Jewish News November 20, 2017

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Southeastern Virginia | Vol. 56 No. 6 | 2 Kislev 5778 | November 20, 2017

22 Challah Bake 2017

23 Mah Jong at BSV

Bruce Smith talks about Israel at Simon Family JCC —page 31

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24 JDC exhibit at Leon Family Gallery in December

24

in the

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Keep nonprofits out of politics, Jewish groups urge Congress

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ozens of Jewish nonprofits, charitable organizations and religious institutions are urging Congress to oppose efforts to weaken or repeal a law that prohibits tax-exempt nonprofits from supporting or opposing candidates for public office.

A letter signed by 55 Jewish groups was sent this month to the chairman and ranking member of the U.S. House of Representatives Ways and Means Committee, which is scheduled to discuss in the coming days comprehensive tax reform.

The letter urges the committee to oppose the inclusion of any measures that would undermine the Johnson Amendment, the existing law that prohibits tax-exempt nonprofits from endorsing or opposing candidates.

“Charitable nonprofits and houses of worship can only be successful if we maintain public trust in our integrity and commitment to mission,” the letter reads. “Politicizing them for the benefit of politicians and partisan donors would destroy that trust. Every charitable dollar spent on partisan campaign politics is one less dollar spent on the public good.”

The letter also said: “Under current law, charitable nonprofits enjoy broad latitude to speak on important public matters, advocate on policy issues, encourage people to vote, and even host candidate debates and forums. Repealing or weakening the Johnson Amendment risks dividing charities and houses of worship along partisan lines. At a time when our political climate is already so polarized, we stand firmly against any measure that would bring politics into our organizations and reduce our effectiveness.”

Groups representing all streams of Judaism, except the Orthodox community, signed the letter, as did Jewish community relations councils and the Jewish federations of several cities. The Jewish Federations of North America and the Jewish Council for Public Affairs also signed the letter, as did the American Jewish Committee, Anti-Defamation League and B’nai B’rith International. (JTA)

Letters to Oskar Schindler from Jews he saved to be auctioned

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ore than 70 letters from Jews saved from the Nazis by German businessman Oskar Schindler will be auctioned.

Lawrences Auctioneers of England will handle the Dec. 8 sale.

After Schindler and his wife, Emilie, fled Europe for Buenos Aires, Argentina, in 1949, they began to receive letters of gratitude from the Jewish employees of his Polish enamelware factory.

Schindler protected his workers by bribing SS officers and including the workers and their family members on a list of essential munitions workers. His actions were recounted in the Oscarwinning Steven Spielberg film Schindler’s List.

“Although I never actually met you, it is an honor and privilege, as a spiritual heir to those whom you saved, to wish you a very happy and healthy birthday,” one of the letters reads, according to the Daily Mail.

“I was very moved by your courageous self-sacrifice. More importantly, however, I thank you Frau Schindler, for having restored my faith in mankind,” another letter said. Emilie Schindler sold her jewelry and clothes to buy food and medicine for the more than 1,200 Jewish workers. (JTA)

New Jewish Democratic group launched in reaction to Trump

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ewish and Democratic leaders, including dozens of members of Congress, attended the launch of a group designed to connect the Democratic Party and the Jewish community.

The Jewish Democratic Council of America was launched this month at an event on Capitol Hill.

“This new organization will provide a strong voice for Jewish Democrats and fill a serious recent void in the national political discussion,” the group said in a statement on its website in August when it announced its formation plans. “It will unify and mobilize Jewish Democrats with other like-minded groups supporting mutually beneficial and agreed upon issues and actions.”

Former U.S. Rep. Ron Klein of Florida will be chairman of the new organization. (JTA)

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

No Frill Grill celebrates 30 years . . . . . . . . . 15

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

Wes Sandler wins gold. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16

Torah Thought. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

BINA goes to the Talbot for Sukkot. . . . . . . . 21

Jewish take-aways from the election. . . . . . . . 6

Challah Bake 2017. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22

Sexual harassment. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8

Mah Jongg Day at BSV. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23

Anti-Semitic incidents surge in U.S.. . . . . . . . 9

What’s Happening . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24

Grants available for camp . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10

Calendar. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26

TJF: Plan with your will. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .11

Obituaries . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28

Jewish groups and tax overhaul . . . . . . . . . . 12

Mark Goldfeder talks about Jewish law . . . . 30

Special Business section. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13

Bruce Smith shares his Israel experience . . 31

The Quality Shops celebrate 100 years. . . . . 14

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Quotable

Candle lighting

“Don’t interrupt. Don’t yell.

Don’t condescend to the marketing team. Don’t show up late. Don’t leave typos in your emails. It still takes them a while before they understand how Americans work.”

Friday, November 24/6 Kislev Light candles at 4:33 pm

—page 17

Friday, December 1/13 Kislev Light candles at 4:31 pm Friday, December 8/20 Kislev Light candles at 4:30 pm Friday, December 15/27 Kislev Light candles at 4:32 pm Friday, December 22/4 Tevet Light candles at 4:35 pm Friday, December 29/11 Tevet Light candles at 4:39 pm

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Briefs Actress Natalie Portman named winner of $1 million ‘Jewish Nobel’ Natalie Portman, a celebrated actress, director and social activist, was named the winner of the 2018 Genesis Prize.

The Genesis Prize Foundation announced Portman as the recipient of the so-called Jewish Nobel on Nov. 7.

She joins artist Anish Kapoor, violinist Itzhak Perlman, former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, and actor-director Michael Douglas as winners of the $1 million prize, which honors individuals who serve as an inspiration to the next generation of Jews through their outstanding professional achievement along with their commitment to Jewish values and the Jewish people.

Portman’s prize money will go to programs that focus on advancing women’s equality. The funds will be used for grants to organizations involved in promoting women’s educational opportunities, economic advancement, health and safety, and full participation in policy formulation and political activity. A significant portion of the funds will go to programs advancing women’s equality in Israel, the foundation said in a statement.

Portman was born in Israel and, after moving to the United States as a child, retained a close connection to her Jewish and Israeli roots. She is a noted social activist in such areas as gender equality, combating poverty, microfinance, and animal rights.

She began her acting career at 12 and began directing in recent years. She has won multiple prestigious awards, including an Academy Award, two Golden Globes, the British Academy of Film and Television Award, and other industry honors. In 2015, she directed A Tale of Love and Darkness a Hebrew-language film made in Israel and based on the novel by Israeli writer Amos Oz, in which she also played a starring role.

“Natalie’s charismatic on-screen presence has touched the hearts of millions,” Stan Polovets, co-founder and chairman of the Genesis Prize Foundation, said in a statement. “Her talent, her commitment to social causes and her deep connection to her Jewish and Israeli roots are greatly

admired. She exemplifies the core traits of the Jewish character and values of the Jewish people—persistence and hard work, pursuit of excellence, intellectual curiosity, and a heartfelt desire to contribute to making the world a better place.

Without a doubt, she is a role model for millions of young Jews around the world.”

Portman, who in the statement said she is “proud of my Israeli roots and Jewish heritage,” will be honored at a ceremony in Jerusalem in June.

The foundation was endowed by the Genesis Philanthropy Group, a consortium of wealthy philanthropists and businessmen from the former Soviet Union.

Germany’s central bank will examine its history, focusing on the Nazi years The Deutsche Bundesbank, Germany’s post-war central bank, has announced plans to research the history of the national banking system, including its predecessor institutions, from 1923 to 1969, with a special focus on the Nazi years.

Historians Albrecht Ritschi of the London School of Economics and Magnus Brechtken of the Munich-based Institute for Contemporary History will lead the project, which will include examining the history of the Nazi-era Reichsbank, the postwar Bank Deutscher Länder and the early years of the Deutsche Bundesbank, which was established in 1957.

According to a statement from the Bundesbank, there will be a special focus on the Nazi years, bank leadership and policies in occupied countries.

Researchers plan to explore the bank’s possible impact on war strategy, as well as the influence of a succession of bank leaders on the political systems from the Weimar Republic to the postwar division of Germany.

Ritschi told the global edition of the Handelsblatt newspaper that “some unpleasant questions were not asked” in past historical analyses of the Bundesbank.

As a recent case in point, he noted that a volume commemorating the bank’s 60th anniversary included only three pages about the Nazi era.

He also said the wartime Reichsbank

4 | Jewish News | November 20, 2017 | jewishnewsva.org

undermined the local currency in Nazioccupied Greece by encouraging inflation and triggering famine. In addition, there are suggestions that the Reichsbank may have helped the Nazis launder looted gold.

The project is expected to take four years and cost about 3 million euros, or about $3.5 million. (JTA)

Calling Israeli children ‘Zionist terrorists in training’ is not incitement to hate, Dutch prosecutors rule Calling Israeli children “Zionist terrorists in training” and “future child murderers and occupiers” does not constitute incitement to hate, Dutch prosecutors said.

The Public Prosecution Service decided not to prosecute Abdoe Khoulani, a city councilman in The Hague, on the basis of a criminal complaint filed against him over statements he made in May about schoolchildren from Israel who visited his city, the Telegraaf daily reported.

The service cited how Zionists are “indistinguishable” from other people by race, complexion, or origins. Khoulani would have been prosecuted had he spoken about Jews, the service also said.

Furthermore, the decision said, schoolchildren did not complain themselves against Khoulani, making it procedurally difficult to prosecute him for intending to cause them offense.

The youth movement of the Reformed Political Party, which hosted the visiting Israeli Young Ambassadors program in The Hague, filed the complaint with police against Khoulani for hate speech.

Facebook has removed the post with his remarks.

But the prosecution service said it would prosecute Khoulani, who represents the Islamist Party of Unity and is Muslim, for repeatedly insulting Anneke Brons, who has defended Israel on social media and criticized his comment about the children.

In one message, he called Brons a “blonde bitch.”

Khoulani continued: “And you know what you should do, Anneke? You should leave the Netherlands immediately and go live in an Israeli colony. Happily steal Palestinian land and see Palestinian

children being shot dead. That’s what you should do. You belong there. With the Zionist scum.”

Yanki Jacobs, a well-known local rabbi for Chabad on Campus, criticized the decision not to prosecute and called on other Jews to protest it.

“When the judiciary decides to allow such speech by an elected official, who calls children who happened to possess an Israeli passport murderers, we as Jews need to stand up and say that this is unacceptable,” he said. (JTA)

Historic Maine synagogue to be converted into high-end apartments The Auburn, Maine, community bid farewell to a 115-year old synagogue before it is converted into 10 high-end apartments.

The 15 members of the Beth Abraham Synagogue sold the building to a developer, the Lewiston Sun-Journal reported.

The community took a final tour of the building and then ceremonially moved a Torah scroll to the nearby 100-family Temple Shalom Synagogue Center, an independent and egalitarian congregation (formerly Conservative) that Beth Abraham members will join.

Beth Abraham has not had a rabbi for several years, and only opened for three days each year to worship on the High Holidays, according to the report.

The synagogue was founded in 1902, three years after the first Jewish family settled in New Auburn, and has been in the iconic brick building since 1934, according to a 90th anniversary tribute to the synagogue in a published history of Maine’s Jewish communities.

The synagogue’s bimah will be moved to the Maine State Museum in Augusta for an exhibit on Maine Jewry, Tablet reported.

The developer, Oleg Opalnyk, told the Sun-Journal that converting the building will take up to 18 months, and he intends to retain its original character.

