Jewish News 10.31.22 Issue

For 58 years, Checkered Flag has been a proud member of the Hampton Roads community. And we’re equally proud to have supported the UnitedWay’s food drives and children’s charities that provide everything from academics, housing and even dance lessons. We’re proud to partner with organizations like Achievable Dream, the Access College Foundation and For Kids. The way we see it, every road should lead to opportunityfor our community. Together, we’re the engine to make that a reality.

We believe in the power of promise.

Israel to build a museum dedicated to Albert Einstein at university he helped found

Asaf Elia-Shalev

$18 million museum ded icated to the legacy of Albert Einstein will be built in Jerusalem.

The Israeli government approved a plan Sunday, October 23 to establish a new home for Einstein’s extensive materials, including some 85,000 doc uments, on the campus of the Hebrew University, which Einstein helped found a century ago.

It’s the largest collection of papers and objects related to Einstein in the world and includes his Nobel Prize and the original notes he produced while developing the general theory of rela tivity in 1916, according to Benyamin Cohen, who is writing a biography of the physicist.

“Albert Einstein is an asset, the biggest brand name in the world for intelligence, science and genius,” Israel’s alternate prime minister, Naftali Bennett, said, adding that he expects the museum to become “a pilgrimage site for anyone who wants to become familiar with Einstein, Jewish intelli gence, and intelligence in general.”

A third of the funding for the museum will come from the Israeli government and the rest from the uni versity and its donors, including art collector Jose Mugrabi.

Einstein was one of the earliest and

most import ant champions of Hebrew University, using his pro file as one of the world’s leading scien tists to raise money for the institution. At a fundraising conference in 1954, a year before his death, he said in a speech that the uni versity would be critical to Israel’s trajec tory as a young country.

“Israel is the only place on earth where Jews have the possibility to shape public life according to their traditional ideals,” Einstein said. “We are all greatly concerned that its final shape will be worthy and gratifying. To what extent this goal will be reached will depend significantly on the growth and devel opment of the Hebrew University.”

His support for the university and for Israel was so deeply appreciated that Einstein was asked to become the coun try’s president in 1952, but he declined.

After Einstein died in 1955, the Hebrew University inher ited his papers, letters, medals, and “all other literary prop erty and rights, of any and every kind or nature whatsoever,” per Einstein’s will.

The announce ment of the Albert Einstein museum adds to a spate of new and planned museums and other cultural institutions in recent years in Israel, which are being funded to a large extent by philan thropic dollars from Jews living in the United States.

In Jerusalem, it will join the new Museum of Tolerance and the nearly completed new home of the National Library of Israel. Meanwhile, Tel Aviv has seen a recent $100 million renova tion that created the ANU Museum of the Jewish People, as well as the open ing of the Israel Innovation Museum at the Peres Center for Peace and the Steinhardt Museum of Natural History.

jewishnewsva.org

Published 20 times a year by United Jewish Federation of Tidewater.

Reba and Sam Sandler Family Campus of the Tidewater Jewish Community 5000 Corporate Woods Drive, Suite 200 Virginia Beach, Virginia 23462-4370 voice 757-965-6100 • fax 757-965-6102 email news@ujft.org

Terri Denison, Editor Germaine Clair, Art Director Sandy Goldberg, Account Executive Debbie Burke, Copywriter Marilyn Cerase, Subscription Manager Reba Karp, Editor Emeritus

United Jewish Federation of Tidewater Laura G. Gross, President Alvin Wall, Treasurer Mona Flax, Secretary Betty Ann Levin, Executive Vice President

JewishVA.org

The appearance of advertising in the Jewish News does not constitute a kashrut, political, product or service endorsement. The articles and letters appearing herein are not necessarily the opinion of this newspaper.

©2022 Jewish News. All rights reserved.

Subscription: $18 per year For subscription or change of address, call 757-965-6128 or email mcerase@ujft.org.

Upcoming Deadlines for Editorial and

Nov. 14 Hanukkah/Holidays Oct. 21 Dec. 5 Holidays/Mazel Tov Nov. 13 Dec. 19 Year End/Education Dec. 2 Jan. 23 Foodie/Romance Jan. 6 Feb. 6 Invest/Retire Jan. 20 Feb. 20 Mazel Tov Feb. 3 March 6 Camp Feb. 17 March 20 Psssover March 3

“Now,

Friday, November 4/10 Chehvan Light candles at 5:47 pm

Friday, November 11/17 Chehvan Light candles at 4:40 pm

Friday, November 18/24 Chehvan Light candles at 4:36 pm

Friday, November 25/1 Kislev Light candles at 4:32 pm

Friday, December 2/8 Kislev Light candles at 4:31 pm

Friday, December 9/15 Kislev Light candles at 4:31 pm

JewishNewsVA

Albert Einstein in 1921.

BRIEFS

AFTER UN REPORT, BIDEN ADMINISTRATION REJECTS ANNEXATION COMPARISONS BETWEEN RUSSIA AND ISRAEL

The Biden administration rejected compar isons between Russia’s annexation of parts of Ukraine and Israel’s occupation of the West Bank.

“We categorically reject the blanket comparison between [Israel’s occupation and] the actions of the Kremlin—Russia in this case—that has launched and waged a brutal war of aggression against another sovereign state, a sovereign state that posed and poses no threat whatsoever to the Kremlin, a military campaign… whose toll can be measured in thousands upon thou sands of lives lost,” Ned Price, the State Department spokesman, said.

Price was reacting to a reporter’s ques tion prompted by a statement by Navi Pillay, the chairwoman of a United Nations Commission of Inquiry into Israel’s activi ties in the West Bank.

The COI report concluded that Israel’s 55-year-old occupation of the West Bank had become so entrenched it was now de facto annexation. Pillay, in the statement attached to the release of the report, said that the U.N. General Assembly’s recent condemnation of Russia for annexing four areas of Ukraine would be rendered mean ingless if the United Nations did not adopt her commission’s report.

“Recent statements by the SecretaryGeneral and numerous member States have clearly indicated that any attempt at unilat eral annexation of a State’s territory by another State is a violation of international law and is null and void; 143 member States including Israel last week voted in favor of a General Assembly resolution reaffirming this,” she said in the release. “Unless universally applied, including to the situation in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, this core principle of the United Nations Charter will become meaningless.”

In a press briefing, Price enumerated the differences the Biden administration saw between the Israel and Russia situa tions, among them that Russia faced no threat from Ukraine prior to launching its war against the country, and that the West Bank is not Palestinian sovereign territory.

He said that Israel should not be

immune from criticism and that the Biden administration remains committed to a two-state outcome to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. But he added that the United Nations frequently unfairly singles out Israel for criticism.

“No country is or should be immune from criticism. That, of course, includes Israel,” he said. “Some of the criticism that we’ve heard—and we’ve, of course, offered our own over the course of recent months— is justified. Much of it is not.” (JTA)

BEN BERNANKE, FORMER FED CHAIR, SHARES ECONOMICS NOBEL FOR RESEARCH ON BANKS AND CRISIS

Ben Bernanke, the Jewish former chair man of the Federal Reserve, shared the Nobel Prize for Economics with two other scholars for their work in examining how banks function in economic crises.

Bernanke was recognized for an influ ential 1983 paper, written when he was a professor at Stanford University that exam ined the Depression era to show how runs on banks during economic uncertainty tend to exacerbate and broaden a crisis. His theories helped inform his handling of the 2008 economic crisis and the bailout of major financial institutions at the time.

Sharing the prize for their separate research into bank collapse were two American scholars, Douglas Diamond and Philip Dybvig.

Bernanke, 68, was chairman of the Fed from 2006 to 2014, and was one of at least five Jewish chairmen of the body, which is the United States’ central banking system. His predecessor, Alan Greenspan, was Jewish, as was his successor, Janet Yellen.

The Associated Press quoted Bernanke as saying that he and his wife turned off their cell phones on Sunday, October 9 in the evening, and so did not know about winning the prize until Monday when their daughter called and relayed the news. The Nobel academies generally inform laureates the evening before the official announcement. It’s not clear why the Bernankes had shut off their phones, but Bernanke, whose middle name is Shalom, is known to observe Jewish holidays, and Sunday was the first night of Sukkot.

Bernanke grew up in Dillon, South Carolina (where a highway interchange is

named for him), and in his autobiography wrote how he encountered antisemitism growing up—classmates asked him if he had horns—but that saw that Blacks had it much harder. His family was among the few Jewish families in town and hosted rabbinical students who traveled from New York City to lead services. (JTA)

GOP GROUPS QUIET ON PENNSYLVANIA GOVERNOR RACE AFTER MASTRIANO ADVISER QUESTIONS IF JOSH SHAPIRO IS JEWISH

The Republican Jewish Coalition and the Republican Governor’s Association are among the GOP groups that have declined to comment on statements by Jenna Ellis, a top adviser for Pennsylvania’s Republican nominee for governor Doug Mastriano, after Ellis appeared to question the Jewishness of Mastriano’s opponent Josh Shapiro.

Ellis was previously a lawyer for Donald Trump who is best known for promoting the former president’s lie that he won the 2020 election. On Friday, Oct. 21, she called The Washington Post “disingenuous” for a headline that said Shapiro “emphasizes [his] Jewish faith” in his campaign.

Shapiro, who keeps kosher and has referenced Shabbat in campaign ads, says that his faith is central to his mission. “My Scripture teaches me that no one is required to complete the task. But nei ther are we free to refrain from it,” The Washington Post quoted him as saying on the campaign trail.

“Josh Shapiro is at best a secular Jew in the same way Joe Biden is a secular Catholic,” Ellis, who is not Jewish, said in a tweet. “Both are extremists for gender tran sition surgeries on minors and no limits on abortion. Doug Mastriano is for wholesome family values and freedom.”

Responding to pushback, Ellis said she was “criticizing a candidate’s policy views for being contrary to their pro fessed faith,” arguing that it is “contrary to Jewish, Catholic, & Christian faiths to be pro-choice.”

Mastriano had previously angered Jewish groups, including the RJC, for his associations with Gab, a social media site favored by extremists, including the man who massacred 11 Jews in Pittsburgh in 2018, and whose founder, Andrew Torba, is openly antisemitic. He paid Gab $5,000

for consulting fees.

After his Gab ties were revealed, Mastriano said he rejected “antisemitism in any form,” but did not refer to Gab or Torba. He also accepted a $500 donation to his campaign from Torba.

Mastriano has attacked Shapiro for sending his children to a private Jewish school, saying it showed Shapiro has “dis dain” for “people like us,” without noting that the school was Jewish.

Outlooks on abortion differ among Jewish denominations, but each includes allowances for abortion. In many cases, these allowances are at odds with the state laws banning abortion in the wake of the Supreme Court’s reversal this summer of Roe v. Wade, a 1973 ruling enshrining a right to an abortion. (JTA)

COMEDIAN WHO WENT VIRAL AFTER HAVING BEER THROWN AT HER MAKES A VERY JEWISH TV DEBUT ON JIMMY KIMMEL LIVE

Several weeks ago, Ariel Elias, then a lit tle-known standup comedian performing at a club in New Jersey, had a beer thrown at her head from a group of Trumpsupporting hecklers who discovered she voted for Joe Biden. After the beer smashed against the brick wall behind her, she picked up the splattered can and chugged its remaining contents.

It made for a very viral video and caught the attention of comedians from Whitney Cummings to Jimmy Kimmel, prompting the latter to invite her onto his late-night talk show.

On Monday, Oct. 24, Elias appeared on Jimmy Kimmel Live, making her TV debut— and delivered an extremely Jewish set.

“I’m Jewish and from Kentucky,” she said to applause. “That’s an insane origin story.”

Elias focused on what it was like grow ing up as a Jewish kid in the South, such as the way people pronounced her name (like “Earl”) and how classmates told her she was going to hell “from a place of love.” She also recalled a story from high school when her parents, who had moved to Kentucky from New Jersey, sat her down to tell her that they didn’t care if she was gay—they just wanted her to date someone Jewish.

“As long as they’re Jewish? We live in Kentucky. The choices are my dad or my brother, that’s it,” she said. (JTA)

Forever Helping Others

ANTISEMITISM

Adidas breaks ties with Kanye West amid mounting pressure over his antisemitic comments

(JTA)—The athletic wear company Adidas is ending its relationship with Kanye West, days after the rapper boasted that he could “literally say antisemitic s— and they cannot drop me.”

The brand had faced growing criti cism of its continued relationship with West, who is known as Ye, as other brands affiliated with West broke ties with him. Adidas reportedly brings in $2 billion a year through its Yeezy brand, accounting for about 10% of the compa ny’s revenue.

Sarah Camhi, a director of trade mar keting, wrote on LinkedIn on Monday, Oct. 24. “Not saying anything, is saying everything.”

The brand had announced weeks ago that it was putting its West ties “under

Architect Bernard Spigel died in 1968, leaving a legacy of homes, schools, and other buildings he designed.

Today, Spigel Scholars are designing buildings of their own.

A scholarship that Bernard’s daughter, LucySpigel Herman, created at the community foundation to honor him helps future architects pay for their education.

