchildren to community philanthropy. Membership

allows our community’s women to directly impact women and youth around the globe in meaningful and critical ways, through programs and services necessary for a strong Jewish future.

If you are interested in becoming a WAEF member, or gifting a membership to a daughter, granddaughter, other family member or friend, or would like to discuss giving to your Jewish future, contact the Jewish Federation Foundation at (401) 421-4111 or endowment@jewishallianceri.org.

Submitted by the Women’s Alliance Endowment Fund

ATTORNEY AT LAW

Richmond Square, Providence | (401) 714-0622

www.KolbLaw.com

>

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 18 tional events were organized in collaboration with various organizations, allowing me to share my first-hand perspective as someone who has lived in Ashkelon, just five miles away from Gaza, and experienced this conflict since the age of 5.

Unfortunately, in the aftermath of Oct. 7, I also encountered alarming instances of antisemitism within Rhode Island, which made me feel unsafe. Witnessing people’s opinions about Israel changing drastically or immediately judging me solely based on my Jewish or Israeli identity was deeply unsettling and concerning, especially when coupled with an unwillingness to listen to my story.

This experience reinforced the critical importance of Israel’s existence and the vital role of education and ambassadorship in fostering understanding. Consequently, I set a personal goal to engage with as many individuals as possible, to listen and learn, and to serve as an invaluable resource for our community, working tirelessly to ensure our collective safety and counter the pernicious forces of hate.

Is there anything that you would have changed about this experience?

Ideally, I wish we didn’t have to confront the demoralizing realities of hate and antisemitism. However, given the circumstances, I am grateful to have been

present during this challenging period, enabling me to share my story proudly and impart my hard-earned knowledge as someone who has experienced years of conflict, enduring more than seven wars and operations.

While I sincerely wish we didn’t have to grapple with such pernicious forces, I am thankful for the opportunity to serve as a resource for our community during this tumultuous time. My role allowed me to counter misinformation, foster dialogue and hopefully change perspectives by offering a first-hand account rooted in lived experiences.

Although the circumstances were far from ideal, I am grateful to have been able to leverage my background and knowledge in a constructive manner, striving to cultivate greater understanding and empathy.

Was there anything that surprised you?

I was really surprised by the rapidity with which I felt embraced by this incredible community. Even before my arrival, I received warm greetings and offers of assistance through social media platforms like Facebook and WhatsApp. Upon setting foot in Rhode Island, countless individuals opened their homes to me, sharing their stories and making me feel at home almost instantly. The sense of belonging and the genuine warmth extended by this community was truly remarkable and something

I will forever cherish. I am immensely grateful for the opportunity to be a part of such a welcoming and supportive environment, which allowed me to seamlessly integrate and feel a deep connection from the very beginning.

Anything you want to add?

I am profoundly grateful to the incredible community here, the Jewish Alliance of Greater Rhode Island for welcoming me with open arms, and the Jewish Agency for Israel for entrusting me with this invaluable opportunity.

This experience has been a journey of personal growth, cultural exchange and the forging of lasting connections that will forever shape my perspective.

Although Skital’s time at the Alliance is coming to a close, he will remain in Rhode Island as an undergraduate student at Brown University.

PLEASE JOIN US ON JUNE 26 at 7 p.m. at the Dwares Jewish Commnunity Center as we celebrate Skital and wish him a “Sweet Ending for a New Beginning” with a community ice cream party. The event is free and open to the public.

Register at www.jewishallianceri. org/events/farewell-party-for-elihay DORI ADLER is the director of Jewish life and learning at the Jewish Alliance of Greater Rhode Island.

JUNE 2024 | 23

jewishrhody.org | Jewish Rhode Island

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Holocaust center celebrates a successful year and innovative plans Here are the winners of the Art & Writing Contest

Excellence in Art

The crowd at the annual meeting.

PHOTO | GLENN OSMUNDSON

BY GIOVANNA WISEMAN

P

ROVIDENCE – Art, augmented reality and appreciation were the themes of the day at the Sandra Bornstein Holocaust Education Center’s

Annual Meeting, held on May 29.

Award-winners Sofia China and Sandra Louis with Wendy Joering.

Paster, who passed away in 2023 and was replaced by his law partner John M. Harpootian.

David Cicilline, the CEO of the Rhode Island Foundation and an honorary board member, installed new board members Ruth Forstadt, Alex Hershey, Len Newman, Jon Orent, Shanna Trufan, Shannon Weinstein, Michael Xiarhos and Lisa Davis (presidential appointee).

He also welcomed the incoming board chair, Michael Bryant, to his new position. Bryant, a professor at Bryant University is a brilliant Holocaust scholar who is “a gift to this organization,” Cicilline said.

In his remarks, Professor Bryant expressed excitement about his upcoming term and the future of the center as a resource to communities and schools across the state.

Giovanna Wiseman, director of programming and outreach, presented prizes to the winners of the Art and Writing Contest, as well as

PRIOR TO Rabbi Ethan Adler Joering reflected on this giving an opening d’var unprecedented year and how Torah, attendees had a the center has flourished, chance to socialize while advancing its mission despite taking in the beautiful disrising hatred of all kinds. plays of the Annual Art and She also revealed a new Writing Contest winners and program being launched this a slideshow featuring all the fall, the Harold A. Winstead schools the center has visited Youth Interactive Learning this year.

