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Annual Campaign turns into a team sport at draft event

New shlicha meets colleagues

Federation Annual Meeting includes tributes, elections 3 Cyber warfare’s new reality adds to Israel’s battlefield 4 Craft Beer Revue draws crowd under the white tent 8 Sections Lifecycles

Hold the date for Jewish learning

ark Sunday, Nov. 18, on your calendars for a Global Day of Jewish Learning at Akiva School. It’s a chance to learn with Rabbi Zvi Hirschfield, a faculty member in Talmud at the Pardes Institute of Jewish Studies in Jerusalem. The Jewish Federation of Nashville is presenting the event in cooperation with all of Nashville’s synagogues and a host of community agencies and groups. More information is available on the back page of this Observer and in future Observers.

www.jewishobservernashville.org

A Publication of

www.jewishnashville.org VOL.77 NO. 16 September 7, 2012 20 Elul 5772

ow often do people compete to give something away? It’s happening right now, as the Jewish Federation of Nashville’s 2013 Annual Campaign gets under way. Eight teams met on Wed., Aug. 29 to draft community members whom they’ll contact in the next three months to ask them to continue to support and strengthen Jewish Nashville. Team members will be calling on those who have given $1,000 or more in the 2012 Annual Campaign. They’ll be soliciting pledges for 2013, which can be paid at any time through the end of 2013. The teams, with names like PredBrews and Sababa, are vying for the grand prize - $10,000 to support their area of interest among the programs and agencies that Federation supports. There are also prizes for team members and top performers overall. Those at the campaign kickoff and draft heard from Gail Norry, chair of the Jewish Federations of North America’s National Women’s Philanthropy. She talked about how

Steven Remer (left) draws the number that determines who goes first in the draft, as team captains Michael Simon (center), Janet Weismark and Leon Tonelson wait their turns.

she met her husband-to-be when she made her first pledge to Federation as a college student. Through her local Federation in Philadelphia, she and her husband helped craft new programs in Jewish education. Norry also has met Jews from around the world, particularly in the Former Soviet Union, and has learned how they re-established ties to the Jewish community and Judaism through Federation-supported pro-

grams. “This is really about building community,” she said. “Your gift and the work you’re doing is building hope not only in Nashville but in Israel and in 70 countries around the world,” Norry said. “Remember, we’re making a focused effort,” Annual Campaign Chair Steve Hirsch said. Quoting Larry the Cable Guy, he encouraged the teams to “git ’er done.” c More photos on page 6

Rabbi will draw on Nashville, Micah roots at first congregation By Kathy Carlson

ickie Roberts’ Jewish path led her first to Congregation Micah, then north to Cincinnati and rabbinical school, and now around the world to Australia. As Rabbi Nicole Roberts, she has accepted a position as assistant rabbi at North Shore Temple Emanuel in Sydney, Australia. She and 12 other graduates of the Hebrew Union College – Jewish Institute of Religion were ordained as rabbis on June 2 at the Plum Street Temple in Cincinnati. She doesn’t quite know when she’ll start her new position because visas for her and her husband, David Roberts, are a work in progress. The couple wanted to “find the best match for us,” Nickie Roberts said. “It took us pretty far.” They were open to an overseas assignment, David Roberts said. After Skype interviews came a trip to Australia so both could meet the full

congregation; Nickie had met Senior Rabbi Gary Robuck and his wife when they were in Cleveland, Ohio, earlier this year. He is American and a fellow graduate of HUC-JIR in Cincinnati. Meeting people in person in Sydney confirmed to the Robertses that the assignment would be a good fit. “We loved the people,” Nickie said. “That’s what sealed the deal. They were excited that we came. I could feel that through Skype. I liked every person more than the last.” “I think we’re both looking forward to the opportunity to see a different part of the world,” David said. “It’s a wonderful, warm, loving Jewish community. I’m looking forward to the experience and being a part of it.” One of Nickie’s professors at HUC, Rabbi Sam Joseph, has lived in Sydney. He had “so many good things to say about Australia and being a rabbi there,” she said. “He was very persuasive.” Congregation Micah’s founding rabbi, Ken Kanter, is now associate dean of HUC’s Continued on page 3

Rabbi Nicole Roberts receives a blessing at her ordination from Rabbi David Ellenson, president of Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion.