Now, the brand will stop making Yeezy products and stop all payments to West and his companies, Adidas announced in a statement on Tuesday, Oct. 25. The company said it expected to lose up to $250 million in revenue in the next three months, in part because of the onset of the holiday season.

“Adidas does not tolerate antisemi tism and any other sort of hate speech. Ye’s recent comments and actions have been unacceptable, hateful and danger ous, and they violate the company’s values of diversity and inclusion, mutual respect and fairness,” the company said in the statement. “After a thorough review, the company has taken the deci sion to terminate the partnership with Ye immediately.”

The decision came shortly after a U.S.-based marketing executive at the German company criticized her employer for not acting in response to the antisem itism espoused by West, who vowed on social media to “go death con 3 on Jewish people” earlier this month. It was the latest in mounting public pressure on the company, whose founders were Nazis and which produced weapons for the Nazis during World War II.

“As a member of the Jewish com munity, I can no longer stay silent on behalf of the brand that employs me,”

review” but had said nothing publicly since. Pressure increased after West seemed to revel in his imperviousness on the podcast.

A number of other major brands have cut ties with West since his original post ing and in the wake of subsequent tirades against Jews. Twitter and Instagram shut down his accounts. The fashion tas temakers Balenciaga and Vogue have announced they will no longer be work ing with him. Hollywood talent giant CAA has dropped him, and a planned documentary about him has been

scrapped. His ex-wife and the mother of their children, the major influencer Kim Kardashian, took to social media to condemn antisemitism, albeit without naming West,

Neo-Nazi groups used West’s words to go after Jews, unveiling an antisemitic billboard in Los Angeles that was con demned by the White House Monday, Oct. 24.

Camhi wrote that Adidas had not addressed West’s antisemitism internally to employees either.

“We have dropped adidas athletes for using steroids and being difficult to work with but are unwilling to denounce hate speech, the perpetuation of dangerous stereotypes and blatant racism by one of our top brand partners,” she wrote. “We need to do better as a brand. We need to do better for our employees and we need to do better for our communities. Until adidas takes a stand, I will not stand with adidas.”

Camhi, whose LinkedIn account says she has worked at Adidas since June 2019, did not immediately respond to a request for comment from the Jewish Telegraphic Agency.

Adidas said in its announcement that it expected the decision to result in a short-term loss for the company, which has already been struggling. It also said that it retains ownership over past designs in the Yeezy line and would share more in a call with company stake holders next month.

Find

Philissa Cramer

“As a member of the Jewish community,

I can no longer stay silent on behalf of the brand that employs me. Not saying anything, is saying everything.”

D’var Torah: Veterans and the Torah of Lot and his daughters

With Veterans Day coinciding with Erev Shabbat for Parashat Vayera (Genesis 18-22), I wanted to share a word of Torah (d’var Torah) that bridges the two events. Parashat Vayera is, after all, full of passages that capture the imagination and ignite the Jewish soul!

Any Bar/Bat Mitzvah student would kill for this kind of subject matter: Abraham welcomes in Angels, the destruc tion of Sodom and Gomorrah, Isaac and Ishmael, and the Binding of Isaac. The portion is rich with material that calls out, “Darsheini! Preach about me!”

But deep in the dark crevices of the chapters, in parts that we don’t talk about in Hebrew School or from the pulpit, is a section that almost begs us to not look at it. Even the characters involved don’t want you to look at them. Beginning in Genesis 19:31, Lot and his daughters—the lone survivors of the destruction of Sodom— move into a cave.

The course of human history is a pro cess of moving out of the caves. When people choose to live in caves, it should prompt us to ask why. The Torah provides a rationale: Fear. For fear of what might happen in the next town that they settle in, they move away from everyone and everything.

Fear in the daughters drives the subse quent events; in a jarring biblical passage, the daughters of Lot conspire to intoxicate their father and rape him. Fearing that all the earth has been destroyed as town after town is buried in fire and brimstone, they impregnate themselves with their father’s seed (You can see why the story is left out of most Hebrew School classes).

Lot and his daughters are hard to appreciate; their actions defy the moral ity expected from the same Torah, which is simultaneously introducing us to Abraham! These people are not Abrahamic.

But we need them. The Torah is tell ing us that Lot and his daughters are an essential part of our greater narrative.

They carry a story that is part of our religious experience. They tell the story of the few who have left their home only to return and not recognize it anymore. This Veterans Day, I hope you can see them as I do: broken spirits who stumble over themselves to be whole.

In Odysseus in America: Combat Trauma and Trials of Homecoming (2002), Jonathan Shay follows up  Achilles in Vietnam by looking not at the battle but the after ward: the long—and sometimes painful —journey home to a foreign land. Shay

worked with combat Veterans with PTSD at the VA Hospital in Boston to address the psychological devastation of warfare. In describing Moral Injury, he located an acutely spiritual loss in the stories and traumas of his patients. In  Odysseus, he sees secondary and tertiary trauma around every corner as the combat Veteran with PTSD desperate plods homeward.

As stand-ins for combat Veterans, Lot and his daughters would be outstanding models for Shay (minus the traditional combat). Like many combat Vets with PTSD they show signs of survivors guilt: why were we saved? Were we really different? In the case of Lot, he crossed some significant moral lines that we like to believe nobody should ever cross in his exit of Sodom. This squad witnessed unspeakable suffering; they intimately know people who died. They feel they should be there.

Shay highlights two experiences of combat Veterans with PTSD returning home that directly relate to this family: “Anyone close to me will be harmed” and “my losses are irretrievable: I have to con tinue from here alone.” You can hear it in the voice of the older sister: “Our father is old, and there is not a man on earth to consort with us in the way of all the world. Come, let us make our father drink wine, and let us lie with him, that we may maintain life through our father.” We have to do this alone.

I highly encourage anyone with family that includes Combat Veterans with PTSD (diagnosed or undiagnosed) to read Jonathan Shay’s books. Book club them or just subtly say, “Hey, you might appreciate this take.” There are outstanding chap ters on Restoration and Prevention that should be beacons of hope for all. There are amazing resources in this Jewish com munity and in the greater community for those struggling with PTSD and second ary traumas associated with PTSD.

But I want to give credit to the Torah portion that doesn’t turn a blind eye to them. It includes Lot and his daughters in

prime narrative space. It welcomes them into the story despite the unspeakable tragedy of their lives. Bluntly: Lot and his daughters show us the enormity of the disaster that we can add to our lives even after the initial trauma. Be it drugs and alcohol, unhealthy relationships, self-de structive actions: getting home—getting to safety—is the hard part. Like our characters, sometimes their actions are incompatible with society. But we keep space for them anyway. They are part of our story.

Our community has Combat Veterans with PTSD. From WWII. From Korea and Vietnam, who especially knew the experience of a cold home-coming. From Iraq and Afghanistan. They are grand parents and parents in this community. They are teachers and doctors and rabbis in this community. They are technicians and blue-collar workers in this com munity. And sometimes, often, they are on the periphery—alone, staring in. We commit as a community to seeing them, to counting them, to hearing their story; we commit to being home.

Rabbi Yonatan M. Warren, BCC Lieutenant Commander U.S. Navy Chaplain Corps

Rabbi Yonatan M. Warren, BCC; Lieutenant Commander; U.S. Navy Chaplain Corps.

Andrew Lapin

(JTA)—Trish Adlesic was visiting her father in Pittsburgh on the day a gunman walked into the city’s Tree of Life synagogue building and murdered 11 people.

Almost immediately, the direc tor started filming her surroundings with the aim of producing a docu mentary about the tragedy, bringing on a Tree of Life congregant, Eric Schuman, as an editor and producer. Drawing on her own experiences conducting “trauma-in formed” interviews, Adlesic reached out to survivors hoping to create “a platform for them to speak out, to speak about their loved ones, to honor them, to pay tribute, [and] to try to find a way to unite us.”

The resulting documentary, A Tree of Life, premiered on HBO on Wednesday, Oct. 26, four years to the day after the attack—and during a week when atten tion in the United States once again turned to antisemitism, following com ments by the rapper Kanye West that have been embraced by white supremacists.

Adlesic told the Jewish Telegraphic Agency she hopes the timing of the film “only reinforces the urgency for the con versation that needs to be had, and the intervention that needs to be had.” She’s had support from several big names: per formers Michael Keaton and Billy Porter and Jewish entrepreneur Mark Cuban, all of whom grew up in Pittsburgh, have all signed on as producers, while Jewish Broadway star Idina Menzel wrote and performed an original song for the film.

The movie was in a large sense shaped by what the survivors themselves wanted. Adlesic, whose previous documentary I Am Evidence interviewed rape victims about rape kit backlogs, took her approach to her subjects’ trauma seriously, relocat ing to Pittsburgh to make herself more readily available to them whenever they felt like talking.

Working with survivor and Congregation Beth Shalom staffer Audrey

Glickman (who blows a shofar in front of the building in the film’s opening sequence), Adlesic allowed subjects to shape the direction of their interviews. They wound up touching on a wide range of topics related to the shooting, from their own Jewish faith to gun legisla tion to a minute-by-minute recounting of the attack itself—all of these topics, and more, are touched on in the film.

“A harrowing, horrific attack like this brings many different thoughts about what the full repercussions are,” Adlesic says.

In an unusual move, the filmmakers also allowed their subjects to provide feedback on early cuts of the film. “My film team was like, ‘Trish?’” Adlesic recalls. “I said, ‘No, we can’t have it both ways.’ You can’t just take, you know? You also have to give. And part of that has to be within their comfort, and what they want the world to know.”

One of the strangest sequences in the film unfolds about an hour out side of Pittsburgh, where a non-Jewish couple operates a gun shop out of a restored former synagogue—complete with stained-glass windows and a Star of David chandelier.

Adlesic declines to share where the gun shop is located, saying only it was in “an old steel town” and that the shop had opened for business prior to the Tree of Life shooting. She went to interview the owner after learning about the shop from a Pittsburgh Jew in the aftermath of the shooting, and found the existence of the shop itself to be an example of “atrocious insensitivity.”

After interviewing one of the owners for the film, she attempted to convince them to let her pay to remove the Jewish signifiers (“Pittsburgh is known for its bridges and I wanted to make a scene where I thought we could create a bridge with him”), but they turned down her offer.

She hopes to ultimately raise enough money to buy the property and turn it into a museum—one of many ways the film makers hope to turn their documentary into a tool to fight different kinds of hate. (An anti-hate initiative for schools is also in the works.)

Adlesic doesn’t share information about her own Jewish background, saying she saw herself as a “conduit” and prefers the focus of the film’s coverage be on the survivors. (She has said elsewhere that her father was Jewish, and that her grandfa ther-in-law helped bring Jews to New York when the Nazis first came to power.) But she doesn’t see the Tree of Life shooting as solely a Jewish tragedy.

“I think it started out as a Jewish story, became a Pittsburgh story, and now it’s a universal story,” she says.

HBO’s documentary on the Tree of Life synagogue shooting arrives as the nation’s eyes are back on anti-Semitism

Where does Rishi Sunak, new UK prime minister, stand on Israel and Jewish issues?

Cnaan Liphshiz

(JTA)—The past few years have been tumultuous at 10 Downing St., the res idence of the British prime minister in London. Thursday, Oct. 20, Liz Truss, who lasted just over six weeks in the role, became the third prime minister to resign since 2019.

But the succession of Conservative Party leaders has kept some things steady: they have all had strong ties with mainstream British Jewry and pro fessed a right-leaning foreign policy that is staunchly pro-Israel and hawkish on its enemies in the region.

Rishi Sunak, a former treasury secre tary and the United Kingdom’s first-ever person of color to assume the role when he was elected by his party on Monday, Oct. 24, continues that trend.

In fact, Sunak has shown a willing ness to discuss moving Britain’s Israeli embassy to Jerusalem—a move that has historically been shunned across the U.K.’s political spectrum, including by Conservatives.

Speaking at a Conservative Friends of Israel event in August, he said there is a “very strong case” for the move, which would imply the U.K.’s recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital. Although former President Donald Trump’s admin istration moved the U.S. embassy to Jerusalem and inspired other countries to follow suit, much of the international foreign policy establishment argues that the shift disrupts the Israeli-Palestinian peace process and hinders the eventual ity of a Palestinian state.

Sunak admitted that he would face strong opposition to an embassy move from within and beyond his own party. After Truss’ economic policies worsened an already ballooning inflation crisis, Sunak will likely first look to tackle domestic concerns in the early part of his tenure.

Sunak seems to belong to a new generation of Conservative Party leaders

who have shown themselves willing to diverge with the decades-long pol icies of the kingdom’s foreign office, which is widely perceived to favor keep ing Israel at arm’s length not to anger the Arab world. Prince William ended what was perceived as a decades-long unofficial boycott on official visits to Israel by senior members of the British Royal House in 2018. The government of Theresa May, predecessor to Boris Johnson, had a central role in facilitat ing the visit.

In an interview in August with the Jewish Chronicle of London , Sunak a former hedge fund manager—who has amassed with his wife (daughter of the founder of Infosys, an Indian IT giant) a fortune of hundreds of millions of dollars—rejected claims that Israel is an apartheid state, as several human rights groups have called it in recent years.

