Berkshires Federation FebMarch_2012

Transcription

FEDERATION CUTS, PG. 17
ISRAELI SOLDIERS HERE, PG. 14
MY LIFE, MY HEALTH, PG. 13
jericho lost, pg. 25
Non-Profit Org.
U.S. POSTAGE
PAID
Pittsfield, MA
Permit No. 19
Published by
Serving the Jewish community in Berkshire County and
neighboring New York, Connecticut, and Vermont
www.jewishberkshires.org
Vol. 20, No. 4
196 South Street, Pittsfield, MA 01201
Shevat/Adar/Nisan 5772
February 20 to March 25, 2012
Focus:
The “Arab Spring,”
Anti-Semitism, and Israel
Brotherhood founder,
Hassan el Banna
Rashad Bayoumi, ‘Israel’s
a criminal enemy’
By Robert S. Wistrich
The Muslim Brotherhood did not initiate the ongoing upheavals in the Middle
East, but the Islamist parties in Egypt,
as in Tunisia and Libya, have been the
chief beneficiaries of the collapse of
long-standing authoritarian repressive
regimes across North Africa.
In Egypt itself, the two largest Islamist
groups – the Brotherhood and the Salafists – won about three quarters of the
ballots in the second round of legislative elections held in December, while
the secular and the liberal forces took
a battering.
The Brotherhood – which garnered
over forty percent of the votes – is an
organization founded by an Egyptian
schoolteacher, Hassan el Banna, back
in 1928. It has never deviated from its
founder’s central axiom: “Allah is our
objective; the Prophet is our leader; the
Koran is our law; Jihad is our way; dying
opera’s queen
Yusuf al-Qaradawi, not a
moderate
in the way of Allah is our highest hope.”
It is this radical vision which animates
all those in the region who seek a fully
Islamic society and way of life.
The Muslim Brotherhood has always
been deeply anti-Western, viscerally
hostile to Israel, and openly anti-Semitic
– points usually downplayed in Western
commentary on the “Arab Spring.” Indeed,
the anti-Jewish conspiracy theories promoted by the Brotherhood and its affiliated preachers are in a class of their own.
This is especially true of Egyptian-born
Yusuf al-Qaradawi, undoubtedly the most
celebrated Muslim Brotherhood cleric in
the world. The still vigorous 84-year-old,
often misleadingly depicted in the West
as a “moderate,” flew in from Qatar to
Cairo’s Tahrir Square a year ago to lead
a million-strong crowd in Friday prayers,
thereby ending fifty years of exile from
A Metropolitan Opera Competition award winner, soprano Chelsea Rose Friedlander
will sing the title role in Donald Sosin’s “Esther: A One Act Opera” at the Yiddish
Book Center in Amherst on Sunday, March 4. Internationally trained, Friedlander
has sung Strauss, Mozart, and Gilbert & Sullivan throughout the East and South
(story on page 6).
arab spring,
continued on page 7
Hadassah in the Berkshires
‘Eyes Looking to the Future’
An Equine Safe
Haven in Israel
By Sylvia S. Stein
equine rescue, continued on page 14
PHOTO: Tova Sau
By Tova Saul
In Holy Scripture, donkeys and mules
are ridden by kings, prophets, and judges,
used as metaphors for either humble or
wild people, and have specific laws pertaining to their care.
Today, thousands of equines – donkeys, mules, and horses – mostly with
Arab owners, are used in Israel and the
Palestinian territories to transport their
masters, carry produce from the fields
and to market, and for recreational riding.
Until recently most of these animals
faced great harm and, for varying reasons,
never received professional veterinary
care. Often the owners increased their
animal’s suffering by using “folk medicine,” which includes burning or cutting
areas of the body. Many equines were
abandoned, overworked, deliberately
harmed, or injured in traffic accidents.
Suffering in silence, they had no organization to rescue them.
That is, not until 2000, when Lucy
Fensom, a soft-spoken, British airline
stewardess, became a savior for these
animals. While volunteering at a Jerusalem animal shelter, she learned of the
extensive abuse of equines in the region.
She used her contacts in England to ini-
28 pages
Lucy Fensom’s sanctuary tends to
equines in Israel and the Palestinian
territories
Inside
Campaign Update........................................12
Twenty-twelve marks the centennial of Hadassah, the Women’s Zionist Organization of America, founded in New York City by Henrietta Szold.
A volunteer organization with the Biblical mission of “Aruhat Bat Ami: the
Healing of the Daughter of my People,” its first initiative was to send two nurses
to Palestine to provide pasteurized milk to infants and new mothers. By 1918,
Hadassah had sent an entire medical unit – doctors, nurses, dentists, and sanitary workers – to bring American-style medical care to serve all, regardless of
race, creed, or ethnicity.
In the mid-1930s, it became clear that Jewish children needed to be saved from
a rapidly darkening Europe and Szold helped organize the rescue of thousands,
bringing them to safety in Palestine.
As early as 1942, the United States named Hadassah as one of the five largest contributors to overseas relief, and during World War Two the organization
sold $200 million in war bonds.
In recent years, Hadassah has spoken out passionately in favor of government
funding for stem cell research and has advocated strongly for legislation that
supports medical privacy and freedom from genetic discrimination.
Hadassah founded, owns, and supports two world-class medical centers in
greater Jerusalem – including the Sarah Wetsman Davidson Tower at Hadassah
Medical Center at Ein Kerem. Scheduled to open in mid-October, the Tower will
stand as Israel’s most advanced medical facility.
Hadassah boasts over 300,000 members, associates, and supporters affiliated
with chapters across America. The story of the Berkshires’ local chapter began
seventy-five years ago…
Features & Local News............5-8, 14-16, 22
Your Federation Presents............9-13, 17-21
National & World News...............22-25, 27
Mazel Tovs................................................9
Calendar.................................................26
Attending a talk regarding Hadassah given by a visiting rabbi, in 1937,
Estelle Kolman, an ardent Zionist, was
inspired; recruiting her bridge group
and family members she established
the Pittsfield Chapter of Hadassah.
Kolman was aided by Rebecca
Nelson, a native of Leeds, England,
who, as vice-president of the charter
group, assisted in collecting the fiftyhadassah at 100,
continued on page 5
Page 2
Berkshire Jewish Voice • www.jewishberkshires.org
Young Judaism
Religion, Spirituality, and Coping with Loss
By Josh Cutler
October 13th, 2011, was a day that I had long
been preparing for, but never wanted to come.
That afternoon, I lost my dear grandmother,
Zelda Cutler, who battled so valiantly for over
four years after a debilitating stroke zapped away
much of her liveliness.
Throughout my young life, I had been fortunate to have experienced very few losses close
to me. I would find over the coming days and
weeks that while loss is an incredible, painful
experience, there are things to turn to in life, both
religious and spiritual, which can help numb the
pain …and help you turn the page.
My relationship
with my Grandma was as close as any grandmother-grandson bond you could find. We
spent countless hours over the years watching television, going out to eat, going to the
grocery store, and talking on the phone – a
tradition which would continue nightly even
as I went off to college and law school.
Never an evening passed without calling
Grandma, to check up on her and to talk
about our day. In many ways, Grandma
served as a second mother to me throughout
my childhood, and was a driving force in
molding me – into both who I am and who I’m
going to someday be.
In the days and weeks following her stroke
in July 2007, I found that turning back to
Judaism and my congregation was comfortGrandma and Me
ing for me in coping with the massive changes
which would follow in my life and the lives of our family members.
Not only did participating in congregational activities help give me the
sense of family and community that I had been missing, but, in addition,
the peace of being surrounded by the Jewish community helped me prepare
for the inevitable day when Grandma would no longer be with us.
And it was even more comforting that the Jewish community was there
for me in the days and weeks following Grandma’s passing.
Knowing that you have that built-in circle of support is such a comforting
feeling during a time of grief.
I found it odd in the days after Grandma died that I didn’t find the need
to cry much to come to terms with my loss. I had always believed that due
to my close relationship with her, losing her would turn me into a wreck,
but this was far from the case.
Even when I stood on the bima eulogizing her, I felt as though I should
let loose and show some outward emotion, but I never could do so. I’ve come
to attribute this to the fact that she was able to live 91 years on this earth,
raise two children, and see five grandchildren and three great-grandchildren
grow up before her eyes.
If I live such a long and fruitful life, I’ll be a lucky guy.
While my connection to Judaism has helped me cope with my loss immeasurably, I’ve also found an interesting source of
spiritual uplift: music.
Since Grandma’s passing, whenever I’m driving in
the car listening to satellite radio, I often say to myself:
“Grandma, if you can hear me, two specific artists will
play: James Taylor and ‘Earth, Wind and Fire’.”
On Thanksgiving afternoon, which also happened
to be my Dad’s birthday, we decided to drive out to the
cemetery to pay a visit to Grandma.
When I turned the car key, the first song playing was
“Country Road” by James Taylor. I said to Dad (who
knew of my little quirk), “Okay, there’s sign one. Now,
if we get an ‘Earth, Wind, and Fire’ song, you know
she’s with us.”
I then turned the car down Pecks Road, and as I
pulled into the driveway of the Congregation Knesset
Israel Cemetery, “September,” by “Earth, Wind, and
Fire” began.
Sitting there with goose bumps all over my skin, I
leaned over to Dad and said, “Well, we know she’s definitely still with us now!”
Though I miss my Grandma more than anyone will ever know, I take
comfort daily in the fact that my religion, my spirituality, and my community
will always remain there for me whenever I need them.
Josh Cutler is a second year law student at the University of Massachusetts
School of Law-Dartmouth. A member of Temple Anshe Amunim in Pittsfield,
he is the grandson of Maurice and Zelda Cutler (z”l).
Rabbi Reflections
Shalom
By Rabbi Ari Rosenberg
I have had the privilege to serve Hevreh of
Southern Berkshire and the extended Jewish
family of the Jewish Federation of the Berkshires
for nearly four years now. Throughout my experience, I have felt the warmth and support of the
broader Jewish community.
As I reflect upon articles I’ve written for the
Berkshire Jewish Voice, on such diverse topics
as “Was the Last Supper a Passover Seder?” and
“What Islam Can Teach Jews About Ourselves,”
I am so grateful for the opportunities I have had
to continue these conversations with members
Published ten times a year by the Jewish Federation of the Berkshires
Arlene D. Schiff: Executive Director & Publisher
David Verzi: Editor
Rose Tannenbaum: Graphic Design & Layout
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and Assistant Editor
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Phone: (413) 442-4360 Fax (413) 443-6070 (Outside area): Toll Free (866) 442-4360
of our Jewish community. As I reminisce upon Divrei Torah I have delivered
at various Shabbats Across the Berkshires, it has been powerful for me
to see the way the Jewish value of Klal Yisrael, “Jewish Unity,” resonates
throughout the Berkshires.
As I think of the amiable collegiality shared by the spiritual leaders of the
affiliate congregations of the Jewish Federation of the Berkshires, it warms
my heart. Bearing all of this in mind, it is with a heavy heart that I share
with you that I will soon be leaving the Berkshires.
I hope that you will be happy for me when you learn that I have accepted
a position at a Reform congregation in Springfield, New Jersey. My desire
is to take everything I have learned from our Jewish community here, and
share it with my new congregation, Sha’arey Shalom.
Although it is nearly three hours from the Berkshires, Springfield, NJ, is
a nice residential area, not far from Summit and Short Hills, while within
close reach of New York City.
Sha’arey Shalom has a number of multi-generational families, which
appeals to me, and I felt a warmth from the members of the congregation
not unlike the warmth I feel here. While the decision to move did not come
easily, I felt that the time had come for me to take my professional growth
to the next level. There comes a time in the career of many a rabbi when
they are ready to serve a congregation of their own, just like my colleagues
in the Berkshires, from whom I have learned so very much.
I pray that I embark on this new phase in my life with all of your support.
rabbi reflections, continued on page 4
The Jewish Federation of the Berkshires is fully staffed each
morning and encourages office visits prior to 1 p.m.
DEADLINEs
The next Berkshire Jewish Voice (Vol. 20, No. 5) will cover the period March 26,
2012 through May 5, 2012. The following edition (Vol. 20, No. 6) covers May 6, 2012
through June 7, 2012. The deadline for press releases and other written submissions, all of which are subject to being edited, is April 2, 2012. Because of limitations of space and time, please be so kind as to not submit lengthy articles
without first contacting the editor. Advertising deadline is April 19, 2012. For a
complete Berkshire Jewish Voice schedule, contact (413) 442-4360, ext. 11, or e-mail
jfb.berkshirevoice@verizon.net.
In My View
Making Tears Holy
By Arlene D. Schiff
“We’d rather be anywhere else at this moment.
That’s what we’re all thinking, isn’t it? That which
brings us here feels unfathomable, surreal, and
unbelievable,” said Rabbi Deborah Zecher as she
eulogized young Remy Kirshner on January 3.
Her words were so appropriate, and unfortunately that was the second time in a week that her
words of sad reflection rang true for me, the first
being at the funeral of my father, Milton Davidson,
who passed away on December 22.
My father had been in declining health for
awhile, but until the last month, he exhibited a
strength and perseverance that I don’t think I
could ever duplicate. His love of family, especially
my mother, his wife of almost 54 years, is what
kept him going day in and day out despite his loss of independence and
declining quality of life.
The few minutes his children and grandchildren spoke with him each
week were fuel enough to keep him going until the next week’s phone call.
His daily life, though difficult and painful at times in his later years, were
worth getting through because in his words, “I’m not ready to give up your
mother.”
As my sister so eloquently said in her eulogy everything my father did,
he did because he thought he was doing the best for the family. We didn’t
always view his decisions through the same lens as he, but especially as
we got older, we knew that his actions were taken with our best interest in
mind – as overprotective and stifling as we might have found them to be.
My father taught us to be independent, not to follow the crowd, to think
for ourselves, and at the same time to be part of “the team” – whether that
be as a member of our household doing our share of the chores, visiting
my great-grandmother when she was in a nursing home, as a player on a
sports team, or as the leader of an organization.
My father led by example when it came to instilling in us the importance
of a good education. He had to postpone going immediately from high school
to college due to the death of his father and the need for someone to provide
for the rest of the family. He worked during the day and went to school at
night until he could afford to go back to school full time. He pursued his
M.B.A later in life while working and providing for a wife and three children.
He made it possible for my brother, sister, and I to attend both the colleges and graduate schools we wanted with minimal financial burden on
us, and his generosity in this area extended to his seven grandchildren.
After his passing, I came across scrapbooks he had compiled for me and
each of my siblings documenting our academic achievements because of
the value he placed on them.
I am grateful for the fact that my daughters had their grandfather in their
lives for so many years. My dad loved being a grandparent, and before his
health began to decline made an effort to visit his grandchildren as frequently
as possible, not only being present for major events like religious holidays,
birthdays, and other family celebrations, but also just for a day of “hanging
out” in the backyard or sitting on the floor playing.
He wore a sweatshirt with his grandchildren’s pictures on it all the time
Page 3
and had pictures of them all over the house.
My father wasn’t a religious man, but I will never forget the tears streaming down his face at my daughter’s bat mitzvahs. He was so proud of all
they had accomplished to get to that point and so happy that they were
proud of their heritage.
My father’s passing has left a void in my life that will never be filled.
I will continue to “consult” with him at times when I need advice or just
someone to talk to. Several times a day, I find myself just saying, “Hi Dad,”
or “Love you, Dad” – because it’s hard to imagine not saying those words
on a regular basis.
My sister spoke for my entire family when she said, “Dad, I love you so
much and will miss you. You watched over us for so long, longer than we
felt necessary, but your love and concern will be missed.”
While my Dad lived to be 82, Remy Kirshner was taken at the age of 17
as a result of a tragic car accident.
Remy’s mother, Barbara and I became friends nineteen years ago when
her oldest daughter and my youngest were both six-months-old. We met in
a mother-baby exercise class offered at the former Federation building on
East Street in Pittsfield.
We quickly became friends and our daughters became friendly as well.
As our daughters got older their social networks widened and our families’
interaction occurred less often, but we continued to be connected in several
ways: as residents of Lenox whose children went to the public school, as
members of the Jewish Community, and through mutual friends.
Hearing about Remy’s passing sent shock waves through me. I have vivid
memories of her as a little girl – all smiles with a radiant glow.
Rabbi Zecher described Remy as “a love,” a free spirit who loved to dance;
someone well acquainted with challenge and obstacles in her life, but who
sought ways to rise above them. She possessed a strong spirit and tremendous inner strength which sustained and nourished her.
Rabbi Zecher framed her eulogy by sharing a story about a woman whose
child died. The bereaved mother came to her rabbi who listened patiently
as she poured out her grief. And then he said to her: “I cannot wipe away
your tears. I can only show you how to make them holy.”
And Rabbi Zecher said that our sacred task that afternoon was to let
the tears flow, but in remembering Remy and in celebrating her sweet life,
learn to make our tears holy.
Rabbi Zecher said further, “We wish this day had never come, but it has
come and we are here because, in truth, we could be no place else.”
“With overwhelming sorrow, we are here to celebrate Remy’s life, to honor
her goodness, her smile, the warmth of her friendship…. We will make our
tears holy when we cherish the people we love just a little bit more, hold
them just a bit closer.”
“We will honor Remy’s memory when we feel passion for the things that
interest us. We will make our tears holy when we speak honestly and openly
to our friends and family about the things that concern us. We will celebrate
Remy’s life when we smile more often and find more ways to say ‘yes’.”
I am doing my best to honor both Remy and my father’s memory by acting in the ways suggested by Rabbi Zecher. I can’t think of a more fitting
way to show my love for them and the value I place on having had the good
fortune to have them be a part of my life.
May their memories be for blessings.
Arlene D. Schiff is Executive Director of the Jewish Federation of the Berkshires. She may be reached at (413) 442-4360, ext. 12 or arlene.schiff@
jewishberkshires.org.
Letters to the Editor
Hevreh Kids Support Federation
Questions Preservation of Killing Camps
Dear BJV Editor,
Dear BJV Editor,
Hevreh’s students understand the
value of community through the Jewish
Federation of the Berkshires.
I am pleased that our Second and
Third Grade (Kitot Bet v’Gimel) students
chose to raise money for the Federation, in
part to show their gratitude for what the
Jewish Federation of the Berkshires does
to help them receive a Jewish education.
I am enclosing a check in the amount
of $117.72, which represents money
collected by the students through their
weekly tzedakah collection and our tamchui (“support”) assembly.
The students and their teachers,
Barbara Kahan and Chaya Berlstein,
hope that their contribution will help to
continue Federation’s ongoing work in
the Berkshires and beyond.
As always, we at Hevreh applaud
the work of the Jewish Federation of
the Berkshires and are grateful for your
connection to the community. And I am
grateful to be working with Federation
via the Allocations Committee and The
Women’s Foundation.
L’shalom
Paula Lee Hellman
Education Director
Hevreh of Southern Berkshire
Great Barrington
Letters to the Editor
The Berkshire Jewish Voice welcomes signed letters from our community on subjects
of interest to the Jewish community. Letters are printed upon space availability. The BJV
reserves the right to edit all letters for content and style. The BJV does not print anonymous letters, insults, libelous or defamatory statements. For verification purposes, please
include full name, home address, and a day and evening telephone number. Concise
letters are less likely to be condensed. Send letters to: Berkshire Jewish Voice, 196 South
Street, Pittsfield, MA 01201, or email: jfb.berkshirevoice@verizon.net.
The article “Auschwitz’s Future Secure
But, Preservations Worry about ‘Forgotten’ Nazi Camps” by JTA journalist Ruth
Gruber appearing in the November 1st
issue of the Berkshire Jewish Voice dealt
with the preservation of Auschwitz and
other Nazi-era concentration and extermination camps.
Coincident to what Ms. Gruber’s concerns and imperatives were for writing her
story, some months before, I happened to
follow up on a request for donations by
an organization called “Intervene Now.” I
learned on their website that this particular organization in Poland is devoted to
the restoration, close to its original state,
of the Auschwitz-Birkenau Concentration
Camp Complex in Auschwitz, Poland.
Additionally, their goal is to have it
named a UNESCO Historic Site. “Intervene Now” employs an unusually large
number of staff among its many departments. I wrote to a responsible person
there and received a reply, from the
Public Relations employee, that relates to
Ms. Gruber’s goal of historic restoration.
(Please feel free to contact me if you would
like to read the email exchange. I wrote
to the ADL as well, but received no reply
aside from a request for a contribution).
Apparently it is not enough to attract
visitors to deteriorating killing camps but
in a twisted irony, to somehow compound
the horrendous crimes committed there,
by having the well-chosen countries in
which they were built, by willing collaborators, profit from their preservation and
likely renovation, today. And to compound
the offense, ask Jews to contribute.
Organized tours, specifically targeted
at their descendants, to countries brutally
cleansed of most Jews and their culture
within the lifetime of many of us, seem
to be up and running already.
It’s quite incomprehensible to us.
Sincerely,
Ruth and Hans Heuberger
Great Barrington
[Ed. note: While the merits of the
preservation of the camps are certainly
a legitimate topic for discussion and
comment, it is in no way certain that the
reporter in question saw the matter as one
of personal “concerns and imperatives.”
Reporters often simply file, or are assigned
by editors to file, without prejudice, stories
that are felt to be of interest to readers.]
Page 4
Jewish Education Today
Education: Jews’ Sole Savior?
By Robert Eli Rubinstein
Since Biblical times, we Jews have been a famously contrary lot, and the erosion
of traditional values in the modern period has only deepened the divisions. Yet there
is a single article of faith proclaimed with startling unanimity and certitude by all
who profess to care about the survival of the Jewish people.
From one end of the broad Jewish spectrum to the other, from secular humanists to the most rigidly devout, Jewish education is promoted as the key to securing
the Jewish future.
Recently, Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman added his powerful voice
to the chorus. As he put it, “Nothing is more crucial to advancing this goal of ensuring the continuation of a strong Jewish identity than Jewish education. At all
levels, from the earliest age in the home, through formal and informal education at
all levels, there is no alternative to exposing the next generation to Jewish values,
traditions, and identity.”
I began entertaining doubts about the conventional wisdom regarding Jewish
education years ago, and these have only increased
as I raised my own children and became ever more
involved in the lay leadership of the Jewish schools
they attended.
Let me make clear that I am not saying I no longer value Jewish education. Rather, what I mean is
that in the distant past, the lives of our people were
suffused with a critical mass of Jewish content, and
this preserved in them a strong sense of self as Jews.
Today, however, the great majority of Jews wish
to replace the actual practice of Judaism with mere
knowledge of Judaism. As a consequence of this shift,
we tend to have overblown and unrealistic expectations
regarding the efficacy of Jewish education in building
Jewish identity.
In 1986, the Canadian Jewish Congress, Ontario
region, commissioned a “Task Force on Assimilation,
Intermarriage and Jewish Identity”, which I was privileged to co-chair. Following an intensive investigative
process, the taskforce issued a report setting forth
recommendations for counteracting the erosion of
affiliation among Jews. Looking back, I am struck by
the fact that almost all the recommendations involved
Brooklyn’s Chassidic Jews,
promoting Jewish education in one form or another. In
the years since, our community’s deep conviction that
Jewish education is the panacea for assimilation has continued to grow, as reflected
by its ever-expanding investment in Jewish educational facilities and resources. Yet
parallel to this trend and notwithstanding our heroic efforts, we have witnessed a
relentless increase in the rate of attrition.
Some years ago, I was visiting in Borough Park, a Brooklyn neighborhood heavily populated by readily identifiable Chassidic Jews. While strolling along the main
street on a sunny Sunday afternoon, I came across a group of people wearing baseball caps and clutching cameras, listening to a tour guide’s animated explanation
of the significance of the different types of garb worn by the local residents. I was
intrigued to learn that these were members of a synagogue adult education group
from Long Island, who had come to catch a glimpse of how their ancestors in Eastern Europe lived long ago.
They were no doubt having a fine educational experience, learning about their
ancient heritage, but this does not mean they had any interest in living significantly
Jewish lives themselves, within any stream of Judaism. It is the difference between
being a spectator at a sporting event and being a player: the self-perceptions and
actual commitments of the two are simply incomparable. And if the goal of “Jewish
education” is to ensure that there will be Jews in the world of the future, no one
could seriously argue that the photo-snapping tourists from Long Island were as
likely to have Jewish grandchildren as the bemused black-clad Chassidim walking by.
The North American Jewish community is one of the most affluent, generous,
and dedicated in the world, and we are justifiably proud of the wonderful schools
and other institutions that we have created. The great majority of parents I know
who send their children to day schools wish them to be “Jewishly” knowledgeable,
so that one day they will be in a position to make informed decisions about how they
will choose to fulfill themselves as Jews. Deep down, they hope their children will
ultimately vindicate their own life choices by choosing to be just as non-observant
as they themselves are. Many are the stories of day school parents, including even
some leaders of the community, who have called the principal to complain indig-
nantly about a particular teacher who
“brainwashed” their child into requestIt is the difference between
ing that the family start having Shabbat
being a spectator at a
dinners together on Friday nights, at an
hour when the parents customarily go
sporting event and being
out with their friends.
I have acquired from my own Holoa player
caust-survivor parents an appreciation
for the sacred imperative after Auschwitz of transmitting a strong Jewish
consciousness to the next generation. Although my parents never attended Jewish
schools, which simply did not exist in small prewar European communities, their
Jewish identity has always been unwavering and vigorous, absorbed intuitively from
the personal example set by their own parents in the family home.
Yes, I know, times have changed. For this reason, our challenge today is to identify
the success factors of times past and try to make them work in our contemporary
situation.
The truth is that it requires very little objective knowledge to live a vibrant Jewish
life, and in our increasingly interconnected world, this knowledge is easy to attain.
The real issue is the individual Jew’s degree of
motivation to seek it out and act on it. I can agree
with Lieberman and many others that Jewish
literacy is a worthy objective, but on the available
evidence, I have my doubts that it necessarily
leads to the development of a strong Jewish identity. One can acquire a comprehensive Jewish
high school education – one can even become a
university professor of Jewish studies – without
necessarily forming an emotional commitment
to living a Jewish life.
The key to forming such a commitment is
actually doing the rather simple things one has
learned about, and doing them consistently.
