Southern Jewish Life, July/August 2023

Southern Jewish Life

July/August 2023

Volume 33 Issue 6

Birmingham, AL 35213

P.O. Box 130052

Southern Jewish Life

Holocaust survivor Anne Levy of New Orleans reacts to seeing the Survivor Torah opened before she adds her letter. Story, page 18.

Southern Jewish Life is expanding!

For years, we have been asked by people outside of our coverage area when we would be doing places like Arkansas, Tennessee, the Carolinas — even Atlanta. Aside from the home of the Dirty Birds (which is well covered by the Atlanta Jewish Times), we had considered many other communities, but that never became a reality under our model of sending the magazine to the entire community in our coverage area.

However, we are introducing a different model in expanding region-wide, with an online Southern Jewish Life Regional Edition, debuting in the next couple of weeks.

The new version is not replacing the Deep South and New Orleans editions that we have been publishing for years, it is an additional edition. However, the new edition will cover the area from Virginia to East Texas, Arkansas to the Carolinas, Kentucky to North Florida… bolstering the Southern in SJL.

(As an aside, as we sometimes do in the summer, this issue is a combined Deep South and New Orleans version — not two separate editions).

The new Regional edition will also be by subscription. With the expanded area, there will be a lot of news and features, and other content, in the Regional edition that is not in our current print versions. To get everything, you will want to subscribe to the new edition. You can go to sjlmag.com/regional-edition, or go to page 47 of this issue for a mail-in form, or a QR code taking you to our subscription page.

We’re excited about the opportunity to bring a wider range of stories to our readers, and to spread some of the stories from this region to a wider audience geographically.

This change comes at a time when the publications business is undergoing

Southern Jewish Life is an independent Jewish periodical. Articles and columns do not necessarily reflect the views of any Jewish institutions, agencies or congregations in our region.

Tuesday: Taco Tuesday and $5 Margaritas

Wednesday: 50% off botttle wine and $6 Wings

Thursday: Ladies night: $3 off for Sushi, $4 House wine and $5 Mojito

Sunday: Sushi Special $11

Maccabi USA leader praises Birmingham Games

I have had the honor of attending many Maccabi competitions around the world. From Israel to Australia to South America, Europe and the JCC Maccabi games around the United States and Canada, I have logged many miles seeing how sports can be a vehicle to help build Jewish identity, especially in our young.

major transitions. There are numerous publications in the Jewish world that are entirely online, and at this point most of the congregations in our coverage area have gone to online bulletins.

all, you’ll get the news immediately, rather than waiting on the printer and the post office to do their respective jobs.

I felt honored to come to Birmingham for the first time and fell in love with not just the city but the people. You have taken Southern hospitality to a new level with your kind and caring approach to the JCC Maccabi Games.

Southern Jewish Life

PUBLISHER/EDITOR

Lawrence M. Brook editor@sjlmag.com

ASSOCI ATE PUBLISHER/ADVERTISING

Lee J. Green lee@sjlmag.com

It would be nice to do the new edition in print, but the industry has changed. For years, our model has been to send the print edition to our entire coverage area, relying on advertisers and, more recently, supporters in the community to keep the presses rolling. Things have changed in the last 20 years and that model has become less feasible for expanding into new areas.

Even if you want to keep receiving the print version, if you are not already on the list for the weekly e-news, please sign up for it. We have a lot of content each week, from breaking stories to things that developed after the print version went to press, to all manner of events around the region.

Led by the Sokol and Helds, your hard-working volunteers were wonderful. They partnered with your outstanding staff, led by Betzy Lynch, to make the 2017 JCC Maccabi games a huge hit. I want to take this opportunity as executive director of Maccabi USA to say thank you on behalf of everyone involved.

Also, you will want to be on our email list if we shift some of our coverage online.

Richard Friedman richard@sjlmag.com

V.P SALES/MARKETING, NE W ORLEANS

Jeff Pizzo jeff@sjlmag.com

At our recent American Jewish Press Association convention in New Orleans, one topic was online versus print, as those of us in print look to see what is sustainable. Print is still highly valued, but one has to be smarter with how to do it.

After the new Regional edition launches, we will use the same model to launch our long-anticipated new magazine, Israel InSight, aimed primarily at the pro-Israel Christian community but accessible to all. It will also be online, by subscription.

I had just returned from the 20th World Maccabiah games in Israel with a U.S. delegation of over 1100, who joined 10,000 Jewish athletes from 80 countries. Back in July the eyes of the entire Jewish world were on Jerusalem and the Maccabiah. This past month with 1000 athletes and coaches from around the world being in Birmingham, you became the focal point. Everyone from the Jewish community and the community at large, including a wonderful police force, are to be commended. These games will go down in history as being a seminal moment for the Jewish community as we build to the future by providing such wonderful Jewish memories.

CREATIVE DIRECTOR Ginger Brook ginger@sjlmag.com

SOCIAL/WEB Emily Baldwein connect@sjlmag.com

JOURNALISM INT ERN Kiara Dunlap

CONTRIBUTING WRITERS

Jed Margolis Executive Director, Maccabi USA

On Charlottesville

As with many industries, higher costs are certainly fueling the discussion. In the past three years, printing and postage have gone up around 30 percent, while advertising was greatly affected by the pandemic.

We are currently looking at how to best serve the areas where we are in print. One option that has been available for years is to receive the Deep South or New Orleans edition online. When a new issue is posted online, we have it linked in our weekly e-news.

Editor’s Note: This reaction to the events in Charlottesville, written by Jeremy Newman, Master of the Alpha Epsilon Pi Theta Colony at Auburn University, was shared by AEPi National, which called it “very eloquent” and praised “our brothers at AEPi Theta Colony at Auburn University and… the leadership they display on their campus.”

If you prefer to read the magazine online and not receive a print copy, email us at subscribe@sjlmag.com. We will also make sure that you are subscribed to our weekly e-news, so you know when a new issue is up. Best of

We also have a few more exciting projects that we are working on and will announce shortly. Also, as we introduce the magazine to several new states, I am making myself available as a speaker for one-time events or weekend programs, details are at larrybrook.com.

Rivka Epstein, Louis Crawford, Tally Werthan, Stuart Derroff, Belle Freitag, Ted Gelber, E. Walter Katz, Doug Brook brookwrite.com

BIRMINGHAM OFFICE

On page 47, you will find ways to sign up for the (free) weekly e-news, request online-only for the magazine, and subscribe to the new Regional edition.

supremacists would like to see pushed back into a corner and made to feel lesser. We stand with and pray for the family of Heather Heyer, who was there standing up to the face of this hate.

We thank you for your continued support of high-quality independent Jewish journalism in the South, where we tell our community’s stories.

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

Lawrence Brook, Publisher/Editor

Program to educate general community about antisemitism

Antisemitism has been around for millennia, but often can still be quite puzzling, especially to those outside the Jewish community.

On Aug. 25, several Jewish agencies in Birmingham will host “Together Against Antisemitism,” an educational development opportunity for the general community. Many companies will be offering credits to their employees for participating, and Continuing Education Units will be available for educators.

White supremacy has been a cancer on our country since its beginning, threatening its hopes, its values, and its better angels. The events that took place in Charlottesville represented the worst of this nation. Those who marched onto the streets with tiki torches and swastikas did so to provoke violence and fear. Those who marched onto the streets did so to profess an ideology that harkens back to a bleaker, more wretched time in our history. A time when men and women of many creeds, races, and religions were far from equal and far from safe in our own borders. A time where Americans lived under a constant cloud of racism, anti-Semitism and pervasive hate. The events that took place in Charlottesville served as a reminder of how painfully relevant these issues are today.

The program will be at the Levite Jewish Community Center. Doors will open at 12:30 p.m. for light refreshments, and the session will be from 1 to 3 p.m. Part of the proceedings will include a conversation between Sheri Falk, news anchor at WVTM-TV, and Dov Wilker, Southeast Regional Director for the American Jewish Committee.

We recognize the essence of the American narrative as a two-century old struggle to rid ourselves of such corners, and allow those in them the seat at the table that they so deserve. It is the struggle to fulfill the promise of the Declaration of Independence, that “all men are created equal… endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights.” We know our work is far from finished, but we know we will not move backwards.

in engaging in the fight against what is considered ‘the world’s oldest hatred’,” said Joyce Shevin, director of the Birmingham Jewish Federation’s Jewish Community Relations Council. The seminar will detail how to recognize manifestations of antisemitism in society, whether in the workplace, political arena, schools or social media.

When men and women, fully armed, take to the streets in droves with swastikas and other symbols of hate, it is a reminder of how relevant the issues of racism and anti-Semitism are today. It is a wake-up call to the work that needs to be done to ensure a better, more welcoming country. But it should not come without a reflection on how far we’ve come.

The tools that can be used to address antisemitism can often be used in confronting other types of hate and discrimination, Shevin noted.

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.

Auburn’s Alpha Epsilon Pi stands with the Jewish community of Charlottesville, and with the Jewish people around the country and around the world. We also stand with the minorities who are targeted by the hate that was on display in Charlottesville. We stand with the minorities of whom these white

America was born a slave nation. A century into our history we engaged in a war in part to ensure we would not continue as one. We found ourselves confronted by the issue of civil rights, and embarked on a mission to ensure the fair treatment of all peoples no matter their skin color. Although we’ve made great strides, it is a mission we’re still grappling with today.

“This program is a powerful opportunity not only to recognize and confront antisemitism, but also to lend support to our neighbors in their fight against intolerance,” said Birmingham Mayor Randall Woodfin. “Birmingham’s legacy is built on tolerance, acceptance and justice for all people, and it’s up to all of us to continue to uphold the values that define us.”

Copyright 2023. 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.

The organizers are looking to reach CEOs, human resources personnel, civic groups, politicians, educators, superintendents, faith leaders and anyone else interested in learning.

“Understanding antisemitism is the first step

The program is free, but all who are planning to attend must register through the LJCC website, bhamjcc.org. The program is funded by the Federation, with support from the JCRC and the Alabama Holocaust Education Center.

America was also born an immigrant country. As early as the pilgrims, many groups and families found in the country the opportunity to plant stakes, chase their future, and be themselves. Few were met with open

Documenting this community, a community we are members of and active within, is our passion. We love what we do, and who we do it for.

agenda

interesting bits & can’t miss events

Avoiding Rosh Hashanah schedule conflicts in Birmingham

Mountain Brook football game, major Museum of Art program shifted to avoid the holy day

With Rosh Hashanah approaching and starting on a Friday night this year, schedule conflicts are inevitable. Birmingham’s Jewish Community Relations Council noted that two big conflicts have been averted, thanks to the responsiveness of the groups involved when the JCRC sent out a reminder about holiday schedules.

In the South, Friday night means high school football. But for Rosh Hashanah this year, Mountain Brook has rescheduled its game for Thursday night, Sept. 14, at Woodlawn. Mountain Brook has by far the highest number of Jewish students in the state, though the proportion in the student body is probably no more than 10 percent.

Amanda Hood, director of student services at Mountain Brook High School, said they would have a meeting with the new athletic director on how to routinely work around significant holiday dates in the community.

“This was a direct result of our JCRC’s strong relationship with Mountain Brook Schools,” said JCRC Director Joyce Shevin. “This is a terrific accommodation, and we are so pleased at how quickly this change was made.”

Another schedule change came from the Birmingham Museum of Art, which is planning a major event connected to the 60th anniversary of the bombing of 16th Street Baptist Church. The attack, which killed four girls, happened on Sept. 15, 1963.

From Sept. 8 to Dec. 2, the museum will show photographer Dawoud Bey’s “Birmingham Project,” symbolically commemorating the four girls, and two boys who were killed later that day during the violence after the bombing. Bey photographed girls, women, boys, and men who currently reside in Birmingham. The subjects represent the ages of the young vic-

tims at the time of their deaths, and the ages they would be were they alive today.

The exhibit also includes a video he assembled of a typical Sunday morning in Birmingham.

The museum invited Bey to give their annual Chenoweth Lecture, in conversation with Birmingham native Imani Perry of Princeton University. Figuring that most major events commemorating the bombing would be on Sept. 15, they originally planned for Sept. 14, the night before Rosh Hashanah.

Museum CEO Graham Boettcher explained that “as it turns out, other people had the same thought,” and the church itself was hosting a Sept. 14 event with Princeton Professor Eddie Glaude. The museum was considering moving its event to Sept. 15, but then the email reminder from the JCRC about the High Holy Days schedule came in “at a critical moment” during the rescheduling discussions, and “I’m happy to report that our Chenoweth Lecture with Dawoud Bey and Imani Perry will take place on the evening of Wednesday, Sept. 13.”

Boettcher shared the JCRC email with colleagues and added the holiday dates to the museum calendar to make sure they are aware for future years. Generally, JCRC distributes calendars that have Jewish holiday dates going three years in advance. For schools in particular, this is to help raise awareness and make it easier when Jewish students request days off for holiday observances. This year, most holidays are Saturday-Sunday, and of the seven traditional work-restricted days, only Yom Kippur falls on a weekday, on Sept. 25.

Photo by Bill Motchan

Members of the American Jewish Press Association celebrate their Rockower Awards for Excellence in Jewish Journalism, given out at the annual Rockower banquet, July 11 at the National World War II Museum in New Orleans. The AJPA had its convention in New Orleans from July 9 to 12. Story, page 6.

Southern Jewish Life receives three Rockower Awards at AJPA convention

Co-hosted national event in New Orleans with Crescent City Jewish News

Southern Jewish Life magazine once again picked up multiple awards in the 42nd annual Simon J. Rockower Awards for Excellence in Jewish Journalism.

The regional publication with offices in Birmingham and New Orleans received three awards in what is regarded as the “Jewish Pulitzers.” The Rockowers were presented on July 11 at the American Jewish Press Association annual convention in New Orleans, and this year the Rockowers set a new record for most entries.

Southern Jewish Life received first place in Excellence for Writing About Sports for “From the Plains to the Promised Land: Auburn Basketball in Israel,” coverage of the Auburn university basketball team’s groundbreaking trip to Israel in August 2022. The coverage was written by editor Larry Brook.

Richard Friedman won second place in Excellence for Writing About Health Care for “Fighting for their Lives,” his profile of Morissa Ladinsky, co-leader of the University of Alabama at Birmingham’s Youth Multidisciplinary Gender Health Team, where she is challenging new Alabama laws restricting treatment of youth who have gender dysphoria. The piece also had a sidebar with the experiences of a

transgender male who grew up in a very small Southern Jewish community.