“The apartheid claim is not only factually incorrect but quite frankly offensive. Like any nation, Israel is not perfect—but it is a vibrant multi-ethnic democracy with a free press and the rule of law. It stands as a shining beacon of hope in a region of autocracies and reli gious extremists,” Sunak said.

Sunak’s family has firsthand knowl edge of colonialism in Africa. He was born in Southampton, a city situated about 70 miles southwest of London, but his father, a physician, was born in Kenya, and his mother, a pharmacist, was born in Tanzania. East Africa was formerly home to a robust minority of ethnic Indians, Pakistanis, and other Southeast Asians who settled there when those countries were part of the British Empire, which also comprised their ancestral lands in Asia. Sunak’s parents moved to Southampton, which has a sizable South Asian minority, in the 1960s.

The Abraham Accords, which since 2020 has established diplomatic relations between Israel, the United Arab Emirates, Morocco, and Bahrain,

“proved that peace between Israel and her Arab neighbors is possible,” and have “demonstrated the tremendous benefits that normalization brings,” Sunak told the Chronicle. Britain, he added, “is in a strong position to lever age its historic relationships with other Gulf states to widen the Accords and I would like to see U.K. diplomats place a greater focus on this.”

At home, Sunak has supported plans to erect a large Holocaust museum near the parliament building in London. He has also expressed concerns over antisemitism and voiced his support for funding Jewish community security groups.

Sunak, who is Hindu, is addition ally the first non-Christian in the PM role—taking into account that Benjamin Disraeli, who served two prime minister terms in the 19th century, converted from Judaism to Anglicanism as a child with his family. Sunak’s ascendance has been widely celebrated in India.

Sunak’s election has “enormous importance to Jews who can see someone from a minority, who has reli gious observance, as prime minister,” Jonathan Sacerdoti, a British journalist who writes regularly on antisemitism, told Jewish Insider

“There are familiarities between the two faiths that those two faith groups will recognize, and it is encouraging to the Jewish community that he will have appreciation of what it is to grow up in Britain as a Briton but with an identity of part of a minority religious and ethnic group,” he said.

Rishi Sunak.

Sunak has supported plans to erect a large Holocaust museum near the parliament building in London. He has also expressed concerns over antisemitism and voiced his support for funding Jewish community security groups.

CAMP

Flagler

conclusive,

liking.

maybe not

“do-over” was obvious and agreed upon, while other times merely uttering the phrase could devolve into a conflict.

a “do-over” shifted the focus of the activity to the immediate present. What occurred before was forgotten and the concerns shifted to solving the prob lem. It was only later, after the game, that the children would pack up, head home, and think about what they could have done better.

The opportunity for a “do-over” and reflection is for everybody, not just for children. Aside from any potential regret

the initial occurrence, there is no telling when or if a similar situa tion might take place again. Have we gained enough wisdom from previous experiences? What similarities between past and current situations can help us improve? How have we grown since the first “do-over,” and what can we see and do differently this time?

The opportunity for a “do-over” is overwhelmingly positive, giving individ uals and groups the chance to build upon previous actions or reflect on growing and doing better.

At Camp JCC, the staff encourages campers to step back and try again, to be a good friend, to get better at new skills, and to reflect on how they can grow as the summer days continue.

By virtue of being a seasonal program, Camp JCC is afforded the chance to have

a “do-over” every year. During the autumn months, the camp team asks them selves what went well and what they can improve upon when preparing for the next summer. Some of the “do-overs” are routine annual tasks, others are program or efficiency enhancements, and still others come after reflecting as a team and strategizing ways to strengthen the Camp JCC program.

This period of evaluation and reflec tion facilitates a much larger “do-over,” the first day of summer camp. Every summer at Camp JCC is an opportu nity for “do-overs” of fun with friends,

new experiences, and for per sonal growth for campers, camp families, and staff. Having the time to reflect upon the journey, plan for the future, and strengthen the com munity through Camp JCC is a yearlong process and an incredible opportunity that Camp leadership looks forward to year after year.

To learn more about Camp JCC or to hear about year-round opportunities for teens in the community, contact Dave Flagler, director of Camp and Teen Engagement, at DFlagler@UJFT.org or 757-452-3182.

Federation women welcome a new perspective on community building

Amy Zelenka

What do you get when you put a truly special Israeli artist in front of a room full of amazing Jewish women leaders? A thoughtful discussion on the “art” of community building. Such was the case at the recent United Jewish Federation of Tidewater’s Women’s LionTikva-Chai Lunch held at the Sandler Family Campus.

Barbara Dudley, Women’s Cabinet chair, opened the lunch with a welcome and campaign update. Mona Flax, imme diate past Cabinet chair, then recognized the community’s newest milestone givers in the women’s division and called the names of the community’s beloved endowed Lions, of blessed memory (a treasured moment each year during this

event).

Following Flax, Janet Mercadante, Honorary Cabinet member (and a past chair), introduced the guest speaker, Israeli artist Shony Rivnay. In a mod erated discussion, Mercadante asked Rivnay several questions about his work, his inspiration, his method, and his mes sage. She also asked if the March Mission group from Tidewater might visit him at his Tel Aviv studio while there! His answer: “Yes, please come. I have a large studio and a lot of good wine!”

Mercadante engaged Rivnay in a series of questions, which allowed him to talk about his background and what first inspired him to become an artist—such as watching his father, an entomologist, study insects under a microscope and then draw sketches of what he observed.

“These were in the days before digi tal photography and microscopes which could take pictures for you,” he reminded the audience.

“I was always creative,” Rivnay told the audience. “But watching my father sketch pictures of magnified insects was fascinating to me, and it must have stayed with me for years,” he said. “I think the images and happy memory of

sharing that time with my father were what turned me in the direction of art as a career after my army service.”

Rivnay began his career in print advertising and moved to New York City for several years where he worked on Madison Avenue. He and his wife were at that time young parents, and they ultimately decided to return to Israel while their children were still young. Rivnay describes success as an artist in the United States as the ultimate achieve ment—a dream shared by many Israeli artists, he said.

Rivnay described some insights into his method and how he has progressed as an artist over time, allowing that aging has played a significant role in his work. In response to Mercadante’s question asking him what he is trying to say with his work (noting that the Jewish people generally have storytelling in their DNA), Rivnay replied that the collection currently on exhibit in the Leon Family Gallery (upstairs at the Sandler Family Campus) was a “NO STORY” collection. It was not intended to tell a story at all, but rather to ask the viewer to write his or her own “story” from what they perceive. “Art,” he said, “is not made on the canvas. It is made by the viewer, where the image meets the eye.”

When asked what he hoped his art would do for those who see it, Rivnay responded that he hoped it would ultimately bring people together across artificial bound aries and result in a better world. It was remarkable how close his goals were to those of UJFT: to build and

strengthen community at home and ulti mately to perpetuate Jewish Peoplehood. Rivnay’s collection is on display in the Leon Family Gallery through midNovember. It is free and open to all. For more details, visit jewishva.org/ leon-gallery.

To learn more about or to become a mile stone giver in the Women’s Division, contact Amy Zelenka, UJFT chief development offi cer, at 757-965-6139 or azelenka@ujft.org.

Photography by Mark Robbins.

Shony Rivnay, Israeli artist and featured speaker.

Barbara Dudley.

Standing: Martha Glasser, Alicia Friedman, Betty Berklee, Betty Ann Levin, Jodi Klebanoff; seated; Kristy Foleck and Rachel Abrams.

Betsy Karotkin, Thelma Oser, and Cindy Kramer.

Judy Rosenblatt, Susan Alper, Barbara Dudley, and Ellen Hundley.

Paula Blachman, Sandy Sher, Marcia Moss, Susan Eilberg, and Joan London.

Laura Miller and Susan Cohen.

Stacie Neuman and Deb Aleck.

Judy Rosenblatt, Amy Levy, and Karen Lombart.

Kim Simon Fink, Lynn Schoenbaum, Naomi Limor Sedek,Stephanie Calliott, Betty Ann Levin, Laura Gross, Mona Flax, and Leora Drory.

Business in the Jewish Community

Dear Readers, My

first full-time job as an editor was with Tidewater Virginian, a business magazine published by the area Chambers of Commerce. There, I was introduced to the complex world of business and its many facets and stories—so many stories.

Like those multiple story subjects I was introduced to at Tidewater Virginian, this section contains articles on diverse topics. Not surprising, when covering business in the Jewish community, there seems to be no shortage of topics.

Gilbert Eyecare is our first profile. Established more than 50 years ago, David Gilbert clearly sees the family business side of vision. His interview begins on page 17. The Hyatt in Virginia Beach (page 22) and Cohen Investment Group (page 19) are also profiled.

“Quiet quitting” is a phrase that seems to be everywhere—emerging out of nowhere just a few months ago. Andrew Silow-Caroll offers his opinion on the concept, suggesting that the trend might even sound Jewish. Hear him out on page 24.

What’s business without a disagreement or two? On page 20, Brian Waigner of Kaleo

Legal offers suggestions for avoiding corporate litigation, while an article on page 26 highlights what happens when business feuds lead to lawsuits. This time, it’s a battle between two bagel shops in Columbus, Ohio. Oy.

The article, My father’s lesson: Jews must value labor, is written by a rabbi about her late father,

It’s

Seeing the business side of vision: Gilbert Eyecare

Debbie Burke

Gilbert Eyecare has been operating for more than 50 years and calls itself “your Hampton Roads designer eyewear headquarters.”

A family-run business with locations in Virginia Beach and Norfolk, each offer medical offices and a retail eyewear center under one roof.

Jewish News asked owner Dr. David Gilbert what they’re all about and how they’ve weathered the storms that busi ness owners have recently experienced.

Jewish News: What is your educational background and why did you get into this specialty?

David Gilbert: I spent my youth look ing up to my father, Mark Gilbert, as he opened and ran what started as the retail component of Gilbert Eyecare as a licensed optician 50+ years ago in 1971.

Seth Gilbert, my uncle, joined his brother in 1978, strengthening the family ties to eye care. Seth is still very much a part of Gilbert Eyecare’s daily functions today. It’s safe to say eye care runs in the family.

I grew up in Virginia Beach, attending First Colonial High School and my under grad at VCU. I attended optometry school

at NOVA Southeastern University College of Optometry in Davie, Fla.

When it came time to choose my direc tion in life, the clinical aspect of optometry naturally appealed to me; becoming an optometrist was a no-brainer. As an optom etrist, I’ve been able to continue to carry on my father’s values of excellent customer service and outstanding patient care.

I specialize in the management of patients with multiple eye diseases such as glaucoma, dry eyes, cataracts, macular degeneration, and much more.

While attending optometry school, I met Deena Falsetta, who later became Dr. Deena Falsetta-Gilbert. After optom etry school, Deena completed a residency in pediatrics and development optome try. This specialized training allows her to work with children as young as six months and as old as 105. Deena is the one to see for anyone who struggles with double vision and learning/developed delays (poor school performance).

I have my practice set up so when we schedule patients, I have extra time to allow me to review the findings and explain in detail all aspects of my patients’ eyes.

Gilbert Eyecare expanded once more when I brought in the talent of Dr. Rachel

Willcox in 2020. In one of the most challenging years of history, she came on board and has excelled in providing superb primary eyecare.

JN: Why did you decide to add a retail side with frames and lenses?

DG: We are constantly looking for a frame line that offers a great mix of fashion-for ward looks, high quality, and good value. We send our buyers across the country and to Europe on a regular basis looking for the world’s best eyewear. To help in providing a look that is unique to our patients/clients is one of the coolest things to be a part of.

JN: What are the trends in medicine that have resulted in you offering additional goods and services?

DG: Eye care is constantly evolving with new technologies and techniques. Gilbert Eyecare providers and staff strive to be on top of the latest and greatest. Over the last five years, GEC has invested more than $250,000 in upgraded technology, allowing us to offer a state-of-the-art eye exam experience.

JN: Are patients more informed today?

DG: Absolutely! People are taking better care of themselves, there’s the internet, and people talk about their experiences more than ever. We specialize in taking all that information and packaging it together for our patients so that they can take all of what they have learned and see how it applies to their ocular health.

JN: Are there new medical and vision issues you are seeing more of than in the past?

DG: As our population ages, we are seeing more patients who struggle with the effects of cataracts (poor night vision and reduced quality of vision). With all of us spending more time on computers, we are seeing a much higher prevalence of dry eyes related to computer use and focusing disorders.

JN: What are some of the tools you use in business?

DG: We pride ourselves as a practice in having the best support team including the front desk, technicians, billing team members, and sales team.

I would do a disservice to our patients if I did not take a moment to talk about our optical staff and processes. The value of shopping for a new pair of glasses with a skilled optical representative is unmea sured because not all glasses are the right glasses depending on the prescription. Our opticians can not only find a pair of new frames that look great on the patient, but also work best with the prescription. Our optical staff takes pride in styling patients in a perfectly paired set of frames so when they walk out of here with their new glasses they are looking and seeing fantastic.

JN: What challenges have you faced as a business and how have you successfully dealt with them?

