June 8, 2018

Volume XXIV, Issue XI | www.jvhri.org Serving Rhode Island and Southeastern Massachusetts

25 Sivan 5778 | June 8, 2018

Celebrating Israel at 70 in the streets of New York

BY KARA MARZIALI With Israeli flags waving, tens of thousands marched in the 54th annual Celebrate Israel parade on Sunday, June 3. The historic event, which celebrates Israel’s statehood, was organized by Israel’s Ministry of Culture and New York’s Israeli Consulate.

Among those marching were New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio, Governor Andrew Cuomo, Israel’s Consul General in New York Dani Dayan, Israel’s Ambassador to the UN Danny Danon and Israeli Culture Minister Miri Regev. They were joined in CELEBRATION | 19

FATHER’S DAY

PHOTO | MICHELLE CICCHITELLI

On Yom Ha’Shoah, participants from around the world marched through Auschwitz on the 30th anniversary of March of the Living

March of the Living: walking the walk More than 15,000 Jews from around the world participated in the 30th anniversary of the March of the Living this year. This annual educational program consists of a week in Poland, learning the history of the Holocaust, followed by a week in Israel showing the survival and triumph of the

Jewish people.

Twice during the two weeks, all 15,000 participants gathered together, first on Yom Ha’Shoah, Holocaust Remembrance Day, marching from Auschwitz to Birkenau, as a tribute to all victims of the Holocaust, and then again on Yom Ha’Atzmaut, Israel Independence Day, marching

to the Old City in Jerusalem.

This year, ten local high school students were a part of this life-changing trip, which was made possible thanks to the generosity of the Ross Family Fund along with Touro Fraternal Association, the Sandra MARCH | 19

JCDSRI presents its Zimriyah song festival at the Dwares Jewish Community Center

BY NAOMI SCHORSCH STEIN

PHOTOS | JCDSRI

With a twinkle in their eyes and a song in their hearts, JCDSRI students pay homage to Israel.

May 24 was a first for the Jewish Community Day School of Rhode Island and for Rhode Island’s Jewish community, as the school presented its annual Zimriyah, a Hebrew song festival, in the social hall of the Alliance’s Dwares Jewish Community Center.

Holding the event in the Providence JCC broadened the audience and helped strengthen community ties.

Zimriyah is a musical celebration of the Hebrew language and Israel that is much beloved

by JCDSRI students, parents and friends. The music, which is part of the school’s Hebrew curriculum, includes traditional and modern songs, religious songs and modern Israeli songs.

The theme for this year’s festival was a tribute to Israel and a celebration of Israel’s 70th birthday. As part of the preparation for the festival, 70 facts about Israel were incorporated into the school’s curriculum.

In the weeks leading up to Zimriyah, the halls of the JCDSRI were filled with singing.

“Singing is considered a best ZIMRIYAH | 18

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COMMUNITY

The Courage to Resist

INSIDE Business 21-22 Calendar 10 Community 2-5, 7, 11-12, 17-20 D’var Torah 7 Father’s Day 15-16 Food 13 Graduation 14 Israel 7 Nation 22, 25 Obituaries 24 Opinion 8-9 Seniors 23 Simchas | We Are Read 27

THIS ISSUE’S QUOTABLE QUOTE “It has become crystal clear to me that fatherhood is just like fishing.”

The Jewish Voice

BY LEV POPLOV There are many different approaches that the Sandra Bornstein Holocaust Education Center (SBHEC) employs to teach Rhode Island students about the Holocaust. As with all educational efforts, the most effective are the ones that engage, and connect with students on a deeply personal level, causing them to ask questions and develop their own answers.

SBHEC’s Annual Sandra and Stanley Abrams Art and Writing Contest is one such effort.

Each year the contest poses a question, or topic to address, and gives students the opportunity to find their own answers and express what they learn in a variety of mediums.

The topic for the 2018 contest was “The Courage to Resist,” and invited students to explore an area of the Holocaust that is not always given the attention it deserves because it challenges many preconceived notions that people bring to Holocaust studies.

The contest inspires hundreds of middle school students to submit their answers using a full range of artistic impression. Over the years SBHEC has received entries in the form of short stories, poems, paintings, sculptures,

Gastfreund Writing Award winner Edie Tomka. video presentations and original music pieces. They are always pleased and honored by the number, and quality, of the entries received.

Often there are so many good entries it can be very difficult for the board of directors to decide who to give awards to.

And that was surely the case this year.

Judith Jameison, SBHEC’s

most recent past president, presided over the ceremony, offered a welcome message from the board and introduced current President Judge Edward Newman, who greeted the students, their teachers, and families. Board member Lilliane Birch and special guest Betty Jaffe presented the first, second, third place and honorable mention awards in each category and grade level. Ms. Jaffe is “thrilled to have so many students participate. At their age it is very evident that they understand hate and the impact of the Holocaust and Genocide.” She is impressed not only by their talent but how they understand the concept.

In addiion, there are three special awards given each year.

After recounting her family’s Holocaust story Deborah Gastfreund Schuss awarded the Gastfreund Writing Award for the top written entry to Edie Tomka of Mount Saint Charles Academy. Upon receiving the award Ms. Tomka read her deeply moving, and original, short story of two sisters with the courage to resist, which left not a dry eye in the house.

Next, second generation survivor Len Newman presented

the Singer Art Award, given each year to the top artistic interpretation of the topic. This year the quality of the entries was so good that the jury could not pick just one, so gave the award to three students. They are: Elie Arcand and Raphel Awa, both students at LaSalle Academy, and Russell Ide of Kingston Hill Academy.

Finally, without committed teachers, the Art and Writing Contest would never be as successful as it is. Each year the Starr Teacher Award is presented to two teachers who exemplify that commitment. This year Bob and Joyce Starr had the honor of awarding Donald Hogue of Mount Saint Charles Academy and Darlene Caroulo from the St. Kevin School.

As SBHEC Executive Director May-Ronny Zeidman stated when the event was winding down, “Once again I am blown away by how many entries we received and the quality of them. We are so pleased that the Art and Writing Contest engages so many Rhode Island students in deep and meaningful learning about the Holocaust and Genocide.”

LEV POPLOW is a Communications Consultant writing for the Bornstein Holocaust Center. He can be reached at levpoplow@gmail.com.

ESTABLISH YOUR LEGACY TODAY.

Invest in our Jewish community tomorrow.

Creating your legacy shows the ones you love most just how important they are to you because you are committing to their future. A legacy gift—such as an endowment—promises that your generosity and vision will have an impact far beyond your lifetime.

With a Jewish Federation Foundation legacy, you guarantee that the most vulnerable among us know they are not alone. You support community programs and services that welcome everyone.

You show your children and grandchildren how precious they are to you.

Through your Jewish Federation Foundation legacy, you have the power to ensure Jewish families will not just survive—they will thrive.

And that is timeless.

Your investments should grow with you—and for you.

For more information on ways to leave your Jewish legacy, please contact Trine Lustig, Vice President of Philanthropy, at tlustig@jewishallianceri.org or 401.421.4111 ext. 223.

Let’s grow together.

jvhri.org

COMMUNITY

June 8, 2018 |

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Women’s Alliance Endowment Fund selects annual grants Women and girls programming serve as the vision

BY JENNIFER ZWIRN Every year, the Women’s Alliance Endowment Fund (WAEF) of the Jewish Federation Foundation at the Jewish Alliance of Greater Rhode Island seeks proposals for its grants cycle, with priority given to innovative programs and services that benefit Jewish women and girls and have the potential for long-term impact.

Educational, civic, cultural, religious, and inter-group programs are considered, as well as services in the health and social services fields.

All Rhode Island, Southeastern Massachusetts and overseas Jewish organizations, agencies and synagogues with missions that fall within the purview of the Jewish Alliance are encouraged to participate.

This year, on May 23 the Women’s Alliance Endowment Fund members gathered for their annual meeting, presided over by outgoing chair Margaret Lederer, to determine local and overseas grants to be made available in the coming fiscal year. Those in attendance had some difficult decisions to make as the 20 proposals (8 local and 12 overseas) received totaled nearly $29,900 in requests, though $7,700 was available to allocate. As a result, some very worthwhile programs will go unfunded. In attendance were incoming co-chairs, motherdaughter pair Diane Ducoff and Michelle Miller.

This year’s grant awards were tightly connected to the WAEF mission. The 11 programs to receive grants this year are compelling initiatives that members of the Women’s Alliance Endowment Fund believe will provide lasting impact and social

change for women and girls.

This year’s new programs include the Israel Association for Child Protection’s Cyberbullying Prevention for Girls, Congregation Beth David’s Family Friendly Series, and Congregation Mishkon Tfiloh’s Girls Write. Also to be funded are local programs: JCDS’s Girl Power Lunch Program, Congregation Beth Sholom’s Women, Torah, and Leadership Series, and Camp JORI’s professional development workshops. Programs to be funded in Israel are: Dr. Israel Goldstein Youth Village’s Musical Bands, Haifa Rape Crisis Center’s therapy series, Refanah Healing Holidays’ Weekend Getaways for breast cancer patients, Ethiopian National Project’s Girls Holistic Empowerment, and the Israel Center for Maternal Health’s Multi-Risk Mother & Child Therapy Series.

The Jewish Federation Foundation holds the community’s $59M endowment assets including the assets of the WAEF. As of June 30, 2017, the WAEF fund’s value was $163,120. This year’s strategy to grow the fund was successful by recruiting new members and encouraging membership renewals. The committee worked diligently to recruit five new members, and the WAEF now has over 120 participants contributing to the fund.

You can add to the goals of this group by joining the WAEF and participating in the annual grants cycle.

Whether in Rhode Island, Israel or around the world, the Women’s Alliance Endowment Fund supports programs and services aiming to make a difference in the lives of women and girls. For more information on joining WAEF, contact Jennifer Zwirn at jzwirn@jewishallianceri.org or ext. 102.

JENNIFER ZWIRN is director of community development for the Jewish Alliance of Greater Rhode Island.

Send us your news now!

Remember to send us your news and simchas before we take a vacation. Our last issue before The Voice’s summer break is June 22. Then we will be back in your mailbox Aug. 10.

Contact us via email: editor@jewishallianceri. org.

Regular mail reaches us at Editor, The Jewish Voice, 401 Elmgrove Ave., Providence, RI 02906.

Our website, jvhri.org, will be up and running all summer long so check us out!

Future Jewish community leaders meet with Rabbi Josh Elkin.

New initiative supports emerging leaders Ensuring the success and growth of local Jewish organizations is essential to the work of the Jewish Alliance of Greater Rhode Island, and that includes supporting leaders.

On May 16, 15 emerging leaders from Jewish organizations, synagogues and the Jewish Alliance gathered at a private home to discuss effective change management with Rabbi Josh Elkin. Rabbi Elkin, who has deep family ties to Rhode Island, is a seasoned Jewish educator and leadership

coach based in Newton, Massachusetts. Members of this initiative, chaired by Mark Feinstein, met in December with Rabbi Elkin for an introductory session.

The attendees, many of whom serve on boards or are incoming board members representing eight organizations, had the opportunity to discuss their insights on change. The content was diverse, and included bestpractices from experts in the field and exploring change in relationship to the story of the Jewish people leaving Egypt.

Brauna Doidge, incoming president of Congregation Beth Sholom said, “Rabbi Josh Elkin

wove together contemporary thinking on leadership with Jewish sources in a masterful, practical way. It was wonderful to meet with other active members of the greater Rhode Island community to talk about the common challenges we face.”

This group will continue to meet in the fall. If you are interested in nominating someone for the program or being a participant, please contact Jennifer Zwirn at jzwirn@jewishallianceri.org Submitted by Stephanie Hague of the Jewish Alliance of Greater Rhode Island.

4 | June 8, 2018

COMMUNITY

The Jewish Voice

The Jewish Museum in the historic Sons of Jacob synagogue restoration The Rhode Island Jewish Museum (RIJM) is situated in the Sons of Jacob Synagogue at 24 Douglas Avenue, Providence, RI, a treasure created by newly arrived immigrants from Russia, Poland and Austria.

We are all descended from immigrants, and this building shows the aspirations of a group of Jewish refugees whose spirit continues to inspire all of us. During that same era nearly two dozen synagogues were chartered in the city, and this building is the last one standing. It was an important building for the Jewish community.

The Providence Journal reported in 1906 that thousands of people had lined the streets to cheer on the procession, led by a marching band and nearly 300 Hebrew school children, when Torah scrolls were transferred into the newly erected building.

The museum has begun the structural renewal of an entire section of toppled brick in the side rear of the building; this was removed, cleaned up and rebuilt, as can be seen in the before and after pictures. Masonry work has also been done on exterior areas of concern.

In addition, plumbing facility needs have been updated.

An architectural firm has been engaged to prepare a proposal for other repairs and to make a master plan for the Museum. Twenty four Douglas Avenue is listed on the National Register of Historical Places, on the Providence Preservation Society’s Most Endangered Property List, and RIJM is a 501 (c) (3) nonprofit organization.

In addition to the exterior, the

The historic Sons of Jacob Synagogue interior is also in the process of being restored. A RIJM Gallery room has been cleaned up and set aside for programs, art shows and visiting lecturers.

Many exciting events have been held at the Museum this year.

On February 18, one of the museum board members was married in the main sanctuary of the Sons of Jacob Synagogue and the signing of the ketubbah was in the museum gallery. On April 28, the museum was part of a tour sponsored by Encuentro 2018 - The 3rd National Convening of Latinos in Heritage Preservation and the 33rd Annual Rhode Island Statewide Historic Preservation Conference. Providence College classes have been hosted in the RIJM gallery as well.

The building is one of four synagogues in Rhode Island chosen by Rabbi Raphie Schochet, who will give a historical

overview of each of these buildings.

David H. Wells, an award winning freelance photographer/ videographer, created a visual narrative of four Sons of Jacob congregants who told their stories, which he coupled with exquisite supporting images. This will be shown at our RIJM open houses and at other engagements.

For more information, visit rhodeisla ndjew ish museu m. org, which tells the RIJM story and features an historic map of the Smith Hill Neighborhood from the early 1900s (courtesy of Arthur Robbins).

Come visit the museum at one of the open houses on the following Sundays in 2018: June 24 (10 a.m.-12.p.m.), July 29 (1-3 p.m.), August 19 (1-3 p.m.), September 16 (1-3 p.m.), October 28 (1-3 p.m.), November 25 (1-3 p.m.) and December 30 (1-3 p.m.).

Before: The section of toppled brick on the side rear of the building.

After: The same section of the building after repair.

EDITOR Fran Ostendorf DESIGN & LAYOUT Leah Camara ADVERTISING DEPARTMENT Chris Westerkamp cwesterkamp@jewishallianceri.org 401-421-4111, ext. 160 Karen Borger ksborger@gmail.com 401-529-2538

CONTRIBUTORS Cynthia Benjamin Seth Chitwood Stephanie Ross Sam Serby COLUMNISTS Michael Fink Rabbi James Rosenberg Daniel Stieglitz THE JEWISH VOICE (ISSN number 1539-2104, USPS #465-710) is published biweekly, except in July, when it does not publish.

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jvhri.org

A conversation with the spiritual leader of Kollel

BY BEN GOLDBERG Rabbi Schochet is the Rosh Kollel of the Providence Community Kollel. He spent his childhood in Johannesburg, South Africa but eventually came to the US to study at the Ner Israel Rabbinical College. He spent 18 years there, receiving a masters in Talmudic Law and Rabbinic ordination.

R’ Raphie was the director of the Baltimore chapter of SEED, an organization that helps stimulate the growth of Jewish communities across the country through innovative summer programming.

When not studying or teaching, he has a passion for history and spending time outdoors with his children.

Q: Who do you consider to be your Rebbe? Is there something from his teachings that you wouldn’t mind sharing?

A: Rabbi Tzvi Berkowitz, Shlit”a and Rabbi Yaakov Weinberg ob”m. Rabbi Berkowitz said, “No task is too big, just get started and work your way through it step by step.” And Rabbi Weinberg reminds us, “You have a responsibility to the Klal (the Jewish People) but remember that no one is indispensable.”

Q: If you could have a one hour chavrusa session with anybody throughout history, who would it be and why?

A: Rabbi Moshe Chaim Luzzato [prominent Italian Jewish rabbi, kabbalist, and philosopher]. His incredible ability to organize and present complex material in a lucid and orderly fashion blows my mind.

Q: What are some of your favorite things about living in Providence, and what are some of the most challenging?

A: I love the fact that people live so simply here and do not seem too caught up in “keeping up with the Joneses.” However, I am saddened and challenged by the divisions in our community and the lines that are so rigidly drawn between different segments of the community.

