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Page 3 Poll: Pig tax popular  Would you pay higher taxes to rid your town of marauding wild pigs? That’s the question University of Haifa researchers posed to Haifa residents recently, according to a report in the Jerusalem Post. The survey followed a spike in the wild boar population, prompted in part by covid restrictions that kept people off the streets. The study found the average Hai-

CONTENTS

A fishy first supper  Israel has long been famous as the site of the Last Supper. Now, scientists affiliated with a half dozen universities in Israel and beyond have uncovered what they claim is the first supper — or at least the earliest evidence until now of humans cooking with fire. The multi-university team of experts from several Israeli and foreign universities came to this conclusion by counting fish bones at Gesher Benot Ya’aqov, near the Jordan River in the Hula Valley, north of the Sea of Galilee. Twenty years ago, scientists at the site reported finding evidence of controlled fire. In a report published last week in the journal Nature Ecology & Evolution, scientists answered the ancient question: What was cooking? The team analyzed fish teeth found at the site — and the lack of fish skeletons accompanying the teeth. They concluded that the fish had been cooked at temperatures high enough to melt the skeletons but not enough to burn the teeth — temperatures quite conducive for roasting fish. The scientists date the ancient dinners to roughly

fanik would pay $65 a year in extra taxes to let the city beat back the boars through such means as improving street sanitation and setting up a volunteer anti-pig patrol. There was a clear demographic breakdown in the response, with richer residents, who are more likely to live in areas not prone to porcine incursions, less willing to support a LARRY YUDELSON tax increase.

NOSHES ......................................................... 4 AROUND THE COMMUNITY.... ............. 10 COVER STORY.......................................14 FRAZZLED HOUSEWIFE. .......................19 CROSSWORD........................................19 OUR CHILDREN....................................19 OBITUARIES ...............................................20 OPINION................................................22 CLASSIFIED ................................................27 PUBLISHER’S STATEMENT: (USPS 275-540) The New Jersey Jewish News is published weekly by JJMedia LLC at 70 Grand Ave.,Suite 104, River Edge, NJ 07661. ©2022, NJ Jewish News. All rights reserved. Periodical postage is paid in South Hackensack, NJ and additional entries. Postmaster: Send address changes to JJMedia LLC, 70 Grand Ave., Suite 104, River Edge, NJ 07661. SUBSCRIPTIONS: Annual subscriptions (including postage) New Jersey: $52. Out of state: $56. TELEPHONE: 201-837-8818 The appearance of an advertisement in the New Jersey Jewish News does not constitute a kashrut endorsement. The publishing of a paid political advertisement does not constitute an endorsement of any candidate, political party, or political position by the newspaper or any employees. The New Jersey Jewish News assumes no responsibility to return unsolicited editorial or graphic materials. All rights in letters and unsolicited editorial, and graphic material will be treated as unconditionally assigned for publication and copyright purposes and subject to New Jersey Jewish News’ unrestricted right to edit and to comment editorially. Nothing may be reprinted in whole or in part without written permission from the publisher. ©2022.

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780,000 years ago. That’s more than five times more ancient than previous evidence of human LARRY YUDELSON cooking.

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Noshes

“There’s going to be a lot of yarmulkes here.” — An observer’s prediction — which turned out to be accurate — about the fans at a basketball game between the Motor City Cruise and the Wisconsin Herd in Detroit. The kippot were on the heads of young fans of Yeshiva University phenom Ryan Turell; the Cruise is in the NBA’s G League.

Troubled Jewish family, cannibals, fun stuff, more “Fleishman is in Trouble” is an eight-episode miniseries that began streaming on Nov. 17 on FX/Hulu. It is based on the novel of the same name by New York Times journalist TAFFY BRODESSER-AKNER, 46. The novel and the series are about a just-divorced couple. It was a bitter divorce. The couple are Toby Fleishman, a medical doctor (JESSE EISENBERG, 39), and Rachel (Claire Danes), a successful talent agent. The couple’s two best friends, who are Jewish, are important characters. They are SETH (ADAM BRODY, 42) and LIBBY (LIZZY CAPLAN, 40). JOSH RADNOR, 48, plays Libby’s Jewish husband. Early in the novel/ series, Rachel disappears, leaving Toby with their two children. We see Toby trying to juggle his kids, new women, and his job. In the midst of all this,

Toby has a revelation: his wife’s disappearance is tied to things that happened in their marriage that he never faced honestly. “Bones and All” opened in theaters on Nov. 23. It is not for everyone. Based on a best-selling novel of the same name, the film follows cannibalistic lovers Maren (a woman) and Lee, as they embark on a road trip across Reagan-era America. TIMOTHÉE CHALAMET, 26, plays Lee. MICHAEL STUHLBERG, 54, has a large supporting role. You might call this film high-art horror. It has an A-list star (Chalamet) and a top European director. “Bones” got very good reviews following a showing at the recent Venice Film Festival. Well, after that, some light stuff. First, there is “Wednesday,” an original Netflix series. The whole first season — eight episodes — premiered on Nov. 23. It focuses on

