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packed house honors B’nai

WORLD NEWS

19 Shevat, 5773 / Jan. 30,

Amoona hazzan

By DaviD BaughER SpECIAL TO THE JEwISH LIgHT

iSRaEL aLivE! Check out the Jewish Light’s third Israel Alive! section, focusing on stories about Israel that go beyond conflict and politics and explore topics that often fall under the media’s radar.

Pages 6-7

FEaTuRES Chess master visits

What’s it like to be a chess master by age 18? Do Mideast politics have an impact on the game for an Israeli player?

Find out these questions and more in our interview.

Page 10

Index Camps and Education .....

11-15 ChaiLights .......................

21-22 Classifieds ............................20 Dining ...................................19 Features ................................10 Israel Alive! .........................

6-7 Jewish Lite ............................22 Nation/world news .................5 Obituaries .............................23 Opinions .............................

8-9

Candlelighting Shabbat starts Friday, Feb. 1, 5:04 p.m.

Shabbat ends Saturday, Feb. 2, 6:05 p.m.

2013 / Vol. 66, No. 5

Crown Center plans building improvements, new initiatives

Bibi and Lapid

Is there room for Netanyahu’s Likud and Lapid’s centrist Yesh Atid to find common ground?

News story, page 5 Editorial, page 8

More than 700 people turned out to honor B’nai Amoona’s Hazzan Sensation’ concert and reception on Sunday Sharon Nathanson during the ‘Singular night. Above, she during the post-concert is greeted by Sandy reception. The event Kaplan and Marcy Orchestra Concertmaster featured a variety Williams of special David Halen, B’nai Amoona Hazzan Emeritus guests including St. Louis Symphony Joanna Dulkin. The event capped a weekend Leon Lissek, Cantor Hazzan. For a gallery of events celebrating Seth of images, visit stljewishlight.com/m Nathanson’s achievement Warner and Hazzan of official status as ultimedia. Photo: Yana Hotter

Modell fans pray for Super

By ChaviE LiEBER

Bowl win, Hall of Fame entry

The Gladys & Henry Crown Center for Senior Living is set to unveil a new initiative that increase programming aims to options, expand its reach into the nity and spotlight commuphysical improvements to its longtime facility off Delmar Blvd.

“I think the whole idea is that it’s barrier-free, that this is going to be low-key, easy-to-access and designed especially for people who are retired,” said executive director Nikki Goldstein. things make it unique.” “Those

Set to rollout over the or so, the concept next year is called “Circle@Crown” and will feature a wider array of classes through partnerships with groups Center of Contemporary like Arts, OASIS, Central Agency for Jewish Education and the Saul Brodsky Jewish Community Library.

There will also be years at the homes a revamp of JTA of facilities — with bers. Wives and kids its mem- the late owner’s two changes sons and a come along former fitness center, expanded to the now, too. president and CEO NEW YORK — Every outdoor of the Sunday Ravens, told JTA. seating for class With their beloved during the football and the possible “I’m not squad slated ing season, a to construction of a for results, I’m praying prayface off against group of 30 diehard greenhouse to for the the San Jewish Francisco create more gardening Baltimore Ravens 49ers in Super Bowl strength and courage of this options. A fans suit up in team, and the rest new dairy kitchen XLVII on purple pants, jerseys, will take care will also be socks, face company Sunday, Heller and of itself. added allowing But a Super Bowl paint and special no doubt will get the complex to victory Ravens even and a place offer breakfast and watch the game together. tzitzit to crazier than normal. in the Hall lunch would be an incredibleof Fame fee shop environment in a cofAdding If the game falls on way to a Saturday, showdownto its significance, the honor my access being available with wifi the club gathers father’s memory.” comes just six months in the dinfor a “Purple ing area.

Modell’s legacy is after the Shabbos,” when something of they wear former death of a touchy subject for “We’ll have a demonstration Ravens jerseys under owner Art football fans. their suits, Model Supporters see him kitchen where we’ll eat Ravens-inspired l, t he bring in chefs as a brilliant food from a Jewish businessman best from outside to purple menu and Brooklyn teach known for his go into lock- n role in negotiations classes and hopefully cooking a t i ve down mode once who with the ABC the game television network expertise of our residents use the so they don’t accidentally starts moved the team leading to teach discov- to Baltimore creation of “Monday to the the cooking of their er the final score from own ethnic before Night Football” in 1970, foods,” said Sally watch the recorded they can Cleveland in Altman, chair of and for his supbroadcast 1996.

Art Modell port for community the resident and post-Sabbath.

Ravens community sercharities in Cleveland and Baltimore. vices committee. players dedicated “Yes, we’re all absolute “We have a wide this season to Ravens Modell, variety of ethnicities In Cleveland, nuts,” Noam Heller, wearing a patch Modell isn’t at Crown. a 25-year-old “Art” with remembered We might have Baltimore native, on their jerseys. as fondly. After 34 a Chinese food told JTA. years as owner class. We might And even more poignancy: “We’re not just of the Browns, have a cooking casual football The Modell for Passover class Pro Football Hall fans like some or a soul food of Fame will Baltimore took the team to other states. announce class.”

Everyone who knows in 1996 and renamed whether Modell will our crew inducted be them the Altman said outdoor knows we’re crazy.” the day before the Ravens. Many big Cleveland fans ming activities and programgame.

The group has been remain bitter over classes are reveling in the loss of their also likely to see “Honestly, I’m kvelling the Ravens together team and say it an expansion for about five this over and a greater range game,” David Modell, of activities one of See MODELL,

page 7

See CROWN CENTER,

page 17

9 Nissan, 5773 / March 20, 2013 / Vol. 66, No. 12

Inside

FEATURES Celebrating Passover Check out two holiday commentaries on pages 10-11, and then see a variety of features — on food, wine, family celebrations and more — in our Passover section on pages 12-19.

Philip Roth at 80 The reclusive — and brilliant — author gives a rare inside look into his life in a new PBS documentary.

Page 21

INSERT Oy! Magazine The latest edition of our quarterly Oy! Magazine is inside this week’s issue.

The 68-page magazine focuses on the theme of ‘Generations.’

Local temples pursue novel collaboration

By David Baugher Special to the Jewish Light

B’nai El Congregation, among the oldest synagogues in the area, is considering “repurposing” its institution to focus on older adults under a plan that would see it move operations to Congregation Shaare Emeth.

“As part of this collaboration, if they wish, all B’nai El members will be able to assume the full responsibilities and privileges of Congregation Shaare Emeth membership,” read an email sent out by Shaare Emeth to its own families.

“Likewise, current Shaare Emeth members will be able to participate in the ‘new B’nai El’.”

If approved, the plan would see the 160-year-old temple relocate from the 28,000-square-foot facility on North 40 Drive to Shaare Emeth’s campus at Ladue and Ballas roads.

Amye Carrigan, co-president of B’nai El, said the proposal must still gain consent through a congregational vote of her organization.

“It is a new synagogue model that has been created to meet the needs of an underserved

demographic, the 50-to-75-year old market in the St. Louis Jewish community,” said Carrigan. “They are underserved across the country so it is exciting. It’s a big undertaking. It’s collaborative and it speaks to B’nai El’s pioneering spirit.”

Greg Yawitz, first vice-president at Shaare Emeth, said that no congregational vote was necessary at his institution and the board there had already given its assent to the idea.

“We think it sets a tone for an exciting new way to help

See COLLABORATION, page 21

Modeling Matzah

Index ChaiLights........................ 28-29 Classifieds .............................29 Dining....................................26 Features.................................10 Jewish Lite.............................26 Healthwatch..........................21 Nation/world news.............. 6-7 News & Schmooze...................2 Obituaries........................ 22-23 Opinions.............................. 8-9 Simchas.................................27

Candlelighting Shabbat starts Friday, March 22, 6:56 p.m.

Shabbat ends Saturday, March 23, 7:54 p.m.

Rabbi Levi Landa rolls out matzah during a demonstration at Chabad of Greater St. Louis’ Model Matzah Bakery, held at the Jewish Community Center. Looking on are (from left) Peggy Umansky, Julie Eisenberg, Dr. Susan Scribner, Annis Harris and Jay Umansky. Landa, Chabad’s Director of Programming, demonstrated the steps involved in creating matzah, from grinding wheat into flour to the crucial 18 minutes to mix, roll and bake matzah after flour and water are combined. Photo: Lisa Mandel

Shaare Zedek Hazzan Dulkin accepts new post in N.J.

By David Baugher Special to the Jewish Light

Kol Rinah means “joyous voice” and St. Louis’s newest synagogue will now be in the market for a new one with the departure of Hazzan Joanna Selznick Dulkin, which was announced late last week.

“St. Louis has been and continues to be a wonderful place for our family and I am deeply grateful for the generous offer extended to me to continue as your Hazzan,” read a letter Dulkin wrote to Kol Rinah congregants. “However, after much soul-searching, we have decided that a return to the East Coast provides broader career opportunities for my husband and allows us to rejoin the family and community we left seven years ago.”

In a release by the congregation, Shaare Zedek Synagogue President Steve Keyser praised Dulkin’s influence.

“Joanna energized us with her passion, engaged us through music and encouraged new families to join,” said Keyser. “We will continue down that path with the same commitment and energy she brought to our community.”

Dulkin has spent more than six years with Shaare Zedek, which is now in the process of merging with Brith Sholom Kneseth Israel to form Kol Rinah.

Dulkin has accepted a new job as hazzan of the Jewish Center in Princeton, N.J.

See DULKIN, page 9

Like parties?

Mark your calendar for

April 14 from 11-3 @ Crown Plaza, Clayton, 7750 Carondelet

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March 20, 2013

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ST. LOUIS JEWISH LIGHT

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Visit WWW. STLJEWISHLIGHT.COM

news schmooze

BY ELLEN FUTTERMAN

Still good to the last drop Passover is a scant few days away and I’m flummoxed about the menu. Perhaps that’s because I’m hosting an interfaith, gluten-free, part vegetarian seder for 12 that includes my blended family, my favorite same-sex couple, one of my best Catholic friends, a college student I barely know and another one I never met.

We’ve always asked why is this night different from all other nights? But a more modern take may be, when did preparing for Passover get so complicated?

As a kid, the biggest challenge was staying awake. It wasn’t so much that

our seders went on forever, though they were long, but rather because I would sneak a few (or more) sips of Granny Rose’s Manischewitz, then nod off.

Come to think of it I still nod off, but that has more to do with being old and tired.

I remember my grandmother and mother pretty much serving the same dishes for Passover year after year.

Gefilte fish, chopped liver, chicken soup with kneidlach, brisket, potato kugel, tzimmes, and the trifecta of Flakowitz bakery products, sponge cake, honey cake and macaroons. (For those of you who did not grow up on Long Island, Flakowitz was the Jewish bakery. No

one made a better black-and-white cookie than Flakowitz! Just ask Jerry Seinfeld.).

Every bite at those childhood Passovers tasted delicious (perhaps because we were so hungry) and even if we didn’t love every dish, we kept our traps shut and ate it anyway. Of course if I never see tzimmes again, let alone have to eat it, it’ll be too soon.

Now, as if figuring out how to accommodate the various dietary needs of my guests isn’t stressful enough, I’m also in a tizzy about haggadahs. Do you have any idea how many exist?

Amazon.com lists more than 1,000; other estimates place the types of different ones closer to 3,000. Let’s see there’s “The Holistic Haggadah,” “A Poet’s Haggadah,” “Sammy Spider’s First Haggadah,” “The Women’s Haggadah,” “The Traditional Egalitarian Hagaddah,”

“The 30-Minute Haggadah,” “The 5-Minute Haggadah,” “Haggadah for Jews and Buddists,” “Passover Hagaddah for Christians,” “The Haggadah of the Chinese Jews” and “The Un-Haggadah,” just to name a few.

I considered writing my own (for about two seconds), but more and more it’s looking like the “Maxwell House Haggadah,” a holdover from Passovers of my youth, will grace the table again, horseradish stains and all. I read in USA Today that it’s been around since the early 1930s, when the coffee company began offering it free at supermarkets with a Maxwell House purchase. Today, more than 50 million copies are in print.

President Barack Obama even used it when he hosted his first seder at the White House in 2009.

Apparently, the text has been updated over the years, as have the booklet covers; in the latest version, for example, instead of telling of the Four Sons, it tells of the Four Children. The Third Plague, once called “vermin,” is now called “lice.” But essentially, this iconic hagga-

See SCHMOOZE, page 19

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The ST. LOUIS JEWISH LIGHT (ISSN 0036-2964) is published weekly; except semi-weekly the first week in February, first week in May, third week in August, and the last week in December, for $45.00 per year by the St. Louis Jewish Light, Inc., a not-for-profit corporation, 6 Millstone Campus Drive, Suite 3010, St. Louis, MO 63146. Periodical postage paid at St. Louis, MO. Copyright 2013. Postmaster: Send address changes to the St. Louis Jewish Light, 6 Millstone Campus Drive, Suite 3010, St. Louis, MO 63146.

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Yom HaShoah to feature ‘Voices from the Holocaust’ The St. Louis community will mark Yo m HaShoa h ( Holocaust Rememberance Day) w ith a Commemoration at 4 p.m. Sunday, April 7 at Congregation B’nai Amoona, 324 S. Mason Road. Yom HaShoah memorializes the six million Jews who were murdered during the Holocaust. The event, presented by the Holocaust Museum and Learning Center and sponsored by Sara and Leo Wolf, is open to the entire community.

The theme for this year’s program is “Voices from the Holocaust.” The program will feature eyewitness accounts by three survivors, Ben Fainer, Sara Moses and Sara Wolf, and liberator Sanford “Buddy” Lebman. Wolf and Fainer have never spoken at a Yom HaShoah event. Moses was liberated from Bergen Belsen at the age of 7 years.

Survival for such a young child was extremely rare; having her aunt with her in the camps helped Moses survive.

Lebman was a soldier in the U.S. Army who entered the Dachau concentration camp two hours after its liberation. The horrors that he witnessed—living skeletons, the remains of unburied victims and the stench of death—remain with him to this day.

“As long as survivors and witnesses of the Holocaust are still part of our community and willing to share their eyewitness testimonies, their voices will continue to be the focus of our annual Yom HaShoah Commemoration,” says Vera

Aleksander Reznik, accompanied by his family, lights a candle during the 2011 Yom HaShoah Community Commemoration. File Photo: Andrew Kerman

Emmons, Chair of the Yom HaShoah Commemoration Committee. “The intention of the Commemoration is to memorialize the victims, honor the survivors and educate the public about this tragic period of history.”

In addition to the testimonies, the Commemoration will include a traditional candle-lighting ceremony, a procession of Torah scrolls rescued from the Holocaust, liturgical readings and

prayers, and recognition of the 70th anniversary of the Warsaw ghetto uprising. Music will be performed by Mischa, Tova and Gabriel Braitberg (Elegant Ensembles), who are the son and grandchildren of Survivors, and the B’nai Amoona Zamarim teen chorus.

For more information, contact the Holocaust Museum and Learning Center at 314-442-3714 or email dreich@jfedstl. org.

Inaugural Rebbetzin Rivkin Memorial Lecture is author event on family abuse The St. Louis Jewish Book Festival, Nishmah and the former Jewish Council Against Family present an author event and panel discussion on the subject of family abuse. The program will be the Inaugural Rebbetzin Rivkin Memorial Lecture and takes place at 7:30 p.m.

Wednesday, April 10 at the Jewish Federation Kopolow Building, 12 Millstone Campus Drive.

Author Eishes Chayil (also known as Judy Brown) will present her awardwinning novel, “Hush.” A powerful and gripping tale based on a true story, “Hush” revolves around a young woman’s struggle to reconcile faith and culture with horrifying family secrets. This painful but respectful story of redemption demonstrates that abuse can, and

unfortunately does, happen anywhere, in any family, in any community.

A discussion will follow the author’s presentation. Panelists include: the author (who used the pseudonym Eishes Chayil, meaning “woman of valor,” when publishing her book to protect herself & her family); Larry Levin, Publisher/CEO of the St. Louis Jewish Light; and Michelle Schiller-Baker, Executive Director of St. Martha’s Hall shelter program for abused women and their chil-

dren.

An audience Q&A and book-signing will follow the discussion. Copies of “HUSH”, provided by Left Bank Books, will be available for sale at the event.

For anyone unable to attend, autographed copies may also be charged by phone in advance and picked up at the JCC afterwards. Tickets are $8 or FREE with Festival 2012 Series PLUS Tickets.

Call 314-442-3299 for tickets or books.

The event is sponsored by Goldstein & Pressman, P.C., and co-sponsored by Bais Abraham Congregation; Nusach Hari B’nai Zion; St. Louis Rabbinical Association; and Young Israel of St. Louis. The Festival is presented by Maryville University’s School of Adult & Online Education.

Back in time with the ‘Jewish Light’ Familiar faces from 1975

CELEBR ATING A HALF-CENTUR Y OF INDEPENDENT JEWISH NEWS

| stljewishlight.com

One of the best things about looking back through the pages of the Light is finding familiar faces of people deeply involved in Jewish community life then (in 1975) and now.

Here we have two very faces many readers will recognize — including Myrna Meyer, who just so happens to be chairing the Jewish Light’s 50th Anniversary Gala (Oct. 6).

March 20, 2013

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Local news briefs

‘Au Revoir Les Enfants’ to screen at HMLC The March film in the Holocaust Museum and Learning Center’s Sandra and Mendel Rosenberg Sunday Afternoon Film Series will be “Au Revoir Les Enfants.” The film will be screened at 1 p.m. Sunday, March 31 in the Holocaust Museum and Learning Center’s Theater in the Jewish Federation Kopolow Building, 12 Millstone Campus Drive.

This heartbreaking film portrays the friendship between two boys living in Nazi-occupied France. At a provincial Catholic boarding school, the youths develop true camaraderie until a devastating secret is revealed.

This tale of courage and cowardice is based on actual events from the childhood of writer-director Louis Malle. The 1987 film, in French with English subtitles, has a running time of 101 minutes. Introductory remarks and a post-screening discussion will be presented by survivor Rachel Goldman Miller, who survived the Holocaust hidden in the French countryside. Other members of her family were murdered by the Nazis. All films in this series are free of charge and open to the public. For information, please call 314-442-3714 or email dreich@jfedstl.org.

JCC offers spring Mah Jongg classes Whether a beginner or just needing a refresher class, all are welcome to participate in Mah Jongg classes at the JCC starting this spring. Classes take place in a small setting with two instructors. A limited number of students will be accepted, so early registration is recommended.

You do not need to come with a group but must have a current 2013 card. Please also indicate whether you will be bringing a set. A limited number of sets are available for class use. Classes will be held on Thursdays from 10 a.m. to noon for six consecutive weeks, from April 4 to May 9.

To register, contact Rose Lackey at 314-442-3130 or rlackey@jccstl.org.

Local Jewish organizations and congregations may submit news releases, calendar items and photos of recent events to news@thejewishlight.com. Call 314-7433665 for more information.

Corrections

2013 marks the Jewish Light’s golden anniversary as an independent nonprofit offering local, national and international Jewish news. To celebrate, we’re featuring a variety of retrospective features, including a weekly look back at some of the people, trends, milestones, culture and even advertising of the Jewish Light’s past 50 years. Capping the year will be the paper’s Golden Light Gala on Oct. 6.

On page 12 of the March 6 edition, a photo caption from the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. community event — held by the St. Louis Jewish Book Festival and the Jewish Community Relations Council — omitted the name of Michael Litwack, who was pictured between Michael Newmark and Batya Abramson-Goldstein.

A ‘Mitzvot from the Heart’ on Feb. 20 misspelled the surname of Allyson Segall and of her parents, Rachel and Scott Segall. A full, corrected version of the story is available online at stljewishlight.com.

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Local news briefs Parents plan Shaare Emeth preschool fundraiser The Parent’s Advisory Council of Shirlee Green Preschool at Congregation Shaare Emeth is hosting Shirlee’s Secret Service 007 Mission – an annual benefit raising money for the preschool – at 6:30 p.m. Saturday, April 13.

The event will be held at C a r d wel l’s in C l ay ton Restaurant and will include a silent auction, blackjack, Bond trivia, movies, music and signature 007 drinks.

For nea rly 50 yea rs, Congregation Shaare Emeth has provided a loving atmosphere that takes pride in nurturing the whole child, from academic preparedness to physical development to spiritual exploration. The preschool is designed to prepare students for their transition to kindergarten, while surrounding them with their first family away from home.

Tickets to the event are $50 per person before April 1, and $60 per person after. Dinner will be served. Dress attire is “spy casual.”

For more information or to show your support, contact event chair, Hillary Hinz, at hillary.hinz@yahoo.com or the preschool at (314) 569-0048.

ST. LOUIS JEWISH LIGHT

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Women’s Auxiliary for the Jewish Aged grants funds for Covenant House Co-Presidents Susie Harris, Jean Payuk, and Ruth Cohen of the Women’s Auxiliary for the Jewish Aged presented a $10,000 challenge grant award to Covenant House/CHAI Apartments Executive Director, Joan Denison. The purpose of the grant was to help Covenant House/CHAI Apartments with its transportation needs. The grant, which was announced in the fall of 2012, was matched by gifts from residents, family members, and generous community supporters.

The Women’s Auxiliary plans to extend a 2013 challenge grant of $15,000 to Covenant/CHAI to help raise additional funds for transportation needs. “When we are able to match this new grant, we will be on our way to meeting our current and future residents’ transportation needs,” said Denison.

