xt77wm13rc5h https://exploreuk.uky.edu/dips/xt77wm13rc5h/data/mets.xml Jewish Federation of the Bluegrass Kentucky Jewish Federation of the Bluegrass 2010-02 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 Jewish Federation of the Bluegrass 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, February 2010 text image Shalom, February 2010 2010 2010-02 2025 true xt77wm13rc5h section xt77wm13rc5h FEBRUARY 2010

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CKJF changes name, refines mission

What's in a name: a reputation, history,
opportunity, connection, and recogni-
tion? We, as the central address for the
Jewish community, both affiliated and
unaffiliated, throughout Central Ken-
tucky, have a new name: Jewish Fed-
eration of the Bluegrass. It is a name
of distinction and pride that identifies
with our national organization, the
Jewish Federations of North America
(formerly the United Jewish Com-
munities) and with other Federations

throughout North America as they
change their names to reflect a new
sense of joint purpose. It also reflects
the pride of being part of the state of
Kentucky, and the high regard of the
beautiful Bluegrass area throughout
the world. The new decade brings with
it both a new outlook and updated by—
laws with a new mission statement for
what was formerly known as CKJF—
Central Kentucky Jewish Federation. 331

Jewish Pederation of the Bluegrass
Community Campaign to begin on March 21
New special event planned for community

The 2010 Community Campaign will
begin on Sunday March 21 with our
annual Super Sunday phonathon,
which will again be chaired by Carole
Wilson. Carole will be assisted by the
Campaign Committee, co-chaired by
Pat Shraberg and Angie Ornstein. This
year we have planned a new special
event for the community’s fundraising
festivities.

From 12:00 noon to 2:00 p.m., the com—
munity is invited to participate in a
pizza lunch and a services auction. You
will have time to volunteer making
phone calls in the morning, pick up
your children from religious school,
and return with them for lunch and
the auction. There will be two shifts
for phone calling: 9:30 am. to 12:00
noon and 2:00 to 4:30 pm. As always,
there will be complimentary breakfast,
lunch, and nosherai for all volunteers.

We need phone solicitors and volun-
teers for the auction. We all can offer
something to auction: babysitting
hours, home-cooked meals, baked
goods, office or home organizing skills,
tennis lessons, or use of your vacation
home. Use your imaginations; the pos-
sibilities are endless. Please consider
what you have to offer the community.
All the proceeds of the auction and

the Super Sunday phonathon will go
toward the 2010 community campaign.

Please call Judy Wortman at (859)
268-0672 or email her at ckjf@jewish—
lexington.org to volunteer. If you are
home on Super Sunday, March 21,
answer the call from your friends who
are asking for your help in providing
needed programs and services to our
sisters and brothers here, in Israel, and
around the world. Please give with a
generous heart. fi

 

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OF THE BLUEGRASS

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Rabbis sing "Maoz Tzar” at JFB Winter Dinner. (see story on page 8)

 

Mission Accomplished: Books

successfully delivered to Ben Yakir

At-risk youth enjoy horse lore
By Tamara Ohayon
'F‘ '

In early November 2009 I was in Israel
for two and a half weeks, spending
time with family and traveling around
this amazing country.

One of the highlights of my trip was
visiting the Ben Yakir Youth Aliyah
Village near Hadera. The purpose

of my visit to Ben Yakir, an all-boys
school for at-risk youth, was to safely
deliver more than 20 books donated by
the Jewish Federation’s Equine Divi-
sion. The collection included children’s
storybooks about horses and educa-
tional books on the training and care of
horses, as well as on the horse racing

industry.

A few years ago, the Equine Division
of the Central Kentucky Jewish Federa-
tion decided to send financial support
directly to the Ben Yakir Youth Aliyah
Village for its horseback riding therapy
program. The resulting relationship
with the children and staff at Ben Yakir
is a natural fit with our local horse en-
thusiasts and industry professionals.

I began my tour there with Gavriel
(Gabi) Azulay, the director of the
horseback riding therapy program and
manager of the farm on the property.
Gabi walked us around the runs and
sheds, showing us the well-kept facil—

. i
Gavriel Azulay, Tamara Ohayon, and
Arbel, the horse purchased by JFB Equine
Division.
ity and healthy animals, cared for
entirely by the students under Gabi’s
supervision. We also had the pleasure
of meeting Arbel, the handsome horse
our community purchased for the
program.