Program. With a smartphone Dan Gamm then gave or tablet, students will be his final address as board able to watch and listen as an chair, reflecting on his term, immersive hologram shares which spanned the COVIDthe stories of Holocaust 19 pandemic and the hiring survivors and their children. of a new executive director, Thanks to this modern techWendy Joering, as well as the nology, the individual will meteoric rise in antisemitism appear on screen, standing following the Hamas terror right in front of the students. attack on Oct. 7.

Curriculum is currently Gamm praised the center’s being written to accompany leadership and staff for their each individual hologram. innovation and expansion of “Whether educators have the organization’s reach. two days, two weeks, or two He was presented with an ‘Whether educators have two days, two weeks, or engraved gavel as well as a two months to dedicate to Holocaust education, we copy of the book “I Never Saw will have a curriculum available for them.’

Another Butterfly,” which was signed by all the months to dedicate to Holoto honor participants of the board members. caust education, we will have high school program LeadIn her remarks, Wendy a curriculum available for ership Institute for Teens Joering remembered two (LIFT). them,” Joering said. people the community lost Retiring English teacher The center is able to offer this year: May-Ronny ZeidDonald Hogue, of Mount this state-of-the-art program man, the previous executive Saint Charles, in Woonto educators thanks to the director of the center for over socket, was honored for his generosity of the distribution 15 years, and Holocaust surdedication to Holocaust educommittee of Winstead’s vivor Alice Eichenbaum, who estate: his nephews Norman cation and his commitment to was an integral part of the having his students particiJay Bolotow and Phillip M. center’s Speakers’ Bureau. pate in the Art and Writing Weinstein, and Benjamin G.

Contest every year. This year’s winner in writing, Omar Abdelkhalek, came from Hogue’s class.

LIFT students Sam Licht and Liam Dee reflected on their time in the program.

Sam expressed his appreciation specifically for the knowledge he gained about the Holocaust, which he said will arm him and his fellow LIFT participants with much needed facts as they enter college, where misinformation and lack of education about historic events can often exacerbate antisemitism.

Liam talked about the group’s session on Rachel’s Challenge, an organization promoting kindness that was started by the family of Rachel Scott, the first child killed in the Columbine High School shooting.

Liam stressed the importance of choosing to be good, saying that “people underestimate how easy it is to make the world a worse place and too often overestimate how easy it is to make it a better one.”

The center will be taking the LIFT participants to the Auschwitz exhibit in Boston over the summer.

In these dark times, the Sandra Bornstein Holocaust Education Center remains committed to providing high-quality Holocaust and genocide programs and education to children and adults across Rhode Island.

GIOVANNA WISEMAN is the director of programming and outreach at the Sandra Bornstein Holocaust Education Center, in Providence.

Singer Award Alana Marulanda, St. Augustine School, Providence Alice and Ray Eichenbaum Award Colette Farmer, Shady Hill School, Cambridge, MA Honorable Mention with Distinction Angel Garcia, Segue Institute for Learning, Central Falls Camila A. Lorenzo Romero, Segue Institute for Learning Angela Garcia, Segue Institute for Learning Honorable Mention Morgan Lee, St. Augustine School Laura Guevara, St. Augustine School

Excellence in Writing Morris Gastfreund Award Omar Abdelkhalek, Mount Saint Charles Academy, Woonsocket May-Ronny Zeidman Award Daniel Ranucci, Saint Kevin School, Warwick Honorable Mention with Distinction Lauren Sparr, Moses Brown, Providence Honorable Mention Quinn Carlson, Moses Brown Charlotte Hall, Moses Brown

24 | JUNE 2024

Jewish Rhode Island | jewishrhody.org

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JCDSRI students

The students of JCDSRI gather to sing.

PHOTOS | HEATHER CLINE

A joyful evening of song ZIMRIYAH – Jewish Community Day School of Rhode Island’s annual all-school song festival – was a magical evening on May 23. JCDSRI students blew the audience away with their beautiful voices and incredible energy. They were surrounded by parents, grandparents, alumni, community members, faculty and friends as they sang their hearts out. The ruach (spirit and energy) in the room was palpable! A very special shout out to Ruti Adler for again creating a memorable and joyful Zimriyah experience for all!

Head of School Andrea Katzman speaks to family and friends.

S AS VaE v eT H |E t hD eA |TDE a t e Sandra Bornstein Holocaust Education Center Sandra Bornstein Holocaust Education Center Celebrating 36 Years of promoting

Celebrating 36 Years of promoting acceptance and understanding through education acceptance and understanding T H U R Sthrough DAY EVEN ING education SEPTEMBER 12, 2024 PROVIDENCE, RI

THURSDAY EVENING HONORING SEPTEMBER 12, 2024 SANDRA BORNSTEIN & RICHARD BORNSTEIN z”l PROVIDENCE, RI CHAIRS

Amanda & Jeremy Isenberg

HONORARY CHAIRS Bonnie & Donald Dwares

HONORING SANDRA BORNSTEIN & RICHARD BORNSTEIN z”l CHAIRS

HONORARY CHAIRS

Amanda & Jeremy Isenberg

Bonnie & Donald Dwares

jewishrhody.org | Jewish Rhode Island

COMMUNITY

Israel connection MANY IN RHODE ISLAND will remember Maor Mintz, camp shaliach in 2013 and 2014. He and his family live near the Gaza border on Kibbutz Holit. Nitza Attali shared these photos with Jewish Rhode Island and told us that Kibbutz Holit was devastated after the Oct. 7 attacks. Now, Kibbutz Revivim is preparing to host the evacuees from Kibbutz Holit. The photos are from a recent special event aimed to continue raising awareness of the captives in Gaza. Mintz, Attali told us, is now in the IDF reserves fighting in Gaza.

