xt7pc824fr7p https://exploreuk.uky.edu/dips/xt7pc824fr7p/data/mets.xml Jewish Federation of the Bluegrass Kentucky Jewish Federation of the Bluegrass 2016-02 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 2016 text image Shalom, February 2016 2016 2016-02 2025 true xt7pc824fr7p section xt7pc824fr7p W

Volume XV
Issue 1

Shevat/Adar I
5776

Newspaper of

OF THE BLUEGRASS February 2016

 

An Announcement for the New Year
By Judy B. Wortman

Rosh Hashana has always seemed

like the real New Year. It is when

school starts and when the Fed—

eration’s program year begins.

It has always seemed to me as if

January 1 comes in the middle

of the year, not at the begin-

ning. Nevertheless, this New

Year comes with news of a major

change in my life. After quite a

bit of soul-searching and
exploration, I have decided to retire this summer. I will
be moving to suburban Philadelphia to be near my fam-
ily. My daughter, step- son, and step— daughter and their
families live in the Philadelphia suburbs, and my son and
his family live in Brooklyn — only 90 miles away. And the
joys of my life - six grandsons and one granddaughter -
will be geographically very close. I can become a regular
fixture in their lives, notjust the Bubbe who arrives with
hugs, kisses, and goodies three times a year.

My almost seven year tenure here in Lexington has been a
greatjoy. Working in our small Jewish community was a
big change for me professionally, but with its size came a
closeness and real family feeling that rarely exists in larg~
er communities. The relationships that I have established
with the Federation staff, our rabbis, and our volunteers
have brought me great joy. I know these friendships will
last for years and while I will miss everyone, I will visit
often. My twin sister Linda is here, and after living apart
from her for decades, we have loved the time we spent
together. I won’t be able to stay away for very long.

I will be leaving soon after we get the results of our com—
munity study, and it will fall to another executive director
to implement changes that will be recommended by our
consultant and approved by the Boards of the Federa—
tion, 025, TAI, The Lexington Havurah, Hadassah and
B’nai B’rith. It was the President’s Council who initiated
the study and these boards that approved the project and
contributed to its costs. It is my hope that this will not be
a study whose report ends up lying on a shelf or in a dusty
filing cabinet, but that it will be used as a means to ensure
our sustainability as a creative, dynamic, supportive com-
munity.

I ask that once I leave, you support the transition team
(continued on page 2)

Chabad of the Bluegrass

By Hanna B. Smith

On November 30, 2015, I met with Rabbi Shlomo Litvin
and his wife Shoshi to learn about the new Chabad House
in Lexington and to gain insight into Chabad’s outreach
work to fellow Jews.

Conventional wisdom has it that the University of Ken—
tucky was never particularly attractive to Jewish students.
Not true, asserts Rabbi Litvin. During the early and mid-
twentieth century when most American universities had
quotas for Jewish students, the University of Kentucky
was quota—free. As a result UK attracted a number of
Jewish students.

The first Hillel at UK was founded in 1938. In 1942 Zeta
Beta Tau Fraternity was formed, followed by Phi Sigma
Sister Sorority in 1946.

(continued on page 2)

 

CAMPAIGN NEWS

Super Sunday Launches 2016 Community
Campaign

The 2016 Community Campaign will be launched on
February 21 with our annual Super Sunday. The 2015
campaign ended with results close to what we had pro-
jected. Most of the gifts lost from donors who moved
away, passed away or became ill, were made up with new
or increased gifts. We are grateful for all our donors who
made it possible for us to continue to serve our Jewish
community here and abroad.

Please expect to be called on Super Sunday by our volun-
teers who may be your friends or neighbors. Calls will be
made between 10 am. and 12:30 pm. You are welcome
to pre-empt the solicitation by calling in your gift to our
office at 268-0672. Remember that pledges made now
can be paid at any time through December of 2016.

We are very much in need of volunteers for Super Sun-
day. There will be two shifts of workers. The first will
be 9:30 am. to 11:30 am. The second will be 10:30 am
to 12:30 pm. Each shift will begin with a training session
and a nosh. Don’t worry if you haven’t done this before.
We will teach you. If you canjoin us, please call Judy
Wortman at the Federation.