Such observance can move beyond mere nostalgia or folklore and become an integral part of
a person’s being. An individual who embraces
an all-encompassing core of Jewish activity is
apt to seek a like-minded spouse, and together
they will strive to raise children on this model.
A respected Jewish community professional
recently told me that she herself did not observe
any Jewish rituals because she never had the
role models or just educational
benefit of a day school education. I responded
that it does not take very much education to know
how to light Shabbat candles, for example. All that is required is the determination
to do it and the ability to strike a match.
My ancestors, like hers, knew what they had to do to live richly satisfying Jewish
lives, without having enjoyed a formal Jewish education. Clearly, something has
changed dramatically. If we truly care about securing the future of the Jewish people,
as we profess, we owe it to ourselves to examine what that “something” might be,
and what we need to do about it.
The celebrated 19th-century German Jewish bibliographer Moritz Steinschneider
was a modern man with modern sensibilities, unwilling to lend credence to any
religion, including his own. People would ask him in puzzlement why a totally nonobservant Jew had chosen to spend his days cataloguing musty old Jewish books
with such loving devotion. His unsettling response was that he saw it as his mission
to give Judaism a decent burial.
If they wish to avoid being among the pall-bearers, the many present-day Jews
who share Steinschneider’s modern sensibilities yet yearn paradoxically for a bright
Jewish future, need to discover meaning and satisfaction in the Jewish experience
beyond merely being knowledgeable about it.
As we survey the contemporary scene, there is, to be sure, much to cause us
consternation. But in all fairness, there is also much to give us hope. In New York
and Los Angeles, Montreal and Toronto, Philadelphia and Chicago, other hubs of
Jewish life, we see young people creating dynamic new communities where they
devise innovative, stimulating, and joyful new ways to reconnect to their sources
and celebrate the age-old treasures of Judaism.
Throughout our long and tortuous history, we Jews have rebounded from countless existential crises by pulling together. I am confident that in the end, we shall
once again meet the challenge, for “a threefold cord is not quickly broken.”
Robert Eli Rubinstein is a Toronto businessman and Canadian Jewish Book Award
Winner. The above was provided through the Jewish Education Service of North America.
rabbi reflections, continued from page 2
Metaphorically, I feel like I am packing a bag, to take along with me, carrying everything I cherish about this community. Along with the value of Klal
Yisrael that is so powerful here in the Berkshires, I am taking so much more.
I’ll be taking with me our fidelity to Israel, as well as our commitment to
respectful dialogue about the diverse ways to support the people of Israel.
I’ll be taking with me our communal concern that the Holocaust must never
be forgotten, as well as our tradition of gathering as a community to honor
those who perished and those who survived. I’ll be taking our enthusiasm
for lifelong Jewish education, and our yearning to expand our knowledge
and our minds towards our fullest potential.
I’ll be taking our commitment to tzedakah, at home here in the Berkshires,
at our “other home” in Israel, and throughout the Diaspora. I’ll be taking our
concern for all people created Btselem Elohim, in God’s image, regardless of
their religion, culture, race, gender, or sexual orientation. I’ll be taking the
warmth and the haimishness that we all feel in our own synagogues, and
we feel as well when visiting any one of the affiliate congregations of the
Jewish Federation of the Berkshires.
The best part is, since I don’t have to fly, I don’t have to limit myself in
what I pack to bring with me. And, I know that when I return to visit, the
spirit of the Berkshire Jewish Community will always help “re-Jew-vinate”
my soul.
As I bring these reflections to a close, there is only one word that comes
to mind: Shalom.
As we all know, Shalom is a word that we say when greeting one another.
It reminds me of how well I was received when I first became a part of our
extended Jewish family here. Shalom is also what we say upon departure,
but I still have plenty of time to savor all that our community has to offer
before I leave in June, so we can save that Shalom for later.
In the meantime, Shalom, in the sense of Peace, is the best way to express
the way that I feel about the Berkshire Jewish Community. The Berkshires
will always be a place of Shalom and Peace for me, in no small part because
of the love that has been shared within and among everyone associated with
the Jewish Federation of the Berkshires.
Thank you for increasing the Shalom in my heart, in my soul, and in
my life.
Shalom.
Rabbi Ari Rosenberg serves Hevreh of Southern Berkshire in Great Barrington.
Create A Jewish Legacy Campaign
Please remember the Jewish Community in your will
Page 5
Features and Local news
hadassah at 100,
continued from page 1
service awards honoring
two long-time members,
with a “rookie” commendation presented to a
first-year member.
A collaboration of
Hadassah, B’nai B’rith
Women, and the Sisterhoods of Congregation Knesset Israel and
Temple Anshe Amunim,
the 1970s saw the publication, and republication, of the fast selling
“Hadassah Cookbook,”
which made its way from
the Berkshires across
the whole of the nation
to the financial benefit
of all four organizations.
Commencing in the
1980s “Youth Aliyah
Luncheons,” whose goal
is funding to serve dis-
cent deposits from prospective
members.
Since many joining the new
chapter spoke Yiddish, and did
not understand English, meetings where conducted in that
High German language that had
developed in the tenth century
among Ashikenazi Jews along
the River Rhine.
While Kolman focused on
the necessity of fundraising for
a myriad of causes, Nelson was
instrumental in developing the
intellectual life of the chapter –
introducing the review of books,
cultural programming, and the
discussion of current events.
Together the duo guided
Four fashionable ladies were among the five-hundred attending a
Estelle Kolman founded Hadassah in
Pittsfield Hadassah’s growth
Hadassah dance in 1959
the Berkshires
from its original dozen to
four-hundred-andWildman and Helen
twenty-five memWeiss, daughters of
bers, making the
Estelle Kolman, both
organization the
served as presidents of
largest women’s astheir respective chapsociation in Pittsters, Dorothy (Pittsfield.
field) and Helen (New
Through the
Britain, Connecticut).
decades, HadasPaula Pomerantz, a
sah’s energetic
life-long member and
and enthusiastic
Mrs. Nelson’s grandBerkshire chapter
daughter, also served
would flourish via
as a chapter president.
a changing menu of
The greatest claim
memorable events,
to fame of the Hadasmany conducted
sah movement in the
at the once Jewish
Berkshires was the
Community Center
elevation of Bonnie
(JCC) on Pittsfield’s
Lipton to National
East Street.
President after havA staple of the
ing served as a local
1950s, “The Jewish
president, Regional
National Fund Tree
In 1968, Joanna Fribush (standing) began
President and NaDance,” attended
her first of three stints as Hadassah
In the 1970s and 80s, the auction of services was a big Hadassah hit. In
tional Vice-President.
by hundreds in its
president; she’s shown here with daughter
1975, ski maintenance, tennis lessons, a catered dinner, and an air flight
Known throughheyday, was conAndrea and her mother, Mrs. Morris Harris
were among those up for bid
out the nation for
sidered the social
her speaking prowess
event of the year
and phenomenal fundraising
and featured a live band, elegant
place at many a yesteryear meetadvantaged youths in Israel and Poland by “Youth Aliyah” and
ability, Lipton continues to be
cocktail hour, and a sumptuous
ing. Sonia Herberg’s “Mitzvah
elsewhere, were held for many transported safely to a “Youth
avidly involved in Hadassah,
dessert table; with admission
Cakes” – three layer, beautifully
years at Temple Anshe Amu- Aliyah Village” in Israel, where
currently heavily so with regard
to the event – which was ear- nim, where they enjoyed high
her counselor and mentor decorated delicacies – served as
to the Sarah Wetsman Davidson
marked for the purchase of “tree
a way of honoring a member,
attendance,
turned out to be none other than
Hospital Tower in Jerusalem.
certificates” to aid in planting in
as
other
members,
at
a
dollar
a
With individual Hadassah
Henrietta Szold!
Today, with the chapter
Israel – three dollars!
clip, wrote names of prospective
members bringing all the food,
The 1970s brought Hadasnumbering more than sixDonor dinners, which began quiches reigned supreme and sah’s “Nearly New Sale.” This
honorees on slips of paper which
hundred, the majority Life
in the 1940s, often saw over over the years the afternoon
were then placed in a hat – with
forerunner of local thrift shops
Members, Berkshire Hills Hatwo-hundred in attendance fill- repasts have been sparked by
invited members to contribute one lucky name drawn to take
dassah, under the leadership of
ing the JCC gymnasium which fashion shows, with designer gently used clothing, coats, the elaborate confection home.
was transformed into an elegant, clothing from Israel; presentaInitiated by the national Co-Presidents Joanna Fribush
shoes, handbags, and more,
draped dining room, embellished
Hadassah organization, in the and Marcia Tuler, continues to
tions by prominent national which were priced and placed on
act with devotion, constancy,
with stylish table centerpieces
speakers; and unique auctions, racks and tables. The sale, open 1980s the program to resettle
adherence, faithfulness, and
and chandeliers made from
which began in the ‘70s, involv- to the public, saw lines forming Jews from the Soviet Union in
hula hoops.
the United States chose the passion; committed to the ideing services offered by both outside the JCC in anticipation
als and precepts that Estelle
The dinners raised thou- members and their spouses.
of wonderful bargains. With a Pittsfield chapter to conduct
Kolman and her followers essands for Hadassah’s healththe program in the Berkshires
Another annual Hadas- percentage of the proceeds gotablished so many years ago.
focused programs, but, with
with its administration eventusah highlight, saw prospective
ing to both Hadassah and the
Fribush, a record three-time
donors and dinner chairmen
ally being taken under the wing
members treated to dinner at
contributing member, the sale
president, is solely responsible
soliciting donations from gen- the home of Dorothy Wildman,
of the Jewish Federation of the
was a resounding success for
for promoting the “Keepers of
erous local vendors, there was
Berkshires. The result: some
founder Kolman’s daughter. many years.
no cost to dinner attendees – During one memorable evening,
Another innovation that, over one-hundred eight-five Soviet the Gate” group of almost fifty
women, who contribute $1,000
who each year after the feast a new member, Sonia Witkowski, time, raised thousands of dolimmigrants came to Pittsfield,
annually.
witnessed the presentation of told her story of being saved in lars for Hadassah’s coffers took the largest per capita resettleA monthly book club keeps
ment by any community
members engaged; a Mah Jongg
in the United States.
F r o m t h e 1 9 2 0 s group fundraising effort is fun;
to 1992, Hadassah’s “Donor Dinners” and “Youth Aliyah Luncheons” remain events
Pittsfield chapter operthat members eagerly anticipate;
ated separately from
the chapters in North and the summer “Chai Tea” –
supported by both members
Adams and Great Barand non-member-summer- visirington. But in ’92 was
born Berkshire Hills tors – is a delightful afternoon
Hadassah, with all three of entertainment and delectable
refreshments.
incorporated into one.
All with the purpose of supLooking back over
porting Berkshire Hills Hadasthree-quarters of a century, Hadassah in the sah, as the seventy-five year
old organization recalls and is
Berkshires is proud to
motivated by Henrietta Szold’s
claim several members
late-in-life quote.
who became regional
When asked by a sculptor
presidents: Ruth Shapiro
(North Adams), Bonnie commissioned to create her likeLipton, Ellen Silverstein, ness about her portrayal Szold
Current Berkshire Hills Hadassah Co-presidents
In the summer of 1999, many congratulated
said: “Make my eyes look to the
and Ellen Masters.
Joanna Fribush (left) and Marcia Tuler
Bonnie Lipton as she became the twenty-second
future.”
Life Members Dorothy
president of Hadassah’s national organization
Page 6
Purim Celebration at the Yiddish Book Center:
Opera, Costume Contest, and Workshop
At Knesset Israel: Introduction to
Judaism Series Begins in April
AMHERST, MA – On Sunday,
March 4, a Purim celebration
for all ages will take place, at
the Yiddish Book Center, 1021
West Street. The day will include a noon workshop led by
Leslie Elias, artistic director of
the award-winning “Grumbling
Gryphons Traveling Children’s
Theater,” a costume contest, and
a 2 p.m. performance of “Esther:
A One Act Opera.”
Guests are invited to dress in
costumes. Prizes will be awarded
after the opera performance
in several categories. Hamantaschen, the traditional Purim
snack, will be available for sale
throughout the day.
“Esther: A One Act Opera,”
written by Donald Sosin with
a libretto by Sari Magaziner,
is performed in English. The
show, starring Chelsea Rose
Friedlander in the title role, is
meant for the whole family and
emphasizes the power of owning
one’s identity and standing up to
evil, whatever the personal risks.
Friedlander, a soprano, holds
a Bachelor of Music Degree in
Vocal Performance from the
Cleveland Institute of Music
and will receive her Master of
Music in Classical Voice from
the Manhattan School of Music
in May. In addition, she has
trained in Salzburg, Austria, is
a Metropolitan Opera Competition award winner, and has sung
Strauss, Mozart, and Gilbert &
Sullivan throughout the East
and South.
The tonal, upbeat score, and
PITTSFIELD – Congregation
Knesset Israel, 16 Colt Road,
will begin a twenty-one class
“Introduction to Judaism” series, on Sunday, April 22 and
continuing through the spring,
summer, and fall.
Taught primarily by Judith
and Rabbi David Weiner, classes
will incorporate dynamic activities to pique participants’ interest and maximize learning.
Each class will reflect a particular theme, including: Jewish
identity, sacred books, Jewish
time, Jews in America, ethics
and values, lifecycle, as well as
medieval and modern Jewish
history.
The accessible series is especially suitable for interfaith couples looking for understanding;
individuals considering conversion; and inquisitive people who
have not participated in Jewish
education since childhood.
The class assumes that most
participants will be new to Jewish education and welcomes all
who are interested in broadening their Jewish experience as
adults. Participants need not
be members of Knesset Israel.
The schedule, which is subject to change, is: Jewish Perspectives on God (4/22); Tanakh
(4/29); Ancient Jewish History
and Literature (5/6); Rabbinic
Literature in Context (5/20);
Halakha: Jewish Law (6/3); The
Jewish Calendar (6/24); Shab-
wry, poignant lyrics of “Esther:
A One Act Opera” add to its appeal to audiences of all ages. The
inclusion of a narrator/juggler,
played by Nicholas Sosin – the
composer’s son – dancing, and
some fun antics make “Esther”
especially appealing to children.
“Esther” is based on the
Biblical story of Esther, Queen
of Persia, a courageous Jewish
woman who risks her life by approaching the king to keep her
people safe from the wicked Haman. Jews throughout the world
celebrate this event through the
festive holiday of Purim, with
singing, dancing, and costumes.
Sosin has written and performed music for film, stage,
and synagogues. His orchestral music has been performed
throughout the United States
and Europe. The composer premiered “Esther” in 1977 and has
revived the show in honor of the
centennial anniversary of the
founding of Hadassah, the large
Jewish charitable organization
that shares its Hebrew name
with Queen Esther.
Admission to the opera is
$8, members, $10, general admission; free for children and
students 18 and under. Reservations are suggested to attend
the opera.
A limited number of participants are invited to attend a
pre-performance drama workshop led by Leslie Elias, the
“Grumbling Gryphons Traveling
Childrens Theater’s” artistic
Nicholas Sosin will narrate the
opera – and juggle!
director.
Elias, actress, playwright, artistic director, and co-founder of
‘Grumbling Gryphons’” has been
teaching drama to children and
adults for over thirty-five years.
She has authored numerous
plays and is a teaching artist/
performer for the Connecticut
Commission on Culture and
Tourism.
Participants will dance, sing,
and parade in a Purim Pageant
adorned in festive Purim masks
and costumes from the collections of ‘Grumbling Gryphons.’
They will be taught musical
numbers to perform in the show.
Free admission, advance
registration suggested.
For further information,
please call (413) 256-4900.
At Anshe Amunim: Purimshpiel, March 2, Service,
March 7
PITTSFIELD – Following the 5:30
Erev Shabbat, on Friday, March
2, the “Broad Street Players”
of Temple Anshe Amunim, 26
Broad Street, will present their
modern, and lively Purimshpiel
celebration, “A Purim Home
Companion,” produced and
directed by Dr. Alan Gold, the
Temple musical director.
While humorous plays and
musical performances are a
historical part of the Purim
celebration, since 2007 the
Temple’s ensemble has put forth
theater that doesn’t necessarily
have a lot to do with the holiday – although the artistic and
irreverent underlying theme of
Purim is steadfastly maintained.
With this year’s “A Purim
Home Companion” theme, the
cast “takes off” on the samenamed public radio weekly hit,
with the production including
“News from Lake Veyizmir,” as
well as live sound effects and an
on-stage band playing klezmer
tunes.
The performance will be accompanied by a non-traditional
pizza dinner with very traditional
Hamentashen for dessert.
Purim festivals in Europe
centuries ago didn’t necessarily
have much, or anything, to do
with the Biblical story of Esther,
and it wasn’t long until Anshe
Amunim’s presentation didn’t
either – the 2008 production
VOLUNTEER? IT’S VITAL!
Contact: Susan Frisch Lehrer,
Coordinator of Volunteers
Jewish Federation of the Berkshires
(413) 442-4360, ext. 14
jfb.volunteer@verizon.net
was originally written by the
late humorist Allen Sherman;
titled “Goldener Moments from
Broadway,” it was a My Fair
Lady parody.
“People enjoyed it,” said
Dr. Gold “so I decided that the
Purimshpiel theme would alternate every other year, with the
even years being a “non-Purim”
show that would provide entertainment and amusement and
little else.
Live music for the “Home
Companion” will be provided
by a band composed of musicians who have played often at
the Temple, including Dr. Gold
on keyboard, Charlie Tokarz on
woodwinds, Miriam Shapiro on
violin, and Dave Fields on drums.
At the Purim service on
Wednesday, March 7, Rabbi
Joshua Breindel will provide
comic highlights of the Megillah.
“A Purim Home Companion,”
is open to both congregation
members and the general public. The dinner’s cost is $5 per
person, with a $20 family limit.
Reservations are made at (413)
442-5910.
bat (7/1); Prayer (7/8); Making
Sense of the Siddur/Prayerbook
(7/15); and Medieval Jewish
History (7/22).
Also, Anti-Semitism & the
Shoah (7/29); Zionism and the
Modern State of Israel (8/5);
Jewish Values (8/12); Kashrut
and Medical Ethics (8/19); Days
of Awe (8/27); Jews and Judaism in America (9/9); Women
and Judaism (9/30); Lifecycle
(10/14 and 10/21); Passover
(10/28), and Hannuka (11/5).
With registration available for
the full series or on a per session basis, classes will meet on
Sunday mornings, from 10:10
a.m. to noon, with babysitting
available from 10 a.m. to noon.
Breakfast will be served before
the beginning of class, beginning
at 9:30.
Upon registration, participants will be offered a reading list
to enhance their experience, as
well as access to class materials
via the Congregation’s website.
For further information or
required registration in advance
of class, please contact Chris
Kelly-Whitney at (413) 4454872, ext. 10, or visit www.
knessetisrael.org.
As substantial work and time
is being afforded the preparation
of materials for the series, a $10
donation for each session per
household or $100 for the series
is suggested.
At Beth Israel: Second Night Seder
NORTH ADAMS – At 6 p.m.
on Saturday, April 7, all are
welcome to join the community
of Congregation Beth Israel, 53
Lois Street, North Adams, for a
second night Passover Seder, a
ritual meal, interspersed with
songs and storytelling centering
around the story of the Exodus
from Egypt.
This year’s Seder will be led
by Rabbi Rachel Barenblat using
a special abridged version of her
“Velveteen Rabbi’s” Haggadah for
Pesach; the word “haggadah,”
noted Barenblat, comes from a
Hebrew root denoting storytelling while the haggadah is the
book which tells the story of the
Exodus.
“This year’s Seder will be a
bit different from what we’ve
done in years past,” explained
Barenblat: “Some guitar, some
new songs, some poetry, plus
an orange and an olive on the
Seder plate!”
Barenblat also noted that
Beth Israel’s Seder will feature
the liturgical accessibility and
sense of warm welcome which
are trademarks of her congregational community.
This is a family-friendly
event, said Barenblat. “The
whole Seder was designed to be
intriguing to children, and the
structure of the meal, with its
highly ritualized components, is
meant to provoke children to ask
‘why are we doing it this way?’”
Because of this, noted Barenblat, the Seder-leader gets to say,
“Ah, I’m so glad you asked! It’s a
ritual recreation of the Exodus,
a dinner party, and a teaching
opportunity all rolled into one.”
The Seder will include a potluck dinner. A chicken-based
main dish will be provided by the
congregation; others are asked
to bring non-dairy, kosher-forPassover items to share.
Noted Barenblat, “Kosher for
Passover,” primarily means no
leaven; but for more information she is available to answer
questions.
Tickets for dinner and the
ritual celebration, are $18 for
individuals and $36 for a family.
Please contact office@cbiweb.org
or (413) 663-5830 for further information or reservations which
are due by Friday, March 30.
Page 7
arab spring,
his native land.
He called for pluralistic democracy in Egypt while at the
same time offering the hope “that
Almighty Allah will also please
me with the conquest of the
al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem.”
Two years earlier, in a notorious commentary on Al-Jazeera
TV, the “moderate” Qaradawi
had provided religious justification for both past and future
Holocausts.
He said, “Throughout history,
Allah has imposed upon the Jews
people who would punish them
for their corruption. The last
punishment was carried out by
Hitler. By means of all the things
he did to them – even though
they exaggerated this issue – he
managed to put them in their
place. This was divine punishment for them. Allah willing, the
next time will be at the hands of
the believers.”
In other words, the loathing
of Jews, the Holocaust, and the
destruction of Israel by Muslims
were linked by Qaradawi as
things mandated by God himself.
Regarding Israel and the
Jews, fundamentalist Muslim
attitudes have never deviated
since the 1940s. Islamist ideologues, despite their virulent
anti-Westernism, have had no
problem in drawing on Western
sources for their radical AntiSemitism – whether these libels
come from the Protocols of the
Elders of Zion forgery, Henry
Ford’s The International Jew,
Hitler’s Mein Kampf, fantasies
about Judeo-Masonic plots,
or have their origin in Christian Anti-Talmudism, medieval
blood-libels, or the slanders of
contemporary Holocaust deniers
in America and Europe.
The current swelling of Islamist ranks within Egypt and
across the Arab world has hardly
improved matters. At a vocal
Muslim Brotherhood rally in
Cairo’s most prominent mosque
in November, Islamic activists
ominously chanted “Tel Aviv,
judgment day has come,” vowing
to “one day kill all Jews.”
The rally, which sought to
promote the “battle against Jerusalem’s ‘judaization,’” was peppered with hate-filled speeches
about the “treacherous Jews.”
There were explicit calls for
Jihad and liberating all of Palestine as well as references to a
well-known hadith concerning
the future Muslim annihilation
of the Jews.
Dr. Ahmed al-Tayeb, the head
of Egypt’s Al-Azhar University –
the most senior clerical authority
in Sunni Islam – even claimed
that Jews throughout the world
were seeking to prevent Egyptian and Islamic unity, as well
as trying to “Judaize al-Quds
(Jerusalem).”
This kind of incitement and
the pressure from the Egyptian
street does not mean that the
fragile peace treaty with Israel
will be cancelled overnight. But
calls for such a step have been
repeatedly heard in recent
months even from the “liberal”
and more “progressive” sectors
of the political spectrum as well
as from the Islamist parties.
Dr. Rashad Bayoumi, the
deputy leader of the Muslim
Brotherhood, bluntly told the
Arabic daily al-Hayat on the
first day of this year that his
organization will never “recognize Israel at all,” whatever the
circumstances.
Israel, Bayoumi emphasized,
was a “criminal enemy” with
whom Egypt should never have
signed a peace treaty in the first
place. If this treaty is not to be
abrogated, much will depend on
the United States making clear
to Egypt how dire the economic
and political consequences for
its wellbeing would be.
It is particularly chilling to
note that the Islamic wave already dominates not only in Iran,
which is on the verge of nuclear
weapons, but also in Turkey,
Libya, Tunisia, Morocco, the
Gaza Strip under Hamas, and
the Lebanese state, currently in
the iron grip of Hizbullah.
Apart from seeking to impose
Sharia law, and to further downgrade the status of women – while
repressing Christian Copts and
other non-Muslim minorities –
the neo-Islamist movements and
regimes remain as determined
as ever to wipe out Israel and to
radically reduce American influence in the region. Needless to
say, like the Brotherhood itself,
Islamists consider themselves to
be the sole authentic interpreters
of the divine will.
In the face of this mounting
fundamentalist danger, Israel
has no choice but to consolidate
its deterrent capacity, close
ranks, and treat with the upmost
skepticism any siren voices calling on it to take unreasonable
“risks for peace.”
At the same time it will have to
develop a new regional strategy
that takes into account the seismic changes currently shaking
the Middle East.
Professor Robert S. Wistrich is
the director of the Vidal Sassoon
International Center for the Study
of Anti-Semitism at the Hebrew
University of Jerusalem and the
author of “A Lethal Obsession:
Anti-Semitism from Antiquity
to the Global Jihad” (Random
House, 2010). The above story
was provided through WJD.com
…Create a Jewish Legacy Campaign…
Please Remember the Jewish Community
in Your Will
“Home Sweet Hadassah”
A Coast-to-Coast Celebration
PITTSFIELD – At 1:30 p.m. on
Thursday, March 22, at the
homes of Toby Morganstein,
Rhoda Kaminstein, Carole
Schwimmer, and Joanna Fribush, Berkshire Hills Hadassah will join in the “Home
Sweet Hadassah” celebration
of Hadassah’s centennial joining hundreds of thousands of
Hadassah members who will
gathering together on the same
day in homes across the nation.
To share past memories,
greet new members, and discuss the future of Hadassah,
those interested are asked to
respond to (413) 442-6758 or
berkshirehillshadassah@gmail.
com indicating the home of their
choice.
Purim at Hevreh: March 7 and 11
GREAT BARRINGTON – Hevreh
of Southern Berkshire will celebrate Purim at 5:30 p.m. on
Wednesday, March 7.
As the congregation asks, Is
it “Just My Imagination?” And
answers, no. “I Heard It Through
The Grapevine” …Purim is on its
way. They’re in an excited state,
with each congregant exclaiming, “I Second That Emotion!”
Thus, it will be a “Motown Megillah at Hevreh.”
All are invited to join the fun.
The reading of the Megillah will
be followed by a ‘Spiel’ performed
by the Confirmation Class teens
as directed by Andrea Patel.