I know we have our differences; I just wish we could talk about them and find our common ground as well.

Q: What would you say is your favorite Shabbos dish?

A: Fresh potato kugel.

Q: If you had to pick, what would you say is your favorite holiday? Why? A: Sukkot. I love the fact that it creates a forum to invite so many different people into my home to be completely – and quite literally – enveloped in their Jewish identity.

Q: Favorite Nigun (Jewish song)?

Rabbi Schochet A: “Yedid Nefesh.” In the waning hours of Shabbos, you can feel how the soul is yearning to stay in touch with its higher spiritual calling, and this song expresses it so eloquently.

Q: What are some of your favorite spots in Israel and why?

A: I love the alleyways of Yerushalyim (Jerusalem) where you feel and imbibe holiness at every step. The simplicity and piety of that life is overwhelming to me.

Q: Overall, what would you say is your favorite part of being a rabbi?

A: I enjoy my interactions with many different types of people I meet through my work – and the amazing insights and understandings I gain from them.

Q: Would you mind sharing a recent memory or experience that you found impactful?

A: I get to work with so many different people who make such amazing sacrifices for their Jewish life it is really special.

For confidentiality reasons I would not go into specifics but suffice to say, from youth to elderly these people are all amazing.

Q: Any insights into this week’s parshah that you could give?

A: The verse states “and we were in their eyes like grasshoppers.” I believe the issue is not so much that they thought they were puny in the eyes of the inhabitants, but they saw themselves as insignificant in the sense they would be unable to effect any change. This is a mistake. It is good to be humble and not have an exaggerated sense of self, however, we have to have a healthy self-esteem that allows us to accomplish things and not to see ourselves as an insignificant bug.

BEN GOLDBERG is the digital media associate for the Jewish Alliance of Greater Rhode Island.

COMMUNITY

June 8, 2018 |

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A chance to say ‘goodbye’ to Tslil Reichman A farewell party will be held for Tslil Reichman, the community’s outgoing shlichah (Israeli emissary), on Wednesday, June 13, at the Alliance’s Dwares Jewish Community Center.

Well-wishers may drop in from 5:15 to 6:45 p.m. Light refreshments will be served.

Following a second summer at Camp JORI, Reichman will have finished a two-year assignment in a program that is sponsored by the Jewish Alliance of Greater Rhode Island and the Jewish Agency for Israel. She has appeared around the state and has taught in most of the congregational schools and both day schools, and has worked weekly with children of all ages at the Dwares JCC (including the David C. Isenberg Family Early Childhood Center and the Eides Family J-Space).

For adults, she has prepared monthly Jewish culture nights,

which have included films, lectures and food programs. The Yom HaZikaron (Israeli Memorial Day) program was a significant event she has planned each year. She also planned a memorial program a month following the death of Shimon Peres and a commemoration of Yitzhak Rabin. She has made presentations at congregations and at a number of organizations. She has been a weekly presence on the Brown and University of Rhode Island campuses. She has been welcomed by other communities, where she told the story of her mother’s Iraqi family and served as a counselor for Israeli Scouts who spent a week in California.

Celebrate Reichman’s accomplishments. For more information, contact Larry Katz at lkatz@jewishallianceri.org or 401-421-4111.

PHOTO | FRAN OSTENDORF

Tslil Reichman at an Alliance event.

6 | June 8, 2018

The Jewish Voice

ANNUAL MEETING

Wednesday, June 13 | 7:00pm Dwares JCC | 401 Elmgrove Avenue, Providence

Board Installations: Jewish Alliance of Greater Rhode Island Jewish Federation Foundation Alliance Realty, Inc. Presentation of Leadership Awards Reception to follow

LEADERSHIP AWARDS 2018 - 2019 Proposed Slate of Officers and Board Jewish Alliance of Greater Rhode Island Chair Mitzi Berkelhammer Vice Chairs Rabbi Barry Dolinger, Governance Janet Goldman, Community Development James Pious, Philanthropy (Chair Elect) Oswald Schwartz, Jewish Life & Learning Richard Silverman, Communications Treasurer Harris Chorney Board of Directors Jason Bazarsky Adam Cable Susan Leach DeBlasio Michael Eides Donna Evans Ryan Forman Susan Odessa Froehlich, Leadership Development Marisa Garber Marc Gertsacov Richard Glucksman, Community Relations Council Robert Landau Shoshana Lew Sara Miller, Chair Appointee Cara Mitnick Vincent Mor Mara Ostro

2018 Kipnis-Wilson/Friedland Award Presented to Sharon Gaines Joseph W. Ress Community Service Award Presented to Rabbi Wayne Franklin Rabbi Alvan & Giveret Marcia Kaunfer Day School Educator Award Presented to Emily Dennen, Jewish Community Day School

Judy Rosenstein Cheryl Greenfeld Teverow, Chair Appointee Miriam Esther Weiner Faye Wisen Rabbi Rachel Zerin, Rabbinical Representative Honorary Directors Melvin G. Alperin Alan G. Hassenfeld Sharon Gaines, Immediate Past Chair Adam Greenman, President and CEO

2018 - 2019 Proposed Jewish Federation Foundation of Greater Rhode Island Board Sharon Gaines, Chair Robert Sherwin, Vice Chair Melvin Alperin Robin Engle H. Jack Feibelman Mark Feinstein David Hirsch Marilyn Kaplan Scott Libman Richard Licht Michael Nulman Ralph Posner Jay Rosenstein Steven Shalansky, Treasurer Mathew Shuster Herbert Stern Cheryl Greenfeld Teverow, Secretary Mindy Wachtenheim

2018 - 2019 Proposed Alliance Realty, Inc. Board Ronald C. Markoff, Chair Robert Stolzman, Vice Chair Sharon Gaines, Secretary/Treasurer Adam Greenman, President and CEO

jvhri.org COMMUNITY |

D’VAR TORAH | ISRAEL

June 8, 2018 |

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Even in the Land of Milk and Honey there was “fake news”

Israel’s conversion laws may be getting stricter

BY BEN SALES JTA – Jewish converts in America may have a much harder time being accepted in Israel because of a new set of regulations proposed by Israel’s Chief Rabbinate.

If adopted, some activists in Israel say, the new guidelines for religious courts could drive a deeper wedge between Israel and Diaspora Jewry.

The Chief Rabbinate, which controls Jewish marriage, divorce, conversion and burial in the Jewish state, is largely run by haredi Orthodox leaders. For years, it has clashed with rabbis in America – even Orthodox ones – who have more liberal interpretations of Jewish law.

The Chief Rabbinate does not consider non-Orthodox Judaism to be valid, so it does not accept the authority of Conservative and Reform rabbis. And in recent years, it has had a series of public disputes with Orthodox rabbis whose authority it rejects.

This week, hoping to clarify exactly which Orthodox rabbis meet its standards, the Chief Rabbinate published a list of draft criteria for religious courts in the Diaspora. If a religious court meets the criteria, the Jewish conversions it conducts will be recognized by the Chief Rabbinate. If not, the Chief Rabbinate will not consider its converts Jewish.

The same goes for Jewish ritual divorces: The Chief Rabbinate will accept them only if they are performed by a qualified religious court.

This matters for non-Israeli converts and divorcees if they ever want their religious or marital status recognized in Israel. Those who convert in America under an unrecognized religious court, for example, would not be able to marry in Israel because the Chief Rabbinate controls Jewish marriage there.

Likewise, divorced individuals would not be able to remarry in Israel if their Jewish divorce is not recognized. Children from a female convert’s second marriage would be forbidden to

marry a Jew. The document’s language is in the past tense, which means it could apply retroactively – rejecting the status of Jewish converts who formerly were accepted in Israel. In other words, a convert accepted by the Chief Rabbinate this year could be rejected next year.

The criteria state that rabbis must demonstrate fealty to Orthodox Jewish law and be endorsed by a major Orthodox organization. This means that non-Orthodox rabbis and rabbinical courts will be rejected.

Ad hoc religious courts, often set up in small communities for a specific person’s conversion, also will not be approved.

If two courts are serving the same population of Jews, only one will receive approval.

Courts that want to apply for approval must submit their rabbis to an exam on Jewish law administered by the Chief Rabbinate.

The Chief Rabbinate says the criteria are an attempt to set transparent, objective standards – but critics are calling the criteria demeaning and overly strict. Itim, an Israeli nonprofit that works to navigate and challenge the Chief Rabbinate’s bureaucracy, called the list a “power grab.”

“These ‘criteria’ show the Chief Rabbinate’s disdain for world Jewry, blatant attempt at power consolidation, and profoundly un-Jewish approach,” Rabbi Seth Farber, Itim’s founder and director, said in a statement. “Itim will fight this using every legislative and legal tool available.”

“The proposal creates a reality in which the Israeli rabbinate extends its monopoly over Jews’ personal status in areas of marriage and divorce [even] beyond Israel,” Shuki Friedman, director of the institute’s Center for Religion, Nation and State, said in a statement. “Thus the rift between Israel and Diaspora Jewry could grow, many Jews around the world may feel alienated, and immigration to Israel could decline.”

In this week’s parashah, representatives from each of the twelve tribes are chosen to scout out the land of Canaan. These emissaries are sent into the Holy Land to do reconnaissance on RABBI the produce, SARAH the land and MACK the inhabitants.

After forty days, the scouts return to report that the land is indeed flowing with milk and honey and abundant produce. They also note that the inhabitants are powerful and the cities fortified.

Then, the majority of the spies offer a report that distorts the details – what we

might today label “fake news.”

They tell tales of giants who made them feel like grasshoppers who exceed every horrifying expectation.` Their fear-mongering works and the Israelites hysterically weep and cry.

Only Joshua and Caleb honestly report the details of the land. They exhort the Israelites not to fear, for God is with them.

One rabbi points out that, in giving the spies their assignment, Moses had said, “Go up ... into the hill country, and see what kind of country it is...” (Numbers 13:17-8). This commentator imagines Moses saying, “See the Land of Israel from the perspective of the generations, from the view of eternity, in the air of the summit, of ascent, of loftiness.”

From the grand perspective

at the top of the mountain they would surely see possibility, a future filled with blessing.

From that height, they would know that they could overcome the challenges on the ground.

Instead, the majority of the emissaries, overwhelmed by distrust and panic, see only the lowly, limited perspective.

We have the same choice. We can take the long view knowing that the future is bright with possibility. Or we can choose to be bogged down in the suspicion and despair that comes from seeing only what is in front of us in the moment.

May we choose the perspective of Joshua and Caleb – envisioning the possibilities before us rather than the limitations of our challenges so that together we may proceed forward to bounty and blessing.

Meaning and awareness in daily life Rabbi Barry Dolinger, opening the Jewish Alliance’s semiannual Rosh Hodesh program May 22, asked participants to explain the old Yiddish expression, “Ah tzaddik in peltz,” translated as “a righteous person in a fur coat.” What followed was a lively discussion around finding meaning and awareness in our daily lives, which are full of constant distraction and anxiety.

Rabbi Dolinger who is the spiritual leader at Congregation Beth Sholom, a modern-orthodox synagogue on the East Side of Providence, has pursued mindfulness work and teaching for many years.

In addition to exploring Jewish texts around the topic, attendees also participated in a silent meditation. At the conclusion, women had the opportunity to reflect on this experience and share how they reacted physically and emotionally.

The Jewish Alliance of Greater Rhode Island hosts two Rosh Hodesh programs every year.

Rabbi Dolinger spoke on Jewish meditation at the Rosh Hodesh event.

The next program will take place in Fall 2018.

Contact Daniel le G ermanowski at 401-421-4111, ext.

109 or email dgermanowski@

Candle Lighting Times Greater Rhode Island June 8 June 15 June 22 June 29

8:01 8:04 8:06 8:06

jewishallianceri.org Submitted by Stephanie Hague Jewish Alliance of Greater Rhode Island

8 | June 8, 2018

OPINION

A plea for civility

Each time we put out a paper, we try to strike a delicate balance. How do we include all the many viewpoints and members of our community? Despite our singularsounding name, we are not just one Voice, but many voices.

EDITOR In fact, it has been sugFRAN gested that OSTENDORF we consider changing our name to The Jewish Voices!

Our community is a diverse one: right, left and center politically, with a wide range of religious practices. Some of us are more observant than others, but most of us don’t condemn others for the way they practice. In a modern, forward-thinking version of Judaism, most of us understand that there’s room for many interpretations.

After four years as editor of this community’s newspaper, I have observed that there are just as many definitions of what it means to be proIsrael. Right, left or center, everyone has his or her own interpretation of what this means. And shouldn’t that be OK too? After all, while we may not agree on the means, we all want the Jewish state to flourish.

There are many local and national groups working for

a thriving, peaceful Israel.

They all have different ideas on how to accomplish the same goal. Shouldn’t we all be able to civilly listen to those whose views we may not agree with?

We get many letters, columns, calls and emails from readers about issues surrounding Israel. We welcome each and every one. But let’s try to understand that all have one goal in common: everyone wants what’s best for our Jewish homeland.

Accusations and nastiness don’t advance anyone’s cause.

Disagreeing about important details or strategies doesn’t make us anti-Israel. There is enough unrest in the Middle East. Let’s quell the unrest in our own small but diverse community.

We want to give everyone space to express their opinions. But please remember to be civil and refrain from attacking opinions – and writers – you don’t agree with.

Let’s get a dialogue going where we can respectfully express our opinions – and hear what others are saying.

During our summer publishing break, I’m organizing a point-counterpoint forum for our opinion pages. We will cover a variety of topics, in addition to Israel – I’m open to suggestions on these topics.

Please send me an email, at editor@jewishallianceri. org, if you are interested in participating or have ideas on other topics for these forums.

Can Saudi women say, “We’ve come a long way, Baby?”

Much has changed for Saudi women. But has it really?

Unless you’ve been living under a rock, no doubt you’ve heard that Saudi Arabia has issued driving licenses to a handful of women for the first time.

Yet even with the freedom to drive, there are still limits on what Saudi women may do.

Lifting the nationwide driving ban on June 24 does not allow for wholesale change for our feminine counterparts in that country. Many are still treated like property.

Saudi Arabia’s current laws mandate that women request permission from a male relative for the kinds of decisions you – female readers – and I make without much thought.

Is it not obvious these women are robbed of independence, individuality and self-determination?

Look how long it took for some of the simplest rights to be granted to Saudi women.

Seventeen years ago women were allowed to get personal ID cards, but only with express

permission from their guardians. 2005 saw the end of forced marriages (at least on paper).

Five years ago women were allowed to ride bicycles and motor bikes. A mere three years ago, women were given the right to vote and run for office.

And earlier this year, Saudi women were finally allowed in sport stadiums and movie theaters.

Most Saudi women see these incremental changes as the evolution to a modernized society and embrace the advancement.

They envision themselves as pioneers of progress in a maledominated society. They foresee telling their children and grandchildren about these historic and heroic events.

Reminiscent of the 1970s Virginia Slims ads touting the progress of repressed women smokers, this change has been a long time coming. However, the spunky, American feminist in me wants to scream, “Noooooooo! You have not come far enough.”

Kara Marziali, Cranston, RI

The Jewish Voice

Silent no more: Women Yiddish writers During the first weekend in May, my wife, Sandy, and I returned, yet again, to the Yiddish Book Center, in Amherst, Massachusetts.

From Friday evening until Sunday at noon, we explored the topic “Yiddish Women IT SEEMS Writers Reclaimed.”

TO ME Anita Norich, a RABBI JIM professor of ROSENBERG English and Judaic Studies at the University of Michigan, guided those present through four intense and illuminating discussions focusing on a number of women Yiddish writers of poetry and prose, the majority of whose works were published in the first half of the 20th century.

We devoted most of our study time to a close reading of texts in English translation, as well as, selectively, in the Yiddish original.

The reading material was sent to the participants several weeks prior to the program.

All of us were struck by the vitality, daring and rebellious spirit of the poetry and prose. The underlying theme uniting these diverse women writers was their demand to be heard, their demand to give voice to their deepest selves without fear, without shame.

Their brave new words defy the strictures of their patriarchal Jewish world. As a group, they proclaim: “We will be silent no more!”

Like many of the women writers discussed during the weekend, Anna Margolin (18871952) refuses in her poetry to be locked into a single identity.

She seems to be telling her readers, “Do not try to identify me in ways that you think you know me. I am the person I choose to be; I am the many different individuals I choose to be.”

In “Once I was Young,” Margolin “shapeshifts” her way

through time and space and, perhaps, the Yiddish original suggests, through gender. As a young girl (boy), she (he) “hung out / in doorways listening to Socrates ….”

“Then came Caesar and a world / glittering with marble … / … For my bride, / I picked out my proud sister.”

