AOC-01

OurChildren IN THIS ISSUE: SYNAGOGUE DIRECTORY, ROCKLAND, ABOUT OUR CHILDREN

About
Useful Information
for
the Next Generation
of Jewish Families
A JIM CROCE SELICHOT IN FRANKLIN LAKES page 8
PASCRELL SEEKS TO RENAME STATE DEPARTMENT ROOM page 9
MEET OUR COMMUNITY’S NEW CLERGY page 12
ROCKLAND WOMAN WINS KOSHER.COM ‘FOOD FIGHT’ page 28
TALKING WITH ‘BAND’S VISIT’ STAR SASSON GABAY page 57
Too Cool for School

87
Fall into Style
Starting with a Smile
Supplement to The Jewish Standard • September 2018

AUGUST 24, 2018

VOL. LXXXVII NO. 49 $1.00 2018

NORTH JERSEY THEJEWISHSTANDARD.COM

Shuls, glorious shuls

Michael J. Weinstein photographs the
Orthodox synagogues of New York City Page 36

CHANGE SERVICE REQUESTED

Teaneck, NJ 07666
1086 Teaneck Road
Jewish Standard
 handcr afted by our winem akers
selected for you

2 JEWISH STANDARD AUGUST 24, 2018

Carmel Selected Ad_2.indd 3 8/30/17 5:15 PM


Cannabis-flavored
ice cream comes to Israel
● The Vaniglia ice cream chain is
popular in Israel for offering over 60
flavors. It recently added a notable new
one to its roster: cannabis.
The Israeli chain, which has over a
dozen locations, has sold the flavor in
stores since March.
Sadly for stoners, the ice cream
doesn’t contain any THC, the ac-
tive psychoactive ingredient found in
marijuana. The only part of the can-
nabis plant harnessed in the recipe is
terpenes, or aromatic oil that gives the
green leafy drug its unique smell. The
rest of the flavor comes from a mix
of specific herbs and nuts that chain
founder Itay Rogozinsky identified by
good old trial and error.
“People don’t know what cannabis
tastes like because people don’t eat
marijuana. To create a cannabis flavor
for ice cream, I studied the marijuana
Page 3
plant and learned about its different
terpenes and aromas,” Rogozinsky
told the Israeli innovation website No-
Camels. “I then created an ice cream
that, in my opinion, tastes like the
aroma of cannabis.”
He went on to describe the taste as
“nutty” and polarizing — customers ei-
ther love it or hate it.
As Emerald Report, which covers
cannabis news, points out, Rogozinsky
isn’t the only one churning out canna-
bis-flavored ice cream. Some stores,
like The Hop in Asheville, North Caro-
lina, infuse cannibidiol, or CBD oil, into a step further and added THC into the ice cream that tasted like the aroma of
their new ice creams. CBD oil is used mixture. cannabis. I sourced natural ingredients
in medicines for its calming and other But for those looking simply for and created a number of blended pro-
therapeutic effects — without inducing the cannabis flavor without the high, files. … I’m very proud of the product.”
the high that THC produces. Rogozinsky’s iteration seems to stand The chain, which is open on Shab-
Others, such as the store Drip in Port- out. bat, appears not to be under rabbinical
land, Oregon, and the Cann Eye Dream “I don’t like gimmicks,” he told Emer- kosher supervision.
brand based in California, have gone ald Report. “My goal was to create an GABE FRIEDMAN/JTA WIRE SERVICE

CONTENTS
The Jewish action figures we’ve been waiting for NOSHES ...............................................................4
BRIEFLY LOCAL .............................................. 18
● If only the headline at the Yeshiva World’s website SYNAGOGUE DIRECTORY .........................20
was true. ROCKLAND ..................................................... 28
“BIZAYON: Israeli Company Degrades Gedolei Yis- COVER STORY ................................................ 36
roel By Making Them Into ‘Action Figures,’” it reads. JEWISH WORLD ............................................ 42
Bizayon means disgrace. Gedolei Yisroel literally OPINION ...........................................................50
THE FRAZZLED HOUSEWIFE ................... 56
means the great ones of Israel and refers to rabbinic
CROSSWORD PUZZLE ................................ 56
leaders — in this case, the Moroccan kabbalist known
ARTS & CULTURE .......................................... 57
as the Baba Sali; Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneer- CALENDAR ...................................................... 58
son, the late Lubavitcher rebbe; and Rabbi Ovadiah OBITUARIES ....................................................60
Yosef, Israel’s former chief Sephardi rabbi. CLASSIFIEDS .................................................. 62
The inaccuracy is that these action figures were not REAL ESTATE.................................................. 65
made by a company, and you can’t buy them. Which
PUBLISHER’S STATEMENT: (USPS 275-700 ISN 0021-6747) is pub-
is a shame, because the figures wear capes in the lished weekly on Fridays with an additional edition every October,
superhero style and would fit alongside the Green by the New Jersey Jewish Media Group, 1086 Teaneck Road,
Teaneck, NJ 07666. Periodicals postage paid at Hackensack, NJ and
Lantern in our action figure collection. additional offices. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to New
Instead, the figures are an art project by Elad Jersey Jewish Media Group, 1086 Teaneck Road, Teaneck, NJ 07666.

Schwartz, a student at the Bezalel Academy of Arts
and Design in Jerusalem.
In an interview with Kikar Hashabat, Schwartz said he in-
tended no disrespect to the rabbis or the Orthodox com-
munities that venerate them.
“They are like Spiderman. They led an entire group of
people and paved the way for tens of thousands of follow-
ers. In the display, I attempted to capture their strength
and greatness,” he said. LARRY YUDELSON
Subscription price is $30.00 per year. Out-of-state subscriptions are
$45.00, Foreign countries subscriptions are $75.00.
The appearance of an advertisement in The Jewish Standard does
not constitute a kashrut endorsement. The publishing of a paid
political advertisement does not constitute an endorsement of any
candidate political party or political position by the newspaper or
any employees.

The Jewish Standard assumes no responsibility to return unsolic-

ited editorial or graphic materials. All rights in letters and unsolic-
ited editorial, and graphic material will be treated as uncondition-
ally assigned for publication and copyright purposes and subject

‘Toy’ is a Billboard chart-topper to JEWISH STANDARD’s unrestricted right to edit and to comment
editorially. Nothing may be reprinted in whole or in part without
written permission from the publisher. © 2018

● Netta Barzilai’s Eurovision-winning single
“Toy” hit No. 1 on the Billboard dance
club chart — the first time an Israeli artist
has topped any of the music industry
magazine’s popularity lists.
It’s an impressive achievement for a singer
who was practically unknown outside of her
home country before this year.
“This is very exciting for me,” Barzilai
said in a statement quoted by The Times
of Israel. “I just got off the plane and this is
the first message I got when I turned on my
phone. I am grateful for everything happen-
ing around me. This is an amazing year and
the experience I’m having is just nuts.”
Barzilai is on tour in the United States. In May, she deliv-
ered Israel its fourth victory in the Eurovision song contest
with “Toy,” a song about female empowerment that fea-
tures staccato vocals and a driving rhythm.
She has said the song was inspired by the
#MeToo movement.
Speaking last week to Billboard, Barzilai
said it was “also an empowerment song for
everybody.”
She went to say: “It’s for everybody who’s
been told that they’re not good enough and
they’re not smart enough. I decided to listen
to my own voice and to be my own self, and
when you do that, you inspire people. You
make a difference because you feel good
with yourself and you spread happiness out-
side.”
Ynet reported recently that Barzilai is
close to a deal with the Universal Music Group, which has
alleged that “Toy” stole from the White Stripe song “Seven
Nation Army.” JTA WIRE SERVICE
Candlelighting:
Friday, August 24, 7:23 p.m.
Shabbat ends:
Saturday, August 25, 8:22 p.m.
For convenient home delivery,
call 201-837-8818 or bit.ly/
jsubscribe
ON THE COVER: The sanctuary of
Congregation Shearith Israel, the
Spanish and Portuguese Synagogue,
founded in 1654 and located on the
Upper West Side of Manhattan.

JEWISH STANDARD AUGUST 24, 2018 3

Noshes
PULLING STRINGS:
Sorta the Muppets,
but on steroids
“The Happytime
Murders,” which
opens on August
24, stylistically is a cross
between a Muppet movie
and “Who Framed Roger
Rabbit?” The director is
Brian Henson, the son of
the late Jim Henson, who
created the Muppets.
The premise is that
Muppet-like puppets
(like the animated
characters in “Roger
Rabbit”) really exist, they
function as animate,
intelligent beings, and
they interact indepen-
dently with humans. The
Muppet-like characters in
the film are so like many
of the original Muppets
in appearance that
Sesame Street sued,
claiming a copyright
violation. Sesame Street
lost the suit and the
“Happytime” publicity
department heralded its
court victory by running
ads that say, in an
opening line, “From the
studio that was sued by
Sesame Street.”
Like “Roger Rabbit,”
“Happytime” explores
the seedy underbelly of
Los Angeles. The lead
character is Phil Philips,
the first puppet to join
the Los Angeles police
department. As the mov-
ie begins, he has been
fired by the LAPD and
now is working as a pri-
vate investigator. The ac-
tion takes off when a kill-
Want to read more noshes? Visit facebook.com/jewishstandard
4 JEWISH STANDARD AUGUST 24, 2018
er, or killers, start brutally
murdering the former
cast of the Happytime
Gang, a beloved classic
puppet show. Phil teams
with his former human
LAPD partner, detective
Connie Edwards (Melissa
McCarthy), to solve the
“Happytime” murders.
MAYA RUDOLPH, 46, has
a large role as Bubbles,
Phil’s human secretary.
ELIZABETH BANKS, 44,
co-stars as Jenny, a bur-
lesque dancer and Phil’s
“former flame.” Jenny
was the only human cast
member of the Happy-
time Gang.
Two online
offerings provide
an amazingly
comprehensive take on
the life of actress MILA
KUNIS, 35. Kunis did
many interviews while
promoting her movie,
“The Spy Who Dumped
Me,” which opened to
so-so reviews and ticket
sales on August 3. Just
before the opening, on
July 31, Kunis did a
podcast with actor
MARC MARON, 54. It’s a
two-actress interview in
one podcast — Maron’s
successful podcast is
called WTF, and is
available wherever
people get their pod-
casts — and Mila’s
hour-long interview
begins about the 44
minute mark. For about
10 minutes, beginning at
“His faith and upbringing just
don’t resonate in the story that brought
him national attention.”
— JTA’s Ron Kampeas, describing disgraced Trump lawyer Michael Cohen,
in an article entitled “Michael Cohen’s most Jewish moments.”
Maya Rudolph
Mila Kunis
about the 50-minute
mark, she talks about her
Jewish background and
the quasi-Jewish religion
of her husband, actor
Ashton Kutcher. There’s
more interesting stuff in
the podcast than I can
even just summarize,
here. But here are two
standouts: (1) Kunis was
born in Ukraine in 1984,
when it was still a part of
the Soviet Union. Her
parents were profession-
als, and they lived
comfortably, she says,
but rampant anti-Semi-
tism caused them to
seek to emigrate. Their
exit visa was held up for
five years because her
paternal grandfather, a
high-ranking Communist
party member, had to
give permission for the
Elizabeth Banks
Paul Rudd
Paul Rudd to headline
new Netflix comedy
● PAUL RUDD, 49, will star in an upcoming (no date
announced) eight-episode Netflix series called “Living
Mark Maron with Yourself.” It’s a comedy about a guy struggling
to become a better person. Details are scanty, but it
family to leave. Grandpa has been disclosed that Rudd will play two different
finally relented and characters in the series.
granted permission after
– N.B.
a visit to Los Angeles on
a tourist visa; his own
brother had settled
insists the family — they called “My Houzz: Mila
there. He was blown
have two small kids — Kunis’ Surprise Renova-
away by Disneyland — a
celebrate Shabbat. (It’s tion for Her Parents.” Her
place “just to have fun”
weird, I know.) While parents love their mod-
— and realized that
Kunis says he’s interested est condo and their old
America was a place
in “all religions,” there is friends live nearby — so
worth moving to. And (2)
more going on here Mila decides to make the
Kunis was 7 when she
Jewishly with Kutcher condo better. You really
came to the States. She
than that. My opinion: if feel like you know the
knew she was Jewish,
their kids grow up whole family after watch-
but Judaism was not
strongly identifying as ing it. As in the podcast,
practiced in her home.
Jewish and get some she describes, as the
Ironically, she said, she
Jewish religious training, renovation goes on, how
got religion, sort of,
we should give Kutcher, her parents’ professional
when she married
an Iowa native who was degrees weren’t valid in
Ashton Kutcher. While he
raised a Catholic, the States and how they
hasn’t formally converted
the credit. worked incredibly hard
to Judaism, he has
Listen to the podcast to start over and provide
learned to read and
first, and then watch for Mila and her older
speak Hebrew; reads
the 2017 YouTube video brother. –N.B.
Torah all the time; and
California-based Nate Bloom can be reached at
Middleoftheroad1@aol.com
JEWISH STANDARD AUGUST 24, 2018 5
 YOUR
SALES EFFECTIVE: 8/26/18-8/31/18

SALE-A-BRATION STORE HOURS

5
Sun-Tues......... 7am - 9pm
th Wednesday..... 7am - 10pm
Thursday......... 7am - 11pm
RY
Friday.............. 7am - 5:30pm
A N NIV ER SA
Saturday......... Closed
646 Ced
Cedar Lane Teaneck, NJ 07666 • Tel: 201.855.8500 • Fax: 201.801.0225

PRODUCE MEAT DEPARTMENT

Cedar Sweet Grape Chicken Chicken Boneless Skinless
Cut Up Strawberries Cherry Tomatoes Legs Cutlets Chicken Thighs
Cantaloupe Cont Pint Super Family Pack Super Family Pack Pargiot
Only Family Pack
$ 99
1
LB
2/$
3 5/$
5 Only Only Only
Jumbo
Green
Driscoll
Blueberries
Whole
Watermelon
$ 89
1 LB
$
3 99
LB
$ 99
5 LB
Squash Pint American Black Angus Beef American Black Angus Beef
Only Only
White Meat Whole Brisket Shoulder Steak
49 ¢
LB
2/$
6 29 ¢
LB
Turkey Roast Great For Smoking
Cut to Order
Family Pack

Yellow Idaho New Zealand

Corn Potatoes Kiwis
Loose
Only
$ 99
5 LB
$ 99
7 LB
$
999 LB
4/$
1 39 ¢
LB
3/$
1 American Black Angus Beef
Beef
American Black Angus Beef
Butcher’s Cut
Round & Blade Bone
Shoulder
Fresh Loose California
Cauliflower Large Scalopini London Broil Lamb Chops
Carrots
Cello Nectarines
Only Only
2/$
3 39¢ LB 79¢ LB
$
1299 LB
$
1099 LB
$
1099 LB

PROVISIONS
MARINATED MEATS & POULTRY
A&H Solomon’s Ground Heat & Serve Ready to Bake
Meal Mart Aaron’s Sliced Cedar Turkey Slices Sliced Lamb Chicken Bites Stuffed & Seasoned
Beef Chicken Garlic Oven Roasted, Corned Beef
Franks Beef Salami Smoked, or or Pastrami Breaded & Sesame Lamb Breast
Bologna 16 Oz Old Fashioned
40 Oz 4 Oz Only 6 Oz
5 Oz

$
1199 EA 99¢ EA
$
499 EA
2/$
5 $
499 EA
$
899 LB
$
699 LB
$ 99
7 LB

DAIRY FROZEN
Yo Crunch Yogurts Chobani Yogurts Cedar Oronoque Rich’s Whip
Vanilla M&M’s, Assorted Gefilte Fish 9” Deep Dish Non Dairy
Cookies N Cream, & (Excluding Flips or Hint a Mint) 20 Oz Pie Crust Topping
Strawberry M&M’s Only 5.3 Oz
2 Pack 8 Oz
12 Pack

$ 99
4
EA BY THE CASE ONLY
4/$
3 2/$
7 2/$
5 5/$
4
Oneg Philadelphia Farmland Temptee Eggo Mini’s Pardes Farms Amnon’s Galil
Cheese Slices Cream Cheese Bars Skim Plus Cream Cheese Homestyle Pancakes Cauliflower Original Pizza Artichoke
Regular or Light Only or Waffles Florets Bottoms
Assorted Milk 11.5 Oz Plain Only
8 Oz Only 36 Oz
6 Oz 64 Oz 24 Oz 14 Oz
40 Ct

2/$
3 2/$
4 2/$
6 2
$ 79
EA
2/$
4 3
$ 99
EA 7
$ 99
EA
2/$
4
Miller’s Pine Belt Sabra Miller’s B’Gan Mazor’s Soloman’s Dorot
Sliced Cheese Extra Large Hummus Shredded Cheese Breaded Broccoli Mini Pizza Kishka Crushed Garlic
Yellow or White Only Eggs Assorted Regular Pizza, or Cauliflower Rounds 16 Oz Cubes
3 Lb 12 Pack 10 Oz Mozzarella, or Florets 24 Pack 2.8 Oz
Cheddar Only 24 Oz
8 Oz

$ 99
9 EA 99¢ EA
2/$
3 2/$
4 $ 99
5
EA
2/$
6 2/$
6 3/$
5
Natural & Kosher Yummy Turkey Hill Mehadrin Birds Eye Dyna Sea Of Tov New York
String Cheese Bites Iced Tea Chocolate Leben Chopped Crab Cakes Chicken Nuggets Pasta
Cheese Assorted Assorted Family Pack Chickilicious, Assorted
(Excluding Parmesan) Spinach 24 Oz
18 Oz 64 Oz 12 Pack 10 Oz Teddy Bites, or 12-13 Oz
1.9 Oz
Dinosaur Only
2 Lb

7
$ 99
EA 3
$ 99
EA
3/$
4 8
$ 99
EA 99¢ EA 8
$ 99
EA 8
$ 99
EA 3
$ 99
EA

6 JEWISH STANDARD AUGUST 24, 2018

 GROCERY Goodman’s
Haddar Domino Heinz Hunt’s Kitov
Glicks or Leiber’s Whole Sugar Vegetarian Tomato Corn Pops Onion Soup
Honey Bear Hearts of Palm Bag Beans Sauce Regular or Lite Mix
12 oz 14.1 Oz 4 Lb 16 Oz 15 Oz .5 Oz 2.75 Oz

99¢ EA
Limit 2. With a $75 Minimum Purchase
99¢ EA
Limit 4. Minimum $75 Purchase
$ 89
1 EA 89¢ EA 79¢ EA
4/$
1 5/$
4
Barilla Ronzoni Poland Spring Galil Glick’s Pri Avot Jason Wacky
Original Elbows Water Bottles Rice Cakes Chick Peas Large Cucumbers Bread Crumbs Mac &
Marinara Sauce Sea Salt, Corn Salt,
24 Oz
16 Oz 16.9 Oz 16 Oz In Brine Plain or Seasoned Cheese
24 Pack or Multigrain Only 7-9 Ct 24 Oz 5.5 Oz
3.5 Oz 23 Oz

2/$
3 4/$
3 $ 99
3 EA
5/$
4 69¢ EA
5/$
5 2/$
6 89¢ EA

Klein’s Shwartz Osem Wesson Glick’s Snack Factory Tabatchnick Gold’s

Natural Pretzel Bamba Canola Cholent Pretzel Crisps Chicken Sweet & Sour
Mango Crumbs Snack Bag Oil Mix Original Only Broth Duck Sauce
7 Oz 12 Oz 1 Oz 128 Oz 16 Oz 1 Oz 32 Oz 40 Oz

5
$ 99
EA
2/$
6 3/$
2 6
$ 99
EA
4/$
3 5/$
2 1
$ 79
EA
2/$
5
California Gefen Green Giant Glick’s Gefen Vintage Duncan Hines Lieber’s
Gourmet Israeli Whole Kernel High Gluten Salad Seltzer Cake or Brownie Mandarin
Chocolate Chips Couscous Sweet Corn Flour Croutons Assorted Mixes Oranges
Mini or Semi Sweet 8.8 Oz 5 Lb Assorted 12 Pack
Chewy, Dark Chocolate,
8-10 Oz 15.25 Oz Yellow, Milk Chocolate, Whole or Broken
5.2 Oz or Devil’s Food Only
15.25-19 Oz
11 Oz

2/$
6 3/$
2 5/$
5 2/$
4 2/$
3 $ 99
5 EA By the Case
3/$
4 79¢ EA

Lieber’s Mott’s Sadaf Mikee Glick’s Carmit Osem Jolly Rancher

Cookies 100% Apple Juice Pomegranate Sesame Mushroom Chocolate Bars Bissli Awesome
Aleph Bais, ABC,
Teddy Bears,
Original Syrup Teriyaki Sauce Stems & Pieces Dark or Milk Only Multipacks Twosome Bites
or Smiley Only 64 Oz 12.7 Oz Original or Seedless 8 Oz 3 Oz Assorted 6.5 Oz
1 Oz Only 12 Pack
20 Oz

5/$
1 2/$
4 6
$ 99
EA 3
$ 99
EA
5/$
5 99¢ EA 4
$ 99
EA
2/$
4
HOUSEHOLD SUSHI
Ner Mitzvah Ohr Standard Aluminum Plastic House Cedar Market Sweet Potato Spicy Tuna Teaneck
Yartzeit 3 Hour 9X13 7 Oz Roll Roll Roll Roll
Tins Shabbat Pans Cups
Candles 1 Ct 100 Ct
72 Ct

3/$
1 $
499 EA
5/$
1 5/$
5 $
895 EA 3
$ 95
EA 5
$ 95
EA
$
1095 EA

SEAFOOD BAKERY
Salmon Fillet Tuna Breaded Lemon Large Honey Marble
Family Pack Steaks Pollack Sole Chocolate Chip Cookies Cake
Fillet Fillet Cookie

9
$ 99
LB
$
1099 LB 5
$ 99
LB 9
$ 99
LB 99¢ EA 5
$ 49
EA 5
$ 99
EA

DAIRY GRAB N’ GO DELI Cedar

APPETIZING
The Rebbe’s Choice
Cedar Cedar Dipz Dips Cedar Cedar
Assorted Babaganoush Chunky Vegetable Persian Salad Herring
Mac N Cheese Eggplant in (Excluding Roasted Jalapeño or
8 Oz Soup 16 Oz
24 Oz Marinara Sauce Garlic & Olive Honey Mustard Sriracha
Tapenade) 32 Oz
20 Oz Only
7 Oz 12 Oz

7
$ 99
EA 7
$ 99
EA
2/$
5 3
$ 49
EA 5
$ 49
EA
$
449 EA
$
499 EA

SIGN UP FOR YOUR Fine Foods

Great Savings
To place an order for delivery or pickup, Follow @TheCedarMarket on your favorite social network
LOYALTY CARD email Orders@thecedarmarket.com Visit our website at www.TheCedarMarket.com
CEDAR MARKET

Loyalty
AT CUSTOMER SERVICE Program
SALES EFFECTIVE: 8/26/18-8/31/18

We reserve the right to limit sales to 1 per family. Prices effective this store only. Not responsible for typographical errors. Some pictures are for design purposes only and do not necessarily represent items on sale. While Supply Lasts. No rain checks. No Returns On Holiday Items.

JEWISH STANDARD AUGUST 24, 2018 7

Local
‘I’ve Got a Name’
Emanuel of North Jersey’s Selichot focuses on the songs of Jim Croce
JOANNE PALMER

L
‘ ike the pine trees lining the
winding road
I’ve got a name. I’ve got
a name.’
Those are the first lines of the Jim Croce
song that was released the day after the
singer died in a plane crash in September
1973. He was 30 years old.
It sounds Jewish, doesn’t it? It immedi-
ately brings to mind Zelda’s famous poem,
“Everyone has a name…” And like so many
Jim Croce songs, it goes on to consider the
reality that our time is limited, and how
important it is to make all of it count.
Yes, that sounds anodyne, laid out like
that, but consider it in context.
Rabbi Joseph Prouser of Temple Emanuel
of North Jersey in Franklin Lakes will.
Before Selichot services (see box for
details), Rabbi Prouser will offer an evening
of Jim Croce.
Why?
For three interconnected reasons.
First, “Jim Croce’s Jewishness is unknown
to most Jews,” Rabbi Prouser said. “I am
looking at the Selichot as a cumulative act
of penance. The community should be
embracing and celebrating Jews by choice,
but we don’t do that very well.
“We should view Jim Croce’s work, like
the work of other Jews by choice, as part of
our legacy, and of the Jewish national con-
tribution to society.”
Although Rabbi Prouser grew up listen-
ing to Jim Croce — one of the benefits of
being the youngest child in the family, by
many years, is being introduced to all sorts
of things that it might take you many years
to stumble across on your own — like most
people, he had no idea that Croce was Jew-
ish. Croce, after all, is not a conventionally
Jewish name.
Croce was not a conventional Jew, but
then he was not a conventional person.
He grew up in Philadelphia, in a very
Italian, very Roman Catholic family. “The
family was very pious,” Rabbi Prouser said.
“His father said the rosary every day.” But
Who: Rabbi Joseph Prouser
What: Presents “There Ain’t Gonna
Be a Next Time This Time: A Jim
Croce Selichot”
When: On Saturday, September 1; pre-
sentation at 9 p.m., Selichot at 10:30
Where: At Temple Emanuel of North
Jersey, 558 High Mountain Road,
Franklin Lakes
For more information: Go to
www.tenjfl.org or call (201) 560-0200.
Rabbi Joseph Prouser
Jim was not very good at doing what he was
told to do — in fact, Croce said that he was
terrible at following orders — and Catholi-
cism just didn’t take.
Croce married a Jewish woman, Ingrid
Jacobson, but he did not convert for her,
Rabbi Prouser said. Not, he added, that
there should be any stigma whatsoever
attached to converting for marriage, but
Croce did not. Jim and Ingrid performed
together as a duo, but he “pursued conver-
sion without telling her,” Rabbi Prouser said
“At some point they went to her parents
and announced that they were planning
to marry, and at that point she still didn’t
know that he was converting, which means
that she was willing to marry him anyway.
She said that her parents said mazel tov,
and then, after that, he announced that he
already had been pursuing conversion.
“There is a story that he was talking about
conversion with a friend, after he had to
undergo hatafat dam” — circumcision; even
if a man is circumcised before conversion, a
ritual drop of blood must be drawn from the
penis — “and his friend said, ‘You must love
Ingrid a lot,’ and he responded by saying,
‘Ingrid had nothing to do with it.’
“He talked about how he was inspired by
a rabbi he’d met, and he was drawn to Juda-
ism’s tradition of emphasizing curiosity and
inquiry. He said, ‘I never was a good Catho-
lic, with all the questions I have.’
“And he went on to say that anyway, that
rabbi had a great record collection.”
The second reason to think about Jim
Croce on Selichot is that his yahrzeit is that
Sunday night, less than 24 hours after Seli-
chot. He died on September 20, but in 1973
that fell on the 22nd of Elul.
The third reason is the content of
his songs.
“So much of what he writes about are
themes of the holidays,” Rabbi Prouser said.
“‘I’ve Got a Name’ is about embracing what
your real values are.
“His song ‘I Am Who I Am’ — that line
certainly seems to have a biblical source,”
Rabbi Prouser said; he is talking about
God telling Moses, at their encounter
at the burning but not consumed bush,
that God’s name is I Am Who I Am. “That
song is all about being fully invested in
your life, and acknowledging our mis-
takes. ‘And if life is for the living/Then
why can’t men be real/’Stead of hidin’
in their costumes/Forgettin’ how to feel,
forgettin’ how to feel…’
“I look at some of his songs almost like
piyyutim, liturgical poems,” Rabbi Prouser
said. “This is good stuff for the holidays.”
Although he’s considering most of them
for Selichot, there is one that is perfect for
Neilah, the service that rouses people, at the
end of Yom Kippur, with their senses and
emotions heightened, to face the world and
their lives. It’s “Hey Tomorrow”:
“Hey tomorrow, where are you goin’
Do you have some room for me
’Cause night is fallin’ and the dawn
is callin’
I’ll have a new day if she’ll have me…”
“That is a perfect piyyut for Neilah,”
Rabbi Prouser said.
Overall, Rabbi Prouser said, “There is
no reason to compare Jim Croce with Sol-
omon, except for this: Traditionally we
attribute three books of the Bible to Solo-
mon. Shir haShirim” — that’s the Song of
Songs — “Mishle” — the Book of Proverbs
— “and Kohelet” — Ecclesiastes. The first
expresses the exuberance of young love,
the second is written in maturity, and the
third is looking back with rueful wisdom.
“When he died, at 30, he was still at Shir
HaShirim. He was still writing love songs.
But in his final letter to his wife, he said he
ready to move on, to leave music behind,
to write plays and stories.
“He was ready to move on to Mishle.”
The evening will include listening to Jim
Croce’s music, and talking both about the
music itself and the themes it carries.
It will not be a heavy, gloomy evening.
“Selichot should be joyful, not judgmental,
celebration, not solemnity,” Rabbi Prouser
said. “The Mishna talks about Yom Kippur
as being the happiest day of the year, and
because Selichot is a foretaste of Yom Kip-
pur, there should be a joyful element; it is
not constrained, as Yom Kippur is, with
liturgical tradition.”
There will necessarily be an element of
sadness in it; Jim Croce died very young,
his talent largely untapped, his future
crashed to earth. But that, too, that knowl-
edge of life’s beauty and its absolute unpre-
dictability, and the certainty that one day
it will end, also is part of the holiday cycle.
But, as Jim Croce told us, “I’ll have a new
day if she’ll have me.”

8 JEWISH STANDARD AUGUST 24, 2018

 Local

Pascrell calls for name change

Congressman doesn’t want State Department room dedicated to early Israel opponent
JOANNE PALMER Truman to withhold U.S. approval of the state’s creation.

I
Mr. Pascrell “has been interested in Truman since my
t’s not as if it’s the most pressing issue there is, par- high school days,” he said. “I always felt that he was an
ticularly in this time of heavily pressing issues. Bill underrated president. I always thought that he really
Pascrell knows that. cared about people rather than buildings and institutions,
But Congressman William Pascrell, the Democrat and his foreign policy very much reflected that.
who represents New Jersey’s 9th District, and who has “I know what happened in May of 1948, and there were
represented some configuration of that district, centering some names that very much stuck in my mind.”
around his native Paterson, since 1997 — and he held gov- What happened is that the United Nations declared
ernment positions for years before that — is a former his- Israel to be a state, and the United States, under Truman,
tory teacher, and a big fan of President Harry S Truman. became the first nation to recognize it. Historians believe
So when Mr. Pascrell noticed that a that Truman’s decision, against the advice of many of
room at the State Department is named the State Department officials who were infected with
for Loy Henderson, it bothered him. He the anti-Semitism endemic at the time, after discussions
recognized that name. with his friend Eddie Jacobson, and then the reasoned
Mr. Henderson, a high-level American arguments and a personal appeal from Chaim Weizmann,
diplomat who died at 93 in 1986, had a Israel’s first president.
career that took him around the world, Representative Bill Pascrell “So when I was invited to the State Department, that
taking part in resolving (or perhaps not name, Loy Henderson, stuck out,” Pascrell said.
resolving) many dangerous conflicts. (He the ayatollah-led regime that still holds “So I went back and researched, and I saw that I had
was the U.S. ambassador to Iran when power today.) remembered correctly. He was a prominent opponent of
the United States helped overthrow But Mr. Pascrell remembered Mr. Hender- the state of Israel. So I said what the heck? Why name a
Prime Minister Mohammed Mossadeh, son most from his role as an ardent — or as room after him? Israel is our ally. Israel is our friend. And
who was democratically elected, and Mr. Pascrell puts it, a bellicose — opponent here is a guy — the head of the Near Eastern Affairs bureau
who was followed by the Shah and then Loy Henderson of the state of Israel, and who urged Mr. SEE PASCRELL PAGE 55

DISCOVER THE FINEST IN ASSISTED LIVING

AT OUR NEW LOCATION: THE BRISTAL AT ENGLEWOOD

RESERVE NOW | MOVE IN FALL 2018

VISIT OUR WELCOME CENTER TODAY
412 South Van Brunt Street | (201) 308.2230 | thebristal.com

Eligible for Most Long Term Care Policies • Images are representational of typical communities of The Bristal • Quality Communities by The Engel Burman Group

JEWISH STANDARD AUGUST 24, 2018 9

Local
Summer camp in Israel — EMS included
Teenagers on NCSY program train as emergency medical technicians
ABIGAIL KLEIN LEICHMAN
When several teenagers felt faint in the
summer heat at a festive event for 2,500
campers and staffers on Israel sum-
mer programs sponsored by NCSY, the
youth movement of the Orthodox Union,
22 of their fellow campers rushed to
their rescue.
These campers were wearing the orange
vests of United Hatzalah, a nationwide vol-
untary first-response network.
They were the first participants in a new
NCSY camp option dubbed Rescue Israel,
which gave them the opportunity to train
as certified medical responders and take
part in activities with UH volunteers over
the course of the summer.
“The idea is to see Israel through the
eyes of those who keep it safe,” the camp
director, Moshe Zharnest of Fair Lawn
said. Mr. Zharnest, 31, has been volunteer-
ing with the Fair Lawn Volunteer Ambu-
lance Corps since he was 16 and now is
on its board of trustees. Last year, friends
in the NCSY administration asked him
if he would be interested in leading the
first cohort of Rescue Israel. After dis-
cussing the offer with his wife, Orit, and
his employer, Centers Health Care, he
accepted the challenge.
The four-week camp began with 60
hours of training — in English — at UH head-
quarters in Jerusalem, followed by a mass
casualty drill to test the students’ newly
learned emergency medical services skills.
Other NCSY campers played the injured
victims in the guided simulation.
“They had to stay focused and remem-
ber their training, and they did a great
job,” Mr. Zharnest said.
Working in pairs, Rescue Israel camp-
ers rode three six-hour shifts on UH ambu-
lances, along with experienced drivers
and emergency medical technicians. They
also got a field demonstration by the UH
10 JEWISH STANDARD AUGUST 24, 2018
Rescue Israel campers wear the orange vests of United Hatzalah while they train
as medical first responders.
search-and-rescue unit — complete with public-school students, “caught the EMS
rappelling and ATVing — and went out on bug,” as he put it, and are eager to con-
Lake Kinneret — the Sea of Galilee — in a tinue using their lifesaving skills at home.
UH patrol boat, ready to assist swimmers Talking to the Jewish Standard from the
in distress. Ein Gedi Youth Hostel near the Dead Sea,
Mr. Zharnest could see that the 22 par- four Rescue Israel participants from our
ticipants, who came from across North readership area sounded enthused about
America and included yeshiva and plural- their summer experience.
istic Jewish day school students as well as “When I get back I want to join the
Campers
practice rescue
skills. Far left, a
trainee applies
a knee brace
while another
secures a
patient for an
ambulance trip.
Teaneck Volunteer Ambulance Corps,”
Eliana Oshinsky of Teaneck, 16, a student
at Ma’ayanot, said. “I’m very interested
in going into the medical field, and I’m
a certified lifeguard, so the CPR and first
aid part of it really intrigued me. It was a
great experience.”
Avigail Schiff of Teaneck, 17, a student
at the Bruriah High School for Girls, also
hopes to go into a medical career. She said
that she got a lot out of the program. “I’ve
grown emotionally and spiritually, and
gained leadership qualities and skills in
working in a team,” she said. “United Hat-
zalah made it clear to us that we’re now
part of the family and if we come back for
a gap year we can finish the coursework to
become full EMTs.”
For Shaya Murad of Bergenfield, 17,
the highlight of the program was tubing,
snorkeling, and scuba diving in Eilat. The
Kushner student said he found out about
the camp from his father, who was a para-
medic in Queens for 20 years.
“He wanted to introduce me to this type
of career, and this was a good start,” Shaya
said. “I loved being on the ambulance. The
camp was a great experience. The holi-
ness, the touring, everything.… there are
no words to describe it.”
Although all four are members of NCSY,
only Sam Kolber of Spring Valley, 17, came
to the program with EMS experience. “I’m
involved in the youth corps of our local
ambulance corps, Spring Hill,” he said.
“One of the advisers on this program is in
the adult corps of Spring Hill, and she was
the one who told me about it.”
The Yeshiva University High School for
Boys student said that on one of his UH
shifts he helped to splint the broken arm of
a five-year-old boy before the ambulance
took the child to the hospital. The Ameri-
can teenagers did not have to be fluent in
Hebrew to help out because the EMTs in
charge were bilingual.
“The EMTs on the crew were commu-
nicating directly with the patients and
told us what to do,” Sam said, adding that
he had great admiration for UH’s goal of
responding to every call within a minute
and 30 seconds.
Mr. Zharnest, who was accompanied
by his wife and their three young children
for the first half of the monthlong pro-
gram, said the Rescue Israel itinerary was
planned to combine EMS and recreational
activities. “Next year we’ll probably add
even more United Hatzalah flavor to the
program,” he said.
“It was a new way to instill a love of
Israel. These kids really feel part of the
United Hatzalah family and I hope they’ll
volunteer when they come back here for
their gap year after high school,” he said.
 ATTEND AN OPEN
HOUSE IN NYC OR
BROOKLYN!

