Great Neck Synagogue Magazine S|C|O|P|E Rosh Hashanah2016 Tishrei5777 on to Treasures from the Cairo Geniza By Dr. Arnold Breitbart | Generation to Generation to | Generation Was It the Right Choice By Rabbi Moshe Kwalbrun AIPAC Policy Conference 2016 By Michele Wolf Mazel Tov to our Simchat Torah honorees! Chatan Torah: Aryeh Family Chatan Breishit: Howard Silberstein Chatan Maftir: Mark Gelberg | Generation to Generation | Generation to | Generation GNS2016 SCOPE RH 2016 1 שנה טובה! May this year be filled with sweetness, happiness, and simcha! From Your Favorite Glatt Kosher Caterer! Taste The Exceptional Great Neck Synagogue ∎brit Milahs ∎engagements ∎luncheons ∎bridal showers ∎bar/bat mitzvah ∎Weddings Book Now: 516-466-2222 SCOPE RH 2016 2 Great Neck Synagogue Magazine Great Neck Synagogue GNS2016 S|C|O|P|E 26 Old Mill Road Great Neck, NY 11023 Rosh Hashanah Issue | 2016 Table of Contents T: 516 487 6100 www.gns.org Excerpt From the Upcoming Book The Brooklyn Nobody Knows By William B. Helmreich p.12 Dale E. Polakoff, Rabbi Ian Lichter, Assistant Rabbi Was It The Right Choice By Rabbi Moshe Kwalbrun p.14 Ze’ev Kron, Cantor Mark Twersky, Executive Director A Black and White World By Annie Karpenstein p.15 James Frisch, Assistant Executive Director Sholom Jensen, Rabbi, Youth Director Jerusalem My Inspiration By Susan Goldstein p.18 Dr. Michael & Zehava Atlas, Youth Directors Lisa Septimus, Yoetzet Halacha “Say Little and Do Much” – “A Few Word but Many Deeds” Dr. Ephraim Wolf, z”l, Rabbi Emeritus By Zachary Dicker p.19 Eleazer Schulman, z”l, Cantor Emeritus Treasures from the Cairo Geniza By Dr. Arnold Breitbart p.21 Executive Board AIPAC Policy Conference 2016 By Michele Wolf p.23 Chairman of the Board Harold Domnitch President Dov Sassoon How to Break a Bad Habit By Lisa Stein p.26 Executive Vice President Erran Kagan First Vice President Cindy Liebmann Blessing for a Rooster By Esor Ben-Sorek, Ph.D. p.27 Second Vice President Bart Baum Ruth Weiss: Forgotten by History Third Vice President Jon Reiss By Rabbi Marvin Tokayer and Ellen Rodman, Ph.D. p.30 Treasurer Elie Cohen Varian Fry and the European Rescue Mission Recording Secretary Diane Rein By Carol Buckmann p.32 Corresponding Secretary Josh Shatzkes Harry and Bess: Financial Secretary Ruby Askowitz Never in My House Service Officer Steven Blumner By Esor Ben-Sorek, Ph.D. p.35 Service Officer Gary Chubak Life as a Chaplain: Gabbai Tom Furst The Art of Listening By Michal Schecter p.38 Beit Midrash Gabbai Jordan Wolf Beit Midrash Service Officer Meir Stein The Chaverim Center By Fred Shaw p.40 Hashem’s Nod SCOPE Editorial Board Aka Coincidence By Robyn Spector-Blumner p.41 Editor Diane Rein Sisterhood Message Art Director Andrew Allen By Farla Frumkin p.42 Contributing Editor Dr. Esor Ben-Sorek Rebbetzins’ Recipe Corner p.44 Contributing Editor Stanley Fischer Contributing Editor Carol Buckmann Great Neck Synagogue Men’s Club By Hillel Milun p.46 Contributing Editor Dr. William Liss-Levinson Contributing Editor Ron Malen Necessary Mourning: Healing the Loss of a Parent through Jewish Ritual Contributing Photographer Celia Lemonik By Dahlia Abraham-Klein p.50 The Most Difficult Choice By Rabbi Avraham Bronstein p.52 SCOPE magazine is published three times a year, SCOPE magazine is published three times a year, The Woman on my Left Rosh Hashanah, Chanukah and Pesach, By Karen Yehoshua p.54 by Great Neck Synagogue, Youth News 26 Old Mill Road, Great Neck, NY 11023 By Rabbi Sean Jensen, Dr. Mike & Zehava Atlas p.54 T: 516.487.6100 | F: 516.487.6149 | www.gns.org We Are Charleston By Andrew Allen p.55 It is distributed by mail to members and friends of the synagogue. A Year in the Life Paid subscriptions are available for non-members at $18 per year. By Ron Malen p.57 Copyright ©2016 Great Neck Synagogue A Quest for the Answer All articles, logos & material used for another publication or lecture By Esor Ben-Sorek, Ph.D. p.58 must be expressly requested in writing from GNS. The views ex- Yomim Noraim pressed in this magazine are those of the author and may or may not Schedule of Services p.60 reflect the diversity of our membership. The High Holiday Laws p.61 View previous issues of SCOPE online; scan the QR code below. Sukkot Schedule of Services p.64 Life’s Work By Annie Karpenstein p.66 Great Neck Synagogue Deserves Inspired and Meaningful Imagery By Gary Rabenko p.67 https://www.gns.