October 2019

The Voice of Greater Rhode Island’s Jewish Community

JEWISH

OCTOBER 2019 | TISHREI 5780

JEWISHRHODY.ORG

RH OD E I S L A ND

Stories that shaped 5779 A look back at the news that made a difference Dr. Michael Fine talks health and writing books

The Conversation continues with reader response

Mike Fink looks at his forever friends

Wishing you a Happy New Year!

DYNAMIC | THOUGHTFUL | INVENTIVE

2020 ANNUAL CAMPAIGN EVENT

ONE ORMS STREET PROVIDENCE, RHODE ISLAND 02904 CALL 401.553.0400 & MENTION THIS AD FOR 10% YOUR NEXT EVENT

Event Co-Chairs Jeffrey & Pamela Vogel invite you to attend

an evening with

ARI MELBER Chief Legal Correspondent for NBC / MSNBC

Sunday, November 3, 2019 | 6:30pm Dwares JCC | 401 Elmgrove Avenue, PVD

SAVE YOUR SEAT! Visit jewishallianceri.org/campaign-event Ari Melber is an Emmy Award-winning journalist, writer and attorney. He serves as Chief Legal Correspondent for MSNBC, covering the Justice Department, Supreme Court, FBI, prominent court cases and national legal issues.

Melber reports across all NBC platforms, appearing as an on-air correspondent and anchor, reporting original stories for NBCNews.com, and appearing on programs such as The Today Show and NBC Nightly News.

Open to anyone who makes a meaningful gift of any amount to the 2020 Annual Campaign.

OCTOBER 2019

jewishrhody.org | Jewish Rhode Island

JEWISH RHODE ISL AND

EDITOR Fran Ostendorf DESIGN & LAYOUT Leah Camara ADVERTISING DEPARTMENT Peter Zeldin pzeldin@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 X

JEWISH RHODE ISLAND

(ISSN number 1539-2104, USPS #465710) 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 James Pious, 401 Elmgrove Ave., Providence, RI 02906.

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

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Looking back at Jewish Rhode Island in 5779 THIS IS A TIME OF INTROSPECTION for many of us. We’ve welcomed 5780 with joy and anticipation. We’ve heard the sound of the shofar and look forward to the coming days.

And we look back on what’s happened – the good and the bad – in the past year.

We have much to review at Jewish Rhode Island.

The past year has brought major changes to your community newspaper.

We bid farewell to the biweekly Jewish Voice and welcomed Jewish Rhode Island, a monthly paper with a fresh look to match the new name. We reorganized a bit in an effort to bring you news from more communities throughout greater Rhode Island, while keeping some of the features you told us you wanted.

And we continue to gradually add new content. Our latest addition is “The Conversation,” which offers two viewpoints on a hot topic in our community. For the response to our first topic about guns in the synagogue, see page 9.

I am excited to be able to contribute to a civil dialogue in our community, and hope interest in this feature will continue to grow as we introduce a new topic every other month.

In addition, our mid-month electronic newsletter made its debut this past year. The e-newsletter keeps you up-to-date on news, features and events that might not have made it into the print paper. If you aren’t receiving the e-newsletter, send your email address to editor@ jewishallianceri.org and we will add you to the list. Or, you can register for it on our website, at www.jewishrhody. org./register.html.

Online, we are working to keep our website,

jewishrhody.org, fresh and interesting. The e-newsletter links to new articles on the website as well as those you might have missed in your print paper. And the entire print edition is available online. Also look on the website for expanded versions of some print articles, as well as additional photos.

On the advertising side of the paper, we welcomed a new advertising director this past year, Peter Zeldin. He and longtime advertising representative Karen Borger are working hard to build the base of advertisers that support the paper. And we hope our readers will support our advertisers as well. When you purchase goods and services from these businesses and individuals, make sure you tell them that you saw their ad in Jewish Rhode Island. We are truly grateful for all our advertisers’ support.

As Jewish Rhode Island continues to evolve, we have heard from many readers about what they like, and don’t like, about the new paper. We take all those comments seriously and hope you will continue to read and comment on the paper. As I’ve written many times, this is a community paper and your input is important. We welcome your support on our journey to cover our unique community.

Please don’t hesitate to contact me at editor@ jewishallianceri.org with your letters to the editor, suggestions, story ideas, photos from your trips and other news. I am happy to hear from you!

As I look back on 5779, I am grateful to everyone who helps produce this newspaper and contributes to it, from our supporters at the Jewish Alliance of Greater Rhode Island to our Patron Campaign donors, advertisers, writers, editors and hardworking staff.

May 5780 be a happy, healthy and peaceful year for us all!

Fran Ostendorf, Editor

MEMBER of the Rhode Island Press As-

sociation 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 adver-

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

ON THE COVER: After local anti-Semitic vandalism at the Fall River [Mass.] Hebrew cemetery in March, people gathered to support the Jewish community. Cathy Horvitz of

Westwood, Mass., and Ken Rapisa of Fall River look over gravestones in the cemetery.

PHOTO | GLENN OSMUNDSON

BUSINESS 20-25 | CALENDAR 10-11 | COMMUNITY 26 | D’VAR TORAH 6 FOOD 16 | HIGH HOLY DAYS 30 | OBITUARIES 28-29 | OPINION 8-9 | WE ARE READ 34

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.

Statement of Ownership Jewish Rhode Island statement of ownership, management and circulation filed with the United States Post Office at Providence RI in accordance with the provisions of the Act of October 23, 1962: section 4369, title 39, United States Code. Jewish Rhode Island is the official newspaper of the Jewish Alliance of Greater Rhode Island, the owner and publisher, at

401 Elmgrove Avenue, Providence, RI, and is published monthly. The editor is Fran Ostendorf.

Circulation: (A) Average number of copies each issue during the preceding 12 months, ending September 30, 2019, (1) net press run 9,400 (2) paid circulation to term subscribers by mail carrier delivery 5,521 (3)

free distribution 3,779 (4) copies not distributed 100 (5) total 9,400 (B) Single issue nearest to filing date September 06, 2019 (1) Net press run 9,400 (2) paid circulation to term subscribers by mail carrier delivery 5,505 (3) free distribution 3,795 (4) copies not distributed 100 (5) total 9,400.

4 | OCTOBER 2019

Jewish Rhode Island | jewishrhody.org

UP FRONT was this sort of devastation, like Dresden after the war. My friends and I ended up organizing a healthcare system inside each building, to support the people who were there.

When I went to do medicine, I thought, “How do you use medicine to strengthen and build resilient communities so that kind of thing doesn’t happen to a place?”

How did you wind up in Rhode Island?

I came for residency. I trained at Memorial Hospital, a long time ago, and [came back] after going to east Tennessee for three years with the National Health Service.

Why did you return?

It’s a nice place, you know? It’s calm and cultured enough, and the community makes it feel like you can make a home here. It’s got this intimacy, that one degree of separation, like we all know each other.

I’ve been here long enough that I’ve probably taken care of 1 or 2% of the population. I’m always running into people I used to take care of.

Your first three books were non-fiction, but your latest, “Abundance,” is a work of fiction about the Liberian civil war. Why the change?

Dr. Michael Fine: ‘The challenge of our politics is to see ourselves as one people’

BY MICHAEL SCHEMAILLE

M

ICHAEL FINE, a past director of the Rhode Island Department of Health, is a physician, writer and community organizer. He is the chief health strategist for the city of Central Falls and the

author of four books, both non-fiction and fiction.

We recently conducted a Q-and-A with Dr. Fine. His remarks, which follow, have been edited for clarity and length.

What was the path that took you from medicine to authorship?

It was actually the other way around.

I thought I was going to be a writer, and I was looking for something to do before I got well-enough known to make my living at it. I had a little bit of a science brain, so I thought I’d put it to use. [Medicine] turned out to be a fairly major distraction.

You’re a family physician. Why that specialty?

[Before] medical school, I hadn’t done any real science, so I had to do a postbac [baccalaureate] pre-med. I worked in the South Bronx [in New York City] and trained as a community organizer; I thought that medicine in general, and primary care in particular, was a particularly good organizing focus.

Tell me more about your community organizing work.

It was in the middle of the South Bronx. It was a place where my family had lived; my father went to Yeshiva around the corner. This was in the post-Robert Moses era; many landlords abandoned their buildings and there

The others came as a result of practicing [medicine], but I wanted to write fiction. I started “Abundance” in 2009; it just took time to get organized and finished. I took a couple of years out to run the Rhode Island Department of Health, so that was a bit of a distraction!

[I wrote] my last book of non-fiction, “Healthcare Revolt,” because I understood that it would be easier to publish non-fiction. I got a publisher for that book, who then published the novel.

How did you become Rhode Island’s director of public health?

I stopped my practice in late 2008 [in order] to write. A friend had been working for years in the prison [the Adult Correctional Institutions], and at the time the ACI had no medical director, so my friend said, “you’ve got to come and work at the ACI.” I said, “No, no, c’mon, I’m writing.”

He convinced me to take a look, and they made me a deal that I could write in the morning and come to work in the afternoon. So, I was at the ACI as its medical director, and in January of 2011, I suddenly got a bunch of LinkedIn requests. I don’t do social media, so I said, “What’s going on?”

Well, there was a new governor, and the director of the Department of Health had resigned. I was in state service, with public health interest and experience, so I guess a bunch of people said, “Why don’t you get him to do it?”

I became the interim director. They asked whether I wanted to do it full time, and I said “no” a couple of times, and finally … well, I’ve had this idea that the way to fix health care in the United States is to provide primary care to everyone. In Central Falls [we have] a “neighborhood health station”; it has resources to provide medical, dental, mental and behavioral health care, urgent care, labs, X-rays, physical therapy, all in one place and for a city of almost 20,000 people. Nobody gets turned away regardless of ability to pay, insurance status or documentation.

We’re there to take care of everybody.

If you have primary care in people’s communities, they use it and don’t go to the emergency room – the logic of this is not complicated. This is what I’ve been working on for all these years since the CONTINUED ON NEXT PAGE

OCTOBER 2019

jewishrhody.org | Jewish Rhode Island

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Journalist and lawyer Ari Melber to speak at 2020 Annual Campaign event than three years.

These trends stem from several factors, including how Senate Republicans stalled some of Obama’s later nominees and prioritized Trump’s new picks as soon as he took office. But overall, it’s an example of an area where the Trump administration is methodically and effectively reshaping the federal government in the background, even as other controversies sometimes take up more oxygen in the foreground.

Most contested legal issues are resolved at the appeals level – not the Supreme Court – so if this trend continues, Donald Trump could soon have a huge imprint on American law, even as he personally signs very few large pieces of legislation into law.

BY FRAN OSTENDORF

B

REAKING NEWS is fast-paced and ever-changing. Now more than ever, the news out of our nation’s capital changes by the minute. And news from Washington is getting even more attention these days as conflicts between congressional Democrats and the Trump administration create headlines almost hourly.

So the Jewish Alliance of Greater Rhode Island’s campaign event on Nov. 3, featuring Ari Melber, chief legal correspondent for NBC and MSNBC, should be an especially interesting evening. The Emmy-award-winning journalist, writer and attorney covers what’s happening in Washington, including at the Justice Department, the Supreme Court and the FBI, as well as national legal issues.

Melber has been a guest host for shows such as “The Last Word with Lawrence O’Donnell,” “The Rachel Maddow Show” and “Hardball.” Since July 2017, he has had his own show, “The Beat.”

In 2016, Melber received an Emmy Award for his reporting on the Supreme Court. In a recent interview, we asked him about the current court.

How much impact do you think President Donald Trump’s appointments to the Supreme Court will have, and have we seen that impact yet?

President Trump’s Supreme Court appointments are one of his most significant and enduring impacts on American government. He moved the high court to the right, and delivered on a key campaign pledge that mattered to conservatives

Ari Melber concerned about his record. And, in contrast to many other top Cabinet positions, when appointing justices, President Trump has prioritized traditional credentials, such as education and experience in elite legal groups.

What impact are these appointments having on the judicial system?

President Trump has put more appeals court judges on the bench than Obama or Bush at the same point in their tenures. Right now, about one out of every four federal appeals judges are Trump appointees – a remarkable shift in less

At the event on Sunday, Nov. 3, Providence Journal Executive Editor Alan Rosenberg will interview Melber. Members of the audience will be able to contribute questions, too. Cards will be available and the questions will be collected and asked by Rosenberg.

Melber’s appearance begins at 6:30 p.m. Chairs for the event, to be held at the Alliance’s Dwares Jewish Community Center, at 401 Elmgrove Ave., Providence, are Jeffrey and Pamela Vogel.

Attendance is free with a gift of any amount to the 2020 Annual Campaign. To make a gift, contact Michelle Gallagher at 401-421-4111, ext. 165.

For more information about the event, contact Seth Finkle at 401-421-4111, ext. 146.

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

CONTINUED FROM PRECEDING PAGE South Bronx … so I said, “Put me in charge of the delivery system and I’ll take the job.” They said “OK,” and I took it.

What do you see as the greatest threat to public health in Rhode Island?

I think it’s the existential threat of diseases of despair. We’re fifth in the nation for [substance-use disorders and alcoholism], and we have a very high suicide rate. You have to ask, “What have we done as a society to create meaning for people’s lives, so that people are connected, feel connected, stay connected, feel purpose and hope?” Somehow we’ve failed to do that, and that’s probably the greatest threat to the public’s health.

Do you have thoughts on how to turn that around?

We’re doing way better than we used to, but there are still opportunities to integrate people into communities. I think we have to go way beyond that and think about every kid growing up in every neighborhood, and how to make a life for them.

Some of that, I think, is building these neighborhood health stations, which, as far as I’m concerned, ought to have [services] that build the sense of a commons. It’s a difficult problem, because it’s not like a doctor’s diagnosis and treatment; these are societal approaches to societal problems.

But those issues are so closely tied together.

Right. The question for clinicians is, what is their role and responsibility beyond “see the patient, write the note, write the prescription,” when they see patterns of disease, of despair?

What tools have we given them to advocate for the community? This is not just a problem of policy, but one of imagination. The challenge of our politics is to see ourselves as one people.

And there’s a current divisiveness.

It’s overwhelming. “Abundance” is really about that; [I wrote] intentionally to give a look at what a real civil war looks like, and to give some close-up and personal sense of what happens if we don’t fix these divisions.

We have this precept that I grew up with, “If I am not for myself, who will be? If I am for myself alone, what good am I? If not now, then when?” That’s [Rabbi] Hillel, and that is fundamental and incredibly important. You have to start with yourself, but if you’re only for yourself, the world comes to warfare and everything falls apart. If you put off changing it to tomorrow, it never changes – you’ve got to start today.

The self doesn’t exist in a vacuum. We’re all in this together, whether we want to be or not.

Tell me a bit about your practice of Judaism and your upbringing.

I grew up in a community anxious to forget its Judaism, in a Conservative synagogue that drifted Reform, where they didn’t have regular Shabbos morning services, only Friday night.

My parents kept Kosher, I keep Kosher. I tend to go to shul on Shabbos. There’s a little morning minyan at Temple Emanu-El [in Providence]; it’s a wonderful group of people.

Do you have a favorite Jewish holiday?

I’m not sure. I think a lot about Yom Kippur. I

“If I am not for myself, who will be? If I am for myself alone, what good am I? If not now, then when?”

think that just being there, being with my family, that’s what matters more than anything else.

What about a favorite Jewish food?

It’s funny you should ask. I am a true lover of water bagels, with a hard, shiny outside and a beautifully soft inside, which you can’t find anymore except at Rainbow Bakery [in Cranston]. I think we forget that Rainbow exists, but it’s the last Jewish bakery in Rhode Island.

Favorite Jewish or Yiddish word or phrase?

There are two. The first is the quote from Hillel; the other is from the story about Abraham and Isaac, “And they walked together, both of them.” To me, that is the founding story of Judaism; the moment at which we understood that life is holy. There’s a poignancy and a beauty to that expression, which is used over and over again, even though this terrible thing was being contemplated.

Is there a piece of advice that you’ve received that you’d like to share?

I have a mentor, Dr. Bernard Lown. He’s 98 years old and won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1985.

When he won, he took his mother with him [to Oslo]. She said, “Peace Prize? You couldn’t win the Nobel Prize for Medicine?”

But Bernie says, “If you can see the invisible, you can do the impossible,” and to me, that’s the best advice there is.

During the week of Sept. 16, an interview with Dr. Fine was featured on PBS’ “Stories in the Public Square,” produced by the Pell Center at Salve Regina University.

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

6 | OCTOBER 2019

Jewish Rhode Island | jewishrhody.org

D’VAR TORAH

Celebrate the whole person, including the imperfections

D’ VA

“2715 HITS ECLIPSED

BY ONE MISS” read the headline in the sports section eulogizing baseball great Bill Buckner this past spring. The mishap in Game 6 of the ’86 World Series haunted Buckner’s professional legacy and career. But not Buckner himself.

Bill Buckner got over it, telling the Boston Globe in 2003, “Everyone in life has things that don’t go according to plan.”

As we walk through this season of reflection and repentance, Buckner’s words inspire. Our great challenge is not to become bogged down with the mistakes we have made; the wrongs done to us by others. We are charged with forgiving ourselves and others so we can enjoy each day and move forward into the future.

