April 9, 2018 Jewish News by United Jewish Federation of Tidewater

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Southeastern Virginia | Vol. 56 No. 14 | 24 Nisan 5778 | April 9, 2018

Celebrating Israel’s 70th Independence Day • Mishy Harman’s Israel Story Sunday, April 15

12 Gil Troy makes case for Zionism

• DJ Eyal Rob

Thursday, April 19

• Israel Fest

Sunday, April 22 —page 16

28 LIFE & LEGACY celebrates first year

31 Human Flag of Israel Sunday, April 22

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35 Yom Hashoah Wednesday, April 11 supplement to Jewish News April 9, 2018 jewishnewsva.org | April 9, 2018 | Israel @ 70 | Jewish News | 15

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Published 21 times a year by United Jewish Federation of Tidewater.

Time to celebrate

avid Ben-Gurion, Israel’s first prime minister, publicly read the Declaration of Independence of Israel on May 14, 1948. The anniversary of this date on the Jewish calendar is known as Yom Ha’atzmaut, and this year is Thursday, April 19. As the Tidewater Jewish community prepares to celebrate Israel’s 70th Independence Day with myriad events, including a special Israel Fest on Sunday, April 22 (see page 16), we have devoted the majority of this issue to all things Israel. Not surprisingly, the most difficult part of this task was the limitation of too few pages, as Israel has been an integral part of this community even before its founding, and the country’s medical and technological advancements, culture, food (let’s not forget the cherry tomato!), and wine are remarkable for such a young country. Madeline Snyder Lesser plants a tree First, our Hal Sacks Jewish News Archives column on page 5 is all Israel. Whether an Israeli in Israel in the early 1960s. Merchant Marine speaking to teens at the JCC in 1958 or annual festivals celebrating the Jewish state’s Independence Day, there’s plenty to learn about Jewish Tidewater and Israel from our archives. To browse or search the Hal Sacks Jewish News Archives, go to jewishnewsva.org and click on archives. Articles about tech research, medical assistance, and even Google pranks that show the diverse interests, talents, and humor of Israelis are throughout the paper, as well as, of course, are a few pieces on politics and history. Plus, Bobbie Fisher writes about what was taking place in Jewish Tidewater 70 years ago. What I imagine will be the most read in the Israel@70 section, however, are the personal stories about trips to Israel. How such a tiny and young nation can yield such vastly different Suzanne Barr on a tank, 1967. experiences is really remarkable. From traveling to Israel in the early 1960s to working in banana fields to running the Tel Aviv Marathon to making aliyah, the stories are interesting, inspiring, fun, and revealing. You might be surprised to learn, for example, which area attorney spent a summer pulling in fish on the Sea of Galilee, and who witnessed a peace treaty being worked out in the King David Hotel dining room. As I mentioned earlier, our biggest problem for this issue was space. And, so, we’ve decided to take advantage of the dual dates of Israel’s Independence and continue to highlight the nation through articles on its culture, innovation, and position in the world, as well as to share additional personal memories in our next couple of issues. While it is easy to get mired down in the battles and controversies that Israel faces each day, our focus here is celebrations, not politics. To Life! To Israel!

Terri Denison Editor

Contents

Quotable

Up Front. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

Celebrate Israel. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16

Briefs. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

Seniors paint for Umbrella Project . . . . . . . . . 27

Hals Sacks Jewish News Archives. . . . . . . . . . . 5

Senior’s Seder. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27

Israel’s concern about U.S. leaving Syria. . . . . 6

LIFE & LEGACY celebrates first year. . . . . . . 28

Anti-Semitism monitor is needed. . . . . . . . . . . 8

What’s Happening . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31

Saudi crown prince: Israel has right to exist . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10

Calendar. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35

Gil Troy makes the case for Zionism . . . . . . . 12 Israeli artists in Norfolk. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13

Obituaries. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36 Who Knew?. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38

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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 Marilyn Cerase, Subscription Manager Reba Karp, Editor Emeritus United Jewish Federation of Tidewater John Strelitz, President Alvin Wall, Treasurer Stephanie Calliott, Secretary Harry Graber, Executive Vice-President www.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. © 2018 Jewish News. All rights reserved. Subscription: $18 per year For subscription or change of address, call 757-965-6128 or JewishNewsVA email mcerase@ujft.org.

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Candle lighting Friday, April 13/28 Nissan Light candles at 7:20 pm

“People always say their trip was the best trip, but I think my trip was the best trip.” —page 24

Friday, April 20/5 Iyar Light candles at 7:26 pm Friday, April 27/12 Iyar Light candles at 7:32 pm Friday, May 4/19 Iyar Light candles at 7:39 pm Friday, May 11/26 Iyar Light candles at 7:45 pm Friday, May 18/4 Sivan Light candles at 7:56 pm

Israel@70. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15

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briefs Major Jewish donor to UK Labour Party quits over its failure to deal with ‘blatant acts of anti-Semitism’ One of the British Labour Party’s major donors left the party over its failure to deal with “the most blatant acts of anti-Semitism.” Sir David Garrard, who is Jewish, has donated about $2.1 million to Labour since 2003. “As one of the former leading political and financial supporters of the Labour party, of which I was a member for so many decades, I no longer feel any affinity with, or connection to, what it seems to have become,” Garrard told the British newspaper The Observer in remarks that were widely republished in other British news publications, including its parent publication The Guardian. The announcement comes as the major British daily The Independent on Sunday, April 1 reported that 12 senior staff working for Corbyn and for the shadow chancellor, John McDonnell, are members of Facebook groups containing anti-Semitic and violent comments, including praise for Adolf Hitler and threats to kill British Prime Minister Theresa May. The report also found that 20 of the biggest pro-Corbyn Facebook groups contained “more than 2,000 racist, anti-Semitic, misogynistic, violent and abusive messages,” and found routine attacks on Jewish people, including Holocaust denial. Many of the groups are restricted to members only. Garrand said that he has “watched with dismay and foreboding the manner in which the leadership has, in my view, over the last two years, conducted itself. I consider that it has supported and endorsed the most blatant acts of anti-Semitism.” “And yet it has failed to expel many of those who have engaged in the grossest derogatory fantasies about Jewish/Zionist conspiracies—and Jewish characterizations and accusations which conjure up the very kind of anti-Semitic attacks that led to such unbearable consequences for innocent millions in the past,” he also said, adding: “So there no longer exists a party which even pretends to maintain and promote the principles and the 4 | Jewish News | April 9, 2018 | jewishnewsva.org

integrity of what always was, to me, the Labour Party.” Last month, Corbyn was found to have been a member of a private Facebook group for two years until 2015 that featured many anti-Semitic statements. He said he had not read any of those statements. Corbyn called Hezbollah and Hamas his friends in 2009 and said it was an honor to host representatives from those terrorist groups in parliament. In 2016 he said he regretted making those remarks. He has vowed to kick out any Labour member caught making racist or anti-Semitic statements. Dozens were expelled but many others accused of these actions were allowed to stay or were readmitted. British Jews and an interparliamentary committee of inquiry have dismissed as unsatisfactory an internal Labour audit that largely cleared the party of anti-Semitism allegations. (JTA)

Push by Catholic educator makes Holocaust studies mandatory in Kentucky Advocacy by a Catholic middle school teacher helped convince the Kentucky legislature to make teaching about the Holocaust mandatory in public schools. The state Senate last month unanimously passed the Ann Klein and Fred Gross Holocaust Education Act. The House passed the bill earlier last month, the Jewish Louisville community reported. Gov. Matt Bevin is expected to sign the legislation into law. New York, New Jersey, Rhode Island, Florida, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, and California also require some measure of Holocaust and genocide education. The bill requires every public middle and high school in the state to include in their curriculum instruction on the Holocaust and other acts of genocide, as defined by the U.N. Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide. Fred Whitaker, a science, religion and Holocaust studies teacher at St. Francis of Assisi School in Louisville—a Catholic middle school—has been lobbying for mandatory Holocaust instruction for 13 years. He has involved his students in

the process, bringing them to the capital, Frankfort, to testify before House and Senate committees on how Holocaust instruction has affected their lives. Other St. Francis parents and students have worked the phones and social media and stood on the capitol steps with signs in what became a full-court press for passage. Whitaker will travel to Poland this summer on a Classrooms Without Borders seminar to see the Nazi death camps and walk through the Warsaw Ghetto. Gross, a Holocaust survivor, and Linda Klein, daughter of the late Ann Klein, were on the floor when the vote was taken and received a standing ovation from the senators. About 10,000 Jews live in Kentucky. (JTA)

Jewish groups urge Supreme Court to block Trump travel ban At least six Jewish civil rights organizations are urging the Supreme Court to block President Donald Trump’s most recent ban on travel from a number of predominately Muslim countries. The groups filed a joint amicus brief with the court asking it to uphold lower court rulings that have blocked the “Muslim ban.” The brief, spearheaded by the AntiDefamation League, was filed Friday, March 30. It was joined by the Jewish Council for Public Affairs, an umbrella body for Jewish public policy groups; three Reform movement groups, the Union for Reform Judaism, the Central Conference of American Rabbis and Women of Reform Judaism; and T’ruah, a rabbinical human rights group. “Virtually every court that has reviewed iterations of the president’s travel ban has found it be discriminatory and ill-advised,” John Harris, the ADL’s Legal Affairs Committee chair and primary author of the brief, said in a statement. “The Supreme Court has the opportunity to ensure that our nation stands as a beacon of hope for those seeking a better life, free from persecution and extreme violence, consistent with our Constitution and our core values.” The executive order announced in September prohibits travel from Iran, Libya, Somalia, Syria and Yemen, as well

as from Chad and North Korea, and includes some Venezuelan government officials and their families. The ban went into effect in December, even as the appeals moved forward. It was the Trump administration’s third attempt to prevent the entry into the United States of travelers from those countries. U.S. courts struck down the earlier bids by Trump to impose a ban on travel from a number of Muslim-majority countries, in part because Trump himself signaled that the ban was meant to target Muslims. The American Jewish Community also filed an amicus brief calling on the court to affirm the lower court’s ruling. In February, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit in Virginia declared Trump’s travel ban unconstitutional. The decision came a month after the Supreme Court agreed to hear an appeal from a similar decision from the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco. Attorneys general for 16 states and Washington, D.C., also filed an amicus brief Friday with the Supreme Court against the travel ban. (JTA)

Canadian Parliament makes every May Jewish Heritage Month The Canadian Parliament passed legislation making every May Canadian Jewish Heritage Month. It is expected to receive royal assent and become law before May. Two Jewish lawmakers—Michael Levitt in the House of Commons and Linda Frum in the Senate—sponsored the measure. “Canadian Jewish Heritage Month will provide an opportunity for all Canadians to reflect on and celebrate the incredible contributions that Jewish Canadians have made to our country, in communities across Canada,” Levitt said. The substance of the bill was first proposed as a motion in 2015 by Jewish lawmaker Irwin Cotler, who has since retired. Canadian Jewish Heritage Month mirrors legislation passed in the province of Ontario in 2012 and the congressional resolution and presidential proclamation in the United States to designate May as Jewish Heritage Month. (JTA)

from the hal Sacks Jewish News Archives

April 7, 2008 As Israel marks its 60th anniversary, the University of Virginia Jewish Studies Program plans a conference exploring the music of Israel.

April 10, 1998 The Virginian-Pilot has joined NationsBank and other corporations as sponsors of Tidewater’s Israel at 50 events. Among the events is the interactive, “Walk Through Jerusalem” children’s exhibit which will be held at the Jewish Community Center of Tidewater. The Israel Independence Day Festival Celebrating Israel at 50 will be held at Town Point Park on Sunday, April 26.

April 15, 1988 Shimon Peres, vice premier and minister of foreign affairs, writes: “We are today celebrating 40 years of the independent Jewish state, the State of Israel. What has been achieved during these 40 years is unprecedented in the annals of human history, as in our own history and experience.”

April 7, 1978 Beginning on Saturday, April 8, the Jewish Community Center will become a PANORAMA of Israel. Among the many activities and exhibits, the event includes stamp and coin displays, jewelry and art for purchase, food, mini lectures, and music.

April 1, 1968 A UJF Parlor Meeting of local dentists expressed the opinion that it was their responsibility to help Israel and its people. They expressed the thought that “who but American Jews can help our fellow Jews.”

April 1, 1958 Ezra Ezra, an Israeli Merchant Marine sailor speaks about teenage life in Israel today at a JCC sponsored Jewish Yourth Council, UJF Cash Collection Campaign. Harvy Eluto, president of the Youth Council, spearheaded this effort of some 50 young people, representing 10 youth organizations.

May 1, 1948 Hospital scenes like this in Haifa and Tel Aviv await the 75,000 homeless European Jews who will enter Palestine in 1948. UJA will help them begin a new life in the Jewish State.

To browse or search theSacks Jewish NewsNews Archives, To browse or search the Hal Jewish Archives, go to www.jewishnewsva.org and click on go to www.jewishnewsva.org and click on archives. archives.

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Bernard’s Legacy Lives Forever Norfolk architect Bernard Spigel died in 1968 leaving an enduring legacy of homes, schools, theaters and commercial buildings he designed. In 1983 Lucy Spigel Herman honored her dad by creating a scholarship for future architects administered by the Hampton Roads Community Foundation. Dozens of past Spigel Scholars are busy today designing buildings for us to enjoy while the scholarship continues to help future architects pay for their education. Design your own view of a better future by ordering the free Leave Your Mark guide. Learn how easy it is to honor a family member or create your own lasting legacy. Leave You r Mark

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Nation Donald Trump wants out of Syria. Why Israel thinks that’s a problem. Ron Kampeas