“I liked the history of what it is, structurally, architecturally how it looks,” he said. “I’m going to reuse some of the stained glass, all of the chandeliers that are there. I just want to keep that style. I like old, I like historic.” (JTA)

Torah Thought

Vayetze (Genesis 28:10-32:3)

W

ith the blessing and urging of both father Isaac and mother Rebekah, Jacob leaves home. Indeed, he flees. There are two reasons for his hasty departure: Esau’s wrath and the need for a proper bride. The complex and conflicting dynamics in the household of Abraham’s son Isaac—Remember Abrahams’s own dilemmas—were due in part to Isaac’s weakness and Rebekah’s dominance.

Isaac, the survivor of the traumatic and near –death experience with Abraham on Mt. Moriah, came to rely upon his wife’s strengths that are reminiscent of those of both domineering and threatened mother Sarah.

Just as Isaac displaced and replaced his older brother Ishmael, inheriting Abraham’s spiritual legacy, so did Jacob receive the blessing of the first-born intended for his older twin Esau. Sarah made sure that Ishmael, Hagar’s son, would be cast aside while Rebekah did the same to her son Esau. However, the preferences of these mothers supported by a divine agenda ultimately saving and blessing all, endangered their favorite sons. Isaac was almost sacrificed on the altar by his father, while Jacob’s life was put at risk, along with enduring 20 trying years of exile.

Jacob’s father-in-law, Laban, taught him that he would not only benefit from the deception he played on Esau and Isaac, but himself become a victim of deception. Of course, the ultimate painful deception Jacob would experience was at the hands of his own sons when concocting beloved Joseph’s death by an animal.

We moderns complain about our own fractured and puzzling lives. It was God’s promise to protect Jacob at his fateful journey’s onset in the famous dream of

the ladder touching heaven and earth that surely inspired Jacob to persevere.

In a sense, we all touch heaven and earth in our lofty strivings and earthly struggles, gratefully moved forward, as well as constructively challenged by a wise and life-affirming tradition bidding us to turn the earth into heaven, violence into vision, hurts into healing, and blemishes into blessings. The sacred purpose is to hopefully survive and thrive in the built-in tension between the two poles of the human drama.

The Pilgrims modeled America’s Thanksgiving after the Biblical Pilgrim festival of Sukkot’s final harvest.

My Mother Like Jacob our father my mother Chasia (“God spares”) found a stone for lack of a pillow as she too experienced flight in a night of terror, pursued by Edomites—Germans who begrudged the survival of Jacob’s descendants.

But unlike Jacob, she would not return home to vanquished Poland. yet the angels that promised to sustain her were, no doubt, the ones from his ladder who guided her safely to the ancestral homeland.

How serendipitously meaningful it is that the Vayetze Parasha, connoting Jacob’s departure of fateful consequence and our people’s third Patriarch becoming a

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refugee, coincides with celebrating the Pilgrims’ flight. Thanksgiving’s grand American holiday is an instructive reflection of the organic and vital bond between the American experience—experiment and the Jewish heritage. The pilgrims fell in love with the Hebrew Scriptures, regarding themselves as walking in the shoes of Moses and the Israelites fleeing from Egypt’s House of Bondage toward the Promised Land. They regarded crossing the Atlantic Ocean as if crossing the Red Sea. They even wanted Hebrew and not

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English to be the New World’s official language. What a difference it would have made for our B’nai Mitzvah who struggle with Hebrew as a foreign language. The Pilgrims modeled America’s Thanksgiving after the Biblical Pilgrim festival of Sukkot’s final harvest, along with its Exodus motif. Thanksgiving’s very spirit of giving thanks is at the very heart of Judaism’s covenant with the God of life and history.

—Dr. Israel Zoberman, founding rabbi of Congregation Beth Chaverim

jewishnewsva.org | November 20, 2017 | Jewish News | 5

Nation

Here are five Jewish takeaways from Election Day Ron Kampeas

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WASHINGTON (JTA)—The big post-Election Day headline is the stunning Democratic sweep in Virginia’s gubernatorial and House elections, coupled with the predicted Democratic win of the governor’s mansion in New Jersey.

Republicans are wondering what this says about the train that was Trumpism.

In Virginia, Ed Gillespie was an establishment Republican who ran a campaign modeled after President Donald Trump’s shocking win a year ago. Gillespie focused on social hot-button issues like preserving Confederate statues and the alleged proliferation of illegal immigrant gangs. And the GOP candidate lost, big-time.

Democrats, meantime, are marveling at a unity they had believed was dissipating following last year’s contentious primaries clash between Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., and Hillary Clinton, who defeated Sanders but came up short in the general election to Trump. Sanders’ pick in Virginia, Tom Perriello, lost in the primaries but went all in for the establishment-backed winner, Lt. Gov. Ralph Northam. Both the party establishment and the leftists who buck it were hailing the close post-primaries cooperation between Perriello and Northam as a model for the Democrats ahead of next year’s midterm congressional elections.

No Jews won major contests—but there are Jewish takeaways in this off-year election. Here are five: NOVA rocks—the vote Virginia over the last couple of decades seems to have transitioned from Republican red to Democratic blue, with the Democrats close to taking the House of Delegates in a result no one anticipated.

A big reason for the flip? The professionals crowding into Northern Virginia—NOVA to initiates—attracted to the Washington suburbs because of the proliferation of jobs in government, lobbying, and the high-tech sector, and

to Virginia’s D.C. suburbs, particularly because of the high-quality schools and bucolic settings.

It’s enough to drive a prominent Trump backer, Jerry Falwell Jr., to call for secession—of northern Virginia to the District of Columbia.

“DC should annex NOVA and return the governance of VA to Virginians!”

Falwell, the president of the evangelical Liberty University in the state’s southwest, said on Twitter.

The influx of blue voters is also a result of a sharp growth in the Jewish population.

(Non-Orthodox Jews overwhelmingly trend center-left and left.) Synagogues report burgeoning membership growth.

Ahead of the 2012 elections, an official of the Washington-area Jewish federation told JTA that Northern Virginia’s Jewish population grew to some 100,000 in 2010 from about 60,000 a decade earlier.

Did white supremacists get out the vote?

Virginia’s Albermarle County was closely watched this election: It includes Charlottesville, the home to the University of Virginia and a liberal enclave in conservative central Virginia. Democrats are notoriously tough to get out in off-year elections, and Albermarle was seen as a bellwether of the party’s get-out-the-vote operation. Get the vote out here, the thinking went, and Democrats have a shot.

The vote got out. Northam carried the county with a 12,000-vote majority, compared to Terry McAuliffe, the incumbent Democratic governor, who won it by 6,500 votes in 2013.

We can’t know why Democratic polling surged unless and until the county’s voters are polled. But it’s not a stretch to conclude that the Aug. 12 march in Charlottesville by white supremacists and neo-Nazis, which culminated when a suspected one of their number rammed his car into a crowd of counterprotesters, killing one, galvanized liberal turnout.

Nation A virtual poster, in Yiddish In Mea Shearim, a haredi Orthodox neighborhood in Jerusalem, the best way to take the political pulse is by looking up—at the stone walls, where densely written posters break down the issues in Yiddish.

Not so much in 21st-century New York City. The battle between two Orthodox Jewish candidates for the Borough Park seat on the City Council there was fought on WhatsApp, the messaging app. And the issues in Brooklyn were not the esoterica that often drives divisions among the fervently Orthodox in Israel.

The virtual barbs in the Borough Park race, the Forward reported, were sharp and prosaic. Loyalists to Yoni Hikind, son of the veteran state lawmaker Dov Hikind, alleged, without proof, that his rival, Kalman Yeger, had ties to pro-Palestinian activist Linda Sarsour. Hikind, in turn, was dinged for being single.

Some political traditions die hard, though: The WhatsApp messages, like those Mea Shearim posters, were more often than not anonymous. And in Yiddish.

Yeger, handpicked by the incumbent, David Greenfield, who is leaving the post, trounced Hikind.

The Jewish marathoner running to lead Minneapolis Jacob Frey, 36, a marathon runner, supposedly faced a hurdle in his bid to become mayor of Minneapolis because he wasn’t born in Minnesota. (The native Virginian fell in love with the city a decade ago, when he ran in the Pan American Games held there.)

His Jewish Democratic credentials are impeccable, however: At the College of William and Mary in Williamsburg, Va., he befriended Ron Rapoport, a politics professor, and did the Jewish holidays with his family. Rapoport’s dad was the legendary Democratic Party kingmaker— and Texan Jew—B. Rapoport. (Former President Bill Clinton delivered the eulogy at B. Rapoport’s funeral in 2012.)

B. Rapoport recognized talent: He

told Frey when he was still in college that the young man had the gift for politics, according to a Star Tribune profile of the city councilor.

The child of ballet dancers, Frey may prove his late mentor right: He finished first in the voting on and likely will unseat incumbent Mayor Betsy Hodges.

(The election uses the preference system, in which second and third choices are tallied; the final result might not be known for days.)

Frey, who was endorsed by the Star Tribune, is an attorney and a member of the board of the of the Jewish Community Relations Council: Minnesota and the Dakotas.

How a Jewish woman paved the way for New Jersey’s first Sikh mayor Dawn Zimmer made headlines when she became mayor of Hoboken, N. J., in 2009: She was Jewish, and a woman, in a city on the Hudson River known for a large Italian-American community and its views of the New York City skyline.

As president of the City Council, she became acting mayor when her predecessor resigned in a corruption scandal, then was elected in her own right in a special election.

Five years later she made headlines again when she revealed that the administration of Gov. Chris Christie tried to make Superstorm Sandy recovery funds contingent on her backing a real-estate project favored by the administration.

Coming soon after reports that the governor’s aides blocked access to the George Washington Bridge to punish another Democratic mayor, Zimmer’s 2014 allegation prompted an FBI investigation.

This year, the popular Democratic mayor surprised her constituents by opting not to run again, saying she preferred to focus on climate change.

Instead, she endorsed City Councilman Ravi Bhalla.

Bhalla won, becoming the state’s first Sikh mayor.

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jewishnewsva.org | November 20, 2017 | Jewish News | 7

Nation OP-ED

Larry David’s Holocaust joke was an offense—against comedy Andrew Silow-Carroll

NEW YORK (JTA)—In a famous episode of Seinfeld, Jerry is upset that his dentist, a recent convert to Judaism, is already telling Jewish jokes. He complains to the dentist’s former priest.

“I wanted to talk to you about Dr. Whatley,” Jerry says. “I have a suspicion that he’s converted to Judaism just for the jokes.”

“And this offends you as a Jewish person,” the priest says.

“No,” Jerry says. “It offends me as a comedian.”

Larry David, the co-creator of Seinfeld, did a Holocaust bit on Saturday Night Live this month, and a lot more Jewish persons than comedians were offended. In his opening monologue, David wonders if, as a prisoner in a concentration camp, he would have continued to hit on women.

“I think I would!” David says, and then imagines the dialogue with a woman in the neighboring barracks.

“How’s it going? They treating you OK?” he asks. “You know if we ever get out of here, I’d love to take you out for some latkes. You like latkes? What? What did I say? Is it me, or is it the whole thing?

It’s because I’m bald, isn’t it?”

The SNL audience was…polite. Twitter less so. The Anti-Defamation League’s chief executive, Jonathan Greenblatt, summed up the disapproval: “He managed to be offensive, insensitive and unfunny all at same time. Quite a feat.”

Every audience member has every right to decide what is or isn’t offensive.

And there is perhaps no subject that can’t be joked about. But it is always a question of intent. A Labour Party veteran in England is being ridiculed there for telling

an old Holocaust joke; she was trying, she said, to give an example of a truly offensive joke. And she was right about the joke anyway—it’s obscene because it mocks Hitler’s Jewish victims and takes delight in their suffering.