Jewish tradition teaches that we are no less holy for our mistakes. To err is

R

human, wrote the poet, to forgive divine. Indeed it can be more difficult to accept the reality of our foibles, to view the damage that life inevitably brings to us, and that we inadvertently bring to others. It is no wonder that Nora Ephron wrote “The main thing you learn from a failRABBI SARAH ure is that it’s entirely MACK possible to have another failure.”

We want to plan the perfect trip, the perfect celebration of the holidays, or even the perfect retirement. We spend much time worrying about being the perfect parent, friend or professional.

(I know I do.) The picture in our heads of how it is supposed to look holds us back from moving forward.

It is impossible to get it right all the time. And that is why

TO R A H

we must forgive ourselves, knowing that we are enough.

In a society where we worship at the altar of achievement, it can be comforting to note that brilliance does not mean perfection. Albert Einstein often played the violin with other scientists.

Apparently, he sometimes irritated the other musicians by not coming in on the beat. “He couldn’t count,” a colleague complained. Do we doubt Einstein’s contribution to the world because he did not have rhythm?

There is more written in the Talmud about how to respond to an error than there is about the times when we get it perfectly right. Pages are spent responding to what to do if a person leaves a word out of a prayer, has a cracked shofar or drops some milk in a meat stew.

The rabbis were well aware that we get it wrong more often than we get it right.

There is an African phrase describing a good cook as “she who has broken many

pots.” If one has spent enough time in the kitchen to have broken a lot of pots, it is safe to assume that one knows a fair amount about cooking. Similarly, chefs today often spend time comparing knife wounds and burn scars because they know how much credibility their failures give them.

By breaking many pots, by our own scars, we do not lose value. On the contrary, our disappointments, our losses and our failures form the patina of experience that gives our lives depth. We need not be perfect. It is our blemishes that make us human.

Our greatest leaders in the Bible were imperfect. Moses had a stutter, Jacob stole the birthright, David slept with another man’s wife and then sent the woman’s husband to die in a war. Even Aaron, the high priest, was far from perfect – he stood by and watched the greatest incident of idolatry in our history – the building of the Golden Calf. Rabbi Yehudah Leib Alter, the Gerrer Rebbe, taught that if one has nothing to be ashamed of, then that person’s ancestors never stood at Mount Sinai. Imperfection, throughout history, is our human legacy.

When Moses made one of his biggest blunders – break-

There is an African phrase describing a good cook as “she who has broken many pots.”

Tom Segev is among Israel's leading journalists and historians. His works include 1949: The First Israelis; Simon Wiesenthal: The Life and Legends; and One Palestine, Complete (winner of a National Jewish Book Award and chosen by the New York Times as one of the best books of 2000).

ing the first set of tablets – the ancient rabbis spent much time describing what happened to the pieces. One midrash teaches that these shattered remnants were as valuable as the whole tablets – likening them to jewels. Another rabbi taught that the broken pieces were carried throughout the wilderness with the Israelites in their very own ark.

Our broken pieces have value as well. They endow us with humility, grace and sensitivity. As a modern Jewish sage, Leonard Cohen, wrote: “There is a crack in everything. That’s how the light gets in.” If we can forgive ourselves for our imperfections, it opens the door for us to be as good as we need to be.

There is no exact word for perfect in Hebrew. Tamim, means “complete” and “pure of heart.” That is just how we stand before God during these Days of Awe, not perfect, but with our whole selves – the parts of which we are proud, and the parts of which we are ashamed.

We all have a “Game 6” error (perhaps not played out in the public sphere). How we handle these mistakes is our choice. Bill Buckner possessed the grace to move forward and celebrate his hits. As we enter 5780, may we be blessed with wisdom to do the same.

SARAH MACK, a rabbi at Temple Beth-El in Providence, is president of the Board of Rabbis of Greater Rhode Island.

Candle Lighting Times Greater Rhode Island

Oct. 4 6:34 Oct. 8 Erev Yom Kippur 5:56 pm Oct. 11 6:51 pm Oct. 13 Erev Sukkot 5:48 pm Oct. 14 Sukkot 6:49 pm Oct. 18 5:40 pm Oct. 20 Erev Shemini Atzeret 5:37 pm Oct. 21 Simchah Torah 6:38 pm Oct. 25 5:30 pm

8 | OCTOBER 2019

Jewish Rhode Island | jewishrhody.org

LETTER

COMMUNITY VOICES | OPINION

Hamilton House: Where learning never ages

‘The Wise Men of Chelm’ reimagined

Maureen Krasnow and Stanley Bleecker Providence, R.I.

Philbin’s speech I attended Lt. Col. Philbin’s talk last night [Sept. 17 at PHDS] and I thought, wow, here is a real-life Righteous Gentile in our midst! He was down to earth, humorous, and straight forward. He told us that his impression of Israel before he went was that it was a war zone. But once he got there, he found a safe, friendly environment and a stable, patriotic society, with much to admire and even emulate. He felt that the best way to dispel the negative stereotypes would be to encourage as many people as possible to visit. He was thankful to the ADL for sponsoring the program, as the itinerary included frank, open discussions with both Israelis and Palestinians.

As for the claim that this program encourages the militarization of the RI State Police, he laughed at the notion.

He said the weapons, education and tactics were virtually identical to those in the United States.

Russell D. Raskin Pawtucket, R.I.

IT S E

DURING MY ELEMENTARY school days in the 1950s, I attended religious school three days a week at Temple B’nai Israel, a Conservative synagogue in Elizabeth, New Jersey.

When our teacher sensed that we students were running out of steam, he reenergized us by opening the pages of his worn copy of “The Wise Men of Chelm” and reading us an episode in the topsy-turvy lives of the men and women of that Polish shetl.

After all these years, one particular Chelm story persists in my memory. The villagers are enchanted by the light of a full harvest moon.

Someone suggests that it would be nice to preserve this moonlight for a dark moonless night during the coming winter. Someone else comes up with a brilliant idea: “Let us capture the moon’s reflection in the brine of an open pickle barrel, which we can then seal for safe-keeping with an airtight cover.”

When the time comes to enjoy the stored moonlight, on a winter night of deep darkness, they take the cover off the pickle barrel. But, alas, the moon is nowhere to be seen.

In his forthcoming book, “The Misadventures of Rabbi Kibbitz and Mrs. Chaipul” (Providence: Light Publication, 2019), Mark Binder, author, storyteller and longtime resident of Providence’s East Side, reimagines Jewish life in the village of Chelm. In contrast to the fools of folklore, Binder’s characters are no more foolish than you or I. As was true in his three previous story collections focusing on the Jewish men and women of Chelm, Binder has created recognizably “ordinary people….”

“In Chelm they lived as anyone does. They worked and ate, learned and laughed. They made mistakes and, of course, they fell in love.”

The feeling throughout “Misadventures” can be best expressed by the Yiddish word heymish – warm, friendly, cozy. In Chelm, people treat each other as family and friends, even when they are bickering with each other. While at times people boil over with pent-up frustration, they calm down quickly and work hard to repair any hurt they may have caused.

Chelm is such a small place that everybody needs everybody; of

necessity they learn how to smooth over the rough edges.

While the men and women of Binder’s imagined Chelm live simple lives, they are by no means simpletons.

Since Binder is writing about shtetl life in Eastern Europe, much of his writing, and especially his humor, centers on one of our people’s primary obsessions: food. Consider, for example, this delicious RABBI JAMES Jewish ROSENBERG simile: Mrs. Chaipul’s “grin, which had been wide before, grew as wide as a brisket.”

Twenty pages later we learn that “her split pea soup is so rich and robust, you’d swear it was treif.”

Or listen to Binder’s homage to just one of Mrs. Chaipul’s matzah balls: “It wasn’t so much hard like a rock, but it certainly was dense, like a clay brick before it has set in its mold. Your teeth could dig into it, and it tasted well enough, but it was difficult work, like sawing wood with a nail file. After two minutes you began to have second thoughts but found that your teeth had sunk in so deeply that they were trapped and there was no choice but to go on .…”

There is much in Binder’s “Misadventures” to make the reader laugh out loud, but there are other moments that reflect the author’s sober and somewhat sad wisdom. While all the stories in his book are appropriate for all ages, his first story, “Why the Bride and Groom are on the Wedding Cake,” speaks primarily to adult concerns; it is in fact a parable of the complexities of married life.

During their wedding ceremony, Jacob and Sara insist on reading to each other every word of the “thick packet of paper” containing their marriage vows. They exchange vow after vow for more than an

EM

S TO M

E

Your editorial in the August issue (“Learning opportunities are all around us”) provided a great discussion about learning opportunities in our community. A hidden treasure that was not mentioned is Hamilton House, an adult learning exchange, located on Providence’s East Side. The atmosphere is warm and inviting and there is a true sense of community and belonging.

The classes offered are stimulating and require no formal presentations.

They are mostly short-term and run the gamut from the humanities and current events to computer instruction, health and wellness, hands-on art instruction as well as in-house exhibitions and artist talks.

Socially, you will never be bored.

Hamilton House offers informal gameplay weekly in Scrabble, bridge, backgammon, and mah jong as well as occasional trivia pub nights. There are also opportunities to form new friendships and strengthen existing ones through special events like film and feast, a music series, guest lectures, lunch-andlearn programs, wine tastings, a book club and travel opportunities.

Many people consider Hamilton House as a second home. You can find members reading in the library or engaged in a lively discussion in the dining room. Lunch is offered every day for a reasonable charge and some members come just to eat and socialize.

Our involvement in Hamilton House with its engaging community of lifelong learners has been an enriching and rewarding experience for us that provides intellectual and social stimulation and helps to support an active lifestyle. To obtain further information, please call 401-831-1800 or visit the website historichamilton.com.

hour: “Their vows included health, wealth, travel, children, parents, gifts, jobs, food, funeral arrangements¸ thank-you notes, taking out the garbage, feeding the animals .…”

After Jacob breaks the glass, the couple stood, permanently paralyzed, under the huppah. The officiating Rabbi Kibbitz explained, “They both made so many vows to each other that they can’t move for fear of breaking their promises.”

Binder concludes his parable by stating that the figures of a bride and groom that stand atop so many wedding cakes are a symbol of Jacob’s and Sara’s “perfect unbroken marriage.”

“And they are also a reminder to a new husband and wife to be forgiving in the promises they make to each other,” he writes.

Mark Binder’s “The Misadven-

tures of Rabbi Kibbitz and Mrs. Chaipul” will almost certainly make you laugh – and might even cause you to shed a tear. Ask for it at your local bookstore or order a copy from Amazon, Audible, Barnes & Noble, GooglePlay or iBooks.

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

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

OCTOBER 2019 | 9

jewishrhody.org | Jewish Rhode Island

COMMUNITY VOICES | OPINION

I’m part of Pittsburgh’s Tree of Life synagogue Here’s how we are coping this Rosh Hashanah a year after the massacre

BY BETH KISSILEFF PITTSBURGH (JTA) – Our sages teach us that “kol hatchalot kashot,” all beginnings are difficult. This phrase feels especially resonant this Rosh Hashanah.

The man who blew the shofar last year at my Pittsburgh synagogue, New Light, is not here to blow it now.

He was murdered on Oct. 27 at the Tree of Life synagogue, where the New Light and Dor Hadash congregations rented space.

The sounds of the shofar, which Ashkenazi Jews have a custom of blowing in synagogue the entire month of Elul, have a different resonance to me now. The Sefer Hachinuch explains that “the Torah commanded us to make a sound similar to wailing” when we blow it.

That won’t be hard; there is plenty to wail about this year.

The Sefer Hahinuch adds, “Since a person is physical, he is only aroused by something that arouses, like the way of people during wartime [to] blow and even scream in order that they should be properly aroused for war … and the voice of the shofar arouses the heart of all its listeners … when he hears the broken sounds, he breaks the evil inclination of his heart for the desires of the world and his cravings.”

We need to hear this wailing, and be induced to wail ourselves, so that

we can change.

The Talmud (Rosh Hashana 33b) associates these sounds with the wailing of a bereaved mother of an enemy general. In Judges 5:28, the mother of Sisera wails that her son has not yet returned from battle, nor returned with any captive women or spoils.

It is hard to know how to interpret this. Even though Sisera’s mother is awful in glorifying her murderous son, she is still a mother and still has compassion for her son – it is that human piece of her we are told to identify with. Perhaps Sisera’s mother is wailing out of sheer human instinct. Her wailing is a sign that she knows that her son will never return, though her words, possibly spoken out of false bravado, suggest otherwise.

The guttural scream of someone trying to comprehend that life will be lived without a loved one is sheer terror. I hope never to hear it again.

I have been with families at the moment they received official notification from the FBI of their loved one’s deaths. Though they knew in their hearts that their loved one was gone when they did not hear from them hours before, the moment of irrevocable understanding that they will never see their loved one again is a dreadful one.

But sometimes the deepest pain can also bring healing.

The concept of post-traumatic those who did not have much intergrowth is a psychological theory est in the spiritual side of Judaism about transformation after trauma. who now attend any classes we hold.

It shows that people who undergo People who have always wanted to significant trauma can emerge from learn Hebrew have been studying it the experience with an improved for the first time. appreciation for life, relationships This Rosh Hashanah, all Amerwith others, personal strength and ican Jews, shocked to our core at spiritual growth. This the resurgence of violent does not remove the The guttural anti-Semitism here – a many challenges and country to which our ananxieties connected to immigrated as a scream of cestors coping with trauma, haven from such things in but adds that growth is rest of the world –will someone trying the possible, too. hear the shofar as a wail When we hear the scream. We have unto comprehend and shofar, if we hear it dergone the deeply painful as a wail and scream, trauma of knowing that in that life will be Pittsburgh and Poway, Jews perhaps we can change our lives and make have been murdered solely lived without because they are Jews. what comes after Rosh Hashanah irrevocably However, this deep traua loved one is ma we have experienced different from what comes before. also means we can and need sheer terror. to think about how as a I have seen it happen in my own community. community we can attempt People have changed over the course to work through the trauma to of the year. Some have made and achieve meaningful growth. kept commitments to attend synaIt is not uncomplicated, but Rosh gogue more regularly. Some of our Hashanah is coming, and we all have new haftarah chanters have not used the opportunity to begin again – the skill since bar mitzvah, if ever, however difficult. but are committed to reading every few weeks in honor of our three The views and opinions expressed in devoted haftarah readers at New this article are those of the author Light – Dan Stein, Rich Gottfried and and do not necessarily reflect the Mel Wax – who are no longer able to views of JTA or its parent company, chant the prophetic words. There are 70 Faces Media.

THE CONVERSATION | THE RESPONSE LAST MONTH, we asked two community members to offer a response to this statement: “To carry or not: Guns in the synagogue.” And we challenged readers to give us their viewpoint.

This is a new feature called “The Conversation,” Jewish Rhode Island’s effort to foster civil dialogue in the community.

When you start on a journey you never know quite where it will take you and that is the case here. We heard from a lot of readers who chose not to “put pen to paper.” We hope that future topics will result in more responses and you see that we can have a conversation that’s beneficial to all.

Next month’s topic will focus on climate change. If you would like to be contacted to offer your viewpoint on this or future topics, or if you have a suggestion for a future topic, please contact us at editor@jewishallianceri.org.

FROM FACEBOOK Mark Binder: LET ME START BY SAYING that I love the idea of “The Conversation.” One of the challenges of today is the inability of people with different view points to express themselves in a forum where both can be heard. I’ll also mention that I favor gun control legislation, assault weapon bans and stricter sentencing for any crime involving a gun. With those caveats, I thought that Jeffrey Gladstone’s article in this week’s pairing was a cop out.

I understand his reluctance to create controversy. But the entire point of “The Conversation” seems to be about contrasting views that oppose each other. Instead we have David Leach’s eloquent rebuttal to an article that says little.

Nina Tannenwald: I ACTUALLY THOUGHT both these pieces came out against guns in synagogues. Gladstone very indirectly – both by not arguing the case for guns but also in his comment that a lone gunman does not present an existential threat to Jews. Rather, the real threat to Jews, he says, is division in the Jewish community.

LETTER TO THE EDITOR Dear Editor, COVERING BOTH OPINIONS by Jeffery Gladstone and David H. Leach, I think they are both right. We have to come together as Jews, particularly at this time of year. However, the idea of congregants carrying guns is not a rational idea. The respective law enforcement agencies are trained in this area, and they should be the ones who handle security for synagogues.

It is quite clear that there are already too many guns held by civilian Americans. This Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, let us focus on the Unesaneh Tokef by Rabbi Amnon of Mainz, Germany, recited over a thousand years ago, as he lay dying in the synagogue on Rosh Hashanah. Read this story in the Artscroll Machzor and then talk about security.

Moses Mordecai Twersky Providence, R.I.

10 | OCTOBER 2019

Jewish Rhode Island | jewishrhody.org

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

Ongoing

“Childhood Left at the Station.”

Daily through 10/31. 8:30 a.m.-4 p.m.

Temple Beth-El, 70 Orchard Ave., Providence. A tribute to the children of the Kindertransport. Exhibit includes a history of the Kindertransport, personal stories of the children’s experiences, reflections from a rescuing family and facsimiles of primary source documents.

Information, Judy Moseley at jmoseley@temple-beth-el.org or 401-331-6070.

Alliance Kosher Senior Café.