WASHINGTON ( JTA)—Meeting last month with Donald Trump, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu came away satisfied that he and the American president were in agreement on a wide range of issues, including Syria, where Israel wants to limit Iranian influence as the Syrian civil war wraps up. “We don’t have any limits on our action in Syria,” Netanyahu told reporters. “We see eye to eye,” he said of Israeli and U.S. policy. A few weeks later, Middle East watchers are wondering which eye bears watching: Trump keeps saying he wants out of Syria, while U.S. defense officials and diplomats say the United States remains committed to its role in pacifying the country after seven years of a devastating war. The equivocation is unsettling Israel, says Jonathan Schanzer, a vice president of the Foundation for Defense of Democracies who travels frequently to Israel and meets with its officials. “There is a concern” in Israel “that the mixed messaging right now is revealing a certain confusion at a minimum, perhaps a lack of will to remain in Syria,” he says. How are the messages mixed? “We’ll be coming out of Syria like very soon,” Trump said last week, just hours after a Pentagon spokeswoman told reporters that the U. S. was committed to its role in the region at least until the Islamic State terrorist group was defeated. On Monday, April 2, U.S. defense officials said they would send dozens of troops to Syria to add to the 2,000 troops already there assisting U.S. allied rebel forces. On Tuesday, Trump said “it’s time” to get out of Syria. “It is very costly for our country, and it helps other countries more than it helps us,” he said. “I want to get out, I want to bring our troops back home.” Daniel Shapiro, a former U.S. ambassador to Israel who is now a visiting fellow at the Institute for National Security Studies in Tel Aviv, says Trump’s pronouncements were stirring turmoil in the region. “It raises fundamental questions not just for Israel, for our Kurdish allies, even

our adversaries, about whether the United States plans to remain in Syria to complete the fight against ISIS and to help prevent an Iranian takeover of those areas that ISIS has vacated,” he says. The U.S. forces in Syria are advising and assisting Syrian Kurdish rebels. ISIS is an acronym for Islamic State. Israelis fear that the defeat of the Islamic State, while welcome, leaves in place Iran, an enemy, and Russia, a country that is friendly to Israel but whose interests are not as aligned as the United States. Russia, notably, has been Iran’s de facto ally in Syria. The U.S. presence, comparatively, is limited, but simply by maintaining a presence, the U.S. signals that it has Israel’s back—freeing Israel to take action, as it did in February when Israel retaliated with airstrikes on Iranian targets in Syria after an Iranian drone entered Israeli airspace. That becomes a much shakier proposition absent a U.S. presence, says Moshe Maoz, Israel’s preeminent Syria expert. “Israel will have to bomb Iranian positions in Syria” if Iran establishes a weapons supply line to Hezbollah, the Lebanese militia allied with Iran that is assisting Syria, or if it establishes a permanent presence in Syria, says Maoz, a professor emeritus at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. “And the danger is that the Russians will intervene, and Israel needs the backing of the United States.” Russian officials have reportedly told their Israeli counterparts that Israel likely will have to put up with a permanent Iranian presence in Syria. Aymenn Jawad Al-Tamimi, a fellow at the Philadelphia-based Middle East Forum, says a U.S. withdrawal could embolden the Islamic State. “I think the consequences at this stage would be very negative for the SDF-held areas where the U.S. maintains a presence, particularly as no peace plan has been devised between the SDF and Turkey,” he says, referring to the U.S.-backed rebel alliance, the Syrian Democratic Forces. “Indeed, it is possible that there could be an attack on multiple fronts against SDF areas by Turkey from the north and the

regime and its allies from the south. The concern that this could create a vacuum for I.S. to regain some strength is not unjustified.” Heather Hurlburt, who directs the New Models of Policy Change initiative at New America, a liberal think tank, says the United States remains too entrenched in the region though its various alliances to fully disengage. “What I assume is happening is that the connections between the Israeli military and the Pentagon are incredibly tight,” says Hurlburt, a foreign policy speechwriter in the Clinton administration. “Those folks are talking to each other, in terms of what the Israelis need I’m sure that line is open,” she says. Joost Hiltermann, the Brussels-based Middle East and North Africa director at the Crisis Group, an international think tank, says Iran’s influence in Syria may be overstated. Russia, he says, is in Syria as a means of leveraging its influence elsewhere in the world, and is not invested in advancing the interests of Iran. The Assad regime, which Russia and Iran have been propping up in the Syrian civil war, trusts Russia more than Iran; Assad and his clique remain secularists and are wary of Iran’s religious posturing. “I’m not convinced for Iran this is sustainable,” he says of Iran’s ambition for a permanent stake in Syria. Still, he says, Israel had reason to be alert to Iranian efforts to transfer weapons to Hezbollah, which launched a war with Israel in 2006. Still, Hiltermann says, Israel had cause to be unsettled by Trump’s pledges. “The Iranians would benefit most were the United States to remove its footprint,” he says. Schanzer says Trump’s promises to pull out were especially jarring for Israel and other allies, who expected Trump to reverse the policy of his predecessor, Barack Obama, of limiting U.S. involvement in the Syrian conflict—not to advance it to its logical conclusion and leave. “From the Israeli perspective, this is handing over the keys to their backyard to their mortal enemies,” he says. “Across the board this would be an unmitigated disaster and also an unforced error.”

world Belgian state secretary: No doubt Jerusalem is Israel’s capital BRUSSELS (JTA) — In a departure from Belgium’s official policy, the country’s secretary of state said that Jerusalem is Israel’s capital. Philippe de Backer, whose position in the Belgian government is comparable to that of a deputy Cabinet minister, made his remarks in an interview published last month for Joods Actueel, the Jewish monthly of Antwerp. “There is no doubt that Jerusalem is Israel’s capital. It’s clear; it’s reality. There’s no discussion on this issue,” he said. “But we’re in a political context where Europe sees Jerusalem as subject to negotiations toward a two-state solution.” In December, Belgian Prime Minister Charles Michel condemned President Donald Trump’s recognition of Jerusalem

as Israel’s capital. The United States intends to move its embassy there next month from Tel Aviv. Trump has said that his recognition of Jerusalem as the Israeli capital does not exclude future recognition of parts of the city as the Palestinian capital, if the two sides reach an agreement. The United States is formulating a framework for talks. However, officials from the Palestinian Authority, including its president, Mahmoud Abbas, have said they consider the United States unfit to mediate talks following its recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital. Israel took over the eastern part of Jerusalem from Jordan in 1967. The Palestinians claim Jerusalem as their capital city for a future independent state.

Office of Paris Jewish student group vandalized (JTA)—Someone broke into the office of a Jewish student group at a university in Paris, vandalizing with anti-Israel and anti-Semitic graffiti and strewing its papers across the room. The attack on the office of the French Jewish Students Union at the University of Paris came on Wednesday, March 28, hours before some 10,000 people participated in a memorial march in Paris for an 85-year-old Holocaust survivor who was burned and found dead with 11 stab wounds in what police are calling an anti-Semitic murder. Among the graffiti written on the walls of the office was “Zionist racist

anti-goy office,” and “Palestine will prevail,” as well as “Death to Israel,” and “Viva Arafat,” referring to the late Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat. A far-left student group reportedly was protesting on the campus at the time of the vandalism, according to the French daily Le Monde. The group’s protest was not about Israel. University president Georges Haddad tweeted a condemnation of the attack, calling it “an odious act.” The French Minister of Higher Education Frédérique Vidal called it “shameful.” The Jewish student leaders said they will ask police to open an investigation.

Saluting 70 Years

of Courage, Innovation and Persistence

Williams Mullen is proud to join the Jewish community of Hampton Roads in celebrating this milestone. For additional information about Williams Mullen, please contact: Alyssa C. Embree | Howard E. Gordon | Samuel M. Kroll | William L. Nusbaum | Lawrence R. Siegel

jewishnewsva.org | April 9, 2018 | Jewish News | 7

Nation OP-ED

The US, and the world, need our anti-Semitism monitor more than ever Nita Lowey and Chris Smith

(JTA)—This is a hypothetical memo from two members of the U.S. House of Representatives to the nominee for secretary of state, Mike Pompeo. To: Mike Pompeo From: Nita Lowey, Chris Smith Mr. Pompeo: ess than two weeks ago, many of our constituents, as well as Jewish families here and abroad, sat down for a

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seder to commemorate the Exodus story of Passover. Anti-Semitic attacks, threats and incidents were likely a topic of discussion at many tables. Conversations about Jewish communities around the world focused on a key question: Is there a future for these communities in their home countries, or will they be forced into a modern Exodus? As two members of Congress dedicated to fighting anti-Semitism, we are deeply concerned by the increase in anti-Semitism around the globe in the last year. Here are just a few of the stories that

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have been brought to our attention: The recent slaying of an 85-year-old Holocaust survivor in Paris, France, who the police believe was targeted because of her religion; • Comments from Russian President Vladimir Putin that the Jews could be responsible for interfering in the U.S. elections; • A study from the UK’s Community Security Trust, which found that the Jewish community was targeted at a rate of nearly four times a day in 2017, an all-time high; • The suspected arson of a kosher grocery store in Créteil, France, which had just been defaced with Nazi swastikas; • A letter on the website for the Jewish community of Poland outlining their concerns about a “growing wave of intolerance, xenophobia, and anti-Semitism” in the country, leaving many in the community feeling unsafe; • A 40 percent increase in the number of anti-Semitic incidents of vandalism in 2017 in the Netherlands; and • Attempts in many countries to outlaw circumcision and various kosher and halal butchering practices. Every one of these incidents is one too many, and they are just a small sample of what is happening around the globe. The United States has consistently been a leader in the fight to combat international anti-Semitism. Since 2004, this work has been led by the U.S. State Department’s Special Envoy to Monitor and Combat Anti-Semitism. The Global Anti-Semitism Review Act of 2004, signed into law that year, created and required the position and its supporting office. Rep. Chris Smith authored those provisions of the law. The position is tasked with tracking and leading U.S. efforts against anti-Semitism around the globe. Just as important, the Special Envoy has served as a critical high-level liaison in

the U.S. administration for international Jewish communities. The Special Envoy position is now more important than ever. Anti-Semitic extremists in the United States and elsewhere are sharing and refining their methods and materials with each other. Terrorist groups like ISIS and al-Qaeda have hard-wired hatred of Jewish people into their ideological DNA, using it as a basis for their attack priorities and propaganda. Anti-Semitic attitudes, rhetoric and incidents have risen on the far left, far right and even the mainstream of the ideological spectrum in many countries. As you may be aware, the position of Special Envoy to Monitor and Combat Anti-Semitism has remained vacant since the beginning of the administration. Additionally, there has been no staff in the Office to Monitor and Combat AntiSemitism since May 2017. Throughout 2017, we consistently urged the administration to fill the Special Envoy position as soon as possible, including through directives in the Fiscal Year 2017 and 2018 Omnibus bills. Ranking Member Nita Lowey authored those provisions in those appropriations bills. But even in the light of rising violence and discrimination against the world’s Jewish communities, the position and office are still vacant. You will have many challenges to tackle should you be confirmed as the U.S. Secretary of State. Nonetheless, we urge you to make it a top priority to quickly appoint a person of recognized distinction in combating anti-Semitism, or in a directly relevant field, to the Special Envoy position. The longer this position remains empty, the more likely the U.S. commitment to combating the modern-day scourge of an ancient evil is called into question. U.S. leadership in the fight against anti-Semitism is essential, even more so now, and we cannot shirk the responsibilities that rest on our shoulders as a world leader. At the end of a Passover seder,

Nation participants often say “Next year in Jerusalem.” But with increasing threats against Jewish communities in Europe, Latin America and elsewhere, let us hope for seders next year in the UK, France, Poland, the Netherlands and the rest of the world. We look forward to working with you to ensure this is a reality.

Nita Lowey, a Democrat, represents New York’s 17th District in the U.S. House of Representatives. Chris Smith, a Republican, represents New Jersey’s 4th District in the House. 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.

LOCAL RELATIONSHIPS MATTER MEET:

Rabbi Roz Mandelberg

Personal relationships are important. We get better service from local businesses. They work with us and they care about us, we’re not just a name on a form.”

Israel’s Beit Hatfutsot museum gets serious about Jewish humor Ben Harris

(JTA)—Stop me if you’ve heard this one: “Simi bar Chiya said to Rav, ‘As they say, camels in Medea can dance in a small jar; here is a jar and here are camels and here is Medea, and they are not dancing!’” If this were the second century C.E., when this wry dialogue from the Talmud was supposed to have taken place, you might be cracking up. Suffice it to say that Jewish humor did not start with Sholem Aleichem or end with Jerry Seinfeld. As a new exhibit at Beit Hatfutsot: The Museum of the Jewish People makes clear, Jewish humor is an alternative lens through which to view the diversity— and continuity—of Jewish life around the world. Since 1978, the Tel Aviv museum has offered visitors a dizzying tour of the varied Jewish experience over two millennia of dispersion across the globe. With the core exhibition now shuttered as Beit Hatfutsot undergoes its first comprehensive overhaul in four decades, the museum known informally as the Diaspora Museum has opened an exhibition, three years in the making, that highlights the breadth of Jewish humor across a wide swath of historical eras and cultural contexts, from the silly folktales of Chelm to the pointed political comedy of Lenny Bruce. “The Museum of the Jewish People at Beit Hatfutsot is the only museum in the world to tell the story of all Jewish people,” Irina Nevzlin, chair of the museum’s board of directors, says. “It is a place

of positive, optimistic and future-oriented Jewish identity, and, as such, it’s the perfect place for a Jewish humor exhibition.” “Let There Be Laughter: Jewish Humor Around the World” brings together the personal affects of the great Jewish comedians, samples of the humor of Woody Allen and the Marx Brothers, and examples of French, Moroccan, Russian and other lesser-known subtypes of Jewish hilarity. It features an original film, The Standups, with well-known Israeli comedians sharing childhood stories. And it includes a number of interactive exhibits that lets visitors get hands-on with Jewish humor. “We understood that humor is really a way that connects all the Jewish people from around the world,” says Asaf Galay, one of the exhibition’s curators. To Galay, humor is among the things that unites a diverse global Jewish community. Distinctly Jewish forms of humor, though often difficult to define precisely, nevertheless have common themes that transcend geography and culture. And humor is one of the central ways Jews identify as Jewish. According to the 2013 Pew survey of American Jews, 42 percent of respondents said having a good sense of humor is essential to their Jewish identity. As with the perennial question of what constitutes Jewish literature—is it the writings that Jews create or is it a distinct genre with its own particular features and themes?—the exact parameters of Jewish humor are a matter of debate. Galay is

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Israel

Nation continued from page 9

firm in his view that Jewish humor has distinct features and recurring themes that are evident across the world. “It doesn’t mean that all Jewish comedians make Jewish humor,” Galay says. “It doesn’t mean that if you’re Jewish, you are doing Jewish humor. But it’s a lot of time that Jewish people make Jewish humor.” Among those distinct features are certain recurring archetypes: the Jewish mother who feeds and protects (often excessively); the shlimazel, a sort of distinctly Jewish bumbler; the shiksa, or gentile woman, who both tempts Jewish men and shows up lapsed Jews; and the notorious, some would say misogynistic, Jewish American Princess. There are also thematic continuities to Jewish humor across the world, especially the Jew as an anti-establishment outsider who mocks the conventions of the mainstream, as evidenced by the bottomless trove of rabbi, priest and imam jokes. “From my research, I found out that in all the Jewish communities there was a very similar kind of humor,” Galay says. Rachel Druck, the editor of the museum’s communities database, lists “humor as self-defense,” “humor of internal criticism” and “humor as a way in” in a blog post about the ways humor has served the Jewish people over the centuries. In the United States, Jewish humor has helped define the comedic mainstream, as apparent from the enormous success of Seinfeld, the films of Woody Allen and Mel Brooks, and the routines of female comics from Fanny Brice to Sarah Silverman. Less well-known is that something similar transpired in Russia. Arkady Raikin, a Latvian-born Jew, was a legendary Soviet comic who managed to ridicule the inefficiencies and corruption of the communist regime despite the tight control its censors exercised over cultural expression. And the satirical magazine Krokodil, a Soviet analog of Mad magazine, was led by Jewish editors for decades, Galay said. The exhibition is designed to be highly interactive. Visitors will be able to record themselves telling a Jewish joke on a makeshift comedy club stage that they can then upload to social media. A slot machine allows users to push a button

and hear Jewish jokes about God and rabbis. Video clips show the various ways that Jewish references have seeped into the broader comedic culture, including the famous scene from The Big Lebowski in which Walter Sobchak grumbles about being “shomer f***ing shabbos,” and Mel Brooks portraying Moses in History of the World, Part I.

There are also thematic continuities to Jewish humor across the world, especially the Jew as an anti-establishment outsider.

