Non-Profit Org. U.S. POSTAGE PAID Pittsfield, MA Berkshire Permit No. 19

JewishA publication of the Jewish Federation of the Berkshires, serving V the Berkshires and surrounding ice NY, CT and VT Vol. 23, No. 5 Sivan/Tammuz 5775 June 1 to July 16, 2015 jewishberkshires.org Highlights of 75 Years of Federation Honor Your Father in the Berkshires to be Celebrated With a new Housatonic gallery, writer Jonathan Baumbach is trying to revive popular recognition of his father’s painting at Major Donors Breakfast, July 12

Major Donors breakfast co-chairs Sergey and Natalya Yantovsky, with sons Ari and Ilya

As the Jewish Federation of the Berkshires celebrates its 75th anni- versary throughout this year, it also marks the 25th anniversary of one its proudest accomplishments – the resettlement of from the former in our local community. Their arrival changed and enriched Jewish life in the Berkshires, and gave several extended families the opportu- nity to live Jewish lives while pursuing the American Dream. This year’s Major Donors break- fast, which will take place July 12 at Cranwell Resort, Spa, & Golf Club, will be co-chaired by Natalya and Sergey BAUMBACH GALLERY COURTESY Yantovsky, who arrived in Pittsfield Novelist Jonathan Baumbach, father of filmmaker , has recently Natalya and Sergey with Ilya in opened The Baumbach Gallery to showcase the artwork of his father, the brilliantly Pittsfield, on their first day on MAJOR DONORS, continued on page 16 talented but self-sabotaging painter Harold Baumbach. More on the new art space American soil. and the unusual story of the Baumbach family can be found on page 32. (Pictured: Harold Baumbach’s “Shock of Color” [1980]). “Talmudic and Jewish Sorceresses: Strange Bedfellows” 6th Annual Summer Celebration Novelist Maggie Anton Discusses of Jewish Music Brings Good Her Latest Work at the July 24 Sounds and New Music to the Knosh & Knowledge GREAT BARRINGTON – On Friday, Berkshires July 24, at Hevreh of Southern Berk- To present day enthusiasts, the shire, the Jewish Federation of the they performed their service accord- Jewish musical tradition seems so Berkshires presents historical novel- ing to their order”), and the rich and wide ranging, it is surpris- ist Maggie Anton, who will talk about Temple was no more, it wasn’t clear ing to find out that for centuries, the the research behind her new book, what role music should have. “This role of music was problematic within Enchantress: A Novel of Rav Hisda’s ancient ban had a profound effect the Jewish community. Explains Daughter. This Knosh & Knowledge Jewish music,” says Green. “Early Paul Green, clarinetist and organizer program starts at 10:45 a.m. and will church music is what developed into of this June’s 6th annual Summer be followed by a farm fresh lunch by art music, but that didn’t happen Celebration of Jewish Music, that Freund’s Farm. with music. Consequent- while the Tanakh exhorts believers ly, Jewish music played catch up.” to extol God with song and music, How Jewish composers and Inside after the destruction of the Second musicians caught up will be the Annual Meeting...... 5 Temple, rabbis placed a prohibition theme of Green’s June 10 lecture/ on music in the public realm. performance at Congregation Beth Set in Babylonia and Your Federation Presents...... 5-10, 16, 17 “The Bible is very specific in its , which is titled “What is Jew- Roman Palestine during the Fourth details about who does what,” he ish Music – And How Did It Become Features and Local News...... 11-15 Century, a critical period in the history explains (e.g., Chronicles 6:32 – Jewish?”. It’s one of three events of monotheistic religions, this histori- Israel Feeds the World...... 20 “[The ] ministered with song in this year’s festival, along with cal novel focuses on rabbinic families before the tabernacle of the tent World & National News...... 19-25 “The Artist’s ” multimedia struggling to establish new Jewish of meeting until Solomon built the Culture & Arts...... 28-32 house of the Lord in , and SUMMER MUSIC, continued on page 11 KNOSH & KNOWLEDGE, continued on page 7 Page 2 Berkshire Jewish Voice • jewishberkshires.org June 1 to July 16, 2015 In My View Celebrating the Past by Committing to the Future By Dara Kafuman I was recently delivering Federation files credible time in the history of this community and the Jewish world. to an offsite storage unit, when I came across The Maccabeats, America’s premier Jewish singing group, will some old albums that contained faded pictures be joining us on August 2 at our annual concert. What better way to honor the of past events – Super Sundays, concerts, an- Federation’s 75th anniversary than by underwriting and attending this year’s nual meetings, Israel celebrations, and senior concert, the proceeds of which will benefit the Jewish Agency for Israel’s Fund for lunches. There were images of religious school Victims of Terror. children and staff, along with lots and lots Finally, we are partnering with the Berkshire Immigrant Center and the Berk- of volunteers smiling up from those yellowed shire Museum in screening the new film Stateless, which documents the plight pages. From the faces I recognized and to judge of thousands of Soviet Jews whose lives were plunged into limbo after fleeing the from the style of clothing and haircuts, I’d say former Soviet Union. the photos go back some 20 years. Everyone While honoring our past is important, I can’t help wondering- what will the I saw embodied the joint spirit of caring for next 75 years look like for our Jewish community and for Jews around the world? others and living an engaged Jewish life in the Our annual campaign will continue to play a critical role in providing for the Berkshires. ever-changing needs of this community, as well as our ability to help Jews in With our upcoming annual meeting, the need beyond our borders. But we also need to recognize that our demograph- Jewish Federation of the Berkshires will be ics are changing. Statistics show that there are fewer and fewer donors and that celebrating 75 years of building, strengthening, and caring for our Jewish com- younger generations, including mine, are give significantly less than past genera- munity and mobilizing its resources to help Jews in need throughout the world. tions. It is impossible to quantify the impact our Federation has had on the lives of In my opinion, legacy gifts are the key to our future sustainability. This 75th others during that time, but I imagine that we have touched hundreds of thou- anniversary year is the perfect opportunity for you to think about your personal sands, if not millions of lives over our long and proud history. legacy in this community and consider including the Federation in your estate We have a number of wonderful events planned to help mark this special anni- planning. versary. On June 23, we will kick off our 75th annual meeting with a celebratory Whatever the future holds, I know Federation will continue to be at the fore- dessert reception at Seven Hills Inn in Lenox. Our guest speaker will be Robert front – bringing people together, shaping a communal vision, assessing needs, Trestan, the New England director of the Anti-Defamation League, who will dis- devising programs and services to meet those needs, and raising the funds to im- cuss the current state of anti-Semitism. This event is free and open to the entire plement them. It is Federation’s leadership and collaborative approach that have Jewish community. served this community for over 75 years. By working together, we will continue to On July 12, we will host acclaimed violinist Yevgeny Kutik at our Major Donors build its future for many generations to come. Breakfast, which is being co-chaired by Natalya and Sergey Yantovsky. All three of these folks came to the Berkshires as part of our the Federation’s resettlement Dara Kaufman is the executive director of the Jewish Federation of the Berkshires. of Soviet Jews in the early 1990s, and their personal stories will recount an in- Reflections The Power of One Good Deed By Rabbi Levi Volovik Receiving the Torah represented a unique The events on Mt. Sinai enmeshed the physical and the spiritual. moment, the single occasion on which there A shattering corollary can be deduced from this astonishing fact – not only has been a revelation of G-dliness to a vast were worldly objects suddenly infused with spiritual power, but the spiritual was group of people. Throughout the ages, many in- actually affected by what was done in the physical realm. Each mitzvah of the dividuals have laid claim to having had sensory 613 commanded by G-d correlated to a higher dimension. When a Jew puts on with the Almighty. Perhaps they have. tefillin, the mere act of putting on that tefillin effects spiritual change. The tefillin Clearly, there is always room in such cases for strap forever remains holy instead of losing its spirituality as soon as the Shema skepticism. However, on one unique occasion in is said. history, 3 million people experienced something The Lubavitcher Rebbe repeatedly emphasized that good deeds done in the extraordinary that has been carefully recorded physical world can affect the person positively and bring numerous blessings to and reproduced from generation to generation him/her, as well as to the entire world. Imagine the power of one good deed, a – the giving of the Torah. Moreover, we have an single good word. uninterrupted chain of testimony commencing Maimonides writes that with one good deed, a simple human being can tip the from the 3 million people who experienced this heavenly scales, bringing visible blessings to the entire world. incident. As the events in the world continue to swirl upon menacing winds, it is ap- On the sixth of Sivan, amidst a backdrop propriate for each one of us to take this lesson to heart. Say a friendly word to of thunder, lightning, and wonders beyond a stranger. Do something special for a loved one. Join together to make a differ- imagination, one of the most cataclysmic events in human history took place – 3 ence in our community. Send the rippling effect of goodness, kindness, and love million people heard the Ten Commandments. These same Ten Commandments throughout the universe. Make a difference! You never know whether your one are read in synagogue every Shavuot and were read once again for the 3,327 time good deed might be the deed that Maimonides said will tip the scale for the good this year. The day the Torah was given changed the effect of human behavior On behalf of my wife Sara and our children, I wish the entire Berkshire Jewish forever. Prior to the giving of the Torah, that which was spiritual and metaphysi- Community a very happy, healthy, and enjoyable summer. cal would always remain in a sublime state disconnected from the world of action. So too the physical actions, thoughts, and speech of this world never entered the Rabbi Levi Volovik is (with Sara Volovik) the co-director of Chabad of the Berkshires. spiritual realm.

As my parents planted for me before I was born, so do I plant for those who come after me. – Talmud Thank you to these individuals who through their gift to the Legacy Circle will ensure that the Jewish Federation of the Berkshires thrives long into the future. May your name be a Blessing, and may the example you set inspire others to create their own Jewish Legacy.

Lawrence Berke Stuart M. Fischman Toby H. Levine Lisa Fletcher-Udel Lee & Sydelle Blatt Lynn & William Foggle Erna Lindner-Gilbert Edward Udel Betty Braun Elaine Freidman Amy Lindner-Lesser Michael & Joan Ury Cipora Brown Eiran Gazit Helen Maislen Mark & Judy Usow Barbara Cohen Jeffrey Goldwasser & Jonquil Ellen Masters Henry & Beate Voremberg, Mark Cohen Wolfson Stuart Masters of blessed memory Mimi Cohen Jordan & Laura Green Estelle Miller Alexandra Warshaw C. Jeffrey & Judith Cook Harold Grinspoon Robert Newman, of blessed Florence Wineberg, of blessed Gerry & Lynn Denmark Ellen Heffan memory memory Jonathan & Lara Denmark Ed Jaffe, of blessed memory Stella Schecter Rabbi Zecher & Sheila K. Donath Elihu Katzman Arlene D. Schiff Rabbi Dennis Ross Anonymous (9) Melva Eidelberg Marilyn Katzman Gary Schiff Ed Abrahams Monroe England, in memory of Howard & Nancy Kaufman Stephen & Deborah Schreier Norman Avnet Monroe B. & Isabel England Lawrence Klein Martin Silver Barbara Bashevkin Dr. Armand V. Feigenbaum, Sarah Klein Sylvia Silverberg, in memory of Robert Bashevkin of blessed memory Arthur Kriger, of blessed Jerome Silverberg Linda J. L. Becker Dr. Donald S. Feigenbaum, memory Richard A. Simons & Marcie Robert Berend of blessed memory Fred & Brenda Landes Greenfield Simons Shelley Berend Steven Feiner Beth Laster-Nathan Mark & Elisa Snowise Helene Berke Diana & Stanley Feld Andrew S. Levine Harold Sparr Sivan/Tammuz 5775 Berkshire Jewish Voice • jewishberkshires.org Page 3

Letters to the Editor

Our Federation Thanked by Israeli Mental Health Federation Thanked for Making Jewish Camping Group Experiences Possible Dear Jewish Federation of the Berkshires: Dear Jewish Federation of the Berkshires: On behalf of ELI (Israel Association benefit from the specific knowledge ELI On behalf the URJ Eisner Camp, they have learned and experienced at for Child Protection), I’m writing to has about sexual abuse. Crane Lake Camp, and Six Points camp, and model that for their peers thank your organization for its dona- In an unconventional move, ELI Sci-Tech Academy, we would like to and surrounding Jewish communities. tion of $2,000 toward ELI’s program has been asked to share its expertise thank the Jewish Federation of the Thank you for partnering with us to “Working with Sexually Abused Sol- with Ma’hot staff and provide training Berkshires for their partnership in ensure that summer camp is a reality diers.” Partnering with the Israel in therapeutic intervention, as well as helping Jewish youth experience the for Berkshire families, and for return- Defense Force, ELI has launched a provide supervision and counseling joy of Jewish summer camp. We create ing them year after year to their home unique program to help IDF soldiers regarding specific cases. Furthermore, communities where campers can grow, away from home. who were victims of sexual abuse to ELI and the IDF identified the need to focus on their interests, and be sur- be able to deal with the devastating train and supervise general officers on rounded by amazing Jewish peers and Sincerely, outcomes of that abuse. the ground and IDF mental health of- role models. Whether our camp com- Louis Bordman, Director, Eisner Following the realization that sexual ficer about symptoms of abuse. munity is located in the Berkshires or Camp abuse and harassment is a challenging Again, we offer thanks and look north of , we take great pride in Debby Shriber, Director, Crane Lake issue that needs to be addressed, to a continued partnership helping to create future Jewish lead- Camp IDF created Ma’hot, a unit to provide with you. ers. Our goal is to have our campers Greg Kellner, Director, Six Points support for victims (primarily women) then return to your towns and become Sci-Tech Academy of sexual abuse and violence. Ma’hot’s Sincerely, leaders at home. They can take what professional staff consists of social Wendy Borodkin workers and psychologists who can The American Friends of ELI

Recovery and Rehabilitation of Israeli Citizens Helped by Federation Dear Friends: Thank you for your donation of pendence. Thanks to your assistance, $2,000 to Yad Sarah House in Israel. we will be able to help them by provid- Your gift this year is especially timely, ing medical equipment, emergency as Yad Sarah keeps helping injured transportation, walkers, oxygen tanks, civilians and soldiers in their uphill neighborly visits, and so much more. battle for recovery and rehabilitation In ordinary times, as well as urgent through its thousands of volunteers in emergencies, it is good to know that we 105 branches all over Israel. can count on friends like you. Though we have recently celebrated Passover – the holiday of liberty and Sincerely, freedom – and the 67th Israeli Indepen- Rachel Dover dence Day, we must not forget those Yad Sarah who struggle daily for their own inde-

Helping Young Jewish Adults at UMass Amherst Become Tomorrow’s Leaders Dear Jewish Federation of the Berkshires: Happy campers at Crane Lake Thank you so much for your sup- interns in our outreach program, on port of Jewish student life at Hillel trips to Israel and community service at UMass Amherst! Your support will trips, and in myriad other ways. LETTERS TO THE EDITOR enable more students to engage in Today’s UMass Hillel students will The Berkshire Jewish Voice welcomes signed letters on subjects of interest to the Jewish life through our wide range of be tomorrow’s synagogue members Jewish community. Letters are printed upon space availability. The BJV reserves the cultural, religious, social, and commu- and Jewish organizational leaders right to edit all letters for content, length, and style. The BJV does not print anonymous nity service programming. Your sup- throughout the state. We are grateful letters, insults, libelous or defamatory statements. For verification purposes, please port helps young Jewish adults develop to partner with you to create a vibrant include full name, home address, and a day and evening telephone number. Send positive Jewish identities and grow into Jewish future! letters to: Berkshire Jewish Voice, 196 South Street, Pittsfield, MA 01201, or email: the leaders of our future in 10 Jew- Rabbi Aaron Fine [email protected]. ish student groups, as participants in Executive Director, weekly meals and services, as Hillel House at UMass Amherst

Berkshire

DEADLINES The next Berkshire Jewish Voice (Vol. 23, No. 6) will cover the period July 17, 2015 JAewish publicationA publication of of the the Jewish Jewish Federation Federation of the Berkshires, of the serving Berkshires, V the Berkshires serving and surrounding the ice Berkshires NY, CT and and VT surrounding NY, through September 3, 2015. The following edition (Vol. 23, No. 7) covers September 4, CT and VT 2015 through October 13, 2015. The deadline for press releases and other written submissions, all of which are subject to being edited, is August 4, 2015. Because of limitations of space and time, please be so kind as to not submit lengthy articles Published nine times a year by the without first contacting the editor. Advertising deadline is August 18, 2015. For a Jewish Federation of the Berkshires complete Berkshire Jewish Voice schedule, contact (413) 442-4360, ext. 11, or e-mail [email protected]. Dara Kaufman: Publisher and Managing Editor Bernard and Elaine Roberts: Honorary Publishers Albert Stern: Editor Rose Tannenbaum: Graphic Design & Layout Berkshire Jenny Greenfeld: Advertising Sales Representative and Assistant Editor

JA ewishpublicationA publication ofof the the Jewish Jewish Federation Federation of the Berkshires, of the serving Berkshires,V the Berkshires serving and surrounding the ice Berkshires NY, CT and VT and surrounding NY, CT and VT Editorial opinions expressed in the Berkshire Jewish Voice are those of the newspa- per and not those of any individual. Signed editorials do not represent the view of the The color photography in this issue of the Berkshire newspaper, but rather express the writer’s view.

Jewish Voice is made possible through the generosity of The Berkshire Jewish Voice is under no obligation to accept any advertisement. It does Bernard and Elaine Roberts, honorary publishers. The not guarantee the of any merchandise or service advertised. staff of the Federation and the BJV are deeply grateful. Serves the Jewish community in Berkshire County and neighboring , Connecticut, and Vermont. Voluntary subscription donations: $18, $36, $72, $108, other.

Berkshire Jewish Voice e-mail: [email protected] Phone: (413) 442-4360, ext. 11 Fax (413) 443-6070 Paid advertisements do not necessarily represent the opinions of the Jewish Federation of the Berkshires or its members. Page 4 Berkshire Jewish Voice • jewishberkshires.org June 1 to July 16, 2015 Traveling with Jewish Taste No Need to Travel – Jerusalem Cookbook Brings Authentic Middle Eastern Cooking Home By Carol Goodman Kaufman

Joel and I recently hosted two groups of people Sweet dates and marinated in vinegar gave sweet and sour zest. Almonds that each won a Middle Eastern feast at a fundraising spiced with tart, deep red sumac, and fried pita provided crunch and a real Mid- auction at our synagogue. To prepare for this event, I dle Eastern vibe, and chile flakes and lemon juice tied the whole thing together. scoured my collection of recipes gathered and adapted The Roasted Cauliflower and Hazelnut Salad was the first of several recipes over the years. Wild -stuffed grape leaves. Labneh requiring a substitution for an out-of-season ingredient, in this case pomegranate with za’atar and olive oil. Soft, fluffy pita bread. Clem- seeds. But that shouldn’t stop you from preparing this salad with dried currants entine cake. or cranberries. It features a great crunch of hazelnuts, cauliflower, and celery and But I also used this homework phase to explore an aromatic mixture of cinnamon and allspice, vinegar, and maple syrup. the contents of Jerusalem, the groundbreaking cook- The tantalizing aroma alone will have you salivating for one of my favorite book by Israeli Yotam Ottolenghi and Palestinian Sami recipes in the book: an absolutely divine Chicken With Caramelized and Tamimi. Cardamom rice. Although the dish is great for company, the recipe is easy enough I loved the idea of two men who could be enemies, to prepare on a weeknight. I do advise eschewing the prescribed cardamom pods but who instead cook together and feed others. Break- for powdered spice. Fishing through the rice to remove pods is simply too cum- ing bread instead of heads, as it were. But I also adored the look and feel of the bersome, but necessary. Biting into a whole pod is a nasty experience. cookbook. Resplendent with gorgeous color photos and filled with personal sto- There are a few clunkers in the book. One recipe I will probably never make ries, the book is a masterpiece. again is the Grilled Fish Skewers with Hawayej and Parsley. Although easy to pre- The recipes in Jerusalem’s pages call for ingredients that bring to mind cara- pare and lovely to look at, the hawayej – a mixture of pepper, , , vans of colorfully clad camels bearing goods across vast deserts. Orange blossom cloves, cardamom, and – overpowered both the cod and my tastebuds. water, za’atar, turmeric, cumin, and cinnamon. Pine nuts, hazelnuts, goat cheese, A better alternative is the Cod Cakes in Sauce, a comfort food found tahini, dates, and figs. The aromas wafting from my kitchen made me feel as if I among the Jews of Syria redolent of a wonderful mixture of herbs and spices, were strolling through the narrow, vaulted alleyways of the shuk. As I write these both in the fish itself and the sauce. For this recipe, I recommend using a food words, I am craving a piece of halvah. Or Turkish delight. processor to blend the fish with its herbs and spices, and do not try to cut cor- For the feasts, I didn’t want to serve same-old same-old or . I ners. Please note: You must refrigerate the cakes overnight to ensure they hold wanted something new, bold, and innovative. I craved uncharted territory. And, to together. be honest, I wanted to make a splash. Finally, the Turkey and Zucchini Burgers with Green Onion and Cumin make And, boy did I ever that. The sheer range of delights, from appetizers to a delicious mid-week meal. Although the recipe calls for sour cream, Tofutti desserts, was mind-boggling. I was a just a little bit afraid that I would grow brand “Better Than Sour Cream” provides a cooling counterpoint to the spicy pat- weary of Middle Eastern food after kitchen testing so many recipes. But, it turned ties in the kosher home. out that the flavors in Jerusalem’s pages were so varied – representing Sephardi, The Roasted Butternut Squash with Onions and Tahini is probably the most Ashkenazi, and Arab cultures – that there was no way we could tire (except for talked dish about from this cookbook, and I have made it several times. It’s that the sheer exhaustion I felt when these dinners were over and I collapsed into my good. And, it’s super easy to prepare. Although technically a side dish, the protein warm, cozy bed). from the tahini and the pine nuts make this eminently doable as a main dish for Time out for fair warning: This vegetarians and even vegans. cookbook is not specifically ko- The Roasted Sweet Potatoes with Fresh Figs was another recipe that I wouldn’t sher, so I chose recipes that were make again. The Mission figs on the sunroom tree were still green, and there kosher, or I used kosher versions weren’t any at the market, so I had to use dried fruit. With a balsamic reduction of non-kosher ingredients. Also, poured over all, even the addition of scallions, goat cheese, chile peppers, salt and Ottolenghi and Tamimi cook for a pepper couldn’t temper the cloying sweetness of the dish. living and have a phalanx of sous Sweet, however, is good for dessert. From the cookbook I made the Semolina, chefs doing the scut work. Some Coconut And Marmalade Cake, prepared with orange juice, orange rind, and or- of the recipes in the book require ange marmalade, with orange blossom water in the soaking syrup. I found the or- many steps and lots of pots and ange blossom water much too perfume-y for my taste, so the second time I made pans (see eggplant soup, below). the cake I cut the amount in half. It made all the difference. Next time, I plan to Luckily, the deal I struck with Joel substitute orange juice to get a tangier, more citrusy flavor. was that I would cook if he would clean up. I think I could live with that arrangement permanently.

Here is a sampling of the reci- pes I tried. Roasted Butternut Squash & Red Onion With Tahini & Za’atar Pureed Beets With Goat Cheese and Hazelnuts was both Serves six as a side dish (or four fressers) a stunningly beautiful and tasty starter. The sweetness of the This recipe is super easy to prepare and absolutely divine to eat. I have adapted beets was counterbalanced by this slightly to suit my taste and reduce the amount of fat. a swirl of tangy Greek yogurt that not only provided a creamy Ingredients: mouthfeel, but which made for a stunning alabaster contrast to the deep red of the beets. The creami- 1 large butternut squash, cut into 1 small clove , crushed ness in turn contrasted with the satisfying crunch of toasted nuts. wedges (leave skin on) 1½ t. olive oil Of the three soups I tested, each was a hit. First up was a Watercress and 2 red onions, cut into wedges ¼ cup pine nuts Chickpea Soup with Rose Water and Ras El Hanout, a Moroccan mixture of thir- Vegetable spray 2 T. za’atar teen different herbs and spices. Since I rarely use watercress, I was delighted to ¼ cup tahini paste 1 T. coarsely chopped flat-leaf discover its spicy tang playing foil to the earthy chickpeas’ straight man. 1½ T. lemon juice parseley Aroma drew us to the table to partake of the Tomato and Sourdough Soup. A 2 T. water Salt and pepper to taste deceptively easy recipe to prepare, the results were sublime. The tomatoes provid- ed a springy freshness and nice chunky texture, and the bread worked as a great Directions: thickener, and made me think fondly of a fabulous ribolletta I had in Florence. Preheat oven to 475 degrees. The Burnt Eggplant with Mograbieh was both the most delicious and the most Put squash skin side down and onions on one or two large baking sheets, labor-intensive, as well as the greatest consumer of olive oil. I have to admit that coat with vegetable spray, and sprinkle with salt and pepper. pureed eggplant didn’t sound all that attractive to me, but with tomato adding vibrant color, and several toppings providing texture, it was a hit. This soup gar- Roast for 30 to 40 minutes. Watch onions closely as they might cook faster nered rave reviews and requests for the recipe. Mograbieh, by the way, is simply than the squash and need to be removed sooner. the large “Israeli” style couscous. Remove from oven and let cool. Once starters and soup were under control, it was on to salad. The Baby Whisk together tahini, lemon juice, water, garlic and ¼ t. salt in a small bowl Spinach with Dates and Almonds was filled with a variety of flavors and textures. until the consistency of honey. Add more water if needed. Pour oil into a small frying pan and place over medium-low heat. Add the pine nuts and ½ teaspoon salt and cook for about two minutes, stirring often, until the nuts are golden brown. NOTE: Watch the nuts carefully to avoid burning. Remove nuts and oil to a small bowl to stop their cooking. To serve, spread the vegetables out on a large serving platter and drizzle the tahini over all. Sprinkle the pine nuts on top, followed by the za’atar and parsley.

