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JEWISH LEDGER

| FEBRUARY 26, 2021

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| FEBRUARY 26, 2021

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INSIDE

this week

CONNECTICUT JEWISH LEDGER | SINCE 1929 | FEBRUARY 26, 2021 | 14 ADAR 5781

8 & 14 Briefs

17 Letter

17 Crossword

19 Milestones

20 Arts & Entertainment

In Memoriam..........................5 A dozen prominent Jewish leaders joined a recent online Zoom tribute to former Secretary of State George Shultz who said the highlight of his career was advancing the freedom of Soviet Jews.

Commandement 613...............5 A Massachusetts rabbi – one of 17 scribes who work on the restoration and repair of scrolls that were rescued after World War II by the Czech Memorial Scrolls Trust – is the focus of the new documentary.

In a Jam................................ 10 A chance encounter between a law professor and a Holocaust survivor prompted a feelgood story to circulate online. But is it true?

What’s Happening

23 Purim Celebrations

23 Torah Portion

24 Obituaries

25 Business and Professional Directory

Arts & Entertainment......................................... 21 “Mazel Tov Cocktail” is a darkly comic 30-minute film on a day in the life of a young Jew in Germany, which pokes fun at several layers of a society still not fully comfortable with how to interact with its Jewish population.

Love Affair........................................................ 11 In 2019, Tablet magazine named Stella D’Oro’s Swiss fudge cookie – introduced to the market in 1930 by Italian immigrants – the “most Jewish cookie ever made.” Huh?

22 Classified

CANDLE LIGHTING

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Take heart! Pandemic or no pandemic, we can still enjoy a fun-filled Purim holiday, albeit at home instead of parading around at synagogue, in school or down the halls of the Jewish community center. So have fun! PAGE 12 jewishledger.com

Hartford: 5:20 p.m. New Haven: 5:20 p.m. Bridgeport: 5:21 p.m. Stamford: 5:22 p.m. To determine the time for Havdalah, add one hour and 10 minutes (to be safe) to candle lighting time.

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JEWISH LEDGER

| FEBRUARY 26, 2021

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UP FRONT

CONNECTICUT JEWISH LEDGER | SINCE 1929 | FEBRUARY 26, 2021 | 14 ADAR 5781

In extraordinary tribute, George Shultz hailed by Jewish leaders for helping free Soviet Jews

Massachusetts rabbi highlighted in documentary “Commandment 613”

BY LARRY LUXNER

EL AVIV – On Feb. 11, 1986, Soviet refusenik Natan Sharansky – freed after enduring nine years in Russian prisons on false charges of treason and espionage – stepped off a jet that had carried him straight from Germany and out into the Israeli sunshine. “It was a very dramatic day, starting in a Soviet prison, then meeting my wife in Berlin after 12 years, then finishing at Ben Gurion Airport, and finally visiting the Kotel” in Jerusalem, said Sharansky, recalling the events of 35 years ago as if they were part of a John LeCarré spy thriller. “I was so overwhelmed, I thought maybe it was all a dream.” While still on the tarmac at Ben Gurion, then-Prime Minister Shimon Peres immediately put Sharansky on the phone with President Ronald Reagan, and then with the secretary of state at the time, George Shultz. “Why, I thought, wasn’t a conversation with President Reagan enough?” Sharansky

quipped. “But Shultz was very helpful to us – how helpful I found out later.” Indeed, the two men became close friends, and remained so until Shultz’s death on Feb. 6 at the age of 100. Sharansky, 73, was among a dozen prominent Jewish leaders who joined a recent online Zoom tribute to Shultz that was organized by Limmud FSU and moderated by the Jewish international organization’s founder, Chaim Chesler. “He felt with all his heart that it was his moral obligation to help us,” Sharansky said of Shultz at the Feb. 15 event, noting how Shultz knew many refuseniks by name and always inquired about their well-being in meetings with his Soviet counterparts. “People like him really changed the world’s attitude towards our struggle.” Thanks to efforts by Shultz and others, Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev eventually opened the borders and allowed all Jews to leave the USSR. Between 1989 and 2006, an estimated 1.6 million Jews and their relatives and spouses emigrated

ISRAELI PRIME MINISTER YITZHAK SHAMIR, LEFT, SHAKES HANDS WITH SECRETARY OF STATE GEORGE SHULTZ IN WASHINGTON, NOV. 27, 1983.

from the former Soviet Union, 61% of them settling in Israel. At its West Coast conference in November 2017 in San Francisco, Limmud FSU feted Shultz – who was secretary of state from 1982 to 1989 – for having helped spark the Soviet Jewish exodus. At this month’s tribute, Limmud FSU’s co-founder, Sandy Cahn, said that special occasion, and especially the encounter between Shultz and Sharansky, was the major highlight of the 2017 conference. “There are lessons that we all can learn from these experiences, and one is the wondrous ability of the human spirit and the importance of never giving up,” said an emotional Shultz, then 97. “President Reagan and I had a great sense of gratitude to the Soviet Jews because they showed us what courage is all about.” Limmud FSU Chairman Matthew Bronfman said that his own father, the late Edgar Bronfman, traveled numerous CONTINUED ON PAGE 7

BY STACEY DRESNER

ESTERN MASSACHUSETTS – Miriam Lewin was in Leeds visiting her first cousin Rabbi Kevin Hale in August of 2016 when she learned of his work with the Czech Memorial Scrolls.

RABBI KEVIN HALE, LEFT, AND HIS COUSIN, FILMMAKER MIRIAM LEWIN, WORKING ON “COMMANDMENT 613.”

Hale is one of 17 authorized scribes who work on the restoration and repair of scrolls that were rescued after World War II by the Czech Memorial Scrolls Trust in London. Today more than 1,500 restored Czech Torah scrolls are on permanent loan in Jewish communities all over the world. “I always knew what he did,” Lewin said. “But one day I was visiting him at his house in the Pioneer Valley and he was telling me about the work that he does with these specific scrolls – the Torah scrolls from the Memorial Scrolls Trust – and that he goes to a lot of congregations and works on the scrolls, and I blindly said, ‘That sounds like a film!’ Kind of like Judy Garland and Mickey Rooney saying, “Hey, let’s put on a show!’” The result of that family encounter is “Commandment 613” a 23-minute short film, directed and produced by Lewin that will be featured in the Pioneer Valley Jewish Film Festival from March 5-8. A virtual discussion

(MARK REINSTEIN/CORBIS VIA GETTY IMAGES)

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CONTINUED ON PAGE 16

JEWISH LEDGER

FEBRUARY 26, 2021

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JEWISH LEDGER

| FEBRUARY 26, 2021

VALLEY OF TEARS

CONVERSATION WITH THE TV SERIES CREATOR AND WRITER, RON LESHEM Directed by: Yaron Zilberman, 2020 Speaker: Ron Leshem Thursday, February 25, 2021, 6:00 PM On the first day of Yom Kippur, a surprise attack thrusts young combatants into battle. Inspired by the true events of the 1973 Arab-Israeli War, this harrowing drama series focuses on the universality of heroism and sacrifice through four intertwined stories: a journalist searching for his estranged, newly-enlisted son; a commander and an intelligence analyst forced to flee their base near the Syrian border; three friends and Black Panthers activists on a tank crew facing political and personal conflicts; and a female officer who remains on the frontlines, despite orders to evacuate. Through its magnified, unflinching lens, Valley of Tears reveals the tension, anxiety, and trauma of a fateful war.

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Shultz CONTINUED FROM PAGE 5

times to Moscow throughout the 1980s in his capacity as president of the World Jewish Congress. More than once, he said, the elder Bronfman pressured Gorbachev to free these “prisoners of Zion.” He would have accomplished nothing without Shultz’s blessing, Bronfman said. “He never let the Soviet authorities forget that for the U.S. government, for him and for President Reagan, the question of Soviet Jews was a very real issue,” Bronfman said. “It was unacceptable to him that Jews could not live freely in the USSR, nor could they emigrate.” But Shultz first had to earn the trust of American Jews. From 1974 until his 1982 appointment as secretary of state, he was a top executive of the Bechtel Group, an engineering and services company that had multibillion-dollar contracts with the government of Saudi Arabia. “I grew up in a home that was very suspicious of American secretaries of state,” David Harris, CEO of the American Jewish Committee, said at this week’s tribute event. “My parents were both Holocaust survivors who were trapped in Europe, and the State Department was not friendly to them and others like them. It took George Shultz to change my mind fundamentally and irreversibly.” Harris said Shultz “became a hero to the Jewish people.” Malcolm Hoenlein, vice chairman of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations and a Limmud FSU board member, said the initial suspicion of Shultz turned into trust. “It grew to the point where he could not make a trip to the Middle East or Russia without calling us before, often during – even from Damascus – and almost always meeting with us afterwards,” Hoenlein recalled. One of only two people in U.S. history ever to hold four Cabinet positions, Shultz – along with Reagan – foreshadowed the eventual collapse of the Soviet Union. In

GEORGE SHULTZ, WITH BOOK, AT A 2017 LIMMUD FSU CONFERENCE WITH, FROM LEFT TO RIGHT, JULIUS BERMAN, NATAN SHARANSKY AND CHAIM CHESLER. (EKATERINA EFIMOVA)

1987, he famously attended a Passover Seder at the residence of the U.S. ambassador in Moscow with about 40 prominent refuseniks, assuring them that “we never give up, we never stop trying” to advance the cause of human rights and promote emigration. “He felt a special bond to the American Jewish community. Everyone could sense his humility, his integrity, the sincerity of his views, and his commitment and support for Israel,” Hoenlein said. “He laid the groundwork for the special U.S.Israel relationship of today, but never sought credit or tribute. Trust was his hallmark, and even as late as recent weeks, he said ‘trust is the coin of the realm’ as he bemoaned the acrimony in American politics and society.” Julius Berman, honorary president of the Conference on Jewish Material

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Claims Against Germany, recalled vividly how Shultz had called him shortly after returning from high-level talks in Madrid with then-Soviet Foreign Minister Andrei Gromyko. “He told me that as promised, he raised the issue of Soviet Jewry with the foreign minister, but unfortunately the response was, in effect, ‘It’s none of your damn business. It’s an internal matter and has nothing do to with America or our relationship,’” Berman said. But that didn’t stop Shultz from pushing Kremlin leaders on the issue, said Berman, who said of Shultz: “He was the sweetest, kindest person, as soft spoken as possible, and yet you know he carried a big stick. We really owe a great deal of gratitude to everything he did for us.” The special tribute event was made possible with support from the Genesis Philanthropy Group. “In giving Soviet Foreign Minister Eduard Shevardnadze a list of refuseniks,” said Dorit Golender, a former Israeli ambassador to Russia and vice-president for community relations at the international philanthropic organization, “George Shultz not only used his influence to support human rights, he demonstrated the importance of solving the issue so America’s civilized dialogue with the USSR could continue.” Isaac Herzog, chairman of the Jewish Agency for Israel, recalled that during a November 1987 state visit to Washington, his father, Chaim Herzog – then Israel’s president – received a tip from Shultz that an intifada was about to erupt in the West Bank and Gaza. The predicted uprising

broke out a month later. “Shultz was a sworn friend of Israel,” said Herzog, despite his occasional differences with the Israeli government. Deborah Lipstadt, professor of Holocaust studies at Atlanta’s Emory University, recalled an interview that Shultz gave the Los Angeles Times shortly after his term as secretary of state had ended. Asked to name the most memorable moment of his time in office, he said it was when he received a phone call from refusenik Ida Nudel announcing she was finally “home in Israel.” “That he told the press this was the highlight of his tenure gives you not only a measure of the man, but also a measure of how important this issue was for him,” Lipstadt said. “We are privileged to have been touched by him.” Other participants on the Zoom call included prominent refuseniks Sylva Zalmanson and Alexander Kholmiansky; Mark Levin, CEO of the National Coalition Supporting Eurasian Jewry; and Elie Valk, a former Israeli ambassador to Belarus. This article was sponsored by and produced in partnership with Limmud FSU, which nurtures worldwide open learning platforms for Jews of all ages and backgrounds with roots in the former Soviet Union, while embracing the Jewish intellectual, cultural and religious traditions grounded in this shared experience. This article was produced by JTA’s native content team.

