Jewish News Women May 1, 2017

Celebrating Women and Mothers Day

Supplement to Jewish News May 1, 2017 jewishnewsva.org | May 1, 2017 | Women | Jewish News | 11

Women Dear Readers,

A

unt, grandmother, daughter, mother, niece, wife, sister, friend—these words describe just the basic everyday roles for women. Then, there’s executive, rabbi, attorney, doctor, chef, teacher, student, journalist, commander,

actor, therapist, designer, and so, so, much more. While that list is meant to highlight the myriad professions that women assume today, I bet that plenty of moms would argue that they engage in all of those roles as a mother! Just a guess.

And, so, less than two weeks from Mother’s Day, this feels like the perfect time for Jewish News to celebrate women.

Within these pages, three very different women are profiled.

Devorah Ben-David Elstein’s heart-felt tribute to Renee Heyman, the powerhouse behind Temple Emanuel’s Pink Tea, is equal parts inspirational and informational. A 42-year breast cancer survivor, Heyman died last year following a heart attack. Her story and her legacy are packed with important life lessons. Page 16.

United States Naval Cmdr. Elaine G. Luria is about to transition from 24 years of life in the U.S. Navy to civilian life in Tidewater. How many Jewish women do you

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know who have been responsible for operating naval ships? I know one. Elaine. The article about her retirement and Jewish life in the Navy begins on page 14.

Zoe Siegel’s story is really just beginning, and it’s off to an amazing start. As this

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young woman is about to graduate from New York University, she’s being honored with a prestigious Social Justice Award. A Tidewater native and Ohef Sholom Temple member, her commitment to helping others and paving the way for those who can’t do it for themselves, is remarkable. Her profile is on page 18.

Moving away from profiles….

What Jewish woman doesn’t have a thing or two to say about food? The article, “Stop telling your daughter she should eat less cream cheese” provides much food for thought.

“Honoring my mom with seven fabulous Yiddish words,” is an article that I’m certain many of us can relate to—if not the part about having a mom who spoke Yiddish, perhaps the value of that precious language, where words always seem to perfectly match the situation. Check it out on page 13.

Our advertisers offer plenty of options for celebrating Mother’s Day: places to dine out, help for dining in, great gift ideas, and ways to remain healthy, among others.

Best wishes for a Happy Mother’s Day on Sunday, May 14!

Terri Denison, Editor

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12 | Jewish News | Women | May 1, 2017 | jewishnewsva.org

Women Honoring my mom with seven fabulous Yiddish words Linda Pressman

(Kveller via JTA)—It’s 1968, or 1978, basically anytime I’m with my mom in her lifetime and we’re out in public.

Finicky about fabrics and proper attire, my mother always offered a choice opinion in Yiddish. If they don’t speak the language, no big deal, she just mutters her criticisms to me in that tongue under her breath, criticisms so precise that they take my breath away: someone’s dress is plotzing (too tight), or it’s ongepotchked (over-ornamented), or it’s just drek (junk).

We were an immigrant family, more immigrant in spirit when the first child was born and less so with each subsequent child until, by the time there were seven of us, my parents spoke English to their Yiddish-illiterate children.

Of course, they tried to speak Yiddish to me but, as an American-born child of the 1960s, I wasn’t listening.

I scorned Yiddish as the old country language used by my parents to keep secrets from me and as the language of a million uninteresting grown-up conversations. I couldn’t imagine why I’d be interested in Yiddish.

Of course, I changed my mind later, too late, long after my brain had frozen onto English. But I discovered something amazing and colorful, something I could not live without linguistically: Yiddish adjectives and exclamations, which describe characteristics and behaviors so well.

While English flails around, always somehow missing the mark, Yiddish nails it, just as my mother demonstrated so long ago. And this ability to get things “just right” has a Yiddish term—punkt.

In honor of my mom, and her

under-the-breath comments, here are seven of my favorite Yiddish words.

1. Drek—Garbage or substandard junk.

You can eat something and pronounce it drek, or you can buy something shoddily made and declare it drek. This one comes in handy.