Those attending may come
in costume or not, and Hamentaschen will be served.
There is no cost.
From 11 a.m. to noon on
Sunday, March 11, Hevreh’s
Annual Purim Carnival will take
place. Lots of prizes, games,
food, and fun are on tap, with
tickets available at the door and
all proceeds going to tzedakah.
The Carnival is sponsored
by “SCOOBY,” Hevreh’s Junior
Youth Group.
For further information on
either event, please call Hevreh
during the week at (413) 5286378.
“Pathways of
Prayer”:
New Sunday
Learners’
Minyan at
Knesset Israel
PITTSFIELD – From 8:45 to 9:30
a.m., beginning Sunday, April
22, Congregation Knesset Israel
introduces a Learners’ Minyan,
entitled “Pathways of Prayer” to
its program of worship.
Led by Rabbi David Weiner,
the service aims to guide and
deepen the experience of prayer
as well as open pathways for
understanding and connection.
In addition to the initial session spring “Pathways of Prayer”
dates include April 29, May 6 and
20, and June 3 and 24.
After the services, participants will be invited to join together for breakfast (donations
welcome) generously underwritten by the Jerold Spitz Minyan
Fund.
No advance registration is
required for the program which
is open to the community. For
further information, please call
(413) 445-4872.
Retreat Center to Feature Ethiopian Jewish
Experience
FALLS VILLAGE, CT – From
March 16 to 18, the Isabella
Freedman Jewish Retreat Center in northwest Connecticut
will provide an opportunity to
delve into the fascination and
inspiration of the Ethiopian
Jewish Community through its
offering the “Ethiopian Jewish
Experience,” an unraveling of
the mystery and immersion
into Ethiopian Jewish culture
and ritual.
Presented in partnership with
the Ethiopian National Project,
the primary Israeli organization
working to integrate the Ethiopian Jewish Community into
Israeli society, the weekend will
include Ethiopian ritual, story,
dance, music, craft, and, wonderful Ethiopian food.
Attendees will have an opportunity not only to listen to
riveting first-hand accounts
of Ethiopians who made the
journey from Africa to Israel
but will also have the chance to
be participants in many of the
weekend’s activities, from dancing to craft work.
“Having been to Israel many
times myself, I’ve always been intrigued by the Ethiopian Jewish
Community, but my experiences
with it have been in small bites,”
said Isabella Freedman’s Executive Director, David Weisberg.
“I’m excited to be providing the
opportunity for participants to
have a genuine immersive experience, having the opportunity to
learn, participate, and interact
with the community.”
According to the Ethiopian
National Project, over 116,000
Ethiopians currently live in
Israel, with approximately onethird of those being born in
the Jewish State. While the
Ethiopian community brings a
beautiful new culture to Israel,
the immigration of Ethiopian
Jews to Israel has raised some
major challenges, in particular,
how this group can become an
integral part of Israeli society and
how they can adapt to the major
differences in lifestyle from their
villages in Ethiopia to a fastpaced modern country – both
topics which will be explored at
Isabella Freedman.
The weekend is the brainchild
Israeli
Jewelry
of Weisberg and the Ethiopian
National Project’s Director of
International Relations, Grace
Rodnitzki, a Pennsylvanianative like Weisberg, who made
“aliyah,” moving to Israel in 1993
and working for the American
Jewish Joint Distribution Committee prior to her current role.
Close friends since their days
together as members of the B’nai
B’rith Youth Organization, Rodnitzki and Weisberg are excited to
work together on this important
and enlightening retreat.
please visit www.isabellafreedman.org/ethiopian or call (860)
824-5991, ext. 305 or (717)
503-9207.
New Home? Second Home?
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Page 8
At Hevreh:
Shabbaton
Weekend
GREAT BARRINGTON – The
weekend of March 16 and 17 will
be marked by gentle movement,
meditation, prayer, chanting, a
Torah service, and a vegetarian
lunch as Hevreh of Southern
Berkshire, 270 State Road, hosts
a Shabbaton.
Rabbi Deborah Zecher will
begin the weekend at 3:30 p.m.
on Friday evening with a Kabbalat Shabbat Rabbi’s Tisch.
The Shabbaton will continue
on Saturday morning at 9 a.m.
starting with gentle led movement, followed by a Shabbat
service, a potluck, a hands on
activity, and the sharing of experiences, with the day ending
at 2:30 p.m.
Those attending may participate in all or any aspect
of the Shabbaton. Everyone
is welcome. For reservations,
which while not required are
always appreciated, and further
information, please call (413)
528-6378.
Live
Generously!
Berkshire
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Invitations,
Postcards,
Your
Printing
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Center
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Flyers,
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Envelopes,
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Would
like to thank
everyone
for
413-99PRINT
Brochures
etc...year in
your support
this first
business.Stop
We hope
to have many
in today!
more years of meeting all your
46 West
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printing and
copying
needs.
Pittsfield, MA 01201
(Across from the Crowne Plaza
Sincerely,
Entrance)
TheValuskiFamily
Tel: 413.997.7468
phone:
Fax:413~997~7468
413.997.7470
fax:
413~997~7470
E-mail:
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e-mail:info@berkshireprintshop.com
YourLocal
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&
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Center
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St., Pittsfield,
MA 01201
Printing
& Copy Center
413-99PRINT
Would
like
to
thank
everyone
413-99PRINT for
your support this first year in
business. We hope to have many
more years of meeting all your
printing and copying needs.
Sincerely,
TheValuskiFamily
Blessed Gateways
At the entrance to the Gateways Inn in Lenox, Rabbi Levi Volovik
helps new owner Eiran Gazit put up the mezuzah
Serving Company? Experiment!
Cooking Series Offered at
Knesset Israel
By Myrna Hammerling
Many members of Congregation Knesset Israel fancy
themselves as “foodies.” In fact,
our rabbi, David Weiner, is a
gourmet chef extraordinaire in
his own right.
There are numerous volunteers, male and female, who enjoy planning, baking, prepping,
and serving meals at congregational events as well as at their
own festive gatherings. Thus,
when I, in my role as Director
of Adult Education and Programming, was thinking about
programs that would attract
interested participation, the idea
of a cooking series seemed one
that would ignite interest among
the “foodies,” while the classes
might also inspire those who are
not so confident in the kitchen
and looking for inspiration and
encouragement.
As Pesach approaches in
early April, there will be four
Monday night sessions from 7:30
to 9 p.m. that could potentially
be inspiring for pesadik menus.
Although they are likely also to
include recipes for year-round
use, the volunteer chefs are planning to attract your attendance
and attention with less common
specialties.
Their theme: “Experiment!”
The first of the series will be
on February 27 in the Social
Hall. Len Schiller, often found
volunteering on Shirei Shabbat
cooking teams, will be dreaming
up some brunch menus with a
Middle Eastern theme.
He is just back from a trip to
Israel which included a gourmet
walking tour in Jaffa, enabling
him and his wife Alice to eat their
way through the city’s finest offthe-beaten track culinary finds.
Attendees will have the opportunity to taste all of the dishes
Len will introduce, bring home
the recipes, and learn some of
the secrets or techniques to help
reproduce these tastes at home.
Three more consecutive sessions will follow. While details
about the March meetings have
not been fully confirmed, they
will include a session about
gluten free/dairy free cooking
and one featuring Rabbi Weiner’s
“famous” Seder recipes, including brisket.
To cover the cost of the
edibles, the series is offered at
$25 and individual sessions at
$7.50. Series payment is due
by the first class; payment for
individual sessions is due by the
Wednesday before each class.
For required reservations
or further information, please
contact me at (413) 445-4872,
ext. 16, or mhammerling@knessetisrael.org. Information is also
available at www.knessetisrael.
org.
phone: 413~997~7468
fax: 413~997~7470
For Sale:
Hamentashen By The Dozen
PITTSFIELD – Congregation
Knesset Israel is again baking their delicious homemade
Hamentashen for Purim. The
price is $12 per dozen with a
choice of apricot, raspberry,
prune, or mixed.
The deadline for orders is
Friday, February 24, with the
Hamentashen to be picked up
at Knesset Israel from March
5 though 11.
Those interested should
submit by mail their name
and telephone number, the
selected Hamentashen fla-
vor, and number of dozens
wanted.
Orders, and checks –
which should be made payable to “Knesset Israel” with
“Purim” in the memo – should
be mailed to: Congregation
Knesset Israel, 16 Colt Road,
Pittsfield, MA 01201; attention “Purim.”
All proceeds support Congregation Knesset Israel. For
further information, please
contact Cindy Helitzer at
chelitzer2002@yahoo.com.
Beth Israel Seeks Education
Director
NORTH ADAMS – Congregation Beth Israel, 53 Lois Street, is
in search of an education director, for an approximately ten
hours per week position, to administer its programming which
consists of: “Hand in Hand,” a family education program for
families with children in pre-school and kindergarten that
meets on a Sunday once a month; “Avodah,” a family education program for families with children in grades one through
four that meets on a Sunday once a month; “Aleph Bet” is a
weekly Hebrew education program for children in grades one
through four that meets on Monday afternoons from 3:30 to
4:30 p.m.
Also, “Aleph Garten” a weekly Hebrew program for children
in pre-school and kindergarten that meets on Monday afternoons from 3:45 to 4:15 p.m.; “Ne’arim,” a weekly program
in Hebrew and Jewish studies for children grade five through
Bar/Bat Mitzvah that meets on Mondays from 3:30 to 5:15
p.m.; “CBI Youth Group,” and engaging social and educational
monthly program for youth in grades 6 through 12; and “ Adult
Education,” courses that meet mainly in weekly, afternoon,
or evening classes for periods of three to eight weeks and occasionally as single-meeting events.
The CBI Education Director coordinates the activities of all
of these programs, following the directives of the Education
Committee, and under the supervision of the rabbi.
The position also entails administrative, financial, communication, curriculum, and personnel responsibilities.
Those interested should call (413) 663-5830.
e-mail:info@berkshireprintshop.com
46 West St., Pittsfield, MA 01201
Be Wise…
Advertise!
In the
Berkshire Jewish Voice
Contact Jenny Greenfeld
(413) 442-4360, ext. 13
jfb.bjvads@verizon.net
“PJ” Havdallah at Hevreh
GREAT BARRINGTON – At 4 p.m.
on Saturday, March 3, Hevreh
of Southern Berkshire, 270
State Road, will be hosting a PJ
Havdallah Service, with Purim
as its theme.
A cozy story time, crafts,
and snacks for those 9 and
younger, with siblings invited
and pajamas as well as stuffed
animal friends welcome, a brief
Havdallah ritual will conclude
the afternoon.
RSVPs are encouraged and
further information is available
at (413) 528-6378 or hevreh.
temple@verizon.net.
To learn why EPOCH at Melbourne is the
‘Residence of Choice for Seniors,’
call today!
413-497-8442
140 Melbourne Road
A donation of 3% of the Broker’s personal commission
will be made to the Jewish Federation of the Berkshires
after a transaction has been completed.
www.EPOCHMelbourne.com
Assisted Living . Memory Care . Respite
Page 9
Your Federation Presents
Community Kosher Passover Seder:
First Night – April 6 at 6 p.m.
The Jewish Federation of the Berkshires and Congregation Knesset Israel
will sponsor a Community Kosher Passover Seder at 6 p.m. on Friday, April 6,
at Knesset Israel, 16 Colt Road, Pittsfield.
Rabbi David Weiner of Knesset Israel
will serve as leader of the Seder; minyan
will be held at 5:30 p.m., with the Seder
running until 9 p.m.
The Seder will include a catered meal
provided by Bob Greenberg. The menu,
served family style, includes: wine, grape
juice, matzoh, karpas, charoset, maror,
vegetarian chicken soup with matzoh
balls, chicken, tzimmes, vegetable, coffee,
tea, and dessert. A vegetarian alternative
is available.
The costs are $40 for adults and $20
for children, ages 3 through 13. Children
under age 3 are free of charge.
Reservations are required by Friday,
March 23. Financial assistance is available for those in need.
For reservations, please send a check
to the Jewish Federation of the Berkshires, 196 South Street, Pittsfield, MA
01201. Please write “Passover Seder” in
the memo. You may also call (413) 4424360, ext. 10, to reserve by credit card.
When making reservations, please
indicate the names of those in your
party, the number of chicken or vegetarian meals your party requires, and any
dietary restrictions.
ATTENTION!
TD BANK ACCOUNT HOLDERS
The Jewish Federation of the Berkshires
is participating in TD Bank’s
Affinity Membership Program
TD Bank Will Make an Annual Contribution to the
Federation Based on the Average Balance of Our
Members’ Accounts
If you already have a TD Bank account, please visit or call them at
(413) 445-8221 and ask to have your account linked to the “Jewish
Federation of the Berkshires’ Affinity Program.” If you are considering opening a new account, please consider doing so at TD Bank
as you will also be supporting the Federation.
Community Directory Not to Be Published
For many years the Jewish Federation
of the Berkshires produced a community
directory which listed the names, addresses, and phone numbers of both full
and part-time members of the Berkshire
Jewish Community. A full directory was
last published in 2007.
In 2010 the Federation Board noted
that producing the directory had become
cost prohibitive and individual interest
in being listed in the directory had declined. At the time, the Board decided to
produce one last addendum and to end
the practice of producing the directory
every two years.
Over the course of the last year, several
community members approached the Federation regarding this issue. In light of these
requests, the Federation Executive Committee agreed to re-evaluate the situation.
A survey titled “Are You Interested in
Having A 2012 Community Directory?”
was published in the September 23, November 1, and December 2 issues of the
Berkshire Jewish Voice, which is mailed
to 1,800 households.
The survey asked if individuals were
interested in being listed in the directory, stating that a minimum of 250
listings were required for the project to
be undertaken. It also asked if individuals were willing to pay $18 to cover the
cost of production of the directory and if
they would be willing to assist with the
publication.
Of the 1,800 households who received
the survey form, only sixty-two returned
it expressing interest in the directory being produced. Seventy-seven percent of
those responding agreed to pay for the
publication and a little more than a third
offered to help with production.
In light of the limited response, the
Federation’s Executive Committee voted,
at its January 10 meeting, to adhere to its
original decision and to no longer publish
the directory.
The Federation thanks those members
of the community who took the time to
return the survey forms.
The Jewish Transportation Network
a program of the Jewish Women’s Foundation of Berkshire County
Discount Taxi Coupons
Available for Jewish residents 65 years of Age or Older.
Participants can purchase $50 worth of taxi coupons for $5.
Rainbow Taxi of Pittsfield and Taxico of Great Barrington and Lee
currently participate in this program
For More Information Please Contact Arlene D. Schiff at
(413) 442-4360, ext. 12, or arlene.schiff@jewishberkshires.org
For further information, please contact Arlene D. Schiff at
(413) 442-4360, ext. 12.
Mazel Tovs
Mazel Tov to Allan Lipton on his
birthday.
Mazel Tov to Murray and Barbara
Akresh on the birth of their granddaughter, Elizabeth Hailey Scates.
Mazel Tov to Colin and Sopheap Nhim
Ovitsky on the birth of their daughter,
Haya Sitha Nihm Ovitsky.
Congratulations to Joanna and Ellis Fribush on the engagement of their
daughter Lynn to Jon Kushnel.
Mazel Tov to Eugene Wein on his 90th
birthday.
Mazel Tov to Seth Madison, son of
Joe Madison of blessed memory and
Florence Grende on his engagement to
Stephanie Knopf.
Congratulations to landscape architect and sculptor Jon Piasecki who
recently received an Honor Award from
the American Society of Landscape Architects for his stonework. This award
honors the best landscape architecture
from around the globe.
The Berkshire Jewish Voice welcomes Mazel Tov items, accompanying photographs,
and obituaries. When submitting, please either type or clearly print the information.
Make certain it is complete, accurate, and includes the submitter’s name and telephone
number. Corrections will be made in the following edition if they are the result of writer
or editor errors only, and not due to illegible or inaccurate information forwarded.
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Page 10
The 2011 Jewish Federation of the Berkshires’ Campaign
“Donate,Volunteer, Make A Difference”
The Board of Directors and staff of the Federation acknowledge those members of the community who contributed to the 2011 Annual Campaign. Through the generosity of
1,224 donors $679,787 has been raised. These funds will ensure the Federation cares for those in need and nurtures and sustains the Jewish community locally, in Israel, and
around the world today and for future generations.
The Board of Directors also acknowledges the efforts of the Jewish Women’s Foundation which raised $30,300 additional to be used to strengthen Jewish values, family, and
community in Berkshire County.
On behalf of all of those who will benefit from your generosity, THANK YOU!
Pacesetters ($10,000 and up)
Anonymous Donor (1)
The Barrington Foundation, Inc.
Lee & Sydelle Blatt
Armand Feigenbaum
Donald Feigenbaum
Lola Jaffe*
George Krupp
Jeffrey Leppo & Marjorie Safran*^
Martin Messinger
Rohatyner Young Men’s Society
Henry Voremberg
Builders ($5,000-$9,999)
Linda J. L. Becker*
Mimi Cohen*
William & Lynn Foggle
Robert & Esther Heller
Julia Kaplan*
Howard & Nancy Kaufman
Ellen Masters*
Gloria Schusterman*
Irv & Carol Smokler
Michael & Joan Ury
Howard & Deborah Wineberg^
Florence Wineberg*
Jacob & Dora Wineberg Fund
Major Donors ($1,000-$4,999)
Anonymous Donors (8)
Irwin & Mary Ackerman
Harold & Denyse Adler
Marion Adler
David & Kyneret Albert^
Michael Albert
Stephen & Shari Ashman
Norman Atkin
Norman Avnet
Elinor Baker
Stephen & Teresa Bannon
Irving Bashevkin
Robert & Barbara Bashevkin^
Robert & Elaine Baum
Robert & Shelley Berend
Helene Berger
Lawrence & Helene Berke
Ellen Bernstein
Donald & Rosetta Bierman
Robert Bildner & Elisa
Spungen-Bildner
Irwin & Ilse Browner
Carr Hardware Co.
Mark & Spiritual Leader Barbara
Cohen^
Laurence Cohen
Leonard & Ileen Cohen
Saul Cohen
Michael & Roberta Cohn
C. Jeffrey Cook
Judith Cook
Joel & Phyllis Curran^
Alan & Brenda Curtis^
Gerald & Lynn Denmark^
Joseph & Brenda Eckstein
Chip & Cindy Elitzer
George & Ginger Elvin
Harvey & Janine Engel
Monroe & Elise England^
Eitan & Malka Evan
David & Lea Finck
Martin & Susan Fischer
Ellis & Joanna Fribush
Ralph & Audrey Friender
Marjorie Gelber
Michael & Eleanor Geller
Seymour & Jane Glaser
Susan Gold
Annette Gordon
Howard & Sue Gorham
Richard Greene & Lindsay
Crampton
Elliot & Barbara Greenfeld
Harold Grinspoon & Diane
Troderman
Werner & Karen Gundersheimer
Jerry & Joelle Hamovit
Joseph & Mary Jane Handler^
David & Paula Hellman^
Martin & Joan Horowitz
Alan & Liz Jaffe
Richard & Marianne Jaffe
Michael Kahn & Loretta Cornelius
Annbeth Katz
Eli & Phyllis Katz
Judith Katz
Alan Kaufman & Deborah Roth
Steven & Wendy Kravitz
Fred & Barbara Lafer
Fred & Brenda Landes^
Mordi & Monica Lapin
Aaron & Lynne Leavitt
Harvey Lehrer & Susan Frisch
Lehrer^
Marvin & Helaine Lender
Julian Lichtman
Ira & Phyllis Lieberman
Murray & Patti Liebowitz
Amy Lindner-Lesser
Norman & Nancy Lipoff
Allan & Nan Lipton
Elaine Lipton
Leonard Lipton
Mark Lipton, PhD
Sanford Lipton
Leonard & Gloria Luria
Helen Maislen
Stuart Masters
Fred Mensch & Andrea Bodine
Norman & Wilma Michaels
Alan & Nancy Milbauer^
Estelle Miller
Alan & Toby Morganstein^
Irene Moskowitz
Bennett & Ruth Nathanson
Harold Novick
Dr. & Mrs. Lawrence Pacernick
Helice Picheny
Steven Picheny
Claudio & Penny Pincus
Leonard & Shirley Posner
Bernard & Elaine Roberts
Rabbi Yaakov & Nina Rone
Michael & Barbara Rosenbaum
Laura Rosenthal
Paul Rosenthal & Elaine Hantman
Kenneth & Francine Rubenstein
Walter & Iris Rubenstein
Alan Sagner
Michael & Raquel Scheck
Cantor Robert & Susan Scherr
Arlene D. Schiff
Gary Schiff
Martin & Audrey Schlanger
Albert & Marcia Schmier^
David & Rosalie Schottenfeld
Carrie Schulman
David Schulman
Margo Schwartz
Rabbi Len & Lois Sharzer
Carole Siegel
Ira & Sharon Siegel
Ben & Elaine Silberstein
Richard Simons & Marcie
Greenfield Simons^
William & Marilyn Simons^
Paul & Turbi Smilow
Mark & Elisa Snowise^
Jesse & Patricia Spector
Spitz/Tuchman Family Fund
Ken & Lynn Stark
Arthur & Sylvia Stein^
Richard Sussman
Rita & Sol Toscher Memorial Fund
Henry & Norma Tulgan^
Mark & Judy Usow^
Alexandra Warshaw
Arthur & Terry Wasser^
