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2. judaism

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VOL. XLI NO. 13
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ANNUAL REPORT
President’s Report: Romana Primus
Yad B’ Yad Award Presented
During the Jewish Federation’s Annual Meeting on June 18 at Beth
Jacob Synagogue in Norwich, East Lyme High School teachers
Shannon Saglio (l) and Matt LaConti (r) received the Hand in Hand
Award for their work with the Encountering Survivors Program administered by Nickie Padilla (c). Read more about the program in
NIckie’s report on page 7. (photo: Bruce Levine)
ANNUAL REPORT
This has been a most difficult and challenging year. Immediately after our Annual Meeting
last June, 47 people participated in a Mission to
Israel, a mission honoring Rabbi Rosenberg. It
was one of the largest and most successful Missions the Federation has run.
Alas, while they were there, 3 young Israelis
were kidnapped and murdered. In revenge, a
young Palestinian was kidnapped and burned
to death. Missiles were launched randomly from
Gaza into Israel, and, finally, on July 8, the war in
Gaza erupted.
War is brutal, and the casualties were very
high. Despite Israel’s efforts, there were many
Palestinian civilian casualties and deaths. Within the Israeli government there seemed to be
confusion over the aims of the war. Some wanted Hamas destroyed and Gaza reoccupied; they
did not seem particularly concerned about casualties or about Israel’s international standing.
Others, including the military, seemed to want
Exec. Director’s Report: Jerome E. Fischer
Routines play an important role
in our lives. They provide certitude,
an important ingredient to long term
happiness. When we are certain about
something we are confident, assured,
brave, happy, and even decisive. When
we are not certain about something we
feel anxious, fearful, indecisive, and un-
Etra presented new award
Roz Etra (l) of Norwich was presented
with the inaugural Thriving Jewish Community Award by JFEC board president
Romana Primus (l) during the Federation’s Annual Meeting on June 18. See
page 8-9 for additional photos. (Photo
Bruce Levine)
happy, or at least unsettled. And when a
routine is about to change, and we can
do little or nothing about the change,
then we lose the certainty and gain the
anxiety.
For all of us in eastern Connecticut
Rabbi Aaron Rosenberg was a certainty,
as was Rabbi Carl Astor. Rabbis do not
stay forever. Our Rabbis have served us
very well. And we have enjoyed the ordinary routines as well as the extraordinary dedication of Rabbis Astor and
Rosenberg. Rabbi Astor’s pulpit is now
occupied by Rabbi Rachel Safman, and
she is slowly but steadily establishing
her own routines. Rabbi Rosenberg will
be replaced for one year by an interim
rabbi while the congregation searches for its permanent spiritual leader.
During this year they will enjoy the
Temple Israel
now open
Temple Israel, 73 Park St. New London will reopen for its 90th the year of
services Friday night July 3 at 8 pm and
Saturday morning at 9 am on July 4.
There will be a Kiddush following
services every Saturday. Services will
take place through Saturday, Aug 29.
Questions Sol Glater 860-443-1987.
wonderful ongoing support of
their Cantorial Soloist, Sherry
ExEC. DIR.
CONT. ON PG 12
to preserve Hamas rule in Gaza and to end the
war quickly.
Gaza remains in ruins. The reconciliation
between Fatah on the West Bank and Hamas in
Gaza remains elusive, and the peace process is
frozen, in spite of a heroic effort by Secretary of
State Kerry.
Elections, called by Prime Minister Netanyahu, have resulted in the most fragile government in Israel’s history. The election campaign
revealed ugly attitudes among some of the parties.
When I look at the Israeli political landscape,
I am deeply troubled. Statesmanship and vision
seem overtaken by greed, pettiness and selfinterest. The only statesman seems to be the
President of Israel, Reuven Rivlin. He is calling
on Israel to face its demons and to treat all its
citizens equally. May his warnings and his calls
for action be heeded.
Here at home we have been much more fortunate. We have had an excellent year. Rosa
Goldblatt and Ron Leeser, with excellent help
from Rachel Sherriff, ran an excellent campaign. Thank you all for your contributions.
JFEC relies on your generosity.
Marcia Reinhard again did a marvelous job
overseeing our Young Emissary program, our
youth groups and our Israel events. Our com-
PRESIDENT’S REPORT
CONT. ON PG 15
Group leaves for Israel Sunday, June 28
Federation Exec. Director Jerry Fischer and Marcia Reinhard, Director of Israel &
Youth Programming are leading Renee and David Kohanski and Nancy Butler on
an intimate tour of Israel. The group will experience home hospitality in Afula, meet
Asaf Ron of Beit Hagefen Arab-Israel Center in Haifa and experience Shabbat in
Jerusalem. The Patriot’s wide receiver Julian Edelman and his sister Nicole will be
joining the group on the inugural El Al flight out of Logan Intl Airport in Boston. See
related story on page 6.
2
THE JEWISH LEADER, JULY 3, 2015
Amsterdam abandons sister
city agreement with Tel Aviv
Mention & Menschen
Dutch mayor yields to pro-Palestinian pressure; coincidentally,
low-cost flight route linking the cities announced
[email protected]
By Daniel Bernstein, Times of Israel
A plan to link the cities of Amsterdam and Tel Aviv as twin
towns was canceled Thursday after pro-Palestinian groups pressured the Dutch capital’s mayor into backtracking on his proposal.
Amsterdam Mayor Eberhard Van der
Laan, who attended Tel Aviv’s annual gay
pride parade earlier this month, had expressed on several occasions his admiration of the White City, its tolerance toward
the LGBTQ community and its booming
startup scene.
But after announcing his intention to
tighten connections between the two cities, the mayor came under a firestorm of
criticism from local left-wing parties and
pro-Palestinian activists, Channel 2 reported Thursday.
In an attempt to assuage mounting
Eberhard Van der
disapproval, Van der Laan tried to push a
Laan (Wikipedia)
compromise by which Amsterdam would
also become a sister city of the Palestinian metropolis of Ramallah.
But his compromise proposal failed to ease tensions, and on
Thursday he announced he was revoking the proposal.
First, apologies to Reuven Clein for messing
up his flan recipe; several of my Leader Readers
emailed me to let me know. Here is the CORRECTED version of:
AMSTERDAM
CONT. ON PG 13
Candle Lighting for Eastern CT area
Friday, July 3 Friday, July 10
Friday, July 17
Friday, July 24
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•
•
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8:07 pm
8:06 pm
8:07 pm
7:56 pm
National Award Winner of the Council of Jewish of Jewish Federations as the Outstanding
Small Cities Jewish newspaper. Published every other Friday for the dissemination of Jewish news and views by the Jewish Federation of Eastern Connecticut, 28 Channing Street,
New London, CT 06320, 860-442-8062.
NADINE LIPMAN
REUVEN CLEIN’S WORLD CLASS
FLAN RECIPE
This recipe serves around 8 people;
it can easily be doubled in a larger pan).
Ingredients:
1/4- I/3 C sugar
1 can sweetened condensed milk (15 oz)
An equal part (1 can) milk
1 “cap full” of vanilla extract
A pinch of salt
4 eggs
Directions:
Set up oven with a “double boiler”. (I use the
bottom of the standard broiling pan, containing enough water to submerge the flan pan between 1/3 to way up the side of the pan, when
the pan is placed in the water.) Preheat oven to
350 degrees.
Caramelize sugar in 8-9 inch round metal
cake pan. This means put the sugar in the pair,
turn burner on high, and as sugar starts to bubble, turn brown, stir quickly until it becomes
molten caramel, golden brown and the hottest
thing you will ever handle in the kitchen. (I keep
a little water in the bottom of the kitchen sink
onto which I place the pan to stop it from continuing to cook and burning while I prepare the
flan filling.)
In a large bowl place the remaining ingredients and mix for several minutes with electric
mixer, scrape around bottom and sides to ensure
all ingredients are fully combined. Pour mixture
on top of caramelized sugar and immerse pan in
water in oven. Bake for 40 to 50 minutes of your
oven depending upon the temperature of your
oven . The top surface of the flan should be a
light brown, well set, but not too hard and firm
to the touch. Try not to over cook, it is not too
critical, but with experience you will avoid the
overcooked “scrambled egg” effect.
Remove from oven and let cool to room temperature. Go around the sides of the pan with a
sharp knife. For full effect, put an appropriately sized plate on top of flan (a plate with some
sides on it to prevent the caramel syrup from
spilling over), hold in place, and carefully invert
flan onto the plate. Pour remaining caramel
onto top of flan (some hardened sugar will remain in the pan).
Can be served at room temperature; or
chilled. (If you want to gild the lily, you can add
a splash of Amaretto, sliced toasted almonds or
whipped cream!)
Fran and David Salsburg of New London
have come home after traveling in May and
June to attend graduations of three of their
grandchildren. Joshua Williams, son of Pam
and Jack Williams of Atlanta, GA, graduated
from high school in May and will attend college
in the fall. Rebecca Salsburg-Frank, daughter
of Liz Salsburg and Jon Frank of Oakland, CA,
graduated from high school and will also be
attending college. Ryan Salsburg, son of Michelle Shanahan and Dan Salsburg of Arlington, VA, graduated from 8th grade in June and
will move on to high school. While traveling,
David received notification that his popular science book, “The Lady Tasting Tea; how Statistics
Revolutionized Science in the 20th Century” will
appear in a third Chinese edition. The book has
already been translated into Arabic, Japanese,
Korean, Portuguese (and two previous Chinese
editions).
Emily Benson, daughter of Deborah and
Gregg Benson of Delray Beach, FL and formerly of Waterford, recently graduated Cum Laude
from Elon University in Elon, North Carolina.
