Published by the Jewish Community of Louisville, Inc. www.jewishlouisville.org INSIDE Budapest women tout Hungarian Jewish life STORY ON PG. 2 Campaign kicks off STORY ON PG. 9 Community■ ■ FRIDAY VOL. 42, NO. 14 6 KISLEV 5778 NOVEMBER 24, 2017 New Roots receives $145K in grants Food justice NPO to use fresh funds for Fresh Stop expansion By Lee Chottiner Community Editor Flush with cash from two major grants within the past 30 days, New Roots, the Louisville-based nonprofit dedicated to food justice for all neighborhoods, is eye- ing an expansion of its Fresh Stop Mar- kets and training leaders to run and pro- mote them. New Roots has received a $100,000 grant from the Humana Foundation and a $45,000 grant from the Jewish Heritage Fund for Excellence (JHFE). “We really believe in what New Roots is trying to accomplish,” JHFE Execu- tive Director Jeff Polson said. “It goes so well with promoting Jewish values and, quite frankly, we were impressed with the results they were able to obtain in one year.” The Humana Foundation could not be reached for comment. Karyn Moskowitz, New Roots founder Organic onions on sale at one of the first Fresh Stop Markets at The J in 2016. The Fresh Stop Market network, which is a project of the NPO New Roots, continues to grow. It has just received two large grants from the Humana Foundation and Jewish Heritage Fund for Excellence to sup- See NEW ROOTS on page 27 port its expansion. (Community photo) Litvin, rabbis, senators mark return of historic Talmud text By Lee Chottiner in Russia. Community Editor The book mysteriously found its way to an Israeli auction house where it was When a man falls into an ocean, The about to be sold two weeks ago. But a Mishna teaches, it is forbidden to lose series of interventions, including a U.S. hope of seeing him alive again – even if court order, prevented the sale and in- there’s no sign of land. stead succeeded in sending the text to Rabbi Avrohom Litvin taught that mi- the states. drash to Sen. Mitch McConnell on No- How the book got to Israel is still un- vember 8 in Washington, reading the der investigation, but it is valuable, con- passage from a 155-year-old volume of taining hand-written corrections by the Talmud Yevamot that had once belonged rebbe himself and his official stamp. The to the fourth Chabad-Lubavitch Rebbe, auction house planned to start the bid- Shmuel Schneerson. ding at $10,000. “Even if there’s no shore, you don’t David Friedman, the U.S. ambassa- give up that he’s alive,” Litvin said, “and dor to Israel, formally received the book we didn’t give up on this book.” in Israel. It was presented to Chabad- Litvin joined a group of Chabad rabbis Lubavitch Headquarters in Brooklyn, in Washington to mark the return of the New York, on Sunday, November 19. Lit- historic text, long held by the Russian vin was present for the ceremony. government along with the rest of the McConnell, along with Senators Chuck late rebbe’s 12,000-volume library, called Schumer (D-New York), Orrin Hatch (R- the Schneerson Collection. Rabbi Avrohom Litvin shows a volume of Talmud that once belonged to the fourth Chabad- Utah) all received visits from the Chabad-Lubavitch Chasidism started Lubavitch rebbe to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell. (photo provided by Chabad) See LITVIN on page 27 Chanukah Section See pg. 18-19 2 Community Y NOVEMBER 24, 2017 Y 6 KISLEV 5778 Showcase Jew-dapest Young Budapest leaders describe ‘Jewish renaissance’ in their city By Lee Chottiner attracts hundreds of kids, and an orga- Community Editor nization, the Chaver Foundation, sends Jewish speakers into schools to dispel Sara Ozorai and Hedi Pusztai stood false notions about Jews. before the capacity crowd in The J’s She has caught the Jewish fever, too. Patio Gallery, going on about the hap- In fact, she’s returning to Israel next pening nightlife in the Budapest Jewish summer to spend five months on Kib- Quarter and the programs, camps and butz Harduf near Haifa and to work as a schools that engage young Hungarian madricha (counselor or guide). Jews with their faith. “It’s our generation that has the chance It was hard to believe at times that to start something new,” Ozorai said. these two young – and Jewishly com- One thing neither woman discussed mitted – women were talking about was the changing political climate in the same Hungary that lost more than Hungary, which observers say has be- 400,000 Jews in the Holocaust and saw come increasingly xenophobic and anti- the remnant of its community driven Semitic. When asked, Pusztai used the underground by four decades of com- word “scary” to describe some of the