Harry & Eileen Weinstein
Jerry & Donna Weiss
Barry & Adrienne Wesson
Arthur Winston & Joan
Davison-Winston
Sergey & Natalya Yantovsky^
Rabbi Deborah Zecher
Harvey & Janis Zimbler^
Richard & Karen Zink^
Lyonel Zunz & Rosalind Mann
* denotes Lion of Judah
^ denotes giving separately
General Contributors
Anonymous Donors (31)
Mark & Hope Aaron
Ed Abrahams
Amy Simons Abramovich
Bernard Abramson
Beth Abramson
Stephen & Phyllis Abramson
Sh’ma Abramson
Rosalie Adamson
Stanley & Francine Adelman
Steve & Cynthia Adelman
Gordon Adelson
Leonard & Patricia Adelson
Matthew Adelson & Beryl Jolly
Andrew & Judith Adler
David Adler & Amie Weitzman
Irwin & Claire Adler
Susan Adler
Roy & Caryl Aibel
Murray & Barbara Akresh
Doris Albrecht
Deborah Alecson
Jason & Rachel Alemany
Sylvia Allan
Naomi Alson
Eleanor Altrows
Ellen Altschuler
Marsha Altschuler
Benjamin & Adrienne Apkin
Howard & Susan Arkans
Stuart & Helene Armet
Bud Aronson
Frank & Nancy Ashen
Margaret Axelrod
Robert & Suzanne Bach
Hillel & Liliana Bachrach
Lawrence & Beverly Bader
Elizabeth Baer
Seymour Baer & Regina Karas
Anita Bakst
Sigmund Balka
Helen Ball
Bill Ballen & Sharon Shepard
Christine Barash
Donald & Barbara Barron
Marvin & Elaine Bass
Milton Bass
Yvette Bastow
Steve & Susan Baum
Ira & Nancy Baumel
Stephen & Ruth Bazil
Lee & Winifred Bell
David & Cindy Bell-Deane
Walter & Ruth Bemak
Esther Benari-Altmann
Lillian Bender
Alan & Judith Benjamin
Aleksey Berezkin
Nina Berezkin
Boris Berlin
Liya Berlin
Lillian Bernstein
Paul & Alyce Bernstein
Roma Bernstein
Gerald Berthiaume & Jane Perlman
Stuart Besnoff
Barry & Carol Beyer
Martin & Phyllis Biener
Alan & Cheryl Binder
John & Melissa Bissell
Walter & Hildi Black
Robert & Renee Blank
Lynette Blattner-Dukehart
Albert & Aileen Bliss
Martin & Glenna Bloom
Len & Barbara Blum
Stephanie Blumenphal
Walter & Suzanne Bogad
Linda Bonito
Max Bookless (of blessed memory)
Bruce & Elaine Bosworth
Grace Bowen
Thomas & Carole Bratter
Joya Braun
Jay & Jane Braus
Edward (of blessed memory) &
Myra Braverman
Rabbi Josh Breindel & Stephanie
Bennett
Charles & Elaine Brenner
Mory & Laurie Brenner
Arline Breskin
Rachel Brier
Arthur & Marilyn Brimberg
Simeon & Judith Brinberg
Chaim Bronstein & Rabbi Pamela
Wax
Larry Bronstein
Nancy Bronstein
Barry & Jacolyn Brown
Roger & Lara Brown
Norman & Carolyn Brust
Dan Buehler
Jerri Buehler
Mitchell Burgin
Daniel & Joan Burkhard
Brendan Burns & Nerissa Bardfeld
Lewis & Rochelle Burrows
Rita Buschel
Myron & Harriet Bussel
Hanan & Rebecca Caine
Rabbi Ivan & Deborah Caine
Robert & Susan Caine
Millie Calesky
Barbara Caplin
George (of blessed memory) &
Janet Carey
Joel & Susan Cartun
Harvey & Rita Casher
Natalie Castle
Donald Chabon & D. Anne
Rabinowitz
Jonathan Chabon
Daniel Chaiet
Eric & Lisa Chamberlain
Eleanor Chandler
Alan & Roselle Chartock
Mel & Iris Chasen
Myron Chefetz
Arnold & Natalie Chekow
Ellen Chenaux
The Cherry Family
Jae & Suzanne Chung
David Citrin
Michael Citrin & Tracy Mack
Roslyn Citrin
Myrna Citron
Herbert & Jayne Cohan
Alan Cohen
Bruce & Joan Cohen
Clemente & Lisa Cohen
Daniel & Stephanie Cohen
David & Sherry Cohen
Edward & Nadine Cohen
Iris Cohen
Mark & Barbara Cohen
Nancy Cohen
Rich Cohen & Cheryl Sacks
Debora Cole-Duffy
Philip Coleman
Joel Colker
Sue Colker
Sharyn Collins
Harry Conklin & Ali Azarva
Winston
Nancy Cook
Anne Cooper
Lois Cooper
Robert Cooper
Leona Cooperman
Claudia Coplan
Judith Corell
Fred Corman & Vida Berkowitz
Dean Crawford & Darra Goldstein
William Cristo
Adele Cukor
Amy Glaser D’Alton
Liliya D’Yakova
Benny & Ephrat David
Justin Davies & Mara GoodmanDavies
Jerome & Brenda Deener
Edan & Alexis Dekel
Ari Delevie
Simon Dembitzer
Jonathan Denmark
Lara Denmark
Carl & Joanne Deutch
Jeff Diamond & Diane PearlmanDiamond
Mark Dickerman & Hallie Halpern
Judith Dillon
Evan & Kit Dobelle
Barbara Doctrow
Nathan Doctrow
Sheila Donath
May Dondey
Douglas & Amy Doty
Burt & Ellen Downes
The Drayman Family
Alexander & Aline Drescher
Arthur & Henya Dresher
Avi & Natasha Dresner
Dale Drimmer
Joy Dronge
Mel & Terry Drucker
Robert & Karen Drucker
Marilyn Dukoff
Alvin Edelstein
Bonnie Edelstein
Melva Eidelberg
Sandy Einhorn
Donald & Janet Eisenstein
Arnold & Barbara Eisman
Cia Elkin
Burton Elliott & Michele Waldman
David & Martha Elpern
Michael & Barbara Ende
David & Judith Epstein
Edward & Phyllis Epstein
Elaine Epstein
Corrado Fasciano & Jeannie
Altshuler
Laura Feakes
Gregory Federspiel
Susan Federspiel
Steven Fein & Wendy Penner
Carl & Eunice Feinberg
Steven Feiner & Cipora Brown
Martin & Paulette Feit
Diana Felber
Dora Felber
Stanley & Diana Feld
Lorraine Feldman
Ronald Feldman & Elizabeth Morse
Merle Ferber
Richard & Heidi Ferren
Maurice & Meryl Filler
Adam Filson & Amy Cott Filson
Jim & Patty Fingeroth
Milton & Helen Fink
Sherwin & Phylis Fink
Jack & Joyce Finkelstein
Manuel & Shirley Finkelstein
Steven & Renee Finn
Robin First
Ardis Fisch
Leslie Fishbein
Walter & Judith Flamenbaum
William & Sandra Flannery
George & Marjorie Flashner
Robin Fleet
Barry & Barbara Fleischmann
Doris Fleisher
Charles & Joy Flint
Laura Flint
Zachary & Laura Fluhr
Cynthia Folit
Shirley Forman
Rose Foster
Marcia Fox
Martin & Dorothy Fox
Kathleen Fraker
Harry Franklin
Milton Freadman
Rabbi Danny Freelander &
Elyse Frishman
Gary Freifeld & Nancy Greenwald
George Frenkel
George & Pearl Fried
Stephen & Madalyn Friedberg
Rae Nadler Friedenberg
Edith Frieder
Bert & Fay Friedman
Elaine Friedman
Joel Friedman & Marian Faytell
Lawrence Friedman & Aviva
Wichler
Leonard & Gloria Friedman
Robert & Laura Friedman
Egon & Joan Fromm
Sigmund & Toni Front
Carol Fryd
Enid Fuhrman
Richard & Barbara Gaba
Real & Alla Gadoury
Richard & Nancy Gagnon
Peter & Julie Gale
Evelyn Garbowit
Jed & Karen Garfield
Eiran Gazit
Michele Gazit
Andrew Geller
Diana Geller
Eve Geller-Duffy
Robert & Patricia Geller
Susan Geller
Jill Gellert
Philip & Joan Gellert
Rabbi Everett & Mary Gendler
Steven & Jenny Gerrard
Melvin & Sandra Gershman
Stephen & Sheila Gershoff
Michael Gerstein & Lois Jackson
Seymour Gilbert & Erna
Lindner-Gilbert
Judith Gitelson
Alan & Bene Glackman
David Glaser & Debra Stone
Marshall & Denise Glasser
Andor & Gloria Glattstein
Leon & Ruth Glazerman
Stephen Glick
Lillian Glickman
Scott & Karyn Goffin
Alan Gold
Barbara Gold
Mark Gold & Ellen Kennedy
Robert & Marcia Gold
Irwin & Mae Goldberg
Peter & Robin Goldberg
Richard & Rosalie Goldberg
Marcia Golden
Mark Goldfus & Beverely Rubman
Roger & Barbara Goldin
Roger Goldman & Fern Portnoy
Irene Goldman-Price
Rabbi Robert & Faith Goldstein
Margo Golos
Ira & Susan Golub
Lynne Goodman-Leary
Alan & Marilyn Gordon
Garet Gordon
Ronnie Gordon
Rose Gordon
Susan Gordon
Jerry & Corinne Gorelick
Sherri Gorelick
Albert & Phyllis Gormezano
David & Donna Gorson
Marc & Lauren Gotlieb
Jon Gotterer
Jon Gottlieb & Elizabeth
Youngerman
Paul Graether & Barbara Rosenthal
John & Laurel Graney
Laura Gratz
Paul & Karen Graubard
Suzanne Graver
Jordan & Laura Green
Paul & Lisa Green
Larry Greenapple
Eric & Phyllis Greenberg
Joel & Carol Greenberg
Marco Greenberg & Stacey Nelkin
Mel & Ellen Greenberg
Zina Greene
Jenny Greenfeld
Mark & Mary Greengold
Lenore Greenstein
Ted & Dru Greenwood
Peter & Gussie Greer
Peter Griffith & Marlene Chautin
Elizabeth Gross
Bill & Anne Grosser
Jack Grossman & Diane Cohen
Joan Grossman
Joel & Judith Grossman
Louis & Patti Grossman
Lucille Grossman
Lenny & Cindy Grunin
Gerald & Helen Gura
Aaron Gurwitz & Susan
Abramowitz
Harold Gustin
Louis & Evelyn Gutlaizer
Ralph Gutmann
Ruth Gutmann
Steven & Roberta Haas
Warren & Hope Hagler
Roz Halberstadter
Ira & Ellen Halfond
Charles & Janet Halpern
Philip & Linda Halpern
Elie & Myrna Hammerling
Sol Handwerker
David & Natalie Hanna
Beth Harlan
Gerald & Barbara Hayden
Ellen Heffan
Cindy Helitzer
Edwin Helitzer
Libby Helpern
Arthur & Eileen Henle
David & Nadine Henner
Peter Herman & Jerri Chaplin
Robert & Beverly Hertzig
Hans & Ruth Heuberger
Kenneth & Mimi Heyman
Vincent Higuera & Robyn Rosen
Arthur & Louise Hillman
Andrew & Barbara Hochberg
Fred & Marcia Hochberg
Scott Hochfelder & Jennifer Sacon
John & Susan Hogan
Susan Hogan
Christopher Holmes & Anne
Rocheleau
Joshua & Nehoma Horwitt
Edward Hotchkiss
Sharon Hotchkiss
Nick Hubacker & Maxine Wisbaum
David & Patricia Hubbard
Allen & Valerie Hyman
Frederic & Robin Hyman
Burton & Linda Imberman
Ella Iones
John & Jacqueline Iovieno
Michael & Debbie Irwin
Harold Isaacson
Richard & Lana Israel
Solomon & Carole Israel
Alfred & Joann Ivry
David & Suzanne Jacobs
Eileen Jacobs
Jerrold & Carol Jacobs
Ed Jaffe (of blessed memory)
Joseph & Phyllis Jaffe
Mike & Katherine Jaffe
Warren James & Nancy Orovitz
Harry & Arlene Jaroslaw
Ronald Jasper & Tamara Robin
Jerry & Esther Jewell
Randy Johnson & Jacqueline
Browner
Martin & Alice Jonas
Gregory & Nina Jones
Morton & Sandra Josel
Maurice & Judith Joseph
Gordon & Susan Josephson
Irene Kagan
Barbara Kahan
Dona Kahn
Kenneth & Joan Kaiser
Marlene Kalfus
Bea Kalikow
Philip Kaminstein
Rhoda Kaminstein
Sydell Kane
Herbert Kantor
Lisa Kantor
Norman & Elinor Kantrowitz
Ben & Lore Kaplan
Beverly Kaplan
Daniel & Rita Kaplan
Marvin Kaplan & Alice Jo Siegel
Michael & Barbara Kaplan
Philip & Cynthia Kaplan
Ben & Olivia Karis-Nix
Edith Karlin
Samuel Karlin
Sharon Karlin
Seymour Karpen
Shirley Kasindorf
Larry & Tina Kassman
Fred & Nikki Katz
Gilbert Katz
Patricia Katz
Carol Goodman Kaufman
Rabbi Jan Caryl Kaufman
Joel Kaufman
Ofer & Dara Kaufman
Dr. Seth & Mrs. Ruth Kaufman
Stephen Kaufman & Rabbi Kaya
Stern-Kaufman
Susie Kaufman
Yonaton Kaufman
Joe & Jane Kavanau
Laurie Kaye
Ellen Kenwood
Fred Kimmelstiel
David King & Sharon
Flitterman-King
Rabbi Ralph & Brenda Kingsley
Boris Kirshteyn
Mila Kirshteyn
Moysey Kirshteyn
Rebecca Kirshteyn
Yakov & Rushaniya Kirshteyn
Larry & Sondra Klein
Lawrence & Sarah Klein
Sondra Klein’s Mah Jongg Group
Laurence & Joan Kleinman
Ernest (of blessed memory) & Ruth
Klemperer
Mark & Tatyana Knaster
Jack Koenigsberg
Rhoda Koenigsberg
Mikhail Kogan
Barbara Kolodkin
Edward & Susan Kopelowitz
Neil & Dorothy Koreman
Robert & Judith Korostoff
Esther Kosakoff
Earl & Janet Kramer
Eric Kramer & Sharon Rawlings
Jeff & Ethel Kramer
Elliott Krancer
Helen Krancer
Susan Krantz
Henry Kranz
Yefim Kurchenko
Leatrice Kushlefsky
Alexander Kutik
Isaak Kutik
Lyubov Kutik
David LaChance & Joan Rubel
Arnold & Marilyn Lampert
Toby Lanciano & Ellen
Levi-Lanciano
Lucille Landa
Morris & Toby Landa
Robert & Carole Landau
Mike Landes
David Lane & Jennifer Mattern
Ira & Fran Lapidus
Dennis & Dawn LaRochelle
Leon & Estelle Laster
Gisela Lawton
Jeff Lazarus & Phyllis Cohen
David Leavitt
Helene Leavitt
Mark & Taryn Leavitt
Philip & Susan Lebowitz
Sheryl Lechner
Jack & Ruth Leddo
Andrew & Jilly Lederman
Timothy & Janet Lee
William Lee
Mark Lefenfeld & Mimi Rosenblatt
Irwin Leff
Bruce & Roberta Lefkowitz
Midge Lefkowitz
William & Shirley Lehman
Geoffrey Leibovitz
Eugene & Augusta Leibowitz
Dolores Lerman
Howard & Kay Lerner
Joseph & Barbara Lerner
Judith Lerner
Milton Lestz
Macey Levin & Gloria Miller
Andrew Levine
Arline Levine
Cecily Levine
Martin & Hilda Levine
Louis & Pat Levine
Peter Levine & Ellen Croibier
Sydney & Judith Levine
Toby Levine
Kitty Levitan
Morris & Rhoda Levitt
Douglas Levy
Peter Levy
Phillip & Rita Levy
Ralph & Evelyn Levy
Sy & Sue Levy
Willam Levy & Karen Kelly
Joseph & Bonnie Lewis
Martin & Sharon Lewis
Bob Lezberg
Florence Liberman
Janet Lichtenberg
Ralph & Cynthia Lichtenstein
Marvin & Judy Lieberman
Charles & Roberta Liebowitz
Mark Liebowitz & Nancy Katz
Gerald & Carol Link
Gerald & Natasha Lipkin
John & Nina Lipkowitz
Pattie Lipman
David Lippman
Paul & Frances Lippmann
Susan B. Lipton
Martin & Madeline Lizt
Barry Lobovits
Walter & Phyllis Loeb
Morton Lomask
Jeffrey & Maxine Lome
Richard & Roslyn Lorge
Gerald & Selma Lotenberg
David Lotto & Norah Walsh
Elaine Loveman
Sanford Lubin
Ann Lyons
Jack & Judith Machanik
Stephen & Elaine Mack
Todd & Carrie Mack
Edward & Joan Mahler
Kenneth & Barbara Mahler
Candy Docimo Mahony
Hank Maimin
Bob Mainzer & Carole Schwimmer
Charles & Marcia Mandel
Herb Mandel
Barbara Mandler
Stanley & Rebecca Marcus
Sol & Paula Marenberg
Dorothy Margolin
Joel Margolis
Michael & Marilyn Margolis
Ruth & Robert Markovits
Robert Markowitz
Irving & Alice Marks
Jay & Shirley Marks
Leila Marks
Greta Marsh
Jonah Marshall & Eric Casey
Steve Martin
Marjorie Marusarz
Mort & Suzanne Marvin
Dr. & Mrs. Ronald Match
Eliyho & Barbara Matz
Hillel & Janet Maximon
Jeffrey May & Kara Thornton
John Mayer
Arnold Mazurenko
Tatyana Mazurenko
Charles & Gayle Mazursky
Eric Mendelsohn & Diana Lafer
Richard & Kristina Methe
Alan Metzger
Margery Metzger
Shirley Metzger
Corey Meyers & Susan
Mechanic-Meyers
Lester & Evelyn Meyers
Edith Michelson
Richard Mickey & Nancy Salz
Arnold & Linda Miller
Robert & Jane Miller
Steven & Elizabeth Miller
Jamie Minacci
Bradley Minnen & Bonnie Saks
Etya Mizikovskaya
Alan & Alice Model
Irwin Moiseff
Nina Molin
Jonathan Molk & Christine Bellino
Stanley & Ronni Monsky
Bobbie Monterose
Deborah Morris
Joel & Leslie Morris
Michael & Jennifer Morris
Howard & Iris Mortman
William & Beth Moser
Gertrude Moskowitz
Norman Moskowitz
Judy Moss
Matthew & Sharon Mozian
Michael & Edie Mulligan
Robert Munch & Joan Goldberg
Munch
Peter Murphy & Audrey Thier
Barbara Myers
Manny & Alice Nadelman
Robert Nason & Lisa Sloane
Michael Nathan & Beth
Laster-Nathan
William & Elizabeth Nayor
Philip & Barbara Nelick
Mordecai & Felicia Nevo
Doug & Barbara Newman
Robert Newman (of blessed
memory)
Larry & Faith Newmark
Nancy Nirenberg
Robert Nishman & Judith Stern
Sidney & Mildred Novick
Roberta Nussbaum
Michael & Carol Ochs
Albert & Anne Oppenheim
Lesley Oransky
Walter & Gail Orenstein
Thomas & Ronna Ostheimer
James Overmyer & Ellen Weiden
Guyon & Patricia Pancer
Michael & Kimberly Parker
Robert & Joyce Parks
Richard & Elaine Parmett
Richard Pasternak
Daniel & Andrea Patel
Arthur & Susan Peisner
Jane Pellish
Larry Pellish
Martin & Shiffra Perlmutter
Larry & Phyllis Phillips
Irving & Sharon Picard
Theresa Pill
Peter & Jo Podol
Cecil & Ellen Pollen
Michael & Sybil Pollet
David & Maribeth Pomerantz
Estelle Pomerantz
Paula Pomerantz
Philip Pomerantz
Mark & Jean Poopor
Andrew Potler
Marcia Powdermaker
Michael & Ilene Prokup
Robert & Mary Proskin
Stephen & Jody Prunier
Maxwell (of blessed memory) &
Audrey Pyenson
Steven & Joyce Pyenson
Gail Raab
Georgiy Rabinovich
Judy Rachelle
Stephen & Helen Radin
Leonard & Darlene Radin
Beth Radsken
Joel Radsken
David & Joanne Ranzer
Viktor Rashkes
Joseph & Carol Reich
Leslie Reiche
David & Joanne Reiss
David & Elizabeth Resnik
Maude Rich
Thomas & Pam Rich
Michel Richard
Richard & Diana Richter
Fred Roa & Susanne Ackerman
Arnold & Linda Robbins
Larry & Wendy Robbins
Rick & Renee Robbins
Merrill Roberts
Herbert & Paula Rod
Stu & Myrna Rodkin
Jerry & Lorraine Rodman
Seth Rogovoy
Martin & Shelley Rolf
Helaine Rose
Bob Rosegarten & Doreen
Rappaport
Alan Rosen (of blessed memory)
Alex & Jane Rosen
Charlene Rosen
Michael & Karen Rosen
Selma Rosen
Miriam Rosenbaum
Rabbi Ari Rosenberg
Ernst & Judith Rosenberger
Alex & Sabina Rosenblum
Lawrence & Laurel Rosenbluth
Alfred Rosenthal
Steven & Ruth Rosenthal
Rabbi Dennis Ross
Marcy Ross
Barbara Roth
Richard & Leslie Roth
Sheldon & Heidi Rothberg
Orson & Dianne Rothkopf
Rosalind Rothman
Alan & Harriet Rothstein
Dan & Lori Rothstein
David & Janet Rothstein
Raphael & Evelyn Rothstein
Roman Rozenblyum
Shirley Rubenstein
Allan & Sandra Rubin
Jack & Lenore Rubin
Abigail Rubinstein
Benjamin & Alice Rudin
Harold & Roberta Rudin
Arthur & Amy Rutstein
Ron Rutstein & Jennifer Yohalem
Alan & Jane Salamon
Edwin Salsitz
Boris & Inna Saltanovich
Bob & Lee Salz
Robert & Susan Salzman
Rabbi Harold & Audrey Salzmann
Morton & Helen Samen
Donald & Elma Sanders
Pam Sandler
Stuart & Phyllis Sandrew
Fern Sann
Kenneth Sann
Aaron Sardel & Deborah August
James & Gail Satovsky
Howard & Roberta Saunders
Tom & Suzanne Sawyer
Leonard Saxe & Marion
Gardner-Saxe
Stella Schecter
Stephen & Deborah Scheier
Mike Schiffer & Nancy Fremont
Leonard & Alice Schiller
Stephen & Dorothy Schindel
Norman Schnayer & Joyce
Freundlich
Steven Schneider - Schneider
Engineering, PLLC
Myrna & Al Schneiderman
Paul Schoeman & Julie Sternberg
Harold Schrager & Cathy Kogan
Bruce Schreiber & Ronnie
Rosenberg
Dan Schulman & Jennie Kassanoff
Eileen Schulman
Ralph Schulman
Sue Schulman
Ellen Schwaitzberg
Lloyd Schwalb
Norman & Irene Schwalbe
Martin & Laurie Schwartz
Martin & Jane Schwartz
Naomi Schwartz
Sunny Schwartz
Marvin & Carol Schwartzbard
Nat & Marilyn Schwartzberg
Thomas Sebestyen
Richard Seeley
Anthony Segal
Freya Segal
Beatrice Selig
Janice Selkowitz
Mark & Elizabeth Selkowitz
Richard & Shana Senzel
Marcie Setlow
Donald Shaffer
Irwin & Bernice Shainman
Hal & Harriet Shair
Eyal Shapira
Burton D. Shapiro & Melinda S.
Tanzman
Donald & Arlene Shapiro
Florence Shapiro
Howard & Shirley Shapiro
Stanley & Ruth Shapshay
Roberta Sheffer
Saul Shenkman
Suzanne Shenkman
Molly Sheriff
Arthur Sherman
Barbara Shickmanter
Bruce Shickmanter
Robert & Elaine Shindler
Jane Shiyah
Michael & Arlene Shreefter
Marjorie Shulman
Nancy Shulman
Lynn Shyevitch
Dana Siegel
David Siegel
Jack & Alice Siegel
Jeffrey Siegel
Jonas & Judith Siegel
Norma Siegel
Efrem & Frederica Sigel
Bob & Roberta Silman
Martin Silver
Miriam Silver
Sylvia Silverberg
Leonard Silverman
Jane Silverman
Stu & Susan Silverman
Arnold & Barbara Silverstein
Michael & Doris Simon
Lorraine Simonson
Kenneth & Christine Singer
Maria Sirois
Galina Sirota
Robert Siskin
Steve Skoblow & Jenny Gitlitz
Edward & Loretta Skoletsky
Carl & Toby Sloane Family
Foundation
John Slote
Alice Small
Joseph Small
Mitchell Smilowitz & Audrey
Sussman
Benjamin & Beth Smith
Leon & Elaine Smith
Marvin Smith
Michael & Pam Smith
Alan Solomon
Larry & Carol Solomon
Paul & Sue Ellen Solomon
Sidney & Shirley Solomon
Paul & Susan Solovay
Doris Soman
Martin Sonkin
George & Dorinne Sorter
Steven Sousa & Karen Kwitter
Harold Sparr & Suzanne Abramsky
Lorette Spiegel
Diane Spinrad
John & Heather Spitzer
Stephen & Mimi Stambler
Jeffrey & Carissa Steefel
Herbert Stein
Alvin & Shirley Steiner
Dan & Helene Sterling
Myra Stern Ginsberg (of blessed
memory)
Armin Sternberg & Kathy Friend
Jeff & Bonnie Stevens
Michael Stoll
Nancy Stoll
Judith Stolzberg
Leonard Stolzberg
Marvin & Sandra Stonberg
Michael & Lois Storch
Jefferson Strait & Robin Brickman
Sharon Strassfeld
Mariah Strattner
Lawrence Strauss & Francine
Weinberg
William Stuhlbarg
Jerome & Kathleen Sugar
Donald & Phoebe Sugarman
Richard & Sherry Sukel
Andy & Ellisa Sulner
The Sunny Days Charitable
Foundation
Lois & David Swawite
Burt & Alice Swersey
Michael & Arlene Symons
Symons-Rubenstein Yiddish
Program
Lisa Szeman
Leonard & Ellen Tabs
Edith Hope Talbert
Matthew Tannenbaum
Rose Tannenbaum
Irving Tanzman
Jayson Tanzman
Edith Taskin
Susan Taskin
Goldie Taub
Morton Taubin & Rochelle
Leinwand
Herman & Charlotte Teitler
Ilene Tetenbaum & Irwin Leff
Robert Thistle & Ruth Ann Cohen
Roger & Jerry Tilles
Lora Tobias
Sigmund Tobias
Kathi Todd
Gideon Toeplitz
Rosanna Trestman
Robert & Natalie Tublitz
Donna Tukel
Floyd & Marcia Tuler
Ron & Judy Turbin
Gary & Bernice Turetsky
Judith Turtz
Robert & Susan Turtz
Robert & Alba Tutnauer
Bernard & Florence Udel
Edward Udel
Lisa Udel
Howard Unker
Ron & Sandra Veillette
Loet & Edith Velmans
Diana Versenyi
Donald Victor
Rabbi Levi & Sara Volovik
Albert & Shirley Vorspan
Edward & Linda Wacks
Sheldon & Susan Wagner
Robert & Ruth Waldheim
June Waldman
Philip & Florence Wallach
Ronald & Marilyn Walter
Eleanor Ware
Barbara Wasserman
Michael Wasserman
Robert & Barbara Watkins
Sandor & Edith Wax
Lawrence & Judy Weber
Joshua & Darlene Weeks
Bruce & Penny Wein
Eugene Wein
Page 11
Rita Weinberg
Rabbi David & Judith Weiner
Anita Weinstein
Diane Israelite Weinstein
Jerome & Marjorie Weinstein
Roney & Gail Weis
Elliott & Caroline Weisberger
Joel & Phyllis Weiss
Julie Weiss
Marvin & Helen Weiss
Michael & Gail Weiss
Burton & Joan Weitzner
Tom & Suky Werman
Ken & Rhea Werner
Cyndie White
Karol White
Marlene White
Aura Whitman
Roger & Ellen Whitmer
Arthur & Anne Wichman
Jack & Jane Widitor
Warren & Myra Widmann
Susan Wilansky
Sharon Wiles
Selma Williams
Randall & Mara Winn
Florence Winter
Steven Winter
Charles Wohl & Alba Passerini
Joel & Fran Wolk
Richard Woller
Ruth Woolfe
The World Is Bigger Than Me
Children’s Campaign
Alec Yantovsky
Anna Yantovsky
Louis & Mary Ann Yarmosky
Nat & Louise Yohalem
Margot Yondorf
Jeremy & Kathryn Yudkin
Joshua Yurfest
Thomas & Cindy Zanconato
Barry Zaret
Joe & Tela Zasloff
Alla Zernitskaya
Mildred Zimmerman
David & Susan Zuckerman
Evelyn Zwerner
Jewish Women’s Foundation
of Berkshire County
Helene Berger
Elisa Spungen Bildner
Sydelle Blatt
Judith Brinberg
Jayne Cohan
Barbara Cohen
Hillary Cohen
Mimi Cohen
Roberta Cohn
Judith Dix
Sheila Drill
Janine Engel
Marian Faytell
Pat Fingeroth
Phylis Fink
Marilyn Fisher
Lynn Foggle
Joanna Fribush
Laura Friedman
Louise Galpern
Lois Ginsberg
Jane Glaser
Patricia Goldman
Paula Hellman
Mimi Heyman
Joan Horowitz
Annbeth Katz
Marilyn Katzman
Joan Kleinman
Barbara Lafer
Helaine Lender
Susan Ludwig
Gloria Luria
Ellen Masters
Brenda Menker
Nancy Milbauer
Gayle Moskowitz
Ruth Nathanson
Penny Pincus
Carolee Reiber
Elaine Roberts
Frani Rothman
Lesley Jane Rubinger
Sue Rudd
Sandra Samdperil
Arlene D. Schiff
Marcia Schmier
Anne Schnesel
Margo Schwartz
Hally Shaw
Carole Siegel
Elaine Silberstein
Turbi Smilow
Carol Smokler
Enid Spira
Lauren Engel Spitz
Myra Stern
Carol Targum
Florence Wineberg
Marilyn Wolf
Shirley Yohalem
Page 12
Campaign Update
Join Us For….
2011 Annual Campaign Raised
$679,787
All Pledges Are Included In Our
2012 Budget Income
and Are Required For Our Operation
We Appreciate Your Prompt Payment
To Pay By Credit Card
Please Call (413) 442-4360, ext. 10
“PJ Pals”
Monday • March 5 • 10:30 to 11:30 a.m.
