Mercer Bucks February 11, 2020

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JEWISH NEWS

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A PUBLICATION OF THE JEWISH WEEK MEDIA GROUP
Vol. XX I I No. 9 | February 11, 2020 | 16 S H EVAT 5780
njjewishnews.com

Summertime,
and camp living,
is anything
but easy

New grant supports mental
well-being of campers and staff

Panelists offer thoughts Johanna Ginsberg
on rise of anti-Semitism NJJN Senior Writer

Our Towns 4 L ast summer, counselors at Camp
Young Judaea Sprout Lake in New
In remembering Kobe, Standing behind Cantor David Wisnia in Auschwitz-Birkenau’s “sauna” build- York met once a week with a social
don’t erase his mistakes ing are his son Rabbi Eric Wisnia and family, wife Judith and children Sara and worker to discuss their own issues, and
Avi. As a prisoner, David worked in the delousing facility; today it is an exhibit the results were dramatic, according to
Perspective 7 hall at the Auschwitz Museum. PHOTOS COURTESY AVI WISNIA executive director Helene Drobenare:
One counselor left mid-summer to see a
Cantor, Auschwitz therapist at home, another checked into
survivor, ‘affirms life’ treatment at the end of the summer to ad-
at liberation ceremony dress an eating disorder. The initiative was
part of an increased focus at the camp on
David Wisnia says his family is ‘proof Hitler did not succeed’ the mental, emotional, and social health
(MESH) needs of campers and staff.
Our Towns 4 Michele Alperin that atrocity.”
Opinion 13 This anniversary visit the can- Once upon a time, when summer ar-
LifeCycle 17 NJJN Contributing Writer rived, kids gleefully went to camp and
Gallery 18 tor was joined by his son, Eric, rabbi lived happily with their friends in commu-
Agenda 19 Cantor David Wisnia has returned emeritus at Congregation Beth Chaim in nal bunks enjoying swimming, art, sports,
Touch of Torah 22 toAuschwitz five times since his Princeton Junction, and his wife, Judith, and Shabbat rituals. Counselors were of-
Exit Ramp 23 internment there, most recently and their children, Sara and Avi. Cantor ten college or high school students who
for the 75th anniversary of the camp’s Wisnia said he and others realize the muddled through the session with mini-
liberation in January. “Every time you most recent ceremony atAuschwitz will mal training and support, while managing
go back, you feel like you’re back home be the last major commemoration that to have fun with peers while supervising
— believe it or not — whether you like will draw any sizable number of those their campers.
it or not,” he said. who suffered as inmates. “Now we still
had a few survivors who were prisoners Continued on page 11
In an interview at his home in Levit- who can relate details, but there won’t
town, Pa., upon his return, he said go- be anymore,” he said. Camp Havaya, pictured here, is one of sev-
ing back to the camp is “affirming that eral Jewish camps at the forefront of pro-
I am alive, that I managed to survive Avi, a singer, songwriter, and pianist viding support for the mental health and
who lives in Philadelphia, was also at well-being of campers and staff. COURTESY CAMP HAVAYA
the interview. During the visit to Po-
land, he accompanied his grandfather to
a concert at the POLIN Museum of the
History of Polish Jews, in Warsaw. He
said he and his family went to Poland
to support each other and make sure his
grandfather had another opportunity “to

Continued on page 6

NJ Jewish News ■ njjewishnews.com ■ February 11, 20202

RockG E T R E A D Y T O

for Greenwood House

BATTLE OF THE BANDS

Saturday, April 25 | 7:00 p.m.

Princeton Airport Hangar | 41 Airpark Road

Enjoy live music and food trucks at our first Battle Contact Neil Wise
of the Bands fundraising event. Participate in a for information:
silent auction and learn about how your donations (609) 883-5391 ext. 380
support our senior care organization. [email protected]

Bands will be announced in January, so check our GreenwoodHouse.org
website and social media for the line up! 53 Walter Street
Ewing, NJ 08628
Greenwood House is a not-for profit, mission-based
senior care organization. #GreenwoodRocksTheHouse

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NJ Jewish News ■ njjewishnews.com ■ February 11, 20204 Our Towns
Perspectives on the ‘oldest hatred’

Three experts on history, consequences of anti-Semitism

Shira Vickar-Fox Deborah E. Lipstadt, at right, historian and author of “AntiSemitism: Here and Lipstadt is the author of several
Now,” was one of three panelists in a program at the Institute for Advanced books, most recently “AntiSemitism:
NJJN Managing Editor Study in Princeton. PHOTO BY ANDREA KANE/IAS Here and Now” (Penguin Random
House, 2019). The two other panel-
We live today in a society dinner party” by speaking out and people because, as she said, “No ists, both from the United Kingdom,
where the moral guard educating those in proximity to the healthy democracy has ever har- were Julie Gottlieb, a professor in
rails have come down and one who is goading. bored anti-Semitism and been a Modern History at The University of
we have to help establish them and set healthy democracy.” Sheffield, and Daniel Finkelstein, as-
them up,” said Deborah E. Lipstadt This was her clarion call for all sociate editor of The Times in London
during a panel presentation on “Anti- and a member of the House of Lords.
Semitism — Past and Present” held
at the Institute for Advanced Study During her introduction, modera-
(IAS) in Princeton on Feb. 5. tor Karina Urbach, a historian and vis-
iting scholar at IAS who is originally
Her comment was made in the from Germany, recounted interactions
context of how to combat anti-Semi- she’d had with German historians at
tism, which she called “the oldest ha- academic conferences that she said
tred,” and one she said she’s not sure make her “anxious.” For example,
“we can ever wipe out.” But she did she said one colleague excused Em-
have suggestions for the rapt audience peror Wilhelm II’s comments from
of over 200 in the packed theater, in- the 1920s — among them that Ger-
cluding challenging hate-filled com- many won’t have peace until “all the
ments and exposing their “delusional Jews have been slaughtered” — as
quality.” She likened this strategy to so-called “reactive anti-Semitism”;
being the “unwelcome guests at the another, she said, white-washed the

Refusenik background still colors life of
TV personality and political activist

Jed Weisberger Political activist Julie Roginsky, left, said her experience as a young Jew- “I was able to attend a private school,
ish immigrant from the Soviet Union has affected how she approaches life. Princeton Day School, as a scholarship
NJJN Staff Writer kid, but that didn’t stop me from being
PHOTO COURTESY JULIE ROGINSKY bullied and called a ‘commie.’”
P olitical activist and Democratic
strategist Julie Roginsky, the for- and its copresident Bill Shine, which was she and her parents, Abram and Tanya, She overcame the obstacles and
mer Fox News Channel cohost settled in December of that year. “I went departed the Soviet Union — they left went on to earn both her bachelor’s and
who was also a contributor at CNBC and through that with Gretchen Carlson” — with $90 — as the three worked their master’s degrees at Boston University
whose columns have appeared in Po- the broadcast journalist who left Fox way through Vienna, Paris, London, and and was hired by EMILY’s List — a po-
litico, Forbes, and The Star-Ledger, said News in 2017 and also filed a lawsuit New York before settling in Plainsboro. litical action committee whose mission
her approach to life today owes some- againAiles. “What I went through when is to help elect pro-choice Democratic
thing to her experience as the child of I was young has helped me focus.” “My parents were both educated peo- female candidates to office — to work
Soviet-Jewish dissidents. ple, but in the United States, they had on a campaign in Maine. She entered
Roginsky said life wasn’t easy after to take menial jobs to start,” she said. New Jersey politics for the first time in
“I was born in Moscow and raised 1998, helping U.S. Rep. Frank Pallone
initially by my grandparents,” said (D-Dist. 6) defeat Republican challenger
Roginsky, 46, in a phone interview with Mike Ferguson.
NJJN. “I didn’t even really meet my par-
ents until we were told we could leave In 1999, Roginsky ran the Demo-
the Soviet Union on Feb. 18, 1980….” cratic coordinated campaign in New
Her grandparents, who were denied exit Jersey — the first woman to hold the
visits and became Refuseniks, she said, position; in 2001, newly elected Sen.
“were forced to stay there until 1990. I Jon Corzine (D-N.J.) appointed her as
was taken away from those who raised his Washington-based communications
me until I was 7. After that, nothing else chief.
scares you.”
In 2003, she formed the Comprehen-
She certainly said fear did not pre- sive Communications Group, a politi-
vent her from filing her 2017 sexual cal consulting and public relations firm
harassment lawsuit against Fox News, located in Hoboken that is Roginsky’s
its former chair and CEO Roger Ailes,
Continued on page 22

Our Towns 5 NJ Jewish News ■ njjewishnews.com ■ February 11, 2020

guilt of William II’s oldest son, a Nazi fascination is now “turning into fear the safety of Israel. State of Israel is “an absolute neces-
sympathizer. and hatred.”
To that last question Lipstadt re- sity for the Jewish people.” (Anti-Zi-
“Something is happening in our Finkelstein, a member of Great
society and we do not know if we Britain’s Conservative party, ex- sponded, “this is not 1938,” and onism is not criticism of the policies
will soon face a tidal wave or a tsu- pressed the unease of Jews in his
nami,” Urbach said, before positing country. He said he’s “nervous about called suggestions of Jews needing of the Israeli government, it is a preju-
a horrifying question to the audience: the rise of nationalism and populism
“Is anti-Semitism and a rehabilita- in Europe,” and that anti-Semitism to move to Israel “short-sighted and dice against the Jewish movement for
tion of Hitler’s supporters now so- from the left has had the “most im-
cially acceptable?” mediate impact” on Jews. silly.” To illustrate her point she told self-determination and the right of the

However, the panelists’ responses However, Finkelstein said he saw a story about a young student at a Jewish people to their homeland in
lacked prognostication and instead a silver lining in the rise of Labour
seemed like three disconnected pre- Party leader Jeremy Corbyn, who Jewish boarding school who ran to Israel, as defined by the ADL.)
sentations by experts in their fields. has called Hamas and Hezbollah his
“friends” and has consorted with Ho- a police officer for help on the night Toward the end of the program,
Lipstadt’s comments were primar- locaust deniers.
ily rooted in her newest book. She’s of Kristallnacht, but the officer said Lipstadt warned audience members
a Modern Jewish History and Holo- “Politically, it turned out to mat-
caust Studies professor at Emory Uni- ter,” he said, because Corbyn’s be- he refused to help Jewish children. not to consider their political divide
versity in Atlanta who famously won havior educated people who were
a libel case against a Holocaust de- previously unaware of the concept of “That’s not today,” she said. in the fight against anti-Semitism, as
nier that was turned into the 2016 film anti-Jewish hatred. Corbyn’s rhetoric
“Denial.” (IAS hosted a free screen- — condemning racism while condon- Another audience member asked it comes from the right and the left.
ing of the movie at the end of January ing it among his party — “under-
in advance of last week’s panel.) mined his leadership,” according to about the validity of connecting anti- “And if you only see it on one side,
Finkelstein, and people found it “not
Gottlieb spoke about the history prime ministerial” to be fighting with Semitism with anti-Zionism. Fin- then what I would conclude is that
of extremism and anti-Semitism in a segment of the British population.
Britain, asserting that women are both kelstein shared a metaphor strongly you’re really not interested in fighting
the “victims and purveyors of hate.” Topics during a question-and-
She said the DNA of anti-Semitism answer session included the etymol- connecting the two. anti-Semitism. You’re interested in
includes a “double helix of hate,” ogy of anti-Semitism, Jewish support “When someone throws a rock at a scoring political points.” ■
which is the combination of racism of populist leaders, the anti-Israel
and sexism. In her lengthy remarks Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions Jew you don’t pick it up and go ‘I won-
she also spoke about the “continued movement, and whether, given the
interest and prominence of fascism in uptick in violent anti-Semitism, U.S. der whether that was an anti-Semitic A live stream of the presentation is avail-
British society,” and wondered if that Jews should be packing their bags for
rock or an anti-Zionist one,’” he said. able at ias.edu/ideas/anti-semitism-past-

In addition to anti-Jewish hatred, present.

