CT Jewish Ledger • April 30, 2021 • 18 Iyar 5781 by 2020 Media

THE JEWS OF MOROCCO JEWISH LEDGER

| APRIL 30, 2021

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| APRIL 30, 2021

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INSIDE

this week

CONNECTICUT JEWISH LEDGER | SINCE 1929 | APRIL 30, 2021 | 18 IYAR 5781

8 Briefs

11 Opinion

14 Milestones

17 Crossword

18 Bulletin Board

About-face........................................ 5 Speaking at the virtual J Street national conference recently Democratic progressives – including Sens. Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren – said they were willing to place conditions on the aid Congress has promised Israel.

Justice for Sarah............................. 5 In a series of demonstrations, French Jews come out to protest the decision not to try a Muslim man who killed his Jewish neighbor.

The Ledger Scoreboard............... 6 Is it possible to play Major League Baseball while being a Sabbath-observant Jew? It’s a question 18-year-old baseball phenom Elie Kligman hopes to answer.

Open and Shut?............................. 16 Three weeks after taking office, Joe Biden announced that he would quadruple the number of refugees allowed into the U.S. – reversing his predecessor, Donald Trump. And then nothing happened.

Celebrate Lag B’Omer!.............. 15 On Lag B’Omer, kids come armed for a marshmallow roast, while adults can relax and enjoy conversation in the cool of the evening.

In Memoriam................................ 20 Former vice president Walter Mondale represented a time in American history when being pro-Israel and progressive were often synonymous.

Torah Portion

19 What’s Happening

20 Obituaries

21 Business and Professional Directory

22 Classified

ON THE COVER:

Following the exodus of Jews from Morocco, their institutions closed and antiJewish propaganda increased. Today, the Jewish population there stands at a paltry 2,000 compared to one million Moroccan Jews in Israel who will now get the chance to build communal bridges. Pictured on the cover is Temple BethEl, an Orthodox synagogue in Casablanca, Morocco, that is often considered the centerpiece of a once vibrant Jewish community. PAGE 12 jewishledger.com

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At J Street event, progressive Democrats seek conditions on US aid to Israel, others push back BY DMITRIY SHAPIRO

(JNS) Speaking at the virtual J Street national conference on Monday, former Democratic presidential candidates Sens. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) indicated that they were willing to place conditions on the aid Congress has promised Israel. “I strongly believe that we must also be willing to bring real pressure to bear, including restricting U.S. aid, in response to moves by either side that undermine the chances for peace,” Sanders said in his virtual speech. “The truth is that the United States gives an enormous amount of military aid to Israel. It also provides some humanitarian and economic aid to the Palestinians. It is totally appropriate for the United States to say what that aid may and may not be used for. “In terms of aid to Israel, in my view, the American people do not want to see that money being used to support policies that violate human rights and treat the Palestinian people as second-class human beings.” Warren called for restricting military aid to Israel if the aid is being used in a way that prevents the parties from moving towards a two-state solution, which she said included being used in the West Bank. “If we’re serious about arresting settlement expansion and helping move the parties towards a two-state solution, then it would be irresponsible not to consider all of the tools we have at our disposal,” she said. “By continuing to provide military aid without restriction, we provide no incentive for Israel to adjust course,” she said. “The United States cannot stand for security, human rights, and dignity, and at the same moment turn a blind eye to the suffering of Palestinians under Israeli occupation.” Halie Soifer, CEO of the Jewish Democratic Council of America, drew a distinction between the opinions of Sanders and Warren with the rest of the Democratic Party, including others who spoke at the conference. “The Democratic Party Platform, adopted unanimously in 2020, made clear that Democrats strongly support the 10-year, $38 billion Memorandum of Understanding between the United States and Israel finalized by [former] President jewishledger.com

U.S. SENATOR ELIZABETH WARREN DURING HER PRESIDENTIAL CAMPAIGN IN 2019. (DAVID GARCIA/SHUTTERSTOCK)

[Barack] Obama and then-Vice President [Joe] Biden in 2016,” Soifer wrote in an email. “That is JDCA’s position, and it’s the position of the Biden White House.” She added that Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) also spoke at J Street’s two-day conference. Soifer said

Thousands of Jews protest in France demanding ‘justice for Sarah Halimi’

they “expressed support for the ironclad partnership between the two countries which epitomizes how Democrats view the U.S.-Israel relationship.” U.S. Rep. Elaine Luria (D-Va.), a member of the House Armed Services Committee, where she serves as vice chair of the Seapower and Projection Forces Subcommittee, said in an emailed statement that putting conditions on aid to Israel would threaten security and U.S. interests in the region. “Israel is America’s most vital ally in the Middle East. The aid we provide, roughly $3.8 billion each year, is an investment in the national security of both our countries and serves as a strong deterrent in the region,” wrote Luria. “Israel’s continued stability and economic strength were critical in securing the historic Abraham Accords, which normalized relations with Israel and several Middle Eastern countries. Conditioning aid to Israel would be a grave mistake and would threaten security and U.S. interests in this volatile region.”

THE BUILDING WHERE SARAH HALIMI WAS KILLED IN PARIS, FRANCE, PICTURED ON APRIL 24, 2021. (CNAAN LIPHSHIZ)

BY CNAAN LIPHSHIZ

PARIS (JTA) – Thousands of protesters, many of them Jewish, gathered in the French capital to protest the judiciary’s decision not to try a man who killed his Jewish neighbor while shouting about Allah. Under the banner of “Justice for Sarah Halimi,” the rally Sunday at Trocadero Square overlooking the Eiffel Tower reflected the widespread indignation of many French Jews at the April 14 ruling by their country’s highest court. It affirmed lower tribunals’ findings that that woman’s killer, Kobili Traore, was unfit to stand trial for his actions on April 4, 2017 in Paris because his consumption of marijuana had made him temporarily psychotic.

Critics of this ruling cited apparent composure by Traore, an immigrant from Mali who was 27 when he killed Halimi, a physician in her 60s. Traore, whom a lower court said targeted Halimi because she was Jewish, called her a demon as he pummeled her in her third-story apartment, which he entered by force. He then threw her out the window and shouted: “A lady fell down from the window!” to cover up his actions, witnesses said. He left the scene, allegedly to escape it, and was arrested on a nearby CONTINUED ON PAGE 7

In J Street address, Abbas urges repeal of laws that impede US-Palestinian ties BY DMITRIY SHAPIRO

(JNS) Palestinian Authority leader Mahmoud Abbas spoke on Sunday, April 18, about strengthening ties with the United States during a pre-recorded video address at JStreet’s virtual annual national conference. Abbas said that ties between the P.A. and the United States were severed during former President Donald Trump’s administration after recognizing Jerusalem as the capital of Israel in December 2017 and the moving of the U.S. embassy to Jerusalem six months later, in May 2018, followed by the cutting off of aid to the Palestinians. Abbas asked for the organization’s assistance to “repeal all laws that block the road toward enhancing PalestinianU.S. relations.” The most important sticking point, according to Abbas, was the inclusion of the Palestinian Liberation Organization and its affiliates in the 1987 AntiTerrorism Act, deeming them terrorist groups. He said the designation was no longer relevant as the PLO was recognized by Israel as a legitimate representative of the Palestinian people in the 1993 Oslo Accords. He also promised to remove obstacles on the Palestinian side but was not specific about which ones. The P.A. has long been criticized for incentivizing terrorism by paying stipends to families of Palestinians imprisoned or killed while committing terrorist acts against Israelis. The Taylor Force Act makes it illegal for the U.S. to provide aid, with some humanitarian exceptions, to the Palestinian Authority if they continue to provide these terror stipends. Abbas reaffirmed his support for a two-state solution to the IsraelPalestine conflict based on pre-1967 borders, with eastern Jerusalem as the Palestinian capital. This capital, he said, would be “an open city for all believers and followers CONTINUED ON PAGE 7

JEWISH LEDGER | APRIL 30, 2021

THE LEDGER SCOREBOARD

This Shabbat-observant baseball phenom has his eyes on a Major League career. Can it be done? BY ROB CHARRY

(JTA) – Is it possible to play Major League Baseball while being a Sabbath-observant Jew? It’s a question that could have an answer within the next few years if Elie Kligman, an 18-year-old from Las Vegas, has anything to say about it. Kligman is considered one of the top high school players in the West and is being recruited by major colleges. The 6-foot, 185pound senior plays several infield positions and pitches. But his sports agent father, Marc, thinks his best route to the majors would be as a switch-hitting, strong-armed catcher. Kligman has registered for baseball’s new draft portal, where prospective picks fill out information forms. Neither the colleges nor the pros have gotten to see much of Kligman on the field over the past two seasons because of COVID, as there have been few games to showcase his talents. Kligman likely would have accepted a scholarship to college as early as last summer, before his senior year, but now expects to make that decision by July at the latest. (He preferred not to say which schools are recruiting him, but said they are in Division I, the highest rung in college sports.) Marc Kligman does not expect his son to be picked in July’s MLB draft – but he

ELIE KLIGMAN IN ACTION FOR CIMARRONMEMORIAL HIGH SCHOOL IN LAS VEGAS. (COURTESY OF KLIGMAN)

JEWISH LEDGER

didn’t rule it out, adding that he believes his older of two sons is ready for that step, even with the COVID obstacles. And if a team makes a good enough offer, Marc Kligman would encourage Elie to take it. Why does Elie Kligman think he could convince a major league team to sign a Sabbath-observant player, one who wouldn’t be available for as many as two games a week? The teenager was ready with a quick response. “Most guys don’t play 162 games a year. If I’m a catcher, not playing three days in the week or two days in the week is pretty normal, so I don’t think it would be that different from other guys,” he said. “I would just be missing different days.” There would be even fewer obstacles if Kligman made it as a pitcher, with starters going every fifth game and relievers rarely appearing in more than three games in a row. Marc Kligman said people have reached out to him with instances of pitchers who overcame religious restrictions – Hall of Famer Christy Mathewson had a contract stating that he wouldn’t pitch on Sundays out of respect for his religious mother. Ed Correa, a White Sox pitcher in the mid1980s was a Seventh-day Adventist who didn’t pitch from sundown Friday to sunset Saturday. And then, of course, there’s the legend of Sandy Koufax, who sat out Game 1 of the 1965 World Series because it fell on Yom Kippur. Kligman, who attends the public Cimarron-Memorial High School online during the pandemic, said playing on Shabbat and Yom Kippur is a nonstarter, regardless of the game’s importance. He has raced to the ballpark after sundown. “I’ve showed up at games halfway through,” he said. The decision not to play on Shabbat is a personal and a family decision. “It’s the way I was raised, the way our family goes about everything,” he said. “Don’t play on Shabbos.” Teammates, he said, “have been very supportive.” “They usually ask me a lot of questions, like, what do you do on Shabbos, why can’t you be here, but everyone is super respectful of all the things that I have to follow and what I do,” Kligman said. Asked how he would classify his family’s

| APRIL 30, 2021

Judaism, Marc Kligman said, “Labels are tough. We consider ourselves to be observant, religious Jews. The people that we pray with, and the customs that we follow is Chabad, which is part of the Hasidic movement.” The family’s Jewish community has been mostly supportive of Elie Kligman in his pursuit. “The people that we’ve known have always known we’ve been doing this for a long time,” he said. “The support from everybody has been positive, they come to games, they ask me about games.” Marc Kligman said not everyone is on board, however. “I think those who don’t understand maybe think this is nonsense, that kids should be studying to become rabbis and teach at yeshivas,” he said. “But most of the Chabad rabbis realize that there are things that Elie and myself can do through the medium of baseball, and what we accomplish to try to bring people closer to Torah and Judaism, that they can’t. “We’ve had many people reach out to us and ask for Elie to speak to schools, religious day schools, to communities. They’re just all very inspired that here’s a religious Jewish boy with a Jewish first name, Jewish last name, playing baseball, and he’s not compromising, not letting it get in the way. To the vast amount of very observant Jews that’s very inspirational, especially to young kids.” It only takes one team to make this story happen, Marc Kligman said, noting however that half the pro teams won’t even bother to look at a high school catcher. “It takes so long to develop a catcher. Organizations want them to go to college and figure it all out and come out more mature at 21,” he said. “But the other half of the organizations are potentially interested because they want to mold them the way they want to mold them at a young age.” Marc Kligman was a high school catcher himself growing up in a Jewish but not particularly religious household in Stamford, Connecticut. “Gary Carter was someone I tried to emulate,” he said, recalling the Hall of Fame backstop for his favorite team, the New York Mets, and Montreal Expos, among others. Elie Kligman was raised in San Diego before the family moved to Las Vegas, but he wasn’t a Padres fan.