Did you know

KIDS AS YOUNG AS 9 can learn CPR?

Learn more and find a class at heart.org/nation ©2023 American Heart Association, Inc. All rights reserved. Unauthorized use prohibited. The American Heart Association is a qualified 501(c)(3) tax-exempt organization.

JUNE 2024 | 25

26 | JUNE 2024

Jewish Rhode Island | jewishrhody.org

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Israel Emergency Fund

Hadassah’s ‘Books on the Beach’ to be held Aug. 7

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

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

BY SUE MAYES

H

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

adassah Rhode Island’s signature event is returning to the shores of the Ocean State this summer. “Books on the Beach,” a

luncheon and author fundraising event, will be held at The Wyndham Newport Hotel, in Middletown, on Aug. 7. All money raised will provide crucial funding for Hadassah’s Gandel Rehabilitation Center, on the campus of the Mount Scopus

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

Hospital in Jerusalem.

401 Elmgrove Avenue, Providence

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

FOLLOWING A PLATED luncheon, “Books on the Beach” will feature a Q&A with authors Jennifer Rosner and Allegra Goodman.

Rosner has published two novels and a memoir, “If a Tree Falls: A Family’s Quest to Hear and Be Heard.” The inspiration for the memoir was her two daughters, both of whom were born deaf.

Rosner’s research into her ancestry revealed two greatgreat aunts who were also deaf sisters.

Inspiration for both her novels, “Once We Were Home” (a finalist for the National Jewish Book Award) and “The Yellow Bird Sings,” came from two Holocaust survivors. One child survivor hid with her mother in a shoemaker’s attic for 24 months, and the other worked to reclaim Jewish children from the Gentiles who had provided them with a safe harbor.

Allegra Goodman began publishing short stories about Jewish characters while in college, and her first book made its debut on the day of her graduation.

Goodman found inspiration for “Kaaterskill Falls” in childhood summers spent in the Catskills. She is a prolific writer, with many more novels to her credit, including “The Chalk Artist” and the story cycle “The Family Markowitz.”

Her latest novel, “Sam,” is an intimate portrait of a girl at risk, and it was a “Read With Jenna” selection featured on “The Today Show.”

Goodman’s next novel, “Isola,” will be published in

2025.

During the program, both authors will be interviewed

by Lisa Hostein, executive editor of Hadassah Magazine.

Proceeds from “Books on the Beach” will directly benefit Israel’s wounded soldiers by helping to continue the construction of The Gandel Rehabilitation Center. While providing cutting-edge medicine for anyone in need, Hadassah stepped up after Oct. 7, providing specialized critical care in this state-of-the-art facility that will eventually serve 10,000 patients a year.

The “Books on the Beach” event begins at noon, with a Sponsor Reception at 11.

The Sponsor Reception will feature guest speaker Nancy Falchuk, a past president of the Boston Chapter and of National Hadassah, and a founder of the Hadassah Nurses Council.

Hadassah, The Women’s Zionist Organization of America, was established in 1912. Working to advance philanthropy as well as women’s leadership, advocacy and health, Hadassah has over 300,000 members and supporters.

For more information on “Books of the Beach,” donations and registration, email chapri@hadassah.org or call (857) 404-0599.

SUE MAYES is the Past President of Hadassah Rhode Island and on the Fund Raising Team for Hadassah Southern New England Region

JUNE 2024 | 27

jewishrhody.org | Jewish Rhode Island

COMMUNITY

RIJHA shines a spotlight on Hahn Memorial

BY JAIME WALDEN

P

ROVIDENCE – National Park Ranger Andrew Schnetzer gave an engaging talk about the Hahn Memorial, in the Roger Williams National

Memorial, during the Rhode Island Jewish Historical Association’s 73rd Annual Spring Meeting, held on May 19.

SAMUEL TURCO, RIJHA’s archivist, introduced Schnetzer, who is a ranger at the Roger Williams memorial.

Schnetzer said the memorial spans 4.5 acres and is the only national memorial in New England with a separate memorial inside, the Hahn Memorial.

Schnetzer delved into the history of the Hahn family, tracing their journey from New York City to Providence in the 19th century. Isaac Hahn, a prominent Jewish businessman and community leader, was remembered for his contributions to various industries and his civic engagements, including his tenure in the Rhode Island General Assembly and his role in establishing the Sons of Israel and David Synagogue.

Isaac’s son, Jerome Hahn, played a significant role in Rhode Island’s legal history.

He was the second Jew to

pass the Rhode Island Bar Exam, and later served as an associate justice of the Rhode Island Supreme Court. Jerome Hahn was also notable for his involvement in significant legal and civic projects, such as the relocation of the Stephen Hopkins House.

Judge Hahn donated the memorial to Providence in 1932 in memory of his father. An octagonal well is the centerpiece of the memorial’s small courtyard and is traditionally considered the source of the Roger Williams Spring. The memorial was donated to the National Park Service in 1965.

Prior to Schnetzer’s talk, RIJHA President Harold Foster addressed the audience, highlighting RIJHA’s recent accomplishments, including a partnership with the Sandra Bornstein Holocaust Education Center, in Providence, and digitizing RIJHA’s archive to make it accessible to the general

public.