SJL also received second place among all publications for Excellence in Editorial Writing, for “You are the enemy,” about the lack of outrage when an official with a Muslim self-described civil rights organization referred to most American Jews and mainstream Jewish organizations as “the enemy”; “Say goodbye to the Presbyterian Church (USA),” about how the Jewish community should shun the church because its obsessive anti-Israel activism has crossed the line into overt antisemitism, and “Now what, ADL?” for its admission that its longtime No Place for Hate curriculum for schools had veered off a mainstream path and became “mis-aligned” with ADL’s values, seemingly confirming accusations of critics in Mountain Brook schools the previous year.

As a magazine, for most categories Southern Jewish Life competes in a division with monthly newspapers and magazines, many of which are national in scope, such as Moment, Hadassah, Lilith and the Orthodox Union’s Jewish Action. The editorial award was combined into one division with all publications, including weeklies, wire services and online sites.

El Al expands Florida flights to Israel

Less than a year after El Al Airlines moved its U.S. headquarters from New York to Florida, the airline is expanding its offerings in the region.

More than 100,000 people flew El Al’s Miami to Tel Aviv route in 2022, which the airline said highlighted a need for more flights in Florida. This spring, El Al increased its weekly flights from Miami International Airport to Ben-Gurion International Airport from five to six.

In September, El Al plans to debut direct

flights from Fort Lauderdale to Israel, at first seasonally around the High Holidays in midand late September, and Sukkot, late September into October. By the spring of 2024, El Al intends to have daily service to Israel from the Fort Lauderdale airport.

Mayor of Broward County Lamar Fisher stated that the new El Al service “will help to boost business, tourism and trade opportunities between the Middle East and Broward County.”

Gates of Prayer Brotherhood gets national honors

The Brotherhood from Gates of Prayer in Metairie received two awards during the Men of Reform Judaism’s 100th Anniversary convention in June, held at Temple Beth El in Providence, R.I. The chapter was recognized for Outstanding Social/Interfaith Programs and for Outstanding Service to the Temple Community. Both awards were for Brotherhood’s involvement in the Thanksgiving Interfaith Service with St. Clement of Rome. John Shalett, a past president of the Men of Reform Judaism, and Mike Fein, a member of the MRJ Executive Council, accepted the

awards on behalf of the Gates of Prayer Brotherhood. Pictured here, Andy Chait presents the awards to Mike Fein and John Shalett.

This brings Southern Jewish Life’s cumulative total to 25 Rockowers, having received four last year.

The Forward led the night with 32 Rockowers, while the Jewish Journal of Greater Los Angeles tallied 21. Among magazines, Moment and Jewish Currents each received 15.

In the region, the St. Louis Jewish Light received four awards. The Jewish Herald-Voice of Houston received three, while the Jewish Observer of Nashville and the Atlanta Jewish Times each received two. Additionally, Dave Schechter received second place for Best Freelancer, with pieces for the Atlanta Jewish Times as part of his submission.

The conference was co-hosted by Crescent City Jewish News, headed by AJPA President Alan Smason, and Southern Jewish Life. Smason presented Brook with a Volunteer of the Year award for his work on the convention.

Next year’s convention is tentatively set for Nashville.

HUC honors Millsaps’ Bowley

James Bowley, chair and professor of religious studies at Millsaps in Jackson, was awarded the Graduate Medallion from Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion for over 30 years of scholarship and service to the school as a member of the Board of Governors.The award was presented during graduation ceremonies the weekend of May 19.

Hadassah Shabbat in Baton Rouge

The Baton Rouge Chapter of Hadassah hosted a Hadassah Shabbat at the Unified Jewish Congregation of Baton Rouge on May 19. Members of Hadassah helped lead the service, with music by Charlene Gubitz. Susan Smolinsky, Hadassah Southern Region President, talked about “Hadassah: Past, Present, and Future.” At the Oneg dinner, Hadassah’s Life members and Associates were celebrated and there were videos featuring several programs Hadassah sponsors, Hadassah Medical Organization and its stateof-the-art hospitals, and the youth Aliyah village, Hadassah Neurim. Pictured left to right: Marla Kameny, former Hadassah Southern Region President; Susan Smolinsky, current Southern Region President; Rabbi Sarah Smiley, UJCBR; Eileen Shieber, co-program host; and Ellen Bander, program host.

Amy Jill-Levine to speak in Mobile

One of the foremost Jewish scholars about Jesus and the Jewish roots of Christianity will be speaking in Mobile in August, and Dauphin Way United Methodist Church has invited the local Jewish community to attend the program.

Amy Jill-Levine will speak on “Jesus in his Jewish context,” Aug. 24 at 7 p.m., part of the Stephen and Ruth Dill Lecture Series.

The first Jew to teach New Testament at Rome’s Pontifical Biblical Institute, an elected member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and the first winner of the Seelisberg Prize for Jewish-Christian Relations, Jill-Levine describes herself as an unorthodox member of an Orthodox synagogue and a Yankee Jewish feminist who works to counter biblical interpretations that exclude and oppress.

She is Rabbi Stanley M. Kessler Distinguished Professor of New Testament and Jewish Studies at Hartford International University for Religion and Peace, and University Professor of New Testament and Jewish Studies Emerita and Mary Jane Werthan Professor of Jewish Studies Emerita, at Vanderbilt.

Her publications include “The Misunderstood Jew: The Church and the Scandal of the Jewish Jesus,” “Short Stories by Jesus: The Enigmatic Parables of a Controversial Rabbi;” and “The Jewish Annotated New Testament,” co-edited with Marc Brettler. Her book, “The Gospel of Luke” with Ben Witherington III is the first biblical commentary co-authored by a Jew and an Evangelical.

Alabama

Riva Cullinan, an alumna of Magic City BBG, has been named the new city director for BBYO in Birmingham. After the start of the school year, Zoe Goldberg from the BBYO national office will be in town for a meeting with parents. In Birmingham, BBYO consists of Mesch AZA and Magic City BBG, for high school Jewish youth.

The Birmingham Jewish Federation will have its 2024 Annual Campaign kickoff on Aug. 27 at 3 p.m. with a concert by Nefesh Mountain, at Temple Beth-El. The family-friendly event will include drinks and snacks. Tickets are $18 and must be purchased on the Federation website, as they will not be available at the door.

B’nai Israel in Florence is going to a summer schedule, doing a live online stream when there is an in-person service in the sanctuary on the last Shabbat of the month. In other weeks, there will be a live online service. After a Labor Day weekend break, there will be a live online service on Sept. 8, and in-person starting with Rosh Hashanah on Sept. 15.

The Israel Movie Series at Birmingham’s Levite Jewish Community Center, celebrating Israel’s 75th birthday, concludes on Aug. 7 with “The Women’s Balcony,” a 2016 dramatic comedy where an accident during a bar mitzvah celebration leads to a gender rift in a devout Orthodox community in Jerusalem. There will be a 1:30 p.m. schmooze and 2 p.m. showtime, with snacks provided. Registration is requested.

Birmingham’s Knesseth Israel welcomes back Isaac Friedman and his Torah Tour, Aug. 4 to 6, with a Shabbat evening dinner, reservations are $18 per person. There will be a Torah Tour event after lunch following the Aug. 5 service, and a tefillin workshop on the morning of Aug. 6.

Birmingham’s Collat Jewish Family Services will offer a Grief Support Group, for 10 Wednesdays from Sept. 6 to Nov. 8, noon at the Levite Jewish Community Center. Registration is required, and new members are admitted through the third session. The group is offered in partnership with Community Grief Support.

The next Shabbat Halicha hike for Birmingham’s Temple Emanu-El will be on Aug. 12 at 10 a.m., meeting at the Frankfurt Drive entrance of Red Mountain Park.

Florida Panhandle

Beryl Trauth-Jurman, a student at the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College, will be leading monthly, in-person Shabbat services at Temple B’nai Israel in Panama City, beginning Aug. 18.

Temple Beth El in Pensacola will hold its second Jews Who Cook event, Aug. 12 at 5 p.m., with over 30 star chefs competing in several categories. Each chef will have a tip jar, and the chef with the most tips in each division wins. Tickets are $50 in advance, $65 at the door.

Louisiana

Touro Synagogue in New Orleans announced that the honorees for this year’s L’Chayim event, on Nov. 12, will be Shannie and Rabbi David Goldstein.

Gates of Prayer in Metairie will have a Summer BBQ and fantasy football draft party on Aug. 20. The draft begins at 4 p.m., followed by the congregational BBQ, and at 6 p.m. there will be a watch party for the Saints versus the Chargers.

The Tulane Chabad Graduate group and Jewish Medical Student Organization will have a Shabbat dinner on Aug. 11, with Daniel

Joining the fight

New Orleans City Council passes resolution emphasizing the need to battle antisemitism

On June 22, the New Orleans City Council unanimously passed a resolution celebrating the diversity of the New Orleans community, with a special emphasis on fighting antisemitism.

Composed by Council President J.P. Morrell after the Biden-Harris administration released the first U.S. national strategy to counter antisemitism, the resolution references the “historic levels of antisemitism” in the U.S., and how the Jewsh community is the target of 63 percent of reported religiously-motivated hate crimes despite being 2.4 percent of the population.

The resolution also references the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance working definition of antisemitism, which has been adopted by over 30 countries, many states and other public bodies, to have guidelines for what could be considered antisemitic motivation when a crime occurs.

“New Orleans strives to be a welcoming city to all who want to be welcomed,” the resolution stated, acknowledging that despite that, antisemitic flyers were distributed in some neighborhoods earlier this year.

The resolution adds that those who peddle in antisemitism also fuel hatred toward other groups.

“The city of New Orleans celebrates the diversity of its residents, including its religious minorities, and stands in solidarity with the Biden-Harris Administration’s national strategy to counter antisemitism,” the resolution concludes.

Morrell said “It is important that in the face of hate, in the face of disrespect, in the face of danger and violence, that we stand with everyone in our country, especially our Jewish brothers and sisters, in solidarity.”

Aaron Bloch, director of Jewish-Multicultural and Governmental Affairs at the Jewish Federation of Greater New Orleans, addressed the council, stating that the Holocaust started with “vicious, hateful words,” not gas chambers. “The alarming rise of hate incidents that we have been seeing year after year — including antisemitic incidents — demands our attention and action.”

He said the Jewish community stands in solidarity with all groups facing challenges, recognizing that our fight against antisemitism is intertwined with the struggle against all forms of hate and bigotry. By acknowledging the historical and present challenges faced by the Jewish community, and recognizing the interconnectedness of different forms of hatred, this resolution serves as a powerful reaffirmation of the city’s commitment to inclusivity, equity, and justice.”

That all of the council members were listed as co-authors of the resolution is a powerful message with a significance that can not be overstated,

Screenshot

Aaron Bloch addresses the City Council on June 22

Bloch said. “It signifies a united front against antisemitism, demonstrating that the city of New Orleans is committed to combating hate and protecting the rights and dignity of all its residents.”

Casey Davis also thanked the council for the resolution, saying her Jewish great-grandmother who lived on the French-German border posed as a German to survive during the Holocaust. After the war, when she married and moved to New Orleans, she had to continue to pose as a German “to survive here without discrimination,” and became bitter about “having to keep up with a lie just to not be discriminated (against).”

Council Member Eugene Green referenced the recently-concluded trial of the Tree of Life shooter, noting how in today’s society “there are people who still choose to discriminate against their fellow human beings based on things they don’t even understand.”

He added that this “is an important and powerful resolution.”

Councilor Lesli Harris thanked Green for mentioning the Tree of Life trial, because her husband’s Bar Mitzvah was there, and part of his family still belongs to the congregation and could well have been there on the morning when 11 congregants were murdered during Shabbat services.

Lindsay Baach Friedmann, South Central regional director for the Anti-Defamation League, said ADL “deeply values the New Orleans city council for their proactive approach in combating antisemitism in our city.”

Rabbi David Gerber of Gates of Prayer, who gave the invocation at the start of the meeting, commented “we are small, but we are part of the fabric of this community. We feel blessed to be neighbors with our fellow people of faith, and honored to be part of the rich tapestry that is the culture of New Orleans.”

ISJL offering tours of Jewish Mississippi

The Jackson-based Goldring/Woldenberg Institute of Southern Jewish Life is offering a chance to become much more familiar with Jewish life in the Deep South, with two tours of Mississippi in early 2024.

“Jews, Blues and Food” will start in Jackson on Jan. 31 and travel to Memphis and the Mississippi Delta through Feb. 5. A longer tour, “Jewish Life in the Most Southern Place on Earth” will highlight Jackson, Natchez, Vicksburg and the Mississippi Delta from Feb. 18 to 25.

Each tour will have between 20 and 40 participants. Staff from the Institute will lead the bus trips through off-the-beaten-path destinations, leading discussions on Southern Jewish history while experiencing Mississippi art, music and cuisine.

The first tour starts with civil rights history in Jackson, then moves to Greenwood and Indianola, before Shabbat evening in Greenville. There will be tours of Mound Bayou and Ruleville, and an evening at a juke joint in Clarksdale. Memphis will include civil rights sites such as the National Civil Rights Museum and Lorraine Motel, and a night on Beale Street.

After time in Jackson, the second tour heads to Natchez and the oldest Jewish congregation in the state, along with antebellum sites. A visit to Vicksburg includes a discussion about Jewish involvement in the Civil War, followed by a journey to Greenville. After visits to Mound Bayou and Ruleville, there will be a visit to Greenwood, where there will be a Southern cooking class and Shabbat. The trip continues with following the footsteps of Emmett Till, then back to Jackson.

Rates, specific sites on the itinerary and additional registration information is available at isjl.org/tours.

Rabbi Pearce returns to ISJL as Director of Spirituality

The Goldring/Woldenberg Institute of Southern Jewish Life in Jackson announced that Rabbi Salem Pearce will be their new Director of Spirituality.

She succeeds Rabbi Caroline Sim, who just completed a three-year stint at the institute.

This is a return to Jackson for the Houston native, as she was a rabbinical intern at ISJL in 2017, before her 2018 ordination by Hebrew College.

Most recently, she was the first-ever executive director for Carolina Jews for Justice. Before that, she was Director of Organizing at T’ruah: The Rabbinic Call for Huan Rights.

“I am thrilled to be (re)joining the staff of ISJL and contributing to its vital work,” Pearce said. “Over the past three years in North Carolina, in addition to my social justice work it’s been my privilege to contribute to congregational life in Durham and to lead lifecycle events for Jews across the state. And as a born-Texan, I am excited to continue supporting Jewish life in communities all over the South.”

While in rabbinical school, she also interned with the Synagogue Council of Massachusetts, and was a student fellow with Rabbis Without Borders, American Jewish World Service and T’ruah. She also trained as a chaplain at Bellevue Hospital in New York City.