She will be attending the School for Social Work
at Columbia University in the Fall. Emily is a
graduate of Solomon Schechter Academy and
MENTION
CONT. ON PAGE 13
Managing Editor..................................................... Mimi Perl
Layout Editor.......................................................... Forrest Sklar
Social Editor.......................................................... Nadine Lipman
President .......................................................... Romana Strochlitz Primus
Executive Director.................................................. Jerome Fischer
Mailing Volunteers................................................. Ruth & Henry Dunkerley, Jr,
Mimi & Milt Seed, Irving Siegel, Marty Yavener
Advertising: Call Mimi Perl 860-442-7395 or [email protected].
Advertising Deadline: Wednesday, July 15 for July 24 issue.
Editorial Content: Preferred receipt of editorial material is via email to mimiperl@
gmail.com. Photo(s) submitted via email should be separate attachment(s) from
article. Preferred photo format is a .jpg format; resolution should be a minimum
of 200 dpi.
Material sent via fax [860-443-4175] or first class mail [28 Channing St., New
London, CT 06320] should be typed/double spaced or neatly printed. If you
submit a hard copy of a photo and wish the photo returned, include a stamped,
self- addressed envelope.
Editorial Deadline: Friday, July 17 for July 24 issue.
Printing: Chronicle Printing Co., 1 Chronicle Rd., Willimantic, CT 06226
Postmaster: Send address changes to Jewish Leader, 28 Channing St., New
London, CT 06320
567 Colman Street • New London, CT • 860-442-4575 • www.ez2party.com
Monday through Friday 8:30am to 5:30pm • Saturday 8:30am - 5:00pm
THE JEWISH LEADER, JULY 3, 2015 3
‘Terminator’
on your
phone
Senior Year End Luncheon
Austrian-born actor and
former California governor
Arnold Schwarzenegger
lends his persona from
famous movie to Israeli
developed traffic and
navigation app.
By Rafaella Goichman,
Ynetnews
Drivers using the Waze application will soon be receiving directions from none other
than Arnold Schwarzenegger,
USA Today reports.
The Austrian-born actor
and former California governor is lending his persona as
the famed Terminator from the
movie franchise to the Israelideveloped community-based
traffic and navigation app. The
new feature will last through
mid July.
“I’m a Terminator Cyberdyne Systems Model 101,
and you’re coming with me,”
Schwarzenegger will tell you
as you hit the road.
According to USA Today,
Schwarzenegger is using the
Waze gig to promote his next
movie, “Teminator Genesis”,
opening July 1.
The muscular actor required a one-hour recording
session to provide the automated prompts for Waze –
from simple commands such
as “turn left” to unforgettable
quotes such as “Hasta la vista,
baby” at the end of the journey.
“It is an added entertainment. Where I come in, I’m
bringing the Arnold twist,”
Schwarzenegger said. “Even
in the recording studio, people
were laughing at every single
line when I put the Arnold spin
on it.”
He added that the voice gig
was sweet redemption after
being told early in his career
that he could not be a leading
man because of his thick accent.
“Here we are 40 years
later and my accent is a big
asset. When I dreamt of a career, I had no idea that one
day I would be telling 50 million drivers (where) to drive,”
Schwarzenegger said, adding
that he was a fan of the app
and would be programming
his Waze to Terminator mode.
The New London Hebrew Senior Club and Norwich Jewish Senior Club celebrated the year end with a luncheon at Ocean Beach in
New London on Tues., June 23. After enjoying delicious entrees and a scrumptious dessert, Fran Baratz (l) presented Brenda Hendel (r)
with the annual Baratz Award in honor of her late husband to honor Brenda for her volunteer efforts during the past year at the Kosher
Hot Lunches in New London. Beth Hubbert (pink top), Federation Senior & Community Services Coordinator, presented Rose Deutsch
(blue top) of Norwich with the Shapiro Award (thank you Marty and Millie) for all her hard work on behalf of the Norwich club over the
years.
ANNUAL REPORT
Senior & Community Services: Beth Hubbert, Coordinator
Another busy and productive year has passed for our local
seniors. In keeping with our philosophy of “move it or lost it” we
have been moving and using.
While our seniors may be getting older (the nature of the
beast) and perhaps frailer our numbers remain constant. We are
serving 50 plus Kosher Hot Lunches with the assistance of TVCCA every Monday at Congregation Beth El and 25 plus lunches
every Tuesday at Beth Jacob Synagogue. A monetary donation
of $3 is suggested for each participant. For those who no longer
drive we do our best to provide rides to the lunches as well as
other activities. It’s not always possible but we do our best.
Our volunteers are the best!!! Without them there is no way
Norman Belanger and I could serve the meals that we do. In New
London Marty Yavener, Brenda Holmwood, Jeannette Gershowitz, Ruth Pickhardt, Shania Zelvin and Irving Siegel are responsible for setting tables, preparing drinks, dessert, appetizers,
and the bread and butter. Makes you wonder if we even need
Norman and me. In Norwich, we enjoy the company of Rose
Deutsch, Joyce Dereski, Elaine Vollmuth, and Fay Levine who are
there every Tuesday. Kudos to all these volunteers who make
our lunches possible.
We try to offer a diverse selection of trips – we attend theater
performances at Goodspeed, Ivoryton, Granite Theater, Providence Performing Arts Center, and Newport Playhouse. We also
vary the luncheon spots with each trip. We offer trips to the movies as well as shopping trips, beach walks and concerts. This past
fall our weekend extravaganza was to New Hampshire where we
enjoyed great food, super entertainment, and interesting activities including a boat ride on “Golden Pond.”
Transitions are difficult. We are available to help people going
from hospital to home, from home to nursing home or assisted
living facility. Frequently, it is helpful for seniors to visit various
facilities before they make a move. We help with this as well as
provide meals to shut-ins.
We are a small, multi-faceted, very flexible social service
agency which provides a variety of services to a diverse population. We all wear many hats to meet the needs of our many
participants.
By Herb Keinon, Jerusalem Post
In a sign of warmer ties between Egypt and Israel, Foreign
Ministry Director-General Dore Gold traveled to Cairo for meetings on Sunday at the invitation of the Egyptian Foreign Ministry.
The invitation, and the visit, comes just a week after Egypt
named Hazem Khairat as its first ambassador to Israel since
2012. Gold reportedly met with Egypt’s deputy foreign minister,
as well as other senior officials.
Israel’s relations with Egypt have traditionally been run by
the Prime Minister’s Office and the Defense
Ministry, something that was even more the
case when Avigdor Liberman was foreign minister.
Gold’s visit also comes a week after he met
with his Turkish counterpart in Rome last
week to try and explore the possibility of improving ties between the two countries following the election earlier this month that weakened Turkish President Recip Tayyip Erdogan.
Improved relations: Israeli official heads to Cairo
Dore Gold
4
THE JEWISH LEADER, JULY 3, 2015
Senior Offerings
Reservations are necessary for all events. When making your reservation, let us know if you need a ride. Reservations can be
made by calling Beth at 860-444-6333x112. If Beth is
not available, leave a voice mail message, she’ll check them the
following business day.
Summer Barbecues
July 20 & 21
Please join us for our July Summer BBQ luncheons of burgers and hot dogs on Monday, July 20 at Beth El and on Tuesday, July 21 at Beth Jacob. Both luncheons begin at 12:30 pm.
Since both luncheons are TVCCA sponsored there is a suggested
donation of $3 per person.
Please sign up by Monday, July 6 so we can ensure the purchase of enough food for everyone.
August 4
The August Chicken BBQ will be on Tuesday, August 4 at
Beth El at 12:30. Since it is a Kosher Hot Lunch there is a suggested donation of $3 per person.
This event is a combined club event; therefore, if you are
a Norwich Club member and need a ride, please let us know
when making your reservation.
Please make sure to reserve your chicken lunch no later
than Monday, July 27 by contacting Beth at 860-444-6333.
ANNUAL REPORT
Case Management:
Beth Hubbert, Administrator
Over the past year our agency has been exceptionally busy.
This year has gone by so fast. Everyday there is someone knocking at the front door of the Jewish Federation Senior and Community Services or the phone is ringing constantly. It’s impossible to guess who will be next in line and what their emergency
needs are. These people who call or just show up at the front
door are in search of rental or utility assistance, prescriptions,
to utilize our food pantry, or ride information. The agency participated in Project Warm-up, FEMA funds utilized for utilities, a
very active food pantry, help for the homeless, giving 16 Thanksgiving food baskets for those in need, Operation Cool-Down, and
helped neighborhood people who hit a bump in the road. Many
calls come from our seniors who are inquiring about our services. On a weekly basis I arrange rides for approximately 7-10
seniors. This is their only way to get to our kosher hot lunch or to
an outing. The seniors also call to make reservations for upcoming events and/or kosher hot lunches, rides to the grocery store,
or a ride to their doctor appointments.
This past year our Operation Cool Down program was funded
in part from the New London Rotary Foundation and the Norwich Rotary Foundation. We were able to provide air conditioners and installation for 17 clients who needed an air conditioner
for medical reasons but were unable to afford one.
For our food bank we are supported by the Gemma Moran United Way Labor Food Center and donations from our
Jewish Community. We are a United Way Agency and work with
both federal and state programs to provide assistance to those
in need.
Over the past year we handed out 33,241 pounds of non-perishable food items. We serviced 4,909 people for 2014-2015. We
are open two hours per day, two days per week, and one hour
per day, two days a week. We average 10 to 12 people a day when
we are open. People are really struggling just to put a meal on
the table to eat. This year it was a different class of people due to
the long cold winter. These people needed to get to work. They
CASE MANAGEMENT
CONT. ON PG 13
B’nai Shalom
tag sale
Please mark your calendars. Congregation B’nai Shalom will be holding a rummage
sale and all the proceeds will
benefit the congregation.
Where: 125 Church Street,
Putnam, CT 06260
Date & Time: Sunday, July
19, 2015, 8 AM to 2 PM / Rain
or Shine
How can you help? Donate Items to Sell (no clothes
please): We are now accepting
donated items at Congregation B’nai Shalom. Please call
or e-mail Peggy Manz or Tina
Tenenbaum to arrange a time
to drop them off.