After a few photos, we drove to the
library, where an empty shelf had been
prepared for the new books. A group
of students from various grade levels
joined us and took seats around a large
table. When the suitcase was opened
and the books passed around, the look
of joy on the boys’ faces was priceless.
The younger ones were clearly excited
by the beautiful pictures of the horses.
Some of the older students with more
advanced English skills were reading
with great interest. All the boys asked

see Mission Accomplished, page 3

 

 

 

 

 

,*.=v‘.:‘«—~nou‘,. m; .... .
. ' . . ‘

 

  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

IN THIS ISSUE

Eli Eliezri's passing 3
President's Message 4
Sim Shalom finds new facility 4
Third Opinion 5
From the Director 6
Editorial 6
Ask a Rabbi 7
Winter Dinner at Petra 8
JFS: At Your Service 8
Tzeason of Tzedakah extended volunteer season of success .................................................................. 9
Jewish Camp Fair to be at Ohavay Zion Synagogue 10
Jewish Family Services program on child abuse prevention ................................................................. 13
Jewish young professionals might meet their match 13
Book Excerpt: The Jester 14
B’tayavon 15
lsrael 21c: Cooperation between Israeli and Palestinian companies ................................................ 17
Lexington Chapter of Hadassah 18
Hadassah celebrates Hanukkah 18
Lexington Havurah 19
B'nai B’rith plans full year of activities 19
Temple Adath Israel 20
Ohavay Zion Synagogue 71
Around the Community ....... .22
Community Calendar . “0.24

 

 

Sh alem

Published ten times per year by the
Jewish Federation of the Bluegrass, Inc.
1050 Chinoe Rd., Suite 302, Lexington, KY 40502
Phone (859) 268-0672 . Fax (859) 268—0775
email: shalom@jewishlexington.org

FEBRUARY 2010, VOLUME XVII, ISSUE 1
Linda Ravvin, President
Judy Wortman, Executive Director
Jane LaZur, Activities Director
Paula Clancy, JFS Director
Tamara Ohayon, Communications Director

SHALOM EDITORIAL BOARD
Ruth Poley, Editor-in-Chief
Mary Heléne Rosenbaum, Editor/Administrator
Marcia Blacker
Jane Chaput
Judy Levine

CONTRIBUTING WRITERS
Ed Feinstein, Karin Kloosterman, Steve Schwager,
David Shamah, Hanna B. Smith, Jesse Weil

LOCAL DISTRIBUTION SERVICES
Lowell and Betty Nigoff, Paul Tillier

Production Services by Georgetown News-Graphic

The editorial staff has the right to edit all articles submitted for publication in Shalom.
The appearance of any advertising in this publication does not represent either a
kashruth or any other endorsement on the part of the Federation or any other agency
or organization.

Shalom is partially supported by the advertisements appearing in the paper.

Copyright © 2010, Jewish Federation ofthe Bluegrass. All rights reserved. For reprint
permission contact Ruth 6. Poley, Editor—in-Chief, Shalom, at rgp@insightbb.com

2 | February2010 Shalom

 

 

  

 

Our thoughts and prayers are With the people of Haiti in the wake
of the recent tragic earthquake. Here are some avenues for giving
through the Jewish community.

American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee in
partnership with The Jewish Federations of North
America: www.]DC.org or

PO. Box 530, 132 East 43rd Street, New York, NY 10017
Attn: Haiti Crisis.

American Jewish World Service: ajws.0rg or
American Jewish World Service
45 West 36th Street, 11th floor , New York, NY 10018-7904

Union for Reform Judaism: urj.0rg or
Disaster Relief Fund

Union for Reform Judaism

633 Third Ave., New York, NY 10017

United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism: uscj.0rg or

The Rapaport House International Headquarters of the United Syna-
gogue of Conservative Judaism, 820 Second Avenue, New York, NY
10017-4504

Donations may also be made through TAl or 025.
Write "Haitian relief” on the memo line of your check.

