Rosenthal JCC Closing after 36 Years

Transcription

JewishLife
WESTCHESTER
February 2016 -- Shevat-Adar I 5776, Volume 22, Issue 2
WESTCHESTER COUNTY’S ONLY MONTHLY JEWISH NEWSPAPER
BY STEPHEN E. LIPKEN
After 36 years of being one of the mainstays of
Northern Westchester Jewish
community, the Richard G.
Rosenthal Jewish Community
Center (RJCC) in Pleasantville
will close its doors by Thursday, June 30th along with the
Yorktown branch and Camp
Discovery, Croton-on-Hudson.
The Sunrise Day Camp for
children with cancer in Pearl
River and Florence Friedberg
JCC in Oceanside, LI will remain open.
“Our decision is driven
by changing demographics,
increased competition and
rising economic challenges…
While heart wrenching, closing our doors is the most
responsible path of action,”
RJCC Executive Director Ellie
Aronowitz and President Jes-
Ellie Aronowitz, Executive Director (left) and Jessica Morgenthal, President,
Rosenthal JCC, Pleasantville
sica Morgenthal stated.
Lois Rosenthal saw a disconnected group of Jewish
families in Northern Westchester needing a place to cele-
brate their Jewish community,
beyond religious gatherings
and teachings of local synagogues. Convincing area rabbis, synagogue presidents and
Jewish leaders that a Jewish
“Y” was vitally important, Lois
began the “Y without Walls,”
working out of the trunk of her
car.
In 1991 the YM/YWHA
moved to a former elementary
school building on Bear Ridge
Road in Pleasantville, becoming Rosenthal JCC in 2001
in memory of Lois’ husband
Richard G. Rosenthal and later,
son Jeremy, developing After
School Programs; Early Childhood Center Gym Buddies;
Global Jewish Connections/JTAG fellows (travel exchanges
and participating in social
activities promoting Jewish
peoplehood, values, learning
and leadership); J Baby for
families with babies, toddlers,
preschoolers; Play Care; Rise
Above Musical Theater Program; Saturday Night Chillin’
continued on page 2
Gillibrand Leads Official Senate Trip to
Israel and Other Parts of the Middle East
U.S. Senator Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) announced that
she led an official Senate trip to
the Middle East in early January
to meet with allies and discuss
a broad range of regional security issues, including the threat
from groups such as the Islamic
State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL)
and Hezbollah and progress on
implementing the Iran nuclear
agreement. Gillibrand and seven
other senators met with heads
of state, ambassadors and other
top officials in Israel, Turkey,
Saudi Arabia, and Austria during the trip to discuss strategies
to counter Iran and fight global
terrorism.
“I led a trip with seven of my
Senate colleagues to meet with
top government officials and
military leaders about security
concerns in Israel and our other
partners in the Middle East,” said
Senator Gillibrand, a member
of the Senate Armed Services
Committee and the leader of the
Senate trip. “We heard from Israel’s leaders about the constant
threat of terrorism they face, and
we reaffirmed to them our commitment to supporting and protecting our closest ally and the
only democracy in the Middle
East. I look forward to using the
insights we gained in our meetings across the region and with
the IAEA to continue working
to keep our country safe, hold
Iran accountable under the Joint
Comprehensive Plan of Action
and better protect our allies and
partners in the Middle East.”
Senator Gillibrand was
joined on the trip by U.S. Sena-
Senator Kirsten Gillibrand (left) and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu
tors Chris Coons (D-DE), Heidi
Heitkamp (D-ND), Tim Kaine
(D-VA), Tammy Baldwin (DWI), Mazie Hirono (D-HI), Cory
Booker (D-NJ), and Gary Peters
(D-MI).
Gillibrand met with Prime
continued on page 4
Leaders and Community Advocates
Come Together to Denounce
Rising Anti-Semitism
On Thursday, January
14, City Council Jewish Caucus Chair Mark Levine and a
coalition of elected officials
from state and city government joined Rabbi Abraham
Cooper, Associate Dean Mark
Weitzman, and other top officials from the Simon Wiesenthal Center and unveiled the
event said, “New York City is a
beacon of tolerance, inclusion
and diversity. We can’t allow
hate speech and hate crimes
to wreak havoc on our City or
anywhere else.”
“We need to confront rising anti-Semitism and reject
all forms of hatred. I want to
thank the Wiesenthal Center,
Center’s 2015 Top Ten Worst
Global Anti-Semitic / AntiIsrael Incidents on the steps of
City Hall in New York City.
The latest available FBI
statistics indicate 56% of religious-based hate crimes were
against Jews. With an uptick
in anti-Semitic incidents in
New York City, rising jihadist
threats around the world, boycott campaigns against Israel,
and resurgent anti-Semitism
in mainstream Europe, leaders
from across the city gathered
to raise awareness about hatefueled attacks against Jews at
home and around the world,
and
denounced
violence
against people based on their
religious faith.
Council Member Mark
Levine, Chair of the City Council Jewish Caucus who led the
the Museum of Tolerance and
a broad coalition of leaders and
advocates for coming together
to shine a light on this critical
issue.”
“Last year was a disastrous year. We are confronting an unprecedented and
toxic combination of terrorist
threats, an online sub-culture
of hate and theologically and
ideologically fueled anti-Semitism. … To defeat anti-Semitism, we need to build new
coalitions. Today’s remarkable
turnout representing the full
diversity of the great City of
New York is an important step
in the right direction,” said
Rabbi Abraham Cooper, Associate Dean of the Simon Wiesenthal Center.
“As a troubling trend of
continued on page 5
Covering all of Westchester for over 20 Years! Visit www.westchesterjewishlife.com
2
•
February 2016 -- Shevat-Adar I 5776
•
Westchester Jewish Life
continued from page 1
for Tweens and Teens and Special Needs
Program for Enhancing Potential (PEP).
RJCC also houses two Shaliachs,
Yoav Cohen and Yael Lewis (Israel emissaries) and is an agency for UJA-Federation of New York’s Engage Jewish Service
Corps.
Aronowitz stressed that RJCC will
try to find “loving homes” for these programs.
“The Rosenthal JCC’s closing is a
terrible loss for our community,” according to Westchester Jewish Council (WJC)
President Paul B. Warhit. “Positively impacting children and adults, this JCC is a
critical asset to the families of Northern
Westchester. While we were surprised
by this announcement, the WJC leadership will continue to work with UJA Federation to help fill the programming void
Rosenthal JCC Pleasantville Program Director Lisa Roberts
created.”
www.westchesterjewishlife.com
Senator Joseph I. Lieberman in Conversation
on American Support for Israel
Senator Joseph I. Lieberman
For those who have deep concern for Israel, a discussion on the erosion of support for Israel and
how American Jews should respond will feature former Connecticut Senator Joseph I. Lieberman
on February 6 at Fleetwood Synagogue, 11 East Broad Street, Mount Vernon at 7:30 p.m.
This 13th annual Charles Sidlow Memorial Scholar-in-Residence program will be moderated by
Allen I. Fagin, Executive Vice President of the Orthodox Union. The conversation will deal with “Is
American Support for Israel Fading, Firm, or Flourishing?”
According to Rabbi Gedalyah Berger of the Fleetwood Synagogue, Senator Lieberman, who
was the Democratic Party candidate for Vice President in 2000, will consider issues such as, “Has
the historically deep commitment to Zionism in the United States begun to fray?” “Are there in fact
growing divisions over support for Israel, within segments of American society?”
“Fleetwood Synagogue invites residents of the community and from throughout the New York
Metropolitan area to an evening of conversation with Senator Lieberman, whose outlook, experience, and expertise provide an informed perspective of unmatched depth on this critical question,”
said Rabbi Berger.
Because of the anticipated size of the audience, pre-registration at [email protected] is strongly recommended. For further information, visit www.fleetwoodsynagogue.org.
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• February 2016 -- Shevat-Adar I 5776
•
3
20th Anniversary for Shabbat Medical Cannabis Products
Across America and Canada
Certified by OU Kosher
On Friday night, March 4, hundreds of
synagogues across the country will take part in
Shabbat Across America and Canada. The national Jewish event celebrates Shabbat, giving
participants a chance to share the experiences
with tens of thousands of Jews across North
America.
NJOP, {National Jewish Outreach Program}, developed Shabbat Across America 20
years ago. In 2015, 524 synagogues and Jewish
Centers participated. NJOP provides all the materials necessary, including programs, publicity material, posters and an outline for a stimulating explanatory service. They do request that
a kosher dinner be provided for those attending the service.
Another part of the initiative offered is
CommUNITY Shabbat Across America and
Canada. This requires multiple organizations
in one city to work together to create a local Rabbi Ephraim Z. Buchwald
unified Shabbat Friday night program.
NJOP is an independent, nondenominational, nonprofit organization established in 1987 by
Rabbi Ephraim Z. Buchwald. Through meaningful educational programming and influential social
media platforms, NJOP conveys the vibrancy of Judaism to modern Jews. Another program developed by NJOP includes Read Hebrew America and Canada. Crash courses in Basic Judaism and History also have been offered by NJOP at over 5,000 synagogues and Jewish organizations.
To register a Synagogue to participate in Shabbat Across America and Canada call 888-742-2228
or email [email protected].
Vireo Health of New York (“Vireo”), one of
only five companies licensed by the New York
State Department of Health to produce and sell
medical cannabis, announced recently that all
of the company’s products produced in New
York have been certified as kosher by the Orthodox Union (OU), the world’s largest and most
widely
recognized
kosher certification
agency.