“My favorite player was Roy Halladay,” he said, recalling the late pitcher for the Toronto Blue Jays and Philadelphia Phillies. “I was watching the Phillies a lot. I was in kindergarten when they won it all [in 2008]. I really liked watching Halladay pitch.” (Halladay was traded to the Phillies before the 2010 season.) Kligman got to meet his idol at a Phillies-Padres game in San Diego through a family “friend” – Carlos Ruiz, the longtime Phillies catcher who caught four no-hitters, including two pitched by Halladay. Ruiz happened to be Marc Kligman’s client, and Marc arranged for the meeting. “It was pretty cool. Our pony league team had gone into a locker room at the Padres stadium,” Elie recalled. “Carlos brought a couple of players in – Placido Polanco, Cliff Lee. When Roy Halladay walked in, it was kinda like, whoa!” Ruiz remains like family to the Kligmans. While he was unable to attend Kligman’s bar mitzvah – several players did – he was there for younger brother Ari’s coming-of-age rite. During the recent Zoom interview with the Jewish Telegraphic Agency, a framed Ruiz jersey was visible over Elie’s right shoulder. “I think Carlos was a big influence on Elie,” Marc Kligman said. “That’s maybe where he got his love for catching. To be a good catcher you really have to love it, it’s too hard of a position. For now, Elie Kligman said he will play any position a team wants, as long as it gets him to the big leagues. He’ll be playing in showcases and tournaments after his high school season, and there’s a chance he could be working out with players from Team Israel next month and in July. Someday he’d like to play for the Jewish state’s squad. By midsummer, Kligman will know which path he will take, college or the minor leagues. Bottom line, he said, the teen knows what he wants to do: “Play baseball.” Marc Kligman recalled a conversation he had with his son a few years ago. “He said I’m ready for it. I want to see if we can make it work,” Marc Kligman said. “God first, being observant, religious, understanding the world is created for service to God, and to make the world a better place. Why can’t baseball and being observant coexist?” jewishledger.com

France

J Street

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 5

street. Others argue that even if Traore was psychotic, he was criminally liable when he took the drugs that made him psychotic and should therefore stand trial. He has no documented history of psychiatric problems. At the rally in Paris, which was held under tight security arrangements in a cordoned-off enclosure set up on Trocadero Square, CRIF played a video on a giant screen in which French Chief Rabbi Haim Korsia demanding another “trial of facts”, even if it ends without a sentence. The rally Sunday is the first time in decades that a large number of French Jews have gathered to protest against organs or actions of the French state. Jacques Essebag, a French-Jewish comedian who is known by the stage name Arthur, in a video message said he has “decided to start using drugs because in France you can do whatever you want, even kill your neighbor if you don’t like her, if you use drugs.” He then added: “What has become of this country.” The event featured many Israeli flags, French ones and those of the far-right Jewish Defense League. The video message of Mayor Anne Hidalgo, a Socialist politician, provoked whistles and booing from many protestors at the event. Organized by the CRIF umbrella of French Jewish communities, the rally is “to show our astonishment at a decision that conforms to the the law, but not to justice,” CRIF wrote. French President Emmanuel Macron has said he would advance legislation to prevent criminals from avoiding trial by using an insanity defense for actions committed under the influence of drugs. Some Jewish organizations have used harsh language, including the conservative Europe-Israel group, about the case, calling the Halimi trial “the new Dreyfus Trial.” It’s a reference to the antisemitic treason charges leveled at a French-Jewish soldier in 1894, and which many to this day believe showed that French society and European societies in general are too antisemitic to allow Jews to truly integrate. In addition to the rally in Paris, additional protest rallies are planned to take place on Sunday in Marseille, Strasbourg and Lyon. Abroad, rallies are scheduled to be held in Washington DC, Los Angeles and Miami in the Unites States as well as Rome, Italy. In London, Tel Aviv and The Hague rallies will take place in front of the French embassies in those cities, organizers said.

of the three monotheistic religions.” “Only then will the states of Palestine and Israel be able to prosper and live side by side in peace and security,” he added. Abbas’s message was reiterated by J Street in a tweet sent that day. The platform given to Abbas during the conference was criticized by Republican Jewish Coalition executive director Matt Brooks in an email to donors on April 19, calling Abbas a Holocaust denier and funder of terrorism. “This wasn’t a huge surprise, as we have always known that J Street is antiIsrael,” Brooks said in the email. “What was also unsurprising was the number of participating Democrats who refused to call Abbas out for his extremism and his incitement of violence towards Israeli and American Jews.” Brooks noted that prominent Democrats, such as House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) and Sen. Raphael Warnock (D-Ga.), spoke at the online conference. Jewish Democratic Council of America CEO Halie Soifer also attended. “Recently, [U.S.] President [Joe] Biden caved to Abbas and resumed aid to the Palestinian Authority, freeing up more funds for Abbas to spend on terrorism. So it wasn’t surprising to see so many Democrats choosing to share a stage with Abbas,” wrote Brooks. J Street has also recently indicated support for a newly introduced bill in the U.S. House of Representatives, which if passed would condition U.S. aid to Israel on ensuring that no tax dollars contribute to alleged civil-rights and human-rights abuses against Palestinians. The bill titled “Defending the Human Rights of Palestinian Children and Families Living Under Israeli Military Occupation Act,” was introduced by U.S. Rep. Betty McCollum (R-Minn.) on April 15. AIPAC expressed opposition to the bill, calling it “unnecessary and redundant,” as fiscal aid for Israel already can only be used for legitimate self-defense and internal security purposes.

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APRIL 30, 2021

Briefs Oscar-nominated filmmakers to produce film on Serge and Beate Klarsfeld (JTA) – Two of the world’s most famous Nazi hunters, Serge and Beate Klarsfeld, are getting the documentary treatment. Alexander Nanau, a Romanian filmmaker whose documentary “Collective” is up for both best documentary and best foreign film at this year’s Oscars on Sunday, will executive produce a film about the Klarsfelds, who have exposed Nazis around the world for decades. “It has been a huge privilege to have gained the trust and cooperation of Beate and Serge to document their extraordinary lives both past and present,” co-director Mike Lerner said in a statement April 19 to The Hollywood Reporter. Lerner’s 2011 documentary “Hell and Back Again” about a soldier with posttraumatic stress disorder was nominated for an Oscar in 2012. The Klarsfelds have brought several prominent Nazis and French Vichy collaborators to justice, including the infamous Gestapo officer Klaus Barbie.

Conspiracy theorist Naomi Wolf claims Dr. Fauci serves Israel, not US (JTA) – Conspiracy theorist Naomi Wolf suggested that Dr. Anthony Fauci is beholden to Israel rather than serving the United States. Wolf, an anti-vaccine activist who has also promoted conspiracy theories about ebola and ISIS, appeared April 19 on Fox News to criticize pandemic restrictions promoted by Fauci. The one-time Democratic consultant said Fauci was “so conflicted” and doesn’t serve the cause of “public health for the American people.” “He doesn’t work for us,” she said in a segment reposted by the liberal media watchdog Media Matters for America. Among the examples of purported conflicts Wolf cited was an award that Fauci received from an Israeli university. “He got a million dollars from the state of Israel for a humanitarian gift,” she said. In fact, Fauci received the Dan David Prize, a prestigious $1 million award that comes not from the Israeli government but from Tel Aviv University. Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, was cited for achievement in public health and praised, according to a statement, for “speaking truth to power in a highly charged political environment.” The Fox host who interviewed Wolf, conservative pundit Ben Domenech, did not address Wolf’s mention of Israel. After the statement, Domenech said Wolf’s skepticism of public health restrictions would be “vindicated.” Wolf has harshly criticized Israel before. In 2019, responding to a Twitter poll asking 8

JEWISH LEDGER

“Which nation is the biggest threat to peace in the world?” she replied, “Where is Israel?”

Man rams car into Chassidic group walking in Brooklyn

Top Democrats want to slow down sale of F-35s to UAE

NYPD creates civilian panel to advise on hate crimes

(JNS) A 26-year-old man was arrested in New York City after he hit several Chassidic men with his car on Saturday evening, April 17, after the end of Shabbat in the Williamsburg section of Brooklyn, N.Y. According to New York Police Department Det. Sophia Mason, a spokesperson for the office of the deputy commissioner of public information, police responded to a 911 call and upon arrival, “officers discovered five males who came into a contact with a gray Honda SUV which reversed into them. One of the victims, an 82-year-old male, sustained a foot injury and was removed by EMS to Cobble Hill Hospital for treatment.” It appeared to show the suspect – identified by police as Shokhobiddin Bakhritdinov – stopping his car at an intersection, getting out and looking around before getting back in, putting his car in reverse and hitting several Jewish men. He then appears to get out of his car before returning and speeding off. The suspect has been charged with leaving the scene of an accident. The investigation remains ongoing.

(JTA) – Top Senate Democrats introduced a bill that would slow down the sale of F-35 stealth combat aircraft to the United Arab Emirates, part of the deal closed by the Trump administration as an incentive to normalize relations with Israel. Critics of the sale say it undercuts Israel’s “qualitative military edge” in the region. Sen. Robert Menendez, D-N.J., chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee, and Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., longtime former chairwoman of the Intelligence Committee, on Friday, April 16, introduced legislation that would mandate congressional oversight to ensure that the transfer of the aircraft complied with U.S. law upholding Israel’s qualitative military edge in the Middle East.c“I remain concerned with the implications of a sale of our most advanced fighter jet given numerous outstanding, unanswered questions about the implications of this sale for U.S. national security, our technology interests, and implications for regional stability including the legal parameters of Israel’s Qualitative Military Edge,” Menendez said.c An official of AIPAC, the main pro-Israel lobby, said the group had not taken a position on the bill. President Joe Biden froze the sale, prompting criticism from Republicans that he was undercutting the normalization agreement, aka the Abraham Accords. He unfroze the sale last week. Israel at first opposed the sale but relented after lobbying by top Trump officials. Several pro-Israel Democrats nonetheless remained wary about selling the state-of-the-art aircraft. The oversight according to the bill would considerably delay any sale, and a provision that would require showing “the recipient country has not committed or enabled human rights violations” would likely be onerous for the UAE, which human rights NGOs score low. The bill also fires a warning shot not to sell the aircraft to Saudi Arabia.

(JTA) – The New York Police Department is creating a civilian panel to help address a rise in hate crimes in New York City. It’s five volunteer members will include Devorah Halberstam, a Hasidic women whose son Ari was murdered by a terrorist in the city in 1994. Spurred by a spike in hate crimes against Asian Americans, the diverse panel will help advise if incidents involving any group should be deemed a hate crime, Commissioner Dermot Shea said Monday at a news conference announcing the panel. “We will be the voices of the victims who are often ignored, or at best tolerated, but today there will be change,” Halberstam, co-founder and director of external affairs of the Jewish Children’s Museum in Brooklyn, said at the news conference. The NYPD already has a Hate Crimes Task Force, and set up an undercover AntiAsian Hate Crimes Task Force in response to attacks on members of the Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders community. Shea said the new civilian panel is “to act as a bridge, as another set of eyes and ears as we look to stamp out hate.” The Hate Crimes Task Force said 135 hate crimes have been reported in the city in 2021, compared to 93 last year. Through the end of March there were 20 antisemitic acts and 31 anti-Asian acts.

Aide for NYC council candidate says Upper West Side ‘too Jewish and white’ (JNS) The campaign manager for a Democratic New York City Council candidate said last week that Manhattan’s Upper West Side is too white and Jewish, the Jewish Press reported. Quinn Mootz, who is Jewish, serves as campaign manager for Sara Lind’s run to replace Councilman Helen Rosenthal in the Upper West Side (District 6) in the June 22 Democratic primary. On April 13, Mootz said in a series of Twitter posts, which have since been deleted, that “Jews are not POC [People of Color] for just being jewish sorry.” Mootz also tweeted, “As of 2018: 10.8% of the population is Asian, 4.1% black, 14.1% hispanic, and 68.4% white. So yeah ima go ahead and say the UWS has a diversity problem. Of your 191,000 residents … 130,795 are white.” Upper West Side resident Steven Dzik said, “I have to assume the campaign manager’s views reflect the candidate’s. Mootz’s comment shows contempt for the residents of the neighborhood she hopes to represent,” the New York Post reported.

| APRIL 30, 2021

22 senators urge Biden to name antisemitism monitor (JTA) – The bipartisan Senate antisemitism task force urged President Joe Biden to name a State Department monitor to combat antisemitism. “Tragically, 76 years after the end of the Holocaust, antisemitism remains a serious and growing danger for Jews in Europe, the Middle East, the United States, and elsewhere in the world,” said the letter sent Monday, April 19, and spearheaded by Sens. Jacky Rosen, D-Nev., and Jim Lankford, R-Okla, the task force chairs, and signed by another 20 senators on the panel. “To combat the rising tide of global antisemitism, the State Department’s Special Envoy to Monitor and Combat Antisemitism works to promote accurate Holocaust education, improve the safety and security of at-risk Jewish communities, ensure foreign public officials condemn antisemitic discourse, and strengthen foreign judicial systems in their prosecution of antisemitic incidents.” The letter noted that a law passed just before President Donald Trump left office elevates the position to ambassador level, lending it more clout within the State Department. The new designation also means that any nominee requires Senate confirmation. The task force brings together senators who otherwise would have little to do with one another, including Tom Cotton, the conservative Republican from Arkansas, and Raphael Warnock, the freshman liberal Democrat from Georgia. To date, the Biden administration has not given any indication of any leading candidate. Trump left the position unfilled for two years until he named Elan Carr in early 2019 following multiple calls from Jewish groups and Congress members.

