Southern Jewish Life
February 2022 Volume 32 Issue 2
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February 2022 • Southern Jewish Life
shalom y’all It seems that after a year or two of Jewish nerves being on end, culminating in the Colleyville, Tex., synagogue abduction, we have now entered the stupid season. So many things have gone on lately that may not rise to the level of antisemitism, but are just simply stupid. In some circles, one might call them microaggressions. The Amnesty International report on Israel is not just unbelievably stupid, it is blatantly antisemitic. Given that, it would be stupid for anyone who cares for Israel and the Jewish community to donate to Amnesty. When talking stupid, one can count on something from Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene from Georgia, who gave the term “Soup Nazi” a new significance by referring to the German Gazpacho instead of Gestapo. The reactions were served quite cold, and to her credit, she poked fun at herself too. Whoopi Goldberg did herself no favors by insisting that the Holocaust wasn’t about race. That would come as a shock to people like, say, Hitler, who insisted the Aryans were the master race and the Jews were polluting it, a theme repeated by white supremacists in the U.S. during the civil rights era. True, you can’t pigeonhole Jews into a box of “race,” but the Holocaust certainly wasn’t just a “white on white” dispute. But when you are conditioned to see race as solely a black-white issue… Then there’s McMinn County in Tennessee, which probably did more for Holocaust education in one day than most places have in years, by yanking Pulitzer Prize-winning graphic novel “Maus” from the curriculum, because of about eight naughty words and one image of nudity (remember, the characters are all animals). Since then, it has been difficult to find a copy of “Maus” anywhere as it rocketed to the top of the bestseller list. Now, is eighth grade the best venue for that book? One can argue that, and author Art Spiegelman, in a forum convened by the Chattanooga Federation that drew 10,000 online, admitted he originally figured on college classes for examining the book. That’s a legitimate debate, but the McMinn effort came across as the old book-banning obsession of bean-counting certain naughty words rather than focusing on the subject matter, and looking for teaching a more palatable, family friendly Holocaust. continued on page 4
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February 2022 • Southern Jewish Life
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commentary
MESSAGES
Maccabi USA leader praises Birmingham Games
I have had the honor of attending many Maccabi competitions around the world. From Israel to One Australia tomember South America, and the Maccabi games the United States board justifiedEurope the book’s re-JCC was teaching the around Nazi saute. and Canada, I have logged many miles seeing how sports can be a vehicle to build Jewish moval by saying he met with a nearby rabbi Ignoring the context of help the lesson, he called identity, especially in our young. who said he wouldn’t want that book in his references to the Bellamy salute as “the compa-
synagogue. Interestingly, he refused to ny line” the school went mode.” I felt honored to come to Birmingham for say the first time as and fell in love withinto not“cleanup just the city which “nearby” synagogue The headline in the Times Israel was the but therabbi. people.The Youclosest have taken Southern hospitality to a new level with your kindofand caring to Athenstoisthe about miles away. Now, there same as what Greenblatt had on his personal approach JCC55 Maccabi Games. is a “messianic” congregation about 15 miles blog. Usually, writers don’t write their own Led by the Sokol and Helds, your hard-working volunteers were wonderful. They partnered away, anyone want to bet… headlines, so it is unclear who wrote the subwith your outstanding staff, led by Betzy Lynch, to make the 2017 JCC Maccabi games a huge hit. Speaking of books, while McMinn was all head in Times of Israel, but it states that inI want to take this opportunity as executive director of Maccabi USA to say thank you on behalf over the news, a controversial pastor held a stead of crediting the Jewish student (who he of everyone involved. book burning in Mount Juliet, Tenn., focusing mistakenly said was the only Jewish student at had just returned fromthe the“Harry 20th World games in with a U.S. delegation onI“demonic” books like Potter”Maccabiah se- the school, butIsrael it is actually where the vastofmaoverand 1100, who joined 10,000 Jewish fromjority 80 countries. BackJewish in Julyhigh the eyes of the entire ries “Twilight. ” Now, not all bookathletes burnings of Alabama school students Jewish were on Jerusalem the Maccabiah. This past with 1000 athletes punished and lead toworld the Holocaust, but the and timing of this attend) withmonth courage, “his school coaches from around the world being in Birmingham, focal community point. was impeccably tone-deaf. him you and became the localthe Jewish didn’t deThen there are those who do express love for fend him (emphasis ours). ” Everyone from the Jewish community and the community at large, including a wonderful Israel people, but These sometimes piece, he saidasthat when the incident police and force,the areJewish to be commended. games willIngothe down in history being a seminal can’t quite find the best way to express that. took place, “ADL or any other organization that moment for the Jewish community as we build to the future by providing such wonderful Jewish During a Congressional hearing on security, might be able to help address the issue never memories. Rep. Clay Higgins of Louisiana did that, inter- received a call.” Jed Margolis changing the terms Jews, Children of Israel and So, the Birmingham Jewish Federation and Executive Director, Maccabi Israel, as one who reads his USA Bible might do, to the Jewish Community Relations Council, make it sound like he was referring to Ameri- which have been working with the school syscan Jews as citizens of Israel — a major no-no. tem on this, are chopped supremacists would like toliver? see pushed back On HeCharlottesville also asked the rabbis on the panel about into The local community it?We With the a corner and made toignored feel lesser. stand their attitudes toward law enforcement, lead- Federation reporting over 350 calls andHeyer, inquiwith and pray for the family of Heather Editor’s Note: This reaction to the events in ing many to scratch their heads. ries thethere two standing days following? whoinwas up to the face of this Charlottesville, written by Jeremy Newman, While the query about attitudes toward hate. But the ADL wasn’t contacted. Given the Master of the Alpha Epsilon Pi Theta Colony police may have been out of place, it isn’t far- events of last summer, how exactly would that We recognize the essence of the American at Auburn University, was shared by AEPi fetched. Nationally, the Jewish community have helped? narrative as a two-century old struggle to rid National, which called it “very eloquent” and skews left, and over the last two years, a major The day the Mountain Brook story broke, ourselves of such corners, and allow those in praised “our brothers at AEPi Theta Colony at position that is popular on the left is defund- several Alabama papers had an op-ed casting them the seat at the table that they so deserve. Auburn University and… the leadership they ing police and describing police departments doubt on the ADL’s No Place for Hate curricuIt is the struggle to fulfill the promise of the display on their campus.” as hotbeds of racism. There are even some in lum, which has been in all Huntsville schools Declaration of Independence, that “all men are the Jewish community who question having for years with no problems. The writer cited created equal… endowed by their Creator with security synagogues it might ADL’s published definition of racism — Whiteat supremacy hasbecause been a cancer onsend the certain unalienable rights.” We know our work aour non-welcoming signal to Jews of color. marginalization or oppression of people of country since its beginning, threatening is far from finished, but we know we will not Our tour now takes us to Mountain Brook, color to benefit the privilege of whites. In its hopes, its values, and its better angels. move backwards. already on that edgetook from theinschool system’s de- short, only whites can be racist. The events place Charlottesville When men and women, fully armed, take up cision last summer to of end itsnation. diversity training The op-eds were immediately followed represented the worst this Those to the streets in droves with swastikas and with the Anti-Defamation League because it by a piece by Greenblatt, stating the ADL rewho marched onto the streets with tiki torches other symbols of hate, it is a reminder of how is perceived to have become a more political, cently revised the definition to remove namand swastikas did so to provoke violence and relevant issues ofgroup, racismasand anti-Semitism left-wing recently. ing any the particular upon re-reading fear. Thoseorganization who marched onto the streets did are today. It is a wake-up call to the work An ill-designed history lesson led to interit, the definition “didn’t even speak to mythat own so to profess an ideology that harkens back to needs to be done to ensure a better, more national publicity, which could have been family’s experience with the racism they expea bleaker, more wretched time in our history. welcoming country. should East. not come nipped in themen bud and at the outset,ofhad thecreeds, school rienced as Jews fromBut theitMiddle ” A time when women many onperception how far we’ve not gone the student There aisreflection a growing thatcome. the ADL races, andafter religions were farwho frompublicized equal and the far without lesson. The threeAweeks after the is no longerwas middle the road butAleans left, America born of a slave nation. century from safe infirestorm our own was borders. time where incident, so there was plenty of time for a simthat it is quick to go after those on the right into our history we engaged in a war in part Americans lived under a constant cloud of ple “oops, that was wrong. ” (Story on page dragsweitswould feet not regarding from to ensure continuehate as one. We the racism, anti-Semitism and pervasive hate. The19 but of the Deep South edition, New Orleans served readers left or ourselves from Muslim extremists found confronted by the(they issuedefendof civil events that took place in Charlottesville please go to sjlmag.com). ed Amnesty International, albeit tobefore rights, and embarked on a mission ensurelast as a reminder of how painfully relevant these Most people close to the situation figured it month’s report, and named a director of their Jewthe fair treatment of all peoples no matter issues are today. was just a dumb way for the teacher to present ish outreach who is openly hostile to Israel). skin color. Although we’ve made great strides, Auburn’s Epsilon Pi stands rather with the a lesson onAlpha how symbols change, than it isThe ADL does great work, butwith this today. percepa mission we’re still grappling Jewishbeing community of Charlottesville, there any antisemitic intent. and tion is making it more difficult to be effective, America was also born an immigrant with the Jewish people around the country and the racism definition and other mis-steps Rushing In country. As early as the pilgrims, many and around the world. We also stand with the aren’t helping. As part who of the CEO groups and families found in the country the minorities aredebate, targetedADL by the hateJonathan that Greenblatt weighed in. opportunity to plant stakes, chase their future, was on display in Charlottesville. We stand In an piece, “Nazi Salute? Blame the and be themselves. Few were met with open with theopinion minorities of whom these white Lawrence Brook, Publisher/Editor Jewish Student” Greenblatt says the teacher 4 February 2022 • Southern Jewish Life
January 2021 February 2022
Southern Jewish Life PUBLISHER/EDITOR Lawrence M. Brook editor@sjlmag.com ASSOCIATE PUBLISHER/ADVERTISING Lee J. Green lee@sjlmag.com ASSOCIATE EDITOR Richard Friedman richard@sjlmag.com V.P. SALES/MARKETING, NEW ORLEANS Jeff Pizzo jeff@sjlmag.com CREATIVE DIRECTOR Ginger Brook ginger@sjlmag.com SOCIAL/WEB Emily Baldwein connect@sjlmag.com PHOTOGRAPHER-AT-LARGE Rabbi Barry C. Altmark deepsouthrabbi.com CONTRIBUTING WRITERS Rivka Epstein, Louis Crawford, Tally Werthan, Stuart Derroff, Belle Freitag, Ted Gelber, E. Walter Katz, Doug Brook brookwrite.com BIRMINGHAM OFFICE P.O. Box 130052, Birmingham, AL 35213 2179 Highland Ave., Birmingham, AL 35205 205/870.7889 NEW ORLEANS OFFICE 3747 West Esplanade, 3rd Floor Metairie, LA 70002 504/249-6875 TOLL-FREE 888/613.YALL(9255) ADVERTISING Advertising inquiries to 205/870.7889 for Lee Green, lee@sjlmag.com Jeff Pizzo, jeff@sjlmag.com Media kit, rates available upon request SUBSCRIPTIONS It has always been our goal to provide a large-community quality publication to all communities of the South. To that end, our commitment includes mailing to every Jewish household in the region (AL, LA, MS, NW FL), without a subscription fee. Outside the area, subscriptions are $25/year, $40/two years. Subscribe via sjlmag.com, call 205/870.7889 or mail payment to the address above. Copyright 2022. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced in whole or part without written permission from the publisher. Views expressed in SJL are those of the respective contributors and are not necessarily shared by the magazine or its staff. SJL makes no claims as to the Kashrut of its advertisers, and retains the right to refuse any advertisement.
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agenda interesting bits & can’t miss events On Feb. 3, there was a ribbon cutting for the new location of Full Circle, an upscale women’s consignment shop on Linden Avenue in downtown Homewood. Full Circle grew out of the Friendship Circle of Alabama, a Chabad program that matches teens with special needs with their peers. The store, which provides employment opportunities for young adults with developmental disabilities, opened at the Levite Jewish Community Center in late 2020. There are also opportunities for community volunteers. Rabbi Levi Weinbaum said the boutique came about as Friendship Circle participants became adults and he saw the need for employment opportunities as these individuals aged out of governmental support programs. Full Circle is open Sundays to Fridays, and on Friday is also a pick-up point for challahs from Chabad.
Birmingham Jewish Federation launches Annual Campaign with $2.1 million goal The Birmingham Jewish Federation announced that it has set an Annual Campaign goal of $2.1 million for the 2022 campaign, and in an effort to help the Federation and recipient agencies budget better, they are asking donors to consider making their 2023 commitment at the same time. At the Federation’s annual meeting in January, Lisa Engel, outgoing president, said the Federation is working on “total resource development” to raise funds beyond the annual campaign, and the two-year commitment is part of an effort to change the timing of fundraising and allocations, “raising the money before it is allocated” instead of doing allocations based on projections. Danny Cohn, Federation CEO, said “this will enable the BJF and its constituent agencies to budget and plan better.” He added that despite the challenges of the last three years, campaign goals were exceeded each year. The 2022 campaign, “We’re Here for Good,” will officially kick off on April 10 with a commu-
nity dinner at Knesseth Israel. The event will be co-chaired by mother-daughter teams, Ginger Held and Elisa Nelson, Donna Kraselsky and Katie Held, and Debbie Sher and Amanda Held. The Women’s Philanthropy group will hold an online Shabbat Zoom on Feb. 25 at 4:45 p.m. A pair of Shabbat candles was sent to donors, and for every participant in the Zoom, the Women’s Philanthropy Program will donate a Shabbat meal to someone in need through Leket Israel, a food rescue organization. The 2022 campaign is being chaired by Andrea (Engel) Haines and Steve Greene. “We are privileged to be chairing this year’s annual campaign. It’s an honor to recognize the legacy of our past and celebrate the transition to the future,” said Haines. “For more than eight decades, the BJF has ensured that the lives of those in our community most at risk are cared for, that Jewish life in Birmingham and abroad continues, and that together we support and care for one another. We’re delighted to play a role in continuing the
important work of the BJF,” added Greene. “We’re Here for Good conveys optimism and confidence that in tough times and in good times the Federation is here to enhance Jewish life, support Israel and help people in need,” Amy Saag, Federation president, said. “Here for Good is a promise that we make to you, our community, that we are here to do good and we are going to be here now and, in the future.” Campaign funds will go to support local agencies, including the Levite Jewish Community Center, Collat Jewish Family Services and the N.E. Miles Jewish Day School, as well as various life affirming and life-saving programs in Israel and overseas. Any increases or new gifts will be matched up to $50,000 in year one through a grant from the Birmingham Jewish Foundation’s Morris and Joe Sirote Community Fund. Donors are being asked to consider a 10 percent increase from their 2021 gift, along with making a commitment now for 2023. The 2023 campaign will have a goal of $2.2 million. February 2022 • Southern Jewish Life
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agenda Tulane Hillel’s director named a Wexner Field Fellow Ron Gubitz, executive director of Hillel at Tulane University, was selected as one of 15 Jewish professionals for Class 6 of the Wexner Field Fellowship, The Wexner Foundation’s leadership development program created in partnership with the Jim Joseph Foundation. The Wexner Field Fellowship is a threeyear intensive professional development program. Utilizing the diverse, cohort-based learning that is the hallmark of Wexner Foundation programs, Field Fellows will be exposed to different approaches to leadership and tools for addressing pressing issues in the Jewish community, while being integrated into The Wexner Foundation’s vast network of more than 3,000 professional and volunteer leaders in North America and Israel, including the 45 outstanding professionals who are currently in the Field Fellowship Program, as well as 55 Alumni. The Wexner Field Fellowship was created in 2013 in partnership with the Jim Joseph Foundation to focus on developing promising Jewish professionals’ leadership skills while enveloping them in a rich network of Jewish colleagues. Fellows are selected based on their past accomplishments, current motivation and engagement, and exceptional attributes they will contribute to the group. “We are so impressed with the new cohort of dynamic Jewish professionals. Their commitment and creative visions for the Jewish future inspire me deeply. We are particularly proud to partner with the Jim Joseph Foundation to provide support for our Field Fellows at this challenging crossroad in Jewish communal life,” said Rabbi B. Elka Abrahamson, president of The Wexner Foundation. “These transformational leaders will add powerfully to the community of Wexner Fellows and Alumni shaping the Jewish future.” The Fellows receive one-on-one professional coaching and Jewish learning, and develop a nuanced approach for the diversity of the North American Jewish community. They also will develop skills in adaptive leadership, storytelling, difficult conversations, negotiation and other
On Jan. 25, Alpha Epsilon Pi at the University of Alabama inducted its pledge class, Ben Chabner and Reid Schuback. 6 February 2022 • Southern Jewish Life
agenda crucial leadership skills. Before his current role at Tulane Hillel, he served as the leadership coach for The John F. Kennedy Center’s Turnaround Arts program. From 2011 to 2016, he served as principal of the ReNEW Cultural Arts Academy in New Orleans. While at Indiana University, he founded the Hip Hop Congress, and some of his music is available on Spotify. Dov Wilker, regional director in Atlanta’s office of the American Jewish Committee, is in Class 5. Rabbi Ethan Linden, director of Camp Ramah in the Berkshires, was in Class 2. He was rabbi at Shir Chadash in Metairie until 2016. The first class included Rachel Berger, director of Jewish life and learning at the Jewish Federation of Greater Philadelphia. Previously, she was in charge of grantmaking for Bend the Arc during a time when the organization was placing a particular emphasis on grassroots groups on the Louisiana Gulf Coast following Hurricane Katrina.