FbCeiSnfJkoLeu_lgLshetetttiebnrescstoaaEuidrsi,echatAhndetiVe-5Zx.iqisoxtpne_nisLcmaeyoomfuttuh1set1/29sv/2i0ck1a1r:[email protected]

The Allen and Joan Bildner Center for the Study of Jewish Life

Tuesday, March 3, 7:30 p.m.

Letters to Erich

A Musical Performance and Talk

NJ festival at Rutgers offers
film based on ‘Tevye’

A DOUBLE FEATURE of particu- Golde, their daughters are tempted Ted Rosenthal Sishel Peter Kendall
lar interest to the Jewish community to stray from Jewish traditions upon Claverie Clark
is among the offerings of the Spring entering the marriage market, while composer of the jazz mezzo-soprano baritone
2020 New Jersey Film Festival. growing anti-Semitism threatens their opera Dear Erich
lives and homes. Legendary Russian
Taking place through Feb. 28, the actor Evgeniy Knyazev stars as Te- Composed from letters between Rosenthal’s grandmother, trapped
festival is presented by the Rutgers vye. The film is set in authentic Ukrai- in Nazi Germany, and his father Erich, who immigrated to Chicago
Film Co-op/New Jersey Media Arts nian locations, and its story line hews
Center, in association with the Rut- to Sholem Aleichem’s original tales. Nicholas Music Center
gers University Program in Cinema 85 George Street, New Brunswick
Studies. The festival showcases new inter-
national films,American independent Free and open to the public
The festival’s Sunday, Feb. 16, features, experimental and short sub-
program will begin with “Anne” jects, classic revivals, and documenta- Cosponsored by the Association for Jewish Studies, the New Jersey
(USA, 2019), a short film written and ries; over 40 films will have their New Commission on Holocaust Education, the Mason Gross School of the Arts,
directed by Vijay Renga that offers a Jersey or Middlesex County premiere.
modern musical take on a love story the Herbert and Leonard Littman Families Holocaust Resource Center,
inspired by Anne Frank’s diary. The programs (which are subject and the New Brunswick Jazz Project
to change) are on select Friday, Satur-
It will be followed by “Tevye’s day, and Sunday evenings at 7 p.m. in RSVP and Parking Information:
Daughters” (Ukraine, 2018,120 Voorhees Hall, No. 105, on the Col- BildnerCenter.Rutgers.edu
minutes; in Russian, with subtitles). lege Avenue campus in New Bruns-
Directed by Vladimir Lert, the film wick. Admission ranges from $9 to
tells the story of Sholem Aleichem’s $14; screenings on Feb. 21 and 28
most famous character and the central are free. Contact 848-932-8482, NJ-
player in “Fiddler on the Roof,” Tevye [email protected], or NJMAC@
the Dairyman.As he struggles to keep aol.com or visit njfilmfest.com.
his family intact and placate his wife

NJ Jewish News ■ njjewishnews.com ■ February 11, 20206 Our Towns

Lawrenceville native takes helm
of Congregation Beth Chaim

Jed Weisberger growing up. rabbi for Beth Chaim, the largest Reform syna-
“Not all families have two Jewish adults in the gogue in Mercer County, since 2014. Though Rabbi
NJJN Staff Writer Brian Beal has served as the congregation’s interim
family — my father was not Jewish, and that’s why senior rabbi for the last year, Blum is effectively
U nder certain circumstances and conditions, I am so passionate about this,” she said. “We’re succeeding Rabbi Eric B. Wisnia, who retired in
Rabbi Adena Blum, the newly appointed really focusing in on inclusion at large, trying to January 2019 after 42 years at Beth Chaim.
senior rabbi of Congregation Beth Chaim create a community everyone can feel at home no
in Princeton Junction, will officiate at interfaith matter what their challenges are.” “It’s never easy, in any synagogue, when a con-
weddings. She said her sensitivity to issues of in- gregation has to replace a senior rabbi,” said Beth
clusion was shaped by her family when she was Blum will assume her new position on July 1. Chaim president Ken Pogrob, a Plainsboro resident
The Lawrenceville native has served as assistant who works in financial services. “The transition
was especially true for our congregation.” Of Beal,
Greenwood House at Home Pogrob added, “We have been blessed to have his
leadership, knowledge, and involvement with our
Sometimes a Ride Is the Difference temple community.”
Between Care and Caring.
Blum is certain to continue the Wisnia legacy,
Our homecare services go beyond personal care and companion as she grew up attending Har Sinai Temple — at
services. At Greenwood House at Home, we want to help keep you the time the congregation was in Trenton but it
engaged and connected to the community. has since relocated to Pennington — where David
Wisnia, Eric’s father, was cantor. And “then I had
But we understand that sometimes the lack of available transportation the experience of working with his son,” she said.
can prevent you from getting out to appointments or the grocery store. “Eric took me under his wing and wanted me to
That’s why transportation is included in our services – and for many, this assume his mantle. It’s amazing how things fell
service is the difference between life and living. into place. Because I am from here, I care so much
about this community and I wanted it to have suc-
For information on our 53 Walter Street cess and thrive.”
homecare program’s exclusive Ewing, NJ 08628
transportation services or GreenwoodHouse.org Pogrob said that the search process to find Wis-
to schedule a free in-home nia’s successor included surveys, town hall meet-
evaluation, call (609) 402-9075. ings, and speaking with as many congregants as
possible. At the end of the day, “Rabbi Blum was
our unanimous choice,” he said. “She had been
with us since 2014, identifies well with both our
younger and older congregants, and fits what we
need.”

Since joining Beth Chaim, Blum has led the con-
gregation’s transition to the Reform movement’s
latest Shabbat and festival prayer book, “Mishkan
T’filah.” She restructured the b’nai mitzvah process
to provide more engagement with families, and has
also established an annual interfaith family Shabbat
service to honor the non-Jewish members of the
congregation who are raising Jewish families.

Blum earned a bachelor of arts degree in Near
Eastern and Judaic studies and minored in religious
studies at Brandeis University, graduating magna
cum laude. She was ordained at Hebrew Union Col-
lege-Jewish Institute of Religion in New York, where
she also received in 2014 her Master of Arts degrees
in Hebrew literature and religious education.

Prior to coming to Beth Chaim, Blum — who
lives with her husband, Sean, and their sons Jo-
nah and Ari — served as the rabbinic intern at
Beth Haverim Shir Shalom in Mahwah and Anshe
Emeth Memorial Temple in New Brunswick. Blum
is a member of the Association of Reform Jewish
Educators, the Association of Reform Zionists of
America, the Women’s Rabbinic Network, and the
Central Conference of American Rabbis. She’s also
a faculty member at URJ Camp Harlam, a role she
plans to continue. ■

[email protected]

Perspective 7 NJ Jewish News ■ njjewishnews.com ■ February 11, 2020

Remembering all of Kobe
Fallen Laker’s greatness can overshadow — but should not erase — his mistakes

Gabe Kahn know someone who goes by some spell-
ing of Kobe.)
NJJN Editor
On the days I wasn’t wearing my
S omewhere hidden in my scattered press fedora I confess to despising Kobe,
possessions is an old CD, laptop, at least the younger version who enraged
external hard drive, or some other his teammates and coaches alike with
kind of electronic record of a March 2, his selfish play and surly attitude. The
brash 18-year-old who inspired oppos-
2005, interview with Kobe Bryant. ing crowds to don replica Bryant jerseys
whenever the Lakers came to town, a tes-
It’s from my former tament to the teenager’s flashy, if not win-
ning, plays. I didn’t need any convincing,
life as a sportswriter on the by the way. In addition to the well-known
and deep-seeded animosity for all things
NBA beat, and he had been New York Yankees, native New Eng-
landers are taught to hate the Lakers even
in Boston with his L.A. Lak- before they’re out of the womb. How I
reveled in Kobe’s gloom when the Celtics
ers speaking to a gaggle of beat the Lakers to win the NBA champi-
onship in 2008, and how despondent I
reporters minutes before tip- was (fine, still am) that he won the finals’
MVP and the championship at Boston’s
off of a 104-101 loss to the ROB CARR/ GETTY IMAGES expense two years later.
Celtics. Despite my never-
Even so I couldn’t help but respect
wavering devotion to all- for the lapse. I mean, it was death), was for a long stretch the most fa- Continued on page 16
mous basketball player in the world, and
things Boston sports, I took Garden State Kobe Bryant! his overall celebrity so widespread that
my job seriously and did my Of Mind Now the late Kobe Bry- he need only be referred to by his first
best to act like a professional name, particularly impressive in that it’s
ant, after the Jan. 26 tragic not altogether uncommon. (The chances
you will ever meet someone named El-
anddivorcemyselffrommyfandomsoas helicopter crash that killed him, his vis, Madonna, LeBron, Tupac, or Barack
is remote, whereas many of us already
to ensure unbiased coverage. But I was so 13-year-old daughter, and seven other

stunned to see him that it took me a mo- people (my sincerest apologies to their

ment to remember to turn on my recorder. families: The other victims deserve to be

Not that I could really blame myself more than a footnote in a famous person’s

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NJ Jewish News ■ njjewishnews.com ■ February 11, 20208 Arts

How to shoot an assassin
In ‘Incitement,’ about the Rabin killing, Yaron Zilberman walks a tightrope
in portraying Yigal Amir and ‘the forces that acted upon him’