Church on the Hill Chapel
55 Main Street • Lenox
• For Ages 6 Months to 6 Years
With Educator Vivian Newman of the AwardWinning PJ Library Jewish Book and Music Program
• Free • No Pre-registration
Program Includes
• “Purim Potpourri”
• Make noisy graggers
Checks May Be Sent To
196 South Street, Pittsfield, MA 01201
donate, volunteer, make a difference!
• Fashion simple costumes
• Learn about Purim through a reading of Sammy
Spider’s First Purim by Sylvia Rouss
• Sample holiday treats
Sponsored by The PJ Library and the
RSVP to Susan Frisch Lehrer
at (413) 442-4360, ext. 14
Live Generously!
Join Us For….
Join Us For….
“PJ Pals”
“PJ Goes North”
Monday • April 2 • 10:30 to 11:30 a.m.
Church on the Hill Chapel
55 Main Street • Lenox
Sunday • March 11 • 10 a.m. to noon
Tzedakah Program at
Congregation Beth Israel
53 Lois Street • North Adams
• For Ages 6 Months to 6 Years
With Educator Vivian Newman of the AwardWinning PJ Library Jewish Book and Music Program
• Free • No Pre-registration
Program Includes
The PJ Library and Congregation Beth Israel will
hold a joint program with the theme tzedakah –
“justice and righteousness”
• Learn what we can do to help others
• “Preparing for Passover”
• Stories
• Create a simple, child-friendly Haggadah (the
book which describes the exodus from Israel
• Craft projects
• Learn new songs
• Enjoy a reading of Kippi and the Missing Matzah
by Louise Gikow
• Munch on Seder foods
at (413) 442-4360, ext. 14
• Snacks and much more
• Free program for families with children ages 3 to 9
• Older and younger children are most welcome to
join in as are parents and grandparents
at (413) 442-4360, ext. 14
Page 13
“Moving Into Well-Being,” February 20
At 1 p.m. on Monday, February 20, the
Jewish Federation of
the Berkshires will
sponsor the program,
“Moving Into WellBeing,” with registered
somatic movement
therapist, Cheryl Ann
Luft.
At a cost of $3,
open to the public, and
held at Congregation
Knesset Israel, 16 Colt
Road, Pittsfield, Luft
will offer demonstrations and exercises –
accessible to all ages
and fitness levels – to
help attendees move
better and feel better.
In addition, Luft
will discuss, answer
questions, and offer
suggestions regarding
For Cheryl Ann Luft – “life is movement”
many easy ways to
enjoy bodily movement
in support of the philosophy that “life is seniors, special populations, and others.
Luft teaches in a variety of Berkshire
movement.”
Cheryl Ann Luft has been studying, regional venues and maintains a private
training, and practicing a variety of practice.
For further information, please call
movement techniques for the last thirty
years. Therapeutic movement and dance Nancy Maurice Rogers, Program Director,
at (413) 442-4360, ext. 15.
therapy are the basis of her work with
Explore Purim with Rabbi Breindel
At 1 p.m. on Thursday, March 8, the
Jewish Federation of the Berkshires will
sponsor the program, “Mordechai and
Haman: Purim in Many Times and Many
Lands,” with Rabbi Joshua L Breindel of
Pittsfield’s Temple Anshe Amunim.
At a cost of $3, open to the public, and
held at Congregation Knesset Israel, 16
Colt Road, Pittsfield, Breindel’s presentation will explore the history, folklore,
and customs associated with Purim, a
uniquely merry Jewish holiday.
Nancy Maurice Rogers, Program Director,
at (413) 442-4360, ext. 15.
Jewish Federation of the Berkshires will
sponsor the showing of Ruth Heuberger’s
documentary “A Date with a Queen” in
celebration of the one-hundredth anniversary of the founding of Hadassah,
The Women’s Zionist Organization of
America – the largest women’s non-profit
organization in the world.
At a cost of $3, and open to the public,
the presentation will take place at Congregation Knesset Israel, 16 Colt Road,
Pittsfield,
Taking its name from the Hebrew
for the Biblical heroine Esther, Queen
of Persia, Hadassah is motivated and
inspired to strengthen its partnership
with Israel, ensure Jewish continuity,
and realize its potential as a dynamic
force in American society.
Founded in New York City in 1912,
Hadassah strives to retain the passion
and timeless values of its founder, Henrietta Szold, a Jewish scholar and activist,
who was dedicated to Judaism, Zionism,
and the American ideal.
Committed to the centrality of Israel
based on the renaissance of the Jewish
people in its historic homeland, Hadassah
promotes the unity of the Jewish people.
In Israel, Hadassah initiates and supports pace-setting health care, education,
youth institutions, and land development
to meet the country’s changing needs.
In the United States, Hadassah enhances the quality of American and Jewish life through its education and Zionist
youth programs, promotes health awareness, and provides personal enrichment
and growth for its members.
at (413) 442-4360, ext. 15.
Exciting Healthy Aging Opportunity!
Series: “My Life, My Health”
At 1 p.m. on March 5, 12, 19, and 22,
continuing on April 9 and 12, the Jewish
Federation of the Berkshires will sponsor the program, “My Life, My Health,”
as developed and licensed by Stanford
University and brought to the region by
Elder Services of Berkshire County.
At a series cost of $18, with participants obliged to commit to all six sessions,
the program is open to the public and will
be held at Congregation Knesset Israel,
16 Colt Road, Pittsfield.
“My Life, My Health” – noting that
those living with chronic health conditions share many challenges and
struggles – is an interactive six-week
workshop covering such topics as: attaining optimal health, remaining active and
independent, reducing pain and fatigue,
communicating with healthcare professionals, making informed treatment
choices, managing stress and learning
to relax, and increasing energy through
improved lifestyle choices.
Both from Elder Services, facilitatorsfor the series will be Roger Suters, Director of Community Services, and Sandy
Rabbi Joshua Breindel
“Positive Economics” South County
Program – at Hevreh, March 16
A presentation of its “South County
Lunch Program,” at 10:45 a.m. on Friday,
March 16, the Jewish Federation of the
Berkshires will sponsor “Positive Economics,” a program of fact-based, unbiased
research and critical analysis designed
to educate individuals regarding how
to protect their interests in the current
economic environment.
Presented by Great Barrington’s
eighty-year-old “American Institute of
Economic Research,” the program –
which will be held at Hevreh of Southern
Berkshire, 270 State Road, Great Barrington – is open to the public at a cost
of $3 for those solely attending the talk,
and $6 for those also attending the noon
catered lunch. Among the speakers will
be Steven Cunningham, the American
Institute’s Director of Research and
Education.
A professor emeritus in the Department of Economics, University of Connecticut, Cunningham earned his M.S.
and Ph.D. in economics from Florida State
University, where he gained expertise
regarding monetary policy and international trade as well as finance.
Joining Cunningham will be an American Institute representative well versed in
investment principles and management
as well as portfolio diversification.
The luncheon, by Freund Farm Mar-
“A Date with a Queen”
Celebrates Hadassah at 100
Steven Cunningham
ket and Bakery, will include a buffet of
vegetable medley, Israeli couscous, sweet
corn casserole, broccoli
cashew salad, spring mix
salad, crusty rolls, and
apple walnut cake.
For lunch reservations, due by Monday,
March 12, or for further
information regarding
the program, please call
Nancy Maurice Rogers,
Program Director, at (413)
442-4360, ext. 15.
Sandy Alfonso and Roger Suters of
Elder Services of Berkshire County
Alfonso, Nutrition Services Supervisor,
each who have undergone extensive
training to be named presenters of the
“My Life, My Health,” program.
Limited in numbers, for reservations,
as well as further information, for “My Life,
My Health,” please call, Nancy Maurice
Rogers, Program Director, at (413) 4424360, ext. 15.
“Hearing Loss and What to Do About It”
March 1st
Live Generously!
Stephen L. White, Ph.D.
Jewish Federation of
the Berkshires will
sponsor the program,
“Hearing Loss and
What To Do About It,”
with Stephen L. White,
Ph.D.
At a cost of $3,
open to the public, and
held at Congregation
Knesset Israel, 16 Colt
Road, Pittsfield, White
will offer an overview
of the latest research
on hearing loss as well
as a review of the new-
est technologies and treatment options.
Following the presentation an optional
free hearing screening will be available.
Dr. White is the practice manager and
co-owner of Berkshire Speech & Hearing
in Williamstown. He has a doctorate in
health economics from Brandeis University and has held senior level executive
positions in various non-profit and forprofit healthcare organizations including Preferred Healthcare, LTD, Charter
Medical Corporation, and Johnson &
Johnson Healthcare Systems. Dr. White
also serves on the Board of Trustees of
the Pulmonary Hypertension Association.
at (413) 442-4360, ext. 15.
Page 14
Israeli Soldiers in Berkshires,
March 19
PITTSFIELD – On Monday,
March 19, Lital Shemesh and
Adam Avidan, both members of
the Israel Defense Forces (IDF)
will be speaking in Pittsfield and
Great Barrington in programs
co-sponsored
by the
Jewish Federation of the Berkshires and the educational
organization “StandWithUs,”
which is dedicated to informing the public about Israel and
combating the extremism and
anti-Semitism that often distorts
the issues.
Veterans of both active and
reserve duty, Shemesh and
Avidan will be welcomed by the
Student Veterans Alliance of
Berkshire Community College
at the school at 1350 West
Street (Room K-111) in
Pittsfield beginning at
noon for an extensive
discussion, and
from 7:30 to 9
p.m. at Hevreh of
Southern Berkshire, 270 State
Road in Great Barrington.
Born in the ancient
seaport of
Adam Avidan, made the IDF a career
equine rescue,
tially fund a donkey sanctuary
called “Safe Haven for Donkeys
in the Holy Land” (SHADH) in
Gan Yoshiya, a rural area in
central Israel.
There are presently onehundred and sixty donkeys and
several horses in her custody,
with SHADH treating donkeys,
via mobile clinics, in Arab villages in Israel as well as in the
West Bank.
A year ago, I arrived at SHADH
to see a dark skeletal horse being
bathed by the staff. Fensom’s
husband Adi explained that
it had just been rescued from
the “Jericho Equestrian Club.”
Originally established by Yasser
Arafat, the Club has been in
decline for lack of funding since
his death.
A French diplomat who had
ridden this horse in the past
was shocked to see its condition,
and he called Fensom directly.
Although Jericho is off-limits
to Israeli citizens, Fensom and
her team were able to go to the
Club, rescue two horses, and
send bales of hay for the rest.
At SHADH, donkeys are
recovering from varying forms
of abuse. Torture by burning is
common. One donkey was used
as an anti-Israel billboard, a
large Star of David carved into
its hindquarters.
Fensom’s original concept
was to rescue donkeys in bad
situations and let them enjoy their lives at the spacious
sanctuary. However, over the
past twelve years, SHADH has
morphed into shining fingers of
compassion reaching far beyond
the grounds of the sanctuary.
Four “rest stations” have
been established next to the
towns of Kalkilya, Tulkarem,
Bethlehem, and Taibe, all located in the West Bank. Each
station has free food and water
for any passing equine, usually
an over-worked, under-fed horse
or donkey pulling a cart.
At Kalkilya, SHADH provides
two veterinarians, Jewish and
Muslim, who share their caseload every day; and I was told
that the Jewish vet is sought out
more due to his Western-style
education. A constant stream of
horses and donkeys is brought
to this free clinic, which serves
eighty to a hundred animals per
day, thousands per year.
On a recent visit to the Kalkilya clinic, the place was abuzz.
A Jewish vet and an intern in
green scrubs were examining
a thin and limping grey horse.
The vet spoke in Hebrew to Abu
Jad, whose job is to translate
from the vet’s Hebrew to Arabic
for the patients’ owners, and to
supervise the rest stations.
There were another five Arabs
present, besides the owner, who
were watching and listening with
utmost fascination as the vet
gently urged the owner to feed
the horse more. All the while the
owner nodded his head as Abu
Jad translated.
SHADH is ever expanding its
ambitious activities, trying to
bring about a quiet revolution
in the attitudes and behaviors
of people towards their animals,
and it is slowly accomplishing
its goals.
Last year it held a free twoday blacksmithing course to
teach seventeen farriers and
farmers in Tulkarem about
proper shoeing and foot care.
Word quickly spread to nearby
Nablus, where so many people
clamored for the course that
another was given for eighteen
farriers there.
The northern West Bank is
too large for most equine owners to bring their animals to
the Kalkilya vet clinic. SHADH
therefore offers a roving mobile
clinic that carries a vet, a farrier,
and basic medicine and equipment several times a week. This
is virtually the only professional
veterinary care for equines in
the northern West Bank, and
certainly the only free care.
While SHADH’s “adopt a donkey” fundraising efforts attract
worldwide support, Fensom
travels to England several times
a year seeking further donors,
with celebrities such as Des
Lynam and Uri Geller becoming contributors and recently
Her Royal Highness Princess
Alexandra of Ogilvy, cousin to
Queen Elizabeth II, signing on
as the royal patron of the effort
to aid and save the Holy Land’s
equines.
“We hope very much to extend
our work within the Palestinian
sector – both to help the animals
and work at trying to change
people’s attitudes towards their
animals,” said Fensom.
“It can be done but it takes
immense effort and infinite
patience.”
Ashkelon, on Israel’s Mediterranean coast, Shemesh served
as a combat soldier in a border
police unit of the IDF. Feeling
strongly about the way the Israeli military is perceived, and
believing that there is no need
to be apologetic, Shemesh noted
she was very eager to contribute
as much as possible to the Jewish State and thus chose the
border police unit, which serves
at checkpoints – an unusual
selection of service for a woman
in the IDF.
Shemesh has a BA in social
sciences and is a journalist for
various outlets including television and newspapers.
Avidan was drafted into the
IDF in 2002 and has developed
a career in the army. Today he
serves as Head of International
Organizations and Diplomatic
Missions Department and in
the past he has been an officer
in the Coordination of Government Activities in the Palestinian
Territories. He has also served
in civil administration.
Currently pursuing a B.A. in
Political Science and International Relations, Avidan is eager
to relate his IDF experiences
dealing with the Palestinian
population and international representatives.
Shemesh and Avidan’s
visit to the Berkshires is
part of the Los Angelesbased “StandWithUs”
organization’s dozencity, late-winter, across
America effort to correct
common prejudices about
the Arab-Israeli conflict,
and encourage discussions and policies that
can help promote peace
in the Middle East by
presenting through the
eyes and via the words,
of front-line experienced
young soldiers first-hand
experiences that are rarely
reported or heard.
The programs are free.
please contact Arlene D.
Schiff, Executive DirecLital
A Palestinian waits at a mobile clinic for his animals to be treated
Young ‘Amir’ who was born at ‘Safe Haven
for Donkeys in the Holy Land,’ with his mom
who was rescued and brought to the shelter
pregnant
Two babies rescued in Nablus on the
northern West Bank
tor, Jewish Federation of the
Berkshires at (413) 442-4360,
ext. 12, or arlene.schiff@jewishberkshires.org.
Shemesh, watchful at the border
Her Royal Highness Princess
Alexandra of Ogilvy, cousin to
Queen Elizabeth II, is the royal
patron of the effort to aid and
save the Holy Land’s equines
SHADH’s blacksmithing and equine foot care
courses are popular
Horse being treated by a SHADH veterinarian at a clinic
set up in a parking lot
Page 15
Texts and Tunes
Of Family …and ‘Flying’
By Seth Rogovoy
Cambridge, Mass. native Yaeko Miranda El- Conservatory Band under the leadership of Netsky, and recently recorded her
maleh hardly seems to have had a choice from eponymous debut album (www.yaekoplaysviolin.com) featuring guitarist/
mandolinist Brandon Seabrook, cellist Ariel Friedman,
birth. Her grandfather
and accordionist Michael McLaughlin.
was an accomplished imAs heard on her CD, which features traditional mupressionist painter and
sic from Old World and New, ranging from “Beregovski
musician who performed
Hope #99” to “Doina/Hora/Honga” – a kind of crosswith Gypsy jazz guitarist
cultural musical journey through Eastern and Central
Django Reinhardt and
Europe – to “Philadelphia Sher,” a popular American
other musicians during
klezmer tune that she undoubtedly learned from
the 1940s and ‘50s boNetsky, who stems from a prominent Philadelphia
hemian era in Paris; a
klezmer family, Elmaleh’s sound can be best described
grandfather in El Salvador
as soulful and passionate.
was classically trained in
Her accompanists are sympathetic and well-versed
guitar under Agustin Barin the material, and easily straddle the klezmer/Gypsy
rios Mangore; and a great-grandfather in Boston was
divide, which is more a question of nuance and ornaa jazz clarinetist and owner of the second largest jazz
mentation in most cases than anything else.
collection in the United States during his time.
When Elmaleh performs she transcends the separaSo it comes as no surprise that Elmaleh has played
tion between herself and her instrument, and instead
violin since she was three. A finalist in the Boston
one hears an authentic voice, rooted in the dedication
Symphony Orchestra youth competition and “First Yaeko Miranda Elmaleh … transcends
of years of training, respect for diverse musical tradiPrize” winner in the Arlington Philharmonic competi- the separation between herself and her
instrument
tions, and her deep familial ties.
tion, she was classically trained at the New England
Laura Wetzler, who calls the hilltowns just east of
Conservatory Preparatory School under Fudeko
the Berkshires home, has long been a leading voice
Takahashi, and was the recipient of many awards
on the contemporary Jewish music scene. Her latest
and soloed with many ensembles and orchestras in
CD, “Flying” (www.laurawetzler.com) is a bit of a deparMassachusetts.
ture; it features Wetzler, the folk singer-songwriter, as
Later, Elmaleh went on to study violin under Miopposed to Wetzler the Jewish artist. But the Jewish
chele Auclair and received her B.A. in music from the
artist is never far from the surface – the title track is
New England Conservatory, where she studied with
an ode to two sisters of the Resistance, and “High on
Ran Blake and Klezmer Conservatory Band founder
a Hill” celebrates a family legacy.
Hankus Netsky. While studying with Netsky, she disFans of this essential Jewish artist will find plenty
covered a connection to klezmer, Jewish and Gypsy
to love about Wetzler’s “Flying.”
styles of music.
Featured in the Berkshires at last year’s “A SumSeth Rogovoy (seth@rogovoy.com) is the editor of Berkmer Celebration of Jewish Music,” Elmaleh currently
shireDaily and The Rogovoy Report (www.rogovoy.com)
performs and freelances in Boston and New York –
and the author of BOB DYLAN: Prophet Mystic Poet
most recently in the New York run of “Shlemiel the
and The Essential Klezmer: A Music Lover’s Guide to
First” under the musical direction of Zalmen Mlotek.
Jewish Roots and Soul Music.
She also plays violin with the renowned Klezmer Laura Wetzler’s latest is ‘Flying’
Traveling with Jewish Taste©
Purim Treats Around the World
By Carol Goodman Kaufman
When we American Jews, mostly Ashkenazi, think of Purim, our mouths
begin to water in anticipation of Hamantaschen. Whether made from cookie
or yeast dough, and filled with mohn (poppy) or prune, apricot, or chocolate,
the three-cornered delights are an annual treat so yummy that some bakeries
now feature them year-round.
But there is so much more to savor at Purim, that this month, instead of
chronicling my own personal travels, I offer a Purim culinary world tour, along
with two recipes to enhance your holiday gustatory pleasure.
But first, a message from our all-time favorite – Hamantaschen! The recipe
I use is so good that, even years after my three children had “graduated” from
nursery school, the school’s director kept inviting me to come back to bake
with the kids. That recipe – the secret is the orange rind in the dough – is,
by the way, that of my former Hebrew School teacher here in Pittsfield, the
late Adele Goldblum (z”l).
The word “hamantaschen” is actually a play on words. “Mohn” means
poppy in both Yiddish and German. “Tasche” is the German word for pocket or purse. Together, the
two words form “mohntaschen,” the pastry’s original name since the Middle Ages, and still a popular
dessert in Germany.
Since we Jews love to play with words, we added the “ha” to add our own twist to the delicious treat
and make the pastry Haman’s pockets. It was in these pockets that the evil vizier carried the lots, or
Purim, designating the days for the Jews to be hanged on the gallows – in case you don’t know the story,
Haman did not accomplish his goal, but ended up hanging on those same gallows!
In Israel, the identical pastry is referred to as “oznei Haman,” or Haman’s ears.
Tradition has it that Queen Esther, in order to observe kashrut while living in the palace of King
Ahashverus, maintained a strict vegetarian diet, relying on legumes, seeds and nuts for protein – legend
has it that caraway seeds were her favorite.
jewish taste, continued on page 16
Hamantaschen
Mohntaschen
Almond crescent cookies
Caraway bundt cake
Bourekas
Page 16
traveling with jewish taste,
In honor of her reverence for Jewish law, vegetarian dishes (chickpea pizza, anyone?) are popular Purim mealtime choices around the world, as are desserts based
on seeds (e.g., caraway bundt cake).
My friend and fellow congregant, David, an Israeli of Moroccan descent, explained
to me that when he was growing up, and still today, all the Moroccan women in his
neighborhood prepare a wonderful sweet dairy couscous with dried fruit.
He lent me his Moroccan Jewish cookbook, giving me the honor of believing that I
could translate the Hebrew and the metric measurements into useable English. His
recipe does not include nuts, but others do. You will find one recipe in the sidebar.
The Jews of the Caucasus Mountains are proud of their origins in ancient Persia,
so for them the holiday has a personal resonance. These Members of the Tribe enjoy
a halva called Hadassah, after Queen Esther’s Hebrew name. I have found several
recipes for this delicacy, all different, but none resemble the sesame-based confection my father used to buy for me at Sam Mandel’s Columbus Avenue delicatessen
when I was a child. By the way, this Purim happens to be the centennial anniversary of the founding of Hadassah, the Women’s Zionist Organization of America. Back in 1912, the
group’s founders chose the name Hadassah, not only because of the establishment
on the holiday, but because they hoped to emulate the courage and steadfastness
of its namesake.
The holiday of Purim falls on the first full moon after Tu B’Shevat, and Jews
of Yemenite background prepare almond crescent cookies to eat and to share. My
guess is that the Yemenites realized that nobody would get the connection between
the full moon and a round cookie that looks like every other cookie on the block,
so the crescent shape lets us know that it is in honor of the holiday’s position in
the calendar. Butter, brown sugar, and finely ground almonds make these cookies
delectable alone, or with tea.
While not necessarily a Purim dish, I think bourekas should be added to the list
of traditional holiday treats. They are a very popular Middle Eastern nosh and, since
they are indeed triangular in shape, they make a savory Hamantaschen to serve as
appetizers or, as Israelis do, with salad, olives, and leben or shamenet (alternatively,
plain yogurt).
Carol Goodman Kaufman, an organizational psychologist and writer, is the author of
Sins of Omission: The Jewish Community’s Reaction to Domestic Violence (Westview
Press, 2003). She serves on the National Board of Hadassah and chairs the Jewish
Community Relations Council of Central Massachusetts. Kaufman divides her time
between Worcester, West Stockbridge, and the world.
Sweet Dairy Couscous with Cinnamon and Almonds
This dish is very popular among Moroccan Jews at Purim. While you are certainly welcome to prepare the pasta the old-fashioned way, mixing semolina flour
with water, rolling the dough into tiny balls, sifting it over a sieve to remove
any excess flour, then steaming the final product over boiling water or a stew –
you don’t have to.
American supermarkets carry instant couscous in packages. Phew!
Ingredients:
1/2 cup butter, cut into small pieces
1 - 1/2 cups couscous
Pinch of salt
1 teaspoon of cinnamon
3/4 cup slivered almonds, toasted
1 cup mixed dried fruits, chopped
1 - 1/2 cups milk
1 cup hot milk or cream
Directions:
Cut butter in small chunks and let come to room temperature.
Combine couscous with a small pinch of salt in a medium saucepan. Shake pan
to spread couscous in an even layer.
Cut the butter into small pieces and distribute half of it over the couscous.
Bring the one and one-half cups of milk to a boil in a medium saucepan.
Pour milk evenly over couscous.
Immediately cover pan tightly and let stand for five minutes.
Place remaining butter pieces over top, cover, and let couscous stand one minute.
Fluff mixture with a fork, tossing until mixture is blended.
Spoon into individual bowls, and sprinkle cinnamon, dried fruits, and toasted
almonds over the couscous.
Serve with heated milk or cream.
This column is copyrighted © by Carol Goodman Kaufman and the Berkshire Jewish
Voice. It may not be reprinted or reproduced, in whole or in part, in any manner. All
rights reserved.
Persian Halva
The word “halva” means “sweet” in Arabic. This Persian recipe is very different
from that for the sesame candy familiar from Jewish American delicatessens.
More like a slightly gelatinous pudding than a candy, this dessert is customarily
included in baskets as part of the custom of sending mishloah manot to friends
and neighbors.
Ingredients:
2 tablespoons oil
2 cups grain white rice
4 cups water
1/2 cup sugar
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground cardamom
2 or 3 strands of saffron
1/2 cup boiling water
Directions:
Heat the oil in a large skillet over high heat and fry the rice until it is lightly
browned.
Transfer rice to a heavy-based saucepan, add water and all but one tablespoon of the sugar, and the spices except saffron.
Cook over very low heat, stirring frequently, until mixture is smooth, about
forty-five minutes.
In a bowl, mash the reserved sugar with the saffron and add boiling water.
Stir this mixture into the rice and continue to cook, stirring, for ten minutes.
Let cool, then pour into individual bowls and chill.
One type of ‘Hadassah’ or Persian halva
Affiliate with a Congregation.
You, the congregation, and the Jewish community benefit when you do
•You get the Jewish enrichment and spiritual nourishment you are seeking.
•You get the rabbinical support you need in times of joy and sorrow.
•You reconnect with your
community and your Jewish roots.
•You can participate in a variety
of services, classes, and programs that keep Judaism alive
and flourishing
in Berkshire County.
•The congregation is the institution that has
sustained the Jewish people for two millenia throughout
the world. Orthodox, Conservative, Reconstructionist, or Reform, the Jewish community wins when you join the congregation of your choice.
The Jewish Federation of the Berkshires encourages you to affiliate.