The trademarked
OU symbol will appear
for the first time ever
on medical cannabis
products, including
the Company’s vaporization cartridges, oils
and capsules. These
products will be made
available for purchase
to qualifying patients in Vireo’s four New York
State retail dispensaries. The dispensaries are
located in White Plains, Queens, Binghamton
and Albany and opened in January.
“Being certified kosher by the OU will not
only help us serve the dietary needs of the largest Jewish community in the United States,
but also combat unfortunate stigmas associated with medical cannabis,” said Ari Hoffnung,
Chief Executive Officer of Vireo Health of New
York. “Today’s announcement sends an important message to New Yorkers of all faiths and
backgrounds that using medical cannabis to
alleviate pain and suffering does not in any way
represent an embrace of ‘pot’ culture. Patients
should never feel guilty or ashamed for using a
product recommended
by their physicians.”
“We are pleased
to grant kosher certification to Vireo Health
of New York’s medical cannabis products
which were developed
to alleviate pain and
suffering in accordance with the New
York State Compassionate Care Act,” said
Rabbi Menachem Genack, Chief Executive Officer of OU Kosher. “Judaism prioritizes health
and encourages the use of medicine designed
to improve one’s health or reduce pain. Using
medical cannabis products recommended by
a physician should not be regarded as a chet, a
sinful act, but rather as a mitzvah, an imperative, a commandment.”
continued on page 11
4
•
Preserving the Personal Voices of the Holocaust Experience
Who will bear witness to the
Holocaust in the year 2030?
The urgency to keep alive
the experiences of the Holocaust
survivors and liberators can be
told by the numbers. In 2005,
1,500 Auschwitz survivors attended the ceremony of the camp’s liberation. In 2015, 70 years after the
last Nazi camps were liberated,
the number dwindled to 300.
But it will take more than
just living survivors and liberators to teach future generations
about the Holocaust. That’s why
the Holocaust & Human Rights
Education Center (HHREC) is on
the cutting edge of a movement
to preserve the personal voices
of the Holocaust experience for
posterity.
Through its Generations
Forward program, HHREC is
grooming its next generation
of speakers --the children and
grandchildren of survivors--to
keep alive these personal eyewitness accounts of mankind’s greatest genocide for the next several
decades.
At the same time, the ranks
of survivors in the HHREC Speakers Bureau are actually expanding, with the addition of six new
speakers for 2016. HHREC actively seeks more survivors, and their
families to participate in their efforts to keep the story of the Holo-
Valerie Moore O’Keeffe
caust a living history.
“There is no substitute for
living history,” says Millie Jasper,
executive director of HHREC. “In
2015, our speakers’ bureau, comprising both Holocaust survivors
and liberators grew to reach a
record total audience of 20,000
schoolchildren.” To continue
reaching more schoolchildren in
the years ahead, HHREC is training children and grandchildren of
survivors through a 14-part workshop where they are learning to
tell their parents’ and grandparents’ stories.
Generations Forward meets
regularly to exchange ideas and
provide mutual support, has
emerged as a strong, coherent
group, determined to shine the
light of truth on the Holocaust
by ensuring that the Shoah is not
trivialized, distorted or subject to
deniers.
The HHREC Generations
Forward group is also compiling a
book based on letters that their parents wrote during the Holocaust.
“Twin-With-A-Survivor,”
another HHREC program that
currently has 25 bar and bat mitzvah students in groups who are
studying with Holocaust survivors to earn a historic perspective
on their passage into adulthood.
HHREC is partnering with New
Jersey’s Holocaust Council of
Greater MetroWest's “Twin-Witha-Survivor” program.
“Twin-With-A-Survivor”
program provides Bar/Bat Mitzvah students with the rare opportunity to make personal connections to these extraordinary
models of human courage and
resilience who exemplify continued commitment to the Jewish
community,” explains Jasper.
The Survivor Legacy Education Project, an HHREC-funded
interactive database to record
the oral history of Westchester
survivors for use by teachers with
their students and adults, too.
UJA-Federation
/Westchester
Program Services Cabinet and
Millie Jasper, Executive Director of
HHREC
private donors fund this project.
HHREC is interviewing survivors
and creating both audio and visual accounts of their stories. The
interviews will be edited into a
25-30 minute program in which
their personal effects: photographs, letters, artifacts of their
childhood and the war years, personal papers to illustrate the lives
of these individuals.
Valerie Moore O’Keeffe is
Board Chair of the Holocaust and
Human Rights Education Center.
The mission of the Center is to enhance the teaching and learning
the lessons of the Holocaust and the
right of all people to be treated with
dignity and respect. The Center
helps schools fulfill the New York
State mandate that the Holocaust
and other human rights abuses be
included in their curriculum.
On the subject of antisemitism, O’Keeffe recently said,
“The smearing of a Jewish owned
home in Hastings-on-Hudson
with antisemitic graffiti and an
attack on a second house is an assault on the values and rights that
all Americans hold dearly. We
must stand together to denounce
these hateful acts in the strongest
possible terms. We commend the
swift response by the Hastingson-Hudson police department to
consider this a ‘bias crime’ and
also commend the community
for holding an open forum to discuss this incident.”
HHREC also provides training for educators who teach the
Holocaust in middle school, high
school and college, fulfilling New
York State’s unfunded Holocaust
curriculum mandate. On February 9th, HHREC will hold a
full day Teacher Institute on the
theme, "The Lessons of the Holocaust: Man's Inhumanity to Man."
Participating middle and high
school teachers receive a certificate for five hours of professional
development.
Survivors and liberators
and their next generation families interested in keeping the
personal stories of the Holocaust
alive, and teachers interested
in professional development on
the Holocaust curriculum, may
contact Millie Jasper, Executive
Director at 914.696.0738 or [email protected].
International Holocaust Remembrance Day
On January 27, International Holocaust Remembrance Day, the World Jewish Congress (WJC) President
Ronald S. Lauder said it was
incumbent upon the world to
ensure that the atrocities that
befell the Jewish people during World War II are never repeated.
Lauder said, “Seven decades after the Holocaust, dangerous forms of anti-Semitism
are rearing its ugly head again
all over the world. Compounded with the threat of Islamic
terror, we are living in difficult
times. It is our duty, as global
citizens and proponents of human and civil rights to make
sure that the words ‘never
again’ are more than just an
oft-repeated slogan, but rather
guide us in our actions. And
that means we must defeat ISIS
and similar groups carrying
out acts of brutal mass slaughter of people.”
The WJC president also
urged that particular attention is paid to the plight of
many elderly Holocaust survivors who often struggle to
make ends meet. “It’s important for us to commemorate
the Shoah and the six million
Jews who were murdered. But
it is equally important to address the dire situation that
so many survivors are facing
today. They are entitled to
lead their lives in dignity.” An
estimated half of all survivors
of the Nazi genocide live in
poverty, a study published last
year found.
In 2005, the United Nations designated January 27 as
an international memorial day
to commemorate the victims
of the Shoah. The World Jewish Congress will take part in
a series of events during the
week, marking the day in New
York, Paris and Athens.
Last year, the World Jewish Congress, together with
the USC Shoah Foundation,
arranged for 100 survivors
of Auschwitz to attend and
participate in the official observance of the 70th anniversary of the liberation of that
German Nazi concentration
and death camp, which was
organized by the AuschwitzBirkenau State Museum and
the International Auschwitz
Council.
Eleven million people, including six million Jews, were
murdered during the Nazi Holocaust from 1941 to 1945. Approximately 500,000 survivors
are still alive today.
Gillibrand Leads Official Senate Trip to Middle East
Minister Benjamin Netanyahu,
President Reuven Rivlin, and
other high-ranking Israeli government officials to discuss the
ongoing threats from Iran and
its proxies, terrorism and violent
extremism in the region, the future of Israel, and how the United
States can continue to work with
Israel to ensure its security. The
senators discussed the U.S.-Israel Memorandum of Understanding on strategic cooperation and
learned about the development
of Israel-U.S. anti-tunnel technology to detect underground
terror tunnel networks. Gil-
librand supported funding for
anti-tunnel technology in the
National Defense Authorization
Act in June 2015.
Senator Gillibrand also
met with officials from the
International Atomic Energy
Agency (IAEA) in Vienna, Austria, to learn about the progress
of the Joint Comprehensive
Plan of Action, also known as
the Iran nuclear agreement,
which Gillibrand supported
in September to prevent Iran
from developing a nuclear
weapon. The senators and
IAEA officials discussed how
they monitor Iran’s implementation and ensure that it is held
accountable.
In Turkey, Gillibrand and
the senators held meetings with
Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan and Prime Minister Ahmet
Davutoglu to discuss the threat
from ISIL and other terrorist
groups and the Syrian refugee
crisis. The Senators also met
with government officials in
Saudi Arabia, including women
appointed to Saudi Arabia’s Shura Council, to discuss counterterrorism efforts and U.S.-Saudi
relations.
•
•
5
Executive Order on Gun Violence is a Historic Step Toward Preventing Future Tragedies
On January 5, 2016, In
response to the executive
order announced by President Obama to address gun
violence, Rabbi Jonah Dov
Pesner, Director of the Religious Action Center of Reform
Judaism, issued the following
statement:
“We applaud President
Obama’s executive order to
address the scourge of gun
violence in the United States.
Undoubtedly, bipartisan leg-
islative action that encompasses the many aspects of gun
violence would be a preferable means of addressing the
gun violence epidemic that
affects Americans of all political ideologies, races, genders
and economic classes. Yet, the
ongoing obstinance among
members of Congress make
the steps announced by President Obama necessary – even
as we know more must be done
to meet the scope of the crisis.
