here - Jewish Federation of Greater New Bedford

A
JEWISH
MESSENGER
Kislev 5776
Fall 2015
T h e J e w i s h F e d e r a t i o n o f G re a t e r N e w B e d f o rd
Nancy Spielberg —
W
hen producer Nancy Spielberg came to town to
share her film Above and Beyond with nearly
200 members of the Jewish Federation of Greater
New Bedford and the community at large, a
whale of a time was had by all. The event was a resounding success
– the perfect mix of programming content, volunteer coordination and
a good time with friends in one of New Bedford’s premier venues,
the historic Whaling Museum. Guests had the opportunity to meet
Nancy while enjoying delicious food before viewing the story of the
Jewish American pilots who risked much to help fight for Israel’s independence. Celebratory cake honoring the pilots who flew for
Israel and the Federation’s generous members
Nancy Spielberg sharing a laugh
with guests prior to the Above and
Beyond screening
FROM THE PRESIDENT
“One of the deep secrets of life is that
all that is really worth the doing is what
we do for others”- Lewis Carroll
A
s president of the Jewish Federation of Greater New Bedford, I’m so
very proud of the meaningful work
that our Federation
has done in our community and in
Israel during the past year. And I’m
pleased to inform you of the meaningful ways the Federation works to
impact and enrich the lives of others.
We ended the last campaign year
with some Hollywood flair with an
evening with producer Nancy Spielberg and her spectacular documentary Above and Beyond at the New
Bedford Whaling Museum in May.
Our Holocaust Education Committee organized events year-round at BCC, UMass
Dartmouth and Tifereth Israel, where there was
something for everyone to learn about. Our Federation’s support of these programs and the hard
work of the Committee have led to a vast increase
in Holocaust programming at both area schools. I’m
excited by the momentum the Committee has built
around this important subject, which will pick up
again this fall.
We continue our commitments to our sister city,
Afula, in Israel. Now more than ever, Israel needs
to hear our voice, our message of support, strength
and love.
Our community is changing and taking care of
our own in the community has not
taken a backseat this year. The Federation again has provided a substantial grant to the Ziskind School
of Judaism, bridging the tuition gap
to ensure the school is staffed properly and our students receive the best
Jewish education possible. We work
to be vigilant of and offer assistance
to our elders via our partnership with
Coastline Elderly, our Passover relief
drive and the many calls that we answer from those who need help.
I am sincerely grateful to be working with the
amazing individuals on our professional staff, executive director, Amir Cohen, and office administrator, Michelle Poirier.
If you haven’t been reading Amir’s Bulletins,
you need to start! Amir is able to weave the world’s
current events, politics and even pop culture in a
way that is all at once informative and interesting
while keeping a sense of humor and tying it all back
to the ideas and events of which our community
should be aware. His experiences, connections and
willingness to provoke and share have breathed a
new energy into the office. Thank you, Amir!
I thank Michelle for her hard work in running
the daily operations of the Federation office and
her diligence in locating the correct person to resolve the situations she is handed. And always with
a smile. Thank you, Michelle!
Thank you also to the committee members and
amazing volunteers whose dedicated work has
helped our community.
As I start my second year as president, I’m looking forward to a new and exciting year. I commit
to working even harder to bring the community
together and letting everyone know what the Federation is about and what we are doing both here
at home in New Bedford and abroad. My hope is
that everyone, when they get their 2016 campaign
letter and call, will remember all that we have accomplished and all that we continue to do for our
community.
Ellen Hull
BOARD OF
DIRECTORS
2015-16
Ellen Hull, president
Martin Lipman, vice president
Marsha Onufrak, vice president
Stuart Forman, treasurer
Deborah Forman, secretary
Amir Cohen, executive director
William Abesh
Kenneth Ackerman
Pearl Bacdayan
Susan Barnet
Andrew Barroll
Edward Barry
Jack Belkin
Jason Falk
Janet Freedman
Wendy Friedman
Ruth Glicksman
Barbara Gotlib
Rabbi Barry Hartman
Barbara Kaplan
Ellen Nelson
David Rosenberg
Susan Siegal
Cynthia Yoken
Cheryl Zeoli
Alan Zexter
EX-OFFICIO
Alan Ades
Judy Barry
Paul Chervinsky
David Cohen
Louis Gitlin
Robert Greene
Peter London
Jeffrey Martin
Judy Pollack
Elliot Rosenfield
Patricia Rosenfield
Michael Russell
Peter Russell
Lillian Shwartz
The Jewish Messenger is published by
the Jewish Federation
of Greater New Bedford
467 Hawthorn Street,
Dartmouth, MA 02747
T -508-997-7471
email - [email protected]
PAGE 2 | JEWISH MESSENGER
The sound of silence.