Kudos to our donors and our volunteers. You make our
community great.

 

 (Chabad. continued from page I )

Coincidentally, not long after my interview with Rabbi
and Mrs. Litvin, the Jewish Studies Program at UK
presented research about Jewish life on campus in
mid-twentieth century. Students in the Jewish Studies
Program were interviewing Jewish alumni and alum—
nae, most of whom were living in Lexington and were
active members of the local Jewish community.

It is true that Jewis life at UK waned once the quota
system was abolished and Jewish students had a wide
choice of schools. For the last several years Jewish
students and faculty are again coming to UK in sig-
nificant numbers and for entirely positive reasons. UK
is well on its way to becoming a top tier school in its
academic fields: cancer and Parkinson’s disease re-
search, the dental school, research into the disabilities
of aging, to name just a few. In addition, UK has an
active Jewish studies program. UK’s new president is
Jewish. Dr. Capilouto and his wife are reaching out to
the local Jewish community and are welcoming a Jew-
ish presence on campus. These developments have
motivated Chabad to open a facility in Lexington,
which happened in July 2015.

The Chabad House of the Bluegrass is located close to
the UK and Transylvania University campuses. Rabbi
Litvin says that students from as far as Morehead,
Northern Kentucky University, and the University of
Pikeville have contacted him. While the focus of this
Chabad House is mainly on services to college stu-
dents, people of all ages are welcome.

“Chabad House is your Jewish home away from
home”, explains Rabbi Litvin. Staples include: a
traditional Friday night dinner, Shabbat services and
lunch on Saturdays, a Wednesday night Bible study
class, as well as events around the Jewish holidays.
Once a month, following the end of Shabbat before
each New Moon, Chabad has a bonfire, with singing,
story-telling, and discussions.

Other programs, some specifically directed at women,
are still in the planning stage. Chabad also offers
one-on—one, individualized study programs, depending
upon the student’s interests and needs.

Rabbi Litvin stresses that he and his wife are co-
directors and that all Chabad Houses are led by hus—
band and wife teams. This is in line with family and
societal dynamics where both genders contribute their
unique perspectives. There was not enough time dur-
ing this visit to pursue the theme of women’s roles in
Chabad.

In addition to working with college students and Jews
isolated from their community, Chabad also provides
services to populations with special needs, such as
people with physical and mental disabilities, those

with substance abuse issues, and prisoners.

Why does Chabad concentrate its energies on reaching
out to Jews of all stripes while most orthodox com-
munities prefer to segregate themselves from those
they deem inconsistent with their values? I asked this
question of an older Chabad rabbi before asking the
same of Rabbi Litvin. Both referred me to the work
and teachings of the 6th and 7th rebbes, Rabbi Yosef
Yitzchak Schneerson (1880 — 1950) and Rabbi Men—
achem Mendel Schneerson (1902 — 1994).

A survivor of the Shoah, Rabbi Yosef Yitzchak dedi-
cated the remainder of his life to rebuilding the Jew—
ish community through an ingathering of all Jews,

not only members of Chabad. His successor, Rabbi
Menachem Mendel, built upon and enlarged Rabbi
Yosef Yitzchak’s work. In Chabad philosophy the
Jewish people is one unity, no matter where individual
Jews or communities stand geographically or intellec-
tually. Many negative influences weigh upon Jews in
the diaspora: assimilation, ignorance of Jewish teach-
ings, isolation, oppressive regimes, and exploitation, to
name just a few.

Chabad members are taught to love one’s neighbor,
no matter who or where s/he is. Being open to one’s
community means being open to the whole Jewish
community. This extends also to non-Jews who can
contribute to the betterment of the world by observing
the seven Noahite laws.

If Jews improve the world through mitzvoth, Chabad
members teach by example, never by proselytizing,
and by appreciating the positive in every human being.
It is an idealistic concept, optimistic, and requires ma—
turity if it is to be successful.

