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JewishA publication of the Jewish Federation of the Berkshires, serving V the Berkshires and surrounding ice NY, CT and VT Vol. 25, No. 3 Nisan/Iyar 5777 March 28 to May 14, 2017 jewishberkshires.org Jewish Survival in Albania and When Our Community Needs Us, Kosova We Are There Yom HaShoah program with a message of tolerance Federation Campaign 2017 Kicks Off and defiance that still resonates on Super Sunday, May 21 Are you looking for a meaningful way to bring more goodness into our world? How about making a dif- ference in the lives of seniors, young people, and Jews across the globe? On May 21, the Jewish Federation of the Berkshires will host its annual Super Sunday phone-a- thon, an opportunity to give back to our community in so many ways. From 9 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., volunteers from across Berkshire County will be “mak- ing the call” at call Kosovar Albanian rescuer Arsllan Rezniqi (right), recognized by Yad Vashem centers in Pittsfield PITTSFIELD – Discover the fascinating, This program marks one of the first and Great Barrington, inspiring, and largely unknown story times this remarkable story will be asking for support of the Albanian people’s rescue of shared comprehensively at an event from every commu- Jews during World War II at “Jewish geared toward the general public. nity member for the Survival in Albania and Kosova,” a “Jewish Survival in Albania and Federation’s 2017 special program in honor of Yom Kosova” is not simply a story of refu- Annual Campaign for Scott Hochfelder and Jen Sacon, Super Sunday Co-Chairs HaShoah/Holocaust Remembrance gees and their rescuers, but is also a Jewish needs. Funds Day at the Berkshire Museum on story of how an episode that might have raised will help feed the hungry, com- ily concert with Jewish musical maven Sunday, April 23 at 2 p.m. been lost to history was recovered and fort the elderly, build Jewish identity, Joanie Leeds at 10 a.m. at Hevreh of is finally being shared as a universal and inspire Jewish life and learning Southern Berkshire. Parents, children, message of courage and religious and across the Berkshires and all over the grandparents, and friends will be able Inside ethnic tolerance. world. to see all the ways this community Parents can make Super Sunday a works to support others, and choose Exploring What Counts...... 2 The actions of the Albanian people were rooted in a ethical code known as family affair by bringing their children Your Federation Presents...... 4-10 besa, which literally means “faith,” but and their tzedakah boxes to a free fam- SUPER SUNDAY, continued on page 14 Local News...... 11, 17-20 as applied involves an honor-bound fulfillment of the obligation to provide Annual Campaign...... 14-16 hospitality and protection to those in News...... 24-27 peril, even to the point of forfeiting one’s BESA, continued on page 5 Dialogue Through the Lens Jewish and Arab photographers from “The State of Refugees and Afula-Gilboa to share coexistence message Immigration, 2017” NY Times reporter covering immigration to speak on April 30

PITTSFIELD – On Sunday, April 30 at noon, Berkshire Hills Hadassah and the Jewish Federation of the Berk- shires will co-sponsor a talk by Liz Robbins, New York Times reporter covering immigration issues in the New York City area. The talk is titled “The State of Refugees and Immigration, 2017.” This event will take place at Knesset Israel, 16 Colt Road in Pitts- field. Cost is $10 and a light lunch will be served. Reservations are requested by Tuesday, April 21. Please contact – [email protected]. Immigration policy in the United On Monday, May 8 and Tuesday, May 9, the Jewish Federation of the States is currently one of the most Berkshires will host “Dialogue Through the Lens,” welcoming four Israeli Liz Robbins politically divisive issues roiling the photographers, Jewish and Arab, from Saydim Yachad le’Atid Mishutaf political landscape, and Liz Robbins Trump administration. As a metro desk (“Marching Together to a Shared Future”). A scheduled exhibit and will be discussing the current state of reporter for the Times, Robbins inter- interactive activities are part of the Federation’s participation in the refugees in the US and the impact of acts not only with immigrants (legal Jewish Agency’s Partnership2gether program, which in 2016 established changes in the immigration process. and illegal) and prospective immigrants a link between the Berkshire Jewish community and the residents of the The immigration beat has always been seeking admittance to the United Afula-Gilboa region of Northern Israel. a busy one, but has become even more States, but also with lawmakers, Please turn to page 28 for details. so with executive orders issued by the IMMIGRATION, continued on page 11 Page 2 Berkshire Jewish Voice • jewishberkshires.org March 28 to May 14, 2017

Rabbi Reflection Exploring the Meaning of Counting in Living Jewishly and Mindfully By Rabbi Neil P.G. Hirsch One of the greatest gifts our community has thereby postponing Rosh Hashanah and Passover for a variety of reasons. Rav given us over the millennia of Jewish thought Saadia Gaon, who headed one of the great yeshivot of Babylonia, contended with is the esteem of the question mark. Surely ben Meir. Saadia argued that these two months should be counted a full 30 days. the foundation of the Jewish tradition is the They contended over the subject matter, but what was at stake was bigger than question mark. Laid on top of that, brick-by- the calendar itself. Ben Meir and Saadia were debating over the principle of au- brick, we have built a tradition of debate, which thority. Who could influence Jewish time—the schools in the Land of Israel or in serves as the structure around which we live Babylonia? our Jewish lives. Fast forward to today, and similar debates continue. Last year, a discussion When we look at the nature of those Jewish took place among Reform rabbis. Last year was leap year on the Hebrew calendar, debates, we can see two factors at play: the and with the reform observance of only one day of chag, we would find ourselves subject matter itself, and the underlying prin- out of sync with the rest of the Jewish community in our cycle of Torah reading. ciples that help to define the different perspec- What should we do? Should we maintain the principle of Klal Yisrael and adjust tives on that matter. In the great debates of our our Torah readings to remain in sync with the rest of the Jewish community, tradition, going back to Biblical times, many or should we stay in our flow? At Hevreh, we remained in sync with the broader have to do with calculations of our Hebrew cal- community. The principle of Klal Yisrael outweighed other factors, showing the endar. Simultaneously in these arguments, our way on that particular subject matter. Sages take sides on the root principles at play. In the Jewish tradition, how we calculate the calendar continues to matter, Consider, for example, the opening passage of Mishnah and it remains a platform for debates on princi- B’rachot, where the Rabbis ask, “At what time can one say the ples and values. In these immediate months, from Sh’ma in the evening?” The subject matter itself is about when In the Jewish tradition, from Passover to Shavuot, we count days, known as one should say his evening prayers. Underneath that, though, the Counting of the Omer. We are instructed in the rabbis are debating a philosophy on the calendar. By generation to generation, we Leviticus to “count off seven weeks. They must be what measure should we consider a day? Some measure time have debated how to count, complete: you must count until the day after the by the natural cycle of day. One can say the evening Sh’ma seventh week—fifty days” (23:15–16). Matching the until twilight. Others measure the time by a ritual schedule, when to count, where to count, agricultural cycle in the Land of Israel, this count- by marking the priests’ activities at the Temple. While about and who can count. ing corresponds to the time in which the first sheaf counting, this was also a debate about authority. The essen- of the barley harvest was brought to the priest. tial question is this: Where and with whom does the authority That is one principle at play as to why we count the around our ritual schedule lie? Is it to be defined by the natural order of day and Omer, to correspond to the harvest season. Spiritually, this period of the Omer night, or does a society have the authority to create its own signifiers of time? has meaning as well. “The mitzvah can be seen as a means of linking Pesach, the The Jewish community continued to contend over the calendar into the early season of our liberation, to its ultimate fulfillment in Shavuot, the season of the 10th Century. Rabbi Aaron ben Meir was the head of the leading yeshiva in the giving of Torah. There is no ‘freedom,’ in other words, without Torah, without a Land of Israel. He saw the Land of Israel as the seat of authority for all sched- system of meaning to be found in Jewish life and existence,” writes Rabbi Mark uling matters. He declared that the Hebrew months of Heshvan and Kislev in Washofsky in his book Jewish Living. the Hebrew year 4682 (921 C.E. by secular counting) should only have 29 days, These spiritual principles of liberation and law can be seen in a different de- bate that has emerged over the last several months in our own nation. American policies toward the immigrant and the refugee, and the debates around those policies, call us to consider the relationship between the value of freedom and the BJV Reader’s Gallery value of law in our society. Counting the Omer from Passover to Shavuot is an in- vitation to consider those concepts spiritually; namely, what does it mean to both celebrate our personal liberties while recognizing the importance of upholding laws required in a just and civil society? Reflecting on this question is not just a matter of civic value, it is a spiritual matter, too. In the Jewish tradition, from generation to generation, we have de- bated how to count, when to count, where to count, and who can count. And the meaning of the counting points to larger significance for how to live Jewishly and mindfully. Like all the other great debates in the Jewish tradition, we can put our finger on a heart-beating pulse of greater meaning. And by placing it beside other debates that take place in our civic life, the Counting of the Omer invites the con- sideration, spiritually, of the dynamic flow between liberty and law.

Rabbi Neil P.G. Hirsch serves at Hevreh of Southern Berkshire.

Letters to the Editor

“Credit Where Due” Much Appreciated by Us To the Editor: Somewhere I learned – and it’s I also enjoyed Albert Stern’s equally well-ingrained – that if you feel you well-written, informed, and compre- have something important enough to hensive review of The Language of express, whether personally or public- Angels by Richard Michelson on the ly, say it! So, to give credit where due, origin of Modern Hebrew. Both reviews I’d like to acknowledge two positive suggest deep knowledge and ardor and and fine book reviews in the last BJV, nothing on which to construe a polit- which made me want to run right out ical or color divide. How refreshing! and buy the books. Paul Green’s review Many thanks. of Jews and Jazz by Charles Hersch, was ‘almost’ as good and passionate Ruth Heuberger as hearing Paul playing his clarinet. Great Barrington

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR The Berkshire Jewish Voice welcomes signed letters on subjects of interest to the Jewish community. Letters are printed upon space availability. The BJV reserves the right to edit all letters for content, length, and style. The BJV does not print anonymous letters, insults, libelous or defamatory statements. Published letters do not represent the views of the Federation, its board of directors, or the newspaper, but rather express the views of their authors. For verification purposes, please in- Qes Efraim Zion Lawi speaking at the Federation’s March 2 clude full name, home address, and a day and evening telephone number. Send Connecting With Community program, as captured by Housatonic’s letters to: Berkshire Jewish Voice, 196 South Street, Pittsfield, MA 01201, or email: Jeff Kramer. [email protected].

website! Thank you volunteers Ellen Rosenblatt and the BJV delivery team, Check out our Jeff Kramer, Roman Rozenblyum, and Ron Turbin www.jewishberkshires.org INCLUDES A CALENDAR OF PROGRAMS AND EVENTS SPONSORED BY THE BERKSHIRE JEWISH COMMUNITY Donate • Volunteer • Make a Difference Nisan/Iyar 5777 Berkshire Jewish Voice • jewishberkshires.org Page 3 In My View Live Long Enough, You Find Some Things Out By Albert Stern, Berkshire Jewish Voice Editor

Live long enough, and you find out surprising things about yourself. For in- is the narrative that, 75 years after the fact, is most appropriate and useful for stance, I had no idea I was the type of person who would be fascinated by pic- them to learn. All I can say is that it is not the Holocaust narrative I grew up with. tures of meals about to be eaten by friends I have not seen in more than 30 years. Growing up in Miami Beach in the 1960s and 1970s, survivors were people Facebook brings me these dinners, and so much more – simchas, heartbreak, like our next-door neighbor and dear family friend with whom we walked to shul snark, rants, memes, keen insights, spectacular misapprehensions, videos of every Shabbos; the handicapped gentleman who sat next to us at services whose cats being frightened by cucumbers (you will want to Google that). What’s more, body was twisted by the medical tortures he endured in the camps, who used to I enthusiastically share my own complicated business – overshare, some have pat my cheek and call me a “shayner yingaleh”; our cantor singing on the bimah, told me, but so be it. At the risk of oversharing here, I confess that I’m the kind whose parents and 14 siblings were murdered; the flamboyantly-clad beachgoers of person who does not easily let go of the past, and so I find it comforting that whose tattooed forearms we noticed as they took a refreshing dip in the ocean – the community assembled in my brain also exists as a (surprisingly intact) virtual ach, vot a mechayeh. community on social media. We were surrounded by survivors, but no one really talked much about the Every day, social media delivers news from people on the peripheries of my life, Holocaust. It hovered above us, however, and was strongly felt. A few months ago more activity than I can keep track of or feel strongly about. But every once and I interviewed Florence Grende, author of the memoir The Butcher’s Daughter, and awhile… she told me she was accustomed to treading lightly about the past because, “as a This popped up in my feed last year, posted by one of my oldest and dearest child of survivors, you don’t want to open old wounds.” It was the same for those friends, someone whose life remains genuinely connected to mine. In its entirety: of us who did not have survivors in our immediate families. We may have been aware of facts about survivors we knew, but did not often hear their stories, at least not from them. Needless to say, we would never intrude on their privacy by bringing it up. Strangers, on the other hand – people I might start chatting with on the beach – would often share their harrowing tales, perhaps feeling free to talk because they had no particular emotional investment in me. As editor of this newspaper, I’ve made it a point to publish stories about how the children of survivors are processing their parents’ experiences, through es- says, fiction, films, and activism. Though the works are very different, at some point they all arrive at similar practical questions: What are the key lessons of the Holocaust that must be preserved, the essential messages that need to be shared? What level of responsibility do members of the next generations have to share those messages, both now, when survivors are still with us, and in the near future, when they will all be gone? Many of the authors of these works also arrive at the similar realization that, as children of survivors, not talking about the Holocaust is what they are ac- customed to – partly in deference to the gravity exerted by living survivors’ own testimonies, partly because, as for Florence Grende, the impulse not to open old wounds is ingrained. Florence told me she only started exploring her parents’ story in middle age, after both had passed. “I could see them not only as brutalized people who could sometimes be brutal themselves,” she said. “I could see them as people who had reasons for what they did, which I couldn’t have done when I was younger.” I don’t know if feelings of that sort motivated my friend last year on Yom HaSho- ah to share the picture of his mother and his Uncle Israel, who did not live long enough. In any case, my friend was compelled to provide his own testimony – his post conveys something meaningful about his inner life. When I asked if I could write about the post, we got to talking about who will keep the raw memories of the Holocaust alive once the survivors are gone. Not everyone is a “memorial candle,” inclined toward activism, no more so in the next generation than in the survivors’. I wonder if it is going to be the generation after my own who will do the job most effectively, those young Jews who may have heard or heard about their I’ve never posted this picture before. For Holocaust Remembrance Day. The girl grandparents’ experiences, or who were simply fortunate to have met a survivor is my mother. The boy is her twin brother Israel. Within a year of this picture, at a museum. Maybe, owing to their distance from the historical events, they will my Uncle Israel was shot in the streets of the Vilna Ghetto. My mother is one of have a broader perspective that not only takes in the horrors of the 1930s and the very few Jews to survive the ghetto thanks to a Catholic woman who hid 1940s, but also how the people who endured them raised their children, and how her in the cellar and fed her scraps of food. She couldn’t take them both because those children fared. Maybe future generations without an ingrained dread of he was rambunctious and she was afraid he would betray the hiding place. oversharing will come up with an as-yet unconsidered narrative, and provide a The last thing my mother did was call out his name before she died in 2004. clearer idea of what about the Holocaust actually is or is not over for the Jewish people. No Facebook emoji “reaction” for that. I knew the story of my friend’s mother However the story is going to be told, my friend said, we all better figure it out and uncle, and also his father’s story, about how his family was jeered at by their soon. Not only are the survivors dying out, he added, “We’re not spring chickens neighbors as authorities removed them from their home. Beyond these stories, anymore, either. I hate to break it to you, Al.” I knew, 30 years on, the personalities shaped by that history. My friend’s father As I said, live long enough, and you find out surprising things about yourself. was an energetic if not entirely effective hondler, someone who often seemed most optimistic about things that were least likely to come to fruition – but a genuine optimist, nonetheless, determined to move forward. My friend’s mother was bro- Paid advertisements do not necessarily represent the opinions of ken by her ordeal, and was emotionally unfitted for ordinary domestic life; she left the Jewish Federation of the Berkshires or its members. while her son and daughter were young, and lived much of her life in challenging circumstances. I met my friend when we were sophomores in high school. I remember that on the first day I met him, he asserted that he was going have a big family, live in a big house, and make a big amount of money. I have never been future oriented, and so that seemed to me then (and still seems now) like a strange aspiration Berkshire for a 15-year-old to express so forcefully. But my friend was sure of it, and we’ve stayed close as he ticked off everything on that list – he is a successful physician who married another physician (though they divorced), is father to three lovely daughters, and has resided in a succession of big houses, presently one in Utah’s 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, Wasatch Mountains, where he lives and skis with his delightful second wife. A life CT and VT not without its dramas and traumas, but overall, a not unusual arc for a man in Published nine times a year by the midlife. Jewish Federation of the Berkshires I also remember his relationship with his parents, both difficult people who were emotionally incapable of fully providing things he needed when he was Dara Kaufman: Publisher and Managing Editor younger, and eventually incapable of fully accepting the kindnesses that he was able to offer as an adult. An unfortunate family dynamic, but not a particularly Albert Stern: Editor unusual one. Rose Tannenbaum: Graphic Design and Layout What is unusual about my friend’s story is the picture he posted of two chil- Jenny Greenfeld: Advertising Sales Representative dren, and what he shared about the little boy on the left: “Within a year of this and Assistant Editor picture, my Uncle Israel was shot in the streets of the Vilna Ghetto.” What is un- usual is his father’s family being forcibly removed from their home. These are the Editorial opinions expressed in the Berkshire Jewish Voice are those of the experiences that shaped them as people and, inevitably, as parents. newspaper and not those of any individual. Signed editorials do not represent the As editor of this newspaper, I write stories about local youth groups’ visits to view of the newspaper, but rather express the writer’s view. places like the Museum of Jewish Heritage, where they learn about the Holocaust The Berkshire Jewish Voice is under no obligation to accept any advertisement. It through exhibits, and then get to meet a Holocaust survivor and listen to his does not guarantee the kashrut of any merchandise or service advertised. or her story. These encounters are invaluable, precious tangible connections to To have the BJV mailed to your home, please send a minimum donation of $18 not-so-distant Jewish history that will be cherished by all those privileged to have experienced them. Next issue publication date: May 15-June 25, 2017 Sometimes I wonder, though, whether these encounters feel like part of an in- Press deadline: April 4, 2017 • Advertising deadline: April 26, 2017 teractive multimedia museum experience. The young people meet an older person Berkshire Jewish Voice e-mail: [email protected] who possesses a fierce inner resilience and can share a story of horror, loss, and Phone: (413) 442-4360, ext. 11 Fax (413) 443-6070 survival, someone who is willing get up in front of an audience of strangers and then be cheered, embraced, and photographed. I wonder if the Holocaust narra- tive the young people take away is primarily about overcoming, and whether that Page 4 Berkshire Jewish Voice • jewishberkshires.org March 28 to May 14, 2017 Your Federation Presents