The Women’s Auxiliary for the Jewish Aged (formerly known as The Auxiliary JCA) made the decision to expand its outreach to help seniors in the commu-

From left, the Womens Auxiliary for the Jewish Aged (formerly The Auxiliary, JCA) Co-President Susie Harris, Covenant/CHAI Executive Director Joan Denison, Auxiliary Co-President Jean Payuk and Auxiliary Co-President Ruth Cohen.

nity as well as continue to operate the Cedars gift shop, after the JCA’s sale of the Cedars. The mission of the Auxiliary was and continues to be to,

“Supply items for the needs and comforts of the residents and to give service to the Jewish aged in the community.”

Jewish Family & Children’s Service welcomes new staff members The Jewish Family & Children’s Service has welcomed Greg Rieger to its clinical team and Sarah Martin to its financial development staff.

Rieger will work with individuals requesting Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) therapy. DBT targets adolescents who experience mood swings, are easily upset and at risk of ongoing mental health symptoms.

JF&CS provides skills training to help these adolescents, typically ages 14-19,

manage their moods, depressive symptoms and fights with peers and parents to improve their quality of life.

Rieger earned his bachelor of arts degree in French and journalism from Benedictine College in Atchinson, Kan. as well as his MSW degree from Greg Rieger St. Louis University.

Martin’s responsibilities include the

coordination and execution of special events. Martin recently worked as the Policy Director to the House Minority Leader and is President of Wood Martin LLC, a political consulting firm.

For more information about Jewish Family & Children’s Ser v ice, Sarah Martin please call 314-993-1000, or visit www. jfcs-stl.org.

CHESTERFIELD

“You are the last generation who will hear from a living witness to the Holocaust”

Continued Excellence . . .

Irene Gut Opdyke Righteous Among the Nations

. . . by focusing on YOU

2013 St. Louis Yom HaShoah Commemoration

AS YOUR

MAYOR OF CHESTERFIELD

I WILL...

PROTECT and deliver the highest quality City Services to our residents

ENSURE that Chesterfield

MATT

SEGAL MAYOR

Government is responsive and accessible to all residents

MAINTAIN our City’s strong and financially-sound position, with my goal towards elimination of the City’s property tax, by 2015

ESTABLISH and strengthen community partnerships with schools, businesses and faith-based organizations

ENHANCE our commitment to strong law enforcement and public safety Council Member Ward One 2009 - Present

ENDORSED BY Mayor Geiger, Former Mayor John Nations & Entire City Council (except for one)

VOTE APRIL 2, 2013 CONTACT MATT SEGAL TODAY 314-749-7440 • electmattsegal@gmail.com www.electmattsegal.com PAID FOR BY FRIENDS TO ELECT MATT SEGAL, BRUCE GEIGER, TREASURER

Voices from the Holocaust Sunday, April 7 4:00 pm Congregation B’nai Amoona 324 S. Mason Road, St. Louis, MO 63141

This year’s community-wide program will feature eyewitness accounts of the Shoah by three survivors, Ben Fainer, Sara Moses and Sara Wolf, and liberator Sanford “Buddy” Lebman. The Yom HaShoah program will also include a traditional candle-lighting ceremony, Holocaust Torah procession and liturgical readings and prayers, as well as recognition of the 70th anniversary of the Warsaw ghetto uprising.

Our memorial will feature music performed by Mischa, Tova and Gabriel Braitberg (Elegant Ensembles), son and grandchildren of survivors Szyfra and Gregor Braitberg (z’l). The B’nai Amoona Zamarim teen chorus will also participate.

The program will be interpreted in sign language.

Information: Holocaust Museum and Learning Center (314) 442-3714 or dreich@jfedstl.org

Special thanks to our sponsors Sara and Leo Wolf

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March 20, 2013

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St. Louis rabbi was front and center during historic papal visit in 1999

BY ROBERT A. COHN Editor-in-Chief Emeritus

As worldwide headlines focus on the election and installation of Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio of Argentina as Pope Francis I, Cohnipedia flashes back to January 1999, when Pope John Paul II made a historic visit to St. Louis, the first such visit by a reigning pope. On that visit, local Jewish history was also made when the late Rabbi Robert P. Jacobs, then 90 years of age and the senior rabbi of Greater St. Louis, took part in an interfaith service at the Cathedral Basilica in St. Louis.

Beloved by his colleagues and respected by Jews from all streams of Judaism and faith groups in St. Louis, Jacobs was given the honor of reciting a passage from the Hebrew Bible (called “the Old Testament” by Christians) at that historic service. He chose a passage from the Book of Isaiah, which he had committed to memory while a student at the Hebrew Union College-Hebrew Institute of Religion.

Pope John Paul II had done much to improve Catholic-Jewish relations during his reign, including a visit to the Great Synagogue in Rome. There, he insisted that he and the Chief Rabbi of Rome sit in identical chairs to indicate his respect for Judaism as a sister faith in the “Tent of Abraham.”

The Polish-born pope, who grew up as Karol Wojtyla, had close friends in the Jewish community of Cracow since childhood. He was opposed first to the

COHN

IPEDIA

‘Cohnipedia’ is the online feature by Editorin-Chief Emeritus Robert A. Cohn, chronicling St. Louis’ Jewish history.

Note: Cohnipedia will resume its decade-bydecade look at Jewish Light history (part of the paper’s 50th anniversary coverage) on April 3.

Rabbi Robert P. Jacobs meets Pope John Paul II at the Cathedral Basilica in St. Louis in 1999.

Photo from ‘Zion of the Valley: The Jewish Community of St. Louis’ by Walter Ehrlich.

tyranny of the Nazis who invaded his country and then of the Soviet-backed Communists who ruled Poland in the postwar years. As pope he visited the site of Auschwitz in his native Poland where more than 1 million Jews were murdered by the Nazis. He knelt before a memorial monument and pronounced anti-Semitism a “grave sin.” He also visited the State of Israel, with which he established full diplomatic relations, and placed a prayer for peace at the Western Wall in Jerusalem.

Rabbi Jacobs, a native of Syracuse, N.Y., served as director of St. Louis Hillel at Washington University and then as executive vice president of the St. Louis Rabbinical Association for three decades. He received his rabbinic ordination from HUC-JIR in 1933, the year that Adolf Hitler came to power in Germany.

The rabbi was well aware of the horrors of the Holocaust and of the long his-

tory of hostility between the Catholic Church and world Jewry—including the Crusades, the Spanish and Portuguese Inquisitions, forced conversions and the teachings that blamed Jews for the Crucifixion of Jesus of Nazareth. The Second Vatican Council did much to ameliorate this troubled history, but the courageous work of Pope John Paul II, which was continued by his successor, Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI, truly made history.

Pope John Paul II, 78 years of age when he visited St. Louis, was weary after the grueling schedule of travel and appearances he made during his visit.

Rabbi Emeritus Jeffrey Stiffman of Congregation Shaare Emeth noted at the time that the pope looked very tired and his head was down before Rabbi Jacobs spoke.

But the moment that Jacobs began to read the selection from Isaiah in his distinctive, bell-like voice, the pope sat up

and smiled broadly. The words of Isaiah, a Prophet revered by both Jews and Christians, filled the large Cathedral Basilica and reverberated throughout the room.

After the service, as guests were invited to the pulpit to greet the pope, Jacobs said to Pope John Paul II, “Thank you for changing history by reaching out so positively to the Jews of the world.” The pope replied, “Thank you, Rabbi, for taking note of what I was trying to accomplish.”

And so, as the world gets to know the new Pope Francis I, who also has a splendid record of positive relations with the Jews of his native Argentina, let us look back with gratitude on that day on Jan. 27, 1999, when the Senior Rabbi of St. Louis met the Supreme Pontiff of the Catholic Church and Bishop of Rome. May their records of interfaith harmony and cooperation continue to illuminate our path in the years ahead.

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World news brief Israel’s Knesset approves new government JERUSALEM — Israel’s Knesset approved the country’s 33rd government.

The lawmakers approved the new government on Monday by a vote of 68 to 48, with four absent.

Following the vote, the government ministers were sworn in individually, each promising to be faithful to the State of Israel and its laws, and to fulfill his or her duties as a member of Knesset.

The new government includes 68 of the Knesset’s 120 parliamentarians. It features Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud-Beiteinu faction, the Yesh Atid party led by Yair Lapid, the Jewish Home party led by Naphtali Bennett, and Tzipi Livni’s Hatnua Party.

Netanyahu had introduced the new government earlier in the day during a Knesset plenum session. He called on the lawmakers to work together with the same spirit of cooperation as the last government, which also was led by Netanyahu.

“Our primary concern is to guarantee the future of the Jewish people by guaranteeing the future of the State of Israel, the root of our existence,” he told the lawmakers.

The Knesset approved Likud party lawmaker Yuli Edelstein as Knesset speaker, replacing Reuven Rivlin.

During the session, Yisrael Beiteinu head Avigdor Liberman, the former foreign minister, said his party would seek to prevent the renewal of any construction freeze in West Bank settlements.

Prior to Netanyahu’s introduction of his new government ministers, members of the haredi Orthodox United Torah Judaism party walked out of the Knesset chambers in an apparent protest at not being included in the new coalition.

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With Islamic groups replacing traditional foes, Israel faces long-term instability on its borders

By Ben Sales JTA

HERZLIYA, Israel — Three weeks ago, militants in Gaza landed a rocket near the Israeli city of Ashkelon.

Two weeks ago, Egypt raised its state of emergency in the Sinai Peninsula, warning of an increase in jihadist activity there.

Last week, a rock thrown by a West Bank Palestinian critically wounded a 3-year-old Israeli girl.

And this week, Israel plans to ask the United States for support should it strike Syrian weapons convoys en route to Hezbollah in Lebanon.

Along both its northern and southern frontiers, Israel faces more political instability than it has in decades -- conditions that some security experts fear could open a door to greater terrorism.

The upheavals of the Arab Spring may have reduced the threat of a conventional war with a neighboring state, but the prospects for peaceful borders — let alone full normalization with the Arab world — have dimmed, forcing Israeli military planners to prepare for long-term uncertainty.

“For the first time in decades, we have four active borders that have terror activities: Lebanon, Syria, Sinai and Gaza,” said Maj. Gen. Aviv Kochavi, the director of military intelligence for the Israel Defense Forces.

“The change that’s happening is deep and foundational. The central charac-

Maj. Gen. Aviv Kochavi

Benny Gantz

Dan Meridor

teristic of this change, even if it seems banal, is instability and uncertainty.”

Kochavi was speaking last week at the Herzliya Conference, an elite policy and security gathering dominated this year by concerns about terrorist activity on Israel’s frontiers. Kochavi said terrorists are “filling the vacuum” of unstable states. While the consequences have been minimal, officials say the danger of an attack is growing.

“Not a week goes by, not to say hardly a day, when I don’t have to deal with an issue that you didn’t even hear about, that could have resulted in a strategic threat,” IDF Chief of Staff Benny Gantz told the conference.

Of particular concern to defense officials is the Syrian border, beyond which a civil war has been raging for two years — one that is threatening to spill over. Israel has begun building a fence on the perimeter of the Golan Heights and in January bombed a weapons convoy it feared was being shipped from Syria to Hezbollah operatives in Lebanon.

The possibility that Syrian arms,

including stockpiles of chemical weapons, could wind up in the hands of terrorist groups is among the primary security concerns facing Israel. But the threats go deeper.

As secular strongmen have vanished from the stage — first in Egypt, and potentially in Syria — Islamists are rising in their place. It’s a development that could recast the Arab-Israeli conflict in religious rather than geopolitical terms.

“We’re seeing a decline in national identity and a rise in religious identity” in the Arab world, said Dan Meridor, Israel’s outgoing minister of intelligence. “The old paradigm of war is changing its face.”

On the whole, religiously inspired terrorist groups can be difficult to deter. Generally they are less susceptible to diplomatic pressure than nation states. And unlike the dictators they appear to be replacing, the groups enjoy more popular support.

“We used to have three or four enemies,” Meridor said. “Now we have 10,000 or 20,000. Our enemies are greater and are not necessarily states.

How do you deter a group that’s not a state?”

Beyond the problem of deterrence is the question of victory. Israel’s recent skirmishes with terrorist groups — notably its 2006 war against Hezbollah and its 2009 and 2012 campaigns

See ISRAEL, page 31

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Jews find early signs from Pope Francis encouraging

By Ruth Ellen Gruber JTA

ROME — When the white smoke rose last week at the Vatican, signaling to the world that the College of Cardinals had chosen a new pope, Catholics weren’t the only ones waiting with bated breath.

Jews, too, were eager to see whether the new pontiff would be someone familiar with their concerns.

Would he be a non-European unfamiliar with the Jewish people and the weighty legacy of the Holocaust?

Would he carry on the legacy of his immediate predecessors and work to further Jewish-Catholic relations?

After the new pope appeared before the masses in St. Peter’s Square, it didn’t take long for him to signal that he would maintain the church’s outreach to Jews. Nor did it take long for the Jews to sing his praises. (See related editorial on page 10.)

As it turns out, Pope Francis, 76 – nee Jorge Bergoglio of Argentina – was from outside Europe and had a long history of interfaith outreach and good relations with the Jews. He’s the first pope from the Americas, as well as the first in more than a millennium from outside Europe.

The new pontiff “is no stranger to us,” World Jewish Congress President Ronald Lauder, who met with Bergoglio in Buenos Aires in 2008, said in a statement. “He always had an open ear for our concerns.

“By choosing such an experienced man, someone who is known for his open-mindedness, the cardinals have

Pope Francis, then-Cardinal Jorge Bergoglio, speaking at a B’nai B’rith Argentina event commemorating Kristallnacht, Nov. 12, 2012. Photo: Courtesy B’nai B’rith Argentina

sent an important signal to the world,” Lauder said. “I am sure that Pope Francis will continue to be a man of dialogue, a man who is able to build bridges with other faiths.”

Like Benedict before him, Francis in one of his first official acts wrote to Rome’s chief rabbi, Riccardo Di Segni.

He invited Di Segni to the papal inaugural Mass and said he hoped “to be able to contribute to the progress that relations between Jews and Catholics have experienced” since the Second Vatican Council in the 1960s.

The election of Francis, Di Segni wrote back, “gives us the hope that the path of friendship, respect and productive collaboration will continue.”

On Saturday, the pope went out of his way to acknowledge non-Catholics

in a blessing offered to news media.

“Given that many of you do not belong to the Catholic Church and others are not believers, I give this blessing from my heart, in silence, to each one of you, respecting the conscience of each one of you, but knowing that each one of you is a child of God,” Francis said in his address, according to the New York Times. “May God bless you.”

Pope John Paul II had made outreach to Jews one of the pillars of his papacy.

His successor, Benedict XVI, continued dialogue with the Jews but also made several policy decisions that angered Jews, including lifting the excommunication of a renegade bishop who turned

See VATICAN, page 25

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March 20, 2013

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World news brief Poll: Most Americans back Israel, but are skeptical on peace process Americans by a wide margin support Israel but do not want the United States to take the lead in an Israeli-Palestinian peace process, a new poll shows.

Fifty-five percent of Americans, according to the ABC News/Washington Post poll released Monday, sympathized more with Israel than with the Palestinian Authority. Nine percent sympathized more with the P.A., 14 percent sympathized with neither side and 18 percent had no opinion on the question.

Sixty-nine percent of respondents, though, said the United States should leave peace talks to the Israelis and Palestinians, while 26 percent said the U.S. should lead the negotiations. The 69 percent figure is 15 points higher than when the poll last asked about the U.S. role in peace talks 11 years ago, during the second intifada.

Americans were mostly split on U.S. pressure on Israel: 17 percent said the U.S. puts too much pressure on Israel, 21 percent said there was too little and 41 percent said it was the proper amount.

The poll also showed that 34 percent of Americans think the U.S. puts too little pressure on the P.A., while 8 percent said the U.S. pressures the P.A. too much.

Seventy-three percent of Republicans supported Israel over the P.A.; the number dropped to 49 percent among Democrats. Only 11 percent of Democrats and 4 percent of Republicans sympathized more with the P.A. than with Israel.

The poll sampled 1,001 respondents and had a margin of error of 3.5 percent.

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Jewish leaders join new alliance pitching domestic fossil fuels

As world’s largest exporter of drones, Israel looks to transform battlefield

By Ron Kampeas

By Ben Sales

WASHINGTON (JTA) – On page 15 of the most recent edition of the Kansas Independent Oil and Gas Association's newsletter, beneath griping about perceived threats to the industry posed by President Barack Obama’s tax and energy policies, was a nugget of positive news: A new coalition had formed between the Domestic Energy Producers Alliance, a national umbrella group, and the American Jewish community.

“We have been able to agree that there is common interest between our two groups regarding efforts to increase domestic oil and gas production and to decrease U.S. reliance on imported oil from the Middle East,” the newsletter reported.

Among the group’s officers is Malcolm Hoenlein, the executive vicechairman of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, an organization that prides itself on striving to achieve a consensus among major Jewish groups on foreign policy issues.

But Hoenlein's participation should not be seen as a sign that a new consensus has emerged on this issue – the organized Jewish community has never managed to agree on a unified energy policy. Among the Presidents Conference's members are groups that are on record opposing increased domestic drilling and hydraulic fracturing, commonly known as fracking, and calling for alternatives to fossil fuels.

AIRPORT CITY, Israel (JTA) – An Israeli soldier sits in an office chair in an air-conditioned metal chamber staring at two screens side by side. One shows a map with a moving dot. The other displays a video feed. Next to the soldier are three more identical stations.

The soldier isn’t an air traffic controller but a pilot, and his aircraft is called an unmanned aerial system, more commonly known as a drone.

Welcome to the next generation of the Israeli Air Force.

Israel long has relied on superior air capability to maintain a military edge in the Middle East, and its pilots are among the most respected soldiers in the county.

Now Israel’s drone industry is booming, and experts predict that within decades, manned flight largely will be a thing of the past – especially in risky combat missions. During Israel’s Pillar of Defense operation in Gaza last year, Israeli drones reportedly played a key role on the battlefield.

“Already today we see that the technology can work faster and better than our five senses, which are limited,” Tzvi Kalron, a marketing manager for Israel Aerospace Industries told JTA in an interview during a recent tour of an Israeli drone facility. “When you take away the human factor in battle and send tools that know how to do it better, it’s easier.”

With two large drone manufacturers – Israel Aerospace Industries, a govern-

Malcolm Hoenlein

Rabbi David Samuel(Sandy) Eisenstat Saperstein

Several Jewish organizational leaders active on energy independence said they were barely aware of the new alliance, dubbed the Council for a Secure America.

“The emphasis that it has on oil and natural gas is not where the community is,” said Rabbi David Saperstein, who heads the Reform movement’s Religious Action Center, one of the groups that has led Jewish lobbying for energy independence. “The preferred position is the development of alternative energy resources and reducing our dependence on fossil fuels.”

On its website, the council says it was established by “key domestic oil and gas producers and leaders of the Jewish community,” and that it aims to promote public understanding about the importance of reducing American reliance on imported Middle East oil.

The group's co-chairs are Samuel (Sandy) Eisenstat, a major Jewish philanthropist and the founder and CEO of Abjac Energy, a private oil and gas exploration company; and Harold Hamm, a wildcatter from Oklahoma whose Continental Resources company

See LEADERS, page 25

ment company, and Elbit Systems – Israel is the world’s second-largest producer of drones, behind the United States, and the world’s largest exporter of drones.

IAI began manufacturing drones in 1974, employs 1,000 people in its drone division and sells about $400 million worth of drones per year. The company exports to 49 countries, including NATO allies fighting in Afghanistan, such as Canada and Australia. The client list also reportedly includes some U.S. rivals, such as Russia, and developing countries like Nigeria.

About one-fifth of IAI’s drones stay in Israel. They range from the 5-ton Heron TP, which can fly as high as 45,000 feet and stay in the air for 36 hours, to the handheld Mosquito micro-drone, which weighs less than a pound and travels nearly a mile. The Heron looks like an oversized, gray remote-control airplane, with a radar sticking out of its top and, of course, no space for a pilot.

Along with Air Force drones, the Israel Defense Forces plans to incorporate drones in infantry units. Soldiers may carry a disassembled mini-drone in two backpacks and, when patrolling cities, assemble the drone, launch it by slingshot and monitor it by remote control. The Ghost, as this drone is known, weighs nine pounds and can help the unit eliminate blind spots and, according to IDF spokesman Eytan Buchman, overcome the “fog of war.”

“You can’t see around the corner, you

See DRONE, page 30

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DULKIN

continued from page 1 “Obviously, we’re sorry to see the hazzan go,” said Keyser in an interview with the Light, “but we understand her reasons for taking the position.”

Keyser said Dulkin had meant a great deal to Shaare Zedek.

“We’re a very musical congregation and she’s attracted a lot of young families,” he said. “She will definitely be missed both professionally and personally.”

Keyser said that the position will be replaced and the decision would be taken on behalf of Kol Rinah, not just Shaare Zedek.

“Whatever we do from a standpoint of searching for klei kodesh would be a joint process that we would do as a merged congregation,” he said.

Keyser said the personnel committee has begun the work of contacting cantorial groups and associations, including the Cantors Assembly and the Jewish Theological Seminary in New York to seek candidates for the job. Dulkin also said she had accepted an invitation to help with the process.

Shaare Zedek and Brith Sholom Kneseth Israel, which voted to merge late last year, are already worshipping together and will continue to combine operations over the course of the spring and summer before moving into the Shaare Zedek location after the High Holidays. That move is described as a

Hazzan Joanna Dulkin is pictured at Shaare Zedek Synagogue in this Jewish Light file photo. Photo: Lisa Mandel

near-term relocation, expected to last about three to five years as the new congregation ponders the question of a permanent home.

Keyser said BSKI has no one employed at present as a cantor.

Interviewed by the Jewish Light, Dulkin, who is set to depart sometime in June and assume her new duties the following month, said she fell in love with Shaare Zedek instantly upon coming to town.