Under
the
holes in our gun
order announced,
purchasing system
which seeks to
and
strengthenclarify
existing
ing the process of
understanding of
background checks
what it means to
on gun sales. The
be engaged in the
order also acknowlbusiness of dealedges the federal
ing in firearms,
government’s powmore individuals
er as a purchaser of
will have to obtain
firearms and calls
a federal firearms Rabbi Jonah Dov Pesner
for a strategy for
license, narrowing
research and dethe scope of dangerous loopvelopment into broader use of
smart gun technology, which
will ultimately help keep our
communities safer. These are
important steps toward preventing further devastating
tragedies of gun violence that
have become all too familiar.
around the world. It is so vital
The Reform Movement,
to be accepting and respectful
including
our youth moveto those of other cultures and
ment, the North American
religions. United against any
kind of hate, people of every Federation of Temple Youth
background can stand strong (NFTY), has made gun violence
prevention a priority, calling
in defense of the values that
we hold so dear - liberty, toler- on Congress and the President
to address this key issue. In a
ance, and peace,” said Council
letter sent in December, URJ
Member Chaim Deutsch.
Leaders and Community Advocates Come Together to Denounce
Rising Anti-Semitism
anti-Semitic attacks happen
across the world, it is pertinent
that we stand together as a
community to bring awareness
to this issue and show that we
will not capitulate to hatred
or intolerance against an individual or individuals based
on one’s religious belief, race,
or creed,” said Assemblyman
Walter T. Mosley.
“We must remain forever
vigilant against the scourge
of Anti-Semitism,” said Manhattan Borough President
Gale A. Brewer. “It is our duty
to always educate, stand up,
speak out, and act against hate
and bigotry, here at home and
around the globe.”
“Hate based on religious
faith is utterly incompatible
with New York City’s identity.
The rise in anti-Semitic incidents at home, in Israel,
and around the world is profoundly disturbing and cannot
be ignored. As both a Council
Member and a Jewish New
Yorker, I commend Council
Member Levine and the Simon
Wiesenthal Center for working to expose acts of hate and I
join them in denouncing these
heinous attacks,” said Council
Member Steve Levin.
“There is no place for
hate in New York City, and the
uptick in anti-Semitic threats
and incidents worldwide is
a grave cause for concern. I
am grateful to Jewish Caucus
Chair Mark Levine and the
Simon Wiesenthal Center for
remaining vigilant against
these threats to Jewish New
Yorkers,” said Council Member
Helen Rosenthal.
“The worldwide anti-Israel movement has caused a rise
in anti-Semitism, exemplified
by these ten horrific attacks
identified by the Simon Wiesenthal Center. Those who
demonize Israel, including the
Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement, are achieving
their real goal of demonizing
and terrorizing Jews. Even
in New York, we’ve seen an
increase in anti-Semitic incidents, spurred by individuals
who denounce Israel in the
most vitriolic terms and go so
far as to use the term ‘Zionist’
as an epithet. Each of us has a
responsibility to call out and
confront these anti-Israel and
anti-Semitic voices that incite hate and violence against
our community,” said Council
Member Rory Lancman.
“Anti-Semitism has no
place in our society. I stand
with the Simon Wiesenthal
Center in its efforts to combat
the hate-fueled attacks that
have too often targeted Jews
and the state of Israel,” said
Council Member Barry Grodenchik.
“It is shameful that in
the 21st century, the Jewish
people still have to contend
with rampant anti-Semitism
in many parts of the world. In
the Middle East, Europe, and
even some places in America,
Jews are facing the kind of hatred and bigotry that should
have been eradicated after
the carnage of the Holocaust.
As the son of Holocaust survivors, it pains me to hear of
the “2016 Holocaust Cartoon
contest”, a contemptible event
created by a regime that denies
the suffering that people like
my parents endured. The BDS
movement, too, seeks to undermine the State of Israel and
its financial stability by modernizing the “Don’t buy from
the Jews” rhetoric that was so
common in pre-War Europe.
These and other incidents are
unfortunate indications of
the animosity that still occurs
Senator Michael Gianaris
said, “I am proud to have introduced legislation to prohibit
New York State from conducting business with entities that
engage in the anti-Israel BDS
movement. At a time when
anti-Semitic crimes are on the
rise in the United States, it is
critical that we raise awareness and stand up against
hateful actions like these.”
“The list released by the
Simon Wiesenthal Center
brings into perspective how
critical it is that we unite to
denounce
Anti-Semitism/
Anti-Israel attacks across the
country and abroad. By coming
together to raise awareness,
we send the message that any
effort to isolate and oppress
the Jewish community will not
be tolerated,” said Assemblywoman Nily Rozic (D,WF-Fresh
Meadows), the first Israeliborn elected official in New
York.
Simon Wiesenthal Center’s top ten 2015 Anti-Semitic/
Anti-Israel incidents include: 1)
Inspiring San Bernadino: Terrorist’s Hate; 2) ISIS; 3) European Union; 4) U.S. Campuses; 5)
Palestinian Autority/UNRWA;
6) Iran; 7) Europe: Culture &
Sports; 8) U.K. Jeremy Corbyn,
British Labor Party Leader &
Gerald Kaufman, Labour MP;
9) Kuwait; and 10) Poland.
President Rabbi Rick Jacobs
and NFTY President Jeremy
Cronig specifically called on
President Obama to use the
power of his office to address
this issue. We are pleased that
the President has done just
that.
As the RAC’s Director, I
am proud to stand with my colleague, Jeremy Cronig, NFTY
President, who in response to
the executive order said, ‘As
Reform Jews, as teens, and
as Americans, we are serious
about our commitment to respecting the spark of the Divine present in every person
who is entitled to life, liberty
and the pursuit of happiness.
This announcement addressing an important aspect of
preventing further gun violence makes these ideals more
achievable.’
Jewish tradition teaches, ‘he who saves one life, it
is as though he has saved the
universe’ (Mishnah Sanhedrin 4:5). This executive or-
der has the potential to save
countless lives and help repair some of what is broken
in our world for the future.
We commend President
Obama for his leadership on
this issue, even as we know
there is much work that
still needs to be done in order to curb gun violence in
the United States. We call
upon Congress to work with
President Obama to keep
our country safe by enacting
long-overdue legislation that
will curb the threat of gun
violence.”
The Religious Action
Center of Reform Judaism is
the Washington office of the
Union for Reform Judaism,
whose nearly 900 congregations across North America
encompass 1.5 million Reform Jews, and the Central
Conference of American
Rabbis, whose membership
includes more than 2,000
Reform rabbis. Visit www.
rac.org for more.
6
•
February 2016 -- Shevat-Adar I 5776 •
Calendar of Events
Coming up on March 12, 2016
at 8pm, “An Evening with Robert
Klein” will be presented at The White
Plains Performing Arts Center at City
Center, White Plains. For tickets call
328-1600.
Ongoing
Congregation Anshe Sholom,
50 North Avenue, New Rochelle will be holding the following programs; Adult Movie,
One Night With The King, February 14 at 2:30pm; Klezmer
Festival and Chinese Dinner,
February 28 at 4pm; and Shabbat Across America March 4.
Call 632-9220 for details.
An exhibition of Judaica paintings by artist Rebecca Schwarz
entitled “Assimilarium” will
be on view at the JCC of MidWestchester, 999 Wilmot
Road, Scarsdale from Jan 31,
2016 – March 4. For information call 472-3300.
JCY Westchester Community
Partner’s Holocaust Remembrance Program will be held
at Lincoln Park Jewish Center,
311 Central Park Avenue, Yonkers from 10am-2pm, March
7-11. For information contact
Randee Ginsberg at 423-5009
or [email protected].
AJC Westchester/Fairfield will
sponsor the 2016 Westchester
Jewish Film Festival, March 30
to April 20 at The Jacob Burns
Film Center, 364 Manville
Road, Pleasantville. Call 7475555 for film times.
Every Thursday morning at
10:30am, Wendy Segal conducts a class called “A Taste of
On February 7, David Weinstone
and The Music for Aardvarks Band
will perform two concerts for kids
at the Jewish Museum, Fifth Avenue
and 92nd Street. Concerts are at
11:30am and 2pm, and suitable for
children ages 2 to 5. For tickets call
the museum at 212-423-3337 or
visit TheJewishMuseum.org/programs/families.
Talmud” at The Yorktown Jewish Center, 2966 Crompond
Road, Yorktown Heights. For
more information call 2452324.
Every Monday at 9:30am,
WJCS offers Jewish Mindfulness Meditation at Temple
Israel Center, 280 Old Mamaroneck Road, White Plains.
Call 761-0600 to learn more.
The JCC of Mid Westchester,
999 Wilmot Road, Scarsdale
Academic Center presents
“Getting It Together without
Falling Apart: Effective Study
and Organizational Skills, for
grades 8 and 9, on Thursdays,
Feb. 25 – March 17, 7 to 8:15pm.
For information contact Lisa
Itzkowitz at 472-7176.
On
Thursday Feb. 25, 10:30am -12
noon and 7:30pm-9:30pm, a
film, “The Last Mentsch” will
be shown. For tickets and additional information visit jccmw.org
Bet Torah Nursery School, 60
Smith Avenue, Mt. Kisco will
host a Hands on Holidays Program on Feb.9, March 8 and
April 12 and a Gan Shabbat on
the first Saturday morning of
the month, February through
June at 10:30am for young
families. Call 666-7595 X 110
for details.
At 7:30pm on March 2, attend the
21st annual Julian Y. Bernstein
Distinguished Service Awards
Ceremony, presented by Westchester
Jewish Council honoring members of
participating organizations including
Deborah Wiskind of Hadassah Westchester, at The Jewish Community
Center of Harrison, 130 Union Ave.
Call 328-7001 for details..
February
5
Congregation Sulam Yaakov,
2111 Boston Post Road, Larchmont will be holding a Community Kabbalat Shabbat at
6:30pm. RSVP to [email protected].