“The Process of Aging” – An Connecting With Community Programs / Intergenerational Discussion Kosher Hot Lunch and Support Group Programs in the Jewish Federation of the Berkshires’ Connecting with Communi- ty series are free and start at 10:45 a.m. most Mondays and Thursdays at Knesset On Monday, April 3 at Israel (16 Colt Road, Pittsfield). Programs are followed by a kosher hot lunch. Lunch 10:45 a.m., the Jewish Federation of the Berkshires is a $2 suggested donation for adults over 60 years of age or $7 for all others. Ad- presents “The Process of vance reservations are required for lunch and can be made by calling (413) 442-2200 Aging,” with therapist Maggie before 9 a.m. on the day of the program. Bittman. This free program at For further information on all programs, please call Nancy Maurice Rogers, pro- Knesset Israel, 16 Colt Road in gram director, at (413) 442-4360, ext. 15. For lunch menus and a chronological Pittsfield is part of the Federa- list of all scheduled programs, please see page 23. Note that lunch menus are tion’s Connecting With Com- subject to change. munity series. Kosher lunch will not be served following this program. Explaining her outlook and Therapist Maggie Bittman approach, Bittman writes: “Back and Joint Care With “From birth, we begin to age cussions broadly range from with Time. Along the way, “Should I Remain in My Home Qigong,” on March 30 we develop strategies to help or Downsize” to “Aloneness” manage the stressors – those to “Staying Active in Your On Thursday, March 30 begin with a series of warmup existential truths that come Community” and many more at 10:45 a.m., the Jewish movements, standing pos- along with living life. Along beyond. Federation of the Berkshires tures, and practice of the Back the way we find meaning and welcomes acupuncturist and and Joint Care form. There purpose, experience alone- IF YOU GO Qigong teacher Jeffrey Gor- will also be a ten-minute seat- ness, confront mortality, and don for “Back and Joint Care ed routine of gentle healing develop self will. Sponsor: Jewish Federation of Through Qigong.” This free movements and breathing. “Within this context, partic- the Berkshires / Connecting With workshop at Knesset Israel, 16 Jeffrey Gordon has served ipants will discuss, share, and Community Colt Road in Pittsfield is part the Berkshire community as offer support to one another.” Venue: Knesset Israel of the Federation’s Connecting an acupuncturist and Qigong With Community series. instructor since 2010. These discussions are Date & Time: Monday, April 3 at Jeffrey Gordon open to anyone interested in 10:45 a.m. Kosher lunch will not This interactive program sharing in this universal topic. be served following this pro- will include group practice of This is a monthly program gram, due to Passover prepara- Qigong for back and joint care. IF YOU GO “Very easy to follow and enjoy- that Maggie leads and the dis- tion. Sponsor: Jewish Federation of the Berkshires / Connecting With able to practice,” says Jeffrey, Community “this form of exercise is a won- derful way to improve balance, Venue: Knesset Israel circulation, lung capacity, and Date & Time: Thursday, March 30 at 10:45 a.m., followed by lunch Donate • Volunteer • Make a Difference bone strength.” The class will see page 23).

“NAACP is not an ‘ANACHRONISM!’” with Dennis Powell, May 15 On Monday, May 15 at program at Knesset Israel, 16 nization. The NAACP’s more shire branch of the NAACP 10:45 a.m., the Jewish Fed- Colt Road in Pittsfield is part than half-million members was established in 1918 and eration of the Berkshires of the Federation’s Connecting and supporters throughout functioned until the mid- welcomes Dennis Powell, With Community series. the United States and the 1920s. Reactivated in 1945, a president of the Berkshire This program was resched- world are the premier advo- local office was located at 467 County Unit of the NAACP. uled from February 13. cates for civil rights in their North Street, Pittsfield. During He’ll be presenting “NAACP is Founded on February communities, campaigning for that first year of reactivation, not an ‘ANACHRONISM!’”, an 12, 1909, the NAACP is the equal opportunity and con- members organized a peaceful exploration of this venerable nation’s oldest, largest, and ducting voter mobilization. march to support the AF&M institution’s history and work most widely recognized grass- Dennis Powell will share the order of Masons in Pittsfield in the present day. This free roots-based civil rights orga- story of its founders. and the Beulah Chapter of the He will Order of the Eastern Star. also recount Dennis Powell is a longtime Dennis Powell the organi- community activist, who has zation’s local been president of the local executive chef, culinary educa- history. The NAACP chapter since 2015. tor, and consultant to food ser- first Berk- He retired from a career as an vice and hospitality industry.

IF YOU GO Sponsor: Jewish Federation of the Berkshires / Connecting With Community Venue: Knesset Israel Date & Time: Monday, May 15 at 10:45 a.m., followed by lunch (see page 23). Nisan/Iyar 5777 Berkshire Jewish Voice • jewishberkshires.org Page 5 Your Federation Presents

BESA, continued from page 1 own life. Before World War II, the Balkan wars and genocide these documents told was 200 Jews resided in Albania; of the early 1990s. The story virtually unknown. by 1945, there were 2,000, also encompasses current po- “I couldn’t believe it,” says making Albania the only con- litical affairs, and the delicate DioGuardi, who sent the doc- tinental European nation with diplomacy that the state of uments to Yad Vashem, where more Jews in it after the war Israel must practice in Europe. they were authenticated. As a than before the outbreak of Three speakers will tell result of the efforts of the Alba- hostilities. This story, however, the story from the Albanian nian American Foundation that was suppressed for more than perspective: he founded, and the efforts of 50 years by the Stalinist dicta- Lekë Rezniqi, Secretary of leaders like Senator Lantos torship that ruled Albania after the Kosova-Israel Friendship and former Congressman Ben the war, and has come to light Association, and descendant of Gilman, Albania was added to thanks to Albanian American Arsllan Rezniqi, the first Koso- the “Righteous Among Nations” activists joined by members of var Albanian recognized by Yad section of the museum. the Jewish community. Vashem as a Righteous Gentile. “Jewish Survival in Albania Faton Bislimi, Senior Sharing the Story and Kosova” is made possible Fellow, Kosova Public Policy At around this time, by Ron and Karen Rettner, Center, and executive commit- DioGuardi crossed paths with who have been involved in tee member of the Albanian Ron Rettner Joseph DioGuardi Shirley Cloyes, a book publish- sharing this story since 2013. American Civic League’s board er who in 1995 published and Co-sponsors are the Jewish of directors. was created in 1918, and a that included the displacement edited a volume of reportage Federation of the Berkshires, Agim Alickaj, descendant monarchy established in 1925. and genocidal “ethnic cleans- titled Yugoslavia’s Ethnic Night- the Albanian American Civic of Arif Alickaj, the deputy sec- During World War II, ing” of Muslims and Croats in mare, and who was politicized League, the Albanian Ameri- retary of Decan, Kosova, during Albania was first occupied by Serbian lands, which included in the preceding years by the can Foundation, and Knesset the Nazi occupation. Italian forces and then, after Kosova (or Kosovo as it is more Yugoslav wars. They founded Israel. This story might have 1943, by the Nazis. Starting in commonly known to non-Alba- the Albanian American Civic Says Ron Rettner, a de- remained hidden if not for a the 1930s, however, Jews from nians). League in 1995. The group veloper, entrepreneur, and fateful encounter between the Balkans and elsewhere advocates on behalf the 3.5 philanthropist devoted to two American politicians and in Europe sought refuge in Rescue Revealed million residents of Albania higher education who has a Albania’s last communist Albania and Kosova. How they Here is where Joseph and the 3.5 million ethnic home in Lenox and is a mem- leader, who shared a trove of arrived there is a story that still DioGuardi and the rediscov- Albanians living in surround- ber of Knesset Israel: “I feel material about the rescue in an needs to be fully researched, ery of Albanians’ rescue of the ing countries of Southeast that this is an example of how effort to curry political favor in but it is known that many Jews become part of the story. Europe. an oppressed, occupied people the early 1990s. Telling arrived as a consequence of A two-term Republican con- At “Jewish Survival in stood up to vicious totalitarians that part of the story will be Arsllan Mustafa Rezniqi, a gressman (1984-1988) from Albania and Kosova,” Joseph at risk to their own lives. Most Joseph J. DioGuardi, a two- Muslim trader with wide- the 20th Congressional Dis- DioGuardi Shirley Cloyes of us sit idly by. This is a story term member of the US House ranging business connections trict (which encompasses New DioGuardi will tell the story of that should be told and retold of Representatives and presi- to Jews, whose story will be York’s Capitol District), the Albanian rescue, and also in our time.” dent and founder of the Alba- DioGuardi is the son touch on some of the inter- Rettner’s friend Jeffrey Cook nian American Civic League of an ethnic Albanian national politics still involved of Pittsfield’s Cohen Kinne and Albanian American Foun- father who immigrated in getting full recognition for Valicenti & Cook says that dation, and his wife Shirley to America in 1929 from those involved. (In 2008, the hosting this event is a coup Cloyes DioGuardi, Balkans Greci (near Naples), the Republic of Kosovo seceded and an honor for the Berk- Affairs Adviser for the Albanian oldest Albanian-speaking from Serbia, and is not univer- shires and its Jewish commu- American Civic League and ex- village in Italy. (Many sally accepted as an indepen- nity. It is one of the first times ecutive director of the Albanian Albanians migrated to dent nation. Diplomatically, the this story is being told to a American Foundation. Southern Italy in the State of Israel has had to tread general audience, and how it While the larger story in 15th century, following carefully.) Part of their efforts goes will have an impact on all of its complexity will be the Ottoman conquest involve creating greater recog- how the story is shared with shared at the program, the of their lands.) In 1986, nition of the story, and to that wider audiences. BJV spoke to the DioGuardis the congressman spon- end Joe DioGuardi in 2013 “Coming at a time of politi- about their involvement, and sored the first resolution enlisted the involvement of his cal turmoil when Jewish com- with Ron Rettner on how he that brought the issue old friend, Ron Rettner. munities around the country got involved. But to get to that of Albanian rights in the Rettner told the BJV that are dealing with a record num- departure point, a little history Balkans to the attention although Jewish, he was as ber of anti-Semitic incidents,” is necessary. of the US; in 1987, he much moved by the ongo- says Cook, “we could not be was responsible for the ing struggles experienced by doing a better thing than to A Proud People told at “Jewish Survival in first hearing about Kosova. Albanians – “a good people learn about the bravery and The Albanian people are Albania and Kosova” by his By 1989, DioGuardi was with a sad history. They were decency of the Albanian people descendants of the Illyrians, grandson, Lekë. out of office, but still prom- oppressed for 400 years, but during World War II. Not one a pre-Hellenic population that Once the occupation was inently involved in Albanian maintained their own laws Jew was lost in Albania. I hope resided in Southeast Europe underway, Jewish refugees and American relations. That and their own way of human everyone will attend, because and retained a distinctive iden- were hidden by their Albanian year, he says, he was invited interaction. Besa is an out- this will be an uplift for all of tity despite conflict, conquest, hosts, who in 1943 refused to to Albania, ostensibly to be growth of that. We hear much us on Yom HaShoah, and give and occupation stretching deliver a list of Jews living in honored by the Communist about the great Danish rescue us the inspiration to keep at back to ancient times. Stalwart Albania to the Germans. All the leadership of Ramiz Alia. “I of Jews, but the Albanians it.” in checking advances of the Jews in Albanian lands made was warned, however, that felt under obligation to protect The event is free and open Ottoman Empire in the 15th it through the war; in contrast, they didn’t want to honor me,” their guests, no matter what to the public. Candle lighting century, Albanians of that era only 10 percent of the 70,000 he remembers, “but that they the outcome. and prayers for those mur- codified their laws and customs Jews living in the surrounding wanted to use me.” Wary of “They moved them from dered in the Holocaust will in the Kanun, the document territory of Yugoslavia survived being used as a dupe for what- safe houses to peasant villages, follow the program. Attendees from which the moral ethic of the Holocaust. ever political purposes the anywhere they could to protect are invited to a special recep- besa is derived. Despite the Albania was liberated in Albanian government might them. They were such tough tion hosted by Ron and Karen tides of conflicts in which they 1944. In 1946, the Communist connive, DioGuardi enlist- mountain people, that the Rettner. There will be an exhi- were swept up over the cen- partisan fighter Enever Hoxha ed the help of a sitting US Nazis were afraid to chase after bition on the Kosova rescue, turies, the Albanian people – was elevated to head of state, official with present political their partisans in the hills. as well as a display of projects ethnically homogenous, but a position he held for nearly clout that could be brought to They were tough people who created by the students of religiously diverse – maintained 40 years. Hoxha, extreme even bear – his friend, Senator Tom were used to tough times.” Clarksburg Middle School on a harmonious society of Mus- by Stalinist standards, ruled Lantos, who had survived the Rettner and his wife Karen the theme of Righteous Gen- lims, Catholics, and Orthodox with an iron hand – think an Holocaust in Hungary. are sponsoring “Jewish Sur- tiles that has been sponsored Christians, and were guided by Eastern European version of When DioGuardi and vival in Albania and Kosova” to by the Jewish Women’s Foun- the principles set forth in the North Korea, but without the Lantos arrived in Albania in further awareness of this ex- dation of Berkshire County. Kanun, rather that religious showmanship. Access was 1990 – the first US officials to traordinary historical episode, The Berkshire Museum is doctrine. strictly controlled, as was all enter the country in 50 years and the lessons of courage and located at 39 South Street in Following the Balkan Wars information in or out of the – the dictator Alia hoped to religious tolerance that can be Pittsfield. of 1912-13 that preceded (and country, and Albania remained curry favor with the senator learned from it. in some ways precipitated) an enigma to the outside world by presenting him with an Featured Speakers World War I, the map of the for decades. Hoxha died in archive of material relating to “Jewish Survival in Alba- Balkans was redrawn by the 1985; his successor, Ramiz the Albanian rescue of Jews nia and Kosova” is a narrative Great Powers, and Albanian Alia, was the last communist during the war. Not only were that intersects with many of homelands were divided among leader of Albania. Following there official documents and the key historical events of the different Slavic countries, most the fall of the Soviet Union, the newspaper clippings in this 20th century – ethnic rivalries substantially the Kosova region Balkan wars of the early 1990s trove, but also letters from fostered by the post-WWI map annexed by Serbia. Through commenced as Yugoslavia survivors and their families of Europe, World War II, the US intervention after the war, broke apart along ethnic lines, addressed to their rescuers Holocaust, the Cold War, and however, the country of Albania leading to a decade of conflict – all undelivered. The story Page 6 Berkshire Jewish Voice • jewishberkshires.org March 28 to May 14, 2017 Your Federation Presents

“The Family Gene: The Story of a Pittsfield Senator Adam Hinds on Family’s Rare Disease and Fight for Life” May 8

On Thursday, May 11 at genetics where she believes On Monday, May 8 at 10:45 a.m., the Jewish Federa- there’s hope. 10:45 a.m., the Jewish Fed- tion of the Berkshires presents Joselin Linder is a regular eration of the Berkshires author Joselin Linder, who contributor to the New York welcomes Massachusetts will discuss her new book in Post, whose work has also state senator Adam G. Hinds a program titled, “The Family been featured on This Ameri- (D-Berkshire, Hampshire, Gene: The Story of a Pittsfield can Life, Morning Edition, and Franklin and Hampden dis- Family’s Rare Disease and Life of the Law. She spoke at trict), who was elected in 2016 Fight for Life.” This free pro- the TEDX Gowanus event in and took office in January gram at Knesset Israel, 16 Colt Brooklyn 2014, presenting for 2017. This free program at Road in Pittsfield is part of the the first time on the subject of Knesset Israel, 16 Colt Road in Federation’s Connecting With her family gene and the deadly Pittsfield is part of the Federa- Community series. illness to which it leads. She tion’s Connecting With Com- In Joselin Linder’s new lives in Brooklyn with her hus- munity series. book, The Family Gene (Harp- band and two dogs. Senator Hinds represents Senator Adam Hinds erCollins/Ecco), she tells the She shared her story in a the largest geographic territory story of the medical mystery New York Post cover story on in the Legislature, comprising issues at the heart of US of her father, Pittsfield native March 6. 52 western communities. He national interest in the Middle Joselin Linder William “Billy” Linder. Looking was raised in Buckland and East. He spent three-and-a- back through the family tree – attended Mohawk Trail Re- half years in Iraq, including to the 1930s and Pittsfield’s gional High School, where his as team leader of a UN-led first Orthodox rabbi – she dis- IF YOU GO mother was a librarian and his negotiation between the covers the answer in the form Vietnam Veteran father was a Kurdistan Region and Gov- Sponsor: Jewish Federation of the Berkshires / Connecting With of a wayward genetic variant. school teacher. He attended ernment of Iraq. He was based Community Today only 14 people have Wesleyan University and then in Jerusalem for two years as ever carried this gene exclu- Venue: Knesset Israel studied international law and chief regional advisor to the sive to her family, but Linder, Date & Time: Thursday, May 11 at 10:45 a.m., followed by lunch (see negotiation at the Fletcher UN Special Coordinator for the a carrier, is looking to medical page 23). School of Law and Diplomacy Middle East Peace Process. at Tufts University. He worked with Kofi Annan Senator Hinds is the found- to attempt to broker a cease- Film: When Comedy Went to School, April 13 ing director of the Pittsfield fire in Syria and was part of a Community Connection, a team that worked to eliminate On Thursday, April 13 at immigrants transformed lush program designed to proactive- Syria’s chemical weapons 10:45 a.m., the Jewish Feder- farmland into the 20th cen- ly engage at-risk youth before program. ation of the Berkshires screens tury’s largest resort complex. exposure to and engagement When Comedy Went to School, Those Catskill hotels and bun- in violence and crime, and also IF YOU GO which attempts to answer the galow colonies provided the the former executive director question: “Why are there so setting for a remarkable group of the Northern Berkshire Sponsor: Jewish Federation many Jewish comedians?” of young Jewish-American Community Coalition, based of the Berkshires / Connecting This free program at Knesset comedians who honed their in North Adams. Earlier in With Community Israel, 16 Colt Road in Pitts- craft and became worldwide his career, he was hired by Venue: Knesset Israel field is part of the Federation’s legends. the United Nations and spent Date & Time: Monday, May 8 at Connecting With Community The film will begin at nearly ten years working on 10:45 a.m., followed by lunch series. 10:45 a.m., with a break for (see page 23). When Comedy Went to lunch at noon, and then con- School is an entertaining por- tinue at 12:45 p.m. until its trait of this country’s greatest conclusion. It was written by generation of comics, which Lawrence Richards and direct- includes the likes of Jerry ed by Mevlut Akkaya and Ron Lewis, Sid Caesar, Jackie Frank. Mason, Mort Sahl, and Jerry Stiller, all of whom appear in the film, telling jokes and tell- IF YOU GO ing their stories. The answer Sponsor: Jewish Federation of the Berkshires / Connecting With to the “why so many Jewish Community comedians” question seems to be found in upstate New York’s Venue: Knesset Israel Catskill Mountains, aka the Date & Time: Thursday, April 13 at 10:45 a.m., followed by lunch Borscht Belt, where Jewish (see page 23). Film continues at 12:45, after lunch. Nisan/Iyar 5777 Berkshire Jewish Voice • jewishberkshires.org Page 7 Your Federation Presents