Directors of Chabad houses learn their craft through
apprenticeships in established houses. The Chabad
community also provides support in a variety of ways,
though each Chabad house has to be financially in-
dependent and do its own fundraising. There is no
central fund that finances outreach.

Chabad of the Bluegrass wants to be a partner with the
already established Jewish institutions and appreciates
the friendly welcome extended by the Jewish commu-
nity. We wish it success.

 

(An Announcement for the New Year. cont. from page I )

of staff and lay leaders with your patience, your time,
and your financial contributions to the 2016 campaign.
A Search Committee is now working on finding a
replacement, and hopefully that will happen months
before I leave. Times of flux are always challenging,
but with a roadmap now being developed, the future
promises to be an exciting adventure.

 

 ASK J FS
Mimi Kaufman

There is a new buzz-word
in elder care. You may
have heard it, “Creative
Aging.” Creative aging is a
field that promotes artistic
expression in the lives of
older adults in order to
improve health and well
being. According to the

\ \ifji National Center for Cre-

). . ’ ative Aging, studies have
shown that people over the age of 65 who are involved
in weekly art programs have fewer doctor visits and
take less medication than those without creative
outlets. Additionally, art has been show to foster
connections between those who have Alzheimer’s
and dementia with their caregivers, whether family or
professional.

The National Center for Creative Aging hosted their
first annual conference and exchange on how the arts
help older adults lead healthier lives in June of 2014
in Washington DC. Leaders in the creative aging field,
from around the world met to exchange best practices
and ideas.

So the message from buzz about creative aging is that
we need to stay engaged or get engaged with creative
programs or find a creative outlet of some kind.

There are all kinds of arts activities at the Lexington
Senior Citizen Center. They have monthly movies,
painting classes, and craft classes. No prior experience
necessary and classes are very affordable.

JFS: At Your Service is a monthly column covering a wide
range of issues. If you have a problem or a concern that
you would like addressed in this Shalom column please
send them either by mail to Jewish Family Services at l()50
Chinoe Road Suite [12 or by email to ' ~

.You can also always call with your confidential
questions at (859) 269— 8244.

ANSWER
TM (All.

FEBRUARY 21
2015

TH L BLUEGRASS

In :i \ Hit It“ 1sh Federation

February is Jewish Disability and Inclusion
Month (JDAIM)

By Mimi Kaufman

Here are two featured books that the JDAIM is high-
lighting this year as well as a description of the books
from the Association of Jewish Family and Children
Agencies:

Unique Human: A Different Way of Seeing Autism by
Barry M. Prizant. PhD with Tom Fields—Meyer

Essential reading! Dr. Prizant casts a spotlight on
behavior and how it can be a way of communicating
feelings and needs. This book is not just another au—
tism book. It’s a book about what being human really
is — sharing stories and providing insight about how
we treat each other.

Following Ezra: What One Feather Learned About
Gumby, Otters, Autism, and Love from His Extraordi-
nary Son by Tom Fields—Meyer

This book will have you laughing and crying as the
author engages you with his compelling memoir. The
book is not about autism. It is about learning to adapt
to the unexpected changes and gifts when raising a
child with a disability.

There will be a discussion guide especially developed
for the books as a part of the JDAIM. To find it, go to

’\‘l .
RA. «“3\i

If you are interested in gathering for a book discus-
sion for either of these books, please contact me,
Mimi Kaufman, at a t \ '_—,. ' or call
(859)269— 8244

 

ATTENTION PROUD GRAND-
PARENTS, PARENTS, & STUDENTS

We want to publish any original writing produced

by our community's elementary- and high-school-

age children. If you're proud of something written
by one of our kids, either fiction or non—fiction,
please email it to shalom @jewishlexington. org

 

 

 

THE FATE OF THE WORLD
1.. l5 IN YOUR HANDS

 

 Ask a Rabbi—
Rabbi H.D. Uriel
Smith

Required Learning for
Israelis and Palestinians

Question: We are in a
generation that thinks a
core curriculum of math
and science is most im-
portant, or religious texts
(e.g. Bible and Talmud)
are most important, or arts
(e.g. musical instruments
fundamentalist religious, and the artistic groups, with
our country splitting into groups that cannot under—
stand each other. How can we heal, and increase
mutual understanding quickly?