If you have items to donate but cannot drop them off,
please let us know and we will
try to make arrangements to
have them picked up instead.
The more items we have to sell,
the more successful the event
so please donate any items
you can and ask relatives and
friends if they have anything
to donate to help support our
synagogue.
Volunteer for the Event:
We will need people to help
tag items, set up for and work
at the rummage sale. Please
let Peggy or Tina know as soon
as possible how you can help.
Shop at the Rummage
Sale: Come yourself and encourage others to come and
shop. You never know what
treasure you may find.
Contacts: Peggy Manz:
860-928-5409, [email protected]
Tina Tenenbaum: 860963-1255,
[email protected]
Please help in any way you
can. Your support is greatly
appreciated.
Upcoming Shows
Please call Beth at (860) 444-6333 to reserve
your spot for these great shows.
There is a $25 Non-Refundable deposit for all shows.
Cost for shows scheduled at Goodspeed & Ivoryton
includes transportation and ticket
with lunch or your own.
The first price listed is for paid members;
the second price is for non-paid members.
Our ticket policy requires that a $25 deposit accompany your
reservation. These deposits MUST go through Beth. Just writing
down your name will no longer be sufficient or accepted. Please
make sure your phone number is written so we can call you with
a pickup time for the event. Beth can be reached at 860-4446333.
Wednesday, July 22 “Killjoy” at Newport Playhouse
SOLD OUT
Carol is being driven crazy by her charming monster of an
ex-husband, Victor, and his new wife, who employ every trick in
the book to end Carol’s thousand dollar a week alimony. Carol’s
quirky kids work at Victor’s pasta restaurant chain, and Carol is
sure Victor is bullying her son into an early grave. When Carol
has a passionate affair with Victor’s lawyer, they decide Victor
has to die and the audience cheers its agreement. Cost $59/$62,
all inclusive.
Wednesday, August 12 “Memphis” Ivoryton Playhouse. Cost
$45/$48. Lunch on your own at Luigi’s. Playhouse SOLD OUT
Wednesday, October 7 “The Odd Couple”, Surf and Turf at
Newport Playhouse. Cost $77/$80. All inclusive. SOLD OUT
Wednesday, November 4 “Liberace” at Ivoryton. Lunch on
your own. This moving and highly entertaining tribute to the
performer and musi-cian famous for his charm, glitz, and glamour. Liberace relives the highs (and lows) of his prolific life, with
a rollicking piano score spanning classical and popular music
from Chopin to “Chopsticks”, and Rachmaninoff to Ragtime. Cost
$45/$48. Lunch on your own at Parthenon Diner.
Wednesday, November 11 “A Wonderful Life” at Goodspeed.
Bedford Falls comes alive as never before with the Goodspeed
premiere of the magical tale of finding hope in your hometown.
In a tuneful re-imagining of the classic film “It’s a Wonderful
Life”, a would-be angel swoops to the rescue of desperate banker
George Bailey on Christmas Eve. From the Tony-winning co-creator of Fiddler on the Roof, it’s a heartwarming family musical
that celebrates the power of love and the goodness in all of us.
Remember: “Every time a bell rings, an angel gets his wings!”
Cost $63/$66. Lunch on your own at Zhang’s/Pizza Works.
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THE JEWISH LEADER, JULY 3, 2015 5
By
Artie
Dean
The next big thing
L
ast month we frivolously interviewed a fictional character who made ends meet by harvesting blue-green algae scraped from the hulls of sailboats moored at Burr’s
dock in New London. In describing such culinary treats
I meant only to focus with humor the challenges that await the
baby boom generation now reaching their golden years. Today
we continue in that vein.
The traditional approach of savings and social security that
led to a secure retirement in our parents’ generation seems
to have been upended. The low interest rates in place make it
very difficult for savers without a pension to accumulate enough
money to fund a retirement. Back in the early eighties rates
soared touching 20% for a period. That may have been awful for
borrowers, but it was great for retirees who were able to earn
a hefty return with relatively safe investments. In today’s environment the tables are turned. With interest rates near zero,
borrowers benefit. Savers get low returns. Unless they have a
marvelous pension, those approaching retirement are nudged
towards investing for growth. Whether that means bonds, the
stock market, or real estate should be left to the experts. So
what’s a person serious about a secure future to do?
I decided to contact an old college acquaintance for guidance in the world of finance. Back in school we nicknamed him
Shifty for his inability to stand still while talking. In college Shifty
Plotnick studied the stock market as a hobby, and the nickname
stuck.
While many of my friends went on to advanced degrees, rumor had it that old Shifty earned a living by his ingenuity. What
I gleaned of his success came mostly from snippets I saw on his
Facebook postings. Apparently, when the the real estate market
was going crazy, Shifty flipped houses. He bought distressed
properties, fixed them up, and then sold for big profits. The year
before the price of gold went through the roof, Shifty claimed he
went into the gold salvage business, buying up estate jewelry at
bargain prices. Years ago, when Apple first went public, he supposedly invested heavily in the initial public offering. He says he
still has a picture of himself and Steve Jobs shaking hands hanging in his living room. Warren Buffet, of Berkshire Hathaway
fame calls Shifty for advice.
I hadn’t seen him for years, but as soon as he saw me in the
lobby of the Empire State building, he ran to my side and embraced me as one might a brother.
“Glad you called. Can’t take you up to the office. Sorry, renovations, painting and such. Got to expand or perish,” he said. “You
know how it is. Why don’t we talk down the street.” I followed
without questioning. He stopped abruptly.
“But, this is a Starbucks,” I said as he opened a heavy glass
door.
“Where I do some of my best work,” he said. “Come on. No one
will bother us.”
We sat at a corner table. I thought I saw a barista glance in my
direction and stifle a laugh as he cleaned a table nearby. After
a few minutes of chit chat about the good old days Shifty put a
hand on my shoulder. “So let’s see your portfolio,” he said.
I opened the manila folder I had brought from Connecticut
and spread a few scraps of paper out on the table. He scanned
them quickly. Asked a few questions. “Is that it?” he said. I nodded.
“Well, I can see you need my help,” he said, shifting his head to
the right, his eyes darting from side to side, in the mannerism I
recalled from his college days when he was engaged to two girls
at the same time. “You need to diversify, that’s for sure, what with
the coming crash. Can’t count on Social Security either.”
I leaned forward in my chair, my eyes wide.
“Kosher Buffalo,” he said.
“Pardon me?” I replied, wondering if that was
a part of upstate New York that I’d overlooked.
“It’s going to be the next big thing in the City.
Tastes better than beef, healthier too.”
I smiled, not wanting to show my ignorance.
He fanned out his hands in a circular motion, as
if revealing the future.
“Sidewalk kiosks all over midtown. Sit-down
restaurants in the department stores. Franchises in all the Jewish areas of the country. With
everyone going organic this will take the Jewish
community by storm.”
He paused for emphasis and stared into my
eyes. “And I’ve got the option on the only herd
available.”
“You do?”
“Most definitely.” He drew out a map of Wyoming and spread it out. He pointed to the northwestern corner.
“Isn’t that Yellowstone National Park?” I
asked politely.
“It is, for now,” he said. “Buffalo population
out there has exploded. The herds are migrating out of the park into Montana, encroaching
on rancher’s pastures. Once they leave the park,
they’re fair game.”
I swallowed hard. “So why are you telling me
this?” I asked.
I can let you in on the ground floor. Your savings will just about cover a ten percent ownership position in the company I’ve created…
Prime Buff. You ship the herd. I’ll take care of
all the marketing.”
“I don’t know…I’m a bit cautious about
things like this.”
Plotnick rolled his eyes, then suddenly
brought a fist down on the table, rattling our
coffee cups, and bringing the inquiring gaze
of patrons towards us. He lowered his voice. “This is a once in a lifetime opportunity.”
“I know, but most of my friends are turning
vegetarian.”
Plotnick’s face turned magenta and his
nostrils flared. “I can see you’re not the man I
thought you were.”
“Guess not. But it was nice seeing you again,
Shifty.” We shook hands.
His manner seemed to soften. “Sorry I got
testy there. I understand your hesitation…it’s
just that I’ve had some bad luck lately.”
I nodded, trying to disengage my hand from
his grip.
“You think you could spare a fifty, for old
time sake?”
I handed Shifty the ten I had left in my wallet. “You take care of yourself,” I said.
“You too,” he said. He bounded from the table
and was out the door in a flash.
I took the train back to New London that afternoon with a renewed sense of purpose, remembering an old adage my accountant used
to repeat whenever I asked him for advice.
“Pigs get fat, hogs get slaughtered.” I wonder if
that applies to livestock or only investors?
Queen Elizabeth makes first visit
Bergen-Belsen Nazi camp
Britain’s Queen Elizabeth II and The Duke of
Edinburg, Prince Philip lay a wreath during a
visit to the memorial site of former Nazi concentration camp Bergen-Belsen on June 26, 2015.
(AFP/JULIAN STRATENSCHULTE)
British monarch lays wreath at BergenBelsen on German state visit, set to meet
with survivors and liberators
By AFP, Times of Israel
Britain’s Queen Elizabeth II made her first
trip to a former Nazi concentration camp Friday, visiting Bergen-Belsen just over 70 years
after it was liberated by British forces, on the
final day of her state visit to Germany.
The 89-year-old queen was accompanied
by her husband Prince Philip, 94, as she visited the site where at least 52,000 people from
across Europe died during World War II, including teenage Jewish diarist Anne Frank.
She was due to see a memorial stone to the
young girl, whose journal of her family’s time
hidden from the Nazis during the German occupation of The Netherlands has been read
by millions around the world.
In April 1945, British forces freed the camp
in northern Germany where Jews, political
prisoners and other persecuted groups were
held, taking pictures which gave the world
the first visual proof of the Holocaust.
The queen is also due to lay a wreath and
meet camp survivors and liberators.