DG: Navigating through COVID, staffing shortages, an uptick in online purchasing options, and ongoing construction. When COVID hit in 2020, like all businesses, we had to find a way to provide a service in a manner that was safe for all parties in a very abbreviated capacity. We had to suspend staff hours and hoped they would return when things started to return to normal. We lost valuable employees during this time.

Drs.Deena Falsetta-Gilbert and David Gilbert.

When the world started to re-open, people were still scared of COVID-19, and finding staff was an ultimate chal lenge. In addition, patients were turning to the internet more than ever for their

glasses and contact lens purchases. With the ever-growing presence of online ven dors, this continues to be an obstacle even years after the pandemic.

On the flip side of these obstacles, we have really grown to be a solid unit of

staff and doctors with the best patients in the 757! There is no better feeling when a patient comes in and leaves with a smile on their face, a great new pair of glasses, adjusted glasses bought online that now are working beautifully, or a repaired

pair of glasses.

For information, visit gilberteyecare.com.

Gilbert Eyecare in Norfolk.

Gilbert Eyecare in Virginia Beach.

Investment firm earns positive returns on apartments and storage facilities

Cohen Investment Group (CIG) is a

privately owned commercial real estate investment firm specializing in multifamily apartments and self-storage properties.

The firm’s strategy is to identify and acquire well-located real estate assets below replacement cost while engaging the firm’s third-party property managers to improve operational efficiencies. This practice is continuously implemented to increase net operating income in order to

best time a disposition event with opti mal risk-adjusted returns.

Founded in late 2013, Norfolk-based Cohen Investment Group began acquir ing assets in 2014. Since its inception, the company has transacted on almost $1 billion in capital activity, which is acqui sitions and dispositions combined. The company currently owns 68 properties in 13 states across the U.S.

“We work primarily with accredited investors, single and multifamily offices,

ultra-high net worth investors, registered investment advisors, and private equity,” says Hugh Cohen, president.

“Our investment thesis is simple, to acquire investment-grade real estate, ideally below replacement cost in the Southeast, Southwest, Midwest, and Mountain range. We are continuing to underwrite and evaluate properties across the country in an ever-changing economic climate. Our investments are an excellent recessionary hedge and offer diversification from a challenging and fluctuating stock market environment.”

For more information, visit coheninvest mentgrp.com. Hugh Cohen.

AUTO ACCIDENTS

WRONGFUL

Business

BRIAN WAINGER

Soundbite: Corporate litigation today

Debbie Burke

When it comes to corporate litigation, one question looms large: How to stay out of court? There is a simple answer, according to Brian Wainger, principal at Kaleo Legal (Virginia Beach and Richmond): “Do your best to work out your problems amicably without calling one of us!”

Wainger attended the University of Virginia and University of Richmond School of Law and has 25 years of experi ence. Initially a prosecutor, he says that it was “tough to make a career” that way and soon came to the realization that commer cial litigation was a “natural career move for me.”

The most common types of cases under this umbrella in Tidewater are busi ness disputes that companies have with competitors, vendors, employees, etc.

In addition, corporate litigation has definitely felt the effects of the pandemic in ways that might not be immediately apparent through “the effect of COVID on case filings, docket pace, and man agement, and the reliance on alternative dispute resolution methods such as arbi tration,” Wainger says.

According to the American Bar Association, the Lex Machina 2022 Law Firms Report points to other current trends that business owners should be aware of, such as employment and civil rights cases involving the ADA, remote employment, changing government man dates regarding the vaccine, whistleblower retaliation, lack of protective equipment, and product liability, among others.

For more information, visit americanbar.org and search for “2022 litigation trends report.”

My father’s lesson: Jews must value labor even when they become management

Rabbi Rachel Timoner

(JTA)—Last year, when my father was in the last weeks of his life, he told us a story that none of us knew or remembered. In the 1960s, when he was running a regional roofing company in Florida that became a multistate, multimillion-dollar conglomerate, he saw that his unions were weaker because they were racially segregated.

“It didn’t make any sense,” he told us. “These guys would have been stronger if they worked together.”

So, he went to the head of the Black union and then the head of the White union and told them they needed to inte grate. And they did, he said, making his company the first in its industry and in the South with an integrated union.

Some unions were integrated in the late 19th century, so I have no idea if my dad’s story was really a first in his industry. But what I do know is that as a business leader in Miami 60 years ago, my Jewish father was a staunch supporter of labor unions—even though he was management, not labor. Throughout his business career, which included founding an airline in the 1970s, he championed the rights of workers to organize. It was evident to him that the success of his companies was dependent on the suc cess and satisfaction of his workers. This position strengthened his bottom line by creating a loyalty and devotion among his workforce that is rare today. Air Florida employees—from flight attendants to pilots to receptionists—continue to hold reunions where they speak of him with love, and many lit candles and came to his memorial service when he died.

I’m now a rabbi, and I can quote the Mishnah about our obligation to workers, but the truth is that my father was my primary teacher here. My dad taught me that businesses thrive when the dignity of every human being is honored—workers, customers, and shareholders alike. He taught me that there is no contradiction

between being pro-business and prounion. He taught me that our economy and society can be both prosperous and caring. He taught me that standing for the rights of workers is what it means to be a proud Jew.

I thought about my father’s lessons several times last year, especially after labor leader Randi Weingarten in a JTA interview used language to suggest that the modern Jewish community was less likely to support unions than it had in generations past. In response to criticism, Weingarten conceded that she could have expressed her point more artfully, but her essential point stands: that “historically, there was much less equivocation about whether to be pro-union in the Jewish community.”

As we’ve watched Amazon spend huge sums to defeat a union-organizing effort in Alabama, and as we debate the Jewish community’s changing relationship with labor organizing, let’s remember the entire generation of Jewish business leaders, like my father, for whom unions were essential. We often tell the stories of the immigrant generation who were the labor leaders. Their children, many of whom went on to sit on the other side of the negotiating table while valuing labor rights, are also part of the Jewish people’s legacy and identity. Not just mine, but ours.

As I mourn my father, Eli Timoner, “zichrono livracha,” one way to honor his memory is to champion labor organizing efforts as he did, and especially to stand with all front line workers—everyone from teachers to nurses to delivery work ers—all those who keep the world moving even in a pandemic. Another is to hold up his example and the promise it con tains—of businesses that care for people, an economy that values workers, and a society that works for all.

The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not nec essarily reflect the views of JTA or its parent company, 70 Faces Media.

Business

The Hyatt in Virginia Beach: A new property and its cousin in Town Center

Debbie Burke

The former Belvedere Hotel motor lodge at the Virginia Beach ocean front was replaced by the new Hyatt Place Oceanfront beginning two years ago, with the Hyatt opening its doors this past June. Within four days of opening, according to Matthew Krogsund, the hotel’s general manager, occupancy was sold out.

“Being in a seasonal market and on the north end of the strip (from 31st–40th Streets), where it is family-friendly and well-maintained, is great for us,” Krogsund says. “Our guests are first-time travelers as well as staycationers, and we have also seen a revitalization in corporate travel.”

In a post-pandemic climate, he notes, the hospitality realm has been on the upswing. Safety and health are always important to guests, and such protocols continue to be a part of life at the hotel. The Hyatt is a GBAC STAR-accredited facility, an industry standard for healthy environments. “If COVID has taught us anything, it’s flexibility,” says Krogsund. “No trash cans sit unchanged for more than eight hours and extra care is paid to high-contact public areas. And we no longer assume that a guest wants us to enter a room for housekeeping, but when we’ve asked, many guests would like to see their rooms cleaned again.”

In looking to grow its corporate traf fic, the facility now views additional, previously ignored spaces as feasible for meetings. For example, open spaces such as those in the lobby are offered for meeting,

training, and recruitment purposes, as well as the con ference rooms. Many corpo rate guests are “burnt out” on remote travel, he adds, and they are excited to be back to convening face-to-face.

Other guests come from social events such as family and military reunions, wedding lunches and dinners for the wedding party (for groups under 64 indi viduals), and hosting of small events. Still, other guests stay at the Hyatt because of the hotel’s ability to provide blocks of rooms for sports groups such as sand soccer players and those who come to the area for the sportsplex that the city just built, according to Libby Ross, the hotel’s director of sales.

The owners also have the Hyatt Place Virginia Beach Town Center, named #1 Traveler Ranked hotel in Virginia Beach on Trip Advisor for a year and a half.

Brooke Coyner, the sales manager, says, “Virginia Beach is a tourist destina tion, so naturally, occupancy declines after Labor Day. With leisure travel decreasing, we are able to take more sports and tour groups than in the summer. Wedding season also peaks in the fall, so we part ner with local venues nearby to be offered as a ‘preferred vendor’ for their clients’ wedding guests.”

For more informa tion, visit hyatt.com and search “Virginia Beach” or call Hyatt Place Virginia Beach/Oceanfront (757-300-5045) and Hyatt Place Virginia Beach Town Center (757-431-7000).

Ron Spindel

rspindel@spindelagency.com

a member of The Frieden Agency

Jody Balaban jbalaban@spindelagency.com christopherlyon@friedenagency.com

Chr is Lyon

Matthew Krogsund.

Hyatt Place Oceanfront.

New indie production company Leviathan will make Jewish stories for film and TV

Andrew Lapin

(JTA)—A new independent production company aims to “ensure the Jewish tra dition is carried forward” on TV and film, as Jewish stories continue to be a hot property in Hollywood.

Sefaria.

Foer is also one of the people behind a new “Jewish tavern” in the Boston area, which like the projects on Leviathan’s docket, aims to situate Jewish content in a space that is accessible to Jews and nonJews alike.

The company has moved quickly to acquire a number of upcoming projects with Jewish themes, including planned adaptations of Photograph 51, a play by Anna Ziegler about Rosalind Franklin, the British Jewish chemist who played a central role in discovering the molecular structures of DNA, RNA, and viruses; The Secret Chord, a novel by Geraldine Brooks about King David; and The Pledge, a 1970 nonfiction book by Leonard Slater about the U.S.’s role in Israel’s 1948 war for

independence.

“Jewish stories have incredible reso nance because they explore ideas that are universally identifiable,” Cosgrove told Deadline. “Everyone knows what it feels like to be the underdog, the outsider, or the immigrant. Jewish stories tackle these ideas with humor and drama, and people around the world see themselves in our stories.”

The launch of Leviathan Productions comes soon after this summer’s launch of Reboot Studios, a funding initiative for Jewish entertainment that brands itself as “the Sundance Labs of the Jewish world.”

Both projects are concurrent with a notable uptick in Jewish content from major streaming platforms. Netflix is prep ping an American remake of its hit Israeli

import Shtisel, in addition to an upcoming reality show, Jewish Matchmaking, both joining a suite of Jewish-themed programs that include The Club, Heirs To The Land, My Unorthodox Life, 13: The Musical and The Beauty Queen of Jerusalem

In addition, HBO Max is developing content based on Hasidic rapper Nissim Black and the Yiddish folktales of Chelm; Hulu recently acquired the Israeli series Hazarot (Rehearsals); Amazon recently produced Yosi, the Regretful Spy in addi tion to its ongoing hit series The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel; Apple TV+’s Israeli spy series Tehran is on its second season; and two recent European period dramas, Ridley Road on PBS and Paris Police 1900 on MHz, boast strong Jewish themes.

Leviathan Productions will specialize in developing content based on Jewish history, literature, and folk tales, as well as stories about Israel, Deadline reported.

Leviathan is founded by Ben Cosgrove, a film and TV producer whose credits include the Oscar-winning Syriana and the recent Black Christmas remake; and Josh Foer, journalist and co-founder of the adventure travel brand Atlas Obscura, as well as of the online Jewish text repository

incredible

they explore ideas that are universally

OPINION

“Quiet quitting,” the sudden trend in work, sounds sort of…Jewish?

(Hear me out.)

Andrew Silow-Carroll

(JTA)—I hadn’t heard of “quiet quitting” until about 10 minutes ago. Since then every major news outlet has done a story on this purported trend, defined as a movement among office workers to draw firmer work-life boundaries by doing less work. It means closing your laptop at 5 pm when your cubicle-mate is staying late to finish a project. It means turning off notifications on your phone so you can’t check your work emails after hours. It can mean doing the bare minimum and still hanging onto your job.

On a grander scale, it means cooling your hottest ambitions in favor of a saner work-life balance.

Of course, to a certain kind of devotee of the attention economy, this sounds like nothing less than slacking off. “Quiet quitting isn’t just about quitting on a job, it’s a step toward quitting on life,” huffed Arianna Huffington in a LinkedIn post. Fox News host Tomi Lahren said it’s just a euphemism for being “LAZY” (she added an expletive).

I don’t have a dog in this fight, since I am not a “quiet quitter.” (I am more a “person without any hobbies or little kids, who if he closes his laptop at 5 pm doesn’t know what to do with him self.”) But I understand the impulse. Technology and corporate culture con spire to blur the lines between work and office. The demise of unions has shifted the workplace power balance to employ ers. For those who could work at home, the pandemic obliterated the boundaries between on and off hours.