2. Potchke—Fussing with, or messing with inexpertly. After being served this drek, you try to potchke it into something delicious but just end up making a mess of it. [poch-key]*

3. Goniff—the jerk who sold I you the drek—literally, a thief. A person who steals discovered you blind. A pronouncesomething ment on his soul for being a thief. [gah-niff] amazing and colorful, something 4. Ongeblozen—Full of him/herself, conI could not live ceited. You try to get without linguistically: your money back from the ongeblozen Yiddish adjectives goniff for the drek he sold you when you’re and exclamations, unable to potchke it which describe into something edible. [ung-eh-bluh-zen] characteristics and 5. Schlmozel—You for behaviors so being a hopeless dupe who well. got swindled by the ongeblozen goniff who sold you the drek. [shl-mah-zle] 6. Schpilkes—How you feel inside now with your guts churning after you were such a schlmozel for buying such drek from that ongeblozen goniff. [shpill-kiss] 7. Meshuganah—Crazy, insane. How you feel when you think about the ongeblozen goniff who gave you such schpilkes when he sold you the drek and made you into such a schlmozel. [mesh-u-gah-nah] I can’t live without these Yiddish words.

I’ve taught them to my children and to my Americanish Jewish husband. I’ve taught

them to my non-Jewish friends who are thrilled that they will never again have to futilely search English for a word that just doesn’t exist. Search no more. The word exists. It’s in Yiddish. *All pronunciations by author. Official

pronunciations at www.yivo.org.

—Linda Pressman is a freelance writer, editor, blogger, and speaker. She was the blog editor of Poetica Magazine and is the author of Looking Up: A Memoir of Sisters, Survivors and Skokie, which won the Grand Prize in the Writer’s Digest 20th Annual Book Contest.

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Terri Denison

U

nited States Naval Cmdr. Elaine Goodman Luria appears at ease when there’s a new adventure, opportunity, or challenge to be seized. Whether it is operating ships for the U.S. Navy, imagining, starting, and expanding a new business, or raising a family, Luria calmly and efficiently takes it all in stride.

While she doesn’t appear to make a big deal about it, this Jewish woman from Birmingham, Alabama was, until last month, responsible for approximately 400 personnel as a Surface Warfare Officer. On April 27, Luria was relieved as Commanding Officer of Assault Craft Unit Two in a ceremony held at Joint Expeditionary Base Little Creek-Fort Story. The ceremony marked the completion of a successful tour for Luria who served as the unit’s executive officer and commander from July 2014 through April 2017. The Change of Command also marked Luria’s retirement from the U.S. Navy after 20 years of service (24 years, when including her education at the U.S. Naval Academy).

Luria and her husband, Cmdr. (Ret.) Robert Blondin, who retired after 27 years of naval service, have lived in Norfolk since 2000. With three children: Chloe and Claiborne (who are adults) and Violette (who is in elementary school), the couple plans to remain here.

“This will be home,” says Luria. “We will stay here permanently. The community has so much to offer and we’ve developed lots of friendships over the years.”

Settling in Norfolk seems natural for Luria, because, as she notes, “my family has passed in and out of Norfolk since World War II when my grandmother’s sister was married to a Navy doctor stationed here.”

Although both of her grandfathers served in the Navy, that wasn’t her life plan until she attended U.S. Naval Academy Summer Science and Engineering

Commander Elaine Luria

Seminar, a high school program on the historic campus in Annapolis, Maryland.

Luria decided right then and there that a career in the Navy was for her. She applied—and naturally, she was accepted.

“I am proud to have taken the oath to serve our country when I was 17,” Luria says. In 1997, she graduated from the United States Naval Academy with a degree in physics and history.

Since then, her assignments have included five deployments to the Middle East, Mediterranean, and Western Pacific areas of operation and two assignments forward-deployed to Japan in USS O’Brien, USS Harry S. Truman, Commander, U.S. Seventh Fleet embarked in USS Blue Ridge, USS Mason, USS Enterprise, and as executive officer of the guided missile cruiser, USS Anzio.

Under Luria’s leadership, Assault Craft Unit Two supplied combat-ready landing craft in support of all amphibious forces on the East Coast, including five Amphibious Ready Group deployments to the Mediterranean and Middle East areas of operations, humanitarian assistance to Haiti during Hurricane Matthew relief,

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multi-national exercise Cold Response in Norway, and support for United States Marine Corps assets in Honduras and Panama.