APPLY NOW FOR

FALL ‘18

Chana Lazar, Touro MSW, ‘12

Children’s social work therapy

Interested in a clinical position or opening your own social work practice?

Earning a Master’s in Social Work from Touro will help you move ahead!
←

NEED MORE INFORMATION?

Contact Miriam Turk, LCSW at miriam.turk@touro.edu | 646.630.1471
Alan Singer, PhD, LMSW | alan.singer4@touro.edu | 347.532.6348

ATTEND AN OPEN HOUSE THIS SUMMER!

Visit gssw.touro.edu to register for an Open House in
Congratulations to Dean Steven Huberman
Manhattan • Brooklyn for being honored as a Top Leader in the
social work profession.

Generous scholarships • NEW! MSW Flex program, with online option Awarded by the National Association of Social Workers
Small classes, personalized attention • Extensive alumni network

Touro is an equal opportunity institution. For Touro’s complete Non-Discrimination Statement, visit www.touro.edu.

JEWISH STANDARD AUGUST 24, 2018 11

Local
Welcoming new clergy to the community
LOIS GOLDRICH
R
abbis and cantors are all
the same/different/special,
depending on your view-
point. This year’s crop of new
clergy members suggests that “different”
and “special” are the appropriate labels.
Some want to help fashion Judaism 5.0,
some want to connect with and personal-
ize their relationship to each of their con-
gregants, and some — well, at least one —
raises chickens.
We welcome them all to Bergen County.
Rabbi Keven Tzvi Friedman
Assistant Rabbi,
Fair Lawn Jewish Center
Rabbi Friedman is a big fan of experien-
tial education.
“I worked at Camp Ramah in the Berk-
shires this summer, doing something
unique — mussar — character development
— and hockey,” he said. His inspiration
for the program, which “teaches midot”
— values — “while playing,” comes from
well-known New Jersey soccer coach Spen-
cer Rockman, who uses this approach in
teaching his sport.
Among the values Rabbi Friedman
sought to impart was humility, teaching
campers, for example, that instead of
always focusing solely on making a goal,
sometimes “they might work on making
a nice pass to someone else. It’s a beau-
tiful way to try to infuse mussar charac-
ter development through the vehicle of
the game.”
Rabbi Friedman, who was ordained
at the Conservative movement’s Jewish
Theological Seminary in May, now has
embarked on his second career. He had
earned a J.D. from Hofstra University’s
law school and worked as a litigation
attorney for more than 14 years; he was
a public defender for the Legal Aid Soci-
ety, a court attorney for the United States
Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit, and
a senior associate at Wilentz, Goldman &
Spitzer, PA.
Rabbi Friedman sees a common denom-
inator in his choice of jobs, legal and rab-
binic. “They’re both about trying to con-
nect with people, forming relationships,”
he said. And he is fortunate to have the
12 JEWISH STANDARD AUGUST 24, 2018
ability to do this, he added. Thanks to his
legal work, “I can understand the stress
people are under, and the need to meet
people where they are.”
He noted that now, with the Fair Lawn
Jewish Center’s religious leader, Rabbi
Ronald Roth, facing some medical issues,
“we’ve seen the community really pull
together and support each other.”
Rabbi Friedman said he hopes to
enhance people’s lives by “infusing them
with Judaism, teaching Jewish values that
can inform people’s everyday lives.” His
goal, at least for now, is “really listening,
and getting a sense of what gets people
really excited about their Jewish journey.”
Rabbi Friedman and his wife, Rebecca,
now live in Fair Lawn. They have two chil-
dren, Madeline, 11, and Ariel, 8.
“I’m very appreciative of the support
we’ve received, and the willingness of
people to help,” he said. He added that he
hopes to introduce some mussar character
development classes in the congregation.
While he acknowledged that the people
he sees “are very busy, and time is of the
essence, it gives the biggest bang for the
buck, helping them learn practical lessons
for leading a more meaningful life.”
Also — having been selected as an AIPAC
Leffell Israel Fellow while in rabbinical
school — he hopes to focus on Israel edu-
cation. He speaks highly of the fellowship
program, which brought together rabbini-
cal students from across “the whole spec-
trum of the Jewish world, trying to build
some bridges.” He hopes his classes will
provide a vehicle for people to ask all sorts
of questions, “to really delve in and be will-
ing to look and learn.”
Cantor Elizabeth Goldmann
Beth El of Northern Valley, Closter
All roads lead home.
Cantor Elizabeth Goldmann, chazan
of Beth El of Northern Valley, grew up in
Closter, at Temple Beth El no less. “My
mom is my congregant,” she said. (Her
mother, Sophie Heymann, is a past mayor
of Closter.)
Cantor Goldmann lived in Nyack for the
past 17 years, and she’s back in Closter
now. “I’ve never been far away,” she said.
Her profile on her synagogue’s website
describes Cantor Goldmann as “a proud
member of the original Temple Beth El
Junior choir.” Clearly, she was motivated to
take her love of music even further, earn-
ing her master’s degree in sacred music
from Hebrew Union College in 1991. In
addition, while she was the cantor of Tem-
ple Beth Torah in Upper Nyack — a posi-
tion she held from 1991 until 2004 — she
founded the Regional Rockland/Bergen
Junior Choir Festival and served on the fac-
ulty of the URJ’s Crane Lake Camp. After
2004, “I was freelancing — a wandering
Jew,” she said.
Now, at Beth El, she is excited to be
working with the shul’s music director
and accompanist, James Rensink, who for
30 years has been arranging “extraordi-
nary programs, bringing top-notch New
York musicians to the synagogue on Fri-
day nights, including the principal cellist
at the Met for Kol Nidre.”
Not all Cantor Goldmann’s passions cen-
ter on music.
Describing her family — “My husband,
Michael, is a veterinarian, my daughter,
Shira, lives at home and works at Ameri-
can Express, and my son, Noah, is a stu-
dent at Syracuse” — she added another
detail. “We have two cats and eight chick-
ens.” (Beth El’s website describes them as
sweet cats and charming chickens.) Clark-
stown, she said, allows everyone to have
chickens. And, given her love of animals —
she volunteers at the MacBain Farm in Clo-
ster — the chickens are kept “just as pets,
and for eggs.”
Cantor Goldmann also enjoys garden-
ing and mushroom hunting, which she
learned from a naturalist in Closter.
Cantor Goldmann said this year is “very
special” in the life of Beth El, which is
merging with Temple Beth Or of Wash-
ington Township. “It’s our last year in the
building,” she said. The two shuls already
have bought a new property — both are
leaving their buildings — “and we hope to
make it a special year of celebration and
memory, bringing people together.” She
and Rabbi David Widzer are planning Fri-
day night services that will celebrate the
music of different decades “and give peo-
ple a chance to reflect and remember.”
She said the two congregations will
come together on the High Holy Days. “For
Tashlikh we’ll go with Washington Town-
ship, and the second day of Rosh Hasha-
nah, all four clergy will be at Closter.”
The goal for this year, she said, is “unity
and celebration.”
“I love singing with my congregation,
and they enjoy worshipping with me,”
Cantor Goldmann said. Her style is “very
eclectic,” she added. “I love it all. I feel it’s
my responsibility as an ordained cantor to
bring the full experience of Jewish music
to the congregation.”
Rabbi Lindsey Healey-
Pollack
Congregation Kol HaNeshamah,
Englewood
Rabbi Healey-Pollack, who grew up Cath-
olic in a suburb of Houston, had her first
real exposure to Judaism at Scripps Col-
lege in Claremont, California.
“As a college student I learned more
about Judaism and had a lot of Jewish
friends,” she said. “It afforded me my first
opportunity to learn about Jewish tradi-
tion. I was drawn to the culture. I’m really
interested in a culture of learning, of open-
ness to asking questions.” She was particu-
larly attracted by the fact that “any ques-
tion was able to be asked and get a serious
answer. Also, Judaism places an emphasis
on actions we take in our daily lives. It’s a
way of life, encompassing all aspects.”
Now in her first rabbinic position, Rabbi
Healey-Pollack — who started learning with
a Hillel rabbi in California and entered
the conversion process after moving to
New York, working with both Rabbi Larry
Sebert at Town and Village Synagogue
and Rabbi Stephen Lerner of Teaneck —
completed her conversion in 2009. She
received ordination at the Conservative
movement’s Jewish Theological Seminary.
When she was in rabbinical school,
Rabbi Healey-Pollack was a rabbinic
intern at Congregation Shaare Zedek in
Manhattan and at the United Synagogue
of Hoboken, where she taught the Rab-
binical Assembly’s Introduction to Juda-
ism program and created other learning
opportunities for the community. She
also spent two years as the High Holy Days
rabbi for Anshei Chesed: The Conservative
Synagogue of Cape Cod, and completed a
chaplaincy internship at Dorot, working
with older adults in Manhattan.
Rabbi Healey-Pollack will take up her
position just in time for Sukkot, accord-
ing to the congregation, which describes
itself as “the only Conservative and egal-
itarian shul in the Englewood/Tenafly
area.” She brings with her “an openness
and passionate commitment to learning
and sharing with others,” she said. “I have
a commitment to supporting my commu-
nity in its Jewish journey.” She thinks the
congregation will be a good match for her,
“as a community that shares this spirit of
openness and curiosity — a special and
SEE NEW CLERGY PAGE 14
QTY. MEAT DEPARTMENT QTY. SIDE DISHES QTY. DAIRY DEPARTMENT

QTY. SALADS

QTY. FRESH SLICED CHEESE

QTY. NEW ITEM

Visit our website at

www.maadan.com
HOLIDAY PICKUP HOURS SPECIAL HOURS FOR HOLIDAYS

TEL: 201-692-0192 446 CEDAR LANE

FAX: 201-692-3656 TEANECK, NJ 07666-1711
MA'ADAN IS UNDER THE SUPERVISION OF THE RABBINICAL COUNCIL OF BERGEN COUNTY ( R.C.B.C. )

JEWISH STANDARD AUGUST 24, 2018 13

Local
New clergy
FROM PAGE 12
participatory community that is welcom-
ing to people at all levels of observance.”
While she is not expecting any surprises,
“I’m sure there will be a learning curve,”
she said, noting that she already has had
several opportunities to meet members of
the congregation. “My first goal is trying to
get to know the people in the community
and learn more about what they’re excited
about, their hopes and dreams. I’m also
passionate about adult education.” She
hopes to expand learning opportunities,
as well as youth and family programs, in
the congregation, which embraces some
55 member households.
Now living in Englewood with her hus-
band, David, and two children — a three-
year-old son and a two-month-old daugh-
ter — Rabbi Healey-Pollack said she loves
spending time outdoors, and “I’m excited
to do that and to get to know areas for hik-
ing. I’m also into yoga and love to expand
my horizons by reading.”
Rabbi Paul Kerbel,
Interim Assistant Rabbi
Temple Emanu-el of Closter
Rabbi Paul Kerbel was no stranger to the
organized Jewish community even before
he became a rabbi.
“Service to the Jewish community is
nothing new,” he said. “I’ve spent my
whole life as a volunteer with federation.”
He is now a member of the Global Jewish
Community Committee of UJA Federation
New York.
Rabbi Kerbel’s father, Robert Kerbel,
was a federation director in Delaware.
His son Sam married Aliza Romirowsky,
the daughter of Dr. Reuben Romirowsky,
of Teaneck, who has spent his entire
professional career in Jewish communal
service. And his wife, Melissa, is a past
director of development for the United
Synagogue of Conservative Judaism. (In
fact, Paul and Melissa have a dual resi-
dence. To accommodate Melissa’s com-
mute to her last position, they got an
apartment in Queens.)
In addition — to conclude a wrap-up of
his non-pastoral Jewish credentials — Rabbi
Kerbel has served on many committees
www.thejewishstandard.com
14 JEWISH STANDARD AUGUST 24, 2018
and the executive council of the Rabbinical
Assembly, chairs the Rabbinic Campaign
for the Masorti Foundation for Conserva-
tive Judaism in Israel, and is a member of
the board of governors of The New York
Board of Rabbis.
And yes, he has had time to be a spiri-
tual leader as well. A graduate of the Jew-
ish Theological Seminary — he received
his master’s and doctor of divinity degrees
and ordination from that institution — he
recently finished three years as associate
rabbi at Temple Beth Sholom in Roslyn
Heights, N.Y. For 12 years before that, he
was the associate rabbi at Etz Chaim in
Marietta, Ga.
“Temple Emanu-El was looking for an
interim associate rabbi and Rabbi [David-
Seth] Kirshner knew that I was available,”
Rabbi Kerbel said. “He asked me to come
and help out for the year.” His duties
include assisting Rabbi Kirshner in all pas-
toral functions, helping to lead Shabbat
services “and being a presence in the reli-
gious school and high school — whatever
they need help with.”
The congregation, with some 900 fami-
lies, “is very active,” Rabbi Kerbel said.
“Each synagogue has its own culture; each
Jewish community is a little different. I’ve
had a lot of experience, helping me recog-
nize that what I did in Marietta is not nec-
essarily what I’ll do here.”
“I’ll do my best to meet the needs of
each congregant, so they have a mean-
ingful Jewish experience,” he continued.
His personal strength is “being a warm
and friendly presence. I’ll go up to any-
one and introduce myself. It makes them
feel comfortable.”
He also is strong in programming and
“connecting the synagogue to the larger
community. Temple Emanu-el is already
that way, but I can help the rabbi do this,”
for example, suggesting speakers for vari-
ous events.
“In Atlanta, I oversaw a large education
program and all programming from Cha-
nukah concerts to adult education, to holi-
day events.”
Has anything he’s seen in Closter sur-
prised him so far? “Well, I saw two wild
turkeys outside the office,” he said, “but
I’m told they’re relatively common here.”
As for hobbies, he said, “I like to read and
write, but my main hobby is being a vol-
unteer in the Jewish community.” Through
his work with UJA-Federation of New York,
“we look at how the New York area can
provide assistance to Jewish communities
in the former Soviet Union and Europe. I
really enjoy that.”
Rabbi Kerbel and his wife, Melissa, have
three children and two daughters-in-law:
Sam Kerbel and Aliza Romirowsky; Judah
and Eliana Kerbel; and Micha.
Rabbi Ilana Schwartzman
Beth Haverim Shir Shalom, Mahwah
After spending eight years as the rabbi of
Congregation Kol Ami in Salt Lake City,
Rabbi Ilana Schwartzman, who became
the leader of Mahwah’s Beth Haverim Shir
Shalom on July 1, is keenly aware of the dif-
ferences between the two congregations.
The Utah congregation is affiliated with
both the Union for Reform Judaism and
the United Synagogue of Conservative
Judaism, and according to the synagogue
it serves 25 percent of the Jewish families
in Utah. The Mahwah synagogue is similar
in size and unequivocally Reform, and “its
needs and concerns are very different,”
Rabbi Schwartzman said. “In Utah, we
were surrounded by the LDS [Latter Day
Saints] community, here by an expansive
and diverse community.
“It’s not exactly culture shock, but large
families there look different from large
families here.”
Rabbi Schwartzman, who lives in
Ramsey with her husband, Art Kieres,
and their daughter, Sabine, 15 months
old, said her first year will be “a lot about
relationship building, figuring out where
the potential growth opportunities are in
the congregation and making sure we’re
responding appropriately.” She also wants
her members to feel that “Judaism is rel-
evant in their lives, not just for a bar or bat
mitzvah but in everything we do. Torah is
a touchstone in every moment. I want to
make it accessible to people.”
With some 400 families, “the congrega-
tion is so active and so warm. I can’t get
used to how nice everyone is. I’m over-
whelmed by their kindness.”
She grew up as the daughter of a rabbi in
the Air Force, so “we moved every two or
three years,” she said, but the East Coast is
a new experience for her.
Rabbi Schwartzman said that her
strength is “a love of stories — about the
people she’s serving, Jewish tradition,
and sharing those stories.” With Jewish
stories, “I’m excited about our narrative
and expanding tradition.” Personal stories
may take longer to elicit. “Some people get
comfortable faster, but a lot of times, in a
religious context, people want to be able
to share their stories and find common
ground.... I’d like to have an opportunity
to hear what they have to say and to find
an on-ramp to make Judaism more acces-
sible to them.
“I love Judaism and I want to bring
people in.”
Rabbi Schwartzman also is interested
in working with other synagogues “to
strengthen the larger Jewish commu-
nity,” she said. “We’re not competing.”
For example, her congregation will join
with a few other synagogues in Wayne
for Selichot.
To relax, “I sing and I read an incredible
amount. I also enjoy exploring the area.
Some wonderful women want to come
and play with Sabine, and I know the con-
gregation will make a place for her too.
She came to Torah study with me on Sat-
urday and she sat still. I’m looking forward
to our being one large Jewish family.”
JO ROSEN PHOTOGRAPHY/JOHANNA
Rabbi Rachel Steiner
Barnert Temple, Franklin Lakes
Rabbi Rachel Steiner was a major presence
at Barnert Temple even before she became
its “official” rabbi on July 1.
“I came here eight years ago after I was
ordained by HUC in New York,” she said.
First she was the assistant, then the asso-
ciate, rabbi for Rabbi Elyse Frishman, who
retired as the congregation’s senior rabbi
after a 22-year-stint as its spiritual leader.
Rabbi Steiner, who lives in Fair Lawn
with her husband, Daniel, “and two deli-
cious little boys,” Ezra, 5 l/2, and Asher,
3 l/2, called her experience with Rabbi
Frishman “terrific.” Unlike Rabbi Frish-
man, however, she does not have an assis-
tant rabbi, so “I’m the only rabbi here
now,” she said. “Everything goes through
me. I get to be involved in everything, the
full spectrum of synagogue work.”
Her favorite job, though, is “the engage-
ment work I do with people of all ages. I’m
doing more now, but I’m not doing less of
what I love.”
Rabbi Steiner does a lot of work with
the preschool and Hebrew school, “and I
know the name of every child. And they
know that. I also know something signifi-
cant about each of them.” That kind of per-
sonalization is key to both her personality
and her sense of mission.
She is particularly proud of her congre-
gation — the first congregation established
in the state of New Jersey, founded in 1847
— “which has always adapted to the evolv-
ing needs of the community. Part of the
Barnert narrative is being responsive to
what the community is needing.”
She told a story. “The members of the
[original] synagogue in Paterson had a
map, trying to figure out their next step,”
as the Jews started to leave Paterson.
SEE NEW CLERGY PAGE 16
SELICHOT
CANTOR NETANEL
HERSHTIK HAMPTON
SYNAGOGUE CHOIR
MAESTRO
IZCHAK HAIMOV
SATURDAY NIGHT
SEPTEMBER 1, 10:30PM
MIDNIGHT BUFFET

SHIRI
MAIMON
Live in Concert
SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 2, 8:00PM

NEW BROADWAY STAR OF CHICAGO

ISRAELI POP STAR SENSATION
X FACTOR TV PERSONALITY

For High Holy Days seating reservations and family/children program

631.288.0534 ext. 10 or www.thehamptonsynagogue.org

154 sunset avenue, westhampton beach ny 11978 | 631.288.0534 | www.thehamptonsynagogue.org

JEWISH STANDARD AUGUST 24, 2018 15

Local
New clergy
FROM PAGE 14
“They put pushpins in the map to indicate
where people were moving. That led them
to this location.
“It’s a living congregation, always seeing
where people are and what the needs are.
It’s a great tradition, in the blood of the
congregation, a sense of evolving.”
Her personal goal, she said, is to “con-
tinue to deepen relationships within the
community — to really take relationships
seriously. The heart of who I am is con-
nection with people — the spirituality of
details, according to Rabbi Larry Hoffman.
There’s something sacred in small details.
I see that as the underlying theology of my
rabbinate and life.
“I want to see us engage more meaning-
fully within the local community, not to
gain members but to be involved in the
lives of people we live with,” both Jews
and non-Jews. She also feels the congre-
gation would benefit from bringing in
more of what’s being done in the larger
Reform movement.
“I have the blessing of beginning this
journey with eight years of sacred partner-
ship,” she said, adding that she has “really
cultivated relationships with both the pro-
fessional and lay members of the commu-
nity. I think people know how much I care,
that it’s not lip service. I want to know the
details that matter in people’s lives.”
“The strength of Barnert is the ability
to adapt. It gives us permission to try to
experiment and use some of what we do
as a lab. We’ve started a whole new school
model, [based on] the idea of a Jewish
journey. We’re meeting people and learn-
ing where they are on that journey.”
She describes the congregation, with
nearly 500 families, “as fairly diverse for a
suburban community. We’re regional — we
pull from more than 10 towns and villages.
That makes us less homogenous than if we
all came from same town. People come for
roots, grounding, and fun.
“I grew up on the Upper West Side and
went to a high school surrounded by Jews,”
she continued. “Here, though the percep-
tion is that most people are Jewish, almost
every student feels they are a minority.
It makes the synagogue more important
for them and for the community. Despite
their perception, there’s a great need for
belonging. That surprised me most, and
has reinforced the significance of what
we do.” It’s about connections, she said,
especially for teens, who come to the shul
for youth groups to supplement what they
have at their own school.
Does Rabbi Steiner have time for hob-
bies? “I love music, and I play guitar,” she
said. “But most important, I love being a
mom, spending time with my family, and
catching up on missed Marvel movies. I’m
happy when I’m with people I love.”
16 JEWISH STANDARD AUGUST 24, 2018
Rabbi Beni Wajnberg
Temple Beth Rishon, Wyckoff
Born and raised in Brazil, Rabbi Wajn-
berg (or Reb Beni, as he prefers to be
called) learned English by watching
“Seinfeld,” “mainly when I decided to be
a rabbi,” he said. (His Seinfeld education
taught him important things, like “the
best mustard,” he added.
A graduate of Rio de Janeiro Federal
University, Rabbi Wajnberg later stud-
ied at the Masorti movement’s Semi-
nario Rabinico Marshall T. Meyer in Bue-
nos Aires, Argentina. Moving further
north, he received his master’s degree in
Hebrew letters from Hebrew Union Col-
lege — Jewish Institute of Religion in Los
Angeles in 2013, and was ordained there
in 2015.
Rabbi Wajnberg, who met his wife,
Miriam, in rabbinical school — she now
is the director of adult Jewish learning at
the JCC in Manhattan — comes to Wyckoff
after a stint as assistant rabbi of Shaarey
Tefila in New York. The couple, who live
in Waldwick, have two children, Shai, 3
years old, and Rafi, 6 months. “They’re
both sweet boys,” he said.
Rabbi Wajnberg has a clear philosophy
about the role of the synagogue and of
the rabbi. “One thing is most important,”
he said. “If one person feels not cared
for, nothing else we do matters. Yester-
day, before officiating [at services], I vis-
ited a congregant at the hospital in the
early morning.... We need to rethink and
revamp how we view spirituality.”
Among his goals is to be “more inclu-
sive to families of different backgrounds,”
for example, where one partner is not
Jewish. Rather than call that partner
“not Jewish,” he said, “positive ID is para-
mount. I call that partner a kindred soul.”
Connection, he said, is a priority,
whether connection to family, to the
synagogue, or to the Jewish community.
“So many young families moving into the
area don’t feel a connection to other peo-
ple,” he said. “We should be a catalyst for
these relationships.”
Rabbi Wajnberg has three main goals.
First, “I want to establish a relationship
with every family by the end of the first
year. Second, the synagogue should
become more than a synagogue. It
should have partners rather than mem-
bers, financial investments rather than
dues. We’re not a club — we’re a family.”
He wants everyone to feel that they are
a vibrant part of the community, “to know
people and have deep relationships.”
Third, he wants to “help people navi-
gate life and questions in their search for
meaning. Every person should be able to
struggle with that question. I’m always
asked this question: What do I get from
being a member? We have to reframe”
the question, he said, based on the con-
cept of relationship.
“That’s not the way it is anywhere,” he
said, suggesting that Judaism has gone
through different stages. “Judaism 1.0
was about the Bible; 2.0, the rabbis; 3.0,
Jewish law; 4.0, institutions, and 5.0, I
can’t tell you what that is, but relation-
ships need to be at the center. We’re still
in 4.0, but in a moment of transition.”
“As a foreigner — my grandparents
survived the Shoah, went to Brazil, and
came here as immigrants — I’ve experi-
enced how challenging yet powerful it
is to become an insider,” he continued.
And he also has learned “how important
it is to make this a sacred process. It’s all
about people and how they support you
on your journey.”
He pointed out that he did not grow
up as part of any movement, “so I can
be supercreative, using a Conservative
prayer book, having a kosher kitchen,
accepting patrilineal descent and mar-
riage between kindred souls.” Beth Ris-
hon, he said, is “a perfect match. I inter-
viewed all over the country. This was
the place.”
Acknowledging the recent death of
Beth Rishon’s Cantor Ilan Mamber, and
the toll it has taken on the 400-mem-
ber congregation, he said, “People are
so incredibly vulnerable, and that’s a
good thing.
More than 411,000 likes.
Like us
on Facebook.
facebook.com/jewishstandard
“Crying is a strength, not a weakness.
We must be ourselves. The next two
years will be hard,” but in a sacred way.
Rabbi Wajnberg noted the warmth
of the congregation, which is “just as
concerned about my well-being as I am
about theirs. They’ve been welcoming
to our whole family.” Some of this may
be attributable to the business card he
hands out when he meets someone new.
When you flip it over, “it’s a coupon that
says, ‘Redeem this for a free cup of cof-
fee,’” he said. (The card also, notably,
does not include his last name, ensuring
that new acquaintances call him only
“Reb Beni.”) “A card is not enough. I have
an espresso machine in my office,” he
said. “I had to get new capsules already.
People are waiting to come and cry with
me. I say, ‘Let’s do it together.’”
When he is not connecting with con-
gregants, Rabbi Wajnberg plays guitar,
loves cooking, and meditates. (There’s
a meditation cushion in his office.) And
then, of course, there are his children.
“Running around with Shai in the back-
yard is the best thing ever,” he said.
He noted as well that since his house
is vegetarian, “we grow a lot of corn
and vegetables.”
“I want the community to be a safe place
to have doubt,” he said. Quoting from Gan-
dalf (the one from the Lord of the Rings),
he said, “Not all who wander are lost.”
Equally comfortable with the philosophy
of Reb Nachman of Breslov, he said “The
definition of God is not reward and pun-
ishment, a bearded man in the sky, but a
core of energy that sustains everything the
world is composed of.
“Our job i s to reveal thi s con-
cealed energy.”
 Selichot Night
SATURDAY NIGHT, SEPTEMBER 1
10:30 PM A Kumzitz for Selichot,
Performed by Zalmen Mlotek with Avromi Koenig and Asher Miller
12:00 AM Shiur with Rabbi Daniel Fridman, “The Thirteen Attributes of Mercy”
1:00 AM Selichot
$10 for non-members · $5 for members

Opening Youth Carnival

SUNDAY MORNING, SEPTEMBER 2
10-11:30 am with Youth Directors Rav Yishai and Yiskah Klein
Come get ready for Rosh HaShanah with songs, crafts, baking, snacks, and inflatables
$10 for non-members · $5 for members

The Jewish Center of Teaneck

A Modern Orthodox Community Welcoming to All
70 Sterling Place · 201-833-0515 · www.jcot.org · office@jcot.org
Rabbi Daniel Fridman · Rabbi of the Jewish Center
JEWISH STANDARD AUGUST 24, 2018 17
Briefly Local

Temple Avodat congregants on a boat in the Galilee. Rabbi Paul Jacobson is
seated, second from right, with white hat.
River Edge shul goes to Israel
Rabbi Paul Jacobson recently led a group from the synagogue he leads, Temple Avodat
Shalom of River Edge, on a mission to Israel. The group went from Tel Aviv up to the
Galilee and down to Jerusalem. It included visits to Bayit Cham in Nahariya, where
the visitors learned about the program, which benefits at-risk 13- to 25-year-old girls
and young women, and to Kehilat Emet Veshalom, a Reform synagogue in Nahariya.
Two Wayne congregations join drive
to help stock pantry for the needy
Shomrei Torah and Temple Beth Tik-
vah are sponsoring High Holy Days
non-perishable food and basic necessi-
ties drives, to help the Wayne Interfaith
Network and other local charities allevi-
ate ongoing hunger and other needs in
Wayne Township.
The synagogues join Conservative
and Reform congregations throughout
the United States in a national effort
to fight hunger and help those less for-
tunate. (This year, Rosh Hashanah is
from sundown on Sunday, September
9, through Tuesday, September 11, and
Yom Kippur begins at sundown on Tues-
day, September 18, and goes through
Wednesday, September 19.) Donations
can be dropped off at either Wayne shul
during the weekdays leading up to and
between these holidays. Shomrei Torah:
30 Hinchman Ave.; Temple Beth Tikvah:
950 Preakness Ave.
Especially helpful items include hot
and cold cereal, canned chicken/tuna/
salmon, rice, canned vegetables and
fruit, juice, cooking oil, ketchup, mus-
tard, mayonnaise, canned or bottled
pasta sauce, mac & cheese, pancake
mix and syrup, peanut butter, jelly/jam,
toilet paper, paper towels, tissues, nap-
kins, cleaning products, and personal
care products (shampoo, toothpaste,
etc.). All food donations should be non-
perishable. Items should be regular
sizes (not super sizes) and in non-glass
containers when possible. Check expi-
ration dates.
The Wayne Interfaith Network is a
non-profit, tax-exempt organization
that operates a pantry for Wayne area
citizens. The WIN volunteers come from
synagogues and other organizations in
Wayne. For more information, go to
winfoodpantry.org.
Temple Beth Tikvah’s social action
committee coordinates its High Holy
Days project and Shomrei Torah works
under the auspices of Operation Isaiah.
Call Shomrei Torah, (973) 696-2500, or
Temple Beth Tikvah, (973) 595-6565.
Local businessman/philanthropist
granted his final wish for burial
Myron Adler, the Ber-
gen County business-
man and entrepre-
neur who also was a
co-founder of the non-
profit Adler Aphasia
Center in Maywood,
received his final wish
on August 6, and was
buried at Arlington
National C emeter y
in Virginia, on what
would have been his
94th birthday.
Attended by his wife
of 68 years, Elaine, and
their four children, Myron and Elaine Adler
their grandchildren,
and close friends, Mr. Adler received a
formal military burial, complete with an
honor guard and a bugler playing taps,
three years after his death.
Mr. Adler enlisted in the Army after
Pearl Harbor and served from 1942 to 1946.
Stationed in Germany, France, and Aus-
tria, he fought in the Battle of Normandy
under General George S. Patton. His deco-
rations include the Bronze Star, the Amer-
ican Campaign Medal, and the World
War II Victory Medal. Mike and Elaine
were married in 1949 and co-founded the
Myron Manufacturing Corp. the same year.
Today, it remains one of Bergen County’s
largest businesses.
In 1993, Mr. Adler suffered a stroke after center’s professional expertise. He also
bypass surgery, which led to aphasia. After
his stroke, he found that conventional
speech therapy did not improve his ability
to communicate. Following a worldwide
mission to explore existing speech clin-
ics, he and Ms. Adler discovered a hand-
ful of unique approaches that were help-
ing people with aphasia boost their quality
of life and improve their communication.
Inspired by these pro-
grams, the couple cre-
ated the Adler Aphasia
Center in Maywood.
Mr. Adler demon-
strated his deep com-
mitment to people
living with aphasia
and was a tireless
advocate in raising
awareness about the
disorder. He was a
longtime board mem-
ber of the National
Aphasia Association
and a driving force
behind the creation
of Aphasia Access, a
national consortium of health care and
community leaders whose mission is to
advance lifelong communication access
for people with aphasia. With the success
of the Maywood Center came the Adler
Aphasia Center at Hadassah College in
Jerusalem, reaching the aphasia commu-
nity on an international level.
Mr. Adler helped to guide the Adler
Aphasia Center in developing its profile
as a model of excellence in the world-
wide aphasia community. There are
other centers in the United States mod-
eled on this flagship program, and many
more rehabilitation centers throughout
the country that have benefited from the
served his community as a board mem-
ber of many local and regional organi-
zations and was the recipient of many
national and state awards.
Elaine Adler said, ‘‘It was a bittersweet
day. Thanks to the support and help of
New Jersey Senators Loretta Weinberg and
Cory Booker, along with others, Mike got
his final wish.”

Keep us informed From left, Wayne Zeiler, shul president, on guitar, Rabbi Arthur Weiner, and
event co-host Dr. Richard Winters. SANDRA ALPERN
We welcome photos of community events. Photos must be high resolution jpg files.
Please include a detailed caption and a daytime telephone. Mailed photos will only be
returned with a self-addressed stamped envelope. Not every photo will be published. Shabbat almost under the stars
PR@jewishmediagroup.com On August 17, the Jewish Community Cen- Due to the inclement weather, outdoor
NJ Jewish Media Group ter of Paramus/Congregation Beth Tikvah pre-Shabbat socializing and Kabbalat
1086 Teaneck Rd., Teaneck, NJ 07666
held Shabbat Under the Stars at the Para- Shabbat and Maariv service was moved
(201) 837-8818 x 110
mus home of Richard and Fran Winters. indoors.

