Jewish News | March 23, 2020

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Southeastern Virginia | Vol. 58 No. 12 | 27 Adar 5780 | March 23, 2020

Social distancing during coronavirus pandemic

10 Rona and David Proser

12 UJFT’s long-time partnership with JDC

• Taking care of each other – page 3 • Supporting Asian Americans during outbreak – page 5 • Jewish Tidewater finds new ways to connect – page 6 • Grieving alone – page 30

22 Film Festival inspires community

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A PERFECT SETTING. F O R YO U R P E R F E C T D AY.

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upfront

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Jewish Tidewater: Taking care of each other

T

he coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic engulfing the globe is

Zeh B’Zeh—taking care of one another. Jewish Family Service

impacting our every moment. For United Jewish Federation

of Tidewater has alerted us to needs in our community food

of Tidewater and the Simon Family JCC, it is forcing us to make

pantry. Cereal, canned fruit, canned protein, condiments, and

decisions we never thought possible. It is also challenging us to

disinfectant wipes are among immediate needs. A food collection

imagine new ways to conduct our work and the business of taking

container is in front of the Sandler Family Campus. For more

care of our community – locally and abroad.

information, call JFS at 757-321-2222.

UJFT continues to closely monitor and respond to the rapidly

For the protection of its residents and patients, Beth Sholom

evolving situation around COVID-19. We know this is a concern

Village is not allowing visitors into the Berger-Goldrich Health

for everyone and, as always, the health, safety and security of our

Care and Rehab and The Terrace Assisted Living. BSV is

community is our highest priority.

communicating daily with loved ones to assist with care and

We have been, and will continue to follow guidance from

communications.

the Centers for Disease Control and Virginia Department of

We will continue to monitor the situation and communicate

Health. We are also receiving guidance and resource information

with you all changes in our normal schedules or planned events.

from Jewish Federations of North America, Secure Community

In addition, through emails and our websites, we will share

Network, JCC Association of North America, and other national

information about community resources and needs during these

organizations.

uncharted times.

Tidewater’s organized Jewish community is taking many

The Tidewater Jewish community is more important than

steps to prepare and alter our ongoing work during this most

ever, as we must take care of each other to get through this

unusual time. Our agencies, day schools, and synagogues are

pandemic.

communicating these actions as proactively as possible. And, we

Never before has kol yisrael—the concept that all of Israel are

have established space on JewishVa.org to help disseminate this

responsible for each other—been more critical. Thank you for

information for everyone. Links to a myriad of valuable resources

being a donor to our annual Community Campaign. Thank you

for families to stay busy, have fun at home, and stay connected

for fulfilling your pledges. Doing so is more important than ever,

to Judaism are also on the site. Meetings and events are being

as we face unprecedented challenges in our local community that

evaluated on an ongoing basis and we will communicate post-

we will need to address.

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

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Reba and Sam Sandler Family Campus of the Tidewater Jewish Community 5000 Corporate Woods Drive, Suite 200 Virginia Beach, Virginia 23462-4370 voice 757-965-6100 • fax 757-965-6102 email news@ujft.org Terri Denison, Editor Germaine Clair, Art Director Lisa Richmon, Staff Writer Sandy Goldberg, Account Executive Ronnie Jacobs Cohen, Account Executive Marilyn Cerase, Subscription Manager Reba Karp, Editor Emeritus United Jewish Federation of Tidewater Amy Levy, President Alvin Wall, Treasurer Stephanie Calliott, Secretary Betty Ann Levin, Executive Vice-President jewishVA.org The appearance of advertising in the Jewish News does not constitute a kashrut, political, product or service endorsement.

The articles and letters appearing herein are not necessarily the opinion of this newspaper. © 2020 Jewish News. All rights reserved.

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ponements or a shift to “virtual” meetings/events as they occur.

At the Sandler Family Campus, we have increased the fre-

Please, be safe.

Upcoming Deadlines for Editorial and Advertising

quency of cleaning throughout the facility. At this writing, the Cardo Café is closed, as is the Simon Family JCC. A series of free

April 6 April 27 May 11 May 25 June 8 June 22

exercise videos are available at simonfamilyjcc.org, along with other links and tools for staying mentally and physically healthy at home.

Amy Levy President

Betty Ann Levin Executive Vice President/CEO

We are also cognizant of our Jewish value, Kol Yisroel Aravim

Upfront . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 Briefs. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 Asian Americans have been consistent friends of Jews . . . . . . . . . . . 5 Adjusting to new normal of COVID-19. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 Passover in a pandemic. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 Rona and David Proser live Jewishly in Tidewater. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 UJFT has a long-term partnership with JDC. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12 Special Section: Passover 5780. . . . . . . . 13

BINA brims with extracurricular activities. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21 Film Festival takes the plunge. . . . . . . . . 22 Virginia Jewish Advocacy Day 2020. . . . 25 Couple makes fast wedding plans. . . . . . 26 Who knew?. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27 Conservative movement leaders okay virtual minyans. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28 Obituaries. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28 Health hazard forces Jews to sit shiva alone . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30 Charles Barker focuses on giving to kids. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31

Camp Women Summer Healthcare Men Seniors

March 20 April 10 April 24 May 8 May 22 June 5

Candle Lighting

Quotable

Contents

For subscription or change of address, call 757-965-6128 or email mcerase@ujft.org.

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

“The goal throughout Jewish Tidewater is to minimize disruption and provide continuity of care and services.”

Friday, April 3/9 Nissan Light candles at 7:12 pm Friday, April 10/16 Nissan Light candles at 7:18 pm Friday, April 17/23 Nissan Light candles at 7:24 pm

—page 6

Friday, April 24/30 Nissan Light candles at 7:30 pm Friday, May 1/7 Iyar Light candles at 7:36 pm

jewishnewsva.org | March 23, 2020 | Jewish News | 3

BRIEFS Netanyahu’s criminal trial delayed due to emergency coronavirus measures Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s criminal trial will be postponed until May due to emergency measures taken to combat the coronavirus.

The trial was originally scheduled to open on Tuesday, March 17 in front of a three-judge panel of the Jerusalem District Court. The new trial date is May 24.

On Saturday, March 14, Netanyahu prohibited all leisure activities in Israel and placed a ban on all gatherings of more than 10 people. Later on that same night, Justice Minister Amir Ohana put the country’s courts in a “state of emergency” over the virus, leading to the postponement of Netanyahu’s trial. Only urgent cases will be heard, according to the Jerusalem Post.

The NGO Movement for Quality Government filed a lawsuit to block the postponement and requested that Attorney General Avichai Mandelblit freeze the emergency order. The lawsuit noted that Ohana is an interim minister in an interim government.

Netanyahu was charged in November in three corruption cases, marking the first time that a sitting Israeli prime minister was indicted. Netanyahu has denied the charges and called the investigations against him a “witch hunt.” (JTA) Benny Gantz gets the first chance to form a government Israeli President Reuven Rivlin will give Benny Gantz the task of forming a new government.

Rivlin met with the heads of all the parties that won seats in Israel’s parliament in its last election earlier this month. At the end of the consultations, which were broadcast nationally, 61 lawmakers recommended Gantz form the new government, while 58 lawmakers recommended the current prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu.

Later, Gantz and Netanyahu met with Rivlin about the possibility of forming a joint emergency government to deal with the coronavirus crisis.

Gantz received the nod from all four parties that make up the mostly Arab Joint List, a total of 15 seats, as well as

from Avigdor Liberman and his Israel Beiteinu party’s seven seats. In the prior two post-election consultations, Liberman did not recommend a candidate, calling for a unity government made up of both Gantz and Netanyahu instead.

But just because Gantz has the opportunity to form a government does not mean he will succeed in bringing together a majority coalition.

Orly Levy-Abekasis, head of the Gesher Party, which ran in coalition with the leftwing Labor and Meretz parties, declined to recommend a candidate. And two Blue and White lawmakers, Zvi Hauser and Yoaz Hendel, have said they will not sit in a government with the Arab parties.

Even though Liberman recommended giving Gantz the opportunity to form a government, he called during his consultation with Rivlin for the formation of an emergency unity government in the wake of the coronavirus epidemic.

Joint List head Ayman Odeh warned that his party would not support a unity government between Likud and Blue and White, saying his coalition would be its “main opponents.” (JTA)

ADL publishes anti-Semitism guide for candidates The Anti-Defamation League has released a guide to contemporary anti-Semitism for candidates running for national office.

“Antisemitism Uncovered: A Guide to Old Myths in a New Era, identifies some of the most persistent tropes about Jews, explains why they are dangerous, provides the back story behind the myths and shows how they have evolved to today,” according to the league.

“As violence against Jews is already at historic levels, we call on all public leaders, particularly during this heated political season, to avoid invoking anti-Semitic tropes,” ADL CEO Jonathan Greenblatt said in a statement. “The tropes this guide explains are the roots of anti-Semitism, and have led to violence against Jewish communities around the world over centuries. Today, they are still modern drivers of anti-Semitic violence, finding voice in the tweets and public statements of elected officials, or resonating with the extremists who carried out violent attacks against Jews in

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Pittsburgh, Poway and Jersey City.”

Each chapter of the guide addresses a well-known anti-Semitic trope, including that Jews have too much power, are disloyal, killed Jesus, and use Christian blood in religious rituals. The guide also addresses Holocaust denial, anti-Zionism and the delegitimization of Israel. (JTA)

Amazon bans sale of Hitler’s Mein Kampf and other Nazi books Amazon has banned the sale of most editions of Hitler’s Mein Kampf and other Nazi propaganda books following decades-long pleas by Holocaust education organizations and Jewish groups.

Booksellers were informed in recent days that they would no longer be allowed to sell a number of Nazi-authored books on the website, including Mein Kampf, the Guardian reported on its website, citing Amazon emails to sellers.

In one email seen by the Guardian, sellers of secondhand copies of Hitler’s Nazi manifesto were told that “they can no longer offer this book” since it breaks the Amazon website’s code of conduct.

Despite the campaigns for at least two decades for Amazon to stop selling copies of Mein Kampf, Amazon had cited free speech rights in continuing its sale. Last month, the Auschwitz Museum called out owner Jeff Bezos for making a profit on “vicious anti-Semitic Nazi propaganda.”

Dozens of inexpensive Kindle eBook editions of Mein Kampf also have been deleted from Amazon’s listings, as has Hitler’s Amazon author page, according to the Guardian.

Amazon did not comment to the Guardian on the reasons for the policy change, but a recent intervention to remove the books by the London-based Holocaust Educational Trust had received the backing of leading British politicians, the newspaper reported.

“As a bookseller, we provide customers with access to a variety of viewpoints, including titles that serve an important educational role in understanding and preventing antisemitism,” an Amazon spokesperson told the Guardian. “All retailers make decisions about what selection they choose to offer and we do not take selection decisions lightly.” (JTA)

Jewish astronaut Jessica Meir posts photo of Tel Aviv taken from space Jewish astronaut Jessica Meir posted on Twitter a photo of Tel Aviv that she took from space.

The usually bustling Israeli city is seen looking desolate amid the spread of the coronavirus.

“Gazing down at the city in which my father was raised, I take to heart one of his most uttered expressions, ‘This too shall pass’. Wise words to remember, in both good times and bad. Goodnight #TelAviv #Israel! #GoodnightFromSpace #TheJourney #EarthStrong,” she tweeted Tuesday, March 17.

Meir frequently posts photos of Earth taken from the International Space Station, where she has been since late September.

In November, she posted a photo of Israel, a tribute to her father.

Meir has participated in the first all-female spacewalk. (JTA) Pope Francis really likes the Jewish custom of Shabbat From his frequent denunciations of anti-Semitism to his close friendship with an Argentine rabbi, Pope Francis has long been a friend of the Jews.

As some of his fans were reminded this month, he also admires the way Jews observe Shabbat, the weekly day of rest.

Footage of him praising the tradition in a 2018 60 Minutes interview went newly viral this month, thanks to a YouTube video shared by a Spanish Seventh Day Adventist channel.

“What the Jews followed, and still observe, was to consider the Sabbath as holy,” he says. “On Saturday you rest.