In this poem, Margolin assumes many selves. She sits in the presence of Socrates in ancient Athens, and – impossibly, except in the world of imagination – hundreds of years later, she is in Caesar’s Rome, where she suggests, transgressively, that her bride could be her sister.

Insisting upon her right as a woman to celebrate sexual desire in the fullness of its agony and ecstasy, Celia Dropkin (1887-1956) loads her poem “The Acrobat” with erotically charged imagery: “I dance between daggers / erected in the ring / tips up.” She ends her poem of 19 compressed lines with “I want – my blood warming / your bare tips – / to fall.”

In her poem “Widowhood,” Malka Heifetz Tussman (18931987) echoes Dropkin’s claim to sexual enjoyment, even when she finds herself a widow. “My name is Desire,” she proudly proclaims, as she refuses to renounce “the wailing in my flesh.” On multiple levels, Tussman’s poem expresses a fierce and ferocious hunger to live life in all its fullness, even after her husband’s death.

“God of Mercy,” written in 1945, just as the full horror of the Holocaust was coming to light, is the best-known poem

by Kadya Molodovsky (18941975); indeed, “God of Mercy” could well be the best-known poem by any woman Yiddish writer.

In a burst of bitter rebellion, Molodovsky turns on its head the traditional notion of us Jews being God’s chosen people: “O God of Mercy / For the time being / Choose another people. / We are tired of death / tired of corpses, / We have no more prayers. / Choose another people. / We have run out of blood / For victims.”

The poet continues for

another 29 angry lines, finally urging God to “[t]ake back the divine glory of our genius.” The original Yiddish for the word translated as “divine glory” is shechinah; in both Yiddish and Hebrew, shechinah refers to the indwelling presence of God. In the aftermath of Auschwitz, Molodovsky – audaciously, defiantly – tells God to go away and leave us alone, even though God has for millennia been the source, the very root, of Jewish genius.

In addition to deepening our appreciation of several poets, Norich directed discussions of a number of prose works by Yiddish women writers who display the same conventionshattering defiance as their sister poets. They refuse to remain trapped in the cage of traditional Jewish patriarchy.

Esther Singer Kreitman (1891-1954), sister of world-renowned writer Isaac Bashevis Singer, is but one of many examples. In her novel “Deborah” (1946), published in Yiddish in 1936, the leading character expresses her profound contempt for the Polish Hasidic family into which she has entered through an arranged marriage: “It positively reeked of poverty and wretchedness ….

She noticed a fly on a yellow flypaper, suspended from the ceiling, struggling furiously to escape the fate of the scores of its fellows that had long since given up the struggle and lay dead in the sticky mess. But this one refused to yield, and in the end by forfeiting its leg it saved its life, and the mutilated remains flew away with a horrible buzzing noise. What a foul thing to have in the home – a cemetery of flies!”

The Yiddish women writers we encountered during the first weekend of May have found their voices; they are silent no more. To echo the words of Elie Wiesel, they reflect in their poetry and their prose souls on fire.

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

OUR APOLOGIES In “Memories of the old JCC,” on page 13 of the May 25 issue, we referred to the Judy Ann Levitt B’nai B’rith Girls. It should have been the Judy Ann Leven B’nai B’rith Girls. Our thanks to a reader for pointing that out.

COLUMNS | LETTERS POLICY

The Jewish Voice 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 The Jewish Voice or the Alliance.

Send letters and op-eds to: The Jewish Voice, 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).

jvhri.org

OPINION

June 8, 2018 |

9

“Religious Tolerance and Respect: Rebalancing the Jewish World”

BY CHARLES BRONFMAN With your permission, allow me to recall a day in early June of 1990 when I was similarly honored by the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. Yes, that was before most of you graduates were born!

You, like the Hebrew University graduates, are entering your professions in a fractious Jewish world. Let me quote from my address from 28 years ago and compare the questions I asked then to the realities of today.

“We, the Jewish people have accomplished one of the great feats in history – from the utter destruction of the Holocaust, we have risen to build a powerful and dynamic State of Israel and a vital and vibrant Diaspora Jewish community. We have gained levels of power, affluence and freedom unprecedented in Jewish history. We have demonstrated for all the world, that hope overcomes despair and life ultimately triumphs.

“Having literally resurrected the Jewish people, we must now address the next great challenge before us: that is, to determine the content and the purpose of this great regeneration.

Your careers will be filled with opportunities to determine a Jewish future, for which our past provides no roadmap.

“What does it mean to have returned to history after 2000 years? What is our mission as bearers of the covenant?

“We have been mandated to determine our future. No lon-

ger will outsiders determine our fate. That is now the responsibility of every Jew wherever she or he may live – a challenge as great as any that we have faced.”

The quotation continues, “I believe, with depth of heart, in the unity of the Jewish people, whose soul is in Jerusalem. I believe that if we, as a people, come to that same conclusion, we can achieve a greatness unthinkable until now. But I wonder, is that only a dream? Can it happen? Will it happen? If not, why not? Those of us who have worked intimately with Israeli and Diaspora Jews, must be aware that a rift has been developing, and, sad to say, increasing between us.

“We need to reflect deeply upon our relationship and we need to ask questions; questions that are urgent and crying out for answers. Will Israel become less central to Diaspora Jews in the coming years? Will disassociation and alienation, perhaps even collision, characterize the relationship? Will Israel find the Diaspora a source of frustration and provocation?

Will it view the concept of ‘we are one’ as an empty vessel? Is it to be a relationship of mere sentiment or a covenantal relationship in which the partners are unconditionally committed to each other and to the Jewish dream of perfecting the world?”

Unfortunately, those questions are as valid today as they were on that beautiful June day in Jerusalem in 1990. Perhaps

LETTERS Re: Rhode Island’s best kept secret (May 25) I read the article by Ira Fleisher regarding the Jewish War Veterans. He mentions Post No. 23 which was started after World War II. There was another Post and Auxillary started then also, Post No. 533 – SackinShocket.

My parents, Phil and Becky Woled, along with several other

couples, started No. 533. I don’t know if it still exists. I have fond memories as a child of meetings at my house, picnics and other functions and going with my father to sell poppys at Ann & Hope.

Ellen Gourse Warwick

Progressives and J Street Progressives criticize Israel and feel morally superior, thinking they know better than the Israeli electorate how to manage the country. “If only Israel would...” (fill in the blank), there would be peace. They ignore the Hamas Charter, easily found on the Internet, that calls for killing EVERY JEW ON EARTH. They ignore continued Palestinian rejection of the right of Israel to exist, and the continued funding of terrorism by the Palestinian Authority.

J-Street was against the US recognizing Jerusalem as Israel’s capital, and against moving of the US embassy to a site within the 1948 borders.

J-Street was against a law pre-

venting U.S. tax money from being used by the Palestinian Authority to pay lavish stipends to the families of terrorists who killed Israelis. How could any Jew be against Jerusalem being recognized as the capital of Israel? How can any Jew be for spending U.S. tax money to reward terrorism? Listening to a Palestinian peace activist may be nice, but is only a distraction from the reality that there is no groundswell of Palestinian support for a peace treaty. J-Street is a dangerous fifth column organization pretending to be pro-Israel, but consistently promoting anti-Israel positions.

Farrel I. Klein Providence, R.I.

even more so, for the rift grows wider and wider.

Recent and continuing surveys have demonstrated that Diaspora commitment to Israel is generational. Perhaps, those of us who are older forget that our children were not alive when Israel went through her birth pains, nor were they breathing during the awful darkness of the Holocaust.

Thus, to them, to some of you, the miracles of rebirth of which we speak are stories told in history books, not the emotional experiences we witnessed. Perhaps we also forget that the newfound strength, power and freedom of Jews, certainly in North America, as well as in other parts of the Diaspora world, has its own euphoria and perhaps our children have yet to realize that without a strong, moral and vibrant Israel, the status of Jews in the Diaspora would be very far from what it is. Certainly, we see this with those young people who visit Israel. The good news is that 20 years ago, one out of every eight young adults visited Israel; the overwhelming majority being Orthodox. Today, it is almost one out of every two, with the overwhelming majority being Reform or “just Jewish.”

Our souls are still seared by what happens in Israel. But do Israelis care enough about what happens in the global Jewish World? Can a Prime Minister really claim to be a guardian of the entire Jewish People when he reneges on a carefully crafted agreement knowing that he will suffer no political consequences at home? Indeed, he can, because this subject and others like it are of little or no concern to the vast majority of Israelis.

Most of you spent a year of study in Israel. You must have been as perplexed and angry as I am at the official rejection of your religious tradition of Judaism. We have but one Jewish State. It shocks me to the marrow of my bones that Conservative, Reform, liberal and Reconstructionist Judaism are legally unrecognized by the State of Israel. That indeed only one expression of our religion is officially sanctioned from birth to death and all the intervening mitzvot. Yes, other societies have, do and will discriminate against Jews, but it is only the State of Israel that bars official state recognition of what you, in this audience, so devoutly observe.

We all have friends in Israel who say, with a smile, “the synagogue I don’t go to is Orthodox!” That is not an accusation, it’s a fact. But it does reflect world Jewry in the eyes of Israelis, that same world Jewry that has built a network of academic Israel Studies programs. How many Diaspora studies programs exist in Is-

rael? How many journalists report on American Jewish life?

What is taught in middle and high schools about our communities? Israel comprises 43% of the Jewish people. Sadly, the remaining 57% is often taken for granted.

Yes, it is true that Israelis live a Jewish life on a Jewish calendar in a Jewish state. And yes, it is true that Diaspora Jews have to dig deep to live a Jewish life in a non-Jewish environment and on a non-Jewish calendar.

And yes, it is true that political and sociological norms of Israel are unique – so different from the norms in Diaspora countries. And yes, it is true that many Diaspora Jews despair about the perceived over-reaction of the IDF as portrayed on the television screen, while Israelis view the Defense Forces of Israel as paramount to their lives. And we can continue the “differences” discussion.

But this relationship is anything but a one-way street. We must do our part just as Israelis must do theirs in order to rescue the Jewish people from breaking apart.

Together, both Israeli Jews and world Jewry, saying “I’m okay, you’re okay” will, over the course of time, cause a decline of the Jewish people everywhere. Let’s make no mistake, the powerful and vibrant Diaspora and the powerful and dynamic State of Israel are inter-dependent. One cannot exist for long without the other.

In my view, what is needed is understanding, empathy, tolerance and the realization that we Jews are bound together by the Torah, and by our peoplehood.

Those qualities find expression in the amazingly successful Mifgash program of Birthright Israel.

Yes, Birthright had to come into this talk somewhere!!!

The Mifgash program includes eight Israelis, usually from the IDF, on every Birthright bus filled with young adult Diaspora Jews. The myths that one group has of the other are dispelled. The stereotypes disappear and deep lasting friendships are built within 5–10 days.

Incredible, but true.

Indeed, the most profound reason I joined with my dear friend Michael Steinhardt in initiating Birthright Israel was my ever-held belief in the necessity of Israeli and Diaspora Jews to interconnect. Only in that way can the dreams of our forebears be realized. And then the full contribution of Jews to the betterment of society can be accomplished. My own grandparents fled the pogroms of Russia and somehow through the intervention of the Jewish Colonization Association of Canada, reached the frozen provinces of Manitoba and Saskatchewan. What courage they had. What hardships

they endured. I pay homage to them every day. Their dreams and those of your forebears, my dreams and I hope your dreams are all the same. We are closer than ever to seeing them realized.

When Michael Steinhardt and I started Birthright Israel, we were constantly labelled as two stupid rich guys who were about to make fools of themselves. Yes it was risky but taking risks is part of leadership.

Being considered foolish is often an encouragement to succeed. So take risks and succeed.

A significant part of your education was about our blessed leaders through the millennia. One of them being President Rivlin. He accurately talks about the four tribes of Israel.

He went to Los Angeles last year and added a fifth tribe: that of Diaspora Jews. Those other four tribes play a dayto-day role in the political life of Israel. Shame on us for not being a constant and effective presence to ensure that “tribal” representation.

You also can be “blessed leaders.” Join me in realizing that action must be taken to prevent the breaking apart of the Jewish people.

How? Let’s establish a permanent, serious lobby in Jerusalem including both Israeli and North American Jewish groups. The time has come to demonstrate both the negatives as well as the positives that proposed Israeli legislation will have on North American Jewry. At the same time, we must heighten awareness of our vibrant communities, their importance to Israel and their real need to be recognized as full partners.

Two years after the establishment of the State of Israel, Prime Minister David Ben Gurion and Jacob Blaustein of the American Jewish Committee, published statements which defined the nature of the relationship between Israel and American Jewry. It is time to revisit the Ben Gurion-Blaustein covenants and to build upon their sense of respect, mutuality and shared destiny.

I congratulate each of you and am honored to be with you. I believe in you and look forward to your leadership in fulfilling our dream and our global mission.

Mazel tov!

EDITOR’S NOTE: This speech was given May 3 at the graduation ceremonies of Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion in New York. It is reprinted – with minor edits – with permission.

CHARLES BRONFMAN is a Canadian/American businessman and philanthropist. He is a cofounder of Taglit Birthright Israel.

10 | June 8, 2018

CALENDAR

The Jewish Voice

Ongoing

ages 5 and under and their caregivers listen to music, gather for stories, play games, create a craft, eat a snack and make new friends. All are welcome.

Free. Information or to RSVP, Dayna Bailen at dbailen@jewishallianceri.org or 401-421-4111, ext. 108.

Alliance Kosher Senior Café. Kosher lunch and program every weekday.

Dwares JCC, 401 Elmgrove Ave., Providence. Noon lunch; 1 p.m. program. $3 lunch donation from individuals 60+ or under 60 with disabilities. Neal or Elaine, 401-421-4111, ext. 107.

Temple Torat Yisrael’s Beach Shabbat.

6-7:30 p.m. Goddard Park, 1095 Ives Road, Warwick. Experience Kabbalat Shabbat with an informal, interactive family service with lots of singing. A beautiful way to say goodbye to the work week and welcome in Shabbat.

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

West Bay Kosher Senior Café. Kosher lunch and program every weekday.

Temple Sinai, 30 Hagen Ave., Cranston.

11:15 a.m. program; noon lunch. $3 lunch donation from individuals 60+ or under 60 with disabilities. Steve, 401743-0009.

Duplicate Bridge. Dwares JCC, 401 Elmgrove Ave., Providence. Mondays noon-2 p.m.: 0-20 masterpoint game.

For less-experienced players. $5 per day. Mondays and Wednesdays noon-3 p.m. Open stratified game for experienced players at all levels. $7 per day.

Tuesdays and Fridays 11 a.m.-2 p.m.

Open stratified game for players at all levels. $7 per day. Thursdays 1:30-3:30 p.m. Guided play. Beginners and those seeking to hone skills play under the guidance of nationally known instructor Bart Buffington. $6 per day. Information, Bart Buffington at abarton295@ aol.com or 401-390-9244.

Through June 28 Diverse Creative Approaches. Bunny Fain Gallery, Temple Habonim, 165 New Meadow Road, Barrington. Works of Nickerson B. Miles, Karen Murtha and Mural 5778 created by the Religious School classes are featured. Gallery hours are Wednesdays and Thursdays from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., Fridays from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. and by appointment. For information, call 401-245-6536 or email gallery@templehabonim.org.

Friday | June 8 Friday Night Live in Honor of our Volunteers & BBQ. 6-8:30 p.m. Temple Torat Yisrael, 1251 Middle Road, East Greenwich. Musical celebration of Shabbat followed by dinner. Adults and children over 12 $20 | 12 & younger free | Family max. $60. Information or to RSVP, Torat Yisrael office at 401885-6600.

LGBTQ Pride Shabbat. 7:30-8:45 p.m.

Temple Habonim, 165 New Meadow Road, Barrington. THB’s 7th Annual Pride Shabbat service will feature guest speaker Elana Rosenberg, executive director of Youth Pride, Inc., a drop-in center for young people and their allies.

She will speak about the services YPI provides. Free. Information, Jodi Sullivan at Temple Habonim office at 401-245-6536.

Saturday | June 9 Taste of Shabbat. 9-11 a.m. Temple Torat Yisrael, 1251 Middle Road, East Greenwich. 9 a.m. Torah discussion and 9:45 a.m. Service followed by light Kiddush.

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

Children’s Shabbat Program and Jr. Kiddush Club. 9:30-11:15 a.m.

Congregation Beth Sholom, 275 Camp St., Providence. Weekly program for children. Activities include prayer, parashah, play time and a special Kiddush. Three age groups: Tots, Pre-K thru 1st grade and 2nd grade and up.

Located in Kids Room, Social Hall and Chapel on the lower level. Information, office@bethsholom-ri.org.