Carol Goodman Kaufman is a psychologist and author with a for travel and food. She is currently at work on a food history/cookbook, tracing the paths that some of our favorite foods have taken from their origins to appear on dinner plates and in cultural rites and artifacts around the world. She invites readers to read her blog at carolgoodmankaufman.com and to follow her on Twitter @goodmankaufman. Sivan/Tammuz 5775 Berkshire Jewish Voice • jewishberkshires.org Page 5 Your Federation Presents

Federation Celebrates Its Summer Camp Season Kicks Off with a 75th Anniversary at Annual Federation Family Fun Day on June 7 Meeting GREAT BARRINGTON – Find who attends this festive taste tant facts: out what the Jewish camp of Jewish summer camp fun, • A Jewish summer camp June 23 event will feature ADL’s Robert experience is all about on Sun- from youngsters to teens. experience is one of the Trestan on “The State of Anti-Semitism” day, June 7, when the Fed- S’mores, for example. Every- greatest predictors of future eration kicks off the summer one likes s’mores, and all can engagement with Jewish LENOX – Starting at 7 p.m. on tions and the new board will season with a free family fun gather around a bonfire to cook community and faith. Tuesday, June 23, the Jewish be elected by members of the day featuring summer camp up the crispy gooey treats. A • The Jewish Federation of Federation of the Berkshires community. games, songs, crafts, and song leader will lead attendees the Berkshires works hard will hold its 75th annual meet- The meeting will feature the other activities. The summer in summer camp sing-a-longs. each year to make this pop- ing at the Seven Hills Inn, special presentation, “2015: fun blowout, co-sponsored For the youngest, there will be ular, powerful, and positive 40 Plunkett Street in Lenox, The State of Anti-Semitism” by PJ Library, will take place special crafts, a bounce house, experience possible for all hosted by owners Robin Ger- presented by Robert Tres- between 10 a.m. and noon at and PJ Library story time, Berkshire Jewish families son Wong and Dennis Wong. tan, New England regional Eisner Camp in Great Bar- while older attendees can join who apply for scholarships. director of the rington. in games of Frisbee, soccer, Anti-Defamation The event is open to all and other lawn contests. There Eisner Camp is located at League. In his role – overnight campers, day will be arts & crafts tables, 53 Brookside Road in Great as regional director, campers, perhaps-someday as well as face painting and a Barrington. For more informa- Trestan oversees campers, and nostalgic former baked potato bar. tion on this event and Jewish program delivery, campers, not to mention par- Find out how much fun summer camping, call the fundraising, leader- ents and grandparents. There Jewish summer camp can be! Federation at (413) 442-4360, ship development, will be something for everyone And keep in mind two impor- ext. 10. communications, and government relations. He is a seasoned Jewish Important! Changes to Our Programming and professional who previously served Kosher Lunch Program as the ADL Eastern States Civil Rights A New Name: Our weekly programs and kosher lunches, held at Congregation Israel, Counsel, provid- now go by a new name: The Connecting with Community Series. It’s more welcoming and more ing legal guidance in line with what these programs and lunches provide to members of our community. to six offices in the A New Time: All programs will now begin at 10:45 a.m. on Mondays and Thursdays, followed by northeast United the kosher lunch at noon. Important note! In the months of June, July, and August, there will States in respond- be no kosher lunch on Tuesdays. ing to hate crimes, extremist activities, A New Price: Programs only are now free of charge! We welcome you to stay for a kosher lunch at legislation, discrimi- a $2 suggested donation for adults over 60 years of age, $7 for all others. Advance reservations nation complaints, are still required for lunch and can be made by calling (413) 442-2200 before 9 a.m. on the day and church-state of the program. issues. We hope you’ll like the changes and encourage you to connect with your community! Robert Trestan In Massachu- setts, Trestan built The meeting is free and a statewide coalition largely open to the entire Berkshire responsible for drafting one Jewish community. This year, of the most comprehensive For Your Health: the Federation invites all who anti-bullying laws in the coun- Like us on attend to join in celebrating its try. Internationally, he has Facebook: Core Stability, Flexible Feet, 75th anniversary in the Berk- consulted and provided hate shires with a special reception. crime training to NGOs and • Jewish Federation and Balance on June 4 President Amy Lindner- civil society groups in Austria, of the Berkshires Good postural stability Lesser will speak about the Israel, Poland, and Turkey. • PJ Library Berkshire is the basis for comfortable, current status of the Federa- His expert commentary on civil pain-free movement but, says tion and address its future, rights issues has appeared in County body worker Carol Bennett, while Dara Kaufman will major media outlets including “before we can move freely it deliver the Executive Direc- , Boston is important to reestablish tor’s Report. During the Globe, Fox News and NBC. stability through the center of meeting, outgoing members of For further information, the body – the core.” the Federation board will be please call (413) 442-4360, After a career in theater and recognized for their contribu- ext. 10. movement, starting in her 60s Bennett obtained certifications and degrees in such body work practices as the Feldenkreis method, aquatic exercise, and kinesiology. She’ll share her experience at the Connecting Find Out How to Deter, Detect, and Defend With Community workshop starting at 10:45 a.m. on Against Identity Theft, June 8 Thursday, June 4, at Congre- Carol Bennett gation Knesset Israel. Identity theft is a serious population that is often preyed Community program begins at She explains: “We will begin with chair work to strengthen issue – particularly among on by unscrupulous fraud- 10:45 a.m. and will take place deep abdominals, hip stabilizers, and scapular muscles. Our feet senior citizens, a vulnerable sters. On Monday, June 8, at Congregation Knesset Israel connect us to the ground on which we stand. Feet are the begin- join prosecutors Paul in Pittsfield. ning of one body part supporting the other. We can stand more Caccaviello and Mary Caccaviello has been a comfortably in flexible feet. Using rollers, balls, and varied foot Shogry-Hayer for a valu- prosecutor with the Berkshire exercises, our feet can become more moveable and responsive. able overview of how to District Attorney’s Office since “Using the chair as support, we will prepare for static and deter, detect, and defend 1989. He was made 1st Assis- dynamic balance. Strengthening individual muscles isometrically against identity theft. tant District Attorney in 2004, reawakens postural muscles to enable full body weight bear- This Connecting With and is the senior advisor to ing movements. Finally, we will integrate what we have done in District Attorney David Cape- varied walks.” less. He oversees Superior Court, the grand jury, and all IF YOU GO major felonies. He is also the IF YOU GO Sponsor: Jewish Federation of the Berkshires office contact and supervises Sponsor: Jewish Federation of the Berkshires all cases involving elder abuse Venue: Congregation Knesset Israel and the Disabled Persons Pro- Venue: Congregation Knesset Israel Dates & Time: Monday, June 8, at 10:45 a.m. tection Commission (DPPC). Dates & Time: Thursday, June 4, at 10:45 a.m. Cost: This free program is part of the Federation’s Connecting Mary Shogry-Hayer is a senior Cost: This free program is part of the Federation’s Connecting victim assistance advocate With Community Series and will be followed by a kosher hot With Community Series and will be followed by a kosher hot lunch. Lunch is a $2 suggested donation for adults over 60 years in the office of the Berkshire District Attorney. lunch. Lunch is a $2 suggested donation for adults over 60 years of age or $7 for all others. Advance reservations are required for of age or $7 for all others. Advance reservations are required for lunch and can be made by calling (413) 442-2200 before 9 a.m. lunch and can be made by calling (413) 442-2200 before 9 a.m. on the day of the program. on the day of the program. Page 6 Berkshire Jewish Voice • jewishberkshires.org June 1 to July 16, 2015 Your Federation Presents

Take a Walk in the Wilds of Contemporary “Kosher Food and Kavanah: Education, June 1 And How They Meet” – Marguerite Morris Willis is the possibility that the solu- Angus Johnson Explains on not your regular grandmother. tion may be in families making Although she does cook and their own choices.” quilt, Willis is a former 30-year A resident of rural western June 15 school committee member, Massachusetts since 1991, On Monday, June 15, at longtime elected town govern- Willis was born in Philadel- 10:45 a.m., join local farmer ment official, volunteer who phia. With her family as a Angus Johnson of Just Good drives a truck (because she child, she made the big move Kosher for his talk “Kosher likes it), EMT student at age to suburban Willow Grove Food and Kavanah: And How 48, and author – most recently and, after marriage, settled They Meet.” Johnson, who was of A Grandmother’s Essays on in Marshfield, a coastal town profiled in the BJV’s Febru- Education. south of Boston where she ary/March edition, will explain Meet her at the Connect- raised her two children. his approach to kosher farm- ing with Community program Willis, whose large family ing in this Connecting With on Monday, June 1 at 10:45 includes many educators, is Community event at Congre- a.m., where she’ll share her an avid reader, political junkie, gation Knesset Israel. ideas and experiences in a talk amateur demographer, and Johnson will explore the called “Taking a Walk in the sociologist. With her business aspects of kashrut that some- Wilds of Contemporary Educa- background, school committee times get left out of the teach- Angus Johnson tion.” The program will take experience, and grandmother’s ings and general understand- place at Congregation Knesset love, she brings a heartfelt and discussion about American ing of what “kosher” may be Israel. informed perspective to this education. about. He says: “Kosher has “It also encompasses the Willis uses everyday situa- the potential to include issues large and looming question of tions and references to popu- and concerns such as the en- animal welfare from start to lar culture in an entertaining, IF YOU GO vironment and how water, soil finish,” he adds, “and finally understandable, and conver- Sponsor: Jewish Federation of the Berkshires and air are all affected, as well how all of this is expressed in sational style to break through as concerns for the treatment our daily Jewish lives. Does education babble to show us Venue: Congregation Knesset Israel of labor and how employees kashrut set us apart from oth- that education is related to all Dates & Time: Monday, June 1, at 10:45 a.m. are treated. ers, and for what reason?” aspects of life. Cost: This free program is part of the Federation’s Connecting “With our current right/left, With Community Series and will be followed by a kosher hot red/blue, liberal/conservative lunch. Lunch is a $2 suggested donation for adults over 60 years group thinking, each camp is IF YOU GO convinced that its side is in of age or $7 for all others. Advance reservations are required for Sponsor: Jewish Federation of the Berkshires lunch and can be made by calling (413) 442-2200 before 9 a.m. possession of the truth” Willis Venue: Congregation Knesset Israel writes. “We have overlooked on the day of the program. Dates & Time: Monday, June 15, at 10:45 a.m. Cost: This free program is part of the Federation’s Connecting With Community Series and will be followed by a kosher hot Aging Today: Author, Journalist, and Editor lunch. Lunch is a $2 suggested donation for adults over 60 years of age or $7 for all others. Advance reservations are required for Andrew Blechman on Leisureville, June 11 lunch and can be made by calling (413) 442-2200 before 9 a.m. on the day of the program. When his next-door neigh- bors in Great Barrington sud- denly picked up and moved to a gated retirement community in Florida called The Villages, “Songs from Hollywood” with journalist Andrew Blech- man was astonished by their Doug Schmolze, June 18 stories, and so went south to investigate. Larger than Doug Schmolze, on voice , with a golf course and guitar, will feature some of for every day of the month, the finest songs written for the two downtowns, and its own movies at a Connecting With newspaper, radio, and TV sta- Community concert on Thurs- tion, The Villages is a city of day, June 18, at Congregation nearly one hundred thousand Knesset Israel. Doug will set (and growing) missing only one the scene for music by Irving thing: children. Berlin, Jerome Kern, George In the critically acclaimed Gershwin, and Harold Arlen, Leisureville: Adventures in a by sharing stories and anec- World Without Children, Blech- dotes about the composers, man delved into life in the Andrew D. Blechman their lives, and the times that senior utopia, also tracing the they lived in. He’ll talk about history of the age-segregated the quirks and joys of living Smithsonian, The Atlantic, and how the period they lived in retirement phenomenon and with people of different ages, the New York Times, among affected their music, and invite exploring what has happened backgrounds, and cultures others. His first book, Pigeons: attendees to share memories. to the pioneering develop- to acknowledge what we have The Fascinating Saga of the You may even feel like singing ments after decades of segre- and to take steps to ensure World’s Most Revered and Re- along! Doug Schmolze gation. that our communities are ac- viled Bird, was widely praised. Doug Schmolze, tenor and On June 11 at 10:45 a.m., cessible, nurturing, and safe Blechman is the managing guitarist, studied guitar and trained in the Music for Heal- Blechman will talk about his for residents of all ages and editor of Orion Magazine, a na- composition at the Berklee ing and Transition Program findings at a Connecting With needs.” tional nature-focused publica- School of Music, and is also a that brings live music to hos- Community program at Con- Andrew D. Blechman is tion based in the Berkshires. Certified Music Practitioner, pitals. gregation Knesset Israel. an award-winning journal- He was elected as a selectman From the book’s publisher: ist whose work has appeared of Great Barrington in May “Part investigative journalism, in the , 2011. IF YOU GO part humor and part social critique, Leisureville explores Sponsor: Jewish Federation of the Berkshires the attraction of these com- IF YOU GO Venue: Congregation Knesset Israel munities, what it’s really like Dates & Time: Thurday, June 18, at 10:45 a.m. behind the gated walls … and Sponsor: Jewish Federation of the Berkshires what the phenomenon means Venue: Congregation Knesset Israel Cost: This free program is part of the Federation’s Connecting With Community Series and will be followed by a kosher hot for America at large. Blechman Dates & Time: Thursday, June 11, at 10:45 a.m. is no ideologue. He is quick to lunch. Lunch is a $2 suggested donation for adults over 60 years Cost: This free program is part of the Federation’s Connecting point out the perceived faults of age or $7 for all others. Advance reservations are required for of age-segregated communi- With Community Series and will be followed by a kosher hot lunch and can be made by calling (413) 442-2200 before 9 a.m. ties, but he’s not blind to their lunch. Lunch is a $2 suggested donation for adults over 60 years on the day of the program. appeal, either. Blechman re- of age or $7 for all others. Advance reservations are required for minds the rest of us who truly lunch and can be made by calling (413) 442-2200 before 9 a.m. enjoy our communities and on the day of the program. Sivan/Tammuz 5775 Berkshire Jewish Voice • jewishberkshires.org Page 7 Your Federation Presents

Life Cycle: Deborah Golden “In the Unlikeliest of Places” – A Father’s Alecson on End of Life Remarkable Story, Told by His Daughter, Issues on June 22 July 13 Three years after her fa- story – she builds an uncom- Deborah Golden Alecson’s ther’s death, Annette Berkovits mon family saga and re-imag- professional and personal was going through his things ines a turbulent past. In the paths have informed each and found a box of tapes— process she uncovers a stub- other in the arena of loss and several years’ worth— that in born optimism that flourished grief. She has approached his baritone voice recounted in the unlikeliest of places. writing as a process of healing. his spectacular life, with its Meet her at a Connecting With As a thanatologist, she teaches triumphs and tragedies. Nach- Community program starting and lectures on death, dying, man Libeskind’s remarkable 10:45 a.m. on Monday, July bereavement, and ethics of story is an odyssey through 13 at Congregation Knesset health care. As an author, she crucial events of the 20th Israel. often works in a genre called century. With an unshakable Annette Libeskind Berkovits Narrative Medicine that is will and a few drops of luck, was born in Kyrgyzstan and becoming extremely popular he survived a pre-war Polish grew up in postwar Poland and with health care profession- prison, witnessed the 1939 the fledgling State of Israel be- als to help them understand Nazi invasion of Lodz, and was fore coming to America at age what their patients and clients imprisoned in a brutal Soviet sixteen. In her three-decade experience. Deborah Golden Alecson Annette Libeskind Berkovits gulag. career with the Wildlife Conser- On Monday, June 22, at Upon regaining his free- vation Society in New York, she 10:45 a.m., Alecson, will dis- Venue: Congregation Knesset dom, he trekked to the foot- spearheaded the institution’s cuss her work at a Connecting IF YOU GO Israel hills of the Himalayas, where nationwide and worldwide sci- With Community lecture at Sponsor: Jewish Federation of he found and nearly lost the ence education programs. Her Dates & Time: Monday, Congregation Knesset Israel, the Berkshires love of his life. Later, the brother is noted architect Dan- July 13, at 10:45 a.m. and also read from her latest crushing Communist re- iel Libeskind, whose projects book, Complicated Grief. Venue: Congregation Knesset Cost: This free program is part gime and a lingering postwar include the Jewish Museum Alecson is a poet and writer Israel of the Federation’s Connecting anti-Semitism in Poland drove Berlin and the World Trade who has worked through her With Community Series and Dates & Time: Monday, Nachman and his young fam- Center master plan. Their fam- experiences of loss and grief will be followed by a kosher June 22, at 10:45 a.m. ily to Israel, where he faced a ily story was chronicled in her through the written word, tell- Cost: This free program is part new form of discrimination. book: In the Unlikeliest of Plac- hot lunch. Lunch is a $2 sug- ing stories that are journeys Then, defiantly, Nachman es: How Nachman Libeskind gested donation for adults about loss that often, but not of the Federation’s Connecting turned a pocketful of change Survived the Nazis, Gulags, and over 60 years of age or $7 for always, describe resiliency and With Community Series and into a new life in New York Soviet Communism. all others. Advance reserva- growth. It is by writing and will be followed by a kosher City, where a heartbreaking tions are required for lunch telling her stories that she has hot lunch. Lunch is a $2 sug- promise led to his unlikely been able to integrate trau- and can be made by calling gested donation for adults success as a modernist painter IF YOU GO matic events in her life and to (413) 442-2200 before 9 a.m. over 60 years of age or $7 for while in his 70s. also help others. Professional- Sponsor: Jewish Federation of on the day of the program. all others. Advance reserva- With just a box of tapes, ly, she recognizes that writing the Berkshires tions are required for lunch Annette Libeskind Berkovits is a therapeutic approach for and can be made by calling tells more than her father ’s anyone dealing with loss of a loved one or loss of one’s own (413) 442-2200 before 9 a.m. KNOSH & KNOWLEDGE, continued from page 1 capacities. on the day of the program. traditions in the aftermath of the destruction of Jerusalem’s Holy Temple. Against this “Swimming in Air”: Ongoing Qigong backdrop, women excluded from their religion’s hierar- Classes with Jeffrey Gordon, June 25 chy find power and esteem as sorceresses, in the very land where the word ‘magic’ originated. Surprisingly, says Anton, some of the spells and incantations they used have become part of today’s Jewish liturgy. Maggie Anton is the award- winning author of the his- torical fiction trilogy Rashi’s Jeffrey Gordon is a native for older adults and seniors, Cost: This free program is part Daughters and a new series, Author Maggie Anton of Pittsfield and serves the helping to enhance joint mo- of the Federation’s Connecting Rav Hisda’s Daughter. Her volume, Apprentice, was a community as an acupunc- bility, bone strength, circula- With Community Series and new novel Enchantress focuses National Jewish Book Award turist and Qigong instructor. tion, and balance. will be followed by a kosher on the rabbis and sorceresses finalist. A Los Angeles native, Practicing Qigong is often who populate the Talmud and Maggie worked for 33 years as hot lunch. Lunch is a $2 sug- likened to “swimming in air” the surprising importance a clinical chemist for Kaiser and has a rejuvenating and IF YOU GO gested donation for adults of Jewish magic in 4th cen- Permanente before becoming over 60 years of age or $7 for refreshing effect on the body, Sponsor: Jewish Federation of tury CE Babylonia. The first an author. mind, and senses. all others. Advance reserva- Qigong, similar to Tai Chi, the Berkshires tions are required for lunch is a simple form of exercise Venue: Congregation Knesset and can be made by calling IF YOU GO to strengthen physical health Israel (413) 442-2200 before 9 a.m. Sponsor: Jewish Federation of the Berkshires and calm and focus the mind. Dates & Time: Thursday, on the day of the program. It is an ideal form of exercise Venue: Hevreh of Southern Berkshire, 270 State Road, Great Bar- June 25, at 10:45 a.m. rington Date: Friday, July 24, at 10:45 a.m. (lunch follows at noon) Advance lunch reservations required for this event. Email For further information on all Jewish Federation of the Berkshires programs, please [email protected], or call (413) 442-4360, ext. 10 call Nancy Maurice Rogers, Program Director, at (413) 442-4360, ext. 15. Cost: $11 with farm fresh buffet lunch from Freund’s Farm. Program only, $5.

www.berkshireradon.com (413) 528-9700

Radon Testing ❑✓ ✓ COMPETITIVE PRICING and Mitigation ❑ PROMPT SERVICE ❑✓ FIVE-YEAR WARRANTY NEHA & NRSB CERTIFIED [email protected] Page 8 Berkshire Jewish Voice • jewishberkshires.org June 1 to July 16, 2015 Your Federation Presents

“Aging: A Lifelong Process” – A Discussion Current Events: Race in and Support Group with Therapist Maggie America 2015, July 6 Bittman, July 9 On Monday, July 6, join Professor Leonard Quart for a come with living life – those Dates & Time: Thursday, talk and discussion about is- sues involving race and ethnic- ‘existence pains’ or ‘existential July 9, at 10:45 a.m. stressors. Along the way we ity titled “Post Racial America find meaning and purpose, Cost: This free program is part Doesn’t Exist.” The talk, part experience aloneness, confront of the Federation’s Connecting of the Connecting With Com- mortality, and develop self With Community Series and munity series, begins at 10:45 will. will be followed by a kosher a.m. at Congregation Knesset “Within this context, partic- hot lunch. Lunch is a $2 sug- Israel. ipants will discuss, share, and gested donation for adults Says Quart: “I will talk on the way racism and the offer support to one another.” over 60 years of age or $7 for problem of race still festers in Topics for discussion all others. Advance reserva- change from month to month America, despite the rise of a tions are required for lunch large black middle class. I’ll Maggie Bittman and are open to suggestion based on the group’s prefer- and can be made by calling discuss income and education- Explaining her outlook ences. (413) 442-2200 before 9 a.m. al disparities between blacks and approach toward this on the day of the program. and whites, but place my em- Leonard Quart Connecting With Community phasis on the charged, violent program on Thursday, July IF YOU GO encounters with the police in 9, Maggie Bittman, therapist, , Baltimore, and IF YOU GO writes: “From birth, we begin Sponsor: Jewish Federation of elsewhere. These encounters Sponsor: Jewish Federation of to age with Time. Along the the Berkshires have led to protests – peaceful the Berkshires and self-destructive – but few way, we develop strategies to Venue: Congregation Knesset Venue: Congregation Knesset help manage the stressors that Israel real changes.” The talk will take about 25 Israel minutes, and the rest of the Dates & Time: Monday, July 6, The Fabric of Life: Creating Beauty and hour will be reserved for ques- at 10:45 a.m. tions and discussion. Cost: This free program is part Quart is professor emeri- of the Federation’s Connecting Meaning Out of Scraps and Loose Ends, tus of cinema studies at Grad Center CUNY and the College With Community Series and July 16 of Staten Island, a contribut- will be followed by a kosher ing editor to Cineaste, and the hot lunch. Lunch is a $2 sug- Join Janet McKinstry on co-author of American Film gested donation for adults July 16 for “The Fabric of Life: and Society Since 1945 – 4th over 60 years of age or $7 for Creating Beauty and Mean- Edition (Praeger, 2001). He ing Out of Scraps and Loose all others. Advance reserva- also contributes to the Berk- Ends,” a Connecting With tions are required for lunch shire Eagle. Community program starting and can be made by calling 10:45 a.m. at Congregation (413) 442-2200 before 9 a.m. Knesset Israel. She will share on the day of the program. slides, stories, her fiber art, and handmade marionettes, as well as discoveries she has made in creating beauty from trash, in finding depth in sacred text, and in discovering the liberating freedom of self- expression.