18 JEWISH STANDARD AUGUST 24, 2018

UPCOMING AT KAPLEN JCC on the Palisades
Youth Athletics Classes at the J
Start your year off right with a youth athletic after school
class. Whether your kid loves soccer, tae kwon do, tennis,
basketball – or if your child doesn’t have a preference yet, try
our multi-sport classes – we’ve got a class for your kid. When
you register now for Fall 2018 classes you get a guaranteed
spot in your kid’s favorite class that also works best for your
schedule!
Visit jccotp.org/children for complete schedule

Support Group with Judy Brauner,

LCSW Therapist
WIDOWS AND WIDOWERS: YOU ARE NOT ALONE

This bereavement group for those recently widowed

provides an opportunity to share your feelings with
others that understand. Registration required;
Call Esther at 201.408.1456.
7 Mondays, Oct 15-Nov 26, 6:15-7:45 pm, $115/$145

Jewish Life & Learning, with

Judaic Scholar-in-Residence,
Rabbi Reuven Kimelman
HIGH HOLIDAY SEMINAR

The meaning of the Neilah service and why it

comes at the end of Yom Kippur.
Wed, Sep 12, 8:15 pm, Free

BREAKFAST STUDY SEMINAR

The meaning and history of the Siddur: How

do the prayers mean what they mean? This
course starts with the beginning of the Siddur
dealing with Adon Olam and Mah Tovu and
works its way up to the Shema, the Amidah,
and the Aleinu.
Thur, Sept 13-Jan 10, 8:15-9:30 am, $150/$300

MUSIC SENIORS KIDS

Thurnauer School of Music
Thinking of learning an instrument? With frequent
performance opportunities, a vibrant music
community, and distinguished faculty, there
is simply no better place to start your musical
journey than at the Thurnauer School of Music!
For more info visit jccotp.org/tsm, or schedule a
tour today by calling 201.408.1465.
SAC: Senior Activity Center
Monday-Friday
A daily senior center providing light breakfast,
exercise, current events, entertainment, lectures,
intergenerational programming, holiday
celebrations, musical programs, sessions on
health and wellness, nutritious hot kosher
lunches and door-to-door transportation.
Participation is FREE. Suggested daily donation
for lunch ($4) and transportation ($5)
Contact Judi Nahary at 201.408.1450
or visit jccotp.org/senior-services.
Private and Semi-Private Swim Lessons
Looking to boost your child’s swim game or want a
little more individualized attention? Check out our private
and semi-private lessons. We offer one-on-one private
lessons as well as semi-private lessons for groups of two
to three people.
Visit jccotp.org/aquatics-private-lessons for more
information.
TO REGISTER OR FOR MORE INFO
VISIT jccotp.org
STAY IN THE KNOW! LIKE US ON
facebook.com/KaplenJCCOTP

KAPLEN JCC on the Palisades TAUB CAMPUS | 411 E CLINTON AVE, TENAFLY, NJ 07670 | 201.569.7900 | jccotp.org
JEWISH STANDARD AUGUST 24, 2018 19
You Are Cordially Invited…

Closter connect each person at our Temple to

Temple Emanu-El of Closter
What does being Jewish mean today?
What is my role in the community?
How can I help Israel?
If these questions or others like them
have ever entered your mind, step into
Temple Emanu-El.
Our inviting atmosphere inspires every-
one from children to seniors to learn and
connect. Our adult education programs
offer classes on ethics, Israel, the life-
cycle, Jewish music, and so much more.
Our social action calendar is filled
with people actively engaged in acts of
chesed and tzedakah.
Daily services at Temple Emanu-El
provide a forum for mourners and cel-
ebrants alike to worship in our majestic
prayer spaces.
Our religious school curriculum brings
Judaism alive and blends our history
and faith with today’s real-world experi-
ences. Our students are engaged and
motivated to incorporate our traditions
into their daily lives.
Our Shabbat observances are cen-
tered around singing, reflection, wres-
tling with big and important ideas, and
breaking bread together.
At Temple Emanu-El we exemplify
being active for Israel and in Israel.
Multiple missions annually for different
demographics, along with speakers and
activities, are just some of the ways we
our homeland.
We look forward to welcoming you
into our family.
180 Piermont Road. templeemanu-el.
com. (201) 750-9997.
Englewood
Congregation 
Kol HaNeshamah
Congregation Kol HaNeshamah (Voice
of the Soul) is the only Conservative
synagogue serving the Englewood/
Tenafly community. We are a Havurah
style egalitarian shul. Shabbat and
holiday services are highly participa-
tory and musical. Beginning this Sukkot,
September 24, we look forward to wel-
coming our new rabbi, Lindsey Healey-
Pollack. In addition to the rabbi, our
members also lead prayers, leyn (chant
from the Torah), and offer divrai Torah
(teaching). Discussion during services is
encouraged. Kol HaNeshamah is deeply
committed to tikkun olam (healing the
world). Members and their children par-
ticipate in a number of community proj-
ects such as staffing a homeless shelter,
leading holiday services for hospital
patients, and visiting nursing homes.
Hebrew school for grades K-7 and He-
brew High School are available through
our affiliate community schools. Adult
Talmud and synagogue skills classes
are led by our members and visiting
scholars. Community events and cel-
ebrations such as Chanukah and Purim
parties, Shabbat luncheons, Friday
night dinners, book club, sports teams,
and theater trips provide opportunities
to share the joy of Jewish living in an
atmosphere that is warm and respectful
of the diversity of observance.
High Holy Days tickets are free, but
reservations are required. Call (201)
816-1611 or email Info@KHNJ.org.
Shabbat morning and holiday services
are held weekly on the premises of St.
Paul’s Episcopal Church, 113 Engle St.,
Englewood. Services begin at 9:45 a.m.
Children’s services at 10:30 a.m. Visit
our website at: www.KHNJ.org.
Sha’ar Communities
Sha’ar Communities is a groundbreak-
ing suburban initiative in northern
New Jersey founded by Rabbi Adina
Lewittes, inspired by a broad vision of
Jewish renaissance, and led by a team
of dedicated lay leaders.
Sha’ar welcomes people of all back-
grounds, and especially seeks to create
inviting access into Judaism for singles,
LGBTQ Jews, Jews by Choice, inter-
faith/multi-heritage families and indi-
viduals, and Jews of color.
A city of many gates. A community of
many entries. A heart of many rooms.
People are drawn to Jewish life by dif-
ferent values, priorities and interests,
and yet they share a yearning to belong
— to be part of something larger than
themselves, something that inspires,
informs, and sanctifies their search
for meaning and purpose in our fast-
changing world. A desire for connec-
tion motivates people to seek relation-
ships with others rooting their lives in
Jewish wisdom and tradition, and plant-
ing their souls in the nourishing soil of
Jewish spirituality. In response, Sha’ar
Communities creates multiple gates
(“Sha’ar” = gate) through which people
can enter, explore and celebrate Jewish
life. Music-filled, evocative prayer. Deep,
transformative study. Educational, ad-
venturous travel. Personalized, mean-
ingful lifecycle rituals. Courageous,
committed social activism. Curious, cre-
ative cultural experiences. Together our
gates offer a radically inclusive, innova-
tive, affordable and pluralistic model for
contemporary Jewish living. Our name,
Sha’ar, is formed in the singular to con-
vey the single, sacred, core community
to which each of our gateways lead,
and our shared commitment to raise a
compelling Jewish voice with which to
join the global conversation about spiri-
tuality, ethics, and social responsibility
in the 21st century.
For more information and to learn
more about Sha’ar Communities please
contact us.
Rabbi Adina Lewittes, Founder
rabbi@shaarcommunities.org

‫ב״ה‬ HIGH HOLIDAY

DA
AY TICKETS
AY
Both Traditional & Contemporary Services
JOYFUL. MEANINGFUL. FRIENDLY.

High Holidays Our Traditional High Holiday services feature our

clergy, Rabbi Kenneth A. Stern & Cantor Paul Zim,
officiating at beautiful services that have inspired
WITH CHABAD OF OLD TAPPAN
generations of members and visitors during the high
holidays.

Our Contemporary services offer a unique worship

experience, with guest Rabbi Jay Levy officiating
and J. Lewis & Company providing professional
vocal and instrumental accompaniment.

TREAT YOURSELF AND YOUR FAMILY
TO A WARM, INTERACTIVE AND ENRICHING
HIGH HOLIDAY EXPERIENCE.
NO MEMBERSHIP REQUIRED. RSVP REQUESTED .
RO S H H A S H AN A H SEP T . 9 - 1 1
TH E O L D T APP A N M A N O R
SER VIC E S & LU NC HE ON S
201 767 4008 | www.CHABADOT.org
CALL (201) 947-1735 OR VISIT GESHERSHALOM.ORG
FOR MORE INFORMATION & TICKETS
If you don’t belong to another synagogue you belong with us!
YOM KI P PU R SEP T. 1 8 & 19 We are a warm, family-friendly, Conservative Egalitarian synagogue that respects
HOLI D AY IN N O R ANG EB U RG traditional values and offers both traditional and contemporary worship
experiences. We have an outstanding, innovative Hebrew School,
SER VIC E S & B R EA K FA S T
Bar/Bat Mitzvah training & ceremonies, holiday celebrations,
adult & family education, twice-daily services, and
much more! Call, stop in or visit our website.

  Ÿ
(201)Ÿ947-1735ŸŸŸŸŸŸŸgeshershalom.orgŸŸŸŸŸŸoffice@geshershalom.org

20 JEWISH STANDARD AUGUST 24, 2018


(201) 220-6743
Andrew Pittel, President
shaarcommunities2@gmail.com
(201) 232-9999
www.shaarcommunities.org
PO Box 1625 Fort Lee, NJ 07024
Fort Lee
Congregation Beth Israel 
of the Palisades
Congregation Beth Israel of the Pali-
sades, now at the New Synagogue of
Fort Lee, invites you to join its rabbi,
Jewish Standard columnist Sham-
mai Engelmayer, for services on the
High Holy Days at the Fort Lee High
School auditorium, along with Can-
tor Eric Wasser, and all year in our
sanctuary, 1585 Center Ave. We are a
Conservative egalitarian congrega-
tion. We enjoy being together — at
services, socials, or adult-ed classes.
We care about each other; we are
there for each other. We do not claim
to be warm and fuzzy; we just are.
Our informal “style” has won us a
reputation for actually being what
other congregations only claim to be:
warm, friendly, and caring. Even on
the High Holy Days, when intimacy
seems impossible, no one is treated
as a “stranger” because a “stranger”
to us is just a long-lost relative who
found her or his way home. Among
other things, people no one recogniz-
es are given honors. The rabbi makes
several forays during each service into
“the pews” to greet as many people
as possible, especially those who are
new to the synagogue. For informa-
tion, call (201) 947-1555, or check out
our website, www.cbiotp.org.
You Are Cordially Invited…
SAVE THE DATES · SEPTEMBER 2018
ROSH HASHANAH
Sun. Sept. 9 – 7:15 pm
Mon. Sept. 10 – 9:00 am followed by
Tashlikh Water Service at 1:30 pm
Tue. Sept. 11 – 9:00 am
YOM KIPPUR
Tue. Sept. 18 – 6:15 pm (Kol Nidre)
Wed. Sept. 19 – 9:00 am
Wed. Sept. 19 - Mincha 5:00 pm & Neilah 6:00 pm
Wed. Sept. 19 - Break the Fast – 7:30 pm
SUKKOT
Erev Sukkot: Sunday, September 23rd
SHEMINI ATZERET
Monday, October 1st - 7:30 am (Yizkor)
SIMCHAT TORAH
Monday, October 1st - 7:30 pm
Come dance with us!
We would love to have you join us but tickets are required.
For more information please call Cathy at (201) 391-4620
Temple Beth Sholom of Pascack Valley
32 Park Avenue · Park Ridge, NJ
JEWISH STANDARD AUGUST 24, 2018 21
You Are Cordially Invited…
The Jewish Community
Center of Fort Lee/
Congregation 
Gesher Shalom
The Jewish Community Center of Fort
Lee/Congregation Gesher Shalom
is a warm, welcoming and inclusive
Conservative synagogue that is com-
pletely egalitarian and accessible in all
aspects of synagogue life. We respect
everyone’s desire to find their own
level of observance by incorporating
both traditional and innovative wor-
ship experiences. Our new, inspira-
tional and contemporary prayer book
facilitates discussions and interac-
tive Shabbat services. We provide
multiple opportunities for our mem-
bers and visitors to strengthen their
connection to their Jewish heritage,
to the State of Israel, and to form life-
long bonds with their fellow congre-
gants and community members.
Our clergy are Rabbi Kenneth A.
Stern and Cantor Paul Zim. We are the
only conservative synagogue in the
area that holds a twice-daily minyan.
Why join? We offer a multitude of
programs that engage everyone from
tots to seniors: one of the pre-emi-
nent Hebrew Schools in Bergen Coun-
ty, vibrant adult education programs,
an active Sisterhood and Men’s Club,
and special programs for teens. Our
rabbi hosts day trips every month
to locales that explore our heritage
and culture. Our atmosphere of joy,
warmth, and spirituality brings fami-
lies back from generation to genera-
tion. With respect, a non-judgmental
attitude, and a supportive outlook,
our goal is to foster a positive Jewish
experience, and family atmosphere
where every member matters.
Want to learn more? Visit www.
geshershalom.org to find out all about
us and check out our calendar of
events and services, or call the office
(201) 947-1735 to schedule a visit.
We would love to meet you!

EVENING SERVICE Sunday, September 9 - 6:30 PM

FIRST DAY Monday, September 10 - 8:45 AM *
SECOND DAY Tuesday, September 11 - 8:45 AM *
SHABBAT SHUVAH Saturday, September 15- 9:45 AM

Come home to KOL NIDRE Tuesday, Sept. 18 - 6:20 PM

SERVICES Wed., Sept. 19- 9:00 AM *
Congregation Beth Sholom ... YIZKOR - 11:30 AM (approx.)
MINHA-NEILAH 5:00 PM - 6:15 PM
A dynamic, warm, *Youth services begin at 10:30 AM
egalitarian Conservative kehilla
Together with our professional leadership, we nurture
Jewish identity and spirituality through:
• vibrant Shabbat and holiday services
• multiple minyanim (prayer services) for all ages
113 ENGLE STREET, ENGLEWOOD, NJ ( ST. PAUL’S CAMPUS)
• outstanding children and family programming
• exceptional educational programs WARM COMMUNITY. ENGAGING SERVICES. YOUTH AND ADULT
SOCIAL EVENTS. ISRAEL PARTNERSHIP. COMMUNITY SERVICE.
• multi-generational connections
• music, film and visual arts events
• inspiring adult and award-winning children’s choirs

WWW.KHNJ.ORG
Rabbi Joel Pitkowsky
INFO@KHNJ.ORG
Cantor Ronit Wolff Hanan, Music Director

22 JEWISH STANDARD AUGUST 24, 2018

 jstandard ad 5779.qxp_jstandard full page 8/9/18 5:06 PM Page 1

Congregation Beth Israel This year,

of the Palisades join with us
at the New Synagogue of Fort Lee
Where ‘welcome’ is not just a word!
1585 Center Avenue,
for the
Tel. 201.947.1555
E-mail: shul@cbiotp,org
Holy Days
Check out our website:
www.cbiotp.org ( an d b r i n g t h e ki ds !)
t

Think of us as your communal home.

We’re a happy home, too.

There’s nothing stuffy, staid, or somber about us.
Even on the High Holy Days, we’re a bit laid back—as a family should be!
And that’s how you’ll be treated when you walk through our doors—
like a member of the family.
But don’t take our word for it.
Come one Shabbat and see for yourself.

Forget about driving!

Our services this year
will be held in the auditorium
of the Fort Lee High School,
3000 Lemoine Avenue.
Leading services will be our rabbi,
SHAMMAI ENGELMAYER,
and CHAZZAN ERIC WASSER
For security purposes,
reservations in writing are a must.
To download the necessary forms, go to
www.cbiotp.org/the-high-holy-days.html,
or call the synagogue office.
Take the Shab-Bus to shul!
The Shab-Bus is a halachically viable
alternative to driving or walking on Shabbatot
and chagim. As a service to our community, we
will expand its route during the High Holy Days,
based on requests received before Labor Day.
A complete schedule of stops and approximate
times will be available after Labor Day.
If you would like the Shab-Bus to come to
your area, please call our office (201-947-
1555), and let us know.
The Shab-Bus and this advertisement are
not meant to impinge in any way on other
synagogues in our area.

JEWISH STANDARD AUGUST 24, 2018 23

You Are Cordially Invited…
Sephardic Congregation 
of Fort Lee
Established in 1984, SCFL has main-
paytanut, the knowledge and prac-
tice of its liturgy, which is unique even
among Sephardic congregations.

Hear the Call

JOIN US FOR THE HIGH HOLY DAYS.
Everyone is welcome at our warm, music-filled services, led by our
own Rabbi Steven Sirbu and Cantor Ellen Tilem. And with free
services for children and families, plus our voluntary commitment
memberships, we make it easy for everyone to hear the call.
tained a proud and distinct set of
minhagim, cultural standards, and
meaningful values that reflect the joy-
ous approach to living that is distinc-
tively and deeply Jewish and yet still
accepting of and connected to the
world around us.
Like many Sephardic congregations
in North America, the member com-
munity of SCFL is religiously diverse
— made up of families who are obser-
vant; families who are traditional but
not fully observant; families who have
more of a cultural affiliation; identify
as Jewish and participate in annual
Jewish rituals and milestones (Yom
Kippur, Passover, Chanukah, Purim
etc.); and families who are on the pe-
riphery of the Jewish community. The
one thread that ties all of these fami-
lies together is that when they choose
to attend religious services, they will
attend them at SCFL. Accordingly,
SCFL is an inclusive congregation,
one that does not create fissures
Culturally SCFL is connected through
language (French, Judeo-Arabic), its
foods, its love of family, and its deep
respect for the idea of tradition itself.
Taking care of the members of the
community is a central part of the
congregation’s values, passed down
to children and grandchildren. You
can reach us at (201) 543-9459.
Franklin Lakes
Temple Emanuel 
of North Jersey
Temple Emanuel of North Jersey in
Franklin Lakes is thrilled to open our
doors for a new year. We invite every-
one from the surrounding area to join
and build a community that embraces
friendship, spiritual growth, commu-
nal connections, and a loving, creative
approach to traditional Judaism.
Today, as our congregation has
evolved and aged, we seek a new
infusion of people to grow and serve

TEMPLE EMETH
within its own community, but one
that seeks opportunities to bring the
members of its community together.
A REFORM CONGREGATION Sephardic Congregation of Fort Lee
maintains deep connection to our
1666 Windsor Road, Teaneck NJ 07666 heritage manifested ritually through
www.emeth.org • 201-833-1322
our community. We welcome all back-
grounds and ages to be a part of an
emerging new movement to embrace
individual and community values to
make our lives and involvement in
Jewish values more meaningful. At

Warm wishes for a

New Year filled with
health, happiness
and blessings
Shana Tova from
The Sephardic Congregation of Fort Lee
313 Tom Hunter Road, Fort Lee, NJ
We take great pride in our High Holidays,
as well as our year-round services and functions.
Please join us for an unforgettable
High Holidays experience!
We welcome people from diverse backgrounds and
follow the Moroccan traditions and customs.

For more information, please

call us at (201) 543-9459 or email
us at betyosef18@gmail.com
www.scflee.com
Tizku Leshanim Rabot!

24 JEWISH STANDARD AUGUST 24, 2018

Extend An Invitation You Are Cordially Invited…
Closter
the heart of our congregation is a deep rever-
majestic prayer spaces.
Our religious school curriculum brings Judaism alive
Englewood
ence for our legacy of Torah studies and classical
Temple
liturgy. YetEmanu-El
we are movedof to Closter
celebrate new life and
and blends our history and faith with today’s real-world Congregation Kol HaNeshamah
experiences. Our students are engaged and motivated
What
seek new doestraditions
being Jewish mean
that will today?
weave the aspirations Congregation Kol HaNeshamah (Voice of the Soul) is
to incorporate our traditions into their daily lives.
ofWhat is mymembers.
our area role in theWecommunity?
want to tap into more the only Conservative synagogue serving the Engle-
Our Shabbat observances are centered around sing-
Jewish
How can learning, our love for our American heri-
I help Israel? wood/Tenafly community. We are a Havurah style
ing, reflection, wrestling with big and important ideas,
tage, ourquestions
If these high regard or for the virtues
others like themof have
the State
ever en- egalitarian shul. Shabbat and holiday services are
and breaking bread together.
of Israel,
tered your and our step
mind, moral quest
into Templeto make the world a
Emanu-El. highly participatory and musical, as lay leaders along
At Temple Emanu-El we exemplify being active for
better, more livable
Our inviting place. inspires
atmosphere We leaneveryone
on each other
from with visiting rabbis and scholars lead prayers, leyn
Israel and IN Israel. Multiple missions annually for
for encouragement.
children to seniors toMostly, we connect.
learn and seek to live fulfilling
Our adult (chant from the Torah), and offer divrai Torah (teach-
different demographics, along with speakers and
lives socially,
education spiritually,
programs offerand intellectually.
classes on ethics,We meetthe
Israel, ing). Discussion during services is encouraged. Kol
weekly toJewish pray and discuss activities, are just some of the ways we connect each
lifecycle, music, and these
so much ideals.
more. HaNeshamah is deeply committed to tikkun olam
It is our vision at TENJ to actively person at our temple to our homeland.
Our social action calendar is filled share the joys
with people ac- (healing the world). Members and their children par-
of ourengaged
milestone We look forward to welcoming you into our family.
tively inmoments: rites of
acts of chesed andpassages,
tzedakah. bar ticipate in a number of community projects such as
and batservices
mitzvah, 180 Piermont Road. templeemanu-el.com. (201) 750-
Daily atweddings, anniversaries,
Temple Emanu-El providenewa forum staffing a homeless shelter, leading holiday services
baby arrivals,and
academic achievements, gradua- 9997.
for mourners celebrants alike to worship in our for hospital patients, and visiting nursing homes.
tions, and the treasures of travel and business. We
balance those ideals with the difficulties we all face
in our lives: sorrows, economic challenges, illness,
child care, career setbacks, elder care, aging, and
BETH HAVERIM SHIR SHALOM
loss of loved ones. We are thankful, resilient; we
celebrate.
Our services are traditional, egalitarian, and
Temple Emanuel of North Jersey
Wishes your family
Conservative. Men and women participate equally.
We encourage interfaith families to join us and

A Sweet & Healthy

become a part of our community. You are a val-
ued asset to the congregation. Our membership
What Will You Do Better This Year?
Join Us for the Holidays!
includes people and families from Bergen and Pas-

New Year
saic counties, New York, and beyond.
Shabbat morning services run promptly from
9:30 a.m. to noon, every Saturday. You are invited

(201) 560-0200
to light refreshments at Kiddish from noon to 12:30
From Our House of Friends
p.m. immediately following services. The services
are conducted under the leadership of Rabbi Jo-
seph Prouser. To Yours

L’ Shanah Tovah www.tenjfl.org www.facebook.com/tenjfl

Our synagogue is at 558 High Mountain Road in
Franklin Lakes, overlooking the beautiful Frank-
lin Lakes Nature Preserve. We can be reached at
www.tenjfl.org and (201) 560-0200. Please visit us.
Our synagogue is located at 558 High Mountain Road
Hoboken in Franklin Lakes, overlooking the beautiful Franklin Lakes
The United Synagogue of Hoboken Nature Preserve. Our community is boundless!
The United Synagogue of Hoboken is Hoboken’s
vibrant, inclusive, and participatory Jewish com-
munity, serving Hudson County. We have revived a
The Holidays are just the beginning…
historic synagogue building and century-old Jew-
ish community, and we strive to nurture and renew
the spark of Judaism in each individual.

Join us for
C
Rabbi Robert Scheinberg has led the commu-
nity A Welcoming
with Reform
sensitivity and wisdomCongregation
since 1997 (see
http://rabbischeinberg.blogspot.com). Educa-
280 Ramapo Valley Rd.

Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur

tional programs for all ages, led by Early Child-
Mahwah,
hood Director Rachelle NJGrossman
201- 512-1983
and Learning
Center Director Grace Gurman-Chan, help our
Family service at 2:30 p.m.
children to embark on the adventure of Jewish life
and Yizkor at 5:30 p.m.
and experiential Jewish learning. Our partnerships
with organizations like Moishe House Hoboken
OPEN TO THE COMMUNITY
and Jewish Young Adults of Hoboken help Jewish Music • Spirit • Passion • Intellect
Depth • Warmth • Humor • Nature • Connection
young adults in our area to forge connections with
For both holidays
the Jewish community. For over a decade we have
hosted the Introduction to Judaism program of
Spiritual
the Rabbinical Worship
Assembly of NewExperience
Jersey, drawing
adults fromExceptional Religious
around the state School
to explore Judaism in
a comfortable
Innovativeand validating
“Family atmosphere.
School” Services
Programming
on weekdays, Shabbat, and holidays are musical,
Please inquire about our Temple Membership
participatory, and thought-provoking. Concerts,
films,and Introductory
guest speakers, andYoung Family projects
volunteer Membership
help
us to engage with Judaism through our minds, our
Interim Rabbi Barry Diamond
hearts, and our hands. Find out more about our
congregation, and Cantor
aboutDavid
JewishPerper
life in Hoboken,
www.bethhaverimshirshalom.org
at www.hobokensynagogue.org
com/HobokenSynagogue.
or www.facebook.
SIGN UP NOW
201-281-4988
shaarholidays@gmail.com
24 JEWISH STANDARD SEPTEMBER 8, 2017 JEWISH STANDARD AUGUST 24, 2018 25
 You Are Cordially Invited…
Mahwah
Beth Haverim Shir Shalom
Beth Haverim Shir Shalom, at 280 Ra-
mapo Valley Road, is a warm and wel-
coming Reform congregation serving
Rockland and Bergen counties. Its more
than 400 families are led by enthusias-
tic lay leaders in cooperation with Rabbi
Ilana Schwartzman and Cantor David
Perper. In addition to inviting and spiri-
tual services, it offers an introductory
young family membership, outstand-
ing one-day-a-week religious school,
including a unique family school (grades
K-2 free of charge for member fami-
lies), junior-senior youth groups, vibrant
lifelong learning, junior and adult choirs,
and brotherhood, sisterhood, and social
action groups. Friday evening Shabbat
services are held at 6 p.m. on the first
Friday of the month and 7:30 p.m. the
remaining Fridays. We offer a family ser-
vice on the first Friday of each month.
For more information please call (201)
512-1983 or go to www.bethhaverim-
shirshalom.org
Old Tappan
Chabad of Old Tappan
Your High Holiday dilemma solved.
So, you have a dilemma! The Jewish
New Year is fast approaching and you
still don’t have plans for Rosh Hashanah
or Yom Kippur services.
It’s not because you don’t want to go.
You do! It’s just that you are not affili-
ated with a house of worship, or you
don’t feel comfortable in a traditional
synagogue setting. It also might be that
the fees associated with tickets and
synagogue membership isn’t in your
budget at this time.
Well, you have no reason to worry.
Chabad of Old Tappan, spearheaded
by Rabbi Mendy and Devora Lewis, a
warm, caring and energetic couple, has
got you covered.
Chabad of Old Tappan offers an inter-
active and family-friendly High Holy Days
experience, where you and your family,
regardless of background, affiliation, or
financial means, can feel right at home.
Join the Chabad of Old Tappan family
this Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur
and you will find services that are rel-
evant and downright enjoyable, filled
with insight and humor.
26 JEWISH STANDARD AUGUST 24, 2018
Rosh Hashanah morning services
and luncheons (September 10 and 11)
take place at the Old Tappan Manor.
Yom Kippur services and break-fast
(September 18 and 19) are held at the
Holiday Inn Orangeburg.
Please make your reservations online
at www.chabadOT.org or call (201)
767-4008 to speak with the rabbi. In
addition to the service schedule, the
website provides a comprehensive
library, a kid friendly site, and more.
Rabbi Mendy Lewis
(201) 421 1551
rabbi@chabadot.org
Park Ridge
Temple Beth Sholom 
of Pascack Valley
Temple Beth Sholom is a progressive
and friendly synagogue. We are a small
shul holding Friday night and Shabbat
morning services along with holiday
programming.
High Holy Days services are thought-
provoking, with the right mix of spiritu-
ality and reflection.
TBS has been serving the Pascack
Valley for 90-plus years. Join with us
when you want to experience a warm,
caring, and Jewish family.
Call Cathy in our office for High Holy
Days information, membership, and
programming calendar, or to receive
our monthly Kol Sholom newsletter.
(201) 391-4620.
Temple Beth Sholom is located at 32
Park Ave. in Park Ridge. Our web site is
at www.temple-beth-sholom.org.
River Edge
Temple Avodat Shalom
Temple Avodat Shalom is a vibrant
Jewish congregation located in River
Edge of more than 1,000 individuals.
We welcome all who wish to partici-
pate, regardless of age, marital status,
sexual orientation, race, ethnicity, or
financial means. Straight, lesbian, gay,
bisexual, and transgender individuals,
interfaith families, people of all abilities,
and individuals of all ages are welcome.
We offer programs to satisfy all lev-
els of appetite for Jewish learning and
spiritual growth as well as opportunities
to make a difference in our world and
just to have fun with friends throughout
our diverse community. Our religious
school for grades pre-K through 12 has
more than 150 students.
Come join our temple family for the
holidays. Our rabbi, Paul Jacobson, and
cantor, Maria Dubinsky, in conjunction
with our dedicated leadership, delight
in welcoming you to our congrega-
tion. Open House Friday September 7.
Services on second day Rosh Hashanah
(Tuesday September 11 )and Yom Kip-
pur afternoon (Wednesday September
19. including Yizkor) are free and open
to the public.
Ask us about our $360 introductory
rate for all new members. For more
information, please call Barbara Her-
man Hoff, our administrator, at (201)
489-2463, ext. 203, email director@
avodatshalom.net. For school registra-
tion information, call Barbara Haber,
educational director, at (201) 489-2463,
ext. 204. Visit us on our website: www.
avodatshalom.net
Teaneck
Congregation Beth Sholom
Congregation Beth Sholom is a warm,
dynamic, egalitarian Conservative kehil-
la (community). In concert with our rab-
binic and musical leadership, we nur-
ture active, congregant-led initiatives
to express and cultivate Jewish identity
and spirituality. We are proud of our
vibrant, warm traditional Shabbat and
holiday services; our multiple minyanim
(prayer services) including Minyan Kole-
inu — a lay-led, participatory service —
and numerous age-appropriate chil-
dren’s services; and daily morning and
evening minyanim. Individuals and fami-
lies of all ages can participate in a wide
array of exceptional activities which
include our award-winning Kadima and
USY chapters (for teens), Hazak (for
retirees), Tzipporei Shalom children’s
choir, sisterhood-sponsored events, en-
gaging adult education programs, mu-
sic and creative arts experiences, Tavim
(our adult a cappella choir), tikkun olam
projects, and social events throughout
the year.
Rabbi Joel Pitkowsky and our entire
professional staff and lay leadership
would delight in welcoming you!
For more information about high
holiday tickets or membership, email
office@cbsteaneck.org or call (201)
833-2620.
Temple Emeth
At Temple Emeth, the values and prac-
tices of Reform Judaism are embraced
every day. We take pride in our exten-
sive programming, both spiritual and
secular, and in our wonderful members.
Our voluntary commitment model of
supporting the temple financially allows
all members to participate according
to their means and the value they find
in membership. Everyone can afford to
join us.
The Temple Emeth family includes
Jews by birth, Jews by choice, partners
of Jews, singles, people of color, and
those in the LGBTQ community. What
holds us all together is that we care
about each other and our congrega-
tion. Our members’ involvement ranges
widely too — from those who stop by
only once in a while . . . to those who
attend our uplifting services and pro-
grams regularly . . . to those who are so
immersed in temple life that they rarely
leave the building!
We have a terrific religious school for
grades K-7, which is fully subsidized
for members. We also offer a dynamic
program for young people in grades 8
to 12, including confirmation in tenth
grade.
Rabbi Steven Sirbu writes, “I believe
each one of us is on a Jewish journey
that involves wrestling with our tradi-
tion and shaping a relationship with
God. Temple Emeth offers the resourc-
es and the support to help every jour-
neyer find what he or she seeks. Along
the way, we have a lot of fun, with lively
and stimulating classes, services that
engage and inspire, and social events
where we are reminded how many
wonderful people have chosen to affili-
ate here.”
Cantor Ellen Tilem is involved in every
facet of temple life. With her beautiful
voice, she brings us new melodies while
also celebrating our Jewish musical
heritage. She also works with our three
choirs and our amazing Temple Emeth
Band.
We are conveniently located at 1666
Windsor Road in Teaneck. Visit us on-
line at www.emeth.org or on Facebook.
Or call us at (201) 833-1322 for a per-
sonalized visit.
 Wishing You A Sweet New Year
L’Shana Tova Tikatevu 2018- 5779

2/$
with

Osem
Cake
4
AdvantEdge Card
5/$
with

Manischewitz
Egg Noodles
5
AdvantEdge Card
299
Empire Kosher
Frozen Whole Turkey
lb.
12 99 lb.
8.8 oz.
12 oz.•Select Varieties
or Bow Ties 7 oz.
Kosher•Empire Kosher
Frozen Organic Turkey
Meal Mart
Honey or Marble Where Available $3.49 lb. 1st Cut Brisket
Kosher

179
1 99 299
3 99
lb.
with AdvantEdge Card 24 oz.
AdvantEdge Card
Lipton Kosher
Recipe Secrets Empire Kosher
with

Wolff’s Soup & Dip Mix Roasting Chicken

Kasha 1.9-4.09 oz. Kosher•Frozen
13 oz.
Select Varieties
Select Varieties
Where Available
2 Lb. Chicken
Breasts $12.99 Challah Bread
Large
Raisin $4.99

2
with

PICS
99
AdvantEdge Card

Honey Bear
2
with

Osem
99
AdvantEdge Card

Mini Mandel
1199
with AdvantEdge Card

Meal Mart
Stuffed Cabbage
3 Lb.
Bag
2
with
99
AdvantEdge Card

12 oz. 14.1 oz. Canister

39 oz. or 33 oz. Meatballs
and Marinara Sauce Fresh Macintosh or
Empire Apples
New York State•2 1/4" Min.•U.S. #1

339
Temp Tee
Whipped
Cream Cheese
2/$
Manischewitz
Broth
32 oz.
4
with AdvantEdge Card
399
with

Sautéed
AdvantEdge Card

Meal Mart

Chicken Liver
2/$
with AdvantEdge Card
8
8 oz. Tub Select Varieties 7 oz. Pier 33
Salmon Portions
6 oz.•Frozen

6
2/$ 3 2/$ 6
2
2/$
with AdvantEdge Card

Breakstone’s
with AdvantEdge Card

Lipton or
Manischewitz
with

Golden
AdvantEdge Card

Blintzes 6 Pack
99
Whipped Butter Matzo Ball & Soup Mix 13 oz.•All Varieties or
8 oz. Tub 4.3-5 oz. Gourmet Pancakes 10.6 oz. with AdvantEdge Card
Salted or Unsalted Select Varieties Select Varieties
Welch’s Manischewitz
or Kedem Grape Juice
699 AdvantEdge Retail
2/$ 6 AdvantEdge Retail 64 oz.•Select Varieties
-100 -1
199
Coupon Savings
00 Coupon Savings
_______________________________ _______________________________

5 99
with AdvantEdge Card & Coupon Below
2/$
with
5
AdvantEdge Card & Coupon Below
with

Gold’s
AdvantEdge Card

Borscht Soup
2/$ 1
Manischewitz Gefilte Fish Kedem Sparkling Juice 24 oz.•Original or
with AdvantEdge Card

20 oz.•Frozen Loaf or Pre-Sliced 25.4 oz.•Select Varieties Low Calorie Rokeach Yahrzeit Candle

MANUFACTURER’S COUPON • EXPIRES 9/22/2018 MANUFACTURER’S COUPON • EXPIRES 9/22/2018

COUPON CLU #1019 COUPON CLU #1020
Expires 9/22/2018 Expires 9/22/2018
BUY 1 BUY 1

1off 1off 2
Osem Mini Mandel Osem Consomme
$ $ 14.1 oz. 14.1 oz.•Soup & Seasoning Mix
GET 1 GET 1
Manischewitz Kedem Osem Bamba Snack Osem Pearl Couscous
1 oz. 8.8 oz.
Gefilte Fish Sparkling Juice
20 oz.
Frozen Loaf or Pre-Sliced
25.4 oz.
Select Varieties FREE
Limit 1 Price Chopper coupon per customer, per offer, per day; may be
FREE
Limit 1 Price Chopper coupon per customer, per offer, per day; may be
RETAILER: We will reimburse you for the face value of this coupon plus 8¢ handling, Void if sold or transferred. Consumer pays CRV and sales tax. combined with one manufacturer coupon per product purchased, unless combined with one manufacturer coupon per product purchased, unless
provided you and the consumer have complied with the offer terms. Coupons not Misuse constitutes fraud. RETAILER: We will reimburse the face
properly redeemed will be void and held. Reproductions of this coupon is expressly value plus $.08 handling provided you comply with our coupon prohibited. Void if copied or altered. Offer effective Sunday, August 12 thru prohibited. Void if copied or altered. Offer effective Sunday, August 12 thru
prohibited (ANY OTHER USE CONSTITUTES FRAUD). Mail to: The Manischewitz redemption policy, available upon request. Submission of Saturday, September 22, 2018 in our Price Chopper, Market Bistro and Saturday, September 22, 2018 in our Price Chopper, Market Bistro and
Company, CMS Dept. #72700, 1 Fawcett Drive, Del Rio, TX 78840. Cash value .001¢. coupons signifies compliance. Send to: KAYCO Foods, Market 32 stores. Market 32 stores.
Void where taxed or restricted. LIMIT ONE COUPON PER PRODUCT PURCHASED. PO Box 407, MPS DEPT. 989, Cinnaminson, NJ 08077.
©2018 The Manischewitz Company MAY NOT BE DOUBLED OR TRIPLED. MAY NOT BE DOUBLED OR TRIPLED

Offers effective Sunday, August 12 thru Saturday, September 22, 2018 in all Price Chopper, Market Bistro and Market 32 stores located in CT, MA, NH, NY, PA & VT. Not all items are available in all stores.