A note from the publisher of the Jewish Observer

s we approach the beginning of the Jewish New Year 5773, I want to wish our many Jewish Observer readers a very happy, healthy and sweet New Year. May it be a year of blessings and peace for you and your families. I want to advise all of you, well in advance, of an important upcoming change concerning the publication of the Jewish Observer. Effective January 1, 2013, the Observer, long a twicemonthly publication, will be published once a month. The decision to do so comes as a result of a number of realities which impact small publications like the Observer. First, design, printing and mailing costs continue to increase far in excess of the revenue we are able to generate to underwrite the rising expense of printing 23 issues a year. Next, we are very aware of the impact of the Internet on newspaper reading habits. There are literally hundreds of websites that deliver news of the Jewish world instantly and on a 24/7 basis. A printed newspaper simply cannot keep up with or compete on that level. We want to maintain our focus on news and events of local interest and we believe that can be done effectively in a monthly edition of the Observer.

Because community members rely on the Observer as a primary source of local news and events, we are focusing more attention on the Observer’s website, jewishobservernashville.org. As we move to a monthly publication, we will be posting items on the website more frequently with event updates and other items of local interest that are time-sensitive. I encourage you to visit the site to see what it has to offer. Above all, we will strive to offer a publication that is of the highest quality in terms of readability and appearance. During the next year, we will conduct a readership survey and will make additional changes to the printed edition of the paper that we hope will be received well by you, our loyal readership. I want to thank you for continuing to be a reader of the Observer. If you have any comments about the changes I’ve outlined above, you may contact me directly at mark@jewishnashville.org or by telephone at 615-354-1660. L’Shana Tova, Mark S. Freedman Publisher, the Jewish Observer and Executive Director, Jewish Federation of Nashville and Middle Tennessee

New shlicha meets colleagues, gets to know Music City

ashville’s newest community shlicha, Hadar Moskovitz, is learning her way around Nashville and took time as August wound down to meet some of the people she’ll work with in the months ahead. At a breakfast get-together at the Gordon Jewish Community Center, she met rabbis, synagogue staffers, leaders of Jewish agencies, and co-workers at the Jewish Federation of Nashville. The community shlicha program was “tremendously important for us in its first year,” said Mark Freedman, executive director of the Federation. Nashville’s first shlicha, Inbar Shaked, “built relationships based on friendship, understanding and sharing common concerns.” Hadar will build on Inbar’s work and place her own stamp on the program. “It’s been an amazing week for me,” she said. “Everyone is so nice; they welcomed me.” Hadar, 26, was born in a town in central Israel, completed her military service, and graduated from Ben Gurion University of the Negev, in Beersheva. “I wanted to do something for Beersheva, the community I was part of,” after graduation, she said. She became a coordinator of 50 students working in a one-on-one tutoring program with children. As a student, she had worked with a 6th grader named Grace who had made aliyah from Peru. “I had a great connection with her,” she said. Hadar had been a shlicha in the United States once before, as a 17-yearold traveling with a singing and dancing group called the Tzofim Friends Caravan that builds ties with Israel. “It was the

Rabbi Flip Rice of Congregation Micah, Hadar Moskovitz, and Temple Education Director Lynda Gutcheon

first time I met the Jewish community world,” she said. “I really wanted to come back for a second shliach, and create better links” to Israel. Now was the perfect time for a second shliach, she said. She had finished school and was looking for something meaningful. In Nashville, she’ll be able to teach Hebrew, about her military service, and about Israeli culture and current events. She’ll also work with college students through Vanderbilt University’s Hillel program. “I feel very lucky to be here,” she said. “It’s an amazing place.” Harriet Schiftan, Federation Planning and Partnership2Gether director, is Hadar’s supervisor. She met Hadar in Israel earlier this year. “I think the connection was immediate,” Schiftan said. “We’re delighted she chose us because we chose her.” To have Hadar speak to your congregation or group, contact Schiftan at harriet@jewishnashville.org or 354-1687. c

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Federation Annual Meeting includes tributes, elections

s the new year approaches, take stock of the past year for Nashville’s Jewish community at the 76th Annual Meeting of the Jewish Federation of Nashville and Middle Tennessee. The event will be held at 7 p.m. on Wed., Sept. 12 at the Gordon Jewish Community Center. The meeting is preceded by a special, by-invitation reception of the Jewish Foundation beginning at 5:30 p.m. The meeting will recognize Martin Ted Mayden, the outgoing president of the Federation, and Judith A. Saks, recently retired community relations director and editor of the Jewish Observer. Sandra Averbuch, the immediate past chair of the Annual Campaign, will receive the first Federation President’s Award. Outgoing Federation board members also will be recognized for their service. New officers and members of the