 

 

 

 

  

 

“iii;

College Advising & Boarding School Placement

 

Please note the

 

 

NEW EMAIL ADDRESS for

 

Jane Schoenfeld Shropshire
Mary Rosenbaum,
_ . Shropshire Educational
editor/administrator, IS Consulting, LLC
30791/2 Royster Road

jfb.shalom@hughes.net Lexington, Kentucky 40516

(859)396-9508 Swhm

wwwshropedmet W
Dedicated to finding the right school.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Please submit any

articles to her at that

 

 

 

 

 

address.

 

 

If you are not receiving Jewish Weekly email and would like to, please
send your name and email address to lexadmin@jewishlexington.org

    

OF THE BLUEGRASS

ni\ 'l‘lii‘_]i‘\visli l'i‘ili'ixiziiiii

Federation President Federation Board David Levine

Linda Ravvin Evalyn Block Jennifer Miller
Bruce Broudy Angie Ornstein
Executive Committee Jane Chaput Jeremy Popkin
Michael Grossman, Vice President Susan Cobin Ricki Rosenberg
Pat Shraberg, Secretary Evelyn Dantzic Geller Kae Schennberg
Robert Grossman, Treasurer Larry Kant David Shakib
Odette Kaplan, Member-At-Large Mimi Kaufman David Wekstein

 

Shalom Deadline

Deadline for articles for the March Shalom is February 1 0.
Email articles to jfbshalom®hughesmet

 

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Eli Eliezri’s passing marks end of era for JDC

Since JFB (Jewish Federation of the Blue-
grass, formerly Central Kentucky Jewish
Federationlfimds the American Jew-

ish Joint Distribution Committee (JDC)
through our contributions to The Jewish
Federations of North America (flirmerh/
UJC— United Jewish Conunzmitiesl. we
thought our readers would enjoy seeing the
kinds of projects and people that we have
supported over the years. Thefollowing is
an excerptfrom the executive report ofJDC
President Steve Schwager.

Eli Eliezri passed away in Israel on
Monday morning, January 4, 2010.

Eli officially joined the JDC family in
the late 19805, when he represented
JDC while working on organizing and
providing welfare to the Ethiopian Beta
Israel community prior to the rescue
mission called Operation Solomon.
That was the first of many special proj-
ects that garnered Eli’s attention. Di-
saster response and crisis management
became his raison d’etre—Sarajevo,
Kosovo, Kenya, Indonesia, Thailand,
Rwandan refugees in Goma, Zaire.
When disaster struck, Eli was ”the
fixer,” our "man on the ground,” JDC’s
heroic “cowboy" who. in the finest
JDC tradition, never saw a problem he
couldn’t fix and never faced a disaster
where JDC couldn’t come and improve
the lives of the victims.

Between 1991 and 1994, Eli organized
and oversaw eleven rescue operations
of the elderly and women and chil—
dren—Jews and non—Jews—from the
city of Sarajevo. Eli attended one set

of board meetings, proudly carrying
laminated copies of the official letters of
permission, and justly boasted: “See, no
one else has permission from all sides
to work—only the American Jewish
Joint Distribution Committee!” Ambas-
sador Richard Schifter, who was work-
ing on special White House assignment
during the crisis in the Balkans, agreed.
“Remarkable," he told Will Recant.
”JDC is the only organization in the
world that could have achieved this.”

But Sarajevo was only a sampling. Be-
cause of Eli, JDC built sanitation facili—
ties for tens of thousands of Rwandan
refugees in the vast camps of Goma,
Zaire. We flew into a refugee camp on
the Somali/ Kenyan / Ethiopian border
where we supported 48,000 refugees
by delivering mobile medical units that
were developed in Israel. Eli estab-
lished local partnerships in Kosovo
where he oversaw a project that rebuilt
not just one, but rather 36 schools.
While there, Eli—as only Eli could—
built a mosque in partnership with the
Catholic Church and local Muslims,
and with contributions from Jews. And
he left fishing villages ravaged by the

Mission Accomplished (from page 1)

questions—for example, ”Why is
Kentucky so green?” and, ”What made
Secretariat a great racehorse?”