Weekdays (except holidays) noon-2 p.m. Dwares JCC, 401 Elmgrove Ave., Providence. Kosher lunch followed by program. Information or RSVP, 401-421-4111, ext. 107.

West Bay Kosher Senior Café.

Fridays 11:15 a.m. Temple Sinai, 30 Hagen Ave., Cranston. Program followed by Kosher lunch. Information or RSVP, 401-421-4111, ext. 107.

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

Tuesdays 10:30 a.m.-2:30 p.m. and Fridays 11 a.m.-3 p.m.: open stratified game, all levels. $7. Thursdays 1-3 p.m.: Guided play. $6. Information, abarton295@aol.com or 401-3909244.

Saturday Minyan Breakfast and Torah Study. Saturdays 9:30 a.m.12:15 p.m. Temple Sinai, 30 Hagen Ave., Cranston. Breakfast at 9:30 a.m., followed by Torah study from 10-11 a.m. Shabbat services follow Torah study. All are welcome. Information, Dottie@templesinairi.org or 401-942-8350.

Children’s Shabbat Programs and Kiddush. Shabbat mornings 10-11:30 a.m. Congregation Beth Sholom, 275 Camp St., Providence. For ages 2 to 12. Free. Information, office@ bethsholom-ri.org.

Tot Shabbat. Saturdays 11 a.m.12:30 p.m. Temple Emanu-El, 99 Taft Ave., Providence. Sing, dance, learn, craft, play and pray. Explore various themes. No RSVP necessary. Challah and juice served. Open to all. Free. Information or to advise of allergy concerns, Shosh Jacob at shosh@teprov.org.

Friday | October 4

Nice and Easy Shabbat. 5:30-7:30 p.m. Temple Habonim, 165 New Meadow Road, Barrington. 5:30 p.m. tot service; 6 p.m. pizza dinner (sign up on Temple website); 6:30 p.m. service. Information, Jodi Sullivan at office@templehabonim.org or 401245-6536.

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.

Kabbalat Shabbat Service. 8 p.m.

Congregation Beth David, 102 Kingstown Road, Narragansett. Service followed by light Kiddush. Information, Jerry Kasten at 401-885-1296.

Saturday | October 5

Shabbat Service. 9 a.m. Congregation Beth David, 102 Kingstown Road, Narragansett. Light Kiddush after service. Information, Jerry Kasten at 401-885-1296.

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 followed by light Kiddush. Information, stephanie@ toratyisrael.org or 401-885-6600.

Sunday | October 6

Pilgrimage to the Cemetery. 11 a.m. Congregation Sons of Israel and David, Temple Beth-El Cemetery, 460 Reservoir Ave., Cranston.

Annual service to commemorate the lives of loved ones. Information, Temple Beth-El office at 401-3316070.

Monday | October 7

Flu Shot Clinic. 11 a.m.-1 p.m.

Dwares JCC, 401 Elmgrove Ave., Providence. Walgreens pharmacists will administer flu shots to those over age 18. Bring ID and insurance card. Information, Elissa Felder at efelder@jewishallianceri.org.

Tuesday | October 8

Congregation Beth David Kol Nidre Service. 6:15 p.m. Aqua Blue Hotel and Conference Center, One Beach St., Narragansett. Open to nonmembers with reciprocity letter from their home synagogue.

Information, Jerry Kasten at 401885-1296.

Kol Nidre. 8 p.m. Temple Beth-El, 70 Orchard Ave., Providence.

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

Wednesday | October 9

Congregation Beth David Yom Kippur Service and Yizkor. 9 a.m.

Aqua Blue Hotel and Conference Center, One Beach St., Narragansett.

Open to nonmembers with reciprocity letter from their home synagogue.

Information, Jerry Kasten at 401885-1296.

Early Childhood Family Experience (Yom Kippur). 9:30-10:15 a.m. Temple Emanu-El, 99 Taft Ave., Providence. (Enter on corner of Sessions St. and Taft Ave.) Experience the High Holy Days in a family-friendly prayer setting. Sing, hear the shofar, listen to a story and enjoy apples and honey. Ages 6 and under

with parent/guardian. Free. Open to all. Information and RSVP (required), shosh@teprov.org.

Yom Kippur Services and Breakthe-Fast. 10 a.m. Temple Beth-El, 70 Orchard Ave., Providence. 10 a.m. Yom Kippur morning service; musical interlude following morning dervice; alternative service following morning service; 2 p.m. children’s service; 3:30 p.m. afternoon liturgy & song; 4:30 p.m. Yizkor/concluding service; 6:30 p.m. break-the-fast.

Information, Temple office at 401331-6070.

Shaboom Service for Toddlers.

2-3 p.m. Temple Sinai, 30 Hagen Ave., Cranston. For toddlers through children in kindergarten and their parents. Information, Dottie@templesinairi.org or 401-942-8350.

Friday | October 11

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 potluck dairy meal. Information or RSVP, Torat Yisrael office at 401-8856600.

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.

Kabbalat Shabbat Service. 8 p.m.

Congregation Beth David, 102 Kingstown Road, Narragansett. Service followed by light Kiddush. Information, Jerry Kasten at 401-885-1296.

Saturday | October 12

Shabbat Service. 9 a.m. Congregation Beth David, 102 Kingstown Road, Narragansett. Light Kiddush after service. Information, Jerry Kasten at 401-885-1296.

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 followed by light Kiddush. Information, stephanie@ toratyisrael.org or 401-885-6600.

Kids’ Night Out. Ages 5-11: 5-10 p.m.

Ages 2-4: 5-8 p.m. Dwares JCC, 401 Elmgrove Ave., Providence. Sports, crafts and movie. Pizza and snacks served. Older kids enjoy free swim.

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

Sunday | October 13

The Bristol Community College Holocaust and Genocide Center Annual Fundraiser. 2-4 p.m.

Jackson Arts Center Auditorium, 777 Elsbree St., Fall River, Mass. The Connecticut Lyric Opera presents “The Emperor of Atlantis” by Jewish

composer Viktor Ullmann and librettist Peter Kien. Created while imprisoned in a Nazi concentration camp before their deaths at Auschwitz.

Cost: $50. Information, Judy Brown at judymb1919@gmail.com.

Pizza in the Hut. 5:30-7 p.m. Temple Beth-El, 70 Orchard Ave., Providence. Sukkot family dinner. Shake the lulav, smell the etrog and enjoy pizza in the sukkah. Share a memorable and meaningful Sukkot meal with Temple Beth-El friends and family. Information or RSVP, Temple office at 401-331-6070.

Pizza in the Hut, Sushi in the Sukkah. 6-7:30 p.m. Temple Sinai, 30 Hagen Ave., Cranston. Celebrate Sukkot with pizza and sushi in the Sukkah. Cost: $10 per adult, $5 per child. Information or RSVP, Dottie@ templesinairi.org or 401-942-8350.

Monday | October 14

Sukkot Service. 9 a.m. Congregation Beth David, 102 Kingstown Road, Narragansett. Information, Jerry Kasten at 401-885-1296.

Wednesday | October 16

Mah Jongg and Canasta. 6:308:30 p.m. Temple Torat Yisrael, 1251 Middle Road, East Greenwich.

Lessons available. Free. Information, Torat Yisrael office at 401-8856600.

Israeli Culture Night: “A State at Any Cost: The Life of David Ben-Gurion.” 7-8:30 p.m. Tom Segev’s probing biography showcases Ben-Gurion’s leadership and ongoing legacy. Segev is among Israel’s leading journalists and historians. (See article on page 30.)

Hosted by shlichah (Israeli Emissary) Or Cohen. Free. Ages: Adults.

Information, Or Cohen at ocohen@ jewishallianceri.org or 401-421-4111, ext. 121.

Thursday | October 17

Providence Memory Café. 1-2:30 p.m. Temple Beth-El, 70 Orchard Ave., Providence. Both caregivers and individuals living with memory loss come together for an interactive social gathering. Refreshments provided. The group meets on the third Thursday of every month. Free.

Open to the public, but space is limited. Information or RSVP, Karen Ferranti at 401-275-0682.

Judah Touro Lecture Series with Speaker Shai Afsai. 6:30-8 p.m.

Touro Synagogue, 85 Touro St., Newport. “Serviceable to People in all Religions: Benjamin Franklin’s Art of Virtue, American Religious Liberty and Judaism.” Providence author Shai Afsai will discuss Benjamin Franklin and his influence on Jewish religious thought and practice. RSVP (requested), tours@tourosynagogue.

org.

Friday | October 18

PJ Library Stories & Snacks in the Sukkah. 10-11 a.m. Dwares JCC, 401 Elmgrove Ave., Providence.

Enjoy a snack in the sukkah, and shake the lulav and etrog. Hear PJ Library stories, sing songs and participate in small activities.

Information or RSVP, Lyndsey Ursillo at lursillo@jewishallianceri.org or 401-421-4111, ext. 141.

Shabbat in the Sukkah. 5:45-7:30 p.m. Temple Beth-El, 70 Orchard Ave., Providence. New member and family dinner. 5:45 p.m. Shabbat Services in Sukkah (weather permitting). 6:30 p.m. Vegetarian dinner in the Silverstein Meeting Hall. New member families: free | Members: adults $18, children under 13 $10, under 5 free. Information, Kim Campbell at kcampbell@temple-beth-el.org or 401-331-6070.

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.

Kabbalat Shabbat Service. 8 p.m.

Congregation Beth David, 102 Kingstown Road, Narragansett. Service followed by light Kiddush. Information, Jerry Kasten at 401-885-1296.

Saturday | October 19

Shabbat Service. 9 a.m. Congregation Beth David, 102 Kingstown Road, Narragansett. Light Kiddush after service. Information, Jerry Kasten at 401-885-1296.

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 followed by light Kiddush. Information, stephanie@ toratyisrael.org or 401-885-6600.

Sukkah Stroll with Temple Emanu-El. 4:30-6:30 p.m. East Side of Providence. Enjoy a progressive dinner and the beauty and uniqueness of three sukkot within walking distance of each other. A different course will be served at each sukkah. All ages and families welcome. The walk is stroller friendly.

Information, Shosh Jacob at shosh@ teprov.org.

Sunday | October 20

Sprouts. 9:30-10:30 a.m. Temple Torat Yisrael, 1251 Middle Road, East Greenwich. Fun Jewish learning for preschoolers including stories, songs, crafts and a snack. Cost: $12 per session. Information or to register, Torat Yisrael office at 401885-6600.

Paid-up Sisterhood Luncheon.

12:30-3 p.m. Temple Sinai, 30 Hagen Ave., Cranston. Catered by Culinary

OCTOBER 2019 | 11

jewishrhody.org | Jewish Rhode Island

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

Simchat Torah Service. 6-7:30 p.m. Temple Sinai, 30 Hagen Ave., Cranston. Join the fun on this special occasion. Information, Dottie@templesinairi.org or 401-942-8350.

Monday | October 21

Shemini Atzeret Service and Yizkor. 9 a.m. Congregation Beth David, 102 Kingstown Road, Narragansett. Information, Jerry Kasten at 401-885-1296.

Simchat Torah Dinner and Celebration. 5:30-7 p.m. Temple Emanu-El, 99 Taft Ave., Providence.

Community-wide dinner and ice cream sundaes, followed by makeyour-own craft to showcase while dancing with the Torah. Dancing, singing and fun for everyone. Free.

Information, Shosh Jacob at shosh@ teprov.org.

Simchat Torah Service. 7 p.m. Congregation Beth David, 102 Kingstown Road, Narragansett. Information, Jerry Kasten at 401-885-1296.

Wednesday | October 23

Mah Jongg. 6:30-8:30 p.m. Temple Torat Yisrael, 1251 Middle Road, East Greenwich. Lessons available. Free.

Information, Torat Yisrael office at 401-885-6600.

Friday | October 25

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.

Kabbalat Shabbat Service. 8 p.m.

Congregation Beth David, 102 Kingstown Road, Narragansett. Service followed by light Kiddush. Information, Jerry Kasten at 401-885-1296.

Saturday | October 26

Shabbat Service. 9 a.m. Congregation Beth David, 102 Kingstown Road,

Narragansett. Light Kiddush after service. Information, Jerry Kasten at 401-885-1296.

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 followed by light Kiddush. Information, stephanie@ toratyisrael.org or 401-885-6600.

Sunday | October 27

Sandwiches at Sinai. 9-11 a.m.

Temple Sinai, 30 Hagen Ave., Cranston. Assemble sandwiches for the West Warwick Senior Center.

Usually held the last Sunday of the month. All are welcome. Information, Dottie@templesinairi.org or 401942-8350.

Pop-Up Kosher Deli. Noon-2 p.m.

Torat Yisrael, 1251 Middle Road, East Greenwich. Sit down or take out. Corned beef, pastrami, tongue, turkey or salami sandwich, $17.99; tuna salad sandwich $9.99; Kosher hot dog $3.50; chicken matzo ball soup cup $3.99/bowl $5.99. Two pastries $1.75. Soda $1.25. Sandwiches include pickle and coleslaw or potato salad. Information or to place an order, Torat Yisrael office at 401-885-6600.

World Series of Brunch Favorites.

12:30 p.m. Temple Beth-El, 70 Orchard Ave., Providence. Enter your favorite brunch recipe (chicken, dairy or vegetarian only). Judges will choose the best recipes.

Raffle prizes. All proceeds benefit the Rabbi Leslie Yale Gutterman Religious School. Cost: adults $10, children $5, under age 5 free. $30 max. per family. Information, Ruby Shalansky at rshalansky@templebeth-el.org.

Monday | October 28

Blood Drive. 3-7 p.m. Temple Habonim, 165 New Meadow Road, Barrington. Every donation helps to save three lives. Information, Jodi Sullivan at office@templehabonim.

org or 401-245-6536.

Bankrupting Terrorism – One Lawsuit at a Time. An Evening with Nitsana Darshan-Leitner, Esq. 7:15 p.m. Dwares JCC, 401 Elmgrove Ave., Providence. Ms. Darshan-Leitner is the founder and president of Israel Law Center, Tel Aviv (“Shurat

Hadin”), which leads the legal fight against Israel’s enemies worldwide.

Private reception 6-7 p.m. Free.

Presented by RI Coalition for Israel.

Co-sponsored by Jewish Alliance of Greater Rhode Island, Kollel and Project Shoresh. RSVP (recommended), shurat-hadin-ri.eventbrite. com. Information, ricoalitionforis-

rael@gmail.com.

Wednesday | October 30

Mah Jongg and Canasta. 6:308:30 p.m. Temple Torat Yisrael, 1251 Middle Road, East Greenwich.

Lessons available. Free. Information, Torat Yisrael office at 401-8856600.

Israeli Self-Defense class scheduled Krav Maga classes will be held at the Dwares JCC gymnasium Sundays from 12:301:30 p.m. Nov. 10-Dec. 15.

This class teaches participants, age 17 and older, effective proven techniques for personal security and self-protection, as well as de-

fense tactics for any situation.

Participants learn how to deal with a variety of common threats and attacks against both armed and unarmed assailants. The class is led by Bart Axelrod, a certified Krav Maga instructor who trained in Israel and is a second-de-

gree black belt in Uechi Ryu Karate and a black belt in Wesley Sanshou.

Cost is $125. JCC Members pay $90. For registration info, contact Rob Castellucci at rcastellucci@jewishallianceri.org or 401-421-4111 ext.

129.

Jewish Catholic Dialogue program continues at Providence College The Oberammergau Passion Play: Jewish and Catholic Perspectives is the topic of the next Jewish-Catholic Theological Exchange program at Providence College. A panel discussion will include Judith

Banki, senior advisor for Interreligious Affairs at the Tanenbaum Center in New York; Hilary Salk, author of the novel, “Eavesdropping in Oberammergau”; and Kevin Spicer C.S.C., Kenneally

Distinguished Professor of History at Stonehill College in Masssachusetts. The program is scheduled for 6-9 p.m. on Oct. 24 in the Aquinas Lounge at Providence College.

12 | OCTOBER 2019

Jewish Rhode Island | jewishrhody.org

COMMUNITY VOICES

Friends from Yale days (left to right): Joel, Jim and the writer.

SKE

T

Friends once and forever CH

They were my Yale classmates and roommates long, long ago.

I took the train to New Haven for a trio reunion/rendezvous on a fine fall day, with egrets on the blue water under the azure sky.

Joel picked me up at Union Station and drove me to the new Yale Center for British Art, where we were to join Jim and have a festive lunch.

I hadn’t counted on the slow pace MIKE FINK of my pals, and worried about missing the 4:00 return journey. Seems my gait is a bit livelier than theirs.

“What was your father’s life like?” I made so bold as to ask Jim. I had met his mom, but never his dad.

“He was a mailman, but it wasn’t easy,” Jim said. “He took the trolley to the post office, and would go out of his way to bring an important letter to the folks on his route. They thought very well of him!”

I was glad I had asked the question, inviting his response, and came up with a good commentary: “All the Biblical prophets were mailmen delivering, or trying to avoid, urgent messages from God!” (I teach a course on the poetics of religion at the Rhode Island School of Design and had indeed noticed that theme.)

Joel and Jim were both wearing their caps from previous reunions, but I had on my Sint Eustatius cap – and tried to show off my recent research about the patriotic importance of that little island in the Caribbean, sometimes called Statia.

Joel said, “Naomi [his wife] and I used to scuba dive in Statia!” So I felt a little diminished ….

