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Southeastern Virginia | Vol. 60 No. 10 | 27 Adar I 5782 | February 28, 2022

Jewish community in Ukraine faces crisis

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OPINION

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Want to honor the pain and compassion we’ve felt during the pandemic? There’s a Torah portion for that.

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

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Efrem Epstein, Rabbi Eric Woodward

(JTA)—The beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States can be dated in many ways. The first confirmed case was Jan. 21, 2020. In Jewish communities, the Purim holiday, that year observed starting March 9, was a dividing line between our old lives and our new ones. For many, everything became real on March 11, when travel shut down, Tom Hanks tested positive and the NBA suspended its season.

But there’s another marker baked into Jewish tradition that hasn’t been discussed—and it provides a perfect opportunity for commemorating the earth-shattering change that we have all experienced.

On that first Shabbat after everything shut down, as synagogues switched to Zoom or held no services at all, we read Parashat Ki Tisa, the Torah portion in which God gives Moses the 10 Commandments on Mount Sinai, while down below the Israelites, fearing that he will not return, turn to idol worship. In the seventh and final section of the Torah portion, Moses dons a masveh—a veil or mask—to ease the anxiety felt by peers awed by his “radiant” visage.

We read Ki Tisa again on Feb. 19, marking the liturgical two-year anniversary of the shutdowns.

Liturgy gives Jews a framework for

processing and recalling our shared experiences. During the last two years, we have celebrated and grieved; we have moved and settled; we have had good moments and others perhaps we wish could take back. And we know that even as the pandemic appears to wind down, its long-term social effects are here to stay.

So last spring, the two of us—a layperson and a rabbi—came together to discuss an idea brought by a close reading of the seventh aliyah of Ki Tisa. We saw that Moses’ decision to don a mask had obvious resonance with pandemic life.

It still does, perhaps even more than ever. We have worn masks to protect ourselves, but also to protect others around us. We know that by wearing a mask, we create a climate in which we can safely and comfortably constitute a community.

We realized that our communities could remember the start of the pandemic—and all that it brought with it—through the resonant image of the mask that Moses wears. And we realized that the annual repetition of the Torah could make that commemoration a yearly event.

We call our ritual Aliyat ha-Masveh, the aliyah of the mask, in which a person who has displayed courage, compassion and care—the attributes of Moses and the frontline worker—could be honored.

For now, it probably makes sense for communities to honor pandemic heroes:

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

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CANDLE LIGHTING

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CONTENTS Opinion. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 Briefs. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 JDC’s Ukraine Response. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 Jews in Ukraine make difficult decisions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 JFNA releases Working Public Policy Agenda. . . . . . . . . 7 Jewish Special and Individualized Jewish Education at OST . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 BBG becomes a “family” affair . . . . . . . . . . 10 Paper Midrash educates the community . . 10 Virginia Jewish Advocacy Day 2022. . . . . . 10

health care workers, educators, policy makers. But over time, communities that adopt Aliyat ha-Masveh might find themselves recognizing other ways that their members take on responsibilities to ease the pain and anxiety of others. This would be a powerful result of the last two years of pain and fear.

This ritual doesn’t have to take place inside synagogues. Shabbat is a perfect moment—one of several opportunities we will have together in the coming weeks— or Jews to take some time to reflect on the changes of the last two years. Where have we been surprised by our growth?

Where have we become more ourselves?

Where are we stronger? As we reflect, we can practice holding ourselves tenderly, with care, courage, and compassion— something that may have felt out of reach during this difficult time.

In the Torah’s telling, Moses puts the mask over his own face to show humility and concern for others. Although we will (hopefully) eventually set aside physical masks, we will always have chances to show our concern and care for others.

Honoring this section of the Torah with a special aliyah can help us to do that.

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“Imagine what inflation feels like to the poorest pensioner living on $2.40 per day when utility prices are up by 20 to 30 percent and food items are up by 57 and 61 percent.”

—page 5

Friday, March 4/1 Adar II Light candles at 5:44 pm Friday, March 11/8 Adar II Light candles at 5:51 pm Friday, March 18/15 Adar II Light candles at 6:57 pm Friday, March 25/22 Adar II Light candles at 7:03 pm Friday, April 1/29 Adar II Light candles at 7:09 pm Friday, April 8/7 Nissan Light candles at 7:16 pm

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BRIEFS GERMAN DICTIONARY CHANGES DEFINITION OF ‘JEW’ A German dictionary entry for the word “Jew” has been changed after members of the country’s Jewish community complained that the definition was problematic.

The definition offered by the Duden dictionary, one of the most authoritative German dictionaries, had included a note that the term is sometimes used as a derogatory slur in addition to being the simplest way of referring to Jews. But German Jews pushed back against the inclusion of the use of the word “Jew” as a slur, saying the term is the correct one and should be used without qualification.

“Even if ‘Jew’ is used pejoratively in schoolyards or only hesitantly by some people, and the Duden editors are certainly well-meaning in pointing out this context, everything should be done to avoid solidifying the term as discriminatory,” Joseph Schuster, the head of the Central Council of Jews in Germany, told the Associated Press.

The entry was updated Monday, Feb. 14 and included the Central Council of Jews in Germany’s approval of the use of the term.

The word “Jew” has long been considered by some, especially non-Jews, to be derogatory, leading some to instead prefer the adjective “Jewish” to the more succinct or blunt noun, “Jew.” Jewish institutions in previous eras also adopted alternatives to the word “Jew” in their names, preferring terms like “Hebrew” and “Israelite.”

Sarah Bunin Benor, a professor at Hebrew Union College who writes about Jews and language, told JTA in 2020 that people have historically avoided using the word “Jew” to avoid sounding antisemitic, even though the word is not inherently derogatory.

“Many people assume that it’s a slur because they know that Jews are historically a stigmatized group, so they’re concerned about using it because they don’t want to sound offensive,” she said. (JTA) GUNMAN FIRES SHOTS AT JEWISH CANDIDATE FOR LOUISVILLE MAYOR A gunman opened fire on a Jewish Democrat who is running for mayor of Louisville, Kentucky.

“My team and I are fortunately all safe,” Craig Greenberg, the candidate,

said in a message posted Monday, Feb. 14 on Twitter. “We are all with [Louisville Metro Police] now. I will provide an update as soon as possible. Thank you for the outpouring of support.”

Louisville police chief Erika Shields said Greenberg was the target and that a bullet penetrated his clothing. She said one possibility is that Greenberg was targeted because he is Jewish.

“Mr. Greenberg is Jewish, so there’s that,” she said. “We don’t know if it’s tied to the candidate, is political, or are we dealing with someone who has mental issues, is venomous. We have to really keep an open mind and be diligent in taking care of our community.”

WDRB, another local TV news outlet, quoted a councilman, David James, as saying the gunman fired on Greenberg at his office in the city’s Butchertown Market, a food and retail complex.

Greenberg, an entrepreneur who runs a professional wrestling business, declared for mayor last year.

Louisville police charged Quintez Brown in the shooting.

Brown, 21, has been prominent in the city’s civil rights activism, including Black Lives Matter protests in 2020. He had recently announced a run for the city’s municipal council.

Police said he was charged with attempted murder and four counts of wanton endangerment in his alleged shooting attack in Greenberg’s downtown office. No motive has been reported.

In interviews with local media, associates of Brown suggested he suffered from mental illness, referring to his disappearance last year for two weeks. (JTA)

ANTISEMITIC FLYERS IN CITY OF RECENT SYNAGOGUE HOSTAGE CRISIS Residents of Colleyville, Texas, the community where a rabbi and three of his congregants were held hostage for 12 hours at the local synagogue last month, woke up on the weekend of Feb. 18 to find antisemitic flyers on their driveways and yards.

The flyers, which were strewn about the town in plastic zip-top bags with pebbles in them to weigh them down, were similar to ones that have been distributed in several cities across the country, according to local reports. They have often been

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distributed by members of the antisemitic Goyim Defense League group.

The town’s synagogue, Congregation Beth Israel, released a statement condemning the flyers and said some members of the synagogue had found the flyers on their properties.

“We understand that the Colleyville Police Department and the FBI are investigating, and their involvement brings comfort. We are hopeful that the individual(s) responsible will be identified and prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.

Circulating hate speech cannot be taken lightly,” the synagogue said.

Colleyville police told local news station Fox 7 that the number of flyers was in the hundreds. One flyer stated that “every single aspect of the COVID agenda is Jewish” and another said “Black lives murder white children.”

The “COVID agenda” flyer was most recently seen in San Francisco and in multiple cities in Florida, last month. (JTA)

ADELSON PROTEGE RUNNING FOR CONGRESS IN NEVADA David Brog, who leads the Maccabee Task Force, a group that cultivates pro-Israel students on campus, and a longtime protege of the Adelsons, the Las Vegas-based Republican Jewish kingmaker couple, is running for Congress in Nevada.

The late Sheldon Adelson and his widow Miriam launched the Maccabee Task Force in 2015. Before entering the Adelsons’ orbit, Brog, who is Jewish, helped found Christians United for Israel, a powerhouse pro-Israel evangelical group. Miriam Adelson remains an important Republican influence in the state and nationwide.

The Las Vegas Review-Journal, which Miriam Adelson owns, reported that Brog entered the GOP primary to try to unseat incumbent Democrat Dina Titus.

Titus was seen as being in a safe seat until a recent redistricting. It’s not clear yet whether the district’s new borders will adversely affect the wide margins she has enjoyed until now. (JTA) ISRAEL TO ALLOW UNVACCINATED TO ENTER BEGINNING MARCH 1 Israel will allow unvaccinated tourists to enter the country beginning March 1 as the county’s COVID case numbers

continue to decline, Prime Minister Naftali Bennett and Health Minister Nitzan Horowitz announced.

Tourists will still need to produce negative PCR tests before and after their flights, while Israelis will only need to take a test upon landing.

The more lax rules mean that children under the age of five who are ineligible to be vaccinated can now enter the country.

Only fully vaccinated tourists have been allowed in since January.

The changes came as Israel’s government also ended its Green Pass program, which allowed only those who have been vaccinated or recovered from COVID to enter public venues. The government decided earlier this month not to renew the program when it expires March 1 due to the country’s declining COVID rate.

“This wave is breaking,” Bennett said.

“We are seeing a decline in the number of severely ill.” (JTA)

BENNET IS FIRST ISRAELI PRIME MINISTER TO VISIT BAHRAIN Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett landed in Bahrain for meetings with its rulers, the second such trip to a Gulf Arab country since the launch of the Abraham Accords.

Speaking Monday, Feb. 14 before his departure, Bennett framed his visit as a bulwark against increasing uncertainty worldwide, alluding to heightened tensions in the region with Iran and in Europe, with anticipations of a Russian strike against Ukraine.

“I think especially in these tumultuous times it’s important that from this region we send a message of goodwill, of cooperation of standing together against common challenges and of building bridges to the future,” he said.

The visit is Bennett’s second to the region since the launch in 2020 of the Abraham Accords, normalizing relations between Israel and four Arab countries: Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates, Morocco and Sudan. He visited the UAE in December.

Bahrain and Israel have formalized commercial ties and have launched defense cooperation. As part of Bennett’s visit, Israel said it would station a defense official in Manama. (JTA)

YOUR DOLLARS AT WORK

AUTO ACCIDENTS | SERIOUS INJURY | WRONGFUL DEATH

JDC’s Ukraine Response U

kraine’s vibrant Jewish community is one of the largest in the world, home to an estimated 200,000 Jews.

The current situation with Russia (as of Feb. 23) has convinced some in this Jewish community to leave, others to prepare to fight, and placed still others, who are vulnerable and require assistance for daily necessities, in greater need.

“The expandJDC volunteer delivers food packages and PPE to a needy Jewish woman ing economic toll of in Kharkiv, Ukraine during the pandemic.

Ukraine’s crisis is more insidious than reported, increasJDC, a partner agency of United Jewish ing the suffering of the neediest every Federation of Tidewater, is working around day,” Ariel Zwang, American Jewish Joint the clock to ensure uninterrupted humaniDistribution Committee’s CEO wrote in a tarian aid including food, medicine, winter letter published Feb. 22 in the New York relief, and emergency assistance for the most Times. vulnerable Jews throughout Ukraine — no matter what. This aid benefits nearly 40,000 needy Jewish elderly and poor families in Ukraine.