Adam Brody

Lizzy Caplan

Wednesday, the very memorable young daughter in the “Addams Family” TV show and movies. The Addams Family TV show and movies didn’t have much of a Jewish actor presence. Yes, Carolyn Jones, who co-starred as Morticia Adams in the TV show, converted to Judaism when she married future megaproducer AARON SPELLING. But she stopped practicing when they split in 1964 — the year the TV show began. The two movies had, successively, two Jewish actresses play the part of Grandmama Addams (the late JUDITH MALINA and CAROL KANE, now 70). I was peeved when I saw that not a single Hebrew actor was in the large cast of

“Wednesday.” Then I saw that someone named KAYLA ALPERT produced the show and wrote three of the episodes. I figured she was Jewish. Every Alpert I ever heard of was Jewish. Some public record checking revealed that her late parents were Jewish. Her mother arrived in the U.S. from Israel, when she was 10, in 1956. A little research revealed that Alpert, 52, is a Harvard grad and has been a comedic jack-of-all-trades for decades, producing and writing sitcoms. The Rothschilds are the most famous Jewish family in the world and their still great wealth makes them the subject of inane and dangerous antisemitic conspiracy theories (such as Marjorie Tay-

MALL SCHMALL

ler Greene’s 2018 claim that they caused California fires via space lasers they control). But how Jewish are the Rothschilds today? I began looking into this when I got into the background of actress KYLE RICHARDS, 52, a convert to Judaism. Her sister is the (Catholic) mother of Paris and Nicky Hilton. In 2014, Nicky married James Rothschild, who is active in the family’s finance business. James’ father was AMSCHEL ROTHSCHILD (1955-1996), who also was active in the family business. Amschel’s father was VICTOR ROTHSCHILD, a Brit who was the third Baron Rothschild. (Whoever holds this title is the most prominent British Rothschild.) Victor’s first wife converted to Judaism, and she was the mother of NATHANIEL ROTHSCHILD, now 86, the fourth Baron Rothschild. Nathaniel’s late wife, the mother of his children, was not Jewish and she didn’t convert. Amschel, who did help Jewish charities,

is the son of Victor’s second, non-Jewish wife. Amschel’s widow, James’ mother, is a member of the famous Irish Protestant banking-and-beer Guinness family. Serena Guinness, another beer family member, is the current wife of the famous playwright TOM STOPPARD, 85. The couple were guests at Nicky and James’ wedding. As you may know, Stoppard’s play “Leopoldstadt” is now a hit on Broadway and in London. The play follows a wealthy Austrian Jewish family from 1899 to 1955, as they assimilate into the Christian world or outright convert out. I have to think that Stoppard was a bit inspired by seeing the one-quarter-Jewish James Rothschild marrying a Catholic Hilton. I could go on. But the bottom line appears to me that both the British and French branches of the Rothschilds are rapidly assimilating out. Lesser members are often getting married in –N.B. churches.

California-based Nate Bloom can be reached at [email protected]

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Local Jersey City becomes a sister with Beit Shemesh Both ‘are built on a combination of willpower and responsibility’ ABIGAIL KLEIN LEICHMAN

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n November 9, Jersey City’s Mayor Steven Fulop and Beit Shemesh’s Mayor Aliza Bloch signed a sister city agreement between the two municipalities — which are 5,686 miles from each other as the crow flies. Initiated by the New Jersey-Israel Commission, an agency that’s part of the New Jersey Department of State, the agreement aims to maximize the resources of both cities by optimizing their shared industries and finding solutions to their shared needs. Those needs include streamlining immigration and integration, developing the local workforce, and responding to increased demand for housing in the face of rapid population growth. Jersey City, the county seat of Hudson County, is the second-largest municipality in New Jersey, with a population of 292,449 as of 2020. Considered one of the most ethnically diverse cities in the world, Jersey City is home to immigrants from many countries including India, the Philippines, China, and Egypt. It has a growing Jewish population and a Jewish mayor in Mr. Fulop. Jersey City has 15 other sister cities that reflect its population. Those cities include New Delhi, Karpathos, Greece, Nantong, China — and Jerusalem. Beit Shemesh (literally House of the Sun) is between Tel Aviv and Jerusalem, near the site where the Bible tells us that David and Goliath fought their nation-defining battle. It has approximately 144,000 residents –- many of them immigrants from countries including the United States, Russia, and Ethiopia — and is expanding rapidly. The local economy features light manufacturing, services, and a fledgling tech sector. Beit Shemesh has six other sister cities. Three are in the United States — Ramapo, New York, Cocoa, Florida, and Lancaster, Pennsylvania. One is in Asia — Hangzhou, China — and the other two are European — Nordhausen in Germany and Split in Croatia. Yuval Donio-Gidon, the New Yorkbased Israeli consul for public diplomacy, explained that sister city agreements are meant to “pave the way for strengthening economic and cultural cooperation between municipalities and thereby uniting multiple diverse populations.”