At a banquet at Berlin’s presidential palace
earlier in the week, the queen warned against
“division” in Europe, in a speech focused on
historical references to the lessons of World
War II, the fall of the Berlin Wall and German
reunification.
In April, on the 70th anniversary of the
camp’s liberation, German President Joachim
Gauck paid tribute to Britain for restoring
“humanity” to the country, saying its forces
led by example during the subsequent Allied
occupation.
The event wraps up the queen’s fifth state
visit to Germany which included a meeting
with Chancellor Angela Merkel, a boat trip
along Berlin’s Spree river and a trip to the financial capital, Frankfurt.
6
THE JEWISH LEADER, JULY 3, 2015
Patriot’s Edelman touting El Al’s direct flights from Boston
By Gabe Friedman, JTA
ulian Edelman made time to visit the Jewish state in the midst of his busy offseason,
which according to ESPN has included parading through Disneyland, presenting at the
Grammys, touring the talk show circuit, taking
off his shirt during the Patriots’ Super Bowl
parade and making a cameo appearance in the
“Entourage” movie.
Edelman has become one of the most social
media-savvy athletes in the country, thanks in
part to his partnership with a Boston-based
marketing firm. Fans interact with Edelman on
social media at a higher rate than with any other NFL player besides Houston Texans’ star J.J.
Watt. Edelman has effectively created a brand
for himself, as evidenced by his signature caps
that say JE11 (for Julian Edelman and his jersey
number, 11).
El Al’s new direct flights from Tel Aviv to Boston’s Logan International Airport began Sunday,
June 28 – and one of the first passengers will
be New England Patriots’ wide receiver Julian
J
Edelman.
After flying into Israel on Monday, Edelman
and his sister, Nicole, will return on July 2 via
the direct Tel Aviv to Boston route. Given its
start date, and the fact that the new service will
only run three days a week, the Edelmans will
be among the first passengers to fly on the new
route from Ben Gurion Airport.
Edelman – who rose to stardom last season
with all star-level stats and heroics in the Patriots’ Super Bowl victory – considers himself
Jewish, even though he has never unequivocally silenced the skeptics. His father, Frank
Edelman, has Jewish roots, although there’s no
evidence that Julian was raised Jewish.
When asked to give some “good Christmas
answers” and “Christmas presents” in response
to questions during an NFL Network interview
last year, Edelman said: “I’m Jewish, so I’ll try to
keep it to Hanukkah presents.” During a game
against the Denver Broncos last fall, he wore a
pin that featured the American and Israeli flags
that was given to him by Israel’s ambassador to
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Wednesday, July 15th
11:00 am to 4:30 pm
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the United Nations, Ron Prosor. Then for Passover this year, he
posted a creative Facebook post to mark the holiday (although
he also posted about Easter).
Julian Edelman on the way to Israel (Image: Shahar Azran)
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THE JEWISH LEADER, JULY 3, 2015 7
ANNUAL REPORT
PJ Library: Laura Frommer, Coordinator
PJ Library is an effective program
that draws children together from
different places in the Jewish world,
strengthens ties among these families
and builds Jewish community. Over the past year, PJ Library of
Eastern Connecticut has enrolled sixteen new children. During this time,
we had several successful PJ Library
playgroups both at Solomon Schechter
Academy and Temple Emanu-El with,
on average, ten to fifteen children in
each of the playgroups. Participants
included pre-K children from Solomon
Schechter Academy, Hebrew School
students from Temple Emanu-El, and
Jewish families who are not affiliated
with synagogues. Our programming
revolved around themes that included
Hanukkah, Tu B’Shevat, and Purim. At
these events, children listened to a PJ
Library story, made a craft, sang songs,
and sometimes enjoyed a snack. Afterward, I wrote articles for the Jewish
Leader to publicize the event’s success
as well as to announce future events.
To expand outreach in our community, I have started using Facebook after
receiving an invaluable tutorial from
headquarters at the Harold Grinspoon
Foundation. We currently have 40
Likes on our Facebook page (https://
www.facebook.com/PJLibraryEasternCT ) and I look forward to developing the Facebook page further. Furthermore, PJ Library headquarters
informed me of our marketing allowance and how it could be put to good
use. At JCC Without Walls Day, I set up
ANNUAL REPORT
a table and used PJ Library marketing materials that were very helpful, including -- a bright PJ Library
tablecloth, a book rack with sample
books, brochures specific to our
community (also created with advice
from PJ Library headquarters), PJ
Library T-shirts and sign-up sheets.
Regarding future goals for PJ Library,
I would like to elevate the profile of
PJ Library in our community and increase subscribers by stepping up
outreach efforts with the guidance
and support of our Program Officer and her colleagues at PJ Library
headquarters. They have excellent
resources and are eager to work with me to promote
these goals. One suggestion they have, which I would like
to pursue, is to start public space programming to reach
families who are currently unconnected to Jewish institutions. This could involve as basic and low-cost events
such as “Popsicles in the Park,” or “Bagels at the Beach,”
which would be a draw for young families eager to connect with one another within some Jewish context. I also
plan more strategic publicity, including posting flyers
and brochures in secular and accessible spaces, such as
local libraries, coffee shops, and supermarkets. Finally, I
plan to use local parent blogs and online calendar venues
to publicize PJ Library activities.
As part of my effort to elevate PJ Library’s presence in
our community and reach out to more people, it will be
important to cultivate and engage some key PJ Library
parents; this could be in the context of an advisory council or something less formal. A cadre of interested parents would stir excitement about PJ Library among their
social networks, would generate programming ideas
they feel invested in, and could help support me during
events so I could be free to do outreach and collect data
that will help strengthen our program. HGF is implementing
new reporting practices by PJ communities, including data and
evaluations that help them assess our effectiveness and will
help us when we apply for grants that have become available to
increase engagement among young families in Jewish Eastern
Connecticut. The Rose & Sigmund Strochlitz Holocaust Resource Center
Nickie Padilla, Coordinator
The Rose and Sigmund Strochlitz
Holocaust Resource Center of the Jewish Federation is now in its twelfth year
of operation. The HRC has been fortunate to have dedicated educators and
invested community members on our
advisory committee, whose input has
been invaluable.
A central goal of the Holocaust Resource Center is to help students draw
lessons from the unique horror of the
Nazi genocide. To this end, we have
used a grant from the Bodenwein Foundation for a program entitled “Encountering Survivors”. This year we worked
with small groups of students from five
local schools (Griswold High School,
Plainfield High School, The Williams
School, East Lyme High School, and
Old Saybrook High School) visiting and
interviewing survivors and children
of survivors in their homes. Students
gained an insight into the lives of Holocaust survivors from their childhood
to the present day. A final program was
held at The Williams School School
where students presented heartfelt
presentations depicting the survivor’s
life. In addition, Ben Cooper, a Dachau
liberator, spoke to the students and
survivors. Next year’s program should
be just as rewarding as we already have
five schools joining us. The response
was so great that we even had to put
two schools on a waiting list. Next
year’s schools include: St. Bernard High
School, Old Lyme High School, Fitch
High School, Ledyard High School, and
Waterford High School. It is especially
exciting because we have schools and
teachers who have never participated
in the program in the past.
In addition to our Encountering
Survivors Program, we also offered a
teacher training all-day professional
development through Echoes and Reflections. We had a turnout of 32 teachers from across Connecticut. It was the
largest turn out in the history of the
program in CT. Marji Lipshez- Shapiro
of the ADL facilitated the program. It
was held at the Zachs Hillel House at
Connecticut College and the feedback
we received from teachers was remarkable.
There have also been several pre-
RESOURCE CONT. ON PG 15
8
THE JEWISH LEADER, JULY 3, 2015
Jewish Federation holds Annual Meeting
l-r Jerry Schwell, Noa Brosh, Rabbi Ken Alter, Ron Peleg
The Novick Family, who hosted Ron, had fun roasting him during the
farewell dinner prior to the start of the Annual Meeting
Young Emissaries Noa Brosh and Ron
Peleg bid farewell to Eastern CT at the
Federation’s Annual Meeting on June 18.
They were roasted and praised by their
host families as well as their mentors and
friends in the community.
Photos: Courtesy of Joel Etra
The McCaffrey family, host to Noa, take turns having fun with her during the
dinner prior to the Annual Meeting.
Rabbi Aaron Rosenberg (l) bids Shalom to Noa and Ron.
Tracy Todd (c), recently retired Head of School at Solomon Schechter Academy and Jewish Community High
School Director, shares a laugh with Noa and Ron.
THE JEWISH LEADER, JULY 3, 2015 9
June 18, 2015 at Beth Jacob Synagogue
L-r Izzy Schwartz, Marcie Wolman, and Joan Schwartz
l-r: Sema Stein, Sunny and Maier Fein, and Barbara Sahagan. Maier and Barbara are Directors on the JFEC board.
Community turns out
for Annual Meeting
Len & Linda Cohen. Len was elected to be a Director
on the JFEC Board
Thursday evening.
Henny Simon
with Thriving
Jewish Community honoree Roz Etra.
Sheri & Rich Pascal. Rich is a Director on
the JFEC Board.
Ray Gawendo with her son Everett.
JFEC Staff Members: L-r: Jeannine Martino, bookkeeper; Nickie Padilla, HRC Coordinator; Rachel Sheriff, Campaign & IT Media Specialist; Jerry Fischer,
Executive Director; and Marcia Reinhard, Director, Israel & Youth Programming.
10
THE JEWISH LEADER, JULY 3, 2015
Jewish groups celebrate court decision on gay marriage
By Ron Kampeas, JTA
WASHINGTON (JTA) – How often do you get the opportunity
to pack “109 years,” #LoveWins and the colors of the rainbow
into 140 characters?
That’s how the American Jewish Committee celebrated the
Supreme Court ruling Friday extending marriage rights to gays
throughout the United States.