George Robinson A scene from “Incitement,” Yaron Zilberman’s Zilberman devised several ingenious responses to
new film about religious nationalist Yigal Amir these conundrums, but in the end the answers were
Special to NJJN and his 1995 assassination of Israeli Prime Min- fundamental.
ister Yitzhak Rabin. COURTESY GREENWICH ENTERTAINMENT
M aking a fact-based historical film might look “We have to be responsible,” he said. “We did lots
easy. The facts are there, the events are often show on screen could have an effect on the discourse in of research, four years of research, talking to everyone,
common knowledge, and all the filmmakers Israeli society. One step in the wrong direction and you reading all the material — the court files and transcripts,
have to do is provide a dramatic structure. land on a mine and it explodes.” the investigations by the police and the security services.”
His chief researcher even spoke to Amir in prison by
Yaron Zilberman, director of “Incitement,” the new That ominous realization has an impact on the dra- telephone.
film about religious nationalist YigalAmir and his 1995 as- matic choices he made, as well.
sassination of Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin, which Of course, it’s not enough to “let the facts speak for
officially opened in NewYork on Jan. 31, begs to differ. “If you show [Amir] as a monster, there’s little to be themselves,” as the cliché goes. Inevitably, Zilberman
learned from that,” Zilberman explained. “If you go too and co-screenwriter Ron Leshem (author of the novel
“It’s a minefield, and you don’t have a map,” he said far in the opposite direction, you make him too likeable. “Beaufort”) had to deal with how they would depict
in a recent phone interview. “When we made ‘Incite- The more you suggest that he was incited to his act the Yigal Amir.
ment,’I realized that it’s much harder to do than to make more you alleviate his responsibility, but you have to
something up from your own imagination.” show the forces that acted upon him.” The film begins as the initial Oslo agreement is an-
nounced on theWhite House lawn and follows the events
The problem, he said, is that “life doesn’t follow As the film’s title suggests, this last tightrope walk is as Amir experiences them. Played by Yehuda Nahari
screenplays.” at the center of the film. Halevi, Amir is almost never off-camera. Yet we watch
him, both metaphorically and sometimes literally, from
Zilberman, whose two previous directorial efforts a distance. That effect was the product of careful plan-
were the chamber-music drama “ALate Quartet” (2012) ning by Zilberman and his excellent cinematographer
and the documentary “Watermarks” (2004), had never Amit Yasour.
undertaken such a complex project before. He found the
metaphorical minefield seeded with questions that kept “We decided that in every scene [Amir] will be
nagging at him throughout the filmmaking process. there, [that] we will not cut into security or surveillance
or television footage; we are always following him,”
“When can you change the order of history?” he the filmmaker said. “[Audiences] are accustomed to
asked. “Do you have to follow the chronology com- the [central character] being someone we like to identify
pletely? Does it matter whenYigal acquired his gun?” with. That’s not the case here. [Yasour and I] decided
to film events from Amir’s point of view, but never to
Given the subject matter, the answers to such ques- allow for identification.”
tions carry a weight that few directors ever face.
Think about the master of cinematic identification,Al-
“This is such a sensitive topic, arguably the most trau- fred Hitchcock. Hitchcock is constantly cutting between
matic event in Israeli history,” Zilberman says. “What we his protagonist and what the protagonist sees, bringing
us into his mind and what aspects of him we can identify
FROM A FORMER with. But Zilberman cleverly eschews the reverse-angle
FEDERAL RESERVE shot of the object of Amir’s gaze. Audiences watching
CHAIRMAN TO YOUR “Incitement” will feel that they are watching Amir at an
OWN PRIVATE RESERVE emotional remove; they see what he is doing and what he
We insure them. is seeing but won’t necessarily feel a kinship with him.

Family-owned for four generations, Borden Perlman Zilberman explained, “The decision was to use two
has global reach, community roots. Licensed in 50 states, main shots forAmir. We see him in an over-the-shoulder
we work tirelessly to insure what’s important to you. tracking shot, so we see his point of view but without see-
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The effectiveness of such directorial choices had to be
largely carried by Halevi’s performance. The actor was,
Zilberman says candidly, cast because audiences would
be unfamiliar with him.

“He acted in some TV shows, but he’s relatively un-
known,” the director said. “That worked to our advantage
because the audience could see him but wouldn’t remem-
ber him from other projects. He could immerse himself in
the role completely,” with no prior associations to cloud
viewers’responses.

Halevi really did immerse himself in YigalAmir. He
and Zilberman worked together for a year in preparation.
The actor enveloped himself in Amir’s world, whether

Continued on page 22

Our Towns 9 NJ Jewish News n njjewishnews.com n February 11, 2020

J-Asians Shabbat celebrated at Princeton
New campus group welcomes students of both Jewish and Asian heritage

Naomi Hess Price, Bograd, and the rest of
Princeton J-Asians hope that events
Special to NJJN such as J-Asians Shabbat show the
Princeton community that there is
O n a recent Friday night, ap- more than one way to be Jewish.
proximately 180 Princeton
University students ate “I hope that these affinity Shab-
ramen matzah ball soup, General bats are a great way for people to
Tso’s chicken, and tofu lo mein at see the Jewish community is a far
Shabbat dinner at the Princeton more diverse religious community
Center for Jewish Life (CJL). This than plenty of people perceive it to
was no ordinary Shabbat: This was be in their minds,” Bograd said. n
J-Asians Shabbat.
Naomi Hess is a sophomore at
Sakura Price ’22 co-founded J- Princeton University. This piece is part
Asians in spring 2019 as a student of “The View From Campus” column
group for students of both Jewish written by students on campus. If you
and Asian heritage. “I guess I wanted to have a space on campus where I felt like I had people that would like to contribute to it, email
totally related to my experiences,”says SaCkSuJrLa_BPerlliocwe,AcdoV-1f0o.uqnxpd_eLraoyfouJt-A1 s1ia/2n7s/.20 4li:0ly7@PjMewPisahgwe e1ek.org for more info.
“I guess I wanted to have a
space on campus where I felt like PHOTO PROVIDED BY NAOMI HESS
I had people that totally related to
my experiences, not just as a Jew Ben Bograd ’22, another The Allen and Joan Bildner Center for the Study of Jewish Life
or just as an Asian person, but as a founding member of J-Asians,
Jewish Asian person,” Price said. felt inspired by the way Korman The Abram Matlofsky Memorial Program
— whose mother, Rabbi Mira Ri- supported by the Karma Foundation
J-Asians received funding vera, is the first Filipino-American
from Co-Create, the CJL’s incuba- woman to receive ordination from Tuesday, February 25, 7:00 p.m.
tor program that provides grants The Jewish Theological Seminary
for student-led projects. J-Asians — sees her intersectional identity. FILM
recently became recognized as a SCREENING
student group by the Princeton “When I talked to Arielle Kor-
University Student Government. man … she mentioned the fact that Sneak peek at the
the way she sees herself is not a new film about this
Rabbi Ira Dounn, the senior collection of percentages. She’s legendary author
Jewish educator at the CJL, sup- not a fraction where 50 percent of
ported the group as they got started. herself is Jewish and 50 percent of The Adventures of Saul Bellow
herself is Asian,” he said.
“We really, at the very core of Post-screening discussion with Asaf Galay, filmmaker,
it, want to make sure that everyone “She sees herself as fully Jew- and Louis Masur, Distinguished Professor of
has a place and everyone is com- ish and fully Asian and I thought
fortable here and can find a home that was a really, really great and American Studies and History, Rutgers University
here, period. I think it’s one of our poignant idea, like the fact that we
most central priorities,” he said. don’t need to cut ourselves in half Rutgers Cinema, Livingston Campus
and cut ourselves off from certain 105 Joyce Kilmer Avenue, Piscataway
A recent study estimates that at communities,” Bograd continued.
least 12-15 percent of American Free and open to the public. Tickets required for entry.
Jews identify as Jews of color. Price described how rewarding
However, the authors recognize it was to plan J-Asians Shabbat and Parking and Ticket Information:
that Jews of color are often under- get to eat her Shabbat dinner with BildnerCenter.Rutgers.edu
counted. Events such as J-Asians chopsticks at the CJL.
Shabbat are meant to demonstrate
the diversity present in Judaism “That’s how Shabbat works
today, on college campuses and at my house and I’m sure a lot of
beyond. other Jewish-Asian people, their
Jewish holidays are similarly struc-
To plan for the Shabbat, Price tured, so it was just meaningful to
and the J-Asians team worked with see that normalized and embraced
the CJL chef on a menu. They cre- and celebrated at the CJL,” she
ated posters featuring baby pictures said.
of J-Asians members and ordered
chopsticks and customized fortune Previous J-Asians events in-
cookies. clude a kosher sushi study break
and a shaved ice study break. In the
Price invited Arielle Korman, future, J-Asians hopes to collabo-
founder of the New York-based rate with the other Jewish affinity
Ammud, the Jews of Color Torah groups on campus, such as J-Lats,
Academy, as the guest of honor. a group for students of both Jewish
Korman spoke during and after the and Latino backgrounds.
event.

NJ Jewish News ■ njjewishnews.com ■ February 11, 202010Our Towns

Survivor

Continued from page 1

tell his story in his own voice.”
But it was more. “For a long time under the Nazi

regime, my grandfather experienced a lot of horror
and torture, but also loneliness because he lost his
whole family,” Avi said. So it was particularly mean-
ingful for his family members to be there, “and for
him to know he will always have his family, and we
will always be there for him.” Wisnia’s wife, Hope,
died in 2018.

Before the celebration, Wisnia told his family,
“My grandchildren are the proof that Hitler did not
succeed.” That, Avi said, “was what being there as a
family meant.”

Wisnia, born in 1926, grew up in a well-to-do fam-
ily in the Warsaw suburb of Sochaczew, and during

Bellow, in film Outside the Jewish cemetery in Cantor David Wisnia’s hometown of Sochaczew, Poland, are his family
members Sara, Judith, and Eric Wisnia.
Rutgers University’sAllen and Joan Bildner Center
for the Study of Jewish Life will screen the first the trip to Poland he and the others stopped at their ily. In Wisnia’s 2015 memoir, “One Voice, Two Lives,”
documentary about the life of 20th-century novelist former residence, 17 Staszica St., to say Kaddish. he at last shared his full story. Avi also accompanied
and Nobel- and Pulitzer Prize-winner Saul Bellow Wisnia’s father, who owned an upholstery shop in his grandfather to the 70th liberation commemoration.
on Tuesday, Feb. 25, at 7 p.m. at Rutgers Cinema, Warsaw, was an opera buff; he expected his talented
105 Joyce Kilmer Ave., Piscataway (Livingston son to become an opera singer and, in fact, bought On Wisnia’s first trip back to Auschwitz, in the
campus). David a tuxedo at age 9 to wear to a live performance. early 1950s, he carved his name on the bunk where
he had slept for two-and-a-half years; he was sorry he
The 85-minute film, “The Adventures of Saul The family moved to Warsaw in 1937, and when was not able to see it again on this trip. “That was my
Bellow,” tells Bellow’s story through original in- the ghetto was formed in 1941, they were able to stay home; it was where other people were murdered, and
terviews, previously restricted footage, and visits to in their apartment, which fell within its boundary. I remained alive,” he said.
the places that shaped him, and will feature a post- Perhaps “by premonition,” Wisnia said, his father sent
screening discussion with filmmaker Asaf Galay him to the Okecie Airport in his place to clean an of- The trip held some surprises, one having to do with
and Louis Masur, Rutgers distinguished professor fice. When he returned, he found his whole street had a story Avi had heard since he was young — that his
ofAmerican studies and history. been blocked off “because they found a gun on my grandfather had once spent three months in a penal
father” — who, Wisnia thinks, “must have been part colony because he overslept and missed a Sunday
The free Bildner Center event is the Abram of the underground.” His father, 41, mother, 37, and morning roll call. What amazed Avi was having the
Matlofsky Memorial Program supported by the 13-year-old brother had been shot and killed. head of the archives at Auschwitz present his family
Karma Foundation. It is cosponsored by the De- with documents that described that punishment. “To
partment ofAmerican Studies and theAmericanist Wisnia escaped with the help of one of his father’s have proof not only that this story happened, to have
Seminar of the English Department. non-Jewish workers, then moved from place to place. the date, to see it in black and white, was really stun-
His luck ran out in 1942 in Nowy Dwor, a town under ning,” Avi said. “It shows you the twisted attention to
Tickets are required for entry; visit Bildner- German control, where he was searched and, because detail that the Germans had.”
Center.Rutgers.edu. he had no papers, was put on a train, among 1,500
people, to Auschwitz. Avi also noticed a difference in Poland’s Jewish
SHOES landscape on this trip. During his first two visits, he said,
In the camp, Wisnia said, “my job, because I “It seemed like the Jewish Poland that my grandfather
WINTER SALE looked strong and I was strong, was to carry the dead knew was dead — successfully destroyed by the Nazis
bodies of people who had committed suicide — all and really erased. It was devastating and sad.”
20-50% off they had to do was go in the ditch next to the barbed-
wire fence and a guard would shoot them. I would But on this trip he was heartened. “We actually went
MEN’S & WOMEN’S collect them, put them in a wheelbarrow, and they to Shabbat services with a budding Jewish community
would burn the bodies.” in Warsaw, Beit Warszawa,” Avi said. That evening
148 NASSAU STREET, PRINCETON, NJ David, Eric, andAvi Wisnia helped lead services. Rabbi
(609) 924-6785 But during the second week of his internment, Eric gave a sermon about what it meant to him to be
someone yelled out, “Wisnia sings.” The Germans back in Poland. His father led Torah study, and Avi
Hours: heard, and were interested. “I became slowly a privi- played music while everyone sang and danced.
leged prisoner,” he said. “I entertained them at their
Mon.-Fri. 10:30AM - 5:45PM | Sat. 10:30AM – 5PM drunken parties on occasion, and I got a plush job in “To see my grandfather’s face as we were doing
what was called ‘the sauna,’[where] those destined to Israeli dancing and to be in a community and praying
live were deloused.” together and singing ‘Hinei Mah Tov’ in the same
tunes as we would in America and in Israel — to feel
Avi first visited Auschwitz with his grandfather in that solidarity was amazing and uplifting,” Avi said.
2003, when he turned 21. “It was the first time I heard “It makes you feel hope that there were Jews and there
his whole story from beginning to end,” Avi said. Be- was Jewish life in Poland and not everything was
fore that, the family “knew these little scenes,” but not erased. They tried to erase everything that was, but
the details of his survival or what happened to his fam- some of it lives on.” ■

