Jewish News | February 17, 2020

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Southeastern Virginia | Vol. 58 No. 10 | 22 Shevet 5780 | February 17, 2020

32 Rabbi Ariel Burger on Elie Wiesel’s message

33

Survey is open through February 29 —page 3

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Retirement in Style!

Jay Klebanoff: VCIC Award recipient Wednesday, March 25

34 Amos Nachoum’s photographs Leon Family Gallery Through March

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Virginia Festival of Jewish Film begins February 20

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upfront

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Time is running out!

Take the Jewish Tidewater survey ASAP.

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

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Survey closes February 29 Terri Denison

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n just about 15 minutes you can let Tidewater’s organized Jewish community know what you think works and what doesn’t and what you’d like to see more or less of. And, you can do it anonymously for absolutely no cost from the comfort of your home or office. All you need is a computer or a tablet or a smartphone to access JewishTidewater.org.

The last survey conducted for Tidewater’s Jewish community took place in 2001 and focused on demographics. This one’s focus is on the community’s needs. In other words, what services would you use if they were available? Or, if you knew about them? What events would you attend if they were offered?

Linda Spindel’s Facebook message with the link to the survey says it best: If you live in Tidewater, please take a moment to fill out this survey. We are working so hard to assess where the Jewish community should be putting our time, energy, and resources. Thank you so much!!

David Leon says that he’s busy telling everyone he knows to take the survey, especially those who are not in some way involved with the Jewish community. “I asked a Jewish friend who is not connected to the Jewish community to tell his Jewish friends who are also not connected about the survey. I told him, ‘We want to hear from everyone!’”

The bottom line is that all of the stake-holders: Jewish

Terri Denison, Editor Germaine Clair, Art Director Lisa Richmon, Staff Writer Sandy Goldberg, Account Executive Ronnie Jacobs Cohen, Account Executive Marilyn Cerase, Subscription Manager Reba Karp, Editor Emeritus

agencies, schools, synagogues, and organizations want to improve and your feedback is crucial to making it happen. No matter affiliation or level of involvement, it cannot be stressed enough that everyone’s opinion matters. Please, go to JewishTidewater.org and share your thoughts.

At the survey’s conclusion, there’s a chance to be entered into several drawings for prizes. Don’t worry, your responses remain anonymous! The prizes include: • Jody’s Popcorn: A tub of popcorn each month for one year.

• One Night: Two tickets to a culinary evening with Israeli chefs on May 6.

• Virginia Festival of Jewish Film’s BIG Saturday Night evening on February 22.

• $100 Visa Card Join those who say, “I’ve done it!” and commit 15 minutes to helping secure the best possible future story for Jewish Tidewater.

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Upcoming Deadlines for Editorial and Advertising March 2 March 23 April 6 April 27 May 11 May 25

J e w i s h T i d e wat e r . o r g

Mazel Tov Passover Camp Women Summer Healthcare

Friday, February 21/26 Shevet Light candles at 5:33 pm

Jewish Tidewater Survey . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

Bnos convention in Norfolk. . . . . . . . . . 29

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

Do boats have doorposts? . . . . . . . . . . . 30

Anti-Semitism on the rise . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

Concert for social justice. . . . . . . . . . . . 31

ADL Report on White supremacists . . . . 8

Rabbi Burger remembers Elie Wiesel . . 32

February is Jewish Disability Month. . . 10

What’s Happening . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33

New international emoji. . . . . . . . . . . . . 11

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

Chrysler Museum adds Judaica. . . . . . . 11

Obituaries. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36

Friday, March 20/24 Adar Light candles at 6:59 pm

Jewish moments at the Oscars. . . . . . . . 12

Remembering Kirk Douglas. . . . . . . . . . 38

Friday, March 27/2 Nissan Light candles at 7:05 pm

Special Section: Retirement. . . . . . . . . . 13

Feb. 14 March 6 March 20 April 10 April 24 May 8

Candle Lighting

Quotable

Contents

United Jewish Federation of Tidewater Amy Levy, President Alvin Wall, Treasurer Stephanie Calliott, Secretary Betty Ann Levin, Executive Vice-President jewishVA.org

“When you lose a general, everyone else gets a promotion.”

Friday, February 28/3 Adar Light candles at 5:40 pm Friday, March 6/10 Adar Light candles at 5:47 pm Friday, March 13/17 Adar Light candles at 6:53 pm —page 32

jewishnewsva.org | February 17, 2020 | Jewish News | 3

BRIEFS Harry Potter book in Yiddish The first book in the Harry Potter series is now available in Yiddish.

Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone—or Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone, as it is known in the United States—was released in Yiddish by the Swedish publisher Olniansky Tekst Farlag this month. (Yiddish is an official language in Sweden.)

It was translated by Arun Viswanath, 29, the son of an Indian-American father and Gitl Schaecter-Viswanath, author of the Comprehensive English-Yiddish Dictionary. Her father was a professor of Yiddish at Columbia University.

Yair Rosenberg chronicles the story behind the translation in Tablet—from how Viswanath renamed Quidditch as the equivalent of “shoot-broom” to how he felt about the book’s goblins, which some have called anti-Semitic. (JTA) Christians and Jews in Italy host Syrian refugee family Christians and Jews in Milan, Italy, are jointly hosting a Muslim family that fled from the fighting in Syria.

The family of seven from Aleppo immigrated to Italy legally as asylum seekers and are being hosted at an apartment in Milan by the Union of Italian Jewish Communities and the Jewish Community of Milan.

The newcomers’ immigration process is part of a project that started in 2016 by three Christian organizations, the ANSA news agency reported. The family was not named.

Giorgio Mortara, vice president of the national Jewish union, said that organization decided to get involved because there are “many passages in the Torah that refer to the obligation to help others, strangers.”

In 2015, Milan’s Holocaust museum briefly opened its doors and housed refugees from Africa. That year, about 2 million immigrants came to Europe, mostly from the war-torn Middle East.

Yet “there’s a big debate” among Italian Jews on immigration, Davide Romano, the Milan community’s former cultural officer, told the Jewish Telegraphic Agency.

“We see what is happening in France, we’re worried,” he said of a spike in anti-Semitic violence that French-Jewish watchdogs attribute to Muslim extremism. Romano said he favors helping would-be immigrants in their home countries when possible.

In 2017, a Syrian asylum seeker in Amsterdam smashed the windows of a kosher restaurant. Another asylum seeker participated in the attempted torching of a synagogue in Sweden that year. (JTA)

Kushner: Israel agreed to postpone annexation until after elections Israeli government officials agreed not to annex any land before the country’s general election next month, Jared Kushner said.

Kushner, the architect of the newly-unveiled peace plan between Israel and the Palestinians and senior adviser to President Donald Trump, made the statement at the United Nations headquarters in New York while speaking to reporters, Fox News reported.

The plan would allow Israel to annex its settlements as well as the Jordan Valley. It would create a Palestinian state made up of Gaza and the majority of the West Bank with a capital in east Jerusalem, on condition they demilitarize the Gaza Strip and the Palestinian Authority ends its practice of paying terrorists and their families.

Trump unveiled the plan on Jan. 28 with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the White House. The top spokesperson of Netanyahu’s Likud party, Jonatan Urich, that day said the Knesset would vote on annexing land on Feb. 2, but the vote was delayed.

The Palestinians under Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas rejected the plan. Israel has endorsed it.

(JTA) Vindman’s synagogue accepts letters of support following his NSC ouster Alexander Vindman’s synagogue in Springfield, Virginia, is accepting letters of support on his behalf.

Vindman, the Jewish staffer who

4 | Jewish News | February 17, 2020 | jewishnewsva.org

was among the first to raise flags about President Donald Trump’s pressure on Ukraine to investigate a political rival, was removed from his position as an expert on U.S. policy in Ukraine at the National Security Council on Friday, Feb. 7.

“The Vindman family is a valued member of Congregation Adat Reyim’s community of friends. We are proud to support Lt. Colonel Alex Vindman during this challenging time,” Rebecca Geller, co-president of Congregation Adat Reyim, told JTA. In addition, for those seeking ways to show support, the Vindman family has requested donations be made to the synagogue via www.adatreyim.org in Alexander Vindman’s honor.

Trump also recalled Gordon Sondland, U.S. ambassador to the European Union.

Both Vindman and Sondland testified against Trump in the U.S. House of Representatives, providing damaging testimony that led to Trump’s impeachment. Their removal came just days after Trump was acquitted by the Republicanled U.S. Senate in an impeachment trial.

Also Friday, Feb. 7, Vindman’s twin brother, Lt. Col. Yevgeny Vindman, was asked to leave his job as a White House lawyer. Both Vindmans, Jews who immigrated with their father from Ukraine in 1979, were reassigned to the Army.

Vindman said during his testimony that his father feared that his speaking out would bring retaliation. (JTA)

Israeli Orthodox mother of five wins Miami race A haredi Orthodox mother of five won the half-marathon at the 18th annual Life Time Miami Marathon and Half Marathon event.

Beatie Deutsch, 30, finished in a time of 1:16:4 to win in the women’s category on Sunday, Feb. 9, the Miami Herald reported.

It was Deutsch’s first race in the United States. She is working to qualify to represent Israel in the marathon at the Tokyo Olympics this summer.

That race currently is scheduled for a Saturday, however, and the Sabbathobserving Deutsch would be unable to compete even if she can reach the

Olympic qualifying time.

Deutsch, who moved to Israel from New Jersey in 2009, is known for running in a skirt, sleeves that fall below her elbow and a headscarf.

In May, Deutsch was the top female finisher in a 13-mile half-marathon race in Riga, Latvia, reportedly becoming the first haredi woman to win an international athletic competition.

This year, for the first time, the Miami Marathon offered kosher-certified meals for athletes at the finish line, the Miami Herald reported. (JTA)

Madoff’s victims can weigh in on his possible ‘compassionate release’ from prison Bernie Madoff’s victims can weigh in on whether or not the Ponzi schemer should be released early from prison.

Madoff’s attorney in a request to a federal court asked for a “compassionate release” from federal prison for his 81-year-old client. The filing said that Madoff, who needs a wheelchair and has multiple medical problems, has been told he has less than 18 months to live.

Days later, the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Manhattan announced that those who lost money in Madoff’s $19 billion scheme have until the end of February to submit emails to Judge Denny Chin of the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals through the prosecutor’s office, The Associated Press reported.

Madoff is serving a 150-year sentence in a North Carolina federal prison for his scheme, which began in the early 1970s and lasted until his arrest in 2008. He pleaded guilty in 2009 to 11 felony charges related to money laundering, perjury and falsifying financial documents.

Many prominent Jewish nonprofits suffered major losses in the fraud.

Madoff requested compassionate release in September from the warden of the federal prison, NBC News reported.

According to AP, the Bureau of Prisons denied a December request by Madoff for release. The denial said an early release would “minimize the severity of his offense.” (JTA)

ORTHODOX ^

UN

TIDEWATEr

TOGETHER

jewishnewsva.org | February 17, 2020 | Jewish News | 5

Bob & Augusta Live Forever As philanthropists and volunteers, this Virginia Beach couple supported important causes in Hampton Roads.

Although Bob Goodman passed away in 2006 and Augusta Goodman in 2017, they help others today because of the charitable bequest they entrusted to the Hampton Roads Community Foundation. Today, their four children carry on Bob and Augusta’s legacy through donor-advised funds that let them recommend grants to help nonprofits do their best work.

Thanks to their generosity, Bob and Augusta will forever make life better in their home region.

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anti-semitism

Anti-Semitism: Why Today?

Excerpted from Rabbi Rosalin Mandelberg’s sermon at Ohef Sholom Temple on February 7, 2020.

A

s if the fear of the coronavirus isn’t enough, the Anti-Defamation League reports that extremists are promoting conspiracy theories blaming (guess who?) the Jews. February 7th’s Forward reports that, according to the ADL’s website, the following encrypted Internet messages were uncovered. And I quote: “Finally! Science has discovered a cure for the most insidious disease of our time…Jewishness.” The same person also referred to a news report that three Israelis were quarantined as possible coronavirus carriers with the message “3 down, 5,999,997 to go!” Posts linking the coronavirus to racist and anti-Semitic slurs and memes also are found on 4chan and Gab. One 4chan user wrote, “Send the sick to Israel—if you already die at least take out as many Jews as you can.” In addition, extremists are using the spread of the coronavirus to advance their anti-Semitic theories that Jews are responsible for creating the virus and are spreading it to “increase their control” or “profiting from it.”

Even though it is 2020, anti-Semitism is alive and well.

The real question is why this fear and hatred of Jews is as present today as it has been for over two millennia? From where do these ideas that Jews are trying to topple the global order and take over the world or that Judaism is synonymous with money and greed come? Is anti-Semitism worse today than in other epochs in our history? Is it being more easily metastasized by the unchecked lies proliferating on social media and the dark web making it so much easier for haters to find one another and spread their insidious ideas? Does the perceived uptick in anti-Jewish rhetoric and violence have to do with the prevalence of overt racism in our society today in the form of anti-minority sentiments and anti-immigrant policies? Are White Supremacists being emboldened by implicit and explicit support from the

6 | Jewish News | February 17, 2020 | jewishnewsva.org

highest echelons of our government? If so, then how do we explain anti-Semitism on the far left? Or is the cause of anti-Semitism far more historic and complex?

In an attempt to answer some of these truly existential questions, here are the top four most common reasons for anti-Semitism: One: We Jews are different from other people and therefore cannot be trusted to be loyal to the state.

In the book of Esther, Mordechai refuses to bow down to Haman because Jews don’t bow down to people. But Haman’s rationale to King Ahasuerus for killing the Jews of Persia is: “There is a certain people, scattered and dispersed among the other peoples in all the provinces of your realm, whose laws are different from those of any other people and who do not obey the king’s laws; it is not in your majesty’s interest to tolerate them” (3:8). Even if this example is not historically proven, there is no doubt that on February 9, 1807, Napoleon Bonaparte convened a Sanhedrin, an historic rabbinic court, that had not been assembled in 1,000 years, to force the Jews to swear primary allegiance to France before being granted the same equal rights given to all other Frenchmen. And in our own day, no matter the service we have given and the strides we have made in every sector of American life, allegations of dual loyalty against American Jews, rear their ugly head too often.

Two: The most insidious and pervasive reason for anti-Semitism is that the Jews killed Jesus.

In the Gospel of Matthew, in chapters 23, 24 and 27 in particular, many speeches, known as woes, are attributed to Jesus in which Jews are called “killers of the prophet” and deserving of punishments for this crime by destruction of the second Temple and Jerusalem.

In verse 27:25, the Gospel puts these words in the mouth of the Jewish leadership, “His blood be upon us and our

children.” This blood guilt text has been interpreted to mean that all Jews, of Jesus’ time and forever afterward, accept responsibility for the death of Jesus and, of all of Christian Scripture; these eight words have caused more Jewish suffering than any others. They have been used to justify persecution of Jews for millennia.

Despite the Catholic church’s renouncing of this doctrine in Vatican II in 1965, it continues to be pervasive thinking for many, although, thankfully, not for most.

Three: The third most common reason for anti-Semitism: Judaism is synonymous with wealth, power, greed, and globalization and Jews are striving to overthrow the global order through their control over the banks, Hollywood, and the media…a la Jews are sitting around counting our Benjamins.

Lest you think these conspiracy theories are held only by extremists, many of these ideas are imbedded in great religious traditions, popular ideologies like Marxism, and many other belief systems and philosophies in between. So pervasive are these ideas that they are also held in places where Jews do not even live—take Hungary, Poland, and Asian countries.

Dr. David Nirenberg, dean of the Divinity School, University of Chicago, prefers to call this thinking anti-Judaism, rather than anti-Semitism. He says anytime a society uses Judaism as an explanation for the many challenges they face, whether or not there are Jews around, they are anti-Jewish. In the countries I mentioned above and even in the United States, where fear of immigrants is at hysterical levels, these go hand in hand with parts of our society agreeing that it is because of Jewish machinations and the Jews trying to replace the current social and economic order with the “Jewish global order.” There are many forms of racism, hatred, violence against peoples who are different, but masses coalesce around the idea that Jews are the problem unlike they do with any other racial or religious minority. This is

anti-semitism actually called replacement-theory ideology—simply put, Jews are trying to take over the world.

Professor Nirenberg tells this true story: “It happened in 2001, in mid-September. I was heading to New York City to give a talk at N.Y.U. It was the day George W. Bush was speaking at Ground Zero. There were only two other people on the subway car, and they were trying to explain to each other why this new kind of terror had struck New York. They

The external factors that seem to spur fear and hatred of Jews are things like political polarization and economic stresses, among others

had two answers for each other. One said that it was the Jews’ greed, and that the Jews had turned New York into a symbol of capitalism, and that’s why everybody hates us, and the other said, yes, and because they killed Christ.”