Not only has our community pur-
chased a therapy horse and supplies to
build a new barn, we have now given
young Israeli boys exciting new mate-
rials to help them learn English and to
feed their insatiable hunger for any-
thing about horses. We can be proud of

having provided yet another positive
building block upon which their lives
can grow.

Thank you for your continued support
to the Jewish Federation Community
Campaign. You truly can make a dif-
ference! it!

Read more about Tamara’s trip in the
March issue of Shalom.

 

 

 

2004 tsunami in Thailand in far better
condition than before the wave hit.

Will Recant recalls a perfect Eli story:
“Everyone knew Mr. Eli, whose larger
than life persona comes out every time
I think of walking into the hotel lobby
with him in Nairobi where we had ar-
rived to piece together the program for
Somali refugees in 1994. As we entered
the lobby, Eli announced in a very large
voice: ’Jambo, Jambo everyone; I am a
diplomat and so s he (as he pointed to
me); take us to the back room to reg-
ister.’ And they did. They gave us the
VIP treatment, never realizing that we
did not have diplomatic passports and
Eli, in fact, had only stayed in the hotel
once before."

If you ever met him, you would re-
member him. He was short, energetic,
dark-skinned, a 10th generation Yerush-
almi (someone born in Jerusalem)—a
man with a sharp mind, a mischievous
smile, a crooked kind of laugh, a good
deal of Chutzpah, a sense of adventure,
and an almost childlike joy in ”mak-
ing things happen” when no one else
could. He had the ability to move
mountains in order to save lives—with
little patience for formal niceties. He

 

 

& services auction!
March 21 at the Federation

Phonathon 9:30 am. to 12 noon
2:00 pm. to 4:30 pm.

Lunch 8: Auction 12:00 noon to 2:00 pm.

Please call Judy Wortrnan to volunteer for
phone solicitation, phonathon assistance, or to
offer services for the live auction. (See the front

page of this issue for more details.)

(859) 268—0672 or ckjf@jewishlexington.org

I] i \\ Thejewish Federation

was straightforward and driven.
Sometimes his determination to help
took on a softer tone, reflected in a story
recalled by Manlio Dell’Ariccia, JDC's
Country Director for Ethiopia who
lives in Rome. Manlio shared this brief
vignette with me: ”Eli was staying with
us in Rome for Yom Kippur. During the
meal before the fast, a thunderstorm
triggered our house alarm, and there
seemed absolutely no way to turn it off.
But Eli, determined to give us peace
and quiet over Yom Kippur, worked on
it until he succeeded in getting it fixed.”

Between 200 and 300 people attended
Eli’s funeral—an appropriate fare-

well to a man who devoted his life to
helping others. He wasn't particularly
old—in his early seventies—but the
good he accomplished would certainly
fill a lifetime “till 120”! This is a man I
will never forget. And I hope that Eli's
widow, Tami; his two daughters, Hagit
and Yifat; his five grandchildren; and
his entire extended family are comfort—
ed in knowing that the JDC family is
also diminished by his passing and ever
grateful for Eli's innumerable contribu—
tions to us. Ibelieve it is truly the end of
an era. $7

   

OF THE BLUEGRASS

 

 

February 2010 Shalom | 3

 

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President’s Message

Linda Ravvin, JFB (Jewish Federation of the

Bluegrass) President

 

Among
the many
changes
happen-
ing at the
Fed-
eration
this winter (see page 1 for the story
about our name change and page 7 for
information about our new produc-
tion services), Jewish Federation of the
Bluegrass has revamped our mission
statement and bylaws.

 

 

Article II of our new bylaws presents
our mission statement as follows:

The Mission of the Federation (Jewish
Federation of the Bluegrass) is to serve
the Jewish people and its ideals locally,
in Israel and throughout the world.
Through coordinated fundraising,
community-wide programming, social
services, educational and other activi-
ties, the Federation seeks to:

0 Build community;

0 Provide assistance for those in
need;

0 Enhance Jewish identity;
0 Develop effective Jewish leaders;

0 Combat Anti—Semitism and other
forms of discrimination;

0 Foster an understanding of Jewish
culture and religion.

These are goals based on the prin—
ciples of Judaism and of community
responsibility. We strive to fulfill these
goals in everything that we do. After
all, the Federation is all of us, working
together to enhance our community

 

   

and to make a difference, both for
ourselves and the community at large.
We can achieve the mission before us,
with the guidance of Executive Direc—
tor Judy Wortman, our incredible staff,
and our very hardworking Board of
Directors, which is composed of both
at-large elected representatives and
organization-appointed representa-
tives. Together, our Board is a cross
section of our community, volunteer—
ing on behalf of all of us, to further
enhance both our local community and
to contribute to the larger Jewish and
world community.