Answer:

Within our secular culture, whether Israeli or Ameri-
can, we are told that we need to start with tolerance
and compassion. These are extremely important.

But you cannot be tolerant of something completely
unknown, especially when we are threatened by cults
writ large, like ISIL, who are completely intolerant,
with no compassion for people other than themselves.
You cannot transmit tolerance and compassion to them
merely by osmosis.

Jewish traditions

Jewish tradition starts with understanding. In our
weekday Amidah prayers the first petitionary bless-
ing is honen ha-da ’at, a blessing for gaining knowl-
edge and understanding. In the Kabbalistic Tree of
Life the first differentiated Sephirot are of Hokhmah,
“Wisdom”, and Binah, “Understanding”. Our Jewish
tradition does not believe in sacred naiveté or holy
ignoramuses. Ignorant good intensions are not enough.
Through our long history we have learned to our sor-
row that the way to hell is paved with good intentions.

So, what type of knowledge should we cultivate? In
our multicultural community each group has its own
narratives. We should learn our own narratives first
(of course!). In Judaism these include at least a smat-
tering of Bible, Mishnah, and the Siddur, and how to
be a mensch. We should learn of Abraham, who was
willing to argue even with God. Abraham showed

us that one person can change the world. We should
learn that a lowly people, starting off as slaves, on the
wrong side of the track, could become the teachers of
the whole world. Too many of us are (as Anne Riophe
said) a “Generation Without Memory.” From within
the community, we do not perceive its power. We do
not understand the influence of our traditions among

our neighbors. We do not understand that we are a
Holy People connected with a Holy Land. So our
interactions with others are magnified, and can easily
lead either, Heaven forefend, to Armageddon, or, with
Heaven’s help, to a dynamic Shalom. Jews with no
knowledge of our traditions are prey to any seemingly
kind group distorting our heritage, whether they are
Jews for Jesus or BDS (boycott, divestment, and sanc-
tions) supporters.

American culture

Simultaneously, we should learn the traditions of

the community within which we dwell. Here, in the
USA, this means we should have some knowledge of
the Declaration of Independence and our Constitu-
tion, with something of sports (football, basketball,
and baseball), and an acquaintance with Bluegrass

and computers. Our individualistic culture tends to
separate an individual’s spirituality from the religious
communities’ religion. So, we should appreciate dif-
ferent Christian perspectives of their religious denomi-
nations. We also should learn of the American love of
liberty: “Don’t tread on me.” American culture leans
towards being adventurous, creating new entrepreneur
paths. But it also follows Proverbs 22:6, which states,
“Train a child according to his manner,” discovering
and supporting during the training the propensities and
capabilities shown by the child.

Our Talmud (Qiddushin 29a) states:

Concerning his son, a father is obligated to circumcise
[a boy] and redeem him [if he is first], to teach him
Torah, to get him married, and to teach him a trade.
Some say also, to teach him to swim.

Nowadays, young men and women show greater in-
dividuality, becoming more responsible for following
their own capabilities. But, though parents should not
become helicopter parents, yet they should be support—
ive and teach their children notjust to swim, but also
the suggested Jewish and American traditions.

Doppelgéinger forces
But, beyond that, where in our multicultural universe
should we turn?

Through my work on cultural and psychological
analysis I have discovered that till recently, over the
generations, as our cultures became more sophisticated
the sense of the sacred has attenuated. But now, as we
reach the most sophisticated cultural levels, the sacred
suddenly again has become very important. I am not
just talking about the “Clash of Civilizations” where
religious communities, Muslim, Christian, Hindu,
Buddhist, and Materialist, are interacting violently in
a world war. The world has become a dangerous place
where sacred beliefs have become demonic. The

 

 analysis tells us that unfortunately the present world
war of Sunni—Shiite and Western, Marxist, and Mus-
lim conflict will last about a generation. By the time
the conflict peters out, the world climate will have
changed and the sea levels will have risen enough to
create millions more refugees. Human compassion
will be severely strained.