Four: The final reason most commonly given for anti-Semitism or anti-Judaism is that the State of Israel is evil, an

occupier and oppressor nation, ruled by apartheid policies and that murders innocent Muslim children.

This is an old canard. The same blood-guilt I mentioned in the Gospel of Matthew was leveled against Jews for thousands of years in the form of the blood libel—Jews were murdering Christian children and using their blood to make matzah. It is true that Israel is imperfect, and that its current leadership is much less interested in dialogue with its citizens than it ought to be.

But even though not all anti-Zionism is anti-Semitism, that does not mean that much of anti-Zionism isn’t informed by the powerful and dispersed anti-Semitic tropes we mentioned earlier, particularly that of Jews trying to impose a new Jewish global order in which all the wealth and power are held by us.

Plainly, the reality is, horrible optics aside, anti-Semitism pre-dated the existence of the State of Israel.

From fear, hate, oppression, and violence against Jews in the forms of blood libels, pogroms, inquisitions, and expulsions, the Holocaust, and the murderous rampage at Pittsburgh’s Tree of Life Synagogue, to the heinous attacks against us in New York during Hanukkah, we Jews have been targets of hate. In truth, people need few excuses and even less rationale for pointing the finger at us or to perpetuate anti-Semitic thinking and actions.

Whether or not this period in Jewish history is worse or the same as in the past, Nirenberg says he does believe we are in an era of anti-Semitism or anti-Judaism because so many different societies are simultaneously reviving ways of explaining the complexity of the world in terms of the dangers posed by Judaism or Jews…even if they are not real Jews. He believes that anti-Judaism is a distinct kind of prejudice that truly does transcend particular political contexts. Anti-Semitism is a crucial part of nationalism, but it is also part of the far left’s agenda a la the joke about the Jews being the only people blamed for both communism and capitalism. The external factors that seem to spur fear

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and hatred of Jews are things like political polarization and economic stresses, among others; these seismic shifts in our nation and world are what seem to make the language of anti-Judaism so useful to so many.

So, given the vast system of thought that birthed anti-Semitism, how do we combat it? Aside from continuing to model the ethics taught in Torah by living our lives as the best possible humans and citizens we can be, what else can we do?

Today, as much as ever, we must

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educate, educate, and educate some more. We must be vigilant, yet we must also live our Jewish lives fully, purposefully and joyfully. And finally, we must recognize that the conspiracy theories of a few extremists, as awful as they are, can never and will never destroy the Jewish people or our Jewish spirit. Am Yisrael Chai.

Rabbi Rosalin Mandelberg is the Senior Rabbi at Ohef Sholom Temple.

jewishnewsva.org | February 17, 2020 | Jewish News | 7

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anti-semitism White supremacists distributed more propaganda in 2019 but held fewer events, ADL says Ben Sales

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One flyer reads “Holocaust = fake news.”

Another says “America is not for sale.”

And another: “Diversity destroys nations.”

These are just a few of the 2,713 pieces of propaganda distributed in the United States by white supremacist groups in 2019, according to a report published Wednesday, February 12 by the AntiDefamation League. The flyers, posters and bumper stickers—many using traditional American color schemes and iconography to advance racist, anti-Semitic and anti-LGBTQ ideas—appeared in every state except Hawaii and touched hundreds of college campuses.

The number of incidents recorded in 2019 is more than double the tally from the previous year, in which the ADL documented 1,214 incidences of propaganda, and were concentrated mostly in large states like California, Texas, and New York.

“Propaganda is the gateway into broader white supremacist activity,” Oren Segal, the vice president of the ADL’s Center on Extremism, told the Jewish Telegraphic Agency. “It starts with reading a narrative or posting material on a poll, and maybe that leads to joining a march and more. And we have to remember that these are fundamentally narratives that inform violent extremist movements.”

The rise in propaganda, however, comes alongside a 20 percent drop in events held by white supremacists, to 76 from 95, according to the report. Most of the events were not publicized in advance, as groups opted for so-called “flash demonstrations” in which protesters gathered quickly without notice.

Pre-planned events were poorly attended, the report said. Some drew fewer than a dozen participants and attracted larger counter protests. In one instance, a white supremacist activist gave a lecture to an empty room.

But Segal noted that on a recent Saturday, 150 members of a white supremacist group marched, their faces masked, in Washington, D.C.

“One of the things white supremacists are aware of are efforts to expose them, and so they want to be able to amplify their hateful messages without necessarily taking responsibility,” Segal said. “They’re able to have perhaps more impact by putting up a flyer or a banner and maintaining their anonymity while creating fear and anxiety in the community.”

About a quarter of the propaganda incidents were on college campuses, though nearly all of those campuses were targeted only once or twice. The ADL says that shows “white supremacists seem to have failed to gain a sustained foothold on campus.”

During the fall semester of 2019, the number of campus propaganda incidents was particularly high due to a campaign by the Patriot Front, which the ADL describes as a fascist, white supremacist group. The ADL said the group hung banners—featuring block letters in red, white and blue—over overpasses or buildings reading “Deport them all,” “Reclaim America” and “Revolution is tradition.”

The Patriot Front posters have the same style as propaganda from a white supremacist group called the American Identity Movement, which has been spreading its materials for years. Its posters feature traditional American icons like Lady Liberty and the bald eagle with the slogan “Nationalism not globalism.”

Another group, responsible for the distribution of 82 pieces of propaganda, was Daily Stormer Book Clubs, which is affiliated with the white supremacist online publication of the same name. Its propaganda was cruder, with one piece featuring a classic anti-Semitic caricature under the message “Why do Jews push pornography and degeneracy on our children?”

Another flyer from the Daily Stormer Book Clubs displayed a cartoon image of “the squad,” the group of four progressive Democratic congresswomen, under the slogan “Send them back!”

“I think it underscores the need for people to be very careful about their language,” Segal said, regarding the “Send them back” flyer. (JTA)

The BIG Saturday Night Celebration of Jewish Film and and Champagne Reception in memory of Patricia Ashkenazi

Picture of his life Followed by a conversation with special guests director Dani Menkin and award-winning photographer Amos Nachoum

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Sandler Center for the Performing Arts 201 Market Street, Virginia Beach

Revered as one of the greatest underwater photographers of all time, Amos Nachoum had one mission: to photograph a polar bear underwater while swimming alongside it.

Picture of His Life follows Nachoum’s journey to accomplish his final goal, while revealing an up-close, personal, and hard story of sacrifice, redemption, and dedication.

Filmakers Dani Menkin and Yonatan Nor follow Nachoum on his quest to the freezing Arctic waters, revealing the infinite patience and preparation that go into the making of his work. In the process, viewers understand why Nachoum feels that getting close to nature brings peace and joy.

Tickets $35, Under 21 FREE | Purchase tickets at JewishVa.org/FilmFestival jewishnewsva.org | February 17, 2020 | Jewish News | 9

Enjoy!

Jewish Disability Awareness, Acceptance & Inclusion month

brilliant performances

Disability with dignity In recognition of February as Jewish Disability Awareness and Inclusivity Month, this is the second of a two-piece spotlight on the community’s awareness and actions on behalf of people with disabilities.

Lisa Richmon

F

or Tidewater’s Jewish agencies, congregations, and buildings, making certain that all people are welcome— including those with physical or mental challenges—has become increasingly important. Jewish Family Service of Tidewater, for example, offers multiple programs to serve a wide range of community members with special needs, and Camp JCC at the Simon Family JCC, offers Yachad, a program that enables all kids to experience camp fun. Along with other ongoing efforts of inclusion, both were mentioned in the Feb. 3 issue of Jewish News.

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Still, so much more takes place within the Jewish community to assure inclusion.

Chabad of Tidewater “welcomes all people, especially those with special needs,” says Rabbi Levi Brashevitzky. “We have a bunch of reading glasses available 10 | Jewish News | February 17, 2020 | jewishnewsva.org

and we’ve enhanced the access ramp. We are looking into obtaining books used during services in Braille.”

Brashevitzky says Chabad continues to make every effort to have an interpreter to translate to sign language. “Most importantly,” he says, “we treat those with special needs with equal respect and incorporate them as regulars, whenever possible.”

Temple Israel and Congregation Beth El have partnered with Claudia Mazur, from Faith Inclusion Network, on special projects and group conversations fostering Kavod, Hebrew for dignity, honor, and respect.

Technology can be one of the most intimate tools used to demonstrate respect and dignity and inclusivity. After winning a grant to assist in the installation of some new technology, Mazur has helped Beth El implement the newly proposed Assisted Listening System, which enhances congregants’ abilities to hear the services, music, speakers, and importantly, any safety announcements that might need to be relayed. The system comes with its own devices for which the congregants can use both standard earbuds, as well as the neck loop system to work with their T-coil equipped hearing aids. This system also has an expanded range that allows hearing impaired congregants and visitors to use their phones as their listening device through an app.

Mazur is slated to be the guest speaker at Temple Israel’s Disability Awareness, Acceptance and Inclusion Shabbat.

Combining art with an intention to foster diversity, connectivity, acceptance, and inclusion, congregants will be given a puzzle piece to decorate. Together all of the puzzle pieces will form a ‘we are Temple Israel’ themed poster, designed

by Bobbie Fisher. It will be on display for people to experience while attending the special Shabbat service.

Ohef Sholom Temple “strives to create an inclusive environment that not only embraces diversity, but also allows the full participation of people with disabilities,” says Linda Peck, the temple’s executive director. Ohef Sholom offers

Special events in recognition of Jewish Disability Awareness and Inclusion Month Dr. Arielle Silverman: Treating all with respect Sunday, February 23, 11 am Ohef Sholom Temple, free with RSVP RSVP to reservations@ohefsholom.org or call 757-625-4295.

Claudia Mazur from Faith Inclusion Network Temple Israel’s Disability Awareness, Acceptance & Inclusion Shabbat Saturday, February 29, 9:30 am to 12 pm Contact: mailto:info@templeisraelva.org or call 757-489-4550.

various options such as Braille and largeprint prayer books for those with no sight or limited vision; an amplification system for people with hearing issues; a lift that allows access to the bimah in the sanctuary for anyone needing assistance managing steps; and an ADA-compliant bathroom.

Peck says that the temple’s Religious School recognizes that providing a Jewish education for all children requires a commitment to meeting each child’s unique needs and addressing them in a way that allows them to thrive in an appropriate classroom.

“Our Virginia-certified special education teacher works with each enrolled child to develop an individualized Jewish education plan (JIEP); provide adaptive equipment, materials and other accommodations; and oversee a special safe classroom for students who need to be in their own setting,” says Peck. “Because we feel inclusion in temple activities is important and desirable for all students, our ultimate goal is the integration into the regular school routine whenever possible.”

arts and culture

New emoji is Israelis’ way of saying ‘wait a minute’

A

symbol of pinched fingers—ubiquitous among Israelis saying “wait a minute” or “have patience”—has been included in the 2020 list of approved emojis.

But the nonprofit Unicode Consortium, the organization that approves new emojis, is calling the emoji showing all fingers and thumb held together in a vertical orientation the “Italian hand gesture,” or “finger purse.” Italians use the symbol to show disagreement.

Try telling that to Israelis. They will only be able to think of it as the symbol for “rak rega,” or just a minute.

Meanwhile, the Arab world also claims the gesture, with the Twittersphere celebrating the new emoji by calling it the “Arab mom’s favorite emoji.”

At least Israelis and Arabs can agree that they are happy with the new character.

The Unicode Consortium’s main function is to develop a universal character encoding scheme, allowing people around the world to use digital devices in any language. But it is more commonly known for selecting the emoji icons used by the world’s smartphones based on submissions from individuals and organizations who present their case with evidence for why each one is essential.

The organization last week announced the approval of 117 new emojis for 2020.

Among the new symbols are people hugging, a gender-neutral Santa and a father feeding baby. Oh, and an anatomical heart.

Sefaria, the online free Jewish library, last year designed a Torah emoji that it planned to submit to the consortium for consideration. In May, the Conference of European Rabbis called on the consortium to add new emojis to represent Jews—namely, a man wearing a kippah and a woman wearing a head covering.

There are now about 3,000 approved emojis. (JTA)

Chrysler Museum adds piece of Judaica to its collection

T

he Chrysler Museum of Art recently acquired a Besamim, a significant work of Judaica produced during the 19th century. The intricately worked silver container in the shape of a pinecone, may have held sweet smelling spices for Havdalah, the service that marks the end of Shabbat.

The piece was created somewhere within the vast Ottoman Empire that stretched from North Africa, across the Middle East through present-day Turkey, and north into the Balkans territory.

“The Besamim is the first significant work of Judaica acquired by the Chrysler Museum in decades,” says Erik Neil, Museum director. “It embodies a real cultural practice from a time and place that was often depicted with an exotic or Romantic flavor and attests to the rich

cultural crosscurrents at play in the 19th century. Acquisitions such as this one allow us to tell more stories and educate our visitors about the cultures of other times and places.”

The box and lid are silver castings that are finely and elaborately decorated with parcel gilding, embossing, punch marks and engraving and chasing. Several marks identify it as a work of Ottoman silver, including the Sultan’s tughra, or silver hallmark, and several zig-zag assay marks.

For centuries, Christians, Muslims, and Jews co-existed within the Empire noted for its relative religious tolerance. The Chrysler holds few examples of Judaica, making this a welcome addition to the collection.

Artist unknown (Ottoman), Pinecone-shaped Besamim Box, 19th century, cast parcelgilt silver, engraved and chiseled, Museum purchase, 2019.40

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jewishnewsva.org | February 17, 2020 | Retirement | Jewish News | 11

S I M O N FA M I LY PA S S P O R T T O I S R A E L

Are you a Jewish teen who wants to go to Israel?

Apply at foundation.jewishva.org through March 15 Tidewater Jewish Foundation can help fund the trip through the Simon Family Passport to Israel Fund!

- Grants are available for students age 13 to 18, traveling to Israel on an organized and staffed peer trip.

- Trips will be funded up to 50% of the eligible expenses.

For more information, contact Ann Swindell aswindell@ujft.org | (757) 965-6106

In partnership with the United Jewish Federation of Tidewater’s Holocaust Commission

Those who Remained

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Based on the 2004 novel by Zsuzsa F. Varkonyi, Those Who Remained explores the relationship of two survivors trying to live their lives in Hungary after the !"#"$%&'() *+) ,#-.%+ /,#.01 2o+34+ 544(' 16-year-old Klára during a medical exam and she immediately latches onto him. 674 8#5 +494%#' (74:+ .4#:$%(4 ;"3. %3. explores how people navigate a dark world through the stability and equilibrium of others.

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Tickets: $10 | Purchase tickets at JewishVa.org/FilmFestival 12 | Jewish News | Retirement | February 17, 2020 | jewishnewsva.org

entertainment Taika Waititi’s big win and 5 other Jewish moments from the 2020 Oscars

W

hen Adam Sandler was shut out of this year’s Academy Award nominations for Uncut Gems, the Oscars lost out on the chance to have an acceptance speech as hilarious as the one Sandler delivered at the Independent Film Spirit Awards.

But this year’s Oscars had some pretty wonderful Jewish moments nonetheless.

Here’s a roundup.

Maori Jewish director, writer and actor Taika Waititi Waititi, 44, took home the Oscar for Best Adapted Screenplay for Jojo Rabbit, his first Oscar win and the first ever by an Indigenous director. Waititi’s “anti-hate” satire about a boy who has Adolf Hitler as an imaginary friend, was up for six awards, but Waititi’s win was the only one for the film.

The director dedicated the award to “all the Indigenous kids in the world who want to do art and dance and write stories.” Waititi’s father is from the Te Whanau-a-Apanui, a Maori tribe.

He also shouted out his Jewish mom, Robin Cohen: “Thank you for being my mother, and for many other reasons, but for giving me the book (Caging Skies) that I adapted. This film wouldn’t have existed without you doing that.”

Jewish actress Natalie Portman and Jewish actor Timothée Chalamet presented Waititi with the award.

In the press room after winning, Waititi said he made the film in response to a “resurgence of hate and intolerance and hate speech.”

“At the end of the war, there was a very clear rule: if you were a Nazi, you went to jail. Now, the rules have changed a bit: if you’re a Nazi, feel free to have a rally down in the town square and you can invite all your mates. So, something’s changed and something’s not right.”

Idina Menzel sings Idina Menzel, the voice of Elsa in Frozen (and its sequel) performed the Oscarnominated song Into the Unknown with backup performers from around the

world.

The Jewish mom was introduced by her Jewish Frozen co-star, Josh Gad, who made a point to pronounce her name correctly, saying, “the iconic and brilliant Idina Menzel, pronounced exactly as it is spelled.” (A dig at John Travolta, who could not pronounce her name at the 2014 ceremony.)