Joel drinks only water, but Jim and I had red and white wines. After coffee (herb tea for Joel), we strolled the Eli campus, the routes we had

BOOK

known as undergrads.

“We hardly know this town anymore, but it looks flourishing,” said Joel. And yet, his children and grandchildren were and are Yalies, and Joel lives not far from the campus, in Stamford, Connecticut.

I relived or reminded each of us of episodes in the album of our memories.

“This is where I last saw Murray right under that gate, when he bade me farewell ... and in the first alumni magazine, I read his obituary. I had never known how very ill he was, until too late.”

As we somewhat hesitatingly made our way around, we spoke about our bygone romances, interludes, escapades.

“What happened to Helen? Pat? Barbara? Remember those twins?” Joel said. Jim just smiled smugly.

Well, I made that homeward-bound train, but only because it departed half an hour late!

The last thing I heard Jim say was, “Never enjoyed a reunion more!”

I think, or hope, that he was sincere, not merely diplomatic, in saying that.

I tend to wax philosophical and poetical upon such occasions, to show off that I learned something fancy from those bright college years ... the shortest, gladdest years of life. I made an effort to restrain that pretentious tendency.

Joel picked up the tab for the lunch, although Jim and I had put our cards on the table. That’s Joel!

Jim has sold his house and was seeking a new place and way to live. He is a veteran of the Army Air Force, a widower and a wit.

Jim, a person of color, had been lodged in a “single” chamber, almost an attic loft, next door to a “Ford” scholar, a boy of 16, a Holocaust survivor, also alone and lonely and lost.

“Will you wrestle with me?” the boy had

asked Jim, and they became chums. Later, Jan turned into quite a scholar and was even “tapped” to join a Secret Society and then welcomed in the law school, where he rose to stardom as a professor.

Jim tried to stay in contact with his freshman buddy, but now Jan is gone and all we three have left, really, is each other. With our separate pasts, presents and personal powers of recall, we pace around in circles, both together and yet also singularly.

Joel has retired from any number of businesses, from running art cinemas to establishing trailer parks, but had rung the bell in Yale’s Harkness Tower and entertained at football games, and now joins a jazz combo in West Palm Beach, Florida.

“If you perform a song, you realize the complex design. My top favorites are the melodies and lyrics of Jerome Kern. ‘You are the promised touch of springtime that makes the lonely winter seem long ...,’ ” he said.

Yes, we remembered our shared past, but we also kept separate secrets, which we now shared. Jim was asked to play host to Eartha Kitt, the star of the movie “New Faces of 1952,” at a time when our land was still so segregated that performers could not share quarters with guests in many hotels. He refused to be used as a convenient token.

We are all torn between our loyalties and face dilemmas in the endless search for authentic identities.

Our long luncheon and hour-long hike around the once familiar campus landscape was an oddly touching and poignant prelude to the slowly darkening afternoons of the coming months.

MIKE FINK (mfink33@aol.com) teaches at the Rhode Island School of Design.

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COMMUNITY VOICES

Cruelty and heartbreak at the border

BY JOANNA BROWN, M.D. IN MAY 2018, the news came out: our immigration system was separating parents from their children. As of June, the number was more than 2,300.

Like countless people, I was horrified and furious that my government was committing this crime against humanity.

I read online that parents whose children were being taken away from them were required to wear a yellow bracelet. Of course, as a Jew, this gave me chills, as did anecdotal reports that when some children were led away, they were told they were going to take a shower.

Ever since the news of child separation broke, I have worn a yellow bracelet so that I would not forget. First it was crude, made out of duct tape from my basement. This quickly fell apart. So I bought one from a local gift shop, made of large, flat seeds and that has lasted.

A few weeks ago, I went to the border to volunteer, bear witness and protest the atrocities committed on immigrants by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), Customs and Border Patrol, and the Department of Homeland Security. I was able to link up with other volunteers going to Texas through a wonderful project called Citizen Presence (CP), which was organized by Georgetown Law Prof. Heidi Li Feldman to provide a “constant, visible presence at a known epicenter” of “moral disaster.” We protested together, several of us lived in a house together, we volunteered together, and, over the course of several days, we became friends.

Upon my arrival, I joined other volunteers at Annunciation House, a hospitality nonprofit that receives immigrants after they are released from detention by Customs and Border Patrol. There, I helped out in the clinic. In the afternoon, a nun with a long grey braid handed me a scissors and a bag of lollipops and gave me this task: “They don’t need the bracelets anymore. Go ahead and cut

“Someone’s hurting our people and we won’t be silent anymore.”

Rally at the border. them off. And give each child a lollipop.”

I walked up and down the rows of chairs, carefully sliding a scissors blade against each wrist under the flimsy paper bracelets – some orange, some yellow, some green – and snipped. And I asked each child, “Chupa?,” for a brand of lollipops, and the child would nod and smile.

My time in El Paso was a whirlwind: along with a bunch of CP volunteers and about 300 others, I protested with the Rev. William Barber’s Moral Monday group outside the El Paso Department of Homeland Security detention center. And we attended a rousing prayer meeting with Christian, Muslim and Jewish religious leaders, including Rick Jacobs, president of the Union for Reform Judaism, and with immigrant testimonials in Spanish and English. Reverend Barber proclaimed: “Someone’s hurting our people and we won’t be silent anymore.”

Two of us later visited the El Paso immigration court and spoke with attorneys, observers and immigrant families caught up in the senseless immigration machinery. There was a sense of a complete lack of accountability and needless cruelty. Those seeking the “Migration Protection Protocol,” a Trump policy through which migrants are forced to wait in Mexico for court dates.

At one point, we saw a

group of about 15 elementary- and high school-aged immigrant children file in. We were told that the migrants, after their hearings, would be

taken back to an “icebox,” a nickname for the freezing and cramped ICE holding cells, for 48 hours prior to being sent back to Juarez to wait.

We also saw a breathtaking exhibit at the University of Texas of art by the youth of CONTINUED ON PAGE 24

Mark your calendar for the return of

KOSHER RHODE ISLAND

CHILI

COOK-OFF June 7, 2020

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COMMUNITY VOICES

Memories of autumn in a bygone era

BY GERALDINE S. FOSTER IT IS AUTUMN. Sukkot is near. At our home, this meant we would soon be enjoying the lovely flavor of one of the fruits of the season – plums.

These were not the ordinary kinds of plums that are available all summer.

They had to be a particular variety that appeared only in the fall, plums we had not tasted since last Sukkot. They are dark blue and football-shaped, and we know them as Italian prunes, but my father and mother called them “cabiliochos.” I have no idea of the etymology of the word, or if I am transliterating it correctly, but I’m at least close.

My father, Beryl Segal, eagerly awaited their arrival as a herald of the happy holiday, but also as a memory of his childhood in his shtetl in Orynin. He wrote an article for the Rhode Island Jewish Herald many years ago capturing this moment in time. It was called “Making povidla.”

I was telling my daughter recently about the plum jam-making season in the little town in Ukraine, where I spent my youth. I recalled scenes and aromas that lay dormant within me these many years.

With the coming of autumn, the housewives were busy making jam for the winter. This delicacy was called povidla,

and it seems to me that to this day I have not tasted any jam that compares to the one we had in pots and jugs in every home in the little town.

Was it because our part of Ukraine was noted for its plum orchards?

The peasants would bring their wagons loaded with the big dark plums.

No other fruit was used to make jam. When you spoke of jam, you meant plum jam.

The peasants would arrive in the marketplace early in the morning, and the housewives would come out to taste their wares.The plums were sold in wooden buckets. No counting. No weighing. A few pennies a bucket. The mothers would go from wagon to wagon and the children would follow.

The peasants had their hands full watching the children and the town’s pigs: While they were chasing away the pigs, the children would grab handfuls of plums and devour them, sometimes pits and all.

Plenty of castor oil was used at povid-

la-making time! Plenty of spankings went with the castor oil! And stomachaches!

“We warned you, didn’t we, not to eat so many plums!

Drink the castor oil. It is good for you,” and down went a tablespoon of the thick, evil-tasting stuff.

When finally a purchase was made, the children carried home the plums with jubilation and shouting.

The fruit was then washed and pitted. I have never seen plums open so elegantly at the touch of a thumb and a finger. We sat on low stools around the bucketful of plums and pitted the delicious fruit. Click, and a plum opens. Pluck, and a pit falls out. One for the kettle and one for the mouth, to the despair of Mother.

The kettle was then moved outdoors, where a wood fire was made ready for cooking the povidla. The kettles were made of copper, and were shiny and huge and round-bellied. All year round, these kettles were kept in parlors, hanging on the wall for all to see and to admire. But once a year, at povidla-making time, they were taken off the hooks and put to use.

Not everybody in town was the proud possessor of a povidla kettle. Those who had them would lend them to friends and relatives.

The kettles were filled with water and put on large tripods over the fire, and then began the real work. When the water came to a boil and the plums “settled,” the whole mess had to be constantly mixed or it would stick to the kettle and have a burnt taste. Children stood over the kettle with a big wooden ladle and did the mixing.

Keep mixing! Keep mixing! Up and down! Round and round! When one child got tired, another took his place.

The mixing and the cooking took up the good part of an eve“The peasants ning.

And during all this had their hands time the smoke of the fires hung over the full watching the town, the aroma of fresh-cooked plums children and the was in the air and the evening was filled with town’s pigs.” excitement: povidla-making time!

Mother, holding a long wooden spoon, came out from time to time to check the progress of the cooking. She would scoop up some jam, taste it, and give a taste to all who were assembled around the kettle.

While the cooking and mixing were going on outside, girls were in the kitchen preparing the jugs and pots.

The containers were then stacked in rows. When it was ready, the jam was carefully poured into them. They were then covered with cloth and stored in the cellar.

The povidla tasted of honey and had the consistency of butter, and when you spread a layer on bread, it was fit for a king. We used it all winter long, and snuck it for a nasherei (snack) when no one was looking. It was a rich black and tempting. When a jug was finished, we went at it with our finger and wiped it clean.

It was a fun, carefree life, at least for us children.

GERALDINE S. FOSTER is a past president of the R.I. Jewish Historical Association.

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All the things we have in common

The three group members, who moments ago were on separate sides of the room, are tasked with creating a list of the things they all agree on about the topic that divided them.

The last time I implemented DANIEL this exercise, STIEGLITZ the group that spent most of their time figuring out what they agreed on came up with a list of over 10 things. But the group that spent all of their time arguing and debating barely came up with two things. It’s thrilling to see this classroom exercise work in the real world!

Enter Ruth Ebenstein. We met at a retreat for writers in the Negev desert. Born in California and reared in Michigan, Ebenstein made aliyah (immigrated) to Israel after completing a degree in journalism at Northwestern University. She has since worked at The Jerusalem Post and The Jerusalem Report, among others.

Ebenstein is married with three school-age boys. While nursing her youngest, she was diagnosed with breast cancer. Shortly thereafter, she began attending breast-cancer support groups. In March 2011, she joined one such group that was for both Israelis and Palestinians.

It was there that Ebenstein met Ibtisam Erekat, of Abu Dis, in the area most commonly known as the West Bank. Ibtisam, a homemaker, had three kids of her own, two boys and a girl. While Ebenstein was an observant American Israeli Jew, Erekat was an observant Palestinian Arab Muslim. However, as in the exercise, it was not these differences that Ebenstein and Erekat chose to focus on.

They noticed that many aspects of their lifestyles were similar.

Both were observant members of

ER

S HOM

E

LE T T

AT BAR ILAN UNIVERSITY, I learned a conflict resolution exercise that I have since used in group settings.

You start by picking a divisive topic. The participants gather on different sides of the room based on their beliefs on the topic – agree, disagree or unsure. Then one member from each group forms a new group. Their task? Nope, it’s not to debate who is right and who is wrong.

Ruth Ebenstein and Ibtisam Erekat their religions. Both got married late in life. Both married divorced fathers and became stepmothers.

Both were diagnosed with cancer while nursing. And they had similar personalities, which became apparent through their senses of humor, their warmth, and, above all, their curiosity about other people.

Their friendship blossomed, but it took time and effort to make it work. Following each session of the support group, Erekat would depart on a chartered minivan that took her back to Abu Dis. At the time, Ebenstein wasn’t sure how safe it was to visit Erekat in that village.

Then the two were selected to be part of an Israeli-Palestinian delegation to Bosnia to meet with other breast-cancer survivors.

Finally, they had a chance to truly bond and solidify their friendship.

They were together at the conference like two girls attending the same summer camp.

PHOTO | YITZ WOOLF

Since then, their lives have become intertwined. Each has gone to the other’s home simply to spend time together. Ebenstein traveled to Abu Dis to pay her respects when Erekat’s mother died. Erekat attended Ebenstein’s family’s celebratory events. They shared the good times, and the bad, all the while respecting each other’s religious dietary restrictions.

They don’t consider themselves friends, but rather sisters.Together they shared their stories and the powerful message that “The Real Enemy is Cancer.” It is something that no wall can prevent and no bullet can kill, no matter your religion, race or nationality.

Ironically, it is this disease that knows no borders that helped two women cross their own borders.

The world is a lot more complicated than the friendship between two people. One rule I followed when interviewing Ebenstein (I also spoke with Erekat briefly by

phone) was to avoid talking about politics. Because that is not the point of this article.

Perhaps focusing on what we have in common and respecting our differences is a starting point for building something that goes beyond politics, differences and conflict. While not a solution, it is a beginning nonetheless – two people focusing on common interests is the equivalent of people from opposite sides of a room coming together to discover all the things they have in common.

DANIEL STIEGLITZ (dstieglitz@ gmail.com) lives in Jerusalem, where he works as a Life Coach.

His collection of short stories, “Tavern of the Mind,” is available for paperback and Kindle purchase on Amazon at www.amzn. to/2Izssrz.

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Jewish Rhode Island | jewishrhody.org

FOOD & DINING

6 tips on eating before the Yom Kippur fast

BY SHANNON SARNA (The Nosher via JTA) – Yom Kippur is one of the most, if not the most, important day on the Jewish calendar. For many Jews, fasting and being in synagogue is the focus of the day.

FASTING IS NOT EASY, nor is it for everyone – some people cannot fast because they are pregnant, breastfeeding or have a medical condition. Or they simple do not function well abstaining from water and food for a 25-hour period.

But for those who choose to fast as a meaningful way to engage in Yom Kippur, there are actually foods that can set you up for a more successful, less onerous fast.

As I researched for this post, I found that most people stick to a menu that is classic and delicious but not too crazy or spicy: chicken soup, chicken, rice or pasta, a vegetable, some challah and water.

Here are more tips on eating before the fast.

1 2

Avoid foods that are hard to digest.

Now this might be different for everyone, but in general stay away from heavy meat dishes, fried foods or lots of dairy. Because, you know, Jewish stomachs.

Eat foods that have fiber and water.

Foods with lots of fiber will keep you fuller longer, and foods with water (like fruits and vegetables)

will keep you hydrated. Chickpeas or lentils are a great vegetarian protein source to eat, especially a dish like mujaderra. A hearty chicken soup with noodles or rice and lots of veggies is another safe bet.

3

Avoid salt.

Salty foods like olives, pickles, chips, canned soup or dishes made with those bouillon cubes will bloat you and make you even more thirsty. So stick to something a little bland for that pre-fast meal.

4

Avoid sugar.

Too much dessert before fasting may cause your blood sugar to spike and then come crashing down, which can be unpleasant at its least and cause a headache or moodiness at its worst. Too much sugar also makes you thirsty, like salt, and will have you craving more sweets during your fast.

5

Drink water.

This is pretty obvious, but make sure to drink plenty of water, not only at the meal right before

the fast begins but the days preceding as well.

6

Avoid eating too much.

Eat a moderate-sized meal that leaves you satisfied but not unbuttoning your pants. You will feel uncomfortable, and it will be more difficult to digest a monstrous-sized meal.

The etrog is Judaism’s best kept wellness secret

BY RACHEL MYERSON (Alma via JTA) – FOR MOST JEWS, the etrog, a thick-rinded citrus, is relegated to a fleeting, supporting role. Held beside the lulav (palm frond) once a year during the upcoming festival of Sukkot, the etrog (citron) is then left to dry out or, if it’s lucky, turned into jelly.

We have massively underestimated this super citrus.

The etrog is far more than a prop, it’s a wellness goldmine that’s been lauded throughout history – from Alexander the Great’s troops who may very well have (but probably didn’t) discovered it when passing through Persia, to Buddhist monks in ancient China – for its wide-ranging healing properties.

It also has great genes! As one of the oldest citrus varieties, the etrog is basically the great-great-grandfather of oranges and lemons, which were developed through hybridization with it.

Luckily the Yemenite Jewish community stayed woke and quietly enjoyed the etrog’s numerous benefits

for centuries until, 15 years ago, a shrewd entrepreneur named Uzi Eli set about introducing Israelis to the generations-old etrog-centric remedies passed down in his family. Known as the “Etrog Man,” Uzi opened a stall in Jerusalem’s Machane Yehuda market and Tel Aviv’s Carmel market over a decade later.

He’s a colorful character who once told me that his secret to looking far younger than his 70-plus years was etrog juice and breast milk — his sole form of nourishment until the age of 10.