Then there are the artifacts. The exhibition includes a publicity photo from the 1979 Woody Allen film Manhattan, a 1970 record album from the Israeli comedy troupe HaGashashim and volumes of Jewish jokes in Russian, German and Japanese. But Seinfeld gets something of the royal treatment. The exhibit features an approximation of Jerry’s living room, complete with a portrait of Kramer made famous in the 1992 episode “The Letter.” Visitors can feast their eyes on a range of other paraphernalia from the 1990s megahit, including the original shirt worn by the Soup Nazi signed by Larry Thomas, the actor who played him. The exhibit, which will run until 2020, is intended in part as an alternative draw while the museum’s core exhibition undergoes renovation. The core exhibition is slated to reopen in 2019. This article, sponsored by the American Jewish Press Association, was produced by JTA’s native content team.

10 | Jewish News | April 9, 2018 | jewishnewsva.org

Saudi crown prince says Israel has a right to exist as a state WASHINGTON ( JTA)—Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman said Israel has a right to exist as a state, but stopped short of saying it should be recognized as a Jewish state. The remarks by the prince, Saudi’s effective ruler, incrementally advanced Saudi Arabia’s willingness to publicly engage with Israel. In an interview with Jeffrey Goldberg, the editor of The Atlantic, Mohammed affirmatively accepted Israel’s right to exist as a state, apparently a first for a Saudi leader. Mohammed avoided Goldberg’s question as to whether he would recognize Israel as a Jewish state, a key Israeli demand of any permanent IsraeliPalestinian agreement. “I believe that each people, anywhere, has a right to live in their peaceful nation,” he said. “I believe the Palestinians and the Israelis have the right to have their own land. But we have to have a peace agreement to assure the stability for everyone and to have normal relations.” Since 2002, Saudi Arabia has embraced the Arab League peace plan, which would recognize Israeli statehood, but conditions such recognition on an Israeli-Palestinian peace agreement based on the 1967 lines. Mohammed also said that Saudis had no religious problem with Israel as a whole, but with the control of the Temple Mount in Jerusalem, a site known to Muslims as Haram as-Sharif that is holy to both faiths, and with Palestinian rights. “We have religious concerns about the fate of the holy mosque in Jerusalem and about the rights of the Palestinian people,” he said. “This is what we have. We don’t have any objection against any other people.” Under Mohammed, who last year consolidated his power in Saudi Arabia, longstanding secret ties with Israel have become more open; Saudi Arabia recently allowed flights launched in Israel by non-Israel carriers to travel through Saudi airspace. Saudi Arabia and Israel have long shared intelligence about their common enemy in the region, Iran.

Mohammed said Israel’s commercial ties with Saudi Arabia and other Arab countries would likely flourish should there be peace. “Israel is a big economy compared to their size and it’s a growing economy, and of course, there are a lot of interests we share with Israel and if there is peace, there would be a lot of interest between Israel and the Gulf Cooperation Council countries and countries like Egypt and Jordan,” he said. The GCC, an economic umbrella led by Saudi Arabia, encompasses most countries in the Persian Gulf. Reuters reported that Mohammed’s father, King Salman, emphasized in a statement distributed through state media “the kingdom’s steadfast position towards the Palestinian issue and the legitimate rights of the Palestinian people to an independent state with Jerusalem as its capital.” In the Atlantic interview, Mohammed repeated his claim that Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, was worse than Hitler, a comparison that made headlines when he made it last month in a 60 Minutes interview. “I believe the Iranian supreme leader makes Hitler look good,” the prince said. “Hitler didn’t do what the supreme leader is trying to do. Hitler tried to conquer Europe.… The supreme leader is trying to conquer the world.” Hitler’s genocide against the Jews cost 6 million Jewish lives. The war he initiated is believed to have cost as many as 50 million lives. Last month, Mohammed participated in an off-the-record interfaith meeting that included three American rabbis: Rabbi Steven Wernick, head of United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism; Rabbi Rick Jacobs, president of the Union for Reform Judaism; and Allen Fagin, executive vice president of the Orthodox Union. He also met separately with the heads of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, the American Jewish Committee, the Anti-Defamation League, the Conference of President of Major American Jewish Organizations, B’nai B’rith International and the Jewish Federations of North America.

simon family jcc’s

Israel Fest A community-wide Celebration the State of Israel’s 70th Independence Day

Sunday, April 22, 11 AM-4 pm

Reba and Sam Sandler Family Campus 5000 Corporate Woods Drive, Virginia Beach

Experience Israel through art, education, culture, food and entertainment with activities for all ages! Listen, dance, and learn with Israeli DJ Eyal Rob, co-founder of Israel’s first music television channel, as he shares tunes from Israel’s past 70 years! Join hundreds of people to help make Tidewater’s largest Israeli flag at 2:30. No supplies needed, just show up!

‫יום העצמאות‬ For friends of

all faiths!

FREE & open to the entire community. Tickets required for some experiences and food.

For more information call 321-2338 or visit

israel’s

SimonFamilyJCC.org/IsraelFest

jewishnewsva.org | April 9, 2018 | Jewish News | 11

it’s a wrap Professor Gil Troy makes the case for the Zionism of today and tomorrow Andy Fox

n March 13, Tidewater was treated to an intimate, but spirited visit with Professor Gil Troy, a noted scholar of modern American history, as well as of the history and philosophy of Zionism from its 19th century roots to today. In The Zionist Ideas: Visions for the Jewish Homeland—Then, Now, Tomorrow, his recent update to the Arthur Hertzberg classic, Troy channels more than 170 distinct and passionate voices on the triumphs and challenges of Zionism and the modern, Jewish, and democratic State of Israel. Troy sketched out the historic and cultural philosophies of Zionism from the time of Theodore Herzl through the founding and maturing of Israel, and finally to the current age of de-legitimization and denial of the reality of Israel as a progressive and democratic state. During his time in Tidewater, Troy championed the importance of the American Jewish community serving as torchbearers for the ever-evolving idea of Zionism as the expression of what Israel should be, based on its history and its modern existence as a Jewish democratic state. He challenged his audience to continue the conversation in a communal setting by hosting Zionist “salons” (a fancy word for what most would describe as a book club, complete with the steady flow of wine to facilitate the discourse) and to

Gil Troy speaks to students at the Legal Studies Academy at First Colonial High School.

Christian Broadcasting Network News reporter, Mark Martin, interviews Gil Troy.

“play hooky” on Yom Ha’atzmaut this year, Israel’s 70th birthday, eat ice cream for breakfast, and spend some time answering the questions, “What does Israel mean to me? What does Zionism mean to me?” Professor Troy’s visit was the latest successful and well-attended event in the Community Relations Council of the United Jewish Federation of Tidewater and Simon Family JCC’s Israel Today@70 program, a year-long offering of scholarly and cultural events celebrating Israel, her people, their stories, and the Jewish community’s shared future. Israel Today@70 is made possible through the support of numerous community partners and friends.

Gil Troy speaks at Virginia Wesleyan University.

Upcoming Israel Today events • Screenwriter and Tel Aviv DJ Eyal Rob Thursday, April 19, 6:30 pm Congregation Beth El • Israel Fest Sunday April 22, 11 am–4 pm Simon Family JCC See page 16

Gil Troy.

12 | Jewish News | April 9, 2018 | jewishnewsva.org

Gil Troy and Michael Mostofsky.

it’s a wrap

Israeli artist shares details of her work with the theme of empathy and understanding.

Israeli artists make quick stop in Norfolk for CRC and Women’s Cabinet

or more than 20 years, Richmond Ballet’s Minds In Motion program has brought students from all walks of life and from across Virginia, to the stage to share the joys of dance and performance. Nearly a decade ago, they traveled the program to Israel, and for the past eight years, Jewish-Israeli and Arab-Israeli students have come together to perform a Minds In Motion experience for their families and schools. From March 9 through March 16, more than 70 artists and guests from Israel traveled to Virginia for Art For Understanding, a collaboration and cultural exchange connecting students from Minds In Motion in Virginia and Matter of Color, a group of artists from Israel. As part of the exchange, Matter of Color artists created an exhibition of more than 100 paintings based on the theme of empathy and understanding. The paintings were available for sale by bid. Four pieces of art were displayed at the Reba and Sam Sandler Family Campus prior to the auction, which took place at Binn’s of Williamsburg. Proceeds benefitted the Minds in Motion programs in Israel and in Virginia. A collaboration between the Community Relations Council and the

Women’s Cabinet of the United Jewish Federation of Tidewater enabled the 70 visiting Israeli artists and community members to engage in a lunchtime event at MacArthur Center’s Live 360 space on Thursday, March 15. A discussion on art was led by Brett Bonda, Richmond Ballet’s managing director, along with the visiting Israeli artists. Matter of Color artists, headed up by their instructor and curator, Bruria Hassner of Tel Aviv, have been gathering to paint for more than two decades. The group comprises approximately 120 women and a few men who paint together several times a week. The painters have traveled on “A Matter of Colors” missions throughout the world, benefitting children in places such as China and Bulgaria. Minds In Motion is the cornerstone of Richmond Ballet’s Outreach programming with nearly 2,000 students participating annually. This program taking place in Israel is supported through the UJFT’s Israel and Overseas allocation, through the annual campaign. For more information, contact Melissa Eichelbaum, program associate, United Jewish Federation of Tidewater, at MEichelbaum@ ujft.org.

jewishnewsva.org | April 9, 2018 | Jewish News | 13

UNited Jewish Federation of Tidewater &

Virginia Arts Festival Present a live multimedia event

featuring

Israel’s Award-winning radio show and podcast sunday, April 15 { 7:30 pm { Harbor Club at Waterside District, Norfolk

“MIXTAPE’’ - THE STORIES BEHIND ISRAEL’S ULTIMATE PLAYLIST Israel Story kicks off it’s U.S. tour and debuts a brand new multi-sensory live show celebrating Israel's 70th anniversary.

"Mixtape" - The Stories Behind Israel's Ultimate Playlist - explores seven decades of Israeli stories and songs in celebration of the nation’s milestone birthday. Mishy Harman and his friends will take the audience behind the scenes of some of Israel's most iconic (and obscure) songs as they unpack the dramas, complexities, social tensions, and humor of life in Israel. In a magical blend of live storytelling, music, and dance, along with video and art, all 11 members of Israel's most popular podcast bring to life the stories of regular and irregular Israelis – illustrating the ethnic diversity, shared and differing beliefs, and contrasting ideas which comprise Israel’s cosmopolitan, chutzpa-filled, old and new society. Prepare for an unforgettable, fun evening of phenomenal stories told through Israeli tunes. And, more than anything else, experience the surprising brand of Israel Story which has millions of devoted listeners around the globe, and what public radio icon Ira Glass calls “the Israeli ‘This American Life.’” For tickets ($35) or more information, visit VAFest.org/IsraelStory or call 321-2304. 14 | Jewish News | April 9, 2018 | jewishnewsva.org

Israel@70

Supplement to Jewish News April 9, 2018 jewishnewsva.org | April 9, 2018 | Israel@70 | Jewish News | 15

Israel@70

Celebrate Israel@70

Stories, authentic Israeli food, music, art, camels, a HUGE Israeli flag, and more Virginia Arts Festival and United Jewish Federation of Tidewater present

Israel Story’s Mixtape: The Stories Behind Israel’s Ultimate Playlist Sunday, April 15, 7:30 pm

Harbor Club at Waterside District 333 Waterside Drive, Norfolk

a community-wide celebration of the State of Israel’s 70th year Sunday, April 22, 11 am–4 pm Reba and Sam Sandler Family Campus FREE* Visit simonfamilyjcc.org/israelfest for more information and to volunteer, or call 321-2304.

ixtape: The Stories Behind Israel’s Ultimate Playlist—explores seven decades of Israeli stories and songs. Mishy Harmon’s award-winning podcast, Israel Story will take the audience behind the scenes of some of Israel’s most iconic (and obscure) songs as they unpack the dramas, complexities, social tensions, and humor of life in Israel.

Experience Israel through art, education, food, games, and entertainment with activities for all ages.

Mishy Harmon.

Visit VAFest.org/IsraelStory for tickets. $35 (Military, senior, and student pricing available).

Simon Family JCC and CRC along with community partners, including Congregation Beth El’s Celebrating Judaism Through the Arts, present:

Israel Today@70 with Eyal Rob Thursday, April 19, 6:30 pm Congregation Beth El, Free 422 Shirley Avenue, Norfolk

o-founder of Israel’s first music television channel, Israeli journalist and culture critic, Eyal Rob brings the Tel Aviv music scene to Tidewater, reflecting the Jewish nation’s songs through wars, peace, struggle, and hope. This interactive Yom Ha’Atzmaut celebration is for all ages. (See page 31.)

Israel Fest

Eyal-Rob.

Visit JewishVA.org/IsraelToday#EyalRob to RSVP (required) or call 321-2304.

16 | Jewish News | Israel@70 | April 9, 2018 | jewishnewsva.org

Children’s Israel activities with Simon Family JCC summer camp counselors, Strelitz Early Childhood Center and Hebrew Academy of Tidewater teachers, Sababa Beachaway, PJ Library, the Nature Bus, and more, include: • A scavenger hunt through Israel for kids and teens • Live Animals in Tidewater’s version of the Jerusalem Biblical Zoo • Storytime in Hebrew and English • Sababa lawn games for teens • Archeological dig for ancient coins in Beer-Sheva • Robotics Build & Battle • Sand art in the Negev • Israel sensory tables for toddlers • Diaper Derby through Israel • Much, much more! Activities for the entire family include: • Authentic Israeli street food with visiting Chef, Guy Beery • HQ Trivia—Test your Israel knowledge • Israeli Cinematheque featuring films from the past seven decades • Camel rides • Henna • Virtual reality trips through Israel

• Collaborative community art projects • Learn to be more Sababa like Israelis— lessons on Jewish mindfulness • Shop for Israeli art, jewelry, flags, books, essential oils, and more • Backgammon tournament • Israel photo ops galore • Music of the past 70 years by Israeli DJ, Eyal Rob Exhibits on display include: • Community Umbrella Installation. More than 300 hand painted works of art by students across the community through the generosity of the Gifford Foundation • Beit Hatfutsot’s Celebrating Israel@70: Snapshots of the People Behind a Young State • Israel21c’s 70 Years of Israeli Achievements— A Timeline of Success • Israel Matters, a Stand With Us multi-panel display sharing facts about Israel’s people, history, vibrant economy, innovations, maps and more. And, be sure to join hundreds of people at 2:30 pm at the soccer field, to be part of Tidewater’s largest Israeli flag, ever! (More details on page 31.) *Tickets required for some experiences and food.

Israel@70 N o r fo lk to M ig da l H a’e m e k

Katie Becker Lazarus

atie Becker met Yoni Lazarus at Hunter College in New York while they were both in doctoral programs. Married in 2012, the couple made aliyah, moving to Jerusalem with their ninemonth-old child in 2014 during Operation Protective Shield. The Lazaruses moved north to

Migdal Ha’emek in 2016, where they now live with their three small children. Earlier this year, The Jerusalem Post profiled the couple in an article titled, On the same track. The article notes, “Katie…grew up first in Virginia Beach then in Norfolk, Va., which had an Orthodox community of around 100 Jewish families. She and her identical twin sister and their two siblings attended the community day school there through eighth grade.” The school, of course, was Hebrew Academy of Tidewater. Her parents are Susan and Jon Becker. Katie Lazarus now works in an early childhood center and in two preschool programs treating children with autism. In addition to working for the army in Haifa in his area of endurance sports and sports medicine, Yoni Lazarus operates his own physical therapy practice. The Post article concludes, “Though the Lazaruses have successfully coped with some Israeli challenges such as “learning Hebrew, finding jobs and a community,” naturally they still miss their families. Besides becoming more established economically, their present goals are “to raise a happy, well-grounded family, inspire others to move to Israel and to strengthen the community that we joined two years ago.”