Natalie Portman’s dress Portman’s dress was embroidered with the names of eight female directors who were snubbed by the Academy this year: Lulu Wang (The Farewell), Greta Gerwing (Little Women), Alma Har’el (Honey Boy), Lorene Scafaria (Hustlers), Celine Sciamma (Portrait of a Lady on Fire), Melina Matsoukas (Queen & Slim), Marielle Heller (A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood), and Mati Drop (Atlantics).

Israeli director Alma Har’el tweeted, “My first time at the Oscars couldn’t have been more beautiful.”

Jewish stars make memorable appearances as presenters Portman and Chalamet were among several Jewish celebrities to be part of the host-less awards show. Beanie Feldstein, Gal Gadot, Steven Spielberg, and Maya Rudolph also got to hand out prizes.

Waititi also returned to honor the indigenous populations of Southern California, who lived in what is now Los Angeles: “We acknowledge them as the first peoples of this land on which the motion pictures community lives and works.”

Jewish stars honored in memoriam Presented by Jewish director Spielberg— the “in memoriam” segment honored those Hollywood lost this year. As Billie Eilish sang, the show paid tribute to Schindler’s List producer and Holocaust survivor Branko Lustig; iconic Jewish actress Sylvia Miles; and Buck Henry, screenwriter of The Graduate and Get Smart. The awards show also memorialized Kirk Douglas, the actor born Issue Danielovich who died last week at 103.

Retirement in Style!

Supplement to Jewish News February 17, 2020 jewishnewsva.org | February 17, 2020 | Retirement | Jewish News | 13

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Rethink the idea of retirement.

Retirement

Dear Readers,

S

leeping in. Long walks. Exotic trips. For some,

retirement community), as they are as busy as ever. Lisa

these are the dreams, and perhaps even the realities

Richmon’s interview with them is on page 16.

Most people, however, remain right here in Tidewater during retirement years. Staying fit is one key to being

Barry’s brother Gerald, also a retired dentist, takes a

able to take advantage of those non-working days and

Creating new businesses. Volunteering. International

still different approach to his season of retirement—he’s

the Simon Family JCC offers myriad opportunities to

moves. For some, these are the dreams…and realities of

opening an ice cream shop in Virginia Beach. His love of

get that heart rate up, stretch, and be social. Simply put,

retirement.

ice cream began with his dad in West Ghent, was nur-

the JCC is great for retirees. Check out the article on

tured on a trip to Paris, and is going public in Virginia

page 26.

of retirement.

Different doors for different folks. And, that’s what’s this section is all about—the varied ways to approach and live during retirement.

Retirement age or not, we hope this section inspires

Beach. Page 18.

In Tidewater, we all know people who have retired to

us all to enjoy life at every age!

Consider Lois and Barry Einhorn. The couple worked

Florida or Arizona or Colorado or some other city to be

for decades in Barry’s pediatric dental practice while

near their kids. But, what about moving to Israel where

raising a family and tirelessly contributing their time,

sunny days abound, public transportation is good, and

talent, and vision to many in Tidewater—particularly in

healthcare excellent? The article on page 23 reveals

the Jewish community. In their retirement, the Einhorns

why many make the move and highlights what to think

Terri Denison

have merely shifted focus and location (they moved to a

about when considering it.

Editor

Thanks for reading,

Starting the Conversation How to talk to Mom and Dad about Senior Living bathrooms had not been scrubbed in some time. The most worrisome issue was Mom’s appearance.

She looked like she’d lost a lot of weight.

Mom may have had a hard time recalling names when you spoke with her over the phone the last few times, but you weren’t prepared for what you found when you came home for the holidays this year. She had some bruises on her arm and couldn’t remember what they were from. The house was warm and inviting, but the carpets needed vacuuming and the

For many families with aging parents, these periodic visits reveal issues they weren’t aware of. This can stir up many feelings. You may wonder what is happening when you aren’t there. Is she safe? The combination of guilt, fear, and sadness can be staggering. You are not alone. Now is the best time to make a plan and find a senior living community that you would both feel comfortable with, rather than being forced to make a choice in an emergency.

Here are some tips for discussing your concerns with your loved one: • Remind Mom or Dad that you love them and are worried about their wellbeing.

• Ask what he/she would need to happen for them to decide it was time to move.

• Discuss his/her concerns about senior living and what he/she would like to see in a community.

While this can be a very difficult time, there is a myriad of support available to you. Commonwealth Senior Living is here to help.

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Independent Living Plus, Assisted Living & Memory Care | 7211 Granby St., Norfolk, VA | www.CommonwealthSL.com jewishnewsva.org | February 17, 2020 | Retirement | Jewish News | 15

Retirement

Retirement works for Lois and Barry Einhorn Lisa Richmon

S

pending two hours and 36 minutes interviewing community activists Lois and Barry Einhorn about ‘retirement’ at The Talbot on Granby isn’t just enlightening and educational, it is like watching two improv masters.

Preparing for my first meeting with two equally compelling forces of nature was daunting. Then, curiosity emerged and trumped my fear of failure to capture their true essence and impact.

The Einhorns are both 90 years old, Lois is Barry’s senior by two months.

When they sit down with me at noon on January 31, I hand them each a card with a question. After 67 years of marriage, I ask each one to tell me something about their spouse.

I confess to being overwhelmed by their standing in the community as grassroots social activists who co-founded Virginia Festival of Jewish Film, and introduced Operation Understanding to Hampton Roads (OUHR), just for starters.

Rather than trying to check every box of contributions made and positions held, I decide to honor them as a couple married 67 years, whose Jewish values go where they go, and whose synergy people don’t forget.

Everything I had read or heard about their philanthropic instincts can be distilled to one truth. Their purpose is to change lives. They do it by making others feel valued and respected.

Lois reads her card. “What does Barry do to make people feel valued, appreciated and cared for? What is his greatest gift?”

She tears up and answers without hesitation, “He listens to what they have to say. He asks questions because he becomes interested. That’s how you get people to feel cared about. He shows them ‘he cares about me.’ He was a pediatric dentist. I worked for him for 32 years. He has a gift with children. The whole office became that way. Everything in the office was designed for the children. First thing

he did when a new patient came in was post their picture with a polaroid.

Next, Barry gets his card. What does Lois do to make people feel cared for and important? What is her greatest gift?

“Lois is my alter ego, she directs me,” he says. “I’m a free-flowing individual.

She is really centered. Detailed. She gets involved. When someone asks her to do something, she remembers what they said and makes a plan. She acts on it. Lois cares deeply about people. Like when we started Operation Understanding. We were on a trip to Birmingham with the students. A black man who looked homeless was in front of us in line at a fast food restaurant. The worker disregarded the man and took our order first. The students spoke up in protest. At the breakout session that night when we talked about it, Lois got very emotional. The way she cares is like having your grandmother on a trip with you.”

We went from ‘this place will take us down’ to we can’t even do all the activities around here.

If one of us is gone, at least the other will feel at home here.

Lois and Barry Einhorn have been officially retired from Barry’s professional pediatric dental practice for decades, but remain as active as ever, though not just in the Jewish community. Lois is a 37-year breast cancer survivor. Their daughter Wendy just celebrated 12 years cancer free.

16 | Jewish News | Retirement | February 17, 2020 | jewishnewsva.org

Barry and Lois Einhorn, 12 pm at The Talbot’s New Year’s Eve Celebration.

“I accompanied Wendy when she was receiving chemotherapy at Lake Wright Virginia Oncology,” says Lois. “While we were there, two ladies came by with two carts carrying sandwiches and drinks. We were told that they were volunteers for The Cancer Care Foundation of Tidewater and that volunteers prepared and served sandwiches, drinks, etc. to patients as they were receiving chemotherapy. Twelve years ago, my friend and I started volunteering. Barry joined us after the first year.

“When Wendy retired a year ago, she took my friend’s place,” continues Lois. “So, every other Thursday I prepare 27 sandwiches and Wendy prepares 22 sandwiches. We then place a half-sandwich in a little plastic bag so that we have 98 halves. Wendy and I take orders and serve, and Barry prepares the drinks.

We serve about 100 patients each visit. Of course, all of this is free for the patients, which is nice, but the most important thing we do is to bring a ‘ray of sunshine’ to the patients who are being treated. We consider this one of the very special activities we participate in.”

The decision to sell their house and move to an all-inclusive community for seniors was a decade-long process.

“At 80, we considered it, but thought it would bring us down,” Barry says, referring to a depressing perception of

the senior living community scene. “We are very comfortable here. We love it. The truth is, we could have done it five years ago and would have been just as happy.

We tell people not to wait. Now’s the time to do it. Don’t wait until you’re ready.”

As they consider the future, and the possibility of one of them being left alone, peace of mind is the end game. “The Talbot does a very good job of making people feel that this is your home,” says Lois. The couple loves the apartments and vital community so much they’ve ‘sold’ others on the quality of life the Talbot delivers.

“We went from ‘this place will take us down’ to we can’t even do all the activities around here,’” says Barry. “If one of us is gone, at least the other will feel at home here.”

“Our lives are steeped in Jewish community. Here we entered into a living experience with a whole different population. We don’t hide being Jewish, Lois and I are out there. We let them know. At 7 am, we go to services at Temple Israel every morning. The non-Jews are very curious when I leave with my yarmulke on,” says Barry.

Lois adds, “we wanted to fit in and be respected as Jews—and respectful.”

As co-founders of Operation Understanding Hampton Roads their

Retirement roots are showing. Taking an interest in other faiths and cultures was the centerpiece of OUHR. Lois was instrumental in collaborating with Julian Bond and Karen Kaylish in bringing OUHR to Hampton Roads. For nine years, it included five community organizations that came together to create transformational experiences for African American and Jewish teenagers. “Our goal was to create diversity ambassadors,” says Lois. “Each black teenager was assigned to a Jewish teenager and vice-versa. When we went on trips, you were responsible for your partner. We attended a lot of church and temple services. Saturday was temple. Sunday was at a church. A black child was invited to seder. A Jewish child went to church on Easter, so they could experience the other person’s culture. 130 kids went through the program. We were able to travel with the kids. I celebrated my 75th birthday there. It was one of the highlights of our life.”

Rabbi Michael Panitz of Temple Israel has planned a Friday night service for Jewish residents at the Talbot. “I guarantee there will be more non-Jews there,” says Barry.

Before they started a family (Wendy has a brother, Marty Einhorn), the Einhorns were involved with the Little Theatre in Norfolk. One of the rules of improvisational theatre or improv is ‘Yes And.’ ‘Yes And’ is considered a good leadership tool, not just fodder for open mic night.

‘Yes And’ could be their secret sauce.

‘The couple who finishes each other’s sentences,’ doesn’t apply to Barry and Lois Einhorn. They listen intently to each other, then they build on what the other said to make a make a point or tell a story.

Their styles are different, but they both share the same key to people’s hearts.

Kindness is their legacy. And education. From Be A Reader (BeAR) and Sunday School director to Summer Institute for Jewish Learning and Project Ahava.

Now, if only they would get back on stage and offer an Improv Master Class.

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jewishnewsva.org | February 17, 2020 | Retirement | Jewish News | 17

Retirement

At Gerald’s Ice Cream Bar, a retired dentist lives his ice cream-making dream Lisa Richmon

R

etired dentist Gerald Einhorn loves making homemade ice cream. The warmth he feels just eating ice cream is connected to childhood memories of his father William “Willie” Einhorn. Willie Einhorn was a co-founder of Hebrew Academy of Tidewater, known today as Strelitz International Academy.

Einhorn is putting dentistry and a passion for homemade ice cream to the test at Gerald’s Ice Cream Bar at Hilltop North, Virginia Beach. The two art forms might seem incongruous, but Einhorn points out the synergy. “Both are 100% service businesses. They both require 100% precision and discipline.”

As proprietor, his role will be to develop new ice cream recipes and coach the staff on consistent outstanding customer service.

In a competitive specialty food-service market, Einhorn says he is putting his name on a concept with two distinctively different things going for it. “It will have ice cream like you’ve never tasted before and an ambience as special as the ice cream.”

“I’ve been making ice cream for years.

What started this was my fondest memory of my father. He seriously loved ice cream.

A lot of Saturday evenings we’d walk from our house in West Ghent all the way to High’s Ice Cream. We’d each get a pint and eat it on the walk home. It was fun.

18 | Jewish News | Retirement | February 17, 2020 | jewishnewsva.org

Just the two of us,” says Einhorn. “My father worked endless hours so to do something like that with him was very special.”

After retiring from dentistry in 2004, Einhorn and his son Rodney made some special father-son memories of their own.

“I’ve always wanted to open a restaurant,” says Einhorn. “My son Rodney, a chef, was living in Aspen, which is where we first looked, but it was too expensive. Then, he came to Virginia Beach for his grandmother’s funeral. Funny thing is we were looking for some fresh fish for dinner,” he says. They drove through pastoral Pungo where Rodney liked that it wasn’t built up or city-like. Soon after, Gerald Einhorn found the location and Terrapin went live.”

If Einhorn’s son was born into the hospitality business, Gerald Einhorn married into it.

Gerald and Dianne Einhorn have been married 41 years. Her stepfather was Linwood Burroughs, owner of the Burroughs Steak House on Military Highway. “My wife is sensational,” says Einhorn. “She’ll be a big part of what makes Gerald’s special. Her knack for the hospitality business is astounding.

She can walk into any food service establishment. If something’s off, she’ll point out 20 reasons why. She also knows if it’s great and will tell me exactly what’s going on that makes it so good.”

The idea for Gerald’s Ice Cream was conceived in Paris, at a place known around the world for ice cream. On one of the couple’s trips to Europe, they discovered Berthillon.

“I was floored. I have to find out how to do this!” Einhorn recalls. “It started in a simple way. There is so much to this—it’s like a puzzle to figure out how to make

really good ice cream. I bought a million books and experimented. When people came for dinner, I made ice cream for dessert. They would say, ‘you ought to sell this stuff.’

“I almost did this three or four different times. The last time the lady backed out of the lease. Boy, am I glad she did.”

To accelerate his learning curve and elevate the craft, Einhorn recruited gelato genie Tim Brown, who competed in the World Gelato Championship in Rimini, Italy. Brown is the director of the pastry program at the Providence campus of Johnson & Wales University.

“Tim’s my mentor,” says Einhorn who extended the extremely positive experience of working with the South African gelato master to his launch staff, now four months into training. “In two years, they will be experts,” says Einhorn. Drawing from dentistry and his fondness for coaching kids, Einhorn doesn’t believe in asking someone a question you know they can’t answer. “My nephew, Marty Einhorn, is a genius manager. My philosophy is like his. ‘I need you to do this job in a certain way. It’s my job to help you get it right, and to give you what you need, but it must be done this way or you’re out.’”

“You have to do ice cream in a very precise way or every batch will be different,” says Einhorn. “I understand the science of it, I can figure out how to make it because once you understand the science of it, you can go anywhere with it.”

Gerald’s Ice Cream Bar has a full kitchen and seating for people to enjoy an old-fashioned ice cream sundae or banana split. The kitchen allows them to make ice cream cakes and offer cake by the slice.

All milk is sourced from a Virginia dairy.

“My wife says I’m good at everything but retiring.”

Looking B ack with Gratitude

JFS ANNUAL REPORT

FISCAL YEAR 2018–2019 You never know when you need help, but you’ll always know where to find it.

Revenue $7,858,992

You made an impact. We are grateful!

Private Pay/ Other Payors/ Fees 65%

Grants 2% UJFT 3%

Medicare 16%

Commercial Insurance 8%

is proud to continue its mission to help repair the world with acts of loving kindness. Because of the support of this vibrant community, fewer people are hungry, lonely and vulnerable. More people are living healthier, more satisfying lives. Your support helps ensure we have needed funds and resources to sustain vital programs.

JFS is committed to carry on our tradition of excellence through our services.

This past year, we expanded partnerships with organizations and local Jewish agencies; offered educational forums on mental health and aging; increased awareness of organ donation; and provided crisis response to tragedies in our community.

JFS is grateful to the generous gift of time contributed by our wonderful volunteers and Board of Directors. In June, we thanked outgoing Board members and welcomed Board President, Ellen Rosenblum. JFS’ dedicated, compassionate volunteers and staff work tirelessly to promote our services and meet the needs of Hampton Roads residents.

As we move into 2020, we continue to improve our financial performance, expand our ability to make a greater impact, and increase partnerships throughout the community. The projects and initiatives implemented at JFS during the current fiscal year will help assure strong financial stability and success in the coming years. Although we ended the fiscal year in a deficit position, the changes we have implemented for 2019-2020 are making a big difference to the bottom line. We look forward to reporting our ongoing success.

United Way 1%

We are grateful for the generosity of our donors and the United Jewish Federation of Tidewater, the Tidewater Jewish Foundation, the United Jewish Community of the Virginia Peninsula, and the United Way of South Hampton Roads who continue to be vital funding partners.

If you are interested in learning more about the agency, we invite you to visit our new website. There, you can find out more about the programs and services, how to get involved, the latest news and events, and how you can help secure the financial future of JFS.

