Jewish Light Digital Edition: Feb. 8, 2023

BY BILL MOTCHAN SPECIAL TO THE JEWISH LIGHT

The Songleader Boot Camp (SLBC) National Conference returns to St. Louis on Feb. 19 for its first in-person gathering since 2020. The leadership training gathering for Jewish clergy, educators, camp staff and song leaders was presented as a virtual conference for the past two years. The 2023 version will offer both in-person and virtual segments. Rick Recht and Rabbi Brad Horwitz founded SLBC in 2009. The primary activities are held at the Jewish Community Center’s Staenberg Family Complex.

Recht said enthusiasm among attendees is high to return to a post-pandemic in-person event.

“People are thrilled but they’re also relieved,” Recht said. “There is a giant collective exhale and appreciation to be physically together and to share this learning and this healing and this celebration together.”

Nearly 500 participants are expected, including several hundred at the J. Featured presenters include Rabbi David Ingber from New York and Rabbi Abby Stein, a Jewish educator, author, speaker and activist who grew up in a Hasidic family and became ordained as a rabbi and in 2015 came out as a woman of trans experience. Stein is the author of “Becoming Eve” a book about her experience. She is a direct descendant of the Baal Shem Tov.

“She’s quite a fascinating person with an incredible story,” Recht said. “We’re really

Music seen as key to attracting young people to Jewish clergy

St. Louis’ Rick Recht discusses Judaism

BY BILL MOTCHAN SPECIAL TO THE JEWISH LIGHT

An ambitious initiative aims to help train and place 500 young Jewish leaders across North America by 2027. The program is being developed by Judaism Alive, a nonprofit organization that includes Jewish Rock Radio, JKids Radio, Jewish Star and Songleader Boot Camp.

It is intended to address a looming nationwide shortage of Jewish clergy. The goal is to encourage and support teenagers and young adults to pursue careers as rabbis, cantors, song leaders and lay leaders, said Rick Recht, executive director of Judaism Alive.

“There’s a huge demand and incredible supply shortage of rabbis, of cantors, of Jewish leadership,” Recht said. “We have formed a leadership pipeline that we are formalizing through this drive.”

The looming shortage of Jewish clergy is due in part to an aging rabbinate. A Faith Communities Today survey of 15,278 religious congregations across the United States in 2020 showed that the median age of U.S. rabbis was 56. Some rabbis are retiring early, which exacerbates the problem.

Conservative movement leaders pre-

See JUDAISM ALIVE on page 4

excited to have her with us. We have another highlight—more than 50 Jewish Star teen and young adults who are going to be with us.”

Jewish Star is a talent search and development program that identifies and recruits Jewish teens and young adults who have a passion for music. The program provides leadership training and mentorship with prominent Jewish artists and educators.

Ingber and Stein will be featured in the SLBC Community Speaker Series on

Monday, Feb. 20 at 7:30 p.m. at the J’s Mirowitz Performing Arts Center. Attendance is open to the public. Register online at www.songleaderbootcamp.com/ register.

The SLBC, Recht said, was able to create a high-value experience for attendees thanks to the support of donors, including the Kranzberg Family Foundation, the Gladys K. Crown Foundation, Jewish Federation, and then the Staenberg Family Foundation.”

At top and above: Participants in the 2019 Songleader Bootcamp join together in song during a session at the Jewish Community Center. FILE PHOTO: BILL MOTCHAN

Rick Recht, Executive Director of Judaism Alive. PHOTO: BILL MOTCHAN

LOVE IS IN THE AIR, AND THIS LOVE STORY BEGINS WITH A PRESCHOOL FRIENDSHIP. read more on page 3

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It’s not all that unusual to reconnect with an acquaintance from college, high school or even grade school years after graduation and then, almost like magic, fall in love with them. But reconnecting and falling in love with someone from preschool? Who of us even remembers most of the kids we went to preschool with in the first place?

But this is St. Louis and the Jewish community, where someone knows someone who knows another someone who is married to the first someone’s second cousin-in-law. You catch my drift.

So when Andy Cohen – no, not that Andy Cohen, the one from Olivette – told his childhood friend Sam Feldman that he was moving back to St. Louis in the fall of 2021, Sam said, “I have a great place for you to live and I have a great date to set you up

The great place was Sam’s apartment in Dogtown. He was moving in with his girlfriend, Brooke Hyman, which meant his then-roommate, Ben Kraus, needed someone to share the rent. That worked out well because Ben and Andy were already good friends, the two even went to preschool together at Congregation Temple Israel’s Deutsch Early Childhood Center.

The set-up date, as it turned out, also attended preschool at Temple Israel with Andy (and Ben). Her name was Julia Katzman, and she had moved back to St. Louis in 2018 to attend the George Warren Brown School of Social Work at Washington University.

A few years later, Julia and Brooke, Sam’s girlfriend, spotted each other at the same gym, and thought the other looked familiar. Their circles in the community had overlapped some as kids, but they didn’t attend the same schools or hang out together. But over the course of the summer of 2021, Brooke, Sam and Julia became good friends, which resulted in Sam telling Andy about the amazing woman he needed to set him up with as soon as he moved back to St. Louis.

The plan was for Julia, 29, and Andy, 28, to meet for dinner on Oct. 18, 2021, at Sasha’s in the DeMun neighborhood of Clayton, near where Julia lived. There, the two spent three hours talking nonstop, reminiscing about their shared childhood experiences – both had also attended the same elementary school though Julia was a grade ahead – and getting to know the person each other had become.

Andy left the night sure she was the one. Julia felt similarly, though it took her a few more dates to be 100% certain.

“What is so amazing and unique is that we have this history,” said Julia, who is a psychotherapist in private practice.

“Most people meet in their 20s on a dating app. They have a lot of time to make up for. For Andy and me, it was like a puzzle piece fitting together from the beginning. We have a shared history and for us, that made a very positive difference.”

Effortless is probably the best word to

describe the interplay between them. The two truly seem to delight in each other’s company. When the three of us spoke recently, Julia and Andy traveled back in time to when they were children, recalling seeing each other at the St. Louis airport on the way to their respective summer camps, his in Wisconsin, hers in Minnesota.

“I remember making eye contact in the airport with Andy and not saying anything,” said Julia.

“I remember the same thing,” Andy countered, also recalling that he had “a distinct memory as a little kid of being at Julia’s house and watching her and her sisters put on shows. There was always a lot of energy in the household,” added Andy, who works as a sales manager at the Ritz-Carlton St. Louis.

It wasn’t all that long after getting to know each other that Andy and Julia moved in together. And while much of their relationship seems to resemble a storybook romance, their resolve was significantly tested when Andy endured a serious health scare last fall. Thankfully, he is fine now, but as Julia’s parents noted when he asked for their blessing to marry their daughter, “You guys have been through it and passed the stress test. You are perfect for each other.”

And so, on Jan. 6, after 15 months of dating, Andy decided the best place to propose was where it all began – at the preschool playground at Temple Israel. He worked with TI’s Rabbi Amy Feder to cement the plan.

“Julia and I went to the playground under the guise of helping a friend with a flat tire nearby,” said Andy, who proposed with a redesigned ring using the diamond from the engagement ring his late Grandma Beebee had given him after he graduated from college.

“Right at sunset, the photographer was set up and captured the moment when I asked her to marry me,” Andy continued. “I had our parents and siblings and their partners all picked up by a limo bus, and they were able to come to the playground to help us celebrate, surprise Julia and share the moment on the playground where it all began.”

The two are planning to marry in late August. Julia says testament to the bashert of their relationship is that most of the wedding details have come together seamlessly.

When I asked each of them what they loved the most about the other, Julia said, “Andy is so positive and just loves life.”

Andy said, “Julia is remarkably intelligent and caring and beautiful . . . She is perfect.”

Their love for each other also extends to a renewed enthusiasm for St. Louis.

“In the same way that meeting Andy is like reconnecting with an old friend, being in St. Louis is similar metaphorically,” said Julia. “It’s so nice to be close to home. It’s so nice to be able to go out to dinner with both sets of parents whenever we want.

“St. Louis is so much a part of our roots and I think that that makes being here together so joyous and effortless.”

items

photos of

News and Schmooze is a column by Jewish Light Editor-in-Chief Ellen Futterman. Email Ellen at: efutterman@stljewishlight.org.

Judaism Alive: Music as a fresh approach in attracting younger generation to the clergy

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1

dicted that more than 80 Conservative synagogues will have had vacancies for rabbis this year. Finding 80 replacements wasn’t a given, though. Reform congregations face a similar dilemma. One study showed a 37% decrease in rabbinical school enrollment for Reform rabbis.

Judaism Alive plans to cultivate Jewish leaders using the power of music, where many teens and young adults form a connection with their Jewish identities. The five-year plan to develop 500 Jewish leaders will help create a pipeline of talent using a job-placement database.

“We’ve created an open-door using music as the secret sauce to identify and to attract these young leaders,” Recht said. “Then we provide them with holistic leadership skills from marketing and public presentation, self-preparation, and all kinds of different nonmusical skills, human skills and leadership skills that are absolutely critical in the Jewish world. Those include skills surrounding disability inclusion and gender inclusion and Israel advocacy. These are all incredibly important.”

Recht said identifying and nurturing young Jewish leaders through music is an extension of what his organization has been doing for some time.

“It’s important to note that we’ve trained over 3,000 leaders over the last decade,” he said. “We’ve helped pioneer an entire field of Jewish artists-educators that didn’t exist 10 years ago. This is a continuation of what we’ve been doing really successfully for many years, which is identifying, training, promoting and placing new young leaders into Jewish life. It’s just taking it to the next level.”

Recht said the job-placement database for Jewish leaders will help candidates build professional profiles and market themselves to Jewish organizations searching for talent.

Lisa Friedman is among the musically inclined future Jewish leaders who have already benefitted from Judaism Alive.

Friedman, 23, lives in Los Angeles. She fell in love with contemporary Jewish music at a URJ camp and began song leading after her bat mitzvah. She started writing original music at age 15. During the early days of COVID, she learned about the Jewish Star competition.

“That’s how I got connected to Rick Recht and the Jewish Star Academy, which offers mentorship,” Friedman said. “And I just fell in love with this cohort of young Jewish leaders. We’re getting personalized mentorship from people who have been successful in their careers in the Jewish realm and beyond. It was really life changing for me to get that personalized mentorship.”

Friedman graduated from the University of Arizona last year, earning a degree in literacy learning and leadership. She plans to attend rabbinical school soon. A decade from now, she hopes to be ordained, possibly working at a synagogue but also writing and performing Jewish music.

“It’s really my goal to put my music out there,” she said. “As Jews become more secular, I think it’s important to change with the times and incorporate the prayer and the values into music even more so that we continue to grow as a people and as our rituals continue to expand.”

Zac Gondelman is another recipient of mentoring and support from Judaism Alive. Gondelman, 19, lives in Boston and is a freshman in the Jewish studies program at Brandeis University. Like Friedman, he sees his future in the clergy.

“I want to think about diversity, inclusion and belonging,” Gondelman said. “I want to leave the world just a little better through stories and song. I fundamentally believe there’s magic in the air with Judaism. It lifts you. What I want to do is take that magic and determine how to use that for social justice and look outward.”

Gondelman began his musical journey when he was 5 years old. He studied classical music at the New England Conservatory of Music and Jazz at the Berklee College of Music. He also served as a student intern at Temple Beth Elohim in Wellesley, Mass. He credited his musical growth and leadership skills to Judaism Alive.

“Rick Recht has fundamentally changed the game,”

make this a career.’ ”

For up-and-coming Jewish leaders like Friedman and Gondelman, the support provided by Judaism Alive is valuable, and available at no cost. Recht said the program is supported by local and national philanthropy.

“For teens and young adults who are part of Jewish Star, it’s a free program,” he said. “The personal consultation, the AV equipment that we give them, the registration, the song leader boot camp, the mentoring programs, it’s all free.”

he said. “He has removed every barrier to entry and said to everyone, ‘We want you at the table.’ It’s a philosophy at the core of my being as a leader. He tells us, ‘You can

Recht said Friedman and Gondelman are typical of the future Jewish leaders that Judaism Alive is supporting. They are motivated to develop careers in Jewish clergy, so it makes sense to give them a boost. “What we’ve found is that teens and young adults who are part of our leadership training pipeline are choosing their colleges and their jobs in Jewish life,” he said. “They’re choosing a trajectory in Jewish life because of the inspiration and training that they experienced in our pipeline.”

HUC, Hillel team up to grow a new generation of leaders

A collaboration between Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion and Hillel International was announced in September to support an emerging generation of Jewish leaders.

It is designed to address a declining interest in religious leadership. The institutions intend to build a professional development pipeline to inspire students to become Jewish leaders. Andrew Rehfeld,

HUC-JIR president explained the purpose of the initiative.

“This agreement is about taking HUC’s relationship with Hillel to the next level,” said Rehfeld, former president and CEO of Jewish Federation of St. Louis. “We already work together in numerous ways, but now we are thinking more holistically about the career paths of college students and Hillel professionals and strengthening

the pipeline of future Jewish leadership together. HUC is offering career building opportunities for Hillel professionals and supporting the Springboard Fellowship through mentorship and faculty.”

Rehfeld said young Jewish college students who gravitate to Hillel are a logical target group because they have an affinity for Jewish heritage, community organizing and the possibilities of leadership.

“We must encourage more of them to channel these values and aspirations toward careers of Jewish service, where they will have the platform to have tremendous impact,” he said. “Our forthcoming flexible residency clergy program, launching in the fall of 2024, will allow many more potential students to study for the rabbinate and cantorate where they currently live and work.”

Zac Gondelman

Lisa Friedman

PHOTO: MEREDITH AMADEE

PHOTO: JOSHUA MONDSHEIN

In visit to Jefferson City, Missouri Jewish leaders advocate for trans rights

JACKIE HAJDENBERG

JTA

“Hi, my name is Dan. I’m 11 years old and I like doing magic and circus skills, especially unicycling. I’m here today to testify against House Bill 170, 183, and 337,” a young voice said into the microphone.

“I really like to play sports with my friends, although honestly I’m not very good at it,” he added. “I’d really like the chance to play.”

Dan — a transgender boy whose parents asked that his last name not be used — was the youngest person to testify at the Missouri State House last week in opposition to eight bills heard in the chamber that would restrict trans children from participating in sports that align with their gender identity and limit their access to specialized medical care.

He was also part of a delegation of Missouri’s Jewish community members, alongside a few Christian clergy, that has been consistently appearing at the state Capitol to advocate for trans rights in response to a slew of bills that activists say violate their religious freedoms and cause significant harm to the LGBTQ community.

Daniel Bogard, a rabbi at Central Reform Congregation and the parent of a trans child, was at the State House Jan. 24 and again on Feb. 1 to support those testifying against the bills and to lobby lawmakers against them. He is a frequent visitor to Jefferson City as a trans rights activist, saying the possibility of restrictions on medical care are what scare him the most.

One piece of legislation would bar physicians and health care professionals from providing gender affirmation procedures to anyone under 18. Another would deny access to medications that are administered to delay the onset of puberty.

“Those are the bills that criminalize treating your child as every medical and psychological mainstream organization recommends,” said Bogard. “And that means parents are left with a choice of not giving these kids the sorts of treatment and care that are best practice according to everything that we know, or fleeing the state, or staying and risking some sort of criminal charge. The one that terrifies me is the idea of DSS [Department of Social Services] agents showing up to my door to take my kid away.”