By Amir Cohen
I
’ve always liked the music of Simon and Garfunkel. In The Sound of Silence more than 50 years
ago, the duo sang, “I’ve come to talk with you
again.” I was thinking about that song earlier this
month when Israeli Prime Minister
Benjamin “Bibi” Netanyahu came
to speak to the United Nations. This
speech has become somewhat of an
annual event, a pilgrimage of sorts.
Personally, I don’t always agree
with Bibi, but there is little doubt
about his ability to deliver a message. It is probably thanks to him
that the world is as aware of the
Iran threat as it is. He launched that
campaign more than 20 years ago
– long before Americans were as
familiar with terror as we are today.
In his most recent speech the prime minister paused
for 45 seconds, saying nothing and making a strong
point with the sound of silence.
I was again thinking about that song last week
when a 13-year-old Palestinian terrorist with a knife
attacked and seriously injured a 13-year-old boy who
was riding his bicycle to the local candy store. The
boy and his 15-year-old cousin each picked a target;
the older one was more successful as he attacked and
killed a 25-year-old man. A passing driver hit the boy
with his car, likely saving the life of the boy on the
bike. Both 13-year olds were taken to a Jerusalem
began to stab the passengers, murdering two and seriously injuring many.
Now imagine a scenario in which your child is being attacked and a passing driver saved him by hitting
the attacker. That driver would be on the
front page of this newspaper the next day.
Thousands of Facebook, Twitter and Instagram posts would hail the driver as a
hero.
But instead it’s the Simon and Garfunkel treatment as the mainstream media
reveals bias in its coverage of the current
round of violence between Palestinians
and Israelis. Palestinian terror attacks are
“tensions” and victims are painted as “aggressors.” This practice can only incite,
encourage and support more terror from
those who so often act the victim on the
world stage. And I’m not going to even
waste my time on published official statements from
Palestinian leaders praising “every drop of bloodshed .
. . for the sake of Allah.”
This is the part of an article where writers often make
an “I hope to see a better future” statement or some kind
of benign declaration of hope. I can do no such thing.
Palestinians continue to teach their grade-school-aged
children about a Palestinian nation (only) between the
[Jordan] river and the [Mediterranean] sea. Teachers ask
for a show of hands following the question, “Who has a
‘shaid’ (martyr) in the family (read someone who blew
hospital where the attacker is doing well while the
victim is in serious condition. Adding insult to injury,
initial media reports suggested the Palestinian had
been killed, prompting Palestinian authority leader
Mahmoud Abbas to condemn Israeli aggression.
In just the past two weeks Palestinian terrorists
murdered the parents of four children as they were driving home with their kids in the backseat. In a separate
incident, a Palestinian stabbed two Israelis to death. A
person who was passing the victim’s wife and two-yearold child, both stabbed and bleeding, laughed and spat
on them. A day later two terrorists boarded a bus and
himself up to kill Israelis)?” and an entire class of children raises their hands. No, when this is what is taught
at 10, it is no surprise that by 13 years of age they are
looking for their first victims.
My view after the past few weeks is that a longsought political solution and peaceful coexistence are
even less likely today. And that those who seek it feel
weakened and discouraged. I know I am.
As for the silence, I’m trying to do my part here in this
article by breaking it.
My view after the past few weeks is that a
long-sought political solution and peaceful
coexistence are even less likely today. And that
those who seek it feel weakened and discouraged.
— As run in the 10/21/2015 edition of
The Standard-Times.
