xt72542j9s2w https://exploreuk.uky.edu/dips/xt72542j9s2w/data/mets.xml Jewish Federation of the Bluegrass Kentucky Jewish Federation of the Bluegrass 2004-08 Newspaper of the Jewish Federation of the Bluegrass, previously named the Central Kentucky Jewish Association and Central Kentucky Jewish Federation. Published ten times annually. The Federation seeks to bring Jewish community members together through holiday parties, lectures, Yiddish courses, meals, and other celebrations of Jewish heritage and culture. They also host fundraisers and provide financial assistance for Jews in need, both locally and around the world. This collection is part of the Jewish Federation of the Bluegrass records, 2016ms010. newsletters 2016ms010 English Central Kentucky Jewish Federation Inc  Contact the Special Collections Research Center for information regarding rights and use of this collection. Jewish Federation of the Bluegrass records Jews -- Kentucky -- Lexington Jews -- History Shalom, August 2004 text image Shalom, August 2004 2004 2004-08 2025 true xt72542j9s2w section xt72542j9s2w   

AUGUST 2004

 

ha lomxs

$8erving the Central Kentucky Jewish Community Since 1962

 

Newspaper of the Central
Kentucky Jewish Federation

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AV-ELUL 5764

 

Farewell Central Kentucky Jewish FederatiOn

By Fran Morris, IFS Director

This has been the most difficult
Shalom article I have ever written. It
is difficult because it will be the last
one written as the Director of Jewish
Famin Services of the Central
Kentucky Jewish Federation. This
month, I will be leaving my position
of four years to pursue graduate
work full—time. As I look forward to
the new challenges ahead, I am
reminded of the many different and
wonderful experiences gained
through my work at Federation.

As you may know, much of the work
of social service agencies, JFS includ-
ed, is confidential because of clients’
right to privacy. This may lead to the
misconception that nothing much
happens or that there is no need in

our community for a social worker.
By contrast, the reality is that there is
an ever-present need in the Jewish
community, as is the case in the
wider community, for helpers and
advocates. At some time in all our
lives, we can benefit from the use of
professional services, whether it is for
ourselves, or on behalf of others that
we care about.

Over the past four years, it has been
my privilege to serve our community
in the capacity of: Information Broker,
Listener, Advocate, and Collaborator,
to name just a few. It has not always
been easy, because life is not easy.
Life is wonderfully complex, and
each situation is very different, each
with its own complex set of issues
and circumstances. I have learned,
along with JFS clients, that there is

 

usually no single correct answer to makes use

any given problem, and that the deci- of it, this
sion to act ultimately rests with indi- can be the
viduals and not professionals. Of most excit-
course, a professional is obligated to ing and

take action to prevent harm or to
assure the safety of a client; however,
those situations represent one

rewarding
experience

 

to witness.

extreme and not the norm. In most The Jewish Prim Morris
cases, free will dictates that individu- saying "To
als consider the options presented, save one

and then make decisions based on all
information provided. This repre-
sents both the most frustrating and
exciting aspects of any social service
worker’s job. It is frustrating because
even though a good solution may
seem evident to many others ’
involved, the client may choose not
to pursue it and instead continue to
struggle. However, when a solution
has been presented to someone who

life is as if you have saved the world"
is particularly meaningful for me,
because I have realized that even
helping one person can represent a
huge accomplishment.

Through my work at JFS, I have also
had the chance to get to know people
in ways other than through clinical
experience. I have had the opportu-

see Farewell, page 13

 

 

 

. C“ ampiShaIOm Opens New

Site With Record Attendance

By [arm LaZur

Camp Shalom 2004 is under way and
already campers are having fun
renewing friendships from previous
summers! The Central Kentucky
Jewish Federation announces the
37th year of Camp Shalom.
Although the camp has been located
in various locations, its commitment
to Jewish integration, community
and quality childcare remains con-
stant.