Federation Board of Directors will be elected, a new rabbinic representative will join the Board, and meeting participants will consider several amendments to the Federation’s constitution, including the establishment of the Jewish Foundation Development Committee and the creation of the Jewish Federation Council of Past Presidents. There are several other minor amendments, and all proposed amendments are on the Federation website, www.jewishnashville.org. For more information about the Annual Meeting or to RSVP, contact Barbara Schwarcz, at Barbara@jewishnashville.org or by phone at 354-1630. For more information about the Jewish Foundation reception, contact Risa Klein Herzog at risa@jewishnashville.org or by phone at 354-1651. The Annual Meeting and the Jewish Foundation reception are generously underwritten by SEI Investments. c

The Lipman S ounds of the shofar Group H oney and apples A new beginning L ots of smiles O pening a door to the New Year M emories of past and happy moments to come! May this New Year be ﬁlled with Health and Happiness, and Sweetness for you and your family. L' Shanah Tova! Jackie Karr - 615.330.9779 jackie.karr@sothebysrealty.com

Rabbi will draw on Nashville, Micah roots at first congregation Nashville at Micah and at Hebrew Union College who believe in me.” She is grateful for the Tisch Fellowship that helped her attend rabbinical school, a fellowship that focuses on scholarship, synagogue transformation, leadership and spirituality. Also, she participated twice in clinical pastoral education units, each involving 400 hours of work in hospitals and similar settings. Rabbi Julie Schwartz leads the pastoral counseling program at HUC-JIR. “Nicole was actually taking an advanced course adding to the basic required course. And that, of course, says it all,” Schwartz said in an email. “She took, during her senior year, a time when she might have chosen easier options, a very time-consuming and personally demanding course. … She has a gentle, compassionate way that allows her to care deeply for another while guiding them through their faith questions and life journey. She is the ‘real deal’ as a rabbi and I welcome her as my colleague although I regret that I will have to negotiate a time change in order to speak with her.” The Robertses acknowledge they’ve accepted a big change. David works in real estate in Nashville and may continue in that field. “I’m just going to start exploring,” he said. He’s gravitating toward a helping profession in which he’s working with people more than with things or data. “We feel very, very fortunate to have the opportunity to spend three years in Australia,” he said. “Nashville and Micah have been our community for years now,” Nickie said. “It’s all very hard to leave behind. “…We’re going because it’s a match and to have a meaningful experience and because we love the people there.” c

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Continued from page 1 Cincinnati campus and had served in Melbourne, Australia, while a rabbinical student. He encouraged her to consider a rabbinate in Australia, she said. “She’s going to be at a wonderful congregation,” Joseph said. “For someone who is such a warm person, with a passion about people and being involved and (who) loves to build community, I think she’s in a great place.” About 50,000 Jews live in Sydney, he said. That sounds large compared to Nashville’s 8,000-member Jewish community, but Sydney’s total population is about 4.5 million. Jews were among the first Europeans to come to Australia in 1788, so the Jewish community has been there since the beginning, Joseph said. The Jewish population grew after World War I and again after World War II with the arrival of Holocaust survivors. Many Hungarian survivors settled in Sydney. Nickie Roberts said that about 20 percent of Sydney’s Jewish community worship in Progressive congregations, as Reform congregations are known in Australia. Her new congregation is one of Sydney’s two Progressive synagogues. With 600 families, it’s slightly larger than Congregation Micah. Her rabbinical work will include adult education, scholarship, pastoral care, counseling and study. She’ll conduct services and give sermons, and may lead the congregation’s 90-student religious school. As she begins her rabbinate, she’ll draw on her experiences with adult congregational life before she became a rabbi; 10 years as an active member of Micah; role models; her experiences as a student rabbi, including at Micah. It also means a great deal to know “there are people in

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Cyber warfare’s new reality adds to Israel’s already complex battlefield By Ben Sales TEL AVIV (JTA) – As the frequency of suicide bombings increased in the 1990s, Israelis began to realize that their conflicts had shifted from the conventional battlefield to their streets, buses and cafes. Now the country – along with the rest of the world – is adapting to a new battlefield, one that defense experts call the “fifth dimension,” computers. The impact cannot be underestimated, says Dror Mor, CEO of the Sdema Group, an Israeli company that specializes in homeland security protection. “A big part of the next war, wherever it is in the world, will be cyber warfare to silence infrastructure, electricity, communications, movement of planes and trains,” he says. Land, air, sea and even space have been battlefronts for decades or centuries, but cyber warfare has gained prominence in the past few years and will continue to advance. Although some industries have been computerized for more than 50 years, increasingly complex viruses have made computers more vulnerable than ever to cyber attacks. Several viruses already have figured prominently in the Middle East. In 2010, the Stuxnet virus hit computers in Iran’s nuclear enrichment facilities, and observers say it set back the Islamic Republic’s alleged nuclear weapons program by as much as two years. Three months ago, Iran acknowledged that another virus, allegedly created by Israel and the U.S. and called Flame, had infected its computers. According to the Washington Post, the virus tapped into Iranian computer networks and accessed intelligence.