Bogard, who has been going to the state Capitol for five years now, says the experience of being back at the State Legislature has been simultaneously “awful and affirming.”

“What’s remarkable is you go in and two-thirds of the people who are sponsoring these bills or testifying in favor of these bills are using overtly Christian theological language when they’re talking about the why,” he explained. “And then you look around and the people who are showing up to protect trans kids are Jews.”

The founder of the statewide LGBTQ advocacy group PROMO, which is not itself a Jewish group, is Rabbi Susan Talve, one of the founding members of Bogard’s synagogue, Central Reform Congregation. Shira Berkowitz, a Jewish summer camp friend of Bogard’s, is the senior director of public policy and advocacy at the organization, and last year, Bogard and Berkowitz launched a summer camp for trans kids.

“I’m just so proud of our Jewish community, the way we have shown up around this issue here in Missouri,” Bogard said.

The principal of Saul Mirowitz Jewish Community School, Raquel ScharfAnderson, made the two-hour drive

early on Jan. 24 to testify on behalf of her students.

“I make all of my decisions in the best interest of children,” Scharf-Anderson said. “Anything that would impact the students in my school, I want them to see me standing with them.”

The sports bills in particular, she said, would impact trans students at private schools, like Mirowitz.

Over the course of the Jan. 24 hearing, supporters of the bills said they were acting in the best interests of children. “We want to protect kids from unnecessary and harmful surgeries and medications,” said Brad Hudson, a Republican representative and one of the sponsors of the bill. “I say harmful because giving kids puberty blockers, cross-sex hormones, and even transgender surgery violates the first duty of medicine, do no harm.” (The Transgender Center at St. Louis

Children’s Hospital and other providers say puberty blockers are generally considered safe to use.

The American Medical Association has said that gender-affirming care is “medically-necessary, evidence-based care that improves the physical and mental health of transgender and gender-diverse people.”)

Supporters of the legislation also cited their Christian faith. Rachel Aguirre, a

special education teacher who ran unsuccessfully for State Senate in the Republican primary in 2022, argued that the government was “founded upon the word of God,” and therefore athletes should only play on teams whose gender matches the sex they were assigned at birth. Nancy Delcour, another witness tesSee CAPITOL on page 24

Jewish leaders from across Missouri came to Jefferson City to testify and lobby against various bills that would restrict the rights of trans people. PHOTO COURTESY OF RABBI DANIEL BOGARD

Anti-Israel display at elementary school sparks outrage

BY ELLEN FUTTERMAN EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

An anti-Israel display at an “International Night” at a Parkway elementary school the evening of Jan. 26 sparked outrage among some of the 500 children and their parents who attended, including several who are Jewish.

In a letter sent to families and faculty at Highcroft Ridge Elementary School in Chesterfield the following day, Principal Chris Clark explained that “an individual at one table chose to display images and messages that were extremely hurtful to members of our Highcroft family of the Jewish faith and/or of Israeli descent.”

The table host, representing Palestine, displayed several placards with anti-Israel sentiments, including an image of a hand holding a spray bottle adorned with Stars of David that read “ethnic cleansing.” The bottle, spraying what looked like blood, was aimed at a map drawing of Israel colored like the Palestinian flag, accompanied by the words: “It was never a conflict . . . It’s always been genocide.”

Another image showed a map of Israel depicted like a puzzle, with the phrase, “The only peace Israel wants is another

piece of Palestine.”

In the letter, Clark explained that the Highcroft Parent Staff Organization

(PSO) and Equity in Action Team, which partnered to host the event, were not aware of the controversial display prior to the evening.

“The images and messages were discovered soon after the start of the event,” Clark said. “I immediately addressed the individual to remove the hate speech, to which they complied. I also made it very clear there is no tolerance for divisive and hurtful speech at Highcroft Ridge.”

A Parkway District spokesperson said the event was the first time Highcroft Ridge, which encompasses kindergarten through fifth grade, had hosted an International Night. Its purpose was to expose students and their families to the diverse cultures that make up the school community. Roughly 15 countries, including Turkey, Germany, Scotland, France and Colombia were represented that evening, with booths depicting the foods, cos-

See DISPLAY on page 24

Jewish Mindfulness Center plans weekly Meditation Sits on Mondays, Wednesdays

Join Rabbi Andrea Goldstein of the Jewish Mindfulness Center at Shaare Emeth for one or both of weekly Mindfulness Meditation sits where participants are led in practices opening the heart and mind to the possibility of continual growth and change. No meditation experience necessary.

On Mondays, 8:30 to 9 a.m. (online only) on Feb. 13, 20 and 27, set an intention for your week in these meditation sessions that incorporate lessons from the weekly Torah portion or stories and symbols of the season.

On Wednesday, Feb. 15 and 22 from 6 to 6:30 p.m. take part in person or online in meditation sessions taking their inspiration from the Book of Psalms, focusing on a new Psalm each week to ground us in our practice. We will conclude each sit with two prayers: Mi Shebeirach, a chance to pray for healing for ourselves and those we love, and Kaddish, a chance to remember loved ones and/or members of the greater community.

To get the zoom link or to register, email Stacy Jespersen at sjespersen@sestl.org.

Above and at right: Images of a display at an ‘International Night’ at Highcroft Ridge Elementary School in Chesterfield

From hardware to community service, Cohen family left their mark on St. Louis

BY BILL MOTCHAN SPECIAL TO THE JEWISH LIGHT

The St. Louis central corridor in the early 1900s bustled. The Louisiana Purchase Exposition was winding down, business was booming and, as employees needed reliable transportation, streetcar lines were expanding.

The streetcar workers used pickaxes, sledgehammers and other tools that often deteriorated after a grueling day laying track. Often they would toss the broken or worn tools to the curb at the end of a shift. That’s when an opportunistic entrepreneur named Morris Cohen ventured out. He collected the discarded tools and repaired them at his tool shop at Fifth Street and Delmar Boulevard. Cohen turned a nifty profit selling the rehabbed equipment.

Thus began a long, successful run of the St. Louis-based Central Hardware empire, which by 1993 had 39 stores in six states, with 3,700 employees. It ranked number 19 nationally among hardware retailers..

Cohen was good with his hands and had a gift for sales. He also was motivated to support his family after arriving in the United States as a poor immigrant in 1903.

“Morris was a Polish immigrant who came here with noth-

ing and ended up leaving a legacy,” said his great-grandson Jim Cohen, Central Hardware’s president from 1987 through 1992. Members of the Cohen family not only ran the chain for 90 years, they also pioneered retail and marketing techniques still in use today. They also gave back to the community through volunteer and philanthropic efforts.

Nuts and bolts

Besides his skills in tool repair, Morris Cohen was good at retailing and dealing with customers.

“People would come in for the tools. They loved him,” said Jim Cohen, 76. “They would say, ‘Y’know, Mr. Cohen, could you get us some other items? Why don’t you have nuts and bolts?’ And he’d say, ‘Well, what do you need?’ They would reply, ‘I need a package of No. 10 screws.’ He would go out the back door of his little building, run down the alley and go in the back of a huge hardware distributor. He picked up a package of screws for a nickel, came back, put them in a bag and charged a dime.”

Morris was successful in building the Central Hardware brand, and once he started expanding, he bowed out. Cohen gave each one his four sons a store, then he moved to Jerusalem where he planned to be a rabbi. His nephew Julius ran Central Hardware until the early 1950s. That’s when Stanley Cohen took over.

Stanley Cohen (Jim Cohen’s father) was responsible for creating the brand image that still resonates with many St. Louisans. That image, of a store for the do-it-yourselfer, used taglines in its advertising that may ring familiar decades after the last store closed:

“Everything from scoop to nuts.” “Orangecoated experts.” “We saw (for cut lumber), you save.”

Stanley Cohen was a savvy businessman. He instituted greeters at the store entrance. In 1954, he was interviewed by Dave Garroway on “The Today Show” to explain the company’s latest innovation: an indoor lumber yard.

“We were the first to take what had been a traditional outdoor part of the hardware business and move it indoors,” Jim Cohen said. “After that, everybody else did it. We were the first to have centralized checkout. You used to have to check out in one department, then walk to another department to buy something else.”

Longtime Central Hardware President Jim Cohen, great-grandson of the company’s founder, Morris Cohen, shows off memorabilia from his collection. PHOTO: BILL MOTCHAN

See CENTRAL HARDWARE on page 17

Morris Cohen and a Central Hardward Tire Center uniform patch.

NEWSMAKERS

Newsmakers is a compilation of the Jewish community’s newsworthy professional and academic accomplishments. Submit your news to news@stljewishlight.org. Call 314-743-3669 for more information. Newsmakers is compiled by Elise Krug.

John Wilson has joined the St. Louis Jewish Community Center as its director of Cultural Arts. He will oversee the annual Jewish Film Festival and supervise and support the Jewish Book Festival, the New Jewish Theatre and the Youth Theater Program. Wilson formerly served as the chair of the School of Visual and Performing Arts, and chair of the Department of Theatre and Dance at the University of Central Missouri. He is a professional actor with both Equity and Screen Actors’ Guild credits, having appeared in more than 50 commercials, films and stage productions. His latest film, “Accidental Family,” can be found streaming on Amazon and Apple TV.

The Israel ParaSport Center has hired Becca Near as its Midwest & New Initiatives director. In this newly developed role, she is responsible for elevating the center’s profile, enhancing relationships, increasing financial support for the Israel ParaSport Center in the Midwest, as well as developing the organization’s NextGen initiatives nationwide. She is a member of Young Israel of St. Louis.

Beth Feldman has joined University Advancement at Washington University as the director of Volunteer Engagement. In this role, she will lead the team who works closely with Eliot Society and Reunion Class Gift volunteers. Feldman, a member of United Hebrew Congregation, previously held several roles at Jewish Federation of St. Louis.

Greg, Julie, Alyson and Kaitlyn Yawitz, will be honored on March 10th at the 11th annual Autism Speaks St. Louis Chef Gala at the Ritz Carlton St. Louis. The Yawitz family has been involved with Autism Speaks since its first inaugural walk in 2001. Their team, Kaitlyn’s Crew, is named after daughter Kaitlyn. As a group they have raised over $200,000 to help fund the mission of Autism Speaks, which is “to help create a world where all people with autism can reach their full potential.” Greg served as board chair for Autism Speaks and Julie has been involved in planning many events. The family attends Congregation Shaare Emeth.

Out of 120 fourth grade teams enrolled in the WordMasters Challenge gold division, Mason Ridge student, Madison Cohen and her team, placed third in the nation. Daughter of Liz and Jason Cohen, Madison also earned a perfect score on the challenge. WordMasters is a national vocabulary-based competition for students in grades 3-8 that focuses on completing analogies. Over the course of the competition, students will develop verbal reasoning abilities and higher-order thinking skills, improve logic and reading comprehension.

Photographer Neshama Roash had two of her images selected to be part of the Webster Arts exhibition, “Wanderlust,” which runs Feb. 24 to March 31. The exhibition focuses on the use of 2D and 3D visual art that presents the desire to travel the world, see far away places and a love of exploration. Webster Arts is located at 2 Summit Ave. in Webster Groves (at the corner of Summit and Lockwood avenues). Roash is a member of Congregation B’nai Amoona.

TOP ROW FROM LEFT: John Wilson, Becca Near, Beth Feldman, Madison Cohen

MIDDLE ROW: Neshama Roash, Rabbi Carnie Rose, John Kemppainen, Betsy Cohen

BOTTOM ROW: Sam Dorshow, Hannah Wolkowitz, Annette Heller

Rabbi Carnie Rose started his new post as the president and CEO of the Mandel Jewish Community Center in Cincinnati. For 18 years he was the senior rabbi at B’nai Amoona. He is currently on the rabbinic cabinets of Israel Bonds and Jewish National Fund.

Attorney John Kemppainen has joined the St. Louis law office of Galloway, Johnson, Tompkins, Burr & Smith as director. A member of Congregation Temple Israel, he serves as president-elect of the National Retail & Restaurant Defense Association. He is also a member of the Transportation Law Committee of the Missouri Bar and the Ethics and Professionalism Committee of the Defense Research Institute.

Betsy Cohen is a new advisory council member of the Washington University McDonnell International Scholars Academy. The academy is a global partnership among academic institutions providing graduate and professional education to prepare global leaders. Cohen is the executive director of the St. Louis Mosaic Project, a program of the nonprofit World Trade Center-St. Louis within the St. Louis Economic Development Partnership. She attends Temple Emanuel.

Continues on opposite page

BROUGHT TO YOU THIS MONTH BY:

FROM LEFT: Alyson, Kaitlyn, Julie and Greg Yawitz,

Sam Dorshow earned his Firefighter I and II designations from the St. Louis Fire Academy. A member of B’nai Amoona, he is currently a paramedic with Abbott Ambulance.

Hannah Wolkowitz, daughter of Amanda and Bob Wolkowitz, was selected to the 2022-23 Missouri High School All-State Band and Jazz Band. She is a sophomore at Parkway Central High School and plays the saxophone. In addition, Hannah will be competing as a national finalist in the U.S. Navy Band’s Young Artist’s Solo Competition held this month in Washington, D.C. Also in February, she will be performing with the Alton Symphony Orchestra as its Marie Stillwell Young Artist Competition winner. In April, Hannah will perform with the University of Missouri-St. Louis orchestra, after winning its Young Artist Concerto Competition. Hannah is the saxophonist with Klezundheit! a local Klezmer band. She and her family attend United Hebrew.

Annette Heller announced that her law firm, Heller & Associates, is now TM Law & Associates. Her practice limits itself to trademark and copyright law representing individuals and small and medium size businesses. Heller is a member of Traditional Congregation.

The Taxman Specter Wealth Management Group of Merrill Lynch has been recognized on the 2023 Forbes “Best-in-State Wealth Management Teams” list. Alan Taxman is a member of B’nai Amoona and Matt Specter is a member of Shaare Emeth.

JProStL to present honors at Annual Recognition Event on March 9 at the J

Ten professionals and one community lay leader have been chosen as honorees for the Annual JProStL Recognition Event, which takes place Thursday, March 9. Doors open at 2 p.m. and the program will begin at 3 at the Jewish Community Center. The theme of the program is Chai Tea, in honor of the 18th Annual Event, sponsored by Pam and Ron Rubin and the Republic of Tea. JProStL, an initiative of the Jewish Federation of St. Louis, is the professional association for staff who work at 50 nonprofits affiliated with the St. Louis Jewish community.

ABOVE: Alan Taxman

BELOW: Matt Specter

In addition to the 10 Peer Awards, Penny Alper has been chosen as the recipient of the JProStL Partnership Award, which recognizes a volunteer leader who exemplifies the lay-staff relationship through commitments to the Jewish community and St. Louis region, ethical leadership, Jewish values and acts of kindness. Alper has been involved with several organizations in a variety of roles, including immediate Past Board Chair of WashU Hillel.