“For 109 years AJC has stood for liberty and human rights,”
its tweet said. “Today is a happy day for that proud tradition
‪#LoveWins.” It was punctuated with a heart emoticon splashed
rainbow colors.
The contrast between an organization founded at the launch
of the last century celebrating the rights embraced by Americans
only at the launch of this one was emblematic of the glee with
which much of the Jewish establishment reacted to the ruling.
The Anti-Defamation League, in its own tweet, left out its age
(102) but also got in the hashtag, #LoveWins, and that funny
little heart.
Thirteen Jewish groups, among them organizations representing the Reform, Reconstructionist and Conservative streams,
were among the 25 joining the amicus brief the ADL filed in
Obergefell v. Hodges.
The preeminence of Jewish groups among those backing the
litigants was not a surprise. In recent decades, much of the Jewish establishment has embraced gay marriage as a right equivalent to the others it has advocated, including racial equality, religious freedoms and rights for women.
Multiple groups, in their statements, cited the passage in
Genesis that states humans were created “in the image of God,”
which has for decades been used by Jewish civil rights groups to
explain their activism.
“Jewish tradition reminds us that we were all created equally,
b’tzelem Elohim, in the ‘image of God’ (Genesis 1:27), and also
shows us that marriage is a sacred responsibility, not only between the partners, but also between the couple and the larger
community,” the Conservative movement’s Rabbinical Assembly
said in a statement.
Groups also were looking to next steps in advancing LGBT
rights, including in the workplace.
“You can now legally marry in all 50 states and put your wedding on your desk and be fired and have no recourse in the federal courts,” Rabbi Jonah Pesner, who directs the Reform movement’s Religious Action Center, told JTA.
“We hope this will energize and inspire a bipartisan effort to
end discrimination in the work place,” he said, specifying the “T”
in LGBT — for transgendered people. “People should not be discriminated in the workplace because of expression of gender.”
The notion that the decision would propel a broader debate
about LGBT rights concerned the Orthodox Union, which in a
carefully worded statement noted that it adhered to the traditional definition of marriage as between a man and a woman,
but also recognized “that no religion has the right to dictate its
beliefs to the entire body politic.”
The OU, like other more conservative religious groups, was
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Same-sex marriage supporters celebrate outside the Supreme
Court on June 26. (Alex Wong/Getty Images)
wary of new liberties that could infringe on its ability to hire officials who hew to their belief systems.
“Will the laws implementing today’s ruling and other expansions of civil rights for LGBT Americans contain appropriate
accommodations and exemptions for institutions and individuals who abide by religious
teachings that limit their ability to support same-sex relationships?” the group said in
its statement.
The OU did not file an amicus brief in the Supreme Court
case. Agudath Israel of America did, opposing gay marriage.
The Jewish Council for Public Affairs, the consensus-driven public policy umbrella, recognized sensitivities on both
sides in its statement.
“We call for sensitivity and
civility in this debate, understanding that the vast majority on all sides are people of
good will,” it said. “Adjusting
to change is not always easy or
swift.”
Who’s in the pews: new app knows
By Brian Blum, Israel21c
Could software from an Israeli startup have
helped prevent the massacre earlier this month
of worshipers at a Charleston house of worship?
An increasing number of churches think so.
Some 30 religious institutions have purchased
and installed an application called Churchix
from Israeli developer Skakash.
Churchix is a face-recognition program designed to allow churches to monitor who’s in
their pews. While it’s initial sales pitch was to
enable churches to track attendance without
having to register each person manually at the
door, security applications have become an
equal draw.
Churchix works by scanning the faces of people in the building – either as they’re entering
or during the service or event. The software,
which runs on an ordinary PC, can work with
up to four cameras in real time or as recorded
video. Church employees enter pictures of congregants into the system in advance; Churchix
then matches the pictures it takes with the photos in its database.
“It might be possible to register 100 people
at a service manually,” explains Moshe Greenshpan, founder and CEO of Skakash, “but for a
bigger church with hundreds or thousands of
members, the task becomes impossible.”
Churches in the U.S. generally keep their
doors open to anyone. Even predominantly African-American churches that are known to be
on the target lists of white supremacists tend to
ignore the risks in order to be welcoming to all.
Greenshpan realized the security possibilities of Churchix when one US church added pictures of known sex offenders into its Churchix
database. When an offender entered the building, Churchix matched the image and church
staff received an alert. If Dylann Roof, the
21-year-old suspected shooter at Charleston’s
Emmanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church,
had been in the Churchix database of potential
threats, his picture would probably have been
flagged too. Roof reportedly sat for a long time
in the church before opening fire; the gap could
have allowed police time to arrive in time.
Surveillance systems like Churchix always
push the uneasy balance between safety and
privacy. “I get that people think Churchix can
be creepy,” Greenshpan admits, “especially if
people don’t really know it’s active. So we encourage churches to make Churchix visible at
the registration table. That’s what the churches
that are already using Churchix are doing. And
members need to understand that there will be
no abuse of the data; that nothing will be given
to third parties.”
The latter is easier in part because Churchix
is not a networked system. It doesn’t live in
the cloud but is an application residing on the
church’s computer. That simplicity is also one
of the application’s current limitations: Alerts
stay on the computer itself; there’s no option to
push an email or text to a staff member’s phone
or to the police. Greenshpan says he’s working
on that.
Limiting risk to greeters and guards
Churchix is somewhat of an accidental product. It grew out of a separate company Greenshpan was running called Face-Six, which built
the facial recognition software and continues
to market it on a project-by-project basis. A
large US church approached Face-Six to build a
custom app. Greenshpan quickly realized there
was an untapped niche market.
“We didn’t have the intention to get into the
church market, but sometimes that’s what happens in business,” Greenshpan says.
On the technical end, Churchix can scan
thousands of pictures in a matter of seconds
because its algorithms reduce picture data to
text information.
“We measure the different parts of the face,
such as the distance between the eyes, and at
the end of the process we are left with a vector,” Greenshpan explains. So instead of having
to process large images, Churchix merely has to
calculate the similarities between text strings.
THE JEWISH LEADER, JULY 3, 2015 11
Israel leads the way in hi tech agriculture
Phytech is teaming up with ADAMA to bring its PlantBeat
service to farms in the US and Brazil
By David Shamah, Times of Israel
ytech, an Israeli agritech firm that is bringing the Internet of Things to the plant world, has teamed up with
ADAMA Agricultural Solutions to sell its plant-alert system to farmers in North and South America.
The deal, said Phytech CEO Sarig Duek, is a key one for the
company. “We believe that ADAMA’s grower-focused approach
will ensure the successful implementation of the technology for
the benefit of growers worldwide,” he commented.
ADAMA is the new name for veteran Israeli company
Makhteshim-Agan — once one of the world’s largest supplier
of insecticides and herbicides, and today a part of even-bigger
ChemChina, which acquired the Israeli firm in 2014. ADAMA still
operates as an independent unit, and is as dominant in the business as ever; the company’s 2014 revenues were about $3.2 billion, up $200 million from the previous year.
As a result, Phytech should have no problem reaching customers globally for its PlantBeat service, which equips crops
with sensors that record information about the growing environment. The system keeps track of how much water the plants
have been getting, how moist the soil is, the soil temperature,
and other data. The sensors upload the information to a cloud
server, where it is analyzed and migrated to a mobile app that
Phytech users download. The app indicates how healthy a plant
is, and what to do to improve its performance.
Like a physician who measures a heartbeat, explained Phytech
Vice-President Itay Mayer, their system measures “plantbeat,”
the physical signs given off by the plant — hence the name of the
sensor monitoring system.
“If you are seeking to optimize yields during the season, there
is no better sensor than the plant itself to help you make the best
decision,” continued Mayer. “By listening to a plant’s needs, we
are able to produce a predictive model for precise decision-making. Through PlantBeat, a plant’s needs are identified before the
P
Phytech sensors attached to tomato plants. (Courtesy)
stress is visible — before a health decline is visible — in the field
or orchard.”
The low-cost sensors can be attached to sample plants to take
readings within an immediate area of several square meters,
with multiple sensors set up as an array to get the full picture of
conditions in a growing area. The sensors include simple lithium
batteries — which can last for up to a year — and they upload
the data in an encrypted manner using cellphone networks, with
the data secured from prying eyes.
According to Phytech, some 60% of tomato farmers and 40%
of cotton growers in Israel already use the system. Last year, the
company set up a pilot program in California, which has proven
to be very successful — hence the decision, the company said, to
expand across the US.
Phytech, established in 1998 and now boasting about 20 employees, was reorganized in 2011, when it developed the plantsensor system. As part of the new collaboration between the two
companies, pilot projects are already underway in the US and
Brazil, with more countries expected to follow in the coming
months, the companies said.
Dani Harari, SVP of strategy and resources of ADAMA,
said that “the company’s core
purpose is to simplify farmers’
lives and improve their yields
by ‘creating simplicity in agriculture.’ This collaboration
with is a powerful example of
how ADAMA, with its global,
farmer-centric commercialization platform, is uniquely positioned to bring simplicity and
the best of Israeli innovation
to farmers around the world.”
Itay Mayer of Phytech added: “We are bringing the Internet of Things vision to the
world’s farmers via a unique,
in-season
decision-making
tool. The PlantBeat service
removes the burden of data
interpretation from the farmer. Providing data charts and
graphs to a farmer can be timeconsuming and even meaningless if unaccompanied by
expert interpretation and real
insights. And, by sending realtime insights to a farmer’s mobile device, we are essentially
putting a 24/7 expert agronomist in the hands and pockets
of farmers.”
Interfaith Encounter Association wins peace prize
L
By Abigail Klein Leichman, Israel21c
ast July, as the conflict between Israel and Hamas in
Gaza raged, dozens of Jews, Muslims and Christian met
for dinner to jointly break the Muslim Ramadan fast
and the Jewish fast of the 17th of Tammuz.