Fundraising 1% Contributions 4%

Administrative 11%

Programs 89%

Unaudited financials for year ending June 30, 2019.

Audited financial report provided by Wall, Einhorn & Chernitzer, PC will be available upon request after March 15, 2020.

Ellen Rosenblum, JFS President

Board of Directors 2018–2019

Expenses $8,189,801

Kelly Burroughs, JFS CEO

Executive Committee Jeff Cooper, President Ellen Rosenblum, President Elect Kim Gross, Vice President Lawrence Steingold, Treasurer/Immediate Past President Patti Wainger, Secretary Dr. Marcia Samuels, Past President Ashley Zittrain, Member-At-Large

Board of Directors Scott Alperin Betty Berklee Frances Levy Birshtein* Charlene Cohen Lynn Sher Cohen Scott Debb Lisa Delevie Scott Flax Kristy Foleck

Laura Goldstein Dr. Laurie Goldsticker Jody Greason** Chamie Haber Erica Kaplan Dr. David Konikoff Anne Kramer Dr. Mark Lipton Matt Mancoll

Dr. Ken Muhlendorf Joel Nied Stephanie Peck Erinn Portnoy Cantor Jennifer Rueben** Jenny Sachs Rebecca Tall** Scott Vooss

*Hebrew Ladies Charity Trustee jewishnewsva.org | February 17, 2020 | Jewish **Added in 2019 News | 19

Listing denotes gifts received between 7/1/2018 and 6/30/2019

Thank You to our donors

Mr. & Mrs. Bertram D. Aaron Mrs. Joan D. Aaron Ms. Debbie Abbott Mr. & Mrs. Peter Abraham Accounting Group LTD Mr. & Mrs. Howard M. Adelman Mr. & Mrs. S. Beryl Adler Mrs. Evelyn Adler Adler Therapy Group Mrs. Diane Aftel Ms. Janet Aguiar Mrs. Marlene Aikman Mr. & Mrs. Eugene Albert Ms. Melodi Albert Ms. Janice Aleck + Mr. & Mrs. Warren L. Aleck + Helen G. & Warren L. Aleck Fund Allergy & Asthma Specialists, Ltd. Ms. Marilyn Allison Drs. Jason Alper & Jennifer Rush Mr. Scott & Dr. Lori Alperin Mr. & Mrs. William Alperin Ms. Paula Alperin & Mr. Arnold Stone Alperin Law, PLLC Estate of Marian Althaus Mr. Kenneth Altman Altmeyer Funeral Home Ms. Judith Anderson Mr. & Mrs. Jack Arager Dr. & Mrs. Glen Arluk Rabbi & Mrs. Jeffrey Arnowitz Mr. Barry Ashburn Dr. Allison Ashe Mr. Avraham Ashkenazi Aspie Makers Club of Virginia Peninsula Athleta Atlantic Dominion Distributors Mr. & Mrs. Andrew Auerbach Mr. & Mrs. Frank Auerbach Ms. Rosalyn Levy August + Mr. & Mrs. Christopher Austin B’nai Israel Congregation Ms. Linda Badgley Ms. Mary Lou Bailey BakeFresh Manufacturing Co. Mr. & Mrs. David Balaban Dr. & Mrs. Leigh Baltuch Linda L. & Leigh Baltuch Restricted Fund Mr. & Mrs. Brad Bangel ++ Mr. & Mrs. Herbert Bangel Bangel, Bangel & Bangel, L.L.P. Mr. & Mrs. James E. Barnett Ms. Marcia Hodsden Barney Ms. Sherry Baron Mr. & Mrs. Burt S. Barr Mrs. Clay H. Barr Mr. Mark Barr Ms. Susan P. Barr Ms. Suzanne L. Barr Helen Jayne & Melvin Barr* Philanthropic Fund Ms. Brittany Barrett Mr. & Mrs. Ross Barrett Dr. & Mrs. Alan G. Bartel Mr. Gary Bartel ++ Bartel Family Philanthropic Fund Mrs. Marlene Bass Mr. and Mrs. Ken Bates Mrs. Jane P. Batten Mr. & Mrs. Gary Baum ++ BBYO Groups Beach Eye Care Beach Hardware & Paint Mr. & Mrs. Jon Becker Beit Sefer Shalom Dr. Calvin L. Belkov Ms. Carol Bender & Mr. Howard Kessler Mrs. Lisa Benjamin + Mr. & Mrs. Nathan Benson Mr. & Mrs. Donald Berger Mrs. Frances S. Berger Mr. & Mrs. I. William Berger + Mr. & Mrs. Keith Berger Mr. & Mrs. Richard Berger Ms. Rona Lee Berk Mr. & Mrs. Kenny Berklee Mrs. Elise Z. Berkowitz Mrs. Carole Bernstein

Dr. Robert Bernstein & Ms. Lisa Ehrich Berroco, Inc. Beskin-Divers Insurance Group Inc. Bet Emet Messianic Synagogue Beth Sholom Village Bina High School Mr. Gilbert Binder Mrs. Frances Levy Birshtein ++ Ms. Fran Blachman Mr. & Mrs. Michael Blachman Blachman Family Fund Ms. Reesa Bloom & Mr. Mel Carr Ms. Moira Wright Bodner + Mrs. Gloria Bookbinder Mr. & Mrs. David Branfield Mr. Louis Brenner Joseph & Lula G. Brenner* Memorial Fund Percy* Brill Refugee Assistance Fund Brith Sholom Center of Virginia, Inc. Ms. Sarah Brockett Mr. & Mrs. Michael Brodsky Ms. Jeanne Brody Mr. & Mrs. Jeffrey F. Brooke Mr. & Mrs. Leonard Brooke Mr. Jules Broslaw Mr. Steven Brown & Dr. Beryl Brown Mr. & Mrs. Jerry T. Browne Jr. Ms. Annette H. Brownley Mrs. Robyn Brownley Mr. & Mrs. Allan Brum Buckingham Asset Management, LLC Mr. Larry Buckman Mrs. Kelly Burroughs ++ Mr. & Mrs. Stuart Buxbaum Hon. & Mrs. Richard A. Cales, Jr. Ms. Stephanie Adler Calliott & Mr. Don London Mr. & Mrs. Frank Campion Armond and Rose Caplan* Foundation Mr. & Mrs. L.T. Caplan Cardinal Canteen Mr. & Mrs. Lawrence Cardon Mr. Richard Cardon Carevoyant, Inc. Mr. Jon Cashimer Ms. Marilyn Dembowski Cerase Chabad Lubavitch of Tidewater Mr. & Mrs. Andrew Chenoweth Mr. Jeffrey Chernitzer Ms. Randi S. Chernitzer Mr. & Mrs. Bruce Cherry Dr. & Mrs. Jerry Chutkow Mileann A. Cintron Mr. Lloyd Clements Mr. & Mrs. David N. Cohen ++ Mr. & Mrs. Evan R. Cohen Mr. & Mrs. Nick Cohen Cohen Investment Group, LLC Mrs. Gloria Coleman Congregation Beth Chaverim Congregation Beth El Mr. & Mrs. Charles N. Cooper ++ Mr. & Mrs. Jefferson S. Cooper ++ Dr. Paul Cooper Mr. & Mrs. Verland Cooper Cooper Hurley, PLLC Cooper, Spong & Davis, PC Copeland Associates Mrs. Kathy Corley Mrs. Phyllis Cowley Mr. John R. Crank Mrs. Terrie Cruz The Dalis Foundation Mr. & Mrs. E. B. David Mr. & Mrs. Josh David Dr. & Mrs. Scott Debb Mr. & Mrs. Mark Delevie ++ Mrs. Dara Blachman Demner Ms. Chandler Dennis Brian & Melissa Deutsch Family Foundation Mrs. Beverly Diamonstein Mr. & Mrs. John Dietrick Mr. & Mrs. Larry Dobrinsky Ms. Phyllis Dobrinsky Mr. & Mrs. Boris Dobrydnev Mrs. Marilyn Caplan Doline Mr. & Mrs. Barry M. Dorsk Ms. Janis Douglas Dozoretz Family Fund The George and Grace Dragas Family Foundation

Mr. Joseph Drory Drory Family Trust Mrs. Rosalind Drucker Mr. & Mrs. William R. Drury Ms. Barnette Druskin Capt. & Mrs. Marshall Duny Eastern Virginia Medical School Mr. Bruce Ebert Mr. James Eilberg & Dr. Susan Eilberg Dr. & Mrs. Bernard I. Einhorn Dr. & Mrs. Gerald Einhorn Mr. & Mrs. Martin Einhorn ++ Mr. John C. Ellis, Jr. Emerging Philanthropists Council Dr. Stuart Engel + Mr. & Mrs. Stuart Engel ++ Ms. Dianne Epplein & Mr. John Patton ++ Evermay Wealth Management Mr. & Mrs. Harold Familant Estate of Thelma Fantuch + Mr. & Mrs. David Feigenbaum Mr. & Mrs. John Feigenbaum Mr. & Mrs. Joseph Feldman Dr. & Mrs. Marshall Feldman Dr. & Mrs. William E. Feldman ++ Ms. Marilyn Feldman & Mr. John Krug Ms. Heidi Field Mrs. Barbara E. Fine Matthew & Karen Fine Fund Ms. Estelle Fineman Dr. & Mrs. Frederic Fink Mr. & Mrs. Joel Flax Mr. & Mrs. Lawrence Fleder Esther and Alan Fleder Foundation Barbara Leterman Fletcher Fund Mr. & Mrs. Charles Ford Mrs. Rhea D. Foreman Mrs. Vivian Fish Forman Mr. & Mrs. Jon Frank Mr. & Mrs. Len Frank Mrs. Rita Frank Mr. & Mrs. Martin Freedman Mr. & Mrs. Alan M. Frieden Mr. & Mrs. Jack Frieden Mr. & Mrs. Brian Friedman Mrs. Doris J. Friedman Mrs. Ellyn Mae Friedman Mr. & Mrs. Harold Friedman Mr. & Mrs. Martin I. Friedman Mr. & Mrs. Robert Friedman Ms. Shari D. Friedman + Mr. Barry Friedman & Ms. Linda Peck Mr. & Mrs. Leonard Frierman + Ms. Cheryl Furlong Mrs. Libby Furst G&W Gifts & Awards Dr. & Mrs. David Gallo Dr. & Mrs. Alan Ganderson Mrs. Alla Gean Mr. & Mrs. Michael Gebel Ms. Karen S. Gershman ++ Lee A. and Helen Gifford Fund Mr. & Mrs. Bruce Gilbert Mr. & Mrs. Oscar Gilbert Mr. & Mrs. Seth Gilbert Mr. & Mrs. Daniel Gillispie Mr. & Mrs. Jack Glaser Mr. & Mrs. Stan Glasofer Mr. & Mrs. Thomas E. Glass Mrs. Martha Mednick Glasser + Mr. & Mrs. Michael Glasser The Michael & Lori Glasser Charitable Trust Mrs. Mickey Glick Mr. & Mrs. Charles N. Glickman Ms. Gail Gogan Ms. Michelle Goldberg W.C. Goldberg & Co. PC Dr. & Mrs. Charles Goldman Mr. & Mrs. Charles Goldman Mr. & Mrs. Raymond Goldman Mrs. Bootsie Goldmeier Morton* & Elaine Goldmeier Family Fund Mr. & Mrs. Mark Goldner Mr. & Mrs. Ronald Goldsmith Dr. & Mrs. Keith Goldstein Mr. & Mrs. Marshall Goldstein Mr. Steven A. Goldstein + Ms. Evelyn Goodman Mr. Wayne Goodman Mr. & Mrs. Alan Gordon

Mr. & Mrs. Allen J. Gordon Mrs. Brenda Gordon Mr. & Mrs. Howard Gordon Mr. & Mrs. James Gordon Mr. & Mrs. Richard Gordon Mr. & Mrs. Steven Gordon Marah Gordon B’nai Tzedek Fund Mr. & Mrs. Harry Graber ++ Ms. Barbara Graham Ms. Susan Muhler Graves ++ Mr. & Mrs. Lewis Greenhouse Ms. Ethel-Raye Greenspan Mrs. Bobbie Tavss Gross Dr. & Mrs. Fredric Gross + Dr. & Mrs. Michael Gross Ms. Roxanne Grossman The Group for Women Dennis & Suzanne Gruelle Philanthropic Fund Dr. & Mrs. Joseph H. Guth Rabbi & Mrs. Sender Haber + Mrs. Shirley Schulwolf Hainer Mr. & Mrs. George Haley Ms. Bernice Halpern Mr. & Mrs. William Halprin Hampton Roads Community Foundation Harbor Group International Ms. Tracy L. Hardee Dr. & Mrs. Jonathan T. Harris Haynes Furniture Company Mr. & Mrs. Michael Haywood Megan Hearst Philanthropic Fund Mr. & Mrs. Ethan Heben Ms. Alayna Henderson Mrs. Barbara Henry Hercules Fence Company Mr. Irwin Herlinger Dr. & Mrs. Joseph S. Heyman Mrs. Evelyn Edelson Hirsch Mr. & Mrs. Steve Hirsch Mr. & Mrs. Lewis D. Hirschler Jr. Ms. Ellen Hockman Ms. Abigail Hoffman Mr. Harvey Hoffman Mr. & Mrs. Jason Hoffman Mrs. Marcia Hofheimer Ms. Gail Holzsweig Mrs. Marilyn Holzsweig Mr. & Mrs. Adam Horn Mr. & Mrs. Howard Horwitz ++ Ms. Patricia Howarth Mrs. Ellen Hundley Mrs. Sally Hyman + Mrs. Myra Iacono IAT International, Inc. J. P. Yancey Foundation Mrs. Connie Jacobson Mrs. Nancy Sacks Jacobson ++ Dr. & Mrs. Alan Jaffe Mr. & Mrs. Gerald C. Jaffe Ms. Karen Jaffe Mr. & Mrs. Nathan Jaffe ++ Rabbi Ellen Jaffe-Gill & Mr. Spencer Gill Mrs. Irene Jannow Dr. Danny Jason Mr. & Mrs. Joel Jason JCC Seniors Club Mr. Denny & Dr. Leanelle Goldstein Jenkins Ms. Rosemary Jessop Ms. Linda Jinright Jody’s Popcorn Mr. & Mrs. Eric Joffe Mr. & Mrs. Larry Jones Jormandy L.L.C. JP Therapy Mrs. Theresa Jucksch Dr. Larry H. Kagan Ms. Ann P. Kahn Mr. Abe Kalfus Mr. David Kamer & Dr. Marcia Samuels ++ Mr. & Mrs. Barry Kantor Mr. & Mrs. Jerry Kantor Mrs. Libbie Kaplan ++ Mr. & Mrs. Scott Kaplan Dr. Ivor Kaplan & Dr. Susan Kaplan Milton & Bernice Kaplan* Memorial Fund Mrs. R. Joy Kaps Dr. & Mrs. Edward Karotkin Ms. Anna Karp Mr. & Mrs. William Kass Mrs. Galina Kastin

Mr. & Mrs. Larry Katz Mr. & Mrs. Stuart E. Katz Mr. & Mrs. Tsvi Katz-Hyman Mr. & Mrs. Norman Katzenberg Mr. Edward G. Kaufman + Mrs. Kay Kaufman Mrs. Linda H. Kaufman Mr. & Mrs. Ronald A. Kaufman Kaufman & Canoles Dr. & Mrs. Gary Kavit Ms. Marley Keefer Mr. & Mrs. Don Keeling Mr. Robert Keene Kehillat Bet Hamidrash Synagogue Mr. Richard F. Keifner Jr. Mr. & Mrs. M. Barron Kesser Mr. & Mrs. Robert Kessler Mr. & Mrs. Arnold J. Kestenbaum Mrs. Maryann Kettyle Mr. Bruce M. Kiederling Mr. & Mrs. Joel S. Kirsch Mr. & Mrs. William Kittner Mrs. Barbara Klaff Dr. & Mrs. Lawrence Klar Mr. & Mrs. Jay Klebanoff ++ Mr. Kenneth Klein Mr. & Mrs. George Koehl David & Sofia* Konikoff Philanthropic Fund Stephen & Ronnie-Jane Konikoff Philanthropic Fund Mr. & Mrs. Paul Kornberg Ms. Wilhemina Kornegay Mr. & Mrs. Joel Kossman Dr. & Mrs. Geoffrey Kostiner Mr. & Mrs. John Kovach Mrs. Lillian Kozak Mr. & Mrs. Mark Kozak Mr. & Mrs. Edward Kramer ++ Ms. Lynn Kramer Mr. & Mrs. Richard Kramer Mr. & Mrs. Ronald Kramer ++ Milton* & Ron Kramer Restricted Fund Mr. & Mrs. Arthur Kreger Dr. & Mrs. David Kreger Mrs. Clare Krell Celia K. Krichman Charitable Trust Mr. & Mrs. Martin Krinick Krug Foundation Trust The David* and Adel Kruger Restricted Fund Mr. & Mrs. Christian Kuhn Ms. Martha Kurtz Mrs. Irina Kvitko Dr. & Mrs. Steven Laderberg Alma & Howard Laderberg* Philanthropic Fund Mr. & Mrs. David Laibstain ++ Mrs. Helen Laibstain Mr. & Mrs. Leonard Laibstain Dr. Sarah Elizabeth Laibstain Mr. David Landress Dr. & Mrs. David Lannik ++ Mrs. Judy Laster Ms. Linda Lavaty Lawrence A. Patish, PC Ms. Page Gravely Lea Mr. & Mrs. Frank Lecher Dr. & Mrs. Ira Lederman Dr. Darryl Lynn Lefcoe Lefcoe Family Partnership Mr. & Mrs. Bertrum N. Legum Mr. Jay W. Legum Mr. & Mrs. Ross E. Legum Mrs. Shirley S. Legum Mr. & Mrs. Steven Legum Mrs. Barbara Leibowitz Mr. & Mrs. Eugene Lempert Mrs. Eleanor Lenox Leon Family Fund Mr. & Mrs. Miles B. Leon Mr. David Leon & Dr. Lisa Finkel Leon ++ Lisa & David Leon Family Fund Stephen & Caren Leon Family Philanthropic Fund Mr. & Mrs. Hal Levenson Mrs. Betty Levin Ms. Betty M. Levin Ms. Ida Levin Mr. & Mrs. Moises* Levin Ms. Nancy L. Levin Mr. & Mrs. Richard Levin