Homeland Security – A Small Town vs. the “The Animal and Divine German Bund in Pre-War Connecticut Souls in Jewish Thought,” On Thursday, April 6, the Jewish Federation tells the little-known of the Berkshires will screen Scott Sniffen’s story of how town May 4 documentary Home of the Brave: When South- patriots came to bury Said No to the Nazis, about how one small recognize the evil On Thursday, May 4 at Connecticut town in 1937 recognized hate and the group repre- 10:45 a.m., the Jewish Fed- evil and said no to the German Bund, pre-war sented in 1937 and eration of the Berkshires American supporters of Germany. This program quickly took action hosts writer, artist, scholar of will take place at Knesset Israel, 16 Colt Road against the camp. Hasidic thought, and spiritual in Pittsfield and is part of the Federation’s Con- leader of New Lebanon’s Abode of the Message Netanel Miles- necting With Community series. IF YOU GO Home of the Brave is set in the 1930s, when Yépez, who will talk about the German American Bund was building train- Sponsor: Jewish “The Animal and Divine Souls ing camps across the US. The Bund was tied Federation of in Jewish Thought.” This free with the Nazi party in Germany, and organized the Berkshires / program at Knesset Israel, 16 and aligned itself with Nazi beliefs and goals. Connecting With Colt Road in Pittsfield is part The camps were quietly being built in rural sec- Community of the Federation’s Connecting tions in the US with little resistance from the Venue: Knesset Israel With Community series. towns in which they were established. Date & Time: Thursday, April 6 at 10:45 a.m., In this talk, Netanel Miles- Yépez, a long-time student of In 1937, the Bund planned to build the followed by lunch (see page 23). Netanel Miles-Yépez largest camp in the US in Southbury. This film Rabbi Zalman Schachter- Shalomi, the founder of Jew- of spirituality and practice ish Renewal, will discuss the espoused by Rabbi Avraham concepts of righteousness and Maimuni in 13th-century “Straight Answers to Gay Questions,” wickedness in Jewish thought, Egypt with the teachings of especially as expressed in the the Ba’al Shem Tov and Hazrat April 27 Talmud and Hasidism. “Before Inayat Khan. we are born, according to a As a writer, Miles-Yépez On Thursday, April 27 tions are on their minds about Jewish teaching,” he explains, is known for his critically at 10:45 a.m., the Jewish LGBTQ people and their lives. “we are administered an acclaimed translation, My Love Federation of the Berkshires “You can’t offend me no matter oath by an angel in which we Stands Behind a Wall: A Trans- welcomes Ed Sedarbaum, what you ask,” Sedarbaum promise to ‘be righteous, and lation of the Song of Songs and who founded Rainbow Seniors says, “so just go for it.” be not wicked.’” Miles-Yépez Other Poems (2015), as well as in 2015 in order to foster a Ed Sedarbaum, 71, of Wil- will be posing some of the his commentaries on Hasidic community of LGBTQ seniors liamstown, moved to North- big question, such as: “How spirituality (written with Reb in the Berkshires. He’ll pres- ern Berkshire in 2003, after do we know when a person Zalman), A Heart Afire: Stories ent “Straight Answers to Gay a career in New York City as is righteous or wicked in this and Teachings of the Early Questions.” This free program a caseworker, editor/writer, life?” He will then look at how Hasidic Masters (2009) and at Knesset Israel,16 Colt Road and community organizer. He these ideas relate to the three A Hidden Light: Stories and in Pittsfield is part of the headed the New York State natures of the human being— Teachings of Early HaBaD and Federation’s Connecting With Hate Crimes Bill Coalition to animal, human, divine—dis- Bratzlav Hasidism (2011). Cur- Community series. fight for a hate crimes law, cussed in Jewish mystical rently, he is spiritual director Sedarbaum will trace the which Massachusetts already thought, and the attitude a at the Abode of the Message, social and emotional history had in place 20 years earlier. person needs to take to live a a Eco-Sufi village and retreat of LGBTQ people who were He also founded an LGBTQ holy life. center in New Lebanon, and born in the 1930s, 1940s, senior center in Queens, NY, Netanel Miles-Yépez is from adjunct faculty in the Depart- and 1950s, a time when, and worked for the Anti- a family of Crypto-Jews with ment of Religious Studies at he says, they never heard a Defamation League in New roots in Mexico. After studying Naropa University in Boulder. positive word about them- York City focusing on inter- Ed Sedarbaum history of religions and com- selves. “What they did hear group relations and public parative religion at Michigan IF YOU GO were horror stories that taught policy. State University, he moved to them to never disclose their Boulder, CO, to study with the Sponsor: Jewish Federation true natures,” asserts Sedar- innovative Hasidic master and of the Berkshires / Connecting baum. His talk will illuminate IF YOU GO leader in ecumenical dialogue, With Community the consequences for some Sponsor: Jewish Federation of the Berkshires / Connecting With Reb Zalman. In 2004, he Venue: Knesset Israel LGBTQ elders, including a fear Community and Reb Zalman co-founded Date & Time: Thursday, May 4 of going to authority figures for Venue: Knesset Israel the Sufi-Hasidic, Inayati- at 10:45 a.m., followed by lunch assistance. Sedarbaum hopes Maimuni Order, fusing the Date & Time: Thursday, April 27 at 10:45 a.m., followed by lunch (see page 23). the audience will feel free Sufi and Hasidic principles enough to ask whatever ques- (see page 23).

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 Andrew S. Levine Mark & Elisa Snowise Lee & Sydelle Blatt Lynn & William Foggle Toby H. Levine Harold Sparr, of blessed memory Betty Braun, of blessed memory Elaine Friedman Erna Lindner-Gilbert Lisa Fletcher-Udel Cipora Brown Eiran Gazit Amy Lindner-Lesser Edward Udel Barbara Cohen Jeffrey Goldwasser & Helen Maislen Michael & Joan Ury Mark Cohen Jonquil Wolfson Ellen Masters Mark & Judy Usow Mimi Cohen Jordan & Laura Green Stuart Masters Henry & Beate Voremberg, C. Jeffrey & Judith Cook Harold Grinspoon Estelle Miller of blessed memory Gerry & Lynn Denmark Ellen Heffan Robert Newman, Alexandra Warshaw Jonathan & Lara Denmark Ed Jaffe, of blessed memory of blessed memory Florence Wineberg, Sheila K. Donath Elihu Katzman Ken & Fran Rubenstein of blessed memory Anonymous (9) Melva Eidelberg Marilyn Katzman Stella Schecter Rabbi Deborah Zecher & Ed Abrahams Monroe England, in memory of Dara Kaufman Arlene D. Schiff Rabbi Dennis Ross Norman Avnet, of blessed Monroe B. & Isabel England Howard & Nancy Kaufman Gary Schiff memory Dr. Armand V. Feigenbaum, Lawrence Klein Stephen & Deborah Schreier Barbara Bashevkin of blessed memory Sarah Klein Martin Silver Robert Bashevkin Dr. Donald S. Feigenbaum, Arthur Kriger, of blessed Sylvia Silverberg, in memory of Linda J. L. Becker of blessed memory memory Jerome Silverberg Robert Berend Steven Feiner Fred & Brenda Landes Richard A. Simons & Marcie Shelley Berend Diana & Stanley Feld Beth Laster-Nathan Greenfield Simons Helene Berke Page 8 Berkshire Jewish Voice • jewishberkshires.org March 28 to May 14, 2017 Your Federation Presents Museums That Matter “Let’s Get Away From It All,” Museum Innovator Ruth Abram at Knosh & Knowledge, May 12 a Concert on May 1 GREAT BARRINGTON – On Doctors in America, 1835 – On Monday, May 1 Friday, May 12, Knosh & 1920. In 2014, she founded at 10:45 a.m., the Knowledge hosts Ruth Abram, BEHOLD! New Lebanon, the Jewish Federation of founder of New York City’s nation’s first living museum of the Berkshires will Tenement Museum and contemporary rural American host Jane Rosen, who BEHOLD! New Lebanon. In life. Harnessing the skills and will present a concert “Museums That Matter (And ingenuity of local people who of songs about travel- How They Grow),” Abram will serve as educators, the muse- ing – “Let’s Get Away explain how the Tenement um draws an intimate portrait From It All.” This free Museum set out to be a place of small town life and makes it program at Knesset of civic engagement, and how accessible to visitors. Israel, 16 Colt Road in and why that idea took hold. Abram’s writing has been Pittsfield is part of the This Jewish Federation of published by a wide range of Federation’s Connect- the Berkshires program will national publications. She is ing With Community take place at Hevreh of South- a sought-after speaker who series. ern Berkshire at 10:45 a.m., has made numerous media “Let’s Get Away and will be followed by lunch. appearances on programs From It All” is an hour “The day is long gone when including World News To- of song celebrating the a museum can ignore the night, The Today Show, and joys and challenges challenge of being relevant National Public Radio. She Ruth Abram of traveling. The show Jane Rosen to the lives of people in its has consulted on historic explores the many immediate community and its interpretation for muse- reasons why people visitors,” says Abram. ums throughout the world. In IF YOU GO travel, moving toward what Shepherd as accompanist. Abram founded the Lower 2016, Abram was awarded the Sponsor: Jewish Federation of they seek or running away Last year, with Bob’s guidance, East Side Tenement Muse- JMKaplan Innovation Prize the Berkshires from something. You’ll hear Jane began accompanying um (www.tenement.org), the and was honored by the New jazz standards, blues, pop, herself for performances. Venue: Hevreh of Southern International Coalition of Sites York Academy of Historians for even a couple of country Jane lives in Pittsfield with Berkshire, 270 State Road, Great of Conscience (www.sitesof- her outstanding contribution songs. her husband, Alex. Barrington conscience.org), the National to New York history. Jane Rosen retired in 2001 Date: Friday, May 12 at 10:45 Women’s Agenda and Coali- She has been married to after 36 years as an elementa- IF YOU GO tion, the Institute on Women’s attorney Herbert Teitelbaum a.m. (lunch follows at noon) ry school teacher and admin- History, and the traveling since 1967. Advance lunch reservations istrator. She created a second Sponsor: Jewish Federation exhibition and book Send required for this event. career of fitness instruction, of the Berkshires / Connecting With Community Us a Lady Physician: Women Email jfb.officemanager@veri- including yoga, Nia, Qi Gong, zon.net, or call (413) 442-4360, meditation, and Ageless Grace. Venue: Knesset Israel ext. 10 A lifelong classically trained Date & Time: Monday, May 1 at Donate Cost: $11 with fresh buffet pianist, Jane started singing 10:45 a.m., followed by lunch lunch. Program only, $5. cabaret five years ago, work- (see page 23). Volunteer ing with local jazz pianist Bob Make a Difference Nisan/Iyar 5777 Berkshire Jewish Voice • jewishberkshires.org Page 9 Your Federation Presents Silver Wellness and Nutri- Keeping It Local tion for Seniors on April 20 Berkshire Eagle Publisher at Knosh & Knowledge, April 28

On Thursday, April 20 at GREAT BARRINGTON – On Born and raised in Phila- 10:45 a.m., the Jewish Fed- Friday, April 28, Knosh & delphia, Judge Rutberg moved eration of the Berkshires wel- Knowledge hosts Fredric D. to the Berkshires in 1972 to comes Thea Basis, a certified Rutberg, longtime Berkshire practice law privately, and also senior fitness specialist who County judge and, since May briefly for the Legal Aid Society will present the next install- 2016, president of The Berk- in Troy, NY. He was appoint- ment of “Silver Wellness and shire Eagle. In “Keeping It ed as Associate Justice of the Nutrition for Seniors.” This Local,” Judge Rutberg will talk Southern Berkshire District is a drop-in series with no about restoring the paper to Court in 1994 and named Pre- prior registration necessary. local ownership, and the pit- siding Justice of the Pittsfield This free program at Knesset falls encountered and lessons District Court in 2007, as well Israel, 16 Colt Road in Pitts- learned along the way. as Presiding Justice of South- field is part of the Federation’s This Jewish Federation of ern Berkshire District Court in Connecting With Community the Berkshires program will 2013. After holding these and series. take place at Hevreh of South- other high-profile judicial and Thea Basis Thea Basis will lead attend- ern Berkshire at 10:45 a.m., civic posts, he retired from the ees in the discussion “Manag- and will be followed by lunch. bench in 2015. ing Stress and Your Health.” tis, fragility, balance and gait Judge Rutberg will discuss On May 2, 2016, along How does stress affect your issues, respiratory disease, the genesis of the project that with 3 other investors (Hans health and cognitive func- diabetes, and lack of motiva- led to the purchase of The Morris, Bob Wilmers, and Judge Fredric Rutberg tioning? How does food affect tion. She is also an orthopedic Berkshire Eagle from absen- the late Stanford Lipsey), stress? What can you do to exercise specialist serving tee ownership, and share the he purchased New England The Bennington Banner, The manage your stress success- groups and individuals in pro- hopes he has for the project. Newspapers, Inc., which Brattleboro Reformer and the fully? Thea will discuss these moting healthy, independent “I will also discuss what we publishes The Berkshire Eagle Manchester Journal. questions, and offer a few easy lifestyles, while addressing the have done in the year since and Vermont newspapers steps to address better stress unique challenges of aging. the purchase to put The Eagle management. This program on the path to become the fin- IF YOU GO will include brief exercises IF YOU GO est community newspaper in proven to reduce short term America,” he says. “I will also Sponsor: Jewish Federation of the Berkshires Sponsor: Jewish Federation and chronic stress. address the challenges we face Venue: Hevreh of Southern Berkshire, 270 State Road, Great Bar- of the Berkshires / Connecting Thea Basis earned an and the next set of changes rington With Community ACE Group Fitness Instruc- our readership will encounter.” Date: Friday, April 28 at 10:45 a.m. (lunch follows at noon) tor Certification in 1988. She Venue: Knesset Israel Join Judge Rutberg for a Advance lunch reservations required for this event. specializes in the conditions Date & Time: Thursday, April 20 fascinating insider’s look at that make exercising more at 10:45 a.m., followed by lunch the business of local media Email [email protected], or call (413) 442-4360, ext. 10 challenging, including arthri- (see page 23). and how the news gets covered Cost: $11 with fresh buffet lunch. Program only, $5. in the Berkshires.

For further information on all Jewish Federation of the Berkshires programs, please call Nancy Maurice Rogers, Federation’s “Joe’s Project” Program Director, at (413) 442-4360, ext. 15. Spreads Purim Cheer

Join over 1,000 of the smartest, most engaged & active people over 50 in the Berkshires.

Floyd Tuler, Shiffra Perlmutter, and Rhoda Kamenstein, Federation volunteer Jessie Berrick coordinator Susan Frisch Lehrer, and Martin Perlmutter

Thank you to the more than 65 volunteers who baked 1,100 hamentashen, packed them into specially-decorated Purim bags, and delivered t them to 350 members of our senior community who are in nursing homes, assisted liv- ing, and hospitals, or who are Summer semester begins April 12 homebound or ill at home. A special thank you to the with classes in Williamstown, Pittsfield, Lenox, Stockbridge & Great Barrington many students from our local religious schools who helped decorate the holiday bags. Working together through Partners in Education with Williams “Joe’s Project,” we bring College • Bard College at Simon’s Rock, holiday cheer to our senior Mass. College of Liberal Arts (MCLA) residents and let them know they are cherished members of our community. VIEW OUR COURSE CATALOG ONLINE AT BERKSHIREOLLI.ORG OR REQUEST ONE: [email protected] OR 413-236-2190 Page 10 Berkshire Jewish Voice • jewishberkshires.org March 28 to May 14, 2017 Your Federation Presents ‘Mostly’ Smiles at Grover’s Gang Purim “The Butcher’s Daughter: Concert Echoes of the Shoah,” April 24 On Monday, April 24 at 10:45 a.m., the Jewish Federation of the Berkshires welcomes Florence Grende, the longtime Berkshires resi- dent whose 2016 memoir The Butcher’s Daughter recounts her experience growing up, and growing older, as the child of Holocaust survivors. This free program at Knesset Israel, 16 Colt Road in Pitts- field is part of the Federation’s Connecting With Community series. A gripping, at times haunt- ing, family history by the daughter of Holocaust sur- Florence Grende vivors, The Butcher’s Daugh- ter is an account about the in American Occupied Ger- devastation of war and the many to Holocaust survivor marks left on the succeeding parents and grew up in the generation. Grende navigates Bronx. As a young woman, she a past full of silence to un- earned a master of social work tangle her parents’ survival degree, and later, at age sixty, stories, and her own coming of a master of fine arts in creative age in New York in a story that writing. She hardly considers is by turns funny, sad, violent, herself a late bloomer having and revelatory. Join her for a pursued careers first as a reading from the memoir and therapist, then an AT&T union an opportunity for questions worker and a mixed-media and answers. artist. Her stories and poems An article about The have appeared in many literary Butcher’s Daughter and an journals. excerpt from the book were featured on the cover of the IF YOU GO January/February Berkshire Sponsor: Jewish Federation Jewish Voice. Florence will of the Berkshires / Connecting The March 8 Purim concert at Knesset Israel sponsored by Greylock Federal Credit appear with Joe Donohue on With Community Union, the Federation, and its PJ Library program was a rousing success! WAMC’s Roundtable program on April 18 to talk about the Venue: Knesset Israel book. Date & Time: Monday, April 24 Florence Grende was born at 10:45 a.m., followed by lunch (see page 23). Passover Menu Available “Writing Historical Fiction,” on May 18

On Thursday, May 18 at 10:45 a.m., the Jewish Federation of the Berkshires welcomes David C. King and Sharon Flitterman-King, who will talk about writing their young adult historical novels. This free program at Knesset Israel, 16 Colt Road We will offer traditional food in in Pittsfield is part of the Federation’s Connecting With honor of the celebration Community series. of Pesach 5777 David C. King’s book, The Incredible Voyage of the Columbia, is based on the discovery of the Columbia River in the late 1790s. Nar- rated by a 16-year-old ship’s fifth mate, and based on an David C. King and Sharon Flitterman-King actual diary discovered by David, this novel combines fact and about a Jewish child hidden by Polish imagination to weave a compelling Christians during World War II. She tale. He is the author of more than 80 researched many personal narratives books, mostly non-fiction, in Ameri- and historical documents and will talk can history, biography, and culture about the triumphs and challenges of studies. His First People: An Illustrat- making a story that lives and breathes ed History of American Indians (DK out of the facts of the Shoah. Publishing, 2008-2009) has won four The authors live in the Berkshires. national awards and is sold as both an adult and young adult title. The IF YOU GO Incredible Voyage of the Columbia is Sponsor: Jewish Federation of the Berk- his first novel. shires / Connecting With Community Sharon Flitterman-King was a Venue: Knesset Israel founding faculty member of the Bard Institute for Writing and Thinking. Her Date & Time: Thursday, May 18 at 10:45 young adult novel, A Secret Star, is a.m., followed by lunch (see page 23). Nisan/Iyar 5777 Berkshire Jewish Voice • jewishberkshires.org Page 11 LOCAL NEWS