In September, 25 Christians, Jews and Muslims went hiking
together up north. In February, four teenagers from Hebron traveled past the checkpoint into Jerusalem to meet three Jewish
peers in a hummus restaurant to talk about Muslim and Jewish
holiday customs.
Meetings like these happen quietly across Israel on a monthly
basis, sponsored by the Interfaith Encounter Association (IEA).
The group’s founder, Yehuda Stolov, and assistant director, Salah
Alladin, were this year’s winner of the $10,000 Institute of International Education (IIE) Victor J. Goldberg Prize for Peace in the
Middle East.
“We’ve established 71 ongoing interfaith groups from the
Upper Galilee to Eilat, about half of them active,” Stolov tells ISRAEL21c. “Maybe the most novel thing is an ongoing dialogue
between West Bank settlers and Palestinians. Altogether, we
touch more than 10,000 people. Five or six research studies all
concluded that these conversations are effective in changing the
attitudes of participants, most of whom have never had other
experiences like this.”
IIE Goldberg Prize Winners Yehuda Stolov and Salah Alladin
of the Interfaith Encounter Association, photo by Noam Moskowitz
It was his own attitude change that spurred Stolov to start IEA
in 2001. For several years he had participated in a Jerusalem encounter group between Jews and Christian theology students.
IEA participants Rabbi Yakov
Nagen and Sheikh Sufi, embracing at the eighth annual
Jerusalem Hug Day in June
2014. Photo by Dida Mulder
“At first it was intellectual
fun, but after a while I realized
my own prejudices toward
Christianity and Christians
were changing,” says Stolov,
54, who has a PhD in physics
and Jewish thought. “This type
of conversation has transforming power.”
Launched around the same time as the second intifada — the
five-year Arab uprising that resulted in 1,137 Israeli deaths —
IEA’s platform for building peace between communities does not
include any political plank.
“We realized building peace in the holy land has to be first
a grassroots process, because we live side by side and have no
option of having no interaction,” says Stolov. “As long as we don’t
learn how to interact positively, we interact negatively. When the
process is advanced enough, it will be possible to think about
political models. Right now all are equally unrealistic but they’ll
be equally realistic if we succeed.”
“At first it was intellectual fun, but after a while I realized my
own prejudices toward Christianity and Christians were changing. This type of conversation has transforming power.”
Among the active IEA members are rabbis, sheikhs, midwives,
young adults, young women, pre-army yeshiva students, Palestinian villagers, medical students, mothers and daughters, ultraOrthodox Jews and students from the David Yellin College of
Education in Jerusalem.
Each group has a coordinator to provide “soft” facilitation.
Participants speak in English, Hebrew or Arabic about topics
such as prayer, non-violence, health, language study and coexistence.
Alladin, an Arab citizen of Jerusalem, came on board as the
Jerusalem Young Adult group coordinator in 2002. “He became
more and more involved, and around nine years ago, I suggested
that he become assistant director,” says Stolov. Now in his 30s,
Alladin works as an accountant but consults with Stolov every
day on the direction of the IEA.
12
THE JEWISH LEADER, JULY 3, 2015
EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR’S REPORT
Barnes, and they will have a very good year.
All these changes remind us that the true strengths
of a community are its people, not its physical assets.
Each one of us makes our Jewish community what it
is. Not our buildings, which are becoming a drain on
our resources, but our people make up our community. When we work together and support each other
we can count on that routine to make us confident,
assured, brave, happy, and decisive. Rabbi Rosenberg
was a constant. He never missed a Rabbis’ meeting;
he was never even late for one. He cooperated in almost all our communal endeavors. His work went
beyond his congregation: Jewish Community High
School, Connecticut College, Rotary, The Greater New
London Area Clergy Association all benefited from
his involvement and leadership.
Sometimes he was frustrated that he could not
pull more Temple Emanu-El members to community
programs, and sometimes he was thrilled when so
many showed up. But he was always positive. And he
was open to prodding. With all on his plate he never
shied away from taking on an extra activity or service, whether it was a bat mitzvah for a Connecticut
College student or a model Seder that the Federation
and Temple Emanu-El hosted for area churches. And
I know that he will, just as Rabbi Astor has, continue to be involved in community and congregational
events and programs.
Perhaps the most significant events in our community this past year occurred at Connecticut College. It
was our first full year with the Zachs Hillel House and
the new Director of Hillel, Rabbi Susan Schein. She
has infused the campus and the community with a
warm, loving Yiddishe Neshama. The students, who
so appreciated Rabbi Rosenberg, have come to love
Rabbi Schein. She, and the Federation, are looking
forward to the coming year when the Hillel House,
which served as a study space while the Shain Library was rebuilt, will be available full time to the
Hillel students and to the community. As we reflect
on Eastern Connecticut’s rabbis, we can be proud
that we now have two full time female rabbis and two
rabbis from the Reconstructionist movement. Henry
Zachs’ vision of creating strong Hillels on Connecticut’s college campuses is a blessing for all of us.
However, there were serious issues at Connecticut
College over the unfortunate Facebook posting of one
professor, and the scrawling of racist graffiti on the
walls of Crozier. Alas, the issues were exploited by anti-Israel advocates both in our community and on the
campus. They were countered very effectively, in part
because the pro-Palestinian programs and presentations were weak, and in part because Daniel Robinson, who lives in New London and holds both Israeli
and U.S. citizenship, effectively defended Israel in the
best of the programs spurred by the controversy. The
rising tide of anti-Israel and anti-Semitic voices on
America’s campuses is something we are concerned
about and ready to counter. But we must do so in a
measured and meaningful way that goes beyond accusing speakers of anti-Semitism. By the way, the
administration of the College was very aware of the
attempts by outside forces to exploit the unfortunate
situation to advance their cause.
****
When I was pursuing my first graduate degree in
Ethnomusicology at Hunter College, CUNY, two music professors, Brandel and Kimmel, shared their personal approaches to academia and to life. Professor
Brandel insisted that the key to the right answer is to
ask the right question, an approach later advocated
CONT. FROM PAGE 1
by Nobel Prize winning scientist Eric Kandel. Professor Kimmel continued to learn throughout his life by
dedicating three year spans of learning to a topic unrelated to his core specialty.
I fear that we are not asking the right questions,
nor are we learning new ways to look at problems.
When discussions take place regarding congregations joining together or cooperating closely the
questions seem to be about who will control the money or who is gaining the advantage. We do not seem
to ask the right questions, which should be: How can
we strengthen the Jewish community? How can we
ensure the continuation of our traditions and beliefs?
Asking questions that raise suspicions and challenge
motivations poison the process. Asking questions
that honestly recognize the current state of affairs
and seek a path towards a more realistic and secure
future offers a vision and a hope.
We have nine congregations in the Federation’s
catchment. Three of them are renting to churches for
2 to 6 days a week. One of them rents to a State Hospital program, one to a nursery school. Three have
part time or no rabbis.
We are not alone in facing the dual challenges of
a significant turn away from religious Judaism and a
shrinking Jewish population in a small, economically
depressed community. These trends were noted in
the Pew Report. Because we are not alone, there are
lessons we can learn from other communities. But we
are unique, and we will need to fashion those lessons
into solutions that will work for us, with our geography and social dynamics. It is a daunting challenge.
We are not alone in facing the dual
challenges of a significant turn away
from religious Judaism and a shrinking
Jewish population in a small and economically depressed community.
In New London the two Congregational Churches,
First and Second, defeated, by one vote (!), a motion
to merge. One closed and relocated to Waterford and
one dissolved. That is not a model we should try to
emulate.
When we have come together, for the Shabbaton,
the Shavuot night of Torah study, for Jewish Community High School, for the Institute of Adult Education,
or for the Holocaust Commemoration or Israel Independence Day we rejoice in the energy of the community. However, when we try to gather in our separate
congregations for a weekday minyan, or even for a
Kabbalat Shabbat or a Shabbat morning service we
frequently fret until we get the requisite 10th person
or turn away despondent because the 10th person,
or man, did not arrive.
This is not a new problem. I remember Lou Detz
(of blessed memory), during evening minyanim years
ago dispatching me to the phone closet to call xxx,
and then yyy, and then zzz. We were usually lucky,
but now the xyz generation is almost gone, and those
remaining cannot hop into their car and drive over to
make a minyan. And minyanim are important. Not because God needs us but because we need each other,
especially in times of mourning and grief. We should
not bowl alone, and we should not grieve alone. Kol
Yisrael Areivim Ze b’Zeh. All Israel is responsible for
one another. That is the spirit which must inform our
efforts to ensure the future of Jewish life in Eastern
Connecticut.
Lynda Stolz, who learned how to cook kosher
meals, and knew more about heckshers than most
rabbis, frequently helped a senior endure the passing
of a spouse. She admired our system of shiva, and be-
cause of her position as Director of Senior and Community Services she went to a lot of shivas. She even
delivered a few eulogies. And she knew full well that
it was the presence of community that made shiva
so special, and it is the sense of community, the camaraderie and the socialization, that makes senior
lunches and activities so important. We will miss
Lynda dearly.
We will miss Rabbis Astor and Rosenberg. We will
also miss Sharon Astor and Karen Rosenberg. Sharon
Astor served on the Chevre Kadisha for Beth El and
she was our PJ Library coordinator. Laura Frommer
has ably taken over PJ Library, but Chevre Kadisha
now needs a new volunteer. Karen Rosenberg was
head of school for Solomon Schechter Academy (SSA)
and an important teacher at Temple Emanu-El’s religious school. Tracy Todd did an excellent job bridging
this year at SSA and Barbara Wolfe is poised to take
over as head of school and keep the Solomon Schechter Academy going as a small but mighty school and
center of serious Jewish education for our young
people.
However, we are challenged in terms of Jewish
educators. The Rabbis are a great resource, but our
religious schools, Hebrew High School, and Schechter
Academy need Jewish educators. We should consider
having the Federation and all the Congregations pool
resources in order to support some very capable local teachers in Jewish pedagogy and give them the
encouragement and motivation to grow in their skills
and enthusiasm. We are sending two educators this
year to NewCAJE 6 (Central Agency for Jewish Education) which is being held at the University of Hartford
from August 2-5. This is a start.
