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Passover 5781 1

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| MARCH 26, 2021

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| MARCH 26, 2021

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INSIDE

this week

CONNECTICUT JEWISH LEDGER | SINCE 1929 | MARCH 26, 2021 | 13 NISAN 5781

6 & 27 Briefs

13 Around CT

17 Crossword

19 Torah Portion

20 Bulletin Board

Changing Hands.................................................................. 5 After 80 years serving Greater Hartford’s Jewish community, the family-owned Weinstein Mortuary has been acquired by a Georgia funeral home company. What changes are in store? Absolutely none.

Danger Signs......................................................................... 5 According to a report just issued by the ADL, in 2020 the U.S. saw the most white supremacist propaganda in a decade.

28 What’s Happening

29 Kolot

30 Obituaries

31 Business and Professional Directory

32 Classified

Arts & Entertainment................. 21 Nominations for the 2021 Academy Awards are out… and “Mank” leads the pack with 10 Oscar nods. And that’s not the only notable Jewish nominees in the running.

Conversation with….................... 22 Nasreen Haddad Haj-Yahya, director of the Arab-Jewish Relations Program at the Israel Democracy Institute, talks about Israel’s Arab citizens.

OPINION........................................... 10 Tamika Mallory, an ardent supporter of Louis Farrakhan, was a featured speaker at the Grammy Awards. Is critical race theory to blame for the legitimization of Jewhatred?

CANDLE LIGHTING SHABBAT FRIDAY, MARCH 26 ON THE COVER:

The publisher and staff of the Connecticut Jewish Ledger wish all our readers and friends a Passover filled with the joy of freedom and the beauty of our tradition. PAGE 14 jewishledger.com

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| MARCH 26, 2021

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UP FRONT

CONNECTICUT JEWISH LEDGER | SINCE 1929 | MARCH 26, 2021 | 13 NISAN 5781

After 80 years Weinstein Mortuary sold to Georgia funeral home firm

ARTFORD – Weinstein Mortuary, owned and operated in the Greater Hartford area by the Weinstein family for 80 years, has been acquired by Rollings Funeral Service, a company based in Peachtree, Georgia. The acquisition took place in October and is Rollings’ first acquisition of a funeral home in Connecticut and the first Jewish funeral home to be added to its roster of 50 funeral homes along the East Coast and Midwest. Morton Weinstein, who owned and operated Weinstein Mortuary with his cousin Michael for 50 years, said that the two had been looking for a way to transition so that they can both retire, while insuring that Weinstein’s remains dedicated to the local Jewish community. “Michael and I are both in our 70s and none of our children were interested in working in the business,” Mort Weinstein explained. “We had no exit strategy in terms of continuity, to make sure it continued as

White supremacist propaganda nearly doubled in 2020 to most in a decade, ADL says

BY STACEY DRESNER

a Jewish business in the community. As we got older, we started thinking about that. “It took quite a while to find the right partner because we were looking for the right fit,” Weinstein added. “Rollings is the right fit because they are also a family business -- a husband and wife. It’s not a conglomerate. And they are not handson, so there is no one here from Rollings overseeing the day-to-day operations. They told us they want the business to continue as it has, and that was very important to us. They didn’t try to make the community fit them; they are fitting the community.” Weinstein Funeral Home was founded in 1940 by Herman Weinstein. A graduate of the Cincinnati College of Embalming in Cincinnati, Ohio, he opened the funeral home on Albany Avenue in Hartford. In 1941 Herman’s brother, Paul H. Weinstein, also a graduate of the Cincinnati College of Embalming joined him in business. In 1964, Michael P. Weinstein, Herman’s son joined the family business, as did Paul’s son Mort in 1971. Greg Rollings, CEO and president of

Rollings, grew up working at a family funeral home, and later worked for larger funeral service corporations. He and his wife Debbie founded Rollings Funeral Service in 2001, with the goal, according to their website, of providing “funeral home owners with a great alternative to selling to a large corporation. While operating on family values, each funeral home is still run on a local level with their managers working directly with the Rollings family to develop budgets, set up advertising and PR, determine pricing and establish proper HR practices.” “For eight decades, Weinstein Mortuary has proudly served Connecticut by providing guidance, understanding, and compassion when the community experienced a death,” Greg Rollings said. “We’re excited to be teaming up and look forward to the next chapter of our partnership.” Mort said that while Rollings has acquired Weinstein’s assets – the building, CONTINUED ON PAGE 7

BY BEN SALES

(JTA) – Last year, the United States saw the most white supremacist propaganda in a decade, with thousands of flyers, bumper stickers, banners and other propaganda reported across the country, according to the AntiDefamation League.

EXAMPLES OF WHITE SUPREMACIST PROPAGANDA RECORDED BY THE ANTIDEFAMATION LEAGUE IN 2020. (COURTESY OF THE ADL)

The ADL’s report, published Wednesday, March 17, counted 5,125 pieces of propaganda distributed by 30 white supremacist groups across 49 states in 2020. That’s almost double the number recorded in 2019. The vast majority of the propaganda the group tracked came from one Texas-based group that uses traditional American patriotic language and imagery in its materials – including the phrase “America First,” used by Donald Trump and his supporters. The rise in propaganda may be attributable to the presidential campaign and election, according to the ADL, a leading antisemitism and extremism watchdog. In the months leading up to the vote, government officials and groups including the ADL warned repeatedly of extremist activity surrounding the vote. Those warnings came to bear with the Jan. 6 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol, which led to five deaths. (That event, and the white supremacist groups and symbols present there, was CONTINUED ON PAGE 7

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MARCH 26, 2021

Briefs Blinken says Abraham Accords are ‘something we want to build on’ (JNS) U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Wednesday complimented the Trump administration for the Abraham Accords that normalized relations with Israel and several Gulf states and Muslim nations. Blinken was testifying before the House Foreign Affairs Committee on the Biden administration’s foreignpolicy agenda when U.S. Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Calif.) asked him what he thinks his predecessor, Mike Pompeo, did correctly. In his response, Blinken referenced technological advances and the U.S.brokered Abraham Accords. “Trying to help bring the State Department into the 21st century, the use of technology and empowering some of our people with technology, [which is] something we really want to follow through,” he said. “And as we were talking about earlier, I think the initiatives that led to steps by countries to normalize relations with Israel were a very good thing and something we want to build on.” The U.S.-brokered Abraham Accords between Israel, the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain were signed on Sept. 15 in Washington, D.C. Sudan and Morocco followed suit just months afterwards.

Dead Sea Scroll fragments with biblical verses discovered in Judean cave (JNS) Israeli archaeologists announced on March 16 that dozens of Dead Sea Scroll fragments bearing biblical verses were discovered during a national archaeological operation in the Judean Desert. The scroll fragments are written in Greek and feature portions of the books of the Twelve Minor Prophets, including those of Zechariah and Nahum. They were retrieved from the Cave of Horror in the Judean Desert reserve’s Nahal Hever. It’s the first time in almost 60 years that an archaeological excavation has uncovered fragments of a biblical scroll. The parchment fragments were discovered as part of an operation launched by the Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA) in 2017 to prevent looting in the Judean Desert. In addition to the scroll fragments, archeologists also uncovered a cache of rare coins from the days of Simon Bar-Kokhba that bear Jewish symbols; a 6,000-year-old partially mummified skeleton of a child, wrapped in cloth; and a large complete basket dating back 10,500 years, making it likely the oldest in the world. IAA director Israel Hasson applauded the excavation team, saying, “The desert team showed 6

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exceptional courage, dedication and devotion to purpose, rappelling down to caves located between heaven and earth, digging and sifting through them, enduring thick and suffocating dust, and returning with gifts of immeasurable worth for mankind.” The Dead Sea Scrolls include the earliest known copies of the biblical texts and are therefore considered the most important archaeological discovery of the 20th century.

Marjorie Taylor Greene visited Orthodox neighborhoods in Brooklyn (JTA) – Marjorie Taylor Greene, the firstterm congresswoman who expressed belief in the QAnon conspiracy theory and blamed California wildfires on Rothschild-funded space lasers, visited a number of Orthodox Jewish neighborhoods in Brooklyn and Long Island on Monday, March 15. The visit came at the invitation of Nachman Mostofsky, executive director of a politically right-wing Orthodox organization and the brother of Aaron Mostofsky, who was arrested by the FBI after participating in the Jan. 6 storming of the U.S. Capitol while dressed in fur pelts. Both Mostofsky brothers had attended the rally that preceded the riot that day, though Nachman did not participate in the riots, and were among a number of Orthodox Jews who headed to the rally on buses chartered and organized in WhatsApp groups for Orthodox Jews. Greene, a Georgia Republican who made national headlines for her promotion of the antisemitism-fueled QAnon theory during her campaign for Congress, has been a controversial presence since taking office in January. In response to her antisemitic comments, the House voted to strip Greene of her committee assignments just weeks later in February, with only 11 Republicans joining Democrats in the majority. In a speech before that vote, Greene said her past comments “do not represent me.” Mostofsky took Greene to a Brooklyn yeshiva, matzah bakery, kosher supermarket and restaurant. A photo that circulated on social media showed Greene sitting at a kosher restaurant. Mostofsky called the visit an opportunity to show Greene “authentic Judaism.” “Knowing the congresswoman for a bit now, she has been nothing but a friend and ally for our community,” he told the Forward. “From government interference, education, religious freedom, we share what is commonly called Judeo-Christian values.”

James Levine, who led the Metropolitan Opera, is dead at 77 (JTA) – James Levine, a cantor’s grandson who led New York’s Metropolitan Opera as artistic director for more than 40 years,

| MARCH 26, 2021

died on March 9. He was 77. Levine had been in ill health for years. Levine also served as music director of the Boston Symphony Orchestra from 2004 to 2011, and as music director of the Munich Philharmonic from 1999 to 2004. Levine was one of the dominant figures in opera and American classical music until being fired in 2018 in the face of sexual misconduct allegations dating back to his guest conductor role at the Ravinia Music Festival near Chicago in the 1980s. Levine was born in Cincinnati. His father, Lawrence, was a violinist and dance band leader in the 1930s, and his mother, Helen Goldstein Levine, the daughter of a cantor, had a brief career as an actress. At the age of 10, he made his solo debut during a youth concert at the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, performing Mendelssohn’s “Piano Concerto No. 2.” He attended Juilliard, and served the Cleveland Orchestra as apprentice conductor and assistant conductor from 1964 until 1970. He made his Met debut in 1971 and was named principal conductor two years later. In 1989, he conducted the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra in a performance of Gustav Mahler’s “Resurrection” symphony recorded in Tel Aviv. Levine was often compared to Leonard Bernstein as a conductor who was well known outside the rarefied precincts of classical music. New York magazine once wrote that “Levine is known for quietly establishing an extraordinary rapport with his musicians” and his “single-minded devotion to a composer’s conception.” But his fall from grace was precipitous. After being fired by the Met, he fought back with a defamation lawsuit and never conducted again.

France returning Klimt art to heirs of Jewish owner (JNS) France’s culture minister Roselyne Bachelot announced on March 15 that the French government will return a painting by famed artist Gustav Klimt to the heirs of its Austrian Jewish owner, who was forced to sell the painting to a Nazi sympathizer in 1938. Nora Stiasny inherited Klimt’s “Rosiers sous les arbres” (“Roses Under the Trees”) from her aunt and uncle, Austrian industrialists and art collectors Viktor and Paula Zuckerkandl, reported ARTnews. The couple purchased the artwork in 1911 and were supporters of Klimt. Shortly after the Nazi regime’s annexation of Austria in 1938, Stiasny was forced to sell the painting for a bargain price to Philipp Häusler, a member of the Nazi Party. Stiasny was killed in Poland in 1942. The painting has been hanging in the Musée d’Orsay in Paris as part of the national collection since 1980, when it was acquired by the state via auction from a gallery in Zurich. The initial request for its return was made in September 2019 by an attorney representing Stiasny’s heirs.