IF YOU GO Sponsor: Jewish Federation of the Berkshires Venue: Congregation Knesset Israel Dates & Time: Thursday, July 16, at 10:45 a.m. Cost: This free program is part Janet McKinstry and friend of the Federation’s Connecting With Community Series and over 60 years of age or $7 for all others. Advance will be followed by a kosher reservations are required for lunch and can be hot lunch. Lunch is a $2 sug- made by calling (413) 442-2200 before 9 a.m. on gested donation for adults the day of the program. Sivan/Tammuz 5775 Berkshire Jewish Voice • jewishberkshires.org Page 9 Your Federation Presents

“Where Organic Beets Meet the Borscht Belt” Miss Hall’s School Honors Rosie Zhao ‘15, Miss Hall’s School student president (left), at the – Wellness with Avi Dresner, July 2 presentation ceremony with Alex Rosner and Federation Executive Holocaust Survivor Director Dara Kaufman On Thursday, July 2, the ness, and wellness to as broad Connecting with Commu- an audience as possible. His nity series hosts Avi Dresner, private clients have included celebrity personal trainer, New York Mets legend Keith fitness consultant, “Spread Hernandez; former 20-20 host The Wellth” columnist, and John Stossel; and actor Leon- radio host of Well Talk. At ard Nimoy. Dresner earned his 10:45 a.m. at Congrega- Bachelor of Arts degree from tion Knesset Israel, Dresner Cornell University, and his will talk about his on-air Master’s from the City College experiences in a talk titled of New York. He also served “Where Organic Beets Meet as an 81mm mortar specialist the Borscht Belt: A Regional in the Israel Defense Force, Health, Fitness, and Wellness where he got his first radio Talk Show Host Shares Stories experience – and quite a work- from His Life in Radio Today.” out – carrying a 50 pound On Well Talk, Dresner portable radio on his back. interviews health, fitness, and wellness professionals, from doctors and scientists IF YOU GO Avi Dresner In April, the students of Miss Hall’s School in Pittsfield honored to yoga instructors, mas- Sponsor: Jewish Federation of sage therapists, nutritionists, hot lunch. Lunch is a $2 sug- Alex Rosner (center), a child survivor of the Holocaust whose professional athletes, and the Berkshires gested donation for adults family was rescued by Oskar Schindler, with a donation to the performing artists. Past shows Venue: Congregation Knesset over 60 years of age or $7 for Jewish Federation of the Berkshires. Mr. Rosner spoke to students have covered topics ranging Israel all others. Advance reserva- as part of a month-long series of programs around the theme of confronting genocide. Rosie Zhao '15, Miss Hall's School student from Alzheimer’s research to Dates & Time: Thursday, tions are required for lunch unicycling, and everything in president (left) presented the donation to Dara Kaufman, the July 2, at 10:45 a.m. and can be made by calling Federation’s executive director. between. (413) 442-2200 before 9 a.m. The show grew out of Cost: This free program is part Dresner’s more than 20-year of the Federation’s Connecting on the day of the program. commitment to delivering the With Community Series and manifold benefits of health, fit- will be followed by a kosher

Berkshire For further information on all Jewish Federa- tion of the Berkshires programs, please call Nancy Maurice Rogers, Program Director, JewishA publication of the Jewish Federation of the Berkshires, serving V the Berkshires and surrounding ice NY, CT and VT at (413) 442-4360, ext. 15. Thank you to our supporters! The Berkshire Jewish Voice extends a very special “thank you” for the generosity extended thus far by 170 households who have sent in their contributions for voluntary subscriptions to the paper. Jane Karlin Ken and Lynn Stark Sy and Edi Mayerson Irving Bashevkin

SEED WHAT YOU READ! BECOME A SUBSCRIBER TODAY! Yes, I support the Berkshire Jewish Voice! Please accept my voluntary tax-deductible subscription contribution. _____ $360 Mensch & Honorary Publisher (Supports color printing in one edition of the Voice) _____ $108 Sponsor _____ $72 Patron Mail check payable to: _____ $36 Friend Jewish Federation of the Berkshires 196 South Street, Pittsfield, MA 01201 _____ $18 Supporter­­­­ (Please add Berkshire Jewish Voice in the memo)

Name to be listed: ______p I wish to remain anonymous Page 10 Berkshire Jewish Voice • jewishberkshires.org June 1 to July 16, 2015 Your Federation Presents Volunteers are Vital! Volunteers Make a Huge Economic Impact By Susan Frisch Lehrer, Coordinator of Volunteers

The Berkshires are humming with folks who are either actively or soon to be providing transportation and general labor support (19.6 percent); tutoring and volunteering for all of the cultural, educational and religious organizations this teaching youth (18 percent); mentoring youth (17.3 percent); and lending profes- summer. I’m always amazed (and delighted) when I hear discussions among sional and management expertise (15 percent). friends and acquaintances at parties, the gym, the supermarket – wherever I It’s been found that volunteers are almost twice as likely to donate money to am – discussing where and when they are volunteering. To some, it’s become an nonprofits as non-volunteers. Yup, that’s right. We see some of the same names important part of their lives. I know this, because I enjoy volunteering, too. on volunteer and donor lists for many nonprofits. Once a volunteer becomes Recent statistics from the Corporation for National & Community Service engaged in an activity, they see the organization as a value/service to the commu- (www.volunteeringinamerica.gov) show that those nity and are more likely to support it. who volunteer live longer and lead more productive Last year over 300 volunteers have donated over 3500 lives. It was reported that one in four adults in the hours of service in our own Berkshire Jewish commu- U.S. volunteered through an organization, indicat- nity. That translates to almost $81,000 of contributed ing that volunteering remains an important activity service! Again, “WOW” numbers! We honor and value for millions of Americans. our volunteers at the Jewish Federation of the Berk- Altogether, 62.6 million Americans volunteered shires and thank you all for your dedicated service. We nearly 7.7 billion hours of time last year. Based on especially thank everyone who volunteered to help with the Independent Sector’s (www.independentsector. Super Sunday! It was most successful and we couldn’t org) estimate of the average value of a volunteer have done it without all of the wonderful volunteers!! hour ($23.07), the estimated value of this vol- Please contact me at the Federation if you wish to unteer service is nearly $173 billion. Those are lend a hand and join our TOV (Tikkun Olam Volunteer) “WOW” numbers in my book! These numbers help Network in helping others in our community. Todah recognize the millions of individuals who dedicate rabah – Thank you. their time, talents, and energy to making a differ- ence. Many nonprofit organizations use these es- B’shalom, timated numbers to quantify the enormous value Susan Frisch Lehrer volunteers provide. Coordinator of Volunteers The report stated that the top volunteer activities [email protected] included fundraising or selling items to raise money (413) 442-4360, ext. 14 (25.4 percent); food related service – collecting, preparing, distributing, or serving (24.2 percent);

Fight Disappearing Ink! Support the Berkshire Jewish Voice! Sivan/Tammuz 5775 Berkshire Jewish Voice • jewishberkshires.org Page 11 FEATURES AND LOCAL NEWS

SUMMER MUSIC, continued from page 1 Havdallah Service at presentation on June 7, and sponded artistically to the text Green describes as “beauti- “A Klezmer Sonatina, Songs in multimedia works developed ful.” Also for the first time, the Tanglewood: Simply Without Words, and More,” a over several months. Billed as group will perform a work by concert that will take place on an event “where Torah and Art renowned cantor Pirre Pin- Sondheim June 14. intersect,” this June 7 pro- chik, the haunting “Elokai, Green, a Yale and Juilliard- gram at KI will feature Green N’Shomo.” Three composers LENOX – Rabbi Josh Breindel trained classical musician with and Alan Gold, Temple Anshe making return appearances of Temple Anshe Amunim will a long list of accomplishments Amunim’s musical director, to the Summer Celebration lead a discussion of Stephen and an additional degree in playing klezmer. program are Paul Schoenfeld, Sondheim’s Jewish legacy, fol- jazz, is a student and enthusi- On Sunday, June 17, Ernst Bloch, and David Schiff. lowed by a Havdallah service ast of all types of Jewish mu- Green and co-director Cantor Schoenfeld’s “Klezmer Sona- and an evening at Tanglewood sic. He said the catching up Robert Scherr will be joined by tina” for clarinet and piano in Lenox on Saturday, June 20 process began during the Re- some of the most outstanding was co-commisioned by Green. at 5:30 p.m. naissance, when Jews began musicians in the Berkshires Eugenia Zukerman and Doris The Boston Pops Esplanade to notice the growing disparity and throughout the United Stevenson will be playing Orchestra presents a tribute in the sophistication of their States for a program of Jew- Ernst Bloch’s haunting “Suite to Sondheim, with selections liturgical music to that of their ish chamber music. World Modale for Flute and Piano.” ranging from West Side Story Christian neighbors. Salamone renowned flautist Eugenia The program concludes with and Gypsy through Follies, Rossi was the first Jewish Zukerman is joining the Sum- David Schiff’s lively “Diverti- Sweeney Todd, and Into the classical composer, who in the mer Celebration for the first mento from Gimpel the Fool,” Woods. Broadway stars and 1623 wrote melodies based on time, as are two members of for clarinet, violin, cello, and Tanglewood Music Center fel- The Song of Songs and also for the young and dynamic Voxare piano. lows will join the orchestra to the prayers Adon Olam and String Quartet, violinist Em- A Summer Celebration of bring Sondheim’s music to life. the Kaddish. Rossi’s work does ily Peterson and violist Erik Jewish Music is co-sponsored Tickets can be purchased not sound at all Jewish, taking Peterson. Two Williams College by the Jewish Federation by contacting the BSO at bso. little from the cantorial tradi- faculty members, pianist Doris of the Berkshires, and re- org or (413) 637-1666. blue and white balloons. For tions. “It sounds very Chris- Stevenson and cellist Ronald ceives grants from the Harold Those interested in expe- more information, contact the tian,” says Green, “with a lot of Feldman, are returning to the Grinspoon Foundation, the riencing a Havdallah service Temple Anshe Amunim office emulation of Christian forms.” Celebration. Northern Berkshire Cultural are invited to attend. Bring at (413) 442-5910, email tem- (Examples of Rossi’s work can The concert introduces Council, the Pittsfield Cultural a and look for people [email protected] or be found on YouTube.) the works of Israeli composer Council, and the Wasserman- gathered on the Lawn by visit www.ansheanumim.org. Translating traditional Jew- Paul Ben-Haim to the region. Streit Y’DIYAH Memorial Fund ish music into art music posed The ensemble will perform of the Berkshire Taconic Com- other challenges for a compos- his “Serenade for Flute and munity Foundation. er like Rossi. Jewish music, Strings” and “Three Songs explains Green, relied on the Without Words,” a work that Holocaust Survivors’ Book tritone, a musical interval that spans three whole tones. “This of Recipes from Around the interval, the gap between two A Summer Celebration of Jewish Music notes played in succession or World, with Joanne Caras simultaneously,” according to For information, call (561) 302-5816, or email: PITTSFIELD – Join a 2006 BBC.com article, “was [email protected] author and TV branded Diabolus in Musica or The Artist’s Torah: personality Joanne the Devil’s Interval by medi- Sunday, June 7 at 3 p.m. Congregation Knesset Israel, Caras on Monday, eval musicians.” Needless to 16 Colt Road, Pittsfield. The registration fee of $18 can be July 6 for a 1 p.m. say, Rossi could not use it. mailed to or dropped off at Congregation Knesset Israel, talk at Chabad (Latter day Jewish composer 16 Colt Road, Pittsfield, MA 01201. For reservations, call of the Berkshires Leonard Bernstein, however, Myrna Hammerling at (413) 445-4872, ext. 16, or email: about her two did – each time Tony sings his [email protected]/ cookbooks, The beloved’s name in the West What is Jewish Music – And How Did It Become Jewish?: Holocaust Survivor Side Story song ‘Maria,’ that’s Wednesday, June 10 at 7:30 p.m. Congregation Beth Cookbook and its a tritone. So is the opening of Israel, 53 Lois St, North Adams. $10 at the door. sequel, Miracles & the TV theme song that starts: Meals. The books “The Siiiiiiiimmmm…” before A Klezmer Sonatina, Songs Without Words, and More: collect many stories resolving back to a perfect fifth Sunday, June 14 at 3 p.m. Taft Recital Hall of the and recipes from Joanne Caras with “-mmpsons.” Hat tip to Berkshire Music School, 30 Wendell Ave, Pittsfield. Holocaust survivors, Flavorwire.com.) Call (413) 442-1411. $25 at the door. and Caras will relate some of purchased at the event, and At his June 10 CBI lec- the moving and miraculous refreshments will be served. ture, Green will explore the tales that appear in her books. The event will be held at Jewish classical music tradi- Caras has appeared on Fox Chabad of the Berkshires, tion, which developed as Jews Lunch and Learn: TV, CBS, NBC, and national 450 South Street, Pittsfield. became more integrated in radio in the US, Canada, and For more information, call European society and began The Women Who Would Israel. The cookbooks can be (413) 499-9899. training at conservatories. He’ll also discuss the work of the Society for Jewish Folk Have Been Rabbis Music, which in the early 20th GREAT BARRINGTON – ume, The Women Who Would Study the Weekly Torah century captured the types of Women have officially been Have Been Rabbis. These folk and prayer melodies that ordained as rabbis since 1972, Lunch and Learn talks will Portion with One of 2015’s developed into what is now when Hebrew Union College take place at 11:45 a.m. on recognized as klezmer. “There first ordained Rabbi Sally four consecutive Wednesdays, Most Inspiring Rabbis, July 8 was a lot backlash to their Priesand. Join Rabbi Jodie July 8, July 15, July 22, and work from rabbis who didn’t Gordon of Hevreh of South- July 29. LENOX – At noon on Wednes- expand mind and heart and like it,” says Green ern Berkshire for a four-part Please bring your own day July 8, at The Chapel of lift the spirit. No knowledge Green has also been a series introducing the women lunch. This event is free and the Church on the Hill, 55 of Hebrew is required. All are participant in “The Artist’s who paved the way through open to the public. Attend one Main St., Lenox, Rabba Kaya welcome. Rabba Kaya Stern- Torah: A Call and Response,” their advocacy, activism, and or all of the series. Stern-Kaufman will teach a Kaufman has been recognized a program led by Congrega- teaching. Hevreh of Southern Berk- class on the weekly Torah por- as “One of the Most Inspiring tion Knesset Israel’s Rabbi This series will profile Jane shire is located at 270 State tion guided by the commen- Rabbis of 2015” by the For- David Weiner and Judaic artist Evans, Lily Montagu, Ray Road in Great Barrington. taries of the Hasidic Masters. ward. RSVP to info@rimon- Wendy Rabinowitz during the Frank, and Paula Ackerman, Please call (413) 528-6378 for These deeply psychological berkshires is appreciated. course of which area artists drawing heavily on Rabbi Gor- more information. and spiritual teachings will studied the first chapter of the don’s rabbinic thesis research, Book of Genesis, and then re- and Pamela S. Nadell’s vol-

Worry-Free ERKSHIRE Pet Solutions B ROOFING & GUTTER CO. 413-298-1029413 298 1029 www.BGRCo.net brought to you by CEDAR ROOF STANDING SEAM METAL Boundaries ASPHALT SHINGLES 800-732-3181 Written Estimates • Fully Insured • Owner Installed MA Lic. #145878 For Pets boundariesforpets.invisiblefence.com SEAMLESS GUTTERS ©2014 Boundaries For Pets. Invisible Fence® is a registered trademark of Invisible Fence, Copper • Aluminum • Gutter Covers Inc. All rights reserved.

“We like your smile when we’re done” A+ S31033

B4Pets_3_5x2_5_FEB2014_OtisGaz.indd 1 2/10/2014 12:08:01 PM Page 12 Berkshire Jewish Voice • jewishberkshires.org June 1 to July 16, 2015 FEATURES AND LOCAL NEWS Lunch and Learn with the Contemporary Issues / Kabbalah Insights Editor of The Jewish Catalog PITTSFIELD – Beginning July 9, Chabad of the Berk- GREAT BARRINGTON – What is our real legacy? Beyond the shires is hosting a workshop heirlooms and albums, what do we really want to pass on to our series presented by Rabbi children? Hevreh of Southern Berkshire hosts Sharon Strassfeld Aaron Crispe and Sara Esther on Wednesday, June 3rd, at 11:45 a.m. for an interactive conver- Crispe in which contemporary sation called “The Things We Hand Down,” during which partici- issues will be explored through pants will explore the answers to these questions. Strassfeld is the the lens of the Jewish mystical writer and editor of The Jewish Catalog and three other books, the traditions of Kabbalah. last of which was Ev- Rabbi Crispe is the founder erything I Know. She and executive director of is also the mother of Interinclusion.org, an educa- three children – the tional initiative celebrating the hardest work she convergence between contem- says she has ever porary arts and sciences and done. Torah thought. Sarah Esther You are wel- Crispe is a writer, inspira- come to bring your tional speaker, and mother of lunch. This event four, and is the co-director of Rabbi Aaron Crispe Sara Esther Crispe is free and open to Interinclusion. the public. The lineup of Thursday • July 16 at 2 p.m. – The • July 30 at 1 p.m. – Redefin- Hevreh of talks is as follows: Body 2.0: Jewish Visions ing Love according to Kab- Southern Berk- • July 9 at 1 p.m. – The of the End of Aging, Radi- balah shire is located at Spiritual Origins of Liberal- cal Life Extension and the The sessions cost $15 per 270 State Road in ism and Conservatism: The Medical Marvels of Today class, or $49 for the series of Great Barrington. Redemptive Marriage of the and Tomorrow seven. All talks will be held at Please call (413) Future • July 23 at 1 p.m. – Life and Chabad of the Berkshires, 528-6378 for • July 9 at 2 p.m. – Mind Afterlife According to Kab- 450 South Street, Pittsfield. more information. Control: The Power of Our balah For more information, call Thought, Speech and Ac- • July 23 at 2 p.m. – Trans- (413) 499-9899 or visit tions forming Darkness Into www.jewishberkshires.com. • July 16 at 1 p.m. – A - Light: Dealing with Chal- chological Understanding of lenge and Tragedy accord- the Ten Commandments ing to Kabbalah

Rabbi Aaron Panken to Present “Great Learn About IDF Soldiers’ Ideas in Jewish Wisdom, from Antiquity to Combat Experiences from Today,” July 18 GREAT BARRINGTON – Rabbi ent, and Future.” Author Ari DeLevie Aaron Panken, Ph.D., presi- These events are all free GREAT BARRINGTON – On dent of the Hebrew Union and open to the public. Sunday afternoon, June 7 College-Jewish Institute of Rabbi Panken is president at 2 p.m., Hevreh of South- Religion, will deliver a weekend of the Hebrew Union College- ern Berkshire member Dr. series of sermons and talks Jewish Institute of Religion, Ari DeLevie will speak about as part of Hevreh of Southern North America’s first Jewish Coping With Demons of War, Berkshire’s “Scholar in Resi- seminary, with campuses in his novel about Israeli soldiers dence Shabbat.” Cincinnati, Jerusalem, Los and combat-related PTSD. Dr. At the Friday, July 17 Angeles and New York. He has DeLevie, an Israeli-born clini- Shabbat service starting at taught rabbinic and Second cal psychologist with 40 years 7:30 p.m., Rabbi Panken will Temple literature at HUC-JIR of experience, interviewed deliver an interactive sermon in New York since 1995. An soldiers and studied their lives titled “Talmudic Wisdom for alumnus of the Wexner Gradu- after combat. “Millions of sol- the Family.” On Saturday, ate Fellowship, he earned diers around the world experi- July 18, he will lead the 9 a.m. his doctorate in Hebrew and ence combat-related PTSD,” he Shabbat morning Torah study, Judaic Studies at New York says. “Troubled, anxious, and at which a light breakfast will University, where his research depressed, they have difficulty be served. On Saturday after- focused on legal change in returning to everyday life.” noon at 12:30 p.m., a Shabbat rabbinic literature. From Kirkus Reviews: kiddush lunch will be served Hevreh of Southern Berk- “DeLevie’s intelligent, cumu- as Rabbi Panken speaks on shire is located at 270 State Rabbi Aaron Panken latively powerful debut novel portrait of damage and healing the topic of Jerusalem in Road in Great Barrington. involves eight men in a room, that will be invaluable to suf- Judaism and Islam as part of Please call (413) 528-6378 for all veterans of the Israeli ferers of PTSD and those who Hevreh’s “Great Ideas Series: more information. armed forces. They’re all suf- love them.” Jewish Learning: Past, Pres- fering from some permutation Hevreh of Southern Berk- of PTSD, and each is coming shire is located at 270 State to group therapy in a desper- Road in Great Barrington. ate attempt to regain control Please call (413) 528-6378 for Dramatic Reading of Brecht’s The Jewish of his life...An often engaging more information. Wife at Knesset Israel Gala PITTSFIELD – On Monday, ages, dinners, museum tours, Also at Congregation June 29, Congregation Knes- jewelry, spa days, and more. Knesset Israel set Israel holds its annual A meal catered by chef Chris gala, this year showcasing a Goetze, formerly of the Apple Carl and Dorothy Wildman Lecture Series, fea- dramatic reading of Bertholt Tree Inn, will follow at 6:30. turing author Sara Wildman: On Friday evening, Brecht’s The Jewish Wife, a After the reading, Dr. Sig June 12, and Saturday morning, June13, Sara provocative tale set in Nazi Tobias will lead a discussion Wildman, will discuss her book Paper Love: Search- Germany. The drama will be of the work. Dr. Tobias’ career ing for the Girl My Grandfather Left Behind, in which performed by Annette Miller, has taken him to several she recounts the story of her grandparents, who who has been featured in universities, including City were leaders of Congregation Knesset Israel and the Shakespeare & Company College, Fordham, Columbia, greater Berkshire Jewish community. productions, and Rocco Sisto, and Albany. He has published The Friday night talk will be preceded by Shirei a founding member of Shake- numerous papers and au- Shabbat and dinner – call (413) 445-4872, ext. 11 speare & Company and also thored a book, Strange Haven: by June 10 for reservations for this event. On Sat- the recipient of Obie awards. A Jewish Childhood in War- urday, Wildman will speak at Shabbat services and This event will be held at time Shanghai. following a lunch buffet sponsored by the Wildman Knesset Israel, 16 Colt Road For tickets or more infor- Lecture Series. For more information, please call in Pittsfield. Festivities com- mation, call (413) 445-4872, Myrna Hammerling, director of Adult Education and mence at 5:30 p.m., with cock- ext. 10, or visit www.knesse- Programming, (413) 445-4872, ext. 16. tails and a silent auction for tisrael.org. items such as vacation pack- Actor Rocco Sisto Sivan/Tammuz 5775 Berkshire Jewish Voice • jewishberkshires.org Page 13 FEATURES AND LOCAL NEWS Afternoon and Evening Leadership Changes at Hevreh Sessions with Rabbi GREAT BARRINGTON – This summer, Hevreh of South- Richard Address, June 17 ern Berkshire sees changes to both its spiritual and lay GREAT BARRINGTON – Rabbi leadership. Richard F. Address is the The congregation invites founder and director of www. the entire community to jewishsacredaging.com,who for extend a warm Berkshires over three decades was on the welcome to Hevreh’s new per- staff of the Union for Reform manent rabbi, Rabbi Neil P.G. Judaism. A major part of his Hirsch at a Kabbalat Shabbat work has been creating aware- service on Friday, July 10th, ness and resources for congre- a 7:30 p.m. A festive oneg will gations on the implication of follow. Families with school- the emerging longevity revolu- Rabbi Richard F. Address aged children are invited to tion, with growing emphasis join Rabbi Hirsch and As- on the aging of the baby boom At 7 p.m., the topic will sistant Rabbi Jodie Gordon generation. be “The Art of Care-Giving.” the following day at 7 p.m. Suzanne Sawyer with URJ On Wednesday, June 17, Rabbi Address will examine for havdalah (the ceremony President Rabbi Rick Jacobs Hevreh of Southern Berkshire the pressures and implications that marks the end of Shab- Rabbi Neil P.G. Hirsch hosts Rabbi Address for two of being in the “club-sand- bat) and an ice cream party. talks that will focus on aging wich” generation – a genera- Both events will be held at congregations throughout the Reform movement,” she and care-giving. Both talks are tion that is helping to care for Hevreh of Southern Berkshire, North America in Atlanta for says. “I am so blessed to be free and open to the public. three other generations. The 270 State Road in Great Bar- the Union for Reform Juda- coming into the presidency at At the 11:45 a.m., Lunch talk will include an overview rington. ism’s 17th Annual Scheidt this time in Hevreh’s life and and Learn program, the topic of traditional interpretations In May, Suzanne Sawyer Seminar in April. “I have had to be able to work with Neil will be “Embracing a New Jew- of the biblical commandment stepped into the role of Hevreh the privilege and joy of spend- Hirsch and Jodie Gordon as ish Future,” which will exam- to “honor and respect” one’s president. In preparation for ing 4 days studying, listen- we begin this new chapter with ine the demographics of the parents, focusing on how the her new role, she joined 92 ing to, and learning from our our congregation. I am excited new Jewish older adult. Rabbi texts and tradition can be other executives from Reform leaders in both the URJ and to begin the journey.” Address will explore some of understood in light of the con- the emerging issues that affect temporary challenges for the the Jewish community, such caregiver. Theater Party – Lost in Yonkers, with as health care and entitle- Hevreh of Southern Berk- ments, the growth and use shire is located at 270 State Pre-Show Talk by Rabbi Josh Breindel of “spiritual capital,” and the Road in Great Barrington. changes in Jewish life and Please call (413) 528-6378 for PITTSFIELD – Temple Anshe Amunim will host a theater practice being created by the more information. party in conjunction with the Sunday, July 26 Barrington new Jewish older adult. Stage Company production of Lost in Yonkers by Neil Si- mon. The event will take place at the Boyd-Quinson Main Stage at 30 Union Street, and will begin with a 4:30 pre- show talk by Rabbi Josh Breindel. Morning Worship in the A Tony Award and Pulitzer Prize winning play, Lost in Yonkers is a heartfelt and hilarious coming-of-age story Great Outdoors drawn from Simon’s experiences growing up in New York City. Set during World War II, two young brothers are MONTEREY – Rebbe Nachman sent to live with their formidable German Jewish immi- of Bratzlav said: “When a man grant grandmother, their sweet but mentally challenged goes out to the meadows to pray, Aunt Bella, and Uncle Louie, a small-time hoodlum run- every blade of grass, every plant ning away from gangsters. and flower, all enter his prayers Group rate tickets are available for $42 through the and help him, putting power and Temple office, and checks should be made payable to strength into his words” (Lekutei Temple Anshe Amunim. Seating is limited, so those Moharan II). interested in attending are asked to reserve early. For At 9:30 a.m. on Sunday, more information, contact the Temple Anshe Amunim July 5, Rimon Resource Center office at (413) 442-5910, email templeoffice@ansheamu- for Jewish Spirituality will offer nim.org or visit www.ansheanumim.org. an opportunity to welcome the morning through a prayer hike in the beautiful Berkshire Hills led by Rabba Kaya Stern-Kaufman. This first Eco-Tefila prayer hike Welcome Shabbat and of the season will be gentle. The group will gather at Diane’s Trail on Curtis Road at Gould Farm in Celebrate Independence Day Monterey. This alternative morning prayer experience will include chanting, davening, and walking meditation through the woods. An alternative siddur designed for this hike will be provided, as well. Please bring bug spray and water. There is no fee and all are welcome. For more information, including directions, locations of subsequent prayer hikes, and to RSVP, please contact Rimon at (413) 274-1034, or email [email protected], or visit rimonberkshires.org.