IMMIGRATION, continued from page 1 until those serving in Congress Robbins is also aware of er at the Times for 17 years. start recognizing that the pro- the Berkshires’ long history of Prior to joining the Metro community leaders, activists, actions might have on federal testing might have a negative welcoming immigrants, and of section of the Times, she was crime victims, and members funding they might be receiv- effect on their continuing to the recent proposal (and atten- a sportswriter who covered of law enforcement. As such, ing. serve in Congress. dant controversies) to resettle tennis, the Olympics, and the she has a comprehensive and Robbins also spoke about Robbins also stresses that 51 Syrians in the region. Her N.B.A. She is also the author nuanced view of this volatile, the ripple effect that has it is important to recognize Berkshires connection dates of the critically acclaimed book complex issue. caused other kinds of un- that a large number of Amer- back to the early 1980s, when about the New York City Mar- In an interview with the certainty both in the US and icans wholeheartedly support she started visiting with her athon, A Race Like No Other: BJV in early March, Robbins abroad. Within communities the changes taking place, and parents, Wendy and Larry 26.2 Miles Through the Streets explained that though the where gang activity engaged have their reasons for doing Robbins, who later retired of New York, published by attitudes toward immigration in by illegal immigrants is a so. “Immigration is not a bina- here. Her mother still lives Harper Collins in 2008. voiced by the Obama and devastating problem – she ry issue” of good immigrants in Pittsfield, and her father, Robbins has also worked Trump administrations are cited her own recent reporting versus bad immigrants, she a professor at University of for the Washington Post, the starkly different, the laws and about brutal murders alleged- says. As a reporter, she says Pennsylvania who was an St. Petersburg Times, and statutes on the books are still ly committed by the MS-13 she talks not only to immi- active member of the local arts the Cleveland Plain Dealer. A the same. Since taking office, Salvadoran gang that operates grants, but to the mothers of community, passed in 2013. graduate of Cornell Univer- the Trump administration in Long Island’s Suffolk Coun- children who have been mur- One year later, Robbins wed sity with a degree in history, has been “changing enforce- ty – law abiding residents are dered by illegal immigrants, her husband, Associated Press Robbins wrote her thesis on ment priorities,” she says. increasingly reluctant to share as well as to protesters, social editor Ricardo Boris Reif, in a Jewish intellectual life in the While President Obama was information with authorities, services providers, and police ceremony at Hevreh of South- Italian Renaissance. She lives once deemed to be “Deporter threatening public safety. officers who all have their own ern Berkshire. in Manhattan. in Chief” because of the high Worldwide, families awaiting pointed views of the problem. Robbins has been a report- number of illegal immigrants entry to the US are kept in repatriated, she says his ad- limbo, aid workers abroad are ministration prioritized going unsure of how allocate re- after criminals with outstand- sources effectively, and other Temple Anshe Amunim Passover Events ing orders of deportation. nations are, in light of recent PITTSFIELD – Temple Anshe will include chicken soup with of Shir Ha-Shirim (The Song of “President Trump,” she says, US actions and rhetoric, Amunim will hold its annual matzo balls, gefilte fish, beef Songs), one of the most evoca- “has widened the priorities questioning their own commit- second night Passover Seder brisket, roast turkey, carrot tive and romantic texts in the to anyone who has illegally ments and sense of obligation led by Rabbi Josh Breindel on tzimmes, plus assorted des- Jewish tradition. A joyous (and crossed the border.” toward displaced persons. Tuesday, April 11 beginning at serts. A vegetarian option will streamlined) festival service This wider scope has, at Opposition to the new 5:30 p.m. be offered. Reservations are will follow. times, emboldened and con- executive orders is taking All are invited to join TAA required. founded law enforcement – an place in the three arenas – the as participants recount the Passover Seder reservations Yizkor Study and example Robbins cites is how legislature, the courts, and Exodus in story and song, may be made through April 7. Concluding Festival Service law enforcement might choose among the general public. with many opportunities for For more information call On Monday, April 17 at to act while serving an out- When asked which category of families to participate. During (413) 442-5910 or send 9:30 a.m., Rabbi Breindel will standing criminal warrant to pushback is likely to be most the Seder, children will be in- an email to: templeoffice@ read a Torah Plus-style explo- someone within a household effective, Robbins responded: vited to hunt for the afikomen, ansheamunim.org. TAA is ration of the texts and rituals that may contain undocu- “Activism only goes so far. an exciting treasure hunt for located at 26 Broad Street in of the Yizkor memorial service, mented aliens who have not Congress only goes so far. The hidden matzo, and to win Pittsfield. examining Eil Malei (our great been accused of a crime. In changes are happening in the prizes. memorial prayer), Kaddish Pesach Study and Festival terms of enforcing immigra- judiciary – the courts are chal- Following the service, par- Yatom (Mourner’s Kaddish), tion laws on the books, some lenging this presidency.” She ticipants are invited to share Service and some contemporary police forces are not sure to adds that while protests are the traditional Seder meal, On Saturday, April 15 at poems. A meditative (and what standards they might be spreading, they are not likely prepared by Temple members 9:30 a.m., Rabbi Breindel will streamlined) service of celebra- held to, and what impact their to produce a legislative impact and Edie Mulligan. The meal lead a Torah Plus-style reading tion and memory will follow.

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Not NCUA Insured Not Credit Union Guaranteed May Lose Value Page 12 Berkshire Jewish Voice • jewishberkshires.org March 28 to May 14, 2017 LOCAL NEWS Author Karen Chase on FDR and Polio, Film Series: Strange Fruit April 29 and Jews and Baseball

GREAT BARRINGTON – Western Massachusetts. GREAT On Saturday, April 29, Writes Chase about her BARRINGTON – Congregation Ahavath Sholom book: “During the Roaring Congregation hosts award-winning author Twenties, a politically am- Ahavath Sholom Karen Chase, who will speak bitious young man who had will screen two about her writing and her new been crippled by polio bought Jewish-themed book FDR On His Houseboat. a houseboat so he could cruise films this spring, The talk will begin at 10:30 the warm waters of the Flor- one about a Jewish a.m., following a brief Shabbat ida Keys and try to cure his songwriter’s civil service starting at 10 a.m. damaged legs. When Franklin rights activism Karen Chase is the author Delano Roosevelt was stricken through his art, of two collections of poems, with the disease in 1921, he and the other Kazimierz Square and BEAR, withdrew from public life. He about the Tribe’s as well as Jamali-Kamali, spent three winters aboard passion for Amer- a book-length homoerotic his houseboat, from 1924 to ica’s national poem which takes place in 1926. While on the boat, he pastime. Mughal India. Her award-win- kept a log in longhand in a On Sunday, ning book, Land of Stone, tells three-ring binder, writing in it April 30 at 5 p.m., the story of her work with a almost every day. Sometimes Karen Chase CAS presents silent young man in a psychi- he used black ink, sometimes Strange Fruit, a atric hospital where she was turquoise, pages full of play- www.karenchase.com documentary about the hospital poet. Her memoir, fulness.” Congregation Ahavath the history of the Polio Boulevard, came out in All are welcome. Admission Sholom is located at 15 North anti-lynching song Hall of Famer Sandy Koufax 2014, followed in 2016 by FDR is free and refreshments will Street, Great Barrington. Web: made famous by On His Houseboat: The Larooco be served. For more infor- www.ahavathsholom.com. Billie Holiday. Most On Sunday, May 7 at Log, 1924-1926. She lives in mation on Karen Chase visit: Phone: (413) 528-4197 people assume that the song 5 p.m., enjoy Jews and “Strange Fruit” was written Baseball: An American Love by Billie Holiday herself – but Story, a film written by Pulitzer it was originally conceived as Prize winner Ira Berkow and B’Shalom Chorale Plans Fourth Season a poem by Abel Meeropol, a narrated by Dustin Hoffman, GREAT BARRNINGTON – Jewish schoolteacher from who explained his interest Rejoice and come sing with the Bronx. Meeropol wrote in the project: “Oh, this is the B’Shalom Chorale, which the painful lyrics and brood- about bigotry and overcoming is preparing for its fourth ing melody in reaction to a anti-Semitism, about discrim- musical season at Hevreh of photograph of a lynching. The ination and these issues that I Southern Berkshire. Singers song was first performed at a grew up with: that really mat- will have the opportunity to meeting of his New York teach- ters to me.” The movie focuses work with noted conductor ers’ union. When Billie Holiday on key Jewish ballplayers in and singer Jack Brown, with began performing “Strange each decade since baseball all-around musician and ac- Fruit” and later recorded it, started in the 1860s, along companist Joe Rose, and with the song reached Number the way touching on Jewish Cantor Emily Sleeper Mekler, 16 on popular music charts immigration and assimilation longtime cantor of Sinai Tem- shortly after it was released – into American society, bigotry ple in Springfield, MA. despite or because many radio against Jews, and the break- The B’Shalom Chorale stations labeled it “subver- ing of Jewish stereotypes. The is Berkshire County’s only sive.” The film includes footage film includes rare archival choral group that offers a full of Holiday herself performing footage and interviews includ- program of Jewish music. Its The 2016 B’Shalom Chorale this haunting, bitter song. ing a session with the notori- mission is to preserve the trea- In a strange twist of history, ously reclusive Sandy Koufax. sures of music in the Jewish day evening, August 16 at non-profit organization in Abel Meeropol and his wife All are welcome. Admission tradition, from various eras Hevreh. Men and women of 2016. adopted the two young sons is free and a general discus- and genres, through public all faiths are invited to join. If you would like to join to of Julius and Ethel Rosenberg sion will follow each film. performance. The chorale con- The only requirement is a nice sing or to offer financial sup- after the pair was executed. For more information go to tinues to grow and is seeking singing voice (if possible with port, please email founder and And with a further twist of the the Ahavath Sholom website more singers for this fourth some choral experience) and a coordinator Cantor Mekler at strands of history, Meeropol at www.ahavathsholom.com or season. willingness to learn music in [email protected] or met the Rosenberg children at email [email protected]. Weekly rehearsals begin 2-4 part harmonies. The abili- call (413) 418-1836. a holiday party in the home of CAS is located at 15 North Wednesday evening, June 7 at ty to read music is helpful, but W.E.B. Dubois. Street in Great Barrington. 7:30 p.m., and will continue not mandatory. through the concert, Wednes- The Chorale became a

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Thank you to our supporters! The Berkshire Jewish Voice extends a very special “thank you” for the generosity extended thus far by 6 households who have sent in their contributions for voluntary subscriptions to the paper in 2017. Connee and Dick Bandes Phyllis Ginsberg Arlene and Harry Jaroslaw

SEED WHAT YOU READ! BECOME A SUBSCRIBER TODAY! Yes, I support the Berkshire Jewish Voice! Please accept my voluntary tax-de- ductible subscription contribution. _____ $360 Mensch & Honorary Publisher (Supports color printing in one edition of the Voice) _____ $180 Sponsor Mail check payable to: _____ $72 Patron Jewish Federation of the Berkshires _____ $36 Friend conscious 196 South Street, Pittsfield, MA 01201 _____ $18 Supporter­­­­ (Please add Berkshire Jewish Voice in the memo) consumption Name to be listed: ______320 Main Street • Williamstown, Mass. p I wish to remain anonymous like us on Facebook Local & Organic Foods Nisan/Iyar 5777 Berkshire Jewish Voice • jewishberkshires.org Page 13 Page 14 Berkshire Jewish Voice • jewishberkshires.org March 28 to May 14, 2017 Your Federation Presents

ter Ali was still a few months the big picture, she realized aware of how the Federation SUPER SUNDAY, continued from page 1 away from arriving, and Jen that “Federation provides ‘one- supported opportunities for how they want to make a dif- concern about how the current was wondering where to meet stop shopping’ for community respectful public discourse ference this year. The concert political climate has fanned Jewish peers. She connect- members to engage with and in the community, as well as is co-sponsored by the Federa- the flames of anti-Semitism ed with some young Jewish support whatever they care funding programs that help tion’s PJ Library program. and created other challenges families at “Bagels & Babies,” about most in the local and young people effectively com- “The Annual Campaign for Jews in Israel and around which at the time took place at broader Jewish world.” bat hate locally and on college is the life blood of this Jew- the world. Federation’s old JCC building. Jen has served on the Fed- campuses. ish community,” says Dara “In 2017, we’ve seen more She attended other events and eration’s board, as co-chair of “The uptick in intolerance Kaufman, executive director of intolerance,” says Scott. “For also made sure to attend the the youth campaign in 2011- and anti-Semitism punctuates the Jewish Federation of the us, that raises a red flag to get Federation annual meeting 12, as treasurer, and now as the importance of supporting Berkshires. “It is our Super involved and do something. “in search of other Jews,” she vice president on the executive Jewish values, identity, and Sunday volunteers who ‘make We choose Federation because remembers. board. She cites her atten- community,” says Scott. “Even the call’ and the hundreds whether there is a dance at the 2016 if those kinds of things are of community members who problem out in the JFNA General As- not happening here, they are ‘answer the call’ that keep world or down the The question we all ask ourselves sembly as a trans- still our business. However, this small Jewish community block, there is an in- is, ‘What can I do?’ With Feder- formative experience those kinds of things are now ticking and enable us to reach frastructure in place where she learned happening right in our own out and help those in need that can, on a dime, ation, you don’t have to reinvent more about the back yard and Federation is around the world. We are so express our Jewish breadth of Federa- responding. grateful that Jen Sacon and values.” the wheel, because across the tion’s work on behalf “While the Federation sup- Scott Hochfelder have taken Says Jen: “I was Berkshires and throughout the of Jews around the ports the Jewish community, on the meaningful and vital very moved by Rabbi world. it also supports tolerance and role of chairing Super Sunday Jonathan Sacks world, Federation is already doing “Part of it was freedom in the community this year.” at the last General all kinds of great things. being able to put at large,” he adds. “I believe Because of you, we are Assembly (of Jew- names and faces on that ‘Jewish values’ are really there. ish Federations — Jen Sacon, the people who de- universal values: compassion, of North America pend on the money respect, truth, justice, and Meet our Super Sunday [JFNA]), particularly Super Sunday Co-Chair we raise and to see fundamental freedom.” Co-Chairs the part about how how we changed He says that locally the their lives for the Federation makes the Jewish Scott Hochfelder and Jenni- Jews ‘never waste a The couple quickly formed better,” Jen says. “I became community feel safer, “and fer Sacon, who together with crisis’ and ‘never stand still.’ friendships within the Jew- more aware that we are part now that’s more important their three children, Noah He urged each individual to ish community, and in 2008 of a larger community, even than ever. It made me get more (17), Ali (15), and Ely (12), take this opportunity to lead Judy Usow (now the president though we might seem to be involved in Federation right have long been enthusiastic the world to a better place. of the Jewish Federation of remote in our small commu- now.” participants in this Jewish The question we all ask our- the Berkshires) invited Jen nity.” For Scott and Jen, a big community. From their active selves is, ‘What can I do?’ With to join the Federation’s board When she returned from part of their involvement re- involvement at Knesset Israel Federation, you don’t have to of directors. “It was there I the event – held just a week volves around their children, to taking on leadership roles reinvent the wheel, because first heard of the concept of a after the presidential elec- specifically the way Federation at the Federation, this family across the Berkshires and ‘functional federation,” says tion – she shared with Scott supports their Jewish educa- of five has always felt it was throughout the world, Federa- Jen. She learned about the online videos taken at the GA tion and camp experiences, important to give back. tion is already doing all kinds unique challenges of the Berk- showing Federation dollars and the positive and inclusive Stepping up as Super Sun- of great things.” shire Jewish community and at work. In the weeks and reinforcement of Jewish identi- day co-chairs is not only an Scott and Jen’s Jewish how the Federation provided a months that followed, Scott ty throughout the Berkshires, outgrowth of the couple’s on- journey in the Berkshires be- safety net of social services for became increasingly disturbed as well. going commitment to Jewish gan in 2001, when the couple relocated here from Chicago. the most vulnerable members by the angry rhetoric in the life in the Berkshires, but is SUPER SUNDAY, continued on Son Noah was two, daugh- of our community. Taking in public sphere, and also more also a product of their shared page 16 Nisan/Iyar 5777 Berkshire Jewish Voice • jewishberkshires.org Page 15

Our Community’s 2017 Campaign Goal is $790,000

See How Your Gift to the 2017 Annual Campaign Will Help Jews Across the Berkshires, in Israel, and Around the World

Jewish Life for Food Security, Health Care, Young Families and Winter Relief You can help young families in the Winters are long and cold in the Ukraine, Berkshires embrace Jewish values and but you can help the most vulnerable traditions while building a supportive prepare with warm clothes, blankets, and community with Jewish peers through heaters. You can also bring food cards, programs like PJ Library and Federation home health aides, and medicine to those Family Days. who need it most.

Dignity & Compassion You can provide older adults and homebound individuals with nutritious Jewish Education & Values meals and stimulating programming You can nurture a Jewish future for served up with a side of companionship hundreds of local children by providing a and compassion through our Connecting high-quality, meaningful Jewish education With Community kosher hot meal program through critical grants to all of our local and Kosher Meals on Wheels. Jewish supplemental schools.

A Sense of Community A Strong Jewish Identity You can help strengthen, sustain, and You can help young people across the connect our community through hundreds Berkshires and in the former Soviet Union of educational programs, holiday build strong Jewish identities and become celebrations, and the Berkshire Jewish future leaders through scholarships for Voice, which bring people together and Jewish overnight camp and Israel engage them in meaningful Jewish life. experiences.

Emotional Support Resources to Fight You can help individuals across the Anti-Semitism Berkshires who are facing unexpected You can help combat anti-Semitism and crises, challenges, and life transitions fight the Boycott, Divestment, and receive the support they need through the Sanctions (BDS) movement through Federation's social worker. You’ll also community and youth programming, as provide community members with a safety well as national advocacy and security net of emergency assistance when needed. resources.

Caring in Times of Crisis A Place to Call Home We join with Jewish communities across You can help tens of thousands of new North America to rapidly mobilize local immigrants, who are fleeing anti-Semitism resources to help in times of crisis. From in Europe and fighting in the Ukraine, the recent attacks in Israel to relief efforts build new lives for themselves and their in Nepal, you help deliver an SOS response families in Israel. wherever and whenever it is needed.

A Close & Caring Advocacy & Community Relationship with Israel Relations You can help provide programs for at-risk students, shelter for abused women, support You can help provide a proactive voice in services for disabled youth, and job training for our public schools, media, and government, new Israeli citizens. You’ll also help connect addressing anti-Semitism, religion, Israel, our community to Israel and help Israel the Middle East, justice legislation, and connect with the Global Jewish community. other issues important to our community. When Our Community Needs Us, We Are There.