One day of the week. That’s the least!

Out of gratitude, to worship god, to spend time with the family, to play, to do all of these things. We are not machines.”

The clip caught the eye of Rabbi Shmuel Eliyahu, a leading Israeli rabbi.

“You probably won’t believe it, but the Pope called on the inhabitants of the world to keep the Sabbath like the Jews,” he said, according to the Jewish Press. “It is unbelievable. Those who have decreed that we will not keep Shabbat now understand what the value of Shabbat is.” (JTA)

Coronavirus Pandemic Asian Americans are facing violent xenophobia during the coronavirus outbreak.

Jews have a responsibility to speak out.

Dylan Adelman

NEW YORK (JTA)—In recent weeks, we’ve seen an unprecedented epidemic of the coronavirus spread across the world.

Unfortunately, we’ve also seen a spike in anti-Asian violence and prejudice.

In the U.S., racist and xenophobic outbursts, assaults and discriminatory practices against Asian Americans have been reported from coast to coast. Chinese restaurants are witnessing 30 to 80 percent drops in business. Misinformation about COVID-19 is rampant on social media. Blaming or insinuating that Asian Americans are somehow responsible for, or even connected to the pandemic is outrageous and inflammatory.

Asian Americans, especially Chinese Americans, have been consistent friends of Jews in the United States—and as a minority group that has been a consistent scapegoat throughout history, Jews have a particular obligation to speak out.

In 1903, when a pogrom erupted in Kishinev, the Chinese community reached out, unprompted, to offer financial aid and solace. This anti-Semitic violence spurred the founding of the American Jewish Committee. This was neither the start nor end of this relationship. In many cities throughout the United States, Jewish and Chinese communities have lived and flourished side by side, and recent incidents have shown those ties to be tried and true.

In the wake of the deadly shooting at Pittsburgh’s Tree of Life synagogue in 2018, the United Chinese Americans, along with various chapters and partners, delivered a show of support from over 100 Chinese-American organizations.

Chinese Americans joined Jews for the ensuing “Show Up for Shabbat” campaign organized by AJC, and stood with us in synagogues across the country. After a rise in anti-Semitic attacks in New York and across the country toward the end of 2019, organizations like the America China Public Affairs Institute spoke out firmly against anti-Semitism and affirmed

something that American Jews have long understood: An America that is perilous for one minority is unsafe for all.

In our conversations with ChineseAmerican partners, we have denounced racist accusations of dual loyalty often targeted toward Chinese-American scholars and researchers, a sentiment that we are all too familiar with in this country and abroad. We have also worked with AsianAmerican organizations and members of Congress to address the impact of social and political polarization in America for Diaspora communities.

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In response to coronavirus-related incidents, 72 Jewish organizations signed a letter expressing our support for the Chinese and Chinese-American communities.

In 2011 and 2012, AJC partnered with Chinese-American and other AsianAmerican groups in pushing for passage of Senate and House resolutions expressing regret for congressional approval of the discriminatory Chinese Exclusion Laws dating back to 1879 and 1904.

In response to coronavirus-related incidents, 72 Jewish organizations signed a letter expressing our support for the Chinese and Chinese-American communities. We have publicly displayed our solidarity to Chinese diplomatic posts and local Asian American communities in Washington, D.C., Houston, Philadelphia, New York, and elsewhere. We have met with partner organizations to discuss

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ways in which we may tackle these issues together and publicly convey that COVID19 is not the problem of any individual ethnicity.

American Jews also recognize that as important as words are, they must be reinforced with action.

Jewish communities across the country should discuss how best to support our Chinese-American and other AsianAmerican friends. We should speak up if we hear racist rhetoric. We should intervene in and report discrimination.

We should work with partners to address

public misconceptions, and with local, state and federal governments to ensure a spotlight on discrimination.

Our Chinese-American friends have quoted to us a pertinent proverb: “It is when you are suffering or in crisis that you learn who your real friends are.” The American Jewish community must be those real friends.

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

jewishnewsva.org | March 23, 2020 | Jewish News | 5

Coronavirus Pandemic

Living, learning and lunging uninterrupted.

Physical separation invites new ways to connect and serve Lisa Richmon

W

ith indefinite closings looming due to the spread of COVID-19, everyone is trying to adjust to new routines and establish a new normal. The goal throughout Jewish Tidewater is to minimize disruption and provide continuity of care and services. Above all, the Jewish community’s top priorities will continue to be the implementation of procedures to keep members safe, connected, and engaged—in that order.

Area congregations have been diligently strategizing all the ways to continue providing spiritual support. Congregation Beth El in Norfolk will be live streaming Shabbat services and using Zoom technology to connect members with the coordination of daily minyan services.

Details and updates are available on www. bethelnorfolk.com. For more information, contact pam@bethelnorfolk.com.

Temple Emanuel will use Zoom virtual conferencing for all religious services and religious school from Pre-K to high school. For updates and more information call Gail 757-428-2591 or e-mail office@tevb.org. A mitzvah mission is in the works for home-bound members who

need groceries or medication.

“Doors are closed, but temple life is not shuttered,” is the message conveyed

by Ohef Sholom Temple where alternatives to direct physical contact are being implemented daily. At this time, Shabbat services will be broadcast on the OST website www.ohefsholom.org and Facebook Live (https://www.facebook.com/ohef.s. temple/). Rabbi Rosalin Mandelberg looks forward to Torah study and adult learning classes via Zoom. B’nai Mitzvah students, Rabbi Roz, and Cantor Jen Rueben will meet as scheduled via Facetime. Updates are constantly posted and can be accessed by calling 757-625-4295 or visiting the website, www.ohefsholom.org.

Every Friday at noon on You Tube, Temple Israel will feature an abbreviated pre-recorded service by Rabbi Panitz and Cantor David Proser of KBH. Religious school is meeting virtually for now.

Use the e-mail address templeisraelva1954@gmail.com. (Please note the aol e-mail address was hacked.) For more information, visit www.templeisraelva.org, or call 757-489-4550 Monday through Thursday, 9 am to 5 pm and, Friday, 9 am to 3 pm.

As a gift to your immune system, Tom Purcell, Simon Family JCC fitness director, is bringing the gym to YouTube with exercise videos. A 10-minute pure stretch session, was the first of many videos Purcell will be rolling out over the next few weeks. This particular video helps work out the kinks, some of which the body holds in times of stress and worry.

Purcell has big plans to keep your spirits and fitness routine from sagging—just because the gym is closed.

On the education front, distant learning in the Google classroom is becoming the temporary new normal.

Pre-school to 5th grade teachers at Strelitz International Academy use Google Meet, Google Classroom and Google sites— and their creative juices, for home-based assignments and projects in all subjects including science, Hebrew, Library and Computer, and Phys Ed. For example, the second grade’s current science unit is Habitats. In addition to assigning videos to watch, here’s a small example of what distant learning for March 2020 looks like: Outdoors: Go outside and look for some mini habitats. What could be living under a bush? What about in

a tree? Choose one mini habitat to draw and write down the plants and animals you find there. Don’t forget, insects are animals, too! When you go outside, look for evidence of decomposers. If you find some, take a picture and send me the picture. Write what you know about the evidence.

Another challenge of this season is the continuity of care for people who rely on food from the JFS food pantry. Inventory is alarmingly low, and the pantry is in need of cereal, canned fruit, and canned proteins, as well as paper goods and cleaning products. A box has been set up in front of the JCC to receive donations. JFS has volunteers in Norfolk and Virginia Beach who can deliver items if picking up at the JCC is not an option.

Visit www.jfshamptonroads.org or contact Jody Laibstain at 757-321-2227 for more information.

New information will be continually shared via e-mail and on other platforms For updates and more information, go to: Jewishnewsva. org and Jewishva.org.

To get the latest information, updates, and links on services, classes, and more, go to: JewishVA.org • Simonfamilyjcc.org • JewishNewsVa.org

6 | Jewish News | March 23, 2020 | jewishnewsva.org

Coronavirus Pandemic

Passover in a pandemic: Families on Zoom, solo seders and broken traditions Ben Sales

(JTA)—Rena Munster was looking forward to hosting a Passover seder for the first time.

In past years, her parents or another relative hosted the meal. But this year she had invited her parents, siblings, and other extended family to her Washington, D.C., home. Her husband, an amateur ceramics artist, was making a set of dishes for the holiday.

And she was most excited for her family’s traditional day of cooking before the seder: making short-rib tzimmes, desserts that would pass muster year-round, and a series of harosets made by her uncle and tailored to each family member’s dietary restrictions (one with no cinnamon, another with no sugar, another without walnuts and so on).

Then came the new coronavirus. Now the family is preparing to scrap travel plans and hold the seder via video chat, like so much else in this new era. Munster expects to enjoy her family’s usual spirited discussions and singing. But she will miss the meal.

“The hardest thing to translate into an online platform is going to be the food,” she says. “The family recipes and all the things that we’re used to probably won’t be possible.…We always get together to help with the preparations, and that’s just as much a part of the holiday as the holiday itself.”

In a Jewish calendar packed with ritual observances and religious feasts, the Passover seder is the quintessential shared holiday experience. It is perhaps the most widely observed Jewish holiday ritual in the United States, according to the Pew Research Center’s 2013 study of American Jewry. And the story of the journey from slavery to freedom, along with the songs, customs and food, have become a core part of Jewish tradition.

But all of that has been upended by COVID-19 and the restrictions necessary to contain its spread. Israel has limited gatherings to 10 people—smaller than

many extended families—and President Donald Trump has asked Americans to do the same. Countries are shutting their borders, making Passover travel near impossible. Hotels and summer camps that have held Passover programs, as well as synagogues that hold communal seders, are canceling. And families are scrapping traditions as Passover, like so much else in Jewish life, is remade for the current moment.

“Something like a Pesach seder has a lot of people in a pretty close space,” says Mari Sartin-Tarm, who is immunocompromised due to medications she is taking following a January kidney transplant.

“I’m concerned that if things are the way they are right now, if people are still kind of self-quarantined or schools are closed or businesses are closed, I don’t know that I could justify taking — the risk of being at a Pesach seder. It’s really hard to say that as a Jew.” Kosher food professionals say shelves of kosher grocery stores will probably still be stocked with matzah and other Passover staples. Rabbi Menachem Genack, CEO of the Orthodox Union’s Kosher Division, says that due to social distancing, some kosher supervisors have been supervising food production plants via a livestreamed walk-through. But he says the food is still being produced.

“Most of the kosher-for-Pesach production began a long time ago,” he says.

“There’s not going to be any problem at all in terms of availability of products for Pesach.”

On the other end of the supply chain, Alfredo Guzman, a manager at Kosher Marketplace in Manhattan, says two deliveries of Passover food that were slated to arruve had canceled, though the suppliers hoped to arrive later in the week. Guzman was worried as well that because of social distancing measures, he would only be allowed to let in a limited number of customers at a time during one of the busiest times of the year.

“I really don’t know what we’re going to have, what is coming, what is not

coming, regarding products for Passover,” he says. “A lot of people are going to get nervous. … It’s not good for business, this situation, and it’s not good, I believe, for the people.”

Even if the food does make it to the shelves and into people’s kitchens, the limitations on large gatherings could be a problem for people like Alexander Rapaport, who runs the Masbia network of soup kitchens in New York City. Masbia hosts two seders every year for the needy, usually drawing around 40 people per night.

Rapaport stressed that because many observant Jews having little trouble finding an invitation to a family or communal seder, those who come to a Masbia seder truly have nowhere else to go.

“We are hoping for the best and we will definitely follow the Health Department guidelines on how to operate a seder— spread out the seating, limit capacity,” he says. “It depends how severe it will be three weeks from now. I hope we don’t have to cancel.”

As Passover nears amid the coronavirus outbreak, some Jews would find any kosher grocery store a luxury. Rabbi Ariel Fisher, who is living in Dakar, Senegal, for the year while his wife conducts field research for her doctorate in anthropology, hopes to return to New York City to officiate at a wedding and spend the holiday with his parents. But if travel becomes impossible, he may be stuck in the West African city, where he estimates that the nearest kosher store is more than 1,000 miles away in Morocco.