Duplicate Bridge at the Dwares JCC. Kids’ Night Out: All about Animals. Ages 5-12: 5-10 p.m. Ages 2-5: 5-8:30 p.m. (extended times available). Dwares JCC, 401 Elmgrove Ave., Providence.

Children spend the evening with friends in a fun and safe environment, and parents get night out, “kid free.”

Themed activities include sports, crafts, swimming and more. A pizza dinner and snacks are served. For ages 2-5, make sure to send your child with PJs as each evening ends with a movie. Price: $35 | Members: $25 | Siblings: $15.

Information and registration for ages 2-5, Sheena Medeiros at smedeiros@ jewishallianceri.org or 401-421-4111, ext. 132. Information and registration for ages 5-12, Shannon Kochanek at skochanek@jewishallianceri.org or 401-421-4111, ext. 147.

Film: “Bagels Over Berlin.” 7-9 p.m.

Narragansett Community Center, 63 Mumford Road, Narragansett. Meet filmmaker Alan Feinberg, who will be at Congregation Beth David to introduce his documentary “Bagels Over Berlin,” based on interviews with Jewish Airmen who fought in the U.S. Army Air Corps during the World War II. Free.

Sponsored by Susan and Harvey Smith.

RSVP to info@cbdri.org.

Sunday | June 10 Men’s Club Breakfast with Guest Speaker John Torgan, Director of the Nature Conservancy. 9-11 a.m. Temple Torat Yisrael, 1251 Middle Road, East Greenwich. Breakfast at 9 a.m. Speaker at 9:30 a.m. Open to all. Information, Stephanie Reinsant at stephanie@ toratyisrael.org or 401-885-6600.

Monday | June 11 33rd Annual Dwares JCC Golf Classic.

11 a.m. Warwick Country Club, 394 Narragansett Bay Ave., Warwick.

Participation and support of the annual Golf Classic allows the Alliance to continue vital programs and services that benefit the entire community, including those who find themselves in difficult economic situations. 11 a.m. Registration; 11:30 a.m. Lunch; 1 p.m. Shotgun start; 5:30 p.m. Cocktails, dinner and awards. Information, contact Stephanie Hague at shague@jewishallianceri. org or 401-421-4111, ext. 127, or visit jewishallianceri.org.

“Mean What You Pray” Workshop: Making Jewish Prayer Meaningful through Theater Techniques. 7-9 p.m. Dwares JCC, 401 Elmgrove Ave., Providence. Presented and directed by Jason Slavick of JMS Coaching. Second of six workshops, using basic acting exercises. Each workshop is different – join any or all. Participants welcome

from all streams of Judaism. Funded by an Innovation Grant from the Jewish Alliance of Greater RI. Information, Alan Krinsky at adkrinksy@netzero.net.

Tuesday | June 12 Temple Torat Yisrael’s Lunch and Learn.

Noon-1:30 p.m. Gregg’s Restaurant, 4120 Quaker Lane, North Kingstown.

Each participant orders from the menu, and we study Jewish sources addressing current issues. Open to all. Information, Stephanie Reinsant at stephanie@ toratyisrael.org or 401-885-6600.

Yoga. 6-7 p.m. Temple Torat Yisrael, 1251 Middle Road, East Greenwich. Cost: $30 for 3 sessions paid in advance; $12 per session at the door. Bring a mat.

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

Wednesday | June 13 Farewell Party for Israeli Shlichah (Emissary) Tslil Reichman. 5:15-6:45 p.m. Dwares JCC, 401 Elmgrove Ave., Providence. Please join us to thank Tslil for her two years of service to the Jewish community and bid her farewell prior to the Jewish Alliance’s Annual Meeting. Information, Larry Katz at lkatz@jewishallianceri.org or 401-4214111, ext. 179.

Jewish Alliance of Greater Rhode Island Seventh Annual Meeting.

Jewish Alliance of Greater Rhode Island Seventh Annual Meeting. 7-9 p.m. Dwares JCC, 401 Elmgrove Ave., Providence. Annual Meeting and Board Installations: Jewish Alliance of Greater Rhode Island; Jewish Federation Foundation; Alliance Realty, Inc. Presentation of Leadership Awards.

Reception to follow. Information, Gail Putnam at gputnam@jewishallianceri. org or 401-421-4111, ext. 158 Game Night: Mah Jongg, Canasta and Table Tennis. 7-9 p.m. Temple Torat Yisrael, 1251 Middle Road, East Greenwich. Free. Information, stephanie@ toratyisrael.org or 401-885-6600.

“Bridging the Gap” with Rabbi Raphie.

8-8:45 p.m. Kollel Center for Jewish Studies, 450 Elmgrove Ave., Providence. Explore the development and refinement of our personalities through the eyes of the Mussar movement.

Text is “Bridging the Gap.” Free. Thru 1/30/19. Information, rabbiraphie@ gmail.com or 401-383-2786.

Friday | June 15 Shababa Friday/PJ Library Story Time.

10-11 a.m. Dwares JCC, 401 Elmgrove Ave., Providence. Welcome Shabbat with singing, dancing, jumping and celebrating as a community. Children

Temple Habonim’s Beach Erev Shabbat Service. 6:15-7:30 p.m. Barrington Beach, Beach Road, Barrington. In case of rain, outdoor services will be canceled – we’ll post a notice on the Temple website as well as on Facebook and will leave a message on the Temple phone system – and services will be held in the THB Sanctuary. Information, Jodi Sullivan at office@templehabonim. org or 401-245-6536.

Shabbat under the Stars. 7 p.m. Temple Beth-El, 70 Orchard Ave., Providence.

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

Shabbat Services. 7:30-9 p.m. Temple Sinai, 30 Hagen Ave., Cranston.

Shireinu, the community chorus of Temple Sinai, will honor Catherine Walters, the founder and original director of Shireinu, on the first anniversary of her passing. The chorus will sing the arrangements Catherine wrote to the prayers of the Shabbat service. Information, Dottie at dottie@templesinairi. org or 401-942-8350.

Saturday | June 16 Taste of Shabbat. 9-11 a.m. Temple Torat Yisrael, 1251 Middle Road, East Greenwich. 9 a.m. Torah discussion and 9:45 a.m. Service followed by light Kiddush.

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

Children’s Shabbat Program and Jr. Kiddush Club. 9:30-11:15 a.m. Congregation Beth Sholom, 275 Camp St., Providence. Weekly program and Jr. Kiddush Club for children. Activities include prayer, parashah, play time and a special Kiddush. Three age groups: Tots, Pre-K thru 1st grade and 2nd grade and up. Located in Kids Room, Social Hall and Chapel on the lower level. Big kids of all ages and backgrounds are encouraged to join prayer services in the main sanctuary. Information, office@bethsholom-ri.org.

Congregation Beth David’s Summer Series: Comedy Night. 7:30-9:30 p.m.

Narragansett Community Center, 63 Mumford Road, Narragansett. Laugh all night with well-known Boston comic Steve Sweeney (who has appeared in numerous movies and on television with the likes of David Letterman and Jay Leno) and Kerri Louise (who was a semifinalist on NBC’s Last Comic Standing and was a regular correspondent on the Oprah Winfrey Show).

Upcoming Summer Series dates: 7/28 – Grammy-winning Tom Chapin; 8/25 – award-winning folk and country singer Jonathan Edwards. $100 for series ticket | $30 Comedy Night | $40 Tom Chapin | $40 Jonathan Edwards.

Information, Frank Prosnitz at frank. prosnitz@gmail.com or 401-935-9890.

Sunday | June 17 Amudim Dinner. 5-10 p.m. Dwares JCC, 401 Elmgrove Ave., Providence. Providence Hebrew Day School pays tribute to Mr. David London for his community service; Mr. Yisroel Weiner, Principal of Phoenix Hebrew Academy and alumnus of Providence Hebrew Day School; and Mr. Rafi and Dr. Anita Minkin, the Dor L’Dor awardees. Cost: $65. Information, Rabbi Peretz Scheinerman at pscheinerman@phdschool.org or 401-331-5327.

Tuesday | June 19 Alzheimer’s Monthly Support Group.

6-7:30 p.m. Tamarisk Assisted Living Residence, 3 Shalom Drive, Warwick.

Join Robert E.P. Elmer III, Master Trainer in Alzheimer’s Care, for his Alzheimer’s Monthly Support Group.

Each group session will give caretakers the opportunity to share and learn about the challenges and successes of dealing with Alzheimer’s Disease.

Information, Susan Adler at susana@ tamariskri.org or 401-732-0037, ext.

104.

Wednesday | June 20

Bornstein Holocaust Education Center Annual Meeting. 7-9 p.m. Dwares JCC, 401 Elmgrove Ave., Providence.

Annual Meeting and Installation of Officers and Board of Directors.

Information, May-Ronny Zeidman at May@BornsteinHolocaustCenter.org or 401-453-7860.

Game Night: Mah Jongg, Canasta and Table Tennis. 7-9 p.m. Temple Torat Yisrael, 1251 Middle Road, East Greenwich. Free. Information, Stephanie@toratyisrael.org or 401885-6600.

“Bridging the Gap” with Rabbi Raphie.

8-8:45 p.m. Kollel Center for Jewish Studies, 450 Elmgrove Ave., Providence. Explore the development and refinement of our personalities through the eyes of the Mussar movement.

Text is “Bridging the Gap.” Free. Thru 1/30/19. Information, rabbiraphie@ gmail.com or 401-383-2786.

Friday | June 22 Kabbalat Shabbat Service. 7:30-9 p.m.

Temple Torat Yisrael, 1251 Middle Road, East Greenwich. Service followed

by Oneg. Information, Stephanie@ toratyisrael.org or 401-885-6600.

Saturday | June 23 Taste of Shabbat. 9-11 a.m. Temple Torat Yisrael, 1251 Middle Road, East Greenwich. 9 a.m. Torah discussion and 9:45 a.m. Service followed by light Kiddush.

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

Children’s Shabbat Program and Jr. Kiddush Club. 9:30-11:15 a.m. Congregation Beth Sholom, 275 Camp St., Providence. Weekly program and Jr. Kiddush Club for children. Activities include prayer, parashah, play time and a special Kiddush. Three age groups: Tots, Pre-K thru 1st grade and 2nd grade and up. Located in Kids Room, Social Hall and Chapel on the lower level. Big kids of all ages and backgrounds are encouraged to join prayer services in the main sanctuary. Information, office@bethsholom-ri.org.

jvhri.org

Academic Fair: safety is in the spotlight The Academic Fair is an annual celebration of learning at the Providence Hebrew Day School (PHDS). Every year the school selects a different aspect of the students’ studies – Judaic or General or Integrated – and invites families and community members to come to see a small part of the students’ work.

This year, the school is collaborating with the Jewish Alliance of Greater Rhode Island in what they hope will be a community-wide Safety Fair to be held Tuesday, June 12 from 4-7 p.m. at Providence Hebrew Day School, 450 Elmgrove Avenue.

Students in kindergarten through grade eight have all studied the “Save-A-Life: Teaching our children the A-BCs of saving a life” curriculum developed by Vaad Refuah (a New York-based organization).

The ten lessons include “How to Recognize an Emergency,” “First Aid for Nosebleeds” and “Basic House Fire Safety.”

After completing the student handbook, each class is preparing a display or interactive exhibit that will be featured at the fair.

In addition to the student-created displays, there will be displays and presentations by the Providence Fire Department, Providence Police Department, Dwares JCC Fitness Staff, the Jewish Alliance Staff, Providence Bicycle, a certified child passenger safety technician and others. The first 34 students (grades kindergarten to eight) who attend the fair will receive a free bike lock compliments of the Jewish Alliance, PHDS, and Providence Bicycle.

For more information about the fair, to serve as a presenter or have an exhibit space, please contact Miriam Esther Weiner MEWeiner@phdschool.org or Wendy Joering WJoering@ jewishallianceri.org.

Cranston Seniors plan trip to Foxwoods The Cranston Senior Guild is planning a bus trip to Foxwoods on Wednesday, July 11. The cost of the trip is $25 per person. The price includes roundtrip deluxe motor coach bus, free buffet or $10 food coupon to any restaurant at the casino, and $10 bonus slot play (bonus subject to change).

The bus pickup is at 9:15 a.m.

in front of the former Sears Auto Center at the Rhode Island Mall in Warwick. The bus will depart Foxwoods at 3:15 p.m. Payment must be received

by June 20. Be sure to respond early. Last spring, the bus filled up before the deadline and we had turn away people. For more information and reservations, call Sunny at 401-785-0748.

New leadership and a new view

BY KATE-LYNNE LAROCHE The 64th Annual Spring meeting of the Rhode Island Jewish Historical Association, held in the Baxt Social Hall at the Dwares JCC, was a success.

Changes to leadership include a new president, Dr. Mel Topf.

Previous president, Ruth Breindel, now holds the position of secretary. The current officers and board of directors are listed below.

Rabbi Joshua Breindel, guest speaker, gave a lecture titled “Most of Us Live Off Hope – Memories of a Jewish Childhood.” The title comes from a poster by the Mad Peck done in 1978. Rabbi Breindel recounted growing up on Hope Street, and spoke about cornerstones of the Jewish “East Side” community, with memories of places like Kaplan’s Bakery, Korb’s, Bagels East, and Davis’ Dairy. He fondly recalled his time spent attending “Friday group” at the Brown/RISD Hillel, being taught by the beloved Mrs. Eliash at Temple Emanu-El, and feeling at home here at the JCC. It was a pleasure to hear him speak so fondly of the city the members know and love.

Officers

President Mel Topf 1st VP: Harold Foster 2nd VP: Lowell Lisker Secretary: Ruth Breindel Treasurer: David Bazar

Terms ending in 2019

Elizabeth Bakst Michael Fink Lauren Motola-Davis Larry Parness Michael Schwartz Bailey Siletchnik Marlene Wolpert

Terms ending in 2020

Maxine Goldin Linda Lotridge Levin Marilyn Myrow Rabbi Raphie Schochet Esta Yavner James Waters

Honorary Board Members

Harold Gadon Lillian Schwartz Philip Segal Melvin Zurier

Past Presidents

Ruth Breindel Bob Berkelhammer Geraldine Foster George M. Goodwin David Leach Michael Schwartz Eugene Weinberg

COMMUNITY

June 8, 2018 |

11

Awards and recognition highlighted at this year’s Jewish Alliance annual meeting Emily Dennen will be the inaugural recipient of an educator’s award at the Seventh Annual Meeting of the Jewish Alliance of Greater Rhode Island on Wednesday evening, June 13th. The Rabbi Alvan and Giveret Marcia Kaunfer Day School Educator Award has been established by Dianne and Martin Newman to provide $3,000 toward a professional development learning opportunity in Israel to an outstanding day school educator.

Emily currently teaches fifth grade at the Jewish Community Day School, having formerly taught kindergarten and fourth grade there.

After graduating from Smith College with a Bachelor of Arts in Judaic Studies (and a minor in Elementary Education), she enrolled in the Delet (day school educators) program at Brandeis University, earning a master’s degree in teaching. Andrea Katzman, JCDS Head of School, notes that “Emily intentionally creates a classroom environment that is safe, respectful, and joyful … and facilitates the establishment of a just community based on Jewish values. Emily is able to recognize ‘teachable moments’ and turn them into significant learning opportunities.” She “also takes to heart Rav Heschel’s entreaty that what we need is no more textbooks but ‘text-

Emily Dennen people’ …and therefore she must intentionally exhibit the best qualities of a Jew, a learner, and a human being.”

Emily strives to incorporate more Jewish learning into her secular teaching, and to make connections between secular content and Jewish values more explicit and more hands on. Rather than referring to connections between their courses, or learning about how secular and Jewish content intersect, she hopes her professional development program in Israel will help her develop ways for students to discover and experience connections themselves.

She also plans to increase her fluency and ability to communicate with her students

and colleagues in Hebrew and learn more about how Israelis celebrate holidays and life cycle events.

This award is named for two veteran day school educators in the Rhode Island community. Rabbi Alvan Kaunfer was the founding director of the school that became the Jewish Community Day School. Marcia Kaunfer, formerly a longtime teacher in that school, is a Judaic curriculum developer on the continental stage.

Both are active as consultants for Jewish schools in other communities.

In addition to Emily, two other awardees will be honored that evening. The 2018 KipnisWilson/Friedland Award will be presented to Sharon Gaines and the Joseph W. Ress Community Service Award will be presented to Rabbi Wayne Franklin.

The Jewish Alliance of Greater Rhode Island’s Seventh Annual Meeting will be held on Wednesday, June 13 at 7pm. It will be preceded by a farewell party for our outgoing shlichah (Israeli emissary), Tslil Reichman, which will begin at 5:15. Both events will take place at the Dwares JCC, 401 Elmgrove Avenue, Providence.