Bachelot said the government will present a bill that would authorize the painting’s release from France’s national collection. She added that the Klimt is the first artwork from the national collection to be restituted. “This decision to return a major artwork from the public collections illustrates our commitment to justice and to reparation for the looted families,” said Bachelot. Steps being taken to return the Klimt are part of an initiative in France since 2019 to identify artworks in national institutions that Nazis stole from Jews, according to The Art Newspaper.

National Security Advisor: US engaged in indirect diplomacy with Iran (JNS) The United States and Iran have been engaged in indirect diplomacy in an effort to revive the 2015 nuclear deal, White House National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan said on Friday. “Diplomacy with Iran is ongoing, just not in a direct fashion at the mo-ment,” he said, reported Reuters. “There are communications through the Europeans and through others that enable us to explain to the Iranians what our position is with respect to the compliance-for-compliance approach, and to hear what their position is.” Former President Donald Trump withdrew from the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Ac-tion in May 2018, while imposing and increasing previous sanctions. President Joe Biden is seeking to renew talks, but Iran has been demanding the removal of all sanc-tions as a precondition. “We are waiting at this point to hear further from the Iranians how they would like to proceed,” said Sullivan, according to the report. “This is not go-ing to be easy, but we believe that we are in a diplomatic process now that we can move forward on, and ultimately secure our objective, which is to prevent Iran from getting a nuclear weapon and to do so through diplomacy.”

Israeli researchers develop cheap, rapid test for coronavirus variants (Israel21C via JNS) Researchers from BenGurion University of the Negev recently developed a rapid and cost-effective test to identify COVID-19’s British and South African variants within hours instead of days, enabling effective response and containment measures. Standard coronavirusvariants testing involves sequencing the entire virus genome, a process that is expensive and time-consuming. The new test is based on the gene deletion that differentiates the South African or British strains of the virus from the original SARS-CoV-2. The researchers tried their test on sewage samples from Beersheva, CONTINUED ON PAGE 27

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Weinstein

Propaganda

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 5

property and inventory – the firm has also purchased the Weinstein Mortuary’s name. “The name of the business won’t change. It will stay as it is. Nothing has changed otherwise,” Mort said. And for now, Mort and Michael are still involved, but will most likely retire within the next couple of years. “We’re still here, and we have a young employee, Zachary Zimmerman, who grew up in the funeral business,” Mort said. Zimmerman, 29, a member of the family that owns the Springfield-based Ascher-Zimmerman Funeral home, joined Weinstein’s several years ago and has become an integral part of the business. “He’s our future, so the business will continue,” Mort said. “The idea is to make sure that Zachary is acclimated with the community and the community with him. I think that it will be a wonderful transition for him…We were fortunate to have him join us. I’d adopt him if I could. He is like part of our family.” Rabbi Yitzchok Adler of Beth David Synagogue in West Hartford who has performed–and continues to perform – funeral with Weinstein’s Mortuary, agrees.

“Zachary is an exceedingly compassionate and very professional young man, and if he is the face of the future the company will have a good future,” Adler told the Ledger. In terms of the recent sale, Adler said, “Nothing has changed as far as I’m concerned. It’s as Jewish a facility as our community needs, and in bringing Zachary Zimmerman into the operation they guarantee the continuation of the Jewish component of what they are doing. I believe fully that people who have relied on the Weinstein’s in the past can continue to rely on them in the future. My comfort and confidence in the company has not changed.” Mort said that they are certain that the Jewish community will also share that comfort and confidence with Weinstein’s partnership with Rollings. “The most important thing is continuity, and making sure it continues to be a Jewish funeral home,” Mort said. “We wanted to make sure that that continues into the future and Rollings has assured us it will.”

not included in the 2020 tally as it took place in 2021.) But while the “charged political climate” may have been conducive to propaganda, propaganda did not significantly increase as the election neared, and much of the content of the propaganda was unchanged from previous years and did not reference the vote or COVID-19, said Jessica Reaves, the editorial director of the ADL’s Center on Extremism. “We can’t know for sure what moves the needle when it comes to propaganda numbers,” she said. Reaves said the pandemic had a “mixed” effect on white supremacist propaganda efforts. COVID-19, she said, “may have slowed distribution on college campuses, while it’s possible lockdowns provided white supremacists with more cover and anonymity to post in cities and towns.” Despite the overall increase in white supremacist propaganda, the ADL found that it dropped by more than half on campuses, to 303 last year from 630 incidents in 2019. The ADL said the largest white

supremacist event of 2020 was a flash demonstration in Washington, D.C., in February, before the pandemic became the dominant national issue and the election campaign heated up. The vast majority of the propaganda in 2020 – 80% – came from a Texas-based white supremacist group called Patriot Front, which employs red, white and blue in its materials and plays on traditional American patriotic language. One of the group’s stickers reads “Life, liberty and the pursuit of victory.” Another features a map of the continental U.S. and says “Not stolen, conquered.” A third says “America first,” the slogan with anti-Semitic roots that was adopted and popularized anew by former president Donald Trump. In November, the group held a 100-person march down a main boulevard in Pittsburgh, a city that has become a pilgrimage spot for white supremacists two years after the deadly 2018 synagogue shooting there. Just like in 2019, the only state without reports of white supremacist propaganda was Hawaii.

How is this year different from all other years? Over the past year, our Jewish community has come together like never before. Your support helped Federation and its partners provide kosher meals and groceries to 230+ local families in need. You helped 17 synagogues prepare for socially distanced High Holy Days, and kept our Jewish agencies open and operating safely. You allowed our Jewish day schools to purchase PPE and provide need-based scholarships to affected families. And you helped bring thousands of community members together virtually to learn, celebrate, and grow Jewishly. We're still in the wilderness - but together we can reach the land of milk and honey.

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MARCH 26, 2021

Best Wishes For a Happy, Healthy & Peaceful Passover United States Senator

Richard Blumenthal Paid for by Richard Blumenthal personally

Best Wishes

for a Happy, Healthy and Peaceful Passover!

Paid for by Larson for Congress, Barry Feldman, Treasurer 8

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| MARCH 26, 2021

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Israel and UAE face off in rugby (JTA) – In what was likely the first-ever friendly sports match between Israel and the United Arab Emirates, their national rugby squads squared off Friday in Dubai. In the first game, Israel defeated UAE 33-0. The teams mixed players for a second game. The countries have warmed previously nonexistent relations since signing the Abraham Accords last year, which opened up formal diplomatic relations and trade, tourism and other agreements. Israeli President Reuven Rivlin congratulated both teams in a tweet and said “While leaders may sign peace agreements, true peace requires people on both sides to build bonds of friendship and cooperation in every arena,” Rivlin wrote. The Israeli team stayed in Dubai to celebrate and held an outdoor Shabbat ceremony captured by Khaleej Times writer Michal Divon. Since the fall signing of the peace agreement, tens of thousands of Israelis have visited the Emirates.

An American ‘Shtisel’ remake to be directed by Kenneth Lonergan (JTA) – “Shtisel,” the Israeli television series about a haredi Orthodox family that is popular around the world with both Jews and non-Jews, is being adapted into an American version. The show, which besides the name will share few thematic elements with the original, is being written by Lauren Gussis and directed by Kenneth Lonergan, who is best known for his Oscar-winning drama “Manchester By the Sea.” Deadline reported the news Tuesday and described the remake as “a modern-day Romeo and Juliet story about an ultra-progressive, over-achieving secular 18-year-old young

woman on the verge of personal freedom, and the strictly observant Orthodox young man to whom she is powerfully drawn – so powerfully that she is willing to uproot her entire life to be with him.” Kveller noted that “Friends” co-creator Martha Kauffman pitched the idea of an American version of the show to Amazon five years ago, but that project never came to fruition. CBS Studios will produce the remake. A distribution platform has yet to be named.

33 lawmakers join MAZON’s hunger Seder (JTA) – Republicans and Democrats from the U.S. House of Representatives and the Senate were among the 33 lawmakers who joined MAZON, a Jewish anti-hunger advocacy group, for a Seder that focused on how the coronavirus pandemic has exacerbated hunger. MAZON: A Jewish Response to Hunger, as the group is formally known, said its annual Seder for lawmakers drew a record number of participants. Thursday’s ritual meal made its virtual debut, featuring live and video messages. Previous Seders have been held on Capitol Hill. There were Jewish and nonJewish lawmakers among the celebrants. “This year we will add another story of suffering to our Seder because this year we’ve witnessed a modern-day plague that has struck down more than half a million of our friends, family members, neighbors and fellow Americans, as well as millions around the globe,” said Rep. Kathy Manning, D-N.C., a freshman congresswoman who once led the Jewish Federations of North America. MAZON was among the groups that advocated for the inclusion of food assistance funds in the recently passed $1.9 trillion pandemic stimulus package.

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MARCH 26, 2021

Opinion

Antisemitism gets endorsed by the Grammys BY JONATHAN S. TOBIN

(JNS) For the last 10 months, many Americans have embraced the notion that their country is guilty of “systemic racism.” In the wake of the killing of George Floyd at the hands of police last spring, a wave of support for critical race theory and its catechism about “white fragility” and “white privilege,” as well as a revisionist view of American history–as exemplified by The New York Times’ fallacious “1619 Project”– have swept across the country. Initially focused on claims about police killings of African-Americans that are contradicted by the facts, support for the Black Lives Matter movement has transcended that limited argument and now become one that seeks to rethink much of the way the nation thinks about itself. Evidence of this shift in the culture is everywhere but a better example can’t be found than the 2021 Grammy Awards program, which solidly aligned the music industry with woke politics. But the Grammys did something else this year. The program put its seal of approval on Tamika Mallory: a notorious antisemite and supporter of hatemonger Louis Farrakhan. That was just the latest example of how support for the BLM movement leads inexorably to a permission slip for antisemitism. But the question to ask about this incident is not why the music industry is treating Mallory as not only a legitimate spokeswoman for the African-American community but as someone with the moral authority to scold the nation from the bully pulpit of a music awards show. We need to ponder why so much of the organized Jewish community has drunk the BLM and critical race theory Kool-Aid. That has led to them essentially legitimizing not just the rampant antisemitism that exists in parts of that movement but those, like Mallory, who have identified themselves with hate groups, as well as opponents of Israel who spread the libel that it is an “apartheid state” and deny its right to exist. Among the most enthusiastic endorsers of this allegedly progressive stance are liberal Jewish organizations. Groups like the Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism and the Anti-Defamation League have embraced the BLM mantra as unquestioned truth. As is the case elsewhere in society, those who won’t bend the knee 10

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Vol. 93 No. 13 JHL Ledger LLC Publisher Henry M. Zachs Managing Partner Leslie Iarusso Associate Publisher Judie Jacobson Editor judiej@jewishledger.com • x3024 Hillary Sarrasin Digital Media Manager hillaryp@jewishledger.com EDITORIAL Stacey Dresner Massachusetts Editor staceyd@jewishledger.com • x3008 Tim Knecht Proofreader ADVERTISING Donna Edelstein, Senior Account Executive NonProfit & JHL Ledger LLC Media Marketing donnae@jewishledger.com • x3028 Joyce Cohen, Account Executive joycec@jewishledger.com • (860) 836-9195 Amy Oved, MA Account Executive amyo@jewishledger.com • (860) 841-8607 Trudy Goldstein, Account Executive (860) 573-1575 PRODUCTION Elisa S. Wagner, Creative Director elisaw@jewishledger.com • x3009 Christopher D. Bonito, Graphic Designer chrisb@jewishledger.com ADMINISTRATIVE Judy Yung, Accounting Manager judyy@jewishledger.com • x3016

TAMIKA MALLORY SPEAKING A THE GRAMMY AWARDS, MARCH 14, 2021.