“There are so many wonderful memo-

INSIDE SPORTS

by Skip Erwin

On Tuesday night, March 5 at Mizzou Arena, the Missouri Tigers crushed the Arkansas Razorbacks 93-63. Although it was an important Southwest Conference win, it was even more significant because it brought back former Tigers coach Mike Anderson, now the coach of Arkansas, who left Mizzou amid much controversy.

Anderson, who double-talked everyone saying, “I’m a Tiger,” implying he was staying at Missouri, was booed vociferously when he first took the floor before the pro-Missouri crowd of 15, 063. Former Arkansas coach, the legendary Nolan Richardson, who led the Razorbacks to an NCAA championship, was a father figure to Anderson who had been one of his assistant coaches. So if Anderson had not misled everyone two years ago, when he went to Arkansas, he likely would not have received the raucous response from the fired up Missouri crowd.

Anderson said, “When I got to Mizzou, the cupboard was bare and I left (current Missouri Coch Frank ) Haith with a veteran team.” However, Anderson not only deserted the Missouri players he had recruited, but also left the basketball program in a tenuous situation, ignoring recruitment. The only returning players were Phil Pressey and Laurence Bowers. In fact, Kim English, one of the first basketball players recruited by Anderson, now with the Detroit Pistons, attending the game, tweeted an angry message, “Boo that man.”

Actually, the team, which lost five out of their last six games in Anderson’s last year at Mizzou were having conflicting feelings about the coach.

Missouri Athletic Director Mike Alden was aware of the situation so when Anderson hastily left Missouri, Alden acted quickly, hiring Haith from Miami University. Haith was an unexpected choice since he was not known that well nationally. But after meeting with the players, the team accepted their new coach enthusiastically. The slogan “Have Faith in Haith” worked, as Missouri came through with a 30-5 season record, and Haith was named Coach of the Year.

However, just before the game ended Tuesday night at Mizzou Arena, the stadium matrix flashed a sign with a huge headshot of Anderson, stating in no uncertain terms, “We are never getting back together. Like Ever!”

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ries. It’s strange to think of them as memories because I’m still living it,” she said. “The people that I connected with here in the congregation I will hope to stay connected to. It’s a very special community to me and all the music we’ve made over the years is very special.”

During her tenure, Dulkin was instrumental in creating the DorWays program, an educational initiative for younger members and their families. It has since become a mainstay of life at the shul.

“We had a congregant come forward and sponsor the program because he was so inspired by how his grandchildren were so engaged and loving being Jewish so I’m really proud of that,” she said.

She also said Friday night services have been revitalized with a Shabbat Rinah participatory musical format.

“When I got to the synagogue there were maybe 10 to 20 people who would show up on a Friday night and now we get between 45 and 300 depending on the event,” she said.

Shaare Zedek’s Rabbi Mark Fasman said the hazzan’s legacy won’t be forgotten.

“She’s meant a great deal,” he said.

“She’s been a transformative force over the years in the sense that she brought a kind of talent as well as personality that were able to establish a different level of music in our worship services.”

Fasman said some cantors have a strong voice while others have ability as a song leader.

“She happens to have both and that’s

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March 20, 2013

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9

very rare,” he said.

An exact timeframe on the search for a replacement isn’t set but Keyser didn’t think the merger would affect it.

“The way we’ve been operating since the vote to merge occurred last year was to form committees that were made up of both legacy congregations,” he said, “and that includes personnel so I don’t think that the merger process is in any way going to impact the timeline.”

He said he recalled that it took about a year to find Dulkin.

“Our focus is on the right person, not how fast it happens,” he said.

Dulkin said her immediate future won’t just involve her new duties. She will co-chair the Cantors Assembly convention this May and is set to be named an officer in that organization. In addition, she sits on a committee that is working on a new siddur for the Conservative Movement.

“I have taught entire families of children for b’nai mitzvah, watched babies grow into kindergarteners and kindergarteners to sixth graders,” she said in her farewell letter. “It has been my privilege to stand with you in times of sorrow, to simply sit with you when there were no words, to sing or pray with you as the moment allowed. It continues to be my joy to dance and celebrate with you, to teach and learn with you.”

Dulkin, a native of northern California, is married to husband Ryan, a Jewish studies professor. The couple has two children, fourth-grader Zac and firstgrader Jesse.

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opinions ROBERT A. COHN Editor-in-Chief Emeritus Founded 1963 The Newspaper of the Jewish Community of Greater St. Louis 314-743-3600 • Fax: 314-743-3690 E-mail: msherwin@thejewishlight.com Address for payments: P.O. Box 955519 St. Louis, Mo. 63195-5519 General Correspondence: 6 Millstone Campus Drive, Suite 3010 St. Louis, Mo. 63146 BOARD OF TRUSTEES Officers Jenny Wolkowitz, President; Lew Chartock, Vice President; Diane Gallant, Vice President; Gary Kodner, Vice President; Jane Tzinberg Rubin, Treasurer; John Greenberg, Secretary; Gianna Jacobson, Immediate Past President.

Committee Chairs Editorial: Judy Pass; Business: Jeff Golden; Development: Kristi Meyers Gallup and Gianna Jacobson; Nominating: Gianna Jacobson.

Subcommittee Chairs Teen Page: Elizabeth Tucker, Peggy Kaplan.

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ELLEN FUTTERMAN Editor

Jewish Light Editorial

Jews find hope with new pope The election of Argentinian Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio as the new pope of the Roman Catholic Church, Francis I, has been warmly welcomed by Jewish community leaders around the world. All indications are that Pope Francis will advance the trend of improved Roman CatholicJewish relations of the past 50 years.

Pope Francis, 76, is admired for his genuine humility, warmth and lack of pretense. He took his papal name in tribute to St. Francis of Assisi, who was widely admired for his devotion to serving the less fortunate of the world. Indeed, Francis, of the Jesuit order known more for teaching and service than for hierarchical leadership, has demonstrated a strong social justice bent throughout his clerical career.

As a strong symbol of his desire to foster good relations with the Jewish communit y, Pope Francis extended a greeting immediately after his election to the Chief Rabbi of Rome, Riccardo di Segni. Both of his immediate predecessors, Pope Benedict XVI and Pope John Paul II made a point of visiting the Chief Rabbi of Rome in their capacity as Bishop of Rome, insisting that the two religious leaders sit in identical thrones as a sign of mutual respect.

Rabbi Noam Marans, director of Interreligious Affairs and Intergroup Relations for the American Jewish Committee, said, “We have been given arguably the most positive result one could want in terms of Catholic-Jewish relations.”

Marans noted that 200,000 Jews live in Argentina, making that community the seventh largest in the world.

“The Latin American Jewish Congress has had a close relationship with Monsignor Jorge Bergoglio for many years,” said Claudio Epelman, executive director of the congress. “We know his virtues and have no doubt whatsoever that he will do an excellent job for the church.”

Perhaps most important is the fact that as Cardinal of Buenos Aires, he responded

forcefully and with compassion in the aftermath of the 1994 terrorist bombing of the Argentine Israelite Mutual Association, the city’s Jewish community center, which killed 85 people in his native city. A report on the Jewish news website JNS.org quotes Rabbi Joseph Ehrenkranz, co-founder of the Center for Christian-Jewish Understanding at Sacred Heart University as stating, “He was very concerned about what happened. He’s got experience.” In 2005, Cardinal Bergoglio signed a joint statement against terrorism with Jose Adaszko of the Israel Mutual Association of Argentina, and Omar Helal Massud of the Islamic Center, with an emphasis on preventing such attacks in the future.

The strong ties between Francis and the Argentinian Jewish community may also help fortify Catholic-Jewish ties in the United States.

With the growth of Hispanic populations, a large swath of which practice Catholicism, having a strong role model and religious leader from Latin America who embraces interfaith respect, dialogue and a strong working relationship is likely a constructive occurrence.

Both Pope Paul II and Pope Benedict XVI improved and upgraded ties between Israel and the Holy See to full diplomatic relations, and each of them visited the State of Israel where they placed prayers for peace in the Western Wall in Jerusalem.

David S. Mariaschin, executive vice president of B’nai B’rith International, said in response to the election of the new pope, “We have been encouraged by the historic progress in Catholic-Jewish relations. Interfaith dialogue, stressing tolerance and mutual respect, is increasingly important in today’s world.”

These are values which are shared by Jews as well as Christians and other faiths, and are added reasons for the Jewish community to applaud the selection of such a man as the leader of the world’s 1.2 billion Roman Catholics. We wish him well as he takes on the daunting duties of his office.

Cartoon: Steve Greenberg

Double dipping: Dealing with differences

By Rabbi Shlomo Soroka

The Passover seder remains the most universally practiced Jewish holiday custom. More Jews attended a seder last year than attended services on Yom Kippur. Why is that? Is it because Jews prefer eating matzah balls rather than fasting and long services? Perhaps, but I think the reason is more meaningful and profound.

After reciting kiddush and washing comes karpas; we take a vegetable and dip it in saltwater before eating it. Soon after, the children ask the “Mah Nishtanah”; the four questions.

The third question wonders why on other nights we don’t have a custom to dip even once and on this night we dip twice; once by karpas, and later, the marror (the bitter herbs) is dipped in charoset (a mixture of apples, nuts, wine and spices).

As a child, I would always conclude (as I had been taught in school through many rehearsals), “Father, please answer my four questions.” I received a lollipop and an ovation for my recital, and reveled in all the family kvelling. But never did I care to notice if my father answered all four of my questions. Now that I look back, it seems at least one was not.

So what is the answer? The Shulkhan Arukh (Jewish Code of Law) says that we dip just to attract the attention of the ch i ld ren a nd generate questions. By piquing their interest, they become more fascinated in hearing the ensuing narrative of the Exodus. At first glance, it is hardly a satisfying explanation.

Couldn’t the seder inventors have conceived of an even odder attention grabbing ritual to do? And, is the answer really just, “We don’t dip twice for any reason other than to get

Rabbi Shlomo Soroka is Associate Dean and Executive Director of the St. Louis Kollel.

His work focuses on Jewish unity and continuity through Torah education and serves the entire spectrum of the St. Louis Jewish Community.

you kids to ask the question”?

Rabbi Yoseph Hayyim (1832 – 1909, Rabbi of Bagdad) explains that within the story of the Hagaddah lies the real answer to this question. The decent of the Jews to Egypt began with Jacob’s sons’ hatred of their brother Joseph and their subsequent selling him as a slave to merchants going to Egypt. After years of servitude, followed by many more of wrongful incarceration, Joseph rose to prominence as viceroy of Egypt. When a global famine threatened the survival of his family, Joseph sponsored the emigration of his family from Israel to Egypt but after his death, Pharaoh enslaved all the Jews.

When Joseph’s brothers first abducted him, they dipped his multi-colored coat in blood to fool Jacob into thinking that Joseph had been mauled to death. This coat was a gift from Jacob as a display of the unique affection that he had for Joseph and was therefore emblematic of the brothers’ jealousy.

Dipping it in blood was also a symbolic demonstration of how the jealousy and hate resulted in slavery not just for Joseph, but ultimately all the Jewish people in Egypt.

Centuries later there was a second dipping. Before the redemption, G-d commanded

See COMMENTARY, page 30

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Cultural Identity and the Exodus from Egypt

By Galit Lev-Harir

On the eve of March 25, Jews across America will celebrate the Exodus from Egypt, which is frequently regarded as the birth of the Jewish people. In the first book of the Torah, the Hebrews are merely a tribe. But in the second book, they become a nation.

But is it the Exodus from Egypt that was the cornerstone of the Jewish national experience? Or was the reason that the Jews had to wander in the wilderness for 40 years prior to entering the Land of Canaan because they needed time to form and develop a common cultural identity? Once the Jews crossed into Canaan, they were prohibited from mixing with the indigenous people or worshiping their gods.

We can assume that the reason for this was to prevent assimilation and to ensure that the Jews would continue to view themselves as a distinct people.

Still, how is it that all of those other ancient cultures – the Canaanites, the Ammonites, the Phoenicians, etc. – have long since vanished, yet the Jews still remain? And will the American Jewish experience contribute to our continued existence as a people or – as suggested by the current studies on increasing intermarriage and declining synagogue affiliation – are we doomed to assimilate into the American melting pot?

I work for one of the largest corporations in America, with over 100,000 employees nationwide. Our employees represent the diversity of the American population, and are located

in all 50 states and abroad. Of course, as with any large company, there is a “corporate culture” that permeates throughout the organization. Several years ago, the CEO and senior executive leadership instituted a culture program aimed at improving the corporate culture. Hundreds of thousands of dollars are being spent to send midand senior-level managers to attend “Culture Training Workshops” in an effort to build a high-performance culture that supports our mission and values. Additionally, the Jan 7-13 issue of Bloomberg Businessweek reported that many American companies are making “cultural fit” an important part of their hiring process. Likewise, most of the colleges and universities in the U.S. invest tremendous energy and resources to promote a strong sense of cultural identity among their students.

What does this have to do with Jewish identity? Actually, everything.

American Jews spend millions of dollars each year to infuse their children with Jewish cultural identity. And such an identity is essential to maintain the expensive synagogue system that currently exists in America, as well as to encouraging American Jews to identify with and support Israel. In fact, Taglit/Birthright’s claim to fame is that its free trips to Israel are an effective method for building such identity.

People frequently ask me why I pay synagogue membership dues, why I send my children to Hebrew school twice a week, why I give them private Hebrew lessons, and why I also send them to the Israeli Scout movement.

Galit Lev-Harir is a frequent contributor to the Light. Galit lived in Israel for nine years. Her husband, Elie Harir, owns The Mediterranean Grill, an Israeli-style restaurant in Chesterfield Valley.

The answer is to cultivate and nourish their sense of Jewish identity.

Most Americans view religion as a personal expression of faith; however, I believe that Judaism is much more.

As Daniel Gordis wrote in a recent blog post: “For Israel to matter to Jews, Jews must see themselves first and foremost as a people, not merely as a religion.

Religions don’t have states; peoples do. The French have a country, but Baptists do not. The Italians have a state, but Methodists do not. As American non-Orthodox Judaism increasingly recasts itself as a religion in the image of A mer ican Protestantism, it is inevitable that the Jewish commitment to statehood will wither.”

As we sit at our seder tables and remember the Exodus from Egypt, I hope we will take the time to reflect on our status as part of the Jewish nation, whether our children will view themselves as such, and what we can do in the coming year to nurture and enhance the next generation’s sense of Jewish identity. I wish everyone a joyous Pesach and Chag Sameach!

Next year in Jerusalem!

Jewish values support humane attitudes towards food

By Hannah Cropf

It’s no secret that Jews love food.

Whether it’s a b’nai mitzvah celebration or breaking fast, no Jewish event is complete without a full stomach.

But we don’t just love food because we love to eat. We genuinely care about where our meals come from. The guidelines of kashrut remind us to treat livestock humanely, even during slaughter. The famous phrase, “don’t cook a baby goat in its mother’s milk” reflects more than dietary restrictions; it asks that we respect the animal that gives us sustenance. Whether or not every Jew abides by these rules, the mere fact our faith places such emphasis on animal rights indicates the Jewish culture’s dedication to all of Earth’s creatures.

However, it’s been a while since we received those rules. In today’s corporate age, perhaps the idea of keeping kosher needs an update.

Consider modern meat farming conditions. Documentaries like 2008’s “Food, Inc” expose the horrific practices of the meat industry, from crowding chickens in dark, disease-riddled pens to locking cows in torturous confinement. Sure, these animals fulfill the laws of kashrut on an anatomical level, but does it really matter if they

Hannah Cropf is a senior at Ladue High School and a member of the Jewish Environmental Initiative (JEI) Teen Group. JEI is a committee of the Jewish Community Relations Council.

chew their cud when they spend their entire life suffering? Does a painless death compensate for a painful life?

Whether or not we strictly adhere to kosher eating restrictions, we can all agree that the original laws date back to a very different time. When these rules came about, the food supply was managed by farmers and shepherds allowing a greater intimacy to our food sources than today. Farmers raised livestock by the dozens, not the thousands. Automated machinery was unthinkable. There was no need to specify a kosher way to farm, because natural, ethical animal care came with the job description.

Today, there are a handful of small, independent farms that carry out those traditions. Community-supported agriculture (CSAs) and co-ops harken back to the days where farmers actually had relationships with their prod-

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ucts. With a little research or a consultation with the Jewish Environmental Initiative anyone can find a local farm to suit his or her needs, without paying the price of animal cruelty.

Supermarkets, too, can supplement the new kosher diet. Just shop with more discretion and keep an eye out for foodstuff labeled “free range” or “organic.” Obviously, markets like Trader Joe’s will have a broader selection than your average Schnucks, but most places carry at least some organic brands.

With such a plethora of options, there’s no excuse not to partake of farm-fresh food. Go vegetarian. Maybe not permanently, but start forgoing meat at least once a week, if not more.

It’s easy! Lentils, rice, and beans all offer meatless nutrition at a low price, and can be coupled with a variety of other vegetables and spices to create healthy and cruelty-free (not to mention delicious) meals.

Maimonides 3:48 explains that “There is no difference...between the pain of people and the pain of other living beings.” If we are to truly honor the tenets of Judaism, we must put aside immediate convenience in order to pursue environmental justice. Then and only then can we truly consider ourselves kosher.

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Barnes-Jewish leader on plans for campus’ future

By Rich Liekweg

It is an exciting time for BarnesJewish Hospital, along with our campus partners, St. Louis C h i ld r en’s Ho s pit a l a nd Washington University School of Medicine. Our 10-year campus renewal plan is taking shape, built upon a rich legacy and tradition that continues to guide our hospital’s mission today — to take exceptional care of people.

When The Jewish Hospital of St Louis was founded in 1902 with the support of the Jewish community, its board of directors pledged the hospital would “afford medical and surgical care and nursing to the sick or disabled persons of any creed or nationality.” That mission guided the relocation and construction of Jewish Hospital to the K ingsh ighway campus in 1927.

Barnes-Jewish Hospital continues the legacy of its fo u n d e r s through our commitment to caring for our community. While other Rich Liekweg is hospitals moved President, to the suburbs to Barnes-Jewish follow affluent Hospital and migration, Group presiBa r ne s- Jew i sh dent, BJC has stayed in the HealthCare. city of St. Louis – and is the only hospital today delivering babies and providing much-needed care for moms and babies at risk. What Barnes-Jewish returns to the community — through caring for the underserved, community outreach, health education programs, research and teaching the next generation of physicians — represents more than $200 million annually in community benefit.

As we look to care for our community for the next generation, the time has come to replace and renovate parts of our hospital. The first phase of this work will occur on the north end of the campus. To ensure the campus is equipped to meet modern health care standards, buildings, including some that comprised the former Jewish Hospital, will need to be replaced.

While Shoenberg Pavilion will remain, other buildings on the north campus and the former Jewish College of Nursing will be replaced to make way for new facilities. This new space will provide expanded Siteman Cancer Center services, create a new home for our women and infants services, and support the growth of St. Louis Children’s Hospital.

This investment in our future is patient and family focused. We will increase the number of private patient rooms, improve parking and access, and incorporate more green space on the campus, all while continuing our focus on innovative, comprehensive and

See HOSPITAL, page 18

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Tastes from around the world for your seder menu Recipes from South Africa, Greece, Brazil and Ethiopia

By Margi Lenga Kahn SPECIAL TO THE JEWISH LIGHT

While every culture can boast a distinctive cuisine, few have as rich and diverse a culinary landscape as the Jewish people, and few holidays highlight this richness and diversity more than Passover. The seder menus of American Jews, descendents from countries the world over, feature a dazzling and sur- More Recipes prising array of dish- • Cashew Nut es that have high- Strudel With Guava l ighted t h e i r and Lime Passover tables for • Spinach with Pine generations.

Nuts and Raisins Ironically, anti- • Doro Wat (EthioSemitism is at the pian chicken stew) root of this culinary — page 23 diversity. Throughout our history— from the destruction Making chicken of the Temple to the soup for your various European seder? expulsions of the Visit stljewishlight.

Middle Ages to the com/soup for the pogroms of the 19th top nine chicken centur y to the soup recipes subHolocaust and its mitted in this year’s a f ter math — Jews Jewish Light recipe have been forced contest from their homes and countries. And depending on the part of the world to which they fled, they adapted their cuisine to reflect the cultural influences and native herbs, spices, fruits and vegetables of their new homes.

The Jews coming to the United States were no exception. Since most of those immigrants came from Poland, Germany, Czechoslovakia, and Russia, their

See GLOBALLY INSPIRed, page 23

South Africa Fish Cakes in Curry Sauce (Adapted from recipe by Orit Cohen, originally appeared on JSOnline, March 23, 2010)

(optional) 1 can (15.2 ounces) apricots, drained and chopped

Early Dutch and Malay settlers had a profound influence on the cuisine of South Africa. The use of curries, sauces that are all at once spicy, sweet, and savory, are used to flavor vegetables, fish, and meat. This particular recipe, used as a starter for the Passover seder, is an absolutely luscious substitute for gefilte fish, and will probably be a lot more popular with the younger set.

Directions:

Fish Cakes: Heat 1 tsp. oil in skillet over medium heat. Add chopped onion and sauté until golden brown. Grind, or mince together in a food processor, fish, cooked onions, and chopped raw carrots. Transfer mixture to a bowl and stir in beaten eggs, ¼ cup oil, matzah meal, cinnamon and seasonings.

Cover and refrigerate until firm, 30-45 minutes. Meanwhile, make curry sauce.

Curry Sauce: In skillet, sauté onion slices in oil over medium-high heat until caramelized.

10-15 minutes. Add water, vinegar, ketchup, brown sugar, curry powder, turmeric, cayenne pepper (if using) and apricots.

Cook until well blended and heated through. (Curry sauce may be made a day in advance and refrigerated. Reheat in a pan over medium heat before using.)