National Wear Red Day to assist The American Heart Association kickoff February
as American Heart Health
Month. Donate $5 to the Go
Red For Women campaign and
receive a red dress pin or wristband. Visit www.wearredday.
org or call the AHA at 203-2952041.
6
Westchester Jewish Council
holds their 20th Anniversary
Gala honoring Harriet P. Schleifer and William H. Schrag, at
the Westchester Jewish Center, 175 Rockland Avenue, Mamaroneck. RSVP to 328-7001.
7
At 3pm The Symphony of
Westchester will host a family
concert at Iona’s Christopher J.
Murphy Auditorium, 715 North
Avenue, New Rochelle. For
tickets call 654-4926.
Ted Sperling will be conducting The Westchester Philharmonic at The Concert Hall of
The Performing Arts Center,
Purchase College, 735 Ander-
On March 3, The JCC of Mid Westchester, 999
Wilmot Road, Scarsdale will hold a Salute to
the Bronx with Arlene Alda, Daniel Libeskind
and Joseph Berger, starting at 6:30pm. RSVP
by February 18 to 472-3300 or 472-7596.
son Hill Road, Purchase. Call
682-3707 for tickets.
The Greenburgh Hebrew
Center, 515 Broadway, Dobbs
Ferry will hold a Blood Drive
from 9am-1pm in partnership
with White Plains Hospital. To
make an appointment email
[email protected] or call
693-4260.
8
At 10:30am, The JCC of MidWestchester, 999 Wilmot
Road,
Scarsdale
features
World Politics with Professor
Buultjens speaking about the
Pacific Wars: China vs. Japan
vs. America. Call 472-3300 for
tickets.
10
At 5:30pm, Montefiore New
Rochelle in Collaboration with
The New Jewish Home/Sarah
Neuman presents Cardiologist
and Clinical Associate Professor Dr. Theodore Keltz speaking on How The Heart Works
at Sarah Neuman Center-Tisch
Auditorium, 845 Palmer Avenue, Mamaroneck. RSVP to
tinyurl.com/SarahNeuman.
At 7pm, Westchester Reform
Temple, 255 Mamaroneck
Road, Scarsdale will feature
Anthony Ianni of the Michigan Department of Civil Rights
speaking on Live Your Dreams,
free and open to the public.
Call 723-7727 for details.
On March 30 at 7pm, Temple Emanu-el, 1 East 65th Street, NYC will
host Rabbi Harold Kushner and other
panelists speaking about Faith and
Crisis; When Bad Things Happen to
Good People. Call 212-744-1400
or 212—507-9580 for details.
11
At 7:30pm AJC Westchester
and The Driscoll Professorship
in Jewish-Catholic Studies at
Iona College presents a talk at
the College, 715 North Avenue,
New Rochelle on Jewish-Christian Relations: Remembering
the Past, Celebrating the Present, Seeking the Future, presented by Dr. Amy-Jill Levine
of Vanderbilt University. The
event is free and open to the
public. For registration or
questions, contact Dr. Elena
Procario Foley at 637-2744.
21
At 11:30am The Jewish Museum, Fifth Avenue at 92nd
Street, NYC, hosts Vered and
the Babes, a hip concert for
families with children aged 2-5
years old. Call 212-423-3337 for
tickets.
21
At 8:30pm Israeli Comedian
Nadav Abukasis will appear at
Symphony Space, 2537 Broadway at 95th Street, New York
City. Show is in Hebrew. Call
718-261-3924 for tickets. 10%
discount with Code IAC.
28
Temple Sholom, 300 East Putnam Avenue, Greenwich, Ct.
hosts “Project Ezra” a special
luncheon for Jewish Seniors in
the Community. Call 203-8697191 for details.
On March 2 at 7pm, Joanna
Caras, cookbook author will
speak about her new book,
“Miracle and Meals” at The
Chabad Jewish Center, 1
Stone Place, Bronxville. Autographed cookbooks will be
available to purchase. RSVP
to JewishBronxville.com.
March
4
Shabbat
Across
America
will take place at local synagogues. Visit NJOP.org or call
1-888-SHABBAT to learn more.
9
At 7:30pm The Brother John G.
Driscoll Professorship in Jewish-Catholic Studies at Iona
College hosts Rabbi David Fox
Sandmel speaking on Jews,
Christians and Israel in Spellman Hall, 715 North Avenue,
New Rochelle. Call 637-2744
for information.
10
UJA Federation of New York
in Westchester presents “Celebration: All Together Now”
their premier event of the year
featuring live music, food and
drinks at The Capitol Theatre,
149 Westchester Avenue, Port
Chester at 6:30pm. Contact
Deborah Lane at 761-5100 X
108 for tickets.
16
The Westchester Business
and Professional Division of
UJA Federation of New York in
Westchester will hold a Spring
Breakfast. Call 761-5200 ext.
122 to learn more.
•
February 2016 -- Shevat-Adar I 5776 •
7
8
• February 2016 -- Shevat-Adar I 5776 •
Provocative Insights into The Israeli Mind
BY STEPHEN E. LIPKEN
A rapt, enthusiastic audience of 60 people from Scarsdale and surrounding communities gathered at the Jewish
Community Center (JCC) of
Mid-Westchester on Wednesday, January 13 to hear clinical
psychologist and author Dr.
Alon Gratch discuss his latest book, The Israeli Mind, in
conversation with retired New
York Times reporter/editor Joseph Berger under auspices of
American Jewish Committee
(AJC) Westchester/Fairfield.
“Oppositional, argumen-
tative, unyielding, intransigent, obstinate, brusque, provocative—these are all words
that as Gratch notes are frequently used to describe the
Israeli character,” Berger said.
“Let me say right off—in direct
and combative Israeli fashion—that I don’t agree with
everything he writes but I do
think he gives us important…
and provocative insights into
how Israelis think and feel…”
Questioned by Berger
about the origin of Israeli obstinacy, Gratch responded that
Zionism began with Jews defying their parents, leaving Eu-
rope; then in Palestine defying
the Arab majority, saying no
to world pressure and saying
no to the British government
which restricted immigration.
“It is much more complicated,” Gratch continued. “I
would focus on two things 1)
an identity crisis that Israelis
have to deal with their environment, a constantly changing society.
Israel has been a construction site for the past 120
years with war, peace and
changing borders.
Growing up in an environment that is constantly
changing—how does it
affect your identity?
The positive side is
that Israelis are very entrepreneurial, creatively dealing with changes.
The negative side is instability.
“2) The country
is fragmented, a tribal
society with Russian,
Sephardic, Ashkenazi,
Ultra-Orthodox and Tel
Aviv groups, all saying
that they have nothing
in common with each
other, both passionate
and rigid.”
New York Times Reporter/Editor Joseph Berger; AJC Westchester/Fairfield Regional
Director Scott Richman; “Israeli Mind” author Dr. Alon Gratch
Dr. Gratch consistently
pointed out the dual nature
of Israel with Zionism frowning on speaking Yiddish and
viewing the Diaspora as weak
versus traditional Orthodox
values. He personalized it by
mentioning that his mother’s
uncle was a member of the
Stern Gang who killed him-
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self with a grenade to prevent
the British from hanging him.
Gratch’s mother’s great-uncle
was a founder of Neturei Karta, (“Guardians of the City”),
opposing Zionism and Israel
itself in the belief that Jews are
forbidden to have their own
state until the Jewish Messiah
comes.
2015 was Best Year
Ever for American
Tourism to Israel
“It’s official,” says Uri Steinberg, Israel Tourism Commissioner for North America, “more Americans visited Israel in 2015 than
in any year since Israel was reborn in 1948.”
The tourism statistics released in January show that some
620,000 Americans visited Israel in 2015, 3% more than in 2014,
the previous record year. “For much of the year, tourism specialists were seeing a monthly increase in arrivals,” Steinberg observed, “but only with the end-of-year statistics could we be really
sure that we’d broken the all-time record.”
In addition, tourism from Canada and Mexico also broke records, with a 2% increase over 2014 from Canada, and a surge of
8% from Mexico - with a total of 802,000 North Americans visiting
Israel in 2015.
As a result of the increasing interest in Israel vacations, airlines are upping the number of U.S. - Israel flights. El Al Israel Airlines is adding departures from both JFK and Los Angeles; Delta
is adding an additional five flights a week from New York to its
existing daily service; and in April United is launching nonstop
service from San Francisco to Tel Aviv, in addition to its two daily
flights from New York.
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•
9
10
•
•
Mazel Tov
Reform Jewish Voice of New York State Welcomes New Leadership
Continuing its work to
advance Reform Jewish values
and social justice in New York,
Reform Jewish Voice of New
York State recently welcomed
new members to both its steering committee and executive
committee.
Long-time RJV member
Richard C. Laskey of Temple
Sinai in Roslyn began his
first term as co-chair, joining
returning co-chair Barbara
Zaron of Congregation Beth
Emeth in Albany to guide the
organization’s daily operations.
“Working together with
members of the Steering Committee, each a devoted and
articulate advocate for social
justice, to give (a Reform Jew-
Ellen Greeley of Temple Israel of Northern Westchester
ish) voice to the values that
animate our lives has been
one of the most meaningful
experiences of my life. Now,
I am privileged to accept the
responsibility to serve as Co-
Chair of Reform Jewish
Voice of NY and look forward with great enthusiasm to encouraging even
more NY Reform congregations to engage actively
in justice advocacy. I am
especially proud that RJV
has also helped to create a
flourishing program that
introduces to affiliated
Reform Jewish teenagers
State legislative advocacy
for social justice,” Laskey
expressed gratitude for
the opportunity to continue RJV’s important work.