Jewish and female in the U.S. Navy While there is a large Jewish community at the Naval Academy, Luria says that was not the case on the six ships on which she served. Not one to allow obstacles such as no nearby rabbi or no convenient source of Passover foods to interfere with plans, Luria managed several times to help coordinate Passover Seders and volunteered to serve as a lay leader.

“On the ships, we used a military version of the Jewish prayer book for services,” recalls Luria. “On Passover, we had Haggadahs and received care packages of matzo and gefilte fish and had the meal prepared as close as possible to what would be served at a Seder.”

When asked if it was difficult being female and Jewish in the U.S. Navy,

Luria’s response is without hesitation.

“I believe that over the decades, that the Navy has been a step ahead of society in terms of integration and acceptance,” she says. “The Navy embraces diversity.

I never felt that I was treated differently.”

Retirement and mermaids As Luria enters retirement, she’s moving full throttle into another sort of seabased adventure. This one, however, is not made of steel or based on foreign affairs, but rather on fantasy, city spirit, and creativity.

In 2013, she and her husband opened Mermaid Factory in Ghent. “A place to paint your own mermaid,” the couple had the idea for the shop, approached the city of Norfolk and obtained a license agreement. One stipulation of the agreement was that a portion of the cost of each mermaid be donated to organizations that support youth and the arts. ForKids, Norfolk Public library, and Chrysler

Museum are among the many recipients of the funds. Now, with an additional location at the Oceanfront, 10 employees, and more than 43,000 mermaids already painted, Luria says her focus will be Elaine Luria and Robert Blondin. to help grow the company, alongside her OST community and have felt welcomed,” husband and Chloe and Clairborne.

Luria says.

But, for Luria, there’s more than the “My mother was the president of Mermaid Factory on the horizon. For the local chapter of National Council example, she’s one of 25 enrolled in the of Jewish Women in Birmingham. Both University of Virginia Sorensen Institute my mom and grandmother were active Political Leader’s Program. in NCJW, Hadassah, and Sisterhood at And, she says she plans to get involved Temple Emanu-El in Birmingham, as in the Jewish community. well as with the Birmingham Jewish The first step on that journey was to Federation,” she says. join a temple. “We joined Ohef Sholom Now, she says it’s her turn to get active.

Temple and enrolled Violette in Religious School,” she says.

“We are very happy to have joined the

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Devorah Ben-David Elstein

W

hen Renee Heyman, founding mother of The Pink Tea Initiative at Temple Emanuel, invited Paula Krukin Levy to help her organize her first fundraiser in 2012, she had no way of knowing the event would outlive her.

A cancer survivor for 42 years, Heyman made a solemn vow to never let cancer get in the way of living her life.

“Renee was such a positive person,” says Joy Kaps, a member of the Pink Tea committee. “When life threw her a lemon, she just made lemonade and then invited the whole neighborhood over for a drink.”

Heyman credited her father, a radiologist, for saving her life. He advised they proceed with a treatment of combined chemotherapy and radiation to treat her massive tumor; a treatment unheard of in 1975.

In 1974, when Heyman was told she had breast cancer, a diagnosis of cancer was synonymous with a death sentence.

But she was convinced that her life was

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just beginning.

“My mother—and my family—believe that her diagnosis happened for a reason,” says daughter Joanne Heyman. “My mother started going to breast cancer support meetings and championed many worthy cancer causes as a volunteer and event organizer.”

Heyman made it a priority to reach out to newly diagnosed breast cancer victims, overcome with fear, with her message of hope and personal empowerment.

According to friends, Heyman would caution the newly diagnosed that, “No one with cancer should ever be alone.”

Her other motto, “Your good health is in your hands.” was a lesson she learned, in the School of Hard Knocks, after initially being misdiagnosed by a physician in a nearby town in New York.

Born in Lithuania, Heyman grew up in New York City. She earned her degree in early education from Hunter College and made it her life’s mission to educate cancer victims about their disease.

This year’s Pink Tea is on Sunday,

3. The support of family and friends is important, as everyone needs an advocate in their corner. But don’t be intrusive.