We should learn that Israel is physically in the heart of
the Middle East conflict. Its options are limited by the
demands of all the stakeholders, Christian, Muslim,
and Marxist, who have entangled it in a web of con-
tradictions. Still, if it acts proactively, showing open
understanding of the dangers confronting it, it can pull
through. My analysis tells us that when you have a
holy community in power, after a time it automatically
engenders a Doppelganger community. In our case

the Palestinians have become the Doppelganger of the
Israelis. Doppelg'anger mirror the original individu-
als or the original community. Thus the Palestinians
want the same land that Israel has, and they want their
capital to be Jerusalem. Doppelg'anger analysis shows
that if you try to destroy your mirror image, your ac—
tion automatically reflects back on you, and you harm
yourself. And if the twin tries to harm you, the twin
harms itself. The only way to overcome this destruc—
tive path is to find a way to harmonize with your twin,
much as Jacob tried to harmonize with Esau (Genesis
32:3-33: l 7) and the Gemini twins in Greek mythology
harmonized with each other.

Such harmony demands mutual communication. The

BDS movement tries to destroy such communication,
which in practice means that they want to fight Israel

to the last Palestinian. Since so many stakeholders are
inserting themselves into the conflict, they should

yom
hashoah 8

yam. _WW

[/I,‘ If f/ifi

”I’ll/fl; ° KI/j

know that once they enter the sacred sphere the bless-
ing to Abraham applies, “1 will bless those that bless
you, and he who curses you shall be cursed” (Gen-
esis 12:3). Those who think merely on the materialist
level are blind to these dangerous forces. They should
ask themselves why and how so many of them have
become stakeholders, and how the new cultural forces
influenced them. Stakeholders become intertwined
with the web of Doppelg'anger forces. The European
Union has refused to recognize the Middle—Eastern
forces delimiting Israel. Now that the Middle East

is invading them with myriads of refugees, they are
forced in a practical manner to see how unreasonable
were their demands.

Israeli-Palestinian relations

Nevertheless, the Doppelganger forces continue to
apply. To overcome the present miscommunications
between the Doppelganger, the Israelis and Palestin-
ians have to learn each other’s languages, learn each
other’s narratives, and team to talk with each other.
Dialogue already exists in maintaining electricity,
water, and sewage among the different communi-

ties. The leaders and scholars in those communities
have to learn more advanced humanist techniques.
Such learning has begun at Ben Gurion University in
Beer Sheva, and to a certain extent at the other Is-

raeli universities, including the Hebrew University in
Jerusalem, the Haifa University, and the Technion. For
several decades several bilingual (Hebrew and Arabic)
primary and secondary schools have functioned in Is-
rael. Several groups such as the international Bereaved
Families Circle, various Israeli sports groups (playing
within the Israel Football Association, with several
teams from Arab majority towns such as Nazareth and
Sakhnin, or under the Israel Association of Baseball,
Baseball 1 ’kulam), and musical groups such as the
YMCA Jerusalem Youth Chorus and the West-Eastem
Divan Orchestra, working with Israeli and Arab musi—
cians, are developing new means of communication.

(continues on page 6)

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 (Ask A Rabbi, continuedfmm page 5) However, the
Middle East has set up strong emotional resistances to
such communication. Even ordinary Israelis and Pales-
tinians ask, “Why should we talk with our enemies?”