Before enrolling in rabbinical school, she lived in Washington and worked as a fundraiser for several non-profit organizations, including the Campaign for America’s Future, the Jewish Federation of Greater Washington and the Marijuana Policy Project. She also was a volunteer and board member at the DC Rape Crisis Center, and was a Glass Leadership Institute Fellow with the Anti-Defamation League. It was during the High Holidays in 2011 that she decided to pursue the rabbinate.

The Institute’s Spirituality division, formerly the Rabbinic Services department, serves communities too small to have their own local fulltime Jewish clergyperson. The “roving rabbi” in charge of 13 states does community visits, officiates at lifecycle events, does remote counseling, weekly Taste of Torah emails, and more.

Institute CEO Michele Schipper noted that their rabbi’s role has expanded. Because of the rabbi shortage nationally, they are also serving congregations that normally have a rabbinic presence, but are currently between rabbis and have been unable to find a suitable match.

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Activist and friend: Belle Adelman-Cannon leaves large legacy in just 17 years

Nobody really wanted to be at New Orleans’ Touro Synagogue at 3 p.m. on a Wednesday.

Cantor Kevin Margolius said “we should not be here.”

And yet, on June 7, hundreds felt they needed to be there, to say farewell to a unique individual, proudly and vocally Jewish, proudly and vocally queer — and far too young.

Belle Adelman-Cannon was 17, a rising senior at Benjamin Franklin High School and, within days, planning to be a counselor in training at the Henry S. Jacobs Camp in Utica. But on June 3, they were struck by a school bus and died of their injuries.

The incident took place shortly after 3 p.m., after Belle finished a shift at the Grow Dat Youth Farm. They were walking along Zachary Taylor Drive when struck. The New Orleans Police Department is classifying it as an accident, and the 34-year-old bus driver is not facing charges.

The accident stunned the New Orleans Jewish community and the general community, as well as the Jacobs Camp family.

Anna Herman, director of Jacobs Camp, said she was “beyond heartbroken and devastated over the loss of our camper Belle. I want to live like Belle and celebrate,” she said. Herman’s birthday was June 4, and when she woke up that day, “all I wanted was for the news to not be real.”

The Jewish Federation of Greater New Orleans issued a statement on June 5. “Our hearts are heavy with sorrow as we remember the life that was lost and the impact that was made during their brief time with us,” said Aaron Bloch, director of the Federation’s Center for Jewish-Multicultural Affairs. “May their memory be for a blessing.”

A statement from Grow Dat said “we are devastated by the tragic death of Belle Adelman-Cannon.”

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At the time of the funeral, Touro Rabbi Katie Bauman was returning to New Orleans from Israel, where there had been a congregational mission. She related that on Saturday evening in Jerusalem, when they learned about the accident, “our entire group of 65 Touro Synagogue family members have been weeping for Belle and sending all our love to this community” and the family.

Bauman said “Belle was as connected, committed and engaged as a young Jewish leader as anyone could hope to meet in their lifetime,” and

“a compassionate and fiery voice for change in the world.”

She added that Belle was “a center of gravity in our synagogue, at 17.”

The accident prompted the cancellation of the Federation’s Gift of Israel program on June 4, and the tragedy was mentioned at the start of the Survivor Torah program at the Museum of the Southern Jewish Experience later that day (Story, page 18)

Though it is summer break, Ben Franklin opened its doors during the week for students and families who wanted to talk with counselors.

Belle, who identified as gender-fluid, was remembered for their many talents and fearless advocacy, as well as how they made others a priority.

In recent years, legislation targeting the LGBTQ community has been proposed in states throughout the region. Rep. Mandie Landry invited Belle to Baton Rouge to address the legislature, when they were 15.

Belle told the legislators “Every day I choose to live my life as wholly myself because of the way I was raised. I do not cower away from people who hate me, instead I take on that challenge. I want every child to be able to live this way. No child is broken.”

They also were involved in annual walkouts at Ben Franklin over anti-trans legislation being debated in Baton Rouge.

On the day of the funeral, Landry called for a moment of silence in their memory in the Louisiana House. “Make sure you tell people who you are and who you love,” Landry said.

They also started sewing masks in 2020 at the start of the pandemic. They said as people were locked down, it was important to do something meaningful with their time. “People need to help other people in need because this isn’t going to be the last time something scary like this happens,” they said.

A feature about this on WWL called Belle the “Rosie the Riveter of our

generation,” and Nickelodeon took the story national.

But aside from those aspects of their personality, there was also mention of their speaking several languages, riding unicycles and stilt walking.

At the funeral, Margolius recounted a story from Midrash Lamenta-

Screenshot

At the funeral, Rabbi Todd Silverman reads Maya Freedman’s remembrances of Belle Adelman-Cannon, as Ben Kornman and Ava Kreutziger prepare to give their remarks.

tions Rabbah where a horrific tragedy caught God by surprise, and He asked the angels how one could start to mourn what happened. The story teaches “surely, God did not will it to happen and God did not allow it to happen… and today God cries with all of us.”

Three of Belle’s close friends spoke at the service.

Maya Freedman of Jackson was emotionally unable to give her remarks, so Rabbi Todd Silverman stood with her and read her remembrance. She became best friends with Belle at Jacobs Camp, and the times when she could travel three hours to New Orleans for a visit “were my everything.”

Freedman was social action vice president for NFTY-Southern this past year, Belle was membership vice president. In April, Freedman was elected regional president.

She said that Belle taught her to always choose love and kindness, always step out of her comfort zone, use her voice, stand up for her beliefs and advocate for good in the world.

“You changed so many lives in just 17 years. I can’t even imagine what you would have done with more time,” Freedman said.

Classmate Ben Kornman spoke about the typical interactions they had, as if he were writing a letter to them. But he said his talent pales in comparison, as “you don’t really write, words are art supplies and you are the most gifted painter in the world.”

Recalling subjects from anecdotes he had mentioned, he added that he will find reminders of them everywhere. “You’re there in the flowers, you’re there in the frogs, you’re there in the stray cats, and you’re there in every word you used to paint.”

Ava Kreutziger, who worked with Belle at Grow Dat, said that their last words to them were “I’ll see you in 12 hours, I love you Ava, I’ll miss you so much,” but that “was Belle’s departing refrain to all of us every time.”

She said Belle would measure time by time spent with friends and family, and “made the ordinary extraordinary.”

They would drive together from school to Grow Dat, expanding the 10-minute trip into the full hour between the end of school and the start of their shift. As neither had a sense of direction, they would sometimes get lost. Kreutziger said she realized that “I may have not known where I was going, but I had everything I needed. There was no rush to be anywhere, we were just soaking up the moment. Eventually and always, we found our way home.”

Though the reunion 12 hours later would not happen, Kreutziger said “Now it is our turn to say to Belle, forever and always, ‘we love you and we miss you.’ May the time spent with them remain a blessing.”

Margolius said Belle “embodied potential, a future of possibilities,” and now there is a “painful, enormous void.” He added, “Even as a clergyman, this moment tests my own faith and leaves me grasping for answers.”

Margolius spoke of how they embraced their Judaism and brought their own uniqueness to their B’nai Mitzvah service, and that they participated in the recent writing of the congregational Torah. “Belle was multicultural and multifaceted, and their moment at the Torah was theirs.”

They “knew the importance that every individual feel loved and supported in whatever form their body is,” he said, and that they were “uplifting peers with one arm and fighting for justice with the other.”

Belle was preceded in death by grandmothers Carrell Anne Cannon and Lana Weeks. Surviving Belle are their parents, Charles Cannon and Laura Adelman-Cannon; brother, Russell Adelman-Cannon; grandparents, Mary Beth and Stanley Adelman and Stephen Cannon; aunts, Sarah Adelman and Jennifer Cannon; and uncle, Sean (Sabine) Cannon. Memorials can be made to the Henry S. Jacobs Camp.

Alabama Holocaust Education Center dedicates new space

“Dreams do come true,” said David Silverstein at the outset of the Alabama Holocaust Education Center dedication on May 22.

Educating about the Holocaust was the dream of founder Phyllis Weinstein over two decades ago, and that effort has taken a major leap forward with the dedication of the new center, encompassing over 8,000 square feet in the former preschool space at Temple Emanu-El.

Dan Puckett, chair of the Alabama Holocaust Commission, said the center “really is (Weinstein’s) vision and her dream.”

At a mezuzah hanging on April 23, the facility was named in honor of Weinstein.

The dedication was held in the Emanu-El sanctuary, drawing a large crowd that included state and local officials. There were opportunities to tour the new space following the ceremony.

The AHEC, recently renamed Alabama instead of Birmingham to reflect its statewide focus, had been housed at the Bayer Properties building, but when that building was sold in 2019 and Bayer moved into a new headquarters, the search was on for a new location.

After the Emanu-El space became available in 2020, the organization raised $4 million to create the new learning center. “Needless to say, we are humbled by the support of the community, and excited for you to tour our new education center,” Silverstein said. “The AHEC is poised to educate for years to come.”

Silverstein the center will teach about “the horrors of the Holocaust, the damage caused by bigotry and hate, and the importance of moral

courage.”

Over the years, Silverstein noted, over 400 groups have had Holocaust survivors give presentations, and now that responsibility is falling on the second generation. Over 120 teachers from across the state have received scholarships to attend national and international seminars on teaching the Holocaust.

There have been over 1,500 teachers who have attended in-state training sessions, affecting over 100,000 students.

Accompanied by her daughters, Riva Hirsch watches the video of her late husband, Aisic Hirsch, in the AHEC exhibit area.

The center also coordinates public talks and a “Holocaust in Film” movie series.

The dedication was also an introduction of newly-hired Executive Director Lisa Bachman. “Man, we are glad you’re here,” Silverstein exclaimed. The center has recently had a series of short-tenured and interim directors.

A longtime Cleveland resident, Bachman moved to Orlando in 2018 and was executive director at Different Like You.

Governor Kay Ivey said the new center “is an asset to the city of Birmingham and to the state of Alabama.”

She noted that Weinstein “planted the seed… and now it has matured.” Weinstein died in 2021, two days after her 100th birthday.

Ivey said that the exhibits are “a window to the past” and “a powerful resource to guide humanity toward love and understanding for all.”

Each year, the governor issues a proclamation for Days of Remembrance, so “the people of Alabama should always remember the terrible events of the Holocaust and remain vigilant.”

She added that she was honored to host the first-ever Chanukah menorah lighting at the Governor’s Mansion this past December, and hopes that it remains an annual tradition for future governors.

Senator Katie Britt said the center is a reminder of “the evil that is possible when hate rules society,” and that “white supremacy and racism of any kind has no place in our society.”

Britt spoke of the importance of each person appealing to their “better angels,” teaching generations to come to “build a society where bigotry has no home and compassion is commonplace.”

She said the AHEC is “critical in that mission” and “I personally want to encourage every Alabamian to come and see this for themselves” and learn how to “not be indifferent” in the face of evil, “but to stand up firmly for what we know is right.

She referenced local Holocaust survivor Riva Hirsch in her remarks, bringing Hirsch to tears, and they embraced after Britt finished speaking. Birmingham Mayor Randall Woodfin said “This is a special place… people from all walks of life will learn the stories and lessons of the Holocaust.” Those lessons “will change people” and spark “a great compassion and courage.”

He spoke of individual acts of courage and heroism, both during the Holocaust and during the civil rights struggles in Birmingham 60 years ago. “As brothers and sisters in this community, together we can strive to make this world more compassionate, so that bigotry has no place among us.”

Emanu-El Rabbi Adam Wright spoke on the importance of remembrance, and the challenge in an age where so many youth are disengaged

Photo by James Henry Brook Marilyn Pipkin performs on a Violin of Hope

and unaware of history. “Despite such bad data regarding our youth and understanding the Holocaust, it doesn’t mean we stop teaching, it means that we endeavor to work harder, it means we reach new audiences… It means more research, more teaching, more discoveries, and telling more stories.”

He said “everyone here in this room will do whatever it takes to make sure that the lessons of the past are not repeated.”

Michele Forman, a second-generation survivor, referenced her mother’s story and how she built a new life in Alabama. The survivors became “part of the civil rights and human rights fabric of this community, and we can continue their work together.”

Rev. Richmond Webster of St. Luke’s Episcopal Church spoke about Tzedek, the concept of justice and righteousness. Noting that God is also a poet, he said the word has a deeper meaning of unity, and through “tools of memory,” together “we can fight the crime of antisemitism, the crime of hate and bigotry.”

He said the center is “a place to remember, so we can ensure the dignity of every human being in our state.”

Marilyn Pipkin performed selections on a Violin of Hope, a violin used in a concentra-

tion camp, that has since been restored by the Weinstein family in Tel Aviv (no relation to the Birmingham Weinsteins). There were performances of the violins in Birmingham in 2018, and one of them is on permanent loan to the AHEC, where it is displayed in a section dedicated to Alabamians who liberated the concentration camps.

Emanu-El Cantor Robby Wittner added a rendition of Naomi Shemer’s “Lu Yehi” (Let It Be).

The center has a section devoted to Jewish life in pre-war Europe. Part of the lobby exhibit is Judaica items from the collection of Werner Knurr, who fled Aurich, Germany, in 1938 at age 3 after a friendly policeman tipped off the family that his father was set to be arrested. The family wound up in Montgmery after a brief time in Baton Rouge.

The main space has exhibits expanded from the “Darkness to Life” project. The exhibit tells the stories of 20 Alabamians who survived the Holocaust, through the modern-day photographs of Becky Seitel and paintings by Mitzi Levin portraying their pre-war stories.

In addition to the liberator section, there is a memorial installation.

There is a conference room for presentations

and workshops, and a library housing over 3,000 Holocaust-related volumes, and 8,000 artifacts. The library is the largest Holocaust resource in the Southeast.

Puckett said the statewide commission works with organizations like the AHEC, which “are our boots on the ground,” and with the new space “I really cannot wait to see what happens with all of this.”

Currently, the center is open to visitors by appointment.

Governor Kay Ivey at the dedication

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“Survivor

The last of the 613 mitzvot in the Torah is that every Jews should participate in the writing of a Torah. Two Holocaust survivors in the New Orleans area accomplished that on June 4, in a scroll with a remarkable history.

For the past five years, the goal of the Survivor Torah Project has been to find Holocaust survivors all over the world and have them do the lettering in a damaged scroll that was recently discovered in Poland, with the ultimate goal of having the restored scroll presented to the State of Israel and housed at the synagogue at the president’s residence in Jerusalem, to be used by communities around the world.

Anne Skorecki Levy and Lila Skorecki Millen added their letters in a ceremony at the Museum of the Southern Jewish Experience, each of them holding the arm of Jonny Daniels, who heads From the Depths, a foundation that keeps the memory of the Holocaust alive and assists Righteous Gentiles who saved Jews during the Holocaust.