Our Towns 11 NJ Jewish News n njjewishnews.com n February 11, 2020

Camp At Eden Village Camp, Beth

Continued from page 1 Praver, a psychologist and director

But camp was never that idyllic for of parent engagement, said the focus
everyone involved. The mental health
and well-being of staff and campers there would be on enhancing staff
was often subsumed by the veneer of
carefree summer living. Or as Sheira training to focus on what she called
Director-Nowack, director at Camp
Havaya in Pennsylvania, said in de- the teen “fascination” with suicidal-
scribing her days as a camper, some
kids, particularly those who needed ity and self-harm. “It permeates the
more attention, were “tolerated until
they left.” culture,” said Praver.

The Foundation for Jewish Camp The new training will also focus
(FJC) has just announced that it will
be making 32 grants over three years on de-escalation and trauma, and they
of $32,000 each to support MESH at
Jewish summer camps. will be bringing horticultural therapy

“Over the last decade, the needs of to their already existing farm and
our campers and staff have changed,”
said Marissa Becker, senior program expanding their camper care team.
manager at FJC, who observed that
the “demands on kids start younger Praver sees the grants as filling a
and younger.”
need at Jewish camps. She pointed
“Away from home, they react to
things differently, and they are in a dif- out that even five years ago, FJC of-
ferent routine.” She added that “col-
lege-age staffers are going through A grant from the Foundation for Jewish Camp will expand Eden Village’s farm- fered plenty of training for inclusion
huge transitions in their lives, so we ing program to include horticultural therapy. PHOTO COURTESY EDEN VILLAGE CAMP of kids with special needs at camp.
really need qualified professionals at
camp” to work with both groups. “But there was a vacuum for kids

Among the 32 selected from a falling by the wayside, according to selor,” said Director-Nowack, “but we needing mental health support,” she
pool of 90 applicants are eight camps
popular with N.J. families, including Becker. “It probably was not the best try to make sure every kid feels heard said. “This is really filling in that
Pennsylvania camps Camp Havaya, and listened to.” The grant, she said, area.” n
URJ Camp Harlam, and Pinemere practice,” she said.
Camp; New York’s Camp Ramah
Nyack, Camp Young Judaea Sprout Some, like Sprout Lake, Camp will help them implement that focus
Lake, and Eden Village Camp; Camp
Ramah in the Rockies; and URJ 6 Harlam, Eden Village, Ramah in on mental health. [email protected]
Points Sci-Tech Academy in Massa-
chusetts. The grants are made pos- the Rockies, and Camp Havaya, are
sible by The Marcus Foundation, Inc.
of Atlanta. among pioneers in the MESH field;

The main goal of the grant is to they represent one of three distinct
enable day and overnight camps to
hire more mental health profession- bands of recipients. The others are
als. It will also provide more staff
training and implementation of self- those in the middle ground and those
care best practices for campers and
staff alike, such as mindfulness, now dipping a first big toe into MESH
yoga, and journaling.
waters.
MESH is about creating an en-
vironment that supports general Of the total sum awarded to each SATURDAY, MARCH 7, 2020 7 - 11 PM
wellness. That could be focusing on
resilience and self-advocacy, creating camp, $20,000 is for a mental health
quiet spaces in a day full of activities,
or providing the tools to understand professional, $6,000 is for staff train- HYATT REGENCY PRINCETON
and manage emotions. ing, $4,500 will go toward a program 102 CARNEGIE CENTER, PRINCETON NJ 08540
area, and $1,500 may be applied to-
Becker pointed out that many
camps have long hired parents to give ward marketing. 2020 Event Honorees:
campers some extra love if they are Each new hire will participate in
having a hard time, chalking their LOIS MILLER
needs up to symptoms of homesick- what is known as a community of
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NJ Jewish News n njjewishnews.com n February 11, 202012 Editorial
To forge ahead, reclaim our community’s
past partnership with African Americans

This year more than most, a close friendship would precede on their ethnicity gave us some highest office in the nation, the
the important commemo- a movement that would one day credibility regarding the purity community continues to fight in-
rations of Martin Luther single out Israel — only Israel — of our intentions regarding our stitutional racism and pervasive
King, Jr. Day and International for condemnation in a charter that unity with another downtrodden discrimination whose effects are
Holocaust Remembrance Day on otherwise advocates for justice group, and the experience of hav- apparent in discriminatory lend-
consecutive weeks — and on the and racial equality, or devout peo- ing been turned away from vari- ing practices, public health crises,
heels of Black History Month in ple who pray for peace three times ous establishments open to most high incarceration rates, and more.
February — make for a particu- each day but continue to use a vile white Americans made it feel like
larly odd juxtaposition. After all, Yiddish word to refer to members we were indeed kindred. The ADL New York/New Jersey
following the recent acts of vio- of another race. and the NAACP New Jersey State
lence against Jews in New Jer- For American Jews, that’s Conference recently announced
sey and New York, mostly at the Admittedly, Jews and African largely and literally history. We a partnership to combat hatred
hands of African-American sus- Americans had more in common have become entrenched in the and bigotry in the Garden State.
pects and seemingly motivated by during the civil rights movement technology, financial, medical, and The steps they pledged to take —
anti-Semitism, the once-strong re- than we do today. In those days legal sectors, prominent in the me- providing anti-bias education to
lationship between our communi- Jews, though on their way to be- dia and entertainment industries, elected officials; building tolerance
ties, which has been increasingly coming accepted members of and in spite of the scourge of Jew- and understanding between the
strained in the last several years, American society, were still con- ish poverty, we are perceived as constituencies of the two organiza-
appears to be approaching a crisis sidered “other,” often suspected of successfully climbing in upward tions; and responding to all inci-
point. dual loyalty toward Israel and the mobility. Rather than being thought dents of racism and anti-Semitism
U.S., accused of having question- of as “other,” now Jews benefit in the state with one voice — sound
At times the rift makes us feel able financial ethics, and bearing from white privilege, a concept good on paper, if also familiar and,
like it’s been even longer than responsibility for the death of Je- which would have been a ridicu- to an extent, tired.
the 55 years since Rabbi Abra- sus. The situation was far worse lous notion just a few decades ago.
ham Joshua Heschel and King for members of the black commu- But it may be our only path to-
marched together in Selma, Ala. nities — in the South, of course, In the years since the march on ward returning to how our com-
Putting the recent spate of attacks but even above the Mason-Dixon Selma, the acceptance of the black munities thought about each other
against Jews aside for a moment, line — but the murder of six mil- community in the U.S. has also, all those years ago: two distinct
it’s difficult to imagine that such lion European Jews based solely thankfully, risen, but despite the people with one shared vision for
election of Barack Obama to the equality in the United States. n

‘Anti-Semitism’ by any other name

I s it time to retire the term “anti- such an “illogical, delusional pas- ments, the lower-case, no-hyphen tism,” as does the Simon Wiesenthal
Semitism”? sion” doesn’t “deserve the dignity spelling hasn’t become standard in Center.
It’s not a new question, al- of capitalization.” The IHRA also the Jewish world. The American
though it was given new life by his- In the Jewish media, the Jew-
torian Deborah Lipstadt and new Lipstadt does away with the hyphen and ish Telegraphic Agency, the Times
urgency amid a months-long spike spells it ‘antisemitism’ because such of Israel, the Forward, Tablet, and
in anti-Jewish attacks in the United NJJN/The New York Jewish Week
States and Europe. Lipstadt points an ‘illogical, delusional passion’ doesn’t all use “anti-Semitism.” In the
out in her recent book “Antisemi- ‘deserve the dignity of capitalization.’ general media, “anti-Semitism”
tism” that the hyphenated version of remains the preference of the As-
the word implies that there is “such prefers “antisemitism,” and in 2015 Jewish Committee, World Jewish sociated Press and The New York
a thing as a ‘Semitic’ people,” when seems to have convinced Microsoft Congress, and Yad Vashem, Israel’s Times. European media tend to use
the word “Semitism” itself was to adjust its auto-correct feature to Holocaust authority, have adopted some variation of the lower-case
coined to describe a group of sim- allow both spellings. “antisemitism,” but the Anti-Defa- spelling.
ilar languages. The term also has mation League still uses “anti-Semi-
roots in what the International Ho- Despite the logic of these argu- We at NJJN have weighed the
locaust Remembrance Alliance calls pros and cons and haven’t yet ad-
“a form of pseudo-scientific racial opted “antisemitism,” mostly for the
classification that was thoroughly sake of consistency and continuity.
discredited by association with Nazi For some, the lower-case somehow
ideology.” demotes the word or concept itself,
or represents a solution to a very
Lipstadt doesn’t counsel let- minor and rarified problem. We’ve
ting go of the term entirely. But even heard arguments to bypass the
she does away with the hyphen and word entirely, on the theory that a
spells it “antisemitism” because vile form of bigotry should just be
called what it is: Jew hatred. n