I want to personally thank Lowell
Nigoff and Linda Noffsinger for their
hard work as our ad-hoc bylaws com-
mittee chairs. They spent many hours
working to update our very old and in-
effective bylaws and guiding the new
bylaws through the Board process. I
want to also thank Mike Grossman,
whose invaluable advice was crucial
every step of the way. Judy Wortman
spent many hours reviewing and
comparing the new and 01d bylaws
and researching those of other Federa-
tions; her assistance and persistence is
greatly appreciated.

I encourage everyone to look for our
new bylaws at our website, www.
jewishlexingtonorg; you’ll also find
there Shalom, the community calen-
dar of events, and many other ways

to connect to the Jewish community.
Please make sure that we have your
current email address—like most other
organizations, we are trying diligently
to reduce the number of trees that are
sacrificed to get the word out. We are
also adhering to a strict budget that
reflects the times; being able to email
you instead of posting mail helps the
community bottom line. It!

2 (l l (l (7,1 ommu nit y C amp aign

Super Sunday 8; Services Auction Sunday. March Ql

l’zit‘esetters livent Sunday, April 2:3

Benefactors Event Sunday. May ‘23

Equine Division Event t.l').a.

Thank You Event t.b.a.

OF THE BLUEGRASS

 

H ( \\ rl‘lic‘chxr'isl‘i Federation

4 | February 2010 Shalom

 

Sim Shalom finds
new facility

By Jesse Weil

Well, we did it! We signed a contract
to rent the flat on Raday Street about

a month ago, and then, by the skin of
our teeth, got all the paperwork in to
the Ministry of Cultural and Religious
Affairs to get the 5,000,000 Forints
(about $27,000) that was offered us to
help pay for the costs of renovation.
For the past two months, our presi-
dent, Gabor Radvanski, and our execu-
tive director, Judith Szabados, have
been working flat out, negotiating

the rental contract, then planning the
renovation to the point that we could
qualify for the grant, and since then,
getting the renovation work started so
that we can move in and start using
our new premises as soon as possible.
We’re hoping for late February or early
March.

The renovation work was started be-
fore the break for Christmas. The walls
separating three contiguous rooms are
being demolished to make one large
room for services. The floors and walls
are being refinished and repainted. The
kitchen has been remod—
eled, and the bathrooms
refurbished, and a storage
area completely refin-
ished. Just before Christ-
mas, all our furniture and
other belongings that had
been stored in the build-
ing on Amerikai Street,
for which we could not
raise the $200,000 renova-
tion cost, were moved
into the storage area at

 

Raday Street. Later in the spring, air-
conditioning will be installed to make
it comfortable for summertime use.
People are starting to talk about how to
decorate the rooms and what furniture
we need to buy, build, or donate to
have the space function properly for
services, classes, library, and offices for
administration and for the rabbi.

We’ve started a fundraising campaign
among our own members for the reno-
vation, furnishing, and payment of the
rent. In less than one month, we've got
pledges enough to cover the first eight
to nine months of the rent. One week’s
rent is $350, one day is $50. a

Sim Shalom is a Progressive Jewish
Congregation in Budapest, Hungary. A
member of the World Union of Progressive
Judaism, it is led by Jesse Weil a member of
TAI and his wife, the community’s rabbi.

 

[in t1 din that I: itwrrh the bu‘t..,

Bar and Bar Mitzvahs

 

- union: Shomv
For more mlormnon. call Jemrfcr Buichati It mussels. extlllfi
or email be: at iburcheuOrrqlictom

 

 

Planning on leaving town for a
few months? Going on a long
vacation? Moving any time
soon?