A New Campaign Year
and the General Assembly
M
ore than 3,000 people gathered in
Washington last month for one of the
largest events on the Jewish calendar
– the General Assembly of the Jewish
Federations of North America. Jewish Federation of
Greater New Bedford Board member, Cheryl Zeoli
and Executive Director Amir Cohen represented our
community at the event and enjoyed interesting and
Maj. Tzur with Rabbi Raphael Kanter
informative sessions, learning from other communities about best practices and fresh ideas and listening
to inspiring speakers from all over the world.
The closing plenary featured Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin (Bibi) Netanyahu who was, as he often
is, excellent.
However, the prime minister used not just his time
slot but that of others who were scheduled to speak,
Maj. Tzur with John and Marsha Onufrak
including Major Meital Tzur, an IDF officer who was
scheduled to speak about the rescue team Israel sent
to Nepal back in April after the devastating earthquake hit Katmandu.
Meital never got to speak to those 3,000 people,
but the following day she was here in our community
at a small gathering at the home of Marsha and John
Onufrak.
Maj. Tzur with Andrei Klein
THANK YOU FOR YOUR SUPPORT
Your campaign gift makes the programming featured in this issue of the Messenger possible.
Above and Beyond, an unforgettable evening with Nancy Spielberg at the Whaling Museum.
An Sundance Film Festival award-winning short film by Yuval Hameiri at UMass Dartmouth.
And the many programs we have scheduled for the coming months.
It helps us support Holocaust remembrance, provide assistance for the elderly,
enhance the learning experience at the Ziskind School at Tifereth Israel synagogue,
and be there for Jews in Israel and worldwide.
This, and more, is what the Jewish Federation does.
Thank you for your past support. In 2016, more than ever before, your contribution will make a difference. Please make your gift or pledge TODAY and consider an increase over last year.
You can make you donation online at jewishnewbedford.org, by calling 508-997-7471, or by returning the envelope we mailed you earlier this month.
JEWISH MESSENGER | PAGE 3
Afula / Gilboa - SNEC Update
By Michael Russell
T
his past year started a year of reinvigoration for SNEC (our partnership with our
Israeli friends in the municipality of Afula
and the surrounding Gilboa). The crucial
change was moving the Young Emissary program’s
budget out of the main program budget and requiring
all communities to make significant commitments to
the program budget. This change resulted in an effective increase in the program budget from $102,000
last year to $176,000 this year! As you can imagine,
that allows a tremendous increase in the breadth of
programs. Additionally, two new communities (the
Berkshires and Rockland County, New York) have
decided to join SNEC. That will add approximately
another $18,000 to the program budget for next year.
As always, SNEC’s goals remain the same:
1. The building of “Living Bridges” between Americans and Israelis from our regions;
2. The support of crucial social welfare programs in
the region.
In the Living Bridges realm, we had an extremely exciting visit from the Sundance Film Festival Winner of
the Documentary Film category who lives in Afula and is
a member of the Tarbut group (which we have supported
both through SNEC and directly). Yuval Hameiri and
the Tarbut leader, Hadas Goldman, presented his film at
UMass Dartmouth and also for Federation Pacesetters. It
was a great honor to have them visit.
We also had our first shared cooking class via Skype
which was a great success. We are hoping to have more
of these this year.
Young Emissaries from the Jewish Federation of Cen-
tral Massachusetts visited TI’s Ziskind School. We have
been promised more visits this year.
As in the past, the social welfare aspect was fulfilled by
funding several crucial programs:
1. The animal therapy program at the Beit Singer Children’s Home;
2. The Afula satellite office of the Haifa Rape Crisis
Center;
3. The Tarbut movement’s program to build community in low socioeconomic areas through visual and
performing arts programs for kids.
Some of the upcoming SNEC Living Bridges programs this year include:
1. Israel Multi-culture Food and Wine Tour and Workshops in our communities;
2. Artist in Residence – in Israel;
3. Olive Tree exhibition and delegation – Israeli Artists
visiting the US;
4. Dream Doctors – medical clowns who visit children
affected by missile attacks – will be visiting the US;
5. School Twinning – creating relationships between US & Israeli school children.
New Bedford will only be able to take part in some
of these, but we’ll keep you posted.
