October 2023

OCTOBER 2023 | TISHREI/HESHVAN 5784

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Get out and enjoy the season

Check our calendar for activities

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Learn letters from Rabbi Goldwasser

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Jewish Rhode Island | jewishrhody.org

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

Join us!

Lunch & Learn

Every third Tuesday of the Month Enjoy a delicious meal and have all of your senior living questions answered.

Whether for yourself or a loved one, our lunch and learn is a great way to get a real taste of Tamarisk.

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

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Something for everyone in our online community calendar WE HAVE SO MUCH going on in our Jewish community. The programming is robust and innovative.

Health and fitness. Wellness. Learning. Jewish-focused themes. Arts. Books.

Children and teens. Seniors.

From community organizations and universities to synagogues and day schools, there really is something for everyone in the Rhode Island Jewish community.

For example, on Tuesday, Oct. 10, I can hear author Julie Gerstenblatt speak about her new book, “Daughters of Nantucket,” at the Alliance’s Dwares Jewish Community Center, in Providence. Earlier that day, I might be found rocking with my granddaughters at Rock-a-Baby, a music class for babies in toddlers held at the JCC and in other places around Rhode Island. On Wednesday, Dr. Benny BarLevi is giving a lecture at Providence College. Did you know that he’s the school’s inaugural scholar-in-residence in Jewish Studies and Jewish-Christian Relations?

On Thursday, there’s a teen

Honoring our veterans We’d like to honor our Jewish veterans by running a photo of your favorite veteran. Please email the photo to editor@jewishalliaceri.org and include his or her full name and

night at Temple Beth-El, in Providence. And, on Friday, there are a number of Shabbat services to choose from.

You don’t even have to show up in person anymore.

One of the very few benefits of the COVID-19 pandemic is the wide variety of online programming that remains available for those who cannot attend or do not want to be out in crowds.

I admit to taking advantage of some of these online options.

But honestly, after the initial panic at being in a crowded room, isn’t it nice to interact with others?

Isn’t it nice to attend a program with speakers and maybe get a chance to see a few people you haven’t seen in a while? It’s also nice to know that if you aren’t feeling well or you have a cough or sniffles, you can still take advantage of many programs online.

Lifelong learning is an integral part of Judaism. You have to be ready to learn.

And we offer you some of the tools to find your next opportunity to learn.

Did you know that Jewish Rhode Island has an online community calendar? The events I listed above are all

in the community calendar.

We encourage everyone in the community to list events, classes and programs in the calendar that would be of interest to other members of the Jewish community.

It’s a simple process that you can find at JewishRhody. org: just go to the calendar button at the top and follow the instructions. If you have a problem, let us know and we’ll help. And if you are looking for something to do, take a look at the calendar, also at JewishRhody.org.

We hope more and more community listings will appear in the calendar and it can be an even greater resource for the greater Rhode Island Jewish community.

Each month, we list a few of the events in our print newspaper. But we can’t list them all, so the online calendar is a real resource. Please encourage the organizations you are involved in to post their events in this calendar.

And let me know if you have any suggestions to make it a better resource for all.

As always, I’m available at editor@jewishallianceri.org, and I welcome your suggestions and ideas.

where they served. Also include a contact phone number for the sender.

For regular mail, send a photo to Editor, Jewish Rhode Island, 401 Elmgrove Ave., Providence, RI 02906. Please include contact information and the full name of the

person in the photo along with where he/she served. If you want the photo returned, let us know.

Photos will appear in the Nov. 3 Jewish Rhode Island.

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UP FRONT Young writer Abraham Josephine Riesman is having a Renaissance

BY ROBERT ISENBERG

“R

ingmaster: Vince McMahon and the Unmaking of

America” is not your typical biography.

YES, THE SUBJECT is the cheesy, soap opera-like world of professional wrestling, but the book is a serious investigation into the WWE showman’s dubious business practices, gothic family roots and covert political influence.

This is a style that the author, Abraham Josephine Riesman, 37, has cultivated over the course of a decade-plus career in journalism.

Riesman, who now lives in the East Side of Providence, has experienced a personal renaissance in the past few years, with a young marriage, the publication of two bestselling books, a reevaluation of her gender identity and a growing relationship with her Jewish background.

In person, she is Josey, and she sports curly hair and an arm tattoo reading, “Idea #101: Solve Everything,” an obscure comic-book reference that echoes Riesman’s quixotic ambition. She speaks in robust pronouncements and biting quips, and she credits ADHD for her hairpin turns from topic to topic.

Riesman specializes in complex biographies, including “True Believer: The Rise and Fall of Stan Lee,” about comic-book legend Lee, and the forthcoming “Hollywood Freaks,” about the band Beck. But despite her youth, mapping Riesman’s own life is nearly as difficult.

Here are a few little-known highlights:

Raised in the Midwest, with deep New England roots Riesman grew up in Oak Park, Illinois, but her family history is deeply embedded in the Northeast.

Her great-great-grandfather, Philip Riesman, founded an electric company in Boston called Riesman & Sons, which was later the Pawtuck-

STATEMENT OF OWNERSHIP

Abraham Josephine Riesman

PHOTO | ROBERT ISENBERG

et-based Royal Electric Company.

“Our family was a big presence in New England,” says Riesman.

“What [Royal Electric] was most notable for – and this is the most Jewish-American thing you can possibly imagine – they made most of their money by selling Christmas lights.”

Her father, Robert Riesman, Jr., chose to forge his own path, and moved to the Chicago area two years before Riesman was born.

She’s a trans woman “Abraham Josephine Riesman” is a nod to both her first few decades as a biological male and her more recent transition into “she/her” pronouns.

“I never liked being a man,” says Riesman, who now wears more traditionally feminine outfits.

She describes her childhood in the 1990s as a zeitgeist of vicious

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homophobia, when an “effeminate boy” suffered almost constant hostility.

Riesman has a lifelong affection for women’s fashion, and by 2016 she identified as bisexual. Over the past few years, Riesman has embraced her identity as a woman and is outspoken about the trans experience.

“I want to answer questions,” Riesman says. “It’s very hard to make me uncomfortable with a question about transition. The goal is to save you or others the trouble of asking your coworker, cousin, whatever, a question that might make them uncomfortable. I will take the hit.”

She comes from a long line of Harvard grads “I am the vector of a bunch of Harvard legacy,” Riesman quips, a legacy that dates back to her

great-grandfather, Sylvester Robert Stone, who enrolled in 1920, when Harvard was “really antisemitic.”

Generations of Riesman’s family attended the Ivy League bastion, including Riesman’s own parents, who met on Harvard’s campus. Riesman herself finished her bachelor’s degree at Harvard in 2008.

She originally intended to be an actor Yes, a teenaged Abraham Riesman was bitten by the acting bug, largely thanks to theater summer camps.

“I intended to get a history degree, and I wanted to act extra-curricularly,” she says of her college days. But then came an exhaustive, two-week audition process for the semester’s plays.

“I remember reaching the end of that week and thinking, ‘I hate this.

The people here suck.’ [The scene] CONTINUED ON PAGE 5

Circulation: (A) Average number of copies each issue during the preceding 12 months, ending September 30, 2023, (1) net press run 6,500 (2) paid circulation to term subscribers by mail carrier delivery 5,309 (3) free distribution 1,091 (4) copies not distributed 100 (5) total 6,500 (B) Single issue nearest to filing date September 01, 2023 (1) Net press run 6,500 (2) paid circulation to term subscribers by mail carrier delivery 5,290 (3) free distribution 1,110 (4) copies not distributed 100 (5) total 6,500

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Finding your letter in the Torah D’ VA

THE HEBREW MONTH of Tishrei is one long marathon of Jewish rituals. We blasted into this month with Rosh Hashanah. We raised ourselves up with the White Fast of Yom Kippur.

We entered the comfort of Sukkot’s shelter. We are now in the last hurrah of Tishrei, with the holiday of Shemini Atzeret and Simchat Torah.

On Friday, Oct. 6, we will light the candles for the holiday on which we read the last words of the Torah and – immediately afterward – begin again by reading the first words. Traditionally, everyone in the congregation receives an aliyah on Simchat Torah. (The day on which this ritual is performed varies by movement

R

and by congregation. In the Reform congregation I serve, we will celebrate Simchat Torah on Friday night.)

People often ask me about this practice. Why do we not start reading the Torah anew on Rosh Hashanah, when we begin the Jewish year?

Why is the Torah reading cycle ended and begun on one of the most obscure of RABBI JEFFREY all Jewish festivals, GOLDWASSER when we are exhausted by all the other holidays of this month?

The Hasidic master known as Me’or Einayim (Menachem Nochum Twerski) explained that Simchat Torah is the day on which each of us is reconnected to the Torah in a way that can only happen after all the other holidays of Tishrei are finished (Me’or Einayim,

TO R A H

Emor).

He said that since there are 600,000 letters in the Torah and there were 600,000 Jews who received the Torah at Mount Sinai, we conclude that each Jewish soul has a spiritual connection to one of the Torah’s letters.

Simchat Torah is the day on which each of us reconnects with our special letter.

We can only do this after we have been purified by repentance on the High Holy Days and comforted by dwelling in the sukkah. On this day, each of us finally merits having an aliyah – coming up to the Torah – to meet the letter that sings to our souls.

Seen from this perspective, Simchat Torah is not just a day for rolling the Torah from one end to the other.

It is the day on which we unroll ourselves to discover our unique place within the Torah. This is the task for which we have been prepar-

ing all month.

In what letter will you find your soul? Are you the letter vav, which begins the commandment, V’ahavta l’rei’acha kamocha, “Love your neighbor as yourself”?

Are you the zion of Zachor et Yom haShabbat l’kad’sho, “Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy”?

Are you the silent aleph that yearns for God as it whispers, Ani Adonai Eloheichem, “I am Adonai your God”?

There are a multitude of different kinds of Jews, each with his or her own place and mission in the cosmos of the Torah.

You have traveled a long journey to reach this day. You have listened for the voice of the divine in the shofar’s blasts. You have dug deep into your past mistakes to

seek atonement. You have sat under the roof of the sukkah to contemplate the stars.

Now comes the culmination, the moment of ascending into Torah to discover yourself.

RABBI JEFFREY GOLDWASSER is the spiritual leader of Temple Sinai, in Cranston.

This teaching originally appeared in his blog, www. rebjeff.com.

Candle lighting times October 2023

Greater Rhode Island Oct. 6

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 4 was not that roundly different from the theater people in my high school.”

So instead, Riesman followed in the footsteps of her favorite movie critic, Roger Ebert, and signed up to become an arts writer for the century-old school paper, The Harvard Crimson. This was the start of her career in journalism.

“I quickly just fell in love with it,” she says. “It was so much fun.”

South Korea was a turning point Riesman didn’t know much about Korea, but a Korean-American roommate in college introduced her to this complex diaspora. Riesman was majoring in social anthropology at the time, and she needed to compose a senior thesis.

She won a grant and spent several months in Seoul, researching the Korean Minjok Leadership Academy, which had aggressively cultivated a new brand of “hyper-nationalism.”

Despite her enthusiasm for the project, Riesman’s completed thesis earned a disappointing “cum laude,” with the comment: “This is less a work of academia than it is a work of journalism.”

The condescension hurt, but helped Riesman come to a realization: “I was a jour-

nalist trying to do academic stuff.”

Writing about Stan Lee was kind of an accident In New York City, Riesman wrote for newspapers and eventually landed a position at New York Magazine. In 2015, two years into the magazine job, she volunteered to cover “Amazing, Fantastic, Incredible,” Stan Lee’s autobiography.

Riesman had been a comic-book enthusiast since the sixth grade, and what started as a capsule review quickly evolved into a larger, more critical profile about Lee. Her editor, the acclaimed journalist David Wallace-Wells, encouraged her to “have an opinion.”

“For a long time, I was very afraid of saying anything that might be controversial,” Reisman recalls. “It just wasn’t in my nature. I didn’t want to be principled to take a risk. I just wanted to be right.”

The mammoth, 10,000-word feature was a watershed experience for Riesman, and it would lay the groundwork for her myth-busting first book, “True Believer.”

Israel helped her reconnect with Judaism Riesman has written eloquently about her grandfather’s Zionism, graphic novelist Art Spiegelman and a controversial rabbi in the

West Bank – but she has spent much of her life ambivalent to Jewish themes. Sure, she had attended Hebrew school, celebrated a Bar Mitzvah, and joined a Birthright-like trip in college, but none of these events had really stirred her.

A second trip to Israel, in 2017, changed all that.

“I had this totally life-altering experience,” she says.

“I thought, ‘If I’m going to have a positive impact on this place, I have to own my Jewishness.’ After I came back, I was like, ‘I want to write about Jew stuff now.’ ”

Writing biographies has become a kind of catharsis What do comic books, pro wrestling and Beck all have in common? They were all major passions for a teenaged Riesman, and she has taken great pleasure in dissecting these subjects as an adult writer.

“It’s really gratifying to be able to research something I already like on some level, but can then be critical about, and analytical and investigative about,” she says.

Still, Riesman doesn’t consider her portraits damning: “If you’re reading my books right – and far be it for me to tell anybody how they should read my books – you should have a lot more empathy for the figures after you’re done with them,” she said.

Working on the books has also been a way to bond

5:59pm Shabbat/

Erev Simchat Torah with her spouse, S.I. Rosenbaum, who is a Oct. 7 7:00pm Erev longtime writer and Simchat Torah editor and helped Riesman refine her drafts.

Oct. 13 5:48pm Rosenbaum is also a pro wrestling enthusiOct. 20 5:37pm ast and has published articles about these Oct. 27 5:27pm niche athletes.

“She became my frontline editor,” olent street protests, they Riesman says of her decided to resettle somewhere spouse, before quipping: “She calmer. They considered Bosgets 50% of the proceeds anyton, but it was too expensive, way, so why not?” and Chicago, which would She met her spouse on Twitter require COVID-risky flights.

“We have to go somewhere and got married on Zoom we can drive, and that’s Riesman has a storied history somewhere affordable, and of tweeting, and she origihas family,” Riesman recalls nally met writer and artist thinking in 2020. “Providence Rosenbaum, 44, on the platwas the only candidate that form then known as Twitter. made sense.”

“We were pals online,” Riesman remembers, before She won’t write a book about they met in real life. herself – yet Rosenbaum is a Boston “Autobiography is fiction,” native and former reporter she says. “It would have to for the Providence Journal. be a novel. I would want to In early 2019, their friendship do it late in life, because I became a courtship. When know way too many people COVID descended, they who have written memoirs in moved into Riesman’s small their thirties or forties and apartment in Brooklyn, New don’t have perspective on York, and decided to marry their lives yet. But I do think in a virtual ceremony in May about it a lot.”

2020.

Coming to Providence was a COVID move Riesman and Rosenbaum had both lived in New York City for years, but between the pandemic and ever-more-vi-

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

6 | OCTOBER 2023

Jewish Rhode Island | jewishrhody.org

CALENDAR HIGHLIGHTS FOR COMPLETE MONTHLY LISTINGS, VISIT JEWISHRHODY.ORG

Ongoing

Liebowitz at tobyaane@gmail.com.

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 and Thursdays) programming from 11 a.m.-noon followed by lunch and discussion noon-1 p.m. Every Wednesday is chair yoga. The third Thursday of the month is a book chat with Neal Drobnis. Suggested donation: $3 per lunch for those age 60 and older as well as for younger adults with a disability. Other adults may purchase a meal for $6.50. The Kosher Senior Café is a program of Jewish Collaborative Services and is supported by the Jewish Alliance of Greater RI and Blackstone Health. Information and RSVP, Neal at neal@jfsri.org or 401-421-4111, ext. 107.

Let’s Talk Hebrew! Daled (Advanced Intermediate). Mondays 6:30-7:30 p.m. Thru 11/27. No class 10/9. Virtual only. For those able to converse in present, past and beginning future tenses and who can read and comment on easy Hebrew stories and newspaper articles. Will work with a book.

Cost: $125 (scholarship available).

Information, Toby Liebowitz at tobyaane@gmail.com.

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! Alef (Beginners). Mondays 5:30-6:30 p.m.

Thru 11/27. No class 10/9. Dwares JCC, 401 Elmgrove Ave., Providence. An introduction to alef bet and basic Hebrew phrases.

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

Let’s Talk Hebrew! Bet (Advanced Beginners). Mondays 6:30-7:30 p.m. Thru 11/27. No class 10/9. Dwares JCC, 401 Elmgrove Ave., Providence. Basic Hebrew reading skills and beginning Hebrew conversation. Will work with a book. Cost: $125 (scholarship available). Information, Toby

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Writing Community. Mondays 6-7:30 p.m. Thru 12/11. No class 10/9. Dwares JCC, 401 Elmgrove Ave., Providence. Instructor Jim Levanos will provide lessons, guidance and creative writing prompts to help writers find their voice. 4-week block: JCC Members: $25 | Non-members: $35; individual class: JCC Members: $8 | non-members: $10. Information, Devorah Phillips at dphillips@ jewishallianceri.org or 401-4214111, 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.

Let’s Talk Hebrew! Gimmel (Intermediate). Tuesdays 6:307:30 p.m. Thru 11/28. No class 11/7.

Dwares JCC, 401 Elmgrove Ave., Providence. Offered both in person and virtually. For those who can read and write Hebrew, and who can converse using basic vocabulary in the present and some past tense. Cost: $125 (scholarship available). Information, Toby Liebowitz at tobyaane@gmail.com.

Let’s Talk Hebrew! Hey (Advanced). Tuesdays 6:30-7:30 p.m. Thru 11/28. No class 11/7.