Before doing the lettering, Levy said “we are the lucky ones,” saying she and her sister survived because of their parents, “who were always a step ahead of the Germans in their planning” and realized they were in danger.

Looking at the scroll, Levy said “I can’t believe I am going to do this.”

Millen said “it is an amazing experience, to live through what we have lived through, and to come to this day. It is absolutely amazing.”

Aaron Bloch, director of the Federation’s Center for Jewish-Multicultural Affairs, said the event was part of the “unwavering commitment to fighting against antisemitism, and to preserve the memories of those who endured unimaginable suffering.” The Federation and the Jewish Endowment Foundation of Louisiana co-hosted the event.

Bloch added, “Each letter rewritten by our local survivors represents not just a physical act, but a powerful symbol of resilience, courage and determination.”

Rabbi David Gerber said that each completion of a Torah scroll “is a testament to the eternal spirit of the Jewish people.”

Addressing the survivors, Gerber said “your strength, your courage, your resilience are a boundless inspiration. We are honored to stand with you today,” and that their stories will be an inspiration for generations to come.

New Orleans City Council President J. P. Morrell brought greetings from the city, saying “we should all look to our neighbors as brothers and sisters.” He added, “To witness history as two Holocaust survivors lend their hands to

rebuilding this Survivor Torah on Holocaust Survivor Day is incredibly profound.”

District A Councilman Joseph Giarrusso III also attended the ceremony.

Surprise Find

Daniels started From The Depths a decade ago, “with the aim of helping the younger generation know a little bit more about the Holocaust.”

He explained that there had been more Jewish cemeteries in Poland than in the United States and Israel combined, 1,300 in all, and most were destroyed in the war. Tombstones were taken and used as building material in roads, even in constructing the Warsaw Zoo.

One of the foundation’s programs, the Matzeva Project, recruits volunteers to go to small villages throughout Poland to find gravestones that had been repurposed, and recover them if possible.

Sometimes, the visits had surprises. At one home, he recalled, the owner told the volunteers that a tree out back was where four Jews had been buried. “The people who were living here were killed, and they were buried right there,” the resident explained. “We didn’t know what to do, they are still there.”

Five years ago, University of Warsaw students Joanna Kopacka and Bartek Krzyżewski were going door to door in the northern village of Filipow, a town of 1,800. They came to the home of Kazimierz Wróblewski, an elderly shepherd, who said he did not know of any stones, but he seemed to get quite nervous. Eventually, his wife came into the room and told him to “tell them.”

The shepherd was seven years old when the war started, and he remembered watching through the window as the town’s Jews were rounded up, including his neighbor, the rabbi. His father pulled him from the window and told him not to watch, then some moments later, there was a pounding at the door.

It turned out to be the rabbi, who gave the boy’s father a bundle and said “look after this until I come back, or another Jew will come to look for it.”

The rabbi never came back, nor did any of the town’s roughly 280 Jewish residents, who had been sent to Treblinka.

Wroblewski did not give the students any details about the bundle or show it to them, since neither student was Jewish. The students then contacted Daniels, who went to the house, and Wroblewski told him “I’ve been waiting for you for 75 years.”

“That was incredibly powerful,” Daniels reflected.

Torah” adds letters in New Orleans Repairs to scroll being done by Holocaust survivors worldwide

The shepherd went to his couch, lifted it up, and Daniels retrieved the bundle from the floor. Inside was a partial Torah scroll that had been hidden there since 1939. His wife was the only other person who knew about it, and he said he held on to it all those years because he thought it was the right thing to do. He also told Daniels that if he died, “my son would probably have found it and thrown it in the bin.”

Over the 75 years, though, he had used some of the “good material” during especially hard times, to make a bag for his wife, insoles for wornout shoes. “He didn’t do it out of malice, he didn’t know better,” Daniels said.

At the end of the visit, the shepherd asked him to exit through the back door, so his neighbors would not notice.

The experience brought home to Daniels the connection the Jewish people has to the Torah, whether religious or not. “We are the people of the Book. That’s the Book.”

He knew “we had this incredible opportunity to bring this Torah back… it deserves to be spoken about, it deserves to be shown, it deserves to be used,” and decided that Holocaust survivors should be the ones involved in restoring the scroll.

Daniels started taking the scroll around the world, but he said there are at least 100,000 letters left, and “I’m one person and we’re a foundation” that has to fundraise constantly. “We’ll do the best we can,” he said, especially as the community of Holocaust survivors shrinks due to old age.

The project had to stop for over three years because of the pandemic, and because of the war in Ukraine, where the foundation is heavily involved. The foundation helped in getting over 20,000 Jews out of Ukraine, including many Holocaust survivors, and also facilitated the escape of some Righteous Among the Nations.

The foundation also brings Congressional representatives to concentration camps and other historic sites. Alabama Rep. Barry Moore was recently on one of those trips.

Daniels has spent a lot of time in Canada with the scroll, and Florida has “been unbelievable, you can imagine how many survivors are there.” A visit to a community often leads to other communities learning about the project and bringing him in, or finding other Holocaust survivors in an area where he has already been. “I’ll drive anywhere to meet survivors,” he said.

Before New Orleans, he had spent a week in Mexico City and surrounding areas, meeting with 11 survivors, and before that he was in Toronto, Canada. The New Orleans connection came through Robert French, the new CEO of the Jewish Federation of Greater New Orleans, who Daniels has known since childhood. “Robert’s nephew was my best friend, growing up in London,” he said.

French, a newcomer to the community, said he saw Levy’s talk at the community Holocaust commemoration, and knew that he had to bring Daniels to town.

Daniels said the Torah is “a positive story from a horrendous time.”

Anne Levy inks her letter as sister Lila Millen looks on

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He said the symbolism of the scroll is “so strong because the Torah was saved, but it was also broken.” Even though Holocaust survivors survived, “they did not survive fully intact.”

Daniels said it is important that the project be inclusive and acceptable to everyone in the community. “Everyone should feel part of it.”

He added that though the project is about a Torah, it is “not particularly a religious project.” He said some survivors have been reluctant to take part, because they may have lost their belief in God or are angry at God and are concerned that their participation would not be appropriate. “That’s not the point” of the project, he said, and he encourages them to take part anyway.

“It’s kind of hard to explain how much it means, not just for the families and the people involved, but for the survivors themselves,” he said. The act is “a kind of closure and beauty,” with the “knowledge that they are taking part in a project that will remain. This Torah survived and will continue to survive as a result of the survivors taking part.”

Sometimes the survivors have been surprised by their emotions. Daniels went to the home of a survivor in Canada, an artist “with a very simple life.” Doing her letter “triggered all these remarkable memories,” including how her grandfather had dedicated a Torah in honor of his grandchildren all those decades ago.

The section currently being done is toward the end of Exodus. A scribe has outlined the letters in a section, and Daniels fills them in with the survivors.

After doing her letter, Levy said the experience was “amazing.”

Daniels thanked those who attended the New Orleans ceremony for attending on relatively short notice, and on what he acknowledged was a “difficult day” for the community, which was still in shock over the death of 17-year-old Belle Adelman-Cannon just 24 hours earlier.

Then he was off to the next community, to have the next group of survivors do their letters.

MSJE program explores Florida Crypto-Jews

The Museum of the Southern Jewish Experience in New Orleans will hold an online talk by Rabbi Merrill Shapiro on “Early Crypto-Jews, Conversos and Marranos of Florida: The Hidden History of America’s First Jews.”

Shapiro, founder and president of the St. Augustine Jewish Historical Society, will discuss how the Spanish Inquisition’s effects were felt in America, as new historical research shows that among the founders of St. Augustine in 1565 were “hidden Jews,” and how the truth of their origin has been uncovered by historians.

The talk will be on Aug. 10 at noon on Zoom.

A transformative friendship from PEACE Birmingham

By Richard Friedman and Kiara Dunlap

An unlikely friendship between an older Jewish couple and a younger Black leader has sparked change in their communities — and transformed their lives.

And if you know these three folks, it’s easy to see why. They are passionate, personable and persistent in their dedication to making the world a better place.

David and Lois Cohen, activists in the Birmingham Jewish community, over the past three decades, have developed a deep and inspiring friendship with Barry McNealy, an African American historian and educator well-known throughout the city.

The deep bond the Cohens and McNealy have developed has been built on camaraderie, love and mutual respect. They’ve also created a program that has changed the lives of young people throughout our city and birthed ideas that have brought Jews and Blacks in Birmingham closer together, deepening ties between the two groups.

The framework through which they have made this impact is PEACE Birmingham. Started in the 1990s, People Engaged in A Cultural Exchange initially focused on providing a safe space for teens from the Black and Jewish communities to know each other better, share experiences and perspectives, and become allies. Hundreds of teens have gone through the program as it has evolved.

It was crucial, though, that in PEACE Birmingham’s formative years that an environment was created where the participants could talk openly and freely, sharing their inner thoughts and, at times, their pain, speaking from the heart.

To do that, it was necessary to create an atmosphere where all participants could talk honestly. Through the experience Lois, at time the Director of Education at Temple Emanu-El and one of the architects of the project, and David connected with McNealy, at the time an emerging leader in Birmingham’s African American community.

Talking to the Cohens and McNealy today, 30 years later, one sees the enduring impact of their friendship.

At a 2022 program, for example, which featured the play “Anne and Emmett” at the Birmingham Museum of Art, McNealy was on a panel discussion. The play imagines Emmett Till, murdered in the Civil Rights era, and Anne Frank, famed diarist who died in the Holocaust, meeting in the afterlife. The evening was sponsored by the Birmingham Jewish Federation and McNealy was on a small panel after the show, interpreting the production for his mainly Jewish audience.

During his remarks, he talked movingly about his long-time friendship with the Cohens and how transformative it has been for him, referring to

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McNealy photo courtesy Birmingham Civil Rights Institute David and Lois Cohen, and Barry McNealy

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them as his “big sister and big brother.”

This should not be surprising to anyone who knows David and Lois — they exude warmth, love, passion for the community and every conversation with this husband and wife is energetic and affirming.

Odd Pairing

At first glance, the Cohen-McNealy friendship may seem like an odd pairing. Yet, talking to the three of them underscores their commonality — and conveys a lesson to all who are striving to make Birmingham better.

The Cohens, who for decades had maintained a home in Mountain Brook, and McNealy, who grew up in Birmingham’s housing projects, believe that only through getting to know one another can we truly understand what we have in common, along with appreciating and respecting how our perspectives differ.

Said McNealy, “I met Lois and David when I was much younger. I was attending Miles College and working at the Birmingham Civil Rights Institute as an intern when it opened about 30 years ago. There was a program called ‘Young Scholars’ and I was selected to represent Miles.”

At the time, McNealy said he didn’t know a lot about other cultures outside of his own.

“Being young, I wanted to learn and at BCRI I was exposed to a number of things. One of those was PEACE Birmingham, a program partnering with Temple Emanu-El. When I first met Lois and David, I didn’t know a great deal about the Jewish community. In terms of Judaism the only Jews I was familiar with were Moses, Jesus and Sammy Davis Jr.!” he recalled with a smile.

“The Cohens and I talked about our shared histories — and how we thought about various things. There were some really intense personal and revealing conversations.”

Speaking from their home with David sitting next to her, Lois talked about how their relationship with Barry began deepening.

“Barry and I were committed to the same thing — to bringing people together to understand each other’s cultures and the challenges facing our communities. From the start, our discussions have been sometimes difficult and painful; not in terms of communication but in terms of the subjects. I felt at times as if I was talking to my own son.”

The friendship has been a two-way street. “I feel like I have grown and developed because of our relationship with Barry,” said Lois. “I’ve learned things from him I never would have known or begun to understand by being in each other’s homes, traveling together and just talking.”

The tough conversations have continued. In the last few years, discussions among the three about police violence against African Americans and the ways in which Black Americans

are sometimes perceived of by some in the law enforcement community have been troubling, said Lois.

Painful and Unsettling

There have been other memorable turning points.

David recalls Black teens coming to their house as part of the PEACE Birmingham experience. “We had arranged to meet the kids at Brookwood Mall for them to follow us into Mountain Brook. While waiting for us, they had been approached and questioned by the police. The kids didn’t make a big deal of it, I guess because they are used to things like that. But for Lois and me it was a very painful and uncomfortable experience.”

Another unsettling episode occurred for Lois when a PEACE Birmingham group visited Washington years ago. “We went to the Holocaust Museum and then the Smithsonian. I had called ahead of time telling the Smithsonian that I was bringing a bunch of kids to the museum to learn more about African American history. Yet, there was very little there and virtually nothing about slavery.”

A visit years ago to Hermitage, Andrew Jackson’s home in Nashville, also was jarring. Jackson was a slaveowner. The guide brushed over the issue, implying that Jackson’s slaves were happy people who enjoyed a good life. McNealy’s eyes widened and his discomfort was palpable. Lois picked up on it immediately and talked to him. They then made their thoughts known to Hermitage staff, which now gives a more honest depiction of slavery.

Perhaps the greatest testimony to their special and enduring relationship came from McNealy as he reflected on the three decades that they have known each other. “When I have needed someone to be on my side, Lois and David have been there. They have been shoulders to cry on, ears

to listen and arms around my shoulder.”

And a moment came as their relationship first began to deepen when McNealy needed those arms around his shoulder. He contracted Bell’s Palsy, which distorted and paralyzed half of his face. He has since mostly recovered but has never forgotten the role Lois and David played in helping him navigate his ordeal.

“When the virus first attacked him, speaking was difficult for Barry. He looked as if his face had been impacted by a stroke. This was not a good thing for someone who intended to make his living, as an educator, through speaking,” recalled Lois.

“Lois consoled me and talked about the blessings that God had bestowed on me, helping me to reframe the challenge in a broader context and position myself to meet it,” McNealy remembered.

“Barry was so upset that he couldn’t smile anymore,” said Lois. “I said Barry, you don’t smile with your mouth. You smile with your eyes. Years later he told me how wonderful that made him feel.”

Kiara Dunlap is a recent graduate of HBCU Miles College, She co-wrote this story with Southern Jewish Life associate editor Richard Friedman through her joint internship with Southern Jewish Life and the Birmingham Times.

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Accentuate the positive

Chabad in Pensacola promotes kindness in response to swastika-laden brick thrown through window

Rabbi Mendel Danow of the Pensacola Chabad Jewish Center says that the person who threw a swastika-laden brick through a window at the center on July 17 is going to regret his actions. Not because of what would happen to the “crazy dude” if he is caught, but because of how Chabad is going to turn his action into an engine of Jewish engagement and overall positivity throughout Pensacola.

“It will spark so much positivity,” Danow said, “we’re going to make the guy who threw the brick regret throwing it.”