He then introduced Mel Topf, the Nominating Committee chair, who presented the proposed slate of officers and board members for the upcoming year. All nominees were approved unanimously.

The new officers are: president, Linda Lotridge Levin; 1st vice president, David Bazar; 2nd vice president, Lowell Lisker; secretary, Ruth Breindel; treasurer, Larry Ginsberg; and past president, Harold Foster.

Board members with terms ending in 2025 are Cynthia Benjamin, Deborah Carr, Lawrence Katz and W. Robert Kemp. Board members with terms ending in 2026 are Cliff Karten, Marilyn Myrow, Judy Rosenstein and Giovanna Wiseman.

On June 9, RIJHA and the park service will host a talk at the site of the Hahn Memorial at the Roger Williams National Memorial, 282 North Main St., Providence. If you would like to attend this free event, call RIJHA’s office at 401-331-1360 or email Jaime Walden at office@ rijha.org.

JAIME WALDEN, of Cumberland, is the office manager for the Rhode Island Jewish Historical Association.

Outgoing president Harold Foster with incoming president Linda Lotridge Levin.

Andrew Schnetzer speaks about the Hahn Memorial.

Jewish R.I. theater critic to be featured author/ speaker at ‘Behind the Book’ event

BY JEWISH RHODE ISLAND STAFF

P

ROVIDENCE – On July 16, the Jewish Alliance of Greater Rhode Island’s “Behind the Book” series will feature Bob Abelman, author of “All

the World’s a Stage Fright” and a theater critic for Jewish Rhode Island.

PRIOR TO HIS recent arrival in Rhode Island, Abelman was an award-winning theater critic for the Austin Chronicle, in Texas, and the Cleveland Jewish News, and a Fellow at the National Endowment for the Arts. For Jewish Rhode Island, he writes reviews of the Providence Performing Arts Center’s Broadway and Encore series productions.

He also covers the Rhode

Island theater scene for The Boston Globe.

“All the World’s a Stage Fright,” an American Fiction Award finalist, is a fastpaced, laugh-aloud, fictionalized memoir. It centers on a clandestine critic embedded in a professional production of Shakespeare’s “As You Like It,” with the intent of writing about the experience and driving up his newspaper’s readership.

But soon, the stunt becomes one man’s personal battle with iambic pentameter, the classically trained actors he has panned in the past and a vindictive stage manager with a bone to pick.

There’s also a competitive corps of reviewers lying in wait and eager to critique one of their own.

“The book started its life as a standard memoir,” says Abelman, who was actually cast in a professional production of Isaac Bashevis Singer’s “Yentl” and wrote a series of articles about the experience.

As a backup, he also got cast in a small role in “As You Like It” at another theater, but chose to perform in “Yentl” because the idea of

acting in a revered 400-yearold play at a world-class venue was more than a bit intimidating.

“When I started writing the memoir,” Abelman recalls, “I began wondering what it would have been like if I had actually chosen to perform in the Shakespeare play. So, I wrote about that instead, replacing lackluster facts about ‘Yentl’ with some entertaining fiction about ‘As You Like It.’ ” “Behind the Book” featuring Bob Abelman is on Tuesday, July 16, 6:30–8 p.m., at LitArts RI, 400 Harris Ave., Providence. The event is free. A moderated discussion and reading from “All the World’s a Stage Fright” will be followed by

a book signing. Books will be available for purchase for $15 in cash or check, or through Venmo and Zelle.

The “Behind the Book” program features Jewish authors and books that address Jewish life, identity and culture. The summer series features local authors, including Phil Eil, author of “Prescription for Pain: How a Once-Promising Doctor Became the ‘Pill Mill Killer,’ ” on Aug. 20, and Rabbi Elan Babchuck, author of “Picking up the Pieces: Leadership After Empire,” on Sept. 23.

For more information on “Behind the Book,” email dphillips@jewishallianceri. org.

of Greater Rhode Island’s Jewish Community 28The| Voice JUNE 2024

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OBITUARIES Jules Cohen, 90

N. KINGSTOWN, R.I. – Jules Alan Cohen passed away on May 30, 2024, at The Seasons at St. Elizabeth.

He was the beloved husband of Diana (Kane) Cohen for 39 years.

Born in Chicago, Illinois, he was a son of the late Herbert and Rosaline (Goldberg) Cohen. He had lived in North Kingstown for 38 years.

He graduated from Yale University, where he was also an avid tennis player and fencer and became RI and New England Men’s Tennis Champion in the 1960s, for which he has a place in the New England Tennis Hall of Fame in Newport. He was a professor emeritus at Rhode Island College for 14 years, and a computer consultant for 25 years, retiring in 1998.

Jules was a first lieutenant of artillery in the Army, serving in Korea during peace time. He served as a former president of the Narragansett Council B.S.A, the RI Wild Plant Society and the URI Master Gardener Association. He also served as a board member of the RI Boy Scouts.

He was the devoted father of Joanne Hayes and her husband, Wade “Sonny” Hayes, of Atlanta, Georgia; Stuart Cohen of Hartford, Connecticut; Peter Cohen and his wife, Kelly, of Greensboro, North Carolina. He was the loving grandfather of 13. He was the cherished great-grandfather of one.

He was the dear brother of the late Robert Cohen.

