December 2019

In this issue

• Gal Gadot and husband are remaking an Israeli crime drama for a US audience

  Tuesday, December 10, 2019

  (JTA) – Gal Gadot and her husband are remaking an Israeli crime drama for showing in the United States. Gadot and Yaron Varsano’s Pilot Wave production company has joined Endemol Shine …

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  Breaking the Silence

  Tuesday, December 10, 2019

  On Nov. 18, about 100 people listened to a group from Breaking the Silence at a program sponsored by J Street Rhode Island.  The speakers, all veteran Lone Soldiers in the Israel Defense …

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  MAZEL TOV

  Tuesday, December 10, 2019

  Adrienne and Steven Kirschner of Pawtucket happily announce the Oct. 19 engagement of their son, Zachary Kirschner to Aysa Cerny, daughter of Nori and Jeffrey Cerny. Aysa and …

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  We Are Read in Spain

  Tuesday, December 10, 2019

  Two sets of traveling college roommates learned about Spanish Jewish history from Seville guide Jorge Gershon. Chris Webb (far left) and Anne German (front left), URI …

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  Wolpert – Go

  Tuesday, December 10, 2019

  Marlene and Bruce Wolpert of Providence are pleased to announce the marriage of their son Jonathan Ian Wolpert to Serena Dahye Go on Aug. 25 at Rosecliff Mansion in Newport.  …

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  Selinger – Sage

  Tuesday, December 10, 2019

  The wedding of Shayna Joy Sage and Ethan Asher Selinger took place under the huppah on Oct. 13 at the New Bedford Whaling Museum. Cantor Marilyn Becker officiated. The maid of honor was Alissa Sage, …

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  Thankful feast

  Tuesday, December 10, 2019

  Pre-K and Kindergarten recent Thanksgiving “Feast” at Providence Hebrew Day School.

• Why Israel isn’t a top consideration for American Jewish voters

  Tuesday, December 10, 2019

  WASHINGTON (JTA) – It’s the perennial anomaly of Jewish voter surveys: Vast majorities feel an attachment to Israel, but relatively few are thinking about the Jewish state when they cast …

• Year-end philanthropy recommended deadlines

  Tuesday, December 10, 2019

  A donation to the Jewish Alliance of Greater Rhode Island’s Annual Campaign helps improve people’s lives in greater Rhode Island, Israel and around the world.  The Alliance wants …

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  New strategies for dealing with 2018 income-tax changes

  Tuesday, December 10, 2019

  The Trump administration’s tax plan, implemented in 2018, not only brought terms such as “lumping,” “bunching,” “SALT” (State and Local Taxes) and …

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  RIJM offers private tours

  Monday, December 9, 2019

  The Rhode Island Jewish Museum at Sons of Jacob Congregation, 24 Douglas Ave., Providence, is open for private tours.  On Friday, Nov. 29, the Landesberg family, led by Melvin Landesberg,  …

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  ‘Lone Soldiers’ tell their story at Chabad of West Bay

  Monday, December 9, 2019

  WARWICK, R.I. – On Nov. 18 the Rhode Island Coalition for Israel (RICI) hosted six ‘Lone Soldiers’ visiting from Israel. This program was held at the Chabad of West Bay. It was …

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  Champions

  Monday, December 9, 2019

  Champions (left to right): Dave Weisman, Drew Hochman and Max Dinerman share the podium as go-kart champions at Touro Fraternal Association’s new member open house. The event took place on Oct. …

• R.I. Jewish Historical Association has an eye on the future as it broadens access to the past

  Monday, December 9, 2019

  Over the past few years, the Rhode Island Jewish Historical Association has made continual efforts to broaden our membership base and give the public more insight into our mission and more access …

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  As it celebrates its first year, Jewish Collaborative Services looks back and forward

  Monday, December 9, 2019

  “There will be peace in the Middle East before you [Jewish Family Services] and the Jewish Seniors Agency merge,” said James Galkin, at Jewish Collaborative Services’ (JCS) …