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And in August Gauss, a virus related to Stuxnet, hit personal computers in Lebanon and Israel, enabling the cyber attackers to access financial data and the social network profiles of tens of thousands of people. “The tech sector has become more open, which is good for business, but when that happens it’s bad for security,” says Avi Weissman, chairman of the Israeli Forum for Information Security. “States have learned to take advantage of this to create malicious code.” As Gauss showed, cyber warfare threatens private companies and governments. Transportation systems are especially vulnerable, Mor says.

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Cyber security developers like those seen here from Elbit, an Israeli defense electronics company, will need to play an increasingly integral role in halting more complicated computer viruses. (Courtesy Elbit Systems)

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“Someone can go in the system, confuse the stoplights and create big economic problems,” he says. A crisis also would ensue, Mor adds, “if you get into the Israeli train system and put two trains on the same track that have no idea that they’re going toward each other.” As to private companies, vulnerability to cyber attacks means that the actions of ordinary office employees could lead to a breach in a system’s security. “It’s a cultural change as to how an organization deals with protection,” Mor says. “You’re in an organization, you have a laptop and a flash drive. The flash drive you use with your computer and the computer in the office. How do we create a separation between the company network and the outside world?” Mor adds that the dangers stretch even beyond national defense and safeguarding civilian infrastructure. “If they stop the creation of cottage cheese, you think there will be a problem here?” he asks rhetorically, referring to a

staple of the Israeli diet. “People can’t live without cottage cheese.” Defense threats, however, especially concern information security experts in Israel, a country where national security issues dominate conversation. In fact, last year Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu launched the National Cyber Staff, which is charged with improving Israel's defenses against cyber warfare. Israel has not fought a full-scale conventional war against another country in nearly four decades, principally fighting terror groups since the 1980s. Still, the biggest cyber threats come from countries that have the necessary manpower to develop and execute a damaging attack, according to Isaac Ben-Israel, a professor of security and diplomacy at Tel Aviv University and former head of military research and development for the Israeli Defense Forces and Defense Ministry. “Terror groups work with small groups of people, so the likelihood that they’ll attack our system is small,” BenIsrael says. Israel also is the birthplace of internationally well-regarded information security companies such as the Sdema Group. But some experts say the country remains unprepared to meet potential cyber threats. “We’re OK relative to the world, but we are not OK relative to the threats in the region,” Ben-Israel says. Weissman of the Israeli Forum for Information Security points out that Israeli companies do not invest enough in cyber defenses because the dangers don’t seem as real as those of bombs. “This cyber threat seems far away, so why put money into it?” he asks. “Organizations don’t bring in enough people, they cut corners.” And, Weissman says, the government’s budget is too tight to invest the money it should to prevent cyber attacks. “Israel has a lot of problems: religious people and secular people, Arabs and Jews,” he says. “There aren’t any teeth to Israeli regulations because there isn’t money.” While Weissman calls for more money in technological education and cyber defense, he says it is no substitute for conventional hardware such as planes, bombs and soldiers. “It’s not going to take the place of conventional warfare just like chemical warfare isn’t replacing conventional warfare and planes don’t replace ground troops,” he says, adding that cyber warfare “will complete warfare.” c

National Conference on Jewish Affairs-Nashville The National Conference on Jewish Affairs is dedicated to supporting the rights and safety of the Jewish people in America, in Israel and around the world under the Rule of Law by providing strong Jewish leadership, advocacy and education to respond to and counter the growing, orchestrated demonizing of Israel, Jewry, and America. join us by sending your name and email to ncjanashville@gmail.com http://nationalconferenceonjewishaffairs.org/ http://www.ncjanashville.org/

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Contact Carrie Mills 615.354.1699 or e-mail carrie@nashvillejcc.org The Observer September 7, 2012

Annual Campaign turns into a team sport at draft event Continued from page 1

Team Sababa’s Sandy Averbuch (left), Jay Lefkovitz, Daniella Fleischer and Janet Weismark go over their options.