JDC is currently: • Providing food, medicine, and sanitary needy Jewish items; elderly and poor • Preparing its staff and volunteers to families in Ukraine continue to provide aid no matter the circumstances, including through food package delivery, hotlines, and online platforms; Already adversely affected by Ukraine’s • Mapping all of its clients, especially the snarled COVID economy, Zwang said, this homebound, to ensure JDC can reach population has been worse off since tenthem; and sions began simmering on the borders • Coordinating with local Jewish organilast year. zations and partners to ensure a united “Imagine what inflation feels like to emergency response. the poorest pensioner living on $2.40 per JDC says it is leveraging its vast presence day when utility prices are up by 20 to 30 on the ground and past experience from the percent and food items like sunflower oil 2014 Ukraine conflict and ongoing COVIDand sugar are up by 57 and 61 percent.

19 pandemic to address a variety of possible They’re left with a painful choice between emerging needs, including displacement. food, medicine or heating during the “Whatever happens in the hours and harsh winter,” continued Zwang. days ahead,” wrote Zwang, “the poorest will This mounting economic crisis adds to still face an enduring battle for survival.” the pandemic’s lasting financial toll, catapulting the most vulnerable into renewed JDC is a beneficiary of UJFT’s Annual risk and suffering.

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Forever Helping Others

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In Ukraine, young Jews are torn between fighting for their country—and leaving for another Cnaan Liphshiz

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(JTA)—As world powers work to defuse the military buildup between Ukraine and Russia, Vlodymyr Zeev Vaksman, a Jewish father in Odessa, is focusing on a personal arms race.

“I put off making any big purchases.

I want to buy weapons,” Vaksman, the 40-year-old chair of Odessa’s Tiferet Masorti community, told JTA on Monday, Feb. 14.

Vaksman, who works as a tour guide, is typical of many young Ukrainian Jews: Attached to their country, they’re hesitant to abandon it when it’s threatened. But, mindful of how quickly it can descend into violence, sometimes along sectarian lines, they also are unwilling to leave their family’s safety to the authorities and chance.

“Everyone is worried,” Vaksman says about his circle of Jewish friends. “Some want to resist and join the defense units.

Some want to leave.”

Russia has been amassing troops on the Ukrainian border since November, leading many to fear that the country could be headed for a bloodier version of what happened when Russia invaded in 2014 and seized Crimea.

Like the United States, Israel is exhorting its citizens who are in Ukraine—there are as many as 15,000 of them—to vacate the country. On Tuesday, Feb. 14, the Israeli airline Arkia dispatched one of its passenger planes on an emergency flight to Kharkiv, an eastern Ukrainian city. It left empty and returned with any Israeli interested in returning.

Meanwhile, the Jewish Agency is reportedly making contingency plans to evacuate Jews who wish to leave in the event that tensions erupt into a fullblown war. Ukraine has about 43,300 people who self-identify as Jews and about 200,000 eligible to immigrate to Israel under its Law of Return for Jews and their relatives, according to a 2020 demographic study of European Jewry.

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A prominent Israeli rabbi is using the crisis to convince Ukrainian Jews to make aliyah, or immigrate to Israel. But on the ground, most Ukrainian Jews appear to be approaching the situation pragmatically, not ideologically.

“It would be good” for anyone who so desires to leave Uman for “a vacation until it is safe,” Rabbi Ya’akov Djan, who is also an Israeli, wrote to Jews in the city where a predominantly Israeli Jewish population has grown up around the burial place of Nachman of Bratslav, an 18th-century Hasidic rabbi. But he adds that anyone who does not wish to leave should not feel pressured to do so.

Among those on vacation in Israel right now are the wife and daughters of Chaim Chazin, a real-estate professional who was born in Israel and has been living for several years in Uman with his wife, Liat, and their seven children. They left two weeks ago for a family event and decided to extend their stay in Israel “just to be on the safe side until the situation stabilizes,” Chazin says.

Chazin himself says he is confident in the leadership of Ukraine’s Jewish president, Vlodymyr Zelensky, and believes that the current tensions are overblown.

“There’s fuel in the fuel stations, food in the markets, toilet paper, and medicine in the stores,” Chazin says. “The only ones freaking out are people who are following the conflict from outside Ukraine.”

He says he thought Djan’s letter was intended to encourage tourists who have come to Uman as pilgrims to Nachman’s grave to head home. “We don’t want them becoming the community’s problem in case of complications. Very few of us are leaving,” Chazin says.

Instead, he says, the local community is planning around concerns that, in the case of a Russian invasion, “all the law enforcement will be rushed to the border and we’ll be left exposed to robbers or whoever.”

Chazin says local Jewish leaders were working with Uman authorities on a plan

to set up “some sort of armed guard, maybe with an AK-47 or two. We have some graduates of combat units of the Israel Defense Forces with us.”

In Kharkiv, an industrial city situated a mere 10 miles from the Russian border, the likelihood of an invasion is only now beginning to trickle down, according to Miriam Moskovitz, an emissary of the Chabad-Lubavitch movement who has lived in Kharkiv with her husband, Rabbi Moshe Moskovitz, since 1990.

“There’s been some general talk about how to prepare but now we’re really sitting down with plans about where people will go in times of danger, in terms of which buildings to put them in and what to do with the synagogue,” Moskovitz, a mother of 12 originally from Australia, says. “We’re not afraid but we’re definitely sensing the tension right now.”

As with other Jewish communities, the one in Kharkiv, where about 20,000 Jews live, is focusing on making sure the elderly population and other vulnerable groups remain safe if traveling local roads becomes dangerous, she adds.

As tensions rise, the Moskovitzs find comfort in the fact that even through the escalation, hundreds of worshipers come each day to the Kharkiv Choral Synagogue—a red-brick complex with a dome that resembles the condensed Jerusalem models of sculptor Frank Meisler.

“We do what we can, what we came here to do: We hold up Jewish life and make it happen no matter what,” she says.

As for Vaksman, he’s not eager to move to Israel, where he says he cannot afford to live. (It is not uncommon for Jewish Ukrainians who have moved to Israel to return because of the cost of living.) But he’s keeping the option open.

In addition to working to procure guns, he says, he has “prepared money, documents for the children and even the cats” to board a rescue flight if they need to.

NATIONAL

Jewish federations umbrella releases new document adding gun reform and LGBTQ advocacy back to policy priority list

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diversity and inclusion” that is preparing a curriculum for Jewish professionals on race, LGBTQ and other inclusion issues.

Broitman emphatically rejected any notion that hot button issues like gun violence, LGBTQ advocacy, and voting rights were removed to appease political conservatives. JFNA has faced accusations recently that it is seeking to avoid controversy and identification with causes that political conservatives have objected to— such as the Black Lives Matter movement.

There is a notable difference in how voting rights are addressed in the 2021 Public Priorities list, and how they are addressed in the new Working Public Policy Agenda. In 2021, as Republicans on the state and federal level intensified efforts to make voting access more

restrictive, the JFNA committed to “safeguarding voting rights and ending racial and religious profiling.”

This year, the federations are committed to supporting “bipartisan approaches to ensure voter access.” The inclusion of the word “bipartisan” is new. There is currently no substantial bipartisan agreement on voting access.

Ethan Felson, a longtime professional in the federations system who now leads the Jewish LGBTQ advocacy group A Wider Bridge, said in an unsolicited statement that he never doubted the JFNA’s commitment to LGBTQ equity.

“As the current leader of a group that works in the LGBTQ community, people should know that JFNA and the federation system is part of our family,” he said.

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WASHINGTON (JTA)—Less than a week after the Jewish Federations of North America removed hot button items such as addressing gun violence and defending LGBTQ rights from their annual priorities list, the umbrella group added them back into a subsequent and more detailed policy document.

The JFNA’s Working Public Policy Agenda, released Friday, Feb. 18, includes more than 100 words on gun violence prevention. It encourages Congress to double funding for research into the causes of gun violence and calls for increased funding for the enforcement of existing gun laws and background checks.

The document also includes substantial programming related to LGBTQ advocacy, including goals of rolling back faith-based discriminations in federal regulations and providing platforms for LGBTQ Jews.

The agenda additionally includes a sentence on pledging support for “bipartisan approaches to ensure voter access.”

All three issues—gun violence, LGBTQ rights, and voting rights—were missing from the group’s public priorities document, which it releases annually to its constituent organizations nationwide.

All three issues had appeared on that document in previous years.

A JTA story noting the omissions triggered queries from multiple constituents to the national body. The JFNA said on various social media platforms the JTA story was “misleading” but did not explain why.

A JFNA spokesman said the Jewish Federations Public Priorities document was substantially revised this year to be more “abridged and broad” and that the longer and more detailed Working Public Policy Agenda initially released was already in the works, due to be released the following week.

At 2,000 words, the Working Public Policy Agenda is four times as long as the Jewish Federations Public Priorities.

It’s not clear whether the JFNA has ever before released a more detailed document following up on its annual Public Priorities list.

In an interview earlier this month, Elana Broitman, the group’s senior vice president for public policy, said the broader public priorities list language this year was meant to make it more “nimble” for the state and federal level activists and lobbyists who use it as a guideline for advocacy.

Broitman and another official emphasized that the JFNA was dealing with equity issues through, among other means, JEDI, a program for “Jewish equity,

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JEWISH TIDEWATER

All Ohef Sholom Temple children can breathe the air (know the word) (eat of the tree) of Torah V’shinantam l’vanecha, “you shall teach your children, all your children” Harry Graber and Ohef Sholom Temple staff

T

his philosophy has guided Ohef Sholom Temple in providing a meaningful and appropriate Jewish education for all in its Religious School—creating a welcoming and inclusive environment in which all students, regardless of their needs, learn and succeed.

Generous grants from the Simon Family Foundation and the Dozoretz Family Fund will help ensure that all the school’s children receive the best Jewish education possible.

The world exists only because of the innocent breath of school children.

Talmud Shabbat

Dozoretz Family Fund Approximately five years ago, OST received start-up funding from United Jewish

Federation of Tidewater and subsequently from Tidewater Jewish Foundation to implement the collective vision of having every Jewish student, regardless of ability, receive access to quality Jewish education and the opportunity to participate meaningfully in Jewish life.

“We were incredibly excited to help provide high quality special education services, expertise, and support to enable students with diverse learning needs to succeed in Jewish educational settings and have that child and family feel like full participants of our community,” says Alvin Wall, OST congregant and UJFT and TJF past president. “It is what an empowering and inclusive Jewish community is supposed to do and what ours does.”

Educate a youngster according to their own way and needs. Then, even,

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when they grow old, they will not depart from it. Proverbs 22 To that end, over the last five years, OST has developed a Jewish Special & Individualized Education Program that integrates accredited and credentialed faculty and created individualized educational plans that have rivaled and served as a continuum for those developed in the child’s secular environment. It has already served 25 students with many in the program for multiple years. The overwhelming majority of these students (95%) spend most of the day integrated into the regular school routine.

A person who teaches a child is as if the person has created that child. Talmud Sanhedrin An incredible multi-year gift from the Dozoretz Family Fund will enable the school to sustain and build upon its achieved accomplishments. It lays the foundation for the school to increase its program outreach and capacity to educate 50% more students. It will provide more opportunities for specialized professional training and the purchase of adaptive educational equipment and material. It will generate the hiring of more staff for greater personalized, individual student attention.

Moreover, the grant will fund the establishment of a new OST program that will foster outreach to families of young pre-school age children who may require unique accommodations to attend events.

The early childhood intervention program called “Wiggles and Giggles” will be a mission, vision, and values extension of the OST Jewish Individualized Education Program.

Teachers and schoolchildren are society’s most beautiful jewels. Song of Songs Shari Dozoretz Friedman and Renee Dozoretz Strelitz say their motivation for giving is a way of honoring their late father, Ron Dozoretz’s legacy: “Our father’s life’s work was dedicated to the mental health and special needs community. We

We hope that it will be impactful in continuing to create a more inclusive Jewish environment are honored to support this important program at OST in memory of our father.