Now he is scrambling to make sure that they will have enough matzah and kosher wine for the holiday. He is hoping the local Israeli diplomats will be able to get a shipment of matzah, and also asked

a good friend in the local U.S. embassy— which has access to Amazon Prime—to order some for him online. Barring that, he will try to import matzah all the way from South Africa.

And if all of that fails, he plans to make matzah himself—starting with the actual wheat. In any case, if Fisher and his wife end up in Senegal for the holiday, they plan to host a seder for the tiny community of Jews there who also would be unable to travel.

“If we are actually here for Pesach, it will be the first Pesach in my life that I won’t have a Pesach store to go to to buy my Pesach supplies,” Fisher says. “While it’s not an ideal situation, the prospect of sharing Pesach with the friends and Jewish community that we’ve built here over the past few months is exciting.”

Others now face the unusual prospect of conducting the communal meal alone. Efrem Epstein, who lives alone in Manhattan, planned to join with friends or family, or a synagogue, for the seders.

Now he’s wondering whether he’ll end continued on page 8

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Coronavirus Pandemic continued from page 7

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up hiding the afikomen and finding it himself.

“Throughout the Haggadah, we read about many accounts of our ancestors, whether it be in Egypt or whether it be hiding in caves or any other times, that are going through some very challenging times,” Epstein says. “I’m an extrovert. I like being around people, but I also know that there are sources saying that if one is doing seder by themselves, they should ask the Mah Nishtana of themselves. If that’s what I have to do this year, I accept it.”

If people are limited to small or virtual seders on the first nights of Passover, they might have a kind of second chance, says Uri Allen, associate rabbi of Temple Beth Sholom in Roslyn, N. Y. Allen is in a group of rabbis pondering the renewed relevance of Pesach Sheni, literally “Second Passover,” a day that comes exactly a month after the first day of Passover. In ancient times, Pesach Sheni was a second

chance to make the paschal sacrifice for those who had been unable to on the holiday itself.

Allen says that in any event, Jews should have a seder on the first night of Passover. But if they are looking for a chance to make a communal seder with friends or family, then depending on the coronavirus’s spread, they might be able to do so on Pesach Sheni—without the blessings or dietary restrictions.

“I’m imagining both for my family and also probably many other families who are used to a certain kind of seder, larger gatherings and things like that, that probably won’t happen a lot this year,” Allen says.

“I would definitely encourage and advocate, if your seder got interrupted or disrupted because of the coronavirus, why not have the seder that you wanted on Pesach Sheni—provided everything is clear and people can resume some sort of normal life.”

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Coronavirus Pandemic He wanted to encapsulate Beijing’s Jewish community in a Passover Haggadah.

The coronavirus complicated that.

Alan Grabinsky

(JTA)—Unlike Shanghai or Hong Kong, which received Jews fleeing from World War II, Beijing does not have a robust Jewish history.

In the words of Joshua Kurtzig, former president of the Reform congregation there, the massive Chinese capital is a “very transient city,” especially for Jews—meaning that many pass through without putting down generations of roots.

Some 1,000 Jews now live in Beijing among its 20 million residents, and the congregation, Kehillat Beijing, has no permanent clergy.

“There are no Jewish tours here,” says Leon Fenster, 33, a London-born artist who is active in the Beijing Jewish community as a Moishe House resident.

In an attempt to give the community some defining character—and intertwine it with the city’s millennia of rich history— Fenster has illustrated a Beijing-themed Haggadah in which the Exodus story takes place in the modern-day capital. The images are lush and full of meaning in both the Chinese and Jewish cultural contexts.

Fenster planned to inaugurate the Haggadah by using it to lead a massive seder in Beijing, but the rapid spread of the coronavirus, which is keeping all of China under a draconian lockdown, has complicated the effort.

After the outbreak picked up steam, Fenster traveled to Taiwan, which is seen as a safer territory because of its effectiveness so far in containing COVID-19. The Beijing community, according to Fenster, will not celebrate a physical seder this year and is holding virtual Shabbat services.

Fenster has been interested in illustrating the essence of the Jewish Diaspora since he was in college. Trained as an architect at University College London, he won a Presidential Medal Award given by the Royal Institute of British Architects in 2014 for his drawings on how synagogues should reflect the Jewish diasporic condition. In 2015 he moved to Beijing as a scholar in residence at Tsinghua University,

where he drew his first non-architectural drawing: a Haggadah concept.

He laid this idea aside and continued painting hypertextual drawings depicting life in the city, eventually exhibiting works in galleries in Beijing, the United Kingdom, and Israel. But the idea for a Beijing Haggadah returned as he came to experience the transient nature of the Beijing community firsthand.

“There is a Diaspora of Beijing Jews who moved out of the city and think of China as a place where they found their Judaism,” he says.

Kurtzig, now the president of Kehillat Shanghai, echoes that feeling.

“You feel like a minority because you’re not Chinese, and then feel like a minority because you’re Jewish,” he says.

The 180-page Haggadah is written in Hebrew, English, and Chinese. According to Fenster, he needed to be careful not to incorporate too much Chinese because the government could see the project as proselytizing, which it does not permit.

The book situates landmarks and cultural markers of the city in the myth of the Exodus. Jews walking through the parted Red Sea are dressed like Beijing schoolchildren. The Four Children wear different Beijing opera masks—an ancient custom born in the city—that designate certain character types.

“The more you know Beijing, the more this will have an emotional meaning for you,” he says.

With 40 to 50 core members, Kehillat Beijing’s Reform community (Chabad only opened a branch in the city in 2010) is made up of expatriates from the United States, England, Australia, Canada, France, and the United Kingdom. Members lead the prayer services. Passover is one of the biggest events, Fenster says, drawing more than 80 participants to seder and taking place in the congregation’s main venue, an apartment space reconditioned as a place for gatherings.

Kehillat Beijing was established by an American businesswoman, Roberta Lipson, who came to Beijing in 1979 with

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She would go on to found the Chinese hospital company United Family Healthcare and become its CEO. She’s now married to Ted Plakfer, the Beijing bureau chief for The Economist.

One of the group’s first communal events was a Passover seder, Lipson has written, at the city’s Foreign Service International Club. Members had to teach the club’s kitchen staff how to make gefilte fish.

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11/16/17 Moishe 3:42 PM Kehillat Beijing and the Beijing House, but committed suicide upon his return to the United States. In one of the Haggadah images, Fenster drew Michael seated with Roberta and other local leaders at a seder table.

Fenster originally wanted to print 600 copies of the book in Beijing. But now he will lead a seder in Taiwan and inaugurate the Haggadah in an online forum. He’ll wait for the seder next year to do a real celebratory launch in Beijing.

“This will be a soft inauguration,” he said.

“I’m excited about the idea. It will be nice for people, wherever they are in the world.”

jewishnewsva.org | March 23, 2020 | Jewish News | 9

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aving lived in Virginia Beach for close to 40 years, Rona and David Prosers’ lives and leadership have been interwoven into the fabric of Tidewater’s Jewish community. Rona taught at Hebrew Academy of Tidewater for 30 years, making a positive impact on the lives of thousands of Jewish children and their families. As chazzan at Kempsville Conservative Synagogue (KBH) for more than 20 years, David has offered leadership, guidance, and comfort to many Jewish families. And, as owner of a kosher market and having worked in the kosher food industry for more than 20 years, David has been a welcome and invaluable resource in the lives of the Tidewater Jewish community. Combine all of these experiences and the fact that the Prosers are a Life and Legacy donor, the couple clearly serves as an inspiration and role models of Jewish community building at its best.

Rona and David Proser met at the University of Maryland. Rona, from Levittown, Pa. and David from Baltimore, Md., were married in Philadelphia in 1970. Their move to Virginia Beach in 1972 was when David was offered a position with Ryder Truck Rental in the safety department, responsible for driver training, safety, and claims. For their early years of married life, they returned to Baltimore to attend Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur services with David’s family, then transitioned to attending services with David’s aunt and uncle in Newport News. In 1977, when Rona’s younger brother, who lived with them temporarily, asked if he could attend a church’s Bible study program over the summer, they knew it was time to seek out and join their own synagogue.

At that time, two synagogues, Kehillat Yisrael and Bet Hamidrash, merged to create Kempsville Conservative Synagogue (KBH). Shortly after joining KBH, David

began leading services and was eventually ordained by KBH’s part-time rabbi, Rabbi Sobel as the chazzan. David continues to lead services and oversee life-time events; Rona is currently co-president of the synagogue, was past president ,and very active in KBH’s sisterhood.

The Prosers had considered themselves to be “Jewish by osmosis.” Rona says she was more of a “gastronomical Jew,” eating bagels and lox on Sunday mornings, staying home from school on the High Holidays, but not attending synagogue. It was expected, she recalls, that she would marry a “nice Jewish boy,” however she was not certain how she would know he was. David, on the other hand, was raised Orthodox and attended Talmudic academy for eight years. After his bar mitzvah, however, his synagogue attendance dwindled to High Holidays only, but he remained connected Jewishly and still participated in family holiday observances.

The Prosers kept kosher in their home, but not outside, wanting David’s mother and bubbe to be able to eat there. When their daughters, Maura and Michelle were three- and seven-years-old, respectively, they agreed it was time to give up all “traif.”

David was brought up on Baltimore’s crabs and Rona had grown up eating bacon and sausage. In Virginia Beach, it was more complicated to keep a kosher home than it had been in Baltimore. The Prosers would drive to Baltimore, filling up coolers with kosher meats that they’d freeze. And so, the concept of opening a kosher market in Norfolk was born.

“The experience of having had to bring in kosher meat was surely in the background of my consideration of opening The Kosher Place,” says David, “but the confluence of the closing of The Silver Cleaver in 1992, with my needing a job at the time, was what actually precipitated its coming into being.”

When their older daughter, Michelle was entering the fourth grade, the Prosers

tidewater

David and Rona Proser.

enrolled her at the Hebrew Academy of Tidewater (HAT) and their younger daughter, Maura at the HAT pre-school.

Rona had taught second grade for a year in Baltimore. In Virginia Beach, she worked at a daycare center, which became Kindercare, and then taught at Virginia Beach Country Day School, for one year.

When HAT learned that Rona had been a teacher and that she shared HAT’s educational philosophy to “teach kids to love to learn,” it was not long before she became a substitute at HAT for one year and then taught three-year-olds full-time.

Maura thrived at HAT and became the first female student at the school to wear a tallit. Both daughters graduated from HAT. The commitment to Judaism that encouraged Maura to participate in the Jewish ritual of wearing a tallit and that enabled Rona to teach young children “to love to learn” for 30 years was born and nourished in Virginia Beach.

Rona and David are secure that they have passed along the Jewish traditions and values that they hold so dear to their daughters. Both Michelle and Maura and their husbands are committed Jews,

raising their daughters Jewishly, regularly attending Shabbat services, and observing and celebrating the Jewish holidays.

While the Prosers have concerns for the increased number of anti-Semitic attacks and incidents, seen locally and globally – something “we have not had to think about since the 1930s and 1940s,” they are encouraged by the increase in collegial efforts and shared programming of area synagogues and the community-mindedness of the area clergy; more in recent years than when they first arrived in Virginia Beach.

“Becoming Life & Legacy donors is not only simple to do,” David and Rona say, “It will ensure that quality programs and services will be available for generations to come at the local participating agency of your choice.”

For information on becoming a Life & Legacy donor, contact Barb Gelb, director of development at bgelb@ujft.org or 757-965-6105 or Ronnie Jacobs Cohen, donor relations manager, at rcohen@ujft.org or 757-321-2341.

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jewishnewsva.org | March 23, 2020 | Jewish News | 11

Ruth’s Life Said a Lot About Her

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At UJFT, repairing the world means maintaining a long-term partnership with JDC

As a “pink lady” Ruth Goodman volunteered more hours than anyone else at the Norfolk hospital where she greeted visitors for years.

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Before she died in 1995, Ruth arranged for a Hampton Roads Community Foundation bequest to forever give good health to the community she and her late husband Victor loved.