4. Be a person who happens to have cancer. Not a cancer patient who happens to be a person.

16 | Jewish News | Women | May 1, 2017 | jewishnewsva.org

2. Don’t let your helping a chronically ill family member become your whole life.

3. Ask for help, from family and friends, when you need a break.

4. Don’t ignore getting your yearly physicals, etc.

5. Let your family member tell you when treatment is no longer worth undergoing. Respect their wish.

6. Be the best patient-advocate you know how.

Renee Heyman

May 7 (See page 25) The annual-fundraising event benefits the Beach Health Clinic (BHC) in Virginia Beach. For 31 years, BHC, a non-profit organization, has provided uninsured, working women in Tidewater (who fall below the 200% Federal poverty level) free, comprehensive health and dental care.

“Renee believed in our life-saving mission of helping uninsured women, who have no other opportunity to get mammograms,” says Susan Hellstrom, who volunteered at BHC for six years, prior to becoming its executive director. “Our budget is lean…just under $300,000,” she says. “But since we don’t pay any of our health care professionals, we are able to provide over $4.245 million in health care.”

The upbeat Pink Tea was so close to Heyman’s heart that she would literally break into song. Her face would beam from the podium as she k’velled at the sweet sound of cancer victims, families, and friends celebrating life.

At this year’s 6th annual Pink Tea, congregant Leslie Siegel will again transform Temple Emanuel’s social hall into a magical oasis, and Sue Adler, Temple Emanuel’s “Chef de Cuisine,” will call upon her decades of culinary creativity, to deliver an English-style tea that even the Queen of England would envy. A minimum donation of $10 is requested.

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SHOW MOM WHY YOU’VE ALWAYS BEEN HER FAVORITE.

The Heyman family in 2015: Richard Heyman, Joanne Heyman, Charles Heyman, Renee Heyman, and Bev Marks.

This year’s keynote speaker is Marni Siegel, a Temple Emanuel member who recently earned her PhD in Breast Cancer Genetics from the University of North Carolina. She has also just completed her second year in medical school. Her father, Dr. Gary Siegel, a long-time patient advocate, will introduce his daughter.

“In the last 15 years, the whole field of studying genes and cancer have been revolutionized by new technologies,” says Marni Siegel, who became smitten with the field of genetics while studying biology in the ninth grade. “We can now study the entire DNA in a cancer, so we can better understand what is causing the cancer.”

Siegel will share the hope cancer researches feel because of new information.

“We (researchers) really think we can change the trajectory of cancer treatment within the next few decades,” says Siegel.

“And I think it’s only through supporting agencies who fund research, like the Susan G. Komen Foundation and the American Cancer Society (to name a few), that we’ll see those advances.”

Siegel lost her 58-year-old mother, Robin, to pancreatic cancer in 2013. Now, she dedicates her efforts to studying the DNA of breast cancer to unlock its secrets.

“The one thing I can say is that the treatment my mom received, over 12 years of having cancer, has dramatically changed,” says Siegel who, like Heyman, thrives by helping people. “It changed because of the research that was done in the field.”

Heyman’s son, Richard Heyman, PhD, is a pioneer in cancer research in honor of his mother. He integrates science in his quest to discover new drugs to help cancer patients.

“I was a freshman in college when my mother was diagnosed and had her surgery,” says Richard Heyman, who serves on the board of trustees of the Salk Institute for Biological Studies. “It was a life-changing moment for me when I realized my parents were mortal.”

Jean Ford, a long-time friend of Heymen’s, met her in a breast cancer support group at Sentara Leigh Breast Cancer clinic in 1991. The women bonded over their desire to help patients. Ford, a cancer survivor, remains an active volunteer.

“I’ve had cancer four times,” says Ford, who attends monthly cancer support groups. “I go to give scared women hope, by letting them know I’ve lived with cancer for 25 years.”

“There are 3.2 million breast cancer survivors today and that number is growing,” says Sharon Laderberg, executive director, Susan G. Komen Tidewater.

“When diagnosed in the early stages, a woman in the United States now has a 99% relative survival rate after five years.”

Lisa Chacon, special projects and development manager, Susan G. Komen Tidewater, was diagnosed with breast cancer after a routine mammogram at 42. Many people know her by her T-shirt that reads, “These are fakes. The real ones tried to kill me.”

“The key to survival is early detection,

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making healthy lifestyle choices and knowing what’s ‘normal’ for you,” she says.

Forty-two years of medical mitzvoth really adds up over a lifetime. Renee Heyman now lives in the minds and hearts of all she has met and in those who follow in her footsteps.