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/GNS_SCOPE_RH16.pdf SCOPE RH 2016 3 04 you! Thank you! Our loyal SCOPE advertisers have also been a tre- mendous source of support and sustenance to this A Message from the Editor magazine. I urge our readers to support their busi- nesses enthusiastically so that they recognize the Diane Rein value of their partnership with SCOPE and Great Neck Synagogue. Thank you very much to Executive Director, Mark Twersky and Assistant Executive Director, Jimmy Great Neck Synagogue Magazine Frisch, who are such a big part of SCOPE’s success. They always say “yes” to me whenever I ask them for help! I also greatly appreciate the efforts of the S|C|O|P|E office staff, Maxine Nasser, Paula Minsky and Susan Goldstein. Rabbi Lichter is a pleasure to work with and I am grateful for his responsiveness, advice, and editorial judgements. I also greatly appreciate Rabbi Dale Polakoff’s continued strong support of SCOPE. Andrew Allen – my hardworking, creative, artistic, Welcome to the Rosh Hashanah 5777 issue of amazing Art Director is the real reason you are SCOPE magazine! holding this issue of SCOPE magazine. I encourage W you to thank him personally by emailing him at We are thrilled to welcome our new rabbinic intern, [email protected]. Rabbi Jesse Shore, and his wife, Lauren, to Great Neck Synagogue. Rabbi Shore’s biography is in- Finally, on a sad note, I would like to take this oppor- cluded in this edition of SCOPE magazine, as well as tunity to dedicate my Editor’s Message to my long- Lauren’s recipe. We look forward to meeting them time beloved friend and who I always called “my in person! favorite Cohen” – Sam Levitt z”l who passed away shortly after Pesach. I will miss his regular phone Our readers will enjoy Carol Buckmann’s fascinating calls especially after he received each issue of article, “Varian Fry and the European Rescue Mis- SCOPE magazine to tell me how much he enjoyed it. sion” which depicts the remarkable story of focus, I will miss his friendship, and I will miss him eating determination and heroism of the first American in my sukkah every year. SCOPE readers may recall Righteous Among Nations. Lisa Stein’s piece about that Sam previously shared with us his memories of “How to Break a Bad Habit” will be valuable to our a wartime Pesach stationed overseas. We were sup- readers especially since Rosh Hashanah is an auspi- posed to meet after Pesach because he had a photo cious time to make resolutions and better ourselves. to submit for SCOPE along with a write up about it I am delighted that Fred Shaw has written about the and he also had some new ideas about SCOPE to tell Chaverim Center at Great Neck Synagogue which is me. I am very sad that never came to fruition. May a multigenerational twice-monthly luncheon and his memory inspire us and be a blessing. program that appeals to our diverse membership. Zachary Dicker’s tribute about our long-time beloved On behalf of my husband, David, and our children, member, David Wagner z”l, titled, “Say Little and Do Alexander, Oliver and Sophia, I wish you all a very Much – Few Words But Many Deeds” is written with happy and healthy new year! love and affection about a person who was a pillar of our shul community. I am happy to have many new SCOPE sponsors who have joined in supporting this publication financial- Diane Rein ly. I strongly encourage others who enjoy reading SCOPE to become a sponsor for $36 an issue or $100 for three issues. We welcome any additional dona- tions to help defray our expenses! Thank you! Thank SCOPE RH 2016 4 05 of the GNS community. We will spend hours daven- ning together, fasting together, singing together and A Message from our Rabbi hopefully, coming closer to Hashem together. This is Rabbi Dale Polakoff a time when each one of us can be an inspiration to those around us. The way we daven can inspire oth- ers to daven better. The seriousness we bring to our shul experience can inspire others to search for a similar seriousness. We, as individuals, can not only benefit from being part of the community, we can actually make the community a better, stronger and more spiritual place. If you’re looking for a challenge for Rosh Hashanah 5777, then this is it. Work on yourself as an individu- al, but also be aware of your responsibilities as part of a community. If we are able to accomplish this then our prayers for a good, healthy and productive year will certainly be answered. One of the most important and meaningful prayers Ellen joins me in wishing you and your loved ones a of this period of the Yomim Noraim is that known shana tovah umetukah. Oby its opening words “Unesaneh Tokef (Let us speak of the awesomeness).” According to popular legend it was composed by one Rabbi Amnon of Mainz and is one of the few piyutim that is said on both Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur.