Southern New England Jewish Ledger • January 28, 2022 • 26 Shevat 5782

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JEWISH LEDGER January 28, 2022 | 26 Shevat 5782 Vol. 94 | No. 2 | ©2022 jewishledger.com

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SECURITY IN THE WAKE OF COLLEYVILLE

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JEWISH LEDGER January 28, 2022 | 26 Shevat 5782 Vol. 94 | No. 2 | ©2022 jewishledger.com

Security in the Wake of Colleyville

JANUARY 28, 2022 • 26 SHEVAT 5782

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SECURITY IN THE WAKE OF COLLEYVILLE

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When it was finally over, all four Texas synagogue hostages caught in a standoff between an armed terrorist and police and FBI were alive and safe, and the gunman was dead. But the incident further emphasized the growing need for security at U.S. synagogues.

SWAT team members deploy near Beth Israel Synagogue in Colleyville, Texas, Jan. 15. (Andy Jacobsohn/AFP via Getty Images)

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Features

Around Southern New England

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Opinion

Game, Set, Match

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On Campus

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Author’s Corner

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Some Jewish tennis players are looking to keep their momentum going and win big at the year’s first Grand Slam.

Crossword

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Torah Portion

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Briefs

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Synagogue Listings

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What’s Happening

5 Food Fight

A kosher restaurant in New Jersey is targeted with bad reviews by anti-Israel activists, sparking an online war of words.

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Obituaries January 28, 2022

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18 Arts & Entertainment

Decades after the bar mitzvah ritual made television history when “The Wonder Years” devoted an episode to it, a revamped version of the TV show showcases the coming of age experience for a tween in 1968 Alabama.

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implied that American Jews have the influence to get the U.S. government to end it.

31 Captives of Hope

Rabbi Angela Buchdahl of Manhattan’s Central Synagogue spoke to congregants about her experience being contacted by the gunman who took Jews hostage at a Texas synagogue.

Hate Speech

U.S. Jewish groups slammed a top Presbyterian Church official, for MLK Day remarks that equated Israel’s West Bank occupation with slavery and

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SOUTHERN NEW ENGLAND JEWISH LEDGER | JANUARY 28, 2022 | 26 SHEVAT 5782

A Jewish guide to the 2022 Australian Open

Food fight? Kosher restaurant in NJ targeted by antiIsrael activists

BY EMILY BURACK

(JTA) — The Novak Djokovic COVID scandal may be stealing the headlines ahead of the Australian Open, which starts next week, but there are several Jewish players looking to win big at the year’s first Grand Slam.

Here they are:

MEN’S SINGLES TOURNAMENT Does Diego have a path to victory?

Diego Schwartzman, seeded no. 13, is looking to make it past the fourth round of the Australian Open for the first time in his career. Last year, he lost in a surprising upset in the third round to Aslan Karatsev (more on him below). Schwartzman

notched his first win ever against a top 5 player on hard courts, beating Stefanos Tsitsipas 6-7(5), 6-3, 6-3. He has a tough draw, however: He could face American John Isner in the third round (Isner has won their only meeting), and no. 2 seed Daniil Medevev in the fourth round (Medevev has won all six of their match-ups). Still, I have faith — Schwartzman has taken down bigger players before.

Will Denis Shapovalov ride the wave of his recent success?

Denis Shapovalov is also coming in strong — with his fellow Canadian Félix Auger-Alissime, he helped Canada win the 2022 ATP Cup, defeating Spain in the finals. Shapovalov, seeded

no. 14, was born in Tel Aviv to a Ukrainian Jewish mom and Russian Orthodox Christian dad, and he often wears a cross when he plays. But his mom (who is also his coach) considers him Jewish. Though he was born in Israel, his family moved to Canada before his first birthday.

Last year, he only made it to the third round of the Australian Open.

Can Aslan Karatsev recreate the magic of last year?

At the 2021 Australian Open, Russian-Israeli Aslan Karatsev had a historic run. For Karatsev, who has Jewish heritage and lived in Israel for nearly a decade, Continued on the next page

MADISON BRENGLE, ASLAN KARATSEV, CAMILA GIORGI, DIEGO SCHWRTZMAN, ELINA ANDinDENIS SHAPOVALOV no.SVITOLINA, 14, was born Tel Aviv to it was his first appearance in a

is coming off a strong showing at the start of the season: He January 28, 2022

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IMAGES) a Ukrainian(GETTY Jewish mom and

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Grand Slam tournament — he

BY FAYGIE HOLT

(JNS) Online restaurant reviews are the latest battleground for anti-Israel activists who have recently targeted a kosher eatery in New Jersey with a barrage of antisemitic comments, including claiming that the food was “stolen.”

Located on what is referred to as a relatively small “kosher restaurant row” in Teaneck, N.J., Yalla is not on a major thoroughfare nor does it have a clientele base from outside of the Northern New Jersey Jewish community. What it does have, however, is an Arabic name— yalla, which is commonly used in Israel and means “let’s go”—and that has attracted some online attention, though not in a good way.

According to Yalla’s owner, Jacob Goldberg, who is Israeli, over the last few years, he has gotten a number of one-star reviews from people claiming: “I stole their land; I stole the name; I stole the food. It has nothing to do with anything here. It’s ridiculous.”

Most of the time, Goldberg simply flags the reviews on Google and asks that they be removed. “Sometimes,” he explains, “it’s very obviously hate speech, and it comes down.

But if it’s food-related—like I found a hair in my food—even though someone from Damascus is posting it and has obviously never been to my restaurant, the computer doesn’t flag it.”

So Goldberg decided to Continued on the next page

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Australian Open

Yalla

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 5

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 5

had to play in the preceding qualifying tournament just to make the draw. But he made it all the way to the semifinals before losing to eventual winner Novak Djokovic. His ranking rose from 253 to 15 last year. He’s seeded no. 18 this year, with a possible third round matchup against Rafael Nadal. Karatsev’s paternal grandfather is a Russian Jew, and still says Israel feels like home.

He made aliyah when he was 3, speaks fluent Hebrew, holds Israeli citizenship, and his mom and sister still live in Holon, Israel.

WOMEN’S SINGLES TOURNAMENT Does Elina have a path to victory?

OK, before we dive into Elina Svitolina: she has unconfirmed Jewish heritage. She’s Ukrainian, and many articles ID her parents as Jewish, but she has never commented on the issue. Make of that what you will (she’s Jewish?). The women’s field has been wide-open for the past few years, with many first-time Grand Slam winners. Will Svitolina add her name to that list this year? She’s seeded no. 15 at the Open, and is likely up against former world no.

1 and two-time Australian Open winner Victoria Azarenka in the third round.

In her 10th try, can Camila make it past the third round?

Italian Jewish star Camila Giorgi made her professional debut on the women’s tour back in 2006 (at just 16!). She’s now set to play in her 10th Australian Open.

She’s never made it past the third round before, but last year was a big year for Giorgi: She claimed her first WTA 1000 event, winning the 2021 Canada Masters. Seeded no. 30, she likely has a tough third-round match-up, set to face world no. 1 Ash Barty. But let’s end with a fun fact about the Jewish athlete: Her favorite book is “The Diary of Anne Frank.”

Could Madison Brengle upset the reigning champ?

Unseeded American Madison Brengle is ranked no. 59 in the world. The 35-year-old made it to the fourth round of the Australian Open back in 2015, and she has played in the tournament (either the main tournament or the qualifying rounds) since 2007.

The Jewish player from Dover, Delaware, faces world no. 102, Ukrainian Dayana Yastremska, in her first round, and Brengle has won their only meeting. If she wins next week, she’s up against powerhouse Naomi Osaka, reigning Australian Open champ, in round 2. The last time Osaka and Brengle played was back in 2013, when Brengle won 6-2 6-2.

Obviously, a lot has changed in the last nine years, but we never rule out a Jewish player pulling off a stunning upset.

OTHER TENNIS JEWS OF NOTE Israeli veteran Dudi Sela lost in the qualifiers, as did American Jewish player Jamie Loeb. Loeb’s fellow Jewish New Yorker Noah Rubin isn’t in Australia, instead playing on the ATP Challenger tour in Brazil. As of this writing, it’s unclear if Canadian Jewish doubles champ Sharon Fichman is playing in Australia this year — she reached the Open’s doubles quarterfinals last year.

take a new tactic; last week, he responded to the review himself, setting off a firestorm as the poster urged Palestinian supporters via social media to add more one-star, or unfavorable, reviews of Yalla. A TikTok video was even posted by one woman who said, “So this Israeli restaurant in Teaneck, N.J., is falsely advertising Palestinian, Middle Eastern food. This is what their menu looks like, falafel and shawarma. Uh no. So, us Palestinians have to do the job.

They messed with the wrong people. … Free Palestine.”

Within hours, Yalla’s 4.6-star rating (out of a maximum of five stars) dropped to under 3.9 and then even lower all the way to a 2.8. The review listings were suddenly filled with comments like: “Stolen Palestinian food and the owner has left his manner … cultural appropriation at it’s [sic] finest … bad place DON’T GO THERE AND WASTE YOUR MONEY!!!” and “No one food on here is ‘Israeli.’ Keep it moving guys this place is absolutely trash and their food has NO taste yet overpriced. They steal the thoughts and the lands and serve you s**t on a plate. Never again.”

‘A digital force instead of physical means’ Liora Rez, executive director

of Stop Antisemitism, said “to target a kosher restaurant in New Jersey and hold it responsible for a global political conflict is Jersey and hold it responsible for a global political conflict is undeniably antisemitic.”

“Rather than participating in targeted harassment campaigns against innocent Jewish business owners, we would prefer to see Palestinian youths participating in peace and normalization initiatives that would help both Jews and Arabs alike,” she said.

Goldberg believes there were at least 300 one-star reviews posted that night, some of which also included Palestinian flags and the words “Free Palestine.”

“In real life, if you get attacked, you call 9-1-1 and the police respond, but if you get attacked online, nothing, nothing, nothing happens. …

A 5-year-old can look at these reviews and tell they are fake, yet Google—a multibillion-dollar company—can’t flag something like this a fake is just pretty astonishing.”

After having no luck reaching out to Google himself, Goldberg reported the incident to the Anti-Defamation League, which confirmed it is a case of antisemitism.

“This concerted effort to drive Continued on page 17

YALLA KOSHER RESTAURANT IN TEANECK, N.J., HAS BEEN THE TARGET OF ANTI-ISRAEL REVIEWS. (GOOGLE MAPS SCREENSHOT)

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Around SNE Lessons learned in Glastonbury Students at the Glastonbury Jewish Academy of Chabad Jewish Center had fun recently celebrating Tu B’Shevat and learning about the mitzvah of tzedakah. Pictured is Logan Pasternak proudly displaying his edible flower pot made in honor of the holiday, which is also known as the New Year of the Tree; and Knox Dawson decorates his own charity box.

PJ Library ‘Tu B’Shevat’ event connects New Haven families More than 20 families Zoomed in recently for a live Tu B’Shevat ‘wet felting’ craft project event led by fiber artist Natasha Lehrer. Hosted

by PJ Library of New Haven, the fun family event was the third in the Pathways to Jewish Experiences series. Funded by an engagement grant from the Harold Grinspoon Foundation in partnership with Camp Laurelwood, the series offers young families the opportunity to connect with one another. Next up: a Pre-Passover Taste of Camp event to be held on Sunday, April 10. The series will culminate in a PJ Library Family Camp Weekend Retreat, June 10-12.

PJ LIBRARY HOSTS A FAMILY TU B’SHEVAT EVENT ON ZOOM.

‘Dignity Grows’ jumps in to help in the aftermath of the Bronx fire Dignity Grows’ Hartford Chapter, in collaboration with the Jewish Federation of Greater Hartford, delivered 200 personal and menstrual hygiene totes to help serve displaced tenants and neighbors affected by the deadly Jan. 9 fire in the Bronx, New York.

While community members of New York’s 15th Congressional District, led by Representative Ritchie Torres (D-NY), collected many needed items, personal hygiene necessities were not among the donated items.

District Director Nanette Alvarado found a solution in Dignity Grows, a national nonprofit dedicated to providing free menstrual and comprehensive hygiene supplies

for those in need.

Dignity Grows founder and CEO Jessica Zachs, a resident of West Hartford, quickly organized volunteer efforts to assemble 200 hygiene totes packed with items such as menstrual products, disposable razors, soap, shampoo, deodorant, toothbrush and more. Jennifer Tolman Schwartzman, Dignity Grows COO, delivered the totes to the Bronx Community College campus for distribution to those impacted by the fire.

“It was heartening to see how the community came together to help their neighbors. There

were donated goods from floor to ceiling at the college, but there were no supplies to help with daily hygiene needs,” Schwartzman remarked. “Dignity Grows helps bring the issues of hygiene and period poverty to the forefront, during everyday life and during moments of crisis.”

“I thank Dignity Grows for delivering 200 totes filled with personal hygiene materials to the victims, and the organization’s ongoing support during this difficult time,” said Torres. “Our Bronx community thanks you.”