Opinion13
NJ Jewish News n njjewishnews.com n February 11, 2020
Trump’s ‘take-it-or-leave it’ Mideast gambit

Thane Rosenbaum blow shofars than A people who so quickly gather insider’s price on a new condo-
whistles. in “Days of Rage,” or to stab Is- minium with free amenities. The
Special to NJJN raelis or mow them down in cars problem, however, is that Palestin-
And this is the rea- is not ready for prime time on the ians have never been swayed by
For an American son why the Palestin- world stage. Your future will de- money — or land, for that matter.
president who has ians — famous for pend on whether you want a future. They didn’t seem to mind when
turned the White missing exponential And that can only be demonstrated Jordan occupied the West Bank and
House into a Rose Gar- opportunities — should by building infrastructure, univer- Egypt occupied Gaza. Instead, they
den-variety reality TV seriously consider this sities, and hospitals, rather than were always fixated on dead Israe-
show, with a steady dose deal. It is their only way rockets and terror tunnels. lis in a vanquished Jewish state.
of “West Wing” chaos, a to re-enter a conversa-
special counsel investigation with- tion that no longer includes them. Intifadas do not lead to peace Now after rejecting too many
out collusion, and a Senate im- By not accepting Trump’s team as with a neighbor who is not plan- earlier peace deals that would have
peachment trial where Joe Biden honest brokers and choosing to skip ning on leaving the neighborhood. netted them more land and immedi-
and John Bolton became quid pro the economic summit last summer ate sovereignty, they are going to
quos for each other, how did Don- in Bahrain that was largely for their As real estate industry execu- have to choose a different road to
ald Trump’s “deal of the century” benefit, everything that has taken tives, the Trump’s deal-of-the-cen- save yet another generation from
manage to come about in virtual place was done in their absence. tury troika made nation-building a stagnation and dependency. After
silence and without scandal? And no one seemed to miss priority. Yes, Israel got more land all, a continuous strategy that finds
them. to ensure its safety, but the Pales- glory only in dead Jews is not a ful-
Only within the frenzied Trump The many decades’ strategy of tinians and Arab states received filling national project. n
administration could the Israeli- rejectionism has failed miserably, $50 billion, which is a lot of gar-
Palestinian conflict, which ordi- and the world has grown tired of banzo beans for the kind of build- Thane Rosenbaum is a novelist,
narily commands more headlines it. Even an unpopular American ing that will lead to true Palestinian
and causes more headaches, be re- president has not rallied nations to prosperity. essayist, law professor, and Dis-
duced to a negligible footnote. The their defense. Their moment as the
president moved the U.S. embassy world’s most favorite refugees has The Trump administration tinguished University Professor at
to Jerusalem; defunded UNRWA, passed them by. And even with all treated the Palestinians like New
along with any aid destined to re- of the kangaroo-court resolutions Yorkers savvy enough to know Touro College, where he directs the
ward Palestinians for murdering condemning Israel in the United when they are being offered the
Israelis; shut down the PLO offices Nations, Israel has, improbably, Forum on Life, Culture & Society.
in Washington, D.C.; and blessed never been more admired and
Israel’s decision to extend sover- sought after globally. Quietly, yes, Follow him at thanerosenbaum.com.
eignty over the Golan Heights and but many countries now wish to be
its intention to annex the Jordan Israel’s secret friend. For Those Who Value Community
Valley as well. And the message to the Palestin-
ians is this: The delegitimization The preferred career resource
And all of that scarcely merited game only plays well on campus, for the Jewish community.
the world’s attention. Indeed, the or with Roger Waters and a few
Persian Gulf states were so pleased talentless rock bands. No one else [email protected] | 973-739-8113
that Trump was taking the hard line is buying it, or rather, choosing to
against their common enemy, Iran, boycott Israel. Israel innovates too
and with Israel starting to resemble superbly, and its people are far too
a strategic partner, the Palestinians industrious to be rejected.
had outlived their usefulness as a This is what years of refusing
blemish on the democratic bona fi- to negotiate with Israel has got-
des of the Jewish state. ten you. Magical thinking that the
world would simply grant Pales-
In Gaza, the weekly “March tinian statehood and impose con-
of Return” protests along the bor- ditions on Israel has achieved the
der with Israel in 2018, and more exact opposite outcome. By wait-
sporadically in 2019, were almost ing too long, a state in-waiting, at-
never the big news of the day. tached with too many strings and a
Meanwhile, the Palestinian Author- wholly discontinuous map, is now
ity was becoming an afterthought being foisted on you in a “take-it-
— even to its own people. or-leave it” gambit with no lever-
age or allies of your own.
For their part, the president’s Palestinian petulance has run its
“ultimate deal”-makers — senior course. The Trump administration
adviser and presidential son-in-law has done them a favor by speaking
Jared Kushner, Middle East Special honestly, “Do you want a state, or
Envoy Jason Greenblatt, and U.S. do you wish to remain as perpetual
Ambassador to Israel David Fried- refugees and terrorists? Choose.
man — operated out of the spot- You can’t be both.”
light and, unlike so many of all the
president’s other men, avoided fir-
ings, scandals, and jail sentences.

They were far more likely to

NJ Jewish News ■ njjewishnews.com ■ February 11, 202014Opinion

I thought I understood the Shoah.
A visit to Auschwitz changed that

Touring the death camp for the first time is a physical confrontation with the unfathomable

Andrew Silow-Carroll ANDREW SILOW-CARROLL/JW had a more universal message. Mar-
ian Turski, 93, said, “Don’t be indif-
Special to NJJN in Auschwitz I, and showed us the events surrounding the anniversary of ferent” — not to historical lies, nor
closet-sized cells in its basement; in the liberation. I heard the testimony of “when any minority is discriminated
A uschwitz overwhelms. one of them, his father and four others survivors and speeches by the mach- against.” Elza Baker, persecuted as a
That sounds both obvious spent five terrifying days after he was ers, and the “lessons” they draw from Roma, hoped “that everyone would
and an understatement. The accused of plotting an escape. Why he the Shoah are as individual as they stand up for democracy and human
Holocaust is an overwhelming fact wasn’t executed is another small de- are. Ronald S. Lauder, president of the rights.”
of any Jew’s life. It shapes how we tail of Auschwitz, but one that saved WJC and chairman of the Auschwitz-
think about our Jewish past, present, the Rosensafts’ world. Birkenau Memorial Foundation, told At Monday’s dinner, Ukraine’s
and future. It informs our politics. It’s president, Volodymyr Zelensky, said
the frequent backdrop to our relation- Standing at the ‘hallowed ground’ the lesson was that “human cruelty
ship with Israel. And it is a religious of Auschwitz imparts perspective knows no boundaries.”
challenge, perhaps beyond all others.
all its own. Many of the children and grand-
But on my first-ever visit to Aus- children of survivors, meanwhile, fo-
chwitz-Birkenau, I finally understood If you’ve made the pilgrimage, me that Auschwitz must stand as a per- cused on the tenacity of their parents
how physically overwhelming the you know what I am talking about. manent reminder of what was done to and the lives they built after the hor-
site is. On Tuesday, Jan. 28, I joined If you haven’t, you might think I am the Jewish people and how anti-Semi- rors. “Hitler did not win,” said Debbie
a delegation from the World Jewish sounding naive, having come to some tism can never be allowed to roar back, Bornstein Holinstat of North Caldwell,
Congress in Poland for ceremonies sort of overdue epiphany about the not on the right or left. At a dinner that whose father Michael Bornstein was 4
marking the 75th anniversary of the Holocaust that shouldn’t have es- night for survivors and their families, when he was liberated at Auschwitz.
liberation of the death camp by So- caped me as a Jewish adult. I almost he added that the Holocaust taught the “Hatred did not win.”
viet troops. Under a pale sun that agree. I’ve read the literature, stud- Jews “not to count on anyone else ex-
barely cut the gloom, we followed ied the history, met survivors. I’ve cept us.” At Tuesday’s main ceremony All these statements can be true,
the crowds through Auschwitz I, the been to the museums. But standing at at the camp, he reiterated, “If for no and are. The Holocaust is as vast as
brick barracks that have largely been what Rosensaft called the “hallowed other reason than the fact that not a the numbers of people who experi-
converted for displays of shorn hair, ground” of Auschwitz imparts per- single country on earth would take enced it, of their descendants, and of
eyeglasses, shoes and, maybe most spective all its own. in Jewish refugees when they begged those who learn about it, from any
haunting of all, confiscated prosthet- for their lives, that is why the Jewish distance. At times I embrace each of
ics and crutches. What to do with this understanding people need Israel.” these messages and interpretations.
is the next question. I arrived in Kra-
Later we trudged — often through kow the preceding Friday to cover the Some survivors at the ceremony And yet. I walked almost five miles
thick Polish mud — around the pe- during my brief tour of Auschwitz. I
rimeter of Birkenau, the vast indus- read the unfathomable numbers: cre-
trial killing complex where about 90 matoria that could burn 8,000 corpses
percent of the camp’s victims died a day; 232,000 children sent to Aus-
— about a million people. Rows chwitz; 110,000 shoes kept forever
upon rows of barracks, all but a few behind a glass wall. But the scale of
reduced to their foundations. Miles the losses is infinite when you factor
of concrete fence posts and barbed in the unknown generations that were
wire. A factory city whose product cut off with each death. Add to that the
was death. Multiply this by the other unspeakable example that the Nazis
familiar death camps — Belzec, So- provided to the despots and terrorists
bibór, Treblinka — and the thousands who still feel inspired by them, and I
of sub-camps and improvised killing find it hard to see beyond the darkness.
fields, and you get only a terrible hint
of the obscene logistical effort that But I tried. At the visitors’ entrance
went into wiping out a people. to Auschwitz I is an installation by
architect Daniel Libeskind that fea-
And it is not just the vast scale tures testimonies and photographs of
that changes your understanding of survivors. There’s a portrait of Sara
the tragedy. There are small spaces Kestenbaum of Florida, who was 13
too. The foundation of a gas chamber when she arrived at Auschwitz. Added
and its attached crematorium, barely to her 2017 testimony is this biograph-
bigger than a two-family home. The ical coda: “89 years old, 3 children,
cubby-like wooden pallets where 9 grandchildren, 13 great-grandchil-
prisoners, always two and sometimes dren.” Those are numbers that give me
many more, slept head to toe. One of something that looks like hope. ■
our guides was Menachem Rosen-
saft, WJC’s general counsel, whose Andrew Silow-Carroll is editor in chief
parents both survived the camp. He
led us into the notorious Block 11 of The New York Jewish Week, NJJN’s

sister publication. He served as NJJN

editor for 13 years.

