March 1, 2019

The Voice of Greater Rhode Island’s Jewish Community

JEWISH R H O DE I S L A ND

MARCH 2019 | ADAR 1 / ADAR II 5779

JEWISHRHODY.ORG

Hello spring…

PHOTO | DAVE SCHWARTZ

Time to get out and dig in the garden Modern day lessons from Purim

Centennial year for Adler’s Hardware

Gardening is good for your health and your soul

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MARCH 2019 | 3

jewishrhody.org | Jewish Rhode Island

Signs of spring are beginning to grow Painting, Siding, Landscaping...

It’s the beginning of March and my thoughts are turning to spring. Who can blame me?

We haven’t had a lot of snow

this winter, but we’ve had our share of cold temperatures.

And the short, gray days are certainly wearing thin.

Apparently, I’m not the only one eagerly anticipating spring’s flowers, green grass, longer days and warmth.

Your Facebook feed may already be peppered with the ON THE COVER: These gorgeous Mary Grady lillies shout spring.

PHOTO | DAVID SCHWARTZ

first photos of plants in greenhouses. In some hardware stores, you’ll notice that seed packet displays are popping up.

We used to start getting seed catalogs in our mailbox around now. Does anyone get those anymore? I would spend hours poring over the photos of gorgeous flowers and beautiful vegetables (and wondering if this year, mine

would actually look like the pictures).

And that is why we are bringing you our Home and Garden issue this month.

Despite the fact that you might still have some of that icy white snow in piles in your yard, it’s time to start planning for those spring upgrades to your yard and garden. And how about sprucing up your house’s exterior? There’s no time like the present to think about fresh paint and other improvements.

For me, another harbinger of spring has always been my mother’s birthday.

My family is so fortunate to be able to celebrate her 90th this March. She’s planned the party, a small gathering of family and friends. She even sent the invitation via Paperless Post – without anyone’s help!

Whenever someone complains about technology, I think about my mother. She’s pretty computer literate. Yes, she needs some occasional help from her daughter … or her grandchildren. But not as often as you would imagine.

That Paperless Post invitation is a prime example. Those invitations are not necessarily the easiest to navigate.

May we all live so long and continue learning about new technology along the way!

On page 26, you can read

about a member of our community, Tillie Orleck, who recently celebrated her 90th birthday at the Kosher Senior Café.

While we don’t have room to recognize everyone’s birthday in our monthly print edition of Jewish Rhode Island, we are expanding how many we publish on our website (www. jewishrhody.org), where there is plenty of room for everyone.

We hope you will share your best wishes and milestones with us and the broader community.

Meanwhile, we launched a little new technology of our own last month with the delivery of our first regular newsletter. We hope you enjoyed it! If you missed it, we hope you will sign up for it today. Just register at Jewish Rhode Island’s website and you’ll be on the list. We’ll publish a newsletter between print editions each month with updates, calendar items and the latest news.

As we head into spring, I’m also looking forward to Purim. But this year, we will have to wait a little longer than usual, until March 20, since this is a leap year in the Hebrew calendar. But, no matter – as surely as spring is coming, so is Purim, bringing us hamantaschen, the megillah, colorful costumes and good cheer.

Fran Ostendorf, Editor

BUSINESS 22 | CALENDAR 6-7 | COMMUNITY 20 D’VAR TORAH 5 | FOOD 13 | HOME & GARDEN 16-19 | OBITUARIES 28-29 OPINION 8-9 | WE ARE READ 31

JEWISH RHODE ISLAND

EDITOR Fran Ostendorf DESIGN & LAYOUT Leah Camara ADVERTISING DEPARTMENT Chris Westerkamp | cwesterkamp@jewishallianceri.org | 401-421-4111, ext. 160 Karen Borger | ksborger@ gmail.com | 401-529-2538 CONTRIBUTORS Cynthia Benjamin, Larry Kessler, Michael Schemaille COLUMNISTS Michael Fink, Geraldine Foster, Patricia Raskin, Rabbi James Rosenberg, Daniel Stieglitz

VOLUME XXVI, ISSUE II JEWISH RHODE ISLAND (ISSN number 1539-2104, USPS #465-710) is published monthly.

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

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

401-421-4111; Fax 401-331-7961

MEMBER of the Rhode Island Press Association and the American Jewish Press Association

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

ADVERTISING: We do not accept advertisements for pork or shellfish. We do not attest to the kashrut of any product or the legitimacy of advertisers’ claims.

Turn Your Home From Weather-Worn to Spring Fresh!

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In Concert

March 24, 2019 / 3:00PM Temple Sinai 30 Hagen Ave. Cranston, RI

Tickets: $20 in advance / $25 at the door Benefactor -­‐ preferred seating tickets $100 Call Temple Sinai (401) 942-­‐8350 hazzan-­‐mizrahi-­‐concert.eventbrite.com Further information/questions: Dottie@templesinairi.org

Our newsletter made its debut Feb. 21. If you did not receive yours, send us your email: editor@jewishallianceri.org and we’ll add you to our list.

4 | MARCH 2019

Jewish Rhode Island | jewishrhody.org

UP FRONT In August 2018, Cafri arrived in Rhode Island and has been working in the day schools, religious schools and Hillels. Cafri also leads the Israel Culture Series at the Dwares Jewish Community Center in Providence and regularly visits local synagogues to present programs for all ages.

Cafri recently spoke with Jewish Rhode Island as part of our ongoing efforts to introduce readers to community leaders.

Where are you from in Israel?

I am from Nes Ziona, about 15 minutes outside Tel-Aviv.

Tell us about your family.

I am the youngest of three siblings.

My sister Noa is the oldest at 29, and she is a combat navigator in the Air Force. My brother Or is the middle child. He is 27 and flies drones in the security industry. My father Gidon works in technology for drones in the air force industry, and my mom, Daniella, monitors invasive species for the Ministry of Agriculture

What was your army experience?

PHOTO | GLENN OSMUNDSON

Nir Cafri works to connect Rhode Islanders to Israel

BY JEWISH RHODE ISLAND STAFF

J

AFI’s mission today is to “do all they can to ensure that every Jewish person feels an unbreakable bond to one another and to Israel

no matter where they are in the world so that they can continue to play their critical role in our ongoing Jewish story.” How do they do this? Through direct services and Israeli education opportunities such as the Shlichim program, Youth Futures, and Net@, to name a few. All of these programs receive support from our community through the Annual Campaign.

IN PARTNERSHIP with the Jewish Agency for Israel (JAFI), the Jewish

Alliance of Greater Rhode Island sponsors an Israeli shaliach (emissary) each year. Our present community emissary, 23-yearold Nir Cafri, will be with our community through spring 2020.

I spent 3 1/2 years in the army. For three years, I was drafted for combat engineering, a commander for heavy machinery, and responsible for combat engineering in the northern part of the country, near the Syrian border. For half a year, I was enrolled in a flight course.

Did you enjoy flying?

It’s fun… as a hobby.

What inspired you to become an emissary?

I have been involved with connecting Jews to Israel by working with Birthright, Young Judea and Onward Israel. This was the next obvious step for me. This is the way you get the ultimate connection of Jews and Israel by coming here.

What do you hope to accomplish during your time here.

I have three main goals: Create unity. This includes school programs such as school twinning.

This program pairs the day schools with Israeli schools for collaborative work. It feels like the Jewish community in Rhode Island is divided. We must remember that we are all Jews.

Create a connection. I’m trying to create a connection between Jews in Israel and Jews in Rhode Island. The Think and Drink series is a program that unites Israeli scientists with U.S. scientists through Science Abroad.

An event for this program is being planned for April.

Create a legacy. Zikaron B’Salon means memory in the living room.

This is a different way to commemorate the Holocaust. A survivor tells their story in someone’s living room, followed by a discussion. I am excited to say the first one will be held sometime in May.

What is hardest challenge you have?

The Israel Culture Series and getting the word out is the toughest thing so far. Movies attract people.

We had over 70 people for a movie in January but 20 for a program in February. I am trying to find interesting and appealing content to bring the community to the building [the Dwares JCC]. On March 13 we will have our next event. Rachel S. Harris, author of “Warriors, Witches, Whores: Women in Israeli Cinema” will be here for a book talk and signing. (See story on page 10)

Is there a program you are really excited about?

For the first time in a long time, all the temples and the Alliance are uniting together for an all-community Yom Ha’atzmut (Israel Independence Day) celebration on May 9.

Besides these programs what else do you do in the community?

I travel all over the state doing Israel programming and Israeli culture. My favorite programs are the ones where I am interacting with the schools. Working in the Sunday Schools is my favorite part of the week.

What do you like about the United States?

This is my first time in the U.S. I have traveled to California, New York City, Philadelphia, D.C. and Baltimore. My favorite place I have visited is Joshua Tree National Park [in southern California]. In Rhode Island, I love Lincoln Woods.

I have also loved going snow tubing at Yawgoo Valley. Rhode Island is a really fun place to be.

Do you miss Israel and home?

I miss my family and the food. The produce in Israel is just so fresh and tasty. The best food is the food my mom makes. Here, the Mexican food is great!

What are your hobbies?

Really anything. I love running, biking, TRX, rock climbing, guitar, skiing. I love to be active.

What are your plans after your time here?

I plan to attend Beersheba University to study cognitive neuroscience.

Each year, JAFI sends nearly 1,800 Israeli emissaries around the world to strengthen Jewish identity and connection to Israel. These shlichim are selected from more than 10,000 applicants, and represent the best of Israel.

For information on upcoming events Cafri will be running or on giving to the Annual Campaign, please contact Seth Finkle, manager of development, at 401-421-4111, ext. 146.

MARCH 2019 | 5

jewishrhody.org | Jewish Rhode Island

AS WE APPROACH the raucous holiday celebration of Purim this month, we must ask ourselves a rather sobering question: why are we commanded to observe the holiday by drinking to excess? We know, of course, that we are obligated to drink four cups of wine during the Passover Seder as a way of symbolizing the Torah’s four different ways of describing our redemption from Egypt (Exodus 13). However, to fulfill this commandment, four cups of grape juice will work just as well. And if grape juice isn’t “your cup of tea,” four cups of Manischewitz – over the course of several hours (and several courses) – will make only the slightest dent in your sobriety.

But on Purim, the actual command appears to encourage drinking in order to achieve a state of intoxication. Perhaps the tradition began as a way of identifying with the characters in the story. The elite of Shushan spend an inordinate amount of time attending parties and indulging in their favorite libations (the story often feels like a Bette Davis movie from the 1940s). The text even says (twice) that the celebration of Purim shall be a day for “drinking and merrymaking.” (Esther 9:18-19).

The Talmud also weighs in on the issue of drinking on Purim, commanding us “to make oneself fragrant with wine on Purim until one cannot tell the difference between ‘arur Haman’ (cursed be Haman) and ‘barukh Mordekhai’ (blessed be Mordecai).” (Megillah 7b). Here, the Talmud advises us not just to have one or two, but to drink so much that

Cranston Senior Guild’s next meeting will take place Wednesday, April 3, at 1 p.m. at the Phyllis Siperstein Tamarisk Assisted Living Residence, 3 Shalom Drive, Warwick. After a short meeting, Alison Bologna, an award-winning journalist who anchors NBC 10 News Sunrise, will speak to the group about Shri Yoga. Bologna opened Shri Studio in downtown Pawtucket to offer yoga and wellness classes to an urban community. Following her presentation, there will be refreshments and a raffle.

Men and women 55 or older are welcome to join the Cranston Senior Guild. Dues are $12 a year. Cranston residency is not required.

The next meeting will be held on May 8.

D’ VA

Fulfilling the Purim mitzvah

NEWS

R

we can no longer tell the difference between our cheers for Mordecai and our jeers for Haman.

And so we must ask, to borrow a phrase from another famous holiday, “Mah nishtanah?” Why is this night different from all other nights? On all other nights we are expected, as Jews, to behave with dignity, composure, modesty and in accordance with our highest ethical standards. But on Purim, we are commanded “to cut loose,” throw caution to the wind and engage in the sort of behavior that we are taught – in every other RABBI HOWARD context – to scrupulously avoid.

VOSS-ALTMAN Over the centuries, our rabbis have offered a variety of explanations for this behavioral aberration. Some have suggested that an evening of indulgence enables a person to reach a new level of knowledge; the difference between knowing something in one’s head and knowing something in one’s heart. For these rabbis, the removal of inhibition is the first step toward a more open and accepting heart. Some rabbis also have claimed that such drinking – on occasion – can lead to a more ecstatic experience of God. As we loosen up, we are more likely to discard the layers of our ego that often preclude us from sensing the divine presence.

Today, however, given all that we know about the dangers of drinking to excess (both to ourselves and to others), the rabbis’ romantic idealizations feel hopelessly obsolete.

But as we recognize the perils of

TO R A H

even “a once a year” indulgence, the unique legacy of Purim continues to persist across the generations and the movements. These days, though, our search for a more enlightened state may lead us not to wisdom or knowledge, but rather to humility.

Our rabbis teach us that when we can no longer tell the difference between cursing Haman and blessing Mordecai, we will realize that the line between Mordecai’s goodness and Haman’s evil may be thinner, and more permeable, than we once thought. Perhaps we will recognize that most people – including ourselves – reside somewhere in a gray zone; somewhere between the black and the white, between the yetzer tov and the yetzer harah, struggling to find the right side of the line, but often falling back again. Even if we are unable to tell the difference between Haman and Mordecai, perhaps we will become more aware of our own failings, and in so doing, be less judgmental of others.

So if you do decide to heed the Talmud’s words (still not recommended!) and fulfill this particular mitzvah, please be sure to be safe, and never, ever get behind the wheel.

One’s search for wisdom must not take precedence over common sense and public safety. But for those of you who may celebrate a bit more modestly, may you also have a wonderful Purim. May this Purim lead you to joy, celebration, generosity, laughter and, most importantly, humility and kindness. Hag Purim Sameach!

RABBI HOWARD VOSS-ALTMAN is the senior rabbi of Temple Beth-El in Providence.

Toward a greener planet At the Beyond Tu B'Shevat, Continuing Fight for the Environment Fair on Feb. 13, Eric Packer, of Wellesley, Massachusetts, right, talks with Stan Gale, of Providence, left.

Packer is with Impact Investing, a socially responsible investing firm. The event was part of the Israel Culture Series at the Dwares JCC in Providence.

PHOTO | GLENN OSMUNDSON

Seniors set April meeting

Ilhan Omar deletes AIPAC tweets called anti-Semitic JTA – Rep. Ilhan Omar has deleted tweets that Jewish groups and her congressional colleagues called anti-Semitic.

Omar, D-Minn., came under fire earlier this month for posting successive tweets suggesting that the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, the pro-Israel lobby, pays politicians to be pro-Israel. Democratic and Republican leaders condemned the tweets as echoing anti-Semitic stereotypes about Jews, money and power. The allegation is also false, as AIPAC does not donate to candidates or endorse them.

The freshman lawmaker apologized for the tweets a day later.

Twitter users began to notice on Feb. 24 that the tweets had been removed, USA Today first reported.

There was no explanation of why the tweets were removed.

Candle lighting times

in Greater Rhode Island

March 1 March 8

| 5:17 p.m. | 5:25 p.m.

March 15 | 6:33 p.m.

March 22 | 6:41 p.m.

March 29 | 6:49 p.m.

Daylight Saving Time resumes March 10

6 | MARCH 2019

Jewish Rhode Island | jewishrhody.org

UP FRONT | CALENDAR HIGHLIGHTS FOR COMPLETE MONTHLY LISTINGS, VISIT JEWISHRHODY.ORG

Ongoing

Alliance Kosher Senior Café.

Kosher lunch, program weekdays.

Dwares JCC, 401 Elmgrove Ave., Providence. Noon lunch; 1 p.m. program. Information or RSVP, 401421-4111, ext. 107.

West Bay Kosher Senior Café.

Kosher lunch, program Fridays.

Temple Sinai, 30 Hagen Ave., Cranston. 11:15 a.m. program; noon lunch.

Information or RSVP, 401-743-0009.