The Tidewater Umbrella Project now in the Cardo of the Sandler Family Campus.

jewishnewsva.org | April 9, 2018 | Israel@70 | Jewish News | 17

Israel@70 OP-ED

Israel at 70: It’s time to reclaim the Z-word, Zionism Gil Troy

JERUSALEM (JTA)—All too often, when I ask campus organizations that are pro-Israel and deeply Zionist why they avoid using the “Z-word” in their messaging and literature, I’m told, “Zionism doesn’t poll well.” True, not polling well is one of today’s great sins. But imagine what our world would be like if our ancestors feared the polls. The American Revolution wouldn’t have polled well. Suggestions that Northerners crush slavery in 1860 wouldn’t have polled well. And proposing a new Jewish state in 1897 wouldn’t have polled well either. At the time, most European Jews believed enlightened Europe was outgrowing anti-Semitism

—that polled well. Let’s learn from our heroic predecessors—and from feminists, gays, and African-Americans, whose first attempts to defend their rights didn’t poll well either. Take back the night, resist internalizing our oppressors’ hatred of us. Reclaim the Z-word: Zionism. You cannot defeat those delegitimizing Israel by surrendering Zionism, the movement that established Israel. If a century ago Zionism brought pride back to the term “Jew,” Jews and non-Jews today must bring pride back to the term “Zionist.” In his book on “the strage career of the troublesome” N-word, the AfricanAmerican Harvard Law professor Randall Kennedy explains the “protean nature” of

Isr a e l 20 07 fo r a 50th w e dding anniv e r sa ry

political words. Groups can triumph with linguistic magic by defining themselves and their aims; when enemies define them, they lose. Kennedy warns against allowing the hater to define the hated, and that’s what is happening. First, “shame on them”: Shame on the anti-Zionists who single out Jewish nationalism, meaning Zionism, in a world organized by nationalisms, and call it “racist.” Shame on them for libeling a democratic movement. Shame on them for ignoring Judaism’s national-religious duality, which allows non-Jews to convert into the Jewish religion and join the Gil Troy. Jewish nation, making Zionism among Jewish people project? If so, you stick with the least biologically based, least racist, it because you belong to the Jewish people. most permeable forms of nationalism. And you help perfect that state through And shame on them for racializing the Zionism—embracing different schools of national conflict between Israelis and Zionist thought. It could be Religious Palestinians—inflaming hatred, making Zionism or left-leaning Labor Zionism peace more elusive. or right-leaning Revisionist Zionism or Alas, shame on us, too. Zionism should Cultural Zionism. be a more popular term than “Israel.” In honor of Israel’s 70th birthday, I Until 1948, Zionism was the movement just published The Zionist Ideas, updataffirming that Jews are a people with a ing Arthur Hertzberg’s homeland and that like classic anthology The other nations, Jews have Zionist Idea. Adding the the right to establish a “s” broadens the constate on that land (others versation, from the 38 may, too—nationalism thinkers in his book to involves collective conIsrael’s ranking the 170 in mine. As part sciousness, not exclusive on the of its publication and in land claims). Since 1948, world honor of Yom Haatzmaut, Zionism has been the “Happiness Index.” Israel’s Independence movement to perfect that Day, I am urging readstate. ers to host Zionist salons, Like all countries, home-based conversaIsrael makes good and tions addressing “what Zionism and Israel bad moves. If you’re anti-Zionist, you mean to me today.” reject Israel’s very existence. If you’re critEstablishing Israel in 1948 fulfilled the ical of Israel somehow, you’re a thinking Zionist idea—that powerless Jews need a human being. state as a refuge, immediately, and as a America’s president offers an opporplatform to flourish and express Jewish tunity to understand that distinction. values, long-term. Seventy years later, The 77 percent of American Jews who debating Zionist ideas welcomes debate hate Donald Trump still remain proudly from left to right, religious and nonreAmerican. Why can’t we love Israel and ligious, about what Zionism and Israel Zionism regardless of particular prime can mean to me as Jew, as a person—and ministers or policies, too? how some of these ideas can help Israel Here’s the real question for Jews: Do become a model democracy. you feel connected to Israel, today’s great

First row: Nathan Levy, Jacob Levy, Burton and Marcia Moss, Amy Levy, Ben Levy, Marc Moss. Second row: Suzanne Moss, Tom Moss, Kevin Moss, Max Moss, Alaurah Moss, Gary Moss, Mariah Moss, Hannah Moss, Sophie Levy, David Blais, Sarah Blais, Pam Blais, Rosemarie Blais, Gilly Blais, Kirk Levy, Marcia Hofheimer, and Stacie Moss.

Marcia and Burton Moss

dding to our family’s collective memories, this was our “dream come true”—a perfect travel and life experience to share with our family, and especially our grandchildren—to see for themselves the miracle that is Israel and feel the

pride in their people. There have been many visits by us before and after, collectively 50 plus, but for us, this was the best, filling our hearts and souls with gladness!

18 | Jewish News | Israel@70 | April 9, 2018 | jewishnewsva.org

Israel@70

Laura Gross “Running the Tel Aviv Half Marathon

That’s why Zionism didn’t end in 1948—the debates continue. If Zionism as an idea asserts that Jews are a people with a homeland, and Zionism as a movement builds, protects and perfects the state, Zionism as a value is more personal. Zionists see it as a way of explaining Judaism as a culture, a civilization, an ethnicity, a tradition, not just a religion. It anchors us in a self-indulgent, throwaway society, providing a sense of community in an often lonely, alienating culture, and a sense of mission in an often aimless world. Reclaiming Zionism often entails moving from Political Zionism—asking what we can do for our country—to Identity Zionism—asking, with apologies to JFK, what your country can do for you. There’s a reason why Israel ranks 11th on the world “Happiness Index,” despite the nation’s many challenges. Most Israelis are instinctively Identity Zionists. Their identity blossoms from the

Zionist state—which appreciates strong family values, robust community ties, deep patriotic feelings— and a broader sense of mission in life. That’s part of the package Birthright participants and other tourists appreciate when visiting Israel. And that’s the recipe that makes so many Israelis happy despite the rush-rush of their society and the roar-roar of some Palestinian neighbors demanding their destruction. Zionism isn’t the only way or the best way, it’s just my way, my people’s way. I’m not smart enough to improvise another framework. Identity Zionism includes commitments to Jewish education, Jewish action, to making Jewish ethics come alive, to Jewish peoplehood and Jewish community—these are core Zionist values I, for one, would—in Churchill’s words—never surrender. Today, the #MeToo conversation spotlights how often victims—especially

women—internalize persecution, letting bullies win. Anyone interested in abandoning Zionism first should ask: How much of this internalizes the delegitimization campaign? If we don’t stand up for ourselves, who are we? If we let those haters win, what are we? And if we don’t start celebrating and reclaiming the Z-word now—at Israel’s 70th—then when? Gil Troy is the author of “The Zionist Ideas,” which updates Arthur Hertzberg’s classic work “The Zionist Idea,” and was just published by The Jewish Publication Society. He is a Distinguished Scholar of North American History at McGill University and was in Tidewater last month.[See page 12] Follow on Twitter @GilTroy 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.

with your daughter—priceless Israel experience!!”

Aly and Laura Gross in Tel Aviv in February, 2018.

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jewishnewsva.org | April 9, 2018 | Israel@70 | Jewish News | 19

Israel@70 Israel at 70: How 1948 changed American Jews Ben Sales

( JTA)—One year after Israel’s establishment, in the dead of night, three students ascended a tower at the Jewish Theological Seminary in New York and raised the Israeli flag. The next morning, the Conservative rabbinical school’s administration took it down. That act of surreptitious Zionist protest was one of several at JTS during the years surrounding 1948, when Israel gained independence, Michael Greenbaum wrote in an essay in Tradition Renewed, a JTS history edited by Jack Wertheimer. Students supported the new Jewish state. However, the seminary’s chancellor, Louis Finkelstein, opposed American Judaism focusing all its efforts across an ocean, and also needed to appease a board wary

of Jewish nationalism. But the students persisted. Once, they sang the Israeli anthem Hatikvah following graduation ceremonies. Another time, they convinced their colleagues at the Union Theological Seminary, the Protestant school next door, to play the anthem from their bell tower. Today, nearly all American Jewish institutions are vocally, even passionately pro-Israel. But even in the years after the Jewish state won its independence 70 years ago, that feeling was not yet universal. Before the Holocaust, Zionism itself was polarizing among American Jews. Many, especially in the Reform movement, felt support for a Jewish homeland would cause their loyalty to America to be called into question. The other side was represented by Louis Brandeis, the first

Fro m C airo to Is r a e l

John Correll

ver a three-day weekend in 1990 while on a job assignment in

Jewish Supreme Court justice, who saw no conflict between American values and Zionist aspirations. By the time Israel declared independence on May 14, 1948, American Jews, scarred by images of the Holocaust and Nazism and inspired by newsreels of tanned kibbutzniks, were largely supportive of Zionism. But they were not yet turning out for organized political advocacy and mass tourism to Jerusalem and Tel Aviv. Instead they were getting used to the idea of a Jewish sovereign state—gradually incorporating it into their culture, prayers and religious outlook. “After the mid-1930s, the majority of American Jews had come to be positive one way or another about the idea of a Jewish homeland,” says Hasia Diner, director of the Goldstein-Goren Center for American Jewish History at New York

Ros es , th e 19 67 wa r , an d a h u sban d Jennifer Zoberman

Cairo, Egypt, I decided to visit

hile attending the University

Israeli friends who lived in the Jewish set-

of Arizona in Tuscon, my par-

tlement of Ariel. When the Egyptian taxi

ents paid for a European trip

driver picked me up from my hotel, he

for me, but I said, “I must go to Israel to

was very talkative and friendly until I told

help.” So, we lost our trip money.

him the airlines was El Al. There was dead

It was not possible to fly to Israel from

silence and he didn’t say another word. I also met a fellow amateur radio (ham)

University. “While 1948 on the one hand was very exciting and [had] lots of communal programming and celebrations, it was slightly anticlimactic in the sense that opposition had been gone for at least 10 years.” North American Jewish support for Israel was turbocharged by the Truman administration’s quick recognition of the state, and by the Israeli army’s victory against the Arab states in its war of independence. In February of that year, Golda Meyerson (later Meir), raised $400,000 in one day (the equivalent of some $4 million today) on behalf of the provisional state on just one stop in Montreal. In the weeks following independence, she started a drive in the United States and Canada for $75 million more (or about $750 million in 2018 dollars).

the U.S. due to the 1967 war, so I flew to Yossi with John Correll (sitting.)

Paris and stayed in a hotel for two weeks

operator living in the settlement. Yossi invited me to his house to use his radio equip-

until I could get a flight to Israel. I worked

ment in which I made many international contacts—including several to the States. At

on Kibbutz Ramat Hakovesh for the entire

the time of my visit, I was engaged to be married and one of the U.S. amateurs called

summer, allowing Kibbutzniks to serve in

my fiancée on the telephone. Through a “phone patch” (no cost) we were able to talk

the military.

to each directly (This was long before the internet. At the time, international calls were very expensive). I spent my final day in Jerusalem where I met a good friend from Sweden who also happened to be in Israel. My trip to Israel was brief, but truly an international experience!

20 | Jewish News | Israel@70 | April 9, 2018 | jewishnewsva.org

Jennifer Zoberman working in the rose fields.

At that time, I had no idea that a year later I would meet the love of my life, Israel Zoberman, and he turned out to be an Israeli! Israel, who attended college in Chicago during the war, was recruited by the Israeli consulate in Chicago to speak on his country’s behalf.

Israel@70 “There was a sense that once America recognized the state, Zionism had won, and everyone wanted to link with the winners,” says Jonathan Sarna, a professor of Jewish history at Brandeis University. “It was growing very quickly, it took in all of these refugees, which solved that problem.” After Israel secured its independence, American Jews began to engage with the new nation in small ways. There was no rush of tourism, but American Jews would show their support by purchasing goods from Israel, reading books about Israel or holding Israeli dance classes in their community centers. “Here’s this new state they had to kind of develop this relationship with, [and] the cultural realm was really the place it was happening,” Emily Alice Katz, author of the 2015 book Bringing Zion Home, told the New Books Network podcast. “There were these years in which it wasn’t as much about rallying the troops for these massive outpourings of aid or political influence, but it was more of this coming to know Israel.” Part of the reticence to support Israel stemmed from the ethos of 1950s America, with its focus on suburban growth, the “melting pot” and assimilation. Against that backdrop, American Jews were trying to prove they belonged as social and cultural equals in American society. So again they were fearful of “dual loyalty” charges that could stem from vocal support for a Jewish state. In a watershed moment in that debate, Israeli Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion sent a letter in 1950 to Jacob Blaustein, president of the American Jewish Committee, which for many years had been hesitant to throw its support behind the Jewish national movement. Ben-Gurion pledged not to speak for American Jewry or intervene in its affairs, and to dial down his insistence that American Jews move to Israel. In exchange, Blaustein recognized “the necessity and desirability” of supporting Israel in its nation building. “The 1950s were the heyday of American Jewish assimilation,” says Sara Hirschhorn, an Israel studies professor

at Oxford University. “It was the postwar era, when American Jews were benefiting from the same things everyone else was benefiting from – the GI bill, all kinds of ways for people to move into the middle class—and they wanted to continue to make the most of that.” Nevertheless, Israel began to show up in American Jewish religious practice. A Conservative prayer book published in 1949 had readings about Israel, but not the prayer for Israel that is now standard in many prayer books. Religious schools gradually shifted their pronunciation of Hebrew from European Ashkenazic to Sephardic-inflected Israeli. Non-Zionist religious leaders, like Finkelstein of JTS, eventually were sidelined. The biggest shift, Sarna says, was American Jewry viewing Judaism’s history as one of “destruction and rebirth.” That outlook posed the Holocaust and the establishment of Israel as its two poles and, Sarna said, remains dominant in

American Jewish thinking today. He noted that Israel’s Holocaust Remembrance Day and its Independence Day are commemorated about a week apart by design. “The theme of destruction and rebirth becomes a very important theme in the lives of American Jews,” he says. “So much so that American Jews don’t know the history of Zionism going back, and have bought the idea that it’s all about the Holocaust being linked to the birth of the State of Israel.” American Jews became more open in their celebration of Israel about a decade after 1948. Exodus, the 1958 novel by Leon Uris that painted Israel in heroic terms, was a national best-seller and was adapted into a popular movie in 1960 starring Paul Newman and Eva Marie Saint. In 1961, the Yiddish star Molly Picon starred in a Broadway musical about a visit by American Jews to Israel, Milk and Honey, which ran for more than 500 performances. A few years later, the Israel

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Pavilion at the New York World’s Fair showcased the country’s charms. And as Cold War tensions continued into the 1960s, Israel began to be seen as a U.S. ally against the Soviet Union. In 1967, Israel’s existence was again threatened by Arab armies. Between the anxious buildup to that war and Israel’s lightning victory, American Jewish acceptance of Israel had turned to adulation, placing the Jewish state at the center of their identity. The few dissenters are found on the non-Zionist left, among various haredi Orthodox movements, and in the quiet grumblings of some mainstream leaders and rabbis who think the emphasis on Israel has thwarted the development of distinctly American Judaisms. “Slowly but surely, Israel became more important for American Jews,” Sarna says. “1967 is at once a reflection of Israel’s growing importance, but at the same time it is a great intensification of Israel’s centrality.”