BDS supporters call for boycott of UAE’s Israeli art exhibition (JNS) The first-ever Israeli art exhibition in the United Arab Emirates is facing backlash from supporters of the BDS movement against Israel. “Abyss of Bliss” is open from the end of March until May 20 at the Oblong Contemporary Art Gallery in Dubai. It features the work of three Israeli artists: Ariela Wertheimer, Keren Shpilsher and 18-year-old photographer Yinon Gal-On. The theme centers on “the concept of water” with 10 percent of the proceeds to be donated to the humanitarian organization Emirates Red Crescent. The gallery said in a press release that the exhibit was organized to celebrate “the occasion of the peace agreement between the UAE and Israel,” signed last year as part of the Abraham Accords. In a statement in Arabic, the Palestinian jewishledger.com

Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel (PACBI) called on the general public to avoid the show, arguing that art is being used to normalize “colonialism and repression.” The statement added: “The Israeli and Emirati regimes have been employing sports, art and academics in disguising their security and military alliance, which brings nothing but destruction and oppression to the nations of the region.” In response, Oblong’s co-founder Paola Marucci told the publication Hyperallergic: “We didn’t want to offend anyone by opening the first Israeli artists’ exhibition in Dubai. For us, artists are all the same: The only difference between the artists is their artistic expression, not their nationality. I personally believe that art has a universal language. Art and culture are elements that create bridges and not walls, as said several times by Santo Padre Karol Wojtyla [Pope John Paul II].”

Bahrain airline to launch direct flights to Tel Aviv (JTA) – Gulf Air, Bahrain’s state-owned airline, is launching direct flights to Tel Aviv in June, another marker in the country’s ongoing normalization of ties with Israel. Globes, an Israeli business daily, first reported on Sunday that flights would start on June 3. Gulf Air signed a code-sharing agreement with El Al, Israel’s national carrier in December. Israel signed normalization agreements with Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates and other neighboring Arab countries last year. El Al has been flying to Dubai since August and Etihad, the UAE carrier, has been flying to Israel since February.

Iranian president insists on ‘no more, no less’ than original nuclear deal (JNS) Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said on Wednesday that the resolution of the nuclear issue lies in a return to the original Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), signed in 2015. “It is obvious to everyone, to the 5+1, Europe and the region, that the deal should be implemented accurately … no more and no less,” he stated during a Cabinet meeting, Iran’s state news agency IRNA reported.Rouhani made the remark a day after the deputy secretary-general of the E.U.’s diplomatic service, Enrique Mora, expressed satisfaction with the progress made in Vienna in negotiations regarding a possible return to the JCPOA. Mora, who chaired the JCPOA Joint Commission meeting, tweeted: “Progress made over the last two weeks. But much more hard work needed.” The Joint Commission said talks would resume next week towards “the possible return of the U.S. to the JCPOA and its full and effective implementation.” U.S. State Department spokesman Ned Price said that the United States and Iran “have together a stated common objective of returning to mutual compliance with the JCPOA. We have jewishledger.com

been engaged constructively in a diplomatic process to achieve that goal.” He characterized the talks as “businesslike” and “positive,” but warned that “there remains a long road ahead.”

Chad’s leader Idriss Déby Itno killed during rebel clashes (JNS) Chad’s President Idriss Déby Itno died April 20, at age 68 during a visit to the frontline of a battle with rebels, hours after winning a vote that would have given him a sixth term in office. His son, Mahamat Idriss Déby, 37, was named interim president by a transitional council of military officers. The government and National Assembly have been dissolved, and a nationwide curfew was imposed. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who had developed a good relationship with the African leader, issued a statement of condolence. “I send my deepest condolences to the people of Chad on the passing of President Idriss Déby. We will miss his bold leadership and always remember his historic decision to renew Chad’s relationship with Israel,” tweeted Netanyahu.’ Western countries have seen Déby as an ally in the fight against Islamist extremist groups, including Boko Haram in the Lake Chad Basin and groups linked to Al-Qaeda and Islamic State in the Sahel. His death is a blow to former colonial power France, which had based its Sahel counter-terrorism operations in N’Djamena. Chad had announced in February the deployment of 1,200 troops to complement 5,100 French soldiers in the area. Déby visited Israel in 2018 to start a process of reviving ties that the African country severed in 1972. In 2020, a Chadian delegation and Netanyahu discussed “appointing ambassadors and opening diplomatic missions, including in Jerusalem,” according to a statement from Netanyahu’s office at the time. Israeli diplomats noted that Chad was the first Muslim country in the extended region to begin normalizing ties with Israel. Officials in Israel’s National Security Council said that the transition of power in Chad wasn’t expected to damage the close ties between the two countries.

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APRIL 30, 2021

‘Relieved but disappointed’ How America’s Jewish refugee aid agency is doing under Biden BY BEN SALES

(JTA) – Three weeks after taking office, Joe Biden announced that he would quadruple the number of refugees allowed into the United States. For HIAS, it seemed like an answered prayer, as the Jewish refugee aid agency had endured a rough four years under Biden’s predecessor, Donald Trump. HIAS, which once focused on resettling refugees, had confronted the first president since World War II who demonized refugees and then temporarily banned them from the United States. The gunman who killed 11 Jews at a Pittsburgh synagogue condemned HIAS by name shortly before the massacre. So HIAS was excited for Biden, who spoke of America’s duty to be a compassionate and welcoming country. Biden’s promise on Feb. 12 to let in 62,500 refugees in 2021 seemed to be a fulfillment of that rhetoric. Trump had set the cap for fiscal year 2021 at 15,000. And then nothing happened. Two months went by in which Biden did not actually raise the limit on refugees above 15,000, and would not say why, despite the prodding of HIAS and other refugee resettlers. More than 700 refugees who had received plane tickets based on Biden’s February promise had to cancel their flights, according to HIAS. On Friday, April 16, Biden made it official: He would not be raising the cap on refugees above the limit set by Trump, though he would let in refugees from a wider range of countries in Africa and the Middle East. Later in the day, following pushback from activists, the White House said it would raise the cap in a month, by May 15. “We’re relieved but disappointed,” said HIAS CEO Mark Hetfield following Friday’s initial announcement that the cap, also known as the refugee ceiling, would not be raised. Following the second statement, Hetfield added, “There’s no reason to delay raising the refugee ceiling. It’s just a ceiling, it’s not a floor. They should be focused on what’s the goal and how are you going to reach it?” The fight over the refugee cap encapsulates a dilemma confronting HIAS as the agency moves from Trump to Biden. On one hand, HIAS leaders are glad that the United States no longer has a president who opposes refugees, separates families at the border and fires up his base with antiimmigrant rhetoric. On the other hand, they say that Trump 10

did so much harm, and made immigration so heated an issue, that it will be a challenge just to bring the immigration and refugee systems back to a point in which the U.S. allows hundreds of thousands of refugees a year, Passing immigration reform through Congress, these leaders say, feels even more daunting. “It’s just a relief to have [the Trump] administration in the rearview mirror,” said Melanie Nezer, vice president for public affairs at HIAS. But Nezer is cognizant as well of “the sheer amount of time, effort and creativity it’s going to take for the new administration and those of us who work on these issues to unravel and fix it. … The prior administration really decimated our infrastructure, our systems, our staffing. It’s stunning to think about the damage that was done.” In a sense, the Trump administration thrust HIAS into a new era in its history. Founded in 1881 as the Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society, the agency at first was a resource and aid to waves of newly arrived Jewish immigrants from Eastern Europe. Later it worked to resettle Holocaust survivors and Soviet Jewish refugees. In the years after the Soviet Union’s collapse, HIAS shortened its name to the acronym and pivoted to resettling non-Jewish refugees and mobilizing the American Jewish community around advocating for immigrants and refugees. Days after taking office, Trump announced that he was banning all refugee entry, and while refugees never stopped coming, the numbers plummeted to a fraction of what they once were. HIAS resettled 3,844 refugees in Fiscal Year 2016, but only 1,171 two years later with Trump in office. Trump’s actions on immigration, beginning with the travel ban, spurred a flood of donations to HIAS. Since the start of Trump’s term, the agency more than doubled its annual budget to $90 million. But resettling refugees – how the organization had once spent the majority of donations – became unprecedentedly controversial and difficult. With its windfall, HIAS sued the Trump administration over its travel ban, increased its advocacy work and shifted its weight outside the U.S. The organization opened offices in Mexico to help people who were camped on the other side of the border. Overall, it opened offices in five new countries, sending its total to

JEWISH LEDGER | APRIL 30, 2021

ACTIVISTS HOLD A BANNER DURING A PRO-REFUGEE DEMONSTRATION ORGANIZED BY HIAS OUTSIDE THE U.S. CAPITOL, SEPT. 14, 2017. (AARON P. BERNSTEIN/GETTY IMAGES)

16 foreign offices. Rather than helping potential refugees reach the United States, HIAS assists them in accessing resources and obtain rights and legal status in their home nations. And the agency increased its fundraising work in Europe. “We decided we needed to do the work where the refugees are and where they need us,” Nezer said. “Resettlement is such a wonderful, humanitarian positive solution for people, but it’s only a solution for a small number of refugees.” One advantage of the work abroad is that it can be far less dependent on the U.S. president. In Ecuador, for example, where HIAS has 420 employees and 17 offices, the group focuses on refugees fleeing conflicts in Colombia and Venezuela. Asked whether the 2020 election changed anything, Sabrina Lustgarten, who has managed the agency’s work in Ecuador, said “We haven’t seen any change with Trump and with Biden.” Perhaps the nadir of the Trump era for HIAS, as for the entire American Jewish community, came on Oct. 27, 2018, when a white supremacist wrote on social media that “HIAS likes to bring invaders in that kill our people. I can’t sit by and watch my people get slaughtered. Screw your optics, I’m going in.” Soon after, he entered the Tree of Life*Or L’simcha synagogue in Pittsburgh and perpetrated the worst antisemitic attack in American history, killing 11 Jews as they prayed on Shabbat. “It was a real wakeup call for us,” Hetfield said, adding that before the Trump era and the shooting, he had thought resettling refugees was relatively uncontroversial. Until the Trump administration, according to the Pew Research Center, the United States consistently let in more refugees than the rest of the world combined, no matter who was president. “We were such an apple pie issue,” he said. “We didn’t have to worry about security, and now we realized we’re just

like every Jewish agency, yet we have to create an environment that’s a welcoming environment because that’s the whole theme of who we are. It’s really hard.” HIAS was only one piece of Jewish activism on behalf of immigrants in the Trump era. Another group, Never Again Action, was founded in 2019 and quickly received national attention for demonstrating in front of ICE detention centers, blocking the entrances and being arrested. The tactics were the most explicit expression of frustration in an American Jewish community that, divided as it might be on other issues, has historically championed the rights and plights of immigrants. Stephen Lurie, one of the group’s organizers, said the group hopes to stress that even if, from its perspective, the Biden administration is saying the right things about immigrants, it can be pushed to do more. “One of the challenges that we’re facing, or anyone that’s doing advocacy on this front faces, is that people may believe that the administration is doing the best it can already, and that is demobilizing,” Lurie said. “There actually is still a big gap between what they can do and what they are doing.” Friday’s announcement drove that gap home to Hetfield. He still sees the Biden administration as an ally rather than an adversary. And he’s happy that the changes Biden did make will allow resettlement agencies to meet the limit of 15,000 refugees this year. But Biden’s decision to delay raising the limit means that, just like in past years, Hetfield is looking to the future, hoping for better news. “We don’t know if they’re clarifying or backpedaling or what,” he said following the White House’s second announcement. “They should just raise the damn ceiling and figure out how many refugees they can bring in under that ceiling, and what’s the plan for doing it.”