Donate, Volunteer, Make a Difference
Save the Date
Jewish Federation of the Berkshires’
Major Donors Breakfast
Sunday, July 15, 2012
9:30 a.m. to Noon
Cranwell Resort,
Spa and Golf Club
55 Lee Road, Lenox, MA
The Major Donors Breakfast is for
households who contribute a minimum of $1,000 to the Federation’s
2012 Annual Campaign.
For more information contact
(413) 442-4360, ext. 12
Invitations To Be Mailed
in May
Page 17
Federation:
Major Cuts Made, Fees Implemented
Campaign Declines for Third Year
The Jewish Federation of the Berkshires was forced to make reductions to
its programs and services and implement
new fees in light of its Annual Campaign
falling short of its goal for a third year
in a row.
The Older Adult Kosher Hot Meal Program will continue to operate three days
a week, Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday
through April 13; however between April
15 and November 23, the program will
be cut back to two days a week, serving
meals only on Monday and Thursday.
Those members of the community
receiving home delivered meals will continue to receive three meals a week, with
two meals being delivered on Mondays.
The program was also cut back in 2010
when it was forced to operate only two
days a week during the winter months.
It was returned to a three-day-a-week
program in 2011 by utilizing funds from
the Federation’s Older Adult Endowment,
but the use of these funds could not
sustain the program over the long term.
Programs continue to be offered following the Meal Program on Mondays
and Thursdays year-round. Tuesday
programs were eliminated in 2010. Programs, while previously offered free of
charge, now have a $3 fee for those who
don’t also attend the meal.
The Berkshire Jewish Voice will be
reduced to nine issues per year rather
than the ten previously published. As of
the 2012 Campaign, only those households who make a donation to the annual
campaign will be eligible to receive the
newspaper via home delivery.
The South County Lunch Program will
continue to take place monthly, with the
catered buffet cost increasing to $6 and
a new fee for those just attending the
programs at $3.
Federation staff reductions have been
implemented and co-sponsorship funding
reduced over the last three years; this in
addition to implementing the charging of
fees for programs and events that were
previously provided free of charge.
The Federation’s Board of Directors is
re-evaluating its campaign structure and
strategy with the hopes of reaching out to
more members of the Jewish Community
during the 2012 Campaign so additional
funds can be raised.
To make a donation to the Federation’s 2012 Campaign, please contact
Kathi Todd, Development Assistant at
(413) 442-4360, ext. 16. The 2012 Annual
Campaign will officially kickoff in June.
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Page 18
Volunteers are Vital!
“Skilled Volunteers for Israel”
By Susan Frisch Lehrer, Coordinator of Volunteers
Several years ago I wrote a column on Jewish volunteer organizations around
• Photographers and Videographers. Multiple non-profit organizations are seekthe world, particularly in the United States and in Israel. I recently learned about ing volunteer photographers willing to photograph for the organizations’ to use for
a new volunteer organization called “Skilled Volunteers for Israel” (www. skillvolwebsites, reports, fundraising, and newsletters. Times are flexible.
unteerisrael.org) which matches experienced professionals with meaningful skilled
volunteer opportunities in Israel.
• Event Planning, Marketing, and Publicity. A Jerusalem based non- profit
The website states: We link the expertise of North American Jews with the critical
working with Down Syndrome children is hosting an international conference in
needs of Israel through limited-term volunteer
Jerusalem in December and is seeking volunengagements. Volunteer to meet a need that’s
teers to assist with English marketing materibeen identified by our partners or we will design
als and event planning. Four to five hundred
an opportunity for you based on your skills and
professionals, parents, support workers, and
interests. We will connect older adults with exchildren will be attending this event which is
pertise in fields such as education, accounting,
held in Israel every ten years.
public relations, and marketing to Israeli nonprofits. Skilled volunteering is the practice of
• Public Relations. Help a Tel Aviv-based
using work-related knowledge or other expertise
non-profit with their public relations work
in a volunteer opportunity. Skilled Volunteers for
targeted to their overseas (English speaking)
Israel provides two primary avenues to designing
supporters. The organization is seeking assisyour skilled volunteer position. Select a project
tance in developing and refining its outreach
from our network of Israeli organizations that
strategies as well as building greater awareness
can use your particular professional expertise
about the organization’s programs, activities,
and matches your interests. Or, customize your
and community impact. This project includes
own position. Volunteers have already served as
identifying appropriate press and contact disEnglish tutors, accountants, grant writers and
tribution networks as well as writing publicity
medical triage in a refugee clinic.
materials.
Marla Gamoran, of Madison, Wisconsin,
started Skilled Volunteers for Israel during the
In addition, at a tuition cost, “Skilled Volsummer of 2010 when she saw a need to conunteers for Israel,” with co-sponsorship by the
nect “Baby Boomers” who were non-residents
Conservative Yeshiva of United Synagogue, is
with volunteer opportunities in Israel.
offering “Volunteer & Study,” which is comprised
A recent study from NYU reported that
of a half-day of study at the Yeshiva and a half
A Skilled Volunteer for Israel at work
almost one-half of active Jewish adults in the
day of volunteering with an Israeli non-profit
United States are “Baby Boomers” and are
organization in Jerusalem. The program is open
looking for meaningful opportunities when they retire.
to college students and adults of all learning levels and religious backgrounds who
Gamoran stated that she “found that there are many internships and service want to enrich their knowledge and contribute their experience and skills to Israeli
programs for younger folks, but found there were limited opportunities for adults society. The program will run for two sessions: Session I takes place from July 1 to
to apply their professional skills to volunteering in Israel. Our volunteers are retired 19; Session II from July 22 to August 9. Participants may sign up for either one or
and working professionals, academics, and teachers who seek to make an impact by
both summer sessions.
volunteering with the spirit of civic participation and community service.”
The following list is just a sampling of the types of volunteer matches that can
If you are planning a visit to Israel and would like to volunteer, check out Skilled
be made.
Volunteers for Israel. You’ll have one of the most rewarding experiences you’ve ever had!
If you are interested in applying, please complete the “Skilled Volunteers for Israel”
Special note: Speaking of volunteering, the Jewish Federation of the Berkshires
intake form found on the website and start the match process. The following list is
will once again be conducting “Joe’s Project,” the delivery of Purim Hamantashen
just a sample of the volunteer opportunities available.
to all of our older adults who are living in senior housing as well as those who live
alone. Volunteers will be needed to bake and pack before Purim and deliver before
• A social service non-profit in Nahariya is seeking social workers, psychologists,
or on the holiday – Thursday, March 8. If you are available to help out in any way,
and teachers to work with children in trauma. In addition to individuals, they are
please contact me.
interested in forming a group of professionals willing to be trained and who would
Thank you!
be prepared to travel to Nahariya to support children and families in time of war or
other crisis.
B’shalom,
Susan Frisch Lehrer
Coordinator of Volunteers
(413) 442-4360, ext. 14
fb.volunteer@verizon.net
Roberts & Associates Realty, Inc.
48 Housatonic St., Lenox • (413) 637-4200 • Sales & Rentals
Pamela Roberts, CBR®, CRB, CRS, GRI, ePRO®....637-4952
Iris Cohen, CBR®. ...............................................443-1073
Susan Foulds......................................................464-1887
Helen Gasparian, CBR®.....................................243-4425
Barbara Meisel Greenbaum, CBR®.................446-1472
Barbara K. Greenfeld, ABR, C-CREC, CRS,
GREEN, RSPS, SRES................................................. 442-9108
Vivi Mannuzza, CBR®........................................243-5795
Anne Meczywor, ASR, CBR®, SRES, RSPS............... 446-2179
Tiffany Roberts, CBR®, ePRO®. ..........................637-4205
Lisa Sauer, SFR®. ................................................298-4766
Dia Trancynger, ABR, CRS.................................637-1822
www.berkshirehouses.com
Readers!
Interested In Receiving
the Berkshire Jewish Voice
On-Line Instead Of In The Mail?
Please email Arlene D. Schiff at
arlene.schiff@jewishberkshires.org
Direct from New York’s Diamond District
137 North Street, Pittsfield, MA • 413.236.9300
www.unusualweddingrings.com
Gayle & Herman Rotenberg
Page 19
Theater Trip Sponsored by
The Jewish Federation of the Berkshires
Barrington Stage Company’s
“Fiddler on the Roof”
A Summer Celebration
of Jewish Music
Paul Green and Robert Scherr, Co-Directors
Wednesday · June 20 · 2 p.m.
$36 · Orchestra Seating
Reserve tickets by
Wednesday, June 13
Call Nancy Maurice Rogers,
Program Director
(413) 442-4360, ext. 15
Enjoy a “Talk-Back”
with Barrington Stage Company
Following the Production
Tickets will be distributed at
Barrington Stage Company on the
Day of the Performance
Jewish/African-American Fusion
With Special Guest Charles Neville of The Neville Brothers
Tuesday, May 29, at 7:30 p.m.
Congregation Knesset Israel, 16 Colt Road, Pittsfield $18
The Relationships Between Jewish and
African-American Music
A Lecture and Performance
Wednesday, May 30, at 7:30 p.m.
Taft Recital Hall, Berkshire Music School, Wendell Avenue, Pittsfield • Free
The Chamber Music of Jewish Composers
Wednesday, June 6, at 7:30 p.m.
Hevreh of Southern Berkshire, 270 State Road, Great Barrington • $12
Save the Date
A Klezmer Evening with Paul Green & Friends
Tuesday, June 12, at 7:30 p.m.
Third Annual
Jewish Women’s
Foundation Luncheon
Temple Anshe Amunim, 26 Broad Street, Pittsfield • $12
A Jewish Choral Concert
With Special Guests The Cantilena Singers
under the Direction of Andrea Goodman
Friday, June 15, at 7:30 p.m.
Hevreh of Southern Berkshire, 270 State Road, Great Barrington • Free,
part of “Shabbat Across the Berkshires”
A Klezmer Afternoon with
Paul Green & Friends
Monday, June 11, 2012
10:30 a.m.
Cranwell Resort, Spa &
Golf Club, Lenox, MA
Sunday, June 17, at 3 p.m.
Congregation Beth Israel, 53 Lois Street, North Adams • $12
Co-sponsored by Jewish Federation of the Berkshires, Congregation Beth
Israel, Congregation Ahavath Sholom, Congregation Knesset Israel, Hevreh of
Southern Berkshire, Temple Anshe Amunim, the Boston Symphony Orchestra Berkshire Education and Community Programs, The Cantilena Singers,
Berkshire County musicians, and Charles Neville.
For information call
(413) 442-4360, ext. 12
The program is sponsored in part by a grant from the Pittsfield Cultural
Council and the Harold Ginspoon Foundation
The Jewish Women’s Foundation of Berkshire County, under the auspices of the Jewish
Federation of the Berkshires, is dedicated to doing tikkun olam by strengthening Jewish
values, family and community. It identifies and funds needs of the local Jewish community through the generosity of women.
"We saw that through Create a
Jewish Legacy, we could meet our
obligation to start teaching our
son the importance of taking
care of the Jewish community."
- Sarah and Lawrence Klein
Photo by David Verzi
What will your legacy be?
www.jewishlegacywesternmass.org
For information, contact Scott Kaplan:
413-732-9994, skaplan@jewishwesternmass.org
or Sue Kline: 413-439-1960, sue@hgf.org
For more information about creating your Jewish Legacy,
please contact Arlene D. Schiff at (413) 442-4360, ext. 12
or arlene.schiff@jewishberkshires.org
For further information contact (413) 442-4360, ext. 12,
or arlene.schiff@jewishberkshires.org
Page 20
Support Today – Secure Tomorrow
The “Legacy Circle”
We thank the following people for including the Jewish Federation of the Berkshires in their estate planning:
Anonymous (7)
Ed Abrahams
Barbara Bashevkin
Robert Bashevkin
Robert Berend
Shelley Berend
Helene Berke
Lawrence Berke
Lee and Sydelle Blatt
Betty Braun
Cipora Brown
Barbara Cohen
Mark Cohen
C. Jeffrey and Judith Cook
Sheila K. Donath
Melva Eidelberg
Diana and Stanley Feld
Steven Feiner
Stuart M. Fischman
Lynn and William Foggle
Eiran Gazit
Jordan and Laura Green
Harold Grinspoon
Ellen Heffan
Ed Jaffe, of blessed memory
Howard and Nancy Kaufman
Lawrence Klein
Sarah Klein
Arthur Kriger, of blessed memory
Fred and Brenda Landes
Andrew S. Levine
Toby H. Levine
Erna Lindner-Gilbert
Amy Lindner-Lesser
Helen Maislen
Ellen Masters
Stuart Masters
Robert Newman, of blessed memory
Arlene D. Schiff
Gary Schiff
Stella Schecter
Stephen and Deborah Schreier
Martin Silver
Sylvia Silverberg, in memory of her
husband Jerome Silverberg
Richard A. Simons and Marcie
Greenfield Simons
Mark and Elisa Snowise
Harold Sparr
Lisa Fletcher-Udel
Edward Udel
Michael and Joan Ury
Mark and Judy Usow
Henry Voremberg and Beate
Voremberg, of blessed memory
Alexandra Warshaw
Florence Wineberg
Jeffrey Goldwasser and Jonquil
Wolfson
By joining the “Legacy Circle” your good deeds and Jewish values will live on and Jewish needs will continue to
receive the resources you have provided over the years. Questions? Call Arlene D. Schiff at (413) 442-4360, ext. 12.
Get Cuffed!
By Deborah Wineberg, Pastoral Nurse
“Get Cuffed Berkshires: A Blood Pressure Reduction Program,” Berkshire
Health Systems’ Accent on Health Department, and the Tri-Town Health Department were recently awarded a grant to
help address hypertension (high blood
pressure) in Berkshire County.
“Get Cuffed Berkshires” will bring
existing outreach and public health services together to organize evidence-based
initiatives.
The Problem: Hypertension is a silent
killer. Every thirty-nine seconds, an adult
dies of heart attack, stroke, or other cardiovascular disease. In general, the lower
one’s blood pressure, the lower the risk
of heart disease and stroke.
The facts:
• One in three adults has high blood
pressure.
• One in three adults with high blood
pressure does not get treatment.
• One in two adults with high blood pressure does not have it under control.
Many people do not know they have
or how to control high blood pressure.
Nationally, nearly sixty million Americans
are at risk for hypertension and prehypertension, largely driven by lifestyle
factors: overweight, physical inactivity,
and smoking.
In Berkshire County, approximately
seventeen percent of working people have
high blood pressure, which is defined as
a reading greater than 140 over 90, and
an additional forty percent are at risk
for high blood pressure. Populations
with limited access to care, seniors, the
homeless, and those with mental illness
or disability have an even greater risk.
High sodium (salt) intake raises blood
pressure. Most adults should limit sodium intake to between 1,500 and 2,300
milligrams a day. For more information
on the harmful effects of high sodium
intake, including elevated blood pressure,
visit www.cdc.gov/salt/
The Get Cuffed Berkshires campaign’s
three goals:
• Implementing a countywide education program aimed at changing the
social norm around lifestyle and personal
behaviors. Check the schedule on PCTV
for programs on high blood pressure.
• Providing targeted clinical interventions for high risk people, expanding
access to screening and monitoring, and
providing 1,000 automatic blood pres-
sure cuffs to high risk individuals. The
“Get Cuffed” schedule of blood pressure
screenings in the community is printed
in The Berkshire Eagle twice a month.
• Initiating local policy for dietary
sodium reduction and healthier eating
options in food service establishments
throughout the county
Automatic blood pressure cuffs are
available free of charge through the grant.
If you have been diagnosed with high
blood pressure, and are having difficulty
in getting your blood pressure to goal,
home blood pressure monitoring might
be helpful. Please call (413)447-3052 for
more information as to eligibility requirements and availability.
For more information on “Get Cuffed
Berkshires,” visit www.berkshirehealthsystems.org.
The Get Cuffed Berkshires’ program
is beneficial. I encourage people having
issues with their blood pressure to see if
you are eligible to participate.
It is important to know your blood
pressure reading. Blood pressure is recorded as two numbers.
The first number is the systolic blood
pressure. This measures the force of blood
in your arteries as your heart beats. The
second number is the diastolic blood
pressure which measures the force of the
blood in your arteries when your heart
rests between beats.
Your blood pressure fluctuates at various times of the day. Blood pressure is
higher at work and drops when you are
at home. It is lowest when you are asleep.
Normally there is a spike in pressure
when you wake up from sleep.
Your body usually compensates and
keeps the pressure at a healthy level.
When readings stay above normal it can
indicate a problem somewhere within
the body.
With your health care provider’s
guidance you can improve your blood
pressure and overall health. Below are
the categories for blood pressure levels
for adults 18 years and older per the
U.S. Department of Health and Human
Services and National Heart, Lung, and
Blood Institute:
NORMAL: < 120/<80
PREHYPERTENSION: 120-139/80-89
HYPERTENSION: 140 or >/90 or >
There are some changes you can start
to make in your daily living that may
help in reducing the risks of developing
hypertension or help to lower an already
existing elevated blood pressure.
Exercise. It is recommended to do
moderate activity for about thirty minutes
most days of the week. Of course always
consult with your health care provider if
you are beginning a new exercise regime.
Drink water before, during, and after
you exercise. Your efforts pay off doubly
as exercise is a mood enhancer and it will
help to relieve any stress you may have.
The following are activities/amount of
calories a 150 pound person can burn
doing the activity for thirty minutes:
floor cleaning, 89 calories; raking leaves,
171 calories ; car washing, 153 calories;
window cleaning, 153 calories.
Keep your weight at a healthy level.
An increase in weight can raise your blood
pressure. Reduce your portion size. Eat
using the Dietary Guidelines 2010 – MyPlate at each meal.
One half of our plate should consist of
fruits and vegetables; one fourth should
have food that contain grains; the other
fourth section consist of protein foodsleaner meats, poultry, beans, nuts.
The dairy section outside of the plate
should be fat-free or low-fat milk, yogurt,
cheese.
Eating in this manner helps you feel
full and discourages overeating. Snacks
are important and should supplement
your diet. An example of snacks rich in
protein are: mixed nuts, celery with peanut
butter, or hummus with wheat crackers.
Additionally, you should become an
informed consumer when you purchase
foods. It is important to limit sodium
intake not to exceed 1,500mg-2,300mg
per day.
One teaspoon of table salt equals
2325mg of sodium. Processed foods
are very high in sodium content. Read
packaging labels. Pay special attention
to the “serving size” and “amount per
serving-mg.”
When purchasing prepackaged and
canned foods, listed ingredients such as
monosodium glutamate (MSG), sodium
chloride, baking soda (sodium bicarbonate), baking powder, sodium nitrite, and sodium sulfite indicate a presence of sodium.
Search for words such as “low sodium”
(140mg or less), “sodium-free” (less than
5mg), and “unsalted.” The label “reduced
sodium” means that the food has to have
twenty-five percent less sodium when
compared to a regular food item.
An example: regular noodle soup has
1000mg of sodium, “reduced sodium”
canned noodle soup will have 750mg.
This is still an extraordinary amount of
“reduced sodium,” so do not be fooled
by this label!
Flavor your cooking using herbs, spices,
and flavors such as lemon pepper, ginger,
balsamic vinegar, marjoram, mint, sage,
citrus peels, or lemon juice. Do not add salt
when cooking and keep the salt shaker off
the table when eating your meals.
Limit eating out. Generally speak-
ing, meals in restaurants can be higher
in sodium content. Be aware that some
antacids contain sodium.
Don’t smoke! Injury to the blood vessels can occur causing an increase risk for
heart disease and stroke. Use alcohol in
moderation. Women should have no more
than one drink per day and men should
limit themselves to two drinks per day.
Lower your risks, increase your activity, and keep some raw, cut-up vegetables
in your refrigerator for easy snacking.
Your heart and loved ones will be
grateful.
In the spirit of mishloah manot, sending gifts of food to friends on Purim, let
us remember our friends and neighbors
who are in need of company. Pay a visit
and spread your joy!
Debbie Wineberg, RN, serves the Berkshire
Jewish Community as a health counselor
and advocate, referral agent to resources
within the community, and collaborator of
health education and spiritual health care
programming. Her position is funded by the
Jewish Women’s Foundation of Berkshire
County, under the auspices of the Federation. She can be reached at 413-442-4360,
ext. 21 or jfb.nurse@verizon.net.
As individual circumstances vary, it is recommended that you always consult your
health care provider before undertaking
any nutritional or medical regimen.
Page 21
Senior Corner
The Jewish Federation of the Berkshires offers an Older Adult Lunch Program in conjunction with
Elder Services of Berkshire County. Kosher hot meals are served every Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday at noon at
Congregation Knesset Israel, 16 Colt Road, Pittsfield. Open to members of the general public.
Reservations are required to attend meals, as space is limited. Call prior to 9 a.m.
When making a reservation for the lunch program, please inform Cindy Bell-Deane,
Director of Food Services, if a person in your party has a food allergy.
Suggested donation: $2 (under age 60, $7).
For reservations and information: Cindy Bell-Deane, Director of Food Services, (413) 442-2200.
Funding provided by the B’nai Tzedek Youth Foundation and the Federation’s Annual Campaign.
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of the Berkshires
senior Menus & activities
Menus subject to change without notice
ALL 1 P.M. ACTIVITIES are at a charge of $3 (unless noted higher) for those who solely attend the program.
February
Monday, 20............. Tuna noodle casserole, salad,
potato bread, cherry pie, coffee, tea, and milk
for coffee. At 1 p.m., “Moving Into Well-Being,”
with registered somatic movement therapist,
Cheryl Luft.
Tuesday, 21............. Salisbury steak, split pea soup,
mashed potatoes, mixed vegetables, whole
wheat bread, pears, and tea.
Thursday, 23........... Chicken cacciatore, noodles,
salad, Italian bread, pineapple, and tea. At 1
p.m., film, “Ahead of Her Time: The Extraordinary Journey of Ruth Gruber,” with discussion.
Monday, 27............. Vegetarian chili in corn bread
“bowl,” salad, applesauce, oatmeal raisin cookies, coffee, tea, and milk for coffee. At 1 p.m.,
“The Process of Aging” with therapist Maggie
Bittman.
Tuesday, 28............. Vegetable lasagna, split pea
soup, breadsticks, peanut butter cookies, coffee,
tea, and milk for coffee.
March
Thursday, 1............. Stir fried chicken, hot & sour
soup with rice noodles, Oriental blend vegetables, rice, multi-grain bread, pineapple, and tea.
At 1 p.m., “Hearing Loss and What to Do About
It,” with Stephen White, Ph. D., co-owner of
Berkshire Speech & Hearing.
Tuesday, 13.............. Turkish lentil stew, rice, salad,
multi-grain bread, tea biscuits or honey cake, and
tea.
Thursday, 15........... Macaroni and cheese, tomato
soup, mixed vegetables, cranberry muffins, cookies, coffee, tea, and milk for coffee. At 1 p.m.,
“Ageless Grace” chair-based exercise technique
with certified teacher, Jane Rosen.
Monday, 19............. Chicken pot pie, rice, salad,
whole wheat bread, chef’s choice of fruit, and
tea. For those already enrolled: at 1 p.m., third of
six sessions of “My Life, My Health,” with Roger
Suters and Sandy Alfonso of Elder Services of
Berkshire County.
Tuesday, 20............. London broil, vegetable soup,
mixed vegetables, sautéed onions, rosemary potatoes, potato bread, apple dumplings, and tea.
Thursday, 22........... Dairy leftover day and tea. For
those already enrolled: at 1 p.m., fourth of six sessions of “My Life, My Health,” with Roger Suters
and Sandy Alfonso of Elder Services of Berkshire
County.
Monday, 26............. Meat leftover day and tea. At 1
p.m., documentary, “Date With A Queen,” celebrates Hadassah’s one-hundredth anniversary,
with film maker Ruth Heuberger.
Tuesday, 27............. Meat leftover day and tea.
Monday, 5................ Meat loaf, Moroccan vegetable
soup, mashed potatoes, peas & carrots, salad, rye
bread, tropical fruit salad, and tea. At 1 p.m., “My
Life, My Health,” with Roger Suters and Sandy
Alfonso of Elder Services of Berkshire County.
Pre-registration required by calling (413) 4424360, ext. 15. First session of six part series at $18;
participants obliged to attend all six sessions.
Thursday, 29........... Dairy leftover day and tea. At 1
p.m., “Ageless Grace” chair-based exercise technique with certified teacher Jane Rosen.
Tuesday, 6............... Roasted chicken, red and green
cabbage soup, kasha varnishkes, green beans,
rye bread, peaches, and tea.
Thursday, 5............. Closed for Passover Preparation
Thursday, 8............. Fresh fish, vegetable Biryani,
beets, salad, scones, pudding, coffee, tea, and
milk for coffee. At 1 p.m., “Mordechai and Haman: Purim in Many Times and Many Lands,”
with Rabbi Joshua Breindel of Temple Anshe
Amunim, Pittsfield.
Monday, 12............. Open faced turkey sandwiches,
mushroom barley soup, sweet potato kugel,
broccoli, whole wheat bread, pears, and tea.
For those already enrolled: at 1 p.m., second of
Live
Generously!
Berkshire County.
April
Monday, 2............... Closed for Passover Preparation
Tuesday, 3 .............. Closed for Passover Preparation
Monday, 9............... Passover meatloaf, matzo ball
soup, oven browned potatoes, broccoli, matza,
applesauce, and tea. For those already enrolled:
at 1 p.m., fifth of six sessions of “My Life, My
Health,” with Roger Suters and Sandy Alfonso of
Elder Services of Berkshire County.
Tuesday, 10............. Roasted chicken, tzimmes, asparagus, salad, matza, macaroons, and tea.
Thursday, 12...........Passover meat pie, red pepper
soup, vegetable medley, salad, matza, and tea.
For those already enrolled: at 1 p.m., final of
Berkshire County.
Give A Kosher Meal To Someone You Know
Do you know an elder recovering from illness or injury? Why not arrange to have a kosher hot lunch
delivered to their doorstep? Do you know a senior citizen who frequents the lunch program offered at
the Jewish Federation of the Berkshires? Why not give lunches as a gift? It’s inexpensive ($2), easy,
and certain to be appreciated. For more information, call (413) 442-2200.
Page 22
national and world news
obituaries
Remy Cotton Kirshner,
17, artistic and creative
LENOX – Remy Cotton Kirshner,
17, of Housatonic Street, died
Friday, December 30, as the
result of a motor vehicle accident in Lee.