This year 15 students are studying to become physicians, physical therapists, nurses and other medical professionals thanks to scholarships generated by Ruth’s generosity. Many more Goodman Scholars will follow every year.

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or decades, United Jewish Federation of Tidewater’s partnership with the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee, known as JDC, has been an integral component of the Federation’s global outreach.

JDC was founded in 1914, during World War 1, as the first Jewish organization in the United States to dispense large scale funding for international relief.

Nothing has changed. Everything has changed.

JDC continues to be the one and only agency that looks out for all Jews around the world, regardless of circumstance.

It provides relief from hunger, isolation, illness – and danger. To address basic survival needs, the JDC version of ‘meals on wheels’ in the Former Soviet Union, delivers food boxes to the sick and elderly.

When a box is delivered, volunteers take time to visit, listen, and report any concerns to JDC. While cocoa is not a staple for hunger relief, it’s included in the box as a bartering tool. If someone elderly or disabled lives on the fourth floor, and needs wood for a fire in the winter, the cocoa comes in handy for trade. JDC also provides necessary drugs such as insulin.

Money raised by JDC also funds programs that repair and rebuild some of the most distressed Jewish communities around the world. Stories of relief, recovery, and renewal continue to surface in once-depleted communities that benefit from the UJFT-JDC partnership.

JDC leaders are impressive. Their sterling reputation as partners who build relationships with government agencies and philanthropic funders is second to none. The JDC-Lauder International Summer Camp at Szarvas in Hungary, for example, has taken a lead role in fostering Jewish identity and leadership among young Jews in Europe since 1990. Szarvas was the catalyst for Camp Cristian, a vibrant Jewish teen community outside Bucharest, that was mobilized by Art and Annie Sandler of Virginia Beach.

12 | Jewish News | March 23, 2020 | jewishnewsva.org

Camp Szarvas in Hungary and Camp Cristian in Romania are illustrations of JDC’s Jewish-life-sustaining assistance model. In contrast to welfare, funds and resources are always geared toward rebuilding a self-sustaining community that takes care of itself and ultimately contributes to others in need.

Recently, the Jewish community of Romania pledged $750,000 to an effort on the part of European communities to exchange ideas and enhance pan-European cooperation.

For years, Romania received support from the global Jewish community. As long-time supporters of the Jewish community of Romania, it is a source of pride for UJFT to witness Romania’s transfor mation from dependency on JDC assistance to a community able to invest in life-sustaining and anti-terrorism initiatives across Europe.

The high return on JDC/UJFT investments also comes in the form of developing Jewish leaders who are confident in their Jewish identities and primed to stand up to hate. Alum from JDC’s Jewish educational, camping, and leadership training programs in Europe are today’s leaders, who have, in some cases founded groups combating anti-Semitism and other forms of hate.

JDC leadership is marked by expertise, innovation, integrity, and compassion. JDC is the only Federation beneficiary to have earned a 100% rating for accountability and transparency from Charity Navigator.

The Federation takes great pride in recognizing Annie Sandler’s involvement with JDC over the past eight years.

Wherever she goes, Sandler sees the potential for recovery and renewal, finds ways she can make a difference, inspires others, and gets to work.

Sandler recently served as chair of the Myers-JDC-Brookdale Institute, the premier applied social research institute in Israel. “My new role as vice president,” she explains, “is a senior position that recognizes my contribution to Israeli society, as well as my history as a trusted senior advisor to Mark Sisisky, JDC’s newly elected president.

Sandler is the first person from Tidewater chosen to serve as JDC vice-president.

“Annie is a trusted advisor who possesses a deep reservoir of knowledge about JDC and our work around the world.

In Israel, Annie is deeply respected and loved for her empathy, grasp of important issues and her invaluable strength of listening and furthering her collaboration with our outstanding professionals,” says Sisisky. “By all measures, Annie is a seasoned, proven leader and philanthropist in the Jewish world, and I am honored to have her by my side at JDC.” The position is especially meaningful to Sandler, because she acknowledges the deep respect with which the Tidewater Jewish community is held by the larger Jewish communities of North American and overseas.

This is the first in a series of articles intended to provide a fresh perspective of the United Jewish Federation of Tidewater’s local and overseas partnerships.

o s s Pa

0 8 7 5 r ve Supplement to Jewish News March 23, 2020 jewishnewsva.org | March 23, 2020 | Passover | Jewish News | 13

Passover 2 for Seder pivots with virtual direction Wednesday, April 1, 7:30 pm

2

For Seder launched the expansion of its highly successful first-year campaign to combat anti-Semitism in February. Today, with the concerns surrounding the novel coronavirus, and new CDC guidelines for social gatherings, 2 for Seder is pivoting in a new direction.

With a growing number of organizations being established to fight anti-Semitism, 2 for Seder empowers individuals to take direct, positive action against hate. Last year, the organization encouraged North American Jews to invite two people of another faith to their first Seder, either at home or in the community, giving guests an authentic Jewish experience from which to learn and build bridges. More than 200 partners, including the Anti-Defamation League, the American Jewish Committee more than 25 Jewish Federations and more than 40 Jewish Community Centers, helped spread the organization’s message.

Join the webinar to learn more about how to build virtual paths between friends and family this Passover.

Marnie Fienberg created 2 for Seder in memory of her mother-in-law, Joyce Fienberg, one of 11 murdered while praying at the Tree of Life Synagogue in Pittsburgh. The program was inspired by the Jewish tradition of Tikkun Olam, repairing the world, encouraging individuals to take direct action in their community. In its first year, almost 1,000 seders across 45 states and five Canadian provinces, participated.

“I know what it’s like to feel powerless in the face of anti-Semitism, but Americans are stronger than hate when we learn from each other,” says Marnie Fienberg. “Either at home or at public seders, every Passover each of us has an opportunity to open doors and build bridges in our own neighborhood. This positive, unique first authentic Jewish 14 | Jewish News | Passover | March 23, 2020 | jewishnewsva.org

Marnie Fienberg, founder of 2 for Seder.

experience provides individuals of other faiths and heritages with the facts to make their own decisions against stereotypes and tropes. We are truly stronger together.”

Passover 2020 will look different for most. Those who are used to sitting with a large group of friends or family members at a seder will be looking for a new way to stay connected. 2 for Seder is offering a solution—an interactive virtual seder.

Fienberg will join the Tidewater community virtually as a part of the Milton “Mickey” Kramer Scholar-inResidence Fund of the Congregation Beth El Foundation’s Tidewater Together Series. Join the webinar, Darchei Shalom: Building Paths of Peace, to learn more about how to build virtual paths between friends and family this Passover. The conversation will also include a discussion about how to fight hate on an individual level. Register by visiting jewishva. org/tidewatertogether or contact Sierra Lautman, director of Jewish Innovation, at slautman@ujft.org or 757-965-6107.

The Milton “Mickey” Kramer Scholar-inResidence Fund of the Congregation Beth El Foundation’s Tidewater Together series is a collaboration between the United Jewish Federation of Tidewater and area synagogues to provide opportunities to connect Jewishly on a variety of topics, offering something for everyone.

Passover Free large print Haggadahs for the visually impaired or reading disabled

PJ Library in Tidewater’s Community Passover Cookbook Nofar Trem

T

he Jewish Braille Institute Library provides individuals who are blind, visually impaired, physically handicapped, or reading disabled with books, magazines and special publications of Jewish and general interest in audio, large print, and Braille formats. The services provided by JBI, all of which are free of charge, enable more than 35,000 children, adults, and seniors—from New York to New Zealand, from Ft. Lauderdale to Moscow, from Tel Aviv to Buenos Aires—to participate fully in the life of their communities.

To order a Haggadah, call 800-999-6476 or go to www. jbilibrary.org.

E

very family has their favorite Passover recipes and traditions. Will you share yours?

PJ Library is assembling a free E-cookbook for the community filled with treasured Passover recipes.

Email your recipe to ntrem@ujft.org by March 31, with a photo, if you have one. Just think, your favorite recipe could become the community’s favorite, too.

The cookbook will also include a section about favorite Passover traditions, so please submit your favorite tradition, too.

The link to the e-cookbook will be posted on the PJ Library in Tidewater Facebook page and will be included in the JCC Newsletter in time for you to use this Passover.

JBI International is a non-profit organization dedicated to meeting the cultural needs of the visually impaired, blind, physically handicapped, and reading disabled of all ages and backgrounds.

For more information about PJ Library and other youth and teen experiences at the Simon Family JCC, contact Nofar Trem, manager of Youth and Teen Experiences at ntrem@ujft.org or 757-321-2334.

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jewishnewsva.org | March 23, 2020 | Passover | Jewish News | 15

Happy Passover

FROM TIDEWATER JEWISH FOUNDATION

As we reflect on the story of Passover, we honor and thank our Legacy donors. Their generosity and commitment to the future will forever strengthen our Jewish community’s story. * of Blessed Memory Bertram Aaron Laurent Abitbol Rachel & David Abraham Rachel & Marc Abrams Adelle & Herman Adler Helen & Warren Aleck Janice Aleck Kimberley & C. Earl Allsbrook Sylva B. Altschul* Jasmine Amitay Tamar & Rabbi Jeffrey Arnowitz Patricia* & Avraham Ashkenazi Leslie M. Auerbach Rosalyn Levy August Gail & Thomas Bachman Jody Balaban Linda & Leigh Baltuch Babbi & Brad Bangel Bessie Banks Roslyn & Michael Barney Elena & Gary Baum Bobby & Jack Barr* Helen Jayne & Melvin Barr* Dolores & Alan Bartel Gary Bartel Marlene Bass* Susan & Jon Becker Linda & Calvin Belkov* Lisa Benjamin Gail & Bill Berger Marcia & Amos Berkovich Beth Hirsch Berman Carol & William* Bernstein Helene Bernstein Roy Beskin Frances Levy Birshtein Paula & Michael Blachman Leyba* & Herman Blumenthal Moira Wright Bodner Bonnie & David Brand Rashi & Rabbi Levi Brashevitzky Isabel* & Louis Brenner Bernice & Percy Brill* Edmund Brodie* Wendy Jo Einhorn Brodsky & Ronald Brodsky Eleanor & Leonard Brooke Marjorie & Robert Brotman Beryl & Steven Brown Carol & Allan Brum Kelly Burroughs Aaron Busch* Alice E. Buxbaum Marilyn & Stuart Buxbaum

Stephanie Calliott Elyse & David Cardon Rose & Armond Caplan* Jeffrey Chernitzer Rita Cogan* Leo Cohen Ronnie Lynn Jacobs Cohen Ruth & Aaron Cohen Sol W. Cohen* Barbara & Harvey Coleman Jean* & Allan Comess Raizy & Rabbi Velvel Cook Allison & Jeff Cooper Minette & Charles Cooper Monica & John Cooper Ann & Robert Copeland Robin & Todd Copeland Stuart Davis Lisa & Mark Delevie Renee* & Arthur Diamonstein Esther & Glenn Diskin Judy & Larry Dobrinsky Allan Donn Ronald Dozoretz Abby & Mark Draluck Leora & Nathan Drory Bronia Drucker* Barbara Dudley Ingrid & David Edery Lois & Barry Einhorn Susan & Martin Einhorn Devorah & Morris Elstein Dianne Epplein Thelma Fantuch* Mary & William Feldman Freda & Jules Feuer* Barbara & Andrew Fine Jan & Morris Fine Karen & Matthew Fine Hyman Fine* Minnie S. Fine* Nancy & Sheldon Fineman Kim & Andrew Fink Mandi & Ross Firoved Gail & Joel Flax Mona & Jeffrey Flax Anne Fleder Esther & Alan Fleder* Gail Fleder Joseph Fleischmann* Nataly & Seth Fleishman Barbara Fletcher* Kristy & Adam Foleck Sandra & Pete Forte-Nickenig