Please Answer the Call & Pledge Your Support to the 2017 Annual Campaign! Page 16 Berkshire Jewish Voice • jewishberkshires.org March 28 to May 14, 2017 Your Federation Presents

Also on Super Sunday – Family Concert with Joanie Leeds GREAT BARRINGTON – There is co-sponsored by the Jewish the lead singer of Joanie Leeds is plenty of fun in store for Federation of the Berkshires & the Nightlights, heads up the whole family on Super and its PJ Library program, the rockin’, nationally touring Sunday, when Joanie Leeds and starts at 10 a.m. on May kids’ band from Brooklyn spe- brings her high-energy kids’ 21. cializing in interactive Jewish music to Hevreh of Southern Multi-award winning sing- and secular music for kids. Berkshire. The free concert er/songwriter Joanie Leeds, Her original music has won first place in the USA Song- writing Competition, as well as an Independent Music Award, Parents’ Choice Gold Award, NAPPA Gold Award, and Fami- ly Choice Award. She has played at such prestigious venues as The Kennedy Center, Lincoln Center, The Smithsonian, the Hang Out Festival, SiriusXM Satellite Studios, and many others throughout the US, both with her band and as a solo artist. Joanie’s music has won raves from People, Par- ents, the New York Times, and the Washington Post, and her tunes have climbed the charts to #1 on SiriusXM’s Kids Place LAINEZ PHOTO: SHERVIN Live and Joanie Leeds and Dan Barkan WXPN’s Kids performs at summer camps, families nationwide. Corner. temples, and JCCs all over the At Hevreh, Joanie will In the country. Joanie is a PJ Library perform with her husband, Jewish artist and her music has been drummer Dan Barkan. world, Joanie distributed to thousands of

SUPER SUNDAY, continued from page 14 For their daughter Ali, Federa- the memory of her father, who passed tion’s support of her Jewish education in 2016. “He had an incredible Jewish through Hebrew school and camp has soul and he lived his life demonstrat- deeply impacted her commitment. ing the individual’s power to change “Hebrew school has remained a crucial the world, one life at a time.” Through part of my week even after my bat Federation, she says, she is building mitzvah,” she shares. “I love the ability on the legacy he left for her. to spread Jewish spirit, and connect “When I first volunteered for the with both the older and younger gener- Federation,” Jen adds, “I was a bit ations by volunteering in Junior Con- intimidated. I was concerned I might gregation at KI. Camp also provides not know enough about Jewish issues, me with a much needed flow of Jewish or the Middle East situation to get love and unification of who I am.” involved in an organization like this.” Jen cites as another transforma- That shouldn’t stop anyone from step- tional event her older children’s visit to ping up, she says, “because Federation the Museum of Jewish Heritage in New is so multi-dimensional, you will find York, sponsored by the Jewish Wom- your way to engage with the worthy en’s Foundation of Berkshire County causes you care about most.” and coordinated through the Federa- So as Super Sunday approaches, tion. There, they toured the exhibits Scott stresses that the need to engage and met Holocaust survivors, and is as pressing now as it ever has been: learned more about the not-so-ancient “Today is different. There has been history of the Jewish people. But as a call to action. To stand up. To be much as her involvement with Feder- involved. To be counted. Every wave ation is connected to her children, she begins with a ripple.” says that it also is a way of honoring Nisan/Iyar 5777 Berkshire Jewish Voice • jewishberkshires.org Page 17 LOCAL NEWS CAS Showcases Two Local Artists GREAT BARRINGTON – From April 1 through May 31, Congregation Ahavath Sholom hosts an exhibition of artwork created by Lee Rogers and Nancy Maurice Rogers. Lee has been active as a photographer for 45 years. In 2012, he received an Artist Grant from the Martha Boschen Porter Fund, which is directed by the Berkshire Taconic Community Foun- dation, in recognition of his project, “Black and White Landscape Photography Proj- ect.” Lee’s work consists of prints that are a combination of photograph and photogram, both of which he creates in the darkroom. The prints are unique and moody represen- tations of the natural world, Cedar Ridge, Grand Canyon #4 by Lee Rogers Spiral by Nancy Maurice Rogers incorporating his respect and affection for that world. Nancy – who is our Federa- objects. She also writes poetry exploration of environmental after religious services at CAS, the Ahavath Sholom website tion’s program director – cre- to accompany some of the themes. and by appointment. at www.ahavathsholom.com or ates handmade paper that she pieces, as she finds the written All are welcome. Admission For more information, go to email [email protected]. uses as a base to manipulate word and visual art an ac- is free, and access to the show and build upon, using found cessible vehicle to further her is available during events, Saluting Israel’s 69th Birthday with Special Expanding “Project Dignity” Festivities throughout Berkshire PITTSFIELD – Temple Anshe The cost for the Seder and wine for purchase. Partici- Amunim invites the commu- dinner is $10 per person for pants will then take a virtu- County nity to join in a weekend of members ($30 maximum for al tour of Israel’s beautiful PITTSFIELD – Chabad of the homebound or in retirement celebration for Israel’s 69th families) and $15 per person vineyards through a video Berkshires has announced homes throughout the Berk- birthday. for non-members ($45 maxi- presentation. that its Project Dignity, a shires, bringing them the joy, mum for families). There is no The cost for attending the program that delivers hot inspiration, and dignity which Erev Shabbat Service charge to attend services. wine and food tasting is $18 meals to those in need despite they so desperately seek and On Friday, May 5 at per person for members and background, religious identi- certainly deserve.” 5:30 p.m., the Religious Israeli Wine Tasting $27 per person for non- fication, or affiliation, will be To learn more about Project School will hold a special Yom On Saturday, May 6, members. expanding its outreach pro- Dignity, please call (413) 499- Haatzmaut (Israel Indepen- the community is invited to All events will take place gram to the entire community 9899 or to register to volunteer dence Day) student-led Shabbat take a tasting tour of Israeli at Temple Anshe Amunim, 26 throughout Berkshire County. please visit www.Jewishberk- service, followed by a multi-gen- wine-making regions. The Broad Street, Pittsfield. For “Chabad’s goal is that shires.com. Chabad House is erational Seder and dinner. event will begin at 6 p.m., more information, please call everyone in the Berkshires located at 450 South Street in The Seder will feature with a tasting of Israeli wines Esther Benari-Altmann, should have a place to turn Pittsfield. traditional Israeli foods, in- offered by Spirited of Lenox, Director of Education, at when suffering on any level,” Volunteers will meet the cluding hummus, tahini and accompanied by a buffet (413) 442-5910 or email says Sara Volovik, Chabad last Thursday of the month more, along with readings and of traditional Israeli foods. [email protected]. co-director. “We reach out to beginning April 28 from noon a short video presentation. Spirited will also be providing the elderly, single moms, or- to 2 p.m. to prepare meals. phans and widows, and other “This work is often done anon- vulnerable members of society ymously on behalf of those Commemorating the Holocaust Legacy to ensure that their needs are who need it,” says Sara. “We met. urge for people to let us know PITTSFIELD – Temple Anshe Amunim invites you have names that you would like included, “On a weekly basis or upon if they are aware of someone the community to join in a service commemo- please email Esther Benari-Altmann, Director of request, our dedicated vol- in need.” rating Yom Ha-Sho’ah (Holocaust Remembrance Education, at [email protected]. unteers visit people who are Day) on Sunday, April 23 at 5 p.m. Temple Anshe Amunim is located at This intergenerational experience will feature 26 Broad Street in Pittsfield. music, poetry and reflections about this important date, and will include candle lighting to honor those who perished. As part of the service, leaders will tell the story of the Temple’s own Holocaust scroll and its enduring meaning for our community. A multimedia presentation will supplement the service. As part of this display, the names of beloved ones who lives were lost will be included. If

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(866) 474-2774 www.sharsheret.org Page 18 Berkshire Jewish Voice • jewishberkshires.org March 28 to May 14, 2017 LOCAL NEWS Chocolate Seder for All Ages Don’t Be Intimidated by Hebrew! PITTSFIELD – All ages are cational materials to enhance PITTSFIELD – “Don’t let the sounds for its con- warmly invited to participate their own Seders. unfamiliar appearance of the sonants and vowels. in a fun-filled Chocolate Seder The cost for this event is $7 Hebrew Aleph-Bet intimidate Most consonants, for at Temple Anshe Amunim on per person with a maximum of you!” says Myrna Hammerling, instance, whether oc- Saturday, April 1 at 4 p.m. $25 per family. All chocolate director of adult education at curring at the begin- At Passover, the Seder will be nut-free, gluten-free, Knesset Israel ning, middle, or end commemorates the biblical and dairy-free, and sugar-free Learn to decode Hebrew of a word, will sound experience of the Exodus from options will be available upon words and phrases in eight identical. Each vowel Egypt, through which the Jew- request. enjoyable lessons this coming will also have the same ish people were liberated from For more information and spring at Knesset Israel. By sound whenever it slavery. In this family-friendly to RSVP for this event please the final session, the class will occurs.” event, participants will explore contact Esther Benari-Alt- sing Hatikvah, Israel’s na- Interested enroll- the story of the Exodus us- mann, Director of Education tional anthem and a beautiful ees can call Myrna ing chocolate in place of the at [email protected] or Hebrew song of hope! On eight for registration or traditional Passover foods. at (413) 442-5910. consecutive Thursdays after- further information Participants will learn about Temple Anshe Amunim is noons from May 11 through at (413) 445-4872, the deeper symbolism of the located at 26 Broad Street. June 29, from 3:30-5 p.m., ext. 16. The fee for the Exodus and will be given edu- Myrna will guide participants series is $50, which through the process of learn- includes the textbook ing to read Hebrew. and supplementary “English is a far more chal- printed materials. Local Authors Wanted for lenging language to learn than Often people take the Hebrew!” she says. “In En- class to refresh the New Summer Book Fest glish, for instance, one sound reading fluency they GREAT BARRINGTON – As part of the weekend, the can have several spellings or may have once had. Hevreh of Southern Berkshire organizing committee is seek- pronunciations – for exam- If one already has the and the Jewish Federation of ing 4-6 local authors whose ple, the ‘ow’ in plough, now, book, the course fee is other students may require a the Berkshires are proud to work has some Jewish tie-in or crow or the ‘f’ sound in off, $25. If the dates work and the change of time also, given the announce the first annual Fes- to participate in a panel dis- enough, or for. Hebrew has a times do not, please let Ms. many possible schedules in tival of Jewish Books. Events cussion and lead a breakout consistently phonetic set of Hammerling know. Perhaps the class. begin Thursday, July 20, and session following the panel on run through Sunday, July 23. July 21, a Friday afternoon. The festival will feature lec- For more information about tures, teachings and readings the festival, contact Hevreh at Seth Rogovoy to Discuss Bob Dylan’s by local, national, and inter- (413) 528-6378. To be consid- national authors in diverse ered for the local author panel Jewish Influences genres including adult fiction, and workshops, please email a PITTSFIELD – Seth Rogovoy, midrash.” Along the way, the ing guide to the music. He children’s literature, and one paragraph summary with termed “American Jewry’s program will examine the Min- was awarded the 2016 Simon traditional Jewish cookbooks. your bio and any workshop greatest Dylan scholar” by nesota-born folksinger’s deeply Rockower Award from the Books signed by our visiting leading experience to Ellen Religious News Service, will religious and cultural upbring- American Jewish Press Asso- authors will be available for Heffan at ellenheff42@gmail. present a multimedia program ing, his commitment to Jewish ciation for excellence in arts sale. com. exploring the Jewish influ- practice and causes, and his and criticism for his portrait ences in the life and work of long connection to Chabad. of musician Leonard Cohen the most recent Nobel Prize Seth Rogovoy is a familiar (z’l) published in the April/ winner for literature in a talk name to Berkshire readers and May 2015 issue of Hadassah Pre-Passover Kugel Tasting titled “The Kabbalah of Bob public radio listeners. For 16 Magazine. Dylan.” years he was a music critic Rogovoy is also the pro- LENOX – “Passover for Food- The Chametz ‘Sale’ The program will take place and arts writer at the Berk- gramming consultant for ies: Wine, Kugels, and De- A free online ‘Sale of Cha- at Knesset Israel on Monday, shire Eagle; he was the found- the Yiddish Book Center in lectable Desserts Tasting,” metz’ form is available on the May 22 at 7 p.m. The event is ing editor of Berkshire Living Amherst, where he curates will be hosted by Spirited at Chabad of the Berkshires co-sponsored by Knesset Israel magazine; and his weekly the annual Yidstock: Festival 444 Pittsfield Road, Lenox on website, www.jewishberk- and Temple Anshe Amunim. cultural commentary has of New Yiddish Music. He also Friday, March 31, from 1 to 2 shires.com, that will empower With the aid of audio clips, been heard on WAMC North- publishes daily and weekly p.m. The event is sponsored in Rabbi Levi Volovik to act on video, still images, and tex- east Public Radio Network for newsletters in his online mag- part by the Wassermann-Streit one’s behalf in the sale. Sell tual comparisons, Rogovoy, two decades. A graduate of azine of cultural and critical Y’DIYAH Memorial Fund and chametz the old fashioned way author of Bob Dylan: Prophet Williams College, Seth was for- news and observations, the the Harold Grinspoon Founda- by calling the rabbi at (413) Mystic Poet (Scribner 2009), merly a board member of the Rogovoy Report. tion, along with Chabad of the 499-9899. will illustrate how Bob Dylan’s Jewish Federation of the Berk- Guitar players can bring Berkshires. songwriting has always been shires and a member of Con- their instruments to “jam” profoundly rooted in Jewish gregations Ahavath Sholom in with Seth on Bob Dylan songs writings, Great Barrington and Beth-El at the conclusion of his pre- including the in Bennington. A founder of sentation. Light refreshments Torah, the the Berkshire Minyan, he now and beverages will be served. Prophets, the lives in Hudson, NY. Tickets are $18 and can Talmud, and Rogovoy is also an expert be purchased online at www. mysticism, on klezmer, having penned knessetisrael.org; reserved at fusing these The Essential Klezmer: A Music Knesset Israel’s main office inspirations Lover’s Guide to Jewish Roots during business hours; by into a genre of and Soul Music (Algonquin, phone at (413) 445-4872, “rock ’n’ roll 2000), the all-time, best-sell- ext. 10, with over-the-phone charge taken; or payable by check sent and made out to Knesset Israel, 16 THE JEWISH FEDERATION Colt Road, Pittsfield, MA FUNDS AND SUPPORTS A 01201 (please note the COMMUNITY-WIDE NETWORK word “concert” on the OF ORGANIZATIONS THAT: envelope).

Care for people in need here at home, 1. in Israel and around the world. Nurture and sustain Jewish life and 2. learning today and into the future.

ENjOy KOshER & MEvushaL WINEs Special Selections include... Notte Italiano Prosecco, Italy Barkan Classic Pinot Noir, Israel Bartenura Chianti, Italy Recanti Cabernet, Galilee Teal Lake Cabernet/Merlot, Argentina O’Dwyers Creek, New Zealand Jim Nejaime, Wine Merchant Barkan Classic Merlot, Israel Recanati Chardonnay, Galilee 444 Pittsfield Road, Lenox, MA 01240 spirited-wines.com 413.448.2274 Nisan/Iyar 5777 Berkshire Jewish Voice • jewishberkshires.org Page 19

LOCAL NEWS Songleader Boot Camp CBI Hosts Panel on Refugee Crisis Local Ladino singer, songwriter, and children’s music artist “Welcoming the Stranger: Judaism’s response to the refugee Sarah Aroeste in February participated in the PJ Library Track at Songleader Boot Camp in St. Louis, a three-day program of crisis” intensive and inspirational interactive seminars led by nationally 36 times in the Torah Suzanne Graver, renowned Jewish leaders, educators, and musical artists. we are commanded professor emerita of Sarah received grant funding from the PJ Library and the to love the stranger, Williams College and Harold Grinspoon Foundation to attend this Jewish leadership because we were once chair of CBI’s Speakers training that attracted more than 300 clergy, Jewish educators, strangers in the land. Committee, who will family engagement specialists, veteran and new songleaders, You don’t repeat some- discuss how rabbis, teen leaders, and Jewish camping staff. thing 36 times in the synagogues, and Jewish Torah unless it’s really agencies and journals important. —Rabbi Dan have been actively taking Moskovitz to heart the Torah’s 36 commandments to wel- NORTH ADAMS – On come the stranger. Thursday, April 20 at Discussion will 7:30 p.m., Congregation follow. The program is Beth Israel will present open to the community a close-up look at the and free of charge. CBI current refugee crisis. is located at 53 Lois Panelists will in- Street in North Adams. clude: For more information, Joanna Slater, an Deirdre Griffin, director of please contact: Jack Hock- award-winning journalist for the New American Program of ridge, administrator at CBI. the Toronto Globe and Mail, the Jewish Family Service of Email: [email protected]. who will present her firsthand Western MA, who will review Phone: (413) 663-5830. Event account of the current flight plans to bring 50 Syrian organizers are Tela Zasloff at of refugees across Europe. refugees to the Berkshires, (413) 458-4846 and Michael She will also discuss the role and update us on where this Kaplan at (413) 884-6013. Sarah Aroeste (left) with musicians Jason Mesches and of journalists in bringing the program now stands. Alex Konyves, and Eva Stern, New York engagement officer for refugee crisis to light. PJ Library.