The Social Welfare programs that SNEC will be
sponsoring this year include:
1. Women to Women, the Afula and surrounding
Yizre’el Valley satellite office of the Haifa Rape
Crisis Center, raises awareness of sexual violence and encourages youth and adult survivors of
sexual abuse to contact the Haifa Rape Crisis Center
for support and consultation;
2. The animal therapy program at the Beit Singer Children’s Home provides a warm and loving home to
children and youth who suffer abandonment, neglect and abuse from an early age;
3. The Dream Doctors program at the Emek Hospital assists in reducing stress, anxiety and fear patients experience, and aids in healing. The Medical Clowns are trained in psychology, social work,
nursing and theater and work with children, aging
adults, sexual abuse and PTSD victims, and those
with chronic illnesses;
4. Bayit Cham, an after-school club for children at risk,
supports children coming from struggling and disadvantaged families and/or families in crisis. Children stay in a protected educational environment
until 4:30 PM each school day. Fifteen elementary
school-age children attend the program receiving
a hot meal, assistance with homework and enrichment activities.
Also, for those of you who don’t know, there is a
guest house available on Kibbutz Yizre’el in the beautiful
Yizre’el Valley which you can stay at for free. On your
next trip to Israel, make a visit to our partnership region
a priority – you will be welcomed with open arms (and
lots of food).
If you have any thoughts or questions, please feel free
to contact me at [email protected].
250 Elm Street, Padanaram Village
South Dartmouth, MA 02748
Telephone: (508) 999-1010 v Fax: (508) 999-5248
annewhitingrealestate.com v [email protected]
Steven D. Mazza, Associate
Cell: (508) 207-5605
PAGE 4 | JEWISH MESSENGER
David Broza
Thursday, January 28, 7:00 PM
New Bedford Whaling Museum,
18 Johnny Cake Hill, New Bedford
Israeli superstar David Broza is one of the most dynamic and vibrant performers in the singer/songwriter world
and he is coming to town at the Federation’s invitation!
David’s performances are a fusion of the three different countries in which he was raised: Israel, Spain, and
England. His famous guitar playing has entertained audiences the world over. He has released over 30 albums in
Hebrew, English and Spanish, including David Broza at Masada, The Sunrise Concert.
Long devoted to resolving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, David in 2014 recorded an album in its entirety in the
Palestinian Sabreen Studio in East Jerusalem. The collaborative work took eight days and nights and resulted in a
beautiful, intimate and special album and documentary East Jerusalem / West Jerusalem. JEWISH MESSENGER | PAGE 5
ANNUALForCAMPAIGN
gifts pledged and received
$10,000+
Paul and Elaine Chervinsky
Sheldon Friedland
Alfred and Karan Ross
$1,000-$9,999
William and Betty Abesh
Alan and Ruth Ades
Susan Barnet*
Edward and Peggy Barry
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$360-$499
Lynn Alpert
Goldie Gitlin
Cantor Nathaniel and Melynda
Schudrich
Irma Wolfe
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$180 - $359
Kenneth and Liz Ackerman*
Barry Becken and Ivy Feuerstadt
Bernard and Ruth Bier
Amir Cohen
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Glaser Glass Corp. C/O Iris Wallace
and Rosalyn Glaser
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Michael and Catherine Russell*
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Henry and Patricia Saltzman
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Beverly Goldstein +
Martin and Ruth Gross
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Sarah Hull
Cary Isaacs and Illana Feinerman
Mollie Jacobs +
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Leonard and Elaine Kaner
Joel Kaplan
Ira Katz
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Edith Kleger