We hope that it will be impactful in continuing to create a more inclusive Jewish environment in Tidewater.”

Simon Family Foundation Kim Simon Fink explains the “why” of her family’s ongoing support of OST’s Religious School: “As former OST Religious School students, as parents sending our own off every Sunday, myself, a “Parsha Maven” who burst into classrooms K-10 presenting 5-minute weekly parsha sermons, and finally, as a Confirmand speech “finetuner”—my favorite annual gig to not only offer some tips about public speaking that our 10th grade students can take on their journeys forward, but most importantly, to get to know them and appreciate the learning, insights, skills, and camaraderie they graduate with at the end of

Local Relationships Matter

JEWISH TIDEWATER their OST schooling.

“Because Religious School isn’t an extension of the learning approaches they get during the week.

Because Religious School, from committee to staff and teachers endeavors to change things up.

Because Religious School breaks through traditional walls taking students out and about in their communities via myriad field trips that teach, introduce, and enforce community activism—our Jewish precept of Tikkun Olam.

Because for four generations and counting, we of the Simon Family Foundation know the blueprint of our Sunday Schooling at Ohef Sholom.

Because of this and so much more, we are grateful and appreciative of what Ohef Sholom offers to our own, as well as to our community beyond.

“With our Simon Family Foundation grant, it is our pleasure to be a part of this continuing process—the partnership in educating our students.

“We of the Simon Family Foundation know what happens after the last parent has dropped off and sped away,” says Fink.

“I’ve experienced, firsthand, the energy levels, the variety of creative educational

approaches that engage, the specialized attention to a variety of needs—both physical and emotional, the friendships… and the fun.”

Rabbi Rosalin Mandelberg says, “Teaching Judaism to our children is among the most important mitzvot in Torah. The generous gifts of the Simon Family Foundation and the Dozoretz Family Fund ensure that every single child in our school will receive an innovative, quality, and meaningful Jewish education regardless of their different abilities and/ or learning challenges. We cannot thank enough Kim Simon Fink, Britt Simon and Ben Simon, as well as Shari Dozoretz Friedman and Renee Dozoretz Strelitz for sharing their love of Judaism with future generations of our people. They have made the teaching of L’Dor Vador a reality.

For this, among many others, ‘We of Ohef Sholom are eternally grateful.’ ” Jewish families who do not think their children can get a Jewish education because of learning needs, should consider the Jewish Special & Individualized Jewish Education Program at Ohef Sholom. Call Ohef Sholom at 757‑625‑4295 and ask for Kitty Wolf, OST director of education.

MEET:

David Abraham

“We have to provide exceptionally good care of our residents and give back to the community. That’s one of the reasons we encourage our staff to participate in supporting organizations such as the Alzheimer’s Association. We have over 300 people on our staff who work, live and shop in our community. These people touch the lives of so many families and friends of our residents and they strive to make all these people feel a part of the Beth Sholom Village.”

“

Using Payday has been awesome. My CFO loves working with them. Before I arrived in 2008 we did our own payroll. Our system was so outdated we couldn’t do updates. Then we switched to Payday and everything became easy. There’s so much to know about payroll and there are constant changes such as Obamacare and employee classification that need expert knowledge.

I rely on Payday to know all that and to educate me on what I need to know. That alone is a tremendous value added we get from using them.

“

Our client relationships are anything but transactional.

We are long-term partners, dedicated to the success of our clients, and most importantly, their people.

Dear Rabbi Mandelberg, I am writing to let you know my family is moving to San Francisco in mid-November. So, we will no longer be able to continue as members of Ohef Sholom Temple.

Isaac’s last day of religious school will be Sunday, November 11, 2018. The decision is bittersweet, but as a family, we must seize a rare golden opportunity.

Thank you for all you have done for us and for the Special & Individualized Educational accommodations that gave Isaac the gift of feeling like he had a safe space at a time when none of his schools were providing one for him. His confidence has blossomed because of the program. Karen and I are heartsick that Isaac will not have his bar mitzvah at Ohef Sholom.

I never thought that I would find my way back to Judaism after my confirmation in 1994. I had become very jaded and then, disillusioned when I thought there was no Jewish home for Isaac. Five years ago, OST changed all that. It started with Rabbi Roz ‘s Rosh Hashana sermon—a service which I attended as a guest. That experience inspired me to return for Yom Kippur and the inspiratory phenomena continued.

When Karen and I found out about the Jewish Special & Individualized Education Program the deal was sealed You will all be dearly missed.

Sincerely, Abraham J. This letter is a composite of testimonies

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jewishnewsva.org | February 28, 2022 | JEWISH NEWS | 9

IT’S A WRAP BBG “Big Littles” becomes a “family” affair

The “Bigs” line up to meet their “families.”

Dave Flagler

B

BG (B’nai Brith Girls) held their “Big Little” reveal on Sunday, Feb. 6. “Big Little” is an opportunity for BBGs to create closer connections, form tighter bonds, connect to the happenings of the chapter,

and forge lifelong friendships.

After an overwhelming response by younger members wishing to be paired, the BBG chapter board members decided to create “families” as opposed to just “bigs” and “littles.” Hosted at the home of Ellery Wetzler, the reveal itself included costumes, signs, gift bags, and other ceremonial items to mark the occasion. More than 20 BBGs were welcomed into a part of a family. Everyone in attendance left with a new friend.

Tidewater comes together to learn through Paper Midrash Sierra Lautman

O

n a cold weekend in February, the Tidewater community found the opportunity for warmth and reflection with guest sermons, classes, and gallery talks with artist Isaac Brynjegard-Bialik and Rabbi Shawna Brynjegard-Bialik. This married couple combined Judaism, comic books, and art to inspire and teach all ages.

The couple’s virtual visit was a part of the Milton “Mickey” Kramer Scholarin-Residence Fund of the Congregation Beth El Foundation’s Tidewater Together Series. Services and events were open to all members of the community.

During two Shabbat services, Friday night with Ohef Sholom Temple, and Saturday morning with Congregation Beth El, the pair led visual sermons on Parshat Terumah.

On Saturday evening, Rabbi Michael Panitz, of Temple Israel, and Chazzan David Proser, of Kehillat Bet Hamidrash, led a Havdalah ceremony and introduced a virtual walk through of Isaac Brynjegard-Bialik’s exhibit in the Leon

Family Gallery, YOU DID WHAT TO MY COMICS?!?!

On Sunday morning, students from grades three through seven in Temple Emanuel’s religious school learned with the Brynjegard-Bialiks and created their very own “Paper Cut Torahs,” considering what makes a hero, and what heroes can be found in the Torah.

This summer, the dynamic duo will visit Tidewater live and in-person. They will join Camp JCC campers for interactive, hands-on learning, and will offer community workshops for all ages, providing participants with opportunities to create unique pieces of Jewish art.

The workshops will be presented by the Konikoff Center for Learning. No experience or “artistic ability” is necessary. All materials will be provided. Adults (and teens over 16) are welcome.

For more information and to stay up-to-date with the latest plans for Paper Midrash, visit JewishVA.org/ TidewaterTogether or contact Sierra Lautman, director of Jewish Innovation at SLautman@UJFT.org or 757-965-6107.

10 | JEWISH NEWS | February 28, 2022 | jewishnewsva.org

Virginia Jewish Advocacy Day 2022 Elka Mednick

D

uring the week of January 31, 45 members of the Tidewater Jewish community signed into Zoom meetings with members of the Virginia General Assembly Legislators and members of the Jewish community for Virginia Jewish in one of the Date With The State Zoom meetings.

Advocacy Day[s] 2022.

More than 300 delegates from across the Commonwealth came together on Wednesday, February 2 to hear from the new members of the executive branch, Governor Glenn Youngkin, Lieutenant Governor Winsome Earle-Sears and Attorney General Jason Miyares.

Even though the 2022 Date With The State did not include a trip to Richmond to meet with legislators, it was possible to meet with many members and their staff and send the same message of Jewish communal unity that takes place when meeting in-person.

Following are a few comments from attendees about Virginia Jewish Advocacy Day[s] 2022: Megan Zuckerman: Every year Date with the State gives us, members of the Tidewater Jewish community, an opportunity to meet and hear from our Governor, Lt. Governor, and Attorney General.

Despite being on a Zoom webinar, this year did not disappoint. It was especially important to hear from Virginia’s three highest government officials as newly elected public servants this year. We heard their agenda while they saw that more than 300 engaged Virginia Jewish constituents prioritized the hour with them that day and will continue to engage and hold them accountable to our Jewish community needs during their fouryear tenure.

Kirk Levy, JCRC Legislative chair: “We are thankful for the opportunity to connect directly with Virginia leadership. It is essential for a successful Jewish future to understand and appreciate the directives of our current government leaders. We thank Governor Youngkin, Lt Governor Earle-Sears, and Attorney General Miyares for their candid words and time spent with our community.”

Nofar Trem: As a first time attendee to Virginia’s Jewish Advocacy Day, I was excited to see the amount of policy makers that took the time to meet with us, discuss the issues that are concerning the Jewish community, and the amount of support shown. I feel like it is important for community members of all ages to be involved and do their part for the Jewish community to stay safe and thrive!

For more information about the Jewish Community Relations Council, visit JewishVA.org.

Elka Mednick is assistant director, Jewish Community Relations Council of the United Jewish Federation of Tidewater.

Leaving a Legacy in Jewish Tidewater

TIDEWATER JEWISH FOUNDATION

TJF Community Impact Grant helps new Jewish students at UVA adjust to college life Thomas Mills

T

ransitioning to college life as a firstyear student can be challenging. For undergraduates entering the University of Virginia over the past two years, that transition has, at times, been overwhelming.

In addition to figuring out what supplies to stock up on and how to find their dorm room, students had to cope with a global pandemic that shut down in-person classes, events, and traditional orientation programs. One might wonder, how are new students supposed to make valuable connections and friendships as they start their collegiate journey?

Enter the Brody Jewish Center’s Chutzpals Mentorship Experience, a student mentor-mentee program to help new Jewish UVA undergrads adjust to college life.

Fostering this type of innovative engagement, especially with young adults and students in college, will teach lifelong skills that they can take with them to integrate with any Jewish community as they launch their professional careers.

“The Chutzpals mentorship experience was designed in 2020 with the goal of connecting incoming Jewish students to older students who could serve as mentors throughout their first year of college,” says Annie Weinberg, Springboard

Innovation Fellow at the Brody Jewish Center.

The program is simple: first- and second-year students complete interest forms with information about themselves and what they seek in the mentoring experience. Brody Jewish Center staff then match these students based on Brody Jewish Center members gather for a academic interests, Chutzpals program on UVA’s campus. personal interests, hometowns, and more. Once matched, adults and students in college, will teach students are provided with opportunities lifelong skills that they can take with to meet one-on-one and in small and them to integrate with any Jewish comlarge group settings before the start of the munity as they launch their professional semester and throughout the year. careers.”

“Chutzpals has been a wonderful proSo far this year, the Chutzpals gram for me!” says Hannah Mikowski, Mentorship Experience has matched 40 a current mentor and former mentee of mentees and mentors. The program’s popthe program. “Having an older Chutzpal ularity, forged in the desire to build was a great way to help integrate me meaningful connections at college, can be into Jewish life in college. My younger traced to the fact that it started during the Chutzpals have allowed me to provide all pandemic. the knowledge that my mentor showed “We believe the popularity can be me. Hopefully, it will help them navigate attributed, in some part, to the desire through their first year.” first-year students had to connect meanTidewater Jewish Foundation’s ingfully with UVA and know a friendly Community Impact Grant of $3,750 face before coming to Grounds,” says helped the program run a variety of Weinberg. “Many of these students who functions, from one-on-one coffee dates were coming to UVA in August 2020 between mentors and mentees to an hadn’t even visited the campus before on-campus scavenger hunt. The grant also attending the university. The same could allowed the program to be flexible. be said for many of our students in “This grant has allowed us to respond August 2021, who didn’t have an in-perto student needs and embrace the iterason orientation.” tive process of trying new ideas out and With its success, Weinberg hopes seeing what works and what doesn’t,” says to keep the Chutzpals Mentorship Weinberg.