PITTSFIELD – Temple Anshe Creation. A barbeque will fol- Amunim will be hosting its low the service. annual Independence Day All are invited to join in this celebration with a service and celebration. The cost of the barbeque on Friday, July 3 at barbeque for TAA members is 5:30 p.m. $12 for adults; $6 kids; $30 As part of the Temple’s maximum per family. Non- Sabbaths of Study series, members costs are $18 for (which take place on the first adults; $9 kids; $45 maximum donate Friday of every month), Rabbi per family. Those interested in Josh Breindel will explore the attending should contact the • Jewish connection to Ameri- Temple Anshe Amunim office volunteer can independence and our on- at (413) 442-5910 or email going commitment to religious templeoffice@ansheamunim. • liberty, giving thanks for the org. TAA is located at 26 Broad make a blessings of this country while Street in Pittsfield. recognizing the blessings of difference Page 14 Berkshire Jewish Voice • jewishberkshires.org June 1 to July 16, 2015 FEATURES AND LOCAL NEWS Echoes and Reflections – A Interfaith Conversation: “The Imam and the Free Holocaust Workshop Rabbi: Finding Shalom” for Local Educators, July 1 PITTSFIELD – Rabbi Josh community, Rabbi Josh Breindel of Temple Anshe has served as the first NORTH ADAMS – Middle and stories and visual history testi- Amunim and Imam Salim Jewish President of high school educators in the monies from survivors, libera- Chishti of the Abode of the PACC (the Pittsfield Area Berkshires region are invited tors, and other witnesses. This Message (New Lebanon, NY) Council of Congrega- to attend Echoes and Reflec- resource-intensive workshop will host a conversation about tions). tions, a Holocaust education employs extensive primary and shared ground between their Imam Salim Chishti workshop sponsored locally secondary source materials spiritual traditions at TAA, is the resident Imam at by the Massachusetts Col- that will help students under- 26 Broad Street, Pittsfield, on the Abode of the Mes- lege of Liberal Arts (MCLA). stand history and also exam- Sunday, June 28 at 2:00 p.m. sage. He was born in This free 3-hour professional ine contemporary social issues In contrast to many of to- New York and early in development program will take related to fairness and justice. day’s headlines, Rabbi Brein- his life entered a spiri- place on July 1 from 9 a.m. Teachers attending the pro- del notes that Islam and Juda- tual journey that has led to noon, at MCLA’s Murdock fessional development program ism have much in common. him to find his heart’s Hall (Room 203), 375 Church receive a teacher’s resource He and Imam Chishti will open home in Sufism and Street, in North Adams. guide, access to an extensive their talk with a discussion of Islam. He has been an Echoes and Reflections, a array of visual history testi- “shalom” and “salaam” – relat- initiate in the Sufi Order joint program of the Anti-Def- monies, and unlimited use of ed words meaning peace. They International since 1983 amation League, USC Shoah supplementary multimedia will outline the core values and has studied Sharia, Foundation, and Yad Vashem, resources and supportive tools of each faith and discuss the Tariqa, Ma’rifa and is designed to prepare educa- from the expansive Echoes parallels that exist in respect Chishti spiritual heal- Imam Salim Chishti tors to teach about the Holo- and Reflections website. for family and members of the ing with several leading and spiritual healing practices caust in ways that stimulate For more information and greater community. scholars. He speaks frequently in the Chishti lineage. engagement and critical think- to register, contact Beth Leib- For the past six years, at Sufi, Islamic, and interfaith The cost is $5 for Temple ing, drawing on individual inger at [email protected] Rabbi Breindel has served as conferences and is regularly members and $10 for non- the spiritual leader of Temple asked to represent Islam and members. Light refreshments Anshe Sufism in interfaith religious will be served. For more infor- Amunim in services. Chisti was the Imam mation, contact the Temple “Signs & Wonders: Pittsfield, of the Islamic Society of the Anshe Amunim office at (413) MA. In the Berkshires for five years, and 442-5910, or email templeof- Religious and greater is currently doing research on [email protected] or visit Berkshires Islamic dream interpretation www.ansheanumim.org. Spiritual Fiction” An exploration of the human Kate Baldwin and Graham Rowat condition through fiction and directed by Ethan Heard entertainment THEATRE DANCE film PITTSFIELD – Rabbi Josh Breindel of Temple dining film festival Anshe Amunim will lead an exploration of the hu- coupons man condition through fiction and film in a 3-part July 9–26 CABARET BOOKS Music Art series on Wednesdays from 7:30- 8:30 p.m. begin- The Colonial Theatre ning on July 15. A wine and dessert reception will book and lyrics by Betty Comden and be served at each session. Adolph Green “Signs & Wonders: Religious and Spiritual music by Jule Styne entire original Fiction” will feature several short stories and production directed by Jerome Robbins multimedia clips from authors ranging from dance and musical numbers of original Isaac Bashevis Singer to C. S. Lewis, and from production staged by Jerome Robbins and JACOB’S Isaac Asimov to Steven Spielberg. Rabbi Brein- Bob Fosse del will draw upon the field of speculative fiction produced on the Broadway stage by (an umbrella category that encompasses fantasy The Theatre Guild and science fiction, as well as magical realism) as PILLOW the class engages with works that both chill and inspire. DANCE The series will be held July 15, 22, and 29 at A Play—by David Adkins TAA, 26 Broad Street in Pittsfield. Participants FESTIVAL 2015 may attend one or all of the sessions. The cost for June 20-August 30 the 3-session course is $30; or $10 for any indi- vidual session. For more information, contact the Temple Anshe Amunim office at (413) 442-5910, Thoreauor, Return to Walden email [email protected], or visit directed by Eric Hill www.ansheanumim.org. Welcome Shabbat Through Song and June 18–July 11 Meditation The Unicorn Theatre STOCKBRIDGE – On June 26 at 7:00 p.m. at the First Congregational Church of Stockbridge, 4 “the Main St., Stockbridge, Rimon Resource Center for Jewish Spirituality offers a musical and contem- plative Kabbalat Shabbat service. The service by Ira Levin dance includes meditation directed by Aaron Mark and new melodies of DEATHTRAP composed by Reb Shir center Yaakov Feit, who will be accompanied by the “ harpist Carol Emman- ! “ # $ % _ & ‘ ( ) * + 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 - = nation 1/4 TAB Q W E R T Y U I O P 1/ uel. The service will be 2 A S D F G J K L Q * The New York Times , . ? followed immediately Z X C V B N M , . /

by a community veg- and Hibbard Nash Photography. Christian Ganet, Photos Christopher Duggan, etarian pot-luck dinner. RSVP to info@rimon- Reb Shir Yaakov Feit berkshires.org. July 1–25 The Fitzpatrick Main Stage

111 South Street, Pittsfield, MA 83 East Main Street, Stockbridge, MA 6 East Street, Stockbridge, MA www.BerkshireTheatreGroup.org www.jewishberkshires.org (413) 997-4444 413.243.0745 | jacobspillow.org Sivan/Tammuz 5775 Berkshire Jewish Voice • jewishberkshires.org Page 15 FEATURES AND LOCAL NEWS Onstage Mother/Daughter Sefer Yetzirah – Study a Key Text in Jewish Relationships Explored in Mysticism with Rabbi Jill Hammer STOCKBRIDGE – On Satur- ritual, and story connect us Play Analysis Program day, June 13, Rimon Resource to the body of the cosmos and PITTSFIELD – Temple Anshe ently an OLLI instructor. She Center for Jewish Spirituality to ourselves. Jay Michaelson, Amunim, 26 Broad Street, will serves as Artistic Director of and the Jewish Federation of author of God in Your Body: host a 4-part play analysis HRC Showcase Theatre, an the Berkshires will present a Kabbalah, Mindfulness, and series on Tuesdays beginning Equity company that performs Seudah Sh’lishit gathering – a Embodied Spiritual Practice June 30. “L’dor Va’Dor: Mom- staged readings of new plays festive, vegetarian pot-luck writes: “Jill Hammer is among ma on Stage” will focus on in Hudson, New York. She also meal in the waning hours the most creative spiritual mother-daughter relationships directs new plays for the As- of Shabbat accompanied by teachers in the Jewish world as depicted in two contem- sociation of Theatre in Higher singing and teaching. Rabbi today. She brings to her work porary dramas: Neil Simon’s Education, the Kennedy Cen- Jill Hammer will teach on an unparalleled knowledge of Lost in Yonkers and Wendy ter American College Theatre Sefer Yetzirah – a foundational Jewish legend and myth…as Wasserstein’s Isn’t It Romantic. Festival, and the Hudson- text in Jewish mysticism. well as deep insight into soul, In addition to reading and dis- based play development group The event will begin at 6 p.m. body and heart. Jill’s work cussing these plays, the class Plays in Progress, in addition at the First Congregational may well be creating a new will attend a performance of to teaching and directing at Church of Stockbridge, at mode of experiential Judaism Rabbi Jill Hammer Lost in Yonkers at Barrington Temple Anshe Amunim. 4 Main Street in downtown that will impact our commu- Stage. The fee for the 4-session Stockbridge. nity for decades to come.” event. Please bring a vegetar- The course will be held course is $40 for Temple mem- Rabbi Jill Hammer, PhD, All are welcome to this free ian dish to share. on four consecutive Tuesday bers, $45 for non-members; or is an au- mornings from 10-11:30 a.m. $15 for any individual session. thor, teacher, beginning on June 30, and For more information, contact midrashist, will be taught by Dr. Barbara the Temple Anshe Amunim mystic, poet, Waldinger, a director and pro- office at (413) 442-5910, email essayist, and fessor of theatre. Dr. Waldinger templeoffice@ansheamunim. priestess. has taught at Hofstra Uni- org, or visit She is com- versity, Marymount College, www.ansheanumim.org. mitted to an Queens College, and is pres- Earth-based and wildly mythic view of the world in which nature,

entertainment THEATRE DANCE dining film festival CABARET coupons BOOKS Music Art Page 16 Berkshire Jewish Voice • jewishberkshires.org June 1 to July 16, 2015 Your Federation Presents

MAJOR DONORS, continued from page 1 from Belarus in 1992. A musi- needs to get out in order to head down. We were preparing cal program will be offered by provide for the future of their ourselves mentally for doing acclaimed violinist Yevgeny kids.” The couple cites how simple jobs. We had no expec- Kutik, who happens to be relatives of Sergey, a native of tations.” Echoing the senti- Natalya’s cousin. Ukraine, are currently in Do- ments of generations of im- “We are honored that the netsk, one of the regions that migrants to this country, she Yantovskys have agreed to co- are currently in turmoil. says: “We were doing it for our child. Ilya was 9 months old. chair this year’s event,” says Pursuing the Jewish/Ameri- By staying, we felt that would Dara Kaufman, executive di- can Dream rector of the Jewish Federation be no way for him to live.” of the Berkshires. “When we The Yantovskys’ immigra- So they left Belarus, along thought about our 75th anni- tion story begins just as the with Natalya’s grandparents. versary, we knew we wanted to former Soviet Union was on When they finally arrived in highlight some of the incred- the brink of collapse. There Pittsfield, they were stunned. ible work this community has had long been grassroots “Our apartment was already done over the years. The Yan- movements to get Jews out set up so we could walk in and tovskys’ and Yevgeny’s success of Eastern Europe, but they start to live,” recalls Sergey. and their desire to give back did not accommodate all “Baby clothes. Furniture. Food who wanted to leave. Natalya in the fridge. Towels. Even remembers that by toothpaste and brushes! 1990, however, “all of “We were in heaven.” a sudden there were Says Metzger emphatically: rumors – you can go.” “The people in this commu- The floodgates seemed nity wanted to make sure that ready to open. when they came to their new As Natalya points home, they immediately knew out, “anti-Semitism that this was their home.” was always an issue.” The Yantovskys remember Federation-sponsored immigrants being sworn in as US citizens, While Jews could have how community members mid-1990s professional careers, pitched in as babysitters, in what they describe as a speaks several times a year, quotas existed, cou- translators, tutors, drivers, family business. Their son Ilya traveling to communities pled with often hostile phone callers, and in “any just graduated from college, around the United States. work and educational other way possible,” accord- while their second child, Ari He tells them his family’s environments. “Every- ing to Natalya. They helped had his bar mitzvah last year story and gives a short re- one knew who was a Sergey get his first job chang- at Congregation Knesset Israel cital, emphasizing that his Jew,” recalled Natalya. ing tires at a Chrysler dealer- in Pittsfield. They were sur- success is “all thanks to It was an uncomfort- ship. “Seven bucks an hour,” rounded by dozens of family people who wanted to give PHOTO: KEVIN SPRAGUE able way to live. he says. “We were so happy. It Yevgeny Kutik members, who were also part refugees a second chance.” At around this was the American dream.” of the resettlement effort. He encourages people to time, recalls Pittsfield Sergey’s Federation ties Working for Federation “keep thinking about the to the community and care for resident Margery Metzger, helped him move forward. Vol- other people in the world, others as they were once cared the Jewish Federation of the unteer Alexandra Warshaw set The Yantovskys have long Jews and non-Jews, who for embody what this Federa- Berkshires was investigating him up to take a non-credit worked on behalf of the Fed- have to deal with pressure tion is all about. Their story is how it might be able to resettle computer course at Berkshire eration, coming in on Super because of religious or fascinating and inspiring.” Jewish émigrés. The policy of racial or political reasons. Kaufman adds: “It also the national Federation was There are a lot of places spotlights the kind of work that local branches could “The Yantovskys’ and Yevgeny’s success and in the world where people Federation is still doing today. either pay funds into a gen- have to deal with similar Sadly, the Jews in Ukraine eral pool designated for Soviet their desire to give back to the community pressures that my family are again stressed by con- Jews, or they could try their and care for others as they were once cared had to face, or frankly, a lot flict and uncertainty, but the hand at welcoming immigrants worse. Give them a chance Federation system is uniquely to their communities. Led by for embody what this Federation is all about. to grow up, like I had the mobilized to deliver emergency volunteers Metzger, Naomi chance to grow up, with- assistance to that popula- Schwartz, and past Federa- Their story is fascinating and inspiring.” out that sort of pressure.” tion president Harold Novick tion. Jews throughout Europe Giving back and other regions are facing (among others), this Federa- the types of challenges that tion went the latter route. Community College, and he Sunday to make calls in Rus- The Yantovskys returned spurred the Yantovskys and Natalya’s uncle arrived in parlayed his developing facil- sian. In all, the Yantovskys recently from a trip to Israel, the Kutiks to pick up and Pittsfield in 1990. The Yan- ity with computers into a job estimate that more than 100 where they were impressed make a new life in a place as tovskys arrived from Minsk with a Lenox firm that created people from the former So- with the way their relations remote and unfamiliar to them two years later. Their choice to special effects for the motion viet Union are in this country there – themselves mostly im- as rural Massachusetts. And leave was not an obvious one, picture industry. Later, he thanks to the Jewish Federa- migrants from Eastern Europe as in the past, the Federation as they were professionals who continued to work as a pro- tion of the Berkshires. – were living proudly and close – thanks to its generous sup- may have had opportunities to grammer. Yevgeny Kutik, who arrived to their roots as Jews. The porters – continues to deliver work in their fields – Natalya, An interest-free Hebrew in the Berkshires two years contrast between what they aid to those who need it most.” then 23, had already gradu- Free Loan from the Federation before the Yantovskys, has saw in Israel and what they Dr. Natalya Yantovsky, a ated from dental school, while helped pay the rent on a Bos- been an ambassador for the experience in the Berkshires dentist in Pittsfield, says that Sergey, 6 years her senior, was ton apartment while Natalya Jewish Federations of North has also motivated them as gratitude is only one reason a mechanical engineer. What studied at Tufts University America. As he told Laurie Federation donors. While Is- she is a major donor to the their professional future might School of Dental Medicine. Niles at Violinist.com: raeli children live close to their Jewish Federation of the Berk- be in the US was far from cer- Today, Natalya has her own “People from the organiza- cultural and religious roots, shires. Just as important is the tain. Furthermore, their son dental practice in Pittsfield. tion had heard me play and says Natalya, “here we rely on reality that: “Right now, there Ilya was still in diapers. Sergey changed career paths, saw my story. They thought, our local Federation to help is someone who is in the same As the Yantovskys left the leveraging his mechanical why don’t we combine the build our children’s’ Jewish situation as we were,” Natalya world they knew, Natalya said skills to train as a dental tech- two? So they invited me to be identities and make connec- asserts. “There is someone who she came to the US with “my nician. Now they work together a speaker,” Yevgeny said. He tions through Jewish camp scholarships, youth programs, and Birthright trips.” Their sons have both ben- efited from Federation sup- port of their Hebrew school and other Jewish educational opportunities, and they ac- knowledge that co-chairing the Major Donor Breakfast is one way of paying forward and in- spiring others to do so, as well.

Photos courtesy of Cousins Natalya Yantovsky and Yevgeny Kutik in 1992 Members of the Kutik/Zernitsky family greeted upon arrival in Margery Metzger Albany Sivan/Tammuz 5775 Berkshire Jewish Voice • jewishberkshires.org Page 17 Your Federation Presents

A Hock in Kopf Join Filmmaker James Ford Nussbaum for a Knosh & Knowledge Screening of IMPACT: Jewish Boxers in America, June 12 GREAT BARRINGTON – On Friday, June 12, at Hevreh of Southern Berkshire, the Jewish Federation of the Berkshires will screen IMPACT: Jewish Boxers in America, a documentary about Jewish pugilists who used their fists to escape poverty and live the American dream. This Knosh & Knowledge program begins at 10:45 a.m. The film will be presented by its producer/director James Ford Nussbaum, who has said he likes to challenge cultural perceptions of Jewish people. “Everybody thinks we’re either lawyers or doctors; no one thinks of us as being boxers,” he says. This 30-minute documentary, which took Nussbaum more than two years to complete, proves otherwise. This is how Nussbaum sets up the story of Jewish boxers: “It was all about fulfilling the American Dream. The common thread among most, if not all, boxers is that they all come from poverty or a lower income class structure. The chance to make a name for themselves and achieve notoriety is the basis for their struggle. It was a central theme not just among Jews, but Italian-Americans, Irish, and African-Americans. This is their moment to achieve that dream and gain American respect.” Filmmaker James Ford The film features historic boxing footage of Jewish fighters Nussbaum such as Cletis Seldin, Ed Gersh, Ron Lipton, , and . Nussbaum will talk about what distinguished Jewish fighters from their opponents, and will also describe how boxing was seen by a community that more typically focused on other ways of achieving the American Dream. Nussbaum has a long career in film and television produc- tion, having worked for ABC’s Good Morning America and Fox Be Wise… Advertise! News, among many other outlets. He established Galileo Produc- In the Berkshire Jewish Voice tions to create his own independent films. Contact Jenny Greenfeld (413) 442-4360, ext. 13 IF YOU GO Sponsor: Jewish Federation of the Berkshires [email protected] Venue: Hevreh of Southern Berkshire, 270 State Road, Great Barrington Date: Friday, June 12, at 10:45 a.m. (lunch follows at noon) Advance lunch reservations required for this event. Email [email protected], or call (413) 442-4360, ext. 10 Cost: $11 with farm fresh buffet lunch from Freund’s Farm. Program only, $5. Page 18 Berkshire Jewish Voice • jewishberkshires.org June 1 to July 16, 2015

MAZEL TOVS

Mazel tov to Rose Gotlieb on her bat mitzvah.

Mazel tov to Molly Howard on her bat mitzvah.

Mazel tov to Ashley Todd, who graduated from Miss Hall’s School in May and will be attending Johnson and Wales University in Provi- dence, RI in the fall. Ashley is the daughter of Kathi and Bill Todd.

Congrats to Bob Munch on being elected to the Lenox School Committee.

SEE the Berkshire JUNE Monday, 29...... 10:45 a.m., film. Lunch: Vegetable Jewish Voice Monday 1...... 10:45 a.m., “Taking a Walk in lasagna, spring minestrone soup, beets, salad, Italian the Wilds of Contemporary Education” with Marguerite bread, raspberry pillow cookies, coffee, tea, and milk in COLOR Morris Willis. Lunch: Spaghetti and “sausage” sauce#, for coffee. salad, peas, breadsticks, apricots, and tea. at JULY www. Closed Tuesdays beginning June 2 Thursday, 2...... 10:45 a.m., “Where Organ- ic Beets Meet the Borscht Belt – Wellness with Avi Thursday, 4...... 10:45 a.m., “Core Stability, Flex- jewishberkshires. Dresner.” Lunch: Black burgers and veggie dogs#, ible Feet and Balance” with Carol Bennett. Lunch: Turkey pasta salad with feta cheese, corn medley, salad, ham- org salad sandwiches**#, gazpacho, coleslaw, whole wheat burger or hot dog roll, grapes, coffee, tea, and milk for bread, grapes, and tea. coffee. Monday, 8...... 10:45 a.m., “Identity Theft and Monday, 6...... 10:45 a.m., “Race in America Keeping Yourself Safe” with Berkshire First Assistant 2015, with Leonard Quart.” Lunch: Salisbury steak**#, District Attorney Paul J. Caccaviello and Mary Shogry tomato juice, noodles and onions, broccoli, pumpernick- Hayer. Lunch: Meat loaf, salad, peas & carrots, mashed el bread, mandarin oranges, and tea. potatoes, breadsticks, lemon sorbet, and tea. Thursday, 9...... 10:45 a.m., “Aging: A Lifelong Pro- Thursday, 11...... 10:45 a.m., Author and award win- cess, with Maggie Bittman.” Lunch: Mediterranean Fest ning journalist, Andrew D. Blechman on his book Leisure- day, hummus, stuffed grape leaves, mini Greek salads, Lunch: Fresh fish**, borscht & potato, salad, mixed ville. tabbouleh, pita bread, dessert TBD, coffee, tea, and vegetables, rice , farmer’s loaf, oatmeal raisin milk for coffee. cookies, coffee, tea, and milk for coffee. Unique bird feeders, Monday, 13...... 10:45 a.m., “In the Unlikeliest birdhouses, birdseed, Monday, 15...... 10:45 a.m., “Kosher Food and binoculars and bird guides. of Places – A Father’s Remarkable Story, with Annette Kavanah” with Angus Johnson, founder of Just Good Outdoor furniture and birdbaths. Berkovits.” Lunch: Meat loaf**#, celery rice soup, Kosher. Lunch: Roasted chicken**#, zucchini rice soup, 783 South Main Street mashed potatoes, baby carrots, salad, potato bread, green , oven roasted potatoes and root vegeta- Great Barrington, MA 01230 brownies, and tea. 413-644-9007 bles, rolls, assorted Parve cookies and tea. www.wild-birdstore.com Thursday, 16...... 10:45 a.m., “The Fabric of Life: Across from Guido’s Thursday, 18...... 10:45 a.m., “Songs from Holly- Creating Beauty and Meaning Out of Scraps and Loose wood” with tenor and guitarist, Doug Schmolze. Lunch: Ends, with Janet McKinstry.” Lunch: Fresh fish, salad, Macaroni and cheese, stewed tomatoes, salad, whole noodle kugel, asparagus cuts ‘n tips, Challah, melon, wheat bread, tropical fruit salad, coffee, tea, and milk coffee, tea, and milk for coffee. for coffee. Monday, 20...... 10:45 a.m., TBD. Lunch: Egg Monday, 22...... 10:45 a.m.,”Narrative Medicine” salad platters**#, gazpacho, potato salad, rolls, cook- with writer, educator, and thanatologist, Deborah Golden ies, coffee, tea, and milk. Alecson. Lunch: BBQ chicken**#, sweet potato fries, coleslaw and potato salad, corn bread, melon, and tea. Thursday, 23...... 10:45 a.m., TBD. Lunch: Fish sticks, pineapple juice, French fries, beets, salad, multi- Thursday, 25...... 10:45 a.m., Qi Gong – A Sim- grain bread, peaches, coffee, tea, and milk for coffee. ple, Natural Exercise to Enhance Your Well-being with licensed acupuncturist and teacher, Jeffrey Gor- Monday, 27...... 10:45 a.m., TBD. Lunch: Chef’s don. Lunch: Stir fried chicken**#, apricot nectar, brown salad**#, cranberry juice, potato salad, whole wheat , Oriental blend vegetables, rye bread, bread, fruit cocktail, and tea. pineapple, and tea. Sivan/Tammuz 5775 Berkshire Jewish Voice • jewishberkshires.org Page 19 OBITUARIES WORLD AND NATIONAL NEWS