Mussar Living. 11 a.m. Temple Beth-El, 70 Orchard Ave., Providence. Sundays thru 5/5 except 4/21. Rabbi Gavi Ruit guides group in mindfulness techniques developed by Mussar sages to facilitate the quest for wholeness. Study the Mussar texts that illuminate the Middot. TBE members: $100 | Nonmembers: $150. Information or register, 401-331-6070 or jthomas@ temple-beth-el.org.

Duplicate Bridge. Dwares JCC, 401 Elmgrove Ave., Providence. Mondays noon-2 p.m.: 0-20 masterpoint game for less-experienced players. $5.

Tuesdays and Fridays 11 a.m.-2:30 p.m.: open stratified game, all levels. $7. Thursdays 1:30-3:30 p.m.: Guided play. $6. Information, abarton295@ aol.com or 401-390-9244.

Monday Night Meditation. 8-8:45 p.m. Congregation Beth Sholom, 275 Camp St., Providence. Meditation instruction for all levels. Spiritual practices to help transform your life. Thru 5/13. Information, office@ bethsholom-ri.org.

Game Night: Mah Jongg and Canasta. 6-9 p.m. Wednesdays.

Temple Torat Yisrael, 1251 Middle Road, East Greenwich. Lessons available for Mah Jongg. Free.

Information, Torat Yisrael office at 401-885-6600 “Bridging the Gap” with Rabbi Raphie. 8-8:45 p.m. Wednesdays.

Kollel Center for Jewish Studies, 450 Elmgrove Ave., Providence.

Explore the development and refinement of personalities through the eyes of the Mussar movement.

Text is “Bridging the Gap.” Free.

Information, rabbiraphie@gmail.com or 401-383-2786.

Children’s Shabbat Programs and Kiddush. 10-11:30 a.m. Shabbat mornings. Congregation Beth Sholom, 275 Camp St., Providence.

For ages 2 to 12. Free. Information, office@bethsholom-ri.org.

Friday | March 1

Shabbat Chai. 6-7 p.m. Temple Emanu-El, 99 Taft Ave., Providence.

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Saturday | March 2

Taste of Shabbat. 9-11 a.m. Temple Torat Yisrael, 1251 Middle Road, East Greenwich. 9 a.m. Torah discussion, 9:45 a.m. service and light Kiddush.

Information, stephanie@toratyisrael. org or 401-885-6600.

Family Shabbat Morning Service.

9:15 a.m. Temple Torat Yisrael, 1251 Middle Road, East Greenwich.

Family service for children to age 8 and their families. Childcare provided after so parents can participate in the 10 a.m. adult service.

Family-friendly Kiddush follows.

Information, stephanie@toratyisrael. org or 401-885-6600.

Agudas Achim Wine and Beer Tasting. 7-10 p.m. Fuel Restaurant, 100 Higginson Ave., Lincoln. Fundraiser and party. Partnering with Campus Fine Wines. $45. Information, office@agudasma.org.

Sunday | March 3

ROBERT A. SCHLOSS, CPA

• • • •

Led by Cantor Brian Mayer and the Shabbat Chai Band. Contemporary and traditional melodies. Services followed by a Shabbat dinner at no cost to service attendees. Optional donation. Information, bjmayer@ teprov.org or 401-331-1616.

Kabbalat Shabbat Service. 7:308:30 p.m. Temple Torat Yisrael, 1251 Middle Road, East Greenwich.

Service followed by Oneg. Information, stephanie@toratyisrael.org or 401-885-6600.

Bonded & Insured

Unsung Heroes of Hadassah Southern New England Region Brunch. 11 a.m.-2 p.m. Blue Hill Country Club, 23 Pecunit St., Canton, Mass. Honoring Karen Asher, past president of South County Hadassah and creator of Books on the Beach.

Featured speaker is Ellen Hershkin, Hadassah national president. $54 minimum, $72, $118, $500, $1000.

Information, sue_mayes@cox.net or 401-849-2980.

Ribbon Cutting & Mezuzah Ceremony. 1-3 p.m. Jewish Collaborative Services, 1165 North Main St., Providence. Ceremony at 1:30 p.m., open house follows. Kosher refreshments and tours. Snow date: March 4. Nonperishable Kosher food donations for The Louis & Goldie Chester Full Plate Kosher Food Pantry welcomed.

Information, Suzette@jfsri.org or 401-331-1244.

Family Challah Bake. 3-5 p.m.

Temple Torat Yisrael, 1251 Middle Road, East Greenwich. Bake challah and participate in a PJ Library Story Time. All ages. Sponsored by participants in the Jewish Women’s Renaissance Project. $18 per person | $50 family (max. 5).

Information, sgertsacov@gmail.com or mcicchitelli@jewishallianceri.org or 401-421-4111, ext. 178.

Tuesday | March 5

“What Does Judaism Say About....”

EDITOR’S CHOICE

Purim with PJ Calling all bakers! Think you have an award-winning

filling for hamantaschen, or maybe you just want to learn how to make these treats? Hamantaschen are triangle-shaped cookies that are traditionally eaten on Purim; they are usually filled with jam, poppy seeds, or even chocolate-hazelnut spread! Bake Hamentaschen and listen to Purim stories with the PJ Library crew on March 17 from 4-5 p.m. at the Dwares JCC, 401 Elmgrove Ave., Providence. $6 per family.

FOR MORE INFORMATION OR TO RSVP, CONTACT LYNDSEY URSILLO AT LURSILLO@JEWISHALLIANCERI.ORG OR CALL 401-421-4111, EXT. 141.

10-11:30 a.m. Temple Sinai, 30 Hagen Ave., Cranston. Last class.

Rabbi Jeffrey Goldwasser leads a looks at current issues and what Judaism has to teach about them.

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

Parent Workshop. 7 p.m. Dwares JCC, 401 Elmgrove Ave., Providence. Jewish Book Council author and organizing and time management expert Julie Morgenstern discusses her book “Time to Parent: Organizing Your Life to Bring Out the Best in Your Child and You.” Free.

Information or RSVP, mcicchitelli@ jewishallianceri.org or 401-421-4111, ext. 178.

Tuesday Night Talmud. 8-8:45 p.m.

Congregation Beth Sholom, 275 Camp St., Providence. Last session.

The Timing of Prayer: Finishing the 4th Chapter of Berachot. At the Beir Midrash (stage) or digitally on Zoom at https//zoom.us/j/778243137. Free.

Information, office@bethsholom-ri. org.

Wednesday | March 6

Cranston Senior Guild Meeting.

1-3 p.m. Tamarisk, 3 Shalom Drive, Warwick. After a short meeting, Fran Ostendorf, editor of Jewish Rhode Island, will explain the format and changes to the paper, previously called The Jewish Voice. Refreshments and a raffle. Information, 401-944-2761.

Thursday | March 7

Aging Healthy & Services for Seniors in RI. 4-5 p.m. Tamarisk, 3 Shalom Drive, Warwick. Presented by Deborah Burton, MS, a gerontologist with over 30 years of experience helping Rhode Islanders navigate the healthcare system.

Information, susana@tamariskri.org or 401-732-0037, ext. 104.

Friday | March 8

Beth Elders Dinner. 5:30 p.m.

Temple Beth-El, 70 Orchard Ave., Providence. Guest speaker Josh Short, founder/artistic director of The Wilbury Theatre Group.

5:30 p.m. wine and cheese. 6 p.m. catered Shabbat dinner. 7 p.m. Shabbat service. 8 p.m. dessert Oneg. $20 per person. Information, 401331-6070 or info@temple-beth-el. org.

Friday Night Live with Hawaiian Theme. 6-9 p.m. Temple Torat Yisrael, 1251 Middle Road, East Greenwich. Musical celebration of Shabbat followed by dinner. Adults and children over 12 years $20 | 12 years and younger free | Family max. $60. Information or RSVP, Torat Yisrael office at 401-885-6600.

Saturday | March 9

Taste of Shabbat and Bar Mitzvah.

9-11 a.m. Temple Torat Yisrael, 1251 Middle Road, East Greenwich. 9 a.m. Torah discussion, 9:45 a.m. service and Kiddush. Information, stephanie@toratyisrael.org or 401885-6600.

Women’s Shabbat Mincha. Congregation Beth Sholom, 275 Camp St., Providence. Women and girls.

No charge. Information, office@ bethsholom-ri.org.

Kids’ Night Out: Space Travel. Ages 5-11: 5-10 p.m. Ages 2-4: 5-8:30 p.m. Dwares JCC, 401 Elmgrove Ave., Providence. Sports, crafts and movie. Pizza and snacks served.

Older kids enjoy free swim. $40 | Dwares JCC Members: $30 | Siblings: $20. Information and registration, skochanek@jewishallianceri.org or 401-421-4111, ext. 147.

Sunday | March 10

Cooking with Valerie. 9:30-10:30 a.m. Temple Torat Yisrael, 1251 Middle Road, East Greenwich. $5

MARCH 2019 | 7

jewishrhody.org | Jewish Rhode Island

member | $10 nonmembers. Information or RSVP, Torat Yisrael office at 401-885-6600.

Men’s Club Breakfast with Guest Speaker John DePetro. 10:30 a.m.-noon. Temple Torat Yisrael, 1251 Middle Road, East Greenwich.

Breakfast at 10:30 a.m. Program at 11 a.m. Information or RSVP, Torat Yisrael office at 401-885-6600.

Tuesday | March 12

Temple Torat Yisrael’s Lunch and Learn. Noon-1 p.m. T’s Restaurant, 5600 Post Road, East Greenwich.

Study Jewish sources addressing current issues with Rabbi Aaron Philmus. Information, stephanie@ toratyisrael.org or 401-885-6600.

Wednesday | March 13

Israel Culture Series: Women in Israeli Cinema – Part 2. 7 p.m.

Dwares JCC, 401 Elmgrove Ave., Providence. Featuring Rachel S. Harris. See story page 10. Information or RSVP, ncafri@jewishallianceri.org or 401-421-4111, ext. 121.

Thursday | March 14

Shalom Baby Get-Together. 5-6 p.m. Dwares JCC, 401 Elmgrove Ave., Providence. Share successes and hardships of parenting, learn about Jewish community, while little ones interact. For 12 months and under. Free. Information or RSVP, lursillo@jewishallianceri.org or 401421-4111, ext. 141.

Friday | March 15

T.G.I.F. – Thank G-D It’s Friday.

5:45-7 p.m. Temple Torat Yisrael, 1251 Middle Road, East Greenwich.

Shabbat songs and story with Rabbi Aaron Philmus followed by a free kid-friendly Shabbat dinner. Information or RSVP, stephanie@toratyisrael.org or 401-885-6600.

Tot Shabbat. 6-7:30 p.m. Congregation Agudas Achim, 901 North Main St., Attleboro, Mass. Children birth to grade K and their families. Followed

by Oneg. Free. Information, office@ agudasma.org.

Kabbalat Shabbat Service. 7:30-9 p.m. Temple Torat Yisrael, 1251 Middle Road, East Greenwich.

Service followed by Oneg. Information, stephanie@toratyisrael.org or 401-885-6600.

Saturday | March 16

Classic Shabbat Service. 9-11 a.m.

Temple Torat Yisrael, 1251 Middle Road, East Greenwich. Service followed by Kiddush. Information, stephanie@toratyisrael.org or 401885-6600.

Sunday | March 17

Torah Sprouts. 9:30-10:30 a.m.

Temple Torat Yisrael, 1251 Middle Road, East Greenwich. Songs, stories, crafts for children ages 3-5.

A parent must stay. $10. Information or to register, Torat Yisrael office at 401-885-6600.

Wednesday | March 20

K’tantan Purim Party and Spiel.

5:30 p.m. Temple Beth-El, 70 Orchard Ave., Providence. Celebrate Purim with children to age 5.

Information, Temple Beth-El office at 401-331-6070.

School Purim Celebration. 5:30 p.m. Temple Beth-El, 70 Orchard Ave., Providence. Purim party for TBE religious school students.

Information, Temple office at 401331-6070.

Megillah Reading and Purim Spiel. 6:56 p.m. Temple Beth-El, 70 Orchard Ave., Providence.

Reading followed by Spiel “Shushan Rhapsody,” based on the music of Queen. Information, Kim Campbell at 401-331-6070 or kcampbell@ temple-beth-el.org.

Thursday | March 21

Purim Seudah. 5-8:30 p.m. Congregation Ohawe Sholam, 671 East Ave., Pawtucket. Pilgrim Purim. Turkey, festive music, trivia contest, balloon animals and pumpkin hamantaschen.

Adults $15 | Children 2-12 years $7 | Family max. $55. Information, Temple office at 401-722-3146.

Friday | March 22

PJ Library Challah in the House.

9:30-10:30 a.m. Dwares JCC, 401 Elmgrove Ave., Providence. Make challah dough to take home and bake. Stories and songs. $5 per loaf | Dwares JCC Members: $3 per loaf.

Information or RSVP (required), lursillo@jewishallianceri.org or 401421-4111, ext. 141.

Shabbat Hallelu. 6:30 p.m. Temple Beth-El, 70 Orchard Ave., Providence. Led by Cantor Judy Seplowin and the Hallelu Band. Light refreshments and sangria at 6:30 p.m. Services at 7 p.m. Information, Temple Beth-El office at 401-331-6070.

Kabbalat Shabbat Service. 7:30-9 p.m. Temple Torat Yisrael, 1251 Middle Road, East Greenwich.

Service followed by Oneg. Information, stephanie@toratyisrael.org or 401-885-6600.

Saturday | March 23

Taste of Shabbat. 9-11 a.m. Temple Torat Yisrael, 1251 Middle Road, East Greenwich. 9 a.m. Torah discussion, 9:45 a.m. service and light Kiddush.

Information, stephanie@toratyisrael. org or 401-885-6600.

Tapas and Trivia Night. 6-9 p.m.

Temple Beth-El, 70 Orchard Ave., Providence. Trivia, good food and fun to benefit the TBE Children’s Library, Ronald McDonald House meals and supplies for birthday parties for the homeless via Birthday Wishes. $45 per adult | $30 per teen. Information, tbesisterhood@ temple-beth-el.org.

Youth Group Event. 6-9 p.m.

Temple Torat Yisrael, 1251 Middle Road, East Greenwich. Games, movies and food for Jewish youth in grades 5-12. Information or RSVP,

Torat Yisrael office at 401-8856600.

Sunday | March 24 Prize is Right Auction. Noon-6 p.m.

Providence Hebrew Day School, 450 Elmgrove Ave., Providence.

Win gift cards and other prizes in a multiple bidding auction. Information, PHDS at 401-331-5327.

Baxt Lecture Series Film “Persona Non Grata.” 2-5 p.m. Dwares JCC, 401 Elmgrove Ave., Providence. True story of Japanese diplomat Chiune Sugihara, who acted against orders to save thousands of Jewish lives from Nazi extermination by illegally issuing transit visas.

Presented by the Sandra Bornstein Holocaust Education Center and the Providence Village of RI. Free.

Information, Paula Olivieri at paula@ bornsteinholocaustcenter.org.

An Afternoon with Hazzan Alberto Mizrahi: The World of Jewish Music and More. 3-5 p.m. Temple Sinai, 30 Hagen Ave., Cranston. See story page 25. $20 in advance | $25 at the door. Information, Dottie@ templesinairi.org or 401-942-8350.

Wednesday | March 27

PJ Library Story Time: Stay and Play at JCDS. 9:30-10:30 a.m.

Jewish Community Day School of Rhode Island, 85 Taft Ave., Providence. Story, craft, music and move-

ment activities. Ages 5 and under.

Free. Information or RSVP, lursillo@ jewishallianceri.org or 401-421-4111, ext. 141.

Friday | March 29

Family Shabbat Dinner and Worship Service. 6-8 p.m. Temple Beth-El, 70 Orchard Ave., Providence. Led by PROVTY. Dinner: Adults $15 | Children $8 | Max. $50 per family. Information, kcampbell@ temple-beth-el.org or 401-331-6070.

Kabbalat Shabbat Service. 7:30-9 p.m. Temple Torat Yisrael, 1251 Middle Road, East Greenwich.