You can help save the Jewish Federation
money by informing us of your plans and
preventing the US. Postal Service from

charging us for returned mail and address
change notices.

Before you go, call the Federation office or

like the mail sent temporarily to a different
address, at no charge to you, or halted for a

to get it right for you on the first mailing.

Contact Tamara at (859) 268—0672 or
tamara@jewishlexingtonorg

 

send us an email and let us know if you would

certain number of months. Give us a chance

Are you on the
Jewish Federation’s
email list?

We send updated

announcements and
special event details
weekly to those who
wish to receive them.

Send Tamara Ohayon an
email if you would like to join
the list.

tamara@jewishlexington.org

 

H i \\ The‘Jtrwish Federation

OF THE BLUEGRASS

 

 

 

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Stanley Ned Rosenbaum, PhD

 

Gettin’ into the act

In an Internet publication, I recently
came across this statement by a rabbi:
”Abraham was not the first Muslim”
(as Muslims claim). Though this flat
denial won’t do much to further Mus-
lim-Jewish relations, I can understand
his dismissal of the Islamic claim. After
all, Muslims also claim that it was
Ishmael whom Abraham almost sacri-
ficed until shown a nearby ram to use
instead. Does that sound familiar?

Similarly, Christians used to claim that
they were the neu Israel, that Isaiah
714’s ”Look, the young woman is
with child..," really predicts the birth
of Jesus some 700 years later. lsaac
Leeser, who made the first Jewish Bible
translation into English in America,
deliberately read ”this young woman,”
despite the absence of a demonstra—
tive pronoun, to combat the Christian
claim.

Mormons, who are now as numerous
as Jews in Amerna, maintain that they
.m ilii- one 1m x N, that rill llll‘ rest or
us, Jews included, are actually. gentiles.
And then there was the revelation of
Mormons baptizing the souls of dead
Jews, which is theological body-snatch-
ing carried to its final and desperate

great (non-Jewish) entertainer Jimmy
Durante put it, ”Everybody wants to
get into the act.” Our act.

Think about it. If emulation is the
sincerest form of flattery, what should
we say to those religions that want to
steal our identity or that of our ances—
tors? It speaks to the continued power
and worth of Judaism that we remain
the object of such

I

separated by more than 2,000 years.

But since when do we Semites feel

the need to be bound by Greek logic?
Rabbi Akiba (second century) was once
asked whether the world was deter-
mined or humans had free will. He
answered, “The world is determined,
but humanity has free will.” Analyze
that, Aristotle.

 

constant theologi—
cal poaching.

And then there was the

A century and
more ago, certain

revelation of Mormons baptizing German theolo‘

But to return to
the Muslim claim
Abraham, they
say, was the first
person to submit
to the will of God.

the souls of dead Jews, which is
theological body-snatching
carried to its final and
desperate conclusion.

gians were arguing
that Jesus wasn’t
Jewish, but rather
the descendant

of outsiders who
had been forcibly

 

Muslims submit
(that’s what the
word muslim means) to the will of
God / Allah. Therefore, Abraham was a
Muslim.

To anyone with a nodding acquain—
tance with Greek logic, this doesn't fly.
ll commits the tallacv called Excluded
Middle 'lerni. Another e\ample' Com—
munists like to eat; you like to eat;
therefore, you're a Communist. It’s
also something of a reach historically,
since Abraham and Muhammad are

 

 

 

conclusion. ln 1995 they
promised to call that one

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Tersonaf Care Al'ziiermer’s Care
Given this context, the Companions/r90 TarEimon’s Care
rabbi’s impatience with flauselieeymg family Respite
the Muslim claim is under— Batfiirlg/ Dressing TOSt 0}) Surgery
standable. But a flat denial MeafTreyaration 3(le anstve-in

is not worth much more
than a flat assertion. Why,
then, do the Muslims make
the claim? Well, as that

 

 

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settled in Israel
(the Northern
Kingdom) in the eighth pre-Christian
century. Not to be outdone, Arthur
Koestler argued (The Thirteenth Tribe,
New York: Random House, 1976) that
no Jews were Jewish, but that all of us
were descendants of Crimean Khazars
who had converted to Judaism in the
tenth century (Too bad no one pointed

that out
to Hitler.)