Our Towns 15 NJ Jewish News ■ njjewishnews.com ■ February 11, 2020

Healthy Living

MARKETPL ACE

Bridging the gap — computer lessons for savvy seniors

On a Tuesday afternoon, one can find Randy A Senior Community Providing Exceptional Care
Fisher teaching residents at Stein Assisted
Living how to complete a task of their choice As a not-for-profit senior community, we are committed to
in the Media Center. ensuring that personal, medical and spiritual needs are recognized
and met by providing a home where seniors live active, independent
“For many of the residents, it’s about learn- lives with the support of compassionate, professional caregivers.
ing, discovery, and even companionship,”
Randy explains. He often uses metaphors Jewish traditions, culture, and Kosher fine dining
and simplified methods for teaching new Gracious, private accommodations • Nurses on premises 24/7
concepts. For example, when explaining the
concept of web addresses, he likens it to Social, fitness and educational activities • Beauty salon
using a street address to find the location of a Housekeeping services • Transportation
store. After using this idea with one resident, and much more!
Sophie, they then proceed to visit a depart-
ment store website and learn about online Call us to find out why Stein Assisted Living is the right fit
shopping. In another instance, he shows for you or your aging parent, 732-568-1155.
another Stein resident, Tina, how to navigate
a web browser by using the concept of find-
ing everything you need at home — thus
clicking the home-button to get there.

Some residents are even hoping to one
day take their learning to new heights. “I’m
here for help using my iPad. I can do my
banking on it and everything, but one day
I want to develop an app!” one resident,
Sandy, shared during his session.

These lessons also enable Stein’s resi-
dents to communicate with friends and fam-
ily in a way that many of them had not imag-
ined possible. “One of my favorite times
teaching this class was when I put a resident
on a video call with her grandchildren in
Israel. The pure unadulterated joy on her
face — it was great to be able to do that for
her!” Randy recalls.

Having patient and encouraging staff is
important to effective learning, but so is the
technology used. The Stein Media Center
is equipped with Telekin touch-screen com-
puters that include home screens with easy
access to email, web, video chat, news, and
more. Large-print keyboards are also used to
make the typing process easier.

Stein Assisted Living is part of The Oscar
and Ella Wilf Campus for Senior Living,
which is also comprised of Wilf At Home,
Wilentz Senior Residence, Stein Hospice,
and Wilf Transport. For more information,
visit wilfcampus.org.

ATTRACT TALENTED TEACHERS 350 DeMott Lane, Somerset, NJ 08873 • (732)568-1155 • www.wilfcampus.org
IN OUR CLASSIFIEDS
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NJ Jewish News ■ njjewishnews.com ■ February 11, 202016Perspective

Kobe free throws to tie up a game up late in the Only after he was informed by the police fortable it feels.
fourth quarter before limping to the locker that the woman submitted to a physical There can be no doubt that Kobe ma-
Continued from page 7 room, a year of rehab in front of him.And exam — we later learned that her inju-
with God as my witness, in 2016 I found ries were “not consistent with consen- tured over time, morphing into a leader
him.Anyone who plays in an NBAgame myself rooting for Kobe as he finished sual sex,” according to the nurse who and making friends around the NBA. He
is among the world’s most talented ath- the game, and his legendary career, with conducted the examination — did he seemingly learned from his early experi-
letes, but Bryant set himself apart through a 60-point masterpiece. It’s difficult to admit that they had sexual intercourse, ences and turned his focus, outside of bas-
a skill set that comes along once in a imagine a more incredible finale. but insisted it was consensual. He asked ketball, on his family in the years since the
generation — his was a combination of police whether he could quietly pay the settlement. We can also debate whether
sheer determination and a maniacal work But here’s the thing: Most of the world accuser in return for her silence, and he anyone guilty of such serious allegations
ethic. Undeniably handsome, unusually is acting like that’s the whole story — a also fessed up to having an extramarital is ever truly redeemable, but none other
self-aware, and whip-smart in spite of not tale of redemption for someone drafted affair with another woman “a lot.” than King Solomon wrote in Proverbs
having had a formal education beyond a into a league of professionals before he that “A righteous man falls down seven
high school degree — he was fluent in could vote who evolved into a five-time As a condition to dropping the crimi- times and gets up.” He would know, as
English, Italian, and Spanish, and report- champion, 18-timeAll Star selection, and nal charges, Kobe eventually offered a some Jewish scholars have interpreted
edly learned to trash talk in several other one of the most respected players ever. public apology, saying that “Although I that King David’s affair with Bat-Sheva
languages to get into the heads of foreign- It’s not, however, and leaving out that one truly believe this encounter between us — Solomon’s parents — amounted to
born players — when he wasn’t wearing a critical chapter renders the Kobe narrative was consensual, I recognize now that she rape, and the Book of Samuel unambigu-
uniform, Kobe’s million-watt smile made nothing less than a lie of omission. did not and does not view this incident the ously states that David deliberately placed
him seem relatable, even though he was same way I did.” He and the accuser even- his mistress’husband on the front lines of
nothing like us. In 2003 Bryant was accused of tually settled a civil case out of court, and battle to ensure he would be killed.
sexual assault and false imprisonment Bryant’s wife, Vanessa, was seen sport-
The collective attitude toward Bryant of a 19-year-old woman at a hotel in ing a $4 million, 8-carat diamond ring, no God forgave David, but he kept the
transformed as his 20-year career wound Vail, Colo. The criminal charges were doubt penance for her husband’s multiple story of his grave failings in the Torah so
down and he became the league’s elder eventually dropped when the accuser indiscretions. that his people could learn from it forever.
statesman, mentoring younger players, decided not to testify against the young Kobe was not better than David and we
most notably superstars LeBron James NBA champion, 24 at the time. No one It feels dirty, even callous, to bring this are certainly not better than God, so let’s
and DwyaneWade when the three played will ever know if Kobe truly raped the up now before funeral arrangements for remember Kobe for all that he was, even
together in the 2008 Summer Olympics woman as she claimed, but these facts Kobe and his daughter have even been an- the parts we’d just as soon forget. ■
in Beijing. One couldn’t help but admire are not disputed: When he was initially nounced. Yet just as it would be wrong to
his grit when, minutes after rupturing his questioned about the incident, Bryant lead Kobe’s obituary with the allegations, Contact Gabe Kahn via email: gkahn@
Achilles tendon in 2013, he sank two told the police three separate times that it’s equally inappropriate to leave those
nothing of a sexual nature occurred. details out altogether, however uncom- njjewishnews.com, or Twitter: @

sgabekahn.

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Check out all that the Solebury School is
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LifeCycle 17

Obituaries Herbert Shaber firm of Montis and Litowitz. In 1964, he became an NJ Jewish News ■ njjewishnews.com ■ February 11, 2020
Assistant U.S. Attorney in the Trenton office of the
John Brandner Herbert H. Shaber, 85, of Springfield died Jan. 8, 2020. U.S. Department of Justice. In 1967, he was appointed
A pioneer in the food truck industry, Mr. Shaber Judge of Worker’s Compensation, eventually becom-
John “Jack” Ashworth Brandner, 81, a longtime ing the Chief Judge of Compensation for the State of
East Windsor resident, died Nov. 4, 2019. He was later served as manager of Pathmark in Union, where New Jersey, a position he held for over two decades.
born in Paterson and later resided in New York City he worked for 20 years. During his tenure, he presided over and decided
before moving to East Windsor, where he lived for thousands of cases involving New Jersey workers and
42 years. He is survived by his wife of 62 years, Joyce; three employers. In 1990, then-Gov. James Florio appointed
sons, Matt, Larry, and Marc; and six grandchildren. him director of New Jersey’s Department of Worker’s
Mr. Brandner held positions in editing and medical Compensation. In that capacity, he oversaw the State’s
writing for the National Association of Social Workers Services were held Jan. 14 at BG William C. Doyle Worker’s Compensation system, one of the largest
(NASW) and Academy Professional Information Veterans Memorial Cemetery, Wrightstown, with and most complex in the nation. Following retirement
Service. He left behind an archive of letters and other arrangements by Orland’s Ewing Memorial Chapel, from public service in the mid-1990s, he returned to
writings. Ewing. private practice, becoming of-counsel to the Princeton
law firm Hill, Wallack.
He received a scholarship to Union College, from Kenneth Singer
where he graduated with a degree in mathematics in He attended Trenton Central High School and
1960. Kenneth Singer, 81, of East Windsor died Jan. 8, 2020. Pennington Prep before enrolling in Rutgers University,
Mr. Singer is survived by his wife, Carol, and his where he received his undergraduate and law degrees.
He was enrolled in ROTC and, following college,
spent two years in the Army Reserves. daughter, Nicole Koller. He was a veteran of the Korean War, where he
Services were held Jan. 10 with arrangements by served in the Army Counterintelligence Corps.
He studied and converted to Judaism through
Congregation Beth Chaim of West Windsor, where he Orland’s Ewing Memorial Chapel, Ewing. He received numerous honors and awards, includ-
remained a member for over 40 years. ing The Jack O’Brien Service Award recognizing his
Judge Mark E. Litowitz achievements during his career.
He is survived by his wife of 51 years, Susan; two
daughters, Andi (Tabb) and Jacquie (Saul); a sister, The Hon. Mark E. Litowitz, a lifelong Trenton-area Continued on next page
Dorothy; and seven grandchildren. resident, died Jan. 9, 2020, a day before his 91st
birthday.
Services were held Nov. 6 with arrangements
by Bloomfield-Cooper Jewish Chapels, Manalapan. Judge Litowitz’s legal career began at the law
Memorial contributions may be made to Alzheimer’s
Association or Jewish Family and Children’s Service 1534 Pennington Road Take comfort
of Greater Mercer County, Princeton. Trenton, NJ 08618
609.883.1400 knowing you have a plan.
Harold Abramson
OrlandsMemorialChapel.com Know your wishes will be honored upon
Harold I. Abramson, 82, of Lawrenceville died Jan. your passing. And lessen the stress for
3, 2020. Born in Brooklyn, he was a resident of Member of KAVOD: your grieving family during this difficult
Lawrenceville for the past 60 years. Independent Jewish Funeral Chapels time. Let us help you preplan your final
arrangements today.
Mr. Abramson was a chemical engineer at the
American Institute of Chemical Engineers in New Our third generation of family ownership.
York City before retiring.
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He was a graduate of The Cooper Union and
earned a master’s degree at Drexel University. Joel E. Orland, Senior Director | NJ License No. 3091
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He is survived by his wife, Francine Ferman
Abramson; two daughters, Sheila (Stuart) Kaufman
and Sandra (Gilbert) Franc; his son, Franklin (Ellen
Stamey) Abramson; nine grandchildren; and a great-
granddaughter.

Services were held Jan. 7 with arrangements
by Orland’s Ewing Memorial Chapel, Ewing.
Memorial contributions may be made to Adath Israel
Congregation in Lawrenceville, Meals on Wheels, or
St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital.

Roberta Epstein

Roberta Epstein (Horowitz), 74, of Pennington died
Jan. 7, 2020. She was born in Brooklyn.

Mrs. Epstein was a New York City schoolteacher
for 30 years, mostly in the English Department at
Richmond Hill High School.

She is survived by her husband of 53 years,
Michael; her son, Stephen; her daughter, Caryn Hirsch;
a sister, Cynthia Vandenberg; and four grandchildren.

Services were held Jan. 9 with arrangements by
Orland’s Ewing Memorial Chapel, Ewing.