The Jewish tradition includes major forces to over-
come such extremism. Our Bible proposes that we
should learn not only to “love your neighbor as your—
self“(Leviticus l9: 1 8), but also to “love the stranger
as yourself” (Lev 19:34). It states that, “there shall

be one law for the native (ezrah) and for the stranger
(ger) sojourning among you” (Exodus 12:49). In the
Pentateuch the term ger includes both ger [zedek (con—
vert) and ger toshav (non-Jewish sojoumer, citizen).
So, our tradition supports the first steps to such har-
mony. Similarly, Christianity has the parable of “the
Good Samaritan”, which in modern terminology is
equivalent to “the Good Commie” or “the Good Tali—
ban”. Islam has a similar tradition forbidding harm not
just to fellow believers. The Qur’an (4:93; 5:32) states
that killing a single human is equivalent to killing

all humanity. The more sophisticated Muslims know
that once you become a citizen, promising to uphold
its laws, you must fulfill that promise, and support all
fellow-citizens, Muslim and non-Muslim. On last New
Year’s Day, an Israeli Arab gunned down two Israe—
lis and injured seven others at a central Tel Aviv bar,
and then murdered the Israeli Arab taxi driver who
drove him to north Tel Aviv. The young man’s own
father, who is an Israeli policeman, was the one who
identified him to the Israeli authorities, and ordered his
lawyer to reveal where his son was hiding. He had fled
back to his village, where others helped him hide, and
he died in the shootout with the authorities, who came
to arrest him. (My heart goes out to his parents. I can
only imagine how hard it is for a father to uphold the
law against his own son. It is time that the Israeli au
thorities acknowledged this. On the other hand, I find
that the fellows in his village who hid that son, think
that they are martyr witnesses, shahz‘a’fin, but actually
they are fools, majdm‘n. They caused the death of that
son, and are supporting suicide tendencies that perco—
late their whole village.)

Palestinian-Israeli Doppelgfinger history

So we should learn a smattering of our twinned his-
tory and culture. We can Google a lot of history, and
search the Wikipedia for further information. When
we search for “Haj Amin alvHusseini”, “Abd al—Qadir
al-Husseini”, and “Hasan Salamah” in Wikipedia it
should become clear that, from the Palestinian per-
spective, Haj Amin was the worst person to lead them.
His and Hasan Salamah’s continued Nazi connections
made the Israelis shun any group supporting them. The
Palestinian Muslims bore the brunt of this shunning.
Furthermore, the Arab leaders around Palestine

 

refused to accept his self—promotion, community
manipulation, and his tendency to assassinate his op—
ponents. The Arab League blocked the recruitment of
Palestinian forces, and limited any arms sent to them.
As a result. Palestinian Muslims went into exile, the
Jordanians took over the West Bank, and the Egyp-
tians governed the Gaza Strip.

The Palestinians are frustrated by the limits forced
upon them, limits that continually anger them and
narrow their vision of the range of paths before them.
Emotionally, they find only resistance, whether ac—
tive or sumtid, “steadfastness”. They have not found
or formulated honorable paths to communication with
Israelis. Still, they will have to develop their own
range of narratives. Nobody else can develop com—
munication narratives for them. Till then they will
remain frustrated. Still, the interactions with the other
Arab armies and countries around them should even-
tually percolate through. The Palestinians will come
to see that Israeli Arab citizens, especially the Druse,
Circassian, and Christian villages, are integrated into
Israeli society. They will find that the counterforces to
the Arab Spring in Egypt, Libya, Syria, Iraq, and Iran,
have become bloodier than the Israeli responses. They
will find better communications with Israelis, through
their mutual cooperation over water, electricity, sew-
age, and business transactions. It will be difficult to
overcome the mistrust and hatred permeating the Mid-
dle East. But our traditions of study and peacemaking
can guide us. And, as long as the Israeli society does
not allow fear to override our Jewish traditions, the
increased knowledge of the other societies on all sides
will eventually lead to a sustainable peace.

 

 

 

Have a question? Ask a rabbi

The rabbis write columns in response to questions
submitted by the readers. We encourage you--wheth-
er you are a member of the Jewish community or not-
-to submit your queries on theology, morality, ethics,
religious Observances, etc. for response by one of our
rabbis. If you have an issue you would like to see ad-
dressed, please email it to shalom @jewishlexington.
org and put “Ask a Rabbi” in the subject line of your
email. (It may take quite a while until your question
is answered or it may never be answered, if no rabbi
selects it.) You will not be identified as the writer of
the question to either rabbis or readers, nor will you
be asked to specify which rabbi should answer.