Local Fencer Heading to Maccabiah Games Jewish Roots Genealogical Research the Theme of April Shirei Shabbat

PITTSFIELD – Knesset Isra- el introduces newly-joined synagogue member Yefim Kogan, who will present “An Introduction to Jewish Genea- logical Research” at the Shirei Shabbat service and dinner on Friday April 28 at 7:45 p.m. Born in Kishinev, Moldova, Kogan emigrated to Boston from the Soviet Union in 1989 and pursued extensive genea- logical and historical research in this country. Educated here Pearl Sutter and abroad, he holds a mas- ter’s degree from Moscow State Berkshire County native to be an active member of the University in Mathematics and Pearl Sutter has been select- Jewish community as the vice Computers. He has more than ed to represent Team USA at president of her college’s Hillel 30 years of experience in soft- the 20th World Maccabiah chapter. ware design and development Games this summer in Israel Sutter will wield the sabre in health care information Yefim Kogan in fencing. at the 20th Maccabiah. She systems. A personal drive to Often referred to as the recently was recently named learn more about his family’s family truths. He now can All are welcome to join “Jewish Olympics,” the World part of the Second Team roots led him to a second mas- identify his own forbears back the Kabbalat Shabbat service Maccabiah Games are held All-Conference for the Eastern ter’s degree in Jewish Liberal to the 1750s, others from the beginning at 5:30 p.m. Reserva- every four years. It is consid- Women’s Fencing Conference Studies from Hebrew College mid-19th century, and has tions can be made for dinner ei- ered the third-largest sporting after placing 6th overall in the in Boston, with a focus on also reunited with ancestors ther on-line at www.knessetis- event in the world, with 9,000 championship. She finished Jewish Cultural History. presumed lost in the Holo- rael.org or via phone at (413) athletes competing on behalf this year’s college fencing sea- Kogan became very active caust. 445-4872, ext. 10 or by sending of 78 countries. Maccabi USA son with an 88-23 record. in the Jewish Genealogical Yefim and his wife, Galina, a check to 16 Colt Road with will include over 1,200 ath- “I am thrilled and honored Society of Greater Boston and have a second home in Lee, $18 per adult meal to cover the letes from 30 sports, making that I will fence for Team USA JewishGen, an international, two married sons and two cost of the kosher meal served up the largest contingent after this summer,” Sutter said. non-profit affiliated with the grandchildren. from 6:30-7:30 p.m. Israel. “This is a dream come true for Museum of Jewish Heritage. Sutter was selected from me that I would never have He has taught classes on a large pool of applicants achieved without the unending Jewish genealogy for the local after a thorough review of her support from my teammates, Jewish Russian communi- fencing resume. She will join coaches, family, and friends. ties of Brookline and Boston. a 12-member team, which I want to say thank you and I In 2011, Kogan organized a includes participants from the hope to make you all proud!” Bessarabia Special Interest North American Cup national Sutter is currently raising Group for JewishGen and championships. money so that she can attend leads a group of about 800 Sutter has lived in Berk- The Games. To support her members from 25 countries shire County for most of her fundraising efforts or to con- to discover their roots in the life. She attended Sinai Acad- tact her regarding the Mac- Bessarabia region. He partici- emy preschool and kindergar- cabiah Games, email Sutter pates in genealogical societies ten. She graduated from Mount at [email protected], or in large US cities, Europe and Greylock Regional High School visit her fundraising page at Israel. in 2014. She is a current junior https://tinyurl.com/pearl- Kogan asked his parents to at Drew University studying sutter-maccabiah-usa. draw a family tree thirty years neuroscience and biochemistry Pearl says she will keep a ago; this simple request, as with hopes of attending med- dairy of her experiences at the the family was making aliyah ical school in fall 2018. While Games and share it with the from their birthplace, ignited at college, she has continued BJV. his passion to discover more Page 20 Berkshire Jewish Voice • jewishberkshires.org March 28 to May 14, 2017 LOCAL NEWS Pesach at Hevreh JNF Paves the Way for Students to Study GREAT BARRINGTON – Tuesday, April 4. Adults: $40, Hevreh of Southern Berk- Children 5 -12: $18, Chil- in Israel through AMHSI’s Genesis shire will host a second night dren under 5 are free. Please Passover Seder on Tuesday, register online at hevreh.org, Fellowship April 11 starting at 5:30 p.m. and click on the link on the Led by Rabbi Neil P.G. homepage. Thanks to a generous Hirsch and Rabbi Jodie All are welcome to join. donation from an anonymous Gordon, the gathering will Hevreh is located at 270 State donor, five Western Massa- feature Seder plates, matzoh, Road, Great Barrington. chusetts students (three from ceremonial wine, and grape Yachad Passover the Berkshires) in February juice provided. Participants Hevreh’s Religious School and March experienced float- may bring their own table will celebrate Passover with ing in the Dead Sea, climbed wine. A chicken buffet dinner school-age children on Sun- Masada, explored Jerusalem’s will be prepared by Simons day, April 19 from 10 a.m. Old City, savored the flavors Catering. Vegetarian and fish to 12:30 p.m. Yachad Pass- of Israeli cuisine, and made options are available upon re- over is open to the public for lifelong friends from all over quest only and must be made families with children under the world, all the while keep- in advance. 5 at 11:45 a.m. Sing special ing up with their studies. Space is limited; pre-paid Passover songs and enjoy a The students are attending reservations are required by pre-Passover snack. Alexander Muss High School in Israel (AMHSI-JNF), a Jewish National Fund aca- demic institute and premier study abroad program for high Genesis Fellows: Gillian Weissbach, Noah Beckwith of Pittsfield, school students. Through the Miriam Pomerantz of Williamstown, Emma Brachfeld, and Ezra Affiliate with a Congregation. Western Massachusetts Gene- Sutter of Windsor. sis Fellowship, students earn You, the congregation, and the Jewish community benefit when you do. high school credit while having learning about Jewish history.” journey through Israel and the experience of a lifetime. “By establishing this fellow- 4,000 years of Jewish history, • YOU GET the Jewish enrichment and spiritual nourishment you are The recipients of this eight- ship, the donor recognizes the providing students with the seeking. week program scholarship are tremendous impact they are context and framework to dis- Ezra Sutter, Gillian Weissman, making in the lives of the stu- cover and explore their own • YOU GET the rabbinical support you need Noah Beckwith, Miriam Pomer- dent recipients and by exten- link within the chain of Jew- in times of joy and sorrow. antz, and Emma Brachfeld. sion the Jewish community,” ish continuity. AMHSI-JNF’s • YOU RECONNECT with your Speaking about her experi- said Rabbi Leor Sinai, co-CEO unique academic approach of Alexander Muss High School fuses traditional classroom community and your Jewish roots. ence thus far, Emma said, “I am so proud of myself for signing in Israel. “These teens will have study and informal experien- • YOU CAN PARTICIPATE in a variety of services, up for this program. The trips a unique opportunity to explore tial learning. Israel becomes a classes, and programs that keep Judaism alive and flourishing in Berk- are always something new, the and discover their connection living classroom. to the land and people of Israel, To be considered, students shire County. counselors are slowly turning into parents and the teachers serving as ambassadors of the must be entering their soph- • THE CONGREGATION IS THE INSTITUTION that has sustained the always keep us on our feet. It Jewish people and the State of omore or junior year of high Jewish people for two millenia throughout the world. Orthodox, Conser- has been an incredible experi- Israel upon their return.” school at the time of travel. vative, Reconstructionist, or Reform, the Jewish community wins when ence so far and I am so excited The Genesis fellows are Eligible students must fill out in Israel through the end of an application at amhsi.org. you join the congregation of your choice. to see what happens next.” Gillian added, “I am loving March and are joined together For more information about my AMHSI experience. Being with other high school stu- AMHSI-JNF and the Genesis The Jewish Federation of the Berkshires independent has been amazing dents from North America Fellowship, contact Dana Klein and it’s extraordinary being and across the globe. AM- at [email protected] or encourages you to affiliate. able to see what we have been HSI-JNF’s curriculum is a (212) 472-9300, ext. 484. Theater is Focus of Weekend Program for Adult Learners at Yiddish Book Center AMHERST – A weekend program on most memorable plays and greatest “The World of Yiddish Theater” will be stars of Yiddish theater, and consider offered at the Yiddish Book Center on its legacy today. April 21 to 23. The program will be taught by In recent years, there has been Professor Debra Caplan, assistant renewed interest in Yiddish theater, professor of theater at Baruch College, with new productions of works such CUNY. The weekend will include four as the operetta The Golden Bride and lectures, a workshop on Yiddish the- Sholem Asch’s God of Vengeance, as ater songs, a film, shared dinners, and well as the Broadway debut this spring a chance to explore the Yiddish Book of Indecent, which looks at the scandal Center, the world’s first Yiddish muse- created by Asch’s controversial 1923 um. The deadline to register is April 7. play. The Yiddish Book Center program For more information or to register, will look at the origins and develop- visit yiddishbookcenter.org/ ment of Yiddish theater and dramatic yiddish-theater-weekend-program. literature, from early works and Purim “The World of Yiddish Theater” plays to the “Father of Yiddish The- is part of the Yiddish Book Center’s ater,” Avrom Goldfaden; from Yiddish adult learning program, which offers theater’s arrival in America to its mod- both on-site and online programs on ernist turn in Europe between the two aspects of Yiddish and modern Jew- World Wars. It will include a look at the ish literature, history and culture. More information about programs for adult learners can be found at yiddishbookcen- ter.org/educa- tional-programs. Nisan/Iyar 5777 Berkshire Jewish Voice • jewishberkshires.org Page 21

BERKSHIRE JEWISH CONGREGATIONS & ORGANIZATIONS

Berkshire Hills Hadassah Israel Philatelist Society BEYOND THE BERKSHIRES P.O. Box 187, Pittsfield, MA c/o Rabbi Harold Salzmann Congregation Anshe Emeth (413) 443-4386, 24 Ann Dr., Pittsfield, MA Conservative [email protected] (413) 442-4312 240 Joslen Blvd., Hudson, NY B’nai B’rith Lodge, No. 326 Jewish Federation of the Berkshires (518) 828-6848, 196 South St., Pittsfield, MA congregationansheemeth.net Chabad of the Berkshires Welcome to the (413) 442-4360 jewishberkshires.org Services: Fridays at 7:30 p.m., 450 South St., Pittsfield, MA Jewish Berkshires Saturdays at 9:30 a.m. Everyone is welcome to attend (413) 499-9899, Jewish War Veterans services and events at any of the jewishberkshires.com Commander Robert Waldheim Congregation Beth El organizations listed here. Check website for service times and (413) 822-4546, [email protected] 107 Adams St., Bennington, VT locations. (802) 442-9645, cbevermont.org Knesset Israel Please call the organizations Services: Saturdays at 10 a.m. Congregation Ahavath Sholom Conservative Graphic Design directly to confirm service times Reconstructionist 16 Colt Rd., Pittsfield, MA Nassau Jewish Community www.tgo.com or to inquire about membership. North St., Great Barrington, MA (413) 445-4872, knessetisrael.org Center & Synagogue (413) 528-4197, ahavathsholom.comProof of ad for:Services: ______Barbara Fridays Greenfeld at 5:45 p.m., Route 20,Please Box 670, respond Nassau, by NY______Learn more about our Jewish Services: Fridays at 5:30 p.m., Saturdays at 9:30 a.m. (518) 766-9831 community and find great Saturdays at 10 a.m. Publication: ______BJV May 2016 nassausynagogue.orgto: (Tel) 413/ 528-0328 (Fax) 413/ 528-0328 [email protected] events on the community RIMON – A Collaborative Call to confirm services [email protected] Services: ❏Saturdays at 9:30 a.m. calendar at: Send to: ______Community for Jewish Spirituality Changes req’d. & new proof Congregation Beth Israel PO Box 502, Great Barrington, MA Temple Israel of Catskill No. of pages (inc. cover): ______1 ❏ Approved as is. ❏ Approved with corrections as noted. JEWISHBERKSHIRES.ORG Reform rimonberkshires.org Reform ______53 Lois St., North Adams, MA Proof sent: [email protected]/25/16 Proof # ______1 220 SpringApproved St., Catskill, by: NY______(413) 663-5830, cbiweb.org (518) 943-5758, Temple Anshe Amunim Services: Saturdays at 9:30 a.m. templeisraelofcatskill.org. Berkshire Minyan Reform Lay-led egalitarian minyan Hevreh of Southern Berkshire 26 Broad St., Pittsfield, MA The Chatham Synagogue held at Hevreh of Southern Reform (413) 442-5910, ansheamunim.org Route 28, Box 51, Chatham, NY Berkshire, 270 State Rd., 270 State Rd., Great Barrington, MA Services: Fridays at 5:30 p.m., (518) 392-0701, Great Barrington, MA (413) 528-6378, hevreh.org Shabbat Morning Service: 11 a.m. chathamsynagogue.org (413) 229-3618, berkshireminyan.org Services: Fridays at 6 p.m., Services: Saturdays at 9:30 a.m. Services: Saturdays at 9:30 a.m. Oneg to follow. Saturdays: Morning Study at 8:45 a.m. Shabbat Morning Service at 10 a.m.

New Home? Second Home? Retirement Home? Let me show you… The Berkshires Barbara K. Greenfeld ABR, C-CREC, CRS, GREEN, RSPS, SRES Broker Associate • Lic. in MA & NY 413-441-5986 [email protected] Roberts & Associates Realty, inc.

68 Main Street Telephone: (413) 243-0242 Lee, Massachusetts 01238 www.bensinlee.com [email protected] Page 22 Berkshire Jewish Voice • jewishberkshires.org March 28 to May 14, 2017 BERKSHIRE JEWISH VOICES Traveling with Jewish Taste No Escaping Echoes of the Past in Warsaw By Carol Goodman Kaufman designs from Egyptian Revival frieze is that to Art Deco. They represent of Mordechai the wide variety of Jews who Anielewicz. once lived and worked in Kibbutz Yad Warsaw: communists, rabbis, Mordechai in and intellectuals. Among the Israel is named monuments was one for three for him. prominent writers: I.L. Peretz, I wasn’t sure Jacob Dinezon., and S. Ansky, how much of the author of The Dybbuk. vast amounts Since the cemetery was of information closed during the war, much being imparted of it is overgrown, and many the students ac- of the headstones are tip- tually absorbed. ping. A small portion today Not to worry. In my mind’s eye, Poland serves Warsaw’s tiny Jewish That first day, we was a land of gray skies and population, estimated by the talked with Sol- bone-chilling cold – both phys- World Jewish Congress as omon, a tall and Nathan Rapoport’s Ghetto Heroes Monument ical and spiritual – so going somewhere between 5,000 and ebony-skinned there in February didn’t sound 20,000, most of whom live in student. (Thirty percent of Extended his arm and point- friends were posting photos like the best travel choice one the capital. our Youth Aliyah students are ing to his hand, he said, “We’re and comments about the could make. However, Joel and Of all the landmarks we from Ethiopia.) Joel asked him all Jews. Just our skin color is trip. Perhaps the most telling I recently had the opportunity saw that day, the ghetto how he felt about visiting sites different.” was the very proud picture of to travel on a heritage mission was for me the most diffi- related to the history of East- And, upon return home, I Lolli’s Israeli passport. Home to that country, accompany- cult. Established in 1940 by ern European Jewry, not at found that my new Facebook again. Safe. ing a group of teenagers from the Germans, it imprisoned all similar to his background. Hadassah-sponsored Youth 400,000 Jews from through- Aliyah villages in Israel. So, out the country in a space off we went. bounded by a nine-foot-tall, And, indeed, almost the eleven-mile-long brick wall. Stuffed Cabbage Rolls entire time we were in that The Nazis forced multiple fam- flat-as-a-board country, the ilies to share apartments, an Adapted for Passover skies were gray, the temps average of six people per room. A long-ago conversation at a family holiday dinner has stuck in my mind to this day. The various hovered around zero, snow And then, of course, came the aunts and uncles were good-naturedly arguing over the “correct” term for stuffed cabbage. The fell, and the winds howled. deportations and mass execu- Poles said “golumpki,” while the Russians said “holipkes” or “holishkes” – or, at least, that is The receiving line of Soviet-era tions. By the end of the war, my memory. No matter what name they went by, the resulting sweet and savory rolls from any apartment buildings along only 11,500 Jews remained in member of the family was consistently wonderful. the road from the airport to Warsaw, most of whom had Stuffed cabbage is found in many forms in just as many countries, from Eastern Europe to the the city center only served to been in hiding in the Aryan Middle East. The following is a recipe for an authentic Polish dish that I have adapted to make reinforce my mental image of section of the city. kosher for Passover. the place where, before World I was shocked to discover War II, fully 30% of the popu- on looking at the map that lation was Jewish, the largest our hotel was within the Ingredients in Europe, and the city was a ghetto walls, only steps away 3 tablespoons olive oil For the filling: vibrant center of culture and from the remnant we had just 2 yellow onions, chopped 2 lbs. lean ground beef intellectual activity. visited. 2 (28-ounce) cans crushed tomatoes and 2 extra-large eggs, lightly beaten After settling in at our ho- When the Nazis liquidated their juice ½ cup finely chopped yellow onions tel, we took a walk and did find the ghetto, they force-marched ¼ cup red wine vinegar ½ cup uncooked quinoa some bright spots. Our first the Jews to the Umschlag- ½ cup light brown sugar 1/3 cup ketchup stop was the Palace of Culture platz, a holding area adjacent ½ cup raisins ½ teaspoon thyme and Science, a Soviet-designed to the railway station. A quar- 1½ teaspoons kosher salt ¾ teaspoon kosher salt complex that houses theaters, ter of a million Jews were then ¾ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper ½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper restaurants, sports clubs, loaded onto trains headed to 1 large head green cabbage and libraries, and a 30th floor the Treblinka death camp. “viewing terrace” from which From there we began the walk Directions: one can see the city. It is set in along the Path of Remem- The day before: brance that leads from the a park dotted with statues and Remove the entire core of the cabbage with a sharp knife. monuments. Umschlagplatz to the Ghetto Chilled by the winds at the Heroes Monument. Placed Seal the cabbage in a plastic bag and place in freezer for at least 24 hours. top, we descended from the along the Path are blocks of Remove from freezer and thaw. tower and stopped off at one black granite, each dedicated When cabbage has thawed out, carefully remove leaves one by one. of the city’s hundreds of cafes to a significant person or event For the sauce: to warm up. From there, we related to the Holocaust in the continued on to Old Town, ghetto. Heat the olive oil in a large saucepan, add the onions, and cook over medium-low heat, until where charming, pastel-col- And at Mila 18 (ironically the onions are translucent. ored stucco buildings house “Pleasant Street” in English) Add the tomatoes, vinegar, brown sugar, raisins, salt, and pepper. trendy shops and restaurants stood the headquarters of the Bring to a boil, then lower the heat and simmer uncovered for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally. along the curving streets. Jewish Combat Organization Set aside. We stopped for lunch (and popularized in the Leon Uris For the filling: to warm up – seeing a trend novel of the same name. From here?) at a pierogie restaurant. this bunker, Mordechai An- In a large bowl, combine the ground chuck, eggs, onion, matzah meal, quinoa, thyme, salt, and Taking the rose-colored tint ielewicz led the Warsaw Ghetto pepper. off our visit was the fact that Uprising, the last, desperate Add 1 cup of the sauce to the meat mixture and mix lightly with a fork. this was the neighborhood in stand against the Nazis. A Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. which most Jews lived before large mound built from rubble the World War II. In fact, the of the once thriving commu- To assemble, place 1 cup of the sauce in the bottom of a large Dutch oven. intersection of Nalewki Street nity stands there in silent Remove the hard triangular rib from the base of each cabbage leaf with a paring knife. (now Street of the Ghetto He- memorial. Form 1/3 to 1/2 cup of filling into an oval shape and place near the rib edge of each leaf. Roll up roes) and Franciszkanska was In the park near the Palace toward the outer edge, tucking the sides in as you roll. stands the Ghetto Heroes one of the busiest in a vibrant Place half the cabbage rolls, seam sides down, over the sauce. city. Monument. Designed by We met up with the kids at Polish-born Nathan Rapoport, Add more sauce and more cabbage rolls alternately until you’ve placed all the cabbage rolls in the Warsaw Jewish Cemetery. the 36-ft.-tall sculpture the pot. One of the largest Jewish cem- evokes both the Ghetto walls Pour the remaining sauce over the cabbage rolls. Cover the dish tightly with the lid and bake eteries in the world, it dates and the Western Wall in for 1 hour or until the meat is cooked and the quinoa is tender. Serve hot. from 1806 and contains over Jerusalem. In the sculptor’s 250,000 marked graves on 83 words, “The great stones acres of land, as well as the would thus have framed the mass graves of ghetto victims. memory of events in Warsaw Headstones and mausoleums in the iconographic figure of Carol Goodman Kaufman is a psychologist and author with a passion for travel and food. She is cur- range from the simple to the Judaism’s holiest site.” The rently at work on a food history/cookbook, tracing the paths that some of our favorite foods have tak- elaborately carved, sporting central standing figure of this en 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. Nisan/Iyar 5777 Berkshire Jewish Voice • jewishberkshires.org Page 23

ProgramsPrograms taketake placeplace MondaysMondays andand ThursdaysThursdays atat 10:4510:45 a.m.a.m. LunchLunch isis servedserved Mondays,Monday and Tuesdays Thursday andat 12 Thursdays p.m, through at noon. September 3. Tuesday lunch resumes on September 8. Venue:Venue: KnessetKnesset Israel,Israel, 1616 ColtColt Rd,Rd, Pittsfield,Pittsfield, MA.MA.