To fry fish cakes: Form fish into small patties, about 1 ½ inches in diameter. Pour oil in saucepan to about ¼- inch up side of the pan and heat until a drop of water sizzles. Fry fish patties in oil, in 2 to 3 batches, turning them once to brown on both sides.

Transfer patties to a platter using a slotted spoon. Allow balls to cool for 5 minutes.

Spoon warm curry sauce over cakes and serve.

Makes 12-16 cakes, or 6-8 servings.

Ingredients:

Fish Cakes: 1 large onion, chopped 2 pounds white fish, such as cod, halibut, or tilapia 1 large carrot, chopped 2 eggs, lightly beaten ¼ cup vegetable oil, plus more for frying (divided) ¼ cup matzah meal 1/8 tsp ground cinnamon ½ tsp. coarse kosher salt, or more to taste 1/8 tsp. fresh ground black pepper, or more to taste Curry sauce: 1 onion, sliced 2 teaspoons oil 2 cups water 2 teaspoons white vinegar 2 tablespoons ketchup 1 tablespoon packed brown sugar 2 ½- 3 tablespoons curry powder, to taste ½ teaspoon ground turmeric Pinch of cayenne pepper, or more to taste

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PASSOVER FEATURE

A favorite of kosher wine consumers, low-alcohol Moscato is perfect for seder

BY GAIL APPLESON Special to the Jewish Light

Hip-hop performers have fueled the Moscato craze that’s been spreading across the United States the last few years. In addition to drinking this sweet, fizzy wine, Kanye West, Ne-Yo, Lil’ Kim, Ab-Soul and others sing about it. And the St. Lunatics, a group of St. Louisans that includes Nelly, even launched its own brand “Freaky Muscato,” which is made by Ste. Genevieve’s Crown Valley Winery.

But take a closer look and you’ll find that Jewish consumers are ahead of the trend in this category.

When Royal Wine Corp. imported Bartenura Moscato from Italy in 1999, this once somewhat obscure dessert wine took off immediately and became — and still is — the best selling kosher wine in the world behind Concord grape. According to Royal, it doesn’t matter if it’s Passover, Hannukah, Rosh Hashanah or Shabbat dinner…it’s still the top seller.

Take Mindy Woolf of Olivette, for example. She and her husband Richard discovered Bartenura Moscato at least a decade ago when they sipped it at a wedding.

“Then we used it at our own wedding more than 10 years ago,” she said adding that they’ve been serving it for Shabbat and holidays ever since.

Moscato wines are made from the muscat family of grapes that have

hundreds of varieties. These grapes, which can be used for winemaking, eaten as table grapes or turned into raisins, range in color from white to almost black. If you check the grocery wine aisles, you’ll see white, pink and even red Moscato that comes from wine growing regions throughout over the world. However, probably the best known Moscato comes from the appellation of Moscato d’Asti DOCG, located in the southeastern part of Italy’s Piedmont region near the town of Asti.

These wines are made in a style known as frizzante, which means slightly fizzy. Fermentation is stopped at an early stage to keep some of the sugar from turning into alcohol. That process keeps the level of sweetness high while the alcohol level is low.

While many Jewish consumers in the U.S. began to discover Moscato around the same time as Mindy and Richard Woolf, sales of this type of wine have grown dramatically among mainstream Americans in the last few years. In 2011, Moscato sales grew by 73 percent in food, drug, convenience, mass merchandise and other retailers, the largest gain of any varietal, according to The Nielsen Co. statistics. Although Moscato sales growth in grocery stores has slowed to about 30 percent in the last 52 weeks — a trend that Nielsen believes is consistent among a broad range of retailers — that’s still a pretty healthy figure.

One key segment of the audience is

“Locally O wned. Family O wned. Since 1926”

“millennial” consumers, ages 21 to 34, who make up 26 percent of Americans of legal drinking age.

These young adults are used to drinking sodas and other sweet beverages, so Moscato is an easy “gateway” entry level wine for them.

And that’s one of the same reasons it also appeals to Jews who are used to drinking sugar-added Concord grape wines. But another huge plus is that most Moscato is low in alcohol.

“Speaking for myself and my wife, certified ‘lightweight drinkers’, we appreciate the 5 percent alcohol content, as opposed to the 10-12 percent typically found in other wines,” said Rabbi Ze’ev Smason of Nusach Hari B’nai Zion “That enables us to actually make it through the complete meal, and remain at least semi-conscious for Birkat Ha’Mazon (Grace after Meals).”

Linda Markowitz, office manager of the St. Louis Kollel in University City, also cited the low level of alcohol in the Bartenura Moscato among key reasons it’s a best seller at the Kollel‘s bookstore all year long but especially at Passover.

“Most importantly at Passover, when it is incumbent to drink four cups of wine, the low-alcohol Moscato goes down refreshingly easy,” she said.

In addition, Markowitz said that consumers will pay a little more for the Bartenura because of its distinctive blue bottle.

Marc Ventus, the manager of the

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Wine & Cheese Place in Creve Coeur, confirmed that the Bartenura Moscato is also the best-selling kosher wine at his store. Although Moscato is sweet enough to go with dessert, Ventus pointed out that consumers don’t feel they must restrict themselves to recommended food pairings and instead drink the wine in the way they prefer including at celebrations and with meals.

However, Moscato is not the end of the story. The interest in “gateway” wines has given rise to a rising demand in mainstream markets for sweet red and semidry wines. So while mainstream brands are just now starting to fill grocers’ shelves, kosher labels have once again been out there for years. In just one example, Herzog Wine Cellars of California first introduced its Jeunesse line of semi dry wines in 2007 with a Cabernet Sauvignon.

Lee Dresner, Midwest Regional Manager for Royal Wines, said the line was introduced to help consumers ease off sugar added wines like concord and to train their palates to like drier wines.

“We are the trailblazers,” he said.

“We had sweet reds before anyone else. We jump-started it.”

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PASSOVER FEATURE

Keeping Passover lively for families with young children

By Ellie S. Grossman Special to the Jewish Light

Passover is a favorite time of year for many Jewish families—not only does it signal the start of spring, but it also encourages children to play, sing, ask a lot of questions, act like wild beasts (courtesy of the 10 plagues), leave the table to search for a prize (afikomen), and stuff their faces with everything from matzah balls to macaroons.

Most importantly, Passover means quality family time, especially for these St. Louis area moms who share their secrets for creating memorable traditions.

For the Chervitz family, who attend shul at Young Israel, the anticipation of

Sophie and Nathaniel Chervitz

Passover is as much fun as the seder itself.

“For us, Pesach starts with cleaning the chometz (leavened products such as bread) from our house,” said Vicki Redler Chervitz, who lives with her husband Marc and three kids, Sammy, 15; Sophie, 10, and Nathaniel, 7, in University City.

“Each child is responsible for their own room, and they usually go through toy boxes or drawers just to check out what they’ve thrown where, and then they vacuum the crumbs. They Vicki Redler also help vacuum cushChervitz ions, couches, carpets, and floors around the house. We stress that this isn’t ‘spring cleaning,’ it’s a search for the chometz,” said Redler Chervitz, whose kids go to Block Yeshiva High School and Epstein Hebrew Academy.

“They usually fight over who gets to clean out coat pockets in the hall closet because they’re allowed to keep any money that is found in pockets. They also make ‘chometz’ signs which are hung on kitchen cabinets that are not used during Pesach.”

Once the house is clean, decorating follows.

“It’s always exciting to bring in the special Pesach boxes that contain all the kitchen necessities, such as the milk and meat plates, cooking utensils, and silverware, including our dairy silverware,

Kalanit Chappell with two of her children, Alia, 10, and Neviyah, 4.

which was my paternal grandparents, and the fleishig (meat) silverware, which belonged to a friend of ours who passed away,” said Redler Chervitz.

“But we love to unpack the decorations the most,” she added. “The kids have made numerous seder plates, matzah covers, wine glasses, afikomen bags and frog posters over the years. We laugh at the silly plastic plates and fun tablecloths that we have used. That box is also where all of the goodies are hidden that we use to ‘play with’ during the 10 plagues part of the seder, such as masks, balls, ‘lice,’ wild beasts, skeletons, and ‘blood.’ I try to buy new stuff every year

P P P

Students who will be in high school for the 2013-2014 year may apply at www.stljewishlight.com/apply or by mailing the form below to: Jewish Light Teen Page, 6 Millstone Campus Dr., Suite 3010, St. Louis, Mo. 63146.

To apply: 1) Complete the application and attach a recent photo of yourself. 2) Obtain a letter of reference (no more than two pages) from a non-family member, such as a teacher or employer. The letter of recommendation should describe your writing ability and your ability to participate in a group that requires monthly meetings, deadlines and collaborative work. Recommendation letters can be mailed, attached to the online application form or emailed to msherwin@ thejewishlight.com. 3) Please submit samples of journalistic or creative writing.

Applications must be received by May 1, 2013. Questions? Call 314-743-3665 or email msherwin@thejewishlight.com for more information.

Name: Mailing Address: Home/Cell phone: Email address: Date of birth: Grade: School: Parent/guardian names and home/work numbers:

Are you interested in a position as editor?

Please answer the following questions on another piece of paper. Keep responses brief (under 200 words per question).

1) Please describe any experience you have producing stories or photos for your school newspaper or magazine.

2) Do you have any experience with layout?

If so, describe the work you have done and/or what programs you have worked with. (The Light uses Adobe InDesign and Photoshop).

3) Why do you want to serve on the Jewish Light Teen Page/Ohr Chadash staff?

4) List some topics you would like to write about for the Jewish Light, or describe what work you can contribute to the newspaper or its Web site.

5) Describe the activities in which you are involved, both inside and outside of school.

to surprise the kids. The dollar store usually has fun things that are useful.”

As they work together to transform their home for the holiday, it becomes obvious why this night is different from all other nights. Getting ready for the seder is definitely a family affair.

“The kids help make the charoses, clean the maror (romaine lettuce), fill the salt water holders, watch the egg roast in the oven, set out all of the matzah, prepare the seder plate, and make sure that we have enough wine and juice on the table. We also make sure to light a long

See KIDS, page 19

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PASSOVER FEATURE

New haggadahs: Edgar Bronfman’s and an interactive version for kids

By Penny Schwartz JTA

BOSTON – Francine Hermelin Levite and Edgar Bronfman have been using unique versions of the Passover haggadah for years. Now both have decided to publish their versions of the Exodus story.

Hermelin Levite, 43, the mother of three school-aged children, is the author of “My Haggadah: Made it Myself,” (madeitmyselfbooks.com), an interactive version for children of the ritual-laden book that is now available on Amazon.

Bronfman, 84, the business giant and Jewish philanthropist, offers “The Bronfman Haggadah” (Rizzoli) illustrated by his wife, the artist Jan Aronson.

Hermelin Levite’s journey to publishing a haggadah began about eight or nine years ago when she joined some unaffiliated young Jewish families living in lower Manhattan who were banding to create a Passover celebration.

Growing up in Detroit, Hermelin Levite says she enjoyed lively and inspirational seders led by her father, who followed the traditional haggadah embellished by music he composed and other innovations. But she knew it was not a universal experience.

Hermelin Levite, a one-time journalist, educational software developer and graphic designer, volunteered to compile the haggadah. She said it had to resonate with kids and families of multiple backgrounds.

She also was motivated by the needs of her young son, who has severe food allergies to nuts, chicken and wheat.

“He was allergic to the food of Passover,” she recalls thinking and vowed to create a seder in which he could participate.

Hermelin Levite recognized that children communicate in various ways.

“The book is designed to invite artistic expression ranging from simple stickers to more complex collage and discussion,” she said, adding that her husband, also a graphic designer, helped with the images.

Over the years, her do-it-yourself, hands-on haggadah has become popular through word of mouth. Last year she decided to self publish and was amazed with the number of orders from far-flung locales such as Budapest and Hong Kong.

This year, with a grant from Reboot, a nonprofit that supports innovative projects to engage young, unaffiliated Jews, Hermelin Levite is traveling across the country introducing the haggadah to new audiences. The spiral-bound haggadah will appeal to kids with all levels of knowledge of Jewish observance.

To illustrate the passage of the four children – the wise, wicked, simple and silent – the haggadah offers four blank faces in which kids are asked to draw the personalities of guests at their seder. Blessings are written in Hebrew with English transliteration.

In retelling the Exodus story, children are presented with an empty suitcase and asked to think about what they would take if they had to leave in a hurry. Hermelin Levite hopes the provocative questions spark conversation.

She credits her Jewish education and a family that fostered a love of Jewish experience with the inspiration for creating the haggadah.

“I used to think I was an accidental children’s book author,” Hermelin Levite wrote to JTA in an email. “But

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given my upbringing, professional path and journey raising my kids, [writing the haggadah] seems to make the perfect sense.”

Bronfman, too, has fond memories of his childhood seders as joyful gatherings of family, but says they were uninteresting, uninformative and rote. Over his lifetime, dissatisfied with the available haggadahs, he has cut and pasted passages from various versions to create more engaging seders in his own home.

A few years ago he decided to create his own haggadah.

“I wanted to get all the words right,” he said.

The popularity of Passover offers a unique opportunity, he tells JTA. “We have a chance to teach young people what Judaism is about,” Bronfman said.

Children’s author Eric Kimmel, the author of “Wonders and Miracles,” a Passover companion filled with art that in 2004 won a National Jewish Book award, applauds that spirit.

“If the traditional version doesn’t work for you, come up with something else,” he advocates, with a nod to the tradition but also with a dose of disrespect, he adds with a laugh. “What’s important is to follow the biblical injunction to tell your children the story of Passover.”

“The Bronfman Haggadah” (www.rizzoliusa.com/ book.php?isbn=9780847839681) is written entirely in English – Bronfman quips it’s to appeal to most American Jews, who do not know Hebrew. The reading takes about an hour-and-a-half. Unlike the traditional haggadah, Bronfman includes Moses, who he holds as a role model of a leader who asks questions and dis-

rupts the status quo. But all the characters of the Exodus, including God, are represented as metaphor and not historical facts, he writes.

Welcoming Elijah the prophet earlier in the seder underscores the Jewish value of welcoming in strangers, Bronfman says.

New words to the popular song “Dayenu” express gratitude for establishing a homeland in Israel.

Bronfman ends the seder with a call for spiritual peace in Jerusalem among Israelis and Palestinians, Jews and Arabs, and all warring peoples.

Notably, Bronfman expands the narrative of the traditional haggadah to include the giving of the Ten Commandments at Mount Sinai. While the foundation of Jewish law is the theme of Shavuot, he acknowledges that most Jews are unaware of the holiday that follows Passover.

“Freedom doesn’t mean anything without the responsibility of law,” Bronfman tells JTA. “To be free is a privilege we too often take for granted.”

Arsonson, who has fond memories of Passover seders growing up in New Orleans, spent nearly a year working on the illustrations for the “Bronfman Haggadah,” determined to avoid cliched images. To keep the images fresh – and to entertain youngsters – she changes up the artistic styles from one page to another – some are realistic, others abstract or geometric – and also varies the mood and colors. A biblical map of the Exodus depicts the possible routes traveled by the Israelites.

For the Ten Plagues, Aronson draws a large singing insect that will capture the attention of children.

Miriam’s tambourine is vibrantly colored with long flowing ribbons that complement the joy described in the narrative as the Israelites escape bondage.

second night seder tuesday, march 26, 2013 Experience the Second Seder with the B’nai Amoona Family Please join us for a brief

Pesach service

at

6:15

Pm

in the Main Sanctuary followed immediately by the

second night seder in the Guller Banquet Hall

Your entire family is welcome and family tables can be reserved! Haggadot & Afikomen prizes will be provided! $36/adults and $18/children 9 & under Special thanks to the Alex Family for their generous support of this endeavor, and also to the National Jewish Outreach Program for their support through Passover Across America.

This year’s Seder will include a special Interfaith initiative as we welcome clergy, teachers, and students of various religious traditions to join us as our guests for the Feast of Freedom.

This event has been made possible by: The Staenberg Family Foundation, the Religious Studies Department of Webster University in conjunction with the Bridge Initiative, The Amir Family, The Frankel Family, and Maryville University Jewish Student Union.

Seating is limited and reservations are open to the entire community, so please make your reservations by monday, march 18.

To RSVP, contact Barbara Shechter at grammy@bnaiamoona.com, or 314-576-9990 x126, or pay online at www.bnaiamoona.com

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PASSOVER FEATURES

Save the self-pity, choices abound for Passover meals Chicken Salad With Radicchio And Pine Nuts

By Helen Nash JTA

For the many who feel overwhelmed

by Passover because of the demands of cooking without leaven, a word or two: That should not be an obstacle.

After all, on this most celebrated of Jewish holidays, we are allowed to eat fish, meat, poultry, eggs, nuts, fruits, most vegetables and fresh herbs.

All of the recipes featured here are nutritious, attractive, flavorful and easy to prepare. They emphasize fresh, seasonal ingredients, fewer complicated techniques, and stylish, elegant dishes.

What more would you want for Passover?

The seder meals, when we recount the Exodus story, are the most important events of the holiday. Most people, like myself, favor their own traditional menu.

Each year I repeat the seder menu as a way to hold on to cherished family traditions.

The recipes are from the new cookbook “Helen Nash’s New Kosher Cuisine” (Overlook Press).

This is a colorful and delicious salad with an interesting mixture of textures and tastes. The currants and pine nuts add an unusual Mediterranean piquancy.

Ingredients: 1 small red onion, very thinly sliced 6 boneless, skinless chicken breasts (about 6 ounces/170 g each) 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil for greasing the chicken Kosher salt Freshly ground black pepper 1 head radicchio, shredded 1 to 2 bunches arugula, leaves torn if they are large 1/2 cup (20 g) loosely packed flatleaf parsley, finely chopped

Beet Soup is pareve and can be served at room temperature or hot. Chicken Salad With Radicchio and Pine Nuts is colorful and features an interesting mixture of textures and tastes.

Both photos from “Helen Nash’s New Kosher Cuisine,” Overlook Press

Beet Soup

These meringue squares are like cookies, but thWith their magnificent color, delicious flavor and vitamin richness, beets are one of my favorite vegetables. In the summer I serve this soup at room temperature; in the winter I like it hot.

Ingredients: 1 1/4 pounds (570 g) beets, plus 1 small beet for garnish 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil 1 small red onion, sliced 2 garlic cloves, sliced 1 McIntosh apple, peeled and sliced 4 1/2 cups (1.08 liters) vegetable broth 2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar 1 tablespoon dark brown sugar Kosher salt Freshly ground black pepper Directions: Peel and slice the beets (see note below).

Directions: Place the onion slices in a small bowl and cover with cold water. Let stand for 30 minutes. Drain and pat dry. Place in a large serving bowl.

Pat the chicken dry with paper towels and grease with oil. Season lightly with salt and pepper.

Place each chicken breast in the center of a piece of cling wrap and wrap it so that it is completely covered. Place the packages in a steamer, cover and steam over high heat for about 9 minutes. (The inside of the chicken should still be pale pink.)

Turn off the heat and let stand for 1 minute.

Remove the chicken and cool, still wrapped. When cool, unwrap the chicken and cut it on the diagonal into thin strips. Place in the bowl with the onions; makes 6 servings.

Heat the oil in a medium saucepan. Add the onion, garlic and apple, and saute for 5 minutes. Add the beets and broth. Bring to a boil over high heat. Lower the heat and cook, covered, for about 30 minutes, until the beets are tender. Cool a little.

While the soup is cooking, wrap the reserved beet tightly in foil. Bake in a toaster oven at 400 degrees Fahrenheit (205 Celsius) for 30 minutes, or until just tender when pierced with the tip of a paring knife.

Cool, slip off the skin, and grate.

Puree the soup in a blender until very smooth. Season to taste with the vinegar, sugar, salt and pepper.

To serve, garnish with the grated beet; makes 6 servings.

Note: I always wear thin plastic gloves when I work with beets, as this avoids staining my fingers with beet juice, which can be hard to remove.

Sweet and Sour Dressing

Marinated Salmon This is a variation on the traditional pickled salmon sold in every Jewish delicatessen. The difference: The salmon is more delicate and less vinegary, and has a richer color. It makes a perfect Sabbath luncheon dish.

Ingredients: 6 skinless center-cut salmon fillets (about 6 ounces/170 g each) 1 teaspoon extra virgin olive oil for greasing the pan Kosher salt Freshly ground black pepper Directions: Preheat the oven to 200 F (95 C). Grease a glass or enamel-lined baking pan that can

hold the fillets in a single layer.

Pat the fillets dry with paper towels and season them lightly on both sides with salt and pepper. Place them in the dish and bake, uncovered, for 25 to 30 minutes, or until cooked to your taste.

Remove the baking pan from the oven, cover with foil, and let cool completely. (The fish will continue cooking outside of the oven.)

Marinade Ingredients: 3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil 4 tablespoons rice vinegar (for Passover, replace with white wine vinegar) 1 1/2 teaspoons salt Freshly ground black pepper 1 small red onion, very thinly sliced (see

Ingredients: 1/3 cup (80 ml) extra virgin olive oil 1/2 cup (70 g) pine nuts 1/2 cup (115 g) raisins or currants 2 tablespoons Marsala wine 2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar

note below) 15 dill sprigs, snipped finely with scissors, plus 2 sprigs, snipped, for garnish Directions: In a medium bowl, whisk together the olive oil, vinegar and salt. Add pepper to taste. Pour the marinade over the salmon, add the onion and sprinkle with the 15 snipped sprigs of dill.

Cover the dish with wax paper, then foil and refrigerate for 2 to 3 days without turning.

To serve: Bring the salmon to room temperature. Place on individual plates along with some of the marinade and onions.

Garnish with the fresh snipped dill; makes 6 servings.

Directions: Heat the oil in a saucepan. Add the pine nuts and raisins and saute over low heat until the pine nuts are lightly golden. Remove from the heat and add the Marsala and vinegar.