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Volunteer David Rosenblatt, Federation Executive Director Mark Freedman, incoming Federation President Andy May and Jewish Foundation Development Director Risa Klein Herzog take a break from the action.

B’kol zimrah v’todah! With a voice of joyous song and gratitude, I wish Everyone a

Shanah Tovah Um’tukah

– a good and sweet New Year. Hazzan Marcia Lane, Director of Ritual and Music West End Synagogue

L’shana Tova U’metuka! May your 5773 be filled with sweetness, joy and many blessings. Cantor Tracy Fishbein

ROSH HASHANAH GREETINGS Jill and Judge Dan Eisenstein

In Hollywood’s ‘The Possession,’ the dybbuk is back By Tom Tugend LOS ANGELES (JTA) -- Thought your daughter’s odd behavior was just another preteen phase? There may be an alternate explanation: The dybbuk is back. The malevolent spirit from 16th-century Jewish mysticism and folklore reappears in “The Possession,” a Hollywood film featuring Matisyahu and Kyra Sedgwick that opened over the Labor Day weekend. The film grossed more than $21 million in its first weekend. In keeping with the times, the spirit has migrated from the Eastern European shtetl of S. Ansky’s iconic play “The Dybbuk” to contemporary American suburbia and the home of Clyde Brenek, a high school basketball coach conflicted about the divorce from his wife and the father of two daughters. Clyde takes the girls – Hannah, 15, and Em, 11 – to a yard sale, where Em is oddly attracted to a small box inscribed with Hebrew letters and persuades her father to buy it. At home, overcome with curiosity, Em is in her room when she pries open the box and finds a bird’s skeleton, a lock of hair, strange carvings and an ancient-looking ring. Predictably, terrible things begin to happen. Em stabs her dad’s hand with a fork and giant moths invade her bedroom. Her father disposes of the box in a distant dumpster, but she sallies forth in her nightgown across a dark deserted street to retrieve it. The increasingly desperate father seeks medical advice; an MRI reveals strange apparitions within the girl’s body. A psychiatrist is ineffective. Finally, a professor recalls the dybbuk story and advises Clyde to travel to Brooklyn and appeal to an old Chasidic rabbi. Clyde’s pleadings are rejected by the rabbi, but the rabbi’s son, played by the reggae and alternative rock musician Matisyahu, takes pity and agrees to try an exorcism. In a stormy session, Em is freed of the dybbuk – the dislocated spirit of an odious sinner who dies before repenting and now seeks refuge from avenging angels. It then infests her father until it is finally forced to beat a protoplasmic retreat back into the box. Though seemingly defeated, the dybbuk eventually extracts its revenge. There is no gain in saying that the PG-13 movie is quite frightening, even to the mature skeptical mind. That said, it also is fairly safe to wager that “The Possession” will not win any Oscars, though young Canadian actress Natasha Calis, as the possessed girl, is convincingly frightening. Jeffrey Dean Morgan as the sorely tried father turns in a solid performance, while Sedgwick is stuck in the role of his shrill, angry ex-wife, Stephanie. Matisyahu as the exorcist makes an impressive screen debut. Horrormeister Sam Raimi is the coproducer, with Danish director Ole Bornedal at the helm of the film. The Lionsgate/Ghosthouse production is based on a 2004 Los Angeles Times article by Leslie Gornstein titled “A jinx in the box?” which gives it a conceivable claim to veracity. Gornstein’s article tracked a mysterious box -- inscribed with the words from the Shema prayer -- allegedly brought to America by an aged Holocaust survivor. It passed through the hands of various calamity-prone owners

until it was auctioned off on eBay. The high bidder was Jason Haxton, a medical museum curator who investigated the story over many years and turned it into a book, “The Dibbuk Box.” Haxton's story is rooted in the actual world, with people sending emails and buying and selling on eBay, but in the end he leaves it to the reader to decide whether the story is a hoax. Bornedal now owns the box and has it buried in his backyard. “I’m not superstitious,” he tells JTA, saying that for a few weeks he has worn the ring found inside the box. Still, he acknowledges twinges of concern while flying, aware that the ring was along for the journey in his suitcase. Bornedal speculates that the dybbuk’s possession of Em was largely an allegory on her inner fears at a time Continued on page 10

Matisyahu as Tzadok and Natasha Calis as Em in a scene from "The Possession." (Diyah Para)