For more information, please contact Gail Putnam, at 401.421.4111 x158 or GPutnam@jewishallianceri.org.

Israeli Architecture and Hispanic-Israeli ties next topics of Rhode Island Israel Collaborative Israeli Architect Eliezer Armon will talk about “Revitalizing and Redesigning Challenger Cities in the 21st Century” on the evening of Wednesday, June 13. The following evening, Dr. Eitan Yudilevich, a ChileanIsraeli, will keynote “Learning Startup Culture: RI Latino Community Meets Israeli Innovation and High Tech Ecosystem.”

The first evening, Armon will discuss how smart architectural design can position cities for economic growth and be a foundation for their re-positioning and re-branding. He will then examine some interesting case studies of Israeli cities

I

Ashqelon and Mitzpe Ramon, cities that are in the midst of a major transformation.

The event is organized by the Rhode Island Israel Collaborative and Grow Smart Rhode Island. Opening remarks will be given by Scott Wolf, Executive Director of Grow Smart RI and Avi Nevel, President and CEO of Rhode Island Israel Collaborative (RIIC).

The program will last from 5:30 to 7:30 and be located at 67 Roosevelt Ave, Pawtucket, RI 02860.

In a seperate event, the Rhode Island Hispanic Chamber of Commerce and RIIC will host Dr. Yudilevich, who assumed

the Executive Director position at the BIRD Foundation on January 1, 2006. Since then, BIRD’s Board of Governors has approved more than 240 full-scale joint projects between U.S. and Israeli companies. BIRD is the Israel-US Binational Industrial Research and Development Foundation.

This event will be held from 5:30 to 8:30 p.m., on Thursday, June 14, at RI Nursing Education Center, 350 Eddy St. Providence, RI 02903 (Lecture Hall - 308).

Registration and more information is available at https:// www.theriic.org/

The Voice is taking a summer hiatus

t’s that time of year again. The Jewish Voice takes a short hiatus in July. Our last issue before The Voice’s summer break is June 22. Send us your news, simchas or other items you feel are of interest to the community. We will be back in your mailbox Aug. 10.

Contact us via email: editor@ jewishallianceri.org. Regular mail reaches us at Editor, The Jewish Voice, 401 Elmgrove Ave., Providence, RI 02906.

Our website, jvhri.org, will be up and running all summer long – visit it often!

12 | June 8, 2018

COMMUNITY

The Jewish Voice

Trinity Rep’s 2018 Pell Awards honor local Jewish residents

BY JEWISH VOICE STAFF Two Jewish Rhode Islanders were honored at Trinity Rep’s 2018 Pell Awards Gala on Monday, May 21 in Providence.

Pawtucket-based designer and artist Morris Nathanson received a Rhode Island Pell Award for Excellence in the Arts, and longtime Providence philanthropist and arts advocate Jane S. Nelson received the Charles Sullivan Award for Distinguished Service in the Arts. (Additionally, the Pell Award for Outstanding Leadership in the Arts went to Jeannine Chartier in recognition of her work with VSA arts Rhode Island, and two-time Oscar nominee Mary McDonnell was honored with the 2018 Pell Award for Lifetime Achievement in the Arts.)

An awards gala was held at the WaterFire Arts Center in Providence. The creative black-tie event began with a VIP cocktail reception that was followed by the awards ceremony and seated gourmet dinner reception. Sally Lapides and Art Solomon and Jonathan M. Nelson co-chaired the annual fundraising event. Honorary co-chairs were Clay Pell, Nick and Annie Pell, Tripler Pell and Tawfik Hammoud, Christina Neal Pell and Eames Yates, Jr. The honorary event committee included the entire Rhode Island congressional delegation: Sen. Jack Reed, Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, Rep. James Langevin and Rep.

David Cicilline. Guests enjoyed mixing and mingling with artists as well as business, political and social leaders.

Trinity Rep’s Pell Awards were established in 1997 to honor the legacy of Sen. Claiborne Pell (D-RI) and to celebrate national and local excellence in the arts.

“There is no better way to honor Senator Claiborne Pell’s dedication to the arts than by recognizing the talents and hearts of [these] deserving honorees,” said Curt Columbus, artistic director of Trinity Rep. Morris Nathanson is widely recognized as the father of modern restaurant and hospitality design. He has lived his life on the international stage as an urban designer and creator of award-winning restaurants, concert spaces and hospitality venues. Nathanson was a founding board member of Trinity Repertory Company. One of Trinity Rep’s earliest set designers, he was also in charge of its relocation to the former historical vaudeville performance house known as the Emery Majestic Theater.

The renamed Lederer Theater Center has been Trinity Rep’s home for more than 50 years.

Jane Nelson became one of the original subscribers of Trinity Repertory Company more than 50 years ago. She fondly remembers making cakes and cookies and then carrying them upstairs at the Trinity Church to serve (for free!)

Highlights of what we offer: • Functional-Style Classes including TRX, Kettlebells, Battle Ropes & Medicine Balls • Lenny Krayzelburg Swim Academy • Certified Personal Trainers • Indoor Heated Pool • Group Ex • Indoor Cycling • Basketball Gymnasium • Sports Leagues • Pilates Mat Classes • Cardio Machines • Free-weight Area • Teen Fitness Certification • Fit Forever Classes for Seniors • TigerSharks Swim Club and much more!

at intermission. Nelson’s interest in, and support of the arts extends to Festival Ballet Providence and the Rhode Island Philharmonic Orchestra. She has been a volunteer and supporter of many charitable organizations including the Jewish Alliance, and her philanthropy covers a wide range of interests.

“Each of the 2018 Pell Award winners

demonstrates the significant impact that a life spent in dedication to the creative arts, community and philanthropy can make,” said Columbus. “The work these honorees have done over their lifetimes continues to reach worldwide. It gives me deep pleasure to recognize [them] for their many years of service to Trinity Rep and to Rhode Island.”

J-FITNESS

at the Dwares JCC

To learn more about Personal Training, Specialty Group Training or any of our fitness programs, contact Dori Venditti at 401.421.4111 ext. 210 or dvenditti@jewishallianceri.org.

401 Elmgrove Avenue | Providence, RI | jewishallianceri.org

FOOD

jvhri.org

June 8, 2018 |

13

Summer food for family gatherings FAMILY FEATURES – Family gatherings like reunions, picnics and potlucks can bring fun, the chance to reunite with family and, of course, food and celebration.

While catching up with family is most important for many, food typically comes in a close second. Tried-and-true favorites are welcome, but so are new additions.

This starter duo of Baked Onion, Goat Cheese and Sun-Dried Tomato Dip along with Orange Galette with Beet Gorgonzola Salad can get the celebration going.

To help mix things up, take a break from sandwiches. Chipotle Chicken and Bean Quinoa Salad Cups are a contemporary meal or snack alternative that kids and adults alike can enjoy.

For a salad that feeds a crowd, try this Tex-Mex Layered Bean Salad, a tasty accompaniment for entrees from burgers to fried chicken.

For more recipes for family gatherings, visit AuntNellies. com.

Chipotle Chicken and Bean Quinoa Salad Cups with Cilantro Lime Vinaigrette Prep time: 25 minutes Servings: 4

Ingredients

1 can (15 ounces) 3 or 4 Bean Salad Dressing: 2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lime juice 1 tablespoon adobo sauce 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt 1/8 teaspoon black pepper 3 tablespoons olive oil 1/4 cup finely chopped fresh cilantro 1-1/2 cups cooked quinoa 1 cup diced chicken, cooked 1/4 cup finely sliced green onions 1 chipotle pepper, minced 4 leaves Bibb lettuce

Ingredients

1 jar (16 ounces) Aunt Nellie’s Sliced Pickled Beets Nonstick cooking spray 1 sheet frozen puff pastry, approximately 16-by-11 inches 1 tablespoon olive oil, divided 4 navel oranges, segmented 4 ounces crumbled Gorgonzola or other blue cheese, divided 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt (optional) 1/4 teaspoon dried basil 2 cups mixed baby salad greens 1/4 cup chopped pecans, toasted if desired

Directions Heat oven to 400 degrees F. Drain beets well; set aside on paper towels to absorb remaining liquid. Discard liquid or save for another use.

Spray large sheet pan with nonstick cooking spray. Gently place puff pastry sheet on pan. With pastry brush, gently spread 1/2 tablespoon olive oil on pastry sheet.

Place about half the orange segments in two rows on top of pastry sheet, leaving 1-inch margins on all sides.

Fold edges of pastry sheet to create border. Sprinkle 2 ounces crumbled Gorgonzola over oranges. Sprinkle with salt, if desired, and basil.

Bake until golden brown, about 15-20 minutes. Remove from oven; cool on wire rack.

Coarsely chop beets.

In large bowl, toss together remaining orange segments, salad greens and chopped beets. Drizzle with remaining olive oil; toss gently to combine.

Cut cooked galette into 12 pieces. Top with beet salad.

Sprinkle with remaining cheese and pecans.

Tex-Mex Layered Bean Salad Prep time: 20 minutes Servings: 8-10

Chipotle Chicken and Bean Quinoa Salad Cups with Cilantro Lime Vinaigrette Ingredients 1 large red or yellow bell pepper, seeded and chopped 1/3 cup chopped red onion 1 bag (16 ounces) iceberg lettuce, carrot and cabbage salad mix 1 cup shredded Mexican cheese blend 2 cans (15 ounces each) 3 or 4 Bean Salad, drained 1/2 cup low-fat mayonnaise 1/2 cup low-fat sour cream 2 tablespoons finely chopped Chipotle peppers in adobo sauce 1/2 cup crumbled tortilla chips (optional) Small avocado, sliced (optional)

Directions In 3-1/2-quart salad bowl or souffle dish, layer bell pepper, onion, lettuce, cheese and bean salad.

Mix mayonnaise, sour cream and chipotle peppers. Spread over top of salad. Cover and refrigerate up to 8 hours.

Just before serving, sprinkle top with chips and sliced avocado, if desired. Toss to serve.

Baked Onion, Goat Cheese and Sun-Dried Tomato Dip Prep time: 20 minutes Cook time: 20 minutes Servings: 6

Ingredients 1 jar (16 ounces) Aunt Nellie’s Holland-Style Onions Nonstick cooking spray 2 tablespoons chopped oilpacked, sun-dried tomatoes, divided 1 large clove garlic, minced 4 tablespoons sliced fresh basil, divided Coarse ground black pepper, to taste 1 tablespoon oil from sundried tomatoes or olive oil, divided 1 log (8 ounces) goat cheese 1/2 teaspoon Mediterranean herb seasoning (optional) crackers (optional)

Flatbread (optional) Pita chips (optional) Directions Heat oven to 350 degrees F. Drain onions well; pat dry.

Directions

Spray shallow, oven-proof dish (3-4-cup size) with nonstick cooking spray. Place onions in dish. Press with spatula to flatten and crush.

Sprinkle with 1 tablespoon tomatoes, garlic, 2 tablespoons basil and black pepper, to taste.

Drizzle with 1/2 tablespoon oil.

Cut goat cheese into 6-8 rounds. Arrange over onion mixture. Sprinkle with remaining tomatoes; drizzle with remaining oil. Sprinkle with herb seasoning, if desired.

Bake uncovered 20-30 minutes, or until cheese is soft and mixture is bubbly. Sprinkle with remaining basil. Serve warm with crackers, flatbread or pita chips, if desired.

Directions Drain bean salad; reserve 2 tablespoons liquid.

To make the dressing In small bowl, whisk reserved liquid, lime juice, adobo sauce, mustard, salt and pepper.

Whisk in oil until completely combined. Stir in cilantro; set aside.

In medium bowl, combine bean salad, quinoa, chicken, onions and chipotle pepper.

Add dressing; toss gently.

Divide bean salad mixture equally among lettuce cups.

Recipe courtesy of Momma Cuisine.

Orange Galette with Beet Gorgonzola Salad

Prep time: 30 minutes Cook time: 15-20 minutes Servings: 12

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GRADUATION

14 | June 8, 2018

The Jewish Voice

Temple Torat Yisrael 2018 graduates For more details on Temple Torat Yisrael’s Cohen School graduation see Page 16

After reading “Chicka Chicka Boom Boom” the K/1 class created ‘chicka boom boom’ Aleph Bet trees.

A Pre-K student holds her moving up certificate with Rabbi Philmus and teacher Leah Ross Coke.

Cameron Johnson with Rabbi Philmus and President Andrew Sholes with her graduation certificate. She was also the recipient of the Ida Falk award.

PHOTOS | TORAT YISRAEL

Brayden Adler Maranhao with School Director Dori Adler and President Andrew Sholes. He was also the recipient of the Michelle Pam Ross award.

Former student returns as accomplished author

BY MIKE FINK Is June the month for graduation? Or should we use the word “commencement ?” The start of what? Going forth into the wide world of tough and real responsibilities? Or on to graduate school?

I choose to think that the sixth month marks the boundary between listening to your teachers and visiting them as alums and hoping they will listen to you as you report your progress.

This is my thank you to an alum who won a Fulbright grant to sojourn in Naples ... I mean “Napoli” ... and wrote a

beautiful book about it called “Seeing Naples.” The subtitle reads “Reports from the Shadow of Vesuvius.” This large, impressive volume features a cover photo of the author, Daniel Rothbart, cruising on his small motorcycle, which he named Rocinante. Its foreword is a masterpiece of poetic praise

by Wayne Koestenbaum, and the publisher’s appropriate logo reads “Edgewise.”

The book contains a movie review of “The Gold of Naples,” by the late director Vittorio de Sica, with a photo portrait of Sophia Loren, and a chapter labeled “Jewish Naples.” There’s also succinct accounts of Roth-

bart’s friendships with Naples residents and its culture, which is aptly described on the flyleaf as “baroque, classical but expressive, and paradoxical.”

Rothbart never said goodbye to his professors at the Rhode Island School of Design when he departed from our town. But, later, he walked with me on the avenues of Manhattan when

I was in New York for my annual conference at the A lgonquin, and he was a student at Colu mbia pursuing a master’s degree in fine arts.

During a recent visit to our town, Rot hb a r t joi ne d me and another profes-

sor for breakfast, at the Arcade’s Rogue Island outdoor café, and later sent me a visual record of our rendezvous. Rothbart and his lady, Francine Hunter McGivern (to whom he lovingly dedicates this handsome tome), insisted on treating us to this sumptuous celebration of a long-ago commencement.

You can get “Seeing Naples” from Amazon.com or edgewisepress.org. It’s a groundbreaking and delightful mix of image, research, travelogue and diary.

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

jvhri.org

FATHER’S DAY

June 8, 2018 |

15

In the blink of an eye, the years fly by

BY LARRY KESSLER Is this the little girl I carried?

Is this the little boy at play?

I don’t remember growing older, When did they?

When did she get to be a beauty?

When did he grow to be so tall?

Wasn’t it yesterday When they were small?

Sunrise, sunset Sunrise, sunset Swiftly flow the days, Seedlings turn overnight to sunflowers, Blossoming even as we gaze.

Sunrise, sunset Sunrise, sunset Swiftly fly the years, One season following another, Laden with happiness and tears.”

– “Sunrise, Sunset,” from “Fiddler on the Roof” Those lyrics from one of the most poignant songs from the classic Broadway hit and movie “Fiddler on the Roof” are sung

by Tevye and Golde as they brace for the impending marriage of their oldest daughter Hodel to Perchik. You don’t have to be marrying off a child to shed a few tears whenever you hear “Sunrise, Sunset.”

A graduation, from high school or college, will do nicely,

thank you.

Neither fathers nor mothers are immune from feeling both pride and sadness when hearing those lyrics. The song came to mind several hours after seeing my oldest daughter walk across the Bridgewater State University stage last month.

Some of the feelings came from the knowledge that, even as Arianna has blossomed into a responsible adult, her dad isn’t getting any younger. Instead of sitting in on story-planning sessions at my former job in the rapidly changing newspaper field, I’m retired and watching both of my daughters grow into young women who make me proud.

The graduation also prompted the need to answer an uncomfortable question for parents: Where has the time gone?

Indeed, as Golde and Tevye lament in “Fiddler,” the years and images fly by way too quickly – and that’s been especially true in my daughter’s case.

One moment, my wife and I are being picked up at Logan Airport on the way home from China after adopting Arianna at 15 months. The next, we’re picking her up at T. F. Green Airport, one week before her college graduation, upon her return from a student-teaching stint in Quito, Ecuador.

One year, we’re dropping her off at preschool, and in what seemed only a year later, we were at her high school graduation.