RJV is also excited to
welcome other new members
to its Steering Committee including Ellen Greeley of Temple Israel of Northern West-
chester (Croton-On-Hudson),
an experienced activist and
member of the NYS Interfaith
Network on Immigration Reform’s Steering Committee.
“I welcome our new
Steering Committee members, advocates and community activists all, to the work
of expanding our reach and effectiveness in the sacred work
of Tikkun Olam (repairing
the world). As RJV co-chair,
I embrace the responsibility
and challenge of bringing the
voice and values of the Reform
Jewish Movement to lawmakers and policymakers in New
York State, using advocacy to
achieve systemic change,” cochair Barbara Zaron said.
Reform Jewish Voice of
New York State (RJV) is the
Reform Jewish Movement’s
advocate for social justice in
New York State. It advocates
in Albany and around the state
for public policy that embodies
the principles of the Reform
Jewish Movement, educates
synagogue members about
the critical issues facing the
state and helps congregations
and individuals take an active
role as advocates, both locally
and in Albany. RJV functions
under the auspices of the
Commission on Social Action
of Reform Judaism, a joint instrumentality of the Central
Conference of American Rabbis and the Union for Reform
Judaism. Visit www.rjvnys.org
for more.
Teens Commemorate Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s
Birthday Through Service
Eleventh Annual “Tree Grows in Pleasantville” Event a
Huge Success
J-Teen
Leadership
brought interfaith youth organizations together from
Westchester and beyond for
its annual morning of service
in commemoration of Martin Luther King, Jr.’s birthday
on Monday, January 18, 2016.
More than 50 teens participated in a project where they
sorted medical supplies at the
Afya Foundation in Yonkers.
Afya supports ongoing
health initiatives in developing
countries by supplying critically needed surplus medical
supplies, hospital equipment
and humanitarian provisions.
Supplies and equipment are
collected from the healthcare,
corporate and private communities and sent to partner organizations on the ground.
Teens who attended this
Three hundred
and fifty of Westchester’s top movers and
shakers,
including
longtime Westchester resident Peter
Hauspurg and Benefit Co-Chairs Tema
Bombeck and Julianne Cohn Metzger
of Chappaqua, Judy
Shapiro of Armonk
and Lisa Cutler of
White Plains, supported JCCA’s fund- Judy Shapiro of Armonk, Lisa Cutler of White Plains, JCCA CEO Ronald E. Richter, Julianne
raiser, “A Tree Grows Cohn Metzger of Chappaqua and Tema Bombeck of Chappaqua
in Pleasantville.” The
event, held on January 9, 2016, and lead productive lives.”
ties. Since 1822, they have embenefits JCCA’s Cottage Schools’
A highlight of the evebraced those who need them
programs and services for vul- ning was a presentation by
most -- abused, neglected and
nerable children with serious
Ashley, who, at the age of 14,
traumatized young people who
emotional and family problems
was a victim of sexual trafare struggling with poverty,
and the new Center for Healing ficking. She graduated from developmental disabilities and
Sexually Abused and Exploited JCCA’s Gateways program for
complex mental illness. They
Children. The Center for Healyoung women who have been
also work with disadvantaged
ing, which launches in February,
the victims of commercial
Jewish immigrants and with
will provide staff training and
sexual exploitation. Ashley Jewish children and their
cutting-edge clinical and supexplained, “The staff never
families in support of Jewish
portive services to the children
gave up on me. So I decided
continuity.
and adolescents JCCA serves to not give up on myself!!! ToTheir programs include
who have been victims of sexual day, I am a beautiful, strong foster and residential care,
abuse and/or commercial sexuwoman despite what I have educational assistance and real exploitation. The event raised
experienced. I am a proud mediation, case management
over 300 thousand dollars.
high school graduate, a lifor young people with mental
According to Ronald censed cosmetologist and I health challenges and services
Richter, CEO of JCCA, “I want am an advocate against sexu- to families to prevent child
to thank the Co-Chairs and al abuse, the sexual exploitaabuse and maltreatment. JCCA
the entire committee for their
tion of children and domestic offers safety, stability and lifeenthusiastic support. It is trafficking. I am living proof saving support to help their
wonderful to see so many parthat change can happen!”
clients transform their lives.
ticipants also volunteer yearJCCA provides compre- In everything they do, they are
round to help our children. We
hensive care to thousands of guided by the Jewish mandate
also look forward to launching
children, young people and of tikkun olam – the responsiour new Center for Healing to
families who come from New bility of every person to make
help traumatized children heal
York’s many diverse communi- the world a better place.
event came from J-Teen
Leadership, Congregation Emanu-El of Westchester in Rye, Harrison
High School’s Students
for World Health, and
Peacebuilders of the
Kings Bay YM-YWHA
in Brooklyn. According
to Abbe Marcus, Executive Director of J-Teen
Leadership, “Our teen
leaders are committed
to coming together with
others from all backgrounds in
order to connect, break down
barriers and ultimately see
their commonalities as they
share in the work of helping
those in need.”
This year’s service included packing and sorting
medical supplies for clinics in
Africa, Haiti and those affected
by the current refugee crisis.
Danielle Butin, executive director of Afya, has worked with
J-Teen Leadership for years
and characterizes its members
as emerging leaders who have
demonstrated their readiness
to help in times of disaster.
“They collect, act, show up in
ways never seen,” she says.
•
11
Area Volunteers Come Together to Feed Hungry
Westchester Jewish Council to Recognize Outstanding Volunteers
More than 135 volunteers
spent a cold Martin Luther
King, Jr. Day in service by making sandwiches and soup starters, and packing food bags for
distribution to the hungry in
the local area. Young volunteers decorated cards and bags
to present the donations and
pay tribute to King’s legacy.
“Much of what Martin Luther King, Jr., believed about
doing your part in making
the world a better place can
be summed up by the Jewish
expression tikkun olam, repairing the world. According
to Jewish tradition, it’s our re- Volunteers from both the Mann Center and from the community make
sponsibility to care for those sandwiches to feed the hungry
in need,” said Juliana Reiner of
New Rochelle, who served as teen chair along with Julia Mendelsohn of Purchase and Maxine and
Sydney Moses of Larchmont. “When it comes to alleviating hunger, our teachings go way, way back.”
The event, which took place at the Sally & Anthony Mann Center in Hawthorne, was one of five
taking place throughout the Greater New York area as part of Feeding Our Neighbors: An Interfaith
Response. The initiative, for which UJA-Federation of New York joins Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of New York and Federation of Protestant Welfare Agencies, works to tackle hunger across
New York City, Westchester, and Long Island.
“BJCC’s food pantry is the largest in the East Bronx, serving more than 3,000 people each
month, especially seniors and especially those aging in place,” said Julia Mendelsohn. “For many of
the council’s clients, our donations mean the difference between a meal or going without.”
The Westchester Jewish
Council will recognize twenty
outstanding community volunteers at the 2016 Julian
Y. Bernstein Distinguished
Service Awards (JYBDSA) Ceremony on Wednesday, March
2, 2016, 7:30pm at the JCC of
Harrison.
The 2016 recipients and
their nominating organizations are: New York City resident Joan Muss, Alexander
Muss High School; Larchmont
resident Joan Rosen, Bet Am
Shalom Synagogue; New Rochelle resident Donna Bartell,
Beth El Synagogue Center;
White Plains resident Gary
Katz, Community Alliance for
Jewish-Affiliated
Cemeteries; Cortlandt Manor resident
Daniela Rosen, First Hebrew
Congregation; Irvington resident Sherry Padva, Greenburgh Hebrew Center; Ardsley
resident Deborah Wiskind,
Hadassah Westchester; Brewster resident Amy Post, Hebrew Congregation of Somers;
Scarsdale resident Stephanie
Kirwin, JCC Mid-Westchester;
Larchmont resident Ed Jacobson, Larchmont Temple;
Bronx resident Yvette Connell,
Metropolitan Jewish Health
System – Hospice; Mount Kisco
resident Sol Gibbons, Mount
Medical Cannabis Products Certified by OU Kosher
“We are thrilled to be
the first medical cannabis
company in the world to join
companies like Novartis and
Pfizer that choose the OU for
their kosher certification,”
said Dr. Kyle Kingsley, Chief
Executive Officer of Vireo
Health, the parent company of
Vireo Health of New York and
Minnesota Medical Solutions.
“Vireo and the OU both share a
deep commitment to rigorous
quality standards, and we look
forward to broadening our relationship as we expand our
operations into other states.”
“We are delighted to have
Vireo’s medical cannabis products join nearly one million
other products worldwide that
we certify as kosher,” said Rabbi Moshe Elefant, Chief Operating Officer of OU Kosher. “In
a life or death situation, Jewish
law clearly sets aside the kosher status of a medicine, but
in other cases, it is preferable
and sometimes recommended
that a medicine be certified
kosher. We commend Vireo
Health of New York for taking
this step and making this commitment to the Jewish community.”
Prior to being awarded
kosher certification, OU Kosher leadership held extensive
conversations with the company’s senior management. OU
Kosher’s rabbinic field representatives then visited Vireo’s
medical cannabis cultivation
and lab facilities, located in
Fulton County, New York, for
inspection and verification,
to assure that all OU Kosher
standards and policies were in
place.
Twenty-three states and
the District of Columbia currently have laws legalizing the
medicinal use of cannabis. Nationally, more than 1.1 million
patients have registered for
their state programs, and nearly 150 million Americans live in
states with laws allowing for
the medicinal use of cannabis.
New York State Governor
Cuomo signed the Compassionate Care Act into law on
July 5, 2014. It allows patients
to use medical cannabis if they
have been diagnosed with a
specific severe, debilitating or
life threatening condition that
is accompanied by an associated or complicating condition.