Marvin Mirochnick, 92, Melissa Evely and her fiance, husband, father, grandfa- Alan and their sons, Kayden ther and Kolbey; and Colleen Evely Eight Decades Later, Holocaust Victim’s Cry SANDISFIELD – Marvin and husband, Brandon and Mirochnick, 92, a former their son, Bradley. for Help is Heard at N.C. High School resident of Sandisfield, passed Funeral services were held By Hillel Kuttler away on Tuesday, April 21, at at Levine Memorial Chapel in Albany, NY on Thursday, May (JTA) – Shira Goldberg stepped across the Brigham and Women’s Hospi- stage at East Henderson High School in west- tal in Boston. For the past four 7. Interment followed in the Beth Emeth Cemetery in Loud- ern North Carolina and presented a yellowed years, he lived in Weymouth to letter to Shani Lourie. be closer to his family. onville, NY. The family has requested that donations be The letter’s writer, a German woman Born December 19, 1922, seeking help in escaping the Nazis from an he was the son of Abraham made in Jill’s memory to the Religious School at Temple An- American man she believed was a relative, was and Jennie Mirochnick. He Shira’s distant cousin. The 8-year-old Florida was a veteran of World War she Amunim, 26 Broad Street, Pittsfield, MA 01201. girl was entrusting this tragic piece of family II having served with the history to Lourie, an educator at Israel’s na- U.S. Army from January 1, Carole Eichenbaum, 72, a tional Holocaust museum, Yad Vashem. 1943 until being honorably caring and patient men- The act on Wednesday morning climaxed discharged on December 12, tor a more than yearlong search for information 1945. about the letter conducted by approximately Mr. Mirochnick is survived BRADENTON, FL – Carole Eichenbaum, 72, loving wife, 60 students – none Jewish – in the history by his son, Mark Mirochnick; classes taught by Todd Singer, a Jewish man his daughter-in-law, Diana mother, grandmother, and friend, died Friday, May 1 at new to the profession. Clarke; his son-in-law, Dennis “I beg you not to put this letter aside with- Cormier; and his grandchil- Tidewell Hospice in Braden- ton, FL from complications out having read it,” Betty Erb, a resident of dren, Neil Mirochnick, Aviva Berlin, wrote on April 17, 1939, to John G. Erb Cormier, Michael Mirochnick, from Alzheimer’s Disease. Carole Michelle Bender was of 2030 Conlyn Street in . and Julia Mirochnick. He was In the letter, sent in an envelope whose born January 23, 1943, in IMAGES: JTA predeceased by his wife of 54 stamp features a Hitler Youth postmark, Betty years, Tillie (Rubin) Miroch- , NY, and graduated Yad Vashem educator Shani Lourie, left, with from James Madison High expressed uncertainty over whether she was nick, on April 6, 2004. The even related to John Erb. She explained that Suzanne and Shira Goldberg and Todd Singer, a couple was married on Febru- School in 1960. She received a teacher at East Henderson High School in North bachelor’s degree from Brook- she was “in the greatest misery” and asked ary 25, 1950 in Bronx, New John to contribute toward the approximately Carolina. York. He was also predeceased lyn College in 1965 and a mas- ter’s degree in education from $270 she and her fiancee required to immi- by his daughter, Linda Cormi- into better hands. I didn’t realize how emotion- Rutgers University in New grate to Bolivia. er, on September 12, 2011. ally taxing it would be.” Brunswick, NJ, in 1975. To establish her bona fides as John’s pos- A graveside funeral service U.S. Rep. Mark Meadows, a Republican who Mrs. Eichenbaum was a sible relative, Betty stated the names of several was held on Thursday, April represents the North Carolina congressional public school teacher for 25 ancestors and noted that their roots were in the 23, at the Sandisfield Center district where East Henderson High is located years in Highland Park, NJ, Polish town of Znin. Cemetery conducted by Rabba and attended the ceremony with his wife, said a caring and patient mentor She continued: “In the case that there is no Kaya Stern-Kaufman. the giving of the letter to Yad Vashem was the who encouraged critical and relationship between us, I however implore you kind of event that leaves a lasting impression. Jill Proskin, 59, free thinking. She never gave to help me in some way, even though you may perhaps have another religion. I assure you “There are only a handful of events that celebrated life’s joy up on someone who struggled that by your help you would support people touch you and will affect you forever,” Meadows through her family or strayed, be it a student or told JTA. “This was one of those events.” one of her own children. She whose only hope is to find kind hearts to assist VOORHEESVILLE, NY – Jill Lourie said that fought against racial injus- them to build up Proskin, born Jill Susan the letter’s power tice and for gender equality, their existence in Brandt, passed away Sunday lies is in illuminat- and was a fierce defender of a a foreign country. afternoon, May 3, at her home ing the lengths woman’s right to choose, serv- I trust that in later in Voorheesville, NY. She was a to which Betty ing on the board of Planned times we shall be devoted mother, grandmother, Erb went to save Parenthood of Central New able to thank you in sister, and friend. herself and her Jersey. She was an active another way for any Born July 4, 1955 to Sey- future husband. As member of the League of kindness you will mour and Phyllis Brandt in an educator in Yad Women Voters. show to us.” Albany, Ms. Proskin attended Vashem’s peda- She cherished spending Singer purchased Albany High School and gogical institute, time with her family and many the letter and an later graduated Mildred Elley Lourie plans to use friends, particularly during unrelated document Business School as a medical the Erb letter as a gatherings on the lawn of from the period on- assistant, a career at which teaching tool. Tanglewood and elsewhere in line for $20 in 1999. she worked for many years at “Jews were not her beloved Berkshires. Then working as a Albany Medical Center. She just victims,” Lou- Mrs. Eichenbaum was a lawyer in his native celebrated life’s joy through rie said. “They were long-time member and sup- Tulsa, Oklahoma, her family and devoted her life Betty Erb’s letter making choices, porter of Anshe Emeth Memo- Singer placed it in to her sons. trying to get out. … rial Temple in New Brunswick, a folder and forgot Later, her joy expanded as They struggled for life. You read this letter, and NJ. She was preceded in death about it until last year, when he began planning she welcomed her grandchil- here’s this woman reaching out to anybody who by her parents, Irving Bender lessons for his classes at East Henderson. dren into her life and watched may be able to help her.” and Bernice (Greenspan) Singer engaged his students in a quest them grow, never wanting to She added, “It’s only when we zoom in to the Friedman. to determine Betty Erb’s fate. The students be away for long. She en- story of the individual that we can understand She is survived by her searched online and checked databases. joyed spending time with her the meaning of the six million.” husband of 54 years, Samuel Through Yad Vashem’s website, they learned friends, camping at Sacan- A good deal still remains unknown. Students Eichenbaum of The Villages, that Erb and her husband, Martin Selling, were daga Lake, and following the are working to procure a photograph of Betty FL; sons, David Eichenbaum murdered in Auschwitz. The students, Singer Yankees. Erb and to learn whether John Erb ultimately of Washington, D.C., Steven said, “were devastated” at the news. Jill is survived by her sent funds to the Paris address of the Jewish Eichenbaum of Bradenton, Next they searched for a living relative of Erb brother, Alan Brandt and resettlement agency HICEM. They also hope to and Peter Eichenbaum of New to whom to give the letter. Singer’s neighbor Frances of Elk Grove, CA; two uncover the path of the letter before it was pur- York; a sister, Judy Johnson of Benjamin Warren, a Houston philanthropist sons, Daniel Proskin and his chased by Singer. And they would like to learn Birmingham, England; daugh- whose parents survived the Holocaust and who wife, Alicia of Pittsfield and about Betty Erb’s life. ters-in-law, Debra Eichen- lives part of the year in North Carolina, learned David Proskin and his wife, At last week’s ceremony, Lourie asked Mora- baum of Washington and Lisa of the search and encouraged another friend, Cynthia of Shelton, CT; and va and another senior who led the research ef- Kyle of New York; and, most a top official at Yad Vashem, to look into the a devoted fiancé, Thomas fort, Breeana Clayton, to complete Yad Vashem importantly, six grandchil- matter. Evely of Voorheesville, NY. She Page of Testimony forms normally filled out by dren; Sarah, Jon, Isaac, Isa- Through records maintained by the Interna- leaves behind four grandchil- relatives to establish the identities of individu- bel, Emma and Max, who she tional Tracing Service, Yad Vashem researchers dren, Grace, Isabella, Emma, als killed in the Holocaust. loved more than anything. found a British man related to Erb, Laurence and Theodore. She also is The name Betty Erb is bound to live on in A memorial service will Asslinger-Hoschschild, who referred them to survived by her loving step- future classes at East Henderson High, Singer be held on June 7 at Anshe his cousin Andrew Blitz in Perth, Australia. mother, Claire Brandt; her said – an ironic legacy since the property where Emeth. Please consider dona- Blitz’s sister, Suzanne Goldberg, who attend- stepsisters, Lisa Goldstein the school is now located was once used as a tions to Planned Parenthood ed last week’s ceremony with her daughter, said and Sheryl Schoonmaker of prisoner of war camp for German soldiers cap- and the Alzheimer’s Associa- the family didn’t know that Erb existed. But the Colonie, NY; and stepbrother, tured by American forces in Tunisia. The first tion. names Erb noted in her letter matched some of Alan Roth of Florida. She also those whom Blitz had researched years earlier. German prisoners arrived in 1943, the same leaves Thomas Evely’s children Erb is Suzanne Goldberg’s second cousin, three year that Betty Erb and Selling were deported times removed. to Theresienstadt. The couple died at Auschwitz a a “The outcome was more than we could have the following year. Create a Jewish Legacy Campaign imagined – that one day I could meet these Please remember the Jewish Community in your will. people,” said Maria Morava, an East Henderson senior. “The letter could not have found its way Page 20 Berkshire Jewish Voice • jewishberkshires.org June 1 to July 16, 2015 WORLD AND NATIONAL NEWS The Top 12 Ways Israel Helps Feed the World By Abigail Klein Leichman / Israel21c

From drip irrigation to The organization has similar feeding used on dairy farms The square serrated trays, farm in China and does busi- natural pesticides, Israeli in- activities in Kenya, South Af- worldwide. made from non-PET recycled ness in the United States and novations are helping to fill rica, Benin and Niger. SAE Afikim is one of 10 and recyclable plastic with UV Italy as well. hungry bellies everywhere, but Israeli companies involved in filters and a limestone addi- People don’t eat algae, but particularly in the developing 2. Grain cocoons a five-year project in Vietnam tive, surround each plant or algae ponds nourished by world. Israeli-designed GrainPro to implement every aspect of tree. With overnight tempera- power-plant effluent conserve Food security is a ma- Cocoons provide a surprisingly a vast $500 million dairy farm ture change, dew forms on farmed produce for human jor concern for our rapidly simple and cheap way for Afri- project. It’s the largest project both surfaces of the Tal-Ya consumption because they growing planet. As resources can and Asian farmers to keep of its kind in the world. tray, which funnels the dew generate 30 times more feed- dwindle and the population their grain market-fresh. The operation will en- and condensation straight to stock for biofuel than do land- rises, smart solutions for bet- The huge bags, invented compass 30,000 cows at 12 the roots. If it rains, the trays based crop alternatives. ter agriculture and safer food by international food technol- state-of-the-art mega-dairies heighten the effect of each mil- Plus, the tiny plants, which storage are essential. ogy consultant Prof. Shlomo and a milk processing plant limeter of water 27 times over. thrive on carbon dioxide and No other single country – Navarro, keep both water and supplying 300 million liters Inventor and CEO Avraham sunlight, produce a valuable certainly not one as young and air out. They’re used all over per year. By the end of 2012, Tamir told ISRAEL21c that nutraceutical food additive as tiny as Israel – has contrib- the developed world, including 500,000 liters are expected to the trays also block the sun so that is especially popular in uted more breakthroughs in Africa and the Far East, and be produced daily. weeds can’t take root, and pro- the Far East. this area than Israel. even in countries that have no In the meantime, China is tect the plants from extreme Since the 1950s, Israelis diplomatic ties to Israel, such sending groups of dairy farm temperature shifts. “Farm- 11. Reintroducing carp to Africa have not only been finding as Pakistan. manager trainees to Israel to ers need to use much less Half a century ago, Lake miraculous ways to green their As much as 50 percent of learn how to boost milk pro- water, and in turn much less Victoria carp was a significant own desert but have shared every grain harvest and 100% duction there as well. fertilizer on the crop,” which part of the diet of the nearby their discoveries far and wide of every pulse harvest is lost translates to less groundwater Ugandan villagers. But when through channels including to pests and mold, Navarro 5. Tailor-made farm solutions contamination. Nile perch was introduced to MASHAV, Israel’s Agency for told ISRAEL21c. Subsistence -based Agricultural the lake, it decimated most of International Development farmers in developing coun- Knowledge On-Line (AKOL) 8. Unparalleled crop protection the smaller fish including the Cooperation at the Ministry of tries tend to store their crops makes unique software to help Two years ago, Hebrew carp. Villagers had neither the Foreign Affairs. in primitive baskets or bags, producers grow fruits and University’s tech-transfer com- equipment nor the expertise ISRAEL21c has highlighted which are not effective in vegetables, raise poultry and pany teamed with Makhteshim necessary to start fishing the dozens of food-related advanc- keeping hungry bugs and dairy cows, manage vineyards Agan, a world leader in crop huge perch, and symptoms es pioneered by Israelis. Here micro-contaminants out. The and make olive oil. protection products, to develop of protein deficiency started are 12 major ways Israel helps Cocoon solves that problem, Hosted in IBM’s “cloud,” and commercialize slow-re- becoming apparent in their feed the world. even in extreme heat and AKOL’s latest project gives lease herbicides and a targeted children. humidity. farmers anywhere in the world insecticide that doesn’t harm Prof. Berta Sivan of Hebrew 1. Drip irrigation access to information from beneficial insects. University came to the rescue Probably no other ad- 3. Biological pest control Israeli experts. Hundreds of The total worldwide herbi- with a multiyear project near vancement has been quite as On Kibbutz Sde Eliyahu, thousands of farmers can cide market is valued at more to help these African families. significant. While the concept a company called Bio-Bee obtain tailor-made solutions, than $15 billion, of which Her team was able to apply of drip irrigation existed well breeds beneficial insects and arrange group purchases of approximately a quarter is techniques developed over before Israeli statehood, it was mites for biological pest con- supplies and communicate dedicated to soil-applied herbi- many years for Israeli fish revolutionized by Israeli water trol and bumblebees for natu- with colleagues. cides and other pesticides. The farmers. engineer Simcha Blass, who ral pollination in greenhouses CEO Ron Shani told IS- Israeli approach incorporates The Israeli project not only serendipitously discovered and open fields. Subsidiary RAEL21c that AKOL applica- herbicides into micelles or successfully spawned carp on that a slow and balanced drip Bio-Fly sells sterile Mediterra- tions advise farmers on when vesicles, which are absorbed Ugandan fish farms, but also led to remarkable growth. He nean fruit flies to control this to plant, irrigate and harvest; onto negatively charged clay provided training on how to created tubing that slowly major pest in fruit trees. how to cope with drought; how minerals to enable a slow and dig and fill ponds and raise the released water where it was R&D manager Dr. Shimon to choose the crops best for controlled release, reducing small fish. Now local children most effective, and in 1965 Steinberg told ISRAEL21c the their area; how to implement leaching to deeper soil layers. have an abundant supply of Kibbutz Hatzerim built a whole company’s top seller worldwide ideal storage and temperature This enhances efficiency and protein to eat with their fruit new industry, Netafim, based is two-millimeter-long, pear- control procedures based on reduces the required doses. and vegetables. on his invention. shaped orange spider that climate; and how to track the The novel insecticide kills Israeli drip and micro-irri- is a highly efficient enemy of growth of chickens, livestock caterpillars of night-flying 12. Hardier seeds for better crops gation solutions rapidly spread the spider mite, a devastating and fruit, among other ideas moths – a common scourge Hebrew University agricul- worldwide. The newest models agricultural pest. for running a modern, profes- for farmers worldwide – but tural scientists Ilan Sela and are self-cleaning and maintain “Sixty percent of California sional farm. unlike common commercial Haim D. Rabinowitch devel- uniform flow rate regardless of strawberries since 1990 are preparations, has minimal or oped TraitUP, a trademarked water quality and pressure. treated with this predatory 6. A better potato no effect on any other crea- technology that enables the Just one recent example of mite from the Holy Land,” he It took nearly 30 years of ture. High levels of control can introduction of genetic materi- how this method has impacted reported. In Israel, Bio-Bee research, but Hebrew Univer- be achieved with much less als into seeds without modify- food supply in foreign coun- products have enabled sweet- sity’s Prof. David Levy devel- product, greatly minimizing ing their DNA. This method tries is Tipa, literally “Drop,” pepper farmers to reduce the oped strains of potatoes that environmental impact. immediately and efficiently an Israeli-developed kit that use of chemical pesticides by thrive in hot, dry climates, and improves plants before they’re has allowed 700 farming fami- 75 percent. can be irrigated by saltwater. 9. Fishing in the desert even sowed. lies in Senegal to reap crops Bio-Bee exports eight dif- Potatoes are one of the top Overfishing is a serious The university’s Yissum Re- three times a year instead of ferent species of biological sources of nutrition in the threat to the food supply, a search Development technol- just once, even on infertile control agents, plus pollinat- world, but they never before grave situation since fish is ogy transfer company licensed land. ing bumblebees, to 32 nations grew well in hot, desert regions the main source of protein the seed treatment technology Tipa is “a simple drip ir- from Japan to Chile. Bio-Fly like the Middle East. Now for hundreds of millions of to Morflora Israel for curing rigation system that uses collaborates with Jordanian farmers in these regions can people. But what if fish could fruit-tree diseases in orchards gravity when there is no water and West Bank Palestinian grow potatoes as a cash crop. be raised virtually anywhere, and groves, and for seedling supply or water pressure com- Authority agricultural experts. Levy told ISRAEL21c that even in the desert? That is just treatment in the nursery. ing to rural areas,” MASHAV’s he also intended his research what the Israel’s GFA (Grow “The new ability to deliver Ilan Fluss told ISRAEL21c. 4. Dairy farming to enhance understanding Fish Anywhere) Advanced Sys- traits within days instead of Hof Hasharon Dairy Farm, between Israel and its neigh- tems has made possible. years, and to offer a treatment SAE Afikim and SCR Pre- bors, as scientists and officials The Israeli “zero-discharge” with results similar to breed- cise Dairy Farming all make from Jordan, Egypt, Lebanon system eliminates the envi- ing to all current species, an- advanced systems for herd and Morocco meet with Israeli ronmental problems in con- swers a long and unmet need management, monitoring and scientists to share knowledge ventional fish farming, and that will revolutionize modern and build bridges doesn’t depend on electric- agriculture and significantly of information and ity or proximity to a body of impact the vegetable and com- technology. water. Specially developed modity crop markets,” said microbes purify fish waste Dotan Peleg, CEO of Morflora. 7. Squeezing every byproducts right in the tank, drop of water from with no need for spillage and This article originally was pub- the air refilling. lished at www.israel21c.org. Tal-Ya Water The largest facility using ISRAEL21c is an online news Technologies de- GFA technology, in New York, magazine offering a diverse veloped reusable produced about 100 tons of source of news and information plastic trays to sea bream, bass and tilapia in about 21st century Israel. collect dew from 2010. the air, reducing the water needed 10. Food from greenhouse gas by crops or trees Israel’s Seambiotic clean- by up to 50 per- tech company recently cent. launched a commercial algae Sivan/Tammuz 5775 Berkshire Jewish Voice • jewishberkshires.org Page 21 WORLD AND NATIONAL NEWS Gold on the Galilee: Israeli Kayaker Comes of Age, Eyes Olympics By Orit Arfa/JNS.org

Three years ago, kayaking ship. Podpolnyy has the biceps said. “If we didn’t have Ilya, coach Roei Lev found aspiring and abs of an action star, with we wouldn’t have been in the Olympian Ilya Podpolnyy cry- bright green eyes and brown world championships. If we ing on the steps of the Jordan skin that makes one think of didn’t have Ilya, we wouldn’t Valley Sprint Kayak Club The Hulk. Today, he stands at have made connections with overlooking the Kinneret (Sea a towering 6-foot-3 and weighs these athletes. If we didn’t of Galilee). 205 pounds. have Ilya, we wouldn’t have Podpolnyy, then 17 years “She said to finish all that people finding us through old, had just been disquali- I started—not to give up, and Face-book.” fied from the Israeli kayaking to stay strong until the end,” Podpolnyy has his sights championship. He couldn’t Podpolnyy said, finally adding on the 2020 Tokyo Olympics survive the heats. He didn’t to Shaked’s story. because he has not clocked make the start line. He was One of Israel’s top athletes, in enough world competi- devastated—and he had no Podpolnyy started paddling at tions to compete in the 2016 one with whom to share his age 11 near the Caspian Sea. Rio Games. He’ll make up for hopes, his dreams, and his “I came with a friend just to lost time this summer as he disappointment. His divorced check it out in the summer. competes internationally in parents still live in Russia, I started to paddle. I saw the Slovakia, Germany, and at the and he has been estranged nature, and I loved it,” he said. World Championships in Mi- from his father since making He followed his sister lan. For every competition, he at age 15. in making aliyah with the has requested that his canoe “I said to him, ‘You’re a “Na’ale” project, which brings be colored blue and white—the young man. I just met you. I teenagers to complete high colors of Israel’s flag. saw how you paddled. If you school in Israel with the hope “I want to bring achieve- want support and a good fam- that their parents will follow. ments for the country, the ily—if you want to get ahead— Upon completing boarding club, and all the trainers who I recommend you come to the school near Netanya, he joined worked hard,” Podpolnyy said,

Jordan Valley,’” Lev recalled the Maccabi Zvulun Kayaking not shy anymore. RONIT SHAKED COURTESY in an interview with JNS.org Club, where he didn’t receive Israeli kayaker Ilya Podpolnyy at the kayak club’s lounge the support he craved as a on April 18, shortly after this new recruit to the Israel De- year’s Israeli kayaking cham- fense Forces (IDF). pionship. That’s where Lev came in. An hour earlier, dozens of “He knew there was a problem, young kayakers sat on those and he said, ‘We’ll help you. same steps, looking up to Pod- With family. With everything,’” polnyy, now 20, as he stood on Podpolnyy recalled. the podium to receive five gold Today, Podpolnyy lives in a medals—those same young- small one-bedroom apartment sters who had enthusiastically in Kibbutz Degania, and Yuval cheered “Go Ilya!” like brothers Dagan, the kayak club’s gener- at the edge of the Kinneret as al manager, has embraced him he won the individual 200-me- as a son—welcoming him for ter, 500-meter, 1,000-meter, Friday night meals and family and 6-kilometer races. trips. Having been granted “Today he decided he was “Outstanding Athlete” status going to win, and no less,” said by the IDF, Podpolnyy is able Ronit Shaked, the secretary to train at least four hours a general of the Israel Canoe As- day and compete abroad. sociation, who runs a medical “It’s a profession,” Shaked sports therapy clinic and is explained, although kayaking, also the Jordan Valley Sprint unlike other sports, holds little Kayak Club’s unofficial - promise of financial reward. tographer. Always with a cam- Podpolnyy receives some sup- era around her neck, she is port from the Israel Olympics documenting what she called Committee, but the club is ad- Podpolynyy’s “road to the mittedly going into debt invest- Olympics.” A mother figure, ing in his Olympic potential. she had given Podpolnyy a pep Lev and Shaked both credit talk that morning to ease his Podpolnyy for making the nerves. sport popular again in Israel. “He decided he was an Kayaking, sailing, and judo Spring Specials athlete,” she said. “That’s it. A are the only sports to bring the champion.” Jewish state Olympic medals, Lev and Shaked were eager with Michael Kolganov taking $15 Off any facial or 20% Off Free Any service for new to fill in the blanks when Pod- the kayaking bronze in Sydney massage (complimentary eyebrow or lip wax polnyy was at a loss for words in 2000. While shy at an in- sauna session). customers. Cannot be combined with with any facial. during the trio’s joint interview terview, Podpolnyy has a goofy Limit 1 per customer. Limit 1 per customer. Cannot be combined with any other offer. Not valid toward the purchase of Cannot be combined with with JNS.org. and fun-loving side, which any other offer. any other offer. Podpolnyy’s Hebrew is aside from his superior athleti- a gift certificate. Expires 7/15/15 Expires 7/15/15 almost fluent, even though he cism, magnetizes international Expires 7/15/15 didn’t speak a word of it when teammates. This past winter, he stepped off the plane at he revived the club’s status as Ben Gurion Airport in 2010 a sought-after winter training Voted The Berkshires Best Spa! wearing a Russian coat and destination after the Swiss, boots. He speaks mostly in Finnish, Russian, and Danish single sentences, the way kayaking champions accepted Sylvester Stallone speaks in his personal invitation to train the “Rocky” franchise—the on the Kinneret with the Jor- tough guy with a stoic veneer dan Valley Sprint Kayak Club. 740 Williams St., Pittsfield (Williams St. plaza, Next to Berkshire Eye Center) whose drive overcomes hard- “He’s the diplomat,” Shaked Open 6 days

To learn why EPOCH at Melbourne is the ‘Residence of Choice for Seniors,’ call today!