The incident happened at 8:10 p.m. There was the sound of broken glass, and a brick covered in swastikas and antisemitic messages was on the kitchen floor, surrounded by glass shards.

Two Chabad students are currently in Pensacola assisting at the center, and one of them had been standing in that spot moments before, according to COLlive.

Video footage shows an individual exiting a vehicle around the corner from Chabad, going to the side of the building and throwing the brick at the window, then running back to the car.

The incident is being investigated by law enforcement.

The center’s response includes “Light Up Pensacola,” a Shabbat of light, starting at 6:30 p.m. on July 21. The event was intended “to increase both the physical and spiritual light in the community,” and the community wasinvited to attend, or to light candles on their own. A unity Shabbat dinner was held after a brief service.

B’nai Israel, the city’s Conservative congregation, cancelled its service so they could be at Chabad. Beth El, the Reform congregation, already had its installation scheduled for that evening.

Chabad also launched an ARK campaign — Acts of Routine Kindness. Special charity boxes are being ordered for distribution throughout Pensacola. “It’s not only for Jews,” Danow explained, “it’s something which is city-wide, for everyone to participate in… to add acts of goodness and kindness on a daily basis.”

The idea is that individuals, families, schools or businesses will have the boxes as an aid to develop a habit of giving, and when the box fills up, the contents can be given to someone in need or a charitable organization — and then the box can be refilled.

Danow said that for now, the boxes can be ordered at $2 each, and can be either picked up at Chabad or shipped.

“We can generate change in ourselves and in our community with the simple act of consistent giving. Keep it handy, use it daily, and together we’ll achieve Acts of Routine Kindness,” Danow said.

The next phase of the response to the brick will be an accelerated timetable for the new Chabad center in Pensacola.

The Danows arrived in Pensacola to establish the center in September 2018, and within a year, there was a drive to purchase the building that now houses Chabad. Because of the level of programming, in December 2022, there was a campaign to purchase a nearby building.

“We weren’t sure when we would be there,” Danow said, but after the attack, they decided to “take the deep dive and make it happen” and work on getting into the new, larger building in the next few months.

Originally, they planned to build a mikvah on the new property and then work on the building, now they will do both simultaneously.

The new building is “essentially triple the size of the (current) Chabad House, and G-d willing, triple the amount of programming,” Danow said, adding, “that brick will be the cornerstone.”

But, he reminded, “we want to focus on the inspirational part. We don’t want to put the focus on the hate and the negativity.”

Still, part of the Protect the Light online campaign to raise $100,000 toward the new building is the opportunity to “buy a brick” for $54.

The center has received “an outpouring of positive reinforcement” since the attack, Danow said. “People are shocked and pained by it, people are stopping me on the street and saying, rabbi we are with you.”

He added, “this act of hate does not define Pensacola in any way.”

Kate Lollar, president of B’nai Israel, echoed that in her message to her congregation. “This is the first time as far as I can remember that something like this has happened in Pensacola,” she said. She reminded her congregants of security measures they have in place, and for everyone to be aware of their surroundings.

Danow said there have been some random swastika scrawlings in that part of town recently, including a couple days earlier at an animal hospital a few blocks away.

But “we’re just going to do our thing,” Danow said. “We’re not going to focus on the negative because that is not going to help.

“You have to reinforce the positive, which shows we still have a lot of work to do.”

ISJL hosting virtual Rosh Hashanah baking class with Julia Turshen

New York Times bestselling cookbook author Julia Turshen will lead a virtual cooking class on Rosh Hashanah cake, through the Goldring/Woldenberg Institute of Southern Jewish Life’s Fall Food Fest.

The online event will be on Aug. 20 at 10 a.m. Central, and advance registration is required.

During the interactive session, Turshen will lead viewers in baking along with her, while she discusses her cooking background and its intersection with her Jewish identity. There will be opportunities for questions and answers while making an applesauce cake with cream cheese icing.

Turshen writes a weekly newsletter and teaches cooking classes most Sunday afternoons. Her latest cookbook, “Simply Julia,” a national bestseller, is the recipient of the 2022 IACP Award for Best Cookbook: Health and Nutrition, and Turshen is the founder of Equity at the Table, an inclusive digital directory of the food industry. She hosts and produces the IACP-nominated podcast called “Keep Calm and Cook On.”

Registrants will be provided with a list of ingredients beforehand. Registration is $18 at isjl.org, but communities and organizations can do a group rate to make it available to their members.

To the Families of New Orleans

Our decision to join the professionals at Lake Lawn Metairie allows us to continue our mission to provide families the highest caliber of care in the most beautiful of surroundings. Lake Lawn Metairie proudly serves all congregations and all local cemeteries. Whether planning in advance or at the time of need, we’re dedicated to serving families with professionalism, compassion and attention to detail that is second to none.

Sincerely,

Stephen Sontheimer & Billy Henry

“Count me in”

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Betty Goldstein remembered for community leadership

By Richard Friedman

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She was a small, soft-spoken woman. In her later years, you had to strain to hear her. Yet, her presence endures. Until her final months, Betty Allenberg Goldstein was an inspiring, indefatigable lioness, fiercely committed to her beloved Birmingham Jewish community.

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Betty passed away on June 4 at the age of 95. Those who knew her will remember her for the rest of their lives. She was a true Daughter of Zion. Tucked inside this diminutive woman was a huge heart. She was one of those people who came to be known simply by her first name — Betty.

She served on important boards and committees. She was proud that she once was a member of the United Jewish Appeal’s National Women’s Division Board. Yet, Betty’s leadership and influence ultimately stemmed from her sincerity, caring and, especially, from just showing up — year after year, decade after decade. She was never not interested in what was going on in the community.

Among her philanthropic passions were the Birmingham Jewish Federation, Birmingham Jewish Foundation, Temple Emanu-El, Alabama Holocaust Education Center, Israel and the Henry S. Jacobs Camp, the regional summer camp in Utica. The connection with Jacobs Camp was particularly important to her because her father, Julian Allenberg, had been one of the camp’s founders.

What Betty will likely be most remembered for is that she “walked the walk” — and did it with humility, passion and a burning interest in all things Jewish. When she couldn’t attend national conferences, she would purchase recordings of the sessions. She never wanted to miss anything.

Announcing Betty’s passing to the Birmingham Jewish Foundation board, executive director Sally Friedman wrote, “As long as she was able, Betty never missed a Federation or Jewish community event. She attended many Lion of Judah conferences and visited Israel multiple times. She was an ‘Energizer Bunny’ when it came to advocating for Israel, our Jewish community and Jacobs Camp.” Friedman shared a secret with her board. “When Betty was in her 70s, we joked that she should win the Federation’s Young Leadership award!”

Betty gave to the Birmingham Jewish Federation Campaign throughout her adult lifetime and endowed her annual campaign gift through the Birmingham Jewish Foundation. For that, she received the Foundation’s N.E. Miles Lifetime Achievement Award. In 2016, at the age of 88, she was honored by the Alabama Holocaust Education Center with its L’Chaim Award for being “a giver, doer, goer, helper and more.”

Mentor is another word that could have been used to describe Betty. Through the support she gave to younger professional and volunteer leaders in the Jewish community, and the interest she showed in each of them, she taught commitment, perseverance and dedication to community causes.

Staff at the Birmingham Jewish Federation and Foundation loved it when she would stop by — often after her fitness workout at the Levite Jewish Community Center. They especially liked that she was not one for small talk. She would get right to the point, wanting to know who was ascending to leadership roles, how the campaign was going, what staff knew about the current situation in Israel. She especially thrived on learning a few behind the scenes tidbits which she faithfully kept confidential.

Betty never left the Federation office without asking how she could help.

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She also was a political activist. For decades, Betty was involved in civic initiatives and political campaigns. In 1975, she worked as a volunteer in the successful mayoral campaign of David Vann, a turning point in Birmingham’s history. At age 90, when most people are retired from community activities, Betty volunteered in the 2018 U.S. Senatorial campaign of Doug Jones, another historic event. Those who worked with her on the Jones campaign affectionately called her “Aunt Betty.”

Epic Era

Betty grew up in Memphis. In 1946, at the age of 18, she married Herman Goldstein and moved to Birmingham. Betty had three children, Edward, Corinne and Amy, along with five grandchildren and four great-grandchildren.

For many years, Betty, who was divorced, dated Morris Sirote, a founder of the Dentons Sirote law firm. As their relationship evolved, Sirote expanded his charitable giving, leaving a large and enduring impact on both the Jewish and broader Birmingham communities. Betty played a critical role in motivating him philanthropically.

Betty’s 95 years covered an epic era in Jewish history. She saw the rise of Nazism in Europe, the murder of 6 million Jews, the rebirth of Israel as a modern Jewish state and the exodus of more than 1 million Jews from the Soviet Union.

She was affected personally by the era in which she came of age. When she was 16, her older brother and only sibling, Edward Allenberg, serving in the American military, was killed in World War II in the Battle of the Bulge. Her children recall that Betty never talked about the loss of her brother, though she did name her first-born son Edward.

Their mother had a remarkable zest for life, her children say, and was determined to savor every moment and embrace every experience, even

as she aged and her mobility became limited. The loss of her brother inspired Betty to live each moment to its fullest.

A favorite Betty story is this: One afternoon, she was visited at her Mountain Brook home. She was told that the Federation wanted to start an endowment in the Foundation to provide more funding for staff professionals to attend conferences and travel to Israel. She listened, then interrupted.

“How much do you need?” she asked.

When told the amount, she responded immediately with three words — words that will endure as her community epitaph: “Count me in.”

That was Betty, not just that day but every day. She will be missed.

Nola JFS offers new approach for dealing with childhood anxiety

Jewish Family Service of Greater New Orleans is starting to offer SPACE — Supportive Parenting for Anxious Childhood Emotions. The parent-based treatment program is for children and adolescents with anxiety, OCD and related problems.

SPACE was developed by Eli Lebowitz at the Yale Child Study Center and has been tested and found to be efficacious in randomized controlled clinical trials. At JFS, SPACE will be led by Fran Dinehart, who recently trained in the techniques.

Dinehart, who has been with JFS for 10 years, said “my approach to therapy is dynamic and goal-oriented. I believe that every person is an expert in their own life. My role as a therapist is to provide evidence-based practices to support you in achieving your goals.”

She will lead a Zoom on Aug. 21 at 6:30 p.m. to introduce the new program to the community.

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Maccabi USA brings Ukrainian teens to U.S. summer sports camp

Seven teens from Ukraine are spending a month hearing coaches’ whistles in California rather than air raid sirens, thanks to an initiative by Maccabi USA.

Arnie Fielkow of New Orleans, a vice president at Maccabi USA and former Federation CEO, envisioned time at Ramah Sports Academy in California as a way to support the Ukrainian Jewish community by providing an escape for the summer for some teen athletes.

Maccabi USA is the American branch of Maccabi World Union, which puts on the Maccabiah Games in Israel every four years and promotes Jewish participation in sports.

Fielkow has been spearheading Maccabi USA’s response to the Ukraine war, as it is personal for him. In 2007, he adopted two daughters from Ukraine, and they have relatives still in the country. Last year, Fielkow tried unsuccessfully to get them out of Ukraine. “They are still subject to threats and missiles at times,” despite being in western Ukraine, away from much of the fighting.

He added that the Ukrainians “are fighting so courageously. It’s important for us to support their efforts and protect democracy.”

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Fielkow said there are three areas that Maccabi USA is working on now. First is the current Ramah experience. Second, he wants to see a series of visits to communities around the country to talk about what Maccabi USA is, and promote assistance to Ukraine during those visits, and third, after the war ends, to have missions for members of the Maccabi USA family to visit Ukraine and help in the rebuilding.

“We really want to help the Jewish community of Ukraine, and especially members of the Maccabi Ukraine family, which are scattered all over the region,” he said.

Six months ago, Fielkow called Amy Skopp Cooper, national director of the Ramah system, to see if they would be interested in a partnership. Ramah immediately agreed to make spaces available tuition-free, and Fielkow set out to raise the money to bring the teens to the country. “We were able to accommodate seven youth” with a full-month session the sports specialty camp, which is housed at Ramah of Northern California. The Academy was established five years ago, and until this summer had been housed in Connecticut.

Part of the New Orleans fundraising was done at the community’s Chanukah celebrations, with a Nola Together for Ukraine event preceding Chanukah at the Riverwalk, and in conjunction with the Uptown Jewish Community Center’s Southern Fried Chanukah. Three organizations, including Maccabi USA, received funds from the events. “I’m really proud of our local New Orleans community, both Jewish and non-Jewish, for stepping up and supporting the Ukrainian people,” Fielkow said.

In a Maccabi USA statement, Alex Rubin, Ramah Sports Academy’s assistant director, said “we are hopeful that a few weeks on the shores of the Pacific Ocean will be enjoyable for these campers who have survived circumstances unimaginable to many of our campers.”

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Arnie Fielkow helps welcome Ukrainian teens at the San Francisco airport

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Some of the teens are still living in Ukraine, “a couple living in the real danger areas,” Fielkow said. Others are elsewhere in the region, having fled their homes due to the fighting.

The delegation is led by 18-year-old Ilya Miroshnichenko, a Kharkov native and Makkabi Ukraine veteran who has been living in Slovakia for the past year.

Others have Makkabi experience, including Alexey Kulik, 13-year-old son of the chairman of Makkabi in Nikolaev. Leonid Bereslavich, 15, competed in the World Maccabiah last year in Israel.

Delegations from Ukraine will also go to the JCC Maccabi Games, a separate entity from the World Maccabiah, which will be held in Israel in July and Fort Lauderdale, Fla., in August. At the 2017 JCC Maccabi Games in Birmingham, there was a delegation from Vinnitsya, Birmingham’s sister city in Ukraine.

There were several hurdles to overcome due to the war. Visas had to be secured in Slovakia, and they flew out of Vienna. On July 5, Fielkow was in San Francisco to greet the teens. “They were exceptionally excited,” he said. “It’s going to be a nice four weeks for them, to get away and have fun as kids.”

Expressing support for Ukraine through poetry

By Richard Friedman

It was an evening of poetry, purpose, passion and pain — and the unremitting power of a single voice.

Most of all, it brought those in attendance into a deeper understanding of the brutal tragedy that has befallen the people of Ukraine.

Declaring “Everyone in this room is now a poet,” Jewish poet Julia Kolchinsky Dasbach — who, with her family, left Ukraine for the U.S. in 1993, at age six — pierced the hearts of her listeners and probed their minds; discomforting them at times, while affirming one more way they could align themselves with her besieged country of birth.