Maria LaTour-Reed
Jerry and Susan Levin
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Martin Bromberg
Roberta Dolinsky
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Robert and Janet Feingold*
Elliott Feinstein
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William and Jane Friedman
David and Heidi Gotlib*
Vera Grafova
Barry and Shoshana Hartman
Edith Helfand
Barbara Kaplan*
Andrei and Juliana Klein
Steven and Susan Lefkowitz
Martin and Brenda Levin
Doris Levine
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Alex and Sophia Lustikman
Shelley Martin
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Judi Mickelson
Christine Raber
M.C. and Dora Rosenfield
Bernice Russo
Steven Schwartz and
Betty Ussach-Schwartz
+ deceased
* Total includes campaign gift AND/OR restricted gifts
(i.e. scholarship, endowed fund, gift in memory/honor of, gift-in-kind)
PAGE 6 | JEWISH MESSENGER
A
HONOR
ROLL
through June 30, 2015
Daniel Schwartz
Igor and Emma Shovmer
Irma Shuster +
Carol Smola
Warren and Carol Sterns
Ronald and Patricia Weisberger
Phillip and Sandra Zeitz
$1 - $49
Doris Alberts
Carl and Beth Joy Andrews
Donald Barash
Susan Benesch*
David and Doris Berger
Raymond and Nancy Castino
Antonio Chantre*
Bruce Cohen*
Joyce Costa*
William do Carmo
Steven DuBois
Jonathan Feinstein
Betsy Finch-Kaplan
Howard and Sheila Galitsky
Vera Gassar
Myra Goldberg
Stanley and Ann Goldstein
Josephine Gon*
Sophie Helfand
Saul and Ronni Krasny
Alan and Andrea Kreiss
Polina Kremer
Edward and Doreen Kristal
Alan Lechan and Judith Lederman-
Lechan
Anthony and Rachel Lewis
Donald and Beth Lucero
Roseann Markowitz
Donna Maxfield
Susan Mick
Osna Nisson
Leonard Perler
Abram and Sara Piratinskiy
Meryl Russell
Steven Sachs
Robert and Carol Saltzman
Rakhil Sapir
Marjorie Seltzer
Robbin Smith
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Ronald and Karin Taylor
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Stan and Nancy Waldman
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Clinton and Frances Levin
Doris and Bernard Levine
Stanley Levine
Bruce Lider
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Anne and Shawn McGuire
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Marsha Onufrak
Edith Pliskin
Judy Pollack
Christine and Paul Raber
Marsha and Stanley Revzin
M.C. Rosenfield
Elliot and Patricia Rosenfield
Alfred and Karan Ross
Bernard Roth
Ilse and Ed Rothman
Eli and Barbara Rubin
Catherine and Michael Russell
Wendy and Peter Russell
Donna Sachs
Carol and Robert Saltzman
Gilbert and Frima Shapiro
Igor and Emma Shovmer
Calvin and Sue Siegal
Louis Silverstein
Paul Solomon
Robert and Judith Sterns
Carol Torres
Nonie Walder
Cynthia and Melvin Yoken
Michael and Maura Zeman
Cheryl and Daniel Zeoli
Alan Zexter
Passover Appeal
Thank you for your generous response to the 2015 Passover Appeal,
which raised over $3,800 to purchase kosher-for-Passover foods for
members of our community in need.
PASSOVER APPEAL DONORS
William and Betty Abesh
Ken and Liz Ackerman
Carin and David Adelstein
Dorothy Aghai
Cecilia Alkalay
Pearl Bacdayan
Susan Barnet
Judy Barry
Jack Belkin
Neal Bornstein
Paul and Elaine Chervinsky
Maureen Deneault
Esther Eisner
Debra and Jason Falk
Elliott Feinstein
Bonnie Feldman
Sheldon Friedland
Charlotte Friedman
Wendy Friedman
Goldie Gitlin
Rosalyn Glaser
Milton Glicksman
Myra Goldberg
Barbara and Aaron Gotlib
Barbara Greene
Rabbi Barry Hartman
Burton and Ruth Hastings
Wil Herrop
Jeffrey and Leanora Horowitz
Ellen Hull
George and Lois Jacobs
Sidney and Barbara Kaplan
Ethel and Nathan Kaplan
Passover Relief Fund
Linda Lane
Claire and Fred Levin
Bequests
Estate of Samuel Helfand
Estate of Mollie Jacobs
When you include the Jewish Federation of Greater New Bedford in your estate plans, you provide for the future of our Jewish community.
We would like to thank these individuals for their thoughtful generosity.