Contributions may be made to the Providence Country Day School (https:// providencecountryday. myschoolapp.com/page/ support-pcd/donate-today?siteId=1229&ssl=1#), the RI Wild Plant Society ( https://riwps.org/get-involved/donate/), or the North Kingstown Senior Association, “in memoriam of Jules Cohen,” P.O. Box 313, North Kingstown, RI 02852.

Laurel DeLuca, 93

NARRAGANSETT, R.I. – Laurel (Libby) DeLuca died on May 23, 2024, at Bayview at Scalabrini in North Kingstown. She was the wife of the late Anthony DeLuca. Born in Providence, a daughter of the late Max and Minnie

(Fish) Pass, she was a longtime resident of Cranston and Warwick. She was an optical technician for her brother Dr. Harry Pass in Providence for over 30 years.

More than anything, Libby was always devoted to her family. A loving mother to the late Sharon DeLuca, Joe (Beth) of Middleburg, Florida, and Michelle (William) Ferrara of Narragansett. A dear grandmother of Michael, Greg, Angela, Anthony, William, Matthew and Marcus. A cherished great-grandmother of Alexandra, Max, Arabella, Dominic and Willow. Libby was a dedicated sister to the late Harry Pass and Selma Rappoport. She leaves many beloved nieces and nephews.

Contributions may be made to Jewish Collaborative Services, 1165 North Main St., Providence, RI

Boris Erikhman, 62

PROVIDENCE, R.I. – Boris Meyer Erikhman, of Providence and Riverside, passed away tragically on June 4, 2023, after his motorcycle collided with a deer near Lake George, New York, early on a Sunday morning. He was the beloved husband of Lilia Kamenny Erikhman for 34 years.

Boris was an inquisitive, witty, loving and caring person; passionate about history, geography and music; and an avid antique cars and motorcycles collector who loved traveling and the great outdoors.

His valiant dad, Meyer, at the tender age of 15, volunteered as a military radio operator during WWII in the USSR, keeping communication between ships open under flying bullets and bombardments, surviving famine and hardships, and earning himself a medal of honor for heroic war efforts. Meyer later became a brilliant electrical engineer and installed power plants. Meyer was always proud of his Jewish heritage. The Erikhman family immigrated from Kazakhstan to the USA in 1976.

Boris was a chip off the old block and had engineering inclinations and golden hands. After graduating from Hope High School with high honors despite having been in the US only for two years, he went on to earn a degree in engineering but chose to work as a mechanic at his own auto repair shop, in War-

wick, for 10 years followed by employment at RIPTA for over 22 years. He always performed his work with pride and joy, earning great respect and admiration for his productivity and reliability.

Multitalented, in his lifetime Boris made lots of cherished friends, whom he loved to spend time with, entertain and always lend a helping hand.

Boris was an awesome dad, always setting a great example for his children and continuing to pass on “old world” traditions to the younger generation. He had grand plans, but his love of adventure ended his life only two months into a muchearned retirement.

Boris was the only son of Meyer T. Erikhman, of Odessa, Ukraine, and Polina Mashina, of Moscow.

He is survived by his loving children, Max and Esther, his wife Lilia, and cousins in Moscow, Toronto and Tel Aviv.

The tall, snow-covered Tien Shan Mountains, in Almaty, Kazakhstan, were Boris’s absolute favorite region on earth and his birthplace, where some of his ashes will be scattered.

Debra Formal, 65

PROVIDENCE, R.I – Debra Formal passed away on May 29, 2024. She was born on Feb. 22, 1959 to Milton and Pearl Kaufman in Providence.

Debra was a loving wife to Paul Formal for 42 years and a devoted mother to her children Stacey (Ed) and Maxie (Scott). She was also a cherished grandmother to Elliot Chubb. She will be deeply missed by her family and friends.

Throughout her life, Debra was known for her kindness, generosity and warmth. She had a passion for reading and loved spending winters with Paul in Florida and going to Narragansett beach in the summer. She touched the lives of many with her selflessness and was always putting everyone before herself.

Debra will be forever remembered for her love, laughter and the light she brought into the lives of all who knew her. She may be gone, but her spirit will live on in the memories and hearts of those who loved her.

Donations may be made

to the Rochambeau Branch Library, 708 Hope St., Providence, RI 02906 or a charity of choice.

Annette Friedman, 92

JACKSON HEIGHTS, N.Y. – Annette Friedman, of Jackson Heights, died May 15, 2024, at Esplanade of Woodmere. She was the beloved wife of the late Arnold I. Friedman. Born in Brooklyn, New York, a daughter of the late Louis and Sarah (Achtenberg) Silverberg, she had lived in Jackson Heights for over 60 years. Annette was an office associate for the NYC DOT, retiring in 1996.

She was the devoted mother of Carol Goldstein of Raleigh, North Carolina and Ellen Isaacs of Forest Hills, New York. She was the dear sister of the late Lillian Adler. She was the loving grandmother of Michael, Heather and Brian. She was the cherished great-grandmother of Jerry and Arielle.

Contributions in her memory may be made to the American Cancer Society, donate.cancer.org.

Stanley Goldstein, 89

PROVIDENCE, R.I. – Stanley P. Goldstein, of Providence, passed away May 21, 2024, at his residence after a brief illness surrounded by his loving family. He was the husband of Merle F. (Katz) Goldstein, with whom he shared 64 years of marriage.