16 | Jewish News | Passover | March 23, 2020 | jewishnewsva.org

Denotes New Member Helen Frank Rita Frank Edwin Franklin Barbara Fried Cantor Wendi & Gigi Fried Harry Fried Kathleen & Walter Fried* Claire & Marvin Friedberg Beverly & Alan Frieden Jodie & Jack Frieden Rosa Frieden* Celia & Jay Friedman Debbie & Mark Friedman Jerome Friedman Leslie Friedman Shari Dozoretz Friedman Ann & Louis Friedman* Fannie & Milton Friedman* Margaret & Leonard Frierman Penny & David Gallo Sidney Gates* Karen Gershman Helen G. Gifford* Amy Ginsburg Pam & Arty* Gladstone Martha Mednick Glasser Rose Frances Glasser* Hara Glasser-Frei Pearl Glassman* Gail L. & Donald Gogan William Goldback* Farideh & Norman Goldin Dorothy & Charles Goldman Elaine Goldman Jane Klein Goldman Beatrice & Harry Goldman* Bootsie & Morty* Goldmeier Lawrence Goldrich Steven A. Goldstein Martha & Robert Goodman Victor Goodman* Barbara S. Gordon Janet* & Daniel Gordon Paula & James Gordon Freda & Tavia Gordon* Joyce & Harry Graber Helene & Bernie Grablowsky Susan M. Graves William Greene* Helen & Yehudah Griffin Laura & Fred Gross Louis Grossman Sharon & Michael Grossman Rose Ann Grossman*

Carla O. Grune Fay & Norris Halpern* Jeri Jo & William Halprin Amie & Byron Harrell Susan C. Alper & Steven J. Harwood Mickey & Stuart Held Zena Herod Denise & Jason Hoffman Marcia Hofheimer Thomas Hofheimer* Brenda & Abbey Horwitz Susan & Howard Horwitz Connie & Marc* Jacobson Nancy Sacks Jacobson & Edwin* Jacobson Beth & Nathan Jaffe Michael Jaffe Lee & Bernard Jaffe* Rose & Joseph Jaffe* Carol & Joel Jason Barbara & Paul Johnson Sheila & Robert Josephberg Dorothy & Howard Kahn* Eileen & Stewart Kahn Marcia Samuels & David Kamer H. Lee Kanter* Kathy & Jerry Kantor Bruce Kaplan Erica & Scott Kaplan Bernice & Milton Kaplan* Libbie & Albert* Kaplan Phyllis & Arthur Kaplan* Sue Ellen Kaplan Roberta Joy Kaps Mimi & Warren Karesh Betsy & Ed Karotkin Florence Karp* Melissa & Aaron Kass Juliet A. Katz Alene and Ron Kaufman Linda Kaufman Ted G. Kaufman Marilyn & Steven Kayer Debra Keeling Reva & Lee Kelberg* Marissa & Benjay Kempner Arlene & Isidoro Kessel Arlene & Howard Kesser Kay & Barry Kesser Janna & Arnold Kestenbaum Jodi & Jay Klebanoff Hanna & William Klebanoff* Esther & Andrew Kline Sofia* & David Konikoff

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AND THANK YOU TO OUR LIFE & LEGACY® PROGRAM PARTNERS Beth Sholom Village, Chabad Of Tidewater, Congregation Beth El, Jewish Family Service of Tidewater, Ohef Sholom Temple, Strelitz International Academy, Temple Emanuel, United Jewish Federation of Tidewater/Simon Family JCC

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jewishnewsva.org | March 23, 2020 | Passover | Jewish News | 17

Passover Passover Envy: A food-focused celebration of freedom is chicken soup for the storytellers’ soul Lisa Richmon

P

assover gets props as one of the most universally celebrated holidays on the Hebrew calendar. Even disengaged and

unaffiliated Jews find their way to the Seder table once a year. What is it about Passover that attracts Jews of all stripes, and arouses wonder in non-Jews?

Part of the Passover package is

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inclusivity and universality. The ordered meal, or Seder, offers a rare opportunity to celebrate Jewish identity and project the universal longing for freedom on to a traditional religious framework. The uptick in appeal comes from the aesthetically pleasing, ever-expanding soulful spread of ethnic dishes from around the world.

Take the story of a no-show, benevolent prophet named Elijah. Opening the door and awaiting his arrival invites a unique sense of welcoming. That same warmth often extends to friends and

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18 | Jewish News | Passover | March 23, 2020 | jewishnewsva.org

Gary Tabakin leads his family seder.

family of all faiths and belief systems whose engagement enhances the seder experience for everyone.

Chicago based architect, and exhibition and graphic designer, Amy Klein Reichert won the prestigious Philip and Sylvia Spertus Judaica Seder Plate prize for her first piece of Judaica, a mahogany and nickel seder plate. Much of Reichert’s work reflects her perception of the holiday —particularly what people bring to, and take away from the Passover story.

Affection for Passover flows from its status as a home-based ritual, rather than a holiday grounded in a particular synagogue’s rules and regulations. “I think the idea that you spin the narrative your way and take control of your own experience is a powerful thing,” says Reichert. “Over the years, our non-Jewish friends come to our Seders expecting them to be serious and leave surprised by how lively they can be.”

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Gary Tabakin, is married to Virginia Beach native Kevin, a long-time Temple Emanuel member. Tabakin crafted his own Seder Hagaddah after learning that an ancient story about plagues and persecution can be an opportunity to engage kids and grandchildren, and doesn’t have to be stiff or stuffy.

“Passover is by far my favorite Jewish holiday,” says Tabakin. “When my children were young, I made sure to engage them. I led our family seders with lots of props, puppet shows, and funny songs about Pharoah and the plagues. I remember the seders at my grandmother’s house in New Jersey more for the mouth-watering brisket than the serious Maxwell House hagaddahs that didn’t speak to me.”

The progressive, DIY Seder style is increasingly popular with families like the Tabakins. “Every year we use a haggadah compiled by a good friend. They give me new insights into the meaning of Passover, with readings from organizations such as HIAS, the American Jewish World Service, and the Jewish Women’s Archive, focused on a variety of topics like human rights and freedom.”

Reichert designs seder plates around the concept that Passover always prompts new questions and discoveries. “It’s dynamic, not dogmatic.”

For at least one night every year it appears that Jews like Meryl Mulligan find a way to reconnect to their origin story and each other. Meryl and husband Sean have two boys who attend Strelitz International Academy.

“It’s special to think that Jews all over the world are celebrating and engaging in the same traditions. In the world today, where Jews are still fighting anti-Semitism, to feel part of a worldwide community is so important. Also, our Seder is full of joy, and my kids love how they get to actively participate. My older son, who is five, has sung the Four Questions the past two years and he proudly stands on his chair because it makes him feel so special,” says Mulligan.

One more thing that gives Passover its crowd-pleasing edge over other Jewish holidays is that it falls during the season of hope and renewal. This year, anticipation of the arrival of the spring festival will be reason enough to celebrate, and not drink from the cup of Elijah.

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jewishnewsva.org | March 23, 2020 | Passover | Jewish News | 19

Passover Mimouna is the most delicious way to celebrate the end of Passover Sonya Sanford

(JTA via The Nosher)—You may already be familiar with Mimouna, a Sephardic holiday that originated in Morocco and marks the end of Passover. On the night following the last day of Passover, the end of eight hametz-free days is celebrated with a feast of treats.

In Morocco, neighbors travel to each other’s houses, and it is customary to leave all doors open to welcome any possible guests. Tables are laden with symbols to ensure a good year: blossoming spring flowers, fish for abundance and fertility, and dates sweetened with honey to inspire an equally sweet life. The next day, festivities continue with barbecues, picnics, and large gatherings.

One of the most common dishes prepared for Mimouna is the crepelike mufleta (or moufleta). You might also find nougat, fazuelos (a fried thin pastry), couscous-au-lait (sweet couscous with milk), almond cookies, marzipan, stuffed dates, and a variety of other sweet and savory baked goods. Mimouna’s popularity has expanded in recent years beyond North Africa and is even widely celebrated in Israel.

Two of my favorite dishes for this holiday are the crepe-like mufleta and sweet stuffed dates. My stuffed dates are a slight deviation from the norm.

Instead of marzipan, these dates are stuffed with a combination of pistachio and almond. They are sweetened only slightly with honey, and then drizzled with tahini, and a generous pinch of flaky salt. They are a delicious celebratory treat, but they also make a delightful snack any time.

I hope this year brings you your own Mimouna parties, or a chance to throw your own with these delicious treats.

Here are the two recipes:

SWEET STUFFED DATES Ingredients 20–30 large fresh dates (Medjool, Khadrawy, or Halawy) 1 cup toasted almonds 1 cup toasted shelled pistachios 6 tablespoons honey Pinch of salt 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon 1 teaspoon ground cardamom Tahini, to taste Flake salt (like Maldon), to taste Directions 1. In a food processor, combine the almonds, pistachios, honey, salt, and spices until very finely chopped, but be careful not to overmix or the mixture can become like a nut butter. (If you don’t have a food processor you can finely chop the nuts by hand and combine everything together in a bowl).

2. Slice the dates down the middle lengthwise, removing the pit, but keeping them intact.

3. Fill the dates with the nut mixture. Just before serving, drizzle the dates with good quality tahini and a sprinkle of salt.

4. Store in the fridge for up to 1 week without the tahini and salt.

20 | Jewish News | Passover | March 23, 2020 | jewishnewsva.org

MUFLETA Ingredients: 1½ cups warm water 1 packet (2¼ teaspoons) active dry yeast 1 teaspoon sugar 4 cups all purpose flour, plus more if needed 1 teaspoon kosher salt Oil as needed (sunflower, canola or a neutral tasting oil) Directions 1. Combine the yeast and sugar with the warm water, make sure the water is not too hot or too cold, or your yeast won’t properly activate. Allow the yeast to get foamy and bubbly, about five minutes.

2. Combine the flour and salt together.

3. Make a well in the flour, and then add the water and yeast mixture. Using your hands, incorporate the water into the flour. The amount of flour you need can depend on the brand of the flour as well as the humidity/temperature in your kitchen. You want the dough to be slightly tacky to the touch, but it shouldn’t stick to your hands. If you find your dough is too sticky, add a little more flour as needed.

4. Once the dough is formed into a ball, knead the dough until smooth and elastic, about five minutes.

5. Lightly grease the bowl with oil, and then place the dough into the bowl. Cover the bowl with a damp, clean dish towel and allow to rise for 40 minutes. Some folks form their dough into balls before letting it rise, and some prefer to do it after.

6. Generously drizzle a baking sheet or pyrex with more oil. Pull off golf ball-sized rounds of dough and form them into balls. Roll them in the oil and then let them rest for about 5 minutes.

7. Form one round of dough into a paper-thin circle, about 10 inches in diameter. You want each layer to be as thin as possible, and you can do this by flattening and pressing the dough into a circle shape with your fingers, or with the help of a rolling pin. Don’t worry if a few small holes pop up here and there.

8. Over medium heat, add a few teaspoons of oil to a large nonstick or castiron skillet.

Place the first round of formed dough into the skillet. Turn down the heat slightly at this point and cook the mufleta over medium low, so that it doesn’t burn. Allow the mufleta to turn golden brown, and then flip it onto the other side. This is the only layer that will get browned on both sides.

9. While the first side is browning, form the next layer of dough. Once you flip the first layer of the mufleta over, place the raw formed dough round on top of that cooked layer. Form another round of dough while the next layer is browning.

10. Once golden brown, flip again and place another layer of raw dough on the top browned side of the mufleta while the bottom cooks. You can add a little more oil to the pan after each flip. Continue this process for as long as you can manage to flip the pile of layers. If the stack gets too big to flip, remove the entire stack, and begin a new one.

tidewater

BINA brims with extracurricular activities Sima Wilson

W

ith a dual curriculum, AP classes, and college courses, it makes sense to think that BINA High school’s students have no time for anything else. But, the opposite is true. In fact, the sheer amount of extracurricular activities that takes place in the school astounds everyone, especially because the student body consists of 11 girls.

The extracurricular activities help the girls curate new talents—including party planning, cooking, budgeting, and beyond.

Each student is a co-head of one of the various committees responsible for creating school-wide activities, coordinating with a yearly theme. The Mishmeres

group, for example, is part of an international organization for teenage girls focused on the power of positive speech, which in turn, yields a positive attitude in the school. Once a month, the Mishmeres committee hangs original posters all around the school, focusing on a different aspect of social positivity. Furthermore, numerous incentives spread throughout the year to foster a sense of camaraderie of having a positive atmosphere in school such as serving a lunch or a snack to all students, and conducting a game or activity to enforce the message of the month.