Experience growing for years to come.

“TJF is honored to provide ‘seed “Chutzpals is still adapting and growmoney’ for start-up costs of new or innoing,” says Weinberg. “We’re fine-tuning vative projects,” says Naomi Limor Sedek, the program’s processes and event and Tidewater Jewish Foundation president initiative planning aspects. We’re so and CEO. “Fostering this type of innovagrateful to TJF for supporting this crutive engagement, especially with young cial work.”

Helen and I believe in philanthropy. It’s a good feeling to be able to give to charitable organizations, and then observe the ripple effect when those organizations help the people they serve.

There’s no reason why someone shouldn’t consider what organizations they care about and arrange to help them even after they are gone – hopefully many of our Jewish organizations are on their lists.

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SIMON FAMILY JCC

Planning for Camp JCC Dave Flagler

C

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amp professionals often get asked: What do you do during the school year? Is planning camp a full year job?

What is going to happen this summer?

Which week will be Color War? When will Kona Ice be coming? Will field trips be happening? If so, to where? Is your job to have fun at camp all day?

The proverb, “it takes a village to raise a child” aptly applies to camp, and Camp JCC takes pride in being a part of the village for so many. Camp JCC has unseen, but dedicated villagers behind the scenes to ensure that the framework for a great summer is set.

Many tasks occupy the camp team during the school year to ensure that questions regarding a successful program are considered and answered. One part of the village, Camp JCC’s experienced

camp leadership team, collaborates throughout the school year preparing for a safe, fun, and enriching summer experience. Meetings take place, ideas are shared, feasibility is determined, contingencies are set, and a calendar of camp events takes shape.

A new special release of the Camp JCC calendar is slated for early March.

Fun Friday activities, weekly themes, dress up days, special events, field trips (for older campers), and a few other surprises are set to be revealed.

While the camp team may be observed having fun full time during the school year and the summer, this is only possible with the incredible collaboration between the team-members.

Camp JCC is ready to be a part of each family’s village during an unforgettable summer 2022.

Kate-Lynn Cipolla, Camp JCC unit head, crossreferences the calendar.

Nofar Trem, Camp JCC unit head and PJ Library coordinator, and Dave Flagler, Camp JCC director.

Dave Flagler is director of Camp JCC. He may be reached at dflagler@ujft.org.

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Mazel Tov 58th Annual VCIC Tidewater Humanitarian Awards Dinner to honor

Charlie Nusbaum

Thursday, March 24, 6 pm, Westin Virginia Beach Town Center Terri Denison

T

he fifth Nusbaum to receive the Virginia Center for Inclusive Community’s prestigious Humanitarian Award, Charles (Charlie) S. Nusbaum is a natural recipient. Previous Nusbaum winners include Justine, V. H. (Pooch), Robert (Bob) and William (Bill).

Adding to that impressive family line-up is Nusbaum’s late father-in-law, Charles Horton, MD. “So many of these people have been my mentors,” says Nusbaum. In fact, he says that people such as Horton told him “you do things for the community because you want to help, not to get an award.”

A quick glance at Nusbaum’s community involvement and it’s clear that he takes seriously his commitment to the community where his roots are long and established. “I try to help the community whenever I can,” he says.

“It all comes down to what I learned in Confirmation,” says Nusbaum. “’Do not separate thyself from the Jewish community, so our Sages said. It is the body which gives sustenance to each and every living soul.’ Yes, this was part of my Confirmation speech. Every few years I pull it out and read it again. These words keep me grounded and I try to help our community and world by trying to have everyone work together, laugh, smile, and enjoy what we have been given.”

Known for making people laugh, Nusbaum is also known for his myriad commitments to the community and belief in the benefit of a TEAM—Together Everyone Achieves More. “This is a slogan I try to approach and live with on a daily basis,” he says.

Nusbaum is the past president of Ohef Sholom Temple, Norfolk Yacht and Country Club, Norfolk Academy Alumni Association, Tidewater Red Cross Chapter, and Norfolk Crime Line. He currently serves as Tidewater Jewish Foundation’s vice chair, among many other board

positions throughout both the Jewish and wider communities.

“Through our work together, I have come to realize that Charlie is one of the most welcoming individuals I have ever met,” says Naomi Limor Sedek, Tidewater Jewish Foundation president and CEO. “Not only is he a passionate leader at TJF and in the community, he has opened both his home and his heart to everyone as if they were family. He has exemplified the values of the Virginia Center for Inclusive Communities by making Tidewater and the world a better place. I can not think of a more deserving individual for this award.”

Married to Nancy Horton Nusbaum, they have three children: Michael A. Nusbaum (Rachael), Amy C. Nusbaum

(Phillip DeLage), and Stephen Nusbaum.

Nusbaum has served as president of S.L. Nusbaum Insurance Agency, Inc. since 1980.

Charles (Charlie) This year’s VCIC S. Nusbaum.

Tidewater Humanitarian Awards Dinner will include an in-person reception and watch party with limited attendance, as well as a virtual presentation option.

United Jewish Federation of Tidewater is gathering reservations of those who would like to purchase a ticket for $175 to represent UJFT and TJF. To participate, contact Bobbie Wilcox at bwilcox@ujft.org.

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Mazel Tov

2022 Genesis Prize winner

Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla, son of Holocaust survivors, is working to preserve Jewish history Jacob Gurvis

(JTA)—From the halls of the United States Capitol to the streets of Europe, politicians and activists protesting against vaccine requirements have increasingly invoked the Holocaust.

Some are wearing yellow stars, while others are sharing Nazi-era medical documents and comparing themselves to Anne Frank. The comparisons often draw sharp rebukes from Jewish groups and Holocaust museums and educational organizations.

Dr. Albert Bourla is also troubled by this trend—and few people are more personally connected to the topic. Bourla is the son of two Holocaust survivors, and he is the CEO and chairman of American pharmaceutical giant Pfizer.

The Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine was the first to be authorized by the Food and Drug Administration, first for emergency use in December 2020 and then for full approval in August 2021. It’s also the vaccine that Israel has given to its citizens, some now for the fourth time.

Bourla’s family history—paired with his work—give him a unique perspective.

It’s personal.

“They are stupid people, those that make these comparisons,” Bourla says.

“It’s disgusting to say that a request to protect the health of others by wearing masks or protect the health of yours and others by getting vaccinated, can compare with if you are Jewish, gypsy or homosexual, you are sent in a concentration camp.

This is ridiculous to even make those accusations.”

Bourla understands those who are afraid of the vaccines—fear is human, he says. He suggests that a more comprehensive educational campaign is needed to address the spread of vaccine misinformation. But to compare public health guidelines to the Holocaust, he says, is an

insult to the victims.

Last month, Bourla was named the winner of the 2022 Genesis Prize, the “Jewish Nobel” that “honors extraordinary individuals for their outstanding professional achievement, contribution to humanity, and commitment to Jewish values.”

“It’s an incredible honor to me,” Bourla says. “I was really surprised when I saw my name nominated, particularly when I saw the list of people who either had received it or in this case were nominated together with me.”

The award includes a $1 million prize, which Bourla is dedicating to Holocaust memorial initiatives. Bourla is the ninth winner of the annual award given by the Genesis Prize Foundation; each winner has donated the money or had it distributed in their name. The prize money is awarded from an endowment created by a number of Russian-Jewish philanthropists.

Bourla received the most votes in a global digital campaign conducted by the foundation, during which 200,000 people in 71 countries voted, according to the award announcement. Bourla was then unanimously endorsed by the award’s selection committee. The award will be formally presented to him by Israeli President Isaac Herzog at a ceremony in Jerusalem in June.

“It’s a great, great honor, which I accept on behalf of everyone at Pfizer,” says Bourla.

In its announcement, the Foundation highlighted Bourla’s leadership, determination, and “his willingness to assume great risks.”

Reflecting on the past two years, Bourla says that taking risks was the only option in developing the vaccine.

“Everything, the world, the way we knew it, was collapsing,” he says.

“The only way that we would be able

16 | JEWISH NEWS | Mazel Tov | February 28, 2022 | jewishnewsva.org

to do something so challenging, so v isionar y, so unprecedented, was if you take a lot of risks.”

Chief among them, Bourla says, was selecting the mRNA technology that the Pfizer (and Moderna) vaccines utilize.

A then unproven © World Economic Forum/Sikarin Thanachaiary technology, Bourla Albert Bourla, Chief Operating Officer, Pfizer, says mRNA—using World Economic Forum in Davos, January 24, 2018. the information in genes to create a vaccine blueprint—was not the obvious parents both survived the Nazi occuchoice. But it worked. pation of Thessaloniki, each with a “That was a clear indication of willingremarkable story. ness to take risks,” Bourla adds.

Bourla’s father and uncle happened Bourla has worked for Pfizer since to be out of the ghetto on the day the 1993, when he was first recruited from Nazi forces surrounded it. When they Greece to join the company’s animal returned to the ghetto, they asked their health division. In the three decades father, Bourla’s grandfather, what was since, Bourla has lived in nine cities in happening. “Just disappear, go,” he told five different countries, working across them, Bourla recounts. That afternoon, departments at Pfizer and moving up the whole ghetto was marched to a train the ranks, finally ascending to CEO on station—on their way to Auschwitz.

Jan. 1, 2019—less than a year before a “Once the war was over they came potent new coronavirus was documented back, they found nothing,” Bourla says in China. about his father and brother. “They started As the leader of a global health building [their lives] from scratch.” company whose stated purpose is the Bourla’s mother has an even more dra“relentless pursuit of breakthroughs that matic story. change patients’ lives,” Bourla notes the First, much of her family was sent to overlap between his work and his Jewish Poland, where they would all be murdered values. He references the Talmudic teachby the Nazis. She stayed in Greece with ing that one who saves a life has saved an her sister and brother-in-law, spending entire world. most of the occupation in hiding. Toward “That’s a big essence of Jewish values, the end of the war, she was found out and and it is embedded into what Pfizer is arrested—but at that point, Bourla says, doing,” Bourla says. captured Jews were no longer being transBourla is a native of Thessaloniki, ported to camps, but rather executed.

Greece, formerly home to one of Europe’s Her brother-in-law, who was Christian, most vibrant Jewish communities. His bribed a Nazi commander to spare Bourla’s

Mazel Tov mother’s life—to keep her in prison, but not to execute her. Her sister would wait outside the prison each day to watch the prisoners being taken to execution. When she saw her sister being moved, her husband called the Nazi he had bribed and explained the mistake.

“My mother was lined up in front of a firing squad, and then a BMW arrived with German soldiers,” Bourla says. “They handed the head of the squad a paper, and then they removed my mother and someone else and the rest were executed.”

More than 50,000 Jews from Thessaloniki were murdered during the Holocaust. Bourla’s parents were among the few who survived.

With such a powerful communal and personal story, Bourla says he is committed to helping preserve the Jewish history of his hometown.

“In this city, there is nothing left to remind of the great history of Jews, because of the Holocaust,” he says.

That’s where the Genesis Prize comes in. Bourla is donating his $1 million prize toward Holocaust memory initiatives, primarily in Greece. He said it is “unacceptable” that there isn’t a Holocaust museum in Thessaloniki—and he is working to change that.

Throughout the pandemic, Bourla was faced with what seemed like insurmountable challenges. But he remembers his mother telling him time and again that nothing is impossible.

“Every time I had a challenge in my life and I would tell her, ‘I have this problem in school,’ I still remember her waving her finger in front of my face and telling me, ‘Don’t tell me this is impossible to do. I was in front of a firing squad and I survived.

Nothing is impossible,’” Bourla recalls. “I still remember her saying, ‘There is no ‘I cannot,’ there is only ‘I don’t want.’’”

Bourla says his parents’ stories played a critical role in shaping his Jewish identity.

“That created a very strong sense of belonging to me,” he says. “I had a very strong Jewish identity, and a sense that I want to work with others to make sure that those things never happen again, to us or to others.”