As in previous years, we were fully
prepared for camp; new supplies had
been purchased, old supplies sorted,
curriculums planned, volunteers
assigned, counselors hired, spaces

rented. The list goes on. It takes a
year of planning for two weeks of
summer day camp. Our valuable
committee members not only attend
meetings throughout the year, but
also come out on weekend mornings
to help sort through countless sup-
plies. Without our wonderful camp
staff, office staff and committee mem-
bers, Camp Shalom could never have
happened. It is hard to realize the
effort necessary to pull off a top
notch, Jewish summer day camp.
Many thanks go out to Elissa Brown,
Daniel Chejfec, Kathy Feinberg, Judy
Levey, Mimi Kaufman, Eileen

see Camp Shalom, page 11

 

Central Kentucky Jewish Federation

1050 (hinoe Road 0 Suite 203 0 Lexington, KY 40502

(hange Servire Requested

Sandee wildes
24 N ashland Ave

 

Non-Profit Org.
0.3. Postage

PA l D
Lexington, KY
Permit # 719

 

 

 

Lexington KY 40502- 1509
'IIII'I'IIIIII‘IHIIIIIIIIIII'lIlIlllllll'llllll'llllII”IIIII

 

Salutes New Board Members

 

 

6

President David Feinberg presents Young Leadership Award to Rachel Belin.

 

On June 23, the annual meeting of CKJF was held at Ohavay Zion Synagogue.
President David Feinberg conducted the meeting and reported that the
Federation was doing well with its many ongoing programs and events. The
meeting was largely devoted to honoring outgoing Board members and
installing new members.

see New Board, page 7

 

  

IN THIS ISSUE:

025 Fundraiser Honors Coopers ............. 3
Leisure Club News ....................... 3
President's Message ...................... 4

CKJF Volunteers Help at Humane Society Fundraiser .4

Wine Tasting Social A Success ............... 5
From the Executive Director ................ 6
A Moment In Time ....................... 6
Celebrate 350 .......................... 7
Rabbi's Corner .......................... 8
Parents Invited to Visit Camp ................ 8
Hadassah and CKJF Leisure Club Doll Project . . . .9
Tikkun Visits Stewart Home for Shabbat ....... IO

Spellbinders Spread Their Magic at Camp Shalom l0

B'tay Avon ............................ l I
Ask JFS About ......................... I 2
Local Delegation Attends AJFCA Convention . . .l2
Bar/Bat Mitzvahs ....................... I3
TAI News ............................. l4
Lexington Havurah News ................. I4
025 News ............................ 15
Hadassah News ........................ IS
Community Calendar .................... l6

 

Condolences to...
0 Cynthia Ellsworth and family on the death of her husband, Robert, on June 28.

0 James and Dan Liebman on the death of their great aunt, Barbara Liebman, on
June 16.

0 Bob and Judy Baumann on the death of Bob’s mother, Evelyn, on June 20.

Refuah Shlemah (Get Well Wishes) to...

° Neil Poley
° Sally Sherr
~ Trudy Landsberger

' Jamie Haefele
' David Rose
' Ben Kaufmann

° Lou Shain
' Sonia Moosnick
' Barney Miller

Mazel Tov to...
0 Gavin and Christy Roth on the birth of their son, Teague Hayden, on June 28 .

0 Larry Newman for receiving the 2004 Kentucky Medal of Honor Award from the

Kentucky Association of Insurance and Financial Advisors.
0 Natalie and Stephen Pollack on the birth of their daughter, Jenna Laine, on July 1.

0 Sam Frankel, grandson of Harold and Kaye Frankel, who graduated from high

school Cum Laude and received his diploma with Honors and Award of Merit.

 

 

 

sbALom

Published ten times annually by the
Central Kentucky Jewish Federation, Inc.
1050 Chinoe Rd., Suite 203, Lexington, KY 40502
Phone (859) 268-0672 0 Fax (859) 268-0775
e-mail: shaIom@jewishlexington.org

August 2004, Volume XI, Issue 6

David Feinberg, President
Daniel Chejfec, Executive Director
Fran Morris, Director, JFS
Jana LaZur, Activities Director

Editorial Board
Marcia Blacker, Evelyn Dantzic Geller, Judy Levine,
Ruth Foley, and Stan Saxe

Production Services by Direct Response, Inc.