B’Nai Mitzvah COLE LANDSMAN, son of Eileen and David Landsman, will celebrate his bar mitzvah on Saturday, Jan. 29, at Congregation B’nai Israel in Bridgeport.

A MEMBER OF THE BRONX COMMUNITY COLLEGE PUBLIC SAFETY TEAM UNLOADS DIGNITY GROWS TOTES DONATED BY THE HARTFORD COMMUNITY FOR VICTIMS OF THE BRONX FIRE.

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SYLVIE ROSENBERG, the daughter of Julie and Remi Rosenberg, celebrated her bat mitzvah on Jan. 22 at Temple Beth El in Stamford.

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Opinion

Let’s not let the Texas synagogue hostage crisis erode in-person prayer (even more)

BY RAPHAEL MAGARICK

(J. The Jewish News of Northern California via JTA) — The Jan. 15 hostage situation at Congregation Beth Israel in Colleyville, Texas, has inspired many fears: that there will be more violence directed at synagogues, that this attack will fuel Islamophobia, that increased policing at shuls will harm Jews of color.

I think there is yet another danger, less immediate but nonetheless worth discussing.

As Jewish communities talk more about security, safety concerns may encourage the continued migration of services to Zoom and discourage the resumption of in-person collective gatherings.

When the pandemic started, liberal and Modern Orthodox synagogues overwhelmingly canceled in-person services.

Such shutdowns saved lives.

Many communities began experimenting with online programming. For Purim 2020, I went straight from reading the megillah in-person at an office to reading from it for an online broadcast, when my Chicago congregation canceled its large, in-person reading.

Online services present problems for the traditionally observant, like me: Can one convene a prayer quorum, or minyan, over the internet? Which technologies are permissible or not on Shabbat?

Then again, Zoom services fill important spiritual and social needs for people stuck alone at home. And they even have advantages over in-person gatherings, as remote services are accessible to homebound

seniors and people with disabilities who couldn’t attend even before the pandemic.

They allow synagogues to reach sympathetic audiences in far-off places. Eventually, communities could save on expensive, large physical buildings. Little by little, a stopgap measure begins to seem appealing as a long-term choice.

Concerns about security will only increase this appeal.

Providing security is costly and logistically complicated, requiring additional staffing and training. Moreover, fears about hostile attackers encourage us, as COVID-19 does, to imagine public in-person gatherings as dangerous, fraught occasions.

Given the horrible attacks on synagogues in the last five years, what regular synagogue-goer

has never felt nervous about security?

Moreover, we worry about a security threat for some of the same reasons we worry about a virus. In-person synagogue services are public; we let everyone in, which means we give up control over whom we encounter.

Reading through an AntiDefamation League guide called “Protecting Your Jewish Institution,” I am struck by how the word “public” is used to signal danger: Avoid providing directions to your institution online because they will be “public.” Do not “publicize” details of a trip too widely. Be wary of the “security concerns created by “going public.’”

The more the “event is open to the public,” the higher the risk.

A VIEW OF THE CONGREGATION BETH ISRAEL SYNAGOGUE IN COLLEYVILLE, TEX., ON JAN. 17, 2022.

(EMIL LIPPE/GETTY IMAGES)

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Security protocols, like health protocols, involve managing, controlling, and inherently limiting the public. Of course, such management is far easier over Zoom.

But that ease comes at a cost.

One reason I attend religious services in the first place is that they are public. Much of our social life is not: Domestic spaces are usually restricted to the intimate circles of friends and family; workplaces are ruled by private employers; leisure spaces frequently require purchases to enter.

A religious teacher of mine once said that we pray communally to learn to tolerate how obnoxiously other people pray — a suggestion I then found confusing, but which now seems wise. Part of the point of a synagogue is that you do not have control, that you are exposed to others, that you are forced to sit next to those you might otherwise eschew, with whom you would never have thought to share an intimate,

spiritual experience.

I treasure in-person prayer for other reasons: Participatory singing does not work online, for instance, and Zoom services tend to divide communities into “performers” and spectators.

But even if that were solved, what is lost online is precisely what makes synagogues inflexible, difficult to manage, sometimes sensorily unpleasant or even menacing.

I remember how, when I spent a summer abroad in a small European community, two men who had a long-running personal and financial feud would both wince and smile when they saw each other at Shabbat afternoon services — because each knew he needed the other to make a minyan.

That uncomfortable dependence is a benefit of the rigid inflexibility of place-based Jewish prayer.

A community is defined by association with people who will never be your friends.

Many trends in contemporary

life reduce such unpleasant experiences: You enjoy the food you like at your dining table, without having to deal with the other diners; you exercise not in a gym, let alone a public park, but at home with an app; you share virtual space with people chosen for you individually by an algorithm.

We lead increasingly atomized lives, buying in private rather than being in public.

Private spaces are also inherently unequal. Not everyone has a computer, a quiet room and a reliable internet connection to access online services. For all their inclusiveness, online services will likely marginalize unhoused people; they will be most comfortable for those with large, spacious houses and up-todate technology. A synagogue is supposed to be a space in which one matters just for being a person — regardless of their means, everyone eats the same at kiddush.

Reports that the Colleyville

hostage-taker impersonated an unhoused person looking for a shelter are frightening, but we should be proud that our synagogues offer a calm space for people without any other.

Houses of worship are vulnerable by design, and when that space is closed off, whether through security or by going online, something is lost.

Obviously, these concerns are secondary when lives are at stake. (And as we return to praying in-person, communities must learn to be more accessible to disabled people.) Nonetheless, the possibility of an active shooter or the dangers of a virus can also easily become alibis for a convenient erosion of public, physical gathering. That does seem to me something worth worrying about.

Raphael Magarick is an assistant professor at the University of Illinois Chicago. He earned a Ph.D. in English from UC Berkeley.

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Local Jewish Federations are grateful for security training after synagogue attack in Texas

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BY STACEY DRESNER

ast week Rabbi Charlie Cytron-Walker of Congregation Beth Israel in Colleyville, Texas said that he and the three other hostages held at the synagogue for more than 11 hours on Jan.15 by armed gunman Malik Faisal Akram may not have survived without the security training his congregation has received from law enforcement agencies.

“Over the years, my congregation and I have participated in multiple security courses from the Colleyville Police Department, the FBI, the Anti-Defamation League, and Secure Community Network,” Cytron-Walker wrote in a statement. “Without the instruction we received, we would not have been prepared to act and flee when the situation presented itself.”

Jewish communities around Southern New England are well-aware of the importance of

such security training for their synagogues and other Jewish agencies in light of the increased amount of antisemitic violence that has been seen in recent years.

Last year the Jewish Federation of Greater Hartford and four Federations in Southern Connecticut both hired Regional Security Advisors (RSA) to improve the physical security of their agencies’ facilities as well as to provide security training to staff.

Michael Shanbrom now serves the Jewish Federations in New Haven, Stamford, Greenwich and Western, Connecticut. Shanbrom is a 20-year veteran of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), serving in a variety of national security leadership roles within the organization, including Acting Assistant Special-Agentin-Charge, National Security, in the New Haven Field Office. He also currently serves as police

commissioner for the Town of Woodbridge.

John Colangelo is the RSA for the Jewish Federation of Greater Hartford. Colangelo has nearly 30 years of experience in law enforcement, 24 of those with the town of Canton where he retired at the rank of detective.

Colangelo also served as a field training officer, conducting Critical Incident Management training, and was the town’s terrorism liaison after 9/11 and a member of the regional Emergency Services Team.

Both Shanbrom in southern Connecticut and Colangelo in Hartford are employed by the Secure Community Network, the official homeland security and safety initiative of the organized Jewish community of North America. Funding for their positions comes from the communities they work in.

The two advisors work with the Federations and their agencies – including Jewish

A POLICE VEHICLE SITS OUTSIDE OF THE BETH ISRAEL SYNAGOGUE IN COLLEYVILLE, TEXAS, JAN. 16.

(ANDY JACOBSOHN/AFP VIA GETTY IMAGES)

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community centers, synagogues, day schools, camps and senior housing.

For the past several months Colangelo and Shanbrom have both been making the rounds to all of the organizations they are responsible for and providing threat, vulnerability and risk assessments of their facilities and training staff in situational awareness, safety and security for greeters, countering active threats, and Stop the Bleed, a medical trauma program.

Reportedly, Rabbi CytronWalker in Colleyville and one of the hostages had both participated in SCN’s active threat training last summer.

“Luckily, SCN had been there and had provided training to that synagogue,” Colangelo says.

“They actually implemented that training during this situation when they found the appropriate time to run and get away. My goal here in Hartford, and anywhere else I can assist, is to bring this type of training to people. We never want these things to happen, but we want to be prepared for them when and if they do.”

Colangelo now runs two or three trainings a week at Jewish organizations in the greater Hartford area. And that number is now on the rise.

“Even prior to this happening my schedule was filling up,” he says. “The incident in Texas has motivated others who maybe haven’t reached out to me yet to do so. And some who were already signed up have wanted to move up their dates.”

“With the dramatic increase in antisemitic incidents and acts of hate over the past several years, Jewish communal security has never been more important,” says David Waren, president and CEO of the Federation of Greater Hartford. “John’s tremendous knowledge and expertise helps January 28, 2022

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keep our local community safe and secure.”

Colangelo’s colleage, Michael Shanbrom was one of the first people Judy Alperin, president and CEO of the Jewish Federation of Greater New Haven, called when the hostage situation in Colleyville began unfolding.

“I got a heads-up very early on that something was happening, so I was one of the thousands of people who were listening and watching [to the event] on Facebook in real time, and it was horrific,” Alperin says.

“But at the same time, I immediately started to reach out first to our Regional Security Adviser Mike Shanbrom and then, after I heard back from him, to community leadership, with assurances that there were no credible threats in Connecticut. [I wanted] to make them aware of what was going on and the fact that we were working through Mike with all of his local contacts so that we could increase police presence around Jewish facilities during the crisis.

“My worst fear was that this could be something that wasn’t isolated or that there could be copycats,” Alperin adds.

“We’re seeing al Qaeda and other terrorist groups using this incident now for propaganda purposes to try to inspire lone wolves and others to go out and conduct similar attacks. So, yeah, I worry about that all the time. There is no question that community security has become one of the most important priorities for our Jewish Federation.”

Shanbrom says that the fact that the hostages at the Texas synagogue were able to put to use their SCN security training to escape their captor “is the finest testament” to the importance of security training. But he adds that that “active threat” training is just one component of the comprehensive safety plan all synagogues should have in place.

“Every single synagogue needs a vulnerability and risk assessment. They all need a security plan for their buildings January 28, 2022

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SECURITY EXPERT MICHAEL SHANBROM IS DEVELOPING AND ADMINISTERING A COMPREHENSIVE PROGRAM TO PROTECT JEWISH INSTITUTIONS THROUGHOUT MUCH OF CONNECTICUT. HERE, SHANBROM (RIGHT) MET AT CONGREGATION MISHKAN ISRAEL NURSERY SCHOOL IN HAMDEN, CONN. WITH BOARD PRESIDENT MICHAEL DIMENSTEIN (CENTER), AND EARLY CHILDHOOD DIRECTOR SUSAN NASON (LEFT).

that includes locked doors and buzzer systems…and they need a good working relationship with law enforcement. It’s a layered approach” to safety and security,” he says.

Shanbrom has at least 100 Jewish agencies in his territory and 50 trainings scheduled to take place this year alone.

Not enough funding Steven Schimmel, the executive director of the Jewish Federation of Central Massachusett in Worcester, says he was glued to the news footage of the hostage situation in Texas on Jan. 15.

“Our Security Liaison Mark Shear was in communication with the Federation office throughout the incident and updates were provided to our congregation and organizational leadership,” Schimmel noted in a message to his community.

“Federation had been working with Secure Community Network prior to this incident to plan a security training to develop a cohort of community security volunteers to oversee local Jewish community events…

We will also continue to work with our congregations and organizations to ensure that security protocols are up-todate, and we will continue to

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Continued on page 24

In wake of Colleyville, Jewish groups push to double federal security grants

BY DMITRIY SHAPIRO

(JNS) Following the Jan. 15 hostage situation at a Texas synagogue, Jewish organizations in the United States have reignited their push for Congress to double the funding of the Nonprofit Security Grant Program (NSGP), ensuring that more targeted nonprofit institutions such as synagogues get federal funding to invest in protection.

While none of the hostages was hurt in the ordeal, organizations such as the Jewish Federations of North America (JFNA) and the Orthodox Union (OU) are pointing to increasing threats to Jewish institutions to justify an increase in the NSGP from $180 million annually to $360 million.

“If the events in Colleyville do not reinforce how crucial nonprofit security grants are in securing our communities, I don’t know what will,” said JFNA president and CEO Eric Fingerhut in a news release on Sunday, Jan. 16.

Elana Broitman, JFNA senior vice president, said the request was not new, as the

Jewish community has been calling for $360 million in funding for a number of years.

While still not funded at the ideal level, support had been growing—doubling last year to $180 million.

That number was still only enough to cover 45% of funding requests made by nonprofit organizations last year, of which approximately $220 million worth of requests were not granted because of insufficient cash, said Broitman. Another $100 million for the NSGP was written into the Build Back Better bill, which has stalled.

