CT Jewish Ledger • December 10, 2021 • 6 Tevet 5782 by WHMedia, Inc.

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| DECEMBER 10, 2021

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| DECEMBER 10, 2021

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INSIDE

this week

CONNECTICUT JEWISH LEDGER | SINCE 1929 | DECEMBER 10, 2021 | 6 TEVET 5782

10 Opinion

11 Briefs

17 Crossword

18 What’s Happening Revisionist History............................................................... 5 A municipal holiday display gives Medford, Mass. plenty of tsoris when a city worker includes a menorah picture produced by Messianic Jews in a display about world religions.

20 Obituaries

21 Business and Professional Directory

Making Connections........................................................... 5 Thanks to the efforts of a U of Hartford senior and the rabbi of the school’s Chabad, a new eruv surrounding the campus and adjacent areas makes Sabbath observance a whole lot easier…and it helps connect the community, too.

22 Classified

Arts & Entertainment.......................................................... 8 Who’s Jewish at the Grammy’s? Mel Brooks says his comedy is New York, not Jewish. Black Eyes Peas frontman says being in Israel is like being with mishpochca…South Park’s Cartman converts.

OPINION..................................................................................10 Maybe he didn’t mean it, but following a trip to Israel courtesy of JStreet, a U.S. Congressman last week insinuated that Israeli Jews are all mentally unbalanced. And he’s not the first observer to make that insulting and false claim.

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The new Israeli and American governments want to keep disagreements on the downlow, but an array of issues could change that calculus. We take a look at 6 issues that could drive a wedge between the two friends. PAGE 12 jewishledger.com

Hartford 4:02 p.m. New Haven: 4:02 p.m. Bridgeport: 4:03 p.m. Stamford: 4:04 p.m. To determine the time for Havdalah, add one hour and 10 minutes (to be safe) to candle lighting time.

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UP FRONT

CONNECTICUT JEWISH LEDGER | SINCE 1929 | DECEMBER 3, 2021 | 29 KISLEV 5782

Eruv at U of Hartford and Chabad Chevra connects the Jewish community

ARTFORD – Observing Shabbat at the University of Hartford has become much easier with the addition of a new eruv surrounding the West Hartford campus and the Rohr Chabad Jewish Center, which lies adjacent to the campus. An eruv is a physical boundary allowing observant Jews to carry certain objects on Shabbat. Under Jewish law, it is forbidden to carry any item – even things like siddurim, tallit bags and house keys (or to push a baby stroller) – from a private or enclosed area (one’s home) to a public area – for example, along a public street. In the past, Jews often lived in cities

RABBI MICAH SHOTKIN WORKING ON REPAIRING A WIRE ON THE UNIVERSITY OF HARTFORDCHABAD CHEVRA ERUV. PHOTO COURTESY OF CHABAD CHEVRA.

A Mass. town apologizes after using Christian menorah in holiday display

BY STACEY DRESNER

and communities that were enclosed by walls. Those closed-in communities were seen as private domains, allowing the Sabbath observer to carry necessary items on Shabbat. Today, in more spread-out areas like West Hartford, an eruv often consists of long wires connected high up on telephone or electrical poles, which are considered the “walls” of the eruv. “The way it typically works is, you try to find natural barriers/utility poles and lines that kind of naturally give a boundary to a certain area. And we then say that everybody living inside that area is one community, one family,” explains Rabbi Yossi Kulek, director of Chabad Chevra at the University of Hartford.

“We’re saying we’re together, versus being single individuals with no connection with one another. What I love about the eruv in general is it brings the community together, connecting everybody in the eruv to make them really part of one big family,” he says. The new eruv encircles the Rohr Chabad Jewish Center on Bloomfield Avenue in Hartford – Chabad Chevra’s headquarters – and the University of Hartford campus down the street, via the Watkinson School, which is located between Chabad and the university. The idea to install an eruv began back in 2010. The Rohr Center had just opened the year before, and Rabbbi Kulek sat down to discuss the idea of building an eruv with University of Hartford’s past president Walter Harrison. “The university was supportive right from the beginning and they gave me the go ahead,” Kulek says. Kulek also went to Rabbi Brahm Weinberg, then spiritual leader of Young Israel of West Hartford, who oversaw the West Hartford eruv already in place around Albany Avenue. “We surveyed the campus and saw that this was really doable, but we realized it was a much bigger project than we thought,” Kulek notes. “At that point, we thought that the university was surrounded on three sides by natural barriers, and we figured, okay, well, we’ll finish it. But it required money and getting the right experts to come do it, and we were just trying to keep the Chabad Chevra activities going and so on and so forth, so it wasn’t within the budget at the time.” Enter Eliana Lebson, a senior at the university, who first emailed Kulek when she was a freshman to suggest there needed to be an eruv at the school. Lebson stressed the difficulties she experienced observing Shabbat on the University of Hartford campus without an eruv. “We need our ID to get back on to campus. I could never show it, but at some point they started to recognize me. And the

BY PHILISSA CRAMER

(JTA) — A small municipal holiday event turned into a big problem for Medford, Massachusetts, after a city worker included a menorah picture produced by Messianic Jews in a display about world religions. The suburb of Boston apologized for the display, which appeared during last week’s Holiday Extravaganza, a city event aimed at promoting local businesses. But the episode has left some local Jewish residents asking, not for the first time, whether they are truly considered a part of the local community. Medford, a city that is part of the dense core of Boston’s metropolitan area, is home to Tufts University and claims as native sons both the author of “Jingle Bells” and Mike Bloomberg, the former mayor of New York City whose family had to buy a home in the town surreptitiously to circumvent local antisemitism. Some Medford Jews felt like important progress had been made this year after the city school district, for the first time in recent history, canceled classes for Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur. Sarah Beardslee, a Jewish resident of Medford for 30 years, said the city had recently sought to demonstrate that it values diversity. “This is just another example of how that’s really not the case,” she told the Jewish Telegraphic Agency of the holiday display. The issue began shortly after the Holiday Extravaganza on Wednesday evening, Dec. 1, when the town posted pictures from the event. Along with photos with Santa, a wreath sale and the lighting of the town Christmas tree, the holiday event featured a table inside City Hall with framed descriptions of holiday symbols. One set of pictures showcased the CONTINUED ON THE NEXT PAGE

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JEWISH LEDGER

DECEMBER 10, 2021

Menorah

Eruv

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 5

history of Christmas trees. Another featured the kinara, the candelabra used during the African-American holiday of Kwanzaa. And a third showcased the menorah, used by Jews during Chanukah. Although the table held an electric menorah with nine candles, the menorah in a photo placed on the table wasn’t the one used by Jews during Chanukah. Instead, it was a picture of a seven-branched menorah labeled with Christian terms. One branch was labeled “cross,” for example, while another was labeled “resurrection.” The image is widely available online as an illustration of Messianic interpretations of the menorah. Messianic Jews are people who follow many Jewish practices while believing in the divinity of Jesus; no mainstream Jewish movement considers them Jewish. In Medford, some were concerned that a Messianic Jew was responsible for Jewish affairs within the municipal government, or that City Hall had reached out to a Messianic Jew for guidance instead of to representatives of the local Jewish community. But according to a note posted in a local Facebook group by the City Hall staffer who said she had created the display, the image did not reflect an ideology at all. Instead, the staffer wrote, she had come across the image while researching about religious traditions and thought it might be helpful for people attending the event.

It quickly became clear to the city that that was not the case. Late Friday, it issued an apology on Facebook and the photo of the table with the menorah has since been removed from Facebook. “We sincerely regret the harm and are committed to learn from this mistake,” the apology said. “Going forward we will consult faith and community leaders, include their experience and expertise in our event planning processes, and ensure that every public-facing item is represented appropriately and accurately.” The apology followed a day of meetings and conversations, according to Rabbi Braham David, who leads Temple Shalom in Medford. He and the synagogue’s president sent statements to their community late Friday as Shabbat began. David wrote that he had spent the day speaking with other local rabbis, Jewish community members and clergy from other religions. He also said he had reached out to Medford’s mayor, Breanna Lungo-Koehn, to discuss the situation. “She expressed deep regret on behalf of her staff and the mayor’s office for this careless error,” David wrote, noting that the mayor’s office had received “countless calls” about the display. Gisele Ellis, Temple Shalom’s president, said that she, too, was inclined to accept the city’s apology, citing the example of Julian Edelman, the star Jewish wide receiver for the New England Patriots who retired

this year. Edelman prominently sought to teach, not shame, a colleague who made antisemitic comments on social media. But Ellis also conveyed deep distress about the episode, which she said was a departure from past years when the city invited Temple Shalom to participate in planning the holiday event. “That we have to explain why this is offensive is frustrating. The lack of Jewish involvement in this event makes us feel invisible in the eyes of our city leaders. That this horrible display was put up at City Hall makes us furious,” she wrote, adding, “I have heard this fury from many of you today.” Among those responding was a newly elected member of the City Council, Kit Collins, who is Jewish. “ To all those who spoke up about the erroneous and offensive depiction of a menorah displayed at last night’s holiday festival at City Hall, I see you & I thank you. As a Jew, I understand how frustrating and painful it can be to have one’s faith be so egregiously misrepresented,” tweeted Collins, who will be sworn in next month. “I’m grateful that the Administration responded swiftly to remove the offensive picture,” Collins added. “I’m sorry this happened, but I hope and expect that it will spur us to do better going forward at properly respecting, representing, and celebrating the many cultures that exist in Medford.”