to this groupthink are smeared as racists (as happened to Zionist Organization of America national president Morton Klein) or, as is the case with a principled liberal like former Jewish Council for Public Affairs CEO David Bernstein, they come to the conclusion that their only viable path forward is to leave and work to fight wokeness from outside of the organized Jewish world rather than within it. Critics of the impact that support for BLM has had on American Jews point out that those who believe that Jews must ally with that movement (as opposed to supporting, as all decent people do, the notion that black lives matter) are enabling antisemitism. Since critical race theory views everything through the prism of race and groups rather than individual rights, Jews are inevitably and falsely labeled as guilty of enjoying white privilege. In that context, Israel and its supporters are damned by intersectional myths about the Palestinian war on Israel being akin to the struggle for civil rights in the United States. That marks Jews who won’t disavow Israel as implicit oppressors of “people of color,” regardless of the fact that most Israeli Jews actually fit into that category. That’s why race-baiters and Farrakhan allies like Mallory have risen to the top of a BLM movement that poses as defenders of civil rights, but whose agenda is far different from those who worked for equality and an end to segregation in the past.

| MARCH 26, 2021

Mallory first made her name as one of the founders of the Women’s March protest movement that mobilized people to demonstrate against former President Donald Trump. It turned out that not only was she a Farrakhan acolyte (she called him the “GOAT,” or greatest of all time). She was also guilty of driving Jewish and pro-Israel women out of her group. When confronted about that she obfuscated, lied and deflected while accusing those who called her out–like “The View’s Meaghan McCain–of being racist. Ultimately, she was forced out of her post at the Women’s March, but undaunted, she resurfaced last year as the head of a new group called Until Freedom that exploited the case of Breonna Taylor, an AfricanAmerican woman living in Louisville, Ky., who was killed by police gunfire when police, who were serving a legal warrant on her premises, were fired at by her boyfriend. Taylor was an innocent victim of a situation that was created by her connections to the drug trade and a gun battle that wasn’t initiated by the police. The police were rightly judged not guilty of a crime by a grand jury called by Kentucky’s AfricanAmerican attorney general. But the post-George Floyd ferment in which the slogan “Say Her Name” has turned Taylor into a martyr has also returned Mallory to the ranks of celebrities. CONTINUED ON PAGE 17

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AROUND CT Stamford teens meet with political asylum seeker Hussein Aboubakr

he Israel Advocacy Club at Bi-Cultural Hebrew Academy Upper School (BCHA) recently partnered with StandWithUs to share with students the story of Hussein Aboubakr, who was raised in a traditional Arab Muslim home in Egypt and was on a path to becoming a jihadist until his study of Jewish culture changed drastically his views. After being imprisoned by the Egyptian military his writings and activities to combat anti-semitism, he participated in the Egyptian revolution until 2012 when he was forced to seek political asylum in the U.S. He now lives in the United States where he is an educator and speaker for StandWithUs as well as a writer focusing on antisemitism, Islamism, and Israel education. The BCHA Upper School students first watched the documentary “Minority of One,” in which Aboubakr discusses growing up in Egypt in a culture steeped in antisemitic and anti-Israel sentiment, his discovery of information that shifted his own perspective, his subsequent detention and torture at the hands of Egyptian State Security, and his goal of spreading the message that, “the answer to bad ideas is good ideas.” Aboubakr participated in the Egyptian revolution until he was forced to depart Egypt as a political refugee. Following the film’s screening, students had the opportunity to meet virtually with Aboudakr to learn more about his story and his message.

FOLLOWING THE SCREENING OF THE DOCUMENTARY “MINORITY OF ONE,” BCHA UPPER SCHOOL STUDENTS SPOKE ON ZOOM WITH HUSSEIN ABOUBAKR.

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Photographer Zion Ozeri showcases Jewish diversity in virtual Haggadah BY ERIN BEN-MOCHE (JEWISH JOURNAL VIA JNS)

enowned Jewish photographer Zion Ozeri’s award-winning shots have appeared in The New York Times, Newsweek, The Jerusalem Report, Moment and The Economist, to name a few publications. After reviewing his pieces, Ozeri decided to create a virtual interactive Haggadah that highlights the diversity of Jews, just in time for a second pandemic Passover. Ozeri, along with Sara Wolkenfeld and Josh Feinberg, curated “Pictures Tell: A Passover Haggadah,” a Haggadah that is completely virtual (can be utilized at home or in a classroom) and celebrates the traditions and cultural experiences of the Jewish Diaspora. A major goal of “Pictures Tell” is using imagery to tell the story of the Jewish people, he said. Ozeri said that each community he has

visited – from Europe to Africa and Asia – has its own history and traditions, but that “we have more in common than what separates us, within the Jewish community and beyond.” This theme is integrated into every page of the Haggadah. “One of the big things I’ve seen this past … two years, [is] this idea of diversity, this idea of ‘who are the Jewish people?’ Most Jews and non-Jews don’t realize that Jews are not just coming from Europe,” said Ozeri. “There are not that many Haggadot showing the diversity of the Jewish people. There is nothing better than just showing people rather than talking about it.” Along with the traditional prayers and text and the modern photographs, readers will find short entries by contemporary Jewish thinkers – including Rabbi David Wolpe, Rachel Wahba, Rabbi Ammiel Hirsch, Rabba Sara Hurwitz, Dr. Mijal

MATZAH OVEN, BUKHARA, UZBEKISTAN. PHOTO COURTESY OF ZION OZERI.

CAVE, HAIDAN A-SHAM, YEMEN, 1992. PHOTO COURTESY OF ZION OZERI.

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| MARCH 26, 2021

Bitton, Yossi Klein Halevi and Karma Lowe, to name a few. These supplements add another perspective to the rich conversation of Jewish rituals, reflection and diversity. Ozeri also embedded links to multiple melodies of prayers not often popularized at seders to show how tunes vary at seders around the world. For those looking for separate study sheets to incorporate in classrooms–or the Passover seder itself–study links on Sefaria offer deeper exploration. Ozeri recently launched the “DiverCity Lens” curriculum and program for public schools, as part of a partnership with the New York City Department of Education. This initiative adds to his existing Jewish Lens project, which helps students around the world conceptualize Judaism and Jewish history through photography. Ozeri is passionate about teaching students about visual storytelling because it’s an easy way for them to relate in history and retain information. He wanted to bring the same elements into his Haggadah so young Jews were engaged throughout the seder. “It’s more engaging when you see modern photographs,” he said. “We read [the text] every year, and it can get a little dry, but with photographs, especially with kids, the imagery triggers a conversation. It’s easier with an image.” Ozeri found that photos were compelling when used in lecturing college students. A few months ago, Ozeri was asked to speak virtually in front of a group of students studying for their master’s at Columbia University. During Ozeri’s lecture, he displayed pictures of Jews from around the world to show how diverse the Jewish people are. The response from the students not only surprised Ozeri but also inspired him to create this Haggadah for all ages and all religions. “The responses from the Zoom [lecture chat] were amazing. Most of the comments were, ‘Oh I didn’t realize there are Black Jews and Brown Jews, Jews in Asia and India.’ I expected Jews to know about this and even they don’t.” During the pandemic, Ozeri realized how many around the globe used their time in quarantine to learn about their family history and those similar and different to them. He said that pictures and films taken from a phone or computer made it possible to stay connected and educated in a time of isolation. He hopes his images help others learn about the diversity of Jews and deepen conversations about the Passover story.

While Ozeri plans to use this Haggadah at his virtual seder this year, he would eventually like to have a printed version so he can have it for his own children. Whether virtual or in-person, through his curricula or individual photographs, Ozeri’s work, much like Judaism, aims to teach Jews about their history in an insightful way. These are the lessons and pictures children remember and pass down from generation to generation. It isn’t a coincidence that the cover of Ozeri’s Haggadah features a grandfather and grandson sitting together reading Torah. “Photographs can also tell a story. It’s a language we are using more and more,” he said. “All we [want to] do [is] pass something to the next generation. … It’s about education and passing the torch. That is really one of the most important things in Judaism. This is our responsibility.” “Pictures Tell: A Passover Haggadah” is available for free online at: https://www.tiktakti. co.il/catalog/zion_ozeri/passoverhaggadah/ This article was first published by the Jewish Journal.

Clearing out the notes in Passover, under COVID BY HANAN GREENWOOD

(Israel Hayom via JNS) Workers at the Kotel (Western Wall) in Jerusalem on Tuesday,March 16, conducted the site’s customary biannual clear-out of all the notes stuck between the stones over the course of the previous six months. The notes are traditionally collected before Passover–which this year begins on the evening of March 27–and Rosh Hashanah. Mindful of public-health regulations, workers wore gloves and masks, and used disposable wooden sticks to remove the notes. These will be buried on the Mount of Olives, along with holy materials that are deemed too worn-out for use. Western Wall Rabbi Shmuel Rabinowitz oversaw the ceremonial clear-out and recited a prayer for the burial of the notes. According to the Western Wall Heritage Foundation, the COVID-19 pandemic has led to a spike in the number of notes e-mailed to the

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SALE OF THE CENTURY EVERY PASSOVER FOR 40+ YEARS, JOHN BROWN BOUGHT MILLIONS OF DOLLARS OF NY’S “CHAMETZ” BY BEN SALES

(JTA) – For decades, dozens of Orthodox rabbis would gather in a New York City synagogue on the morning before Passover and, one by one, sell millions of dollars worth of bread, pasta and other leavened products to one man. That man, a real estate agent named John J. Brown, acted as the linchpin of a Jewish legal process that is crucial to those who keep the strict laws of Passover, which forbid Jews from owning or benefitting from hametz, or any products containing leaven. Because most observant Jews don’t want to throw away all of their hametz ahead of Passover, they sell it to a nonJewish person, who sells it back when the holiday ends. For thousands of Jews, Brown was that non-Jewish buyer. Every year from 1977 to 2019, he bought hametz from the congregants of dozens of synagogues in and around New York City, completing the sales via the synagogues’ rabbis. Last year, the tradition was suspended because of the pandemic. This year, someone else will have to pick it up: Brown died in February at age 88.

n the Kotel ahead of D-19 conditions Kotel by Jews all over the world. Since Passover 2020, more than 71,000 such notes have been e-mailed to the foundation, many times more than prior to the coronavirus crisis. The countries from which most of the notes hailed were the United States, Brazil, France, Canada, Germany, Spain, Poland, Argentina, and Mexico, as well as the Lapland region of Finland. The Western Wall Heritage Foundation also said that it is preparing for Passover prayers, including the traditional Priestly Blessing, which normally draws tens of thousands of worshipers. Last year, only 10 kohanim (Jewish high priests) were allowed at Kotel. This year, the prayers will be held in accordance with Health Ministry directives, which, as of March 17, allow for public prayer in capsules. They will also be live-streamed for the sake of those unable to participate. This article first appeared in Israel Hayom.