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

Pottery Classes. Wednesdays 6-8 p.m. Thru 12/6. No class 11/22. Dwares JCC, 401 Elmgrove Ave., Providence. Explore hand-building clay techniques of pinch, coil and slab to create exciting forms and realize ideas in three dimensions with long-time potter and ceramics teacher Sally Merino. JCC Members: $350 | Non-members: $425. Ages 18+.

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

Teen Nights at Temple Beth-El. Thursdays 6-8 p.m. 70 Orchard

Ave., Providence. Starting with dinner, students in grades 8-12 will engage with peers and learn skills to enhance their lives through a Jewish lens. Students in Grade 10 will prepare for Confirmation.

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

Delve Deeper: Yiddish Folklore and Culture. Thursdays 7-9 p.m. thru 11/16. Explore with Natan Meir, professor of Judaic Studies at Portland State University, Oregon, the rich folklore developed in Yiddish, linguistic and cultural components of Yiddish, and several great literary works. Via Zoom. Cost: $250 (scholarships available). Information, Morty Miller at mortymiller1945@gmail. com.

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

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

Cape Cod Synagogue Shabbat Services. Fridays 7 p.m., except second Friday of the month 6:30 p.m. when Family Shabbat services take place. 145 Winter St., Hyannis, Mass. With Rabbi David Freelund. In person and livestreamed on website, Facebook, Cape Media, YouTube and Community Television Comcast channel 99. Information, 508-775-2988 or capecodsynagogue.org.

Temple Beth-El Shabbat Morning Service. Second Saturday of the month 9-10:30 a.m. 70 Orchard Ave., Providence. Shabbat morning minyan with lay participation incorporating study, Torah and Haftarah readings. In person or via Zoom.

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

Temple Beth-El Torah Study. Saturdays except second Saturday of the month 9-10:15 a.m. 70 Orchard Ave., Providence. Delve into the weekly portion with Rabbi Sarah Mack and Rabbi Preston Neimeiser. In person only. Information, Jillian Brosofsky at jbrosofsky@ temple-beth-el.org or 401-3316070, ext. 100.

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

Breakfast followed by interactive in-person and Zoom 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.

Saturdays (no Torah Study when Bar or Bat Mitzvah) 10-11 a.m.

Rabbi Howard Voss-Altman leads weekly Torah study on current portion. Via Zoom. Information, Adina Davies at office@templehabonim.org or 401-245-6536.

Temple Beth-El Shabbat Morning Service and B’nai Mitzvah. Saturdays except second Saturday of the month 10:30 a.m. 70 Orchard Ave., Providence. Information, Jillian Brosofsky at jbrosofsky@ temple-beth-el.org or 401-3316070, ext. 100.

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 508-775-2988 or capecodsynagogue.org.

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

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

Friday | October 6 Temple Beth-El Simchat Torah Shabbat & Consecration. 5:45 p.m. 70 Orchard Ave., Providence.

Quick nosh and Festival Shabbat service led by the clergy and Hallelu band. Dance and sing with the Torah, and bless new students.

Festive oneg follows. If attending services online, log in at 6:15 p.m.

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

Temple Torat Yisrael Friday Night Live. 6 p.m. 1251 Middle Road, East Greenwich. Musical Shabbat service on Sukkot led

by Rabbi Ari Saks. In-person service with streaming available followed by Israeli-style dinner in the sukkah. Dinner cost – Adults: $20 | Ages 6-18: $8 | Ages 5 and under: free. Information, Temple@ toratyisrael.org.

Saturday | October 7 Temple Torat Yisrael Shemini Atzeret and Yizkor Service.

9:30-10:30 a.m. 1251 Middle Road, East Greenwich. Join us in ending the week of Sukkot. In-person service with Zoom available. Information, Temple@toratyisrael.org.

Temple Torat Yisrael Simchat Torah Family Celebration.

5:30 p.m. 1251 Middle Road, East Greenwich. Free family dinner followed by 6 p.m. Simchat Torah Service with singing and dancing.

In-person service led by Rabbi

Saks with streaming available.

Dessert at 7 p.m. Information, Temple@toratyisrael.org.

Tuesday | October 10 Behind the Book: “Daughters of Nantucket” by Julie Gerstenblatt. 7 p.m. Dwares JCC, 401 Elmgrove Ave., Providence. Set against Nantucket’s Great Fire of 1846, this novel brings together three women battling to save everything they hold dear. Event made possible by a partnership with the Jewish Book Council.

Cost: $10 (includes themed cocktail). Information, Devorah Phillips at dphillips@jewishallianceri.org or 401-421-4111, ext. 163.

Wednesday | October 11 First Annual Myrna Aronson Game Night. 5:30-9:30 p.m.

Dwares JCC, 401 Elmgrove Ave., Providence. Dinner and a cocktail to toast Myrna Aronson and her dedication for so many years to coordinating Game Day. Play canasta, bridge, mahjong, poker or any game. Cost: $54. Information or to be placed in a game, info@ hercri.org or 401-453-7860.

“Ungodly Statecraft: Figural Judaism and the Critique of Desacralized Politics in 16thand 17th-Century Europe.”

6 p.m. Ruane 105, Providence College, One Cunningham Square, Providence. Dr. Benny Bar-Lavi, the inaugural scholar-in-residence in Jewish Studies and Jewish-Christian Relations at PC, will deliver this lecture. In person and on Zoom. Reception with kosher options following lecture. Free.

Information, Steve Maurano at smaurano@providence.edu.

Friday | October 13 Temple Torat Yisrael Virtual Kabbalat Shabbat. 5:45 p.m. Via Zoom only. Information, Temple@ toratyisrael.org.

Temple Beth-El Shabbat Service.

7 p.m. 70 Orchard Ave., Providence. In person or via Zoom.

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

Saturday | October 14 Temple Torat Yisrael Morning Shabbat Service with a Bar Mitzvah. 9:30 a.m.-noon. 1251 Middle Road, East Greenwich.

In-person service with streaming available. Information, temple@ toratyisrael.org.

Sunday | October 15 Temple Torat Yisrael Adult Education: Was Napoleon “Woke”?

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jewishrhody.org | Jewish Rhode Island

CALENDAR 9-10 a.m. 1251 Middle Road, East Greenwich. This class will examine how the Jewish response to French Emancipation can help us resolve the culture wars of today.

Rabbi Saks will offer classes twice each month; each class will delve into a different topic. Information, Temple@toratyisrael.org.

Temple Torat Yisrael Men’s Club Breakfast with Speaker Ken Schneider. 10:15 a.m. 1251 Middle Road, East Greenwich. Breakfast followed by speaker at 10:30 a.m.

A leader of the Jewish Motorcycle Federation and the R.I. Coalition for Israel (RICI), Ken will talk about his work to combat antisemitism. Open to all. Suggested donation: $20.

RSVP and information, Lary Norin at 401-524-1356.

Temple Torat Yisrael Sisterhood Welcome Back Brunch. Noon. 1251 Middle Road, East Greenwich. Enjoy great food and conversation; hear about the scheduled events for the year; learn about our scholarship opportunity. Sisterhood dues: $30 for the year; $6 optional Mitzvah fund. Cash, checks and Venmo accepted. Temple nonmembers welcome. Information, Temple@ toratyisrael.org.

Stories and Scenes with Studio Playground and PJ Library.

2-3:30 p.m. Dwares JCC, 401 Elmgrove Ave., Providence. Funfilled afternoon of play acting and storytelling. Kids will learn the basics of creating a performance, play movement games and then act out some of their favorite PJ Library stories and themes. Ages 5-8 years old. Free. Information or RSVP, Lyndsey Ursillo at lursillo@ jewishallianceri.org.

Monday | October 16 Israeli Culture Series presents “Peace, Politics and Plutonium.”

7 p.m. Dwares JCC, 401 Elmgrove Ave., Providence. Gil Hoffman, executive director of HonestReporting, will delve into the pressing challenges facing Israel and how they can be overcome. Gil will shed light on the threats posed by Israel’s adversaries and provide strategies to fortify Israel’s security.

Free. Information, Elihay Eskital at eskital@jewishalliancri.org.

Tuesday | October 17 “Stories of Exile”: Discussion of Movie “Enemies: A Love Story.” 2-3:30 p.m. Rochambeau Community Library, 708 Hope St., Providence. Film based on I.B. Singer’s book about a Holocaust survivor living in New York City and struggling with depression after his ordeals in the war. Part of the Yiddish Book Center’s “Stories of

Exile” Reading Groups for Public Libraries. Information, rocadults@ clpvd.org.

Wednesday | October 18 Community CPR/First Aid Training. 3-5:30 p.m. Dwares JCC, 401 Elmgrove Ave., Providence.

Join the Jewish Alliance in this Adult and Pediatric First Aid/CPR/ AED Blended Learning Course.

Before this in-person skills session, participants will complete an online course. Free. Information, Napoleon Brito at nbrito@jewishallianceri.org.

Friday | October 20 Temple Torat Yisrael Virtual Kabbalat Shabbat. 5:45 p.m. Via Zoom only. Information, Temple@ toratyisrael.org.

Temple Beth-El Shabbat Hallelu Service. 6:30 p.m. 70 Orchard Ave., Providence. Musical Friday night service. Attend in person or online. Information, Jillian Brosofsky at jbrosofsky@temple-beth-el. org.

Saturday | October 21 Temple Torat Yisrael Morning Shabbat Service. 9:30-10:30 a.m.

1251 Middle Road, East Greenwich.

In-person service with Zoom available. Information, Temple@ toratyisrael.org.

Temple Sinai Sock Hop. 6-10 p.m.

30 Hagen Ave., Cranston. Enjoy delicious food from More Than a Meal Caterer featuring grilled boneless peach BBQ and delicious sides.

Vegetarian and gluten-free options available. Wine and beer cash bar, and a DJ spinning the hits. $36 per person. RSVP and information, Dottie at 942-8350.

Sunday | October 22 Temple Beth-El World Series of International Favorite Foods.

12:30 p.m. 70 Orchard Ave., Providence. Celebrate Rabbi Mack’s 20 years at TBE. Recipes cannot contain shellfish or meat and dairy together. To sign up as a chef contact Barbara Barry at bebarry@msn.com. Information, Jillian Brosofsky at jbrosofsky@ temple-beth-el.org.

Hadassah RI Walk for Women’s Health. 1 p.m. Sachuest Point National Wildlife Refuge, 769 Sachuest Point Road, Middletown.

Join our satellite team to increase awareness of Hadassah’s efforts in Israel and the U.S. to improve women’s health, including breast cancer research and gender equity in medicinal research, and advocate for reproductive rights. Registration fee: $25. Information, Hadassah Northeast office at 781-455-9055.

Temple Emanu-El Parashat Noah Pet Party. Temple parking lot, 99 Taft Ave., Providence. We will be welcoming our furry and not so furry friends (pets) for a special pet recognition in honor of Parashat Noah. All are welcome. Information, Shoshana Jacob at shosh@teprov. org or 401-331-1616.

“Stranger/Sister”: Experience with Muslim and Jewish women together. 4-7 p.m. Temple Sinai, 30 Hagen Ave., Cranston. Film showing, panel discussion and dinner.

Free. Information, Susan Sklar at ssklar@equalexchange.coop.

Monday | October 23 The Miriam Hospital Women’s Association Community Speaker Series Fall 2023: “Hair Loss – Causes, Treatment and Prevention” with guest speaker Carlos G. Wambier M.D., Ph.D. 7 p.m.

Sopkin Auditorium, The Miriam Hospital, 164 Summit Ave., Providence.

A light dinner will be served at 6 p.m. for those registered by 10/16.

Free. RSVP or information, Vickie Scott at 401-793-2520 or vickie. scott@Lifespan.org.

Thursday | October 26

“Repairing the World: Stories from the Tree of Life.” 6:30-8 p.m.

Dwares JCC, 401 Elmgrove Ave., Providence. The Jewish Alliance of Greater Rhode Island, the Sandra Bornstein Holocaust Education Center and the Board of Rabbis of Greater Rhode Island commemorate five years since the deadliest antisemitic attack in U.S. history with a screening of this documentary. Free. Information, Stephanie Hague at shague@jewishallianceri. org or 401-421-4111, ext. 127.

toratyisrael.org.

Friday | October 27

Temple Torat Yisrael Adult Education with Rabbi Saks: “Can you be an American Zionist?” 9-10 a.m. 1251 Middle Road, East Greenwich. Revisiting an ancient conflict between Jews who live inside and outside the Land of Israel. Information, Temple@toratyisrael.org.

Temple Torat Yisrael Virtual Kabbalat Shabbat. 5:45 p.m. Via Zoom only. Information, Temple@ toratyisrael.org.

Temple Beth-El Shabbat Service.

7 p.m. 70 Orchard Ave., Providence. In person or via Zoom.

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

Saturday | October 28 Temple Torat Yisrael Morning Shabbat Service. 9:30-10:30 a.m.

1251 Middle Road, East Greenwich.

In-person service with Zoom available. Information, Temple@

Temple Torat Yisrael Shabbat Study Session with Rabbi Saks.

10:30-11:30 a.m. 1251 Middle Road, East Greenwich. Parashat Lech Lecha: Why do we journey? A psychological analysis of God’s command to Abram to journey to the land of Canaan. With free Kiddush. Information and RSVP, temple@toratyisrael.org.

Sunday | October 29

Haddasah RI presents “Public Health: Issues and Policies in Today’s World.” 12:30-3 p.m.

Temple Sinai, 30 Hagen Ave., Cranston. Join us for an insightful discussion with a panel of leaders in medicine in the US and Israel.

Kosher dairy lunch and musical performance. Cost: $18. Co-sponsored by Jewish Collaborative Services. Information, chapri@ hadassah.org.

2023 Fall Adult Classes DANCE DANCE EVOLUTION! A Mind/Body Workshop Series

INTRO TO TAI CHI

Culture meets fitness in a safe, accepting, and joyful community.

WEDNESDAYS, SEPT 27–DEC 6

FRIDAYS, OCT 13–NOV 3

DELVE DEEPER: Yiddish Folklore & Culture THURSDAYS, SEPT, OCT, NOV

Examine the linguistic and cultural origins of Yiddish including stories, songs, rituals, and objects.

WEDNESDAYS, SEPT, OCT, NOV

Improve your balance, coordination, posture, and overall well-being.

POTTERY WITH SALLY Explore the pinch, coil, and slab techniques to create exciting forms.

WRITING COMMUNITY MONDAYS, SEPT 11–DEC 11

Join a community that provides writing motivation, optional group sharing, and one-on-one consultation.

FOR MORE CLASS INFORMATION, TIMES, AND PRICES VISIT

jewishallianceri.org/connect/things-to-do/adult-classes Devorah Phillips

401.421.4111. ext. 163 dphillips@jewishallianceri.org 401 ELMGROVE AVENUE, PROVIDENCE RI

8 | OCTOBER 2023

Jewish Rhode Island | jewishrhody.org

FOOD

Stuffed peppers are perfect for this time of year

BY LEANNE SHOR This story was originally published on The Nosher.

STUFFED VEGETABLES are a tradition on Sukkot, in celebration of the yearly harvest.

I love finding the commonalities among different global cuisines, and it seems that every culture has their own version of stuffed vegetables. Each tradition has variations of spices and stuffings, but the idea is always the same: they are the kind of cozy, home-cooked recipes that remind me of the grandmas and aunts who have big tables, open doors, and warm hearts.

Although I am not Persian, I’ve always felt connected to Persian food and find comfort and familiarity in the spice blends that are so closely related to my own Yemenite roots.

Israel has something of an obsession with stuffed

vegetables, and they are often served at big Shabbat dinners. I was introduced to these dishes by friends and family when I visited, and I was struck by how each family took so much pride in their dishes and the balance of flavors — it really seemed like every vegetable could be stuffed. And while some stuffed vegetables take a little longer to prepare, stuffed peppers are easy enough for a weeknight dinner.

These Persian-style stuffed peppers are both seriously comforting and wholesome. It’s also a onepot-meal that’s perfect to bring people together on a weeknight or for a Shabbat dinner. Filled with fresh herbs like mint and cilantro and aromatic spices such as saffron, cinnamon, and cumin, they are flavorful and hearty, but not heavy.

Persian-Inspired Stuffed Peppers INGREDIENTS 6 large bell peppers (a combination of colors looks great) For the filling: 3/4 cup basmati rice

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DIRECTIONS

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1 1/4 cups water 3/4 teaspoon kosher salt 2 tablespoons olive oil 1 pound ground beef 1 medium onion, chopped 4 garlic cloves, chopped 1 teaspoon kosher salt 2 tablespoons tomato paste 1/2 cup chopped cilantro 1/4 cup chopped Italian flat leaf parsley 1/4 chopped fresh mint 1/4 cup chopped scallions For the spice mix: 3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon 1 teaspoon ground cumin 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper 1/2 teaspoon ground turmeric 1/4 teaspoon ground coriander 1/2 teaspoon sumac For the sauce: 2 cups water 2 tablespoons tomato paste 2 teaspoons saffron Juice of 1 lemon

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Rinse basmati rice well until water runs clear. In a small saucepan, combine the rice, 1 1/4 cups of water, and 3/4 teaspoon kosher salt.

Cook per package directions, fluff with a fork, and set aside.

In a large skillet, heat the olive oil over medium heat.

Add the onions and ground beef and a teaspoon of kosher salt. Using a flat wooden spatula to break up the ground beef, cook for about 10 minutes, until the meat is cooked through and just starting to brown, but some juices are still left in the pan. Add the tomato paste, mix well to

PHOTO | JTA

incorporate, and set aside off the heat.