Some remember her love of cooking…her fabulous flank steak and her “secret family recipe” for mashed potatoes (her one vanity). Others hear her voice, resounding in their minds, at a breast cancer support meeting, saying

with conviction, “Each and every one of you are beautiful women, who are not defined by your breasts, but by who you truly are inside.” Some stand in awe while seeing the triumphant look on her face, as she counted the money she raised to help African-America women get mammograms.

Renee Heyman died of a heart attack on June 28, 2016.

“We had many additional donors whom we called ‘Pink Angels,” says Paula Levy. “But I know the most important Angel of all was Renee.”

jewishnewsva.org | May 1, 2017 | Women | Jewish News | 17

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18 | Jewish News | Women | May 1, 2017 | jewishnewsva.org

Terri Denison

E

arly in her teen years, Zoe Martina Siegel knew that all was not right with the world. Her consciousness rose and she began to speak out. In fact, her Norfolk Academy senior speech was about reproductive rights and how politicized they are.

It’s not so surprising, then, that this Tidewater native, who will graduate this month with a bachelor of science degree in Applied Psychology and Global Public Health from New York University, is the recipient of the Social Justice Award from the NYU Steinhardt Department of Applied Psychology. The award is presented to a student for her contribution to improving the life conditions of vulnerable individuals or communities. Siegel was nominated for the award by the faculty.

“I knew since I was in ninth grade that I was not happy with the status quo and it was possible to make a difference,” says Siegel. “I saw it in the work my parents did everyday and knew I needed to follow their lead.”

Siegel is the daughter of Lisa Bertini and Dr. Jack Siegel.

Passionate about helping others, Siegel is apt at identifing places where she can contribute her efforts, packing her bags and traveling to pitch in. Siegel has worked in remote locales in underdeveloped nations, as well as in communities of need in bustling U.S. cities.

“I went to Tanzania in June 2014 and was able to be part of an awareness campaign around female genital mutilation,

Zoe Siegel at the Mbarara Color Run for Cancer Awareness.

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Under the direction and this made me of Dr. Ryan Carroll, want to make a she worked with difference in the the head pharmahealth world. cist at the Mbarara “My major has Regional and allowed and taught Referral Hospital to me to question develop a proposal the status quo and to pilot a new phardo what I can to maceutical drug change what makes In Tanzania, Zoe Siegel worked with NAFGEM, The Network against Female Genital Mutilation, tracking system at me furious,” she advocating for female reproductive rights. Here, she makes coffee. the hospital. This says. scanning system, In 2015, Siegel adapted from a Kenyan based IT company worked in Boston’s Massachusetts can increase the reliability of data by General Hospital’s Global Health office tracking drugs from delivery, to storage, on several projects. “My major project to distribution. This prevents drug was the creation of a new Global shortages and increases medical Health Service Award Program,” care at this hospital. she says. This program was Back in New York, created to encourage innowith Columbia's Global vation, dedication, and Mental Health Program, commitment in the field Siegel is co-chair and of global health, to co-founder of the recognize individuStudent Advisory als within the Mass Board. “We have General commumade it our focus nity who inspire, to deliver mental advance, and health informaimprove healthcare tion to the general for underserved public through populations, and short videos called to emphasize the Minutes on Mental benefits of global Health,” she says. collaboration to “These videos improving healthdevelop an undercare at home and standing of the abroad. significance of the “I created the topic, while offering award descriptions, suggestions on comconducted disseminabating stigma. tion, and campaigned At Columbia’s Global and outlined the award Mental Health Program, selection process,” notes Siegel has also produced Siegel. “This award probi-monthly reports for gram was inaugurated this WHO Global Clinical Practice past spring and was the highNetwork, “which aims to illustrate light of MGH Annual Global Health mental health stigma within vulnerable Expo at the hospital.” In addition, Siegel communities across the world,” she says. wrote the lead-in for a story on the webUltimately, Siegel says she hopes to site that described the experiences of lead a public health campaign surrounddoctors who volunteered for disaster relief ing women's rights or climate change. mission in Nepal after the earthquake.

But first, there’s a graduation and an In 2016, Siegel traveled to Uganda to award to celebrate…and some travel just work at the Mbarara University of Science for fun. and Technology (MUST) through MGH.