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“It meant an awful lot to him,” said Paul Jacobs, Brown’s son-in-law, who is Jewish and would often make the trip to New York City with him. “There was an extremely high level of mutual respect. It was a business transaction and John treated it as a business transaction, so that was part of it. John had this commitment to real estate and contracts and all that.” But Jacobs said that to Brown, it was more than just another business deal. Brown, Jacobs said, had a lot of intellectual curiosity and would pepper his speech with Latin phrases as well as Yiddishisms he picked up in New York. “There’s an element of fun to it,” Jacobs said. “He was trying to follow the rules of the Torah and the Talmud, but there was some creativity there.” The respect was mutual. Rabbi Gidon Shoshan, the son-in-law of Rabbi Mordechai Willig, who orchestrated the sales with Brown, wrote on Facebook that Brown “was a legend in the Willig family, in the Riverdale Jewish community, and – for those that knew his name – actually an important role player in the lives of many thousands of Jews each Pesach for decades.” Willig and Brown met when Brown worked on the 1975 purchase of the Young Israel of Riverdale, where Willig was the rabbi. In 1977, the synagogue was looking for a new hametz buyer, and Willig thought of Brown, figuring he would understand the complex legal processes involved in the hametz sale. “In Jewish law, real estate is a powerful lever for legal transactions,” said Rabbi Shmuel Hain of Young Israel Ohab Zedek of North Riverdale/Yonkers, who sold his synagogue’s hametz to Brown for more than a decade and is close with Willig. “So Rabbi Willig liked to have someone in real estate because they understand the power of real estate and the overall significance of real estate in Jewish law.” Willig also was a leader at the Yeshiva University rabbinical school, and those he had trained also would come to sell their congregations’ hametz to Brown. The transactions would take place at around 10 a.m. on the morning before Passover, the last possible time when Jews are allowed to have hametz in their possession. Dozens of rabbis and Brown would crowd around a conference room table at the Young Israel of Riverdale while Willig read through the

RABBI MORDECHAI WILLIG, LEFT, EXECUTES THE 2015 SALE OF HAMETZ TO JOHN J. BROWN, RIGHT. (JOSH WEINBERG/SCREENSHOT FROM YOUTUBE)

contract. Afterward, Brown would pay for the hametz with bundles of coins – a few cents for each of the thousands of households whose food he was purchasing. This token sum was meant as an ostensible down payment on the goods he was buying. Brown would then signify that he completed the transaction under Jewish law in a few other ways – by picking up and placing a pen down on the table, signing a document and shaking the rabbi’s hand. He repeated the same process with each rabbi. Eventually he became so experienced in the particulars of the Jewish practice that he began to teach newer rabbis how it was done. “He always took an interest in them and would correct the novice rabbis who mixed up the order of the transactions, who would shake his hand before lifting up the pen,” Hain recalled. In addition to buying the leavened products stowed away in people’s homes, Brown would symbolically purchase shares that people owned in businesses, such as hotels, that sold hametz over Passover. Year after year, he also took temporary ownership of people’s pets: Jews are not allowed to benefit from hametz in any way, so they are not allowed even to feed it to their pets. To get around that restriction, many people sell their pets along with their hametz, so that the animals eating the forbidden food on Passover do not technically belong to them. Even after Brown retired and moved from Riverdale to Minerva, a town far upstate in New York, he would make the nearly four-hour trip back to New York City each year to buy hametz and see his old neighborhood. In return, Willig plugged Brown’s real estate business. And rabbis who sold hametz to Brown would also give him a bottle of liquor as a gesture of goodwill. As he was listing the kinds of leavened foods prohibited on Passover during

the 2015 sale, which was filmed, Willig mentioned fermented products and said, “I would daresay, Mr. Brown, the alcohol fermentations are probably the more valuable of the items that are being sold to you.” “Judging from the quality that I’ve seen around here, I would agree,” Brown replied. Jacobs said that some years, Brown would return from the sale “with a box of booze.” Jacobs pointed out that though Brown’s spirit of choice was Irish whiskey, the rabbis would often buy him single-malt scotch, which he saved for his guests. Some years, the hametz sale was only the beginning of Brown’s Passover observance. After the sale, Jacobs said, he would drive down to Jacobs’ house in Washington, D.C., where the family would have a seder meal that night. “It is kind of funny that, as the designated goy, he still did go to seder,” Jacobs said. “John always had a lot of respect for the Jewish community and the tradition.” Brown particularly liked the coda to the process at the end of Passover, when he would sell the hametz back to its original owners – always feigning regret at not being able to complete the original multimillion dollar sale. “He would describe some delight in the process by which he would appear in the final ceremony and apologize that he couldn’t come up with the money for the final transaction, so he had to give it back,” Jacobs said. Last year, due to the pandemic, Brown was unable to come to Riverdale. When Willig attempted to reach him this year, he learned of his death. He’s now looking for someone to carry on Brown’s legacy. “He said we have to find someone together to do this going forward, and hopefully this person will outlast my tenure in Riverdale,” Hain said of Willig. “For him, this was a moment where he sees it as an end of an era.”

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MARCH 26, 2021

Digging Deep: Brief and Meaningful Insights into the Haggadah RABBI SHMUEL REICHMAN

he following collection of brief and profound insights into the Haggadah is designed to help make your Seder a meaningful and transformative experience.

Why do we announce all the steps of the Seder Any great journey begins with a clear goal and destination. As we say every Friday evening in Lecha Dodi, “Sof ma’aseh bi’machshava techilah” – the physical result originates first within the mind. In order to accomplish anything great you must first create a clear target, and only then determine what steps you must take to get there. The Seder is comprised of 15 steps, which is the same number of steps leading up to the Beit Ha’Mikdash – the Holy Temple – and the same number of “Shir Hamaalos” psalms – the songs of ascension. The Seder is likewise a 15-step process of ascension, a 15-step journey towards spiritual greatness. However, one does not simply achieve spiritual greatness accidentally, it requires focus, planning, and extreme dedication. The Seder night is a journey with tremendous potential, providing an opportunity to tap into something genuinely special. On the Seder night, we attempt to experience true freedom, a fundamentally deeper connection with Hashem, true gratitude, and an understanding of our mission in this world. Only when we lay out the steps of our Pesach Seder and create a clear destination can we achieve the extraordinary.

What’s with all the questions? A notably prominent theme of the Seder is that of asking questions. While “Mah Nishtanah” is the most obvious example, the commentators explain many features of the Seder as purely serving as an impetus for the children to ask questions. It’s not only children, though, who are enjoined to question. The Gemara in Pesachim (116a) says that if a man’s child cannot ask the questions, then his wife should, and if he has no wife, he must ask himself questions. Even if two Torah scholars are sharing their Seder together, they should ask each other. Why is questioning such an integral part of the Pesach Seder? Asking questions is the gateway to learning. A question allows you to recognize your current limitations; to shed the illusion that you already know everything. The Gemara in Gittin (43a) says that you can only understand a Torah concept if you originally struggled with it. Only by recognizing that you don’t already know something can you break it down, analyze it, and see it in a new way, thereby building 16

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a new, deeper understanding. If you believe that you fully understand something, you simply will not allow your mind to develop a new way of seeing it. Only by realizing a lack in your understanding and perception can you develop deeper paradigms. The Seder night serves as an opportunity to pass on our tradition and legacy to the next generation. It’s a night when we speak about emunah (faith), the meaning of being a Jew, and our purpose in this world. In order to teach these lessons to our children and ourselves in a deep and lasting way, we must encourage the Seder participants to ask questions, no matter the age or knowledge level. Our goal and mission as the Jewish People is to grow, develop ourselves, and fulfill our potential. On the Seder night, as we focus on whom each of us can become, we ask questions – creating holes that we then yearn to fill with additional knowledge, insight, and growth.

The Ke’ara: A pathway to the spiritual The ke’ara (Seder plate) holds many symbolic foods that we use throughout the Seder. Some of these are eaten during the course of the Seder, while others we simply look or point at. What is the meaning of these symbols? The simple answer is that we display these foods in order to engage the children, to encourage their curiosity and questions. There is a deeper idea which can be learned here as well, one that is applicable to those of all ages. The most essential principle to internalize in this world is that there is always something deeper than that which appears on the surface. Living in a physical world can compel one to forget to seek out the spirituality inherent within every object, event, and person in this world. Seder night is when we instill within ourselves the pillars of emunah – of faith – and our mission as the Jewish people. On this night, we must all learn this powerful principle. Each physical object on the ka’arah represents a world of profundity, but this is not limited to the Seder plate alone.

Why tell the story of the exodus from Egypt…over and over? We conclude the paragraph of “Avadim Hayinu” by proclaiming, “v’chol hamarbeh li’saper bi’yitzias Mitzrayim, harei zeh mishubach” – all those who elaborate on the Exodus from Egypt, behold, this is praiseworthy. The Rambam (Maimonides) codifies this as a legitimate halacha of Seder night. What is the importance of telling over the Pesach story at great length, and why on this night specifically?

| MARCH 26, 2021

There are two ways to interpret the statement of “v’chol hamarbeh.” The first is that one should tell over as much of the Exodus story as possible. The second is that one should delve into the miracles and wonders that Hashem performed when taking us out of Mitzrayim in as much depth as possible. A third way to understand this statement is that the exodus was not merely a historical event, rather it was the birth of the Jewish people – our people, you and me. The story did not end with the birth of the Jewish people, it continues with them growing into the nation they are meant to become. When the Jewish people left Egypt,

we journeyed to Mount Sinai, where we were given the Torah and our mission in this world as Hashem’s chosen nation. The Haggadah says that whoever increasingly tells the story of the exodus from Egypt is praiseworthy. Jewish history is our mission and destiny, and we must continue to grow and thrive in this mission. The goal is to make yourself a part of the Jewish story.

Passover & the Pandemic: Finding strength in the story of our people

season of redemption amidst a lingering global pandemic! In so many ways, our experiences today mirror the lives of our ancestors who left Egypt over 3000 years ago. While the Exodus brought them freedom, our ancestors too were thrust into a world of uncertainty and challenges. They became a people, wanting for food and water, wandering the desert in search of the promised land, and a new nation struggling to recast its national identity after years of disrepair and slavery. Yet, we celebrate each year on Pesach the joy and jubilation of the beginnings of their freedom, of new hope kindled and of renewed anticipation of a brighter and better future; on Pesach, we celebrate the beginning of the journey towards freedom. So too, today! We have been living through trying times (to say the least). On this Pesach, we celebrate, in these days and in our time, the beginning of the journey towards our freedom and renewal – the beginning of the light at the end of the tunnel. Thanks to the grace of the Almighty and the miracle of modern medicine, we now have a vaccine (soon to be available to all). We have been blessed with people of remarkable courage, dedication and selflessness – first responders, medical professionals, educators, clergy, public servants and everyone else who have worked hard to keep our community going and safe! We can all be proud of all that we have done as individuals and a community to help us reach another Pesach and to provide strength and comfort to one another in during these difficult times. This year, let us celebrate Pesach as our ancestors did – with the taste of renewed optimism for the future in our hearts and knowing that together better days are certainly ahead!

Recently, we asked several Connecticut rabbis for their thoughts on Passover in the time of COVID. Here is what two rabbis from West Hartford had to say. Rabbi Michael Pincus Congregation Beth Israel West Hartford I think it is hard to comprehend that this pandemic has lasted more than a year. Passover 2020 occurred only weeks after the first Covid shutdown. Last year we were like our ancestors fleeing Egypt with no time to prepare. We were forced to learn quickly how to live in a new reality. Like our ancestors in our story, we would end up living in an unknown wilderness far longer than we had expected. In some ways, it feels as if we are on the plains of Moab like our ancestors 40 years later. We can see the promised land and we can anticipate the end of our journey. Perhaps some of us can even smell hints of freedom, like the sweet fragrance of milk and honey lingering in the air. But we all aren’t there yet. And so many of us will spend one more holiday huddled around our Zoom screens or warily gathering with extended family uncertain if it is safe to lower one’s mask. However we celebrate Passover this year, may we have greater appreciation for our people’s strength and courage and our ancestors’ vision. May we be inspired by the promise of hope that this holiday of Passover is all about. Rabbi Tuvia Brander Young Israel of West Hartfordd West Hartford

Rabbi Reichman will discuss “Deep Ideas for Your Pesach Seder, Read to Order,” on Zoom, Tuesday, March 23, 8 p.m. For more information: (718) 285-9132, events@chazaq.org, chazaq.org.