Combine all of the ground spices in a small bowl, whisk, set aside.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. In a large bowl, combine the cooked rice, chopped cilantro, parsley, mint, and scallions. Add the beef and onions mixture, and the spice blend. Using a large spoon, combine all filling ingredients thoroughly.

Carefully cut off the tops of the peppers, trying to keep the stem intact. Using a spoon or small paring knife, scoop out the membranes and the seeds. If the peppers are wobbly, you can carefully slice off a tiny bit of the bottom to level it, being careful not to cut a hole in the skin.

Arrange the peppers tightly together in a baking dish or cast iron skillet.

Generously spoon the filling mixture in each pepper all the way to the top, packing it down slightly. Top each pepper with its stem top.

In a small saucepan, combine the 2 cups water, saffron, 2 tablespoons tomato paste, lemon juice, and 1/2 teaspoon salt. Whisk to dissolve the tomato paste, then pour the sauce mixture between the peppers to fill the bottom of the baking dish.

Bake for 50-60 minutes until the peppers are fragrant and slightly wilted. Spoon some pan sauce into each pepper, and serve with slices of fresh lemon and a big green salad if desired.

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COMMUNITY VOICES

Questioning and interpreting are lifelong ventures

Osmundson Photography

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

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KIDS’ PICTURE BOOKS presactuality of history and the ent variations on the Torah freedom of metaphorical tales, inviting each young musings about how best to scholar to test his/her imagview the highest value of the ination and let their tale, as well as the rule. innocent interpreI believe that the tive skills go to tower of Babel is work while best and highest if they play. you study other Parashah languages with Noah is read respect for their on Oct. 21, variety and their which surely evolution, rather leads to than seeing it as questions. Did a punishment and Noah have to MIKE FINK isolation. protect the mice, The job of each or even the rats? Did among us might be you let the mosquitoes bite to pore over our lore in quest you during the journey of questions that goad us aboard the ark? into a life of creative searchHow about Columbus ing.

Day? Was the great explorer a good guy or a bad ’un?

MIKE FINK (mfink33@aol.

What if it rains on the last com) is a professor emeritus day of Sukkot? Do you still at the Rhode Island School of have to dine outdoors under Design. a sukkah roof that lets the raindrops hit you?

A youngster has to develop good judgment about how to understand, and accept, the meanings of all the holy days.

It is the job of our lifetimes to believe both in the

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BOOK

A DELECTABLY “DARK COMEDY!

HOLLYWOOD REPORTER

HANGMEN MARTIN MCDONAGH BY

10 | OCTOBER 2023

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COMMUNITY VOICES

Two benefactors at the beach

F

or 30 years, Betsey and I have enjoyed spending a few days each summer at a beach town in southern Maine. Our kids grew up visiting

this enclave, and now both our grandkids have begun to feel at home there. Though only a few hours’ drive from Providence, it feels like a world away.

WHAT DO I LIKE MOST about this idyllic spot? The views of the ocean, a nearby river or a small marina?

The breezes and stars? The surf is usually too cold for me to jump in, but I love walking along the shore, listening to the roar of the waves and watching everybody enjoy a marvelous time.

Although I usually drive

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by the town’s oceanside bluff, I occasionally stop for a closer look. Inside a public park rests an unusual sculpture: a low-lying slab of stone on which are perched 15 metal figures of frolicking adults, children and a pooch – none GEORGE M. more than GOODWIN a foot tall.

As carved CONTINUED ON PAGE 12

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OCTOBER 2023 | 11

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COMMUNITY VOICES

Wishing for a calmer, more just year in 5784

SPE A

K IN

THE EXCERPT ABOVE is part of the daunting Unetaneh Tokef, a prayer recited during the Musaf High Holy Days services, and it has resonated with me for two reasons: • It’s a central theme of the just-concluded High Holy Days, which leads to the fall Sukkot and Simchat Torah holidays.

• The message that it drives home – that we’re only alive for a period of time – should act as a wake-up call to humanity.

That’s why this prayer has motivated the first of my 10 Jewish New Year wishes, one for each of the 10 Days of Repentance:

1

That people should realize

that all of the arguing, hatred and divisiveness that far too many people seem to enjoy engaging in is all for naught.

Why? Because in the end, LARRY no matter how selfKESSLER righteous and arrogant you may sound in virulently opposing other people’s views, the hard truth is this: We’re all going to appear on the obituary page as the final act of our lives.

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“On Rosh Hashanah their decree is inscribed, and on Yom Kippur it is sealed. How many will pass away and how many will be created; who will live and who will die; who will come to his timely end, and who to an untimely end; who will perish by fire and who by water; who by the sword and who by beast; who by hunger and who by thirst; who by earthquake and who by the plague; who by strangling and who by stoning; who will be at rest and who will wander about; who will have serenity and who will be confused; who will be tranquil and who will be tormented; who will become poor and who will become wealthy; who will be brought to a low state and who will be uplifted.”

I’m making this wish because I’m extremely tired of the disturbing rise in antisemitism and hatred of minorities that has dominated our society since the onset of the pandemic.

Here are my nine other

new year’s wishes, which are in line with my hopes for a calmer and more just society:

2

Tolerance and respect:

We must relearn the art of disagreeing with people without demonizing them, which far too many people relish doing. Such poisonous rhetoric has had deadly consequences, empowering white supremacists and other extremist groups to commit violent acts against minorities.

3

Compassion and empathy:

meaningful, and without it, your final years can become extremely challenging and difficult.

6

Get moving/ exercise: I

wish people would get off their phones and exercise instead, even if it’s only to take a daily walk. Staying in shape is especially important during these uncertain post-pandemic times, and will also help keep your mind nimble as you age.

7

Smiles/ laughter: It’s

Remember the proverb “There but for the grace of God go I” and show your fellow human beings some consideration before writing them off.

said that laughter is the best medicine, and believe me, when you laugh, you’ll feel better. You also have to learn to laugh at yourself.

When you do, you’ll become more tolerant of others.

4

8

Be kinder:

Extending kindness to others, especially strangers, beats being nasty toward them. Kindness is also contagious, and you’ll feel better for it.

5

Good physical and mental health: Quite simply, I wish you a healthy year.

The older you get, the more you’ll understand that with good health, a longer life is

Values/ wealth: Making

sure that you have enough money to live on is important, but it’s not everything. Remember that Tevye, the humble milkman in “Fiddler on the Roof,” sang “If I Were a Rich Man,” but in truth, he was already a very rich man, because he had a loving family and plenty of friends. I’ve always considered myself a rich man because of the

good friends I’ve stayed in touch with for decades, as well as having a loving wife and daughters to support me. That, as the Mastercard commercials used to say, is “priceless.”

9

Give up grudges: I have,

at times, held grudges, but I’ve been trying hard to change that behavior, because holding grudges can make you miserable.

Try instead to be a bigger person and forgive and forget; you’ll feel better, even if the target of your grudge refuses to reconcile.

10

Lighten up: People have

to rediscover their sense of humor (see No. 7). Thanks to the vindictive, “gotcha!” nature of social media, far too many of us are more interested in running down people instead of trying to be better human beings.

I wish you, above all, a very healthy, happy and peaceful 5784.

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

Jewish principles apply to business dealings too

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pulously.

“This is clearly not the Torah way. In this week’s portion, we are told that we shouldn’t act unfairly to one another even when we do business.

Rather, we should recognize that this too is part of our relationPATRICIA ship with God, and we should RASKIN always treat people kindly and honestly, maintaining our proper values.”

My perspective on this is:

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I HAVE BEEN thinking about how the lessons we just revisited at Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur apply to our business life as well as our personal life.

An article on Aish.com, “Honest Trading,” by Nesanel Yoel Safran, makes this point about fairness in business: “Some people think that although it’s important to be nice and fair to others, when it comes down to matters having to do with money, the rules somehow change and they are allowed to act unscru-

Conduct your business with your higher purpose

in the forefront.

Listen to your customers, clients and colleagues, and understand their point of view, even if it is not your perspective.

Know and focus on making a difference for the people you do business with.

Bring joy into your work, even on the tough days.

Be grateful for the opportunity to do your work, even when your role or position might need to change.

Be fair in your business relationships. People will remember how they were treated, and treating them well can bring all parties dividends.

In his article “Radically Jewish Business Ethics,” on Chabad.org, David Weitzner writes, “An authentically Jewish approach to business ethics believes that businesses can do well while being good. Be mindful of your strategy, and be mindful of the greater narrative that you will one day have to relay.

“Are you creating more opportunities for business, opening doors for more people to join the transactions? Are you playing your role as authentically as possible, whether you are a buyer or a seller, a lender or a borrower? The moral good that comes from business activities done well is as real and meaningful as the

moral good that may come from anywhere else. That is business b’emunah.”

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

12 | OCTOBER 2023

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COMMUNITY VOICES CONTINUED FROM PAGE 10

York City. He soon married Helen Auerbach, an actress, and took art classes at the Art Students League.

During the 1960s, Sumner opened Y&R offices in Europe, but in 1967 he returned with his young family to Portsmouth, where he took over Winebaum News, his father’s newspaper-distribution business.

After retiring in 1994, Sumner continued to enjoy many sports and helped lead numerous philanthropic organizations, including Temple Israel, a Conservative congregation in Portsmouth; Strawberry Banke Museum, only a few blocks away; and the New Hampshire Charitable Foundation. He passed away four years ago.

I had in fact once found another example of Sumner’s

in its base, this sculpture is appropriately titled “Pleasure Ground.”

Obviously the creation of an amateur artist, he or she had only begun to learn how to portray humans and organize a composition.

Betsey and I happen to be quite serious fans of folk art from many corners of the world, and have collected scores of examples. Thus, we know that “Pleasure Ground” doesn’t properly fit within this rubric.

Some viewers may notice the sculptor’s name, which is carved into the stone’s base.

Perhaps some locals knew or have heard of Sumner Winebaum. His name is also displayed elsewhere in the park; a plaque shows that he was one of only a half-dozen donors who helped establish or maintain it. '...he or she had only Before moving to Rhode Island 36 years begun to learn how to ago, I had never heard of or met a Sumner. But portray humans and my in-laws, in Massachusetts, have known organize a composition.' three or four. And all these men just happened to be Jews! Of course, innocent artistry: two large Sumner Redstone, the late bronze hands, perhaps resemmedia tycoon, was from bling a Holocaust memorial, Boston. which can also – surprisingly Wanting to learn more – function as a menorah, on about Sumner Winebaum, I the grounds of Temple Israel. found an abundance of inforThere’s a wonderful mation on the internet. A son outdoor pool at my family’s of Russian-born immigrants, Maine hideaway where hotel Harry and Mollie Winebaum, guests and condo owners conSumner was born in 1928 and gregate. Betsey and I recogreared in Portsmouth, New nize more than a few of these Hampshire. After graduating people, which may include a from the University of Michitiny number of Jews. Nevgan, he began his advertising ertheless, I feel free to strike career as a copywriter at up a conversation with just Young & Rubicam, in New about anybody.

JEWISH

Sumner Winebaum’s sculpture “Pleasure Ground.”

This past August, I noticed an elderly gentleman (older than I!), who was wearing a baseball cap adorned with the number “53.” Somehow, I deduced that he had graduated from college that year and had recently attended his reunion.

I was right, so Leonard Milberg and I began to get acquainted. Indeed, I was soon introduced to his wife, Ellen, and the three of us chatted at length on two more occasions. Why? We love to yak, and we shared so many interests.

Now about 92, Leonard was one of only about 20 classmates able to attend his Princeton reunion. No doubt an even smaller number were able to attend their Class of 1949 reunion at Phillips Exeter Academy, in Exeter, New Hampshire.

I don’t know if any of these classmates was named Sumner, but there would have been a miniscule number of

RHODE ISLAND's

Leonard Milberg

Jews. Yet, Leonard, whose family was from Brooklyn, New York, may have been the only Exeter freshman to lose $80 while playing his first game of poker!

Leonard’s father, Benjamin, initially a manufacturer of lingerie, became a factor, which meant financing production for other textile companies. Loving to speculate, he at one time owned – but later lost – 40 Thoroughbreds.

After serving in the Army during the Korean War and earning a master’s degree at Penn’s Wharton School, Leonard entered his father’s business. He accepted its leadership on the condition that his old man retire.

Leonard is still working as a factor, and one of his sons also leads the company.

Though a trustee of the Brooklyn Art Museum for three decades, Leonard eventually made Princeton his primary cultural beneficiary.

Indeed, he has established

This Month in

PHOTOS | GEORGE M. GOODWIN

a gallery in its Firestone Library and endowed professorships, and he has also donated approximately 13,000 prints, drawings and books from his own extraordinary collection.

And this resident of Rye, New York, does like swimming. After diving into the hotel’s chilly pool, he challenged me to join him!

Did I mention that Leonard and I happen to resemble each other? He’s far taller, but his father was born in Romania, as was my paternal grandfather.

So now for the big question: given their fondness for philanthropy, as well as for this corner of Maine, did Sumner and Leonard ever meet? Wouldn’t they have enjoyed sunning and schmoozing?

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

History

A New Temple in Pawtucket THIRTY-FOUR Octobers ago, a group of dignitaries stuck their shovels in the soil on 671 East Ave. for the first time. So began the construction of Ohawe Sholam Synagogue, a 6,000-square-foot institution that serves Pawtucket’s Orthodox community to this day. The project was slow to get going; the congrega-

tion originally purchased the land in 1951, but funding and finalized plans were not ready until the fall of 1979. The deal was first brokered

by Dr. Charles Jagolinzer, Samuel Shlevin, Charles Steingold and Max Alperin – whose son, Mel Alperin continues to be active in the Rhode Island Jewish community.

Newspaper courtesy Rhode Island Jewish Historical Association

jewishrhody.org | Jewish Rhode Island

OCTOBER 2023 | 13

SIMCHA

Happy Birthday!

IT WAS AN EXCITING DAY when four generations came together in Cranston to celebrate the 97th birthday for Miriam Snell which was Sept. 17. We all shared a lot of great memories of the past, and there was lots of love, laughter and happiness in the room. Miriam as always was the life of the party. She was surrounded with so much love from her children, grandchildren great-grandchildren. Even her great-grand-dog was there for the celebration. It was a very special day for our family.

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14 | OCTOBER 2023

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OPINION Another take on Adams

David Middlemiss Cranston, RI

RICI signs letter IN ANTICIPATION of the University of California Regents’ upcoming board meeting, a coalition letter signed by 99 organizations was submitted to the UC Regents on Sept. 18, 2023, urging them to help stop the proliferation of antisemitism in California high school classrooms by rejecting the UC ethnic studies admissions requirement proposal being promoted by anti-Zionist UC faculty: RI Coalition for Israel (RICI) was one of the 99 organizations that signed because history tells us that what starts in California can be expected to end up in Rhode Island. The letter can be read at https://tinyurl.com/4ybyphpj Visit ricoalitionforisrael. org for information about RICI. Howard Brown Executive Director, RICI

YEHUDA AMICHAI (1924-2000) is the third in a line of Hebrew poets who have earned a place in the Israeli consciousness as “national poets.” The first of such men, Chaim Nachman Bialik (1873-1934), lived and died before the state of Israel was born. Then came Natan Alterman (1910-1970), whose 1947 poem, “Magash HaKesef (The Silver Platter),” anticipated the formidable sacrifices that the population would have to make in order to establish Israel, on May 14, 1948.

Amichai was a very different kind of poet from either Bialik or Alterman. He was among the first to infuse his poems with the everyday sounds and cadences of the evolving Hebrew spoken on the streets of Tel Aviv, Haifa and Jerusalem. His work, often deceptively simple upon first reading, becomes, after repeated readings, increasingly complicated by layers of irony and ambiguity.

My friend and colleague Rabbi Leslie Gutterman, knowing the depth of my appreciation for Amichai’s work, recently sent me an article from the Aug. 28 “Israel from the Inside with Daniel Gordis” (danielgordis.substack. com) in which Gordis analyzes one of Amichai’s older poems, “The Place Where We Are Right,” published in 1965.

The poem, set to music by Israeli entertainer Yoni Richter in 2012, is currently being discussed by the Israeli public on radio as well as in a variety of print and online venues. The reason for this particular poem’s renewed attention is that it raises pointed ques-

tions regarding the explosive cultural and political conflict brought on by the actions of Benjamin Netanyahu’s extreme right-wing government.

The poem begins, “From the place where we are right/flowers will never grow/in the spring.”

The phrase, “where we are right” is loaded with irony in the Hebrew; the root of the word tsodkim (we are right) is tsedek (justice), closely related to the Hebrew word tzedakah (charity).

However, Amichai shrewdly implies that men and women who claim to be “right” are RABBI JAMES anything but ROSENBERG virtuous, just or charitable.

To the contrary, such people are selfrighteous, self-satisfied, shut off from all viewpoints other than their own.

Indeed, their insistence on being “right” at all costs deadens the possibility of flowers (contrary opinions) ever blooming in the spring; they have poisoned the soil for living discussion.

Stephen Mitchell translates the second verse as follows: “The place where we are right/is hard and trampled/like a yard.”

While I have long considered Mitchell to be one of the most talented translators of both biblical and modern Hebrew, I feel that he is missing the subtlety here. I have tried to capture

EM

S TO M

E

I FOUND AARON GINSBURG’S recent article about Rabbi Soloveichik’s presentation at the Newport Historical Society (September 2023) pretty interesting, especially the quotes from John Adams.