“Quitting” is a terrible way to describe what is really doing your job, no more and no less. It only feels like “quitting” to a culture that demands that you sacrifice private time to your employer or career. This peculiarly American “ethic” shows up, for instance, in vacations: Americans get on average 10 fewer vacation days a

year than Europeans because, unlike the European Union, the United States does not federally mandate paid vacation or holidays.

Just reading a New York Times article about how eight of the 10 largest private U.S. employers are using tracking soft ware to monitor their employees made me feel guilty and anxious—even though I was reading the article as part of my job.

If quiet quitting were actually slack ing, it would run afoul of Jewish law. “Jewish employees are obligated to work at full capacity during their work hours and not to ‘steal time’ from their employers,” writes Rabbi Jill Jacobs in a responsa—legal opinion—called “Work, Workers and the Jewish Owner,” written for the Conservative movement in 2008. And yet this warning aside, Jewish law is much more concerned with employers who take advantage of employees rather than the other way around.

Jacobs—now the executive director of T’ruah, the rabbinic human rights group—describes nine principles of workplace justice in the Torah, and nearly all are addressed to the employer. These include treating workers with “dignity and respect” and paying them a living wage and on time.

“The ideal worker-employer rela tionship should be one of trusted

partnership,” she writes, “in which each party looks out for the well-being of the other, and in which the two parties con sider themselves to be working together for the perfection of the divine world.”

This is not exactly what we now know as the “Protestant work ethic.” The rabbis of the Talmud did not tie hard work and economic success to divine salvation. No doubt, they understand that people need to and should work for a living. “In tra ditional sources, work is often regarded as necessary, and certainly better than idleness (which can lead to sin),” accord ing to a helpful article from My Jewish Learning.

And yet, because the study of Torah is considered the ideal use of one’s time (assuming you are a man, anyway), the rabbis were clearly wary of occupations and ambitions that demanded too much of a worker. In Pirkei Avot, the collection of ethical sayings from the Mishnah, Rabbi Meir says, “Minimize business and engage in Torah.” The rabbis, My Jewish Learning explains, “were clearly wor ried that excessive pursuit of material well-being would distract from higher pursuits.”

The artist Jenny Odell’s 2019 man ifesto about quitting the “attention economy,” “How to Do Nothing,” sim ilarly rejects “a frame of reference in which value is determined by produc tivity, the strength of one’s career, and individual entrepreneurship.”

Easier said than done, however. Her antidote—to “stand apart,” to embrace “solitude, observation, and simple con viviality”—is perhaps more feasible if you are an artist rather than an office worker, let alone a factory worker, home health aide or Amazon warehouse runner. (She spends a lot of time bird watching and retreating to mountain cabins.)

To her credit, Odell quotes Samuel Gompers, the Jewish-British immigrant and labor leader who championed the eight-hour workday as far back as 1886. In an address asking “What Does Labor Want?”, Gompers answered by quoting Psalms: “It wants the earth and the full ness thereof.”

What most people want, I suspect, is simply more control over their time and

mind-space, and to keep work from leak ing into their private lives — and maybe vice-versa. They want to do work that matters, and the private time to decom press, reconnect and take care of stuff.

It’s telling that there is no command ment in Torah to work, but there are plenty to rest. Shabbat is a literal day of rest, but it is also a mindset. It strictly defines profane productivity, in order to carve out space and time for the sacred. This Jewish attitude toward work and rest is not about quitting, but it is about occasional quiet.

The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of JTA or its parent company, 70 Faces Media.

“Quitting” is a terrible way to describe what is really doing your job, no more and no less. It only feels like “quitting” to a culture that demands that you sacrifice private time.

A bitter battle between two bagel shops boils over in Columbus

Andrew Lapin

(JTA)—A feud between two Jewish bagel shop owners in Columbus, Ohio, has spilled out of the oven and into full public view, resulting in a lawsuit and restraining order.

The Columbus Jewish News reports that earlier this month the owner of Block’s Bagels, a local Jewish deli mainstay since 1967, sued former business partner Jeremy Fox, owner of the Fox’s Bagels & Deli chain, after the latter moved to rebrand two shops the parties had been

Local Relationships Matter

operating jointly.

The judge in the case ordered two Fox’s locations to continue purchasing products from Block’s, saying the latter “has met its burden to demonstrate by clear and convincing evidence that it is entitled to a TRO [temporary restrain ing order],” the Columbus Jewish New s reports.

The Fox’s locations, which opened in 2017 and 2020, had been jointly operated and branded as Block’s Bagels shops until earlier this month, when Fox announced on Facebook that all locations would be rebranded under the Fox’s label and that the Block’s shops would be “closed.”

According to the lawsuit, this change—which the Block family said they only learned about from Facebook— also meant that Fox would be sourcing his bagels and other food products from a different supplier, sticking Block’s with $10,000 in nonreturnable perishable goods and violating their supply agree ment in the process. Fox had purchased another local bagel maker, Sammy’s Bagels, earlier this year.

The 10-count suit names more than $800,000 in total damages, including unpaid performance bonuses, equip ment costs, and sales losses.

“Jeremy Fox’s actions as it relates to the Broad Street bagel shop formerly named Block’s Hot Bagels risks the live lihoods of my employees,” Hal Block, the 89-year-old owner of Block’s Bagels, told

purchased a competing bagel production facility “behind our backs” as Block’s son Steven, who had taken over the business from his father, was dying of cancer ear lier this year.

“Originally our license agreement was intended to be a short-term solution,” Fox had told the Columbus Jewish News about the rebranding prior to the lawsuit. “It’s been nearly six years now and it was time for us to go our separate ways.” Fox said the change would give the chain “more freedom to operate and expand our menu to better fit the community and its ever-evolving needs.”

The Block family has long been active in Columbus’ Jewish community. Steven was a board member of Congregation Agudas Achim and the family supports the Columbus Jewish Center, known for donating bagels to various Jewish events. Both Steven Block and Jeremy Fox had their bar mitzvahs at Agudas Achim, according to CJN

“I’m 89 years old,” Block told the CJN “My plans at this stage of my life didn’t include a legal fight to try and obtain what is owed from a business partner who we helped establish and set up for success.”

Columbus isn’t the only place where bagelers have feuded recently. A Jewish deli in Hong Kong was at the center of a social media uproar this summer. And to come full circle, a Hallmark Channel movie this Hanukkah will center around warring Jewish deli owners who fall in

MEET: Jonathan Jacobs, MD, DMD, FACS

Tidewater’s ShinShinim teach and inspire even more people in the area

Israeli artist’s first trip to US in more than three years is to Tidewater

For two months, Aya Sever and Alma Ben Chorin have been in Tidewater as a part of the ShinShinim program. The program is through the Jewish Agency for Israel, one of United Jewish Federation of Tidewater’s Israel and Overseas part ners. Among the many people these young women are meeting with are stu dents at William and Mary’s Hillel and Cape Henry Collegiate.

Three Wednesdays each month, Sever and Chorin join Hillel students to social ize and lead Israel-inspired programs. One recent visit included cooking home made falafel. The ShinShinim understand that social time is just as important as the more formal activities that Ben Chorin and Sever lead. “It was amazing to see that we are really making personal con nections with these college students and we hope that the students are feeling the same way,” says Ben Chorin.

“Each time we go to William and Mary, new students come, and it is so nice to see that they are excited to meet us and learn

more about life in Israel!” says Ben Chorin.

As the Jewish community prepared to enter the holidays of Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur, Sukkot, Simchat Torah, and Shemini Atzeret, Ben Chorin and Sever prepared a presentation for students at Cape Henry Collegiate to teach them about these meaningful days.

“The students asked such interesting questions,” says Sever, “and two of the Jewish students shared how they celebrate the holidays in their own home!”

To learn more about the ShinShinim pro gram or to get involved, visit JewishVA. org/ShinShinim or contact Nofar Trem at NTrem@UJFT.org.

t’s like reuniting with your chil dren,” said artist Shony Rivnay when he visited the Simon Family JCC’s Leon Family Gallery earlier this month.

Rivnay had not seen his paintings in person in more than three years. Rivnay, who works between his two studios in New York and Tel Aviv, was unable to return to his Manhattan studio due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Before their instal lation in the Leon Family Gallery, the paintings were displayed at the Jewish Federation of Cleveland, Ohio.

While in Tidewater, Rivnay spoke about the exhibit at a gallery reception and at an annual luncheon for United Jewish Federation of Tidewater’s women donors.

“I thought it was so interesting the way that Shony’s Jewish and Israeli back ground made its way (consciously or subconsciously), onto his canvasses,” says

Amy Zelenka, UJFT chief development officer. “The vibrant colors, the sense of ingenuity, the thoughtfulness—it was all there. Then to hear him describe his process, and finally, to learn that among his artistic goals were building bridges between people and bringing community together; that really struck a chord with me. We share the same mission!”

Rivnay was also interviewed for WHRO’s Curate series, which explores the arts in Tidewater.

An interdisciplinary Israeli-American artist, Rivnay’s work has been on exhibit in galleries throughout the world. Rivnay’s works will be displayed in the Leon Family Gallery through mid-November.

For more information, contact Hunter Thomas, director of Arts + Ideas at the United Jewish Federation of Tidewater, at HThomas@UJFT.org.

Sierra Lautman

Cooking falafel with William and Mary Hillel students.

Hunter Thomas

“I

Rivnay visits the Leon Family Gallery.

WHAT’S HAPPENING

November’s Book of the Month at the Jewish Book Festival: author Letty Cottin Pogrebin on generational shame Thursday, November 17, 7:30 pm, Sandler Family Campus

Debbie Burke

Shanda: A Memoir of Shame and Secrecy Letty Cottin Pogrebin

Post Hill Press 432 pages, 2022

The 2022–23 Lee and Bernard Jaffe Family Jewish Book Festival continues with author Letty Cottin Pogrebin, who will discuss her book at the Sandler Family Campus.

Pogrebin, the co-founder of Ms. Magazine and author of several other books on feminism, aging, illness, and other topics, was inspired to write her new book after considering family secrets and the question of shame: What is it, why do we feel it, and how do we—maybe more importantly at first, how did our family members—handle it? The latter is a criti cal point because the way we are taught, purposely or by example, how to deal with shame is conveyed to us at a very early age and greatly determines our attitudes into adulthood.

With openness and clarity, Pogrebin discusses family revelations that she came to find out as an adult, like having not one, but two half-sisters, and recalls topics that were quashed or diverted, such as those about a family member’s homosexuality and the traumatic experiences of family Holocaust survivors. The book includes a useful Yiddish glossary.

Jewish News: Of your journey away from and then back into Judaism, how would you say those experiences formed the person you are today in relation to your faith?

Letty Cottin Pogrebin: In 1955, when I was 15, my mother died and my father refused to count me in the minyan (quorum for public prayer) at the shiva. This, despite the fact that I had been Jewishly

well-educated “for a girl,” was a gradu ate of Hebrew high school, attended yeshiva for two years, and had become a bat mitz vah—and despite the fact that the person for whom kaddish was being said was my own mother. He said only men could count for a minyan. That pain ful exclusion when it mattered, made me count myself out of Judaism. I rebelled against all the male gatekeepers of institutions, secu lar and Jewish, that barred or discriminated against women regardless of their abilities, training, or passions. Eventually, feminism became my faith.

JN: What inspired you to write Shanda, and more specifically, how did you reconcile keeping this very personal story private along with the ultimate decision to put it out into the world?

LCP: When I began writing the memoir, I realized that the recurrent theme in my parents’ and relatives’ lives was their fear of the shanda —of shame, disgrace, scandal. In their fervent desire to fit in and become “real Americans,” dozens of my family members (and most of the Ashkenazi immigrant generation) covered up what they perceived to be their imperfections. Maybe it was a mentally challenged cousin, a homosexual nephew, secret divorces, miserable marriages, a hidden illness, reli gious transgression, or political radicalism. I saw the weight of their deceptions, and I wanted to let in the light.

JN: Is the concept of shame useful to us?

LCP: The antidote to bad, soul-corrosive shame is not shamelessness. There’s still a place for useful shame, the kind that

preemptively stops us from doing bad things. The kind we call our conscience.

JN : Despite how different the world is today than at the time of the Ellis Island influx, what similar issues are subsequent genera tions of Americans experiencing today?

LCP: Thanks to social media, we live in an era of hyper-shar ing, but that doesn’t mean we’ve lost the capacity to be ashamed of certain aspects of our lives or to be shamed by others. Instead of fearing the shanda, today we fear cancel culture. It boils down to the same thing. We still care about what others think of us. We don’t want our flaws to be exposed. We don’t want to be judged, ridiculed, or stigmatized.

JN : Your statement “guilt by associa tion is our cross to bear” in discussing Bernie Madoff brings up a natural human response to learning about a disgraceful act by a fellow Jew. How do we allow for our reaction to it and yet not take on or accept collective responsibility for it?

LCP: It’s not surprising that when individ ual Jews are shamed—be it in the eyes of gentiles or the rest of the Jewish commu nity—we feel their ignominy reflects on the rest of us. Disgust and shame are appropri ate. Whether it’s Harvey Weinstein, Jeffrey Epstein, or Bernie Madoff, we cringe. We can’t help asking how could a Jew do such terrible things? As the Talmud says,  Kol Yisrael arevim zeh bazeh, all Jews of Israel are responsible for each other.