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OPINION IN STUDENT GOVERNMENTS, JEWS AND ZIONISTS NEED NOT APPLY BY ZEV HURWITZ

(JNS) The story goes like this: A Jewish student is elected to the university’s student government. The student’s fitness for office is challenged by peers who question whether that student can maintain “neutrality” on campus issues because of their Jewish identity. The student is targeted for impeachment, presumed guilty of the apparent high crime of being a Jew. Several cases following this exact formula have disrupted campus life at schools across North America, causing Jewish students to feel isolated and ostracized simply because of who they are. At UCLA, the University of Southern California, McGill, Tufts and other campuses, a common thread in anti-Zionist activism has been attacking students for their Jewish identity. Perpetrators of anti-Jewish discrimination insist that their bigotry comes from authentic desire to combat the “oppression and subjugation of the Palestinian people.” They claim that “Zionists” are the targets of these campaigns. Protesters chant “No Zionists!” during campus rallies, and student organizations exist solely to demonize and ostracize Zionism on campus. One former New York University Students for Justice in Palestine president made the goal very clear: “Our point is to make being Zionist uncomfortable on the NYU campus.” For most Jews, being Jewish and Zionist go hand in hand. A Gallup poll found that 95 percent of American Jews have a favorable view of Israel. Similarly, a 2020 American Jewish Committee survey found that 85 percent of American Jews believe that rejecting Israel’s right to exist – in other words, rejecting Zionism’s core principle – is antisemitic. Since Zionism is rooted in Jewish identity and since Jews are overwhelmingly pro-Israel, as a result, any anti-Zionist activity on campus will unquestionably have a negative impact on Jewish students. In effect, to target Zionists is to target Jews. The International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) Working Definition of Antisemitism makes clear that this kind of persecution of Jews for their affinity for Israel is unmistakably antisemitic, even as the definition explicitly protects the rights of anti-Israel activists to criticize the Jewish state. But even as they are busy impeaching Jewish students on nonsense charges, the anti-Israel crowd is also working hard to jewishledger.com

prevent schools from adopting the IHRA definition as an educational tool. Why would groups that are “only” antiZionist try to obscure campus antisemitism, even as hate-crime data continues to show that Jews are by far the No. 1 victims of hate crimes against any religious group? The better to continue cloaking their own Jewhatred as a legitimate political position, of course! Nevertheless, Jewish student activists on two-dozen campuses have successfully campaigned for their student governments to recognize the definition. This is a phenomenal achievement by Jewish students and their caring, committed allies. The contrast is stark: Jewish students are defining antisemitism while safeguarding free-speech rights while their opponents are busy canceling Jews. That impeachment of Jewish campus representatives is a recurring motif in student government chambers is concerning enough, but where are the choruses of allied voices we would expect were this kind of discrimination to be directed towards students of any other identity? One explanation is no one is paying attention. The Michigan Daily found in 2020 that among Big Ten schools, no campus reached more than 17 percent turnout for student government elections. Even at Tufts and Columbia, where a pair of highly controversial and well-publicized referenda to cut ties with Israel were on special election ballots this fall, neither vote saw turnout above 42 percent. Apathy – both towards student governments and the Jewish campus experience more broadly – is indeed among the culprits. But the bigger issue is a campus culture that not only does not understand antisemitism but considers purging Jews from leadership roles to be legitimate political speech. It’s time to stop treating these Jewish witch-hunts as isolated incidents and to start addressing the systemic persecution of Jewish student leaders. Better understanding of antisemitism and Zionism via the working definition is an important first step, but university leaders must make it abundantly clear that the culture of canceling Jews for being Jewish remains out of bounds. Zev Hurwitz is the American Jewish Committee’s director of campus affairs.

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THE JEWS OF MOROCCO

MOROCCAN JEWS REFLECT ON THEIR HERITAGE AND TRADITION POST BY ELIANA RUDEE

Introducing a new JNS series highlighting Jewish ethnic minorities, that aims to elevate their voices, and in turn, celebrate the beautiful mosaic that is the Jewish people. (JNS) In December 2020, the Kingdom of Morocco agreed to establish formal diplomatic relations with Israel, following the success of the Abraham Accords between three Arab countries – the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Sudan – and the Jewish state. The normalization of ties has already resulted in the reopening of Israeli and Moroccan liaison offices with the intention of opening reciprocal embassies in Rabat and Tel Aviv. The country has become the first to start teaching Jewish history and culture in its schools. Official contacts, economic cooperation, and direct and overnight flights between the two countries are also in the works. According to Moroccan Jewish leader Rabbi Gad Bouskila of the Orthodox Netivot Israel Synagogue in Brooklyn, New York (the first Moroccan Jewish community in the state), the recent normalization has made the Moroccan Jewish community in North America “very happy” for each of their

homelands. “We visit Morocco often, so this relationship will allow many young Moroccans born in Israel, who were not yet able to travel to Morocco, to see the roots of their grandparents,” he told JNS. The roots of the ancient Moroccan Jewish community date back more than 2,500 years, with many Jews settling in the city of Fez, bringing their economic capabilities that contributed to the “golden age” of Morocco from the ninth to 11th century, when Jews were numerous and powerful in the region. Following the establishment of modernday Israel in 1948, many Jews of the 238,000-strong population of French Morocco (in addition to the 15,000 in Spanish Morocco and 12,000 in the international zone of Tangier) were forced to leave. In January 1961, following the death of King Mohammad V, Morocco tightened its restrictions on Jewish immigration, causing nervousness among its Jewish community. Many left for Israel and French-speaking areas in Europe and Canada, and for those who had family there, the United States. Following the mass exodus, Jewish institutions in Morocco, including schools, yeshivahs and synagogues closed, and antiJewish propaganda increased. Today, the Jewish population in Morocco stands at just 2,100 people, while there are one million Moroccan Jews living in Israel. Le Monde

JEWISH COMMUNITY MEMBERS AT SYNAGOGUE IN AGADIR CITY, MOROCCO. (ABIR SULTAN/FLASH90)

estimates that 40,000 Moroccan Jews reside in France and 27,000 in Canada, with approximately 25,000 in the United States, according to the American Sephardi Federation, and other dispersed populations in South America and Europe. According to a Central Bureau of Statistics report in December 2011, Moroccans constitute the second-largest Israeli Jewish community after Russian Jews. Among Moroccans who left their birthplace suddenly, their story is that of regained confidence and pride in retaining their culture.

Jewish Moroccans in the United States

ISRAELIS VISIT AND PRAY AT THE TOMB OF “RABBI HAIM PINTO” IN THE OLD JEWISH GRAVEYARD IN ESSAOUIRA CITY IN MOROCCO ON OCT 7, 2009. (ABIR SULTAN/FLASH90)

JEWISH LEDGER

| APRIL 30, 2021

“Thirty-five years ago, I witnessed a big assimilation of Moroccan Jews to the tri-state area, and I opened the first-ever synagogue for Moroccan Jews in the area,” recounted Bouskila. “That gave them an identity and helped bring back their confidence, and now they are proud to transmit their heritage and tradition to their children.” In the North American community, explained Bouskila, he teaches classes for children and adults, as well as traditional piyyutim (Jewish liturgical poems) and traditions to retain Moroccan culture. “A majority of the Moroccan Jews follow the traditions,” he added, noting that Moroccans hold family and food to be central to their heritage. Moroccan Jews enjoy success in “every

field and profession, and especially real estate and in Hollywood” with no particular challenges as a result of their heritage, according to Bouskila, and are considered in “good standing, well-respected and accepted” among other Jewish and non-Jewish communities in the area. They are especially successful in promoting interfaith dialogue, Holocaust education and promoting the IHRA definition of antisemitism among African and Arabic nations, he added. Many Moroccan Jews in North America, even second and third generation, still speak some French, though Bouskila noted that “some are too American for it,” and only a few still speak Arabic.

Jewish Moroccans in Canada Dan Illouz, 34, was born and raised in Montreal and now lives in Jerusalem, where he is a member of the Jerusalem City Council. “In Montreal, I was part of the Moroccan community that came to Montreal starting in the 1960s,” he said. “At the time, there was a cocktail of reasons for Jews to leave Morocco, including fears because of the change in political leadership in Morocco, economic reasons and a general feeling that the establishment of Israel might bring the frictions between Jews and Arabs to Morocco.” Today, explained Illouz, the strength of the Moroccan Jewish community in Montreal can best be explained by the language barrier that “encouraged the Moroccan community to establish its own institutions from the getjewishledger.com

T-NORMALIZATION WITH ISRAEL go,” as well as Canada’s encouragement of multiculturalism. With more than 20,000 Jews in Montreal, he related, “Montreal is a bilingual city, and while Ashkenazi Jews were mostly Anglos, Moroccan Jews were Francophones. When they arrived in Montreal, they established French-speaking synagogues, schools and community centers. The relationship between the communities was positive, but the language barrier created these different institutions. The result is that the Montreal community kept authentic Moroccan traditions in a way that is hard to find in any other country, including Israel.” Illouz spoke of being raised with a “high level of Moroccan pride, understanding the richness of our culture.” He learned about Fez, the city where his father was born, where Maimonides lived and where there is, according to The Guinness Book of Records, the oldest university in the world. “I knew about Safi, the city where my mom was born, that is considered a world-leader in ceramic arts. At school, we learned piyyutim, and we would hear Andalusian music at home.” “I think the source of strength for Moroccan culture was that it was always a window for Western Europe into both Africa and the Arabic world, and this created a situation where local culture was enriched by diverse sources of inspiration,” he said. Because Canada is a multicultural society, he continued, “this allowed us to keep our culture while feeling Canadian. I remember the TV being on during Mimouna” – a traditional North African Jewish celebration to mark the end of Passover and the return to eating leavened bread and flour products; this year it starts on the evening of April 4 and lasts through the evening of April 5–“showing the hockey game of the Montreal Canadians, and that memory pretty much says it all.” While noting that “Canada is a great country, and I did not flee it,” Illouz said he decided to move to Israel as a result of his Zionist beliefs. “I wanted to end my family’s 2,000-year exile and come back home, to a land I love deeply, and to take part in the greatest Jewish project of history. I did not run from anything but rather ran to something, and I have since not regretted it for even a second.” “While Canada is a great country, there is no country like Israel for Jews,” he said.

Jewish Moroccans in Israel Once Illouz made aliyah, he learned that during the early years of the State of Israel, jewishledger.com

like other Mizrachi Jews, Moroccans were discriminated against in a society that was run by Ashkenazi Jews from Eastern and Western Europe, and experienced “deeper challenges that had to do with disdain for Moroccan culture, probably because it was associated with our Arab enemies,” said Illouz. Many of the Jews who emigrated from Morocco were placed into immigrant absorptions centers, development towns and ma’abarot in the Negev Desert and along Israel’s borders – areas that Illouz noted have “now grown into cities with a vibrant culture.” Moroccan culture continues to be a part of the great mosaic Israel offers, he added. In the context of expanded diplomatic relations between Morocco, Illouz claimed in a speech to the city council that “this is not only a diplomatic agreement but also a cultural revolution.” “After all these years in which Moroccan culture was shunned by mainstream Israel, it can now receive proper appreciation because it is not the culture of an enemy but of a friend,” he said. “Israelis will get to know Morocco in a different way and will get to appreciate things that were not appreciated enough. The day the agreement was announced was a day of great happiness for the whole community, and I think this is the deeper reason for that happiness.” Where Moroccan heritage used to be associated with a “lower culture” and nonMoroccan Israelis encouraged Moroccan Jews to assimilate into the new identity of the “New Jew,” because of their strong culture that “includes culinary and artistic aspects, but also a sense of solidarity that exists between people who are part of the same community,” emphasized Illouz, adding that was a reason Moroccan Jewish culture was largely retained. “While the language has not been preserved, almost every other aspect has been,” he said. “I actually think that Moroccan culture has become a large part of Israeli culture, and I think we will see this even more clearly when Ashkenazi Jews go to Morocco and realize how similar the cultures are.” Illouz shared his vision for an Israeli culture where each demographic that made aliyah from the Diaspora “can retain its roots and make them a part of a mosaic that we can all enjoy.” “This enriches Israeli culture,” he said. “I love learning about Persian, European and Ethiopian culture from my fellow Israelis and am sure I can offer some of my Moroccan heritage. In the long term, this will create a much richer Israeli culture than an artificially created melting pot.”