I didn’t know that he had said those things. I’d like to submit another quote from him as it relates to our times: “...We have no Government armed with Power capable of contending with human Passions unbridled by morality and Religion. Avarice, Ambition, Revenge or Galantry, would break the strongest Cords of our Constitution as a Whale goes through a Net. Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious People. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other.”

The perils of speaking from ‘The Place Where We Are Right’

IT S E

LETTERS

the nuance with this translation: “The place where we are right/is trampled down and unyielding/like a courtyard.”

That is to say, when our insistence on being right becomes unyielding, like the trampled ground of a heavily trafficked courtyard, we are hardened against seeing any truth but our own.

Amichai concludes his 12-line poem by suggesting that our ability to doubt and to love – love is always seasoned with doubt – enables us to soften up the hardened certainty of that place where we are right.

What does this poem mean to the hundreds of thousands of Israelis who have been protesting for months from the place where they are right to oppose Netanyahu’s right-wing government? And what does this poem say to those settlers who have been protesting from the place where they are right to oppose those “leftist” protesters?

And what about us liberal-oriented Americans? What makes us so certain, from the place that we are right, that MAGA Republicans are a threat to our nation’s democracy? And how do MAGA Republicans, from the place that they are right, view the lunatic left?

What can it possibly mean for any of us to speak from “the place where we are right”?

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

USPS releases Ruth Bader Ginsburg stamp

BY PHILISSA CRAMER (JTA) – The United States Postal Service has released a new series of Forever stamps honoring Ruth Bader Ginsburg, the late Jewish Supreme Court justice and liberal icon who died in 2020.

The stamp, which became available for purchase on Monday [Oct. 2], shows Ginsburg wearing her black judge’s robe and signature white collar. It was announced last year as part of the postal service’s 2023 lineup of new stamps, reflecting a jump on the service’s standard timeline for

honoring deceased people.

The stamp’s release comes three years and two weeks after Ginsburg’s death at 87, after 27 years on the Supreme Court. Her death, from pancreatic cancer, came on the eve of Rosh Hashanah at a time of intense political polarization – which deepened as then-President Donald Trump pushed through a conservative replacement despite a looming presidential election.

“Honor an icon of American culture with this new Ruth Bader Ginsburg stamp,” the USPS says on its website. It says about

Ginsburg: “She began her career as an activist lawyer fighting gender discrimination. She went on to become a judge who was unafraid to disagree with her colleagues. Ginsburg gained a reputation as a respected voice for equal justice.”

The RBG stamp costs $.66 but will hold its value over time as part of the Forever series. The portrait was drawn by Michael Deas, who has painted dozens of stamps, under the direction of the USPS’ Jewish art director, Ethel Kessler. The stamp will be celebrated at an official unveiling Monday evening at the National Por-

trait Gallery in Washington, D.C. The U.S. Postal Service’s special edition stamps commemorating notable Americans have included many Jews, including the physicist Richard Feynman in 2005, cartoonist and inventor Rube Goldberg in 1995 and, in 1991, comedian Fanny Brice, the inspiration for the musical “Funny Girl.” The series in which Brice appeared was drawn by the Jewish illustrator Al Hirschfeld. Last year, the service released a special-edition stamp featuring the Jewish poet Shel Silverstein.

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.

OCTOBER 2023 | 15

jewishrhody.org | Jewish Rhode Island

OPINION

The RI Israel Coalition benefits Americans and Israelis

BY LARRY KATZ THOUGH THE JUDICIAL reform protests continue on the streets of Israel, with all sorts of sub-protests and counter-protests, everyday life continues as well.

No matter where one may stand on the political turmoil, there are still people and businesses that seek to develop partnerships to grow their opportunities.

The Rhode Island Israel Collaborative is a nonprofit organization that promotes commerce, academics and science projects between Israel and Rhode Island.

RIIC enables many businesses and groups in Israel to partner with entities in our state to develop projects that benefit both Americans and Israelis.

When I worked at the Jewish Alliance of Greater Rhode Island as director of the Israel Desk (among other duties), I was well aware of the many varied areas in which RIIC operates, and I was friends with some of the directors, including Avi Nevel (CEO), Jeff Brier, Jay Rosenstein, Miriam Ross, Jacqueline Saslawski (Bryant University) and Roey

Tzezana.

I was present years ago, when RIIC began a project that partnered members of the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce with a web technology company in Israel.

During the pandemic, I virtually attended a couple of RIIC’s “Little States, Big Innovations” panels, which introduced Israeli and American businesspeople.

Therefore, I was happy to accept an invitation to join the RIIC board, which allows me to continue to develop ties between Rhode Islanders and Israel.

My first event as a board member was sitting in on a virtual program with Discover Newport and the U.S. economic mission in Israel to promote tourism in Rhode Island. RIIC is also in discussions with Innovate Newport regarding an ed-tech competition.

Currently, RIIC is organizing a conference on sustainable aquaculture, featuring experts from Rhode Island, Greece and Israel, as well as programs on artificial intelligence.

But all of these programs are possible only when businesspeople get involved

in the organization and suggest topics and partnerships. People must also donate some funds to cover the costs of these volunteer efforts or to sponsor particular projects.

The most recent partnership is a research agreement between Providence’s Women & Infants Hospital and an Israeli firm. Dr. May-Tal Sauerbrun-Cutler, who works in Reproductive Endocrinology and Infertility at Women & Infants, and is an assistant professor of Obstetrics and Gynecology at the Alpert Medical School of Brown University, and Rohi Hourvitz, CEO and co-founder of FertilAI, signed a research agreement for the purpose of testing FertilAI’s algorithms with Women & Infants’ retrospective data.

The goal of the research is to validate the generality of artificial intelligence algorithms on different populations. These algorithms were developed for the purpose of improving operational efficiencies and clinical outcomes for fertility patients.

RIIC introduced the two organizations in 2022, lead-

ing to this agreement, which strengthens the academic and research ties between Israel and Rhode Island.

Many additional partnerships, whether business or academic, are possible when people bring their ideas and contacts to the attention of RIIC, or simply donate to help ideas become reality.

Upcoming events include: • Oct. 24, a free webinar: “Innovations in AgeTech from Israel”.

• Oct. 26, conference on AI and art. For speaking opportunities, contact anevel@theriic.org.

• Nov. 15, 9 a.m. to noon, an online event: “The Blue Revolution and Sustainable Aquaculture,” featuring experts from Rhode Island, Greece and Israel. If you are interested in being a partner or sponsor for this event, contact us at info@theriic.org.

LARRY KATZ is a board member of the Rhode Island Israel Collaborative. For more information about the group or any of its events, go to theRIIC.org

COMMUNITY

URI Hillel to celebrate simchot with Homecoming Reunion Brunch

BY UNIVERSITY OF RHODE ISLAND HILLEL THE UNIVERSITY of Rhode Island Hillel has a lot to celebrate this fall: It’s the 13th year, or B mitzvah year, of the Norman M. Fain Hillel Center; the chai (18th) year of Hillel Executive Director Amy Olson’s tenure at URI; and the 100th anniversary of the first Hillel (founded at the University of Illinois in 1923.)

To celebrate, URI Hillel is holding a Homecoming Reunion Brunch on Sunday, Oct.15, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the Norman M. Fain Hil-

lel Center, 6 Quarry Road, Kingston, R.I. Alumni and community members are welcome to attend this festive gathering, which will feature a kosher catered brunch, a visit from Rhody the Ram and greetings from URI President Marc Parlange.

“This reunion brunch promises to be a fantastic opportunity to reconnect with fellow alumni, reminisce about our time at URI, and catch up on each other’s life journeys,” said Seth Finkle, president of the URI board and alumnus of the Class of 2006. “For

anyone who was involved in student leadership, attended memorable programs, or simply enjoyed the sense of community that URI Hillel offered, this event is a chance to relive those cherished moments and forge new connections.”

Amy Olson has fond memories of URI Hillel dating back to before she started as executive director in 2005.

“My first visit to URI Hillel was at age 10, when my sister Paula was a first-year student. My mom volunteered to make latkes for the Hillel Hanukkah party and I tagged along. Since then,

I’ve literally made thousands of latkes with Hillel students!”

The cost for the brunch is $25 per person. There is no charge for current URI students and children under 12. To register, go to the URI Hillel website, www. urihillel.org, for a link to the registration page.

For more information, email Amy Olson at amyolson@uri.edu. To make a donation in honor of these simchot (happy occasions) and to support the next generation of URI Hillel students, go to www.urifae. org/hillel.give.

LETTERS Why evict Jeshuat Israel?

IN REGARD TO THE EVICTION of Congregation Jeshuat Israel from Touro Synagogue headed up by Louis Solomon of Congregation Shearith Israel, New York City, I have one question, “why”?

Congregation Jeshuat Israel whose congregants, guests, family members, and visitors have been worshipping in Touro Synagogue, for over a century? (Yes! Over 100 years) why evict them?

Congregation Jeshuat Israel has supplied a fulltime rabbi, who not only has provided services all year around, but also has been available to conduct funerals, marriages, bar and bat mitzvahs, bris, naming ceremonies, visit the sick, and be part of the Newport community. Why evict them?

Congregation Jeshuat Israel provides a rabbi who participates in “life cycle” events for the entire Jewish community, for over a century? Why evict them? Congregation Jeshuat Israel has provided Jewish worship services every Shabbat, all Jewish holidays and minyans for other occasions, for over a century. Why evict them?

Congregation Jeshuat Israel has maintained the sanctuary and building daily, for over a century? Why evict them? Congregation Jeshuat Israel has paid for and supervised at least three major renovations, without any financial or otherwise assistance from Sherith Israel, for over a century? Why evict them? Congregation Jeshuat Israel has helped to maintain a Hebrew School for the Jewish community for over a century? Why evict them?

Why incorporate another congregation with the intent to take over Touro Synagogue when there is a viable congregation, Jeshuat Israel, worshipping there, for over a century? Why not work together for the betterment of the Jewish community instead of splintering the congregation? This act is especially egregious before the High Holiday season 5784?

Why evict Congregation Jeshuat Israel?

Susan Woythaler Member of Congregation Jeshuat Israel, associate member of Temple Shalom and associate member of Congregation Beth David.

16 | OCTOBER 2023

Jewish Rhode Island | jewishrhody.org

Maxine Cohen and her husband Avram, above, were crowned king and queen of the prom.

PHOTOS | GLENN OSMUNDSON

Senior Prom returns to JCC

BY JEWISH RHODE ISLAND STAFF

P

ROVIDENCE – On Sept. 1 more than 75 guests and friends of the Kosher Senior Café at the Alliance’s Dwares Jewish Community Center got a chance to relive their dreams at

the 2nd annual Senior Prom.

THEY DINED AND DANCED and chatted with their friends while listening to vocals by Jeanne Evans and Elaine Sullivan, the mother-daughter duo who make up Canary Diamonds, with their band.

The Baxt Social Hall at the JCC was decorated with flowers on each table. There was even a balloon arch, perfect for a photo backdrop.

Prom-goers were treated to a Kosher lunch, featuring salmon with appetizers and tasty treats for dessert.

Providence Mayor Brett Smiley arrived just before lunch to greet the seniors and talk about what the city does for them. He went from table to table, shaking hands and taking time to chat. Everyone appeared to be having a wonderful time.

The idea for the senior prom first sparked in 2022 with Dorothy Retting and Rebecca D’Arezzo. Retting, welcome desk supervisor at the Jewish Alliance of Greater Rhode Island, and D’Arezzo, membership

Vocalist Jeanne Evans, of Coventry, serenades the crowd.

Bob Richardson and his wife, Marsha, of Warwick, on the dance floor.

associate at the Alliance, wanted to offer seniors additional programming. They got together with Neal Drobnis, nutrition coordinator at the Kosher Senior Café, and the rest is history. The first prom was a successful event with about 60 in attendance. This one was even better, according to Retting. “It was even more fun, she said. She said it was great to have her parents at the prom.”

She and D’Arezzo are already thinking about next year. “We are planning a theme for next year,” she said.

Sponsors for this year’s event were the Alliance, Jewish Collaborative Services, City of Providence, Sandra Bornstein Holocaust Education Center and Bay State Physical Therapy.

Providence Mayor Brett Smiley addresses the attendees before lunch.

Eve Moskozits, of Israel, dancing with Joe Holtzman, of Warwick.

Sid Weintraub, of Cranston, recites the Kiddish.

Marty Rothman, of Rumford, dances with Roberta Cunha, of Warwick, a vocalist with the band.

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18 | OCTOBER 2023

Jewish Rhode Island | jewishrhody.org

COMMUNITY

BUSINESS 28 | OBITUARIES 29

COURTESY | TENNISFAME

Laurie Olefson

PHOTOS | SARAH GREENLEAF

Laurie Olefson turns eyeglasses into art

BY SARAH GREENLEAF

P

ROVIDENCE – To reach Olefson Art Opticals, you drive through the brick archway of an industrial building and into a parking lot. It

feels a little bit like you shouldn’t be going that way unless you drive a delivery truck, but follow the signs and you’ll see the tiny house that holds artful eyeglass frames. The tiny house has glasses itself – the windows were designed to look like John Lennon’s famous frames.

LAURIE OLEFSON, of Providence, is the owner of Olefson Art Opticals, along with her husband, Victor.

She had an entire professional life before she started making eyewear by hand.

Olefson began her career as a graphic designer in the magazine world, doing work for Women’s Day, Woman’s World and The New York Times. Her first foray into crafting was inspired by her daughter, who was getting headaches.

“I was trying to teach her

something to calm her down … so I thought I’d teach her how to crochet, because I knew how to crochet in the barest sense of the word.

And I bought myself some pearls and some silver wire and I started fooling around with them,” Olefson said.

Soon, she started taking her work to craft shows – and has never looked back.

“If you do jewelry, it’s horrible,” Olefson said of the craft fairs. “Everybody in the world does jewelry.

So I wanted to do something

different and then I found “Why you never see anythis. It took me four or five body else making glasses is years to be able to do this,” [because] the machines are she said of crafting eyeglass all industrial. The hinges frames. and stuff, I do it all by Olefson said the American Crafts Council and a magazine ad were key in helping her find her niche in handmade glasses.

“There was a little ad in it the magazine for this famous craft school that was teaching glasses,” Olefson said. “Like pottery, jewelry, glasses, and I’m like, what do you mean ‘glasses’?

So, I called them up and that was how I learned.”

She later went on to study with her teacher’s teacher at the Oregon College of Arts One of Olefson's handmade frames and Crafts, which no hand,” Olefson explained. longer exists.

“The other hard part is “I only went because she doing the grooves for the promised to help me with lenses. I sat with my optimy grooves and my hinges,” cian until I got it right. With Olefson said. The hinges on the computers the opticians a pair of handmade glasses use for lenses it can’t be off take four hours to create.

by very much.”

In addition to her handmade glasses, which range in price from $400 to $1,200, she sells reading glasses with handmade details like gold and silver leaf, polymer clay additions and wood details. The readers range from $48 to $156, depending on the details.

“The ones that are $1,200 … are made out of horn.

So horn is actually hair, so when you work with this, it stinks, you ever burn your hair? So, I made two pairs and I’m not making more,” Olefson said with a laugh.

Olefson Art Opticals moved into its current location, at 3 Acorn St., in June.

Olefson and her husband, who previously lived in New Jersey, chose Providence to be closer to their adult children, who are in Boston and Bristol, Rhode Island.

They also liked the art community and the Jewish community.

Their grand opening on June 6 was attended by CONTINUED ON PAGE 19

OCTOBER 2023 | 19

jewishrhody.org | Jewish Rhode Island

COMMUNITY

Alice Eichenbaum left a legacy of kindness and caring

BY WENDY JOERING

T

his eulogy was given at Alice Eichenbaum’s funeral on Sept. 24. It has been condensed for publication, and is reprinted with permission.

For the complete eulogy for Eichenbaum, a Holocaust survivor, go to JewishRhody.org.

in Ray’s own handwriting that he wrote in 1957, when he was a student there.

With the comment from the teacher: “One of the most touching stories I have ever read …. Fix your spelling.”

And she loved when people asked how they met – she was doing her dissertation at university and they met in the chemistry lab. “It was a chemical reaction,” she would say.

When I would introduce Alice to a group, I would tell them that they were in for a treat; how strange is that to introduce someone who is going to talk about brutality and inhumanity and suffering, that they were in for a treat?

Meeting Alice – that was the treat, I would say.

There was something about being in her presence that made people feel good, feel safe. Her smile and

ALICE LOVED RED – so I am wearing this red scarf in honor of her today.

“Intelligence,” “kindness,” “strength,” “positivity,” “empathetic” and “a very good listener” – these are the words I used to introduce Alice to a group of over 200 Miriam Hospital employees and board members, to tell her story. It happened to be Alice’s 95th birthday.

I asked Alice several times, “Are you sure this is what you want to do on your 95th birthday?” She said, “Of course, what else should I do?”

Alice made it her mission to tell her story and Ray’s story to as many people as she could. She would tell me, “as long as I am feeling good, I want to do it.”

Alice and I formed a fast friendship because I would take her to speaking engagements.

Alice told me it was never her desire to tell her story or that of her husband. That was what Ray did for many years. After Ray passed, Alice was a guest at a survivor speaking engagement at URI. It was clear to Alice that the woman speaking that day did not have the strength any more to do this.

It was then that Alice said she felt and knew it was her obligation to do this work.

So, Alice told her story

the same way every time – her story, then Ray’s story, reminding people of the parallel time and how different each story was. Alice would say that she was lucky, and as long as she was with her parents, she was a happy child; through everything, no matter how challenging the times were, she was the lucky one.

It was Ray who was not lucky, she would say, and she wanted to make sure that everyone heard his story and what he went through.