But as Congress works to pass an omnibus spending package before the latest Continuing Resolution (CR) funding the government expires in February, the organizations see this as a perfect opportunity to increase the NSGP grant budget.

After the Texas hostage situation, the urgency has increased, she said—not just in the Jewish world but for other Continued on page 24

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On Campus

USC outlines concrete steps to respond to ca

BY DMITRIY SHAPIRO

(JNS) After receiving criticism for what some Jewish members of the University of Southern California Jewish community have called an insufficient response to antisemitism on campus over the last few years, the university announced on Thursday that it was taking additional steps to combat antiSemitism and anti-Zionism.

In a letter from university president Carol Folt sent late Thursday, Folt acknowledged recent instances of antisemitism on campus that included a student leader making threatening antisemitic and antiZionist posts on Facebook, as hateful and against the school’s reputation as a supportive, welcoming environment for Jews.

“USC has a long history as a campus with a vibrant Jewish community; however, a recent national survey by ADL-Hillel shows a rise in anti-Semitism across college campuses nationwide,” wrote Folt. “USC is not immune, and we are taking specific new actions to systematically and operationally

combat anti-Semitism on our campuses.”

On Dec. 1, a group of more than 60 USC faculty members sent an open letter to university leadership, highlighting the uncovered tweets of USC Viterbi School of Engineering student Yasmeen Mashayekh from the spring and summer.

In the profanity-laced tweets, which the university said were deleted before the start of this school year, Mashayekh wrote that she wanted to kill every Zionist, called for the death of Israel and the United States, and cursed the Jews.

Student and faculty also previously expressed outrage when Jewish and Zionist student Rose Ritch, vice president of USC’s undergraduate student government, resigned her position after being attacked for her Zionist beliefs.

’Encourage civil discourse among students’ Folt’s letter listed three steps that the university developed

after listening to members of the Jewish community including USC Hillel, Chabad at USC, AntiDefamation League, the Jewish Federation of North America, American Jewish Committee, and its own USC Shoah Foundation and USC Caden Institute.

The first step promised was the creation of a new Advisory Committee on Jewish Life at the university made up of students, faculty, staff and community members. This committee is expected to meet for the first time later this month.

The committee will review proposed actions to tangibly support Jewish and Zionist students, faculty and staff, including launching a campus climate survey to gather additional information on religious identification and discrimination on the USC campus, according to the letter.

The committee will also work with the Academic Senate, to form a university-wide position that demonstrates the university’s commitment to fighting anti-Semitism in all

A GATE AT THE UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA IN LOS ANGELES. (HANSON L./SHUTTERSTOCK)

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its forms, as well as review the numerous statements, petitions and declarations the university has been asked to sign and develop a process for evaluating them in the future.

The university will also ensure Jewish representation in the university-wide Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) efforts.

Mashayekh serves as an elected DEI senator representing the USC Viterbi School of Engineering and the university has said that it is unable to remove a student from an elected position.

The university plans to supplement its bias and harassment training protocol for all students, faculty and staff to include anti-Semitism.

Finally, the letter states that USC will establish a clear pledge to act “in accordance with our community principles and unifying values.”

“This will help encourage civil discourse among our students on our campuses and on social media,” wrote Folt, adding that later this year, she will also represent USC at a national summit on anti-Semitism held

by Hillel, AJC and the American Council on Education.

End Jew Hatred applauded the university’s statement and plans laid out in the letter, despite the university’s slow initial response.

The grassroots organization had assembled a large group of pro-Israel groups to communicate its concerns and expectations with the university.

“USC, to its credit, announced a creative solution aimed at improving life for Jews on campus,” End Jew Hatred wrote in a statement. “As Jews, we much prefer to build up rather than tear down. We will closely monitor the implementation of

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ampus antisemitism the reforms and hope they lead to a more inclusive campus that respects the rights of the Jewish community as a minority.”

‘Recognition of Zionist identity is long overdue’ Gerard Filitti, senior counsel at the Lawfare Project, said it was notable that Folt’s statement mentioned supporting Jewish and Zionist students faculty and staff on campus.

“This explicit recognition of Zionist identity is long overdue, and the need to support it, is long overdue in higher education,” Filitti wrote in an email.

Yet he said in a statement that he remained concerned that the root causes of increased antisemitism on campus have not been examined.

Filitti wrote that USC reportedly received more than $67 million from countries in the Middle East, “countries like Qatar, which maintains strong relationships with terrorist groups like Hamas, the Taliban, and the Muslim Brotherhood, and promotes anti-Semitism and anti-Americanism.”

“Because USC has not been transparent about how this money is being used, we don’t know the extent to which this foreign funding has been influencing the policies and actions of the university.”

StandWithUs, one of the groups that was part of the coalition to address these issues, was pleased with the universities response, according to a news release.

“Although USC took a long time to make this announcement, these actions are an important step in the right direction,” wrote Roz Rothstein, CEO of StandWithUs. “We expect that the actions January 28, 2022

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proposed by USC’s new Advisory Committee on Jewish Life and its student-focused campus pledge will reflect additional steps requested by the Jewish and Zionist community to create a campus environment that does not tolerate antisemitism.

This should include our strong recommendation to adopt the consensus-driven International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) working definition of Anti-Semitism.”

The more than 60 professors who over the past two years wrote numerous letters to the school’s administration was organized with the help of the Academic Engagement Network (AEN), which applauded the development.

“AEN finds the action plan that USC has now committed to undertake … to be a constructive move forward. Indeed, the articulated benchmarks and measurable goals for supporting USC’s Jewish community are among those that AEN recommends as best practices,” an AEN news release stated on Tuesday. “Creating a new Advisory Committee on Jewish Life at USC; offering educational opportunities for university leaders and officials; and incorporating Jewish representation into Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) efforts and antisemitism awareness into antibias protocols and trainings, are each useful next steps. Their timely implementation will begin a necessary healing process and will help to ensure that all Jews at USC can feel valued and respected, including those for whom the right of the Jewish people to a homeland and selfdetermination, the essence of Zionism, is a central component of their religious, ethnic, and ancestral identity.”

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In lawsuit, CUNY profs accuse union of being ‘antisemitic, anti-Israel’ (JNS) Six professors from the City University of New York (CUNY) claimed that the school’s faculty union is “antisemitic, anti-Jewish, and anti-Israel” in a civil-rights lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court.

The Professional Staff Congress passed a resolution in June that widely criticized Israel, such as accusing the country of “occupation” and the “massacre” of Palestinians. The union also said at the time that it would “facilitate discussions” and “consider” supporting the BDS movement against Israel.

The six professors—five of them Jewish—claimed in their lawsuit filed on Dec. 12 that “since the resolution, PSC has continued to advocate positions and take actions that plaintiffs believe to be antisemitic, antiJewish and anti-Israel in a manner that harms the Jewish plaintiffs and singles them out for opprobrium, hatred and

harassment based on their religious, ethnic and/or moral beliefs and identity.”

They added that “because of this, they have no faith and confidence in PSC’s ability to represent them as their exclusive, fiduciary representative, and they desire to end such forced representation.”

The CUNY teachers said they have tried to resign from PSC but are obligated under state law to remain part of “a bargaining unit that is represented exclusively by PSC.” They said they no longer want to be represented by PSC or be forced to pay dues. The professors also noted feeling “alienated” from PSC “due to its political advocacy and stated positions on Israel.”

PSC and its affiliates represent more than 30,000 faculty and staff at CUNY and the CUNY Research Foundation, according to the lawsuit.

THE CITY UNIVERSITY OF NEW YORK (CUNY).

CREDIT: SHUTTERSTOCK

Southern New England Jewish Ledger

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Arts & Entertainment

33 years after classic bar mitzvah episode, new ‘Wond

BY PHILISSA CRAMER

(JTA) — Paul Pfeiffer’s bar mitzvah made Jewish television history when “The Wonder Years” devoted an episode to it in 1989.

Pfeiffer, played by a Jewish actor named Josh Saviano, was the best friend of the show’s main character, Kevin Arnold, also played by a Jewish actor — Fred Savage — but who was not Jewish on the show. The episode focused on Kevin’s jealousy as Paul’s big day crowds out his own birthday, but for Jewish viewers, the bar mitzvah offered a dose of meaningful representation, including a realistic depiction of a Shabbat service.

Now, 33 years later, a revamped version of “The Wonder Years” that showcases the contemporaneous experience of a different tween as he comes of age in 1968 Montgomery, Alabama, has served up a new on-screen depiction of Judaism’s coming-of-age ritual.

The main character of the

reboot, Dean Williams, is Black, and much of the show focuses on his experience as one of just a few Black students at his junior high school at a time of great turmoil over integration in the United States. That gives him insight into the psyche of his best friend, a Jewish boy named Brad.

“Even though he looked white, people saw him differently, too,” Williams says early in the episode that aired Wednesday night, as a classmate throws a penny at Brad in an antisemitic gesture.

“At 12 I didn’t understand the complexity and hate behind the joke,” Williams continues. “I just knew they were targeting Brad because he was Jewish.”

Later that day, Brad demurs when Dean and their friend invited him to a comic book store: He has to go to Hebrew school, because his bar mitzvah is coming up.

Brad isn’t excited. “I’ve got

to learn to sing my whole bar mitzvah parsha, and then write a whole speech about it. And it’s not one of those cool portions about locusts or boils either.

It’s about a father giving his son advice from his deathbed,” he says. “Imagine singing something in a language you barely know in front of people you barely know.”

Dean answers, “Sounds brutal,” before offering to help with the speech. “Thanks! Now I can focus on the best part of having a bar mitzvah: throwing the party!” Brad responds.

The actor who plays Brad, Julian Lerner, is Jewish, and he told TV Fanatic that he was proud to represent his culture in the show.

“I am Jewish, so I am well versed in Judaism,” he said. “My great-grandparents are Holocaust survivors, and my grandmother was born in the woods during the war. To share Jewish life in this episode means a great deal

to my family and me.”

“Brad Mitzvah,” which aired Wednesday night, Jan. 12, was directed by Savage. He connected Lerner with his own children’s Hebrew teacher as part of the preparation, while the writer of the episode, Yael Galena, drew on her own bat mitzvah experience in crafting the episode, Lerner and showrunner Saladin Patterson told TV Insider.

The episode delivers an extended reflection on race, religion and inclusion. When Dean and his parents discuss his invitation to the bar mitzvah, his mother emphasizes how welcoming Brad and his family are to invite Dean and his sister.

“A bar mitzvah means a lot to a young Jewish boy, and it says a lot about Brad to include everybody,” she says.

Dean’s father is more circumspect, warning that some people who are present may not be happy to see Black

ELISHA WILLIAMS, LEFT, AND JULIAN LERNER IN THE “THE WONDER YEARS” EPISODE “BRAD MITZVAH.” (SCREENSHOT)

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der Years’ revisits the ritual guests — much the way, he says, that Dean’s own grandfather sometimes speaks unkindly about white people. Dean’s sister, on the other hand, is hung up on the fact that she is being made to chaperone her brother.

On the day of, she warns, “I don’t want you talking to me or looking at me or breathing on me. I don’t even want people to know we’re related.”

Her father responds, “Uh, I’m pretty sure they’re gonna know.”

Much of the plot revolves around Dean’s new girlfriend and how he treats her and his friends as he navigates the terrain of preteen romance. That distracts him from supporting Brad as the big day approaches — though he comes through at the last minute, awkwardly making his way to the bimah to give Brad tips about managing his anxiety.

That empowers Brad to deliver a moving speech about a rabbinic teaching about how Jews have three names, the one they are given by their family (for him, Baruch), the one they use with their friends and the one they take on themselves. He says:P “It was that third one I was stuck on. I had to really think about who I was separate from who people wanted me to or who people were forcing me to be.

Being Jewish in Montgomery means feeling different all the time. I spend a lot of the time feeling embarrassed about being Jewish.

But I don’t want to feel that way anymore. So from now on, I’m not just going to stand by while people make fun of me or try to make me feel bad. Instead, I’m going to stand up for myself, for my people, and for what I believe is right.

I may not know what my third name is yet, but I do know who I am: a proud Jew from Alabama!”

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Laughter follows. So does some physical awkwardness for Brad, who had taken Dean’s advice to picture the congregation in their underwear.

Some elements of the episode strain belief — most notably, that a bar mitzvah guest list in 1968 Alabama would be so thoroughly integrated — but others ring true. The synagogue lobby, with its wood paneling and tallit rack, would be familiar to anyone who has ever walked into a mid-century synagogue in the United States. So are the tweens shoveling sweets — including Israeli flag cookies — onto their plates. (One guest can be seen stuffing food into his pockets.)

And Brad’s triumphant, “Thank you, and Shabbat shalom!” at the end of his speech has been replicated countless times.

For Dean, the whole experience is one that — as happened to Kevin in the original episode — causes him to reflect on his friendship and his own behavior. He realizes that he and Brad have a great deal in common. He also realizes, sitting alone in the synagogue social hall as the rest of the guests dance a spirited hora, that he hasn’t been so kind to his friends.