NJ Jewish News ■ njjewishnews.com ■ February 11, 202018 LifeCycle

Continued from previous page

Active in the community, he served on the board Jan. 18, 2020. She was raised in the Bronx and later U.S. Army Air Corps.
of directors of Jewish Federation of Princeton Mercer lived in Old Bridge. Predeceased by his wife, Jeanette (Starr), in 2015,
Bucks and Greenwood House. In 1998, he and his
wife received The State of Israel Independence Issue Mrs. Morgenstein and her husband Abraham ran he is survived by three sons, Joel of Pennington,
Award, recognizing their years of service and philan- a successful plastics manufacturing business (Arose Alan (Sadie Beth) of Pound Ridge, N.Y., and David
thropy. Ornaments) together for many years. She continued (Nancy) of Livingston; six grandchildren; and two
running the business for 10 years after his death. great-grandchildren.
Predeceased in 2005 by his wife, Selma (Urken),
and a daughter-in-law, Karen Dubin, he is survived Predeceased by her husband, whom she married Services were held Jan. 26 with arrangements
by his son, Robert (Mariah) of Washington, D.C.; two in 1949, she is survived by three daughters, Phyllis by Bernheim-Apter-Kreitzman Suburban Funeral
daughters, Debra Frank of Yardley, Pa., and Carol (Robin) Hein, Miriam Dubin, and Gail (Dennis) Alba; Chapel, Livingston. Memorial contributions may be
(Andrew) Golden of Princeton; a sister, Natalie Fulton; seven grandchildren; and four great-grandchildren. made to American Jewish Committee.
and eight grandchildren.
Services were held Jan. 21 with arrangements by Walter Sheiman
Services were held Jan. 12 with arrangements by Orland’s Ewing Memorial Chapel, Ewing. Memorial
Orland’s Ewing Memorial Chapel, Ewing. Memorial contributions may be made to Greenwood House in Walter Sheiman, 97, of Manchester died Jan. 12, 2020.
contributions may be made to Greenwood House, Ewing or St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. Upon the inception of the United Nations in 1945,
Ewing.
Lenore Weiner Mr. Sheiman was hired as the supply officer in the
Carolyn Crawford Publishing Division. His career at the organization
Lenore Weiner, 95, of Skillman died Jan. 23, 2020. lasted for over 37 years.
Carolyn E. Crawford, 70, of East Windsor died Jan. Mrs. Weiner is survived by two daughters, Felice
17, 2020. Born in Brooklyn, she was a resident of East He attended Evander Childs High School in the
Windsor for the last 42 years. Weiner of Princeton and Daphne Weiner of Portland, Bronx prior to enlisting in the U.S. Army, where he
Ore. served in World War II as a sergeant and a German
Mrs. Crawford was a graduate of Baruch College. interpreter under Gen. George S. Patton.
Predeceased by a son, Todd, she is survived by Services were held Jan. 27 with arrangements by
her husband, Steven G.; a son, Jason (Heather); a Orland’s Ewing Memorial Chapel, Ewing. He enjoyed participating in many activities after
daughter, Dana; a brother, Stanley Dorfman; and two retirement, such as the Dance Club, Kiwanis, Jewish
grandchildren. Harold Waldenberg War Veterans, Westernaires, and the Players Club.
Services were held Jan. 19 with arrangements by
Orland’s Ewing Memorial Chapel, Ewing. Harold Waldenberg, 99, of Whippany died Jan. 25, Throughout his life, he enjoyed baseball, bowling,
2020. Born and raised in Brooklyn, he raised his fam- and handball, as well as ballroom dancing with his
Sarah Morgenstein ily in Great Neck, N.Y., and retired to Boca Raton, Fla. wife, Beverly, who taught line dancing classes.
He moved to Whippany a few years ago.
Sarah Morgenstein (Knauer), 89, of Plainsboro died Predeceased by his son, Lee, he is survived by his
Mr. Waldenberg was vice president and senior wife of 70 years; his daughter, Rochelle of Brick; three
counsel with ITT Corporation in Nutley. grandchildren; and three great-grandchildren.

He was a World War II veteran who served in the Private services were held with arrangements by
Orland’s Ewing Memorial Chapel, Ewing.
Gallery

YIDDISH POETRY — David Stoller, a member of Kehilat HaNahar, STAFF SCHOLARSHIP —
The Little Shul by the River in New Hope, Pa., led a class on the Treasures Dorine Viel, a Certified Nursing
of Yiddish Poetry at his home on Jan. 19. Participants learned about the Assistant at Greenwood House
history of Yiddish and read, in English, poems that had originally been (GWH) in Ewing, is the 2019
written in Yiddish in the early- and mid-20th century. recipient of The Henry and
Geralyn Glazer Greenwood
House Scholarship Fund
administered by the Jewish
Community Foundation of
Greater Mercer (JCFGM). The
fund, named after a married
couple who had lived at the
senior facility, is designated for
staff members to continue their
professional training. Viel, cen-
ter, shown with GWH execu-
tive director Rick Goldstein
and JCFGM executive direc-
tor Linda Meisel, is using the
funds to earn her Registered
Nurse degree at Mercer County
Community College.

Agenda 19

Kosher Café ents, Sam and Helen Bagel — the subject of his Home Depot. Kosher hors d’oeuvres and desserts NJ Jewish News ■ njjewishnews.com ■ February 11, 2020
book “The Numbers on My Parents’Arms” — on will be served; bring you own kosher wine.
Jewish Family and Children’s Service of Sunday, Feb. 23, at 11 a.m. at Har Sinai Temple,
Greater Mercer County offers a Kosher Pennington. Cost is $25 in advance; $30 cash at the door.
Café lunch program Tuesdays-Fridays at RSVP by Feb. 21 at BethEl.net or call 609-443-4454.
11:30 a.m. at Adath Israel Congregation, Helen and Sam Bagel were Polish Jews who
Lawrenceville. RSVP to Debi Henritzy at later came to America to be chicken farmers in Purim stories
[email protected] or 609-987-8100, East Windsor. They raised two children, one of
ext. 236. whom is Dr. Bagel, a dermatologist. A Purim Storytime will be held Thursday, March
5, at 4:45 p.m. at the Robbinsville Branch of the
Interfaith concert RSVP to 609-730-8100. Mercer County Library.

“One Community, Many Voices — A Concert Family research Sponsored by Beth El Synagogue in East
of Unity and Harmony” will be presented by Windsor, the program for children of all ages
local choirs, churches, mosques, and syna- “Beginning Your Family Research” will be pre- (accompanied by an adult) will celebrate Purim
gogues on Sunday, Feb. 23, at 4 p.m. at Adath sented by the Mercer County Genealogy Society with a craft, story, and snack. Pre-registration
Israel Congregation, Lawrenceville. on Sunday, Feb. 23, at 7:30 p.m. at Beth El Syna- begins on Feb. 20 at mcl.org.
gogue of East Windsor.
Tickets are $20. Call 609-896-4977 or go to Holidays and grief
adathisraelnj.org. Call 609-443-4454 or go to bethel.net.
“Handling the Holidays: Programs for those
‘Degenerate’ music Series on Islam Grieving the Loss of a Family Member,” a series
of sessions facilitated by Chaplain Beverly Rub-
A concert sponsored by Princeton Adult School “The History and Practice of Islam” with Imam man, will continue with “Passover: The Empty
will feature Gregory Feldmann, baritone, and Adeyinka Muhammad Mendes will continue at Chair,” Wednesday, March 18, 10:30-11:45
Nathaniel Lanasa, pianist, in a celebration of “de- The Jewish Center, Princeton, on Sundays, Feb. a.m. at Jewish Family and Children’s Service of
generate music,” the work of composers whose 23 and March 8, 4-6 p.m. Greater Mercer County, Princeton.
work was banned during the Third Reich, on
Sunday, Feb. 16, 2:30-5:30 p.m. The Feb. 23 class will look at Muslim history Each session costs $10; light refreshments
as part of world history, including kingdoms and will be served.
The afternoon will feature works by Jewish personalities, as well as food, architecture, cloth-
composers Alexander Zemlinsky, Erich Kron- ing, and the arts. RSVP to 609-987-8100, ext. 139, or beverlyr@
gold, and Kurt Weil, who fled the Nazis in the jfcsonline.org.
1930s; Victor Ullman and Pavel Haas, who died The March 8 class will offer a brief history of
during the Holocaust; and Franz Schreker, whose Jewish-Muslim relations. Family trees
career was destroyed by anti-Semitism.
Contact [email protected] or 609- “Where Do You Plant Your Tree?” will be pre-
Cost is $70. The exact location will be emailed 921-0100, ext. 200. sented by Susan Kobrin, president of the Mercer
to attendees about a week before the event. To reg- County Genealogy Society, on Sunday, March
ister, go to princetonadultschool.org, click on “reg- Women in Judaism 22, at 7:30 p.m. at Beth El Synagogue of East
ister for spring classes now,” then click on “special Windsor.
events” and go to the bottom of the displayed Nosh & Knowledge: “Role of Women in Juda-
screen. For more information, call 609-683-1101. ism” will be presented by Rabbi Adena Blum on Kobrin will discuss the benefits and draw-
Thursday, Feb. 27, at 12:30 p.m. at Congrega- backs of creating and maintaining digital and
Work/life balance tion Beth Chaim, West Windsor. The program is paper family trees as well as the features of com-
cosponsored by Greenwood House and Jewish mercial family tree programs.
Great Minds Salon: “Work-Life Integration: Family and Children’s Service of Greater Mercer
Strategies For Managing Your Personal And Pro- County. Call 609-443-4454 or go to bethel.net.
fessional Life” will be held on Thursday, Feb. 20,
at 8 p.m. at The Jewish Center, Princeton. A kosher lunch will be provided by Green- BUSINESS BRIEFS
wood House; there is a requested $5 donation
Cost is $5 for non-members. Dessert will be per person. (Participants may also bring a kosher- Princeton Symphony Orchestra (PSO)
served. Call 609-921-0100. style lunch.) RSVP by Feb. 21 to Beth Englezos will continue its 2019-20 chamber sea-
at [email protected]. son on Wednesday, Feb. 12, at the Princ-
Jews Clues eton University Art Museum.
Gift card bingo
“Jews Clues” will be presented by Beth El Syna- At 5:30 and 8 p.m., Wang Guowei,
gogue of East Windsor Seniors and Jewish Fam- The Women’s League at Beth El Synagogue, Sun Li, and Wang Junling of Music
ily and Children’s Service of Greater Mercer East Windsor, will present Gift Card Bingo on from China perform traditional Chinese
County on Thursday, Feb. 20, at 1 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 29, at 8 p.m. (doors open at 7:30). music on an erhu, pipa, and zheng, re-
spectively, as an accompaniment to the
Author Steven Cohen will explore hidden ge- Gift cards will include Target, Amazon, and museum’s exhibit “The Eternal Feast:
nealogical clues such as items in one’s house, Banqueting in Chinese Art from the 10th
Jewish holiday traditions, and food customs. to the 14th Century.”

RSVP by Feb. 17 to 609-443-4454 or go to Tickets are $25 and are available at
bethel.net. princetonsymphony.org.

Survivors’ stories For information on the PSO’s 2019-2020
chamber concerts, go to the PSO calendar
Author Dr. Jerry Bagel will speak about his par- or chamber series links under “Tickets &
Events” at princetonsymphony.org.