Ray, she told me, wanted to make sure that kids – She wanted to tell her because they are our future, Ray story so ‘nothing like this would say – heard these stories so should happen again.’ things like this should never hapsweet demeanor, her intelpen again. ligence and humor, made Then Alice would bring everyone around her feel a the stories together. She level of comfort. would talk about how Rhode She wanted to tell her Island became home. How story so “nothing like this much Ray loved it – how he should happen again.” Liswas able to run free at Camp tening to Alice made us feel JORI and how he could eat like her wish would come anything he wanted. And true – and nothing like that how he loved attending URI. would ever happen again.

Teens and adults alike Because it was easy to cling were captivated when Alice onto every word Alice said. spoke, and you really could Alice touched the lives hear a pin drop. of thousands during these When Alice spoke at speaking engagements.

URI in the spring for Yom After Alice spoke, often Ha’Shoah, she was excited to many kids – and adults – show the audience a paper would want to take pictures

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 18

And now there’s a new optical store.

“I want to tap everything magnifying, everything optical,” she said, describing a collection of necklaces that she makes. The necklaces include magnifying pendants.

“These are real optical lenses and those are all shapes of real flowers,” she said.

Providence Mayor Brett Smiley, and Temple Emanu-El’s rabbi and cantor.

“The crazy thing is that I’ve never been part of a Jewish population that’s growing,” remarked Olefson about Providence. “The synagogue, there’s a new bakery opening, a new deli opening.”

Olefson’s most recent collection was inspired by climate change and features frames that evoke the natural and human-made world. They were created for the Smithsonian’s Craft Optimism, a show that asked artists and craftspeople to make works that respond to climate change.

When asked what she’s working on next, Olefson

with her. We used to say it was like being with fame.

And many would want to hug her. She would smile, make someone laugh .... She would ask people questions about their lives.

She truly cared about everyone.

Before her speaking engagements at schools, she would inquire about what the kids had learned so she knew what gaps to fill in historically, so everyone understood her story best.

One day while driving, Alice said to me, “Why do you bring me so much? You are too busy. Let’s ask volunteers or your colleagues to help bring me.”

I responded easily, without having to think about it: “because I learn something new every time I am with you.” Not only about her story or Ray’s, but about life.

About how she lived it. She always had advice to give.

Her positivity was contagious. After all she had been through, and knowing what Ray had been through, there was always a smile on her face.

That was remarkable to me. Every time I saw Alice, there would be a smile on her face. And I know it was there all the time. Everyone said she had a smile on her face.

My mom had the pleasure of getting to know Alice at Wingate [Residences, in Providence] while working at the front desk a few times a week, she always had a smile for her. Especially when she would come to schmooze with her after dinner – that was Alice.

Alice loved telling stories about her family, spend-

ing time with [son] Cary, visiting [son] Howard and [daughter-in-law] Caryn, and mostly seeing [granddaughter] Raya. Taking her to a show or planning on taking her jewelry shopping…. She lit up when talking about her.

Alice never said she had a favorite group that she spoke to, or a favorite day, but I know what that was without her saying.

Last year, she spoke at her granddaughter Raya’s school. She was nervous. She didn’t want to embarrass Raya.

And after Alice finished telling their family story, she told me that Raya ran up to her, hugged her and said “Grandma, I am so proud of you.” She told that story so many times, to so many people. Raya, that was the most important speaking engagement for her. Knowing she made you proud – the light of her life – was a highlight of her life.

She loved taking pictures that day with you and your friends and was so happy to have that experience with you. She always talked about you. One day when I was visiting her, she took out her iPad and showed me a picture of you and your two best friends. She was so excited to show me.

Alice created a legacy for her granddaughter and for this whole community. The impact she has made will live on.

mentions a graffiti collection with the potential for personalization.

Like any artist, Olefson has collectors. In addition to her shop, she exhibits at art fairs.

“We have customers who have glasses by the dozen,” she said.

topticals.studio/ . Her shop, at 3 Acorn St., Providence is open Thursdays-Saturdays from 11 a.m.- 4 p.m. Contact her at 732-687-0193

Olefson’s work can be seen on her website: www.olefsonar-

WENDY JOERING is the executive director of the Sandra Bornstein Holocaust Education Center, in Providence.

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

20 | OCTOBER 2023

Jewish Rhode Island | jewishrhody.org

COMMUNITY

Meet and greet at PHDS

ON AUG. 30, the first day of school at Providence Hebrew Day School, PHDS parents, teachers and students had an opportunity to meet the new members of the school community as well as catch up with returning students and teachers at a “Meet and Greet” organized by the school’s parent organization. Activities included craft projects and a hands-on experience with Dave Marchetti’s Animal Experience. What a fun-filled start to what promises to be a fabulous school year!

Submitted by Providence Hebrew Day School

PHOTOS | PHDS

JCDSRI welcomes back students

PHOTOS | JCDSRI

THE JEWISH COMMUNITY DAY SCHOOL of Rhode Island (JCDSRI) started the 202324 school year on Sept. 6 with over 100 students enrolled. JCDSRI welcomed students ages 3 through Grade 5 for a year of joyful learning, exploration, growth and connection. We are excited to welcome our veteran teachers and those who are new to our faculty and staff.

After a full day of school, our whole community joined us for a Back to School party. Kids jumped in a bounce house, everyone enjoyed some delicious ice cream treats, games were played and fun was had. It was a pleasure to join together after a busy summer to kick off the year in such a special way.

Submitted by Jewish Community Day School of RI

Authors’ brunch scheduled for Oct. 15 THE CLAIRE T. CARNEY Library Associates 15th annual authors’ brunch will take place on Sunday, Oct. 15 at noon at the University of Massachusetts-Dartmouth University Marketplace. The event will feature three outstanding authors, Jacquelyn Mitchard, Sara Paretsky and Adriana Trigiani.

Jacquelyn Mitchard is an

American journalist and author. She holds the distinction of having her book, “Deep End of the Ocean,” chosen as the first Oprah Winfrey book selection.

Sara Paretsky is credited with changing mystery with the introduction of her female private eye, V.I. Warshawski in 1982 in her novel, “Indemnity Only,” which changed

the role of women who had previously been relegated to the role of victims or vamps.

Adriana Trigiani is the best-selling author of 18 fiction and non-fiction books.

She wears many hats, distinguishing herself as a playwright, television and movie producer, screenwriter, and director.

A questions-and-answer

session and book signing will follow the talks.

The cost of the event is $50 for non CTC Library Associate members, $45 for CTC Library Associate members and $35 for current UMass Dartmouth students. University of Massachusetts-Dartmouth is at 285 Old Westport Road, Dartmouth, Massachusetts 02747. Reservations are

required and should be made either online at https://bit.ly/ authorsbrunch23 or by contacting Maria Sanguinetti at msanguinetti@umassd.edu or by calling her at 508-991-5096.

Reservations should be made

by Oct. 9.

OCTOBER 2023 | 21

jewishrhody.org | Jewish Rhode Island

COMMUNITY

As Jewry reemerges in Poland, the Jewish Alliance is helping build community

BY TUVYA BERGSON-MICHELSON

H

ow do you build a community where none has existed for more than a generation? Patrycja Dołowy, the CEO of the Jewish Community

Center Warsaw, has learned firsthand.

“THERE ARE STILL people who are learning that they are Jewish in their grandparents’ last breath,” Dołowy said in a recent Zoom interview conducted in English.

“In many Polish families, there was absolute silence.”

Dołowy’s own family history provides a snapshot of Jews’ experiences in Poland since World War II. As she puts it, Polish Jews “are children of people who, for some reason, decided to stay.”

After a crackdown in 1968, her parents lost their jobs because they were Jewish.

“For two generations, it was a very difficult life for Jews here. We were living in a hideout,” Dolowy said.

After the Holocaust, all three of her grandmother’s surviving sisters decided to leave the country – one went to Canada, one to the United States, and one to Israel – leaving her grandmother alone, without family.

And yet, as the Cold War ended, Poland’s Jewish community reemerged from its “hideout.” Soon, American rabbis and international nonprofits came to the country to help people reconnect with their Jewish heritage.

“All of them were from outside, trying to renew Jewish life here. It was very special,” Dołowy said.

In particular, camps and programs organized by the JDC (Joint Distribu-

tion Committee), a Jewish humanitarian organization, became the nucleus of new gathering spaces for Warsaw Jews.

Among the supporters of JDC’s Jewish Renewal program in those early days was the Jewish Alliance of Greater Rhode Island, which maintains an active relationship with JCC Warsaw.

(More on that later.)

“Around 12 years ago, we realized that we were already a community .... We started to think about our Jewish identity. We started to ask how we’d like to raise our children,” Dołowy said.

The result was a new Jewish Community Center, initially under JDC auspices but eventually run independently.

The JCC Warsaw would have to meet the unique challenges of serving Polish Jewry.

“We are diverse. There are many faces of Jewishness, and there aren’t many of us.

We need a place of inclusiveness to gather,” Dołowy says.

With so many people who did not know that they are Jewish, the JCC cultivated an attitude of openness. This was especially important for people rediscovering their heritage.

“A synagogue is a strange, scary place” for a beginner, Dołowy said, but a secular, welcoming JCC “is an open space.”

The JCC Warsaw is also a place where non-Jews can educate themselves about Judaism in a society still struggling with antisemitism.

“This is the first time, as a minority, that we’ve been able to host them, to help them get to know us,” Dołowy said.

A major part of that effort is the JCC Warsaw’s Boker Tov Sunday brunches, which offer a “come as you are” environment.

The last few years have provided “two [new] reasons to build this program,” according to Dołowy.

First, the aftermath of the pandemic increased the importance of in-person gatherings, to lure people out of their homes. Perhaps more importantly, Poland has been one of the main destinations for Ukrainian refugees, many of whom are Jewish.

“At first, they needed support,” Dołowy said. Now that many are a bit more settled, the new challenge is integration. Polish and Ukrainian Jews needed “the opportunity to be together in a situation that’s not so serious,” she said.

JCC Warsaw has also found itself on the front lines of the humanitarian crisis, helping resettle about 150 Ukrainian families.

Many are led by mothers whose husbands have stayed in Ukraine. In just three weeks, the JCC transformed its daycare to include a special program for their children.

The Jewish Alliance is among the contributors to the effort, and Alliance CEO Adam Greenman visited in July 2022. He wrote that

“camp has been a respite for the 85 campers (mostly Jewish, but also some nonJews). Like J-Camp at the Alliance’s Dwares JCC, it infuses Jewish values and customs, focusing on helping all the children to have fun while learning about Jewish culture. Mostly, it offers normalcy to these children.”

Indeed, the crown jewel of JCC Warsaw has long been its camp program, “inherited” from the JDC. “We are the only organization in Poland that is running Jewish camps for people across Poland. In the small towns, it is still very difficult to be Jewish. For many [children, camp] is their one taste of Jewishness each year,” Dołowy said.

She added that it also has been personally rewarding for her to watch a new generation of Jews grow.

“I knew many of these madrichim (teenaged leaders) as children,” she said, visibly lost in her memories.

JCC Warsaw also hosts popular clubs for children and teens that explore Jewish traditions around the world.

Camp also offers opportunities for collaboration with the Alliance’s Dwares Jewish Community Center, in Providence, as part of the Alliance’s international partnerships program, which facilitates cross-programming between Rhode Island-based and international Jewish institutions.

“I’m excited to see where the opportunities lie,” said Michelle Cicchitelli, the Alliance’s chief program officer.

Before the war in Ukraine upended camp at the JCC Warsaw, the two commu-

nity centers had discussed collaborative programming for their children.

“It could lead down such a nice path to learn more about Poland, about Jews across the world. Ultimately, it could even land in something like an exchange camper program, which would be incredible,” Cicchitelli said.

Other opportunities for teamwork between the two JCCs might include history and Holocaust education, holiday programming, or even language classes.

As Greenman reflected on his visit, he found many similarities that bind the two communities together.

“I was transported back to our JCC in Providence, because [their] programming could have been our programming,” he said.

Want to get involved with the Alliance’s overseas or local allocation committees?

Know of an organization that might benefit from the Alliance’s global reach?

Contact Jennifer Zwirn at jzwirn@jewishallianceri. org. To donate to the Alliance’s work in Poland or in other partnership regions, go to https://www.jewishallianceri.org/support-us/ featured/donate-now.

Thanks to an anonymous donor, all new or increased gifts to the 2024 Jewish Alliance Annual Community Campaign will now be matched dollar for dollar up to $50,000.

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

Stories galore at the ECC ONE OF THE EARLY activities at the David C. Isenberg Early Childhood Center at the Dwares Jewish Community Center was a visit on Sept. 21 from storyteller Mark Binder. The children had a wonderful time!

PHOTOS | LINDSEY URSILLO

22 | OCTOBER 2023

Jewish Rhode Island | jewishrhody.org

COMMUNITY

The Evening of Jewish Renaissance returns

BY ELIHAY SKITAL AND SAMANTHA KAUFMAN

P

ROVIDENCE – The air is crisp, and the leaves have turned brilliant shades of red, gold and orange, marking the arrival of autumn. It is a season of change, of reflection and of coming together. On this note, the

Jewish Alliance of Greater Rhode Island is excited to announce that one of its signature programs, the Evening of Jewish Renaissance, will be returning on Nov. 4, after a COVID hiatus.

FROM LOCAL SPEAKERS to experts in various fields from around the country, this event promises to be a night of diverse learning opportunities, creative workshops and thought-provoking discussions that focus on the many facets of Jewish life and culture.

This year’s theme, “Food

for Thought,” has been carefully crafted to promote cultural understanding, celebrate diversity and preserve the essence of Jewish traditions through the universal language of food.

In Jewish culture, food is not merely sustenance; it’s a thread that weaves through generations, connecting us

to our past and guiding us into the future. It tells stories of migration, resilience, innovation, love, hospitality, gratitude and the merging of cultures. Food serves as a vessel for tradition and innovation, a source of connection and conversation.

The Renaissance event will feature 18 sessions,

with something of interest for everyone, including an Israeli whiskey tasting, meditative sessions, Talmud and life, haroset, salt, nutrition trends, LGBTQ+ parenting and more.

Whether you’re a member of the Jewish community or simply interested in learning more about our vibrant culture, the Evening of Jewish Renaissance and the Jewish Alliance welcomes you.

Mark your calendar for Nov. 4, from 7-10 p.m., and prepare for an evening of education, entertainment and unity. The event is free to attend. Due to limited seating, advance registration is preferred.

For details of sessions and

to register, go to jewishallianceri.org/events/ejr. For more information, contact Elihay Skital at eskital@jewishallianceri.org or Samantha Kaufman at Skaufman@ jewishallianceri.org.

The Evening of Jewish Renaissance is presented by the Dr. James Yashar and Judge Marjorie Yashar Fund at the Jewish Federation Foundation.

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

SAMANTHA KAUFMAN the manager, programming and membership experience, at the Jewish Alliance of Greater Rhode Island.

Donor to match gifts to the 2024 Annual Campaign

BY JENNIFER ZWIRN PROVIDENCE – The Jewish Alliance of Greater Rhode Island’s 2024 Annual Community Campaign has begun with gusto, thanks to a generous anonymous community donor who will match all new gifts and gift increases up to $50,000. This means your dollars will go even further for our community!

The Annual Community Campaign, co-chaired by involved and invested community leaders, directly supports hundreds of critical programs and services implemented through the Jewish Alliance and its local and overseas partners.

Locally, the larger partnerships include Jewish Collaborative Services, the Jewish Community Day School of Rhode Island (JCDSRI),

the Providence Hebrew Day School (PHDS), Brown RISD Hillel, the University of Rhode Island Hillel, the Sandra Bornstein Holocaust Education Center, and Camp JORI. Other, smaller programs and services that the Alliance supports here in Rhode Island include JCS’s kosher meal site and kosher food pantry; summer camp at JORI; the Alliance’s Dwares Jewish Community Center; and general scholastic and tuition support at both day schools.

In the Alliance’s sister region of Afula-Gilboa, Israel, and the newer partnership regions of Warsaw, Poland, and Rosario, Argentina, support is directed to larger partners, including the JDC (Joint Distribution Committee), the Jewish Agency for Israel (JAFI), and World ORT.

Smaller partners, such as the Haifa Rape Crisis Center and the Ethiopian National Project, also receive funding from the Annual Campaign.

Around the globe, support mirrors local priorities and local funding.

Each year, the Community Development Committee, an Alliance-based, community-led group, examines, researches and makes recommendations to the Alliance’s board as to where money should be spent, focusing on mission and vision alignment and direct services, with the greatest attention given to immediate and basic needs, formal and informal education, and meaningful regional partnership work.

“I’ve lived in the Providence area for over 25 years and have experienced firsthand how the Alliance makes

a difference in the lives of our community members,” said volunteer Rich Glucksman. “My children attended daycare and camp at the JCC, were campers and counselors at Camp JORI, and went to JCDSRI. The generosity of our donors enables the Alliance year after year to support these institutions and many others, allowing them to thrive and grow.”

Glucksman added, “I give to the Alliance because of their broad partnerships and strategic allocations. I hope you too will join us and the rest of the community to make this good work happen.”

This is why your donation matters! Without your foresight and generosity, our partners – and therefore our community – would not have what’s needed to properly grow and sustain a strong

Jewish future. In fact, it is because of your gifts that we are able to continue this work, and for that we are so grateful. Thank you, donors!

To contribute to this important work and be a part of the matching gift, please consider a new or increased donation to the Jewish Alliance’s Annual Campaign.

Every dollar counts, so together we can invest in our Jewish tomorrow.