“Luckily, I was able to lean into the part of Judaism that suited me in that moment: the suffering part,” Dean says.

“Hmm. Maybe I had gained a better understanding of Brad’s cultural history.”

Dean goes on: “But watching Brad get lifted up on that chair, I realized that standing up for yourself and owning who you are can actually elevate you in the long run. Because even though I had lost so much that day, I gained something else: selfrespect. And if that doesn’t make you a man, I don’t know what does.”

jewishledger.com

Jon Stewart to receive the Mark Twain Prize for American Humor (JTA) — Jon Stewart will be awarded this year’s Mark Twain Prize for American Humor, one of the country’s most prestigious comedy awards.

The award, given by the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, will be presented in April. The honor, awarded annually since 1998. Kennedy Center President Deborah Rutter said in a statement that Stewart has “brightened our lives and challenged our minds as he delivers current events and social satire with his trademark wit and wisdom.” He hosted “The Daily Show,” which catapulted political comedy to the forefront of pop culture, on Comedy Central for 16 years.

“I am truly honored to receive this award. I have long admired and been influenced by the work of Mark Twain, or, as he was known by his given name, Samuel Leibowitz,” Stewart said, according to the Kennedy Center’s press release this week. Stewart’s given name was Jonathan Leibowitz.

Though he left “The Daily Show” in 2015, Stewart continues to offer up political satire through a new Apple TV+ show “The Problem with Jon Stewart” and an accompanying podcast. He also continues to advocate for government assistance for 9/11 first responders.

Steward recently made headlines when he pointed out the similarities between the portrayal of goblins in the “Harry Potter” movies and classic antisemitic portrayals of Jews. Stewart later walked the comments back, saying he was joking. “Let me just say this, super clearly, as clearly as I can… I do not think J.K. Rowling is antisemitic,” he said earlier this month.

Yalla CONTINUED FROM PAGE 6

down reviews as a way to harm individuals and not a political entity is what ends up being problematic and downright antisemitic,” said Alexander Rosemberg, deputy regional director of the ADL NY/NJ Region. “It is absolutely wrong.” “ … It’s like picking on someone to target in the middle of Times Square because he is wearing a yarmulke; it’s just a digital force instead of physical means,” he added.

According to Rosemberg, the ADL’s Center for Technology and Society maintains contact with the Big Tech companies and is currently speaking with Google about the Yalla incident.

“We should all be very educated and very aware about the processes and procedures that these platforms have put in place to denounce harmful and nefarious behavior,” he said, noting that the ADL has a cyber-safety action guide to help people know their rights.

Though the number of antisemitic and anti-Israel reviews was troublesome, what happened next, said Goldberg, was heartening.

Several Jewish and pro-Israel groups, including Raz’s organization, StopAntiSemitism.org, rallied to counter the negative reviews helping to drive Yalla’s rankings back to where they had been before the cyber fight.

According to Goldberg, since the news of the cyber battle broke on Sunday, people have been stopping into Yalla “just to show their support.” And that, he said, “feels amazing.”

When asked if the press would cause a spike in business, he replied: “In the short term, I’ve been getting a lot of support from Jews who felt they had to come out and fight hate. I don’t think there will be much impact in the long term. I spoke to many people who think Google reviews are mostly fake anyway, especially if you see pro-Palestinian reviews. They trust the old-fashioned way of reviews from friends and family. So probably not much impact.”

Southern New England Jewish Ledger

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Milestones

ADL appoints Stacey Sobel new CT regional director

H

AMDEN, Conn.—ADL (the Anti-Defamation League) on Jan. 21 announced the appointment of Stacey G. Sobel, an experienced leader in the nonprofit and Jewish communal fields as director of ADL’S

STACEY SOBEL

Connecticut Regional Office.

For nearly a decade, Sobel was the executive director of Child Advocates of Connecticut, which serves the needs of abused and neglected children. As a volunteer, Sobel was president of Temple Israel of Westport and president of the Westport chapter of Hadassah. A lawyer by training, earlier in her career Sobel was in private practice and served in the General Counsel’s office of Continental Can Company. A native of New York’s, Sobel is a graduate of Lafayette College and received her law degree at Boston University.

“At a time when we are experiencing a dramatic rise in hate and antisemitic attacks, ADL’s mission to stop the defamation of the Jewish people

and ensure justice and fair treatment to all has never been more important,” Sobel said. “I look forward to working together with dedicated lay leaders, staff and the national ADL organization, in the “good fight” against hate here in Connecticut.

In her new capacity, Sobel will oversee ADL’s education program delivery, community relations, fundraising, and advocacy initiatives across the Connecticut region. “[Stacey] comes to us with a passion for ADL’s mission and with deep advocacy experience in the non-profit world,” said ADL Connecticut Regional Board Chair Suzanne Pinkes. “She has the skills, energy, integrity and compassion required to engage in the important work of ADL

across the state. Our region has highly-dedicated staff, invested lay leadership, and a strong standing in the community, which I know Stacey will build upon in the years to come.”

Sobel succeeds Steve Ginsburg who led ADL’s Connecticut office for seven years.

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JORGENSEN CENTER FOR THE PERFORMING ARTS

FEBRUARY @ JORGENSEN 3 8 14 19 22 26

Complexions Contemporary Ballet - feat. tribute to David Bowie UConn SFA Faculty Showcase: Innovations - Music for Two Pianos Polish Wieniawski Phil. Orchestra - In-Person & Livestream A Tribute to Aretha Franklin: “The Queen of Soul” - feat. Valerie Simpson Circa Contemporary Circus presents Sacre Garth Fagan Dance - pioneers of American contemporary dance

Pictured: A Tribute to Aretha Franklin: “The Queen of Soul”

jorgensen.uconn.edu | (860) 486-4226 Box Office: M-F 10 am - 5 pm | On the UConn Storrs Campus Note: all artists, events, dates, programs and COVID-19 policies are subject to change.

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@JorgensenUConn

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Co-sponsored by

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Presbyterian church official equates Israel occupation with ‘slavery’ (JTA) — U.S. Jewish groups slammed a top Presbyterian Church official for Martin Luther King Day remarks that equated Israel’s West Bank occupation with slavery and implied that American Jews have the influence to get the U.S. government to end it.

“The continued occupation in Palestine/Israel is 21st-century slavery and should be abolished immediately,” Rev. J. Herbert Nelson, II, the stated clerk of the Presbyterian Church USA said in remarks released Monday, Jan. 17. “Given the history of Jewish humble beginnings and persecution, there should be no ambiguity as to the ethical, moral, and dehumanizing marginalization and enslavement of other human beings. The United States of America must be a major influencer of calling this injustice both immoral and intolerable,” said Nelson who is the senior-most ecumenical officer in the church.

An array of Jewish groups condemned the remarks.

“Rev. Nelson must retract the outrageous statement charging Israel with ‘enslavement’ &

REV. J. HERBERT NELSON, THEN THE DIRECTOR OF THE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH OFFICE OF PUBLIC WITNESS, AT A PRAYER SERVICE OUTSIDE THE UNITED METHODIST BUILDING ON CAPITOL HILL, OCT. 8, 2013.

(CHIP SOMODEVILLA/GETTY IMAGES)

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holding US Jews responsible for alleged Israeli crimes,” Jonathan Greenblatt, the AntiDefamation League CEO, said Wednesday on Twitter. “This antisemitism endangers the Jewish people at a time when they’re feeling vulnerable after #Colleyville attack.” Also condemning the remarks were the American Jewish Committee, the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, the Jewish Federations of North America, the Committee for Accuracy in Middle East Reporting and Analysis, the Jewish Council for Public Affairs and Americans for Peace Now. In a statement, the JCPA, the Jewish community’s public policy umbrella, noted the church’s pro-Palestinian activism in recent years, calling Nelson’s remarks “antisemitic” and noting “his failure to mention any other serious human rights abuses, such as the ongoing genocides against the Uyghurs and Rohingya.”

Americans for Peace Now, a harsh critic of Israel’s actions in the West Bank, said it was “disappointed at the gross mischaracterization of the occupation, and concerned about the potential repercussions of Rev. Nelson’s hyperbolic speech.” “Having opposed it for more than four decades, we at APN would be the first to acknowledge that the occupation is wrong, unjust and corrupt,” its statement said. “But it is not slavery. It’s occupation, and this occupation is not taking place ‘in Palestine/Israel’ but rather in territories that are not sovereign Israel, territories that the US government and the international community believe should become the future state of Palestine.”

Also condemning the remarks was Presbyterians for Middle East Peace, a group that has worked closely with national

jewishledger.com

Jewish groups to counter antiIsael bias within the church and preserve the church’s support for a two-state outcome to the conflict.

The group condemned the national church body for

not speaking out about the Colleyville attack, while allowing Nelson to single out Israel for criticism.

RFK Jr. invokes Anne Frank at DC anti-vaxx rally

BY SHIRA HANAU

(JTA) — Robert F. Kennedy Jr. invoked Anne Frank while comparing COVID-19 vaccine mandates to the Holocaust, saying “none of us can hide” today like the Jewish diarist could during World War II. “Even in Hitler’s Germany, you could cross the Alps into Switzerland, you could hide in the attic like Anne Frank did,” Kennedy said at a rally against vaccine mandates on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., on Sunday. “Today the mechanisms are being put in place that will make it so none of us can run, none of us can hide.”

Kennedy, the son of former Sen. Robert “Bobby” Kennedy, went on to list what he perceived as threats from “loworbit satellites” and 5G internet networks, and named Bill Gates among those posing a threat to privacy. A video clip of Kennedy’s speech was shared to Twitter by NBC reporter Ben Collins.

The Twitter account for the Auschwitz Memorial Museum in Poland condemned Kennedy’s comments in a tweet Sunday.

“Exploiting of the tragedy of people who suffered, were humiliated, tortured & murdered by the totalitarian regime of Nazi Germany – including children like Anne Frank – in a debate about vaccines & limitations

during global pandemic is a sad symptom of moral & intellectual decay,” the account stated.

Kennedy has been a vocal anti-vaxxer for years, peddling conspiracy theories and claiming that vaccines cause diseases like autism in children. He was kicked off of Instagram last year after he shared misinformation about vaccines on the platform.

The consensus in the scientific community rejects any link between vaccines and autism and maintains that side effects to vaccines are minimal.

Kennedy has repeatedly utilized Holocaust related metaphors to discuss his antivaccination stance. In his book about coronavirus vaccines released last year, Kennedy titled one chapter “Final Solution: Vaccines or Bust.”

According to the Guardian, when asked about the title, Kennedy said: “I don’t think the vaccines have anything to do with eradicating the Jews.”

In 2015, Kennedy used the word “holocaust” to describe proposed legislation mandating vaccines for children, and was criticized by the Anti-Defamation League. “I want to apologize to all whom I offended by my use of the word ‘holocaust’ to describe the autism epidemic,” Kennedy said at the time.

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Authors Corner

The 2021 National Jewish Book Awards

BY ANDREW LAPIN

(JTA) – Dvora Hacohen’s biography of Hadassah founder Henriette Szold won two honors, including Jewish Book of the Year, from the Jewish Book Council (JBC) in their annual awards list.

To Repair a Broken World: The Life of Henrietta Szold, Founder of Hadassah, which includes a forward by Ruth Bader Ginsburg, also was named best biography.

The 2021 National Jewish Book Awards were announced Thursday, Jan. 20, by the JBC. “Hacohen portrays the relentless passion of Szold, who devoted her life to creating opportunities both for Jewish women and the disadvantaged, as she sought to not only empower women, but also to foster a spirit of social cohesion and equality,” the council said in a news release.

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Joshua Cohen’s The Netanyahus: An Account of a Minor and Ultimately Even Negligible Episode in the History of a Very Famous Family, a satirical chronicle of the future Israeli prime minister’s family’s time in America, won the council’s fiction award.

Jai Chakrabarti won the council’s debut fiction prize for his novel A Play for the End of the World, a fictionalized exploration of real-life Warsaw Ghetto educator and humanitarian Janusz Korczak and the children at the orphanage he ran.

Dara Horn’s essay collection People Love Dead Jews: Reports From a Haunted Present, an exploration of antisemitism and vanished Jewish communities, won in the “Contemporary Jewish Life and Practice”

Southern New England Jewish Ledger

category, while Esther David’s cookbook Bene Appétit: The Cuisine of Indian Jews won the council’s award for food writing.

A member of the tiny Bene Indian Jewish community, David explores the culinary practices of India’s 5,000 Jews.

The council’s top children’s book of 2021 was Dear Mr. Dickens, an historical account of a young Jewish girl who confronts Charles Dickens over antisemitic stereotypes in his books, by Nancy Chumin and illustrator Bethany Stancliffe. Its top book for young adults was Rebel Daughter, a novel by Lori Banov Kaufmann set during the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 CE. The top book of poetry was The Book of Anna by Joy Ladin, a professor at Yeshiva University’s

Stern College for Women who is the school’s first openly transgender professor.