A PICTURE OF A MENORAH INTENDED TO EXPLAIN THE OBJECT’S SYMBOLISM WAS ACTUALLY A MESSIANIC IMAGE IN WHICH THE MENORAH’S BRANCHES WERE DESCRIBED AS SYMBOLIZING THE “CROSS” AND “RESURRECTION.” (SCREENSHOT FROM FACEBOOK)

JEWISH LEDGER

| DECEMBER 10, 2021

keys to my dorm were very difficult to figure out,” she said. “I remember in my freshman year I wanted to carry a water bottle because I was walking around in the sun. I couldn’t do that. I couldn’t carry a book with me. If I was walking somewhere in a mask, I had to keep it on. I couldn’t take it off and hold it in my hands. And sweatshirts – that was a big one.” “Pretty much every observant student at the University of Hartford comes here Friday night and for Shabbat lunch, and that’s a big deal for them,” adds the rabbi. “So that has been a dilemma.” About a year ago, as she entered her senior year, Lebson approached Kulek again. “All last year I was bothering him about it. I said, ‘Let’s get on this!’ And he agreed,” she reports. “I don’t think they thought I could raise the money, but I was confident.” Lebson spearheaded the fundraising effort and began raising money last winter break. “She is a hard worker!” Kulek marvels. Lebson began emailing as many people as she could, including old high school and NCSY friends. She gathered email lists of people in the local Jewish community and even got her grandfather, Rabbi Richard Plavin of Manchester to help contact fellow rabbis and philanthropists in the area. In all more than $15,000 has been raised for the eruv, which in addition to building the structure, will also help to cover continuing maintenance costs. But raising funds was just the first step. Installing and maintaining an eruv can be a complicated business – figuring out what natural barriers, i.e.: fencing or utility poles can be used; getting permission from landowners and authorities; and figuring out where to place additional poles, to name a few considerations. “When we started looking at it now, 10, 11 years later, we realized that the university had actually reconfigured a major portion of the wiring of their electrical lines. So, on one side that we were relying on we had a lot more work to do,” Rabbi Kulek explains. “There were areas where we had to put up poles. There were areas where we needed to literally connect existing light poles with wire… There’s also conduits we had to put up and we had to put on these markings to tie it all together.” Another issue was that the utility poles on Bloomfield Avenue are on the inner side of the sidewalk so they would not be inside the eruv. “The only way it would work was to put poles on the Watkinson property because that would then include a sidewalk and it wouldn’t be on neighbor’s property,” Kulek explains. Chris DuPois, operations director at the University of Hartford made a ‘shidduch’ between the rabbi and John O’Lear, head of grounds and operations at Watkinson. O’Lear worked with Chabad and got approval from the Watkinson board of trustees to allow the eruv to be constructed on their property. jewishledger.com

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“They were very supportive of the idea from the start,” Rabbi Kulek notes. Rabbi Tuvia Brander of Young Israel of West Hartford introduced Kulek to Rabbi Micah Shotkin, a nationally-known eruv expert came on board the project, surveying the area involved and explaining step by step what needed to be done to get the eruv installed. Shotkin could be seen at times stating in his “cherry-picker,” working to get the eruv wires installed. Despite a few hitches, the eruv, was up and running the day before Yom Kippur of this year. “It was really a community wide project,” says Kulek. “From the past university administration to the new administration to the Office of Student Affairs and the Office of Engagement and Inclusion, they were very supportive. I had a meeting over the summer with Aaron Isaacs, the dean of students, and he said, ‘Let’s make it happen.’ They came up with some funds as well. They all had to come together and they did, and they made it easy.” Eliana Lebson is happy to have the eruv

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up and running, but she will graduate from the University of Hartford with a degree in media arts in May so she will not have had the opportunity to make use of it for too long. “Yes, it’s for me, but I also want to make this a place where more Modern Orthodox students can go to, because it’s a great place and that is something that will help anyone who wants to come here.”

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ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT 2022 Grammy Awards: The Jewish nominees BY SHIRA HANAU

(JTA) — Some of the music industry’s most popular Jewish artists were included in the 2022 Grammy Award nominations unveiled on Tuesday, Nov. 30. The awards ceremony will take place Jan. 31 in Los Angeles. Here’s a roundup: Doja Cat, a Black and Jewish pop starrapper hybrid who has become one of the most listened-to artists in the world — Spotify lists her as the 7th-most-streamed musician on its platform as of Wednesday morning — racked up nominations in in seven categories, including Record of the Year, Album of the Year, Song of the Year, Best Pop Duo/Group Performance, Best Pop Vocal Album, Melodic Rap Performance and Rap Song. She has a Jewish mother and a non-Jewish South African father. Jack Antonoff, a Jewish day school grad who wore a Star of David necklace to the MTV Music Awards in 2017, has become one of the most in-demand pop producers in the industry. He was nominated for Non-Classical Producer of the Year for his work in the past year with Taylor Swift, Lana Del Ray, Lorde and others. Drake, a Canadian Jewish rapper, winner of four past Grammys (in addition to a recordbreaking 29 Billboard Music Awards), was nominated for Best Rap Performance for his hit “Way 2 Sexy” and Best Rap Album of the year for his latest LP, “Certified Lover Boy.” Despite having once participated in a mock

Swift’s nomination in the Album of the Year category for the album “Evermore,” which he helped write, along with Antonoff. (The pair did the same with Swift’s “Folklore” album last year.) Dessner’s brother Bryce, who is also in The National and was also included in the nomination for helping in the recording process, wrote a classical music piece in 2013 partially inspired by their Jewish grandmother’s heritage and immigration to the United State. Matt Haimovitz, an Israeli cellist, was co-nominated for his work on an album up for Best Classical Solo Voice Album. He was also nominated last year in the classical compendium category.

Cartman converts to Judaism on ‘South Park,’ after decades of tormenting Jews BY ANDREW LAPIN

(JTA) — One of television’s most notorious cartoon antisemites is now an Orthodox rabbi. Eric Cartman, the egomaniacal, hate speech-spouting grade schooler on Comedy Central’s long-running adult animated series “South Park,” has had a change of heart in a new hour-long special of the show, which is set 40 years in the future. In “South Park: Post COVID,” which debuted on Thanksgiving on the Paramount Plus streaming service, Cartman has converted to Judaism, leads a congregation in Colorado Springs, wears a tallit wherever he goes, and has a Jewish wife named “Yentl” and three children: “Moishe,” “Menorah” and “Hakham.” His trademark blue hat now serves as a kippah. Is Cartman’s conversion for real, or some elaborate scheme directed at his old nemesis, Kyle Broflovski? We won’t know for sure what’s going on with him until the story arc continues sometime this month But his sudden devotion to the Torah is enough of a shocker to send Kyle, the show’s long-suffering

DRAKE IS NOMINATED FOR A GRAMMY FOR BEST RAP PERFORMANCE.

re-staging of his bar mitzvah on “Saturday Night Live,” he has been guarded in recent years in talking about his Jewish identity. Stephen Schwartz, the legendary musical theater writer, was nominated for Best Musical Theater Album for “Stephen Schwartz’s Snapshots,” a scrapbook musical including songs from a range of his musicals, including “Wicked,” “Pippin” and “Godspell.” Aaron Dessner, part of the indie rock band The National, was included in Taylor 8

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Jewish protagonist, into fits of rage, as he becomes convinced his ex-friend’s new life is just a mean-spirited ruse. The Cartman-Kyle storyline is only the B-plot of the new special — the rest involves the old schoolyard gang reuniting to try to uncover long-buried secrets of the COVID pandemic — but “South Park” has long used the dynamic between the two as politically incorrect comic fodder, dating back to the show’s debut in 1997. Series co-creators Matt Stone (who is Jewish, and voices Kyle) and Trey Parker (who voices Cartman) have built many episodes around Jewish themes, frequently making note of Cartman’s antisemitism — usually as a way to mock actual antisemites. The pint-sized sociopath has previously impersonated Hitler in an attempt to get “Passion of the Christ” fans to re-enact the Holocaust; faked having Tourette Syndrome in order to spout antisemitic speech in public; and tried to force Kyle to hand over his “Jew Gold”. He’s even jokingly converted to Judaism before, in a 2012 Passover special. But this time, Cartman actually seems serious about his faith — he even yells out Talmudic lessons while in the bedroom with his wife. Kyle, meanwhile, seems to have lapsed from his own beliefs in the intervening decades, noting at one point, “It’s been a long time since I’ve prayed.” So maybe seeing his longtime frenemy embrace the faith he once ridiculed could open up something in Kyle. But if so, that may take some more healing. When circumstances compel Kyle to host Cartman’s family, he instead tries to kick them out. One of Cartman’s kids exclaims, “This is just like when our people were exiled from the Holy Land!” Jewish fans of “South Park” are used to Cartman’s shenanigans: Odds are, there’s something funny going on here. We won’t know for sure what’s up with him until the next made-for-streaming film, which is due next month. “South Park: Post COVID” is now streaming on Paramount Plus.

Black Eyed Peas lead singer will.i.am says being in Israel is ‘like mishpocha’ BY SHIRA HANAU

AN ADULT ERIC CARTMAN (TREY PARKER) IS NOW A RABBI ON “SOUTH PARK: POST COVID.” (SCREENSHOT VIA PARAMOUNT PLUS)

| DECEMBER 10, 2021

(JTA) — Black Eyed Peas frontman will.i.am feels at home in Israel — so much so that he used a Yiddish word to describe the feeling he gets in the country. While on a visit to Israel to perform with his group, will.i.am, born William James Adams, Jr., said Monday that he would not boycott the country and added that being in Israel is like being among family — or “mishpocha.”

RAPPER WILL.I.AM SPEAKS AT THE IMPROVATE INTERNATIONAL INNOVATION AND INVESTMENT FORUM IN JERUSALEM, NOV. 29, 2021. (SIVAN FARAG)

“I always wanted to come to Israel growing up in Los Angeles, a lot of my friends are Israelis,” said will.i.am, who is not Jewish. “My grandma came here. When she visited, she would say, ‘I’m going to the holy land.’ She came with her church. It was always a place of aspiration and wonder and when I first came, I brought my grandma…I always love coming here. It’s like mishpocha.” The rapper made his remarks at the IMPROVATE technology conference in the Orient Hotel in Jerusalem. This was not the first time the Black Eyed Peas have performed in Israel, where they put on concerts in 2006 and 2007. Speaking at the conference, will.i.am explained how one of his childhood friends inspired him to throw some other Hebrew words into one of the band’s most popular songs, “I Gotta Feeling.” In that song, will.i.am famously shouts out “mazel tov” and another band member responds with “l’chaim.” “I wanted to make Benjamin‘s dad proud,” the rapper said of his childhood friend. “So I said, ‘Mazel tov,’ ‘L’chaim’ and he was like, ‘Will, I always knew you are mishpocha. So to me, when I say mishpocha, I mean that dearly. This place is magical to me, for my grandma wanted to come here, and I can’t let politics get in the way of where my heart is going.” Will.i.am also worked the word “mishpocha” into a music video for a song the Black Eyed Peas made with the Israeli pop duo Static and Ben El in 2020. “What’s up, mishpocha?” he asks at the beginning of the music video.