Add the radicchio, arugula, and parsley to the chicken and onions; toss with the dressing. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

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Honoring Michael & Carol Staenberg with special tribute to Rick Kodner & Gail Brody

Thank You

to our donors for making the JSU Gala a tremendous success

JSU (The Jewish Student Union) is a dynamic network of hundreds of clubs for thousands of Jewish high school students from diverse backgrounds in non-Jewish schools across North America. JSU seeks to enhance teens’ Jewish identity, nurture a connection to the State of Israel, inspire an enduring relationship with the Jewish people and provide for a deeper involvement with the Jewish community, including serving as a portal to facilitate life-long involvement in Jewish inspired expression and organizations. JSU is a non-denominational program, open to all Jewish teens irrespective of background or affiliation. St. Louis JSU sponsors 9 school clubs and a weekly Jewish Book Club serving 700+ teens and is growing daily. Local schools include: MICDS, Crossroads, Clayton, Ladue, Parkway Central, Parkway North, Parkway West, Lafayette High Schools, and Pattonville.

JSU is grateful for the generous funding from the Jewish Federation of St. Louis and its supporting foundations: the Lubin-Green Foundation; the Staenberg Family Foundation; and the Kranzberg Family Foundation, The Silk Foundation and donors like you.

For more information or to start a JSU Club please contact Rabbi Mike Rovinsky at RabbiMike@jsu.org or 314-498-6279

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PASSOVER FEATURE

Quinoa, ‘mother of all grains,’ may (or may not) be kosher for Passover don’t know why anyone would,” said Rabbi Tzvi Rosen of Star-K, referring to the esteemed decisor of Jewish religious NEW YORK — On any given day, a law who died in 1986. “And what’s more wind might blow through the farmlands telling of this ridiculous debate is that of South America, pick up an errant quinoa is a seed, not a legume.” grain of barley and deposit it nearby Long a staple of the Andean diet, quiamong the vast rows of cultivated qui- noa has earned a reputation as “the noa. If that barley manages to make its mother of all grains,” celebrated for its way into a sifted batch of quinoa, and high nutrient quality and as an alternaavoid detection during repackaging, it tive for those following a gluten-free could wind up gracing your seder table diet. But quinoa is not a grain at all. It’s on Passover night. a member of the goosefoot family, and However dubious it might seem, the closely related to spinach and beets. scenario is among the reasons that the On Passover — when wheat, oats, rye, world’s largest kosher certification spelt and barley are all prohibited — agency is refusing to sanction quinoa for quinoa has emerged as a popular substiPassover consumption, potentially tute. depriving Jewish consumers of a highThat could change, however, with the fiber, protein-rich staple that many have world’s major kosher certifier refusing come to rely on during the weeklong to give quinoa its Passover seal of holiday. approval.

The Orthodox Union announced last “We can’t certify quinoa because it year that it would not certify quinoa as looks like a grain and people might get kosher for Passover out of concern that confused,” Genack said. “It’s a disputed quinoa falls into the category of kitniyot, food, so we can’t hold an opinion, and a group of legumes forbidden because we don’t certify it. Those who rely on they look similar to grains proscribed the O.U. for a kashrut just won’t have on the holiday. quinoa on Passover.”

Menachem Genack, the CEO of O.U. The O.U.’s non-endorsement is the Kosher, also cited the danger of quinoa result of a debate within the organizacrops grown in close proximity to wheat tion’s own ranks. and barley fields.

Rabbi Yisroel Belsky, the head of Star-K, a rival kosher certification Brooklyn’s Yeshiva Torah Vodaas and a company based in Baltimore, has been consulting rabbi for the O.U., maintains certifying quinoa as Passover-friendly that quinoa qualifies as kitniyot because for years and dismisses what it sees as it’s used in a manner similar to forbidan outlandish prohibition. den grains. Rabbi Hershel Schachter, “Rav Moshe Feinstein said we weren’t one of the heads of Yeshiva University’s to add on to the rules of kitniyot, so I rabbinical school and also an O.U. consultant, agrees with Rosen that the category of kitniyot should not be expanded.

Rosen said the Star-K cerGarage & Moving Sales tifies only the quinoa that Unwanted Items in Your Basement, has no other grains growAttics,Warehouses, Storage Lockers, Etc. ing nearby. This year, for the first time, the company Residential & Commercial sent supervisors to South America to supervise the harvesting, sifting and packaging of the product.

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“Whenever there’s a new age food, there’s always a fight between kosher factions,” Rosen said. “But we should be worrying about other things, like all the cookies, pizzas and noodles that are Passover certified but appear to be chametz. Quinoa is the least of our problems.”

The O.U. is recommending that kosher consumers look to their local rabbis for guidance on the quinoa question. But for Eve Becker, risking a rabbinic prohibition on a staple food probably won’t sit too well in her house. A Jewish food blogger who maintains a strictly glutenfree kitchen because her daughter has Celiac disease, Becker said quinoa is one of the most important foods.

“It’s a tiny powerhouse packed with protein, vitamins and minerals, and it’s an important grain alternative, especially on Passover,” Becker said. “It’s great to have it on Passover instead of the usual potatoes, potatoes, potatoes. Most of the Passover foods just end up tasting like Passover, so we rely on quinoa to be that side staple.”

Ilana S., a mother of two who lives on Manhattan’s Upper West Side, said she trusts the O.U. and will refrain, begrudgingly, from buying quinoa this Passover.

“These rabbis are always changing their minds, so I’m confident they’ll have a new statement next year,” she said. “Until then, its only eight days.”

ONLINE ONLY Get a scrumptious recipe for EggplantWrapped Chicken from the new book by Leah Schapira and Victoria Dwek: ‘Passover Made Easy’ Online at stljewishlight.com/recipe

HOSPITAL continued from page 11

compassionate care. As we undertake the renewal of our campus, we have engaged a team of local and national experts to assist us in making development decisions that will serve the health care needs of our community for generations to come.

We are committed to ensuring these enhancements are done respectfully and appropriately. We are working closely with our patients, staff, physicians, civic leaders and faith leaders throughout our efforts to revitalize the campus, while recognizing the significance of our foundation and heritage.

In connection with the design of our new buildings, items of historical significance, large and small, have been catalogued and reviewed to be integrated into the future plans. You can be assured the generous donors to the Jewish Hospital of St. Louis will be appropriately respected and recognized as the new campus takes shape. As an interim step, a digital donor history will be displayed until new ways of recognizing donors can be incorporated into final building designs.

As a national leader in medicine committed to making medicine better, honor and respect for the traditions of the past while also embracing future growth are among our top priorities. Thank you for a century of commitment supporting the health care needs of our collective community.

We look forward to sharing more with you in the months and years ahead.

Visit WWW. STLJEWISHLIGHT.COM

KIDS

continued from page 14 lasting flame so we can be prepared to light yom tov candles on both nights of the seder.”

Since the kids love to share their homemade haggadahs they make every year at school, the holiday is centered around questions and in-depth-discussions about the Passover story, which is why their seder lasts about three hours.

“We ask questions such as, ‘Who are examples of people like the four sons?

Why do some rabbis say there were not 10 plagues, but others say 250? Who made the plaques happen, God or an angel, and how do we know? Why and how did Rabbi Elazar ben Azaryah grow a long white beard at age 18, so that people would believe him to be older and wiser?’ Then we sing blessings and songs. We go around the table taking turns reading the paragraphs in the haggadah, either in English or Hebrew. We also sing Hagadya and again we each take a line, but this time it’s the noise of the item or animal we sing about.”

For Kalanit Chappell, who describes herself as a “left-leaning, tea drinking, organic living, breastfeeding, cloth diapering, attached parenting, sling wearing, peace loving Jewish granola mommy” in her blog www.koshergranola.com, the seder is such a meaningful, sacred time for her family that creates different ones for different holidays, from Rosh Hashanah to Tu’Bshvat, and not just for Passover.

Each has a fun, interesting theme, keeping the holiday exciting for this B’nai Amoona family who lives in Ballwin. She and her husband Rob Beattie have three children, Chandler, 17, who attends Parkway North High School; Alia , 10, a student at Saul Mirowitz Jewish Community School; and Neviyah, 4, who goes to preschool the B’nai Amoona.

For example, one year at Passover they celebrated with an earthy seder. The table featured colorful, recyclable bento boxes with compartments as seder plates and recycled coffee cans and glass bottles with freshly plucked flowers as centerpieces. They also enjoyed a plantbased menu with vegetable soup, smoked eggplant salad, broccoli with lemon, potato/kale casserole, Moroccan carrots, and sweet potato dumplings in a tomato brazilnut sauce.

“The kids loved the mashed potatoes and veggies, and they felt really grown

SCHMOOZE continued from page 2

dah remains familiar and is more a source of comfort and tradition than anything else.

I guess it’s reassuring that while on this night I will tweak the ceremonial meal to adapt to the times (and my guest list), at least the haggadah I grew up with and the age-old story of the Jews’ liberation from Egypt, will stay the same.

Happy Pesach to all, and if you know of a good recipe for gluten-free kneidlach, please email quickly!

Hoosier pride You might remember Eitan Kantor, the young man from Clayton who was among the 12 finalists in Israel for the annual global Hallelujah singing competition in 2011. Well he may not have won the competition but he’s still pursuing his passion. At 8:30 p.m. Saturday, March 30, Kantor, who is director of Indiana University’s Jewish a cappella group

Haggadahs for families Here’s a new twist on traditional haggadot that appeals to children of all ages: • “A Different Night, The Family Participation Haggadah”: http:// goo.gl/6Tiwe • “Dayenu!: A Passover Haggadah for Families and Children”: http://goo. gl/B50OV

• “A Mystical Haggadah: Passover Meditations, Teachings, and Tales”: http://goo.gl/6rnJ3 • “The Hyper-Modern Ancient With-It Traditional Haggadah”: http://goo.gl/ xuq7m

• “Richard Codor’s Joyous Haggadah: A Children and Family Cartoon Haggadah for Passover Seder”:

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ST. LOUIS JEWISH LIGHT

seder.

“We don’t like to make it just a pediatric seder but also not just an adult one where the kids are bored. We work very hard every year to make sure there is something meaningful for everyone.”

One year they created Legos characters to act out the parts of Moses, slaves, and Pharoah in the story of Exodus. They even had a silk scarf for the Red Sea. Another year, everyone took turns improvising the story in characters.

“We all drew our parts from little strips of paper in a hat, so we didn’t have time to think about it and no one knew ahead of time. For example, Moses might be played as Harry Potter, or a rapper, or a librarian, or with an Australian accent. It was a free-flowing skit, and we just went with it,” said Chappell.

“With Passover, we all know the story.

But we got to reenact it very whimsically with fictional fantasy and modern characters, and so we experience it differently each year. I call it ‘experiential biblio drama’,” she said.

For Chappell, writing her own haggadah is a personal journey into Judaism and something she loves to share with other people.

“I write haggadot all the time, and anytime I can turn something into a seder I do. For example, we go through the new species of fruits on TuBshvat. In the

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Sephardic community, there is a custom to have a seder on Rosh Hashanah. I held a ‘Happy Birthday To The World’ seder that included a game night afterwards for my teenage son and his friends.”

Most of all, the seder evolves and changes as her children grow.

“Some years the seder is spontaneous and fun, such as using a comic strip hagaddah and other years it’s more introspective and inspirational,” she explained. “When my husband’s sister died of color cancer at age 43, it was a sad year altogether. So we took parts out of a hagaddah that were very spiritually deep. I pulled a lot of personal reflection pieces out from the holistic haggadah and added it to our seder.”

For both families the best part about Passover is being together and learning from each other.

“I’m a learning geek,” said Chappell, “that’s why I like to make a new Haggadah every year. I like to add new spices of learning to it, and I especially love learning with my children. There’s all sorts of moments in a seder that we can learn from, and we don’t always take those opportunities because our kids are getting crabby or hungry. But when you make your own haggadah and supplement with your own lessons, it’s amazing to hear their unique viewpoints and how they use their intellects and their hearts.”

http://goo.gl/JnxZC • “The Comics Passover Haggada”: http://goo.gl/ AoRCg

•” The Holistic Haggadah: How Will You Be Different This Passover Night”: http:// goo.gl/i8IZO

up having their own seder plates,” said the vegan mom, who celebrates the holiday with a room full of family and friends in a casual, sometimes chaotic, atmosphere.

Besides the food, Chappell goes all out when it comes to reenacting the Passover

Hooshir, will perform with the group at B’nai Amoona Congregation. Tickets are $12 for students and $18 for general admission. For more information, go to www.iuhillel.org.

More homegrown sounds And the night before, at 7 p.m. Friday, March 29, St. Louis natives Mike and Rob Silverman of the jazz-classical fusion band “Bach to the Future” will perform with Grammy award-winning saxophonist Eric Marienthal at the Sheldon Concert Hall as part of the Autumn Hill Jazz Festival. The festivities also include trumpet all-star Dawn Weber and her trio, and internationally renowned pianist Ptah Williams. Proceeds from the evening will benefit Music for Lifelong Achievement, the not-for-profit organization based at the Sheldon that collects and refurbishes used musical instruments for financially disadvantaged local music students. General admission tickets are $15, and are on sale now at MetroTix: 314.534.1111 or www.metrotix. com.

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March 20, 2013

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ST. LOUIS JEWISH LIGHT

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healthwatch Healthwatch is a monthly feature focusing on a health- or fitness- related topic with a Jewish angle. The feature is published the third edition of each month. Have a suggestion for a potential Healthwatch subject? Email news@thejewishlight.com.

Tap dancing offers health benefits, fun

BY PATRICIA CORRIGAN SPECIAL TO THE JEWISH LIGHT

Kathy Huss, who owns the Merle Scheff School of Dance, grew up watching Fred Astaire and Gene Kelly, and she also enjoyed the stylized steps created later by dancer and choreographer Bob Fosse.

“Dance has always been part of my life, in different forms and different capacities,” Huss said. She has operated the studio full time since 1992, and earlier this month Huss served as a judge for “Dancing in the Lou,” presented by J Associates.

Huss, who described herself as “over 50,” teaches plenty of children’s classes at the studio (www.merlescheffdancing.com), but twice a week, Huss also teaches adult tap classes, with students ranging in age from 30 to 80.

“Tap dancing is a great way to relieve stress, improve memory and flexibility and to just enjoy the moment,” Huss said. She made time recently to talk about her lifelong passion.

When did you begin taking dance classes?

I started when I was 6. I took ballet, tap and jazz all through high school and while I was at Washington University, where I majored in business. For a dozen years, I worked in computers and accounting, but I continued to dance even then.

Did you know Merle Scheff?

I took classes with Merle when I was in junior high, and by the time I was in high school, I was helping her at the studio. She is now in her 90s, and lives in Sanibel (Florida).

classes there that I thought I should be part of the studio. In 1988, I bought it with a partner and I have operated it on my own since 2001.

Kathy Huss WORK: Owner of the Merle Scheff School of Dance in Creve Coeur HOME: Creve Coeur FAMILY: Two sons, 15 and 18 LEISURE ACTIVITIES: Attending her sons’ sports and choir events

You kept the original name. Does the studio continue to draw students?

Yes – everybody in the area knows the name, and now kids that I taught are grown and they bring in their kids. They say they had such a good experience that they want to pass it on. That is so flattering, that my students remember their classes so fondly.

think they can do it too – and they can. All the students are looking for a way to do something fun for themselves.

About the adult tap classes – why are those popular?

Tap is one of the forms of dance that is the quickest to learn basic steps and feel like you are accomplishing something. In an hour, you can put some steps together and do the steps with music.

Is it harder for the older adults in the class?

You can tap dance well into your 80s. You don’t have to hop, and some choose not to do turns, or do just half turns. But it’s true for anyone that if you come in mad, you hear the happy music, begin to dance along – and then you are not mad anymore.

Who enrolls in the class?

Some of the people took tap in the past, some picked it up later in life and some see someone else tap and

What sort of music do you use in class?

A wide range, everything from music from the ‘40s, ‘50s or ‘60s and forward, everything from the Charleston to something current.

Healthwatch Healthwatch runs the third week of every month and includes a Q&A with a local Jewish health or fitness professional or a feature on a topic related to health or fitness.

Have a suggestion for possible Healthwatch subjects?

Email Managing Editor Mike Sherwin at msherwin@ thejewishlight.com

When did you take over the studio?

When Merle wanted to retire, I was teaching so many

What do students wear to class?

Some come straight from work or doing the marketing, and it doesn’t matter what they wear. We’re not doing splits or running. If you forget your tap shoes, you can dance in your socks. It’s just nice to move, to listen to the music, to enjoy the camaraderie. Some of my adult students have been dancing here for 15 years.

Do your adult dancers perform in the studio’s annual recital?

Only if they want to. Usually half my adult students do take part. We all wear black pants and black shirts – I don’t ask anyone to dance in a leotard.

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ElderLink/AARP workshops to focus on aging drivers ElderLink St. Louis and AARP will sponsor a workshop series for the adult children of aging drivers and for the seniors themselves. The series, entitled “Age Well-Drive Smart,” will focus on everything from identifying and dealing with the warning signs that aging drivers need to give up their car keys, to creating a personalized fit for your car. In addition, the series will include AARP’s popular driver safety class, geared toward 50+ drivers.

Kicking off the series will be a free workshop entitled “We Need to Talk,” scheduled from 7 to 8:30 p.m. Wednesday, April 3 at Jewish Family & Children’s Service, 10950 Schuetz Road.

This program, presented by AARP volunteer Dr. Arthur Visor, will offer practical tips and guidance on recognizing troubling signs and developing a plan to begin talking about the issue. Designed for concerned

JF&CS and the Jewish Community Center, from 1 to 5 p.m. Thursday, April 18 at the JCC, 2 Millstone Campus Drive.

AARP Driver Safety is the nation’s largest classroom driver safety course designed for drivers ages 50+. The course covers normal changes in vision, hearing and reaction time associated with aging and provides practical techniques on adjusting to these changes. Participants receive a thorough review of “rules of the road” with an emphasis on safety strategies.

Many insurance programs offer a discount on auto insurance to those completing the program.

Cost is $12 for AARP members and $14 for nonmembers.

Reservations are requested for all three workshops, which are open to the public. To attend, call ElderLink St. Louis at 314812-9300, or e-mail info@elderlinkstlouis.org.

family members of aging drivers, the workshop will help participants determine how to assess loved ones’ driving skills, deal with the situation and develop alternatives for helping them remain independent.

The series continues from 2:30 to 4:30 p.m. Thursday, April 11 at JFCS with “Car-Fit,” a free interactive and educational program developed by AARP, AAA and the American Occupation Therapy Association.

This workshop will teach participants how to make their personal vehicles “fit” them to increase safety and mobility when they drive.

This program uses a team of trained technicians and occupational therapists to review 12 key areas of the car, such as adequate space from the steering wheel, seat belt use and properly adjusted head restraints.

The final event in the series will be the AARP Driver Safety class, cosponsored by ElderLink,

St. Louis Senior Olympics seeks competitors age 50+ The St. Louis Senior Olympics, the regional competition for athletes aged 50 and older, is actively seeking applications for competitors to participate in more than 90 individual and team events over Memorial Day Weekend, May 23 – 28.

From basketball to bocce; soccer, softball and shuffleboard; to tap dancing, tennis and track – the Senior Olympics engage more than 1,100 athletes and hundreds of volunteers at twelve different venues across the St. Louis area. The events are open to everyone. Competitors must be at least 50 years old, but there is no maximum age. The games also include an art competition.

“It’s truly a community-wide event that provides something meaningful for everyone who participates,” said Phil Ruben, Director of the event. “We have serious competition, friendly games and performances. We have volunteer opportunities for all ages. And in the end, we have recognition, camaraderie and enduring friendships, all built around the spirit of this

LEFT: Jim Krull competes in the shotput event during the 2011 Senior Olympics. The Jewish Community Center hosts the annual games, which take place at the JCC and a variety of other locations around town. Above, Krull competes at John Burroughs School. File photo: Agatha Gallagher

great event.”

To register or volunteer, view a complete list of events and venues, or to get more information, visit stlouisseniorolympics.org or call 314-442-3279. Paper registration forms are available at both JCC locations and select Schnucks stores. The deadline for early registration rates is April 15; final registration dead-

line is May 13.

The 2013 St. Louis Senior Olympics is sponsored in part

by Barnes Jewish Hospital, Express Scripts, the J, Missouri Baptist Hospital, A A RP, Bergman Schraier, Bunge, Esse Hea lt h a nd Spec t r u m Retirement. Additional support is provided by numerous area businesses and organizations.

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ST. LOUIS JEWISH LIGHT

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March 20, 2013

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COLLABORATION continued from page 1

Synagogues across the address the needs of a very large part of our Jewish nation have been sorting community,” he said. through the twin difficulIntricacies of the propos- ties of expensive infraal remained sketchy with structure and an aging, leadership from the tem- declining membership in ples refusing to comment recent years and the St. on specifics until after Louis area has been no B’nai El’s membership exception. In 2011, financial makes its decision. woes drove Congregation Carrigan said she could Kol Am, a West County not release details on how Reform institution, to close the ballot will take place. down less than five years Both synagogues con- after dedicating its new firmed that neither side building. Meanwhile, two considers the proposal to Conservative shuls, Brith be a “merger” and that Sholom Kneseth Israel and B’nai El will retain its iden- Shaare Zedek Synagogue, are in the process of jointity and heritage.

“The ‘new B’nai El,’ fund- ing together after an overed primarily through B’nai whelming vote of support El funds, with support from in November.