JEWISH STANDARD AUGUST 24, 2018 27

Rockland
‘Food fight’ knockout
Monsey woman wins Kosher.com cooking show with a healthy helping of creativity
Abigail Klein Leichman

A
s the final episode of Kosher.
com’s “Food Fight” begins,
Rorie Weisberg of Monsey cau-
tiously lifts the white kitchen
towel covering the secret ingredient she
must incorporate into a savory and a sweet
dish.
“Oh shoot,” she blurts dispiritedly as she
reveals several varieties of packaged puff
pastry dough.
“I’ve never touched puff pastry. I don’t
even know what it looks like, what it feels
like, how long it takes to bake. I don’t know
what to do with it,” Ms. Weisberg confides
on camera.
And yet Ms. Weisberg was chosen the
winner of the kosher cooking contest,
whose three final rounds were filmed at
the DoubleTree Hilton in Tarrytown. Her
on-the-fly creations in the
August 8 finale, Deli Roll
Cabbage Surprise with
Crisp ‘N’ Crunchy Salad
and Apple Strudel Topped
with Pure Pudding and
Nuts, wowed the judges.
Ms. Weisberg is a recipe
developer, a featured chef
on Kosher.com, where Rorie Weisberg works quickly during Kosher.com’s “Food Fight.” Ms. Weisberg, inset, describes herself
her recipes are posted, as a recipe developer and health coach.  Courtesy of Kosher.com

and a columnist for Mish-

pacha magazine’s Family
Table cooking section. She
started her own health-
coaching business, Full ‘n
Free, three years ago. She
developed several dough mixes for people
who want gluten-free, low-carb, or egg-
free baked goods; she believes everyone
should eat what is best for their body.
Last December, when Kosher.com’s
editor in chief, Chanie Nayman, asked
Ms. Weisberg to be one of 10 participants
in “Food Fight,” she protested that her
simple, health-focused recipes were not
geared to a competition. “Chanie said,
‘Don’t worry. Just stay true to your style
and your brand.’”
In the first six rounds of the contest, the
chefs received a secret ingredient to incor-
porate into an original dish. The recipes
and photos were published in the maga-
zine and posted online, and readers voted
for their favorites. On that basis, one con-
testant was eliminated in each round until
four remained to compete in the three
televised finals.
“The first secret ingredient we had to
use was noodles, and I asked if I could have
gluten-free or whole-wheat noodles, but I
couldn’t,” Ms. Weisberg said. “So I built
something around
the noodles that felt
like me. Surprisingly,
people liked it. I guess
people are looking for
healthier options and that’s great.”
Many of the secret ingredients in “Food
Fight” hardly could be described as
health food. So when Ms. Weisberg was
confronted with items like pastrami, she
quickly — within the 30-minute time limit
— thought how to combine it with lighter
ingredients for a balanced dish. She used
the pastrami to stuff chicken cutlets,
accompanied by riced cauliflower and sau-
téed vegetables. In one preliminary round
she used a few tablespoons of the manda-
tory duck fat to create a meal of rib-eye
steak, baby potatoes, and kale chips.
“I’m not a nutritionist,” she said. “My
approach is about making peace with
your body. My focus is on gaining health,
not losing weight. I’m not extreme about
healthy ingredients because being super
rigid isn’t healthy either.
“I don’t demonize less healthy ingre-
dients but I’ll surround them with bet-
ter ingredients. For instance, with the
puff pastry I didn’t use sugar or whipped
cream.”
Perhaps even harder than thinking up
recipes under pressure was honoring a
signed agreement not to reveal the results
of “Food Fight” from the time the finals
were taped in May until they aired on three
consecutive Wednesdays starting July 25.
Ms. Weisberg managed not to tell any-
one — not her mother, not her sister, not
her best friend, not her husband, Michael,
and none of their four children, who
range in age from 8 to 18. She had been
clear from the start that she was going into
“Food Fight” to have fun.
“I wasn’t driven to compete or win, just
to go and do my best,” she said.
She’s quite happy with the grand prize,
however, a $5,000 gift certificate to Town
Appliance in Lakewood. She says she
has been saving up for years to redo her
kitchen. (The runner-up, Rivky Kleiman
of Lakewood, won a wine refrigerator
stocked by Royal Wine Corporation.)
Ms. Weisberg, 39, grew up in Cleveland
and has been living in Monsey for 14 years.
Of course, everyone wants to know what
she cooks at home for her family. “Peo-
ple always ask me if I’m serving tofu and
sprouted veggies on Shabbos,” she said
with a laugh.
“I actually try to make all the standard
normal traditional foods, like potato kugel
and cholent, but my goal is to use more
wholesome ingredients. For example,
I don’t make fried schnitzel but I make
a breaded chicken with celery root. I
use healthy fats like olive or avocado oil
instead of canola, sea salt instead of table
salt. When I make cookies and brownies, I
use coconut sugar, maple syrup, or natural
fruit instead of white sugar.”
Once the “Food Fight” finale aired, Ms.
Weisberg was an instant local celebrity.
Even a non-Jewish bank teller said to her
husband, “Oh, I heard your wife was in
‘Food Fight!’”
“Everywhere I go, people come over
to me,” she said. “The nicest thing is that
people saw the ‘healthy’ chef won and that
is awesome. It shows that healthy foods
can be delicious and actually win a cook-
ing contest. It shows that making health-
ier food choices can become your go-to
habit.”
Those first few difficult moments after
she whipped the towel off the puff pastry
may have thrown her for a loop. But now
whenever she’s confronted with a situa-
tion that similarly causes her to freeze, Ms.
Weisberg tells herself, “Don’t get stuck on
the puff pastry!”

28 Jewish Standard AUGUST 24, 2018

 Rockland

Arts Alive seeks applicants Holocaust museum benefit in November

ArtsWestchester’s Arts Alive grants
can help artists seeking funding to cre-
ate a new work, emerging arts groups,
schools, after-school programs, or com-
munity agencies looking for support
for arts or cultural projects. The grants,
made possible with support from New
York State Council for the Arts, are
Bereavement support at RJFS
Bereavement specialists at Rockland
Jewish Family Service provide coun-
seling for people and families who are
dealing with the death of someone they
loved. RJFS also has bereavement sup-
port groups and assists schools and
other institutions when grief counseling
is needed. All bereavement services are
insurance reimbursable.
RJFS’s support groups, After Shiva
and Moving On, are open to people of all
faiths. After Shiva is for people mourn-
ing the death of a spouse or partner, and
designed to expand arts opportunities
for Rockland- and Westchester-based art-
ists and cultural organizations.
Rockland Arts Alive Grant applications
are due by October 2. For information,
email sabbott@artswestchester.org or
grants@artswestchester.org or go to
artsw.org/artsalive.
Moving On offers spouses and partners
who already have been part of a bereave-
ment group at Rockland Jewish Family
Service or elsewhere the opportunity to
continue meeting in a facilitated group
setting. Members discuss their chal-
lenges and experiences as they consider
the process of adapting to life without
their loved one.
For information, call Carol King at
(845) 354-2121, ext. 142, or email her at
cking@rjfs.org.
The Holocaust Museum & Center for Tol-
erance and Education’s annual benefit
brunch is set for Sunday, November 4, at
10:30 a.m., and will honor Alan Moskin.
Stefany and Simon Bergson are the Elie
Wiesel Memorial award recipients. The
brunch is at the View on the Hudson
in Piermont.
Alan Moskin, a museum trustee, is a
member of its speakers’ bureau. Since last
year’s benefit brunch, he has been the fea-
tured speaker at nearly 30 events, reach-
ing more than 5,000 people. Alan shares
his wartime experiences as a GI in General
George Patton’s Third Army and as a lib-
erator of several concentration camps.
Stefany and Simon Bergson, longtime Alan Moskin
museum supporters, are being honored for
their commitment to commemorating the Reservations are due by October 26. All
Holocaust and to teaching people about it. proceeds will benefit Holocaust and toler-
They have been dedicated to helping build ance education programs. For informa-
the new, state-of-the-art museum, which is tion, call (845) 574-4099, HolocaustRCC@
scheduled to open next year. gmail.com, or go to holocauststudies.org.

Great CD and Savings Rates!

1 Year CD* Choose the 6 Month CD*

2 25 
% APY
APY**
account that’s
right for you. 2 00 
% APY

1 60 %
100% liquid
No monthly
Grand Yield for balances of
$2,500 and up**
APY
maintenance fee Savings® 

Visit our Monsey branch today! 75 Route 59, Monsey Town Square (Evergreen Kosher Market Center)
Anita Levine, VP, Branch Manager • 845-425-0189
Open Sunday from 9AM - 1PM
Annual Percentage Yields (APYs) disclosed are effective as of 8/21/2018 and may be changed by the Bank at any time. *CDs require a $1,000 minimum balance
to open and earn interest. Early withdrawal penalty may apply. CDs must be opened in person at an Apple Bank branch. ** For the Grand Yield Savings Account,
interest earned on daily balances of $2,500 or more at these tiers: $2,500-$9,999: 1.60% APY, $10,000-$24,999: 1.60% APY, $25,000-$49,999: 1.60% APY, $50,000
or more: 1.60% APY. There is no interest paid on balances between $1-$2,499. $100 minimum deposit required to open account. A combined $3,000,000 maxi- Established 1863 · Member FDIC
mum deposit per household applies to the Grand Yield Savings Account. A household is defined as a family residing at the same address. This account may be www.applebank.com
opened as a passbook or statement savings account. Offer may be withdrawn at any time without prior notice.

apple bk - JEWISH STANDARD - CD-GRAND YIELD SAVINGS - EFF DATE 8-21-18.indd 1 Jewish Standard AUGUST 24, 2018
8/15/2018 29
3:09:14 PM
You Are Cordially Invited…

Montebello Our beautiful building is conveniently lo-

Congregation Shaarey Israel
Where tradition meets innovation.
Feel the difference!
Congregation Shaarey Israel is a spiritually
uplifting traditional congregation dedicated
to enhancing your Jewish religious experi-
ence. Shaarey Israel welcomes Jews of all
backgrounds and levels of observance into a
warm, caring family where lifelong friend-
ships are made and cherished. Shaarey Israel
is a place where you will find support and
participation in all your lifecycle events.
Wishing you a sweet, healthy
57
cated in Suffern/Montebello, off Exit 14B on
the NYS Thruway.
At Shaarey Israel, we love children. Our
religious school, for children 5-13, has a
custom-designed curriculum of Hebrew
language, Hebrew reading, and a love for
Israel that connects each child to their
family and their heritage. Children periodi-
cally participate in ourFriday night services.
Rabbi Weinbach personally trains every
bar/bat mitzvah student.
We have daily morning and evening minya-
nim. Shabbat and holiday services begin at
8:45 a.m. and are followed by a sumptuous
Kiddush luncheon.
Programming is our middle name. We
offer an active Sisterhood and Men’s
Club and a large variety of educational,
social, and innovative programs for all.
The shul participates in AIPAC conven-
tions and marches in the Celebrate Israel
Parade.
Come join us for a Shabbat or any of
our activities. We would love to meet
you. Come and feel the difference! Let us
show you how we can enhance your life
in ways you never dreamed of.
Rabbi: Elchanan Weinbach
Cantor: Menachem Bazian
President: Jonathan Meister
Montebello Jewish Center
34 Montebello Road
Montebello, N.Y. 10901
interfaith families and those searching
for their place in the Jewish community.
We are a congregation who loves to
sing, laugh, learn, question, and prac-
tice our creativity with people we have
known for years and those whom we
have just met.
The MJC congregational family prides
itself on its warm community of multi-
generational individuals and families
who are passionate lovers of the Jewish
community and Israel. We strive to cre-
ate a home for vibrant, participatory,
and musically inspiring prayer, engag-
ing educational classes for all ages and
interests, as well as innovative social
programming. We are committed to
cultivating a love of Judaism for our
youngest members, inspired through
our youth groups and religious schools,

and peaceful New Year as well as our continuing learners who

79

(845) 357-2430
www.montebellojc.org enjoy a myriad of programs and classes.
All are welcome to attend our Rabbi: Joshua S. Finkelstein We look forward to meeting you at
public family services Cantor: Michelle Rubin services or our next event!
Educational Director: Michelle Rubin
Rosh Hashanah: Sept.10 at 5 pm Montebello Jewish Center, an egalitar- New City
ian synagogue affiliated with the Con-
Yom Kippur: Sept. 19 at 4 pm servative movement, brings the beauty New City Jewish Center
Community Yizkor: Sept.19 at 4 pm and depth of Jewish tradition to western
47 Old Schoolhouse Road
Rockland, Bergen, and Orange counties.
New City, N.Y. 10956
We are a congregational family, living a
(845) 638-9600
life of commitment to Jewish values and
ncjc@newcityjc.org
aspirations. We are searching and learn-
New City Jewish Center has been at the
Rabbi Craig Scheff Rabbi Paula Mack Drill ing together, improving our lives and
heart of Jewish Rockland for more than
Rabbi Ami Hersh Michael Pucci, President the world beyond. Our community is
50 years. We view community engage-
welcoming to everyone. It is a place for
ment as central to our mission and our
people of all sexual orientations, back-
members proudly serve in positions of
grounds, and knowledge. We welcome
leadership and as volunteers in virtually

Make Your Own Connection

There’s Something for Everyone at New City Jewish Center
At New City Jewish Center, tradition is vibrant and
ever evolving. It is the joy of participating in our time-
honored rituals as well as the satisfaction of creating our
We Uplift own NCJC community traditions. It connects us to our culture
through festive celebrations, educational experiences, life moments, and social
activities. It is also what connects us to YOU.

Join us and connect with your heritage. You’ll make lifelong bonds for the present and future.

Connect. NCJC is a dynamic center where children and families share in the joy of
Jewish living and learning. Our community is what makes this synagogue both
spirited and spiritual.
We Educate
We Enrich Learn. Participate in lifelong and diverse learning opportunities, an active K-12
youth community, daily minyan, holiday programming, social action, young members
association, adult education and more with innovative programming that reflects the
interests of our members. In our schools, experienced and creative educators, from
preschool through our award-winning Hebrew school and on to high school, bring
the Jewish experience to life incorporating classes with special family programs
enabling children and parents to learn and rejoice together.

Celebrate. Come be inspired at a Shabbat or holiday service. Bring your family to

celebrate life events with our congregational family. Our rabbis and cantor will help
We Celebrate We Inspire you delight in the knowledge of Torah and find your place as an active participant on
the bimah and beyond. We firmly believe that it is through celebration that we
cultivate a love of Jewish traditions, learning and Israel.

In this New Year, let NCJC be your sanctuary – your place to worship, learn,
We Connect celebrate and connect.

47 Old Schoolhouse Road • New City NY 10956 • (845) 638-9600 • www.newcityjc.org New City Jewish Center ... Make your connection

30 Jewish Standard AUGUST 24, 2018


every major Jewish communal organiza-
tion in Rockland County. We are a warm
and inviting congregation, a Jewish home
where lifelong friendships are formed.
The NCJC Early Childhood Center
is a fully licensed preschool program,
providing a stimulating environment for
children, rich in Jewish learning. From
Mommy and Me to pre-K, our outstand-
ing program includes enriching activities
for growing minds, including yoga and
movement through sports. Addition-
ally, a full array of family experiences are
offered, including our monthly “M&M
Shabbat,” attracting families from across
Rockland County.
NCJC is also proud of our strong He-
brew school program, which provides
our children with a solid foundation of
Jewish knowledge while instilling a love
of being Jewish. Teachers and youth
staff convey a deep love of Judaism
while giving students the tools neces-
sary to become knowledgeable partici-
pants in the Jewish community.
The NCJC is also proud of our strong
You Are Cordially Invited…
Orangeburg
L’Shana Tova
Orangetown Jewish Center
For more than 50 years, the Orangetown
from our family to yours
Jewish Center has shared the warmth
and spirit of Conservative Judaism with
Jews throughout Rockland and Bergen
counties. We are a welcoming, inclusive,
egalitarian synagogue devoted to pro-
moting the highest ethical, moral, and
religious standards while fostering re-
spect for ourselves and others. Emphasis
is placed on the values of connection
to God, Torah study, and attachment to
Israel.
And our worship services? Well, they
are nothing short of enlightening and
soul-stirring. Our rabbis are energetic,
dynamic teachers who bring Torah alive
and make it meaningful to our lives.
Our religious school starts in kinder-
The Relational & Inclusive
garten and continues into a unique
award-winning youth program, Na’aseh
— Hebrew High and USY wrapped up
into one great learning experience! Dur-
Reform Synagogue in New City
ing the years that children spend as a

Celebrating 60 Years
Hebrew school program, which provides
our children with a solid foundation of part of our religious school community,
Jewish knowledge while instilling a love we provide the education and skills they
of being Jewish. Teachers and youth need to live a Jewish life. OJC is always
staff convey a deep love of Judaism filled with youth singing on the bima on
Shabbat mornings and attending our
Rabbi Brian Leiken • Cantor Anna Zhar
while giving students the tools neces-
family education programs and services 228 New Hempstead Road, New City, NY 10956 • 845-638-0770
sary to become knowledgeable partici-
pants in the Jewish community. including Shabbaba Shabbat and Early www.tbsrockland.org
The NCJC Youth Community brings Kabbalat Shabbat (newborns through
children and families together for mean- 5-year-olds and their grownups).
ingful social, cultural, and religious pro- Congregants participate in vibrant
gramming with their peers. Our families Sisterhood, Men’s Club, Hazak, and Rosh
are committed to building an intentional Chodesh groups. Our multigenerational
Jewish community and making a differ- programming creates a sense of family
ence in and around Rockland County. and our wide variety of ongoing edu-
At NCJC, there are a multitude of en- cational offerings means there is truly THE TRADITIONAL SYNAGOGUE OF ROCKLAND & NORTHERN NJ
trance points available for people of all something for everyone to begin or con-
tinue a lifetime of learning.
ages, including but not limited to daily
morning and evening services, young There are membership plans to suit
every need and budget, and High Holy
CONGREGATION SHAAREY ISRAEL
family holiday programming, continuing
education opportunities for adults, and Days tickets are included at no addition- Rabbi Elchanan Weinbach - Charan Menachem Bazian
social events for seniors. al charge for members in good standing.
Rabbi David Berkman, Rabbi Jeremy Join us in prayer, study, social action, President Jonathan Meister
Ruberg, and the rest of the NCJC family and interaction. We look forward to wel-
would love to get to know you. Please coming you! For more information, go
call the office for more information at towww.theojc.orgor call (845) 359-5920.
(845) 638-9600, check us out at newci-
tyjc.org, or just come by!
Jewish Standard 5x5 ad • 8/24/18 Publication
Temple Beth
Sholom
Temple Beth Sholom
is a Reform congrega-
tion in New City. We are Wishing the World
a Sweet
dedicated to building a
modern, relevant, and
relational Jewish life for
our congregants.
Rabbi Brian Leiken and New Year WISH YOU A HAPPY, HEALTHY
Cantor Anna Zhar strive
to build important con-
AND SWEET NEW YEAR
nections with congre-
Selichot: Film, Refreshments & Services: Sept. 1 at 8:45 PM
gants and encourage Montebello Jewish Center Rosh HaShannah Services: Sept. 10 &11, 8:00 AM
you to be in touch with
them to learn more.
Conservative, egalitarian,
A Conservative, egalitarian,inclusive,
inclusive,people-oriented
people-oriented Kol Nidre Service: Sept. 18 6:15 PM
228 New Hempstead Rd. congregation
congregation ledled
by by Rabbi
Rabbi Richard
Joshua Hammerman,
S. Finkelstein, Yom Kippur Services: Sept. 19 9:00 AM
(845) 638-0770. CantorMichelle
Cantor MichelleRubin
Rubinand
andHarriet
Dr. Alan Plumer,President
Spevack, President
Yitzkor Service Open to the Community: Sept. 30, 2017 at 11:45 AM
tbsrockland.org.
Join us! Pre K-7 • Adult Education Simchas Torah, Open to the Community, Monday, Oct. 1, 2018 at 6:45 PM.
Youth Programming • Young Couples Club • Sisterhood &
Men’s Club • Social Action • Choir • Participatory Services: For High Holiday Tickets, call 845.369.0300
Weekdays, Shabbat, Holy Days & Festivals
For Hebrew School, call 845.770.4191
Become part of our family!
Montebello Jewish Center CONGREGATION SHAAREY ISRAEL
www.montebellojc.org • 845-357-2430 “Where Tradition Meets Innovation”
34 Montebello Road, Montebello, NY
18 Montebello Road, Montebello NY 10901
845-369-0300-www.csimontebello.com - LIKE us on Facebook
Community Yizkor Service – 4:30 pm on Yom Kippur

Jewish Standard AUGUST 24, 2018 31

 Happy New Year Specials @
GROCERY

BNEI DAROM
Toasted FRESCORTI

PEREG Isreali Pasta GLICKS

White Pearl Sauce Tomato
Garden Tuscan or
Quinoa Couscous Peppers And Mush
Mush- Sauce
Pouch - 16 Oz 8.80 Oz rooms - 26 Oz 15 Oz.

$
399 5/$3 .89 3/$2

GEFEN
Spreadable
Fruit GEFEN
Assorted Flavors 15.50 Matzah
Oz 16 Oz.

2/$4 HADDAR 2/$4

Pure
Honey
16 Oz.

GEFEN
Matzah 1
$ 99
ea GEFEN
Seasoning
Meal or Assorted Varieties
Canistar - 12 Oz
3/ 5 $ - 9 Oz

$
2 39
2/$2
No returns on seasonal items, Not responsible for typographical errors - While supplies last - No rain checks

(only 1.67 each)

TAAMTI
Pickles
Hot & Spicy or Mini
Pitted Olives POST
Reg. or Hot & Spicy
OSEM GEFEN
Cinnamon
Mini Honey Pebbles
Pickled Mandlen Bear Family Size - 15
Radishes 14.10 Oz 12 Oz Oz.
22 Oz.

$
299 2/$4 2/$5 2/$4

HEINZ KEDEM HADDAR

HEINZ Yellow Organic Grape
Ketchup Mustard Grape Juice Juice
44 Oz 9 Oz 22 Oz. 64 Oz

$
349 .59 2/$4 $
299

32 Jewish Standard AUGUST 24, 2018

‫שנה טובה ומתוקה‬
s @ VALID THRU
9/24/2017

FRIDGE/FREEZER

oz e n s of
D o d uce
g P r
amazin her Meat

0
and Kos oultry
GEFEN UNGAR'S
MEAL MART
Egg Roll Yapchik Gefilte
Wrap Serves 12-15 Fish and P ls!!
Specia
16 Oz. 64 Oz. 22 Oz.

$
229 $
2699 $
579
GRACIELA
FREUND'S
Chocolate KINERET
Gefilte Soufle or Latkes
Fish Runny Potato or
3 Mini Rolls Vegetable
Tri Color Chip Cake Assorted Varieties
36 Oz 25.20 Oz. 14 Oz

$
1499 $
899 $
389
HOUSEHOLD

LX3
DINNER PLATES KEDEM
g 9 Inch Kiddush Latex
es
Plastic Cups With Gloves
All Sizes
Plates Trays Industrial
100 Ct 5 Ct 100 Ct

2/$7 $
299 $
439

n NER MITZVAH
MURPHY CANDLELITE Memorial
Murphy Candle Candle
Oil Gallon Holders 2 Day
128 Oz 50 Pc. Glass 48 Hours
$
899 $
199 4/$3
SIMCHA
NER SHAVA COLLECTION
Memorial Cutlery,
Candle Box of 100
1 Day Ivory - Spoons,
Beeswax 28 Hours Knives, Forks

$
199 2/$4

59 ROUTE 59, MONSEY, NY (FORMERLY PATHMARK SHOPPING CENTER)

CALL 845.352.4400 | FAX 845.352.4410 | EMAIL ORDERS@EVERGREENKOSHER.COM
Jewish Standard AUGUST 24, 2018 33
Rockland

COME TO US FOR ALL YOUR

CHALLAH-DAY NEEDS!
all flavored challahs
babka
rugelach
kugels
gefilte fish
“Where Every Day Is a Challah-Day!”
FIVE OUT OF FIVE PEOPLE SURVEYED
RECOMMEND OUR CHALLAH! Harriet Teplitzky, left, and Susan Edelstein, both of New City, and Ruth Mind-
We Are THAT good!! ick of Nanuet are at the introductory Melton session. photo provided

AND we are ... A NUT FREE FACILITY!!!

‘Taste of Melton’ begins classes
170 North Main Street · New City, NY
The Jewish Federation & Foundation of
Tel 845 323 4582 · Cel 917 414 9123 · chanalee@aol.com
Rockland County held its first “Taste of
thechallahfairy@gmail.com · www.thechallahfairy.com Melton” session this year. Rabbi Brian
Under the supervision of Rabbi Aron Landry Cholov Yisroel. Leiken of Temple Beth Sholom in New
City led the introductory session of the
Florence Melton School of Adult Jewish
Learning.
The two-year course offers adults
a comprehensive understanding of
WELCOME CENTER NOW OPEN
Jewish thought, practice, and history.
People who didn’t go to Hebrew school
when they were young — or even people
who did but who want to know more —
have the opportunity to go back again,
for a bigger and better experience. For
information, call Roberta Seitzman at
(845) 362-4200, ext. 130, or email her at
meltondirector@jewishrockland.org.

Program targets gun violence

Tom Carton, the head of safety and secu-
rity for the East Ramapo Central school
district, and Dr. Kevin Barrett, associate
professor and chair of Rockland Com-
munity College’s criminal justice depart-
National Council of Jewish Women on
Wednesday, September 5, at 7:30 p.m.
The program will be at the JCC Rock-
land, 450 West Nyack Road, West Nyack.
Refreshments will be served. For infor-

The Most Exciting

New Retirement Community
ment, offer a program on preventing gun
violence for the Rockland section of the
mation, go to ncjwrockland.org or email
info@ncjwrockland.org.

Is Coming to Rockland County.

Brightview is bringing
carefree, resort-style living –
with no large entrance fee –
to Rockland County.
Call Cindy or Dorothy
to schedule your visit.
Tolerance center to screen
multicultural film series
The Holocaust Museum & Center for
Tolerance and Education’s multicultural
film series continues with “Sin Pais,”
to mark Hispanic Heritage Month, on
Native on November 15 for Native Amer-
ican Indian/Alaskan Native Heritage
Month. The series concludes on Decem-
ber 20 with “Happy.”

845.203.2338 Thursday, September 20.

Brightview Lake Tappan offers
access to tri-state shopping,
culture, entertainment, and
endless on-site opportunities
for a rewarding retirement.
Reserve your apartment
now to enjoy exceptional
savings.
Independent Living • Assisted Living • Dementia Care
The center will show “Bully” on Octo-
ber 18, as part of Bullying Prevention
Month, and it will screen “American
Holocaust museum offers tours
of a new exhibit on ‘Resilience’
The Holocaust Museum & Center for
Tolerance and Education will begin
tours of its special exhibit, “Resilience,”
61 Hunt Road • Orangeburg, NY 10962 on September 4. The exhibit, which
On the Reservoir focuses on the actions of children,
families, and communities during the
Holocaust, asks viewers to examine
the nature of resilience. The museum
hosts an array of public programs that
All films are at 7 p.m. at Rockland
Community College’s Technology Cen-
ter, Ellipse, 145 College Road, Suffern.
contribute to enhancing the future of
Holocaust, tolerance, and human rights
education.
Tours cost $5 per person, with a
maximum of 25 people per session. A
docent will accompany visitors. For
information, email at Holocaustrcc@
gmail.com or call Emily Scandariato at
(845) 574-4099.

34 Jewish Standard AUGUST 24, 2018

 Rockland

Kristallnacht commemoration
will involve the community
The Holocaust Museum & Center for
Tolerance and Education offers a
community-wide Kristallnacht com-
memoration on November 8, at 7
Nazi government destroyed Jewish
homes, businesses, synagogues, and
families. More than 30,000 Jews were
arrested, 91 Jews brutally murdered,

p.m., at the Nanuet Hebrew Center in
New City. It will include an illumina-
tion ceremony, and a student will be
the keynote speaker.
Kristallnacht was the night of
November 8, 1938, when the German
Rockland Bakery
and hundreds more injured. Kristall-
nacht foreshadowed the terror and
destruction of the Holocaust.
The shul is at 411 S. Little Tor Road.
For information, call (845) 574-4099 94 Demarest Mill Road, Nanuet, NY 10954
or email holocaustrcc@gmail.com.
Phone (845) 623-5800 Fax (845) 623-6921
www.Rocklandbakery.com

Best Wishes for a Very

Healthy and Happy New Year

Congresswoman Breads, Rolls, Bagels, Pastries, Pies, Cakes & More

Quality, our main ingredient, is in everything we bake!
Nita M. Lowey
Proudly Serving New York’s
17th Congressional District

PAID FOR AND AUTHORIZED BY LOWEY FOR CONGRESS

Wishing Everyone
A Happy, Healthy
for a L ’ Shana
Best wishes
L ’ Shana New Year

Tovah!
Happy and Healthy
Tovah!
L’Shana Tova
New Year The Board of Directors
National Council of Jewish Women Mount Moriah Cemetery
Wishing you
Rockland Section a sweetyou
Wishing newa sweet
year. new year. 685 Fairview Avenue, Fairview, NJ 07022
Senator Carlucci www.ncjwrockland.org www.mountmoriahcemeteryofnewjersey.org
Jamie and Steven Dranow • Larry A. Model • Harvey Schwartz
24 Hour phone 201-943-6163

wishes you a Gregg Brunwasser Jamie and Steven

• Michael Dranow •General
L. Rosenthal, Larry A.Manager
Model • Harvey Schwartz
Gregg Brunwasser • Michael L. Rosenthal, General Manager
As your local Dignity Memorial® providers, we wish you the best this Rosh Hashanah.
Happy & Healthy Candlelighting
We reaffirm ourAs your local Dignity
commitment Memorial
of service
®
providers,
to the we wish you the best this Rosh Hashanah.
Jewish community.
We reaffirm our commitment of service to the Jewish community.

New Year Hellman august 24 .............................................

MemorialHellman
august
Chapels MemorialHellman-Garlick
Chapels Memorial 7:24
Hellman-Garlick
31 ..............................................7:13
Chapel Memorial Chapel
15 State Street 15 State Street • Spring Valley, NY 10977 1300 Pleasantville NY
• Spring Valley, NY 10977 1300 Pleasantville Rd. • Briarcliff Manor, Rd. •10510
Briarcliff Manor, NY 10510
Sept.
845-356-8600 845-356-8600 914-762-5501
7 ...................................................7:01 914-762-5501
Sept. 14 ................................................ 6:49
Our affiliate Jewish Memorials of Rockland a complete full
Our affiliate Jewish Memorials ofservice monument
Rockland and full
a complete inscription provider. and inscription provider.
service monument
Large display on premises. 845-425-2256
Large display on premises. 845-425-2256
Hellman Memorial Chapels
www.thejewishstandard.com 15 State Street • Spring Valley, NY 10977
DignityMemorial.com
www.jewishmemorialsofrockland.com 845-356-8600
DignityMemorial.com www.hellmanmemorialchapels.com
www.hellmanmemorial.com
www.hellmanmemorialchapels.com

Jewish standard aUGUst 24, 2018 35

BVK • SCI • #9a • JobBVK • SCI • #9a

No 025012 • JobHashanah
• Rosh No 025012
ad••Rosh
5” x Hashanah ad •• 5”
5” • 8/18/05 V2x•5”
ir • 8/18/05 • V2 • ir
Cover Story

‘Ten
Times
Chai’
Photographer’s
book showcases
180 Orthodox shuls
across New York’s
five boroughs
The Bialystoker Synagogue,
founded in 1865 on the Lower
East Side, was designated a
landmark by the New York City
Preservation Commission in 1966.

36 Jewish Standard AUGUST 24, 2018

 Cover Story

A balcony surrounds the

sanctuary of Congregation
Ohab Zedek on West 95th
Street on Manhattan’s
Upper West Side.

