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Vol. 99, No.24 50 Cents Per Issue February 25, 2021 • 13 Adar, 5781 MEMPHIS, TENNESEE In a Texas battered by cold, Jewish communities join a desperately needed response By Andrew Lapin NEW YORK (JTA) — One year ago, Dallas’s Jewish com- munity convened a “health crisis management team” to coordinate the local response to the brand- new COVID-19 pandemic. Now the community has repur- posed the team, consisting of rab- bis from each denomination and House impeachment managers proceed through the Capitol the CEOs of local Jewish agencies, Rotunda on February 9, 2021. Credit: Sarah Silbiger/Getty Images to take on a very different kind of crisis: the unfolding effects of an unusual winter storm that has Republican official deletes comment suggesting crippled large swaths of Texas and left millions of people without Kosher Palate, a kosher restaurant in Dallas, prepares thousands Trump’s trial was less fair than Nazi show trials reliable access to heat, electricity of free hot meals to serve to Orthodox families affected by power outages By Ben Sales actual criminals, unlike the current or clean water. during Winter Storm Uri, Feb. 17, 2021. WASHINGTON (JTA) — A debacle.” So far, the group has gotten Courtesy of Jewish Federation of Greater Dallas member of the Republican Na- In the show trials, Nazi pros- aid to seniors and people without tional Committee from Virginia ecutors tried people accused of electricity. Synagogues and their 2019, a Category 3 tornado struck morning, February 18, as he joined has deleted a Facebook comment political offenses; virtually all congregants are offering shelter Dallas, bringing more property apparently suggesting that Nazi many Texans in asking why the were convicted, most receiving to those without power. And the damage to Jewish communities. state’s energy grid was not pre- show trials were fairer than the death sentences. The Senate on Jewish Federation of Greater Dal- And of course the pandemic has recent Senate trial of former Presi- pared for sub-zero temperatures. Saturday, February 13, acquitted las partnered with Kosher Palate, a challenged every aspect of Jewish “It’s too much to ask of anybody. dent Donald Trump. Trump in his impeachment trial. local kosher restaurant, to deliver and communal life. A top Republican Jewish leader People are angry and confused and Denver Riggleman, a former thousands of meals to Jews without The toll of the latest disaster — frustrated, and I am, too.” called the comment “outrageous Republican congressman from power — a project the restaurant rare in a state with a generally tem- and indefensible” before Patricia For many, the anger is being Virginia who has been an outspo- began on its own and accelerated perate winter climate — is still tak- driven by what they perceive as Bast Lyman, the Republican com- ken critic of anti-Semitism, called with the federation’s aid. ing shape. As of Thursday morn- mitteewoman, apologized and said a lackluster response by state out the comment as “virulently an- “I keep saying this is what ing, February 18, nearly 500,000 leaders. Former governor Rick she had been misinterpreted. ti-Semitic.” (In his Twitter thread, Federation was built for,” said homes and businesses remained Lyman was commenting on a Perry suggested that Texans would Riggleman initially mistook the Mariam Shpeen Feist, the group’s without power, with large swaths prefer a few days without heat to Facebook post from another Vir- comment to be about the Nurem- president and CEO. “We were built of the state’s grid remaining down. ginia Republican official, Steve federal intervention in their power berg Trials, in which Nazis were to respond to crisis.” Hospitals are running out of water. system, and Sen. Ted Cruz flew to Knotts, which appears to also have the defendants, not the prosecu- Texas is home to around Some 7 million residents are under been deleted. In her comment, Ly- Cancun for a planned vacation on tors, before correcting himself.) 130,000 Jews, the majority lo- a boil-water advisory. At least 30 Wednesday night, February 17, in man wrote, “At least some of those So did the Teenage Republican cated in the Dallas and Houston deaths linked to the storm have tried by the Nazis may have been (See Trial Page 2) the Mexican resort city. Both are areas. The state, and its Jewish been reported. And residents are Republicans. population, has experienced no burning furniture to stay warm, Jewish communities, like oth- shortage of recent crises. In 2017, according to reports. ers across the state, are taking steps In Holland, a Torah scroll returns Hurricane Harvey decimated the Meanwhile, another storm is to address their own needs. In Dal- Houston area, flooding thousands on the way. las, one of the region’s two Jewish to Jewish hands 80 years after it of Jewish homes and causing mil- “It’s pretty dire in the city right senior living centers lost both its lions of dollars in catastrophic now,” Steven Adler, the Jewish main power and backup generator, was hidden from the Nazis damage to several synagogues mayor of Austin, the state capital, forcing the staff to quickly relocate By Cnaan Liphshiz man of the Jewish Community of and other Jewish institutions. In told a local TV station on Thursday (See Texas Page 2) AMSTERDAM (JTA) — A Rotterdam, or NIG. Torah scroll that disappeared from The Pennings family from a Dutch synagogue following the Dordrecht kept it in storage for Nazi invasion into the Netherlands many years until one of the fam- ADL singles out Poland, Hungary, Russia has been rediscovered 80 years ily members mentioned to a local later and returned to the Jewish historian, Kees Weltevrede, that and British Labour Party in Europe anti-Semitism report community.The scroll, which ap- she has a Torah scroll of unknown By Cnaan Liphshiz longstanding antisemitic tropes. what it called the government pears to be intact and has been kept origins in her home. Weltevrede NEW YORK (JTA) — Authori- Juxtaposing ‘Polish’ and ‘Jew- campaign to “demonize George in excellent condition since World approached NIG, whose members ties in Poland, Russia, Hungary ish’ in this manner sends a signal Soros,” a liberal Jewish billionaire War II, belonged to a synagogue in were excited about this find. and some lawmakers in Britain’s that Jews in Poland are somehow who was born in Hungary and is the southern city of Dordrecht, ac- “For decades no one knew Labour Party used anti-Semitism not real Poles. Mr. Kaczynski’s funding causes that run contrary cording to Chris den Hoedt, chair- (See Scroll Page 2) for political means, according to statement implies that being a to the policies of the right-wing the Anti-Defamation League’s true Pole – as an identity – means prime minister, Viktor Orban. anti-Semitism report on Europe not accepting Jewish restitution One of those causes concerns published Thursday, February 18. claims. And, by extension, that the arrival of immigrants from the In Poland, presidential candi- being Polish means opposing those Middle East and Africa to Europe, date Rafal Trzaskowski was the Jewish claims.” which Orban opposes and Soros target of “antisemitic rhetoric” The ADL report did say that actively supports. In 2017, the this summer during an election Kaczynski’s remarks and others Hungarian government launched a in which he lost to the incumbent “proved a source of concern for billboard campaign against Soros Andrzej Duda of the right-wing many” both in Poland and abroad. featuring pictures of the business- Law and Justice party, ADL wrote In Hungary, the report noted (See Report Page 2) in the report titled “Choosing An- tisemitism: Instrumentalization and Tolerance of Antisemitism in Contemporary European Politics.” The report noted that Law and Justice’s leader, Jaroslaw Kaczyn- The lost Torah scroll of Dordrecht, the Netherlands, was kept in ski, said in a television interview good condition by a family. Courtesy of NIG that Trzaskowski is “without a Polish soul, a Polish heart and a Polish mind” for allegedly agree- ing to review restitution claims for Jewish property lost during or after the Holocaust. Trzaskowski is not Jewish. The report did not call the remark specifically anti-Semitic. Asked whether ADL considers This 2017 billboard in Budapest was part of a Hungarian Kaczynski’s statememt anti-Se- government campaign to “demonize George Soros,” the report said. mitic, an ADL spokesperson said: Credit: Attila Kisbenedek/AFP/Getty Images “His remarks certainly play into Page 2 THE HEBREW WATCHMAN Thursday, February February 25, 2021

Report... Jewish communities warned that Soros as policy-based and legiti- port, adding, “The most convinc- example of how antisemitic rheto- (Continued From Page 1) the campaign risks emboldening mate. ing answer is that the campaign ric surrounding Israel and Zionism anti-Semites, adding that Orban is But “Orban’s decision to target was premised on the receptiveness and other forms of antisemitism man and philanthropist smiling “not an anti-Semite.” The EMIH an American Jew rather than Euro- to antisemitic stereotypes in the were tolerated within a major and titled “don’t let him have the federation of Jewish communities pean Union officials with authority Hungarian public.” political party to accommodate a last laugh.” in Hungary disputed Mazsihisz’s over EU immigration policy raises On Russia, the report states that radical component of the party.” The Mazsihisz federation of warning, describing criticism of questions,” ADL wrote in the re- the country under President Vladi- As the party’s ranks swelled, mir Putin weaponizedanti-Semitism “incidents of anti-Semitic rhetoric Texas... by exaggerating its prevalence in and harassment by these new mem- live in areas that have avoided the bar mitzvah, the Robinson house- Ukraine, with which Russia has bers steadily rose,” with Corbyn (Continued From Page 1) worst of the outages, although the hold lost power, too. With the had a territorial dispute since 2014. doing little to stop it, ADL wrote. residents to the area’s other senior lack of reliable cellphone service sudden drop in temperature, Sam’s Some Jewish groups in Ukraine, Corbyn had denied allegations of center — fortunately it had spare and other communication issues mother, Rachel, also found a use including the Ukrainian Jewish anti-Semitism and the perceived room, having just recently opened. all week has prevented response for the many hats, scarves and Committee, say that anti-Semitism failures to punish those for what ap- Two Orthodox Jewish-run teams from drawing a clear picture. blankets she had taken to knitting there has exploded following peared to critics as anti-Semitic hate emergency response units, Hatza- But challenges still lie ahead, as in her spare time since the start the 2014 conflict, along with the speech, defending the work of his lah of Dallas and the newly formed the Houston area, like much of of COVID. Rachel added that the phenomenon of honoring Nazi party’s ethics panel as impartial and Texas Chaverim, both founded by Texas, has fallen under a boil-water Robinson family may find them- collaborators, including in parades holding to the highest standards. a local resident, Baruch Shawel, advisory. Many frozen pipes are selves dipping into their year-old featuring SS uniforms. perceived failures to punish sent out patrolsto assist residents expected to burst when they thaw. supply of Passover matzah if they But “Russian accusations that perpetrators of anti-Semitic hate with dead car batteries, medical “Training makes you better, are unable to cook. Ukraine is an antisemitic country speech within the party was the emergencies and other issues. and there’s really no way to train “It certainly kept us on our have also led to the politicization result of the thorough work of its “It’s been pretty wild out here,” through a disaster until you’ve toes, tested our resiliency,” Sam’s of the debate about antisemi- independent ethics body. Hannah Lebovits, a professor at the lived through it,” Fisherman said. father, Alex, said. He thanked his tism within the Ukrainian Jewish His successor, Keir Starmer, a University of Texas-Arlington who Nevertheless, she added, “I’m congregation for its flexibility in community,” ADL wrote. “Some centrist, has condemned Corbyn and lives in an Orthodox community looking forward to a really boring putting on the event. leaders have claimed that raising briefly suspended the former party in north Dallas, said of the rolling job in the future.” Sam said he’s “still salty about concerns about antisemitism in leader, allegedly for downplaying blackouts, which accompany other Houston’s Jewish community not getting three Torahs,” but he’s Ukraine is an act of support for the the party’s anti-Semitism problem. problems like loss of heat and water has also helped the city’s broader happy with how his bar mitz- Russian disinformation campaign.” The United Kingdom “provides pressure. “Thankfully in the Jewish response when it comes to the CO- vah went. “Wow, this week was On Labour, ADL wrote that its the best example of the risk and community, very often we quickly VID vaccine. Power outages have weird,” he said. leadership by Jeremy Corbyn, a potential severe consequences of create our own mutual aid systems.” affected statewide distribution of Agudas Achim’s leader, Rabbi