The 10 Peer Honorees for 2023 are:

• Career Achievement – Liessa Demba Alperin, director of Innovative Learning, Youth and Engagement, Congregation B’nai Amoona

• Chesed/Kindness – Debbi Braunstein, program manager, Sharsheret Supports STL, the Jewish Community Center, and Risa Shyres, occupational therapist, Saul Mirowitz

Jewish Community School

• Dedication – Scott Eirich, superintendent, New Mount Sinai Cemetery, and Anita McCullar, administrative assistant, Jewish Family Services, Harvey Kornblum Jewish Food Pantry

• Emerging Leader – Helen Turner, director of education, St. Louis Kaplan Feldman Holocaust Museum

• Educator – Rabbi Yossi Golombeck, principal, Torah Prep School

• Mentor – Cynthia Wachtel, manager, Israel Emissary Initiatives, Jewish Federation of St. Louis

• Pillar – Jennifer Bernstein, advocacy manager, National Council of Jewish Women St. Louis

• Visionary – Cheryl Adelstein, deputy director, Jewish Community

SECOND

THIRD

Relations Council

The JProStL community will also recognize Lynn Wittels, president and CEO of the J, for her impact in the St. Louis Jewish community. The event is free for staff who work in Jewish nonprofits and $25 for guests. To register and to donate to professional development in honor of the recipients, go to jfedstl.org/jprostlrecognition2023. For more information, including sponsorships, contact Marci Mayer Eisen at 314-442-3810 or MEisen@JFedSTL.org.

JProStL is affiliated with Jewish Federation’s Millstone Leadership Initiatives and supported by Mont & Karen Levy and the Lubin-Green Foundation, a supporting foundation of Jewish Federation of St. Louis.

Conversation with Michelle Alexander

Penny Alper

TOP ROW: Liessa Demba Alperin, Debbi Braunstein, Risa Shyres and Scott Eirich.

ROW: Anita McCullar, Helen Turner, Rabbi Yossi Golombeck and Cynthia Wachtel.

ROW: Jennifer Bernstein and Cheryl Adelstein.

J Associates plans third annual Fabulous Feud Live

J Associates will hold its third annual Fabulous Feud Live fundraiser on Saturday, March 4 at the Pageant. In the same spirit as the popular television game show “Family Feud,” Fabulous Feud Live features families from the community who will team up and square off against each other.

Watch contestants battle it out while having fun and fundraising for the Jewish Community Center. Doors will open at 6:30 p.m. for dinner, and at 7:30 the games begin. The game show host for the evening is Ben Nordstrom, who has emceed several J Associates fundraising events.

The teams for this exciting event include:

• The Cantor Clan, featuring Brent Cantor, Andrea Cantor, Rachel Cantor, Amy Cantor and Mark Cantor

• The Gamechangers, featuring Greg Busch, Jennifer Busch, Zoe Gellman, Wendy Gellman and Mark Gellman

• Chai Maintenance, with Susie Fenster Mayer, Drew Newman, Amy Fenster Brown, Jeff Brown and Zelda Brown

• The Family Hairlooms, featuring Kevin Bender, Amy Bender-Levy, Rich Levy, Deanna Bender and David Bender

• J Crew, a special team made up of J Staff Members Laura Dunn, Craig Neuman, Lynn Wittels, Rabbi Brad Horwitz and Jennifer Wilson

•…as well as a Mystery Team with Surprise contestants.

Proceeds from Fabulous Feud Live are allocated to various departments of the J. The J Associates support many of the J’s programs and services, including kosher Meals on Wheels, delivered to homebound seniors; Adult Day at the J; Theatre Unlimited (for adults with disabilities); and various scholarships, which offer opportunities for children to attend the J’s Early Childhood Center, J Day Camps and

Camp Sabra, the J’s residential camp.

Fabulous Feud Live is co-chaired by Amy Gallant and Julie Sandler, with assistance from Carol Blinder, J Associates Vice President of Development, and Jennifer Deutsch, J Associates President.

Tickets are $140 and are on sale now. For

tickets, sponsorships or to fund a need in advance, visit jccstl.com/fabulousfeud or contact Kim Petersen, special events manager, at kpetersen@jccstl.org or 314-4423109.

NCJWSTL plans Advocacy Conference

During the weekend of March 3-5, the National Council of Jewish Women St. Louis (NCJWSTL) will host an advocacy conference at the Sheraton Westport Plaza, 900 Westport Plaza. Under the theme “Leading Through Uncertainty,” NCJWSTL’s conference sessions will focus on strategies that nonprofit organizations can employ to advocate for social justice issues and make meaningful change amid the current highly polarized political climate. The conference will begin Friday evening at 6 p.m., go through Saturday, and conclude at 2 p.m. on Sunday.

National Council of Jewish Women CEO Sheila Katz will be the Friday evening keynote speaker. Since becoming CEO, Katz has led the organization to more than double the number of NCJW advocates to more than 210,000.

Additional speakers include Cindy Changyit Levin, author of “From Changing Diapers to

Changing the World-Why Moms Make Great Advocates and How to Get Started”; Marie Griffith, director of the John C. Danforth Center on Religion and Politics at Washington University; as well as Beth Felski and many local advocacy leaders who will share their expertise.

Topics of the conference workshops include “State Budgeting Strategy: Funding Our Priorities,” “Get on Board: Why School Boards Matter,” “Money Talks: Understanding Campaign Finance,” “The Nonprofit ABCs: How to Get the Most Out of All Your Meetings” and “Storytelling Strategy: The Personal Is Political.”

Additional information and online registration for the conference can be found at bit.ly/23conference. For more information, contact NCJWSTL Advocacy Manager Jen Bernstein at 314-993-5181 or JBernstein@ncjwstl.org.

Purim-themed trivia night coming to Temple Israel

Join Congregation Temple Israel and kick off Purim — in your best Purim costume if you wish — with a social hour and spirit tasting by StilL 630 Distillery, followed by a Purim-themed trivia night on Saturday, Feb. 25. Doors open at 6 p.m. for trivia table set up and social hour with StilL 630 Distillery tasting and trivia begins at 7.

The cost is $18 for the social hour and tasting only or $36 for the social hour and individual trivia ticket. A table of 10 is $300.

Two raffles are offered (tickets for each are $50) for a new Louis Vuitton Felicie Pochette handbag (certificate included) and a Pappy Van Winkle 12-year Whiskey. Charcuterie snack boards ($100) can be ordered through Temple Israel. Guests can also bring their own snacks and adult beverages (Temple Israel will provide non-alcoholic drinks and a hot chocolate bar). There will also be a costume contest. For more information or to RSVP for the trivia night or other Purim events at Temple Israel, visit www.ti-stl.org/PurimHub.

This year’s Fabulous Feud Live teams are (clockwise from top left): J Crew, The Family Hairlooms, Chai Maintenance, The Gamechangers and The Cantor Clan. The J Associates event takes place Saturday, March 4 at The Pageant.

5 questions with Gerald Axelbaum

STORY AND PHOTOS BY BILL MOTCHAN SPECIAL TO THE JEWISH LIGHT

The plume of smoke rising above the western edge of Olivette on Tuesday, Jan. 10th was not a sign of trouble. It was a controlled burn at the Stacy Park prairie, a three-acre tract of land behind the reservoir. Once a year or so, the prairie undergoes a burn to help native plants thrive and minimize invasive plants.

At the helm of the burn is the “burn boss,” an individual who makes sure everything goes as planned. The volunteer burn boss for the Olivette Parks Department for the past six years has been Gerald Axelbaum, 69, a member of Congregation B’nai Amoona.

What does a burn boss do?

You stand back and direct the burn and tell the crew where to burn and where not to and make sure everything is safe, and where to conduct the fire. You burn

by Certified Mohel Rabbi Michael Rovinsky

around the perimeter and start by burning against the wind until you have a fire break. Then you can burn into the wind.

What is your background and how did you become a burn boss?

I was a chemical engineer and an elementary school teacher, and I raised Monarch butterflies for 30 years for my students. Monarchs depend on prairies and that led me to prairie preservation. When I retired, I took a Missouri Department of Conservation class on doing prescribed burns.

Monarchs are in decline, correct?

Very much so, they are endangered, primarily because of a loss of habitat.

Do you remember your first burn?

It went great. We took our time. I’m very safety conscious — you don’t want people to get hurt and you don’t want property to get hurt. I have a pretty good read on fires

and have some experience with it. Did you play with fire as a kid?

I did actually! I was always good at building fires, but I didn’t know I’d end up doing this.

Gerald Axelbaum has been the volunteer burn boss for the Olivette Parks Department for the past six years. He recently conducted a controlled burn at Stacy Park (above).

OPINIONS

D’VAR TORAH — PARASHAT YITRO

ABOUT THE OPINIONS SECTION

Viewpoints expressed in letters, commentaries, cartoons and other opinion pieces reflect those of the writer or artist, and not those of the Light. We welcome submissions of letters and commentaries to: news@stljewishlight.org

Moses’ life of loneliness revealed in his relationship with Jethro

BY RABBI RACHEL KAY BEARMAN

“Jethro, Moses’ father-in-law, brought Moses’ sons and wife to him in the wilderness, where he was encamped at the mountain of God. He sent word to Moses, ‘I, your father-in-law Jethro, am coming to you, with your wife and her two sons.’ Moses went out to meet his father-in-law; he bowed low and kissed him; each asked after the other’s welfare, and they went into the tent. Moses then recounted to his father-in-law everything that Adonai had done to Pharaoh and to the Egyptians for Israel’s sake, all the hardships that had befallen them on the way, and how Adonai had delivered them.”

(Exodus 18:5-8)

This week’s Torah portion opens with Moses’ reunion with his father-in-law, Jethro (Yitro in Hebrew), his wife, Zipporah, and his sons Gershom and Eliezer. Every time I read the verses that describe their reunion, I am struck by the loneliness that seems to pervade Moses’ life.

He has traveled from Egypt in the midst of a vast multitude; he walks beside his biological brother and sister (and presumably his biological parents); and, yet, it is his father-in-law with whom he rushes to speak, from whom he seeks counsel and to whom he unburdens his heart.

It makes sense that Moses feels closest to Jethro since he didn’t grow up with his biological family, and the Torah tells us that Moses lived with Jethro’s family for years. (As an aside, it would be wonderful if Moses felt that same closeness with Zipporah, his wife of many years, but for unknown, albeit speculated reasons, their relationship is fractured.) Once we see how delighted and supported Moses felt when Jethro was present, we’re able to imagine the pain and isolation that Moses must have been feeling in Jethro’s absence.

After they embrace one another, Moses tells Jethro everything that has happened since they parted, and Jethro replies with validation and joy, praising Moses for his actions and praising the Israelites’ God for the kindness God showed to the people as

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

Submit letters to news@stljewishlight.org

Changes to petition process would curtail grassroots efforts

Status-quo politicians in Jefferson City are attempting to gut the Initiative Petition process, a vital piece of our democracy. This process allows citizens to directly vote on topics important to them without the need to rely on politicians to keep their “promises.” Making this process more difficult would effectively eliminate any chance of a successful citizen-led effort to address issues that politicians are ignoring. Recent successes of the Initiative Petition process include raising the minimum wage, expanding Medicaid and the Puppy Mill Cruelty Prevention Act.

As Missouri citizens, it is our constitutional right to be able to directly influence our government and vote on matters we care about. However, politicians are directly stating that Missouri citizens are unable to be trusted with these decisions. Not only are they trying to diminish the power of citizens, they are using intentionally misleading language. They added in language to suggest that non-citizens are allowed to vote in Missouri elections, which is not the case.

The Missouri Constitution already states that a person must be a citizen in order to vote. Politicians are trying to weaponize anti-immigration fears to pass their bill and have more control over Missouri legislation. Missouri citizens should not give in to this bill’s deceptive language and relinquish our right to have a say in our government through the initiative petition process.

Please contact your legislators today and tell them to vote “no” on these bills attacking initiative petitions.

Carly Ferdman and Jennifer Stephenson NCJWSTL Practicum Students

Hearing student voices in the Capitol

I share Cheryl Adelstein’s enthusiasm for witnessing kids and teens speak out on issues they feel strongly about (“Some students cut short from speaking on controversial bills. Here’s what they would have said,” published online Jan. 30, also included on opposite page). I, too, have chaperoned students to our state capitol to protect their history education and LGBTQ rights. When students travel from St. Louis to Jefferson City to speak out, it’s because they are anxious for their education, their safety and their peers.

Missouri legislators, including my Senator Andrew Koenig, need to hear voices of actual students to understand how policy decisions affect vulnerable minority children every day. Laws that undermine teaching about oppression or prevent students from participating in activities as their authentic selves take an emotional toll on kids and create an environment where students are endangered.

I’m glad the sports bill in question in Adelstein’s piece will no longer ban transgender girls from participating in school sports. Yet I hope the next time anti-trans bill is under debate, students will be unhindered in sharing their perspectives to the committee and our elected officials will be ready to truly hear them.

Cynthia Changyit Levin St. Louis

God rescued them from Egypt.

The next day, Jethro accompanied Moses while he heard the complaints and problems of the people. The Torah tells us that Jethro grew increasingly concerned as he watched Moses exhaust himself trying to meet all of the people’s needs. It’s immediately clear to Jethro that Moses has been pushing himself too hard, and Jethro reacts as a father and mentor would. He tells Moses:

“The thing you are doing is not right; you will surely wear yourself out, and these people as well. For the task is too heavy for you; you cannot do it alone.”

(Exodus 18:17-18)

Moses never wanted to be a leader, but he was willing to accept the role in order to save his people. When Jethro reappears in the story, Moses’ relief is so clear that we can easily imagine a thought bubble appearing over his head that says, “Thank God. Jethro’s here, and he knows what to do.”

When Jethro shows his concern for Moses, we, as readers, are able to see how

Local AIPAC leaders pen open letter to the St. Louis Jewish community

Dear Members of the Pro-Israel Community:

Linda and I have been keeping up with events in the state of Israel and, most importantly, and lately, we have shifted some of our focus from the threats to Israel to the concerns raised by the current political energy in the new Netanyahu government.

While Linda and I share a deep concern over the domestic politics of Israel, we also recognize our limitations. We are not Israeli citizens or eligible to vote, but we recognize that the state of Israel is defined by shared values, a commitment to God and Torah, and a “beacon unto the nations of the earth.”

Our work with AIPAC and the pro-Israel community is about the security and defense of the people of Israel. The security challenges faced by Israel and its people from Iran, Hezbollah, Hamas, Islamic jihad, etc., represents a threat not just to democracy and freedom, but a threat to the existence of the Jewish state.

While AIPAC focuses on the security of the State of Israel and the strength of the U.S.–Israel relationship, we cannot ignore our conscience, our values, and our beliefs about what is important to a free democratic Jewish state.

I don’t think it is appropriate to check our feelings at the door when it comes to Israel, especially when we have strong

Rabbi Rachel Kay Bearman is Associate Rabbi at Congregation Shaare Emeth and a member of the St. Louis Rabbinical and Cantorial Association, which coordinates the d’var Torah for the Jewish Light.

Moses has been suffering without the guidance of a mentor and without the support of someone who cares for him. Jethro strengthens Moses by reminding him of his humanity. Jethro reassures him that he’s allowed to have limitations, and he teaches him that pretending to be superhuman will only hurt him and the people he is trying to lead.

It’s striking that this week’s Torah portion, which includes the Ten Commandments, is not named Sinai or Moshe or Mitzvot. Instead, the rabbis decided to begin the portion with the father-inlaw of Moses, and so the portion is named after Yitro (Jethro), a man whose presence healed Moses’ heart and strengthened him enough that he was able to receive our people’s most sacred revelation.

The name of the portion is a fitting legacy for the beautiful, empowering relationship between Moses and Jethro.

beliefs, morally, ethically and politically, but it is likewise equally as important to remember our role.