Most of South a hole in bagel landscape As New Orleanians braced themselves for the Krewe du Mishigas and Krewe du Jieux appearances in their respective Mardi Gras parades, handing out their prized painted bagels, a national study shows that New Orleans is, in fact, one of the best cities for bagel lovers. The rest of the region, not so much. Lawn Love’s survey was for National Bagel Day on Jan. 15, not the Krewe du Vieux and krewedelusion parades on Feb. 12, but New Orleans placed 11th out of 158 cities, and fourth in overall bagel quality. Naturally, New York City was the runaway winner, followed distantly by San Francisco and Boston. The study highlighted cities “that have an abunPhoto by Willie Sklar, Creative Commons dance of high-quality bagel shops and an enthusiastic bagel-loving community.” Scores were based on bagel availability, quality based on online reviews, and popularity based on online searches for bagels. In addition to placing 32nd in access, New Orleans placed 21st in popularity, though it is unclear how many bagel searches have to do with the painted variety. In the South, Savannah placed 17th overall. Mobile placed 41st on the strength of a No. 10 ranking in quality, despite ranking 127 in access and 130 in popularity. The rest of Alabama didn’t fare as well. Birmingham was 135th, ranking 152 in access, 111 in quality and 123 in popularity. Huntsville was 130 and Montgomery was second from the bottom at 157, ranking lowest in the nation for popularity. Nashville was 45th, Chattanooga was 61st, Memphis ranked 90th and Rocky Top had rocky results, with Knoxville at 105. In Georgia, Macon outpaced Atlanta, 57th and 77th respectively. Atlanta’s bagels ranked 136th in quality, though they are popular and plentiful. Tallahassee ranked 108th and Little Rock was 115th. Mississippi’s only listing was Jackson, at 133. As part of a generally poor showing for Texas in general, Houston ranked 97th, and five of the bottom 10 were Texas cities.
On Our Cover: Chabad on 30A made its debut with a Meet and Greet on Feb. 6 on Dunes Allen Beach. Rabbi Shaya Tenenboim from Chabad Emerald Coast in Destin said there has been growth in the Jewish community along 30A, and for some it is a trek to go to Destin. They plan to provide Jewish programming in the Santa Rosa Beach area every month or so.
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agenda After postponing its name reveal and annual meeting on Jan. 9 due to Omicron, the Unified Jewish Congregation of Baton Rouge announced the meeting has been rescheduled for March 6. At 11:30 a.m., there will be a tree planting, followed by the business meeting at noon and a luncheon at 1 p.m., by reservation. Last year was the first time in almost 125 years that Hebrew Union Congregation in Greenville did not have a community luncheon of some sort for the general community. On March 3, the Sisterhood plans to bring back the Corned Beef Deli Luncheon, an event that generally attracts about 1,500 people. Lunches are $15 and there are plans to offer dine-in as well as takeout. The event, which enlists help from non-Jewish friends, will be from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. Bais Ariel Chabad in Birmingham will start its 30-hour 2022 Matching Campaign on Feb. 21, with a goal of $360,000 and gifts are being quadrupled by matching donors. There will be a virtual tour of the Museum of the Southern Jewish Experience in New Orleans for Temples Beth-El and Emanu-El in Birmingham, and the Birmingham Jewish Federation. The tour will be led by Public Programs Manager Lizzi Meister, March 3 at 7 p.m. Register with the congregations for a Zoom link. A young adults Great Gatsby Purim will be held at Carrigan’s in Birmingham on March 12 from 8 to 11 p.m. The event is a partnership of You Belong in Birmingham, Temple Beth-El, Temple Emanu-El and Chabad. Tickets are $18, with registration due by March 10. Masks required, Roaring 20s attire encouraged. The Henry S. Jacobs Camp in Utica will have a virtual information session for this summer’s camp. It will be on March 2 at 7 p.m. The next Institute of Southern Jewish Life Virtual Vacation will be on Feb. 22 at 11 a.m., focusing on “From Ballyhoo to Bumble: Stories of Southern Jewish Romance,” the story of social weekends that enabled Jewish teens from communities around the region to meet, to summer camp to the modern dating apps. Past episodes are available on the ISJL Virtual Vacation website.
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The Birmingham Holocaust Education Center’s Holocaust In Film 2022 series continues with “My Italian Secret,” about how cycling champion Gino Bartali, physician Giovanni Borromeo and other Italians worked with Jewish leaders and Catholic officials to save thousands of Italy’s Jews, on Feb. 22 at 6 p.m.; and “Denial,” the film about Deborah Lipstadt’s legal battle against Holocaust denier David Irving, on Feb. 27 at noon. The screenings will be at Sidewalk Film Center, and are followed by a panel discussion led by local director, producer and historian Michele Forman. Space is limited and masks are required. Register with BHEC. Jewish Movie Nights in Birmingham continue with an outdoor screening of “An American Tail” for family night, March 5 at 6:30 p.m. at the Levite Jewish Community Center’s soccer field. Havdalah will precede the movie. There will be fire pits, s’mores, pizza and popcorn. Bais Ariel Chabad and PJ Library will have a Mini Mega Hamantasch Bake for preschoolers, Feb. 27 at 10 a.m. Purim costumes are encouraged, and older siblings are welcome. Mesch AZA and Magic City BBG kick off the year with an outing to Top Golf in downtown Birmingham, Feb. 27 from 1 to 3 p.m. All 8th to 12th graders in the Birmingham Jewish community are welcome. Registration is $10 and is due by Feb. 23. Beth Israel in Jackson will have a Havdalah Potluck dinner on Feb. 26 at 6:30 p.m. continued on page 30
community Colleyville puts focus back on security at Jewish community institutions Ever since the hostage-taking of Rabbi Charlie Cytron-Walker and three congregants at Congregation Beth Israel in Colleyville, Texas on Jan. 15, congregations large and small in the region have been reevaluating their security protocols and beefing up their systems. Naturally, most aren’t publicly disclosing the precise steps they are taking, and many of the steps are not visible to the general public, but the attack brought an issue that comes and goes back to the forefront. The Secure Community Network, the official safety and security organization for the Jewish community in North America, has been working with communities nationally with a series of online events that teach best practices, including active shooter training, how to administer first aid when first responders can’t get in, and situational awareness in a hostage situation. Cytron-Walker has credited that type of training with the positive outcome in Colleyville. After Colleyville, SCN announced “BeAware,” a new training system that CEO Michael Masters said every synagogue and Jewish facility in the U.S. should use. The system teaches how to recognize suspicious behavior and criminal activity, guidance on how to report it, and strategies to protect themselves and others from violence. The course can be taught online or in person and is available to everyone in the Jewish community. Last year, 17,000 took the training, a number that is expected to rise substantially this year. “As we saw in Texas, we cannot pick the time and date of the next incident that will impact our community, but we can choose to prepare,” Masters said. “A critical component of preparing is training, and this training will provide crucial skills the Jewish community needs to stay safe.” In partnership with SCN, the Birmingham Jewish Federation announced that a community security director will be hired in the next couple of months. Last year, the Jewish Federation of Greater New Orleans hired Jimmy Stewart in that same role. Danny Cohn, CEO of the Birmingham Federation, said discussions had been taking place since 2018, “trying to plot what was best for our community based on the resources we had available.” The new position means that “our community becomes singular in any security response. This allows someone to have their eye on all of our institutions not only from a security threat perspective but also from a community training perspective, from active shooter drills to various other emergency situations,” he said. A Community Security Committee has been established with representation from each agency and religious institution, chaired by Jon Kimerling. In a Jan. 20 update to the New Orleans community, numerous law enforcement officials from the area joined the New Orleans Federation for an online forum. Federation CEO Arnie Fielkow said there would be additional security updates, as well as community security events online and in person. Aaron Ahlquist, who has been chairing the New Orleans security effort with Roselle Ungar, said the New Orleans effort also dates back to 2018, before the Tree of Life shooting in Pittsburgh and the vandalism at Northshore Jewish Congregation in Mandeville. An assessment of community security at the synagogues and agencies showed a wide range of procedures, so they brought in SCN for training and to bring consistency. A community alert system was also established. Brad Orsini, senior national security advisor for SCN, said the agency was founded in 2004 and works with 300 communities and the almost 150 Jewish Federations in the country. They determine best practices and
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February 2022 • Southern Jewish Life
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community work on threat assessment and mitigation. He pointed out that in Colleyville, one of the first things the FBI requested was the floor plans of the synagogue. Every community needs to have the floor plans for the local Jewish institutions already available to local law enforcement. For threat mitigation, he said it is “paramount” to report “every act of hate, every suspicious behavior.” While the Jewish community strives to be warm and welcoming, security and access control also have to be priorities. Louisiana FBI Agent In Charge Doug Williams told the forum that members of the Jewish community “are in the best position to determine when something isn’t right and report it to us.” Chris Soyez, Supervisory Special Agent of the FBI New Orleans Joint Terrorism Task Force, spoke of the FBI model of run, hide and fight for active shooters. Law enforcement officials from Jefferson and Orleans Parishes, Tulane University and the city of Mandeville, spoke of their working relationships with synagogues and Jewish institutions in their areas. Joe Lopinto, sheriff of Jefferson Parish, noted that the Jewish Community Campus in Metairie has been used for training their SWAT team. Many communities in the region have received grants from the Federal Nonprofit Security Grant Program. There is currently a push in Congress to double the program’s funding. Administered by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, the program provides grants of up to $150,000 to synagogues, other houses of worship, communal centers, Jewish day schools and other nonprofits at risk of attack. The money may be used for building security improvements, and for the training and hiring of security guards.
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February 2022 • Southern Jewish Life
Registration opens for Louisiana Trade and Community mission to Israel Registration is now open for the Louisiana Mission to Israel, scheduled for July 12 to 18. Coordinated by the Jewish Federation of Greater New Orleans, the mission features an Explore Israel track open to the entire Louisiana Jewish community, as well as four industry tracks to boost trade and business connections between Louisiana and Israel. The mission includes visits to Jerusalem, Tel Aviv, and industry specific places of interest for each of the four business tracks. The delegation is expected to include approximately 200 business, community, educational and government leaders. Participants will also enjoy an exclusive opportunity to attend the Opening Ceremonies of the Maccabiah Games. The business tracks include medicine, biotechnology and healthcare; energy and sustainability; transportation, port and maritime; cybersecurity and innovation. Jewish Federation of Greater New Orleans CEO Arnie Fielkow said the Israel mission “presents a unique opportunity for Louisiana businesses to gain access to this major international hub of innovation and technology.” The Explore Israel track will be more of a traditional Israel trip, with a private meeting at the official residence of Israel’s president, a wine tasting and lunch at Tishbi Winery, a Western Wall tunnel tour, and visits to the City of David and Tower of David Museum. Mission co-sponsors include Jones Walker, LLP as the Title Sponsor, the World Trade Center New Orleans, the New Orleans Business Alliance, GNO Inc., Louisiana Economic Development, NFP, Tulane University, the Oscar J. Tolmas Charitable Trust, and Ochsner Health. Registration information is available at louisianatoisrael.com.
community Loeb’s Olympic quest falls short Dani Loeb’s quest to become the first Olympic skier from Alabama ended for now as she failed to qualify for the Beijing Games, but she is looking ahead to 2026 — and hoping that there isn’t a repeat of the events leading up to final qualifying this time. The Pintlala, Ala., native arrived in Atlanta on Dec. 15, returning from competitions in Finland, two hours after her mother arrived in Atlanta with all of her gear. Within an hour, and before Loeb arrived, her skis, uniforms, overcoats and other equipment were stolen from her mother’s pickup truck that was parked in a deck on Peachtree Street. The skis cost about $1600 a pair, but these are specialty skis made in Switzerland, made specifically for aerial competition, and could not be replaced easily. Also, aerial competitors personalize their skis, tuning them to their strengths, so not only is it difficult to simply grab a new set, there is a mental aspect of being familiar and comfortable with the equipment. On Jan. 4, Atlanta police arrested Kelvin Lanier Evans, 36, and Andre Jermaine Pitts, 38. They were charged with criminal trespass and entering an automobile with intent to commit theft or felony. On Dec. 16, police had apparently stopped a car Pitts was driving. He gave them a false name, but police noticed that he was wearing the same clothes as in the parking deck’s surveillance video, and Evans was in the car with the same ski mask. Both were already wanted on other charges. Loeb was pleasantly surprised to hear about the arrest, noting that in terms of overall public safety, the theft of ski equipment is a bit down the list. There was no word on the recovery of any of her items, though. She did say that the overcoats in particular are very hard to replace,
and if they were pawned and someone bought it, she would appreciate its return. Loeb was able to purchase skis from a former teammate who tuned the skis in a similar manner, and a friend made a new helmet with an airbrushed Evil Eye on the back. While she was able to compete in the World Cup in Deer Valley on Jan. 12, she did not place high enough to qualify for the Olympic team. On Instagram, she congratulated teammates who qualified, and said “I am so excited to get back to training and learn some cooler tricks and become better and better! Next round I’m going to earn my ticket!” The 2026 Games will be in Milan and Cortina d’Ampezzo, Italy. In 2020, Loeb became the first Alabamian on the U.S. National Ski Team. She grew up on a farm in the small town near Montgomery, doing gymnastics at age two. She pursued gymnastics at a national level, but while training in Texas she was recruited to try her hand at aerial skiing, which she had never heard of. Because of their “air awareness,” gymnasts are often recruited into aerial skiing, and at age 14 she was already in a national developmental program in Lake Placid, N.Y., teaching teammates about the religion known as Crimson Tide football. Despite Covid restrictions, over the past year she has been able to compete in World Cup events in Russia, Belarus, Kazakhstan and Finland, with several Top Ten finishes. In 2019 she placed first in the European Cup in Italy, and in 2020 was first at a Nor-Am Cup event in Quebec.