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WASHINGTON (JTA) — Julie Platt is a one-time banker who has become a leader in promoting Jewish education and helping to rescue Jewish camping from the ravages of the pandemic. Now, she’s about to make history as the second woman to chair one of the largest Jewish fundraising powerhouses in the United States, the Jewish Federations of North America.

She’s also musical star Ben Platt’s mom.

The JFNA on Tuesday, Feb. 15 said that Platt would assume the leadership of the umbrella body for Jewish federations, which in 2019 brought in $270 million.

The release noted that Platt has chaired the Los Angeles Jewish Federation and is currently the chairwoman of JFNA’s fundraising campaign and of its effort to enhance security protection at every federation.

She also chairs a foundation named for her and her husband, Hollywood producer Marc Platt, and has been involved in an array of Jewish educational initiatives. As

chair of the Foundation for Jewish Camp, Platt, the release says, was “instrumental” in saving the Jewish camp movement during the pandemic, when an entire summer session was canceled abruptly.

Her son, Ben, starred in the Pitch Perfect film series and debuted the eponymous role of Dear Evan Hansen. (His brother, Jonah, one of five siblings, recently joined the board of 70 Faces Media, the Jewish Telegraphic Agency’s parent company.) Ben Platt has thanked the Jewish camping movement for nurturing him.

Julie Platt referred to her family in the JFNA release. “One of the greatest lessons I have taught my five children is to take responsibility for their community, and I promise to carry out this mission every day in my new role with the Jewish Federations,” she said.

Platt will formally succeed the current chairman, Mark Wilf, this summer.

The only other woman to chair the body, Kathy Manning, is now a North Carolina congresswoman.

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New Jewish record label Borscht Beat announces first release

B

orscht Beat, a new Jewish record label founded by Aaron Bendich, will launch with a CD release of forshpil:tsvey, a Yiddish psychedelic rock fusion album.

Bendich, the label’s founder, hosts a weekly radio program of Jewish music on WJFF Radio Catskill. On the program, which is also called Borscht Beat, he shares gems from his sizable collection of Jewish records, CDs, and tapes.

With this new project, Bendich will bring even more Jewish music to the world.

forshpil:tsvey, the second album by LatvianGerman-American band Forshpil, is an exploration of Yiddish song through the lens of psychedelic rock. Through virtuosic musicianship on the part of the instrumental leader Ilya Shneyveys and the immense talent of vocalist Sasha Lurje, Forshpil seamlessly blends the oldworld shtetl song with new-world genre stylings.

The album was digitally released in 2020, but Borscht Beat will give it a proper physical run, including a 24-page full-color booklet with an

18 | JEWISH NEWS | Mazel Tov | February 28, 2022 | jewishnewsva.org

introductory essay by Michael Wex, the New York Times bestselling author of Born To Kvetch, photographs of the band, explanatory notes about each song, and lyrics in Yiddish (both Hebrew letters and transliteration) and English.

“I’m so excited to enable access to and preservation of new Jewish music. This first release is just the start,” says Bendich.

Preorders of forshpil:tsvey launched on Friday, Feb. 4, and the album will be released on March 1.Preorder at borschtbeat.bandcamp.com.

Mazel Tov

Local Jewish New American and WWII Veteran celebrates 100th birthday

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ocal Holocaust survivors, New Americans, Jewish Family Service Senior Acculturation Case Manager Alla Gean, and volunteers living at Granby and Suburban Houses gathered at the home of Semen Shilman to honor him and his family to celebrate Shilman’s 100th birthday on Friday, Feb 4. A Veteran of WWII, Shilman received a Certificate of Recognition, a bouquet of roses, and $100 in gift cards from JFS. Described as a strong and brave man, Shilman fought for freedom during WWII. At this gathering, Shilman shared his memories about how and when he started his military career in 1941 in the 14th Cavalry Division on the 2nd Ukrainian Front. Shilman fought an epic battle at Stalingrad. He was wounded five times in combat, yet after his recovery, continued to fight on the Eastern and Western Fronts. Shilman participated in the liberation of Poland and Czechoslovakia,

100

th

Birthd ay

Shilman’s loving friends and neighbors wished him good health, joy, and happiness; always to be with his family

and then finished his military service in Dresden, East Germany, with the rank of Lieutenant.

Shilman’s loving friends and neighbors wished him good health, joy, and happiness; always to be with his family— two sons, their wives, grandchildren, and great granddaughter.

Shilman’s son, Boris, wrote this thank you note to JFS: Thank you for the $100 JFS gift cards for my father’s 100-year birthday. My dad, I, and the whole family appreciate JFS help and the everyday care that provides high quality of life and feeling of close-knit community.

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Mazel Tov

THE TRADITION THE TRADITIONS CONTINUE CONTINUES

She loves Jewish literature. He loves her.

So he proposed in a Yiddish library.

Julia Gergely

At The Oceanfront (New York Jewish Week via JTA)—David October–April Frisch, 24, had the perfect plan to propose “Local’s Throughspecials” April 2019 to his girlfriend, Pammy Brenner, while Monday–Friday Daily Specials

the two were in New York visiting her family. He would get down on one knee Happy hour in the reading room at the Center for in the bar 5–7 pm Jewish History, where Brenner had been a research fellow at the YIVO Institute for ½ price select drinks and appetizers We are giving 10% of our totalJewish Research from 2018 to 2020.

He just needed to get her to go along sales to a different non profit with it. causeDine eachfor Monday a causethru April Though Brenner had spent hours upon hours in the center’s Lillian Goldman A local non-profit receives Reading Room, getting Brenner, 24, to 10% ofHour all sales Happy 5-9 P.M. the library wasn’t as easy as Frisch had expected. He enlisted the help of one of Brenner’s favorite undergraduate profesHour5–9 5-7p.m.

P.M. HalfHappy price wine sors at Barnard College, Agi Legutko, who teaches Yiddish literature.

Legutko was going to lure Brenner ½ Price Date Wine night 5-9P.M. to YIVO’s archives under the guise that In House 3 course dinnerOnly for 2 new materials had been discovered from Shomer (the pen name of Nahum Meïr and a bottle of wine 55.00 Schaikewitz), the obscure Yiddish writer 3 Course Dinner for 30.00 and bitter rival of Sholem Aleichem whom Brenner had been researching.

Parmigiana night 25.00 But Brenner already suspected she Eggplant, chicken or would be getting engaged that day, so she veal parmigiana, pasta, Dinner for 2 Including kept asking the professor to reschedule. As salad and a glass of banfi Appetizer, Salads, Entrees much as she loved her Yiddish research, she loved Frisch more, she told The New centine (super-tuscan) and a Bottle of Wine York Jewish Week, and she didn’t want to miss the date they had at Washington Square Park.

Two for one Free Focaccia “I was sending my professor emails Buy one entrée and saying ‘I’m 99% sure I’m on my way to get receive another of equal engaged. Can we please meet up literally Early Bird Specials or lesser value free. any other day?’” she says. “And she was 5-6:30 First come, firstP.M. serve. forwarding them to David, saying ‘Things are not going to plan.’”

All special are in house only Eventually, Brenner’s sister just put On and off premises catering her in an Uber. When Brenner realized Buy one Entrée and she was headed for the Center for Jewish Live entertainment History on West 16th Street—where the Receive Another of 910 Atlantic Avenue Equal or Lesser Value Free YIVO archives are housed—instead of Virginia Beach, VA 23451 Washington Square Park, Brenner figured ilgiardino.com Frisch was rearranging the plan so she could check out the documents, and then

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he would propose later in the day.

When she arrived at the archives, Brenner was told that there was a book waiting for her.

“At first I thought it was the manuscript that I had come there for—but it was actually a scrapbook of the whole history of our relationship,” she says. It was filled with photographs and mementos from their one-year courtship, including their first Hanukkah together, as well as their first trip to London.

And there was Frisch, waiting in the reading room with an engagement ring, along with their families. He had convinced the Center for Jewish History to open for the day so they could get engaged.

Frisch’s proposal also had a Yiddish flair.

“I could not do the whole thing in Yiddish,” he says, “but I learned a couple words I needed to say.” One of Brenner’s goals in her research is to introduce (or reintroduce) Yiddish culture and language to more people, so Frisch wanted to acknowledge that in his proposal to Brenner.

“Yiddish is something that’s been both so important for Jewish history and also within my own family, knowing that my grandparents spoke Yiddish, and that I went to the Yiddish theater as a child and worked as a research fellow at the center,” Brenner says. “I have very fond memories of Yiddish and fond memories of being there.

“I care about the future of Yiddish,” she adds. “I care about Yiddish literature and Yiddish cooking and dancing and all of that. So YIVO and Yiddish institutions in general are a very big part of my life.”

That’s exactly why Frisch decided to propose at YIVO, he says. “I’m not originally from New York, but it’s really important to us that we get engaged in a place that has so many friends and family and a place that would be meaningful for Pammy,” he says.

“We both grew up Jewish and want to have Jewish families, so I love the idea of

positioning our relationship in all of this context, community, and tradition.”

Brenner grew up on the Upper West Side and graduated from Maayanot Yeshiva High School for Girls, an Orthodox school in New Jersey, before studying in Israel and at Barnard. Frisch, who is from Pittsburgh, graduated in 2020 from Duke University.

The couple met last year while pursuing graduate degrees at the University of Oxford in England. Brenner completed a master’s degree in Yiddish studies there last year, then stayed in Oxford with Frisch while he completed the last semester of his own master’s degree, in political theory.

The two are hoping to make their way back to New York when Frisch completes his studies. He plans to pursue a law degree, while Brenner intends to apply for PhD programs in Yiddish.

Doctoral students in Yiddish often spend time at YIVO, one of five archives housed in the Center for Jewish History— the others are the American Jewish Historical Society, the American Sephardi Federation, the Leo Baeck Institute New York and the Yeshiva University Museum.

YIVO’s archives, per its web site, focuses on Jewish life and history in Europe; Yiddish language, literature, and folklore; the Holocaust; and the American Jewish immigrant experience.

Jonathan Brent, YIVO’s CEO and executive director, says he was “delighted” by the news that Brenner, who was an Irene Kronhill Pletka YIVO Research Fellow as an undergraduate, had gotten engaged in the building.

“David’s proposal at YIVO shows that YIVO is not just a place for researching the past but a vibrant institution for the next generation, a place for connecting, for discovery and for new life,” Brent says.

“Mazal tov!”

As for the scrapbook, Frisch left many extra blank pages at the end.

“Hopefully, we will keep adding to it and have it as our own little piece of Jewish history,” Brenner says.

B’TAYAVON

Equivalent to French’s Bon Appetit, B’Tayavon in Jewish News is where locals share favorite recipes.

PINKS AND GREENS

This issue features one of Deb Segaloff’s favorite cookies.

Pink and Greens Deb Segaloff

DOUGH

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ood, recipes, ingredients, and smells provide sensory connections to the past by evoking meaningful memories. My grandma, Lottie Mantinband Bernstein, was a terrific cook. While she was once a staple in the Beth El kitchen, I best remember her kitchen on Gates Avenue. My family went there nearly every Friday night for Shabbat dinner.

She had her specialties that are still treasures. One of my favorites is what we call “Pink and Greens.” They are a delicious cookie that is best described as an iced rugulach. My family loved these, and I always felt proud to bring them places knowing they were (to me) a Jewish cookie. In the 1980s pink and green were the colors so I brought “preppie” cookies, and when my friends starting having babies, I changed them to “pink and blues” for shower cookies. Plus, I made them for my kids with team colors and other special requests over the years.

They are a little easier than traditional rugulach as you roll the dough into stuffed logs and slice the cookies rather than handroll each crescent. The icing is with almond extract and is delicious!

8 ounces cream cheese, room temperature 2 sticks butter, unsalted sweet cream, room temperature 2½ cups all-purpose unbleached flour Pinch of salt

FILLING Cinnamon sugar White raisins, cut in small pieces Cut up maraschino cherries Ground nuts such as pecans or walnuts

As delicious as these cookies are, the memories of making them with my grandma and eating them with my Pop-Pop, father, and family leave a forever sweetness.