The people of Israel have democratically elected this government. Like our own government in the United States, it is built upon fragmented and competing values and issues. Democracy is a mess. But, the strength of a democracy is its people. I trust, and I think we should all trust, the citizens of the state of Israel to make choices for their own destiny. And, as we have seen in the last several years, democracy faces challenges. We see that in our own government. Tribalism, conflict, and the denigration of people whose

views oppose our own, are in evidence in both societies.

Remember this: The United States and Israel share an unbreakable bond. That bond has its roots in democracy and a liberal society, open to views and challenges that appear to undermine what we have come to know as the true spirit of democracy.

In the end, we are Americans, we are Jews, we love this nation, we love the state of Israel, and we must stand tall as proud American Jews supporting the only free and Jewish democratic state in the world. Let us be frank about our criticism but let us not lose faith with the security of the people of Israel.

Nathan and Linda Cohen St. Louis AIPAC Co-Chairs

In the end, we are Americans, we are Jews, we love this nation, we love the state of Israel, and we must stand tall as proud American Jews supporting the only free and Jewish democratic state in the world.”

Teens’ dedication to having voices heard at Missouri Capitol was inspiring to see

BY CHERYL ADELSTEIN

It’s wonderful when your worlds come together, as mine have recently. I am filled with pride and hope for the future knowing that I am part of two organizations — Jewish Community Relations Council (JCRC) and Cultural Leadership — that prepare our young adults to be leaders.

I have the great joy of serving as the deputy director of the JCRC, where we work to mobilize the Jewish community to build a vibrant and secure Jewish community in a thriving and just St. Louis region. JCRC builds bridges among interfaith organizations across our region and fights antisemitism, in part through our award-winning Student to Student program, which is a part of the Newmark Institute for Human Relations at the JCRC. This program brings Jewish teens to area high schools where there are few, if any, Jewish students to teach them about Judaism and their Jewish lives.

I also have the great privilege to dedicate some of my volunteer time to Cultural Leadership, a program that prepares the next generation of Jewish and African American teenagers and allies to stand up, speak out and take action against injustice. I was a past board chair, and I serve as co-chair of the advisory committee.

In January, I visited Jefferson City twice to testify before the Missouri Senate against several bills that could significantly limit what is taught in classrooms regarding race, racism, and responsibility for the racisms and other misdeeds of the past (basically rooted in white supremacy) and that would penalize teachers and school districts for violating these draconian rules. I brought six people with me who shared effective and compelling testimony.

My guests included five alumni of the Cultural Leadership program, three of whom are also part of JCRC’s Student to Student program. They brought a variety of perspectives and identities: Jewish, multiracial, LGBT, white. Most compelling, they represented those who would be most affected by restricting curriculum and classroom conversations. The senators needed to hear these voices.

Two students provided compelling testimony to the Senate Education and Workforce Development Committee on Jan. 18.

Sela Masaki is a Ladue Horton Watkins High School senior, a member of Congregation Shaare Emeth, a Student to Student group leader and the granddaughter of a Japanese American who fought in World War II.

“History is hard,” Sela told the panel. “But we talk about it nonetheless. Why? Because we stand on the shoulders of historical giants, those who made it possible for us to be here today. We need to talk about all of history’s nuances, its complexities. We cannot stand on one shoulder and half of another. We must stand on all of them, together.”

Ella, a senior at University City, testified: “There is always going to be some degree of discomfort when it comes to learning history because history is an uncomfortable topic. When we talk about restricting the curriculum of history classes, we are trying to make students feel more comfortable. However, in the process, we are further marginalizing groups of students

that already feel invisible in the classroom.”

Six days later, another group of St. Louis students woke early and traveled to Jefferson City with me for a hearing on a similar bill before the same committee. But they had a very different experience.

Alissa Barnholtz, Clara Bass and Neon Liebson were passionate and prepared. Unfortunately, the hearing was cut short by the chairman, Sen. Andrew Koenig, R-Manchester, and the students and many other advocates were not given the opportunity to speak. Had they been allowed to testify, here is what they would have said.

Alissa, a junior at Parkway Central, member of Shaare Emeth and a Student to Student leader, said in her prepared testimony: “Participating in uncomfortable conversations is where real understanding happens. We can’t support each other if we don’t understand each other. And we can’t understand each other when we are limited to one perspective.”

Clara, a Lafayette High School sophomore and member of United Hebrew Congregation, wrote: “Talking about histo-

ry does not assign blame to white students, it gives all students the context necessary to assume a responsibility, as citizens of the United States, to make sure that these mistakes don’t repeat themselves.”

Neon, a junior at Crossroads College Prep, a member of Central Reform Congregation and a Student to Student leader, wrote: “I am a trans Jewish person, and I’m here today to answer any questions about trans people you might have because I believe in education and active listening.”

Neon had planned to testify on a portion of the bill that would have restricted trans students from playing sports. That part of the bill was eventually cut by the subcommittee with the provision that it would be dealt with in other committees.

“As trans youth, we are often discouraged or banned from playing sports with our cisgender peers,” Neon wrote. “Trans kids are kids, and we should be allowed to participate in activities and given equal opportunities as our authentic selves.”

Disappointed that they were unable to speak, the students showed great resilience, talking directly to Chairman Koenig after the hearing to share their passionate views. And their impact was amplified, as they were quoted extensively in an article about the hearing in the Missouri Independent

Having my worlds overlap gave me great pride in the work the JCRC and Cultural Leadership do to prepare our young people to be the change makers of the next generation. As my rabbi, Susan Talve, has taught me, one of the most important things you can do is show up. It is an honor for me to represent the Jewish community in showing up in Jefferson City and a greater honor to bring passionate advocates with me to share their stories.

Pursuit of social and educational equity can not be silenced

BY SHANNON ROHLMAN

Recently, I brought my 11-year-old daughter with me along with community rabbis, reverends, members of PROMO (which advocates for LGBTQ rights) and allies of all ages to testify in Jefferson City against Senate Bill 42.

This bill would cause insurmountable distress to Missouri’s teachers, deny children access to learning accurate history and the ability to engage in civil discourse, ban the teaching of the New York Times’ “1619 Project” and practically any text that mentions race, and overtly cause trans children additional barriers and harm by denying participation in sports.

All this in one bill.

We barely fit into a crowded senate hearing room full of opponents, and most of us did not get the chance to speak.

Only one supporter of SB42 testified: James Harris, a lobbyist with the Opportunity Solutions Project, a national nonprofit based in Florida. He admitted his own children attend a private school. Since the hearing, the trans athlete ban was removed and the bill was rolled into SB4, deceptively titled “Parent’s Bill of Rights Act of 2023,” targeting public schools and teachers and has already been debated on the senate floor.

The LGBTQ+ bills are oppressive and remind me of something right out of a dystopian novel. However, let’s focus on SB4 and its detrimental impact on our community.

None of these anti-teacher bills were written by educators, undeniably expressed in the “Sunlight in Learning Act,” part of the bill which would require all instructional materials, activities, the full text of any video and audio files, books, presentations, lesson plans and more, be available for parents to view, and would be subject to district pre-approval.

This is worse than book bans. It perpetuates the war on teachers, who are already overwhelmed by their endless roles and working over 60-hour weeks to ensure they are responsive to their students’ needs.

Now, rather than planning lessons to strengthen the children’s social and emotional well being and academic achievement, they would spend hours upon hours documenting every aspect of their day.

As someone who taught fifth grade remotely during the pandemic, simply staying on top of uploading materials and communicating feedback through Google classroom was depleting and unsustainable. Just ask any teacher who taught remotely in the spring of 2020 and you will marvel at their creativity and dedication.

Secondly, this bill would deny students the right to learn accurate history. How do we build empathy if our children are denied the ability to learn the experiences and stories of marginalized cultures and trailblazers?

Schools would be prohibited from creating assignments that compel students to engage in political activism on behalf of a specific policy or social issue. This could not be further from an educator’s core values, which include creating informed citizens who can thrive and participate in a global society. This is the work. SB4 would keep students from an analytic understanding of our history and events that shape us. It would prevent students from taking responsibility for the

world in which they live.

One-third of Missouri’s public schools are already going to four-day weeks due to a national teacher shortage and lack of funding for public education. Do legislators think this bill will attract more teachers to the field?

I don’t want to live in a world where it does. I do, however, want to show my daughter who the bullies are in Jefferson City so she learns how ignorance and fear lead to cowardly decisions, and that being an upstander means showing up again and again and again.

I urge Missouri legislators to vote no on SB4 and all bills that target teachers and trans students. After my daughter’s first time in the state capitol, she said she couldn’t wait to come back to lobby and testify.

As for me, while I truly appreciate the hard work of everyone who is fighting the good fight, I’m still getting over the trauma. Please thank a teacher for being able to read this commentary and make informed decisions. Then take a hard look at the harm these bills would cause.

The St. Louis Jewish community should be acutely aware of the decisions being made in the House and Senate that would affect every single one of us for years to come.

Cheryl Adelstein is deputy director of the Jewish Community Relations Council and co-chair of the Cultural Leadership Advisory Committee.

Shannon Rohlman is the director of instruction at Saul Mirowitz Jewish Community School, a member of Central Reform Congregation and serves on the advisory board of Progress Women.

Alissa Barnholtz, Clara Bass and Neon Liebson speak with State Sen. Andrew Koenig on Jan. 24.

PHOTO: CHERYL ADELSTEIN

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Family and friends say the funniest things

BY AMY FENSTER BROWN

You darling readers have given me some wonderful feedback on this column, and I appreciate it. I especially love when you think I’m funny. Actually, I think my friends are way funnier than me. So I thought I’d share a couple of their stories to prove it. We could all use a laugh, so why not?

My bestie’s son Nick did something really funny when he was about 4 years old. He was trying on some clothes Nancy bought him, including dress pants. Boys that age aren’t so into dress pants, they prefer sweats and shorts and comfy clothes.

Film explores culture, conflict among Jewish, Palestinian Israelis

BY CATE MARQUIS SPECIAL TO THE JEWISH LIGHT

The perhaps unlikely combination of a Jewish Israeli director adapting a Palestinian Israeli’s bestselling novel yielded a film so good that it was named best picture (and won other awards) at the 2021 Ophir Awards (the Israeli Oscars) and became Israel’s official entry for the 2022 Academy Awards.

The wry, satiric drama “Let It Be Morning” is directed by Eran Kolirin, whose film “The Band’s Visit” about an Egyptian band stranded in an Israeli village was an international hit and was made into a Broadway musical that played the Fox Theater in 2020.

“Let It Be Morning” mixes absurdist humor, social commentary and the drama of a dysfunctional family.

It has a St. Louis connection as well: The author of the novel on which the film is based is Sayed Kashua, who is a doctoral candidate in comparative literature at Washington University.

The main character is Sami (Alex Bakri), a rather smug Israeli Palestinian who thinks he has escaped the small Palestinian village where he grew up, finding success working for an Israeli software company in Jerusalem (and cheating on his Palestinian wife with a Jewish co-worker).

Sami has reluctantly returned to his home village for his brother’s wedding but plans to leave as soon as possible.

At the wedding, he is distracted, disconnected from people and dodging his childhood friend Abed (Ehab Salami), who hasn’t done so well in life. Periodically, Sami wanders off to text or call his girlfriend.

The wedding is supposed to end with the release of white doves, a symbol of peace, but the doves refuse to leave their cage and, when pushed out, refuse to fly. Comedy and symbolism combine that way throughout this smart, dryly funny but ultimately human drama.

When Sami, his wife, Mira (Juna Suleiman), and young son Adam (Maruan Hamdan) finally start to drive back home, they are shocked to discover

that the Israeli military has closed the road to Jerusalem. The guards offer no reason for the closure, and Sami, who has to give a work presentation in the morning, tries to persuade them to let him through, offering his Israeli ID, but they refuse. Driving back to his parents’ home, he discovers cell phone service is cut off, so he can’t call work.

Soon, the village is in lockdown. No one is allowed in or out, including delivery trucks. Then electricity is cut off.

During the first day of lockdown, the villagers, who are all Israeli citizens, rail at the guards at the roadblock. But soon they return home to wait things out.

Sami is forced to confront his own life and long-buried issues, as well as dysfunction in his family. Others in his family and the village confront their own issues. The village council is little help and some people quickly take advantage of the situation.

Residents begin to speculate that illegal workers, Palestinians in the village without Israeli papers, might be to blame for the lockdown and decide to round them up and turn them in.

Sami’s father Tarek (Salim Daw) is angered by the villagers’ lack of commu-

‘Let It Be Morning’

The film will be shown Sunday, Feb. 12, at the Hi Pointe Theater by the nonprofit Cinema St. Louis, and then will open Friday, Feb. 17, at Landmark’s Plaza Frontenac Cinema.

In Arabic and Hebrew with English subtitles.

nity, recalling protests back in his day. The villagers are so divided, Sami says, that “you can’t even get two people together to play backgammon.”

As supplies dwindle and the lockdown drags on, personal and community conflicts surface. And those white doves at the start of the film? They still refuse to fly.

Director Kolirin was surprised when Kashua approached him to adapt his novel for the screen, a novel that Kolirin describes as a “beautiful, funny, cruel, absurd and sad tale.” It was a bold idea to cut across the lines of Jewish and Palestinian Israeli culture to reach the human heart in both. A risky one, too, considering the polarized state of things,

See FILM on opposite page

Little Nick had to pull on these scratchy, rough, formal pants, then use a zipper and button, not just yank on some elastic waist gym shorts. It wasn’t easy. Nick was so annoyed, so frustrated, so unhappy with these pants that he used all of the worst of the worst bad words he knew at one time, screaming, “I hate these stupid shut up pants!”

Yes Nick, hate, stupid and shut up are the very bad words.

My friend Stacey needed new wiper blades, and she was determined to change them herself. She went to an auto parts store and bought new ones. Back outside she went to her car and successfully removed the old ones. But despite her best efforts she couldn’t get the new blades on.

She tried several times. That’s when she realized this wasn’t her car … so she left. You’ve seen one silver sedan, you’ve seen them all. And this silver sedan with its wiper blades on its hood was probably quite a surprise for the actual owner.

My favorite story that isn’t mine belongs to my friend Louis Goldman. Back in the days before voicemail, he called a client and left a message with the secretary, a lovely older woman who had just started working there. Louis didn’t get a call back.

A few days later he called again, spoke with the secretary and left another message with her. Still no return call.

Louis then went to the client’s office to figure out the issue and asked, “Is everything OK? I left a couple messages with your new secretary and never heard back.”

The client rolled his eyes, looked through his paper messages, stopped on one, and said, ‘Ah, you must be Moose Goldstein.’ ”

My sweet, sweet husband always remembers to include a greeting card for every birthday and holiday. He takes his time reading them to pick the perfect one.

Except one year for Mother’s Day when he got his mom, Zelda, a card that read, “You’re like a mother to me.” He didn’t realize this is the card you get an aunt or female figure of importance who plays a major role in your life.

The best is that Zelda responded, “Jeff, I’m not like your mother, I am your mother.”

And if that’s not funny enough, when asked about it moments ago Jeff said, “I still don’t understand the problem.”

Jeff is so funny I think I might have him take over this column next time.

Columnist Amy Fenster Brown is married to Jeff and has two teenage sons, Davis and Leo. She volunteers for several Jewish notfor-profit groups.

Fenster Brown is an Emmy Award-winning TV news writer and counts time with family and friends, talking and eating peanut butter among her hobbies.