Society members as of 12/31/19

Ms. Betty L. Moritz Ms. Angela Morris Mr. & Mrs. Jack Moscovitz Mr. & Mrs. Ben Moss Dr. & Mrs. Burton Moss Mr. & Mrs. Marc Moss Mr. & Mrs. Jonathan Muhlendorf + Dr. & Mrs. Kenneth Muhlendorf Ms. Empsy Munden Mrs. Evelyn Munden Ms. Elizabeth Murphy Mr. & Mrs. Edward Murray Mr. & Mrs. Michael Myers Mr. & Mrs. William M. Nachman National Council of Jewish Women– Peninsula Chapter National Mah Jongg League, Inc. Mr. & Mrs. Justin Nelson Mr. & Mrs. Keith Nesbit Dr. Stacey Neuman Mr. & Mrs. Ronnie Newman Mr. & Mrs. Joel Nied Mr. & Mrs. Charles Nusbaum ++ Mr. & Mrs. William L. Nusbaum Nancy N. Nusbaum & V.H. Nusbaum, Jr. Donor Advised Fund 2 Mr. Jason & Dr. Alison Ohana Ohef Sholom Temple Hon. & Mrs. Norman Olitsky Mrs. Denlle Frances Olivio Mr. Hedy Osmunson Mrs. Arlene Owens Dr. Abbey L. Pachter + Mrs. Martha Padersky Rabbi & Mrs. Michael Panitz Mr. John Pappas Dr. Barbara Parks & Mr. Michael Basto Mr. Marc Paster ++ Mr. & Mrs. Larry Patish Payday Payroll Ms. Nancy Peabody + Mr. & Mrs. Sidney Pearl Pearl Society Women’s Giving Circle of UJCVP Mr. & Mrs. Aaron Peck Mr. & Mrs. Paul Peck Ms. Rhona E. Peck Dr. Stephen Peck Carol & Aaron Peck Philanthropic Fund Penn Quad Foundation, Inc. Dr. & Mrs. Jerome D. Perlman Pincus Paul* Memorial Fund Mr. Joseph Plaza Mr. Marc Pollack Mr. & Mrs. Mark Pomeranz Mr. Greg Pomije Mrs. Elinore Porter Dr. & Mrs. Felix Portnoy + Ms. Iris Porush Ms. Sharon Poziombke Mr. Joshua Pretlow Jr. Price Benowitz LLP Mr. & Mrs. Jonathan Priest Mr. & Mrs. David Proser Drs. Holly Puritz & Stephen Wohlgemuth + Ms. Glenda J. Pyles Mr. Ralph Rabinowitz Mr. & Mrs. Adam Rafal Ms. Daryl Raskin Mr. & Mrs. Richard Ray Mr. & Mrs. Raymond Rebby Mr. & Mrs. Alan Resh

Helen & Warren Aleck Janice Aleck Jasmine Amitay Brad J. Bangel Gary Bartel Elena & Gary Baum Lisa Benjamin Frances Levy Birshtein Kelly Burroughs Charlene & David Cohen Allison & Jeff Cooper Lisa & Mark Delevie

Richardson and Rosenberg LLC Mrs. Ann Richter ++ Ms. Susan Riggs Mr. James E. Rinehart Rita Frank Restricted Fund Mr. & Mrs. Jason Ritzmann Estate of Zelma Rivin + Rivin Family Restricted Fund Mr. & Mrs. Mark Robbins Mr. & Mrs. Victor Roberts Dr. & Mrs. Reuben Rohn Mr. & Mrs. Richard Rosen Mr. Richard Rosen Mr. & Mrs. Kurt M. Rosenbach Mr. & Mrs. Murray Rosenbach Mr. & Mrs. Neal Rosenbaum Mr. & Mrs. Sidney Rosenbaum Dr. & Mrs. David Rosenberg Mr. & Mrs. Stephen Rosenberg Mrs. Carol B. Rosenblatt Ms. Judith Rosenblatt ++ Mr. Andrew Rosenblum Mrs. Barbara W. Rosenblum Mrs. Eilene Rosenblum Dr. & Mrs. Scott Rosenblum ++ Rosenblum Plastic Surgery Mr. & Mrs. Steven Rosnov Mr. & Mrs. Larry Rossen Mrs. Ruth S. Rothman Mrs. Ellen Samuels Ruben Mr. & Mrs. Daniel Rubin Mr. & Mrs. Joel Rubin Rubin Communications Group Mr. & Mrs. Robert Rubinstein Dr. & Mrs. Leonard Ruchleman + Mr. Michael Rudolph Mr. & Mrs. Jeffrey Sachs Hon. & Mrs. Leonard Sachs Mrs. Annabel Sacks Dr. & Mrs. Irwin S. Sacks Dr. & Mrs. Lawrence Sacks Mrs. Mona Saferstein Mrs. Felice Saks Mr. & Mrs. Edwin Salomonsky Mrs. Joyce Salzberg Mr. & Mrs. Alan J. Samuels Mr. & Mrs. Stanley Samuels ++ Mr. & Mrs. Denis Sanchez Mr. Art Sandler + Mr. & Mrs. Gerald Sandler Mr. & Mrs. Michael Sandler Mr. Steve Sandler + Ms. Judy Saperstein + Mayer & Dorene Sarfan Early Childhood Center Mr. & Mrs. William Sawyer Mrs. Barbara Schechter Dr. Paul F. Schellhammer Dr. & Mrs. Ivan Schiff Mr. & Mrs. Leonard G. Schifrin Mr. & Mrs. Louis R. Schlain Dr. Bruno Schmitz & Mrs. Jessica Hoffman Ms. Bernice Schoenbaum Ms. Lynn Schoenbaum Ms. Rachel Schoenbaum + Lynn & Rachel Schoenbaum Fund Dr. & Mrs. Mark Schreiber Drs. Roger Schultz & Beth Scharlop Dr. Alfred Schulwolf Mr. Gedalia Schwartz Susan & Eric Schwartzman

Marty & Susan Einhorn Dianne D. Epplein Harry & Thelma Fantuch* Mary & William Feldman Shari Dozoretz Friedman Leonard & Margaret Frierman Barb Gelb Karen Gershman Steven A. Goldstein Susan Muhler Graves Laura & Fredric Gross Rabbi Sender & Chamie Haber

Mr. Joseph Schy Mr. & Mrs. Paul Seeman Mr. & Mrs. Peter Segaloff Mr. & Mrs. Albert Selkin Dr. & Mrs. Alan Shapiro Shark Pilates LLC Ms. Jacky Sher Mr. & Mrs. Norman Sher + Sandy & Norman Sher Philanthropic Fund Mr. & Mrs. Louis Sherman Mr. & Mrs. Lawrence Siegel Ms. Heliene Siegel Mr. & Mrs. Richard L. Siff Mr. & Mrs. Louis Silverman Dr. & Mrs. Bill Simon Mr. & Mrs. Britt Simon Ms. Viviane Simon Logan Simon B’nai Tzedek Fund Marilyn & Marvin* Simon Philanthropic Fund Mrs. Dorothy Slone Dr. & Mrs. Lonnie Slone Mrs. Carol M. Smith Mr. & Mrs. Mannie Smith Mr. Stan Smolen Charles W. Snader, P.C. Mr. & Mrs. Michael Snyder Mr. Mark L. Solberg Mr. Edward James Soltz Mrs. Helen Sonenshine + Mr. & Mrs. Robert Sondej Mr. & Mrs. Ronald Spindel Mr. & Mrs. Ronald Spitalney ++ Mr. & Mrs. Spokony Ms. Norma Linda Stark Dr. & Mrs. Samuel Steerman Mr. & Mrs. James Steiger Shirley Nestler Stein Survivors Trust Mr. & Mrs. Ira Steingold ++ Mr. Joseph R. Steingold + Mr. Lawrence L. Steingold ++ Dr. & Mrs. Ludwig Sternlicht StitchWorks, Inc. Mrs. Kimberly Stites Mr. David R. Straeten Mr. Carl Strass Ms. Shea Straub Mr. & Mrs. John Strelitz Strelitz International Academy Mr. & Mrs. Burle Stromberg Mr. Michael S. Stupar Mr. & Mrs. Michael Sukman Ms. Maureen Sullivan Mr. & Mrs. Sidney Sward Mr. Edward M. Swersky Mr. & Mrs. Dean Sword Mr. & Mrs. Bruce Sykes Mrs. Rebecca Tabakin Mr. & Mrs. Scott Tabakin Ms. Rachel Talbott Mr. & Mrs. Jeff Tall Ms. Maxine Tate Dr. & Mrs. Steven M. Taubman Mrs. Sandra Tavss Mr. & Mrs. Seymour Teach Temple Emanuel Temple Israel Mr. & Mrs. Paul Terkeltaub Mr. & Mrs. Phillip Thomason Thorton Hall Nursing & Rehab Center Ms. Marian Bear Ticatch Mr. & Mrs. Stanley Tickton

Howard & Susan Horwitz Nathan & Beth Jaffe David Kamer & Marcia Samuels Edward George Kaufman Anne Y. Kramer Edward A. Kramer Jody & David Laibstain Lisa Leon Betty Ann & Scott Levin Mark A. Lipton Jeffrey & Elayne Littman Joan Kaplan London

Tidewater Chavurah Tidewater Jewish Foundation Ms. Marina Tidwell Mrs. Beverlee Tiger Mr. & Mrs. Eric Tipping Dr. & Mrs. Louis Tonelson TOPS Club Inc. Mr. & Mrs. Billy Torrans Ms. Sara Traster Mr. & Mrs. Alan L. Troy Mr. & Mrs. Ira Trussell Tzedakah Quilt Makers Ms. Irene Ullman United Jewish Community of the Virginia Peninsula United Property Associates Mr. & Mrs. Michael Via Dr. & Mrs. Aaron Vinik Virginia Oncology Associates Virginia Spine Care Dr. & Mrs. Alan Wagner + Dr. & Mrs. Jules Wainger ++ Mr. & Mrs. Bradley J. Waitzer Ms. Carole Walker Mr. & Mrs. Alvin Wall Wall, Einhorn & Chernitzer, P.C. Ms. Michelle J. Walter Ms. Nancy C. Walter Mr. & Mrs. Philip Walzer Ms. Ellen Waranch Mr. & Mrs. Martin Waranch ++ Mr. & Mrs. Steven Ward Mr. & Mrs. Jay Warren Mrs. Valerie J. Friedman Warsof Ms. Michelle R. Waterman Mr. & Mrs. Lawrence E. Waters Mr. Alan Weill Mr. Kenny Weinstein & Ms. Barb Gelb Dr. & Mrs. Edward Weisberg Mr. & Mrs. Arnold Weisman Dr. & Mrs. Michael Weissman Mr. & Mrs. Steve Wendell Mr. & Mrs. Samuel Werbel Mr. Morris Werth Mr. & Mrs. Eric White Mr. & Mrs. Matthew White Wilbanks, Smith & Thomas Asset Management, LLC Mr. & Mrs. Jay F. Wilks Ms. Susan Wilson Mr. Patrick Hamilton Wilson Mr. & Mrs. Henry Wolf Mr. & Mrs. Scott Wolf Mr. & Mrs. William J. Wood Woodway Management, LLC Mr. & Mrs. Herbert Wyatt Mr. & Mrs. Chris Xystros Mr. John Young Young Adult Division Mr. & Mrs. Lenny Zacks Mr. & Mrs. Mario Zannino Mr. & Mrs. Stanley Zeidenberg Dr. & Mrs. Allan S. Zeno Mrs. Dorothy Zimmerman Dr. & Mrs. Sol Zimmerman Mrs. Matthew Ziobro Mr. & Mrs. Gregory Zittrain ++

Thank You to our donors

Mr. & Mrs. Scott Levin ++ Mr. & Mrs. Stephen Levin Mrs. Ina D. Levy Mr. & Mrs. Kirk Levy + Mrs. Paula Levy Mr. & Mrs. Ronald Levy Mr. & Mrs. David Lewis Mr. & Mrs. Joel S. Lewis Mr. Zachary Lewis & Dr. Shawna Kettyle Ms. Mari Lieberman Mr. & Mrs. Steve Lieberman LifeNet Health Mr. & Mrs. Errol Lifland Ms. Bonita A. Lindenberg Lion Brand Yarn Dr. Mark A. Lipton + Dr. Mark A. Lipton Philanthrophic Fund + Mr. & Mrs. Sheal Lisner Mr. & Mrs. Jeffrey Littman + Mr. Robert G. Liverman Ms. Amy Isaacs Logan Mr. & Mrs. Rick Lombart Ms. Joan Kaplan London ++ Dr. Bruce I. Longman Mr. & Mrs. Jonathan Longman Mr. & Mrs. Robert Low Mr. & Mrs. Shlomo Lubaton Drs. Barry & Louise Lubin + Mr. & Mrs. Jeff Luckman Sheryl Luebke Mr. & Mrs. Joseph Lust Ms. Allison Madore Mr. & Mrs. Stanley Magrill Dr. & Mrs. David R. Maizel Mr. & Mrs. Michael Malkin Mrs. Janet Malone Mr. & Mrs. Matt Mancoll Ms. Annette Mand Dr. & Mrs. Barry Mandell Mr. & Mrs. Steven Mansh Mr. & Mrs. Martin Marin Dr. & Mrs. Steven Marks Mr. & Mrs. Steven Marks Mr. Richard Marten & Ms. Nancy Loewenberg Ms. Elsie Martin Ms. Evelyn Mason Dr. & Mrs. Noah Matilsky ++ Mr. & Mrs. Bernard Mayer ++ Mrs. Irene Mazel Ms. Cheryl McAuley Ms. Carole A. McQueen Mr. & Mrs. Jerry Meltsner Ms. Andrea Meltzer Mrs. Cilda K. Meltzer Mr. & Mrs. Martin Mendelsohn Mrs. Janet W. Mercadante + Mr. & Mrs. Bruce Jay Meyer Mr. & Mrs. David Meyers Mrs. Edie Meyers Mid-Atlantic Dermatology Center & Laser PC Ms. Barbara Milberger Mr. & Mrs. Richard Miles, Jr. Mr. Baron Miller Mr. & Mrs. Jerrold Miller Dr. & Mrs. Julius Miller Mrs. Marlene Miller Dr. & Mrs. Norman Miller Minyan Club Rodef Shalom Mr. & Mrs. Marty & Marsha Moody Mr. & Mrs. Doug Moore + Ms. Kathie Moore

*Of blessed memory +Endowed or Planned Gift ++Annual/Endowed or Planned Gift

Paola Matilsky Debbie & Bernie Mayer Janet W. Mercadante Heather & Doug Moore Alyssa & Jonathan Muhlendorf Charles & Nancy Nusbaum Dr. Abbey L. Pachter John Patton Dr. Felix & Erinn Portnoy Zelma Rivin* Judy Rosenblatt Ellen Rosenblum

Linda & Stanley Samuels Judy Saperstein Norman & Sandy Sher Drs. Gary & Laurie Siegel Dorothy & Ron Spitalney Ira & Jean Steingold Joseph R. Steingold Lawrence L. Steingold Patti Wainger Trudy & Martin Waranch Kenny Weinstein Greg & Ashley Zittrain *Of blessed memory

in our community

difference Making a

Over

4,000

hours of in-home personal care were provided to individuals in our community

by Certified Nursing Assistants and Licensed Practical Nurses every two weeks.