Memoirist Mel Brooks praises Cel-Ray soda, says his humor is ‘New York’ not ‘Jewish’ BY ANDREW LAPIN

(JTA) — At 95, Mel Brooks is finally ready to speak his truth: A deli without Cel-Ray is no deli at all. The comedy icon and EGOT winner whose jewishledger.com

movies, musicals and stage acts defined the last century of American Jewish humor is celebrating the release of his new memoir, “All About Me!: My Remarkable Life in Show Business,” and his upcoming Hulu production of “History of the World: Part II.” In an interview with The New Yorker, Brooks also revealed his favorite deli sandwich (“a white-meat turkey sandwich with Thousand Island dressing and coleslaw, and one slice of corned beef, just for the accent, with a little bit of mustard”), with the important caveat that the Dr. Brown’s celeryflavored soda should be part of the meal. “If there’s a deli that’s worth its salt it’s going to have Dr. Brown’s Cel-Ray tonic,” Brooks told interviewer Michael Schulman. The cult-favorite soft drink is a staple of Jewish delis in New York, Los Angeles and Florida. Of course, the man behind “Springtime for Hitler” had many other Jewish observations at the ready, including tributes to his departed collaborators Carl Reiner, Sid Caesar and Gene Wilder. But Brooks also defends a point he also makes in his memoir: that his humor isn’t “Jewish” per se, but rather “New York.” “Jewish comedy was softer and sweeter. New York comedy was tougher and more explosive,” Brooks tells The New Yorker. “There’s some cruelty that you find in New York humor that you wouldn’t find in Yiddish humor. In New York, you make fun of somebody who walks funny. You never find that in Sholom Aleichem. You’d feel pity.” Incredibly, Brooks had never written a memoir before; he says his son, novelist Max Brooks, encouraged him to tackle the project during the COVID-19 pandemic. But he has certainly told his share of life stories over the past decade, whether in documentaries, live stand-up at the Geffen Theater or in a traveling stage show accompanying screenings of his most beloved films. With no signs of slowing down, Brooks may well keep slurping Cel-Ray and belting “High Anxiety” for another century.

MEL BROOKS POSES AT THE BAFTA BRITISH ACADEMY FILM AWARDS IN LONDON ON FEB.12, 2017. (JUSTIN TALLIS/AFP VIA GETTY IMAGES)

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The Hamptons home where Adrien Brody lived on ‘Succession’ was owned by a Jewish millionaire BY BEN SALES

(New York Jewish Week via JTA) — When Adrien Brody’s character burst onto the scene of HBO’s “Succession” last month, he became instantly iconic among the show’s Jewish fans. That’s thanks to his character’s visible Jewishness as well as the antisemitism he elicited. Brody’s character, Josh Aaronson, is a beanie-wearing billionaire investor who takes the show’s two main characters, Logan and Kendall Roy, out for a fateful hike on his spacious estate. He is, somehow, the first identifiably Jewish character on the hit show about billionaires in Manhattan, and his country mansion, where he meets the Roys, has a large mezuzah on its doorframe. Brody has demurred from saying who the character is based upon. However, he shares a few characteristics with the person who actually owned the mansion, which sold this week for a headline-grabbing $45 million. The buyer of the three-acre Hamptons estate, complete with the 11,000 square-foot house, is unknown. But the seller, like Brody’s character, is a wealthy man who appears to be Jewish: aerospace entrepreneur David Susser. Susser and his wife, Marla, sold the home, located in the hamlet of Wainscott, because they moved to southeast Florida, itself a trend among New York-area Jews. One difference between Susser and Brody’s character, however, comes down to politics: In the show, Josh Aaronson is a major investor in Waystar Royco, a fictionalized version of Rupert Murdoch’s right-wing media empire. But if Susser is a conservative, he’s kept a lower profile. He does not appear to have made political donations of any kind over the past decade and isn’t publicly affiliated with any political groups, according to a cursory online search. When it comes to causes close to the Jewish community, the couple donated to the Center for Jewish Life at Duke University during the 2017 fiscal year. In August of this year, Marla Susser served on the event committee for a “Virtual Hamptons Trunk Show,” which raised money for UJAFederation of New York’s COVID-recovery efforts; she has also served on committees for Jewish National Fund events in New York. Still, there’s at least one more element of the show that does ring true: The Wall Street Journal’s writeup of the real estate deal includes some photos of the home and, yes, the mezuzah from “Succession” appears to be authentic.

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DECEMBER 10, 2021

OPINION

Congressman Says Jews are Crazy BY RAFAEL MEDOFF

aybe he didn’t mean it the way it sounded, but a United States Congressman this week insinuated that Israeli Jews are all mentally unbalanced. If he had said that about another national or ethnic group, he would have been widely denounced as a bigot. Following a visit to Israel, Rep. Jamaal Bowman (D-New York) said on November 29: “I felt a tension in Israel, from the Jewish community, the psychology of occupation impacted the Jews who live there who are free….there’s a history of complex trauma that people are living with every day. Yad Vashem brought that home to me.” Congressman Bowman is not the first observer to make the insulting and false claim that Israeli Jews are mentally disturbed as a result of the Holocaust, and that they are therefore incapable of making rational decisions about government policy. In fact, that allegation has become almost standard fare among armchair psychiatrists looking for ways to deride the Jewish state. One of the first to level that charge was New York Times columnist Thomas L. Friedman. In his 1989 book, From Beirut to Jerusalem, Friedman wrote at length about what he called “the Holocausting of the Israeli psyche,” that is, an excessive interest in the Nazi genocide of six million Jews. “Israel today is becoming Yad Vashem with an air force,” Friedman asserted.

He alleged that Israelis’ memories of the Holocaust were to blame for, among other things, their impatient driving habits, unethical business dealings, meek acceptance of high taxes, and reluctance to make more concessions to the Arabs. Many others picked up on that theme in the years to follow. Clinical psychologist Alon Gratch, writing in USA Today in 2015, asserted that “the trauma of the Holocaust has penetrated every aspect of Israeli life,” filling Israelis with “anxiety and rage” over Jewish helplessness. This supposedly has created a “psychological burden” that shapes their attitude toward Iran and influences them to vote for nationalistic political parties. University of Pennsylvania professor Ian Lustick wrote an entire book in 2019 about the problems supposedly caused by what he dubbed “Holocaustia,” the mental illness that he said results from Israelis paying too much attention to the mass murder of Jews by the Nazis. Lustick’s harsh perspective sometimes led him into very questionable territory. He wrote, for example, that Israel put Adolf Eichmann on trial “so as to extend the period of usable gentile sympathy and guilt.” Invoking Holocaust-related language, Lustick charged that Israel is engaged in “the continuous mass shooting of Palestinian civilians [in Gaza]…murder[ing] and maim[ing] so many men, women and children trying to escape from the ghetto within which they have been concentrated.”

The Israeli author Yishai Sarid last year wrote a novel about an Israeli tour guide whose frequent visits to the sites of former death camps lead him to the conclusion that “we need to be a little bit Nazi, too.” It received a very positive review in the New York Times. Perhaps it is fitting that Sarid’s book is a work of fiction, since that is the only genre in which one could seriously argue that the tour guide’s remark represents how Israelis actually think. As for Congressman Bowman, it is difficult to know how carefully he considered the implications of his remarks before he made them. Public figures sometimes simply recite the cliches that their speechwriters recommend. And speechwriters on deadline may find themselves tempted by pop psychology theories which purport to “explain” the inexplicable Israeli-Arab conflict. Still, that’s no excuse for Rep. Bowman’s offensive and baseless allegation. A little background reading and some thoughtful contemplation by his staff could have spared the congressman from embarrassing himself with the suggestion that his visit to Yad Vashem revealed to him the roots of Israel’s psychological problems. The false diagnosis of “Israeli Holocaust trauma” ultimately stems from implicit bigotry. It’s rooted in the assumption that all Jews think alike and act alike. It posits that since many Jews were killed in the Holocaust, and there are many Jews living in Israel today, therefore these Jews must

be reacting to what happened to those other Jews. The absurdity of that argument should be obvious. The Holocaust happened more than 70 years ago, primarily to European Jews. Most Israelis today are not old enough to be Holocaust survivors. And most of them are not children or grandchildren of survivors, because their parents and grandparents did not come from Europe. The majority of Israelis are immigrants, or the descendants of immigrants, from Arab or African countries. Their relatives were not gassed in Auschwitz. The notion that today’s Israelis are somehow “traumatized” by the Holocaust is baseless. Israelis, of course, are deeply interested in the history of the Holocaust. And they may view aspects of the Nazi genocide, and the world’s reaction to it, as a kind of cautionary tale, in the same way that many contemporary Western policymakers regard the failed appeasement of Nazi Germany in the 1930s as a lesson in how to deal with dictators today. But that is a far cry from being traumatized or mentally unbalanced as a result of what happened to that generation. Dr. Medoff is founding director of The David S. Wyman Institute for Holocaust Studies and author of more than 20 books about Jewish history and the Holocaust.