Here we are again – preparing for the

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Opinion CONTINUED FROM PAGE 10

That led to, among other perks, a glam photo spread for her in Vogue and now a featured spot in the Grammys where, during a musical performance from rapper Lil Baby depicting police victimizing an African-American male, Mallory stood at a podium and lectured the nation and President Joe Biden, and demanded support for BLM’s agenda. Yet in virtually none of the extensive coverage that this televised spectacle generated in the mainstream media, including outlets like The New York Times, was Mallory’s background as an antisemite and ally of a racist hatemonger mentioned. This illustrates the point about antisemitism and the BLM movement. Those who drape themselves in the banner of BLM receive a general exemption from accountability for spreading hate, especially against Jews. And while liberal groups are always ready, as they should be, to focus on those on the right who might be guilty of associating with antisemites or have said something that can be interpreted (fairly or not) as antisemitic, all we hear from them about Mallory are crickets. The Anti-Defamation League, whose job it is to fight antisemitism, is AWOL on this issue. Instead of opposing Mallory, it echoed her exploitation of the Taylor case. The group spent the last weekend still seeking to refloat partisan talking points about Jan. 6 U.S. Capitol Riot while finding nothing to say about the Grammys allowing a Farrakhan ally to use their show to pose as a heroine. This shows that fealty to critical race theory is turning the organized Jewish world into “useful idiots” who flatter and bow before those who mean the Jews harm rather than standing up to them and their enablers. It would have taken courage for ADL CEO Jonathan Greenblatt to criticize the Grammys. It might have alienated some on the Jewish left, as well as possibly losing it some donations from the entertainment world, where wokeness and fealty to BLM is now a requirement for viability in the industry. But it would have been the right thing to do and what we ought to expect from a group that raises $100 million a year to fight antisemitism. Instead, it was left to others, like the Simon Wiesenthal Center and StandWithUs, as ZOA has previously done, refusing to be silent in the face of BLM antisemitism and those who turn a blind eye to it. More Jewish groups, especially those that purport to stand for liberal values, ought to be opposing an illiberal movement like BLM and people like Mallory. The failure of much of the organized Jewish world to take a stand isn’t merely a disgrace; it’s one more piece of evidence showing how wokeness is compromising the defense of Jewish rights and enabling antisemitism. Jonathan S. Tobin is editor in chief of JNS–Jewish News Syndicate.

ANSWERS TO MARCH 19 CROSSWORD

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THE KOSHER CROSSWORD MARCH 26, 2021 “Seder Folk”

By: Yoni Glatt

Difficulty Level: Medium

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

Across 1. Uber can give you one 5. Israeli 10. Israeli Abba 14. “Am ___ late?” 15. Beastly bunch 16. Part of Tevye’s simile 17. Friend 18. Make like a Rabbi, often 19. “___ take a miracle!” 20. Part of the Seder for a rebel in the Torah? 23. “Moses” is a controversial one in Rome 24. Sat follower 25. Listing for 45-Down

28. Part of the Seder for a Mitch Albom title character? 32. State next to 33-Across 33. State whose first half is a superhero alter ego 34. Ocean predators 38. Women’s rights advocate in the Torah 40. Sleep and airplane, for two 41. How to play it if you’re nervous 42. LaBeouf of “The Peanut Butter Falcon” 44. Part of the Seder for Shammai’s “sparring” partner? 50. Not fresh

51. Problem 52. Like some equations 55. Part of the Seder for controversial Spinoza? 59. Casual shirts 61. Many melodic ancient Levites were part of one 62. Hodgepodge 63. New Israeli 64. Fund option 65. Loan out 66. What many do after having a big Friday night meal 67. Twisted-horn antelope 68. Sonic company

Down 1. Guitarist’s lines 2. “Some Like ___” 3. Closing hour for many NYC bars (pre-COVID) 4. Fruit or vegetable, depending on whom you ask 5. “Ha!” 6. Many moons 7. Bnei follower 8. Info-gathering missions 9. Guru habitat 10. A Trump 11. Noodged 12. Letters you don’t often see in emails, these days 13. Jets org.

21. Former baseball stars Schilling and Flood 22. Political Peron 26. It’s often misread in emails 27. They might be patronized 29. Holiday locale 30. Grandson of Chava 31. “King Kong” studio 34. Eight in Ecuador 35. Disturb 36. Ballpark offering adults enjoy on a hot summer day 37. Word with “rise” and “together” 39. “Take On Me” band 40. An Obama

43. Lacking social graces 45. LGA alternative 46. Fancy word for alluringly disreputable 47. Jewish common sense 48. Enlists 49. Actress Sobieski with a repetitive first name 53. Nailing a serve 54. “Mary Tyler Moore Show” spinoff 56. King Arthur of the court 57. Host Kotb 58. Ink 59. Little kid 60. One of the last Biblical Judges

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MARCH 26, 2021

Happy Passover

from your friends at Jewish Family Services of Greater Hartford

JFSHartford.org 860.236.1972

May you be blessed with happiness, prosperity, peace, and good health on Pesach and always! FROM OUR FAMILY TO YOURS

Happy Passover Michael Bloom, Executive Director Lindy Gold, President

www.mandelljcc.org/passover

Jewish Federation Association of Connecticut (JFACT) 18

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| MARCH 26, 2021

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TORAHPortion

Shabbat HaGadol

BY RABBI TZVI HERSH WEINREB

raditionally, from the point of view of Jewish religion, boys become men at age 13. Recognizing that females mature earlier, our rabbis defined age 12 as the age of majority for a girl. So it is with regard to the performance of mitzvot and other religious functions. A girl celebrates her bat mitzvah at age 12, and boys wear tefillin and are counted as part of a minyan at age 13. Before the age of 13 he is a katan, a minor. Afterwards, he is a gadol. Gadol can mean adult, or it can mean large or great. This Shabbat, the last one preceding Passover, is known as Shabbat HaGadol. How are we to translate it? Is it the adult Shabbat, the large Shabbat, or perhaps the great Shabbat? Or does the word gadol mean something entirely different in this context? Many have a custom to do a preliminary reading of the Passover Haggadah on this Shabbat. Those of us who do so, and I am among them, will have an opportunity not just to read the ancient words but to study some commentary upon them. Thus, we will have the opportunity to familiarize ourselves with one of the dozens of Haggadot on the market. I recommend one in particular, called The Royal Table, written by Rabbi Norman Lamm. I recommend this work in its entirety, but I would like to draw your attention to his creative approach to the meaning of the word gadol, and not just in the context of Shabbat HaGadol. Rabbi Lamm points out that in the Talmud, katan does not always mean minor, nor does gadol invariably connote an adult. In certain contexts, he notes, a person’s status is not a question of age but a question of independence. In the words of the Talmud, “A katan who does not rely upon his father’s table is a gadol. A gadol who is dependent upon his father is a katan.” This piece of Talmudic wisdom allows us a definition of gadol with entirely new vistas of insight and understanding. A gadol is someone who is self-reliant, who can stand on his own two feet, not just intellectually but in every other sense as well. Thus, Rabbi Lamm teaches us that this Shabbat is called HaGadol because it marks our independence as a people. It was on this day that we were able to demonstrate to our Egyptian slave masters that we no longer feared them and were about to declare ourselves religiously, culturally, and physically independent.

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I find myself taking the implications of Rabbi Lamm’s insights even further. Nowadays, we refer to those Torah sages whose authority we revere and to whom we look for guidance as gedolim”, the plural of gadol. I have often struggled with the question as to what makes a gadol. Is it just his piety and erudition? Surely these are the necessary prerequisites for the status of gadol. But reflection upon the great sages of Jewish history reveals that the outstanding gedolim of the generations had streaks of independence, which they asserted in unique and often courageous ways. Take Maimonides, the Rambam. His Torah scholarship and personal spirituality were unparalleled. Yet he embarked, quite intentionally, upon many new paths in his life. He undertook significant positions of community leadership, delved into areas of study of which his own teachers never knew, and did not fear to express his independence of thought even when he differed from some of his predecessors. Or consider Rabbi Moshe Sofer, known as the Chatam Sofer, who is generally thought to have been an ardent traditionalist. Yet he too demonstrated great independence when he formulated his own approach to combating the heretical movements of his time. He invented new ways to fight old battles. The Chofetz Chaim and Rav Moshe Feinstein, to take two 20th-century gedolim, did not merely mimic their teachers and peers but undertook new approaches, new emphases, and dealt with unprecedented issues relying upon their profound scholarship for sure, but also were confident in their independent judgment. Rav Moshe even committed to writing some of his thoughts about the necessity of a posek, a halachic decisor, not to fear to express his independent thoughts when he was confident that they were correct. Shabbat HaGadol gives us the opportunity to cherish our independence in so many ways. We must never abandon our Torah and tradition, but we must realize that there is a place for independence when it is appropriate. Passover is the holiday of freedom and independence. Our sages teach us that no one is as free as he who studies Torah deeply. Independence of thought and creativity are values which are cherished by our tradition, and Passover is the time for us to celebrate those values.

Costco sells

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Rabbi Tzvi Hersh Weinreb is the Executive Vice President, Emeritus of the Orthodox Union.

JEWISH LEDGER

MARCH 26, 2021

BULLETIN BOARD

ing r b

New England Chapter of March of the Living offers teens $2,000 scholarships

home online programs 3D virtual tours

family activities and more!

visit www.chs.org/bringchshome One Elizabeth Street | Hartford, CT

The New England Chapter of March of the Living (MOTL) is offering $2,000 scholar to high school juniors and seniors who participate in the 2022 March of the Living Jewish heritage trip to Poland and Israel. The annual March of the Living trip, which was cancelled in 2020 and 2021due to the pandemic, teaches teens about the roots of prejudice and Holocaust history, builds Jewish identity, and helps teens meet new friends from around the world. Highlights of the two-week trip include visits to historic Jewish sites in Poland, visits to concentration camps and Yom Hashoah ceremonies in Poland, followed by a trip to Israel where the teens join in the celebration of Israel Independence Day (Yom Ha’atzmaut). The 2022 MOTL trip will run April 24 – May 8, 2022. Space is limited. Register early by contacting himAaron Kischel at kischel7241@gmail.com. Additional financial assistance may be available from area temples and organizations.

JScreen announces new national cancer genetic screening program Screen, the Jewish genetic screening national public health initiative based out of Emory University School of Medicine’s Department of Human Genetics, launched a new national cancer genetic screening program to test for BRCA and 60 other cancer genes in order to help with prevention and early detection of many common cancers (breast, ovarian, prostate, melanoma, etc). The robust cancer testing panel includes genes that are actionable, meaning there is something that can be done to help prevent cancer if a person tests positive. Importantly, licensed genetic counselors provide information via phone or secure video conferencing to ensure that people understand their results. This cancer program offers highly accurate testing that uses state-of-the-art genetic sequencing technology. For more information visit jscreen.org.