Normally I’d say that’s the test of whether a Holocaust joke should be told: Who’s the butt of the joke? Both Ricky Gervais and Sarah Silverman have told jokes in which the teller seems to minimize the horrors of the Holocaust. But the audience is meant to laugh at, not with, the comic personas they have created. You are meant to understand that Gervais and Silverman are stand-ins for the self-confident morons who like to share their opinions about things they don’t understand.

On those grounds, David’s joke was fair game. The SNL joke wasn’t “about” the Holocaust at all—it was a joke about the male libido, as personified by the “Larry David” persona: glib, self-involved, wildly inappropriate. “Larry David” is the butt of the joke, so lustful that he can’t turn it off in a death camp.

The comedian Judy Gold tells a similar—and to my mind, much better—joke: “If I was standing on line naked for the gas chambers…would I hold my stomach in?”

That’s a one-liner about women’s vanity, not the Shoah. And it succeeds where David’s fails because it is better constructed and, well, shorter: She makes her point, lets gasps turn into uncomfortable laughs, and she moves on. But David lingers on the conceit and makes you picture the scene—the barracks, the other victim, the shaved heads. The comic idea collapses under the weight of the images he is drawing.

David has used the Holocaust as

punchline much more effectively—and humorously—in the past. There was the Seinfeld episode where Jerry is caught making out with a date during Schindler’s List. In David’s follow-up series, Curb Your Enthusiasm, a Holocaust survivor gets into a debate about suffering with a contestant on the reality show Survivor.

Those bits succeeded where the SNL one failed because they were about something, or at least something more interesting than sex. The Seinfeld episode was puncturing pieties about Spielberg’s film and reminding viewers, through black humor, that there is a difference between a Hollywood movie and the actual experience of the Holocaust.

The Curb segment had a similar thrust: The faux suffering on Survivor, it suggested, had inured us to actual suffering and debased the notion of what it means to be a “survivor.” Both of these bits were about the Holocaust and how it is talked about.

Perhaps David could have pulled off his Holocaust pick-up routine in a club, where audiences are ready for raunch and edge. The present-day SNL may feel more politically relevant than it has in a long time, but it hasn’t felt particularly edgy for years. An occasional host may come along to shake things up, but the humor, even the political satire, tends to be safe, even tame. Perhaps David deserves kudos for squirting a little bile into the bathwater, but a Holocaust joke—especially a lame one—seemed bound to spoil the party.

I’d also argue that the Holocaust joke wasn’t even his edgiest Jewish joke of the night. That would be the one about Harvey Weinstein in which noted a “very, very disturbing pattern” among the high-profile figures being accused of

sexual harassment and assault: “Many of them are Jews.”

“And I have three words to say to that: Oy vey iz meer. I don’t like it when Jews are in the news for notorious reasons,” David continues. “What I want: Einstein discovers the theory of relativity, Salk discovers a cure for polio. What I don’t want: Weinstein took it out.”

I guess that’s an admirable assertion of Jewish pride. In the face of a lot of bad “Jewish” headlines that might in another era have led to anti-Semitic grumblings, David reminds us about the good Jews out there. But the idea that there is something “Jewish” about the wave of sex scandals has been the stuff of neo-Nazi websites (and the rare Jewish “think” piece), not the mainstream discussion. Well, not anymore. Thanks, Lar! What may be most interesting about David’s monologue is how completely he embraces his Jewishness—as a comedian, that is. Seinfeld was a show by Jews, but not necessarily for or about them. David’s Curb character is conflicted, to say the least, about his Jewishness. But taking to live TV on a major comedy stage, David fully embodied the character of the Jew by broaching the two hot buttons of defensive Jewish identity: the Holocaust and anti-Semitism.

Which leads us back to Jerry and Dr. Whatley in that you see the seeds of David’s defense, if he were to offer one, of his SNL performance: “Jews have earned the right to tell Jewish jokes. Our DNA, our culture, our history give us a pass, even when it comes to ridiculing one another or milking our sacred cows.

That’s absolutely true. But that doesn’t mean you can’t be offended as a comedian.

LIKE US ON FACEBOOK! JewishNewsVA 8 | Jewish News | November 20, 2017 | jewishnewsva.org

Global surges of anti-Semitism

Anti-Semitic incidents surge in United States, ADL says NEW YORK (JTA)—Anti-Semitic incidents in the first nine months of 2017 have risen 67 percent over the same period last year, according to the AntiDefamation League, which factored in a string of bomb threats largely attributed to a Jewish man in Israel.

On the current pace, the number of incidents will nearly double the figure from 2015.

There was also a 92 percent increase in anti-Semitic incidents in New York City—171 this year compared to 89 in the corresponding period last year.

Anti-Semitic assaults, however, have fallen 60 percent: There were 12 assaults in the first nine months of 2017, as opposed to 29 over the same period last year.

The report by the ADL, which fights anti-Semitism and bigotry, said that in addition to the waves of bomb threats against Jewish institutions at the

beginning of the year, the main driver of anti-Semitic incidents was the white supremacist rally in Charlottesville, Va., in August.

Most of the 162 bomb threats are suspected of coming from an American-Israeli Jewish man living in Ashdod, Israel. Even discounting those threats, there was still a 46 percent increase in incidents. The seven weeks following the Charlottesville rally saw 221 incidents of anti-Semitism.

“We are astonished and horrified by the rise in anti-Semitic harassment, incidents, and violence targeting our communities,” says Jonathan Greenblatt, ADL’s CEO and national director. “While the tragedy in Charlottesville highlighted this trend, it was not an aberration. Every single day, white supremacists target members of the Jewish community—holding rallies in public, recruiting on college campuses, attacking journalists on social media, and

even targeting young children.”

Following the arrest of the Jewish bombing hoax suspect in March, Greenblatt explained why the ADL would continue to include the threats—which forced the evacuations of Jewish community centers, synagogues, Jewish preschools, and the ADL itself—in its tally of anti-Semitism.

“While the details of this crime remain unclear, the impact of this individual’s actions is crystal clear: These were acts of anti-Semitism,” Greenblatt said in a statement at the time. “These threats targeted Jewish institutions, were calculated to sow fear and anxiety and put the entire Jewish community on high alert.”

There were 1,299 incidents of anti-Semitism between Jan. 1 and Sept. 30, according to the report. In all of 2016, there were 1,266—a 34 percent increase over 2015. If the 2017 pace continues, this

year will see 1,732 anti-Semitic incidents, close to double the 942 incidents of two years ago. The last year with that level of anti-Semitism was 2005, according to ADL figures.

Most of the incidents, including the bomb threats, fell into the category of harassment. There were more than 500 incidents of anti-Semitic vandalism along with the 12 incidents of physical assault.

The 269 incidents in elementary, middle and high schools more than doubled the 2016 figure. Incidents on college campuses also increased nearly 60 percent since last year.

States with high Jewish populations saw the most incidents, including New York, California, Massachusetts, and Florida. New York state has seen 267 incidents up to Sept. 30, more than the 199 reported all of last year. Most of the incidents were acts of vandalism.

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idewater Jewish Foundation is launching the One Happy Camper program in partnership with the Foundation for Jewish Camp. The initiative provides need-blind grants of up to $1,000 to families with children attending nonprofit Jewish overnight camp for the first time.

One Happy Camper grant recipients, like all campers, are infused with Jewish education, awareness, and identity while having fun; returning to Jewish camp summer after summer.

The challenge of passing along Jewish connection and commitment to the next generation has become one of the most important concerns of the American Jewish community. Studies show that

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is available for children who attend non-profit Jewish overnight camps for the first time.

camp is a proven means of building Jewish identity, community, and leadership; helping to secure the future of Judaism. Plus, Jewish camp is fun and creates lifelong Jewish friendships.

A wide variety of Jewish camps exist.

Kids can choose from specialty camps or can attend a more traditional camp.

Families with children attending one of more than 155 nonprofit Jewish overnight camps for their first summer may receive a grant regardless of need or background.

Find camps and apply for grants by visiting www.OneHappyCamper.org. Contact Barb Gelb at 757-965-6105 or bgelb@ujft.org for more information.

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Where there’s a WILL there’s a way…

Scott Kaplan

C

an you believe it is already November? As the days get shorter and the leaves continue to fall, we think about the end of the calendar year and all of the things we hoped or planned to get done before Scott Kaplan year-end. What did you say you were going to do this year?

Were you hoping to complete your long term plans? Planning beyond the next few months is something that many of us put off, but it is so important! What if something were to happen to you? How will you make sure your wishes are followed?

Do you have a will? If so, when was the last time it was updated? Is it important to you to leave something for charity in your plans? Planning can (and should) be done whether you are in your 20s or your 90s.

There are many ways to plan for your future and take care of your community. Planning may include talking with a professional advisor (estate planning attorney, financial advisor, and/or accountant) and working in partnership with the Tidewater Jewish Foundation to explore how your Jewish community can be included in your planning.

A will is a legal document that sets forth your wishes regarding the distribution of your property/assets and the care of any minor children. Your will says a lot about you and your legacy. Does it show who and what you care about? Having a will shows that you want to help conserve your estate, which is comprised of all of the money and property you own, or your net worth. Taxes and probate costs can be avoided by designating what will go where and who will be responsible for handling the details. The cost savings that result from a carefully constructed estate plan means more of your estate can go to family members and other beneficiaries, such as charity.

Your will can also reflect your lifetime involvements and concerns. You can choose who receives the assets in your estate by making bequest(s) (the property or money that you promise in your will to give to another person or organization after you die). Bequests to family members tell of your love and concern for their welfare, while bequests to organizations speak volumes about your values.

You may think of your Jewish community as one of your children, something that you have cared for during your lifetime and want to see thrive for the next generation. Many options are available to consider when planning.

A charitable bequest is one option to ensure Jewish continuity through a simple codicil (amendment) to your will to benefit a synagogue, the Federation, or any of the affiliate agencies. This bequest may provide a specific cash gift, a percentage of your estate, or remaining estate assets. Bequests, like other gifts, can be designated for many purposes or given without restriction. Designating a bequest that creates a single fund at the Tidewater Jewish Foundation can provide annual support to various community agencies.

When Tidewater Jewish Foundation or any local affiliate agencies and synagogues are included in your will (or other estate planning document), you reveal that caring for others is important to you and your belief in securing the future of our Jewish community. Such action encourages those you leave behind to consider how they can help those in need.

You reveal your vision for our future and you are actively creating your legacy.

You are never too young (or too old) to make and revise your future plans.

Contact your attorney or financial professional for guidance on how best to ensure your legacy. You may also contact Scott Kaplan, president and CEO of Tidewater Jewish Foundation at 757-965-6109 or skaplan@ ujft.org to schedule a confidential conversation to explore how you can make a difference in your community and leave a lasting legacy.

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12 | Jewish News | November 20, 2017 | jewishnewsva.org

Nation

Jewish groups wary of proposed federal tax overhaul Ron Kampeas

WASHINGTON (JTA)—Jewish groups expressed dismay at some of the provisions of a tax overhaul that President Donald Trump and Republicans hope to complete by the end of this year.

The overhaul, broadly, slashes taxes and compensates for them to a degree by reducing deductions.

Congress launched hearings on the reforms after Rep. Paul Ryan, R-Wis., the speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives, unveiled them. It will be the first major overhaul of the taxation system in three decades. Its purported hallmark is simplicity: Ryan has said that a filer could send in a return on a postcard if he so chooses.

Of concern to Jewish groups are the removal of deductions, possible reductions in spending for social safety net programs, and the removal of a ban on tax exemptions for houses of worship.

In statements and memos, Jewish groups expressed concerns that the repeal of deductions could harm the sectors that rely on them. B’nai B’rith International, which advocates on behalf of the elderly, decried the elimination of deductions for medical expenses. Most of the Americans who take advantage of the deduction, which applies if one’s medical expenses exceed 10 percent of one’s income, are older than 65, the group said.