Yawitz said that, while he Shaare Emeth, will have a full time staff presence to couldn’t comment on the serve as a facilitator of the nuts and bolts of the new new mission,” said the arrangement until after it email. was approved, it preThe smaller synasented a unique colgogue has been in a laborative dynamic time of flux in for both institutions. recent years. In “Having been on 2011, Rabbi Daniel the team that worked Plotkin departed on this for the last B’nai El and was Rabbi Scott six or eight months, replaced by a partit’s exciting,” he said.

Saulson time interim rabbi, “It’s different. We Scott Saulson. Saulson was hope that it is going to lead chosen because of his to greater participation and background in dealing with involvement in the commuthe needs of older adults as nity, not just in the temple well as his experience in but everywhere.” helping congregations Yawitz said the proposal move through transitional was particularly meaningful for both congregations periods.

Last year, B’nai El lost its since they have common longtime tenant Saul roots. B’nai El was founded Mirowitz Day School- in 1852 and Shaare Emeth, Reform Jewish Academy to which now houses about a merger with Solomon 1,700 families, broke away Schechter Day School leav- from the former congregaing the congregation of tion less than two decades about 135 families in a later. facility built nearly five B’nai El moved to its middecades ago to house county home in 1965 while around 800.

Shaare Emeth arrived at its The structure and its six- current campus in 1974. acre campus were put up “We all came from the for sale in September. same place,” Yawitz said.

Carrigan said B’nai El’s property remains on the market.

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March 20, 2013

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ST. LOUIS JEWISH LIGHT

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Visit WWW. STLJEWISHLIGHT.COM

Arts & Entertainment

At 80, author Philip Roth is at peace with his decision to stop writing

BY ROBERT A. COHN

‘Philip Roth Unmasked’

Editor-in-Chief Emeritus

Philip Roth, one of the world’s most acclaimed living Jewish authors, is shown in a new PBS “American Masters” biography to be at peace with his recent decision to give up writing after a remarkable and often controversial career. The documentary, “Philip Roth Unmasked” will air March 29, 10 days after his 80th birthday.

The film, written and directed by William Karel and Livia Manera, was largely made before Roth officially announced he was going to stop writing. Even so, there are hints of his readiness to do so throughout the “American Masters” piece.

This PBS film is just one of many works and events that will celebrate milestones in Roth’s life.

Blake Bailey, author of an acclaimed biography on John Cheever, is at work on the definitive biography of Roth, who bases much of his fiction on his childhood and youth in the secure middle class Newark suburb of Weequahic, N.J. In addition, the city of Newark has put together a bus tour called “Philip Roth’s Newark,” where for $35 participants will be taken to places noted in many of Roth’s books. The author is best known

When: 8 p.m., Friday, March 29 Where: On the PBS program “American Masters” airing locally on KETC, Channel 9

for his acclaimed 1959 debut novella “Goodbye Columbus” as well as his third novel, “Portnoy’s Complaint,” in 1969, which made headlines at the time for its explicit discussion of masturbation and other “taboo” sexual subjects.

More recent works include “Exit Ghost,” “The Humbling” and “Nemesis,” all of which are more somber and reflective in tone, and deal with illness, decline and mortality.

Roth has told interviewers that he does not regret his decision to quit writing and is actually surprised at how easy it has been for him to give it up. He is quoted by George Robinson in The Jewish Week as saying, “Between books it’s easy to think you can’t do it again,” adding, “I’m not worried. I’m sad . . . The time is running out and I can’t do anything about it.”

In the course of his long writing career, Roth has insisted that his protagonists, including Alexander Portnoy, Nathan Zuckerman, Peter Tarnopol, David Zuckerman

and Mickey Sabbath, while based in part on people in his own life, are not “autobiographical.” The only exception, he notes, is in “The Facts,” where he presents his own version of his real life “undistilled.”

In the PBS film, Roth credits Saul Bellow’s novel, “The Adventures of Augie Marsh” as being a major liberating influence in his own writing. “It gave me the freedom, the freedom to use your own background” in his work, he said. Roth no longer had to disguise his Jewish identify and sensibilities by pretending to be someone other than himself.

In “My Life as a Man,” which many regard as Roth’s best novel, he says, “At any rate, all I can do with my story is to tell it. And tell it. And tell it.”

Roth has done that very well in 27 remarkable and memorable books.

Two of them have won the National Book Award for Fiction; four others were finalists. Two have won National Book Critics Circle awards and another five were finalists.

Another, “American Pastoral”, won a Pulitzer Prize. He has also won three PEN/Faulkner Awards.

In the PBS film, he signs off by saying, “Let that be the end.” Hopefully for those of us who regard Roth as one of his generation’s most seminal writers, this is not the end. Maybe he just needs a time out.

Pulitizer Prize- and National Book Award-winning novelist Philip Roth being interviewed in his Manhattan apartment for American Masters program, ‘Philip Roth: Unmasked.’ Photo: François Reumont

Civil war seder: Play depicts Jewish Confederate soldier and his family’s freed slaves Director of Black Rep production is ‘blown away’ by impact of ‘The Whipping Man’

BY ROBERT A. COHN Editor-in-Chief Emeritus

Ed Smith, who is the director of the Black Rep’s upcoming production “The Whipping Man,” says he was “blown away” by the power of the script. The play, written by Matthew Lopez, deals with the end of the Civil War, a returning Jewish Confederate soldier and a Passover seder he shares with his family’s freed African-American slaves.

“The Whipping Man,” which premiered in New York City in 2011, tells the story of three men in Virginia bound together by their shared history, Judaism and untold secrets. The playwright, who has no personal connection to Judaism or slavery, is descended from a Puerto Rican father and a Russian-Polish mother. He grew up Episcopalian. But as a gay man, he has said he can relate to the isolation and ridicule experienced by both AfricanAmericans and Jews. His parents were teachers and experts on the Civil War. Smith is an award-winning director and educator with extensive knowledge of both African-American and Jewish history as well the Civil War period. In

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2009, he received the prestigious Lloyd Richards Director’s Award from the National Black Theatre Festival. He has directed over 150 plays in the United States, Canada and the West Indies.

The Jewish Light caught up with Smith during a break in rehearsals for a telephone interview.

What attracted you to want to direct the Black Rep’s production of “The Whipping Man”? Are you especially interested in the Civil War and its immediate aftermath?

Well, I am interested in theater. And the reason I’m saying that is that it is giving me the opportunity to learn about other cultures. I was in New York

directing another play, and I had heard about “The Whipping Man,” which I had not seen, but when I got a copy of the script, I was just blown away because of all of the elements that the playwright, Matthew Lopez, put in the play.

How did you follow up on your interest in this many-layered play?

I called a friend of mine, Dr. Saul Elkin, who is the director of the Jewish Theater of Buffalo, who was impressed by the script and became interested in it. In turn, I suggested that Ron Himes, artistic director of the Black Rep, con-

See BLACK REP, page 30

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ST. LOUIS JEWISH LIGHT

(Adapted from recipe by Bizu “Riki” Mullu, printed in The Jewish Daily Forward, April 2005) In this African country, a variety of stews and vegetable dishes are spiced with “berbere,” a seasoning made from red chili peppers, garlic, cardamom, cumin, cinnamon, fenugreek, and ginger.

A traditional Passover stew, Doro Wat, is a tasty example of Ethiopian cuisine. It is low in fat, high in fiber, and quick and easy to make. It can also prepared a day in advance. Simply reheat the stew in a covered pot over low heat, adding chicken broth as needed to keep the sauce moist. Serve it alongside smashed potatoes to soak up some of the yummy sauce.

Ingredients: ¼ cup olive oil 2 large onions, diced (about 4 cups) 4 large cloves garlic, minced

2 tablespoons fresh ginger, minced 2 small dried red chiles (available at Asian markets, Whole Foods, Penzey’s and some supermarkets) or 1 tsp. or more (to taste) of crushed red pepper flakes ¼ teaspoon turmeric ½ teaspoon ground coriander ½ teaspoon ground fenugreek (available at Whole Foods, Penzey’s, and Indian markets) ¼ teaspoon fresh ground black pepper 1 teaspoon ground cardamom ¼ teaspoon ground cloves ¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon 1 teaspoon ground cumin 2 tablespoons whole flaxseed (available at most supermarkets and health food stores) ¼ cup water, or up to a ½ cup, as needed 4-6 pounds skinless chicken pieces (about 12) 5 hard-boiled eggs, peeled and scored

Fluden de Pasach: Originally published in the New York Times, April 20, 2005.

Cashews, which originated in Brazil, and guava, are commonly used ingredients in everything from Brazilian meat curries to fruity desserts. Marty Weinstock, friend and baker extraordinaire, tested this recipe using quince paste. She found it easy to make, though she recommends checking the strudel after 37 minutes. If it is browning too quickly, you could cover the top loosely with foil paper. “The fruity layer reminded me of a Passover version of a Fig Newton,” Marty told me, “and that’s a good thing.”

removed and leaves rinsed well 2 to 3 tablespoons olive oil 2 small yellow onions or 6 green onions, minced 4 tablespoons raisins, soaked in hot water to cover for 15 minute, then drained 4 tablespoons pine nuts, toasted Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste Grated zest of 1 lemon

Directions: Heat a teaspoon of olive oil in a large sauté pan. Add rinsed spinach

Ingredients: 4 ¼ cups ground roasted cashews (about 18 ounces) 2 cups matzo meal 3 cups sugar 4 limes (½ cup juice), zest grated fine 1 cup vegetable oil, plus more for oiling pan 4 large eggs 21 ounces (600 grams) guava or quince paste (available at Global Foods Market or made from scratch from the fresh fruit) 1 large egg yolk

Directions: Heat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 9-by-13-inch baking dish. In a bowl, mix

and sauté quickly, turning spinach frequently, just until wilted. Transfer spinach to a colander to drain.

Meanwhile, heat 1 ½ tablespoons olive oil in sauté pan and add onions.

Cook over medium heat until onions are translucent (not browned), 5-8 minutes. Add drained spinach, raisins, and pine nuts and toss lightly to combine. Add salt and pepper, to taste. Just before serving, sprinkle with lemon zest. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Makes 6 servings.

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lightly with a knife Coarse kosher salt, to taste

Directions: Heat olive oil over medium heat in a Dutch oven or large skillet. Add onions and cook over medium-low heat until translucent, about 8 to 10 minutes.

Add garlic, ginger, and chiles and continue to cook over low heat for two minutes. (Add a tablespoon or two of water as needed to prevent onions from burning.)

Stir in dried spices and flaxseed. Add chicken and 1/3 cup water and stir well.

Cover pan, reduce heat, and simmer for about 30 minutes, or until chicken is tender and cooked, adding remaining water if needed to maintain moisture. Gently fold in hard-boiled eggs and cook an additional 10 minutes.

Remove from heat, and serve chicken with sauce.

Makes 4-6 servings.

Cashew Nut Strudel With Guava and Lime

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Brazil

Spinach with Pine Nuts and Raisins (Spinaci con Pinoli e Passerine)

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March 20, 2013

Doro Wat (Ethiopian Chicken Stew)

Greece Recipe adapted from “Cucina Ebraica: Flavors of the Italian Jewish Kitchen,” by Joyce Goldstein Pine nuts are popular in both Greek and Italian cuisine. In combination with spinach and raisins, this savory and sweet mixture is used in Greek phyllo pies and a variety of lamb stews. This is an uncomplicated yet delectable vegetable prepared similarly by both Greek and Italian Jews.

Ingredients: 2 ½ pounds spinach, stems

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Ethiopia

continued from page 12

Ashkenazi traditions are the ones most of us are familiar with. Those Passover menus include gefilte fish, potato kugel, matzah ball soup, roast brisket and mandel bread.

But Ashkenazi menus are by no means the only Passover menus. There are equally traditional and delicious seder feasts on the tables of the Sephardic Jews who have come here from such diverse countries as Portugal, Greece, Brazil, Ethiopia, Ingredient South Africa, Iran, sources Syria, and India.

W hile m a n y Global Foods Ashkenazi Jews Market shun these cui- 421 North Kirkwood sines because of Road, Kirkwood, Mo. their inclusion of 63122; 314-835-1112 kitniyot (legumes, rice, and certain grains permitted Penzey’s Spices under Sephardic 7338 Manchester traditions), in Road, St Louis, Mo. doing so they miss 63143; 314-781-7177 out on many exceptional dishes that are permitted under every interpretation of the Passover laws.

This Passover I invite Ashkenazi readers to enhance their traditional menus with something exotic and delicious from the Sephardic traditions. I guarantee that you and your guests will be delighted.

To get you started, I have highlighted the traditional flavors of Ethiopian, South African, Greek, and Brazilian cuisines and included recipes for traditional Passover dishes from those countries.

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4 cups ground cashews, the matzo meal and sugar. Stir in the lime juice, lime zest, oil, and 4 whole eggs until smooth.

Spread half the cake-like batter in the pan and pat it down with your hands.

Cut guava paste into long, thin ¼-inch strips and arrange on top of dough in pan. Add remaining batter, patting it down gently with your hand.

Beat egg yolk with a teaspoon of water and brush over top of dough. Sprinkle evenly with remaining ¼ cup ground cashews. Bake for 45 minutes, or until golden, and sides begin to pull away from pan.

Let cool completely before slicing into 2-inch strips or squares.

Makes 30-35 pieces.

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VATICAN

continued from page 7 out to be a Holocaust denier.

Francis projects a “man of the people” style in sharp contrast to Benedict, who was seen as removed and cold. Francis is known for living simply, taking the subway and answering his own phone. He spent virtually his entire career in Argentina, away from the intrigues of the Vatican’s Roman Curia -- the central governing body of the Catholic Church -- and other scandals that dogged the papacy of his predecessor.

However, within days of the new pope’s election, the Vatican faced questions about what Francis did -- and did not do -- to oppose the military junta that ruled Argentina from 1976 to 1983. Critics have said the church did not do enough to oppose the military dictatorship’s Dirty War, including the kidnapping of two Jesuit priests in 1976. Francis has said he worked behind the scenes to free the priests and sheltered others by hiding them at a Jesuit school.

The questions about Francis’ past carry echoes of the Holocaust-era controversy surrounding Pope Pius XII. Many Jews charge that Pius did not do enough to oppose the Nazis, but the Vatican and Pius’ proponents say he worked behind the scenes to save Jews.

While a staunch conservative on social issues such as gay marriage, female priests and abortion, Francis spent years working among the poor and made interfaith outreach one of his priorities.

“The Latin American Jewish Congress has had a close relationship with Monsignor Jorge Bergoglio for many years,” said Claudio Epelman, executive director of the congress. “We know his virtues and have no doubt whatsoever that he will do an excellent job for the church.”

As archbishop of Buenos Aires, his relationship with Argentinian Jews was personal as well as institutional.

His only book, “Regarding Heaven and Earth,” is the transcript of wide-ranging conversations between himself and Rabbi Abraham Skorka, the rector of the Latin American Rabbinical Seminary. Francis and the rabbi also shared billing on an Argentinian TV talk show on religious issues.

Francis has referred to Skorka as his “brother and friend.” The then-cardinal attended services at Skorka’s synagogue and also arranged for Skorka to receive an honorary doctorate from the Catholic University of Argentina.

Francis also wrote the foreword to a book by another Buenos Aires rabbi and civic activist, Sergio Bergman.

“Bergoglio is a master,” Bergman wrote in the Argentinian media after Francis’ election. “True to my Jewish roots and rabbinical vocation, inside my home community and the entire Argentine society, I found in Francis a teacher who heard me, guided me and advised me on how to deploy my vocation to serve both the Creator and his creatures in defiance of common good.”

Last December, Bergoglio joined Bergman and other Jewish leaders and representatives of other faiths in lighting the Hanukkah candles.

Francis is cited with particular warmth by Argentinian Jews for showing solidarity with the Jewish community following the 1994 bombing of the AMIA Jewish community center in Buenos Aires that left 85 dead. The attack, Francis told the Argentinian media, was “another link in the chain of pain and persecution that God’s chosen people has suffered throughout history.”

In 2005, he signed a petition for justice in the AMIA bombing case and a document called “85 victims, 85 signatures.” In June 2010, he visited the rebuilt AMIA building to talk with Jewish leaders.

“The closeness between Francis and the Jewish community is special and precious,” Rabbi Gary Bretton-Granatoor, vice president of the World Union of Progressive Judaism, told JTA. Bretton-Granatoor, who is based in New York but has met Francis a couple of times, called the new pope “a mensch” who “gets the importance of a relationship with the Jewish community, who understands the meaning of the Shoah and has a heart in the right place on a number of issues that concern us as well.”

Obviously, he added, “we will vigorously disagree with him on many fundamental issues as well -- but that is part of the game, isn’t it?”

A delegation of the Council for a Secure America meeting in Jerusalem with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, February 2013. Photo: Admon HaCohen, courtesy Council for a Secure America

LEADERS continued from page 8

is leading the oil boom in North Dakota. Hamm, a multibillionaire, was a top adviser to Mitt Romney’s failed presidential campaign.

The group has made two outings: One last month to Israel to review the country’s security needs, and one to North Dakota to tour Hamm’s innovations in oil exploration. Eisenstat said he hoped to have the council running on an annual budget of less than $500,000, much of it coming from its officers.

“It was started with the idea that there was a natural, wonderful relationship between independent oil and gas producers who want America to be independent and those of us who believe it is in America's interests for Israel to be strong and secure,” said Eisenstat, a former vice president of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee.

David Harris, the director of the American Jewish Committee, a group that pioneered Jewish energy independence advocacy in the 1970s, said he was vaguely aware of the new group and expressed wariness of any “silver bullet” strategy for weaning the United States from a reliance on foreign oil.

“Our strategy, developed through a staff team and a committee of experts, has always tried to take a balanced approach that says there's not one silver bullet, but there is a collection of bullets that can lead us to the independence that every president since Nixon promised,” he said.

Hoenlein said the council’s aim was to address a broad range of alternatives to Middle Eastern oil.

“We have people looking into alternatives,” he said.

“The whole point is to make it as broad as possible.”

Neil Goldstein, another council director and a former executive director of the American Jewish Congress, is now involved in researching alternative energies through two non-profits, including one called the Israel Energy Partnership. Nonetheless, the council’s website clearly emphasizes fossil fuels. Six of eight articles on its recommended reading page are defenses of domestic drilling and fracking. The other two are about Israel.

Martin Frost, a former Democratic congressman from Texas who, like Hoenlein, is listed as a director of the council, said the emphasis made sense considering current realities.

“The primary focus is on oil and gas because that's what will be available for the foreseeable future,” said Frost, who now lobbies for the Domestic Energy Producers Alliance. “There is a potential that you can have North American self-sufficiency in the not-toodistant future. That’s good for our balance of payments situation, and it's good for the United States and for Israel in terms of foreign policy.”

Oil companies have sought to make common cause with American Jewish groups in the past. In the 1990s, multinational oil companies made overtures to AIPAC after the lobby's successful push for Iran sanctions forced the companies to alter their business practices.

Morrie Amitay, a former AIPAC executive director and still an influential figure in the pro-Israel community, has lobbied for the American Petroleum Institute.

Keith Weissman, a former Iran analyst with AIPAC, was the lobby’s liaison with multinational oil companies in the 1990s. Weissman said he figured out soon enough that there was not a lot that oil companies, domestic or foreign, had in common with the Jewish community.

“We never got into domestic drilling,” Weissman said of AIPAC. “We knew as American Jews we couldn’t touch environmental issues and have any credibility with our community. American Jews don't want to destroy Alaska to import a few barrels less from Angola.”

Eisenstat said he expected to face some Jewish opposition to the council and emphasized that he was not seeking to co-opt the community to the oil industry’s needs. Instead, he saw it as a project of mutual education: Jews learn about the benefits of domestic fossil fuel production and a key American industry becomes more sensitive to Israel's security needs.

“We took 15 people over to Israel, many of whom not Jewish, who have never have never been to Israel,” he said.

Among them was Hamm, who appeared to get the pro-Israel message.

“America will not have to kowtow to countries just due to the fact that they have oil production in the future,” Hamm told The Jerusalem Post in an interview during the tour.

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JERUSALEM POST CROSSWORD PUZZLE

Across 1. Key with three sharps: Abbr.

5. New Orleans athlete 10. Ayn of “The Fountainhead” 14. Checks-and-balances option 15.“... not ___? When it’s ajar.”

16. Pin ___ on (incriminate) 17. Bar-___ University 18. Neighbor of Maui 19. Bernstein ensemble work 20. 18th century Yemenite rabbi and Kabbalist 23. Breaks a commandment 24. His wife turned into a pillar of salt 25. Dances energetically 28. Shulchan Aruch codifier Joseph 30. Enjoy blintzes 33.“Get ___ of that!”

34. It’s near 18-Across 35. Trig ratio 36. American pop artist who died in 1997 39. Drink flavored like 31Down 40. Steven’s Oskar 41. Bank robbery 42.“Good” cholesterol, initially 43. A billion years, in astronomy 44.“Hogan’s ___” (comedy set in a German prison camp) 45. Former umbrella charity for federations

46. Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-___) 47.“Mr. ___” (1992 Billy Crystal film) 53. Trucker’s vehicle 54. Backspace, often 55. Battery for small devices 57.“AIPAC is not ___” (frequently heard DC clarification) 58. Essenes and Saducees 59. Strike-monitoring agcy.

60. More, in adspeak 61. Unexpected turn 62.“A Few ___ Men” (1992 Rob Reiner film) Down 1. ___ Chai Foundation 2. Restaurant where Linda Lavin’s sitcom character worked 3.“Baruch ___...”

4. Vaccine pioneer and virologist 5. Discussion places, historically many hosted by Jewish women 6. Czerniakow and Sandler 7. They’re charged and can be exchanged 8. Genesis skipper?