far-left politician whose four-year antisemitism in politics, even in Still, Lebovits said, “It shouldn’t the vaccine, which needs to be kept Neil Blumofe, wrote on Facebook stint as head of the opposition end- democratic regimes,” ADL wrote. be Chaverim doing that. It should at freezing temperatures until it’s Thursday morning, February 18, ed last year, “provides the clearest “An antisemite became the leader be the city of Dallas knocking on ready to be used. In response to a that conditions in Austin remained of a major party and created a wel- my door and checking on me.” sudden urgent need last week to dis- difficult, even as his own power come space for antisemitism. Had In Houston, too, Jewish lead- tribute doses of the vaccine, United had returned after more than 50 Scroll... he become Prime Minister, the ers are leaning on coordination Orthodox Synagogues in Houston hours. “While this crisis will (Continued From Page 1) British Jewish community would groundwork laid long before the quickly offered its building as a eventually pass, we will not forget have been suffered a major blow unusual cold snap set in. Trau- vaccination center, and successfully the misery of these past few days what happened to the scroll in Dordrecht, it was simply presumed with unprecedented emigration matized by the patchwork Jewish orchestrated 350 doses to the com- — how some in our community linked to that event.” response to Hurricane Harvey’s munity in a manner of hours. are fully possessed by hesed and lost, like so many other religious devastating floods, the Jewish Amid the challenges of the mo- how others lead with indifference artifacts lost in the Holocaust,” Federation of Greater Houston ment, Jewish life for some Texans and callow self-interest,” Blumofe he said. Trial... The Pennings said they’re don’t had convened the Jewish Response has found a way to continue. In wrote, using the Hebrew word for (Continued From Page 1) and Action Network in early 2020, Austin, Sam Robinson became a kindness to those in need. know how they came to possess even before the pandemic. bar mitzvah just recently. In Dallas, Rabbi Shira Wallach the Torah scroll, which they gave Federation of Virginia, which “After Harvey, each shul made The family had already made of Congregation Shearith Israel, a to NIG last week, den Hoedt told wrote that it was “disheartened its own response. They made their plans to conduct the service over Conservative synagogue, dug into the Jewish Telegraphic Agency. and disgusted” by the comment, own food. It wasn’t coordinated,” Zoom due to COVID, but found her supply of Shabbat and yah- Rotterdam is fewer than 20 miles adding, “There is no place for said Jackie Fisherman, the net- that they still had to scramble last rzeit candles to keep her family’s from Dordrecht. anti-Semitism, racism, or bigotry work’s director and the Houston minute to meet the challenges of household warm when their power After synagogues were shut in the #GOP.” federation’s director of govern- the moment when their synagogue, went out. She said the couple’s two down by the Nazi occupation of And Republican Jewish Co- ment affairs. “We thought there Congregation Agudas Achim, daughters, aged 1 and 5, instinc- the Netherlands in 1940, the scroll, alition Executive Director Matt must be a better way.” lost power and had to contend tively covered their faces, thinking and several others, were kept by Brooks also condemned the com- Last week, the Houston fed- with an iced-over parking lot that it was time to recite the blessings. Meijer Michiel Cohen, a local Jew ment, tweeting that it comment eration has taken steps to mitigate prevented them from even getting That moment provided levity who owned a metal factory. He was “outrageous and indefen- the impact of the winter storm on close enough to the building to during a challenging time — one sible.” He then tweetedthat he survived the Holocaust but was reached out to Lyman and she greater Houston’s Jewish com- handle the Torahs. that Wallach’s husband and fellow severely traumatized. munity, which numbers around Instead of reading from three rabbi, Adam Roffman, said was “was very apologetic, contrite and Another tradesman, Aart Be- genuinely upset by the impression 55,000 and skews older. The of the congregation’s Torahs from appropriate for this moment on the zemer, bought the factory from group has helped procure fuel for the bimah, as he had been planning Jewish calendar. Purim, a festive her comments caused.” Cohen. He gave the scroll to Kees After deleting the comment, a backup generator at an assisted to do to correspond with Rosh Ch- holiday in which celebrations are Pennings, a respected teacher from living facility, been part of the dis- odesh and Shabbat Shekalim, Sam supposed to give a sense of topsy- Lyman wrote on Facebook that she Dordrecht, who died in 2001. His has “always stood unequivocally tribution of 10,000 water bottles to had to perform the service from his turviness, begins this week — when widow, Tineke, told the historian the community and assisted a few house, reading off of photos of the the temperature is forecast to climb with Israel and the Jewish people, about the scroll, leading to its re- and I’ve been privileged to spend individuals in need of electricity Torah portions his dad had taken to a more typical 70 degrees. turn to Jewish hands. secure generators from the city on his phone. “Here we are in Dallas, Texas,” nearly 20 years representing those Of the hundreds of Jews who fleeing persecution for their faith — while continuing to work with “All our plans, we basically had Roffman said. “The rest of the lived in Dordrecht, only about 60 local Jewish leaders on an ongoing to scrap them and frantically get country’s laughing at us because around the world.” survived the Holocaust, according “I am horrified that my com- COVID response plan. the house ready,” Sam said. “We we’re the energy producer capital to an article published Thursday, Some on the ground in Houston, did it on the dining room table. of the country and we have no heat ment would be seen as diminishing February 18, in the AD daily the memory of those millions who including representatives of the We just shoved everything off it.” or power. That’s a pretty Purim- about the Torah scroll. The com- federation, say many Houston Jews Less than 24 hours after Sam’s type situation.” perished solely because they were munity ceased to exist as such in Jewish,” she wrote. “That is not in the 1980s. my heart, has never been and never The scroll, which rolled out will be. I am truly sorry that any- measures about 45 yards, is being one for a moment believed there examined to determine whether was any ill-intent on my part.” it’s still usable for worship and The Jewish Telegraphic Agency whether it has any damage that has also sent a message to Knotts would require restoration. seeking comment.

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THE HEBREW WATCHMAN (USPS #807-360) is published weekly every Thursday for $25 per year by THE HEBREW WATCHMAN, PO Box 770846, Memphis, TN 38177-0846. Periodical postage paid at Memphis, Tenn. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to THE HEBREW WATCHMAN, PO Box 770846, Memphis, TN 38177-0846. Contents of THE HEBREW WATCMAN may not be reproduced without express permission of THE HEBREW WATCH- MAN. We are not responsible for the kashrut of any product or establishment advertised in THE HEBREW WATCHMAN. The opinions of contributors do not necessarily reflect those of THE HEBREW WATCHMAN. 2/25/2021. Thursday, February 25, 2021 THE HEBREW WATCHMAN Page 3 Rush Limbaugh, conservative radio fi rebrand who sharply divided American Jews, dies at 70 By Ron Kampeas I think that is what abortion has her daughter, Chelsea. NEW YORK (JTA) — Rush become.” Zev Chafets, a Jewish biog- Limbaugh, the conservative talk Limbaugh said “a feminazi is rapher who earned rare access to radio icon who helped polarize a woman, a feminist, to whom the Limbaugh for his 2010 book, “An American Jewry through both his most important thing in her life is Army of One,” said Limbaugh’s infl ammatory political rhetoric and seeing to it that all abortions pos- outsize infl uence and his friendli- his unabashed support of Israel, sible take place.” ness with Israel set an example has died. He wondered in 2010, when for other talk radio conservatives. Limbaugh was 70 when he Massachusetts elected a Repub- “He was very cautious about passed away Wednesday, Febru- lican to the Senate, whether the not saying anything disparaging ary 17, of lung cancer. He had state’s Jews turned on Obama American Jews as a collective fi rst announced the diagnosis in because the president’s economic ever,” Chafets said in an interview February 2020. recovery plan purportedly made Wednesday, February 17. “It was Starting in 1988, Limbaugh life miserable for “bankers.” The very important considering the hosted an eponymous radio show confl ation of Jews with money- possibilities of anti-Semitism on through which he trumpeted opin- the right that the biggest and most men drew the ire of the Anti- Rush Limbaugh looks on before introducing President Donald ions, vitriolic attacks and ideas Defamation League, but a number powerful voice in that community Trump at a rally in Cape Girardeau, Mo., Nov. 5, 2018. that would shape the modern of conservative Jewish groups over 30 years was very clearly Credit: Jim Watson/AFP via Getty Images Republican Party. His ardent pro- defended Limbaugh, citing his anything but an anti-Semite.” Israel views helped that strain of pro-Israel record. Limbaugh’s wariness of alien- and Limbaugh amplifi ed its writ- bestselling book in 1992 was policy become commonplace in “While one may agree or dis- ating Jews was shaped early on ings on his radio show, catapulting called “The Way Things Ought both parties. agree with Mr. Limbaugh’s views in his radio career. He described the site to a position of infl uence. to Be.” Limbaugh’s language, es- on many subjects, his outspoken the blowback he experienced on a “Thanks to Rush, my read- Trump, who last year awarded pecially on issues of race and support for Israel has been elo- panel in 1988. ership went from Average Joe Limbaugh the Medal of Freedom, gender, infuriated liberals. His quent, informed and undeniable,” “I said ‘Jewish lobby’ during Americans, both Jewish and gen- lauded his legacy in a statement. broader defense of a right-wing the groups said in a joint state- the presidential campaign,” he said tile, to include Capitol Hill pols “Rush was a patriot, a defender style of conservatism delighted ment. in video uncovered by BuzzFeed. and their staff; activists on the left of liberty, and someone who be- some conservatives, though by Limbaugh was not so inter- “There were Jewish groups that and right; newspaper editors and lieved in all of the greatness our no means all of them. In his ested in foreign policy, but was wanted me off the air!’ columnists; cable TV producers country stands for,” he said. words, a woman who lobbied for unabashedly pro-Israel, seeing the Jewish conservatives said lis- and hosts; and clergy of all faiths the inclusion of birth control in country as an ally against terror- tening to Limbaugh made them seeking an uncompromised Torah her university health care plan ism. In 2001, he urged the George aware that there was a world out- view on life and the world we live Home was a “slut.” Environmentalists W. Bush administration to allow side their liberal enclaves where in,” Jolkovsky said. were “wackos.” He once said Israel to crush its enemies, citing they could fi nd agreement with Limbaugh’s success anticipated For Sale? the National Football League, America’s own suffering follow- their views. Joel Pollak, an editor the presidency of Donald Trump whose players are majority Black, ing the 9/11 attacks that year. at the right-wing news site Breit- in its embrace of the homespun ADVERTISE HERE “all too often looks like a game “Bush is right about ‘defeating’ bart News, said on Twitter that a conservative orthodoxies of an between the Bloods and the the Taliban, al Qaeda and other ter- counselor at a Jewish youth group idealized American past. His fi rst CALL 763-2215 Crips without any weapons.” He rorist networks,” Limbaugh wrote helped turn him on to Limbaugh. mocked former President Barack at the time. “It is, therefore, neces- Binyamin Jolkovsky wrote last Obama as a “magic Negro.” sary that in the pursuit of real and year in Mishpacha that in 1991, His rhetoric occasionally lasting peace, Israel also be free he decamped home like many strayed into territory that offended to destroy its enemies — meaning other Americans living in Israel Jews: In 1992, in an appearance at the terrorists and, yes, their spon- while it was under attack by Iraq. New York’s 92nd Street Y, a Jew- sors, who are at war with her, and Jolkovsky recalled that he and ish venue, Limbaugh defended his that she do so before they obtain his fellow students at a Brooklyn coinage of the term “feminazi” to devastating weapons of mass de- yeshiva would gather around a describe some feminists against struction.” boombox at lunch to listen to charges that it diminished the Those postures helped make Limbaugh. Holocaust. Limbaugh friends in the Jew- “At a time when the Middle “I happen to be pro-life,” he ish establishment. He attended East’s only democracy was under said. “I happen to think life is the wedding of the daughter of attack, Mr. Limbaugh was one of the most sacrosanct thing on the Malcolm Hoenlein, the executive the few media voices passionately planet, human life. I think that if vice chairman of the Conference defending the Jewish state we’d we cheapen it, or devalue it in any of Presidents of Major American just been forced to fl ee,” he said. way, then other societal ills result. I Jewish Organizations, where he A few years later Jolkovsky do not think it is wise for a society apologized to then-Sen. Hillary founded the right-wing Jewish to kill for convenience sake, and Clinton for mocking the looks of news site Jewish World Review,