From Deb Segaloff’s grandmother’s kitchen and various restaurant kitchens, to Joan Nathan’s test kitchen working on The Flavors of Israel Today, cooking has been a passion and art that she enjoys.

Photos courtsey of Deb Segloff.

Cream butter and cream cheese.

Add flour and salt. Refrigerate at least an hour or overnight. Roll out to a rectangle. Sprinkle with filling ingredients. Roll up like a jellyroll into a log. Cut into small (3 ⁄4 inch) pieces. Bake on cookie sheet lined with parchment paper for around 20–25 minutes at 350 degrees.

ICING ¼ cup (¼ stick) butter 1 cup confectioner’s sugar 1 teaspoon almond extract 1 teaspoon boiling water Food color as desired Beat ingredients into a smooth icing.

Divide into bowls and add colors.

Ice cookies once they have cooled.

jewishnewsva.org | February 28, 2022 | JEWISH NEWS | 21

WHO KNEW?

WHAT’S HAPPENING

Marvelous Mrs. Maisel star Caroline Aaron made a career out of playing East Coast Jews.

But she’s proud of her Southern roots.

Stephen Silver

(JTA)—When she was cast as Midge Maisel’s mother-in-law in The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, veteran actress Caroline Aaron had no idea that a series about a very particular slice of mid-20th century Jewish life would strike a chord around the world.

But its popularity has gone far beyond Jews and the Jewish-adjacent. Much like Fiddler on the Roof, the show has found an audience even in countries where Jewish culture is all but nonexistent.

The fourth season of Mrs. Maisel began airing this month after a nearly three-year hiatus.

In a career spanning 40 years, Aaron has appeared in multiple films from major Jewish directors such as Mike Nichols (Heartburn, Working Girl, Primary Colors and What Planet Are You From?), Nora Ephron (Sleepless in Seattle and Lucky Numbers) and Woody Allen (Crimes and Misdemeanors, Alice and Deconstructing Harry). On television, Aaron has appeared on Curb Your Enthusiasm and Transparent, and since 2017 has been portraying Shirley Maisel. Along with the rest of the Maisel cast, Aaron won the Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Ensemble in a Comedy Series, in both 2018 and 2019.

She has also done notably Jewishoriented work in the theater. She starred in a one-woman, two-character play about a Holocaust survivor called Call Waiting, later starring in the movie version as well.

In 2016, she appeared in Stories from the Fringe, a play assembled from the voices of more than a dozen woman rabbis and presented at The Braid, then known as the Jewish Women’s Theatre.

Aaron defends the casting of Mrs. Maisel, which includes Rachel Brosnahan as Midge Maisel, Tony Shalhoub and Marin Hinkle as her parents, and Luke Kirby as the legendary Jewish comedian Lenny Bruce. None of them are Jewish.

“I’m very concerned that we are confining the art of acting to ‘you have to be it to play it,’” Aaron says. “I think that acting in its purest form is taking a walk in someone

else’s shoes. And ultimately, isn’t that the definition of empathy?”

When people ask Aaron if Brosnahan is Jewish, Aaron’s retort is that “if you’re asking, then she’s doing her job and she’s doing it well.” She added it goes the other way, too.

“I don’t want to be confined to only playing Jewish women,” Aaron says. “I want to play all kinds of women.”

She also praises the show’s writing, and was clear that while the scenes of Jewish characters “living at the top of their lungs” often appear improvised, the show is scripted “down to the comma.” She contrasted that with her turn early in the run of Curb Your Enthusiasm, in which “not a word is written down.”

Aaron has been playing Jewish characters from New York throughout her career, but she actually comes from Richmond, Virginia, and her Southern Jewish heritage is very important to her. “I didn’t even know, when I was growing up, of [the stereotype of the] New York Jewish mother, or a Jewish girl. I had no idea of where that was coming from, because it wasn’t around me.”

Born Caroline Abady, she took her father’s first name as her last name because her older sister, Josephine Abady, was already a well-known theater director and Aaron wanted to stand apart. After doing so, Aaron says, she went to see her agent, who told her “now everyone’s gonna know you’re Jewish.”

Aaron’s mother Nina Friedman Abady, born in Georgia and raised in Alabama, was widowed at a relatively young age. She later became a professor at an historically Black college and a civil rights activist. The Nina F. Abady Festival Park in Richmond is named for her.

Her mother’s example inspired Aaron to write The Mother Lode, which was performed last month as part of “Sweet Tea and the Southern Jew,” a Braid production featuring stories of Southern Jews.

“I did have something special with my mother,” Aaron says. “And I still cherish it to this day.”

22 | JEWISH NEWS | February 28, 2022 | jewishnewsva.org

A visual feast! Jewish Art Education provides interactive, lively, entertaining, and educational experiences over lunch Wednesdays, March 9, March 30, and April 6; Mondays, May 16 and May 23, 12:00 pm Sierra Lautman

T

hanks to a very generous anonymous donor, the Konikoff Center of Learning is offering free Jewish Art Education classes to the Tidewater community this Spring.

JAE is dedicated to educating the wider world on the contributions of the Jewish visual arts to Jewish civilization, by exploring innovative uses of media.

Tidewater’s instructor, Nancy Kotz, is an art historian and nonprofit professional.

She began her career in arts and public policy before transitioning to the museum world where she held positions in museum education and museum retail. Since 2015, she has been presenting programs to audiences across Maryland, the District of Columbia, and Northern Virginia for Jewish Art Education.

JAE’s one-hour long presentations include visual arts related to Jewish holidays, programs on individual artists, and thematically focused presentations. Lunch is included for in-person attendees. Preregistration is required for both online and in-person tickets, at JewishVA.org/ JAE. Contact Sierra Lautman, director of Jewish Innovation, at 757-965-6107 or SLautman@UJFT.org with questions.

The Art of Modigliani Wednesday, March 9, 12:00 pm An exploration of the remarkable life and artworks of this Italian-Sephardic Jewish artist. His brief life left a legacy of intellectual bravado, brilliant art, and a mysterious death. A melodramatic and romantic legend has grown up about him, yet his art endures as pure genius.

Jewish Women Artists Wednesday, March 30, 12:00 pm This survey of 19th and 20th century Jewish female creativity examines the various art

forms created by female painters, sculptors, printmakers, and photographers. Their art reflects their unique life experiences and displays concern for aesthetic issues, social equality, and culture during the times in which they lived.

The Art of Passover Wednesday, April 6, 12:00 pm The Passover holiday is based on the story of the Exodus of the Jews from Egypt. The name, Passover, comes from the ‘Passing over’ of the homes of the Jews during the 10th plague, the death of the first born.

The Art of Passover tells the story of this holiday using art objects as visual resources for learning and understanding.

The Art of Tikkun Olam/ Fixing the World Monday, May 16, 12:00 pm This program identifies the citation from Pirke Avot/Ethics of the Fathers that determines the role of Tikkun Olam /Fixing the World in the Jewish world and surveys the many customs developed to observe it.

Through sculpture, prints, paintings, photographs, and objects of many different media, Jews are charged to give charity as the right thing to do in different times and places.

The Art of Marc Chagall: The Early Years Monday, May 23, 12:00 pm This is a survey of the life and art of this quintessential Jewish artist. From paintings to prints to stained glass and tapestries, Chagall created an amazing world of fantasy and reality. See why the painting, I and the Village, was so important to him and to the world. The Art of Marc Chagall is an overview from East European village (shtetl) to world-renowned artist.

WHAT’S HAPPENING ISRAEL TODAY

Roie Galitz: Renowned photographer travels to the ends of the earth Tuesday, March 1, 7:30 pm Reba and Sam Sandler Family Campus and online Free Registration Required: JewishVA.org/IsraelToday

Roie Galitz.

SIMON FAMILY PASSPORT TO ISRAEL

Elka Mednick

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

P

hotography has allowed Roie Galitz to travel to the coldest climates on the planet where he has witnessed the starkest effects of global climate change. “This is what has brought me into environmental diplomacy,” he says.

Prior to his travels as a wildlife photographer, changes in climate felt foreign to Galitz. Now, however, he is committed to sharing his knowledge and turning that knowledge into action and educating as many people as possible. What’s more, Galitz believes his style of humanizing the animals he encounters—from lions to seals—helps create interest in protecting species of all types. After all, isn’t the panda the best funded animal around?

On Tuesday, March 1, either at the Sandler Family Campus or online, “travel” with Roie Galitz to his favorite edges of the planet as he captures photographs of endangered animals in their natural habitats and raises awareness of the threats they encounter. This promises to be an Inspiring and practical “journey” to the extreme four corners of the world for nature lovers,

Roie Galitz Wildlife Photographer

Puffin.

adventurers, and dreamers of all ages. And, it’s just in time for World Wildlife Day. Galitz visits Tidewater as part of the 11th Annual Israel Today Forum presented by the Jewish Community Relations Council of the United Jewish Federation of Tidewater, Simon Family JCC, Embassy of Israel, and Community Partners.

Enjoy a sampling of Galitz’s large body of extreme work in the Leon Family Gallery at the Sandler Family Campus beginning March 1.

Elka Mednick is assistant director, Jewish Community Relations Council of the United Jewish Federation of Tidewater. She may be reached at emednick@ujft.org or 757-965-6112.

Apply at bit.ly/tjf-simonfamilypassport through March 15 The Tidewater Jewish Foundation can help fund the trip through the Simon Family Passport to Israel Fund!

• Grants are available for students age 13 to 22, traveling to Israel on an organized and staffed peer trip.

• Incentive grants awards are up to 30% eligible expenses (maximum of $6,000 per student).

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

jewishnewsva.org | February 28, 2022 | JEWISH NEWS | 23

WHAT’S HAPPENING A new kind of Mah Jongg fundraiser Janet Gordon Annual Mah Jongg Tournament Sunday, April 3 Amy Weinstein

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he COVID-19 pandemic has changed the way nearly everything takes place at Beth Sholom Village—from food service to family visits, religious services, and even fundraising.

BSV has hosted the Janet Gordon Annual Mah Jongg Tournament, Day of Play & Luncheon for more than a decade.

An event that has grown and evolved and always brought in dozens of Mah Jongg enthusiasts and Beth Sholom Village sup-

porters, it was a wonderful day to engage in friendly competition, take a peek in the Auxiliary Gift Shop, and enjoy a mimosa or two, all while supporting BSV residents and its community.

In early 2020, BSV made the difficult decision to close its doors to visitors, indefinitely postponing plans for all events on its campus, including the Mah Jongg fundraiser. Instead, BSV hosted a fun virtual raffle on Facebook, which received tremendous support, even without an in-person event. The steadfast support of the tournament’s leading sponsor, Daniel Gordon and the Gordon Family, remained strong.

Hopes that 2021 would present an opportunity to get back to “normal”—to have the typical pre-pandemic gathering were dashed when, out of an abundance of caution, the tournament was postponed

again until the spring of 2022.

And so, BSV plans to bring back the Janet Gordon Annual Mah Jongg event in April, with 100% of its proceeds directly benefitting BSV’s residents. As so many things have changed in the last two years, so must the way Mah Jongg is played and funds for BSV are raised.

The Janet Gordon Annual Mah Jongg event will be held at the Hyatt Place Virginia Beach Town Center, and all attendees at the event must be fully vaccinated against COVID-19. Additionally, this year’s event will only feature a Day of Play and Luncheon, rather than the traditional Mah Jongg To u r n a m e n t .

A Mah Jongg tournament requires players to move from table to table, increasing the number of people touching the same tiles and increasing the number of contacts; instead, Mah Jongg group cohorts will be maintained, playing for fun and celebrating being together again. Rest assured—special prizes will be awarded throughout the event, and the famous raffles will take place.

Rachel Abraham, event co-chair, says, “I can’t wait to be back in-person for our annual Mah Jongg fundraiser, and even though it won’t be held at Beth Sholom Village, the residents who benefit from this event are in our thoughts and hearts now more than ever before. I feel lucky that we can still enjoy this event and give back to those BSV residents and caregivers who have felt the daily burden of COVID19 over the last two years.”

Visit www.bethsholomvillage.com/donate to register or become a sponsor.