The Observer September 7, 2012

Craft Beer Revue draws crowd under the white tent

bout 100 beer aficionados or just plain curious types came out on a muggy Sunday for NowGen Nashville’s Craft Beer Revue, held on the grounds of the Gordon Jewish Community Center. Folks from all generations – from babies to seniors and everyone in between – turned out for the event under the leadership of NowGen Nashville. Everyone (except the babies) tasted from an assortment of 40 microbrews from Nashville and beyond. At a brunch at the GJCC earlier in the day, Shmaltz Brewing Co. founder Jeremy Cowan signed copies of his recent book, “Craft Beer Bar Mitzvah,” and talked about his business and beers, which include He’Brew and Coney Island brands. It was Cowan’s second time in Nashville, and he checked out some live music and the local beer scene before the Aug. 26 event. He gave thumbs-up to both. Cowan started out in 1996 – 5757, as the Shmaltz web site points out – selling He’Brew beer out of the trunk of his

Ethan, Heidi and John Hassenfeld

grandma’s car. Three months later, he quit his day job and devoted himself fulltime to craft beers. Initially, the beers were brewed in California but production moved to Saratoga Springs, N.Y., in 2003 and all brewing is done there now. Shmaltz contracts with other breweries to follow its recipes and make its beers; “I’m just the English major with the crazy ideas,” Cowan said. These days, Shmaltz’s sales break down about 50-50 between He’Brew and Coney Island, and while much is sold in the northeast, they “sell a little in a lot of places,” he said. Shmaltz’s beers have racked up gold and silver medals in the World Beer Championships, Cowan said. One review, on Tastings.com, gave the 2010 He’Brew Rejewvenator Ale 91 points, meaning exceptional. It won a gold medal in the championships and was described as “a rich, complex food beer,” with “rich caramel sauce on sourdough raisin toast and sour cherry pie aromas with a chewy, fruity-yet-dry full body and a smooth cream sauce, roasted root vegetable and chive accented finish.” That’s a mouthful. c

Jennifer O’Connell, pictured with son Declan, volunteered at the Beer Revue to help friend and event producer Matt Leff.

Reva Heller and Jeremy Cowan chat in front of the Shmaltz Brewing tasting station.

U.S.-Israel joint military exercise downsized JERUSALEM (JTA) – U.S. military officials acknowledged that an upcoming joint U.S.-Israel military exercise was downsized, but denied it was because of mistrust of Israel. Time magazine reported that Austere Challenge 12, the ballistic missiles exercise scheduled for the end of October, was greatly downsized, with Washington cutting by more than twothirds – to about 1,500 – the number of U.S. troops participating, and reducing the number and quality of missile interception systems to be used. “Basically what the Americans are saying is, ‘We don’t trust you,’ ” Time quoted an unnamed senior Israeli military official as saying. The exercise originally had been scheduled for the spring, but was postponed by Israel due to budgetary considerations. U.S. military officials said the number of troops to be involved in the exercise was reduced in part because of other commitments around the time of

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the rescheduled exercise, and that Israel was aware that it would happen. Budget restrictions also are an issue on the U.S. end, according to Time. But the magazine also pointed out that the decision two months ago to scale back the exercise came at the same time as tension began increasing between President Obama and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu over Israel considering an attack on Iran's nuclear sites. "Austere Challenge-12 remains the largest-ever ballistic missile defense exercise between our nations and a significant increase from the previous event in 2009," Air Force Lt.-Col. Jack Miller, a Pentagon spokesman, told Time. "The exercise has not changed in scope and will include the same types of systems as planned. All deployed systems will be fully operational with associated operators," he said, adding that the exercise "is a tangible sign of our mutual trust." c

To access the Community Calendar, go to www.jewishnashville.org and click on “Calendar.” Every community event is listed for your convenience.

lifecycles B’nai Mitzvah Vivian Abigail Klein Herzog will be called to the Torah as Bat Mitzvah on Saturday, Sept. 29, at 11 a.m. at The Temple. Vivian was born on Aug. 12, 1999 in Nashville. She is the daughter of Risa Klein Herzog and Drew Vivian Abigail Herzog and her grand- Klein Herzog parents are Mimi and Jerry Klein of Nashville, Rhoda Weinstein Herzog of Daphne, Ala., and the late Albert Walter Herzog of Meridian, Miss. Vivian is an 8th grader at J.T. Moore Middle School in Nashville. For Vivian’s Mitzvah project, she is providing Crock Pots for each apartment at Renewal House and making Crock Pot cookbooks for residents. Renewal House is a family shelter where women recovering from drug and alcohol addiction can live with their children while learning how to be better parents. Additionally, Vivian has joined the B’nai Tzedek program of the Jewish Foundation, having created a fund to encourage teen philanthropy. Her special interests include volleyball, diving, reading, cooking, gymnastics, singing, and spending time with friends and family. Vivian and her family invite the community to join her in celebration.