 

 

 

 

 Terror Strikes Our Family
Jewish Agenc‘yfor Israel 810g Postfrom
January 7, 2016 /26 Tevet 5776

"~ }, u '

Last week’s terror attack, at a bar in the heart of Tel
Aviv, was a tragedy that struck close to home.

We received an email from our beloved Jewish Agen-
cy colleague, Danielle Mor. Danielle, among other
responsibilities, works with the Fund for the Victims
of Terror, which provides Israel’s terror victims with
direct, immediate financial assistance after an attack.

Danielle’s sad and eloquent words speak for them-
selves:

“My Safta (grandma) Turan — left side, wrapped in a
scarf sitting next to a paramedic, crying at the funeral
of Alon Bakal — her grandson

I want to share with you a terrible tragedy that hap-
pened to my family less than a week ago.

My amazing cousin Alon Bakal, 26 years old, was
shot dead by a terrorist last Friday afternoon while
working as a shift manager at a Tel Aviv café. Out of
nowhere, without warning, and in one second, Alon is
gone. Alon was about to graduate from law school and
start interning at a prestigious Tel Aviv law firm. He
was the best young man you could imagine, the kind
you would want to be friends with — served in the Go—
lani combat brigade, volunteered in a poverty preven—
tion organization, cheered his favorite Hapoel

Jerusalem basketball team and called his mother every
morning. Though I have been working closely with
our Fund for Victims of Terror for years, I never really
thought my family would be one of those eligible to
receive assistance.

The news stories speak a lot about Alon, show images
and recordings of his grieving mother Nitza. I want

to tell you about my Safta, Alon’s grandmother. My
Safta (grandma) Turan came to Israel from Iran at age
IS with my late grandfather and my father who was

an infant at the time. It was I949, they left every—
thing, and arrived with nothing to the Maabara (tent
town) The Jewish Agency built for olim like them. My
Zionist grandfather made the decision for the three of
them— as she told me“I couldn’t say a word, he told
me - after 2000 years Am Israel Chai, we are going

She became the mother of 12 children, the Safta of 50
grandchildren and she doesn’t want to count the great
grandchildren for fear of the evil eye.

'73

Though to this day, at 84 years of age she cannot truly
read or write, she is the strongest most courageous
and smart woman I know.This Sunday, she buried her
grandchild — Alon Bakal who was murdered by a ter—
rorist in the Tel Aviv café where he worked.

Safta has a nickname for many of her grandchildren

— Alon was “the model” due to his good looks but
more so, for his good heart and ambition. Our family
is strong, we get our strength from my Safta. We are
here to keep Alon’s memory alive, to try and strength-
en his mother, father and siblings, although we all
know the wound will never heal and that the personal
road and the road for us all as a people, as a society, is
long. But we are here to stay. As my Safta quotes my
late grandfather — “Am Israel Chai”

This post can be found online at 211;; 2x 0.

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Bk’v’iSh
expenziences
that last
" a lifetime.

 

 Israel Institutes National Jewish Refugee
Day
By Hanna B. Smith

In 2014, the Knesset (government) of the State of Isra-
el passed a law designating November 30th as national
Jewish Refugee Day. This day commemorates the
suffering of Jewish refugees forced to flee their homes
in the Arab states and Iran. The law was proposed by
a member of Knesset Shimon Ohayon, whose family
originates from Morocco.

I was not aware of this memorial day even though the
English language Jewish publications have written
about the event both in 2014 and 20l 5. Many thanks
to Rabbi Shlomo Litvin for filling this gap in my
knowledge.

This article, though late, intends to inform those who,
like me, missed hearing about this day. Also, it may
serve as a challenge to the local Jewish community to
observe November 30th in the same manner as Yom
HaShoah, the day in spring commemorating the de—
struction of European Jewry.

About half of the population of Israel consists of
descendants of the Jewish communities of the Middle
East, North Africa, and Iran. Many of these com-
munities had been in existence for millennia. Their
Moslem host countries took out their displeasure at
Zioni