“Medical expenses that can be deducted from federal taxes include prescription drugs, insulin, glasses, hearing aids, payments to doctors, dentists, and surgeons, nursing home fees, and some long-term care insurance premiums,” it said in a statement. “We are very concerned about the impact eliminating this deduction could have on seniors, particularly low-income older Americans who have used this tax savings to save money on their vital medical needs.”

In a memo to its constituent Jewish federations, the Jewish Federations of North America singled out the proposed elimination of a tax credit for small businesses that build accommodations for the disabled.

“JFNA will actively oppose the repeal of this provision,” the memo said.

Also of concern to JFNA are changes likely to affect charitable giving, including a provision that doubles the “standard deduction”—the amount that filers can choose to claim if they forego itemized deductions.

“Because fewer taxpayers would itemize and benefit from the tax incentive for charitable contributions, overall giving would be expected to decrease,” the memo said.

The JFNA memo also said the umbrella body would lobby against eliminating the amendment that keeps houses of worship from opposing or endorsing candidates.

Trump has vowed to kill the “Johnson Amendment,” named for Lyndon Johnson, who led its passage in the 1950s as a senator. A broad range of liberal Jewish groups want it preserved.

“JFNA will join with the overwhelming majority of charities, including religious groups, opposing this change that would weaken the fabric of this important protection from partisan politics that has enabled charities and houses of worship to remain focused on their mission,” the memo said.

B’nai B’rith, the National Council of Jewish Women and Bend the Arc in statements addressed concerns about the broader implications of the bill, saying the cuts—some estimates say they could slash revenue by as much as $1.5 trillion over the next decade—could destroy social safety net programs.

“This could seriously harm our more vulnerable populations, as increasing the deficit would provide cover for lawmakers to argue for cuts to important federal programs such as Medicare and Medicaid to make up for the shortfall,” B’nai B’rith said.

Bend the Arc alluded to corporate tax cuts and reductions in top level income taxes in the proposal, saying the plan “would exacerbate inequality, robbing vital programs for ordinary Americans to pay back millionaire campaign donors with tax cuts.”

NCJW said the plan was “severely skewed toward the rich.”

Business in the

Jewish Community

Supplement to Jewish News November 20, 2017 jewishnewsva.org | November 20, 2017 | Business | Jewish News | 13

Business The Quality Shops celebrates 100 years in business Jewish News Staff

F

ounded as a hat store in Portsmouth in 1917 by Morris H. Rapoport, The Quality Shops is celebrating its 100th anniversary this year as a family owned and operated business. And, let’s face it, in today’s retail climate, that is a major accomplishment.

Specializing in men’s clothing and sportswear, The Quality Shops is now owned and run by the founder’s grandsons, Reid and Steve Rapoport.

The original store opened in the 300 block of High Street in Portsmouth. A second location was added in 1963 in Downtown Norfolk, and then a third in Virginia Beach in 1993. Today, two locations provide high quality men’s clothing: one in the Ghent section of Norfolk at the Palace Shops, and another in the Hilltop East shopping center in Virginia Beach.

“My dad, Herman Rapoport, went to Duke, then served as a lieutenant in the Navy during WWII. After the war, he joined his father in the business,” says Steve Rapoport.

It was really no surprise, then, that Reid and Steve would eventually follow suit.

“I joined the business full time in 1971 when I finished college at Randolph Macon,” says Reid Rapoport. “I grew up with the business—helping in the store during summers and holidays—and talking about it around the dinner table.”

Not long after graduating from the University of Miami, Steve says, “The business drew me in. I had always been in the store as a child and teen, so it wasn’t strange for me go into it.”

The Rapoport brothers attribute their business success to a lifetime of business teachings based on personal service

The Quality Shops, 1934.

14 | Jewish News | Business | November 20, 2017 | jewishnewsva.org

Reid and Steve Rapoport.

and a tradition of quality, distinctive merchandise.

And, fortunately for them, they are

compatible partners. Reid handles most of the “back office” business details, while Steve does the buying, traveling primarily to New York to visit the showrooms.

“Steve is very talented. He has a good grasp on the market and what the customers like,” says Reid. “He has a good eye.”

“The retail business has seen a lot of changes over the years,” says Steve. “Dress is a lot more casual and there’s a lot more competition from the Internet and from discounters.”

And so, The Quality Shop has “transformed our mix and inventory,” notes Steve. “You’ve got to change with the times.”

While they still sell a lot of suits and sports coats, the men take a great deal of time when selecting merchandise to discover unique lines.

“Our objective is to be as diverse as possible,” says Steve. “We offer the whole package: great quality merchandise at appropriate price points, tailoring, and personal service.”

For example, the store keeps records of clients’ purchases—which come in handy when buying gifts or repeat items.

Not only is The Quality Shop marking this major milestone in business, the stores continue to dress Tidewater men with style and distinction.

Business No Frill Bar & Grill celebrates 30th anniversary

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erry Meltsner arrived on the shores of Norfolk from his hometown of Philadelphia via Los Angeles in 1983.

His first stop in town was to run the food service operation at Stanley Peck’s Bessie’s Place, which morphed into the Boat House—a concert and party venue where Harbor Park now stands.

Meltsner’s road to Norfolk and to No Frill Bar & Grill was pretty straightforward, even though it took him from coast

to coast. His first introduction to the world of restaurants came when he was 16 and worked as a dishwasher. He knew then it was his calling (not the part about washing dishes!), so when he studied at University of Denver, his degree in business was with a major in Restaurant and Hospitality Management. After graduation, he managed a restaurant connected to the Marriott in Los Angeles. Quickly realizing that the chain-type restaurant world was not for him, Meltsner accepted

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jewishnewsva.org | November 20, 2017 | Business | Jewish News | 15

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such as our Funky Chicken Salad. We were the first to put a hot protein on a the position with Peck for Bessie’s Place, cold salad.” and the rest, as they say, is history. After In addition to the good food and memall, it’s now hard to imagine Tidewater’s ories that have emanated from No Frill restaurant scene without one of Meltsner’s Bar & Grill, the restaurant has provided eateries. tremendous support for local non-profits.

In 1986, Meltsner bought two Norfolk In fact, Meltsner has served as a member restaurants: City Subs and Dog-n-Burger. of the boards of Jewish Family Service of Then, just a year later, Meltsner opened Tidewater, Beth Sholom Village, and on No Frill Grill in an old dentist office on the executive committee Tidewater Drive. during the founding of “It was a restaurant Freda H. Gordon Hospice with no frills,” says and Palliative Care of Meltsner, hence the Tidewater. Plus, No Frill name. “Customers took has often held funda number and ordered No Frill’s position raisers for JFS. And, food. It was the first quick out of 596 restaurants No Frill’s contributions casual concept restauon Trip Advisor extend beyond the Jewish rant…before Panera and for Norfolk community. all the others.”

“No Frill Bar & Grill There, he expanded has been an important the Dog-n-Burger menu, supporter of Children’s adding such items as pita Hospital of The King’s sandwiches. The restauDaughters for nearly 20 rant moved to its current years,” says Karen Gershman, director of Norfolk location at 806 Spotswood Avenue development at CHKD. “They have given in Ghent in 1997, and a second location more than $77,000 for the kids at CHKD opened at 1620 Laskin Road at Hilltop in through their annual tradition of donating Virginia Beach in 2005. $1 for every appetizer and dessert sold in Now celebrating its 30th anniversary, the month of February. We are grateful No Frill Bar & Grill is listed as #1 out of to the whole team at No Frill Bar & Grill 596 on Trip Advisor for Norfolk. for their commitment to the health and “No Frill has found a niche in the well-being of our community’s children.” family casual category,” says Meltsner.

Other charities that have benefited “We’ve always offered a great value with over the years include SPCA, ForKids, generous portions at very reasonable Virginia Arts Festival, ODU Foundation, prices.”

Hope House Foundation, Dining Out for It’s all in the details, according to Life, and Park Place Schools.

Meltsner. “We try to pay attention to The restaurants have consistently been what customers want: quality food, great one of the go-to places for the area’s tourservice, and not be overpriced. The execuism offices. And, it’s paid off handsomely tion is what makes it work, and all three with mentions in Conde Nast’s Traveler areas are important. We weigh them all with top 15 cities with the best burgers equally.” in America, Top 10 Places to Eat on Yelp, The restaurant ownership is now a 10 Best Lunch Spots in Virginia, and family affair. Meltsner brought in his Leisure Group Travel. No Frill Grill has nephew Jon Kliner in 1988. Kliner also received favorable reviews from local oversees the Norfolk restaurant, while publications over the years.

Meltsner oversees the Virginia Beach locaBy sticking to the formula of affordably tion. “We have more than 130 employees pleasing Tidewater’s palates, delivering between the two locations and several good service, and maintaining a strong who have been with us more than 20 commitment to the community, it’s a good years,” says Kliner. bet that No Frill Bar & Grill will celebrate “Jon is creative,” says Meltsner. “He’s many more anniversaries. come up with some cutting edge items

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16 | Jewish News | Business | November 20, 2017 | jewishnewsva.org

Business Flying high and winning gold Dusty Heist-Levine

H

earing Wes Sandler describe skydiving is much like listening to Brad Pitt’s character describe fly fishing in the film, A River Run’s Through It; equal parts

science, art, adventure, and passion—and for the lucky listener, the excitement of gaining a glimpse into a world generally only seen on TV or in magazines.

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pickles, Sandler chatted about skydiving—and it was an incredible picture he painted.

The science that goes behind the fancy parachutes and wingsuits, the process of falling thousands of feet through the air while using air currents, altitude, and angles to Wes Sandler (far right) with his winning team. chart the course, perform acrobatics and more; and of course, the beauty of it. Not just in the freedom and grace of flying through the air, but in the location. Whether jumping over Virginia Beach, the Outer Banks, or the Teton Mountains; much like fly fishing, skydiving offers a perfect excuse to seek adventure in the most amazing natural settings.

What stands out most is Sandler’s passion for skydiving (otherwise known as jumping out of airplanes), which is really just to say his passion for living life to its Wes Sandler and his team in Las Vegas. fullest, for pursuing the boundaries of found themselves in first place on their what is possible. final jump, with the Russian team a hair’s That kind of passion leads people to do breath behind them. great things, and earlier this month, it led Anyone who has competed at a high Sandler to Las Vegas where he represented level knows that the greatest pressure the United States as a member of the Team is always on the person or team with USA in the FAI World Championships of the most to lose. But Sandler and Team Wingsuit Sky Diving.

USA met the challenge, completed their In only his third year of flying in a final jump with their highest score of the wingsuit (ie. one step more daring than competition, and found themselves world a parachute), Sandler was a member of a champions! three-man team competing against the It is always a matter of pride when a world’s best skydivers from USA, Britain, local excels on a national or world stage.

Norway, and Russia. The competition It’s an even bigger treat when that person lasted three days, battled tough weather, is a member of the Jewish community, and required seven competitive jumps by and it is even a bigger, bigger kavod when Sandler and his team. In each jump, the that person is making a great name for team had a 65 second window where they Jews everywhere by being a champion were judged—while hurling to the ground in such a daring and tough sport. Jews at hundreds of miles an hour—on their are known as the people of the book, but drifts, style, and camera ability. Two memapparently are also the people who can bers preformed the acrobatics, and one jump out of a plane and win gold medals. member filmed them. The team was scored Congratulations to Sandler on repreon their performance in these three areas. senting the community, bringing home In the drama that comes with highthe gold, and inspiring others to seek level competition, and in the great spirit adventure and live life to its fullest. of eternal rivalries, Sandler and his team

jewishnewsva.org | November 20, 2017 | Business | Jewish News | 17

Business Meet the Israelis bringing the ‘Start-up Nation’ to Silicon Valley Ben Sales

SAN FRANCISCO ( JTA)—When he brings Israeli entrepreneurs to Silicon Valley, Gili Ovadia gives them a list of what not to do.