9. Testing procedure 10. ___ Gan, city near Tel Aviv 11. Gamal Abdel Nasser, e.g.

12. Mishnah redactor Rabbi Judah Ha-___

By Yaakov Kirschen, Jerusalem Post

Last week's answers

By David Benkof, davidbenkof@gmail.com 13. Many Holocaust survivors 21. Rabbi Schneur Zalman of ___ 22. Joey 25. Comic Silverman (“Jesus is Magic”) 26.“...___ among wits”: S. Johnson 27. Like man’s best friend 28. Word with Tallit or Purim 29.“Can I say something?”

30.“Old MacDonald had a farm” follower

31. See 39-Across 32.“How goodly are thy ___, O Jacob” (Num. 24:5) 34. Howard Metzenbaum’s state 35. Pre-statehood extremist Zionist group 37. Least obscure 38. Adar ___ (leap month) 43. It used to be the UJ 44.“No foolin’!”

45. City on the Erie Canal 46. Dermatologists’ concerns

47. Rosh Hashana mo., sometimes 48. Moroccan-born singer Jo 49. Emulated Ben Shahn 50. English speaker’s Zionist org.

51. Ring around the moon 52. Plant sometimes called elephant’s-ear 53. Kenny G’s instrument 56. Nearly a Ph.D.

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mitzvot from the heart Amanda Kwiatek

Rina Gersten

A lover of animals, Amanda chose the Franklin County Humane Society in Union, Mo. for her mitzvah project.

Daughter of Jamie and Alan Kwiatek of Creve Coeur, she decided on the humane society because it is a non-profit facility that has a no-kill policy. It also allows young people to work with their animals.

Once or twice a month, Amanda attended adoption days at Petco or PetSmart, where some of the animals came from FCHS. It was her responsibility to put out crates, water, and food for the pets, play with them, and walk them outside. Amanda also assisted customers who were looking to adopt, making sure they chose a pet suitable for their family.

Spending about four hours at each visit, Amanda thought this was an enjoyable way to help her community. “I was most excited when dogs got adopted and walked off happily with their new family,” she said. A favorite memory is about a dog that slipped out of its cage, ran out the door, through the parking lot and into one of the nearby stores.

Amanda chased it until she caught it.

According to Rina’s parents, Laura Shapiro and Mark Gersten of Creve Coeur, “it’s not what you do just for your bat mitzvah but that we should be helping others all the time.”

“Helping others does not start or stop with becoming a bat mitzvah,” said Laura Gersten. “Rina has done so many mitzvah projects over the years because that is just what we do.”

Starting at age five, Rina has been attending Saturday night minyan at Congregation B’nai Amoona as well as helping her grandfather lead Friday night services at Delmar Gardens West Nursing Home. These mitzvot helped pave the way for Rina to continue reaching out to others.

Donating 10 inches of hair to Locks of Love is something Rina has done not once but four times, most recently this past year. “Whenever I donate my hair I feel like it is going to a good cause and to someone that really needs it more than me,” she said. Locks of Love provides hairpieces to financially disadvantaged children in the United States and Canada suffering from longtern medical hair loss from any diagnosis.

Some of the other organizations Rina supported are the Jewish Food Pantry, where she stocked shelves and donated food and more than 100 stuffed animals; Project Backpack, in which she donated over 15 bags of school supplies in the last few years, and B’nai Tzedek – a youth philanthropy program sponsored by the Jewish Federation where

Congregation Shaare Emeth

Congregation B’nai Amoona

Amanda Kwiatek

Wanting to help animals in need, Amanda submitted a proposal to her Ladue Middle School principal to hold a few collections for pet supplies. She passed out flyers to the students and made requests during the morning announcements. Amanda held collections at her mother’s firm, Polsinelli, Shughart, PC and at Congregation Shaare Emeth.

She also included a note in her bat mitzvah invitation. In total, the value of cash and supplies exceeded $1,000.

For all of her efforts, Amanda received an award from the Franklin County Humane Society.

Mitzvot from the Heart Editorial Assistant Elise Krug compiles ‘Mitzvot from the Heart,’ which highlights bar and bat mitzvah projects in the community. To have your child’s bar or bat mitzvah project highlighted, please contact Elise Krug at ekrug@thejewishlight.com or 314-743-3671.

Rina Gersten

Rina just created her own fund. This will give her the opportunity to manage and donate money annually to Jewish organizations and support the Jewish issues she cares about.

Last summer, Rina was in Israel with her family. She and her sister, Kyla, spent four weeks volunteering at Kehillat Netzach Israel Synagogue in Ashkelon, the congregation where their cousin is a member. The girls helped out in the preschool after-care program and at the summer camp.

“Working with Israeli 4 year olds that only spoke Hebrew was challenging at first,” Rina said. “As the days went by it became easier and fun. I communicated with the kids in Hebrew. It was definitely a memorable summer. My sister and I lived a different lifestyle including taking the public bus daily to work,” she added.

While in Israel, Rina, Laura, and Kyla volunteered with Project Leket. Founded in 2005, it is an initiative of Leket Israel, Israel’s National Food Bank, that sends thousands of

volunteers and dozens of paid pickers into fields and orchards to gather produce donated or left to rot by farmers. In 2010, the project rescued 9 million lbs of fruits and vegetables from over 300 farms throughout Israel. All produce is delivered free of charge to over 290 nonprofit organizations serving Israel’s needy.

Rina’s job was to “glean” or gather tomatoes in the fields.

In the two hours she and her family spent along side Israeli soldiers, they collectively picked about 4,000 kilograms, which is equivalent to almost 9,000 pounds. That was enough to help out 2,000 families in Israel for the week.

“I felt like I was making a difference in Israel with people who live in poverty,” said Rina.

“Just by picking tomatoes in the fields and giving my time that day, it helped many families have food for the week.”

For more information about this organization, please visit their web site at http://leket.org. il/english/.

simchas — celebrations of life SHAPIRO 60th ANNIVERSARY Aileen and Robert D. Shapiro of Frontenac, will celebrate their 60th anniversary March 22, 2013 with a special family dinner followed by a future trip to Chicago.

Married on March 22, 1953 in Cincinnati, Ohio, the couple met with a phone call. While serving in the Air Force, and stationed nearby Cincinnati, Robert was interested in meeting a “nice Jewish girl,” so he telephoned Sigma DeltaTau Sorority at the University of Cincinnati.

Wanting to be “fixed up” with a date, he asked for the social chair, which happened to be Aileen.

Bob instantly became smitten with Aileen and she is the one he asked out for a date. To this day, whenever someone calls to arrange a social date, Bob turns them over to Aileen who is known as the “social chair” in the Shapiro household.

For the past 60 years, Aileen and Bob have thoroughly enjoyed their family, collecting antiques, dining out and worldwide traveling.

Aileen and Bob are blessed with two children, Lynn (Neil Landow) and Rand (the late Susan Kaufman

SIMCHAS —Celebrations of Life announcements are paid submissions and do not reflect any endorsement of the newspaper or its board or the St. Louis Jewish community at large.

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Shapiro). They have four wonderful grandchildren Dr. Julie Shapiro, Stacy Cardillo, Jeffrey Landow, and Jason Landow.

Aileen was a co-owner of Tregaron Galleries Antiques and recently retired as a travel agent with Travelmasters. Robert retired after 45 years as President of Industrial Soap Company.

• To submit a wedding, engagement, bar/bat mitzvah, anniversary or birth announcement, contact Cheryl Gouger at 314-7433674 or cgouger@thejewishlight.com or submit your announcement online at stljewishlight.com/simchas..

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chailights Editor’s note: Street addresses are included the first time a location is listed on the calendar. Later events at the same location will not include an address.

Wednesday, March 20 Kitchen J: Dinner and entertainment The JCC/Kitchen J, MEAAA Dining Site will celebrate March birthdays with a special meal and entertainment in the Covenant House I, Royal Dining Room, 10 Millstone Campus.

Dinner is served at 5 p.m. with entertainment provided by Comedy-To-Go at 6. Suggested contribution for the meal is $3.50 for those 60 and above, $8 for guests. For more information, call 314-442-3149.

Bais Abe series on Passover seder Parents and children are invited to study and stay for a meal when Bais Abraham presents, “A New Look at the Seder: Going Beyond the Haggadah” at 5:30 p.m. On March 20 is “Making it your Own With A Passover Art Project.” Bais Abraham is located at 6910 Delmar Boulevard in University City. For more information, call 314721-3030.

Friday, March 22 Robert Denison at Covenant House Join Robert Denison for an afternoon of stories, poetry, and literature that will stimulate your mind, make you laugh out loud, and provide non-stop entertainment. The program will begin at 1 p.m. at 8 Millstone Campus Drive, lower level of Covenant House II Apartments, in the Milford and Lee Bohm Social Hall. Free and open to the community. To RSVP or for more information call 314-432-1610.

St. Louis NORC Book Group Love to read and discuss books? Become a member of the St. Louis NORC Book Club, which meets the fourth Friday of each month from 1 to 2:30. Call Joan Hirst 314-442-3834 for book title and meeting location information.

(Final) Fourth Friday Shabbat Join Next Dor STL and other young adults in their 20s and 30s for a college basketball themed Shabbat evening at 7 p.m. It won’t quite be time for the Final Four, but enjoy dinner and March madness with friends. Next Dor STL is located at 5062 Waterman Boulevard. For more information, email info@nextdorstl.org.

Saturday, March 23 Covenant House, Neve Shalom partner for Connecting Generations Shabbat Connecting Generations, an interactive program with the Neve Shalom Religious School and Covenant House/CHAI Residents, offers an opportunity to attend Shabbat Services at 10 a.m. followed by a special Kiddush and learning experience. Services will be held in the Carl and Helene Mirowitz Chapel, located in Covenant House One Apartments at 10 Millstone Campus Drive. All are welcome to attend services. For more information call 314-432-1610.

Beginning Monday, March 25 Kosher dining at Crown Center The Crown Center Dining Room is kosher for

To submit calendar items or news releases, contact Managing Editor Mike Sherwin at 314-743-3665 or msherwin@thejewishlight.com For a complete listing of community events, visit www.jewishinstlouis.org

In the spotlight Cantorial Concert continues UH’s 175th anniversary events United Hebrew Congregation (UH) continues its yearlong 175th anniversary celebration with a Cantorial Concert at 7:30 p.m.

Saturday, March 23 in the Millstone Sanctuary at UH, 13788 Conway Road in Chesterfield.

UH Cantor Ronald D. Eichaker United Hebrew Cantor Ronald Eichaker and Cantor and Cantor Emeritus Murray W. Emeritus Murray Hochberg.

Hochberg will be joined on vocals Free and open to the community, funded

by Cantor Arik Luck of Beth EmetThe Free Synagogue in Evanston, Ill., and by the Helen C. Millstone Music Fund at Cantor Deborah Martin of Temple Beth El in United Hebrew. A dessert reception will folMadison, Wis. low the concert.

RSVPs are strongly encouraged. Please Accompaniment will be provided by David Cohen, UH Organist and Assistant contact Nancy Motchan at 314-434-3404 or Musical Director.Members of the Adult Choir nmotchan@unitedhebrew.org to RSVP or for will also participate in the concert. more information.

Alvan D. Rubin Drive in Creve Coeur. Interactive Torah study with rabbis from some of the participating congregations will be offered from 9 to 9:45 a.m. and a Passover Kiddush will follow the service. The entire community is invited to attend the service, which will be led by members of local Reform and Reconstructionist synagogues and by students from Saul Mirowitz Jewish Community School. The service will be sign interpreted and assistive hearing devices will be available. The event will also include a food drive to benefit the Harvey Kornblum Jewish Food Pantry. For more information, visit www.shabbatstlouis.org or contact Carol Wolf Solomon, 314-432-8050 or csolomon@ti-stl.org.

Sunday, March 31 HMLC screens ‘Au Revoir Les Enfants’ See related news brief on page 4.

Starting Wednesday, April 3 ElderLink/AARP aging driver workshops See related news brief on page 23.

Passover. Space is limited — To RSVP, call 314991-2055, ext. 124. Reserve a spot for lunch (March 25, 26 and 29) and/or dinner (March 27, 28; April 1 and 2).

Tuesday, March 26 Second night seder for young adults Next Dor STL and Moishe House STL are hosting a seder on the second night of Passover for young adults in their 20s and 30s. Come at 7 p.m. for a casual and interactive holiday celebration; all are welcome. If you need a place for a first night seder, email and these groups will match you with a seder host. For more information, email info@nextdorstl.org.

Thursday, March 28 NCJW ‘Get $mart’ series continues As part of its ‘Get $mart’ financial series, National Council of Jewish Women – St. Louis Section is offering “Where There is a Will, There is a Way: Planning for Your Estate and Legacy,” with Jennifer Davis, Attorney with Greensfelder, Hemker and Gale. The talk takes place from 10 to 11:30 a.m. at the NCJW office, 295 N. Lindbergh Boulevard. Coffee and sweets will be served. Sponsored by Heartland Bank. Sign up online at ncjwstl.org, or call 314-993-5181. Cost is $10 per session or $36 for the series for NCJW members, or $15 per session and $55 for the series for non-members.

From Manishewitz to matzah with Rabbi Ari Kaiman at Crown Center Experience the retelling of the Passover story at Crown Center’s interactive model seder led by Rabbi Ari Kaiman from Congregation B’nai Amoona (starts at 5 p.m.; doors open at 4:30 p.m.). Suggested donation is $3 for those 60+. Due to the popularity of this diner, space is limited and multiple reservations are limited to parties of four with prepayment required. Call 314-991-2055, ext. 124 to RSVP or get added to the waiting list. Passover celebrations are funded by the Gladys K. Crown Foundation, the Julius, Anna and Lilian Jossem Fund of Jewish Federation and the Moas Chitim Fund.

SUBMIT YOUR EVENT Local Jewish organizations and congregations are encouraged to submit calendar items, press releases and photos of recent events to news@thejewishlight. com. All items received by 9 a.m. Monday the week of publication will be considered for that week’s edition. A pamphlet of information on publicizing events in the Light is available at stljewishlight.com/pr.

Thursday, April 4 Friday, March 29 Passover Shabbat at Next Dor STL Join Next Dor STL and young adults in their 20s and 30s for a kosher-for-Passover shabbat dinner with friends at 7 p.m. Next Dor STL is located at 5062 Waterman Boulevard. For more information, email info@nextdorstl.org.

Saturday, March 30 Next Dor neighbor(hood): Visit STL STyLe on Cherokee Street Next Dor STL is partnering with Jeff and Randy Vines, the founders and owners of STL STyLe, for a casual party at 1 p.m. at their shop, located at 3159 Cherokee Street. Check out the store, meet other young local business owners, and learn about all the cool stuff happening on Cherokee Street and in South City. Food and drink will be kosher for Passover. For more information, email info@nextdorstl.org.

Eight Reform and Reconstructionist congregations plan Shabbat St. Louis “Joining Hands as a Community” will be the theme of the fifth annual Shabbat St. Louis, a community Shabbat morning worship service during Passover. The service will begin at 10 a.m. at Congregation Temple Israel, 1 Rabbi

Next Dor welcomes Andrew Rehfeld From 7 to 8:30 p.m. Next Dor STL will hold “The St. Louis Jewish Community and Young Adult Leadership: An Evening with Andrew Rehfeld.” Rehfeld is President and CEO of the Jewish Federation of St. Louis. During the casual talk and discussion, Rehfeld will be speaking about the future of the St. Louis Jewish community and the role young adults play in leadership. All are invited to come meet with Rehfeld over kosher appetizers and drinks. For more information, email info@nextdorstl.org.

Book talk and discussion at Saul Brodsky Jewish Community Library Rescheduled due to snow, the Saul Brodsky Jewish Community Library will present a Lunch and Learn discussion on “Zipporah: Wife of Moses,” led by Cyndee Levy of CAJE, at 11:30 a.m. Participants will draw insights from the Torah and Midrash to become more familiar with Zipporah, and use these insights in a discussion of Marek Halter’s historical fiction novel, “Zipporah: Wife of Moses.” The program will be held at the Jewish Federation Kopolow Building, 12 Millstone Campus Drive, and was planned as part of the annual Festival of Jewish Life. Bring a sack lunch. Free but RSVPs are required by April 3. For more information or to RSVP, call 314-442-3720 or email brodskylibrary@jfedstl.org.

In the spotlight Bais Abe welcomes speaker for Shabbat Lunch & Learn Rori Picker Neiss will presnizations which focus on ent a Lunch & Learn on the Judaism, feminism, interfaith topic, “Why Is This Question work and social justice. A pasDifferent From All The Other sionate teacher in both her Questions?” on Saturday, native New York City and March 23. abroad, Rori also serves as The event, which includes the North American davening, lunch and Neiss’ Representative to the presentation, is free and Religions for Peace Global open to the community.

Youth Network, a member of Neiss is a fourth-year stu- Rori Picker Neiss the board of the Young dent at Yeshivat Maharat. In Leadership Council of the addition to founding and running an inde- International Council of Christians and Jews, pendent minyan in Brooklyn, she serves as and a CLAL Rabbis Without Borders student the Rabbinic Intern at Beit Chaverim fellow. She lives in Brooklyn with her husSynagogue of Westport/Norwalk and the band, Russel, and daughter, Daria.

Hillels at NYU and CUNY Hunter College.

For more information, call 314-721-3030, Her experience in non-profit work has email office@baisabe.com or visit www. led her to take leadership positions in orga- baisabe.com.

Visit WWW. STLJEWISHLIGHT.COM

Starting Thursday, April 4 JCC offers spring Mah Jongg classes See related news brief on page 3.

Friday, April 5 ‘Once Upon a Time’ Children ages 1-5 with an adult are invited to the Brodsky Library at 9:30 a.m. for storytelling of Jewish tales, music and dance with Brodsky Library Director, Barb Raznick. The program will also include an art project and healthy snack.

Co-sponsored by the Helene Mirowitz Center of Jewish Community Life at the JCC and the Saul Brodsky Jewish Community Library. Free, but reservations are required to Emily Brockman at 314442-3268 or ebrockman@jccstl.org by Thursday, April 4.

Sunday, April 7 Yom HaShoah - Holocaust Remembrance See related news brief on page 3.

Tuesday, April 9 & Monday, April 15 Millstone IMPACT workshop The Millstone Institute for Jewish Leadership continues its IMPACT: Enhancing Organizational Leadership series for board members, profes-

sionals and volunteers throughout the St. Louis Jewish community, with a presentation by Ed Reggi on “Relationship Building for Organizational Impact.” The workshop takes place from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. Tuesday, April 9 and then again from 7 to 9 p.m. Monday, April 15 at the Jewish Federation Kopolow Building. Reggi will use the principles of improvisational theater to help participants look at ways to energize meetings, promote innovation and strengthen commitments. To register, contact Marci Mayer Eisen at 314-442-3810 or meisen@jfedstl.org, or go to millstonestl.org.

Starting April 9 & 10 Rhythm ’n’ Ruach classes commence Rhythm ‘n’ Ruach is a six-week parent/child music program beginning April 9 and 10, and ending May 22, which connects children to Hebrew and Jewish music with upbeat rhythms and interactive instrument playings. Spend quality time and sing, shake, rattle and drum with your young kids during the sessions, which take place at the Brodsky Library. The 45-minute sessions will be led by Shelley Dean, who founded Rhythm ‘n’ Ruach three years ago with her husband, Jeff. Each six-week class is $60 per child and $30 for a sibling. The times are either Tuesday mornings at 10 a.m., Tuesday afternoons at 4:45 p.m., Wednesday mornings at 10 a.m., or Wednesday evenings at 6 p.m. For more information or to register, contact the library at Brodskylibrary@jfedstl.org or 314-442-3720 or Shelley

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Dean at keshet6@yahoo.com or call 314-4943245.

Wednesday, April 10 Child survivor speaks at U. City Library The University City Library is proud to welcome Sara Moses, who will speak about her experiences as a child survivor of the Holocaust.

Moses has extensive experience in sharing her powerful story with audiences. This event will take place at 7 p.m. in the Library’s auditorium.

Refreshments will be served, and there is no charge for admission. All are welcome; recommended for middle school-age and older. For further information: Kathleen Gallagher, 314-7273150, kmgallagher@ucpl.lib.mo.us.

Inaugural Rebbetzin Rivkin Memorial Lecture author event on family abuse See related news brief on page 3.

Saturday, April 13 Shaare Emeth preschool fundraiser See related news brief on page 3.

Sunday, April 14 PartyPalooza! event planning showcase The St. Louis Jewish Light will hold the inaugural PartyPalooza! event — a party-planning

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showcase — from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the Crowne Plaza Clayton. This event will cater to anyone planning a celebration: weddings, bar/bat mitzvahs, anniversaries, birthday parties and more.

PartyPalooza! is a free event sponsored by the Jewish Light and Crowne Plaza Clayton and is open to the entire community. Meet representatives from more than 50 companies offering a wide variety of goods and services related to party planning, including venues, DJs, caterers, party planners, specialty foods, photographers and videographers. Sample treats and meet the people who will help make your upcoming event extra special. For more information, contact Beth Feldman: 314-743-3662 or bfeldman@ thejewishlight.com.

Ongoing Passover freedom art exhibit Artists, musicians and poets from around the world will explore their personal vision of freedom in the Museum of Imajewnation exhibit, “Freedom Imagined, Freedom Lived: An Artistic Review of the Passover Promise,” at the Marvin & Harlene Wool Studio Theatre at the Jewish Community Center, 2 Millstone Campus Drive in Creve Coeur. The free exhibit runs through March 28. Hours will be 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. and 6 to 7:30 p.m. Monday through Friday, and 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Sunday. The exhibit will be closed Tuesday and Wednesday, March 26-27 in observance of Passover. For more information, visit www.imajewnation.org.

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BLACK REP continued from page 22

sider producing it. When I sent the script to Ron, I said, “You must read this play.” He called me a few months later and said he wanted to do it.

To what extent is the story of “The Whipping Man” historically accurate?