REP. JAMAAL BOWMAN, SECOND FROM RIGHT, MET WITH ISRAELI PRIME MINISTER NAFTALI BENNETT, CENTER, DURING HIS RECENT TRIP TO ISRAEL WITH A CONGRESSIONAL DELEGATION LED BY J STREET. (HAIM ZACH/ISRAELI GOVERNMENT PRESS OFFICE)

JEWISH LEDGER

| DECEMBER 10, 2021

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Briefs Leaders of New Hampshire legislature condemn antisemitism among reps (JTA) — Leaders of the New Hampshire House of Representatives released a statement last week condemning antisemitism after a state lawmaker tweeted in support of Palestinians using a slogan many deem to be antisemitic. Speaker of the House Sherman Packard, a Republican, and House Democratic leader Renny Cushing wrote in a joint statement Thursday that “any form of bigotry — antiSemitism, racism, bigotry — has no place in our society” and “it is unacceptable that any member of this historic legislative body is involved in perpetuating hate in any form.” The statement came after the third incident in the past year in which a member of the state’s House of Representatives was accused of sharing an antisemitic post to social media. Less than 1 percent of New Hampshire’s residents are Jewish, according to a study conducted in 2019, In December of last year, local leaders called for Republican Rep. Dawn Johnson of Laconia to resign after she shared a link to a Daily Stormer article on Twitter. The article included an antisemitic cartoon that Rabbi Dan Danson, a Reform rabbi in Laconia, New Hampshire, described as “literally a copy of the kind of art that was used in Nazi Germany in the 1930s.” Johnson later apologized and removed the post. In January, Republican Rep. James Spillaine posted a meme to his official social media that depicted a mural that appeared in London in 2012 under text that read “IF WE ALL STAND UP, THEIR LITTLE GAME IS OVER.” The mural, which showed a group of bankers seated around a Monopoly-like board held up by the backs of Black men, was removed after complaints that the depiction of the bankers was antisemitic. New Hampshire’s Legislative Ethics Committee formally admonished Spillaine in September. The resolution includes an apology from Spillaine, in which he claims he did not know the meme he shared was depicting Jews. In the most recent incident in November that prompted the joint statement from the State House leaders, Rep. Maria Perez, a Democrat, tweeted the phrase “from the river to the sea, Palestine will be free.” That phrase, which refers to the Jordan River which separates the West Bank from Jordan and the Mediterranean Sea, which borders Israel to the west, is included in a 2017 statement of principles by the Palestinian terrorist group Hamas. While many believe the phrase to be antisemitic, it is also frequently used as a slogan by Palestinian activists. Perez also called Israel jewishledger.com

an apartheid state and later said that she supports a one-state solution in which Israelis and Palestinians would share a binational state. Some activists in New Hampshire criticized the House leaders for releasing their joint statement condemning antisemitism in response to the actions of a Democrat rather than in response to the previous incidents involving Republicans.

Gabrielle Giffords celebrates her bat mitzvah at age 51 (JTA) — After former House Rep. Gabrielle Giffords was shot in the head outside a supermarket in Tucson in 2011, it wasn’t clear if she’d survive, let alone be able to speak. Giffords’ injuries, which led her to resign from office, left her with partial paralysis and aphasia, which makes it difficult for her to speak. But on Saturday, Nov. 27, Giffords chanted her Torah portions, becoming a bat mitzvah at Temple Chaverim in Tucson at the age of 51. The milestone was the culmination of 20 years of study with Rabbi Stephanie Aaron, as well as two close friends. Aaron delivered a speech that Giffords wrote and Giffords performed the song “Amazing Grace” on the French horn. “My Torah portion is from Genesis, from the story of Joseph,” Giffords told the Forward in an email. “If you know Vayeshev you know it begins ‘And he lived.’ Any story that begins ‘and he lived’ is good with me. I lived. Everything afterwards is a gift.” Giffords and Aaron first began studying together when Giffords was a member of the Arizona legislature in the early 2000s. While the two discussed Giffords becoming a bat mitzvah multiple times, it wasn’t until two years ago that they began preparing for the moment in earnest. Giffords chanted along with Aaron. “I am a person who is always looking for ways to grow, to keep moving and find new paths,” Giffords wrote to the Forward. “I am proud and honored to become a bat mitzvah as an adult. It is never too late to explore faith, to learn the stories of the past and reflect on their meaning today.” Giffords’ grandfather changed his surname from Hornstein in the 1940s to avoid antisemitism. She was raised by a Jewish father and Christian Scientist mother in Tuscon but has practiced only Judaism since the early 2000s. Giffords represented Arizona’s 8th District in Congress from 2007 to 2012.

Gal Gadot movie becomes most-watched film in Netflix history (Israel Hayom via JNS) “Red Notice,” starring Israeli actress Gal Gadot, Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson and Ryan Reynolds is now officially Netflix’s most-watched film

of all time, surpassing the previous recordholder, “Bird Box.” The action-comedy heist film has clocked 328 million hours of total viewership, against 282 million hours for the 2018 movie, “Bird Box,” starring Sandra Bullock. “Red Notice” tells the story of an FBI profiler (Johnson) who must partner with the world’s greatest art thief (Reynolds) in a daring heist, in order to catch a most-wanted criminal, played by Gadot. Released in theaters last weekend, “Red Notice” also registered the biggest opening weekend for a Netflix film.

Israelis lost in Ramallah rescued from attempted lynching (Israel Hayom via JNS) Two Israelis who mistakenly entered Ramallah on Wednesday evening, Dec. 1, were rescued by Palestinian security forces from an attempted lynching. Palestinian rioters surrounded the pair of Breslov Hassidim, residents of the settlements of Shilo and Elad, near Manara Square in the center of the city and set their car on fire. The driver and passenger sustained minor injuries. The two were escorted out of the city and handed over to IDF soldiers at the Beit El checkpoint, after the Palestinians were warned that if the men were not returned to Israel, IDF forces would enter Ramallah. Upon being questioned, the two claimed that they had wound up in Ramallah while trying to take a shortcut to Hashmonaim, near Modi’in. They said that when they reached Manara Square, the Palestinian crowd realized that they were Israeli citizens and began to circle their car, blocking them from driving away. They said that the Ramallah residents began to throw rocks at them, kicking their vehicle, beating it with rods, smashing the car’s windows and setting it on fire. These reports were corroborated by Palestinian media reports. Members of the Palestinian security forces arrived and helped the two men out of their car and into their own vehicle, then coordinated with the IDF Civil Administration to hand them over to Israeli forces at the checkpoint outside the city.

lopsided condemnations is a powerful political agenda to demonize the Jewish state.” Since 2015, the General Assembly has passed 115 resolutions condemning Israel and only 45 against other countries. One of the resolutions refers to the Temple Mount, Judaism’s holiest site, only by its Muslim name, “Haram al-Sharif.” Another resolution solely puts the blame on Israel for the lack of peace in the Middle East and makes no mention of terrorist attacks and human-rights violations by the Palestinian Authority, Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad. The resolutions were adopted two days after the United Nations held its annual “International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People” on Nov. 29. Neuer said France, Germany, Sweden and other European Union states are expected to support almost all of the 14 resolutions against Israel. The Conference of Presidents condemned the U.N. resolution omitting the Temple Mount designation. “We are deeply disturbed by the deliberate and offensive omission of the ‘Temple Mount’ designation in the ‘Jerusalem resolution,’ passed by the United Nations General Assembly, which effectively denies both Jewish and Christian connection to one of the most sacred sites for all three faith communities,” said Dianne Lob, chair; William Daroff, CEO; and Malcolm Hoenlein, vice chair of the Conference of Presidents. “We welcome the Biden administration and the governments of Australia, Canada, Hungary, Israel, Marshall Islands, Micronesia, Nauru and Palau for rejecting this shameful and false resolution, and call upon other nations to oppose resolutions that unfairly single out and condemn Israel while needlessly exacerbate political tensions.”

UN adopts resolutions condemning Israel, ignores Jewish ties to Temple Mount (JNS) The U.N. General Assembly passed three resolutions last week that targeted Israel, which brings the total to 14 resolutions being adopted in the next month that single out the Jewish state. Said UN Watch executive director Hillel Neuer after the three resolutions were adopted on Wednesday, Dec. 1, “It’s absurd that in the year 2021, out of some 20 U.N. General Assembly resolutions that criticize countries, 70 percent are focused on one single country—Israel. What drives these JEWISH LEDGER

DECEMBER 10, 2021

CHANUKAH AROUND CONNECTICUT

“Fire on Ice” lights up the night in West Hartford A huge crowd cheered “Happy Chanukah!” and dozens in their cars honked their horns as Chabad of Greater Hartford’s 14th annual “Fire on Ice” Chanukah celebration got under way on Sunday evening, Nov. 28.

SINGER YONI Z ROCKED THE CROWD DURING HIS FIRE ON ICE PERFORMANCE. PHOTO BY NICK CAITO.

More than 1,000 attended the in-person and drive-in event held on the first night of the eight-day Festival of Lights in the parking lot of West Hartford’s Town Hall. “It is extra special to be gathered here, all of us as one community, especially after so much separation over the last 18 months…to celebrate the power of light, the power of warmth, the theme of Chanukah, which is that we can all spread light, warmth and goodness in our environment,” said Rabbi Shaya Gopin, organizer of the event, who thanked the Town of West Hartford, the West Hartford Police and Fire Departments and the West Hartford Public Works Department for helping to make this year’s event possible. A giant LED screen allowed everyone to see and “be a part of” all of the on-stage activities, including the carving of the giant ice menorah. After Chabad’s youth and Hebrew school director Rabbi Yehuda Matusof warmed up the crowed with a fun and fast-paced Chanukah Game Show, David Waren, executive director of the Jewish Federation of Greater Hartford spoke, thanking Chabad for “illuminating our community with the

Cookies, latkes, menorahs… and more Children at the B’nai Torah Nursery School in Trumbull celebrated Chanukah — the Festival of Lights — by baking Chanukah cookies, feasting on latkes and applesauce, and playing (a giant!) Dreidel. Of course, what’s Chanukah without the lighting of the menorah? The synagogue’s spiritual leader, Rabbi Colin Brodie, did the honors, as the children looked on.

JEWISH LEDGER

| DECEMBER 10, 2021

JEFFREY HOFFMAN LIT THE FIRST CHANUKAH CANDLE ON THE FIRE ON ICE MENORAH. (CREDIT: NICK CAITO)

light of Torah and mitzvah (good deeds).” The lighting of the first candle of the ice menorah by community member Jeffrey Hoffman was followed by a performance by singer Yoni Z, who rocked the crowd. In addition to refreshments and family Chanukah activities, children of all ages collected Chanukah gelt and other treats sprinkled down from the top of a fire trick ladder by the West Hartford Fire

Department during the annual “Great Chanukah Gift Drop.” “Chanukah is a very special holiday -- a holiday that can bring light to our life,” said Rabbi Joseph Gopin, director of Chabad of Greater Hartford. “Chanukah is a reminder, an inspiration and an empowerment, [telling us] we have the power to make this world full of light, happiness and joy and health. We can do it. Let’s do it!”