110 Jewish individuals with a developmental disability or chronic illness received services from JFS.

337

impoverished Jewish individuals in our community received food and/or financial assistance.

74% of JFS’ clients are not Jewish.

JFS serves individuals of all faiths, races, and ethnic backgrounds, regardless of income.

8,978

Meals on Wheels were delivered to the elderly and homebound in Norfolk and Virginia Beach by volunteers and JFS staff.

1,005 incapacitated, vulnerable adults in our community received court-appointed guardianship & conservatorship. Many of these individuals are elderly and/or disabled and are the most vulnerable, at-risk members of our community. They are often targets of abuse, financial exploitation, and neglect.

389 1,300

trips were provided for senior adults for medical appointments and social activities.

64%

of JFS’ clients are impoverished.

individuals received counseling and support services for issues related to loss, transition, and healing.

Over

950

individuals received skilled home health services from JFS registered nurses and physical therapists.

Recipients of funding from:

5000 Corporate Woods Drive, Suite 400, Virginia Beach, VA 23462 On the Reba & Sam Sandler Family Campus of the Tidewater Jewish Community

Administration: 757–321–2222 • Home Health: 757–489–3111 Counseling: 757–459–4640 • Personal Affairs Management: 757–938–9130 Peninsula Office: 757–223–5635

401 City Center Boulevard, Newport News, VA 23606

WWW.JFSHAMPTONROADS.ORG

Social services for Jewish Nazi victims have been supported by a grant from the Conference on Jewish Material Claims Against Germany.

Retirement

How to retire to Israel Renee Ghert-Zand

JERUSALEM—For a growing number of Jews in the Diaspora, turning retirement dreams into reality also means realizing a lifelong dream of living in Israel.

Over the past decade, more than 6,000 Jews from North America and Britain have retired to Israel. In 2019, some 500 of 3,500 immigrants to Israel from North America were retirees. For some of these new “olim” it was the culmination of a lifelong Zionist dream. For others it was a practical move to be closer to children and grandchildren, or to enjoy their golden years in a warmer climate.

Regardless of motivation, the key to a successful retirement in Israel is careful advance planning, as well as an open attitude toward the challenges of entering a new stage of life in a new country.

While retiring to Israel may seem like a bigger step than retiring to Florida, many of the same considerations come into play.

Here are some of issues to consider.

Financial planning “Retiree olim need to think about how their lifestyle will or will not translate to Israel,” says Marc Rosenberg, vice president of Diaspora Partnerships at Nefesh B’Nefesh, the organization that assists with immigration to Israel from North America and the United Kingdom.

Rosenberg advises retirees to be realistic about the kind of life they’ll be able to afford in Israel on passive income like pensions, Social Security, and investments.

Many retiree immigrants split their time between Israel and their countries of origin in “snowbird” fashion, allowing for all kinds of creative financial arrangements.

Health care Israel has universal health care. Retirees must pay into its National Insurance system, but the sum is minor compared to what most Americans are used to paying for insurance premiums and copays.

In addition to hospitals, Israel also has a network of urgent care clinics in most cities, many of which are open 24/7.

Housing Choosing your new home wisely is a key component of successful aliyah. Experts advise new immigrants to rent for at least a year or two before buying.

Older olim tend to gravitate toward cities with large “Anglo” communities and a plethora of social and cultural opportunities for English-speaking retirees, such as Jerusalem, Tel Aviv, Raanana and Netanya.

As with real estate anywhere, location determines price. It’s generally cheaper to rent in Israel than in the United States, but more expensive to buy.

Those seeking to move into a senior residence or assisted-living facility will find many options throughout the country offering accommodations, amenities, and services comparable to North American standards.

Transportation The upside of transportation in Israel is that the public transit system is very inexpensive and well developed. Buses inside and between cities run frequently, reliably and inexpensively, and seniors pay half fare. The train network is growing, including new high-speed rail service between Jerusalem and Tel Aviv that has reduced travel time to 32 minutes. Taxis also are relatively inexpensive and can be summoned like an Uber using the Gett mobile phone app.

The downside is that private transportation is expensive: Owning and maintaining a car costs roughly double what it is in the States.

Recreation, volunteering and learning Hebrew There’s no end to the opportunities for retirees to get involved in their communities. Local community centers offer cultural events, educational classes, and fitness activities for free or at a low cost for seniors. There are also private sports and country clubs.

This article was sponsored by and produced in partnership with Nefesh B’Nefesh. This article was produced by JTA’s native content team.

Don’t Lose Interest!

Platinum Money Market

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jewishnewsva.org | February 17, 2020 | Retirement | Jewish News | 23

Retirement First Person

Volunteers have been the backbone of weekly Shabbat Services at Beth Sholom Village since Day One Joel Rubin

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t was my grandfather, Hyman Brenner, who roped me in back in 1980.

The beloved Lenny Goodman was leading Shabbat services each Saturday at Beth Sholom Home, but he did not read from the Torah. I could, and at the urging of Grandpa, one of the first male residents, I commenced what has become a nearly 40-year relationship with the Virginia Beach organization.

Soon, one of Lenny’s colleagues from Beth El, Brad Lazernick, an excellent service leader in his own right, joined us to provide more pulpit depth for what was a sizable and observant Jewish congregation.

“We had some very learned people here, many of whom I grew up knowing very well,” says Lazernick, now director of the Center for Aging at Senior Services of Southeastern Virginia. “And I felt an obligation to give them the type of service

they were used to before they moved into the Home.”

That zeal drove Lenny, Brad, and me in the early days and even inspired my two children who began riding their bikes up to Beth Sholom from our home.

“I remember Molly and I pedaling around the grounds and even the multi-purpose room where we first did services,” Danny Rubin recalls. “And I became familiar with the prayers just by being exposed to them so often.”

Hymie Brenner, who died in 1983, would be so proud to know that Danny (Chayim Yehudah ben Yosef) leads Shacharit, the Torah service and Musaf with me once a month. His four-year-old son, Niv, is now there too, carrying the same stuffed toy Torah around the sanctuary as his dad did and no doubt absorbing the songs and tunes as well. One-year-old Shai can’t be far behind.

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or elsewhere on other Shabbats, we are fortunate to have a pair of very ritually able volunteers on the roster, Attorney Bill Nossen from Congregation Beth El and Temple Emmanuel’s Dr. David Maizel.

“My family up in New Jersey was Conservative, but I attended an Orthodox day school and Yeshiva High School in New York,” says Maizel, one of the area’s most respected family doctors who looked after the health of Beth Sholom residents in its early years. “My father lived here for his final years, and that’s when I started leading Shabbat services.” He’s been a regular for 15 years and counting and also sits on the Beth Sholom Village board of directors.

The glue that keeps it all running well on Saturdays, and is a pro on the bimah himself, is uber volunteer Ben Kozak, who kept his home temple, Gomley Chesed, going for five years after it sold

I love watching my elderly congregants singing along because they recognize a melody. It’s a major source of naches for me.

its building. His family’s connection to Beth Sholom Village is deep. “My dad lived here from 2008 until 2013, and my mother drove from Portsmouth every day to see him until she was 90 years old,” says Kozak, a penultimate people person who has never met a stranger. “Mom came for rehab in 2015 and has lived here permanently since 2016. So, I’m in the building most days, helping my mother.”

And many others.

Following the recent passing of his wife, Joann Klein, longtime gabbai Ken Klein relocated to Atlanta to be near his children. Fortunately, former Navy civilian logistics manager David Rabinowitz has replaced him ably, taking the aliyah card into the congregation for frail residents to recite blessings and ensuring that everyone has a role in the day’s proceedings.

“I started attending services at Beth Sholom when my uncle Morris Papier lived here. Lenny actually officiated at my son’s bar mitzvah,” says Rabinowitz.

“Being here every Shabbat is personally rewarding for me.”

When at the front of Beth Sholom’s well-appointed chapel, Maizel says he raises his eyes from his siddur whenever he can. “I love watching my elderly

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congregants singing along because they recognize a melody. It’s a major source of naches for me.”

It’s a reassurance for Cantor Elihu Flax, who conducts the weekday afternoon minyans, but depends on volunteers on Shabbat. “We are truly blessed to have such a wonderful cadre of people to do this mitzvah.”

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me to bone up on the stories and lessons of the weekly Torah portion. As for my personal motivation, I second the sentiment of my friend Brad, who like all of us, fondly recalls the many vivid male and female Jewish characters from every area synagogue to whom we have ministered since 1980.

“If or when I am in Beth Sholom someday,” says Brad Lazernick, “I hope there are people here to do this for me.”

Joel Rubin is a past president of Beth Sholom Village.

jewishnewsva.org | February 17, 2020 | Retirement | Jewish News | 25

Retirement

JCC retirement reboot: community-centered connectivity meets functional health benefits Lisa Richmon

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he Simon Family JCC and JFit combo package is more than a cultural community center and fully loaded fitness center studio with all kinds of bells and whistles. A beautiful setting, country club perks, yoga, senior programs, festivals, café, and supreme member care make it hard to know what to call it, other than a second home for many. The extremely client-focused and dedicated staff give ‘the J’ its unique family feel.

Some personal trainers at the JCC cultivate long relationships with their clients. Over the years, they are sure to experience life’s changes and challenges together.

Under the direction of Tom Purcell, Simon Family JCC Wellness and Membership director, the staff works to meet members where they are physically and psychologically, while implementing a realistic plan to help them progress to where they want to be.

“When our clients retire, they generally look at going into another chapter in life,” says Purcell. “Some of my clients are more active in retirement than when they had regular jobs. They need to maintain stamina throughout the day, so we focus on endurance and strength.”

Retirement presents a reboot reward and challenge for seniors. The JCC recognizes this transition and stays at the top of

Ron Nash and Tom Purcell.

its game assessing members’ physical and emotional needs. Most of the programs, machines, and functional moves used in training sessions focus on some combination of: stamina, endurance, strength, posture, balance, step safety, and stretching. In addition, classes such as yoga, Pilates, and aquatics appeal to a diverse age group and provide the socialization that’s essential for any stage, but especially challenging later in life when structure has been removed from the picture.

The J’s connection to the Sandler Family Campus’ lobby, known as the Cardo, and the Cardo Café, facilitates socialization—a valued resource for anyone on the retirement spectrum. Most

Tom Purcell’s Stamina Cocktail— combination of strength, nutrition and social • 0 to 60 minutes of cardio a day (Getting Heart Rate up 70 to 80 % of your max 5 days per week).

• Total body strength training 2 to 3 days per week.

• Eat large in the morning, Medium at lunch, and small at night (Nothing processed at night). Drink at least 64 oz or ½ your body weight in ounces.

• Join a group to meet weekly. Join a walking group and walk a 5k. Find a group or others that share your interest, OR, someone who is looking for a new fitness challenge.

Retirement days find members lunching or visiting over coffee…or just chatting. Busy parents and career seekers hang there, too, creating an energetic mix.

Meet Bethany Spence, the fitness firecracker who never met a pair of neon-colored leggings she didn’t like.

Spence’s goal when training retired clients, or anyone over a certain age, is geared toward injury prevention and independent lifestyle.

“I train a client in her 70s and when we started, her goal was to ‘lose her bingo wings.’ After learning about her lifestyle and concerns about prolonged independent living, we focused on getting her arms in sleeveless dress shape and exercises that would help the aging process.

“For example, we work on strong posture, balance, step safety, as well as several hip strengthening exercises and stretches,” says Spence. “Any exercise strategy focusing on injury prevention is crucial in an older demographic.

LIVE your life.

I receive comments all the time about our staff’s great attitude and how welcomed they feel here,” says Spence. “I think our jobs as personal trainers are to really be present. Some of our members have been members from day one and have a lot to offer in terms of history, experience, knowledge, etc. Personally, I like to stand out. My personality shows through in my outfits. It’s an easy conversation starter, but also a way to eliminate the intimidation people feel at the gym.

When I come across as approachable, a member finds it easier to initiate a conversation about my shoes. Then they ask about exercise since we’re already talking.”

Making fitness a part of daily life is the key to success. Routine and structure is where the J really steps up.

“If you don’t show up a few days on your usual days, the J family notices, cares, and checks in,” says Purcell.

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Tidewater

Bnos Convention planned for Norfolk Andie Pollack

O

n February 20 more than 100 high school girls from across the nation will descend upon Norfolk for a three-day Bnos convention.

Bnos convention in Chicago, December 2019.

Bnos is an international program of empowering. They sang, they danced, Agudath Israel in which high school stuthey talked, they ate, and they learned dents across the world run youth groups ways to make a difference in young girls’ for younger girls on Shabbat afternoons. lives.

Agudath Israel provides teaching and When the Norfolk contingency heard activity guides to the high school girls that some cities weren’t able to join in so that they can give their young charges because Chicago was at their maximum an educational and fun experience. The capacity, they decided to do something National Bnos Convention brings together about it, arranging for a second conventhe group leaders for a weekend of learntion this season. ing and inspiration to take back to their BINA High School plans to show their cities. visitors that Tidewater’s Jewish commuThis past December, most of BINA nity is small in numbers, but huge in High School’s students went to Chicago vision. for a Bnos convention. The girls returned One goal is to give practical advice, home energized and excited for their and another goal is to empower the Bnos next Shabbat classes. Being in workshops, leaders. The theme for Norfolk’s conveneating meals, and being part of learntion is, The Power of One. ing activities with hundreds of girls was

Baby & Me gets parents and little ones together

T

he scent of babies filled the Klezmer room in December for the first Baby & Me of the year.

Moms were singing and babies laughing—with lots of new faces. Baby & Me, an opportunity for moms and dads to bond with their baby over movement takes place the second Tuesday of each month. United Jewish Federation of Tidewater’s Outreach Manager, Carly Glikman and her daughter Shelly, lead the activities.

“I love watching friendships form between the moms during class,” says Glikman who has a two-year-old and

8-month old Shelly. “Motherhood is not always easy, so forming a mom tribe to go through it with can make all the difference.”

To sign up for the next Baby & Me, email Carly at CGlikman@ujft.org. The class is free for JCC members and $5 per class for potential members.

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jewishnewsva.org | February 17, 2020 | Retirement | Jewish News | 29

Tidewater

And on the doorposts of your…house?

Bobbie Fisher

A

Trystan and Briana Hern with Rabbi Michael Panitz on their floating home.

fter four decades in the Rabbinate, the majority of them spent as the spiritual leader of Conservative congregations in New Jersey and Virginia, Temple Israel’s Rabbi, Dr. Michael Panitz, estimates he’s helped affix mezuzot to the doorposts of literally hundreds of homes.

But, what if there aren’t doorposts, per se? Or even a house for that matter? What does a rabbi do then?

That’s the question Rabbi Panitz was presented by Brianna Hearn, a newcomer to Temple Israel, who approached him about affixing a mezuzah to the entrance of her small yacht, the home she shares with Trystan, her husband of three months. Hearn is an E-5 in the Navy, currently assigned to the Radiation Health Department at Norfolk Naval Shipyard. She’s a sculptor, a guitar

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1 time, so far, that Rabbi Michael Panitz has affixed a mezuzah to a boat’s doorpost

player, and a very serious Star Trek devotee—a self described science nerd. And she’d eventually like to become a Navy chaplain.

The couple began attending services at Temple Israel last autumn, and finding the congregation and its rabbi both warm and welcoming, Hearn decided to pose the question: could she place a mezuzah at the entrance of their floating home?

Never having previously had occasion to consider such a request, Rabbi Panitz was nonetheless happy to help the couple fulfill this mitzvah, and on an unusually warm January day, he met the Hearns at the Portsmouth Marina, D deck, where the RADAR TWO is docked. After some discussion about what might pass for a doorpost the Hearns read selections from the Psalms, and recited the prayers for affixing a mezuzah. When it was safely and permanently nailed to the entrance, the couple recited the shehechyeanu and the shema.

Afterward, they were joined by Bri’s brother, Gerald Moe, for a hearty toast of champagne, punctuated by her explanation of the amount of psi expended by the cork as it popped from the bottle, into the water below. (By her calculations, based on the distance the cork flew—26.762 feet —the psi was 76.341.)

As he left the pier, Rabbi Panitz noted that he was that very evening scheduled to give a talk about “Jewish Firsts.”

Looking back at the mezuzah adorning the entrance of the RADAR TWO, he joked, “Now I’ve got one of my own to add to that list.”

It’s a Wrap Concert for social justice brings communities together Kathryn Morton

O

hef Sholom Temple saw the climax of its 175th year celebration on Sunday, January 19, with a concert featuring two of the qualities the congregation is most proud of—the vigor of its dedication to social justice through civic outreach, and the joy of music as a fount of inspiration.