February 2022 • Southern Jewish Life
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February 2022 • Southern Jewish Life
community
The Jewish Children’s Regional Service 11th annual Jewish Roots gala turns to the wide world of sports for this year’s event, on March 27 at 6 p.m., at the Sheraton New Orleans and on livestream. Two years ago, the gala was one of the last major events before the Covid shutdowns. Last year’s event, a celebration of the agency’s 75th anniversary, was held virtually. The regional event generally draws over 400 attendees. The Jewish Roots of Sports will feature a number of celebrated Jewish athletes, in person and on video, some of whom have ties to JCRS or its predecessor, the Jewish Orphans’ Home. The lineup includes U.S. Olympian Kerri Strug, Mississippi State University Athletic Director John Cohen (story, page 16), WNBA player and former league President Donna Orender, pro basketball player and author Dan Grunfeld, and a special message from Major League Baseball Hall of Fame inductee Ken Griffey, Jr. The event will honor three of JCRS’ Most Valuable Players, Gayle Baer, Alan Krilov and Mark Sands. Ned Goldberg, JCRS Executive Director Emeritus, will be inducted Ken Griffey, Jr. into the JCRS Hall of Fame. Originally established in 1855 as an orphanage in New Orleans, JCRS is currently the oldest existing Jewish children’s social service organization in the U.S., as well as the only regional Jewish child welfare agency in the country. JCRS provides needs-based scholarships for summer camp experiences, college aid, and assistance to children with special needs. Additional outreach programs include the Oscar J. Tolmas Hanukkah Gift Program and the PJ Library program for Jewish children ages 11 and under. This year, JCRS will serve or fund over 1,800 Jewish children from over 200 communities in a seven-state region, including 54 percent of Jewish youth, ages 17 and under, in Greater New Orleans. The agency also serves the rest of Louisiana, Alabama and Mississippi. A Long Island native, Orender was named to FOX Sports.com’s 10 Most Powerful Women in Sports, Sporting News’s Annual Power 100, and Newsweek’s 100 Most Influential People in the Business of Sports. A Long Island native, she lettered in five sports in high school, including boys’ tennis, then was an All-American for the Queens College women’s basketball team. She played the entire three seasons of the Women’s Pro Basketball League’s existence, where she was an All-Star and holds two career records. From 2005 to 2011, she was president of the Women’s National Basketball League, after serving 17 years in variDonna Orender ous roles for the PGA Tour. Orender is the founder of Generation W, an ever growing and enthusiastic community with the mission to educate, inspire, connect, and fuel the power of women’s leadership. Based in Jacksonville, Generation W is a nationally recognized non-profit whose action-oriented programs are designed to create awareness and propel change. She is also the founding CEO of the consulting firm Orender Unlimit-
community ed, and the author of “WOWSsdom! The Girl’s Guide to the Positive and the Possible.” Orender was inducted into the National Jewish Sports Hall of Fame and elected to the International Jewish Sports Hall of Fame. She credits her Conservative Jewish heritage as giving her “a sense of place and comfort.” She said “It’s really all about your family, your belief system, and how you can take that and live that in all the work you do. And we feel strongly about grounding our twin sons in Jewish values and community, as well as giving them a deep and abiding connection and responsibility to their roots.” Her family has been involved in the Maccabi USA movement, and she was team captain for the U.S. women’s basketball team at the 1985 World Maccabiah in Israel. In addition to her leadership roles and speaking appearances, Donna co-hosts Maccabi USA Sports Show with Arnie Fielkow to discuss various topics with Jewish athletes and professionals across the world. Over the last two years, Orender has become a familiar voice in the region, co-hosting the Maccabi USA Sports Show with Arnie Fielkow, CEO of the Jewish Federation of Greater New Orleans, to discuss various topics with Jewish
athletes and professionals across the world. In November, Orender and Fielkow interviewed Cohen on the show. The Mississippi State University athletics director and standout baseball player has a family connection to JCRS, through his father, who played baseball while living in the home. In 1936, Cohen’s grandmother, Nettie Crystal Cohen, passed away from pneumonia, leaving her husband John to care for their three young children — Perry, Gilbert, and Harry. Finding no way to support his children properly, John placed his three sons in the Jewish Children’s Home on April 20, The Hersh family 1936, where they were reared and edwhom he had four children, including John. ucated during their formative years. “My father would tell these warm and wonHarry Cohen excelled at sports and played derful stories of his growing up in the Home baseball for Fortier High School and the Amer- and playing baseball across New Orleans,” Coican Legion while living in the Home. Harry left hen said. “I am thrilled to be engaged with JCRS the Home in 1944 and, despite being labeled as and the amazing work they continue to do for “not college material,” attended Tulane Univer- our Jewish kids.” sity where he received a BA degree and then his The Hersh family of Pearland, Tex., has a law degree. He was a professor at the Universi- more recent tie to JCRS. When Ed Hersh’s wife, ty of Alabama School of Law for 37 years, and Shellie, was diagnosed with cancer, they wanted it was there that he met his bride Doris, with their three sons to continue their paths building
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February 2022 • Southern Jewish Life
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community
Southern Jewish Life Little Engine that Could
Two years of Covid. So many businesses, including Jewish newspapers and magazines, have gone by the wayside as much of their advertising has dried up. Yet, we’re still here. Southern Jewish Life keeps publishing monthly and drawing advertisers. These dollars enable us to continue covering and serving Alabama, Louisiana, Mississippi and NW Florida. We’re kind of like “the little engine that could”; defying the odds and chugging along. Yet to keep the train going requires fuel. As 2022 unfolds, we are committed to continuing to cover and connecting Jewish communities throughout the region, providing up to the minute online coverage, and mailing our monthly print version to every known Jewish household in our coverage region. To do this well, and to respond fully to the urgency of our times, we need your support. This is why Southern Jewish Life has been developing a base of contributors in addition to the businesses that advertise with us. The equation is simple: More dollars=More pages=More stories. We have the stories, we just need more space to run them — and you can help by becoming a donor to Southern Jewish Life. To contribute, send a check to SJL, P.O. Box 130052, Birmingham, AL 35213, or go to https://sjlmag.com/contribute/ (Donations to Southern Jewish Life are not tax-deductible.) Please consider becoming a Southern Jewish Life donor. Your dollars for sure will make an impact in 2022 as we keeps chugging along. 14
February 2022 • Southern Jewish Life
their Jewish identity and being “kids” all during her medical treatment. With grants from JCRS, all three boys not only attended Jewish summer camps, but also attended college with aid from JCRS, and all were involved in athletics. Shellie died in February 2009. Jonathan, the oldest, attended Austin College in the class of 2009, and was the kicker on the school’s football team. As a Senior he founded Hersh Brothers Kicking, a kicking camp that trains successful athletes of all ages. A budding soccer star, before eighth grade his coach pulled Jonathan aside and told him he would be playing football that year. He became a running back, but since there was a need for a kicker, his soccer experience paid off and he switched positions. Jonathan has coached football at DeRidder, La., and is currently at Texas City ISD. Craig, the middle son, attended the University of Houston-Clear Lake and played soccer in high school, and then for the Houston Football Association, as well as for the US Maccabee Men’s Open Team which competed in Australia. Now working for Pearson, he was previously a science teacher in Dickinson. Robert, the youngest son, entered Texas Southern University in 2008, becoming one of only two Jewish place kickers at a Historically Black College and University. During one of his games as a freshman, he kicked three field goals in a 30-29 win over Alcorn State, and the team presented a signed game ball to Shellie at MD Anderson Cancer Center. That Thanksgiving, the Hershes had 15 of the players over for Thanksgiving. Ed Hersh told the Jewish Herald-Voice in 2012 that “She was overjoyed to have a house full of football players, and when it was time to return to the dorms, each boy gave her a hug and kiss.” But the cancer pain became overbearing the next day and she returned to the hospital, never to return home. A month before she died, Ed Hersh’s father died from cancer. In 2009, Robert and Jonathan started Hersh Brothers Kicking and Punting Camp, in honor of their mother and grandfather. The camp is for aspiring kickers of all ages and genders. Robert continued kicking for Texas Southern, and in 2010 the team won the Southwestern Athletic Conference championship for the first time in school history. The next year, though, he tore a quad muscle in his leg two weeks before what would have been his senior season started, keeping him on the sidelines. After wondering if he would be able to play again, he recovered and had a medical redshirt. At the season opener in 2012 he came in for a 47-yard attempt with four seconds left. Thinking of his mother, he sailed the kick through the uprights for a 44-41 victory over heavily-favored Prairie View, a team they had not defeated in six years. Later that season, he hit a 32-yarder to beat Grambling State. Ed Hersh credits the JCRS grants for summer camp with inspiring his sons to broaden their Jewish identities, visit Israel and complete college. “Without assistance from JCRS, they could not have gone,” he said. “The impact from JRCS was greater than we could have imagined, especially during family medical issues.”
Basketball Legacy For the Grunfeld family, basketball became their legacy. A Stanford basketball standout who played professionally in Europe and Isra- Dan Grunfeld el, Dan Grunfeld is the author of “By the Grace of the Game: The Holocaust, A Basketball Legacy and an Unprecedented American Dream,” about his father, Ernie Grunfeld, who is the only child of Holocaust sur-
community vivors known to play in the NBA. Ernie was born in Romania. His mother was saved from deportation from the Budapest Ghetto by the actions of Swedish diplomat Raoul Wallenberg, and his father was in a work camp in Romania. After the war, the family sought to immigrate to the United States from Romania, arriving in 1964 after a six-year wait. Ernie was 8 years old. Growing up in Queens, Eddie discovered basketball and was All American his senior year, and was the only high school student selected to start on the 1973 U.S. team at the World Maccabiah in Israel. He went to the University of Tennessee, where he became the university’s all-time leading scorer, a record that stood until 1993. He was teammates with Hall of Famer Bernard King, and they were known as the “Ernie and Bernie Show.” His number was retired in 2008, making him the second Vol to receive that honor — after King. In 1976, he was part of the gold medal winning U.S. Olympic basketball team. Drafted 11th overall, Eddie played for Milwaukee, Kansas City and the New York Knicks, retiring in 1986. He was radio analyst for the Knicks for three years, then moved into management. In 2003 he became president of basketball operations for the Washington Wizards, a position he held until 2019. At Stanford, Dan led the team in scoring and was named All Pac-10. Undrafted in the NBA draft in 2006, he signed with a team in Germany — after getting permission from his grandmother, who had lost seven immediate family members in the Holocaust. He then played in Spain, and from 2010 to 2014 was in the Israeli Basketball Super League. In 2009, he was part of the U.S. team that won the gold medal at the World Maccabiah Games. That team was coached by Auburn basketball head coach Bruce Pearl. After his playing days, Dan received his MBA at Stanford and is now in venture capital in Silicon Valley. Strug, who grew up in the Tucson, Ariz., Jewish community, is known for one of the most iconic Olympics moments. In the 1996 Games, the U.S. and the dominant Russian gymnastics teams battled in Atlanta. Down to the last event, the U.S. team needed one Kerri Strug good score on the vault to win, but the first four U.S. gymnasts did not have clean vaults, and then Dominique Moceanu fell on both attempts. It all came down to Strug, who fell on her first attempt, injuring her ankle. In hindsight, the U.S. would have won gold without a second vault, but there was still a Russian performance to come, so the outcome was uncertain. Strug pushed through the pain and landed the second vault with a score high enough to ensure the gold medal, then almost immediately collapsed on the mat. She had two torn ligaments and a sprained ankle, and her coach carried her to the gold medal platform, after which she went to the hospital. After the Olympics, she enrolled at UCLA and became more active Jewishly, and lit the torch during the opening ceremonies of the 1997 World Maccabiah Games. The gala, co-chaired by Barbara Kaplinsky, Carole Cukell Neff and Sue Singer, will feature a seated three-course dinner, music, and a silent auction focused on sports memorabilia, once-in-a-lifetime vacations and sporting experiences. All proceeds from the event will support the needsbased scholarship programs and services of JCRS for Jewish children throughout the Mid-South. Tickets are available at www.jcrs.org or by calling the office at (800) 729-5277. The event is open to all.
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John Cohen building bridges as Mississippi State athletics director By Richard Friedman
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Mississippi State University athletic director John Cohen is a distinctly Southern Jew — and proud of it. Growing up in Tuscaloosa, Cohen clung to his Jewish roots, even when it was not easy, and today takes pride in being one of the Southeastern Conference’s most visible Jewish personalities. A former MSU baseball coach, Cohen has had much success in the athletic arena, especially during his current stint as the school’s athletic director. According to the university, Cohen has overseen “arguably the greatest era in Bulldog athletics history,” highlighted by a 2021 College World Series Championship, the school’s first national title in any team sport. Since Cohen became athletic director in 2016, 44 Mississippi State teams have advanced to NCAA postseason play, including a school-record 13 during the 2018-19 athletic year. In a recent Zoom chat, though, it was Cohen’s commitment to his Jewish identity and support that he and his wife Nelle provide for Jewish students at the Starkville campus that were the focal points of the conversation. Cohen, whose parents were educators — his dad was a University of Alabama professor and his mom was a high school teacher — grew up in a home where Judaism played a prominent role. Even today, at the age of 55, he reflects on his Bar Mitzvah and the impact it had on him. “I still view my Bar Mitzvah as a huge moment in my life, a seminal moment. At age 13, I was called upon to convey a message. For a 13-year-old to have to do that is an incredible opportunity — and reflects that in Judaism everything has a purpose.”
Not Always Easy Growing up Jewish in the Deep South, however, was not always easy for Cohen. “As a Jewish kid in the Deep South you lead two lives, especially as an athlete. You are part of the larger group but apart from the group and you’re going to hear antisemitic comments — especially if the name on the back of your jersey is Cohen.” Still, he wouldn’t trade being a Southern Jew for anything. “I don’t believe antisemitism is exclusive to the South. I think growing up in the South far outweighs the negatives of antisemitism. The South is not perfect, it’s not cleansed. But things certainly are better than they were in the 1960s and 1970s.” His pride in being a Southern Jew lends an extra dimension to the life that he and Nelle, who converted to Judaism, have carved out for 16
February 2022 • Southern Jewish Life
The SJL July 2021 cover: Nelle and John Cohen hold the trophy after Mississippi State won the baseball championship themselves in Starkville as perhaps the city’s and university’s most prominent Jewish couple. In Starkville and in Mississippi in general Cohen feels totally comfortable as a Jew, even though there are only an estimated 1750 Jews in the state and an estimated 25 Jewish students and 10 Jewish faculty at MSU. Cohen sees Mississippians in general as open, charitable and accepting of others and more diverse than people might imagine. Moreover, because it is such a religious state, he believes people tend to respect the Cohens for their commitment to their own faith. John and Nelle embrace their roles as Jewish leaders with enthusiasm and pride. “The Cohens are tremendous supporters of Hillel,” said the organization’s MSU president, Tyler Daniel. “Prior to Covid, we had an annual tradition of enjoying a dinner at their house, which was a great opportunity for our Jewish students to connect with both John and Nelle as individuals, as fellow Jews, and as university officials.”