Service followed by Oneg. Information, stephanie@toratyisrael.org or 401-885-6600.

Scholar-in-Residence. Congregation Beth Sholom, 275 Camp St., Providence. Rabbi Baruch Simon, Rosh Yeshiva at RIETS, will be scholar-in-residence. Also on Shabbat, 3/30. Information, office@bethsholom-ri.org.

Saturday | March 30

Taste of Shabbat. 9-11 a.m. Temple Torat Yisrael, 1251 Middle Road, East Greenwich. 9 a.m. Torah discussion, 9:45 a.m. service and light Kiddush.

Information, stephanie@toratyisrael. org or 401-885-6600.

Kids’ Night Out: International Night. Ages 5-11: 5-10 p.m. Ages

2-4: 5-8:30 p.m. Dwares JCC, 401 Elmgrove Ave., Providence. Sports, crafts and movie. Pizza and snacks served. Older kids enjoy free swim. $40 | Dwares JCC Members: $30 | Siblings: $20. Information and registration, skochanek@jewishallianceri. org or 401-421-4111, ext. 147.

Sunday | March 31

Day-at-the-J! Children’s Film Festival. 9:30 a.m.-5 p.m. Dwares JCC, 401 Elmgrove Ave., Providence. Cross Training 9:30-11 a.m.

PJ Library Story Time 10:30-11:30 a.m. Lights, Camera, Action… 3-5 p.m.: Walk the red carpet and enjoy movie screenings on the big screen in the Baxt Social Hall. Popcorn served. All ages. Information or RSVP, mcicchitelli@jewishallianceri. org or 401-421-4111, ext. 178.

Mah Jongg Tournament. 11 a.m.-4 p.m. Temple Torat Yisrael, 1251 Middle Road, East Greenwich. Open to the entire community. $36 per person includes buffet lunch and cash prizes. Information or RSVP, Elaine Shapiro at egshapiro@gmail. com or call Torat Yisrael office at 401-885-6600.

HAVE AN EVENT? Go to jewishrhody.org, click on the calendar button and go to post your event.

8 | MARCH 2019

Jewish Rhode Island | jewishrhody.org

LETTERS

COMMUNITY VOICES | OPINION

Where have all the leaders gone?

Where do we come from?

Judge Howard I. Lipsey (ret.)

Lincoln, R.I.

In tribute to Warren Rabinowitz I was very saddened to read about the passing of Warren Rabinowitz.

I took graduate studies at Rhode Island College and Warren was my teacher. He was no-nonsense, fair, honest and imparted marketing and public relations knowledge that far transcended textbooks. Warren was a marketing professional with his own business. My career path crystalized with Warren and for this I say, thank you Warren and pay tribute to you.

Miriam R. Plitt Pawtucket, R.I.

Israelis are top users of social media in the world

BY MARCY OSTER JTA – When it comes to social media, Israelis rule the world.

Some 77 percent of adults in Israel use social media, putting the country 1 percentage point ahead of South Korea, according to a Pew Research Center survey released recently. The United States was sixth at 70 percent.

At the same time, Israel ranks second in smartphone ownership, with 88 percent of its adults owning smartphones. South Korea was first with 95 percent of adults owning a smartphone and the U.S. sixth again at 81 percent.

The two categories are related, according to Pew, because social networking sites can be accessed CONTINUED ON PAGE 9

IT S E

“The image of the man and the woman in the perfect garden suggests a tension between things as they are and things as they might have been. It conveys a longing to be other than what we have become ….

“Something happened at the beginning of time – some history of decision, action and reaction – that led to the way we are, and if we want to understand the way we are, it is important to remember and retell this story.”

knowledge of good and evil – which better to believe that accounts were they can only obtain by eating being kept to the last scruple by an the apple – where is the justice in all-seeing God, even one who was God punishing them for eating the murderously angry at humanity, apple before they have obtained rather than to believe that God was the moral sense to know that it indifferent or absent.” was wrong to do so? In effect, God In contrast to the Christian seems to be condemning them for notion of Original Sin – “In Adam’s their state of innocence! fall, we sinned all” in the words of It turns out that though our Colonial American Puritanism – Hebrew Bible and the Jewish tradition does not see us as Christian Old Tesborn into a sinfulness passed on to tament contain generation after generation from the identical text the first man and the first woman. of the story of But neither do our rabbis see us as Adam and Eve born in a state of pure goodness.

– though the Rather, we are born with compettext, of course, ing drives, opposing tendencies: appears in a our yetzer tov, our inclination to wide variety of do good, and our yetzer harah, our translations inclination to do evil.

RABBI JAMES – the Jewish The story of Adam and Eve does ROSENBERG and Chrisnot weigh as heavily on our Jewish tian traditions religious and moral imagination read our origin myth in profoundly as it does for Christians. When we different ways.

Jews do turn our gaze to the first Saint Augustine of Hippo (354man and woman, it is not to remind 430) is the most influential of all us of our moral failings but, more Christian interpreters of these earoften than not, to remind us of the ly chapters in Genesis. According ethical optimism of our tradition, to Augustine, eating of the apple our capacity for brotherhood and was the Original Sin of disobedisisterhood, as well as our deep ence to God’s command, the sin appreciation for the unique worth that has infected all future generaof every individual. tions of our human family, bringWe read in the Talmudic tractate ing with it the catastrophic conSanhedrin (38a): “Therefore Adam sequence of our mortality. From was created as a single individuAugustine’s perspective, only the al … to provide harmony among blood of Jesus Christ can wash God’s creatures, so that no person away the stain of this Original Sin should say, ‘My father is greater and transport the Christian believthan your father.’ … And to declare er from death to life eternal. the greatness of God; for when a For complex psychological, spirman mints numerous coins with itual and scriptural reasons, Aua single stamp, they all look the gustine links this Original Sin to same. But God stamps each person our sexuality. By the time he was with the seal of Adam, and not one in his mid-30s, he turned to a life of is like the other; therefore every chastity so he might free himself one of us is entitled to say, ‘For my from the burden, the distraction, sake was the world created.’ ” the disruption of sexual desire.

JAMES B. ROSENBERG is rabbi emerAs Greenblatt explains in his itus of Temple Habonim, in Barbook, “Augustine did not want rington. Contact him at rabbiemerito live in a universe in which the tus@templehabonim.org. moral reckoning would be left unpaid, in which human suffering meant nothing but the vulnerability of matter, in which wickedness would not be punished or exceptional piety receive Stephen Greenblatt “The Rise and Fall of Adam an eternal and Eve. reward. It was

EM

IN HIS ERUDITE and richly suggestive exploration of the origin story of our Western world, “The Rise and Fall of Adam and Eve” (W.W. Norton & Company, 2017), Stephen Greenblatt takes the reader on a journey from the biblical book of Genesis through more than two millennia of interpretation and finally into the jungle of Uganda’s Kibale National Park, to observe our non-Edenic forbears, chimpanzees and bonobos.

Over the centuries, religious leaders, painters, sculptors, secular scholars, even today’s evolutionary biologists, have offered their reflections on the early chapters of Genesis, the first book of what we Jews call the TANAKH, or Hebrew Bible, and what Christians call the Old Testament.

We meet Adam and Eve for the first time in the paradise of the Garden of Eden in Chapters 2 and 3 of Genesis, in a text that overflows with ambiguity and contradictions.

To begin with, we are told in Chapter 1 that God created both man and woman in the divine image by speaking them into existence; by way of contrast, we learn in Chapter 2 that God created Adam out of the clay of the earth (ahfar min ha’adamah) and then fashioned Eve from one of Adam’s ribs.

In the garden itself stand both the magical Tree of Life and the magical Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil. Adding to the pervasive sense of unreality is the talking snake, which manages to lure Eve into taking a bite of what turns out to be a poison fruit.

Of the many questions arising out of this myth of our origins, the most troubling centers on God punishing Adam and Eve for taking bites out of the forbidden fruit – a fruit that is never identified, but is usually taken to be an apple. Since God has consistently attempted to bar Adam and Eve from acquiring

S TO M

E

At one time, the Rhode Island Jewish community was blessed with outstanding lay leaders.

Names like Licht, Alperin, Hassenfeld, Sopkin, Ress, Reisman, and many others, stood up and supported the State of Israel and denounced anti-Semitism. They were collectively the strength and voice of our Jewish community.

Today, the vicious anti-Israel attacks and renewed anti-Semitic rants are coming not only from traditional hate-mongers, but even from new members of our House of Representatives.

Where are the voices of our community lay leaders? Are there no such leaders? Or, if there are any, why are they so ominously silent?

We cannot afford to remain silent while the anti-Israel and anti-Semitic attacks continue to increase.

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 Jewish Alliance of Greater Rhode Island.

Send letters and op-eds to: Jewish Rhode Island, 401 Elmgrove Ave., Providence, RI 02906 or editor@jewishallianceri.org. Include name, city of residence and a contact phone number or email (not for publication).

MARCH 2019 | 9

jewishrhody.org | Jewish Rhode Island

MY VOICE

Modern-day lessons from Purim

BY LARRY KESSLER We’ll be celebrating Purim later this month, on March 21, making this a good time to discuss two of the holiday’s themes: the masks that people wear and the power of bullies.

In the 4th-century B.C.E. Purim story, the heroine, Esther, is picked by the Persian ruler, King Ahasuerus, to be his new queen. Esther accepts the position, but doesn’t reveal her religion. Instead, she holds onto that “mask” until one night when she joins the king and Purim’s bully, Haman, at a feast. She then reveals that she’s Jewish, and also informs the king that Haman, his prime minister, has organized a plot to exterminate the Jews on the 13th day of Adar, a day he picked by lottery (hence the name Purim, which is derived from the Persian word “pur,” which means lots).

Ahasuerus, siding with his wife, backs Persia’s Jews and allows them to defend themselves. He also orders Haman, the Hitler of his day, to be hanged, and names Esther’s cousin and the leader of the Jewish people, Mordecai, his new prime minister.

That victory was celebrated on the 14th day of Adar, except in the city of Shushan, which learned about the victory a day later.

In modern times, Jews pause on those same two days of Adar (Adar II during leap years, as in the current year) to celebrate Purim with gusto: the megillah is read and noisemakers are used whenever Haman’s name is mentioned, carnivals and parades are held and hamantaschen are eaten.

Those celebrations, however, are only one part of Purim’s legacy; two others – which are relevant to us daily – are the previously mentioned masks and bullies.

Like Esther, many of us put on invisible masks to help us navigate everyday life. Masks can be useful in helping us act appropriately in different situations. We act differently, for instance, around our close friends and family than we do at

work, at parent-teachers’ conferences, while serving jury duty, in a doctor’s office or in other social settings.

The use of masks to restrain our behavior in public – which includes resisting the urge to always say what’s on our minds – is a good thing, because by imposing limits on our behavior, we’re helping to maintain a

sense of decorum in modern society.

The failure to wear social masks can lead to the creation of modern-day Hamans. Unfettered by social constraints, these bullies have no filters, and therefore say and do whatever they want.

Such behavior has led to an increase in hate crimes, assaults and road-rage incidents – not to mention the take-no-prisoners mentality that’s pervasive on social media, where vicious and often slanderous attacks have become the norm.

Strangers increasingly feel very comfortable attacking strangers.

These modern-day Hamans have no problem hurling insults at people based on their ethnicity, race or gender. People of color, women and

The use of masks to restrain our behavior in public – which includes resisting the urge to always say what’s on our minds – is a good thing…

immigrants are particularly vulnerable to these attacks, and thanks to the rhetoric used by some politicians, even legal immigrants are feeling increasingly unwelcome in the United States and are reluctant to share their stories.

The way to reverse this trend is to be less judgmental in our daily interactions with people. It can start with small things, such as showing common courtesy, something that I experienced three times during a recent visit to a local movie theater.

The first time occurred when I did what can no longer be taken for granted: holding the door open for a person in a wheelchair. She was thankful and, as fate would have it, I also held the same door for her as I was leaving the theater.

The second instance took place in the theater lobby after the movie was over. My wife noticed a boy crying, and she asked if everything was OK. His mom, touched by our concern, said he was just a bit emotional after seeing “A Dog’s Way Home.” When my wife pointed out that the film had a happy ending, the boy’s mother smiled, and said he was just a little sad. We wished him well.

The third example happened moments later. A police officer stationed in the theater had also seen the boy’s tears, and asked what was wrong.

After we explained the situation, she asked us what movie we had seen.

We answered by singing the praises of “Green Book,” an Oscar-nominated film, and she mentioned that she and her husband were planning to see “The Upside,” another Oscar hopeful.

Although these exchanges were unremarkable, they encouraged me, because as bad as things can sometimes seem in these polarized times, these conversations with strangers involved the respect, dignity and compassion we all deserve.

These all-too-rare ingredients are essential if we are to stand a chance of countering today’s bullies – both online and in the real world – and reducing the unhealthy polarization that infects today’s society.

LARRY KESSLER (lkessler1@comcast. net) is a freelance writer based in North Attleboro.

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

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

JCDSRI responds to government shutdown with a food drive

BY ARI YELLIN-LEVIN Due to the partial government shutdown, many military officers and airport workers were not paid throughout much of the month of January.

They were finding it hard to feed their families, but they were still serving the country.

Our school, the Jewish Community Day School of Rhode Island, set a goal of collecting 1,000 cans and other non-perishable food for the R.I. Community Food Bank to give out. We appreciated that government officials were still working and serving the country and we wanted to support them and show our appreciation.

I encourage you to do the same in your neighborhood!

The food insecurity that so many government workers faced, and that many others face, reminds me of parashah Miketz in the Torah. In this parashah, Yosef interprets Pharaoh’s dream to mean that there will be seven years of abundance followed by seven years of famine. Pharaoh listens to Yosef and takes immediate action – he collects all the food they don’t need to save for the famine years. When other countries are also hit by the famine, their people go to Egypt, which becomes like a food bank.

I believe it is important for all of us at JCDSRI – and in our wider community – to collect food for those who need it. And it might make people feel more secure if they know that others support them and care about them.

I’ve learned from our school’s Code of Values (kindness, responsibility, respect and community) to help people – and a food drive is just one way to do so.

ARI YELLIN-LEVIN is a fifth-grade student at the Jewish Community Day School of Rhode Island, in Providence.

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 8 via smartphones, and smartphone owners are more likely to access social networking sites than those who own a basic phone or none at all.

Among Israelis, smartphone ownership is on the rise for the over-50 set: 80 percent as compared to 50 percent in 2015.

Those surveyed in 18 advanced economies were more likely to have mobile phones – smartphones in particular – and use the internet and social media than those in emerging economies, with a median of 76 percent in the former having smartphones compared to 45 percent in the latter.

Conducted last year from May 14 to Aug. 12, the survey had 30,133 respondents in 27 countries.

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Jewish Rhode Island | jewishrhody.org

ARTS

Professor to speak about the portrayal of Israeli women in film

BY LARRY KATZ “Who was that little girl?” was the most common question following a screening of “Jellyfish” in January. And some may wonder about the women who were in other Israeli films in the last few years, such as the bride in “The Syrian Bride,” the mothers in “Noodle,” and the victim in “The Human Resources Manager.”

On March 13, Rachel S. Harris, a professor at the University of Illinois, will share her perspectives on women in Israeli cinema during a talk at the Alliance’s Dwares Jewish Community Center, in Providence.

Women have been central figures in many of the Israeli films shown at the JCC in the past few years, and many of these portrayals have not been complimentary.

Prof. Harris will discuss the changing ways in which Israeli filmmakers treat women – on the home front, as soldiers, refugees, sex objects, foreign caregivers and more.

Harris will consider how filmmakers, Rachel S. Harris including feminists, have focused on sexism, the negative impact of militarism and abuse, and on how some filmmakers have used their creations to advocate for the betterment of women’s position in Israeli society.

Harris, an associate professor of Israeli literature and culture, is author of “Warriors, Witches, Whores: Women in Israeli Cinema.” The book considers the ways social and political power have affected the representation of women and how feminist filmmakers have fought against these inequities both behind the camera and in the stories they tell.