N
Joanne Palmer
ew York City’s five bor-
oughs are studded with
synagogues.
Some are famous, some
are massive, some are tiny;
some are beloved and some are neglected.
Some are bursting with people and some
are tottering, barely able to scrape up a
Shabbat minyan.
It would be a monumental job to count
them all. First you’d have to find some
kind of working definition — does a liv-
ing room that sometimes hosts a min-
yan count? How about a borrowed room
in a hospital? In a church? What if the
space only comes to life on the holidays,
Brigadoon-style, but with striped tallises
instead of plaid kilts?
And how would those synagogues be
documented? How would the rest of us
know about them?
Michael J. Weinstein doesn’t know the
answers to most of these questions, but
he’s got the knows-how-to-document-
them part — at least the knows-how-to-
document-some-of-them part — covered.
Over the last few years, Mr. Weinstein,
who is a financial planner the rest of the
time, has devoted parts of his Thursdays
and most of his Sundays to researching,
visiting, and photographing synagogues.
A chandelier is suspended from the dome of the Ocean Parkway Jewish Center
First Congregation of Kensington – Tifereth Israel in Brooklyn.
That’s resulted in the lavishly illustrated
“Ten Times Chai: 180 Orthodox Syna-
gogues of New York City.”
Mr. Weinstein came to the idea of this
book gradually, he said.
He lives on Long Island, but not in the
Five Towns, the mainly modern Orthodox
enclave on the island’s south shore. He’s in
Syosset, in the middle of Nassau County,
and he works one town over, in Jericho. He
does not like labels, he said, but he is not
Orthodox, and when he first started think-
ing about Judaism, he didn’t know much.
The book, in fact, he said, is the result of
“trying to reconnect to Judaism. He went
to Israel in 2011 for his daughter’s bat
mitzvah, “and when I came back, I started
learning a little bit on my own.
“I just wasn’t sure what to do. I was too
old to go to yeshiva and I couldn’t just
write checks. So I started doing Jewish
genealogy, searching for my roots.” He
found family going back to Russia, but
the road between Eastern Europe and
suburban Long Island ran through Brook-
lyn, and before that through the Lower
East Side.
So now what? He wanted to do some-
thing, to make his mark, to make a differ-
ence, and Brooklyn was on his mind. “So
I googled two words and to this day I can’t
explain why I did it,” he said. “Why those
two words? One was ‘mitzvah,’ because
I wanted to do something positive. And
then I hit the space bar and then I put in
‘Brooklyn.’”
When he did, improbably enough he
came up with a link to the Mitzvah Man —
it’s still there, at themitzvahman.org. “It’s
a guy, Michael Cohen — not that Michael
Cohen! — who made a video saying he
wanted to do something and didn’t know
what to do. He knew that he could study
or give money but he wanted to do some-
thing with his hands. It turns out that he
owns a gym. So he decided to put up signs
in the neighborhood, asking if anyone

Jewish Standard AUGUST 24, 2018 37

Cover Story
Chandliers illuminate the sanctuary of Ahabe Ve Ahva of Ocean
Parkway. Founded in Cairo, the congregation came to Brooklyn
in 1979.
38 Jewish Standard AUGUST 24, 2018
Some 613 lights give a starry effect to the ceiling of
the Lincoln Square Synagogue on the Upper West Side.
needs a ride to Sloan Kettering for cancer treat-
ment, or food for Shabbes, or a visit in the hos-
pital. Things like that. So he put up those signs,
and he got overwhelmed, and after a year or so he
made a network, and now he sends out texts con-
necting people.
“So I called him, and asked him what I could do
to get involved, and he said that I should go visit a
Holocaust survivor.
“So I did.
“I had never met a Holocaust survivor before,”
Mr. Weinstein said. “I’d heard them speak, and I’d
watched movies, but I’d never met one, and here
I was, face to face with one. I thought I’d be there
twenty minutes, and I was there for two hours. I
was blown away.
“So I started going to one person, and then to
another person, and I met 23 survivors over the
course of that year.
“I was a wandering Jew. I wandered around
Brooklyn, meeting survivors. And as I wandered,
I would wander out of the house and down to the
street and around the corner to the synagogue,
and I started taking pictures.
“I found myself in Coney Island, and in Brigh-
ton Beach, and in Midwood, and I would wan-
der into synagogues and start taking snapshots
on my phone.
“After a couple of months, I noticed that I had
gone to over 50 places, and I said to myself, ‘I
wonder if anyone ever did a book about the syna-
gogues of New York?’”
As it turned out, someone had. Oscar Israelow-
itz’s “Synagogues of New York City” is a pictorial
history that covers all sorts of synagogues in all
five boroughs. Mr. Weinstein didn’t want to try to
compete with it. He decided to go beyond Brook-
lyn, because, he said, “until I was 3 I lived in Bri-
arwood, in Queens. After college I lived on the
Upper West Side, in Manhattan. My parents lived
in Brooklyn. My grandfather lost his mother when
he was 7 and he was sent to live in the Bronx. And
my grandparents from Russia didn’t have enough
money for a grave or cemetery plot, so they are
buried in the United Hebrew Cemetery on Staten
Island. So I have roots in all five boroughs.”
How to photograph shuls across the entire city
but differentiate his work from the earlier book?
Easy. Focus on Orthodox shuls.
“I am not Orthodox — I’m almost a ba’al tes-
huva,” a returnee to traditional Jewish life — “but
I do not like labels, and we are all one people,”
Mr. Weinstein said. “I have seen Jews who eat pork
and others who burn the Israeli flag. I think that’s
horrible, but I try not to judge them.”
Next, he had to decide how many shuls to shoot.
That was easier; 180, of course, is a multiple of 18.
Chai! That worked for him.
And how many photographs to use? He picked
another iconic Jewish number. There are 613 pic-
tures in the books, just as, we are told, there are
613 mitzvot in the Torah.
He went to synagogues “in places where there
used to be many of them but now there aren’t, like
in the Bronx, or in Harlem, or even in some parts
of Brooklyn. I tried to show what it looks like to
be inside them. Sometimes I went to the women’s
section, to show a woman’s perspective. Some-
times I didn’t like what I saw there — sometimes it
was a very small area, or with an obstructed view,
like the cheap seats in a theater, but I didn’t want
to pass judgment. I just wanted to show what it is
like in different synagogues.”
The synagogues are not divided evenly among
the boroughs. Mr. Weinstein’s book does not have
an exhaustive list of New York’s Orthodox syna-
gogues open in 2016, but his list certainly is rep-
resentative. It shows Brooklyn, with 100, by far
the most. He has photographs of 35 synagogues in
Manhattan and 35 in Queens, and then five in the
 Cover Story

Bronx and another five on Staten Island.

He photographs only the insides of synagogues, he
said, because he’d heard that the police tend to look with
suspicion — often well-warranted suspicion — on strang-
ers who show up and take pictures of synagogues. He
could explain himself, but who wants to? So the photos
are all interior.
Mr. Weinstein found shuls in a number of ways. Some
have websites; others don’t. “I used a website called go
daven,” he said. “And then once I found places, I would try
to send an email — if they had email addresses, a lot didn’t
— or I would even write a letter, asking if they’d please be
part of the project.” Most synagogues didn’t respond to
his written overtures, although he almost always was wel-
comed once he showed up. He was told no only once. That
was “a synagogue in the Bronx, and they said no because
they’d had bomb threats.”
He had many adventures.
“I had a looseleaf notebook with photos I’d taken to
show people what I was trying to do,” he said. “I walked
into a shul in Brooklyn, and the man there was shaking
his head, saying ‘No, no, no.’ I asked him what he was say-
ing no to, and he pointed to the Jewish star in one of the
photos, and in a combination of Yiddish and English, he
said, as far as I could make it out, that we don’t like the
Jewish star, the mogen dovid, because we don’t like what
it represents. It represents the state of Israel, and we don’t
recognize it.’
“I looked at him, and at first I was going to fight with
him, but instead I said, ‘the mogen dovid” — the magen
David, the star of David, the six-pointed star — “was The Magen David Synagogue on 67th Street in the Bensonhurst section of Brooklyn.

R.C.B.C

Happy &
24-28 Fair Lawn Ave, Fair Lawn, NJ
201-475-0077
info@food-showcase.com

Healthy
Follow us on and

YOM TOV Come

check out our

New Year
large variety

SPECIALS
of Israeli
products!

To All!
Ungar’s Gefilte Glicks Shabbat Hadar Tirosh Glicks 9×13 Deep Pan
Fish 22oz. Candles 3hr 72ct. Biscuits 6.1oz Honey 4pcs
Bears 12oz.
$2.89
$8.99 $6.99 $6.49 $5.29 $2.19 $1.69 2 for $5 $1
Sour Green Apple/
Gaza Chewy/Extra
Riverhead
Chullent Mix 16oz.
Riverhead 16oz.
Pearled Barley
Baby
Beets
Julienned
Beets From the Board of Directors
Sour Chewy Candy
Beetology
8.8oz
Beetology
17.6oz
and Staff of the
$3.99 $3.49 $1.49 $1.09 $1.19 2 for $1.99 $1.19 2 for $1.99 $1.49 $1.29
Tam Tams Popped Kosher Rus Eggloo Ice Pop’s Osem Mini Solomon’s
Sriracha/Bbq/Kettle/ Chicken/ 70pc. Croutons Beef
Sea Salt 3 for $2 Beef/
Turkey
Mandlen Salami
Pelmeni $3.99 Sliced
$8.99 $6.49 $7.29 $5.29 $3.59 $4.29 $3.49
Solomon’s Elite Bittersweet Sano Cleaning SlowRoasted Unaffiliated members of the community are cordially
Long Beef Chocolate Pads Multi-purpose Turkey Turkey
Salami 32oz. Pastrami Breast invited to join our residents for High Holy Day Services.
*Natural* *Natural*
$13.99
$12.99 Sunday, Sept. 9 Rosh Hashanah Eve 4pm
$1.99 $1.49 $1.99 $1.49 $5.29 $4.29 lb $5.29 $4.29 lb
Chicken Ground Beef Pepper Steak 2nd Cut brisket Monday, Sept. 10 First Day Rosh Hashanah 10am
Cutlets Ground Family Pack Pickled
Family Chicken Corn Tuesday, Sept. 11 Second Day Rosh Hashanah 10am
Pack White Beef
$5.99 $5.89lb $6.99 $4.99lb $5.99 $5.69lb $12.99 $10.99lb $12.69 $10.99lb Tuesday, Sept. 18 Yom Kippur Eve/Kol Nidre 4pm
1st Cut Brisket
Breaded
Chulent Meat Turkey Wings Silver Tip Roast Wednesday, Sept. 19 Yom Kippur 10am
Pickled Corned
Chicken
Beef
Fingers Yizkor Memorial Service 11:30am
A member of

$13.79 $11.99lb $10.99 $8.99lb $9.59 $8.89lb $2.99 $1.99lb $12.99 $11.69lb Neilah - Closing Service 4pm
5% OFF for ORDERS $75 & up 10% OFF for ORDERS $125 & up Maariv Service 7:30pm
Our specialty is customer service • Specials are good until September 1st

Jewish Standard AUGUST 24, 2018 39


Wishes Everyone a
Happy and Healthy New Year!
The community is invited to worship,
as our guests, with our residents and tenants
during our High Holy Day Services.
For a schedule of services call 973-772-3700
155 HAZEL STREET · CLIFTON, NJ
Daughters of Miriam Center/The Gallen Institute is a
beneficiary agency of the Jewish Federation of Northern New Jersey.
Brightview.
Bright
Independent Living: It’s the carefree
retirement you’ve dreamed of! At Brightview,
Let Your all you have to do is what you want to do.
Bright Life Assisted Living: Highly trained
associates provide the care you need.
Shine
Wellspring Village®:
Compassionate professionals
at Bergen County’s Premier
deliver our highly specialized
Senior Living Community
dementia care program
in a state-of-the-art
neighborhood.
Call Mary or Marianne to
schedule your personal visit.
201.479.9437
396 Forest Avenue • Paramus, NJ 07652
www.BrightviewParamus.com
40 Jewish Standard AUGUST 24, 2018
Cover Story
The ark and stained glass windows of the Millinery Center Synagogue on
Sixth Avenue in Manhattan’s Garment District.
created thousands of years ago, not hun-
dreds. Thousands. And it is well docu-
mented in history. And some synagogues
want to put it in their sanctuary. I’m not
going to take it out of my book because
you don’t like it.”
He learned a lot, Mr. Weinstein said.
“In around the 1880s, the 1890s, people
like my great grandparents came from
Poland, Russia, Galicia, to escape the
pogroms, the beatings, the killings. And
Life! 100 years later, people came from Leb-
anon, Syrian, Iran, Iraq, Afghanistan,
Egypt, and they formed the Sephardic
synagogues of Brooklyn.
“I went to the Ahaba Ve Ahva of Ocean
Parkway in Midwood. It was founded in
Cairo in 1928, and moved to Brooklyn
in 1979. I am thinking to myself, ‘This is
weird.’ I was brought up going to sed-
ers for 50 years learning that the Jews
left Egypt. So I walked inside and asked,
‘How can you guys be from Egypt?’ and
he gave me an interesting little history les-
son. He said that a lot of people think that
all the Jews left Egypt, and other people
think that only about 20 percent did. And
on top of that, a lot of Jews, Askhenazi
men, went to places like Cairo and Alex-
andria to do business, and then later they
brought over their women and children.
“They left in the 1920s, and then in the
1950s, and then the 1970s. Some went to
Magen David Synagogue, the mother
synagogue,” founded in 1919. They later
spread throughout Brooklyn.
“I went to Kneses Israel in Seagate,
past Coney Island,” Mr. Weinstein con-
tinued. That’s right by the ocean, and
the synagogue was badly hit by Hur-
ricane Sandy in 2012. “I went there in
2016, and I saw the rabbi,” he said. “He
told me that it took four years to recover
from Sandy, and he showed me where
the water line was. It was seven or eight
feet high. They had just finished rebuild-
ing, and I said, wow, and he just said,
‘Baruch Hashem.’” Thank you, God.
“My book came out last year, during
Passover, and during Passover the syna-
gogue had a fire. It burned down a week
after the book came out.
“The rabbi said something like this to
me — ‘The story of the Jewish people is
that you just do it. You build and then
you get knocked down and you have to
start again. This isn’t the first time that
Jewish people have gotten knocked
down. It might take us years to rebuild
again, but this is part of Jewish life.
“ ‘You just do it.’”
That wasn’t the only odd, unnerving
coincidence of timing that he encoun-
tered, Mr. Weinstein said. “There was
a synagogue on Avenue O in Brooklyn.
When I got there, I told the rabbi what
I was doing and asked if I could, and he
said, ‘Help yourself.’” He showed Mr.
Weinstein the shul, and “it looked like
they’d had a party the night before,”
Mr. Weinstein said. “It looked like it was
Purim the night before. Half-empty bot-
tles of whiskey and plastic cups on the
table, cups all over the floor. The rabbi
said, ‘Go take a picture, and shut the
lights off when you leave.’ I literally had to
clean up the garbage and I rearranged the
furniture to take a nice picture of the ark.
“And then I shut off the lights, and I
left.
“The next night, I was watching TV on
Channel 5 and I saw that the Avenue O
Jewish Center was broken into and the
Torah scrolls were stolen.
“I wondered if I should go to the
police. I knew that there were surveil-
lance cameras. I knew that I hadn’t done
anything wrong. I didn’t know what to
do. So I called the rabbi, and I asked if I
should go to the police or just hang low.
He said something like ‘Whoever stole
them is an idiot. They have computer
chips. You can’t just go to the back of
the 7-Eleven and sell them for cash. The
idiot who stole them didn’t realize that.
So don’t do anything.
“And then, two or three days later,
someone must have put enough pressure
 Cover Story

on whoever did it to return them. He hired an Uber,

wrapped the scrolls in black cloth, and dropped them NEWLY RENOVATED
off in front of the synagogue.
Personalized Therapy Program
★★★★★
“Case closed.
“Little things like that happened to me along the
way.” A uniquely empowering rehabilitation experience
Some of the shuls that Mr. Weinstein photographed
already have closed, although the photos are just CALL
• Concierge Services
two years old. “There are two or three that have 201 567-9310 • Specialized Menu Plans
been knocked down since then, and some are hang- TO SCHEDULE
ing by threads.” He remembers the Millinery Center A CareOne Senior Center • Kosher Available
Deficiency Free A TOUR
Synagogue in Manhattan’s garment district. “It had • Advanced Cardiac Program
a unique history,” he said. “There were probably • Therapy 7 Days a Week
hundreds of people praying there every day.” But
the makeup of the workforce in the garment district • Private Consultations
changed radically since the synagogue’s heyday, and • Advanced Wound Care
by 2016 the shul had problems attracting a minyan.
Program
There are also huge, thriving, beautiful synagogues,
Mr. Weinstein said, pointing to Shearith Israel, the old, • On-Site Physician Consults
lovely, bustling building on Manhattan’s Central Park • Personalized Activities
West. Congregation Oheb Zedek, north and west of
Shearith Israel but still on the Upper West Side, where • WI-FI & Daily Paper
there are “hundreds of people there every Shabbat. • Spa Services RESPITE
Everyone wants to meet each other.” There also are
synagogues like Lincoln Square, also on Manhattan’s
• Pet Therapy CARE AVAILABLE
Family Lounge
Upper West Side, whose new building, just a block • NeuroGym ALL YEAR
or two from its old one, is carefully and lovingly and
thoughtfully done, the ceiling over its new sanctuary 221 COUNTY ROAD, CRESSKILL, NJ · www.care-one.com/cresskill HAPPY
shining with 613 lights. Close to the Rockland County border NEW YEAR!
As he researched this book, Mr. Weinstein said, he
realized that the demographic changes that have hit
the Conservative and Reform movements have not
left the Orthodox world untouched. For one thing,
neighborhoods change; streets that once were heav-
ily Jewish now are home to newer immigrant groups,
and their shuls are sold to other communities for other
purposes. Sometimes congregations merge once many
of their members move away and they are left with
too-big buildings to maintain, heat, and clean. Even
places like Magen David in Bensonhurst, now that “the
neighborhood is primarily Asian, are open only on
Shabbat. If they can get 20 people, that’s a lot.”
There is another reason why the once-packed huge
synagogues now have a few people spread out over
their vast empty pew-filled plains, Mr. Weinstein said.
It’s the shtiebles, the small, informal, often temporary
communities that offer intimacy instead of grandeur. “I
didn’t include any of the shtiebles in the book because
there are so many of them, and a lot of them aren’t
permanent structures that will last,” he said. “I didn’t
include them or the yeshivas or the colleges that have
minyans.” As much as he can understand the desire for
less formality, he finds it sad. “I think it is unfortunate
that you have these magnificent buildings that are not
used, and some of them have to be knocked down.”
Mr. Weinstein is glad to have undertaken the odys-
sey that ended in “Ten Times Chai.” “I feel like I
accomplished something,” he said. “There is docu-
mentation of these places now.”
He looks back at where he started, talking to Holo-
caust survivors.
“When Holocaust survivors talk about the shuls
of their childhoods — they will mention someplace
in Budapest, or Prague, or the small towns where
they lived when they were kids — and most of those
places were burned down, or they’re just not there
any more, and there were no photos of them. And that
makes sense — who, back then, would have been crazy
enough to take pictures of a shul?
“So I feel that I accomplished something. Now at
least we have a record of what these places looked
like.” 89 NEW BRIDGE RD. · BERGENFIELD, NJ · 201-385-0106
Jewish Standard AUGUST 24, 2018 41
Jewish World

Azerbaijan’s Mountain Jews pin their hopes

on a very iffy museum-building proposal
CNAAN LIPHSHIZ
KRASNAIYA SLOBODA, AZERBAIJAN — For one day
each summer, the hills overlooking this centuries-old Jew-
ish enclave echo with the sound of wailing women.
The women ascend up a narrow path from this town of
several hundred residents in northern Azerbaijan to its
vast cemetery. It’s an annual procession on Tisha B’Av, the
Jewish day of mourning for the destruction of the Temple
in Jerusalem.
At the cemetery, each woman sits next to a loved
one’s grave — usually a husband or child, but some-
times a parent or sibling. She sings mournfully for
hours in Juhuri, a dying Jewish language made up
of Farsi and Hebrew with Aramaic and Turkic influ-
ences that is spoken only by the Mountain Jews of
the Caucasus.
Hundreds perform the ritual each year; some
travel halfway across the world to attend. It is a tes-
tament to how Krasnaiya Sloboda’s Mountain Jews
have endured for about a millennium since Persian
Jews established the town with the blessing of a local
Muslim ruler.
Next year, the community hopes to strengthen
its sense of identity even further with the open-
ing in town of a multimillion-dollar Mountain Jews
museum. Spearheaded by a wealthy expatriate liv-
ing in Moscow, the museum will feature artifacts
collected from throughout the Caucasus, including
ritual objects, documents, and other evidence of the
Jewish life that thrived here for centuries on the bor-

ULPAN
der between Europe and Asia.

Speak But amid growing emigration by Jews from the

Learn
to

rural and impoverished area, some locals and

Hebrew experts on the community fear for its long-term via-

bility and that of its language — and that the museum
will be less a living tribute than a memorial.

There are virtually

no sources of
employment, it’s a
graying community
SIGN UP and its long-term
TODAY viability is uncertain.
CHEN BRAM

“The demographic trajectory isn’t promising,” said

Chen Bram, an anthropologist from Hebrew University
and Hadassah Academic College who has researched

FOR AN ULPAN CLASS Mountain Jews for decades. “I hope this new museum
doesn’t eventually become a monument for an extinct

WWW.JFNNJ.ORG/ULPAN community” in Krasnaiya Sloboda.

Estimates as to how many Jews are living in Kras-
naiya Sloboda range from 500 to 1,200. Thousands
have left for Moscow, Israel, Germany, and the United
States. An exact figure is difficult to ascertain because
many people who are registered as residents — mean-
ing they own assets here — live outside the town.
“There are virtually no sources of employment,
it’s a graying community and its long-term viability
is uncertain,” Bram said.
CLASSES BEGIN WEEK OF OCTOBER 8 He says the Tisha B’Av tradition gives the commu-
nity “a lot of strength,” but it’s not enough to coun-
Tuition: $450 Until 10/1 $520 After 10/1 terbalance the effects of a major depletion in the
ranks of the community that had 8,000 members
30 years ago.
Joyce Greenberg 201-820-3907 joyceg@jfnnj.org “Visit after Tisha B’Av and the High Holy Days,”
www.jfnnj.org/ulpan Bram said, “and sadly you’ll see a ghost town.”
That hardly seems the case in the days around
Tisha B’Av. In the town’s four Jewish-owned cafes,
dozens of Jewish men play backgammon while

42 JEWISH STANDARD AUGUST 24, 2018

 Jewish World

sipping strong black tea from small glass cups, filtering

the hot liquid through a sugar cube clenched between
their front teeth.
On Tisha B’Av itself, which this year fell on July 22, the
main Seven Dome Synagogue, which is located around
the corner from the new museum, is packed with male
worshippers.
They had gathered at the square in front of the 19th-
century wooden shul and chatted while waiting for the
caretaker to open the building. Then they removed their
shoes and stepped barefoot into the carpeted interior
— a custom that resembles the behavior of Muslims at a
mosque. Many believe it comes as a result of centuries of
coexistence in Azerbaijan, a majority Shiite country.
Another similarity is the absence of women. As with
many mosques across the Muslim world, women are
welcome in synagogue here only on special occasions,
according to the community’s rabbi, Tsadok Ashurov.
His Orthodox synagogue doesn’t even have a women’s
section.
At around noon on Tisha B’Av, the men leave the syn-
agogue, reunite with female relatives. and ascend the

CNAAN LIPHSHIZ
mountain to the cemetery, where the women assume
the central role.
As they wail, the men stand silently in the scorch-
ing sun at a respectful distance. Some women thump
SEE MUSEUM PAGE 44 David Mordechayev standing outside the soon-to-be-opened Mountain Jews museum in Krasnaiya Sloboda.

Brightview.
Bright Life!

Discover exceptional senior living

for Mom and Dad
• Respectful, customized care

Register now - classes begin Sept. 5.

• Cultural and social events
Apply online at bergen.edu Inspiring • Experienced associates
Regular Paramus Registration Hours
Mon./Fri. 8 a.m. - 5 p.m.
Bright Lives • Luxury amenities
Tue./Wed. 8 a.m. - 7 p.m. for All Our • Gourmet meals
Thu. 8 a.m. - 6 p.m.
Special Registration Hours
Residents • Specialized dementia
355 Main Street, Hackensack care neighborhood
Sat., Aug. 25 10 a.m. - 1 p.m.
Call Richard to
andschedule
Lindsay to
schedule
your personal
your visit.
personal visit.
201.817.9238
55 Hudson Avenue • Tenafly, NJ 07670
www.BrightviewTenafly.com
H A C K E N S A C K | M E A D O W L A N D S | P A R A M U S

JEWISH STANDARD AUGUST 24, 2018 43

Jewish World
Museum
FROM PAGE 43
their chests repeatedly while weeping
in a trance-like lament called “girye” in
Juhuri over the graves of relatives who
died decades ago.
Among the hundreds of visitors are
mourners who traveled from their
homes in Russia, Israel, and the United
States to visit their relatives’ graves.
“You probably haven’t seen any-
thing like this before,” David Mor-
dechayev, an executive and journal-
ist for STMEGI, the Moscow-based
foundation of Mountain Jews, told JTA
on the road leading to the cemetery.
A sinuous narrow route, it gets so
crowded with visitors on the Jewish
KAplen JCC on the Palisades presents holy day that a long traffic jam devel-
ops there.
Heading Home: To Mordechayev and other activists
working to develop Krasnaiya Sloboda’s
the tAle of teAm iSrAel Jewish heritage, it underscores how
Mountain Jews from across the world
A DocumentAry film by
care passionately about the roots of their
Jeremy newberger, Seth KrAmer, AnD DAniel A. miller distinct group. The community is so old
This film is the David-and-Goliath story of Israel’s national baseball team as it and remote that it predates the Jewish
competed for the first time in the World Baseball Classic tournament in South people’s division into Sephardic and
Korea in 2017. Its roster included many Jewish-American major leaguers. Their Ashkenazi. Mountain Jews have their
odyssey took the players to Israel where the connection they made pushed own language, distinct customs, and
them to unexpected heights as they represented Israel on the world stage. unique style of reading from the Torah.
SpeciAl gueStS: Director Jeremy Newberger This awareness is also behind the
construction of the new museum by
Sun, Sep 16, 3:30 pm, $12/$15 German Zacharayev, a village native
$50 VIP tickets include reserved seating, meet and greet and now one of Russia’s wealthiest
and photos with Jeremy Newberger individuals. A three-story former syn-
agogue, the museum scheduled to
Tickets available at jccotp.org/films open next year will be the world’s first
Sponsored by the Rubach Family
building devoted to the preservation of
KAplen JCC on the Palisades tAub cAmpuS | 411 e clinton Ave, tenAfly, nJ 07670 | 201.569.7900 | jccotp.org Mountain Jews and their culture.
44 JEWISH STANDARD AUGUST 24, 2018
Women mourn their relatives at the
cemetery overlooking the Jewish
town of Krasnaiya Sloboda in
northern Azerbaijan.  CNAAN LIPHSHIZ
Preserving the heritage has been a
longstanding objective for Zacharayev,
who founded STMEGI. He has donated
millions of dollars toward opening a
yeshiva and mikvah, or ritual bath,
respectively, in Krasnaiya Sloboda.
He and other expatriates also funnel
what in local terms is a fortune toward
maintaining urban infrastructure for
the community, where most members
are low-income pensioners. Krasnaiya
Sloboda has paved roads and a storm-
proof electric grid that make for a strik-
ing juxtaposition with Quba, the ram-
shackle Muslim-majority town that lies
opposite Krasnaiya Sloboda across the
polluted Gudiyalchay River.
Yet despite this help and influx of vis-
itors on Tisha B’Av, Krasnaiya Sloboda’s
future is far from certain, according to
Bram, the anthropologist.
Take Hanko Nurayev, 72. He returns
each year on Tisha B’Av to the house
he inherited here from his grandfather,
but lives with his family in New York.
“I want to trade this old house for an
apartment in New York or Tel Aviv,” he
said. “Do you know anyone interested
in such a deal?”
Mordechayev is well aware of the
depletion and hopes the new museum
will draw Israeli and other tourists
from Baku, the Azerbaijan capital
located about 100 miles away. Tourism
from Israel has increased dramatically
in Azerbaijan, which has five weekly
flights from Israel.
“When we put this place on the tour-
istic map, dozens of tourists will come
here every day,” Mordechayev said.
“That’s opportunities for guesthouses,
hotels, taxi drivers, guides. It’ll provide
jobs to community members.”
Without employment there is little
hope of Krasnaiya Sloboda remaining a
Jewish town, said Ashurov, a Mountain
Jew from Russia who STMEGI hired in
2016 to serve as the town’s rabbi.
Ashurov runs a yeshiva where he
teaches Jewish studies to young boys
and girls, “but also extra math and Eng-
lish classes to give them what they need
in the world, so they can find employ-
ment, be it in Russia or Israel or here,”
he said. “That’s the main concern and
the main reason the young are leaving
this place.”
The town has a shochet, a Jew trained
in the kosher slaughter of animals. But
many residents shop at local butcher
shops, considering halal meat suffi-
cient for their needs. Local Jews are
not a very observant bunch, with many
of them stepping out of synagogue
to make a phone call on Shabbat in

The new museum aims to build the
world’s largest Juhuri library to facilitate
research that may allow for the preservation
of the language, which is spoken by
about 100,000 people worldwide.
There’s a catch, though.
Juhuri never had an agreed-upon alphabet.
violation of traditional customs for the day of rest.
Ashurov replaced Elazar Nisimov, 35, a shochet and
yeshiva graduate who served as the town’s rabbi for
several years following the retirement of his predeces-
sor. Like thousands of other Mountain Jews, Nisimov
now lives in Moscow.
Mordechayev is collecting exhibits for the museum
from around the Caucasus. One of them is a 19th-cen-
tury prayer shawl whose corners feature thick red
patches, a modification that allowed it to be used as a
chuppah, a Jewish wedding canopy.
The museum will also feature a 19th-century horse-
drawn carriage and dozens of documents, including
ketubot, Jewish wedding contracts.
The collection’s undisputed jewel is the so-called
Slashed Book — a disfigured copy of the Bible. Accord-
ing to legend, a Krasnaiya Sloboda rabbi used the book
to shield himself from the sword of a Muslim general
when the general’s army took over northern Azerbai-
jan several centuries ago.
“The general was horrified at what he’d done and
feared divine retribution, so he let the Jews stay
unharmed to atone for his actions,” Mordechayev said,
recounting the legend.
The legend around the book goes to the heart of the
Men pray at the Seven Dome Synagogue of Krasnaiya Sloboda, Azerbaijan, July 21, 2018. 
tradition of mutual respect between Muslims and Jews
here. Anti-Semitic incidents are unheard of and men
wearing kippot or other Jewish attire attract little to no
attention on the street.
Like many of the artifacts that Mordechayev is after,
the book was sold to antique dealers at a vastly lower
price than its market value. In the early 2000s Rabbi
Avraham Yisrael Freilich from Israel, who ran Juda-
ica Jerusalem, sold it to Elia Ilizarov, a Mountain Jew
who lives in Russia, for $250,000, according to Mor-
dechayev. Ilizarov agreed to have the book displayed
at the museum’s opening; a replica will remain there
permanently.
Mordechayev is also collecting Juhuri dictionaries.
The new museum aims to build the world’s largest
Juhuri library to facilitate research that may allow for
the preservation of the language, which is spoken by
about 100,000 people worldwide.
There’s a catch, though.
“Juhuri never had an agreed-upon alphabet,” Mor-
dechayev said. Some write it with Cyrillic letters, oth-
ers use Azeri ones, and still others transcribe it in
Hebrew letters.
“We hope that concentrating all these books here
will facilitate research, digitization, and maybe
CNAAN LIPHSHIZ
Jewish World
standardization,” he said.
Krasnaiya Sloboda has “an enormous potential for tour-
ism, including educational tourism, not only from Israel,”
Bram said. “It’s the world’s last traditional Jewish settlement
in a rural area, a kind of last shtetl.”
He said the community’s uniqueness can appeal to all
denominations of Judaism.
“It can become an important educational center and a
must-go destination for world Jewry,” Bram said.
There are preliminary signs that this is already happen-
ing. On Tisha B’Av this year, several dozen yeshiva students
from Moscow traveled to Krasnaiya Sloboda — the first such
visit by a yeshiva in the town’s history.
The visit resonated powerfully with 20-year-old Yisrael
Lazar, the son of Russian Chief Rabbi Berel Lazar, who
joined the yeshiva students as their counselor.
“For someone like me, who grew up reading about the
shtetls and Jewish towns that existed before the Holocaust,
this place is simply unbelievable,” he said. “It’s like traveling
100 years back in time.” JTA WIRE SERVICE
Time Will TellSince 1976
ANTIQUE CLOCK REPAIR
All Types · Old & New · Bought & Sold
Service Center for Seth Thomas,
Howard Miller, Le Coultre Atmos
HOUSE CALLS
FREE ESTIMATES WHILE YOU WAIT
202 Franklin Ave (off Godwin Ave.) · Midland Park, NJ
201-652-1025 · timewilltellantiqueclockrepair.com
Roger Sanford · NAWCC 91462
SAT/ACT PREP
CLASSES BEGIN SEPT. 8 AND 9
TWO LOCATIONS:
Tenafly - Kaplen JCC
Washington Tnshp - Bethany Community Center
The course consists of seven 3 hour and 15 minute sessions
Free retakes of the course ANYTIME in the future.
Private In-Home Tutoring also available.
FREE OPEN HOUSE:
WED. SEPT. 5 7 PM - 8 PM
Kaplan JCC, Tenafly
All courses are taught by the directors of Academic
Achievement, the “Superstars of the SAT’s,”
Jerry Silverstein and Irwin Dolgoff.
Sign up on line at
www.academicsatprep.com
(201) 445-2616
JEWISH STANDARD AUGUST 24, 2018 45
Jewish World

Why ‘Lucky Jew’ imagery

is so popular in Poland
CNAAN LIPHSHIZ

V
isit a few main marketplaces
or trinket shops in Warsaw
or Krakow, and you’re almost
guaranteed to find a figurine or
picture of a charedi Orthodox Jew count-
ing money.
Offensive to some and just bizarre to
others, the sale of stereotypical images
of Jews as good luck charms started in
Poland in the 1960s. It closely followed the
last large wave of Jewish emigration from
the country, where 3.3 million Jews lived
before the Holocaust. Only 20,000 Jews
live there now.
Critics believe it is an expression of
centuries of anti-Semitic bias in a coun-
try whose society and government are
famously struggling with the tragic history
of Poland’s once-great Jewish commu-
nity. The “Lucky Jew” images are “deeply
rooted in negative stereotypes,” Rafal Pan-
kowski, a founder of the Warsaw-based
Never Again anti-racism organization,
said in a December statement. (His con-
demnations helped force the Polish par-
liament’s souvenir shop to drop its Lucky
Jew figurines.)
Others, like Jonny Daniels, founder of
the From the Depths group that promotes Customers buy figurines of charedi Orthodox men at a market in Krakow.  PHOTOS BY JASON FRANCISCO

dialogue between Jews and Poles, dismiss

it as an “insensitive but ultimately harm-
less expression of nostalgia,” similar to
how some view cigar-store Indians in the
United States.
But some are simply fascinated by the
phenomenon and its significance beyond
its obvious perpetuation of the notion that
Jews and money are inseparable.
Take Michael Rubinfeld, a Canadian-
Jewish theater actor and producer who
moved to Poland in 2014 and married a
Krakow Jewish woman in 2015. In recent
months, he has begun selling pictures of
himself counting coins, which he markets
as part of an act, he told Vice in an inter-
view published Monday.
“These Lucky Jews are just so politically
incorrect and absurd that it instigates an
equally politically incorrect response of
delight in me,” Rubenfeld, 39, told Vice.
His hope, he added, “is to undo the
anti-Semitic image from within, through
humor, in effect to push Poles into a criti-
cal awareness of the anti-Semitism running
beneath the Lucky Jew iconography, while
at the same time forcing Jews to question Michael Rubinfeld sells pictures of himself counting coins “to undo the anti-Semitic image from within, through humor.”
their own anti-Polish stereotypes.”
To do that Rubenfeld, armed with a for- They are also available on the website business,” Graham Isador wrote in Vice. portraits of him counting money.
midable chestnut beard, dresses up like created by Rubenfeld and his company, The business side of things is going all Priced between $5 and $13, the mer-
a character from “Fiddler on the Roof,” FestivALT. right, Rubenfeld told JTA. Since March, chandise is clearly meant for consumption
sets up a marketplace stall whose base is “The whole thing doubles as a meta- when Rubenfeld began peddling the by locals, but tourists buy them, too.
emblazoned with the words “Lucky Jew” commentary performance on a prob- artifacts with his wife, Magda Ruben- Rubenfeld said his critics don’t grasp
and peddles his Lucky Jew self-portraits. lematic custom and an actual straight-up feld Koralewska, they have sold some 40 “the deep tradition of Jewish satire and

46 JEWISH STANDARD AUGUST 24, 2018

 Jewish World Sandi M. Malkin, LL C
Interior Designer
(former interior designer of model
rooms for NY’s #1 Dept. Store)

For a totally new look using

your furniture or starting anew.
Staging also available
973-535-9192

‫״למען ידעו דורותיכם״‬

the proven sukkah

for a generation
Michael Rubenfeld sells “Lucky Jew” portraits at a market in Krakow
during April.

auto-irony.” Besides, he told Vice, “when
groups voluntarily adopt derogatory
and stereotypical terms applied to them
and then rebrand them from within,
the result is to shift their meaning and
weaken the stereotype.”
But if his goal is to diminish the pop-
ularity of Poland’s Lucky Jew figurines,
Rubenfeld’s act has had very limited
impact, according to Daniels.
“You’d be amazed how many edu-
cated people from the elite — lawyers,
journalists, civil servants — own these
figurines and images,” Daniels said.
They are so popular that they make
common wedding and housewarming
gifts. In some households, the images are
turned on their heads on Friday nights,
so the money being counted may fall
The figurines
are an attempt
at reconnecting
with Jews, not
mocking them.
down on the family that owns it.
Still, Daniels believes, the figurines are
“part of a longing for Jews, not hatred
of them.”
Such longing prompts Polish villag-
ers to attend mock Jewish weddings,
stage Jewish music festivals, and create a
national graffiti campaign called “I miss
you, Jew.” Similar to a vogue for Juda-
ism in Spain and Portugal, where Jews
were driven out during the Inquisition,
“the figurines are an attempt at recon-
necting with Jews, not mocking them,”
Daniels said.
Like Rubenfeld, Daniels has used CELEB RATING
CELEBRATING
CELEBRA NG HALF
HHAA LF A CENTURY
CENTU
CE TURY
RY OF
humor to get Poles to reassess the Lucky
Jew figurines. In September, he posed
QUALITY SUKKAHS AT FACTORY DIRECT PRICING
for a cover picture in the weekly maga-
zine of the prestigious Rzeczpospolita
daily while wearing a kippah, counting
The Sukkah thats proven to last a Lifetime!
coins, and smiling mischievously at the
camera. In the article, Daniels invited MONSEY LAKEWOOD
the paper’s hundreds of thousands of 304 Rt 59 Next to Tuvia’s South Side Sukkah
readers to frame the portrait and put in 845-494-2782 118 Hadassah Lane
on the wall for good luck.
“By becoming the lucky charm Jew,” NEW WOOD PANELS
845-426-0824 732-569-0441
he told JTA, “my intention was to make MODULAR PANELS SPRING VALLEY WEST ORANGE
readers see how absurd it looks from the
outside, and maybe get them thinking.”
SNAP SUKKAHS • PORTABLES
CANVAS • BAMBOO • MEHADRIN MATS
Quality Sukkah
845-354-0651
Klar's Sukkah
973-731-0770 X7
JTA WIRE SERVICE
WE SHIP VALET
WORLDWIDE SHOWROOM: 3720 14TH AVE BROOKLYN, NY • 718-436-6333 PARKING
800-227-SUKA • WWW.SUKKAH.COM /sukkahs

WE OFFER REPAIRS 1245 Teaneck Rd.