Several history books also took home prizes. Batalion won a “Women’s Studies” prize for The Light of Days: The Untold story of Women Resistance Fighters in Hitler’s Ghettos, which has been optioned for a film adaptation by Steven Spielberg. James McAuley, the Paris correspondent for the Washington Post, won the council’s history prize for The House of Fragile Things: Jewish Art Collectors and the Fall of France, a history of French Jewish art collectors between 1870 and the end of World War II that also doubles as a history of French antisemitism.

The council will honor its award winners during a virtual ceremony on April 6.

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Local Jewish Federations CONTINUED FROM PAGE 13

strengthen our relationship with law enforcement and community leaders to address rising antisemitism.”

In the Western Massachusetts Jewish community, which has seen more than its share of antisemitic incidents in recent years, including threats to the Springfield Jewish Community Center in 2017 and an attempted bombing at the Ruth’s House Assisted Living Center in 2020, three agencies received some state funding for security in 2021 in the form of the Nonprofit Security Grant Program (NSGP).

The Springfield JCC received $89,500; Sinai Temple in Springfield received $13,504; and Congregation Sons of Zion in Holyoke received $51,530.

But Federal and state grants are not enough to fund security for all Jewish agencies in Southern New England.

“Security costs are hundreds of thousands annually across the region,” says Judy Alperin. “We feel at the Jewish Federation that the Jewish community’s security is one of our top priorities, but our budgets are not set up to fund these things. Our budgets are set up to support and enhance the Jewish community and to do all the good work that we do. So, at what expense, right?

There are grants and things but there’s not enough of them. The local Federations have done an incredible job of lobbying the federal government and now our state of Connecticut to be supporting nonprofit security and the fund is up to $180 million dollars coming out of the federal government. And there’s $5 million that came out of the state last year through the bonding program, but it’s not enough.”

Alperin explains that the number of applications for nonprofit security grants by Jewish agencies far exceeded the amount of money in the pot last year, which left hundreds of agencies – including her own JCC – unfunded. JFACT — the

24

Federal Security Grants CONTINUED FROM PAGE 13

RABBI CHARLIE CYTRON-WALKER

Jewish Federation Association of CT— is now lobbying to have both federal and state nonprofit grants in hopes of doubling that funding.

Meanwhile, last week SCN launched “BeAware,” a new security training program that can be taught in-person or accessed online. While BeAware was already in the works, the attack in Colleyville prompted SCN to begin promoting the new training program.

“As we saw in Texas, we cannot pick the time and date of the next incident that will impact our community, but we can choose to prepare,” says Michael Masters, CEO of SCN. “A critical component of preparing is training, and this training will provide crucial skills the Jewish community needs to stay safe.

I hope every synagogue and Jewish facility in the United States will participate.”

SCN will be hosting a national on-line preview of BeAware on Jan. 27 at 1 p.m. Participants can register at https:// securecommunitynetwork-org. zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_ r0VSrYVyQjeOtn6ktcW3og

Southern New England Jewish Ledger

targeted communal facilities that can also access the grant funding.

“I mean, the antisemitic trend is horrendous, and there are law-enforcement reports that really show that it is the worst among religiously motivated hate activities. That said, we’re the canary in the coal mine,” said Broitman.

“This fund goes beyond Jewish communities, and I think everybody recognizes how important it is.”

The NSGP grants go towards security measures in nonprofit organizations, including religious centers, museums and houses of worship. These measures include the installation of security cameras, secure doors, barriers and active-shooter training drills.

Cytron-Walker said that the training he was provided helped him act against the hostage-taker. Additional security measures through this and other programs also helped avert further loss of life at the Tree of Life Synagogue*Or L’Simcha shooting and other attacks on synagogues.

“When something happens in one place—regardless of what details were in the particular attack—the security risk in other places of course rises because we always worry about copycat attacks. and every incident is a little bit different,” said Broitman.

“And so the more we can protect institutions, the higher the bar for breaching those institutions.”

According to Nathan Diament, executive director of the OU Advocacy Center, the $360 million figure was proposed by Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) himself a few years ago.

Diament said the omnibus spending package will be the

obvious place to include the amount, as congressional leaders and heads of the appropriation committees have started meeting to negotiate the omnibus to cover the remainder of the fiscal year.

The $360 million, he said, will be “definitely more in the ballpark of where the demand level is.”

Diament had just concluded a Zoom meeting on Tuesday, Jan. 18, organized

by OU with more than 1,000 synagogue representatives from across the nation, in addition to department officials such as U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland, U.S. Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Majorkas, FBI director Christopher Wray and FBI deputy director Paul Abbate.

Besides messages of solidarity from the administration officials, the synagogue representatives were promised that the agencies would do whatever they could to bolster the community’s security as well as go through practical steps that synagogues could take in the coming weeks.

Diament added that another security measure the OU has been advocating was for the federal government and other grant programs to provide more resources to local police to increase patrols and presence around synagogues and other houses of worship.

Eric Fusfield, director of legislative affairs for B’nai B’rith International, said his organization has long supported the increase.

“One result of Colleyville is the growing awareness that such attacks can occur anywhere, at any time, from multiple sources,” he said.

“Also, the FBI’s hate-crimes data affirm that the Jewish community is by far the most vulnerable among religious groups.”

January 28, 2022

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TORAH PORTION – YITRO

I

BY RABBI TZVI HERSH WEINREB

recently came across a passage in a book by a man I admire. His name was Rabbi Yitzchak Yaakov Reines (1839-1915). He was the head of a very innovative yeshiva in Lida, Lithuania, and was one of the founders of the Mizrachi Religious Zionist movement. He was a prolific writer, and one of his works is entitled Nod Shel Demaot, which translates as “A Flask of Tears.”

In this book, Rav Reines writes about the important role that mothers play in the development of their children.

He emphasizes the role of the mother in the development of the Torah scholar. He claims that it is not only the father’s teaching that motivates and informs the budding Jewish leader. Rather, it is the mother’s feminine intuition and maternal compassion that are, at the very least, equally formative.

The sources of his thesis include a verse from this week’s Torah portion, Yitro (Exodus 18:1-20:23), in which we read that the Lord called to Moses from the mountain and said, “Thus shall you say to the house of Jacob and declare to the children of Israel…you shall be to Me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation…” (ibid 19:3-6).

The Midrash explains that “the house of Jacob” refers to women and “the children of Israel” to men. Both men and women must be involved if we are to become “a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.” “Why the women?” asks the Midrash, and answers, “Because they are the ones who can inspire their children to walk in the ways of Torah.”

Rav Reines adduces another biblical verse to make his point.

He refers to the words in the very first chapter of the Book of Proverbs, in which King Solomon offers this good counsel: “My son, heed the discipline (mussar) of your father, and do not forsake the instruction (Torah)

26

of your mother” (Proverbs 1:8).

From this verse, it seems that the mother’s message may be even more important for the child’s guidance than that of his father. After all, father merely admonishes the child with words of “discipline,” whereas mother imparts nothing less than the “instruction” of the Torah itself.

Then comes the tour de force of Rav Reines’ essay: the biographical analysis of a great Talmudic sage, Rabbi Yehoshua ben Chananya. The student of Ethics of the Fathers (Pirkei Avot) will recognize his name from a passage in Chapter Two of that work. There we read of the five disciples of Rabban Yochanan ben Zakkai. They are enumerated, and the praises of each of them are recounted. Of Rabbi Yehoshua ben Chananya, we learn, “Ashrei yoladeto, happy is she who gave birth to him.”

Of all the outstanding disciples, only Rabbi Yehoshua’s mother is brought into the picture. What special role did she play in his life that earned her honorable mention?

Rav Reines responds by relating an important story that is recorded in Bereshit Rabba 64:10. It tells of a time, not long after the destruction of the Second Temple by Rome, when the Roman rulers decided to allow the Jewish people to rebuild the Temple. Preliminary preparations were already under way for that glorious opportunity when the Kutim, usually identified with the Samaritan sect, confounded those plans.

They maligned the Jews to the Romans and accused them of disloyalty. The permission to rebuild was revoked.

Having come so close to realizing this impossible dream, the Jews gathered in the valley of Beit Rimon with violent rebellion in their hearts. They clamored to march forth and rebuild the Temple in defiance of the Roman’s decree.

However, the more

Southern New England Jewish Ledger

responsible leaders knew that such a provocation would meet with disastrous consequences.

They sought for a respected figure, sufficiently wise and sufficiently persuasive, to calm the tempers of the masses and to quell the mutiny. They chose Rabbi Yehoshua ben Chananya for the task.

The Midrash quotes Rabbi Yehoshua’s address in full detail.

He used a fable as the basis of his argument: A lion had just devoured its prey, but a bone of his victim was stuck in his throat. The lion offered a reward to anyone who would volunteer to insert his hand into his mouth to remove the bone. The stork volunteered, and thrust its long neck into the lion’s mouth and extracted the bone.

When the stork demanded his reward, the lion retorted, “Your reward is that you can forevermore boast that you had thrust your head into a lion’s mouth and lived to tell the tale. Your survival is sufficient reward.” So, too, argued Rabbi Yehoshua, our survival is our reward. We must surrender the hope of rebuilding our Temple in the interests of our national continuity. There are times when grandiose dreams must be foresworn so that survival can be assured.

Rav Reines argues that this combination of cleverness and insight into the minds of men was the result of his mother’s upbringing. The ability to calm explosive tempers and sooth raging emotions is something that Rabbi Yehoshua learned

from his mother.

He was chosen for this vital role in Jewish history because the other leaders knew of his talents, and perhaps even knew that their source was to be traced back to his mother, of whom none other than Rabban Yochanan ben Zakkai had exclaimed, “Happy is she who gave birth to him.”

This wonderful insight of Rav Reines is important for all of us to remember, particularly those of us who are raising children.

Psychologists have long stressed the vital roles that mothers play in child development. In our religion, we put much stress on the father’s role in teaching Torah to his children. But we often underestimate, and indeed sometimes even forget, the role of the mother.

Our tradition urges us to embrace the role of the mother not just in the child’s physical and emotional development, but in his or her spiritual and religious growth as well.

We would do well to remember that Rav Reines is simply expanding upon God’s own edict to Moses at the very inception of our history: “Speak to the house of Jacob! Speak to the women as well as to the men.”

Mothers, at least as much as fathers, are essential if we are to create a “kingdom of priests and a holy nation.”

Rabbi Tzvi Hersh Weinreb is executive vice president, emeritus of the Orthodox Union.

January 28, 2022

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THE KOSHER CROSSWORD JAN. 28, 2022

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By: Yoni Glatt

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Sponsored by:

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Across

24. “We don’t ___ education” 25. Annual pair of 18-Down 28. Some Illinois athletes 30. Common flight occurrence 31. It’s not to be mixed with 31Down in Judaism 32. Best alternative to an Apple Store?

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1. “Roll Tide” school, for short 2. Middle East sultanate 3. Org. with drills on campus 4. Some Tsar names 5. Some Tsarina toppers 6. The sun, for one 7. Moses and Aaron, but not Miriam 8. Yisrael go-with 9. Dry up 10. Gives a sermon 11. Dominated, in sports lingo 12. See 9-Across 16. Billionth: prefix 18. See 25-Across 22. Insect pests 25. Magen David of note

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Rabbi Angela Buchdahl details call with Texas gunman in sermon

BY PHILISSA CRAMER

(JTA) — The New York City rabbi who spoke twice to the man who held Jews hostage in their Texas synagogue last week detailed the experience in a sermon Friday night.

Rabbi Angela Buchdahl of Central Synagogue also outlined her anxiety as an American Jew and exhorted her congregants to heed a prayer that the Reform movement has made part of its liturgy on Tisha B’Av, the Jewish day mourning the destruction of the ancient Temple in Jerusalem and other traumatic events in Jewish history: “Blessed are you, Adonai, who makes us captives of hope.”

Buchdahl had previously acknowledged being contacted by the gunman, whom he reportedly found by searching for influential rabbis. But in her sermon, she recounted the voicemail from Rabbi Charlie Cytron-Walker, delivered in what she said was an “unfaltering voice,” that alerted her to her involvement.

“We have an actual gunman who is claiming to have bombs and he wants to talk to you,” Buchdahl quoted. “If you can call me back at this number that would be greatly appreciated.

This is not a joke.’”

On her second call with the hostage-taker, she recalled, “He said, ‘I’m running out of patience, and you are running out of time.’ I had already talked to the authorities. I knew there was nothing else I could do but wait and pray.” The prayer she offered, she said, was Hashkiveinu, an evening prayer that envisions God as a protector.

Buchdahl began her sermon by expressing gratitude — to God, to Cytron-Walker and the other three hostages who emerged safely from Congregation Beth Israel in Colleyville last Shabbat, and to the security officials and Jewish January 28, 2022

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organizations “who work to keep our communities safe in ways we don’t always see or acknowledge.”

But she said she had not been certain what more to say, in part because she knew that her congregants at Central Synagogue, where she has been senior rabbi since 2014, would “want and need words of comfort and hope from your rabbi” and she did not yet have those words for them.

Instead, she said, her own feelings are “ominous” and entwined with both the dangers that Jews face today and the discourse about antisemitism that was invigorated by last week’s attack.

“If you are a Jew in America and you are not feeling unsettled,” Buchdahl said, “then you are not paying attention.”