JEWISH LEDGER

FEBRUARY 26, 2021

Briefs Biden and Netanyahu, in first phone call since inauguration, speak for an hour (JTA) – President Joe Biden called Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu nearly a month into his first term – a time frame that drew criticism from Republicans for its length. Biden appeared to make up for lost time, at least according to Netanyahu’s account on Twitter, and the two spoke for an hour. The conversation, which goes just weeks before an Israeli election, was “friendly and warm” Netanyahu said in Hebrew, addressing an Israeli electorate that places a high value on healthy relations with the United States. “The two leaders remarked on their personal relationship of many years and said they will work together for the continuation and strengthening of the unshakeable alliance between Israel and the United States,” the tweet said. Netanyahu said they discussed “advancing the peace deals, the Iranian threat and the challenges in the region.” Biden has said that he would preserve the normalization agreements that his predecessor, Donald Trump, brokered between Israel and four Sunni Arab countries. The president also has said that he wants to return to the Iran nuclear deal, which Netanyahu opposes. Netanyahu did not say whether they discussed IsraeliPalestinian relations. Biden wants to revive U.S.-Palestinian ties, which were all but cut off by Trump. The two men also discussed Israel’s successful vaccination program to contain the coronavirus pandemic. Biden had come under fire by congressional Republicans for not immediately calling Netanyahu.

Biden: White supremacists are ‘the most dangerous people’ in America (JTA) – President Biden said domestic terrorism was the “greatest threat” in America and that white supremacists are the “most dangerous people” and pledged to focus his Justice Department on the rise of white supremacy. Biden, in Milwaukee on Feb. 16, speaking on CNN at his first town hall as president, fielded a question from Joel Berkowitz, a professor at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, about what Berkowitz termed the “ongoing threat” from white supremacists in the wake of the deadly Jan. 6 raid on the U.S. Capitol. A number of far-right groups and figures were involved in the raid. Biden said, “That is the greatest threat to terror in America, 8

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domestic terror. And so I would make sure that my Justice Department and the civil rights division is focused heavily on those very folks, and I would make sure that we, in fact, focus on how to deal with the rise of white supremacy.” Biden noted reports of membership growth of police and military personnel in white supremacist groups. He attacked former President Donald Trump for what he depicted as Trump’s encouragement of far-right groups. Bantering with Berkowitz, who teaches foreign languages and literature, beforehand, Biden said he studied French for five years and could not speak it. “I’ll teach you some Yiddish some time. How’s that?” Berkowitz said. “I understand a little bit of Yiddish,” Biden said. “I’m sure you do,” Berkowitz said. “It would be a shanda if he didn’t,” said CNN anchor Anderson Cooper, who, like Biden, was raised as a Roman Catholic.

Zach Banner and others headline ‘Athletes against Antisemitism’ event (JTA) – Zach Banner, Alysha Clark and Josh Bell were among the professional athletes who headlined an event discussing activism against antisemitism and how athletes can contribute to the effort. Banner, an offensive lineman for the Pittsburgh Steelers, spoke out against antisemitism following antisemitic social media posts by DeSean Jackson, a wide receiver for the Philadelphia Eagles. Banner connected his concern to the 2018 shooting at Tree of Life*Or L’Simcha, a Pittsburgh synagogue. Clark, a small forward for the WNBA’s Washington Mystics, is of Jewish descent and has played for three Israeli basketball teams during her career. She has Israeli citizenship. Bell, a first baseman, played until recently for the Pittsburgh Pirates. The event, held virtually on Feb. 17, included other activists as well as Tree of Life’s Rabbi Jeffrey Myers.

Fauci wins $1 million Israeli prize for ‘courageously defending science’ (JTA) – Dr. Anthony Fauci, the country’s top infectious disease specialist, was awarded a $1 million prize from an Israeli foundation for “courageously defending science in the face of uninformed opposition during the challenging COVID crisis.” The Dan David Prize’s award announcement statement on Monday did not mention former President Donald Trump, who sought to downplay the effects of the coronavirus during his time in office, but it credited Fauci for “speaking truth to power in a highly charged political environment.” The prize is awarded by the Dan David Foundation, which was founded by the late Romanian-Israeli philanthropist of

| FEBRUARY 26, 2021

the same name. The award, split into three categories – past, present and future – honors scientists, researchers and cultural figures for achievement in their fields. Past winners range from former Vice President Al Gore to cellist Yo-Yo Ma. The foundation also noted Fauci’s work during the AIDS crisis, commending “his exceptional contribution to HIV research” in the 1980s and his time as the “architect of the U.S. President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief.”

Gulf Jews form umbrella body to make observance easier (JTA) – Jews in six Gulf states are uniting under an umbrella association to facilitate Jewish observance. The Association of Gulf Jewish Communities, which announced its establishment on Tuesday, Feb. 16, will bring together communities in Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates, Oman, Qatar, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia, according to a statement from two board members, Houda Nonoo in Bahrain and Alex Peterfreund in the UAE. Jewish worship exists to varying degrees in each of the countries. The profile of Jewish communities has become more public since the Abraham Accords, brokered last year by the Trump administration, normalized ties between Israel and the UAE and Bahrain. Those countries belong to the Gulf Cooperation Council, a regional alliance. A factor in the association’s establishment was the launch of preShabbat Zoom meetings among the communities during the coronavirus pandemic. The Jewish populations in the countries vary between a handful and several hundred. The communities will remain independent of one another, and the association will function as a “people to people network,” the statement said. “Today, the Jewish communities of Bahrain and the Emirates are the largest in the region and we can assist the Jews in the other GCC countries in getting matzah for Pesach, yahrtzeit candles, siddurim and chumashim,” Nonoo and Peterfreund said. The association plans to launch a beit din, or religious court, and a kosher supervising authority. Rabbi Dr. Elie Abadie, based in the UAE, will be the association’s spiritual leader, and Ebrahim Dawood Nonoo of Bahrain will be its president.

Kansas City meteorologist apologizes for ‘Kitler’ (JTA) – Alena Lee, a meteorologist at Kansas City’s KCTV5, has a tradition: Every Saturday night, she features a pet submitted by a local viewer to be featured in a “Caturday” shoutout during her weather update. Recently, Lee featured a picture of a white cat with a black patch just below its nose whose resemblance to Adolf Hitler

would have been obvious even if its name hadn’t been “Kitler.” But it was, a fact that was spelled out in capital letters below the cat’s picture. And Lee read it without indicating that she saw anything amiss about the cat’s name. In fact, she said she saw another famous figure from the 1930s in the cat’s face. “I think Kitler kind of looks like Charlie Chaplin here,” Lee said, referring to the comic star of silent films. Viewers reacted negatively to the segment, questioning how the cat picture and name could have made it through the production process. “This is disgusting and you need to make a public apology immediately,” one local wrote on Twitter, tagging the news station. On Sunday, Lee offered just that. Speaking on air, she explained that the picture had been given to her and said she had not set out to offend. “I never intended to hurt or offend anyone by using the picture that was given to me,” Lee said, adding that she would not repeat the offensive name. “I understand my mistake and am deeply sorry. In the future, I will be more diligent with this content to ensure it doesn’t happen again.”

Israeli flies boy from Ethiopia for cardiac treatment (JNS) The Israeli NGO Save a Child’s Heart (SACH), along with the medical team at the Wolfson Medical Center in Holon, has provided life-saving treatment to thousands of children from around the world in the past 25 years. Despite travel limitations caused by the coronavirus pandemic, this year has been no different, as it continues to help kids like 6-year-old Benjamin, who landed in Israel on Feb. 12 from Ethiopia in order to receive urgent cardiac treatment. Since the outbreak of the pandemic, SACH has continued its mission, conducting medical efforts in accordance with Israel Ministry of Health guidelines. The work has been made more difficult by the implementation of the “closed skies” policy, and ultimately, the shutting down of Ben-Gurion International Airport in January with the aim of curbing the spread of COVID variants. In spite of these restrictions, SACH has continued its work, providing the Health Ministry with requests on behalf of a number of critically ill patients who require immediate care. Although not a member of Ethiopian families immigrating to Israel, Benjamin was able to join a recent group flight from Ethiopia sponsored by the Jewish Agency for Israel. He is currently being hosted at the organization’s Legacy Heritage Children’s home while he undergoes an initial examination that will enable doctors to determine his treatment.

CONTINUED ON PAGE 14

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FEBRUARY 26, 2021

JEWISH LIFE

Is Bonne Maman an anti-Nazi jam? The internet wants to think so. BY GABE FRIEDMAN, PHILISSA CRAMER

(JTA) – The heartwarming story has been hard to miss: A law professor is shopping at his local grocery store when sees an elderly woman struggling to get her favorite jam from a high shelf. Why is it her favorite? “I am a Holocaust survivor,” she says. “During the war, the family that owns the company hid my family in Paris.” Tens of thousands of people – at least – have shared the story since it began circulating on social media this weekend. It has prompted countless people to vow to buy only Bonne Maman-brand jam, whose 26 varieties are almost all kosher, in the future. But is Bonne Maman, with its can’t-miss red gingham jar lids, really an anti-Nazi jam? The company, whose founding families are famously secretive, isn’t taking any credit for the activity of its founders’ families during World War II. “The family prefers to maintain privacy and does not comment on inquiries about personal matters,” Bonne Maman told the Jewish Telegraphic Agency in a statement. Michael Perino, the St. John’s University professor who originally posted the story on Twitter, told JTA that the incident happened on Sunday morning in his northern New Jersey grocery store. He said he was surprised by the woman’s composure and ability to shop alone at her age, which he estimated to be late 80s or early 90s. He didn’t ask for her name, not wanting to pry. “It was a beautiful moment,” Perino said. “When she gave the explanation, you know, it’s one of these things where your kind of your heart stops for a moment, because it’s totally unexpected.” Bonne Maman, founded in 1971 by members of the Gervoson family, is based in Biars-sur-Cère, a town in southern France. Neither the town nor any of its inhabitants are listed on the registry of “righteous gentiles” – non-Jews who rescued Jews from the Holocaust – 10

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that is maintained by Yad Vashem, Israel’s Holocaust memorial and museum. Nor is anyone with the name of the company’s founding families in the database, which is comprehensive and thoroughly researched but does not necessarily include every possible person who might be eligible for it. At least one person has publicly described his family’s experience being sheltered in Biars-sur-Cère: A New Jersey man named Eric Mayer told the Jewish Standard in 2016 that he and his siblings had hidden there after leaving their parents behind in Germany. He even noted that the town, which he said had 800 people at the time he lived there, later became the home of Bonne Maman. Some internet sleuths seeking to verify Perino’s grocery store encounter – or at

| FEBRUARY 26, 2021

least to rebut skeptics – noted that Mayer told the Jewish Standard that his sister had been with him in Biars-sur-Cère, suggesting that she might have been the mystery shopper. But the story says that Mayer’s sister died prior to 2016. Certainly, other Jewish children could have wound up in the same town. Many Jewish children who were being sheltered in Paris were moved to southern France after the Nazis invaded the capital city. Biars-sur-Cère is about a four-hour drive from Le Chambon-sur-Lignon, the French mountain town that is one of two municipalities honored collectively by Yad Vashem for its efforts to save Jews. There, about 2,500 Jews received shelter during the war. (One of them left the town more than $2 million when he died at 90 on Christmas Day.) But Perino’s story says the woman said her family was sheltered in Paris, more than 250 miles from Biars-surCère. Jean Gervoson founded the company with his brother-in-law, Pierre Chapoulart; the Chapoulart family was already established in Biars-sur-Cère by the war. Gervoson died in 2018, his wife Suzanne in 2015. Could the self-identified bubbe in the grocery store be confused about where and by whom she was sheltered as a child more than 75 years ago? Could the Gervoson or Chapoulart families have hidden Jews from Nazis and never gotten credit for it? Could Perino – who later thanked those who added details he had not – have asked a few more questions before posting his story to Twitter? Yes, yes and, well, yes. But for some who appreciated the story, the facts may not matter. “Please don’t make me fact check the Bonne Maman story,” Jennifer Mendelsohn, a journalist who is widely known for her genealogy sleuthing online, tweeted on Wednesday morning. “Can’t it be like Santa Claus?”