Very Supportive The Bulldog athletic director and his wife regularly field calls from throughout the country from parents and prospective students asking what it’s like to be Jewish at MSU. Their answer is positive. “I think this is a very supportive place — not just for Jews but also for people of all backgrounds,” said Cohen. “I have always felt that way, even when I first came here at age 19 after
community transferring from Birmingham-Southern College.” This baseball player turned coach turned athletic director has worked at other schools over the years and also played minor league baseball. Yet in the end, it’s maroon and white — MSU’s colors — that captured his heart long ago and continue to course through his veins. His roots in Bulldog athletics run deep. Cohen played baseball at MSU from 1988 to 1990 and played on the school’s 1990 College World Series team. In 2008, Cohen, who was baseball coach at the University of Kentucky, was named baseball coach at his alma mater, posting a 284-203-1 record in eight years before becoming athletic director, with five postseason appearances including runner-up at the College World Series in 2013. Starkville has been a great fit for this outgoing, down-to-earth Tuscaloosa native. He has built an outstanding resume as a coach and athletic director and found a home where he can be a proud Southern Jew and pursue his passion for sports in what is considered the best college conference in the nation. One of the SEC’s other prominent Jewish personalities is Auburn University basketball coach Bruce Pearl. Cohen and Pearl feel a connection to each other. On those Saturdays in the fall when Auburn and MSU meet on the gridiron, the two typically cross paths and wish each other a “Good Shabbos.” Today, sports and Judaism blend nicely for Cohen. In both athletics and Jewish life everything has a purpose, as he said about Judaism while reflecting on his Bar Mitzvah. And it is in sports these days that he sees a higher purpose — and a powerful venue for Tikun Olam, a Jewish principle that calls on Jews to dedicate themselves to healing the world. “Sports are now much more than sports. At this divided time in our country, sports are a bridge. Once their favorite team is on the field, the vast majority of fans no longer care about political, racial or religious differences. The person sitting next to you becomes your friend.”
Nelle Cohen’s unexpected journey By Richard Friedman When Nelle Bashinsky was growing up in Birmingham and Tuscaloosa, she never imagined that she would marry John Cohen. More far-fetched was that she would become the wife of the Mississippi State University athletic director. However, the last thing this young woman could have ever anticipated was that one day she would become Jewish. “John and I were just friends in high school. Good friends but just friends. He was Jewish and always into sports. I wasn’t interested in sports. And I had been baptized in an Episcopal church.” One never knows what’s ahead, and now at age 53, Nelle Cohen is living an intriguing life she never could have envisioned. She and John would begin dating — “You know how that works. All of a sudden friends become more than friends.” Her life would become filled with sports as John, after playing baseball at MSU and in the minor leagues, began climbing the coaching ladder. Her encounters with Jewish thinking about God would transform her life and lead her to embrace her husband’s faith. “The Jewish belief that God is omnipresent and intimate, yet infinite and ultimately unknowable, became a source of inspiration and comfort to me.” Her saga is a fascinating tale, and this descendant of one of Alabama’s best known families — the Bashinsky family who once owned Golden Flake, famous for its potato chips — tells her story with relish. She also tells it with irony because it turns out that Nelle is not the first Jewish person in her family. Her great-great grandfather, Leopold Bash-
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insky, was Jewish. He was born in Prussia in 1851 and came to the U.S. when he was 15. He had relatives in Georgia and Alabama and wound up settling in Troy, Ala.
Spiritual Home “Before John and I got married we hadn’t really talked about religion and how it would work between us. We just loved each other and wanted to get married. Though I’d been baptized, I didn’t really feel connected to religion.” It wasn’t until the Cohens had children that she had the urge to find a spiritual home for their family. Her husband at the time was baseball coach at Louisiana’s Northwestern State University in Natchitoches. “I didn’t know anything about Judaism, so I started taking my children to an Episcopal church. Not only did I realize this was going to be confusing for them, I also realized that I didn’t want a household with two separate faiths.” So she started visiting a rabbi in Alexandria, about an hour away, to learn more about being Jewish. Converting, though, was not on her mind at this point. “I didn’t want to convert just because it was the ‘convenient’ thing to do. If I was going to do it, I wanted it to be for the right reasons not simply because I was married to someone Jewish.” The turning point came when her husband became head baseball coach at the University of Kentucky in 2003. Their kids were now six and eight. Lexington offered their family a bigger Jewish community and Nelle became very involved in their synagogue. “They had this fantastic group of older women who ran everything in the kitchen during the High Holy Days. They welcomed me and took me in, and I just started volunteering.” As her daughter approached the age of 12, the idea of converting started to take hold. “I loved these people. I felt like they were my people.” So right before her daughter became a Bat Mitzvah, this Christian-raised Alabamian officially became Jewish. “Right after my conversion ceremony, we had a blessing of our marriage. It was like another wedding. It was a very profound spiritual moment for me.”
Days of Awe There’s one more piece to the Nelle Bashinsky Cohen story which she openly shares as she reflects on her odyssey into Judaism. “I am in long-term recovery for alcoholism. I got sober when I was 25 — in 1993. The spiritual process of recovery through the 12-Step program was another powerful factor that made me start searching for a faith that had meaning for me.” The answer, she concluded, was right in front of her: Judaism. “The process of reflection, atonement and renewal during the Days of Awe is so very much in line with my journey through 12-Step recovery work — or perhaps I should say vice versa. Becoming Jewish just felt like a perfect fit.” Today this vivacious First Lady of MSU Athletics goes about her unexpected life with energy and purpose — from attending MSU sporting events, to meeting Jewish families who come to campus, to playing a leadership role in the betterment of Starkville, to devoting herself to her two adult children and aging parents. And there’s one more thing she never could have expected — the excited call she got last July from her mother-in-law in Tuscaloosa. MSU had just won the College World Series and the Cohens were pictured on the cover of Southern Jewish Life magazine holding the championship trophy and beaming. “It was a great moment for John’s mother. She had just gotten the magazine out of the mailbox. She is so proud of John, especially because there are not many Jewish people working at that level in college athletics.” But that isn’t all John’s mom had to say, her daughter-in-law recounted with a smile. “Nelle,” her mother-in-law added, “I never thought you’d wind up being the cover girl for a Jewish magazine.” 18
February 2022 • Southern Jewish Life
community History lesson gone awry leads to controversy at Mountain Brook High Lesson on Bellamy salute raises questions over sensitivity, school’s response to controversy By Larry Brook Just months after a contentious debate that led to the Mountain Brook school system ending diversity training with the Anti-Defamation League and pledging to develop its own curriculum, an incident at Mountain Brook High School has brought the spotlight back on issues of diversity and sensitivity — and how the school addresses those issues. Two days after the story broke, the Birmingham Jewish Federation and Jewish Community Relations Committee issued a statement that they had been meeting with leaders of Mountain Brook Schools and “we had an open and honest dialogue regarding the incident and its effect and implications for our students, Jewish community, and the City of Mountain Brook.” The school system’s statement, issued at the same time, said it has been clear that “the instructional strategy for this lesson lacked sensitivity, and however unintentional, caused hurt and distress within the community.” Central to the story is a photo that shows students doing what resembles the Nazi salute in a classroom, led by the teacher. On Jan. 18, students in 11th grade history were instructed to stand and do the Bellamy Salute while reciting the Pledge of Allegiance. The teacher, Coach Joe Webb, had explained that the salute had previously been used when reciting the Pledge, but had been retired in the early 1940s because of its resemblance to the Nazi salute. Since then, one places a hand over the heart when saying the Pledge. The Bellamy salute starts with an outstretched arm, palm down, but during the second phrase, “to the flag,” the palm is turned upward for the remainder of the Pledge. After explaining the background, Webb instructed the class to rise and give the salute while reciting the Pledge. Epps Tytell, the one Jewish student in the classroom, did not stand,
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and a couple other students also did not. “I was just in shock and I was confused,” he said. “I was kind of sad too, I never thought I would be in a classroom where everyone would stand up and do the Heil Hitler.” Talking to fellow students afterward, many shrugged it off as “just a salute” and “nobody saw a problem with it.” A non-Jewish classmate managed to take a photo and a brief video clip, which Epps shared on his social media. The Tytells said the lesson itself was just “incredibly stupid” and they were figuring on giving the school “the benefit of the doubt,” but Mariya Tytell said the school’s reaction afterward was the “egregious” part, as they first attempted to address the issue with the school. According to his parents, the next day, Epps was pulled out of math class and brought to the office of Assistant Principal Jeremy Crigger, where he was instructed to apologize to Webb, who was also in the room, for filming him without permission. He refused to apologize but did comply with taking the video down, and when he said he did not take the video, they tried to get him to tell them who did, a demand he also refused. Mariya Tytell said they told him “if this blows up there will be more disciplinary action, because you are making Mountain Brook look bad.” She said, “I’m very proud that my son didn’t cave in and apologize,” and they felt an apology should be coming from the teacher instead of from her son. Since that meeting, the Tytells say their son’s desk was moved from the back of the room to right next to the teacher’s desk. The first day after the video was posted, Epps said everyone in the class was told to put away their phones or be marked absent. In the days following, Epps said he was told, in front of the class, to put his phone away during class, while other students were not told to do that. He said one day after being told to put up his phone, he approached the teacher to talk with him, but in the “30-second conversation” the teacher yelled at him and “said I hadn’t apologized to him.” “Students should feel comfortable to come to the administration and bring things like that to their attention,” Mariya Tytell said. “They are punishing not the wrongdoer but the one who is exposing the wrongdoer.” David Tytell said the lesson itself was a “stupid choice… I get that,” but what upset him was “taking my kid to the office and threatening him with disciplinary action… and harassing him and make him apologize to the teacher,” because “my boy did nothing wrong.” David Tytell said when he spoke with Principal Philip Holley, he brushed it off. Holley, Crigger and Webb did not respond to requests for comment. Mountain Brook Schools issued a statement on Feb. 8 detailing the history of the Bellamy Salute, saying “the focus of the lesson was the meaning of symbols, how they change, and why the Bellamy Salute should never again be recognized due to its association with the actions of the Nazi Party.” The statement said the photo and video “are not representative of the lesson, what was being taught, or the context of the instruction that was occurring. Any representation that this picture or video represents a Mountain Brook teacher attempting to instruct students on how to use the Nazi Party Salute or instruct them to use the salute towards the American flag is unequivocally false. No students were asked to raise their hand for any reason.” Because of “the sensitive nature of this subject,” the school system “addressed the instructional strategy used with the teacher and does not condone the modeling of this salute when a picture or video could accurately convey the same message.” The Birmingham Jewish Federation and Jewish Community Relations Council issued a statement noting that they had been in communication with the school system since the issue came to light, and noted the context
community of the Bellamy Salute lesson while acknowledging “there are multiple accounts circulating of what was happening in the classroom that day.” “We have had meaningful dialogue with Mountain Brook Schools regarding the inappropriateness of demonstrating the salute, especially in a high school classroom,” the statement continued. “They have assured us that they have had these same discussions with the teacher. “It is our understanding that Mountain Brook Schools will continue to deal with this situation in an effective and sensitive manner. We will update the community as to the progress as we are informed. We find these types of incidents very troubling. It is our belief that they are also an opportunity for education and we hope to work closely with Mountain Brook to prevent further situations.” The school system’s statement also mentioned working with the Federation and JCRC, saying “This issue has been addressed with the teacher and education has and will continue to be provided. We understand the impact of this issue on our community and families and will continue to work to help promote support and education on this issue.” The later statement, on Feb. 10, stated that the school system will work with the Alabama Holocaust Education Center on training about the Holocaust, antisemitism and the symbols of both. The statement ended with “We absolutely and unequivocally stand against Antisemitism.” Most Jewish parents and alumni reacting to this controversy online did not refer to this particular incident as antisemitism, but as insensitive or ill-advised. None of the statements mentioned the school’s actions toward Tytell, but in his weekly community message on Feb. 11, Federation CEO Danny Cohn mentioned the Tytells, saying “we as a community owe them gratitude and support” for speaking out, and messages of support for them could be left in the mailbox outside the Federation office. There have been reports that the Tytells have received death threats and arson threats. A few hours after the school system’s first statement, a spokesperson said the class did the Pledge before Webb spoke about the salute, and that he had never instructed or encouraged students to do the salute. Epps Tytell said Webb “instructed all of us to stand and give the salute while saying the Pledge.” The spokesperson also said that in the original meeting, Webb apologized to Epps, but Epps said that did not happen. Dan Puckett, a professor of history at Troy University and the chair of the Alabama Holocaust Commission, said before the 1930s “there was nothing sinister” about the salute. Now,
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“there is absolutely no pedagogical reason or benefit for students to act it out. Not only is it irresponsible, but it’s even more egregious given that the teacher had explained that it was changed during the war because of the Nazis’ use of the salute.” He also wondered whether the teacher, in a further effort to be historically correct, took out the phrase “under God,” which dates back to only 1954, from the Pledge. Mountain Brook is the wealthiest suburb in Alabama, and is over 97 percent white. The Birmingham suburb has by far the largest Jewish community in the state, as other suburbs did not welcome Jews in the 1950s. Nevertheless, stories of antisemitic conduct in the schools goes back decades, from fellow students giving Heil Hitler salutes to Jewish students, pitching pennies on the floor at Jewish students figuring the “cheap Jews” would eagerly pick them up, or swastikas scrawled around the schools. There have also been reports of Christian youth ministers coming to campus at lunch, and conversionary efforts toward non-Christian students. Rabbi Scott Hausman-Weiss, who is now in Houston, recalled being at the school two decades ago to provide a Jewish clergy presence amidst the Christian clergy, and noticing pennies being pitched under the table where he was sitting with Jewish students. During last summer’s controversy, Rabbi Adam Wright of Temple Emanu-El in Birmingham recalled talking to Mountain Brook parents when he arrived in 2018. “They reflected to me their frustration with the school system, year after year after year, antisemitic comments… church groups coming in and proselytizing, using theology as a way to inflict fear and concern among Jewish students,” and that he had heard from alumni that “this is the same ethos that has been happening in Mountain Brook” for a long time. While there had been pushes for greater diversity awareness, the effort received its biggest push after a 2020 viral video taken at a teen party showed a teen had swastikas drawn on his back, and some of those in the video were from Mountain Brook. A Diversity Committee was assembled to assess the best way forward. In February 2021, the school system began faculty training with the Anti-Defamation League and looked at implementing the No Place for Hate curriculum. But those efforts were derailed in June as a group of parents petitioned the school system to cut ties with the ADL, saying it has become “highly partisan” with support of “Critical Race Theory, unfettered late-term abortion rights and expansive immigration policies.”
