St. Petersburg, FL 33707 St. Petersburg, FL Avenue 6416 Central Jewish Press of Pinellas County Inc. Bay, Tampa The Jewish Press Group of The Jewish Federation of Pinellas and Pasco Counties recently expanded the mailing list it shares with the Jewish Press. If you do not wish to continue to receive the paper, contact [email protected] or call (727) 530-3223. www.jewishpresspinellas.com VOL. 33, NO. 12 ST. PETERSBURG, FLORIDA A JANUARY 11 - 24, 2019 12 PAGES A sculpture in the shape of a heart was recently installed in the courtyard The Jewish Press Group at Congregation PAID U.S. POSTAGE of Tampa Bay, Inc. Bay, Tampa of PRESORTED B’nai Israel in St. STANDARD Petersburg to honor the memory of the Weiss family, who perished in an air- plane crash while on vacation in Costa Rica on Dec. 31, 2017. The family, Dr. JustJust aa nosh..nosh.. Mitchell Weiss and Dr. Leslie Weiss Complied from JTA news service – both respected Miami Jewish teen dies in fall physicians at Mor- from 9th-floor condo balcony ton Plant Hospital Federation in Clearwater – and A day before his 16th birthday, a student at the He- their daughter, Han- brew Academy of Miami died in a fall from the ninth story nah, 19, and son Ari, of his high-rise condominium building. expands reach 16, were all involved Samuel Farkas of Miami Beach was locked out of his in the Jewish com- family’s ninth-loor condo on Tuesday evening, Jan. 8, munity. and was trying to climb down the balcony from the loor Not long after their above when he lost his grip and fell to his death, police to Hernando deaths, a sculpture told the local media. In an effort to further serve the Jewish was commissioned Farkas was a sophomore at the Hebrew Academy, a to be a lasting mem- Modern Orthodox school in Miami Beach. communities of West Central Florida and the ory of the family. St. Nature Coast, the board of the Jewish Fed- “Our hearts are broken over the tragic loss of Sammy Petersburg sculptor Farkas, a bright, joyous high school student who was eration of Pinellas and Pasco Counties voted Donald Gialanella, loved and appreciated by everyone he encountered,” unanimously to encompass Hernando Coun- known for using ty in its service area, effective immediately. repurposed mixed read the beginning of a post on the school’s Facebook “We are excited to embrace our community media, created the page. members to the north,” said Federation Presi- work. Police Chaplain Rabbi Mark Rosenberg told Local 10 dent Ezra Singer. “Hernando community has News the teen’s kippah was found in the pocket of his shorts. Rabbi Rosenberg said it is likely he put it there a long-standing food festival, speaker series, so it would not fall during his balcony-to-balcony climb. and growing religious school. Just as much as The teen’s father posted an article about the accident we have to offer to this new area, I believe we Republicans trying to make on Facebook and wrote in part in the post: “A part of me can also learn from them. This combination is gone and will never be back. The anguish and suffer- will offer Federation members of all ages the ing I feel is beyond words. He was a special kid with tre- opportunity to meet and share experiences.” shutdown an Israel issue? mendous love and happiness and I will miss him every With the addition of Hernando, “The Fed- By RON KAMPEAS Senate Democrats second of the rest of my life.” eration is considering a new name that is more JTA news service pushed back against The family traveled to Israel to bury the teen. inclusive of our regional reach,” said Federa- WASHINGTON – In an apparent move claims on Twitter by tion Executive Director Emilie Socash. to shift focus from a government shut- Sen. Marco Rubio, R-FL, that many of A quarter of all Holocaust victims killed “Our community – both congregation- down that polls show many blame on the ally and geographically – is thriving and them support the in just 3 months in 1942, study claims Trump administration, Republicans are anti-Israel Boycott, we reached out to the Jewish Federation of calling out Senate Democrats for failure to Nearly 1.5 million Jews, or about a quarter of all Pinellas and Pasco County in order to be a Divestment and pass a bill regarding Israel. Sanctions movement. those murdered during the Holocaust, were murdered in part of something bigger than ourselves,” The bill, known as S.1. was slotted by Images Chip Somodevilla/Getty just three months in 1942, a new study found. said Marlene Shaw, president of Temple Beth Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell, tects states that pass bills targeting