Guide to Schools & Camps 1908 2016 Schools & Camps 107 Supplement years Section B EL C. DUKE JHV: MICHA sori Montes Goldberg obs, UOS David Jac ol children wn Scho , L exi Bro an Vaknin h Jonath ect tzedaka Torok coll and Ella chool day. t of their s at the star January 21, 2016 • Section B • Jewish Herald-Voice The Texas Gulf Coast’s Jewish Newspaper Since 1908 January 21, 2016 - 11 SHEVAT 5776 Volume CVIII - Number 46 Two Sections Houston, Texas jhvonline.com $2 Per Copy Busting a move on Madonna’s dance floor Pop star makes special donation to Houston JCC By AARON HOWARD | JHV Colton put the call through to assistant executive director Marilyn Hassid. Thanks, Madonna. She may be a “Material “ ‘Confessions on a Dance Floor’: A-list Girl” but she’s also a “Ray of Light.” performers, like Madonna, travel with 20-30 On the afternoon of Jan. 12, the phone rang at trucks,” Hassid told the JHV. “They sometimes the Evelyn Rubenstein JCC’s main number. Debbie donate their props and purchase new ones in the Colton, who has worked the front desk for 12 years, next city. Most likely, she has been traveling with answered. this dance floor. She may own multiple dance A woman, who identified herself as Abby, told floors. Her crew assembles the same dance floor Colton she was with Madonna. The pop star was in for each concert, so everyone knows exactly where town at the Toyota Center as part of her worldwide to properly place themselves during each song.” “Rebel Heart” tour. Madonna wanted to donate her Madonna’s dance floor is hand delivered to the Merfish Madonna portable dance floor to the JCC. See Madonna on Page 2A Teen Center. NY teens aid with Community mourning after flood recovery, learn gun accident civil rights history By JHV Staff A Houston teen was killed in a shooting accident Saturday, Jan. 16. Jacob Remels, 15, died of a gunshot wound in his Meyerland-area home, after a semiautomatic pistol acciden- tally discharged. CPR was performed on the teen, but he was pronounced dead at the scene, according to reports. The fatal shooting has been referred to a Harris County grand jury, Houston Police said in a statement. Remels previously attended The Emery/Weiner School. His family belongs to Congregation Emanu El. Graveside services were held Jan. 18 at Congregation Emanu El Memorial Park. The community mourns Remels’ loss and prays that his memory will remain an eternal blessing. Tu B’Shevat: a celebration for the trees By AARON HO WARD | JHV Tu B’Shevat (the 15th day of the month of Shevat) is a holiday that marks the beginning of the New Year for trees. Based on the rainy season and agricultural cycle in the Land of Israel, JHV: MICHAEL C. DUKE the day celebrates the date when the new J Teen Leadership volunteers rebuilt sandboxes on the playground of UOS Goldberg Montessori School Jan. 15 as part of the New York group’s service year began for produce. Following the trip to Houston. (Top) Hannah Malter joined Houston trip co-chairs Rachel Kleinhandler and Sam Roth as they prepped a house for repainting Jan. 17 as part of a community service project sponsored by Rebuilding Together Houston. rainy season (from Sukkot, the 15th of Tishri, until the 15th of Shevat) fruit from By MICHAEL C. DUKE | JHV she and 28 other student volunteers from J Federation of New York in Westchester trees that blossomed after Tu B’Shevat Teen Leadership emptied 50-pound bags of County. The teen-led organization brings would be set aside according to a six-year It was a typical Friday at UOS Goldberg sand into a pair of sandboxes. Jewish high school students together, from cycle. In the first, second, fourth and fifth Montessori School until a knock came on “I knew a lot of people who were hit by all backgrounds, to develop leadership year of the six-year cycle, the farmers the door of each classroom. floods in Long Island from Hurricane Sandy skills, practice core Jewish values and set aside ma’aseir rishon (first tithe) for In walked groups of Jewish teens from [in 2012]. Seeing all the struggles they went perform community service projects. the Levites and brought ma’aseir sheini New York, bearing children’s books and through and how devastated they were from Each year, the group selects service (second tithe) to Jerusalem. On the third Judaica items to replace those lost last year it made me want to come down here to help projects that involve travel. Houston was and sixth year, ma’aseir ani was given during the Memorial Day flood. the community,” Young said. among those chosen this year, in order to the poor in lieu of ma’aseir sheini. Of After introducing themselves, the