NJ Jewish News ■ Princeton-Mercer-Bucks Edition ■ February 11, 2020 20

21 NJ Jewish News ■ Princeton-Mercer-Bucks Edition ■ February 11, 2020

NJ Jewish News ■ njjewishnews.com ■ February 11, 202022

| SHABBAT CANDLELIGHTING | Feb . 14: 5:12 p.m.

Our incomplete understanding of the divine

Yitro But we are not the first to face that reality: our rab- enough for the Israelites just to receive the command-
bis were never oblivious to the undeserved and cruel ments; they had to acknowledge God as their guarantor.
Exodus 18:1-20:23 deaths that afflict the righteous just as much as anyone
else. The Talmud itself warns against depending on So too, Yitro insists that the judges Moses appoints
Rabbi Lawrence A. Hoffman miracles (Kiddushin 39b), so, failing probable mir- must be “people of strength who fear God, truthful peo-
acles, it is science that has attracted Jewish attention ple who won’t take bribes.” It wasn’t enough to be just
I write this on the 75th anniversary of the lib- over the years. Talmudic rabbis followed the sciences “truthful and not take bribes,” says Ibn Ezra, because
eration at Auschwitz: yes, Auschwitz, the very of their day; medieval rabbis were physicians as well; judges who fear no power higher than themselves will
event that robbed so many Jews of their belief in Jews would not have excommunicated Galileo; and consider themselves accountable to no authority higher
God. It is, therefore, precisely the day to revisit today, we accept the universe as governed by inerrant than other people, and will lack the moral strength to
the issue of God, especially in preparation for a Torah laws of scientific certitude. stand up to those with power over them.
reading where the Israelites “came [to Moses] ‘lidrosh
Elohim,’” literally, “to search out God,” but according God does not play dice with the universe, Einstein Judaism has always shied away from defining God
to Malbim, to “investigate matters of the divine” (iyun famously proclaimed, and he was right. For the sake too closely. When Moses hides in the cleft of the rock
b’inyanei Elohim). of such a rational universe, God has, as it were, retired he discovers the impossibility of seeing God’s face.
from the work of massive miracle making. Maimonides assures us that whatever God is, the hu-
Jews don’t do much “God-investigation” — unlike man mind cannot encompass it.
Christians, for whom theology (a doctrine of God) For most of us, therefore, the micromanaging God
is central. Church fathers of the first few Christian who did not save the 6 million did indeed die in Aus- The point is not to know all about God, therefore.
centuries wrote copiously about God; the rabbis (their chwitz — if not before. But the God of the Jewish It is just to know enough about God to avoid falling
equivalent) concentrated on how to live. people, the God of all the world, was never that kind into the trap of believing what the Talmud calls “let din
of God to start with. And the God that Judaism really v’let dayan”: that there is neither judge nor justice in
To be sure, those fathers advocated proper behav- does prescribe is still alive and well. the universe, so that anything goes. God did not show
ior, and rabbis designated proper belief, but over time, up atAuschwitz. God’s presence comes instead in the
we Jews have preferred arguing over human conduct, What did not die is a God demanding justice, laws of physics, the truths of nature and of history,
not the nature of God, to the point where many Jews goodness, and truth as non-negotiable ultimates, not and the ethics that demands goodness and justice in
wonder if they have to believe in God altogether. endlessly malleable fictions. Morality is not relative. all that we do.
There are no conveniently alternative truths. The true,
The short answer is, “No.” You can be a Jew with- the good, and the just are absolute. The ultimate mea- Rabbi Lawrence A. Hoffman is cofounder of Syna-
out it, obviously: millions are. And with Auschwitz sure of them is what we call God.
always before us, it seems pretty clear that it takes a gogue 3000 and a professor of liturgy, worship,
massive leap of faith to believe in an all-powerful God Before Moses climbs Mt. Sinai to receive theTorah,
who intervenes to save the righteous. he “brings the people to meet God” (19:17). It wasn’t and ritual at Hebrew Union College-Jewish Insti-

tute of Religion.

Our Towns

Refusenik Because of this, Roginsky believes Assassin The screenplay is also careful to note that
many women are declining to work on there were authorities who categorically
Continued from page 4 New Jersey campaigns. Continued from page 8 and emphatically rejected any justification
for murdering Rabin. As Amir’s father
base of operations. Clients have in- “In 1997, when Jim McGreevey ran it was going to a mikvah, wearing tzitzit says, “A Jew doesn’t kill another Jew,
cluded elected officials, such as New unsuccessfully for governor his first and a kipa, or going to shul and praying whatever the reason.”
Jersey Sen. Cory Booker and the late time, his team’s makeup was 50-50 three times a day. He watched hours of
Sen. Frank Lautenberg, as well as non- women and men. Today, I’m the only footage of the real Amir and read hun- To its credit, “Incitement” also insists
profit organizations and Fortune 500 woman in the room because I guess I’m dreds of pages of the killer’s words. on the multifaceted nature of the anti-Oslo
companies. New Jersey Democratic used to it. Most women working on po- community; Zilberman shows the frac-
campaigns over the last 20 years have litical campaigns in New Jersey got fed The result rewards all that work. It tures and divisions — Ashkenazim vs.
sought her advice and she became an up. The reason I survived is I kept my would be worse than flippant to say that Mizrahim, class divisions, racism against
in-demand political commentator from mouth shut for many years. Not now.” Halevi “becomes” Amir, but his stunning Yemenite Jews like theAmirs — and ba-
the Democratic side. performance carries the film, from the sic differences of opinion and ideology.
That has brought Roginsky, this past opening images of the young man clean-
In addition, since 2005 Roginsky has December, to a partnership with Carlson ing a family grave to the final image of him But why make this film now?
served on the board of directors for the and Diana Falzone, another Fox News fading into the darkest recesses of history. “In every election in Israel they talk
Women’s Campaign School atYale Uni- alumnus, in creating “Lift Our Voices,” about the assassination,” Zilberman said.
versity, a nonpartisan leadership program an online initiative to put an end to As for the impact onAmir of the vari- “It’s a conversation that’s alive every year,
whose aim is to increase the number of non-disclosure agreements, which they ous authorities who spurred him on, that everywhere in the world. People will see
women in elected and appointed office. believe are forced on women in sexual is a difficult issue that the film handles the film as a cautionary tale; perhaps they
harassment settlements. deftly. A lot of screen time is spent in the will take more responsibility for their
“I’ve been very blessed in life and debates among the ultra-right nationalist words and actions and inciting people
been able to build an incredible career “Women just want to work and be ap- rabbinate as to whether Rabin is “an infor- against others. It’s a responsibility we all
after really coming from nothing,” she preciated for what they do,” said Rogin- mant” or “a pursuer,” an active conspira- have.” ■
said. “Today, I want to be the one who sky, who lives with her son, Zachary, 7, tor against Israel or just a dupe, and the
speaks up for those who are unable. I in New York City. “We need to continue discussions are presented with admirable For information about N.J. screenings, visit
have been quite upset, through my whole to speak. It’s important no other women clarity. Zilberman and Leshem depict the IncitementMovie.com.
experience, with the toxic attitudes I have go through what Gretchen and I and so rabbis behindAmir as a spectrum running
seen toward women in inner political many others out of the spotlight did. It’s from fervent, even irrational true believers George Robinson covers film and music
circles. I feel it’s the same playbook as I a big part of my work now.” ■ to cynics who will wink at the assassin’s for The New York Jewish Week, NJJN’s
saw before with television.” plans without overtly endorsing them. sister publication.
[email protected]

ExitRamp 23

The siyum and the Super Bowl NJ Jewish News ■ njjewishnews.com ■ February 11, 2020

Merri Ukraincik just a brief exposure to it in a Jewish stage to recite the moving prayer of completion,
calling upon God to make the words of Torah
NJJN Contributing Writer literature class I took decades ago. sweet in their mouths, while I, watching on my
Years ago, we visited the phone, began to cry.
Football Hall of Fame in The volumes on our shelves at home
Canton, Ohio, as a stop on belong to the men in the family, and To be honest with myself, seven-and-a-half
a road trip with our boys. curiosity has never moved me past years is a long time. I hope God will bless me with
the binding. life and health, as well as the stamina and inspira-
tion to want to listen in on a discussion about a
On the way home, I thought about new page each day. Maybe I’ll up my game at
some point, but for now my approach is meaning-
The New York Giants had won the how I might start the daily study of a ful to me, and certainly better than none.

Super Bowl that season, and though Jewish text on my own, though I had Judging by the availability of apps and dis-
cussion groups on social media, I’m not alone.
I don’t follow the sport, I teared up no idea which or how. By evening, I Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks, in the video from the
women’s siyum, pointed out that it’s a wonderful
while watching the stirring museum decided it would be the Daf Yomi. era in which the doors of the House of Study have
video about the championship game. Close to Home By dawn, I’d downloaded an app been flung wide open. Men and women who never
I experienced the same wave of that transports me into a discussion or only sporadically participated in Talmud study
before are eager to join this Super Bowl of Jewish
emotion this past New Year’s Day when I attended of that day’s page, with explanations of the basics learning, to find their place in the volumes that are
our legacy as a people.
the 13th Siyum HaShas at MetLife Stadium. — For example, who are the different rabbis?
I am writing this on the 11th day into the
The siyum celebrates the completion of the Daf What periods were they debating in? — for listen- cycle, which feels like a drop in the deepest
sea. But I already know this: While the siyum at
Yomi (literally “daily page”), a worldwide cycle ers like me who haven’t done this before. MetLife revealed a longing inside me I did not
know existed, the women’s Siyum HaShas in
of Talmud study initiated in 1923 by Rabbi Meir Each morning after everyone else has left the Jerusalem convinced me that fulfillment is some-
how within reach.
Shapiro of Lublin. Marked by moving speeches, house, I dive in. It’s as close as I’ll get for now
As Charlie says in “Flowers for Algernon,”
singing, and prayer, the event is a milestone for to taking a book of Talmud off the shelf, though “There are so many doors to open. I am impatient
to begin.” ■
those who learned the entire Talmud — one page I admit it’s not the same as sitting with my head
Merri Ukraincik of Edison is a regular contributor to
a day for roughly seven-and-a-half years. bent over a heavy volume, my learning partner
NJJN. Follow her at merriukraincik.com.
You might wonder how I could correlate the sitting across from me at the table. But it’s an

experience of holy Talmud study with the earthly opportunity to enter what is for me a new holy

one of the Super Bowl, beyond the fact that the space, and it feels like a good place to be.

recent Siyum HaShas took place where the Giants Just days after the siyum at MetLife, more than

play. The simple answer is that I was always cer- 3,300 women and men gathered in Jerusalem at

tain I’d never be more than a spectator of both. the first-ever women’s Siyum HaShas. In a

Like the other 90,000 people in the stadium video from the evening, women — Torah schol-

that day, I came to celebrate the completion of the ars, leaders, and teachers — spoke about the

Daf Yomi cycle and was moved by the spiritual importance of being a part of this life-changing

power of a communal event that connected Jews moment in Jewish time, one that has forever

from different backgrounds around the globe. But altered the landscape of Talmud study. Those

I had no real personal experience of the Talmud, who finished the Daf Yomi cycle then took to the

Shoah-themed jazz opera, educator workshop Professional Directory
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