24 | JEWISH NEWS | February 28, 2022 | jewishnewsva.org

Calling all bakers: Operation Hamantaschen Sunday, March 13, 1–4 pm Sandler Family Campus, Free Nofar Trem

T

he delicious aroma of fresh baked goods is back this Purim season with the return of Operation Hamantaschen.

Filled with assorted fruit jams or other sweet confections, these tasty triangular shaped cookies, otherwise known as Hamantaschen, are traditionally served during Purim.

This family baking event will generate boxes of cookies to take home to share with neighbors or distribute to local U.S. troops.

With three sign-up times and meticulously organized stations for rolling and cutting, filling and folding, and egg brushing, the event makes it possible and safe for everyone to partake in the baking process.

Children and teens can come for the baking and stay for Sunday Fun Day activities, which include crafts, games, sports, and more.

To learn more about PJ Library in Tidewater and to register for upcoming events, visit JewishVA.org/PJLibrary or contact Nofar Trem, PJ Library program coordinator, at ntrem@ujft.org.

Yom Ha’Atzmaut— Community Israel Festival Sunday, May 1, 12–4 pm, Sandler Family Campus

A

community celebration of Israel presented by Avraham and Karen Ashkenazi, this year’s Ha’Amatzmaut will mark the Jewish nation’s 74 birthday. Fun for the entire family, the event is open to friends of all faiths.

To get involved or volunteer for this always fun community-wide celebration, contact Nofar Trem, United Jewish Federation of Tidewater’s youth and family program coordinator at ntrem@ujft.org.

CALENDAR FEBRUARY 28, MONDAY

The Virginia Festival of Jewish Film presents Hester Street, a new 4K restoration in honor of the film’s 40th anniversary. This evening is dedicated to longtime friend of the festival, Mal Vincent and includes a conversation with Rabbi Michael Panitz. Naro Expanded Cinema. Hester Street tells the story of one woman’s journey towards assimilation, reconstructing the bygone haven for Jewish immigrants at the crossroads of tradition and modernity. 7 pm. For more information or for tickets visit JewishVA.org/FilmFest or contact Hunter Thomas at HThomas@UJFT. org or 757-965-6137.

MARCH 1, TUESDAY

Society of Professionals (SOP) exclusive event with Roie Galitz, world-renowned wildlife photographer and motivational speaker. Galitz will speak on Achieving the Unachievable, The Power of Networking. Free with RSVP requested. 6:00–7:15 pm. Cocktails and snacks. For more information on this or any of the upcoming SOP exclusive events or to RSVP, contact Ronnie Jacobs Cohen at rcohen@ujft.org or 757-321-2341.

The Jewish Community Relations Council of the United Jewish Federation of Tidewater, Simon Family JCC, & Community Partners’ 11th Annual Israel Today series presents: The Four Corners of the World: A Celebration of World Wildlife Day with Roie Galitz. Take a (virtual) trip around the globe with world renowned wildlife photographer, environmental diplomat, entrepreneur, and explorer, Roie Galitz without ever leaving Tidewater. 7:30 pm. Free with pre-registration required. For more information, or to register, visit JewishVa.org/israeltoday or contact Elka Mednick at emednick@ujft.org or 757-965-6112. See page 23.

MARCH 3, THURSDAY

How Magicians Think. There’s a saying: the door to magic is closed, but it’s not locked.

Professional magician and bestselling author How Magicians Think, Joshua Jay, will be at the Simon Family JCC to open the door, revealing the artistry, history, and fascinating traditions of a subject long shrouded in mystery. 7:30 pm. Free. Presented by the Lee and Bernard Jaffe Family Jewish Book Festival. For more information or to register, visit JewishVA.org/BookFest or contact Hunter Thomas at HThomas@UJFT.org

MARCH 9, WEDNESDAY

The Art of Modigliani. The Konikoff Center for Learning, in partnership with Jewish Art Education presents this program which explores the remarkable life and artworks of Modigliani, an Italian-Sephardic Jewish artist whose brief life left a legacy of intellectual bravado, brilliant art, and a mysterious death. Free and open to the community, includes lunch. 12 pm. Offered both online and in-person at Sandler Family Campus. Pre-registration required. For more information or to register, contact Sierra Lautman at SLautman@Ujft.org or 757-965-6107.

MARCH 13, SUNDAY

Operation Hamantaschen & Sunday Fun Day. Join PJ Library in Tidewater and Camp JCC for a fun afternoon at the Sandler Family Campus featuring Purim tunes, games, and activities, which includes Operation Hamantaschen. Make hamantaschen with friends and family, some to take home, and some to share with Jewish military families. 1 pm. To register for Sunday Fun Day and to reserve a time for Operation Hamantaschen, go to JewishVA.org/PJLibrary or contact Nofar Trem at NTrem@UJFT.org or 757-321-2334.

MARCH 19, SATURDAY

Kids Night Out. Children aged 4–12 with family memberships are welcome to join the fun at the Simon Family JCC for a night of swimming, gym games, snacks, and a movie. 6 pm. $20 per child, $15 for each additional sibling (max $50/family). Register by visiting or calling the Simon Family JCC front desk at 757-321-2338. For questions, contact Sarah Cooper at scooper@ujft.org.

MARCH 30, WEDNESDAY

Jewish Women Artists. The Konikoff Center for Learning, in partnership with Jewish Art Education presents this program which examines the various art forms created by female painters, sculptors, printmakers, and photographers. Their art reflects their unique life experiences and reflects the culture and times in which they lived. Free and open to the community. Includes lunch. 12 pm. Offered online and in-person at the Sandler Family Campus Pre-registration required. For more information or to register, contact Sierra Lautman at SLautman@Ujft.org or 757-965-6107.

Send submissions for calendar to news@ujft.org. Be sure to note “calendar” in the subject.

Include date, event name, sponsor, address, time, cost and phone.

Jewish News Digital Version See the paper 3 days before the cover date: JewishNewsVa.org/digital.

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26 | JEWISH NEWS | February 28, 2022 | jewishnewsva.org

JEWISH TIDEWATER

Simon Family JCC gears up for JCC Maccabi Games in San Diego July 31–August 5 • Deadline to register March 2 Brian Berusch

Jewish News staff

A

T

his year’s JCC Maccabi Games are slated to take place in San Diego, Calif., which means the Simon Family JCC is busy recruiting athletes to join its eight-member delegation.

For athletes who have traveled with and competed for the Simon Family JCC’s delegation in recent years, two common themes emerge: the unforgettable experiences and the life-long connections made through the Games.

This opportunity is now open to Tidewater teen athletes who would like to travel to California this summer and compete in a variety of sports, including swimming, diving, basketball, tennis, lacrosse, and E-Sports/Gaming.

Tal Zach, a senior at Norfolk Academy who was recently accepted to William & Mary, is a seasoned traveler. Her parents are from Israel and they “go often,” she says. Still, the experience of traveling with the Virginia Beach delegation and JCC team was unparalleled.

“I went two years in a row—to California and Detroit—as a 9th and 10th grader, to compete as a swimmer,” Tal shares. “I keep in touch with so many of the people I met at both Games, the host families, as well as other athletes.”

The first year Tal participated, she stayed with a host family (all athletes stay with families at the hosting destination) that also housed athletes from New York, who are still her friends. Tal’s second year, she became close with the host family’s daughter, who was a competitive volleyball player.

Tal earned bronze and silver medals for 50m freestyle and 100m breaststroke.

The second year she participated in The Games, her younger brother Tamir, played soccer for the delegation.

“I’ve made great Jewish friends from Canada, Greater Washington, and other places, too. The experience really expanded my horizons,” Tal says. “The

Yoga creates an inner sanctuary and enhances any exercise regime

Simon Family JCC’s Maccabi team in 2019.

Games are competitive sport by day, but at night, it’s very social. They set up an event for us every night. The local JCC hosted a carnival one night that had DJs, robots on stilts, and ball pits, and another night there was a pool party. It was super fun.”

On her one free night, the host family took Tal rock climbing, to an arcade, and to their favorite restaurant for dinner. Tal still keeps in touch with their daughter, and plans to visit during college.

A freshman at Belmont Abbey College, Matt Gross has fond memories of competing in lacrosse and basketball at the California JCC Maccabi Games.

“My host family in Orange County was super cool,” Matt says. “They took us to so many places, made sure we saw all the highlights of the area. Restaurants, an amusement park, the beach… It was so fun.”

For Matt, the connections he made during the Games continue.

“While I was recently visiting a friend at another college, I ran into a buddy of mine from the Games! It is so awesome to have a network of people all over the country that I know from Maccabi. To have that shared experience, and see them in different places – it really was the experience of a lifetime!”

To learn more about joining Simon Family JCC’s team to travel to the Games, contact Tom Edwards, JCC athletics director, at TEdwards@UJFT.org or call 797-965-2308.

fter experiencing a massive ischemic stroke more than 12 years ago, the medical community put limitations on how far Rachel Jarmusz could progress in her recovery. She was not satisfied with subscribing to this belief. “I began to search outside the western world for more healing,” she says.

“I came into yoga without any experience, very nervously. I was able to find comfort and reconnect to my body in new ways. I had to establish a technique of yoga that worked with my paralyzed body,” Jarmusz recalls. “After years of practice and significant improvement within my own body I decided to get my certification to share all I had learned with other people unfamiliar or new to yoga.”

People often wonder what yoga is and Jarmusz says she tells them, “Yoga is literally you! It is a way to connect to yourself in a deeper way…a nice addition to any current exercise regime or belief system.”

Yoga, Jarmusz says, is a way to “create a sort of inner sanctuary in a world that is often unbearable.” With a combination of breath based, meditative movement, and stretching, the benefits are endless.

Without having to get down on the floor, chair yoga offers all the same benefits of a full yoga class without the strain on joints.

Jarmusz teaches at the Simon Family JCC. Check the weekly schedule to learn about class availability. Classes are free for members.

RESERVE NOW! Women & Mothers Day April 25 issue To advertise, call 757-965-6100 or email news@ujft.org

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OBITUARIES STEVEN RICHARD BRODIE Baltimore, Md.—Steven Richard Brodie, of Baltimore, Md., passed away on Sunday, February 20, 2022 at the age of 61.

He is survived by his former wife, Marcia Brodie (nee Futterman); his daughter, Jemma Jin Brodie; siblings, Ellen (Rick) Sanders, Howard (Bill Martin) Brodie, and Dr. Jeffrey (Jodi) Brodie; and his nieces and nephews, Michael (Raluca) Sanders, Rachel Sanders Thomas (Jared Thomas), Maia Sanders (Eric Jones), Jordan Brodie, and Jayme Brodie. He was predeceased by his parents, Jackee Brodie (nee Cohen) and David Don Brodie.

Steve was one of a kind. Charming, creative, told a great joke, and could sell anything to anyone. Steve adored his daughter, and was so proud of everything she did, and valued his connections with family and friends.

Services were at Sol Levinson’s Chapel in Pikesville, Md.. Interment Arlington Chizuk Amuno Cemetery. Contributions in his memory may be sent to The

Michael J. Fox Foundation, c/o Donation Processing, PO Box 5014, Hagerstown, MD 21741 or the charity of your choice.

DR. HARRY MANCOLL CRANSTON, R.I.—Dr. Harry Mancoll, 87, of Cranston, R.I. passed away on Thursday, February 17, 2022 at Briarcliffe Gardens.

He was the beloved husband of Terrie (Simone) Mancoll for 32 years.

Born in Hartford, Conn., a son of the late Morris and Edith (Mellamed) Mancoll, he had lived in Cranston since 2016, previously living in Narragansett.

He was an optometrist for 50 years in Hartford, Conn.

Harry was a member of Temple Beth-El, Providence. For the last five years of his career, he volunteered for Helen Keller Child Sight.

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Dr. John Mancoll and his wife, Joanna, Susan Albert and her husband, Brett, and Matthew Mancoll and his wife, Robin, all of Virginia Beach, Va. Dear brother of Tovia Ann Siegel of Providence, Isadora Safner of Brewster, Mass., and his twin, Dr. William Mancoll of West Hartford, Conn. Loving grandfather of Ollie and Abe Feldman; Caroline, Emily, and Ben Casey; Alex and Ryan Mancoll; Joe, Maggie and Mark Albert;and Hannah and Molly Mancoll.

