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Volume 25, Number 2 Atlanta, Georgia January-February 2013 FREE What’s Inside.... Protecting the Children Page 8 The Temple hosts a summit to address the tragedy of child trafficking in metro Atlanta. Holocaust Memorial Tribute Page 32 Atlantans who helped make the United States Holocaust Memorial a reality are honored at a tribute dinner at the Georgia Aquarium. By Brian Katzowitz The Gift of a Friend Page 10 The Friendship Circle makes the world a less lonely place for special-needs children and teens. A Passion for Service Page 19 At its Jubilee Celebration, Congregation Beth Jacob honors former execu- tive director Fred Glusman. By R.M. Grossblatt Judaism for Busy Lives Page 20 Temple Sinai is bringing Rabbi Lawrence Hoffman to town for its Scholar-in-Residence weekend. What Yael Taught Me Page 21 Helping care for a special-needs child brings unex- pected rewards. By Sarah Faygie Berkowitz Page 2 THE JEWISH GEORGIAN January-February 2013 January-February 2013 THE JEWISH GEORGIAN Page 3 Page 4 THE JEWISH GEORGIAN January-February 2013 to limit such actions in our schools. This is a • In the Democratic Republic of the critically important question, but does it truly Congo, over the last 14 years there have been How do you value life? show how we value life? In J.H. Hertz’s The an estimated 5.4 million people who have died Pentateuch and Haftorahs, he makes the fol- as a result of fighting, disease, and starvation The opposite of good is not evil, it is indiffer- lowing observation on Exodus 22:13, which resulting from the fighting, and it is still going ence. contains the Sixth Commandment, “THOU on. Abraham Joshua Heschel SHALT NOT MURDER”: “The infinite worth • In Rwanda, BBC estimated the 800,000 BY Marvin of human life is based on the fact that man is Rwandans were killed in a space of 100 days I have to admit that I am perplexed by the created ‘in the image of God.’ God alone gives during the months of April through June 1994. question of how life is valued. Some of the Botnick life, and He alone may take it away.” He goes • From 1975 through 1979, it is estimat- puzzlement comes from the very understand- on to point out that, ”Jewish ethics enlarges the ed that 1,700,000 people lost their lives in ing of what is meant by value and life. Is value non-economic future contributions that make notion of murder so as to include both the Cambodia. a monetary equation, or are there intangibles such a computation at best hypothetical and in doing of anything by which the health and • Between 1958 and 1969, voices. that need to be included in addressing value? Is reality impossible? well-being of a fellow-man is undermined, and yahoo.com reports that the loss of lives in life only the life of a human? Are we talking Unnatural ending of life is with us con- the omission of any act by which a fellow-man China varies from 45,000,000 to 70,000,000. about the life of a particular person with whom stantly. It is a concern that is always with us, could be saved from peril, distress or despair.” Somehow, it is difficult to put a face on we have a personal relationship, a person who but most of the time it rests in the back of our All of the foregoing is to say that life is so tens of thousands people and therefore hard to is known to us but not on a personal basis, or mind. On the occasion where we are confront- valuable that it cannot be valued. relate on a personal basis. This is even made life in general? And is the concept of life a ed with a particular act that is perpetrated As I said above, what this tragedy has more difficult if the individuals involved are in matter of belief in its creation by God? against someone or group with whom we can done is that it has awakened the semi-dormant a country that we cannot even mentally locate If we are interested in determining the and do identify, our focus on the horrific concern for murder and shined a spotlight on on a map and in an environment that is foreign dollar value of life, calculations are easily events awakens the somewhat dormant precept this heinous act. So as we move forward to to us. But when we see and hear about the obtainable on the web, and this exercise is and moves it into a major focus. confront the tragedy of Newtown, it is time to equivalent of a class of children in a school used daily in the courts. Mathematical formu- The wanton, barbaric, horrific carnage in seek ways to address the totality of murder. being murdered in our own country, the stark las are based on quantifiable components to Newtown, Massachusetts, that led to the To put the carnage in Newtown in per- reality is vivid in our mind’s eye. which actuarial and economic assumptions are senseless