Another committee is the Yom Iyun group, which focuses on Jewish holidays. The Yom Iyun group highlights the upcoming holiday with a three-part presentation including an informative

speaker, a snack, and a fun and creative project. The girls internalize the intrinsic underlying message of each holiday, and all agree that the presentation at every holiday is truly inspiring.

The Chesed committee is dedicated to performing acts of kindness for the Jewish community in Norfolk. An example of this is “Thursday Helpers.” Each girl is assigned a family at the beginning of the year. Once a week they go to their families and do homework with the children, take them to the park, and tidy up the house, among other things. The students establish strong rapports with their assigned family, often referring to the children as “their” kids. The Chesed committee encourages volunteering for community events, sweetening the deal with a special

prize if students log an allotted amount of hours per month.

The Rosh Chodesh Committee focuses on the Jewish months, highlighting the special status of the first of every Jewish month, heralding the new month with songs, games, and a delicious lunch.

The G.O. committee focuses on instilling school pride. From organizing spirit days, to making up songs and dances, to the Hanukkah and Purim parties, the G.O. committee infuses the school with lots of fun and good cheer.

All of the groups write and record songs, choreograph dances, elaborately decorate the classrooms, and cook and bake up a storm for their activities. It is an opportunity to let creativity shine.

Best wishes for a Passover season filled with health, peace, safety, and joy.

Chag Sameach!

jewishnewsva.org | March 23, 2020 | Jewish News | 21

It’s a Wrap

Film Festival takes the plunge.

Underwater photographer waits 11 years and six days to meet his polar bear family

Director of Picture of His Life, Dani Menkin and Amos Nachoum, world-renowned photographer answer questions.

The emergent need to break the mold, and morph historic houses of worship into digitally forward community centers became a deeply personal project for a Jewish millennial actor, director, and filmmaker.

The BIG Saturday Night Celebration of Jewish Film and Champagne Reception, in honor of Patricia Ashkenazi, was held at the Sandler Center in Virginia Beach.

The featured film, Picture of his Life is a documentary about more than an iconic photographer’s quest to emerge as the first shooter to swim with and capture a polar bear. Picture of His Life has all the elements of a great story: adventure, nature, adrenaline, friendship, family, heartbreak, and addiction.

Away from the cameras, out of the water, and in the presence of humans, photographer Amos Nachoum stole the show.

Nachoum sprinted on stage immediately after the film. He was visibly moved by the presence of people hungry to hear his story. The 69-year-old Israeli ‘soldier of the sea,’ took a seat next to his former student and film director Dani Menkin.

The intense and inwardly focused photographer was gone. The off-screen Amos Nachoum radiated a lightness that buoyed the room. The audience felt it before he responded to the first question, posed by a woman in the audience, setting the

Caren and Stephen Leon.

Avraham Ashkenazi and Amos Nachoum.

Lisa Richmon

G

reat stories have the power to fuel and feed people. Epic ones grab your attention and hold it until your mind’s altered and your heart’s pounding. That lust for transformation never dies and was the driving force behind the 2020 Virginia Festival of Jewish Film.

Films chosen reflect tension between the community’s desire for contemporary, progressive material and familiar content that makes a soul connection. The 2020 lineup explored evergreen subjects such as Holocaust survivor stories and romantic love at any age. It also delivered a Hollywood-style depiction of a vexing issue facing all organized faith groups.

22 | Jewish News | March 23, 2020 | jewishnewsva.org

mood for the entire evening.

“What is your favorite animal?’ she asked.

“YOU:” Nachoum responded, revealing his reflexive instinct to be totally present with humans, as well as the large predatory animals he lives to portray and protect.

The audience ate it up.

Mark Robbins is a Portsmouthbased photographer Viv Turok, Lonny Sarfan, Fern Leibowitz, and Terri Sarfan. who shoots for Allaboutjazz.com, tell her to go back and pick it up.”

JazzTimes and DownBeat. Robbins, also Robbins understands the sharp conco-chair of the Film Festival screening trast between Nachoum, the charismatic committee, drove to Washington D. C. Israeli, and the intently focused man at and met Nachoum at a scuba diving work. “When I’m at a gig, I’m way more convention before driving him back to outgoing. I’m very introverted naturally.

Virginia Beach for the BIG Saturday night When he’s at work, he’s heavy. But his event. “Amos is magnetic. People love work is life and death. The worst that can him. The D.C. crowd went wild. And, he happen to a guy photographing jazz musireally cares about the environment more cians,” says Robbins, with a wink, “is that than anything. We were driving back to someone gets some bad weed.” the Beach and this woman threw a cigaPeople thought that dedicating a career rette butt out of the window. I thought he to shoot a polar bear was crazy. Nachoum’s was going to roll down his window and father was not his biggest champion. Far from it.

Director Aaron Wolf also understands proof of concept challenge. “When the community first heard about a documentary that chronicled the revival of a faded Los Angeles landmark, they thought it was stupid and said, ‘Why would anyone care?’ The Wilshire Boulevard Temple was the most expensive synagogue renovation ever proposed. An investment of any type in a disenfranchised sanctuary with plaster falling on people trying to pray made no sense. That didn’t stop a visionary rabbi from raising funds, or Dani Menkin and Amy Levy.

It’s a Wrap

Dani Menkin, William Laderberg, Amos Nachoum, Avraham Ashkenazi, Mark Robbins, and Robin Mancoll.

“It impacted my Jewish journey big time. This is a place where my grandfather was a prominent rabbi and I took it for granted.

I went from totally disconnected to full immersion. Now I’m planning events and attending events, raising money for camps, and speaking. Sometimes I have to tell myself, ‘ok, Aaron, slow it down, it’s time for a temple break.”

At 34, Wolf recognizes how people his age connect, whether it’s with a church or temple, or business. He’s working on a template for the temple’s digital campus that utilizes platforms like Instagram and TikTok. “You don’t have to be a member of

Wolf, a millennial film director, from giving the religious relic a second chance in the modern world. “My job is to make people care,” says Wolf, “If we do it, it will live forever. I’ve always been a doer. Just talking about things goes up in the air and does nothing.”

Restoring Tomorrow sent a clear message.

What was a faded façade is now a fully restored sanctuary and emerging cultural center with schools, camps, and medical resources available to an entire community. “It’s definitely on its way up.

We’re always adding new pieces to the foundation. We’re always striving to make it the best version of our original goal,” says Wolf.

Debby and Fred Fink.

Wendy Jo Brodsky, Barry and Lois Einhorn, and Marty Einhorn.

Jerry and Deborah Meltsner.

Linda Spindel, Lynn Schoenbaum, and Ron Spindel.

a place, and you don’t have to be physically present to engage and be involved. Getting people to break the mold of just sending letters and e-mails as an engagement tool is a challenge he knows well. “People thought the temple project was dumb at first, but once it came out, the community thought it was a beautiful thing.”

Perhaps Wolf knows his audience.

“When I was in Virginia Beach, two sisters, ages five and seven, came to see the film with their mother. During a bathroom break, they came up to me and the older girl said, ‘Now we want to go do good things in our community.’ The younger one added, ‘yeah, we do!’”

‘You most definitely will,’ I told them.”

Emotional range in all five of the Festival’s films created a need for nuanced settings from intimate (Cinema Café Kemps River, NARO Expanded Cinema and Beach Cinema Ale House,) to larger continued on page 24

Dana and Jeff Rosen.

Robin Mancoll, Congressman Bobby Scott, Dr. Patricia King, and Megan Zuckerman.

jewishnewsva.org | March 23, 2020 | Jewish News | 23

It’s a Wrap continued from page 23

(Susan S. Goode Fine and Performing Arts Center and Sandler Center for the Performing Arts.) The 2020 line-up included an AARP-ish rom-com, (Love in Suspenders) and vintage goofball comedy (Frisco Kid), to deeply emotional (Those Who Remained), physically and emotionally charged (Picture of his Life), and relevant, redemptive (Restoring Tomorrow).

Anne Fleder attended four of the five films. She liked the unique way in which

Director Aaron Wolf takes questions.

Marc and Stacie Hofheimer Moss.

Rabbi Michael and Sheila Panitz with June Prager.

24 | Jewish News | March 23, 2020 | jewishnewsva.org

Those who Remained delivered its message about hope and renewal of faith. “The film is about an unlikely friendship between a young girl who lost her mom, dad, and sister, and a doctor who also lost his entire family,” says Fleder. “They find common ground and their quirky, unique bond reminded us how the human spirit can bounce back, even after the unspeakable happens.”

What was a school project for Cox High School freshman Lizzie Goldstein, became an emotional and personal message that propelled her forward as the first place winner in the multimedia category of the 2019 Elie Wiesel Visual Arts competition.

Goldstein’s short film Stronger than Hate, was recorded at Congregation Beth El and previewed at the showing of Those who Remained on February 26. Last year, the Plaza Middle School student rallied friends and students of all ethnicities and faiths, from different schools and states to convey the message “We are Stronger than Hate.” Her film was inspired by the Tree of Life killings in Pittsburgh. “I wasn’t planning on entering it in a contest, but once I saw how good it was, I decided to submit,”

Don London, Stephanie Calliott, and Lynn Schoenbaum.

David Brand introduces the film, Restoring Tomorrow.

says Goldstein. “I wanted it to stand out.

It meant a lot to me that so many different people came together for something so special. When it won, I called each participant and thanked them. They felt like they won a piece of it too.”

Amos Nachoum, neglected son and planet protector, calls himself a ‘soldier of mother nature.’ The scars on his soul from what he witnessed in the Yom Kippur war inspire him to look at life differently.

“Look at beauty, rather than misery.”

One of the longest running Jewish film festivals in the nation, the Virginia Festival of Jewish Film is presented by Patricia and Avraham Ashkenazi and Alma and Howard Laderberg.

Ellie Porter and Bootsie Goldmeier.

It’s a Wrap First Person

Virginia Jewish Advocacy Day 2020: A bus ride with people who care about actively practicing democracy is nourishment for me.

Lisa Bertini

O

n February 5, I joined more than 40 fellow early morning risers and got on a bus to Richmond for Virginia’s annual Jewish Advocacy Day with the Community Relations Council of the United Jewish Federation of Tidewater. Nearly 200 advocates from Tidewater, the Peninsula, Richmond, and Northern Virginia came together to meet with our Delegates and Senators and hear from Lieutenant Governor Justin Fairfax, Speaker of the House of Delegates, Eileen Filler-Corn, Governor

Talking to those with really different views can mend the torn fabric of differences

Ralph Northam, and Attorney General Mark Herring.

I had always been politically active and canvassed for my favorite candidates. I had knocked on doors and participated in get-out-the-vote campaigns. But never had I processed politics as an extreme sport until recently. When I learned about Virginia Jewish Advocacy Day or fondly called “Date with the State” in our community, sponsored by the CRC, I thought it would be a terrific opportunity to meet my state elected representatives. I was excited to talk with my people, the ones I supported. But what I didn’t know was that I would have to meet with folks who actually won in my district, even though I prayed they would lose. This wasn’t going to be comfortable, and I wasn’t excited. The bus trip to Richmond was fantastic. We got our talking points and knew our agenda. Who could be against a Holocaust and Genocide education bill? Right?

So, there was one Delegate who didn’t like the bill, and that was unacceptable. After seething internally, I breathed hard and deep. What I learned about petitioning our representatives that day was that when you actually meet with these folks (and their staff), especially those you didn’t vote for, they may just listen after all. Talking to those with really different views can mend the torn fabric of differences. In fact, it may be our only hope. That bus ride with people who cared about actively practicing democracy was nourishment for me.

And guess what? We convinced the Delegate who originally voted no in committee to vote yes, and we learned a few days later, the bill passed! I learned so much that day, and I hope you will join me next year. Date with the State is a trip with your community worth taking.

Team meeting with Delegate Miyares including Cory Hill, John Young, Carol Brum, Barbara Dudley, and Amy Levy.