Copies of the book will be available for purchase at Harris’ presentation, arranged through the Jewish Book Council, at the Alliance’s Dwares JCC, 401 Elmgrove Ave., Providence, on Wednesday, March 13, at 7 p.m. There is no charge to attend the presentation.

The talk is part of the Israel Culture Series, presented by Nir Cafri, Rhode Island’s shaliach (Israeli emissary), usually on the second Wednesday of each month. For more information, contact Cafri at 401421-4111 or ncafri@jewishallianceri.org.

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

THE P HYLLIS S IP E R S TE IN A S S IS T E D LIV IN G R E S ID E N C E

MARCH 2019 | 11

jewishrhody.org | Jewish Rhode Island

COMMUNITY VOICES

Fate brings Greta Garbo closer to me “There’s a divinity that shapes our ends.”

– Shakespeare

CH

BOOK

SKE

T

I had been trying for years to cross paths with the children to attend colleges and universities and to “divine .” Well, destiny recently brought me pretty achieve medical degrees at American institutions.” close to that dream.

That was big news to me. And it helped explain I had a cup of coffee with her great-niece at a why there was so much focus on the rabbi in the Swedish café in Providence. play.

This great-niece, Gray Horan, is writing a play Garbo was, in a way, a Jewish dream! Her movies, about the legacy of her fabulous family relative, and maybe, can be seen as variations on a Purim play, this unnamed work in progress had its even a Queen Esther ideal! The villain, though, was, premiere right here in Olneyville, of all people, MGM founder and movie producer in the Wilbury Theatre. The Louis B. Mayer! small theater down a narrow I knew from my collection of books and alleyway was packed for the documentaries about the great actress who staged reading with a full moved from silent films to talkies – with MGM house of Garbo admirers. backing her but also frustrating her sometimes And to make things even eccentric demands – that she did not get along better, the playwright with the production chief. She found him crude pledged to visit my class at the and coarse.

Rhode Island School of Design, “But I think the actor overdid that part,” I told MIKE FINK Horan. “Mayer was, after all, a physically small titled “With a Pen of Light,” at the start of our second semester to talk man, not an overbearing giant figure. Tough, yes, about the process of composing a script, casting the but also, even in his own unrefined way, creative characters and interpreting the legacy of the influtoo.” ential career of her kith and kin.

I offered this because in general I disapprove “She was the first ‘modern’ woman: independent, of crafting villains we can hiss at smugly. I see in self-reliant, forthright and free,” Horan said of GarShakespeare, on the other hand, a balancing act in bo when we met at the café. which an actor can make a character sympathetic I went over the points I gleaned from that openor “evil” depending upon nuance, not loudmouth ing night: insistence. (I mean, the Merchant of Venice can be seen as a sympathetic victim of hypocritical Chris How the beauty of the actress was enhanced by tians or as the Elizabethan stereotype of the Jew of the famed artist-photographer Ruth Harriet LouMalta, depending on the phrasing. See Jack Benny’s ise, who “saw” with her camera the potential magic “To Be or Not to Be” for a dramatic alternative of that face. reading of the famous lines.)

How the words of the Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Well, it turns out that Horan (whose mother was Studios’ publicist about Garbo’s extraordinary also named “Gray”) has been an East Side neighbor beauty caused audiences to pay very close attention for more than a decade, “hiding in plain sight” to every close-up. until she made an appearance at Hamilton House.

How Garbo’s original director, Mauritz Stiller, Then I got a call from a local theater recognized her potential and somehow separatenthusiast, Lois Blazer, asking if • ed theater from cinema in training her. How the I wanted to join a group for a trek friendships in her life still left her to her own devicto Olneyville to hear the reading. es – a solitary soul, not unsocial, but nevertheless Needless to say, I jumped at the apart. chance.

After the reading, Horan and I This was all deep stuff to consider, and over our arranged our meeting. cups at Cafe Choklad we discussed the details.

I had a camera in my coat pocket “Yes, she had friends, and she cherished her paras I stood at the corner of Steeple, ents and siblings, her nieces and nephews, but her Thomas and North Main streets in respect for the value of privacy, of inner resources, Providence, but I did not take it out kept her from intimacy in the ordinary sense of the for a quick shot as evidence that word. We had to respect her as she was,” Horan said Horan and I had indeed shared a mid-morning rendezvous at Choklad, of her famous great-aunt. There were a few surpriseven though I would have liked such es in our conversation. a memento as proof of our magiOne of them really wowed me. Horan talked about cal meeting. her grandparents and mentioned a temple in New I offer this quick glimpse in hopes Jersey. … I waited a few moments before pursuing of a happy fate for the play and for our that line. fresh friendship.

“Yes, that set of grandparents, the Reisfelds, were Jewish, but not particularly religious in the MIKE FINK (mfink33@aol.com) teaches usual sense of the concept. They had come from at the Rhode Island School of Design. the region of Odessa [in Ukraine], and wanted their

Greta Garbo

• • •

Gray Horan, Garbo’s great-niece

12 | MARCH 2019

Jewish Rhode Island | jewishrhody.org

PHOTO | RHODE ISLAND JEWISH HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION

Future home of Avahath Shalom in West Warwick.

The rise and fall of a West Warwick temple

BY GERALDINE S. FOSTER At about the same time Jewish immigrants began to settle in Bristol and Westerly, other immigrants from Eastern European cities and villages found homes in another small town in Rhode Island. They, too, founded a congregation and proudly built a synagogue. But despite the tenacity and persistence of their elders, this small community could not overcome increasingly lean years as its young people moved away.

I am referring to the town of West Warwick, whose congregation would have been 100 years old this year.

Arctic, Centerville, Clyde, Crompton, Phenix, Natick, River Point. The names of these mill villages, which were consolidated in 1913 as West Warwick, were familiar to the earliest Jewish residents.

When Abraham and Minnie Sternbach arrived in Arctic in 1912, they found a small Jewish community of some 12 families that lived mainly in Arctic and Phenix, according to Rebecca Twersky’s article in the Rhode Island Jewish Historical Notes, “The Founding of a Jewish Community: The Early Years of Congregation Ahavath Shalom of West Warwick, Rhode Island” (Vol. 7, 1977). According to Sternbach, the earliest known Jewish settlers in the area were Meyer Shapiro and David Frank.

A few of the early settlers, including Shapiro and Frank, owned small stores, but most were peddlers plying their trade in the mill villages.

In total, there were enough men in the community to make up a minyan (prayer quorum), which met at the Sternbach home. The Robinson Street synagogue in Providence loaned the community a Torah for Shabbat and holidays.

Buying Kosher food meant a weekly trip to Willard Avenue in Providence.

As the community grew, the members felt the

need for a synagogue and a Hebrew school for their children. The search for a suitable location began in earnest after the end of World War I. Their mission received a surprising assist from the enactment of the 18th Amendment to the Constitution, Prohibition.

The amendment was proposed by Congress on Dec. 18, 1917, ratified in January 1919, and the enabling legislation was passed on Oct. 28, 1919.

Evidently the owner of the saloon at 1118 Main St. saw the handwriting on the wall and decided to sell. (An interesting footnote: only one state did not ratify the amendment – Rhode Island.)

The Main Street location was excellent, as was the asking price. It was a two-story structure with living quarters on the second floor and a saloon on the first.

Contracts were signed on Oct. 20, 1919. The Anchei Shalom Association was renamed Congregation Ahavath Shalom of Arctic and received a charter from the State of Rhode Island on Dec. 12, 1919.

Twersky, who interviewed Abraham Sternbach and also translated the original minutes from Yiddish to English, offered this comment on the chosen name, which translates to Lovers of Peace. She called the name “significant” and then continued, “With peace among the members and differences forgotten … the president [Sternbach] obtained a charter for the synagogue and a seal ....” Was Twersky’s comment a wish or

A young child carried the key to the door of the new synagogue on a pillow, and the Torah donated

by David Frank was reverently placed in the ark.

a reference to a situation? There is no one to ask.

The conversion of the first floor from saloon to synagogue was completed in June 1919. The second story became living quarters for the Hebrew teacher, who also led the prayers. The small congregation of 30 families could not afford a rabbi.

With due ceremony, the newly completed synagogue was dedicated on Sunday, June 6, 1920. A young child carried the key to the door of the new synagogue on a pillow, and the Torah donated by David Frank was reverently placed in the ark. A handbill distributed in Providence announced the names of the Providence rabbis who were invited to the ceremony. Music was provided by the choirs of Sons of Zion, led by Cantor Myer Smith, and the Robinson Street shul, led by Cantor Morris Keller, as well as a “real band” from Boston.

In 1939, the building was renovated and the second story was removed.

By 1963, the Jewish community in West Warwick had dwindled to six or seven families from its high of 30. There was no longer a Hebrew school or a minyan at the temple.

In a poignant article, Paul Streicker (“Notes,” Vol. 5, 1968), recalled the synagogue’s history and described its current “low ebb.” The synagogue was now filled only on the High Holy Days or special occasions. He quoted Abraham Sternbach, “What’s going to happen? We don’t know ....

In Newport they closed for 60 years. Maybe some day this West Warwick – you never know – could grow like Newport.”

By the end of the next decade, the synagogue building had been sold.

GERALDINE S. FOSTER is a past president of the R.I. Jewish Historical Association. To comment about this or any RIJHA article, contact the RIJHA office at info@rijha.org or 401-331-1360.

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jewishrhody.org | Jewish Rhode Island

IN THE NEWS KFC set to relaunch in Israel

BY MARCY OSTER JERUSALEM (JTA) – The American fast food chain KFC is recruiting staff ahead of a planned reopening in Israel, the business daily Globes reported.

The company announced six months ago that it would relaunch in Israel for the fourth time.

Kentucky Fried Chicken opened and closed in Israel in the 1980s and the ’90s, and then remained open between 2003 and 2012.

In KFC’s last incarnation in Israel, franchise owner Udi Shamai’s eight locations went Kosher after the company allowed him to switch the milk powder in the crispy coating to soy and to use Kosher-killed chickens instead of those provided by the company.

“The moment we switched to Kosher, sales began to plunge and it was no longer economically viable. The product was less good, whereas things had gone fine with unKosher chickens,” Shamai told Globes.

KFC has 45,000 outlets in over 135 countries. It has six outlets in three West Bank Palestinian cities.

Newport restaurant certified Kosher Rabbi Marc Mandel of Touro Synagogue, reports that he is supervising Root, a vegan juice bar and restaurant at 6 Broadway.

Root offers fresh juices, smoothies, snacks, soups and other special menu items. The restaurant also offers different kinds of toasts, including the popular avocado toast, and different bowl dishes using brown rice, quinoa and vegetables. There are also Asian bowls and Greek salad bowls, and soups.

Root is open from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. daily. Hours will increase when the summer season starts. Mandel says he is frequently at Root, and welcomes questions about the history of Touro Synagogue, or any other questions about the Newport Jewish community, or he is happy to discuss the weekly Torah portion.

FOOD & DINING

Pink pickled turnips taste as good as they look

PHOTO | SONYA

Pink pickled turnips

BY SONYA SANFORD

P

ink pickled turnips are a fixture of Middle Eastern cuisine, and it’s hard to find a restaurant shawarma plate without them. Their rose-like magenta color makes you

forget that these pickles are in fact made from an often overlooked root vegetable. Their seemingly unnatural pink color is not a result of synthetic food colorings, but comes from the addition of red beets that impart their deep-hued color to the whitefleshed turnips as they ferment.

Turnips have a sharp mustardy flavor that is similar in pungency to a radish, and that becomes mellower and sweeter when cooked or pickled.

Turnips are usually found tucked away next to rutabagas and parsnips in the produce section of most grocery stores. If you pick them up at a farmers market, you might get lucky enough to find some small-sized tender turnips with their greens still attached. Don’t let go of those greens; sautéed with butter and garlic, they’re a delicious side all on their own.

Turnip greens can also be used in their raw form, and make a spicy leafy addition to a salad or sandwich.

Pink pickled turnips taste as good as they look. They are salty, vinegary and peppery, and their aromatic acidity helps cut through the richness of crispy fried falafel, grilled meats or spicy foods. I also like them alongside brunch. They are less sour than pickled cucumbers and nicely complement a buttery omelette and fried or roasted potatoes.

You can buy pickled turnips at any Middle Eastern or Persian market, but they are surprisingly easy to make at home. Peeled and cut into small pieces, the turnips go into a jar with some sliced beets. A simple brine of salt, water, vinegar and a few aromatics gets added to the vegetables.

Let the turnips hang out in the brine for less than a week, and then they’re ready to go and can last in the fridge for a month. The recipe is simple, the ingredients are minimal and inexpensive, and the finished product adds beauty and tangy brightness to any plate of food.

PINK PICKLED TURNIPS

Ingredients 3 cups water 1/3 cup Kosher salt 1 tablespoon sugar (optional) 2 bay leaves 1 teaspoon black peppercorns (optional) 1 cup white vinegar 2 pounds turnips

1 small beet 2 cloves garlic

Directions Add water, salt, sugar, bay and peppercorns to a pot and bring to a simmer. Simmer for 3-5 minutes until the salt and sugar are completely dissolved and the bay and pepper have begun to flavor the brine. Allow the liquid to cool slightly before adding the vinegar.

While it’s cooling, peel the turnips and cut them into batons or pieces that are about 1/2-inch thick. If using baby turnips, you do not need to peel them and you can halve or quarter them depending on their size.

Peel and thinly slice the beet. Peel and slightly crush the garlic cloves.

Add a few sliced beets to the bottom of a clean mason jar (or jars).

Fill the jar with the cut turnip and garlic, and top with a few more slices of beet.

Add the vinegar to the cooled water and salt solution. Pour the brine into the jar(s) so that the vegetables are fully covered in the liquid. Add the bay leaves and peppercorns from the brine.

Close the jars, and place in a cool dark place for 5 days.

After the turnips ferment for 5 days, they are ready to eat. You can refrigerate them for up to a month.

Serves 6 cups.

This article originally appeared at The Nosher

14 | MARCH 2019

Jewish Rhode Island | jewishrhody.org

BOOKS AND FILMS

Simon Lewis’ poetry chronicles the rise and decline of the Jewish community of Cork, Ireland

BY SHAI AFSAI Over the past few years, the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland’s small Jewish community, now numbering about 3,000, has become the focus of outsized literary attention.

There has been a recent proliferation of creative and autobiographical writing related to Irish Jewry by both Jewish and non-Jewish authors, including poet Gerry Mc Donnell, novelist Ruth Gilligan, former Fine Gael politician Alan Shatter and educator Simon Lewis.

When Lewis could no longer afford to live in Dublin, he applied for jobs in less expensive areas, landing his first teaching position near Carlow, in southeast Ireland. He and his wife moved to Carlow in 2003, and she encouraged him to join a writers’ group there as a hobby.

Carlow College’s Derek Coyle, a lecturer in the group, took Lewis under his wing, helped him begin composing poetry and challenged him to write about his own Jewish and Irish background, leading Lewis to examine the Jewish community of Cork, in southwest Ireland.

Cork’s first Jewish community was comprised of a small group of Sephardim, who arrived in Ireland in the 18th century. In the 1890s, Jews fleeing persecution in the Russian Empire began arriving there. Many of those immigrants settled in the center of the city, which became known as Jewtown.

“When I came across Jewtown, I just thought it was a perfect name, because you couldn’t get away with calling a place Jewtown now! My great-grandmother was born there and I soon discovered most Irish Jews can trace their journey through this small area of Cork City,” Lewis said.

Lewis’ research and writing about Cork culminated in the publication of “Jewtown” (Doire Press, 2016), a collection of 57 brief poems. As seen in the collection’s 10th poem, “Tashlich” (a reference to the symbolic casting away of sins into a body of water during or around Rosh Hashanah,

the Jewish New Year), the first-person narrations of “Jewtown” frequently reference the difficulties Cork’s Jews experienced both in Imperial Russia and in their new Irish home.