I spent a lot of time with Uzi and his daughter Maayan, who mans the Tel Aviv stall with impossibly dewy skin while working as a culinary tour guide in Israel. For months I watched from afar, bemused, as they shpritzed and massaged various oils and creams on unsuspecting tourists on the promise that they would cure acne, fade wrinkles and increase libido.

I stopped being a bystander when Maayan insisted on rubbing their etrog-infused vitalium lotion, a “multi-use herbal concentrate [that] functions as a comprehensive local

analgesic,” on a nasty-looking burn I’d acquired while wrestling my oven that morning. Two days later, with no trace of a scar, the burn was gone — and I was hooked.

Like Uzi Eli, Ayurvedic medicine, a holistic healing system developed in India over 3,000 years ago, uses etrog juice to curb nausea and excessive thirst. References in Ayurvedic literature from 800 B.C. have led many to believe that the citron is native to India. Others argue that it originated in China, where until today, a variety known as the Fingered Citron (also known as Fo Shou or, my personal favorite, Buddha’s Hand), is used to treat nausea, bloating and chronic coughs.

Perplexingly, the Greek philosopher Theophrastus, sometimes referred to as the “Father of Botany,” praised the vomit-inducing properties of the etrog, which he prescribed when “one has drunk a deadly poison.” For the more cautious, I’d suggest brewing a simple tea from the etrog’s leaves, or mixing etrog jelly with sugar and honey a la yuja-cha, a popular Korean cold remedy made with yuzu. Modern

medicine advises avoiding the etrog’s seeds, contrary to the advice of Pliny the Elder – a Roman Empire-era commander, naturalist and etrog enthusiast who endorsed chewing the seeds to reduce morning sickness.

Despite his dodgy advice, Pliny wasn’t alone in connecting the etrog to pregnancy. Due to its breastlike appearance, the citron is a feminine symbol in Jewish spiritualism and has long been linked to childbirth-related segulot (Jewish superstitious charms or rituals). One segula dictates biting off the pitom (stigma) to guarantee a son, or placing it under your pillow for an easy labor.

When it comes to wellness, we need not look much further than Jewish healing and spiritual tradition. The etrog, which combines both, is an excellent place to start. Now who’s up for a cuppa?

RACHEL MYERSON is a freelance journalist from the United Kingdom now based in New York after a five-year stint in Tel Aviv. She writes about all things cultural, with a focus on food.

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ARTS

New exhibit at Bunny Fain Gallery focuses on light, color BARRINGTON – Temple Habonim hosted a wine and cheese reception on Sept. 8 to mark the opening of a new exhibit at The Bunny Fain Gallery. The show, which continues through Oct. 31, features three New England artists in different mediums.

Their work explores the connection between light and color and maximizes its visual impact.

Award-winning artist Richard Harrington paints abstracts on canvas, watercolor paper and print paper. His paintings in the show explore shape, form, line and color and are an outgrowth of his more realistic paintings, which focus on weather, mood, light, time of day, season and atmosphere.

Artist Brooke Lambert uses textured plates formed with mesh and fabric to create printed images, called collagraphs, which she then paints.

Shown around the Boston area, her Sea Changes prints are evocative of ocean creatures and water.

Through the sculptural quality of the print process and the range of colors, the vibrant prints draw the viewer in for closer inspection and reflection.

Through her camera lens, photographer Barbara Buoys in Gallilee DeCesare captures the beauty of the many bodies Gallery hours are Tuesdays, Wednesdays and of water in Rhode Island. As a native of the state, Thursdays 1-4 p.m., Fridays 9 a.m.-1 p.m., and by she photographs everything from lobster boats in appointment.

Galilee to little-known waterfalls in East GreenFor more information, call 401-245-6536 or email wich. gallery@templehabonim.org.

The Bunny Fain Gallery at Temple Habonim is located at 165 New Meadow Rd., in Barrington.

Submitted by Temple Habonim

Artist Brooke Lambert – Sea Changes

Arts Emanu-El presents ‘Fiddler: A Miracle of Miracles’

BY PAMELA HANZEL Since its premiere on Broadway on Sept.

22, 1965, “Fiddler on the Roof” has struck a chord with audiences: it has been shown somewhere in the world every single day since then. A new documentary, “Fiddler: A Miracle of Miracles,” examines this phenomenon and the central question it poses: What is it about this musical that speaks to so many people across the globe?

While the plot follows a Jewish family in the small Russian village of Anatevka, Fiddler’s themes are easily identifiable and universal: parenting, childhood, marriage, people who are forced to leave their homes, faith, individual struggle, bigotry, a changing world and communal identity.

This musical reminds us that we are not alone in the world and in history.

Joseph Stein, the author of the book upon which Fiddler was based, had read Sholem Aleichem’s Tevya stories during his childhood. Aleichem was funny, angry and neurotic, but also deeply concerned about his people. His stories are profound, dealing with both tradition and modernity.

Tevya is a character with a great deal of depth, warmth, humor and humanism. He is loving and generous, but also hot-tempered. He is deeply religious and speaks to God frequently. Tevya displays the essence of a man who doesn’t give up, but instead rebounds from life’s many setbacks.

The documentary also examines the song “Matchmaker” as a female empowerment piece that mirrored what was going on in American society at the time the show was written. It is written as a mini-drama, or a three-act piece. Act one

shows us three sisters, with the younger two not comprehending what is occurring. The oldest daughter is being forced to marry against her will, thus it is the daughter versus the traditional father, with the daughter having no independent choice. Act two shows the younger sisters’ awakening, and the matchmaker Yenta hovering around the house as she makes a match for the older sister. They realize that a prospective husband can be brutal, egotistical, or vain, or just not care about them. The final act of “Matchmaker” is a battle cry – the girls realize that they are just the raw products of Yenta’s business, and decide that they are going to change things.

Steven Sondheim recommended Jerome Robbins to choreograph Fiddler. Robbins identified the power of the show as coming from tradition, and he told Stein to write about that. He insisted that the song “Tradition” be the opening number of the show. Robbins also gave each of the 40 characters in the show a name, and each of them was a part of the village that Robbins envisioned.

But there are actually three circles in Fiddler. The center one is Tevya and his family. The middle one is the villagers, and the outermost one is people of your culture. Robbins thought that is how you identify yourself in the world.

To learn more about the making and themes of “Fiddler on the Roof,” join Arts Emanu-El for a screening of “Fiddler: A Miracle of Miracles” on Nov. 2 at 7:30 p.m. at the temple.

Refreshments will be served, and there will be a few surprises. Tickets are $18 in advance, $25 at the door. For more

information, go to www.teprov.org/arts-emanuel, or call 401-331-1616.

The next Arts Emanu-El event is Dec. 14 at 7:30 p.m. and features Alicia Svigals and Ensemble.

PAMELA HANZEL is the chairperson of Arts Emanu-El.

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Jewish Rhode Island | jewishrhody.org

The 8 must-read Jewis

BY JTA STAFF

T

HE JEWISH CALENDAR YEAR 5779 was a turbulent and often painful one for Jews around the world. Mounting global anti-Semitism, two deadly American synagogue shootings and two (as yet) inconclusive Israeli elections in the space of just a few months were among the stories that defined and helped frame the communal discussion as the new year approaches.

These are the Jewish stories that most captured our attention in the year that was and whose ramifications are likely to continue to play out in 5780.

12 Jews killed in synagogues

Mass shootings have become a sad fact of American life, but two this year took deadly aim at this country’s Jews. On Oct. 27, a lone gunman committed the single worst attack on Jews in U.S. history when he opened fire on Pittsburgh’s Tree of Life synagogue on a Shabbat morning, killing 11 worshippers and injuring six. Prior to the attack, that gunman, Robert Bowers, had posted screeds against the Jewish refugee agency HIAS, writing that it liked to “bring invaders in that kill our people.”

Six months later, on April 27, the last day of Passover, a gunman opened fire at a Chabad synagogue in the San Diego suburb of Poway, killing one person and injuring three. The accused gunman, John Earnest, told a 911 dispatcher that he did it because “Jewish people are destroying the white race.”

The attacks deeply shook the American Jewish community, though many took heart in the widespread condemnations emanating from the highest political offices and the expressions of solidarity from the wider community. In the wake of the Pittsburgh shooting, the city’s main daily newspaper, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, printed the Jewish mourner’s prayer in Hebrew on its front page.

Jewish Democrats ride the blue wave

More than three-quarters of American Jews cast their ballots for Democratic candidates as the

party swept to power in the House in midterm congressional elections. Only 19 percent supported the Republicans.

Jewish Democrats also figured disproportionately in the party’s upsets: Eight entered the House, two won governorships (Illinois and Colorado) and Jacky Rosen won a Senate seat in Nevada. They also assumed control of powerful House committees that remain at the forefront of major ongoing investigations of the Trump administration: Tamika Mallory, left, Linda Sarsour and Carmen Perez at the Women’s March “Power to the P Jerrold Nadler, in Las Vegas, Jan. 21, 2018. (Ethan Miller/Getty Images) who chairs the Judiciary Committee, and Adam Schiff, who heads the Intelligence spenders in American politics, having donated $55 million in an ultimately unsuccessful effort to help Committee.

Republicans hold the House. The sum represented Meanwhile, billionaire gaming mogul Sheldon a substantial increase from the $46.5 million they Adelson and his wife, Miriam, became the biggest had donated at the same point in the 2016 election cycle.

Hate crimes against Jews are spiking

In November, the FBI released its tally of hate crime statistics for the previous year, and the news wasn’t good: The number of hate crimes targeting Jews in the U.S. soared to 938 in 2017, up from 684 the year before. In April, the Anti-Defamation League released its data on anti-Semitic incidents and found the tally for 2018 – 1,879 incidents – was the third highest in the four decades the ADL has been conducting annual audits. Of those, the number of assaults had doubled over the previous year, to 39 from 17.

And it’s not just American Jews. In July, Statistics Canada reported that Jews were the most targeted minority group for hate crimes for the third straight year, though the overall number of attacks declined slightly, to 345 from 360. In France, the volume of anti-Semitic incidents increased by 69 percent in 2018. Over the summer, the British Jewish community’s anti-Semitism watchdog, the Community Security Trust, reported the highest number of anti-Semitic incidents ever for the first six months of 2018. The 892 incidents represented a 10 percent jump over the same period the previous year. In December, a poll of 16,000 Jews in 12 countries conducted by the European Union reported that one in three said they avoid Jewish sites or events out of fear.

Jacky Rosen, watched by husband, Larry, and daughter Miranda, is sworn in as a U.S. senator by Vice President Mike Pence, on Jan. 3.

The Women’s March remains a lightning rod

In November, Teresa Shook, one of the founders of the Women’s March, called on the movement’s

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sh news stories of 5779 a national unity government, though that’s far easier said than done. Blue and White has said it won’t serve in a government with Netanyahu, and Netanyahu, despite the possible indictments still hanging over him, has vowed to hang on. The saga is sure to continue well into 5780.

Israel becomes a wedge issue

Serious cracks appeared in what has long been a cherished feature of the U.S.-Israel relationship: bipartisanship. In February, Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., came under fire for a series of controversial tweets, including one charging falsely that the American Israel Public Affairs Committee pays politicians to be pro-Israel. Omar drew quick rebukes from leading Democrats and subsequently apologized. The following month, President Trump piled on, calling the Democrats the “anti-Jewish” party. In August, he upped the ante, saying that anyone who voted for a Democrat was guilty of “disloyalty,” a comment that drew condemnation from critics who said it evoked classic anti-Semitic tropes.

Meanwhile, Israel denied entry to Omar and another freshman Muslim congresswoman, Rashida Tlaib, D-Mich. Both lawmakers are supporters of the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement against Israel. Israel’s move drew an unusually broad array of criticism from American Jewish groups. The ADL, the American Jewish Committee, the Jewish Federations of North America and AIPAC decried Israel’s action.

The #MeToo movement hits the Jewish community

Polls” voter registration tour launch at Sam Boyd Stadium organizers to step down, alleging that they had “allowed anti-Semitism” by refusing to distance themselves “from groups that espouse … racist, hateful beliefs.” One of the founders, Tamika Mallory, has longstanding ties to Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan, who has a history of making incendiary comments about Jews.

Michael Steinhardt, the Jewish megadonor who helped found Birthright Israel and supports a wide range of Jewish institutions, was accused of a pattern of propositioning and sexually inappropriate remarks to women. According to an investigation by The New York Times and ProPublica, the

journalism nonprofit, seven women alleged that Steinhardt made sexual requests of them while they were seeking his financial support. Steinhardt denied the accusations, but acknowledged a pattern of comments “that were boorish, disrespectful, and just plain dumb.”

In the wake of the accusations, the organized Jewish community’s longtime focus on encour aging endogamy and child rearing — long among Steinhardt’s favored philanthropic objectives — drew increasing scrutiny.

A measles outbreak hits the Orthodox community

In November, the New York City Health Department said 17 cases of measles had been reported in Brooklyn’s Orthodox Jewish community. The problem was just beginning: By April, there were 285 reported cases, including 246 children. Other measles outbreaks were reported in nearby Orthodox communities, where vaccination rates against the disease are often low.

New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio responded by declaring a public health emergency and ordering unvaccinated people living in four heavily Orthodox ZIP codes in Brooklyn to be vaccinated or pay fines up to $1,000. The city also closed a yeshiva preschool in the Williamsburg neighborhood for defying a Health Department order to provide medical and attendance records regarding measles vaccinations.

But hostility to vaccination still remained high in some Orthodox circles. In June, 200 people attended an anti-vaccination event in a Brooklyn basement and heard a speaker claim that vaccinations were part of a government conspiracy.

Under fire, Palestinian-American activist Linda Sarsour, a member of the march Steering Committee, apologized.

“We should have been faster and clearer in helping people understand our values and our commitment to fighting anti-Semitism,” she said. “We regret that.”

In December, Tablet magazine published a piece alleging that Mallory and another organizer, Carmen Perez, had made anti-Semitic statements at two march planning meetings. By the time the march’s third installment rolled around in January, the movement was in disarray, with various Jewish groups cutting ties to the national group and a number of local chapters across the country doing the same.

Sarsour, Mallory and Bob Bland, another movement co-founder, have since left the board.

IsraelIs vote twice and still don’t have a prime minister

Israel held a national election in April in which Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, facing multiple possible indictments for corruption, wound up in a tie with his principal challenger, Benny Gantz and the new Blue and White party, with 35 seats apiece. But Netanyahu was unable to form a governing coalition, so in September, Israelis voted again. And again, the results – so far as we know them – indicate a very close race, with Gantz perhaps holding the tiniest edge over Netanyahu.

In such a situation, an obvious path forward is

Police respond to the site of a mass shooting at Tree of Life synagogue in Pittsburgh, Oct. 27, 2018. (Jeff Swensen/Getty Images)

20 | OCTOBER 2019

Jewish Rhode Island | jewishrhody.org

BUSINESS & PHILANTHROPY

Zachary and Shari Weinberger: Active and artful in Providence and Warren

BY MICHAEL SCHEMAILLE WHEN ZACHARY WEINBERGER AND SHARI FISHMAN met at Hunter College, in New York City, they had no idea of the extraordinary life together that awaited them. They quickly grew close, forming a bond that would take them around the world together before they landed in Rhode Island where Zachary is a partner in Sprout CoWorking, while Shari is Sprout’s gallery manager and president of Gallery Night Providence.

The Weinbergers arrived in Providence 10 years ago, after Zachary accepted a position in Mansfield, Massachusetts. By this time, the married couple had three children, and, recognizing the problems inherent in Zachary’s six-hour daily commute, the family knew they had to move.

Finding Mansfield too small for their liking, they decided to look at homes in Providence. It was love at first sight, and they knew right away that they wanted to live on the city’s East Side.

Since then, they’ve become well-established in Rhode Island’s secular and Jewish communities. Zachary has a background in human-resources compensation consulting, while Shari is an accomplished Jewish educator.

During a warm, comfortable conversation with the couple at Sprout’s Providence location, they spoke about their lives, work and family.

The couple met when Zachary was an undergrad at Hunter, where Shari was taking classes as part of a University of Connecticut arts program.

They hit it off and began dating.

In October of 1983, Zachary made aliyah to Israel. Shari soon followed, and they spent two years on a kibbutz, with Zachary serving in the Israeli army while Shari worked with the kibbutz’s children.

Zachary and Shari married in 1984, and in 1986, they left Israel to move to New York.

Upon returning to the U.S., they both returned to school. Zachary earned an M.A. in industrial labor relations from a Cornell Universi-

ty/Baruch College program, and followed that with an MBA in finance from Rensselaer at Hartford and a law degree from the University of Connecticut School of Law. Eventually, Zachary would make the transition to the other side of the classroom, teaching classes at Baruch College, Bryant University and the University of Connecticut.

While Zachary was immersed in his studies, Shari earned her M.S. in education, with a focus on museum education, from the Bank Street College of Education, which was followed by positions with New York institutions that included the Guggenheim Museum and the Central Park Conservancy.

When the couple’s first child was 2 years old, Shari realized that there were no Jewish play programs for children his age. Shari said that she “got involved with Chabad, and the rebbetzin told me, ‘if you teach it, I’ll make it.’” That’s how Shari became the director of Chabad’s Gan Yeladim Early Childhood Center, in Stamford, Connecticut.