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JEWISH LIFE

Costco sells

Why American Jews love Stella D’Oro cookies BY JOANNA O’LEARY

s a child, visits to my maternal grandfather and grandmother (of Italian and Polish heritage, respectively) involved eating a lot pasta and pierogi. Dessert, in turn, was sometimes cannoli and poppyseed roll, but often a platter of Stella D’Oro cookies – assorted dainty corrugated rings and logs of buttery dough with almond undertones. My grandfather had developed a taste for them early in his youth as an immigrant from Genoa, and my grandparents’ pantry was never without at least one package. Truth be told, my juvenile palate found the cookies too bland (i.e.: insufficiently sugary), but they held a special place in my heart because they were a favorite of my beloved, sometimes salty, comparatively sweeter Pop-Pop. Until my second year in college, I associated Stella D’Oro (Italian for “star of gold”) exclusively with Italian-American culture. While “grocery” shopping in the 7-Eleven near our dorm (hey, we didn’t have cars, OK?) with a friend who also happened to be Jewish, I came upon a package and remarked upon my personal nostalgic ties. “Stella D’Oro?” he replied with a puzzled grin. “That’s a Jewish thing.” We preceded to dive into an appropriately sophomoric argument about whether Stella D’Oro was “more Jewish” or “more Italian,” each of us buttressing our claims with mostly anecdotal evidence and hearsay, and completely eschewing the more interesting question: What happened with these cookies that laid the foundation for such a debate in the first place? Stella D’Oro, as its name might suggest, was started in 1930 by Joseph and Angela Kresevich, Italian immigrants in Brooklyn. Already successful restaurateurs, the Kresevichs further parlayed their food business savvy by creating a line of Italianstyle cookies, crackers and breadsticks that appealed to other Italian immigrants missing flavors from home. The cookies, originally made by hand and without (gasp) butter, were immediately popular. The fact that Stella D’Oro cookies were devoid of butter as well as milk also led them to be an object of desire early on for devout kosher Jews – they were pareve and could therefore be eaten for dessert after a meat supper. The Swiss fudge variety, whose crimped circumference and inner opaque dark chocolate circle bore a jewishledger.com

whimsical resemblance to shtreimels, round fur hats worn on the Sabbath, led them to become particularly popular in the ultraOrthodox community. And when in 2019 Tablet published its venerable list of the 100 Most Jewish foods, Swiss fudge cookies earned the title of “most Jewish cookie ever made.” Broad appeal, however, has not prevented Stella D’Oro from becoming a subject of controversy. As the business changed owners throughout the years, wages and benefits have been reduced and/ or altered, unsurprisingly souring relations between management and its multi-cultural labor force, many of whom had worked for the company for decades. This contentious history, and specifically the 11-month strike that ensued following its acquisition by a hedge fund, is documented in the 2011 film “No Contract, No Cookies.” Perhaps the greatest scandal occurred in 2003, when then-owner of Stella D’Oro, Kraft Foods, announced it was discontinuing the traditional (pareve) Swiss fudge recipe and replacing the chocolate filling with a dairy version. Following public outcry, Kraft clarified this substitution was being “reconsidered,” eventually reversing course. There was much rejoicing, especially by one superfan, Yaakov Kornreich of Flatbush in Brooklyn, who dubbed the cookies so “addictive” that “they should come with a surgeon general’s warning.” Stella D’Oro aficionados (Italian, Jewish, both and neither) continue to be highly vocal in their opinions, and the company in turn has been receptive to the taste vagaries of its consumer public. In 2014, the beloved Lady Stella collection was brought out of its five-year retirement in response to consumer demand. To commemorate the occasion, Stella D’Oro gifted loyalists with coupons for gratis goodies and donated 100,000 cookies to families in need. So now that we have resolved why one can quibble as to whether Stella D’Oro is a “Jewish” or “Italian” thing, here is a better question: Does it matter? For me, an ardent lover of Jewish cuisine and proud Italian American, the cookies’ cultural and religious connotations are trumped by something more important: their role in so many cherished family suppers.

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This piece originally appeared in The Nosher. JEWISH LEDGER

FEBRUARY 26, 2021

HAPPY PURIM 5781 Connecticut communities prepare for a distanced Purim BY JUDIE JACOBSON

(JTA) – In 2020, Purim began on the evening of March 9, just before the country shut down to stop the spread of the coronavirus. For some Jewish communities, the holiday was the first celebrated over Zoom. For others, the typical parties gave way to more somber, hand sanitizer-soaked services, stripped of the raucousness that characterizes the holiday. By the following Shabbat, they had canceled in-person services, too. A year later, the holiday is symbolic of one thing for everyone: an entire Jewish calendar year in which the holidays, the Shabbats and all the rituals in between have been adapted under the burden of the pandemic and its restrictions. For some synagogues, that means a Zoom production that builds on a year of expertise Congregation Beth Israel in West Hartford is famous among locals for the clever and creative home-grown Purim shpiels that fill the Reform synagogue’s spacious sanctuary every year. Not to be deterred by the pandemic, this year the shpiel is back once again, albeit in virtual form. Free and open to the public, the celebration will include Megillah reading followed by “Chozen,” a spiel that tells the story of Esther and the victory of the Jews over their enemy, delivered in a Disney-style Frozen-inspired production of songs and reading, starring Beth Israel’s clergy and congregants. Following the Shpiel, the celebration continues with dancing, an origami lesson, an “Olaf Show Off” reveal of snowmen, a performance by our own Klezmer Band, door prizes and more. “We’ve come full circle with this year’s holiday of Purim,” says the congregation’s spiritual leader, Rabbi Michael Pincus. “For many of us, our Purim celebration was the last time we were all together. Then came zoom seders and remote high holidays....who would have thought that a year later we would still need to be remote. And yet, Purim 5781 will also be virtual this year. From the safety of our homes we will hear the megillah, retell the Purim story through creative songs, and be together. And in observing it this way we will be reminded of the holiday’s message of hope and courage.” The Zoom celebration will be held on Thursday, Feb. 25 from 7-9 p.m., and is free and open to the public. For information, visit cbict.org/upcoming_events/calendar/. Other Connecticut congregations are planning in-person services and celebrations. 12

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Chabad of Greater Hartford is hosting “Purim Glow Party,” a drive-in family celebration featuring outdoor Megillah reading and an LED & Fire Show. Party-goers must stay in their cars, wear masks and maintain social distance. They are encouraged to come dressed in their favorite costumes – prizes will be awarded. In addition, each car will receive a Purim Kit filled with hamantaschen and misloach Manot to give to a friend. The free fun begins on Thursday, Feb. 25 at 6 p.m. in the parking lot of 160 Mohegan Dr. To register: chabadhartford.com, (860) 232-1116. The drive-in format is nothing new to organizers. Just recently, the synagogue held

similar drive-in for it’s annual Fire & Ice Chanukah Celebration. Organizers believe that the drive-in setup will be an opportunity to feel connected as a community while staying safely distanced. Like Chabad, last Purim was the last holiday congregants of Shir Ami in Greenwich spent together in one place. “Last year we had our first Purim Story Slam and it was our last in-person event in 2020. It was a fantastic evening!” read the congregation’s newsletter. “This year we’ll be on Zoom and although we won’t have the amazing food, we will have many fun and inspiring stories to share at our second annual

To make my pandemic Purim more meaningful, I’m focusing on giving to the poor

wondering how we can salvage the joyful, meaningful experiences. When it comes to Purim, this feels especially painful. Not only are we one year into the pandemic, but Purim translates especially poorly to Zoom. How can we experience the cathartic joy, the downright silliness, when we are not together? This year, let me suggest that instead of trying to recapture the raucous joy of Purim, it’s time to lean into a different, often neglected side of this holiday. There are four mitzvot related to the holiday of Purim: reading the Megillah of Esther, eating and drinking in a festive manner, sending mishloach manot and giving to the poor. This last should be our focus. We will still read the Megillah and in costume, albeit virtually and/or socially distant. We should still enjoy a festive meal with our families. We can still be joyous and exhibit the tradition of “v’nahafochu,” literally “turning things upside down” by being so joyous that we cannot keep the Purim story straight, in perhaps new ways. This year, we can appreciate how wearing masks is now no longer an occasional thing but a staple of our wardrobes. On Purim, let’s make them not only protective, but also joyful and silly. My biggest hope, however, is that we more equally distribute the focus of these four mitzvot to highlight giving to the poor. The rates of poverty have skyrocketed in the past year. Families who had jobs and enough to care for their families and give tzedakah to support others are now standing in lines at food pantries. This year, we can take time before and

BY SHARON WEISS-GREENBERG

(JTA) – One year ago, we were debating how to navigate Purim carnivals – not whether or not to hold them. My family dressed and attended Megillah readings with fewer than 100 people, which was considered extremely cautious at the time. By forgoing a potluck Purim meal for pizzas that were delivered and served to family units, we did not feel like we were compromising the holiday too much – and in making said minor adjustments, we were in fact going above and beyond the then gold standard to prevent the spread of COVID-19. A number of people sent coronathemed mishloach manot or dressed up like Corona beer, but we all thought that this would pass well before we had set our tables for the Passover Seder. A year ago, the novel coronavirus that originated in China would soon sweep the globe – but it wasn’t until after we had put away our Purim groggers and costumes that we became fully aware of how dramatically cases around the world had begun to spike. Then the lockdowns began and life has never been the same. Since Purim one year ago we have adapted and found compromises for observing and celebrating Jewish holidays. We’ve gone virtual for many rituals and services, and done our best to maintain connections, relationships and community. It seems that as we approach each holiday worrying and

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Purim Story Slam.” A Story Slam is a live story-telling event in which individuals share a short personal story on a particular theme. In keeping with the holiday, Shir Ami’s theme for this year’s story slam is inspired by the way Mordechai and Queen Esther found a way to foil Haman’s nefarious plan to harm the Jews. The Purim Story Slam will be held on Zoom on Friday, Feb. 26 at 7:30 p.m. Those who would like to tell a personal story that speaks about confronting adversity should contact Cantor Abramson at cantorjea@gmail.com.

during the holiday to consider the financial inequities and misfortune that have befallen our communities, including our dear friends and family. We may not be able to sing and dance together, but we can give and care for the poor, many of whom are not strangers and whose contingencies have risen. Let’s allow our experience of a pandemic Purim leave a lasting impact on the values and meaning of the holiday. Yes, we should still thoughtfully cultivate much-needed joy, but we can also pay equal attention – perhaps this year even more attention – to those who are not as fortunate. This year my family will still dress up. We will prepare mishloach manot with cards indicating that we have made donations in lieu of lavish gifts. We will read the Megillah as a family zooming with our community. And as a family, we will choose where to make donations, and make it clear that we are blessed and grateful to be able to have a home and food and to help others have the same. We will take the moment to laugh, eat, enjoy and be grateful for what we have and not what could have been. Sharon Weiss-Greenberg is an assistant editor at My Jewish Learning and the director of donor relations at RAISE Advisors. She served as the first Orthodox woman chaplain at Harvard University, and holds a doctorate in education and Jewish studies from New York University.

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In time for Purim…a special scroll in honor of Esther Horgen z”l (JNS) The Israel Bible has published a new edition of the Scroll of Esther in honor of Esther Horgen, the 52-yearold mother of six murdered on Dec. 21 by a Palestinian terrorist near her Tal Menashe home. The release of the new edition comes ahead of Purim, when the Scroll of Esther, or Megillat Esther, is communally read. The Israel Bible Scroll of Esther features uplifting poetry and illustrations by Horgen, alongside the biblical text in Hebrew and English, as well as commentary on the book of Esther, one of five Megillot included in the Bible. “I join with you in celebrating the life of Esther, of blessed memory, in this new edition of Megillat Esther with her own, beautiful illustrations,” said Israeli President Reuven Rivlin. “How bittersweet to celebrate Purim, when we read the story of the triumph of Queen Esther over the wicked plans of [King] Ahasuerus and his adviser, the evil Haman, to annihilate the Jewish people when we are mourning the loss of dear Esther.” “The unique light of Esther Horgen will not be extinguished,” said Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, adding that he hoped the book would “serve as an eternal light for her memory.” Esther Horgen’s family collaborated with The Israel Bible, an English-Hebrew edition of the Hebrew Bible with commentary that highlights the special relationship between the land and people of Israel. Proceeds from the sale of the book will go to developing the Esther Horgen Memorial Forest and Park in Tal Menashe. Immediately after the family concluded the week of mourning for Horgen, they went to the site of her murder in the nearby forest and planted a tree in her memory to launch the forest project, expressing their desire that the site of her killing would “remain a place of peace, not a forest of fear.”

Purim in the Kitchen (JNS) The most jubilant holiday in the Jewish calendar, Purim is a celebration of good over evil; the defeat of Haman and his plans to exterminate the Jews of Persia. On this wild and nutty holiday, almost anything goes. Good-natured tricks, jokes, costumes, masks, treats–it’s a time to be downright silly. Back in the olden days (just a year ago), in synagogues all over the world, there were masquerades, drinking, dancing, a festive meal. There was foot-stamping and groggerspinning. Everyone, adults and kids, dressed up in costume, parading around the room. Then the coronavirus pandemic struck with its social distancing, restrictions, lock-downs, masking and hand-sanitizing. Now masks have taken on a whole new meaning. But take heart! We can still enjoy the holiday, albeit at home instead of at synagogue, school or the Jewish community center. For families, plan a Purim “cook-in.” Kids will be thrilled to help measure and stir, filling shalach manot for friends and neighbors in sanitary plastic bags. The most popular Purim treat, hamantaschen, is widely available in supermarkets and bakeries. But the best are homemade, along with your own lekvar, the traditional prune filling. In Yiddish, the three-cornered pastries mean “Haman’s pockets,” as they resemble Haman’s tri-cornered hat, his pockets, even his ears. Sephardic Jews, in fact, deep-fry dough twisted to resemble Haman’s ears. But besides the sweet stuff, it’s also the custom to eat peas and bean dishes. The tradition goes that in the court of King Ahasuerus, young Jewish Queen Esther did not want to eat non-kosher foods. She became vegetarian, eating mainly peas and bean dishes. The technique of browning a roux, a mixture of oil or butter and flour, imparts a rich, nutty flavor to Queen Esther’s Gumbo. For my Zoom Purim supper, I’ll spoon the thick bean stew spiked with bold Masala spice over hot, fluffy rice. I keep Masala spice on hand to use in a score of soups, stews and savory dishes like a frittata. An aromatic mixture of cumin, coriander, pepper and cardamom, it packs a mouthwatering punch to soups, stews and savory dishes.