The anonymous speaker in “Tashlich” recalls his dangerous escape from Czarist anti-Semitism and recounts his present poverty in Ireland, while also expressing relief at feeling free from physical danger in Cork: I toss breadcrumbs in the river and pray to God for forgiveness: for the food I stole from the houses in empty shtetls, the lies to the soldiers at every checkpoint all the way to the harbour at Riga, and the evenings when I could barely breathe, questioning my faith, broken from the day.

This year, I thank God for a mattress on a dirt floor, a small knob of butter melted in mashed potato, to be able to walk without looking behind me.

The poem immediately following “Tashlich,” however, makes it clear that Jewish immigrants were not entirely assured of physical safety in Cork, either. The anonymous speaker in “Bromide” focuses on her husband, who has been beaten and harassed: You make up a tale of how you tripped on Albert Quay, gave yourself a fine big shiner, grazed your brow or chipped a tooth, or you make a joke about staying off that Irish whiskey or smile, tell me I should see the other guy before you limp off to our bed.

It’s only in the darkness I feel every punch, slap and threat.

If you aren’t stirring or jerking, I try to find a bruise and press it. Sometimes a wince is as good as sleeping pills.

The Jewish population of Cork decreased from around 400 people in the 1930s to just a handful in 2016, the year the Cork Hebrew Congregation at 10 South Terrace, the city’s last remaining synagogue, closed.

There is an apparently global phenomenon connected with Orthodox

synagogues with dwindling or defunct congregations in which a man, usually elderly, amalgamates his destiny with a once-vibrant Jewish space that is ultimately destined for complete closure or for transformation into some sort of museum. This deep identification allows for a preternatural – though in the end temporary – prolonging of both the life of the man himself and of the synagogue he tends to.

In Providence, the late Joe Margolis assured that Shaare Zedek, on Broad Street, where I used to attend warm and welcoming High Holiday services, remained open for as long as he was able to, while Congregation Sons of Jacob’s president, Harold Silverman, continues to mind the synagogue on Douglas Avenue.

And so too it was in Cork, where Freddie Rosehill, chair of the trustees of the Cork Hebrew Congregation, watched over the remaining synagogue, built in 1896, for many years until it closed in February 2016. The concluding poem of “Jewtown,” titled “The Last Sabbath at South Terrace Synagogue,” describes one of the Cork Hebrew Congregation’s final services, with Lewis poignantly conveying how the shuttering of the dilapidated synagogue also portends Rosehill’s end: Shipped in from Dublin, the men gathered like beetles around the orange glow of the gas heaters, grumbling as the Sabbath candles were lit.

Above them, the women looked down from the crumbling balcony at the ruins, the walls twinkling with dew, the rot chewing the panels and the blue velvet table covers airbrushed by damp.

The men shifted in the pews as their knees stiffened and they mumbled along to the cantor’s funereal chants.

At the front of the Shul was Freddie, his silver crutch rooted to the carpet bearing the weight of his body, of the synagogue, of one-hundred and twenty years of peddlers, grocers, directors. His face, red with the strain, gave in by the first Kaddish, drooping back into the pew, knowing he was part of the furniture, ready to be moved on.

Rosehill passed away less than 10

months after the closing of the synagogue. An exhibit at the Cork Public Museum, which my brother and I viewed this past summer, memorializes Rosehill, the synagogue and Cork’s Jewish history.

I wasn’t able to make it to Carlow on either of my trips to Ireland, but Lewis and I have corresponded by email over the past six months. He has been the principal of Carlow Town’s local Educate Together elementary school since its opening in 2008. The only multi-denominational school in County Carlow, it has a capacity for 500 pupils, which is considered large in Ireland.

“We are growing into the building.

Currently there are 350 pupils in the school. It should be full within the next four years,” Lewis predicts. “In Ireland, multi-denominational generally means that schools do not show a preference to any one belief system.

Ninety-six percent of all elementary schools are denominational, which means they teach children with an overarching religious affiliation. In the vast majority, 90 percent, they are run under a Catholic ethos.”

Lewis is pleased with the reception “Jewtown” has received, including winning the 2015 Hennessy Poetry Prize. “The Jewish community has also been supportive. I have had a number of readings in the Irish Jewish Museum and this was very much appreciated,” he said. “I always enjoy giving readings because often I meet people that lived or had family that lived in the Jewtown area of Cork.

SHAI AFSAI lives in Providence.

Supported by a grant given to R.I.’s Congregation Beth Sholom, he traveled to the Republic of Ireland and to Northern Ireland, and has been writing about Jews and Irish literature.

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jewishrhody.org | Jewish Rhode Island

Arts Emanu-El to show the evocative documentary ‘After Auschwitz’

BY PAMELA HANZEL Director Jon Kean examines the question “What happens after surviving an unspeakable horror?” in the post-Holocaust documentary “After Auschwitz,” which will be shown at Temple Emanu-El on March 9.

The film follows six extraordinary women after their liberation from Nazi concentration camps. It is a study of what it means to move from tragedy and trauma toward life.

Many Holocaust films end with the words “You’re free.

Go home,” the same words that survivors heard when they were liberated. But “After Auschwitz” is not a typical Holocaust film: it begins with these words.

To an American today, liberation sounds like it should have been a great day.

For survivors, liberation from the camps was often the beginning of a lifelong struggle. They wanted to go home, but there was no home left in Europe. If they came to America, and wanted to tell people about their pasts, they were silenced for over three decades. Survivors were told, “You’re in America now, put it behind you.”

The women in the film all moved to Los Angeles, married, raised children, had successful careers, and became “Americans.” However, they never truly found a place to call home. They didn’t fully heal from the scars of the past. And what makes the story all the more fascinating is how these women saw, interpreted and interacted with the changing face of America in the second half of the 20th century.

These powerful women serve as guides on an unbelievable journey, sometimes celebratory, sometimes heart-breaking, but always inspiring.

Due to the rising waves of nationalism and antiSemitism around the world

today, this film is timely and resonates deeply.

Fruma Spitzman, who was raised on the East Side of Providence, is among the women featured in the film, and she will be the speaker at the program on March 9. She was born at Bergen-Belsen, which, at the time of her birth, in September 1948, was a displaced person’s camp in Germany.

Spitzman is the first-born child of the late Meyer and Rachel Spitzman, both Holocaust survivors. She and her parents waited at the camp until they received immigration papers. They traveled to Rhode Island in December 1949, with no family or home awaiting them.

It was her mother’s death, and her subsequent grief, that led Spitzman on a journey to embrace a weighty bequest, the legacy of the second-generation survivor. She became the bearer of her parents’ memories, and she says this legacy was a gift. She promised herself she would never be silent again. After participating in the March for the Living – a program that brings people from around the world to Poland and Israel to study the Holocaust – Spitzman’s commitment to speak to groups and organizations was reenergized.

Her local, regional and national Holocaust presentations continue to deepen her understanding of its emotional and psychological impact, as we learn in the film.

DETAILS: Arts Emanu-El will present “After Auschwitz” on Saturday, March 9, at 7:30 p.m., at Temple Emanu-El, 99 Taft Ave., Providence. The movie will be followed by Spitzman’s talk. Tickets are $15 in advance and $20 at the door, and may be purchased at www.Teprov.org/Form/AfterAuschwitz. Refreshments will be served.

Renee Firestone.

PHOTOS | PASSION RIVER FILMS

PAM HANZEL is the chair of Arts Emanu-El.

For survivors, liberation from the camps was often the beginning of a lifelong struggle.

After a screening of “After Auschwitz,” (left to right) Erika Jacoby, Jon Kean, Eva Beckmann and Renee Firestone.

16 | MARCH 2019

Jewish Rhode Island | jewishrhody.org

HOME & GARDEN

The Havdalah garden Grow your own aromatic havdalah garden

BY MICHAEL SCHEMAILLE

T

he Talmud teaches that the coming of Shabbat provides each of us with a “Shabbat soul,” an extra spiritual dimension that allows us to be more receptive to the joy, relaxation and celebration that are

the hallmarks of the holiday.

Since this soul is said to leave at the end of Shabbat, we smell besamim (perfumes) during havdalah as a way of comforting ourselves for this loss. Rabbi Raphie Schochet, director of the Providence Kollel Center for Jewish Studies, expanded on this by saying “smell is the closest we come to spiritual pleasure, because it’s intangible, ephemeral.”

Most havdalah besamim are a mixture of cloves, cinnamon and other fragrant spices.

These have been traditionally used because they are compact and retain their scent for a long time, but besamim used for havdalah can be almost any fragrant, natural substance.

The all-inclusive blessing for smelling pleasant fragrances is Borei minei besamim.

Rabbi Aaron Philmus, of Temple Torat Yisrael, in East Greenwich, said for plants and grasses, the blessing is Borei isvei besamim, and it’s Borei atzei besamim for trees and shrubs.

The following plants are ideal for a havdalah garden. Most of their scents are meant to be enjoyed fresh, rather than dried, and the

short life of cut flowers echoes the transitive nature of the Shabbat soul. As most of these plants are perennials, you can look forward to enjoying their fragrances year after year.

CLEMATIS is a member of the buttercup family, and its climbing vines are easy to grow. There are hundreds of varieties in a wide assortment of colors, shapes and scents.

Some have subtle fragrances, while others can be quite strong. Scents commonly associated with clematis include almond, citrus, vanilla and spice.

DIANTHUS are also known as carnations. If you only know them from prearranged bouquets, you’ve been missing out!

Their flowers can be absolutely spectacular in appearance, and they come in a variety of multicolored patterns and shapes. Dianthus’ spicy-sweet, clove-like scent makes them perfect for besamim.

SCENTED GERANIUMS are cousins of “true” geraniums (Cranesbill), and are known for their wide range of fragrances, which can be floral, fruity, nutty or herbal. Online sources list at least 30 “flavors,” making it that much easier to personalize your fresh spice

MARCH 2019 | 17

jewishrhody.org | Jewish Rhode Island

box. Scented geraniums (Pelargonium) are annual plants and must be brought inside to over-winter them before the first frost.

HONEYSUCKLE’S sweet distinctive aroma is familiar to most people. The scent of this climbing vine can enhance the sweetness of your besamim and provide a contrast to any strong herbal notes.

LAVENDER is another scent that most people recognize. Its unique perfume is said to have calming properties, and it’s a perfect counterpoint to the sweet scent of honeysuckle.

MINT is an easy-to-grow garden favorite. In fact, the toughest thing about growing mint might be choosing which varieties you want in your garden.

In addition to classics like spearmint and peppermint, you can find mint plants in flavors as diverse as chocolate, pineapple and even bubblegum! Please

note that mint is invasive and can quickly take over a garden; it’s best to keep mint plants in containers or in metal- or plastic-edged beds.

SWEET WOODRUFF blooms with small, delicate, white flowers. It has very little odor when fresh, but when wilted or crushed, it releases a lovely odor of fresh hay. This grassy scent offers an excellent contrast to the bright perfume of scented geraniums.

VERBENA, also known as vervain, has flowers that grow in dense spikes that are most often blue, but there are also white, pink and purple cultivars. Verbena is noted for its lemony, grassy smell, which has made it a favorite in herbal teas. Properly taken care of, it will bloom nonstop throughout the growing season.

YARROW grows in tall stalks topped by tight clusters of flowers. When crushed, its feathery, fern-

like leaves and flowers provide a pleasant, spicy smell reminiscent of chrysanthemums. Some say it smells like rosemary, oregano and other cooking herbs blended together.

Not only do these plants smell wonderful, but they are also colorful, pretty and attractive to butterflies. Making these plants part of your garden will make it easy to customize your besamim throughout the season and beyond, for years to come.

MICHAEL SCHEMAILLE (mschemaille@jewishallianceri.org) writes for Jewish Rhode Island and the Jewish Alliance of Greater Rhode Island.

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Jewish Rhode Island | jewishrhody.org

HOME & GARDEN

Tend to your spiritual garden HEA

TH

Y L I VI

NG

L

“The Jewish Garden” is a concept lots of green vegetation, flowers and and article by Rabbi Dov Lev on aish. water elements. com. In it, he talks about appreciating Gardens also give us an opportunity God through nature and to create art, which can be defined how the plant kingdom as “something that is created with is a path to God. imagination and skill and that He writes, “The is beautiful or that expresses Sages tell us that important ideas or feelings.” I one should not chose this definition, from Mersimply enjoy the riam-Webster, because whenever beauty of nature we create something from our for its own sake, ideas, thoughts and expressions, but use it as an we are making art. I think it is opportunity to praise distinguishes us.

PATRICIA what God for creating such We all have a way of presentRASKIN beauty in this world. Some ing ourselves and our ideas of God’s most amazing miracles are that is unique to us. The shape of our happening right now in your own garden, the choice and placement of backyard!” what we plant, are part of our creative Lev offers several Hebrew blessings expression. The plants, flowers, fruits for vegetation, trees, flowers, fruits, and vegetables that we choose to plant vegetables and aromas. He also talks make our gardens unique to us. about conditions and laws around When we realize and appreciate cutting down fruit trees, gardening how much art and our own style is on Shabbat, grafting and gardening in incorporated into our gardens, it can Israel. It is a fascinating article, along open us up to the spiritual side of ourwith a video, for creating and tending selves as well. to a spiritual garden.

PATRICIA RASKIN, owner of Raskin The article gave me further unResources Productions, is a media host, derstanding of how gardens provide coach and award-winning radio propsychological, social, physical, emoducer and business owner. She is on the tional and spiritual benefits. A large board of directors of Temple Emanu-El. part of this is because of the positive reactions we have to nature, so it is important for healing gardens to have

34TH ANNUAL JUNE 3, 2019 DWARES JCC GOLF CLASSIC SAVE THE DATE:

RETURNING TO ALPINE COUNTRY CLUB

For questions about sponsorship opportunities, please contact Seth Finkle at 401.421.4111 ext. 146 or sfinkle@jewishallianceri.org.

For more information visit jewishallianceri.org.

MARCH 2019 | 19

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Gardening helps seniors grow healthier

BY NAOMI FINK COTRONE As I write this, my view out the window is of a fresh blanket of snow sparkling across my yard. The very idea of gardening feels so far away, eclipsed by my knowledge that I still have plenty of snow shoveling ahead of me. But the truth is that spring is right around the corner. Before we know it, there’ll be bulbs and bushes and lots of pretty green things propped up outside supermarkets, instead of shovels and driveway salt.

Unlike dreary snow shoveling, gardening is one of my favorite activities, both at home and with my elderly clients. I’ve come to appreciate the different roles it can play across an individual’s lifespan. Toddlers hate walking on grass barefoot, but love playing in dirt. It can calm nerves for anxious teenagers. Adults can use it to destress and reclaim what can feel like much-needed control during chaotic times. And for seniors, while there are many benefits I could (and will!) go on about, my personal favorite is the first one listed below: Gardening provides an easy opportunity to nurture living things.

So, to help in our mutual daydream of warmer days, here are my top five reasons why gardening is so very therapeutic for seniors: Nature to nurture. Even if you don’t have a green thumb, plants are forgiving and resilient in a way that, say, babies or pets are not. For seniors across the spectrum of autonomy, and especially for those who are socially isolated, the act of demarcating a little plot of land on which you’ll shower water, nutrients, attention, love and time can feel disproportionately rewarding.

There is an old Jewish adage that teaches: “Giving cultivates love — even more than love cultivates giving.” This is a tenet of my work with people, and one that beautifully applies to the simple acts of gardening. And for those who might not have a chance to give to others often, gardening can offer a wonderful avenue to do just that.

Stress relief. A Dutch study from a few years back demonstrated that in controlled groups, people who gardened for a set period of time had significantly lower levels of cortisol

(the stress hormone) than those who sat and read during that time. This is consistent with common-sense health advice that we too often ignore, such as combatting stress by going outside – without your cellphone! – and looking at the horizon, or driving to the closest park for an amble through fields or woods. Being in and with nature is simply just plain good for you, and building a routine that allows for more time outdoors is something to work towards.

Physical and cognitive strength, and dexterity. From an occupational therapy standpoint, gardening is one of the best things you can do to promote well-being and overall health. In fact, gardening as a form of occupational therapy dates back over a century.

Haley Vogel, MS, OTR/L, loves gardening as therapy for many reasons.

One benefit she notes is that it can increase hand strength.