She went on: “I’m unsettled because the world only has the most simplistic understanding of antisemitism. If someone says they hate Jews, or they want to kill Jews, we call it antisemitism. But even educated people, the director of the FBI, do not recognize its far more insidious guise as the trope that Jews are all powerful and control everything. We saw how dangerous that age-old conspiracy theory can be.

“I’m unsettled because I saw first-hand that you cannot negotiate with a terrorist. And more and more people in our country and around the globe are captivated by terrifying hateful ideologies, which they value more than their own lives.

“I’m unsettled because Rabbi Cytron-Walker’s kindness and humanity were used against him.

He opened his doors to this man and gave him a cup of tea. This rabbi welcomes the stranger and this is his reward? We have to protect ourselves. We cannot

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IN A FRIDAY NIGHT SERMON ON JAN. 21, 2022, RABBI ANGELA BUCHDAHL OF MANHATTAN’S CENTRAL SYNAGOGUE SPOKE ABOUT HER EXPERIENCE BEING CONTACTED BY THE GUNMAN WHO TOOK JEWS HOSTAGE AT A SYNAGOGUE IN TEXAS A WEEK EARLIER. (SCREENSHOT)

be naive. But I also know that if we only build fortresses around our sanctuaries, and around our hearts, then he wins.

“I’m unsettled because I heard the terrifying voice of radical extremism filtered through the mind of a deranged person who was able to get a gun and then hold for people and an entire Jewish community hostage for 11 hours. I think of the ripple effects that this man set off and the countless resources that we will spend to prevent it from happening again.

She ended her sermon by looking to the week’s Torah portion, Yitro, in which Moses’s non-Jewish father-in-law tells Moses that he is not leading the Israelites to freedom alone.

“This message is truly for all of us. None of us can do this alone,” she said. “I could not do this without all of you showing up tonight, whether in this sanctuary or online. You are showing up not just for Central,

but for Judaism. You’re showing up for fearlessness in the face of fear. None of us can do this alone, even as this pandemic has tested us and forced us to feel more alone than we ever thought we would have to be. But our tradition keeps pushing us back into community and tells us not only that we need to do this with each other.

Among those at Central was New York City Mayor Eric Adams, who spoke earlier in the service.

“I want you to know I get it,” Adams said. “I get it that we are feeling a level of anxiety not only from COVID but from the sirens we hear often. I get it that you’re looking at the increase in antisemitism and you’re worried about your children. I get it that we are concerned about the economic stability of our city.

But I also get it that we have a rabbi here who showed a level of calmness and true belief in her faith as the hostage situation unfolded.”

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Briefs Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla awarded Genesis Prize (JTA) — Albert Bourla, the chief executive officer of Pfizer, was named the winner of the 2022 Genesis Prize, the award sometimes called the “Jewish Nobel,” and pledged his winnings to “projects aimed at preserving the memory of the victims of the Holocaust.”

The award, which “honors extraordinary individuals for their outstanding professional achievement, contribution to humanity, and commitment to Jewish values,” was announced early Wednesday morning, Jan. 19. It will be presented by Israeli President Isaac Herzog at a ceremony in Jerusalem June 29. The announcement noted Bourla’s work at Pfizer, which developed one of the first vaccines to protect against COVID-19. Bourla’s win was determined by an online vote in which 200,000 people participated.

“I accept it humbly and on behalf of all my Pfizer colleagues who answered the urgent call of history these past two years and together bent the arc of our common destiny,” Bourla said in a statement. “I was brought up in a Jewish family who believed that each of us is only as strong as the bonds of our community; and that we are all called upon

by God to repair the world. I look forward to being in Jerusalem to accept this honor in person, which symbolizes the triumph of science and a great hope for our future.”

The Genesis Prize comes with $1 million, and past recipients, including Steven Spielberg, Michael Douglas, Michael Bloomberg, Natalie Portman and Natan Sharansky, have donated the winnings to philanthropic causes. Bourla is set to donate his prize money to Holocaust memorial initiatives “with a particular emphasis on the tragedy suffered by the Greek

32

Jewish community.” Bourla’s parents, both from Greece, were both Holocaust survivors.

Director Joss Whedon: Gal Gadot’s accusations were a misunderstanding (JTA) — Joss Whedon, the director and showrunner who has been criticized by multiple actresses for his behavior on movie sets, shot back at Gal Gadot in an interview with Vulture published Monday, Jan. 17, over accusations she made last year that Whedon had made threats about her career. In May 2021, Gadot told Israel’s News12 that Whedon had threatened her career on the set of “Justice League,” which was released in 2017. Gadot said Whedon told her “if I did something, he would make my career miserable,” according to The Hollywood Reporter. Someone who witnessed the interaction between Gadot and Whedon later said: “Joss was bragging that he’s had it out with Gal. He told her he’s the writer and she’s going to shut up and say the lines and he can make her look incredibly stupid in this movie.”

Whedon, who has been accused by others of abusive behavior on set, said in the Vulture interview that Gadot, who is Israeli, had misunderstood him. “I don’t threaten people. Who does that?” he told Vulture. He added: “English is not her first language, and I tend to be annoyingly flowery in my speech.”

He said he instead intended to joke with Gadot. He recalled arguing over a scene she wanted to cut. He told her jokingly that if she wanted to get rid of it, she would have to tie him to a railroad track and do it over his dead body. “Then I was told that I had said something about her dead body and tying her to the railroad track,” he said. (Gadot did not agree with Whedon’s version of events. “I understood perfectly,” she told New York in an email.)”

Whedon has written and

Southern New England Jewish Ledger

directed Marvel films and served as showrunner for several culthit TV shows, including “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” and “Firefly.”

Marvel’s ‘Moon Knight’ to feature first overtly Jewish superhero (Israel Hayom via JNS) The highly anticipated Marvel superhero series, “Moon Knight,” which is scheduled to debut on the streaming platform Disney+, has sparked a great deal of excitement among comic-book fans, among other reasons because it features, for the first time, a superhero who is overtly Jewish. The official trailer for the series, which aired on Monday, has garnered considerable interest from fans.

Moon Knight is not the first Jewish superhero; there are many claims that Superman and Spiderman are Jewish—and, of course, we can’t forget Magneto, the X-Men supervillain who was portrayed in the first film in the series as a child in a Nazi concentration camp. The history of Jewish comic-book heroes, however, is small. Until Moon Knight, the son of a rabbi and the alter-ego of Marc Spector, a Jewish American from Chicago who became a boxer, joined the Marines and the CIA, and later became a mercenary. The character Moon Knight first appeared in Werewolf by Night #32 in August 1975. The new series, which is part of “Phase Four” of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, is expected to debut in March, and will consist of just six episodes. The role of Moon Knight is played by Oscar Isaac, who is not Jewish.

Israeli police evict Palestinian family from Sheikh Jarrah (JTA) — Israeli police evicted a Palestinian family from their home on Wednesday, Jan. 19, in the East Jerusalem neighborhood of Sheikh Jarrah, where tensions exploded and helped set off an armed conflict between Israel and Hamas in Gaza last May. The family was evicted to make way

for a school to serve Palestinian children with special needs, The Times of Israel reported, citing Jerusalem city officials. “We do this for any structure that is built illegally. It happens in West Jerusalem, and it happens in East Jerusalem,” Jerusalem Deputy Mayor Fleur Hasson-Nahoum told The Times of Israel.

The Salihya family said they had lived in the home since the 1950s, but Hasson-Nahoum said it had been illegally constructed in the 1990s. Obtaining official permits for construction in East Jerusalem is notoriously difficult for Palestinians, leading many to build illegally. The plot of land on which the Salihya’s home stood has been the subject of a legal battle since 2017, when the Jerusalem municipality announced plans to construct a school on the site. Though the family sued to stop the plans, a court ruled against the family last year. Israeli police arrested 18 people at the site and destroyed the building.

During Israel’s 1948 War of Independence, Jews who had been living in the East Jerusalem neighborhood of Sheikh Jarrah fled the area and were not allowed to return when Jordan took it over. Jordan gave housing there to a small number of Palestinian families who had fled Israel in the war and were not allowed to return. Those families had to begin paying rent to Israelis once Israel took control of eastern Jerusalem during the 1967 Six Day War. Over the past decade or so, a group of Israeli Jews have petitioned Israeli courts to let them reclaim ownership and evict the Palestinian tenants. Protests in the neighborhood over the evictions in May 2021 helped set off a violent conflict between Israel and Hamas in Gaza which ended in a ceasefire after 11 days.

Cold-case investigators: A Jew betrayed Anne Frank’s family (JTA) — A team of researchers said they have identified the person who betrayed Anne Frank and her family to the

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Nazis 80 years ago: The man identified by a cold-case team that has been working for six years to identify the persons responsible for the discovery of the Franks by Nazi authorities in occupied Amsterdam was Arnold van den Bergh, a notary and member of the Jewish Council, which the Nazis established to better control Dutch Jews. The accusation is outlined in The Betrayal of Anne Frank, a book published Jan. 17 by author Rosemary Sullivan. It is eliciting criticism from Dutch Jewish leaders who say the accusation unconvincingly and possibly unfairly lays the blame for one of the most famous betrayals in history on a Jew who cannot defend himself.

The book details the work of a team led by Vince Pankoke, a retired FBI agent. The coldcase team discovered a letter sent anonymously in 1945 to Otto Frank, the only member of the family who survived the Holocaust. “Your hiding place in Amsterdam was in that time partly shared with the Central Agency for Jewish Emigration in Amsterdam by A. van den Bergh, who had lived near the Vondel Park,” the letter said. A researcher probing collaboration between the Dutch and the Nazis received the letter from Otto Frank in 1963, but its existence was not widely known. Frank had said in the past that his family had been betrayed by Jews, but never publicly named van den Bergh.

The Jewish notary survived the Holocaust and died in 1950.

Over the years, researchers have presented various hypotheses on who may have betrayed the Franks to the Nazis, though none of the suspects were accepted as consensus. The cold case team cannot ascertain with certainty that van den Bergh betrayed the Franks, but did say that the theory involving him is the only one backed by evidence.

A handful of leading Dutch Jews responded to the new investigation by saying its conclusion should not be trusted.

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of Anne Frank and her family was laid at the feet of a member of the Jewish Council who can no longer defend himself,” Ronny Naftaniel, chairman of the Central Jewish Organization of Dutch Jews, wrote on Facebook.

Bart van der Boom, a Leiden University historian who has written extensively about the Jewish Council, dismissed the findings of the cold case team as “libelous nonsense.”

Report: Bibi Netanyahu negotiating a plea deal (JTA) — Former Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is reportedly negotiating a plea deal with prosecutors in his ongoing corruption cases that could bar him from politics for several years and further reshape Israel’s political landscape. Although various Israeli media reports have swirled inconclusively for several days, all allege that Netanyahu has laid the groundwork for a possible deal that would dismiss some of the charges against him while having him confess to “moral turpitude” in a series of corruption cases.

According to Israeli law, a moral turpitude conviction would see him banned from Israeli politics for at least seven years.

Netanyahu, the longestserving prime minister in Israeli history, is currently the leader of Israel’s opposition after being ousted from power last year. In 2020, he became the country’s first sitting prime minister to be indicted, for a series of cases involving bribery and inappropriate political gifts. In one, he allegedly sought to harm a leading Israeli newspaper in exchange for positive coverage in another.

The attorney general who indicted Netanyahu, Avichai Mandelblit, is retiring at the end of January, spurring some to speculate whether he wants to end his tenure with an explosive bang. Hundreds of protesters gathered outside of Mandelblit’s house on Saturday, urging him to dismiss a plea deal and work towards convicting Netanyahu

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on all accounts he is charged with.

In addition to shaking up his Likud party, Netanyahu’s potential plea deal could rattle the Israeli parliament’s coalition, which has been held together by a historically diverse set of parties by the slimmest of margins since last June. If one party is forced to reshuffle its leadership in turmoil, it could break down the coalition and trigger new elections.

Jared Leto has a thick Israeli accent in teaser for series on WeWork founder (JTA) – Fans (and critics) of Jared Leto’s Italian accent in “House of Gucci” have new material to work with in his portrayal of Adam Neumann, the Israeli founder of WeWork, in the soonto-be-released Apple TV+ series “WeCrashed.” An official teaser video released on Wednesday, Jan. 19, shows a first glimpse into Leto’s interpretation of the native Hebrew speaker, as well as Neumann’s missteps in trying to guide the shared workspace company to going public. “This is what tomorrow looks like,” the Oscar winner insists at one point in the trailer. “Let there be lights and wide open spaces.”

The miniseries title is inspired by the Wondery podcast “WeCrashed: The Rise and Fall of WeWork.” Anne Hathaway will co-star as Rebekah Neumann, WeWork co-founder and Neumann’s wife.

Founded in 2010, WeWork was once one of the country’s hottest startups, valued at nearly $50 billion. But a Wall Street Journal article noted that after initially filing to go public in 2019, the company became “besieged with criticism over its governance, business model, and ability to turn a profit.” Neumann, whose love of partying, charisma and risktaking was once seen as an asset for building WeWork, ultimately became a liability.