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jewishnewsva.org | April 9, 2018 | Israel@70 | Jewish News | 21

Th e Yo m Kippu r Wa r an d o r ang e cr at es Steve Snyder

n the summer of 1973, shortly after graduating from college, I went to Israel as a volunteer worker on

Kibbutz Ramat Hashofet in Northern Israel. I was there from June 1973 to May 1974, working mainly on the assembly line of the Kibbutz orange crate factory. The Yom Kippur war broke out in October 1973. A significant portion of the Kibbutzniks were army reservists, so they were immediately mobilized— leaving the volunteers and remaining Kibbutzniks to work and run the Kibbutz. During that time, all of us who were volunteers formed an emotional bond with the Kibbutz and the people who remained. The two young men pictured here with me are Wafik and Jemail, two Drues Arabs from a nearby village who worked alongside us on the assembly line in the orange crate factory.

The State of Israel…At 70 Marks the return in 1948 of a proud Jewish people seeking refuge from persecution after nearly two thousand years in exile. A people who took to The Land, after being denied such land rights in Europe. Men and women who dug in, defended and worked hard to create an oasis of beauty and an opportunity for self-determination. This despite constant threat from unaccepting neighbors and prevalent prejudice from world governing bodies. Undaunted, forced to send generations of her youth to defend the dream, Israelis have not just persevered; they have thrived. Resurrecting a long-dormant language. Contributing breakthroughs in science, irrigation, technology, medicine and defense systems, Adding richly to the arts. A perfect country? No. But what country, people or human being is perfect? Israel at 70 is a Miracle. A testament to the abilities of man. So with pride and admiration we say, “Happy Birthday, Israel!” May you find the peace you so desire and richly deserve.

Jay and Jodi Klebanoff

22 | Jewish News | Israel@70 | April 9, 2018 | jewishnewsva.org

Israel@70 Ben-Gurion University researchers offer cyber-safety tips to protect cameras, baby monitors, doorbells, and other IoT devices BEER-SHEVA, Israel—Off-the-shelf devices that include baby monitors, home security cameras, doorbells, and thermostats were easily co-opted by cyber researchers at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev (BGU). As part of their ongoing research into detecting vulnerabilities of devices and networks expanding in the smart home and Internet of Things (IoT), the researchers disassembled and reverse engineered many common devices and quickly uncovered serious security issues. “It is truly frightening how easily a criminal, voyeur or pedophile can take over these devices,” says Dr. Yossi Oren, a senior lecturer in BGU’s Department of Software and Information Systems Engineering and head of the Implementation Security and SideChannel Attacks Lab at Cyber@BGU. “Using these devices in our lab, we were able to play loud music through a baby monitor, turn off a thermostat and turn on a camera remotely, much to the concern of our researchers who themselves use these products.” “It only took 30 minutes to find passwords for most of the devices and some of them were found only through a Google search of the brand,” says Omer Shwartz, a Ph.D. student and member of Oren’s lab. “Once hackers can access an IoT device, like a camera, they can create an entire network of these camera models controlled remotely.” The BGU researchers discovered several ways hackers can take advantage of poorly secured devices. They discovered that similar products under different brands share the same common default passwords. Consumers and businesses rarely change device passwords when purchased so they could be operating infected with malicious code for years. They were also able to logon to entire Wi-Fi networks simply by retrieving the password stored in a device to gain network access.

Oren urges manufacturers to stop using easy, hard-coded passwords, to disable remote access capabilities, and to make it harder to get information from shared ports, like an audio jack which was proven vulnerable in other studies by Cyber@BGU researchers. “It seems getting IoT products to market at an attractive price is often more important than securing them properly,” he says. Tips for IoT Product Security With the goal of making consumers smarter about smart home device protection, BGU researchers offer a number of tips to keep IoT devices, families and businesses more secure: 1. Buy IoT devices only from reputable manufacturers and vendors. 2. Avoid used IoT devices. They could already have malware installed. 3. R esearch each device online to determine if it has a default password and if so change before installing. 4. Use strong passwords with a minimum of 16 letters. These are hard to crack. 5. Multiple devices shouldn’t share the same passwords. 6. Update software regularly which you will only get from reputable manufacturers. 7. Carefully consider the benefits and risks of connecting a device to the internet. “The increase in IoT technology popularity holds many benefits, but this surge of new, innovative, and cheap devices reveals complex security and privacy challenges,” says Yael Mathov, who also participated in the research. “We hope our findings will hold manufacturers more accountable and help alert both manufacturers and consumers to the dangers inherent in the widespread use of unsecured IoT devices.”

Israel@70 Israeli doctors perform lifesaving spinal surgeries in Ethiopia Josefin Dolsten

sraeli doctors performed surgeries to fix severe spinal deformities as part of a weeklong medical mission to Ethiopia. Eight doctors, two nurses and one physical therapist from the Hadassah Medical Center in Jerusalem traveled on the mission last month to the city of Mekelle, in the African country’s north. The Israeli medical team performed five surgeries at the Ayder Comprehensive Specialized Hospital, which serves some 8 million patients, but does not have a spine surgeon, according to Dr. Josh Schroeder, a spine surgeon at Hadassah who led the mission with Dr. Allon Moses, the chairman of Hadassah’s Department of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Disease.

In addition to performing the five surgeries, the Israelis also provided medical training to Ayder staff. The patients, all aged 18 and under, had spine deformities so severe that they were causing potentially lethal complications, including pressure on internal organs and lung infections, Schroeder says. The surgeries were complex, with some taking eight hours. “The problem with pediatric cases

is if you don’t treat them in time, they progress,” he says, “and these cases were so bad that if we wouldn’t have operated on these children, at least half of them would be dead by next year.” In addition to performing the five surgeries, the Israelis also provided medical training to Ayder staff. The medical

device company Medtronic donated the equipment necessary for the surgeries. Schroeder says he was happy to have coordinated and participated in the mission. “We’re working in a really privileged society, both in Israel and the United States, and things that we have at our fingertips don’t exist over there,” he says. “These people, you can really change their lives with a reasonably short intervention.” The Hadassah and Ayder hospitals have a partnership dating back five years, with Israeli medical students doing rotations in Mekelle, and Ayder physicans receiving training and supplies from Hadassah. (JTA)

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Isr a e l fo r th e fir st tim e …

M y trip to Isr a e l wa s th e b est trip

a story with sequel after sequel

Amy Zelenka

Suzanne Barr

never get tired of saying that every Israel experience is special—each one meaningful in

its own way. Whether it’s with a Birthright trip, bar or bat mitzvah, a Federation mission, or any other means of visiting—a trip to Israel is unique among all other travel destinations. Beyond special, however— Suzanne Barr in the center, holding sign upon arriving in Israel.

beyond unique or meaningful—is the first time one visits Israel; the

Amy Zelenka at Ceasarea with sons Sam and Adam in 2009.

first time one experiences the Jewish state; the first time you come home from Israel and feel a sense of other-world-

n 1967, I heard about a United Jewish Appeal Young Leadership Mission to Israel from our friends, Mavolyn and Sonny Lefcoe. I was advised that it would be a hard trip, but I wanted to go anyway. After making some calls, I managed to get on the trip, which

liness, simply because the candy wrappers on the ground in the parking lot of the

was comprised of about 30 people from around the country. The only people I knew

airport are written in English, and not in Hebrew. Who would think that something as

when I signed up were the Lefcoes.

humble and ubiquitous as a candy wrapper would cause that kind of inner turmoil?

The 14-day trip left on September 17, 1967, just months after the Six-Day War.

After all, what’s the difference between a Milky Way and a Mekupelet? Yes, it’s choc-

Everything was planned for us…. We flew El Al, met with people in the government,

olate, but it’s more, because the Mekupelet (with its Hebrew writing on the wrapper is

walked up Masada, went to all of the highlights, visited schools. It felt like walking

our chocolate—made in Israel—made in our home). My children used to request that

through the bible. Israel was a new country, and since we were there just after the war, tanks were all

I bring home chocolate from Israel with each trip I made. They even called it “the land of milk chocolate and honey!” I guess it just tastes better. But I digress. My friend and colleague Hal Sacks (of blessed memory) used to tell me: “The only

around. If a solider was walking, we’d stop and pick him up. There were no shopping centers, and we’d see camels walking on the highway. I’ve only made four scrapbooks in my life, and one is from my trip to Israel—taken

thing more powerful than seeing Israel for the first time is seeing it through the eyes of a first timer.” And Hal was right. I’ve had the great fortune of visiting Israel many

with my instamatic camera. People always say their trip was the best trip, but I think my trip was the best trip.

times during the past 20 years, and each time I’ve gone with a first timer, I’ve appreciated Hal’s observation more and more. Through the eyes, ears, and senses of a first timer, I’ve gotten to re-live the feel of touching the sun warmed stones of the Kotel—

G r ate f u l fo r e na bling pa r e nt s

connecting me with thousands of years of Jewish struggle and joy. I’ve been able to re-experience dipping my toes into the cool swirling waters of the Dan River, knowing that those same waters which originate in the snow-capped Hermon Mountain, also cooled the feet of my ancient ancestors throughout history. To see Israel with a first timer is to better appreciate the sights and smells of the spice market; to hear the voice of David Ben Gurion declaring the establishment “of a Jewish state in Eretz-Israel, to be known as the State of Israel” (while standing in

Judy Sacks Anderson

n the summer of 1972 when I was only 17, my parents, Hal and Annabel Sacks, sent my 15-year-old brother, Skip

the very room where the declaration was made 70 years ago). From the ancient to

and me to Israel on a sociology trip from

the modern…from hummus and falafel stands to gourmet, fusion, Michelin 3-starred

Virginia Wesleyan College.

restaurants…from vineyards in the Golan to experimental greenhouses in the desert… Israel is a masterpiece, but not a typical one.

We spent a good portion of the summer working on Kibbutz MishMarot picking potaHava Levene (far right) gives tour at Neve Michael. Judy Anderson (far left).

Compare it to a fantastic book that you just can’t stop reading—a book that you

toes and learning about life as a Kibbutznik.

absolutely love. But once you’ve finished it, you’re a little bit sad, because you know

At MishMarot, I met the father of my chil-

that you’ll never be able to read it again for the first time. Israel is different. It’s a book

dren and cemented my love for a country where I could be comfortable as a Jew. I

with many sequels and more being “written” every day. And if you want to see it again

I am thankful for parents who enabled my relationship with Eretz Y’Israel.

for the first time, all you have to do is go with a first timer!

I was fortunate to go to Israel with my dad for his last trip in 2009.

24 | Jewish News | Israel@70 | April 9, 2018 | jewishnewsva.org

B e fo r e Tid e wat e r h a d M issio n s

Banana fi e lds an d fishing boat s

Arnold Leon

Rob Goodman

n 1964, Telsa and I

attended

y 1965 summer

the

in Israel was one

national UJA con-

of my most spe-

ference in New York

cial. After a flight from Ankara

City. While there, I noticed a meeting of

to Tel Aviv, I hitched hiked

a “Young Leadership

to Tiberias and then up the

Reunion.”

Curious,

road to Kibbutz Ginosar. It was

I went in. A caucus

Sabbath eve and they never

was taking place with

turned anyone away on the

people who had been

Sabbath. I got up the next

to Israel. Intrigued, I found out that the UJA New York office

David Leon’s Bar Mitzvah at the Western Wall. Steve, David (center), Arnold, and Miles Leon. Telsa Leon in back in the Women’s section.

Rob and Martha Goodman at the back of the Western Wall.

morning and asked when I could go to work. Ginosar was a secular kibbutz and they welcomed my request with

was planning another

immediate placement in the banana fields. A week later, I volunteered to help on a

Mission for the following summer. At that time, no

fishing boat purse netting sardines and Mushte (also called “St. Peter’s Fish”), and for

groups had gone to Israel from Tidewater. Telsa

the next six weeks, I was a fisherman on the Kinneret, the Sea of Galilee.

and I and Leon and Selma Cardin signed up for

When Martha and I traveled to Israel several years ago, we visited Ginosar. The

the three-week trip.

banana fields were greenhouses; the fishing dock was there, but no longer used, and

The trip left from JFK in July 1965. First, we

the kibbutz had a new hotel. None of that mattered. My memories still burned brightly.

spent time in Paris learning about Jewish communities and their problems. From Paris, we flew to Vienna, Austria. At that time, Jews that managed to escape Russia

Telsa and Arnold Leon landing in Tel-Aviv summer 1965.