An anonymously-produced 12-page “Mountain Brook Families Resource Guide to the Anti-Defamation League” was distributed, and condemned by the ADL as “wildly off ” and “twisted.” In response, a group called Mountain Brook Schools Alumni for Diversity did a counter-petition, with far more signatures, and there was a contentious school board meeting on July 12 where some parents spoke of the longstanding problems of racism and antisemitism in the schools, while others spoke of the dangers of diversity training, with one speaker demanding to know how the school board would “undo the damage” inflicted by the ADL training that had already taken place. The school system decided that instead of the ADL programs, they would develop their own diversity training programs to address the issues in the schools. At the August school board meeting, Barlow said with uncertainty over the Delta variant, they were concentrating on the reopening of schools for the year and putting the diversity issue on hold until after school begins. Aside from an October public comment from a resident “tired of hearing about CRT, ADL, SEL, diversity committees,” the issue has not been mentioned since then in school board proceedings. As news of the Bellamy lesson spread, MB Listens, a nonprofit grassroots organization promoting acceptance and equal treatment in Mountain Brook, issued a statement to “recognize, empathize with, and offer our support to everyone hurt by this incident, especially those students impacted by what transpired and the entire Jewish community.” The group commended the Tytells “for their courage and conviction in speaking up” and said the community needs to support anyone trying to make Mountain Brook a more supportive community. “Our entire community, including our school system, must foster an environment where people feel safe to report behavior that they are concerned about and certainly not create an environment that cultivates any ‘fear of reprisal’.” The MB Listens statement said the handling of this incident demonstrates the need for better understanding of implicit biases, greater empathy and more compassion. As for the current controversy, David Tytell says at this point he is not looking for an apology. “Any apology would be meaningless because it has been going on for so long,” he said, adding that the system is an expert at sweeping incidents under the rug. “There needs to be meaningful change, not just empty words that ‘we’re going to do this in the future.’ There needs to be meaningful change, and I don’t see that happening.” For updates, visit sjlmag.com.
community Program focuses on sharing one’s values What values do you want to leave behind and make sure your descendants know? A community legacy program will be held on March 7 at 11:30 a.m. at Temple Emanu-El to discuss how to start what is often a difficult conversation. The Birmingham Jewish Foundation, Temple Beth-El Foundation and the Grafman Endowment Fund for Temple Emanu-El are co-sponsoring the luncheon, to help community members with conversation starters and techniques to get the ball rolling with children, grandchildren and friends. Often, those conversations are delayed because while people want to be remembered for certain things, there is a fear of being awkward or receiving an “eye roll.” “Starting the Conversation — A Hands on Session about Transmitting Jewish Values” will be an interactive program conducted by Dirk Bird, Jewish Federations of North America’s vice president of planned giving and endowment, and manager of Total Resource Development. In his current post and in previous positions, Bird has worked closely with families and has extensive experience in next generation engagement, donor stewardship, mentoring and family philanthropy. He was the executive director of the Jewish Community Foundation in Denver and was a trainer for 21/64, a national non-profit which advises multigenerational families on values communication and philanthropy. As part of the program, two local families will relate how they are using a national effort, The Jewish Future Pledge, to share their Jewish values. The pledge does not carry a specific monetary amount, but is a philosophy that at least half of charitable bequests in one’s estate will go to Jewish causes. Reservations are requested by Feb. 28 to the Foundation. Box lunches will be provided, and vegetarian and glatt kosher options will be available. A $10 donation per person at the door is appreciated. There will be no solicitation at the event.
Chabad announces rescheduled program with Eva Schloss Anne Frank’s step-sister to speak at Lyric In March 2020, Eva Schloss, childhood friend and eventual step-sister of Anne Frank, was scheduled to speak in Birmingham, but the event was postponed due to Covid. The event has been rescheduled and Schloss will speak on March 24 at the Lyric Theatre in Birmingham, at 7 p.m. In November 2018 she spoke at the New Orleans Jewish Community Center on the 80th anniversary of Kristallnacht. At age 8 in Holland, she became friends with a neighbor, a German Jewish girl who was the same age, named Anne Frank. In 1943, both families went into hiding, but both families were ultimately discovered by the Nazis and sent to Auschwitz-Birkenau. As is well known, Anne Frank died at Auschwitz, but Eva survived, as did her mother. Her brother and father did not. Returning to Amsterdam following the war, they met up with Otto Frank, who was dealing with the loss of his family, and the discovery of Anne’s diary. In 1953, Eva’s mother married Frank, making Eva Anne’s step-sister. She is a trustee of the Anne Frank Educational Trust, an author of three books, and the subject of James Still’s play, “And Then They Came for Me: Remembering the World of Anne Frank.” Tickets start at $20. A $150 VIP package includes prime seating and a signed copy of “Eva’s Story.”
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community Interfaith Understanding AL.com’s Greg Garrison reflects on 35 years covering religion in Alabama By Richard Friedman When AL.com reporter Greg Garrison was growing up in rural Missouri in the 1970s, he never could have imagined how an unlikely friendship with an elderly Holocaust survivor in St. Louis would later influence his career. Through their involvement in union activities, Garrison’s dad formed a relationship with the woman’s husband that led to deep ties between the two families. Garrison knew this elderly Jewish woman had a number tattooed on her arm — this is the way the Nazi regime catalogued death camp inmates and identified them after they were murdered. She kept it covered and never talked about her experiences, even when young Garrison would drive to St. Louis, after her husband died, to take her to Cardinals baseball games. This friendship was very much on his mind as the longtime journalist reflected in a recent Zoom chat on his more than three decades of covering religion in Alabama, and especially Birmingham’s Jewish community. Garrison has had a distinguished career with the Birmingham News and, more recently, AL.com, of which the Birmingham News is a part. Today at age 58 he is one of the country’s most respected religion writers and one of Alabama’s most widely-known reporters. Asked about his most memorable Jewish stories, he immediately pointed to covering the late Elie Wiesel’s visits to Birmingham, noting that he and the renowned Holocaust survivor-author-speaker became relatively good friends. He also pointed to his coverage of and relationships with local survivors as another highlight of his career. Garrison never imagined himself becoming a religion writer. As a journalism major at the University of Missouri he covered football and basketball, aiming to be a sportswriter. Since college sports are the South’s other religion, one could even say that unbeknownst to him, the young Missourian was priming himself to be a religion writer early on. Are there not denominations and frenzied congregants who pray that God will favor their team? However, after graduating Missouri in 1981, Garrison landed a job at the Anniston Star as a business writer.
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Greg Garrison and Elie Wiesel during Wiesel’s last visit to Birmingham in 2007.
community One day the managing editor asked him to cover a religion story, knowing that in high school Garrison won a national journalism award (and a Smith Corona electric typewriter) from the religion magazine “Guideposts” for an inspirational story he had written about his family bouncing back after a fire destroyed their home. “The next thing I knew was that the Anniston paper wanted to have a full-time religion writer. So, thinking it would be interesting, I raised my hand.” Garrison would stay at the Anniston Star for 15 months. During that time he won a national journalism award from the Religion Newswriters Association. “I interviewed a Grand Dragon of the Ku Klux Klan who was a Baptist pastor, and also interviewed the KKK chaplain. In our conversations they talked about their belief in the principles of the KKK and how there wasn’t any conflict between those beliefs and their Christian faith.” That story and the national award led to Garrison becoming the religion writer at the Birmingham News, an important position given Alabama’s fervent religiosity. Thirty-five years later Garrison is still in that role. He’s often asked about his own religious beliefs. “I basically have no religious loyalties and no formal affiliation. I honestly feel like I’m kind of an honorary member of whatever religious congregation I visit. I know the rituals and procedures of every religious community I cover.”
Staying Fresh It’s hard for a reporter to stay fresh year after year, let alone decade after decade, but that’s what Garrison has managed to do — especially when it comes to writing about Birmingham’s Jewish community. Jewish leaders who have dealt with Garrison tend to give him high marks. They see him as a serious reporter; informed, thoughtful and accessible, and someone who has no agenda other than telling the stories of Birmingham’s diverse religious communities. Reflecting on his coverage of the Jewish community, Garrison noted with gratitude that the late Rabbi Milton Grafman was a friend and mentor to him. He also named others who’ve guided him over the years, including Southern Jewish Life’s editor and publisher Larry Brook. “I have always had a great relationship with the Jewish community.” The veteran writer continues to see the Birmingham Jewish community as close-knit and made up of leaders who have not only served the Jewish community well but who also have made a significant impact on Birmingham in general. One of the most significant developments he’s seen in the Jewish community during his tenure has been the emergence and growth of Chabad. Garrison also has a different take on antisemitism. He questions whether hatred of Jews is actually rising as dramatically as many national Jewish organizations have depicted. “I think antisemitism always has been there. It’s just that now, due in part to social media, it attracts much more attention. So it’s hard to tell if it’s actually rising.” Looking back on the stories he’s written over the years on Jewish events, issues and trends, his one lament is that he never got to write the most memorable Jewish story he came across. Years ago he was introduced to an older Jewish couple who had immigrated to the U.S. and lived In Birmingham. They told him that they were the last Jewish couple allowed to marry in Germany as the Nazis ascended to power and began stripping Jews of their rights. They told Garrison their story but did not want him to write about it because they didn’t want the publicity, especially if it were to become a national story. “I would have loved to have written that story. It has stayed in my mind until this day.”
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The Tuskegee Airmen and the Debate over Bombing Auschwitz By Rafael Medoff (Jewish Journal) — The death of Charles E. McGee last month occasioned an outpouring of tributes to the Tuskegee Airmen, the all-black units of American military aviators of whom McGee was one of the last surviving members. What is not widely known is that the history of the Tuskegee pilots is connected to the controversy over the Roosevelt administration’s refusal to bomb Auschwitz during World War II. Defying racist War Department officials who regarded them as inferior and did not want them to fly, the Tuskegee Airmen scored extraordinary achievements in battle. Tuskegee squadrons shot down more than 100 German planes and repeatedly won Distinguished Unit Citations and other medals. They were so admired by their fellow pilots that other bomber groups often specifically requested the segregated Tuskegee units as escorts for their bombing raids. Several of those raids took place in the skies over Auschwitz. On the morning of Aug. 20, 1944, a group of 127 American B-17 bombers, called Flying Fortresses, approached the sprawling Auschwitz complex. The site included the mass-murder section known as Birkenau as well as an industrial zone where Jewish slave laborers worked in factories that produced synthetic oil for the German war effort. The bombers that day were escorted by 100 P-51 Mustang fighter planes. Most of the Mustangs were piloted by members of the Tuskegee Airmen’s 332nd Fighter Group, including Charles McGee. Throughout the previous two and a half months, Jewish organizations had been asking the Roosevelt administration to bomb the gas chambers and crematoria in Auschwitz, as well as the railways and bridges leading to the camp. Some of the requests named specific bridges and railway junctions, with the aim of disrupting the trains that were deporting hundreds of thousands of Hungarian Jews to Auschwitz. For example, the president of Agudath Israel, Rabbi Jacob Rosenheim, pleaded with the administration to undertake “an aerial bombardment of the most important railway junctions of The Airmen Kaschau and Presov, through which the repeatedly flew deportation-trains pass.” The U.S. Labor submitted a similar appeal, at near Auschwitz, Zionists the request of Golda Meir (then known as but the U.S. was Goldie Myerson), one of the leaders of the Jewish community in British Mandatory not interested Palestine. U.S. officials responded that such air in bombing the strikes were “impracticable” because they death camp would require “diversion of considerable air support essential to the success of our forces now engaged in decisive operations.” But that was false. The planes would not have had to be “diverted” from elsewhere in Europe — as proven by the fact that U.S. pilots, including McGee and other Tuskegee Airmen, repeatedly flew directly over, or very close to, Auschwitz. In the Aug. 20 raid, the attacking force dropped more than 1,000 500-pound bombs on German oil factories less than five miles from the gas chambers. Despite German anti-aircraft fire and a squadron of German fighter planes, none of the Mustangs was hit and only one of the American planes was shot down. All of the units reported hitting their targets. On the ground below, Jewish slave laborers, including 15-year-old Elie Wiesel, cheered the bombing. In his best-selling memoir, “Night,” Wiesel
community described their reaction: “We were not afraid. And yet, if a bomb had fallen on the blocks [the prisoners’ barracks], it alone would have claimed hundreds of victims on the spot. But we were no longer afraid of death; at any rate, not of that death. Every bomb that exploded filled us with joy and gave us new confidence in life. The raid lasted over an hour. If it could only have lasted ten times ten hours!” But it did not. The gas chambers and crematoria were never targeted, even though there were additional U.S. bombing raids on Nazi industrial sites in the Auschwitz region in the weeks and months to follow — including attacks on Aug. 27 and Sept. 13 in which the Tuskegee Airmen participated. Similarly, McGee and his fellow pilots were repeatedly sent to take part in attacks on railways and bridges in Hungary — but never the ones named in the Jewish organizations’ requests. For example, on Aug. 28, the 332rd Fighter Group of the Tuskegee Airmen escorted bombers hitting the Miskolc Min train marshalling yards north of Budapest. On Sept. 17, the 332rd participated in an attack on the Rakos train marshalling yards, located in Budapest. The next day, the Tuskegee Airmen took part in the 304th Bombardment Wing’s attack on railroad bridges in Budapest. And on Sept. 21,
they escorted B-17 bombers striking the Debreczen marshalling yards, east of the Hungarian capital. The Roosevelt administration knew about the mass murder going on in Auschwitz, and even possessed diagrams of the camp that had been supplied by two escapees. But it never gave the order to strike the mass-murder machinery or the transportation routes leading to it. President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s policy was to refrain from using even minimal military resources in connection with humanitarian goals, such as interrupting the mass murder of the Jews. U.S. officials did not want to deal with what they called the “curse” and “burden” of caring for large numbers of refugees. The president and his administration failed to confront one of history’s most compelling moral challenges. The refusal to bomb Auschwitz remains the most powerful symbol of the U.S. government’s failure to do what should have been done. And the Tuskegee Airmen were eyewitnesses to the fact that it could have been done. Dr. Rafael Medoff is director of the David S. Wyman Institute for Holocaust Studies and author of more than 20 books about the Holocaust and Jewish history. This article was first published by the Jewish Journal.
Nancy Goedecke among NCCJ Alabama honorees Nancy Goedecke, former chair and CEO of Mayer Electric, will be one of the honorees at the National Council of Community and Justice, Alabama, Brotherhood and Sisterhood Awards Dinner. The event, which was founded in 1969 and is now held every other year, benefits Anytown Alabama, a week-long summer program which builds an equitable, diverse community among area high school students, producing over 2,000 alumni since 1989. The James A. Head Award honoree and keynote speaker will be Selwyn Vickers, senior vice president for medicine and dean at the University of Alabama at Birmingham School of Medicine and CEO of UAB Health System and the UAB/Ascension St. Vincent’s Alliance. Other honorees include Bob Burns, an architect, Anytown staffer and LGBTQ activist; Larry Thornton, president of McDonalds franchisee Thornton Enterprises; and Andrew Westmoreland, president emeritus of Samford University. The dinner will be March 10 at 6 p.m. at the Harbert Center in Birmingham. Tickets are $150, and there is a $20 virtual option.