• International youth essay competititon offers opportunity to win tickets to Israel

  Monday, December 9, 2019

  Are you passionate about Jewish pride? Israel? Zionism? Do you love writing? Interested in exploring how Jewish history relates to you and to the future? The My Herzl Youth Essay competition, …

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  Tamarisk residents hear about Israel law enforcement exchange

  Monday, December 9, 2019

  On Nov. 18, retired State Police Lt. Col. Joseph Philbin spoke to 35 residents of the Phyllis Siperstein Tamarisk Assisted Living Residence in Warwick. He described his trip to Israel for the Law …

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  Temple Habonim celebrates the arts

  Monday, December 9, 2019

  It will be an afternoon featuring the arts on Jan. 5 at Temple Habonim in Barrington. At 1 p.m., there will be a wine and cheese reception where you can meet the artists exhibiting at the next …

• The forgotten Hanukkah heroine who should be celebrated

  Monday, December 9, 2019

  Hanukkah means latkes, menorahs and the retelling of the story of Judah and the Maccabees. But there’s a woman from a few hundred years before Judah who is just as important to this …

• Reflecting on the miracles in our daily lives

  Monday, December 9, 2019

  I love to think and write about miracles – and there’s no better time to reflect on the miracles in our lives than at Hanukkah. In her 2017 Hanukkah message, on LIHerald.com, Rabbi …

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  Give yourself a gift: Jewish movies to watch all 8 nights

  Monday, December 9, 2019

  Eat your fill of latkes on Hanukkah and then collapse on the couch to watch a movie with some Jewish connection. Here are a few ideas to get you started on an eight-day Jewish movie …

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  Fun ways to make Hanukkah meaningful

  Monday, December 9, 2019

  Hanukkah’s proximity to Christmas can complicate the holiday. For those who try to make Hanukkah more like Christmas, it inevitably seems to fall short.   Yet Hanukkah can offer …

• Daily miracles are worth celebrating too

  Monday, December 9, 2019

  Hanukkah and Christmas overlap this year, with the first night of Hanukkah falling on Sunday, Dec. 22, two days before Christmas Eve. This proximity will bring more attention to the Jewish …

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  YEAR IN REVIEW: What a year it’s been: Highlights of coverage in Jewish Rhode Island

  Monday, December 9, 2019

  JANUARY   The Voice turns a new page The Jewish Voice became Jewish Rhode Island. The modernized newspaper features an updated format and a brand-new electronic newsletter. This was …

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  Cranston playwright shines a spotlight on Soviet Jews

  Monday, December 9, 2019

  Cranston playwright Kevin Olson turned his longtime interest in the plight of Soviet Jewry into two plays that shed light on the topic by focusing on a family’s struggles in the former …

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  This shakshuka may be even better than the original

  Monday, December 9, 2019

  If I’m hosting brunch, it’s a pretty sure bet that I’ll make shakshuka. Saucy, spicy and runny with egg, it’s a universally beloved dish that, to its credit (and my …

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  Share your good fortune with a local food pantry

  Monday, December 9, 2019

  Although many of us enjoy the period between Thanksgiving and the New Year as one of feasting and celebration, it’s also a time when some members of our community struggle to feed themselves …

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  Lemon ricotta fritters: Easier and just as delish as jelly doughnuts

  Monday, December 9, 2019

  I know that sufganiyot – jelly doughnuts – are traditional and beloved for Hanukkah. But I feel confident that once you try these easy and incredibly delicious ricotta fritters, you …

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  Bake your latkes – you won’t regret it

  Monday, December 9, 2019

  Everyone loves potato latkes, but no one likes the mess of frying them or the guilt associated with eating them. So try my latkes, which are baked in the oven and easily won over my …

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  Fulfillment of a dream

  Monday, December 9, 2019

  When I was a little girl growing up in Providence, my bubbe told me stories about her mother leaving Russia in 1905 and finding a better life in America. Throughout my bubbe’s life, …