For more information on the many easy ways to donate, go to www.jewishallianceri. org/support-us/featured/ donate-now or call 401-4214111.

JENNIFER ZWIRN (jzwirn@ jewishallianceri.org) is the chief development officer for the Jewish Alliance of Greater Rhode Island.

First in Culture Series examines challenges facing Israel

BY ELIHAY SKITAL THE JEWISH ALLIANCE of Greater Rhode Island is proud to announce this year’s first Israeli Culture Series program: “Peace, Politics, and Plutonium,” featuring renowned speaker Gil Hoffman.

Mark your calendars for Oct. 16 at 7 p.m. for the program, which will shed light on the complexities of Israel’s internal and external

challenges, as well as offering insights into how they can be overcome.

During Hoffman’s thought-provoking talk, you will gain a deeper understanding of the myriad challenges Israel faces from adversaries such as Iran, Syria, Hamas and Hezbollah. He will also provide strategic perspectives on fortifying Israel’s security in an increasingly complex geopolitical landscape.

Hoffman’s expertise extends

to the intricate web of U.S.-Israel relations, and he will bring clarity and foresight to this vital aspect of Israeli diplomacy.

Hoffman is the executive director of HonestReporting, an organization that fights for Israel in the international media and social media, and a lecturer on political strategy at Israel’s College of Management. Prior to that, he was the chief political correspondent and analyst for The

Jerusalem Post for 24 years.

Hoffman grew up in Chicago and has lectured in every major English-speaking country in the world, and recently made history in Hawaii by becoming the first speaker to have lectured about Israel in all 50 U.S. states.

Join us on Oct. 16 at 7 p.m. at the Alliance’s Dwares Jewish Community Center, 401 Elmgrove Ave., Providence, for an evening that will expand your knowledge,

challenge your perspectives and inspire hope for Israel’s future. This free program is in-person only.

To register to attend, go to jewishallianceri.org/events/ ics-october. For more information, email Elihay Skital, at eskital@jewishallianceri.org.

ELIHAY SKITAL is the Israeli shaliach (emissary) to the Jewish Alliance of Greater Rhode Island.

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jewishrhody.org | Jewish Rhode Island

COMMUNITY

Touro Fraternal Association honors longtime member

C

RANSTON – Michael D. Smith, a member of the Touro Fraternal Association’s Board of Directors for the past 35 years,

was honored as the association’s Man of the Year at a dinner meeting in Touro Hall on Sept. 20.

SMITH JOINED Touro in February 1984 and has been active ever since, serving as a past lodge president and a current director, while volunteering to organize and serve as a grill master at numerous events.

Touro selected Smith as Man of the Year not only for his efforts within the organization, but also for his good deeds as the founder and Michael D. Smith owner of Shalom A native of Providence, Memorial Chapel, in Smith and his wife, MarCranston. When 11 people ilyn, have been married were tragically murdered for 55 years and live in at a Pittsburgh synagogue Warwick. They have three in 2018, Smith volunteered sons, Jeremy, Adam and to assist with the funeral Joel, and two grandchilarrangements and to condren. sole the families. He also Touro Board Chairman helped out after 100 people Stevan Labush presented perished in the Station Smith with an engraved nightclub fire in West War- watch for his service to the wick in 2003. organization.

“My involvement with Offering tributes were Touro is an extension of fellow Touro members Dr. how I live my life in serRobert Smith, the honorvice to others,” said Smith. ee’s brother and a retired “If there is a call to action, dentist, and Adam Smith, I am there.”

Ethan Adler, Jeffrey Davis Smith served his nation and Peter Hodosh. Robert with a 21-year military Miller, board chairman career, including 3½ years emeritus, was the master in the Navy and then of ceremonies. part-time duty in the Air Submitted by the Touro National Guard.

Fraternal Association Smith worked at Sugarman funeral home, in Providence, before becoming a licensed funeral director and registered embalmer. He founded Shalom Memorial Chapel in 1999. Mostly retired, his son Adam is now the director of Shalom.

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.

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Call (401) 384-7251 or email gphfla2018@gmail.com to get information, request a loan, or become a member today.

LENDING A HELPING HAND TO THE GREATER RI JEWISH COMMUNITY FOR MORE THAN 110 YEARS

24 | OCTOBER 2023

COMMUNITY

‘We are different from Russians,’ Ukrainians told me

In the old Chortkiv Synagogue on grounds of the medical school, May 2022. From left, Yakov Baranov, a doctor and the writer.

PHOTO | VIKTOR YEDYNAK

THURSDAY, OCT. 26 | 6:30PM Igor Vyshnevsky in Irpin, May 2022.

REPAIRING THE WORLD:

PHOTO | AARON GINSBURG

BY AARON GINSBURG

M

y life’s journey has enabled me to travel to eastern Europe, where my

RG

AK

Jewish Rhode Island | jewishrhody.org

STORIES FROM THE TREE OF LIFE

e

IN THE BAXT SOCIAL HALL AT THE DWARES JCC | FREE TO ATTEND Join the Jewish Alliance, Sandra Bornstein Holocaust Education Center, and the Board of Rabbis of Greater Rhode Island as we commemorate 5 years since the Tree of Life attack in Pittsburgh, PA, with a screening of the documentary, Repairing the World: Stories from the Tree of Life.

REGISTER ONLINE

JewishAllianceRI.org/Events/Tree-of-Life

grandparents and father were born.

FROM 2015 TO 2019, I made annual trips to Ukraine, where I visited the birthplaces of my maternal grandparents, met with a rabbi and met two Jewish activists.

From 2017 to 2019, I traveled with Alan Kaul, of Sharon, Massachusetts. We visited his ancestral shetls, and met Jewish activists in Lviv and gentiles who were trying to save a Jewish cemetery and synagogue. In Lokhvytsia, we attended a moving Holocaust memorial ceremony and befriended a Jewish resident.

By the time the war started, I had 30 contacts in Ukraine.

In May 2022, I took the first of three trips to wartime Ukraine. Some highlights of my first wartime trip follow.

KYIV AND VICINITY There are no commercial flights to Ukraine. In May 2022, I flew to Budapest, Hungary, and took a 20-hour bus ride to Kyiv. Next to me sat Olga Maksimenko, who was visiting her husband for the first time since the war started. Olga spoke English and was happy to talk to a native English speaker. She said that, along with her parents, she took refuge in Slovenia at the start of the war. Convincing her parents to abruptly leave Kharkiv was a challenge.

“It wasn’t easy,” she said, “to act as my parents’ parents, rather than as their child.”

The bustling Kyiv that I had known was deserted.

CONTINUED ON PAGE 26

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jewishrhody.org | Jewish Rhode Island

COMMUNITY

Camp JORI dedicates mural by famous alumni

BY MICHAEL SHUSTER

A

mural by Rhode Island entrepreneur and artist Ben

Weiss was officially dedicated at Camp JORI, in South Kingstown, on July 22.

WEISS, who died in 2010, had donated the 24-footlong painting, which shows the JORI waterfront. The mural was installed in the Reisman Atrium, inside the Harry and Jeanette Weinberg Community Building at the camp on Wordens Pond, in the village of Wakefield. Members of the Weiss family attended the dedication ceremony.

JORI, the Jewish Orphanage of Rhode Island, was founded in 1909 and closed in 1943. The camp was founded in 1937 in Narragansett as the summer quarters for the orphanage.

The camp continued at its original site until 2002, when it moved to its current location.

Benjamin “Ben” Weiss, who was born in 1923, was a locally and internationally celebrated artist,

PHOTO | CAMP JORI

educator and entrepreneur.

Ben was born in Poland, but spent much of his childhood in the Jewish orphanage, along with his three brothers.

At a young age, Ben demonstrated talent for the visual arts, and eventually earned a scholarship to the Rhode Island School of Design. After serving in World War II, he graduated from RISD and became an art teacher in the Providence school system, while continuing to paint. His many paintings are, to this day, valued and collected.

Later in life, Weiss started numerous businesses and real estate ventures, but he retained

his passion for painting and the arts.

Jacob, Ben, Charles and James Weiss learned self-sufficiency and brotherly love at a very young age. All four spent much of their childhoods at the orphanage, in Providence, and spent many a happy summer at Camp JORI. All four brothers often spoke about and attributed many of their lifelong skills to Camp JORI, where their children would also become campers.

With assistance from friends, relatives and the Jewish orphanage, Jacob “Jack” Weiss, 1922-1970, attended Brown University.

There he won the Harts-

horn Prize for excellence in mathematics and graduated in 1948. A veteran of World War II, Jack was loved and respected by all who knew him. He died, at the age of 47, at the Brockton Veterans Administration Medical Center.

Charles “Charlie” Weiss, 1928-2011, a father of four, worked as a cost accountant in Providence, but, like his brothers, he also later became involved in real estate. Charlie, who was the first of the siblings to be born in Providence, is remembered for his generous heart and loving nature.

James “Jim” Weiss, 1930-2016, was a successful

self-made real estate professional who developed a thriving property management business that remains in the family today. Jim was known as a generous man and respected mentor who helped others develop their businesses. He was an avid tennis player and accomplished sailor, and could often be seen walking his beloved dogs. Jim met his wife, Frances, at Camp JORI. For more information on Camp JORI, please email info@campjori.com.

MICHAEL SHUSTER is President Emeritus of Camp JORI.

JCDSRI celebrates 45 years at Golden Heart Gala on Nov. 4

O

n Sept. 10, 200 people including current parents, past presidents, grandparents, alumni families, community supporters and faculty and staff

gathered at the Casino at Roger Williams Park to celebrate 45 years of the Jewish Community Day School of Rhode Island. The event was co-chaired by Jessica Shuster, a current parent and board member; Rachel Mersky Woda, parent of young alumni and former board member; and Robyn Furman, board member, parent of alumni and current grandparent.

IT WAS A FESTIVE evening celebrating all of the school’s accomplishments, this included honoring the 18 past presidents of the school who have created the

foundation for the school’s success. This included: Leah Ehrenhaus-Hersh, Dan Gamm, Jeffery Gladstone, Daniel Kaplan. Dianne Newman, Mara Ostro, Joel

Roseman, Miriam Ross, Sam Shamoon, Debra Shuster, Bruce Wolpert. Also in attendance was the entire Board of Directors led by current President Shoshana Jacob, an alumna of the school herself whose children are recent graduates.

“It was a wonderful community celebration of the past, present and the future!” said Jacob. Special guests included Mayor Brett Smiley, Democratic Congressional Candidate Gabe Amo, and the Honorable David Cicilline who brought greetings from the Rhode Island Foundation.

Submitted by Jewish Community Day School of RI

PHOTOS| JCDSRI

26 | OCTOBER 2023

Jewish Rhode Island | jewishrhody.org

COMMUNITY CONTINUED FROM PAGE 24 In normal times, you had to be very careful crossing the street – but not now.

Olga Maksimenko joined me on a short trip to Irpin and Bucha, nearby suburbs that were occupied by Russia for a month at the war’s start.

Our Uber driver told us, “I

was in the Boryspil airport with my wife and children when the war broke out. We were on our way to a vacation in the Emirates. After two bombs struck the airport, we left our luggage and fled the glassed-in terminal.” He was already a refugee, having fled the area in Ukraine

that Russia occupied in 2014 because he didn’t want to live in Russia.

Irpin resident Igor Vyshnevsky showed us around.

We saw a pyramid of burnt cars, bombed-out neighborhoods and many 10-story apartment buildings that, if not destroyed, had all their

windows blown out. Igor told me, “My entire life from now on will be before the war or after the war.”

POLTAVA OBLAST In Poltava, about three hours east of Kyiv, I had lunch at an outdoor restaurant with my friend Oleksandr Vorona and an American resident, Terrance McCracken. Terrance, who is not Jewish, had been in the choir at Temple Jeremiah, in Northfield, Illinois.

I challenged him with some songs from the liturgy; he knew them better than I did.

When an air-raid alert sounded, neither Oleksandr nor Terrance reacted, saying that the warnings covered a wide area. Later, Svetlana Moskvitina, head of the JDC-supported Hesed Netesh, joined Oleksandr and me on a visit to the overgrown Poltava Jewish cemetery. A distant air-raid alert intruded.

In the city of Lokhvytsia, in Poltava Oblast, the birthplace of famed Soviet musician Isaak Dunayevsky, I greeted passersby, saying, “Hello, I’m visiting from America.” The first person walked quickly in the opposite direction.

The second person replied in English, “I’m from Kharkiv, taking refuge in my hometown.”

I met the mayor, Viktor Radko, who was wearing a T-shirt. With Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky’s attire in mind, I teased Mayor Radko, “Are you running for president?” He quipped, “I can wear whatever I want on my day off.”

Pointing to a print on the wall, he said, “We don’t have pictures of politicians on the wall, but of writers.”

Much of the mayor’s time is spent caring for the many refugees in town, and regularly announcing the return of local soldiers who were killed in the war.

WESTERN UKRAINE My friend and guide, Viktor Yedynak, offered me an apartment in Chortkiv, in Ternopil Oblast. Viktor introduced me to Yakov Baranov, head of the Jewish community, and Yakov’s wife, Maya.

Yakov took us inside an abandoned synagogue that was built around 1750. The unsafe building will probably be demolished.

I spent some time with Maya. Without a common language, what could we talk about? I pulled out my phone, and together we sang Joe Dassin songs – in French – from my music library.

Viktor took me to Tovste, near Skalat, on behalf of the Margolis family, of Newport.

Locals showed us a field that was the Jewish cemetery.

During the Soviet era, the matzevahs (gravestones) were removed to build a bathhouse. A few matzevah fragments that were returned to the cemetery lie scattered about.

A neighbor showed us an unmarked Holocaust site at the cemetery. “The polizei [German-appointed police],” he said, “did the shooting.”

An elderly man did not want to speak about World War II. “The Russians were bad,” he said, “and the Germans were bad.”

But he did tell us that the town, which was in Poland before World War II, had both a Polish and a Ukrainian gymnasium. Jews could go to either one. He went to the Ukrainian school and remembered the names of some of the Jewish students. At the invitation of Jewish schoolmates, he and some friends went to Shabbat services.

In Skala-Podilska, we visited a large Jewish cemetery, mostly devoid of headstones, and saw buildings associated with the Jewish community.

In a park, Viktor asked some workers for directions to an old tree. One of the workers, Volodymyr Plekan, was Jewish. He’d spotted my yarmulke. The tree was 537 years old! We took a photo, and Viktor suggested the caption: “Guess who is 50, 72 and 500 years old?”

When Ukrainians found out that I was American, there was an outpouring of friendliness, including many hugs in thanks for American aid.

“We are different from Russians,” Ukrainians told me. “They are used to living in a dictatorship. We are not.

They are passive. We are not.”

I mentioned the thousands of people who were arrested in Russia for opposing the war. The countervailing evidence fell on deaf ears.

They were optimistic about winning the war.

Postscript: My most recent visit to Ukraine was in May 2023. The date of my next visit is uncertain. I hope the war will be over, but Ukrainians will still have many years of suffering and misery in their future.

AARON GINSBURG lives in Stoughton, Massachusetts, and blogs at jewishnewport. blogspot.com.

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COMMUNITY

Panel examines censorship in Nazi Germany and now with an eye to the future

BY GIOVANNA WISEMAN ON OCT. 4, The Sandra Bornstein Holocaust Education Center and the Cranston Public Library hosted a panel discussion that compared censorship under the Nazis to the rash of book challenges in America today.

The panel members for “The Freedom to Read: Challenges to Intellectual Freedom Then and Now” included Westerly Public Library Executive Director Brigitte Hopkins and Associate Director Bill Lancellotta; ACLU of Rhode Island Executive Director Steven Brown; and Michael Bryant, professor of history and legal studies at Bryant University.

The banning and mass burning of books in Berlin and across Germany on May

10, 1933, by the newly empowered Nazi Party, was a powerful precursor to the unfathomable horrors of the next 12 years. Many of the books burned that night were taken from the research library of Dr. Magnus Hirshfield, a gay Jewish scientist who dedicated his career to supporting the LGBTQ community in Berlin.

Hirshfield taught his students to study and treat LGBTQ patients with dignity and respect, a concept practically unheard of during that time. His publications were viewed as “obscene” by the Nazis, who saw the LGBTQ community as an aberration that should be eradicated.

The issue of literary censorship has now come home to roost in our own backyard.

Earlier this year, R.I. Rep.

Samuel A. Azzinaro, a Democrat representing Westerly, introduced legislation in the R.I. House of Representatives to remove graphic novels with “obscene” content from Rhode Island libraries. If passed, the law could hold library workers liable for distributing “indecent” material to minors.

As in the case of Hirshfield, charges of obscenity have historically been used to censor queer voices; most of the books targeted by Azzinaro’s bill feature LGBTQ characters or themes.

Westerly’s Town Council drafted a motion in support of the ban, but area residents gathered in opposition at the June council meeting. Just 20 people spoke against the ban, but their voices were loud enough to convince the Town

Council to the motion.

More than just opposing the legislation, these who spoke up showed their elected leaders that they would not allow their rights to be eroded by extremist politics.

While Westerly may be a small-scale example, it would be foolish to dismiss it as a fluke. According to the American Library Association, the rate of book bans and challenges nearly doubled in 2022, suggesting a concerted effort by politicians and far-right political groups to take all content they deem “inappropriate for children” off the shelves.

Targeted books include “The Diary of Anne Frank,” which has been challenged for depicting Anne’s infatuation with a female friend, and Art Spiegelman’s graphic

novel “Maus,” which was banned by a school board in Tennessee supposedly because one panel shows a nude body – in mouse form.