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Offi ce: 901-756-8900 Cell: (901) 569-5919 Life Member, Multi-Million Dollar Club O- (901)682-1868 C- (901)483-0546 [email protected] Memphis Area Association of Realtors [email protected] Page 4 THE HEBREW WATCHMAN Thursday, February February 25, 2021 Is Bonne Maman an anti-Nazi jam? The internet wants to think so By Gabe Friedman it began circulating on social media. privacy and does not comment on and Philissa Cramer It has prompted countless people inquiries about personal matters,” NEW YORK (JTA) — The to vow to buy only Bonne Maman- Bonne Maman told the Jewish heartwarming story has been hard brand jam, whose 26 varieties are Telegraphic Agency in a statement. to miss: A law professor is shopping almost all kosher, in the future. Michael Perino, the St. John’s at his local grocery store when sees But is Bonne Maman, with its University professor who origi- an elderly woman struggling to get can’t-miss red gingham jar lids, nally posted the story on Twitter, her favorite jam from a high shelf. really an anti-Nazi jam? told JTA that the incident happened Why is it her favorite? “I am a The company, whose founding on Sunday morning, February 14, Holocaust survivor,” she says. “Dur- families are famously secretive, in his northern New Jersey grocery ing the war, the family that owns the isn’t taking any credit for the activ- store. He said he was surprised by company hid my family in Paris.” ity of its founders’ families during the woman’s composure and abil- Tens of thousands of people — at World War II. ity to shop alone at her age, which least — have shared the story since “The family prefers to maintain he estimated to be late 80s or early 90s. He didn’t ask for her name, not wanting to pry. Biden and Netanyahu, in first phone call “It was a beautiful moment,” A chance encounter between a law professor and a Holocaust Perino said. “When she gave the survivor prompted a feel-good story to circulate online. Credit: Getty Images since US leader’s inauguration, speak for an hour explanation, you know, it’s one By Ron Kampeas “advancing the peace deals, the France after the Nazis invaded his story to Twitter? of these things where your kind the capital city. Biars-sur-Cère Yes, yes and, well, yes. But for WASHINGTON (JTA) — Iranian threat and the challenges of your heart stops for a moment, President Joe Biden has called in the region.” is about a four-hour drive from some who appreciated the story, because it’s totally unexpected.” Le Chambon-sur-Lignon, the the facts may not matter. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Biden has said that he would Bonne Maman, founded in Netanyahu nearly a month into preserve the normalization agree- French mountain town that is one “Please don’t make me fact 1971 by members of the Gervoson of two municipalities honored check the Bonne Maman story,” his first term — a time frame that ments that his predecessor, Donald family, is based in Biars-sur-Cère, drew criticism from Republicans Trump, brokered between Israel collectively by Yad Vashem for its Jennifer Mendelsohn, a journalist a town in southern France. Neither efforts to save Jews. There, about who is widely known for her ge- for its length. and four Sunni Arab countries. the town nor any of its inhabit- Biden appeared to make up for The president also has said that he 2,500 Jews received shelter during nealogy sleuthing online, tweeted ants are listed on the registry of the war. (One of them left the town on Wednesday morning, February lost time, at least according to Ne- wants to return to the Iran nuclear “righteous gentiles” — non-Jews tanyahu’s account on Twitter, and deal, which Netanyahu opposes. more than $2 million when he died 17. “Can’t it be like Santa Claus? who rescued Jews from the Ho- at 90 on Christmas Day.) the two spoke for an hour. Netanyahu did not say whether locaust — that is maintained by The conversation was “friendly they discussed Israeli-Palestinian But Perino’s story says the Yad Vashem, Israel’s Holocaust woman said her family was shel- and warm” Netanyahu said in relations. Biden wants to revive memorial and museum. FBI arrests Capitol rioter Hebrew, addressing an Israeli elec- U.S.-Palestinian ties, which were tered in Paris, more than 250 miles Nor is anyone with the name of from Biars-sur-Cère. Jean Gervo- torate that places a high value on all but cut off by Trump. the company’s founding families who said Jews and Israel healthy relations with the United The two men also discussed son founded the company with his in the database, which is compre- brother-in-law, Pierre Chapoulart; control other governments States. His tweet, accompanied by Israel’s successful vaccination hensive and thoroughly researched a photo of a grinning Netanyahu program to contain the coronavirus the Chapoulart family was already WASHINGTON (JTA) — A but does not necessarily include established in Biars-sur-Cère by Capitol rioter who sat in Mike on the phone, comes just weeks pandemic. every possible person who might before an Israeli election. Biden had come under fire by the war. Gervoson died in 2018, Pence’s seat in the Senate cham- be eligible for it. his wife Suzanne in 2015. ber during the insurrection had “The two leaders remarked congressional Republicans for not At least one person has publicly on their personal relationship of immediately calling Netanyahu. Could the self-identified bubbe a history of making anti-Semitic described his family’s experience in the grocery store be confused statements and associating with many years and said they will work Biden’s spokeswoman said he was being sheltered in Biars-sur-Cère: together for the continuation and tackling an array of challenges about where and by whom she was white supremacists, according to A New Jersey man named Eric sheltered as a child more than 75 a federal complaint against him. strengthening of the unshakeable and was not ignoring Netanyahu. Mayer told the Jewish Standard in alliance between Israel and the She also said the leaders had years ago? Could the Gervoson or Christian Secor, who uses 2016 that he and his siblings had Chapoulart families have hidden an online alias honoring a mass United States,” the tweet said. spoken after Biden’s election in hidden there after leaving their Netanyahu said they discussed November. Jews from Nazis and never gotten shooter, was arrested last week parents behind in Germany. He credit for it? Could Perino — who by the FBI and is charged with even noted that the town, which he later thanked those who added assault, civil disorder and other said had 800 people at the time he details he had not — have asked a crimes related to the insurrection. lived there, later became the home few more questions before posting (See Rioter Page 11) of Bonne Maman. Some internet sleuths seeking to verify Perino’s grocery store encounter — or at least to rebut Cong. Cohen introduces skeptics — noted that Mayer told the Jewish Standard that his sister Civil Rights Legacy Protection Act had been with him in Biars-sur- Congressman Steve Cohen (D- vandalism of veterans’ memorials. Cère, suggesting that she might TN) introduced Thursday, Febru- It would also direct the U.S. have been the mystery shopper. ary 18, the Civil Rights Legacy Commission of Civil Rights to But the story says that Mayer’s Protection Act to regulate and re- create a list of monuments and me- sister died prior to 2016. inforce protections for civil rights morials that should be protected. Certainly, other Jewish chil- memorials and monuments across There is currently no movement dren could have wound up in the the United States by establishing to pass federal protections for civil Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks to President Joe Biden same town. Many Jewish chil- federal penalties against vandal- rights memorials and monuments. in his office in Jerusalem, Feb. 17, 2021. Credit: Twitter dren who were being sheltered ism of these sites, similar to the According to advocates for in Paris were moved to southern existing safeguards in place for the these sites, their chief course of action has been to rely on local and state vandalism and hate crime laws to prosecute suspects. Congressman Cohen, chairman Jewish Historical Society of Memphis and the Mid-South of the House Judiciary Committee Subcommittee on Constitution, Civil Rights, and Civil Liberties, issued a statement saying, “It is our Sumner Levine Speaker Series responsibility to commemorate and honor the history of the Civil Rights Movement and those who fought Virtually Presents for justice and equal rights. When someone vandalizes or destroys a civil rights monument, they are The Four Rabbis: attacking the legacy of the move- ment, the progress we have made as Hear Their Stories a nation, and our shared values of equal justice, pluralism and respect Join us for a conversation with four outstanding young rabbis, who found their calling to the rabbinate after for historic sacrifices. This bill will growing up in Memphis. Learn about their personal journeys and the influence Memphis may have had on ensure, for the first time, that the perpetrators of these hateful acts their choices. Our guests are Rabbi Rachel Bearman, Rabbi Karen Kriger Bogard, Rabbi Michael Danziger, are brought to meaningful justice and Rabbi Jeff Dreifus. Moderating the discussion is noted educator, Sally Rosenberg. while discouraging senseless van- dalism of the nation’s birthright.” The Civil Rights Legacy Protec- tion Act is supported by the Emmett Sunday, March 7, 2021—2:00 pm (Central time) Till Memorial Commission and the NAACP, among other groups. Representatives Sanford Bish- op, Andre Carson, Eleanor Holmes Norton, and Barbara Lee also joined Congressman Cohen in introducing the bill. Thursday, February 25, 2021 THE HEBREW WATCHMAN Page 5 In extraordinary tribute, George Shultz hailed by Jewish leaders for helping free Soviet Jews By Larry Luxner traveled numerous times to Mos- with then-Soviet Foreign Minister TEL AVIV — On Feb. 11, cow throughout the 1980s in his Andrei Gromyko. 1986, Soviet refusenik Natan capacity as president of the World “He told me that as promised, Sharansky — freed after enduring Jewish Congress. More than once, he raised the issue of Soviet Jewry nine years in Russian prisons on he said, the elder Bronfman pres- with the foreign minister, but false charges of treason and espio- sured Gorbachev to free these unfortunately the response was, nage — stepped off a jet that had “prisoners of Zion.” He would in effect, ‘It’s none of your damn carried him straight from Germany have accomplished nothing with- business. It’s an internal matter and and out into the Israeli sunshine. out Shultz’s blessing, Bronfman has nothing do to with America or “It was a very dramatic day, said. our relationship,’” Berman said. starting in a Soviet prison, then “He never let the Soviet au- But that didn’t stop Shultz meeting my wife in Berlin after thorities forget that for the U.S. from pushing Kremlin leaders on 12 years, then finishing at Ben government, for him and for the issue, said Berman, who said Gurion Airport, and fi nally visit- President Reagan, the question of of Shultz: “He was the sweetest, ing the Kotel” in Jerusalem, said Soviet Jews was a very real issue,” kindest person, as soft spoken as Sharansky, recalling the events of Bronfman said. “It was unaccept- possible, and yet you know he George Shultz, with book, at a 2017 Limmud FSU conference with, 35 years ago as if they were part of able to him that Jews could not live carried a big stick. We really owe from left to right, Julius Berman, Natan Sharansky and Chaim Ches- a John LeCarré spy thriller. “I was freely in the USSR, nor could they a great deal of gratitude to every- ler. Credit: Ekaterina Efi mova so overwhelmed, I thought maybe emigrate.” thing he did for us.” it was all a dream.” But Shultz first had to earn The special tribute event was While still on the tarmac at the trust of American Jews. From made possible with support from ended. Asked to name the most of the National Coalition Sup- Ben Gurion, then-Prime Minister 1974 until his 1982 appointment the Genesis Philanthropy Group. memorable moment of his time porting Eurasian Jewry; and Elie Shimon Peres immediately put as secretary of state, he was a top “In giving Soviet Foreign Min- in offi ce, he said it was when he Valk, a former Israeli ambassador Sharansky on the phone with executive of the Bechtel Group, ister Eduard Shevardnadze a list of received a phone call from refuse- to Belarus. President Ronald Reagan, and then an engineering