Yom Hazikaron ceremony pays tribute to victims of the sinking of the ‘Egoz’ (JNS) The Jewish Agency for Israel’s annual Yom Hazikaron ceremony – Israel’s Memorial Day – held on Wednesday, April 14, honored a tragic event in Jewish history, as well as fallen soldiers, terror victims and those injured or killed in antisemitic attacks. In 1961, during a secret mission intended to bring Jewish Moroccan immigrants to Israel, the Egoz ship sank, resulting in the loss of 44 people. Among those on the ship were 43 immigrants, half of whom were children, in addition to Mossad operative Haim Tzarfati. Authorities were able to locate 22 bodies, which were then buried in a Jewish cemetery, but the rest were lost at sea. In 1992, the bodies were moved to Jerusalem’s Mount Herzl, where they were given a ceremonial burial. “Our hearts are heavy with grief for every man, woman and child who died simply because they dared to be part of the miracle that is Israel,” said Jewish Agency chairman Isaac Herzog. “Today, we unite behind and honor their individual stories. We especially remember those tales of hardship and sacrifice in order to become Israeli. “In that vein,” he continued, “we pay tribute to the victims of the Egoz ship and Haim Tzarfati. They set sail from Morocco on a stormy winter night 60 years ago and never reached their destination. Some 44 people lost at sea – children, women, men – Jews whose only desire was to start a new life in the Land of Israel. The ship sank but did not drown the longing for Zion.” Herzog and Gila Gutman Azulay, who lost the majority of her family on the ship, both lit a torch to commemorate the victims and the men and women who died defending Israel.

“The tragedy of the drowning of the Egoz ship is a national and a personal tragedy. At home in Casablanca, I was always given the feeling that life in Morocco was temporary. We all longed for the Land of Israel, it was our soul’s desire,” said Azulay. “My sister Penny and I joined a local underground organized group of children set to immigrate to Israel and were told that the rest of our families would join us later. We did not say goodbye to my mother and my siblings. I couldn’t have imagined that we’d never see them again. A few days later, my mother and five brothers and sisters perished in the disaster.” The memorial event was organized with the participation of the World Zionist Organization, the Jewish National Fund, Keren Hayesod, Jewish Federations of North America and the Jewish Federations of Canada. A memorial wall of worldwide victims of antisemitism was also unveiled at the ceremony. According to data from the Jewish Agency, since the establishment of the State of Israel in 1948, some 200 Jews have been killed in antisemitic incidents and terror attacks around the globe. “Our demand from every state and government is clear and unequivocal: The Jewish citizens living in your country are equal citizens. It is your responsibility to keep them safe,” said WZO chairman Yaakov Hagoel. “The World Zionist Organization is committed to battling antisemitism around the world and will stand its ground as one of the leaders in the fight against this horrid phenomenon. We embrace Jewish families from around the world for the precious loss and the endless dedication they have given us as a country.”

JEWISH AGENCY CHAIRMAN ISAAC HERZOG AND GILA GUTMAN AZULAY LIGHT A TORCH TO COMMEMORATE THE VICTIMS OF THE “EGOZ” SHIP, AND THE MEN AND WOMEN WHO DIED DEFENDING ISRAEL, APRIL 13, 2021. (THE JEWISH AGENCY FOR ISRAEL)

JEWISH LEDGER

APRIL 30, 2021

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MILESTONES Dr. Jeffrey S. Kress named provost of the Jewish Theological Seminary

he Jewish Theological Seminary (JTS) has announced the appointment of Dr. Jeffrey S. Kress as its new provost. Kress has served as a member of the JTS faculty since 2000, where he is currently the Dr. Bernard Heller Chair in Jewish Education. He has taught classes such as Social and Emotional Learning in Jewish Education and Empirical Research Methods to students, as well as conducted valuable academic research through the William Davidson Graduate School of Jewish Education in the field of social, emotional, and spiritual development in education. He earned his BA from University of Pennsylvania, and his MS and PhD in clinical psychology from Rutgers University. He presents regularly at academic and professional-development conferences and has published numerous journal articles. He has also authored several books, including Development, Learning, and Community:

Educating for Identity in Pluralistic Jewish High Schools, which received a National Jewish Book Award, and his most recent book Nurturing Students’ Character: Everyday Teaching Activities for Social and Emotional Learning, written with Dr. Maurice Elias. Dr. Kress served on the leadership team for the Fellowship in Educating for Applied Jewish Wisdom, as the chair of the Network for Research in Jewish Education, and a Dr. Jonathan Woocher Fellow at Lippman Kanfer Foundation for Living Torah. “Teaching, learning, and scholarship at JTS sit at the intersection of academic expertise, professional development, and personal growth. All of this takes place within a community of Jewish learning and living. It is an honor to be able to be in a position to help this work continue to grow and flourish,” said Kress. Dr. Stephen Garfinkel, acting provost, will retire when Dr. Kress assumes the role on July 1, 2021.

BIRTH JADEN MAX BARAM was born April 7, 2021 in Los Angeles, California. Jaden Max, who weighed 9.1 lbs, is the son of Matt and Alayna Baram of Los Angeles. He is the first grandchild of Paula and Probate Judge David Baram of Bloomfield, and Bonni and Dr. Howard Baron of Henderson, Nevada; the great-grandson of Rhoda and Gene Engelson of Henderson, Nevada; and the nephew of Danny Baram and Zoe Baron. Jaden, whose Hebrew name is YADIN MEIR (meaning “God has heard” or “He will judge”), is named for his great-grandfathers, Judge Jerry Wagner z”l – a past leader of the Hartford area Jewish community – and Max Baron z”l.

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| APRIL 30, 2021

Contact Howard Meyerowitz howardm@jewishledger.com 860.231.2424 x3035 jewishledger.com

LAG B’OMER 2021

Backyard barbecue at home with the fire pit BY ETHEL G. HOFMAN

KEBAB MEAT

CREDIT: PIXABAY

(JNS) The Jewish holiday of Lag BaOmer falls on the 33rd day of the Counting of the Omer, which occurs on the 18th day of the Hebrew month of Iyar. This year, Lag B’Omer, which begins the evening of Thursday, April 29 and ends the evening of Friday, April 30, will perhaps be more joyful than ever before. As we head into late spring, along with bursts of sunshine and increasing numbers of those vaccinated, families and friends, feeling a modicum of protection, can finally be together, at least in smaller safe gatherings. It’s OK to heave a sigh of relief with a renewed appreciation of freedom, even escape. Lag B’Omer is the one day between Passover and Shavuot when certain celebrations, such as weddings, are permitted. One explanation, according to the Talmud, is that a plague that had struck down thousands of Rabbi Akiba’s students ended on that day. It takes place on the 33rd day after the second day of Passover in the midst of the seven weeks between Passover and Shavuot, the time counted on a daily basis (“Lag” is the Hebrew numerical equivalent of “33,” with the “Omer” being counted). For me, Lag B’Omer has a special meaning. It’s my wedding anniversary – a wedding that almost didn’t happen. As my soon-to-be husband paced anxiously at the top of the synagogue steps, I made the driver go round the block three times to be sure I was making the right decision. And half a century later, I have no regrets and a charmed life with my soulmate. Because our anniversary fell on Lag B’Omer, we had a huge family celebratory barbecue. My husband, the maven, fired up two grills – one for fast-cooking fish jewishledger.com

and veggies, and towards the end of that cooking, used on syrup-crusted fruits for dessert. The other was for chicken, ribs and steaks. We had no fire pit then, but we perfected a feast for 20. (See the tried-andtrue tips below.) Backyard fire pits are now ubiquitous. Kids come armed for a marshmallow roast, while adults can relax and enjoy conversation in the cool of the evening. These days, that’s around a mostly ornamental gas-fueled pit as opposed to fires made from scratch. But take care. Only use such fire pits for items such as s’mores. Anything else, you’ll have the drips from grease and juices causing damage to the inner workings. To barbecue steaks, burgers and the makings of a meal, you need a woodburning fire pit, basically a campfire ring taken to the next level. It’s meant for burning standard split firewood logs. Build your own? Detailed videos and instructions are available online. Or bring out the grill for the main course. In Israel, there’s no tossing a naked steak onto the grill. Instead, there’s careful do-ahead preparation. Meats such as lamb are minced together with herbs and spices. The mixture is shaped into patties and grilled or threaded onto skewers. Chunks of marinated meats are also interspersed with tomatoes, onions and other vegetables, and cooked on skewers. This type of cooking showcases the influence of neighboring countries and flavors brought in by immigrants. It all blends perfectly with Israel’s indigenous ingredients. Desserts are nothing fancy, usually fresh, locally grown fruits eaten out of hand and naturally pareve with all that meat being eaten. On Lag B’Omer, peaches, apricots, oranges and apples, fresh figs and dates take on a special flavor when spiked with wood smoke. For kids, of course (even those with AARP cards), it wouldn’t be a barbecue without s’mores. After a meat meal, there are now lots of choices of dark chocolate (pareve) to use for dessert. Here’s an idea: Set up a “s’mores bar.” See below for variations.

Kebab Tips: *If using wood skewers, soak in water for 30 minutes. *Always use two skewers rather than just one to prevent food tipping over.

FIRE PITS COME IN ALL SHAPES AND SIZES. CREDIT: PIXABAY

*No need to soak wooden skewers in water. Wrap in foil to keep them from burning up. *Or use metal skewers but make sure you wear long oven gloves to turn. *Pre-marinated kosher meat is available in some markets. *Reserve marinade to brush on the kabobs. *Use tongs to flip the skewers, even if using wooden skewers.

Olive-and-Cilantro Dip (pareve) Makes about ¾ cups Cook’s Tips: *Coriander is related to the parsley family. The seeds are mildly fragrant and are used in pickling and for use in making mulled wine. *Cilantro, with a pungent flavor, is the leaves of the coriander plant. Use sparingly. *Serve this dip with sesame crackers to nibble on while the kebabs or fish are cooking.

CREDIT: WIKIMEDIA COMMONS

Ingredients: 1 cup pitted green olives ¼ teaspoon bottled minced garlic 1 tablespoon cilantro 2 teaspoons cut up jalapeño pepper or to taste 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice 2 tablespoons olive oil salt and freshly ground pepper to taste

Directions: Place all of the ingredients except salt and pepper, in the food processor. Process to a paste. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Spoon into a bowl and serve with crackers or sliced cucumbers and carrot sticks.

Lebanese Kofta (meat) Makes 6 kebabs Cook’s Tips: *All in the name. Kebabs are always cooked on skewers, while kofta may be cooked on the stovetop as well as grilled. *Use all lamb, beef or turkey instead of a beef and lamb mixture. *Substitute three green onions, trimmed for 1 medium onion. Ingredients: 1 medium onion, peeled and cut in chunks 1 cup parsley sprigs, packed 2 tablespoons mint leaves, packed or 1½ teaspoons dried 2 thick slices of soft bread ¾ pound lean ground beef ¾ pound ground lamb 1 egg 1 tablespoon cumin ¾ teaspoon salt ½ teaspoon fresh ground pepper 1 red bell pepper, cut in 6 wedges 1 yellow bell pepper, cut in 6 wedges Directions: Place the onion, parsley, mint and bread in the food processor. Process until onion is finely chopped. Add the beef, lamb, egg and seasonings. Process to mix ingredients thoroughly. Shape into patties about ¾ to 1-inch thick. Thread patties onto skewers alternately with the bell peppers. Grill over hot coals, 4 to 5 minutes on each side or until desired doneness. Note: These may be

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APRIL 30, 2021

prepared a day ahead. Wrap in wax paper and refrigerate.

1 teaspoon turmeric 1 teaspoon dry barbecue spice ½ teaspoon fresh ground pepper ½ cup pitted dates ¼ cup olive oil, divided 4 trout (each about 8 ounces) split and heads removed

Turkish Kebab Pockets (meat) Serves 6

Directions: Place onion, garlic, turmeric, barbecue spice, pepper, dates and 2 tablespoons oil in the food processor. Process until coarsely chopped. Stuff the mixture inside the trout, cover and press lightly. Brush with remaining oil. Cook over medium-hot coals, about 5 minutes on each side. Serve hot from grill with black-bean pilaf or sagegrilled corn – or both!

Cook’s Tips: *From Turkey, “cop sis” literally means “rubbish kabob” because it is made with scraps of meat marinated in onion and cumin. *Lamb, beef or poultry may be used. *Use a mandolin to slice the red onion wafer-thin. Ingredients: 1 large onion, cut into chunks 2 teaspoons bottled minced garlic 1 teaspoon kosher salt 1 teaspoon fresh ground pepper 1½ teaspoons cinnamon 3 tablespoons olive oil 1½ pounds lamb shoulder cut in small bitesize pieces 6 pita breads, warmed bunch of flat-leaf parsley, coarsely snipped 1 medium red onion, thinly sliced juice of 1 large lemon Directions: Place the onion, garlic, salt, pepper and cinnamon in the food processor. Process until the onion is finely chopped. Transfer to a shallow dish. Stir in the oil. Add the lamb chunks and toss with to coat. Cover and refrigerate for at least 4 hours, preferably overnight. Thread the meat onto skewers. Cook over hot coals, turning frequently, 4 to 5 minutes or until desired doneness. Split the pita bread. Carefully push the meat into the pockets. Top with parsley and onion. Drizzle the lemon juice over and press pockets lightly to partially close before enjoying.