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  The years come and go, but Mom endures in my thoughts and being

  Monday, December 9, 2019

  I was born in the month of Sagittarius: I am a centaur, half horse, half archer, aiming high.  I get the horse half from my mom, Betty C. Fink: she loved to draw and sculpt equine …

• The rise and fall of Rhode Island’s YMHAs

  Monday, December 9, 2019

  Volume II of the Rhode Island Jewish Historical Association’s Notes from June 1956 contains a list of Jewish communal organizations and Jewish-owned businesses chartered by the state of Rhode …

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  In defense of the Maccabees

  Monday, December 9, 2019

  “Let everyone who has zeal for the Law and who stands by the covenant follow me!” – 1 Maccabees 2:27   Mattathias, the high priest and patriarch of the Hasmonean …

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  Giving our young people a worthy voice

  Monday, December 9, 2019

  Rabbi [Rachel] Zerin’s wonderful recounting of the Noah story (D’var Torah, November 2019) points to a need for hope amid our anxieties over “climate change, political turmoil . …

• Trump is correct: Jewish settlements in West Bank don’t violate international law

  Monday, December 9, 2019

  Many of my friends were appalled when, on Nov. 18, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo announced that the United States was changing its position on Israel’s settlement policy in the area known as the West Bank.

• Local delegates gain insights at JFNA’s FedLab

  Monday, December 9, 2019

  Every year the Jewish Federations of North America (JFNA) traditionally held a General Assembly – thousands of professionals attended a conference of learning opportunities, presentations and …

• Arrest made in vandalism of Washington’s historic Sixth & I synagogue

  Monday, December 9, 2019

  (JTA) – Police have arrested a 28-year-old man in the defacing of the historic Sixth & I synagogue in Washington, D.C. The arrest of Luis Montsinos came Dec. 2, shortly after the …

• Brown U committee urges divesting

  Monday, December 9, 2019

  (JTA) – A Brown University advisory committee has recommended that the college divest from “companies identified as facilitating human rights abuses in Palestine.” On Dec. 2, …

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  It could have happened …

  Monday, December 9, 2019

  At first glance, it would seem absurd to link in any way, shape or form the life of the renowned 17th-century rationalist philosopher Baruch Spinoza (1632-1677) with that of the major anti-Semitic …

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  Conversation with Ari Melber packs Alliance campaign event

  Monday, December 9, 2019

  PROVIDENCE – A lot of people figured that a guy like Ari Melber, MSNBC and NBC chief legal correspondent and host of “The Beat,” would have some insight into the current political …

• Hazon program encourages sustainability

  Monday, December 9, 2019

  NEW YORK – Hazon, the Jewish Lab for Sustainability, has reached a record 90th participant in its national Hazon Seal of Sustainability program, a comprehensive education and outreach program designed to help Jewish organizations to reduce waste and encourage healthier living.  “This has been the year that a critical mass of people have started to really take the climate crisis seriously. It’s an issue in the U.S. elections. It’s an issue in the U.K. elections. Joining the Hazon Seal of Sustainability program demonstrates that Jewish institutions are stepping up to take responsibility and have committed to making changes.

• Alliance turns to renewable electricity sources

  Monday, December 9, 2019

  The Jewish Alliance of Greater Rhode Island expects to begin to get 100% of its electricity from renewable sources in the second quarter of 2020. The board of directors gave the green light to proceed with these plans at its November meeting.

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  JORI’s Kara Liberman is a big fan of Jewish summer camps – and unplugged campers

  Monday, December 9, 2019

  Kara Liberman and camp just seem to go together. Camp JORI’s new director is a  bundle of energy, and camp is her “thing.” The North Andover, Massachusetts, resident grew …

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  Many opportunities for civil discourse

  Monday, December 9, 2019

  Who would have thought? On a recent rainy Monday, four Israel-oriented programs were scheduled in our community. Whether or not you agree with the viewpoints presented in these programs, you have to …