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40 Enterprise Parkway Hampton, VA 23666 757.251.6800 hamptonproton.org

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therapy is part of the standard of care for many cancer types, is FDA-approved and covered by 20 | Jewish News | Women | May 1, 2017 | jewishnewsva.org Medicare, Medicaid and most insurance providers.

Women doesn’t always make us thin, and that thin isn’t what makes them valuable, and that their bodies aren’t anyone else’s concern.

They need parents who have conversations with them about how to enjoy and celebrate food, not why they would enjoy fitting into a smaller dress size. Even more, they need parents who are curious about how their daughters feel about their bodies, without judgment, without shame. They need accomplices in understanding and dismantling the sexism that undermines their personhood.

Of course, if your daughter does have a medical issue associated with her weight, it’s important to get the right care for her.

But parents, please, please don’t make things worse than they already are. Those silent eye rolls you throw her way when she reaches for another latke don’t help either. If you feel genuinely concerned about your daughter’s health, offer her love and support and be curious about how she feels. Offer to spend time with her doing something she likes to do.

And communicate, above all else, that you want her to be happy, not skinny.

Everyone is affected by sexism. Everyone has body issues. But Jewish women (and

queer folks, people of color and differently abled folks, while we’re at it) often experience it differently. I can speak from my own experience as a former Jewish teenager with disordered eating, as a clinician who completed her master’s thesis on “Jewish Women and Our Bodies,” and as a veteran Jewish youth educator when I tell you: Your daughter should eat however much cream cheese she wants to, and she will figure out for herself, when she is ready, how she feels best in her own body.

And if you find yourself, parent or aunt or grandma with feelings of disapproval or judgment when you watch your daughter slather her bagel in the morning, I urge you to process your feelings on your own with a spouse or a trusted friend. Do not take them out on your daughter.

Because chances are, your feelings aren’t actually about her. They are about you. And you deserve the same compassion, curiosity and attention your daughter does.

—Stephanie Goldfarb works as the director of youth philanthropy and leadership at the Jewish United Fund in Chicago, where she specializes in Jewish youth experiential education.

To the women and mothers of our community, for playing a pivotal role in encouraging and shaping the people around you to make the world a better place we offer a simple yet profound

“Thank You”.

150 West Main Street | Norfolk, VA 23510 l 757.625.4700 l www.wec-cpa.com

Hotline for women’s questions on Halacha-Jewish Law extends hours for American women Nishmat’s Golda Koschitsky Women’s Halachic Hotline (1-877-YOETZET)— which assists Jewish women seeking woman-to-woman advice on personal questions related to Jewish Law (halacha) and women’s health—recently extended its hours of operation in the United States and Canada: Sunday-Wednesday 11 am to 5 pm Thursdays: 11 am to 9 pm Saturdays, beginning one half hour after Shabbat for three hours A new callback feature invites callers to leave a phone number if the line is busy and a Yoetzet Halacha will return calls in the order they are received.

This will allow more women from more locations nationwide to reach out to Yoatzot Halacha trained individuals with questions that they may feel otherwise embarrassed to ask or just do not know how to ask.

The Women’s Halachic Hotline, staffed

by Yoatzot Halacha—women halachic consultants—educated at Nishmat, The Jeanie Schottenstein Center for Advanced Torah Study for Women in Jerusalem, is supervised by Rabbi Yaakov Varhaftig and Rabbi Yehuda Herzl Henkin in Jerusalem and Rabbi Kenneth Auman in New York.

Nishmat’s Yoatzot Halacha provide observant women the chance to address questions about taharat hamishpachah

(an area of Jewish Law relating to marriage, sexuality and women’s health).

Yoatzot provide information, respond to queries and teach women how Jewish law applies to their personal situations.

Women who call Yoatzot often ask questions relating to: • Gynecological problems and procedures • Pregnancy, prenatal testing, and childbirth • Fertility treatments • Family planning • Menopause Yoatzot Halacha are employed by 37 communities and Orthodox synagogues in

North America, where they work with community rabbis.

The Hotline offers women the opportunity to speak with a Yoetzet discreetly and anonymously.

Yoatzot Halacha are also accessed on-line through Nishmat’s website, www. yoatzot.org, which features 1,000 articles on taharat hamishpacha and some of the 350,000 questions that women have asked Yoatzot Halacha in the past 18 years.