and services com- refuseniks,” said Dorit Golender, nik Ida Nudel announcing she was This article was sponsored by with the secretary of state at the pany that had multibillion-dollar a former Israeli ambassador to fi nally “home in Israel.” and produced in partnership with time, George Shultz. contracts with the government of Russia and vice-president for “That he told the press this was Limmud FSU, which nurtures “Why, I thought, wasn’t a con- Saudi Arabia. community relations at the interna- the highlight of his tenure gives open, pluralistic, dynamic learn- versation with President Reagan “I grew up in a home that tional philanthropic organization, you not only a measure of the ing platforms across the world enough?” Sharansky quipped. was very suspicious of American “George Shultz not only used his man, but also a measure of how for Jews of all ages and back- “But Shultz was very helpful to us secretaries of state,” David Har- infl uence to support human rights, important this issue was for him,” grounds with roots in the former — how helpful I found out later.” ris, CEO of the American Jewish he demonstrated the importance Lipstadt said. “We are privileged Soviet Union, while embracing Indeed, the two men became Committee, said at last week’s trib- of solving the issue so America’s to have been touched by him.” the Jewish intellectual, cultural close friends, and remained so ute event. “My parents were both civilized dialogue with the USSR Other participants on the Zoom and religious traditions grounded until Shultz’s death on February 6 Holocaust survivors who were could continue.” call included prominent refuseniks in this shared experience. This ar- at the age of 100. Sharansky, 73, trapped in Europe, and the State Isaac Herzog, chairman of the Sylva Zalmanson and Alexander ticle was produced by JTA’s native was among a dozen prominent Department was not friendly to Jewish Agency for Israel, recalled Kholmiansky; Mark Levin, CEO content team. Jewish leaders who joined a recent them and others like them. It took that during a November 1987 state online Zoom tribute to Shultz that George Shultz to change my mind visit to Washington, his father, was organized by Limmud FSU fundamentally and irreversibly.” Chaim Herzog — then Israel’s SERVICES AVAILABLE and moderated by the Jewish in- Harris said Shultz “became a president — received a tip from ternational organization’s founder, hero to the Jewish people.” Shultz that an intifada was about to • Driver—Courteous and reliable person to take Chaim Chesler. Malcolm Hoenlein, vice chair- erupt in the West Bank and Gaza. you anywhere you need to go in Memphis and sur- “He felt with all his heart that man of the Conference of Presi- The predicted uprising broke out it was his moral obligation to help dents of Major American Jewish a month later. rounding areas: Dr’s appointments, Shopping, Er- us,” Sharansky said of Shultz at Organizations and a Limmud FSU “Shultz was a sworn friend of rands, Airport. Available weekdays and weekends. the February 15 event, noting how board member, said the initial sus- Israel,” said Herzog, despite his Shultz knew many refuseniks by picion of Shultz turned into trust. occasional differences with the name and always inquired about “It grew to the point where he Israeli government. • House Sitting and Dog Sitting— their well-being in meetings with could not make a trip to the Middle Deborah Lipstadt, professor his Soviet counterparts. “People East or Russia without calling us of Holocaust studies at Atlanta’s Responsible adult available to stay with your dogs like him really changed the world’s before, often during — even from Emory University, recalled an while you are away. I love dogs! attitude towards our struggle.” Damascus — and almost always interview that Shultz gave the Thanks to efforts by Shultz and meeting with us afterwards,” Los Angeles Times shortly after others, Soviet President Mikhail Hoenlein recalled. his term as secretary of state had Contact Rick Danzig: 901-337-6009 Gorbachev eventually opened the One of only two people in U.S. borders and allowed all Jews to history ever to hold four Cabinet leave the USSR. Between 1989 positions, Shultz — along with and 2006, an estimated 1.6 mil- Reagan — foreshadowed the even- Considering purchasing a new home lion Jews and their relatives and tual collapse of the Soviet Union. spouses emigrated from the former In 1987, he famously attended a or refinancing your current one? Soviet Union, 61% of them settling Passover Seder at the residence of in Israel. the U.S. ambassador in Moscow Now is a great time to take advantage of the current rate environment. You could potentially At its West Coast conference in with about 40 prominent refuse- eliminate years off of your mortgage and maintain a consistent monthly payment. November 2017 in San Francisco, niks, assuring them that “we never Limmud FSU feted Shultz — who give up, we never stop trying” to was secretary of state from 1982 to advance the cause of human rights 1989 — for having helped spark and promote emigration. the Soviet Jewish exodus. At this “He felt a special bond to the month’s tribute, Limmud FSU’s American Jewish community. co-founder, Sandy Cahn, said that Everyone could sense his humil- special occasion, and especially ity, his integrity, the sincerity of the encounter between Shultz and his views, and his commitment Sharansky, was the major highlight and support for Israel,” Hoenlein of the 2017 conference. said. “He laid the groundwork for “There are lessons that we the special U.S.-Israel relationship all can learn from these experi- of today, but never sought credit or CONVENTIONAL FINANCING | JUMBO | FHA/VA | PORTFOLIO ences, and one is the wondrous tribute. Trust was his hallmark, and ability of the human spirit and the even as late as recent weeks, he With more than 18 years of experience in mortgage lending, Scott Sorin is the importance of never giving up,” said ‘trust is the coin of the realm’ said an emotional Shultz, then as he bemoaned the acrimony in perfect candidate to assist you with any home financing need. Whether you’re 97. “President Reagan and I had American politics and society.” considering refinancing, a new home purchase, jumbo loans or portfolio lending, a great sense of gratitude to the Julius Berman, honorary presi- Scott is eager to guide you through all of your options. Soviet Jews because they showed dent of the Conference on Jewish us what courage is all about.” Material Claims Against Germany, Limmud FSU Chairman Mat- recalled vividly how Shultz had thew Bronfman said that his own called him shortly after returning father, the late Edgar Bronfman, from high-level talks in Madrid

Scott Sorin WEEKLY DEADLINE (901) 378-2244 | NMLS#40975 FOR THE HEBREW WATCHMAN 7465 Poplar Avenue | Germantown [email protected] IS 12:00 NOON ON THURSDAY www.iberiabank.com/mortgage WEEK PRIOR TO PUBLICATION IBERIABANK NMLS #403179. All loans subject to approval, including credit approval. Some restrictions apply. IBERIABANK NMLS #403179. All loans subject to approval, including credit approval. Some restrictions apply. Other programs available. Programs subject to changeNO or termination EXCEPTIONS without notice. Other programs available. Programs subject to change or termination without notice. Page 6 THE HEBREW WATCHMAN Thursday, February February 25, 2021 As most Israeli adults get vaccinated from COVID, some wonder when life will go back to normal By Linda Gradstein the South African variant. Then I than 60 with two vaccine doses, or JERUSALEM (JTA) — After thought it would be a passport for anyone younger who had either re- receiving his first dose of the travel. But now if I want to travel, ceived at least one shot, recovered COVID vaccine in December, I need to do a test 72 hours before from COVID or tested negative in Jonathan Livny, 77, assumed life I leave and then when I come back the past 72 hours. Children 16 and would at last return to normal for I need to do it again. So what good under also were allowed in. Israelis like him. does it do me?” Police officers visited the stores Livny, who lives in Jerusalem, Israel’s aggressive vaccination and ordered them to close but did was among the first Israelis to drive has become a national source not issue fines. take the shot, and became fully of pride, but it has not yet heralded “There is no difference between vaccinated in January. He received the return to pre-pandemic times malls, which are closed, and super- his “green passport” — an official that many had expected. Even as markets or drugstores, which are certification that he was immune to more than 40% of Israelis have open,” said Yaakov Kantrowitz, the disease. gotten at least one dose of the vac- 26, the branch manager of a house- But nearly one month later, the cine, far outpacing the rest of the wares chain in a strip mall in the passport hasn’t done him much world, COVID rates remain stub- central city of Rishon Lezion. He good. Even though he’s now at bornly high, and the vaccination complained that the government Israeli police officers inspect a mall in the city of Bat Yam that much lower risk, Livny still must campaign has slowed. “said that people were getting opened in violation of COVID-19 lockdown restrictions, Feb. 11, 2021. obey the country’s strict lockdown Now, as Israel is emerging corona in malls, but they’ve been Credit: Avshalom Sassoni/Flash90 measures, which bar everyone from a six-week lockdown, its closed for the past six weeks and cinate at lower rates even as the cessity, and her family in Canada from a wide range of leisure activi- third since the pandemic began, the infection rates haven’t gone percentage of deaths in their com- is helping out. Arazi said will not ties whether or not they’ve been businesses and their patrons are down. That proves we are not the munity has been especially high. A get the vaccine even if it means she vaccinated. rebelling against a reopening that reason for infections.” recent investigation found that 1 in won’t be able to go back to work. The restrictions hit home for they feel has been too sluggish. Kantrowitz hasn’t fully re- 73 haredi Israelis over the age of Deborah, 44, who asked that Livny a couple weeks ago. He Three large shopping malls – in opened but found an innovative 65 had died from COVID, about her last name not be published and his wife, a plastic surgeon, the cities of Bat Yam, Karmiel and workaround: His store began of- four times the rate of the general because she doesn’t want some of travel frequently, and had planned Petach Tivkah – opened Thursday, fering “take-away” shopping on population. Despite the lockdown, her relatives to know she will not a trip to Dubai late last month for a February 12, in violation of gov- Sunday, February 14. some haredi Israelis have defied be getting the vaccine, feels even medical conference. Their trip was ernment regulations. It was part “We have a table up front at restrictions and reopened schools, more strongly that she and her canceled, however, when Israel of a revolt instigated by a forum the entrance with a catalogue, in addition to gathering in large family shouldn’t vaccinate. De- shut down its airport to limit the that represents 400 mall owners, people choose what they want, and crowds for funerals. spite assurances from doctors that virus’ spread. restaurant owners and chain stores. [employees] bring it to them,” he Vaccine skepticism extends be- the vaccine will not cause infertil- “I thought it would be a pass- The group made their own rules said. “Restaurants are allowed to yond the haredi community. While ity, Deborah plans to wait until the port to health and a passport to dictating whom to allow into stores do take-away, so why aren’t stores most older and high-risk Israelis end of the year before she and her freedom,” Livny said. “Now they — finally allowing Israelis to make as well?” have rushed to be vaccinated, some four children take the shots. say they’re not sure the vaccine use of their “green passports.” En- Police have not visited his younger Israelis are more torn “There is a complete lack of works against the British variant or trance was restricted to those older store, Kantrowitz said, and he is about taking the vaccine. evidence that the vaccine will careful not to allow anyone inside Adina Arazi, 47, who lives in have any effect on male or female even though it is spacious, measur- the southern city of Netivot and infertility,” Dr. Hagai Levine, Your voice was silenced’: Jewish parents of Parkland ing 10,000 square feet. The store teaches hydrotherapy, said she an epidemiologist at Hadassah has been closed for a total of four is not an anti-vaxxer. Her two Hospital, told a news conference victims remember their kids three years later months over the past year, and all children, a 20-year-old son with Thursday, February 12. By Ben Sales and mission.” 