Queen Esther’s Gumbo (Pareve)

“THE ISRAEL BIBLE: SCROLL OF ESTHER,” PUBLISHED IN HONOR OF SLAIN ISRAELI ESTHER HORGEN. CREDIT: COURTESY.

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Twist to resemble Haman’s ears. (No need to be perfect; it’s said that Haman’s ears were knobby.) Heat about ½-inch oil over medium heat. A cube of bread should brown in 50-60 seconds. Add the ears making sure they don’t touch. Fry until puffed and golden on all sides. Drain on paper towels. Cool and dredge with confectioners’ sugar.

BY ETHEL G. HOFMAN

Serves 4-6 Chef’s notes: For Masala spice: ½ teaspoon each, cumin, coriander, cardamom and ground black pepper. Substitute spinach, collard greens or any other leafy vegetable for watercress. Chop onion and bell pepper together in a food processor.

Ingredients: ¼ cup vegetable oil ¼ cup flour 1 medium red onion, chopped coarsely 1 medium green bell pepper, seeded and chopped coarsely 1½ teaspoons bottled minced garlic 2 cups vegetarian broth 1 can (15.5 ounces) kidney beans, drained 1 can (15.5 ounces) black-eyed peas, drained 2 teaspoons Masala spice 2 cups watercress, coarsely shredded Directions: Heat the oil in a heavy pot over mediumhigh heat. Stir in the flour. Cook, 4-5 minutes, stirring constantly until the mixture turns medium brown. Stir in the onion, bell pepper and garlic. Cook, stirring, until vegetables begin to soften, about 4-5 minutes. Add the broth, beans, peas and Masala spice. Stir and reduce heat to low. Simmer 10 minutes. Stir in the watercress. Spoon over rice to serve.

Deep-Fried Haman’s Ears (Pareve) Makes 12-15 Cook’s Tips: Substitute 1½ teaspoons vanilla extract for rosewater. Substitute 1 table-spoon finely grated fresh ginger for powdered ginger.

Hasty Hamantaschen (Dairy) Makes 10 From my book, Everyday Cooking for the Jewish Home. Cook’s Tips: Make your own lekvar (easy recipe below). May substitute beaten egg for water to dampen. Ingredients: ½ cup bottled lekvar (prune butter) 1 tablespoon grated lemon zest ½ teaspoon cinnamon 1 package (7.5 ounces) refrigerated biscuits 2 tablespoons honey, warmed Directions: Preheat oven to 400 degrees. In a small bowl, mix lekvar, lemon zest and cinnamon. Set aside. Separate the biscuits. On a lightly floured board, flatten biscuits into a round, about 2½ inches in diameter. Place a teaspoon filling in center of each biscuit. Dampen edges with water. Fold edges over filling to form a three-sided pyramid, leaving some filling uncovered. Place about 2 inches apart on a large, ungreased cookie sheet. Bake in preheated oven 10-12 minutes until golden. Brush with honey and cool.

‘Lekvar’: Prune Filling (Pareve) Makes ¾ to 1 cup Cook’s Tips: For apricot filling, substitute dried apricots for prunes. Prepare filling 2-3 days ahead and refrigerate. Ingredients: ½ cup (10-12) pitted prunes ½ cup orange juice 2 tablespoons lemon juice 1 teaspoon sugar ½ teaspoon cinnamon

Ingredients: 1 cup all-purpose flour ¾ teaspoon baking powder 2 tablespoons sugar 1 teaspoon powdered ginger 1 egg, lightly beaten 2 tablespoons vegetable oil 2 teaspoons rosewater vegetable oil for frying confectioners’ sugar Directions: In a medium bowl, mix the flour, baking powder, sugar and ginger. Make a well in the center. Pour in the egg, oil and rosewater. Mix well. Turn onto a floured board and knead until smooth about 1 minute. If too sticky, add a little more flour. Cover and chill for 1 hour. Pinch off small pieces, about the size of a large walnut.

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Directions: Place prunes, orange juice and lemon juice in a small saucepan. Bring to boil over medium heat. Reduce heat to simmer. Cook until about 3 tablespoons liquid remains. Remove from heat, add the sugar and cinnamon.Transfer to food processor. Pulse to a coarse paste. Cool completely to use as needed. Ethel G. Hofman is a widely syndicated American Jewish food and travel columnist, author and culinary consultant.

FEBRUARY 26, 2021

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‘The Jew is guilty,’ 300 neo-Nazis hear at far-right gathering in Spain (JTA) – Jewish leaders in Spain are calling for an investigation after a far-right event in Madrid featured antisemitic speeches and a Nazi salute. About 300 people attended the event held near a cemetery in the Spanish capital where veterans who fought alongside Hitler’s troops are buried. In one speech, a young woman was filmed saying: “Our duty is to fight for Spain and Europe now weakened by the enemy, which remains the same but wears many masks: the Jew.” Public expressions of admiration for Nazi Germany, antisemitic rhetoric and large far-right gatherings are relatively uncommon in Spain. But as in many European countries, right-wing populism has seen a massive and sudden rise in popularity in Spain in recent years. The Federation of Jewish Communities of Spain in a statement Feb. 15, called on prosecutors to launch an investigation into incitement to violence and discrimination against some of the people who attended the event, including the young woman, who has not been identified in the media and who also said: “The Jew is guilty and the Blue Division will fight it,” Ultima Hora reported. The Blue Division, a small neo-Nazi network named for the units of Spanish volunteers who fought in Russia during World War II alongside the Nazis. Veterans from that detachment are buried at the cemetery where the event took place.

Biden recalibrating’ ties with Saudis, opening ‘path to diplomacy’ for Iran (JNS) Officials in the Biden administration announced a shift in U.S. Middle East foreign policy on Feb. 16, towards a more critical stance on Saudi Arabia while opening the door for direct diplomacy with Iran. White House spokeswoman Jen Psaki said that U.S. President Joe Biden would conduct diplomacy directly through Saudi King Salman bin Abdulaziz rather than his powerful son, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. “We’ve made clear from the beginning that we are going to recalibrate our relationship with Saudi Arabia,” said Psaki. The move is a reversal of U.S. relations under the Trump administration, which had maintained steady contact with Mohammed bin Salman, also known as “MBS.” In particular, former White House senior adviser Jared Kushner developed close ties with him and with leaders of other Arab Gulf states, which helped to pave the way for normalization between Israel and several Arab countries in the fall.

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Nevertheless, MBS – seen as the de facto leader of Saudi Arabia and next in line to the throne held by his 85-year-old ailing father – has also drawn controversy over the death of journalist Jamal Khashoggi in 2018 and for his country’s role in the war in Yemen. Meanwhile, U.S. Secretary of State Tony Blinken indicated that the administration would be open to direct diplomacy with Iran in the future. However, he said that for the United States and Iran to resume direct diplomacy, Tehran would have to resume full compliance with the Iran deal. Pressed Blinken further on dialogue with Iran, Blinken replied: “Well, at some point, presumably, if there’s going to be any engagement on this, that would have to require diplomacy. That’s what we’re in the business of.”

Exiled Iranian judoka arrives in Israel to compete in Tel Aviv Grand Slam (JNS) Iranian judo champion Saeid Mollaei landed in Israel on Sunday night, Feb. 14, to compete in the Tel Aviv Grand Slam tournament. The athlete sought refuge in Germany after being ordered to throw a match at the 2019 World Judo Championships in Tokyo to avoid a potential pairing with Israeli Israeli halfmiddleweight judoka and world champion Sagi Muki. He is now a citizen of and competing for Mongolia. When greeted by Israeli Judoka Association chairman Moshe Fonte, Mollaei said he was “very happy to arrive at the competition,” reported Channel 12. “Thank you for everything and for the reception; all the best to Israelis.” Mollaei medaled at the Asian championships in 2015, 2016 and 2017; the 2017 Budapest World Championships; and the 2018 Baku World Championships. While competing at the 2019 World Judo Championships in Tokyo in the summer of 2019, Iranian authorities including the minister of sport, president of the Iran Judo Federation and head of the Iran Olympic Committee, ordered him to intentionally lose his semi-final, to avoid a potential match in the finals against Muki. Muki went on to win the gold medal in those finals. After exposing the scheme, Mollaei went into hiding in Germany, expressing fear of retribution if he returned to Iran. Two months later, in October, the International Judo Federation (IJF) announced that it was banning the Islamic Republic from competition until “the Iran Judo Federation gives strong guarantees and proves that they will respect the IJF statutes and accept that their athletes fight against Israeli athletes.” In November, Mollaei competed as part of the IJF refugee team at the Osaka Grand Slam and was congratulated by Muki for returning to the sport. Mollaei thanked Muki, writing, “Good luck to you all the time, my best friend.” He later posted on

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Instagram a photo of himself with Muki, with the caption: “This is true friendship and a win for sports and judo over politics.

Chelsea FC kicks its ‘Say No to Antisemitism’ campaign into full gear (JNS) One of the United Kingdom’s most popular football teams is boosting its efforts to combat antisemitism among the sport’s legion of fans and well beyond. The Chelsea Football Club has launched a “Say No to Anti-Semitism” website that will provide information on the team’s efforts in the fight against hate as well as its involvement in community events, including Holocaust remembrance programs. It will now also note educational initiatives all aimed at driving out hate in the United Kingdom. The initiatives began several years ago after a rise in hate-filled taunts and antisemitic shouts at European football matches. It became clear to Chelsea FC’s management and Jewish owner, Roman Abramovich – who has since made aliyah and lives in Tel Aviv – that something needed to be done. Since 2018, the team has partnered with several Jewish organizations to combat hate; created a mural featuring the images of Jewish soccer players killed in the Holocaust; and has accepted the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s definition of antisemitism.

Overnight camps can open this year, NY governor announces (JTA) – Parents in the ari-state area can breathe a little easier now that New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced that day camps and overnight camps in the state would likely be able to operate this year. Cuomo barred sleepaway camps in the state from opening last year because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Some camps temporarily moved their operations to other states that allowed overnight camps to open, but many others simply shut down, at financial loss to their operators and to the disappointment of families. Last year’s ban prompted a lawsuit by the Association of Jewish Camp Operators, which represents Orthodox Jewish camps. The group argued that Cuomo’s ban constituted religious discrimination because other businesses were allowed to remain open. The camps had presented a safety plan to the governor’s office and state health department but the governor was ultimately not convinced that overnight camps could be operated safely. Now, camps will be allowed to open starting in June provided that COVID-19 cases continue to fall, Cuomo announced Wednesday, Feb. 17, adding that the state will issue guidance to camps for COVID testing protocol. Last year, most Jewish sleepaway camps

shut down for the summer. The Harold Grinspoon Foundation announced in April that it would spend $10 million to support camps as they weathered the pandemic. Cuomo suggested that parents, not the state, would be the main drivers of what happens with camps this year. “No parent is going to send their child to a summer camp, unless there’s a testing protocol, anyway,” he said.

NC Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson has made remarks about Jewish financial control (JTA) – North Carolina Jewish figures and the Republican Jewish Coalition have called on North Carolina’s lieutenant governor to apologize for past comments about Jewish control. Jewish Insider on Friday quoted a number of Jewish officials who were appalled by Mark Keith Robinson’s comments on Jews and their influence. Robinson, a Republican, has said he will not apologize for things he said before he became an elected official. “His refusal to apologize is troubling and unacceptable to us,” said Matt Brooks, the director of the Republican Jewish Coalition. Typical of the reactions of North Carolina’s Jews was Rabbi Lucy Dinner of Temple Beth Or in Raleigh. “I believe that Mark Robinson’s election in North Carolina is, as we would say in Yiddish, a shanda,” she told Jewish Insider. Among Robinson’s offenses was an attack in 2018 on the creators of the Black Panther character, after a movie about the Marvel Comics superhero came out. “It is absolutely AMAZING to me that people who know so little about their true history and REFUSE to acknowledge the pure sorry state of their current condition can get so excited about a fictional ‘hero’ created by an agnostic Jew and put to film by satanic marxist,” said Robinson, who is African American, in a Facebook post. “How can this trash, that was only created to pull the shekels out of your Schvartze pockets, invoke any pride?” he added. Black Panther was created in the 1960s by two Jewish comic book creators, Stan Lee and Jack Kirby. The 2018 film was directed by Ryan Coogler, a Black filmmaker who is involved in social justice causes. In October, the Raleigh News & Observer found a conversation that Robinson had in 2019 with a fringe religious leader named Sean Moon. In the interview, Moon invokes antisemitic tropes about the Rothschild family, and Robinson says “That’s exactly right.” The state and national Republican parties have so far been silent about Robinson.