The program, held on May 18 at the Levite Jewish Community Center, was co-sponsored by a cross-section of Birmingham’s Jewish agencies. Brooke Bowles, LJCC executive director, reflected afterward: “I’m grateful that a cross-section of Jewish agencies came together to sponsor this evening. It is an honor to host such events at the LJCC.”

Dasbach began by talking about the Nazis murdering Ukrainian Jews and Jews elsewhere in the former Soviet territories, during the Holocaust, mowing them down with bullets. Unlike regions under Nazi occupation in Western Europe, in the vast territory of the east, extermination was done by shooting squads.

Nazis were aided by local collaborators who were most often the non-Jewish residents of those areas. Among those killed were members of Dasbach’s family, including her great-grandfather who fought as a partisan in Kyiv.

Through original poems she read aloud, Dasbach connected these horrors to the current invasion of Ukraine by Russia and the brutality of Russian forces as they have systematically murdered innocent Ukrainians. “To connect what’s happening in Ukraine with the ‘Holocaust by Bullets,’ we don’t have to travel very far,” she said.

She spoke in particular of the massacre of Jews at Babyn Yar, a ravine in Ukraine where, in September 1941, the Nazis and their collaborators gunned down 33,771 Jews in two days, leaving them there as human rubble and unmarked debris.

One of her poems that she read — a section from her long poem “Learning Yiddish,” which appears in her first book, “The Many Names for Mother” — called out to her great-grandfather, Simcha, among those gunned down at Babyn Yar.

Simcha, the prize,

the beloved, the listener, the boundary for one or all of us. His name is not carved into a plaque lit up by an eternal flame, nor did we find it in a book that lists all those who burned or fell away from bone.

The poet, her long dark hair adorning her sunflowered dress, was commanding, almost ethereal at times. She proved again that when one speaks or sings their own words — words they have birthed and labored over — those words come uniquely alive.

One of the most powerful poems she read was, “Watching Masha i Medved as Russia Invades Ukraine.” It was written in real-time on February 24, 2022, as Dasbach listened to CNN’s initial coverage of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine while her children watched the Russian cartoon, “Masha and the Bear.” She was living in Arkansas, and her mother, also living in the U.S., watching and listening to this same news, called from Maryland.

… My children are on the couch drinking their morning milk and stuffing their mouths full of warm croissants…

Mama tells me she finally reached her childhood friend. They spoke as shells fell and maybe Marina could see fires through her window.

My mother never thought this would happen. None of us did. The subway stations turned bomb shelters the way they were in the war her parents lived through and grandparents died fighting.

When asked how it felt to write that poem as the invasion was unfolding, she explained, “The act of writing poetry is spiritual. I feel overtaken by it. I am compelled to do it.”

It was during the reading of her poems that Dasbach gave those in the audience the chance to write their own.

Telling them about the initiative “Dear Ukraine”: A Global Community Poem, Dasbach invited her audience to use their phones to go to www. dearukrainepoem.com. On that site, they could share their thoughts about the ongoing atrocity in Ukraine and their responses would be translated. She urged everyone to send a message of solidarity, especially if they were moved to send it in poetic form. It was a quiet moment, one that offered a new and powerful way of reaching out to the besieged people of Ukraine.

One person wrote:

The caverns of my heart convulse, spasmed by souls of family I never knew. Not killed by bullets but murdered by gas. They call to me to listen, Dear Ukraine. To hear, to reach into their echo. They call to me, Dear Ukraine, to listen.

Heidenberg as guest speaker.

The Jewish Federation of Greater New Orleans announced that its 110th annual meeting will take place on Sept. 7 at 7 p.m., at the Uptown Jewish Community Center.

The Temple Sinai Brotherhood in New Orleans will have Fried Chicken Bingo on Aug. 26, from 5:30 to 8:30 p.m.

Gates of Prayer Brotherhood in Metairie will hold its Opening Night fundraiser on Aug. 26, with Havdalah at 6:30 p.m., whiskey tasting at 6:45 p.m., dinner at 7 p.m. and the whiskey raffle drawing at 9 p.m. Reservations are $36.

The next Geaux to Shul event at the Unified Jewish Congregation of Baton Rouge will be on Aug. 16 at 6 p.m., featuring Micah Hart for Who Knows One? Live!, an in-person version of his game show about connections and community. A reception with cocktails will begin at 5:30 p.m.

The Sisterhood of the Unified Jewish Congregation of Baton Rouge will host a road trip to the Museum of the Southern Jewish Experience in New Orleans, on Aug. 20. The $25 reservation includes breakfast at UJCBR, travel arrangements, snacks and museum admission. Lunch will be done individually in New Orleans, with the bus heading back at 2:30 p.m.

Jewish Family Service of Greater New Orleans will convene its next Girl Power support group from Sept. 13 to Nov. 1. The eight sessions will be on Wednesdays from 4 to 6 p.m. and are for girls ages 9 to 12. Through activities and group discussions, they will improve self-esteem, build confidence, develop social skills, and learn coping skills for stress management. Registration for the eight sessions is $40.

Anna Zorilla, CEO of the LASPCA, will speak about the wide range of services offered by the organization, Aug. 17 at noon at the Uptown Jewish Community Center in New Orleans. The agency serves thousands of animals annually, from vaccine drives and mass spay programs, to animal control services and humane law cruelty investigations. Bring a lunch, dessert and coffee will be provided. The program is free and open to the community.

Mississippi

B’nai Israel in Columbus, Miss., will have its Welcome Back event on Aug. 27 at 10:30 a.m.

In June, Beth Israel in Gulfport announced that it is switching its service schedule from Shabbat evening to Shabbat mornings at 9:30

a.m. The change is not necessarily permanent, and will be revisited in the coming months. There will be a kiddush following services, and a full lunch when there are sponsors.

Beth Israel in Jackson is planning a Shabbat in Memphis, at Temple Israel. There will be a visit to the mikvah at Beth Shalom with Intro to Judaism instructor Sally Rosenberg on Aug. 25, followed by Kabbalat Shabbat at Temple Israel. On Aug. 26, the group will tour the Temple Israel museum. Registration information will be announced.

LJCC highlights “Only at the J” for the J’la

Birmingham’s Levite Jewish Community Center will hold its second annual J’la Gala on Aug. 6 at 5 p.m., with silent and live auctions, a “fund a need” table, signature cocktails, a threecourse kosher dinner prepared by Chef Maureen Holt, and live music.

This year’s theme is “Only at the J,” celebrating the unique role the LJCC plays in the community and in individual lives.

“I hear only-at-The-J stories all the time,” said Executive Director Brooke Bowles. “People have such great memories about learning to swim with Coach John and growing up in our youth lounge and starring in a theater production in Pizitz Auditorium. Fundraising efforts like this gala will help us extend these experiences to everyone regardless of their financial situation.”

Many memories begin at the Cohn Early Childhood Learning Center, where Shabbat is observed each Friday, but with a diverse student body, a multicultural atmosphere prevails, with Juneteenth and Diwali experiences, among others.

Many teens participate in sports offerings, from soccer to the aquatics teams, while there is a wide range of interest groups for adults. There are also community-wide events, such as the Jewish Food and Culture Festival, which this year drew about 2,000 to the “neighborhood picnic.”

Bowles said that over the past year she’s had a chance to visit a number of JCCs across the region. “They each have their signature offerings like a water park or author series or overnight camps,” she says. “But our signature offering is that we look at what we have to offer only at The J and then seek out community members who don’t have access to these programs.”

Funds raised at the J’la help open the doors wider to the community, she added. Last year;s J’la raised over $111,000, as the LJCC emerged from the challenges of the pandemic years.

Tickets for the event, which sold out last year, are $125, and sponsorships are available.

health/wellness

an annual SJL special section

Sean Weiss Facial Plastic Surgery has expertise in wide range of procedures

Located in Metairie, minutes from downtown New Orleans, Dr. Sean Weiss Facial Plastic Surgery offers a wide range of facial plastic surgery procedures. Dr. Weiss is a double board-certified facial plastic surgeon and otolaryngologist, which means that he has extensive training in both the surgical and medical aspects of facial plastic surgery.

He is also a Fellow of the American Academy of Facial Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, which is a prestigious organization that recognizes the highest levels of expertise in the field.

Services offered include Rhinoplasty (nose reshaping), Blepharoplasty (eyelid surgery), Facelift, Necklift, Browlift, Otoplasty (ear surgery), Facial fat grafting, and non-surgical facial rejuvenation.

Weiss is committed to providing his patients with natural-looking results that enhance their individual beauty. He takes the time to listen to his patients’ goals and create customized treatment plan that meets their individual needs.

In addition to his clinical practice, Weiss is also an active member of the medical community. He is a fellow member of the American Academy of Facial Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, the American Academy of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, and the American College of Surgeons.

Weiss has been featured in several publications, including New Orleans Magazine, The Times-Picayune, and New Orleans CityBusiness. He has also been awarded the Patient’s Choice Award by  Vitals.com, which is a recognition of his outstanding patient care, along with Castle Connolly’s Top Doctors.

As Erin, one of his patients, put it, “Dr. Weiss is a very, very good surgeon. I could not be happier with my results. At the consultation appointment, he made his recommendations and explained everything so well. I had a neck lift, facelift, and brow lift. I feel like I look amazing! I also went back and had the laser treatment on my face and neck and could not believe how fabulous it made my skin look. I contemplated facial surgery two years prior and consulted with other physicians. Dr. Weiss made me feel comfortable and confident that I would have the outcome I was expecting. His office staff is so easy to work with and the entire experience could not have been better!”

Caroline said “Dr. Weiss and his team are some of the kindest people I

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have ever met. I am young and this was the first (and hopefully last) facial plastic surgery I will ever need! Dr. Weiss did an absolutely amazing job and I am so happy with the results as we just hit the one-year post-operation. Thank you to Dr. Weiss and their team for giving me the confidence I always wanted. Cannot say that enough!”

If you are considering facial plastic surgery, Dr. Sean Weiss is considered by many to be the best choice for the Southeast region.  Dr. Weiss is a highly skilled and experienced facial plastic surgeon who can help you achieve your aesthetic goals.

The office is conveniently located near major highways and public transportation, making it easy to get to. To schedule a consultation, please call the office at (504) 814-3223 or visit www.seanweissmd.com

MyEyeDr. focuses on lens advancements and proactive care

MyEyeDr. continues to focus on advancements in lens technology and educating patients on proactive measures they can take to promote good eye health.

“We’ve seen some great advancements in contact lens technology over the past several years,” said Dr. Brooke Kaplan, a clinic manager for MyEyeDr. and practicing optometrist at the Mountain Brook office. “Especially as it pertains to daily disposable, multifocal and comfort.”

One of the newer daily disposable lenses developed by Bausch and Lomb is designed to mimic natural tear film and has been hailed as “the most comfortable on the market.”

In addition to more options for multifocal contact lenses, lens makers have set their sights on combatting digital eye strain.

Kaplan recommends adding Lipiflow in the treatment of dry eye. It heats and expresses meibomian glands.

She also lauded advancements in contact lenses from Alcon. Those lenses include a permanent water surface technology that helps ease dry eye symptoms in contact lens wearers.

Kaplan said new contact lenses by CooperVision filter out harmful blue light from computers, phones, and other devices.

“They’ve had the glasses out and the contacts came out earlier this year,” she said. “We have had some patients say their dry eye symptoms and headaches they were getting have been alleviated” by the filtering of harmful blue light.

The number of dry eye cases has gone up, while the average age of getting the first symptoms of dry eye has been going down in the past few years.

“Most people and their kids have been on computers and social media more, especially during the earlier times of Covid,” she said.

“Doctors have been proactive with advancements in detection of dry eye causes and treatments,” added Kaplan, noting that Intense Pulsed Light Therapy has helped treat dry eyes, especially in patients who have rosacea or other dermal conditions.

MyEyeDr. also advises patients and their kids on what they can do to limit digital eye strain and dry eye. “We suggest the 20/20/20 rule,” she said. “Every 20 minutes, look out 20 feet for 20 seconds.” Kaplan adds that

kids should be sure to go outside and take breaks to break up the visual field focus.

The fastest growing modality of lenses is daily disposables, including bifocal contacts. In 2021, contact lenses came out for kids that can be used to prevent the progression of myopia.

In the fourth quarter of 2022, glasses that prevent nearsightedness progression were released. “We’re all about proactive care and the (contact lenses or glasses) can help kids as young as six or seven,” said Kaplan.

MyEyeDr. was co-founded by Sue Downes in 2001. Downes started as the front-desk person for a local optometrist in the Washington area. She helped the company grow from one location to 843 across the nation. There are 17 MyEyeDr. offices in Alabama and eight in Louisiana.

“It is inspiring to be led by a woman who is as passionate about optometry as we are as optometrists,” said Kaplan.

She said as of January of this past year, she is overseeing MyEyeDr. offices across Alabama, Tennessee, portions of Georgia and coastal Carolina.

Even with her busier travel schedule, Kaplan remains incredibly involved in the Jewish community and is past president of the board for the N.E. Miles Jewish Day School.

It is truly a family affair as it pertains to eye care. Her brother, Dr. Mark Schaeffer, leads the Hoover MyEyeDr. office, and her brother, Dr. David Schaeffer, is with her at Mountain Brook. Their father, Dr. Jack Schaeffer, still lectures all over the world.

“We’re very passionate about learning and about educating our patients, our communities on eye health,” said Kaplan.

For more information or to book an appointment, go to www.myeyedr. com

LJCC gets grant to expand water safety classes for area schools

The Community Foundation of Greater Birmingham has provided a $15,000 grant to Birmingham’s Levite Jewish Community Center, to help launch the LJCC Swim School, a water-safety and swim lesson program for underserved students in local schools. The program will provide basic water safety, lifesaving, and swimming skills through six and a half hours of instruction.

The new initiative will benefit as many as 90 students from i3 Academy during the 2023-24 school year.

“We have a robust aquatics program here at The J, based in part on the ancient Talmudic instruction about the importance of teaching your children to swim,” said LJCC Executive Director Brooke Bowles,. “We’re delighted that we’ll be able to assist so many first- through third-graders from i3. Swimming is a lifelong skill that includes numerous physical and mental benefits, and we’re glad this program will contribute to the students’ overall well-being.”

The after-school program will also include transportation from i3 to The J.

“I’m excited for this partnership,” added Aquatics Director Billy Greene. “I’m eager to see these i3 students learn a whole new set of skills in the pool, and it’s never too early to introduce some career ideas.”

i3 is a “STEAM-inspired” tuition-free public charter school in the nearby Woodlawn community that serves kindergarten through seventh-grade students. While “STEAM” means focusing on science, technology, engineering, arts, and mathematics, the three i’s in the school’s name stand for imagine, investigate, and innovate.