30 workers were put on furlough. special needs and a 16-year-old But for Deborah, who said she NEW YORK (JTA) — On the Guttenberg is one of several Now Kantrowitz has hired back daughter, got all of their traditional has read the entire Pfizer study third anniversary of the school Jewish parents of Parkland vic- five workers and hopes that stores childhood vaccines. But this time online, those assurances are not shooting in Parkland, Florida, tims who dedicated themselves to and malls will reopen soon. nobody in her family is being im- enough. parents of the shooting’s Jewish activism due to the shooting. Max The government is considering munized from COVID. “Being a mother is a big respon- victims shared their memories and Schachter, whose son Alex, 14, a series of regulations that will “I feel like we’ve moved a little sibility for me, and my daughter hopes for the future. was killed at Parkland, founded limit entry to places like gyms, too fast,” she said. “I think it will just turned 16, so I started re- Several of the 17 students and the nonprofit Safe Schools for concerts and museums — and take a long time to see the long- searching it,” she said. “They faculty who were killed in the 2018 Alex, and wrote on Twitter that eventually cafes and restaurants term effects. They are basically didn’t test the vaccine on 16-year- shooting at Marjory Stoneman “Today we remember Alex and — to those with either “green doing a study on people, which I olds. No doctor can say there won’t Douglas High School were Jewish. honor his legacy… with your passports” or a negative COVID find really unethical.” be any side effects. In the years since the attack, some help we can continue our work to test from within 72 hours. Some With all swimming pools “What if in a few years she of the victims’ Jewish parents have #KeepKidsSafe in schools.” schools also reopened on Thurs- closed, Arazi has been out of work can’t get pregnant? It would be become prominent activists for Lori Alhadeff, whose daughter day, February 12, after six weeks for the past year. She said she’s cut the end of her life and I would feel gun control and school safety. Alyssa, 14, was killed in the shoot- of remote learning — the most back on anything that isn’t a ne- responsible.” Fred Guttenberg shared a letter ing, has advocated for legislation recent in a series of school closures on Sunday, February 14, that he to install emergency response in Israel that have spanned months. wrote to his daughter, Jaime, on mechanisms in schools. She wrote, The government may require all Fauci wins $1 million Israeli prize for Twitter. Jaime was 14 when she “3 years ago my daughter Alyssa teachers to either vaccinate or be was killed and would have gradu- Alhadeff was shot & killed in her ‘courageously defending science’ during pandemic tested every two days. By Gabe Friedman ment.” ated high school this year. Gutten- school. We must do more to http:// Israel is also considering an berg wrote about his thoughts after MakeOurSchoolsSafe.org.” NEW YORK (JTA) — Dr. The prize is awarded by the agreement with Greece to allow Anthony Fauci, the country’s Dan David Foundation, which was the tragedy, and pledged to fight Andrew Pollack, father of vic- tourism between the countries for for stronger gun safety legislation tim Meadow Pollack, 18, wrote top infectious disease specialist, founded by the late Romanian- those who are vaccinated. has been awarded a $1 million Israeli philanthropist of the same in Jaime’s memory. “Thinking of all the Parkland But a segment of Israelis re- “Dear Jaime, 3 years ago your families today more than ever.” prize from an Israeli foundation name. The award, split into three mains reluctant to get the shot. for “courageously defending sci- categories — past, present and fu- voice was silenced,” Guttenberg The gunman in the February While Israel’s vaccine rollout had wrote. “You are on my mind every 14, 2018 attack killed 17 people ence in the face of uninformed ture — honors scientists, research- ramped up to 200,000 people vac- opposition during the challenging ers and cultural figures for achieve- second of every minute of every at the school and injured 17 oth- cinated daily, the pace has slowed day. I constantly relive your last ers. The shooting captured the COVID crisis.” ment in their fields. Past winners significantly in the past week. Ac- The Dan David Prize’s award range from former Vice President seconds in my mind. Did you suf- country’s attention and galvanized cording to government data, while fer? I will never know, but I fear a movement, led by the shoot- announcement statement on Mon- Al Gore to cellist Yo-Yo Ma. more than 90% of Israelis older day, February 15, did not mention The foundation also noted that you did. Did I do enough to ing’s student survivors, calling than 60 have been vaccinated, the protect you?” for stricter gun control measures. former President Donald Trump, Fauci’s work during the AIDS cri- equivalent figure is 70% for haredi, who sought to downplay the ef- sis, commending “his exceptional He added, “Because of what The movement culminated in the or ultra-Orthodox, Jews and 64% happened to you, our life has “March for our Lives,” which drew fects of the coronavirus during his contribution to HIV research” for Arab Israelis. time in office, but it credited Fauci in the 1980s and his time as the changed. Shortly after your mur- hundreds of thousands of protest- With some vaccination centers der, I embarked on a mission to ers to Washington, D.C. and more for “speaking truth to power in a “architect of the U.S. President’s half empty, local municipalities are highly charged political environ- Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief. do something about gun violence to corresponding marches across trying to find incentives to get rates and this is now my life purpose the country. back up. In the haredi city of Bnei Brak, where vaccination rates are among the lowest in the country, first responders told residents that if they got vaccinated on Thursday night, February 12, they’d get a free serving of cholent, a meat stew popular with Orthodox Jews. “We welcome the initiative by Bnei Brak to give out bags of cho- lent to those who are vaccinated tomorrow,” Zaka, an Orthodox emergency medical service, posted on Twitter. “We’ve already been putting non-vaccinated people in [body] bags for more than a year. Dr. Anthony Fauci listens to President Joe Biden at the National Fred Guttenberg with his daughter Jaime, who was killed in the Go vaccinate!” Institutes of Health in Bethesda, Md., Feb. 11, 2021 Parkland school shooting Courtesy of Guttenberg Haredi Israelis tend to vac- . Credit: Saul Loeb/AFP via Getty Images Thursday, February 25, 2021 THE HEBREW WATCHMAN Page 7 Lion Behind the Pin: access to the essentials needed to the community through the Lions before Federation directed us there,” care for babies and young children. is precious to her, and something she said. “As Lions, we not only Dot Bilsky’s commitment to community “The Baby Shower proves my she doesn’t take for granted. It’s want to give money, we want to be In a strangely disconnected point about what Federation does through this sisterhood that she involved. That’s how a lot of the year, Dot Bilsky has relied on her for me as a Lion. I didn’t know is able to satisfy her urge to help women feel. The Federation identi- long affi liation with the Memphis there were babies in our com- people in the community in a fi es needs and organizes us to make Jewish Federation’s Lions of munity needing help, nor could I meaningful way. a bigger impact. I am most grateful Judah (LOJ) as a way to stay con- have done anything about it with- “I’ve helped with things that I for what Federation and the Lions nected to the people and places she out the support of Federation and didn’t even know were problems do for me and others like myself.” loves in Jewish Memphis. the Lions,” she said. “We got the “I became a Lion because my word out and took in an enormous husband signed me up, and I am amount of supplies for the Baby Brooklyn auction house suspends sale of 19th-century very grateful he did. With the Pantry. That’s the Lions. They want to do things that help. And document that Romanian Jews say was stolen in the Holocaust support of Federation, Lion of By Cnaan Liphshiz Judah identifi es needs and gives when you ask them, they go above people like me a chance to do the and beyond.” NEW YORK (JTA) — An most good with greater impact,” Dot had another first-hand auction house in New York has she said. “And now with the pan- glimpse of the connecting power suspended the sale of a document demic, the Lions are even more of Federation as a peripheral play- that a Jewish community in Roma- active because there’s more need. er in this summer’s Tech Buddy nia said had been stolen from it. We respond to what’s out there. initiative, designed to help seniors Kestenbaum & Company, a That’s what it means to be part of in the community stay connected Brooklyn fi rm that has special- this sisterhood.” Dot Bilsky through technology. ized in the care of rare Judaic A long-time Lion, Dot serves provided to make a difference. “Part of my job at Memphis material culture for 25 years, on on the LOJ Tikkun Olam Com- She offers the Lion’s recent City Schools and later with Apple Wednesday, February 17, pulled mittee, serves on Federation’s Baby Shower initiative as an ex- Computers was to help people off its catalog what the Jewish Senior Services Collaborative, is ample of how she benefi ts from her use computers in the classroom,” Community of Cluj says is a 19th- involved in her synagogue, and connections. Led by the Tikkun she said. “I got involved helping century ledger from its Jewish has even become something of a Olam Committee, the Shower was people with their new Federation- burial society. volunteer IT support professional launched to help Wendy & Avron provided iPads through the back “The handwritten register has for an expanding circle of friends B. Fogelman Jewish Family Ser- door. I’m in a book club and two great value as a historical docu- and acquaintances during the quar- vice at the Memphis Jewish Com- of the people couldn’t participate. ment, covering over 50 years of antine. She has a habit of stepping munity Center stock its brand-new I made pictures of ipad screens the history of the Orthodox Jewish in to help others meet needs and is Baby Pantry, designed to ensure and added arrows to show where Community, right from the year grateful for the many opportunities families in the community have to click and how to get to the home of the founding of the Society screen, the mail envelope, and how in 1836, but it is also a valuable art object, due to its exceptional The ledger of the burial society to read an email or join a Zoom of Cluj, Romania. Bat Mitzvah meeting. Word got out and people aesthetic presentation,” the Jewish community wrote in a statement Credit: Kestenbaum & Company Margot Sadie Notowich, daugh- asked me to help with different things. The initial training they got published Monday, February 15. ter of Stephanie and Lee Notowich The ledger disappeared during our hands is subject to detailed of San Francisco, California, will from the Tech Buddy was excel- lent, but I was able to help them do the Holocaust and therefore is investigation in this regard,” a celebrate her Bat Mitzvah Satur- “stolen property,” the letter said. Kestenbaum spokesperson told the day, February 27, at Congregation new things they wanted to learn.” “Just yesterday I helped a friend The World Jewish Restitution Jewish Telegraphic Agency in an Kol Shofar in Tiburon, California. Organization also said it had asked email. “Consequently, in respect Rabbi Susan Leider will offi ci- of mine get online because she wanted to join a Beth Sholom se- the auction, which was scheduled to recently acquired information, ate at the services. to begin Thursday, February 18, Lot 33 has been withdrawn from To mark the occasion Margot niors discussion group on Zoom,” she said. “We were going down not to go through. our Judaica auction scheduled for will read from the Torah and chant “Any item that passes through Thursday February 18th. her Haftara. (Her Torah portion the projects that Beth Sholom had is Tetzaveh: Exodus 27:20-30:10 planned and while she was scan- and her Haftara portion is Ezekiel ning through the list, she said: ‘Oh Suspected oil spill may be worst in Israel’s history 42:10–27). my gosh, Baron Hirsch is making By Ron Kampeas called the suspected spill one of the She attends Katherine Delmar sandwiches- we always did that.’” JERUSALEM (JTA) — Israel “greatest ecological disasters to af- Burke School San Francisco, “I said ‘Yeah, but this year closed its Mediterannean beaches fl ict Israel since the founding of the where she is in the seventh grade. people are doing it from home.’ to deal with what its offi cials say state.” It said that 170 out of 190 Margot has been volunteering She said ‘I want to do it!’ So she may be the worst oil spill in the kilometers of coastline, or 105 out with many different organiza- Margot Notowich helped Baron Hirsch make sand- country’s history. of 118 miles, have been affected by tions over the past year – creating Gratitude, and beach clean-up with wiches.” The Israel Nature and Parks the spill. The consequences will be valentine cards for children in Surf Rider. Ultimately, Dot’s connection to Authority on Sunday, February 21, felt for years, its statement said. homeless shelters through Ham- She is the granddaughter of ilton Families, participating on an Marilyn Notowich of Memphis American Heart Association walk and the late Herb Notowich and for better health, writing letters to of Bob Davis of Atlanta, Georgia, our fi rst responders for Operation and the late Joanie Davis.