Stuffed Grilled Trout With Dates (pareve) Serves 4 Cook’s Tips: *Prepare the stuffing a day ahead and refrigerate. Ingredients: 1 medium, sweet onion, cut into chunks 1 teaspoon bottled chopped garlic

Sage-Grilled Corn (pareve) Serves 6 Cook’s Tips: *Instead of wrapping in aluminum foil, roll back dampened corn husks, rub with the sage mixture and rewrap husks. *Keep a pair of scissors for kitchen use as in snipping fresh herbs such as sage below. *Substitute 1 tablespoon dried sage for fresh. CREDIT: PIXABAY

Ingredients: 6 tablespoons olive oil 3 tablespoons snipped fresh sage 6 ears corn, husked pass salt and pepper Directions: Combine oil and sage. Rub each ear of corn with the sage mixture and wrap in aluminum foil. Place on the hot grill. Turn often about 10 minutes. Unwrap and season with salt and pepper.

Fire-Pit Potato Pockets (pareve) Makes 6 Cook’s Tips: *Scrub potatoes, prick all over, brush with vegetable oil and wrap in foil. Place in embers at the side of fire and bake 50 to 60 minutes until softened.

CREDIT: PIXABAY

Ingredients: Heavy-duty aluminum foil JEWISH LEDGER

| APRIL 30, 2021

CREDIT: PIXABAY

6 baking potatoes, scrubbed, unpeeled 6 rounded teaspoons margarine salt, pepper and garlic powder Directions: Cut 6 pieces aluminum foil, 6×6 inches. Slice each potato about a half-inch thick. Arrange on a square of aluminum foil, dot with a teaspoon of margarine. Sprinkle with salt, pepper and garlic powder. Continue with remaining ingredients. Wrap tightly and cook in embers, 20 minutes or until softened.

Black-Bean Pilaf (pareve) Serves 6 Cook’s Tips: *Save time. Use instant cooked rice. *Substitute cooked wild rice for bulgur wheat. *Make one day ahead and refrigerate. *21 seasoning is available from Trader Joe’s. Ingredients: ½ cup bulgur wheat 2 cups cooked long-grain rice 2 tablespoons margarine 1 cup frozen petite peas 1 cup canned black beans, well-drained 1 green onion, snipped about ¼-inch thick 1½ teaspoons 21 seasoning salt and freshly ground pepper to taste Directions: Place the bulgur wheat in a bowl and pour boiling water over top. Let stand for 10 minutes. Drain well. In a larger bowl, combine the bulgur and rice. Set aside. In a medium saucepan, heat the margarine over medium heat. Add the peas. Cook stirring for 3 to 4 minutes until peas are thawed. Stir in the black beans, green onion and 21 seasoning. Add to the rice mixture. If needed, season to taste with salt and pepper.

Coconut-Crusted Pineapple (pareve) Serves 6 Cook’s Tips: *Substitute nutmeg for cardamom. *May use other fruits, such as plums, pears and peaches. *Use tongs to turn wedges.

Ingredients: ¾ cup brown sugar 1 teaspoon cinnamon 1 teaspoon cardamom 2 tablespoons finely shredded unsweetened coconut 1 pineapple, peeled, cored and cut in 6 wedges plastic bag for seasoning mixture Directions: Heat grill to medium-high heat. In a plastic bag, toss together the sugar, cinnamon, cardamom and coconut. Place the pineapple in the bag and shake to coat on all sides. Spray the rack with vegetable spray. Arrange pineapple on the rack. Grill for 3 to 5 minutes on each side until nicely browned and crusty.

Classic S’mores S’more is a contraction of the phrase “some more.” The confection appeared in a cookbook in the early 1920s when it was called just a “Graham Cracker Sandwich.” To cook and assemble: Place a marshmallow on a long skewer. Toast over the flame to desired doneness. Goldenbrown will be soft enough to “squelch.” Place the marshmallow and a square of dark chocolate (pareve) on a graham cracker. Top with another cracker. Press lightly to make a sandwich.

A CLASSIC VERSION OF S’MORES. CREDIT: PIXABAY

S’more Bar Additions: Along with the classic ingredients, set out jars of peanut butter and jelly to take the place of chocolate (a winner for little kids), shortbread, chocolate-chip cookies and ginger snaps to substitute for crackers, peppermint patties for chocolate bars, sliced fruits such as strawberries, peaches and plums for chocolate, flat salty pretzel chips for crackers. The list is endless. And everybody will have fun, even if they do get a little messy. Enjoy! Ethel G. Hofman is a widely syndicated American Jewish food and travel Ethel G. Hofman is a widely syndicated American Jewish food and travel columnist, author and culinary consultant.

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THE KOSHER CROSSWORD APRIL 30, 2021 “Square Deals” By: Yoni Glatt Difficulty Level: Challenging

Vol. 93 No. 18 JHL Ledger LLC Publisher Henry M. Zachs Managing Partner

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ANSWERS TO APRIL 23 CROSSWORD

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Across 1. “Bullets,” in poker slang 5. Prefix with “trust” or “social” 9. Conflict with 14. Sunday salmon choice, for many Jews 15. “Lord of the Rings” star Astin 16. ___ Sophia (Istanbul landmark) 17. Item that can be found on a 23-Down and counters at kosher pizza stores 19. What some might need to solve this puzzle 20. Isr. neighbor 21. Reliable kind of guy 22. Holder on Sukkot 23. Tu follower 24. Casts forth

26. Corona response trigger 30. Ticked-off feeling 31. Common PC connection 34. “___ goes the dynamite” 35. Jewish lady of the first “SNL” cast 37. Unlike many characters played by Stalone, ironically 38. Get-better center 40. Ark, perhaps...or word that fittingly goes into six squares in this puzzle 41. Premium spot at the Gershwin Theatre 43. Personal prayer word 44. “Annie” star Quinn 47. Improve, as a skill 48. Many who have received the Covid vac.

49. The Horned Frogs of Ft. Worth 50. “Time flies” and “If not now, when?” 52. “This is not ___” 54. Bengals, on scoreboards 55. Havdallah item, for some 58. Muted trumpet and loud baby sounds 60. “Cake Boss” cable station 63. Sacha Baron Cohen voices one in “Madagascar” 64. Basic Passover buy 66. Talks wildly 67. R&B singer James 68. Out of the ballpark 69. What Tevas might come in 70. Gray-spotted horse 71. Theater that probably looks especially empty nowadays

Down 1. Bull and Fire 2. Quite comfy 3. Constantly 4. Like many a fast day 5. Invite for Shabbat, say 6. Free of clutter 7. Nevada lake 8. Place to find minyan updates, perhaps 9. One who says a lot of Lashon Hara 10. “The Wizard of Oz” actor Bert and others 11. Currency exchange charge 12. Participate in zemirot 13. Borsalino go-with 18. Ancestor of Haman

22. Land of the leprechaun 23. See 17-Across 25. Sassy lassies 26. Big (original) name in monotheism 27. What infinity has 28. “Left ___ own devices...” 29. Shechem, now 31. Apply to, as an ointment 32. “Sababa” or “OK Boomer”, e.g. 33. Bits of memory 36. John the anonymous 39. Locale for Alex Bregman and Kevin Pillar 42. Bone or letter 45. Fridge forerunner that didn’t have a lightbulb problem on Shabbat

46. Big Breslov name 51. Lo ___ goy 52. 70 degrees, say 53. “It takes ___...” 55. Some Canon cameras, briefly 56. Mitzvah for a farmer 57. Words before expert or fool 59. Post-shave lotion brand 60. Yom follower 61. Clark Kent’s old flame Lang 62. Popular gluten-free cereal 64. Max Baer or Yuri Foreman, e.g. 65. Letters with F on erev Shabbat

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APRIL 30, 2021

TORAH PORTION – EMOR

t was not a common practice 30 years ago for a father to seek out especially pious rabbis to request that they bless his children. These rabbis would place a hand upon the head of the little boy, perhaps quote a biblical verse or two expressing a blessing, and then say something like, “May he grow up to be an ehrliche yid, a righteous Jew.” One such day my friend and his young son encountered Rabbi Israel Gustman, of blessed memory, and requested a blessing from him. The rabbi gave a blessing which was unexpected. He placed his hand upon my friend’s son’s head, uttered an appropriate biblical verse, then said something quite puzzling: “May he grow up to be a boy like all other boys.” It took me quite awhile until I understood the meaning of the rabbi’s mysterious message. Understanding that message required the knowledge of a verse in this week’s Torah portion, Emor (Leviticus 21:1-24:23). It also required knowing something about Rabbi Gustman’s tragic life. The verse to which I refer reads, “You shall not profane My holy name, that I may be sanctified in the midst of the Israelite people...” (Leviticus 22:32). This verse is the source text for two opposing concepts which lie at the core of Jewish belief. One concept, the negative one, is chillul Hashem, the profanation of God’s name, behavior which disgraces the Divine reputation. The opposite concept is kiddush Hashem, behavior which sanctifies God’s name and thus brings prestige and honor to Him. But first, let me give you a brief sketch of Rabbi Gustman’s biography. He was a brilliant Talmud student in the yeshiva he attended. As a very young man, he was betrothed to the daughter of the rabbi of one of the small suburbs of the great prewar Jewish metropolis of Vilna. Soon after his marriage, his father-in-law died, leaving the position of rabbi of that community to his son-in-law, Rabbi Israel. The towering rabbinic figure in Vilna in those immediate prewar years was Rabbi Chaim Ozer Grodzenski. Rabbi Chaim Ozer was so impressed by this young man that, despite his age, he included him in his rabbinic court. Soon afterwards, the war broke out. Rabbi Gustman managed to survive, but in the course of his flight and evasion of the Nazis, his little son was murdered in front of his eyes. He would recount the story of how he witnessed his son’s murder and of how he was forced to take his dead son’s shoes and sell them for food. Rabbi Gustman survived the Holocaust and eventually settled in Israel. There, he taught in a small yeshiva in Jerusalem and experienced Israel’s various wars. He made it his business to comfort the bereaved 18

parents of fallen soldiers by sharing with them his grief over his own fallen son. He was overheard telling a particular bereaved father that in a certain sense, his soldier son was superior to the rabbi’s own son. “Both your boy and mine,” he said, “sanctified God’s name by their death. They were both killed because they were Jews. But in the synagogue in heaven, where they both reside now, my son is sitting in the pews. Your son is the shaliach tzibbur, the prayer leader. This is because my son died as a passive victim, whereas your son died as a hero, leading a group of soldiers in defense of our land and our people.” These two boys performed the mitzvah of kiddush Hashem by virtue of their death. But that is only one way to perform that mitzvah. There is another way to perform the mitzvah of kiddush Hashem, and that is by sanctifying God’s name not in death, but in life, by living one’s daily life in a meritorious fashion. The Talmud, for example, tells us of one great sage who felt that had he purchased meat in a butcher store on credit, without paying immediately, he would be guilty of profaning God’s name. By simply paying his bills immediately, not allowing anyone to suspect that he was taking advantage of his rabbinical position, he was performing the mitzvah of kiddush Hashem. The Mishnah in the tractate of Megilah teaches us that when a Jew simply attends the synagogue and participates in the recitation of the devarim shebekedusha, the sacred passages of our liturgy, he is fulfilling the mitzvah referred to in our verse, sanctifying God through his prayers. Thus, there are ways to sanctify God not by suffering a martyr’s death, but by living an ethical and spiritual life. The Talmud says that should others comment favorably on a person’s behavior, complimenting his parents for having raised him in the path of the Torah, that person has sanctified and glorified God’s name. Now we can understand the seemingly strange blessing which Rabbi Gustman gave my friend’s little boy. “I bless you,” he was saying, “that you just be like other boys, like boys in peaceful times. I bless you that you not suffer times of persecution and that you never need to experience the battlefield. I bless you that you sanctify God in your ordinary life, in life and not, God forbid, in tragic death.” In his blessing, he envisioned a time when little boys would not have to grow up to be soldiers and would not be hunted down and shot as his son was. He foresaw a time when this boy could be like other boys, living an ordinary life, full of living acts of kiddush Hashem. During the past several weeks, Jewish people have commemorated the kiddush Hashem of Rabbi Gustman’s son, a

JEWISH LEDGER | APRIL 30, 2021

Holocaust victim, by observing Yom Hashoah. We also commemorated the kiddush Hashem of the young soldier whose bereaved father Rabbi Gustman so poignantly consoled by observing Yom Hazikaron. We all pray for the time when boys will not be forced to perform the mitzvah of kiddush Hashem by giving up their lives, but will be able to do so by living

their lives; a time when “boys will just be like other boys,” allowed to emerge from their childhood alive and well, entering adulthood in a world at peace, able to sanctify God in their faith and in their noble accomplishments. Rabbi Tzvi Hersh Weinreb is texecutive vice president, emeritus of the Orthodox Union.