After four years in that position, she moved on to become the director of Stamford’s Kulanu Hebrew high school, a role she describes as “the best and most rewarding job I’ve ever had. It was an unbelievable success; we had a great time.”

Since then, Shari has been the assistant principal of the Jewish Community Day School of Rhode Island and director of teen education for Rhode Island’s Bureau of Jewish Education, both in Providence.

Earlier this year, she stepped down after nine years as executive director of the North American Association of Community and Congregational Hebrew High Schools in order to focus on her new position as the president of Gallery Night Providence. Shari’s participation in Gallery Night is a result of the work she and Zachary have done to build Sprout CoWorking into a thriving local business, as well as an important part of their story.

Coworking is a relatively new concept, but also one that is rapidly gaining traction and attention nationwide. In essence, coworking spaces provide freelancers, entrepreneurs and remote workers with shared office space, networking opportunities and amenities at a reasonable cost.

Zachary said a coworking space offers an opportunity “to be in a professional environment without distractions and have other people around you.”

Expanding on the social element, he said, “At first, I thought it was about having work space … now, I realize it’s also about having positive, active coworkers.”

Recognizing a need for such a space in Rhode Island, Zachary and partner John Kevorkian opened Sprout in 2016, at Providence’s Rising Sun Mills. They enjoyed rapid success, to the point that they had to double their floor plan, to 6,000 square feet, to meet the demand.

Sprout CoWorking includes private and open offices, a café, conference rooms, and event and gallery space.

Last year, Sprout opened a second location in Warren, and they are in the process of opening a third location. In July, American Inno, a large network for local innovations, named Sprout as a “2019 Coolest Company.”

As construction commenced on the first Sprout, Shari saw its expanse of blank walls as an opportunity –and appointed herself Sprout’s gallery manager. With the idea that “art brings community in and gives back to the community,” she began seeking local artists whose work she could showcase.

Shari said she likes to take a chance on newer artists and those who have been excluded from galleries.

“One of the benefits of buying art in Providence is that it’s hugely affordable. It’s an art market where it’s easy to meet the artist and talk with CONTINUED ON PAGE 22

OCTOBER 2019

jewishrhody.org | Jewish Rhode Island

| 21

Tips for picking the right financial adviser designation, an adviser must complete a series of courses, then pass an exam. He or she also must earn continuing education credits to maintain a CFP designation.

Verifying that someone has earned the right to claim such a

D O LL

& S E NS S R

KNOW THE MEANING of those capital letters. When you see upper-case letters after an adviser’s name, that typically refers to a specific designation or qualification that indicates a certain level of training in a specific financial-services discipline.

For example, to earn a CFP (Certified Financial Planner)

E

A

YOU’VE PROBABLY READ the headlines about Bernie Madoff-style Ponzi schemes; about people who call themselves financial advisers but are really product-peddling salespeople, neither qualified nor authorized to provide financial advice; about individuals who claim they are working in your best financial interests when they’re really putting their own financial gain first.

As positive a force as the right financial professional can be, negligence and bad actors are an unfortunate reality in the financial-services world.

It is therefore critical that consumers educate themselves to make sure that the professional in whom they place their trust is qualified, plays by the rules, and always puts the best interests of his clients above his own.

A little knowledge about how financial professionals are regulated can go a long way in helping to identify and avoid bad actors. Here are four areas where that knowledge can be particularly valuable:

JASON E. SIPERSTEIN designation is a matter of identifying the organization that provides it, then using its webbased verification tool to find information about the adviser in question. With the CFP designation, it is accomplished through the College of Financial Planning’s comprehensive verification database, at www.letsmakeaplan.org/ choose-a-cfp-professional/ verify-a-cfp-professional.

KNOW WHO REGULATES WHOM. Financial professionals generally are regulated by both federal and state agencies. At the federal level, investment advisers – professionals who provide advice about investing in securities, including stocks and mutual funds – must be registered with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to ensure

that they adhere to the standards and rules enforced by that agency, in addition to the standards and rules of the securities regulatory agency in their state.

Another organization, FINRA, at www.finra.org/#/, regulates stock brokers and brokerage firms at the federal level. Advisers who sell insurance products are regulated by state insurance agencies.

KNOW WHERE THEIR INTERESTS LIE. Perhaps the most important thing for consumers to know about a financial professional is the standard to which the person is held in his or her work with clients. Certain financial professionals are obligated, by law and/or under the terms of their professional designation, to always put the best interests of their clients above their own. This is called a fiduciary standard. Among the licenses, designations and certifications that come with a fiduciary standard are a CFP, a Registered Investment Adviser (RIA) and a Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA).

A less stringent set of rules, known as the suitability standard, applies to most stockbrokers and insurance agents. This standard requires them to recommend products that are “suitable” for the client, which means the recommended security or product must fit the client’s investing objectives, needs and circumstances.

Unlike with fiduciaries, the allegiances of advisers who operate under a suitability standard ultimately lie first with their firm and/or the company whose products they’re recommending and selling. While they are re-

quired to recommend “suitable” products to their client, their recommendation might not be the most suitable, considering factors such as fees, commissions, etc. Therein lies a gray area: Just because a product is suitable doesn’t mean it’s the best fit for the consumer.

KNOW HOW AND WHERE to verify an adviser’s background. You want to be sure an adviser comes as advertised – that professional credentials are authentic and the professional record is spotless. To learn if an adviser has had any complaints, judgments or legal actions against him or her, check out the Securities and Exchange Commission site, www.sec.

gov. Additionally, you can check information on an adviser’s business practices, fees, conflicts of interest and disciplinary information at www.adviserinfo.sec.gov/ IAPD/Default.aspx. To confirm if a broker is properly licensed in your state and to see if he or she has any complaints and/or disciplinary actions, try FINRA’s BrokerCheck tool, at brokercheck. finra.org.

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

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22 | OCTOBER 2019

Jewish Rhode Island | jewishrhody.org

Be good to yourself – it’s part of doing business ethically

Y L I VI

HEA

TH

NG

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BUSINESS ALMOST ALWAYS INVOLVES SELLING, which seems like a straightforward, simple task. But underneath the surface, selling is a highly complex skill that often involves values, trust and emotion. It is also about building relationships; the more we understand the needs of our clients, the PATRICIA better opportuRASKIN nity we have to give them what they need.

There is also an ethical aspect to selling – which can sometimes get in the way of our need for financial security. For example, suppose you are working with a client who is reliable, loyal and very high maintenance. This might mean they require extra time and effort. They might make demands that push your boundaries and create tension and

stress in your life. If you do your job well, the client is satisfied – but you go home filled with tension and angst.

One line of thought about this situation is that you need to get a grip on your emotions and keep doing your job. Another line of thought is that the emotional toll is dissipating some of your energy, reducing your effectiveness with other clients.

So, the question becomes, what do you do? The answer, like many in life, is not clear-cut. If maintaining this client has been an essential part of your financial bottom line, here is what you need to ask yourself: Can I change my strategy with this client to communicate my needs in this business relationship? Do I want to continue working with this client?

Can I find other clients to supplement or replace the financial gain I would lose without this client?

I think it is important to weigh the amount of “money” in your emotional and ethical bank against the amount of money in your financial

bank. An important factor in maintaining well-being in our personal and professional lives is aligning our principles and values with our behavior and actions.

At Chabad.org, in the article “Radically Jewish Business Ethics,” writer David Weitzner closes with this thought: “An authentically Jewish approach to business ethics believes that businesses can do well while being good. Be mindful of your strategy, and be mindful of the greater narrative that you will one day have to relay. Are you creating more opportunities for business, opening doors for more people to join the transactions?

“Are you playing your role as authentically as possible, whether you are a buyer or a seller, a lender or a borrower? The moral good that comes from business activities done well is as real and meaningful as the moral good that may come from anywhere else. That is business b’emunah.”

In “What is Emunah?” by Tzvi

Freeman, posted at Chabad.org, the writer states that emunah is generally translated as “faith” or “belief.”

“Emunah … is an innate conviction, a perception of truth that transcends, rather than evades, reason.

Quite the contrary, wisdom, understanding and knowledge can further enhance true emunah. Nevertheless, emunah is not based on reason. Reason can never attain the certainty of emunah, since, reasonably speaking, a greater reasoning might always come along and prove your reasons wrong.

“In this way, emunah is similar to seeing first hand: Reason can help you better understand what you see, but it will have a hard time convincing you that you never saw it. So too, emunah endures even when reason can’t catch up.”

boost Rhode Island’s art community.

Meanwhile, Zachary has been promoting Sprout in conjunction with growing his other venture, globus (Global Business Systems International), which helps international companies establish a stateside presence.

The eldest of the couple’s three children, Michael, 29, has a master’s degree in electrical engineering and works in cybersecurity. Their daughter, Hillary, is 26 and currently at Radboud University, in the Netherlands, working on a master’s in human geography. Youngest daughter

Amanda, 23, who prefers to be called Amarya, is the Israel engagement coordinator at Brown/RISD Hillel.

Shari is currently working to open an exhibit on sustainable oceans, which will be accompanied by a lecture series. The exhibit will open to the public on Oct. 23 at Sprout CoWorking, 489 Main St., Warren. In addition, Sprout has teamed up with the Creature Conserve to provide workshops focused on human coexistence with urban wildlife; those workshops will open to the public on April 16, 2020, at Sprout Coworking, 166 Valley St., Providence. She is

also organizing a fundraising drive so that Gallery Night can continue to provide free guided art tours of Providence.

The next Gallery Night will take place on Oct. 17; tours leave from One Regency Plaza, Providence, starting at 5:30 p.m.

PATRICIA RASKIN, owner of Raskin Resources Productions, is a media host, coach and award-winning radio producer and business owner. She has served on the board of directors of Temple Emanu-El, in Providence.

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 20 them,” she said. Art, she added, can foster innovation and creativity.

It was through this work that Shari connected with Gallery Night Providence, an organization that hosts free monthly tours of museums and galleries throughout the city.

Shari spent two years as Gallery Night’s vice president before becoming its president. She explained her involvement by saying, “I just saw what it could be, and I wanted it to go to the next step.” Her achievements include securing grants to make Gallery Night accessible to all and building statewide alliances to

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

Ice Cream: the perfect donation for these seniors On Friday Sept. 20, Kosher Senior Cafe members (left to right) Tony Sabella, Morty Kessler, Maxine and Avrum Cohen, and Leonard Kleher, enjoyed the ice cream donated

by Lindsay and Ken Schneider of Sundaes Ice Cream.

jewishrhody.org | Jewish Rhode Island

Touro Fraternal Assn. announces student financial aid awards CRANSTON – The Touro Fraternal Association has awarded Ariel Finkle, of East Greenwich, a $5,000 grant to help with college expenses.

A freshman at the University of Rhode Island who is studying writing and rhetoric, Ariel is the daughter of Jonathan and Judy Finkle.

She was a member of the East Greenwich High School Drama Club and has been active in dance.

Touro’s Student Financial Aid Committee also awarded $14,000 in interest-free loans to four college students. These loans, from the Leo Greenberg Memorial Scholarship Fund, are not repayable until six months after the student graduates or is no longer a full-time student.

Touro has made financial awards to ease the cost of higher education since the student grant and loan program was established in 1981. Regular Touro members, their children, and the children of deceased Touro members who are enrolled in an accredited institution of

Ariel Finkle higher learning are eligible to apply for the one-time grant of $5,000 and the interest-free loans. Touro members must belong to the organization for at least two years before applying.

For more information about Touro’s loan and grant program, as well as other benefits of membership, go to www. tourofraternal.org, send an email to info@tourofraternal. org or call 401-785-6600.

Submitted by Touro Fraternal Association

OCTOBER 2019 | 23

24 | OCTOBER 2019

Jewish Rhode Island | jewishrhody.org

Border CONTINUED FROM PAGE 13 the Tornillo tent city, in Tornillo, Texas. Tilted “Uncaged Art,” it showcased a variety of work, including paintings of the quetzal, the beautiful, magical bird of Central America.

One panel was like a punch in the gut and reminded me why I’d felt compelled to come to the border in the first place: The panel discussed art by children in internment camps throughout history, including the Terezin concentration camp.

Into my mind, immediately, came the poem, in song form, that I had learned as a child in Hebrew school: “The last, the very last, / So richly brightly, dazzlingly yellow. / Perhaps if the sun’s tears would sing / against a white stone. / Such, such a yellow / Is carried lightly way up high. / It went away I’m sure, because it wished to / kiss the world goodbye.”

But I’d like to end with a different memory.

On my last afternoon, at Annunciation House, a young girl asked if I would open the playroom. I became the supervising volunteer in a large space filled with little cars, old Fisher Price play sets, coloring books, mini-bowling sets, action figures and other toys. A 4-year-old boy started following me around the room. He would pick up a blue Mustang or a flying Superman, for instance – cape blown out, head craned forward – and ask if he could take it with him. Other children asked the same thing as they loaded up their pockets. Always, the answer had to be no. The boy’s parents soon arrived in the room and helped me with the repeated responses: “No, mi amor, para jugar aqui.”

The children’s families told me their stories. One mother pointed to a wall in the playroom, saying that there had been frost on the wall of the icebox from which they had just come. It had made her sick, she said as she coughed.

After about two hours, I had to leave. A nun out in the hall told me that there was no one else to cover the playroom; all volunteers were deployed to paperwork and processing for a new busload of immigrants.

A young mother in a floral blouse helped me clean up the toys and usher the crestfallen children out. The boy who had followed me sobbed brokenheartedly. I gave him a hug and said goodbye.

I wear my living memory on my wrist. The sun’s tears.

TO LEARN MORE about Citizen Presence: on twitter, search for #CitizenPresence or direct message Professor Feldman at @HeidiLiFeldman.

TO LEARN MORE about Reverend Barber’s work with border actions or the Poor People’s Campaign, see repariersofthebreach.org or poorpeoplescampaign.org.

A NUMBER OF GROUPS work locally to fight for immigrant rights, including AMOR (amorri.org) and Never Again Action (to get involved, fill out the form at bit.ly/ neveragainpvd).

JOANNA BROWN M.D. M.P.H., is a family physician living in Providence and a longtime member of Temple Emanu-El.

Follow us on Facebook: Jewish Rhode Island Visit us online: www.jewishrhody.org Get our monthly newsletter by registering online or sending us your email address to: editor@jewishallianceri.org

The writer, Joanna Brown, with other Citizen Presence volunteers Chris Terry and Sandi Latham.

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OBITUARIES 28-29 | SIMCHAS & WE ARE READ 34

Founder and leader of Cameroon synagogue visits Rhode Island Franklin, I was happy to do the same for this representative of a Cameroonian Jewish congregation,” Miles said of the introduction IN LATE AUGUST AND EARLY SEPTEMBER, Betsalel that eventually led to Elouna’s Rhode Island Laurent Elouna, founder and leader of Beith visit.

Bnei Yeshouroun synagogue in Yaoundé, the Given Temple Emanu-El’s and Congregation capital of Cameroon, visited Providence, stayBeth Sholom’s interest in global Judaism, it was fitting that Elouna gave talks at these synaing for a week at the home of Rabbi Wayne and gogues during his Shabbat in Providence. He Anne Franklin. discussed his embrace of the Jewish faith, and The visit came about through William (Bill) the challenges for those who choose such a path Miles, who is a member of Providence’s Temin Cameroon. ple Emanu-El, a political science professor at Adopting Shabbat as the day of rest carries Northeastern University and a leading scholar enormous social consequences in the central of emerging Jewish practice in Africa. (See my African nation. It means missing weddings, review of Miles’ book, “In the Shadow of Moses: birthdays, other celebrations, social get-togethNew Jewish Movements in Africa and the ers, funerals and communal events that comDiaspora,” in the March 16, 2018, issue of The monly take place there on Saturdays. This often Jewish Voice.) results in tension with family members and the “In 2017, I traveled two days overland with loss of friends, as does the rejection of ChristiSar Habakkuk Nwafor, head of Tikvat Israel anity. In Elouna’s case, his decision to embrace Synagogue in Abuja, Nigeria, to meet Rav Judaism also cost him his marriage.

Betsalel Elouna, head of the Beith Bnei YeshouIn addition, there are academic and economic roun congregation in Yaoundé, Cameroon,” difficulties attendant with Sabbath observance Miles said. “It was the first time these Nigerian in Cameroon. One of Elouna’s priorities has and Cameroonian Jewish communities had had therefore been to establish, and then expand, direct contact with one another.” a private school that does not hold classes on Miles’ relationship with Nigerian Judaism Saturdays, thus ensuring that there is a place began in 2009, when he traveled to Abuja, Nigewhere those who have chosen Judaism can ria’s capital, to celebrate Hanukkah at Tikvat pursue their schooling on an equal footing with Israel Synagogue. He subsequently connected their Christian neighbors. the synagogue with Wayne Franklin, who at This early-childhood, primary and secondthe time was senior rabbi of Emanu-El, but has ary school, which Elouna named “Nili” – the since retired.

Hebrew acronym for the phrase “the Eternal “Having already connected Nigerian Jewry One of Israel shall not be false,” from the first with Temple Emanu-El, via Rabbi Wayne book of Samuel – is now in its 10th year. The overwhelming majority of its 220 students are Christians whose families have chosen the school for its academic excellence, but it offers extra classes in Judaism, taught by Elouna, for students from Jewish families.