The editorial staff has the right to edit all articles submitted
for publication in sbALom. The appearance of any
advertising in this publication does not represent a kashruth
endorsement on the part of CKJF or any other agency or
organization. sbALom is supported by the advertisements
appearing in the paper.

© 2004 by Central Kentucky Jewish Federation

 

 

   

 

 

 

2 - Aawscmsb/llom

 

 

 

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Deadline for articles for _ H
the September Shalom is CKJF PreSIdent: IL]
August 10. David Feinberg I
E-mail articles to: C
. ckjfajewishlexingtonprg CKJF Board: 1
'1: .. iessumafledmhard . V I Ray Archer Odette Kaplan I
i ashoutdbedoubleasg { Rachel Belin Mimi Kaufman
""""'""""""‘ PhillipBerger SteveKesten
I I I I -
: DON T MISS OUT. : Marcia Blacker Ginger Knight
I Gettliispaper delivered I Allison Caller Judy Levey
I I
I ‘ I Gail Cohen Art Lieber
I F R E E . _ _
I toyourhometenfimesannuafly, I Vlel Doukas Ruth Poley
: Mailyournameandaddmto: : Gerald Dubilier Gloria Rie
: SbAiDm/CKJF : David Feinberg Walter Salomon
1050 Chinoe, Rd. Suite 203 .
I ’ I M
I ”Xingu“, KY 40502 I Ichael Grossman Pat Shraberg
I ore-mafia! I Stanley Isenstein Carole Wilson
I shalom@jewisl1lcxington.org I
.-------------------l

 

 

 Ohavay Zion Fundraiser
Honors Coopers

 

Leon and Harriet Cooper share a tender moment.

 

 

By Marcia Blacker had written a poem to celebrate the
occasion. Other masters and toasters
were Cindy Derer, Simone Salomon,

and Rabbi Sharon Cohen.

Portofino’s Restaurant was the scene
of a festive event on June 13, which
honored Harriet and Leon Cooper for

_ lllt‘ll tlvtln atrxl sen no to Ulia\ as

'--~ Zion Synagogue. Over, 100 contribu-

tors attended the dinner, including
the Cooper's children, and two of
their six grandchildren

.1\ iommcmoratiye booklet, which
included greetings and congratulato-
ry remarks from friends of the
Cooper’s, was given to each guest.

Harriet and Leon spoke of their long
commitment to the synagogue and
the Jewish community of Lexington.
They expressed their gratitude for
such an honor. Harriet commented
that it was "overwhelming" to be so
honored and that ”there were many
others in the community equally or
more deserving." From the comments
made that night, their friends and
family thought otherwise.

Hors d’oeuyres were served as the
Coopers greeted their friends and
family. After dinner, Steven Caller
acted as master of ceremonies for a
"roast and toast." Speakers included
Leon’s sister Barbara Planer and her
husband Dick Planer, from Atlanta;
Leon's brother, Arnold (Maishie)
Cooper; Ira, Andy, and Lynn Cooper,
and Lynn’s daughter, Miranda, who

Celebrate 21

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experience.

At Milward Funeral Directors,
we understand that each life

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(859) 266—2188 or Fox (859) 268-1877

Mitchell Barnes
Owner

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Leisure Club News

Late in June, a dozen Leisure Club
participants joined together at the
Campbell House Inn restaurant,
Kilbern's, for lunch. It has been sev-
eral years since our members have
met at the Campbell House. It was
pleasant to get together again in a
familiar place that we all agree is still
a great place to dine. Although there
was no scheduled program this time,
members enjoyed talking to one
another and catching up on the latest
news in the Jewish and wider com-
munity. Gatherings like this enable
many to stay connected to the Jewish
community.