For several years, we dutifully schlepped her to Hebrew School and synagogue for Bat Mitzvah lessons. A few short years later, we found ourselves moving her into her Bridgewater State freshman dorm.

We took her to dance school, recitals and to jobs before she could drive, and then – before you know it – she’s driving herself to college and juggling several summer and part-time jobs to pay for that education.

In one instant, I’m doing my best to take her to all of the activities that she was enrolled in as an almost 6-year-old while my wife was in China adopting our second daughter, Alana. In the next instant, she’s sharing photos from Ecuador of her ziplining excursion, and accompanying her gray-haired Dad to a mid-week PawSox game at McCoy Stadium.

Then it happens: In the one day that you’ve always dreamed about, you’re in the audience as your daughter’s name is read out loud at her college graduation. “Arianna ShenYao Kessler, cum laude,” the faculty member read.

That moment seems surreal,

Arianna ShenYao Kessler on graduation day. and you keep your eyes glued to the monitor and the stage so as not to miss seeing her being handed that diploma. You don’t cry, because about an hour ear-

lier, the guest speaker, William Richard, the father of 8-year-old Martin Richard, who was killed in the April 2013 Boston Marathon bombings, spoke from the heart to the graduates. He talked about his son’s now-famous message on the sign he held up at that marathon, “No More Hurting People,” which became a worldwide cry for peace.

It’s hard to shed tears of joy while Richard and his wife, Denise, who suffered the most unthinkable loss that parents could ever endure, have responded to their pain with so much dignity and courage.

The Richards, both BSU grads, have inspired parents by starting the Martin Richard Charitable Foundation, the Martin Richard Institute for Social Justice on the Bridgewater campus, and the Martin Richard Challenger Sports Program. This fall Martin’s Park will open in downtown Boston.

About the only thing you can do in response is to find your new graduate taking pictures with her friends and sister, give her a big hug and pose for a family photo op that was 22 years in the making.

LARRY KESSLER is a freelance writer who can be reached at lkessler1@comcast.net.

In honor of my father, his story of turning obstacles into opportunities It has been six years since my father passed away, at the age of 95. He was a powerful force who embraced Judaism and firmly believed in sticking with your beliefs even when the going gets tough.

M y d a d ’ s PATRICIA third career – RASKIN after being in private practice in dentistry and then developing corporate dental programs – was as the lay leader, for 13 years, of the synagogue in Marco Island, Florida, that he helped create. Raskin Hall, in the foyer of the Marco Island Jewish Center, is named after my parents, Melvin and Elaine Raskin.

In honor of my father and Father’s Day, I am sharing my favorite story of his, which I wrote in my book, “Pathfinding,” along with many of his stories. Although I told this story in The Jewish Voice three years ago, I think it’s worth sharing again.

I don’t know the origin of the story, but my father told me there was a similar story told by a rabbi. The story speaks to turning obstacles into opportunities and how, without the obstacle, the opportunity may never present itself.

Dad and me in later years at Tamarisk Childhood photo with my dad Here is my dad’s story.

“One day the owner of a building tells his caretaker that he must go out of town for a day but that he expects a most important letter. He informs the caretaker that he must make sure he gets the registered letter himself because it is a very important letter. The owner leaves the next morning. That afternoon the letter is delivered, but requires a signature. The caretaker tells the postman that he doesn’t know how to write.

“The postman explains that he must obtain an actual sig-

nature, no marks or Xs. Since the caretaker can’t write, the postman refuses to leave the letter. When the owner returns and learns what happened, he becomes furious and fires the caretaker on the spot. The caretaker finds himself without a job and without an income. To support his meager existence, he starts peddling whatever goods and services he can to survive. His business begins to grow and improves to the point that he is able to open a little store.

“By the time his sons are

old enough to help him, he has become well established. The sons inherit the business and when the caretaker retires, they decide to build a larger store. They ask their father, the former caretaker, to help them borrow the money to finance their ambitious undertaking.

The father asks the banker for the loan and the banker says, ‘No problem. You can have whatever you need. Just sign on the dotted line.’

“The father looks at the banker and replies, ‘I can’t sign. I never learned how to write.’ In astonishment, the banker asks, ‘How is it possible that a man

who can’t write could be as successful as you are?’ “ ‘Ah,’ says the father, ‘if I could write, I’d still be a caretaker.’ ” Happy Father’s Day, Dad, and thank you for a story that has rung true in my life.

PATRICIA RASKIN, president of Raskin Resources Productions Inc., is an awardwinning radio producer and Rhode Island business owner.

She is the host of “The Patricia Raskin” show, a radio and podcast coach, and a board member of Temple Emanu-El, in Providence.

16 | June 8, 2018

FAHER’S DAY

The Jewish Voice

Reflections on fishing, Coneheads and being a new dad

BY AARON GUTTIN

In my free time, I enjoy fishing.

While fishing, I try a series of lures, line weights, rod lengths, reel ratios, tide times and sun times. Sometimes I get lucky and catch a few, and sometimes I spend hours trying out different strategies with no payoff – which also describes fatherhood in a nutshell.

Our son Will was born in Providence on April 3. I remember being at Women & Infants Hospital, and despite Will coming out a little purple and looking like an extra in the “Coneheads” movie, my wife Hillary

and I could not have been happier.

That night, after the wonderful staff weighed and measured Will, took more blood samples than I thought possible, and wrapped him up in super-cute swaddling and a knit hat, I held him and thought, “Here it is, fatherhood. … What do I do now?”

But let’s back up. The story doesn’t really start in the delivery room; it starts several months earlier, at the first ultrasound.

Sitting in an office with a very nice ultrasound technician and

lots of odd machines, it hit both Hillary and me that this was real and we were, in fact, going to become parents. We were certainly thrilled – and maybe a little bit nervous. I remember wanting to be calm for my wife, and so maybe I said, “We have seven months to get ready, this will be easy.”

Over the next several months, we did all the typical things expectant parents do. We set up a nursery, assembled the crib, assembled a registry, and read countless parenting books and blogs. Here is a helpful tip: stay off the internet, where you will

find more horror stories than helpful hints.

For expectant fathers, I suggest reading “Be Prepared: A Practical Handbook for New Dads,” by Gary Greenberg and Jeannie Hayden. This wonderful book reads more like an issue of Popular Mechanics than Heidi Murkoff’s pregnancy bible, “What to Expect When You’re Expecting.”

We came home from the hospital “prepared” for life as parents. After all, we had read a lot of books. Spoiler alert: there is no how-to manual stamped on

their tushies when they come out.

Will is now 2 months old and we have tried all of the lures, line weights, rod lengths, reel ratios, tide times and sun times.

Sometimes we have gotten it right and sometimes not. It has become crystal clear to me that fatherhood is just like fishing, sometimes it goes well and sometimes there’s no payoff – but, either way, it’s a blast.

AARON GUTTIN is the Director of Camp and Teen Programs at the Jewish Alliance of Greater Rhode Island.

Thoughtful gift ideas for dads and grads STATEPOINT – Whether you’re shopping for Father’s Day or celebrating the accomplishments of a graduating senior, make a point of selecting thoughtful, unforgettable gifts this “dads and grads” season.

Here are five ideas to get you started.

1. The gift that keeps on giving. These days, there are monthly subscription boxes for just about everything. From stylish socks to slick grooming tools to jazz records to fine wine, take stock of your gift recipient’s interests and needs and give a gift that keeps on giving.

The latest technology offers analog watches with features such as “smartphone link” for the latest in time accuracy.

2. The gift of form and function. A timepiece upgrade makes for a sophisticated yet

functional gift that will keep your recipient on time for all appointments. Check out con-

PHOTO CREDIT: EDIFICE.CASIO.COM

nected timepieces, which feature “smartphone link” capability. Pairing with the wearer’s smartphone, some watches can access the correct time for over 300 cities worldwide. Users also have the capability to swap their specified home time and world time, as well as update alarms and other time settings.

By automatically syncing with a time server four times daily, the watch ensures ultimate accuracy.

3. The gift of your company.

A pair of event tickets is a great way to show your dad or grad that you want to spend time together. Whether it’s a day at the ballpark or your favorite band is coming to town, scope out the perfect event to attend together.

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and in any lighting conditions.

4. The gift of entertainment. Is your dad or grad’s entertainment center in need of an upgrade? Consider gifting a projector for better gaming and movie nights. For a mercuryfree option, check out those which combine a laser and LED light source for high-brightness and energy efficiency, using half the amount of power per unit as its traditional lamp-based counterparts. Some reach full brightness in as fast as five seconds and feature Intelligent Light Control to automatically adjust the projection brightness according to ambient light.

This innovative feature will ensure that movie fans have spectacular visuals any time of day

5. The gift of music. Has your gift recipient always wanted to play piano? Gift the tools needed for success. For beginner keyboard players, one good option for learning at home is a portable keyboard featuring a Step-Up Lesson System that displays proper music notation and correct hand positioning, allowing beginners to learn songs at their own pace. Most keyboards reproduce the sound of acoustic instruments such as guitar, drums, bass, brass, wind instruments, string ensembles and more. Additionally, they may include an extensive library of 600 tones and 195 rhythms.

The Cohen School celebrates its graduates

BY DORI ADLER Torat Yisrael’s Cohen School celebrated its largest seventhgrade graduating class in many years at the graduation and closing ceremony on May 6.

The ceremony began with the annual photo and music slideshow presentation. Following the slideshow, the school honored its hardworking seventhgrade graduates. Mazel tov to Brayden Adler-Maranhao, Mitchell Chernick, Amanda Dronzek, William Erickson, Julia Erickson, Jake Evans, Josh Hill, Jack Johnson, Cammie Johnson, Sarah Mayo, Ella Neidleman, Jacqui Sholes and Hope Silverman.

The following awards were then presented: The Wendy B. Adler Award recipient was William Erickson; the Anna R. Sholes Award, Jack Johnson; the Michelle Pam Ross Memorial, Brayden Adler-Maranhao; the Ida Falk Award, Cammie Johnson. Plaques with the students’ names are displayed in the school wing.

A “Moving Up Ceremony” was also held, led by Rabbi Aaron Philmus and Leah Ross-

Coke, for Pre-K Sprouts, who will be joining the school’s kindergarten class next year. They received diplomas and were very excited to get their first prize from the school prize box!

The K-1 class sang aleph bet songs while holding their Hebrew ‘chicka boom boom’ trees, the second and third graders recited the Hebrew numbers 1-10 and talked about their Beer Sheva project, the fourth and fifth graders’ presentation focused on Tel Aviv and their synagogue project, and the sixth and seventh graders led the community in the singing of Israel’s national anthem, Hatikvah, and spoke about what hope means to them.

The school thanked its awesome teachers and student aides for their dedication to the students as they lead them on a Jewish educational journey and inspire them to be proud of their Jewish heritage.

DORI ADLER is education director of Temple Torat Yisrael, in East Greenwich.

See graduation photos on page 14.

jvhri.org

My most valuable collection I do not own Fabergé eggs, famous paintings or rare jewels.

However, I have a collection that took over 20 years to create.

This collection is so large that it took dozens of people walking throughout the day to uncover. The colors in my MAY-RONNY collection are green, brown, ZEIDMAN opaque white and, every so often, blue.

I own the most wonderful collection of sea glass, found on Beach Point in North Truro, Massachusetts.

We would start out every morning after breakfast to find this elusive glass. We would never keep a piece that had not been properly worn down from sand and sea. Maybe, if we were lucky, we would return to the cottage with eight to 10 pieces of glass. Most evenings we would take another walk to hunt for this treasure.

Anyone and everyone who came to visit was asked to walk with us to find sea glass. Anyone who found the prized glass had to give it to our family.

In the beginning, we kept the glass in a metal Charles Chips can in our front hall closet back home. But one day we realized there was no room for more glass. My son Garrett went out and bought a large, lovely glass jar. The sea glass was emptied from the metal container and the new jar was put in our living

room. This jar was so big that it seemed that we would never be able to fill it.

Year after year we went to the beach. Year after year, people came to visit, and, year after year, the glass jar became more and more filled until there was no room for any more sea glass.

When I look at the jar, I see all the people who shared a piece of our vacations. Many are gone, many have moved away and, most assuredly, all have grown older. I see the sun shining down on my friends and family as we enjoy beautiful summer days. I see young people on our catamaran sailing by as the wind blows their laughing voices through the air up onto the deck where we older folks sat and drank wine and ate cheese and crackers. I see the sun setting in the west behind the Pilgrim Monument.

I haven’t v ac at ione d on Beach Point in years, but every time I look at that glass jar, I am reminded of the joyful summers spent on Cape Cod. For my 70th birthday, I rented a house in Truro and spent the weekend with my family. I purchased a much smaller version of the large sea glass jar for each of my grandchildren. I put several pieces from the collection in each jar and asked my grandchildren to begin their own collection. For me, this was an example of “from generation to generation.”

MAY-RONNY ZEIDMAN is the executive director of the Sandra Bornstein Holocaust Education Center in Providence.

PHOTO CREDIT: COOKIES FOR ISRAEL

Israeli flag made of cookies in Atlanta breaks Guinness World Record JTA — The Atlanta Jewish community broke a Guinness World Record after creating an Israeli flag out of edible cookies.

The flag assembled by volunteers on Sunday, June 3 used about 117,000 cookies and stretched to 3,224 feet across the plastic-covered floor of the Heritage Hall in Congregation Beth Jacob. It was created to celebrate Israel’s 70th birthday.

The flag was certified shortly before noon Sunday by a

Guinness adjudicator, Michael Empric.

Sponsors of the cookies at $10 each have raised more than $103,000 for the Cookies for Israel project, with the donations going to three nonprofit organizations in Israel: United Hatzalah, the volunteer emergency medical service; OneFamily Fund, which supports victims of terrorism; and the Jewish Agency’s Partnership2Gether program.

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June 8, 2018 |

17

Israeli doctor gets new insights into family medicine during a fellowship at The Miriam

BY RICHARD SALIT The surname of the latest Israeli doctor to come to The Miriam Hospital on fellowship may sound familiar, since it’s quite famous – Rothschild.

Dr. Shelly Rothschild is, in fact, a descendant of the renowned European banking family.

“We are connected to the famous Rothschild family, but very, very distant relatives,” she said. “My family came from Germany, from Frankfurt, and that’s where the famous Rothschild family came from.”

Her grandfather was also a doctor. When he lost his position at a German hospital because he was Jewish, he decided to flee from Hitler and the Nazis. Like many European Jews, he immigrated to Palestine, arriving in 1935 in the run-up to the Holocaust, World War II and the founding of Israel.

Many of his relatives who disregarded his urgings to flee Germany died in the Holocaust.

In Palestine, he lived on a kibbutz, a collective community, and donated his possessions to the kibbutz.

“I also grew up on a kibbutz,” said Rothschild, who described it as a small village called Gonen, in northern Israel.

Rothschild, 43, went on to earn her medical degree at Ben Gurion University. She is now a family medicine physician at

Dr. Shelly Rothschild a clinic in Kiryat Tivon, a town of close to 19,000 residents near Haifa.

Rothschild jumped at the opportunity to visit Providence for five weeks as part of a family medicine fellowship that brings mid-career doctors from Israel to The Miriam, which was founded by Rhode Island’s Jewish community.

The annual fellowship is a collaboration between The Miriam Hospital and Brown University’s Alpert Medical School. The goal of the program is to contribute to the development of primary-care leaders in Israel.

“Family medicine is so broad and interesting,” Rothschild said. “I see some families that are three generations. I see the young and the old. I get to

know the whole family. “ While on fellowship here, Rothschild, who is fluent in English, worked closely with Dr. Jeffrey Borkan, chair of the Department of Family Medicine, and spent time at both The Miriam and a clinic at Memorial Hospital, in Pawtucket. She focused on networking with physicians who have expertise in areas that particularly interest her – geriatrics and family violence.

“I thought the fellowship could be a great experience to help improve teaching skills, learn new methods and expose myself to new medical systems,” she said, adding that she also wanted to get involved with “the Jewish community here.”

Thanks to the many introductions made by Jeffrey Brier, life governor of The Miriam’s Board of Trustees, Rothschild said she was able to do all of that, including spending time at the Alliance’s Dwares Jewish Community Center, in Providence, and celebrating Israel Independence Day there.

“I am so grateful to all of the nice people who have been so helpful at The Miriam Hospital,” she said.

She completed the fellowship in mid-May and has since returned home to her husband and two children.

RICHARD SALIT is senior public relations officer at Lifespan/The Miriam Hospital.

18 | June 8, 2018

COMMUNITY

The Jewish Voice

It is an annual tradition that the graduating fifth-grade class choreographs a dance to an Israeli song of their choice.