Don’t interrupt. Don’t yell. Don’t

condescend to the marketing team. Don’t show up late. Don’t leave typos in your emails.

It still takes them a while, says Ovadia, before they understand how Americans work.

“Whenever I talk to Israeli companies,

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I say if you want to succeed [in tech], get your suit and come here,” says Ovadia, who heads the Israeli government’s economic and trade office on the West Coast.

“You won’t succeed with emails, phone conversations, and websites. At the end of the day, it’s personal relationships.”

Ovadia works alongside an ecosystem of Israeli entrepreneurs who have made it their mission to draw Israeli techies from Tel Aviv to the Bay Area—and to help them thrive once they are here.

Even as Israel has built a reputation as a tech hotspot, these entrepreneurs say the Jewish state is small potatoes compared to Silicon Valley, which acts as a fount for the latest innovations and startups—and, crucially, the cash that funds them.

“If you want to be a movie actor, you need to be in Hollywood,” says Daniel Shaked, who moved from Israel to Silicon Valley two years ago and is the founder of ClipCall, which connects homeowners to service professionals like plumbers and electricians. “This is the Hollywood of high-tech. In Silicon Valley there are thousands of startups looking for the same funding sources, and they’re here, next to them. They can ride a bike and meet people.”

The past five years, a network of Israeli-focused organizations has emerged in the Bay Area. Israeli Executives and Founders Forum, or IEFF, facilitates discussions between 1,200 Israelis who work in the area; UpWest Labs seeks to bring early-stage Israeli companies to the Valley.

The Israeli Collaboration Network, or ICON, connects Israeli and American entrepreneurs. J-Angels brings together Israeli and American Jewish investors.

As such, Israelis who come to Silicon Valley land in friendly territory: IEFF counts more than 100 Israeli-run startups in the Bay Area. The Israeli Consulate estimates that there are anywhere from 60,000 to 100,000 Israelis in the region, which comprises San Francisco, Oakland, San Jose and the cities around them. And as a possible sign of just how entrenched Israeli entrepreneurs have become in Northern California, after a lobbying campaign by Israeli expatriates, United

Airlines began a direct flight from San Francisco to Tel Aviv last year.

“The Bay Area has a very unique activity of Israelis,” says Oded Hermoni, IEFF’s co-chairman. “Israelis can feel at home because you don’t have to be Americanborn to be successful in Silicon Valley.”

After inventing many of the tools that make telecommuting and smart investing possible, it’s somewhat ironic that the the tech industry still places such a high premium on in-person meetings. But several Israeli techies said that old-fashioned networking is the best way to advance a career.

“It’s like saying you’re a bride and you want to find a groom in Silicon Valley,” says Darya Henig Shaked, who founded WeAct, which brings Israeli women entrepreneurs on missions to meet with investors in the Bay Area. “You need to get to know each other, to look each other in the eyes. That’s not how it works, that you ask for investors a continent away.”

After founding two successful startups and a kindergarten in Tel Aviv, Kfir Eyal, 43, figured it would be easy to land a job at a Silicon Valley tech giant like Apple or Facebook. But when he moved to the Bay Area five years ago, he spent months sending out resumes, without getting any bites. In the end, he took a senior position at a financial tech company—but only after making a connection at an Israeli poker game.

His lesson: Israeli contacts were valuable, but they shouldn’t be that difficult to make. So four years ago he started an organization called TechAviv that brought Israeli entrepreneurs together every couple of months to eat, drink, and network.

“I wouldn’t want anyone to go through this experience of ‘What do I do now that we landed?’” says Eyal, who now serves as vice president for sales and business development for CreditStacks, a startup offering credit cards to recent expats to the United States. “Now it’s become more of the norm to help people.”

But Israelis still face the acclimation challenges that Ovadia is trying to combat. Yuval Machlin, who moved to Silicon Valley two months ago, noticed

Business the difference in decibels. In Israel, when techies meet they immediately begin talking over each other. In America, Machlin says, he has walked into meetings where 30 employees are just sitting there in silence.

“Sometimes you see someone who says something you disagree with,” says Machlin, who works at Tangent Logic, a product services company. “In Israel, three seconds wouldn’t have passed and you would have interrupted him and started a discussion, which I think is more efficient. The people here know what they’re doing, and that’s proven, but it’s different. I didn’t expect it to be that different.”

Israel sees itself as the “Start-up Nation,” the title of the popular 2009 book on the country’s entrepreneurial bent, but many Israelis find it an eye-opening experience when they realize just how small their role in the world of tech really is. The Jewish state might have a good reputation, but it’s still foreign to Silicon Valley, says Moshik Raccah, a co-founder of IEFF. The qualifications that so impress Israeli investors—like service in the Israel Defense Forces’ elite 8200 intelligence unit—mean nothing to most American venture capitalists or employers.

Plus, says Raccah, Israelis have names that can be hard to pronounce.

“Our names, [like] Kochavit, how do you say that?” he says. “Even if it’s a bias people would never admit, it’s still a challenge.”

To overcome these issues, Israelis are forging connections in everyday life as well. Palo Alto’s JCC, for example, has made a special effort to cater to Israelis, and many now gather there to barbecue on Israeli Independence Day or plant trees on Tu b’Shvat, the Jewish arboreal new year. There’s an apartment complex in the town of Sunnyvale that has so many Israeli expats that they’ve nicknamed it “the kibbutz.”

Near the kibbutz is a falafel shop that

serves relatively obscure Israeli food like sabich, an egg and eggplant sandwich, and a chickpea dish called masabacha.

In Palo Alto, the more mainstream Oren’s Hummus, founded by serial tech entrepreneur Oren Dobronsky, offers creamy Israeli-style hummus in several styles, as well as coffee—Turkish and instant— imported from Israel.

But such comforts can’t erase the challenges of living an ocean and 10 time zones away. Raccah said he sees fewer Israelis making the move than in past years. In part, that’s because telecommuting has made communication easier. Also, the growth of New York’s tech scene has drawn Israelis who want to be close to the action and money, but “only” an 11-hour flight away.

“If you’re sending your CEO or BizDev team to the U.S., it’s much easier to work from New York,” Raccah says.

In San Francisco, he adds, “you have no overlap of workday and the flight is much longer.”

Still, for many Israelis, the opportunities and creature comforts provided by the Bay Area are unparalleled. There’s also the bonus of residing in one of America’s most liberal states—a situation not lost on the mostly secular and left-wing entrepreneurial set, who see the distance from Israel’s right-wing government as a bonus.

Despite these perks, however, for most of these techies, Israel is home. It’s where their families and childhood friends live; it’s where they can joke in Hebrew; it’s where they can talk over each other without getting dirty looks. The Israelis living in the Bay Area don’t rule out moving back someday—even Raccah, who moved to the area in 2001.

“We find it harder to adapt here, to say ‘I’m American,’” Raccah says. “We’ve been so indoctrinated. I’m Israeli. I want my kids to go to the army. I want to see my family every week. I want to joke in Hebrew. That’s the stuff that we miss.”

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Business Business executive shares his motivational “Rules” to get on top Rule #1 - Don’t Be #2—You Get What You Work For, Not What You Wish For ISBN 978-1-947165-03-8, 2017 Hardcover ($19.99) e-book and paperback, 236 pages

T

hink of all of the people with whom you work or interact on a regular basis. Have you ever met Mr. Negative, The Critic or The Victim? You’re probably picturing one of these folks right now.

You’ll find them everywhere, in meetings torpedoing the most innovative ideas or holding court around the office water cooler. Hopefully, you will never see one in the mirror.

In a new book Rule #1 Don’t Be #2— You Get What You Work For, Not What You Wish For author Dan Milstein discusses the importance of doing everything you can to avoid negative people. “Pessimists spread negativity like the flu, and you

must limit exposure. The risk in listening to naysayers is that your own thoughts might begin to echo what they’re saying.

They have the power to adversely affect not only your outlook, but your company’s culture, reputation, and bottom line,” says Milstein.

Best-selling author, motivational speaker and business executive Dan Milstein has written this book to help people reach their highest potential.

A man known for motivating others and overcoming his own challenges to create the Gold Star Family of Companies, specializing in financial services, sports management, publishing and film production, and also the nation’s #1 mortgage lender, shares what has inspired him and how he inspires others in Rule #1 Don’t Be #2—You Get What You Work For, Not What You Wish For. Known for his own strong work ethic

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and “don’t-quit” attitude, Milstein lays out 25 Rules for how he got where he is. It’s not a soothing book of inspiration; instead it’s a motivational how-to that can propel readers from mediocre to the top of their field.

“While you’re asking whether the glass is half empty or half full, I’ve sold it,” says Milstein in his book. Mincing no words, Milstein’s chapters, titled: “Get Off the Couch,” “Failure is Your Best Teacher” and “You Can’t Stop Believing” mix an inspiring, motivational approach with his “no holds barred” work ethic.

Milstein believes no dream is too big, but he reminds readers that it’s not dreaming, but hard work and dedicated planning, that will get them where they want to go.

“By the time they have a solid ‘career,’ 97 percent of the people who have a dream will have ‘settled’ into a life of the mundane,” says Milstein in the prologue. “Only three percent of those who dreamed of pursuing their passion will be successful. What’s different about this three percent? I can tell you they weren’t born with silver spoons, and they weren’t simply luckier than the rest.”

Milstein knows something about hard work. He came to the United States at the age of 16, with only 17 cents in his pocket, when his parents fled the anti-Semitic and political persecution in Russia.

Having survived that and the Chernobyl disaster, Milstein’s biggest problem in the U.S. was learning how to navigate in high school where he didn’t speak the language. Wanting more in life and with an immigrant’s vision uncolored by entitlement, he found a job at McDonald’s and worked full time, sandwiching high school in between two shifts. The job taught him a strong work ethic that has stayed with him.

It sustained him while 62% of his industry’s competition was crashing down around him during the recession. He talks about it in his book:

“During that time, I called a company-wide meeting, and looking at the sagging shoulders and somber expressions of my people, I realized I was about to give the most important speech of my career.

I announced in a clear, strong voice that Gold Star would NOT be participating in the world’s recession. I went on to assure them that although many of their spouses and family members had lost jobs, theirs would be secure with Gold Star. I vowed that we would emerge from these trying times stronger than ever— and explained how we were going to capitalize on the recession as the platform for our growth strategy.”

That year they opened a number of branches, recruited the industry’s top talent, and significantly expanded their national footprint, growing by more than 700%. This expansion named Gold Star to the Inc. 500’s fastest growing companies in the United States. The growth was sustainable. Their business doubled the following year.

Milstein has filled the book with stories of people who are successful and have inspired him: athletes, inventors, mothers, and survivors. It’s a collage of people who have overcome great odds to realize their goals.

Even though many would consider Milstein to be at the top of his career today, he says that he never thinks of himself as successful. He is constantly working hard, striving to remain independent and always achieving. Anyone, he says, can make it. “No one is born successful. Success or failure is only determined by where you stop.”

Whether a business person looking for self-improvement, a recent college graduate entering the work world for the first time, or a person who is fed up with their current job and looking to make a change, this book is applicable. Prepare to be inspired.

it’s a wrap ​Sukkot at the Talbot​with BINA

S

Andie Pollock

ome residents of the retirement community at Talbot on Granby enjoyed a Sukkot celebration with BINA High School students during the High Holiday season.