The law identifies several severe, debilitating or life
threatening conditions including: cancer, HIV infection
or AIDS, amyotrophiclateral
sclerosis (ALS) and epilepsy.
The associated or complicating conditions are cachexia or
wasting syndrome, severe or
chronic pain, severe nausea,
seizures or severe or persistent muscle spasms.
Physicians must complete a four-hour New York
State Department of Health
approved course and register
with the Department to certify
patients. Practitioners must
consult the New York State
Prescription Monitoring Program Registry prior to issuing
a certification to a patient for
medical cannabis.
Patients who are certified
by their practitioners must apply to the Department to obtain
a registry identification card
in order to obtain medical cannabis in accordance with any
recommendations made by the
patient’s practitioner. During
the patient registration process,
certified patients may designate
up to two caregivers, who must
also register with the Department, to obtain and administer
medical cannabis products on
behalf of the patients.
Registered organizations
may only manufacture medical
cannabis products in forms approved by the Commissioner.
Approved forms currently include liquid or oil preparations
for metered oromucosal or
sublingual administration or
administration per tube, metered liquid or oil preparations
for vaporization, and capsules
for oral administration. The
Compassionate Care Act expressly provides that a certified medical use of cannabis
does not include smoking. For
more information, visithttps://
www.health.ny.gov/regulations/medical_marijuana/.
Kisco Hebrew Congregation;
Rye Brook resident Eugene
Konigsbach, Northeast Jewish
Center; Pleasantville resident
Vivian Chang Frieheit, Pleasantville Community Synagogue; Mount Vernon resident
Elizabeth Shapiro, Rabbi Max
Maccoby Foundation; Scarsdale resident Karen Chapro,
Deborah Wiskind
Scarsdale Synagogue; White
Plains resident Ross Zelman,
Solomon Schechter School
of Westchester; Rye resident
Andrew Kligerman, StandWithUS; Katonah resident Hana
Epstein, United Synagogue of
Conservative
Judaism/USY;
Bronxville resident Arnold
Linhardt, Westchester Jewish
Council; and White Plains resident Jerry Adler, Young Israel
of White Plains.
In addition, a special tribute will be made to Larchmont
resident Robert A. Cohen, outgoing president of AIPAC, for
his years of service to the Jewish community.
The Julian Y. Bernstein
Distinguished Service Award
is named after Julian Y. Bernstein (z”l), a former Westchester Jewish Council board
member, who was a visionary
communal leader. “This evening is an opportunity for the
Westchester Jewish Council, the connecting body for
over 160 Jewish organizations
across Westchester, to honor a
very special group of individuals who make their own communities stronger through
their volunteerism and dedication”, said Paul Warhit, President of the Westchester Jewish Council.
The evening will include
a performance by The Youth
Choir of Temple Sholom of
Greenwich and a kosher dairy
dessert reception. This event
is free and open to the public.
For more information
contact Donna Bartell at [email protected] (914) 3287001
In an era where Google is a verb and
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914/723-5225
Twitter a world-recognized noun, the
Internet is everyone’s go-to for
practically any need. However, some
things will always require the human
touch, like the home buying and selling
process.
Real estate transactions only
happen when capable
professionals — like John Baer,
a Berkshire Hathaway
HomeServices agent —
navigate clients through the
intricacies of a transaction with
attention to detail, service
excellence, and care.
12
•
Agreement to Form a New Jewish Day School Organization
Day Schools of Reform
Judaism (PARDES), The Partnership for Excellence in Jewish Education (PEJE), RAVSAK
(The Jewish Community Day
School Network), the Schechter Day School Network
(Schechter), and the Yeshiva
University School Partnership
(YUSP) have all agreed to move
forward towards the formation of a new, integrated North
American Jewish day school
organization.
The decision by all of
the respective leadership to
move in this direction is an affirmation of the centrality of
day schools in Jewish life and
reflects their dedication to
seeing Jewish learning, literacy, culture and commitment
flourish in a rapidly changing
world. It reflects the conviction of many in the day school
community that they can all
benefit from the knowledge,
expertise and ideas of oth-
ers, even if they express
their Jewishness differently. As one organization, they can unify to
strengthen day schools,
the core of the Jewish
educational enterprise.
This new organization, which they are calling NewOrg, until they
finalize its name, is committed to supporting
and enabling financial
vitality and educational
excellence in Jewish day
schools, and to building and strengthening
a vibrant, visible and
connected Jewish day
school field. By pooling
the talent, expertise and
resources that have been dispersed among all of the organizations, NewOrg will be able
to offer an expanded set of programs, services and networking opportunities to benefit
the more than 375 schools and
close to 100,000 students and
any other schools interested
in participating. In short, they
are confident that NewOrg will
be greater than the sum of its
parts.
Each of the five organizations plays a unique role with
the schools they serve and
they are building NewOrg to
do that and so much more.
NewOrg will maintain and
expand on stream-specific
offerings, while scaling and
developing field-wide programs; it will offer the small
network feel, but with
the benefits of leveraged resources and
expertise. NewOrg will
take the best of what
each of the organizations has to offer its
schools, and then innovate and scale it for
all schools interested
in participating. It will
network
colleagues
and schools of different ideologies and geographies to address
shared challenges and
capitalize on shared
opportunities, while
still providing distinct
services and counsel
to schools from within
similar streams. NewOrg will
advocate for all day schools. It
will convene professional leaders, lay leaders and donors to
advance the field, and bring in
more resources. And, NewOrg
will wield its extensive organi-
zational reach and influence
and bring it to bear on behalf
of the needs of individual day
schools.
The initial board of directors of the new organization
will be composed of one lay
leader from each of the founding organizations, as well as
from AVI CHAI. A large group
of lay-leaders and donors have
expressed interest in supporting and being engaged with the
organization and will form the
pool from which additional
board members will be drawn.
They expect the new organization to launch, subject
to the finalization of the formal agreement and necessary
state approval, in Summer
2016.
Until then, the five founding organizations will continue
to offer their affiliated schools
the same services as before.
For additional information go
to www.newjdsorg.org.
Real Estate Matters: What Buyers are Looking for When Purchasing a Home
BY JOHN E. BAER, SRES
The “Spring Selling Season” is upon us and more
homes will soon be listed for
sale. Do you know what features buyers are looking for in
a home and are those features
showcase ready?
A recent National Association of Realtors Profile of
Buyers’ Home Feature Preferences examined the features
buyers prefer when it comes
to purchasing homes. Here are
five features that buyers are
most interested in and some
tips on how to improve their
showcasing.
FIREPLACE
57% of Buyers purchased
a house with a fireplace. Some
40% of homebuyers without
a fireplace said they would
spend additional monies of up
to $1,400 for at least one.
Fireplaces are often the
focal point of a room and the
first thing that captures the
attention when entering the
space. It should be a showpiece and the wow factor of the
room.
Ideally, the design of the
fireplace should reflect the
style of the home and any renovations should be consistent
within that style. If a fireplace
in a room is dated often it may
only need a fresh coat of paint
or stain and a good cleaning.
Replacing the door and screen
with an on trend one will refresh and revive it. Keep it
simple but stylish.
NEW KITCHEN APPLIANCES
69% who purchased a
home with old appliances
would have been willing to
spend an additional $1,800
more on their home purchase
if it had new appliances.
It is often underestimated how much of a detractor
appliances are to buyers. If
appliances are old and dated
buy new appliances, which
will increase the value of the
property. Stainless Steel appliances are most popular of
all. New models with fewer
features will help to keep the
cost down.
AIR CONDITIONING
65% of buyers rated this
feature as very important to
their search and the most significant feature of all.
Before showcasing a
property make sure that the air
conditioning unit is working
properly as the warm weather
approaches. Check ducts to
make sure air is blowing and
not clogged or need cleaning.
Give your unit a quick tune up
by changing filters, checking
batteries in the thermostat,
and cleaning covers.
Basements and garages
are luxuries. They are often
the most overlooked parts of
a property and a tremendous
selling feature.
BASEMENT
41% of buyers purchased
a house with a basement and
it is considered the highest
valued room. Most buyers are
willing to pay more for a home
if it includes a basement.
Basements are no longer
used for just storage and are
often contain sub-rooms such
as media rooms, playroom and
space for entertaining. Think
about creating that feeling of
luxurious extra, private space
for your prospective buyers
and their dreams.
Basements tend to be
dark, so put high wattage bulbs
in sockets.
An unfinished
basement will look better with
a coat of white paint. You can
also paint a floor gray or carpet
the floor, which will greatly improve its appearance and help
keep it clean.
GARAGE
78% of buyers chose a
house with a garage. Many use
garages to store belongings,
not cars. Garages are often the
holding zones for things that
people don’t actually use but
can’t seem to throw out.
We suggest to get rid of
anything that hasn’t been used
in over a year or two and organize what remains. It should
have the space clear for the
amount of cars built for it.
Keep only garage-related items
in it and keep it neat. The
object is to show buyers that
they can park their car in the
spacious garage because the
house has plenty of storage.
John E. Baer, SRES, DPA is
a NYS licensed real estate salesperson associated with Berkshire
Hathaway Home Services Westchester Properties of Scarsdale and
Larchmont. He can be reached for
questions at 914/600-6086 or at
914/844-2059. His website is www.
WestchesterHomes.info.
Local News for
County Readers...
westchesterjewishlife.com
•
•
13
Estate Tax Update and Various Options
BY BERNARD A. KROOKS, CERTIFIED
ELDER LAW ATTORNEY
In 2010, the concept of
estate tax portability became
law in an apparent attempt
by Congress to simplify estate
tax planning. Prior thereto, it
was quite common for estate
planning attorneys to suggest
that their clients consider a
“bypass” trust. Other names
for this type of trust include
“credit shelter” or “exemption
equivalent” or “A/B” trust.