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Rep. Higgins’ remarks on Jews, police at hearing cause confusion for some From JNS and staff reports
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Rep. Clay Higgins of Louisiana attracted attention at a Feb. 8 hearing of the House Emergency Preparedness, Response and Recovery Subcommittee, and Intelligence and Counterterrorism Subcommittee, for comments that some say implied American Jews were citizens of Israel, and a question of the Jewish community’s attitudes toward police. Testifying before the committee was Rabbi Charlie Cytron-Walker of Congregation Beth Israel in Colleyville, Texas, where he and three congregants were held hostage by a terrorist on Jan. 15. The hostage situation, which ended with the death of the suspect only — 44-year-old Malik Faisal Akram — was the impetus for the hearing. Others included Rabbi Yosef Konikov of Chabad of South Orlando, Fla.; Eric Fingerhut, president and CEO of Jewish Federations of North America; and Michael Masters, national director and CEO of Secure Community Network, which works to protect Jewish institutions. The main issue the witnesses called for was an increase in funding of the grant, which currently stands at $180 million a year, to $360 million. The grant allows nonprofits such as religious institutions of any religion, day schools, museums and other institutions that may be the target of an attack to apply for grants from the Federal Emergency Management Agency to help pay for hardening the facility and other security-related activities. According to JFNA, only 45 percent out of more than 3,000 grant applicants that FEMA reviewed were able to be funded in 2021. As a committee member, Higgins began his remarks by stating that “ensuring that our homeland is secure and our Jewish brothers and sisters are safe is vital to our nation’s success and our foreign relations.” He called the grant program “a great example, providing both resources and training in case of a physical or pending threat,” and said that as a former police officer with 12 years of SWAT experience, “I am very familiar with the fact that every second counts.” He noted that Colleyville “shouldn’t have happened in the first place” as the suspect should not have been permitted to travel to the U.S., given his history of radicalism. “The Scripture says the nation that stands against Israel, stands against itself,” Higgins said. “May I say that very simple truth must permeate the homeland security policies and procedures and our determination to maintain law and order within our nation.” He added, “And let me say – domestic and international – any act of aggression or violence toward Israel and its citizens must be handled swiftly.” continued on page 29
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commentary Alabama needs to send a message to Unilever over Ben & Jerry’s boycott By Brandy Gibson Something is rotten in Vermont. Ben & Jerry’s, perhaps the state’s most iconic global brand, decided in July to embrace and participate in the global discriminatory and antisemitic movement to Boycott, Divest from, and Sanction the State of Israel. Alabama should reject the hatred at the core of Ben & Jerry’s decision and the deceit proffered by Unilever officials, by selling off any and all public holdings in the London-based conglomerate. The values we hold dear in Alabama demand that we stand up to the BDS movement and companies that are aiding and abetting bigots that reject Israel’s existence as a Jewish state and seek to destroy it through economic warfare. Our state already prohibits state contracts with any companies that boycott Israel, and in October, Senator Tommy Tuberville joined several of his colleagues on the Senate Agriculture Committee urging Unilever’s CEO to “use your authority to reverse Ben & Jerry’s decision.” Now, public officials responsible for protecting the public pension funds of state employees, state police officers, educators and other public servants must take action. Under pressure from political extremists, Ben & Jerry’s put its Israeli licensee in a no-win situation: conspire with the company to violate Israeli law by selling to some Israelis but not all, or lose its license. Unilever knows that when Ben & Jerry’s Israeli licensee refused to conspire with the company to discriminate that all sales in Israel would end. It knows that Ben & Jerry’s corporate leadership believes Unilever is being “deceitful” by proclaiming that the ice cream brand will continue to be sold in Israel. Israeli law does not allow for discrimination and Ben & Jerry’s is not above the law. Alabamians won’t stand for that, and statements to the contrary could potentially violate federal regulations on securities as evidenced by a letter signed by several members of the Senate Banking
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Unilever Canada sign on their head office in Toronto, Canada.
Committee recently sent to Securities and Exchange Commission Chairman Gary Gensler. Shockingly for a global conglomerate with $61 billion in annual sales across 190 countries, Unilever has not reversed the boycott, nor has it acknowledged that its brand is imperiling contractual relationships with a majority of states — including Alabama. But it can’t hide for much longer. In just the last four months, New York, Texas, Arizona, Illinois and New Jersey have begun selling off hundreds of millions of dollars in Unilever stock held in each state’s public pension funds. They are among the 33 states which have measures in force allowing for companies to be held accountable for participating in the BDS movement against Israel. Alabama is invested in Israel through its bond holdings. Alabama law prohibits contracting with entities that boycott Israel. While, like New York, the measure does not prohibit investing in such entities, divesting continued from page 28 >> Higgins state funds from Unilever would reflect both the will of the people and The Forward’s coverage indicated that it was “unclear what part of would be in the state’s interest because it is far too risky to remain investScripture Higgins was referencing,” but Christian supporters of Israel ed in a company that publicly lies to investors to protect its bottom line routinely invoke Gen. 12:3, God’s promise to Abraham that “I will bless and damages the Israeli economy, and therefore harms Alabama’s investthose that bless thee and curse those that curse thee,” which extends to ments. It’s time for our state to take action. the treatment of all of the Children of Israel, and that not just individuals Unilever should face a choice: accept the reputational and financial but nations are judged by that standard. damage of trafficking in hatred, or reverse the decision of its wayward Through a spokesperson, Higgins told Southern Jewish Life that “any- subsidiary. one who’s ever read the KJV Bible clearly understands that Israel and her Two years ago, and before becoming a publicly traded company, Airbnb people are forever anointed by God, and any nation that stands against flirted with the BDS movement and briefly restricted which Israelis could Israel stands against itself… I condemn antisemitic attacks against list their homes for rent and which could not. Ultimately, the company America’s Jewish community just as I condemn antisemitic acts against changed course and its corporate reputation has been largely repaired. our ally Israel. Both issues, though variant in nature, are deserving of Unilever can do the same, but first it must acknowledge the problem by Congress’ attention.” ending its public deception. Until it does, the people of Alabama should At the hearing, Higgins appealed for cooperation across the aisle on be assured that its public pension funds are not supporting “deceitful” policies that would allow “our friends, communities, churches, syna- and anti-Israel corporate policies. gogues and places of worship (to) peaceably gather.” Pastor Brandy Gibson is the Alabama State Director of Christians United He then asked the rabbis about their relationship with local law enfor Israel. forcement. “Historically, the Jewish community is very close with local law enforcement and the Thin Blue Line,” but he noted how the last couple of years have been difficult for police forces with anti-police demonstrations and legislation. He continued, “I ask for your reassurance that the Jewish community stands solid with law enforcement professionals The South’s Most Comprehensive — compassionate, strong and courageous law enforcement across the Weekly Jewish News Email country. Would you agree that that’s your position?” Higgins told SJL that as a cop, “I was saying thank you” for “the Jewish To Subscribe, send an email to community’s well-established support of and respect for the police.” subscribe@sjlmag.com The Forward framed the exchange as requesting a pledge for “Jewish loyalty to police.”
This Week In Southern Jewish Life
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community The Pensacola Jewish Federation will have a Purim carnival on March 6, from 12:15 to 2 p.m., at CLA Creative Learning Academy. Gemiluth Chassodim in Alexandria will have a screening of “Bombshell: The Hedy Lamarr Story,” how the well-known Jewish actress was also an inventor that developed a radio-controlled guidance system that formed the basis of WiFi, Bluetooth and cell phone technology. The screening will be Feb. 23 at 7 p.m. The Jackson-based Goldring/Woldenberg Institute of Southern Jewish Life announced that its annual Education Conference will take place online, June 26 and 27. The conference is for educators, volunteers and parents at congregations throughout its 13-state region, especially those using the ISJL standardized curriculum for religious schools. Last year, about 65 congregations were using the curriculum, and those congregations also receive the services of ISJL program associates. Emily Aronoff of Dr. Emily Celebrates will be the keynote speaker at the conference. The N.E. Miles Jewish Day School in Birmingham will have Pop of Art on Feb. 27 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., to view the school’s 2022 art gallery. Signups are required as four family units will be permitted every 30 minutes, and masks are required. Birmingham’s Temple Emanu-El will honor Lynda Gutcheon on her retirement, at the 5:45 p.m. service on Feb. 25. She joined as interim director of education for one year, and stayed in that position for four years. Josh Parshall, historian at the Institute of Southern Jewish Life, has been updating the Encyclopedia of Southern Jewish Communities. On March 1 at 11 a.m. there will be a program to explore changes to the Mississippi entries, and what else the encyclopedia offers, on the ISJL Facebook page. The Birmingham Jewish Federation’s Young Jewish Leadership Program announced its inaugural participants, including Todd Doobrow, Isa Dorsky, Alex Grodner, Kent Haines, Hirshel Hall, Sarah Kunin, Josh Lourie, Andrew Miller, Aaron Nelson, Andrew Newcomb, Andrew Petrofsky, Rachel Petrofsky, Nadav Raviv, Evan Rhodes, Danielle Rosenbaum, Mark Schaeffer, Sarah Schaeffer, Carlie Stein Somerville and Hillary Weiss. They will participate in a 14-month program which will culminate in a trip to Israel. Upon their return, they will serve on a board or committee of a Jewish organization in the community. Beth Israel in Gulfport is launching a February Gulf Coast Mezuzah Campaign, 22 for 2022, to provide mezuzahs to 22 households that are not yet observing the mitzvah of mezuzah. Those interested in sponsoring a mezuzah for someone, receiving a mezuzah or having existing mezuzahs checked should contact Rabbi Akiva Hall. The scholar in residence weekend with Benzy Kogen in Shreveport, postponed from January because of Omicron, has been rescheduled for the weekend of April 8. A schedule of events will be released closer to the date. Birmingham’s Temple Beth-El Sisterhood will hold NYC in B’ham, a virtual tour of the Tenement Museum in New York. The tour will be about the Rogarshevsky family experience, exploring their home and experience in nearby garment factories. The tour will be March 13 at 3:30 p.m. The Jackson-based Institute of Southern Jewish Life will have an online Purim program with comedian Dave Goldstein, March 10 at 7 p.m. The live Zoom is available for participating communities. Women’s Philanthropy at the Jewish Federation of Greater Atlanta is doing a Journey to Montgomery and New Orleans from March 20 to 23, exploring the civil rights movement and the history of the Jewish South. 30
February 2022 • Southern Jewish Life
community
Amid anxiety, antisemitism study may have silver lining South and elsewhere in the U.S. have A jarring new study on antisemitism may in- enjoyed for decades. clude a silver lining. One in Four Targeted That’s how Dov Wilker, Southeast regional Among other findings, the study director for the American Jewish Committee, showed: sees the results of a recent survey his national • 90 percent of American Jews think organization did on what he and many others antisemitism is a problem in the Unitsee as growing hostility and hatred toward Jews ed States today. in the United States. • Approximately one in four (24 The results from Wilker’s Southern region, percent) American Jews has been the which includes Alabama, Mississippi, Louisitarget of antisemitism over the past 12 ana, Tennessee, Georgia, North Carolina and months. South Carolina, do not differ significantly from • Approximately four out of every the national data. 10 American Jews (39 percent) have Jews throughout the South, like American changed their behavior out of fear of Jews in general, believe antagonism toward Jews antisemitism. is increasing. Many have personally witnessed • Four in ten Americans of all backor been the target of antisemitism and some grounds (41 percent) have personally have become inhibited about expressing their witnessed an antisemitic incident in the last 12 Jewish identity publicly. months. These are serious and significant trends, • More than 80 percent of both Jews and the and represent a departure from the relatively U.S. general public consider anti-Zionism —as comfortable and hate-free lives that Jews in the represented by the statement “Israel has no right By Richard Friedman
to exist” — to be antisemitic. These findings were most recently underscored by the Jan. 15 hostage-taking incident at a Texas synagogue. “We are breathing a deep sigh of relief that
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community all of the hostages were safely rescued at Congregation Beth Israel,” said Wilker. “This is yet another reminder that the Jewish community is on edge because of the rise of antisemitism.”
Three Causes The American Jewish Committee attributes the dramatic increase in hostility and hatred toward Jews to three broad causes: the growth and growing prominence of the radical right, which harbors antisemitic attitudes and has a growing Internet presence; Islamic radicals who promote hatred of Jews and Israel; and far left groups that demean Israel at every turn, singling out the Jewish state for hostility and criticism that is often unfair and inaccurate. In addition, history shows that antisemitism tends to increase at stressful political, social and economic times — all of which the U.S. is facing today. People who are angry and feel disenfranchised often look for a scapegoat. Frustration caused by the Covid pandemic coupled with the radioactive political divisiveness coursing through the country has put the U.S. in an emotional straitjacket, and there are signs, especially on social media, of growing scapegoating of Jews. In a recent op-ed, Wilker wrote “Sadly, 26 percent of Jewish people who live in the South have avoided in the last 12 months publicly wearing, carrying, or displaying items that might help people identify them as Jewish.”
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February 2022 • Southern Jewish Life
Through the fog of it all, though, Wilker, a seasoned Jewish community leader, sees a possibility. The study showed that about two of three Americans actually know Jews but that a third don’t, something Wilker sees as fertile ground for both his organization and himself personally. The American Jewish Committee study also revealed a correlation between levels of antisemitism and lack of interaction with Jews. “Put simply, we want people to know more Jews,” said Wilker. “If someone knows at least one Jewish person and has a relationship with that person, their level of antisemitism tends to drop dramatically.” He pointed to a recent news story on a project in Germany that could serve as a model. The story, which ran in the Wall Street Journal, was headlined, “‘Meet a Jew’ Program Aims to Tackle Rising Anti-Semitism in Germany” and described the project as “a new program that seeks to fight stereotypes by inviting some Germans to meet Jews for the first time.” Wilker, a veteran American Jewish Committee leader, is capitalizing on this survey finding by displaying his own Jewish identity more publicly than in the past. Speaking at a rally against antisemitism sponsored by the Birmingham Jewish Federation last June, Wilker explained that he now wears a kippah regularly, not only to be identified visibly as a Jew but to create conversations, particularly with those who’ve never met a Jew. As he explained in his article, “While it is a religious practice, it is an easy identifier so that people will know that I am Jewish. My kippah serves as an educational opportunity to the non-Jewish community to inquire about Judaism — our practices, rituals, history and culture, all of which is infused by 2,000 years as a diaspora community.”
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Leaving the JCC in a good place Leslie Fischman stepping down as executive director after navigating major expansion, Covid challenges From hurricanes to pandemics, New Orleans has the ability to throw curveballs into plans. When Leslie Fischman steps down as executive director of the New Orleans Jewish Community Center in the near future, she will have stayed a little longer than she planned. A national search is underway for her successor, and she has agreed to remain until the position is filled. She will still be around after she retires, as she has three grandchildren in the nursery school; next year it will be all four. Fischman started at the JCC in 1997 as the special events and fundraising director, shortly after a major renovation was completed. After seven years, she became assistant executive director under Arlene Barron for seven years. Fischman became executive director in March 2011. Noting that seven is her lucky number, she figured on being executive director for seven years, and then retiring. Instead, she stayed for 11 years, because in 2015 the agency embarked on a major capital campaign to expand the facility. “Every inch of space in this building was being utilized and crowded,” she said. The $9 million campaign, the largest in the JCC’s history, added 14,000 square feet to the Uptown location, along with the Oscar J. Tolmas Aquatics Complex and enhancements to the Metairie location. The expansion included a youth activities center and an indoor pool, which they never had previously.