“It also helps with cognitive skills – that is, sequencing, the tasks required for planting, watering, and so on,” Vogel says.

But she cautions that people – and especially seniors – do need to be aware of the sensitive ergonomics involved.

“Make sure to protect your back in a comfortable posture, and take other measures necessary to ensure safety,” Vogel says. “Also be aware that there are adaptive tools available, [such as] specialized arthritic gardening tools, knee pads, etc. And if leaning over is an issue, you could find a community garden with raised beds.”

Brain health. The National Center for Biotechnology Information has released the results of a long-term study in which researchers found that “daily gardening represented the single biggest risk reduction for dementia, reducing incidence by 36%.” If that’s not reason enough to get started, then I don’t know what is!

Existential perspective. Yes, those are big words to describe playing in the dirt. But it’s true: On the most basic of levels, engaging in the life cycle

Gardening provides an easy opportunity to nurture living things.

of plants – seeds, sprouts, blossoms, fruit, withering and returning to the dirt – normalizes and demystifies death. No, gardening won’t tell you what happens to your soul after you die, but something about it makes you feel like you’re part of earth’s natural tide and harmony.

No backyard? No problem. The American Community Gardening Association offers a locator tool for finding your nearest community garden, at communitygarden.org/ find-a-garden. While you could certainly make do by planting in pots or window boxes, community gardening

has the added benefit of socialization while you soak up that Vitamin D. So grab a gardening magazine or a seed catalog, or scroll through Pinterest, and get inspired about gardening in the warmer days that are just around the corner.

NAOMI FINK COTRONE is the founder and president of the Right at Home of Rhode Island agency, which provides care to elderly and disabled adults throughout Rhode Island. Her favorite flower is hydrangea.

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Jewish Rhode Island | jewishrhody.org

COMMUNITY

OBITUARIES 28-29 | BUSINESS 22 | SIMCHAS & WE ARE READ 31

Adler’s Hardware celebrates its centennial

BY MICHAEL SCHEMAILLE

A

dler’s Hardware has been a Providence fixture since 1919, when it was opened on Wickenden Street by Romanian immigrant Fred Adler. The store originally sold work clothes and World War I surplus goods, and Fred made some additional money by doing engraving work for Providence’s then-booming Harry Adler works with a customer in the paint section of Adler’s Hardware. jewelry industry.

Carl was in charge of clothing MA: I went to yeshiva in Far RockAfter World War II, Fred’s son Irving joined the family business, and it was around this time that Adler’s expanded the size of their store and added hardware to their inventory.

While Irving joined the family business, Fred’s other son, Carl, opened a clothing store on Westminster Street. When the building of I-95 went through that store’s lot, Carl joined his father and brother in running the Wickenden Street store. Irving managed the hardware department, while

Adler's Hardware on Wickenden Street

and military surplus. In the 1970s, Irving and Carl oversaw a second expansion to the Adler’s building.

Today the store is run by cousins Harry and Marc Adler, who are Irving and Carl’s respective sons.

“Jewish Rhode Island” spoke with Marc about Adler’s Hardware and the challenges and rewards of running the family business.

JRI: Would you tell our readers a bit about yourself ? How did you get involved in the family business?

PHOTOS | GLENN OSMUNDSON

away, and I’m a CPA by training. I worked for Manufacturers Hanover Bank in Manhattan, and a paper distributor in Chicago. I came back to Providence because I decided I wanted to work for myself.

JRI: How have you seen your business change over the years?

MA: Probably the biggest change was when Home Depot came to town.

It was like a vacuum cleaner. They sucked up business from all kinds of stores.

JRI: How have you survived?

MA: We’ve gone into niches, like high-end decorative hardware, window treatments, wallpaper, fabric, paint, so we don’t compete directly with the big boxes. Internet competition has been our biggest challenge.

JRI: That’s been a challenge for a lot of small businesses. What do you find most rewarding about your work?

MA: Really, it’s the people that you meet. You meet such a diverse popuCONTINUED ON NEXT PAGE

Marc and Janice Adler in the office in the rear of the store

jewishrhody.org | Jewish Rhode Island

MONTH 201x | 21

Temple Emanu-El to honor Rabbi Franklin at Interfaith Symposium

BY NOEL RUBINTON PROVIDENCE – To commemorate four decades of interfaith work by Rabbi Wayne Franklin, Temple Emanu-El will host a special event on April 7 on the importance of continuing this dialogue in Rhode Island.

Leaders of five different faiths will speak at the Interfaith Symposium, which will both honor Rabbi Franklin and discuss interfaith opportunities ahead.

Franklin, who is retiring this summer after 38 years as Temple Emanu-El’s senior rabbi, has made interfaith efforts a signature part of his tenure, and he has been prominent in the cause locally, nationally and internationally.

“Rabbi Franklin has done so much to advance interfaith relations in Rhode Island and beyond. He has fostered greater understanding and cooperation between many people and groups, and we thought it was appropriate to pay tribute to him by engaging in interfaith dialogue and discussing the future for this critical field,” said Morty Miller, chairman of the symposium.

The program will feature a panel with Arthur Urbano, an associate professor of theology at Providence College and chairman of the school’s Jewish-Catholic Theological Exchange; Randy Friedman, chairman of Judaic studies at the State University of New York at Binghamton; Mufti Ikram ul Haq, imam of Masjid Al-Islam, in North Smithfield; and Judith Jamieson, a longtime lay-leader at the Central Congregational Church and

a former president of the Sandra Bornstein Holocaust Education Center, in Providence. The moderator will be Jabulani McCalister, senior pastor of the Calvary Baptist Church, in Providence.

Franklin has been active in leading many groups in Providence, particularly long-running programs between Catholics and Jews. He has helped run the annual Rhode Island Interfaith Commemoration of the Holocaust, held at Temple Emanu-El since 1984.

Nationally, Franklin is vice chairman of the National Council of Synagogues, and has been part of its conversations with the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops and the National Council of Churches. Internationally, he has participated in the Forum for Dialogue, Poland’s largest non-governmental organization for Polish-Jewish discussions.

Franklin has also written extensively about the need for and value of interfaith communication.

While accepting the Joseph W. Ress Community Service Award from the Jewish Alliance of Greater Rhode Island

DETAILS: The public is invited to the free symposium and presentations to Rabbi Franklin, along with his response. A reception will follow the panel discussion WHEN: Sunday, April 7, 4 p.m.

CONTACT: Margie Pelcovits mapelcovits@gmail.com.

JRI: What will happen when you and Harry retire? Is there a new generation ready to take over?

MA: No new generation will be taking over. We plan to eventually sell the business, but intend to continue as long as our health is good, and we’re able to manage the business.

JRI: Is there anything else you’d like to tell our readers?

MA: We’ve been here 100 years, and I feel that we’ve been Jewish representatives to the community. Over the years we’ve run the business with a high level of integrity, honesty, customer service, and, at times, humor. I feel we’ve done an excellent job as representatives of the Jewish people.

MICHAEL SCHEMAILLE (mschemaille@jewishallianceri.org) writes for Jewish Rhode Island and the Jewish Alliance of Greater Rhode Island.

NOEL RUBINTON is a writer based in Providence.

“Dialogue requires mutual respect, rather than trying to convince others of the correctness of one’s position.”

– Rabbi Wayne Franklin

LOCATION: Temple Emanu-El, 99 Taft Ave., Providence

FROM PREVIOUS PAGE lation, and 99 percent of them are friendly and very appreciative of your service. We have excellent employees. Most have been with us for many years, and it’s a pleasure to spend the day with them, including my wife and my cousin!

last June, Franklin said, “Strengthening our community requires all of us to listen respectfully with open hearts and minds to what others with points of view extremely different from our own are saying.”

Last October, he received a lifetime achievement award from the Rhode Island Council for the Humanities for “over three decades of service as a faith leader, educator, and advocate for civic dialogues.” Franklin said then, “Meaningful dialogue is possible among people who are eager to learn from one another and who are interested in understanding one another. Dialogue requires mutual respect, rather than trying to convince others of the correctness of one’s position.”

Customers at the check out counter.

Hadassah R.I. installs 2019 officers Hadassah Rhode Island installed its executive board for 2019 during a meeting at The Phyllis Siperstein Tamarisk Assisted Living Residence, in Warwick, on Feb. 3.

The board will be led by president Sue Mayes, of Middletown. The other officers are: vice president, philanthropy, Betty Ann Israelit, of Providence; vice president, membership, Maxine Bornstein, Newport; vice president, programming, Leah Ross-Coke, Coventry; vice president, organization, Lorraine Rappoport, Cranston; treasurers Judy Schoenfeld, North Smithfield, and Donna Podrat, Cranston; and webmaster Ellen Fingeret, North Providence.

Additional board members are Beth Ann Bark, of Fall River, cards and certificates; Wendy Spellun, Warwick, Keeper of the Gate (annual giving); and Judy Schoenfeld, Chai Society (annual giving).

Hadassah, the Women’s Zionist Organization of America, is a volunteer organization that has worked for more than 100 years to enhance the health and lives of people in Israel, the United States and worldwide.

22 | MARCH 2019

IN THE NEWS

Jewish Rhode Island | jewishrhody.org

BUSINESS

The best places to stash emergency cash

Liss celebrates a year Andrew A. Liss is celebrating his first-year anniversary with Strategies for Wealth New England. Prior to joining Strategies for Wealth, he spent many years as a chef in the Providence area and entered the financial industry in 2004. Strategies for Wealth is an 85-year-old full-service financial firm, offering a variety of services including life insurance, disability insurance, retirement planning, and estate planning, and one of the leading agencies of The Guardian Life Insurance Company of America.

$464M more paid out to victims of Madoff scheme JTA – Another $464 million has been paid out to victims of Bernie Madoff’s $19 billion Ponzi scheme, bringing the total distributions in the case to more than $12 billion.

The new payout to 880 former Madoff clients began Feb. 22 with checks ranging from $429 to $66 million, Bloomberg reported, citing the office of trustee Irving Picard.

The total distributions equal about two-thirds of each allowed claim, Picard said. Clients who suffered certified losses of as much as $1.49 million will have been paid in full after this 10th distribution.

Picard has been working to claw back the fake profits earned by Madoff investors.

The uncovering of the Madoff Ponzi scheme revealed the tens of billions of dollars in fake profit that victims believed they had earned through Madoff. Many prominent Jewish nonprofits also suffered big losses, with Yeshiva University taking a $140 million hit, Hadassah $90 million and Elie Wiesel’s foundation losing $15 million.

In 2009, Madoff pleaded guilty to 11 federal felonies and is serving a 150year sentence in a federal prison. He also was ordered to forfeit nearly $171 billion.

1

A money market fund. This is offered by a brokerage firm such as Schwab,

S&S E

E

Andrew A. Liss

R A L

Vanguard, etc., and is a strong option, although it comes with a caveat. Money market funds are not insured by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), an independent agency of the U.S. government. That being said, these are very, very conservative accounts and have little volatility. In fact, it is my favorite option for housing short-term emergency cash because it strikes a great balance of risk and reward in this context.

NS

DOL

We all know that we need an emergency cash reserve for life’s “what-if” events, such as job loss, car repair or illness. However, the idea of setting aside money for something that may never come to pass isn’t exactly appealing. This is particularly true when it means stashing the money in an account that earns next to nothing in interest.

As a rule of thumb, financial planners suggest that people keep at least three to six months of living expenses in a cash reserve. Since the money needs to be available on short notice, you should focus on safety and liquidity. In this context, safety means that the money should not be exposed to risk (such as invested in the stock market) and liquidity means it should be there when you need it (forget CDs, with their early termination fees and lock-ups).

So where can you stash this cash if you want both safety and liquidity, and to earn at least some interest? Here’s a look at four options:

JASON E. SIPERSTEIN

2

An FDIC-insured account. At most banks, both online and brick-and-mortar, money held in money market accounts, savings accounts, checking accounts and CDs are FDIC insured.

In the unlikely event that the bank goes bankrupt, the government guarantees your deposit up to a certain amount. In return for this added safety, interest is lower than in a money market fund. If you lean more on the conservative side, this might work for you.

3

A mix of an FDIC-insured account and a conservative portfolio. Put a portion of the cash reserve in a savings account and the remainder in a mix of ultra-

short-term taxable and municipal bond funds. In this scenario, some of the money is guaranteed by the FDIC and the remainder involves some risk but can earn more than you can get at banks. However, there will be mild fluctuations in value on the bond portion, so you must be comfortable with that.

4

A home equity line of credit. If you really hate holding cash, you can consider a home equity line of credit, which allows you to tap some of the value in your home. However, there are closing costs and you have to pay interest on the loan. This is my least favorite option because it costs you money to access your emergency reserve, which, of course, you should avoid.

At the end of the day, the option that works for you will come down to your personal preference and unique financial situation. Regardless of the strategy you choose, make sure to have a plan in place so you can access money when you need it.

JASON E. SIPERSTEIN, CFA, CFP, is the president-elect of the Financial Planning Association of Rhode Island and vice president of Eliot Rose Wealth Management. He can be reached at jes@eliotrose.com.

Jeffrey Padwa recognized with Extraordinary Leadership Award Jeffrey Padwa will be recognized with the Extraordinary Leadership Award by the Network of Jewish Human Service Agencies on March 31 at its 2019 annual conference in Atlanta for his exceptional work toward addressing human service needs in Rhode Island.

This is a noteworthy achievement for Padwa, Rhode Island and the newly unified agency, Jewish Collaborative Services, a nonprofit social service agency providing services and programs to Rhode Islanders in need.

The Network of Jewish Human Service Agencies is an international association of more than 140 nonprofit human service agencies in the United States, Canada and Israel.

The network is a leading

voice for the Jewish human services sector, and is the “go-to” resource for advocacy, best practices, innovation and research.

Padwa receives the award for a lifetime of service to the Rhode Island and Jewish communities that includes significant achievements that positively transformed organizational structures, delivery of services and outreach to the community. His vision and leadership is credited by many as the catalyst for this historic merger. “Jeffrey has brought passion and vision to our community through his numerous leadership roles. His skills and attention to personal relationships speaks volumes as he has guided our agencies with great integrity and char-

acter,” says James Galkin, a past president of Jewish Seniors Agency and board member of JCS. According to Erin Minior, president and CEO of JCS, Padwa “was instrumental in orchestrating the combination of Jewish Senior Agency and Jewish Family Services, into one unified entity, Jewish Collaborative Services (JCS) despite several unsuccessful similar merger attempts over the past 25 years.” Padwa was unanimously elected to be the first chairman of the board of directors of JCS. Padwa is a Rhode Island attorney and lobbyist in private practice.

Submitted by Dante Bellini Jr., RDW Group

Jeffrey Padwa

This is a noteworthy achievement for Padwa, Rhode Island and the newly unified agency, Jewish Collaborative Services

MARCH 2019 | 23

jewishrhody.org | Jewish Rhode Island

COMMUNITY

Local JCDSRI alumni enroll the next generation at the day school

BY RACHEL LEVY AND SHOSHANA JACOBS Over the course of 40 years, the Jewish Community Day School of Rhode Island has had a number of different names and graduated more than 500 students. Currently, five local alumni have chosen to send their children to the school that they attended. Here are the stories of two of these “legacy families.” The children of Adam Sinel, Alexis Gladstone and Michael Furman also attend JCDSRI. Rachel Alexander Levy (Class of 1987) and Jeff Levy As told by Rachel Levy My parents moved to Providence in 1977, when I was 4 years old. My mom, Sheila Alexander, looked at the elementary school options and then decided to create the Solomon Schechter Day School for me and other families that wanted a top-notch secular and Judaic education.

I feel so blessed to have been in the first class of the school, with wonderful educators and students who were passionate about working together. I felt empowered throughout my elementary school education to speak up for myself and get involved in being a change agent. These lessons have followed me throughout my lifetime.

Forty years later, my husband and I left Wisconsin and moved to Providence in 2017 with our 4-year-old daughter. There was no question in my mind that I wanted Miriam to attend the school that had shaped me.