FROM PAGE 1

PHOTOS | JCDSRI

ZIMRIYAH

practice in education,” said Andrea Katzman, the JCDSRI’s head of school. “It is one of the

most effective ways for children to develop sound awareness [critical for learning how

to read]. After all, songs are filled with rhymes, alliteration and patterns – they invite children to play with the sounds of language, rhythm, and celebrate melodic creations. Singing also allows our students to communicate their feelings and

thoughts in expressive and creative ways.”

Katzman continued, “Our community’s songs give us access to shared memories and help us to imagine new worlds.

They contain blessings and sparks of light.”

A line in one of the songs from Zimriyah may have summed it up best: “Let us sing together with one heart.”

NAOMI SCHORSCH STEIN is admissions director at the Jewish Community Day School of Rhode Island, in Providence.

JCDSRI students love the song-filled performance.

These smiles show Israeli pride.

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June 8, 2018 |

19

FROM PAGE 1

MARCH Bornstein Holocaust Education Center, and the Jewish Alliance. Excerpts from two participant’s reflections are shared below.

“Though I have been part of many different kinds of spirited Jewish communities in my life, I had never felt [this] type of Jewish pride. It was truly an incredible feeling of belonging.

I think that this journey opened my eyes to the grueling history of our people and inspired me to want to connect with my Jewish roots and Israel in the future. I am very grateful for the opportunity I had to travel and learn with such wonderful people, and I think that every Jew should have the chance to walk the steps of the Jews of the past and the present.”

– Jessica Nassau “At the beginning of my trip to Poland and Israel, I knew that my purpose of going on this program was to learn how to advocate for myself and those around me about the history of the Jewish people. I was expecting to learn how to argue against someone who is in disagreement with my thoughts on such an important topic as the Holocaust. I was ready to take pictures and absorb information to build my case. However, I learned something more important than any statistic I heard on the entire journey. Advocacy can come in many forms. I did learn how to talk about what I saw with other people but I realized it is also about fighting

FROM PAGE 1 |

Participants overlooking Jerusalem. Back row: Elliott Entin, Etai Barry, Sadie Gaffin, Aurora Rees-Levine, Jacob Hammarstrom, Gabe Mernoff, Jordan Kimia. Front row: Jessica Nassau, Natalie Westrick, Marin Warshay back against the damage done to 6 million Jews. One can do this by celebrating their identity and appreciating it beyond

CELEBRATION

the march by ambassadors from Canada, Germany, Spain, Thailand, Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Nigeria, Ukraine and Romania. Most folks along the parade route, however, were waiting to catch a glimpse of popular Israeli singer Shiri Maimon, who will be performing on Broadway this fall.

Times of Israel reporter Danielle Ziri described the progression up Fifth Avenue as “a day of festivities that [culminated] in a ‘giant block party’ in Times Square.” The Great White Way was lit up in blue and white. At 8 p.m., the usual Big Apple advertisements on all the screens in Times Square were replaced with a short video. The broadcast depicted Israeli innovations (including high-tech and agriculture industries), holy sites of Jerusalem, Tel Aviv’s nightlife and a tribute to Israel’s relationship with America.

This event is the largest parade outside of Israel supporting the country. In light of recent on-going tension in the Middle East, armed security

officers were stationed around the route. More than 1,000 New York police officers and Israeli guards secured the giant street party to ensure the security of the attendees and the notable guests.

“It was moving to see the thousands of Israelis, tourists and locals dancing and singing together to the sounds of Israeli music,” said Culture Minister Miri Regev.

The dancing in the streets was reported to go on for hours.

But not everyone was in the mood to celebrate. Some people waving Palestinian flags and members of an ultra-Orthodox sect that opposes secular Zionism tried to put a damper on the festivities.

Nonetheless, the 40,000 marchers representing hundreds of organizations, musical performers on floats, marching bands and flags emblazoned with the Star of David all added to the Israeli pride.

KARA MARZIALI is the director of communication at the Jewish Alliance.

a simple label. Take advantage through festivities, praying, singing, or simply by being happy. Take back what was so maliciously stripped from our lives…On March of the Living there is an immediate understanding among the participants. There is an appreciation for the fact that someone else is fighting for the same cause….

One could study for years and become a professional in the history of the Holocaust. However nothing can replace the sheer experience of seeing what our religion was before the Holocaust, after the Holocaust, and now. Advocacy is making it clear that we’re still here, and we’re not going anywhere.

Thanks to March of the Living,

I can take the power given to me by 15,000 other Jews and emit it into the world around me.”

– Marin Warshay For more information about the March of the Living, and to learn how to participate, contact Michelle Cicchitelli at mcicchitelli@jewishallianceri. org.

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20 | June 8, 2018

The Jewish Voice

PHDS’s awards dinner planned for June 17 at Bonnie and Donald Dwares JCC

BY RUCHAMA SZENDRO The Providence Hebrew Day School’s 71st annual awards dinner will be held on Sunday, June 17, in the Victor and Gussie Baxt Social Hall at the Alliance’s Dwares Jewish Community Center, in Providence.

David London is this year’s Amudim Award honoree.

London met his wife, Toby, at Brown University in 1961. They settled in Attleboro and joined Congregation Agudas Achim, which London’s grandparents helped establish in 1913 and where he served a term as president.

London started his career in his family’s retail business, and went on to work as a trade association executive, lobbyist and property developer, while Toby became a partner in a Providence benefits consulting firm.

In 1998, the Londons joined the Jewish Federation’s 50th Anniversary of Israel Mission,

DON'T

which changed the direction of their lives. Both served terms as federation officers.

Toby London served as editorial chair of The Jewish Voice and treasurer of the Sandra Bornstein Holocaust Education Center, in Providence. David London was a trustee and treasurer of the Brown RISD Hillel.

In 2007, the couple moved to Providence. They are active at Temple Emanu-El and in Brown alumni leadership.

In 2013, London’s fellow Hillel trustees asked him to take on the difficult task of building an extension of the Providence eruv around the Brown and Rhode Island School of Design campuses to help attract more Orthodox students to the schools.

On April 4, 2017, the completed extension was dedicated at a ceremony that celebrated the collaboration of local and national rabbis, Providence Mayor Jorge Elorza, Councilman Samuel Zurier, local utility companies and the Providence Eruv Corporation.

The Providence Hebrew Day School salutes David and Toby London as true “Amudim” (pillars) of the Jewish community.

Rafi and Anita Minkin are this year’s recipients of the Generation to Generation Award.

The Minkins came to Providence from Portland, Maine, 24 years ago.

Rafi Minkin has held positions in sales and marketing and is currently self-employed as a property owner and manager. Anita’s background is in social work and gerontology.

For the past 10 years, she has been in a private practice, specializing in geriatric mental health.

David London

Rafi and Anita Minkin Rafi Minkin’s family was actively involved in the establishment of Jewish organizations in Portland, Maine, and he was in the first graduating class at the Portland Hebrew Day School. The Minkins’ four children, Merav, Yishai, Nadav and Tali, followed in their father’s footsteps at the Portland day school. Tali attended the New England Academy of Torah, in Providence, graduating in 1997.

Continuing the tradition of Jewish education, the Minkins’ grandchildren attend the Providence Hebrew Day School, as well as yeshivot in New York, New Jersey and Ohio.

Three generations of Minkins are often seen at daily synagogue services. When volunteers are needed, Minkins of all ages are at the forefront, performing acts of charity and

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The Alumnus Award for 2018 will be presented to Rabbi Yisroel Weiner, who graduated from the Providence Hebrew Day School in 1998. Weiner had many wonderful role models, both at th e PHDS and at home, and community service was ingrained in him at a young age.

Weiner studied at Ner Israel Rabbinical College, in Baltimore, and at the Mir Yeshiva, in Jerusalem. He received rabbinic ordination under the tutelage of one of the foremost American rabbinic authorities, the late Rabbi Efraim Greenblatt.

He holds a graduate degree in education administration and supervision from Loyola University Chicago.

Weiner, a passionate teacher, and his wife Suri, an occupational therapist, live in Phoenix, where Rabbi Weiner is principal of the Phoenix Hebrew Academy.

The Weiners are known for their willingness to serve and for the warm and welcoming hospitality in their home. The

Rabbi Yisroel Weiner six Weiner children attend Jewish day school.

The Weiners are famous for their cross-country car trips, and the PHDS family is proud to welcome them back when they visit Rhode Island.

The Providence Hebrew Day School will also pay a special tribute to Beverly Hall, a dedicated member of the elementary school teaching staff. After many years of teaching PHDS children how to read, Hall is retiring from the classroom. She will work at the school as a specialist one day a week, providing instruction in art.

The 71st annual awards dinner is open to the public. For details, to attend, or to make a contribution in honor of the event, call the school at 401-3315327, ext. 21.

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The Jewish Voice

Rhode Island jumps 10 spots on national business rankings PROVIDENCE, RI – Last month, Chief Executive released its 2018 “Best States/Worst States for Business” rankings, and Rhode Island saw the biggest gain of any state in the country, up ten spots in the past year alone (from 42 to 32).

Rhode Island is on the move.

Dozens of businesses are opening their doors, thousands

of people are back to work, and cranes are in the air across our state,” said Governor Gina M. Raimondo. “Making it easier to start or grow a business has been a top priority since I took office, and our strategy is seeing results. We’ve cut taxes and fees for businesses, put permitting online, and helped match companies with

qualified Rhode Islanders ready to get to work. It’s great to see publications like Chief Executive and Business Insider recognizing the strides we’ve made as a state, but we still have more work to do to make sure everyone feels included in our economic recovery.”

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Israeli pop star Shiri Maimon will make Broadway debut JTA — Popular Israeli singer Shiri Maimon confirmed that she will be debuting this fall on Broadway.

Maimon will play the starring role of Roxie Hart in the hit musical “Chicago.” Her run with the production will begin on September 21 at New York’s Ambassador Theater.

She announced her new role after appearing in Times Square on Sunday, June 3 as part of the march for Israel parade and the 70th anniversary celebrations for the State of Israel. She called her Broadway opportunity “proof that dreams are meant to be fulfilled,” and said she was “proud to bring an Israeli presence to Broadway,” in a statement issued Sunday.

Shiri Maimon Maimon, 36, recently starred in a production of “Evita” at Habima, the national theater of

Israel in Tel Aviv, where she reportedly was seen by the “Chicago” producers.

She recently completed her third season as a celebrity judge on the Israeli version of “X Factor.” She first rose to stardom as the runner-up in the first season of the Israeli reality show “Kochav Nolad,” which translates to “A Star Is Born,” in 2003. She then went on to take fourth place at the Eurovision Song Contest in 2005 with the ballad “Hasheket Shenishar,” garnering international acclaim.

Maimon, who sang with the Israeli Air Force Entertainment Troupe during her military service, has released four albums.

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REMEMBER THE PAST From the Rhode Island Jewish Historical Association

‘The Orange Lady’

BY GERALDINE S. FOSTER About a month ago, I found a treasure – a real tangerine, l i ke the ones I remember from my youth.

Not a mandarin or a clementine or a Murcott, but a real tangerine.

The loose-skinned variety, with all the “strings” that you have to pull off each section of the fruit.

The tangerines I recall came from Florida in the autumn and were a harbinger of shorter days and cold and snow. To wax poetic, they were a ray of sunshine on dark winter days.

Over the years, this variety of tangerine has become more difficult to find. It’s delicate, I was told, difficult to ship and subject to disease. Other varieties took its place.

Unlike the tangerines of my youth, my newfound treasure did not come from Florida in autumn. It bore the label Jaffa, from Israel, and arrived in late spring.

In the 1960s, we had another harbinger of a coming season.

In March, “The Orange Lady” would call. Her name was Sarah Ritter. She earned that title because every year for more than 20 years, she made phone calls, persuading, cajoling, soliciting orders for cases of Jaffa oranges as a fundraiser for the Hadassah Israel Education Service.

You didn’t need a whole case?

Well, then, share the oranges with friends or donate them to the Jewish Home (then on Hillside Avenue, in Providence).

It was difficult, indeed nearly impossible, to refuse Sarah Ritter. Her list of purchasers reached almost 300. Add to that the countless donors to her cause. No matter that these early oranges were usually tart and unusually thick-skinned; they came from Israel to aid a good cause in that country.

For those who remember Sarah Ritter, this reminiscence may bring a smile or even a chuckle. There was, however, another facet, a more serious facet, to one of her many volunteer efforts: Her work on behalf of the blind and visually impaired.

There is now technology, such as talking books and computers that produce Braille, to bring literature and learning to the blind and visually impaired.

Before these innovations, there

were only two ways for the visually impaired to get access to the printed word – learning Braille or having a reader.

In 1954, after the death of her husband, Ritter became interested in the Rhode Island state agency offering assistance to this population. She volunteered to be a reader. She also studied Braille transcription and mastered the technique of turning the written word into dots and cells.

After passing a rigorous test, Ritter earned certification from the Library of Congress.

Transcribing the written word into Braille was a difficult and tedious process. Each transcribed word had to be closely checked for accuracy, since a missing or misplaced dot could change its meaning.

Before she acquired a Braille machine, Ritter used a stylus and slate to punch the symbols on paper by hand. After she got the machine, she transcribed cookbooks and a book on bridge, among others.

Ritter also learned Yiddish and Hebrew Braille, and transcribed many books for the Jewish Braille Institute of New York, including a Bible and a Haggadah.

In an interview in 1981, Ritter recalled that one of the most challenging assignments she received from the Jewish Braille Institute was transcribing four volumes of “Ulpani” (“My Course of Instruction”),

by Shlomo Haramati, a professor of Jewish education at Hebrew University. The print, she said, was almost illegible, and there were no vowels. After many calls to her good friend Beryl Segal for help, Ritter completed the task for the person in Israel who had requested the Braille version.

Ritter received many well-deserved accolades and commendations from the organizations for which she volunteered her time and talent. The spirit of doing for others was always in Sarah Ritter’s heart and head.

EDITOR’S NOTE: Larry Katz studied with Prof. Haramati at Hebrew University. The writer consulted with him about the translation of “Ulpani.”

GERALDINE S. FOSTER is a past president of the R.I. Jewish Historical Association. To comment about this or any RIJHA article, contact the RIJHA office at info@rijha.org or 401-3311360.

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SENIORS

June 8, 2018 |

23

Going to a new doctor? Here’s how to get the most out of your appointment If you are planning to see a new primary care physician, it’s important to be prepared. To get the most out of your appointment, consider bringing the following: • Driver’s ERIN license or photo ID. MINIOR This will be requested upon registration.

• Insurance card(s), including your Medicare card if you are a Medicare beneficiary.

• A medical history card, including information on drug allergies, physicians you see and any surgical history.

• A ziplock bag holding all the medications you take, including prescriptions and over-the-counter medicines, supplements, vitamins and herbal remedies. Bringing them with you is often best, but you can bring a list of the medications if you prefer. Be candid about your compliance – are you taking the medications as prescribed?

• A list of alternative therapies you may be receiving, such as acupuncture or care from a chiropractor or naturopaths.

• A list of current medical

p r o b l e m s /c o n c e r n s /q u e s tions. Give some thought to questions you want to ask.

Also, if possible, bring a journal of your symptoms. Are you experiencing a new symptom? When does it surface, how does it feel? This information will be very helpful to your physician.

• A notebook and pen, or a cellphone where you can write notes. It is best practice to verbally recap your understanding of the physician’s concerns/recommendations.

• A trusted family member or friend to be an extra pair of ears to hear any diagnosis, testing and/or treatment recommendations. They can be present during the exam if you want. Following that portion of the visit, you may invite them to listen to the physician’s discussion with you.

Their advocacy can be helpful, particularly when you are hearing about health issues for the first time.

• A copy of your durable power of attorney for health care documents – many medical offices request that a copy be kept with your records.

• A healthy snack – unless you are instructed not to eat or drink in advance – because wait times can be lengthy.

As a new patient, you are typically asked to complete a

patient health history and authorization form at the time of your visit.

Rather than completing them in the waiting room, you can ask the office to send or email the forms to you SUSAN in advance so you can BAZAR complete them from home at your leisure. Some offices have these forms available to download from their websites.

After your exam, it is essential to request a visit summary and any follow-up instructions. If a caregiver will be accompanying you to a subsequent visit, it is wise to request a second appointment card for their records.

Self-care is critically important. We encourage you to be proactive by taking these steps in advance of your visit to maximize your health.

ERIN MINIOR of Jewish Family Service of Rhode Island and SUSAN BAZAR of the Jewish Seniors Agency respond to one or two questions relevant to social and senior services each month. Submit questions via email to sbazar@jsari.org.