AND ALTERATIONS
We want your business and we go the extra
Teaneck
TALLESIM CLEANED • SPECIAL SHABBOS RUSH SERVICE mile to make you a regular customer 837-8700
JEWISH STANDARD AUGUST 24, 2018 47
Jewish World

Ben Kingsley carried a photo of Elie Wiesel

with him while filming ‘Operation Finale’
NAOMI PFEFFERMAN

LOS ANGELES — Ask Ben Kingsley about

why he was keen to portray Nazi criminal
Adolf Eichmann in the new film “Opera-
tion Finale” and he describes the trau-
matic childhood incident in which he first
learned about the Holocaust.
The 74-year-old British actor was then in
grammar school and at home alone when
he turned on a documentary about the
liberation of the Bergen-Belsen concentra-
tion camp.
“I remember my heart stopped beat-

VALERIA FLORINI / METRO GOLDWYN MAYER PICTURES

ing for a while,” Kingsley, who is not Jew-
ish but believes he may have some Jewish
relatives on his mother’s side, said in a
telephone interview. “I nearly passed out.
And I have been indelibly connected to the
Holocaust ever since.”
Hi s connec tion was even more
enhanced when he asked his grandmother
about the atrocities, and she said that “Hit-
ler was right” to have killed Jews.
“I went into deep shock and was unable
to counter her,” Kingsley said. “But some-
thing must have clicked in my innermost
soul that said ‘Grandmother, I will make
you eat your words. I will pay you back for
that. You have not distorted or poisoned Above, Ben Kingsley stars as Adolf
my mind.’” Eichmann in “Operation Finale.”
Kingsley went on to portray the Nazi At left, from left, facing the camera,
hunter Simon Wiesenthal in the HBO Mélanie Laurent, Oscar Isaac, Nick
film “Murderers Among Us”; the Jewish Kroll and Michael Aronov in a scene
accountant Itzhak Stern in “Schindler’s from “Operation Finale.”
METRO GOLDWYN MAYER PICTURES

List”; and Anne Frank’s father in a 2001

ABC miniseries. He also won an Academy
Award for his turn as the titular Indian
independence leader in 1982’s “Gandhi.”
During research for his Shoah-themed
films, Kingsley became close friends with
Holocaust survivor, activist and author Elie
Wiesel. Not long before Wiesel’s death in
2016, the actor vowed to him that “the
next time I walk onto a film set that is
appropriate to your story, I will dedicate
my performance to you.”
So when Kingsley was offered the Eich-
mann role in “Operation Finale” after Wie-
sel’s death — a film that debuts August 29
and focuses on the Holocaust architect’s
capture — the actor jumped at the chance.
Just as he famously carried a picture of Anne
Frank during the filming of “Schindler’s
List,” he carried a photo of Wiesel during
the filming of “Operation Finale.”
“[E]very day as promised, I looked at a
picture of Elie that I carried in my pocket
and said ‘I’m doing this for you,’” Kings-
ley said.
“Operation Finale” tells the story of
Peter Malkin and other Mossad agents who
covertly hunted and captured Eichmann
hiding in Argentina and brought him to
Israel for trial in 1961, where he was ulti-
mately executed. The heart of the story is
the cat-and-mouse game between Malkin
(played by Oscar Isaac) and Eichmann,
both of whom were master manipula-
tors, according to the film’s director, Chris
Weitz (“About a Boy” and “A Better Life”).
“Each one is trying to convince the
other of something,” Weitz said in a tele-
phone interview. “Malkin wanted to con-
vince Eichmann to sign a paper indicating
that he was willing to go to trial in Jeru-
salem. And Eichmann is trying out vari-
ous defenses that he will eventually use
in Israeli court. So in that regard there is
the subterfuge of the escaped war criminal
and also the subterfuge of the spy as he’s
trying to turn a source.”
As for Eichmann, Weitz said, “I think the
evidence shows a very chameleon-like fig-
ure who is constantly trying to serve his
own ends and ambitions.”
Kingsley unabashedly sees his character
as evil.
“What other adjective can you use?”
he asked. “Not only did he commit these
crimes as an architect of the Final Solu-
tion, he went to his grave proud of what
he had done — utterly unrepentant.”
Yet Kingsley said he chose not to portray
Eichmann as “a B-movie, cartoony, comic
strip villain.”
“That would have done a terrible dis-
service to the victims and the survivors I
know and love,” he said. “It’s important
for us to accept, to stomach and to swal-
low that the Nazis were men and women —
‘normal’ people. Twisted people, but they
didn’t come from Mars.”
Weitz, 48, had his own personal connec-
tion to the material. His father, the fashion
designer John Weitz, escaped Nazi Germany
in 1933 at the age of 10. Nine years later
he arrived in the United States and later
became a spy for the OSS, the precursor of
the CIA. He interrogated Nazi war criminals
and helped liberate Bergen-Belsen, “which
forever changed him,” his son said.
The filmmaker grew up with his father’s
war stories and ultimately helped the
patriarch write multiple books about Nazi
war criminals.
As research for the film, both Weitz and
Kingsley relied in part on the expertise
of former Mossad agent Avner Abraham,
who has curated a now-touring exhibition
about Eichmann. Weitz eschewed photo-
graphing the famed glass booth in which
Eichmann spent his trial — a part of the
exhibition — because he feared that might
be “blasphemous.”
The director also said he had “endless
trepidations” about depicting images of the
Holocaust, and so chose to do so through
the lens of the Mossad agents’ memories.
“The agents’ memoirs indicate that
they all found it deeply unsettling to be
so near the person who had taken part in
the murder of their families,” Weitz said.
“Some of them were disappointed that all
this evil could have the face of this rather
unprepossessing man, which felt terribly
out of scale to all the damage that had
been done.” JTA WIRE SERVICE

48 JEWISH STANDARD AUGUST 24, 2018

 Elegant
Independent and Assisted Living
is Waiting for you...
At the Lester Senior Housing
Community, you’ll find all the warmth
of home with hotel-style amenities,
luxurious surroundings and services
that support healthy minds and bodies.

Our residents enjoy:

• Delicious glatt kosher dining. Prepared
under the Supervision of the Vaad
HaRabonim of MetroWest NJ

• Cultural, social and educational programs

including: Engaging social events with
musical entertainment, yoga and zumba
classes, stimulating lectures, balance and
mindfulness guided imagery relaxation
techniques, and much more.

• On-site medical/health care/rehabilitative

services.

We also offer supportive, individualized dementia care

in our beautiful, intimate Memory Care Suite.

Memory Care Suite Open House

Wednesday, September 12, (3:00-5:00 p.m.)
Come meet our wonderful caring staff and enjoy some light refreshments,
as you tour our beautiful assisted living community and Memory Care Suite.
For more information contact David Rozen at 973-929-2725

The Lester Senior Housing Community

903-905 Route 10 East, Whippany, NJ
www.jchcorp.org • 973-929-2725
All Faiths and Beliefs Welcome
Owned and Managed by the Jewish Community Housing Corporation of Metropolitan New Jersey

JEWISH STANDARD AUGUST 24, 2018 49

Editorial
Looking
for truth
I of one not-so-simple word
t’s an inexorable truth. Summer seems endless and then
it ends.
Not entirely starkly, of course. You — that’s the you
that means I — notice it when I go out with my dogs in
the morning. It’s dark again when I leave home, and the light
unfolds as I walk. It could be sad — it’s so lovely to go out into
fresh, still-not-hot new sunlight — but instead it’s exciting. I get
to watch the light as it changes.
The fruit in stores changes; it’s goodbye to the summer’s
firm, sweet, ambrosial cherries and hello to tens of the fall’s
thousands of far-less-thrilling apples. There are fewer pool
toys in stores, except for the discount bins. They’re replaced
by school supplies. In my neighborhood, a pop-up Halloween
store opened in mid-August.
Those things all are true — the seasons change, no matter
what we want, no matter how much we want to hold onto
golden time. The ways we deal with those changes are culture-
bound, but we have to acknowledge them.
Last week, former Mayor Rudy Giuliani told us that truth is
not truth. That was perhaps the most straightforward acknowl-
edgement of what we have been confronting for the last few
years, the idea that what we had comfortably assumed to be
true is no longer true.
That Russia is our friend and the European Union our foe, that
coal is good and tariffs are good and climate change isn’t hap-
pening and electric cars are bad, that white supremicists aren’t
so bad and anyway when neo-Nazis carry little discount-store tiki
torches and shout “Jews will not replace us” and they are met by
counterprotesters, one of whom dies when a car runs into her,
there are many good people on both sides. That it is okay to sepa-
rate children from their parents when their parents seek asylum
in this country, because asylum-seekers inherently are bad, and
it’s basically like summer camp for the kids, anyway. (The rare
summer camp that comes with cages, at any rate.)
We must remember, when we are faced with things that are not
true, that there is such a thing as objective truth.
It’s not that everything is starkly on one side of the line or the
other, and we should not make the mistake of thinking they are.
Most things are nuanced, and it is possible to have many contra-
dictory things true at the same time. We run into trouble when
people insist that there is only one truth, and that they know it.
But still there is truth, and it is our job as human beings to
seek it.
Selichot is next weekend; that’s when many of us hear with this
year’s new/old ears the haunting music that ushers in Rosh Hasha-
nah and Yom Kippur. That’s when the cycle of the year, with all
its infant hopes, begins again.
It has always been our job to try to find the truth, insofar as
we can recognize it; to strive toward truth as we strive toward its
partner, justice. This year, it will be harder than ever. This year, it
will be more important than ever. -JP
Jewish Editor
Joanne Palmer
Standard Associate Editor
Larry Yudelson
1086 Teaneck Road
Community Editor
Teaneck, NJ 07666
Beth Janoff Chananie
(201) 837-8818
Fax 201-833-4959 About Our Children Editor
Heidi Mae Bratt
Publisher
James L. Janoff
Associate Publisher Emerita
Marcia Garfinkle
thejewishstandard.com
50 JEWISH STANDARD AUGUST 24, 2018
KEEPING THE FAITH
Doubling down on the
immeasurable importance
T
he most important section of the Book of point us toward the path God wants us to travel.
Deuteronomy, and arguably the most rel- The essence of what the Torah expects of us is
evant section of the Torah as we lead up to summed up in this section by the doubling up of
the High Holy Days, is the one that many of one not-so-simple word: tzedek. It is the Torah’s
us have been listening to on Shabbat mornings since prime directive.
the start of August, and that will conclude just more Tzedek is a not-so-simple word because it is not
than a week before Rosh Hashanah. easily defined. It means so many things, including
This section, chapters 12 through 26, represents righteousness, justice, truth, purity, honesty, sincer-
the essence of the law Israel must observe if it is ity, kindness, virtue, and piety.
to fulfill its Divine mission. Thus, it also represents From tzedek comes tzedakah, which does not
the essence of what we must concen- mean charity and never did. “Char-
trate on as individuals and communally ity” is a voluntary gift offered when
if we truly want to mend our ways for someone is moved to do so by his or
the new year. her heart, or good nature, or emotions.
When people think of the Torah — Tzedakah is not voluntary; it is an obli-
in its narrow sense as the “Five Books gation imposed on all of us. Tzedakah
of Moses,” and its broader sense to means righteousness, purity, equity,
include the Oral Law — they think of and even “to be liberal with,” as in to
it as being all about ritual, which, as I be liberal with what we give to those
often have noted in the past, it is not in need.
and never was. We need to under- Shammai God’s vision was a world built on tze-
stand that as we approach the High Engelmayer dek in all its multiple meanings. He told
Holy Days. us this when He revealed why He chose
The Torah is about how we treat peo- Abraham to be the founding father of
ple, whoever they are, wherever they live, whatever the Israelite nation — so that he would “instruct his
their skin color, regardless of their beliefs (unless children and his posterity to keep the way of the
those beliefs involve bestiality and human sacrifice). Lord by doing tzedakah and mishpat [by doing what
The Torah is about how we treat the environment, is right and just]....” (See Genesis 18:19.)
including its flora and its fauna, the air we breathe In doubling up his use of tzedek, Moses was mak-
and the water we drink. In other words, the Torah ing a point: Tzedek must never be defined narrowly.
is about our obligations to ourselves, to others, and It always must include all of its meanings. When God
to the natural world in which we and everyone and said He wants a world built on tzedek, Moses was
everything else lives. saying, He meant He wants a world built on righ-
Whatever ritual there is in the Torah is meant to teousness, justice, truth, purity, honesty, sincerity,
focus us on those obligations. Shabbat is meant to kindness, equity, virtue, and piety.
remind us of our responsibilities to God’s creation, Creating that world is the Israelite mission. The
and also to foster within us respect and a sense means to do so is the observance of the Torah’s
of equality for all life forms, human, animal, and prime directive, tzedek, and the way to do that is
even plant life. Wearing tefillin on our hands is by observing the Torah’s laws — not just its ritual
meant to keep us from using our hands to do evil; laws, but those laws the ritual laws are meant to
wearing tefillin on our heads is meant to keep us underscore.
from planning evil against others. Wearing tzitzit Tzedek permeates the laws of this section. In crim-
is meant to “recall all the commandments of the inal cases, for example, it requires the eyewitness
Lord and observe them,” in the Torah’s own words. testimony of at least two people — and they must
The Torah’s rituals are not ends onto themselves. be thoroughly (and even harshly) cross-examined by
They are what the Torah says they are: signs to the judges themselves. No confessions are allowed,
Shammai Engelmayer is rabbi of Congregation Beth Israel of the Palisades, now in Fort Lee.
Correspondents
Warren Boroson
Advertising Coordinator
Jane Carr
Production Manager
Jerry Szubin
Founder
Morris J. Janoff (1911–1987)
Lois Goldrich
Banji Ganchrow Account Executives
Peggy Elias
Graphic Artists
Deborah Herman
Editor Emeritus
Meyer Pesin (1901–1989)
Abigail K. Leichman Bob O'Brien
Miriam Rinn Robin Frizzell City Editor
Brenda Sutcliffe
Dr. Miryam Z. Wahrman Mort Cornin (1915–1984)
Advertising Director Administrative Assistant Editorial Consultant
Natalie D. Jay Jenna Sutcliffe Max Milians (1908-2005)
International Media Placement Secretary
P.O. Box 7195 Jerusalem 91077 Ceil Wolf (1914-2008)
Tel: 02-6252933, 02-6247919 Editor Emerita
Fax: 02-6249240 Rebecca Kaplan Boroson
Israeli Representative

because those can be forced. No circumstantial evi-
dence is admissible, because things are not always
f the way they seem.
How many wrongful convictions in the United
States have been based on the testimony of a single
t eyewitness who got it wrong? How many have been
g based on circumstantial evidence? One recent study
- showed a false conviction rate in the United States of
4.1 percent in capital cases alone. There were 1,320
t defendants executed during the study period; at
- least 55 of them probably were innocent.
Tzedek is why there must be cities of refuge to
r which the accidental murderer may flee to find safe
. haven, why these cities must be equidistant from
- each other, and why local governments along the
route to each city must keep their highways and
, byways free of hazards and other impediments.
- not let our values be slandered. Voters, consumers,
How many wrongful
f
convictions in the
United States have
t
been based on the
testimony of a single
-
.
eyewitness who got
d it wrong? How many
-
have been based
, on circumstantial
evidence?
Tzedek plays a role in releasing people from being
drafted into a war-bound army. It is the foundation
of the boundary markers law, which itself is the foun-
dation for Judaism’s laws against unfair competition.
- We see tzedek in “the law of the mother bird,” in the
lost property law, and in the law of the parapet. We
t also see it in the inheritance law regarding the first-
y born of a “hated wife,” and in the law requiring a
, man to put in writing (a get) his reasons for want-
ing to divorce his wife (the Torah’s way of trying to
SEE SHAMMAI PAGE 51
The opinions expressed here
are those of the authors, not necessarily those of the
newspaper’s editors, publishers, or other staffers.
We welcome letters to the editor. Send them to
jstandardletters@gmail.com.
Opinion
Environmental justice suffers
from a lack of rhetorical agony
I
n one late-June week, the U.S.
Supreme Court released a series of
opinions that were deeply disap-
pointing to many in the social justice
community. On Monday, the court refused
to strike down racial gerrymandering in
Texas and sanctioned anti-competitive,
domineering practices used by both Sili-
con Valley and Wall Street. On Tuesday, the
court endorsed pro-life crisis pregnancy Noah
centers in California that provide mislead- Goldmann
ing and inadequate health information.
And, of course, it upheld Trump’s Islamo-
phobic and xenophobic travel ban. On Wednesday, the
Supreme Court ruled in favor of employers over employ-
ees and their unions. And to top it all off, Justice Ken- donations. Yes, the pictures are pretty, but they dehu-
nedy announced his retirement, giving President Trump
the opportunity to cement the court’s imbalanced ideol-
ogy for years to come.
This summer, through the Religious Action Center’s
Machon Kaplan program, I interned with the Coalition
on the Environment and Jewish Life. My office was right
next to the Supreme Court building. After each deci-
sion came out, my co-workers and I marched across the
street to join the protests. We yelled at the unmoved
marble façade of the courthouse, shouting that we will
women, Muslims, union workers, and their allies all pro-
tested against the recent attacks on liberty and justice
for all. We were crying out against America’s systemic
oppression. We were brokenhearted.
When I returned to my office on Tuesday afternoon,
right after the eruption of emotions at the latest rally,
I was asked to write an op-ed in support of the Land
and Water Conservation Fund. Funded with royalties
that offshore drilling companies pay to the U.S. govern-
ment, the LWCF conserves national, state, and local
open spaces at no cost to the American taxpayer. It’s a
great program.
But I struggled to focus on the op-ed because my mind
kept running through a horrible reel of children crying
in mass detention centers, refugees being turned away
at the border, and women seeking dangerous illegal
abortions. Surrounded by such visceral human suffer-
ing, I found it difficult to concentrate on the merits of bring about change.
the LWCF from the comfort of my office. My work didn’t
feel meaningful or noble; it felt trivial and ignorant.
The thing is, though, fighting global warming is
exceedingly important — it just doesn’t always feel
that way. Policies, corporations, and individuals that
desecrate the environment do not elicit the emotional
recoil that ICE officers taking children away from their
parents do.
That’s a problem.
Our consciences are alarmed by injustices happening
(a) to people, and (b) right now. Environmental threats
have not been framed to fit either of those two condi-
tions, so though they may concern us, we’re not scream-
ing from rooftops about them. To offend our shared
humanity enough to take serious action against global
warming, we have to reframe the issue.
At the risk of sounding repetitive, I keep referring to
humankind’s ill-effects on the environment as “global
warming” and not “climate change.” To quote Rice Uni-
versity philosophy Professor Timothy Morton, “climate
change as substitute enables cynical reason (both right
wing and left) to say that the ‘climate has always been
changing,’ which to my ears sounds like
using ‘people have always been killing one
another’ as a fatuous reason not to control
the sale of machine guns.”
Imagine if I referred to the monstrous
policies at our southern border as “immi-
gration enforcement” instead of “family
separation.” That kind of passive, deflect-
ing, and distracting rhetoric would garner
immediate and severe disapproval. We
should recognize our own hypocrisy, then,
every time we say “climate change.”
Similarly, environmental nonprofits fur-
ther our inaction every time they send out postcards of
serene, untouched, human-less landscapes to ask for
manize global warming. Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel
once wrote on the notion of justice: “That justice is a
good thing, a fine goal, even a supreme ideal, is com-
monly accepted. What is lacking is a sense of the mon-
strosity of injustice.” Picturesque landscapes are the
“fine goal”‘ of environmental justice just like a quiet bor-
der checkpoint is the “fine goal” of immigration justice.
When we think
of environmental
concerns like global
warming, we must
be impassioned. We
must protest and
rally, scream and cry,
because our sense
of humanity is so
terribly offended.
Neither evokes the pain, the despair that is needed to
The monstrosities of environmental injustice are real,
and we must recognize them. Environmental justice
organizations should be sending out pictures of the dead
bodies after the Bhopal gas leak, crying families after
extreme hurricanes in New Orleans and Puerto Rico,
and wildlife choking on BP’s spilled oil.
Environmental advocates often predicate their argu-
ments on the need to protect future generations. But the
focus on the future obscures the necessity of present
action. The issue must be here and now.
When we think of environmental concerns like global
warming, we must be impassioned. We must protest and
rally, scream and cry, because our sense of humanity is
so terribly offended. Rabbi Heschel warned that “fright-
ful is the agony of man,” and agony is exactly what we
need to ignite our fight against global warming.
Noah Goldmann of Rockland County, a sophomore at
Syracuse University, is a 2018 Religious Action Center
Machon Kaplan participant, interning at the Coalition
on the Environment and Jewish Life. He’s majoring in
mathematics and minoring in music performance.
JEWISH STANDARD AUGUST 24, 2018 51
Opinion
Confronting economic inequality
A
s an immigrant child
of Jewish parents
from Poland who
rented a cold-water
sixth-floor walk-up in a tene-
ment in New York’s Lower East
Side near the beginning of the
Great Depression, I’m perma-
nently sympathetic to the strug-
gles of poor people. Dusty Sklar
Me and Dambisa Moyo.
Moyo is a 49-year-old black
woman born and raised in Zambia, who has a master’s
degree in public administration from Harvard and a doctor-
ate in economics from Oxford. (I’m a 90-year-old graduate
of New York City’s Seward Park High, known then as Sewer
Park High.). How did she do it? How did she get to be who
she is? As she allowed in a New York Times interview, “Hav-
ing been raised in one of the poorest countries in the world,
I feel a strong desire to help families like my own, who con-
tinue to suffer the consequences of economic failure every
day of their lives.”
I know quite well how she feels.
Moyo, a prize-winning economist, is the author of four
books, most recently “Edge of Chaos: Why Democracy Is Fail-
ing to Deliver Economic Growth — And How to Fix It.
She once tangled with Bill Gates after the publication of an
earlier book, “Dead Aid: Why Aid Is Not Working and How
There Is a Better Way For Africa.” Gates claimed that Moyo
“didn’t know much about aid and what it was doing in Africa”
Tradition: Toward an American Jewish future
A
s a secular Jew with
no interest in frum-
keit (observance),
no desire to do tes-
huva (repentance/a return to
faith), and who firmly believes
God may or may not exist, it
might appear incongruent for
me to posit that our commu-
nity must return to its tradi- Joshua
tional roots. Regardless, this is Einstein
not a matter of mere existence,
as the religiously liberal Jewish
political activists often critique any mainstream call for
continuity. Rather, it is to acknowledge that if American
Jewry is to continue the current renaissance, our past is
more illustrative than ever-shifting societal fads.
The environment that has allowed for a flowering of Jew-
ish day schools, an explosion of the kashrut, the birth and
growth of independent (and often unaffiliated) minyanim,
the continually growing number of kiruv (outreach) organi-
zations, and more, is changing. The community must iden-
tify its challenges and adapt in order to survive and thrive.
The rising cost of Jewish education at precisely the time
we need to expand its reach, the growing poverty rates
among the charedi community, the never-ending soci-
etal expansion of adolescence, and the growing chorus
of political anti-Semitism coming from powerful protest
movement leaders (such as Linda Sarsour), all suggest the
communal renaissance is no longer sustainable in its cur-
rent form.
52 JEWISH STANDARD AUGUST 24, 2018
and declared that a “book like that promoted evil,” which suc-
ceeded in winning her a voice in the global policy debate.
For some decades, America has outstripped the rest
of the world in income inequality. Moyo’s new book
addresses that problem, as well as other deterrents to
growth, such as record debt levels, declining productiv-
ity, and climate change. She argues that the solution is not
more trade protection, less globalization, or more state
control, and she proposes 10 radical reforms. If our prob-
lems are not addressed, she writes, she foresees economic
depression, rising populism, increased global tensions,
and conflicts. Without economic growth, she claims,
democracy can’t flourish.
Many people are nervous these days about the likely
demise of our democracy. Some think it’s already gone.
Those people who did not vote for Trump believe that
those who did are ill-educated and shortsighted. Moyo
hasn’t much faith in the American public. She thinks we
don’t know how to install economic policies that are likely
to gain us prosperity in the future.
But it’s not just Americans who are nervous. All around
the world, people are fed up with stagnant wages and soar-
ing inequality. They are turning against established govern-
ments and toward political extremes.
Moyo’s proposals for reform are controversial. For exam-
ple, she suggests paying lawmakers salaries commensurate
with those of the private sector leaders and offering bonuses
if GDP growth reaches certain heights, but also that lawmak-
ers should agree to term limits and campaign finance reform.
Some of her proposed reforms are downright
Innovation is required, but often social innovators and
community institutions attempt to reinvent the wheel,
applying only a sprinkling of Jewish history to their proj-
ects and ignoring core issues that have long-established
historical analogs. They habitually emphasis the univer-
salist, nonsectarian aspects of Judaism, at the expense of
the national and covenantal portions that help build and
require an ingroup commitment, and are deeper, holistic,
and more substantive.
In order to continue to thrive, the community must
recognize that the current old-school traditional Judaism
is old because, at least parts of it were effective and last-
ing. The Sadducees and Essenes, Second Temple-period
Jewish movement contemporaries to what would become
rabbinic Judaism (the Pharisees), died out because their
way of life was not easily transferable to other places and
times. Secular Judaism functions in Israel because that is
a primarily Jewish environment, but it gets lost in transla-
tion down the generations in a larger gentile nation con-
text. The movements of the Sadducees, Essenes, secular
Jews in galus (outside the land of Israel), as well as the
Samaritans and Karaites, have become historical footnotes
because they did not offer a fulfilling, portable, nor func-
tionally lasting model of Judaism and Jewish community.
More Jewish tradition is needed in order to deepen
the renaissance of Jewish life, to address the hurdles we
face, and to expand that renaissance to more people in
the American Jewish community. To that end, those who
are concerned with the Jewish future should direct com-
munity institutions to focus on making Jewish educa-
tion more affordable for all, by supporting school choice
For some decades,
America has outstripped
the rest of the world in
income inequality. Moyo’s
new book addresses
that problem, as well
as other deterrents to
growth, such as record
debt levels, declining
productivity, and
climate change.
head-scratching, such as the idea that voters should have
to pass a civics exam before being allowed to vote, or giv-
ing extra weight to selected voters “based on their profes-
sional standing or qualifications.” But on the whole, Moyo
accurately describes the problems facing democracies
and suggests provocative remedies. We would do well to
attend to her.
Dusty Sklar is the author of many stories and articles, and of
the book “Gods and Beasts: The Nazis and the Occult.”
initiatives in which one’s tax dollars follow the children to
whatever school they go to.
The community must reach out to the charedi Jewish
communities and train their members for the workforce
so that we avoid a generation of entire Jewish communi-
ties dependent on a government assistance that will not
always be there. Shuls and Jewish institutions should
reach out to independent minyanim and invite them
into the communal umbrella on equal footing, as well as
empower their community members to engage in Judaism
as an active participants and leaders. While anti-establish-
ment academic and negative social elements in the larger
American community are pushing for an expansion of
adolescence until people are 24 or 25 years old, the Jewish
community must push back by giving teenagers greater
responsibilities, which they can mature into, rather than
more of the same continued level of obligation for them
to rebel against.
The future of the American Jewish community can be
bright. For that to happen, the community must lean into
both the challenges it faces and the historical reality the past
has illustrated. This means looking back and learning from
our history, saving and growing our successful intuitions,
and getting back to our traditions.
Joshua Einstein is a founding member of the Hudson
County Regional Jewish Council, an elected member
of the New Jersey Republican State Committee, sits
on the executive board of the New Jersey State Young
Republicans, and has been published in more than 14
newspapers and websites on Jewish and political topics.
 Opinion

The Nefesh b’Nefesh flight of dreams

O
n Tuesday, the
third of Elul, our
children, Elisheva
Meier and Dr. Zev
Hillel Davidovics, and our
grandchildren, Gavriella, Adi
Amalia, Yakira, and Kleila,
assembled at the El Al termi-
nal at JFK airport to embark
on their momentous aliyah to Rabbi
Israel. Menahem
They were hardly alone. The Meier
charter El Al flight held 239
olim — there were 59 families,
90 children, and 59 lone soldiers. The ages of the olim —
the new Israelis — ranged from a two-month-old infant to
an 80-year-old senior citizen. Their relatives and friends
were very present at the El Al hanger for the departure
program, featuring spirited brief speeches by Nefesh
b’Nefesh leaders and Israeli representatives, who high-
lighted the fact that Nefesh b’Nesh would continue to pro-
vide guidance and support for the olim.
Against the background music, which featured the
words of Jeremiah’s prophecy, “Your children shall return
to their country” ( Jeremiah 31:16), we could sense the pal-
pable emotions of those present. Separating from loved
ones is filled with emotion due to uncertainty — if and
when will we meet again? While close relationships can
remain close even when you are separated by oceans —
especially today, with WhatsApp and FaceTime — regular Tzipora and Rabbi Menahem Meier’s daughter, son-in-law, and grandchildren walk off the plane to their new
contact can be diminished as the olim become part of the lives in Israel. COURTESY MENAHEM MEIER

rhythm of their new environment and culture.

A similar emotion was visible when the El Al plane
landed at Ben Gurion, and Israeli relatives and friends
welcomed the new olim. There was excitement and joy
in reuniting with dear ones, and that joy occasionally is
expressed through tears. Nefesh b’Nefesh organizers
and Israeli government officials welcomed the olim. The
speakers poignantly thanked the parents of the lone sol-
diers and assured both the parents and the soldiers that
they are not alone.
There was an entirely other emotional component to
the olims’ arrival in Israel. Many of them were raised with
the value of the ancient and simultaneously modern State
of Israel. Living in Israel was a dream of many of the olim
— and now that dream has been realized. The words of the
Psalmist express it succinctly, “When the Lord restores
the fortunes of Zion — we see it as in a dream — our mouths
shall be filled with laughter, our tongues with songs of joy”
(Psalm 126).
This laughter and joy is a profoundly meaningful emo-
tion, often expressed through tears of joys.
very arduous. I think of the aliyot from the former USSR,
Yemen, and Ethiopia.
The Nefesh b’Nefesh olim of Elul 5778 were not fleeing
The The Nefesh from a land of persecution; they enjoyed the good life and
b’Nefesh olim of freedoms of the USA. Yet they were drawn to Israel to engage
in the significant activity of contributing to nation-building.
Elul 5778 were not They moved to Israel in quest of a more meaningful Jewish
fleeing from a land and religious life for themselves and their children.
Nefesh B’Nesh deserves enormous credit for facilitating
of persecution; they the aliyah process, reducing bureaucracy to a bare mini-
enjoyed the good life mum, and creating a warm and welcoming process both
in the United States and in Israel.
and freedoms Elisheva and Zev, Gavriella, Adi Amalia, Yakira, and
of the USA. Kleila, we are proud of you and hope to visit you soon.
May Hashem reward the new olim with fulfilling days and
years. “May Hashem grant strength to His people and may
Yet there is still another observation that we feel is in He bestow wellbeing upon His people.”
order. Many olim in the past came to the modern State of
Israel to escape persecution or oppression. They suffered Rabbi Menahem Meier, the founding principal of The Frisch
significantly in their native countries, and aliyah often was School, lives in Teaneck with his wife, Tzipora.

Shammai
FROM PAGE 49
prevent a man from divorcing his wife for some frivo-
lous or absurd reason).
Tzedek also plays a role in making a community
responsible for the crimes committed within it, which
means the community is responsible for the moral
character of all who live there (which also means it is
responsible for the education of young and old alike,
so all know what is expected of them).
Even the environment gets its tzedek, from the law
against destroying anything of value to anyone or any-
thing for no good reason, to the law against sowing a
field with both “strong” seeds and “weak” ones, so as
not to endanger the “weak” plants.
Then there is the King’s Law, which makes the king
the ruler of equals who governs only with their con-
sent. The Israelite king is not above the law, and his
powers are neither absolute nor unlimited.
The Torah’s laws are all about tzedek — all about
righteousness, justice, truth, purity, honesty, sin-
cerity, kindness, virtue, and piety, as this section of
Deuteronomy makes clear. Tzedek is why the former
Chief Rabbi of the British Empire, Rabbi Lord Jonathan
Sacks, is able to say with pride, “The Torah is the blue-
print of a society built on freedom and human dignity.”
This section leads us to the High Holy Days each
year. It is the Torah’s way of reminding us that tze-
dek is what we need to concentrate on as we get ever
nearer to Rosh Hashanah. Tzedek, in all its definitions
and permutations, is the word we must keep in front
of our eyes and in front of our minds; it is the word
that must govern all our actions. Not just tzedek. But
tzedek tzedek.