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| FEBRUARY 26, 2021

of the film with Lewin, Rabbi Hale, and cinematographer/editor Randi Cecchine will be held on March 8 at 7 p.m. Commandment 613 tells not only the story of Rabbi Hale’s work, but shares some of the history of the historic Czech Torah scrolls. Czechoslovakia had a thriving Jewish community for more than 1,000 years, but the community was all but destroyed after the Germans invaded the country in March of 1939. During the war, Judaica, including 1,800 Torah scrolls from the regions of Bohemia and Moravia, was taken from synagogues, collected by the Nazis and eventually stored for decades in a basement in Prague. In 1964, the Czech government offered the long forgotten scrolls to a British art dealer, and they were acquired by the Westminster Synagogue in London. Soon the Czech Memorial Scroll Trust was founded to protect and keep track of the precious Torahs. And for more than 50 years, scribes like Rabbi Hale have painstakingly restored these scrolls so that they may still be used in Jewish communities around the world. The documentary got its title, Rabbi Hale explains in the film, because “it is “generally accepted that the last [commandment] – 613 – is God saying to Moses, ‘And now write this song for yourselves and teach it to the children of Israel’”…or write your own Torah. Hale took an interesting journey in becoming a sofer. Growing up Reform on Long Island, in a family that he calls “classic Jewish German secular,” he dropped out of Hebrew school before he could be bar mitzvahed. After receiving a BA in Classical Ancient Mediterranean and Near Eastern Studies and Archaeology from Yale, Kevin Hale worked as a “self-employed toy maker” in Berkeley, California for several years. At the age of 29, after a trip to Germany to see extended family still living there, he had a calling to become a rabbi. “I sensed that there were treasures in Judaism,” Hale says, “and I wanted to find them.” Growing up with Hale “No one saw ‘Rabbi’ coming,” laughed Lewin. But she says his work as a sofer makes sense. “Kevin is curious and creative and a tinkerer,” she said. “He comes from a family of people who build things. His father’s an engineer. His brother is a photographer and maker of tiny incredible objects. They are all builders, and Kevin has all of those ‘want-to-build it’ tinkerer skills.” Lewin and Cecchine were able to spend time filming Rabbi Hale at work in his Leeds office/workshop. Hale shares some of what goes into restoring a Torah – from the

ink and tools used for different parts of the process, to the animal skin parchment and how the Torah panels are sewn together, to ancient customs and rules scribes follow during different steps of the scribing process. “I really pushed for us to film in his studio,” said Cecchine. “I love his relationship to his objects, to the tools and toys that he tinkers with, and his relationship to sacred craft and fun.” Before making Commandment 613, Brooklyn-based Lewin had mainly made documentaries for professional development for teachers, many dealing with teaching the arts. “I’ve never made a film longer than 30 minutes. This is the first time that I’ve made a film without a client, a budget or a deadline,” she said. “ While filming, Lewin and Cecchine followed Hale to Media, Pa., where he was working to restore two of the Czech scrolls. One, Scroll No. 795, had belonged to a synagogue in Prostjav, Moravia and was now at a Conservative synagogue called Congregation Beth Israel. The home of the scroll, No. 586 is Wesley Enhanced Living. Both scrolls are on permanent loan from the Memorial Scroll Trust. Lewin and Cecchine spent three days filming Hale as he shared his knowledge of the Torah and the art of scroll restoration in Pennsylvania with groups from young religious school children up to the elderly residents of the assisted living center, all eager for a glimpse of Hale’s sacred handiwork. “Some of my favorite moments in the film is when you see the people crowding around and Kevin is teaching them things… And people have this look on their faces, like ‘I’m so close to this thing!’ With these particular scrolls that have such meaning for those congregations, the emotion is even stronger.” Lewin and Cecchine began filming in September of 2016; filmed some scenes in both 2017 and 2018; then finished shooting in 2019. The film was completed in May of 2020. Lewin says that the more than 20 screenings of the documentary that she has attended virtually have been as emotional as in-person ones might have been, especially for the synagogues that have one of the scrolls. “These people who can’t get together personally, can get together online and focus on something that has great significance for them. Those sessions have been very meaningful for us.” “Commandment 613” will be shown virtually from March 5-8. To register for the film or the virtual film discussion on March 8 at 7 p.m. visit pvjff.org.

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LETTER Remembering Matt and Sara This month marks the ominous 25th anniversary of the death of my dear friends Matt Eisenfeld and Sara Duker, of blessed memory, in a senseless act of terror on the Number 18 Bus in Jerusalem. To mark this occasion, I invite you to listen to two new episodes of “My Teacher Podcast” that I host and produce. In a special twopart series, I have a conversation with Mike Kelly, award-winning columnist for The Bergen Record and author the acclaimed book The Bus on Jaffa Road, his comprehensive account of the bus bombing of February 25, 1996, and its aftermath. In Part One of the series (Episode 11), I interview Mike on his reporting of this story. In Part Two (Episode 12), Mike interviews me about my friendship with Matt and Sara and the collection of their writings that I edited: Love Finer Than Wine: The Writings of Matthew Eisenfeld and Sara Duker. I hope you find our conversation engaging, and I ask that you share with anyone who may benefit from listening. Please also consider subscribing to My Teacher Podcast as well MATT EISENFELD AND SARA DUCKER as rating and reviewing it IN ISRAEL. TAKEN NOT LONG BEFORE on iTunes to help people THEY WERE KILLED IN A FEB. 26, 1996 BUS BOMBING IN JERUSALEM. find the show. My Teacher Podcast is available on Apple, Google, Spotify, Stitcher and iHeartRadio. One final note: Feb. 5 would have been Matt’s 50th birthday. When Matt died, he had just celebrated his 25th birthday. As we mark the 25th anniversary of the death of Matt and Sara, we cross a dubious threshold in which Matt has been gone longer than he was alive. Sara crossed this threshold a couple years ago. Those of us who knew them are as committed as ever to preserving their memory. They were, after all, great teachers, and we still have much to learn from them. May their memory always be for a blessing, and may we continue to learn from their wisdom, dreams and ideals for many years to come. Rabbi Edward C. Bernstein Ed Bernstein may be reached at rabbiecb@gmail.com.

ANSWERS TO FEB. 19 CROSSWORD

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THE KOSHER CROSSWORD FEB. 26, 2021 “Hidden Figure” By: Yoni Glatt

Difficulty Level: Challenging

Curbside pick up and local home delivery available! SHABBAT DINNER TRADITIONAL DAIRY LUNCHEON DELI SANDWICH PLATTER DINNER MENU

Across 1. Moshe of note 6. Dermatologist’s removal, perhaps 10. North Korean rulers 14. Buffet’s city 15. Jewish school in CA 16. Important men in Bereishit 17. Fancy Hershey alternative with many (but not all) kosher products 20. Roads that often cross aves. 21. “Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde” author’s initials 22. Digestive enzyme 23. Actor best known for portraying Sal Tessio and Phil Fish 28. Fast food chain that had a

kosher branch in the Mevaseret Mall, once 29. Apikores 31. Peach leftover 32. Havdallah residue 33. Mount in Noah 34. Israeli piece of clothing? 36. “Who ___ kidding?” 37. Hidden figure in Megillat Esther and 17, 23, 53, and 61-Across 38. Accords place 42. Cousin of an alpaca 45. “Relax!” 47. Cliffhanger letters 50. Wyo. neighbor 51. Centers on the bench

52. Long narrow inlet 53. Instrument for Brian Rosenworcel of Guster 55. Analyze, as metal 57. Passover mo. 58. “Family member” with extra halachic stringencies on Shabbat 61. Common order at EJ’s in Skokie 66. Sashimi choice 67. Kind of tree 68. Where Judaism officially started, one could argue 69. Schlump 70. Play bass, in a way 71. Zionist activist group, once

Down 1. “Family members” with extra halachic stringencies on Shabbat 2. Jewish measures 3. The largest volunteer staff organization in Israel 4. Kind of 66-Across 5. Abbr. for what Waze is 6. In a circular pattern 7. Queens, NY sister school of MTA (and technically 15-Across) 8. ___-mo replay 9. X in a square? 10. Vitamin-rich green vegetable 11. Jared’s wife 12. Musical themes 13. Odor

18. Tefillah some might say early in the morning? 19. Give a sermon 24. Rabbi Wein of note 25. Flight plan info: Abbr. 26. Many a piece by Bret Stephens 27. Work at the City of David, per haps 29. “Bali ___ “ 30. 24-hr. hospital areas 34. Constricting snake 35. Evil “Star Wars” Count 37. Fed. agent 39. On a losing streak 40. Sass 41. 10th-inning counterparts, briefly

43. 2011 civil war setting 44. Word in a Shakespeare play about nothing? 45. Group of key personnel 46. Bar code scanner, for short 47. Areas of land 48. Jewish cooking? 49. Place to get chips? 51. Little girl in a nursery rhyme 54. Israel’s protector 56. Something hailed (two words) 59. Biblical hunter 60. Scrawny 62. Alt. answer to 5-Down 63. Iraqi export 64. No. on a tire gauge 65. S or E: Abbr.

JEWISH LEDGER

FEBRUARY 26, 2021

MILESTONES 15 Jewish organizations to participate in Greater Hartford Legacy Giving initiative

At the Hebrew Center for Health and Rehabilitation, we understand that comfort and familiarity is a key part of the journey to wellness. We also understand that maintaining your religious beliefs and principles is fundamental in continued enrichment of life. Our Kosher meal services allow residents to maintain their dietary requirements throughout their stay with us. At the Hebrew Center, we ensure we follow all principles of Kosher including purchase, storage, preparation, and service.

At the Hebrew Center for Health and Rehabilitation, we also offer a variety of other services and amenities to ensure your stay is as comfortable as possible. THESE SERVICES INCLUDE: • Passport to Rehabilitation Program • Long-Term Skilled Nursing Care • Specialized Memory Care • Respite Care Program • Palliative Care and Hospice Services Coordination

HKC

‫כשר‬

OUR AMENITIES INCLUDE: • Barber/Beauty Shop • Café • Cultural Menus • Laundry and housekeeping services • Patient and Family education • Life Enrichment

EST HARTFORD – The Jewish Community Foundation of Greater Hartford is spear-heading a community-wide legacy giving initiative with 14 Jewish organizations – as well as The Foundation itself – participating. The initiative is part of the Harold Grinspoon Foundation’s (HGF) Life & Legacy program, a nationwide Jewish legacy giving initiative that aims to promote after-lifetime giving to benefit Jewish day schools, synagogues, social service organizations and other Jewish organizations. To date, HGF has secured more than 28,000 afterlifetime commitments with an estimated value of over one billion dollars for Jewish organizations across North America. The Hartford area Jewish organizations participating in the four-year initiative will receive coaching, training and incentive grants to ensure that legacy giving becomes further integrated in the philanthropic culture of the community. In addition to The Foundation, the 14 other Hartford area organizations participating in the initiative are: Voices of Hope (Farmington) Congregation Kol Haverim (Glastonbury) Charter Oak Cultural Center (Hartford) Farmington Valley Jewish Congregation-Emek Shalom (Glastonbury) Temple Beth Hillel (South Windsor) Congregation Beth Israel (West Hartford) Hebrew Senior Care (West Hartford) Jewish Family Services (West Hartford) Jewish Federation of Greater Hartford (West Hartford) Mandell JCC (West Hartford) New England Jewish Academy (West Hartford) Solomon Schechter Day School (West Hartford)

“The pandemic has shown that organizations with endowments are faring better than those without them,” says Jacob Schreiber, president and CEO of the Jewish Community Foundation of Greater Hartford. “It’s inspiring to see so many Jewish organizations having the foresight to work on securing their – and our community’s collective – future, even as they continue raising annual dollars to maintain their current programs and services.” The Foundation will receive a 1:2 matching grant from HGF of approximately $100,000 each year to provide participating local organizations with unrestricted incentive grants, for meeting legacy commitment benchmarks. The Foundation will fund the rest of the cost of the program. “The Harold Grinspoon Foundation is excited to help the Jewish Community Foundation further establish a culture of legacy giving in the Greater Hartford Jewish community,” says Arlene D. Schiff, national director of the Life & Legacy program. “This legacy initiative will make the most of the generational transfer of wealth and provide generous members of the Greater Hartford Jewish community with the opportunity to express their passion, purpose and commitment to their most valued Jewish organizations.” Life & Legacy is investing $30 million dollars over a 10-year period to preserve vibrant Jewish life for future generations by ensuring the longterm financial health of Jewish community organizations in cities across North America. “Providing Jewish communities with proven tools and training to help them secure their long-term financial goals is vital,” says HGF founder Harold Grinspoon, the founder of HGF. “Through the Life & Legacy program, I am hopeful that we will be able to help sustain vibrant communities that allow future generations to enjoy our rich Jewish culture and heritage.” For more information about the Life & Legacy program in Greater Hartford, contact Elana MacGilpin at emacgilpin@jcfhartford.org.