Born to Care

If there’s one thing we were born to do, it’s care for people. Not only for the babies we deliver every day, but for everyone in the city we serve. We were born to keep hearts strong, seniors healthy, keep hope alive, and keep all of New Orleans happy and healthy. Because at Touro, we were Born to Care.

a monthly feature from Collat Jewish Family Services

The Journey Through Grief

By Caliegh Rathmell Alevy

My world changed in 2004, when I lost my dad to melanoma. Even though his death was not sudden, I was unprepared for the grief I experienced. I was fortunate to have a strong support system of family and friends, but I often felt alone in dealing with the overwhelming sadness and confusion caused by this loss.

My mother patiently listened and reminded me that grief counseling sessions could help. It was a panic attack that finally led me to take her suggestion seriously. Working through my emotions alongside a trained professional was the best decision I made in learning to navigate my new world.

Life changed again in 2007 when I lost my grandfather, and in 2008 when I lost my young friend, 14-year-old Sam Lapidus. Upon losing Sam, I gained a deeper appreciation for the saying, “yesterday is history, tomorrow is a mystery, today is a gift and that’s why we call it ‘the present’.”

My dad, my grandfather and Sam didn’t get to see how my world expanded when I married the love of my life, brought my four children into the world and earned my Master’s degree in Social Work, but with each new development, I’ve learned that my frequent thoughts of them are an opportunity to embrace and remember them in the present. What I experienced as painful and lonely grief in the early years after these losses is now a gift.  I enjoy pausing during my busy days to link my memories of these loved ones with my life in the present.

If I’m with someone I feel comfortable with, I enjoy bringing my thoughts of a lost loved one into our time together. I’ve found it is more meaningful for me to normalize my grief aloud than to experience it alone. Speaking of my deceased loved ones does not feel like a weakness, and it is typically not painful; rather, it feels like a sign of strength when I express gratitude for the growth I have experienced and remember everyone who influenced the person I am today.

This spring, I co-coordinated a ‘Spousal Loss Grief Support Group’ sponsored by CJFS in partnership with Community Grief Support. Having personally benefitted from grief support services, I was honored to have the opportunity to be a part of this group. It also did not surprise me when many members of this group expressed interest in making themselves available to others experiencing grief.

CJFS and Community Grief Support will be offering another ‘Grief Support Group’ this fall. The group will meet from 1 to 2:30 p.m. on Wednesdays, from Sept. 6 to Nov. 8.  All sessions will be held at the Levite Jewish Community Center. If you or someone you know is interested, please reach out to me at caleigh@cjfsbham.org

CJFS provides individual and group counseling for all ages, as well as periodic support groups for those experiencing serious illness, bereavement and challenging life transitions. CJFS services are confidential and may be covered by insurance.  To learn more, visit https://cjfsbhamorg/our-mission/, email jfs@cjfsbham.org or call (205) 879-3438.

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Alcoholism and addiction in the Jewish community

By Steven Cavalier

Alcoholism and addiction are not discussed much in the Jewish community. A study in 2015 reported that a large portion of North American Jews have a strong fear of alcoholics and blame individuals with addictions for their condition. A legacy of denial among Jews has resulted in pain, heartache and alienation from Judaism by those suffering from addiction.

This same study reported that 41.2 percent of North American Jews knew someone struggling with addiction, and 23.5 percent of respondents reported a family history of alcohol or drug abuse. However, as late as 1975, a survey from the New York area Jewish Federation to the NYC Rabbinate indicated not one rabbi out of 1000 respondents was aware of alcohol or substance abuse as a problem in the among Jews.

A look across many studies in the North America and the UK indicate a significant level of denial and under-reporting of substance abuse in the Jewish community.

Many Jews, even in the non-Orthodox denominations, know the Yiddish saying, “a shikkur is a goy,” – meaning one cannot be drunk and a Jew. Several reasons exist for the apparent denial of alcoholism and addiction. Jews have often desired to paint themselves as an unblemished community. Throughout history, Jews, persecuted by their neighbors, tried to avoid additional reasons for non-Jews to criticize them.

Medical writings in Germany and Russia during the late 19th and early 20th century described drug addiction as a social problem related to modernity, capitalism and Judaism. The Jewish response was often to repress and marginalize fellow Jews suffering from addiction. The myth that Jews do not suffer from addiction as much as other groups often leaves families and individuals feeling isolated and disconnected from friends, clergy, congregations and communities. Jews rarely turn to their rabbis to discuss alcoholism and addiction.

In the U.S., almost 97,000 people die from a drug overdose annually, and about 15 million people suffer from alcohol use disorder. If we believe that these problems are at least as common among Jews as in the general population, we lose 1,900 souls a year to addiction, and 300,000 fellow Jews suffer from an alcohol use disorder. Most experts feel the real numbers are significantly higher.

The Jewish values of “Pikuach haNefesh” (saving a life) and “Kol Yisrael aravim zeh bazeh” (all Jews are responsible for one another), inform us that as Jews we must do more. No one in our congregations and communities should feel isolated or alone, and certainly not “less Jewish,” because they suffer from addiction.

Where do we start? First, we need to openly recognize and acknowledge that alcoholism and addiction occur among our fellow Jews. These conditions are complex and not due to a lack of will power. In our congregations, schools, camps and youth groups, we should be educating about these conditions. We should be listening to our young people. Our rabbis, educators, family services, youth leaders and counsellors need to learn more about addiction risk, recognition, and treatment.

The treatment of addiction is complicated, multifaceted, and not simple or quick. Almost all authorities agree that a 12-Step program such as AA is an important part of an addict’s recovery and sobriety. Where do 12-Step meetings occur? Although they occur in many venues, they are almost always in churches. Many thousands of Jews know that these meetings are saving their lives. However, these Jews have no alternative to meeting in a church because very few Jewish affiliated sites rent space to 12-Step peer groups. What does this say to Jewish addicts?

Some Jewish addicts are reluctant to attend 12-Step meetings because of a misguided impression these are “Christian based” programs. They need not be, and usually are not. Twelve step recovery is a spiritual program not based in any particular religion. Most knowledgeable rabbis

Come Join Our Family!

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We are excited to welcome new residents and their families to Brookdale University Park.

When you arrive for a tour, you will be greeted by our friendly staff and residents. You will notice our walking paths, putting green and refreshing outside areas for you, your family and friends to enjoy.

Once you move in, you are free to come and go in the community as you wish, and visitors are always welcome! Including your 4-legged friends.

Our community is your local source for overcoming challenges that older adults face as well as providing an environment where friendships can cultivate and flourish.

Reach out to us today and learn how we can help connect your interests with those of like-age friends.

agree the 12-Steps are completely compatible with Jewish spirituality. Teshuva, renewal, so central to Judaism, is easily incorporated into recovery and sobriety. We need to create safe ways for Jews in recovery to participate in all our rituals and worship.

Finally, our leaders and institutions need to be aware of the many Jewish resources that are available for help in recovery, including many excellent books on Jewish spirituality in the recovery process.

Jews suffering from addiction, substance abuse and alcoholism are among the most vulnerable in our communities and we must be present, prepared and ready to support and help them.

Steven Cavalier, MD, is president of the Unified Jewish Congregation of Baton Rouge.

LJCC partners with VA for veteran memberships

The Levite Jewish Community Center has partnered with the Birmingham East Veterans Affairs Clinic so the Birmingham VA will have 50 memberships that they can distribute to veterans on an as-needed basis.

Discussions about the agreement started last year when an occupational therapy supervisor at the nearby clinic reached out to the LJCC, as they were in search of a pool to use for their new aquatics therapy program.

“As a partner with Veterans Affairs,” wrote Sarah Goodman, “The J can allow our trained and certified occupational therapists to provide aquatic therapy for our nation’s heroes seeking relief from the stress and pain associated with PTSD, as well as chronic injuries and physical pain.

“It would be wonderful if we could bring our veterans to The J for aquatic therapy.”

The idea resonated with LJCC Executive Director Brooke Bowles, who suggested taking the proposed partnership a step further. Instead of allowing the VA to bring patients just to use the pool for therapy, why not give them full memberships?

“We have so much going on here — from the Roz Feigelson Knitting Group to tai chi and the Sokol Fitness Floor to Mah Jongg and bridge games and our summertime Thursday Family Fun Night pool parties,” Bowles explained. “It simply makes sense for sufferers of post-traumatic stress to have full access to all that our welcoming community offers.

“We’re thrilled to embrace this new group,” she added.

Goodman is quite familiar with all that the LJCC has to offer, being a former camper, swim and dive team member, and lifeguard. In addition, she and her husband hosted three athletes during the 2017 JCC Maccabi Games, which was coordinated by the LJCC. “I know all about the wonderful activities and opportunities for inclusion that The J provides,” she wrote.

Real Estate/Homes

an annual SJL special section

Inspiring outdoor living

Hollywood Outdoor Living wants to bring families together to enjoy the great outdoors at their own home.

The luxury lifestyle company recently decorated all the outdoor spaces at the 2023 Inspiration Home in Vestavia.

“The open-air porch is such a welcomed extension of the living room,” said Michelle Mote, Hollywood Outdoor Living’s design consultant. “Porches double your entertaining space without supersizing indoor rooms, and a fireplace warms up the space in the chillier winter months.”

She said that modern wicker is a natural for Southern porches. The set they used for the Inspiration Home has “a low profile and sleek shape.” A few traditional lamps were added to bring warmth to the space. “I chose neutral undertones for the performance fabrics.”

The uncovered outdoor patio, adjacent to the covered porch, adds another fun, functional space for dining and entertainment. It includes a Profire gas grill, entertaining console by Lane Venture, a casual dining set by Three Birds, a few Adirondack chairs by Breezesta and even a cornhole game from American Promo.

Hollywood Outdoor Living was founded as Hollywood Pools in 1986 at its original location on Hollywood Boulevard. In 2000, they moved to a building on Highway 31 in Vestavia and began offering lines of luxury outdoor furniture.

In 2005, they renovated and moved into an expanded facility further south on Highway 31 in Vestavia. They expanded their pool and spa services in 2018 through the acquisition of Alabama Outdoor Pools.

Then in March 2021, Hollywood acquired another long-time, family-owned business, Alabama Gaslight & Grill — a 52-year-old company that offered gas and charcoal grills, luxury lighting, fireplace products and accessories.

“At Hollywood, we believe that relaxation begins in the backyard. It’s really an extension of your living room and a place where some of life’s most meaningful events happen — a new baby being announced, a birthday party for grandpa, or even a small wedding! The inspiration home is just a snapshot of what Hollywood can offer for your outdoor living space,” said Mote. “Come visit our store to see more.”

Magic City a desirable market to move in

Ashley Lewis loves helping Birmingham to grow.

The Magic City native and involved Jewish community member, who started The Fred Smith Group at RealtySouth with Smith in 2004, said that half of her homebuyers the past couple of years have come from out of state.

“We have so much to offer in Birmingham with UAB, award-winning restaurants, sports and entertainment. The World Games put our area on a big stage and there’s such a great quality of life here,” said Lewis, who

u Construction Damage / Defect assessments

u Cost estimation, which may include replacement or reproduction cost estimates

u Narrative presentations and reports with inspection findings and conclusions

u Code Interpretation

u Expert witness testimony for depositions, mediations and settlement conferences, and arbitrations and trials

Stephen Fleishmann, owner of Titan Construction, has more than 25 years of construction experience and more than 15 years of experience in legal consulting. He is a highly skilled expert witness in the area of value and causation of construction defects and deficiencies.

u Expert opinion on residential construction, design/construction defects, building envelope evaluation, and means and methods assessment

u Pre-case evaluations

u Site inspections

u Litigation support

u Case analysis

real estate/homes

lives in Highland Park with her husband Jon, a local attorney and new president of the Birmingham Rotary Club. She is also a board member at Temple Emanu-El.

Lewis said those numbers surged since Covid and with the ability for many to work remotely, “we’re seeing people coming from bigger cities such as Los Angeles and New York, to come here where their money can go much further.”

Lewis said that some new condominium, townhomes and high-rises are in development, but with it still being such a strong sellers’ market, inventory is still low.

“We’re still getting multiple offers on just about every property,” she said. “Six months of inventory is normal. We have less than two months.”

Lewis advised buyers to get pre-approved and be prepared to move quickly on a purchase.

She tells her buyers and sellers that they have the benefit of an experienced team on their side. “There are 10 of us in the group and we work very well together to help our clients in any way that we can,” said Lewis.

Cooking up kitchen transformations

Patrick Bryan isn’t a chef, but he creates masterpieces in kitchens. For more than 40 years, Bryan has been transforming kitchens and interiors with cabinet building, refinishing, backsplash, countertops and tile.

“We can do anything to make an old kitchen new with building cabinets, fixtures, refinishing and updates,” said the owner of Patrick Bryan Kitchens. “We’re artisans and craftsmen with many years of experience.”

Bryan said with the current renovation trends, he is doing more fauxbrick and stone backsplashes, as well as lighter colors on cabinets to help create a more “open feeling.”

He has worked with clients in the Birmingham area Jewish community, and is a member of the Levite Jewish Community Center. His wife, Jonna, works at the Cohn Early Childhood Learning Center.

Bryan said they primarily focus on kitchens but can also do some other home renovation projects and deck work. They always offer free consultations.

“We say we’re not in the kitchen renovation business, we’re in the people business,” he said. “When we’re in someone’s home, we treat it like our own. They become like family.”

Farmer: While much has changed in real estate, some things remain the same

Remax Preferred Real Estate Agent and Mountain Brook native Donna Farmer has seen many changes in her 28 years in the industry. But what hasn’t changed is the satisfaction and emotional connection that come from finding the perfect home for a client.

“I love developing relationships with my clients — helping them to become familiar with and get involved in a community,” said Farmer, who has lived in Crestwood since 1997.

She helps her buyers understand fair market values and how to negotiate. Farmer can help guide them about inspection and getting pre-approved.

“I’ll work hard to make sure I find an ideal-fit property for them,” said Farmer. “I think really the buyers and the sellers want the same thing.”

She said she has seen much growth in Birmingham and “it’s a very desirable place to live. We’re starting to see some new homes in Crestwood and surrounding areas.”

Farmer is also an artist, animal lover and vegetarian. She fosters dogs and is an advocate for the Birmingham Boston Terriers rescue organization.

“Once we find someone a home, we can also help find them a pup to love… and some art for their new place,” she said.

Sikora’s experience, community connections help clients navigate market

Hadassah Birmingham vice president and avid tennis player Bridget Sikora’s community involvement, along with her 18 years of experience in real estate, have helped her serve her clients well in a challenging market.