It may come as a surprise to many Jews that Jewish people actually fought for the South during the Civil War and that some of them were slaveowners.

From what I have learned, there were of course Jews in the South, and about 1 percent of them lived in Virginia during that period. Those who did own slaves did not own Director plantations, including Ed Smith the DeLeon family of the play. The two freed slaves in the play, Simon and John, differed from other slaves of that era because they did not pick cotton on a plantation. They lived somewhat better than other slaves, and they adopted Judaism, the faith of the owner family.

Were you familiar with these aspects of Southern, African-American and Jewish history prior to getting

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involved with this play?

I became familiar with many of the Jewish aspects through my friendship with Saul Elkin of the Buffalo Jewish Theater, where I spent about 20 years associated with Buffalo University. Prior to that, I had grown up in Philadelphia and went to the Paul Lawrence Dunbar High School, where I took history among other subjects. The school was very progressive and interested in the arts, and had guest artists like Paul Robeson and Duke Ellington.

Like most high school students, I attended history classes, but did not take away much from them. That is why theater is so important in plays like “The Whipping Man.” We can learn a lot of history and its lessons from stories like this that hold our attention.

How have you made sure that the Jewish aspects of the play, including the Passover seder scenes, are accurate?

We were very fortunate to have had the very helpful advice of two local rabbis, Susan Talve (of Central Reform Congregation) and Andy Kaster (of Washington University Hillel). When it came to pronunciations of Hebrew terms, what things were kosher for Passover, and the history of the Exodus, they were very informative and supportive.

Were there any unexpected deci-

‘The Whipping Man’ When: March 20-April 13 Where: The Black Rep performs at the Grandel Theatre, 3610 Grandel Square, St. Louis How much: $20-$47 More info: 314-534-3810 or www. metrotix.com POST-SHOW DISCUSSIONS: Thursday, March 28, facilitated by professor Rafia Zafar of Washington University, whose ancestors were slaves owned by Jewish Americans; Thursday, April 4, facilitated by Rabbi Susan Talve of Central Reform Congregation; and Thursday, April 11, facilitated by Rabbi Andy Kastner of St. Louis Hillel.

sions that had to be made on the Jewish issues within the play?

There was the scene in which horsemeat was served at the seder because beef was not available. Horsemeat cannot be kosher, but since that was the only available meat, it was considered OK to serve it under those circumstances.

How did the slaves in the play, Simon and John, come to embrace the Jewish religion?

Simon, the older man, who was about 50, had learned much about the religion of his masters, and had actually learned how to read. It was not uncommon for slaves to embrace the names and the

DRONE

continued from page 8 don’t know what’s on the other side of the hill,” Buchman said. “It’s definitely helpful when you’re facing guerrilla opponents and rely heavily on the element of surprise.”

He added that drones help save civilian lives by identifying civilians near a bomb’s target and helping reroute the bomb to avoid them.

The Ghost’s only protruding feature is its most expensive part: a small, round camera that sticks out of the drone’s underbelly. To protect the camera, the Ghost flips upside-down before it lands.

Kalron said IAI hopes to expand its drone options in the coming years, developing stealth drones that are harder to see and hear, and working on a micro-drone with wings that flap like a butterfly -- a concept known as biomimicry. IAI also is expanding drones’ civilian uses, like surveillance of large crowds and stadiums.

IAI’s drones conduct surveillance, take photographs, and record audio and video, according to Kalron. He would not discuss the drones’ combat capabilities; IAI’s website includes the payload limits for drones.

Commentary continued from page 10

the Jews to dip a bundle of hyssop into blood and smear it on their doorposts.

The commentators explain that a bundle is a symbol of unity. This dipping symbolized a rectification of the sin that caused the exile in the first place.

Because the Jews were able to unify despite their differences, they merited redemption. It is for that reason, says Rabbi Yoseph Hayyim, that we dip twice on seder night. We commemorate the dipping that caused the exile and the dipping that brought us out. Simply

The Heron TP, Israel Aerospace Industries’ largest drone, weighs five tons and can fly for 50 consecutive hours. Photo: Ben Sales/JTA

Drone expert Arie Egozi of the online publication Israel Homeland Security told JTA that “from a technological standpoint, every drone” can shoot missiles. “You put bombs under the wings and it shoots them,” Egozi said.

Some critics argue that the use of drones raises serious moral and legal problems. The debate has been particularly heated on the American use of unmanned vehicles for targeted killings in Afghanistan and Pakistan.

While drones are not without their Israeli critics, they have provoked far less controversy here than in the United

States. For many Israelis, a future where planes fly unmanned and pilots are at less risk of death or capture is a welcome development.

“If you can take the pilots out of danger, of course it’s better,” said Uri Aviv, a civilian flight instructor who spent 15 years in the Israeli Air Force. “The moral question is about hitting the target, not the type of weapon. It doesn’t matter if you use a cannon, a tank, a plane or a drone. A pilot can’t see who he’s hitting — it’s the same thing with a drone.”

The biggest concern raised by drones, says Hebrew University philosophy pro-

fascinating.

Perhaps the reason given by the Shulkhan Arukh and the Ben Ish Chai are really complementary. Genuine unity is not about commonalities and shared interests. It’s not the absence of differences, but rather not allowing those differences to weaken mutual commitments. Most hatred and bias is a byproduct of misunderstandings and ignorance. It’s symptomatic of a lack of communication. Had the Tribes questioned their father directly (respectfully of course), and had they communicated with Joseph, things could have turned out differently. We dip twice to generate questions and

facilitate discussion. If we talk to each other and hear each other we can come to love each other. That’s what brought about the redemption and what the seder is all about.

I recently heard a quip that 1.2 billion Catholics can agree on one pope, but a small group of Jews can’t agree on who to hire as their new rabbi. It’s part of our Jewish nature to have disagreements and different opinions. Some of these issues are of critical importance that we are very passionate about. We don’t have to agree on everything, but we can’t let our disagreements get personal. We can’t afford to. Our dedication and love for all fellow Jews has to be uncondition-

religions of their masters.

The title “The Whipping Man” suggests that the DeLeon family treated their slaves with cruelty, like Simon Legree in “Uncle Tom’s Cabin.” Is that the basis of the title?

Caleb, the young Confederate veteran, does whip Simon. He did not let Caleb know that he had learned his ABCs and did not teach the other slaves.

Apart from that incident, the slaves were not mistreated by the family.

The play contains a long-standing family secret. Can you share with us what that is all about?

I don’t want to spoil the enjoyment of the play by revealing this key dramatic moment. But the soldier comes home, finds his family home blown apart, and is reunited with his former slaves. There is a deep family secret that has not been told, and the play dramatically brings all that out.

What do you hope audiences will take away from this play?

The importance of people talking to each other across ethnic and cultural barriers. We must speak to each other and get to know each other and respect our cultural, ethnic and religious differences as well as the things that we have in common. We have scheduled a number of “talk-backs” so that we can encourage such dialogue.

fessor Moshe Halbertal, is that their pinpoint accuracy raises the bar for the soldiers operating them. Freed from the stress and uncertainty of flying a plane, Halbertal said, soldiers must take more time to “identify who is a legitimate target” and review the decision before launching a strike.

Halbertal said he doubts that “those who operate drones will be much quicker in using weapons” than traditional pilots.

Egozi said the bigger question for Israel is about the efficacy of exporting to countries such as Russia, which has provided technology to Israeli adversaries like Iran and Syria. Israel’s agreements with Russia have required pledges that Russia not sell certain missile technology to Iran.

Every IAI export deal must receive Israeli Defense Ministry approval before being finalized, according to Kalron.

He said he looks forward to a day when 95 percent of army aviation is unmanned and the Israeli Air Force is not needed.

“In 20 or 30 years they’ll fly drones on commercial flights,” Kalron said. “It’s a trend that’s developing quickly.

Technology is superior than all human abilities.”

al. Who hasn’t ever had a strong disagreement with his/her parents or children? Yet, we understand that the bond of family love must transcend any family friction.

Perhaps this is why the Passover seder remains the most celebrated Jewish holiday ritual. Our families get together in a display of commitment to the core value of Judaism: the recognition that we all are one big family and it was only through the merit unity that we were redeemed from Egypt and became an independent and free nation.

“The unity of freedom has never relied on uniformity of opinion.”

— John F. Kennedy

Visit WWW. STLJEWISHLIGHT.COM

obituaries Ruth K. Brown, died March 11, 2013. Beloved widow of David E. Brown; dear mother of Larry (Elaine) Brown of W. Lafayette, Ind. and Ken (Susan) Brown of Ithaca, N.Y; dear grandmother of Dan (Lara Crawford) Brown and Joel (Aparna) Brown. Elliott Brown, Trudy (David) Ripin and David (Elizabeth Henry) Brown; dear great-grandmother of Theo and Tessa Brown, Delia Brown, Adina and Tillie Ripin and Fiona Brown; dear sister of J. Bernard (Dora) Kolker and the late Melvin (the late Diane) Kolker; our dear aunt, cousin and friend. Contributions of your choice preferred. Berger Memorial Ervin Lipschitz, M.D., died March 14, 2013.

Loving widower of Sylvia Lipschitz; beloved father of Eve Louise Lipschitz M.D; dear brother of the late Aaron Lipschitz; our dear uncle, cousin and friend.

Contributions to the charity of the donor’s choice.

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Lois A. (Benson) Rosenfeld, died February 18, 2013. Beloved wife of Jack Spellacy; Born December 27, 1947 in New Rochelle, N.Y. They made their home in Kirkwood, Mo. where she played an active role in the mental health field, both in private practice as well as public service. She received her BA from Wellesley College in 1969 and after studies at the University of Chicago and the University of Berkeley, received her MSW from the Brown School of Social Work at Washington University in St. Louis. For many years she was an active member of the Ethical Society, volunteering her services where needed. A memorial gathering will be held there at a later date. She was an enthusiastic reader of many topics and rarely seen without a book in hand. She was particularly interested in the life and work of the artist Andrew Wyeth and she enjoyed studying the history of dance. The environment of her home and her personal style were expressions of her artistic creativity. She is interred at Jefferson National Cemetery. Contributions to Places for People at 4130 Lindell Boulevard, St. Louis, Mo. 63108 Virginia Cruvant Zimmerman Sharp, died March 15, 2013. Widow of R. Reuben Zimmerman and widow of Milton I. Sharp; mother of Stuart (Kathy) Zimmerman, Lon (Judy) Zimmerman, and Jim (Vicky) Zimmerman. She was known affectionately as “GeeGee” by her six grandchildren, Robert (Mike Mordeson) Zimmerman, Susan (Henry) Jenkins, Pamela (Mike Kimmel) Zimmerman, Craig Zimmerman, Sarah Zimmerman, and Vivian Zimmerman; great-grandmother of Ginny and Sadie Jenkins and Mady Kimmel; daughter of the late Ida (Waldman) and Sol Cruvant; sister of the late Buddy (Betty) Cruvant, and extended family through marriage to Barb (Bill) Jensen, Ira (Rose Ann) Sharp, Sally Harmon, and Jackie Trimino, and grandmother to their eight children. She had been an active volunteer her entire life having served twice as President of Miriam #17, and been active and presided over many other charitable organizations in St. Louis and Palm Springs, including being a docent at the Museum of the Desert in Palm Springs. She often said her family was the joy of her life and she loved nothing better than being with her children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren. A celebration of her life will be announced at a later date. If you wish, please send a memorial contribution the Miriam Foundation, 501 Bacon Avenue, St. Louis, Mo. 63119 or to a charity of your choice.

Marvin Eugene “Gene” Starr, died, February 1, 2013 at age 83. Beloved son of Grace & Meyer Starr; brother of Charlotte Reznik,Gilbert Starr; uncle of Marla, Sherri, Brent Reznik; dear friend of Marshall (Carla Scissors-Cohen) Cohen. Internment Jefferson Barracks National Cemetery. Contributions to Lift For Life Academy, 1731 South Broadway, St. Louis, Mo. 63104.

Bella Z. Woolf, died March 6, 2013. Beloved widow of G. Daniel Woolf; dear sister of Jeanette (Robert) Meyer; beloved sister-in-law of the late Mary Jane (Sheldon) Kirsner; loving aunt of David Meyer, Georgia Kirsner and Wayne Kirsner; beloved daughter of the late Emil and Thelma Ziskind; our dear cousin and friend. Contributions to the Humane Society of Missouri, 1201 Macklind Avenue, St. Louis, Mo. 63110.

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Frederick Sweet, 74; Washington University professor studied doctors’ role in Holocaust, other genocides

BY ROBERT A. COHN Editor-in-Chief Emeritus

How could physicians, of all people who take the Hippocratic Oath that begins “First, do no harm,” be involved in the systematic and sadistic mass murder of the Holocaust and other genocides? This question haunted Frederick Sweet, a professor and researcher at Washington University, who found, to his dismay, that physicians indeed have played major roles in the Holocaust and mass murders in places like Rwanda and Bosnia.

Professor Sweet, who was a member of the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology at Washington University, died Thursday, March 7 at Barnes-Jewish Hospital following a stroke, his family said. He and his wife, Rita Marika CsapoSweet, who was working with him on his research, were longtime residents of the Dogtown neighborhood in St. Louis.

Frederick Sweet Csapo-Sweet said that she would finish the research into the role physicians played in the Holocaust and other genocides and the book they were writing based on its findings.

Professor Frederick Sweet first did research into breast and ovarian cancer while at the Sloan-Kettering Insitute for Cancer Research in Rye, N.Y. He earned his doctorate at the University of Alberta in 1971 and in 1971 joined the Washington University Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology.

A chemist by training, he found that funding for research in his field of molecular endocrinology was scarce. He was editing an article for a medical journal that referred to Dr. Carl Clauberg, who discovered the

ISRAEL

continued from page 6 against Hamas in Gaza — have led to something closer to stalemate than the decisive victories achieved in past conventional wars.

Lurking behind a few of the non-state actors, though, is a state with which Israelis have become all too familiar: Iran. The Islamic Republic is Hezbollah’s primary funder and one of the few remaining allies of the teetering Assad regime in Syria.

Kochavi said that Iran and Hezbollah have organized an army of 50,000 in Syria and are trying to increase their influence there.

“Iran and Hezbollah are both doing all in their power to assist Assad’s regime,” Kochavi said.

“Iran and Hezbollah are also preparing for the day after Assad’s fall, when they will use this army to protect their assets and interests in Syria.”

Experts said that in the face of four insecure borders, Israel’s best bet is to stay alert and hang tough. But Danny Rothschild, director of the Interdisciplinary Center in Herzliya’s Institute of Policy and Strategy, told the conference that Israel needs to be proactive in directing the Middle East toward peace and prosperity.

“Israel needs to be more involved in shaping the future of the region, even in a quiet way,” he A Monument Dedication For said. “I have a feeling DAVID STERNECK SUNDAY 11 AM events will make it deal MARCH 24, 2013 with issues, even if it BETH HAMEDROSH HAGODOL hasn’t intended to.”

BLOCK 00-C, ROW N, GRAVE 10

rabbit test for determining early pregnancy. After joining the Nazi Party, Clauberg was put in charge of finding rapid and inexpensive sterilization methods through cruel experiments on pregnant women during World War II. Professor Sweet received a Fulbright grant to study the same issue in Bosnia-Herzegovina on the role of medical doctors and genocide. Three physicians, including Dr. Radovan Karadzic, were put on trial at The Hague for crimes of genocide.

At the Nuremberg International War Crimes Tribunal in 1946, several prominent Nazi physicians were put on trial for their crimes against humanity. Hedy Wachenheimer Epstein of St. Louis, whose parents had been killed at Auschwitz, served on the prosecution staff at the Nuremberg trial of the doctors.

Professor Sweet concluded that physicians who took part in such heinous crimes were easily adaptable to any social group to which they belonged and lacked basic human empathy.

Frederick Sweet was born in New York City, where his parents had come from Hungary. His father had been a pianist before he lost his hearing to the Spanish flu. He ran a deli and was a traveling champagne salesman. His mother was an accomplished seamstress who made the samples worn by Bill Blass runway models.

Funeral services were held last Tuesday at the Berger Memorial Chapel, 4715 McPherson Avenue. Burial was at United Hebrew Temple Cemetery.

Survivors, in addition to his wife, include two daughters, Sarah Sweet and Cassandra Sweet, both of the San Francisco area; two sons, Brennan Sweet of Cranford, N.J. and Joshua Sweet of the San Francisco area; a brother, Bob Sweet of New York and four grandchildren.

A Joyous Passover To All

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19 Shevat, 5773 / Jan. 30, 2013 / Vol. 66, No. 5

packed house honors B’nai Amoona hazzan

WORLD NEWS

Crown Center plans building improvements, new initiatives

Bibi and Lapid

If not, here’s what you’re missing. . .

Is there room for Netanyahu’s Likud and Lapid’s centrist Yesh Atid to find common ground?

News story, page 5 Editorial, page 8

By DaviD BaughER SpECIAL TO THE JEwISH LIgHT

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Pages 6-7

FEaTuRES Chess master visits

What’s it like to be a chess master by age 18? Do Mideast politics have an impact on the game for an Israeli player?

Find out these questions and more in our interview.

Page 10

Modell fans pray for Super Bowl win, Hall of Fame entr

By ChaviE LiEBER

Index

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years at the homes of its memthe late owner’s two sons and a bers. Wives and kids come along former president and CEO of the now, too.

Ravens, told JTA. “I’m not prayNEW YORK — Every Sunday With their beloved squad slated ing for results, I’m praying for the during the football season, a to face off against the San strength and courage of this group of 30 diehard Jewish Francisco 49ers in Super Bowl team, and the rest will take care Baltimore Ravens fans suit up in XLVII on Sunday, Heller and of itself. But a Super Bowl victory purple pants, jerseys, socks, face company no doubt will get even and a place in the Hall of Fame paint and special Ravens tzitzit to crazier than normal. would be an incredible way to watch the game together.

Adding to its significance, the honor my father’s memory.”

If the game falls on a Saturday, showdo wn comes just six months Modell’s legacy is something of the club gathers for a “Purple after the death of a touchy subject for football fans.

Shabbos,” when they wear former owner Art Supporters see him as a brilliant Ravens jerseys under their suits, Model l, t he businessman best known for his eat Ravens-inspired food from a Jewish Brooklyn role in negotiations with the ABC purple menu and go into lockn a t i ve w h o television network leading to the down mode once the game starts moved the team creation of “Monday Night so they don’t accidentally discovto Baltimore from Football” in 1970, and for his super the final score before they can Clevel and in port for community charities in Art Modell watch the recorded broadcast 1996. Ravens Cleveland and Baltimore. post-Sabbath. players dedicated this season to In Cleveland, Modell isn’t “Yes, we’re all absolute Ravens Modell, wearing a patch with rememb ered as fondly. After 34 nuts,” Noam Heller, a 25-year-old “Art” on their jerseys. years as owner of the Browns, Baltimore native, told JTA. And even more poignancy: The Modell “We’re not just casual football took the team to Pro Football Hall of Fame will Baltimore in 1996 and renamed fans like some other states. announce whether Modell will be them the Ravens . Many Everyone who knows our crew inducted the day before the big Cleveland fans remain bitter over knows we’re crazy.” game. the loss of their team and say it The group has been reveling in “Honestly, I’m kvelling over the Ravens together for about five this game,” David Modell, one of See MODEL JTA

Camps and Education ..... 11-15 ChaiLights ....................... 21-22 Classifieds ............................20 Dining ...................................19 Features ................................10 Israel Alive! ......................... 6-7 Jewish Lite ............................22 Nation/world news ................. 5 Obituaries .............................23 Opinions ............................. 8-9

Shabbat starts Friday, Feb. 1, 5:04 p.m.

More than 700 people turned out to honor B’nai Amoona’s Hazzan Sharon Nathanson during the ‘Singular Sensation’ concert and reception on Sunday night. Above, she is greeted

by Sandy Kaplan and Marcy Williams during the post-concert reception. The event featured a variety of special guests including St. Louis Symphony Orchestra Concertmaster David Halen, B’nai Amoona Hazzan Emeritus Leon Lissek, Cantor Seth Warner and Hazzan Joanna Dulkin. The event capped a weekend of events celebrating Nathanson’s achievem ent of official status as Hazzan. For a gallery of images, visit stljewishlight.com/multimedia. Photo: Yana Hotter

The Gladys & Henry Crown Center for Senior Living is set to unveil a new initiative that aims to increase programming options, expand its reach into the community and spotlight physica l improvements to its longtime facility off Delmar Blvd.

“I think the whole idea is that it’s barrier-free, that this is going to be low-key, easy-to-access and designed especially for people who are retired,” said executive director Nikki Goldstein. “Those things make it unique.”

Set to rollout over the next year or so, the concept is called “Circle@Crown” and will feature a wider array of classes through partnerships with groups like Center of Contemporary Arts, OASIS, Centra l Agency for Jewish Education and the Saul Brodsk y Jewish Community Library.

There will also be a revamp of facilities — with changes to the fitness center, expanded outdoor seating for class and the possible construction of a greenhouse to create more gardening options. A new dairy kitchen will also be added allowing the complex to offer breakfast and lunch in a coffee shop environment with wifi access being available in the dining area.

“We’ll have a demonstration kitchen where we’ll bring in chefs from outside to teach cooking classes and hopefully use the expertise of our residents to teach the cooking of their own ethnic foods,” said Sally Altman, chair of the resident and community services committee. “We have a wide variety of ethnicities at Crown.

We might have a Chinese food class. We might have a cooking for Passover class or a soul food class.”

Altman said outdoor programming activities and classes are also likely to see an expansion and a greater range of activities

magazine of the St. Louis

Jewish Light | March, 2013 | Vol. 66, No. 13

St. Louis Jewish

Light

March 2013

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