My husband took the tour and was impressed with the curriculum that teaches respect for other children, sharing our toys and cooperating on a team. He loved the student-teacher ra-

tio and the dedication of the teachers to each unique learner in the class.

Since he was new to Providence, he was especially eager to build a community and make new friends. Jewish Community Day School has provided both of us with an extended family that literally is helping raise our daughter each day – especially when we are out of town for work and need a friend to pick her up from school.

We were concerned about the price tag of a private school education, and we were thrilled to receive tuition assistance to make it affordable for our family.

Miriam comes home from school talking about her friends, her teachers and her love of Jewish traditions like lighting Shabbat candles. We are so happy to be one of the five legacy families currently enrolled at the school.

Shoshana (Class of 1998) and Josh Jacob As told by Shoshana Jacob My very first Zimriyah [JCDSRI’s annual song festival] was memorable for so many reasons. I have a vivid memory of sitting next to my best friend in the vestry eating pretzels while waiting to run into the Meeting House singing “Shiru” – all while wearing rubber-soled sneakers so we wouldn’t trip.

Zimriyah was always one of my favorite parts of the year – I loved the songs, the dances and the feeling of pure joy every year while singing “Shiru” and running into the Meeting House.

Fast forward to 2016, when my firstborn got to do the exact same thing in the exact same place! I had tears in my eyes (I do even now as I write this) as she came running in

Rachel Levy, daughter Miriam and Sheila Alexander. singing “Shiru.” This is just one example of what makes this school so special.

When our daughter was 4 and the Jewish Day School that was near where we lived (in Sharon, Massachusetts) closed, we had to decide what we were going to do about schooling for her. For me, day school was not negotiable, but my husband needed to be convinced.

We took a tour of JCDSRI, and he was blown away. I not only was blown away, but I was filled with nostalgia, seeing how many things changed but also how the most special things remained, like the paintings lining the stairwell and Vicki [Dziok] and Eileen [Ellis] still running the office.

We chose this school for its innovative curriculum and individualized attention to students. What we were not expecting was a community of families and friends who welcomed

us from Sharon as if we had always been here. We were so happy not only with the school but the community we had created – and because of the school we decided to make the move to Providence.

Every day I feel lucky that both my children get to attend such an amazing school and that Josh and I have such an amazing group of friends.

At the end of this school year, I will be taking over as president of the Board of Trustees – and do so in the hopes of giving back to a school that has given so much to me and my family.

DETAILS: On April 7 at 6 p.m., JCDSRI will celebrate its 40th anniversary at a gala which will be held at the Alliance’s Dwares Jewish Community Center, in Providence.

For more information, please contact Alison Walter at awalter@jcdsri. com or 401-751-2470.

Our Mission: To improve the quality of life for those we serve.

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(401) 383-1950 www.rahri.com

• Navigate the challenging process of providing care for a loved one.

• From companionship and a little help around the house to 24/7 personal care.

Elder Care Services Providing care all over Rhode Island Call to schedule a free, non-salesy and no obligation family consultation.

We’ll help you create a care plan tailored to your unique needs.

Shoshana Jacob and daughter Meital.

24 | MARCH 2019

Jewish Rhode Island | jewishrhody.org

Celebrate Purim

Wednesday Night, March 20 • 7:00 p.m.

Chabad House • 360 Hope Street • Providence Wednesday Night, March 20 • 7:00 p.m.

Megillah to stir your soul…

Music & Dancing to stir your heart…

Drinks & Hamentashen to stir your kishkes!

Thursday, March 21, 8:30 a.m.

Magillah Reading & Hamentashen Chabad House

360 Hope St., Providence or

Alliance Board Room – 12:30 p.m.

401 Elmgrove Ave., Providence

Thursday, March 21, 2019 – Purim is the time to…

LISTEN to the reading of the SEND a gift of at least two kinds of GIVE charity to two or more people.

Megilla (Book of Esther) this year prepared food (pastry, fruit, beverage, If you cannot find poor people, place Wednesday eve, March 20, and etc.) to at least one friend. (Each item at least two coins in a charity box. In again on Thursday, March 21, of food should be at least one ounce the Megillah this is called “Matonos thereby recounting and reliving in or more. 3-1/2 oz. for liquids.

L’Evyonim”. our own day, the great miracle of Purim.

The above Mitzvot should be done on the day of Purim

EAT the festive Purim meal and rejoice in the Purim spirit.

More Purim information

FAST OF ESTHER We fast on Wednesday, March 20 this year. This commemorates the day of prayer when Jews fasted before victorious battle. It is customary before the Mincha prayers on this day to give 3 halfdollars to charity. This commemorates the yearly contribution by all Jews to the Temple in the Hebrew month of Adar.

AL HANISSIM Remember to add in the Amidah prayer and in Grace After Meals, the special part for Purim, beginning “Al Hanissim”.

www.virtualpurim.com for everything about Purim Fun and Educational

INVOLVE THE CHILDREN As in all Mitzvot, encourage young children to fulfill the Purim Mitzvot.

Boys and girls past Bar/Bat Mitzvah are obligated, as are adults to do all Purim Mitzvot.

The Purim Mitzvos (Precepts) demonstrate the unity and togetherness of the Jewish people. The more charity and Purim presents one gives the better. There is no greater joy than to gladden the heart of the poor, the orphans and the widows.

Courtesy of: Chabad R.I. • 360 Hope Street, Providence Telephone: (401) 273-7238 – email: believeinprovidence@gmail.com

Q

ueen Esther saved the lives of the Jews in the Persian Empire and initiated the Jewish festival of Purim.

Raven Releasing the Sun by David Boxley

An Evening of Art and Music at Temple Habonim

ALL ARE WELC0ME!

SUMMER J-CAMP at the Dwares JCC! June 24 - August 23 Ages 3 - 15 Registration opens soon.

Visit jewishallianceri.org for more information.

401 Elmgrove Avenue | Providence, RI 02906 | 401.421.4111

Temple Habonim is hosting a special evening with an art show opening and a concert on Saturday, March 16. The exhibit in the Bunny Fain Gallery highlights pieces from the private collection of Bunny and Jean Fain, founding members of the temple.

The concert features Jodi Blankstein and members of her group Sanctuary.

Bunny and Jean Fain were founding members of the synagogue. The gallery was named after Bunny, who was instrumental in its creation.

The Fains, each an artist in their own right, shared a passion for collecting art. Honoring their parents’ dedication to the Temple, their children have generously donated pieces from the collection to Temple Habonim. All of the artwork on display in this exhibit will be for sale with

proceeds benefitting the Temple. The gallery opening is from 6-7:30 p.m. and includes wine, cheese and light hors d’oeuvres.

Immediately following the opening, at 7:30 p.m. Jodi Blankstein and members of her group, “Sanctuary,” will present a musical program filled with songs of resilience, renewal and hope. In addition to some of the group’s more familiar songs, Blankstein and her group will share songs from their new CD “LIFTED: Songs for the Soul.”

Temple Habonim and the Bunny Fain Gallery are located at 165 New Meadow Road, Barrington. Gallery hours are Tuesdays and Thursdays from 1-4 p.m., Wednesdays from 9 a.m.-1 p.m. and by appointment. For information, call 401-245-6536.

Submitted by Temple Habonim

MARCH 2019 | 25

jewishrhody.org | Jewish Rhode Island

ARTS ‘The Jewish Pavarotti’ to sing at Temple Sinai

BY DEBORAH JOHNSON How does a singer – a cantor, no less – earn the stunning sobriquet “the Jewish Pavarotti”?

In one way, at least, Cantor Alberto Mizrahi earned it literally. As a young man pursuing an opera career, he served as the legendary tenor’s understudy in performances of Verdi’s “Un Ballo in Maschera,” at the Florida Grand Opera, in Miami. But much of the distinction has to do with Mizrahi’s richly powerful voice and charismatic performance style.

Renowned orchestra conductor Russell Gloyd said of him, “he’s a very emotional and spiritual singer …. He does not sing the music; he lives the music.”

And his reach extends far beyond the classical music world. Celebrated jazz musician Howard Levy said, “I have never met anyone even remotely like him, because his scope, musically, is so broad.” Add to this that he is the adored cantor of nearly 30 years at the historic Anshe Emet Synagogue in the Lake View district of Chicago.

Mizrahi was born in Greece, the son of Greek Holocaust survivors.

His father, one of the last sonderkommandos in the Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp, met and married

his bride after the war.

When Alberto was 8, the family immigrated to the United States. With help from the Hebrew Aid Society, Alberto received a traditional Yeshiva education.

Alberto decided his career path early: He recalls attending his first movie at the age of 5, a biopic of the legendary tenor Enrico Caruso titled “The Great Caruso” and starring Mario Lanza, and feeling “hit … in the stomach so hard, and I was like in total ecstasy. The whole movie, I couldn’t believe there was such a thing. A man opens his mouth and sings like that? The orchestra, the costumes, the

colors.”

He ultimately combined his twin identities as a singer and a Jew, and went on to study at the H.L. Miller Cantorial School of the Jewish Theological Seminary of New York.

For the past three years, Temple Sinai has presented an annual music series on the theme of “Jewish Music Around the World.” Mizrahi fits this bill perfectly. Not only is he a Sephardic Jew, but he is internationally renowned as an interpreter of Jewish world music with a repertoire of nine languages, making his performances unique.

Mizrahi’s program at Sinai will reflect this, ranging from Sephardic and Ashkenazi liturgical music to folk and secular music, opera and jazz. He is known as an especially talented singer of the latter. Mizrahi often merges jazz and cantorial traditions, and he believes they have much in common.

He has said, “If today you brought together a cantor who never heard jazz, and a jazz musician who never heard cantorial music, when they hear each other they’d go, ‘Yeah, I hear that!’ ” As to the breadth of his repertoire, he sees that as natural: “The story really is that Jews [are] Middle Eastern people whose music still retains elements of the Middle East …. Then

we went into exile to almost every country in the world. And in this exile we were influenced by – and also influenced – the music of those countries.”

For his concert at Temple Sinai, he will be accompanied on piano by Alan Mason, director of music at Temple Israel of Greater Miami and president of the Guild of Temple Musicians, who has performed around the world.

“An Afternoon with Hazzan Alberto Mizrahi: The World of Jewish Music and More” will be held at Temple Sinai, 30 Hagen Ave., in Cranston, on Sunday, March 24, at 3 p.m. Like every concert in the Jewish Music Around the World series, it has been generously sponsored by Diane and Gary Glick.

Tickets are $20, or $100 for benefactor’s tickets with preferred seating, and can be purchased at Eventbrite, hazzan-mizrahi-concert.eventbrite.com, or by contacting the temple at 401-9428350 or Dottie@templesinairi.org.

(Many of the quotes in this article are from “Cantor Mizrahi celebrates 25 years of Jewish music — and jazz,” an article by Howard Reich that was published in the Chicago Tribune on May 5, 2015.)

DEBORAH JOHNSON is the cantor at Temple Sinai, in Cranston.

If we don’t take care of our future, who will?

When you create a Jewish legacy, you take an important step toward strengthening Jewish life for generations to come. Planning your gift now will help ensure your children and grandchildren can enjoy the same rich traditions and closeness of community that have given your life so much meaning and purpose.

The future starts with you.

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For more information about legacy giving, please contact Trine Lustig at 401.421.4111 ext. 223 or tlustig@jewishallianceri.org

26 | MARCH 2019

Jewish Rhode Island | jewishrhody.org

Join Us!

Sundays at 2:00PM In March and April

Temple Beth-­‐El Meeting Hall 70 Orchard Avenue Providence, RI

Admission: FREE

Sunday March 31 – Double Feature Joe’s Violin – This inspiring, short documentary depicts the story of Joe, a

Holocaust survivor who donates his beloved violin to a young student.

Itzhak – A rousing documentary portraying the life, musical work and cultural heritage of Itzhak Perlman. Discussion with Jorges Gardos, Violinist, Concertmaster, Conductor and Educator.

Sunday April 7 – “The Last Suit”

This heartwarming feature focuses on an 88-­‐year-­‐old tailor who rejects his children’s wishes to place him in a nursing home. Instead, he embarks on a long journey to find the man who saved him from the Holocaust. Discussion with Ada Winsten, Clinical Social Worker.

Sunday April 15 – “Big Sonia”

This moving documentary features the life of Sonia, age 91, who handles the multiple adversities in her life with dignity, humor and resilience.. Discussion with Professor Mike Fink, Rhode Island School of Design.

Presented by the Sisterhood of Temple Beth-­‐El

Tillie Orleck with sons Chuck, left, and Gary.

‘Matriarch of the Meal Site’ celebrates 90th birthday

BY MICHAEL SCHEMAILLE CRANSTON – At 90, Tillie Orleck is sharp and spry. She still drives, and seems to know everyone at the Providence and Cranston Kosher senior meal sites, where her “near-perfect attendance” and Friday candle-lighting responsibilities have earned her the title of “Matriarch of the Meal Site.” Orleck speaks proudly of her family and memories of Rhode Island, and her face lights up when she speaks about her 21-month-old great-grandson.

On Feb. 15, the senior meal site at Temple Sinai hosted a surprise party to celebrate Orleck’s 90th birthday. The event was organized by Orleck’s friend, Gary Levin, who explained that Orleck’s “Matriarch” title is well-deserved, as nearly 50 people were in attendance to share the occasion. The assembly enjoyed a kiddush and mishabeirach from Sinai’s Rabbi Jeffrey Goldwasser, followed by a brisket lunch.

The lunch was attended by Rhode Island Lt. Gov. Daniel McKee, who presented Orleck with a birthday proclamation.

Levin presented additional proclamations from Gov. Raimondo, Sens. Jack Reed and Sheldon Whitehouse, and Rep. James Langevin. Orleck’s sons Chuck and Gary made a surprise appearance, as did Orleck’s brother Norman and his wife, Cynthia.

Speaking to the crowd, Levin explained that Orleck has been a lifelong fan of the New York Yankees. He presented gifts sent by the team, including a photo of Orleck’s name displayed on the stadium’s scoreboard, as well as a Yankees-branded towel and blanket. The gifts even included a box of “Yankee hankies,” for Orleck to use when then the team loses. Orleck expressed gratitude for her friends’ efforts in putting together the party and for inviting her family to celebrate the simcha.

MICHAEL SCHEMAILLE (mschemaille@jewishallianceri.org) writes for Jewish Rhode Island and the Jewish Alliance of Greater Rhode Island.

Tillie Orleck lights Shabbat candles.

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Jewish Rhode Island | jewishrhody.org

COMMUNITY | OBITUARIES Rabbi Gershon Baron, 85

tional and guidance counselor in the Woonsocket school system for 32 years, Marilyn created the “Adopt-A-School Program”, an award-winning business/education collaboration and one of the first of its kind in the state. Marilyn retired in 1996.

She is survived by her husband of 64 years, Benjamin Proctor Eisenberg and her sister, Phyllis Rubin and brother-in-law, Leon Rubin of Cumberland, R.I. She was the devoted mother of Ellen Shafner and her husband, David, of Ramat Bet Shemesh, Israel, Nancy Eisenberg and her husband, Marc Brandriss, of Boca Raton, Florida, Marcey Propp and her husband, Rob, of Cherry Hill, New Jersey, and Susan Eisenberg and her partner, Mark Elliot, of Beverly Hills, California. She was the loving grandmother of 9 and devoted great grandmother of 21.

In lieu of flowers, contributions in her memory may be made to Hadassah, Planned Parenthood or Magen David Adom

FORT LEE, N.J. – Rabbi Gershon Myer Baron passed away Jan. 23 at the New Jersey Veterans Memorial Home in Paramus, New Jersey. He was born in New Britain, Connecticut to the late Jacob and Shosha (Palofski) Baron.

Rabbi Baron attended the Yeshiva Rabbi Chaim Berlin and Mesivta Torah Vodaath Rabbinical Seminary. During his time at Mesivta Torah Vodaath, he enlisted in the U.S. Army during the Korean Conflict.

After the war, he received his undergraduate and graduate degrees from Boston University.