Born in Woonsocket, a son of the late Israel and Etta (Halpern) Goldstein, he was a lifelong resident of Rhode Island, spending summers on

Chappaquiddick Island and winters in Florida.

A graduate of Dean Academy in Franklin, Massachusetts, Stanley graduated from the University of Pennsylvania Wharton School of Business in 1955 and served in the United States Army. After he and his brother Sid opened the first CVS in 1963, the company continued to evolve and grow under Goldstein's leadership, focusing on pharmacy, health and beauty care.

The main idea of success in business, Goldstein thought, was to be aware at all times of what consumers wanted and to give them value in the process. By the time he retired as CEO in 2006, CVS was the largest drugstore chain in the U.S. with more than 4,000 outlets.

Stanley always felt his other legacies were equally important, including philanthropy. The Goldstein family foundation, called ELMS after the parents’ and sons' first names, gave away millions over the years, especially to education. He served for years as board chair of Providence’s Met School. An avid New England sports fan, Stanley loved his many golden retrievers over the years, but he especially loved spending time with family.

In addition to his wife, Merle, he is survived by: two sons, Larry Goldstein and his wife, Jill, of Providence and Gene Goldstein and his wife, Melina, of Miami, Florida; four grandchildren, Samuel, Liam and Elle; one niece, Nancy Dunn and her husband, Charlie, and two nephews, Mark Goldstein and his wife, Sharon, and Ricky Goldstein. He was the brother of the late Larry, Sidney and Jason Goldstein and uncle of

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OBITUARIES the late Jimmy Goldstein.

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

Paula Granoff, 87

PALM BEACH, FLA. – Our Matriarch, Paula Anne (Koffler) Granoff, of Palm Beach, Old Westbury, New York, and Providence, died on May 28, 2024. She was surrounded by her loving family, at home in hospice care after battling a long illness.

She was the beloved wife of Leonard (Lenny) Granoff.

They have two sons, Lloyd (Harriet) Granoff of Palm Beach and Portsmouth, and Evan (Elizabeth) Granoff of Bristol and Franconia, New Hampshire. Seven grandchildren, Pamela (Daniel) Simon, Aaron, Ethan, Emily (Connor) Currier, Edith, Elliott, Ellen (Alden) Smith. Two great-grandchildren, Hayden and Charles, and two sisters Sandra Bornstein and Phyllis Braddock. Paula was pre-deceased by her mother Lillian (Riter) and her father Sol Koffler (founder of American Tourister Luggage).

Paula received a degree in English when she graduated Pembroke (Brown) in 1956.

She married her beloved Lenny, originally from Providence, in 1954.

Paula had an adventurous nature that led her to an interest in acquiring art.

With her fantastic “eye”, she was able to cultivate an amazing collection and on this journey, she donated frequently to RISD Museum and school. In recognition of her generous support and knowledge she was appointed to the board of RISD and was the recipient of the Athena Award in 2006 and an honorary doctorate in fine arts in 2010. Being extra philanthropic, Paula was a strong supporter of RISD and other meritorious organizations.

She and her husband gave the contemporary art wing at RISD and also gave generously to the Providence Public Library, donating the technology wing at the Rochambeau Avenue Branch.

Her contributions to worthy causes are well recognized.

While Paula was pregnant in 1956, she was first exposed to the game of golf, although she had never played. As a member of Ledgemont Country Club in Seekonk, Massachusetts, Alpine Country Club in Cranston, Glen Oaks Club in Old Westbury and High Ridge Country Club in Palm Beach, she won more than 60 championships.

Along the way she had 14 hole-in-ones. She played and won 3 Senior State Championships in the State of Rhode Island. She also became a student of the iconic golf teacher, Harvey Penick and was included in several chapters of his books.

Throughout her long health struggle, she was heard to tell family and friends “I've lived a great and long life, I have no complaints” She will be sadly missed.

Contributions may be made to Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, 450 Brookline Ave, Boston, MA 02215.

Ronald Graubart, 75

COVENTRY, R.I. – Ronald Milton Graubart, of Coventry, passed away on May 11, 2024, at the HopeHealth Hulitar Hospice Center in Providence after a brief illness.

Born in Providence, a son of the late Dr. Irwin A. and Doris F. (Bachman) Graubart, he was a lifelong resident of Rhode Island.

A graduate of Hope High School, Class of 1966, Ronnie earned an associate degree in business from Rhode Island Junior College (now CCRI) in 1980. He lived courageously with mental illness for much of his adult life. An avid sports fan, reader and follower of politics, he also enjoyed going bowling and playing tennis in his earlier years.

He is survived by his brother, Julian I. Graubart and Julian’s wife, Barbara J. Riley, of Washington, D.C. Contributions may be made to the mental illness advocacy organization NAMI Rhode Island, 154 Waterman St., Suite 5B, Providence, RI 02906.

Joel Kane, 86

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

TIVERTON, R.I. – Joel S. Kane, of Tiverton, passed away on May 24, 2024, surrounded by his loving family. He was the husband of the late Mary Elizabeth (Giordano) Kane.

Born in Fall River, he was a son of the late Charles H. and Ida (Alpert) Kane.

Joel graduated from the Wharton School of Business and Finance at the University of Pennsylvania in 1959, earning a Bachelor of Science Degree in Economics.

He proudly served as an Air Force reservist for six years.

A certified public accountant, he was co-owner with his late brother Peter of Kane and Kane Inc. in Fall River for many years before retiring.