munist rule. things she has seen or heard, but both But that was precisely their point. women made it clear that they didn’t feel Pusztai, 31, a project coordinator for threatened living there. Partnership2Gether in Budapest, and Sitting in the audience were some Ozorai, 28, one of the community’s ac- Jews who had their own Hungarian con- tive lay leaders, wanted to project a new nections. face for Hungarian Jewry – young, vigor- Frank Schwartz fled Hungary in 1956, ous and looking to the future. following the 10-day revolution. He lis- “The Holocaust happened; of course, tened to the women, taking notes as we have to remember that,” Ozorai said. they spoke. Afterwards, he said he found “but for the young generation, we have what they said “very interesting,” but he to make sure this is not the first thing wondered if the Jewish community has they have in mind.” made any effort to reach out to anti-Se- Ozorai and Pusztai’s program Sunday, mitic elements in the country, perhaps November 5, “Jew-dapest: Then and- Sara Ozorai (right), a Jewish activist from Budapest, Hungary, listens to guests following her November 5 presentation debunking their notions about Jews. Now,” was part of their five-city speak- on Hungarian Jewish life at The J. Ozorai and her colleague, Hedi Pusztai, were on a five-city tour, sponsored by Partner- ing tour to Partnership2Gether commu- ship2Gether, to talk about the revitalization of Jewish life in Eastern Europe. (photos by Lee Chottiner) nities in Kentucky, Indiana and Ohio. Partnership2Gether is a program that fore then, she had virtually no contact commemorates those killed by an ex- connects Jewish communities in the Di- with it. ecution squad of the Arrow Cross, Hun- aspora with areas in Israel, primarily in “I always knew we were Jewish,” she gary’s fascist party. The victims were or- the Negev and Galilee, building commu- said, “but I couldn’t talk about it when dered to take off their shoes on the edge nity and leadership. Louisville is part- we were not at home.” of the Danube River, then they were shot nered with Akko. That changed when, at age 23, she at the water’s edge. Their bodies fell into Megan Maurer, co-chair of Partner- learned about Birthright. Nervous that the river and were carried away. The me- ship2Gether’s Budapest Task Force, who she wasn’t Jewish enough to participate, morial depicts their shoes left behind on introduced the women, said the purpose she nevertheless took her first trip to Is- the bank. of the visit here was to raise awareness rael. “[They] were killed by Hungarians,” about the work Partnership2Gether is “I came back a different person,” she Pusztai said, “not even Nazis.” doing, which includes cultivating Jewish said. “I went there as a young Hungarian After the war, the surviving Jews in life in Budapest. girl looking for her identity. I came back Budapest – communities elsewhere in “Budapest today is exciting and engag- as a Jew.” the country were virtually wiped out ing,” Maurer said, “bringing Judaism to She eventually made aliyah and spent – buried their Jewish pasts. Many told the old generation and for the future.” a couple of years in the country. Back in their kids they were Jews only after com- Budapest is indeed a success story. Budapest, she is now an education coor- munism fell in 1989. Home to approximately 100,000 Jews, it dinator, working to transmit her experi- “People from our generation didn’t is the largest Jewish community in Eu- ence to others. know anything about their Jewish roots, rope, with 22 active synagogues, schools, She described what is happening in Pusztai said. “That’s what we’re trying to a JCC, kosher bistros and butchers. It Budapest today as a “Jewish Renais- change now.” also sends about 250 Jews to Israel each sance,” but she’s mindful of the ashes For Ozorai, who was born the same year on Birthright/Taglit trips. from which this renaissance is rising. year communism ended, Birthright also Many of its young Jews are just now In a slide show of Jewish Budapest, became her gateway to Judaism. discovering their identity. she directed the crowd’s attention to a She described how Jewish festivals Pusztai has worked for the Budapest slide of the city’s Holocaust Memorial, have sprung up in her country. Jewish Hedi Pusztai (left) and Gila Glattstein share a moment Jewish community for nine years. Be- “Shoes on the Danube Bank,” which schools have opened. A Jewish camp following the presentation. NOVEMBER 24, 2017 Y 6 KISLEV 5778 Y Community 3 MORE LOCATIONS. MORE PEACE OF MIND. At KentuckyOne Health, we are devoted to providing expert, compassionate care and support for breast care.