Cantor Jennifer Rueben and Music director Charles Woodward designed a free public program of songs about freedom and justice. They invited Pastor Sharon S. Riley of The Faith deliverance Christian Center to help narrate the event and that church’s 25-person choir to share in making the music. Nearly 200 people attended the

Don Victor Mooney, president of HR 1242 Resilience Project and Terri D. Budman, Ohef Sholom Temple president.

Pastor Sharon S. Riley.

Charles Woodward, Ohef Sholom Temple Music director.

concert and enjoyed a lavish reception afterward. in the weeks of preparation, the two musical groups at first rehearsed alone, led by their respective music leaders, Charles Woodward and Sister Angie Caree. Then they came together to practice blending. Church members were undaunted as they launched into Hebrew lyrics for a shared song about crossing the sea to freedom. And Jewish and Protestant singers together polished up the Latin phrase in the middle of a song about how we all need love.

Among those offering brief remarks introducing the various sections of the program were Rabbi Rosalin Mandelberg, Terri d. Budman, OST president, and Alice Titus, OST Archivist, who noted that community not only enriches the experiences of individuals, but that coming together makes possible things that otherwise cannot exist at all. As she said, “You can’t sing harmony by yourself.” Proving the point, the women of the combined choirs brought the house down singing a four-part round about love, while Maestro Woodward at the piano played Pachelbel’s Canon making a fifth layer to the complex rhythms and interlacing lyrics.

On that weekend when the nation celebrates the birth of dr. Martin Luther King, Jr, Pastor Sharon Riley read with passion the “i Have a dream” speech. Then, the OST choir sang a setting of those words which featured three of the leading vocal soloists of Tidewater, soprano Anna Feucht, alto Kathryn Kelly, and tenor/baritone doug Lynch and Max Holman. WHRO-FM’s Wayla Chambo accompanied on her flute and Cantor Jennifer Rueben sang lead solos.

An unexpected presentation came from don Victor Mooney, president of HR 1242 Resilience Project. He presented a tube to Ohef Sholom Temple that was chronicled in Times of Israel for Holocaust Awareness. The tube had been mounted aboard Mooney’s rowboat on a journey he took from Africa to New York in 2015. “in light of today’s rising anti-Semitism, it’s our prayerful hope that this tube will reaffirm the solidarity between African-Americans and the Jewish community and turn the tide against hate,” Mooney said.

After the concert, around the plates of bagelNutz, cookies, and fresh strawberries, debates arose between those who thought that the presentation of the King speech in words and in song was the highlight of the day. Some countered that the ultimate sense of the occasion happened when approximately 200 elders, children, African-Americans, whites, Jews, Christians, and afternoon visitors together let their voices soar with We Shall Overcome. For others yet, the emotional high came early, when the deliverance Church Choir rejoiced the gospel song Work On, Pray On!, and the heretofore dignified Steinway leapt to life in the hands of 19-year-old,

Cantor Jennifer Rueben.

Rabbi Rosalin Mandelberg.

David Metzger, Jane Klein Goldman, and Max Holman.

Wayla Chambo accompanies Ohef Sholom’s choir.

sometimes church organist, Malaki Frazier. He started learning piano at age three and recently picked up the flute, and accompanied some of the songs with his violin.

Drums and brass will be his next challenges. He spent the social time accepting compliments and answering questions. All agreed that the event was spirited and heartwarming, and thus a fitting end to the synagogue’s year-long celebration.

jewishnewsva.org | February 17, 2020 | Jewish News | 31

It’s a Wrap Rabbi Ariel Burger challenges us to carry on Elie Wiesel’s message and legacy have preferred to be known for his teaching than his thinking. The world was Mark Robbins Photography truly his classroom, and those who were lucky enough to be his students first hand n honor of International Holocaust were forever changed.

Remembrance Day on January 27, At Congregation Beth El, Rabbi Burger United Jewish Federation of Tidewater’s shared some of Wiesel’s wisdom and Holocaust Commission partnered with insights, with the humility and grace The Milton “Mickey” Kramer Scholarthat were associated with his mentor.

In-Residence Fund of the Congregation He weaved biblical stories and Talmudic Beth El Foundation’s Tidewater Together tradition into prescriptions for how we as series to bring Rabbi Ariel Burger to the a community of good people must act to community to share thoughts about his improve the world. We must care about book Witness: Lessons from Elie Wiesel’s language because how we speak affects Classroom. how history evolves. Burger cited Wiesel’s Ariel Burger met Holocaust survivor furor, “the only time I ever saw him this and Nobel Laureate, Elie Wiesel as a teenangry,” that the world referred to what ager, and their relationship evolved over was happening in Darfur as a “civil war,” time. Burger sought counsel on matters rather than what it really was, which was of intellect, spirituality, and faith while a genocide. Wiesel led the charge for the navigating his own personal journey from community of nations to recognize and boyhood to manhood, from student to label the situation that way, and only then assistant, to rabbi, and in time, teacher. did the response to the horror change.

There is no doubt that Elie Wiesel was Burger told a community gathering of one of the greatest thinkers of the 20th 200 people that according to Wiesel, “Any century. But according to Rabbi Burger, solution to humanity’s problems must who knew him well, he would probably have education as its central component.” This was after he had spoken to a group of 40 local educators specifically about the way Wiesel viewed teaching. His eight principles of transformative moral Chris Kraus, a teacher in Hampton City schools, education struck adds notes to his copy of Witness: Lessons from Elie Wiesel’s Classroom.

Elena Barr Baum

I

Rabbi Burger speaks to a diverse group of 200 community members at Congregation Beth El.

32 | Jewish News | February 17, 2020 | jewishnewsva.org

chords with many in that audience.

Lisa Kilczewski, an English teacher at Old Donation School in Virginia Beach, brought two colleagues with her, after having a great experience at the Holocaust Commission Educators’ Conference this summer. They were all inspired. “I’ve printed [the eight principles] out for all of us to keep. We left with our minds swirling about our curriculum, specifically how to change and refine what we started this year, and how to incorporate what we heard from Rabbi Burger,” says Kilczewski.

Kitty Wolf, director of the Religious School at Ohef Sholom Temple, heard Rabbi Burger say that the Holocaust forces us to ask moral questions. “To do this with our students, [he suggested] we need questions that start with life and move toward Torah, and not the other way around,” she says. Her favorite of the eight principles was to “model and teach active hope” which included “looking around you for the outstretched hand” of someone in need, and “meet students where they are, not where we want them to be.”

Esther Diskin of Norfolk Academy heard both presentations and took different things from each. “I particularly appreciated his guidance that we should ‘Teach students to become comfortable with questions that may have no answers.

Some questions do not have answers.’

That speaks to the need to teach students that they must wrestle with morality and appreciate that questions sometimes lead to more profound questions, and that

Rabbi Ariel Burger shares his 8 Principles of Transformative Moral Education.

journey is a worthy one, even if an answer cannot,” she says.

Wiesel said, “when you hear a witness, you become a witness.” During the community Q&A, Burger was asked who will be able to follow in Elie Wiesel’s footsteps.

He replied that “when you lose a general, everyone else gets a promotion.” It is up to us all to witness his teachings, and carry on his message and legacy.

The Milton “Mickey” Kramer Scholar-inResidence Fund of the Congregation Beth El Foundation’s Tidewater Together series is a collaboration between the United Jewish Federation of Tidewater and area synagogues including B’nai Israel Congregation, Congregation Beth Chaverim, Congregation Beth El, Kehillat Bet Hamidrash, Ohef Sholom Temple, Temple Emanuel, Temple Israel, and Tidewater Chavurah, to provide opportunities to connect Jewishly on a variety of topics, offering something for everyone.

To learn more about Tidewater Together, or to register for upcoming events, visit JewishVA. org/TidewaterTogether, or contact Sierra Lautman, director of Jewish Innovation, at (757)965-6107 or slautman@ujft.org.

Gail Flax, co-chair of the Holocaust Commission Educator’s Conference, has her book signed by Burger.

what’s happening Jay Klebanoff to receive VCIC award at the Tidewater Chapter’s 56th Annual Humanitarian Awards Wednesday, March 25 The Westin Virginia Beach Town Center Reception, 5:45–6:30 pm Dinner and program, 6:30 pm

T

he Humanitarian Award of the Virginia Center for Inclusive Communities is presented to those individuals who have demonstrated a personal commitment to the promotion of respect and understanding among people of diverse racial, ethnic, and religious backgrounds. One of this year’s honorees is Jay Klebanoff, a past president of both Jewish Family Service and United Jewish Federation of Tidewater.

Amy K. Milligan will be honored with the Jeffrey B. Spence Award for Interfaith Understanding. Milligan is Old Dominion University’s Batten Endowed Assistant Professor of Jewish Studies and Women’s Studies, and the director of ODU’s Institute of Jewish Studies and Interfaith Understanding.

Dennis Manning, Norfolk Academy headmaster, is the evening’s chair.

In addition to Klebanoff, 2020 Humanitarian Award recipients are Sharon S. Goodwyn, Toiya A. Sosa and James M. Wood, Jr.

M a l V i n c e n t ’s P i c k

Jay Klebanoff

To honor this year’s award winners by purchasing a seat at the United Jewish Federation of Tidewater/Tidewater Jewish Foundation/ Amy K. Milligan Jewish Family Service community table, contact Wynston Hammack at whammack@ ujft.org or 757-965-6124.

Fighting hate with a Seder Tuesday, March 24, 7:30 pm Kehillat Bet Hamidrash, Free

F

ollowing the murder of her motherin-law, Joyce Fienberg, at Tree of Life Synagogue in Pittsburgh, Marnie Fienberg embarked on a journey from victim to activist. Fienberg switched careers from business consulting for the Federal government to focusing on social action—fighting hate and anti-Semitism at the grassroots level.

Her first project, along with partner Lauren Kline, is “2 for Seder” encouraging Jews across the United States and Canada to invite at least two people of other faiths to their first Seder, fighting hate through first-hand experiences about Judaism.

Fienberg will conduct a workshop, Darchei Shalom: Building Paths of Peace, to empower people to put positive language into the national dialogue by engaging with neighbors and building bridges of support—for the good times and the bad.

RSVP (Required) tidewatertogether.

at

jewishva.org/

The Milton “Mickey” Kramer Scholar-inResidence Fund of the Congregation Beth El Foundation’s Tidewater Together series is a collaboration between the United Jewish Federation of Tidewater and area synagogues, including B’nai Israel Congregation, Congregation Beth Chaverim, Congregation Beth El, Kehillat Bet Hamidrash, Ohef Sholom Temple, Temple Emanuel, Temple Israel, and Tidewater Chavurah, to provide opportunities to connect Jewishly on a variety of topics, offering something for everyone.

To learn more about Tidewater Together, including other upcoming events, visit JewishVA.org/TidewaterTogether, or contact Sierra Lautman, director of Jewish Innovation, at (757)965-6107 or SLautman@ujft.org.

The Frisco Kid

M O N D AY

FEB 24

7:15 PM

Naro Expanded Cinema, 1507 Colley Avenue, Norfolk In one of Hollywood’s most unusual pairings, Gene Wilder and Harrison Ford co-star as a Polish Rabbi and a gun-slinging outlaw traveling the Wild West, in The Frisco Kid, an offbeat buddy adventure and Western comedy.

Young, inexperienced Rabbi Belinski (Wilder) is dispatched in the mid-1800s to transport a Torah to a new San Francisco synagogue and become its first Rabbi. Alone on the frontier, the clueless immigrant is conned, robbed, and threatened, until a bank robber with a heart of gold (Ford, in a role meant for John Wayne) takes pity on the poor schlemiel.

Initially dismissed by critics, this bighearted folktale is now considered an essential Jewish movie for its delicate blend of ethnic humor, religious sensitivity, and winning performances. Sporting a wild beard, weird accent, and twinkle in his eyes, Wilder evokes his own unique brand of lovable naiveté and fish-out-of-water slapstick.

Tickets $10 Purchase tickets at JewishVa.org/FilmFestival jewishnewsva.org | February 17, 2020 | Jewish News | 33

what’s happening Silent auction and Italian buffet fundraiser for Chevra T’hillim Sunday, March 29, 4–7 pm, Uno’s Pizzeria and Grill

T

he Jewish museum and Cultural Center’s third annual Silent Auction will take place next month at Uno’s Pizzeria and Grill located near JANAF Shopping Center.

The event will include music and a Silent Auction featuring gift baskets and gift cards of every kind, as well as art objects—paintings and other artistic items. Proceeds will help sustain the museum in the historic Chevra T’hilim synagogue located at 607 Chevra T’hillim Effingham Street in Portsmouth.

Chevra T’hilim is a rare surviving example of Eastern European Jewish Orthodoxy which is recognized by the National Trust for Historic Preservation, and is on the Virginia Historic Register. The museum doors opened to the public in March 2008 offering innovative exhibits and programs Tickets are $25 in advance or $36 at the door and include an all you can eat Italian buffet with one alcoholic beverage. Call the Jewish Museum to purchase tickets at 757-391-9266 or go on line atwww.jewishmuseumportsmouth.org.

Uno’s Pizzeria is located at 5900 East Virginia Beach Blvd. in Norfolk.

LOVE IN SUSPENDERS An encounter between two people with such different personalities can only lead to disaster… but love has its own rules.

THURSDAY

FEB 20

7:15 PM

Cinema Café Kemps River

1220 Fordham Drive, Virginia Beach

When absent-minded 64-year-old widow Tami accidentally hits 70-year-old widower Beno with her car, the last thing on her mind is love and romance. Trying to ensure Beno will not sue her, she invites him over to her apartment. Against her wishes, and although she finds it hard to move on following her husband’s death, Tami starts falling for Beno, who is head over heels in love with her. But will their budding relationship survive the scrutiny of their children?

A charming romantic comedy for the young and young at heart.

Tickets: $10 | Purchase tickets at JewishVa.org/FilmFestival

34 | Jewish News | February 17, 2020 | jewishnewsva.org

Leon Family Gallery Reba and Sam Sandler Family Campus

Photographer Amos Nachoum: The Picture of his Life Through March

R

evered as one of the greatest photographers of all time, Amos Nachoum has always been fascinated, but never deterred, by the most fearsome creatures on earth, including great white sharks and the polar bear. Picture of his Life is the film that captures his unrelenting journey to redemption.

The 27th Annual Virginia Festival of Jewish Film’s BIG Saturday Night Celebration of Jewish film and Champagne reception,

in memory of Patricia Ashkennazi, features Picture of his Life. The event takes place at the Sandler Center for the Performing Arts at 8 pm on Saturday, February 22.

A sampling of Amos Nachoum’s large body of daring work is now on exhibit in the Leon Family Gallery at the Simon Family JCC. For more information, contact Patty Shelanski at pshelanski@ujft.org or call 757-452-3185.

Ohef Sholom Sisterhood gears up for Rummage Sale Sunday, March 22, 8:30 am - 3:30 pm

I

t is time again for Ohef Sholom Temple’s Rummage Sale, a much anticipated Sisterhood event that takes place every other year.

The Rummage Sale is Sisterhood’s biggest fundraiser and involves lots of work, planning, schlepping, sorting, pricing, and displaying. Proceeds go to Sisterhood’s various programs to support the temple.

An array of merchandise, including furniture, dishes, household and decorative items, art, pictures, linens, books, media, Judaica, toys, jewelry, beautiful scarves, and purses will all be available.

For more information, go to ohefsholom. org, call the Temple office at 757-625-4295, or email information@ohefsholom.org.

Visit us on the web jewishnewsva.org

Calendar FEBRUARY 20, THURSDAY Love in Suspenders tracks two people in an unlikely relationship, from their first encounter, until they unite at the altar. 27th Virginia Festival of Jewish Film presented by Patricia & Avraham Ashkenazi and Alma & Howard Laderberg. Tickets, $10. Limited seating. 7:15 pm, Cinema Café Kemps River. For more information or to purchase tickets, visit jewishva.org/filmfestival.

FEBRUARY 22, SATURDAY THE BIG SATURDAY NIGHT celebration of Jewish Film and Champagne Reception. Picture of His Life, with special guests Amos Nachoum, one of the greatest underwater photographers of all time, and Dani Menkin, director. Tickets: $35, under 21: FREE. 7:15 pm, Sandler Center for the Performing Arts. For more information or to purchase tickets, visit jewishva.org/filmfestival.

FEBRUARY 23, SUNDAY 27th Virginia Festival of Jewish Film presents Restoring Tomorrow. 2 pm, Susan B. Goode Fine and Performing Arts Center at Virginia Wesleyan University. Tickets, $10. Limited seating. For more information or to purchase tickets, visit jewishva.org/filmfestival.

Treating all with respect is an interactive session to learn how to be inclusive of people with disabilities. Ohef Sholom Temple. Free with RSVP. Brunch provided. 11 am. For more information or to RSVP, visit reservations@ohefsholom.org or call 757-625-4295.