Israel The expedited murder rate was part of Nazi Ger- David in Spring Hill. R-KY, as the irst senate bill of the new boycotters from being sued. many’s Operation Reinhard for annihilating the Jews of “We’ve been informally partnering for congress – a mini-omnibus package on Senate Democrats countered with a ili- Poland, according to the study published by biomath- some time, and this development will allow Middle East policy. It includes two mea- buster to block the Israel-related bill, say- ematician Lewi Stone of Tel Aviv University and RMIT us to develop an even deeper bond with the sures popular with the centrist and right- ing they want to focus on reopening the University. It was published by Science Advances larger Jewish community of Florida’s Nature wing pro-Israel communities: One codi- government before Congress considers magazine. During that time, there was “an intense, 100-day Coast,” she added. other business. ies $38 billion in defense assistance for (about three months) surge” of killing in August, Septem- HERNANDO continued on PAGE 7 SHUTDOWN continued on PAGE 10 Israel for the next 10 years, the other pro- ber and October of 1942, the scholars wrote in the study titled “Quantifying the Holocaust: Hyperintense kill rates during the Nazi genocide.” In August and September, Jewish group aids federal workers missing paycheck around half a million victims were killed each month. The majority of the murders were done in three large JOSEFIN DOLSTEN most people would never think of how to ter of being able to plan because the way death camps in western Poland, either by gassing vic- JTA news service even pay for, medicine you need?” he won- things are going, I don’t anticipate that tims or shooting them. Ben, a Jewish federal employee based in dered. we’re going to be back open anytime soon. - - It’s kind of like one of your greater fears An estimated 5.4 million to 5.8 million Jews were mur the greater Washington, D.C., area, is wor- He is among some 800,000 federal em dered in the Holocaust during World War II, according ried about how he will pay for his day-to- ployees affected by the government closure coming true in a sense.” to the study, though scholars have struggled to estimate that started after President Donald Trump He hopes that some of his fears will be day expenses. exact numbers as oficials attempted to destroy much of A inancial specialist at the Transporta- said he would not sign a budget deal unless allayed soon. Ben has been approved for a the documentation and evidence. tion Security Administration, he hasn’t it included his request for $5.7 billion to loan by the Hebrew Free Loan Association According to Yad Vashem, Israel’s main state mu- been working since Dec. 22, when the gov- fund a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border. of Greater Washington and is waiting for seum for the genocide, at least 6 million people died in ernment shut down. Ben, who asked not to have his last name the money to be disbursed. the Holocaust. Ben worries about “even the most basic used in this article, has been furloughed “It’s a good feeling. Certainly it helps The new study used railway transportation records things,” he told JTA on Thursday, Jan. 10, since the closure began. Some other federal ease the stress,” he said. to identify more accurate numbers of those killed, the 20 days into the shutdown. staffers are working without pay. Last week, the association approved authors said. Stone attempted to identify not only how Where you’re gonna get money to pay “I’ve just been taking it day by day,” said an emergency program to provide loans of many victims were killed, but also at “the rate in which for food, to pay for your bills, things that Ben, who is single. “I think it’s just a mat- PAYCHECK continued on PAGE 10 the genocide proceeded,” he wrote in the study. Bein Like our page @ www.facebook.com/jfed.pinellas DID YOU KNOW? nd The International Lion of Judah ConferenceE is MEET DEBBIE SEMBLER, the premier gathering of dynamic, philanthropic International Lion of Judah Conference local chair, who Since July 1, 2018, we’ve raised Jewish women. They come together to hear proudly led eight women from our region on the unique from leaders and innovators, be inspired and experience of participating in this philanthropy conference. inspire new Lions, give back and empower one “To be part of this event is nothing short of life-changing,” she $1,255,189 another to do even more. said. A Lion since 2000, Debbie endowed her gift to ensure Including $315,000 in contributions our community’s continuity.