The bypass trust was an
important consideration for
married couples who had a
taxable estate. Prior to the
recent increases in the federal
and New York state estate tax
exemptions, a lot more people
used to have taxable estates
than those who do so now. It
wasn’t that long ago that the
federal estate tax exemption
was only $600,000. At the
present time, the federal estate
tax exemption is $5,450,000.
Effective January 1, 2019, the
New York estate tax exemption
is scheduled to be the same as
the federal exemption. Currently, the New York state exemption is $3,125,000 and it
will increase to $4,187,500 on
April 1, 2016.
Here’s how a bypass
trust works: when one spouse
dies, his or her share of assets
subject to the estate tax — up
to the amount of the estate
tax exemption in place at the
time of death — could be put
into a trust that was treated
as taxable. However, since the
amount going into the trust
would be less than the tax
limit, the amount of tax would
be $0. That money would then
not be taxed in the surviving
spouse’s estate when she or he
later died. It was fairly easy to
double the estate tax exemption amount, in most cases, using the bypass trust.
Now, under the estate
tax portability rules, when a
spouse dies any unused estate
tax exemption equivalent figure is passed on to his or her
surviving spouse without necessity of using a bypass trust.
While this may appear to be a
relatively simple concept, the
real world applications are
much more complex.
Let’s consider an imaginary couple under the new
portability rules. We’ll call
them Bill and Mary, and they
are worth a total of $8 million. Their estate plans simply leave everything to each
other. When Bill dies after
April 1, 2016, his $4 million
(we’re going to keep Bill and
Mary simple — they own ev-
Kitchen & Bath Insider© #183
Beware of Preposterous Deals
BY PAUL BOOKBINDER, M.I.D., C.R.
It appears that I have
reached the point in life where
I have difficulty accepting the
premise that when something
sounds too good to be true it almost certainly is too good to be
true. Or, perhaps its not age related but ingrained in our DNA; that
we want more for less, something
for nothing, always searching for
the deal of the century.
Every day I find myself bombarded with countless ads and
emails offering everything from
handy gadgets (that I am assured
I cannot live without) to fabulous
furniture, complete new kitchens
or bathrooms, all at ridiculously
low prices. As hard as I try to
avoid even glancing at these limitless offerings my fingers pay no
attention to my brain. Taking on a
life of their own, they click to open
every offer that has managed to
avoid my spam or junk mail rules
and regulations. And each time I
succumb to the lure of the must
have LED flashlight with built in
can opener, that’s “cheap at half
the price”, I am disappointed yet
again. What’s wrong with me?
I saw a young woman on TV
who totaled her car, which she
had named Brad (while insured by
a company that we should switch
to immediately). I think she took
her settlement and created a website named after her car that lists
terrific deals, but only if you act
very quickly. Most of this stuff is
too good to be true, or too cheap to
be good. But that didn’t stop me. I
purchased a set of outdoor furniture (some assembly required);
six chairs and two foot rests,
guaranteed not to rust for a year.
I’m too embarrassed to reveal
how low the price was. It took two
full days to assemble, after a two
week wait for the missing parts
to be shipped from California.
The rust started 31 days after initial delivery. Company policy: 30
day return. Informed I was out of
luck for return, but since the warranty was good for a year, I could
ship the assembled chairs back
to California (SMALL PRINT: at
my own expense) to get a replacement. After calculating that shipping the assembled chairs would
cost five times the initial cost of
the product, I have decided to live
with the rust.
But did this experience
teach me anything? Apparently
not much, although my resistance to these hard to believe offers is gradually building. And,
speaking of building, the same
holds true with remodeling. Ads
for incredibly low priced cabinets
and countertops are springing
up all over. Often the cabinetry
and counters are imported from
overseas, in countries where they
have no scruples or standards.
We have no way of knowing what
harmful chemicals are in these
products and what dangerous
gases will permeate our home
environment once they are installed. But by then, it’s too late,
the damage is done.
There is a range of legitimate
prices for any product or project,
but beware of the preposterous
deals that don’t sound plausible.
Every time I’ve succumbed to the
deal of the century, be it for a lawn
chair or a new counter top at my
house I’ve regretted it. As attractive as low bids are, they should
raise a red flag.
Do your research! Check reviews and referrals and use your
common sense! In the case of remodeling, make sure you select
a qualified firm for your project,
whose business and financial capabilities, past performance and
reputation guarantee that you
will get a job done well, with products that will perform as promised. I’m not saying that you can’t
find bargains, but remember, if
it sounds too good to be true, it
probably is, and you just may end
up living with the rust.
P a u l
B o o kb i n d e r,
M.I.D., C.R., is
president
of
D re a m Wo rk
Kitchens, Inc.
located in Mamaroneck. A
Master of Design (Pratt Institute),
and E.P.A. Certified Remodeler, he
is an advisor for Kitchen & Bath
Design News. A member of the
Advisory Panel of Professional
Remodeler magazine and the
National Kitchen and Bath Association, he can be reached for
questions at 914-777-0437 or
www.dreamworkkitchens.com.
ery single asset jointly, with a
50/50 interest) simply passes
to Mary outright. It won’t matter, for our purposes, whether
that happens by his will, by the
operation of joint tenancy, or
by the terms of a trust. Since
Bill is leaving his entire estate
to Mary, there will be no estate
tax due on Bill’s death due to
the unlimited marital deduction.
For federal estate tax
purposes, Bill has used none
of his $5.45 million estate tax
exemption due to the unlimited marital deduction. Mary
inherits his $4 million AND his
$5.45 million in unused federal
exemption amount. However,
she does not inherit his unused
$4,187,500 unused New York
state exemption amount since
portability does not apply for
New York estate tax purposes.
So long as Mary’s estate does
not grow to an amount greater
than her federal estate tax exemption and the exemption
she inherits from Bill, she will
not owe any federal estate taxes on her death. However, she
will owe New York estate taxes
if her estate exceeds the New
York state estate tax exemption at the time of her death.
To obtain the benefits
of portability, an estate tax
return must be filed on the
death of the first spouse even
if no tax is due. Other than
the cost of preparing and filing the return, there is no apparent reason not to do this.
However, that doesn’t mean
that certain married couples
should not consider a bypass
trust. The assets in a bypass
trust, including all future appreciation, are not subject to
estate taxes on the death of the
second spouse. If portability
is elected, then it is possible
that the surviving spouse may
have assets over the exemption
amount she inherits from her
deceased spouse and her own
estate tax exemption amount
at her death. This could result
in taxes being due at that time.
Also, a bypass trust could preserve the assets for the benefit
of the children in the event the
surviving spouse remarries
after the death of the first
spouse.
While portability might
make things simpler for many
couples, it is not something
that should be relied upon
without reviewing your other
options, including a bypass
trust. It is important to work
with a competent estate planning attorney who can explain
the various options to you.
Bernard A. Krooks, Esq.,
is a founding partner of Littman Krooks
LLP and has
been honored
as one of the
“Best
Lawyers” in America for each of
the last seven
years. He is
past President
of the National Academy of Elder Law Attorneys (NAELA)
and past President of the New
York Chapter of NAELA. Mr.
Krooks has also served as chair
of the Elder Law Section of the
New York State Bar Association.
He has been selected as a “New
York Super Lawyer” since 2006.
Mr. Krooks may be reached at
(914-684-2100) or by visiting
the firm’s website at www.elderlawnewyork.com.
14
•
Youth Get Anxious Too: Know the Signs and How to Help Classifieds
BY BRENDA P. HAAS, LMSW, ED.M
Anxiety is a normal in
a child’s life. Most of us experience it, as it is a typical
reaction to tense, stressful
situations. In moderation, it
can boost our performance
in school or at work. A slight
rush of it can help a child focus
more sharply on a spelling test
or a big soccer game.
But, how can parents
distinguish normal anxiety or
persistent and serious worry?
Studies have shown that 13 percent of children between the
ages of 9 and17 struggle with
anxiety severe enough to cause
considerable discomfort. Similarly, the National Institute of
Mental Health has released a
large, national survey reporting that about eight percent of
teens ages 13 to18 have an anxiety disorder, with symptoms
commonly emerging around
age six and often rarely identified. However, only 18 percent
of these teens received mental
health care.
When anxiety becomes
excessive and begins to interfere with aspects of a child’s
functioning, such as academic,
social or family functioning,
the symptoms may warrant
evaluation and treatment. Often the anxiety can actually
cause a child or teen to “avoid”
experiences essential to their
development. An evaluation
can assess the frequency, in-
tensity and/or duration of the
worry, and how much it is interfering with the child’s usual
functioning and activities.
Problem anxieties can
persist for weeks or months
at a time, manifesting physically
through
headaches,
stomach aches, nausea or
vomiting. Children may have
difficulty sleeping, experience
nightmares or have problems
concentrating. Some chil-
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dren will avoid anything that
causes stress, refusing to go
to school or engage in normal
activities. Anticipatory anxiety
– worrying days, weeks or even
months ahead – also causes
some children significant distress. Frequent irritability, hyperactivity especially in young
children, and anger, particularly in adolescents, also may
be indications that a child is
becoming frustrated or overwhelmed by stress and worry.
Constant worry and concerns
about family members or
“catastrophizing” about future events are red flags that
a child’s anxiety has become
problematic.
Anxiety can range from a
phobia or extreme fear about
a specific object or situation to
social anxiety or fears related
to meeting or talking to people
or avoiding certain situations
to generalized anxiety disorder with worrying excessively
about most everything, particularly about future events.