Serving the Hamantaschen at the Purim Adloyada in 2020 The renovation “modernized the building, it gave us more space, we have an area where you can sit and work on your laptop while you are waiting on your kid.” Programming at the JCC has continued to expand, in a goal “to be the town square of the Jewish community, where all are welcome,” she said. They engage all ages, “from 1 to 101.” The JCC has focused on “more family engagement, more intergenerational engagement” and offering “the best cultural programs that we can.” But Covid “did slow us down with certain programs.” When Covid hit, the JCC had its all-time high in membership units, but with the pandemic “we took a dive and a pause.” She decided to stay
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community on through the end of the Covid crisis, “to get us on a good track” and hand over a strong agency to her successor. When she took over after Barron retired, “the Center was in a very good place, so it was easy for me to pick up and keep going, and that’s how I want to leave it for the next director.” As Covid moves from a pandemic to something that hasn’t completely gone away, “we are figuring out how to work with Covid.” She said they have been taking a deliberate approach toward reinstituting programs, especially family programs. The nursery school was operating in pods as the students are too young to be vaccinated. “That has prevented us from doing larger gatherings,” Fischman said. But as 2021 came to a close and restrictions loosened, they were still able to have some major programs. Close to 300 attended a Chanukah concert with the Maccabeats, a total that could easily have gone higheer,
Book burial planned all over New Orleans In Jewish tradition, books with God’s name have to be buried instead of thrown out when no longer usable. Gates of Prayer in Metairie has “hundreds” of books that need to be buried, and Rabbi David Gerber said it is far too many for their cemetery “without undergoing a significant excavation.” The congregation is inviting members to take old prayer books home and bury the books in their yards, or keep them for their own use. A cart is available this month with books and the instruction to “take as many as you like.” On March 20, the congregation will have a community Zoom to bury books together in the various locations, in a service led by the congregation’s rabbis.
but “we wanted to keep some social distancing.” A Walter Isaacson talk drew over 200, and some traditional JCC holiday events were held as drive-through celebrations during the year. Fischman said she is optimistic that more programs will open up as 2022 moves along. She noted that people are starting to go back to the gym, and they are expanding their group fitness offerings. Pool hours have been extended because more people want to do lap swimming. The recent Center Celebration was also reworked to be a non-event — neither in person nor virtual, but a straight-up appeal for support. She said “people have been very generous and we have been very successful.” Ironically, “my main job when I started was to run the Center Celebration,” Fischman noted. “My last year, I didn’t have an event.” One item she says she did not accomplish to her satisfaction has been the need to increase the JCC’s endowment funds. And even with the major expansion, “there is still more work to do,” she said. Recently, the front entrance was reworked for accessibility and security. In the nursery school, they are trying to renovate one or two classrooms each year. “It has been a great journey. I’ve enjoyed it,” she said, but “it’s time for new blood to keep moving us forward.” Board Chair Aimee Bain said she “cannot say enough about Leslie’s unwavering dedication to the J over the past two and a half decades and her steadfast leadership as executive director since 2011.” She mentioned the “immensely successful” capital campaign and said that “even in the face of adversity, most recently evidenced by the one-two punch of Covid and Hurricane Ida, Leslie guides with the exclusive focus of preserving our Jewish mission and making the J a welcoming place for all generations to learn, play and enjoy.”
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February 2022 • Southern Jewish Life
Embrace the Spirit of
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What’s your plan? Seniors who live independently faced impossible challenges due to the pandemic. How does that change your planning for the future? By Kim Nonenmacher Seniors in our community had an exceptionally difficult year. Those living independently faced new challenges. They couldn’t rely on the usual support from visiting family and friends. They were isolated and managed their household tasks unassisted. Seniors with caregivers worried that such essential help was actually putting them at risk. Even with recommended precautions, seniors struggled to access the care they needed while protecting themselves from Covid-19.
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Seniors in Isolation While isolation and social distancing helped seniors avoid coronavirus, it exposed them to unforeseen dangers. Many seniors faced interruptions to their normal diets, social habits, and even medications. Such isolation also meant that no one was noticing small changes in physical limitations, health concerns, or safety issues. Without early identification of new challenges, seniors couldn’t access the appropriate treatments, therapies, or medication. Their physical and mental health suffered. Mood changes, anxiety, depression, and withdrawal impacted many seniors, especially those who live independently. Caregivers, too, felt helpless and stressed while trying to find adaptations and solutions to an impossible situation. Many of our client families felt that the pandemic exacerbated underlying issues they were long ignoring. Others chose to remove their loved ones from care facilities for fear of the virus. While much of our life might ‘return to normal’ once we reach herd immunity, the pandemic shone a light on many of the unique challenges seniors face, pandemic or not. What can you do for yourself or your loved ones?
What’s Your Plan? Aging independently is what many seniors hope for in their golden years. There are steps you can take to help yourself or your loved ones live with dignity at any age. Below you’ll find our tips for how to make independent living safer for seniors. When you’re making your plan, don’t forget about the importance of mental health care. If you or a senior you know are struggling, especially those experiencing prolonged isolation, consider speaking with a JFS mental health professional. In Greater New Orleans, call (504) 831-8475 or email jfs@jfsneworleans.org.
Five Ways to Preserve Senior Independence There are some key areas in which you can encourage senior independence, lower fall risks, and maintain a senior’s ability to remain independent and safe in their own homes. Understanding cost of care: Step back and look at your present situation, now for just a moment, reflect on the change a health issue or injury could present. Will these new needs require additional help in the home? February 2022 • Southern Jewish Life
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Temporary placement for rehabilitation? Assisted Living? Or Long Term Care solutions? Each option presents different financial burdens, and having prior knowledge of insurance benefits, policies, and cost of services in your area is your best protection. Support Physical Health: Declining physical health has a great impact on maintaining a senior’s desire for independent living. Identifying health issues early may offer the chance for treatments, therapy, and diet changes to improve their lifestyle. All seniors should have regular MD visits, for new-onset symptoms or chronic illnesses. Many communities offer Health Screening Fairs; these are particularly helpful for those with diabetes, heart disease, pulmonary issues, or issues with blood pressure. Both health care prevention and management are equally important. Mental and Cognitive Health: Seniors often hide or deny changes related to alertness for fear it will interrupt their current independent living situation. Caregivers, relatives, and friends should take note when a senior suddenly exhibits anxiety with everyday events or activities. Mood changes and depression may also be a sign that some cognitive changes are happening. Studies show changes in mental alertness may cause them to isolate themselves and communicate less frequently. This withdrawal may cause new health care concerns to go undetected. Do not assume that all behavior changes are related to a mental decline, medications improperly dispensed or missed doses could be at the root of some of these issues. Home Safety — Risks and Preventions: Their goal is independent living in their home. The conditions in the home may require a few small changes to improve safety and prevent injuries from occurring. Have an open conversation to identify any safety concerns that are present, and explain some options for a better environment. If the goal furthers independence, then resistance may be minimal. Cluttered areas, loose rugs, extension cords, and poor lighting increase the risk for falls. Bathroom safety features such as ramps, grab bars, slip-proof adhesives, etc. can easily be obtained and installed. Personal Medical Alert System: Installing a Lifeline Medical Alert System can offer an extra layer of protection for the senior living alone. This system provides 24/7 access to assistance for any emergency. A personal help button will send a signal to connect with a monitoring center that will summon help on your behalf. The Lifeline system provides many features, fall detection, GPS mobile, or in-home service. Independent living with peace of mind, legal and financial matters, who to trust, and how to make transitions: JFS’s Senior Services staff can assist with all of these. If you’re ready to make a plan, get in touch. We’re here to answer your questions and guide you as you make this journey with elderly family members. Call (504) 831-8475 or email jfs@jfsneworleans.org. Kim Nonenmacher is Senior Services Manager at Jewish Family Service of Greater New Orleans.
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Right at Home provides care and education Right at Home launched as a non-medical senior home care provider, and a few years ago, added skilled nursing. Green said they are happy to provide education and advice to patients as well as their families. “Early on, we can consider whether the patient’s home will continue to meet their needs as those needs change,” he said. “Together we can evaluate the safety and accessibility of the home and determine if modifications could help.” While it is sometimes best to move to a skilled nursing facility or other supportive living environment, most patients prefer to receive care in their own homes. “The ‘house call’ has been making a comeback, most notably among older patients,” said Green. “In-home care agencies can provide skilled nursing services and referrals for medical equipment.” Nonmedical in-home caregivers assist with personal care, such as bathing and dressing. They can grocery shop; prepare nutritious meals, provide transportation; help coordinate doctor appointments and provide health care reminders. “Professional in-home care also supports the well-being of family,” said Green. “These services allow them to spend more time focusing on their relationship and things that are meaningful in life.” Right at Home employs skilled, licensed, trained caregivers and software to help match them with those they are providing care for based on geography, level of care needed as well as other factors. They are also seeking to hire more qualified caregivers. “Of course, the human element is always in the equation,” said Green. “It is our hope that our caregivers and our seniors become friends.”
By Lee J. Green Right at Home not only provides in-home care for seniors in Birmingham, Huntsville and Tuscaloosa, but they also educate patients and their family about benefits as well as how in-home care might best fit their needs. Last year, Right at Home launched a new website devoted to understanding and getting as much benefit as possible from one’s long-term care insurance. The new website — www.rahllc.com — complements the company’s main website www.rightathome.net and provides helpful education about long-term insurance. They will also offer a free policy review and assessment. “We can look at their policies and let them know what they have to work with. It some cases we’ve helped them get more reimbursement than they thought they could get,” said Right at Home Co-Owner Beau Green. “We’re in the business of care and we have a great deal of experience working with long term health care insurance. We’ve found that many people don’t use all of the benefits they are entitled to.” Beau and his wife, Rachel, started Right at Home senior care after experiencing first-hand the impact home care can have on family. “We both have had family members who have suffered from memory loss and we understand how difficult it can be on the whole family,” said Beau Green, who opened Right at Home 2011 in Birmingham. They also have offices in Huntsville, Decatur and Tuscaloosa. “But through all of this we gained an appreciation of the rewards excellent home care can bring to a family,” he said.
For Manny,
MENDING HIS
HEART
was a very sensitive issue. Manny was born with a congenital heart defect requiring several surgeries, which is fairly common. What’s unique is that Manny has sensory sensitivities that can cause stress, anxiety and overwhelming feelings. Through Children’s of Alabama’s Sensory Pathway, Manny’s Child Life Specialist, Noelle, was able to help him cope with the stress and scary feelings about his surgery. She was with him every step of the way, making the experience less stressful for him.
Manny Tetralogy of Fallot Patient
To learn more visit ChildrensAL.org/heart
February 2022 • Southern Jewish Life
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senior life
Town Village adjusts to keep residents safe, connected By Lee J. Green
X Ambassadors
Jon Cleary and the Absolute Monster Gentlemen, Sweet Crude, John Boutte, Big Sam’s Funky Nation, AsheSon, New Orleans Klezmer Allstars, Greg Hicks and Friends, Ben Kessler, Tiffany Pollack and Company, Electric Yat String Quartet, Duo Louisiane featuring Glenn Hartman and Washboard Chaz, and a Stephen Sondheim tribute with Jordan Lawrence.
Tickets and Sponsorship Information at Gatesfest.org 38
February 2022 • Southern Jewish Life
The Town Village senior living facility in Vestavia has always been about community and keeping seniors active. Through modifications, an enhanced focus on technology learning and Covid-19 precautions, Town Village continued to keep that community strong. “We made some adjustments so that we could keep everyone safe, active and connected,” said Town Village Marketing Director Desiree Soriano. “We worked with the guidelines and made a big commitment as a community. We’ve learned a lot and I know there are some things that we’ll continue to do” after the pandemic is over. Soriano said the staff developed some entertaining social programming and exercise classes via Zoom. They also had a lot of one-on-one sessions with residents to teach them how to use video conferencing technology to stay connected within the community and with their families. “Before we might have gone with residents to a museum or the symphony” or brought in an entertainer, she said. “We were still able to do fitness classes, museum, zoo tours and other entertainment” via Zoom and other online communications. She said they helped residents to learn about online grocery and meal delivery. “We also did a lot of Face Time and Zoom tours with prospective residents and their families” who couldn’t make it to the community for an in-person tour,” said Soriano, adding that they have had vaccines and tests available for current as well as prospective residents. Town Village kept its award-winning dining offerings, with some adjustments for safety and slightly modified hours. They also purchased some large partitions and utilized social distancing in their spacious ballroom upstairs for some live social events. “We still have regular movie screenings, but we would add screenings to keep a limited capacity,” said Soriano. The community also enhanced its commitment to cleanliness and Covid safety awareness. Soriano said Town Village’s resident referral program was strong in 2021 and the residents gave the community very high marks on its satisfaction survey. “We’re all in this together. Our residents have been very receptive and mindful to the changes, and we can’t say enough about the dedication of our staff,” she said.
senior life
Overcoming the Reluctance Tips to Help Aging Parents and Loved Ones Accept Your Help By Rachel Palmer The scenario of an aging loved one struggling to remain independent and “not become a burden” is all too familiar. While understandable, the drive for independence can result in a common and difficult problem — aging parents resisting the help they need. However, research has shown that the best strategy to get your loved ones to accept help is to emphasize that it can actually help to extend their independence. Aging in place is the newer concept of assisting seniors with remaining in their homes, and/or higher level retirement communities, with as much of their independence as possible, for as long as possible- and in some cases, forever. This is done largely by putting a variety of supports in place; this can include items like supportive devices — an emergency alert button, bathroom grab bars, bed rails, etc.; working with a physician to get home health established, especially if a loved one has had a recent fall or medical change; and hiring private caregivers for help with things ranging from activities of daily living such as dressing, bathing, toileting, to running to the grocery store/pharmacy/beauty salon/doctor, to accompanying them to lunch with a friend. Some common examples of assistance that seniors resist the most are: decisions about whether to continue driving, getting needed home health care, and getting assistance with household chores like cooking, shopping and cleaning. Top tips to help overcome aging loved ones’ resistance to needed help: • Determine which family members should participate in the conversation with your parents/loved ones; we don’t want our loved ones to feel overwhelmed or ganged up on. • If a parent/loved one has dementia, it may be best to consult with their physician for some specific recommendations on how to handle a conversation. • Emphasize that accepting help can maintain their self-sufficiency and allow them to continue to live independently. • Acknowledge their fears and concerns, and discuss what might ease their minds. • Be sure to start slowly with caregiving and other professionals entering the home — even if you know that they need many hours of help; Prepare caregivers and any healthcare professionals with your loved ones’ likes and dislikes and for possible resistance. • Assure your loved ones that nothing is set in stone. They are free to have a “trial period” and give feedback after meeting new caregivers/ providers. • Remember that caregivers and home health providers are not “one size fits all”; sometimes it requires more than one person to find that perfect fit. • Maintain firm boundaries; your loved one will likely continually try to change your mind and show you why they do not need assistance. It’s important to remain steadfast and remember your reasons as to why some intervention is necessary. Using these practical strategies with loved ones needing assistance may help your family to reach an agreement on helping them to remain independent, and aging in place, with appropriate support. Rachel Palmer, LMSW, is Business Development Coordinator for Home Care Solutions in New Orleans.
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SJL Online: sjlmag.com February 2022 • Southern Jewish Life
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senior life
counselor’s corner a monthly feature from Collat Jewish Family Services
How to Manage the Stress of Caregiving Caring for an older adult can have many rewards. But it’s a role that can have a significant impact on quality of life, and caregiver burnout, sadly, is all too common. Family members who are actively caring for an older adult often don’t even self-identify as caregivers, making it highly unlikely that they will receive the support they need. Family members are at a higher risk of caregiver burnout when they are: • Forced into the caregiver role • Living with the person they are caring for • Socially Isolated • Facing financial difficulties • Providing constant care without respite • Lacking support and resources If you are a caregiver, you may be so focused on your loved one that you don’t realize that your own health and well-being are suffering. Watch for these signs of caregiver stress: • Feeling overwhelmed or constantly worried • Feeling tired often, even if you are sleeping too much or too little • Becoming easily irritated or angry • Losing interest in activities you used to enjoy • Feeling sad • Suffering from pain or other physical problems The demands of caregiving can create stress for even the most resilient person. That’s why it’s so important to get enough support. Remember, if you don’t take care of yourself, you won’t be able to care for anyone else.