BULLETIN BOARD Yiddish Book Center programs offer a rich tapestry of culture and history

has a long and significant history that has shaped both Jews and American politics for over 150 years.

Spring 2021 lineup features jazz, poetry, cookbooks, politics, and more The Yiddish Book Center has announced its virtual public programming lineup for spring 2021. A rich tapestry of art, history, and language, the series features presentations from preeminent authors, artists, scholars, and more. All programs are free and air on Facebook and Zoom. Registration is required and audience members may submit questions in the Q&A. All programs are archived on the Yiddish Book Center website at yiddishbookcenter.org/vpprecordings. For more information and to register, visit the Yiddish Book Center programs calendar at yiddishbookcenter.org/virtual-programscalendar.

Tuesday, May 11, 7 p.m.

SPRING 2021 (subject to change)

This lecture from scholar Eddy Portnoy, featuring photos, illustrations, and a short film, will detail the compelling history of this unusual Yiddish puppet theater.

Radio Drama: The Dead Man, By Sholem Asch Sunday, April 25, 7 p.m. Sholem Asch’s haunting WWI drama, The Dead Man, is presented as a radio drama in its first-ever complete English translation by actress, director, and translator Caraid O’Brien. Presented by the Yiddish Book Center as part of Carnegie Hall’s Voices of Hope festival 2021 Melinda Rosenblatt Lecture: Jews and American Politics: Historical Ideals and Contemporary Realities

Great Jewish Books Lecture: Family Secrets and the Graphic Novel: Rutu Modan’s The Property and Nora Krug’s Belonging Writer and professor Tahneer Oksman addresses questions about how we understand horrific events of the past as they are explored through the flexible and capacious medium of comics. Jews and Jazz: Before the Beginning Thursday, June 3, 7 p.m. Author, producer, and performer Henry Sapoznik examines the nascent “jazz” offerings of pioneering performances of recording klezmorim, the earlier generation of Europeanborn Jewish musicians. Modicut Yiddish Puppet Theater, 1925– 1933 Thursday, June 17, 7 p.m.

Cooking in Yiddish: Highlights from the Yiddish Book Center’s Collection Thursday, June 24, 7 p.m. Yiddish cookbooks tell fascinating stories about their authors, publishers, and intended readers. Drawing on gems in the Yiddish Book Center’s collection, this talk with scholar and cookbook collector Barbara KirshenblattGimblett will explore what this unique literary genre can reveal about Jewish life.

Sunday, May 16, 2 p.m. Professor and author Jonathan Sarna discusses presidential elections from the Civil War to the present, demonstrating that “Jewish politics” jewishledger.com

WHAT’S HAPPENING Jewish organizations are invited to submit their upcoming events to the our What’s Happening section. Events are placed on the Ledger website on Tuesday afternoons. Deadline for submission of calendar items is the previous Tuesday. Send items to: judiej@jewishledger.com.

APRIL 28 & MAY 5 A Virtual Historical Tour of Jewish Argentina A two-part virtual historical tour of Jewish Argentina with Claudia Hercman, an Argentinian tour guide and translator. She is also a sculptor and painter, and honors her four grandparents who emigrated from Poland to Argentina. Hosted by Congregation Beth Israel. Session 1, April 28 at 8 p.m. – The Argentinian Jewish community is the 6th largest in the world. The first Jewish communities in Latin America were Sephardic. What happened to those Jews during the Inquisition? Why, if Latin America was part of the Spanish Empire, is the Jewish Community in Argentina 80% Ashkenazi and only 20% Sephardic today? Session 2, Thursday, May 5 at 8pm – Before WWII many Jews came to Argentina. In a country of immigrants, it became a very important and strong community. What happened in Argentina during and after the Holocaust? Who was Perón; what was his policy towards the Jews? Did he really help the Nazis come to Argentina? For information, visit www.cbict.org/ calendar.

in Residence, will be held APril 29 at 11 a.m. To register and receive a copy of the next short story and a link to the Zoom discussion, email kbeyard@cbict.org. Book Discussion at Congregation Beth Israel The Book of the Lost Names by Kristin Harmel will be the focus of a book discussion hosted by Congregation Beth Israel’s Sisterhood on April 29 at 7 p.m. The Book of Lost Names is inspired by a true story that takes place during World War II, about a young woman with a talent for forgery who helps thousands of Jewish children flee the Nazis. A social hour will follow. For more information, contact Rabbi Tami Elliott Goodman at ravgoodman@ icloud.com.

MONDAY, MAY 2 Celebrate by Design: Cookbook author Susie Fishbein to headline West Hartford fundraiser World-famous kosher chef Susie Fishbein, author of the Kosher by Design cookbook series will be guest speaker at “Celebrate by Design,” the virtual fundraiser of the Young Israel of West Hartford, to be held Monday, May 2 at 8 p.m. Fishbein has been named one of the 50 most influential Jews by The Forward. She has appeared on dozens of network TV and radio shows, and has been an honored guest at the White House in recognition of National Jewish Heritage Month. At the Young Israel even, Fishbein will discuss her career highlights and prepareo three amazing and tasty courses. For more information, contact David Rosen at davidsrosen.au@gmail.com. To register, visit youngisraelwh.org/celebrate.

APRIL 28 – JUNE 17 TUESDAY, MAY 4 Tackling Antisemitism and Bigotry UJA-JCC Greenwich will host a free virtual talk by Zach Banner, offensive tackle for the Pittsburgh Steelers, on Tuesday, May 4 at 7 p.m. When Banner posted a video on Twitter protesting an antisemitic Instagram post by DeSean Jackson, he became one of the first NFL players to speak out on the issue. Banner’s video quickly drew more than 700,000 views and an outpouring of praise. For more information, visit ujajcc. org. Jason and Paris Rosenthal, co-author of Dear Boy, team up for talk The Israel Cancer Research Fund will host Jason Rosenthal and Paris Rosenthal on Tuesday, May 4, 8 p.m for. “A Journey of Hope,” a live virtual interactive conversation. Guest speakers are Jason Rosenthal and his daughter Paris Rosentahl, the team behind the New York Times bestselling book, Dear Boy. Jason is author of the memoir, My Wife Said You May Want to Marry Me, an inspiring personal account of life, love, loss and new beginnings. Paris is the co-author of the #1 New York Times bestseller Dear Girl, a collaboration with her late mother, Amy Krouse Rosenthal. She also wrote Dear Baby, Dear Teacher, and Project 1,2,3. For information: beth_belkin@emus.gov.it. Lessons from Elie Wiesel’s classroom Ariel Burger, author of Witness: Lessons From Elie Wiesel’s Classroom, will talk about his experiences as Elie Wiesel’s teaching assistant. Hosted by Voice of Hope, the Zoom event will be held May 4 at 5 p.m. Registration required. For more information: ctvoicesofhope.org or 860470-5591.

THURSDAY, APRIL 29 Manchester Memories: Jewish History Through the Decades

THURSDAY, MAY 6

Prof. Arnie Dashefsky will moderate a panel discussion on “Manchester Memories: Jewish History Through the Decades,” featuring panelists Will Bayer, Sissy Seader, Rabbi Richard Plavin, and Joel Wind. Co-sponsored by Beth Sholom B’nai Israel and the Manchester Historical Society, the discussion will be held April 29 at 7:30 p.m. Those who have memories of Jewish Manchester to share are invited to submit them when they register To register and receive the Zoom link, visit jhsgh.org/ manechestermemries/

Prof. Gil Troy, McGill University will discuss “On Zionism, Israel and Social Justice,” on Zoom, May 6 at 7:30 p.m. The lecture is part o ALEPH: The Institute of Jewish Ideas, a community-wide Jewish learning initiative co-sponsored by the Mandell JCC and UConn Judaic Studies. Troy’s lecture will analyze the central theme in Zionism ideology, assessing what Israel has achieved – and where it has fallen short – in creating a nation that fulfills the Torah’s commandment to seek justice. For more information, visit judaicstudies.uconn. edu or mandelljcc.org.

Short Story Coffee Break A Zoom discussion of short stories and poetry by Erika Dreifus, Congregation Beth Israel’s Learning Center (Virtual) Writer jewishledger.com

On Zionism, Israel, and Social Justice

KOSHER COOKBOOK AUTHOR SUSIE FISHBEIN WILL BE FEATURED SPEAKER AT THE “CELEBRATE BY DESIGN” VIRTUAL FUNDRAISER OF THE YOUNG ISRAEL OF WEST HARTFORD ON MAY 2.

SUNDAY, MAY 16 & MONDAY, MAY 17 Tikkun Leil Shavuot A virtual annual celebration of Shavuot, co-sponsored by Beth Tikvoh-Sholom and the Conservative movement’s Rabbinical Assembly, will be held May 16 and 17 at noon. Participation is FREE. For more information, call (860) 243-3576.

SUNDAY, MAY 23 BTS FIlm Schmooze: “Hava Nagila (The Movie)” First, watch the film “Hava Nagila (The Movie),” a fun and fascinating journey through history, mystery and meaning of this great Jewish standard, featuring interviews with Harry Belafonte, Leonard Nimoy, Connie Francis, Glen Campbell, Regina Spektor and more (available on Amazon Prime, iTunes and Google Play). Then join a virtual discussion of the film on May 23 at 7 p.m., led by Shari J. Cantor, who has an MA in Judaic Studies and has danced the hora at a wedding a time or two. For more information, call (860) 243-3576.

WEDNESDAY, JUNE 2 Spring Dinner with Jean Chatzky United Jewish Federation Women’s Philanthropy will host its Spring Dinner featuring guest speaker Jean Chatzky, CEO of HerMoney.com and host of the podcast Her-Money with Jean Chatzky, with live music by Arielle Eden. Masks required and all safety precautions and social distancing protocols will be observed. Zoom participation is also welcome. Pre-packaged dinner with wine tasting, crafts, Tricky Tray and silent auction at 6:30 p.m.; followed by the program at 7:30 p.m. $95/per person before May 21; $125/after May 21. For Tricky Tray/auction ticket information, visit ujf.org.

JUNE 17, 7 pm Virtual Spring Celebration honoring Rabbi Herbert Brockman Rabbi Herbert Brockman, rabbi emeritus at Congregation Mishkan Israel in Hamden, will be honored at a virtual celebration hosted by Jewish Family Services of Greater New Haven on June 17 at 7 p.m. The evening will also include a look at the impact of JFS of Greater New Haven on the community. For more info: (203) 389-5599 x110, jfsnh.org.

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APRIL 30, 2021

OBITUARIES BODNER Leatrice Brodner, 84, of New Haven, died April 14. She was the wife of Richard Brodner. Born in New York, she was the daughter of the late Aladar and Regina Lowi. In addition to her husband, she is survived by a her nephew Robert Gilbert of Hamden and other nieces and nephews. GRAHAM Elizabeth “Simmy” P. Graham, 90, of Woodbridge, died March 23. She was the wife of Andrew Graham, MD. Born and raised in New Haven, she was the daughter of the late Dora (Klempner) and Benjamin Pious. In addition to her husband, she is survived by her children, Scott Graham of Scottsdale, Ariz., Cynthia Schilling of Bloomfield, and Alison Graham of Los Angeles, Calif.; her grandchildren, Michael Graham, Karin Graham, and Melissa Graham of Scottsdale, Ariz., and Tamar Faggen of Los Angeles, Calif.; and many nieces and nephews KLEIN Jason F. Klein, 39, of West Hartford, died April 13. He was the husband of Sarah Beharry Klein. Born in Annapolis, Md., he was the son of Fred and Susan Klein. In addition to his wife and his parents, he is survived by his son Nathan; his sister Ilana Prenovitz and her husband Scott; his niece Brielle and his nephew Cole; his grandmother Selma Linsky; and many aunts, uncles and cousins.

MUSSMAN Eugene Mussman, 96, of West Hartford, died April 11. He was the widower of Mussman. Born in New Britain, he was he son of Louis and Lena (Hoberman) Mussman. He was also predeceased by his sister Ruth, and his brothers Bernard and Herbert. He is survived by his sons, Jeffrey Mussman and Marc Mussman; his brother Merton; his grandsons, Adam, Jason and Steven; and his great-grandchildren, Caleb and Stella Faye. ROMANOFF Bruce Harris Romanoff, 71, of Hamden, died April 14. He was the son of the late Eli and Jacqueline (Fitelson) He was also predeceased by his brother Allen Romanoff. He is survived by his brother Richard Romanoff; his sister Sharon Romanoff and her husband; and many nieces, nephews, and friends. Romanoff. He served in the U.S Navy. ZWILLINGER Jacqueline (Jackie) Zwillinger, 96, of Westbrook and Longboat Key, Florida, has died. She was the widow of Richard (Dick) Zwillinger. She was born in Philadelphia, Penn. She was also predeceased by and her son Stephen Zwillinger. She is survived by her daughter Joan Finger; her grandchildren, Adrienne Halterman, and Jonathan Rosenfinger and his wife Shoshana; and her great-grandchildren, Anna and Zachary Rosenfinger.