Like us on Facebook: March Seniors. Lunch: Fresh fish, zucchini rice soup, asparagus • Jewish Federation cuts n tips, rice pilaf, salad, cran orange muffins, pud- Tuesday, 28...... Dairy leftover day, coffee, tea, and of the Berkshires milk for coffee. ding, coffee, tea, and milk for coffee. May • PJ Library Thursday, 30...... 10:45a.m., “Qigong for Back and Joint Care” with Jeffrey Gordon, Five-Element Acupuncturist and Monday, 1...... 10:45a.m., “Let’s Get Away From Berkshire County Qigong instructor. Lunch: Blintz soufflé, fruit salad, aspar- it All” through songs with performer, Jane Rosen. Lunch: agus cuts n tips, scones, butterscotch pudding, coffee, Spaghetti & “sausage” sauce, Italian blend vegetables, tea, and milk for coffee. salad, garlic bread, peaches, and tea. April Tuesday, 2...... Roasted chicken, celery rice soup, baby carrots, broccoli cuts, hash browned potatoes, Monday, 3...... 10:45a.m., “The Process of Aging” with therapist, Maggie Bittman. No meal today for multi-grain bread, tropical fruit salad, and tea. Passover preparation. Thursday, 4...... 10:45a.m., “The Animal and Divine Souls in Jewish Thought” with Netanel Miles-Yepéz. Lunch: Tuesday, 4...... Closed for Passover preparation Black bean enchilada casserole, Mexican corn, salad, po- Thursday, 6...... 10:45a.m., “Home of the Brave: When tato bread, Dulce frosted chipotle brownies, coffee, tea, Southbury Said No to the Nazis.” Lunch: Kosher for Pass- and milk for coffee. over turkey salad platter**#, lettuce, tomato, pickles, bread TBD, grapes, and tea. Monday, 8...... 10:45a.m., “Senator Adam Hinds and His First 5 Months.” Lunch: Meat loaf, tomato juice, Monday, 10...... Closed for Passover preparation mashed potatoes, peas & carrots, pumpernickel bread, Tuesday, 11...... Closed for 1st day of Passover grapes, and tea. Thursday, 13...... 10:45a.m., Screening of film “When Tuesday, 9...... Hot dogs and beans#, coleslaw, Comedy Went to School.” Film will begin at 10:45, break corn cobettes, hot dog rolls, pineapple, and tea. for lunch at noon, and resume after lunch. Lunch: Passover Thursday, 11...... 10:45a.m., “The Family Gene: The Sto- meat loaf#, matza ball soup, oven roasted potatoes, ry of a Pittsfield Family’s Rare Disease and Fight for Life” with broccoli matza, macaroons, and tea. author Joselin Linder. Lunch: Macaroni and cheese, stewed Monday, 17...... Closed for 7th day of Passover tomatoes, salad, whole wheat bread, pudding, coffee, tea, and milk for coffee. Tuesday, 18...... Closed for 8th day of Passover Monday, 15...... 10:45a.m., “The NAACP is Not an Thursday, 20...... 10:45a.m., “Managing Stress and Your Anachronism” with Dennis Powell, President of Berkshire Health” with Thea Basis. Lunch: Tuna salad platters**#, County NAACP. Lunch: Sweet & sour chicken**#, pineap- cream of mushroom soup, lettuce, tomato, olives, pick- ple juice, rice, Oriental blend vegetables, rye bread, fruit les, multi-grain bread, rice pudding, coffee, tea, and milk cocktail, and tea. for coffee. Tuesday, 16...... Sloppy Joes, salad, corn, hamburg- Monday, 24...... 10:45a.m., “The Butcher’s Daughter: er rolls, peaches, and tea. Echoes of the Shoah” with author Florence Grende. Lunch: Turkey Piccata**#, vegetable soup, rice pilaf, Italian Thursday, 18...... 10:45a.m., “The Art of Writing His- blend vegetables, rye bread, pineapple, and tea. torical Fiction” with authors David C. King and Sharon Flitter- man-King. Lunch: Vegetable lasagna, minestrone soup, Tuesday, 25...... Salisbury steak**#, salad, peas & green beans, Challah, chef’s choice of cookies, coffee, carrots, hash browns, whole wheat bread, pears, and tea, and milk for coffee. tea. Thursday, 27...... 10:45a.m., “Straight Answers to Gay Questions” with Ed Sedarbaum, founder of Rainbow Page 24 Berkshire Jewish Voice • jewishberkshires.org March 28 to May 14, 2017

OBITUARIES NEWS

The Jewish Federation of North Adams Eagles, and the the Berkshires extends Greylock Community Club. Jake Tapper’s Professor Brother Aaron its condolences to Ken Mr. Feder is survived by Stark on the loss of his three children: Rebecca Saw- Writes a Book on the Range of ‘Judaisms’ wife, Lynn. yer and her husband Travis of Lanesborough, Joel Feder and By Andy Silow-Carroll his wife Darcy of North Adams, Mark Edward Feder, 67, and Nathan Feder of North Ad- (JTA) – Aaron Hahn Tapper At its core, the book is an very active serving ams, and their mother, Sandra was spending the summer of attempt to answer the ques- community Rivard Feder also of North Ad- 1994 studying at an Orthodox tion, What does it mean to be NORTH ADAMS – Mark Ed- ams; a brother, Edward Feder Yeshiva in Jerusalem when he a Jew? ward Feder, 67, passed away of Chicago; six grandchildren, was called into the office of the “For someone who’s a on Saturday, March 4, at his Emily Feder, Glen and Mason school’s mara d’atra, or chief ‘halakhic man’ – the way in home. Field, and Kolby, Zack, and legal authority. which they understand the Born December 3, 1949, to Julia Sawyer; as well as many Noting that Hahn Tapper’s world is only through the lens Ida (Baskin) Feder and Joseph nieces and nephews. mother converted to Judaism of halachah [Jewish law] and Feder, he attended schools in He was predeceased by his under the auspices of the Con- that’s their construct – it’s a North Adams and graduated parents and his brother Rich- servative movement, the rabbi legal category,” Hahn Tapper from Drury High School in ard Klein. was blunt. “Well, it seems you told JTA in a recent interview. 1968. He was a 1972 graduate He was happiest spending may not be Jewish,” he said, “You either are or are not – it’s (BARBARA RIES © 2013) time with his grandchildren, of Berkshire Community Col- explaining that Conservative black and white.” Aaron Hahn Tapper lege. Mr. Feder worked in the and serving and helping others conversions may or may not Others believe in a Jew- auto parts business for nearly in any way he could. His loss be acceptable to Orthodox ish soul, or “neshama,” that has never been homogeneous 50 years, as a former owner of will be felt greatly throughout authorities. amounts to a metaphysi- or monolithic, Jews and non- Adams Auto and most re- Berkshire County from his Hahn Tapper was allowed cal essence, or even genetic Jews frequently speak about cently at Fisher Auto in North Lodge brothers to the automo- to continue his studies so long definition, apart from ritual ‘the Jews,’ as if they are a Adams. tive community and beyond. as he agreed to research the and belief. Israel has its own single, cohesive, interconnect- He was very active in the Funeral services were held terms of his mother’s conver- definition, one that combines ed group.” community as a member of Friday, March 10 at Congrega- sion: When was it done? Who nationhood, citizenship and, Hahn Tapper says his the Berkshire Lodge of Masons tion Beth Israel, North Ad- witnessed her conversion cere- increasingly, rabbinic over- multicultural view of Jewish for over 25 years, serving as ams. Burial followed in Beth mony? Were they men? sight. identity is shaped by his own District Deputy Grand Master Israel Cemetery, Clarksburg. Hahn Tapper had spent 13 Then there is the postmod- experiences. Growing up in of the 30th Masonic District Memorial donations may be years at Philadelphia Jewish ern approach, in which people Philly (his older brother is from 2013-2015. He also made to the Berkshire Lodge day schools and 10 summers become a part of a community Jake Tapper, the CNN anchor served as Worshipful Master of of Masons in Adams in care at Camp Ramah in the Poco- simply by believing themselves and chief Washington corre- the Lodge multiple times. of Flynn & Dagnoli-Montagna nos. The yeshiva’s challenge to be part of a community. spondent), he attended a Con- Mr. Feder was a recipient Home for Funerals, 521 West forced him to ask uncomfort- In one way or another, servative-affiliated Solomon of the Joseph P. Warren Med- Main Street, North Adams, MA able questions about Jewish all Jews are choosing to be Schechter school (now the al. Through the Lodge, he was 01247. law, beliefs and practice. Most Jewish – or at least have the Perelman Jewish Day School) involved in the Fall Run, the of all, it raised questions about luxury to do so in the 21st through grade eight, and Aggie Fair, Adams Outdoors- The Jewish Federation of identity. century – in a process Hahn high school at the unaffiliated men for Youth Club Activities, the Berkshires mourns Long after the yeshiva even- Tapper and sociologists call Akiba Hebrew Academy, now and the Steven Ferrara Golf the passing of Sofiya tually accepted his mother’s “social identity performance,” the Jack M. Barrack Hebrew Tournament, among many Plotkina, mother of Anna conversions, those questions which depends on the behav- Academy in Bryn Mawr. others. He was an active Yantovsky and Semen stuck with Hahn Tapper, 43, iors and choices they present He was active with the member of the Berkshire Zeygerman, who passed through a career in Jewish to each other and the outside Jewish community as an un- Shrine Club, a unit of the away on Monday, March and religious studies. world. dergraduate at Johns Hopkins Melha Temple for many years, 13. The funeral was held Now the Mae and Benjamin “Most of us can’t trace University, but was heavily serving as treasurer and graveside at Knesset Israel Swig Associate Professor in ourselves back that many gen- influenced by the baal teshu- parade captain. He rode his Cemetery on Thursday, Jewish Studies at the Univer- erations,” said Hahn Tapper. vah community he found in go-cart in parades through- March 16. The family wel- sity of San Francisco, Hahn “There’s a certain acceptance Jerusalem, where rabbis took out Western Mass for many comes donations to Con- Tapper has written an intro- that whatever we’re told by our an almost evangelical zeal in years. He was also a member gregation Knesset Israel, duction to Judaism for the parents are the facts. Ancestry introducing young American of the Scottish Rite body of 16 Colt Road, Pittsfield, college student and general doesn’t go back that far for Jewish backpackers to the Masons. He was involved with MA 01201. reader that puts identity ques- most of us.” Orthodox lifestyle. the Adams Lodge of Elks, the tions front and center, starting In telling the story of Jews Hahn Tapper was both a with its title: “Judaisms: A across the centuries and the participant in the baal teshu- 21st Century Introduction to continents, “Judaisms” – a vah culture and an observer, Jews and Jewish Identities.” finalist for a 2016 National fascinated about the ways ERKSHIRE “Can someone’s identities Jewish Book Award – pres- these newly observant Jews B be deleted overnight on a ents Jewish history less as “framed” their identities. OOFING & technicality?” he writes, after a timeline than a tapestry. Having grown up in a havu- R describing the yeshiva inci- Hahn Tapper writes about rah, or informal congregation, UTTER CO. dent. “Does Jewishness really Jewish communities that that included some heavy-hit- G depend solely on ritual and developed within Christian, ters from the Conservative 413-298-1029413 298 1029 www.BGRCo.net legal requirements? Or are Muslim and Hindu cultures; movement – including Jeffrey CEDAR ROOF Jewish identities more mallea- European Jews and Asian Tigay, the onetime chair of the STANDING SEAM METAL ble than that?” Jews; gay Jews and Jews of Jewish studies department at ASPHALT SHINGLES color; assimilated American the University of Pennsylvania, Written Estimates • Fully Insured • Owner Installed MA Lic. #145878 Jews and Ethiopian Jews who and Chaim Potok, the rabbi SEAMLESS GUTTERS consider marrying out of their and novelist – Hahn Tapper Copper • Aluminum • Gutter Covers sub-community a form of was able to think critically

“We like your smile when we’re done” A+ S31033 intermarriage. about the rigid Orthodoxy He writes that “as far back he saw at the baal teshuvah as the Hebrew community, yeshivas. and through their subsequent “The guys around me rebirth as Israelites, Judeans [growing up] were no slouch- and, eventually, Jews, this es, and I knew that they had group has never been uniform a much more sophisticated or consistent. There has never understanding of things than I been a Jewish people, only was being taught in this yeshi- peoples. Within the Jewish va,” he said. tent there have always been Later he spent a summer sub-tribes, sub-identities, and sub-factions. And yet, even ‘JUDAISMS,’ continued though the Jewish community on page 27

Israeli Jewelry

10 CASTLE STREET, GREAT BARRINGTON, MA The Mews, by the Red Lion Inn Courtyard 413-528-5244 Stockbridge, MA 413-298-4436 dianafelbergallery.com CASTLESTREETCAFE.COM 6 Harris Street West Stockbridge 413-232-7007 Nisan/Iyar 5777 Berkshire Jewish Voice • jewishberkshires.org Page 25 Calendar – Ongoing Events Around the Community Continuous – Chabad of the Berkshires read prayers at a service? How does the will be between 45 and 60 minutes. Please Saturday mornings, 9-10 a.m., through “Smile on Seniors,” or “S.O.S.,” volunteer siddur language connect with my life today? be in touch with Rabbi Hirsch for further Memorial Day – Knesset Israel, 16 Colt program to serve senior citizens in the How can I build my Hebrew reading fluency information: [email protected]. Road, Pittsfield. Judith Weiner leads an in- Berkshires. Information for families who and practice my reading skills? How can I troduction to halakha – Jewish law – through Saturdays at 9:30 a.m. – “Torah Plus: Ex- can benefit and volunteers: Rabbi Levi be more comfortable with the language a guided exploration of recent papers on ploring Jewish Text and Culture.” Join Rabbi Volovik at (413) 499-9899 or visit www. and process of prayer? Facilitated by Myrna relevant topics, including Rabbi Danny Nev- Josh Breindel for a conversation based on jewishberkshires.com. Hammerling. Newcomers always welcome. ins, “Electricity and Shabbat,” published by the texts of the Jewish people and reflection Information: (413) 445-4872, ext. 16. the Conservative Movement’s Committee Monthly – Ruthie’s Lunch Bunch meets on what it means to be Jewish. All texts are on Jewish Law and Standards. Class meets at Congregation Beth Israel, or a local Alternate Wednesdays at 12:30 p.m. – offered in English. Temple Anshe Amunim, when Hebrew School is in session. (413) restaurant. Call for details. Congregation Explore the stories behind the story of the 26 Broad Street, Pittsfield. Free. Open to 445-4872, ext. 10. Beth Israel, 53 Lois Street, North Adams. weekly Torah portion at Torah and Tea, at the public. Information (413) 442-5910 or Information: (413) 663-5830. Chabad of the Berkshires, 450 South Street, [email protected]. Pittsfield MA. Led by Sara Volovik, the course Monthly, fourth or fifth Sunday – Vol- is intended to outline a spiritual road map Saturday afternoons, approximately 20 unteers from Congregation Beth Israel, 53 for day to day life. Using the weekly Torah minutes before sunset, through Pesach Lois Street, North Adams “Take and Eat” portion as a starting point, participants will – Knesset Israel, 16 Colt Road, Pittsfield. Knesset Israel program cook, package, and deliver hot learn from the Talmud, Midrash, and Cha- Talmud Study. Join Rabbi David Weiner for meals for all North Adams clients of “Meals 16 Colt Road, sidic masters, as well as from the insights ongoing study of Masechet Rosh Hashana, on Wheels.” Information: (413) 663-5830 Pittsfield of others in the class. The course is free of which discusses the inner workings of the or [email protected]. charge, and no prior background in Hebrew Jewish calendar. Class is suitable for novice and more experienced students of Talmud. ONGOING MINYANS Monthly – One Monday a month (date or the subject matter is necessary. For more Full information and detailed schedule: (413) Sunday 8:45 a.m. and 7 p.m. varies according to length of book), the information, visit www.Jewishberkshires. 445-4872, ext. 10. Tuesday 7 p.m. CBI Book Discussion Group meets at Con- com or call (413) 499-9899. Friday 7 a.m. and 5:45 p.m. gregation Beth Israel at 7:00 a.m. Check Thursdays (fourth of each month) – Ha- Saturday 9:30 a.m. and evenings the CBI Newsletter for current books and dassah Book Club. For times, locations of approximately 30 minutes before sunset schedule. Information: Chaim Bronstein at meetings, and further information about (917) 609-6732. the books: Roz Kolodny at (413) 243-2077 CANDLE-LIGHTING Sundays (second of each month) – Berk- or [email protected]. Upcoming: April 27, March 31...... 7:00 p.m. shire Hills Society of Israeli Philatelists meet. the novel They May Not Mean To but They April 7...... 7:08 p.m. Discuss Israeli and American stamps. Coffee Do by Cathleen Schine. May 25, the memoir Erev Pesach, and donuts. Information: Ed Helitzer, (413) The Nazi Officer’s Wife by Edith Beer with Monday, April 10 ...... 7:11 p.m. 447-7622, daytime. Susan Dworkin. Ms. Dworkin will be in Pesach 1, Sundays, 10:30 a.m. (every seven weeks) attendance. Tuesday, April 11...... 8:20 p.m. – Congregation Ahavath Sholom’s “Bagels Thursdays at noon – Temple Anshe Amu- April 14...... 7:16 p.m. and Brainstorms.” Contact Guy Pancer, nim, “Adult B’nai Mitzvah Class,” with Pesach VI, [email protected] or (860) 435-2821 Esther Benari-Altmann. For people who Sunday, April 16...... 7:18 p.m. for topic and location. have always wanted to have a bar or bat mitzvah ceremony but never had one; have Pesach VII, Mondays (monthly) 5 to 7 p.m. – Discus- Monday, April 17...... 8:21 p.m. sion Communities at Hevreh presents The been looking for a nurturing and supportive April 21...... 7:24 p.m. Winter Film Series (Optional discussions group with which to learn about Jewish life and culture; have been looking forward to follow film at 7 p.m.). On April 3: The April 28...... 7:32 p.m. deepening a connection to Judaism. Read Band’s Visit: Winner of the 2007 Cannes May 5...... 7:39 p.m. Hebrew, chant from the Torah, craft divrei Film Festival Un Certain Regard prize. A May 12...... 7:47 p.m. fading Egyptian police band arrives in Israel Torah (sermons), and much more. Informa- to play at the Arab Cultural Center. When tion and registration: (413) 442-5910, ext. they take the wrong bus, the band members 12 or [email protected]. find themselves in a desolate Israeli village. Thursdays at 6:15 p.m. – “Conversational With no other option than to spend the Hebrew,” with Esther Benari-Altmann. Teens night with the local townspeople, the two and adults join together with an expert Israeli distinctly different cultures realize universal instructor to study Hebrew as it is spoken in We know why you’re here. bonds of love, music, and life. Facilitator: daily life. Topics will include: weather, food, Hinda Bodinger. Bring dinner, if you’d like. directions, shopping, restaurants, recipes And we’re here for the same reasons. Tuesdays, from 10 to 11:30 a.m. – Torah and much more. The ability to read Hebrew is Portion of the Week study group at Knesset required. Topics will include: weather, food, Israel, 16 Colt Road, Pittsfield. Facilitator directions, shopping, restaurants, recipes Myrna Hammerling guides the group and much more. The ability to read Hebrew The Berkshires. through the triennial cycle, year-round in the is required. Tuition: FREE for members, $100/ KI Library. Newcomers always welcome to non-members (10 sessions). Temple Anshe Amunim, 26 Broad Street, Pittsfield. Infor- More than a place. this gathering of students of diverse ages, It’s a way of life. backgrounds, and perspectives who search mation and registration: (413) 442-5910, ext. 12 or [email protected]. together to deepen understanding of our We get it. foundational text. Free. Information: (413) Fridays, last of month, time varies with 445-4872, ext. 16. candle lighting – Chabad of the Berkshires’ It’s a set of values, Tuesdays at 1:00 p.m. – “Beginner He- “Friday Night Live,” traditional Kabbalat experiences and brew” Learn to speak Hebrew from a native Shabbat service. Information: (413) 499- 9899 or visit www.jewishberkshires.com. qualities that shape Israeli with Esther Benari-Altmann at Temple your life. Anshe Amunim, 26 Broad Street, Pittsfield. Fridays, at 9:00 a.m. – Meditation with Open to the community at large. Registra- Rabbi Rachel Barenblat in the Congregation Your financial tion, full information: (413) 442-5910, ext. Beth Israel sanctuary, 53 Lois Street, North advisors should 12, or [email protected]. Adams, overlooking the Berkshire moun- embody these same Tuesdays at 6:15 p.m. at Temple Anshe tains. Silence, chanting, and meditation Amunim – “Reading Hebrew Through the designed to help prepare for Shabbat. All attributes. welcomed. Information: (413) 663-5830 Siddur,” with Esther Benari-Altmann. This It’s why we’re here. course will improve fluency in reading He- and www.cbiweb.org. brew. Special emphasis will be given to words Fridays, once a month at 5:30 p.m. We’re here with you. and prayers from the Siddur. Knowledge (followed by a family style Shabbat And for you.. of and comfort with Hebrew letters (and dinner at 6:30 p.m.) – Knesset Israel, 16 vowels) is required. Open to all members Colt Road, Pittsfield. Shirei Shabbat (“Songs of the community; free for TAA members, of Shabbat”). Unique service combines $50 fee for non-members. Registration, melodies from Carlebach, Debbie Friedman, To learn more, contact: full information: (413) 442-5910, ext. 12, and Camp Ramah to create a ruach filled or [email protected]. (“spirited”) family friendly experience. Cost Gary Schiff, Managing Director [email protected] Wednesdays, from 10:30 to 11:30 a.m. for dinner $18 per adult, $15 teens, $50 – Hevreh of Southern Berkshire, 270 State family maximum. Dinner reservations are Road, Great Barrington, offers “an hour due by the Monday before services. Full information: (413) 445-4872, ext 10. of morning stillness” with Nina Lipkowitz, 103 West Park Street a certified Kripalu Yoga Teacher. Donation Saturdays at 8:45 a.m. – Hevreh, 270 State Lee, MA 01238 of $10 is asked for from non-members. Road in Great Barrington. Every Shabbat T: (413) 243-4331 Information: (413) 528-6378. morning, gather in Rabbi Neil Hirsch’s study Wednesdays at Knesset Israel, “En- and dive into the less-often read books of the hanced Prayer Class for Adults” 10- Bible, currently the Book of Psalms. All are www.octobermountainfa.com welcome to begin the day with coffee while 11:30 a.m. – 16 Colt Road, Pittsfield, lower Member SEC, FINRA SiPC level chapel. What are we saying when we studying and relaxing on Shabbat. Sessions Page 26 Berkshire Jewish Voice • jewishberkshires.org March 28 to May 14, 2017