JEWISH STANDARD AUGUST 24, 2018 53

Jewish World

A former opera singer fuses

African-American and Yiddish music
JOSEFIN DOLSTEN

A
nthony Mordechai Tzvi Russell
has performed Yiddish music
around the world. He is part of
a musical duo that creates new
interpretations of classic Yiddish songs. In
2017, he even won the Yiddish version of
“American Idol.”
Still, the singer gets one request consis-
tently that has nothing to do with Yiddish
or klezmer music: to perform traditionally
African-American music.
“I always got a little defensive about that
because if I’m going to literally perform my
blackness for an audience, I want it to be
on my terms. I don’t want the terms dic-
tated to me,” the 37-year-old former opera
singer, who is black and Jewish, told JTA.
In “Convergence,” Russell aims to do
just that, melding Jewish songs, mostly in
Yiddish, with traditional African-American
tunes. The album, released this month, is
a collaboration between Russell and the
klezmer band Veretski Pass.
“The whole ethos of the project, at least
for me was, if there was a historic African-
American Jewish music, if that was a real
thing, what would it sound like?” he said in
a phone interview.
An example of how he imagines that
musical culture can be heard on “Rosie,” Anthony Mordechai Tzvi Russell started studying to perform in Yiddish in 2011.  MAX EICKE

a work song written by African-American

prisoners at a Mississippi State Peniten-
tiary work camp in the 1940s.
Eventually it bridges into the sorrow-
ful instrumental part from “Es Iz Shoyn
Shpet” (It is Already Late), a Yiddish song
meant for newlyweds. The sorrowful mel-
odies are skillfully mixed together, aided
by Russell’s smooth bass voice.
Toward the end of the track, the voice
of a newscaster is heard announcing the
high incarceration rate of black men in
the U.S. today, reminding the listener of
slavery’s legacy.
Russell was inspired to write the track
after the news broke that George Zimmer-
man, a neighborhood watch coordinator,
was acquitted of charges in the shooting
death of Trayvon Martin, an unnarmed
black teenager.
Russell said the two musical traditions
were a natural fit. One thing that helped,
he said, is that many Jewish and African-
American songs are written in pentatonic
scale, with five notes per octave.
“When it came to melodies, and when
it came to the text, they flowed together
very well,” he said.
The two traditions have blended
together well in his life, too. Russell, who
grew up in a Christian family, said his
childhood Bible studies helped him on his
journey to becoming Jewish.
“I have a very strong connection to nar-
ratives of the Bible, the Jewish scriptures,
and I think this informed my decision to
become Jewish because I was familiar with
so many of the important narratives that
make up Judaism,” he said.
Russell converted to Judaism in 2011,
and four years later he married his long-
time boyfriend Rabbi Michael Rothbaum.
The couple live in Maynard, Massachu-
setts, a suburb about 22 miles west of
Boston, near the synagogue where Roth-
baum works, Congregation Beth Elohim
in Acton.
After graduating from college, Russell
worked as an opera singer for more than
a decade, but never got his big break.
Rothbaum suggested that he explore Jew-
ish music, but Russell dismissed the idea.
But that initial response didn’t last long,
and in 2011 Russell started teaching him-
self to sing in Yiddish.
He has traveled around the world per-
forming Yiddish songs at cultural festi-
vals, synagogues, and academic events.
He is also a member of the musical duo
Tsvey Brider, in which he and musician
Dmitri Gaskin create new music in Yid-
dish, including in the styles of cabaret,
disco, and pop.
A year after starting to pursue Yiddish
music, Russell decided to combine it with
I have a very strong connection
to narratives of the Bible, the
Jewish scriptures, and I think
this informed my decision to
become Jewish because I was
familiar with so many of
the important narratives that
make up Judaism
African-American music. He juxtaposed the
Yiddish song “Der Gemore Nign,” in which
a young homesick boy recites Talmud, with
the African-American spiritual “Sometimes
I Feel Like a Motherless Child.”
“My idea initially was to have it as a dia-
logue,” he said. “Here are these two chil-
dren — one black, one Ashkenazi Jewish
in the world of the 19th century — both
singing about their loneliness and alien-
ation from their families.”
Russell performed the song at events,
and it was well-received. Two years later
he performed it with Veretski Pass, a
klezmer instrumental trio, and the col-
laboration that eventually led to “Conver-
gence” was born.
Russell said the collaboration allows
him to honor all the parts that make up
his identity.
“When I made a decision to become
a Jew, it wasn’t a decision to completely
leave entire parts of myself behind. Of
course it was a decision to leave the
bacon- and shrimp-eating parts of myself
behind, which is very hard because it’s
in my ‘yerusha,’” he joked, using the
Hebrew term for inheritance.
“But I still wanted to be very much myself
as a black man, as somebody who is respon-
sive to black culture and black history, that’s
somebody who I wanted to be while I was
also being Jewish. So it’s almost like the
project as an outgrowth of that need to stay
true to myself while making that very con-
scious decision to be Jewish.”JTA WIRE SERVICE

54 JEWISH STANDARD AUGUST 24, 2018


Avowed one-stater about to go to Congress.
Is this the future of the Democratic Party?
RON KAMPEAS
WASHINGTON - Rashida Tlaib, the Demo-
cratic nominee in a surefire congressional
district comprising parts of Detroit, believes
in a one-state solution to the Israeli-Palestin-
ian conflict and says she would vote against
military assistance for Israel.
Does she represent a trend? Republicans
would like you to think so.
“This is the Democrat (sic) party,” the
Republican Jewish Coalition tweeted,
attached to a story about Tlaib’s view on
military aid.
Is Tlaib indeed the future of the Demo-
cratic Party or an outlier?
Democrats are more
sharply critical of Israel.
It’s true that Democrats have become more
critical of Israel. A breaking point in the
relationship was the March 2015 address by
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu
to Congress opposing President Barack
Obama’s Iran policy.
Most Democrats did not see eye to eye with
Israel over how to stop Iran from becoming
nuclear. But frustration with Netanyahu over
his pugnaciousness and disagreements with
a Democratic president led — some would
say freed — many Democrats to criticize Isra-
el’s policies regarding the Palestinians. That
was exacerbated by Netanyahu’s unabashed
embrace of President Donald Trump, who
pulled out of the Iran nuclear deal and moved
the U.S. Embassy to Jerusalem.
In July, 70 Democrats in the U.S. House of
Representatives — more than a third of the
caucus — signed a letter urging humanitar-
ian relief for the Gaza Strip, blaming both
Israel and Hamas for the crisis.
That letter, in turn, referred to a May let-
ter signed by 13 Democrats in the Senate —
out of 49 — that used the same language to
say Hamas and Israel were responsible for
the suffering of Palestinians in Gaza.
Bernie Sanders has become
an address for Israel criticism.
The Senate letter was initiated by Senator
Bernie Sanders, (I-Vt.), the Jewish candidate
who ran a surprisingly strong campaign in
Pascrell
FROM PAGE 9
— who called Israel’s founding a tragic mis-
take, only 11 or 12 minutes after the nation
was declared.
“He fought against the creation of
Israel tooth and nail. If his views had car-
ried the day, imagine what Israel would
have faced.”
Mr. Pascrell has written a letter to the
Secretary of State, Michael Pompeo, ask-
ing him to “register my dismay” that a
2016 for the Democratic presidential nomi-
nation. (Notably, the Israeli-American media
mogul Haim Saban, a major pro-Israel Dem-
ocratic benefactor, blasted the senators for
signing on.)
In that campaign, Sanders set the stage
for Israel-related factionalism within the
party when he directly challenged Hillary
Clinton on Israel issues in a debate on the
eve of the New York primary.
In the debate, Sanders used Clinton’s
favorable reception at the recent American
Israel Public Affairs Committee conferences
as a dig against her.
“You gave a major speech to AIPAC,
which obviously deals with the Middle East
crisis, and you barely mentioned the Pales-
tinians,” he said.
A decade ago, a major candidate
using AIPAC to ding a rival would have
been unimaginable.
Sanders has since become the main
address for Israel criticism within the party.
His office has released three videos sharply
critical of Israel since the March launch of Pal-
estinian protests on Israel’s border with Gaza.
But Tlaib remains
alone in her positions.
Sanders has also defended Israel on the left,
rejecting the Boycott, Divestment and Sanc-
tions movement targeting Israel last year in
an interview on Al Jazeera.
J Street, the liberal Jewish Middle East
policy group whose overarching issue is
two states, endorses more than half of the
Democratic caucus in both chambers. It
pulled its endorsement of Tlaib after her
post-primary revelation that she opposes
aid to Israel and backs a one-state solution.
Like many proponents of an independent
state for Palestinians side by side with Israel,
J Street rejects any solution that would
“threaten Israel’s identity as a democracy
and a Jewish homeland.”
When it comes to the one-state solution
— that is, a binational “Isratine” in which
West Bank and presumably Gazan Pales-
tinians are given the vote — Tlaib is even an
outlier among the two women with whom
she is most frequently grouped, Alexandria
Ocasio-Cortez of New York and Ilhan Omar
room at the department carries Mr. Hen-
derson’s name. The letter is dated August
15; so far, it has drawn no response.
In his letter, Mr. Pascrell quotes the
diplomat Richard Holbrooke, who
wrote, “Beneath the surface lay unspo-
ken but real anti-Semitism on the part
of some (but not all) policymakers” at
the State Department. He also quotes
Mr. Truman, who wrote in his memoirs
that he believed that anti-Semitism was
behind at least some of the opposition to
Israel at its creation.
Rashida Tlaib appearing on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” earlier this month.
of Minnesota.
Like Tlaib, they are both progressive
House nominees who have sharply criti-
cized Israel in the past. Unlike her, both
have embraced the two-state outcome and
resisted signing onto the BDS movement.
“We have a very, very small number
of problematic candidates with views on
Israel,” said Halie Soifer, the CEO of the cen-
trist Jewish Democratic Council of America.
Remember who Tlaib is.
Much of the focus of the “is Tlaib a trend”
talk is on the degree to which the Demo-
crats are ready to impose party discipline.
But there has been a tradition within both
parties of allowing lawmakers to stray from
orthodoxies, depending on their constitu-
ents and their own ethnic communities.
Consider, for instance, Senator Robert
Menendez of New Jersey, who is as strident
as ever in his insistence on isolating Cuba,
although his Democratic Party has moved
since Obama toward more openness. Demo-
crats are not likely to second-guess a Cuban
American for being a hardliner. Same goes
for the Jewish minority leader, Senator Chuck
Schumer of New York, who, playing on his
name, calls himself a “shomer Israel” — a
guardian of Israel.
That thinking would apply to Tlaib, whose
parents are from the West Bank, said James
Zogby, the president of the Arab American
Institute and a Democrat close to Sanders.
“Rashida is a Palestinian-American
So why name a room after Loy Hen-
derson? “It’s not an easy thing to find out
when and why a room was named,” Mr.
Pascrell said.
He knows that this is not a major issue,
but it is symbolic, and symbolism matters.
“We need to separate the wheat from
the chaff,” Mr. Pascrell said. “We depend
on facts. We look objectively at our allies,
and the role they play in securing peace
in the Middle East. We look at the rela-
tionship between us. It doesn’t have to
be a relationship of condescension, but of
Jewish World
SCREENSHOT FROM YOUTUBE
woman who grew up heavily steeped in
her culture and the circumstances of her
issue,” he said. “She’s more aware of the
Palestinian issue than anyone in Con-
gress before her. It’s in her bones, it’s in
her blood.”
You want a one-state trend?
Look to the Republicans.
The Trump administration, meanwhile, has
retreated from endorsing a two-state out-
come, and the Republican Party platform in
2016 also removed two-state language.
Of course, the one-state outcomes favored
by Republicans is one preferred by the pro-
Israel right, not the pro-Palestinian left. That
version envisions permanent Israeli control
of much of the West Bank. But that posture
creates openings for the far left, according
to Logan Bayroff, the director of communi-
cations for J Street.
“Any conversation about rise in support of
a one-state solution should note the fact that
our current administration has distanced
itself from the two-state solution,” he said.
Zogby, a proponent of the two-state out-
come, says support for one state is also fueled
by the actions of an Israeli government that
seems set on closing off the former.
“Saying ‘I support two states’ has become a
way of absolving yourself and doing nothing
while Israel every day makes achieving two
states harder to achieve” through settlement
expansion and other measures, he said.
 JTA WIRE SERVICE
support. We have to make clear who are
ally is. We won’t agree on everything. But
one thing is clear.
“We have a strong ally in Israel, and I
will do everything in my power to reaf-
firm that bond, which is critical to our
foreign policy.
“There may be more important things
than who a room is named after, but it is
peculiar to have it named after someone
who was resolutely against the founding
of Israel in 1948. The road to peace in the
Middle East runs through Israel.”
JEWISH STANDARD AUGUST 24, 2018 55
Kosher Crossword
“THE MAESTRO”
BY: YONI GLATT, KOSHERCROSSWORDS@GMAIL.COM
DIFFICULTY LEVEL: MEDIUM
Across
1. Parsha in between Shemot and Bo
7. Some bitter items
12. Chem. class measures
15. The only democracy in the
Middle East
16. Dangerous thing to fall into
17. Indication of being short, for short
18. Longtime New York employer of
39-Across
20. Atlantic cape
21. Stealing, e.g.
22. Coffee improver, for some
23. Soon, to Shylock
24. What 39-Across might be best
remembered for
28. “___ Vida” (2008 #1 hit)
31. Epic with many gods
32. Seder song with “Hu”
33. “The Handmaid’s Tale” author
36. “Sit, ___, sit. Good dog.” (lines during
some sitcom credits)
39. Music man who would have turned
100 on August 25th
43. Mineo of “Exodus”
44. Lifts, as morale
45. “...words of wisdom, let ___”
46. Perfect fit
48. Drooping eyelid, medically
50. 1953 Tony winner by 39-Across
55. Opening for Annie Leibovitz?
56. “Groovy”
57. Giant syllable
60. Amts. on a scale
61. 39-Across won 16 of them
65. Started Shabbat?
66. “Catch Me If You Can” airline
67. Hot jelly bean
68. Hillel and Ben Yehuda: Abbr.
69. What a Talmud has that an iTalmud
does not
70. Bar that isn’t kosher
The solution to last week’s puzzle is
on page 63.
56 JEWISH STANDARD AUGUST 24, 2018
Down
1. Big shots, for short
2. Notable Amoraic Rav
3. Ellie (Kemper) on “The Office”
4. Suffix with “president” or “proverb”
5. Fix a pump, maybe
6. Islamic holy site
7. Middle East terrorist organization
8. Gastroenteritis cause
9. Reagan, for short
10. Certain physical measurement,
for short
11. Kind of fly
12. Some multi-hand arrangements by
39-Across
13. Kind of roll
14. Favorable forecast
19. Bad place, job-wise
23. Words before crossroads or standstill
24. Say “Be careful” to
25. Christian outfits?
26. Musk people think is Jewish (he’s not)
27. Caesar and Vicious, e.g.
28. Actor Kilmer and others
29. What comes to mind
30. Some who brought 39-Across’s work
to life
33. Perhaps the least likely name for a
baby Jewish boy
34. Atlanta-based channel
35. Freshly painted, e.g.
37. Top dog in 15-Across
38. They’re number one in Paris
40. “... butterfly, sting like ___”
41. What stadium crowds do, sometimes
42. Suffix for orchestra and opera
47. Drill wielder: Abbr.
48. Kind of kugel
49. Like many streets or traffic
50. Smith and Rogers
51. Elliptical path
52. Deprive of machismo
53. “___ at ‘em!”
54. Largest river in Scotland
57. People rush to get into one
58. In screen saver mode, say
59. 10, in 15-Across
61. “Calculating” device
62. Make like Nissim
63. “___ ledodi, v’dodi li”
64. Some rush-hour periods: Abbr.
The Frazzled Housewife
Happy anniversary
T
he date was August 20, 1995.
The weather was sunny and
a bit humid. The venue was
Birchwood Manor in Whip-
pany, New Jersey. The caterer was Mau-
zone, with a wonderful man named
Alan Shulman at the helm. He had also
catered my bat mitzvah, and then all
three of my sons bar mitzvahs (after
the wedding, of course.)
The flowers were magnificent — lots
of white hydrangeas stunningly crafted
by the elusive “Mrs. Gold” of Monsey,
New York. Half the price of the Spitz
and Peck centerpieces that I loved
and just as gorgeous (which made the
in-laws happy). The groom was a law-
school graduate, who had already lost
most of his hair (so no one can say it
was my fault since it happened BEFORE
we married), but had a smile that could
and still does light up a room.
It was really a perfect six
hours. I only fell during the
dancing once, and I didn’t
fall off the chair when I was
picked up on one. Still don’t
know how they pulled that
off, but somehow they did.
My parents were thrilled
that they were able to
finally make a wedding for
their 24-year-old daughter. Banji
And the groom’s parents Ganchrow
were even happier to have
someone else take care of
him. I even managed to have some
bridesmaids — and, 23 years later, I
still talk to three out of the four! The
groom had two ushers, and he still
speaks to both.
What is a wedding, really? I ask
myself that question at every wedding
I go to. You see a groom that looks
like he would rather be executed than
under the chuppah. A bride that seems
to regret her dress choice. Most of the
time, like the most recent chuppah I
was at, you see a boy with tears in his
eyes who is walking toward his future
with the love of his life. And a bride
who usually eschews conventional
emotions, but looks all aglow and just
really happy.
But after 23 years, which makes me
more of an expert than anyone mar-
ried less than 23 years, but a ding dong
to those married more than 23 years,
I think I have finally learned what a
wedding is. It is taking two people who
think they have it all figured out — love, friend, sitting on the couch, watching
plans for the future, hopes and dreams
— and you stick them in an apartment
or house together and see how long it
takes for one of them to want to kill
the other one. If that doesn’t happen
within the first few years, and your
relationship morphs into one of solid
trust and friendship, then you know
What is a
wedding,
really? I ask
myself that
question at
every wedding
I go to.
you are doing OK. Like the bride who
was unhappy that her benchers didn’t
have her maiden name on them, so 19
years later, as an anniversary gift, her
groom bought her a new set of bench-
ers with her maiden name on them. Of
course it took 19 years, but that isn’t
the point. She finally
got them and she was
so happy because this
gift took thought, and
he knew she would love
them. So what it if took
almost 20 years … It’s
the thought that counts.
(Did I mention it took 19
years?)
I was thinking back to
gifts I have received over
the years of wedded
bliss and, honestly, the
only gifts that stand out are my boys.
You know my boys — the ones that
were only thoughts on the sunny and
humid day in August. Whenever I see
them, even if it is when they are driv-
ing me crazy, I still see them as the best
anniversary gifts. I spent my anniver-
sary this year with son #3, because the
other two deserted me for Camp Over-
time, a hockey camp at Camp Meso-
rah. And it was such a fun day. We saw
some famous Lakers player, we went to
the NHL store — because what is more
exciting than that? And a whole bunch
of other stuff that only this crazy mom
would do to make her kid happy.
As for my groom, he went to work,
he went to physical therapy, and then
he ate the dinner that I grilled for him.
I also bought him more Fanta and the
cream cheese he asked for. Because
that is how this marriage works. No
rose petals or bottles of wine. No woo-
ing or romantic overtures…just my best
little league baseball with son #3 and
eating his cherry ices. And that works
just fine. Happy 23 #1…..
Banji Ganchrow and her groom did not
exchange cards or gifts this year. But she
will probably buy herself something when
her groom isn’t paying attention…
 Arts & Culture
‘Under the layer of skin
we are all human’
Sasson Gabay talks about playing Zacharya in ‘The Band’s Visit’ on Broadway
CURT SCHLEIER

S
asson Gabay played Lt. Col. Taw-
fiq Zacharya in the 2007 Israeli
film “The Band’s Visit.” It was
about the night when, as a result
of major miscommunication, the Alexan-
dria (Egypt) Ceremonial Police Band got
lost and spent a night in a small Israeli town.
The film was a major international hit
and a star turn for Gabay, earning him
many international honors. A lot has hap-
pened to him since, but never — “not in my
life,” he said — did he think that 11 years
later he’d be starring in the same role in a
musical version of the play on Broadway.
According to Gabay, about seven years
ago the show’s lead producer, Orin Wolf,
came to Israel, met with him, and “he
asked me what do I think about the pos-
sibility to make a play out of this film, and
if I would come to do the part. I said I
would — but deep in my heart I thought
it impossible.
“On top of that, he was talking about
making it a musical, which sounded really
impossible. It was a very delicate film,
where nothing really happens. There’s no
killing, no running, no chasing. And about
seven years after we talked, it opened at
the [off-Broadway] Atlantic Theater, and it
became the wonderful, delicate, and gen- Sasson Gabay and Katrina Lenk head the Broadway cast of “The Band’s Visit.”
tle musical that the film deserved.”
“The Band’s Visit” won nearly every For many, following a Tony Award-win- Elkabetz — he dedicates his perfor- forced out. They didn’t have a choice to
major off-Broadway prize, and when it ning Tony (or a Bette) is off-putting. But mance to her — died of cancer two years leave. Remember this.”
moved to the Great White Way itself, the not in this case for Gabay. ago. Elkabetz, Gabay insists, would love Gabay’s family spent a year in an immi-
play was nominated for (among other “Tony did a very good job, but, after all, I Katrina Lenk’s Dina, but, for him, it was grant camp, after which “we built our
awards) 11 Tonys and won 10 of them, created the part, I know it more than any- “a new dynamic.” lives again.”
including one for Tony Shalhoub, who one,” he said. “And I have the background. Otherwise, he feels, despite changes His father had a successful textile busi-
played Col. Zacharya. I’m Jewish, but I came to Israel from an in world politics, the play stands up well. ness in Iraq and tried a number of jobs in
Almost a year ago, Wolf was back again, Arab country” — Iraq — “when I was 3 “It says under the layer of skin we are all Israel, but his lack of fluency in Hebrew
and again he asked Gabay if he’d be inter- years old. I have the background.” human. We have hearts that need love and hurt him. He ultimately opened a grocery
ested in recreating the role. Shalhoub Gabay remembers auditioning for the affection. I didn’t see it as a political film, shop in Haifa.
was well entrenched in the part, but he film’s screenwriter and director, Eran but you can’t ignore what the Israelis and Gabay recalls attending services with
was scheduled to leave for various TV Kolirin: “I was given a synopsis of the film Egyptians have done together. It’s been his father and a rooftop bar mitzvah offici-
commitments. Wolf needed a replace- and seven or eight lines to read. I immedi- many years since the peace process. And ated by his grandfather because the family
ment. It seemed a natural fit — and a pub- ately begged him, don’t look for another though we are from different countries couldn’t afford a catering hall. He studied
licity bonanza. actor. I know this man. There was an and different cultures we have found a theater at Tel Aviv University, and psychol-
When the offer became firm, “I immediate connection.” common ground.” ogy as a backup in case acting didn’t work,
responded positively,” Gabay said. It took That connection comes through, and If only it were so elsewhere. His family, but soon he realized that “I belong to this
some time. He was appearing in an Israeli in fact, Gabay’s performance seems more along with the entire Jewish community profession.” He had to be an actor.
production at the time, but in June he was comfortable than Shalhoub’s. “It was of 130,000 people, was forced to flee Iraq He’s been proven correct. His long
able to come to the States. like meeting an old friend I hadn’t met in the early 1960s. “Their property was career includes both film (he was in
“I didn’t dream about Broadway,” he said. in years.” confiscated,” he said. “Yes, we remember Rambo III among others), theater, televi-
“The most I figured was that I would go to Still, there are differences he had to the tragedy of the Palestinian refugees. sion, and now a Broadway run.
the East End of London.” get used to. His co-star in the film, Ronit But the Jews of Arab countries were also And he says, “I’m not finished yet.”

JEWISH STANDARD AUGUST 24, 2018 57

Calendar
AUG. The summer concert
series at the Wayne
30
YMCA concludes with
violinist Deni Bonet,
who also is a singer, songwriter,
and performer, at 7 p.m. The
Metro YMCAs of the Oranges is a
partner of the YM-YWHA of North
Jersey. 1 Pike Drive. (973) 595-
0100 or www.metroymcas.org/
rosenpac.
Friday  open to visitors at noon
AUGUST 24
Shabbat in Emerson:
Congregation B’nai Israel
offers an open house
Shabbat, 8 p.m., with
Rabbi Debra Orenstein,
Cantor Lenny Mandel,
Hebrew school principal
Karen Weiss, religious
school families, and other
congregants. 53 Palisade
Ave. (201) 265-2272,
membership.chair@
bisrael.com, or bisrael.
com.
Sunday 
AUGUST 26
Concert in Park Ridge:
The free Bergen County
Summer Music Concert
series at the Wortendyke
Barn Museum, a county
historic site in Park Ridge,
continues with the blues/
jazz/rock Charlie Jones
Group, 4 p.m. Limited
seating is available;
people are welcome to
bring chairs and blankets;
a food vendor will be
58 JEWISH STANDARD AUGUST 24, 2018
there and the museum is
and during intermission.
The free outdoor
music series continues
September 23, with the
Reggie Pittman/Loren
Daniels Quartet (rhythm
& blues/jazz), and
October 28, with the 8th
annual Bluegrass & Cider
festival. (201) 336-7292
or email glucente@
co.bergen.nj.us.
Discussing Uganda
in Fair Lawn: The
Fair Lawn Jewish
Center/Congregation
B’nai Israel welcomes
Walema Elifazi Eria
of the Abayudaya
Jewish community in
Uganda who will lead
an informal discussion,
8 p.m. 10-10 Norma Ave.
(201) 796-5040.
Monday  include Kawai,
AUGUST 27
Health care fraud: The
Jewish Home Assisted
Living in River Vale offers
a program, “Protect
Yourself from Healthcare
Fraud,” facilitated by
Senior Medicare Patrol,
a national program for
Medicare recipients
of all ages, 11 a.m.
685 Westwood Ave.
(201) 666-2370 or
JewishHomeFamily.org.
Tuesday  Federation Apartments
AUGUST 28
Blood drive in Teaneck:
Holy Name Medical
Center holds a blood
drive with New Jersey
Blood Services, a
division of New York
Blood Center, 2-8 p.m.
718 Teaneck Road.
(800) 933-2566 or www.
nybloodcenter.org.
Thursday  Township: Temple Beth
AUGUST 30
Film in Fort Lee: In
anticipation of Selichot,
the JCC of Fort Lee/
Congregation Gesher
Shalom screens an Israeli
movie, “The Band’s Visit
— Part 1,” 8:15 p.m., after
minyan. Part 2 will be
shown at 8:30 on Sept.
1 at a Selichot program.
1449 Anderson Ave.
(201) 947-1735.
Friday  www.bethrishon.org.
AUGUST 31
Piano sale in Tenafly:
The Thurnauer School of
Music at the Kaplen JCC
on the Palisades and
Forte Piano of Paramus
hold their annual sale
of upright, grand, and
digital pianos at greatly
reduced prices over
Labor Day weekend at
the JCC. Manufacturers
Bosendorfer, Schimmel,
Baldwin, Steinway,
Knabe, Yamaha, and
Roland. Friday and
Sunday, 10 a.m.-6 p.m.;
Monday, 10 a.m.-5 p.m.
411 East Clinton Ave.
(201) 265-1212 or (800)
PIANO-55.
Saturday  The JCC of Paramus/
SEPTEMBER 1
Shabbat in Paterson:
The Paterson Shul at
has Shabbat services,
9 a.m. Kiddush honors Phil
Kestenbaum, a regular
Torah reader at the
shul, on his bar mitzvah
anniversary. Groups in Fair
Lawn meet at the Morlot
and Broadway bridges at
8:30. 510 E. 27th Street
(corner of 12th Avenue).
www.PatersonShul.com
or email JerrySchranz@
gmail.com.
Selichot in Washington
El in Closter joins Temple
Beth Or in Washington
Township for services,
8 p.m. Desserts and a
program to encourage
contemplation
and reflection. 56
Ridgewood Road.
(201) 768-5112 or tbenv.
org or (201) 664-7422 or
templebethornj.org.
Selichot in Wyckoff:
Temples Beth Rishon in
Wyckoff, Shomrei Torah
in Wayne, and Beth
Haverim Shir Shalom
of Mahwah have a joint
Selichot program and
service at Beth Rishon,
8:30 p.m. 585 Russell
Ave. (201) 891-4466 or
Selichot in Fort Lee: The
Israeli movie “The Band’s
Visit — Part 2” is shown
at a pre-Selichot program
at the JCC of Fort Lee/
Congregation Gesher
Shalom,” 8:30 p.m., after
Maariv and Havdalah. A
collation follows at 9:15,
and services at 9:30.
1449 Anderson Ave.
(201) 947-1735.
Selichot in Woodcliff
Lake: Temple Emanuel
of the Pascack Valley
and Congregation B’nai
Israel in Emerson join for
a program at Emanuel,
8:30 p.m. Havdalah,
services, and dessert.
87 Overlook Drive.
(201) 391-0801 or Underwritten by UJA-
tepv.org. Federation of New York’s
Jewish Community
Selichot in Paramus:
Deaf Interpreter Fund.
(212) 677-0368V, www.
Congregation Beth tandv.org, or email Bram
Tikvah invites the at bramweiser@usa.net.
community to its annual
Selichot reception
and service, this year
honoring Rabbi Avram Singles
Kogen, 9 p.m. Rabbi
Kogen has been the
shul’s Torah reader since
Friday 
2010. Dessert reception AUGUST 31
followed by services at
10:30. 304 East Midland Shabbaton: Sharon
Ave. (201) 262-7691 or Ganz & Friends hosts
www.jccparamus.org. a Labor Day Weekend
Shabbaton for Jewish
Selichot in Teaneck: singles at Young Israel
Congregation Beth of Avenue J in Brooklyn,
Sholom hosts a panel, through Saturday
“It’s a Long Time night. Fee includes
Coming: Reflection on three Shabbat meals,
Injustice and the Will Flatbush tour, guest
to Overcome,” where speakers, and Saturday
four CBS members talk night party. Home
about their trip to the hospitality. 1721 Avenue
Deep South, looking J. (646) 529-8748 or
at the evolution of the
civil rights movement.
(718) 575-3962.
Panel at 9 p.m., Selichot
services at 10:45. Sunday 
345 Maitland Ave. SEPTEMBER 2
(201) 833-2620 or www.
cbsteaneck.org. Seniors meet in West
Nyack: Singles 65+
Tuesday  meets for a social bagels
and lox brunch at the
SEPTEMBER 4 JCC Rockland, 11 a.m. All
are welcome, particularly
Fantasy football in those from Hudson,
Closter: Temple Emanu- Passaic, Bergen, or
El’s Men’s Club has a Rockland counties. 450
Fantasy Football League West Nyack Road. Gene,
draft, 7:30 p.m. Pizza. (845) 356-5525.
180 Piermont Road. Pre-
registration required,
(201) 750-9997 or
joshlevinson@artistictile.
com.
Announce
In New York your events
We welcome announce-
Saturday  ments of upcoming events.
Announcements are free.
AUGUST 25 Accompanying photos must
be high resolution, jpg files.
ASL-interpreted Send announcements 2 to 3
Shabbat service: Town weeks in advance. Not every
& Village Synagogue
in Manhattan holds
release will be published.
Include a daytime telephone
an ASL-interpreted number and send to:
Shabbat service, with full
pr@jewishmediagroup.
readings from the Torah
com • 201-837-8818 x 110
and haftorah, 10 a.m.
Kiddush follows. 334 East
b
14th St., between First
and Second avenues.
T
C
“
L
a
l
d
a
f
s

Gearing up for a charity ride
Andiamo Restaurant in Haworth will host
its 19th annual benefit motorcycle run on
Sunday, September 9, at 10:20 a.m.; regis-
tration starts at 8. Nearly 1,000 riders and
thousands of participants will join for one of
New Jersey’s largest fundraisers on wheels.
The ride, led by a motorcycle police
brigade, with representatives from police
departments from all over New Jersey and
New York, leaves from Andiamo and fol-
lows a 60-mile course through northeast
New Jersey and southeast New York. The
ride comes back to Andiamo and ends
with a block party celebration, including
Register for Samitt 5K Run
Registration is open for the second annual
Mark Samitt 5K Run. It’s set for Sunday,
October 14, at 9 a.m. The USATF-certified
race will be held rain or shine and is open
to runners and walkers of all ages. The fam-
ily-friendly run will begin and end at Tem-
ple Beth Or, 56 Ridgewood Road, Wash-
ington township. Last year, more than 185
runners and walkers registered.
Proceeds from the run will benefit two
of Mark Samitt’s passions — Temple Beth
Or and the Melanoma Research Founda-
tion, a nonprofit where Mr. Samitt created
the melanoma awareness campaign called
Mark the SPOT!
Mark Samitt was a beloved family man,
devoted friend, Temple Beth Or board
member, runner, and successful business
professional who died at 52 in 2015 after
bergenPAC featuring dance tour
The Bergen Performing Arts
Center in Englewood presents
“So You Think You Can Dance
Live!” on Monday, October 15,
at 7:30 p.m.
The all-new tour features the
latest finalists in a high energy
dance tour that highlights the
audience’s favorite numbers
from Season 15, along with
some new surprises.
For tickets, go to www.ticketmaster.com or call bergenPAC’s box office at (201) 227-1030.
Calendar
Cedar Market celebrates 5 years
with a variety of incentives
This week marks Cedar Market’s fifth Savings’ and our mission is to service the
anniversary. In honor of the milestone, community in the best way possible,”
there will be a SALE-A-BRATION all added Hollander. “Over the years, we
week long with amaz- have been sensitive to
courtesy Englewood Health
ing deals, giveaways, the needs and wants of
contests, and more. our customers. We’re
Be sure to follow always open to feed-
Cedar Market on Face- back on our products
book and Instagram, and we pride ourselves
where there will be on being responsive
information on flash and reactive.” Store
deals, giveaways, tast- manager Oscar Cuevas
ings, and early access added “customer sat-
to deals.
“We are celebrating
isfaction is our highest
priority.”
food and entertainment. The rain date is with the community in Cedar Market is
September 16. high style for their loyalty to us, bring- located at 646 Cedar Lane in Teaneck.
Proceeds support the Englewood Health ing them amazing deals and crazy low Check this week’s Jewish Standard’s
Foundation, Haworth Volunteer Ambu- prices” said Yossi Hollander, the store’s back cover for the store’s anniversary
lance, Special Olympics, Haworth Police owner. “Our motto is ‘Fine Foods, Great savings ad.
Auxiliary, Andiamo Scholarship, and other
local charities.
Andiamo’s owner, Don Dickstein, ini-
tially launched the run in 2000 to raise
funds for the Cresskill Police Department,
and since has expanded the event in sup- A piano sale of note in Tenafly
port of additional charity beneficiaries. The Thurnauer School
To register, go to andiamorun.com or of Music at the Kaplen
call (201) 384-1551. JCC on the Palisades in
Tenafly and Forte Piano of
Paramus join to hold their
annual sale of upright,
grand, and digital pia-
a long and valiant fight with melanoma, nos, all at greatly reduced
the deadliest form of skin cancer. In the prices, over Labor Day
midst of his battle, he created the cam- weekend. The sale will be
paign affiliated with the MRF, aimed at on Friday, August 31, and
creating awareness among the hairstylist September 2 and 3, from
JCCOTP
community about spotting unusual moles 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.; and on
or lesions during a routine styling process. Monday, September 3,
The campaign urged stylists, “If you SPOT from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
something, say something!” The sale will feature a selection of and Roland. It will be in the Taub Audi-
“Many times melanoma is silent, you new and pre-owned acoustic and digi- torium at the JCC, 411 East Clinton Ave.,
don’t feel it as it’s going through your body,” tal pianos from famous manufacturers, Tenafly. For information or to schedule
Mark Samitt said, just a few months before such as Kawai, Bosendorfer, Schimmel, an appointment, call (201) 265-1212 or
his death. “But it sometimes shows itself by Baldwin, Steinway, Knabe, Yamaha, (800) PIANO-55.
having marks on the skin, and that’s where
we have the chance of early detection. That
is why this program is so impactful.”
To register or for donation and sponsor-
ship opportunities, go to www.marksamitt-
run.org or call (201) 664-7422. Lectures to probe the Book of Jonah
Rabbi Larry Rothwachs of Congregation Beth Aaron,
Teaneck, begins a lecture series on the Book of Jonah, “Sefer
Yonah: Models of Teshuva and Profiles of Prayer.” The series
opens on Wednesday, August 29, with “Prophets and Losses:
Discerning the Messages within Yonah’s Silence.” All sessions
begin at 8:30 p.m.
It continues September 5 with “A Deep Wail from Deep
within the Whale: Yonah’s Finest Moment.”
On September 12, he will discuss “Look Who’s Sorry Now:
Courtesy bergenPAC
A Closer Look at the Repentant City of Nineveh.” The series
ends on September 17 with “The Truth, the Whole Truth, and
Nothing But the Truth: The Timeless Message of Sefer Yonah.” Rabbi Larry
Sessions can be watched live at https://facebook.com/larry. Rothwachs
rothwachs.
The shul is at 950 Queen Anne Road. For information, call (201) 836-6210 or go to
www.bethaaron.org.
Jewish Standard AUGUST 24, 2018 59
Jewish World Obituaries

Frederick
Goldstein
Frederick Goldstein of
Bergenfield, formerly of
Brooklyn, died August 19.
He was employed at
Workmen’s Circle Home
for the Aged in the
Bronx, and as a security
guard for S.O.S. Security
Services.
Predeceased by his
wife, Juliet, née Salkind,
and a sister, Gertrude, he
is survived by a daughter,
Laura Goldstein (Colin
Swift) of Bergenfield,
three grandchildren, and
nieces and nephews.
Donations can be made
to Start II Animal Rescue,
Elmwood Park, or the
Bergenfield Volunteer
Ambulance Corps.
Arrangements were by
Gutterman and Musicant
Jewish Funeral Directors,
The view down an alley off the street where Nazi camp guard Jakiw Palij lived for years in Queens, N.Y.  Celeste Sloman for the Washington Post Hackensack.