The Emanuel Synagogue (West Hartford) Young Israel of West Hartford (West Hartford)

For more information on our Kosher program, please contact: DIRECTOR, PASTORAL SERVICES - (860) 523-3800 Hebrew Center for Health and Rehabilitation One Abrahms Boulevard, West Hartford, CT 06117

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JEWISH LEDGER

| FEBRUARY 26, 2021

Find us online: jewishledger.com jewishledger.com

It Was A Wedding For The Books BY EMILY HAYS

hat do you wear to a wedding during a pandemic? Blaize Levitan and Kristina Powell and their guests wore matching face masks – pink and red, custom made – in a Covidconscious Valentine’s Day ceremony held Sunday, Feb. 14 at Book Trader Cafe in New Haven. The wedding was a first for the popular cafe and bookstore at Chapel and York streets. Book Trader was one of the couple’s favorite haunts during the four years when Levitan and Powell began a long-distance relationship. They would read and eat at the cafe while waiting for the trains that would take them back to their respective homes in New York and Hartford. “We love a cozy book shop or coffee shop. It was our departing spot. It was always emotional,” Levitan said. All 15 of those attending Sunday’s wedding wore the Valentine’s Day-themed face masks. All got tested for Covid-19 in the days before the wedding. Since Levitan works in-person at the Greenwich Town Hall, he got tested twice. And all the grandparents were able to get their first shot of the Covid-19 vaccine. The rest of the wedding guests attended via videoconference. As an extra layer, those present filmed and live-streamed the ceremony as well. Powell and Levitan decided to follow the

CANTOR BOYLE SHOWED THOSE GATHERED, BOTH IN-PERSON AND VIRTUALLY, THE HEART-PAINTED LIGHTBULB THAT SERVED AS THE “GLASS” BROKEN BY THE GROOM UNDER THE CHUPPAH.

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traditions of a Jewish wedding. Powell grew up Catholic, but the couple has found a joint spiritual home at a progressive synagogue, Temple Beth Tikvah in Madison. The couple started the ceremony by signing their ketubah. The marriage contract promised that the couple would build their relationship on friendship and compassion and celebrate joy as they overcome hardship. Then each circled the other three times under the lace-draped cccchuppah, followed by one circle where both moved at the same time. Cantor Jennifer Boyle explained that the structure was open on four sides to symbolize that their home would be open to their friends and family, and that their relationship would sometimes be buffeted by outside forces. The circling symbolized strengthening and protecting that relationship. The couple shared “wine” (red grape juice) to symbolize joy. Each put a simple band on the other’s forefinger. Boyle asked each whether they accepted the marriage and each dramatically hesitated ... before saying yes and slipping the band onto their ring finger. Boyle spoke about what the two had signed onto in their ketubah. She said they already were prepared to do many of the things in their contract. They had already overcome hardship by surviving four years of long-distance. They were able to celebrate joy even in the midst of the pandemic and were good at creating their own joy through trips with one another. Boyle then sang the sheva barachot – the seven blessings. Her voice filled the glass-walled room of the cafe during each of the seven wedding blessings. She translated the Hebrew into English after each blessing. At last, it was time for the couple to kiss and break a glass to conclude the ceremony. Boyle showed the in-person and virtual audience the “glass” – a lightbulb painted with hearts. Once Boyle placed the lightbulb within a cloth on the ground, Levitan stamped on it. As soon as the audience heard the crunch, Boyle started singing the congratulations. The audience clapped along to the chorus of “mazel tov”s. When the song was done, they filled the room with their own whoops and applause. It was Boyle’s first time officiating at a chuppah. The 26-year-old was asked to fill in for the Temple Beth Tikvah rabbi, who was away from work this month Levitan and Powell first met while pursuing public administration master’s degrees at the University of Connecticut. They first became friends when they were the only two to show up early to the

KRISTINA POWELL AND BLAIZE LEVITAN UNDER THE CHUPPAH AT BOOK TRADER.

orientation for the program. Soon they learned that Powell’s mother taught at the school Levitan had attended and had been his sister’s sixth-grade teacher. “He was cute and friendly. He was younger than me, so I wasn’t thinking of him as a prospect,” Powell remembered. They became study partners and eventually went on a date that Powell expected to be a fluke. During their dinner at the Texas Roadhouse in Manchester, they talked about going to a brewery sometime. Levitan followed up immediately and made plans with Powell to visit the Samuel Adams Brewery in Boston. The initiative and confidence wooed Powell, and their relationship began. It’s been seven years since then. Levitan is now 28 and Powell, 32. They live together in a house they own in Guilford. Powell has been able to work remotely during the Covid-19 pandemic. Levitan goes to work in-person as the assistant director of parks and recreation in Greenwich. They decided a month ago to get married. The momentum kept building until all the plans were in place for their pandemic-era, Valentine’s Day chuppah. “A lot of negative stuff has been happening, and we felt it was important to celebrate something happy. You realize how fragile everything is. We wanted all of our grandparents to be there,” Levitan said. The Covid-19 safety restrictions necessitated a small wedding, which worked perfectly for Powell, who is uncomfortable being the center of attention. The couple plans to throw a large party to celebrate with all their friends and family when the pandemic has passed. Book Trader owner David Duda reflected on his own first experience hosting a wedding. The cafe stayed closed at the beginning of the pandemic. While Book Trader is now open, Duda still has not set up indoor seating. When Levitan reached

out to him about hosting the wedding, Duda decided to make an exception to the indoor seating rule. The fact that the party agreed to all get tested for Covid-19 and keep their numbers at a maximum of 15 helped settle the decision. “We have been slow. It was nice of them to think of this. I think part of it was to help out a business affected by the pandemic. Plus, everybody likes a wedding on Valentine’s Day,” Duda said. The cafe is currently open for customers to buy books, coffee and pastries to go. The ceremony brought Levitan’s grandmother, Muriel Keiper, to tears, even though her hearing aid cut out for most of it. Levitan is the grandson who lives closest to her. In the month before the ceremony, Levitan found a place with a Covid-19 vaccine opening earlier than Keiper had scheduled for herself, so she would have more protection at the wedding. “He’s very good to us,” Keiper said. For Nancy Powell, mother of the bride, and Jae-p Champlin, mother of the groom, the wedding timing was perfect. Both said that their new in-law has fit into their families for a long time. Both liked the small size of the ceremony–it was cost-efficient and more intimate. “She’s so good for him, and he’s so good for her,” Champlin said. “Even when they have kids, they’ll know what’s important. They know that life is short.” This article is reprinted with permission from The New Haven Independent (www. newhavenindependent.org). It has been edited slightly for space considerations. Photos by Emily Hays

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FEBRUARY 26, 2021

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JEWISH LEDGER

| FEBRUARY 26, 2021

ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT

‘MASEL TOV COCKTAIL’ EXPLODES YOUNG JEW IN GERMANY

BY JOE BAUR

ERLIN (JTA) – There’s a swastika drawn inside of a high school bathroom stall. Dima Liebermann, the protagonist of the German short film “Masel Tov Cocktail,” uses a marker to alter the hate symbol, giving it eyes and wings. “Nice owl,” a woman smoking in the stall with Dima says. “Nazi owl,” he replies with a smirk. So begins the darkly comic 30-minute film on a day in the life as a young Jewish person in Germany, which pokes fun at several layers of a society still not fully comfortable with how to interact with its Jewish population. Dima, who is quick-witted, macho and built with muscle that fills out his simple white T-shirt – and who often addresses the viewer directly, breaking down the third wall in impassioned pleas for understanding – does not conform to what his neighbors think of when they think of a Jew. The film from Arkadij Khaet and Mickey Paatzsch, both 29, premiered last year at the 42nd Max Ophüls Film Festival in Germany and has gone on to play across the country and as far as the United States, South America and Asia, winning awards along the way. It’s now coming to some American Jewish film festivals that are streaming online, including ones in Palm Beach, Florida, (through April 1), Atlanta (Feb. 17-28) and Miami (April 15-29). Last year, Khaet won the Civis Media Prize, considered to be one of Europe’s most important awards for projects related to topics of integration and cultural diversity. Khaet drew from his personal experiences in writing the film, with Dima working through encounters from the director’s life. He compared it to a “road trip” through a small German city condensed into one day. The common theme is how Germans try to classify Dima’s Jewishness through various points of view. There’s the classmate who makes antisemitic gestures and comments, the passerby on the street who quickly makes a point to say that none of his ancestors were Nazis, and a teacher that Khaet describes as philosemitic who asks him to share his Holocaust story for a class – assuming he had one to share. “One of the most common situations is people who say to me, ‘Wow, I’ve never met a Jew before,’” Khaet said. “Then without reason, after a couple of beers, they start to tell me that their grandparents or great-grandparents weren’t Nazis but actually fought in the resistance or saved Jews.” “Masel Tov Cocktail” confronts claims like these, pausing the narrative of the film briefly to show the numbers. One example: 29% of Germans believe their ancestors tried to help Holocaust victims by, for example, hiding Jews. In reality, less than 0.1% did so. (The results come from a variety of sources listed in the credits.) Khaet believes that Germans, who are now in the third or even fourth generation after the Holocaust, feel the need to justify themselves without even being asked. The reason, the film argues, is that Germans only experience Jewish culture through World War II and Holocaust films, in which Jews are almost exclusively presented as victims. “On the other hand, in the United States, Jewish culture is more universal and broader in film, comedy, literature,” Khaet said. “In Germany, that simply doesn’t exist.”

ALEXANDER WERTMANN AS DIMA

(NIKOLAUS SCH

Representing Russian-s

Like the character of Dima, Khaet a the Jewish immigration of the early of the Soviet Union. Over 200,000 to Germany during that period. Kh Moldova, grew up primarily in Obe 211,000 in western Germany’s indu “From a Jewish perspective, it w noting that he started off with local I was able to find a good structure and strengthen and develop my Jew Some of that structure came thr ZWST (Central Welfare Board of Je Olami, a progressive Jewish youth 16, Khaet attended Netzer Olami’s and grew to become a leader and o At 18, he traveled to Israel for a gap global youth movement in Progress Khaet said that one of the reaso film was to give representation to t community in Germany. According Jews in Germany, more than half t Soviet Union found their way into J Germany, increasing their member 90%. “It’s a community that nobody k “When you ask Germans where Jew Israel or America.”

A Jew who hits back

Khaet also wanted to broaden the i screen. Early in “Masel Tov Cocktail,” 1 classmate in the face for making a H jewishledger.com

STEREOTYPES ABOUT BEING A

170 celebs, exec launch ‘BlackJewish Entertainment Alliance’ BY ERIN BEN-MOCHE

HREIBER)

urge him to apologize, but he holds out for as long as he can. “Jewish characters in German media are always cliches, stereotypes, and the narrative is always about the confrontation between the perpetrator and the victim,” Khaet explained. “They’re always about topics like the Shoah and antisemitism.” He pointed to the Jewish police commissioner on the show “Tatort” as a rare example of a non-cliche Jewish character in the German media. “We wanted to show a Jew who hits back and isn’t a victim,” Khaet said. The “we” refers to his co-director Paatzsch, who is not Jewish. Akadij and Paatzsch first met in Cologne while studying film in 2010. “Masel Tov Cocktail” is their third project together. Paatzsch described Khaet’s vision as an “essay film,” a collection of notes he’d written over the years about his experiences with Germans and his Jewish identity. The script was in its third draft by the time Paatzsch came to the project. He thought it had potential but questioned why Khaet would want him, a non-Jewish German, to be involved. “It’s a little bit like a running mate,” Khaet said. “I had the feeling that we could simply make a better film with four eyes and two directors.”

speaking Jews

A “privilege to be angry”

and his family were part of y 1990s following the collapse 0 Soviet Jews immigrated haet, whose family is from erhausen, a city of about ustrial Ruhrgebiet region. was a little lonely,” he said, l Jewish connections. “But to network with other Jews wish identity.” rough organizations like ews in Germany) and Netzer movement. From age 12 to Machanot (summer camp) organizer of future Machanot. p year with Shnat Netzer, a sive and Reform Judaism. ons he wanted to make this the Russian-speaking Jewish g to the Central Council of the Jews from the former Jewish communities in rship numbers by as much as

The response to their collaboration has been overwhelmingly positive, something that surprised both filmmakers. “We thought the film would be polarizing and that nonJewish viewers would feel too attacked to like the film,” Paatzsch said. The film was also featured at the 26th Jewish Film Festival Berlin & Brandenburg in September, bringing the story to a predominantly Jewish audience for the first time. “What really pleased me was the approval from the Jewish community,” Khaet said. Fans of the film have written, thanking them for offering a different kind of representation. Khaet believes this different Jewish perspective will only continue to grow in Germany because of Jews who have grown up in Germany, gone through the German school system, and are now becoming artists and using their art to explore their identity. “It’s a privilege to be able to afford to be angry,” he said, referring to his ability to write an “angry Jewish” character set in contemporary Germany. “That’s a privileged position that took years to come by.” Khaet sees the variety in which Jewish characters can be represented in the German media happening alongside the diversification of Jewish groups in the country. He points to the Ernst-Ludwig Ehrlich Studienwerk, Keshet Deutschland and the Jewish Student Union as examples of organizations younger than 10 years old that help support pluralistic Jewish life in the country. “Twenty years ago, you only had community life and one organization representing Jewish life in Germany, like the Central Council of Jews in Germany,” he said. “Today, especially in larger cities, you have multiple opportunities to network and to live your Jewishness differently than only through the roles of remembrance and religiosity.”