Free Youth Mental Health First Aid Trainings Available Nationwide The Jewish Teen Education & Engagement Funder Collaborative, Network of Jewish Human Service Agencies and Jewish Federations of North America are partnering to respond to increasing and alarming rates of stress, anxiety and depression in teens and young adults. Jewish professionals, caregivers and parents who interact with and care about 20

JEWISH LEDGER

| MARCH 26, 2021

young people in the Jewish community can participate in training as Youth Mental Health First Aiders, a virtual certification course administered by the National Council of Behavioral Health. The course, which is limited to 1,000 people, is offered at no cost thanks to the support of the Aviv Foundation, Charles and Lynn Schusterman Family Philanthropies, the Jim Joseph Foundation through the Jewish Community Response and Impact Fund (JCRIF) and Crown Family Philanthropies. Those trained will develop skills to encourage self-help, contribute to reducing stigma, and obtain the language and skills to distinguish typical behavior from areas of concern in need of expert help. Jewish context and teachings will be blended with this new skillset to be highly relevant to the Jewish community. Youth professionals also will be trained to recognize, over virtual platforms, if teens are struggling, and how to access local clinical help if needed. These expanded trainings build on the Funder Collaborative’s focus on adolescent mental health and wellness since its formation in 2013. Through the Collaborative’s efforts, nearly 400 youth professionals have been certified in YMHFA. The Collaborative’s investment also includes a national Community of Practice of more than 50 YMHFA instructors across the Jewish community and the creation of complementary Jewish educational resources. Youth Mental Health First Aid introduces emotional health challenges and teaches how to distinguish between typical adolescent development and symptoms of a mental health or substance use issues. It focuses on signs and symptoms of issues most common to this age group, such as anxiety, depression and eating disorders, and the impact of social media and bullying. It reviews proactive ways to encourage selfcare activities, as youth often are unable to communicate changes in feeling or explain what they need. Anyone who interacts with youth, adolescents and young adults (ages 12-21) would benefit, particularly youth group leaders, camp counselors and staff, peer engagers, teachers, school administrators and parents. The virtual certification takes no longer than six hours. Virtual First Aiders will receive a certification valid for three years upon completion. For more information, contact Wellness Director Margie Bogdanow at margie@ teenfundercollaborative.com. Limited spots available

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ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT

From ‘Mank’ to an Israeli short film, 5 notable Jewish nominees for 2021 Oscars BY EMILY BURACK

(JTA) – “Mank,” the black-and-white Netflix film about Jewish screenwriter Herman Mankiewicz, leads the slate of Academy Award nominations in a year when most Americans viewed movies via streaming services. “Mank” earned 10 Oscar nods, including for best picture, making up nearly half of Netflix’s total nominations. The company also drew six nominations for “The Trial of the Chicago 7.” Meanwhile, Amazon’s nominations were bolstered by Regina King’s film “One Night in Miami” and “Borat Subsequent Moviefilm” – one of two movies that earned creator Sacha Baron Cohen an Oscar nomination. Here’s what you need to know about the notable Jewish nominees. The awards will be presented in a ceremony April 25.

the Bulgarian actress who plays Borat’s daughter in the latter, scored a nod for best supporting actress. “Trial of the Chicago 7” garnered six nominations, including for best original screenplay by the Jewish writer-director Aaron Sorkin.

“Crip Camp” is recognized The Netflix documentary, nominated for best documentary feature, is the story of teenagers with disabilities who attend Camp Jened in upstate New York during the summer of 1971. The film, executive produced by President Barack Obama and Michelle Obama, follows a group of campers and counselors who become activists for the disability rights movement, including the Jewish activist Judy Heumann.

“Mank” dominates Starring Gary Oldman as Herman Mankiewicz, “Mank” was tapped for best picture among its nominations. Oldman and co-star Amanda Seyfried, as well as director David Fincher, are in the running. There are also nominations for original score, cinematography, costume design and more. “Mank” focuses on the story behind Mankiewicz writing the classic film “Citizen Kane,” and trying to get credit for his work following its success.

Sacha Baron Cohen is recognized for two very different films Cohen was nominated for his portrayal of the Jewish activist Abbie Hoffman in “The Trial of the Chicago 7” and for best adapted screenplay for the Borat sequel, “Borat Subsequent Moviefilm.” Maria Bakalova,

GARY OLDMAN ON THE SET OF MANK (NIKOLAI LOVEIKIS/NETFLIX)

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SACHA BARON COHEN EARNED AN EMMY NOMINATION FOR PLAYING ABBIE HOFFMAN IN “THE TRIAL OF THE CHICAGO 7.” (NICO TAVERNISE/NETFLIX)

nominated for “Io sì (Seen)” for the Sophia Loren Holocaust film “The Life Ahead.” She shares the nomination with singer Laura Pausini; it was the film’s only nomination.

Warren has been nominated a dozen times over three decades but failed to take home a statuette. This could be the year: She won a Golden Globe in February.

Israeli and Palestinian short films score nominations The Israeli short film “White Eye” is up for best live-action short film. It’s the story of Omer (Daniel Gad), a Mizrahi man whose bicycle is stolen. He spots his bike outside a factory and calls the police on an African migrant worker, Yunes (Dawit Tekelaeb), setting off a chain of events out of Omer’s control. “The story actually happened to me,” Tomer Shushan, the film’s writer and director, told Jewish Insider. “I found myself fighting to get my bike back, and I almost made a man go to jail, to be deported from Israel. I just sat down like one hour after the situation and I wrote the script in 40 minutes.”

Diane Warren gets her 12th best original song nomination

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MARCH 26, 2021

Israel’s Arab citizens are BY JTA STAFF

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(JTA) Israel’s Arab citizens, who comprise approximately 20% of Israel’s population, captured an unprecedented 15 seats in the 2020 elections – a sign both of their growing political clout and increasing integration into Israeli society. At the same time, significant economic gaps between Israeli Arabs and Jews persist, and Israeli Arab communities have been disproportionately affected by COVID-19. The following Q&A, which has been condensed and lightly edited, was adapted from a recent public Zoom conversation featuring Nasreen Haddad Haj-Yahya, director of the Arab-Jewish Relations Program at the Israel Democracy Institute, and JTA reporter Ben Sales. JTA: Who are we talking about when we talk about Israel’s Arab community? Haj-Yahya: The vast majority are Muslims, but 7% are Christians and 7% are Druse. About 90% of Arabs live in Arab-only towns and villages. We also live in different regions than Jews: Most Arabs live in Israel’s periphery, away from the heavily populated center of the country. Israel has seven mixed Arab-Jewish cities – like Ramle, where I grew up. But our cities are not really mixed: Arabs and Jews live in different neighborhoods, our kids go to separate schools run by different education systems, and there is very little mixing. In fact, I didn’t meet my first Jew until I was 18. The main difference between Arabs living in the State of Israel and Palestinians living in the West Bank and Gaza is that the latter live under a military regime and don’t have the same legal rights as we. Despite the borders – which Israel doesn’t really have, they’re more imaginary than real – we Arabs in Israel and Palestinians in the West Bank are the same people. What comes first for you when you think about your layers of identity? People often want us to choose between our Arab and Israeli identities. But we don’t need to choose. The more I became aware of my national identity, the more I was able to connect to my Israeli citizenship. I don’t believe there has to be a clash. The more I understood the wrongs toward my minority, I also was able to feel empathy for other Israeli minorities and even to take a role in their struggles: to go and demonstrate with the ultra-Orthodox minority when the State of Israel doesn’t treat them right, or with Ethiopian Israelis, who also suffer from discrimination and neglect. I feel privileged to have dual identities. And besides those two identities, I’m also a mother, a researcher, a feminist. I have lots of identities. What does the Arab-Israeli relationship with the Jewish majority look like? Relationships are always complicated. On

NASREEN HADDAD HAJ-YAHYA, DIRECTOR AT THE ISRAEL

INSTITUT

the state level, it’s not good. Arabs mistrust the government, which has neglected and discriminated against its Arab citizens. When it comes to the Jewish population, 75% believe that national security decisions should be made only by Jews, and a majority believes Arabs shouldn’t be partners in the decisionmaking process even on economic issues. In other words, Arab voices are not as important as Jewish voices. Seventy-three years after Israel’s establishment, you might expect the Jewish majority to feel confident that 20% of Israel’s citizens should have an equal voice in its democracy, but unfortunately this is not the situation. The good news is when we talk about people-to-people connections. Studies we do at the Israel Democracy Institute show that when Arabs and Jews share workplaces, real friendships form between colleagues. During the pandemic, there was a touching story about an Arab male nurse saying Kaddish for a dying Jewish man whose family couldn’t be with him in the hospital. One of our missions at IDI is to try to create places in academia and the workplace where people can meet each other. This is the only way we can break the barriers between us. Most Arabs, however, still work in low-level jobs. Even when Jews work with Arabs, they more often work as supervisors or directors. They’re not on equal footing. There’s no area where we have equal rights. But we still have seen very positive progress. We’re not where we were a decade ago, even in those fields. In the higher education system, you see a growing number of Arabs studying in Israeli universities. There are more Arab doctors working in Israeli hospitals. How has the Israeli government discriminated against Arab Israelis in recent years? The nation-state law passed in 2018 [which jewishledger.com

e at a crossroads

R OF ARAB-JEWISH RELATIONS PROGRAM LI DEMOCRACY

TE. (JTA)

defined Israel as the nation-state of the Jewish people] was particularly humiliating. I didn’t need a law to tell me that Shabbat is the holy day, that Hebrew is the dominant language of Israel. We understood the practice; this was our life. But when the State of Israel said in this law that we will forever be second-class citizens, this is something the Arab minority will never accept. This is my only homeland; I don’t have any other home. I fight here to feel and to make my daughters feel as first-class citizens. It was really touching when we protested this law to see patriotic Jews protesting alongside us, telling us we were equal. If we want to make Israel a better place for all its citizens, we as minorities can’t do it alone. We need partners. And I believe there are enough people in Israel who still believe in equal rights for Palestinian people. How has COVID-19 affected the Arab-Israeli community? COVID has been devastating for us all around the world, but even more so for minorities, whether we’re talking about African-Americans or Arabs living in Israel. Among Arabs in Israel, unemployment and poverty rates are up. Many kids have dropped out of schools. Family violence and street violence have become more common. We have lower vaccination rates because of the deep mistrust among Arabs of anything to do with the State of Israel. Many of these negative developments will be with us for a long, long time. The socioeconomic gaps between Israel’s Jewish and Arab citizens were large even before this crisis. Now they’re likely to get larger. In Israel’s last elections, a record number of Israeli Arab representatives made it into Israel’s Knesset on the Arab Joint List. What should we expect for next week’s elections, and what about a recent poll that found that one in three Israeli Arab respondents wouldn’t mind if Benjamin Netanyahu remained prime minister? jewishledger.com

Most Arabs don’t support Netanyahu. We can’t forget Netanyahu’s dominant role in promoting undemocratic laws over the last decade and political reforms that hurt the Arab minority. Even when Israel shut down the state in the early weeks of the COVID-19 pandemic, the government didn’t stop demolishing Bedouin Arab villages in the Negev. So it’s not that 30% of the Arab minority are going to vote for Netanyahu, it’s that 30% don’t care that Netanyahu will be the next prime minister. This is because when the Arab minority succeeded in the last election to raise the voter participation level of Arabs to 65% of the Arab adult population and win 15 seats, we failed to translate that into real political power. [Blue and White party leader] Benny Gantz couldn’t accept us as political partners [and build a governing coalition with us]. Today, we are looking for Jewish leadership that will say, ‘If we want to make a real difference in Israel, we need Arab support.’ Netanyahu recently changed his tune and began trying to reach out to Arab voters during this campaign – not because it’s the right thing to do, but to save himself from going to court and possibly prison. Nevertheless, his outreach made it OK to do business with the Arab minority. He made it kosher. So is it possible that an Arab-Israeli party could be part of a governing coalition? The math is very simple: If you want to have political change in Israel [to replace Netanyahu], you can’t do it without the Arab minority. So I believe it’s possible in the near future. A majority of voters from the left and center accept the idea of political partnership with the Arab minority. This is very positive change. What makes you hopeful about the future? I’m very optimistic because I have amazing Jewish and Arab partners who are promoting values the State of Israel should be promoting itself. We have amazing NGOs that work very hard to promote equality between Jews and Arabs. Young women are going to university and leading a quiet revolution. I believe the path won’t be as hard for my three daughters. When my daughter says she wants to be the minister of education not just to serve Arab children, but all children in Israel, I’m very optimistic. And I see the Jewish minority living in North America as my partners because we share a lot of values. You as a minority suffered from discrimination and anti-Semitism. I believe we can work together to push the State of Israel to be a real democracy for all its citizens.

JEWISH LEDGER

MARCH 26, 2021

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Briefs CONTINUED FROM PAGE 6

in which they detected the British variant but not the South African one—results that corresponded with the variants that were prevalent in Israel at the time. Their findings were published in the MedRxiv preprint digital archive. The researchers note that each test is applicable only for a specific variant. They are now developing tests for additional strains.