Born in Pittsfield on October
22, 1994, the beloved daughter
of Kevin and Barbara Cotton
Kirshner, Ms. Kirshner attended
Lenox schools and at the time
of her death was a junior at
Lenox Memorial Middle and
High School.
She was a gentle spirit, whose
artistic nature and creativity
was expressed through her love
of music and dance, especially
hip-hop, drawing, and writing.
She will be remembered for her
smile, kindness, love of friends
and family, free spirit, and personal inner strength.
Ms. Kirshner is survived by
her parents; a loving sister, Alix
Kirshner of Lenox; and cherished
grandparents, Henry and Linda
Kirshner of Boynton Beach, FL.
She was pre-deceased by her
paternal grandmother, Ruth
Kirshner; her maternal grandmother, Miriam Cotton; and her
loving aunts and uncles Helen
and Max Benjamin and Ann and
Louis Kulin.
Funeral services were held on
Tuesday, January 2, in Lenox
with Rabbi Deborah Zecher, of
Hevreh of Southern Berkshire,
officiating.
Kenneth Monroe Nash,
80, supporter of many
local causes
PITTSFIELD – Kenneth Monroe
Nash, 80, passed away on Sunday, January 1.
Busy to the end, Mr. Nash is
remembered as a dedicated and
entertaining patriarch, innovative businessman, staunch supporter of many local causes and
companies, and having a wise,
witty, and watchful presence.
Mr. Nash began his business
career working with his father,
A. Leo Nash, dealing with scrap
materials, went on to operate the
A. Leo Nash Steel Corporation,
and later took on the business
of developing and managing real
estate, including Nash Realty
Trust and ALNASCO in Pittsfield.
His passions were flying,
being a volunteer pilot for
“Angel Flight,” an organization
dedicated to transporting sick
children for treatment and care,
Rotary International, travel, and
the arts.
Mr. Nash is survived by his
wife, Suzanne; their sons, Seth,
Mitchell, and A. Leo; daughters-in-law Mary, Caitlin, and
Victoria; grandchildren Dylan,
Jake, Chloe, Martine, Jasper,
and Lucy; brother, Melvin, and
his wife, Susan, and a large
extended family.
Evelyn Ruth Geller
Kravitz, 82, enthusiastic
teacher
BREWSTER – Evelyn Ruth Geller
Kravitz, of West Hartford, CT,
died Wednesday, January 4, at
Pleasant Bay Nursing & Rehabilitation Center, Brewster.
Born in Pittsfield on April 12,
1929, to Arthur and Reba Geller,
Mrs. Kravitz attended Pittsfield
public schools, Bridgewater
State Teachers’ College, and the
University of Massachusetts,
prior to receiving her Master of
Education from the University
of Hartford.
She was an enthusiastic
teacher with a passion for
lively debate, sports, literature,
and music. She was a lifelong
member of Congregation Knesset Israel.
Mrs. Kravitz was married to
the late Walter Kravitz. She is
survived by their six children
and their spouses, Robert and
Susanna Kravitz of Canton, CT;
Miriam and Eric Kravitz-Roth
of Orleans; Karen Davidson of
Woodmere, NY; Stephen and
Lisa Kravitz of New Hartford,
CT; Laurie Wood of Colchester,
CT; and Amy and Rick Lohrer
of Block Island, RI. She also
leaves nineteen grandchildren;
twenty-two great-grandchildren;
and Diana Geller, wife of her
beloved late brother Jerome,
and their two sons and three
grandchildren.
A private graveside funeral
service, led by Tsvi Greenfield,
was held on Thursday, January
5 at the Congregation Knesset
Israel Cemetery, Pittsfield.
‘Forum of Russian Jewry’
Formed
George Warren Carey, 85,
professor of Urban
Planning and Policy
OLD CHATHAM, NY – George
Warren Carey passed away on
Tuesday, January 10, at Columbia Memorial Hospital.
Born January 1, 1927, in
the Bronx, Mr. Carey was the
son of the late George Anthony
and Florence Kearns Carey.
He received his B.A., M.A., and
Ph.D. from Columbia University
and served in the Army Air Corps
from 1944 through 1946.
He was a professor of Urban
Geography at Columbia and a
professor of Urban Planning and
Policy at Rutgers University. Not
only was he a scholar but a true
“Renaissance man” with a love
of music, philosophy, poetry,
ancient history, Judaism, and
most of all family. He was a gentle
spirit with a strong commitment
to social justice.
Mr. Carey is survived by his
wife Janet; children, James and
Ann (Barry) Carey, Alana Fisher,
Conan Carey, Maura Carey
Marlin, and Michael Marlin; and
grandchildren, Forrest Carey,
Ryan Carey, Moses Marlin, Tami
Carey, Charles Fisher, Caryl
Fisher, Norah Carey Burke, and
Hannah Carey.
Funeral services were held
on Friday, January 13 at The
Chatham Synagogue Netivot
Torah. Interment followed at the
Chatham Rural Cemetery.
Alexander Levin, (left) President of the newly established ‘World
Forum of Russian Jewry,’ with Israel’s Ambassador to the UN Ron
Prosor
NEW YORK (SPECIAL) – A new
international Jewish organization, the “World Forum of Russian Jewry” was announced
in late January at the United
Nations with the participation
of nearly six-hundred American
Russian-speaking Jews.
The newly-established organization was declared by Alexander L. Levin, president of the
Greater Kiev Jewish Community,
who will serve as President.
The forum will act as a bridge
between East and West, an intermediary between the United
States, Russia, and other countries - with the primary goal of
influencing governments to join
the world’s fight against Iran.
“I have the honor to announce today that we, the
Russian-speaking Jews of the
world, have established a new
organization, the “World Forum
of Russian-Speaking Jewry,’”
declared Levin. “Our goal is to
bring together Russian-speaking
Jews from around the world in
order to save ourselves and other
people from the next catastrophe
and genocide, to preserve world
peace, and protect the State of
Israel.”
The new organization’s
launch was organized by with
the support of Ron Prosor, Israel’s Ambassador to the United
Nations.
In his keynote speech, Levin
spoke of the new World Forum’s aims to combat modern
Anti-Semitism, xenophobia, and
Holocaust denial. To that point,
Levin emphatically brought up
the increasingly worrisome issue
of Iranian nuclear aspirations.
“Standing here on this stage,
said Levin, “I would like to remind you that there is today a
member country of the United
Nations that is currently on
the road to obtaining a nuclear
weapon who’s President, without
blinking an eye, tells humanity
that the Holocaust is a deception
that it never occurred.”
Stressed Levin, “We, Russianspeaking Jews from the far-flung
corners of the Earth, stand
ready to unite against him and
the nuclear program of Iran. We
will not let another Holocaust
engulf us!”
See the
Berkshire Jewish Voice
in COLOR
at
Page 23
Filipinos Integrating Israeli Society
By Mati Wagner
TEL AVIV (JTA) – With eyes
closed, it would have been difficult to guess that the female
voice with the amazing range
singing a Hebrew classic was
a shy-looking, 11-year -old
Filipina.
But there was Kathleen
Eligado performing Miri Aloni’s
“Ballad of Hedva and Shlomik”
before a prime-time television
audience of a million Israelis.
Eligado, born in Israel to Filipino
migrant worker parents, is one
of the stars of the popular Israeli
show “Music School,” a kind of
“American Idol” for kids.
Her performance gave new
meaning to the quintessentially
Israeli song. Lyrics written to
describe the culture shock of
leaving the kibbutz for the city
– “I’m alone in a strange city,
as if I have no choice” - seemed
in Eligado’s rendition to be the
blues of a Third World immigrant
who ends up in Tel Aviv.
Yet for Eligado and thousands
of other children of foreign workers from the Philippines and
elsewhere, Israel is now home
– for many, the only home they
have ever known. Some came to
Israel as children; others were
born in the country. Tel Aviv
alone is home to an estimated
3,600 children of foreign workers
and asylum seekers, according
to the city’s municipality data.
As they integrate into Israeli
society, the children of foreign
workers are crafting identities
that are similar yet distinct from
those of the country’s Jewish
majority.
Of all the nationalities represented among migrant workers,
Filipinos are the quickest to
integrate, said Tamar Schwartz,
a social worker at Mesila Aid
and Information Center for the
Foreign Community in Tel Aviv.
“Compared to other migrants,
Filipinos usually speak articulate English, often are well-educated and have a strong family
ethic that emphasizes discipline
and respect for elders,” said
Schwartz. “And incidents of child
abuse are low. As a result, there
is less of a gap between them
and Israeli society, which makes
it easier for them to integrate.”
But while Filipinos excel at
integrating into Israeli society,
the biggest challenge is avoiding
deportation.
In 2006, under pressure from
advocacy groups, the Israeli
government – in what was billed
as a one-time-only measure –
provided about 900 children
with permanent residency.
Their close relatives – parents
and siblings – received temporary residency, which would
become permanent only after
the children served in the Israel
Defense Forces.
Among the children who received permanent residency in
‘06 is Jewellri Joy, 18, now serving in the IDF Police Corps. Like
many children of foreign workers
living in Tel Aviv, the Israeli-born
Joy, whose mother is from the
Philippines and whose father
is from Thailand, attended the
Bialik-Rogozin School.
Most of her fellow
students were children
of foreign workers and
asylum seekers, along
with immigrants from
Ethiopia or the former
Soviet Union and a few
native Israelis. Still,
Joy said that growing
up in south Tel Aviv
made her “totally” Israeli.
While her family
attends Mass at St.
Anthony’s Church in
Jaffa and celebrates
Christian holidays,
not Jewish ones, she
said she would have
no problem dating or
Kathleen Eligado, a star in Israel
marrying an Israeli
Jew. Joy said that one
of the main reasons
she enlisted in the IDF was to to receive their residency status.
About four-hundred children
provide her family with permawere rejected and thus slated
nent residency.
In 2010, the Israeli govern- for deportation.
Unlike Joy, the majority of
ment approved the recommenchildren of foreign workers have
dations of an inter-ministerial
committee to provide residency yet to receive any sort of legal
to an additional group of children residency status, said Schwartz.
Janelle Pancho, 16, born in
and their families. To qualify,
the child had to speak fluent Israel to Filipino parents, wanted
to join her eleventh-grade classHebrew and be enrolled in the
mates at Herzliya’s Harishonim
first through twelfth grades of a
High School on a trip to Poland
state school during the 2010-11
to visit Auschwitz. But without
school year. The child’s parents
had to have entered Israel legally, residency status, she cannot
leave the country.
even if they had since overstayed
“I went to the local Interior
their work permit.
Ministry
office to get a special
About eight-hundred children were said to have met the visa, but the clerk rejected my
request,” recalled Pancho. “Then
criteria, but they are still waiting
she asked, ‘Why haven’t you
been expelled from the country?”
Pancho said she thought that
she had not received residency
because of a bureaucratic mixup.
Unlike children of migrants
in South Tel Aviv, Pancho attended schools where the vast
majority of her fellow students
were Jewish Israelis.
“Even though I am not Jewish, I feel a part of it,” she said.
“I’ve been invited over to my
friends’ houses for Shabbat and
Jewish holidays. And we even
celebrate Passover at home,
filipinos in israel,
continued on page 25
Berkshire Jewish Congregations and Organizations
The Berkshire Minyan
Lay-Led Traditional/Egalitarian Minyan
Held at Hevreh of Southern Berkshire
270 State Road, Great Barrington
Contact: (413) 274-1034
Rabba Kaya Stern-Kaufman, Coordinator
SERVICES: Saturdays at 9:30 a.m.
Chabad of the Berkshires
450 South Street, Pittsfield
499-9899
RabbiBerkshire@msn.com
www.jewishberkshires.com
Rabbi Levi Y. Volovik
the chatham synagogue
Route 28, Box 51, Chatham, NY 12037
(518) 392-0701
www.chathamsynagogue.org
info@chathamsynagogue.org
SERVICES
Saturday – 9:30 a.m.
CONGREGATION AHAVATH
SHOLOM
(Reconstructionist)
North Street, Great Barrington
528-4197
www.ahavathsholom.com
Spiritual Leader Barbara Cohen
Guy Pancer, President
SERVICES
Fridays – 5:45 p.m. Erev Shabbat
Saturdays – 9:30 a.m.
Congregation Anshe Emeth
(Conservative)
240 Joslen Blvd., Hudson, NY 12534
(518) 828-6848
www.congregationansheemeth.net.
congregationansheemeth@yahoo.com
Rabbi Daniel Fried
Barry Margolin, President
Services
Friday evening – 7:30 p.m.
Saturday morning – 9:30 a.m.
CONGREGATION BETH EL
107 Adams Street, Bennington, VT 05201
(802) 442-9645
www.CBEVermont.org
office@CBEVermont.net
Rabbi Joshua Boettiger
Lance Allen Wang, President
SERVICES
Saturdays –10 a.m.
CONGREGATION BETH ISRAEL
(Reform)
53 Lois Street, North Adams 01247
663-5830
www.cbiweb.org
rebrachel@cbiweb.org; office@cbiweb.org
Rabbi Rachel Barenblat, Interim
Grace Bowen, President
SERVICES
1st Friday – Potluck Dinner 5:30 p.m.;
Family Services 6:30 p.m.
All Saturday Services – 9:30 a.m.;
11:00 a.m., Kiddush and Torah Study
CONGREGATION KNESSET
ISRAEL
(Conservative)
16 Colt Road, Pittsfield
445-4872
www.knessetisrael.org
office@knessetisrael.org
Rabbi David Weiner
Ed Udel, President
SERVICES
Friday evenings – 5:45 p.m.
Saturday mornings – 9:30 a.m.
HEVREH OF SOUTHERN
BERKSHIRE
(Reform)
270 State Road, Great Barrington
528-6378
www.hevreh.org
Rabbi Deborah Zecher
Rabbi Ari Rosenberg, Assistant Rabbi
Amy Lindner-Lesser, President
SERVICES
Fridays – 7:30 p.m., except first Friday of
month, 6 p.m., “pre-neg” – 5:30 p.m.
Saturday – 10 a.m., except on weeks
with Bar or Bat Mitzvah
Torah study – 9 a.m., service – 10 a.m.
Services and Torah study weekly.
NASSAU Jewish Community
Center & Synagogue
Route 20, Box 670,
Nassau, NY 12123
(518) 766-9831
Rabbi Debora Gordon, ritual director
Bruce Huttner, President
SERVICES
TEMPLE ANSHE AMUNIM
(Reform)
26 Broad Street, Pittsfield
442-5910
www.templeansheamunim.org
templeoffice@rnetworx.com or
templeadmin@rnetworx.com
Rabbi Joshua L Breindel
Rabbi Harold I. Salzmann, Rabbi Emeritus
Howard Shapiro, President
SERVICES:
Fridays – 5:30 p.m., sometimes 7 p.m.
(call to confirm)
Rides available, please call
three days in advance.
TEMPLE ISRAEL OF
CATSKILL
(Reform)
Route 385 (230 Spring Street)
south of Route 23
PO Box 607
Catskill, NY 12414
(518) 943-5758
www.templeisraelofcatskill.org
Rabbi Brian Daniels
Cantor Elizabeth Goldmann
Agie Seife, President
SERVICES
2nd Friday of each month,
April-November, 7:30 p.m.
B’NAI B’RITH LODGE, NO. 326
Bob Shindler
443-0231; kizayde@aol.com
JEWISH WAR VETERANS
Bob Shindler, Commander
443-0231; kizayde@aol.com
BERKSHIRE HILLS HADASSAH
26 Broad Street
(413) 442-6758
Joanna Fribush and
Marcia Tuler, Co-Presidents
Call for office hours.
JEWISH FEDERATION OF THE
BERKSHIRES
442-4360
jfb.berkshirevoice@verizon.net
Arlene D. Schiff, Executive Director
Michael Ury, President
SINAI ACADEMY OF THE
BERKSHIRES
499-4167
www.sinai-academy.com
Esther Benari-Altmann, Head of School
Robyn Rosen, President
Everyone is welcome to attend
services and events at any of the
organizations listed here. Please call
the individual organizations with
inquiries about membership.
Page 24
Opinion:
Exploiting Child Holocaust Victims Obscene
By Menachem Z. Rosensaft
It is virtually impossible to
imagine anything more reprehensible than the recent spectacle of haredi Orthodox Jewish
boys wearing yellow stars of
David and simulated striped
black-and-white concentration
camp uniforms at a demonstration in Jerusalem.
Offended by the Israeli authorities’ efforts to curtail the
verbal and physical abuse of
women and girls in haredi
neighborhoods, the demonstrators knowingly and intentionally
desecrated the suffering, death,
and memory of the more than 1.5
million Jewish children.
One SS man was
standing in front of
the people …with a
single movement of
his finger, he was
sending some people
to the right and some
to the left
“This protest,” said one of
the rally’s organizers, “reflects
the Zionists’ persecution of the
haredi public, which we see as
worse than what the Nazis did.”
The image of one particular
boy at the demonstration raising
his hands in mock surrender to
re-enact the famous photograph
of a terrified Jewish child being
rounded up by the Germans in
the Warsaw Ghetto struck a very
personal chord within me.
Sixty-nine years ago another
little Jewish boy named Benjamin was living with his parents in
the city of Sosnowiec in southern
Poland. The previous month he
had celebrated his fifth birthday.
He was a smart, good-hearted,
totally innocent child who had
never done any harm to anyone.
Only he had already been sentenced to death.
Hillel: The Foundation for
Jewish Campus Life, which is
supported by Jewish Federations, recently awarded a total
of $99,470 to nine campuses in
the U.S. as part of its first Ask
Big Questions Pilot Innovation
Fund. The program, which is
run in partnership with the
Einhorn Family Charitable
Trust, identifies campus initiatives that engage diverse
populations in conversation,
bring together educational
and extracurricular activities,
and foster self-awareness and
deeper relations with others in
the community.
President Franklin D. Roosevelt and Prime Minister Winston
Churchill and the other Allied
leaders knew full well that Benjamin and virtually every other
Jewish child in Nazi-occupied
Europe were about to be brutally
and systematically murdered.
On December 17, 1942, the
United States, Great Britain, and
the USSR had condemned the
German government’s “bestial
policy of cold-blooded extermination” of Jews in Nazi-occupied
or controlled Europe. Yet Benjamin’s fate and that of other
Jewish children like him was
not a priority for any government
official anywhere.
“Suffer the little children to
come unto me,” said Jesus according to the Gospel of Mark.
“Forbid them not: for of such is
the kingdom of God.” This fundamental Christian imperative
was ignored by the U.S. State
Department bureaucrats who
deliberately frustrated any attempt to come to the rescue of
European Jewry. Even in the midst of World
War II, if the United States, Great
Britain, Canada, Australia, and
other Western democracies had
announced a willingness to
give refuge to Jewish children,
Benjamin might still have had
a chance.
Instead, as Gregory Wallance
chronicles in his forthcoming
book, America’s Soul in the
Balance, The Holocaust, FDR’s
State Department and the Moral
Disgrace of an American Aristocracy (Greenleaf Book Group
Press), after Gerhard Riegner,
the director of the Geneva office
of the World Jewish Congress,
had sent a telegram through
U.S. diplomatic channels in
Switzerland in January 1943
reporting that 6,000 Jews “are
killed daily” at one location in
Poland, and Romanian Jews are
similarly being murdered under
dire circumstances, Secretary
of State Cordell Hull instructed
the American legation in Bern
not to accept similar “private
messages” in the future.
On the night of August 3,
1943, Benjamin arrived at the
Auschwitz-Birkenau death
camp with his parents and
grandparents. In her posthumously published memoirs, his
mother, our mother, recalled her
final moments with my brother:
“We were guarded by SS men and
women. One SS man was standing in front of the people and
he started the selection. With a
single movement of his finger,
he was sending some people to
the right and some to the left.
Men were separated from
women. People with children
were sent to one side, and young
people were separated from older
looking ones. No one was allowed
Gans Bedding, Inc.
Since 1921
to go from one group to the other. “Our five-and-a-half year-old
son went with his father. Something that will haunt me to the
end of my days occurred during those first moments. As we
were separated, our son turned
to me and asked, ‘Mommy, are
we going to live or die?’ I didn’t
answer this question.”
Benjamin, his father, and my
grandparents were murdered
that night in one of the Auschwitz gas chambers. Since my
mother’s death in 1997, he has
existed inside of me. I see his
face in my mind, try to imagine
his voice, his fear as the gas
chamber doors slammed shut,
his final tears.
If I were to forget him, he
would disappear.
Tragically, the hundreds of
thousands of children who were
killed in the subsequent 20th
century genocides in Rwanda,
Darfur, the former Yugoslavia
and elsewhere fared no better.
The 1948 Convention for the
Prevention and Punishment of
the Crime of Genocide was supposed to protect them. So was the
1990 Convention on the Rights
of the Child, to which Rwanda,
Serbia, and the Sudan are all
parties, which affirmed that
“every child has the inherent
right to life.”
The mutilated corpses of
children and infants hacked by
machetes in Rwanda or buried in
As we were separated, our son turned
to me and asked,
‘Mommy, are we going to live or die?’ I
didn’t answer this
question
mass graves in Bosnia epitomize
the international community’s
failure to live up to this most
fundamental of all aspirations.
My brother and every other
child murdered in any genocide
deserve to be remembered as
fragile flames extinguished in
tsunamis of hatred, intolerance,
and bigotry.
Exploiting their memory to
score cheap political points is
obscene.
Menachem Z. Rosensaft is general counsel of the World Jewish
Congress and vice president of
the American Gathering of Jewish Holocaust Survivors and
Their Descendants. He teaches
about the law of genocide at
Cornell Law School, Columbia
Law School, and Syracuse
University College of Law and
writes for JTA.
Lawrence Bronstein, DC, CNS, DACBN
Nancy Bronstein, DC
FirstLine Therapy
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By Ben Harris
JERUSALEM (JTA) – It was said
to be a finding of groundbreaking scholarly and historic significance, comparable in importance to the nineteenth-century
discovery of the Cairo Geniza and
rivaling the Dead Sea Scrolls for
sheer drama.
That, at any rate, was the buzz
in scholarly circles when reports
began surfacing recently that an
exceptionally rare collection of ancient Judaic manuscripts – some
of them dating back more than
a millennia – were discovered in
a cave in Samangan province in
northeastern Afghanistan.
The manuscripts are of
several varieties, both religious
and secular, and are drafted in
a number of languages, including Judeo-Persian and JudeoArabic. Among the documents
recovered are fragments of the
writings of the Saadia Gaon, a
famed Jewish sage born in Egypt
in the ninth century, and financial records that may shed light
on the little-known medieval
Jewish merchant class known
as the Raddanites.
But those who have seen the
documents, and who are familiar
with the shadowy trade in Middle
Eastern antiquities, say the fantastic tales of an unsuspecting
shepherd happening upon documents of incalculable historic
value are not to be believed.
“Generally, you have to be
very careful of what a Middle
Eastern antiquities dealer tells
you,” said Lenny Wolfe, himself a
Middle Eastern antiquities dealer based in Jerusalem. “You’re
probably safer not believing it.”
What no one disputes is that
the documents are authentic
and, if they can be made widely
available to scholars, can potentially shed light on a period
in Jewish history that remains
shrouded in mystery.
The documents, which number about a hundred and fifty – far
fewer than the thousands in the
Cairo Geniza – are generally believed to be about 1,000 years old,
though a few are probably older.
They include early texts
suggesting the community may
have been Karaite, a Jewish
sect that rejected rabbinic law
and flourished in the tenth and
eleventh centuries. Poems were
also recovered, as were financial
documents that may have much
to teach about the Jewish merchants who acted as middlemen
along the trade routes between
East Asia and Europe.
In addition, the writings of
Saadia Gaon include fragments
of a Biblical commentary and a
rebuttal to the claims of a local
heretic.
“I think that it’s a very important find,” said Shaul Shaked, an
emeritus professor at the Hebrew
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University of Jerusalem who saw
some of the documents. “This
is the first time that we have a
large quantity of handwritten
documents from that area, from
Afghanistan, where we knew
vaguely there was some kind
of Jewish settlement, a Jewish
community, but we had very
vague ideas about what their
life was like.”
Wolfe noted that he had
the opportunity to purchase a
small portion of the documents
recently and is holding them
in Jerusalem until a national
institution can come up with
the money to acquire them.
He declined to say how much
he paid for them, where he got
them, or how much it would cost
to deliver them to a museum.
In all probability, the manuscripts were illegally smuggled
out of Afghanistan; and it is not
uncommon for local antiquities
to be shipped abroad where they
fetch much higher prices.
As a result efforts to determine those who now hold
documents, where they are being
stored, or how they were acquired proved to be inconclusive.
What is clear is that the collection is split between several
private dealers, at least one of
whom is based in London.
Other lots are said to be in the
hands of dealers in Dubai and
Switzerland.
Other than Wolfe’s acknowledgement of his holdings, it has
not been confirmed who else
holds the documents or how
they were acquired.
But that doesn’t mean there
aren’t lots of colorful stories
floating around. One story,
which several of those involved
had heard, involves a RussianJewish billionaire who supposedly had expressed interest in
purchasing the manuscripts but
had pulled out after his attorneys
advised that he may run into
legal difficulties.
No one would divulge his
name.
It “adds an element of mystique,” said Wolfe. “I personally
never spoke to any Russian oligarch. What I’ve heard is hearsay. I don’t trust hearsay.”
Menashe Goldelman, a London-based expert in Middle
Eastern antiquities who has
authored a twenty-three page
report on the documents, said
that they have emerged on the
London market.
Goldelman said he had been
enlisted by a dealer to sell the
documents on his behalf. At
present, Goldelman said he was
trying to broker an agreement
with the various dealers to bring
the collection together.
manuscripts,
Page 25
filipinos in
israel, continued from
page 23
though not the way it is supposed
to be done.”
But without residency status,
Pancho will not be able to undergo her peers’ most important
rite of passage – army service.
“All of my friends are beginning to get letters from the IDF to
prepare for the first stage of the
draft. But I haven’t,” she said.
Pancho said she respected
the Israelis’ desire to maintain a
strong Jewish majority in Israel.
“I understand that this is
supposed to be a Jewish State
and that I am Christian,” she
said. “But my parents came to
this country as guests. They
came to work. They have a right
to establish a family. And there
was nothing in the law that said
that they were not allowed to.”