These should not be discounted. Current research has
shown that children who experience anxiety are more likely
to struggle with depression as
teens and adults.
The good news is that
many emotional and behavioral disorders can be prevented
or helped if identified early
and treated in childhood and
adolescence. Behavioral therapy can help to alleviate a child’s
fears, assist in managing anxiety, and consequently facilitate
the child’s return to healthy
functioning in relatively short
time.
Parents of a child with
anxiety may often feel quite
anxious themselves, as it is
difficult to see their child experiencing worry and distress.
It is not uncommon to find
that anxiety may run through
certain families. Staying calm
and reassuring when dealing
with an anxious child, listening carefully and being patient
are a great remedy.
Two helpful tips for parents:
• The goal is not to eliminate anxiety, but to help a child
manage it. The best way to
help a child overcome anxiety
is not to try to fix it or remove
stressors that trigger it, but to
help the child learn to tolerate
and manage anxiety and function the best he/she can, which
may be through professional
consultation and treatment.
• Express positive and
realistic expectations. A parent cannot promise a child
that her fears are won’t be realized—that she will not fail
a quiz nor have fun on a play
date. But a parent can express
confidence that she is going to
be okay, able to manage it and
that, as she faces her fears, her
anxiety level will decrease over
time. Parents can give children the confidence that they
will support them through
the process of identifying and
managing anxious feelings,
in order for them to establish
healthy relationships, succeed
in school, work and play…and
develop a healthy, positive
sense of self.
Ms. Haas is Coordinator of
GPS (Guiding Parents through
Services), a partnership of UJAFederation and Westchester
Jewish Community Services,
which provides free, confidential consultations.
ANTIQUES • ART • COLLECTIBLES
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15
SPACA Hosts Two Engaging and Timely Events for Students and Parents
Students and Parents
Against Campus Anti-Semitism (SPACA) has started the
year with two exciting and informative programs in Westchester County. On January 7,
a panel discussion was held at
Temple Shaaray Tefila of Westchester in Bedford Corners for
college students and parents.
The second event, on January
16th at Young Israel of Scarsdale, featured the screening of
the film Crossing the Line 2,
followed by a panel discussion
for high school students and
their parents.
SPACA seeks to educate
and empower students and
their parents to stand up to anti-Israel campaigns and antiSemitic incidents on campus.
Through education, discussion
with today’s student advocates,
fact-checking and reliable resources, college students gain
accurate information, selfconfidence and advocacy skills
to stand up to propaganda and
intimidation.
At the Bedford Corners
ate student at
Binghamton University and a contributor to The Jerusalem Post and
The Times of Israel shared that in
Baltimore, he did
not grow up in a
Zionist home, but
“Zionism
found
me on the beaches
of Ashkelon”. He
added, “We need
to reclaim the
story of Israel, and
tell it based on the
facts.”
Rudy Rochman, a pro-Israel
student
activist
shared his perTop Row from left: Karyn Gallant of ShaarayTefila with Israel advocates Jenna Zitomer, Rudy
sonal story. When
Rochman, Chloe Valdary and Justin Hayet. Bottom Row: SPACA leaders Sharon Freudenstein,
he was seven years
Shoshana Bederman and Bonnie Katzenstein
old he went on
a family vacation to London.
ism you fight.”
event, renowned advocate
When the family boarded a
SPACA believes that adChloe Valdary charged the
double-decker tour bus, Rostudents, “Have the wisdom vocates are not born, they are
chman’s mom was wearing a
made. This was the case with
to recognize the difference between racism and inaccuracy. Justin Hayet, a panel member t-shirt with Hebrew writing.
The tour bus driver asked her,
at both events. Hayet, a graduInaccuracies you correct, rac-
“Is that written in Jewish?”
His mom replied, “It’s written
in Hebrew, the language of
the Jewish people.” The driver
then told the family, “Get off
my bus, I don’t want any Jews
on my bus!”
Rochman recalled that
after that incident he knew
that no matter where he lived
in the world, his identity was
Jewish and his homeland was
Israel. After high school, Rochman volunteered for the
IDF, where he served in an
elite Paratrooper unit. He is
currently attending Columbia
University where he is President and founder of Students
Supporting Israel (SSI).
During both evenings,
students and parents were
engaged in the conversation
and asked questions on how to
best advocate for Israel among
friends with opposing opinions. Also discussed was how
parents can find out which
campuses are more hostile and
fraught with anti-Israel sentiments.
SPACA has witnessed major and concrete results from
efforts to educate and empower hundreds of students
and parents. On campuses all
over the U.S., Israel advocates
have challenged the anti-Israel
movement. They have organized and have stood up to BDS
campaigns.
Pro-Israel students have started dialogues
where there were none, and
have educated students who
were misinformed, to question
the anti-Israel rhetoric and
fact-check the demonization
of Israel as an Apartheid state.
There is a lot more to do on
college campuses, but they are
definitely making a difference.
SPACA’s leadership includes Scarsdale residents
Shoshana Bederman and Tamar Ben-Simon Sharon Freudenstein, Bonnie Katzenstein of
New Rochelle and Ronit Jacobs
of Westfield, NJ. For information on SPACA’s events and
programs, email [email protected]
The
Koslowe
Gallery announces
the opening of the
winter
exhibition
“Diaspora and Identity” by world-renowned French photographer Frederic
Brenner on February 4, 2016 at 7:45pm
at
Westchester
Jewish Center, 175
Rockland Avenue,
Mamaroneck.
On generous loan from the
Howard
Greenberg Gallery in
New
York,
the
soaring and stunning photographs
are a collective
portrait of Jewish
life, woven over
25 years and more
than 40 countries.
These works, comprised of merchants in India,
Tunisian
brides
and grooms, Portuguese
Marranos secretly observing Passover, Chinese Jews,
a tobacco worker in Azerbaijan, reveal a people alternately transformed by
faces, influences
and cultural assumptions with
a common heritage. With the
help
of
local
guides and informants
Brenner
sought out Jews
who defied any
stereotype of Judaism, and observed and drew
out all manners of
assimilation and
cultural embrace.
For example, he
saw the black
strip on men’s
trousers in Tunisia for what it
was—a memorial
of the destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem
or the gathering
of pigs by Jewish
farmers in Miami
for its means to a
livelihood.
Educated at the Sorbonne, where he studied Social Anthropology, Brenner,
who has Algerian and European roots, has spent
a large part of his career
Westchester Jewish Center’s Brotherhood will host the
annual World Wide Wrap on Super Bowl Sunday, February 7th,
followed by breakfast and a talk
with Jacques Steinberg, who will
discuss his book:
You are an Ironman.
Shacharit will begin at
8:30 a.m. with
the book talk
at around 9:00
am. Copies of
the book will
be available for
purchase, and
all are welcome.
Stu Seltzer and
Robin Nazarzadeh, co-chair the
event.
Jacques
Steinberg is a Westchester
Jewish Center congregant and
Trustee. A journalist at The New
York Times for 25 years, Steinberg
wrote his second book, You are
an Ironman, published by Viking
Penguin in 2012. He spent a year
following six weekend warriors
from around the country as they
prepared for and then attempted
to complete their first try at an
Ironman Triathlon.
An Ironman is a grueling, 17hour test of will that begins with
a 2.4 mile open water swim (the
equivalent of about 175 lengths
across a 25-yard community
pool), continues with a 112 milebike ride (imagine pedaling from
Philadelphia to
Manhattan) and
then ends with
a 26.2 mile run
(imagine finishing that bike ride
and immediately
embarking
on
the New York City
Marathon.)
As
Ironm a n- d i s ta n c e
races have spread
from the original
site in Hawaii to
locations around
the country and the world, tens
of thousands have taken on this
challenge each year – including
several Westchester Jewish Center members. Steinberg will discuss some of the inspiring stories
of persistence and endurance
that he noted in his book.
Westchester Jewish Center
is located at Rockland and Palmer
Avenues, Mamaroneck. For more
information call 698-2960.
“Diaspora and Identity” Works Portraying World Wide Wrap
Jewish Life in more than 40 Countries
and Sports Talk
and transforming the societies where they live.
What his photographic
exploration reveals is that
there is not one Jew, but a
myriad people of varying
documenting Jewish communities around the world,
exploring what it means to
live with portable identity,
adopting the manners of
one’s home country and remaining part of the Jewish
people.
From Rome to Yemen,
Morocco to Brazil, he has
chronicled Jewish life. His
work has shown at the Jewish Museum, the Brooklyn
Museum and countless other museums and galleries
around the world. His opus,
Diaspora: Homelands in Exile was published by Harper
Collins in 2003 and won a
National Jewish Book Award
for Visual Arts in 2004. Reviewed in The New Yorker,
this exhibition was described as follows: ‘’Elegiac,
Irreverent… transcends portraiture, represented a prolonged, open-ended inquiry
into the nature of identity
and heritage.”
For more information,
contact Amy Levine-Kennedy, Curator at amyruth67@
aol.com or Pat Tinto, Communications Director at
[email protected]
Willow Gardens:
Westchester’s Newest
Memory Care
Residence
We never forget who you are inside.
Opening in March 2016, Willow Gardens Memory Care will be
Westchester County’s only nonprofit assisted living residence
devoted exclusively to Alzheimer’s Disease and related dementias.
Willow Gardens offers incomparable care and a real home, where
adults with memory impairment continue to lead meaningful lives.
A CAmpus of Comprehensive CAre
•
•
•
•
•
Skilled Nursing & Rehabilitation
Assisted Living
Memory Care
Health at Home
Independent Senior Housing
www.uhgc.org
914-632-2804

Rosenthal JCC Closing after 36 Years

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