The latest ‘Lucky Jew’ figurines in Poland: Candles ‘good for financial success’ (JTA) – Even among Jews in Poland, few are shocked at this point by the popular figurines of haredi Orthodox Jews counting money that are sold there as good luck charms. Yet even locals are pausing to take stock of the latest development on that controversial theme: scented candles that one retailer advertised as “giving a pleasant warm light during combustion.” Also, “The figure of the Jew is believed to be good for financial success.” The Jewish candle phenomenon came to light earlier this month on a Facebook group called Życie Żydowskie, meaning “Jewish life.” At least two firms, Beekeeping Łukasiewicz Center and the Łysoń Beekeeping Company, have offered the products online, according to Elżbieta Magenheim, the manager of Życie Żydowskie. Multiple members of the Facebook group have expressed outrage because the product reminded them of how the Nazis had bodies of Jews burned in crematoria during the Holocaust in occupied Poland. Both firms removed the products from their online catalog after Jewish.pl, a Polish Jewish news site, published an article Sunday about Magenheim’s discovery. Łukasiewicz offered two sizes, called “Little Jew” and “big Jews,” of the hand-cast beeswax candle. The figure of the Jew is believed to be good for financial success. The sale of stereotypical images of Jews as good luck charms started in Poland in the 1960s. Critics believe it is an expression of centuries of antisemitic bias in a country with whose once-great Jewish community. The “Lucky Jew” images are “deeply rooted in negative stereotypes,” Rafal Pankowski, a founder of the Warsaw-based Never Again anti-racism organization, said in 2017. His condemnations helped force the Polish parliament’s souvenir shop to drop its Lucky Jew figurines. Others dismiss it as an insensitive but ultimately harmless expression of nostalgia,

jewishledger.com

as defined by Jonny Daniels, founder of the From the Depths group that promotes dialogue between Jews and Poles. Daniels said it was similar to how some view cigar store Indians in the United States.

Israeli researchers: Vaccine antibodies pass from pregnant mother to newborn (JNS) Israeli researchers have announced in a new study that antibodies produced from a COVID-19 vaccine can be passed from a pregnant mother to her baby. The study by researchers from Hadassah University Medical Center, which has only been published in MedRxiv and thus not peer-reviewed, found that in 20 pregnant women in their third trimester who had received two shots of the Pfizer vaccine, the mothers and their newborns both had adequate levels of Immunoglobulin G (IgG) antibodies. “Neo-natal protection from infection is primarily dependent on maternally derived antibodies transferred via the placenta,” said Dana Wolf, director of the Clinical Virology Unit at Hadassah and one of the study’s lead researchers, reported The Jerusalem Post. “We demonstrated an efficient placental transfer of IgG antibodies – the kind of antibodies that are triggered by infection or following vaccination.” Wolf added that the level and type of antibodies were suggestive of “being able to sufficiently block the virus.” The study was conducted in February soon after pregnant women in Israel began receiving the coronavirus vaccines. The study, which is ongoing, also evaluates the antibodies of women vaccinated earlier in their pregnancies. Earlier this month, a separate Israeli study found that vaccinated mothers who breastfeed can also pass antibodies through their breast milk to their nursing babies.

Amsterdam mayor: Netanyahu is hurting the fight against antisemitism (JTA) – At a conference on fighting antisemitism by 32 mayors from around the world, the one from Amsterdam took aim at Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for allegedly cheapening the struggle for electoral gain. Femke Halsema, a former leader of the Green Left party, criticized Netanyahu’s recent statement that the Netherlands-based International Criminal Court has made “antisemitic edicts” when the court decided last year that it had jurisdiction to prosecute Israelis for alleged war crimes in Gaza in 2014. “If someone says for political gain that

a legal investigation by the International Criminal Court of a state actor in Gaza is antisemitism, then you deeply undervalue the meaning [of] antisemitism and the dark outcomes of antisemitism nowadays and in history,” Halsema said Tuesday, March 16, during her video address in the Mayors Summit Against Anti-Semitism, a virtual conference hosted by the German city of Frankfurt with the U.S.-based Combat AntiSemitism Movement. Israel’s ambassador to the Netherlands, Naor Gilon, pushed back on Twitter. At a conference on antisemitism, “one should speak about threats to the Jewish state rather than using this as another opportunity to criticize it” and wonder why Israel is criticized disproportionately, Gilon wrote. The summit was the brainchild of Frankfurt Mayor Uwe Becker, who told the Jewish Telegraphic Agency that antisemitism in Germany is “as diverse as our society.” The coronavirus pandemic “worked like an incubator, speeding up the spread of anti-Semitic conspiracy theories.”

Capitol rioter who talked about eating Jews is Navy contractor and Army reservist (JTA) – A Navy contractor who was arrested for taking part in the Jan. 6 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol sports a “Hitler mustache” and allegedly talked about eating Jews. Timothy Hale-Cusanelli was known by his friends and co-workers as a white supremacist, Nazi sympathizer and Holocaust denier. He was also a member of the U.S. Army Reserve. One Navy officer told the Naval Criminal Investigative Service that Hale-Cusanelli said “Hitler should have finished the job.” Another seaman said Hale-Cusanelli said if he were a Nazi, “he would kill all the Jews and eat them for breakfast, lunch and dinner, and he wouldn’t need to season them because the salt from their tears would make it flavorful enough.” Hale-Cusanelli allegedly also made comments deriding Black people and babies with disabilities. Photos that federal agents found on his phone show him with a mustache and haircut similar to Hitler’s. The Washington Post reported that Sgt. John Getz, one of Hale-Cusanelli’s supervisors, told agents that Hale-Cusanelli would walk up to people and say “You’re not Jewish, are you?” Hale-Cusanelli’s lawyer wrote in a court

filing that his client is not a member of any white supremacist organizations and that he denied being a Nazi in an interview with the FBI.

Trump showed off photos of naked women at a shiva, report says (JTA) – Donald Trump showed off photos of naked women posing with him on a yacht to mourners at the shiva for an associate’s mother, The New Yorker reported. Jennifer Weisselberg, the former daughter-in-law of the Trump organization’s chief financial officer, Allen Weisselberg, recalled the incident in a profile of Cyrus Vance Jr., the Manhattan prosecutor who is considering charging the former president and real estate mogul on tax, insurance and banking fraud charges. The incident took place before her 2004 wedding to Barry Weisselberg. Trump arrived at the shiva at a modest Long Island home and declared, “This is where my C.F.O. lives? It’s embarrassing!” He then showed the photos of the women. “After that, he starts hitting on me,” Jennifer Weisselberg said of Trump, and complained that her future father-inlaw “didn’t stand up for me.” Jennifer Weisselberg, who divorced Barry Weisselberg in 2018, described the relationship between her former father-inlaw and his boss at a time when Vance and others are considering whether the elder Weisselberg would “flip” and testify against Trump. She said Weisselberg “has more feelings and adoration for Donald than for his wife.” Vance’s team has interviewed Jennifer Weisselberg in part because she recently revealed that she and her husband lived rent free in a Trump property. If Barry Weisselberg did not declare the property as income, he may be subject to tax evasion prosecution, which would be a means for Vance to squeeze his father into testifying against Trump. Spokespeople for Trump and the elder Weisselberg declined to comment to the New Yorker.

JEWISH LEDGER

MARCH 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.

information: bennettcenter@fairfield.edu or (203) 254-4000 x2066.

TUESDAY, MARCH 30 Zoom & Learn: “Images of Elijah” See Tuesday, March 23.

Passover Prep: Digital Passover United Jewish Federation will present “Digital Passover: Tools and Tips for Creating Your Own Interactive (Online) Seder,” led by Jonathan Fans on March 23 at 7:30 p.m. Register at ujf.org. For information: contact Diane Sloyer at dianesloyer@ujf.org, (203) 321-1373 x105. Deep Ideas for Your Pesach Seder, Ready to Order Reb Shmuel Reichman will discuss “Deep Ideas for Your Pesach Seder, Ready to Order” online March 23 at 8 p.m. The event is presented by Chazaq in conjunction with Torah Anytime. For more information: (718) 285-9132, events@chazaq.org, or chazaq.org. Zoom & Learn: “Images of Elijah” Through the ages, the powerful stories of the Bible have been illuminated in legend and on canvas. In this class, to be held March 23 & 30, 11-12 noon, Rabbi Alvin Wainhaus will discuss dramatically different artistic and folkloristic takes on the prophet Elijah. To register or for more information: coshalom@ sbcglobal.net or (203) 779-2341.

THURSDAY, MARCH 25 Voices of Hope Winter Speaker Series Voices of Hope Winter Speaker Series: Ewa Callahan, author of Holocaust and Film, will speak March 25 at 7 p.m. For more information or to register, visit ctvoicesofhope. 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 28

JEWISH LEDGER

FRIDAY, APRIL 9 Organ Sounds Concert Series

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 31 Normalizing Nazism on the Internet

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 23

survivor Ida Fink with Rabbi Andi Fliegel. Hosted by Congregation Beth Israel, April 1 at 11 a.m. To register and receive a copy of the next short story and a link to the Zoom discussion, email kbeyard@cbict.org.

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.

THURSDAY, APRIL 1 Short Story Coffee Break: The Wind A Zoom discussion of flash fiction and short stories by the renowned Israeli writer Etgar Keret. Hosted by Congregation Beth Israel, April 1 at 11 a.m. To register and receive a copy of the next short story and a link to the Zoom discussion, email kbeyard@cbict.org.

MONDAY, APRIL 5 Sharing Credit: Jewish Loan Societies, Past and Present Prof. Shelley Tenenbaum of Clark University will discuss the significance of Jewish loan associations, and community members will share some recollections of the Kief Protective Mutual Benefit Association which continues to operate today, at a Zoom event to be held April 5 at 7 p.m on Zoom. In addition, Ann Pava, chair of the Jewish Free Loan Fund, will introduce this new fund launched recently by the Jewish Federation of Greater Hartford. The fund provides interest-free loans to help members of Greater Hartford’s Jewish community overcome financial hurdles. Hosted by the Jewish Historical Society of Greater Hartford. To register, visit jhsgh.org/ sharing-credit.

THURSDAY, APRIL 8 Short Story Coffee Break: A Scrap of Time A Zoom discussion of short stories from A Scrap of Time by Polish-Israeli Holocaust

| MARCH 26, 2021

Organist Scott Lamlein, director of music for St. John’s Episcopal Church in West Hartford, will perform, April 9 at 6:30 p.m. Program will be announced. For more information or to register, visit cbict.org/calendar.

THURSDAY, APRIL 15 Short Story Coffee Break: The Quiet Americans A Zoom discussion of short stories from The Quiet Americans, led by Erika Dreifus Learning Center (Virtual) Writer in Residence, to be held April 15, a.m. Hosted by Congregation Beth Israel. To register and receive a copy of the next short story and a link to the Zoom discussion, email kbeyard@ cbict.org.

SUNDAY, APRIL 18 Israel Food Tour

Havdalah followed by a meet and greet for both of Tribe groups, ranging in age from 20-50. Hosted online by Congregation Beth Israel on March 13, 6:30 p.m. For more information: email Tracy Taback at tracytaback@gmail.com.

A live virtual culinary tour of the foods and culture of Israel on April 18 at 1 p.m. Expert guides immerse you in the history, culture, and people of Israel through unparalleled knowledge and connection to the vendors who make Israeli food come alive. Includes interviews, videos, maps and a Q&A time with a local culinary expert. For more information or to register, visit cbict.org/calendar.