Team meeting with Senator Lewis’ staff, Hannah, including Hannah Mancoll, Wendy Auerbach, Andie Eichelbaum, and Raizy Cook.

Team meeting with Delegate Cliff Hayes’ staff Sheryl Moody Reddington, including Wendy Auerbach, Raizy Cook, Andie Eichelbaum, and Hannah Mancoll.

For more information about the Community Relations Council, or to get involved, contact Megan Zuckerman at mzuckerman@ ujft.org, or 965-6112.

Team meeting with Delegate Davis’ staff, Maura Pratt, including Rona Proser, Ron Kaufman, Rachel Abrams, Marc Abrams, and Lisa Bertini.

jewishnewsva.org | March 23, 2020 | Jewish News | 25

Coronavirus Pandemic

Undeterred by the coronavirus, a couple plans their wedding in Israel in less than 24 hours Josefin Dolsten, Cnaan Liphshiz

(JTA)—Nina Abrahams and Amit Bigler knew the coronavirus pandemic would have an impact on their wedding, which was already taking place in Israel, far from their home in New York.

But they didn’t expect to have their guest list whittle down from 330 to about 20— and for those 20 guests to attend the ceremony in different shifts, so that no more than 10 guests were present at the same time.

That’s exactly what Abrahams and

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Bigler had to do, however, after the Israeli government temporarily outlawed gatherings of more than 10 people to combat the spread of the virus. They would put together their wedding in less than a day.

Couples around the world have had to downsize their wedding celebrations as countries impose strict rules to curb the spread of the coronavirus, which has killed more than 5,000 people worldwide. In Israel, at least one couple gained attention for circumventing the regulations by holding a wedding ceremony in a supermarket, where 100 people are permitted.

More often, however, couples say they are shrinking their weddings in order to go forward with celebrations at a time of great uncertainty.

The Tournelles Synagogue in Paris typically hosts four or five wedding ceremonies every week. But on Sunday, March 15, with the coronavirus toll rising in France, its iconic, cavernous sanctuary had just one wedding—with just a few guests.

Rabbi Chalom Zana, a Chabad rabbi from the suburb of Bourget, said the couple had considered postponing but went ahead at his urging.

“I told them it’s a matter of continuity and recommended they do the ceremony as planned, and just postpone the party,” Zana says.

“At first there was some heaviness in the air, but I found it appropriate. After all, a rabbi’s job is to explain the procedure to the couple and also the significance of the contract into which they are entering. The fact that the event was at all happening symbolized the Jewish people’s commitment to continuity despite all circumstances.”

For Abrahams, 26, and Bigler, 27, the choice to rush their wedding was easy to make.

“We just wanted to be together,” Abrahams tells the Jewish Telegraphic Agency by phone from Israel a day after her nuptials.

But executing their plans was anything but simple. They had coordinated every

detail for their March 23 ceremony and party with their venue, Ella, in the Israeli town of Ness Ziona. And they had stuck with those plans even as it became clear that their 70 guests from overseas, including Abrahams’ siblings, would not be able to attend.

But on Saturday, March 14, more than a week before their wedding date, Israel announced that it would ban gatherings of more than 10 people. The pair decided they couldn’t wait longer.

Abrahams, who served in the Israeli army before returning to her native New York, rushed to the mikvah to do a ritual immersion done traditionally before Jewish weddings.

Then she and Bigler drove around Israel in the middle of the night in search of an outdoor spot. Ultimately they realized that Bigler’s uncle, who lives in the town of Gedera, had a backyard that would do.

Catering and DJ arrangements were off the table, so as the pair filled out last-minute paperwork, relatives picked up fruit, cheeses, cakes and sandwiches at a nearby market. Bigler’s mother found a saxophonist to play during the wedding ceremony.

The couple then rushed to get ready and take photographs before the ceremony took place less than 24 hours after they had decided to make it happen.

“Although so many were missed, the wedding was intimate, meaningful and beautiful,” the bride’s mother, Miriam Abrahams, wrote about the experience. She and her husband had arrived in Israel just days before the country began requiring a 14-day quarantine for anyone arriving from overseas.

Nina and Amit, she adds, “have remained calm and positive and turned lemons into limonana!”

The couple, who met on the JSwipe dating app in 2018, indeed found a silver lining in the small attendance.

“We’re both kind of shy people,” Abrahams says, “so we were both also happy and a little relieved not to have something so big.”

who knew?

Adam Sandler signs on to make 4 more movies with Netflix

A

dam Sandler and his Happy Madison Productions company will make four more movies with Netflix.

Netflix announced that it would extend its relationship with Sandler, who has been working with the streaming giant since 2015.

Murder Mystery, starring Sandler and Jennifer Aniston, was the most popular movie on Netflix in the United States last year, Deadline reported, citing Netflix, which says that its members have spent two billion hours watching Sandler’s films since 2015.

Sandler is working on his sixth Netflix movie, Hubie Halloween. His others include The Ridiculous 6, The Do-Over, Sandy Wexler, and The Week Of. Sandler was a featured performer on Saturday Night Live from 1991 to 1995. He is currently starring in the crime thriller Uncut Gems. (JTA)

Big Brother Israel contestants are just being told about the extent of the coronavirus pandemic

I

Gabe Friedman

magine being trapped inside a luxurious house, blissfully unaware of any news happening in the world outside, during this moment of international crisis.

Well, that’s part of the premise of the long-running reality show Big Brother, in which a group of contestants are surveilled with an array of cameras and are only allowed to communicate with each other.

Most of the contestants on the Israeli edition, one of four international versions of the show currently being filmed, have been housed in a villa “somewhere in the mountains of Jerusalem,” according to Ynet, this season’s start on Jan. 1. Another batch joined the show a month and a half in, still well before the coronavirus pandemic hit its stride and put the entire world in a historic panic.

So in other words, the show’s cast members haven’t been aware of the frenzy

taking place outside their doors. Israel has ordered citizens to stay inside, except in cases of emergency or for essential needs, like groceries.

That just changed, though, as the show informed the house members about the situation and gave them encouraging messages from their families.

One contestant named Paul Chagyan talked with Ynet about the experience of leaving the show only to enter a quarantine in his real house.

“When I came down the stairs from the Big Brother house, I had the feeling that something bad was happening in the country, but I didn’t realize how much,” Chagyan said. “I was disappointed because I wanted to go out, drink beer, meet friends, relax a bit outside. Now I feel like I left the Big Brother seclusion for my house.”

Red Hot Chili Peppers will headline a new Israeli music festival JERUSALEM (JTA)—The Red Hot Chili Peppers announced that they will perform in Israel this summer.

The performance in Tel Aviv’s Yarkon Park scheduled for June 10 will come in the middle of the band’s European tour.

The group will headline Funkyard, a new Israeli music festival.

The Red-Hot Chili Peppers last appeared in Israel in 2012, at a concert that brought tens of thousands of fans to Yarkon Park.

During that concert, the band talked about the Israeli-born Hillel Slovak, their Jewish founding guitar player who died from a drug overdose in the early 1990s.

Band leader Anthony Kiedis talked about Hillel on stage and yelled, “Hillel Slovak forever!”

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Coronavirus Pandemic

Obituaries

Conservative movement leaders say virtual minyans are permissible during ‘crisis situation’ Ben Harris

(JTA)—The leaders of the Conservative movement’s Jewish law committee issued a crisis declaration allowing the recitation of the Mourner’s Kaddish with a virtual online prayer quorum.

In a statement, Rabbis Elliot Dorff and Pamela Barmash, the co-chairs of the Committee on Jewish Law and Standards, said that given the current public health crisis it’s permitted to constitute a prayer quorum, or minyan, with individuals connected by videoconference.

“This permission of constituting a minyan solely online, whether for all prayers requiring a minyan or only for Mourner’s Kaddish, is limited to this ‘sha’at hadehak’ (crisis situation), where for weeks at a time, gathering a minyan is not possible without risk to human life,” the rabbis wrote. “This permission is also limited to an area where most of the synagogues have been ordered, or recommended, to close for the crisis.”

Under traditional understandings of Jewish law, a minyan requires the presence of 10 adult Jews in one physical place. The CJLS itself upheld that standard by overwhelming majority in a 2001 paper authored by Rabbi Avram Israel Reisner.

But the Dorff and Barmash letter, while not a formal committee responsum, nevertheless argues that the current coronavirus pandemic constitutes an extraordinary situation in which this particular limitation of Jewish law may be suspended. Their opinion does impose certain limits, including requiring participants to see and hear one another and to respond with the Hebrew word “amen” at the appropriate times.

It also notes the particular concern regarding its application on the Jewish Sabbath, when use of electronic devices are generally prohibited. In particular, the statement notes that any livestream should not be activated by a Jewish person

on the Sabbath, a limitation that poses problems for platforms like Zoom, which normally require users to actively log in.

Among the many ways the coronavirus pandemic has upended Jewish life, the recitation of the Mourner’s Kaddish is among the most emotionally weighty.

Mourners traditionally recite the prayer daily for 11 months after the death of a parent, and for 30 days after the death of other close relatives, and it is often considered an important piece of the grieving process. As sweeping restrictions on social gatherings increasingly became the norm across the world in recent days, many Jewish mourners found themselves unable to gather the ten people necessary to recite it.

The Mourner’s Kaddish is often considered an important piece of the grieving process.

“Some [mourners] may feel distress at not being able to recite [Mourner’s Kaddish] in the absence of a minyan, particularly for a prolonged period, and rabbis must reassure mourners that they are fulfilling their Jewish legal obligations under the circumstances and should feel no guilt whatsoever in remembering and honoring the deceased in this way,” says the letter.

The letter also provided a link to prayers that can be said in lieu of the Mourner’s Kaddish.

RELATED RESOURCE: My Jewish Learning, one of JTA’s sister sites, has launched a Virtual Minyan for those looking for an online opportunity to recite the Mourner’s Kaddish.

28 | Jewish News | March 23, 2020 | jewishnewsva.org

Jonny Ileene Blondin Hopkinsville, Kentucky—It is with great sadness that we announce the death of Jonny Ileene Blondin, born in Madisonville, Tennessee, who passed away on January 23, 2020, at the age of 84, leaving to mourn family and friends.

She was predeceased by her parents, John Doolittle, Sr. and Bessie Mae Doolittle (Tegethoof); her husband Edward A. Blondin; her son Frank Edward Blondin; her foster parents, Bessie Dedman and Gilbert Dedman; and her brothers, Gary Doolittle, John Doolittle, Jr., Charles Doolittle, and Jimmy Abbot.

She is survived by her children, Nina Keller of Hopkinsville, KY, Ruth Greenfield of Hopkinsville, KY, Maria Bradham of Charleston, S.C., John Michael Blondin of Trenton, KY, Robert Blondin of Norfolk, Va., Ileene Moore of Springhill, Tenn. and Phillip Blondin of Owensboro, KY. She is also survived by 22 grandchildren and nine great-grandchildren.

Jacob Cohen Norfolk—Jacob Cohen, 94, known lovingly as Jack, was a native of Norfolk, Virginia and was the son of the late Julius and Celia Shulman Cohen and was preceded in death by his son, David Millison and his brothers, Sol Cohen and Ramon Cohen.

Jack was the middle child of five and grew up on Shirley Avenue, in the heart of Norfolk. From the beginning of his life up until his very last breath, Jack took immense pride in being a true Norfolkian. In addition to his hometown pride, Jack reveled in his lifelong membership at Congregation Beth El and his active role in the Jewish community. Both Congregation Beth El and his parents have always held very special places in his heart.

Jack graduated from Maury High School and attended University of Virginia before joining the Army Air Corps. Forever proud of his military service on behalf of his Country, Jack flew 20 missions over Europe, as a bombardier on a B17 during World War II. After the war, Jack went to work with his father, Julius, at Norfolk Packing Company. He served as president and

CEO until 1996. Norfolk Packing Company was near and dear to his heart and Jack was known to have never missed a day of work. Jack relished the chance to work side by side with his beloved brother, Ramon Cohen, for over 50 years.