BINA’s Chesed heads, Tye Hilel and Simi Wilson, planned an entertaining evening for their first visit with this vibrant group of women. The girls performed a skit and sang a few songs, laughing their way through much Wilson and Philyss Chernitzer schmoozing of the performance, which Simi while making their lulav and esrog cookies. made the residents laugh along with them. It wasn’t long before walkers were tossed aside so that their new “older” friends could demonstrate the steps to the Hora.

Next on the agenda was decorating cookies with lulav (green sour sticks) and esrog (yellow Jordan almonds). While decorating the cookies, all enjoyed refreshments and getting to know each other. BINA girls were enrapt with the Shirley Lipman showis some of the BINA girls stories that were told about how to dance the Hora. years gone by.

Jackie Richels helped make this evening a success for the young and old alike.

Education Coming Dec. 18 To advertise call 757.965.6100 or email news@ujft.org Ad deadline Dec. 1

jewishnewsva.org | November 20, 2017 | Jewish News | 21

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Challah Bake 2017

I

n a delightfully busy night filled with flour and community, 150 women gathered to mix, knead, and braid at Tidewater’s 3rd Annual Great Big Challah Bake.

Held on Thursday, Oct. 26 at the Reba and Sam Sandler Family Campus, the women-only event offered the opportunity to learn and experience the mitzvah of making challah and share in the joy of the ritual.

From varied backgrounds, the attendees were school-aged to seniors, religiously observant and secular, affiliated and unaffiliated, experienced challah makers and newcomers—friends, sisters, mothers, daughters, and grandmothers.

“I have made challah hundreds of times over the years in my own kitchen,” says Lisa Rosenbach, “but being in a room with 150 other women all making challah together as a community to enjoy on Shabbat was an incredibly moving experience.”

The suggested donation for Challah Bake was $5 per person, which helped cover the cost of the kosher ingredients.

Participants went home with at least two challahs, their plastic kneading bowl, instructions for baking their bread for Shabbat, the recipe to continue baking challah in the future, and memories of a truly unique and fun experience.

At “intermission” guests heard personal stories about the meaning of Shabbat, as well as beautiful violin music played by Leah Greenwald during which time the dough rose. The women then returned to knead their dough so they could manipulate it. They pinched, rolled, and braided the dough into beautiful braids of all skill levels.

The evening ended with approximately 200 pounds of flour, 50 pounds of sugar, 200 eggs, gallons of oil and water used to make more than 200 challahs to bake for Shabbat.

Chaired by Darcy Bloch and Mindy Rubenstein, the Jewish Life and Learning

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Shirel Suissa, Sima Wilson, Shifra Chana Harpaz, Minna Haber, Chava Harpaz, and Mattie Lefcoe.

department of the Simon Family JCC provided funding and organizational support for the event.

The Great Big Challah Bake is held in hundreds of communities and cities around the world each year; tens of thousands of women participate.

It’s a lead up to an even larger global Lisa Rosenbach, Jody Laibstain, and Rosanne Simon. observation, held this year, October 27 - 28, sponsored and promoted by The Shabbos Project, a South Africanbased non-profit. Locally, B’nai Israel Congregation hosted events for the observation, also known as the Shabbat Project.

“Knowing that women all over the world were also getting together as one community made it even more special,” Rosenbach says.

Lonnie McLeod.

it’s a wrap

The Janet Gordon Annual Mah Jongg Day: Playing with a purpose Marcia Brodie

I

n 2010, the Janet Gordon Mah Jongg Tournament began as a tribute to Janet Gordon and as a way to raise funds for Beth Sholom Village, the community’s only Jewish skilled nursing, rehab, and assisted living facility. Seven years later, it is still that and so much more.

Stephanie Calliott, Shelly Sloan, Babbi Bangel, and Denise Goldwasser.

This year’s event featured some obvious differences from previous years: it took place on a Sunday instead of a weekday; it was more of a day of play than a tournament; and brunch was served, not lunch. These small changes yielded a big impact, with significant dollars raised.

Fifteen new players attended this year’s event—with several of those women visiting Beth Sholom Village for the first time. Debbie Patish Smith, one of the new players, says that she watched her mom playing while she was growing up. Smith says she loved the sound of the tiles clacking together and players calling out, “Bam,” “Crack” and “Dot.” Smith did not take up Mah Jongg until recently when her sisterin-law, Dana Patish encouraged her to attend the Mah jongg classes, which were informal and included adult beverages,

snacks, and new friends. She says that it was fun to sit around a table with other women and chat and Stuart Nachman, president of BSV welcomes guests. soufflé, more creative and delicious dishes play. “We get caught up with our phones, included salmon with Abie Washington’s and other devices. This was a great distracsecret seasonings that accompanied a tion,” she says. fresh salad full of greens. The pumpkin The theme, Year of the Rooster, was spice cupcake dessert was the show stopa creative masterpiece designed by Kim per with its sweet cream cheese topping Nolette. Colorful rooster paintings and made by Jackie, the Village baker. decorations adorned the tables and hung BSV’s outstanding committee of volfrom the ceilings, creating a warm and welunteers is already working on next year’s coming atmosphere. Beth Sholom residents event. While changes are anticipated to helped make the cutting board design as accomodate everyone, the main theme of a give-away to each player. Paintings by playing with a purpose will remain. residents were raffled as prizes.

The “bruncheon” food was an abso—Beth Sholom Village is a constituent lute standout this year. In addition to agency of United Jewish Federation of Tidewater. traditional menu items such as sweet egg

jewishnewsva.org | November 20, 2017 | Jewish News | 23

what’s happening Leon Family Gallery Sandler Family Campus

Super Sunday committee members consider the source of their activism Sunday, Jan. 28, 2018

JDC exhibit, Repairing the World: Frame by Frame A photographic window into Jewish life around the world December

I

nspired by a group of philanthropists who traveled around the world photographing Jewish communities and individuals helped by JDC, the Repairing the World: Frame by Frame exhibit that hung in the office of the Consulate General of the Republic of Poland in May of 2016, makes its way to the Simon Family JCC’s Leon Family Gallery. The exhibit is comprised of work by Israeli and American photographers known as JDOCU who learn, travel, and document the JDC’s work around the world. Members of the group speak about “using the camera as a tool” to highlight acts of Chessed and Tikkun Olam. Their photographs bring these acts to life, frame by frame, strengthening JDC’s resolve to “be in the picture.”

The American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee (JDC) is the world’s leading Jewish humanitarian organization, operating in more than 70 countries and helping Jews and others in need to survive and strengthen community. Today, JDC works to save the world’s poorest Jews, revitalize Jewish life, empower Israel’s future, and rescue victims of global emergencies.

United Jewish Federation of Tidewater works to meet the challenges facing today’s Jewish community at home and around the world, through a network of local Jewish agencies and overseas service partners, including the JDC. Proceeds from the sales of the Repairing the World exhibit go to JDC, supporting hunger relief in the FSU. For information about the Leon Family Gallery and other upcoming exhibits, contact Erin Dougherty, Simon Family JCC cultural arts director, at EDougherty@simonfamilyjcc.org or 321-2341.

Investments Coming Jan. 22

To advertise call 757.965.6100 or email news@ujft.org Ad deadline Jan. 5

24 | Jewish News | November 20, 2017 | jewishnewsva.org

Super Sunday committee.

N

ine young Jewish professionals have come together to form the Super Sunday Steering Committee to help develop and plan the United Jewish Federation of Tidewater’s phone-a-thon.

The committee has chosen a theme based on the popular board game, Scrabble, to answer how each person in the Tidewater Jewish community defines their own sense of community. ‘How Do You Spell Community?’ will create an opportunity for Tidewater Jews to learn what the Federation offers and to share opinions of what being in the community means.

During a recent committee meeting, members were asked what led them to be active within the Federation and be involved in Super Sunday. Many say they believe that the Federation is a source of communal support for the local Jewish community and overseas agencies that need help. Committee members who grew up in Tidewater such as Melissa Eichelbaum, Jeremy Krupnick, Erin Stockburger, and Seth White know that giving back to the community that provided them with Jewish experiences was vital to the continued cycle of Jewish life in Tidewater.

Although Eichelbaum has been aware of the Federation from an early age, she “felt that [joining] was a way into learning what it means to be a part of the Tidewater

Jewish community” as an adult. Following in the footsteps of past Super Sunday committee members, this group of bright, young individuals will help set the tone of Jewish interaction in Tidewater.

Being a part of the committee, according to Alex Gottschalk, will allow members to develop relationships within the community that will help maintain Jewish connectivity. Krupnick, who serves as chair, wants Super Sunday to be the big community event that it used to be when he was a child that draws people of all ages into getting involved. He says he is “excited to be bringing some new and innovative ideas to this year’s event” that will invigorate people into talking about what the Jewish community means to them. White is looking forward to this Super Sunday where the committee has “come together to set up a day of fun and celebration around the central Jewish pillars of tikun olum and tzedakah.”

Eric Miller, vice-chair, knows that his time in the committee will provide a chance to “have conversations with people in the community about why [he] got involved” that will help him relate to others’ sense of community.

Stockburger says that it will be her “responsibility to encourage an environment that reflects unity within our community.”

what’s happening Reflections on Israel

Kabbalah classes presented by the Norfolk Kollel

Monday, Dec. 4, 4 pm, Dreyfus Auditorium, Cape Henry Collegiate

Afternoon and evening options available Tuesdays, Dec. 5, Dec. 12, Dec. 19, Jan. 16, Jan. 23, 7:30 pm Wednesdays, Nov. 29, Dec. 6, Dec. 13, Dec. 20, Jan. 10, Jan. 17, 12:30 pm Rabbi Gavriel Rudin

S

ince its inception, the Norfolk Kollel has provided a variety of Torah classes and inspirational programs to the Jews of Tidewater. In the past year, they have teamed up with United Jewish Federation of Tidewater on multiple occasions, including on two Mussar series and by hosting Dr. Mark Goldfeder for three separate events about law and Israel.

In its newest project, the Norfolk Kollel is partnering with the Simon Family JCC to offer a series on Kabbalah. Kabbalah (literally: tradition) is a collection of ancient, mystical teachings that offer the deepest insights into the essence of God, His interaction with the world, and the purpose of creation. These mystical teachings have been passed down from teacher to student for thousands of years and are sometimes referred to as the soul of the Torah.

While Kabbalah can initially appear esoteric or abstract, a proper understanding of Kabbalistic texts leads to eye-opening lessons. As with many classic Jewish texts, Kabbalah is just as applicable today as ever. This series aims to analyze these ancient teachings and explore how to relate these concepts today.

The series of six classes will run from late November until January with two options to attend; Tuesdays evenings or Wednesday afternoons. To RSVP or for more information about this series or about the Norfolk Kollel, email rabbirudin@norfolkkollel.com or call 757-386-3274.

T

he Community Relations Council of the United Jewish Federation of Tidewater and Cape Henry Collegiate are presenting Reflections on Israel, a talk by Karen Mason, an eighth grade history teacher, about her recent trip to Israel.

Mason was one of 12 educators from across Virginia who traveled to Israel in August seeking knowledge, perspective, and a greater awareness to take back to colleagues and the classroom, in order to provide students a more thorough understanding of Israel today.

This 30-minute presentation, which is open to the public, will include an opportunity for questions and discussion. Cape Henry Collegiate is located at 1320 Mill Dam Road in Virginia Beach.

Contact Melissa Eichelbaum, CRC program associate, with questions or to RSVP, at MEichelbaum@ujft.org or 757-321-2304.