OBITUARIES

24 | June 8, 2018

The Jewish Voice

Robert E. Abrahms, 92

ASK THE DIRECTOR

BY MICHAEL D. SMITH F.D./R.E. Shalom Memorial Chapel

QUESTION: I noticed some rabbis use different words at the cemetery during burial. I know it sounds nitpicky, but is there a difference in meaning by saying dirt or earth and grave or hole?

M.E., Warren Dear M.E., It’s really a stylistic choice. Personally, I like the term “earth,” because from earth we come, and to earth we return.

I also prefer the term “grave,” because that is the technical word used in my profession and, in my opinion, sounds better, but I’m a little biased. No disrespect is ever intended when a clergy person uses the words “hole” and “dirt.” In my experience, the clergy always describes the mitzvah of burial with the proper kavanah (intention and focus).

QUESTIONS ARE WELCOMED AND ENCOURAGED. Please send questions to: ShalomChapel@aol.com or by mail to Ask the Director, c/o Shalom Memorial Chapel, 1100 New London Ave., Cranston, R.I. 02920.

With 12 years experience we continue to create personalized, meaningful memorials. Wording both in Hebrew and English. Relevant etching can be included.

Ira Jay Fleisher (401) 265-2330 fleishermonumentco@gmail.com

(Serving Rhode Island & Massachusetts)

WARWICK – Robert E. Abrahms died June 4 at home.

He was the husband of the late Charlotte R. (Greenfield) Abrahms.

Born in Medford, Mass., a son of the late Herman and Sarah (Rosemont) Abrahms, he had lived in Warwick for seven years, previously living in Houston, Texas for 35 years.

He was the executive director for the Development Corporation for Israel in Houston, Texas. During his tenure, he lead the office in achieving the highest sales of Israel Bonds in the world. Prior to this, he was an area director for MetLife in Gloucester, Mass.

Robert was a WWII Navy veteran serving in the Pacific Theatre. He was a member of the Masonic Temple in Mass. on the North Shore and a former member of Congregation Beth Yeshurun in Houston, Texas.

He was the father of Jill Sholes of Warwick. He was the grandfather of Adam and Lauren Sholes of Cranston, Noah and Jaclyn Sholes of Foxboro, Mass., Hope and Charles Pinder of Petersham, Mass. and the late Marc Sholes. He was the great-grandfather of Madalyn, Caroline, Charlotte and Maxwell. He was the brother of Fred Abrahms of Cleveland, Ohio, Jonathan Abrahms of Hartford, Conn. and the late Clarise Berenson and Joseph D. Abrahms and brother-in-law of Marilyn Lamb and her husband Hy of Sharon, Mass.

Contributions in his memory may be made to Jewish National Fund, 78 Randall Ave., Rockville Centre, NY 11570.

Seymour Keitlen, MD, 87

Seymour Keitlen, MD, died June 3. He was born in Jersey City, NJ, the son of the late William and Nette (Bloomberg) Keitlen. He was preceded in death by his three brothers and two sisters. He was previously

married to Liane Keitlen, of Florida, the mother of his three daughters.

Seymour studied at Rutgers University and received a Master of Science in Philosophy from Columbia University in 1962. He was a decorated Korean War veteran in the Army’s 13th Infantry (Medical Corp). In 1955, he was decorated with the National Defense Service Medal and honorably discharged.

He received his MD, from the GI bill, from the University of Geneva in 1961. Post-graduation he was Chief of Psychiatry at Long Island Jewish-Hillside Medical Center. He also maintained a private practice and taught at S.U.N.Y at Stonybrook.

He was a self-taught artist.

Seymour was fluent in five languages, an accomplished author of six books, a paid translator, and over the course of his life he lived throughout Europe, Mexico and the United States.

He is survived by his daughters Julia Lombardo, Jessica Keitlen and Laura Keitlen (Susan Baumes).

Contributions in his memory may be made to St. Elizabeth’s Community, 2364 Post Rd, Suite #100, Warwick, RI 02886 or to the animal charity of your choice.

Harriet Landesberg, 106

WARWICK, R.I. – Harriet Landesberg of Tamarisk Assisted Living died May 25 at Kent County Hospital. She was the wife of the late Leo Landesberg. Born in Providence, a daughter of the late Samuel and Ida (Roth) Glazer, she had lived in Warwick for 13 years, previously living in Cranston.

Although she did not have the opportunity to be Bat Mitzvah as a young girl, she became one at age 72. Harriet was a member of Temple Torat Yisrael.

She was the mother of Melvin Landesberg and his wife, Ar-

lene, of Delray Beach, Florida and the late Adele Landesberg. She was the sister of the late Morris Glazer, Betty Levy, Sadie, David, and Sydney Glazer. The grandmother of Karen Steinfeld and her husband David, Jill Boyle and her husband Vincent and Ilise Samolyk and her husband John. She was he great-grandmother of Michael, Jordan, Bryanna, Aliyah and Joshua.

Contributions in her memory may be made to Tamarisk Assisted Living, Staff Appreciation Fund, 3 Shalom Drive, Warwick, RI 02886.

Michael Meyerson, 74

CRANSTON, R.I. – Michael Meyerson died May 27. He was the husband of Alina (Sheiman) Meyerson; they were married for 43 years.

Michael had been a paratrooper and a medic for his unit, caring for many of his fellow paratroopers. He completed his studies at Zhitomir Medical Tech School in Dental Lab Work and went on to complete his degree in Physical Therapy at Gomel State University. He continued his studies and received his degree in Psychology after completing graduate work at the Leningrad (St. Petersburg) State University.

Michael’s many publications and contributions to research will live on forever. He will be deeply missed.

Besides his wife, he is survived by his son Dmitry Meyerson, PhD and his fiancée Chantele Petrocelli. Michael was a loyal and devoted husband and much-loved father. He was a loyal friend and colleague who was dedicated to his profession.

Contributions in his memory may be made to the American Cancer Society, 931 Jefferson Blvd #3004, Warwick, RI 02886.

taking care of each other is what community is all about.

For over a century, we’ve proudly served our Jewish community with personal, compassionate care.

SUGARMAN SINAI Memorial Chapel 458 Hope St., Providence

Certified by the Board of Rabbis of Greater Rhode Island

SugarmanSinai.com 401-331-8094

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June 8, 2018 |

NATION

25

Elaine Holstein, last surviving parent of the four Kent State shooting victims, dies at 96

BY STEVE NORTH (JTA) – For nearly half a century, Elaine Holstein was periodically confronted with one of the most haunting images in modern American history: the bone-chilling picture of Kent State University student Jeffrey Miller lying on the pavement seconds after being fatally shot in the mouth by an Ohio National Guardsman during an anti-war protest.

Photographer John Filo later said, “The volume of blood that was flowing from his body was as if someone tipped over a bucket.” And, of course, there was the teenage girl kneeling over Jeff, screaming in horror, her arms raised in anguish.

Most baby boomers remember that photo as a symbol of May 4, 1970, the day four unarmed college students were killed on their own campus. For Elaine Holstein, however, the photograph depicted the cruel death of her beloved 20-year-old son.

Holstein died Saturday at age 96; she was the last surviving parent of the four Kent State victims. (Three of the four students were Jewish; nine other students also were wounded in the gunfire.) I’d known her since May 1980, when as news director of the Long Island, New York, radio station WLIR, I invited her to my studio to speak about Jeff on the 10th anniversary of what became known as the Kent State Massacre.

I was immediately impressed with this tiny, typical Jewish mother. She had worked as a high school secretary in Plainview, New York, before returning to college, earning a master’s degree, and becoming a psychiatric social worker when she was nearly 60.

As we began the interview, Holstein kvelled, proudly telling me about her boy.

“He was a cute kid; dark curly hair, very bright and precocious,” she said. “He did very well in school and skipped first grade, which became a problem because he was short and always felt like a baby.

“When he was young, he wasn’t that easy to get along with – I think he was a protester from the very beginning. But his saving grace was his great sense of humor and a high intelligence. As a teenager, Holstein recalled, Jeff was typical of the times.

“He liked the Mets, music, math and motorcycles. He had posters up all over his room: Jimi Hendrix, The Grateful Dead, Jefferson Airplane. He was very insistent that I share in what he loved so much,” she said.

In early 1970, on a visit to New York City, she and Jeff strolled around Greenwich Village, and

he bought a small leather ring with a peace insignia. He had been an anti-Vietnam War activist since the age of 16, when he wrote a poem titled “Where Does It End?” It included the lines “A teenager from a small Ohio farm clutches his side in pain, and, as he feels his life ebbing away, he too, asks why, why is he dying here, thousands of miles from home?”

At the time, Jeff had never been to Ohio and had no idea his own life would end in the state.

In 1970, Jeff transferred to Kent State from Michigan State University. That May, Holstein received a phone call from her mother.

“Her mother heard on the radio there were protests at Kent State, and she was worried about Jeff. So I called Jeff and told him Nana was upset,” Holstein said. “He said it’s nothing to worry about. We talked about him getting a summer job in which he’d make those posters that said ‘War is unhealthy for children and other living things.’

“Two days later, Jeff called me. He was concerned I might hear about more demonstrations and get nervous, he wanted to reassure me. He mentioned Nixon’s speech, calling the anti-war students ‘bums,’ and the impression I got wasn’t so much of anger but of wry amusement. There was going to be a rally at noon, and he said ‘I think I’ll go over there; is that OK with you?’ I thought, what power do I have to tell him no?”

Her voice breaking, Holstein said “And that was the last …”

Miller took part in the May 4 protest against the expansion of the Vietnam War into Cambodia and against the presence of the Ohio National Guard on the Kent State campus. The shooting of those unarmed protesters led to massive demonstrations across the country. A federal commission later determined that the shootings were unjustified, although no criminal convictions were obtained against any National Guardsman.

Holstein heard about the shootings on the radio as she drove home from work and thought to herself, “I’m going to call Jeff and tell him to come home and wait until this blows over.” She dialed his number at college; a young man answered, and she asked to speak with Jeff. After a pause, he said, “He’s dead.”

As Holstein sank onto her bed, thinking it had to be a mistake, her soon-to-be second husband, Artie, grabbed the phone and was given the name of the hospital where the victims had been taken.

“I thought perhaps someone had borrowed Jeff’s wallet.

(JOHN PAUL FILO/VALLEY NEWS-DISPATCH/WIKIMEDIA COMMONS)

John Filo’s Pulitzer Prize-winning photograph of Mary Ann Vecchio, a 14-year-old runaway, kneeling over the body of Jeffrey Miller minutes after he was fatally shot by the Ohio National Guard at Kent State University, May 4, 1970.

This doesn’t happen to people you know,” Holstein said. “But then I heard Artie say, ‘Oh, he was wearing a leather ring with a peace insignia?’ And I knew it was Jeff.”

Within hours, the entire country had seen the iconic photograph, which won the Pulitzer Prize later that year.

I asked Holstein how she managed to deal with it.

“In the first year,” she remembered, “I was just running.

We drove across country to California, and walked into a place, and there was that photo, wallsized, of Jeff lying there. I felt

like someone was hitting me on the head, just pounding me.

I think that what has happened over time is how Jeff looked when he was lying in bed, so the only way I can bear to look at it is to think that’s Jeff sleeping. I kind of resent the fact that everyone knows Jeff as the figure on the ground and not as he really was.”

We ended our interview. I shut off the mic and she said to me, “I don’t want you to think of Jeff only like that either,” she said, taking out a well-worn red wallet. “Come, look.”

She showed me pictures of

Jeff with her older son, Russell, photos from elementary school, of his bar mitzvah, of him playing drums. It was beyond heartbreaking.

Holstein gave me a copy of Jeff’s 1966 poem that day, which I’ve had framed and hung on my wall. I began a tradition of calling or writing her every May 4, on Jeff’s secular “yahrtzeit.”

In 2016, at age 94, Holstein drove to my house for lunch, and for the first time I showed her Jeff’s poem on the wall; she beamed. This year, on May 4, I emailed her, as usual. The next day my phone rang.

“Steve? It’s Elaine. Thank you for the email. I was planning to fly to Kent State this week to speak at the annual ceremony.

But I was just diagnosed with cancer, and I was about to call you and let you know,” she said.

I expressed my sorrow and concern, but Holstein immediately said, “Really, I’m perfectly content to settle for this. I’m 96, a good age, and it looks like this will go pretty fast.”

And then, she sighed. “I had a good life. The only horrible thing that ever happened to me was Jeff’s death.”

Elaine Holstein once told me that on May 4, 1970, she woke up as one person, and by the time she went to sleep that night, she was someone else entirely.

I think many of us who remember that horrendous day can say exactly the same thing.

26 | June 8, 2018

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June 8, 2018 |

SIMCHA | WE ARE READ

WE ARE READ IN OHIO – Pamela and Joel Cohen, of Warwick, recently visited family in Mason, Ohio, and attended a dance showcase where granddaughter Alexis performed. Pictured are granddaughters Alexis, age 12 and Rachel, age 10. Rachel also dances but much prefers to play softball.

27

WE ARE READ IN KENTUCKY – On a visit to former Rhode Islanders Alice and Sid Goldstein in Lexington Kentucky, Paula and Michael Goldberg found them reading The Jewish Voice.

Amy Entin receives award for outstanding service Amy Entin, a Barrington High School and University of Rochester graduate (B.S. in Optical Engineering), as well as a former Alperin Schechter Day School student (now Jewish Community Day School of Rhode Island), currently works as optical engineer in the Israeli Navy (submarine division).

She was named the recipient of the Presidential Award for Outstanding Service. The award was presented to Amy and other recipients by President Reuven Rivlin at his residence in Jerusalem on April 19 (Israel’s Independence Day) in a nationally televised ceremony attended by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman, IDF Chief of Staff Gadi Eizenkot, former Prime Minister Ehud Barak, Jerusalem Mayor Nir Barkat and other dignitaries and popular artists. Amy made aliyah in 2016 and received the rank of academic officer in the Navy in May 2018.

Naomi Fink

Mazel tov My son Reuben (it means “look, a boy!”) was born with a big smile on his face. He was laughing at me – and he never stopped! So, for this Father’s Day, as he becomes a daddy himself for the first time, I toast a happy glass of Champagne to his reign as a co-parent, beside his bride Laura.

Reuben, Laura and and their daughter Naomi, who was born on May 28, live in Boston. The maternal grandparents are Deborah Nelson, of Massachusetts, and Paul Nelson, of New Jersey. The paternal grandparents are Michael and Michael Fink, of Providence. My wish for the young family is love from the past, at the present and for the future. And to remember laughter, which is always needed.

– Mike Fink

PHOTO SOURCE: SHAIITH/STOCK.ADOBE.COM

Got a simcha this summer?

Three awesome backyard party ideas

STATEPOINT – Throwing a party and need an idea? With just a little planning, you can turn your ordinary backyard into anything you want it to be.

A water park

Who says you need a pool to cool off on hot days? Create a backyard water park with stations like Slip ‘n’ Slide, sprinklers, inflatable water play pools and water balloons.

Serve guests popsicles, funnel cake, hotdogs and other waterpark treats. Be sure to have plenty of beach towels on hand and a designated area for those guests who’d prefer to stay dry.

A outdoor movie theater

Host a film night under the stars by moving your home theater outside. Create “stadium seating” by putting blankets towards the front of the viewing area, reclining chairs behind those, and then regular lawn chairs in the back. Decorate your backyard in theme with the movie you are screening and serve popcorn. To get the real movie theater experience, use a high-quality projector to produce optimal visuals. With these same ideas and just a few snack and decoration swaps, you can host your friends for any big televised event!

Summer Camp

Relive the camp experience with some friendly competition. Assign your guests to teams and then start keeping score. A prominent score board with the current stats and some motivating music will keep guests on top of their game. Include classic feats of strength and coordination like tug-ofwar and a three-legged race, but don’t be afraid to branch out to include games that use the mind, such as trivia. Complete the day with an awards ceremony. Then pick a theme and go all out to create a fiesta your guests won’t soon forget.

28 | June 8, 2018

The Jewish Voice

The Sachs Family Jewish Alliance 2018 Annual Campaign: Donate. Volunteer. Make a difference.

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There are thousands of young people asking important questions—and every one counts. Through Jewish day schools and camps, Birthright and gap-year trips to Israel, and PJ Library books, the next generation is connecting with their history and with one another. As young people awaken to the power and promise of their Jewish identity, our legacy is strengthened—and our world becomes kinder and more compassionate.

The Jewish Alliance of Greater Rhode Island is dedicated to building a stronger and more inclusive community here at home, in Israel and around the world. We are fueled by Jewish values and driven by tradition—reimagined for today’s world. Together, with your support, we are committed to strengthening lives and communities everywhere.

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