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Member 0907504.1 State Farm, Home Office, Bloomington, IL @""""DUS'"' OPPORTUNITY FDIC Page 8 THE HEBREW WATCHMAN Thursday, February February 25, 2021 that life was not the brief tale it is blooming.” Does not man and the Scribbler on the Roof, appears The next World appeared to be. There was more - nature obey the self same Creator? in newspapers around the U.S., on By Ted Roberts life was so short, so temporary. much more - and it was as blissful Look, there is more for us, too. National Public Radio, and numer- When the Lord, bored by the They had seen the other forms of as an April morning. The syndicated humor of Ted, ous web sites. plants and animals, decided on animal and plant life dry up and Ah, He shivered with delight. his supreme challenge, man, disappear. What a downer. The The seasons: he’d make four sea- one thought adventure called life was only sons instead of three. That’s how Torah Mitzion of Memphis bothered temporary, a blink of eternity’s He would show them. He would him. It was eyelid. Deeds, accomplishments, demonstrate it with the flair of to hold special Israeli Shabbat this: human- even possessions melted like ice nature, Spring. He would cycle Memphis has a strong tradi- more. Over the years, the 120 plus kind - those under the fi ery stare of time. the year through its stages. Life tion of being closely connected Shlichim who have been here have conceived How would they, mankind, would seem to perish in Winter, to Israel—whether it is the annual enjoyed more than 34,000 hours and yet to be understand death? They would but it would revive in Spring. At Israel Festival, Jewish Community of learning with individuals, held conceived – be shocked. So how could He, fi rst no one would understand the Partners’ Shoham/Memphis proj- over 7,000 classes and coordinated would note the Creator, show them there was planetary cause of this effect – ect or just praying for Israel as part more than 1,200 Israeli related their limited a world beyond – a world reminis- Spring, that renews the heart of all of the Shabbat services. events. time here on G-d’s creatures: plants, animals, These are but only a few ex- Torah Mitzion of Memphis is Ted Roberts cent of the lost Eden – but absent earth and it of snakes? He could announce humanity. They would dream up amples that highlight the deep hosted and supported by the Mar- would quell their ambition. it like a carnival barker with a myths that had nothing to do with bond between the Memphis Jewish golin Hebrew Academy. Addition- It would stultify their need for bullhorn, but that had no dignity Him and the natural world He community and Israel. ally, it receives much needed sup- accomplishment. It might even and He hated to show his face and so logically built. But let them. Torah Mitzion of Memphis was port from a generous grant from damage their morality – after all, interfere in the natural order. “Look, the Apple tree lives. Like established 25 years ago. Torah the Lemsky Fund of the Memphis the whole adventure they called How to tell his new creature us, it thrives and blossoms even Mitzion is an organization based Jewish Federation. though we thought it was dead. in Israel that sends “shlichim” - As part of celebrating 25 years, Persephone has returned, would families and students to different Torah Mitzion will hold a special say the mythmaker. There is no parts of the world for a year or Israeli Shabbat - Parshat Ki Tisa, Mezuzah smashed, swastika carved into doorframe death. Even though we sleep like more. The Shlichim invite and en- March 5-6. The Shlichim have of Jewish student’s home in the Netherlands the tulip, lo, we live when our Cre- able every Jew in the community, prepared a booklet with insights By Cnaan Liphshiz ator calls with the sun.” It’s not too whatever his or her denomination about Israel from all of the com- chapter of the StandWithUs pro- late to repent, to renew, to create. AMSTERDAM (JTA) — A Israel group wrote in a statement. or current knowledge level, to munity Rabbis in Memphis and a swastika has been carved into the It is not too late – there is more. learn and actively interact with special game for the family. The student, whom StandWi- They wouldn’t understand the doorframe of a Jewish student’s thUs did not name, suspects one of their brethren and their Jewish There is also a social media house in the Dutch city of Maas- mechanics, of course, but later heritage. tag. People are invited to share his neighbors perpetrated the van- generations would. They would tricht and the mezuzah has been dalism, according to the statement, One of the very fi rst locations a picture of themselves cooking torn off. understand that it fit into the for Torah Mitzion was Memphis. an Israeli food, playing the game but no one has been apprehended. natural world like a rose bush into The Maastricht University The student and Elad Zigler, the In 1996, a few students came here made for this Shabbat or share a student discovered the damage to a garden. There was no need to from Israel and started this ongo- picture in Israel with the tag #Is- director of StandWithUs Neth- measure time and deeds to squeeze his mezuzah, an object containing erlands, said they consider the ing connection. raeliShabbat and @Torah Mitzion scripture on parchment that Jews them into such a small box of life. The Shlichim are active in the Memphis. A raffl e on an Israeli incident an anti-Semitic attack. Eternity was theirs. There was affi x to their doorframes, and made Dutch Jewry’s watchdog for day schools, the synagogues, Hil- wine and other prizes will be held a police complaint on Thursday, time to learn and do. And those lel, Memphis Jewish Community for all who share using the tags. anti-Semitism last year recorded that seem to be lost, like the Apple February 18, the Netherlands the highest number of anti-Semitic Center, the Memphis Jewish Home All are welcome to join the tree, were only waiting. and Rehab, Plough Towers and celebration. incidents ever observed in a cal- Spring! Spring! was the secret. endar year. Humanity would watch with fas- The group, the Center for Infor- cination as green sprung from the Cruise One offering mation and Documentation on Is- once brown soil. The dead tree rael, or CIDI, has been monitoring sprouted new limbs with joy and Jewish Heritage excursions anti-Semitism in the Netherlands dead pods magically turned into By Debbie Rosenthal of the historical Tokaj wine region for about 30 years. It listed 182 blossoms that would guarantee Sail through the heart of Eu- of Hungary and Slovakia. incidents in 2019, an increase of future life. A hint to mankind that rope’s most fascinating destina- These are just a few options 35% from 2018. life was as eternal as the moon, tions aboard AmaWaterways’ from which you can choose to another one of G-d’s creations. inviting ships offering the luxury customize your Jewish Heritage And what a demonstration of His of space and breathtaking river excursions. Ted has a new power to conquer death. views. Note: Groups of 20 or more re- This they would understand. Discover more about the his- ceive complimentary customized revised book Obviously, one world gave way to tory of European Jewry along excursions while groups of 10-19 50% new stories another in a never-ending cycling. the banks of the historically rich will incur a fee. Even at fi rst, with childish, but Danube and Rhine Rivers with Plus, you may extend your The scribbler beautiful myths that strengthen customizable Jewish Heritage journey with an optional COM- on The roof their heart. Man would under- Experiences. PLIMENTARY (on select sailings) stand. Later they would fully Uncover hidden treasures 3 or 4 night pre-or post- land pack- by Ted roberts comprehend how nature pointed to throughout Germany, the Neth- age in any one of the fascinating eternity; of how the gray meadow erlands, Austria, Slovakia, and cities such as Prague or Paris, The best of Ted’s turned green again in obedience Hungary. Every port along the alongside an intimate group of work—a collection to His law. “Look, the Apple tree banks of both rivers offers Jewish fellow cruisers and accompanied of stories designed Heritage experiences. by your cruise manager. to make you laugh Connect with history in Am- AmaWaterways offers fi ve dif- Have a Mazel Tov? sterdam at Anne Frank’s home or ferent itineraries in France along and cry Publish it in in Frankfurt at the largest Jewish the Seine, Rhone and Soane Rivers. $10.95 THE HEBREW museum in Germany. Pay trib- Visit vineyards of Chateauneuf du available at lulu.com WATCHMAN ute to your ancestors in Linz at Pape, Champagne, or Burgundy, CALL TODAY—763-2215 Mauthausen or by meeting with marvel at the golden limestone vil- Holocaust survivors. lages dating back 2000 years to the Research genealogy in Worms Romans, wander through lavender at one of the oldest and largest fi elds, visit a truffl e farm, follow cemeteries in Europe. Celebrate Van Gogh’s footsteps in Arles, walk the rebirth of Jewish traditions the landing beaches of Normandy. in the modern world in Strasburg Book by February 28 to take where there is a thriving Jewish advantage of your complimentary community or in Budapest at the stay in Prague or France! Dohany Street Synagogue (where For more information contact there is a brand-new museum). Debbie at 901.682.5600 or drosen- Take in the beauty of the Chagall [email protected]. And windows in Maintz. visit drosenthal.dreamvacations. Experience traditional locally com to register to win a $5,000 sourced cuisine at Jewish restau- Giveaway. Entries must be re- rants, or sample the sweet wines ceived by April 15, 2021. She’s always been the independent type. We aim to keep her that way. In-Home Care Services • Personal Care Memphis 901.752.1515 • Companionship and housekeeping Northern Mississippi 662.393.1110 • Dementia and Covington 901.296.1200 Alzheimer’s care • Respite care memphis-169.comfortkeepers.com • Safety Solutions Thursday, February 25, 2021 THE HEBREW WATCHMAN Page 9 He grew up in one of Rio’s most violent favelas. Now he’s an on-the-rise artist in Israel. By Marcus M. Gilban 2016, the couple had decided that that pays about $10 an hour and is RAANANA, Israel (JTA) – their family’s future would not lie popular among new immigrants as What caught Crystal Frant’s eye in Brazil. They were married by a a first occupation to help improve about the Rastafari skater she judge and applied to make aliyah their basic Hebrew skills. spotted on the beach outside Rio and move to Israel, with the goal “I have always been respected. de Janeiro back in 2006 wasn’t his of raising their children in a safer Last year, several parents signed muscular body or his dreadlocks. It and more socially equal place. A a petition to the municipality was the hand-sized Star of David downturn for Frant’s family busi- requesting my continuation with among his several tattoos. ness sales was the final boost they their kids. It was really very emo- “Do you think he’s Jewish?” needed. tional to me,” Especie said. she asked a friend with excitement. “My bond with Brazil is very But in the evening and week- The Rio-born Frant knew that strong and infinite, but the country ends, he works hard to boost the many Israeli backpackers came is sunk in political, economic and art career he started in his native through the region during Carni- social chaos,” Especie said, adding country. He began by starting to val, and having just returned to that he hates the corruption that paint over discarded canvases he Brazil from a 10-day Birthright characterizes much of Brazilian found on his block, then joined trip to Israel, she hoped he might politics. a city-sponsored project to paint Alander Especie at work in a building in Raanana, Israel, his have been one of them. Israel has a robust system for power boxes on the streets in 2017. adopted home. Courtesy of Especie As it turned out Alander Espe- absorbing new immigrants, which Especie’s formal Israeli debut cie, who was raised in a Rio slum, includes support with paperwork came in 2018 with an exhibit at Israel’s education staff members. he said. “Here I’m still crawling.” was not Israeli or Jewish — but he and months of intensive Hebrew the Brazilian Cultural Center in At the end of the year, an Israeli “Israel,” he added, “is the big- did turn out to be Frant’s bashert, language training. The family was Tel Aviv. gallery decided to post Especie’s gest and most intensive learning the Yiddish word her Polish and welcomed at the absorption center “It was an honor to welcome his portfolio online in Hebrew. In of my life.” Romanian grandparents used for in this city of 75,000, which today first exhibit in Israel,” the center’s early 2021, he also committed to a Chaim Broide, the mayor of soulmate. is home to the largest Brazilian director, Raquel Yehezkel, told new project to apply his drawings Raanana, says he supports Especie “You must go to Israel some- community in Israel with nearly JTA. “He is building a new path to rugs and wallpapers. Yet Espe- and all other artist immigrants to day,” she told him during that first 300 families. with oil paintings and drawings cie says he still has a long way to his city. encounter on the beach. “Raanana has been blessed that are really surprising by their go before he catches up to where “My advice is to keep doing Nearly 15 years later, Especie with immigrants with expertise maturity and the diversity of tech- he was professionally in Brazil. what they love, and to believe in has not only visited Israel but lives in the fields of art, music, sports niques and materials.” “The art market in Israel is a their abilities. They bring a lot of here. Along with Frant and their and more,” said Nehama Efrati, In 2019, he was one of 10 in- niche of a niche when compared to honor to our city and enrich our two sons, the up-and-coming art- the French-born head of the mu- ternational artists to exhibit in Tel Brazil, especially in Rio, where we culture, art and community,” he ist made aliyah in 2016 and now nicipal absorption department for Aviv to mark the 80th anniversary breathe art 24 hours a day. I really told JTA. “We will help them grow works as a teacher’s aide while 22 years. “They add much to the of the introduction of the fictional miss the network I used to have,” with their dreams.” trying to beautify his adopted city city’s human mosaic.” character Batman. And in 2020 of Raanana. Israeli law allows any Jew to he joined other immigrant artists “It was not just stam,” Espe- claim citizenship, and it also grants at an exhibit at the Raanana Park cie told the Jewish Telegraphic citizenship to the non-Jewish gallery. THE HEBREW WATCHMAN Agency, using the multipurpose spouses of Jewish immigrants “With all due respect to the CO- Hebrew word that translates to by (after one year of marriage). That VID-19 victims and their families, Keeping You In the Know chance. “I strongly believe it was means that Especie is part of the it was an amazing year for me,” all destined to happen.” 