Honors Congratulations to Avi Poster and the Coalition for Education about Immigration for receiving the Welcoming Tennessee Award from the Tennessee Immigration and Refugee Rights Coalition. Poster received the award at TIRRC’s 2012 American Dream Banquet on Aug. 30. CEI was born from an idea developed by Poster and Judy Saks, recently retired director of the Jewish Federation’s Community Relations Committee. TIRRC is a statewide immigrant- and refugee-led collaboration whose mission is to empower immigrants and refugees throughout Tennessee to develop a unified voice, defend their rights, and create an atmosphere in which they are recognized as positive contributors to the state.

counselor with AARP for 10 years, a second-grade math tutor at White Station Elementary School and a member of Temple Israel. A memorial service was held on Aug. 26 in Memphis, with burial the following day at Temple Cemetery in Nashville. In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to the Memphis Humane Society, 939 Farm Rd., Memphis, 38134; or to Playhouse on the Square, 66 South Cooper, Memphis, 38104. …to the family of Charles Leo Donnelly, 84, of Nashville, who died on Aug. 28. Mr. Donnelly was the former owner of Marshall-Donnelly-Combs Funeral Home in Nashville. Many families in our community may have been assisted by Mr. Donnelly in the past through Marshall Donnelly’s funeral arrangements for Jewish burials. He was preceded in death by daughter, Janice Donnelly Alexander; mother, Mathilda Gray Donnelly; father, Dennis Joseph Donnelly; brothers, John, Tom, Joe, Rob, Bill (Bo) and Frank Donnelly; sis-

ter, Marie Thompson. Charles is survived by his wife, Dorothy Powell Donnelly; daughter, Lisa Donnelly Baltz; grandson, Brian Moore (Staci); granddaughters, Melanie Baltz Scott (Lee), Brooke Baltz Nicholson (Matt); greatgrand children, Reagan and Reilly Moore, Laney Scott, Charlie and

Donnelly Nicholson; sisters, Marguerite Sledge and Frances Henson. A funeral Mass was celebrated on Sept. 1. In lieu of customary remembrances, the family requests with gratitude that contributions be directed to Father Ryan High School or Kids on The Block, 1704 Charlotte Ave., Suite 200, Nashville 37203.

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Sympathy … to the family of Marsha Joan Grant, 73, of Memphis, who died on Aug. 23. She is survived by her sister, Nancy (Irwin) Hodes, nephews Peter and Scott Hodes, and three great-nieces and a great-nephew, all of Nashville, along with her girls, Charlye and Lucy. Ms. Grant taught in the Memphis city school system for 30 years before retiring. She was a graduate of the University of South Carolina, University of Memphis and State Technical Institute at Memphis. For several years she was a girls junior high and senior high recreational league basketball coach, with one team winning the city championship. She enjoyed poetry and was a life member of the Tennessee Poetry Society and a member of The National League of American Pen Women, serving as president of the Chickasaw Branch and Tennessee state treasurer. She also was an income tax

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The Observer September 7, 2012

Approaching the High Holy Days as Jews…or as people By Rabbi Adin Even-Israel Steinsaltz

make us human. The essence of the universality of these holidays, then, is not in the point of sharing with others, it is in delving into ourselves in order to reveal and find some of the fundamentals of our existence. We explore and acknowledge what is universal to all humankind within our own selves. The fourth and last of the holidays of the month of Tishrei, Shemini Atzeret (and with it Simchat Torah), stands in clear contrast to the first three. As beautifully depicted by our sages, the King made great banquet, to which he invited all the citizens of his realm. At the end of these feasts, he called his most beloved friend and said: now that all these big events are over, let us have a small banquet just for the two of us (tractate Sukkah 55b). c