RESTORING TOMORROW

FEBRUARY 24, MONDAY The Frisco Kid, Naro Expanded Cinema. Tickets, $10. Limited seating available. 7:15 pm. Famed Virginian-Pilot film critic Mal Vincent’s pick. Pre-purchase strongly suggested. For more information or to purchase tickets, visit jewishva.org/filmfestival. .

FOLLOWED BY A CONVERSATION WITH LOCAL Screenwriter marc moss and director Aaron wolf

FEBRUARY 26, WEDNESDAY Those Who Remained explores the relationship of two survivors trying to live their lives in Hungary after the Holocaust. 27th Virginia Festival of Jewish Film in partnership with UJFT’s Holocaust Commission. Tickets, $10. Limited seating available. 7:15 pm. Beach Cinema Ale House.

For more information or to purchase tickets, visit jewishva.org/filmfestival. See page 11.

March 2, Sunday Brith Sholom general membership meeting 11 am at Beth Sholom Village. Jody Laibstain and Kelly Burroughs, from Jerwish Family Service, will speak about available programs for seniors.

Brunch follows. $5 per member; $7 at the door; $10 per guest; free for anyone exploring membership. Contact LeeAnn Mallory at 757-461-1150 or brith.sholom1@gmail.com for more information.

March 7, Saturday PURIM in the Wild West, YAD party. Sponsored by Tidewater Home Funding, Hamilton Realty, and Cowboy Neil’s Cantina. Tickets before March 1—$30; on or before March 6—$35; at the door—$50. 8 pm. Sandler Family Campus. For more information or to RSVP, www.jewishva.org/ purim-party.

Kempsville Conservative Synagogue (KBH) Gala Art Auction at the synagogue, 952 Indian Lakes Blvd. Doors open at 6:45 pm and auction starts at 7:45 pm. Admission is $7.50 which includes door prizes, food and wine. Presented by ArrinRoss Auctions, in participation with Marlin Art, Inc. featuring art in all media and price ranges. Contact the synagogue at kbhsynagogue@ gmail.com or Judy Saperstein at 757-287-3887 for more information.

MARCH 19, THURSDAY Join Stephanie Butnick, Liel Leibovitz, and Mark Oppenheimer, authors of The Newish Jewish Encyclopedia, with special guest Alana Newhouse, editor-in-chief Tablet magazine and author of The 100 Most Jewish Foods: A Highly Delectable List for a live taping of Tablet magazine’s leading international podcast Unorthodox , with discussions about Jewish news, politics, and so much more. Zeiders American Dream Theater, 7:30 pm. $18 Admission/$50 Admission and both books. Special bundle of admission and both signed books ends March 12. Presented by the Milton “Mickey” Kramer Scholar-in-Residence Fund of Congregation Beth El’s Tidewater Together series and Lee & Bernard Jaffe Family Jewish Book Festival. For more information or to RSVP (required), visit jewishva.org/tidewatertogether.

MARCH 25, WEDNESDAY 56th Annual Humanitarian Awards. Jay Klebanoff, a past president of UJFT and JFS, to receive VCIC award; Amy K. Milligan will be honored with the Jeffrey B. Spence Award for Interfaith Understanding. Reception 5:45–6:30 pm; Dinner and program 6:30 pm. The Westin Virginia Beach Town Center. To purchase a seat, contact Wynston Hammack at whammack@ujft.org or 757-965-6124.

Send submissions for calendar to news@ujft.org. Be Include date, event name, sponsor, address, time, cost and phone.

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S U N D AY

FEB 23

2:00 PM

Susan S. Goode Fine and Performing Arts Center Virginia Wesleyan University 1587 Wesleyan Drive, Virginia Beach Religious institutions are losing young members and even closing their doors at an alarming rate. Restoring Tomorrow, a universal story of hope, shows there is another way.

The film tells the tale of Los Angeles’ Wilshire Boulevard Temple, which was built in 1929 by the original Hollywood moguls. With its towering 10-story-high dome, the synagogue ranks with the Chinese theater and Griffith Planetarium as one of the great L.A. landmarks, but by the 21st century it was in need of tens of millions of dollars of reconstruction.

This against-all-odds story is told through the personal journey of director Aaron Wolf who, like so many of his generation, had become disaffected from his congregation. In chronicling the Temple’s restoration, he finds himself restored as he reconnects to his synagogue and his community.

Tickets $10 | Limited seating; pre-purchase strongly suggested Purchase tickets at JewishVa.org/FilmFestival jewishnewsva.org | February 17, 2020 | Jewish News | 35

Stein Family College Scholarship

Obituaries

for Tidewater Jewish students

Apply by March 15, 2020

The Stein Family College Scholarship is dedicated in loving memory of Arlene Shea Stein who was unable to finish college due to financial hardship.

This annual scholarship of up to $10,000 per year is awarded to area Jewish students entering college. Applicants are evaluated on financial need, Jewish/community engagement, and academic potential.

For more information and to apply, visit www.jewishva.org/TJF-stein

Stanley Goldstone Hingham, Mass.—Stanley Goldstone, D.M.D. ff Hingham, formerly of Sharon, succumbed to the ravages of Parkinson’s disease on Saturday, February 8, 2020 at 91 years of age.

Loving husband of Dolores “Dolly” Goldstone. Loving father of Jaymie Adachi (Jiro), stepfather of Susan Kaplan (Ivor), Richard Mullen (Kim) and the late Nancy Mullen. Cherished grandfather of Shannon, Matthew (Laura), Ian, Justin, Morgan, Reynie, Nigh and great-grandson Arlo.

Service at Schlossberg Family’s Chapel on the Hill, Canton Mass. Interment followed Sharon Memorial Park. Donations may be made to The Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s Research, P.O. Box 5014, Hagerstown, MD 21741-5014.

Lorraine Flax Hecht Richmond—Lorraine Flax Hecht, age 97, passed away peacefully on Friday,

February 7, 2020.

Lorraine was preceded in death by her husband, Arnold; her brother, Jack; and son-in-law, Andy. She is survived by her daughters, Diane Wagner (Alan), Barbara Edwards (Kendall) and Sharon Trimmer; along with her grandchildren, Karen, Lauren, Melissa, Brittany, Aaron; and her five great grandchildren.

She worked at the Ration Board for three years during World War II and was employed for 22 years at De Paul Hospital in Norfolk. After retiring, she and Arnold moved to Richmond where she became an active member of Temple Beth-El. Lorraine is remembered by her family as a devoted mother and wife. Lorraine will be deeply missed by all who knew her.

A funeral ceremony was held at Bliley’s-Central, Richmond. A graveside service followed at Forest Lawn Cemetery in Norfolk. Memorial contributions can be made to American Cancer Society, http://www.cancer.org/.

MondAy, MArCh 23, 2020 Yanni’s Bark Mitzvah 4:00 p.m. Pincus Paul Hall

Join us for A

40th AnniversAry CelebrAtion

40th AnniversAry CelebrAtion and and rAnd r ree-openinG GGrAnd peninG on sundAy, MonArCh 29, 2020

sundAy, M10:00 ArCh 29, 2020 . .

AM

Coffee Bar and Refreshments 10:00 A.M. Village Tours Coffee Bar and Refreshments

Village Tours 11:00 A.M. Welcoming Remarks11:00 from ABeth .M. Sholom Leadership State andfrom Local Dignitaries Welcoming Remarks Beth Sholom Leadership Ribbon Cutting Ceremony State and Local Dignitaries Ribbon Cutting Ceremony Continued Village Tours and Refreshments

36 | Jewish News | February 17, 2020 | jewishnewsva.org

Celebrate Beth Sholom Village’s service dog, Yanni’s 13 months, as an official staff member. Light refreshments! Visit www.bethsholomvillage. com for Bark Mitzvah gift ideas (not required).

Free | Family-friendly No RSVP needed

WednesdAy, MArCh 25, 2020

Community Dinner Program “A Positive Approach® to Care” - Carolyn Lukert, MBA, CGCM 6:00 p.m. Pincus Paul Hall • •

What is Dementia? – An exploration of what dementia is, what it isn’t, and what’s going on in the brain when dementia is on board.

Ways to support a person living with dementia at home or in a community.

Free | Perfect for Caregivers Must RSVP at www.bethsholomvillage.com Thanks to our sponsors:

Obituaries Jean Rutherford Virginia Beach—Jean Rutherford died on January 26, 2020, after a nine-year journey with frontotemporal dementia.

Jean had an abundant, loving, and playful heart. An avid gardener and nature lover, Jean savored sitting on her screened porch overlooking the Elizabeth River while visiting with family, friends, and her beloved grandchildren.

Born on December 7, 1936, in Washington D.C. to Esther and Charles Phipard, Jean came into the world to a flock of doting aunts and grandparents who instilled in her a deep sense of family and community. She graduated from Falls Church High and later Mary Washington with a BA in Music. Jean played both the cello and the piano. After marrying Palmer Rutherford, Jr, she taught public school music and gave private piano lessons.

Jean’s truest vocational calling came as director for Christian Formation for the Diocese of Southern Virginia. She helped pioneer the Shrinemont Christian Formation Conference as well as an innovative training program for lay and clergy leaders. Certified as a Spiritual Director, she cherished hours spent unpacking the treasures hidden in life’s challenges. Jean was passionate about social justice in her work with: Camp Wakonda for families affected by HIV/AIDS; JUST FAITH, an interfaith justice group; Witness for Peace delegation to Nicaragua and Honduras; and board member and president for Empower Hampton Roads.

The family would like to thank Beth Sholom Home for their excellent care.

Her brother Jon having pre-deceased her, Jean leaves her children: Palmer Rutherford III (Laine), Anne Zobel (Dave), Kelly Rutherford (Claudia), and grandchildren: Chelsea (Dan), Raven, John, Matthew, Marshall, Colton, Gustavo, and Julianna.

Donations can be made to Chanco on the James, Memo: Jean Rutherford Memorial Fund. Address: 394 Floods Drive, Spring Grove, VA 23881 or online: https:// chanco.org/support/donate/.

B

Sculptor Beverly Pepper, famed for monumental iron and steel works

everly Pepper, a sculptor famed for her monumental iron and steel works, has died.

Pepper died Wednesday, Feb. 5 at her home in Italy. She was 97.

Pepper was born Beverly Stoll in Brooklyn in 1922. She moved to Europe in the late 1940s and in the early 1950s settled in Rome with her husband, journalist and author Curtis Bill Pepper. The couple moved to central Italy’s Umbria region in the 1970s, where they restored an old castle near the medieval hill town of Todi and became an anchor of a community of artists and writers.

Pepper’s sculptures include massive architectural works often set up in the open air, smaller pieces and land art that is sculpted directly in the landscape.

(JTA)

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Obituaries

Kirk Douglas, iconic movie star who reconnected to Judaism later in life, dies at 103

Kirk Douglas, December 9, 2011.

Tom Tugend

LOS ANGELES (JTA)—Kirk Douglas, the legendary actor who portrayed legions of tough guys and embraced his Jewish heritage later in life, died at his home in Beverly Hills on Wednesday, February 5.

He was 103.

Over a career that spanned 87 films— including 73 big screen features and 14 on television—the blond, blue-eyed Douglas, dimpled chin thrust forward, was often cast as the toughest guy around, vanquishing hordes of Romans, Vikings, and assorted bad guys.

Thrice nominated for an Academy Award and a recipient of an Oscar for lifetime achievement and a Presidential Medal of Freedom, Douglas evolved from an egocentric and promiscuous young man into a multi-talented actor, director, author, philanthropist, and student of Torah who left a deep imprint on both Hollywood and the Jewish people.

Douglas also was the author of 11 books, ranging from personal memoirs and a Holocaust-themed novel for young readers to a collection of poetry dedicated to his wife.

“Most stars of his stature are shaped out of mythic clay,” the director Steven Spielberg said in presenting Douglas with the lifetime achievement Oscar in 1996. “Kirk Douglas never chose that. He doesn’t have a single character that makes him unique. Instead he has a singular

honesty, a drive to be inimitable.”

Douglas was born Issur Danielovitch in 1916 in the upstate New York town of Amsterdam, the son of an illiterate Russian-Jewish immigrant who supported his six daughters and one son as a rag picker and junk man.

A chance to escape came shortly after his bar mitzvah, when the Sons of Israel Synagogue offered to underwrite his rabbinical studies. Douglas firmly declined, declaring that he would become an actor. He held fast to that ambition while attending Saint Lawrence University on a wrestling scholarship and during World War II service in the U.S. Navy.

His first movie role came in 1946, when he played Barbara Stanwyck’s husband in The Strange Love of Martha Ivers.

Douglas received favorable reviews, but his career wouldn’t really take off until three years (and six films) later, when he portrayed Midge Kelly, a ferocious and amoral boxer in Champion. The performance earned him an Academy Award nomination for best actor.

During the 1950s and ’60s, Douglas ranked consistently as one of Hollywood’s top male stars for his single-minded focus on his craft, while also squeezing in Broadway and television appearances. He was also known for egocentricity in a town with no shortage of oversize egos and for bedding an endless string of women, from movie queens to casual pickups.

In the 1950s, he starred in 23 movies.

He earned best actor Oscar nominations for The Bad and the Beautiful and Lust for Life. And in 1953, he starred as a Holocaust survivor in The Juggler, the first Hollywood feature to be filmed in Israel.

He opened the decade of the 1960s with Spartacus, perhaps his most enduring movie, in which he played the leader of a slave rebellion in ancient Rome. The film won four Oscars, though none for Douglas.

But Douglas did distinguish himself for insisting that writer Dalton Trumbo, who had been blacklisted as a communist for

38 | Jewish News | February 17, 2020 | jewishnewsva.org

a decade but continued to write under a pseudonym, be credited onscreen despite dire warnings that such a provocation would end his own Hollywood career.

Douglas was honored for that stance in 2011 by the San Francisco Jewish Film Festival.

With increasing fame and fortune, Douglas showed little interest in Jewish practice, though there were exceptions.

“I always fasted on Yom Kippur,” he told a reporter. “I still worked on the movie set, but I fasted. And let me tell you, it’s not easy making love to Lana Turner on an empty stomach.”

In his later years, Douglas would come to embrace his Jewishness, a shift he dates to a near-fatal collision in 1991 between his helicopter and a stunt plane in which two younger men died. The crash compressed his spine by three inches. While lying in a hospital bed with excruciating back pain, he started pondering the meaning of his life.

“I came to believe that I was spared because I had never come to grips with what it means to be Jewish,” he said.

Douglas embarked on an intensive regime of Torah study with a number of young rabbis and celebrated a second bar mitzvah at age 83, telling the Hollywood luminaries crammed into the 200-seat chapel at Sinai Temple for the occasion: “Today, I am a man.”

Neither of his two wives—the late actress Diana Dill and Anne Buydens, whom he married in 1954—were Jewish, and none of his children were raised in the faith. But his oldest son, the actor-director Michael Douglas, has reconnected with Judaism and won the 2015 Genesis Prize, a $1-million award recognizing Jews of great accomplishment who exhibit Jewish values.

In 2014, at Douglas’ 60th wedding anniversary, Buydens startled the guests by announcing that she had converted to Judaism.

“Kirk has been married to two shiksas and it’s about time he married a nice

Jewish girl,” she proclaimed.

In 1996, Douglas suffered a stroke that left him speechless. He fell into a deep depression that nearly led him to take his own life.

A few months later, he made his first public appearance to accept the lifetime achievement award.

“Whether he’s dealing with a character on screen or with the all-too-real effect of a recent stroke, courage remains Kirk Douglas’ personal and professional hallmark,” Spielberg said in presenting the award.

Through rigorous speech therapy, Douglas taught himself to speak again—slowly, with a slight slur. He later published a book about the experience titled My Stroke of Luck.

Among his other books are Let’s Face It, which proclaimed that romance begins at 80; I Am Spartacus!, focusing on making the film and breaking the blacklist; and Climbing the Mountain, which traced his search for spirituality and Jewish identity.

In 2014, at 98, he published his first book of poetry, Life Could Be Verse, in which he expressed his enduring love for his wife as well as his heartbreak at the death of his youngest son, Eric, who died of a self-induced drug overdose.

Along with his wife, Douglas has given more than $100 million to charitable causes in the United States and Israel. The couple have established nearly 400 playgrounds in poorer sections of Los Angeles and Jerusalem, an Alzheimer’s hospital unit, and a theater facing the Western Wall featuring films on the history of Judaism and Jerusalem.

In 1981, Douglas received the Presidential Medal of Freedom, America’s highest civilian award, from President Jimmy Carter.

Along with his wife and son Michael, Douglas is survived by sons Peter and Joel Douglas, seven grandchildren— Cameron, Dylan, Carys Zeta, Kelsey, Jason, Tyler and Ryan—and a sister, Ida Sahr of Schenectady, New York.

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JewishTidewater.org #JewishTidewater A research endeavor on behalf of our Jewish community, its agencies, synagogues, schools, and Jewish News, #JewishTidewater aims to learn what YOU want Jewishly in Tidewater.

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