Spiegelman argues that these charges of “obscenity” are really just thinly-veiled excuses not to face the true scope of the Holocaust, opting instead to teach a “kinder, gentler” version of the truth.

The Holocaust center hopes the panel discussion will shed light on the lessons of the past so that they may help guide our future.

GIOVANNA WISEMAN (gwiseman@hercri.org) is director of programs and community outreach at the Sandra Bornstein Holocaust Education Center, in Providence.

Hadassah RI to host walk for women and health panel in October

BY YARDENA KAPACH WINKLER HADASSAH Rhode Island is hosting two health events, on consecutive Sundays, to benefit the entire community: The Walk for Women’s Health, on Oct. 22, and the Hadassah Health Panel, on Oct. 29.

Attendance is open to both members and non-members of Hadassah.

Hadassah Northeast will host The Walk for Women’s Health at a few locations throughout the region. The Rhode Island location will be at Sachuest Point National

Wildlife Refuge, 769 Sachuest Point Road, Middletown, on Oct. 22, at 1 p.m.

The goal of the walk is to expand awareness and raise money for the important work Hadassah is doing in Israel and the U.S., including research on breast cancer and heart health, gender equity in medical research, and infertility awareness and support.

Registration is required in advance and donations are gratefully accepted. The registration fee of $25 includes refreshments and a gift of a high-quality fanny pack.

Please register at runsignup. com/Hadassahwalk.

The panel discussion, “Public Health: Issues and Policy in Today’s World,” will feature leaders in medicine from the U.S. and Israel.

The event will be held at Temple Sinai, 30 Hagen Ave., Cranston, on Oct. 29, 12:30-3 p.m. The program includes a healthy kosher dairy lunch and a musical performance.

The cost is $18, and donations are appreciated. Please register at events.hadassah.org/ rihealthpanel.

The physicians participating in the panel discussion

are: Dr. Michael Fine, chief health strategist for Central Falls and a former director of the R.I. Department of Health; Dr. Gail Skowron, professor emerita at Boston University and the former chief of Infectious Diseases at the Roger Williams Medical Center; Leonard A. Mermel, doctor of Osteopathic Medicine, a professor of medicine at Brown University and medical director of Epidemiology and Infection Control at Lifespan Hospital Systems; and Dr. Karen Olshtain-Pops, senior physician, Department of Microbiology and Infec-

tious Diseases at Hadassah Medical Center, in Jerusalem.

Both events are co-sponsored by Jewish Collaborative Services.

Hadassah, founded in 1912

by Henrietta Szold, connects Jewish women and empowers them to effect change through advocacy, advancing health and well-being, and support of Israel.

YARDENA KAPACH WINKLER (chapri@hadassah.org) is the president of Hadassah RI.

Local Toastmasters win awards THREE MEMBERS of the Fall River Innovator Toastmasters, serving both Rhode Island and Southern Massachusetts, were awarded the prestigious Pathways Award in September. This award is earned upon the successful completion

The winning Toastmasters.

of 15 challenging presentations and speeches. The winners are Joseph Antao and Andrea McLaughlin of Fall River, and Merrill Winoker of Warwick.

The Toastmasters meet from 6-8 p.m. on the second and fourth

Thursdays of each month at The Chamber, 200 Pocasset St., Fall River, 2nd floor. All are welcome!

You’ll learn how to improve your public speaking and network. For more information, contact Merrill Winoker at 401-688-4741.

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OBITUARIES Robert Bell, 99

TAUNTON, MASS. – Robert Bell passed away on Sept.

14, 2023. He was born in Taunton, Massachusetts, the son of the late Jacob and Sadie (Pavles) Bulotsky. He was the loving husband of the late Natalie N. (Friedman) Bell, with whom he shared 74 years of marriage.

Mr. Bell served in the United States Navy during World War II, and he was trained as an airplane mechanic. Over his long life, he enjoyed camping, canoeing and fishing for striped bass with his wife, hiking, competitive pistol shooting and other outdoor activities.

Survivors include: four children, Eric Bell and his wife, Maija, of Knoxville, Tennessee; Harriet Standish of Taunton; Karen Newberger and her husband, Steven, of Easton, Massachusetts; and Jennifer Doan and her husband, Dewey, of Hawaii; eight grandchildren, Cameron Bell and his wife, Katie; Alison Standish; Elizabeth Cypers and her husband, Scott; Daniel Standish and his wife, Shellee Lindstedt; Andrew Newberger and his wife, Natalie; Noah Newberger; Nicholas Doan and his wife, Taylor; and Gabriella Doan; and six great grandchildren.

He was predeceased by siblings, Nathan Bell, Benjamin Bulotsky and Mae Fineberg.

Contributions may be made to the Old Colony YMCA, Annual Campaign, 71 Cohannet St., Taunton, MA 02780.

Shirley Brenner, 100

SMITHFIELD, R.I. – Shirley (Skydell) Brenner, 100, of Smithfield, formerly of Woonsocket, passed away peacefully on Sept. 24, 2023.

She was the wife of the late Samuel H. Brenner. She was the daughter of the late Abraham and Rose (Yudkovsky) Skydell.

Mrs. Brenner was a homemaker and worked as a reading teacher’s aide for the Woonsocket School Department. Shirley was a member of Congregation B’nai Israel and its Sisterhood, as well a member of Hadassah; she always loved helping where she could at their various events. She was also a member of the Woonsocket Chevrah Kadisha. Shirley was very artistic and enjoyed calligraphy and artistically personalizing the many greeting cards and gifts she sent to family and friends. Her greatest pleasure was spending time with her grandchildren.

Shirley is survived by a son, Jeremy Brenner and his wife, Sandi, and two grandsons, Erik and Alexander Brenner, all of Smithfield.

She was predeceased by three of her children, Rhoda, Martin and a newborn boy.

She was also predeceased by her brother, Murray, and her sisters Ann Mirsky and Ethel Rosenzweig. She also leaves behind many nieces, nephews, and cousins.

Contributions can be made to the B’nai Israel Cemetery, https://www.bnaiisraelcemetery.org/.

Leonard Buckler, 96

GREENVILLE, R.I. – Leonard N. Buckler died Sept. 14, 2023, at the Bethany House in Providence. He was the beloved husband of the late Ruth (Bloom) Buckler.

Born in Providence, a son of the late Hime and Rose (Pepper) Buckler, he had lived in The Village at Waterman Lake, Greenville for three years, and previously was a longtime resident of Cranston. He was a partner with Keyes Associates, retiring in 1990. Leonard was a WWII Navy veteran, serving in Pacific Theater. He was a member of the Touro Fraternal Association.

He was the devoted father of Ann Addis (Reid) of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; Jeffrey Buckler (Michelle) of Amherst, New Hampshire; Judy O’Donnell (Robert) of Cranston and Alan Buckler (Mabel) of Arlington, Massachusetts. He was the dear brother of late Sam Buckler of Cranston and the late Charlotte Wine and Edith Carcieri. He was the loving grandfather of Jenna, Dana, Jacquie, Ilana and Sandra. He was the cherished great-grandfather of Amelia, Oliver, Ruth, Louise and Iris.

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

Samuel Buckler, 99

CRANSTON, R.I. – Samuel Buckler died Sept. 7, 2023, at Kent Hospital.

He was the husband of the late Laura (Kagan) Buckler.

Born in Providence, a son of the late Hime and Rose (Pepper) Buckler, he had lived in Cranston for over 60 years. He co-founded and the worked at United Printing for 35 years, retiring in 1986.

Samuel was a WWII Army Air veteran, serving in the Pacific Theater.

He was a member of Jewish War Veterans Post 23 and Touro Fraternal Association. He was a member of the former Temple Am David, the West Bay Community Jewish Center, Temple Beth Israel and Shaare Zedek Synagogue, and also a former member of Temple Torat Yisrael. Samuel was a Cranston Senior Guild member, serving as its treasurer for 16 years. He also served on the board of the South Providence Hebrew Free Loan Association.

He was the father of Barbara Shapiro and her husband, Nathan, of West Warwick, and Bruce Buckler, of Cranston. He was the brother of the late Leonard Buckler, the late Edith Carcieri and the late Charlotte Wine.

He was the grandfather of Jeffrey and Eric. He was the great-grandfather of Jonas and Lucas. He was the companion of the late Annette Perlman for 12 years.

Contributions may be made to the charity of your choice.

Samuel Dress, 86

SHERMAN OAKS, CALIF. – Samuel Isadore Dress, of Sherman Oaks, passed away Sept. 23, 2023. Son of Dr. Harry and Y. Martha Dress of Providence, and a graduate of Hope High School, Sam earned a bachelor of science degree in speech and communications from Emerson College in Boston.

Formerly a member of the Directors Guild of America and an on-air director of broadcast news for NBC in Washington, D.C. and New York, Sam left live TV and rode his motorcycle to Los Angeles, where he lived his last 40 years, to engage his passion for film and music production. Sam gathered some film credits, but as an accomplished pianist and musical arranger, he found his truest calling as proprietor of his own music recording studio, which catered to great talents in Los Angeles jazz. In addition, Sam was a master woodworker and his cabinets and furniture designs were at one time the height of luxury custom work for beautiful interiors.

Sam was the decades long companion of artist Joan Carl, who predeceased Sam by a year. He is survived by his sister, Pauline Cohen of Providence; her children: Lawrence, Holly, Mitchell and Sharon and their children: Benjamin, Liberty, David and Edward; by his brother Jeffrey Dress of Marlborough,

Massachusetts and his children: Brian and Ashley, and

by Joan Carl’s son Barry Carl of Westchester, New York.

Alice Eichenbaum, 95

PROVIDENCE, R.I. – Alice (Handel) Eichenbaum, age 95, of Providence, passed away Sept. 19, 2023, at The Miriam Hospital. She was the wife of the late Raymond Eichenbaum.

Born in Vienna, Austria, a daughter of the late Herman and Clara (Diamant), she grew up and attended school in Sofia, Bulgaria. In 1943 she and her family were expelled

from Sofia to a Jewish ghetto along the Turkish border where they remained for a year and a half.

Alice met her future husband, Raymond, while studying to earn her Ph.D. in chemistry at Graz Technical University in Austria following World War II. They went on to settle and raise a family in Rhode Island.

Together, the Eichenbaums and other survivors helped establish the Rhode Island Holocaust Museum, now the Sandra Bornstein Holocaust Education Center. Alice was a chemist at Providence Metalizing for many years before retiring and enjoyed volunteering at the Roger Williams Park and Zoo following her retirement.

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Jewish Rhode Island | jewishrhody.org

OBITUARIES A longtime member of Temple Emanu-El in Providence, Alice enjoyed reading, traveling and watching the Red Sox. Alice especially loved spending time with her family and was known for her wonderful cooking and baking skills.

Survivors include: her sons, Howard Eichenbaum and his wife, Caryn, of Burlington, Massachusetts; and Cary Eichenbaum of Providence; granddaughter, Raya Eichenbaum also of Burlington, Massachusetts and her close friend Saul Martin of Providence.

Contributions may be made to Sandra Bornstein Holocaust Education Center, 401 Elmgrove Ave., Providence, RI 02906 or to a charity of one’s choice.

Judy Ann Frank, 66

BOCA RATON, FLA. – Judy Ann (Levin) Frank, of Boca Raton and, formerly, Cranston, passed away Sept. 9, 2023.

Born in Providence, a daughter of the late Irwin and Shirley (Krieger) Levin, she had lived in Cranston for many years before moving to Florida in 2008.

A graduate of Hope High School in 1974, Judy earned a bachelor’s degree in special education from Rhode Island College in 1978 and was a teacher for several years, working with children with severe disabilities. Judy loved music, especially Motown, and enjoyed cooking for friends and family; her fromscratch eggplant parmigiana remains legendary among those who have had it. In her later years, Judy often said that the best times of her life were spent with her family at the beaches of Rhode Island – Narragansett Town Beach as a child and Bonnet Shores as an adult.

She is survived by two children, Evan Frank and his wife, Kimberly Nguyen, of Washington, D.C.; and Hillary Frank and her husband, Nicholas Solebello, of Catonsville, Maryland; her grandson, Max Solebello, also of Catonsville, Maryland; two siblings, Lori Salk and her husband, David Salk, of Cranston; and David Levin and his wife, Jan Levin, of Wesley Chapel, Florida; and two nephews and a niece.

Contributions in her honor may be made to the American Cancer Society, 931 Jefferson Blvd. STE 3004, Warwick, RI 02886. www.cancer.org/

Edith Kur, 87

PROVIDENCE, R.I. – Edith Alice (Gurspan) Kur, of Providence and, formerly, of Brooklyn and Pennsylvania, passed away on Sept. 14, 2023, at HopeHealth Hulitar Hospice in Providence. She was the partner of the late Dr. Carolyn Ruth Swift. They were together for 31 years.

Born in the Bronx, Edith was the daughter of the late Jacob and Betty Kaplan.

She received her bachelor’s degree from Queens College in New York and did her doctoral work in Linguistics at the University of Pennsylvania. She taught English at Rutgers University and at the Brown University Adult Learning Program. Edith also worked as a freelance writer and poet under the pseudonym New England Scribe. A gifted pianist and organist, Edith enjoyed performing for her friends and family well into her 80s at The Highlands Assisted Living. A cancer survivor, Edith loved nature, bird-watching, spending time at the beach, vacations, cruises and walking in the Fox Point neighborhood where she lived for many years. She also enjoyed participating in animal rescue with Christine Chester.

Throughout her life, Edith advocated for social justice and participated in many political activities.

Edith is survived by her son, Richard Gurspan, and his wife, Deborah Petrarca, of Warwick; her daughter, Nina Carmel, and her granddaughter, Ruby Carmel, of Lincoln, Massachusetts; her son, Paul Gurspan of Jamaica Plain, Massachusetts; and her daughter, Pamela Ewings, of Pawtucket; and her dear friend of 40 years, Christine Chester. She was the former wife of Stanley Gurspan of Brookline, Massachusetts. and the sister of Leo, Phil and Penny Kaplan.

Contributions may be made to the staff of the Memory Care Unit at Highlands on the East Side, where she was happy and loved.

Martin Malinou, 90

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

PROVIDENCE, R.I. – Martin Malinou, Esq., passed away on Aug. 21, 2023, after a brief illness at the HopeHealth Hulitar Hospice Center. Born and raised in Providence, he was a son of the late Nathaniel Joseph and Etta (Rezepter)

Malinou.

He attended Brown University, graduating in 1955, and continued on to Boston University and received a Juris Doctor. After being admitted to the Rhode Island Bar, he returned to Providence, where he successfully served as an attorney for over 50 years. Martin was a devoted member of the Rhode Island community; he was involved with Brown University and Boston University Law Alumni associations. He was a devoted son and caretaker to his late mother, Etta Malinou.

He was the brother of the late Sheldon Malinou and the late Sherri Spillane. He was the uncle of Justin Malinou.

He was the cousin of Edward Zuckerman.

Contributions may be made to a charity of your choice.

Barry Miller, 86

EAST GREENWICH, R.I. – Barry Norton Miller, “The Boss,” died on Sept. 23, 2023, at the HopeHealth Hulitar Hospice Center in Providence. He was the beloved husband of the late Ann (Sorenson) Miller for 59 years. Born in Cambridge, Massachusetts, a son of the late George and Sarah (Collin) Miller, he had lived in East Greenwich for almost 50 years, and spent his summers in Edgartown on Martha’s Vineyard for more than 30 years. Barry was a graduate of Classical High School and Bowdoin College.

After serving two tours in the Army, Barry returned and was a co-owner of Miller Corrugated Box in Warwick for many years. He prided himself on his ability to run an efficient manufacturing operation and in operating sophisticated machinery.

He was a member of Redwood Lodge Masons, a 32nd degree Scottish Rite Mason, and the Valley of Providence Redwood organist for 30 years Barry was a dedicated hobbyist; in his spare time he earned his commercial pilot’s license, which allowed him to go where his heart brought him. He was a performer with the Academy Players, appearing in the chorus of several musical comedies. He thoroughly enjoyed classical music, especially Beethoven.

Barry engaged in a lifelong study of French

He was the devoted father of Henry Miller of East Greenwich, and Eric Miller (Sara) of Providence. He was the dear brother of Paul Miller (Linda) of West Warwick. He was the loving grandfather of Sarah, Justin, Lucy and Lily.

Contributions may be made to the American Cancer Society at www.donate.cancer. org.

Margaret Motola, 86

CRANSTON, R.I. – Margaret “Magi” Rose Louise Motola, of Cranston, passed away Aug. 10, 2023, at her daughter’s home. She was the wife of the late Dr. Baruh “Bob” Motola, with whom she shared 53 years of marriage.

Born in London, England, she was the daughter of the late Dario and Ida (Hornstein) Benbassat.

After studying at Sorbonne University in Paris, France, Magi taught French for many years and was also fluent in Spanish. A talented, enthusiastic and knowledgeable antique dealer and auctioneer, Magi enjoyed the pursuit of rare finds, for which she had a special eye, and restoring antiques. Gardening held a very special place in her heart. Her first love, however, was spending time with her family.

Her survivors include her daughter, Lauren Motola-Davis, and her husband, Kenneth Davis, and their daughter, Skye, of Providence; and her son, Dr. Allen Motola, and his wife, Lisa, of New York City, and their children, Nicholas and Margrit. She was the sister of the late Claretta (Motola) Hayon.

Contributions may be made to Providence Animal Rescue League, 34 Elbow St., Providence, RI 02903.

Benjamin Paster, 75

CRANSTON – What, Me Dead?

Benjamin G. Paster died.