2% of the Israeli population who said Especie, who was vaccinated for the Past 95 Years Raanana, an upscale Tel Aviv are neither Jewish nor Arab. in early January along with all of suburb much sought-after by He said he feels at home, in part English-speaking immigrants, because he suspects that he may is a far cry from his native Vila have Jewish roots himself. Like Vintem, one of Rio’s most violent many Brazilians, Especie is multi- and vulnerable favelas plagued by racial, with European, African and extreme poverty and drug traffic indigenous ancestors, and he grew factions. That’s where Especie was up going to church every Sunday. born 44 years ago, to a family liv- But he notes that his mother’s ing in a 100-square-foot wooden maiden name is Braz — a rela- shack that sunk into mud and clay tively common Brazilian surname when it rained. that he was told could also be an “We used to hide under the bed abbreviation for the followers of to protect ourselves from shooting an 18th-century Lithuanian rabbi sprees. We often had to skip over named Alexander Ziskind. dead bodies to enter our home,” he Especie first learned about said. “Today, I think of that like a Ziskind shortly after he met Frant, war drill here in Israel, when we when they attended a basic Kab- are supposed to hide in bunkers.” balah course led by Shmuel Lemle, When Especie was 5, his im- a Brazilian teacher at the Kabbalah mediate family left the favela for Center in Rio. a house next to Rio’s international “When I was introduced to airport, but they would regularly Kabbalah, it changed the whole visit their loved ones left behind — entire way I see the universe and including his mother’s 11 siblings myself,” Especie said. “I’m always and his grandfather. searching for my origins.” Especie lived as a rebel teen It was through that introduction involved with street graffiti, for that Especie ended up getting a tat- which he was severely reprimand- too reminiscent of the traditional ed by his conservative father. He chart of Kabbalah sefirot, or mys- had completed a fashion degree tical attributes, which covers his and was working in men’s bou- whole left forearm. (He has since tiques and living in his parents’ added the names of his wife and home, sharing a small bedroom children in Hebrew.) with his sister, when he met Frant, Like many Israelis today, the a graphic designer who lived couple live a mostly secular life. a wealthy life in Rio’s upscale But although he has never con- neighborhood of Lagoa with her verted to Judaism and does not Jewish family, the owners of a feel entirely comfortable going to popular women’s clothing brand. synagogue, Especie finds strength During that time, Especie also in Jewish rituals. He began putting started making inroads as a mul- on tefillin, the phylacteries worn tidisciplinary artist, working in by observant adult Jews during sculpture, painting and textile weekday morning prayers, shortly arts. Colorful swings he made before the birth of his second son of macramé, a textile produced after the father of a close Jewish using knotting techniques, were friend gave him a set as a gift. Now exhibited in several places, includ- he prays with tefillin daily. ing at the Xingu national park, an “I teach my kids about the indigenous territory in the Amazon importance of putting on tefillin,” rainforest. (Two chairs he pro- he said. (An Israeli-born daughter, duced in 2014 sold at auction last Liz, joined older brothers in 2017.) year for thousands of dollars each.) “If every Jew put on tefillin, Israel The couple moved in together would be surrounded by a shield of not long after their encounter on impenetrable energy.” the beach and soon married. Their In Raanana, Especie works full first son, Zion, was born in 2010. time as a teacher’s aide at a munic- Five years later came Noah. But by ipal kindergarten, an occupation Page 10 THE HEBREW WATCHMAN Thursday, February February 25, 2021 ‘Who are we?’: Asian American Jews explore their identities in a new video project By Gabe Friedman But even after learning from those research done on Asian American NEW YORK (JTA) — When student groups, she had never been Jews in particular. Sociologists Maya Katz-Ali saw the ad on in or heard of a space for Asian Helen Kim and Noah Leavitt — Facebook recruiting Asian Jews to American Jews in particular. who are also a married couple participate in a new video project “I would for example hear one — have published two landmark about identity, she scrolled through of the people at one of my JOC research papers on Asian Jewish her list of friends to figure out who [Jews of color] Shabbats go ‘Oh families, one in 2012 and another might be a good fit. yeah, my Chinese grandmother, in 2015. Besides that, Slosberg The daughter of a Jewish moth- this, this and this,’” Slosberg said. and Rudolph did not have previ- er from New York and a Muslim “And I’m like, what if we were in a ous projects like theirs to turn to father from India, it didn’t occur to space and we could all understand for inspiration. Katz-Ali that she fit the bill herself. what it’s like to have an Asian “We saw a gap in the media Though she grew up connected grandma. Wouldn’t that be cool?” that could be filled,” Rudolph said. to both parents’ cultures — espe- So last spring Slosberg reached She and Slosberg remained cially the food — she always saw out to a few other Chinese Jews mindful throughout their project of them as distinct. When her mother through connections and social how broad the term “Asian Ameri- wanted to hire Indian dancers for media, hoping to create that space can” can be a flattening term. her bat mitzvah, she shot the idea for herself. She found Jenni Ru- “The Asian diaspora is just so down. dolph, a Berklee College of Music huge and diverse that it feels weird “I remember specifically say- graduate who was featured in a to kind of lump ourselves in, but ing, ‘Mom, no, that’s Indian. widely viewed YouTube video also — white America lumps us That’s not Jewish,’” said Katz-Ali, about interracial identity. all in together anyways,” Rudolph who now works for the Shabbat Rudolph had grown up in Hun- said. “So that’s kind of a common programming organization One- tington Beach, a predominantly thread that we’re all relating on. Table. “So obviously, in my head, white city in southern Califor- We have a lot of very common I had this big kind of divorce of nia’s Orange County, where she experiences.” these two identities.” struggled to feel at home in white, For participant Jacob Sujin The Lunar project brought over 20 Asian American Jews together After her epiphany that she Asian or Jewish spaces. She had Kuppermann, born to a Brazilian in conversation. Courtesy of Lunar would be a good candidate for the attended a Jewish preschool, but Ashkenazi father and Thai mother, Katz-Ali shares in a clip that that celebrates oil. video initiative she saw advertised after it closed, her two younger the project’s diversity was an im- Ashkenazi Jewish food doesn’t al- Now she’s trying to keep the on Facebook, Katz-Ali reached sisters didn’t get the same Jewish portant selling point. ways “feel like home” for her, but Lunar group together, in part by out to its founders. That’s how she foundation, and her family wasn’t “That’s kind of what made me she’s always excited when finding planning OneTable Shabbat events ended up in “Taste of Connection,” very religious. excited about this project — that Indian restaurants that are kosher. for them. the food-focused first episode of “That was just a really exciting there was a very diverse range of After participating in the project, “I’m so excited that this is tak- Lunar: The Jewish-Asian Film moment for me,” Rudolph said of different Asian experiences,” Kup- in December she inaugurated “pa- ing off,” she said. “I think this is Project, a series of videos of young her initial virtual meet-up with permann said. “Obviously there’s koras and menorahs,” her name also going to give more permission Asian American Jews in conversa- Slosberg’s group, “of meeting not a huge amount of discussion for a new Hanukkah tradition that to people to create and find that tion with each other that launched others and being able to talk in about mixed race Jews [in Ameri- incorporates a traditional Indian place of belonging and community last week, to coincide with the lu- a group and decide — so this is can society]. But usually when it fried food into the Jewish holiday that they can gather within.” nar new year, a holiday celebrated a community, what do we stand comes up, it’s tiny. It’s Chinese in multiple Asian cultures. The for? Who are we? And what does American.” series — which is on YouTube it really mean to be these things?” In the inaugural video, par- Biden: white supremacists are and also lives on the website of Slosberg and Rudolph decided ticipants talk about how their Be’chol Lashon, a group promot- to take the concept — bringing knowledge of both Jewish and ‘the most dangerous people’ in America ing Jews of color that helped sup- Asian American Jews together Asian foods helps them feel like By Ron Kampeas supremacy.” port the project — will tackle a to talk openly and casually about they “have stake in” each broader WASHINGTON (JTA) — Biden has tapped Merrick new theme in each episode. their identities and experiences cultural community, in the words President Biden said domestic Garland, a Jewish judge, to be his “[It’s] really fun to break the — and branch out with it. Beyond of one person. Another said that terrorism was the “greatest threat” attorney-general. stereotype of ‘You want Jewish just Chinese-Americans, they that knowledge helps her “prove” in America and that white suprem- Biden noted reports of member- food? Ok, it’s a bagel,’” Katz-Ali found Jewish people with what her Jewishness in Jewish spaces acists are the “most dangerous ship growth of police and military says in the video, after describing was for them an unexpectedly that are predominantly white. people” and pledged to focus his personnel in white supremacist how she blends Indian cuisine with diverse array of different Asian Some pointed out the ways in Justice Department on the rise of groups. The Trump administration Jewish tradition. backgrounds, from Indian to Thai which Asian and Jewish flavors white supremacy. downplayed the threat of right- The series is the brainchild to Filipino and more. go well together, while others Biden, in Milwaukee on Tues- wing terrorism, and Biden attacked of two recent college students One thing they quickly realized talked about the difficulty of eating day, February 16, speaking on former President Donald Trump who found themselves craving a was that all of them felt that they Asian dishes while trying to keep CNN at his first town hall as for what he depicted as Trump’s way to get to know other people had not seen their identity repre- kosher — stemming from the fact president, fielded a question from encouragement of far-right groups. whose identities overlapped with sented in American Jewish spaces. that multiple Asian staples, such as Joel Berkowitz, a professor at “You may remember, in one of their own. The American Jewish commu- shellfish and pork, are not allowed the University of Wisconsin- my debates with the former presi- One of them is founder Gen nity has begun to pay more atten- in Jewish dietary law. Milwaukee, about what Berkowitz dent, I asked him to condemn the Slosberg, who was raised without tion to the experience of Jews of termed the “ongoing threat” from Proud Boys and he wouldn’t do religion in China and moved with color in recent years, as highlighted white supremacists in the wake of it,” Biden said. “He said ‘Stand her Ashkenazi father and Chinese by the rise and expanded profile of the deadly Jan. 6 raid on the U.S. by,’ stand ready, or whatever the mother to the U.S. as a teenager. groups such as Be’chol Lashon and OBITUARIES Capitol. A number of far-right phrase exactly was.” Trump had As an undergraduate at the Uni- the Jews of Color Initiative, and Carol Cohen groups and figures were involved told the Proud Boys to “stand back versity of California, Berkeley, she the increasing number of Jews of in the raid. Carol T. Cohen of Boynton Beach, and stand by.” joined multiple groups for students color in organizational leadership “I got involved in politics Bantering with Berkowitz, who of color — where to her surprise roles. An analysis by researchers Florida, sister of Memphian Margie (Harold) Steinberg, died Sunday, to begin with because of civil teaches foreign languages and lit- she discovered Jews of color like from 2019 found that Jews of color February 14, rights and opposition to white erature, beforehand, Biden said he herself. have been slightly undercounted in at the Arbor supremacists, the Ku Klux Klan, studied French for five years and “Everybody I knew who was broad surveys on American Jews. Oaks Assisted and the most dangerous people in could not speak it. “I’ll teach you Jewish was white,” said Slosberg. But there has not been much Living facility America continue to exist,” Biden some Yiddish some time. How’s in Greenacres, said. “That is the greatest threat to that?” Berkowitz said. Florida. terror in America, domestic terror. “I understand a little bit of Yid- Mrs. Cohen, And so I would make sure that my who was 76 dish,” Biden said. “I’m sure you Nearly 3 in 10 Republicans believe central tenet years old, was Justice Department and the civil do,” Berkowitz said. of QAnon conspiracy, survey finds the wife of rights division is focused heavily “It would be a shanda if he David A. Cohen on those very folks, and I would didn’t,” said CNN anchor Ander- By Ben Sales been endorsed in the past by two to whom she make sure that we, in fact, focus