413-499-1992 140 Melbourne Road Pittsfield, MA 01201 www.EPOCHMelbourne.com

Assisted Living . Memory Care . Respite Page 22 Berkshire Jewish Voice • jewishberkshires.org June 1 to July 16, 2015 WORLD AND NATIONAL NEWS Despite Trauma of War, IDF a Personally Fulfilling Path for Lone Soldiers By Jeffrey F. Barken/JNS.org Piercing war stories depict- on Elbaz, but he is confident where unprovoked Palestinian ing Israel’s 50-day conflict that the war was both neces- rocket attacks are frequent. with Hamas last summer con- sary and well-executed by his “Why should we keep living tinue to surface. Some soldier superior officers. with that threat?” Hadari asks. accounts reveal battlefield “I felt safe walking behind Both Hadari and Elbaz had heroism, others the tragic loss them,” he says. “We didn’t a family connection to Israel of life. Then there are stories of knock down buildings and that prompted their initial those who, unlike the Israeli- we were very careful, offering curiosity and, later, their com- born soldiers who are subject protection to civilians.” mitment to the IDF cause. to compulsory conscription, Elbaz views his experience This was not the case, how- volunteered to risk their lives in Gaza as affirmation that it ever, for Max Steinberg, a lone in Gaza. is worth acting on “a call to soldier from Los Angeles who The stories of “lone sol- the land.” He says that being was killed during last sum- diers”—the term used for in Israel “is a true feeling of mer’s war in Gaza. soldiers whose parents do not being home,” and notes how “Max connected [to Israel] live in Israel—offer a unique recent terrorist attacks on from a cultural perspective,” perspective on the Jewish Jews across the Western world his father, Stuart Steinberg,

state during a time of crisis have left him feeling uneasy. tells JNS.org. PHOTO: SHAHAR AZRAN and on the culture of the Israel The IDF, he says, provides At the age of 22, Max (Left to right) Friends of the (FIDF) National Defense Forces (IDF). These lone soldiers excellent oppor- visited Israel for the first time Director and CEO Maj. Gen. (Res.) Meir Klifi-Amir, lone soldier Sgt. accounts also explain why, tunities for professional and along with his brother Jake, Sahar Elbaz, and FIDF San Diego Chapter Executive Director Nir despite the trauma of war, personal development. and sister, Paige. “When [Max] BenZvi. Elbaz says of his IDF experience, “The morals and values joining the IDF remains an at- “The morals and values went to the [military] cemetery, they instill in you are top-notch.” tractive opportunity that many they instill in you are top- Mount Herzl, I think that re- young people born outside of notch,” Elbaz says, recounting ally… impacted him,” Max’s felt. We were in shock,” Stuart collaborating with a prominent Israel choose to pursue. his transition from civilian to mother, Evelyn, recalls regard- says, recounting how Israeli institution in the country Max The reality of war “hits you soldier. Enlisting in Novem- ing her son’s admiration for Is- agents showed up at his home loved. immediately through gunfire ber 2012, he entered Garin raeli history and the country’s at 7:30 a.m. to inform him of A young person’s decision or a friend covered in blood,” Tzabar, a volunteer program defenders. That was the first 24-year-old Max’s death in to leave a comfortable “bub- Sgt. Sahar Elbaz, a lone sol- designed to help lone soldiers time Max openly expressed his battle. Since then, he says, ble,” as Elbaz describes the dier originally from California’s settle in Israel. desire to return to Israel and “Our lives have been turned American lifestyle, may seem Orange County, tells JNS.org. “You spend the first three join the IDF. upside down. You get im- difficult to understand. What’s “It was quite a surprise to months living on a kibbutz,” Although Max’s decision mersed in everything.” clear from the accounts of lone me to see how ruthless they says Elbaz. “These are the made them nervous, Stuart Stuart and Evelyn made soldiers and of their parents, (Hamas terrorists) were. They best months of your life and and Evelyn were happy to their first trips to Israel under however, is that joining the would do anything to capture the people you’re with become see their son passionately the tragic circumstances. They IDF can be a fulfilling experi- or kill an Israeli soldier,” Elbaz your best friends and family.” engaged. “Max had a strong- attended Max’s funeral and ence that strengthens charac- says, describing the vicious When basic training began, willed dynamic personality,” later his unveiling. The crowd of ter and leads to unique career guerrilla tactics and the fierce Elbaz says he was ready to says his father, remembering more than 30,000 Israelis who paths. fighting he encountered when embrace physical and emo- the inspired 22-year-old who joined in mourning Max offered “You do your service, and his unit first entered Gaza last tional challenges. He says came back from California and a glimpse into the compassion afterward they take care of summer. the cause of defending Israel only three months later set out Israelis have for lone soldiers you,” Elbaz says. The decorat- During one firefight, Hamas against clear and pressing again to enlist in the IDF. and the culture of which Max ed sergeant continues to serve fighters hid in a mosque and threats was inspirational for “At the time, there was no was so enamored. Similarly, the in the IDF and is increasingly ambushed Elbaz’s unit, throw- him. active war,” Stuart says. “We funeral for Nissim Sean Carme- on the public stage, talking ing grenades. In the heat of Rona Hadari, a lone soldier were certainly concerned, but li—a 21-year-old lone soldier about his experience. Hadari, battle, Elbaz became stranded. from Germany with a German- far more optimistic about the from South Padre Island, Texas, likewise, is now an officer in Then his weapon malfunc- born mother and Israeli-born opportunities for growth.” who died in the same round of the IDF’s aerial defense school. tioned. father, visited Israel every Indeed, Max’s calls home fighting as Max—was attended Max Steinberg won’t have “Five terrorists were sprint- summer as a child and always from Israel were demonstra- by 20,000 people. such an opportunity. Yet Stu- ing toward me,” he recalls. identified with the country. tive of his enthusiasm for the American Associates, art and Evelyn are both reflec- “I forget the malfunction, I Even though enlisting in the work and his lifestyle as a lone Ben-Gurion University of the tive as well as energized while knew how to fix it. The whole IDF wasn’t mandatory for her, soldier. Negev (AABGU) approached they embrace opportunities to engagement lasted only 30 Hadari essentially views it as “Evelyn spoke to him two the Steinbergs about estab- honor their son’s legacy. For seconds.” such. to three times per day, and we lishment of the eventual Max them, there is some comfort in Thanks to the expert train- “If you call yourself Israeli, had a lot of info,” Stuart says. Steinberg Memorial Scholar- knowing that before Max died, ing he received in the IDF, part of it is to join the army,” It seems that nothing was ship Endowment Fund, a pro- he had truly found his call- Elbaz was able to act fast and she tells JNS.org. censored during the war last gram that will commemorate ing—and that as parents, they fend off his attackers. Later, When Hadari witnessed summer. Stuart and Evelyn Max’s service by providing full were able to encourage his he was awarded the IDF Chief rocket attacks against Israel were aware that Max’s Golani scholarships to BGU for IDF interests. of General Staff’s Medal of while living in a (vil- Brigade battalion was on the combat reservists in perpetu- “I [had] put a personal let- Honor for bravery. Last month, lage) three miles from the Gaza move toward Gaza. They knew ity, with first preference going ter [in his suitcase] in which he was also honored at the border, the choice became the details. Max had been to lone soldiers. I expressed how proud I was New York City gala of Friends clear. sick. There was an accident “Their reach-out was timely about his journey,” Stuart of the Israel Defense Forces “They can do pretty good prior to Israel’s ground opera- and their sincerity on point,” says, recalling his son’s initial (FIDF), a non-profit organi- damage with one rocket, but tion in Gaza in which he suf- Stuart says of AABGU. The departure for the IDF. After zation supporting programs the danger is also emotional,” fered slight injuries. But Max Steinbergs, he says, have al- Max’s death, he says, “The big- that enhance Israeli soldiers’ she says, referencing the trau- wanted to go to Gaza anyway. ways valued education highly, gest gift I received was when I wellbeing. matic existence shared by the “Anger would be the wrong and this was an opportunity went through his things and Fighting in Gaza took a toll residents of southern Israel, emotion to describe what we to honor their son’s legacy by found the letter.” Sivan/Tammuz 5775 Berkshire Jewish Voice • jewishberkshires.org Page 23 WORLD AND NATIONAL NEWS Recycling Toilet Water and 4 Other Israeli Answers to California’s Drought By Ben Sales TEL AVIV (JTA) – For help fac- country’s fickle rainfall. 4. Israel’s government ing its worst drought in cen- Desalination costs money, owns all of the country’s turies, California should look uses energy and concerns water. to a country that beat its own environmental activists who Israel treats water as a chronic water shortage: Israel. want to protect California’s scarce national resource. Until a few years ago, coast and the Pacific Ocean. The government controls the Israel’s wells seemed like they One cubic meter of desalinated country’s entire water supply, were always running dry. TV water takes just under 4 kilo- charging citizens, factories commercials urged Israelis to watt-hours to produce. That’s and farmers for water use. conserve water. Newspapers the equivalent of burning 40 Residents pay about one cent tracked the rise and fall of 100-watt light bulbs for one per gallon, while farmers pay Lake Kinneret, Israel’s biggest hour to produce the equivalent about a quarter of that. freshwater source. Religious of five bathtubs full of water. In California, though, Israelis gathered to pray for But despite the costs, San many farms drill from pri- rainfall at the Diego County is investing in vate wells on their property, during prolonged dry spells. desalination. IDE Technolo- drawing groundwater as rain However, the once per- gies, which operates three of has thinned. Some have even petual Israeli water shortage Israel’s four plants, is building begun selling water to the OF IDE TECHNOLOGIES. IMAGE COURTESY appears to be mostly over. another near San Diego, slated state. State regulations to limit The Sorek desalination south of Tel Aviv is the world’s largest California’s water supply, to open as soon as Novem- groundwater use, signed last seawater desalination plant, providing 20 percent of the water meanwhile, is at record lows, ber. Once operational, it will year, won’t be formulated until consumed by Israel’s households. prompting restrictions on provide the San Diego Water 2020. household use and leading Authority, which serves the “Technology is not good farmers to deplete the state’s San Diego area, with 50 mil- enough,” said Eilon Adar, well to adopt a similar atti- a scarce national resource,” he groundwater reserves. From lion gallons of water per day. director of Ben-Gurion Univer- tude. said. “In 10 years’ time, they’re water recycling to taking the “It’s a carbon footprint, but sity’s Zuckerberg Institute for “You take an 8-year-old 18 years old and they get it. salt out of the plentiful sea- the technology is advanced Water Research. “You have to boy, you pump into their head It’s in their blood.” water, here are five ways that enough that the cost of the change some of the regulation. that they have to save water as Californians can benefit from process is lower than it used You have to impose more limi- Israel’s know-how. to be,” said Fredi Lokiec, IDE’s tations on water. California’s 1. Israeli cities recycle former executive vice presi- local consumers have to give three-quarters of their water. dent of special projects. “The up some of their rights.” Israeli farms don’t just use environmental damage done Adar and Israeli, how- less water than their Ameri- because of a lack of ability ever, both noted that adopt- can counterparts, much of to provide water to residents ing Israeli-style regulations their water is reused. Three- and agriculture because of the in California would be near quarters of the water that runs drought, because of overdraw- impossible, as some of Califor- through sinks, showers, wash- ing of groundwater, also has a nia’s water rights holdings are ing machines and even toilets price.” more than a century old. in Israeli cities is recycled, 3. Israelis irrigate But government ownership treated and sent to crops through pinpricks in hoses, doesn’t solve problems for all across the country through not by flooding. of the region’s residents. The specially marked purple tubes. No innovation has been Israeli human rights NGO According to the Pacific Insti- more important for Israel’s Btselem says the West Bank tute, which conducts environ- desert farms than drip ir- suffers from a water shortage mental research, California rigation. Most of the world’s due to unequal allocation of recycles only 13 percent of its farmers water their crops by the state’s water. According to municipal wastewater. flooding their fields with sprin- Btselem, Israelis receive more Israel also encourages recy- klers or hoses, often wasting than twice the amount of wa- cling by giving reused water to water as they go. With drip ter per capita as farmers tax-free. irrigation, a process pioneered in the West Bank. “If you take water from the in Israel 50 years ago, water 5. Water conservation is city you don’t pay a tax, but if seeps directly into the ground drilled into Israeli culture. you have a well and you take through tiny pinpricks in When an ad appeared on that water you pay a lot of hoses, avoiding water loss Israeli TV in 2008 showing a money for every cubic meter,” through evaporation. woman whose body crumbled said Giora Shaham, a former Four-fifths of all water used to dust because of that year’s long-term planner at Israel’s in California goes to agricul- water shortage, a parody Face- Water Authority. “If you’re a ture, and California’s farm- book group suggested skin farmer in Rehovot and you ers have been draining the lotion. But the ad was just the have water that doesn’t cost state’s groundwater as rain latest iteration of an Israeli money, you’ll take that water.” has stopped falling. But as of ethos to save water wherever 2. Israel gets much of its 2010, less than 40 percent of possible. water from the Mediterra- California’s farms used drip Kids are taught to turn off nean Sea. irrigation, according to the faucets and limit shower time. Israelis now have a much Sacramento Bee. Israelis celebrate rain — at bigger water source than Lake Netafim, a leading Israeli least at first — rather than Kinneret: the Mediterranean drip-irrigation company, says lamenting it. Lake Kinneret’s Sea. Four plants on Israel’s the practice cuts water use by daily surface level shows up coast draw water from the sea, up to half. Netafim spokes- alongside weather reports in take out the salt, purify the woman Helene Gordon told the paper. water and send it to the coun- JTA that 90 percent of Israeli In 2008, at the height of a try’s pipes — a process called farms use drip irrigation. decade-long drought, Avraham desalination. “It can’t be that there’s such Israeli, the Israel Water As- The biggest of the four a huge water shortage, and sociation president, dried out plants, opened in 2013, can they’re talking about a short- his lawn and replaced it with a provide nearly 7 million gal- age of drinking water, and porch to save water. lons of potable water to Israe- on the other hand they pour Israelis’ close attention to lis every hour. When a fifth huge amounts of water into rainfall and drought comes opens as soon as this year the ocean that could be used from an education and culture near the Israeli port city of for agriculture,” said Avraham that teaches them the impor- Ashdod, 75 percent of Israel’s Israeli, president of the Israel tance of every drop in an arid municipal and industrial water Water Association, which ad- region. With no end in sight will be desalinated, making vises Israeli water companies for California’s drought, Adar Israelis far less reliant on the on technology development. said Californians would do

Like us on Facebook: • Jewish Federation of the Berkshires • PJ Library Berkshire County Page 24 Berkshire Jewish Voice • jewishberkshires.org June 1 to July 16, 2015 WORLD AND NATIONAL NEWS Young Pot Entrepreneurs Hope for Potent Business Mixing Jewish and Cannabis Connections By Uriel Heilman DENVER (JTA) – Seth Wong’s rado, just west of Denver. well-connected in place of work is heavily clut- When it comes to their this world, largely tered, with shelves loaded with new company, TEQ Analytical through their Jewish moldy bagels, stale cake and Laboratories, Wong and Slat- associations. They fermenting carrots. There’s a kin are hoping two elements count Seeb as a good not-so-faint smell of urine in will give them a leg up over friend. They often the air. the competition: Wong’s strong run into marijuana But if all goes according reputation for quality micro- entrepreneurs at to plan for Wong and his new biological testing and their events sponsored business partner, JJ Slatkin, personal connections with by the local Jewish their new office soon will have many of the state’s leading federation, where something else in abundance: marijuana producers — many Wong and Slatkin are marijuana. of whom happen to be Jews. young leaders. (Wong The two Jewish 30-some- “Many of the original real met his fiancee on things are launching a new trailblazers and entrepreneurs a Jewish federation company that will offer con- in the cannabis industry are retreat.) The busi- taminant testing and potency Jewish, and there are a hand- ness partners are

analysis for cannabis, which ful of major operations within also Wexner Heritage PHOTO: URIEL HEILMAN Colorado legalized in 2014. Colorado that have Jewish fellows, a program Seth Wong, left, and J.J. Slatkin hope their new marijuana Wong’s current place of ownership,” said Slatkin, who that supports young testing business will take them to new highs. work is no frat house; he is has a background in finance. Jewish volunteer president of a 70-year-old “Our Jewish community rela- leaders. company called Industrial tionships have definitely been Wong, 34, has an un- which Wong now runs – to are certified by the Colorado Laboratories, which does food important.” usual Jewish background. His convert to Judaism so he Department of Public Health and drug analysis. The aging There’s Ean Seeb, chair- mother is from a Jewish family could stand alongside Wong on and Environment and other cakes and other foods are be- man of the National Cannabis in Philadelphia and his father the bimah platform at his bar third-party certifiers, they’ll be ing analyzed for shelf life and Industry Association, a Jewish is from a Protestant Chinese mitzvah. He obliged. ready to go – perhaps as soon examined for pathogens like federation leader who has his family. Wong’s grandfather Slatkin, 32, comes from a as June. salmonella and E. coli, the own Jewish events company. came over from China in the long line of Denver Jews. Five Colorado already has clutter includes $500,000 ma- There’s Joseph Max Cohen, 1920s at the age of 9 as a “pa- generations ago, his ancestors nine labs certified to provide chines that deconstruct mole- who started the Clinic Medi- per son” – with fake identity fled in Russian to potency testing and four labs cules to ensure the nutritional cal Marijuana Center in 2009 papers. Though his father and move to a Jewish agricultural certified to provide residual claims on food product labels and now has multiple facilities brothers already were in the settlement in Cotopaxi, Colo- solvent testing. But TEQ, Slat- are accurate, and the stench in the Denver area. Many of United States, they were run- rado, that flourished briefly in kin said, would be certified to of piss comes from racehorse the administrators at the Pink ning bars and brothels during the 1880s. After the settlement meet all testing requirements urine being tested for banned House Blooms chain of mari- Prohibition and weren’t much failed, they migrated to Denver mandated by the state. substances. The lab also drug juana dispensaries are Jewish. help, and Wong’s father was and in 1887 founded an Or- There’s a bit of a Wild screens the urine of livestock, So is , ex- adopted by a Jewish family. thodox synagogue on Denver’s West element to Colorado’s carrier pigeons, greyhounds ecutive vice president of Global He never became Jewish, west side, Congregation Zera marijuana industry. Fearful of and Iditarod racing dogs. Cannabis Ventures and an but four decades later his Abraham, and had a hand in federal retribution (marijuana “Normally, our lab smells investor in an Israeli company son – Wong’s father – brought founding several others. is still illegal under federal like a stockyard,” Wong told focused on improving mari- home a Jewish wife. Wong A Jewish day school gradu- law), banks are wary of dealing JTA during a recent tour of the juana breeding methods. himself grew up in Boulder, ate, Slatkin is a leader in his with marijuana companies, so facility in Wheat Ridge, Colo- Slatkin and Wong are going to Hebrew school and minyan at the Hebrew Edu- almost everything is handled Jewish youth cational Alliance, a Conserva- in cash. The state is wary of groups, yet tive synagogue in Denver, and licensing any entrepreneurs relishing his he maintains a weekly Torah with criminal histories dealing family’s famed study date with an Orthodox or growing pot. Potency label- Chinese roast rabbi in town. He and Wong ing is confusing and inconsis- pork recipe. met through Jewish channels. tent – a problem Wong hopes When he “My personal life revolves the lab will help rectify. turned 13, almost entirely around Jewish The principal psychoac- Wong asked life in Colorado,” Slatkin said. tive element in marijuana is his father – “The continuity of the Jewish tetrahydrocannabinol – bet- who owns people is probably the most ter known as THC. Currently, Industrial important goal in my life. That cannabis producers must Laboratories, and getting married at some disclose the amount of THC point – to a Jewish girl, obvi- present in each serving of their ously.” product, but producers are Professionally, Slatkin still seeing great variability and Wong’s near-term goal in potency. Slatkin and Wong is getting their new company say TEQ can help remove that up and running – and court- variability so products have a ing clients. They’ve obtained consistent level of potency. state licensing, are building “We’ve been watching the their new lab at the Fitzsi- cannabis industry for some mons Innovation Campus in time, and the industry could Aurora and have raised about benefit from a lab of our exper- half of the $1.5 million they tise,” Wong said. “Now is our need to get started. Once they time.”

Linking Young Jewish Women in Their Fight Against Breast Cancer (866) 474-2774 www.sharsheret.org Sivan/Tammuz 5775 Berkshire Jewish Voice • jewishberkshires.org Page 25 WORLD AND NATIONAL NEWS ‘Tikkun Olam Makers’ Turn Technology into Solutions for People with Disabilities By Maayan Jaffe/JNS.org

TEL AVIV – From cyber-secu- describes TOM as “a miracle.” too. But this is something rity to medicine to agriculture, When Tamir arrived at TOM: that is smart but useless.” In Israeli innovators are com- TLV, he was swept away by contrast, TOM, says Daniel, is ing up with ideas that make the powerful teams that stayed “smart and useful. It is helping life safer, easier, and more and worked until midnight, people.” efficient. These creations, in or even dawn. The next day, Daniel and his team cre- turn, simultaneously fund the which happened to be Israeli ated another helmet during Jewish state and yield profits Election Day, he brought Guy. the TOM competition. This for their overseas investors. A The makers took time to get to one assists a blind person in new organization is taking this know Guy and to understand navigating his home. Using entrepreneurial ecosystem to a him. One group invented a sensors like the ones in a cell

new level, merging technologi- prototype specifically for Guy. phone, it gauges the distance PHOTO: ZOA PRODUCTIONS. cal savvy with tikkun olam (the They call it “GidiGuy.” Indus- between a person and walls This system developed at a Tikkun Olam Makers (TOM) “make- Jewish value of repairing the trial designer Nurit Greenberg, or other objects, keeping the a-thon” allows people who are paralyzed from the neck down to world) to solve societal needs. who collaborated with that blind person safer from harm. turn pages in a book. Tikkun Olam Makers group, says her team was “We tested it on ourselves. (TOM), a project of the Reut charged with developing a That was really neat,” Daniel Institute and ROI Community, game for children with spe- tells JNS.org. is bringing together strategic cial needs to be able to play Daniel says that when it solutions for the elderly, ac- Maayan Jaffe is former editor- thinkers, engineers, design- and interact on an equal level comes to using technology for cording to Zamir. in-chief of the Baltimore Jewish ers, and project managers to with mainstream youths. Guy, tikkun olam, expertise is not a “I always say that if each Times and a Kansas-based solve unmet social challenges for example, cannot use his barrier to entry. person could give one minute freelance writer. Reach her at in disadvantaged communi- hands, so the solution cen- “You don’t have to be an to another person, our world [email protected] or ties. TOM is built on six core tered on his most easily-moved engineer, you don’t have to would be a better place,” says follow her on Twitter, values: scalability, community body part: his head. build stuff,” he says. “Some IBM’s Tamir. “I don’t think this @MaayanJaffe. integration, collaborative com- Greenberg’s team, consist- people are good with their is something that could have petition, affordability, smart ing of a mechanical engineer, hands, some with their minds. started in any other country development, and innovation. economic consultant, archi- The greatest teams are those but Israel.” In March, TOM held its sec- tect, and others, designed a composed of people with ond “make-a-thon” in Tel Aviv game similar to “Simon Says,” golden hands, golden minds, (an event dubbed TOM: TLV), using sensors and colored and golden eyes.” partnering with the Ruderman lights. The system recognizes TOM’s Zamir notes that the Family Foundation to har- the direction in which Player organization has already held ness cutting-edge technology 1 turns his head. If the player a competition in Brazil, and www.jewishberkshires.org to design affordable aids for moves right, a red light turns that he is in contact with 11 people with disabilities. The on, while a yellow light is other countries about running goal was to create solutions activated by a move to the these programs. TOM: NY is that increase integration and left, and so on. Player 2 must planned for New York in March inclusion. mimic Player 1. As the players 2016. Even Kosovo has ex- “The event was a direct engage, the color sequences pressed interest in the initia- Barbara K. Greenfeld meeting ground for people get longer and more difficult. tive. In this way, says Zamir, abr, c-crec, crs, green, rsps, sres with special needs and the Now, Greenberg is in touch TOM can help Israel be “a light Broker Associate • Lic. in MA & NY people with the ability to help with one of Israel’s major unto the nations.” 413-637-4200 ext. 16 solve [their challenges],” TOM hospitals for youths with dis- Zamir says he sees the 413-441-5986 cell Founding Director Arnon abilities to determine if this TOM model, much like the [email protected] Zamir says of the 72-hour is some-thing that could be TEDxTalks, as something that program, which produced 25 further developed and brought can be replicated elsewhere Roberts & Associates Realty, inc. technological prototypes. to market. without the direct involve- EXCLUSIVE LISTINGS Zamir explains that for- Tomer Daniel works in the ment of TOM’s Israel-based profit companies are often able Wi-Fi division at Intel Israel. team. TOM is in the process HOUSES only to invest in projects with At night, Daniel says, “I build of building a website that will strong demand in the mass stuff.” house information about the 112 SPADINA PARKWAY, PITTSFIELD. Wow!! market. People with intellectu- Daniel got involved in the organizational concept, as well What a spectacular property right in the heart of Pittsfield. A 10 room Georgian Colonial that has al and developmental disabili- maker community a few years as images and assembly direc- such graciousness about it..The grounds have ties often have unique needs. ago, entering make-a-thon/ tions for the prototypes the been lovingly cared for and include a private pool.. The solutions must be tailored hack-a-thon contests on week- competitions have produced. There is more than ample room for entertaining to the individual, which takes ends and evenings. He says This way, companies might see both inside and outside..Close to the Pittsfield time and money. he created several gimmicks, solutions they want to explore Country Club and a short ride to Berkshire “We are not a technology including a PAC-MAN® helmet in taking ideas from proto- Medical Center plus many other Berkshire company and we do not aim that players wear to direct the type to market. Alternatively, attractions. $649,000. R2483 to be one. We are connectors,” joystick, using their heads. a visitor to the website might 157 MOUNTAIN DRIVE, PITTSFIELD A beautiful Zamir tells JNS.org. “You nod left, down, up, consider replicating one of the split level home in Southeast Pittsfield..roomy and Eran Tamir, an employee right, and the PAC-MAN innovations for a family mem- meticulously cared for..bordering Sackett Brook.. green house attached to 3-car garage.. separate at IBM Israel whose son Guy moves,” Daniel says. “It is so ber or friend in need. shed that has electricity installed.. Wood burning has cerebral palsy, took part funny, it only moves when you TOM is considering focus- and gas fireplaces.. 4 zoned heating.. radiant heat in the recent make-a-thon and open and close your mouth, ing its next make-a-thon on in large entry.. $385,000. R2512 CONDOS