He knew it would happen eventually, but now? Yes, now. On Sept. 16, 2023.

Born to David and Ruth Paster of St. Louis, Missouri, Ben is survived by his most respected and beloved wife, Linda, whose role in his life he often described with the Aretha Franklin lyric, “When my soul was in the lost and found, you came

OCTOBER 2023 | 31

jewishrhody.org | Jewish Rhode Island

OBITUARIES along to claim it.” He is also survived by his wonderful daughter, Nicole Campbell (and her husband, Keith), and his adored granddaughter, Eleanor Mapitsitch, his revered brother Jim (and his wife, Flora), and numerous nieces and nephews. He is predeceased by his first wife, Judith Ann (Gray) and his sisters, Betty Leavitt and Toby Rossner.

A graduate of the Wharton School, Ben went on to earn law degrees from the University of Cambridge (LL.M.) and Yale University (J.D.).

He also studied at The Hague Academy of International Law, The Netherlands, and the London School of Economics, England. Ben practiced trust and estate law in several large law firms before founding a boutique firm with John Harpootian, his partner of 40 dispute-free years.

Ben was a good technical attorney, taking the greatest pride in solving complex tax issues with what tax lawyers refer to as “elegant” or simple solutions. But most satisfying to him was working with clients to minimize the stress inherent in family relations and assisting them in the structuring of their philanthropic activities to achieve the Jewish tradition of tikkun olam — the healing of the world. Many of Ben’s clients became lifelong friends.

One of his greatest loves was the sea and he was happiest when sailing. His catboat, Per Stirpes, was a fixture on Narragansett Bay for decades, and he was proud to have been a Past Commodore of the Edgewood Yacht Club, a role he described as being the best job. Ben was also a member of both the New York Yacht Club and Sam’s Club.

Ben served in many leadership roles, as well.

Meaningful to him were his time as a chairman of The Miriam Hospital Foundation and as a member of the board of directors of the Rhode Island Foundation. In recognition of his service to the state, Ben was bestowed the honorary title of Rhode Island Commodore.

In lieu of flowers, Ben would like you to go out and buy some for yourself to brighten your day.

Florence Percelay, 99

PROVIDENCE, R.I. – Florence Percelay passed away on Sept.

24, 2023, at Briarcliff Manor in Johnston. Born in Pawtucket on April 28, 1924. She was the daughter of the late Nathan and Minnie Goldfarb. She is predeceased by her husband, Earl Morton Percelay, her son Joseph H. Percelay and her brother Samuel Goldfarb.

She became an integral participant with her husband when he began his successful business in Pawtucket, working full time while raising her children in Pawtucket. She was a past president of Pioneer Women in Pawtucket, a lifetime member of Hadassah and a lifelong member of Temple Emanu-El of Providence and its Sisterhood. She loved her grandchildren and great-grandchildren to the moon and back; she would encourage and motivate them to succeed as they shared their experiences with her. She welcomed the family for holidays and Shabbat. For the family she was a “Eishet Chayil,” Woman of Valor.

She is survived by two daughters, Rachael Coshak and her husband, Howard, and Abigail Leavitt. She was the loving grandmother to Estee Crawford, Sarah Fishman, Andrew Leavitt, Laura Wilkinson, and Julia Schneider. She was delighted to be a great-grandmother to Michael, Ethan, Edy, Benjamin and Hazel.

Contributions may be made to American Diabetes Association, P.O. Box 7023, Merrifield, VA 22116-7023.

Marc Rose, 76

EAST PROVIDENCE, R.I. – Marc Rose died Sept. 5, 2023, at HopeHealth Hulitar Hospice Center, Providence. Born in Providence, a son of the late Jacob and Beatrice (Kushner) Rose, he had lived in East Providence, previously living in Westford, Massachusetts.

He worked in respiratory services at Mt. Auburn Hospital, in Cambridge, Massachusetts, for his whole career, retiring in 2021.

Marc was a Vietnam Army Air veteran, serving in 101st Airborne in Vietnam.

He was the father of

Joshua Rose, of Albany, New York, and twins, Matthew Rose, of Littleton, Massachusetts, and Alex Rose, of Cohoes, New York. He was the brother of Gary Rose, of Cranston, and the late Karen Rose and Wendy Speck.

He was the grandfather of Samantha. He was the great-grandfather of Gabriel and Wyatt.

Contributions may be made to the charity of your choice.

Burton Rubin, 79

MIDDLETOWN, R.I. – Burton R. Rubin died Sept. 27, 2023, at Kent Hospital.

He was the beloved husband of the late Janet Shore. Born in Dorchester, Massachusetts, a son of the late Samuel and Bella (Mack) Rubin, he had lived in the Newport area since 2000, previously living in Waterville Valley, New Hampshire, and Hingham, Massachusetts. He was a Partner at PwC, retiring in 2003. Burton was an AICPA member.

He was the devoted father of Juli Fee and her husband, Edward, of New Orleans, Louisiana, Bradley Rubin, and his wife, Ceantel, of Clearwater, Florida, and Samuel Shore and his partner, Jennifer Mitchell. He was the dear brother of Judi Dempsey and her husband, Robert, of Royalston, Massachusetts. He was the loving grandfather of Alanna, Emily and Izzy.

Contributions in his memory may be made to the American Diabetes Association at https://www2. diabetes.org/ways-to-give/ donations.

David Sloane, 85

NORTH PROVIDENCE, R.I. – David N. Sloane passed away Sept. 2, 2023.

Born in Providence, he was the husband of Joan (Ginsberg) Sloane for 62 years and a son of the late Theodore and Jeannette (Kaplan) Sloane.

He lived most of his life in Pawtucket and resided in North Providence for 21 years. He was a graduate of Pawtucket West High School and served in the U.S. Navy.

With a talent for sales, David took great pride in

his family’s store, Sloane Furniture, which his father founded, and Liberty Furniture. Later, he owned and published a local TV-Facts Magazine until his retirement, mentoring many salespeople along the way, including his niece, Susan. David was a faithful member of the Fraternal Order of Police, of Touro Fraternal Association and of the former Temple Am David, where he often joined to make a minyan. He worked passionately on all his endeavors.

David enjoyed sailing on his second love, Tranquilizer, taking family and friends out on the water to enjoy some relaxation. He took many ski trips with his dear friend, Howard, and his nephew, Michael, along with family. He diligently took out library books to teach himself all manner of renovation. Woodworking was his favorite hobby, and he shared his knowledge by teaching his cousin, Ronn, all that he knew. Annual apple picking and vacationing in Cape Cod were among his favorite family pastimes.

David was the father of three daughters; Deborah and her husband, Dr. Robert Nye, of Wynnewood, Pennsylvania; Tracey and her husband, Darren Maggio, of Stoughton, Massachusetts; and Penny and her husband, Larry Andler, of Bedford, Massachusetts; brother of Leon Sloane, of Cranston, and Leon’s late wife, Barbara; grandfather of Elizabeth and Ian; uncle of Susan Sugerman, of Cranston, and Richard Sloane, of Scottsdale, Arizona.

Contributions may be made to Alzheimer’s Association of RI, 245 Waterman St., #306, Providence, RI 02906; The Wounded Warriors Project, P.O. Box 758516, Topeka, KS 666758516; or a veterans’ charity of your choice.

Gary Sockut, 73

WATERTOWN, MASS. – Gary Sockut died Sept.

22, 2023, at Mt. Auburn Hospital in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Born in Hartford, Connecticut, a son of the late Yale and Dora (Bell) Sockut, he had lived in Watertown for 4 1/2 years, previously living in Newton, Massachusetts, San Jose, California, Peekskill, New York, and the Washington D.C. area.

He was a retired software engineer and researcher for several employers, with a

specialty in database reorganization. Gary was proudly educated at Brown University where he received a bachelor’s degree, moving on to MIT for a master’s degree and finally receiving a Ph.D. from Harvard University.

He was the dear brother of Judith Silverman (Harvey) of East Greenwich.

He was the dear uncle of Alan Silverman (Bonnie) of Saunderstown, and Kenneth Silverman (Kerren Buote) of Cranston. He was the great-uncle of Noah Silverman and Hope Silverman.

Contributions may be made to Brown University or to the charity of your choice.

Jacqueline Weintraub, 84

CRANSTON, R.I. – Jacqueline Weintraub died Sept. 22, 2023, at HopeHealth Hulitar Hospice Center in Providence. She was the beloved wife of Edward Weintraub for 65 years.

Born in London, England, a daughter of the late James and Isabelle (Hall) Jackson, she had lived in Cranston for over 60 years, previously living in Providence.

She was a personnel manager in human resources with C.I. Hayes Mfg. Company, retiring in 2006. Jacqueline loved traveling and with her husband traveled extensively, frequently visiting England where she had many first cousins. She was loved by many; her home was her castle where she was an amazing cook and baker.

She was the devoted mother of Joseph Weintraub of Cranston and Andrew Weintraub and his wife, Lisa, of Naperville, Illinois.

She was the loving grandmother of Elizabeth Rose.

She was the cherished aunt of Nicholas, Liza, Joshua, Alan, Michael and Todd.

Contributions may be made to HopeHealth Hospice (www.hopehealthco.org/ ways-to-give/donatenow/ donate-in-rhode-island/ hospice/); the Salvation Army (give.salvationarmyusa.org/give/164006/#!/ donation/checkout) ; the St. Jude’s Children’s Research Hospital, 501 St. Jude Place, Memphis, TN 38105 ; The American Red Cross, P.O. Box 37839, Boone, IA 500370839, or The Rhode Island Food Bank, 200 Niantic Ave., Providence, RI 02907.

Food for Thought

PRESENTED BY

THE DR. JAMES YASHAR & JUDGE MARJORIE YASHAR FUND

Saturday | Nov. 4

at the Jewish Federation Foundation

Doors Open at 7:00pm D WA R E S J C C | 4 0 1 E L M G R O V E AV E , P V D .

Join us for a night of diverse learning opportunities, discussions, and interactive experiences that explore the many facets of Jewish culture.

First Session | 7:45–8:35pm 1A. Torah on Aisle Six: Discovering Judaism at Stop & Shop and Trader Joe(seph)’s

When we talk about Jewish practice, we often presume we are talking about gatherings occurring at synagogues, or JCCs, or our homes – we don’t always think about Judaism as something that is lived at the grocery store. In this interactive session, explore what can be unlocked, and experienced, and taught, when we see the supermarket not only as a place to find “Jewish food,” but also as a site for Jewish learning, identity-building, and communal connection.

Led by Lex Rofeberg, Jewish educator and activist for Judaism Unbound

1B. For the Sake of the Argument: A Look at how we can Improve Civil Discourse through the Understanding of Makhloket.

Together we will take an in-depth look at makhloket l’shem shamayim – disagreements for the sake of heaven. We will navigate inner challenges and societal discord through Jewish text and social emotional learning in order to build community, especially in areas where we may disagree.

Led by Rabbi Sarah Mack & Rachel Mersky Woda, Temple Beth-El

1C. Jews and Booze: Israeli Whiskey Tasting

A fun and interactive tour of Israel through a curated tasting of a variety of exclusive Israeli whiskies.

Led by Josh Mann from Jews and Booze and First Cut Barrel Co.

1D. Nutrition Trends and “Our Food”: Is it Safe or Unsafe?

In an interactive presentation, Dr. Irene merges current nutrition trends and Jewish food culture to help you recognize the key influences on your food choices. Her strategies help you set realistic goals, tame your inner brat, and nourish your body.

Led by Irene Berman-Levine, Registered Dietitian/Nutritionist and Jewish Book Council author

1E. Meditative Session

1F. How the Talmud Can Change Your Life: Surprisingly Modern Advice from a Very Old Book

The Talmud—an extraordinary work of Jewish ethics, law, and tradition—has compelled readers to grapple with how to live a good life.

How should we cope with grief? What's the secret to a great marriage? What makes a good friend? The Talmud has answers to all and more.

By sharing anecdotes, exploring the Talmud's history, and introducing some of its greatest, wisest, and wildest rabbis, Leibovitz delivers a passionate, humorous, and heartfelt exploration of how the Talmud’s wisdom reverberates for the modern age and how it can, indeed, change your life.

Led by Liel Liebovitz, Jewish Book Council author

1G. Charoset Around the World: The Diversity of a Passover Tradition

Join Rabbi Barry Dolinger and Rabbi Emily Goldberg Winer for an open-hearted evening of Jewish mystical/meditative practice and experience. The session will include education, instruction, practice, and possibly transcendence. It is geared toward spiritual seekers of any and all backgrounds.

Join us as we explore this tasty Passover delicacy. We will examine the rabbinic commentaries on Charoset's meaning and symbolism, and survey Sephardic and Ashkenazic recipes as they reflect the dietary culture of their region. Students are encouraged to share their favorite recipes, and perhaps a small sample for tasting.

Led by Rabbi Barry Dolinger & Rabbi Emily Goldberg Winer, Congregation Beth Shalom

Led by Rabbi Howard Voss-Altman, Temple Habonim

1H. A Covenant of Salt? How the Hebrew Bible Elevates Salt to an Unprecedented Level Salt, an ancient additive for flavoring and preserving food, appears in the Tanakh as a symbol of enduring sanctity and strength.

The term “Brit Melakh – A Covenant of Salt” emerges in the Torah, the Writings, and the Talmud. This presentation will examine the source materials that shed light on how our ancestors elevated salt to a Covenantal symbol.

Led by Cantor Dr. Brian Mayer, Temple Emanu-El

1i. Chewing and Choices

The Torah lays out the basics of the kosher dietary system but is short on explanations and justifications. Lucky for us, over the years many scholars have offered a wide range of theories as to the goal of kashrut, along with its possible benefits to our bodies, souls, and societies.

Led by Rabbi Stephen Belsky, Congregation Jeshuat Israel at Touro Synagogue

Second Session | 8:55–9:45pm 2A. “Your Podcast Is My Synagogue” – Digital Judaism in 2023 and Beyond

Less than 10 years ago, people regularly argued that Jewish practice should never take place online – I know this because folks said it to me regularly, as I began to work for a digital Jewish non-profit! Today, hundreds of Jewish gatherings take place online every day, gathering people in a variety of formats, across time zones and continents. In this interactive session, we will focus on ways in which this new site (pun intended!) of Jewish life – the digital world – can serve efforts to engage with Torah, build community, and organize for a better future.

Led by Lex Rofeberg, Jewish educator and activist for Judaism Unbound

2B. For the Sake of the Argument: A Look at how we can Improve Civil Discourse through the Understanding of Makhloket.

Together we will take an in-depth look at makhloket l’shem shamayim – disagreements for the sake of heaven. We will navigate inner challenges and societal discord through Jewish text and social emotional learning in order to build community, especially in areas where we may disagree.

Led by Rabbi Sarah Mack & Rachel Mersky Woda, Temple Beth-El

2C. Jews and Booze: Israeli Whiskey Tasting

A fun and interactive tour of Israel through a curated tasting of a variety of exclusive Israeli whiskies.

Led by Josh Mann from Jews and Booze and First Cut Barrel Co.

2D. Nutrition Trends and “Our Food”: Is it Safe or Unsafe?

In an interactive presentation, Dr. Irene merges current nutrition trends and Jewish food culture to help you recognize the key influences on your food choices. Her strategies help you set realistic goals, tame your inner brat, and nourish your body.

Led by Irene Berman-Levine, Registered Dietitian/Nutritionist and Jewish Book Council author

2E. Meditative Session

Join Rabbi Barry Dolinger and Rabbi Emily Goldberg Winer for an open-hearted evening of Jewish mystical/meditative practice and experience. The session will include education, instruction, practice, and possibly transcendence.

It is geared toward spiritual seekers of any and all backgrounds.

Led by Rabbi Barry Dolinger & Rabbi Emily Goldberg Winer, Congregation Beth Shalom

M O R E IN F O RMAT I O N A N D R E G I S T RAT I ON O N L I N E AT

JewishAllianceRI.org/Events/EJR

2F. "What, Me Worry?" On "the Jewish Future" and the Age-Old Tradition of Worrying About It

In this workshop - whose title borrows the famous catch phrase of Mad Magazine's mischievous mascot, Alfred E. Neuman - we will celebrate the most persistent Jewish tradition, one that has lasted for millennia: worrying about "the Jewish future". We will do so by looking at various turning points in Jewish history, comparing them to our collective memory of those same events, and applying the methodology to the myriad worries we carry with us in the current moment. Finally, Rabbi Babchuck will share about some of his work in building "the Jewish future" (a phrase that he will deconstruct).

Led by Rabbi Elan Babchuck, Executive Vice President of CLAL, the National Jewish Center for Learning and Leadership

2G. Parenting and Grandparenting the Rainbow

Join Jeff Bender for a session full of thought-provoking conversation and meaningful connection. The author of "Oh, I Just Didn't Know: Thoughtful Conversations for Grandparents and Grandchildren" and "Apparel Has No Gender: Thoughtful Commentary of a Dad Raising a Transgender Daughter" has been recognized for his insightful works that promote inclusion, acceptance, and positive change in our communities.

Led by Jeffery Bender, Jewish Book Council author

2H. Liberating Ourselves from Narrowness

A group discussion of the intentions and pitfalls of dietary restriction, and other ways to practice self-control.

Led by Abigail Anthony

2i. Soulful Connections: Unveiling the African Influence in Sephardic Jewish Culture

This session will explore the influences of the African Diaspora in respect to Modern Israeli Cuisine. It will be both a talk and tasting as Chef Avi will exhibit some of his latest recipes during this session.

Led by Avi Shemtov, chef, restaurateur, and American/Israeli