This may seem counterintuitive as school populations decline, but it is exactly at this moment that we
need to inject vitality and energy into Jewish education in eastern CT. The Young Emissaries bring a lot
of vitality and energy but we also need more good
teachers and school administrators.
The Federation’s role is to bring the community
together and to help spark Jewish life for the young,
the middle-aged, and the elderly. And it is to support
Israel and build real human ties to that country. And
it is to extend our hand, as a Jewish community, to
all those in need. I think that we fulfilled those roles
well this year.
Our staff is exceptional, dedicated, efficient and
caring. Mimi Perl, office manager and Jewish Leader
Editor and Jeannine Martino, bookkeeper, in the office; Marcia Reinhard, Director of Israel and Youth
Programming; Beth Hubbert, Case Manager; Nickie
Padilla, Strochlitz Holocaust Resource Center Coordinator; Norm Belanger, Kosher Hot Lunch chef (using
Lynda’s recipes!) and Nancy Bartlett, kitchen aide;
Karla Bendor, Kosher Hot Lunch resource person and
Literacy Volunteer coordinator; Rachel Sheriff, campaign associate and IT maven; Laura Frommer, our PJ
Library coordinator; and this year’s exceptional two
Young Emissaries, Noa Brosh and Ron Peleg. We also
benefited from the work of Jesse Fryburg who helped
us write our United Way applications. He served JFEC
as an intern from UCONN’s Department of Public Policy and Professional Practice Program. And we have
the help and support of a very large crew of volunteers who will be listed throughout the report.
We are always mindful of and grateful for the support of the Board of Directors and of the important
and generous support of our donors. May it be another good year for all of us, and a better year for Israel
and all her people.
THE JEWISH LEADER, JULY 3, 2015 13
Help is on the way for the sleep deprived
By Abigail Klein Leichman, Israel21c
Are you a sleep struggler? If so, you’re in good company. It’s
estimated that about 45 percent of the world’s population suffers from sleep deprivation, and that has a devastating trickledown effect.
“Sleep struggler” is the term used by Sleep ASAP (Art Science
Awareness Platform), a sleep-management organization seeking
to raise awareness of the scope and severity of sleep deprivation in all its varied forms, and to educate sleep-deprived people
across the globe about many methods for getting a good night’s
sleep without narcotics.
Based in Jerusalem, Sleep ASAP is launching meetups in 12
major cities (including Toronto, Chicago, Melbourne, Los Angeles, Boston, San Francisco and Seattle), where sleep strugglers
can meet one another and hear from professionals in areas such
as psychology, neurology, music therapy, art and color therapy,
meditation, guided imagery, light therapy and naturopathy.
And for the rest of the world, Sleep ASAP offers “iCanSleep”
webinars – 15 of them so far — where professionals provide advice, support and information in videos lasting under an hour.
“This startup has a mission rather than a product. We call it
people-powered healthcare,” says cofounder and COO Nadav
Lankin, 37, an entrepreneur who introduced the Lean Mean
Startup Machine model to Israel last October.
“Sleep ASAP could have a huge economic impact because in
the US economy, sleep disorders cost an estimated $69 billion
each year in lost productivity, human errors and car accidents.
We believe it will have an impact on society and also on future
academic research. We are gathering data from the cloud about
sleep behaviors, turning them into big-data patterns and finding effective solutions from sleep experts. Basically it’s a Waze to
find better and faster sleep solutions.”
Sleep ASAP has partnered with the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI) Network in Washington, DC,
to put sleep strugglers and health experts in contact and to make
the platform available to researchers and students internationally.
“We look forward to collaborating with PCORI to provide
more effective data and find personalized ways to help people
who are struggling,” says Lankin. “We know of 89 different sleep
disorders, each responding to different types of treatments, and
yet physicians only know about the three to five disorders that
are most common. So there’s a huge gap between the solutions
and the treatments doctors can recommend.”
The energy to be inspired
Sleep ASAP founder and CEO Hemda Idel, 37, has degrees
in psychology and graphic design. She was looking for ways to
combine her interests in a product that would “inspire people to
fulfill their inner goals and ambitions,” she tells ISRAEL21c.
“Often we don’t have the energy to be inspired because we’re
MENTION
CONT. FROM PAGE 2
The Williams School. She is the granddaughter of Marvin Horwitz of Delray Beach, FL and Sandford Blitz of Hudson, ME.
Congratulations to Noah Greenleaf for making the Dean’s
List at UCONN Avery Point for the Spring 2015 semester. Noah is
the son of Elyse Landesberg of Waterford.
Matthew Hausmann, son of Geoff and Susan Hausmann
(Waterford) and grandson of Rosalyn Braverman (New London) graduated from Waterford High School. Matthew graduated with recognitions of CAPT Scholar, National Honor Society
and High Honors. Matthew will be attending the University of
Connecticut in the fall. CT UConn Huskie, symbol of might to the
foe, Fight fight CT, It’s victory, Let’s GO!!!!!
C’mon people....there are a LOT more graduates and Dean’s
List/Honor Roll students out there; we’ve seen names in the local papers (and even pictures). The unfortunate thing (for some,
anyway!) is that I don’t know your names...so please be good
doo-bees and send me all the news worth printing....
New hope for sleep strugglers. Image via Shutterstock
too tired, so I wanted to create something based on positive
thinking that would help people go to sleep with a smile in order
to improve the quality of their sleep and wake up energetic and
motivated.”
Idel began working toward this goal at the Siftech incubator in Jerusalem, but further research revealed an unmet need
to provide drug-free alternatives for the many people suffering
from physical and mental barriers to good sleep.
“I understood that the biggest gift I can give to others is the
ability to sleep, and then if they are able to sleep they can get inspired,” says Idel. “We can help more people by providing a wide
range of tools to help them fall asleep easily and have quality
sleep as well.”
Idel and Lankin founded the company in 2014 along with
chief marketing officer Amit Ganor, 27. Sleep ASAP’s medical adviser and webinar moderator is medical technology consultant
Dr. Nahum Kovalski, former assistant medical director of Terem,
Israel’s urgent-care network.
Sleep ASAP also is partnered with “Sleep Ambassador” Nancy
H. Rothstein, director of Circadian Corporate Sleep Programs in
Chicago and New York, and host of The Sleep Radio Show; and
Hanna Chusid, a psychologist and yoga therapist in Los Angeles.
Building a sleep database
“When we dug deeper, we found there is lack of knowledge
and awareness about what sleep does for us, and that finding a
solution that works takes trial and error,” says Lankin.
CASE MANAGEMENT
CONT. FROM PAGE 4
needed to make choices. They had to turn to food pantries for
assistance. We are one of the referral centers for the New London Area Food Pantry located in the OIC Building in New London. They can use New London Area Food Pantry once a month.
There are local churches that have food pantries that are open
one day a week that they can use. We steer our patrons to as
many resources as possible.
This year was our ninth year as a FEMA agency. We were able
to help 39 clients with utility bills at an average of $125 a bill.
The work for this program is extensive and extremely complex
although we feel that the assistance we can provide is worth the
effort.
I worked with United Way on a program called Project
Warm-Up, which allowed clients one time assistance of up to
$200 towards their major source of heat. We were able to assist 10 clients with this program. I have worked with the following agencies to help a client so the expense doesn’t fall on one
agency New London Catholic Charities, Norwich Catholic Charities, St. James Episcopal Church of New London, Norwich Social
Services, Groton Social Services, Safe Futures and Shiloh Baptist Church. It is team work.
“From interviewing people,
we found that sometimes it
takes an individual five to 25
years to overcome sleep problems and find a solution that
works.”
“We learned that people
are looking for solutions from
an objective source that is not
selling anything,” adds Idel.
Sleep ASAP is launching
a private closed alpha for its
mobile application, aiming to
gather data to better understand what works for people
and what doesn’t.
“We hope to have the first
100,000 people in the database by the end of 2015,” says
Lankin, “and to integrate Internet of Things devices into the
platform to bring much more
data into the system.”
Mostly self-funded, Sleep
ASAP will apply to PCORI
grants and also plans to enter
a joint data venture with a US
company through the BIRD
Foundation and National Institutes of Health, which sponsors several sleep-disorder research projects.
“We are also looking for a
European base in order to integrate our solution into a bigdata European project called
FIWARE, an open-source
cloud-based infrastructure to
adapt and integrate Internet
applications and services on a
large scale,” says Lankin.
AMSTERDAM
CONT. FROM PAGE 2
Van der Laan said he would
still work to advance cooperation between the cities, but did
not make clear what form such
cooperation would take, Channel 2 reported.
Coincidentally, the decision came the same day as
an announcement by British
low-cost airline EasyJet that it
would begin operating a new
Tel Aviv-Amsterdam route.
The airline said one-way
fares would start at less than
50 euros ($55).
The Netherlands’ ambassador to Israel Caspar Veldkamp
hailed the new flight route,
telling financial newspaper
Globes that the connection
“would provide yet another
boost to our strong ties.”
REMEMBER YOUR
SUBSCRIPTION
14
THE JEWISH LEADER, JULY 3, 2015
Iran talks to continue beyond June 30 deadline
Iranian Foreign Minister Zarif returns to Tehran to consult
with leadership over disagreements in negotiations.
By Omri Efraim, News Agencies, Ynetnews
ranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif on Sunday, June 28, left Vienna for Tehran for consultations with
his country’s leaders, while Iranian and American officials
said talks would continue beyond the self-imposed June 30
deadline.
According to an Iranian source, Zarif returned to consult with
the Islamic Republic’s leadership amid more than a few disagreements with Western countries.
“If the other side ... takes positive steps and does not make excessive demands, we will certainly reach a deal that benefits everyone,” Zarif was quoted as saying by state news agency IRNA.