The first three episodes will be available on Apple TV+

starting March 18, with the additional five episodes airing weekly on Fridays through April 22.

Pamela Adlon discovers her great-greatgrandfather was a rabbi (JTA) – Pamela Adlon describes learning that her great-greatgrandfather was a famous rabbi as “mind blowing” in an upcoming episode of the celebrity genealogy show “Finding Your Roots.” In an exclusive clip from Tuesday night’s episode that is debuting on the Jewish Telegraphic Agency, host Henry Louis Gates Jr. asks Adlon to read the translation of the Hebrew inscription on her great-great-grandfather’s tombstone.

“Good,” she says. “I was having PTSD of Hebrew school and I thought you were going to make me read the Hebrew on the stone.” When she learns about her great-great-grandfather’s occupation, she yells “Yes!” “The amount of time I spent in temple — if somebody had just said to me, ‘your greatgreat-grandfather was a rabbi,’ I would’ve been like ‘Oh wait, let me catch up to this sermon right now,’” she says.

The actress and comedian Adlon, 55, is known for her roles in Louis C.K.’s sitcom “Louis” and “Better Things” on FX, the latter of which she co-created.

She is also famous for voicing the character of Bobby Hill on the animated series “King of the Hill” and has appeared in several movies.

Adlon’s father, writerproducer Don Segall, was born to a Jewish family of Russian and Ukrainian descent and her mother, originally an Anglican, converted to Judaism.

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CT SYNAGOGUE DIRECTORY To join our synagogue directory of paid advertisers, call (860) 231-2424 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

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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

Southern New England Jewish Ledger

Congregation Beth El-Keser Israel Conservative Rabbi Eric Woodward rabbi@beki.org (203) 389-2108 office@BEKI.org www.BEKI.org

ORANGE

WASHINGTON

Congregation Or Shalom Conservative Rabbi Alvin Wainhaus (203) 799-2341 info@orshalomct.org www.orshalomct.org

Greater Washington Coalition for Jewish Life Rabbi James Greene (860) 868-2434 jewishlifect@gmail.com www.jewishlifect.org

Orchard Street ShulCongregation Beth Israel Orthodox Rabbi Mendy Hecht 203-776-1468 www.orchardstreetshul.org

PUTNAM

WATERFORD

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

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

SIMSBURY

WEST HARTFORD

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

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

WESTPORT

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

Chabad of the Farmington Valley Chabad Rabbi Mendel Samuels (860) 658-4903 chabadsimsbury@gmail.com www.chabadotvalley.org Farmington Valley Jewish Congregation, Emek Shalom Reform Rabbi Rebekah Goldman Mag (860) 658-1075 admin@fvjc.org www.fvjc.org

SOUTH WINDSOR

Temple Beth Hillel of South Windsor Reform Rabbi Jeffrey Glickman (860) 282-8466 tbhrabbi@gmail.com www.tbhsw.org

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

Beth David Synagogue Modern Orthodox Rabbi Yitzchok Adler (860) 236-1241 office@bethdavidwh.org www.bethdavidwh.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 Congregation P’nai Or Jewish Renewal Shabbat Services & Holidays Rabbi Andrea CohenKiener (860) 561-5905 pnaiorct@gmail.com www.jewishrenewalct.org

The Emanuel Synagogue Conservative Rabbi David J. Small (860) 236-1275 communications@emanuelsynagogue.org www.emanuelsynagogue. org United Synagogues of Greater Hartford Orthodox Rabbi Eli Ostrozynsk i synagogue voice mail (860) 586-8067 Rabbi’s mobile (718) 679-4446 ostro770@hotmail.com

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

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SYNAGOGUE DIRECTORY WESTERN AND CENTRAL MASSACHUSETTS

AMHERST

FLORENCE

LONGMEADOW

Jewish Community of Amherst Reconstructionist Rabbi Benjamin Weiner (413) 256-0160 info@jcamherst.org www.jcamherst.org 742 Main St., Amherst, MA 01002

Beit Ahavah, The Reform Synagogue of Greater Northampton Reform Rabbi Riqi Kosovske (413) 587-3770 info@beitahavah.org www.beitahavah.org 130 Pine St. Florence, MA 01062

Congregation B’nai Torah Orthodox Rabbi Shlomo Yaffe Rabbi Yakov Wolff (413) 567-0036 office@bnaitorahma.org rabbi@bnaitorahma.org www.bnaitorahma.org 2 Eunice Drive Longmeadow, MA 01106 Neighborhood Minyan 124 Sumner Avenue Springfield, MA 01108

ATHOL Temple Israel Unaffiliated/Egalitarian Reb Sarah Noyovitz (978) 249-9481 templeisraelathol@gmail.com 107 Walnut Street Athol, MA 01331

GREENFIELD Temple Israel of Greenfield Unaffiliated Rabbi Andrea Cohen-Kiener (413) 773-5884 office@templeisraelgreenfield.org www.templeisraelgreenfield.org 27 Pierce St. Greenfield, MA 01301

BENNINGTON, VT Congregation Beth El Reconstructionist Rabbi Micah Becker Klein (802) 442-9645 cbevtoffice@gmail.com www.cbevermont.org 225 North St., Bennington, VT 05201

HOLYOKE

CLINTON Congregation Shaarei Zedeck Conservative Lay Leadership - Elena Feinberg (978) 501-2744 sherryesq@yahoo.com www.shaareizedeck.org 104 Water St., Clinton, MA 01510

Congregation Rodphey Sholom Orthodox Rabbi Tuvia Helfen Religious Leader (413) 534-5262 djs1818@aol.com 1800 Northampton St., Holyoke, MA 01040 Congregation Sons of Zion Conservative Rabbi Saul Perlmutter (413) 534-3369 office@sonsofzionholyoke.org www.sonsofzionholyoke.org 378 Maple St. Holyoke, MA 01040

LEOMINSTER Congregation Agudat Achim Conservative Rabbi Eve Eichenholtz (978) 534-6121 office@agudat-achim.org www.agudat-achim.org 268 Washington St., Leominster, MA 01453

NORTHAMPTON Congregation B’nai Israel Conservative Rabbi Justin David (413) 584-3593 office@CBINorthampton.org www.CBINorthampton.org 253 Prospect St. Northampton, MA 01060

PITTSFIELD Temple Anshe Amunim Reform Rabbi Liz P.G. Hirsch (413) 442-5910 rabbiliz@ansheamunim.org www.ansheamunim.org 26 Broad St., Pittsfield, MA 01201

SPRINGFIELD Sinai Temple Reform Rabbi Jeremy Master (413) 736-3619 rblanchettegage@sinai-temple.org www.sinai-temple.org 1100 Dickinson St., Springfield, MA 01108

Temple Beth El Conservative Rabbi Amy Walk Katz (413) 733-4149 office@tbesprinfield.org www.tbespringfield.org 979 Dickinson St., Springfield, MA 01108

WESTBOROUGH Beth Tikvah Synagogue Independent Rabbi Michael Swarttz (508) 616-9037 president@bethtikvahsynagogue. org www.bethtikvahsynagogue.org 45 Oak St., Westborough, MA 01581 Congregation B’nai Shalom Reform Rabbi Rachel Gurevitz/ Rabbi-Educator Joseph Eiduson (508) 366-7191 info@cbnaishalom.org www.cbnaishalom.org 117 East Main St., PO Box 1019, Westborough, MA 01581

WESTFIELD Congregation Ahavas Achim Unaffiliated Rabbi Dawn Rose (413) 642-1797 ahavasachiminquiry@gmail.com www.congregationahavasachim. org Ferst Interfaith Center, Westfield State University PO Box 334, 577 Western Avenue, Westfield, MA 01086 Find us on Facebook: https://www. facebook.com/AhavasAchimWestfield/

WORCESTER Central Mass Chabad Rabbi Mendel Fogelman, Rabbi Chaim Fishman, Rabbi Michael Phillips, Cantor Eli Abramowitz (508) 752-0904 rabbi@centralmasschabad.com www.centralmasschabad.com 22 Newton Avenue, Worcester, MA 01602 Congregation Beth Israel Conservative Rabbi Aviva Fellman (508) 756-6204 receptionist@bethisraelworc.org www.bethisraelworc.org 15 Jamesbury Drive Worcester, MA 01609 Congregation Shaarai Torah West Orthodox Rabbi Yakov Blotner (508) 791-0013 Brotman156@aol.com www.shaaraitorah.org 835 Pleasant St. Worcester, MA 01602 Temple Emanuel Sinai Reform Rabbi Valerie Cohen (508) 755-1257 amayou@emanuelsinai.org www.emanuelsinai.org 661 Salisbury St., Worcester, MA 01609

To join our synagogue directory of paid advertisers, call (860) 231-2424

January 28, 2022

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WHAT’S HAPPENING A calendar of events throughout Connecticut and Western & Central Massachusetts.

Local Jewish community organizations are invited to submit events to the calendar.

Events must be received one week prior to the bi-weekly publication of the Ledger. Send submissions to Ledger editor in cheif Judie Jacobson at judiej@jewishledger. com. We reserve the right to edit calendar items.

January TUESDAY, JANUARY 25 Greenwich, CT. — “Men’s Paddle & Beer Night” hosted by UJAJCC Greenwich at 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. For more information or to register: ujajcc.org. $350

WEDNESDAY, JAN. 26 CT & MA (Zoom) — “Virtually Limitless: Our Shared Shelf,” a monthly book and author series at 8 p.m.hosted by the Jewish Book Council and Federation National Women’s Philanthropy, will present a conversation with Michele Levy, author of Anna’s Dance: A Balkan Odyssey, a coming-of-age novel that follows a Jewish American young woman on a journey through the Balkans in 1968. Tune in even if you haven’t read the book.

Register at: https://form.jotform. com/202654095372052.

THURSDAY, JANUARY 27 Stamford, CT. — An educational experience that explores the framing of the past and present through the viewing of highlights from the documentary “Final Account” and a panel discussion with Holocaust survivors and children of Holocaust survivors about complicity, propaganda and responsibility as reflected in the film will follow the screening.

The discussion will be moderated

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by Mike Markovits; panelists include Judith Altman, Marily Altman, Ilan Fogel and Agnes Vertes. The evening is presented by the Jewish Historical Society of Fairfield County with the Ferguson Library, UJF Stamford, New Canaan and Darien.

SATURDAY, JANUARY 29 Sherman, CT. — The silent film “The City Without Jews” will be screened at 7 p.m., at the JCC in Sherman, 9 Rte 39 South. The silent film will be accompanied by live music featuring worldrenowned musicians Alicia Svigals and Donald Sosin. The film, based on the satirical novel by Hugo Bettauer, tells the story of Jews in Vienna who are hounded by mobs and driven from their homes. Produced in 1924, it was rediscovered in 2015. It is a chilling premonition of the Holocaust and cost Bettauer his life. Presented with commentary by film scholar Noah Isenberg (UT Austin) and a recently restored soundtrack, it is one of few surviving Austrian Expressionist films. Reservations required. Email jccinsherman. org. $20/members; $25/ nonmembers. (Masks required)

SUNDAY, JANUARY 30 Statewide (Zoom) —12th Annual International Holocaust Remembrance Day event, hosted

by Voices of Hope and JFACT; The program includes: the presentation of the 2022 Chesed Award to Andy Sarkany, which is bestowed on individuals who demonstrate exemplary “acts of loving kindness”; presentation of The Simon Konover Recognition for Excellence in Holocaust Education to educators: Kimberly Ballaro, Ian Lowell, Jessica Palliardi and Lauren Thompson.

This year, the Classical Magnet and the three Fairfield Middle Schools will be honored with the first HERO Center Award for Schoolwide Excellence in Teaching Holocaust and other Genocides; 7 p.m. For more information and to register:

Southern New England Jewish Ledger

ctvoicesofhope.org, (860) 4705591, info@ctvoicesofhope.org.

Reservations required. FREE Boston, MA (Zoom) — “Learning from Lessons of Hate: The Opportunity for Holocaust/ Genocide Education in Our Schools Now,” a virtual educational program designed to heighten awareness about the need to advocate for robust Holocaust and genocide education in public schools, presented by Hadassah Northeast, in association with 13 synagogues and other community partners across Greater Boston. Featured guests: Holocaust survivor and Jewish educator Henny Lewin; Hopkinton High School educator Steven Spiegel who will share his success engaging and educating students about the Holocaust and other genocides based on a curriculum developed by “Facing History and Ourselves.” To register: https://events.hadassah. org/holocausteducation. FREE Glastonbury, CT (Zoom)— “Kids in the Kitchen,” a 3-part kosher cooking class for kids ages 5-12, led by Chabad East of the River. Sundays, 3-4 p.m.: Jan. 30, matzah ball soup; Feb. 6, cookie rugelach; Feb. 13, cheesy noodle kugel. Register at chabader. com/kidscooking. $10/per session; $25/full series (includes ingredients box.)