2 FIELDSTONE DRIVE, LAKECREST, PITTSFIELD..A sought after contemporary end unit with 4 bedrooms and 3 baths.. Great room with fireplace..private extended deck (woods in the back)..Amenities include: marina, tennis, heated outdoor pool, play area, exercise room, sauna, library, party area..Selling furnished..C 2454 $375,000. 28 CHURCHILL CREST, PITTSFIELD End unit ranch w/ central A/C.. 2 bedrooms and 1 full bath on first floor level along with bright living room w/ stone fireplace and sliders to deck.. separate dining room.. eat-in kitchen.. Lower Level has 3/4 bath (shower stall).. large panelled family room.. laundry.. HW heater.. central vacuum system and attached one car garage.. All electric heat with baseboards.. Association offers pool and tennis. C 2504 $190,000. ROLLING HILLS, LENOX TWO UNITS IN BUILDING 2: UPPER 2-8 Great location.. short walk to clubhouse, mailroom, pool, exercise room, party room and kitchen.. tennis courts nearby and walking trails also.. Kitchen remodeled with KraftMaid cabinets and granite countertops.. This unit has high ceilings and a beautiful view of Yokun Brook.. C2187 $169,000. LOWER 2-7 This is an exquisite First Floor Unit that has had a complete overhaul.. New furnace.. new A/C compressor.. new kitchen appliances.. new washer and dryer. Quality oak floors installed in all first floor rooms, except baths and kitchen..Indirect sconce lighting in living room, bed- room, study-guest room, and lower guest room. Pilasters and wall mirrors installed in living/dining areas. C2494 $194,000. FIRST FLOOR (LOWER) UNIT 3-2 new appliances and new furnace and water heater. Selling furnished for $159,900. C2532 Page 26 Berkshire Jewish Voice • jewishberkshires.org June 1 to July 16, 2015 Calendar – Ongoing Events Around the Community Note: This calendar may not reflect gregation Beth Israel at 7:00 a.m. Check Tuesdays, from 10 to 11:30 a.m. – A Thursdays, from 5 to 6:30 p.m. – all ongoing events during the sum- the CBI Newsletter for current books and weekly Torah Portion of the Week study Modern Hebrew Conversation, with Esther mer season. Please see the Berkshire schedule. Information: Chaim Bronstein at group at Congregation Knesset Israel, 16 Benari-Altmann, Teens and adults join to- Jewish Summer insert in this issue for (917) 609-6732. Colt Road, Pittsfield, with Myrna Hammer- gether for lively study of Modern Hebrew a complete listing of events. ling who holds a Masters in Judaic Studies with an expert instructor. Congregation Sundays (second of each month) – from Jewish Theological Seminary. Free. Knesset Israel, 16 Colt Road, Pittsfield. Continuous – Chabad of the Berkshires Berkshire Hills Society of Israeli Philatelists Information: (413) 445-4872, ext 16. Information: (413) 445-4872. “Smile on Seniors,” or “S.O.S.,” volunteer meet. Discuss Israeli and American stamps. program to serve senior citizens in the Coffee and donuts. Information: Ed Helitzer, Tuesdays, from 4 to 5:30 p.m. – “Re- Fridays, last of month, time varies Berkshires. Information for families who (413) 447-7622, daytime. considering the Holocaust,” facilitated by with candle lighting – Chabad of the can benefit and volunteers: Rabbi Levi Lou Levine. Learn about and discuss new Berkshires’ “Friday Night Live,” traditional Sundays, 10:15 a.m. (every six Volovik at (413) 499-9899 or visit www. research that has transformed the study of Kabbalat Shabbat service. Information: weeks) – Congregation Ahavath Sholom jewishberkshires.com. the Holocaust in recent yearsLou Levine was (413) 499-9899 or visit www.jewishberk- Book Club. Contact Walter Orenstein: a professor, museum curator, and museum shires.com. New England Holocaust Institute & [email protected] for titles, dates, director. He retired from a senior position at Museum – With museum space in limbo at and location. Fridays, at 9:00 a.m. – Meditation with New York’s Museum of Jewish Heritage – A press time, founder Darrell English iremains Rabbi in the Congregation Sundays, 10:30 a.m. (every seven Living Memorial to the Holocaust in 2012. available to bring selections from his collec- Beth Israel sanctuary, 53 Lois Street, North weeks) – Congregation Ahavath Sholom’s Hevreh of Southern Berkshire, 270 State tion of Holocaust artifacts to presentations Adams, overlooking the Berkshire moun- “Bagels and Brainstorms.” Contact Guy Road, Great Barrington. Information: (413) for organizations, schools, and private tains. Silence, chanting, and meditation Pancer, [email protected] or (860) 528-3280 or [email protected]. functions. To schedule offsite presentations, designed to help prepare for Shabbat. All 435-2821 for topic and location. call Ed Udel at (413) 446-8409. Wednesday afternoons during the welcomed. Information: (413) 663-5830 Mondays, 7 to 8:30 p.m. (6/1, 6/15, school year from 4 to 6 p.m. – Chil- and www.cbiweb.org. Monthly – Ruthie’s Lunch Bunch meets 6/29) – Sports Arguments – Dynamic free- dren from Temple Anshe Amunim and at Congregation Beth Israel, or a local Fridays, at 9:30 to 11 a.m. (6/12, form discussion community on popular and Congregation Knesset Israel study together restaurant. Call for details. Congregation then on subsequent 2nd and 4th arguable opinions about sports. Facilitators: in special “CHAI – the Community Hebrew Beth Israel, 53 Lois Street, North Adams. Fridays through fall) – “Talmud Study Jay Weintraub & Steve Schreier. Hevreh of Afternoon Initiative” program. Kindergarten Information: (413) 663-5830. for Everyone,” with Sid Freund. Read Tal- Southern Berkshire, 270 State Road, Great to Bar-Mitzvah age. Information: Esther mud (Steinsaltz ed.) and engage in spirited Monthly – Volunteers from various con- Barrington. Information: (413) 528-3280 Benari-Altmann, Director of Education, debate on the merit of cases. Knowledge gregations provide a Jewish service, social or [email protected]. at [email protected] or (413) 442- of Hebrew is not a prerequisite. “Don’t interaction, and entertainment to residents 5910, ext. 12. Mondays, Jewish Film Series: 5 to 7 say, ‘When I’ll be free, I will study,’ lest you at Great Barrington’s Fairview Commons p.m. (film), 7 to 8:30 p.m. (discus- Wednesdays, from 10 to 11:30 a.m. never be free.” (Pirkei Avot 2:4.) Facilitator: and the Great Barrington Nursing and sion) – 6/8: Gentleman’s Agreement. 6/22: – optional meditation 11:30 a.m. to noon Sid Freund. Hevreh of Southern Berkshire, Rehabilitation Center. Contact informa- Walk on Water. 7/13: The Front. Hevreh of – “Yoga @ KI” with instructor Jane Rosen at 270 State Road, Great Barrington. Informa- tion: TBD. Southern Berkshire, 270 State Road, Great Congregation Knesset Israel social hall, 16 tion: (413) 528-3280 or hindacbodinger@ Monthly, fourth or fifth Sunday – Barrington. Information: (413) 528-3280 Colt Road, Pittsfield. $5 per class for Knes- gmail.com. Volunteers from Congregation Beth Israel, or [email protected]. set Israel members; $10 for non-members. Fridays, usually first of each month 53 Lois Street, North Adams “Take and Eat” Open to the public. Information: Jane Tuesdays, 11:30 a.m. (June 2-July at 5:30 p.m. (followed by a family program cook, package, and deliver hot Rosen at (413) 464-0173 or janerosen@ 28) – “Reading Hebrew from the Siddur”. style Shabbat dinner at 6:15 p.m.) – meals for all North Adams clients of “Meals berkshire.rr.com. Improve your fluency in reading Hebrew Congregation Knesset Israel, 16 Colt Road, on Wheels.” Information: (413) 663-5830 with Esther Benari-Altmann at Temple Wednesdays, from 10:30 to 11:30 Pittsfield. Shirei Shabbat (“Songs of Shab- or [email protected]. Anshe Amunim, 26 Broad Street, Pittsfield. a.m. – Hevreh of Southern Berkshire, bat”). Unique service combines melodies Monthly – One Monday a month (date Open to the community at large. Registra- 270 State Road, Great Barrington, offers from Carlebach, , and varies according to length of book), the tion, full information: (413) 442-5910, “an hour of morning stillness” with Nina Camp Ramah to create a ruach (“spirited”) CBI Book Discussion Group meets at Con- extension 12, or [email protected]. Lipkowitz, a certified Kripalu Yoga Teacher. filled family friendly experience. Cost $18 Donation of $10 is asked for from non- per adult, $36 family maximum. Dinner members. Information: (413) 528-6378. reservations are due by the Monday before services. Full information: (413) 445-4872, Wednesdays, at 12:30 p.m. – Explore ext 11. the stories behind the story of the weekly Torah portion at Tea and Torah, at Chabad Saturdays, from 9:30 to 10:45 a.m. of the Berkshires, 450 South Street, Pitts- – “Torah Plus: Exploring Jewish Text and field MA. Led by Sara Volovik, the course Culture”. Join Rabbi Josh Breindel for a is intended to outline a spiritual road map conversation based on the texts of the for day to day life. Using the weekly Torah Jewish people and reflection on what it portion as a starting point, participants will means to be Jewish. All texts are offered in learn from the Talmud, Midrash, and Cha- English. Temple Anshe Amunim, 26 Broad sidic masters, as well as from the insights Street, Pittsfield. Free. Open to the public. of others in the class. The course is free Information (413) 442-5910 or templeof- of charge, and no prior background in [email protected] Hebrew or the subject matter is necessary. Wednesdays, at 2 p.m. – “Conversa- tional Hebrew”. Learn to speak Hebrew from a native Israeli with Esther Benari- Altmann, Temple Anshe Amunim, 26 Broad Street, Pittsfield. Information and registration: (413) 442-5910 x12 or eba@ ansheanumim.org. Congregation Knesset Israel Wednesdays, 7 to 9 p.m., through 16 Colt Road August 12 – Rehearsals for the B’Shalom Pittsfield Chorale of the Berkshires at Hevreh of Southern Berkshires, 270 State Road, Great ONGOING MINYANS Barrington. Dues for the season are $50. Sunday...... 8:45 a.m. and 7 p.m. Information: (413) 531-8706 or BShalom- Tuesday...... 7 p.m. [email protected]. Friday...... 7 a.m. and 5:45 p.m. Thursdays, from 10:45 a.m. to 12 Saturday, 9:30 a.m. and evenings ap- This is going to be great. p.m. – Through June: Introduction to proximately 30 minutes before sunset Process Theology, with Rabbi David Weiner. Explore the latest developments in Jewish CANDLE-LIGHTING You know it. thought. Congregation Knesset Israel, 16 June 5...... 8:08 p.m. Colt Road, Pittsfield. Information: (413) June 12...... 8:12 p.m. We know it too. 445-4872. June 19...... 8:15 p.m. Thursdays, from 10:45 a.m. to 12 June 26...... 8:16 p.m. You are why we get up in the morning. p.m. – Starting July: The Book of Kings, July 3...... 8:15 p.m. with Rabbi David Weiner. Explore the his- July 10...... 8:13 p.m. We can’t wait to see what great looks like today. tory, politics and meaning-making of an- Show us. cient Israel. Please bring a TaNaKh (Bible) to class. At Knesset Israel. Information and Schedule: (413) 445-4872. See “Berkshire Jewish Congregations Great is here. Thursdays (fourth of each month) – and Organizations” on page 28 for Space is limited. Hadassah Book Club. For times, locations information on all regularly scheduled Learning is Discovery Apply to BCD now. of meetings, and further information about services in the area. Contact a congre- the books: Jane Rosen at (413) 464-0173 gation directly if you wish to arrange or [email protected]. an unscheduled minyan. Preschool through Grade 9 413 637 0755 BerkshireCountryDay.org Sivan/Tammuz 5775 Berkshire Jewish Voice • jewishberkshires.org Page 27 WORLD AND NATIONAL NEWS Why Israeli Couples Have Surrogate Pregnancies in By Ben Sales TEL AVIV (JTA) – While Israel same-sex couples). to term. When they don’t, pregnancies. Babies born of upon arriving in Israel, includ- mobilizes to aid victims of “People don’t choose this couples do not pay the full fee. surrogacy abroad must under- ing immersion in a mikvah, Nepal’s earthquake and locate saying ‘How fun, I won’t have Merav Levy, director of go a brief conversion process according to Ulzary. missing citizens, the Jewish to be pregnant,’” said Mina Israeli Surrogate Motherhood, state is paying special atten- Ulzary, co-founder of the Cen- which encourages surrogacy tion to the safety of 26 Is- ter for Surrogacy-Israel. “They within Israel, says the Is- Chabad rabbi raeli babies born of surrogate choose it after difficult vacil- raeli process is safer and more mothers in Nepal. lations, both emotional and convenient for a couple than Hundreds of Israeli couples medical.” traveling to a place like borrows helicopter in Nepal choose surrogate pregnancy How does surrogacy work to retrieve their baby. To bring – where a couple’s embryo is in Israel? a baby to Israel from abroad, a relief effort implanted in another woman, Heterosexual Israeli par- mother and father must prove (JTA) – The co-director of the municating with many of the who carries the pregnancy to ents who choose surrogate their DNA matches the baby’s Kathmandu Chabad house Israelis stuck in the mountain term. pregnancy either can find and endure a bureaucratic director borrowed a Nepali regions in remote areas like Here’s why Israelis opt for an Israeli woman to act as a process that can keep them helicopter to bring food and Dhunche and Syrabrubesi, surrogate pregnancies, and surrogate or a woman from from returning home for up to water to hikers stranded in the Chabad reported. He used why so many choose surrogate overseas. Although a bill to al- three weeks after the birth. aftermath of April’s earth- satellite phones fixed with GPS mothers in places like Nepal. low same-sex couples to have Why do some Israelis quake. that the hikers are carrying, Why do Israelis choose surrogate pregnancies in Israel choose surrogacy in Nepal? Rabbi Chezky Lifshitz then relayed their locations to surrogacy? Doesn’t Israel have passed an initial vote in the Though the quality of rode with the helicopter to the Nepalese government. pro-natal policies? Knesset last year, it has yet to health care in Nepal is seen the mountainous region His wife, Chani, with the Israel encourages couples become law. For now, same- as second rate, at best, Nepali of Dhunche, according to assistance of Israelis stranded to have children in a variety sex Israeli couples must go surrogacy has become a popu- Chabad. Twenty-five Israeli at the Chabad house, prepared of ways. Aside from maternity abroad for surrogacy and are lar choice for Israeli same-sex hikers were later airlifted from and distributed hundreds of leave policies that are far more allowed to bring the child back couples who are barred by the area and were be sheltered bowls of bhat, a - generous than in the United to Israel. The same applies for local laws from surrogacy in in the Chabad house. and-rice local food staple, to States, the state heavily sub- single parents. countries with better medical The rescue came after a people in their neighborhood, sidizes in-vitro fertilization About 270 Israelis choose care like India, Georgia and mission to deliver food and a whose own supplies of food for women who experience to have surrogate pregnancies Thailand, Ulzary says. Israeli satellite phone to the hikers have practically run out. She difficulty conceiving naturally every year, according to Ul- couples began having sur- by motorcycle failed due to also prepared another 2,000 and pre-implantation genetic zary. Approximately two-thirds rogate pregnancies in Nepal blocked roads. meals to be distributed further diagnosis for those who quali- of them choose foreign sur- in 2012, according to Ulzary, Lifshitz had been com- afield. fy. Since 1996, surrogacy also rogates because the process is who estimates that some 100 has been legal in Israel. cheaper and surrogate moth- couples find surrogate moth- Israelis typically choose ers are easier to find. Georgia ers there every year. surrogacy because they cannot and India are among the more What does Jewish law say carry a baby themselves – ei- popular countries. Surrogacy about surrogacy? ther because pregnancy would in Israel costs approximately Halachah, or Jewish law, pose a significant health risk $64,000; surrogacy abroad allows surrogacy, and a rabbi to the mother or if the couple can cost as low as $33,000. is part of the Israeli Health cannot carry a fetus (for Most surrogacy implantations Ministry committee that ap- example, in the case of male succeed in bringing the babies proves women for surrogate

WE MAKE IT EASY TO ROLL OVER YOUR 401(k)

Brian P. Astorino, CRPC® LPL Financial Advisor (413) 236-4837 660 Merrill Road • Pittsfield, MA 01201

Michael A. Fazio, CFP,® CTFA Senior Vice President LPL Financial Advisor (413) 236-4835 If you are retiring or changing jobs, you may have 150 West Street • Pittsfield, MA 01201 complicated choices to make regarding your 401(k) plan assets. What you do with these assets could significantly impact your lifestyle in retirement. Your future is too important to risk making the wrong decision. We can help — every step of the way. Securities and advisory services offered through LPL Financial, a Registered Investment Advisor. Member Call today for more information or to schedule FINRA/SIPC. Insurance products offered through LPL a consultation. Financial or its licensed affiliates.

Not NCUA Insured Not Credit Union Guaranteed May Lose Value Page 28 Berkshire Jewish Voice • jewishberkshires.org June 1 to July 16, 2015 CULTURE AND ARTS Charles Kaiser’s The Cost of Courage By Albert Stern In his just-released book, on the past.” On de Gaulle’s the impulse to liken France’s children, friends, and co- The Cost of Courage, Charles part, writes Kaiser, this was national story to one family’s religionists to the people who Kaiser tells the heroic and a way of practicing a kind of personal decisions. In the fac- were. We listened when they tragic story of the Boulloches, “therapeutic optimism” while ile and unnecessary afterword talked, and we continue to whose participation in the rebuilding his nation. Silence to the book, Kaiser expresses listen to those who are still Resistance during the Nazi was a way of enduring for the disdain for “most Americans here to share, and will try occupation of France led to the Boulloches, one that appar- [who] are smugly dismissive of to tell their stories as they deaths of the family patri- ently took its own toll on the the way the French behaved wanted them told. Maybe we arch and matriarch, as well family. during the Nazi occupation.” simply hope, rather than as- as one of their four children. The nations and peoples He cites the German sympa- sume, we would do the right Of the other siblings, Andre affected by World War II have thies of Lindbergh and Joseph thing. Boulloche was Charles de adopted different types of Kennedy and the anti-Semi- For Kaiser to ultimately Gaulle’s military delegate to narratives. For example, the tism of the German Bund and arrive at his grand conclu- Paris in 1943 and survived the Anglophone nations have one Father Coughlin to imply that sion about “one of the most war in Auschwitz and other of righteous defiance and just perhaps America had its own important and least under- concentration camps after victory; the one of issues. While putatively giving stood lessons” of the war being betrayed. Sisters Chris- heroic resistance and monu- the US servicemen who fought at the end of the story of tiane and Jacqueline worked mental sacrifice; and Germany overseas their due, he writes the truly heroic Boulloches clandestinely against the Nazis and Japan sustain narratives that the civilian population did comes across as courage and evaded capture. While the of guilt, contrition, subse- not suffer in the way Europe- that doesn’t cost much at perished were not the family quent de-militarization. And of ans under Nazi occupation did all. Maybe the work of Max members active in the Resis- course, the Jewish people has – and who knows what would Ophuls and Robert Paxton lengthy and sometimes redun- tance, they lost their lives in its own narrative, of victimiza- have happened had it. persuaded Kaiser to be rela- dant historical recaps, makes German camps as a result of tion followed by the resistance Kaiser cites the work of tivistic in his outlook. Suffice the narrative feel disjointed. It their connection with the three represented by the creation of author Robert Paxton and it to say that people I respect never really catches fire, save who were. a strong Jewish state. filmmaker Marcel Ophuls, have looked me in the eye and in the parts about the family’s The Boulloche family had The France that emerges both of whom documented persuaded me otherwise. experiences. long been a public-spirited from Kaiser’s book is one France’s wartime experience in The Boulloche’s reluc- Still, The Cost of Courage family involved in the national where lines between resistance landmark works, as shaping tance as storytellers also has will provide an introduction to life of France, and the surviv- and collaboration blurred dur- his own outlook. The tenden- a consequence for Kaiser’s the French Resistance to those ing members remained so after ing the war. Individuals might tious conclusion he comes to: book – the 230 pages of The unfamiliar with the history. World War II. However, the have acted in different ways at “I cannot judge France harshly Cost of Courage often seem It will prove a more valuable survivors were disinclined to different times, and may have for its behavior during World padded with historical details document in honoring a heroic share the story of their war- alternately assisted or subvert- War II.” He writes that “one of gleaned from other sources. family who paid a terrible price time experiences, even within ed the Nazi occupiers. Thus, the most important and least The Boulloches also disap- for its principle, decency, and their own family. Kaiser has writing about the French nar- understood lessons of World pear for long stretches of the willingness to act in the face known the Boulloches since rative, Kaiser concludes: War II” is that a person who book, which together with the of evil. his childhood, and learned hasn’t been through occupa- details about what they en- “While de Gaulle felt he tion by a foreign power, who dured from his uncle, who had had to disguise the his- hasn’t faced life and death de- Q&A / Charles Kaiser lodged with the family after tory of France in public, cisions, has no right to judge a Berkshire Jewish Voice: Writing the war. Eventually Christiane, the Boulloches merely re- country that has. about your book, Alan Riding the last living member of the mained mute about their For many Jews, talking writes: “One legacy of the Nazi WWII generation, recorded own. At the beginning, this explicitly about the war – what occupation of France was secrecy, her memories so her grand- had seemed odd to me, brought it on, what it took to a shield that long hid the heroism children would have a record, since all three of them had survive, how people and na- of resisters no less than the shame and her account became the been decorated for their tions (good and bad) behaved, of collaborators.” Do you think that basis of Kaiser’s book. He aug- bravery, and Andre was what precisely was lost, and Riding’s statement is valid, and mented the story with copious part of an elite of just a what the darkness suggests could you elaborate based on your research from records that few hundred compagnons about human nature – is experiences researching and tell- have previously never been de la Resistance, the most an imperative of existential ing the Boulloche family’s story?

made public. revered Resistance fight- import, not merely a matter Charles Kaiser: I think PHOTO: JOE STOUTER Perhaps this reticence ers of all. But that was of personal or national forth- Riding is completely correct. Author Charles Kaiser simply represented one fam- the cost of their courage: rightness. I grew up in a com- There is a general reluctance ily’s way of coping, one that Because half of their fam- munity (Miami Beach in the of combatants from any war to talk about their experiences with deserves a full measure of ily had been killed by the 1960s) with a large population non-combatants, partly because they think it’s impossible for a respect. Kaiser, however, Nazis, they needed their affected by the War. neophyte to understand the intensity of what they experienced. conflates the personal with own silence as much as These people would talk to Since Frenchmen took so many different positions during the the political by comparing the France needed its myths.” you. War, it remains an extremely sensitive subject–the one most like- Boulloche’s method of carrying “It is easy to assume that ly to ruin a Paris dinner party, as Adam Gopnik once observed. on with the manner in which I imagine a reader’s feelings you would have done the right Christiane Boulloche was one of three siblings who fought in the de Gaulle managed the narra- about France (past and pres- thing if the Nazis had occupied Resistance. None of them spoke about what they had done for tive of France’s mixed wartime ent, fair or not) will color his your country,” Kaiser writes. fifty years. It was only after her brother and sister had both died record: “When the war ended, or her response to this book. I “It is also a great mistake to that Christiane realized she had to do something or her amaz- de Gaulle and the Boulloches also suspect that many read- do.” The generation of which ing story would die with her. She then forced herself to write felt much the same way: ers will, as I did, respect the I am a part has not been 45 pages, for her grandchildren. Her brief memoir became the The only chance they had to Boulloches on their own terms through an occupation, but blueprint for my book. survive was to avoid dwelling and wish Kaiser had resisted we are connected as relatives, BJV: Within the Jewish community, there is an anxious awareness that the Holocaust generation will, in the relatively near future, be gone. Conse- quently, there has been a renewed effort to record survivors’ stories, and KAISER, continued on next page

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 pro- grams 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. Sivan/Tammuz 5775 Berkshire Jewish Voice • jewishberkshires.org Page 29 BERKSHIRE JEWISH CONGREGATIONS & ORGANIZATIONS

Berkshire Hills Hadassah Hevreh of Southern Berkshire BEYOND THE BERKSHIRES P.O. Box 187, Pittsfield, MA Reform Congregation Anshe Emeth (413) 443-4386 270 State Rd., Great Barrington, MA Conservative [email protected] (413) 528-6378, hevreh.org 240 Joslen Blvd., Hudson, NY Services: Fridays 7:30 p.m., except B’nai B’rith Lodge, No. 326 (518) 828-6848 first Friday of month, 6 p.m., congregationansheemeth.net Chabad of the Berkshires Saturdays, Torah Study at 9 a.m., Welcome to the Services: Fridays at 7:30 p.m., 450 South St., Pittsfield, MA services at 10 a.m. Call to confirm. Jewish Berkshires Saturdays at 9:30 a.m. (413) 499-9899 Everyone is welcome to attend Israel Philatelist Society jewishberkshires.com Congregation Beth El services and events at any of the c/o Rabbi Harold Salzmann Check website for service times and 107 Adams St., Bennington, VT organizations listed here. 24 Ann Dr., Pittsfield, MA locations. (802) 442-9645, cbevermont.org (413) 442-4312 Services: Saturdays at 10 a.m. Please call the organizations Congregation Ahavath Sholom Jewish Federation of the Berkshires directly to confirm service times Reconstructionist Nassau Jewish Community 196 South St., Pittsfield, MA or to inquire about membership. North St., Great Barrington, MA Center & Synagogue (413) 442-4360 jewishberkshires.org (413) 528-4197, ahavathsholom.com Route 20, Box 670, Nassau, NY Learn more about our Jewish Services: Fridays at 5:45 p.m., Jewish War Veterans (518) 766-9831 community and find great Saturdays at 9:30 a.m. nassausynagogue.org Rimon: Resource Center for events on the community Services: Saturdays at 9:30 a.m. calendar at: Congregation Beth Israel Jewish Spirituality Reform PO Box 502, Great Barrington, MA Temple Israel of Catskill JEWISHBERKSHIRES.ORG 53 Lois St., North Adams, MA (413) 274-1034 rimonberkshires.org Reform ______(413) 663-5830, cbiweb.org 220 Spring St., Catskill, NY Temple Anshe Amunim Services: Saturdays at 9:30 a.m. (518) 943-5758 Berkshire Minyan Reform templeisraelofcatskill.org. Lay-led egalitarian minyan Congregation Knesset Israel 26 Broad St., Pittsfield, MA held at Hevreh of Southern Conservative (413) 442-5910, ansheamunim.org The Chatham Synagogue Berkshire, 270 State Rd., 16 Colt Rd., Pittsfield, MA Services: Fridays at 5:30 p.m., Route 28, Box 51, Chatham, NY Great Barrington, MA (413) 445-4872, knessetisrael.org Saturdays, Torah Study at 9:30 a.m., (518) 392-0701 (413) 229-3618, berkshireminyan.org Services: Fridays at 5:45 p.m., services at 10:45 a.m. chathamsynagogue.org Services: Saturdays at 9:30 a.m. Saturdays at 9:30 a.m. Services: Saturdays at 9:30 a.m.