New Haven community passes the flame from generation to generation BY MAYA MCFADDEN

This article is reprinted with permission from New Haven Independent (newhavenindependent.org). It has been lightly edited for space. A bright and symbolic flame of “tradition” and a “brighter day” was passed from generation to generation during rush hour at Union Station in New Haven at the onset of the third night of Chanukah. Dozens of commuters and others participated in the menorah lighting ceremony, held on Tuesday evening, Nov. 30. The ceremony — organized by Dina and Rabbi Mendy Hecht and sponsored by the Sachs family, Cherry Hill Construction, Chabad of Downtown New Haven, and Park

New Haven — was hosted on the second floor of Union Station. The evening began with donuts and finger foods, and music provided by saxophonist Yehuda Russell. The ceremony ended with an intergenerational passing of the flame to light four candles of the menorah. Rabbi Hecht shared with those gathered the 2,000-year-old story of Chanukah and encouraged the group to use their menorahs to bring light to the world. Eleven-year-old Lily Wittenstein described Chanukah as a part of “who I am, what I believe in, what I celebrate, and the story of my ancestors.” “The story of Chanukah also reminds me that many groups continue to be discriminated against here in New Haven, across the country, and around the world.,” she said. “I am compelled to stand up for those who cannot stand up for themselves. I am encouraged to be an activist in my own community and an advocate around the world. “When I reflect on the story of Chanukah, I see that standing up to injustice is possible. It takes a lot of determination, but if you truly believe in what you are doing, you can make a difference, just like Judah and the Macabees did.” Mayor Justin Elicker described the eight day commemoration as a celebration of a miracle.

“I think it’s about symbolism around life, because in today’s world, there is a lot of darkness around us,” Elicker said. “And one point of light can extinguish thousands of points of darkness. I’ve seen not just one but so many points of light throughout these past two years that I’ve been mayor. In the way that

our community supports each other. In the way that our community rejects forms of hate and comes together.” “We can and must bring our luminous brilliant selves out there to the world and actually make a difference,” he said.

DANIEL MOWERMAN PASSES FLAME TO JESSIE PEARL AND SON LEVI PEARL.

FIFTH-GRADER LILY WITTENSTEIN.

JEWISH LEDGER

DECEMBER 10, 2021

Is the Biden-Bennett honeymoon over?

A VIEW OF THE MAALE ADUMIM SETTLEMENT IN THE WEST BANK, JAN. 28, 2020. (MENAHEM KAHANA/AFP VIA GETTY IMAGES)

Here are 6 US-Israel issues that are raising tensions. BY RON KAMPEAS

ASHINGTON (JTA) — “Behind closed doors” is a phrase that crops up a lot in conversation with senior U.S. and Israeli officials these days. That’s the place both sides want to settle disagreements. So far, that strategy has worked to repair the structure of the diplomatic relationship between U.S. Democrats and the Israeli government, frayed by years of open and sometimes heated contentiousness. Barack Obama and Benjamin Netanyahu in particular repeatedly clashed in public. But despite their ideological differences on paper, President Joe Biden and Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett have projected a convivial and united front. “Biden, I think it’s visceral with him, given his historic commitment to Israel, and also not wanting a repeat of the Obama years,” said David Makovsky, a fellow at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, a think tank with ties to both the U.S. and Israeli governments. “And with Bennett and Lapid, they don’t want to repeat the Netanyahu years.” Still, an array of issues have begun to swirl over the past several months that threaten the current calm.

Bennett has allowed for the construction of thousands of new settler homes. Biden is pushing to reopen the U.S. consulate in Jerusalem, formerly the principal venue for U.S.-Palestinian relations. Last month the United States sanctioned two Israeli spyware companies. Then there is the ongoing strife over Iran’s nuclear program, a point of contention that those who analyze the U.S.-Israel relationship say could eventually blow the doors wide open. “The Iran issue is where the two parties don’t control the developments,” Makovsky said. “And that’s where Israel is concerned.” Here are the issues that could drive a wedge between the two countries.

Iran

This week, talks on what conditions the United States wants to see before reentering the Iran deal, known formally as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, resume in Vienna. The JCPOA swaps sanctions relief for Iran rolling back its nuclear program. Former President Donald Trump, with Netanyahu’s encouragement, exited the deal in 2018, reimposing suspended sanctions and adding hundreds of new ones. Iran retaliated,

PRESIDENT JOE BIDEN MEETS ISRAELI PRIME MINISTER NAFTALI BENNETT IN THE WHITE HOUSE, AUG. 27, 2021. (AVI OHAYON/ISRAEL GOVERNMENT PRESS OFFICE)

JEWISH LEDGER

| DECEMBER 10, 2021

suspending some of its compliance with the deal. Biden campaigned on reentering the deal brokered in 2015, when he was vice president, seeing it as the best means of stopping a nuclear weapon. Bennett and Lapid are skeptical but have said they are willing to wait and see if Biden negotiates better terms with Iran. Israeli officials have said they believe Iran is weeks away from nuclear weapons capability; the country is enriching uranium to 60% purity, perilously close to the 90% needed for weaponization. This week, Axios reported, Israel warned the United States that Iran is on the verge of 90% enrichment. Makovsky said what Iran does this week could set off any number of calculations from the United States and Israel that could lead to open confrontation between the allies. “I think the U.S.-Israel relationship will be tested in terms of how each side responds to this uncertainty,” Makovsky said.

Settlements

The call that Israeli Defense Minister Benny Gantz took Oct. 26 was the first of its kind in almost five years: There was a U.S. secretary of state on the line, livid about the announcement that week that Israel had greenlighted more than 3,000 new units in the West Bank. Some were located in “E1,” the corridor that separates the Maaleh Adumim settlement from Jerusalem, and which Palestinians say is critical to the existence of a viable Palestinian state — the Biden administration’s favored outcome to the decades-long conflict. An anonymous Israeli aide described the call by saying “The U.S. gave us a yellow card,” Axios reported. In soccer, a yellow card is a strong warning over conduct handed from a referee to a player; two yellow cards in one game equals an ejection. In other words, Blinken’s dressing down was just a warning, not a signal of a new status quo in U.S.-Israel relations.

Palestinian NGOs

Last month, Gantz designated six leading

Palestinian human rights organizations operating in the West Bank as terrorist groups. The designation would allow Israel’s government to shut the groups down, although it’s not yet clear if the government has taken those steps. Gantz argued that the NGOs are affiliated with the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, designated by the State Department as a terrorist group. But the international condemnation of the move was swift. The Biden administration also said it was caught off-guard by the designation. Anonymous Israeli officials countered that the United States was forewarned and that intelligence about the groups had been shared. European officials have said the intelligence they have seen is not persuasive. The U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, Linda Thomas-Greenfield, has signaled that the Biden administration remains less than convinced by whatever intelligence Israel was proferring. She has made a point of expressing support for Palestinian NGOs. “This week, I had the chance to meet with civil society leaders in Ramallah,” ThomasGreenfield said on Twitter on Nov. 20 after a visit to Israel and the West Bank. “I was inspired by their work to advance democracy, human rights, and economic opportunity for the Palestinian people. We support Palestinian NGOs’ role monitoring human rights abuses wherever they occur.” On Tuesday, Thomas-Greenfield told the United Nations Security Council that settler attacks created a “serious security situation” for Palestinians and said she had raised it with Israeli officials. The National quoted her as saying she had heard of “Israeli settlers attacking Palestinians, ransacking homes and destroying property in the West Bank” and that “this is an issue that I discussed extensively with Israeli counterparts.”

The Jerusalem consulate

Biden campaigned on reopening the U.S. consulate in Jerusalem, which was the site of U.S.-Palestinian relations until Trump closed jewishledger.com

Lapid seeks to establish coalition of nations to oppose Iran’s nuclear ambitions BY DAVID ISAAC

(JNS) Against the backdrop of the revived nuclear talks in Vienna, Israeli Foreign Affairs Minister Yair Lapid engaged in a round of high-profile meetings with British officials on Monday, followed by a meeting in Paris on Tuesday with French President Emmanuel Macron.

it in 2019. Both Bennett and Lapid, Israel’s more centrist foreign minister who is slated to rotate into the prime minister role in 2023, have said that can’t happen. The Biden administration says it is determined to make good on the pledge, which the president sees as key to reviving Israeli-Palestinian peace talks toward a twostate outcome. Lapid has sought to persuade his counterpart Antony Blinken that forcing the issue could endanger the Bennett-Lapid government. That’s because there’s no way the consulate could reopen without explicit Israeli approval, and giving that approval would put the Bennett government in the position of acknowledging a Palestinian claim to the city — the third rail in Israeli politics. The old consulate predated Israel’s existence, which meant that until Trump closed it, there was no need to seek Israel’s approval for its ongoing function. That’s no longer the case, according to Lara Friedman, the president of the Foundation for Middle East Peace think tank, who from 1992-1994 was a U.S. diplomat at the consulate. “A diplomatic mission operates as, literally, an island of foreign sovereignty within the territory of the host country, staffed by foreign diplomats who (for the most part) enjoy immunity from the jurisdiction of the host government,” Friedman wrote last month in her weekly roundup of congressional action related to the Middle East. “No nation can simply rent/buy a property in a foreign country and declare it, unilaterally, under their own country’s sovereignty. The host country must consent to giving up its sovereignty to a foreign nation.” Israeli officials say that they are seeking a way out that would save face for both sides, perhaps by opening a consulate in an area of the West Bank not seen as Jerusalem.

Spyware

The Biden administration this month sanctioned two Israeli spyware companies, NSO group and Candira, saying that repressive governments are using the tools to jewishledger.com

Although diplomats involved have expressed pessimism about a breakthrough in talks, Israel is concerned that in their eagerness to revive the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) signed between Iran and world powers in 2015, negotiators will cave to Iranian demands. “The issue is to establish a coalition of countries who understand the threat of Iran turning nuclear to the free world, to the Middle East, to Israel and to the Iranian people,” David Menashri, founding director of the Alliance Center for Iranian Studies at Tel Aviv University, told JNS. “When the foreign minister goes and visits countries and publicizes it, that’s good. I think it’s very important to explain

“threaten the rules-based international order.” Apple sued NSO for selling its cell phone hacking spyware to governments that used it to spy on activists and journalists. Israel’s Defense Ministry must approve exports of Israeli security technology, and Biden officials have made clear they want answers. Nevertheless, the Biden administration says no actions against Israel’s government are forthcoming. “We look forward to further discussions with the government of Israel about ensuring that these companies’ products are not used to target human rights defenders, journalists and others who shouldn’t be targeted,” said Ned Price, a State Department spokesman.