JEWISH MESSENGER | PAGE 7
Holocaust Committee:
A Year to Remember
By Cindy Yoken
T
his year has been an incredible year with
lots of lectures and events. Our theme this
year was “The Rise of Anti-Semitism in the
World.”
AUGUST 2014:
The Holocaust Center at Bristol Community College, which receives funds from our Jewish Federation, sponsored a program at Temple Beth El in Fall
River, “Music and the Holocaust: The Holocaust in Song,
Literature, and Photographs.”
Dr. Brian Nevin from Old Dominion University in Virginia
gave a lecture and recital with
Jewish songs of lament, protest, and resistance from 19331947.
OCTOBER:
DECEMBER:
Marsha Onufrak and Cindy Yoken went to ORR Junior High School to speak to the entire seventh grade
about Chanukah. The seventh graders were beginning
a Holocaust unit and wanted to learn about Jewish history and culture. Claire Levovsky spoke to one of the
classes at Dartmouth High School about the Holocaust
as well.
MARCH:
Robin Lipson, widow of
Rudolf Vrba, spoke at BCC
and showed a film about her
late husband who escaped
Auschwitz. She donated
his papers to the BCC Holocaust Center.
Ron Weisberger and Cindy Yoken attended the 45th
Annual Scholars’ Conference at Temple University in
Philadelphia.
This year the Jewish Federation partnered with the Zeiterion Theatre and helped sponsor
some Holocaust-related programs. The school program,
APRIL:
Through the Eyes of a Friend,
Esther Bauer, 90-year
was presented at Dartmouth
Holocaust survivor of AusHigh School for several area
chwitz, spoke to a full audischools. Members of the Hotorium at BCC about her life
locaust Committee joined the
as a survivor.
students to view the morning
UMass Dartmouth’s Cenand afternoon performances
ter for Jewish Culture and
of a young actress from NYC
Cindy Yoken at the Holocaust Monuthe Boivin Center of French
who played the friend of Anne
ment on Yom Ha’Shoah
Language
and Literature sponFrank.
sored a lecture on Sarah’s
The Holocaust Center of
BCC and the Luso-American Center presented a con- memoir, Hiding in Plain Sight: Eluding the Nazis in
ference on Aristides deSousa Mendes, Light in a Time Occupied France, co-authored by Sarah Miller and
of Darkness. DeSousa Mendes, Portuguese ambassa- Joyce Lazarus.
As partners with the Zeiterion Theatre, the Jewish
dor in Bordeaux, France, in 1941, rescued Jews before
Federation gave scholarships for students to attend the
being discovered and disgraced by his own country.
one-man performance of Wiesenthal performed by
Tom Duggan and attended by about 800 students. The
NOVEMBER:
Dr. Ilana Offenberger, professor of history at UMass evening performance was preceded by a discussion of
Dartmouth, gave a presentation at Tifereth Israel, Fol- Abe Landau’s book.
Our community observance of Yom HaShoah took
lowing Kristallnacht in Vienna: The November Pogrom of 1938 and its Impact on Emigration.
place on Sunday, April 26. This year we also honored
PAGE 8 | JEWISH MESSENGER
Cindy Yoken, Mel Yoken, Rona Trachtenberg,
Robert Jacobvitz, Portrait, Ron Weisberger, Diane Bolton at Aristedes de Sousa Mendes event
the liberators on the 70th anniversary of the liberation
of the concentration camps. At the monument, Mayor
Jonathan Mitchell spoke about his grandfather, John
Richmond Kinney, who was a liberator of Dachau.
Later, Judith Klein, whose family came from Hungary, introduced our guest speaker, Mr. Robert Fokos.
Mr. Fokos spoke with great emotion about how as an
8-year-old child he was confused about what was going on in his native Hungary at the time and how his
family managed to survive under Swiss protection.
He was not allowed to practice any religion then, but
was forced to wear the yellow star. He explained his
rediscovery of his Jewish roots very recently with the
help of a doctor in a hospital on Martha’s Vineyard
who helped him become a Bar Mitzvah.