Meanwhile, some on the other side of the negotiations table
are trying to convey optimism.
“If a few days more are needed we will take them,” European
Union foreign policy chief Frederica Mogherini told reporters on
arrival in Vienna. “It is going to be tough... but not impossible. It
is a matter of political will,” she said before meeting the US, British, German and French foreign ministers.
British Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond sounded less encouraging.
“There a number of different areas where we still have major differences of interpretation in detailing what was agreed in
(the) Lausanne (framework agreement),” Hammond told reporters on arrival in Vienna. He was referring to a framework deal
agreed on April 2.
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“There is going to have to
be some give or take if we are
to get this done in the next
few days,” he said, adding that
there were red lines that could
not be crossed. “No deal is better than a bad deal.”
French Foreign Minister
Laurent Fabius said there
were three essential conditions for the deal: “A lasting
limitation of Iran’s research
and development capacity, a
rigorous inspection of sites,
including military if needed,
and the third condition is the
automatic return of sanctions
in case it violates its commitments.”
Prime Minister Benjamin
Netanyahu commented on the
talks at a Sunday morning cabinet meeting.
“Two days before the expiration date for attaining an
agreement between the powers and Iran, there is no demand for Iran to change its
behavior and there is total indifference to all its violations,
all its radical demands, and
the concessions to Iran keep
growing,” he said.
“We see before us a blatant
retreat from the red lines the
powers set for themselves only
recently and publicly. There is
no reason whatsoever to rush
signing this bad agreement
that gets worse every day.”
Both sides were sure to
maintain a cautious pessimism
from the beginning of the current round of talks. A Western
official said the coming days
would be particularly difficult
and that the talks could extend
beyond the deadline by a day
or two.
EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini and Zarif in Switzerland
(Photo: EPA)
John Kerry (L) with Mohammad Javad Zarif in the last round of
talks in Geneva (Photo: AP)
The controversy has mainly revolved around the issue of
sanctions. Last week Iran’s spiritual leader Ali Khamenei declared that a final nuclear agreement would require the West
to immediately remove all sanctions as soon as the agreement
comes into effect. But Washington and Europe insist on removing sanctions gradually, in proportion with Iran’s compliance.
As though these disputes were not problematic enough, US
President Barack Obama also received a slap in the face last week
in the form of an open letter signed by a group of former senior
American advisors and experts, including five who worked for
him during his first administration, warning that the agreement
being formulated would “fall short of meeting the administration’s own standard of a ‘good’ agreement”.
HOLOCAUST RESOURCE CENTER
sentations in area schools
by Holocaust Survivors and
children of survivors. Henny
Simon, Joe and Hyman Biber
have all done assembly-style
presentations to hundreds of
students and teachers.
It’s been my pleasure to
respond to research and educational questions that I periodically receive from the
community. I look forward to
continuing to expand the role
and presence of the Rose and
Sigmund Strochlitz Holocaust
Resource Center over the upcoming year and welcome
your input. Please stop in and
look around.
CONT. FROM PAGE 7
THE JEWISH LEADER, JULY 3, 2015 15
July 4: Native American Nakba
O
n July 3, 2014 the website of the National Museum of the
American Indian published a blog by Native American
writer Dennis Zotigh entitled: “Do American Indians celebrate the 4th of July?” Zotigh begins his brief review of American Indian history with
a well-known observation: “As the American non-Indian population increased, the indigenous population greatly decreased,
along with their homelands and cultural freedoms.” He goes on
to note something much less well known: In the early 1880’s,
U.S. Secretary of the Interior Henry Teller developed regulations,
known as the Religious Crimes Code, that outlawed American
Indian ceremonial life. Zotigh writes: “Enforced on reservations
[until the mid-1930’s], the code banned Indian ceremonies, disrupted religious practices, and destroyed or confiscated sacred
objects. Indian ceremonial activities were prohibited under
threat of imprisonment and/or the withholding of treaty rations.” How does July 4th fit into the picture? It seems that Native
American tribes saw an opportunity to practice their own traditional ceremonies during this time of general American celebration. Indian superintendents and agents essentially turned a
blind eye toward the particularistic nature of these ceremonies
and justified them as celebrations of American ideals. “That history,” according to Zotigh, “is why a disproportionate number of
American Indian tribal gatherings take place on or near the 4th of
July and are often the social highlights of the year. Over time
these cultural ceremonies became tribal homecomings.” Through Facebook, the National Museum of the American
Indian solicited responses to find out contemporary Native
American attitudes toward the 4th of July. A dozen representa-
PRESIDENT’S REPORT
munity was blessed with two
outstanding Young Emissaries,
Noa Brosh and Ron Peleg.
Noa and Ron worked with
all the congregations and
taught both at Hebrew schools
and at The Solomon Schechter
Academy. They spoke at many
public schools, at The Williams
School, at Sacred Heart, and at
Rotary clubs. They delivered
important messages about Israel during a very trying year,
and they did it excellently.
They were loved everywhere
they went. Noa and Ron, we
will miss you and will think of
you often. We wish you well as
you return to Israel and begin
your service in the Israel Defense Forces.
Our Strochlitz Holocaust
Resource Center had another
great year under the direction
of Nickie Padilla. East Lyme,
Griswold, Plainfield, Old Saybrook and the Williams School
participated this year. You can
read all of the details in the
Center’s report. Two of the
teachers, Shannon Saglio and
Matt LaConti are being honored at our annual meeting
on June 18 with the Yad b’Yad
Award for their remarkable
dedication to Holocaust education and remembrance.
Laura Frommer oversaw
TEDDY WEINBERGER
© 2015, Teddy Weinberger
tive responses were printed in the blog from
various tribal members across the U.S. The
responses range from a person who appreciates the opportunity to attend the Kiowa Gourd
Dance Celebration (“for three days we are just
in Kiowa heaven”), to an Indian from Oklahoma
for whom the celebration of July 4th “represents
freedom in the United States of America,” to a
Navajo Indian who views the day as just being
an opportunity for a vacation from work and to
be with family, to the Delaware Indian grandmother, of whom it is said wore a black dress
on July 4th and who is quoted as saying “I will
mourn on this day.” Even this grandmother,
though, recognized that July 4th is also a day for
honoring U.S. veterans, of whom Native Americans are disproportionately well represented,
and so she said: “Out of respect we will honor
their day, because our people helped them.” Is July 4th the Native American Nakba? This
Arabic term, which literally means “catastrophe,”
refers to the displacement of Palestinians from
their homes by the creation of the State of Israel. As the title to Dennis Zotigh’s blog implies, theoretically July 4th would be an appropriate day to
symbolize the devastation that was brought to
Native American peoples and cultures by white
immigration to North America. However, to
indeed judge from the website of the National
Museum of the American Indian, it is apparent
that July 4th is not a day
of catastrophe for Native
Americans--which
is
probably why you have
never even thought that
it might be so. Can you empathize
with Israel’s challenge
here? Unlike in America, where Native Americans represent only a little over 1% of the
population, Israeli Arabs constitute one fifth
of the population, and they now often identify
as Palestinian citizens of Israel. And these Palestinians mourn Israeli Independence Day as
their nakba. Even the Gregorian date for nakba observance is rapidly going out of fashion
(this is on May 15, the day after the Declaration
of Israel’s independence on May 14, 1948). Nakba is more and more observed according to
the Hebrew calendar, according to when Yom
Ha’Atzmaut falls out.
Could America tolerate a situation where a
significant percentage of its population went
into mourning on July 4th? I’m really not sure. Does Israel tolerate this on its own Independence Day? Yes. Food for thought on this July
4th. May you have a happy one-- and God Bless
America.
CONT. FROM PAGE 1
another successful year with our PJ Library. The Grinspoon
Foundation will provide us with more guidance and support as
we seek to strengthen the ties of our families with young children to each other and to the community and try to find even
more families who are currently unaffiliated. And, to react to the
positive feedback about PJ Library, the age for book distribution
is moving up to 8 years old!
We had one significant staff change this year. Lynda Stolz retired. She had been Director of our Senior and Community Services division for 22 years. Linda cares, really cares. She gave
every senior respect, consideration, and encouragement. She
cooked meals for our kosher hot lunch program with love. She
organized programs, outings and theater trips, and even drove
seniors to all of those programs. She opened her own home to
summer parties and receptions. She loved her seniors and they
loved her. We will miss her very much.
We carry on, and we carry on well. Norm Belanger runs our
kitchen with Nancy Bartlett. We are very fortunate that Karla
Bendor has stepped into Lynda’s shoes, overseeing each meal
and meeting with affection and respect.
Beth Hubbert continues as our case manager and is the conduit for the mindful care that our Federation shows to the needy
in our community. She is ably assisted in our Food Pantry by
Mitchell Kline.
We welcome our new, efficient bookkeeper, Jeannine Martino
and look forward to having her as part of JFEC for many years.
Mimi Perl continues to be invaluable, making sure everything
runs effectively and producing our exceptional local Jewish paper, The Jewish Leader. You can read her report further on in the
booklet.
Finally, the entire operation is overseen, motivated, driven by
our Executive Director, Jerry Fischer. He is a bundle of energy,
a source of ideas, and perhaps one of the most dedicated Jewish professionals in the Federation field today. He has completed
30 years with us, was honored at the last General Assembly in
Washington DC, and is now the senior Jewish communal worker
in all of New England. We are amazingly fortunate that he is at
the helm.
...We will need all our collective
strength and courage – and together
we will succeed!
All of the activities and programs I mentioned would not be
possible without your support. Thank you for your donations of
time and money, for your encouragement and commitment. We
could not do any of this without you. May we all go from strength
to strength as we enter another challenging year. We will need
all our collective strength and courage – and together we will
succeed!
Chuck and Romana Primus, Owners
Come in! We’d like to meet you!
475 Broad St., New London CT • 860-443-CITY
16
THE JEWISH LEADER, JULY 3, 2015
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