JN: As a co-founder of Ms. Magazine and a person who writes about wom en’s roles and perspectives, how does this

book honor the qualities like female pride, empowerment, confidence, and strength?

LCP: Shanda unmasks all the charades the females in my family had to perform in order to be considered “nice Jewish girls” or respectable Jewish women. It recalls the many ways the shanda factor affected my mother, who tried to hide so many things about herself that she thought were inferior or was made to feel ashamed of. It exposes the lies women were forced to tell to survive and many ways they suffered from their own deceptions. To my mind, truth-telling about the past is a feminist corrective for the future.

JN: Alan Alda, a longtime family friend of yours, is quoted as saying here, “It takes a lot of work to hold a secret.” What toll does that take on us?

LCP: As the founder of AA famously said, “You’re only as sick as your secrets.” Our secrets weigh us down. They’re heavy. They’re toxic.

JN: What are your hopes for those who read your book? Is there a single message you can point to that you wish to convey?

LCP: I hope the stories in this book will help readers feel compassion for previous generations’ fear of the shanda, while also motivating readers to lead secret-free lives.

For information about the festival or to sponsor or volunteer, contact Hunter Thomas, director of Arts + Ideas, at htho mas@UJFT.org or 757-965-6137.

Letty Cottin Pogrebin.

Instead of fearing the shanda, today we fear cancel culture.

WHAT’S HAPPENING

Bias

robs individuals of their futures, organizations of talent, science of breakthroughs, and communities of justice.  The End of Bias: A Beginning explores how to reduce the unexamined biases that wreak havoc from educa tion and healthcare to policing and the workplace.

Blending rigorous science and com passionate humanity, author Jessica Nordell illuminates the approaches that measurably change people’s behavior to be more fair and just. Through star tling stories, rich research, and moving reflection, Nordell will offer a hopeful, achievable vision for becoming better people and for creating the world that is needed.

As part of the United Jewish Federation of Tidewater and Simon Family JCC’s Lee and Bernard Jaffe Family Jewish Book Festival, in partnership with UJFT’s Jewish Community Relations Council, Virginia Center for Inclusive Communities, and Virginia Wesleyan University’s Robert Nusbaum Center, this event is free and open to the community with pre-reg istration required. For more details and to register, visit JewishVA. org/BookFest.

INFORMATION SESSION

THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 10, 6:30 PM SANDLER FAMILY CAMPUS

Experience an unforgettable week with friends and community and enjoy Israel in the spring.

Four nights in Jerusalem, two nights in Kfar Blum (North), and one night in Tel Aviv. Join the Purim festivities and celebrate—Tel Aviv-style!

$5,100 per person* (Land only—double occupancy). Early Bird discounts available. The greater the number of participants, the more the price will drop.

Itinerary in development.

Those who attend the info session and sign up that night with a deposit will receive a $500 discount per person.

Contact Amy Zelenka at azelenka@ujft. org to be added to a growing list of pro spective mission participants.

Stein, and Lisa and Mark Delevie, chairs for this exciting musical extravaganza.

Congregation

Beth El’s 2022 FUNdraiser will bring music from the Rocky Mountains of Vail, Colorado, to the shores of Norfolk, Virginia.

Cantor Michelle Cohn Levy of B’nai Vail Congregation and Coleen Dieker, an accomplished composer, arranger, and vocalist, will perform and entertain, sharing their passion for music.

Cantor Levy has a few very close local connections. First, Beth El’s members

Bernie and Helene Grablowsky heard Cantor Levy lead a mountaintop service in Vail a number of years ago and have encouraged her to come to Tidewater ever since. Plus, Cantor Levy is married to Arlene and Jerry Stein’s grandson, Seth Levy, son of Debbie Stein Levy and Marc Levy.

Making the evening a familiar affair, Debbie and Marc Levy will be in town for this event, as will all of her siblings, the Stein families—Steve and Cindy Stein, Craig

Teaching and leading Jewish music since the age of 14, Cantor Levy is skilled at engaging adults, teens, and children to enthusiastically join her in song and share in her love of Judaism.

Coleen Dieker, who was inspired to pursue music as a passion and profession after attending the Berklee College of Music, also plays piano, flute, ukulele, and violin. Together, they will share their musi cal virtuosity, filling Congregation Beth El with Jewish and secular tunes and music

that will move and inspire all who attend.

For more information or to RSVP, con tact the office at noelle@ bethelnor folk.com or Ronnie Cohen at ronnie@ bethelnorfolk.com.

WHEN IT COMES TO BIAS AND DISCRIMINATION, WHAT ACTUALLY CHANGES PEOPLE AND CULTURES? A conversation with author Jessica Nordell on The End of Bias: A Beginning

Thursday, December 8, 7:30 pm Sandler Family Campus

Jessica Nordell.

UJFT is going to Israel for her 75th birthday United Jewish Federation of Tidewater Mission to Israel—March 1–9, 2023

A fun evening of song and music at Beth El

Congregation Beth El

Cantor Michelle Cohn Levy.

WHAT’S HAPPENING

On Assignment with Lahav Harkov returns in November

Thursday, November 3, 12 pm

Elka Mednick

The first session of the Israel Today series, On Assignment with Lahav Harkov, took place on Thursday, October 6, and was an exciting and informative conversation about the upcom ing Knesset elections, related polling, and more.

Harkov, Jerusalem Post ’s senior contributing editor and diplomatic correspondent, explained the current composition of the Knesset and the governing coalition that is coming to a close, as well as potential outcomes for the more than 20 parties that are running candidates in November. Harkov also brought to light recent diplomatic developments with Lebanon that many participants were learning about for the first time.

Participants were able to ask questions during this off-the-record briefing. Future con versations on other current events are sure to be just as thought-provoking.

The Israel Today series is presented by the Jewish Community Relations Council of the United Jewish Federation of Tidewater, Simon Family JCC, and Community Partners, includ ing all local synagogues and Jewish agencies.

Register for the next On Assignment with Lahav Harkov to join the conversation from the comfort of your home, office, or wherever you are.

To sign up, visit Jewishva.org/IsraelToday. For more information, contact Elka Mednick at emednick@ujft.org.

Fall-themed Sunday Fun Day Sunday, November 13, 1 - 4 pm, Simon Family JCC

Gather friends and family and head to the Simon Family JCC for an afternoon of fallthemed games, music, crafts, and a sweet treat. See familiar faces, meet new and friendly people, and while Tidewater’s ShinShinim lead activities for children through age 14, par ents and grandparents have opportunities to mingle.

Hosted by PJ Library in Tidewater, the event is free and open to Simon Family JCC members, synagogue members, PJ Library families, SIA families, YAD members, and Camp JCC Families.

For more information on PJ Library in Tidewater books and programs, contact Nofar Trem at ntrem@ujft.org or visit JewishVA.org/PJ.

Lahav Harkov.

Tidewater Jewish community to celebrate new mikvah Sunday, November 20, 12–2 pm

Noach Gruen

It’s really extraordinary.

Why would a group of New Yorkers help Virginians build a new mikvah in Ghent? The answer: because, they under stood the need.

In 2019, after years of dealing with Ghent’s outdated mikvah, ground was broken for a new facility with the help of Mikvah USA, which has built (or remodeled) more than 100 mikvahs from Boulder, Colorado, to Birmingham, Alabama.

Brooklyn, New York-based Mikvah USA assists smaller communities through out the United States build modern and inviting mikvahs. They offer practical assistance, financial grants, fundraising assistance, halachic guidance, and more, with the goal of making mikvah obser vance “easy and appealing,” according to their website, mikvahusa.org.

If a community wants to observe the Torah’s laws of taharas hamishpacha, or family purity, these generous Jews are here for them.

The difference in Norfolk is remark able. Now, the Ghent mikvah boasts a new wing with two beautiful new baths/ showers and a new bor tevila (mikvah).

Sarah Lipman, a liaison between Tidewater’s Jewish community and Mikvah USA, says, “When we approached Mikvah USA for guidance, they gave us a major grant and helped us design and construct a mikvah that is both beautiful and conforms to the highest standards of Jewish law. We really couldn’t have done it without them.”

Rabbi Sender and Chamie Haber, revered rabbi and rebbetzin emeritus of B’nai Israel Congregation, as well as Kevin Lefcoe, Sarah Lipman, Rabbi Sholom Mostofsky, Rabbi Shmuel Katz of the Norfolk Community Kollel, and Gershon Aronoff, worked tirelessly with Mikvah USA to make the dream of a fully updated and enhanced mikvah in Ghent a reality.

Mikvah USA’s mandate underscores the profound teaching of Jewish tradition:

constructing a kosher mikvah takes pre cedence over building any other religious institution in a city. Even shuls and schools come second.

The new mikvah will be named Mikvah Taharas Chaya for Chaya Weber, of blessed memory. Mikvah USA says that Weber tragically passed away unexpectedly at the age of 52, close to three years ago.

“She was a wonderful woman whose outstanding trait was that her heart totally connected with the people around her. She deeply related to people, shared in their joy, and felt their pain. Her children’s education was paramount to her, and each one of her five children was treated as a unique individual, just like an only child. She lived to help others and is sorely missed.”

Local Jewish women and visitors will enjoy a luxurious, elegant experience in Mikvah Taharas Chaya, while bringing blessing to the community by observing this foundational mitzvah.

On behalf of Mikvah Taharas Chaya, Esty Gruen and Sarah Lipman invite men and women of all Jewish backgrounds and affiliations to attend the  chanukas habayis, or formal inauguration, of Mikvah Taharas Chaya for a festive brunch, words of inspiration from Mikvah USA leader ship, and a tour of the new mikvah.

The Mikvah is located at 420 Spotswood Avenue in Norfolk.

For more information or to help spon sor this event, email mikvahnorfolk@ gmail.com.

WHAT’S HAPPENING

Family connects first three authors speaking at Jewish Book Festival

Dan Grunfeld

Wednesday, November 2, 7:30 pm, Free

Alla Shapiro, MD

Monday, November 7, 12 pm, Tickets include lunch

Letty Cottin Pogrebin

Thursday, November 17, 7:30 pm, Free

Family is at the forefront in the minds of the first three authors of the United Jewish Federation of Tidewater and Simon Family JCC’s Lee and Bernard Jaffe Family Jewish Book Festival.

In  By the Grace of the Game: The Holocaust, a Basketball Legacy, and an Unprecedented American Dream, Dan Grunfeld tells his family’s saga.

In chronicling his grandparents’ jour ney from Hungary to the United States after World War ll, Grunfeld proves the power of perseverance and hope. Grunfeld’s father, Ernie Grunfeld, an immigrant and the son of two Holocaust survivors, went from being bullied for his background to NBA stardom. Basketball became the path to tying together generations of a fractured family.

Similarly, in her book  Doctor on Call: Chernobyl Responder, Jewish Refugee, Radiation Expert, Dr. Alla Shapiro tells how her family immigrated to the United States. As

a pediatric first responder to the disaster at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Station in Ukraine on April 26, 1986, Shapiro endured discrimination as a Jewish citizen and fled the USSR with her family, where she eventually became a leading expert in medical countermeasures against radiation exposure.

Letty Cottin Pogrebin, also a descendant of European immi grants, explores family secrets and private and public shame—experi ences all families can relate to in her latest book,  Shanda: A Memoir of Shame and Secrecy. (See page 28)

All three authors will speak at the Reba and Sam Sandler Family Campus.

Pre-registration is required for all events. For more information or to register, visit JewishVA.org/BookFest or contact Hunter Thomas, director of Arts + Ideas, at HThomas@UJFT.org.

The Lee & Bernard Jaffe Family Jewish Book Festival is held in coordination with the Jewish Book Council, the longest-running organization devoted exclusively to the sup port and celebration of Jewish literature.

One night only: Wiesenthal

Tuesday, November 15, 7 pm Wells Theatre, Norfolk

Virginia Stage Company and the Holocaust Commission of the United Jewish Federation of Tidewater will host writer-per former Tom Dugan to present his oneman play about the Nazi hunter, Simon Wiesenthal.

This 90-minute powerhouse production will benefit the Holocaust Commission. One performance will be open to the public on November 15 and a subsidized stu dent show will take place the next morning on Wednesday, November 16 at 10:30 am.

The lead sponsor for this event is Bank of America. Additional support comes from Cooper Hurley Injury Lawyers.

Wiesenthal is the inspiring true story of Simon Wiesenthal, filled with hope, humanity, and humor. Sometimes referred to as the “Jewish James Bond,” he devoted his life to bringing more than 1,000 Nazi war criminals to justice.

Intelligent, funny, flawed, and noble, Wiesenthal was a true universal hero. His unbelievable dedication and tenacity over decades are honored in this play, which gives equal weight to his wisdom and wit during his long, purposeful life.

“We are thrilled to bring Tom Dugan as Simon Wiesenthal to our community,” says Elena Barr Baum, immediate past Holocaust Commission director.

“Commission member Vivian Margulies spearheaded the drive for this event, orig inally scheduled for October of 2020, after she had seen it in Atlanta. Bringing live theater is one of the many ways the Commission educates students and

Jewish

community members about the lessons of the Holocaust, and how important they are to understanding our world today,” says Baum.