China

One issue that has simmered over from the Trump to the Biden administrations: Israel’s increasing trade with China. Like Trump, Biden is wary of what he sees as China’s increased belligerency and is set on confronting the country. As of now, he is considering a diplomatic boycott of next year’s Olympics in Beijing. Both the Biden and Trump administrations made it clear to Israel that it was expected as an ally to roll back its ties with China, especially in areas of infrastructure that risk exposing U.S. technology. But Israel has yet to alter its course. In October, Israel refused to sign a U.N. statement condemning China’s treatment of the Uighurs, a Muslim minority group in China that has been forced into “re-education camps,” which some have likened to concentration camps. China was perhaps the most sensitive issue at a meeting between Lapid and Blinken in October. “The importance of China to Israel’s economy is very substantial, and we have to find a way to discuss this subject in a way that does not harm Israel’s interests,” an official close to Lapid said at the time.

ISRAELI FOREIGN MINISTER YAIR LAPID (RIGHT) MEETS WITH FRENCH PRESIDENT EMMANUEL MACRON IN PARIS ON NOV. 30, 2021. SOURCE: TWITTER.

the Israeli point of view, to explain the Iranian threat to the world—above all, the nuclear threat,” he said. “But, you know, the world doesn’t want to listen. You have to speak with them again and again, and to open their minds.” During his visit, Lapid inked a 10-year Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) on strategic cooperation with his U.K. counterpart, Elizabeth Truss. The two also penned an op-ed in The Telegraph, writing: “We will work night and day to prevent the Iranian regime from ever becoming a nuclear power.” Lapid stressed the Iran threat in two speeches Monday. He told Britain’s Foreign Office: “A nuclear Iran will thrust the entire Middle East into a nuclear arms race. We will find ourselves in a new cold war, but this time the bomb will be in the hands of religious fanatics.” Later, at a luncheon with British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, he said: “Our friendship will be reflected in the coming months in our shared determination to prevent Iran from acquiring a nuclear weapon, at all costs.” Similarly, following what was characterized as a “long and warm meeting with the president of France” by Israel’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Tuesday, Lapid said that “after many years, Israel’s position is being heard and Israel’s position is firm. Sanctions on Iran must not be lifted. Sanctions need to be tightened; there needs to be a credible military threat on Iran because only this will prevent it from continuing its race towards a nuclear weapon.” Mordechai Kedar, senior research associate at the Begin-Sadat Center for Strategic Studies, is more critical of Israel’s diplomatic efforts, describing the nuclear issue as a “byproduct” of the real issue. “Everybody is talking about tactics— how to stop the nuclear program. Nobody talks strategically about the state itself. From here, the problem starts. What I’m talking about is the structure of Iran. I’m not talking about the nuclear issue,” he told JNS. Kedar drew a parallel between the

situation with Iran today and the Soviet Union. “Back then, people also talked about nuclear issues, ICBMs, missiles. Nobody really talked about the structure of the Soviet Union, which was made of many ethnic groups. What ended up happening is that instead of one Soviet Union, what you have today is 15 ethnic countries.” He argued that Iran isn’t made up of a single “Iranian people” but a collection of ethnicities that are oppressed by the country’s largest ethnic group, the Persians. Those separate groups, among them the Azeris, Kurds, Baluchs (or Balochs, an Iranian people who live mainly in the Balochistan region) and Arabs, don’t share a common Iranian identity and resent Persian control, he said. Israel and the West have avoided talking about the human-rights issues for a host of reasons, said Kedar, noting the main one at the moment is the fact that America wants to engage with Iran, so the topic is brushed aside. Menashri agreed that he would like to see Western countries speak more about the suffering of the Iranians under the regime. “The world should also care about the lack of human rights. … If Israel says it, it sounds like it’s out of self-interest, but let Sweden speak about it, the Norwegians, Britain. … Let them raise these issues,” he said. So far, it appears that Iran has taken a maximalist approach to negotiations in Vienna, suggesting that everything that had been discussed in previous rounds would be subject to renegotiation. Additionally, Iran accused Israel of “trumpeting lies to poison” the Vienna talks. “Israeli regime whose existence relies on tension is at it again, trumpeting lies to poison Vienna talks,” Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh posted on Twitter without specifying what specific Israeli comments he was referring to. “All parties in the room now face a test of their independence & political will to carry out the job—irrespective of the fake news designed to destroy prospects for success,” he added. On Monday, Axios reported that Israel had shared intelligence with the U.S. and European allies suggesting that Iran was taking technical steps to prepare to enrich uranium to 90 percent purity, the amount needed for a nuclear weapon. Israel needs support because as a small country it can’t do it alone, said Menashri. “Israel will not be able to do anything against the nuclear program without the prior knowledge of and probably also the blessing of the United States.”

JEWISH LEDGER

DECEMBER 10, 2021

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THE KOSHER CROSSWORD DEC. 10, 2021 “Registration Option” By: Yoni Glatt

Difficulty Level: Manageable

Vol. 93 No. 50 JHL Ledger LLC Publisher Henry M. Zachs Managing Partner

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Across 1. Josh and Elbaz 5. Location guarded by cherubs, according to Genesis 9. Link start 13. Org. for the Elite Eight 14. Former Shtisel on “Shtisel” 15. He preached passionately against intermarriage in the Bible 16. Bro 17. Putting ___ act 18. One may spend hours on TikTok 19. Some say “Shema” before doing this 22. Former Mets and Twins

pitcher Santana 24. Give an appeal 27. Negative QB stat 28. First name in narration 33. Car from Korea 34. Curly’s tormentor 35. Historic records 36. Industrious bug 37. Mikvah 40. Wanna-___ (poseurs) 41. Invisible necessity 42. Indeterminate quantity 45. Opera’s solo 49. Olam Haba, to some 56. Put together

57. Parts of a yard 58. “Antiwater” brand pumped by Timberlake 59. Common registry choice found at the ends of 19, 37, and 49-Across 62. Amusing villain Salamanca on “Better Call Saul” 63. Daughter of the Evil Queen in Disney’s “Descendants” 64. ___ lot (went to Seder, maybe) 65. “ ___ Tu” (1974 hit) 66. Actresses Charlotte and Issa 67. Michael of fashion

Down 1. Megavitamin megachain 2. Bro 3. Osnat to Dinah, some say 4. Pago Pago’s island 5. Beloved Ghostbuster who passed on 6. Kitchen timer alert 7. “L’___, c’est moi” (phrase ascribed to Louis XIV) 8. “The Godfather” film composer Rota 9. Rabbinic allowance 10. Mitzvah valued by all branches of Judaism

11. One less than quattro 12. Give a half-star review 20. Person completing a sentence? 21. Japanese dwarf tree 22. Captain Kirk’s nickname 23. Certain Beatle’s lady 25. Common alloy component 26. Bubby’s command 29. Unpleasant obligation 30. Genetics lab subj. 31. First name of the world’s most famous Israeli 32. Jessica of the “Fantastic Four” films 38. “___ to differ”

39. Couch potato’s accessory 42. Home to horses 43. “Good heavens!” 44. Act like a yenta 46. “Mr. ___” (1983 Styx hit) 47. Comparatively cockamamie 48. Nike competitor 50. Coastal inlet 51. Go on in 52. Big name in halva 53. Actress Newton 54. Neuwirth and Rexha 55. Tel Aviv to Bethlehem dir. 60. Fenway Park locale: Abbr. 61. Act like a yenta

ANSWERS TO DEC. 3 CROSSWORD

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JEWISH LEDGER

DECEMBER 10, 2021

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.

TUESDAY, DECEMBER 7 Promoting PhiloSemitism in the Middle East

in affiliation with the United Jewish Federation of Stamford, New Canaan, and Darien, UJA-JCC Greenwich, and the Jewish Historical Society of Fairfield County. The virtual event will include Klezmer music performed by members of the Stamford Symphony, conversations with Stamford Symphony Music Director Michael Stern and Grammy-award-winning jazz musician Branford Marsalis, renowned klezmer musician Salmon Mlotek, and performances from local and international Klezmer groups. For reservations: https:// www.stamfordsymphony.org/an-eveningof-klezmer/# Violin Concert in New Haven

Robert Nicholson, founder, president and executive director of the Philos Project, and Luke Moon, the project’s deputy director, will discuss the Philos Project, a Christian leadership community dedicated to countering BDS and antisemitism in the Middle East, at a virtual talk to be held on Zoom on Dec. 7 at 7:30 p.m. Hosted by UJA/JCC Greenwich, this event is FREE (Zoom link will be provided upon registration). To register or for more information, visit ujajcc.org. Hot Buzz About Books A panel of experts will discuss the latest, greatest in books on Dec. 7 at 7 p.m. Hosted by the Mandell JCC. Panelists include Michael Kindness of Penguin Random House, West Hartford author Matthew Dicks, and representatives from RJ Julia Bookstore. On Zoom, Dec. 7, 7 p.m. For information or to register: mandelljcc.org.

SATURDAY, DECEMBER 11 An Evening of Klezmer Join the Stamford Symphony on Dec. 11, at 7:30 p.m. for the FREE online premiere of An Evening of Klezmer. Presented

Violinist Ilana Zaks will perform on Dec. 11 at 7:30 pm in the library of Congregation Beth El - Keser Israel (BEKI), 85 Harrison St., at the corner of Whalley Ave. Now in her second year in the master’s program at the Yale School of Music, Zaks has been described as a “fearless, refreshing and commanding” performer. Her program will include Paganini Caprice #4, Bloch Nigun from Three Pictures of Hasidic Life, Tartini Devil’s Trill Sonata, and the Paul Ben Haim Sonata. Masks are required; free admission.

SUNDAY, DECEMBER 12 “Upheaval” Film Screening and Talkback in Woodbridge The Jewish Federation and its Jewish Community Relations Council in co-sponsorship with First Calvary Baptist Church, New Haven, and the Beckerman Jewish Cultural Arts Series present a screening of the film “Upheaval: The Journey of Menachem Begin,” at the JCC of Greater New Haven, 360 Amity Rd, Woodbridge, on Dec. 12, 7 p.m., at the JCC of Greater New Haven. Followed by

“UPHEAVAL: THE JOURNEY OF MENACHEM BEGIN” IN WOODBRIDGE, DEC. 12.

a talkback with producers Rob Schwartz and Rachel Greenberg, and Rev. Dr. Boise Kimber. Moderated by Prof. Doron BenAtar. Music provided by First Calvary Baptist Ensemble. Those who can’t make it are invited to watch online anytime on MondayWednesday, Dec. 13-15. For information: jewishnewhaven.org/events.