To help manage caregiver stress: Ask for help. Be prepared to ask specifically for what you need help with. Examples may include help with meals or time spent with your loved one so that you may run errands or rest. Recognize and accept your own limitations. It is okay to set boundaries and to seek help when your loved one’s condition has progressed beyond your ability to care for them alone. Join a support group. People in support groups understand what you may be going through and can help validate your feelings. Members of the group can teach you skills in how to deal with difficult situations, and they can link you with valuable resources. Seek social support. Make an effort to stay well-connected with family and friends — and let them know if you need to see or hear from them more often. Practice self-care and keep up with your routine medical appointments. For example, set goals to establish a good sleep routine, find time to be physically active on most days of the week, eat healthy food, and drink lots of water. Get recommended vaccinations and screenings. Share with your doctor that you are providing care for your loved one and the possible strain it has placed on your own health. Seek respite care for your loved one, which will provide you with much-needed breaks. Options in your community may include: In-home respite. Health care attendants come to your home to provide companionship, assistance with bathing, preparing meals, or assisting with medical needs. Adult respite programs. These day programs allow your loved one an opportunity to socialize, participate in stimulating activities and participate in exercise. 40
February 2022 • Southern Jewish Life
senior life
Short-term nursing homes. Some assisted living homes, memory care facilities and nursing homes accept people needing care for short stays while caregivers are traveling or seeking a break. Pam Leonard, LBSW, CDP, is program director of the CJFS CARES respite program, which provides four hours per day of cognitive, social and physical engagement for those affected by dementia and related disorders. Pam is also a facilitator of CJFS’ virtual caregiver support group. To learn more about CARES and caregiver support, contact pam@cjfsbham.org.
Care NOLA provides support when conditions are at their most confusing In this day and age, navigating the intricacies of family and senior care can be a daunting task for families who often find themselves in need of quick and efficient solutions to their individualized concerns. With this in mind, Care NOLA can be a valuable resource to families during this difficult journey. Rachel Lazarus Eriksen, LCSW-BACS, Care NOLA founder and CEO, is a Certified Dementia Practitioner and an Aging Life Care Professional. She graduated from the Tulane University School of Social Work in 2007 and has been working with seniors, adults with disabilities, and their families in various capacities throughout her career as a social worker. She has worked in both the hospital setting and community-based settings, helping seniors and their families navigate their options in real time, as their needs evolve. The sole focus of Care NOLA is to assist clients and families with making the best, informed decisions possible when arranging for the care of their loved ones. Their goal is to save families money and time, while also lowering stress, ultimately allowing for more quality time together. Care NOLA accomplished these goals by helping families navigate their options as their needs evolve, by conducting detailed assessments and offering specialized recommendations for care based on the needs of each individual and family. Some areas where Care NOLA provides assistance are: • Guiding families through difficult conversations and assisting with those conversations • Acting as liaison to families at a distance who need a trusted local professional • Planning and problem-solving • Offering comprehensive assessments, including ADLs and safety concerns • Education and advocacy • Accompanying clients to healthcare or legal appointments • Providing recommendations on Home-Based Services vs. Residential Care Options (pros and cons, affordability, available options, etc.) • Reviewing the roles of Medicare, Medicaid, and Long-Term Care Insurance • Completing applications for Medicaid and Social Security • Assisting with nursing home and assisted living transition and placement • Coordinating ongoing care For each new client, Care NOLA conducts a comprehensive assessment of needs, identifying immediate concerns. Focusing on client resources, urgency and overall goals, solution-based strategies are developed. Care NOLA provides regular client visits to address agreed upon care management activities. Their belief is that consistent communication ensures a great majority of issues are addressed speedily and appropriately. Care NOLA will create and maintain a dedicated communication link across all involved parties, including health care providers, to lower family stress, avoid crises and reduce expenses.
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February 2022 • Southern Jewish Life
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culture “The Snowy Day” changed children’s lit Meridian exhibit shows how Jewish author pioneered diversity through his books
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February 2022 • Southern Jewish Life
In 1962, Ezra Jack Keats authored a children’s book with a main character who “should have been there all along.” Written in the midst of the Civil Rights movement, “The Snowy Day” became the first children’s picture book to feature a Black main character. The Mississippi Arts + Entertainment Experience in downtown Meridian celebrates Keats and the diverse characters he brought to life in its newest exhibition, “Drawn inside the Margins: The Diverse World of Ezra Jack Keats.” The exhibition runs from Feb. 5 to April 16. Considered the grandfather of diversity in children’s literature, Keats came from humble beginnings. The son of Polish Jewish immigrants, he came of age in Brooklyn, N.Y., during the Great Depression. He showed a talent for art at an early age, and one of his most prized possessions was a medal for drawing that was presented to him when he graduated from junior high school. At Thomas Jefferson High School, he won a national student contest run by the Scholastic Publishing Company for his painting of a few hobos warming themselves around a fire. His father worried that he would not be able to make a decent living doing art, but Keats discovered, after his father died the day before his high school graduation, that he kept newspaper clippings of his art awards in his wallet. Keats became an artist with the Works Progress Administration and did backgrounds for Captain Marvel. In 1943 he joined the Army and designed camouflage patterns. Due to antisemitism, he changed his name from Katz to Keats, and became a commercial artist. He studied painting in Paris and did many works in the fine arts, then returned to New York to work as a commercial artist. An editor at Crowell Publishing saw one of his book covers in a store window in 1954 and brought him in to the world of children’s book illustrating, which he had not considered. In 1960 he tried doing his own children’s book, “My Dog is Lost!” featuring a Spanish-speaking child from Puerto Rico who had just moved to New York. That started a pattern of centering his books on minority children and often doing bi-lingual books. He said “The Snowy Day” turned his life around. “None of the manuscripts I’d been illustrating featured any black kids — except for token blacks in the background,” he explained. He was inspired by a series of photos he had clipped from a 1940 issue of Life, where a Black boy was about to get a blood test. “This was the child who would be the hero of
culture my book.” The book won the Caldecott Medal, and he went on to do about 20 more children’s books, including some that followed the main character from “The Snowy Day” through adolescence. Keats died in 1983 after suffering a major heart attack, having written and illustrated 22 picture book classics, illustrating over 85 books authored by others. The Library of Congress counts “The Snowy Day” as a book that has shaped America and is the most checked-out book in the 125 year history of the New York Public Library. The Ezra Jack Keats Foundation supports public schools and libraries around the country. They also present the EJK Book Award, which is judged each year in New Orleans and presented in Hattiesburg each April as part of the Fay B. Kaigler Children’s Book Festival. Keats’ original artwork is part of the Keats Archive at the de Grummond Children’s Literature Collection, one of the Special Collections at the University of Southern Mississippi. The collection in Hattiesburg also houses the works of Jewish authors H.A. and Margret Rey, creators of the “Curious George” series. The exhibit contains over 35 of Keats’ works. Laura Hester, director of communications for The MAX, said they wanted to highlight the back story of Keats’ important books. This exhibition focuses on the books Keats authored and illustrated, and more specifically the books that feature diversity. “The beauty of Keats’ illustrations lies not only in the symbolic message but also in his technique,” said Stacey Wilson, Curator of Exhibitions at The MAX. “I never realized the illustrations were collages, and to see them in person – they are amazing.”
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While the Montclair Run at Birmingham’s Levite Jewish Community Center has been a tradition for over 40 years, for the last 12 it has been named in memory of Sam Lapidus, and raises funds to benefit the Alabama Center for Childhood Cancer and Blood Disorders. Last month, the LJCC presented a check for over $10,000 from the 2021 run, bringing the 12-year total from the run and Mesch AZA’s Jam4Sam concerts to over $100,000. The check was accepted from Katie Hausman Grace (center) by Pediatric Nurse Practitioner Meredith Weintraub (left), who is an LJCC member, and Children’s Community Development Coordinator Kelly Markert (right). February 2022 • Southern Jewish Life
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Photo by Mary Fehr/Oh Honey Photo Co. maryfehr.com
Vegan Crab Cakes
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2901 CROWNE RIDGE DRIVE BIRMINGHAM, AL 35243 205.970.0344 OVERTONVILLAGE@CROWNEAPARTMENTS.COM
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Madly In Love Bouquet with Red Roses
Ingredients: 2 cans Hearts of Palm 1 can Garbanzo Beans 4 Tbsp Garbanzo Liquid 1/4 cups Vegan Mayo 1 tsp Worcestershire Sauce 1 tsp Lemon Juice 1 tsp Dijon Mustard 1/2 cups Green Onions 2 tsp Kelp 2 tsp Seaweed 1 Tbsp Parsley Juniper 1 1/2 tsp Old Bay 3811 Clairmont Ave 1/2 tsp Sea Salt Birmingham 1 tsp Garlic Powder (205) 777.3112 1 cup Bread Crumbs juniperbham.com Directions: Drain Hearts of Palm and dry. Place in food processor and pulse until just broken up. Remove. Place garbanzo beans into food processor and pulse until crumbled. Remove. Place garbanzo liquid in food processor and blend liquid until it turns into a foam. Remove top from food processor and add all ingredients except hearts of palm, garbanzo beans and breadcrumbs. Add breadcrumbs to the garbanzo beans and Hearts of Palm mix. Mix with rubber spatula or spoon until breadcrumbs, Hearts of Palm and garbanzo beans are lightly mixed. Make a well in the center and add your liquid mix to it. Lightly mix until everything is well incorporated.
Bengal Merchant Ingredients: 2 dash Xocaltil Mole Bitters ¾ oz lemon
5 oz matcha orgeat 2 oz Ford’s Gin
Directions: Shaken, single-strained into chilled coupe.
The Juniper By Lee J. Green
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February 2022 • Southern Jewish Life
The Juniper has bloomed in Forest Park and the neighborhood cocktail bar and restaurant that opened in December strives to offer a unique experience. “I want people to walk in and feel like they are being transported to another place,” said Alden Williams, who co-owns The Juniper with Blake Posey and Ali Randall. “We were influenced by the English countryside and wanted it to be like being in a bright, fun Wes Anderson movie. It is Victorian and art deco, but also playful and modern.” Williams works in the University of Alabama at Birmingham’s Office of Global Engagement. She, Randall and Posey connected in 2020 and they discussed a vision for The Juniper, inspired by both Williams’ travels, as well as the neighborhood. The Juniper’s whimsical botanical interior and lush outdoor garden
community >> Rear Pew
continued from page 46
catching it leaves him susceptible to turning the ball over. Players could be torn between their obligation to not let their kippah hit the ground and their obligation to their teammates, who they should do unto as they’d want done unto them. Believe it or not, there’s no definitive rabbinic ruling on this anywhere in the NCAA rulebook. Lastly, if two kippahs land on the court at the same time, the players must ensure they get the correct kippah back, hearkening to the biblical verse, “am I my brother’s kippah?” Doug Brook hit the game-winning jump shot in a 3-on-3 tournament at Kibbutz Hanaton during USY Pilgrimage. He then retired. For almost several more laughs, listen to the five-star rated Rear Pew Mirror podcast at anchor.fm/rearpewmirror or on any major podcast platform. For exclusive online content, follow facebook.com/rearpewmirror. For past columns, visit http://rearpewmirror.com/.
Baton Rouge Jewish Film Festival rescheduled to March After postponing from January due to the Omicron surge, the Baton Rouge Jewish Film Festival announced new dates for March. “A Crime on the Bayou,” the story of Gary Duncan, a Black teen from Plaquemines Parish, and Jewish attorney Richard Sobol, who leaves a prestigious Washington law firm and volunteers in New Orleans, taking on a frivolous case against Duncan, will screen on March 9 at 7 p.m. “Honeymood” will be on March 12 at 7 p.m., and on March 13 there will be a double feature, with “Born in Auschwitz” at 1 p.m. and “The Light Ahead” at 3:30 p.m. For those who had already purchased tickets to the January screenings, the tickets have been automatically transferred to the new dates. Those who want an email with the updated information, or who can not attend on the new dates, should contact the Manship Theatre ticket office. The VIP Movie Club is still available, with free tickets to opening night until the show sells out, and $2 off the other screenings.
>> Juniper
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courtyard are reminiscent of ornate gin palaces popular during the Victorian era. Posey created the gin cocktail originals with those places in mind. They also let customers create their own gin and tonic from selections of gin, fevertree and tonics. “Gin is one of the oldest spirits in existence,” said Posey. “It is classic. We wanted to honor tradition and take it into new directions.” The Juniper also features wines, craft beers and hard seltzers. Construction on The Juniper started in August and shortly after, its owners were introduced to Thyme Randle. He had worked as a sous chef for several known restaurants in Birmingham, but he hadn’t had the opportunity to design his own menu. Randle is vegan and created a recipe for vegan crab cakes using marinated hearts of palm. Some of the other “sharable plate,” kosher-style creations on the menu include edamame hummus, wings, olives, a mixedgreens salad and bread pudding. “I use spices and flavors that pair well together and can create something unique,” said Randle. “I feel like food is art and I am an artist. I want people to feel the food, not just taste it.” Randall said The Juniper has already gained a strong following. They have hosted some celebrations inside and on the courtyard, with an expanded catering menu in the works and the launch of brunch service in the near term. “We’ve gotten some great response from our customers… we will continue to evolve The Juniper from our ideas and their feedback. We want this to be a place for the community and a truly unique experience,” she said. February 2022 • Southern Jewish Life
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rear pew mirror • doug brook
Hooping Cough This winter, the Yeshiva University men’s basketball team stomped on every joke about famous Jewish sports legends by ranking number one in the nation in Division III hoops. The Maccabees held the top spot for the entire month of December, until a home loss on Erev New Year’s Eve ended their historic winning streak at 50 games. It was their first loss in over two years, but perhaps it was destiny. After the 49 days of the Omer, the 50th day is Shavuot – the major festival celebrating the receiving of the Torah at Mount Sinai (not the hospital). Also, the biblical jubilee year is every 50 years – the last one being 2017-18, the first time YU ever made it into March Madness. No, they don’t play on Shabbat. Yes, most players wear kippahs on their heads throughout every game – kippahs with a pair of clips built into the inside. Yes, there’s an official kippah provider for the team, because of course there is. Not to doubt the quality of that provider’s wearable wares, but this begs the question of what happens when a player’s kippah falls off during game action. After all, referees stop play when they think there’s a drop of moisture on the floor. What perils might await from an actual object such as a kippah on the floor? Not only how it might harm the players physically, but spiritually. Instead of researching the answer, it’s far more Talmudic (and sillier) to consider and debate the possibilities. At length. Though it’s far more magazine-columnic to do it in 700 words, so this is an abridgement. Remember, a kippah is worn on the head at all times. If a kippah falls on the ground, one traditionally kisses it and puts it back on. But if a kippah falls in the woods and nobody hears it, did they really have a minyan? So, first, what does a player do when his kippah comes off? Stop playing, keep playing, come out of the game, bench tachanun (short or long), etc. The permutations are vast, but column space isn’t, so presume that Beit once again defeated Beit Shammai, March Madness Hillel resulting in referees always stopping play is less complex the instant any kippah ever flew the kop. Second, what about the circumstances? than basketball If a kippah is knocked off by an opposing player, regardless of the number of team in the Talmud fouls, it results in a free throw. If it is intentionally knocked off, it’s treated as an intentional foul resulting in two shots. These kippah shots are in addition to any free throws if a normal basketball foul is called. Also, if an opposing player does it intentionally twice in a game, he is ejected and subject to a stern tweet by the Anti-Defamation League. If a kippah is knocked off by a teammate, it’s partially treated as a technical foul. The opposing team gets a free throw, for play being forced to stop, but it isn’t counted as a team or personal foul. Possession returns to whichever team had the ball when the yarmulke was yanked. If a kippah is intentionally knocked off by a teammate, the tzuris in that locker room is punishment enough for such a batted beanie. And if a player steps on a fallen kippah? The only thing worse is if a player steps on a kippah while still on someone’s head. If a player’s kippah is knocked off but the player catches it midair and restores it, no foul is called unless it is deemed intentional. However, this action is often distracting to the player which could impact their play. For example, if a player is dribbling and his kippah starts to come off, continued on previous page 46
February 2022 • Southern Jewish Life
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February 2022 • Southern Jewish Life