‘Let It Be Morning,’ Israel’s 2022 Oscar entry, comes to St. Louis screens

Salim Daw, Izabel Ramadan, Yara Elham Jarrar, Samer Bisharat, Juna Suleiman, Marwan Hamdan and Alex Bakri in “Let It Be Morning.”

PHOTO COURTESY OF COHEN MEDIA

Alex Bakri and Juna Suleiman in ‘Let It Be Morning.’

PHOTO COURTESY OF COHEN MEDIA

Detailed biography of Elizabeth Taylor reveals she took her Judaism seriously

BY ROBERT A. COHN EDITOR-IN-CHIEF EMERITUS

Few people can rival Elizabeth Taylor’s impact on American popular culture. Taylor’s life was a warp-speed roller coaster of dizzying ups and downs. Her heart-stopping physical beauty combined with bonafide acting ability launched her acting career when she was only 17. She was married eight times, including twice to Welsh actor Richard Burton. She battled alcoholism, drug addiction and fatal attraction to wealthy and powerful men; she was a flagrant and ruthless adulterer, who could destroy the marriages of her rivals. Raised as a Christian Scientist, Taylor became a Jew by choice and donated generously to Israel.

Of particular interest to Jewish readers may be Taylor’s conversion to Judaism. Two of her many marriages were to Jews: Michael Todd and crooner Eddie Fisher, but Brower notes that Taylor insisted that the choice to embrace Judaism was not to placate her Jewish spouses but resulted from serious study.

Taylor asked the distinguished scholar Rabbi Max Nussbaum for books on Judaism and was attracted to its values and commitment to acts of kindness and social justice. These Jewish values influenced her decision to become an early advocate of support for people with HIV/AIDS.

Brower notes the death of Todd in a tragic plane crash, and Taylor’s decision to become Jewish: “On March 3, 1959, a year after Mike’s death, Elizabeth officially converted to Judaism at Temple

Israel in Hollywood,” she writes. “It was a way to keep (Mike) close and to find meaning during her grief. Raised as a Christian Scientist, she felt a deep connection to the Jewish faith and its people, especially having seen how they were persecuted during World War II.”

Brower adds: “Her Hebrew Name was Elisheba Rachel (who was the favorite wife of Jacob).”

Rabbi Nussbaum of Temple Israel in Hollywood visited Taylor while she was mourning. She asked Nussbaum why Mike died.

“He gave her books about the philosophy of Judaism, excerpts from the Bible, the history of the Jews, even the bestselling novel ‘Exodus,’” Brower writes. She quotes Taylor as saying, “In seven months, I knew that I had found what I had been searching for, for many years. Neither Mike Todd nor Eddie Fisher did anything to encourage me to become a Jew.”

As evidence of her commitment to the Jewish people, Brower notes that at a Friar’s Club dinner, she pledged to buy $100,000 in Israel Bonds.”

Brower adds that because she was Jewish and supported Israel, Egypt and every other Arab state at first banned her films. When Egyptian President Gamal Abdel Nasser saw “Cleopatra,” he allowed the film to open in major cities across Egypt. Even Nasser could not resist Taylor’s violet eyes!

On May 12, 1959, Taylor married Eddie Fisher at Temple Beth Shalom in Las Vegas. Taylor flagrantly stole Fisher from actress Debbie Reynolds.

Taylor would soon find out that Fisher was no bargain; he was a gambling addict who stuck her with a $250,000 gambling tab.

Years later Taylor and Reynolds became friends through their shared contempt for Fisher.

True to her Judaism to the very end, Taylor instructed that her funeral at Forest Lawn Cemetery be held before sundown on Shabbat.

Brower’s comprehensive biography of Elizabeth Taylor is both a richly detailed almanac and a compassionate eulogy to a life lived to the fullest.

CONTINUED FROM OPPOSITE PAGE

which made the director wonder whether he was committing professional suicide. The film’s success and awards say otherwise.

The novel was written in Hebrew, although the film is mostly in Arabic.

Kolirin describes his adaptation as “an absurd Jewish tale set in a Palestinian village, or an Arabic tale told in some Yiddish dialect. Or maybe it’s just a human tale that people have been telling and retelling for generations, about a cruel theater of humanity, under siege and besieging, where the only thing that changes are the roles they play.”

This is not always an easy film to watch, but it is less about the political situation in Israel and more about the human sides in any conflict. In the end, the film offers great rewards.

The acting is excellent, particularly Bakri as Sami, with his inner turmoil played out on the actor’s expressive face. Other actors also deliver fine performances, notably Daw as Sami’s father, representing an earlier generation as well as any loving father, and Salami, who gives a touching performance as Abed, a sunny-natured man whose life has gone wrong in so many ways.

But after shining a light on the worst of human behavior, the film shifts, as the main character Sami gains insights and people start to find their inner goodness. Not everything goes smoothly after that, but people start to embrace their better side and their neighbors. It is a deeply human message that reaches beyond politics or particular conflicts.

“Elizabeth Taylor: The Grit & Glamour of an Icon” by Kate Andersen Brower HarperCollins, 495 pages, $32.50

My “rock ‘n roll rabbi’s” mini-sabbatical will be epic

JORDAN PALMER, CHIEF DIGITAL CONTENT OFFICER

My rabbi is taking a sabbatical.

Rabbi Randy Fleisher of Central Reform Congregation also happens to be a mentor. He was my first summer camp counselor in 1981, where he made sure I studied for my bar mitzvah instead of going to activities one hour a day. He introduced me to the writings of Jack Kerouac, J.D. Salinger and Kurt Vonnegut and the music of Bob Dylan and Bruce Springsteen. He co-officiated my wedding as a rabbinical student in 1998 and has been there for me every day since.

So, over lunch a year ago, I was not surprised when he told me his plans. My rabbi is taking a sabbatical and following Springsteen on the southern leg of the Boss’ new tour with the E Street Band, his first since the COVID lockdown. Well, maybe it’s really a ‘mini-sabbatical,’ like an extended purposeful vacation.”

“Two weeks, four concerts; reading and writing on the beach in between. A pure solo road trip experience,” said Fleisher. “I’m driving down to Miami, Florida and then I will travel to Tampa, Atlanta, Orlando and back to Miami.”

Following Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band around the country attending

JEWISH CELEBRITIES

concerts may not be what many would consider a typical rabbi sabbatical.

“I am well aware,” said Fleisher. “Generally, these consist of living for an extended time in Israel, studying at conferences, tending to a spiritual practice, or visiting far-flung Jewish communities. However, I was confident that the experiences, encounters, inspiration, elevation and yes, redemption, that would come my way as I chased the spirits in the night on tour with Bruce would cut to the heart of

the very purpose of sabbatical — renewal for myself, for my family life and for my service to the congregation.”

“Fleisher, a Chicago native, was ordained in 2000. He joined CRC in 2002 where he works alongside one of his rabbinic mentors, CRC’s founding rabbi, Susan Talve. Rabbi Randy is known to accompany his services with a guitar slung over his shoulder. He’s known by many as a “rock-and-roll rabbi.”

“I imagined being able to drive from

concert to concert, enjoying the freedom and the suspension of time and space via the nature of road tripping, taking in the landscapes, and meeting interesting people along the way. Rolling down the windows and letting the wind blow back my hair, as it were,” said Fleisher.

Fleisher headed to Miami on Jan. 29 to establish his “base camp” and get ready for the first night of the long-anticipated Springsteen world tour in Tampa (Feb. 1) before going to Atlanta for the Feb. 3 show, then Orlando and finally back to Miami on the 7th.

“In between the shows and the road, I plan to beach, read, write and listen to Springsteen music, of course,” Fleisher said.

His mini-sabbatical should wrap with a return to St. Louis by mid-February, but his touring is far from over. In March, he will travel to Washington, D.C. to take his 21-year-old son, Gabe, to his first Springsteen concert. Then near the end of the tour, he will attend one more show at the famed Madison Square Garden in New York with an extra day to tour Springsteen’s hometown of Asbury Park, N.J. and its historic boardwalk.

“As is written in the Torah, hineini, I am fully prepared and ready. Let the music, the stories and the transcendence begin!”

Marc Maron, David Duchovny, Ed Asner, Paul Rudd and more

BY NATE BLOOM SPECIAL TO THE JEWISH LIGHT

MARC MARON’s first HBO Original comedy special, “Marc Maron: From Bleak to Dark,” will debut on the network on Feb. 11 at 10 p.m. Maron previously had (four) hit stand-up specials on Epix and Netflix.

Maron, of course, is not just a stand-up comedian, he is an actor (best known for “GLOW,” a Netflix series) and the host of an incredibly successful podcast (over 100 million listeners annually).

The one-hour special was filmed before a live audience in New York City. Maron, 59, talks about getting older, antisemitism and faith, the sudden death of his girlfriend, and his complicated relationship with his father. He also explains why cats are better than children during a pandemic.

Actors DAVID DUCHOVNY and RICHARD KIND will be the guests on the Feb.14 (7 p.m.) episode of the PBS ancestry show “Finding Your Roots.”

“Marvel’s Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur,” an animated series, premieres on the Disney Channel on Feb. 10 (8 p.m.).

Here’s the capsule plot: Lunella Lafayette

(aka Moon Girl), a 13-year-old, is brilliant and altruistic. One day, she accidentally brings a dinosaur to the Lower East Side. The dino has the brawn to match Moon Girl’s brains and she can finally protect her community.

Like most Marvel characters, the two title characters have a decades-long comic book “history.” Suffice it to say that the

Ed Asner, who died in 2021, performed a one-man show “FDR” in 2014 at the New Jewish Theatre.

PAMELA ADLON, 56, and GIDEON ADLON, 25 (Pamela’s daughter). Brie (“Community,” GLOW”) is in the premiere episode. She plays “Alftershock,” an electrically charged supervillain. Brie’s mother is Jewish, her father isn’t. Brie’s husband, actor DAVE FRANCO, 37, has the same parentage.

“Up,” a 2009 animated Disney film, was a huge critical and box-office hit. The lead character was Carl Frederickson, a surly but lovable elderly guy who ties helium balloons to his house and floats to South America.

ED ASNER (1929-2021) voiced Carl and, at age 80, he soared to a new career high. Back in the ’70s, Asner won so many Primetime (acting) Emmys that he set an “Emmy-win record” that has still not been equaled or surpassed.

characters Moon Boy and Devil Dinosaur (“good” superheroes) were created by the late JACK KIRBY (born Jacob Kurtzberg) in 1978. (Moon Boy “died” in the ‘80s. Moon Girl was introduced in a new comic series in 2015.)

The guest-voice stars this season (17 episodes) include ALISON BRIE, 40, ANDY COHEN, 54, DAVEED DIGGS, 41,

His performance as Lou Grant, a gruff but lovable journalist, won him most of these Emmys (“The Mary Tyler Moore Show” and “Lou Grant”). Asner got the Carl role because the “Up” writers were inspired by the Lou Grant character when they created the Carl character. Nice circle, right?

See CELEBRITIES on page 24

Rabbi Randy Fleisher and Bruce Springsteen.

PHOTO COURTESY OF RABBI RANDY FLEISHER

Central Hardware: A family’s legacy

Big box stores like Walmart and the Home Depot are common sights in suburban centers around the country. The onestop shopping model for large retail stores was also a hallmark of Central Hardware. The average store size was 55,000 square feet, which in the 1960s was considered huge.

Central Hardware was also known for excellent customer service, and if a Cohen family member was working in the store, the personal attention went up a notch.

“They kept their employees forever,” said Mark Goldfeder, a regular customer of the store. “You went in there and asked for something, and the employees knew exactly where to go to find it for you.”

Goldfeder, 71, a member of Temple Emanuel, is a St. Louis streetcar aficionado who recalls the Central Hardware megastore where his father shopped.

“Their first really big store was at Kirkwood and Big Bend,” Goldfeder said. “I remember schlepping out there with the family.”Kirkwood and Big Bend,” Goldfeder said. “I remember schlepping out there with the family.”

The Kirkwood store was popular with suburbanites. It was convenient, spacious and offered one-stop shopping. That business model was key to the chain’s growth.

Community support

Central Hardware was the first sponsor of the St. Louis Senior Olympics. Cohen family members were volunteers in the Jewish community, and Stanley Cohen was active in Jewish Federation.

Stanley’s wife, Shirley, was the consummate volunteer. She was the first woman to serve on the board of Jewish Hospital of

St. Louis. She also was president of the Jewish Hospital Auxiliary and a founding member of the board of directors of the Barnes-Jewish Hospital Foundation. One of her most prominent roles was as chair of the board of the Jewish Hospital School of Nursing, now known as the Goldfarb School of Nursing at Barnes-Jewish Hospital.

“She was awarded the first and, to my knowledge, only doctorate of nursing degree posthumously at Goldfarb,” Jim Cohen said. “She also worked with Dr. Ira Kodner to start a fund for palliative care. And we established a scholarship in my mom’s name for palliative care at BJC, which is still there.

“I was in awe of her. She did everything so effortlessly. One of the things she did every summer was to host a nurses picnic at our home by the swimming pool. I was always given the job of lifeguard.”

As a lasting legacy to the Cohen family, the Shirley and Stanley Cohen Endowed Scholarship at BJC continues to support the education of promising nursing students. A similar scholarship exists at Washington University’s business school in Stanley Cohen’s name. If an applicant meets the criteria for the scholarship based on grades and he or she is a family member of a former Central Hardware employee, the applicant is automatically approved.

Jim Cohen said he and his family have a special sense of pride knowing that his parents’ contributions have had a lasting impact in St. Louis.

“Last year, I took my two daughters to the Goldfarb School of Nursing dinner, where they honor the scholarship recipients,” he said. “They knew their grandmother was special, but they didn’t have any idea how great she was and how

STAYING STEADY: NAVIGATING BALANCE CHALLENGES FOR OLDER ADULTS

FREE COMMUNITY TALK: BETTER BALANCE

BY: DR BETH TEMPLIN PT DPT GCS GERIATRIC PHYSICAL THERAPIST

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many lives she touched. People would come over to the table and look at our name tag and say, ‘You’re related to Shirley Cohen?’ It’s a special feeling.”

The end of Central Hardware

In the 1960s, retail began changing. Stanley Cohen recognized that while Central Hardware was still growing, long term prospects did not favor a regional chain. He made the decision to sell the company to the conglomerate Interco (formerly International Shoe Co.).

In 1989, the parent company of Handy Andy purchased Central Hardware from Interco for $245 million. Central Hardware was part of the holding company Spirit Holding. Mounting debt combined with increased competition signaled the death knell of Central Hardware. The company lost $10 million a year from 1989 to 1993. Spirit Holding filed for Chapter 11 bank-

ruptcy protection in 1993.

Central Hardware closed a number of stores when A-OK of Delaware, the parent company of Handy Andy, bought Central Hardware out of bankruptcy for $79 million. Two years later, Handy Andy was also bankrupt. The last Central Hardware stores closed by 1996.

In 1992, Handy Andy management forced Jim Cohen out. The end of his tenure, and of the brand, was painful.