This award-winning play has received rave reviews from critics across the coun try and has had triumphant runs in both the California and New York theatre com munities. During the past 10 years, Dugan has emerged as the bright new voice of one-man theatre in America.

This production is appropriate and encouraged for ages 13 and up.

For the public performance on November 15, general admission tickets are $45 in the orchestra and $35 in the mez zanine, and can be purchased online:www. vastage.org/Wiesenthal or over the phone by calling the Virginia Stage Company box office at 757-627-1234.

For tickets for the November 16 stu dent performance, email director of education at VSC, Bethany Mayo, at bmayo@vastage.org.

Digital Version

Hunter Thomas

Dan Grunfeld.

Dr. Alla Shapiro.

Letty Cottin Pogrebin.

Tom Dugan.

WHAT’S HAPPENING

Mira

Z. Amiras was raised on her father’s tales of the Hebrew aleph-bet letters and their role in the creation of the universe. She has taught Jewish mysticism, magic, and folk lore along with many other topics in Jewish and Islamic Studies and the anthropology of religion. In Josh Baum’s work as an artist and Torah scribe, he explores the Hebrew letters as sacred signs, as well as objects of profound beauty.

Amiras and Baum, through many months of shared thought and discussion, created an evocatively illustrated book that tells the story of Malkah, a child whose father tries to teach her to read Torah, but as she studies, she embarks on a lifelong journey in search of her beginnings—into Jewish mystical texts, far-off places, archaeolog ical digs, ancient gods, and ultimately into the nature of existence itself.

Presented by the Jewish Community Relations Council of the United Jewish Federation of Tidewater, Simon Family JCC, and Community Partners’ Israel Today series, as a part of the Lee and Bernard Jaffe Family Jewish Book Festival, and in partnership with the Konikoff Center for Learning at the United Jewish Federation of Tidewater.

For more information or to register, visit JewishVA.org/IsraelToday.

Leon Family Gallery

November–December Workshop:

Illustrations from  Malkah’s Notebook will be on exhibit in the Leon Family Gallery at the Simon Family JCC. A hands-on creative workshop with Mira J. Amiras and local artist and Jewish educa tor, Sharon Serbin, will take place at the Simon Family JCC.

For more information about the workshop, con tact Sierra Lautman at SLautman@UJFT.org.

HAVE YOU EVER LEARNED ABOUT THE KABBALISTIC APPROACH TO THE ALEPH-BET? Conversation with author Mira J. Amiras and illustrator Josh Baum on Malka’s Notebook: A Journey into the Mystical Aleph-Bet Tuesday, November 29, 12 pm, Watch from home, Free

Mira J. Amiras.

Employment Opportunity

Director, Holocaust Commission

United Jewish Federation of Tidewater seeks an experienced candidate for the full-time position of Director, Holocaust Commission.

The Holocaust Commission’s mission is to foster an understanding of the uniqueness and magnitude of the Holocaust, while inspiring students, teachers, and our community to champion human dignity in our constantly changing world.

The Director provides dynamic leadership, direction, and coordination for the Commission, and supports the volunteer members in meeting Commission objectives. The position requires a Bachelor’s degree and/or commensurate experience with Holocaust studies, education, or related discipline. Minimum of three years’ experience working in non-profit organizations preferred, and experience working with volunteer leadership preferred.

Salary is competitive and commensurate with experience.

CALENDAR

THRU NOVEMBER 17, THURSDAYS

ORIGINS: Ancient Jewish History in an International Context , a 4-week course offered by UJFT’s Konikoff Center for Learning taught by Rabbi Michael Panitz. The Jewish religion has a core story: a narrative of our people’s early history. What, in fact, is the history behind the narrative? We can better understand our history—as well as our “story”—by exploring the international framework in which our people emerged. 12 pm. Course cost is $60 for 4 weeks and offers both in-person and online attendance options. For more information and to register, visit Jewishva.org/KCL or contact Sierra Lautman at slautman@ujft.org or 757-965-6107.

NOVEMBER 1, TUESDAY

Stand-up comedy from Benji Lovitt: What War Zone? At Ohef Sholom Temple, Norfolk. Cost is $18/person or $50/family (includes childcare). Starts at 6 pm (dinner) followed by show at 6:30 pm. For more information, contact Nina Kruger at nina@ohefsholom.org.

NOVEMBER 2, WEDNESDAY

The Lee & Bernard Jaffe Family Jewish Book Festival kicks off with a presentation from author Dan Grunfeld (By the Grace of the Game), who will discuss the inspiration behind his book, an examina tion of his father’s journey as a pro basketball player and his family’s experiences from Auschwitz to the NBA. 7:30 pm. Pre-registration required. For more information, contact Hunter Thomas, UJFT’s director of Arts + Ideas, at HThomas@UJFT.org or 757-965-6137. To learn more or to register for events, visit JewishVA.org/BookFest. See page 32.

NOVEMBER 3, THURSDAY

On Assignment with Lahav Harkov (Online) The 12th Annual Israel Today series presents Jerusalem Post senior diplomatic correspondent Lahav Harkov for a series of current affairs conversations. Join from anywhere in the world for monthly online briefings about current hot topics in and surrounding Israel. Free and open to the community. Pre-registration is required. 12 pm. For more information and to register, visit JewishVa.org/israeltoday or contact Elka Mednick at emednick@ujft.org or 757-965-6112. See page 30.

NOVEMBER 6, SUNDAY

The Truetone Honeys jazz ensemble with harmonies à la The Andrew Sisters. Hosted by Brith Sholom of Virginia. Event held at the Masonic Temple, 7001 Granby Street, Norfolk. 11 am. Cost $10 which includes brunch and dessert. For reservations, contact brith.sholom1@gmail.com or call 757-461-1150.

NOVEMBER 8, TUESDAY

Baby and Me at the Simon Family JCC . Bundle up baby and join other parents and caregivers for an hour of coffee and conversation at the Simon Family JCC. Babies will enjoy toys, soft books, songs, and games while the adults chat and get to know each other. 9 am. FREE and open to the community. For more information and to register, visit JewishVA.org/PJ or contact Nofar Trem at NTrem@UJFT.org.

NOVEMBER 10, THURSDAY

Challah-making with The Shabbos Project , Women of all ages are invited to B’nai Israel Congregation to celebrate the Jewish tradition of preparing for Shabbat and the spiritual joys of making challah. A partnership between B’nai Israel and the Konikoff Center for Learning at the United Jewish Federation of Tidewater, this is part of The Shabbos Project. Tidewater’s ShinShinim, Aya Sever and Alma Ben Chorin, will share stories about making challah with their families in Israel. All ingredients and recipes will be provided. Each participant will leave with two challahs ready to make and enjoy for Shabbat. 7 pm. FREE, suggested donation $5. For more information or to register, visit JewishVA.org/ challah or contact Sierra Lautman at SLautman@ujft.org.

NOVEMBER 15, TUESDAY

Tom Dugan stars in Wiesenthal, a one-man show that tells the inspiring true story of Simon Wiesenthal at the Well’s Theatre. Presented as a fundraiser for the Holocaust Commission of the United Jewish Federation of Tidewater. Proceeds will in part fund a performance the following day for students. 7 pm. To purchase tickets, visit vastage.org.

NOVEMBER 19, SATURDAY

Middle School Late Night Lock-in at the Simon Family JCC . Enjoy a Saturday evening with friends after hours at the Simon Family JCC. Bring a bathing suit, towel, warm clothes, and a flashlight. JCC will bring the snacks, tunes, fun, and special after dark adventure. 6-10 pm. FREE and open to students in grades 6-8. For more information or to register, visit JewishVA.org/Lockin or contact Dave Flagler at DFlagler@UJFT.org.

Complete job description at www.jewishva.org

Submit cover letter, resume, and salary requirements to: resumes@ujft.org Attn: Taffy Hunter, Human Resources director.

NOVEMBER 20, SUNDAY

Mikvah Taharas Chaya’s formal inauguration to take place. 420 Spotswood Ave. 12–2 pm. mikvahnorfolk@gmail.com. See page 31.

Send submissions for calendar to news@ujft.org. Be sure to note “calendar” in the subject. Include date, event name, sponsor, address, time, cost, and phone.

WHAT’S HAPPENING

United Against Hate—

The DOJ’s Nationwide Initiative to Combat Acts of Hate

Wednesday, November 30 7:30 pm, Sandler Family Campus

United Jewish Federation of Tidewater’s Jewish Community Relations Council will host the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia’s United Against Hate program next month.

This exciting program was announced by Attorney General Merrick Garland during the White House United We Stand Summit on September 15, as a means to convene local forums that connect members of the community to federal, state, and local law enforcement to increase community understanding and reporting of hate crimes; to build trust between law enforcement and community; and to create and strengthen alliances between law enforcement and other government part ners and community groups to combat hate crimes and incidents.

Members of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia will facilitate November’s

program as part of the first cohort in the country to take part in this innovative program. Utilizing hypothet ical scenarios and clips depicting contemporary hate crime cases and stories, United Against Hate promotes robust interaction between community members and law enforcement participants.

Monty Wilkinson of the Justice Department’s Executive Office for U.S. Attorneys says, “This program will build bridges among community members and law enforcement, helping them to work together to combat unlawful acts of hate.”

Free and open to the community. Registration is required by November 23. Email usavae.rsvp@usdoj. gov. For more information or to request assistance or accommodation, contact Rebecca Gantt at Rebecca. gantt@usdoj.gov, or Elka Mednick, UJFT’s JCRC assis tant director, at EMednick@ujft.org.

Applications now open

The Helen Diller Family Foundation offers awards for teens making a difference in their community

The

Diller Tikkun Olam Awards recognize teens who are currently serving in a leadership role on a project that is making a difference in their community. Every year, up to 15 Jewish teens from across the U.S are selected to receive an award of $36,000 to honor their leadership and efforts to repair the world.

Eligible applicants are 13-19 years old who self-identify as Jewish, are residents of the United States, and who are not receiving compensation for their work. Projects may focus on the Jewish or the community at large. Nominate a young leader today, or teens can apply directly by January 5.

To nominate a teen from, go to dillerteenawards.org.

Elka Mednick

OBITUARIES

SHELDON LEAVITT

NORFOLK—Sheldon Joseph Leavitt, longtime resident of Norfolk, Virginia, originally from Chicago, Illinois, died Tuesday October 11, two days after his 100th birthday party.

He is survived by three of his four children, Charles Hecht-Leavitt, Jonathan Leavitt, and Shirra Leavitt; his four grand children Lily and Zachary Hecht-Leavitt, and Anna and Nathaniel Kahn-Leavitt; and four great-grandchildren Ari, Sam, and Josie Singer-Leavitt, and Talia Leavitt-Watson.

If we were allowed to choose the year of our birth, it would take a strong sense of courage and adventure to pick 1922. It helps to be born into a good family, not necessarily one found in a blue book or social register, but where parents like Charles and Sadie Leavitt love their chil dren, deal fairly with each other, and encourage an optimistic expectation that enterprises will succeed. By all reports,

the early years were idyllic. It was the roaring 20s in Chicago. Though not yet 30 years old, Sheldon’s father had built a lucrative construction business, was well on his way to millionaire status, and sometimes let young Sheldon operate the crane. Sheldon remembered carefree weekends at the beach and watching parades of Civil War veterans.

They were going to need that opti mism because by age eight, in 1930, it came to a crashing halt when the family lost everything in a bank failure. It left a deep impression. For two or three years that were formative for young Sheldon, he learned what it felt like to have to walk along a streetcar line, unable to ride because he didn’t have even a penny for the fare. They squeaked by on creative ideas for odd jobs and favors from rela tives, until his father found a government position near Washington, DC. He rose quickly in the Civil Service and the family was back on its feet. Sheldon stayed in

Chicago to finish high school, living with his aunts rather than moving to a new school in Maryland with his sister Harriet.

People find different ways to make their way in the world, according to their personalities. Some believe in knowing everybody, some in fighting their way to the top, and some try to charm or sell to get ahead. For Sheldon it was diligence in school, which came naturally to him, though there were no great scholars in his family tree. “When they gave me a test with 10 questions on it,” he said, “I naively assumed that you had to get all 10 right. Nobody told me to get one or two wrong. What would be the point of that?” It’s no exaggeration to say that he never got an “A.” Only A-plus would do, and this little trick made him salutatorian of Crane Tech with its thousands of students, and vale dictorian of the University of Illinois with its tens of thousands. His college room mate and childhood friend Sid Epstein was salutatorian. Sheldon was the first member of his family ever to go to college.

There was no question what came after graduation. They’ve come to be called “the Greatest Generation,” but as he put it, “You didn’t have a choice! You were going! We read the news, and saw that these things weren’t going to end with out us personally going over there to fight it out.” December brought Pearl Harbor. He entered the Navy’s Officer Candidate School, where once again he was valedictorian, and therefore held back a year to teach rather than serve aboard ship. Wanting to see action, he was dis appointed, but ultimately did serve as gunnery officer aboard the USS Maryland and South Dakota. After the surrender, he was transferred to the flagship bat tleship Missouri where, under Truman’s command, they forestalled the invasion of Turkey while Russian armies massed on its borders. He stayed in the Navy reserve until retirement, attaining the rank of Commander. He looked forward to his annual two weeks of reserve duty with his Seabee battalion, which, among other public works projects, built a demonstra tion fallout shelter in Norfolk’s City Park.