NEWS Finally, a book for Jews with Alzheimer’s By Lisa Keys

NEW YORK (JTA) — The book is large a man wearing tefillin, praying. The told JTA. “There and fits comfortably on a lap. The color sentences are in large print; they are are so many Jewish photographs nearly fill each page. simple (“Mother says the blessing over people in Jewish Each image depicts real people doing the candles”) and easy to read. nursing homes, and everyday Jewish things — a young girl But the book is not for young chil- Jewish families with eating matzah ball soup; a bubbe and dren learning how to read, nor is it for loved ones who have her grandchildren lying in the grass; parents to introduce Judaism to their dementia.” preschoolers. Sobel’s family is Rather it is designed for those among them. The suffering from dementia and author took in- Alzheimer’s disease, a progres- spiration from his sive type of dementia that causes mother, Manya, 93, a slow decline in thinking, a refugee who fled memory and reasoning. The book Nazi Germany and – a series of independent pic- has suffered from tures and captions – requires no Alzheimer’s for 17 memory to read and follow along, years. As her memory deteriorated, her it’s an important project for the Jewish allowing those with memory-loss language slowly disappeared with it, community.” issues to enjoy and engage with Sobel said. Eventually, a few years ago, For Sobel, having a Jewish-themed each image on its own terms. it seemed gone for good. follow-up to Blue Sky was a bit of a L’Chaim: Pictures to Evoke However, “One day I walk into the no-brainer. Memories of a Jewish Life, by living room, and she was thumbing “It seemed natural to me,” he said. Eliezer Sobel, is probably the through a magazine, reading the big “It’s who I am; who we are. Especially first book of its kind — a print headlines aloud, correctly,” he my mother, the history of her Holo- Jewish-themed book created recalled. “I said, ‘Omigod! Mom can still caust experience — it was a big part of

(WOJTEK GIL/RAINBOW RIDGE BOOKS) explicitly for adults with read!’” my growing up, how she and her family Alzheimer’s or dementia. Sobel, who lives in Red Bank, New got out, what they experienced.” An inside page of “L’Chaim! Pictures to Evoke “There’s such a richness to Jersey, said he headed to the local Sobel’s mother arrived in the U.S. Memories of Jewish Life” Jewish content and imagery and Barnes & Noble to get her a picture at age 14, shortly after Kristallnacht history and culture,” Sobel, 64, book for dementia patients. in 1938. Though she escaped Germa- “It seemed like the most obvious ny with her immediate family — her thing in the world,” he said. grandmother was left behind and Instead, he learned that such a died in a labor camp — she remained thing didn’t really exist. After unsuc- scarred by her experiences and raised cessful trips to bookstores and search- her kids to be wary of outsiders. es online, Sobel called the National “Fair Lawn, New Jersey, was kind Alzheimer’s Association. He said the of like ‘Leave It To Beaver’ — perfectly INTENTIONAL. librarian he spoke with on the phone safe and lots of Jewish families,” Sobel INDEPENDENT. was stumped at first — she said that said of his hometown in the New York Open House while there were more than 20,000 City suburbs. “But my mom kept an INSPIRED. books for caregivers, she didn’t know of axe under the bed when my dad wasn’t anything for the patients themselves. home.” Eventually the librarian turned up a The family kept kosher; they had Learn more about the few books for Alzheimer’s patients: Lyd- Friday night Shabbat dinners and So- school that intentionally ia Burdick has a series of three books bel attended synagogue on Saturdays Tuesday, April 4 balances a comprehensive, for adults with the disease, including with his father. challenging curriculum The Sunshine On My Face. In subse- “My mother’s idea of keeping Shab- 9-11am with the culture and spirit quent years a few more have appeared, bat was she didn’t clean the house; of the Berkshires. such as those by Emma Rose Sparrow. she’d do something she enjoyed,” he Still, the market for such products recalled. “We’d drive — but not past the is very small, even though some 5.8 rabbi’s house.” million Americans have Alzheimer’s, ac- Sobel said that while he and his cording to the Alzheimer’s Association. mother “were at loggerheads for a lot of Inspired, Sobel — a writer (previous my adult life,” when her Alzheimer’s set books include the novel Minyan: Ten in, she was released from her terrible Jewish Men in a World That is Heart- memories. broken) and leader of meditation and “It was almost a blessing to be creativity retreats — published his first around her; someone who radiated love book for adults with dementia, Blue and welcoming to everyone,” he said. Sky, White Clouds: A Book for Mem- “I was freed up to feel and express my ory-Challenged Adults in 2012. Like love for her, which had been bottled up L’Chaim, the book is a series of large since my teenage years.” color photographs of things like birds, The books, he said, seemed to pro- trees and babies with captions such vide her some comfort and — just as as “The baby is fast asleep” and “Snow important — entertainment. Sobel’s fa- covers the trees.” ther, Max, took care of his mother until “If patients see the pictures, say he fell and suffered a traumatic brain the names of the pictures, make some injury himself three years ago, on their comments or are in any way affect- 67th wedding anniversary. (He died in ed by the books, that’s a good thing, November.) period,” David Teplow, a professor of “I watched my father, tearing his neurology at UCLA, told JTA. (Teplow hair out, looking for things to do with provided a blurb for Blue Sky: “It cer- her,” Sobel said. “There are so few re- NOW tainly appears to be necessary to fill a sources for that. ENROLLING void in this area of publishing, namely “If she enjoyed being with the book Preschool through the realistic representation of images in the moment, we could do it again and ideas for people with memory and the next day, or the next hour. We Grade 9 To register, visit www.berkshirecountryday.org/events cognitive impairment.”) could read it 100 times — it never got Plus, Teplow added, “There are lot old.” 413.637.0755 x116 [email protected] of Jewish people who have Alzheimer’s 55 Interlaken Rd (Route 183), Stockbridge, MA disease and other dementias. Certainly

(413) 528-9700

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‘JUDAISMS,’ continued from page 24 in Fez, Morocco, on his way to getting open-mindedness can be frustrat- a master’s degree in theological stud- ing and even threatening to those ies from Harvard and a doctorate in who prefer strict criteria for belong- comparative religion at the University ing. “Just putting an ‘S’ at the end of of California, Santa Barbara. “That Judaism can be very disruptive for started opening up my eyes to the people because they do have some sort Ashkenazi-centric perspective of what of concrete notion of what a Jew is,” it means to be a Jew,” he recalled. he said. “In reality, it is much, much, All those experiences led him to much more messy and complicated think less about Jewish boundaries than that.” and more about Jewish possibilities. Theory will one day meet practice, This “I’ve come to accept to some degree, he realizes, especially as a father rais- what does it matter what I think if the ing two Jewish children. He and his person across from me thinks that wife, Rabbi Laurie Hahn Tapper, the they’re a Jew? Their identity is critical director of Jewish studies and school to them and has everything to do with rabbi at the Yavneh Day School in Los their meaning as a person. Ultimately I Gatos, CA, have two children, 6 and 9. Passover, am not making institutional decisions, “When my kids want to pair off – so I can be open-minded about that that’s when I would have to answer, stuff.” would I accept so and so as really Jew- Hahn Tapper knows that such ish?” said Hahn Tapper. Earliest Reference to Jerusalem Invest in the Found in Rare Ancient Papyrus By Sam Sokol/JNS.org JERUSALEM- Archaeologists recent- tal of the kingdom” at the time, it’s Promised ly unveiled a 2,700-year-old papyrus impossible to tell which specific king fragment, described as “the earliest ex- – Menashe, Amon and Josiah all ruled tra-biblical source to mention Jerusa- Jerusalem at that time – was the recip- lem in Hebrew writing” said the Israel ient of the wine, he said. Antiquities Authority (IAA). The find is one of only two original The find, which dates to the seventh documents from that period referenc- century BCE, was written at the end of ing Jerusalem as the capital city of the Land. the First Temple period. It was recov- ered by the IAA after being plundered by antiquities thieves from a cave in the Judean Desert. The fragment is a rare and original shipping invoice from the time of the Kingdom of Judah. It describes “the status of the sender of the shipment (the king’s maidservant), the name of the settlement from which the ship- ment was dispatched (Na’arat), the contents of the vessels (wine), their number or amount (jars) and their PHOTO: SHAI HALEVI, COURTESY THE IAA. PHOTO: SHAI HALEVI, COURTESY destination (Jerusalem),” the IAA said The rare document is preserved in the in a statement. Israel Antiquities Authority’s Dead Sea N’aratah on the parchment ref- Scrolls lab. INVEST IN erences the biblical city of Na’arot, described in the Book of Joshua as on kingdom. Also it highlights the “un- the border between the tribal territories usual status of a woman in the admin- of Ephraim and Benjamin. istration of the Kingdom of Judah.” “The document represents extreme- said biblical scholar professor Shmuel ISRAEL BONDS ly rare evidence of the existence of an Ahituv. organized administration in the King- Israeli officials linked the papyrus dom of Judah,” said Dr. Eitan Klein, fragment discovery with current events. israelbonds.com deputy director of the IAA’s Unit for the Israel’s Minister of Culture and Sport Prevention of Antiquities Robbery. Miri Regev calling it “further tangible While the fragment’s discovery evidence that Jerusalem was and will serves to “underscores the centrality remain the eternal capital of the Jew- of Jerusalem as the economic capi- ish people.”

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and Joshua Bloom joined the American steering committee. Last spring, the Federa- tion brought Israeli chefs to the Berkshires for hands-on cooking demonstrations at the Gateways Inn in Lenox and at local religious schools. In June, four Jewish and Arab artists from the Olive Tree project shared their experiences of how 40 women from Afula and surrounding Arab villages came together for a year-long art program. Over 450 people from the Berkshire community had a chance to view their Berkshire Photo by Halima Ibrahim Museum exhibition, which was attended as well by local LENOX – On Monday, May 8 Berkshires with the other two leaders and Yehuda Yaakov, and Tuesday, May 9, the photographers. Consul General of Israel to Jewish Federation of the A slide show of images New England. Berkshires will host “Dialogue taken during their tour will Overall, P2G connects Through the Lens,” welcoming also be on display at the exhi- 450 Jewish and Israeli com- four photographers from Say- bition in Lenox. Those inter- munities in 46 city-to-city dim Yachad le’Atid Mishutaf ested in joining one of these and region-to-region partner- (“Marching Together to a tours should contact the Marching Together ships, engaging more than Shared Future”) a civil, social, Federation directly at (413) 350,000 participants each volunteer, non-party- 442-4360, ext. 10. Space is year in meaningful ongoing affiliated movement whose limited, and will be offered on Peoplehood Platform linking is a steering committee that connections between Israelis goal is to promote Arabs and a first come/first served basis. global Jewish communities to includes US members from and Jews around the world Jews living together in the Additional programs are in those in Israel. these communities, along with through unique programs and State of Israel. the works for the photogra- SNEC is composed of 11 the mayor of Afula and region- one-on-one encounters. These four photographers, phers to meet with local youth communities in Connecticut al leaders from the Afula- Members of the Berkshire Jewish and Arab, are coming and leaders of local multi-cul- and Massachusetts, each Gilboa region. Jewish community visiting to the Berkshires as part of tural advocacy organizations, represented by a local Federa- This year, Federation board Israel can reach out to P2G the Federation’s participa- as well as studio visits with tion. Running the partnership members Amy Lindner-Lesser staff in Israel to arrange site tion in the Jewish Agency’s professional photographers in visits and explore additional Partnership2gether program, the region. opportunities, and can request which in 2016 established a use of the Partnership Guest link between the Berkshire Marching Together to a House, located at Kibbutz Jewish community and the Shared Future Yizrael, free of charge for up to residents of the Afula-Gilboa Established in 2014, two nights. These guest rooms region of Northern Israel. Marching Together to a are available for individuals The Berkshire community Shared Future is an Israeli and community groups visit- will have two opportunities to NGO whose goal is to promote ing Israel from the Berkshires interact with our guests – at coexistence between Jews and who would like to visit the a Lenox exhibit of their work, Arabs in the State of Israel. region and learn more about and in separate photo shoot Through community meet- the social service programs tours hosted by local photog- ings, advocacy, and cultural our community supports. raphers in South and Central exchanges, the group works to Berkshire County. provide opportunities for Jews Members of the Saydim Yachad le’Atid Mishutaf photo club and Arabs to meet and express Gallery Exhibition their common goal for a demo- The community is invited to cratic state that works tire- a special photography exhib- lessly to advance and develop it and reception, “Dialogue the country for the benefit of Through the Lens,” to meet the all its citizens. photographers and view exam- Recently the group held ples of their work documenting a festive Tu Bishvat planting life in the Afula-Gilboa region, ceremony at the foot of the Gil- particularly at events promot- boa Mountain cliffs in collabo- ing coexistence and mutual ration with the Keren Kayemet understanding that are spon- Le’Yisrael – Jewish National sored by Marching Together to Fund, under the theme of co- a Shared Future. existence and mutual respect. The exhibition and Collaboration with KKL-JNF reception will be on held on was the result of a desire to Monday, May 8 from 5:30- connect the multicultural 7:30 p.m. at Charles Flint Afula-Gilboa community to Fine Art and Antiques Gal- each other, and to the environ- lery, located at 52 Housatonic ment they all share. Street in Lenox. This event is The photography club, free and open to the public. which boasts more than 40 members, is just one of many Local Photography Tour examples of how the organiza- Berkshires photography tion brings Arabs and Jews to- enthusiasts are also invited to gether to find common ground join our Israeli guests for one and express their values of of two photo shoot tours of the mutual respect, cooperation, Berkshires during their stay in and tolerance. our community, on the morn- ing of May 8. About Partnership2gether Charles Flint, owner of In March 2016, the Jewish Charles Flint Fine Art and Federation of the Berkshires Antiques Gallery, will accom- joined the Southern New pany two of the photographers England Consortium (SNEC) in exploring favorite spots community partnership with in the Central and Northern the city of Afula and the Gilboa Berkshires, while Larry Fran- Regional Council in northern kel of Larry Frankel Photogra- Israel’s Jezreel Valley. Active phy (featured on the cover of since 1995, SNEC is part of February’s BJV) will tour the the Jewish Agency for Israel’s hidden gems of the Southern Partnership2gether (P2G)