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what’s happening

Calendar

Date with the State Tuesday, Jan. 30, 2018, 7 am–4 pm bus leaves from the Reba and Sam Sandler Family Campus

M

eet State Senator and Delegates, discuss issues that affect the Jewish community. The governor, lieutenant governor, and attorney general have all been invited on the date, too. Be there to meet them and make Tidewater’s Jewish voice heard. Cover all the topics that matter to the Jewish community: Health, social services, and community institutions serving the elderly and impoverished, the VirginiaIsrael Advisory Board and more. $36 per person covers kosher lunch and defrays cost of transportation.

Issue Selection Meeting Thursday, Jan. 11, 2018, 12:30 pm Reba and Sam Sandler Family Campus

Help choose which issues are taken to Richmond. Review issues that are important to the Jewish community, in

planning the legislative agenda for discussion with state legislators at the annual Date With the State on January 30. Past issues have included support for local agencies including Jewish Family Service and Beth Sholom Village, support for the Virginia-Israel Advisory Board, combating bias legislation, and more. Lunch will be served.

Insiders’ Briefing Thursday, Jan. 25, 6:30 pm Reba and Sam Sandler Family Campus Essential for all Advocacy Day attendees.

This meeting provides all attendees with detailed talking points on the issues and lobbying tips.

For information, contact Wendy Weissman, assistant CRC director at 757-965-6107 or WWeissman@ujft.org.

December 3, Sunday BINA’s Gift Bazaar at 420 Spotswood Avenue, Norfolk. Vendors and craft booths. Variety of gift items, kids’ items, jewelry, and more. A generous portion of the proceeds will be donated to BINA High School. 11 am–4 pm.

Brith Sholom’s regular members meeting at 11 am, preceded by board meeting at 10 am. Held at Beth Sholom Village in the Pincus-Paul Hall. Meeting followed by a deluxe Kosher Brunch at noon with speaker Master Sargent David Niver from Virginia Beach Police Dept. He will speak on safety and crime prevention for seniors. $3 for members ($5 at the door); $10 for guests; and free if exploring possible membership. Contact LeeAnne Mallory, secretary at 757-461-1150 or email Brith.sholom1@hrcoxmail.com for information.

December 31, Sunday Brith Sholom Annual New Year’s Eve Extravaganza at Beth Sholom Village at 6 pm (pictures at 5:30 pm). The evening will be special this year, with the addition of a non-alcohol cocktail time and dessert table. Other features include a photo booth, dancing, live entertainment by Fond Memories, hats, and party favors. Closing the evening with a non-alcohol toast. $25 per couple or $12.50 per member; $45 a couple or $25 per person, for guests. Call LeeAnne Mallory at 757-461-1150 or email at Brith.Sholom1@hrcoxmail.com for the menu or for joining information.

January 11, Thursday Help choose which issues the CRC takes to Richmond for Virginia Jewish Advocacy Day on Jan. 30. Past issues have included support for local agencies, support for the VirginiaIsrael Advisory Board, combating bias legislation and more. To RSVP (required) for this 12:30 pm lunch meeting that will take place at the Reba and Sam Sandler Family Campus, or for more details, contact, Wendy Weissman, assistant CRC director at 757-965-6107 or WWeissman@ujft.org.

January 30, Tuesday The Community Relations Council of the United Jewish Federation of Tidewater travels to Richmond for the annual Virginia Jewish Advocacy Day. 7 am–4pm; leaving from the Reba and Sam Sandler Family Campus. $36 includes kosher lunch and helps defray the cost of transportation. For more information about how to join this year’s delegation, or to RSVP (required) by January 25, visit www.JewishVa.org/CRCDateWiththeState or WWeissman@ ujft.org.

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

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

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what’s happening Leon Family Gallery—Hipstory

World leaders and cultural icons revamped as hipsters Israeli artist Amit Shimoni gives political and cultural figures fashionable facelifts for free.

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mit Shimoni has done the impossible. This Israeli designer-illustrator is making people smile when they see politicians.

Shimoni, 29, is the artist behind Hipstory, an illustrated series that depicts world leaders as hipsters and fashionistas—from Hillary Clinton to Theodor Herzl, Barack Obama to George Washington, David BenGurion to Angela Merkel, Donald Trump to Vladimir Putin, Nelson Mandela to Mao Zedong.

Formal suits and ties are replaced with tank tops, denim, studded vests, and Hawaiian shirts.

“Part of the purpose in drawing them like this was to make people look at these leaders and smile,” Shimoni tells ISRAEL21c from his Tel Aviv studio. “I want people to reflect on our leaders, our society and ourselves.”

One of Nelson Mandela’s grandchildren wrote to Shimoni that he loved the way the Israeli designer-illustrator drew his grandfather, sporting a flattop hairstyle and a tropical-print bomber jacket.

“That was cool to hear his family liked it,” Shimoni says. “My project is not about making fun of the leaders but rather instigating a conversation about our society.”

His drawings grace the walls of local bars and homes, and appear on coasters, pillowcases, coffee mugs, smartphone skins and keychains.

Earlier this year, Laurence King Publishing released a book of 20 Shimoni postcards accompanied by made-up cheeky bios written by London-based writer Stephen Ellcock, Hipstory: Why be a World Leader

When You Could be a Hipster?

“The texts are very funny and they give a new meaning to the illustrations,” Shimoni tells ISRAEL21c.

Shimoni tells ISRAEL21c that he had just uploaded a drawing of David Ben-Gurion to his Facebook page—to see what his friends thought of his idea to base his graduate

project on the first Israeli prime minister in modern-day style—when someone who resembled the visionary behind modern Zionism appeared on his Facebook feed.

“I saw someone who looked just like Herzl; it was unbelievable,” he says. “And then I started thinking about a modern Herzl hipster. And from there I moved to Moshe Dayan and Golda Meir. The project eventually turned into 12 Israeli faces.”

Meant to be a final art-school project at the prestigious Bezalel Academy of Arts and Design in Jerusalem, this was actually the beginning of Shimoni’s career.

Everyone who saw the illustrations of Ben-Gurion in a pink button-down pineapple shirt, Herzl sporting an earring and a wave in his hair, Rabbi Ovadia Yosef in a colorful bohemian shirt, and Shimon Peres in a yellow hoodie, wanted more.

So, Shimoni decided to dress up other world leaders in an “attempt to create new and altered portraits of iconic figures of the 20th century, by placing them in different time and culture.”

A wave of requests For International Women’s Day in March 2015, Shimoni released a new version of the series—called Shepstory, a contraction of “she” and “Hipstory”—featuring female world leaders including Hillary Clinton, Angela Merkel, Margaret Thatcher, Golda Meir and Queen Elizabeth II.

Starting in Israel Although starting in a small country with a limited audience can be difficult for new artists, Shimoni says Israel was exactly the right place for him to launch.

“The interaction in Israel is very personal. People want to be friends here, so people told me what they think and I got important feedback,” he says about his early drawings.

Shimoni grew up in Kfar Sirkin, Sirkin, a moshav in central Israel near Petah Tikva, completed his college studies in Jerusalem, and now lives in Tel Aviv with his wife and

their dog.

Shimoni says he regularly hears from art museums and design stores about how much people like his illustrations.

Many teachers tell him that they use his illustrations in their history classes.

David Ben-Gurion by Amit Shimoni

Printed with permission from the writer.

Article originally posted on Israel21c (an online resource) on March 29, 2017. To read the full article, go to Israel21c.org.

All works at the Simon Family JCC’s Leon

Family Gallery are available for purchase with proceeds benefitting the cultural arts department of the Simon Family JCC.

Employment Oppor tunity Director of Summer Day Camp & Children/Family Programming Seeking an energetic, organized, and articulate individual with excellent people skills to oversee and coordinate the Summer Camp and Children/Family Programs at the UJFT/Simon Family JCC. Independent judgment, initiative, and creative program planning skills required.

The ideal candidate enjoys interacting with children and is dedicated to promoting an appreciation for Jewish culture and values. Must be proficient in preparing yearly budgets, maintaining fiscal responsibility, and administrative management with willingness to work evenings, weekends, and holidays.

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

Equal Employment Opportunity

jewishnewsva.org | November 20, 2017 | Jewish News | 27

obituaries Gayle R. Bennett Portsmouth— Gayle Rosenfeld Bennett, 74, passed away Wednesday, Nov. 1, 2017.

She was born in Nashville, Tenn. to the late Robert and Thelma Rosenfeld.

She was a retired nuclear medicine tech at Maryview Hospital.

She is survived by her son, Garrison S. Bennett and wife Anita; a sister, Susan R. Welsby and husband Jack; a brother, Irvin H. Rosenfeld and wife Debra; and three grandchildren, Taylor, Laurel, and James.

A graveside service was held at Olive Branch Cemetery by Rabbi Jeffrey Arnowitz. Memorial donations to the American Cancer Society. www.SturtevantFuneralHome.com.

Evelyn S. Eisenberg Norfolk—Evelyn Schreiber Eisenberg, 93, passed away November 5, 2017 in Columbia, Md. A native of Norfolk, Va. she was the daughter of the late Nathan Schreiber and Mary Fleder Schreiber and was the widow of Ezra Eisenberg.

She was a graduate of Maury High School Class of 42 and was a member of Temple Israel and its sisterhood in Norfolk. She also was a previous member of Beth El Synagogue in Durham, N.C., where she was active in the Sisterhood and was also a life member of Hadassah.

She and Ezra owned a ladies clothing store (Sharyn Lynn Shoppe) in Durham and Chapel Hill and later, The Card and Gift Shop in Chapel Hill.

She loved and lived for her family and was always the doting mother,

grandmother, and great grandmother. She is survived by her three daughters Sharyn Wallace (Joe) of Israel, Carole Nathan (Robert) of Columbia, Md., and Marti Nicolaysen (Laurence) of Raleigh, N.C.; her son Stanley Eisenberg (Cindy) of Atlanta, Ga.; 14 grandchildren; 11½ great grandchildren; and numerous nieces, nephews, and cousins.

Funeral services were held in the Norfolk Chapel of H.D. Oliver Funeral Apts. with Rabbi Michael Panitz officiating. Burial followed at Forest Lawn Cemetery.

Memorial donations may be made to Temple Israel, any breast cancer organization, or a charity of donor’s choice. Online condolences may be offered to the family at hdoliver.com.

Willard Longman Norfolk—Willard Longman passed away peacefully on Nov. 3, 2017 after a long battle with Parkinson’s disease.

He was predeceased by his first wife Joyce, second wife Delores, and sister Ruth. He is survived by sons Jason and Michael Longman, daughter Barbara Sumey, life companion Linda Small, and brothers Bruce, Norman, and Eddie.

Willard was born Dec. 17, 1931 in Norfolk.

Willard was a graduate of Maury High School and attended Johnson and Wales University. He owned the Derby Bar & Grill in South Norfolk and Sandbar Restaurant in Ocean View. Willard was the head chef of the Sandbar and loved to cook delicious steaks, seafood, and Italian meals for his patrons. He was very kind

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to his customers and would always lend a helping hand or an ear to anyone in need.

He also became a competitive billiard player while running the bar and enjoyed playing in the Southern Amusement Pool League with his son Jason. He enjoyed hunting and fishing with good friend Billy Small and his son Michael. Willard, known to close friends as Willie, had a big heart and loved spending time with family and friends by whom he will be deeply missed.

Condolences may be left for the family at www.altmeyerfh.com.

A graveside service with Rabbi Israel Zoberman officiating, took place at Woodlawn Memorial Gardens. Altmeyer Funeral Homes.

Jerome L. Massey, Lt. Col. USAR (Retired) Fairfax, Va.—Jerome L. Massey of Fairfax died on October 17, 2017 at Fair Oaks Hospital in Oakton, Va. He was 95 years old and was born on July 27, 1922 in Norfolk to Louis E. Massey and Molly Leibowitz Massey Hecht. He fought in World War II as an engineer and firefighter. In 1945 he married the love of his life, Bernice Siegel Massey. They were married almost 69 years. When she passed away (2014), he almost died from heartache, but he lived on for his children, grandchildren, and great grandchildren for three more years.