India signs on with Israeli firm to fight drought

went to Vienna where they had a facility that indoctrinated and prepared the Jewish families for life in Israel. Run by the JDC, it was somewhat clandestine. After a week in Vienna, we flew to Israel, with approximately 20 of the Russian emigres on the plane. It was very emotional when we landed, as many of the Russians bent down and kissed the ground. We traveled all around the country. In 1965, Jerusalem was divided. As a matter of fact, staying at the King David Hotel, we could see the Jordanian line—which was just behind the hotel’s gardens—complete with the machine guns positioned facing us. We couldn’t go the Wall; Beersheba still had dirt roads; Ashdod was just being built. While there, we met with Prime Minister Levi Eshkol, Teddy Kollek (who became the mayor of Jerusalem), Yitzkah Rabin, David Ben-Gurion, Moshe Dayan, and Abba Eban—basically all of the early leaders! It was an incredible trip. When we came home, we told the Federation leaders about the trip and soon after, the community got the ‘Mission Bug’ and started organizing trips from Tidewater. I’ve been many more times. We took Steve there for his Bar Mitzvah in 1973 and David for his in 1977. On the 1973 trip, we were the first commercial plane to land at the airport after the Yom Kippur War. In fact, we landed next to U.S. 1. The Israelis were negotiating the peace treaty in the dining room of the King David Hotel when we arrived. We were told we couldn’t get into our room because “the Kissinger party still had the room.” Oh well. I told them to tell him, “To take all the time he needs.” During Governor Chuck Robb’s administration, we were invited on the Virginia-Israel Mission to Israel. It was very successful and we returned with the agreement with ZIM to use the Port of Hampton Roads. Every experience is different and unique, and I always highly recommend for people to travel to Israel.

n a move that could alleviate India’s deadly drought problem, the country’s Tata corporation signed a memorandum of understanding with an Israeli firm that specializes in extracting drinking water from the air. Watergen and Tata representatives signed the document in New Delhi during Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s visit to India earlier this year, the Israeli firm says. The memorandum seeks to create a mutual entity in India to manufacture Watergen units. Financial terms were not disclosed. Watergen’s president, Mikhael Mirilashvili, showcased his company’s plan for solving the water crisis in India by 2022 to Prime Minister Narendra Modi during Modi’s visit to Israel. Watergen’s two models of atmospheric water generators can extract up to 6,000 liters of water from the air every day, depending on the air humidity, the company says. The medium scale units produce up to 600 liters of water daily. In the framework of the memorandum,

a pilot program featuring the midsize unit will be set up this year in India. Last year, Watergen instituted a GEN-350G pilot in New Delhi’s Connaught Place, where nearly 2,000 people received drinking water from the air every day, the firm says. Some of the units can operate on solar energy. The Tata-Watergen agreement is one of at least nine deals sealed during the visit, in which businessmen from Israel accompanied Netanyahu. The Israel Electric Corp. is joining with the government of the Andhra Pradesh state to help with critical infrastructure, The Jerusalem Post reports. And the Israeli startup Phinergy is cooperating with Ashok Leyland on clean energy systems from aluminum-air batteries. At least 330 million people are affected by drought in India, which hit hard in 2016, the government has told the Supreme Court. Dozens have died of heatstroke since the drought began, including an 11-year-old girl, Yogita Desai, who had spent close to four hours in 107.6 temperatures gathering water from a pump. (JTA)

jewishnewsva.org | April 9, 2018 | Israel@70 | Jewish News | 25

Israel@70 Tidewater’s Jewish community responds to the State of Israel in 1948 Placing our trust in the “Rock of Israel,” we affix our signatures to this proclamation at this session of the Provisional Council of State, on this soil of the homeland, in the city of Tel-Aviv, on this Sabbath Eve the 5th day of Iyar, 5708. (14th May, 1948) Bobbie Fisher

eventy years ago, when the State of Israel was born, it was with no small support from Tidewater’s Jewish community. Some still recall what that day—and the years preceding May 14, 1948—was like. Joe Segal, for example, remembers saving his own pennies and asking friends to donate to Zionist causes. “As members of AZA, it was a point of pride with us,” he says. Others heard parents worry that they might be violating federal law by aiding and abetting the organization of a foreign state. Some remember how cautious they felt on November 29, 1947, when the UN declared that the nation of Israel was now a sovereign Jewish State. But none can forget how members of Tidewater’s Jewish community came together so fervently to support the realization of the biblical promise: a real Jewish homeland. There were banquets, dances, and events with speakers such as Abba Eban, Golda Meier (then Myerson), the Mayor of Dublin, Ireland—and many others, all of whom visited to raise funds to help the new state. They remember what some of those funds produced: the purchase, outfitting and voyage of the ship known to history as the Exodus. In 1947, a Jewish paramilitary organization known as the Haganah was conducting the Aliyah Bet, a clandestine mission to remove Jewish refugees from Displaced Persons camps established after Word War II, and board them on vessels to (illegally) immigrate to Palestine. The Haganah bought these ships and made them seaworthy. The largest was the Norfolk-based USS Warfield. Then dilapidated and possibly headed for the scrapheap, the Warfield had been a packet steamer that ferried passengers to and from Baltimore. “It was

an overnight trip,” remembers Boodie Friedman. “The ship had staterooms, elegant dining rooms with white-gloved waiters who served the passengers. But by 1947, it had run into disuse.” The Warfield was designed to carry no more than 500 passengers, but the Haganah intended to refit it with bunks and toilets and load it with enough food and water for 4,500 refugees on its ultimate seven-day voyage from France to Palestine. Those provisions were solicited and collected through the efforts of many people throughout Tidewater, but everyone who remembers those efforts gives the lion’s share of the credit to David Friedman, Boodie’s father. David had long been active in the Norfolk District of the Zionist Organization of America and held leadership positions in several local Jewish organizations. Once they learned about the Warfield, David, a grocer by trade, contacted his wholesalers and suppliers—local chains such as Colonial Stores—to seek contributions of non-perishable food. Friedman says, “I don’t remember all of it, but I know there were crates and crates of canned Carnation Milk and Campbell’s Soup, floor to ceiling.” Once fully loaded, the newly renamed Exodus left for Baltimore to pick up its crew and sailed to Italy to be refurbished. Any jubilation felt by Tidewater and American Jewish communities was short lived, as on July 17, 1947, just six days after the Exodus left France with its first cargo of refugees, the ship was rammed on both sides by two British destroyers, with devastating consequences. The British boarded the ship, ultimately killing at least four and gravely wounding 120 of the crew and passengers. The story is documented in many books—including 1958’s Exodus, by some-time Norfolk resident Leon Uris, which was subsequently

26 | Jewish News | Israel@70 | April 9, 2018 | jewishnewsva.org

made into the 1960 movie of the same name. Joe Segal says that his wife, Millie, did some research for Uris. He proudly displays an autographed copy of Exodus, including a handwritten note of thanks from the author. The Exodus incident, and the subsequent abhorrent British treatment of the refugees at Haifa, sparked global outrage. The world began to understand the critical need for a Jewish state. The rundown ship that sailed from Norfolk in the early months of 1947 became a lasting symbol of the struggles of a people, the triumph of freedom, and the birth of a homeland. Friedman remembers how hard his father and so many of his friends and colleagues worked to support Israel’s establishment. “It was his wish that Virginia would be the first of the United States to acknowledge Israel as an independent state,” he says. “He was always so proud that that wish was granted in 1948 by Governor William Tuck, the 55th governor of the Commonwealth, who issued an official recognition of Israel before any of the other 47.” While some memories remain vivid, others have faded. And some are more or less borrowed: “I was born in March of 1948,” Lorie Friedman relates. “I was the first grandchild on either side of the family, and my mother Doris tells me that the sun rose and set on me – for about two months. When Israel was declared a state two months later, she told me, I became second best. Israel, so hard fought for and so sorely won, became number one. Being second place is a position I’ve been proud to occupy.”

With the same commitment, Tidewater continued to support Israel after 1948. When Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion introduced the idea of issuing bonds in 1950 to raise money for the new nation’s struggling economy, the Tidewater community responded, attending fundraising events hosted by celebrities such as Eddie Cantor and Metropolitan Opera tenor Jan Peerce. In fact, it was Peerce’s visit to Norfolk that sparked a memory that is still recalled frequently, and always with great affection. Peerce was observing yartzheit and went to Norfolk’s Temple Israel to say kaddish. “It was the custom at Temple Israel to ask visitors if they wanted to daven,” says Ted Kruger. “Peerce agreed, and when he began to sing, his voice just filled the room.” Another member of the congregation obviously unfamiliar with Peerce’s career but genuinely impressed, said, ‘Hey, mister, you have a nice voice. You could be a cantor.’ “We all cracked up at that,” says Barry Einhorn. “And we never let him forget it,” adds Barry’s wife Lois. Memories aside, this community’s passion for Israel remains fervent, building on the dedication of American Jews that culminated in the founding of the Jewish state, now 70 years ago.

it’s a wrap Seniors paint for umbrella project

Senior’s Seder draws crowd

group of JCC Senior Club members participated in the Community Relation Council’s Umbrella Project on Tuesday, March 27. The Seniors painted their vision of what Israel looks like to them, whether that was a landscape, people, food, etc. on a blank umbrella. “This was a lovely gathering of seniors who were given the privilege of creating our hearts’ desires in artistic umbrella form!” says Tanya Wohner. “Baruch HaShem—thank you very much.” The very generous support of the Helen G. Gifford Foundation made it possible for more than 300 umbrellas to be distributed to nearly all local Sunday schools, Jewish Day Schools, as well as other groups including students at Maury High School, Tallwood High School, and Teens with a Purpose.

Tanya Wohner with her umbrella.

Contact Naty Horev, Simon Family JCC Senior coordinator, at nhorev@simonfamilyjcc.org or 757-321-3182 to learn more about upcoming programs for Seniors.

ore than 75 seniors from the JCC Senior Club, Jewish Family Ser v ice, Beth Sholom Village, and others celebrated Passover with a Seder led by Rabbi Israel Zoberman and Cantor Elihu Flax last month at the Simon Family JCC. The participants enjoyed HAT students perform at the Senior’s Seder. traditional food, music, and a special presentation of songs by the Hebrew Academy of Tidewater’s first and fifth graders. Contact Naty Horev, Simon Family JCC Senior coordinator at nhorev@simonfamilyjcc.org or 757-321-3182 to learn more about upcoming programs for Seniors.

jewishnewsva.org | April 9, 2018 | Jewish News | 27

it’s a wrap Life & Legacy year one celebrates success of year one Eight million dollars in Legacy gifts and $80,000 in grants distributed to 10 local agencies

n Monday, March 19, the Tidewater Jewish Foundation brought together more than 150 community members to celebrate their generosity and provide $80,000 in incentive grants to 10 local Jewish agencies and synagogues. One year into a program meant to expand local “legacy” giving in order to build organizational endowments, more than 240 new legacy commitments or outright gifts worth an estimated $8 million have been secured. The 10 local community partners are: • Beth Sholom Village • Chabad of Tidewater • Congregation Beth El • Hebrew Academy of Tidewater • Jewish Family Service • Ohef Sholom Temple • Temple Emanuel • Toras Chaim Day School • United Jewish Federation of Tidewater and the Simon Family JCC

Amy Levy, Stephanie Calliott, Babbi Bangel, and Kim Simon Fink.

Representing Jewish Family Service: Lawrence Steingold, Betty Ann Levin, executive director, Sue Graves, fundraising coordinator, and Linda Spindel.

TJF is the lead local partner in the fifth cohort of communities selected in the LIFE & LEGACY initiative of the Harold Grinspoon Foundation, which is currently partnering with 52 communities across North America. LIFE & LEGACY is a four-year partnership program that assists communities to promote after-lifeTJF staff: Front: Scott Kaplan and Ann Swindell; Back: Randy Parish, Representing Congregation Beth El: Pam Gladstone, executive director, Ed and Betsy Karotkin, time giving to benefit local Jewish day Barb Gelb, and Craig Bailey. Tami Arnowitz, and Cantor Wendi Fried. schools, synagogues, and social service a past TJF board member. “We are too organizations. their values and often fixated on The celebratory passions beyond how to fix the probevent included a their lifetime. The lems of now versus brief program feaattendance at the tomorrow. Mired in turing an original celebration was a annual campaigns video, Tomorrow, true demonstration with too little time Today, which highof a community new Legacy commitments spent to the lonlights Tidewater’s coming together.” or outright gifts, are worth ger-term survival. diverse community approximately $8 million It is nice to see a and the promise For information successful effort put of its future. The about participating toward the idea of video is now on the in LIFE & LEGACY, longevity.” Foundation website at http://jewishva.org/ contact Barb Gelb at Scott Kaplan, TJF president and CEO, tjf-lifeandlegacy. at bgelb@ujft.org or says he was thrilled with the community “I am amazed at how the community 757-965-6105. support for the program and the event. all came together to work toward the goal “Legacy gifts enable a donor to make an of future community through the LIFE & Photography by Representing Toras Chaim: Raizy Cook, Rabbi Mordechai Loiterman, and Rabbi Gavriel Rudin. impact now, and in the future, and extend LEGACY program,” says Jason Hoffman, Mark Robbins

240

28 | Jewish News | April 9, 2018 | jewishnewsva.org

it’s a wrap

Representing Ohef Sholom Temple: Lawrence Steingold, Eddie Kramer, Alyssa Muhlendorf, Kurt Rosenbach, Barbara Dudley, Karen Fine, Rachael Nusbaum, Linda Peck, executive director, and Charlie Nusbaum.

Representing Beth Sholom Village: Paul Terkeltaub, Kim Allsbrook, Jason Hoffman, Neil Friedman, Larry Siegel, Jay Kossman, and David Abraham, BSV executive director.

Representing Temple Emanuel: Larry Siegel, Garry Tabakin, Rabbi Marc Kraus, and Steven Warsof.

Representing United Jewish Federation of Tidewater: Dusty Heist-Levine, director of development, John Strelitz, Amy Levy, and Harry Graber, executive vice president.

Marcy and Paul Terkeltau.

Representing Hebrew Academy of Tidewater: David Leon, Heather Moore, head of school, Patti Seeman, director of development, Deb Segaloff, Babbi Bangel, Rachel Abrams, and Jodi Klebanoff.

Harry Graber, executive vice president of United Jewish Federation and Barb Gelb, director of Philanthropy, Tidewater Jewish Foundation.

Representing Chabad of Tidewater: Karen Smith, Larry Bublick, and Rabbi Levi Brashevitzky.

jewishnewsva.org | April 9, 2018 | Jewish News | 29

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what’s happening Be part of the largest human flag of Israel ever in Tidewater at Israel Fest

Yom HaAtzamut

From Holy Land to Club Land— The Evolution of Israel through Music

Sunday, April 22, 2:30 pm Joel Rubin

Thursday, April 19, 6:30 pm, Congregation Beth El

ou have seen them at big football games and concerts, stock car races, and patriotic festivals—“card stunts”—with regular folks holding up colored material to form words, numbers, and symbols. Now it’s Tidewater’s turn. During Israel Fest, behind the Simon Family JCC, every willing person (teens and adults preferred), will stand on a well-marked 1,000-square-foot grid on the soccer field, and when cued, will hold up a blue or white card and face a camera, 40 feet above the crowd. What the lens will see is a perfect (hopefully) representation of Israel’s flag. The idea was local (in honor of Israel’s 70th birthday), but experts from Kivett Productions in Orlando are being imported to put down string and survey markers. When participants arrive at the field, captains will line everyone up by height in very straight rows and columns for the big reveal. “We do about 30 shows a year,” Joe Kivett, owner of Kivett Productions says, “from small corporate events to Super Bowls with 70,000 people in the seats.

And it always comes off great.” How many cardholders are needed? “Let’s just say hundreds, but why not be here?” says Melissa Eichelbaum, who is helping produce the stunt for the Simon Family JCC. “It’s a chance to be part of something bigger than yourself. While you might personally be holding one single card, collectively, we will make a statement by proudly showing our support for the State of Israel. With pictures and videos to look back on for years to come, you won’t want to miss out on this fun and interactive way to celebrate!” Younger kids will have a role, but Eichelbaum says to create symmetry, as many full-grown young and older adults are needed as possible. She also suggests wearing a white shirt, and to be on time.

Jane Gardner to speak at Temple Emanuel’s 7th Annual Pink Tea Sunday, May 6, 2–4 pm

ane Gardner, survivor of four types of cancer, a former TV anchor, and a former health reporter, will be the guest speaker for this year’s 7th Annual Pink Tea. Hosted by Temple Emanuel, the event continues the legacy of its founder, Renee Heyman (of blessed memory). In 2012, Heyman envisioned helping the underserved women in the community and began her quest to raise funds for cancer screenings and mammograms for the local Beach Health Clinic. Since that first year, the Pink Tea, through its supporters and a lot of hard work, has donated more than $12,000 to the Beach Health Clinic. Since it is “Derby Day,” this year’s theme is “Race for the Care.” Everyone is encouraged

to wear a crazy hat for the “Derby.” The Tea will offer (alcohol-free) pink mimosas, pink champagne, pink lemonade, strawberry and pink desserts, pecan pie, and other wonderful Southern delights prepared by the Beth Sholom Village Caterers. Decorations will again be creatively and beautifully arranged by Leslie Siegel. Admission is a minimum of $12.50; donors of $25 and above receive a “Pink Angel” ribbon and recognition. Speakers will share informative, interesting, and personal stories. RSVP by Wednesday, April 25. Call the Temple Emanuel’s office, 757-428-2591 or office@tevb.org or Paula Krukin Levy, 757-467-6677.