In the
face of
all these
attempts,
the his-
tory and mystery of Jewish survival
certainly ranks among the wonders of
the world, ancient and modern. Then
there’s Israel, reborn as a state after a
political absence of 1,813 years: that

is, from the failure of the bar Kochba
rebellion against Rome. No wonder the
Dalai Lama met with a group of Jewish
leaders (Roger Kamenetz, The [ear in
the Lotus, Harper, 1994) to see how he
might learn from us how to keep his
own diaspora community together.

Everybody wants to get into the act. 7;;

Stanley Red Rosenbaum, PhD (Brandeis).
is an adjunct professor of Hebrew at UK
and professor emeritus of Judaic Studies

at Dickinson College In Carlisle, Penn.
The title of this recurring column is drawn

from the old chestnut, ”Tree Jeil‘s, three

opinions.

Sunday, February ‘21

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air»

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February 2010 Shalom | 5

 

‘*l*u

 

  

From the Director

 

Judy B. Wortman

Thank you to the Jewish

community Of LEXII‘IgtOI’I
December of 2009 was a challenging my other
month for the Wortman family. On Linda—
December 5, my husband David was Linda
blessed with a life—saving operation Ravvin—
and since then he has been recuperat- thank
ing from a liver / kidney transplant. you for

Immediately after his surgery, we were
inundated with offers of help and
support from our new friends from
the Federation, Synagogue, Temple,
Hadassah, and the Havurah. Three
weeks later I tripped over our dog,
Buttons, and broke my right foot and
had to have surgery. Again, came more
offers of help—food, shopping, and
transportation.

As many of you know, David and I
have been in the helping professions
for more than 35 years. David is a
retired rabbi and a family therapist. I
am a social worker. We have provided
service to the Jewish communities of
Philadelphia, Delaware, New York,
New Haven, and more. Like many
others, we are much more comfort—
able offering help than receiving it. I
have learned in the past two months
that one needs to learn how to accept
help gracefully and that there are no
rewards in heaven for trying to go it
alone when that is detrimental to your
health and well being.

Therefore I have many thank-you
wishes to offer. First, we are most
grateful to Dr. Roberto Gedaly and his
transplant team at the University of
Kentucky for saving David’s life and
for being the most caring, loving sur-
geons we have ever known. The staffs
on the transplant floor and the trans-
plant clinic are also amazing. They
have made our journey so much easier
than we anticipated.

I also have to thank Dr. David Burandt
of the Lexington Clinic for operat—

ing on my foot and getting me up

and around so quickly. As I write this
column it is only ten days

being an adopted sister. Linda has been
a constant support during this time.
She and Leon have housed our family
visitors, shopped, cooked, and sat with
me during David’s operation.

Thanks also to staff of the Jewish
Federation of the Bluegrass: to Tamara
Ohayon, Jana LaZur, Paula Clancy,
Gayle Bourne, and Talia Smolkin for
working so hard these months while
my presence at the office was erratic
and for the many errands you ran—
like buying chocolates and Graeter’s
ice cream—and even walking Buttons.
You are a talented, incredible group of
women.

Thank you to our community's rabbis
and to their congregations for organiz-
ing meals, visits, and shopping trips.
We have never eaten as well and we
are so appreciative for the help from ,,
so many.

I firmly believe that this community is
unlike any other. I have lived here only
nine months and David just moved
here in September. In spite of our brief
tenure in Lexington, we have been
blessed by your many tangible and
intangible gifts.

Our greatest gift came from the anony—
mous donor of David’s new liver and
kidney. My most important message
to my wonderful new friends here in
Lexington is to ask you to consider be-
coming an organ donor and to let your
families and your physician know

that this is your wish. I can think of no
greater act of tzedakah.

Todah rabbah! x:

 

 

 

from the surgery and I will
be on my feet and back at
the office tomorrow.

Next I have to thank my
twin sister, Linda Angelo,
and brother-in-law, Larry
Porter, for being with

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us every minute and for
changing their lives dra—
matically in order to be on
call. I couldn’t have picked
a better time to move here
to be near my sister. To

 

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12008