MAY:
Maria Sanguinetti and Cindy Yoken spoke to Roosevelt Middle School students about Abe Landau and
showed the power point presentation.
It was a wonderful year, and our committee helped
to fulfill its mission of providing Holocaust education
and excellent programs to the community and to area
students. I thank my wonderful committee, Amir Cohen, Ellen Hull and the Jewish Federation for all their
help this past year.
BCC Holocaust Center
By Ron Weisberger
I
t has been nearly three years since the creation of
the Bristol Community College (BCC) Holocaust
Center. This has been made possible in good part
by the generous funding from the Federation as well
as individual contributions which go through the BCC
Foundation.
As a consequence, the Center has been able to sponsor programs for both the BCC and general community
reaching over 600 people. The Center is an outgrowth of
its connection with the Federation’s Holocaust Education Committee, to which it is closely allied, as well as
the BCC honors course “Remembering the Holocaust
in Literature and History” co- taught by current Center
Director Dr. Ron Weisberger and Dr. Howard Tinberg.
To date the Center has been able to accomplish the following:
• Thanks to the donation of resources including
books, DVDs, journals, etc. from the Federation, as well
as individual contributions, the Center is now a resource
for use by BCC faculty, local teachers, students and the
general community in our area. Approximately 400
books dealing with the Shoah have been catalogued at
the BCC Library and are available for use. Additional
books as well as DVDs and journals can be accessed at
the Center’s new site located on the second floor of the
Farley Learning Resource Center, Room 200A.
• In the summer of 2013 the Center sponsored a workshop led by an Anti-Defamation League trainer utilizing
the excellent multimedia curriculum resource entitled
Echoes and Reflections. The workshop features ways
to utilize the curriculum and 55 teachers from local
middle and secondary schools as well as college instructors in this area participated. The workshop will
be returning this fall (see below).
• During the last two years the Center has also
sponsored a speaker series at the College featuring
Holocaust scholars on a variety of subjects including Drs. Howard Tinberg and Ronald Weisberger
• For the coming year, as noted, the workshop on
Echoes and Reflection returns. This was held October
23 at the BCC Jackson Arts Center at the Fall River
campus and is open to middle, high school and college
instructors at BCC as well as the general public. The
day also included an address by Dr. Ronald Florence
on his book Emissary to the Doomed. Also scheduled
is a program on the fate of Gypsies in the Holocaust
led by local scholar Manya Bark and a conference on
the Cambodian genocide on April 15, 2016.
The Center has been able to sponsor programs
for both the BCC and general community
reaching over 600 people.
on Shoah pedagogy; Dr. James Young on the memorialization of the Shoah; Drs. Sharon Leder and
Milton Teichman on Holocaust literature; a program
on music inspired by the Shoah co-sponsored with
Temple Beth El, Fall River; a day-long conference on
the prominent Portuguese rescuer Aristides de Sousa
Mendes in conjunction with BCC’s Luso Centro, a
program on the late Rudolf Vrba, an escapee from
Auschwitz; and a talk by Esther Vrba, a 91-years-old
survivor of Auschwitz and other camps.
The BCC Holocaust Center has gotten off to a
very good start. It now has a new and more spacious location as noted. An advisory committee
is also being planned and relationships have been
developed with Holocaust centers in the region
and beyond. The Center is now also part of the
Association of Holocaust Organizations. For more
information and for contributions contact Dr. Ron
Weisberger, director, at ron.weisberger@bristolcc.
edu, 508-678-2811, ext. 2444.
Holocaust Education
and Memorial Committee
2015-16 Theme: Asylum Seekers and Refugees: Lessons from the Holocaust
APRIL 15
All-day conference on the Cambodian
Genocide with a keynote speaker
and Cambodian food
Where: Bristol Community College Holocaust
Center, 777 Elsbree Street, Fall River
MAY 1
Community Observance of Yom HaShoah
featuring guest speaker and camp survivor
John Saunders
When: 6:15 PM
Where: Holocaust Monument and Tifereth
Israel Synagogue
JEWISH MESSENGER | PAGE 9
Representing New Bedford:
A Board Member at the
JFNA General Assembly
By Cheryl Zeoli
T
he first thing I noticed about the Jewish
Federations of North America (JFNA) General Assembly was the incredible energy,
optimism, and excitement. I started
with an orientation for newcomers that was very informative. The
Assembly featured workshops and
speakers. In addition to the meetings there were also several social
activities, including a night in the
National Portrait Gallery with live
entertainment.