Our next scheduled event will be on
August 19, 2004, when members
gather at Temple Adath Israel for a
Leisure Club favorite: a Bingo and
pizza party. A postcard notice will

be mailed prior to the event. Please
call 269-8244 if you do not receive
notices and would like to attend a
Leisure Club event. Due to the high
holidays, there will be no Leisure
Club event in September. However,
plan to attend our first fall program,

' on Thursday, October 21, 2004, at

Bella Notte restaurant when speaker,
John Brislin, from Optimed, joins our
group to educate us about organizing
our medicines. You may have seen
John on channel 3 when he was fea-
tured on the popular program, "Off
our Rockers."

Leisure Club is a program for older
adults sponsored by Jewish Family
Services of the Central Kentucky
Jewish Federation.

AUGUSC 2004 shalom - 3.

 

  

Hadassah

Made Me Do It

++§

Sitting down to write my monthly

column, struggling for inspirati
decided to write what I

President's Message

David Feinberg

was chapter president years ago. As
"first gentleman" to the president I
was responsible for shlepping heavy
objects, chauffeuring the presidential
Volvo to far off meetings, and being
relentlessly upbeat and supportive.
on, I

This ancillary role allowed me to be a

 

hoped to be a piece that
would persuade people to
seek leadership posts in
the Jewish community. I
was forced to think about
how I became involved in
CKJF and what has
influenced my leadership
”style” (though it sounds

i would like to see people move
from volunteer positions, to board
membership and then, it they wish,

to the executive board or other

positions of responsibility.

 

rather grandiose to label it
as such).

Watching the Hadassah women
operate has been endlessly

veritable ”fly on the wall," a person
who could observe some of the inner
workings of the organization while
being otherwise invisible.

intriguing. No, I was not a "Tootsie"

clone who went undercover. I am a
proud Hadassah Associate Member
and was once the "first gentleman" of

Hadassah. That is, my wife, Ka

So, what did I learn? I learned that
there is an elaborate program of
grooming and developing leadership

thy, over a period of years. That

The Martin lutllel' King
"flighhfll'llflflll Association
Apologizes For Mistake

The Martin Luther King

Neighborhood Association

scheduled a fundraising event on Yom Kippur. When they
realized the significance of this day, they contacted CKJF

and asked that we print

the following:

To our friends in the Central Kentucky Jewish community:

We have made a mistake, and we ask your forgiveness. We
have scheduled a fund raising event during the Yom Kippur High
Holiday in the upcoming fall. We are terribly saddened by our
error, particularly because our event, the Urban Challenge, is
intended to highlight Lexington’s under-recognized racial,
cultural, and ethnic diversity, while raising funds for housing and
park improvement projects in our downtown neighborhood.

We have entered contractual relationships and used sponsor
funds in ways that prevent our changing the date for this event.

Within the spirit of Yom Kippur itself, we are choosing to

acknowledge our error in
public apology, which we

this public way. We intend for our
will also disseminate to our Lexington

partners in this event, to help others avoid making a similar
error. In this small way we hope even an error, in light of our

contrite acknowledgment
tikkun olam.

4 - AUGUSC 2004 sb/tlom

of it, may be understood as an act of

 

individuals were trained, whether
they knew it or not, to take
increasingly more visible and
important roles within the
organization. Individuals who might
believe they never could be president
were made to feel they could be
successful and the whole chapter
would be behind them. Looking out
in the crowd of a Hadassah
installation you would see 20 or more
ex-presidents who are still involved.
You see a steady commitment to
growth and development. What is
conspicuously absent is a clique of
power; instead there is a variety of
leaders with very different personal
styles but with a shared vision of the
mission of the organization. You see
support and growth. You see long
term strong commitment to the
organization. Hadassah, in my
opinion, sets the standard in our
community in developing leadership.

I would like to copy the Hadassah
model and use it with CKJF. I would

 

like to see
people
move from
volunteer
positions,
to board
membership and then, if they wish,
to the executive board or other
positions of responsibility.

 

Whether it is in Federation or any
other Jewish communal group, do
not shy away from leadership. It will
be good for both the community and
for your own personal growth. You
will be surprised how you can grow
into the role. How else can your
vision and thoughts be translated
into action unless you take an active
leadership role? If you want your
thoughts represented, step up to the
plate. Chances are Hadassah is not
ready for a male chapter president (at
least I never got the call). However, I
want them to know that this associate
learned from the best.