“Every day, I miss the company,” he said. “I miss the people. We still get together every summer. It’s a Central Hardware reunion picnic. We had over 150 people two years ago, the last one before COVID. Some of them were children and grandchildren and great grandchildren of employees, but it was very close knit. It was the family business. There was always a Cohen involved.”

jewishemployment@mersgoodwill.org

Shirley and Stanley Cohen. PHOTOS COURTESY JIM COHEN

JEWISH CROSSWORD PUZZLE

By Yoni Glatt, koshercrosswords@gmail.com | ‘Hits of the

Across

1. Where astronauts from the US might live for a while

4. Occasional tefila

9. Israeli kiosk at some malls

14. “Not interested”

15. Battery component

16. Result of being seasick

17. Hannah’s ode to Samuel? (1987)

20. President who won a Nobel Peace Prize without making a peace treaty

21. Sarah, to Abraham

22. Song that’s a mantra for prophets? (1986)

27. Summer, in Paris

28. World Cup cry

29. Finish

30. Chief Ashkenazi Rabbi of Israel

32. Big fans, nowa-

days

34. Smells

Difficulty: Manageable

gler-stopping org.

55. Song about Lavan? (1987)

36. ___ shalt not...

39. Nachshon ben Aminadav’s motivational song? (1987)

42. Digits in binary

43. Animated TV twin

45. Be a rebbe, e.g.

47. “I”, to Moran

48. Advisory group to POTUS

51. Hustle and bustle

52. US smug-

59. Overly delicate

60. Stereotypical surfer dude name

61. Song about how manna can be prepared? (1980)

66. Like much of Lamentations

67. Not fulfilled, as a goal

68. Be’er Sheva to Ein Gedi dir.

69. Pioneer mail-order merchant

70. Some suit components

71. ‘90s put down

Down

1. Cushiony shoe part

2. Drill attachment with teeth

3. Barley bundle, in Ruth

4. Part of Purim or

Chanukah?

5. Chapel Hill school: Abbr.

6. ___-CAH-TOA (trig mnemonic)

7. Israel Prize winner Bar-Shalom (daughter of Rabbi Ovadia Yosef)

8. Current King of Spain

9. Sushi staple

10. Comfy, like your abode

11. Satirist Horowitz often seen on Fox News

12. He is Groot

13. Made Bubbi happy, perhaps

18. Former owner of Abbey Road Studios

19. Laura of “Jurassic World: Dominion”

23. Famous fictional snowman

24. “99 Luftballons” singer

25. First name of one often in headlines the last few months

26. Like a Hasmonean coin

31. Vessel letters

32. Tally

33. What most do for Shabbat lunch kiddish

35. “How could I be so stupid?!”

36. Wand-waving org. at the airport

37. Some kosher birds

38. New Israelis

40. It gets the bawl rolling?

41. “___ only known”

44. Some winter coats

46. Fights

49. Remain

50. Obligated yid

52. Bill ___ (fictional time travellers)

53. Israeli condiment

54. With “Top,” some golf balls

56. Bob Dylan “Masters ___”

57. Exact duplicate

58. Free electron, for one

61. They may be ripped with effort

62. Mets div.

63. Motion approval

64. Some conversation fillers

65. Having just put a coat on?

THIS WEEK’S PUZZLE ANSWERS

SIMCHAS

Stan and Judy Kolker of Creve Coeur celebrated their 60th wedding anniversary on Dec. 25, 2022. They met in St. Louis and married soon after in 1962. They enjoyed a Caribbean cruise with their family for the special occasion.

BAR MITZVAH:  BENJAMIN JOSEPH WINOGRAD

Benjamin Joseph Winograd, son of Melanie and Dan Winograd of Olivette, became a bar mitzvah on January 7, 2023.

Benjamin is the grandson of Rhonnie and Stanley Goldfader, and Bernie and Nancy Winograd, all of Creve Coeur. He is the great-grandson of Morris and Shirley Fredlich of blessed memory, Morris and Molly Goldfader of blessed memory, Esther and William Davis of blessed memory, and Jenny and Paul Winograd of blessed memory.

Benjamin has two siblings, Evie, who is 9, and Jake, who is 15.

A seventh-grade student at Ladue Middle School, Benjamin loves all sports, but his passions are golf and skiing.

BAR MITZVAH: YOSEF GRANILLO

Editor’s note: The following simcha announcement was submitted by the family as a first-person account.

By the Grace of G-d, Yosef celebrated his Bo Bayom at U City Shul on December 29, a bar mitzvah tisch and bar mitzvah at Nusach Hari B’nai Zion, on Dec. 30 and 31, 2022, respectively.

He read the entire Parsha Vayigash and Haftarah in Ashkenazi and Sephardic tropes. We are so grateful to all the yidn and other folks who came from all over the community to these events to cheer Yosef on and make these occasions even more meaningful, with special mention to Rabbi Menachem Tendler and Rabbi Chaim Bogopulsky. One of Yosef’s community projects was a video guide on how to fill out the FAFSA for youth who may not have enough parental or other support. For this purpose, he studied for several months with Robert Friedman, an attorney and dear former member of NHBZ. Robert also helped him study for and create his beautiful drash. Yosef’s parents, Dr. Carole and Tony Granillo are members of NHBZ.

JULIE FRANKEL

“Dear Julie, Mazel Tov on your wonderful, well-deserved award. You do so much in the community!

It’s International Holocaust Day - a good day to honor your work at the Holocaust Museum. Congrats to both Frankels - Lenny, too - on your recent big awards!”

- Margaret Gillerman -

MARK HERWITZ

“A loyal friend of the Jewish Light.”

STEVEN WEISS

“In memory of Steve Weiss.”

- Bethe and Gary Growe -

PHOTO COURTESY OF SPOONFUL OF SUGAR PHOTOGRAPHY

STANLEY AND JUDY KOLKER CELEBRATE 60TH ANNIVERSARY

PHOTO COURTESY OF SPOONFUL OF SUGAR PHOTOGRAPHY

BRENDA L. BARON, February 5, 2023

Beloved wife of Jay Baron for 53 years. Dear mother of David Baron, Debbie Baron and Greg (Katie Reese) Baron. Loving grandmother of Cooper Craft. Beloved daughter of the late Isadore and Betty Rosen. Dear cousin and friend.

Brenda was an excellent elementary school teacher and had a long and distinguished career with the Parkway School District.

She enjoyed playing Mah Jongg and Bridge, but she was a better Mah Jongg player. Brenda was very active at Congregation Shaare Emeth working in the congregational archives.

A funeral service was held Tuesday, February 7 at Congregation Shaare Emeth, 11645 Ladue Road. Contributions in Brenda’s memory may be made to the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society, 1972 Innerbelt Business Center Drive, St. Louis, MO, 63114.

A Rindskopf-Roth Service

IRA L. GOLDENBERG, February 2, 2023

Beloved husband of the late Harriet Glass Goldenberg; dear father and father-in-law of Dr. Edward (Anna) Goldenberg and Stuart (Linda) Goldenberg; dear grandfather of Liza Goldenberg, Lauren Goldenberg (Jake Constantine), Christine Bahrmasel, Dr. Neal (Rebecca) Goldenberg, Dr. Rebecca (Ken) Spitzer and Mark Goldenberg; Great-Grandfather of Noah Goldenberg, Ella and Sophia Spitzer; dear brother and brother-in-law of the late Shirley Goldenberg and Dr. David M. (Cindy) Goldenberg; dear uncle, cousin and friend to many.

There will be a private family service at New Montefiore Cemetery in West Babylon, New York. Memorial contributions preferred to the

Humane Society of Missouri. Visit www.bergermemorialchapel.com for more information.

Berger Memorial Service

RITA HORWITZ, December 29, 2022

Beloved daughter of the late Sophie and Meyer Horwitz; dear sister of the late Phyllis Horwitz (late William) Morris and Barbara (late Edward) Lazarus; dear aunt of Eric Lazarus and Jaime Lazarus Hoffman; dear great-aunt Nate and Jared Hoffman.

A graveside service was held Sunday, January 8 at Chesed Shel Emeth Cemetery, 650 White Rd. 63017. Memorial contributions to Congregation Shaare Emeth. Berger

Memorial Service

MERWYN G. “MURRAY” KALINA, January 23, 2023

Beloved husband of Maxine C. Kalina for 59 years. Dear father of Dr. Jeff (Ali) Kalina and the late Rick Kalina. Loving grandfather of Taylor, Jane, Grace and Gabe Kalina. Beloved brother of Felice (the late Joe) Moss, Lenore (the late Alan) Eaton, Sheila Romain, the late Sydney (late Esther) Kalina and the late Elliot (Sara) Kalina. Loving uncle, great uncle, cousin and friend.

Murray was born in Manchester, England and came to America in 1949 at the age of 14. He lived in Chicago and received his college education at the University of Illinois.

Murray came to St. Louis in 1962 and went to work for his brother Syd as an insurance salesman. Eventually, he became president of his own insurance agency, Mass Enrollment Corporation, and employed 50 agents.

Murray retired at the age of 62 and spent his time traveling with his wife, seeing the world. He had many hobbies and interests, and he was proud to be a member of the Masons, Scottish Rite and the Moolah Shriners for over 50 years.

Most important to Murray was family; family always came first. He was the kind of person who never met a stranger and he will be missed by all who knew and loved him.

A funeral service was held Thursday, January 26 at Kol Rinah, 7701 Maryland Avenue, followed by interment at Beth Hamedrosh Hagodol Cemetery, 9125 Ladue Road. Live stream available at https://www.kolrinahstl.org/ kr-streaming Contributions in Murray’s memory may be made to the charity of the donor’s choice.

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PATRICIA ROSEN, 83, died peacefully in her sleep January 23, 2023.

Devoted wife of the late Wally Rosen, dear aunt, stepmother and -mother-in-law, sister and sister-in-law, grandmother, greatgrandmother and -aunt, great-greatgrandmother and -aunt, great-greatgreat-aunt, friend and support to many. She touched the lives of all who knew her.

ROBERT LOUIS ROSENFELD, passed away peacefully on Sunday, January 29, 2023, surrounded by family.

Beloved father of Robert L. (Emily) Rosenfeld, Jr. and Thomas P. (Dena Ladd) Rosenfeld, of St. Louis, and Michael A. (Bettina) Rosenfeld of Altadena, CA. Loving grandfather of Louis Rosenfeld, of St. Louis, Will Rosenfeld, of Los Angeles, CA, Jeremy Smith, of Washington, D. C., Theo Rosenfeld, of Atwater Village, CA, Max Rosenfeld, of Altadena, CA and Abby Rosenfeld, of St. Louis. Dear brother of Karole (the late Thomas) Green and Donald (Lynne) Rosenfeld, of St. Louis. Dear uncle, cousin and friend.

Born on May 21, 1932, Bob was a lifelong St. Louisan, attending Flynn Park Elementary, John Burroughs School, and the University of Missouri. Bob served in the Air Force for two years, stationed at Whiteman Air Force base. In the late 50’s, Bob entered the garment industry, working with his father, Milton, at Western Garment. In the mid 1960’s, Bob took over management of Southeastern Textiles, a textile processor, started by his grandfather, Louis Korach, and continued in that role until his

OBITUARIES INDEX

Baron, Brenda L. Goldenberg, Ira L. Horwitz, Rita

Kalina, Merwyn G. “Murray”

retirement in 2000.

Bob was an active sportsman. In his youth, he played many sports, including football, basketball and baseball, and enjoyed summers at Camp Nebagamon. As an adult, he devoted much time to coaching his boys in their athletic endeavors. An avid fan, especially of the Cardinals, he attended at least one game in each of their World Series appearances, since 1942. Bob’s favorite activity was golf, a sport he enjoyed with lifelong friends and his children and grandchildren. He was a solid high single digit handicapper known for booming drives and an unreliable putting stroke.

Bob was an energetic, outgoing man, who enjoyed an active social life, cooking and dining out, reading, travel, an occasional wager, and spending time with his family. He was funny. He will be missed.

There will be a private memorial service at a future date. In lieu of flowers, please consider making donations to the Jewish Federation of St. Louis (jfedstl.org) or to Evans Scholars Foundation (wgaesf.org).

A Rindskopf-Roth Service

Rosenfeld, Robert Louis Steele, Jerome Eugene “Jerry” Vittert, Miriam “Mimi” American Flag symbol denotes a United States military veteran. Obituaries continue on opposite page

JEROME EUGENE “JERRY” STEELE, passed away peacefully on January 22, 2023.

Beloved father of Zachary Parker Steele and Dillon Tucker Steele. Dear brother and brotherin-law of Cathy Steele, Betsy (Jim) Backe, Don (Chris) Steele. Best friend to Eve Sharpe Steele (mother of Dillon Steele). “Coolest uncle of all time” to Kadtie (Jack) Wojciehowski, Tim (Rowan Allegra Reyes) San Filippo, Joe (Kate) Backe, Matt (Jenny) San Filippo, Nicholas Steele and Andrew Steele. Adoring great uncle of Grayce, River, Ayla and Shane Wojciehowski, Walt and Calvin Backe, and Teddy San Filippo. Dear nephew of Mike (Nancy) Weil and David (Ruth Halperin) Weil. Treasured first cousin of Gene (Katherine Borsecnik) Weil, Sue (Sandy Goodman) Weil, Ted Weil, Ilene (Fred) Siegel. Affectionately known as “Jer-Bear”. Cherished cousin, friend and mentor to so many who felt like close family. Jerry was the devoted son of Donald and Nancy Steele, who preceded him in death.

He was someone who was always there when they needed him, while at the same time he

E ry lif E is uniqu E and deserves to be remembered in a special way. We are dedicated to helping you and your loved ones honor the heritage of the Jewish faith with a memorial that is both meaningful

surrounded them with his magnetic energy and kept them on their toes.

Jerry Steele was a dynamic and passionate businessman and entrepreneur. Beginning his career in media sales, first radio and then television, Jerry went on to become CEO of his own successful media buying and strategic planning company, MultiMarket Media. Jerry was highly respected by clients and coworkers alike for his leadership, tenacity, keen insights and visionary ideas. An avid photographer, Jerry was also the force behind his second company J. Steele Photography/Model Obsessions. His creative work in glamour/ model photography was highly regarded by his colleagues in the artistic community and his clients. Jerry opened his home and his heart to so many and “Jerry’s Pool” was always the place to be for a good time.

Jerry was best known as a dedicated father who put his sons’ interests above all else. He was always there for his sons in every way and spent the majority of his spare time with them creating special memories. Adventures included taking them on trips to their family home in Wisconsin, skiing or fishing with them in Colorado, teaching them photography, practicing lines for Dillon’s plays and seeing his performances, attending the Grammys in support of Zach, taking them to numerous high energy concerts or co-assembling 1000+ piece Lego creations. As a dear cousin noted, “He packed one hundred years into his sixty years of life”. He lived life fully and made his time here matter. Jerry courageously battled cancer for over seven years and fought hard up until the end yet still managed to be a bright light in everyone’s lives.

In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to The Nancy and Donald Steele Family Endowment at Miriam School and Learning Center or to a charity of your choice. A celebration of Jerry’s life will be held at a later date with details to follow.

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MIRIAM “MIMI” VITTERT, age 84, of St. Louis, MO and Sarasota, FL, passed away on December 24, 2022.

She is the beloved wife of Bruce Vittert; adored mother and mother-in-law of Jan Vittert, Jeff (Leigh) Vittert, Amy (Jonathan) Deutsch; dear Nana of Kevin, Samantha, and Allison Vittert, Chloe and Maggie Deutsch. As well as sister-in-law of Mark (Carol) Vittert and aunt of their children Leland and Liberty Vittert.