A IN “MASEL TOV COCKTAIL.”

knows about,” he said. ws come from, they think of

identity of German Jews on

16-year-old Dima slugs a Holocaust joke. His parents

jewishledger.com

(Jewish Journal via JNS) More than 170 entertainment industry leaders released a unity statement on Feb. 1 after launching the Black-Jewish Entertainment Alliance (BJEA), a joint initiative by black and Jewish entertainment industry professionals devoted to countering racism and antisemitism. In the face of institutional racism and rising antisemitism, members of the alliance feel it is critical to stand together and support one another. Signatories of the statement include Billy Porter, Mayim Bialik, Jeremy Piven, Sharon Osbourne, Tiffany Haddish, Nick Cannon, Jason Alexander (“Seinfeld”), co-chairman and CEO of Warner Records Aaron Bay-Schuck, director-producer Antoine Fuqua, Motown Records president Ethiopia Habtemariam, Columbia Records CEO/ chairman Ron Perry, Dulé Hill, the late Larry King, Gene Simmons, Pittsburgh Steeler Zach Banner and Jeff Ross, among many others. “The black and Jewish communities, who have a long history of supporting and working together, are so much stronger when we stand together in the fight against hate,” said Bay-Schuck. “This alliance will elevate voices in the entertainment community that can help the public to better understand the causes, manifestations and effects of racism and anti-Semitism, ensuring that our industry is doing its part to be a voice for hope, unity and healing in our country.” While many organizations combat antisemitism and racism individually, the alliance will aim to create a unified voice against both. It will host programming to highlight their common mission to fight hate and facilitate collaborative events to build solidarity between the black and Jewish communities. They will also work to elevate voices within the entertainment community to help the public better understand the causes, manifestations and effects of institutional racism and antisemitism. The unity statement (which can be read in full here) starts by acknowledging the “subjugation and persecution” that both black and Jewish Americans continue to face daily in the United States and promises to condemn hate. “As members of the entertainment community, we stand against all forms of hate, and pledge to work to bring our two communities together in solidarity, to support one another in our struggles, and to better understand each other’s plight and narratives,” the pledge reads. The statement also references the partnership between Martin Luther King Jr., Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel “and the many blacks and Jews who stood together in the fight for civil rights. … The Jewish community must continue to speak out against racial injustice and work to effect change, while the black community must continue to speak out against all forms of antisemitism.” Director and producer Antoine Fuqua said in a statement to the Jewish Journal that “film and art have always been about giving those unjustly attacked and marginalized a voice. As two communities that have long been targeted simply for who they are, the black and Jewish communities are stronger when we stand together.” Fuqua added that “it is thus incumbent on us, as members of the entertainment community, to continue to be united in the face of hateful discrimination and be a positive voice for change.”

MORE THAN 170 ENTERTAINMENT INDUSTRY LEADERS SIGNED ON TO A UNITY STATEMENT ON FEB. 1 AFTER LAUNCHING THE BLACK-JEWISH ENTERTAINMENT ALLIANCE (BJEA).

JEWISH LEDGER

FEBRUARY 26, 2021

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

Looking for God in All the Right Places with author Rabbi Jeffrey Salkin

TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 23 Preserving Jewish Memory at Auschwitz Since 2000, the Auschwitz Jewish Center (AJC), a Polish satellite location of the Museum of Jewish Heritage – A Living Memorial to the Holocaust and the only Jewish presence remaining in the vicinity of Auschwitz, has preserved Jewish memory in the town of Oświęcim and educated about the contemporary dangers of antisemitism and other forms of prejudice. Barbara Posner and Shlomi Shaked, the daughter and grandson of survivors from Oświęcim, who have both reconnected with the town over the past two decades, will explore the Center’s commemoration efforts in Oświęcim and their impact on descendants of the town’s Jewish residents, on Feb 23 5 p.m.For more information on this virtual program, visit: mjhnyc.org/events

WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 24 Arthur Szyk & the Art of the Haggadah Irving Ungar, rabbi and antiquarian book dealer specializing in history Judaica, will present the Samuel and Bettie Roberts Lecture in Jewish Art, and co-editor, The Szyk Haggadah, publisher and editor, Arthur Szyk: Soldier in Art (2017) on Feb. 24 at 7:30 p.m. The FREE webinar is part of the lecture series presented by Fairfield University’s Bennet Center for Judaic Studies. Registration required at fairfield. edu/bennettprogram. For questions, contact the Bennett Center at bennettcenter@ fairfield.edu or call (203) 254-4000 ext. 2066.

SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 28 Bi-Cultural Hebrew Academy’s annual dinner goes virtual Bi-Cultural Hebrew Academy 65th Annual Celebration Dinner, to be held virtually on Sunday, Feb. 28 at 6:30 p.m,. will honor several community leaders, including: Guests of Honor Stephanie and Josh Bilenker; Young Leadership Award recipients Nicole and Jonathan Makovsky; Doris Zelinsky, recipient of the Morton G. 22

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Scheraga President’s Award; and the many school alumni who are currently serving in the Israel Defense Force. In addition, Jacqueline Herman, who will be retiring as Bi-Cultural head of school at the end of this academic year, will receive the inaugural Walter Shuchatowitz Award for Excellence in Education. For more information, call (203) 329-2186 or visit bchact.org.

Rabbi Jeffrey Salkin will discuss his book Looking for God in All the Right Places, on Zoom, Feb. 28 at 4 p.m. Rabbi Slakin is well known for his writing, teaching and activism. He has written or edited three Torah commentaries – two of which are for teens. Several of his books have won national awards. His award-winning blog, “Martini Judaism: for those who want to be shaken and stirred,” is published by the Religion News Service. He is currently spiritual leader of Temple Israel in West Palm Beach, Florida.For more information, visit cbict.org/calendar.

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 3 Creating Meaningful Experiences and Moments With Grandchildren Jewish educator, Diana Gaber, MSW, a graduate of the Wexner Heritage Foundation and a recipient of the 2008 Covenant Award for Excellence in Jewish Education, and director of Ideal 18 a nonprofit bringing generations together through creative experiences, will discuss “Creating Meaningful Experiences and Moments With Grandchildren,” on March 3, 7 p.m., is the inaugural FREE event of the United Jewish Federation’s PJ Grandparents Group, hosted by United Jewish Federation of Greater Stamford and PJ Library. To register and receive Zoom link, contact sharon@ujf.org, (203) 321-1373 x109. Email questions in advance to sharon@ujf.org. Two women talking: A rabbi and a pastor sit down for coffee The Open MINDS Institute of Fairfield University’s Regina A. Quick Center for the Arts present “Women Who Transform Tradition: Or, What Happens When a Female Rabbi and a Female Pastor Sit Down for Coffee,” on March 3 at 1 p.m. Rabbi Sarah Marion of Congregation B’nai Israel in Bridgeport and Reverend Vanessa Rose of First Church Congregational in Fairfield, talk about about women who serve as religious leaders: their history, opportunities, and challenges. No registration is required for this FREE virtual program. For more information, visit quickcenter.com or call (203) 254-4010.

| FEBRUARY 26, 2021

FEBRUARY 23 – MARCH 31 THURSDAY, MARCH 4

THURSDAY, MARCH 18

ALEPH presents: “Performing Judaism and Social Justice”

Blacks, Jews, and Black Jews

How to both teach and deconstruct the dominant stereotypes that Jews reinforce when teaching about Jews and Judaism is the focus of “Performing Judaism and Social Justice,” will be presented on Zoom on March 4 at 7:30 p.m., as part of the 2021 series of virtual lectures surrounding the theme of “The Jewish Roots of Social Justice.” The Zoom-theatrical performance will feature Kendell Pinkney, a Brooklyn based theater-maker, Jewish-life consultant, and JTS rabbinical student; Avi Amon, a Turkish-American composer, sound artist, and educator; and Rebecca S’manga Frank, an actor, writer, director. The performance is part of the ALEPH Institute learning initiative sponsored by the Mandell JCC and UConn Judaic Studies. For more information, visit judaicstudies.uconn.edu or mandelljcc.org. Klezmer musician Michael Winograd & The Honorable Mentshn in concert The Museum of Jewish Heritage – A Living Memorial to the Holocaust continues to bring live music to audiences at home through the Live from Edmond J. Safra Hall concert series, presented from its state-of-the-art theater. Next up in the series: A live performance by the celebrated klezmer musician Michael Winograd & The Honorable Mentshn on March 4 at 8 p.m.. The group will play hits from Winograd’s 2019 LP Kosher Style, classics from the golden age of Yiddish theater and Klezmer music. Winograd will lead the concert on the clarinet, joined by trombonist Daniel Blacksberg, accordionist Will Holshouser, pianist Carmen Staa, bassist Zoe Guigueno, and drummer David Licht. For more information, visit mjhnyc.org.

Susannah Heschel, The Eli Black Professor of Jewish Studies at Dartmouth College, will explore the intertwined dimensions of relations between African Americans and Jewish Americans, Jewish involvement in the Civil Rights Movement, Jewish memory of the Civil Rights Movement in recent decades in light of the rise of white nationalism, and scholarship on racism and what they might contribute to our understanding of antisemitism, in her lecture “Blacks, Jews and Black Jews,” to be held on March 18 at 7:30 p.m. The lecture is part of the 2021 series of virtual lectures surrounding the theme of “The Jewish Roots of Social Justice,” presented by the ALEPH Institute learning initiative and sponsored by the Mandell JCC and UConn Judaic Studies. For more information, visit judaicstudies.uconn.edu or mandelljcc.org.

MONDAY, MARCH 29 “Hitler’s American Friends: The Third Reich’s Supporters in the United States” Bradley Hart, PhD, author and associate professor, California State University, Fresno, will discuss “Hitler’s American Friends: The Third Reich’s Supporters in the United States” at a FREE webinar presented March 29 at 7:30 p.m. Co-sponsored by the Judaic Studies program and the Bennett Center for Judaic Studies at Fairfield University.Registration required at fairfield.edu/bennettprograms. For information: bennettcenter@fairfield. edu or (203) 254-4000 x2066.

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 31 Normalizing Nazism on the Internet

TUESDAY, MARCH 16 Jewish and Christian Women as Allies in Anti-Racism 15th Annual Lecture in Jewish Christian Engagement: “Lift Every Voice and Sing: Jewish and Christian Women as Allies in Anti-Racism,” with guest speaker Ann Millin, PhD, historian, Ida E King Distinguished Visiting Professor of Holocaust Studies, Richard Stockton University. A FREE webinar presented March 16 at 7:30 p.m. Co-sponsored by the Bennett Center for Judaic Studies and the Center for Catholic Studies at Fairfield University.Registration required at fairfield. edu/bennettprograms. For information: bennettcenter@fairfield.edu or (203) 2544000 x2066.

The Open MINDS Institute of Fairfield University’s Regina A. Quick Center for the Arts presents “Normalizing Nazism on the Internet” with guest speaker Gavriel D. Rosenfeld, PhD, on March 31 1t 1 p.m. Rosenfeld will explore the ways in which the internet offers new possibilities for educating people about the Nazi legacy, while simultaneously promoting its trivialization and “normalizing” the history of the Third Reich in contemporary culture. No registration is required for this FREE virtual program. For more information, visit quickcenter.com or call (203) 254-4010.

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CELEBRATING PURIM! This year, Purim begins on Thursday evening, Feb. 25, and ends the evening of Feb. 26. Looking for some Purim fun? Check out one of the following events, all held virtually…and all guaranteed to get you in the Purim spirit. For a reading of Megilat Esther (virtual or otherwise), contact your local synagogue.