on son Cooper, who, like Biden, was WASHINGTON (JTA) — Republican congresswomen, Mar- was married for Carol Cohen how to deal with the rise of white raised as a Roman Catholic. Nearly three in 10 Republicans be- jorie Taylor Greene and Lauren 53 years. lieve the claim driving the QAnon Boebert, though both have since She was a member of Olam Tikvah conspiracy theory, according to a disavowed it. in Fairfax, Virginia. survey released earlier this month QAnon, scholars say, is rooted Born in Detroit, Michigan, on by a conservative think tank. in age-old anti-Semitic conspiracy September 5, 1944, Mrs. Cohen was the daughter of the late Eric and According to the survey by the theories that falsely allege that Gisella Bennett. American Enterprise Institute, 29% Jews abduct and abuse children for Besides her husband and Memphis of Republicans believe the baseless ritual purposes, and that a shadowy relatives, Mrs. Cohen is survived by claim that former President “Don- cabal of Jewish elites secretly con- two sons, Jeffrey (Aimee) Cohen ald Trump has been secretly fight- trols the world. and Michael (Ivy) Cohen; and four ing a group of child sex traffickers The survey also found that grandchildren, Zachary, Sydney, Max, that include prominent Democrats more than one in four evangelical and Landon. and Hollywood elites.” That’s Christians, 27%, believes the cen- Private services were held the idea at the center of the false tral tenet of QAnon, according to Wednesday, February 17, with burial in Eternal Light Cemetery in Boynton QAnon conspiracy theory, which the Religion News Service. Beach. Beth Israel Memorial Chapel has gained millions of supporters The survey included 2,016 in Boynton Beach had charge. across the United States and was respondents and was conducted The family requests that any US President Joe Biden participates in a CNN town hall at the praised repeatedly by Trump. in late January. It has a margin of memorials be sent to a charity of the Pabst Theater in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, Feb. 16, 2021. The conspiracy theory has also error of 2.7% donor’s choice. Credit: Saul Loeb/AFP via Getty Images Thursday, February 25, 2021 THE HEBREW WATCHMAN Page 11 In Britain, Jews are leading the fight against the oppression of China’s Uighur Muslims By Cnaan Liphshiz understand how I can sit still and both Christian faith leaders. LONDON (JTA) — As the do nothing,” Andrew told The Jew- In the United States, while Jew- leader of British Jewry’s main hu- ish News of London in 2019. (He ish groups have expressed grave man rights group, Mia Hasenson- declined JTA’s request to feature concern about China’s treatment Gross regularly hears personal sto- him last year, saying he preferred of its Uighur minority, there hasn’t ries of loss, grief and helplessness. not to distract attention from his been the kind of all-hands-on-deck But few encounters have affect- cause with reporting about his effortthat led college students to ed Hasenson-Gross as profoundly identity.) spend their summers and teenagers as the one she had in 2019 with Eliyahu Goldsobel, a 33-year- to spend their bar mitzvah money Rahima Mahmut, a U.K.-based old Orthodox rabbi from London lobbying for refugees in Darfur. activist for the rights of Uighurs, a who works with the Rene Cassin Perhaps the most unusual as- Muslim minority that is the target human rights group, has organized pect of Mirvis’ intervention is that of what the U.S. State Department several “Jews for Uighurs” rallies he recommended to the British and many advocates say is an at- outside Volkswagen showrooms in government concrete steps for how tempted genocide by the Chinese London. The German firm, which to address the Uighur crisis. He government. was complicit in the Holocaust, did not offer such advice even in Mahmut shared that she has has facilities in China’s heavily 2019, when he waded into politics A Jewish man who identified himself as Andrew protests the not spoken in over four years with Uighur region of Xinjiang. for the first time to comment on oppression of China’s Uighurs outside the Chinese Embassy in London, the family she left behind in 1997 Rene Cassin has also engaged the proliferation of anti-Semitic Jan. 5, 2020. Credit: David Cliff/NurPhoto via Getty Images following an earlier government young British Jews in connection rhetoric within the Labour Party. Jews in the United States. similarities between their treat- crackdown on Uighurs called the with the issue by organizing a vid- “It is clear that there must be an The situation in Darfur was ment and the Holocaust — have Ghulja massacre in which dozens eoconference on the subject for the urgent, independent and unfettered less evocative of the Holocaust for “made all the difference” in rais- were killed. Mahmut does not Union of Jewish Students. investigation into what is happen- many British Jews, according to ing awareness of the issue in the know whether her siblings are The Jewish mobilization has ing. Those responsible must be Gluck. There were mass killings in United Kingdom, Shuker told JTA. dead or alive, she told Hasenson- risen to the highest level of the held to account and Uighurs able Darfur, but with Uighurs, “the par- “There’s a taboo on comparing Gross. organized Jewish community. to escape must be given asylum,” allels to the Holocaust and to the current events to the Holocaust, “I found myself thinking back Earlier this month, the Board of Mirvis wrote. events leading up to the Holocaust out of the justifiable desire not to about my own grandfather, Saul Deputies of British Jews held a His op-ed neither mentioned are much clearer because of the cheapen the Holocaust’s memory,” Gun, who left his family in Roma- news conference to urge Parlia- the Holocaust nor drew parallels religious element,” the rabbi said. he said. “But like what happened nia in the 1920s and soon thereaf- ment to amend trade laws and between the World War II genocide Edwin Shuker, vice president in Rwanda, this is actually a time ter never really knew what exactly make it harder for the govern- and the oppression of the Uighurs. of the Board of Deputies, sees when doing so is appropriate. happened to them during the Ho- ment to deal with countries that But Marie van der Zyl, the Board another reason that some leaders When Jews do this, it lifts the ta- locaust,” Hasenson-Gross told the perpetuate genocides. (The effort of Deputies president, made those of British Jewry have mobilized boo for the rest of society.” Jewish Telegraphic Agency. was unsuccessful.) connections explicitly at the news for Uighurs: the perceived increase The director of the London- In China, hundreds of thou- conference. in anti-Semitism in the United Rioter... based Rene Cassin charity, she sands of Uighurs have been put in “As the Jewish community, Kingdom in recent years. (Continued From Page 4) decided she had to spread the word so-called re-education camps, a we are hesitant to consider com- Starting in 2015, the British La- about what was happening to the Chinese government euphemism parisons to the murder of 6 mil- According to the federal com- bour Party, which for decades was plaint, Secor described fascism Uighurs. for what are widely seen as con- lion Jews and many others by the the political home for many Jews, Hasenson-Gross’s efforts added centration camps. Testimonies Nazis,” she said. But, she added, as “epic,” has celebrated the 2017 was rocked by a series of scandals white supremacist rally in Charlot- to an unusual mobilization that has of police and army brutality are “nobody could fail to notice the involving anti-Semitism that Brit- turned British Jews — including widespread, and recent accounts of similarities between what is al- tesville, Virginia, and “suggests ish Jewish leaders blamed largely Jews and the state of Israel control their chief rabbi, who usually re- rape and forced sterilization have leged to be happening in the Peo- on Jeremy Corbyn, the far-left poli- mains aloof from political issues also emerged. ple’s Republic of China today and the politics of other governments tician who had been elected to lead and attempt to control ‘Western- that don’t directly involve Jews Mahmut’s brother in their last what happened in Nazi Germany the party that year. Corbyn has been or Israel — into some of the most conversation asked her to stop 75 years ago.” ers.’” replaced by Keir Starmer, a centrist He has reportedly identified as vocal advocates for the Chinese calling home as it endangers the Among the similarities, van der who has promised to reform the Muslim minority. very lives of her relatives, she Zyl noted the forced transport by a “Groyper,” or follower of white party’s handling of the issue. supremacist Nick Fuentes. “Reflecting upon the deep pain said at the Board of Deputies news train, forced trimming of beards, “It’s a matter of principle,” Shuk- of Jewish persecution throughout conference. “women being sterilized and the er said, “but it’s also arriving at the the ages, I feel compelled to speak “It’s been four years I lost con- grim spectrum of concentration decision that to fight anti-Semitism out,” Chief Rabbi Ephraim Mirvis tact with my own family, and in my camps.” is to fight for each other rather than wrote in a Dec. 15 op-ed in The last conversation with my brother, Ian Blackford, a lawmaker who just expecting everyone else to join Guardian titled “As chief rabbi, I he said to me, ‘Please leave us attended the Jewish group’s news our fight while we just sit there.” can no longer remain silent about in God’s hands. We leave you in conference, said the amendment Not everyone on the board the plight of the Uighurs.” God’s hands, too.’ And that is the on limiting trade would follow shares this attitude, he said, as For British Jewry, the effort is only way that I cope, is God help the example set by the British some deputies have objected to akin to the fight by American Jews us, God help them, please protect government in the 1930s, when it the mobilization on behalf of the 15 years ago against the genocide them,” she said. “And today I need admitted 10,000 Jewish children Uighurs, saying it falls outside the in Darfur: a situation so resonant your help.” from Nazi-occupied countries. organization’s core mission. of the Jews’ historical trauma that Mirvis in his Guardian op-ed Van der Zyl’s father was among The Jewish voice on the Ui- entire communities are joining did not use the term genocide, but those young refugees on what were ghurs — and the acknowledgment in. Unusually, the push to draw did call it “a mass atrocity” whose known as Kindertransports. by Jewish community leaders of attention to the Uighur cause is weight is “overwhelming.” Satel- “The Kindertransport was a captivating not just liberal Jews lite images, leaked documents and fantastic thing,” Blackford said. often involved in issues of social survivor testimonies “all paint a “We need to show that same gen- justice but Orthodox Jews, as well. devastating picture affecting well erosity and support to those who MOVING? “People in the rank and file of over 1 million people, which, for are suffering persecution today.” Please let us know before you go! It’s easy... the community are talking about the most part, the world continues He also acknowledged the • E-mail: [email protected] • Call: (901) 763-2215 this issue,” said Herschel Gluck, a to ignore,” he wrote. strong mobilization within Brit- • Write: P.O. Box 770846, Memphis, TN 38177-0846 prominent Orthodox rabbi who has The rabbi’s op-ed opened with ish Jewry to act on the Uighurs’ fostered relationships with British Mahmut’s story — Mirvis had met oppression. THANKS FOR YOUR COOPERATION Muslims. “This is something that with her upon Rene Cassin’s re- “I’d like to thank the Board of is felt very deeply by the commu- quest. It drew several comparisons Deputies for its show of leadership nity. They feel that if ‘Never again’ with Jewish history, including the in this issue, it has been inspira- is a term that needs to be used, this oppression of Soviet Jews. tional,” Blackford said. JEWISH SURVIVAL is certainly one of the situations Mirvis, who was born in apart- That leadership has included where it applies.” heid South Africa, made reference more than a dozen media state- DEPENDS on an INFORMED One of the first British Jews to to his native land. ments and Jewish community openly join with the Uighurs is “For so long, any notion of events designed to raise awareness Jewish Community an Orthodox Jew named Andrew, positive change was rendered im- about the plight of the Uighurs. who since 2019 has been protest- possible by the impregnable power Just how deeply the concern Subscribe Now—Don’t Miss An Issue ing, mostly on his own, outside and ruthless determination of the is registering with ordinary Jews the Chinese Embassy in London. apartheid authorities,” he wrote. has been hard to gauge because One Year—$25.00 • Two Years—$40.00 At least twice a week, in all kinds “And, yet, change did eventually of the pandemic lockdown that of weather conditions, he takes up come.” makes gatherings impossible and The HEBREW WATCHMAN his position holding a sign reading Unlike Mirvis, the archbishop has sent events online, said Rabbi Phone 763-2215 “3 million Muslims in Chinese of Canterbury, the leader of the Alexander Goldberg, a human concentration camps.” Church of England, has not ad- rights activist and dean of the col- Mailing Address—P.O. Box 770846, Memphis, TN 38177-0846 “As a Jew, knowing what hap- dressed the Uighur issue. Neither lege of chaplains at the University pened to the Jews 80 years ago, the has Pope Francis in the Vatican, of Surrey, south of London. The Hebrew Watchman • P.O. Box 770846 • Memphis, TN 38177-0846 world did nothing for us. I don’t despite repeated calls to do so on But, he said, “This has trickled down to some extent to the rank Here’s my check for $______1 Year____ 2 Years___ and file.” Send Paper To: The British reaction to the Name______atrocities in Darfur in the early Address______Phone______Erev Shabbat, Fri Feb 26, 2021 / 14 Adar, 5781...... 5:35 pm 2000s was far less vocal, involving Shabbat ends, Havdalah, Sat Feb 27, 2021 / 15 Adar, 5781...... 6:36 pm none of the high-profile actions City______State______Zip______and coming far later than that of Weekly Torah Reading: TETZAVEH FROM______Page 12 THE HEBREW WATCHMAN Thursday, February 25, 2021