The only child of Samuel and Jeanette Gotler, Mimi was born in St. Louis where she attended school at University City High School and Washington University. It was during those early years where she met Bruce, the love of her life and husband of 64 years. She created not only a beautiful home but a warm and inviting space for friends and family. Mimi was an incredible cook and baker and demonstrated her love through her food. She was a devoted mother to her three children, Jan, Jeff and Amy.

Mimi believed in service. She spent her time advocating for children, working countless hours on committees and in the hospital flower shop arranging gifts to bring joy to others. She also dedicated her time to scholarship programs for girls to further their education as another example of her philanthropic endeavors.

Mimi was a wonderful friend and one of her favorite activities was playing bridge. Mimi loved and adored her grandchildren. She bragged about them and wore their names proudly on many items of clothing. She loved to bake and spend time with them. They were truly her pride and joy. Mimi had a patient and kind demeanor, a warm smile, easy laugh and was beautiful on the inside and out. She will be greatly missed and always remembered.

Private family graveside services were held. If you would like to make a donation in honor of Mimi, please choose a cause or organization that is close to your heart.

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Grigory Kanovich, acclaimed author who chronicled Lithuanian Jewry, dies at 93

DAVID I. KLEIN JTA

Grigory Kanovich, a Lithuanian-born Jew and award winning author who endeavored to tell the story of his people despite Soviet pressure, died Jan. 20 at 93 in his home in Tel Aviv.

Kanovich’s repertoire includes more than 30 plays and screenplays, a dozen novels and several collections of poems and short stories, almost all of which are devoted to stories of Lithuanian Jews.

Kanovich was born in 1929 in the shtetl of Janova, an almost entirely Jewish village just north of Kaunas, which was the capital of independent Lithuania in the interwar period. In his youth, the city was home to over 3,000 Jews, 80% of its population. There were hundreds of Jewishowned shops, a Jewish bank and several synagogues and Jewish schools. Over 2,100 of Janova’s Jews were murdered in a series of massacres in the summer of 1941.

Kanovich’s family were among the lucky ones and escaped during the brief period of Soviet Occupation in between the Russian-German non-aggression pact in 1939 and Germany’s invasion of the Soviet Union in 1941. The family went east through Latvia and deeper into Soviet-controlled Central Asia, where they rode out the war.

When the war ended, Kanovich returned to the region of his youth to study at the University of Vilnius, but the world he knew there was forever gone. From as early as 1949, he began to put his thoughts about that loss down onto paper,

both eulogizing the world of Lithuania Jewry and documenting the new Soviet Jewish reality.

Though he wrote largely in Russian, his works weaved the Talmudic thought of Lithuania’s yeshivas with the Yiddish wit that remained a part of Soviet comedy long after the Holocaust.

“Kanovich wrote about the fate of the Jewish people, about their relationship with Lithuanian and Russian culture. At the center of his works is the ‘little man,’ who stubbornly opposes evil and for the author embodies a person in general,” Wolfgang Kazak, a German Slavicist, once said of Kanovich’s work.

Kanovich’s first trilogy of novels, written between 1974 and 1979, and based on short stories he wrote in 1959 and 1967, was written through the eyes of a young yeshiva student navigating the Holocaust.

“Kanovich wrote about tragedy, but about the tragedy of people who, even in the face of inevitable death, did not lose either their dignity or a sense of belonging to their people and their civilization,” wrote Vitaly Portnikov, a Ukrainian journalist and editor, in a tribute for Radio Svoboda, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty’s Russian service. “He took us back to biblical times, to the times of parables and prophets. We, his readers, felt human, we felt strong. We

felt like we were in flight,”

The themes of Kanovich’s work, such as nostalgia for a past steeped in religiosity and struggle against assimilation, limited the reach of his work in the Soviet Union; it was only permitted to be published within the Lithuanian Soviet Socialist Republic, where he lived. Still, it became beloved by Jews throughout the Soviet Union. After the fall of the Iron Curtain, Kanovich was briefly elected president of the Jewish community in newly-independent Lithuania, but like so many other Eastern European Jews, he chose to immigrate to Israel in the 1990s. There he kept writing, continuing to tell the story of the Lithuanian shtetl, with work being published as recently as 2019.

“He was a stranger to Russian writers because he wrote about Jews. And he was a stranger to Jewish writers, because he wrote about those Jews whom Soviet literature did not want to know and notice – about the Jews of the Book and deed, about Jews who not only were not ashamed of their origin, but also did not consider themselves ‘little brothers,’ did not want to please the ‘big brother,’ tell him stupid jokes and share cooking recipes,” Portnikov wrote.

After the fall of the Soviet Union, Kanovich was a recipient of the Israel Writers Union Prize and the Commander’s Cross of the Order of the Grand Duke of Lithuania Gediminas — one of Lithuania’s highest honors — and was named the Laureate of the Prize of the Government of Lithuania in the field of culture and art. He is survived by his two sons and wife Olga.

Bob Born, Jewish maker of Peeps marshmallow candies, dies at 98

BY ANDREW SILOW-CARROLL JTA

Ira “Bob” Born, the son of the Russian Jewish immigrant who founded the company that makes Peeps candies, died Jan. 29. He was 98.

Born was the former president of Just Born Quality Confections, the 100-yearold family-owned candy company in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, that makes Mike and Ikes, jelly beans and Goldenberg Peanut Chews, but is probably best known for the marshmallow treats that are staples in Easter baskets.

Just Born’s Jewish roots came as a surprise to this reporter, who in 2012 reported for the New Jersey Jewish News on the company’s acquisition of Goldenberg Peanut Chews, a venerable Philadelphia brand that had recently dropped its kosher “pareve” certification. Ross Born, Bob’s son and co-CEO of the company, explained the difficulty in sourcing ingredients for the candies and spoke about the family’s commitment to Jewish causes in the Lehigh Valley and beyond. (Peanut Chews are kosher dairy; Peeps are not kosher.)

He also spoke about his father’s innovations as head of the company, which the elder Born joined in 1945 after graduating from Lehigh University with a degree in engineering physics and service in the U.S. Navy. Born had been accepted to medical school but fell in love with the business.

After Just Born acquired a maker of marshmallow candies in 1953, Bob Born devised a way to greatly speed the process. At the Bethlehem factory, huge machines squirt armies of the chickshaped confections onto a conveyer belt, on which they glide past little guns that paint on the eyes.

Bob Born also cut down on waste when he figured out what to do with Mike and Ike candies that emerged

misshapen in the manufacturing process: He remelted the candies, added a hot cinnamon flavor to mask their original taste, and repurposed them as Hot Tamales.

“That was his nature. He didn’t say, ‘No, we can’t do something.’ He said ‘Well, we’ll figure it out,’” Ross Born told the Lehigh Valley News.

Bob Born was born on Sept. 29, 1924, in New York City. His father, Sam Born, had been a rabbinical student from Berdichev, Ukraine, before his family fled to Paris, where he learned the art of chocolate-making. After opening a factory and store in Brooklyn, Sam brought his brothers-in-law, Irv and Jack Shaffer, into the business. A nephew, David Shaffer, is currently board chair and co-CEO of Just Born.

Bob Born retired after almost 40 years at Just Born and moved to Florida, where he was chairman of a literacy program in

an underserved community.

In addition to his talents as a candymaker, Born was a musician, woodworker, chess player and photographer, according to his son. In 2019, the city of Bethlehem declared Feb. 15 as “Bob Born Day.”

Ross, a past president of the Jewish Federation of the Lehigh Valley, told the local newspaper that his father will be remembered as a “real mensch” — Yiddish for a person of integrity and honor.

“He was a kind person, he was generous with his talents, sharing his abilities. He was very fair minded: he wanted to embrace differences rather than just tolerate them,” Ross Born said.

The family asked that contributions be made to the American Technion Society, Israel Guide Dog Center or any literacy program.

Grigory Kanovich

CHAI LIGHTS

YOUR CALENDAR OF ST. LOUIS JEWISH COMMUNITY EVENTS

FRIDAY | FEB.

10

‘On the Record’ with Bob Cohn

From 11 a.m. to noon, the Jewish Light Editor-in-Chief Emeritus will lead the latest session in his “On The Record” series, which offers an online discussion of films, plays, articles and books on issues of concern to our community, held the second Friday of every other month. Register online at http://bit.ly/ Register_MirowitzCenter, call 314-733-9813, or email skemppainen@mirowitzcenter.org.

SATURDAY | FEB. 11

A Class for Expecting Parents

Shaare Emeth will present “B’sha’ah Tovah: A Class for Expecting Parents,” from 9 a.m. to noon. The class will provide opportunities to connect with other expecting parents and to explore traditional and contemporary ways that Judaism can add meaning to every stage of the journey to parenthood. Open to the community. Register online at https://sestl. co/bshaahtovah. For more information, email Rabbi Rachel Bearman at rbearman@sestl.org.

Havdalah Happy Hour at Bais Abe

Join Bais Abraham Congregation at 7:30 p.m. for an accompanied Havdalah service followed by drinks, hors d’oeuvres and live music. Admission is $10 in advance and $15 at the door. All are welcome. Register at https:// www.baisabe.com/events/HavdalahHappyHour or contact Bais Abe at 314-721-3030 or abby@baisabe.com. Bais Abraham is located at 6910 Delmar Blvd. in University City.

MONDAY | FEB. 13

Symphony at Mirowitz Center

From 3 to 4 p.m. enjoy a Mirowitz Center performance by musicians with the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra — highlighting classics that speak of romance, love and passion. Seating is limited; RSVPs are required. Register for this Mirowitz Center program online at http://bit.ly/Register_MirowitzCenter, call 314-733-9813, or email skemppainen@ mirowitzcenter.org.

STARTING | FEB. 13

Weekly Meditation Sits

See related news brief on page 6.

TUESDAY | FEB. 14

The ABCs of Judaism

From noon to 1 p.m. Rabbi Ze’ev Smason will continue his ABCs of Judaism series at the Mirowitz Center. February’s topic is “Good Conversation: Is Anyone Really Listening?” Register for this Mirowitz Center program online at http://bit.ly/Register_MirowitzCenter, call 314-733-9813, or email skemppainen@mirowitzcenter.org.

WEDNESDAY | FEB. 15

NHBZ Ladies Coffee & Learning

The NHBZ Chesed Committee invites the community to an afternoon of schmoozing and learning at its Ladies Coffee & Learning event from 2-3:30 p.m. Special guest speaker Rebbetzin Chani Wasser will discuss “Don’t Just Survive, Thrive: Navigating Life Challenges with Strength.” Light refreshments will be served. Free and open to the community. For more information, call 314-991-2100, ext. 2 or email: office@nhbz.org

Virtual tour of The Met

From 2 to 3 p.m. Elana Kaplan, a museum educator and lecturer for New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art, will lead a free, online Mirowitz Center presentation giving a threepart monthly tour (continues on March 15 and

April 19) of the Met’s world-renowned collections. Register for this free Mirowitz Center program online at http://bit.ly/Register_ MirowitzCenter, call 314-733-9813, or email skemppainen@mirowitzcenter.org.

Sharsheret’s Breast and Ovarian Cancer Support Group

This monthly group provides support, connection and education to women in the St. Louis Jewish community who have been diagnosed with breast or ovarian cancer and are anywhere along their treatment path–before, during, or post-treatment. Facilitated by a licensed clinical social worker, this group meets from 6:15 to 7:30 p.m. on the third Wednesday via Zoom. Sharsheret Supports STL is a program of the J’s Nishmah. Free, but RSVPs requested to Debbi Braunstein at 314442-3266 or dbraunstein@jccstl.org.

THURSDAY | FEB.

16

Tech Tutor: Google Chrome

From 2 to 3 p.m. at the Mirowitz Center, learn how to use Google Chrome, one of the most popular web browsers used to explore the internet. Participants will be provided a Chromebook during this program to follow along with the instructor. Tech Tutor is supported by a grant from the Women’s Auxiliary Foundation for Jewish Aged. Register for this free program online at http://bit.ly/Register_MirowitzCenter, call 314-733-9813, or email skemppainen@mirowitzcenter.org.

NCJWSTL lunch and learn

At noon, NCJWSTL will hold its February lunch and learn on “Tackling Conspiracy Theories and Disinformation.” The guest speaker will be Sarah Fenske, who served as host of “St. Louis on the Air” on St. Louis Public Radio from July 2019 until June 2022. Before that, she spent 20 years in newspapers, working as a reporter, columnist and editor. Visit https:// bit.ly/Feb23LnL to register. For more information, email Jennifer Bernstein at jbernstein@ ncjwstl.org or call 314-993-5181.

FRI.-SAT. | FEB. 17-18

Shabbat with Hazzan Dulkin

Kol Rinah will welcome Hazzan Joanna Dulkin back to St. Louis for Shabbat events. Dulkin serves of Adath Jeshurun Congregation in Minnetonka, Minn. She previously served Shaare Zedek Synagogue in St. Louis.

On Feb. 17, Kol Rinah will host a 6 p.m. musical Kabbalat Shabbat featuring Dulkin. At 7:30 p.m. guests can take part in a Shabbat dinner (RSVP required, cost and signup TBA), followed at 8:30 p.m. with learning and singing with Dulkin.

On Feb.18, Dulkin will lead Shabbat morning services at 9 a.m. A Kiddush takes place at noon. Mincha/Maariv is at 5:15 p.m. At 6:30 p.m. there will be a musical Havdalah with Dulkin, followed by wine and dessert reception. At 7 p.m. there will be a singing circle with Dulkin. For more information, visit www. kolrinahstl.org/event/shabbat-with-hazzan-joanna-dulkin.html.

SATURDAY | FEB. 18

NCJWSTL to host Trivia Night

National Council of Jewish Women St. Louis will host a trivia night fundraiser at Congregation Temple Israel, with doors opening at 6 p.m. and trivia will begin at 7. Individual tickets are $25; a table of 10 is $250. Basic refresh-

ments will be provided, and teams are welcome to bring their own food and drink (no pork or shellfish). Temple Israel is located at 1 Rabbi Alvan D. Rubin Dr. in Creve Coeur, at the intersection of Spoede and Ladue roads. Tickets and tables for Trivia Night may be purchased by visiting https://ncjwstl.org/trivia-2023. For more information, contact the NCJWSTL office at 314-993-5181 or email Ellen Alper at EAlper@ncjwstl.org.

SUNDAY | FEB. 19

Jews in Science series continues

Kol Rinah’s Jews in Science series continues with a focus on Selman Waksman, the researcher responsible for streptomycin. RSVP online at https://www.kolrinahstl.org/ form/jewish-antibiotics.html. For more information, email richardjrgavatin@gmail.com.

Noah Weinberg Memorial Lecture

At 7:30 p.m. Aish welcomes Rabbi Gavriel Friedman (aka Rav Gav) for a talk on “The Power of Speech: What goes on behind the scenes when we talk,” at the Hilton St. Louis Frontenac, 1335 S. Lindbergh Blvd. The talk is dedicated by the Axelbaum family in loving memory of Jerry Axelbaum, a”h. A $10 donation is suggested. For more information, call 314-862-2474 or email cwolff@aish.com.

Jewish War Veterans meeting

Jewish War Veterans Post 644 will meet in the Kaplan-Feldman Holocaust Museum meeting room at 10 a.m. on the third Sunday each month (please ask for directions at the desk). A Zoom option will be available for those who are unable to be at the meeting. For more information, contact Post 644 Commander Ellis Frohman at 636-519-7512.