Funeral services and Shiva were private.

Contributions in his memory may be made to the Alzheimer’s Association or Dana-Farber Jimmy Fund.

HAROLD POLLACK NORFOLK—Harold Pollack, 80, passed away on February 9, 2022 in Norfolk, Va. He was born in New York City, N.Y. to Louise and Ruth Pollack.

He served his country in the United States Army. He worked in paper sales for 40 years. He was a member of Temple Israel in Norfolk.

Harold is predeceased by his parents; his wife of 39 years, Carolyn Pollack.

He is survived by his children, Jerry Pollack and Michelle (Michael) Rivers; grandchildren, Logan Rivers and Alex “Arod” Rivers; brother, Marc Pollack; and nephew, Michael Pollack.

A graveside service officiated by Cantor Elihu Flax was conducted at Forest Lawn Cemetery in Norfolk.

Memorial donations to the Alzheimer & Dementia Foundation. Online condolences may be made to the family at hdoliver.com.

PIETRO “PETE” VILLANI VIRGINIA BEACH—Pete “Pietro” Villani, 96, passed away peacefully on February 14, 2022.

Pete was born to the late Paul and Palmira Villani in Apollo, Pennsylvania on May 1, 1925.

Living 91 years of his life in Apollo, Pennsylvania, he served his country proudly in the Pacific Theater during World War II as an Army Private First Class. After working 40 years at Hyde Park Iron Foundry, Pete retired to a

relaxing life of tending to his house, refurbishing antique furniture, daily workouts at the YMCA, assembling puzzles, chewing Mail Pouch tobacco while scratching lottery tickets and spending time with family and friends. An avid Steeler, Penguins, and Pirates fan, he had a passion for watching professional sports and old-time cowboy movies on TV. As he turned 92, Pete relocated to Virginia Beach to be with his family and where he enjoyed meeting new friends, spending time with family, and continuing to embrace every day and its simple pleasures.

Pete had a kind and gentle soul, welcoming smile, endless supply of patience, and a great sense of humor, always taking pleasure in making people laugh and smile. Loved by many, he was a wonderful person and will be deeply missed and will always be remembered with love.

Left to cherish his memory is his loving wife of 67 years, Gloria Villani; sons, Dan Villani and wife Dorianne; Rich Villani and wife Marilyn; and Gary Villani and wife Phyllis; grandchildren, Matthew, Katelyn, Nathan, Eric, and Adam; beloved nieces and nephews; and many more extended family members and friends.

A celebration of life will be held for Pete at Altmeyer Funeral Home Southside Chapel on March 5. His burial will take place at Riverview Cemetery in Apollo, Pennsylvania at a later date.

The family has asked in lieu of flowers, for donors to consider a donation in Pete’s memory to the Kiski Valley YMCA, 511 Hyde Park Rd, Leechburg, PA 15656.

Donations may be made at www.tmcfunding.com.

KATHRYN KATES, ACTRESS WHO PLAYED THE BABKA PURVEYOR ON SEINFELD Shira Hanau

(JTA)—When it came to babka, actress Kathryn Kates, who died last month at 73, preferred chocolate, according to The New York Times.

But when Jerry and Elaine finally got to her bakery counter on Seinfeld, the only babka Kates had to offer was

OBITUARIES cinnamon. And that was a problem.

“There’s chocolate and there’s cinnamon,” Kates says in the famous episode, “The Dinner Party,” to a disappointed Elaine after selling the last chocolate babka to the previous customer. Elaine calls cinnamon the “lesser babka,” to which Jerry replies with an impassioned retort.

“Cinnamon takes a backseat to no babka!” Jerry declares as Kates looks on, framed by shelves of fluffy challah.

The babka bit wouldn’t be Kates’ last appearance as the gatekeeper of Jewish New York culinary classics on the sitcom.

She made another appearance in a 1996 episode as the bakery clerk who sells the last loaf of marble rye bread to an older woman ahead of Jerry in line.

After Kates confirms they are out of marble rye, Jerry desperately offers to pay the older customer $50 for the $6 loaf. When she refuses his offer, he steals the loaf and runs off.

Kates, who died of lung cancer, also

appeared in Law and Order, Orange Is the New Black and The Many Saints of Newark, the Sopranos prequel movie.

Kates, who lived in Manhattan, was born in Queens and grew up in Great Neck, N.Y. She studied acting at New York University, and went on to co-found and run The Colony Theater in Burbank, Calif.

Her mother, Sylvia Kates, was also an actor who played a classic New Yorker role in a scene opposite Gene Wilder and Zero Mostel in Mel Brooks’ 1967 film The Producers. The elder Kates plays an older woman who guards the first floor of a Greenwich Village brownstone. “I’m the concierge!” she says more than once in a thick New York accent.

last month at Memorial Sloan-Kettering hospital in Manhattan. He was 77.

The cause, according to a family spokesperson, was a rare form of non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma.

A concert promoter who was just 24 at the time, he was one of several Jewish collaborators who made the generation-defining festival, billed as “Three

Days of Peace and Music,” happen. Other key players included music executive and promoter Artie Kornfeld—another Brooklyn-born Jew—and businessman Joel Rosenman, a Jewish native of Long Island.

Perhaps most notably, when the initial plans to hold the festival in Woodstock, continued on page 30

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OBITUARIES continued from page 29

N.Y., fell apart, Max Yasgur, a Jewish dairy farmer in Bethel, N.Y., offered his land. Yet another Brooklyn-born Jew, Elliot Tiber, whose parents owned a motel in the area, wrote a memoir about the period saying he helped Lang land the new venue, although other accounts differ. Ang Lee adapted Tiber’s memoir for the 2009 film Taking Woodstock, with Jonathan Groff playing Lang.

Though the organizers had expected a crowd of 50,000, the Woodstock festival famously drew an estimated 400,000 people to Yasgur’s farm between Aug. 15 and 18, 1969. The performers were a veritable “who’s who” of rocks’ biggest acts at the time, among them the Grateful Dead, Santana, Janis Joplin, Creedence Clearwater Revival, Joan Baez, The Who, the supergroup Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young, and festival-closer Jimi Hendrix.

In his book, The Road to Woodstock, Lang credited his Jewish parents, who were small business owners, with teaching him the skills he needed to pull off an event of such scale. His father, he said, “always taught me to be self-reliant. That was his thing—just take care of it. Early on, he gave me a strategy for getting out of tough situations: take charge and keep moving. Step back just enough to think clearly, and trust your instincts. That’s how he dealt with things, and this would serve me well.”

Lang was born in 1944 in Bensonhurst, Brooklyn. He briefly attended New York University before dropping out and opening a head shop in Miami selling cannabis paraphernalia, reportedly using money he saved from his bar mitzvah. He then became a concert promoter, helping to organize the 1968 Miami Pop Festival.

The following year, Lang returned to New York and was inspired to create the Woodstock extravaganza.

World-class music aside, the festival became equally iconic for its bad weather and intense traffic, which Daily News reported at the time was “the largest traffic jam in the history of the Catskills.”

Still, despite the mud and the food shortages, a spirit of unity prevailed among the attendees. “Your producers have done a mammoth job to see that

you’re taken care of…they’d enjoy a vote of thanks,” farmer Yasgur told the sodden crowd on Day Three. “But above that, the important thing that you’ve proven to the world is that a half a million kids—and I call you kids because I have children that are older than you are—a half million young people can get together and have three days of fun and music and have nothing but fun and music, and I—God bless you for it!”

Lang’s involvement with Woodstock endured for decades: He produced the Woodstock ’94 festival and the ill-fated Woodstock ’99, which was marred by violence, sexual assault, and three-digit temperatures. Lang had also hoped to produce Woodstock 50, a 2019 festival in honor of the original concert’s 50th anniversary, but various legal and venue issues meant that it never got off the ground.

Following the cancellation of Woodstock 50, Lang was asked by Rolling Stone if he worried about tarnishing Woodstock’s legacy. “It’s not something I consider,” he said in 2019. “What we did in 1969 was in 1969 and that’s what has endured and will continue to endure.

We’re not going away.”

IVAN REITMAN, ‘GHOSTBUSTERS’ DIRECTOR AND SON OF AUSCHWITZ SURVIVOR Shira Hanau

( JTA)—Ivan Reitman, a Hollywood director and producer who was born in Czechoslovakia and went on to helm Ghostbusters and other beloved American blockbuster comedies, died Saturday, Feb. 12 at 75. Reitman died in his sleep at his home in Montecito, California, according to the Associated Press.

Reitman’s first major commercial success came in 1978 when he produced National Lampoon’s Animal House, but his most famous work was Ghostbusters, the paranormal comedy he directed and which was released to widespread acclaim in 1984. In a career spanning some 50 years, Reitman worked with some of the most beloved comedic actors of his generation, including Dan Aykroyd, Robin Williams, Danny DeVito, Billy Crystal, and Bill Murray, and set the stage for the landscape of movie comedies to follow.

30 | JEWISH NEWS | February 28, 2022 | jewishnewsva.org

“There are three generations,” Harold Ramis, one of the original stars of Ghostbusters, told the Forward in 2007, speaking about the world of comedy to which Reitman belonged. “That makes me the grandfather and Judd [Apatow] the dad. [Michael] Cera, [Seth] Rogen and [Jonah] Hill are the current generation. Ivan is a part of the grandfather generation.”

Born in 1946 to Jewish parents who survived the Holocaust—his mother having survived Auschwitz, his father having escaped a concentration camp and later fought as a member of the Slovakian resistance—in Komárno, Czechoslovakia, Reitman was four years old when the family left the country. The family made their escape after the communist Czech government began threatening Reitman’s father, a factory owner. The family escaped hidden in a coal barge that made its way from Komarno to Vienna on the Danube, and eventually made their way to Toronto in 1950.

“I remember flashes of scenes. Later they told me about how they gave me a couple of sleeping pills so I wouldn’t make any noise. I was so knocked out that I slept with my eyes open. My parents were afraid I was dead,” Reitman told the Associated Press in 1979.

In Toronto, Reitman displayed an interest in performance from an early age and studied music and drama at McMaster University. His first film, a low-budget film called Cannibal Girls, was released in 1973. His big break came in 1978 with National Lampoon’s Animal House, which he produced, followed by the summer-camp comedy Meatballs in 1979 starring Bill Murray, for which he had moved over to the director’s chair.

Ghostbusters in 1984 was where Reitman left his biggest cultural footprint: a unique fusion of smart-aleck comedy and big-budget paranormal special effects

that connected with audiences around the globe. It spawned a franchise of films, TV shows and video games that remains popular to this day.

His other big hits included Stripes, a 1981 military comedy soon to be rebooted as a TV series; Dave, a 1993 political fable starring Kevin Kline as an ordinary guy who is a doppelgänger for the U.S. president; and the 2011 rom-com No Strings Attached, starring Natalie Portman and Ashton Kutcher.

“I love to tell good stories and make people laugh,” Reitman told the Forward in 2007. “I seem to do it okay.”

Reitman married Genevieve Robert, who converted to Judaism, in 1976, and the couple had three children. Their son Jason Reitman followed his father into directing. Father and son worked together on some films, including the 2009 Oscar-nominated film Up in the Air, which was written and directed by Jason Reitman and produced by Ivan Reitman.

Last fall, the two teamed up again for the latest Ghostbusters installment, with Jason directing and Ivan producing Ghostbusters: Afterlife, a film that functioned as a tribute to the father’s beloved original.

At the time of his death, Reitman was in pre-production on a number of other films, including Triplets, a sequel to his 1988 comedy Twins about genetically engineered twins played by DeVito and Arnold Schwarzenegger.

Reitman was proud of his son’s accomplishments and tended to tear up when talking about them. He had even encouraged his son to drop out of medical school in favor of a career in Hollywood, a move that evidently paid off.

“I said: ‘But Dad, I’ll either succeed in your shadow or fail in a spotlight,” Jason Reitman told the Guardian in a joint interview with his father in Nov. 2021. “And he said: ‘Being scared is not a reason not to do something.’”

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