For further information call the Hotline (1-877-96-8938 or 1-877-YOETZET) or visit www.yoatzot.org.

For a list of Yoatzot in the US, Canada and the United Kingdom, visit http://yoatzot.org/contact/default.asp?id=615.

jewishnewsva.org | May 1, 2017 | Women | Jewish News | 21

Women

Mothers hold their children’s s hands for a short while, but their hearts forever forever..

what’s happening

Happy Mother’s Day from YOUR Tidewater Jewish Foundation

To learn how you can help honor a special mother in your life, contact Scott Kaplan at (757) 965-6109 or skaplan@ujft.org

www.JewishVA.org/TJF

Quality. Experience. Trust.

JFS thanks our wonderful nurses during National Nurses Week!

• Comprehensive care provided by professional staff.

• Recover in the comfort of your own home.

• In addition to skilled care, our home health staff can provide specialized care, including: wound care, palliative care, home health aides, care management, and physical, speech, and occupational therapies.

JFS is your Jewish communal agency for skilled home health care and private duty care.

JFS Home Health Care

Call 757-489-3111 www.jfshamptonroads.org

Pictured: Seated – Heather Cole, RN; Pam Trompeter, RN; Jan Ganderson, RN; Susan Riggs, RN, and Lucy Cardon, RN. Standing – Linda Badgley, RN; Ashley Williams, LPN; Sondra Pietrzak, RN; Jennifer Melville, RN; Julie Van Gorder, RN; and Allison Madore, RN. Not pictured: Myra Iacono, LPN; Judy Laster, RN; and Tambra Plante, RN.

22 | Jewish News | Women | May 1, 2017 | jewishnewsva.org

Lag B’Omer Bash: Bonfires and Family Fun Sunday, May 14, 5–7:30 pm Reba and Sam Sandler Family Campus Free for Moms in honor of Mothers’ Day Sherri Wisoff

M

ore than 400 people, young and old, gathered last year to light up the night sky with a blazing bonfire for an Israeli inspired Lag B’Omer Bash at the Sandler Family Campus. This year’s celebration of the 33rd day of the counting of the Omer, promises to be another joyous night of community family fun. The event is sponsored by the Simon Family JCC, United Federation of Tidewater’s Young Adult Division, and the Chabad Lubavitch of Tidewater.

All festivities will take place in the campus’ backyard making easy access for the children to use the playground equipment and the Gaga pit for rousing Israeli dodge ball games throughout the evening.

Israeli music will add to the spirit of the Lag B’Omer Bash, along with a cookout that will include corn on the cob, hamburgers, hot dogs, and veggie burgers.

Since Lag B’Omer lands on Mother’s Day this year, moms will get free entry. Moms can sit around the flickering bonfire and enjoy the magical drum circle jams while their children have their faces painted, eat cotton candy, or crunch on colorful snow cones from the Kona Ice Truck.

The evolution of this enigmatic Jewish holiday is debated, but it has become associated with ancient traditions and events that have now defined its meaning and unique community celebration.

Between the time of the liberation from Egypt celebrated during Passover, to the

receiving of the Torah at the foot of Mount Sinai on Shavuot, it became a mitzvah to count each one of these 49 days (known as the counting of the Omer), and present an omer, a sheaf of barley or wheat, to the temple as an offering.

Some say that the 33rd day refers to a day of redemption when a terrible plague that killed thousands of students of Rabbi Akiba in the 2nd century, suddenly ceased. Others connect this day with the death of Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai, a great teacher of Jewish mysticism, with the light of the bonfire symbolic of the wisdom of his teachings. Modern Jewish tradition sometimes links the holiday to the Bar Kokhba Revolt against the Roman Empire (132-135 CE). In Israel, it is celebrated as a symbol for the fighting Jewish spirit.

Regardless of the beginnings, the 33rd day marks a break in a time of mourning during which weddings, parties, and dinners with dancing and music are not conducted and even haircuts are forbidden. However, on this 33rd day, all mourning practices are lifted for a spirited night of celebration.

This event is open to the community. To register or for more information, visit www.simonfamilyjcc.org/lagbomer. $5 per person* or $25 per family by May 7. $8 per person* or $40 per family after May 7. *Children under 2 are free. $0 for moms.