Joel was a true Boston sports fanatic and loved gathering family to watch the big games. He enjoyed playing tennis, hosting weekly poker games and raising his beloved Newfoundlands.

He is survived by his seven children, Charles Kane and his companion, Lesley Shaw; Jeremy Kane and his wife, Nicole; Chris Culotta and his wife, Janine; Judy Wright and her husband, Kelly; Samuel Culotta and his wife, Shari; Carl Culotta and his wife, Adriana; and Louis Culotta; 11 grandchildren, Jesse, Tyler, Nicholas, Andrew, Alex, Gabriella, Silvana, Courtlin, Skyler, Christian and Juniper; four great-grandchildren, Ramesh, Meghana, Jacob and Evelyn. Joel was predeceased by his brothers, Peter and Harris Kane.

Marvin Kassed, 86

SILVER SPRING, MD. – A burial at Arlington Cemetery was held recently for Col. Marvin William Kassed (ret.), Ph.D., who died suddenly on April 24, 2020, at his home in Silver Spring. Marvin was born in Providence to Frank and Dorothy (Grossman) Kassed on Sept. 4, 1933. He was preceded in death by his son Jeffrey Kassed and his wife Janice (Montanari) Kassed. Marvin was a graduate of Hope High School.

He joined ROTC in college, played saxophone and clarinet in his University of RI jazz band, and later became an active-duty officer in the U.S. Army at Ft. Hood, Texas, with his first wife Elaine (Hendricks) Kassed. Marvin later returned to Providence to manage his parents’ shoe store, The Providence Shoe Box, to raise a family, and he continued his military career in the Army Reserve. He practiced family counseling in New Port Richey, Florida, for many years before moving to Maryland in 2019 to be closer to his daughter, Cheryl. Marvin loved people, reading, nature, discussing current events and going to dinner with Cheryl and her husband Geoff Patton on Thursday nights. He enjoyed Cheryl and Geoff’s dogs Nellie, Zoey, and Leo, and called them his "4-legged grandkids." He gifted his daughter with a love of shoes, learning,

dogs and a deep appreciation of jazz.

He is survived by daughter Dr. Cheryl Kassed (husband Geoff Patton) of Silver Spring; son Steven Kassed (wife Gail Kassed, East Greenwich), and grandchildren Josh Kassed, Leah Landry, Steven Kassed, Jesse Kassed and Noah Montanari; stepsons Chris Montanari and Shawn Montanari; and sister Linda Kassed Baer Nieberg (husband Lew Nieberg). Sadly for Marvin and the family, the whereabouts of his third son, Robert Kassed, are unknown.

Memorial contributions be made to your local NPR news station in memory of Marvin W Kassed.

Vera Khokhlovich, 94

Vera Khokhlovich passed away on May 23, 2024, after a brief illness.

She was the wife of the late Gregory Korennoy.

Born in the Ukraine, a daughter of the late Avraam and Maria (Ginsburg) Khokhlovich, she immigrated to the United States in 1990. She was an obstetrician for many years before retiring.

She is survived by two children, William Korennoy of Coventry and Irina Korrenaya and her husband Boris of Lincoln; two grandchildren, Dennis Medvetsky and his wife Alya and Marina Korennaya and her husband Robert; one great-grandson, Andrew; two brothers, Michail Khokhlovich and his wife Mariya and Jackob Khokhlovich. She was also the sister of the late Emanuel Khokhlovich.

Vivian Levitt, 98

PROVIDENCE, R.I. – Vivian (Ash) Levitt, of Providence and formerly of New York City, passed away on May 24, 2024, in Providence after a very brief illness. She was the adored wife of the late Melvin Levitt.

Born in the Bronx, New York, a daughter of the late Meyer “Max” and Rose (Bodian) Ash, she had spent the majority of her life in New York before moving to Providence in recent years.

Vivian was a force, a wonderful daughter, daughterin-law, sister, friend, mother, mother-in-law, aunt, grandmother, and great-grandmother. After meeting her future husband on a blind

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OBITUARIES date under the clock at the Astor Hotel in New York City, she never looked back. She became a great cook, even though when she was first married she only knew how to make elbow macaroni.

Vivian and Mel were a beautiful couple inside and out.

Both had style and a fabulous sense of humor and fiercely loved fun, family and their friends. They loved living at Manor Towers in Riverdale, being part of the social scene and spending summers at the pool club. Vivian loved to play cards – bridge, canasta and pan. She threw herself into doing political work for the Democratic Party, which led to her working for the Bronx Community Board, a job she enjoyed very much.

Vivian loved to shop, something she definitely passed down to each generation. When lockdown hit, she became a voracious reader – polishing off two books a week and circling the next candidates in Sunday’s New York Times book review. Vivian read the New York Times from cover to cover every single day and prided herself on her high score on Saturday’s news quiz.

Every day found Vivian dressed like it was a special occasion. Perfect strangers were drawn to her and her fashion sense. A true style icon to the end, her black patent shoes inspired a lovely nurse at Steere House to buy herself a pair. She never went anywhere empty-handed, especially when visiting the doctor or dentist.

Most importantly, Vivian, aka Nee and GeeNee, loved her family and when the great-grandchildren came on the scene she kvelled from morning to night at their escapades. We feel truly blessed that she knew them and that they knew their great-grandmother.