Eyal Rob.

n 5 Iyar, 1948 the entire world watched as Israel became an independent nation. On 5 Iyar, 2018 (April 19), the entire world will celebrate as Israel turns 70. Eyal Rob, a screenwriting professor by day and Tel Aviv DJ by night, will help Tidewater celebrate. Along with DJ Eyal Rob, the celebration includes Israeli food, arts and crafts for kids, a joint mural painting for older kids and adults, PJ Library activities, silent auction of local Jewish artists’ work, Israeli wine tastings (with minimal cost) and more. Rob, a co-founder of Israel’s first music television channel, Israeli journalist and culture critic, brings the Tel Aviv music scene to Tidewater, reflecting the young Jewish nation’s songs through wars, peace, struggle and hope for an interactive Yom HaAtzamut celebration for all ages. A member of Soulico, Tel Aviv’s hottest DJ collective, until recently signing on to the NYC label JDub, Rob has DJ’d in various festivals around the world, including twice at SXSW in Austin, Texas, and spins in the top notch clubs and events for the Jewish community and campus parties around the world. The event will begin at 5:45 pm for Minyan (all are invited, but not required),

Beth El is located at 422 Shirley Avenue. This program sponsored by the CRC, Beth El, and in part through grants from the Tidewater Jewish Foundation and the United Jewish Federation of Tidewater. For more information or to RSVP (required), call Melissa Eichelbaum at 321-2304 or visit jewishva.org/eyal-rob.

Two additional opportunities to hear Eyal Rob in Tidewater Israel Fest Sunday, April 22, 11 am–4 pm Yom Ha’Atzmaut with Eyal Rob, Seniors event Wednesday, April 18, 12:30 pm This event is open to the entire senior community. Lunch ($6) will be held at the Simon Family JCC, RSVP (required) by April 12 at JCC Front Desk. For more information, contact Naty Horev, Seniors Programming coordinator at NHorev@simonfamilyjcc.org or 757-452-3186.

jewishnewsva.org | April 9, 2018 | Jewish News | 31

Bernstein at 100

what’s happening Virginia Arts Festival presents

Bernstein at 100

Friday, April 13, Ferguson Center for the Arts Saturday, April 14, Chrysler Hall

Deadline to enter: April 9, 2018.

Bernstein at 100 https://goo.gl/woQdWg

Birmingham Royal Ballet performs Romeo and Juliet

Leonard Bernstein, Israel, and the Power of Music

Photo from the Library of Congress Bernstein Photo Collection.

Go to Jewish News Facebook, like the Leonard Bernstein post to enter for a chance to win a pair of tickets to the performance Saturday, April 14 at Chrysler Hall.

Saturday, May 12, Sandler Center: Bernstein on Broadway

n September 17, 1948, at 30 years old, Leonard Bernstein boarded a plane bound for Israel. A young conductor and composer just beginning to make his mark, Bernstein was a new star in the music firmament; and Israel was a new country, having been proclaimed the State of Israel by David Ben-Gurion that previous May. The trip was the beginning of a passionate, lifelong love affair. Bernstein traveled to Israel to take on the role of music director of the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra. He was slated to conduct 40 concerts in 60 days across the young nation. But it was an unplanned concert that endeared the bold young conductor to the Jewish homeland. Surrounded by and immersed in conflict, Israel was beset by battles; it was not unusual for the Orchestra’s audiences

Bernstein concerts

Go to Jewish News Facebook, like the Birmingham Royal Ballet post to enter for a chance to win a pair of tickets to the performance Friday, April 20 at Chrysler Hall. Deadline to enter: April 14, 2018.

Birmingham Royal Ballet https://goo.gl/xqSjiJ

32 | Jewish News | April 9, 2018 | jewishnewsva.org

The concerts on April 13 and 14, Bernstein at 100, feature the Virginia Symphony Orchestra with JoAnn Falletta, conductor; Virginia Chorale with Charles Woodward, artist director; Todd Rosenlieb Dance; and Bernstein’s daughter, Jamie Bernstein, as the narrator. The concert on May 12, Bernstein on Broadway, features Rob Fisher conducting and Brooke Shields as a soloist. For information on the concerts and performers, visit vafest.org.

to hear artillery fire nearby. In November 1948, the UN had ordered Israel to withdraw its troops from the Negev desert town of Beersheba; but when the troops held their ground, Bernstein and the Orchestra decided to play for the defiant soldiers. Traveling by armored bus, they set up in an archeological dig, its three walls creating a makeshift amphitheater, and began to play. In that unlikely space, a rapt audience gathered, estimated up to 5,000 people—soldiers from the Israeli army, and settlers who had traveled from around the world to make their home in Israel. The crowd was so massive that Egyptian planes flying overhead mistook the gathering for

an Israeli troop buildup and withdrew its own soldiers who were then advancing on Jerusalem, ordering them to the Negev. From that fateful trip forward, Bernstein continued his close relationship with the Israeli Philharmonic, returning again and again, until his death in 1990. This spring, music lovers can celebrate the courage and bold spirit of this great artist when the Virginia Arts Festival celebrates Bernstein at 100, with concerts in Newport News, Norfolk, and Virginia Beach, featuring the Virginia Symphony Orchestra and soloists in some of Bernstein’s most beloved music.

what’s happening Virginia Stage Company’s Disgraced covers myriad issues

imon Feil, an accomplished Jewish actor from New York City, is in Hampton Roads performing in Virginia Stage Company’s produc tion of the Pulitzer Prizewinning drama, Disgraced. The play revolves around a dinner party that Issac, Anna Sundberg, Joy Jones, and Simon Feil. played by Feil, attends with his African American wife hosted by her law mistakes we made, and how we got there.” partner, a Pakistani lapsed Muslim, and his Caucasian wife. This explosive drama Community conversations, sponsored by covers topics such as religious discriminathe Tidewater Jewish Foundation, follow tion and politics. According to its director, each performance. Disgraced runs through Khanisha Foster, “It’s both really funny April 22 at the historic Wells Theatre in and takes some heartbreaking turns. The Downtown Norfolk. Tickets range from play is about what we can’t take back, the $20 to $55. Vastage.org or 757-627-6988.

Leon Family Gallery Reba and Sam Sandler Family Campus

ALUT—Courageous Expressions In observance of Autism Awareness Month April

ourageous Expressions is a mixed media, group exhibition based on a variety of works created by untrained artists from the Israeli Society for Autistic Children (the ALUT Institute), a leading care provider for individuals with autism in Israel. The exhibition’s body of work is both uniquely beautiful and interestingly abstract, while individual works are supremely complex in depicting the expressive voice behind each piece. Often the artist’s only or more comprehensive voice, each exhibited piece warrants a narrative depth far beyond what meets the eye. All pieces are for sale and can be purchased at the Simon Family JCC front desk. Proceeds from the sales of the Courageous Expressions exhibit will go towards additional art classes in the ALUT employment centers for young adults with severe autism in Israel, as an additional means of therapy and rehabilitation. For more information about this exhibit or future exhibits, contact Melissa Eichelbaum, program department associate at MEichelbaum@ujft.org or 321-2304.

#JCampTV at the Simon Family JCC TV

Traditional summer day camp with weekly TV-themed activities, including

Field Trips − Overnight add-on nights (optional) − Swim lessons � Age-driven programs, events, & activities � Counselor-in-training opportunities

Employment Oppor tunity Part-Time Café Food Service Personnel

Calendar April 11, Wednesday Yom Hashoah, presented by the Holocaust Commission of the United Jewish Federation of Tidewater. 6:45 pm. Congregation Beth El. www.HolocaustCommission.org or call 757-965-6100.

The Cardo Cafe of the Sandler Family Campus (located in the Simon Family JCC), seeks a high energy customer service-oriented individual for the part-time position (20 hours per week) of Café/Food Service Personnel. The position requires a team-oriented individual who works efficiently, ensuring high satisfaction in the preparation and service of food; operates the Cafe cash register, assist with set-up and food preparation for catering events, and maintain efficiency in the Cafe such as cleaning and sanitizing all kitchen and work areas. Other duties as assigned. Requires a High School Diploma, with a minimum of two years food handling, Fast Food restaurant experience and a Food Service Certification, preferred. Position salary range; based on experience.

April 14, Saturday Virginia Arts Festival presents Leonard Bernstein at 100. Chrysler Hall. See page 32. APRIL 15, SUNDAY United Jewish Federation of Tidewater and Virginia Arts Festival present Israel Story, the award winning radio show and podcast. Kicking off a brand new live multimedia event celebrating Israel’s 70th anniversary, Israel Story takes place at Waterside, Norfolk. 7:30 pm. Tickets $35. VAFest.org. For more information, contact Melissa Eichelbaum at 757-321-2304 or MEichelbaum@ujft.org. See page 16. APRIL 19, THURSDAY From Holy Land to Club Land: The Evolution of Israel through Music. Simon Family JCC, CRC, and community partners present Israel Today with screenwriting professor by day and Tel Aviv DJ by night, Eyal Rob. Bringing the Tel Aviv music scene to Tidewater, reflecting Israel’s songs through wars, peace, struggle, and hope for an interactive Yom Ha’Atzmaut celebration for all ages. Congregation Beth El. 6:30 pm. For more information or to RSVP, visit JewishVA.org/IsraelToday, or contact Melissa Eichelbaum at 757-321-2304 or MEichelbaum@ujft.org.

Submit resume and salary requirements to: resumes@ujft.org The United Jewish Federation of Tidewater/ Marilyn and Marvin Simon Family Jewish Community Center is firmly committed to a policy of equal employment opportunity for all qualified persons without regard to race, color, religion, national origin, age, gender, sexual orientation, non-disqualifying disability or veteran status.

APRIL 22, SUNDAY The Simon Family JCC’s annual Israel Fest welcomes the community to celebrate Israel’s 70th birthday with Israeli music, food, games, and more at the Reba and Sam Sandler Family Campus. 11 am–4 pm. For more information or to RSVP, contact Melissa Eichelbaum at 757-321-2304 or MEichelbaum@ujft.org. See page 16.

Equal Employment Opportunity

Camp JCC is a wonde rf ul place to wor k!

Ohef Sholom Temple’s Men’s Club’s Kaufman Award honors Sharon Nusbaum. 10:30 am brunch; 11 am presentation. $10. 757-625-4295. See page 35.

SUMMER 2018

Camp JCC: June 18 - August 10 Post Camp: August 13 - August 24

May 6, Sunday Seventh Annual Pink Tea at Temple Emanuel. 2–4 pm. 757-428-2591. See page 33.

NOW HIRING STAFF

May 20, Sunday Splash & Dash. The Simon Family JCC is the local regional host for the USA Triathlon Youth Aquathlon Splash & Dash for kids. Ages 7–15.

Counselors (High School graduates; minimum requirement) • Junior Counselors (HS rising Junior; minimum requirement) • Specialists ( Sports, Music, Arts, etc.) • Camp Nurse • Lead Counselor, Special Needs Shadow Program • Special Needs Shadow Counselors

•

Camp JCC seeks counselors who love working with and having an impact on children. Must have loads of energy and be interested in an amazing summer job! Camp JCC Counselors are the single most consistent presence in the experience of each camper, and so have the greatest potential impact on each camper’s summer. This responsibility requires careful attention to the physical and emotional safety of each and every individual camper within the program, and to the overall development and formation of Camp JCC. A complete background check is required and each hired counselor must participate in an extensive orientation program. Applications available at: www.campjccvb.org. For more information, contact: Taffy Hunter, Human Resource Director, (757) 965-6117 Submit completed application to:

Simon Family JCC

Attention: Human Resources(confidential) 5000 Corporate Woods Drive Virginia Beach, 23462

Don't wait! Applications accepted TODAY! 34 | Jewish News | April 9, 2018 | jewishnewsva.org

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.

Spring Into Art at Park Place School Tuesday, May 1, 11 am–12:30 pm, Congregation Beth El

n preparation for a Park Place celebration, students at Park Place School are painting mermaids, donated by the Mermaid Factory, to be used as centerpieces at the donor luncheon at Congregation Beth El. At this event, visitors will have the opportunity to learn about the school’s art program and its outstanding students and staff. The event is free, open to the entire community, and being offered as a “thank you” for the support provided by Park Place donors and Beth El Synagogue. A silent auction highlighting Spring into Art will feature art and jewelry by local artists, as well creations by the Park Place students. To attend the luncheon, RSVP to aphillips@parkplaceschool.org, or call 624-3473.

Employment Oppor tunity

what’s happening Sharon K. Nusbaum to receive Ohef Sholom Temple’s Men’s Club’s 2018 Henry B. Kaufmann Award Sunday, April 22, Ohef Sholom Temple

Brunch: 10:30 am. Award presentation: 11 am, $10 per person

his year’s recipient of In the greater community, Ohef Sholom Temple Nusbaum serves as vice-chair Men’s Club’s Henry B. of the board of directors for Kaufmann Award is Sharon Virginia Supportive Housing K. Nusbaum. A long-time (providing permanent housOhef Sholom congregant, ing and services for single Nusbaum is the wife of Bill adults in South Hampton (also a Kaufmann Award Roads, Richmond, and recipient) and the mother Charlottesville), is immediate of Leigh. past chair of VHS’s Hampton Sharon K. Nusbaum Nusbaum’s past and curRoads Mission Advancement rent temple activities include: Council, a member of the membership on the Caring Committee Rumi Forum Hampton Roads Advisory and serving on the board of directors Board, as well as a long-time volunteer (both as a regular board member and for the Democratic Party of Virginia having secretary). She is a coordinator for greeters worked past campaigns for Al Gore, Hillary at Shabbat evening services and leader Clinton, and Ralph Northam. Other past of the OST Walking Group. Nusbaum community involvement includes chairing a served as Sisterhood co-president for Norfolk program for non-violent offenders three years and has co-chaired or particiand a Norfolk Harborfest committee. pated in committees including: The Torah Nusbaum’s work history includes stints Restoration committee, the Sanctuary’s as a juvenile probation officer, school 100th Anniversary celebration, the 175th fundraiser, and associate broker at S.L. Anniversary ad-hoc committee, Temple Nusbaum Realty Company. Sinai merger ceremony committee and the UJFT CRC’s Interfaith committee. She is a Reserve a space by calling the temple office graduate of the Florence Melton School of at 757-625-4295. Jewish Learning.

Mark Wygoda is featured speaker at 2018 Holocaust Commemoration Wednesday, April 11, 6:45 pm, Congregation Beth El

nited Jewish Federation of Tidewater’s Holocaust Commission’s annual Holocaust Day of Remembrance, Yom Hashoah will feature Dr. Mark Wygoda, who will share the story of his father, Hermann Wygoda. Known as “Comandante Enrico” to the 2,500 partisan troops he commanded as a Division Commander in the Italian Liberation Army, 1944–45, Hermann Wygoda planned war actions, negotiated prisoner exchanges with the local German commander, and ultimately helped liberate the city of Savona, Italy. In addition to Wygoda, the evening includes a poignant candle lighting

ceremony and prayers from area clergy and leadership. Additionally, student winners of the Holocaust Commission’s annual Elie Wiesel competitions and recipients Dr. Mark Wygoda. of the Commission’s Excellence in Education awards will be honored and recognized. For more information, visit www. HolocaustCommission.org, email info@holocaustcommission.org, or call 757-965-6100.