Elouna spends his work week at the school, located in Voundou, over 90 miles from Yaoundé, and then commutes for up to two and a half hours by motorcycle or car to the capital for Shabbat, which he keeps with members of his congregation, numbering some 30 individuals and families.

“I thought he was marvelous,” Mike Fink said of Elouna’s talk at Beth Sholom. Fink, a columnist for Jewish Rhode Island, a professor at the Rhode Island School of Design and a former activist for Ethiopian Jewry, said he was impressed with Elouna’s “elegance, his eloquence, but, mostly, his mysticism, his search not for material advances, but for a vision.”

“He seemed to me to bring Africa itself, somehow, down to the little chapel and simple Sabbath table at the corner of Rochambeau and Camp streets,” Fink said.

Rabbi Barry Dolinger, of Beth Sholom, said, “Immersed in the day-to-day, it’s often a challenge to approach Judaism PHOTO | SHAI AFSAI with freshness and full appreciation.

Left to right: Anne Franklin, Rabbi Wayne Franklin, Betsalel Laurent Betsalel’s first-hand account was an inElouna and Professor William Miles at the Franklins’ home (along with spiration to me and the congregants who

BY SHAI AFSAI

their standard poodle, Ziggy).

had a chance to meet him. This is an example of an empowered community that’s making it happen.”

On Monday morning, Elouna, Miles and I headed to Newport’s Touro Synagogue. Waiting for us there was Meryle Cawley, site director for the Touro Synagogue Foundation, who gave us a tour of the Loeb Visitors Center. We then joined a large group of visitors gathered to learn about the historic synagogue from long-time Touro educator Linda Nathanson.

Murmurs of curiosity spread through the group as people heard that the founder and leader of a Cameroonian synagogue was visiting Touro that day too.

“My stay in Rhode Island would not have been complete without a visit to Touro Synagogue,” Elouna reflected after the tour. “I noted how the early Jews of Newport established their community, and am thinking of its lessons for Judaism in Cameroon.”

“It was an honor and privilege to host Betsalel Elouna,” Cawley said. “It was so interesting to hear about a man and his community whose journey into Judaism is relatively new, but so passionate and heartfelt. I was moved that he was so taken by our story here at Touro Synagogue.”

Franklin and Elouna used much of their time together to study face-to-face, which was a primary purpose of Elouna’s visit to Providence.

“I have been deeply impressed with Betsalel’s intelligence and his determination to continually learn about Judaism, which he practices with remarkable devotion. That he came to appreciate Judaism and observe its traditions with no supporting environment and no local sources of instruction is astounding,” Franklin marveled.

“He was previously an influential Christian leader in Cameroon, well-versed in the New Testament. But he came to believe that Jesus was guiding him to practice Judaism, as stipulated in the Gospel of Matthew 23:1-3: ‘Jesus addressed the people and his disciples in these words: The doctors of the law and the Pharisees sit in the chair of Moses; therefore do what they tell you; pay attention to their words ....’ I find Betsalel’s keen insight and courage refreshing and amazing.”

On the drive from Newport back to Providence, Betsalel spoke of his and his congregants’ steady journey from Christianity to Judaism.

“I stayed on my track to look for a genuine Jewish faith, observing the law and having nothing to do again with Christianity,” Betsalel said. “Jesus has been for us just somebody to show the way, and that’s all. Now we have arrived at our final destination, and have nothing to do anymore with a single part of Christianity.”

SHAI AFSAI lives in Providence. In November he will present a program with Salve Regina University’s Sean O’Callaghan and John Quinn on “Newport’s Irish-Jewish Rabbi, Theodore Lewis, and Dublin’s Jewish Community” as part of the Museum of Newport’s Irish history lecture series.

OCTOBER 2019

jewishrhody.org | Jewish Rhode Island

IN THE NEWS RI EMA awards security grants The RI Emergency Management Agency recently awarded $150,000 in federal grant money under the FY2019 Department of Homeland Security Nonprofit Security Grant Program (NSGP) to five nonprofits in the state. According to NSGP, this funding supports physical security enhancements and other security-related activities to nonprofits at high risk for terrorist attack. This year’s total represents a 17% increase over last year’s award.

Recipients were chosen from a field of 17 applicants.

They are: Chabad of West Bay in Warwick, Congregation Jeshuat Israel in Newport, the Islamic School of Rhode Island in West Warwick, Temple Emmanu-El in Providence, and Temple Shalom in Middletown.

“These grants represent a whole community approach to safety and preparedness,” says RIEMA Director Marc Pappas in a news release.

“We are pleased to assist with physical security enhancements and protection measures. It’s important to build and sustain safety measures and these grants help the recipients do that.”

Cranston Seniors schedule activities Cranston Senior Guild’s next meeting will take place Wednesday, Nov. 6, at 1 p.m. at the Phyllis Tamarisk Assisted Living Residence, 3 Shalom Drive, Warwick. There will be a short meeting, followed by bingo and refreshments. All men and women age 55 years and older are welcome to join. Membership is $12 a year. Cranston residency is not required.

Israeli windsurfer takes silver medal (JTA) – An Israeli windsurfer is one step closer to qualifying for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics after earning the silver medal in the world championships.

Katy Spychakov, 20, came in second Sept. 29 at the RS:X World Championships at Lake Garda in Italy. She also won a gold medal in the under-21 World Championship, Haaretz reported.

It is the first Israeli medal in the sport since 2014. Also, on Sept. 29, Israeli runner Lonah Chemtai Salpeter collapsed during a marathon in Doha, Qatar, while running in fifth place.

| 27

Speaking tour highlights benefit of training exchange lights of Philbin’s talk:

BY HOWARD BROWN WARWICK – “I ate the matzo, so I became a rabbi,” joked Rabbi Yossi Laufer on Sep. 13, at the start of the fourth stop on Rhode Island State Police Lt. Col. Joseph Philbin’s in-state speaking tour that began in August.

During the evening at Chabad of West Bay, the two bantered about swapping jobs, setting the tone of a warm and friendly after-dinner conversation between Philbin and the 60 people who attended the event to hear about the serious topic of public safety.

Philbin, who was accompanied by his wife, Kari, and his 91-year old mother, June, is speaking about his experiences in Israel during a one-week law enforcement training exchange program in Israel. He attended the program in December 2018.

The exchange is of public interest for two principal reasons: as taxpayers, to find out what he may have learned that can benefit Rhode Island’s public safety practices; and as supporters of Israel, to find out the truth about political allegations in the US that training

by Israel’s police forces results in militarization of American police forces.

Early in his talk about the program, which was organized and funded by the Anti-Defamation League (ADL), Philbin described an organized attempt to prevent his participation which reached not only him but also then-Commander Anne Assumpico and Governor Gina Raimondo.

He said he felt fortunate that those superiors believed in the value of the training and decided to support it; the Chief of the Vermont State Police and the Northhampton, Massachusetts Police were pulled from the program due to outside pressure. Pressure has also been applied to keep Philbin from speaking publicly about the trip.

A day-by-day personal description of the itinerary prompted numerous questions during the informal session. Among the high-

•

THERE WERE DAILY LECTURES from many levels of Israeli government and security, and in virtually every case a Palestinian counterpart also spoke, giving the participants a view of “both sides.”

THERE WAS A VISIT to Israel’s maximum security prison, where there aren’t American-style jail cells but rather communal areas which are segregated politically – e.g., Hamas in one area, Fatah in another. In response to a number of questions as to the absence of jail cells, which otherwise might keep inmate-based conspiracies down to a minimum, Rabbi Laufer suggested that the reason may be based in Jewish teachings that forbid keeping humans in cages.

•

•

FROM WHAT PHILBIN could see, there was no evidence to support charges of militarization in Israeli security or any danger that the sharing of practices with Israel would cause militarization of American police.

•

ISRAEL’S POLICE ACADEMY training was virtually indistinguishable from American police training.

•

THE INCIDENTS of homicides in all of Israel is dramatically lower than in some cities like Chicago.

The speaking tour has been organized by RI Coalition for Israel (www.ricoalitionforisrael.org), a grassroots organization of Christians and Jews whose mission is to support Israel and oppose the Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions movement. At the time of publication, he has spoken at six venues, including churches, synagogues, a school and retirement communities. Plans are in the works for more speaking engagements.

For more information, contact ricoalitionforisrael@ gmail.com.

HOWARD BROWN is executive director of RI Coalition for Israel.

To advertise your business or service with us, email or call: KAREN BORGER

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28 | OCTOBER 2019

Jewish Rhode Island | jewishrhody.org

COMMUNITY | OBITUARIES Banice Bazar, 90

manding a unit in the 388th Chemical Smoke Generator Company in Korea. His unit was responsible for laying down the smoke screen to protect the infantry. During an operation, the wind changed direction and several soldiers were trapped on the wrong side of the smoke screen. Banice drove a jeep across the line to lead them back to safety.

He was awarded the Bronze Star for his heroic action.

When he returned to the United States, he started a business selling to the military post-exchanges. He began by selling out of the trunk of his car to Navy ships afloat. A representative of Bulova watch asked him if he was able to sell nationwide.

“Of course” was his reply, and he was soon representing hundreds of companies ranging from Panasonic, Sony, Pioneer and Westinghouse to Calvin Klein Jeans, Munsingwear shirts to a number of jewelry companies. He opened offices in East Providence, Norfolk, San Diego, Dallas, Jacksonville, Honolulu, Anchorage and Rota, Spain. He opened distribution companies in Alaska and Hawaii.

He then shifted his attention from these businesses to jewelry companies. He opened Sentiment Jewelry and then acquired Deltah Pearl Company, Giovanni Jewelry Company and Imperial Pearl Syndicate. He combined these companies under the umbrella of the Bazar Group.

PROVIDENCE, R.I. – Banice Carl Bazar passed away Sept.

20. He was the husband of the late Beverly Bazar; they were married for 66 years. He was born in Providence, the son of the late Samuel and Jenny (Bloom) Bazar.

He was the brother of Meyer Bazar, Martin Bazar, Paul (Peppy) Bazar, Ira Bazar and Dorothy (Dottie) Gordon, all of blessed memory.

He is survived by his children and their spouses, Peter and Charlotte Bazar, David and Susan Bazar, Karen and Alan Bergel and Ann Bazar; grandchildren Kerri Brennan, Todd Bazar, Samuel Bazar, Joshua Bazar, Adam Finkelman, Alex Finkelman, Corey Finkelman, Matthew Silva, Meredith Sondler-Bazar, Caroline Aparo, and Alexandra Bazar; and great-grandchildren Erin, Dayna, Cecilia, Jameson, Donovan, Brayden, Oliver, Andre, Rebecca, Emma, Emilia, Beatrice, Ariella, Max and Alexander.

He was the father of the late Joseph Bazar and grandfather of the late Dayna Bazar.

Banice entered the ROTC program and graduated from the University of Rhode Island with a degree in chemistry. He was a lieutenant in the Army, com-

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Banice and Beverly were both firmly focused on family and this led to their next venture. They decided that the family should learn to ski together in Waterville Valley, New Hampshire. In 1973, after a snow drought and an oil shortage an Inn in Waterville Valley went up for SBA auction. While Banice was in Europe on business, Beverly went to watch the auction.

When Beverly picked Banice up at Logan Airport, he asked her who bought the Inn. She replied, “You did!”

He was the gregarious host in the lounge at the Inn. Late nights at the Inn did not stop him from being the first one on the ski slopes and the last to leave. He loved waking up his children and then grandchildren early, making them scrambled eggs and then racing them to the mountain.

Banice loved all sports and was an avid supporter of the University of Rhode Island.

He began going to games in 1947 and was a season ticket holder for the men’s basketball games at Rodman Hall then Keaney Gymnasium and finally the Ryan Center.

Banice was a founding member of Crestwood Country Club. He was a member of the Providence Jewelers Club, the Plumb Club and the 24 Karat Club. He was also a member of the Aurora Civic Association.

Contributions may be made to the University of Rhode Island Foundation to support the men’s basketball team, 79 Upper College Road, Kingston, RI 02881.

Judith Chorney, 87 CRANSTON, R.I – Judith Chorney died Sept. 22 at HopeHealth Hulitar Hospice Center. She was the wife of the

late Edward Chorney.

Born in Providence, a daughter of the late Samuel and Etta (Cohen) Shlavin, she was a longtime resident of Cranston, previously living in Providence. She was a subscriber services supervisor for BlueCross BlueShield for 25 years and worked for Adam’s Drug Store for 22 years.

She was the longtime companion of Edmond Goldberg.

She was the dear cousin of Bernard Make and his wife, Judith, of Rumford and Carolyn Maillis and her husband, Maxwell, of Asheville, North Carolina.

Contributions in her memory may be made to HopeHealth Hulitar Hospice Center, 1085 N. Main St., Providence, RI 02904.

Alan Friedman, 66 WEST PALM BEACH, FLA. – Alan Robert Friedman, of Breakers West in West Palm Beach, died Sept.

4. Formerly of Rhode Island, he and his wife, Carol, relocated to Florida in 2016.

Alan was the father and father-in-law of Lauren and Richard Koblick, Allison and Ian Horowitz and grandfather of Madison and Dylan Koblick. He was the son of Murray Friedman and the late Shirley Friedman, brother of Brian (Bobbie) Friedman and Gary Friedman, son-inlaw of Phyllis Goldberg and the late Dr. Norman Goldberg, and brother-in-law of Jeffrey

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Alan was a graduate of the University of Rhode Island, and in Rhode Island was vice president of a family-owned business with locations in Providence, Warwick and Seekonk. An avid sports fan, Alan enthusiastically supported his Boston Red Sox and New England Patriots teams. Alan was a member of Temple Beth-El for more than 40 years. He was a selfless man, always caring for everyone else before himself.

Contributions may be made to the Jimmy Fund c/o Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, P.O. Box 849168, Boston, MA 02284,www.Jimmyfund. org, or the American Cancer Society, 621 Clearwater Park Road West Palm Beach, FL 33401, www.cancer.org/ about-us/local/florida.html, or Temple Beth-El, 70 Orchard Ave., Providence, RI 02906.

Gerald Goldstein, 92 CRANSTON, R.I. – Gerald “Jerry” S. Goldstein died Aug. 22 at home. Jerry was the husband of the late Joan (Efros) Goldstein. Born in Chelsea, Massachusetts, a son of the late Louis and Phyllis Goldstein, he had lived in Cranston and previously was a longtime resident of Warwick. He is survived by his daughter Jill.

Jerry was the founder, president and treasurer of Town & Country Cleansers in Warwick and East Providence and owner, president and treasurer of Kent Cleansers in Cranston and Providence. He was also founder and past owner of the former Deli On The Square in Providence and Town Uniform Rentals in Warwick.

Jerry graduated from Rhode Island State College (now University of Rhode Island) with a bachelor of science in business administration.

Jerry was a civic leader and active in his community, serving the public in a variety of ways including: Minority Leader for 16 years on the Warwick City Council where he served on every committee, member of the RI Coastal Resources Management Council, former assistant secretary of the Better Business Bureau of RI, co-founder and president of RI Citizens for Clean Water, past member of the advisory board for RI Department of Employment Security, former member of Warwick Crime

OCTOBER 2019 | 29

jewishrhody.org | Jewish Rhode Island

OBITUARIES Commission, past vice-chairman for Kent County Cancer Crusade, member of the Warwick Rotary Club, member of the Palestine Temple of Shrine and board member for the RI State Relations Board.

His daughter would like to give a special thank you to his family physician and staff, devoted friends, in-home caregivers and Beacon Hospice nurses and staff.

Alan Hopfenberg, 90 PROVIDENCE, R.I. – Alan Hopfenberg died Sept. 16. He was the husband of the late Charlotte (Guffan) Hopfenberg. Born in Far Rockaway, New York, a son of the late Irving and Grace (Hausner) Hopfenberg, he was a longtime resident of Providence.

He worked at the Providence post office for more than 20 years. Alan was a Korean Conflict Army veteran and a Rhode Island JVFW vice commander. He was a graduate of Bryant University with a bachelor’s degree in accounting. Alan was a member of Touro Fraternal Association, the United States Postal Workers Union and past president of the Rhode Island Gilbert & Sullivan Society He was the father of Shazy (Hopfenberg) and her husband, Rabbi Thom King, of Pikesville, Maryland, Dr. Russell Hopfenberg and his wife, Edie, of Raleigh-Durham, North Carolina, and Steven Hopfenberg of Providence.

He was the brother of the late Larry Hopfenberg. He was the grandfather of Rachel, Sarah, Tovah, Coleman and Emily.

Contributions may be made to JWV of RI, PO Box 100064, Cranston, RI 02910.

Farrel A. Jaffa, 81 CRANSTON, R.I. – Farrel A. Jaffa died Sept. 16 at Rhode Island Hospital.

Born in Providence, son of the late Donald and Jean (Moverman) Jaffa, he was a longtime resident of Cranston.

After decades running his own dealership, Prime Auto, Farrel was a salesman for Courtesy Kia Mitsubishi for 21 years. Farrel was a Marine veteran, serving stateside. He attended the University of Rhode Island and was a traveling soccer coach for Cranston East, where he cherished

coaching his own son. Farrel served as a beloved mentor to many of the young men he coached as well as countless up-and-coming salespeople.