KAISER, continued from previous page for younger Jews to connect personally with the people who lived through the war. Is there a similar effort being made in France to connect with members of the Resistance, and to tell their stories the way you have in The Cost of Courage? Is the Boulloche’s story one that an American author might be more eager to tell (at least in the way you tell Donate it) than a French author? CK: Immediately after World War II, the French government commis- Your Car! sioned an oral history of the Resistance. Interviewers were sent out to record the memories of everyone who could be found who had fought against the Nazis, and those archives were a crucial resource for my book. I can’t imag- and support Jewish ine any reason why a French author would not be just as eager to tell the education in the Boulloches’ story as I was. Berkshires BJV: In your book, you write about how the French, given the ambiguities surrounding levels of collaboration and resistance during the war, have struggled (starting with de Gaulle) to frame their Resistance narrative. How is the story of France during WWII cur- rently being taught in high school texts and in universities in France? CK: The two most important reassessments of how France behaved during the war were Robert Paxton’s Vichy France, and Marcel Ophul’s The Make a tax-deductible contribution – we will pick Sorrow and the Pity. Both of them were very blunt, and both of them became required reading and viewing for the French intelligentsia. Together they had up the vehicle at no cost. For more information call a huge impact on the way France saw itself. But the main difference between Chabad, (413) 499-9899. the debate within France about the war and the debate about France in the United States is very simple: the debate in France is a lot more nuanced. It is not less honest than the debate about France in the United States.

New Home? Second Home? Farrah S. Wax, Esq. Israeli Retirement Home? Jewelry Let me show you… Attorney At Law The Berkshires Barbara K. Greenfeld Specializing in Family Law ABR, C-CREC, CRS, GREEN, RSPS, SRES Broker Associate • Lic. in MA & NY 32 Mahaiwe Street 413-637-8880 The Mews, by the Red Lion Inn Courtyard 413-441-5986 Suite 4 413-410-0680 Stockbridge, MA [email protected] Great Barrington, MA 01230 [email protected] 413-298-4436 Roberts & Associates www.waxfamilylaw.com Realty, inc. Page 30 Berkshire Jewish Voice • jewishberkshires.org June 1 to July 16, 2015 CULTURE AND ARTS

Israel Born/Boston Based Jazzman Benny New Book Center Sharoni to Play at The Mount this July Anthology Brings Yiddish LENOX – In Moscow on the more about jazz. Works to English Readers Hudson, Robin Williams plays “The music was Vladimir Ivanov, a jazz lov- expressive, free, and AMHERST – A digital anthol- ing Russian saxophonist who democratic,” he says. ogy of Yiddish works newly defects to the United States. In “You could say what translated into English was a memorable scene, Vladimir you wanted to say, recently released by the is invited on to the bandstand and be as free spirited Yiddish Book Center. The by an American jazzman. The as you wanted to be – Center’s third annual Pakn camera doesn’t capture what improvise, create. You Treger Translation Issue, happens on stage, cutting didn’t have to be look- which is available online and instead to a dejected post-jam ing down at notes.” in e-book form, “brings to- session Vladimir, whose eyes He took up the gether an eclectic assortment have been opened to the gap saxophone and quickly of Yiddish literary treasures of musicianship that exists gained proficiency, made available in English for between him and his American but in Israel (even in the first time,” said Sebas- peers. Vladimir sadly tells a Tel Aviv, where he tian Schulman, translation friend: “I got smoked, man.” moved in 1986 follow- programs specialist at the A film about the life of ing his IDF service), Center. Benny Sharoni might be called “there was no one who The eleven works in the Kibbutz on the Charles, but no could show you what anthology comprise poetry, way would it include a scene to work on in order to memoir, short stories, and with the Israel-born, Boston- master what is a very excerpts from longer works based tenor saxophonist complicated art form.” of fiction. They include fretting about getting smoked. He moved to Boston, SIERRA PHOTO: ANASTASIA excerpts from a ground- Sharoni has just released the like many Israeli jazz Benny Sharoni breaking series of early 20th discovering exactly the sorts CD Slant Signature, his second players, to study at remains a musical country – century poems by Esther of treasures we always knew outing as a leader. The songs Berklee College of Music, but “As a Jew in Israel, you had Shumiatcher-Hirschbein were there. For those of us are melodic straight-ahead left after a semester. “It was to learn an instrument,” says about the emotional complex- who have been waiting for new tunes mostly composed by one thing to be a jazz musi- Sharoni – and has produced a ity of pregnancy and child- translations, some wonderful Sharoni that will appeal to cian,” he remembers. “It was small but high-profile contin- birth; a chapter from Dovid surprises lie ahead.” fans of later Sonny Rollins (a another thing to spend all that gent of jazz players, among Bergelson’s 1929 novel Strict The translation collection, hero of Sharoni’s) and those money to be a jazz musician.” them bassist Omar Aviatl, Justice, about the harsh reali- a special issue of the Yiddish that like their jazz smooth but He soon began leading his own bassist Avishai Cohen, saxo- ties of life after the Russian Book Center’s English-lan- not slick, assertive but not bands. “It took a few years for phonist Eli Degibri and the Revolution; an excerpt from guage magazine Pakn Treger harsh. me to figure things out,” he Cohen siblings Anat, Yuval, Mikhoel Felsenbaum’s 2004 (Yiddish for “book peddler”), is Sharoni will also be bring- says, but eventually he was and (trumpeter) Avishai, who novel The Sabbath Lights, con- part of a larger Center initia- ing a quartet to Music After playing alongside musical is a member of the band Third sidered a pioneering work of tive to make more works of Hours at The Mount in Lenox heavyweights such as Joshua World Love. Three of that postmodernist Yiddish fiction; Yiddish literature accessible on July 17 and 18 for what is Redman, Danilo Perez, Kenny band’s four members are Is- and a story from Y.Y. Zevin’s to readers of English. The certain to be a jazz highlight in Garrett, and Larry Coryell. raeli, and they have been fea- humorous “Joe the Waiter” initiative also includes the the Berkshires this summer. When he released his first tured on NPR’s Checkout pro- series about life on the Lower New Yiddish Library, a part- He has unusual, perhaps album, Eternal Elixir, in 2010, gram – the Checkout describes East Side at the turn of the nership between the Center even unique, roots for a jazz it was praised on AllAbout- them as playing “acoustic last century. and Yale University Press that musician. The son of Chilean Jazz.com as “[mixing] the music with the feel of small- Many of the works will be has published ten books; the and Yemeni immigrants to vitality of a spiritual journey group jazz and the rhythmic new even to readers familiar Yiddish Book Center Transla- Israel, Sharoni was raised on with the intelligence of an aca- trusses of the Mediterranean with Yiddish literature, noted tion Series, which will work Kibbutz Kissufim, located on demic lesson, to come up with and Middle East.” Aaron Lansky, the Yiddish with publishers to release new the border with Gaza. “My par- an intoxicating cocktails of Observers have attributed Book Center’s founder and translations; and a yearlong ents, who are in their 80s, still brains and brawn.” The follow Israeli interest in jazz to a president. “That’s because Translation Fellowship Pro- live there,” he says, adding: up Slant Signature augments variety of causes, including so many of our translators gram. Five of the pieces in the “And yes, it gets hit every time Sharoni’s longtime band with its immigrant character, the are young and not bound by new Pakn Treger Translation [by shelling from Gaza]. As a well-regarded trumpeter Jim diversity of worldwide cul- convention,” he said. “They’ve Issue are the work of alumni Jew, you have to be resilient Rotondi. tural influences, and a strong been rummaging through our of the fellowship program. though.” Sharoni tours with his band education system that exposes shelves and our online library, Growing up on a hinter- throughout the East Coast, young students to the music. land kibbutz during the 1970s Canada, Europe, and Asia, and Sharoni offers his take: “Is- – “All you know is cows and has also played the Red Sea raelis are drawn to the music chickens, man” – Sharoni con- Jazz Festival in Eilat, a star due to its free spirit. Jazz fits ceivably might not have been studded event that is Israel’s a lot of the Israeli mentality. You may request that the Berkshire Jewish exposed to jazz in his forma- premiere showcase of jazz We create our own things. We Voice be mailed to your home. tive years had his mother not music. Sharoni admits playing have strong personalities.” returned from a short visit to in Israel can have its challenges Benny Sharoni will appear the US with a stack of LPs, – “recovering your money is not at Music After Hours at The Just email us at among them records by Sonny always easy” – with negotiations Mount, 2 Plunkett Street in [email protected] Rollins and Sonny Stitt. The over what the performance Lenox on July 17 and 18. For music shook him up and fee will be typically continuing information, call (413) 551- for information. changed his musical path – he months after the gig has taken 5111. had been studying classical place. flute, but knew he had to learn Business aside, Israel

I have been in The Berkshires since 2002, first as a second home owner and a permanent resident for the last six years. As well as being one of the owners of The Pittsfield Colonials Professional Baseball Club, I have been involved in many businesses: distribution, manufacturing, private equity and vacation ownership. Sales and “Best New York Style Deli” marketing has always been my strength with an emphasis on “World – The Berkshire Record’s ‘Best of the Berkshires’ 2014. Class” customer service. I have personally bought and sold at least ten of my own residential properties. I have seen the good, bad and ugly in terms of real estate agencies and agents. With this in mind we have established a real estate agency that will prosper by serving our clients first and delivering results. That is what is expected and that’s what matters to us. Buddy Lewis I look forward to hearing from you soon. 781-888-0284 • [email protected] Sivan/Tammuz 5775 Berkshire Jewish Voice • jewishberkshires.org Page 31 CULTURE AND ARTS

Jew on the Bayou Michael H. Rubin to Discuss The Cottoncrest Curse and the History Behind It, at Hevreh, June 11

GREAT BARRINGTON – With in the courts. After, he’ll read the language each character the recently-released novel The excerpts and take questions. uses and the ideas he or she Cottoncrest Curse, Michael H. The protagonist of The Cot- expresses are appropriate to Rubin might have invented a toncrest Curse is Jake Gold, an their era and station. new literary genre – the “Jew itinerant peddler and trained Rubin says that the easy on the Bayou historical/legal/ shochet (animal slaughterer) perception of the Deep South psychological thriller and Yid- who fled Russia as a teenager, as a backwater of Jewish life dish phrasebook.” and who has been making his is incorrect – immigration from Attorney Michael H. Rubin If so, Rubin is likely to fortune in the hinterlands of Russia actually brought a fair remain its sui generis prac- Louisiana selling high qual- number of Jews seeking eco- titioner, given his personal ity German knives. Follow- nomic opportunity to the re- imagery that opens the novel and family history. An accom- ing the brutal deaths of a gion. His great-grandfather on and reappears periodically – plished attorney whose family wealthy plantation owner and his mother’s side was, like the this is not a polite drawing has lived in Louisiana since his much younger wife, Gold character of Jake Gold, a ped- room murder mystery – those the 1880s on his mother’s side becomes the prime suspect dler from Russia (the similari- willing to roll with it will enjoy and the 1910s on his father’s in their killing. The bulk of ties stop there, however) who a taut thriller with an uncom- side, Rubin has a deep under- the book describes the furi- settled in the central Louisiana mon depth of historical detail standing of the state’s history, ous manhunt to find him from town of Alexandria and was and a strong feeling of place. elements of The Cottoncrest social tensions, legal idiosyn- the points of view of charac- instrumental in establishing A reader will learn things from Curse will reappear and figure crasies, and – most important- ters from different walks of Orthodox and in reading this book. in both. As they write in the ly for a novelist – its people. life, whose perspectives are town, both of which still exist. Not the least of which will opening chapter: “The deaths On Thursday, June 11, the defined by their social caste His father’s family arrived just be some choice Jewish wis- of Augustine and Rebecca attorney Michael H. Rubin and limited understanding of before the Russian Revolution. dom and Yiddish phrases. Chastaine weren’t the start of – not the author Michael H. events. It’s a difficult stylistic As a child, Rubin moved to The Cottoncrest Curse is pep- the famous Cottoncrest curse. Rubin – will be delivering a approach to succeed with, Baton Rouge (which also has pered with Yiddish phrases as And they weren’t the end of it multimedia presentation about as when it’s not done well, two synagogues), where his Jake Gold applys his Jew- either.” the book and the complex, the results can be a muddle father was a federal judge who ish perspective to the grisly, largely unknown history for a reader seeking a clear issued many groundbreaking decidedly un-freylekh behavior Michael H. Rubin will speak underpinning it at Hevreh of path through a narrative. The decisions in the field of race unfolding around him. (A on Thursday, June 11, at 7:00 Southern Berkshire. That’s Rubins pull it off admirably for relations. personal favorite: Verem essen p.m. at Hevreh of Southern because the “Michael H. Ru- first-time novelists, especially Rubin says that he and co- toiterhait un deiges lebediker- Berkshire. This event is free bin” who wrote The Cottoncrest given the fact that the novel author Ayan first and foremost hait – Worms eat you up when and open to the public. Hevreh Curse is actually the pen name also skips around in time, with set out to write a page turner, dead, and worries eat you up is located at 270 State Road in shared by Michael and his wife events from 1893, 1961, and and in that they’ve succeeded. alive.) Great Barrington. Please call Ayan Rubin, who co-authored the present day all figuring in While some readers might be The Rubins are working on at (413) 528-6378 for more the novel. Rubin says he and the final resolution of the tale’s put off by the type of graphic two additional novels in which information. Ayan worked out the plot and mysteries. characters during their daily This storytelling choice 4:30 a.m. constitutionals, also reflects the themes of the after which he would gener- novel. “It’s about knowledge ally compose a draft that she and truth,” says Rubin, “and then worked on further. The whether or not anyone can decision to publish the book know ‘the Truth.’ In this case, under the “Michael H. Rubin” it may only be the reader.” aegis was made to facilitate its Achieving a verisimilitude marketing. of thought and language for Rubin says the presenta- these diverse characters – tion he will deliver is “not a among them an immigrant talking head book talk kind of 19th century Jew, a 20th cen- thing.” Animation will un- tury Jewish civil rights activ- furl on a screen behind him ist, an aging Civil War doctor, as he delivers a focused and poor African-Americans of fast paced overview of the both genders, Cajuns, a law- Cantonist movement in Rus- man, a white supremacist, and sia and the resulting Jewish poor white Southerners – was immigration to the US in the another challenge the Rubins 1800s, and the relationship took on. Rubin explains that between blacks and Jews in his deep roots in the region the South from colonial times acquainted him with the way through the Civil Rights era. its people talk and think, while He will draw on his legal back- his passion for history famil- ground to give historical con- iarized him with primary texts text to the events he portrays he used to lend an added au- in the novel, describing the thenticity to the tale. Through- local, state, and national laws out, he vetted the writing with that enforced racial segrega- friends from different back- tion and their ultimate defeat grounds, and made sure that

CONTACT STEVE ERENBURG FOR ALL YOUR REAL ESTATE NEEDS IN THE BERKSHIRES... m: 201 663 0800

47 CHURCH STREET LENOX, MA 413 637 1086 www.cohenwhiteassoc.com Page 32 Berkshire Jewish Voice • jewishberkshires.org June 1 to July 16, 2015 CULTURE AND ARTS Kaved et Avicha: The Baumbach Gallery Opens in Housatonic

HOUSATONIC – “I happened painting – the problem was someone had said something to see the movie Little Big Man Harold Baumbach. stupid about it,” says Jona- again the other night,” says “He was willfully out of step than. His father took him to novelist Jonathan Baum- with the times,” says his son. galleries and artist’s studios bach. “There’s this Indian Harold’s popular early work in New York, where he got a who’s a ‘contrary’ – he walks tended toward realism, depict- chance to rub elbows with the backwards, does everything ing streetscapes in New York likes of Rothko and Avery. But backwards. and Brooklyn; however, by the those visits also had stresses. “I thought, ‘that was my late 1940s, Abstract Expres- “He often upset painters at father.’” sionism was the dominant their openings by saying how Baumbach is talking about movement in American art. bad they were behind their his late father Harold, a New “When Abstract Expressionism backs, but loud enough for York painter who was a con- was in fashion, he refused to them to hear,” he remembers. temporary and friend of artists paint that way.” His paintings “I was mortified, to say the such as Mark Rothko, Milton of that era were figurative, least.” Avery, and Adoph Gottlieb. and reflected the influences Father and son had a Harold Baumbach, born in of his heroes Pierre Bonnard sometimes challenging rela- 1903 on the Lower East Side, and Edouard Vuillard. “When tionship. Jonathan became had a long and artistically ac- Abstract Expressionism waned a writer in part because his complished career as a painter and Pop Art came into vogue,” father would have tried to and printmaker, but only says Jonathan, “that’s when crush his spirit had he tried to enjoyed commercial success he started to paint abstract be a visual artist. “My father and popular recognition at its paintings.” was always a competitive art- outset, during the 1930s. Harold Baumbach, the ist,” he says, “with everyone.” Baumbach is trying to son of an upholsterer, had a Jonathan says his grandfa- heighten awareness of his 4th grade education but was ther, the upholsterer, was an father’s talent by opening a very well read, and was self- angry man, the kind “who gallery dedicated to Harold’s taught as an artist. Jonathan would throw a chair at you,” work. An idiosyncratic art Baumbach remembers his and while his father was also space, the gallery is located in family living an itinerant life, intense, “he might chase me COURTESY BAUMBACH GALLERY COURTESY a newly-built structure on his changing domiciles every year when he got angry, but I don’t property in Housatonic that during the first years of his remember him ever actually Harold Baumbach's “Secrets of Nature” (1986) will double as a guest house life. But by the time he was catching me. With each gen- for his children and their fami- six, the family had settled eration, the anger thinned out, although he did model for his the art world radar, and the lies. It’s an offbeat multigen- in Borough Park, Brooklyn, I suppose.” Toward the end of dad). His wife was the family’s Baumbach Gallery affords art erational accommodation, but and his mother went to work his life (he died in 2002 at age primary breadwinner, and also lovers one of the few places to then the Baumbachs are an as a schoolteacher – “all the 98), Harold “didn’t really make the model for some of his most view it up close. unusual family – Harold was painters’ wives taught school,” himself available” to his grand- beautiful paintings, a selection About his father, Jonathan the noted painter, Jonathan is Jonathan remembers. During children. “They didn’t really of which is on display at The says: “Did he want recogni- an acclaimed novelist (You and Jonathan's childhood, Harold know him,” Jonathan laments, Baumbach Gallery. tion? Yes, he wanted recogni- Reruns), and all the children enjoyed his greatest commer- although he says Noah and The Housatonic space pri- tion, even while doing every- have careers in the arts, with cial success – he had many youngest son Nico are collec- marily features Harold’s later thing he could to prevent that third child Noah (The Squid one-person shows, and his tors of his early work. paintings. “He did his best from happening. and the Whale and Greenberg) work found its way to major Harold remained prickly work in his 70s,” says Jona- “But now I’m willing to be having achieved fame as an museum collectons – but even and productive during the long than. “He had spent years in handmaiden to his work.” independent filmmaker. then his quirks were starting decades when his work was analysis, and after all those The Baumbach Gallery is The cause of Harold Ba- to manifest themselves. out of vogue. He taught paint- years, he managed to free him- located at 214 North Plain umbach’s lack of popularity “He was known for pull- ing at and self and free his approach to Road in Housatonic. Hours by wasn’t primarily shifting tastes ing paintings out of shows, or constantly worked in his home form and color.” This mature appointment. Please call (413) and styles or the quality of his not selling a painting if he felt studio (off limits to Jonathan, work exists by and large under 528-2997.

A Music Fan’s Notes: Meet Mathilde de Rothschild By Rabbi Ivan Caine To mark the 6th Summer wrote music in 1861, the Naples branch of ily life. Her offspring gathered Celebration of Jewish Music, that found the bank closed. Willy and his at her home for the seider shel the BJV is sharing local music favor with brother were avid supporters Pesah in 1913, and she gave aficionado Ivan Caine’s appre- critics. From of Jewish settlement in Pal- a party for the family on her ciation of an overlooked 19th a review of the estine, under the influence in 90th birthday. Two years later century Jewish composer. CD: “the Roth- Frankfurt of Samson Raphael she died. In the 19th century, it was schild family… Hirsch. After Mathilde’s hus- For me this music was a hard for a woman composer, were patrons of band died in 1901, Mathilde metseea. Singer Charlotte even if that woman was part of many promi- was aware of anti-Jewish de Rothschild, a descendant a famous and wealthy fam- nent composers feeling and so was careful of Mathilde, delivers these ily that often had the major such as Men- to support general charities songs beautifully. The work composers of the day visiting delssohn, Herz, along with her sponsor- is remarkably accessible, and their home. Being Jewish did Bellini, and ship of five institutions she exceptionally touching. Hav- not help, and being an Ortho- Chopin. The lat- founded for unfortunate ing worked at the German dox Jewish woman placed a ter, in 1849, was Jews. She was also a ma- song repertory for six decades special burden on her. eager to teach jor benefactor of the new and studied the French fin How else to explain the the teenaged Frankfurt University. de siecle compositions, my obscurity of a prolific com- ‘Rothschild girl,’ Mathilde composed exposure to this unknown poser like Mathilde Hannah de whom he clearly songs for accomplished composer opened a new field. Rothschild (1832-1924), whose considered very singers, including Adelina Mathilde had a gift, in my songs offer immediate appeal talented.” Her Patti. She raised three opinion, of romancing. and remain rewarding through mother, born in daughters and had a full fam- repeated audition? Nimbus England, was a Records has issued an exem- favorite hostess in Vienna and plary overview of her work, one Frankfurt – Mathilde and a disc of lieder (songs in Ger- sister surprised many visitors man) and another of melodies by smoking cigars. At 17, Mat- in French. ty married a cousin from the Feminists and commit- Naples branch of the family, ted Jews will be interested in an Orthodox Jew named Willy. Mathilde de Rothschild (pro- Mathilde assimilated to his nounced in German RAWT- religious modus vivendi and Check out our website!www.jewishberkshires.org SHILDT=red shield). She was remained loyal to its tenets a child prodigy born into a even as a widow. It is reported INCLUDES A CALENDAR OF PROGRAMS AND EVENTS family of bankers that oper- that at table with the Kaiser, ated businesses in five coun- she sat without eating. SPONSORED BY THE BERKSHIRE JEWISH COMMUNITY tries, and by the age of 13, she After the unification of Italy