 

CKJF Volunteers Help at

Humane Society Fundraiser '

By Harry Gordon

For the second year, the Central
Kentucky Jewish Federation has sup—
plied volunteers to pass out water for
the Sheabel Kennel’s "4 miles for
Paws” race to benefit the Lexington
Humane Society, run on the grounds
of Keeneland Race Track on
Memorial Day. Unfortunately,
cloudy ~-
weather
scared off a
few at the
last minute,
but the light
rain didn’t
stop the seri-
ous runners,
walkers, and
dog lovers
from attend-
ing.

 

  

is
their owners around the course, or
walked, as the case may be. Some
dogs felt the need to take more than
a drink of water, and used this
opportunity to bathe themselves by
diving into the buckets.

We would like to thank the following
workers who arrived at 7:30 am. to
represent CKJF at this fundraiser for
the Lexington Humane
Society: Daniel Chejfec,
David Feinberg,
Jonathan Feinberg,
Kathy Feinberg,
Matthew Feinberg,
Allison Garfinkle, Judah
Garfinkle, Harry
Gordon, David Keown,
Lee Keown, Jana LaZur,
Kevin LaZur, Ryan
LaZur, Dan Taulbee,
Lisa Taulbee, Katie Rose
Taulbee, and Lori
Zimmerman. Thank you
for getting up early on
your holiday to make a

 

Almost 20

enthusiastic David Feinberg and Daniel Chejfec revel in
volunteers Starbl‘fks coffee and a light mist at 7 (1.111.
aided by I Memorial Day morning.

strong coffee

and donuts, assisted the runners by
standing at water stations placed
throughout the course. Additionally,
large buckets were available at these
stands for the many dogs that ran

difference for the sake
of the Lexington
Humane Society. And for those
returning volunteers, we look for-
ward to sharing this Memorial Day. tra-
dition with you next year as well.

 

 

 

 Wine Tasting Social A Success

By Ruth Paley

Thank you, thank you, Pat and
David Shraberg. The wine tasting
social you hosted in June was, in a
word, wonderful.

For those of you who couldn’t make
it, you missed a great party. David
provided the wine from his extensive
cellar and what a nice variety it was.
There was a table of Vouvray,
Chardonnay, and Reisling; another
table of Bordeaux including
Margaux, l’omerol, and St. Estephe;
still another station contained Kosher
reds and whites; and a fourth offered
Graham Beck Champagne. (Quests
tasted freely of all the offerings, but I
guess everyone really loved that
champagne they drank an entire
case. For those who don’t care for
wine, there was a varix {y of soft drinks.

 

Pat outdid herself with the food.
There was smoked salmon, meat-

 

 

) , ' , ' , ., I
bi n Kaufnmnn tnjoi/s n glint pin fy.

 

 

 

 

 

balls, cheese trays, hummus, arti-
choke spread, chicken kabobs,
spinach puffs and more, and all of it
plentiful and delicious.

 
 
 
 

 

 

 

 

Susan Cabin 276-0657
Anne Graft 264-9424
llyse Lonsbury 27l~3489

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Tctc a We with Abe Levine, Marty Kaplzm, Rt'llt’t’ Hymson, and Nancy Krstcn.

Art Shcchct, and Sandy and Phil Berger discuss the merits ofthe wine.

 

 

 

Pat and David, assisted by Aaron, Elizabeth, and Sarah
Shraberg, set up tents and tables in their backyard over-
looking the lake at Jacobson Park. The weather cooperat-
ed by being dry and not too hot, but the tents meant we
could sit outside and still avoid any sun-related discom-
fort. With more than 50 in attendance, it was a great
evening of fine wine, tasty food, and lots of socializing
with friends both old and new.

The Central Kentucky Jewish Federation was the benefici-
ary of this event. The Shrabergs absorbed the entire cost
of the party and CKJF received a substantial contribution
as a result of their generosity.