A survey conducted in November 2010 by Leah Ahdut
and Karin Amit of the Ruppin
Academic Center’s Institute for
Immigration & Social Integration found that 49.5 percent of
Israelis said they were in favor
of giving citizenship to migrant
workers’ children born in Israel
while 42.5 percent said they
were opposed.
Arab, left-wing, secular, or
university-educated Israelis
were more in favor. Religious
and haredi Orthodox Israelis
were less supportive.
But even after they have
received citizenship, completed
IDF service, and seemingly integrated into Israeli society, some
Filipinos still grapple with their
split identity.
“M,” 24, fell in love with an
Israeli Jew while serving in the
IDF – first as an officer manager
for a high-ranking officer and
later as a noncommissioned officer tracking down soldiers who
went AWOL.
“I hid it from my mother for
a year,” said “M,” who requested
anonymity to avoid hurting her
mother, who is a devout Catholic.
“When my mom found out
she kicked me out of the house,”
she said.
Now “M,” who owns a women’s apparel boutique in an
affluent town that is culturally
light years from where she grew
up in south Tel Aviv, lives with
her boyfriend’s family.
“They have accepted me
completely, as though I were a
member of the family,” she said.
“M” said that she celebrated
Chanukah with her boyfriend
and his family, but they also
bought a Christmas tree. She
cooked traditional Filipino
Christmas foods like leche flan
and pancit, a type of noodles
that symbolizes long life.
“I also made them Siopao –
Chinese buns – but I filled them
with chicken instead of pork,”
she said.
“My boyfriend and his family
are Jewish, you know.”
Donate, Volunteer,
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Jericho: Jewish Presence Lost
By Judy Lash Balint
JERICHO (JMNS) - Ask Israelis
what first comes to mind when
they think of Jericho, and nine
times out of ten, you’ll hear “casino” – Yasser Arafat operated
one there from 1998 to 2000 – or
perhaps “area-off-limits.”
Indeed, it’s the rare Israeli in
2012 who’ll mention the town
half an hour north-east of Jerusalem as the first place Joshua
led the Israelites into the land
after crossing the Jordan.
In fact, Jericho, the oldest
continuously inhabited city in
the world, has been devoid of any
normal Jewish presence since
1994, as the Gaza-Jericho Agreement phase of the Oslo Accords
mandated that the lush oasis
fall under Palestine Authority
(PA) control.
Since then, Jericho has borne
witness to various phases of the
Israeli-Palestinian relationship.
Like King David’s birthplace
Bethlehem, now also under PA
control, Jericho stands as one
of several examples of important historic sites whose links
with the Jewish people are in
danger of fading due to a lack
of Jewish presence and a strong
economic incentive to emphasize
Christian sites.
Today, one of Jericho’s main
sources of income is Christian
tourism. The small, sleepy town
of 20,000, which is surrounded
by acres of banana groves,
welcomes busloads of pilgrims.
A cable car takes them up the
hill known as the Mount of
Temptation, where stairs lead
to the ancient Greek Orthodox
Intricate mosaic in the flooring of the Shalom al Yisrael synagogue
Monastery of St. George and a
restaurant offers spectacular
views toward Jordan.
Less than a ten-minute drive
away - through flat, sandy fields
where wild camels graze - is Qasr
al Yahud, the spot on the Jordan
River where Christians believe
John the Baptist baptized Jesus.
Renovated by Israel’s Ministry of Tourism at a cost of $3
million, the site was reopened
last July and now hosts thousands of the faithful who come
to be baptized under the gaze of
Jordanian troops stationed a few
yards away on the east bank of
the muddy trickle of river.
Very few Jewish groups venture through the deactivated
minefields to visit the place
named for the Jews crossing the
Jordan after the exodus from
Egypt -Qasr al Yahud in Arabic
means the place where the Jews
“broke” the water.
Entry into Jericho itself is
forbidden to Israelis by Israeli
law – apart from groups with
an Israeli army escort who are
occasionally permitted to visit
the remains of the Shalom al
jericho,
Page 26
Calendar
Around the Community
ONGOING
bers. Information: (413) 528-6378.
and information: (413) 442-5910.
Ongoing – Chabad of the Berkshires
“Smile on Seniors,” or “S.O.S.,” volunteer
program to serve senior citizens in the
Berkshires. Information for families who
can benefit and volunteers: Rabbi Levi
Volovik at (413) 499-9899 or visit www.
jewishberkshires.com.
Wednesdays at noon – Great Barrington’s Congregation Ahavath Sholom’s
“Nosh & Drosh.” Please call to check that
there will be a session and for full information: (413) 528-4197.
Sunday, 4, beginning at noon – Purim
celebration at Yiddish Book Center, 1021
West Street, Amherst. Includes: Workshop
led by Leslie Elias artistic director of the
award-winning “Grumbling Gryphons
Traveling Children’s Theater;” costume
contest; performance of Donald Sosin’s
“Esther: A One Act Opera,” starring Chelsea
Rose Friedlander. Grumbling Gryphons
Workshop and costume contest, free, advance registration suggested. Opera, $8,
members, $10, general admission, free
for children and students 18 and under.
Reservations suggested. Reservations and
information: (413) 256-4900.
Monthly – Gourmet ‘Senior Lunch Bunch’
at Congregation Beth Israel, 53 Lois Street,
North Adams. Information: (413) 663-5830.
Monthly – Volunteers from various congregations, provide a Jewish service, social
interaction, and entertainment to residents
at Great Barrington’s Fairview Commons
and the Great Barrington Nursing and
Rehabilitation Center. Information: Don
Victor at (413) 528-3742.
Monthly, fourth or fifth Sunday – Volunteers from Congregation Beth Israel, 53 Lois
Street, North Adams “Take and Eat” program
delivers hot meals for all North Adams clients
of “Meals on Wheels.” Information: (413)
663-5830 or office@cbiweb.org.
Sundays, 8:45 to 9:30 a.m., beginning Sunday, April 22 (also April 29;
May 6, 20; June 3, 24) – At Congregation Knesset Israel, 16 Colt Road, Pittsfield.
Learners’ Minyan, “Pathways of Prayer,” led
by Rabbi David Weiner. Breakfast. Open to
the community. No registration required.
Donations welcome. Information: (413)
445-4872
Sundays, 10:10 a.m. to noon, beginning April 22 – Twenty-one class “Introduction to Judaism” series at Congregation
Knesset Israel, 16 Colt Road, Pittsfield.
Taught by Judith and Rabbi David Weiner.
Registration available for series or per session. Breakfast. Babysitting. $10 donation
session per household; $100 for series.
Information and required registration: Chris
Kelly-Whitney at (413) 445-4872, ext. 10,
or visit www.knessetisrael.org.
Sundays, from 2 to 4:30 p.m. – “Sunday at the Movies” series at Temple Anshe
Amunim, 26 Broad Street, Pittsfield. March
4, “Crossfire;” March 18 “The Front.” No
admission charge. Suggested donations:
$25 for members, $30 for non-members,
for the series; $6 for members, $7 for
non-members for individual showings.
Information: (413) 442-5910.
Mondays, from 7:30 to 9 p.m., beginning February 27 (also, March 5, 12,
19) – Four session cooking series offered at
Congregation Knesset Israel, 16 Colt Road,
Pittsfield. Series, $25; individual sessions,
$7.50. Required reservations, information:
(413) 445-4872, ext. 16; mhammerling@
knessetisrael.org.; or www.knessetisrael.
org.
Mondays, from 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.
(first of each month) – Hadassah Rosh
Chodesh group meetings at Jewish Federation of the Berkshires, 196 South Street,
Pittsfield. Topical research paper presented
at each meeting. New members welcome.
Please be sure call ahead to be sure meeting
will be held and also for details and further
information: (518) 733-6063.
Tuesday (first of each month) from
noon to 1 p.m. – “Practicing Prayer, A
Guide to Reform Worship and Ritual Leadership,” with Rabbi Joshua Breindel at Temple
Anshe Amunim, 26 Broad Street, Pittsfield.
Information: (413) 442-5910.
Wednesdays, from 10 a.m. to 11:30
a.m. – Yoga practice with instructor Jane
Rosen at Congregation Knesset Israel social
hall, 16 Colt Road, Pittsfield. $5 per class
for Knesset Israel members; $10 for nonmembers. Information: Jane Rosen at (269)
757-1425 or janerosen@berkshire.rr.com,
or Knesset Israel at (413) 445-4872.
Wednesdays, from 10:30 to 11:30
a.m. – Hevreh of Southern Berkshire,
270 State Road, Great Barrington, offers
“an hour of morning stillness” with Nina
Lipkowitz, a certified Kripalu Yoga Teacher.
Donation of $10 is asked from non-mem-
Thursdays, from 10:45 a.m. to noon
– “Maimonides’ Mishne Torah.” Engage
with this masterful understanding of Jewish law and life by reading the sage’s laws
of repentance. Facilitated by Rabbi David
Weiner, discussion delves into the depths
of the text and what its ideas mean for
us today. All are welcome. Prospective
participants are invited to call in advance
to confirm the current schedule. Congregation Knesset Israel, 16 Colt Road, Pittsfield.
Information: (413) 445-4872.
Thursdays, from noon to 1 p.m. –
“Jewish Journeys,” an ongoing series on
Jewish thought and culture, with Rabbi
Joshua Breindel, at Temple Anshe Amunim, 26 Broad Street, Pittsfield. No prior
registration. Please call for full and further
information: (413) 442-5910.
Thursdays (fourth of each month)
– Berkshire Hills Hadassah Book Club’s
2011-2012 season: February 23, “The
Clothes on Their Backs” by Linda Grant;
March 22, Book To Be Announced; April
26, “Call It Sleep” by Henry Roth; May
24, “Wherever You Go” by Joan Leegant;
June 21, “Edith’s Story” by Edith VelmansVanHessen. For times, locations of meetings, and further information about the
books: Jane Rosen at (413) 464-0173 or
janerosen@berkshire.rr.com.
Fridays, usually first of each month
at 5:30 p.m. (followed by a family
style Shabbat dinner at 6:15 p.m.) –
Congregation Knesset Israel, 16 Colt Road,
Pittsfield. Shirei Shabbat (“Songs of Shabbat”). Unique service combines melodies
from Carlebach, Debbie Friedman, and
Camp Ramah to create a ruach (“spirited”)
filled family friendly experience. Cost $18
per adult, $36 family maximum. Dinner
reservations are due by the Monday before
services. Full information: (413) 445-4872,
ext 11.
Fridays, 5:45 p.m. at the evening
service – “Welcoming Shabbat.” Imbibing
insights into the rhythms and opportunities of the seventh day, refracted through
psalm and prayer. Congregation Knesset
Israel, 16 Colt Road, Pittsfield. Information:
(413) 445-4872.
Saturdays (second Saturday of month
when possible) from 10 to 11 a.m.
– Monthly alternative Shabbat Service at
Congregation Knesset Israel library, 16 Colt
Road, Pittsfield, Featuring mindful movement, breathing, guided imagery, and
meditation inspired by concepts from the
weekly parshah, with Jane Rosen. Be sure
to call ahead to see if service will be held.
Information: Jane Rosen at (269) 757-1425
or janerosen@berkshire.rr.com, or Knesset
Israel at (413) 445-4872.
Saturdays from 4 to 5:30 p.m. – The
PJ Library, the Jewish Federation of the
Berkshires and Hevreh of Southern Berkshire, 270 State Road, Great Barrington,
co-sponsor “PJ Havdallah” programs for
children 8 and younger. Stories, crafts,
brief ritual, and snacks. Pajamas, toys,
and stuffed animal friends welcome.
Themes: March 3, Purim; May 5, Israel.
Free to all children and their parents
and grandparents. RSVPs encouraged.
Information: Paula Hellman, (413) 5286378 or hevreh.temple@verizon.net.
MARCH
Friday, 2, following 5:30 p.m. Erev
Shabbat – At Temple Anshe Amunim, 26
Broad Street, Pittsfield, Purimshpiel celebration, “A Purim Home Companion,” presented
by the “Broad Street Players,” directed by
Dr. Alan Gold. Open to both congregation
members and the general public. Dinner,
$5 per person, $20 family limit. Reservations
Monday, 5, from 10:30 to 11:30
a.m. – “PJ Pals.” “Purim Potpourri.”
Program for ages 6 months to 6 years.
At Church On The Hill Chapel, 55 Main
Street, Lenox; the small brown building
between Lilac Park and the Lenox Academy. Free. No pre-registration required.
Jewish Federation of the Berkshires.
Information: Susan Frisch Lehrer, The PJ
Library Coordinator, the Jewish Federation of the Berkshires, (413) 442-4360,
ext.14, or jfb.volunteer@verizon.net.
Wednesday, 7, at 5:30 p.m. – Purim
Celebration, “Motown Megillah at Hevreh, a
‘spiel’ performed by the Confirmation Class
teens.” At Hevreh of Southern Berkshire,
270 State Road, Great Barrington. Free.
Information: (413) 528-6378.
Wednesday, 7, at 7 p.m. – Purim service at Temple Anshe Amunim, 26 Broad
Street, Pittsfield. Rabbi Joshua Breindel will
provide comic highlights of the Megillah.
Information: (413) 442-5910.
Sunday, 11 from 10 a.m. to noon
– “PJ Goes North.” Tzedakah Program
at Congregation Beth Israel, 53 Lois
Street, North Adams, for ages 3 to 9.
Free. For questions and RSVPs, please
contact Susan Frisch Lehrer, Coordinator of The PJ Library, Jewish Federation
of the Berkshires at (413) 442-4360,
ext. 14, or jfb.volunteer@verizon.net.
Sunday, 11, from 11 a.m. to noon –
Hevreh’s Annual Purim Carnival at Hevreh of
Southern Berkshire, 270 State Road, Great
Barrington. Prizes, games, food, and fun.
Tickets at door. Sponsored by “SCOOBY,”
Hevreh’s Junior Youth Group. Information:
weekdays at (413) 528-6378.
Friday, 16, (beginning at 3:30 p.m.),
Saturday, 17 – “Shabbaton Weekend” at
Hevreh of Southern Berkshire, 270 State
Road, Great Barrington. Reservations appreciated. Information: (413) 528-6378.
Friday, 16, to Sunday 18 – At Isabella
Freedman Jewish Retreat Center, Falls
Village, CT. The “Ethiopian Jewish Experience,” an unraveling of the mystery and immersion into Ethiopian Jewish culture and
ritual. Information: www.isabellafreedman.
org/ethiopian; (860) 824-5991, ext.305;
or (717) 503 -9207.
Monday, 19, at noon, at Berkshire Community College, and,
from 7:30 to 9 p.m. at Hevreh
of Southern Berkshire – Soldiers
Lital Shemesh and Adam Avidan of
the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) speak
about the reality of the Israeli military.
Sponsored by the Jewish Federation of
the Berkshires and “StandWithUs,” an
organization dedicated to informing the
public about Israel and combating the
extremism and anti-Semitism that often
distorts issues. Berkshire Community
College session,1350 West Street (Room
K-111), Pittsfield; Hevreh session, 270
State Road, Great Barrington. Free.
Information: Arlene D. Schiff, Executive Director, Jewish Federation of the
Berkshires at (413) 442-4360, ext. 12,
or arlene.schiff@jewishberkshires.org.
Thursday, 22, at 1:30 p.m. – Berkshire
Hills Hadassah’s “Home Sweet Hadassah”
celebration of Hadassah’s centennial. Various
household locations. Information: (413) 4426758 or berkshirehillshadassah@gmail.com
APRIL
Monday, 2, from 10:30 to 11:30
a.m. – “PJ Pals.” “Preparing for Passover.” Program for ages 6 months to
6 years. At Church On The Hill Chapel, 55 Main Street, Lenox; the small
brown building between Lilac Park
and the Lenox Academy. Free. No preregistration required. Sponsored by The
PJ Library and the Jewish Federation
of the Berkshires. Information: Susan
Frisch Lehrer, The PJ Library Coordinator, the Jewish Federation of the
Berkshires, (413) 442-4360, ext.14, or
jfb. volunteer@verizon.net.
Friday, 6, from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m.
(minyan at 5:30 p.m.) – The Jewish Federation of the Berkshires and
Congregation Knesset Israel sponsor a
Community Kosher Passover Seder, at
Knesset Israel, 16 Colt Road, Pittsfield,
with Rabbi David Weiner as leader. Catered meal provided by Bob Greenberg.
Costs: $40, adults; $20, children, ages 3
through 13; under 3 free. Financial assistance available. Reservations required
by Friday, March 23. Checks to the Jewish
Federation of the Berkshires, 196 South
Street, Pittsfield, MA 01201; “Passover
Seder” in the memo. Call (413) 4424360, ext 10, to reserve by credit card.
Saturday, 7, at 6 p.m. – Second night
Passover Seder at Congregation Beth Israel,
53 Lois Street, North Adams. All welcomed.
Chicken-based main dish will be provided
by the congregation; others are asked to
bring non-dairy, kosher-for-Passover items
to share. Tickets for dinner and the ritual
celebration:$18, individuals; $36, family.
Information or reservations due by Friday
March 30: office@cbiweb.org or (413)
663-5830.
Congregation
Knesset Israel
16 Colt Road
Pittsfield
DAILY minyan
Monday, Thursday,
Friday....................................7:00 a.m.
Sunday..................................8:45 a.m.
Sunday through Thursday.... 7:00 p.m.
Friday................................... 5:45 p.m.
Saturday varies with ending of Shabbat.
CANDLE-LIGHTING
Friday, February 24.............. 5:18 p.m.
Friday, March 2..................... 5:26 p.m.
Friday, March 9.................... 5:35 p.m.
Friday, March 16................... 6:43 p.m.
Friday, March 23................... 6:51 p.m.
Friday, March 30................... 6:59 p.m.
Friday, April 6....................... 7:07 p.m.
Donate,
Volunteer,
Make
a
Difference
Page 27
jericho, continued from
page 25
manuscripts,
Goldelman estimates their
total value at about $5 million.
“They are not things that
are stolen from an institution
or found in a legal excavation,”
Goldelman said. “At some point,
everything that comes from the
ground goes to the black market.
The black market, this is the
institution that helps to save
this material. If something has,
let’s say, commercial value, it
gets saved. If you don’t have a
commercial value for the manuscript, they go and put it in the
fireplace.”
Goldelman’s involvement
may not reassure skittish buyers about their provenance. In
2010, two professors reportedly
accused him of trafficking in stolen antiquities and protested his
scheduled appearance at a conference in Israel. Goldelman’s
Monastery of St. George on the Mount of Temptation
Jewish housing at Mitzpeh Yericho which overlooks Jericho
Christian pilgrims descend into the Jordan River near Jericho,
where Israelis are prohibited to go.
Evidence of ancient Jewish
settlement in the area is easy to
identify. Remains of aqueducts
from the Hasmonean period
are visible on the community’s
main street, and the remains of
the sixth century Na’aran Synagogue and its beautiful mosaic
floor are within walking distance.
Standing out on the low-rise
Jericho skyline are the various
US-sponsored facilities built to
train Palestinian security personnel. They include the $9.1
million, 18-acre Presidential
Guard Training College, the
nearby Nuweimah Training
Center ($8 million), and the
NSF Operations Camp ($11.3
million).
USAID is apparently working
lawyer denied the accusations
and threatened to sue for libel.
None of the experts who have
spoken publicly on the matter of
the Afghan documents appeared
to be too troubled by unanswered
questions about their origins,
seeming to accept such things
as the cost of doing business in
ancient artifacts.
“What is important for us is
that these fragments and documents don’t get buried again in
some safe of a collector,” said
Haggai Ben-Shammai, a professor of Arabic at Hebrew University and the academic director of
Israel’s National Library.
Ben-Shammai said the library was searching for a donor
who would acquire the manuscripts on its behalf.
“We don’t have the means to
acquire them on our own,” said
Ben-Shammai. “We need some
assistance in this.”
The Jewish Agency for Israel, which is supported by Jewish Federations, will help bring more than 10,000 young Jewish adults
to Israel during the 2011-12 academic year through its “Masa
Israel Journey” initiative, in partnership with the government
of Israel. Masa enables young Jews from all over the world to
experience Israel through long-term academic, volunteer, and
internship programs.
on a road system linking Jericho
and Ramallah, strengthening
the links between cities under
Palestine Authority control – but
making ever more remote the
prospect of a return of a Jewish
presence.
Yisrael synagogue.
The synagogue is believed to
date back to the sixth or seventh
century CE and sits in the basement of a non-descript building
at the western edge of town.
An intricate mosaic still
visible on the floor depicts a
menorah and a shofar along
with the inscription “Shalom al
Yisrael”– Peace unto Israel.
According to “Annex II” of
the Gaza-Jericho Agreement of
1994, “Religious affairs in the
‘Shalom Al Israel’ synagogue in
Jericho shall be under the auspices of the Israeli authorities.”
But, in fact, Israeli authorities
have taken little interest in the
site, leaving it to tiny groups
of yeshiva students who have
intermittently tried to preserve
a presence there. Before the
second intifada, Palestinians
even charged admission to Jewish tourists who ventured into
the site.
Today, the mainstay of concern about Jericho comes from
the few hundred families living in
several small communities overlooking it. At Mitzpeh Yericho,
a predominantly religious community of four-hundred families,
longtime resident Moshe Eyal
explains how a mixed group of religious and secular young people
wanted to settle on government
land adjacent to Jericho in 1977.
However, Defense Minister
Ezer Weizman refused to give
permission, and agriculture
Minister Ariel Sharon suggested
they move up the hill to the
current site, with its panoramic
vistas over the stark desert.
Eventually two communities
were formed: on the hill sits
Mitzpe Yericho, a small town
that today includes a yeshiva, a
wedding hall, and an electronics
business; and Vered Yericho, in
the valley, just south of Jericho.
A more recent addition to the
Jewish communities surrounding Jericho is Mevo’ot Yericho, a
village of twenty-seven families
founded in 1999 just north of
Jericho in the Jordan Valley.
Banana farms surround Jericho
Page 28
Market Calls Ads 11_10.25x15.25_4C JV 1/24/11 3:26 PM Page 1
B E R K S H I R E
M O N E Y
M A N A G E M E N T
We’ll make it easy to move your portfolio.
1550
1525
1500
1475
1450
1425
1400
1375
1350
1325
1300
1275
1250
1225
1200
1175
1150
1125
1100
1075
1050
1025
1000
975
950
925
900
875
850
825
800
775
750
725
700
675
S&P 500 Index – daIly data
1550
1525
1500
1475
1450
1425
1400
1375
1350
1325
1300
1275
1250
1225
1200
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1150
1125
1100
1075
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975
950
925
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875
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775
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725
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November 15, 2007
(sell)
January 2, 2001- december 31, 2010
May 11, 2001
(sell)
April 4, 2010
(sell)
January 1, 2002
(sell)
May 10, 2002
(sell)
Sample Market Calls
September 28
2001 (buy)
of Berkshire Money Management
March 6, 2009
(buy)
October 11
2002 (buy)
M
2 00 1
J
S
D M
July 14
2010
(buy)
J
S
2 00 2
D M
J
2 00 3
S
D M
J
2 004
S
D M
J
20 05
S
D M
J
S
20 06
D M
J
20 07
S
D M
20 08
J
S
D M
J
2009
S
D M
J
S
D
2010
© Copyright 2011 Ned Davis Research, Inc. Further distribution prohibited without prior permission. All Rights Reserved. See NDR Disclaimer at www.ndr.com/copyright.html. For data vendor disclaimers refer to www.ndr.com/vendorinfo/.
May 11, 2001 (sell)
May 10, 2002 (sell)
March 6, 2009 (buy)
“Don’t get too scientific…just ask yourself; does
it feel like a recession? We don’t think it feels
as bad as 1990-1991, but it is bad enough.”
“Expect a bottom for the S&P 500 at 660 points.”
The stock market fell 16.5% until our next
buy signal.
“If [the NASDAQ] pierces the 1600 level again,
the prudent investor will not hold out for another relief rally…the NASDAQ is setting up
for a retest of the September [2007] lows of
the 1400s.”
September 28, 2001 (buy)
October 11, 2002 (buy)
“Equity valuations are better than they have
been in years.”
“The VIX broke 50 [on October 10th], and that
is my buy signal this time.”
“…The bottom line is a correction is coming,
but it’s not a crash… Signs of a longer-thantypical correction.”
The stock market rose 10.4% until our next
sell signal.
The stock market rose 80% until our next
sell signal.
January 1, 2002 (sell)
November 15, 2007 (sell)
“I’ve had my three months of bullishness, but
now I must adhere, once again, to a more
bearish sentiment.”
“The obvious answer is a temporary position
in cash.”
The stock market fell 30% until our next
buy signal.
U S
A T
April 4, 2010 (sell)
July 14, 2010 (buy)
“…the correction is over…being in cash is a
risky proposition.”
The stock market fell 48.9% after that sell
signal.
The S&P 500 Index (S&P) has been used as a comparative benchmark because the goal of the above
strategy was to provide equity-like returns. The S&P is one of the world’s most recognized indexes by
investors and the investment industry for the equity market. The S&P, however, is not a managed portfolio
and is not subject to advisory fees or trading costs. Investors cannot invest directly in the S&P 500
Index. The S&P returns also reflect the reinvestment of dividends. Berkshire Money Management is
aware of the benchmark comparison guidelines set forward in the SEC Clover No-Action Letter (1986)
and compares clients’ performance results to a benchmark or a combination of benchmarks most
closely resembling clients’ actual portfolio holdings. However, investors should be aware that the referenced
benchmark funds may have a different composition, volatility, risk, investment philosophy, holding times,
and/or other investment-related factors that may affect the benchmark funds’ ultimate performance
results. Therefore, an investor’s individual results may vary significantly from the benchmark’s performance.
All indicated stock market calls and associated commentary are that of Allen Harris & Berkshire Money
Management and have no relationship to NDR/MDR.
V I S I T
The stock market rose 63.2% from that buy
signal to the end of 2009.
BERKSHIRE
MONEY
M ANAG E M E NT
The Knowledge and Experience to Build Your Wealth
W W W . B E R K S H I R E M M . C O M
O R
C A L L
8 8 8 . 2 3 2 . 6 0 7 2

Berkshires Federation FebMarch_2012

Transcription

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