he start of the Jewish New Year, the month of Tishrei, is filled with holy days, among them four foundational celebrations: Rosh haShanah, Yom haKippurim, Sukkot and Simchat TorahShemini Atzeret. They are as different from one another as possible. Yet, we may also think of all four holidays as two pairs of two. The first two – the day of memory and accounting and the day of atonement – are awe-inspiring and grave compared with the last two festivals, which are days of joy. At the same time, the first three holidays do have a common denominator: As much as these are Jewish holidays, they carry a universal message. Here, embedded within them, are three of humanity’s cardinal touchstones: accounting and judgment; mercy and atonement; and the joy of life. These attributes and qualities are essential to the lives of every human being. We mark the New Year by commemorating creation on the one hand, and celebrating the Kingship of the Lord on the other. Both creation and God’s sovereignty pertain to all humankind and are not specifically Jewish. The Day of Atonement, too, is relevant to every human being. Life is full of mistakes and transgressions. Without atonement it would be unbearable to go on living with the unresolved and painful pieces of our past. Sukkot, at first glance, seems to be far more connected with Jewish history. Yet, at its essence, this holiday is actually a festival of thanksgiving for what we have. We acknowledge the tranquility in our lives and express our gratitude for Divine gifts. Moreover, our sages teach us that during Sukkot –in the days of the Holy Temple – 70 bulls were offered to God in the name of the 70 nations of the world. As the prophet Zachariah fore-

Rabbi Adin Steinsaltz

tells, in the days to come it is on Sukkot that all the peoples of the world will come as pilgrims to the Temple in Jerusalem (14:16-21). This combination of the particular and the universal is not just one more interesting point; it is the key for understanding the meaning of these three holidays. In all our other celebrations, and perhaps in Jewish religious life in general, we stress the specificity of Jewish exis-

In Hollywood’s ‘The Possession,’ the dybbuk is back Continued from page 7 when her parents were going through a bitter divorce. While shooting the movie, he says he concentrated on the production rather than worry about the dybbuk’s alleged powers. He maintained this attitude, he says, even when all the neon light fixtures exploded one day on the set in Vancouver, Canada, and when a fire destroyed all the props used in the movie shortly after the film wrapped.

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tence. Most of our holidays and memorial days are deeply connected with our own history. In Tishrei, however, we focus on our fundamental humanity, on the fact that we are human beings with great problems. In this context, humanity is not defined as a group of human beings; here we speak of our basic humanity – humanity as a quality. The very touchstones that we mark in Tishrei are what

Rabbi Adin Even-Israel Steinsaltz is a scholar, teacher, mystic and social critic. He has written over 60 books and hundreds of articles on the Talmud, Kabbalah and Chasidut and his works have been translated into nine languages. Rabbi Steinsaltz has been on a lifelong mission to make the Talmud accessible to all. November 18 is the Third Annual Global Day of Jewish Learning, a program spearheaded by Rabbi Steinsaltz to bring the study of Jewish texts to communities around the world. For information on the Global Day of Jewish Learning in Nashville, see back page of Observer.

September 7, 2012 The Observer

His new film attests to the continuing fascination with the spiritual possession theme, especially in movies that reenact the viewer’s dreamlike fears while he is safe in his seat, says Edna Nahshon, a professor of Hebrew at the Jewish Theological Seminary in New York who specializes on the Jewish theater. In our time, she says, the dybbuk theme is still alive in the Chasidic world and is connected historically to kabbalistic teaching on the transmigration of souls. Nahshon adds that the dybbuk theme is found in various forms in almost every culture and religion. In Jewish tradition, the dybbuk is almost invariably male, usually possessing a female soul and body. This scenario gives the possessed woman a “voice” to say what is normally repressed, including sexual desire, Nahshon says. But in “The Possession,” the gender identities are murkier. The dybbuk, however, is female, Bornedal says. What is clear is that the dybbuk remains with us in theatrical perform-

ances and books. Just before the opening of “The Possessed,” a Los Angeles theater concluded the stage run of “The Exorcist” with a different approach than the famed 1974 movie, but also based on William Peter Blatty’s novel. The dybbuk theme also showed up in the 2009 movie “A Serious Man” by Joel and Ethan Coen. The film opened with a visit by a presumed dybbuk in an Eastern European shtetl, while its central character is a man beset by slights and setbacks that neither he nor the wise rabbis he consults can explain. As for the grandfather of the cinematic genre, the 1937 Polish Yiddish film “Der Dibbuk,” it has been restored by the National Center for Jewish Film and continues to enjoy considerable popularity. In recent years, the restored “Dibbuk” has screened worldwide in venues ranging from the Austrian Film Archive to an outdoor screening at the Hollywood Bowl, said Lisa Rivo, the film center’s associate director. c

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The Observer September 7, 2012

Think Globally. Learn Locally.

September 7, 2012 The Observer