guests School leaders were grateful for the to assist with rebuilding efforts from the course, on the seventh year, the land was presented the donated items and spent teens’ help. Memorial Day flood – the costliest natural supposed to rest. the afternoon reading, playing games and “J Teen Leadership brought books, disaster in Jewish Houston history. Since tithes had to be given from the singing Shabbat songs with the children. At Judaica and assistance to our school that “We know from J Teen experience that fruits that grow on the tree each year, Tu the end of class, the teens regrouped outside continues to grow after the destruction of when teens have an idea and are proactive B’Shevat was established as the cutoff and worked together to improve the school’s the flood,” said Debra Kira, UOSGMS’ head in taking action, we can make a difference,” date between one year and the next or playground. of school. “They came into the classes and said Sam Roth, 18, who recognized the need ma’aseir ani (the New Year for Trees). “We heard about what happened here – brought stories, smiles and gifts. It was a in Houston and co-chaired the project with After the Temple was destroyed, Tu people in Houston had been hit with flood huge mitzvah that is so appreciated by staff Rachel Kleinhandler. B’Shevat lost this purpose, because the damage on Memorial Day and that help was and students.” needed to rebuild,” said Olivia Young, 17, as J Teen Leadership is a program of UJA See Teens on Page 4A See Trees on Page 4A PAGE 4A JEWISH HERALD-VOICE JANUARY 21, 2016 UP CLOSE Teens From Page 1A Valley home. “Your work, today, is very important to Abbe Marcus is executive director of J us,” said Rebuilding Together’s Terri Drabik Teen Leadership and was one of a half-dozen O’Reilley, in thanking the teen volunteers. staff members who accompanied the teens “You’re saving us about $8,000 in labor costs, in Houston. which allows us to leverage our funds to do She said the trip’s goals were to mobilize more critical repairs inside the home.” resources and deliver supplies to those in On Monday morning, the group returned need, to discover the history of the local to Wheeler Avenue Baptist Church for Jewish community, to learn the stories of another service project, then departed those they meet, and to connect the group’s Houston. work to Jewish values and teachings. Reciprocal impact J Teen Leadership spent three days in J Teen Leadership made a difference in Houston over the MLK holiday weekend, Jan. the lives of Houstonians, according to those 15-18. Besides flood relief, the group studied who directly benefited from the group’s good the history of local Jewish-black relations works. during the civil rights movement and Similarly, Houston had an impact on J worked on other service projects, benefiting Teen volunteers, they agreed. Houston’s black and Latino communities. “This trip gave me a whole new oppor- During their visit to UOS Goldberg tunity to volunteer in a place that I’ve never Montessori School, whose building and been before,” said J Teen volunteer Harrison contents suffered heavy damage during the Singer, 16. flood, the students met with community “As I’ve grown older, I’ve gained a sense members impacted by the disaster. JHV: MICHAEL C. DUKE of how privileged I am to live in northern Jordan Weintraub was among a group of J Teen Leadership volunteers who donated school supplies “We had no warning. We had no prepa- to UOSGMS and spent an afternoon reading and playing with children there. Westchester, New York. My friends and I are rations. We had no time,” said Freda Wadler, fortunate to have good lives there. a teacher at Goldberg Montessori, whose After J Teen’s work at Goldberg us when you see something that’s not right, “I feel like I have the responsibility to home in the Willow Meadows subdivision Montessori, the group took a tour of historic you stand up and say something.” help others who don’t necessarily have that took in more than a foot of water during the Jewish Houston, retracing the community’s Like many Houston businesses, Three or who find themselves in tough situations,” flood. origins through the Galveston Plan, to its Brothers was damaged by the Memorial Day he said. “The worst thing that happened that growth in Riverside Terrace, to its eventual flood. For J Teen volunteer Zoe Moskowitz, 17, night was the fear,” she told the students. move to Southwest Houston. “It’s been a humbling experience,” Janice the experience helped shape her aspirations “The fear comes hard and fast and you are in The teens celebrated erev Shabbat that Jucker said.