TUESDAY | FEB. 21

Discussion with Jordan Kadosh of ADL Heartland

From 10 to 11 a.m. learn answers to tough questions about bigotry, hatred and misinformation with ADL Heartland’s Regional Director Jordan Kadosh. This program – part of the Mirowitz Center’s “Fighting Bigotry & Hatred” series – is co-sponsored by ADL Heartland, Jewish Community Relations Council of St. Louis and National Council of Jewish Women St. Louis, and is provided in conjunction with FEL (Friends Enjoying Life), an organization supported by Mirowitz Center. Register for this free program online at http://bit.ly/Register_MirowitzCenter, call 314-733-9813, or email skemppainen@mirowitzcenter.org.

SATURDAY | FEB. 25

Lunch and learn at Bais Abe

Join Bais Abraham for its annual lunch and learn in memory of Micah Abraham Lemerman Shilcrat, z”l. Dr. Randi Mozenter will discuss issues related to one’s mental health immediately following Shabbat morning services (at approximately 11:30 a.m.). This event is sponsored by Stewart Shilcrat and Paula Lemerman to commemorate the yahrzeit of Micah Abraham Lemerman Shilcrat z”l. To register, visit www.baisabe.com/event/mental-health-memorial-lunch-and-learn.html or contact the Bais Abe office at 314-721-3030 or abby@baisabe.com.

Trivia Night: Purim edition at TI

See related news brief on page 10.

SUNDAY | FEB. 26

NHBZ All-You-Can Eat Pizza Night

From 5 to 7 p.m., Nusach Hari B’nai Zion will offer a dine-in all-you-can-eat buffet of delicious kosher pizza, pasta, salad and garlic bread plus a dessert and beverage. There are even movies for your kids. Prices are $15 for

Local Jewish organizations and congregations can submit calendar items to news@ stljewishlight.org. All items received by 5 p.m. Friday will be considered for the following week’s edition.

adults, $7 for kids ages 4-10, and free for kids ages 3 and under. The pizza cheese is Cholov Yisroel and pareve crusts are available upon request. Charge cards are accepted. For more information, call 314-991-2100.

‘You Are Not Alone: A Service of Wholeness, Healing and Hope’

From 4 to 5 p.m. join the Kehillah Center at Congregation Shaare Emeth for “You Are Not Alone: A Service of Wholeness, Healing and Hope” led by Rabbi Andrea Goldstein and Shaare Emeth’s Musician-in-Residence, Lucy Greenbaum, offering an afternoon of music, poetry, prayer and connection with a community that cares. The event is open to the community, but registration is required to Stacy Jespersen at sjespersen@sestl.org.

MONDAY | FEB. 27

Meet and greet at Kohn’s

Join Traditional Congregation for a meet and greet with Kohn’s new general manager, AJ Moll, at 7 p.m. at Kohn’s, 10405 Old Olive Street Road. Find out what is new at Kohn’s and learn what is on tap down the road while enjoying fruit and freshly made baked goods. Free but RSVPs required by Feb. 22 to Marian Gordon at traditionalcong@gmail.com or 314576-5230.

TUESDAY | FEB. 28

Aish Men’s Over 55 Club talk

At 3 p.m. Aish’s Men’s Over 55 Club will offer a discussion with Rabbi Shmuel Greenwald on “Why did God Create a Seemingly Imperfect World and What Does Tikkun Olam mean?” at Kohn’s Deli, 10405 Old Olive Street Road. Refreshments will be served. For more information, call 314-862-2474 or email sgreenwald@aish.com

NCJWSTL Coffee Talk

At 8:30 a.m. join NCJWSTL for a coffee talk with Howard Katzman about potential problems in the air quality at one’s home, and how to mitigate those risks. He will structure his presentation around attendees’ interests and concerns, so send questions to arothman@ ncjwstl.org by Feb. 22 so he may review them in advance. Visit https://bit.ly/Feb23CT to register. For more information, email Alec Rothman at arothman@ncjwstl.org or call 314-993-5181.

FRI.-SUN. | MARCH 3-5

NCJWSTL Advocacy Conference

See related news brief on page 10.

SATURDAY | MARCH 4

J Associates Fabulous Feud Live

See related news brief on page 10.

SUNDAY | MARCH 5

Traditional Congregation plans tour of Holocaust Museum

Traditional Congregation is planning a private group tour of the St Louis Feldman Kaplan Holocaust Museum. Guests will meet at 9 a.m. at Traditional, 12437 Ladue Road, for coffee/ bagels. The group will leave at 9:30 a.m. as the tour begins promptly at 10 a.m. (guests can also meet at the museum by that time). The tour will be an hour and a half to two hours and include a discussion with a survivor or descendant. Registration is required by Feb. 24: http://bit.ly/3H2NhqU, or mail payment with names to Traditional. Minimum donation is $5 to offset the cost of our private tour; additional donations welcome. If you need a ride, please let us know when registering. Call 314-5765230 for more information.

Joanna Dulkin

Jewish Federation of St. Louis recently honored participants completing two leadership programs, the eighth cohort of Millstone Fellows and the inaugural cohort of Levy Fellows. Millstone Fellows honors the legacy of Isadore Millstone z”l and is Jewish Federation’s signature leadership program

that serves to strengthen the St. Louis Jewish community and region. Millstone Fellows creates the space to share perspectives and ideas, integrate Jewish values into decision-making, enhance leadership skills and explore relevant topics from the local, national and global scene. The Levy Fellows was established in 2022 through the vision of Mont Levy to support and advance the work of board leaders at Jewish organizations. For information on leadership development opportunities, contact Marci Mayer Eisen at Jewish Federation: MEisen@JFedSTL.org or 314-442-3810.

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In December, just before the snow and sub-zero temperatures approached St. Louis, Crown Center’s Meals on Wheels volunteers and volunteer drivers swiftly adjusted the bi-weekly delivery schedule. Each volunteer changed their plans and showed up a day early. Fresh, healthy, kosher meals were quickly prepared and delivered with a delicious Hanukkah treat of sufganiyot, thanks to special funding from the Kahn Foundation. Meals on Wheels recipients, some who are homebound, were appreciative of not only the early meal deliveries, but the extra effort made to recognize Hanukkah.

Crown Center for Senior Living provides affordable, high-quality living and services to enable residents to flourish independently; and create inspiring programming to enable both residents and other community seniors to maintain an active and healthy lifestyle, honoring Jewish values and traditions.

LEFT: Crown Center’s Circle@ Crown Cafe volunteers (from left) Beverly Sagel, Pamela Dern, Michael Dern, Fran Kaar and Marcia King.

BELOW: Pamela Dern, Chair Kahn Foundation Committee and Crown Center’s Circle@ Crown Cafe Volunteer with a gift of sufganiyot for Meals on Wheels recipients.

A group of around 20 Beatles fans came to the multipurpose room of the Mirowitz Center on Jan. 24 to hear Beatles expert Neil Davis offer inside details about the making of “Rubber Soul.”

One attendee was Linda Markowitz, who saw the group live at Shea Stadium at age 11 in 1966. She arrived at Mirowitz Center event with her Beatles sweatshirt.

“I’ve been listening to them since I was 3 years old,” said Markowitz, 67. “I’ve been a fan since I was a little girl.”

PHOTOS: BILL MOTCHAN

U.H. From left: Reva Davis, Lynda Kress, Shirley Gorman, Sheri-Schneider Dicker, Sharon Schneider, Candy Zemon, Cheryl Whatley and Elaine Spielberg. Not pictured: Rickie Rubin Kerckhoff and Carol Berkin.

United Hebrew Congregation’s Stitch and a Prayer group is currently knitting and crocheting warm hats and scarves for clients at the Harvey Kornblum Jewish Food Pantry. In addition, the group makes blessing blankets for members of UH in need of healing.

Display: Anti-Israel messages at elementary school’s ‘international night’ spark outrage

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tumes and traditions of the various countries.

On Friday, Jan. 27, after a St. Louis Jewish women’s Facebook group posted images of the anti-Israel display, several group members responded with outrage and disappointment. One member commented, “Personal viewpoints, especially political and hateful, should never be a part of anything at a public school, especially at the elementary school level and at what I imagine was supposed to be a night of sharing CULTURES, like food, music, art, architecture, and traditions from different countries. Wrong on so many levels.”

Another wrote: “I was horrified yesterday. I was shaking and could barely talk . . . I can’t believe we have this kind of hate in our Highcroft Ridge community.”

Some commenters said that they had called Parkway’s superintendent and were told the administration would be issuing a statement. The Facebook group later posted Principal Clark’s letter in its entirety.

In his letter, Clark noted that the offensive content was not the creation of a student, but the actions of an adult. As a result, no student will be punished because of the rhetoric.

“We regret that anyone had to witness the display or heard about it,” he wrote. “The Highcroft Ridge PSO shares our concerns, and we are working to add

Capitol: Jewish leaders

advocate for trans rights during visit to Jefferson City

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tifying in favor of the bill, cited the biblical principle that humankind was created in God’s image, and an attempt to change that is the work of Satan.

Hudson, who identified himself in his testimony as a Christian pastor, also said that his worldview is one in which human beings are created “in the image and likeness of their Creator.”

Before the nine-hour long hearing was over, another interpretation of the principle of “the image of God” was explored on the hearing room floor.

“As a Jew, this is something that speaks to me quite a bit. We call it ‘b’tzelem Elokim’ — ‘created in the image of God,’ literally,” said Russel Neiss, a Jewish educator and technologist and the parent of a trans child. “But the way we understand this is that God bestows a special honor onto humans that requires that we need to be treated with dignity and we need to treat others with dignity.”

Maharat Rori Picker Neiss, the executive director of the Jewish Community Relations Council of St. Louis, and the wife of Russel Neiss, also testified against the bills and in support of their child.

“Sitting here for the past two hours has been one of the most painful things that I’ve ever had to do as a mother and we’ve been doing this for four years,” she said. Picker Neiss stayed home from the Jan. 31 Senate hearing for the first time in four years — but was back at the Capitol fighting for her child’s rights by the next day.

Next week, as another bill limiting what can be said about trans identity in schools makes its way through the Missouri chambers, Scharf-Anderson says school leadership will return to the state Capitol.

“We know that children imitate what we do, and we want to make sure that we’re being good role models for them,” she said. “And we will continue to stand by the children that we need to support who are part of our school and in our broader community.”

additional safeguards, including reviewing participant materials prior to any event. These procedures should ensure any content represents our values of respect and inclusivity and celebrates our students and families.”

Parkway Superintendent Keith Marty said there were “several takeaways” to be learned from the incident.

“We’ve had a lot of international nights or cultural nights at schools in our district and never had any problems,” he said. “But clearly moving forward we can’t take anything for granted. Henceforth, we probably need to get a pretty clear idea of what might be displayed at these nights and even before the event make a quick tour to make sure everything is appropriate.”

He also said the district plans to look at what more it can do to stop the spread of hate and antisemitism “to make sure our Jewish students and their families,” as well as everyone else in the district, feels safe.

“As a district, we need to continue to enhance understanding so that acts (of hate) aren’t allowed to occur,” Marty said. “As we watch social media and as we hear conversations, we need to make sure we are aware if there is something very subtle, or (hateful) things happening, that we are able to intervene because as we are finding in so many areas, bullying and in other areas, behaviors can be hurtful. We need to be more diligent about what is said and what behaviors might be occurring among students and families.”

Celebrities: Ed Asner, Paul Rudd and more

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In 2021, Disney launched “Dug Days,” a sequel-of-sorts that streamed on the Disney Channel. Dug is the name of a talking Labrador Retriever who became Carl’s companion’s in “Up.” Five short “Dug” films were released. These films had Carl (Asner) and Dug living in suburbia.

On Friday, Feb. 10, another short film, “Carl’s Date,” will begin streaming on Disney+. Here’s the plot: Carl reluctantly agrees to go a date with a lady friend—but has no idea how dating works today. Dug calms Carl’s jitters and he offers some tips that have worked well for him---except the tips are tips on how to meet other dogs(!)

Asner recorded his role before his death. Here’s hoping that he wins another Emmy.

“Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania” is the fifth film in which PAUL RUDD, 53, plays “Ant-Man” (aka Scott Lang). It opens in theaters on Feb. 17.

For “Ant-Man” novices, here’s the essential info: Lang got Ant-Man “super” powers via a suit created by Hank Pym, the original Ant-Man (he’s played by MICHAEL DOUGLAS, 78). Lang’s companion, Hope Van Dyne, aka the Wasp, (played by Evangeline Lily), is the daughter of Pym, and Janet Van Dyne (Michelle Pfeiffer). Hope got her “super-power” wasp suit from her mother.

The plot is way too complex to lay out here. Suffice it to say that the characters described above are “the heart” of the new film.

JEWISH FEDERATION OF ST. LOUIS SCHOLARSHIPS

THE LENTIN SCHOLARSHIP FUND

Established by Scott Lentin

Provides scholarships of up to $10,000 to high school seniors who have completed secondary school and who are enrolling in full-time undergraduate degree programs or vocational programs at accredited nonprofit colleges or universities. Preference will be given to applicants of any faith with some connection to the Jewish community and first-generation college students.

THE BENJAMIN D. & MIRIAM PESSIN EDUCATION ASSISTANCE FUND

Established in memory of Benjamin D. Pessin and Miriam Pessin by members of their immediate family

Provides $2,500 scholarships to qualified students demonstrating scholastic achievement and financial need pursuing a business degree.

THE RUTH GREENBERG MEMORIAL FUND FOR RABBINICAL TRAINING

Established by the late Ruth Greenberg Provides scholarships of up to $2,500 for rabbinical training for St. Louis residents demonstrating financial need and intent to pursue a career in the rabbinate.

THE SAM A. KESSLER MEMORIAL SCHOLARSHIP

Established by friends of the late Sam A. Kessler Provides a $1,000 scholarship for a local law school student demonstrating financial need and a willingness to contribute their time and talent to the Jewish community. Applicants must have resided in the St. Louis metropolitan area for no less than 10 years.

THE RICHARD L. LEVIS, JR. MEMORIAL SCHOLARSHIP FUND

Established in memory of Richard L. Levis, Jr. by his widow, Barbara Rosen

Provides up to $1,000 in scholarship money to Missouri area college or university students demonstrating scholastic achievement and financial need.

THE BLANCHE AND IRVING MILLER SCHOLARSHIP FUND

Established through a bequest from the estate of Blanche and Irving Miller

Provides $1,000 scholarships to deserving and qualified students enrolled in accredited colleges or universities who are pursuing undergraduate or graduate degrees in professional fields.

THE L. ALLEN ZORENSKY FINE ARTS LOAN FUND

Awards interest-free loans to students pursuing an education in fine arts or other arts at a post-secondary level at a recognized accredited academic institution. Loan recipients must sign a promissory note in which the recipient agrees to repay the loan, in full, within five years of graduation.

THE LOEB FAMILY SCHOLARSHIP FUND

Made possible through the Louise & Benjamin, Marjorie & Harry Loeb Endowment

Provides grants or scholarships for as much as $5,000 annually for study at an accredited nonprofit institution, either a vocational, community, or four-year college. Awards are made to applicants from the local Jewish community, based on the potential to significantly improve an applicant’s long-term prospects and financial need, with preference given to first-generation students.

Awardees will be notified no later than April 28, 2022. Please direct questions regarding any of Federation’s scholarships to Brandon Rosen at 314-442-3812 or BRosen@JFedSTL.org.