Director of Summer Day Camp & Children/Family Programming Seeking an energetic, organized, and articulate individual with excellent people skills to oversee and coordinate the Summer Camp and Children/Family Programs at the UJFT/Simon Family JCC. Independent judgment, initiative, and creative program planning skills required. The ideal candidate enjoys interacting with children and is dedicated to promoting an appreciation for Jewish culture and values. Must be proficient in preparing yearly budgets, maintaining fiscal responsibility, and administrative management with willingness to work evenings, weekends, and holidays. Experience in hiring, training, and supervising summer camp and volunteer staff, required. Qualifications include, but not limited to: BA/BS degree from an accredited college or university; 3-5 years proven leadership experience directing a Summer Day Camp and Children & Family Programs; Detail-orientated; Ability to communicate to Jewish, Interfaith, and general audiences; and Strong proficiency in the Microsoft Office Suite. Salary is competitive and commensurate with experience. Complete job description at: www.simonfamilyjcc.org.

Submit cover letter, resume, and salary requirements to: resumes@ujft.org The United Jewish Federation of Tidewater/ Marilyn and Marvin Simon Family Jewish Community Center is firmly committed to a policy of equal employment opportunity for all qualified persons without regard to race, color, religion, national origin, age, gender, sexual orientation, non-disqualifying disability or veteran status.

Equal Employment Opportunity

Marketing Employment Oppor tunities United Jewish Federation of Tidewater/Simon Family JCC seeks qualified individuals for these positions:

Senior Marketing Manager

Candidate should have proven managerial leadership and experience executing strategic marketing plans to create, implement, and oversee marketing campaigns (internal & external). This position provides direction to marketing staff, supports the agency’s strategic and operational marketing goals and objectives and provides oversight of daily production timelines. Position requires hands-on experience in the coordination and use of all creative, visual, graphic, and written materials required to meet objectives of marketing and communications.

Content Marketing Coordinator

Candidate should have an extensive content writing portfolio, with a well-versed knowledge of current consumer content marketing trends, and be an excellent communicator. This position requires a high level of creativity, extensive proofreading/copy editing experience; exemplary writing skills; ability to write in brand’s voice and tone; acute attention to detail and project management skills. Salary is competitive and commensurate with experience. For detail job descriptions, visit www.jewishva.org.

Submit cover letter, resume and salary requirements to: resumes@ujft.org. Submit by mail to: Simon Family JCC / United Jewish Federation of Tidewater Attention: Human Resources 5000 Corporate Woods Drive Virginia Beach, 23462 The United Jewish Federation of Tidewater/Simon Family JCC is firmly committed to a policy of equal employment opportunity for all qualified persons without regard to race, color, religion, national origin, age, gender, sexual orientation, non-disqualifying disability, genetic information or military status.

Equal Employment Opportunity jewishnewsva.org | April 9, 2018 | Jewish News | 35

obituaries Jack G. Barr Norfolk—Jack G. Barr, 89, died Thursday, March 29, 2018 in a local hospital. He was a native of Baltimore, Maryland and was the son of the late Lewis and Ruth Reisig Barr. He was preceded in death in 2006, by his loving wife of 58 years, Yvonne Roberta Barr and his brother Melvin Barr. Jack graduated from Maury High School and from the University of Virginia. He married his High School sweetheart on Christmas of 1948 at the Monticello Hotel. He was the founder of Barr Construction and president until his retirement in 1993. He was an active member and former board member and president of Congregation Beth El, chairman of Bonds for Israel, former president of the Tidewater Builders and Contractors Association, chairman of the building committee for JCC, a recipient of its Krug Award, chairman of the building committee and member and former president of the board of Beth Sholom Home of Tidewater, eight-year board member of the Salvation Army. He is survived by his daughter, Susan Patricia Barr, his sons, Mark H. Barr and Jeffrey A. Barr, all of Norfolk; his stepson, Rabbi Daniel and Jennifer Lehrman of Brooklyn, N.Y. and his grandchildren, Matthew and his wife Terri, Noah and his wife Laura, Rachel, Joshua, Rebecca, Ilana, and Maia; his former wife Gail Blairman, his former daughters-in-law Terry Colby Barr and Dr. Lisa Barr, and his significant other, Barbara Fulp of Norfolk. He is also survived by his great granddaughter, Julia, his nephews Burt and Henry Barr, and many cousins. The funeral service was held at Congregation Beth El with interment in Forest Lawn Cemetery. Rabbi Jeffrey Arnowitz and Cantor Wendi Fried officiated. Memorial donations to the charity of the donor’s choice. H.D. Oliver Funeral Apts. Online condolences to the family at hdoliver.com.

Steve Aviv Yetiv “Dr. Yetiv is one of the most influential instructors of all I have had the pleasure to study under throughout my college career. His unique teaching style couples a thorough knowledge of the subject material with a keen insight and great sense of humor. It is a pleasure to be in his class. We learn about the world above and beyond the limits of the class topics. Kudos and accolades don’t do justice to his talent.” —Old Dominion University Political Science student

Norfolk—Steve Yetiv, an extraordinary teacher, mentor, and true friend to many throughout the Old Dominion University and Hampton Roads communities, died March 21, 2018 at age 53 following a sudden heart attack. Steve’s passing is a profound loss to hundreds of admiring students and faculty at ODU as well as colleagues in his field of study around the world. As a loyal and supportive friend who was generous with his time and encouragement, there was no one else like him. Around the university and beyond, he gained the respect, love and gratitude of everyone in his extended family. For a man of such great achievement, he was remarkably humble, yet always a shining and smiling presence. Dr. Steve Yetiv was the Louis I. Jaffe Professor of International Relations at Old Dominion University and a leading expert on world oil markets, energy security, the Middle East, and U.S. foreign policy. He was a consultant to the U.S. Departments of State and Defense; the U.S. General Accounting Office; and CNN International where he worked on a documentary that won an Edward R. Murrow Overseas Press Club Award. He appeared on outlets such as CNN, BBC, CNBC, CSPAN, and NPR, and published over 250 op-eds which include essays in The New York Times, USA Today, The Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, The International Herald Tribune and

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the Christian Science Monitor. He received Harvard University awards for excellence in teaching (1992 and 1993); the U.S. Secretary of State’s Open Forum Distinguished Public Service Award from the U.S. State Department for “contributions to national and international affairs” (1996); the Virginia Social Science Association’s Scholar Award (1999); the Choice Outstanding Academic Book awards (in 1998 and in 2005); and ODU research and teaching awards. In 2012, he won Virginia’s highest research, teaching and service award, the State Council of Higher Education for Virginia (SCHEV) Outstanding Faculty Award, based on the rankings of Virginia’s leading professors by 30 peer academic reviewers. Steve is survived by his brother Dr. Jack Yetiv of Houston, Texas, and his family of close friends in Norfolk. A private funeral was held at the Hebrew Cemetery in Norfolk. A Memorial Service for Steve will be held Tuesday, April 24, 6 pm at the Diehn Center for the Performing Arts, Old Dominion University.

Holocaust survivor Sala Kirschner, whose letters hidden from the Nazis became a book

ala Kirschner, a Holocaust survivor whose 350 letters, postcards and photographs that she hid from Nazi guards eventually became a book written by her daughter, has died. Kirschner died Wednesday, March 7 in New York of congestive heart failure. She was 94. Born in Sosnowiec, in southwestern Poland, Kirschner and the rest of the city’s Jewish population were confined to a ghetto until their deportation—most to Auschwitz, where her parents died. Kirschner, who also lost four siblings in the Holocaust, was an inmate in seven labor camps over five years, starting when

she was 16, according to an obituary published in the New York Times. In her first years in the camps she was permitted to send and receive mail as the Nazis continued to try to make it look like everything was normal. Kirschner hid the letters in the camps’ barracks or buried them despite the possible horrific punishments if they were discovered. She told the Times in earlier interviews that she kept them since they represented her only link to her family, whom she believed she would never see again. Kirschner was liberated by the Soviet Army in May 1945 and was reunited with two of her sisters. She married a Jewish soldier she met at Rosh Hashanah services shortly after the war ended and who brought her home as a war bride. In 1991, hours before cardiac surgery that she worried she would not survive, Kirschner gave her daughter Ann the trove of letters and other documents hidden in the red cardboard box of an old board game. She said she had kept them hidden to protect her children from being emotionally wounded. The letters and a diary Kirschner kept were put on display in 2006 at the New York Public Library. The same year, Ann Kirschner, a professor at the City University of New York, published a book about the letters titled Sala’s Gift: My Mother’s Holocaust Story. A play, Letters to Sala, also was written by Arlene Hutton. Along with her daughter, Kirschner is survived by her husband of 72 years, Sidney; a son, David; eight grandchildren and seven great-grandchildren. She was predeceased by a son. (JTA)

Johan van Hulst, Dutch politician who saved hundreds of Jewish children during Holocaust AMSTERDAM (JTA)—Johan van Hulst, a Dutch seminary leader who saved hundreds of Jewish children during the

obituaries Holocaust and later became a senator, has died at the age of 107. Van Hulst and resistance activists smuggled the children to safety over several months. He was the director of a Protestant religious seminary in Amsterdam with a yard that bordered on the nursery section of a facility in which the Nazis and collaborators imprisoned Jews before their dispatch to concentration camps. The late director, who died Thursday, March 22, hid in his school the children from the nursery of the Hollandsche Schouwburg, whom he and his helpers would hoist over the hedge that separated the two yards. From there, resistance activists and fighters would smuggle the children to safehouses, sometimes in laundry baskets and other times on bicycles, pretending that the children were their own. Israel’s Yad Vashem Holocaust memorial and museum in 1973 recognized Van Hulst as a Righteous Among the Nations – a title for non-Jews who risked their lives to save Jews from the Holocaust. In 2012, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu honored Van Hulst during a state visit to the Netherlands. That year, Van Hulst’s heroism was immortalized in a film titled Susskind. “We say, those who save one life saves a universe. You saved hundreds of universes. I want to thank you in the name of the Jewish people, but also in the name of humanity,” Netanyahu told Van Hulst, who after the Holocaust became a senator for the Christian Democratic Appeal party. In 1943, a Dutch Education Ministry official named Fieringa discovered several Jewish children at Van Hulst’s Hervormde Kweekschool and asked for the meaning of their presence there and whether they were Jewish. In a 2012 interview, Van Hulst recalled telling him after a long silence: “You don’t really expect me to answer that, do you?” Fieringa, an inspector, did not report back on what he had seen. The grounds of the Hervormde Kweekschool currently houses the National Holocaust Museum of the Netherlands. The joint wall carries a

permanent exhibition in his honor. Separately, Yad Vashem last month recognized as a righteous gentile a police officer from the town of Beverwijk, near Amsterdam, and his wife and another couple, Willem and Ali Bleeker, for their rescue of a Jewish girl, Dolly Drilsma. The Bleekers hid the girl, whose parents went into hiding without her. When the Bleekers suspected that the Nazis were watching them, they transferred Dolly to the police officer, Leo van der Hoorn. Days later her parents were found and sent to be murdered. As a police officer serving the Nazi occupation forces, van der Hoorn risked stiff punishment, including a summary execution, had he been found out. The Netherlands has more than 5,000 righteous gentiles, the world’s highest number after Poland. It also has the highest death rate among Jews in the Holocaust of any Nazioccupied country in Western Europe, largely due to widespread betrayal of Jews and collaboration with the Nazis by locals.

University in Pittsburgh in 1966 with a theater degree and worked on Columbo for a few seasons. The first episode he wrote was directed by Steven Spielberg, and with that came the first of 34 Emmy nominations, according to the Hollywood Reporter. He stayed at Universal for 12 years. “Steve was a friend and a colleague starting with the first episode of Columbo, in 1971 that he wrote and I directed,” Spielberg said in a statement. “We have supported and inspired each other ever since, and through many deep mutual friendships we have stayed connected for 47 years. I will miss Steve terribly.” Bochco was born in New York and attended the High School of Music and Art in Manhattan, where he sang. His father, Rudolph, was a violinist, and his mother, Mimi, was a painter and jewelry designer. (JTA)

Steven Bochco, Emmy-winning creator of ‘Hill Street Blues’ and ‘LA Law’ Steven Bochco, the Emmy-winning television writer and producer who was responsible for iconic series such as Hill Street Blues, NYPD Blue and L.A. Law, has died. Bochco died Sunday, April 1 at his home following a years-long battle with leukemia. He had received a stem cell transplant from an anonymous donor in 2014, according to the Hollywood Reporter. He was 74. The winner of 10 Emmy Awards and four Peabodys, Bochco also created the popular series Doogie Howser, M.D, starring Neil Patrick Harris. Bochco worked on Hill Street Blues at MTM Enterprises, a production company started by Mary Tyler Moore, for five of seven seasons, during which time it won 26 Emmys. The Jewish writer and producer later formed the Steve Bochco Productions company. He had his first job at Universal after graduating from Carnegie Mellon

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WHO KNEW? Google Israel introduces app detecting your hummus preference —on April Fools’ Day JERUSALEM ( JTA)—Google Israel announced—on April 1—an application that detects what kind of hummus its customers enjoy. “We’re extremely excited to share with you our latest Google Cloud groundbreaking technology: After enabling our customers to address senses through Speech & Vision API, we are now releasing a subset of Taste APIs starting with a dish we all love—Hummus!” reads the introduction to the video on YouTube. The video, a joke for April Fools’ Day, purports to show how Google researchers came up with the a “taste stick” to

determine the variety of hummus that Israelis would most enjoy based on an analysis of their taste buds, and then pinpoint a local hummus restaurant, one of 20,000 in the country, that serves the appropriate variety of hummus. One woman who speaks in the video said she did not feel Israeli enough because she had not been able to find a hummus she liked prior to using the Hummus API technology. Another praises the API for helping her find a spicy hummus. Even Tel Aviv Mayor Ron Huldai gets in on the act, saying that his city is a “culinary and technological center which embraces smart, innovative new ideas. Therefore, it was natural for us to integrate the great hummus API in our city. People find the hummus they need easier,

they are happier, the hummus industry is blooming.” Other Google videos for April 1 include a Where’s Waldo for Google Maps, the “Bad Joke Detector” that clears space on your phone by deleting all the bad jokes sent to you by family and friends, and a redesign of Google in Australia called Googz.

Scarlett Johansson to portray German mom who hides a Jewish girl from Nazis

carlett Johansson is on board to star in a film in which she would portray a German mother hiding a Jewish girl in her home from the Nazis. Jojo Rabbit centers on a young German boy who finds out about his mother’s

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heroism, Variety reported on the Fox Searchlight film. The character of the son still needs to be cast. Production is expected to start this spring, Variety reported. In Europe, the issue of rescue of Jews by non-Jews during the Holocaust is controversial. In Eastern Europe especially, government-led projects meant to highlight the actions of relatively few local rescuers has been criticized as designed to prevent an open discussion about the actions of countless thousands who collaborated with the German Nazis in the wholesale murder of Jews. Johansson of late has been focused on action and comedy movies, including last year’s Ghost in the Shell and the comedy Rough Night. (JTA)

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