Both Jack and Norfolk Packing Company developed a reputation for their ‘honest weights and honest measures.’

Jack is survived by his wife, Loretta Comess Cohen of Norfolk, two daughters, Dana Pederson of Culpepper, Virginia and Rachelle Millison, of Annapolis, Maryland, his brother Harris Cohen of New York City and his sister, Helen Cohen Laibstain of Norfolk and numerous nephews and nieces. He was a proud and loving grandfather and role model to five grandchildren who adored him, Sydnee Millison, Ezra Beasley, Jules Millison, Jordan Beasley and Sheldon Millison. Jack was especially close to his nephew, Bruce Cohen.

Funeral Services were held in Congregation Beth El with Rabbi Michael Panitz and Cantor Wendi Fried officiating.

Interment was in Forest Lawn Cemetery.

Memorial donations may be made to Congregation Beth El. H.D. Oliver Funeral Apts.,

Robert Joseph Hudome Virginia Beach—Rob lost his battle with cancer on Saturday, February 8 at the age of 62. He will be greatly missed by many.

Born on September 10, 1957 in Philadelphia, Pa. to Harry and Mary Hudome, Rob spent his early childhood in Sanford, Fla., where he attended All Souls Catholic School. After moving to Virginia Beach in 1969, Rob attended Virginia Beach Junior High and graduated from First Colonial High School in 1975.

Upon graduating from Ferrum College, he returned home to Virginia Beach where his love of sand, sea, and surf directed his career path.

He will be remembered for his years of service as a lifeguard and serving as the captain of the Virginia Beach Patrol, 19841986. In 1986, Rob began his 33-year career with the City of Virginia Beach Resort Office, where he contributed to the revitalization of the Boardwalk and

Obituaries Atlantic Avenue. He later moved to the Department of Economic Development, where he worked as a project coordinator on multiple projects including the development of Town Center and, more recently, the transatlantic cable initiative.

Rob loved his community and the City and will be remembered for his hands-on involvement with so many vital and innovative projects that helped make Virginia Beach the City we know today. Outside of work, he will be remembered for his love of family, friends, ACC basketball, and Bruce Springsteen.

Rob is survived by his wife, Gretchen; their children, Harry and Allison; his sister, Ria Hudome; his mother-in-law, Kitty Wolff, and his many in-laws, nieces, nephews, and cousins. His memory will also be cherished by his large circle of close friends, co-workers, and neighbors.

A funeral mass was held at Star of the Sea Catholic Church in Virginia Beach.

Donations may be made in Rob’s honor to the Virginia Beach Surf & Rescue Museum or the Virginia Beach Rescue Squad.

James Lipton, longtime host of Inside the Actor’s Studio ames Lipton, who hosted the Inside the Actors Studio on the Bravo channel for 23 seasons, has died. He was 93.

Lipton interviewed about 275 actors, writers and directors. In the first season alone his guests included Paul Newman, Alec Baldwin, Neil Simon, Sally Field, Dennis Hopper and Sidney Lumet. His later years included one-on-ones with Robert Downey Jr., Viola Davis, Jessica Chastain, Amy Adams and Bradley Cooper.

The show was nominated for 21 Primetime Emmys during Lipton’s years as host—he left before the show moved to Ovation TV in 2019—and he received a Lifetime Achievement award from the Daytime Emmys in 2007.

On the 200th episode of the show, this son of Jewish parents professed to be an atheist.

Lipton died Monday, March 2 at his home in Manhattan of bladder cancer, the New York Times reported, citing his wife, Kedakai Mercedes Lipton.

J

He became associated with the Actors Studio, a membership organization in New York City for professional actors, theater directors and playwrights best known for its work refining and teaching method acting, in 1992 when he was invited to observe a session. He came up with the idea of taping the sessions as seminars for the New School’s drama students. But he also recognized the potential for marketing and made the connection with Bravo, according to the Times.

Lipton was a professional actor, including a decade on the soap opera Guiding Light as Dr. Dick Grant. He has written scripts for soap operas, a novel and a made-for-television movie.

He was frequently mocked by Will Ferrell on Saturday Night Live, and a cartoon version of Lipton was murdered on The Simpsons. He voiced himself on the episode. (JTA)

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Coronavirus Pandemic

With communal mourning a health hazard, grieving Jews must sit shiva alone Ben Harris

A

fter Shaul Moshi died during the second week of March in Los Angeles at the age of 94, more than 100 people gathered at his home for the traditional shiva minyan.

It was Wednesday night—before the synagogues and schools had closed, before bars and restaurants had drained of customers, and before the city had enacted a sweeping ban on gatherings of more than 50 people due to the coronavirus pandemic.

For a few days, the traditional homebased Jewish mourning rituals proceeded as normal, with visitors gathering to comfort Moshi’s wife and children, and provide the 10 Jews necessary to recite the Mourner’s Kaddish, the Jewish prayer for the dead.

But by the weekend, those staples of the Jewish grieving process were looking increasingly like acts of recklessness as large swaths of the country went into varying degrees of lockdown in an effort to contain the spread of COVID-19. Prayer services were moved to another family home and Moshi’s elderly wife and daughter finished out the weeklong shiva largely alone—visited only by a handful of close family and unable to recite the Kaddish.

“There’s this feeling of you want to be with the family,” says David Abrahams, Moshi’s son-in-law. “You want to have the comfort. You want to hold on to each other at a time like this.”

Traditional Jewish mourning rituals entail the instant creation of a social cocoon, as the bereaved typically retreat to their homes for the shiva period and friends and families swarm them with visits and food. But as the coronavirus upends ever more aspects of daily life and social distancing becomes the order of the day, such basic human acts as comforting the bereaved have virtually overnight become significant threats to public health.

Across the country, rabbis have urged

that all home visits be stopped and the traditional “shiva call” be made only by phone or internet, leading to heartbreaking stories of families forced to grieve in physical isolation and denied the comfort of religious mourning rituals.

In Chicago, an elderly Holocaust survivor sitting shiva for his wife had visitors sign up for visitation slots—limiting them to five people at a time and asking them to keep their distance in the home.

Eventually, even that seemed like a risk he was no longer willing to bear, and the family called off the shiva entirely midweek.

“They’re just too scared about all these seemingly healthy people traipsing through the apartment with this pandemic going on,” says Rabbi David Wolkenfeld, the family’s rabbi. “It’s sad on so many levels. The family doesn’t get the typical support and embrace and a hug of a community which you really need, and we expect from Jews, to get through these really hard times.”

On Long Island, in suburban New York City, 90-year-old Holocaust survivor Gerda Garbatzky began showing signs of illness on Thursday, March 12, was admitted to the hospital on Friday night and was confirmed to have the coronavirus on Sunday evening. The whole time, she was kept in isolation and forbidden to have visitors. After she died on Monday, her daughter and grandson, both in quarantine themselves, were unable to reach out to each other for comfort and had to make do with a videoconference.

“Normally we’d sit in the same room crying, holding hands. We’re a very close family,” Garbatzky’s grandson Geoffrey Sorensen says. “We couldn’t do that. I just wanted to hug my parents. We did a video chat just so we could see each other crying, which sounds so terrible, but I just needed to see them.”

Those mourning parents are obligated to say Kaddish daily for 11 months.

Jewish law requires a prayer quorum, or minyan, for the recitation of the prayer,

30 | Jewish News | March 23, 2020 | jewishnewsva.org

and those mourners must be gathered in one physical place, not online, although others may gather from afar.

But the Conservative movement, in an opinion issued this month, supported a leniency that would allow for a virtual minyan provided all the participants can see each other and make the required liturgical replies.

Traditional Jewish mourning rituals entail the instant creation of a social cocoon, as the bereaved typically retreat to their homes for the shiva period and friends and families swarm them with visits and food.

“This permission of constituting a minyan solely online, whether for all prayers requiring a minyan or only for Mourner’s Kaddish, is limited to this ‘sha’at hadehak’ (crisis situation), where for weeks at a time, gathering a minyan

is not possible without risk to human life,” a letter from the heads of the movement’s committee on Jewish law reads.

“This permission is also limited to an area where most of the synagogues have been ordered, or recommended, to close for the crisis.”

Jewish leaders are also scrambling to ensure other Jewish end-of-life rituals can proceed as normally as possible.

Kavod v’Nichum, a nonprofit that provides resources around Jewish burial and mourning practices, has conducted online training sessions on how to safely perform Jewish rituals around the preparation of a body for burial.

“Coronavirus needn’t impede care for bodies,” says David Zinner, the group’s executive director. “What has changed is that the living people that come into doing this work won’t be showing symptoms and have to be careful.”

Even bigger challenges for Jewish burial rituals could lie ahead. In Italy, where the coronavirus has hit hard, funerals for some victims reportedly have been postponed. If the coronavirus death toll grows in the United States or Israel, finding enough volunteers to guard bodies before burial, as Jewish ritual requires, could become difficult.

For now, grieving Jews are reckoning with changes that are unfolding with almost unbelievable speed.

Shalom Freedman flew from his home in New Jersey to Denver for his mother’s funeral. He had planned to return to complete the shiva period with his family, but his rabbi advised him to stay put since home gatherings by then had been banned in New Jersey and he would be unable to recite the Kaddish prayer.

For many Jewish mourners, that’s a vitally important piece of the grieving process.

“Not being able to say Kaddish is going to be quite hard,” acknowledges Freedman, who plans to return east later this month. “But people have been calling in for support. That really helps.”

Profile

The Charles Barker model for giving: Focus on ‘the kids we leave our world.’

As a philanthropist focused on measurable impact and leveling the academic playing field for all children, he made college, high school, and grade school level education his top priorities. He also created Champion for Kids, a charity organization that raises funds to provide support programs serving Hampton Roads youth community.

Together with his employees, Charles Barker Automotive contributed $250k last year to the Virginia Beach Housing Resource Center on Witchduck Road.

HRC provides services for families and individuals experiencing homelessness.

“Cars are our business, but children are our future,” says Barker.

Barker stepped up immediately after the fatal shooting in Virginia Beach

Charles Barker.

Lisa Richmon

I

n the car business, mentors make better models.

Early in his career, Charles Barker was fortunate enough to work under a successful businessman in the car industry who inspired him and put him on his path to financial and personal success.

Before Charles Barker Automotive (CBA) became a brand of its own, with its hit campaign “Riding with Charlie,” Barker internalized a personal philosophy that guided him. ‘When you do well, you have a civic rent to pay.’

“Josh Darden showed me the way,” says Barker. “We became partners and he taught me there are so many great causes that need our help. You just have to pick and choose the ones you think are worthy. I had to find the ones I have passion for, and I’ve done that my entire career. But I sort of singled in on kids’ youth programs these past 26 years.”

Today, Barker is chairman of An Achievable Dream. “Most of our giving is focused on education, substance abuse,

boys’ and girls’ clubs. I just think kids are our future. People say, ‘what kind of world are we going to leave our kids?’ I say, ‘What kind of kids are we going to leave our world.’”

Results matter most to Barker. An Achievable Dream makes it a priority to educate kids socially morally, academically, all at the same time. “We get them ready for the future. You don’t have to live in a certain zip code. We know anyone can learn. Our goal is to give them hope for the future, so they say to themselves, ‘I can go to college if I work hard. I can get off drugs.’”

Barker’s connection to the Jewish community is through CBA President Nathan Drory, who he hired when Drory was 21. Barker’s wife, whom he met in high school, is also Jewish. “We supported JCC and HAT and Israel Fest over the years because they are good programs. I have to see the end result.

Nathan has been with me a very long time. He’s been very involved in the Jewish community. Both Nathan and Leora.”

with a call to the mayor, and offering money for families left behind. He felt equally compelled to donate to the Police Foundation after the tragedy.

This level of personal and professional success could have gone to his head. Charles Barker wasn’t an instant fan of the “Riding with Charlie” campaign that O’Brien et al. Advertising suggested. “My first reaction was why would people want to ride with me?” says Barker. But he went along for the ride, and was surprised and delighted to learn how many people really do want to ‘Ride With Charlie.’

“I give back because it makes me feel great. And, let’s be honest, I don’t need another suit or tie.”

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