The speakers and sessions were
both moving and educational. Leaders talked about finding ways to get
young people more involved with Federation, modernizing Federations, and travel to Israel. Fedovations sessions explained how different cities have
gone about doing this.
I attended the session Israel Encounters: Creating a Connection. Here, speakers talked about Iconnect which is designed to be a ‘one-stop shop’
providing opportunities for and encouraging young
adults to travel to Israel. The Columbus, OH, Federation has a sister city in Israel and engages with
fallen Israeli soldiers’ families on a personal level.
A third example of connectivity is the Israel Engagement Fellowship, which is designed to empower teens to advocate for Israel and confront the
PAGE 10 | JEWISH MESSENGER
realities of anti-Semitism.
The small Federations meeting discussed fundraising options for legacy donors who include
charitable organizations in estate plans.
Many people want to donate but need to
be provided with an impetus to actualize
that desire; the Life & Legacy program
facilitates that outcome. Five-to-eight
Federations will be picked to be a part
of the program with training provided
for staff and volunteers who participate.
(Post-conference note: Our Federation is
applying in partnership with Tifereth Israel Congregation and the New Bedford
Jewish Convalescent Home.)
Speakers shared personal stories related to Judaism. Jennifer Teege, the biracial granddaughter
of SS Commander Amon Goeth and author of My
inspiring. Finally, Benjamin Netanyahu gave a
wonderful speech that was well received. He focused on the continuous need for the U.S to help
Israel, and for Israel to help the U.S. He highlighted
a successful meeting with President Obama, and
expressed optimism for the future. He reitierated
that he is still in favor of a two-state solution and
Leaders talked about finding ways to get
young people more involved with Federation,
modernizing Federations, and travel to Israel.
Grandfather Would Have Shot Me shared her story.
Rosalie Silberman Abella, the first Jewish woman
to sit on the Canadian Supreme Court bench, was
that all Jews whether they are reform, orthodox or
conservative should feel at home in Israel.
Thank you for sending me, and I hope to be a part
of the future of the Federation.
Vanessa Hidary,
the Hebrew Mamita
Thursday, February 25, 7:00 PM
Zeiterion Performing Arts Center,
684 Purchase Street, New Bedford
Native New Yorker Vanessa Hidary, the Hebrew Mamita, grew up on Manhattan’s culturally diverse Upper
West Side. Her experiences as a Sephardic Jew with close friends from different ethnic and religious backgrounds
inspired her to write Culture Bandit, the nationally toured solo show that chronicles Vanessa’s coming of age.
Vanessa has conducted poetry and racism workshops with the B’nai B’rith Youth organization and was the
director/developer of MONOLOGUES - an evening of solo performances by 15 young adults exploring their
Jewish identity, inspired by a 10-day trip through Israel, produced by Birthright Israel NEXT.
From the Bronx to Tel Aviv, Vanessa can be found at high schools, universities, Jewish Federations, poetry
lounges and cultural centers performing and speaking about Jewish identity - tackling stereotypes and dissecting
the complicated question of “What does Jewish look like to you?” She recently published her first collection of
poems and stories titled The Last Kaiser Roll in the Bodega.
JEWISH MESSENGER | PAGE 11
Calendar of Events
Thursday, January 28, 7:00 PM
DAVID BROZA
New Bedford Whaling Museum,
18 Johnny Cake Hill, New Bedford
Thursday, February 25, 7:00 PM
VANESSA HIDARY, the Hebrew Mamita
Zeiterion Performing Arts Center,
684 Purchase Street, New Bedford
Sunday, April 10, day trip
TENEMENT MUSEUM
and KATZ’S DELICATESSEN
Manhattan’s Lower East Side
JEWISH FEDERATION
OF GREATER NEW BEDFORD
467 Hawthorn Street | Dartmouth, MA 02747