After the war, he settled in Norfolk, where his parents had moved when his father was made director of housing

construction for the Navy. Sheldon sys tematically met the local Jewish girls and settled on a favorite named Marian Adele Cogen. In the process, he also formed lifelong friendships with young men his age, such as Dan Goldman and Paul Tavss. Paul Tavss once said that Sheldon was the first man whose friendship he considered deep enough to be called love. When Dan Goldman’s health declined later in life, Sheldon continued to visit him regularly.

Marian was cheerful, carefree, and loved good humor. There is scarcely a picture from her childhood in which she is not giggling. Where Sheldon had been the valedictorian, Marian had been the joke columnist. Sheldon’s wise grand mother Anna met Marian and declared, in Yiddish, “Diese madel ist fur ihr.” (This girl is for you).

Legend has it that Marian initially turned down his proposal, saying, “You don’t know the real me,” and Sheldon went back to Chicago to work with his roommate Sid Epstein’s family firm as a structural engineer. He decided to sit for the architectural exam without having gone to architecture school. There is no need to ask whether he passed it. But Marian turned up in Chicago the fol lowing year as a graduate student at the University of Chicago. The two of them got together and were married on New Year’s Day, 1952. It was the only day he could take off without missing work.

To start a family, they left Chicago and settled back in Norfolk, where he established an architecture practice. They took dance lessons and excelled at it. When they took to the floor at the Harbor Club, other couples would stand back and form a circle to watch them jitterbug. In due course, they had four children, Charles, Jonathan, David, and Shirra, in an ultra-modern home with grandparents living next door. Sheldon loved his family, but as a father his love took the form of making sure they would never see the financial hardships he experienced as a child, and showing them how to do con crete, useful things: how to ride a bicycle, how to hit the bull’s eye, how to hold a pencil, how to navigate a boat by com pass, how to do longhand multiplication and division, and literally how to tell good

concrete from bad. He also taught science concepts far beyond the weak curriculum of the day. In the era of preparedness for nuclear war, he brought home a Geiger counter to demonstrate radiation. He demonstrated atmospheric pressure by heating water in an ordinary metal can and made up exercises in number systems other than Base Ten.

Architecture and engineering were demanding work, but he was good at it. Early on, he designed a building with Walter Gropius as the lead architect, and lived in Massachusetts as their houseguest while working in Gropius’ office. After two months, Gropius told him that he now knew everything he needed and it was time for him to go forth on his own. Some 60 years later, his papers and draw ings went to the Virginia State archives as examples of what is now called mid-cen tury modern architecture in Virginia.

High interest rates in the 1970s forced the profession to change, and he adapted by focusing on forensic work rather than new buildings. It proved to be a good decision and he continued working well after the normal retirement age. By 88, he didn’t always work weekends, and at 95, he finally closed the office. As for hobbies, he had never been interested in golf, but he remained a crack shot with a pistol, and could put a whole magazine through the bull’s-eye at 50 feet, the limit of the Bob’s Gun Shop shooting range, to the baf flement of younger onlookers who were initially amused when this quaint-looking old man modified the standard targets by placing a smaller sticker in the center. He could easily shoot the same at 75 feet when he went to a longer range. In the Navy, there had been a marksmanship test, and though it didn’t have a valedicto rian, nobody told him it was OK to miss a few shots.

So, what timeless wisdom does a person come to appreciate in a hundred years? Sheldon used to say that life is like an ice cream cone, melting in your hands on a hot summer day. You can’t just stand there; you have to eat it before it melts! He actually did eat half of a Klondike bar each day, and made it look like a sacrament. He worked with unre lenting diligence into extreme old age.

Not so hard as to develop stress-related illnesses or even to need a stiff drink, but with consistent follow-through. He was not especially materialistic. He used one stapler for at least 70 years and wrote with ordinary wooden pencils. He would rather leave money in the bank than buy a new car or even new shoes. He bought some fine things for Marian, but for him self it was always the discount brand. He was more satisfied with a sandwich from Hardee’s than a gourmet French or Italian dinner. And he was never known to overeat. Throughout his life he still fit into his uniform from World War II. He was proud to have served his country but had few “war stories” to tell. He had literally been too busy doing ballistic calculations to notice the incoming Kamikazes.

He did not believe that success is the key to happiness, but rather that happi ness is the key to success. He lived through turbulent and difficult times, and suffered plenty of setbacks and tragedies; not just the Great Depression and World War II, but the tragic death of his son David at age 17. There were high interest rates in the 1970s that wiped out his building development business. But he didn’t dwell on setbacks. The energy another person might have spent worrying why the race is not always to the swiftest, nor yet riches to men of understanding, he spent ticking items off his list of things “to do.” And by age 99, he had actually forgotten many of the worst events one would rather not remember. He woke up every morning delighted that a wonderful day lay ahead. As far as he was concerned, 1922 was the perfect year to be born, and he made it so.

A graveside memorial service took place at Forest Lawn Cemetery.

JACK MENDEL

CHARLOTTE, N.C .—Born in Antwerp, Belgium, Jack Mendel, age 85, and a long time resident of Charlotte, North Carolina, passed away after a longtime battle with Parkinson’s disease surrounded by his loving family.

He is survived by his wife of 58 years, Vera, his children Shelly Simon (Britt) of Virginia Beach, Va. and Jodi Parsons (Dave) of Delray Beach, Fla. He also has three grandchildren, Connor Speizman

and Sydnie and Logan Simon. A graveside service was held at the Hebrew Cemetery of Charlotte. Donations may be made to Hospice and Palliative Care of Charlotte and Jewish Family Services. McEwen Funeral ServicePineville Chapel.

BARBARA LENORA PREDDY GLOUCESTER, VA .—Barbara Lenora Preddy, 91, passed away quietly on October 6, 2022, at Walter Reed Convalescent Home in Gloucester, Va. She was born in Portsmouth to Lawrence and Ruby Estelle VanCollum. As a young girl, Barbara fell in love

Southside

Riverside Chapel

Denbigh

Maestas Chapel

Chris Sisler, Vice President, Member of Ohef Sholom Temple, Board member of the Berger-Goldrich Home at Beth Sholom Village, James E.

James

OBITUARIES

with and married Wade Louis Preddy. They were happily in love for the next 70 years, until Wade’s death in 2021.

Barbara had a long career with the American Red Cross. Early in her career, she managed the emergency services for the First Colonies Division in Norfolk, and later she managed the Blood Services in Portsmouth. Barbara continued to serve the community after her retirement by serving on the Board of the H.E.R. Shelter. She was also a 20+ year volunteer for the annual Portsmouth Invitational Basketball Tournament.

Barbara loved the beach; she and her family had happy memories of trips to Nags Head. She was a very competitive Mahjong player, enjoying regular games with her ladies’ group for over 35 years. A skilled knitter, Barbara created many sweaters for family and friends over the years. Her biggest love was for her family, and she loved entertaining everyone, especially on holidays. You could con sider yourself special if you got a “Ruby” fruitcake at Christmas.

She was predeceased by her hus band, Wade Preddy; son Stephen Preddy; and sisters Millie Greenglass and Dot. She leaves behind her son Larry Preddy (Kathy); her grandchildren Geoff Preddy (Michelle), Mathew Preddy (Samantha), Katie Preddy, Bess Toole (Brian); and six great-grandchildren.

A graveside service was held at Olive Branch Cemetery in Portsmouth. Memorial donations may be made to the American Red Cross. Condolences may be registered at BWFosterFuneralHome.com.

MELINDA MARCUS VOOSS

NORFOLK—Melinda Marcus Vooss, 53, passed away October 23, 2022, in her home in Norfolk, Va., surrounded by her loving family.

Melinda was born March 7, 1969, to Charles and Linda Marcus in Portsmouth, Va. She was a graduate of Norfolk Collegiate

School and University of Georgia, with a degree in journalism and visual arts in 1991. She completed a degree in art edu cation from Old Dominion University in 2004.

Melinda touched so many lives with her bright smile, kind heart, and positive spirit. Her life was centered around finding and sharing the laughter and joy in every day. This carried through her 27 years of marriage with Scott, to guiding and inspir ing their children, Zoey and Maxwell. She loved her family and friends deeply.

She was also a caring and passionate teacher. Completing her second degree while raising two young children was a hard-fought and pivotal moment as she spent the next 18 years fully committed to helping students discover their inner artist. This love of creating and teaching carried over into opening a franchise DIY studio business in 2018. Standing in front of her storefront and cutting the yellow ribbon was such a great source of pride.

But Melinda was happiest when her home was filled with laughter. She did her part, as she was always the prankster. Sunsets, paddle-boarding with Moses, and making a delicious mess in the kitchen were also some of her greatest pleasures. As was creating memories—and there were many.

In addition to her parents, husband, and two children, left to cherish her memory are sisters Randi (Brad), and Lori, sister-in-law Tami (Chuck), nieces and nephews Carly, Ryan, Zachary, Rachel, Ethan, Joshua, Elodie, and Violet, as well as a full host of loving family and friends.

A graveside service was held at Forest Lawn Cemetery in Norfolk.

Melinda’s wish was to support the advancement of the arts across our com munity, as well as provide scholarships to students pursuing art education degrees. Go to https://www.tmcfunding.com/ funds/artfully-yours-melinda-vooss-me morial-scholarship-fund/7137/

to contribute to a new art education scholarship fund established in Melinda’s honor.

Condolences may be left for the family at https://altmeyerfuneralandcremation.com.

DAVID GOTTESMAN, SCION OF JEWISH PHILANTHROPIC DYNASTY AND WARREN BUFFETT PARTNER (JTA)—David Gottesman, who carried on a family tradition of Jewish philanthropy while also becoming one of the most suc cessful investors in the United States, died at 96 last month.

Gottesman’s involvement in finance and Jewish causes began with his birth in Manhattan, to Benjamin and Esther Gottesman, in 1926. Benjamin Gottesman was a banker who had already become a trustee of Yeshiva University, home to the rabbinical school that his own father, Mendel, a paper manufacturer, had helped found; he served in that role until his death in 1979. Mendel Gottesman had started a family foundation devoted largely to supporting Yeshiva University and its library, which ultimately was named for him.

After a stint in the U.S. Army at the end of World War II, Gottesman, who was known as Sandy, went to college and then Harvard Business School before heading to Wall Street. There, he got connected with Warren Buffet, then an up-and-com ing investor, and the two struck up a fast friendship.

Gottesman was an early investor in Berkshire Hathaway, the company that for a time made Buffett the richest man in the world. The return on his investment was massive: This year, more than half a cen tury after making the investment, Forbes estimated his net worth at $3 billion and placed him at No. 358 on its list of 400 wealthiest Americans.

Gottesman sat on Berkshire Hathaway’s board, but his relationship with Buffett was far from transactional. “Absent Sandy doing anything financially

for me, we would have been the best of friends,” Buffett told the New York Times for an obituary.

Gottesman opted to remain largely out of the limelight. But through a family foundation he launched with his wife Ruth in 1965, he continued the Jewish giving that had long characterized his family. In addition to his father’s giving, his mother Esther was largely respon sible for securing the Dead Sea Scrolls for Israel and building the distinctive inverted-dome structure that houses them near the Israel Museum. She worked with Samuel Gottesman, Benjamin’s brother, to do so, and his descendants have carried on a philanthropic legacy of their own.

In 2019, the Gottesman Fund disbursed more than $26 million to dozens of groups and institutions, many of them Jewish, including Jewish day schools associated with multiple denominations. The fund also gave to New York City civic and arts groups; Planned Parenthood and other groups focused on reproductive rights; and organizations funding civic improvements in Israel. (The fund also supported the dig itization of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency’s archive from 1923 to 2008.)

Gottesman’s giving in particular changed the landscape of Jerusalem, where he financed an aquarium, a bike path around the city, and the new build ing being constructed for the National Library of Israel, across the street from the Knesset, or Israeli parliament.

“Sandy’s legacy will be felt in the land mark new Library building and I regret deeply that he will not see this magnif icent project through to its completion,” Sallai Meridor, chairman of the library’s board, said in a statement. “The new building, and educational activities that will take place within, are testament to his generous commitment and true friend ship to the National Library of Israel.”

Gottesman is survived by his wife of 72 years, Ruth; their three children; and six grandchildren.

By the Grace of the Game:

The

Wednesday, November

Doctor

Monday, November 7,

Shanda:

Sentara is proud to launch a new, innovative model of care for the communities we serve. Sentara Community Care brings neighborhood-level health and wellness services to historically marginalized and under-resourced communities to improve the individual’s health as well as the health of the whole community. Through Sentara Mobile Care and Sentara Community Care Centers, we are providing health services for our Medicaid, underinsured and uninsured community members right in their neighborhoods where they live, work, learn and play.

Learn more at Sentara.com/CommunityCare