WEDNESDAY, DEC. 15 United Jewish Federation Annual Meeting in Stamford Guest speaker Archie Gottesman, co-founder of JewBelong.com and the woman behind the times square billboards calling out antisemitism, will speak about the recent rise of antisemitism at the United Jewish Federation Annual Meeting, on Dec. 15, 7:30 p.m., at Congregation Agudath Sholom, 301 Strawberry Hill Ave., Stamford. Also on the evening’s agenda: the installation of UJF of Board of Directors, the State of the Federation Address by David Gordon, and presentation of the Harvey Peltz Leadership Award recipient Seth Tobin. Virtual participation available. Reception to follow. Registration encouraged at ujf.org/annualmeeting21. For information: dianesloyer@ujf.org, (203) 321-1373.

SUNDAY, DECEMBER 19 Davis Film Fest presents “Stream” The Davis Film Festival will present the drama “Stream” co-starring Lior Ashkenazi and Shira Haas. “Stream” tells the story of Noah, a world-renowned orchestra conductor who returns him to Petah Tikvah after 30 years, where he finds his father in a state of progressive Alzheimer’s with singing in the community choir as his only remaining joy. When the choir’s conductor dies, Noah decides to take his place…all the while, he is slowly going deaf. Sponsored by UJA/JCC of Greenwich. Five episodes, streaming Dec. 19 through Jan. 16 at 9 p .m. Tickets: 418

THURSDAY, DECEMBER 23 Bluegrass in New Haven The Bluegrass Characters Revue will present “A Tribute to Phil Zimmerman and Stacy Phillips” at 7:30 pm on at Congregation Beth El - Keser Israel, 85 Harrison St. Also performing is Kol Kahol, a group of young musicians drawing inspiration from bluegrass musicians like Stacy Phillips, as well as contemporary Jewish bands such as the Klezmatics, the Moshav Band, and Nefesh Mountain. Masks required; no food or beverages will be permitted. Admission is free, but the musicians will pass the hat. 18

JEWISH LEDGER

| DECEMBER 10, 2021

SATURDAY, JANUARY 8 “Some of My Songs” with Mike Latini The JCC in Sherman presents “Some of My Songs,” a concert featuring Mike Latini with special guest Susanna Marker, on Jan. 8 at 7 p.m. (snow date: Jan. 15, 7 p.m.) The concert will be held indoors at JCC in Sherman, 9 Rte. 39 South. Masks required, regardless of vaccination status. Reservation required: jccinsherman.org, info@ jccinsherman.org, (860) 355-8050. Tickets: $20/members; $25/non-members.

MONDAY, JANUARY 17 “Sublime Slime!” in Greenwich UJA-JCC Greenwich will host “Sublime Slime!” For children ages 3 and up on Zoom on Jan. 17 at 10:30 a.m. Led by Jaden of Jaden’s Craft Shack, kids will be able to customize slime color and scent. RSVP by Jan. 5 to ujajcc.org. Fee: $25/includes complete slime kit (pick p kids Jan. 10-14 during business hours from UJA-JCC office.

TUESDAY, JANUARY 25 Men’s Paddle & Beer Night in Greenwich Hosted by UJA-JCC Greenwich, Men’s Paddle & Beer Night will be held by the Fire Pit at the new Innis Arden Paddle Hut in Greenwich. Proceeds will help fund the presence of the community’s new security adviser, a program to help make Jewish Greenwich safer,, more prepared and proactively responsive to antisemitic incidents. Tickets: $350 For more information or to register: ujajcc.org.

SATURDAY JANUARY 29 “The City Without Jews,” film and musical presentation Jews are hounded by mobs and driven from Vienna in the 1924 expressionist film, “The City Without Jews,” based on the satirical novel by Hugo Bettauer. World-renowned musicians Alicia Svigals and Donald Sosin will play their collaborative score that has brought audiences to their feet at Lincoln Center, the San Francisco Silent Film Festival, and other venues in the U.S. and Europe. To be held Jan. 29 at 7 p.m. The concert will be held indoors at the JCC in Sherman, 9 Rte. 39 South. Masks required, regardless of vaccination status. Reservation required: jccinsherman.org, info@ jccinsherman.org, (860) 355-8050. Tickets: $20/members; $25/non-members.

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TORAHPortion

DECEMBER 7 – JANUARY 29

Vayigash

BY RABBI TZVI HERSH WEINREB

“AN EVENING OF KLEZMER” WITH THE STAMFORD SYMPHONY, DEC. 11

BULLTETIN BOARD

A Very Jewish Christmas: Toledot Yeshu, A Jewish Anti-Gospel

New York, NY) – For the fourth year in a row, he YIVO Institute for Jewish Research will delve into how Jewish culture developed around Christmas. On Wednesday, Dec. 22, at 7 p.m., both in erson and on Zoom, YIVO will present “A Very ewish Christmas: Toledot Yeshu, A Jewish Anti-Gospel,” a talk by Azzan Yadin-Israel on he history of this ancient book followed by an English-Yiddish bilingual reading of it by Shane Baker and Eleanor Reissa. While the “December Dilemma” is a familiar hallenge to Jews today, it has its origins in ntiquity. Jews in the early days of Christianity ncountered Christian traditions and sought to distinguish themselves and their beliefs. One esult of this is the ancient book, Toledot Yeshu, satirical, carnivalesque anti-gospel telling the tory of a magical but not divine Jesus. It was, n some Jewish communities, a tradition to ead this story dramatically on Christmas Eve imilar to the way that the Megiles-Ester is read n Purim. The text, shrouded in mystery, is xtant in a variety of versions, and is believed to ontain narrative traditions that are over 1,500 ears old. Renditions exist in Hebrew, Aramaic, udeo Arabic, Judeo Persian, Ladino, and, of ourse, Yiddish. Rare versions were saved by he Paper Brigade from Nazi destruction and ecently digitized as a part of the Edward Blank YIVO Vilna Online Collections Project. For reservations: yivo.org/ ewishChristmas2021

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In-person admission: $25; $20/in-person YIVO members/students. There is no cost to joining the talk live on Zoom:. A kosher Chinese food feast following the presentation. Proof of full COVID-19 vaccination with matching ID is required in order to enter the Center for Jewish History.

Dor L’Dor: Family Learning Program in West Hartford The Young Israel of West Hartford popular Dor L’Dor: Family Learning Program is in full swing. Sponsored in memory of Dr. Al and Helen Weisel, those who sign up for Dor L’Dor weekend events, receive educational materials that the whole family can study together over Shabbat. Each set of learning materials has a different track geared for different age groups, as well as a guide for adults to steer the conversation. Learning packets will be available for download ahead of each weekend. Each Dor L’Dor educational packet will also be accompanied by a virtual or in-person collective event - such as, a glow-in-the-dark Havdallah, Sunday Pizza & Prizes, Menorah Construction Contests, etc. — that include sfood and a raffle with fun prizes. This winter’s Dor L’Dor weekends are: Shabbat Vayechi --12/18 Shabbat Vaera -- 1/1 Shabbat Beshalach--1/15 Shabbat Yitro—1/22 For more information visit youngisraelwh. org/dorldor

hose who counsel families know that reconciling parents and children, husbands and wives, is a frustrating process and a rare achievement, especially after the misunderstandings have festered for years. The great 18th century moralist, Rabbi Moshe Chaim Luzzato, contends that these difficulties are intrinsic to human nature. He writes: “Hatred and revenge. These, the human heart, in its perversity, finds it hard to escape. A man is very sensitive to disgrace and suffers keenly when subjected to it. Revenge is sweeter to him than honey; he cannot rest until he has taken his revenge. If, therefore, he has the power to relinquish that to which his nature impels him; if he can forgive; if he will forbear hating anyone who provokes him to hatred; if he will neither exact vengeance when he has the opportunity to do so, nor bear a grudge against anyone; if he can forget and obliterate from his mind a wrong done to him as though it had never been committed; then he is, indeed, strong and mighty. So to act may be a small matter to angels, who have no evil traits, but not to ‘those that dwell in houses of clay, whose foundation is in the dust.” (Job 4:19) (Mesilat Yesharim [The Path of the Upright], Chapter 11). And so, how do we explain the reconciliation between Joseph and his brothers? Joseph’s brothers hated him because of what they perceived as his malicious arrogance. Yet, in last week’s Torah portion, we learned that they came to regret their actions and to feel guilty for what they did. Joseph certainly had reason to hate his brothers. Yet, in this week’s parsha we learn of the forgiveness that Joseph demonstrated toward his brothers—a total triumph over hatred and revenge. What inner strengths enabled Joseph and his brothers to attain this rare achievement? One was the brothers’ ability to accept responsibility for their actions. However, the underlying dynamics of Joseph’s ability to forgive were very different. He came to forgive his brothers because of two fundamental aspects of his personality: his emotional sensitivity and his religious ideology. Joseph’s sensitivity becomes apparent in this and last week’s Torah portions. The most reliable indication of a person’s sensitivity is his ability to shed tears of emotion. Joseph demonstrates his

capacity to weep no less than four times in the course of the biblical narrative: Subsequent to his initial encounter with his brothers, we read that “he turned away from them and wept...” (Genesis 42:24); when he first sees his younger brother Benjamin, “he was overcome with feeling...He went into a room and wept there...” (ibid. 43:30); unable to contain himself after Judah’s confrontational address, “his sobs were so loud that... the news reached Pharaoh’s palace...” And finally, as we will read in next week’s Torah portion, this is Joseph’s response to his brothers’ plea for explicit forgiveness: “and Joseph was in tears as they spoke to him.” (ibid. 50:17). In addition, there is another secret to Joseph’s noble treatment of his brothers. It relates to his philosophy. Like his father Jacobs, Joseph believed in a divine being who ultimately controls man’s circumstances and destiny. That belief allowed him to attribute even the most painful insults to God’s plan and not to blame the perpetrators of that insult. Thus was Joseph able to say, “So, it was not you who sent me here, but God...” (ibid. 45:8) The power of genuine faith to instill the awareness that even hurtful circumstances are part of the divine plan is best described in this passage from the anonymous 13th century author of Sefer HaChinuch, in his comments on the commandment to desist from revenge: “At the root of this commandment is the lesson that one must be aware and take to heart the fact that everything that happens in one’s life, whether it seems beneficial or harmful, comes about because of God’s intervention...Therefore, when a person is pained or hurt by another, he must know in his soul...that God has decreed this for him. He should not be prompted to take revenge against the perpetrator, who is only indirectly the cause of his pain or hurt. We learn this from King David who would not respond to the traitorous curses of his former ally, Shimi ben Gera.” The author of Sefer HaChinuch sees King David as the exemplar of this profound religious faith. In these final Torah portions of the Book of Genesis, we learn that Joseph was King David’s mentor in regard to the capacity to rise above the misdeeds of others and to see them as but part of God’s design. It is not easy for us to emulate Joseph and David, but we would be spared much interpersonal strife if we would at least strive to do so.