Nazi camp guard Jakiw Palij, 95,
deported from the U.S. to Germany
Cnaan Liphshiz
A former guard at a Nazi concentration camp was
deported to Germany from the United States,
where he had lived for decades.
Jakiw Palij, 95, had lived in Queens, New York.
He served as a guard at the Trawniki concentra-
tion camp near Lublin, Poland, during World
War II, and may face prosecution in Germany for
his actions.
Members of New York’s congressional delega-
tion last year urged the Trump administration
to deport Palij, whose citizenship was revoked
in 2003 based on his wartime activities, human
rights abuses, and immigration fraud. A fed-
eral court also ruled that he had assisted in the
persecution of prisoners at the camp, though
it stopped short of finding him responsible for
deaths.
A statement released by the White House after
Palij landed in Germany commended President
Donald Trump and Immigration and Customs
Enforcement for “removing this war criminal
from United States soil.”
Palij was born on former Polish territory, an
area now located in Ukraine. He immigrated to
the United States in 1949 and became a citizen
in 1957, but concealed his Nazi service saying
that he spent World War II working in a factory
and on a farm.
Palij told Justice Department investigators
who showed up at his door in 1993, “I would
never have received my visa if I told the truth.
Everyone lied.”
He later admitted to officials that he attended
a Nazi SS training camp in Trawniki in German-
occupied Poland and then served as an armed
Marvin Levitt
Marvin B. “Marvelous
Marv” Levitt, 86, of Fair
Lawn, died August 14.
A Brooklyn College
graduate, he served
guard at its adjacent forced-labor camp. deliver justice.” overseas from 1955-56,
According to the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Although members of the Jewish community retired as an industrial
Museum, the Trawniki camp was part of Opera- of New York have held demonstrations outside of paint chemist, and was
tion Reinhard, the Nazi operation to murder the his house in Queens for years, Palij seemed unim- a certified massage
approximately two million Jews residing in Ger- pressed, telling the New York Post in 2013 that he therapist and instructor.
man-occupied Poland. was “starting to get used to it.” He was president of
Because Germany, Poland, Ukraine and other “They told us we would be picking up mines. Fair Lawn Independent
countries refused to take him, he continued liv- But that was a lie,” he told the paper. “In that Democrats and ran
ing in limbo in the two-story, red brick home in camp they took us — 17-, 18-, 19-year-old boys. campaigns for Fair Lawn
Queens he shared with his wife, Maria, now 86. I am one of them. They did not give us Nazi mayors.
Germany’s Foreign Office said its decision to uniforms. They gave us guard uniforms: pants, He is survived by his
accept Palij showed the country was accepting black; shirts, light brown; and hats with one wife of 64 years, Gloria,
its “moral responsibility.” And Foreign Minister button in the front. You could tell we were not children, Jeri, Sunni,
Heiko Maas told the German tabloid Bild that Nazis. If you tried to run away, they take your and Larry, and two
those who “committed the worst crimes on family and shoot all of them.” grandchildren.
behalf of Germans” would be held accountable. “I am not SS. I have nothing to do with SS,” Donations can be
A reporter from ABC News who was pres- he added. sent to the American
ent when Pajil was removed by ICE on Monday Efraim Zuroff, the Eastern Europe direc- Civil Liberties Union.
morning described him as “looking frail with tor of the Simon Wiesenthal Center, said in a Arrangements were by
missing front teeth visible through his white statement that a “14-year long campaign has Louis Suburban Chapel,
beard. The only noise he made was a pained finally been crowned with success. Trawniki Fair Lawn.
howl as agents hoisted him from his wheelchair guards do not deserve the privilege of living in
onto the ambulance stretcher.” the United States and that was finally achieved Rose Josephs
His deportation comes after years of protests last night.” Rose Zelda Josephs, née
by Jewish groups. Earlier this year, a group Edward Mosberg, a 93-year-old Holocaust Lew, 86, died August 11.
of more than 80 New York politicians, led by survivor from Poland and now a property She lived in Maywood,
Assemblyman Dov Hikind, petitioned the developer from New Jersey, said that although Englewood Cliffs, and
Trump administration regarding Pajil. the “decision comes late, it is a good and posi- Wyckoff.
“I never gave up on this issue because Palij’s tive action and we are grateful to the United A homemaker,
presence here mocked the memory of the mil- States for bringing this evil man to receive she belonged to the
lions who perished,” Hikind said in a statement punishment for his crimes.” sisterhood of Temple
Tuesday. “There was no question of his guilt. Mosberg was quoted Tuesday during a Sinai in Tenafly, and
It was imperative that someone responsible tour of the Auschwitz memorial museum in volunteered for the
for Nazi atrocities be held accountable for his Poland. He attended it with four Republican Englewood Cliffs
crimes. While his victims can no longer seek members of Congress as part of a delegation Ambulance Corps in the
justice, I am delighted that our President’s of the From the Depths Holocaust commemo- 1970s and 1980s.
administration took it upon themselves to ration group. JTA Wire Service Predeceased by her

60 Jewish Standard AUGUST 24, 2018

 Obituaries

husband Sidney in 2017, she is survived by daughters,

Joanne Weber, Betty Josephs, and Cindy Cohn (David), Marilyn Kay Taffet
and three grandchildren. Marilyn Kay Taffet, née
Donations can be sent to the American Stroke Kaufman, a saleswoman
Association. Arrangements were by Gutterman and and community leader, died
Musicant Jewish Funeral Directors, Hackensack. Funeral Planning Simplified August 10, 2018.

Ethel Rapkin
Ethel Rapkin, née Nisler, 98, of Sacramento, Calif.,
201.261.2900 | 789 Teaneck Road, Teaneck, NJ 07666
formerly of Jersey City, died August 19.
Before retiring, she was a nurse at Greenville
Hospital and the Hebrew Home for the Aged, and a
health teacher at Lincoln High School, all in Jersey City.
She was secretary of Workmen’s Circle Branch 59-504,
Jersey City, and a member of Workmen’s Circle in New
York City and Bayonne.
Predeceased by her husband, Morris, in 1992, she
is survived by sons, Marwin of Allendale and Saul of
Folsom, Calif., and two grandchildren.
Arrangements were by Eden Memorial Chapels,
Fort Lee.
Obituaries are prepared with
information provided by funeral homes.
Correcting errors is the responsibility
• Prepaid funerals and all medicaid funeral benefits honored
of the funeral home.
13-01 Broadway (Route 4 West) · Fair Lawn, NJ
Richard Louis - Manager George Louis - Founder
Established 1902
BergenJewishChapel.com Beloved wife of Michael
I. Taffet z”l. Devoted mother
of Debra Taffet and Paul
& Maria Taffet. Adoring
Owner/Manager Daniel W. Leber, NJ Lic. No3186
grandmother of Jacob, Sarah
& Isabel Taffet.
She was a volunteer and
Robert Schoem’s Menorah Chapel, Inc board member for the Bergen County Section of
Jewish Funeral Directors National Council of Jewish Women for nearly 40
Family Owned & managed years, serving several terms as Vice President and later
Generations of Lasting Service to the Jewish Community on the Mid-Atlantic District Board. Marilyn joined
• Serving NJ, NY, FL & • Our Facilities Will Accommodate Jewish Family Services as a volunteer in 1978, where
Throughout USA Your Family’s Needs
• Prepaid & Preneed Planning • Handicap Accessibility From she served on the board and chaired many committees
• Graveside Services Large Parking Area
during her long tenure there. Her love was settling
Gary Schoem – Manager - NJ Lic. 3811 Russian Jews in the time when the Soviet Union
Jordan E. Schoem – Funeral Director - NJ Lic. 5146
Conveniently Located
allowed them to emigrate. As chair of the NCJW & JFS
W-150 Route 4 East • Paramus, NJ 07652 New Americans committees, she found apartments,
201.843.9090 1.800.426.5869 furniture, housewares, & clothing for the families,
arranged for volunteers to teach the adults English,
and helped enroll their children in school. She enlisted
201-791-0015 800-525-3834 doctors, lawyers, and other professionals to provide pro
LOUIS SUBURBAN CHAPEL, INC. bono services, secure job training and employment, and
Exclusive Jewish Funeral Chapel more. In 1990, for this all-consuming volunteer work,
Sensitive to Needs of the Jewish Community for Over 50 Years Marilyn was given NCJW’s highest honor: the Hannah
• Serving NJ, NY, FL & Israel G. Solomon Award.
• Graveside services at all NJ & NY cemeteries She was a bridge builder facilitating interreligious
and interracial dialog groups as the president of the
“Always within a family’s financial means” Jewish Community Council of Teaneck, committee
chair at United Jewish Community of Bergen County,
trustee of Jewish Community Relations Council
NJ Lic. No. 3088 1924-1996 and other civic organizations, and longstanding
board member and chair of the Teaneck Holocaust
Commemoration Committee.
The Christopher Family Contributions in her memory can be made to:
National Council of Jewish Women, Bergen County
serving the Jewish community Section or the Teaneck Holocaust Commemoration
since 1900 Committee.

Paterson Monument Co.

— Paid Obituary —
Headstones, Duplicate Markers and Cemetery Lettering
With Personalized and Top Quality Service
MAIN BRANCH
Please call 1-800-675-5624 Paterson, NJ 07502 Pompton Plains, NJ 07444 We continue to be Jewish family managed,
www.kochmonument.com
317 Totowa Ave.
973-942-0727 Fax 973-942-2537
681 Rt. 23 S.
973-835-0394 Fax 973-835-0395
knowing that caring people provide caring service.
76 Johnson Ave., Hackensack, NJ 07601 TOLL FREE 800-675-0727
www.patersonmonument.com GUTTERMAN AND MUSICANT
JEWISH FUNERAL DIRECTORS
800-522-0588
WIEN & WIEN, INC. MEMORIAL CHAPELS
A Traditional Jewish Experience 800-322-0533
402 Park Street, Hackensack, New Jersey 07601
Pre-Planning Specialists • Graveside and Chapel Services
ALAN L. MUSICANT, Mgr., N.J. Lic. No. 2890
MARTIN D. KASDAN, N.J. Lic. No. 4482
Barry Wien - NJ Lic. No. 2885 Advance Planning Conferences Conveniently Arranged
Frank Patti, Jr. - NJ Lic. No. 4169 at the Funeral Home or in Your Own Home
Arthur Musicant - NJ Lic. No. 2544 GuttermanMusicantWien.com
Frank Patti, Sr. Director - NJ Lic. No. 2693

327 Main St, Fort Lee, NJ

201-947-3336 · 888-700-EDEN www.thejewishstandard.com
www.edenmemorial.com

Jewish Standard AUGUST 24, 2018 61

Classified
Help Wanted Help Wanted
(201) 837-8818
Cleaning Service Handyman Masonry

new baby store in Teaneck A Team of Your Neighbor with Tools PICCA Masonry
YBH of Passaic seeks enthusiastic & looking to hire saleslady; Polish Women Home Improvements & Handyman Est. 1955
experienced staff for the Elementary division: excellent salary.
Please e-mail resume to Clean PAINTING · FINISHING Waterproofing · Steps
General Studies Assistants rifkasch@gmail.com • Apartments • CARPENTRY · HANDIWORK Walls · Tile · Repairs
or call Homes • Offices Shomer Shabbat · Free Estimates Lic #13vh00258800
General Studies Perm Sub Experienced • References Over 20 Years Experience
347-628-9149
General Studies Maternity Leave Sub 201-679-5081 Adam 201-675-0816 201-967-9295
Email resume: ppersin@ybhpassaic.org Situations Wanted amark2@hotmail.com · NJ Lic. #13VH05023300
Plumbing
Instagram: yourneighborwithtools
a loving experienced CAREGIVER
Preschool Positions looking for position in Bergen and Home Improvements APL Plumbing & Heating LLC
Looking for a dynamic, experienced Judaic studies Essex County .Reliable, driver/own Complete Kitchen &
of teaching,warm
YBH seeks
Kindergarten teacher enthusiastic,
who will
and professionalism
bring creativity, love
full & part timetoassistants
join our early
car 973 517-0258
BESTof the BEST
B”H
Get results! Bath Remodeling
Boilers · Hot Water Heaters · Leaks
childhood department.
Email resume: ppersin@ybhpassaic.org
Applicants should have a positive “can do” attitude,
Experienced babysitter availa-
ble, Monday-Friday, live out, Eng-
lish speaking, excellent references
Home Repair Service
Carpentry Painting
Advertise on EMERGENCY SERVICE
Fully Licensed, Bonded and Insured
NO JOB IS TOO SMALL!
high level of energy and possess strong instructional,
classroom management, and communication skills.
201-546-6468 Decks
Locks/Doors
Kitchens
Electrical this page. 201-358-1700 · Lic. #12285

201-837-8818
Basements Paving/Masonry
Job duties include: planning curriculum within a Cleaning Service Bathrooms Drains/Pumps
co-teaching supportive team, assessing the needs
Plumbing Maintenence
of individual children, implementing differentiated Tiles/Grout Hardwood Floors
A POLISH CLEANING WOMAN
instruction, supporting the whole child, and working
- Homes, Apartments, Offices- General Repairs Roofing
cooperatively with parents as partners. 15 years experience, excellent
NO JOB IS TOO SMALL
Please send resume to Shani Norman at
shani.norman@yavnehacademy.org
references.
Affordable rates! 24 Hour x 5 1/2 Emergency Services
Shomer Shabbat Free Estimates
ROOFING · SIDING
HACKENSACK GUTTERS · LEADERS

Izabela 973-572-7031
1-201-530-1873 ROO
Freeof Passaic
YBH FING enthusiastic
OOFING
seeks Roof&
Estimates O. Elementary
experienced staff forCthe Repairs
division:
GENERAL STUDIES TEACHERS Antiques General Studies
INC. Assistants
Passaic, NJ Boys’ school has a few openings in 201-487-5050 83 FIRST STREET
General StudiesHACKENSACK,
Perm Sub NJ 07601
General Studies department. All positions are
Monday - Thursdays - No Fridays!!!
Sterling Associates Auctions General Studies Maternity Leave Sub
Email resume: ppersin@ybhpassaic.org
Help Wanted
• 5th Grade Teacher 1:30-4:45 pm SEEKING CONSIGNMENT AND
Preschool Positions
• 6th - 8th Grade Teachers - Science, History,
Math, ELA – 2-5:30 PM – Candidates who
OUTRIGHT PURCHASES YBH seeks enthusiastic,
are available 2-3:30 or 3:30/4-5:30 PM will be Sculpture · Paintings · Porcelain · Silver warm full & part time assistants
considered as well.. Jewelry · Furniture · Etc. Email resume: ppersin@ybhpassaic.org
• Bldg/Perm Subs also needed. TOP CASH PRICES PAID
Bach degree pref in Educ or related field, 2+ yrs 201-768-1140 · www.antiquenj.com Senior Care
classroom teaching experience, Email resume info@antiquenj.com
bhykop@gmail.com or fax 973-778-5697 537 Broadway, Norwood, NJ 07648

ASK ABOUT OUR FREE APPRAISAL SERVICE.

Antiques CALL FOR AN APPOINTMENT.

Antiques Wanted We pay cash for

Antique Furniture
WE BUY Modern Furniture
Modern Art
• Oil Paintings • Silver
Paintings
• Bronzes • Porcelain
Bronzes ❖ Silver Merchandise Wanted
• Oriental Rugs • Furniture Chinese Porcelain & Art
• Marble Sculpture • Jewelry Men’s & Women’s Watches VINYL RECORDS
• Tiffany Items • Chandeliers Top Dollar for any kind of WANTED
• Chinese Art • Bric-A-Brac Jewelry, including costume Immediate cash for your
60’s vinyl records.
Prefer classic rock.
Tyler Antiques ANS A Also buying concert
• Established by Bubbe in 1940! • Over 25 years courteous service to tri-state area
posters from the
We come to you ❖ Free Appraisals ’50s & ’60s
tylerantiquesny@aol.com Shommer Please email James at
Call Us! Shabbas JLJComm@aol.com
201-894-4770 201-861-7770 ❖ 201-951-6224
or call 201-403-4834
and leave a message.
Shomer Shabbos www.aadsa726@yahoo.com Bergen County resident.

62 Jewish Standard AUGUST 24, 2018

 Classified

Solution to last week’s puzzle. This week’s puzzle is

on page 56.

“ Being hungry affects your

appearance, how you act.
When I’m hungry, I’m not in the
“
mood for anything.

PARTY
PLANNER

Jewish Music with an Edge

Ari Greene · 201-837-6158
AGreene@BaRockorchestra.com
www.BaRockOrchestra.com

Inspired by Jewish values and ideals, MAZON is a national advocacy

organization working to end hunger among people of all faiths and
backgrounds in the United States and Israel.

Help us end hunger.

Please donate today.

Call us. We’re waiting for 10850 Wilshire Blvd. Suite 400, Los Angeles CA 90024
your classified ad! (800) 813-0557 | mazon.org
201-837-8818
Jewish standard aUGUst 24, 2018 63
 Tr a d i t i o n !
Wish your family, friends,
Best Wishes
for a
Joyous
Warm wishes for a
filled with Health, H
New Year
appiness
and Special Blessin
gs
New Year
Jewish Standard readers and -NAME-
-NAME-
customers a Sweet New Year in our Ad #1 - 1 /2"w x 2"d
1 $36 Ad #2 - 31/8"w x 2"
d $72

ROSH HASHANAH
GREETING SECTION We wish
the Jewish
SEPTEMBER 7 Community
You can have your own personal greeting (see samples).
Many other sizes to fit your copy and budget. a Very Happy
New Year -NAME-

L’Shanah Tovah
Ad #4 - 5"w x 2½"d $135

-NAME-
Ad #3 - 3 /8”w x 3”d
1
$108

YES, I WOULD LIKE

A ROSH HASHANAH GREETING
Wishing you a
Happy
#1 #2 #3 #4 #5
(or call 201-837-8818 for other sizes)
Wording ____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________

New Year
____________________________________________________________________

Name ______________________________________________________________

Address ____________________________________________________________

Phone ______________________________________________________________

Credit Card # ________________________________________________________

Exp. date _________________________ Code _____________________________

Fax to 201-833-4959 or mail (with a check if you prefer) to:
-NAME-
The Jewish Standard · 1086 Teaneck Rd. · Teaneck, NJ 07666 Ad #5 - 5”w x 6.5”d $350

DEADLINE: SEPTEMBER 4
64 JEWISH STANDARD AUGUST 24, 2018
  Real Estate & Business

Tabor Winery: Where technology and Let Us Finance Your

Jewish innovation revolutionize taste House Purchase
YAEL E. GELLER • Direct lender
Nestled in the foothills of the picturesque Mount Tabor • 2 to 3 day approval
is something unique only to Israel. Tabor Winery, one • Closings within 30 days
of many wineries situated in the Galilee region of
Northern Israel. However, there are many aspects of • Northern NJ Appraisers
this family-established winery which set it apart from • FHA loans w/55% debt ratio
other wineries in the region and in Israel.
Tabor winery was started in 1999, and at the time
•SUN
Credit
AUG scores as OPEN
26, 1-3PM low as 580
HOUSE
was producing a mere 1,500 cases of Merlot and Cab- 209 King St, Englewood E. Hill
ernet Sauvignon. The 2000s was a time of growth and NEW LISTING! Stunning
prosperity not only for the expansion of the produc- 4BR, 4.5 BTH col attractively
tion line, but also for the variety and quality of the renovated w high quality
wines. In 2005 something amazing happened. The Michal Akerman chooses the types of grapes and materials & craftsmanship.
Gourmet kit, MBR suite,
Coca Cola Company of Israel acquired the majority of soil composition for the winery. inviting entertaining &
shares in Tabor winery, expanding its portfolio into dining areas, basketball
the wine industry. get her hands dirty. Her passion for her job is contagious court. Near
Larry NYC bus, shops
DeNike Daniel M. Shlufman
One would think that this acquisition would industri- as she explains the complexity of the components of the and Houses of Worship. Managing Director
President
Call for price. MLO #6706
alize the winery and create mass produced, uninspir- soil unique to Israel, which Tabor uses for its vineyards. MLO #58058
ing wine. The exact opposite has happened for Tabor; There are so many factors that go into the making of ladclassic@aol.com dshlufman@classicllc.com
Wendy Wineburgh Dessanti
in fact Tabor has had the luxurious ability to purchase the wines at Tabor it is no wonder they have become Broker/Sales
Classic Associate
Mortgage, LLC
the highest standard and state of the art equipment world renowned for their impressive, diverse portfolio of Top Office Producer 2016 & 2017
Serving NY, NJ & CT
without compromising on their family business val- wines. In the last three years alone Tabor winery has been Zillow Top Agent
25 E. Spring Valley Ave., Ste 100, Maywood, NJ
ues. Exploring what Tabor winery has accomplished invited to the Wine Spectator Experience, arguably the
in that short period of time is both fascinating and most prestigious wine show in the world, held yearly by
201-368-3140
201 310-2255 (pref)/201 569-7888
Wendydess@aol.com
MLS
www.classicmortgagellc.com #31149
impressive. In 2017, Tabor produced a whopping the Wine Spectator Magazine in the major U.S. cities, and
250,000 cases of 15 different grape varieties. received the critics’ choice award every year. Tabor is the
The winemaking process at Tabor is like a smooth
running orchestra with many different instruments,
only Israeli winery to have mastered this accomplishment.
SEE WINERY PAGE 66 OPEN HOUSES
which must be played in a specific way in order to SUNDAY, AUGUST 19
create the most beautiful symphony that is held in
each bottle of wine. At the helm is head winemaker,
t TEANECK t
Arieh Nesher who has been with Tabor since 1999 SUN AUG 26, 1-3PM OPEN HOUSE
and has been making wine for 46 harvests. Nesher’s 209 King St, Englewood E. Hill
experience in conjunction with assistant winemaker NEW LISTING! Stunning
Or Nidbach are a team to be reckoned with. They are 4BR, 4.5 BTH col attractively
renovated w high quality
responsible for producing some of the most flawless,
materials & craftsmanship.
delicious wines coming out of Israel today. Gourmet kit, MBR suite,
In 2009, Tabor decided it was time to take their inviting entertaining &
winemaking to the next level. What could Tabor pos- dining areas, basketball
court. Near NYC bus, shops
sibly add to their already impressive operation that
and Houses of Worship.
many other wineries did not have the foresight and Call for price.
resources to obtain? The answer to this question is
Michal Akerman. Akerman is an agronomist, and
Wendy Wineburgh Dessanti
Broker/Sales Associate
holds the position of head viticulturist. Agronomy
is a field of science dedicated to the technology and Top Office Producer 2016 & 2017 583 Wyndham Rd. $649,000 1:00 PM – 3:00 PM
Zillow Top Agent Storybook English Tudor. 100' x 100' Prop. 4 Lg BRs, 3.5 Baths (incl.
science of plants which are used for food. One may master). Tiled EF, LR/Fplc, Den, Screened Porch, FDR, Kit/Bkfst Area,
wonder what an agronomist would be doing at a win- 201 310-2255 (pref)/201 569-7888 Mud Rm. Fin Bsmt. New Central A/C. 2 Car Det Gar.
ery. The field is far more complex than explained Wendydess@aol.com
1043 Wilson Ave. $594,900 1:00 PM – 3:00 PM
above. Agronomy includes other subcategories and One of a Kind Eng Tudor. Stunning LR/Fplc, FDR, Gorgeous Mod Kit/
fields which have to do with the production of plants, Bkfst Rm. 5 BRs, 4.5 Bths. Fin Bsmt. 2 Car Gar.
including plant genetics, physiology, and soil science.
Meeting Akerman at Tabor is fascinating. Aker-
147 Degraw Ave. $449,000 1:00 PM – 3:00 PM
Beautifully Updated In & Out. Open Flr Plan/Ent Hall. Sunlit LR open
man’s passion is so tangible that speaking to her about to DR. Gorgeous Granite Kit/Brkfst Cntr/Stainless Appl. Sliders
her job at the winery can get anyone excited even if to Party Deck. 3 BRs, 2.5 New Baths. Ceramic Tiled Bsmt. 5 Car
they’re not sure what her day may look like. The viti- Driveway. New HVAC.
culturist understands how to grow the best grapes 954 Windsor Rd. $369,000 1:00 PM – 3:00 PM
possible based on their research of the land and vines. Charm 3 BR Tudor Col. Move-in Cond. H/W Flrs. Encl Ent Porch, LR/
This is a challenge for most wineries since climate, Fplc & Stained Glass Windows, Alcove Din Area, Grnt Island Kit open
soil and disease can be unpredictable throughout the For Sale Airmont $679,000 to Den. 1.5 Baths. Walk up to 3rd Flr/Potential 4th BR. Fin Bsmt. 2
process of winemaking from growing grape vines up Car Det Gar.
3 Post Lane S. - 4 bd, 3 ba - Over 3200 sqft on 1
until the wine is in the bottle. This science is critical acre. EIK, In-ground Pool, private yard, built in 1993. ALL CLOSE TO NY BUS / HOUSES OF WORSHIP /
to the winemaking process, but there is no reason to Many amenities. HIGHWAYS / SHOPS / SCHOOLS
sweat it. Tabor winery has it under control and their
Call Chris Halton, Licensed RE Salesperson,
For Our Full Inventory including
wines speak for themselves when it comes to showing Keller Williams HVR. 914-413-3824 Details & Pictures, Visit our Website
Akerman’s talent. It is Akerman’s job to choose which www.RussoRealEstate.com
type of grapes to grow and the location and type of
soil which they can thrive in. Akerman is not afraid to (201) 837-8800
JEWISH STANDARD AUGUST 24, 2018 65
Real Estate & Business

Winery
FROM PAGE 65
In 2012, a new variety was introduced into Israel by
Tabor. The Roussanne grapes were originally grown in
France in the Rhone Valley. The Roussanne was wildly pop-
ular (and still is) which led Tabor to consider taking their
white wine production to the next level. Tabor always a few
steps ahead of the rest of the industry, has decided to take
the lead in the industry and has set a goal to have half of
their wine production to be comprised of white varietals by
2020. Right now Tabor has 12 white wine labels and contin-
ues to plant and experiment with more varieties.
If your mouth is not watering yet stay tuned because we
are going to start discussing the offerings of Tabor winery
which are on the market now and which foods they would
pair beautifully with.
Tabor Mt. Tabor Chardonnay 2017: When I first
tasted this wine I could hardly believe it. It is such a great
value, quite an affordable wine that delivers big time! It is
fresh and vibrant with delightful citrus and tropical notes
of ripe pineapple and guava with zingy acidity. Great with
sushi, light snacks such as hummus, and pickles, or with
a chicken salad.
Tabor Adama Barbera Rose 2017: It is no wonder
that Tabor has jumped on the rose bandwagon. Rose has
been the drink of choice throughout the spring and sum-
mer seasons for the last few years. It is quite possible that
Tabor pioneered this trend in Israel with their first rose,
all the way back in the mid 2000’s. Their current start
rose which has been winning awards every year since it
NVE-3538 Revise Spring Mortgage Ad 5x6.5_NVE-3518 7/11/18 2:12 PM Page 1
was first introduced with the 2013 vintage is made of 100
percent Barbera, an Italian variety which is famous for its
natural acidity, as well as notes of red fruits. The current
offering of the 2017 Tabor Adama Barbera Rose is mouth-
watering with a nose of unripe strawberries, watermelon,
and raspberries. The mouthfeel is luxurious with notes
of grapefruit pith, red currants, and ripe strawberries. If
the description does not tempt you, the deep strawberry
color will. This wine would pair perfectly with an appe-
tizer of fresh wild-caught cod ceviche with lime, scallions
and some red chilies.
Tabor Adama Sauvignon Blanc 2017: Contrary to pop-
ular belief, Sauvignon Blanc is the parent of Cabernet Sau-
vignon, not its little brother. Indeed, Cabernet Sauvignon
is actually a hybrid of Sauvignon (Blanc) and of Cabernet
Franc. These varieties are famous for producing some of
the best wines in the world. This is a personal favorite of
mine. Every year we wait for this release. The nose is intoxi-
cating with hints of lemon peels, grapefruit, honeysuckles,
and candied ginger. The mouth is as impressive with brac-
ing acidity, which makes you keep going back for more.
This would pair beautifully with a warm mushroom risotto
appetizer.
Tabor Single Vineyard Tannat 2014: A first for the land
of Israel and Tabor winery. Planted by Akerman, this grape
which gained its fame in the Madiran region of France has
never been grown or bottled in Israel until Tabor introduced
it with the 2013 vintage. This full-bodied, rich and tannic
wine is fascinating with its aromas of roasted herbs, oriental
spices, and black fruit notes and would pair beautifully with
an herb-crusted rack of lamb.
Tabor also makes several mevushal wines which would
complement any simcha or occasion, such as the sparkling
Brut 562, the Mt. Tabor Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Shi-
raz, the T Cabernet Sauvignon, and the Limited Edition. The
Tabor Limited Edition is, in my humble opinion, the best
mevushal red wine produced by Israel to date. I could not
believe it was mevushal when we came across this wine on
a recent Shabbos.
Tabor Malkiya: The name of this wine actually does do
it justice as the Queen of red wines produced in Israel. This
wine is made of 100 percent Cabernet Sauvignon and is fit
for the king or the queen. This wine has a luxurious nose
of blueberries, freshly ground coffee, new leather, and wet
earth. The mouthfeel is coating and silky with flavors of
black fruits, pencil shavings, and a hint of cranberries. This
wine can stand up to your holiday standing rib roast with a
coffee rub or smoked French Roast. Nothing says it is yom
tov like a beautifully complex wine like this.
Tabor has offerings at every price point to satisfy the
newbie to the well-seasoned wine drinker. I like to sug-
gest people start at the Mt. Tabor wines and work their
way through each series to get a feel for what Tabor is all
about. It is also well worth it to visit their brand new visi-
tors center in Kfar Tabor. For a tour or tasting reservations
please call +972-4-6760444. The current series offered by
Tabor are Mt Tabor, Adama (a personal favorite), Adama
II, Brut 562, Single Vineyard, Limited Edition, and Mal-
kiya. L’chaim!
Yael Geller holds a masters of public health from George
Washington University and is a long-time wine enthusiast.

Mortgage rates and options are blooming at NVE Bank. Founders Ball to benefit Holy Name
This year’s Annual Founders Ball, Holy WNET and NJTV, will again serve as
Name Foundation’s signature black-tie Master of Ceremonies.
dinner dance, will be held Saturday, Support the evening by either par-
15-YEAR November 17, at 7 p.m. at the Zieg- ticipating as a sponsor, attending the
7-YEAR MORTGAGE 25-YEAR feld Ballroom in Manhattan. Carmen event, taking out a journal ad, or enter-
MORTGAGE MORTGAGE Unanue and the C&J Unanue Founda- ing the 50/50 cash raffle. The proceeds

3.875% tion will be honored with the Spirit of will help ensure that Holy Name’s pro-
3.500 % Rate
4.375% Healing Award for their contributions grams and services continue to meet
3.935%
Rate Rate to Holy Name Medical Center and Villa the ever-changing needs of its patients.
3.611%
APR*
APR* 4.430% APR*
Marie Claire. Dr. Steve Adubato, Emmy
Award-winning anchor for Thirteen/
Visit holyname.org/foundation/
events for more information.

Make your arrangements today!

Finding the right mortgage to fit your needs should be quick, easy and

Jimmy J
J
painless — exactly what you’ll find when you work with our Mortgage
Specialist at NVE. Plus, our decision makers are local — providing a 88
1

7 2018
smooth and hassle-free process from start to finish.

Call today at 201-816-2800, ext. 1233,

or apply online at www.nve.bank
the Junk Man
NMLS #733094
RESIDENTIAL & COMMERCIAL
*APR = Annual Percentage Rate. APR is accurate as of 5/15/18 and may vary based on loan amounts. Loans
WE CLEAN OUT:
are for 1-4 family New Jersey owner-occupied properties only. Rates and terms are subject to change without Basements •Baseme
Attics • Garages • Fire Damage
notice. The 7-year loan at the stated APR would have 84 monthly payments of $13.44 per thousand borrowed
based on a 20% down payment or equity for loan amounts up to $750,000. The 15-year loan at the stated
Construction Debris • Hoarding Specialists
Constru
APR would have 180 monthly payments of $7.33 per thousand borrowed based on a 20% down payment or
WE RECYCLE
CALL
equity for loan amounts up to $750,000. The 25-year loan at the stated APR would have 300 monthly
payments of $5.49 per thousand borrowed based on a 20% down payment or equity for loan amounts up to
$500,000. Payments do not include amounts for taxes and insurance premiums, if applicable. The actual CALL TODAY FOR A FREE ESTIMATE
201-66•1845-600-5941
201-661-4940 - 4940 2
payment obligation will be greater. Property insurance is required. Other rates and terms are available.
Subject to credit approval.

Bergenfield I Closter I Cresskill I Englewood I Hillsdale I Leonia I New Milford I Teaneck I Tenafly
We do not transport solid or hazardous waste
We d

66 JEWISH STANDARD AUGUST 24, 2018

Make Your Home Work For You
with a NJFCU Home Equity Line Of Credit

Use the equity in your home to pay

for whatever life brings your way!
Home Equity Line of Credit rates as low as

*
Serving Bergen, Morris, Hudson, Middlesex, 973.323.2910 ● www.njfcu.org
Passaic, Essex & Union Counties of NJ Hablamos Espańol ● Bilingual Website

*APR is the Annual Percentage Rate. Rates are subject to change without notice. Restrictions may apply. Rates are for qualified members
and are subject to credit approval and loan to value restrictions. Rates may vary depending on credit worthiness, loan amount, loan term
and value of your home. All applications are subject to appraisal fees. Qualified members do not pay for the following fees: title fees,
processing fees, settlement fees, underwriting fees or credit reports. The initial rate is good for 12 months then converts to Prime + 0.
Promotion is for new money only. 8 years to draw and 15 years to pay. Minimum draw is $25,000. Minimum rate begins at 5% for life of
the loan, with a maximum rate of 18%. Minimum monthly principal payment is $125. Cannot be combined with any other offers. Promotion
expires on 9/30/18.

JEWISH STANDARD AUGUST 24, 2018 67