AUGUSC 2004 sbAlom - 5

 

 From the Executive Director

 

July 18, 1994

+++

On July 18, 1994, I was the

Daniel Chejfec

Secretary of AMIA and parents who
were deeply involved in community
activities, that building was a familiar
setting to me. I even performed with
an amateur theater crew on the

of Jewish Communal Workers, the
AMIA was the place where we met.
When I wanted to meet with a friend
to talk about nothing, it was at a cafe
half a block down from AMIA.

Community Relations Director (CRC)
of the Jewish Federation of Atlantic
and Cape May Counties in New
Jersey. I was sitting at my desk when
a phone call came through and the
voice on the other side, an
Argentinean friend who worked at a
National Agency, told me "did you
hear about the bombing of AMIA?"
At first it didn’t quite register and I
believed that I did not hear correctly,
but upon asking my friend, I was
given the details. At 9 a.m., Buenos
Aires time, a powerful explosive —
apparently delivered with a car bomb
— exploded at the headquarters of
the Jewish community of Buenos
Aires, the AMIA. My first thought
was for those of my friends who
worked at the building — were they
safe? Eighty-seven people, including
four very good friends, found their
graves under the rubble of the AMIA
building. This happened barely two
years after the Israeli Embassy in
Buenos Aires was destroyed by
Hamas operatives. Yet as supportive
as I am of Israel, the bombing of
AMIA touched me in ways the
destruction of the Embassy never
could.

AMIA stage.

Growing up, the AMIA building was
always part of my "Jewish
playground." With an uncle who was

As I grew up and became active in
the youth Zionist movement, "Dror,"
AMIA was a place to meet with
representatives of other movements
and to work with their Youth
department to reach out to the
"Interior" (the provinces).

 

That-"is the age-old question of
why people hate other
peepte...Freud went on to explain
that we hate that which
challéng’es' our control and
understanding of our

environment.

 

 

As Ibecame a professional, I started
to notice other things — such as the
Social Service Department on the
ground floor and the Administration
of Cemeteries on the fourth floor.
When I became a member of the
Board of the Argentinean Association

When I wanted to do research on the
Jewish community, it was to the sixth
floor of that building that I went for
data. If the issue was about political
or social advocacy, it was to the
fourth floor, the home of DAIA, the
Argentinean equivalent of the Jewish
Council for Public Affairs (formerly
NJCRAC). To learn about the Jewish
communities in
the provinces, the
best place was the
Vaad Hakehilot in
the second floor;
and for Jewish
Education there
was the Vaad
Hahinuh in the
third floor. When
my grandfather
passed away, I
accompanied my
mother to the
fourth floor for
the burial
arrangements.
The chief Rabbinate and the Board
offices, as well as the Computer
Center, were on the fifth floor. The
AMIA was always a hub of activity
and an integral part of my life.

So on July 18th, 1994, something tore

'mmmhoeptof

 

in my heart
and
destroyed
my world.
I
understood that Jewish life in
Argentina was never going to be the
same. So why would anybody do
such a horrible thing? That is the age-
old question of why people hate
other people.

 

While no one hundred percent
satisfactory answers will probably
ever be found, I found Sigmund
Freud’s explanation interesting.
Freud was once asked for his
explanation of anti-Semitism. He
answered that any kind of hate was
basically irrational, and trying to
understand it as a rational
phenomenon was a mistake. This
was, by the way, the same
explanation I heard many years ago
from a great Argentinean Jewish
leader, Sion Cohen Imach.

Freud, however, went on to explain
that we hate that which challenges
our control and understanding of our
environment. He further explamed
-m .

"lieimish' (Familiar l is (Ullllt‘tl ( «i to l
the concept of "Unheimish."
"Unheimish" is not just "unfamiliar,"
but the German concept is of that
that having been "heimish" became
"unheimish." While some things can

see July 18, 1994, page 10

 

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5 - AUGUSC 2004 shalom

LEASING a nd M GT.