JEWISH LEDGER

DECEMBER 10, 2021

OBITUARIES DWORETSKY Selma Melnick Budkofsky, 94, of Bloomfield, formerly of West Hartford, died Nov. 25. She was the widow of Morris Budkofsky. Born in Hartford, she was the daughter of the late Lena (Brightman) and Morris Melnick. She was also predeceased by her daughter Debra Dworetsky, and her brothers Isadore, Harry, and Saul Melnick. She is survived by her son Alan Budkofsky and his wife Sharon; her son-in-law Michael and his wife Ellen; her brother Seymour Melnick and his wife Judy; her brother-inlaw Harvey Budkofsky and his wife Roz; her grandchildren, Alyssa Hyatt and her husband Glenn, Marc Budkofsky and his wife Jillian, Dina Dworetsky, and Larry Dworetsky and his wife Rachel; five greatgrandchildren; and several nieces and nephews. EBLONK Ruth (Rogers) Elblonk, 94, of West Hartford, formerly of Westfield and Monroe Township, N.J., died Nov. 23. She was the widow of Samuel Elblonk. Born in Queens, N.Y., she was the daughter of the late Harry Bertram Rogers and Lillian (Rabinowitz) Rogers. She is survived by her daughters, Joan Palmer and her husband Gary, and Dorothy Hoyland; her grandchildren, Andrea Wiggins and her husband Mike, Kim O’Brien and her husband Keith, Melinda Bateman and her husband Gregg, Samuel Hoyland, and Leah Sklarz and her husband Jesse; nine great-grandchildren, and several nieces and nephews. She was also predeceased by her sister Deborah Fishman, her brother Arthur Rogers, and her son-in-law Alan Hoyland. GOLDENBERG Dr. Edward (“Eddie”) Joseph Goldenberg, 99, of Hartford, died Nov. 22. He was the son of Anne (Slossberg) and Saul Goldenberg. He is survived by his

sons, Steve Goldberg and his wife Blanche, and Paul Goldenberg and his wife Patti; his sister Fanchon Cartin; his grandchildren, Robert, Sara and Matthew; and three greatgrandchildren, Henry, Sylvia and Mila. He was also predeceased by his brother Jerome Goldenberg. He was a veteran of World War II with the rank of Second Lieutenant, and trained as a pilot in the Army Air Corp. STOLTZ Lillian Rose (Cohen) Stoltz, 104, of Bloomfield, died Nov. 19. She was the widow of Arthur Stoltz. Born in Hartford, she was the daughter of Sophie (Kaufman) and Herman Cohen. She was a lifetime member of the former Teferes Israel Synagogue, and was currently a member of Beth David Synagogue. She is survived by her children, Frances Lowenstein and her husband Gary of West Hartford; her granddaughters Julie Rosenberg and her husband Craig, and Emily Scher and her husband Howie; her great-grandsons, Simon, Elliot, Spencer and Jonah; and many nieces and nephews. She was also predeceased by her brothers, Leo and Lester Cohen WEINER Marilyn Frances Weiner, 84, died Nov. 20. She was the widow of Peter Weiner. She was born and raised in New Haven. She is survived by sons Brad Weiner and his wife Amy, and Phil Weiner and his wife Jill; her grandchildren, Megan, Alex and his wife Mandy, Brooke, Marissa, Camryn, Dalton and Cole; her brother Howard and his wife Arlene; her sister-in-law Mona; and many cousins, nieces and nephews. She was also predeceased by her sister Harriet and her brother-in-law Michael. For more information on placing an obituary, contact: judiej@ jewishledger.

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Crown Heights doctor Moshe Feldman cared for the Lubavitcher Rebbe BY SHIRA HANAU

(New York Jewish week via JTA) — Moshe Feldman, a beloved doctor in Crown Heights who for years tended to Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson, the leader of the Lubavitch Hasidic movement, has died at 80. The cause of death was not given. Feldman was a pediatric specialist who practiced medicine for nearly 50 years in the Bronx and later in Crown Heights. He was still seeing patients at nearly 81, 27 years after his most famous patient died. Commenting on an obituary posted by COLLive, a local Crown Heights news site, Feldman’s patients remembered him as an “old school doctor” who always took the time to listen to his patients. “He was a kind sensitive person. He was genuine and caring. He treated his patients as if they were his own children,” one commenter wrote. Another wrote that she had been scheduled to see Feldman this week before his office informed her that he was unable to see patients. When Schneerson had a heart attack on the Jewish holiday of Shemini Atzeret in 1977, Feldman was one of about a dozen doctors in the room. In a video published by Chabad.org, Feldman spoke about tending to Schneerson in his office that day. “The rebbe looked at me and said ‘How are things going?’ So I thought to myself,

DR. MOSHE FELDMAN, SEEN HERE IN A VIDEO SHARED BY CHABAD.ORG. (SCREENSHOT)

he knows more about his cardiac status, his physical status, than I probably do, so somehow the idea came into my mind to tell him ‘I still see the Hasidim dancing and singing, I still see people dancing and singing in the streets.’ The rebbe smiled and shook his head yes,” Feldman said. Feldman lost a son, Yitzchak Feldman, at the age of 54 in December 2020, followed by his wife, Miriam, just three weeks later at the age of 78. Yitzchak Feldman’s obituary notes that people in his household had been exposed to the virus. Moshe Feldman’s obituary says that his funeral procession would pass by 770 Eastern Parkway, the center of the ChabadLubavitch movement in Crown Heights.

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MASSACHUSETTS December

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| DECEMBER 10, 2021

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Contact Leslie 860.231.2424 or leslie@jewishledger.com jewishledger.com

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

FAIRFIELD Congregation Beth El, Fairfield Conservative Rabbi Joshua Ratner (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 WendyBarr@grs.com www.grs.org Temple Sholom Conservative Rabbi Mitchell M. Hurvitz Rabbi Kevin Peters (203) 869-7191 info@templesholom.com www.templesholom.com HAMDEN Congregation Mishkan Israel Reform Rabbi Brian P. Immerman (203) 288-3877 tepstein@cmihamden.org www.cmihamden.org Temple Beth Sholom Conservative Rabbi Benjamin Edidin Scolnic (203) 288-7748 tbsoffice@tbshamden.com www.tbshamden.com

MADISON Temple Beth Tikvah Reform Rabbi Danny Moss (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 admin@myshul.org www.myshul.org MIDDLETOWN Adath Israel Conservative Rabbi Nelly Altenburger (860) 346-4709 office@adathisraelct.org www.adathisraelct.org 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 Eric Woodward rabbi@beki.org (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 Temple Shalom Reform Rabbi Cantor Shirah Sklar (203) 866-0148 admin@templeshalomweb.org www.templeshalomweb.org NORWICH Congregation Brothers of Joseph Modern Orthodox Rabbi Yosef Resnick (781 )201-0377 yosef.resnick@gmail.com https://brofjo.tripod.com ORANGE Congregation Or Shalom Conservative Rabbi Alvin Wainhaus (203) 799-2341 info@orshalomct.org www.orshalomct.org

PUTNAM Congregation B’nai Shalom Conservative Rabbi Eliana Falk - Visiting Rabbi (860) 315-5181 susandstern@gmail.com www.congregationbnaishalom.org

WATERFORD Temple Emanu - El Reform Rabbi Marc Ekstrand Rabbi Emeritus Aaron Rosenberg (860) 443-3005 office@tewaterfrord.org www.tewaterford.org

United Synagogues of Greater Hartford Orthodox Rabbi Eli Ostrozynsk i synagogue voice mail (860) 586-8067 Rabbi’s mobile (718) 679-4446 ostro770@hotmail.com

SIMSBURY Chabad of the Farmington Valley Chabad Rabbi Mendel Samuels (860) 658-4903 chabadsimsbury@gmail.com www.chabadotvalley.org

WEST HARTFORD Beth David Synagogue Modern Orthodox Rabbi Yitzchok Adler (860) 236-1241 office@bethdavidwh.org www.bethdavidwh.org

Young Israel of West Hartford Orthodox Rabbi Tuvia Brander (860) 233-3084 info@youngisraelwh.org www.youngisraelwh.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

Chabad House of Greater Hartford Rabbi Joseph Gopin Rabbi Shaya Gopin, Director of Education (860) 232-1116 info@chabadhartford.com www.chabadhartford.com Congregation Beth Israel Reform Rabbi Michael Pincus Rabbi Andi Fliegel Cantor Stephanie Kupfer (860) 233-8215 bethisrael@cbict.org www.cbict.org

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 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.jewishlifect.org

Beth El Temple Conservative Rabbi James Rosen Rabbi Rachel Zerin Cantor Joseph Ness (860) 233-9696 info@bethelwh.org www.bethelwesthartford.org

Congregation P’nai Or Jewish Renewal Shabbat Services & Holidays Rabbi Andrea Cohen-Kiener (860) 561-5905 pnaiorct@gmail.com www.jewishrenewalct.org

WESTPORT Temple Israel of Westport Reform Rabbi Michael Friedman, Senior Rabbi Cantor Julia Cadrain, Senior Cantor Rabbi Elana Nemitoff-Bresler, Rabbi Educator Rabbi Zach Plesent, Assistant Rabbi (203) 227-1293 info@tiwestport.org www.tiwestport.org WETHERSFIELD Temple Beth Torah Unaffiliated Rabbi Alan Lefkowitz 860-529-2410 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

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

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