MONDAY, JANUARY 31 Springfield, MA (Zoom) – A Q&A with Elana Zaiman, author of The Forever Letter: Writing What We Believe for Those We Love, 11:30 a.m. - 12:30 pm. Inspired by the medieval tradition of the ethical will, Rabbi Zaiman will discuss forever letters, what they are, why we write them, and how they can be powerful tools to connect us with the people we love. In forever letters, we can share our wisdom and guidance, ask for and offer forgiveness, express our gratitude, support and love. Through inspirational

stories, sample letters and writing guidance, The Forever Letter serves as a companion on a transformational journey of self-discovery and deepening relationships. The first 25 registrants will receive a free copy of Zaiman’s book The Forever Letter. To register: https:// www.jfswm.org/educationalpresentations/ or (413) 737.2601.

February TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 1 West Hartford, CT — “Jews in the American Theater: A Legacy Like No Other,” presented by Congregation Beth Israel, 8-10 p.m. How did Jews come to play such a vital role in every aspect of the American theater, reshaping it over the last 150 years?

Entertainment historian John Kenrick uses fascinating behind the scenes stories and rare photos and performance videos to celebrate the role Jews have played on Broadway and beyond.

Information/registration: Rabbi Howard Rosenbaum, hrosenaum2cbict.org., cbict.org.

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 3 Springfield, CT (Zoom) — “Literatour,” the Springfield JCC book festival presents a talk and Q&A with Andrew Feiler, author of A Better Life for Their Children; 7-8 p.m. To register: springfieldjcc.wufoo.com/forms/ rtncm991b2631i/ Worchester, MA/Florida– The Annual Worcester Florida Party at the Delray Beach Golf Club; a chance to visit old friends from Worcester to reconnect; 11 a.m. – 2:30 p.m., Register: worchesterfloridaparty.myevent. com.

FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 4 Storrs, CT — “A Winter (Jewish) Experience” for adults ages 21 to 39; 7-9 p.m., co-hosted by Urban Dor and UConn Hillel, at UConn Hillel, 54 N Eagleville Rd, Storrs. Optional spiritual January 28, 2022

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prayer service at 6 p.m. Dinner at 7 p.m. followed by socializing and/or playing pool and ping pong. Guests may join in at any point during the course of the evening. Must be vaccinated to attend. Dress is business casual.

Reservations: https://www. urbandor.org/event-details/awinter-jewish-experience. FREE

979 Dickinson St. Reservations/ information: (413) 733-4149 or office@tbespringfield.org. (snow date: March 26)

SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 5

Springfield, MA– “A Taste of the Lower East Side,” a Temple Beth El program sharing a taste of the Jewish world through food and film; 6-7:30 p.m.; Register: communications@tbespringfield. org.

New Haven, CT — Conversation with Artist Bruce Oren, a painter, photographer, draughtsman and designer, but primarily a stone sculptor working in marble, limestone, granite and soapstone.

Oren will talk about his current exhibition,“Entropy Warriors,” at 12:30 p.m., at Congregation Beth El - Keser Israel (BEKI), 85 Harrison St. Sabbath rules will be observed. Guests are asked to wear KN-95 or better masks.

Snow date:Feb. 12. The exhibit is on display at BEKI until Feb. 26. To arrange a gallery visit, call (203) 389-2108.

Worcester, MA – Chaverim Night Out at the Jewish Film Festival; 7 p.m. Information: mhall@jfcm. org.

SATURDAY, FEB. 12

SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 13 Longmeadow, MA– Purim Katan Movie Afternoon/Ice Cream Party and Emtza Food Drive Launch, 4-7 p.m., at B’nai Torah, 2 Eunice Drive, Contact Andrea Olkin: SpringfieldNCSY@gmail.com, or (413) 519-5328; Fee: $5 per person, $10 max/2+ siblings.

Sherman, CT. —“The Hooligans” live and in concert playing their special brand of classic rock, rockabilly, country, with special guests, at JCC in Sherman, 9 Rte. 39 South, at 7 p.m.

Tickets: $20;JCC member; $25/ non-member. Held indoors, masks required regardless of vaccination status. Reservations required: (860) 355-8050.

Woodbridge, CT— The B’nai Jacob Players (BJP) present the hit Broadway musical “The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee.” The cast and crew were only two weeks away from the play’s April 2019 opening, when COVID hit, leading to the long shutdown. Now, the play is back on schedule. At B’nai Jacob, 75 Rimmon Rd. Information/tickets: barbaragoldstein@bnaijacob.org, (203) 389-2111.

Springfield, MA – “Carol’s Beit Café,” a Temple Beth El event showcasing the musical talents of its members; 7-8:30 p.m., at TBE, January 28, 2022

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THURSDAY, FEB. 17 Springfield, MA (Zoom)– Temple Beth El Film: Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin, 7-9 p.m., Zoom. Register: communications@tbespringfield. org.

SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 20 Northampton, MA – LGA “Fiber Art for Passover: Learn to Wet Felt,” Zoom program from 10 – 11:30 a.m., Create spring blooms out of soft wool for the Passover table with fiber artist Natasha Lehrer Lewis; for 3-6-year-olds and their grownups; Registration fee of $12 includes one kit from Esther’s Place which will be available for pickup. Registration: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/ fiber-art-for-passover-withlander-grinspoon-academylearn-to-wet-felt-tickets.

WEDNESDAY, FEB. 23 New Haven, CT (Zoom)— Book Schmooze with Jennifer Anne Moses, author of a collection of short stories entitled The Man

Who Loved His Wife. Hosted

by Congregation Beth El-Keser Israel at 7:30 p.m.. This book, says Moses, “is the result of my deep dive into Yiddish literature and my love of the Hebrew language.”

Moses is also the author of six other books and dozens of essays and articles; she currently writes a blog for The Times of Israel. For the Zoom link: office@BEKI.org, (203) 389-2108 x114.

SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 27 Worcester, MA– LEAD/YAD program with Shaliach Aviv Jerbi, 2 p.m.

MONDAY, FEBRUARY 28 Stamford, CT (Zoom) — “Be A Mensch: Unleash Your Power of Be Kind and Help Others with author Elisa Udaskin,” 7 p.m. Hosted by United Jewish Federation of Greater Stamford and JCRC. To register: ujf.org/ caringsoul. For information: slewis@ujf.org., (203) 321-1373 x104.

World Premiere of “The Garden of the Finzi-Continis,” Jan. 27 A new production of the New York City Opera and the National Yiddish Theatre Folksbiene (New York, NY)—On Thursday, Jan. 27 — International Holocaust Remembrance Day — the New York City Opera will host the world premiere of a new American opera, Ricky Ian Gordon’s “The Garden of the Finzi-Continis,” a coproduction with the National Yiddish Theatre Folksbiene (Zalmen Mlotek, artistic director, Dominick Balletta, executive director).

The opera will run for eight performances only, through Sunday, Feb. 6 at the Edmond J. Safra Hall at the Museum of Jewish Heritage – A Living Memorial to the Holocaust.

With a libretto by Michael Korie, based on Giorgio Bassani’s 1962 novel of the same name, “The Garden of

the Finzi-Continis” is sung in English, conducted by James Lowe, directed by Michael Capasso and Richard Stafford.

The performance schedule is as follows: Thursday, Jan.27 at 7pm (opening), Saturday, Jan. 29 at 8pm, Sunday, Jan. 30 at 3pm, Tuesday, Feb. 1 at 7pm, Wednesday, Feb. 2 at 2pm, Thursday, Feb. 3 at 7pm, Saturday, Feb. 5 at 8pm, Sunday, Feb.6 at 3pm.

“The Garden of the FinziContinis” is set on the eve of World War II and tells the story of an aristocratic Italian-Jewish family, the Finzi-Continis, who believe they will be immune to the changes happening around them. As they make a

gracious haven for themselves in their garden, walling out the unpleasantness of the world outside, Italy forms its alliance with Germany and begins to enforce antisemitic racial laws.

But the Finzi-Continis discover too late that no one is immune, no one is untouchable.

“We are proud to co-produce the world premiere of “The Garden of the FinziContinis,” by said Mr. Mlotek.

“This important new work illuminates an important part of Italian Jewish history, and sadly, its themes of discrimination and antisemitism still resonate in our world today.”

Tickets are available at NYTF.org or the box office at (855) 449-4658. For additional information call (212) 655-7653.

Southern New England Jewish Ledger

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OBITUARIES EISENFELD

Nancy Eisenfeld (Adler), 84, died Jan. 8, in Boulder, Colo.

Formerly of New Haven, Conn.

She was the widow of Dr. Arnold Eisenfeld z”l. Raised in Elkins Park, Penn., she was the daughter of the late Maxine (Cuden) and William Adler.

She is survived by her children Susie Eisenfeld Ryder and her husband Scott, and Michael Adler Eisenfeld and his wife Erin Hourihan of Farmington, N.M.; her grandchildren, Johanna Heilman, Danielle Ryder, and Mia and Max Eisenfeld; her sister Sally Schoenecker and her husband brother-in-law Perry of St. Louis, Mo.; her brother-inlaw and sister-in-law Leonard and Vicki Eisenfeld of West Hartford, Conn.; several cousins, nieces and nephews. She was predeceased by her cousin Craig Cuden z”l.

FRIEDMAN

Rosalind Friedman, 93, of Longmeadow, Mass. has died.

She was the widow of Bob Friedman. Born in Brooklyn, N.Y. and raised in Winstead, Conn., she was the daughter of Dorothy and Benjamin Miller. She is survived by her children, Marjie Rogozinski and her husband Abe, and Elizabeth FriedmanRubin and her husband Andy; her daughter-in-law Donna; her grandchildren, Ben, Josh, Laura, Zach, Nathan, Noah and Aaron; and 10 great-grandchildren. She was predeceased by a son, Alex Friedman; and a brother, Saul Miller.

HIRSCHBERG

Ilene Sussman Hirschberg, 83, of Western Massachusetts died Jan 4. Born in Brooklyn, N.Y., she was the daughter of Sam and Sophie (Lippert) Sussman..

She is survived by her children, Tom and his partner Janicki, of Norway, and Ellen and her husband Mark, of Western Mass.; her grandchildren, Oriana, Asher, Ovidia and Emma; her sister Jane and her husband Daniel;

38

her cousin Linda; her brotherin–law Jack and his wife Phyllis; her nieces and nephews, and a cousin, and their families. She was predeceased by her sister– in–law Sally.

KRAVITZ

Samuel Kravitz, 96, of Stamford, Conn. died Jan. 5.

He was the widower of Frieda Kravitz. Born in Philadelphia, Penn., he was the son of Lillian and Jack Kravitz. He served in the U.S. Navy during World War II. He was a member of and Temple Beth El. He is survived by his sons, Hal Kravitz and his wife Betsy, and Robert Kravitz; his grandchildren Rachel Kravitz, Lauren Haire (John), Rebecca Kravitz (Richard Hickey), Stephanie Kravitz, and Sam Kravitz; and his great-grandson William Banks Haire.

RUSSMAN

Eileen Ruth Pollack Russman, 90, died Jan. 5. Born in New Haven, Conn., she was the daughter of Elizabeth Gillette and George Pollack. She is survived by her sons, Eric Russman and his wife Sherry (Walsh) of Southington, Conn., and David Russman and his wife Ragan Willis of Wenham, Mass.; her grandchildren, Amanda, Benjamin, and Sage Russman; her brother Ivan Pollack and his wife Carlyn of Parkland, Fla.; her special cousin Marjie Wolfe of Hamden, Conn.; and several nieces and nephews.

resident of East Hartford, where she was highly active in the Jewish community and Jewish causes. As a board member of the former Temple Beth Sholom (now Beth Sholom B’nai Israel) in Manchester, she served as Sisterhood president seven times, and corresponding secretary five times between 1992-2007. In addition, she served as president of Hadassah or two terms, 1985-1988, and attended many conferences of the Connecticut Branch of the Women’s League.

For 30 years, Marilyn worked as assistant to the principal of Glastonbury High School from 1989 until her retirement in 2019.

Marilyn leaves her son, Jacob Weil of West Hartford; brother Terry Lashin and wife Lisa of Melville, N.Y., sister Deborah Butler of West Hartford, and brother Paul Lashin and wife Kathryn of Weston, Conn.; nieces Shera (Dan) Berlin, Arielle (Adam) Herman, Jennifer Lashin,

Allison Butler, Ruby Lashin, Vivienne Lashin, nephew Eric Butler; grand-nieces Tessa and Alexandra Berlin; and grandnephews Benjy and Charlie Herman. Her wonderful charm and knack for conversation will be fondly remembered and greatly missed by all who knew and loved her. In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be made to the following organizations: Hadassah, https:// www.hadassah.org/, National Kidney Foundation, https:// www.kidney.org/, Temple Beth Sholom B’nai Israel, Manchester, CT, https://www.myshul.org/ A funeral service was held at Beth Sholom B’nai Israel, on Friday, Jan. 21, 2022 with interment at Beth Sholom Memorial Park in Manchester. For shiva times or to leave a condolence for the family, please visit www.manchesterfh. com.

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Marilyn was born in Hartford on September 23, 1950, and raised in West Hartford, where she graduated from Conard High School. After her marriage in 1972, she became a longtime

Southern New England Jewish Ledger

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