“I’m really passionate about doing anything it takes to find my buyers their perfect home… and to help sellers get best offers,” said Sikora, a real estate agent with Ray and Poyner. “I’ve developed some great relationships with listing agents over the years and that has helped me to gain an edge for my buyers. Sometimes it’s the little details that can make the difference.”

She said with inventory low, especially in areas such as Mountain Brook, homes on the market usually get multiple offers if priced right.

“I’ve been able to get asking price or in some cases, above asking price for sellers,” said Sikora. “I recommend that if possible sellers start to prepare several months prior. I’m happy to give them advice on how to best stage the home and the things they can do (such as a pre-inspection) to position themselves to get the most value for their home.”

She said 93 percent of people start their search online. “We work with sellers to help them most effectively market their home and make a good first impression.”

Sikora recommends to her buyers get pre-approved and to understand market values before making an offer.

“I love working with all of my clients, but my favorites are first-time home buyers,” she said. “I’m with them every step of the way and they are so grateful. It’s a special feeling.”

Weiss makes warm connections for clients with LAH Sotheby’s

Hillary Weiss said the marriage of LAH and Sotheby’s has helped her offer clients an expanded network with some warm connections.

“It has really elevated our business to be a part of an international network of trustworthy agents,” said Weiss. “This helps us to make warm connections to benefit clients who are moving to Birmingham or who want to relocate anywhere across the world. It really opens up our reach.”

When asked about trends in Alabama real estate, Weiss said in the past few years she has observed that buyers are looking for pools, fireplaces and outdoor entertainment spaces.

“We’ve seen more colorful indoor décor and more home offices, studies and kids’ dens,” she said. Weiss said the second-home market is growing and she works with clients on the Gulf and across the state.

Focusing on tradition with new Fairmont Cedars Hendersonville project

By Lee J. Green

History and tradition are very important to third-generation Jewish developer Gregg Covin.

With that in mind and with a nod to the future, The Fairmont Heritage Place The Cedars was born on the site of the historic Cedars Inn in downtown Hendersonville, N.C.

“We are building 130 new-construction, Fairmont-branded residences surrounding the historic Cedars Inn, which is on the National Register of Historic Places,” said Covin. “This development will offer units with amazing views in the Blue Ridge Mountains and some modern amenities.”

The one, two, three-bedroom and penthouse condominiums are priced from $400,000 up to $3.8 million, with a first phase scheduled to be completed in 2024. Covin said the complex’s entrance is through the Cedars Inn. “We’ll have a resort pool deck (above), spa and fitness center, fine-dining restaurant, ballrooms and meeting spaces,” he said.

Covin is from Miami. His grandfather built his first building in Miami Beach on the GI Bill after returning from World War II.

Covin’s wife Shelley’s family, the Shipmans, have owned The Cedars and the surrounding three-and-a-half acres of land for four decades. The hotel is under the stewardship of Fairmont Hotels and Resorts.

The Fairmont Heritage Place

The Cedars is one block from the shopping and entertainment district of Main Street in downtown Hendersonville. The development is just a few miles from Camp Judaea and Camp Blue Star.

>> Weiss continued from page 40

Inventory remains very low in what is still a buyer’s market. “It can get complicated and emotional. I let my clients know I’m there with them every step of the way. To me, they are like family,” she said.

For sellers, Weiss recommends working with their agent to properly stage their home and to price it competitively.

Weiss is on the Birmingham Jewish Federation finance committee and they are members at Temple Emanu-El. “We support the community and we’re proud to call Birmingham home,” she said. “It’s so gratifying to help people to find a home here and get involved.”

ARC Realty team blends real estate with philanthropy

The ARC Realty team of Ashley Lemley and Gina Musser always remains “pawsitive” about the real estate market, as well as their philanthropy efforts.

Known as “The Address Makeover Girls,” the two started a fundraiser called Fur the Love in February 2022. Through the annual event and regular painting parties, they have already raised $15,000 for Hand in Paw, an organization that provides animal-assisted therapy to those in need across the Birmingham area.

“Philanthropy is really important to us and we just believe so strongly in what Hand in Paw is doing,” said Lemley. They are already planning for the next Fur the Love on Feb 3, 2024. “This all came together from our love of pets, art and helping people.”

Lemley was a teacher in the Shelby County School System for many years and she loves to educate buyers and sellers to help them easily navigate the process.

“We help them every step of the way and to prepare them for a successful (sale or purchase),” she said. “When people work with us, they know they have a team to guide them.”

Lemley said it’s still a sellers’ market and inventory is low, but they are starting to see some new developments, especially in the Hoover area.

She advises buyers to make an offer “that is as clean as possible with very few contingencies.”

Lemley added that advanced technology, including a specialized AI tool ARC Realty employs, helps them to provide accurate neighborhood market value information to assist sellers on where to price their home.

“And we initially send out 75 ‘just-listed’ cards to addresses in the immediate area,” she said. “We pride ourselves on how we promote.”

Lemley added, “we love what we do and we want to make it a fun, easy process for our clients.”

Broadway veteran Donald Corren’s journey to “Cabaret” in Alabama

By Lee J. Green

New York-based actor Donald Corren makes his first journey to Alabama for a journey back in time to Berlin during the twilight of the Jazz Era.

One of the most famous American musicals of all time, “Cabaret,” comes to the Alabama Shakespeare Festival stage in Montgomery, through Aug. 6.

The veteran actor of stage, screen and audiobooks has played many roles in his 40-year career. But he considers playing Herr Schultz one of a few “roles of a lifetime” and it connects him with his family heritage.

Herr Schultz is the only Jewish character in the show, a middle-aged fruit vendor. He has a romance with the owner of the boarding house he is staying at, Fraulen Schneider, that is put at peril by the Nazi ascent to power in Berlin.

“Their love affair is really the heart of the piece,” said Corren. “It leads to the wedge being driven between them by the Nazis, who threaten to shut down the boarding house. Schultz tells them he is German, but they say, ‘you’re Jewish so you need to go’.”

Corren’s great-grandfather immigrated from Odessa, Russia, to Stockton, Calif., in 1901. He first had vegetable cart, and would go on to develop a very successful furniture empire in northern California.

Corren and his father, Mel, wrote a book about his family’s journey to the United States, “I’ve Lived It, I’ve Loved It,” which is available on Amazon.

“It’s a classic Russian Jew immigration story. My great-grandfather was

a very industrious man,” he said. “Our family also helped build Temple Israel (in Stockton) and my mom was the president of the congregation.”

Corren got involved in theatre when he was only five years old. “We had a very progressive school system, and our grammar school even had a drama club.”

In high school, he learned all aspects of the theatre and earned a scholarship to the prestigious Julliard School of Acting.

Corren started his professional career in Chicago, working alongside playwright David Mamet, actors William Macy and the Belushi Brothers. Then he would go on to New York City to do theatre and the accomplished pianist supplemented his income by playing in some piano bars.

Corren originated the role of Cosme McMoonin in the celebrated Broadway production of “Souvenir.” Then when Harvey Fierstein left the ground-breaking “Torch Song Trilogy” in 1984 to make the movie of the same name, Corren took over his role on Broadway. “To follow such a legend is a challenge, but it was such a groundbreaking show and in incredible experience for me.”

Ten years ago, Corren was in a Holocaust-themed show called “The Soap Myth.” Written by playwright Jeff Cohen, it dramatizes the conflict between Holocaust scholars and historians who require documentary proof when determining the history of the Holocaust and survivors who were the eyewitnesses to the horrors.

“It really connected on a deep level and is a very important work still performed today (with Richard Dreyfus in the lead role),” he said.

The next show he did connected with his Jewishness but with a much

“Joseph” colors the Red Mountain Theatre stage

By Lee J. Green

“Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat” lights up the Red Mountain Theatre stage from July 21 to Aug. 13, and its narrator is glowing about classic musical.

“This is just such a beautiful story about family, loyalty, forgiveness, love and redemption,” said Amy Johnson. “We’re excited about sharing this production; to present it in a big and bright way.”

The Andrew Lloyd Webber musical debuted on Broadway in 1982 and has become a worldwide sensation. It tells the Biblical story of Joseph and his brothers with musical styles spanning from country-western to bubblegum pop to rock and roll.

Stacey Alley directs and choreographs the RMT production. That cast also features Kyle Holman, who was Tevye (Johnson played Fruma-Sarah) in Red Mountain’s 2017 production of “Fiddler on the Roof.”

Johnson also starred in the Theatre LJCC production of “Seussical the Musical” in 2012 and in the Alabama premier of “Parade” at the Virginia Samford Theatre. The musical about Leo Frank won Best Musical Revival at the 2023 Tony Awards.

“I think it’s important to tell these stories with authenticity and to honor what they are communicating,” she said. “When we did Fiddler, we had coaches helping us to properly speak Hebrew and Yiddish. It allowed us to really connect with the show on a deeper level.”

The Birmingham native starting doing theatre when she was five years old in a show called “Rated G.” It was written by a University of Montevallo graduate.

“Both of my parents graduated from Montevallo, as did I,” she said. “I’m grateful that my family and friends opened up the world of theatre to me. It has been such an important part of my life.”

Johnson said she supports RMT in its effort to offer learning opportunities to young talent and to give them opportunities to showcase that talent on the big stage.

This “Joseph” production is welcoming a different group of child actors from community schools and institutions for each of the four weeks of the show. Each group will spend one week learning the songs and choreography, then one week in the show.

“I think it’s so beautiful to open this up to kids of all backgrounds so they can share their gifts… and to learn more about these important stories we’re telling,” she said.

For more information and to get tickets, go to www.redmountaintheatre.com

BURKE

continued from page 46

>> Rear Pew continued from page 43

>> Cabaret the lost Ark. Not something to be taken lightly. No one knows its secrets. It’s like nothing you’ve ever gone after before.”

“What are you trying to do, scare me? You sound like my mother. We’ve known each other for a long time. I don’t believe in magic, a lot of superstitious hocus-pocus. I’m going after a find of incredible historical significance. You’re talking about the bogeyman. Besides, you know what a cautious fellow I am.”

Much later, in Washington, after the Ark has been recovered…

“You’ve done your country a great service, and we thank you, and we trust you found the settlement satisfactory.”

“Oh, the money’s fine. The situation’s totally unacceptable.”

“Well, gentlemen, I guess that just about wraps it up.”

“Where is the Ark?”

“I thought we’d settled that. The Ark is somewhere very safe.”

“From whom?”

“The Ark is a source of unspeakable power and it has to be researched.”

“And it will be, I assure you, Dr. Brody, Dr. Cohen. We have top men working on it right now.”

“Who?”

“Top men.”

How much of human life is lost in waiting. – Emerson/Oxley

Doug Brook hates snakes, Jacques. He hates ‘em. For more, listen to the FIVE-star rated Rear Pew Mirror podcast at https://podcasters.spotify. com/pod/show/rearpewmirror or any major podcast platform. For past columns, visit http://rearpewmirror.com/.

different tone and subject – “Old Jews Telling Jokes” – about the Borscht Belt comedians.

Corren also has narrated more than 150 audiobooks, including one titled “First The Jews,” which delves into antisemitism and the hatred that has been infesting the world for more than 3,000 years.

In 2021, Corren made his first trip to the Deep South. He played a doctor in the Netflix movie “Dolly Parton Christmas on the Square,” filmed in Atlanta.

He said when he found out about “Cabaret” auditions for the Alabama Shakespeare Festival, “I had heard about the tremendous reputation of the Alabama Shakespeare Festival had and (Schultz) is a role I have always wanted to do. I grew up with the musical.”

“Cabaret” was based on a 1951 play “I Am a Camera,” which was adapted from a semi-autobiographical novel by Christopher Isherwood, called “Goodbye To Berlin.”

Debuting on Broadway in 1966, the groundbreaking musical by John Kander, Fred Ebb and Joe Masteroff focuses on the nightlife at the seedy underground Kit Kat Club.

Alabama Shakespeare Festival Artistic Director Rick Dildine said, “the club itself serves as a metaphor for the ominous political developments in Germany at the time. The story is both realistic and representational.

“As an artist, I feel there is a difference between art and entertainment. Art focuses our attention while entertainment distracts us,” he added. “’Cabaret’ uses entertainment to focus our attention on how a society’s norms can be chipped away even while we are all laughing and enjoying the show.”

Raiders of the Other Ark

Indiana Cohen — professor of archaeology, expert on the occult, and obtainer of rare antiquities — was being questioned about an intercepted cable by two representatives of a government agency in the middle of World War II.

Indy, with a gleam of recognition in his eye, said, “Ararat is one of the possible resting places of the lost ark.”

One of the agents replied, “You mean the Ark of the Covenant? The chest the Hebrews used to carry around the Ten Commandments? The original stone tablets that Moses brought down out of Mount Horeb and smashed?”

“No…”

“No?”

“No. Noah. Noah’s Ark.”

“Noah’s Ark?”

“Yes, the original ark that Noah built and preserved humanity and animals in, if you believe in that sort of thing. Didn’t you guys ever go to Sunday School?”

“Well, I…”

“Everyone on the Earth was consumed by the waters in a storm which lasted a whole 40 days and 40 nights. Wiped clean by the wrath of God.”

“Obviously, we’ve come to the right men.”

“Noah’s ark ended up, probably in broken pieces, on a mountain called Ararat. Where people might have remembered for many years, until all of a sudden, whoosh, all memory of it is gone.”

“Where?”

“Well, nobody knows where.”

“Frankly, we’re somewhat suspicious of Ravenwood an American being mentioned so prominently in a secret Nazi cable.”

“Oh, rubbish. Ravenwood’s no Nazi.”

Raiding a different Ark

“Well, what do the Nazis…”

“Well, obviously, they’re confused. When the rains abated, Noah first sent a raven out to search for dry land. And the ark was made of gopherwood. Something got lost for them in translation.”

“What does that tell you that it doesn’t tell me?”

“It tells me that they’d be better off reading books than burning them.”

“I’m beginning to understand Hitler’s interest in this.”

“Oh, yes. The Bible speaks of the Ark preserving a select group of humanity, and withstanding God’s laying waste to entire regions. A navy with the ark before it, is invincible.”

Later that evening, Marcus met Indy at his home.

Marcus told Indy, “They want you to go for it. They want you to get ahold of the Ark before the Nazis do, and they’re prepared to pay handsomely for it.”

“And the museum? The museum gets the Ark when we’re finished?”

“Do you think there’s room in the museum for a ship large enough to save every living species on earth?”

“Well, I…”

“Yes, of course. We’ll build a new wing if we have to.”

“Noah’s Ark. Nothing else has come close. That thing represents everything we got into archaeology for in the first place. I’ve got to find Ararat. I think I know where to start.”

“That’s the least of your worries right now, believe me, Indy.”

“What do you mean?”

“Well, I mean that for nearly 4,000 years, man has been searching for

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