SUNDAY, APRIL 11

TUESDAY, APRIL 20

Seeking Refuge: Shanghai & Beyond

JCC in Sherman announces line-up for 2021 Great Decisions

FRIDAY, APRIL 10 The Tribe/Super Tribe Havdalah

The 4th Annual Henny Simon Remembrance: “Seeking Refuge: Shanghai & Beyond” featuring guest speakers Laurence Tribe, Carl M. Loeb Professor of Constitutional Law Emeritus at Harvard Law School, and teacher Helen Elperina. This program will explore the desperate search for refuge from persecution and impending death faced by Jews during the Holocaust through the experiences of Ludwig Rosenbaum z”l (father of Henny Simon), Prof.Tribe and Helen Elperina, whose stories converge in 1941. Hosted by Eastern CT chapter of Hadassah, the presentation will be held April 11 at 2 p.m. For more information and to receive the Zoom link to the program, contact Karen Bloustine at bloustinek@gmail. com.

TUESDAY, APRIL 13 The Rise & Destruction of the Jewish Fashion Industry, Berlin 1836-1939 The Joan and Henry Katz Lecture in Judaic Studies: “The Rise and Destruction of the Jewish Fashion Industry, Berlin 1836 – 1939,” with guest lecturer Uwe Westphal, journalist, and author of Fashion Metropolis Berlin (2019), to be held March 16 at 7:30 p.m. This FREE webinar is co-sponsored by the Bennett Center for Judaic Studies at Fairfield University. Registration required at fairfield. edu/bennettprograms. For information: bennettcenter@fairfield.edu or (203) 2544000 x2066.

2021 Great Decisions, a nation-wide discussion group on U.S. foreign policy and global affairs sponsored by the Foreign Policy Association (FPA) and co-hosted by the JCC in Sherman and The Sherman Library, will begin on April 20, 7 - 8:30 p.m. on Zoom. The 8-session monthly program will run on Tuesdays through November. Each month participants will review and discuss a critical world issue facing America today. Topics for 2021 are: Global Supply Chains and the U.S. National Security; The Future of Persian Gulf Security; Brexit: Taking Stock and Looking Ahead; The Coldest War: Toward a Return to Great Power Competition in the Arctic, China and Africa; The Two Koreas; The World Health Organization’s Response to Covid-19; and, The End of Globalization. Briefing booklets are $20 and can be purchased and picked up at the Sherman Library Call (860) 354-2455 to schedule a pick-up time. Space is limited, so register early to receive a briefing book. For information: info@jccinsherman.org, or visit jccinsherman.org/greatdecisions.

THURSDAY, APRIL 22 “Hava Nagila” – Film Screening and Discussion A screening and discussion of the awardwinning documentary “Hava Nagila” on April 22 at 7 p.m. Follow the story of this infectious party song from the shtetls of Eastern Europe and Ukraine to the Catskills to Greenwich jewishledger.com

MARCH 23 – APRIL 29 Village to Hollywood in this hilarious and surprisingly deep film. Featuring interviews with Harry Belafonte, Connie Francis, Glen Campbell, Leonard Nimoy, Regina Spektor and more.For more information or to register, visit cbict.org/calendar.

MONDAY, APRIL 26 State of Play: The Political Future of the American Jewish Community David Axelrod, American political consultant and strategist; CNN senior political commentator former chief strategist and senior advisor to President Obama, will discuss the political future of the American Jewish community at a FREE seminar to be held on Zoom, April 26 at 7:30 p.m. Axelrod’s talk is co-sponsored by the Bennett Center for Judaic Studies at Fairfield University. Registration required at fairfield. edu/bennettprograms. For information: bennettcenter@fairfield.edu or (203) 2544000 x2066.

THURSDAY, APRIL 29 Short Story Coffee Break A Zoom discussion of short stories and poetry by Erika Dreifus, Congregation Beth Israel’s Learning Center (Virtual) Writer in Residence, will be held APril 29 at 11 a.m. To register and receive a copy of the next short story and a link to the Zoom discussion, email kbeyard@ cbict.org. Book Discussion at Congregation Beth Israel The Book of the Lost Names by Kristin Harmel will be the focus of a book discussion hosted by Congregation Beth Israel’s Sisterhood on April 29 at 7 p.m. The Book of Lost Names is inspired by a true story that takes place during World War II, about a young woman with a talent for forgery who helps thousands of Jewish children flee the Nazis. A social hour will follow. For more information, contact Rabbi Tami Elliott Goodman at ravgoodman@ icloud.com.

APRIL 28 & MAY 5 A Virtual Historical Tour of Jewish Argentina A two-part virtual historical tour of Jewish Argentina with Claudia Hercman, an Argentinian tour guide and translator. She is also a sculptor and painter, and honors her four grandparents who emigrated from Poland to Argentina. Hosted by Congregation Beth Israel. Session 1, April 28 at 8 p.m. – The Argentinian Jewish community is the 6th largest in the world. The first Jewish jewishledger.com

communities in Latin America were Sephardic. What happened to those Jews during the Inquisition? Why, if Latin America was part of the Spanish Empire, is the Jewish Community in Argentina 80% Ashkenazi and only 20% Sephardic today? Session 2, Thursday, May 5 at 8pm – Before WWII many Jews came to Argentina. In a country of immigrants, it became a very important and strong community. What happened in Argentina during and after the Holocaust? Who was Perón; what was his policy towards the Jews? Did he really help the Nazis come to Argentina? For information, visit www.cbict.org/ calendar.

KOLOT

Don’t Enslave Us In A song for Passover to be sung to the tune of “Don’t Fence Me In” BY HOWARD MEYEROWITZ

Oh, give us sand, lots of sand under starry skies above Let us walk and ride through the open country we don’t love Don’t enslave us in At the base of Sinai let us stand where we’ll hear each command Let us wander over yonder till we see the Red Sea meander Don’t enslave us in On to the Promised Land with our free Jewish band We want to reach the ridge where the East commences And gaze at the new moon till we lose our senses And we can’t look at Pharoah and we can’t stand fences Don’t enslave us in Don’t enslave us in Howard Meyerowitz is a Ledger staff member and a member of Beth El Temple in West Hartford. He lives in Bloomfield with his wife, Susan. Readers are invited to submit original work on a topic of their choosing to Kolot. Submissions should be sent to judiej@ jewishledger.com.

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

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

HKC

‫כשר‬

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

L IKE U S ON

JEWISH LEDGER

MARCH 26, 2021

OBITUARIES GOLD Sondra (Wittenberg) Gold, of Stamford, died March 6. She was the wife of Leo Gold. She was born and raised in Bridgeport. She was a member of Temple Beth El. She is survived by her children, David and his wife Elizabeth, Susan, Jon and his wife Lisa; her grandsons, Daniel, Michael, Sam and Alex. She was predeceased by her brother Edwin. GREENBAU Harold S. Greenbaum has died. He was the husband of Carole Rubin Greenbaum for 66 magical years. Born in Newark, N.J., he was the son of Lena and Louis Greenbaum. A member of the Newark National Guard he joined and served in the U.S. Air Force and was stationed in Newfoundland during the Korean Conflict. He was a member of Congregation Mishkan Israel in Hamden. In addition to his wife, he is always survived by his children, Judy Armstrong and her husband Mark, Gary Greenbaum and his wife Diane Osborne, Jonathan Greenbaum and his wife Helaine, Paul Greenbaum and his wife Debbie; his grandchildren, Jeremy, Matthew (Ashley),

Talia, Isaac, Hannah, Adam Armstrong (Hannah Rae), Eric, Aaron, Courtney, Jared; and his great-granddaughter Maxine Armstrong. He was also predeceased by his aunt Clara Wrubel, his sister Florence, and his brother Arthur. GROSS Helen R. Gross, of Rydal, Penn., died March 13. She was the widow of the Harry S. Gross, z”l. She is survived by her children, Jeffrey (Janna) Gross and his wife Janna, and Betty Gross Eisenberg; her grandchildren, Benjamin, Andrea, Rachel and her husband Stuart, and Joshua and his wife Sana, and Allison and her husband Edward, and Michelle; and her greatgrandchildren, Aaron, Danny, Gabrielle and Sophie. She was also predeceased by her daughter’s fiancé Barry E. Bressler. JOSEPHSON Paul Robert Josephson, 84, of Stamford, died March 13. He was the husband of Susan Josephson. Born in Brooklyn, N.Y. and raised in Chicago, Ill., he was the son of Helen and Alfred Josephson. He was a very active member of Temple Beth El

Lichtenstein Company Maker of MONUMENTS for 4 Generations

in Stamford. In addition to his wife, he is survived by his children, Michael and his wife Lisa, Linda and her husband Kenny, and Jennifer and her husband Jonathan; his grandchildren, Teddi, David, Justin, Zach, Aidan, and Asher; and his sister Sandra Ciano. KOSLOFF Alan Marshall Kosloff, 74, died March 7. He was the husband of Doris (Lang) Kosloff. Born in Waterbury, he was the son of the late Harry and Paulette (Wolozin) Kosloff. He was a member of Chabad House of Greater Hartford and The Emanuel Synagogue of West Hartford. In addition to his wife, he is survived by his children, Adam Kosloff and his wife Claire, and Daniel Kosloff and his wife Megan); his grandchildren, Alexandra, Ellis and Rory. He was also predeceased by his brother Burt Kosloff. POLLACK Shelly Pollack, age 61 of West Haven, died March. Born in Bridgeport, she was the daughter of the late Carole Pollack, and Bernard (“Bernie”) Pollack of West Haven. In addition to her father, she is survived by her brother Bob of West Haven; her uncles and aunts, Harvey (Diane) Cutler of East Haven, Bruce (Louise) Cutler of Henderson, Nev., Norman (Elaine), Paul (Cherie), Libby (Bernie proceeded) all of Florida.; many cousins and friends, especially Robbie

SHANBROM Sidney Shanbrom, 82, of Delray Beach, Fla., formerly of West Haven, died March 9. He was the husband of Elinor (Goldfarb) Shanbrom. Born in New Haven, he was the son of the late Walter E. and Freda (Levine) Shanbrom. He is survived by his brother James Shanbrom and his wife Carol); his daughters, Lori Goldstein and her husband Bruce, and Jill Robart; his grandchildren, Andrea Goldstein and her fiance James Anouna, Hillary Goldstein and Megan Robart. ZETOFF Rosalie Shapiro Zetoff, 79, of West Hartford, died March 15. She was the wife of Richard Zetoff. Born in Hartford, she was the daughter of the late Sadie Yush Shapiro-Goldberg and Harry Shapiro. She was a longtime member of The Emanuel Synagogue in West Hartford. In addition to her husband, she is sons Marc Zetoff and his wife Eileen, and David Zetoff and his wife Karen; her grandchildren, Jacob, Carly, Laine, Olivia and Jeremy Zetoff, all of West Hartford; her sister Elinor Cohen, of Riverdale, N.Y.; her sister-in-law Joyce Rosenstein and her husband Jerome of West Hartford; and several nieces and nephews.

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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 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. org www.bethisraelwallingford. org WASHINGTON Greater Washington Coalition Rabbi James Greene (860) 868-2434 jewishlifect@gmail.com 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

MARCH 26, 2021

The Crown Market remains eternally grateful for all of your continued support and patronage throughout these challenging circumstances we are all navigating. From our grateful staff, management and Board...

CHAG SAMEACH! Wishing You All A Sweet & Kosher Passover!

Reminder: Next Delivery To CT (New Haven & Norwich) Our Next Delivery Date Throughout CT is 4/20 Deadline For This Delivery is 4/14 @ 4PM We Look Forward To Feeding You Well!

The Crown Market 2471 Albany Ave West Hartford, CT 06117

860.236.1965

www.crownmarketonline.com HKC supervises the Bakery, Five o’clock Shop, Butcher Department and Catering. We’re not JUST kosher...we’re DELICIOUS! 34

JEWISH LEDGER

| MARCH 26, 2021

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