Vivian will be so missed by her daughter, Carla Spacone and her husband, Andrew, of Providence; her son Russell Levitt and his wife, Sherry Li, of Chatham, New Jersey; her four grandchildren, Aaron Spacone and his wife, Justine Le, of Boston, Hannah Spacone and her fiancé, Matt Gillen, of Pawtucket, Amelia Levitt of New York City and Katie Levitt of Chatham, New Jersey; her two great-grandchildren, Nora Gabrielle Larrea of Pawtucket and Caroline Leigh Spacone of Boston; her three nieces, Joy Carson, Gail Fish and Charlotte Weiss; her nephew, Ken Ash; special cousins Heidi (Jer-

old) Green and Mayda (Greg) Kramer, many great-nieces, great-nephews and their children and many close friends.

She was predeceased by her sister and best friend, Eta Ash; her three brothers, Lou Ash and his wife, Lee, Henry Ash and his wife, Marlene, and Arthur Ash and his wife, Mildred; three nieces, Carol, Ellen and Karen and her nephew, Richard. She also loved and was loved by her late precious beagle Woody and her late equally precious grand-dog Kramer.

Special thanks to the staff of Steere House, led by the extraordinary Dr. Nadia Mujahid, for caring for Viv with such love and attention.

Vivian was nothing if not memorable, so remember her with love. She may be remembered by a contribution to charity or simply by dressing as if each day is special.

Contributions may be made to Steere House Nursing and Rehabilitation Center, 100 Borden St., Providence, RI 02903 or to a charity of your choice.

Stephen Rappoport, 72

CRANSTON, R.I. – Stephen M. Rappoport, 74, died May 13, 2024, at home with his loving family by his side. He was the beloved husband of Ella (Smith) Rappoport for 38 years. Born in Providence, he was a son of the late Norton and Selma (Pass) Rappoport, and lived in Cranston for 36 years, previously living in Warwick.

He was the devoted father of Jonathan Rappoport (Danielle) and Adam Rappoport (Jamie) both of Evanston, Illinois; and Lauren Rappoport Halloway (Mark) of North Attleboro, Massachusetts. He was the dear brother of Ronald Rappoport (Gloria) of Exeter; his identical twin, Harvey Rappoport (Lorraine) of Cranston; and Howard Rappoport of West Warwick.

He was the fiercely loving grandfather of Ryan, Nathan, Jonah, Leo, Reese, Mila and Matthew. He was the loving pet dad to Brady and so many other beloved golden retrievers before him.

A larger-than-life presence known as “Rap” to many, he was an attorney for 50 years, most recently as senior partner at Rappoport, DeGiovanni & Caslowitz, Inc., where he practiced for more than three decades.

A member of the Rhode

Island Bar Association since 1974, he was also a member of the Massachusetts Bar since 1985 and the New Mexico State Bar since 1994.

Stephen was educated at Boston University, where he received a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1971, magna cum laude, and was elected to Phi Beta Kappa. He received his law degree from The American University Washington College of Law in the District of Columbia in 1974. Stephen was also an Army reservist.

An avid golfer and New England sports fan, he gleefully attended all six Patriots Super Bowl Championships and waited 59 years to see his cherished Red Sox win a World Series, followed by four more over the next 15 years.

Donations may be made in support of Uveal Melanoma Research at Jefferson’s Sidney Kimmel Cancer Center.

Please donate online at www.

Jefferson.edu/SupportUvealMelanoma.

and Nancy Deschenes of North Kingstown; daughterin-law, Diane Silverman of Seekonk; 14 grandchildren, Rachael Andoscia and her husband, Jesse; Daniel Silverman and his wife, Melissa; Timothy Silverman and his wife, Jessie; Ashley Silverman and her husband, Kev; Taylor Brennan and his wife, Lindsey; Alyssa Odegaard and her husband, Joel; Haley

Southworth and her husband, Philip; Spencer Silverman; Zachary Bourassa and his wife, Tiffany; Cameron Bourassa and his wife, Amy; Matthew Silverman and Quinn Deschenes and his wife, Rachel; and 19 great-grandchildren.

Donations to the Kidney Patients of Westerly (KPOWW), PO Box 3025, Westerly, RI.

WE ARE READ

Michael Silverman, 88

NORTH KINGSTOWN, R.I. – Michael H. Silverman, of North Kingstown, passed away on May 29, 2024, at HopeHealth Hulitar Hospice Center in Providence surrounded by his loving family. He was the loving husband of Carol (Stanzler) Silverman, with whom he shared 69 years of marriage.

Born in Providence, he was the son of the late William and Mildred (Marx) Silverman and father of the late Steven Silverman.

Michael was an executive vice president of Insurance Underwriters, Inc. for 30 years.

Michael's pride and joy was his beloved wife and family.

When not working he was always with his family, playing sports with all his kids along with all the neighborhood children. As the children grew they were all his best friends and they spent many hours together. He was a source of great strength for his family.

In addition to his wife, Carol, he is survived by: six children, Jane Schmitz of North Kingstown; Marjorie Brennan and her husband, Stephen, of North Carolina; David Silverman and his wife, Angela, of Cranston; Jordan Silverman and his wife, Michelle, of Cranston; Debra Bourassa and her husband, Roland, of Exeter;

We are Read in Mississippi – Tom and Ida Bochner-

Brown recently took at cruise down the Mississippi to celebrate their 33rd anniversary! Ida grew up in Rhode Island and they live in New Jersey.

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