While in the army, he helped design and test shoes for military combat boots and special shoes worn on aircraft carriers. He invented a way to allow doctors and nurses into operating theaters while keeping others out by putting a special plate in their shoes. This technology was used in various military hospitals. He also designed shoes worn by women in the armed forces.

He was an entrepreneur in the retail shoe industry. Jerome and Bernice owned a ladies shoe store in Northern Virginia, then switched to men’s shoes. They opened Massey’s Johnston and Murphy Shop in Washington, DC in 1975. It became a renowned men’s retail store catering to Congressmen, Supreme Court Justices, and Presidents at that time.

As time passed, Jerome and Bernice

helped start two synagogues in Virginia.

The first, Arlington Fairfax Jewish Community Center. Jerry helped build the stage in a new design of that building.

Then several years later, they became charter members of Congregation Olam Tikvah in Fairfax. Jerry built many changes to their first building. When Olam Tikvah’s first rabbi arrived from South Africa in 1966, they opened their home to Rabbi Klirs as he needed a kosher home to live in until his family could join him.

He is survived by four children, Ruth Leichter (Harry) of Grand Forks, N.D.; Hedy Osmunson (Lorene) of Virginia Beach; Harriet Van de Riet (Jack) of Fairfax; and Mark Massey (Kathy) of Falls Church. He is also survived by eight grandchildren and 15 great grandchildren.

Donations to Olam Tikvah in Fairfax or Kehillat Bet Hamidrash in Virginia Beach.

Tzipora Jochsberger, Holocaust survivor who founded the Kaufman Music Center in NY (JTA)—Tzipora Jochsberger, founder of the Kaufman Music Center in New York and a director of the Rubin Academy for Music and Dance in Israel, has died.

Jochsberger, a composer, musicologist and educator who survived the Holocaust due to her musical abilities, died Oct. 29 in Jerusalem at 96, the Kaufman Music Center announced.

Lydia Kontos, who succeeded Jochsberger as the center’s executive director in 1985, announced the death.

“Working with Tzipora taught me to believe that anything is possible if you have a mission to which you are committed,” Kontos said.

Jochsberger was born in Germany in 1920, studied music from the age of eight, and in 1934 entered the Jewish Teachers’ Seminary in Wüerzberg—one of the few schools of higher learning available to Jews in Germany at the time. In 1939 she left Nazi Germany to accept an invitation from the Palestine Academy of Music to study in Jerusalem. Her parents stayed behind and were later deported to Auschwitz, where they died. Jewish

obituaries Women’s Archive described her acceptance to the Palestine Academy as “good fortune that ultimately saved her life.”

She graduated in 1942 with a diploma from the Palestine Academy of Music, and another from the Music Teachers’ Seminary in Jerusalem. She earned a master’s degree in 1956 and a doctorate in 1972 in sacred music from the Jewish Theological Seminary in New York.

In the 1940s, Jochsberger built a music program for Arab girls at the Women’s Teachers’ Seminary for Arab Girls in the British Mandate of Palestine. In 1947 she was elected a director of the New Jerusalem Conservatory and Academy of Music, later known as the Rubin Academy, where she ran the school’s music program. Now known as the Jerusalem Academy of Music it is located on the Givat Ram campus of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.

She left Israel for the United States in 1950 with the assistance of the Culture Department of the Jewish Agency in New York, where she planned to use music to strengthen Jewish identity.

She founded The Hebrew Arts School in 1952 with 16 students in two borrowed classrooms at the Ramaz School with assistance from Moshe Davis, provost of the Jewish Theological Seminary and president of the Hebrew Arts Foundation.

The school doubled in size in the first two years, and as the Kaufman Music Center has become a major city institution, Khousing the Merkin Concert Hall, a community arts school and a New York City public school for musically gifted children. She served as the head of the center for 33 years until her retirement

in 1985.

After her retirement, Jochsberger returned to Israel and founded the Israel Music Heritage Project, which produced the 10-part, award-winning video series A People and its Music illustrating the music and lifestyles of Jewish communities in Israel.

Jochsberger, who lost most of her family in the Holocaust and never married, wrote music that has been performed in Israel and the U.S., including Jewish choral works, as well as music for piano, recorder, violin, chamber music ensembles and music for children.

Rabbi Giuseppe Laras, a leader of postwar Italian Judaism ROME (JTA)—Rabbi Giuseppe Laras, a leading figure in postwar Italian Judaism, has died.

A child survivor of the Holocaust, Laras died Wednesday, Nov. 15 at 82.

He had served from 1980 to 2005 as the chief rabbi of Milan and was the president emeritas of the Italian Rabbinical Assembly.

In an essay prepared for release on his death and published on the Milan Jewish community news website, Laras warned that Italian Jewry is in crisis and needed a “new architecture” to face upcoming challenges. He lamented the “high level” of discord and resentment among Italian Jews, calling it “our great failure.”

Laras also noted alienation from Jewish religious observance and institutions, and deep psychological, economic and other difficulties among community members.

“Many of our families are poor or

This new center helps Jews trace their ancestry (JTA)—The rich history of New England’s Jews now has an official address.

On Wednesday,Nov. 15, the New England Historic Genealogical Society

in great difficulty; many young couples do not have incomes that allow them to forge a Jewish future,” he wrote. “Many single people are abandoned; very many are ignorant of the basic ideas of Judaism and feel rejected—right or wrong—by our institutions.

“Many families have well-known problems linked to mixed marriages; many young people leave Italy because there are no jobs here. The challenge is enormous and, like it or not, we are to take it up: I urge those in roles of responsibility not to delay, and to have courage, even if they do not feel up to the task or feel oppressed by it.”

Laras said he was certain that “with tenacity,” Italian Jews would be able to cope.

Italy’s Jewish community numbers some 25,000 to 30,000. Milan, with around 7,000, has the second largest community after Rome, which is home to about half of Italy’s Jews.

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it’s a wrap Dr. Mark Goldfeder visits Sandler Family Campus for a trio of events Wendy Weissman

T

he Norfolk Kollel, in partnership with United Jewish Federation of Tidewater’s Community Relations Council and Society of Professionals, hosted Dr. Mark Goldfeder for a series of events on October 17 at the Simon Family JCC on the Reba and Sam Sandler Family Campus.

Goldfeder, a senior fellow and project director at the Center for the Study of Law and Religion at Emory University and an ordained rabbi, taught a Continuing Legal Education class for attorneys, Secular Law v. Halacha: A Comparative Approach.

In some areas of Jewish law, it is required that secular law must not be broken. Goldfeder discussed how secular courts reprimanded individuals who used

Jewish law as a defense for their actions and accused them of deliberately misinterpreting Jewish law.

At UJFT’s Society of Professionals’ Conversations Series, Goldfeder spoke about his work as a member of American Center for Law and Justice (ACLJ) to combat anti-Semitism and anti-Israel activities, particularly on college campuses. He urged any lawyer that wants to help ACLJ or other similar organizations to volunteer.

The day concluded with a standing-room only discussion about Israel’s relationship with the United Nations and legal aspects of anti-BDS (Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions) bills.

Goldfeder noted that the UN and some of its committees have shown tremendous bias against Israel by condemning it more

than any other country or organization.

Goldfeder provided significant context on a variety of issues with his audiences gaining a deeper understanding about Israel, Jewish law, and how everyone can assist with preventing anti-Semitism and anti-Israel sentiments.

“Judaism is as much about law as it is spirituality. Perhaps this accounts for

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it’s a wrap First person

Bruce Smith made a great impression on everyone…including me Joel Rubin

Thank you Harry Minium.

On July 1, the topic of Minium’s column in the Virginian-Pilot sports section was a life-altering trip to Israel in June by one of Tidewater’s most renowned athletes and residents, NFL Pro Football Hall of Famer Bruce Smith.

On Monday, Oct. 30, Smith spoke about his trip at the Sandler Family Campus.

Ironically the pilgrimage to the Holy Land that Smith took along with 17 other NFL veterans at the invitation of New England Patriots’ owner Robert Kraft was not unknown to several millennial Jews in Tidewater. They spied the entourage while they were in Israel on UJFT’s Tom Hofheimer Young Leadership Mission, and even snapped some pictures with the group.

But the Tidewater travelers did not realize the full extent of the Hall of Famers’ eight-day journey, which included stops at Yad Vashem and the Kotel, Tel Aviv and Masada, the Dead Sea and the Jordan River. It was there, as more than 200 people witnessed in a video clip shown during the program in the Simon Family JCC gymnasium, that many of the players, most of them African American, received the baptism of a lifetime. They also visited

Joel Rubin and Bruce Smith at the Simon Family JCC.

Bethlehem and the Church of the Sepulchre, seeing for the first time where Jesus was born and died.

Emotional for them? Yes. But also for the rest of the audience, which was a patchwork of Jews and Christians, whites and blacks.

And speaking of the latter, Football players from Booker T. Washington High School the football surprise Bruce Smith at the Simon Family JCC. its well-reported health challenges, and team from Smith’s Norfolk alma mater, to address the players in his response.

Booker T. Washington High School, surHe advised them to secure their helprised him at the event. When the 32 mets properly, but also to be as good off players and five coaches burst through a the field as on. They were listening, as banner and into the gymnasium, Smith’s were the adults in the other seats, who face broke out in a grin, and I brought him responded with a standing ovation when down from the stage onto the floor to high I called it a night. five the kids for whom Smith is not just Smith, who called his week and a a football, but also a personal, idol. (See day in Israel a “highlight of his life,” was accompanying article.) effusive in his praise of Robert Kraft, who As the hour of Q&A was coming to brought the vets to Israel to dedicate a new an end, I asked the Virginia Tech grad football stadium there named for Kraft’s to talk about the state of football and late wife. As they departed the Jewish state, Kraft urged the former players, which included the likes of Jim Brown, Joe Montana, Roger Staubach, and “Mean” Joe Greene, to tell the people back home what they experienced.

On October 30, and in Harry Minium’s article, that’s just what Bruce Smith did.

And we’re all the better for it.

NFL Hall of Famer Bruce Smith gets surprise at Touchdown Israel

T

he Booker T. Washington High School Varsity Football team, coaches, and athletic director surprised one of their own, NFL Hall of Famer Bruce Smith when they showed up at the Sandler Family Campus on Monday, Oct. 30 to learn about Smith’s recent trip to Israel.

Smith connected with the team throughout the night, and made a point to encourage them, as well as the audience, to broaden their worldview by traveling abroad, and especially to Israel.

“It’s a great honor to stand beside Bruce Smith and show our support for him. It’s been a great opportunity to expose the team to a different culture,” says Booker T. Washington football coach DJ Alexander.

At the event, Smith said that the trip was eye opening to see a place where Jews, Christians, and other faiths all exist peacefully. In addition, Smith shared how much he learned about the culture, that Israel is the epicenter of technological entrepreneurship, how honored he was to meet Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and experience coaching a young Israeli football team.

Smith said he has embraced the task bestowed upon the 18 NFL Hall of Famers by Prime Minister Netanyahu and Robert Kraft, as goodwill ambassadors to help promote not only the game of football in Israel, but also to share details of his amazing journey.

Touchdown Israel! offered an opportunity for Booker T. Washington students and coaches to hear first-hand how a trip to Israel became a life changing event, and for the Community Relations Council of the United Jewish Federation of Tidewater and Booker T’s Alexander to commit to continuing the connection that Smith brought together that evening.

jewishnewsva.org | November 20, 2017 | Jewish News | 31

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