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 25 Purim Glow Party! Purim Glow Party, a drive-in family celebration featuring LED and fire show, outdoor Megillah reading will be held on Feb. 25 at 160 Mohegan Drive in West Hartford. Hosted by Chabad of Greater Hartford, party will be COVID-safe and each carload of participants will receive a Purim Kit that includes a Purim guide, hamantaschen, mishloach Manot to give to a friend. Com addressed your favorite costume and receive a prize. The event is free. To register: chabadhartford.com, (860) 232-1116. The Megillah In Yiddish The Museum and the National Yiddish Theatre Folksbiene will host a virtual Purim celebration on Feb. 25 at 7 p.m., featuring a lively reading of the Meglies Ester (Book of Esther) in Yiddish (with English subtitles), as translated by the great poet Yehoash, followed by a festive musical performance. The program will also include a presentation of historic artifacts from the Museum’s collection illustrating Purim and its role in 20th century European Jewish communities.For more information, visit: mjhnyc.org/events

FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 26 Purim Story Slam Congregation Shir Ami will host a Purim Story Slam on Feb. 26 at 7:30 p.m. A Story Slam is a live story-telling event where individuals share a personal story (about 3-5 minutes long) in the form of a story, a poem or a song; it can be funny, inspiring or dramatic. (If you have never heard a story slam before, listen to The Moth on NPR to get the idea). The Purim Story Slam theme is inspired by the way Mordechai and Queen Esther found a way to foil Haman’s nefarious plan to harm the Jews. If you can recall a time when you felt stuck but you found a way to get out of it, or if you have a personal story that speaks about confronting adversity? If so, contact Cantor Abramson at cantorjea@gmail.com with a brief description of your idea.

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THURSDAY, FEB. 25 THRU SUNDAY, FEB.28 YI Love Yiddishfest – Purim Edition! The Yiddishkayt Initiative (“YI Love Jewish”) will serve up its first International VIRTUAL YI Love Yiddishfest – Purim Edition, Feb. 25-28. The event is being simultaneously streamed on the yilovejewish.org website, Facebook Live and YouTube Live. Virtual visitors of all ages will hear the story of Purim as they enjoy a wide range of FREE performances, concerts, readings and interviews, featuring major American and International entertainers. “We’re not able to spread the joy and traditions of Purim and Yiddishkayt in person, so we’re creating an online experience that will give everyone around the world a much-needed escape from the realities of the moment, for four days of frolic, festivity and frothy fun,” says Avi Hoffman, founder and CEO of YI Love Jewish. The Yiddishkayt Initiative is a non-profit organization that celebrates and promotes Jewish history, life, and culture, and their positive and far-reaching impact on the world. From performing arts, publishing, and education to language, philosophy and literature, YI offers a global clearinghouse of Jewish culture and entertainment staffed by experts in subject matter and production. The organization works with a wide range of organizations, including Federations, JCCs, synagogues, Hadassah chapters, Hillel chapters, youth groups, summer camp programs, and educational institutions, and more. For more information, visit YILoveJewish. org, email info@yilovejewish.org ,or call (888) 945-6835). Here are some of the highlights of YI Love Yiddishfest-Purim Edition: Bright Lights... Big Shushan: A Musical Megillah featuring Cantor Shira Ginsburg in Concert with Fantel Music in association with East End Temple - Feb. 25, 8 p.m. Shmoozing with Avi featuring Phillip Namanworth the Boogie Woogie Mystic – Feb. 25, 10 p.m. “Songs from the Heart,” a concern featuring singing sensation Aelita – February 26, 4 p.m. Isaac Bashevis Singer’s Classic Gimpel Tam (Gimpel the Fool) starring Dori Engel in association with Israel’s beloved Nephesh Theatre – Feb. 26, 8 p.m. PurimShpiel Concert with the ChorneyGhergus Duo – Feb. 27, 2 p.m. KhapLop’: Children’s Stories in Yiddish Dr. Seuss and More, featuring Avi Hoffman – Feb. 28, 12 p.m. The Megillah Cycle of Itzik Manger featuring Mike Burstein and an international celebrity cast- February 28, 2 p.m.

Tetzaveh

BY RABBI TZVI HERSH WEINREB

ince the beginning of the Book of Exodus, we have been reading about Moses. Surely he is the most famous person in the our Bible. Yet for him, fame was of no consequence whatsoever. He was not motivated by a need to make headlines, to be immortalized for all eternity, or even to be popular and well-known. He would be the last to be concerned if a weekly Torah portion did not even contain his name. This week’s Torah portion, Tetzaveh, is the only one, since we are introduced to the newborn Moses, in which he is not mentioned by name. Tetzaveh, a Torah portion rich in all sorts of particulars and details, fails to mention Moses. Long ago, some keen Torah scholar noted this fact and attributed it to a verse in the next week’s parsha, Ki Tisa. There, we read of how Moses pleads to God to forgive the Israelites who worship the Golden Calf. He says, “If You will forgive their sin [well and good]; but if not, erase me from the book which You have written.” “Erase me from the book!” I have no need for fame. Insightfully, this keen scholar found Tetzaveh to be the book from which Moses was indeed erased. I suggest that Moses learned how unimportant fame is from his personal experiences with stigma. For you see, just as fame is no indication at all of the genuine worth of the famous person, so too negative stigma do not reflect the genuine worth of the stigmatized individual. One of the most perceptive observers of human relations was a writer named Erving Goffman. Almost 50 years ago, he authored a classic work entitled Stigma: Notes on the Management of Spoiled Identity. There, he describes the psychology of stigma and of how society assigns negative labels to people, spoiling or ruining their identities as valuable members of that society. A person who has suffered from being stigmatized learns how meaningless the opinions are that other people have of him. Should he shed these stigmas and gain the positive opinions of others, he would know full well how meaningless those opinions are. Moses was a stigmatized individual earlier in his life. Goffman distinguishes three different varieties of stigma, and all three were experienced by the young Moses. The first of these conditions, Goffman termed “abominations of the body.” Physical deformities result in such

a stigma. Moses had such a physical deformity; he stammered and stuttered. The second condition, Goffman called “blemishes of individual character.” In the eyes of the world, Moses was a fugitive, a criminal on the run, who was wanted by the pharaoh for the murder of an Egyptian citizen. Finally, the third source of stigma: “tribal identities.” Moses was a Hebrew, a member of an ostracized minority. In contemplating what the life of Moses was like in the many decades he spent as a refugee before returning to Egypt as a redeemer, it’s clear that he suffered from a triple stigma: fugitive, stutterer, and Jew. I suggest that one of the greatest achievements of Moses, our teacher, was his ability to retain a sense of his true identity, of his authentic self-worth, in the face of the odious epithets that were hurled at him. This is how, in his later life, when fame and prestige became his lot, he was able to retain his self-knowledge and eschew fame. This is what enabled him to say, “Erase me from the book…” This is why he was able to not only tolerate but to value this week’s portion, where his name is not mentioned. “The man Moses was humbler than all other humans.” (Numbers 12:3) The deeper meaning of Moses’ humility was his ability to understand himself enough to remain invulnerable to the trials of stigma and insult, and to remain equally unaffected by the temptations of glory and fame. When we refer to Moses as Rabbenu, our teacher, it is not just because he taught us the law. Rather, it is because he told us how to remain impervious to the opinions of others and to value our own integrity and character. Would that we could be his disciples in this teaching. Rabbi Tzvi Hersh Weinreb is the Executive Vice President, Emeritus of the Orthodox Union.

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FEBRUARY 26, 2021

OBITUARIES COHEN Frederick Cohen, 86, of Tariffville, died Feb. 3. He was born in the Bronx, N.Y. He is survived by his sons, Paul Cohen and his wife Jane of Winsted, and Allan Cohen and his partner Ann Overton of Cambridge, Mass.; his grandson Scott Cohen and his partner Melissa Strickland of Tariffville; and his great-grandchildren, Hailey, Logan, Arianna, and Parker. FITZGERALD Rosalind (Blum) FitzGerald, 79, of Newington, died Feb. 6 of complications of COVID-19. She was the wife of Frederick FitzGerald. Born in Hartford and raised in Hartford and Windsor, she was the daughter of Milton Blum and Freda Wilson Blum. She was a member of Congregation Beth Israel. In addition to her husband, she he is survived by brother Jerome Blume and his wife Joanne of Barerfoot Bay, Fla.; her children, Sarah of West Hartford, and Alan of Norfolk, Va.; her granddaughter Aeron of West Hartford; her brother-in-law Stephen FitzGerald and his wife Wendy of Virginia Beach, Va.; her niece and her family; and many cousins.

FOX Richard Leslie (“Dick”) Fox, 81, of Port St. Lucie, Fla., died Feb. 6. He was the husband of Irma Fox. Born in Lawrence, Mass., he was the son of Benjamin and Shirley Fox. and older brother to Karen, He served in the U.S. Army from 1962-64 in the Veterinary Corps. In addition to his wife, he is survived by his children, James Fox and his wife Maryellen; his son Ronald Fox and his wife Patricia; his son Rand Fox; his daughter Pamela Fox; and his grandchildren Brett, Haley, Lindsay, Will and Noah. HODES Marilyn Rosenberg Hodes, 73, of Hamden, has died. She was the daughter of the late Herbert Rosenberg and Frances Zolot Rosenberg. She is survived by her son, Jason Hodes and her daughter Stephanie Jones; her grandchildren, Holt Hodes and Hudson Hodes; her sister Ingrid Rosenberg; her brother Burton Rosenberg; and her nephews Mark, David, and Jeffrey Rosenberg.

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MARGOLIS Morris Margolis, 97, of West Hartford died Feb. 11. He was the widower of Anne Margolis. Born in Hartford, he was the son of Louis and Sophie Margolis, and also great up with his two sisters, Jean Margolis and Bertha Margolis. He was a veteran of War World II. He was a member of Beth David Synagogue of West Hartford. He is survived by his sons, David Margolis and Mark Margolis. SCHNEE Carolyn Weinstein Schnee, 94, died Feb. 11. She was the widow of Charles Schnee. She

Ari Gold, yeshiva studentturned-pop star and LGBTQ icon, dies at 47 BY GABE FRIEDMAN

(JTA) – Ari Gold, a pop star who left his Orthodox Jewish roots to become a music icon of and activist for the LGBTQ community, died ARI GOLD Sunday, Feb. 14 (MIKE COPPOLA/GETTY of leukemia. He IMAGES) was 47. Gold was born and raised in an Orthodox family in the Bronx, New York. NPR once reported that his musical talent was discovered while singing at his brother Steven’s bar mitzvah at age 5. He attended Ramaz, a prominent Modern Orthodox Jewish day school in New York, before going to New York University. Gold wrote about what he called his “sheltered” upbringing in an essay in the LGBTQ magazine The Advocate in 2013 and has noted in interviews that his coming out to his

was born and raised in New Haven. She is survived by her children, David Schnee and his wife Kathy Kirker of Milford, and Susan Matican of New Haven; her grandchildren, Jeremy Matican and his wife Marisa, Katie Matican and her husband Travis Ponder, and Pamela Matican; and her great-grandhildren, Ethan, Jack, and Lila Matican, and Harlan and Sidney Ponder.

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parents in college severely strained his relationship with them. “The shame was deep and the shame was real, and that’s why I have been so passionate, because I know how I felt growing up with that fear. I thought everyone would excommunicate me,” Gold told NY 1 in 2019. In his 20s, Gold became a star of the gay club scene in New York City before releasing his debut album in 2001, which openly referenced gay relationships and earned him a following as an artist unafraid to sing about his identity. He would go on to release seven albums and become close friends with other LGBTQ icons, such as the TV stars RuPaul and Laverne Cox. He also worked with homeless gay youth and worked to raise awareness about AIDS. While no longer Orthodox, he stayed connected to his Jewish identity, he told the Los Angeles Jewish Journal in 2015. Gold was first diagnosed with cancer in 2013. His brother Elon is a noted standup comedian who references his Jewishness in routines. RuPaul posted about Gold’s death on Twitter: “Until we meet again, dear friend. Love always, Ru.”

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CT SYNAGOGUE DIRECTORY To join our synagogue directories, contact Howard Meyerowitz at (860) 231-2424 x3035 or howardm@jewishledger.com. BLOOMFIELD B’nai Tikvoh-Sholom/ Neshama Center for Lifelong Learning Conservative Rabbi Debra Cantor (860) 243-3576 office@BTSonline.org www.btsonline.org BRIDGEPORT Congregation B’nai Israel Reform Rabbi Evan Schultz (203) 336-1858 info@cbibpt.org www.cbibpt.org Congregation Rodeph Sholom Conservative (203) 334-0159 Rabbi Richard Eisenberg, Cantor Niema Hirsch info@rodephsholom.com www.rodephsholom.com Jewish Senior Services Traditional Rabbi Stephen Shulman (203) 396-1001 sshulman@jseniors.org www.jseniors.org CHESHIRE Temple Beth David Reform Rabbi Micah Ellenson (203) 272-0037 office@TBDCheshire.org www.TBDCheshire.org CHESTER Congregation Beth Shalom Rodfe Zedek Reform Rabbi Marci Bellows (860) 526-8920 rabbibellows@cbsrz.org www.cbsrz.org

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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