death of 26 innocent people at the spective, Mayor Michael Bloomberg of New So maybe while we wrestle with the hor- applied. If we opt instead to base this on the Sandy Hooks Elementary School, the majority York City, in an article in the July 25, 2012, ror of what took place in Newtown and try to actual value of the elements in our body, of whom were small children, plus the mur- issue of the New York Daily News, points out confront the problem, we will try to under- according to information on the web site derer and his mother, has reignited the con- that, “Every day, 34 Americans are murdered stand and appreciate what life is and what is its About.com, this is approximately $1.00. But science of the American public to this tragical- with guns. That’s 12,000 innocent people value. Whether we seek a better understanding are these relative when we talk about the value ly destructive action. We cannot help but won- killed each year with guns . .” And here are through a religious bent or from a philosophi- of life in our perception of the assessment of der what it is that motivates such action. Is it just a few of the many other gut-wrenching cal perspective, unless and until we truly the meaning of life? How do we program in hate, a desire for power, seeking recognition, a statistics. understand and appreciate this precious gift, the unmeasurable intangibles and the potential belief that it is necessary to impose truth on • In Syria, it is estimated that over 60,000 the imposition of laws will not fully address others, rebellion against authority, a vehicle for people have been killer in the civil unrest that the problem. monetary gain, or a combination of these? has been going on in that county since March THE Jewish Georgian And now we are in the debate as to how of 2011, and it is still going on. The Jewish Georgian is published bimonthly by Eisenbot, Ltd. It is written for Atlantans and Georgians by Atlantans and Georgians. Two-city loan partnership helps Emory graduate student Publisher Marvin Botnick A collaborative effort between Jewish International Association of Jewish Free provides is very important to students like me. Co-Publisher Sam Appel Free Loan, in Phoenix, Arizona, and the Loans—a network of more than 40 interest- And, in the long run, borrowing an interest- Editor Marvin Botnick Jewish Interest Free Loan of Atlanta has free lending agencies around the world. free loan eases the burden of debt we face.” Managing Editor Marsha C. LaBeaume Assignment Editor Carolyn Gold enabled a young graduate student at Emory “This loan is paying for my books and Jewish Free Loan is a 501(c)3 nonprofit Consulting Editor Gene Asher University to continue his studies after other study aids for (graduate) school—which are organization established over 60 years ago to Associate Editor Barbara Schreiber sources of financial support were exhausted. very expensive,” says Jonah P. “Having this provide interest-free loans to members of Copy Editor Ray Tapley Jonah P.* contacted Jewish Interest Free extra money allowed me to not worry about Arizona’s Jewish community. Makeup Editor Terri Christian Loan of Atlanta (JIFLA) after learning about money and focus on my studies. Today, law Jewish Interest Free Loan of Atlanta Inc. Production Coordinator Terri Christian the organization from Rabbi Michael J. school (and education in general) is very is a 501(c)3 nonprofit charity established to Designer David Gaudio Broyde, founding rabbi of Young Israel of expensive, and graduate students often are not provide short-term, non-educational assis- Photographic Staff Allan Scher, Jonathan Paz Graphic Art Consultant Karen Paz Toco Hill, who is currently a professor of law eligible for subsidized loans. Even with a par- tance to Jewish individuals and families in the Columnist Gene Asher, Jonathan Barach, at Emory Law and a senior fellow at the tial scholarship, I will have a large sum of state of Georgia through interest-free loans. Janice Rothschild Blumberg, Center for the Study of Law Religion at debt, with interest to repay, after I graduate. Marvin Botnick, David Geffen, Carolyn Gold, Jonathan Goldstein, Emory University. The additional funding that Jewish Free Loan * Name changed to protect borrower’s privacy R.M. Grossblatt, Marice Katz, After discussion with Dr. Morton Barr, Balfoura Friend Levine, president of JIFLA, it was determined that Marsha Liebowitz, Bubba Meisa, Erin O’Shinsky, Reg Regenstein, Jonah did not meet the residency requirements Susan Robinson, Stuart Rockoff, for a loan from JIFLA or from Atlanta-based Cover photos, clockwise: Roberta Scher, Jerry Schwartz, Leon Socol, JELF (Jewish Educational Loan Fund).

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