Rabbi Baron is survived by his wife, G. Tamra Baron; his sister, Marion Pritsky of Natick, Massachusetts, his sons, Charles Baron and his wife Naomi of Cedarhurst, New York and Todd Baron and his wife Chana of Teaneck, New Jersey, and his grandchildren, Yael, Natan Yakov, Sarit, Avi, Gavriel, Eliav and Kobe.

Contributions in his name can be made to Yeshiva University at 500 W. 185th St., New York, NY 10033.

Sandra Gertz, 85 WARWICK, R.I. – Sandra M. (Yuffee) Gertz died Jan. 30 at home.

She was the beloved wife of the late Junius “Babe” Gertz. Together they celebrated 54 years of marriage. Born in Cambridge, Massachusetts and raised in Providence, she was the daughter of the late Robert and Anna (Ringer) Yuffee.

Sandra was a graduate

Marilyn Eisenberg, 87 SARASOTA, FLA. – Marilyn Eisenberg died peacefully at home on Feb. 18 surrounded by her family. Marilyn was born in Providence, the daughter of the late Morris and Molly (Fink) Young.

She was a graduate of the University of Rhode Island, Class of 1953, and earned a Masters degree in guidance and counseling from Rhode Island College in 1972. A voca-

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of Hope High School, and attended Beth Israel Nursing School. A longtime resident of Cranston and Narragansett, she recently moved to Warwick.

Wherever Sandra was, she brought smiles and laughter and the desire to brighten the lives of others. She enjoyed many long and rich friendships, and was well-known to many Rhode Islanders as singer-comedien, Sandy, of Carol & Sandy. She was a founding member of Temple Sinai and its Sisterhood, and she sang as a member of the choir for many years. A matriarch of the family, she loved to cook and host the family on holidays and special occasions, where food and spirit were in abundance.

In addition to being a fun and supportive grandmother to her five grandchildren, especially when they were young, some of her favorite times were on the stage in lead roles with the Coventry Players. For Sandra, all the world was a stage. She loved music, singing, entertaining, and making people laugh with her great sense of humor.

She was the mother of Barry Gertz and his wife, Sandy, of Lakewood Ranch, Florida, Shelley Sigal and her husband, Andrew, of Warwick, Nancy Gertz of Newton, Massachusetts and Betsy J. Gertz of Sarasota, Florida. She was the sister of Lester Yuffee and his late wife, Sandra, of Bethesda, Maryland. The loving grandmother of Anya, Stefan, Jeremy, Lauren, and Julian and adored step-grandmother of Elizabeth and Mark. She was the great grandmother of Sadie, Charlie, Penelope and Alice. Sandra loved animals, and most notably Opie, her beloved pup.

Contributions in her memory may be made to Temple Sinai, the ASPCA, or the charity of your choice.

(Serving Rhode Island & Massachusetts)

CRANSTON, R.I. – Melvin “Marty” Kaufman died Feb. 9 at Philip Hulitar Inpatient Center. He was the husband of Francine (Blank) Kaufman for 65 years. Born in Providence, a son of the late Morris and Gertrude (Broomfield) Kaufman, he was a longtime resident of Cranston, previously living in Warwick.

He was the owner of Allen’s Furniture in North Kingston for 40 years, retiring in 1990. Marty was a Korean Conflict Army veteran, serving stateside. He was

a former member of Temple Torat Yisrael and Touro Fraternal Association.

He was the father of Neil Kaufman of Cranston and Cindy Morrill and her husband, Richard, of Virginia Beach, Virginia. He was the dear brother of the late Florence Cohen, Evelyn Goldberg, Sadie Shanfield, Frances Rodinsky, Selma Dubey, John Kaufman and Leo Kaufman.

He was the loving grandfather of Eric Morrill and Rachael Morris and adored great grandfather of Luke Morris, and a cherished uncle to several nieces and nephews.

Contributions in his memory may be made to the Alzheimer’s Association, 245 Waterman St., Providence, RI 02906, the American Cancer Society, 931 Jefferson Blvd, Ste. 3004, Warwick, RI 02886, or the American Heart Association, PO Box 417005, Boston, MA 02241.

Arlene Kaye, 64 LAGUNA NIGUEL, CALIF. – Arlene Ellen Kaye, 64, died on Feb. 9 at home. She was the daughter of the late Nathan and Blanche (Goldberg) Eisenstadt.

Arlene was born on April 24, in Providence, Rhode Island.

Arlene was a graduate of Rhode Island College and earned a BA in Elementary Education. Always having had a giving heart, Arlene’s first job out of college was with the March of Dimes. From there, she spent most of her career in shopping center marketing which took her to Las Vegas and eventually to Southern California. She later became Marketing Director at the Southern California College of Optometry and worked there until she retired 5 years ago.

Arlene was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis, but never let the disease interfere with her passions.

Arlene was the wife of Robert Kaye of Laguna Niguel, California. She was the sister of Donna Neufeld of Cranston, Rhode Island. She was the aunt of Marc and Lisa Neufeld, step-mother of Allan Kaye, grandmother of Mariya, Karissa and Daneka, and the cherished great-grandmother of Gabriella. She will be missed by hundreds of friends that she made worldwide.

Contributions in her memory may be made to Arlene’s

MS Walk, https://bit.ly/2SqSDWp.

Zelda Kolodney, 95 PROVIDENCE, R.I. – Zelda R. Kolodney, wife of the late Samuel J. Kolodney, and a former resident of Pawtucket, Narragansett, and Providence, died on February 5, just weeks before her 96th birthday.

She was the daughter of the late Charles and Ida (Levin) Holland and was predeceased by 6 siblings: Hye Holland, Mollye Weiner, Harry Holland, Major Gen’l Leonard Holland, Florence Stone, and Marvin Holland.

She was the aunt of three generations of adoring nieces and nephews. She was principally cared for by Howard and Temma Holland (Barrington, Rhode Island), Bruce and Maureen Holland (Jamestown, Rhode Island), and Dr. Richard Stone and Dr. Jane Brown (Dover, Massachusetts).

She was a 1941 graduate of Hope High School. Zelda was a Gray Lady at RI Hospital during the war, and volunteered at Bradley Hospital and St. Joseph’s Hospital.

She was a 60 year member of Temple Emanu-El, and a member of Hadassah, B’Nai Brith, and Miriam Hospital Women’s Assoc.

Contributions in her memory may be made to Temple Emanu-El, 99 Taft Ave, Providence, RI 02906 or the charity of your choice.

Richard Land, 89 CRANSTON, R.I. – Richard E. Land, M.D., died, Feb. 13 at home. He was the beloved husband of Francine (Finck) Land for 63 years. Born in Brooklyn, New York, a son of the late Maurice and Jeannette (Warshaw) Land, he was a longtime resident of Cranston.

He was the director of radiology for 30 years at St. Joseph & Fatima Hospital in Providence, retiring in 2003. Before that, he was a radiologist at Massachusetts General Hospital. Richard was a Captain and Director of Radiology in the U.S. Army, serving in Ft. Leavenworth, Kansas.

He graduated from James Madison High School, class of 1947, attended New York University, and graduated from Northwestern University with a bachelor’s degree and an M.D. Richard was an accomplished classical pianist and was a performing member of the Chopin Club and Henschel

MARCH 2019 | 29

jewishrhody.org | Jewish Rhode Island Club. He loved dogs, telling jokes and spending time with his family.

He was the father of Susan Land (Mark Goodman), Robert Land and William Land, MD (Margaret Seif). He was predeceased by his brother Alfred Land. He was the loving grandfather of Jeremy Land Goodman, Sasha Land and Zoe Land.

Donations may be made to the charity of your choice.

Steven Levy, 58 LOS ANGELES, CALIF. – Steven Joseph Levy, aka Steve Bean, passed away at home on Jan. 21, in Los Angeles, California after a courageous battle with cancer.

He was born on April 27, in Lynn, Massachusetts.

Steven is survived by his wife, Caroline Carrigan, his son, Jacob Randall Levy, parents, Irwin and Dorothy Levy, sisters, Lauren Levy Brodie and her husband Todd and Jill Levy Sorota, nieces and nephews, Michael Miller, Allison Miller, Lindsey Sorota and Andrew Sorota and great niece, Amelia Wilcox. He also leaves behind 2 aunts, 3 uncles and many beloved cousins.

Steven attended Hillel Academy in Swampscott, Massachusetts, the Providence Hebrew Day School and graduated from Classical High School in Providence, class of 1978, and attended Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

Steven was an avid Red Sox and Patriots fan. He was an actor, comedian and writer. He was a member of the Screen Actors Guild AFTRA and the Writers Guild.

Contributions may be made in his memory to the Chapel Fund at Temple Emanuel, 99 Taft Ave., Providence, RI or to Cancer Support Community Pasadena, 76 E. Del Mar Blvd., Suite 215, Pasadena, CA 91105.

Lillian Lewis, 97 FALL RIVER, MASS. – Lillian S. Lewis died on Jan. 31 at the Fall River Jewish Home. She was the beloved wife of the late Benjamin Lewis. Together, she and Ben enjoyed 50 years of marriage. Born in Providence, a daughter of the late Hyman and Ida (Resnick) Shushansky, she had recently moved to Fall River, previously living in Warwick, South Kingstown and Providence.

Lillian served as administrative assistant to the executive director of the Jewish Community Center,

followed by secretary to the rabbi at Temple Emanu-El for 20 years. After retiring in 1983, she worked part-time for 8 years at Brown University.

She was a member of Hadassah and the Cranston Senior Guild and its Board, former member of the Board of Directors of the JCC and president of its Parents’ Association.

She was the devoted mother of Martin (Alice) Lewis of Spencer, Massachusetts, Helene (Brian) Goldstein of Wakefield, Rhode Island and the late Joyce (Alan) Tobkes of Jericho, New York. She was the sister of Charlotte Gorodetsky of Boca Raton, Florida, and the loving grandmother of David Lewis, Mark (Erin) Lewis, Michael Tobkes, Karen (Cory) Lanker, Rabbi Avi (Tzippy) Goldstein, Benjamin Goldstein and Ilana Goldstein. She was the great-grandmother of Norah, Ethan, Bayla, Yossi and Rachel Joyce.

Contributions in her memory may be made to Chabad URI, 2900 Kingstown Rd. Apt. 411, Kingston, RI 02881.

Hope Mellion, 95 WARWICK, R.I. – Hope B. Mellion died Feb. 2 at St. Elizabeth’s Home in East Greenwich. She was the beloved wife of the late Benjamin Mellion. Born May 5, in Providence, Rhode Island, she was the daughter of the late Herman and Rebecca Kortick Abrams.

Hope was a WWII Navy Veteran, serving in Washington, DC using the skills acquired at Bryant and Pembroke Colleges. She was a charter member of the Cranston-Warwick chapters of Hadassah and served as chairman and President for two years earning the prestigious Woman of Valor Award in 1964.

For many years, Hope gave her time to help the disadvantaged and the infirm as a dedicated volunteer for the Rhode Island Food Bank and children and families of the Ronald McDonald House of Providence. Hope was an avid reader and shared her passion of reading for the blind on local radio. She was a generous financial supporter to many of her favorite charities dedicating much of her time and energy to philanthropic causes. She also found time for Bridge Club and Mahjong with her closest friends.

Hope’s family and friends will fondly remember her exquisite fashion sense and culinary expertise; especially her perfectly delectable baked goods, most notably, her lemon chiffon whipped cream cake!

She was the mother of Richard Mellion and his wife, Deborah, of Warwick, Rhode Island and Michael Mellion and his wife, Catherine, of Pawtucket, Rhode Island and was the sister of the late Lila Green. She was the grandmother of Adam Mellion, Kate Linden, Hannah Mellion and Eliza Mellion.

Contributions in her memory may be made to Ronald McDonald House of Providence, 45 Gay Street, Providence, RI 02905.

Irving Schein, 92 FRANKLIN, MASS. –Irving S. Schein was born on Nov. 14, in Taunton, Massachusetts, and died on November 30 in Franklin, Massachusetts.

He enlisted in the US Navy at 17, during WWII. He was initially assigned to the U.S. Navy Band in Washington, DC., but was soon deployed to Guam in the Pacific theater.

Upon his discharge, he studied at the New England Conservatory of Music (BA 1952) and Boston University College of Fine Arts (Master Music 1959). He taught in Malden and Stoughton, Massachusetts school systems and became the Director of Instrumental Music for the Boston schools, and held that position for 30 years.

As a member of the Boston Musician’s Union, he played at many events. One of his fondest memories was playing with the Ringling Brothers Circus Band. He was proudest of his work as Conductor of the historic First Corps of Cadets Band. He also was a member of the Jewish War Veterans, Veterans of Foreign Wars, Footlight Players of Jamaica Plain and the Boston Musicians Union.

Irving was predeceased by his sisters Ruth Maniloff of Castleberry, Florida, Ethel Buscemi and Lillian Bayer of Taunton, Massachusetts and brother Leo Schein of Virginia Beach, Virginia. He is survived by brothers Edward Schein of Las Vegas, Nevada, Harold Schein and his wife Ellen, of Narraganset, Rhode Island and Palm Beach, Florida, and Arnold Schein of Brockton, Massachusetts. He leaves his beloved children and their spouses, Margaret Schein and Karl Johnson of Bellingham, Massachusetts, Jonathan Schein and Susan of Plymouth, Massachusetts.

Donations in Irving’s name may be made to the New England Conservatory of Music.

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George Washington (Eliyahu Minkin) with a display about this life.

PHDS fourth-graders experience living history Winter/Spring 2019 Class & Program Guide

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Fourth grade at Providence Hebrew Day School culminated its half-year study of social studies with a Presidential Living History Museum on Feb. 14.

As part of PHDS’s celebration of President’s Day, the fourth grade, under the direction of teacher Ilana Benz, researched seven presidents: George Washington, John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, Abraham Lincoln, Franklin Delano Roosevelt and Dwight Eisenhower. Each student learned interesting facts about his or her president, including where he grew up, the circumstances under which he grew up, what he did before he became president,

the most important thing he did as president. Students also gained an understanding of the overall atmosphere in America at the time each president took office. Each student put together a tri-fold poster displaying his knowledge and artistic flair. They then rehearsed their answers to various sets of questions geared for different grade levels.

On the day of the assembly, students dressed up as “their” president and took their places along with their posters at one of the seven booths set up in the auditorium.

During the assembly, students in each grade had an opportunity to visit the museum and interview each president. Students learned why FDR had to remain seated, why George Washington didn’t smile in portraits, what Abraham Lincoln thought of slavery, what Harry Truman is best known for, how John Adams continued his passion for learning and reading once his eyesight was nearly gone, what Thomas Jefferson liked to eat for dessert, and whether Dwight Eisenhower ever wanted to become president in the first place.

Submitted by Providence Hebrew Day School

MARCH 2019 | 31

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COMMUNITY | SIMCHAS & WE ARE READ

MAZEL TOV – Doug and Melanie Stark of Barrington welcome their second child, Tessa Eden Stark, born on Dec. 24, 2018. Big brother Ben is happy to have a younger sibling. Grandparents Alan and Marjorie Stark of Barrington and Paul and Esta Farkas of Longmeadow, Massachusetts, are thrilled with the newest addition.

ENGAGEMENT – Marlene and Bruce Wolpert of Providence, announce the engagement of their son, Jonathan Ian Wolpert, to Serena Dahye Go, daughter of YoungOk Lee and KyungSoo Go of Suwon, South Korea.

Jonathan graduated from Emory University. He is an Omni Planner, Men’s Seasonal, at Macy’s corporate headquarters in Manhattan. Serena graduated from Parsons School of Design – The New School. She is a youth Outerwear Designer for Under Armour at Centric Brands in Manhattan.

Jonathan is the grandson of Shirley Wolpert and the late Irving Wolpert, and the late Rose and Morris Fishman. Serena is the granddaughter of SoonHee Kwon and the late ChunSuk Go, and the late SoonWal Wui and JungMahn Lee. The couple plans a summer wedding in 2019.

We are Read in Israel – Ken Schneider of East Providence recently returned from his 13th volunteer trip to Israel with “Volunteers with Israel.” For three weeks, he was on an IDF base south of Tel Aviv with nine other people.

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