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IN MEMORIAM

Walter Mondale was a liberal icon who championed Israel BY RON KAMPEAS

(JTA) – Walter Mondale, the former vice president who represented a time in American history when being pro-Israel and progressive were often synonymous, died Monday, April 19, at his home in Minneapolis. He was 93. From the launch of his political career, Mondale was close to the national Jewish and pro-Israel communities. He found in those WALTER MONDALE IN 1976. organizations (JOHN SUNDERLAND/THE willing partners in DENVER POST VIA GETTY IMAGES) his endeavors to expand civil rights, and they found in him an avid advocate of Israel. Mondale acted as a buffer between President Jimmy Carter, under whom he served as vice president, and Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin and when the talks that culminated in an Israel-Egypt peace deal turned tense. Begin was said to favor the company of the affable Mondale over Carter, who was standoffish. Mondale was one of three U.S. lawmakers present at the dedication of Israel’s Knesset building in 1966 – he was a Minnesota senator at the time. Israel policy was one of the few areas where Carter and Mondale differed. (The other was Mondale’s impatience with what he believed was Carter’s tendency to scold the American public.) In 2007, appearing with Carter on CNN in an interview marking 30 years since they assumed office, he gently pushed back at his friend’s book published not long before, Palestine: Peace not Apartheid, in an exchange that was otherwise all mutual admiration. “I have read the book,” Mondale said. “I think there’s a lot of good materials in there. I do have a few problems with it, but if I might, I’d like to talk to the president about it first.” In 1981, Mondale broke with Carter – and with Reagan, the incumbent president – on selling advanced spy aircraft to Saudi Arabia. Both Carter and Reagan favored the deal – a major contention point with AIPAC. Mondale lobbied his former Senate colleagues to oppose the deal. Mondale’s 1984 campaign to retake the White House from Reagan brought in major Jewish support in the form of both donors and endorsements. Mondale made freeing Soviet Jews an issue in his campaign and slammed his rival Jesse Jackson for consorting with

Louis Farrakhan, the antisemitic leader of the Nation of Islam. He was endorsed by the leaders of the Orthodox, Reform and Conservative Jewish communities. Arab Americans said Mondale excluded them from his campaign out of deference to proIsrael supporters. Mondale, who came to Washington in 1964 as Hubert Humphrey’s handpicked replacement as a Minnesota senator when President Lyndon Johnson named Humphrey to be vice president, set multiple precedents in his long career. When Carter tapped Mondale to be his running mate in ’76, Mondale was the first vice president to negotiate an active vice presidential role that placed him next to the president. That set the tone for almost every vice president to follow, and some of his successors, including Al Gore and now-President Joe Biden, said as much in mourning Mondale’s passing. Mondale set another precedent in 1984 when he named a woman, Rep. Geraldine Ferraro, D-N.Y., as his running mate in the presidential race he lost to Ronald Reagan. Mondale suffered one of the most decisive defeats in modern times, winning only his home state of Minnesota and the District of Columbia. But he restored the close relationship between the Jewish community and the Democratic Party, earning 70% of the Jewish vote in an election in which almost 60% of the ballots were cast for Reagan. In 1980, Carter had been the first Democrat in two generations to lose the majority of the Jewish vote. It would not be Mondale’s last electoral defeat. In 2002 he stepped in 11 days before the election to run for Minnesota senator after Paul Wellstone, the well-liked Jewish incumbent, died in a plane crash. He lost narrowly to Norm Coleman, a Jewish Republican. Mondale never flagged in his good cheer and his self-deprecation. Fulfilling his constitutional duty in 1981 to announce the results of the Electoral College, Mondale noted that George H. W. Bush had received 489 votes to be vice president and “Walter F. Mondale of the state of Minnesota has received 49 votes.” He cracked up laughing, and added “A landslide!” and the entire chamber – Republicans and Democrats – rose to applaud him. Mourning Mondale were the American Jewish Committee, the Jewish Democratic Council of America, AIPAC and the Democratic Majority for Israel. Mondale is survived by two sons. He was predeceased by his wife, Joan, and by a daughter. jewishledger.com

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CT SYNAGOGUE DIRECTORY To join our synagogue directories, contact Howard Meyerowitz at (860) 231-2424 x3035 or howardm@jewishledger.com. BLOOMFIELD B’nai Tikvoh-Sholom/ Neshama Center for Lifelong Learning Conservative Rabbi Debra Cantor (860) 243-3576 office@BTSonline.org www.btsonline.org BRIDGEPORT Congregation B’nai Israel Reform Rabbi Evan Schultz (203) 336-1858 info@cbibpt.org www.cbibpt.org Congregation Rodeph Sholom Conservative (203) 334-0159 Rabbi Richard Eisenberg, Cantor Niema Hirsch info@rodephsholom.com www.rodephsholom.com CHESHIRE Temple Beth David Reform Rabbi Micah Ellenson (203) 272-0037 office@TBDCheshire.org www.TBDCheshire.org CHESTER Congregation Beth Shalom Rodfe Zedek Reform Rabbi Marci Bellows (860) 526-8920 rabbibellows@cbsrz.org www.cbsrz.org

COLCHESTER Congregation Ahavath Achim Conservative Rabbi Kenneth Alter (860) 537-2809 secretary@congregationahavathachim.org

Temple Sholom Conservative Rabbi Mitchell M. Hurvitz Rabbi Kevin Peters Cantor Sandy Bernstein (203) 869-7191 info@templesholom.com www.templesholom.com

EAST HARTFORD Temple Beth Tefilah Conservative Rabbi Yisroel Snyder (860) 569-0670 templebetht@yahoo.com

HAMDEN Temple Beth Sholom Conservative Rabbi Benjamin Edidin Scolnic (203) 288-7748 tbsoffice@tbshamden.com www.tbshamden.com

FAIRFIELD Congregation Ahavath Achim Orthodox (203) 372-6529 office@ahavathachim.org www.ahavathachim.org Congregation Beth El, Fairfield Conservative Rabbi Marcelo Kormis (203) 374-5544 office@bethelfairfield.org www.bethelfairfield.org GLASTONBURY Congregation Kol Haverim Reform Rabbi Dr. Kari Tuling (860) 633-3966 office@kolhaverim.org www.kolhaverim.org GREENWICH Greenwich Reform Synagogue Reform Rabbi Jordie Gerson (203) 629-0018 hadaselias@grs.org www.grs.org

MADISON Temple Beth Tikvah Reform Rabbi Stacy Offner (203) 245-7028 office@tbtshoreline.org www.tbtshoreline.org MANCHESTER Beth Sholom B’nai Israel Conservative Rabbi Randall Konigsburg (860) 643-9563 Rabbenu@myshul.org programming@myshul.org www.myshul.org MIDDLETOWN Adath Israel Conservative Rabbi Nelly Altenburger (860) 346-4709 office@adathisraelct.org www.adathisraelct.org

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NEW HAVEN The Towers at Tower Lane Conservative Ruth Greenblatt, Spiritual Leader Sarah Moskowitz, Spiritual Leader (203) 772-1816 rebecca@towerlane.org www.towerlane.org Congregation Beth El-Keser Israel Conservative Rabbi Jon-Jay Tilsen (203) 389-2108 office@BEKI.org www.BEKI.org Orchard Street ShulCongregation Beth Israel Orthodox Rabbi Mendy Hecht 203-776-1468 www.orchardstreetshul.org NEW LONDON Ahavath Chesed Synagogue Orthodox Rabbi Avrohom Sternberg 860-442-3234 Ahavath.chesed@att.net Congregation Beth El Conservative Rabbi Earl Kideckel (860) 442-0418 office@bethel-nl.org www.bethel-nl.org NEWINGTON Temple Sinai Reform Rabbi Jeffrey Bennett (860) 561-1055 templesinaict@gmail.com www.sinaict.org NEWTOWN Congregation Adath Israel Conservative Rabbi Barukh Schectman (203) 426-5188 office@congadathisrael.org www.congadathisrael.org

NORWALK Beth Israel Synagogue – Chabad of Westport/ Norwalk Orthodox-Chabad Rabbi Yehoshua S. Hecht (203) 866-0534 info@bethisraelchabad.org bethisraelchabad.org

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Temple Shalom Reform Rabbi Cantor Shirah Sklar (203) 866-0148 admin@templeshalomweb.org www.templeshalomweb.org ORANGE Chabad of Orange/ Woodbridge Chabad Rabbi Sheya Hecht (203) 795-5261 info@chabadow.org www.chabadow.org Congregation Or Shalom Conservative Rabbi Alvin Wainhaus (203) 799-2341 info@orshalomct.org www.orshalomct.org SIMSBURY Chabad of the Farmington Valley Chabad Rabbi Mendel Samuels (860) 658-4903 chabadsimsbury@gmail.com www.chabadotvalley.org Farmington Valley Jewish Congregation, Emek Shalom Reform Rabbi Rebekah Goldman Mag (860) 658-1075 admin@fvjc.org www.fvjc.org SOUTH WINDSOR Temple Beth Hillel of South Windsor Reform Rabbi Jeffrey Glickman (860) 282-8466 tbhrabbi@gmail.com www.tbhsw.org

WALLINGFORD Beth Israel Synagogue Conservative Rabbi Bruce Alpert (203) 269-5983 info@bethisraelwallingford. org www.bethisraelwallingford. org WASHINGTON Greater Washington Coalition for Jewish Life Rabbi James Greene (860) 868-2434 jewishlifect@gmail.com www.jewishlife.org WATERFORD Temple Emanu - El Reform Rabbi Marc Ekstrand Rabbi Emeritus Aaron Rosenberg (860) 443-3005 office@tewaterfrord.org www.tewaterford.org WEST HARTFORD Beth David Synagogue Orthodox Rabbi Yitzchok Adler (860) 236-1241 office@bethdavidwh.org www.bethdavidwh.org Beth El Temple Conservative Rabbi James Rosen Rabbi Ilana Garber (860) 233-9696 hsowalsky@bethelwh.org www.bethelwesthartford.org Chabad House of Greater Hartford Rabbi Joseph Gopin Rabbi Shaya Gopin, Director of Education (860) 232-1116 info@chabadhartford.com www.chabadhartford.com

SOUTHINGTON Gishrei Shalom Jewish Congregation Reform Rabbi Alana Wasserman (860) 276-9113 President@gsjc.org www.gsjc.org TRUMBULL Congregation B’nai Torah Conservative Rabbi Colin Brodie (203) 268-6940 office@bnaitorahct.org www.bnaitorahct.org

Congregation Beth Israel Reform Rabbi Michael Pincus Rabbi Andi Fliegel Cantor Stephanie Kupfer (860) 233-8215 bethisrael@cbict.org www.cbict.org Congregation P’nai Or Jewish Renewal Shabbat Services Rabbi Andrea Cohen-Kiener (860) 561-5905 pnaiorct@gmail.com www.jewishrenewalct.org

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Kehilat Chaverim of Greater Hartford Chavurah Adm. - Nancy Malley (860) 951-6877 mnmalley@yahoo.com www.kehilatchaverim.org The Emanuel Synagogue Conservative Rabbi David J. Small (860) 236-1275 communications@emanuelsynagogue.org www.emanuelsynagogue.org United Synagogues of Greater Hartford Orthodox Rabbi Eli Ostrozynsk i synagogue voice mail (860) 586-8067 Rabbi’s mobile (718) 6794446 ostro770@hotmail.com www.usgh.org Young Israel of West Hartford Orthodox Rabbi Tuvia Brander (860) 233-3084 info@youngisraelwh.org www.youngisraelwh.org WESTPORT Temple Israel Reform Rabbi Michael S. Friedman, Senior Rabbi Rabbi Danny M. Moss, Associate Rabbi Rabbi Elana Nemitoff-Bresler, Rabbi Educator (203) 227-1293 info@tiwestport.org www.tiwestport.org WETHERSFIELD Temple Beth Torah Unaffiliated Rabbi Seth Riemer (860) 828-3377 tbt.w.ct@gmail.com templebethtorahwethersfield. org WOODBRIDGE Congregation B’nai Jacob Conservative Rabbi Rona Shapiro (203) 389-2111 info@bnaijacob.org www.bnaijacob.org

APRIL 30, 2021

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CT Jewish Ledger • April 30, 2021 • 18 Iyar 5781

Articles inside

Open and Shut?

Celebrate Lag B’Omer