He was the father of Raquel Jaffa Kumes and her husband, Thomas, of Cranston and the late Sloan Miles Jaffa. He was the brother of Lesley Nan Haberman and her husband, Robert, of New York City. He was the grandfather of Tatum and Dylan. He was the uncle of Harley and Ally, and great-uncle of Charlotte and Jack. He was the cousin and best friend of Howard Brynes.

Contributions in his memory may be made to the Cranston Animal Shelter, 920 Phenix Ave., Cranston, RI 02921, and the Dialysis Center of Providence, 9 Plenty St., Providence, RI 02907.

Eileen Kotler, 94 WARWICK, R.I. – Eileen S. Kotler died Sept. 24 at Tamarisk Assisted Living.

Born in Providence, a daughter of the late Abraham and Celia (Botvin) Paull, she was a longtime resident of Warwick. She was an antique dealer and owner of the former Fanastiques in Swansea, Massachusetts, and a salesperson for Providence Diamond and Ross Simons. Eileen was a volunteer at Kent Hospital Information Desk for more than 25 years and a member of the Kent Hospital Women’s Auxiliary. She was a graduate of Hope High School.

She was the mother of Ste-

ven Kotler of Providence, Pamela Goes and her husband, Henry, of Warwick and Debra Terilli and her husband, John, of West Greenwich. She was the sister of Ruth Paull of Los Angeles, California. She was the grandmother of Paul, Joshua, Christopher and his wife, Melissa, and Daniel and his wife, Sabrina. She was the great-grandmother of Finna, Hope and Celestina.

Contributions may be made to Kent Hospital Women’s Auxiliary, 455 Tollgate Road, Warwick, RI 02886.

tions, and played at hundreds of weddings, bar mitzvahs and other celebrations. After retiring, Mr. Perlman offered private music lessons and spent hours playing to seniors at local nursing homes. A doting and devoted father and grandfather, he took special joy in spending time with his three grandchildren, who knew him only as Bee-Pa. Contributions can be made to Care Dimensions at www.

CareDimensions.org.

Laurence Perlman, 78

CASSELBERRY, FLA. – Sarah Rebecca Whited, of Casselberry, passed away Sept. 14

SALEM, MASS. – Laurence N. Perlman, formerly of Pawtucket and Providence and recently of Salem, died Sept. 11 surrounded by his wife and daughters.

Mr. Perlman was the husband of 56 years to Roberta (Wittner) Perlman, and father of Melanie Perlman Baron and Heidi Perlman Guarino, father-in-law of Jeffrey Baron and David Guarino, and grandfather of Owen Robert Guarino, Jacob Laurence Guarino and Amelia Rose Baron.

He was the son of the late Samuel and Rose Perlman, and was born and raised in Providence.

He earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees in music from Boston University. He was a music teacher in the Attleboro, Massachusetts, and Providence public schools until his retirement. He was a dedicated performer and musician, founder and owner of Larry Perlman Produc-

Sarah Rebecca Whited, 38

after an extended illness.

Formerly of Rhode Island and Alpharetta, Georgia, she is survived by her husband, David, her son Cameron, parents, Meryl and Robert Rose and Brian Ackerman.

She is also the granddaughter of Howard Goldblatt and the late Lenore Goldblatt of Providence. Sarah is survived by sister Lauren and Joe Lain, Ocean Rose, Forrest and Francesca Rose, and Sarah and Corey Peeples.

She was the aunt to Finn, Walker, Edie, Joe, Henry and newborn niece, Logan Sarah Lain.

Contributions may be made to the ASPCA.

Hate fliers in Whitefish, Mont.

(JTA) – Fliers bearing white nationalist language and hate speech were circulated on Rosh Hashanah to businesses.

“The hate literature was not only offensive in relation to the Jewish holiday, but it is concerning as there is a recorded rise and mainstreaming of anti-Semitism in the United States, including the troll storm perpetrated from outside the community onto the Jewish people of Whitefish just two and a half years ago,” Rachel Carroll Rivas of the Montana Human Rights Network said.

The fliers included code words like the number “88,” which stands for “Heil Hitler” (because H is the eighth letter of the alphabet) and “14 Words” which represents a 14-word statement asserting white supremacy that was created by white nationalist David Lane, who is specifically named on the flier, according to the network.

Similar fliers appeared in Helena, Montana over the weekend.

The Jewish population of the city is about 60.

30 | OCTOBER 2019

Jewish Rhode Island | jewishrhody.org

COMMUNITY

Author offers in-depth look at Ben-Gurion

BY LARRY KATZ MOST OF US GREW UP taking the nation of Israel for granted, but for nearly 1,900 years, Israel was only a fantasy.

It was not that long ago that most Jews thought there would never be a Jewish state. Even in 1948, many Zionist leaders thought the declaration of a Jewish state should be delayed for fear of a second Holocaust, this one in Palestine.

Though Theodor Herzl may have sparked the idea of political Zionism, only David Ben-Gurion was able to bring a Jewish state to reality.

On Wednesday, Oct. 16, at the Alliance’s Dwares Jewish Community Center, the community will have an opportunity to hear how daunting Ben-Gurion’s task really was, and perhaps to understand how some of the issues we confront today originated in decisions made back then.

Tom Segev, the author of “A State at Any Cost: The Life of David Ben-Gurion,” will share highlights from his research and discuss the legends that surround Israel’s

founding prime ministers. His talk will take us from the villages of Poland to the streets of Manhattan, from London hotels to the hills of Palestine.

With insights derived from previously unreleased archival material, Segev will present a full and startling portrait of a man of contradictions who sought a Jewish state “at any cost.” Segev will show a man who was neither saint nor villain, but rather an historic actor in the league of Churchill and Lenin – a 20th-century leader whose iron will and complex temperament left a complex and contentious legacy that we still reckon with today.

Segev is among Israel’s leading journalists and historians. His works include “The Seventh Million”; “1967: Israel, the War, and the Year That Transformed the Middle East”; “Simon Wiesenthal”; and “One Palestine, Complete” (chosen one of the 10 best books of 2000 by The New York Times).

This free program, on Wednesday, Oct. 16, from 7 to 8:30 p.m., at the Dwares JCC, 401 Elmgrove Ave.,

Tom Segev Providence, is presented by the Israel Desk of the Jewish Alliance of Greater Rhode Island in cooperation with the Jewish Book Council. It is the first in this year’s Israeli Culture Series, which usually take place on the second Wednesday of each month at the Dwares JCC. The second presentation in the series, on Nov. 13, will feature Avraham Infeld, past president of Hillel International and a leader in Zionist education. Other presentations may include films, music, food and authors.

TO RSVP or for more information, contact Or Cohen, community shlichah (Israel emissary), at ocohen@ jewishallianceri.org or 401-421-4111, ext. 121.

LARRY KATZ is director of Jewish life and learning at the Jewish Alliance of Greater Rhode Island.

HIGH HOLY DAYS

Not going to synagogue or fasting? You can still observe Yom Kippur

BY ARIELLE KAPLAN (Alma via JTA) – Much to my mother’s dismay, I’m not fasting on Yom Kippur and I’m not going to synagogue.

Why? Because I don’t believe in God. But despite my lack of faith in a higher being, I take the High Holy Days very seriously.

For those who need a refresher, here’s a crash course.

On Rosh Hashanah, as the story goes, Jews are inscribed in one of three books: the Book of Life for heavenly saints, the Book of Death for toxic people; and a temporary “in between” book for the rest of us who have nine days to repent for our sins before our fate is sealed on Yom Kippur.

As much as I want to believe that these books are real, I don’t (for the record, I’d totally be in the in-between one).

But that doesn’t stop me from taking advantage of the holiday and making amends with those I wronged. Apologizing

to someone, whether it’s a guy I ghosted or a friend I hurt, is uncomfortable and easy to avoid. That’s why I love Yom Kippur; it nudges me to reflect on my behavior and confront issues I’ve pushed away.

Skipping Kol Nidre and eating on Yom Kippur doesn’t make you a bad Jew, and there are plenty of other ways to make the holiday more meaningful to you. I asked a handful of people how they plan on observing the Day of Atonement without fasting or praying, and here’s what they said.

“Growing up, I felt really out of place at synagogue. I wanted to do the kids’ services, or I’d try to hide in the bathroom. Yom Kippur was always a tough one to sit through, so I found other ways to celebrate. I find that reflecting and reaching out to people is very rewarding. I think that’s the main point of the holidays. I also make new goals for the start of the year

and figure out how I can be a better person to others.”

“Since finding my current spiritual community, I attend services. However, before that I would try to volunteer, or write letters to everyone I’d fallen out of touch with, or write a list of ways I was going to forgive myself and a vision board for what I hoped the next year would look like.”

“I definitely like to write down my intentions on Yom Kippur. They’re more spiritual than my ‘resolutions’ for the regular new year. Those are more goal-oriented. It really has to do with the time of year for me rather than the holiday itself, since this time is arguably the beginning of the rebirth of the natural world and there’s something very renewing about the energy, and I like to tap into that. For the new year, my intentions are more powered by self-motivation and looking to get out of the ‘winter blues.’ ” “I’ve made my own little

tradition of using the day of Yom Kippur to take a walk to my favorite park with a journal and write down some intentions for the new year.

I’ve also been sending out a mass email to all my friends sort of announcing my intentions and updating them on the past year (it’s a lot funnier than it sounds) and I’ve found it’s really helpful in holding myself accountable.”

“Since I don’t belong to a temple anymore, I use Yom Kippur as a day to reflect and think about how I’m going to act differently over the coming year. On the regular New Year, my resolutions tend to be focused on diet, exercise and my career, but for the Jewish one they’re more serious. I think about being more mindful, taking care of my mental health and treating people with respect.”

“I don’t feel a spiritual connection at synagogue unless I’m with my family in my hometown. On Rosh

Hashanah I went to a beautiful synagogue with my aunt, but it just wasn’t meaningful.

In the past, I haven’t fasted on Yom Kippur because it always fell on a big tailgate weekend in college, so I’m not accustomed to doing it.

Instead of partying this year, I’m still not going to fast, but I’m taking a day off from work to reflect on the past year and repent for my sins by reaching out to people.”

“One time I apologized to a friend on Yom Kippur for bullying her in middle school, but I haven’t reached out to anyone since then. I make resolutions for the year, and while my January resolutions are about living a better life, I like to focus my Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur intentions on being a better person.

Like gossiping less and being more considerate than judgmental.”

ARIELLE KAPLAN is an editorial assistant at Alma.

�e most important thing you can do while you’re here is to ensure the world will be better when you’re not.

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32 | OCTOBER 2019

Jewish Rhode Island | jewishrhody.org

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IN HEBREW LANGUAGE CLASS, under the direction of teacher Janice Rosenfield, the middle-school students at Providence Hebrew Day School created beautiful bi-lingual birthday cards for Sam Weinreich of Memphis, Tennessee.

Weinreich, who is a Holocaust survivor, turned 100 this month. To commemorate this

milestone, he requested that 100 birthday cards be sent to him.

The students created nearly 50 cards, replete with colorful artwork, warm messages, and brachot [blessings] for Weinreich to enjoy many more years of good health and nachas [joy] from his family,

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Sunday, November 3, 2019 2:00pm—4:00pm Temple Beth-El 70 Orchard Ave Providence, RI 02906 Join the Rhode Island Jewish Historical Association in welcoming celebrated member Alan Hassenfeld of Hasbro, Inc., and Providence Journal staff writer and author G. Wayne Miller as special guests for our Annual Fall Meeting.

The event will be a discussion and signing of Miller's new book, "Kid Number One: A story of heart, soul and business, featuring Alan Hassenfeld and Hasbro."

For more information please contact the RIJHA at 401-331-1360 or info@rijha.org

OCTOBER 2019

jewishrhody.org | Jewish Rhode Island

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PHOTOS | STEPHANIE HAGUE

Clean-up time!

STAFF MEMBERS of the Jewish Alliance of Greater Rhode Island participated in international coastal clean-up day Sept.

23 with Save the Bay at Blackstone Park.

Thomas Lisi │ Office Managing Partner 155 South Main Street │ Suite 100 │ Providence, RI 02903 Phone 401.457.6735 │ Thomas.Lisi@marcumllp.com

marcumllp.com/cciamarcumllp.com

34 | OCTOBER 2019

Jewish Rhode Island | jewishrhody.org

COMMUNITY | SIMCHAS & WE ARE READ

WE ARE READ IN ISRAEL – Erica Denhoff of Brookline, Massachusetts, was recently at the Dead Sea in Israel. She is originally from Wickford. The photo was taken by Tammar Truzman.

A free MyFund account makes giving to your favorite charities quick and easy.

Enjoy consolidated giving and a single tax receipt.

Visit www.myfund.org.

All of our fundraising costs, including this ad, are paid by a trust.

The Jewish Alliance’s Eides Family J-Space After School program provides children with a safe place where there are opportunities to have fun, learn new skills, and develop in positive and healthy ways (including literacy-based learning time to help students meet state-required reading levels). The Jewish Alliance Annual Campaign helps provide scholarship assistance so that more children have access to quality programs like J-Space.

“J-Space provides our children with a chance to learn more about Jewish culture, beliefs, and practices.

Those benefits have extended to our family time at home, and J-Space has helped us to feel at home and part of the community during our first year in Providence.

For that, we are extremely grateful.”

j-space

2020 ANNUAL CAMPAIGN At the Jewish Alliance of Greater Rhode Island we play many different roles for our diverse community: we nurture, partner, educate, enrich, serve, and convene.

Through the generosity of donors to the Alliance Annual Campaign, we are able to enrich the lives of thousands of people locally and around the world through programs, services, and partnerships. We care for the most at-risk in our community, energize Jewish life, respond to critical needs, and inspire future generations. Together, with your support, we translate Jewish values into wide-reaching impact.

To make your meaningful gift, please visit jewishallianceri.org or call 401.421.4111 ext. 165.

401 Elmgrove Avenue | Providence, RI | 401.421.4111 | jewishallianceri.org

Celebrate the 10th Anniversary of the A T

“

Loeb Visitors Center T O U R O

This year marks the tenth anniversary of the Ambassador John L. Loeb, Jr. Visitors Center at Touro Synagogue National Historic Site in Newport, Rhode Island.

The Center serves as the gateway to guided tours of Touro Synagogue, our nation’s oldest synagogue, dedicated in 1763.

Each year, thousands of people from around the world and across the United States visit the Synagogue and Loeb Visitors Center.

At a time when antiSemitism and other forms of religious intolerance are on the rise at home and to bigotry no worldwide, Rhode Islanders sanction, to can take pride in knowing persecution no that their state was the birthplace of American assistance religious freedom.

George Washington

”

S Y N A G O G U E

Roger Williams, John Clarke, Anne Hutchinson and others founded the Rhode Island colony as a place where anyone and everyone could hold their own religious beliefs, or none at all.

The Loeb Visitors Center tells the story of religious freedom and tolerance in Rhode Island. At the core of the Center’s exhibits is President George Washington’s 1790 letter to the Hebrew Congregation in Newport.

In his letter, Washington promised that the government of the United States would give “to bigotry no sanction, to persecution no assistance.” Washington’s words were meant for everyone -- in 1790 and today.

Recognizing the fruitful collaboration among these organizations:

To mark this anniversary, Ambassador John L. Loeb Jr., founder of the George Washington Institute for Religious Freedom that built the Visitors Center, invites all residents of Rhode Island to tour the Center and Touro Synagogue free of charge, until December 31, 2019.

No Dress Code Required.

Congregation Jeshuat Israel at Touro Synagogue

Touro Synagogue Foundation Newport Historical Society

The Museum of Newport Irish History Newport Restoration Foundation The Preservation Society of Newport County

Redwood Library & Athenaeum Discover Newport

Newport County Chamber of Commerce Touro Synagogue Foundation

Channing Memorial Unitarian Universalist Church Congregation Jeshuat Israel

The Church of Jesus Saviour Mt. Zion AME Church Newport Havurah

h FREE ADMISSION

Offering our Congratulations on the occasion of the 10th Anniversary of the Ambassador John L. Loeb Visitors Center

FREE BOOK

In celebration of the tenth anniversary of the Visitors Center, Ambassador Loeb is making a limited number of copies of Melvin I. Urofsky’s prize-winning book, A Genesis of Religious Freedom: The Story of the Jews of Newport, RI and Touro Synagogue, available free.

To receive a copy, please send an email with “Book Request” in the subject line to info@gwirf.org and include your name, address and phone number. To request by U.S. Mail, please write to The George Washington Institute for Religious Freedom, PO Box 670, Purchase, NY 10577.

Saint John the Evangelist Episcopal Church St. Augustin’s Church St. Joseph’s Church

St. Mary’s Catholic Church

St. Paul’s United Methodist Church St. Peter’s Lutheran Church Temple Shalom

Trinity Episcopal Church United Baptist Church

David Cicilline, U.S. Congressman, Rhode Island Jack Reed, U.S. Senator, Rhode Island Sheldon Whitehouse, U.S. Senator, Rhode Island

Photos courtesy of the George Washington Institute for Religious Freedom

Jamie Bova, Mayor, City of Newport

The Ambassador John L. Loeb Visitor Center at Touro Synagogue 52 Spring Street, Newport, RI 02840 (401) 847-0070 or (401) 847-4794 x 207 For Tour Schedule, Directions and Parking visit: www.tourosynagogue.org For a Virtual Tour of Center exhibits visit: www.loebvisitors.org