 

A Moment In Time

By Marty Barr

It’s late 1947 or early 1948, the State of Israel has not yet
been established, I am ten years old and my parents are
involved in smuggling weapons. Most people are familiar
with the stories of how the nascent Israeli government
sent people around the world to buy whatever arma—
ments they could find.

For example, they bought military surplus craft in the
United States and flew them to Israel. They bought ME
109’s in Czechoslovakia and used those same transports
to fly them to Israel where they became the basis for the
Israeli Air Force.

What my parents and many of their friends were doing,
however, was outside the law, particularly for my father
who held a position of high responsibility in the Veterans’
Administration. It worked like this: Periodically, one of
my parents would drive down the street in Washington,
DC, where we lived, and would carry a brown bag into
the neighborhood delicatessen. There the bag, which I
later found out contained pistols, would be handed to one

of the butchers to begin its long jour-
ney to Israel. An arrangement had
been made with the local police and
they looked the other way.

If the weapon being delivered would
not fit into a grocery bag, then the
delivery was at night and we would
be met at the back door. These kind
of deliveries normally consisted of
rifles, butthere was one notable time
when our cargo was a machine gun
which literally had the rear end of
our car dragging on the pavement.
The source of weapons was never
spelled out, but many of them came
from war veterans who had brought
them home as souvenirs. This went
on for about six months or so until a
more regular source of weaponry
was established. But for a period of
time, my family and many others
knowingly broke the law to help in
the survival of Israel.

 

 Celebrate 350: Jewish Life In America

The Beginning

OOQ

Think back to your history lessons in the year 1654. The
Portuguese retook Recife in the Dutch colony of
Pernambuco in Brazil, reestablishing the rule of the
Inquisition in an area of the New World with a significant
Jewish population. As a result, a group of 24 bedraggled
Sephardic Jews, refugees from Pernambuco, landed in the
Dutch port of New Amsterdam, where Governor Peter
Stuyvesant initially denied them the right to disembark
While other Jews had come before them to North
America, these Jews were different in that they intended
to establish a Jewish community and live as Jews. It was
the beginning of one of the most incredible chapters in
Jewish history, the North American Jewish experience.

Eventually, the Board of Trustees of New Amsterdam’s
parent company in (Old) Amsterdam forced Stuyvesant to
allow these Jews to land and limited his power to restrict
their economic activity. The reason was two-fold and sim-
ple. On the one hand, some Jews were among the trustees

of the colony back in Amsterdam; on the other hand, the
living conditions in the colony were such that any help
was welcome and any resource was valuable. Yet, it was
still a life of subsistence.

One thing Jews were not allowed to do was to serve in
the "watch and ward,” the colonial militia. Instead they
were expected to pay a special tax for their protection.
However, these Jews did not accept these limitations.
They were the heirs of the proud tradition of Sephardic
Jewry, once upon a time fully integrated into Spanish
society while remaining distinct. They intended to build
upon that tradition.

In April of 1657 a Jew from New Amsterdam, Asser Levy,
claimed to be unable to pay the special tax and requested
to be allowed to serve in the militia instead. His goal was
to open the road for full participation and full burgher
rights for himself and other Jews. He was a true hero in
the sense that he opened the door for a new idea of Jews
as citizens.

While Levy’s petition for burgher’s rights was denied, it
started a struggle through which the Jews of New

Amsterdam wrestled their rights
from a reluctant Council and a hos-
tile Governor. lncreasingly, different
areas of economic activity were
opened to Jews.

Asser Levy started the first of many
struggles through American Jewish
history to ensure that the benefits of
full participation were granted to
Jews as Jews. These included the
right to practice Judaism and to
establish their own congregations,
the first of which was the Touro
Synagogue in Rhode Island.

Let us honor the memory of Asser
Levy by seeking full participation in
American life while preserving the
distinctiveness of being Jewish. I can-
not think of a better tribute to the
first true American Jewish Hero.

 

 

 

 

Marty Barr acknowledges President's Award

 

 

  

Pasta Martens

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Kramer’s
fifthmiéété I-':i’§iir—_rf$’:§