From left, Beit Shemesh’s Mayor Aliza Bloch, New Jersey-Israel Commission Executive Director Andrew Gross, and Jersey City Mayor Steve Fulop talk. Jasaun Boone, chief of staff to New Jersey’s Secretary of State Tahesha Way, is behind Mayor Fulop. COURTESY OF NEW JERSEY-ISRAEL COMMISSION

This view of Beit Shemesh was taken from above.

6 NEW JERSEY JEWISH NEWS NOVEMBER 25, 2022

Local

In Beit Shemesh, violent conflicts have occurred at times between extreme ultra-Orthodox and secular or religious nationalist residents over the past decade or two. Though tensions are markedly lower since Dr. Bloch took office in 2018, occasional incidents continue. Among those incidents, extremists sprayed some local polling stations with a noxious liquid to prevent residents from voting in the recent national elections. Jersey City, too, has seen its share of violent conflict among ethnic groups. Three civilians and a police officer were killed in a shooting that targeted a kosher grocery store on December 10, 2019, and the George Floyd murder in 2020 triggered what Mr. Fulop called “large and emotional protests.” As Beit Shemesh projects a population growing to 360,000 within the next few years, Dr. Bloch said one of her core goals is “increasing social cohesion and understanding” among the city’s diverse ethnic and religious groups. She found a like-minded partner in Mr. Fulop. “It is no coincidence that this special partnership was founded between the cities of Beit Shemesh and Jersey City,” Dr. Bloch said. “Beit Shemesh has become a major player in the field of absorption and immigration, similar to Jersey City, where thousands of Jews found a refuge during the Holocaust. The connection between these two cities known for their diversity is built on a combination of willpower and responsibility.” Mr. Fulop said he hopes to reach “a meaningful, long-term relationship with Beit Shemesh that will establish more trade partnerships, work with corporations that can invest in both sides of the ocean, and make sure we have an opportunity to grow together.” He added that the new agreement “is an opportunity to reaffirm our commitment in Jersey City and New Jersey to making sure that there is a strong bond with Israel as we see an unfortunate resurgence of antisemitism across the country and certainly in this region.” “As our world faces unprecedented uncertainty, I am reassured that by working together, exchanging ideas, and crossing borders in this way, our society will be strengthened and we will meet the challenges of our time,” Karin Elkis, co-chair of the New Jersey-Israel Commission, said.

Jersey City has an imposing skyline, as seen from the other side of the Hudson River.

Andrew H. Gross, the commission’s executive director, emphasized that New Jersey’s Governor Phil Murphy “has been a strong supporter of the New Jersey-Israel relationship since he was first elected, and has made it a priority. He’s been to Israel several times as governor and is incredibly supportive of our mission to connect New Jersey and Israel economically to help create jobs and investments in both regions.” The municipality of Lakewood has a sister city agreement with the municipality of Bnai Brak –- both of which have large ultra-Orthodox populations — and Mr. Gross said another sister city agreement is in the works. “It’s important for the commission to ensure the benefits of these partnerships reach the local level so that New Jersey communities can benefit directly from the relationship,” Mr. Gross said, emphasizing that Jersey City and Beit Shemesh likely will cooperate on economic initiatives between relevant industries, urban planning, diversity and inclusion, and workforce development. “A lasting bridge is being built by this new partnership that will enhance key relationships between Jersey City and Beit Shemesh, including through economic development,” New Jersey’s secretary of state, Tahesha Way, said. “I remain committed to bringing people together across every corner of New Jersey and am confident that this alliance will further that mission.”

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Local

Learning about sexuality Dr. Logan Levkoff to speak for JNF-USA in Livingston JOANNE PALMER

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exuality is at the base of everything, Logan Levkoff says. When she speaks at Temple Beth Shalom in Livingston for the Jewish National Fund-USA, “I will link sexuality and intimacy and connection and storytelling,” Dr. Levkoff said. (See box.) Sexuality informs everything we do, say, feel, believe, and are. “That’s true for everyone in the world, regardless of what their values are. We learn things from our elders, and from our children, and they all have the power to benefit us in the end, as people, as potential partners, and as partners.” Dr. Levkoff, who earned her doctorate in human sexuality, marriage, and family life education from NYU — her undergraduate degree, in English, was from the University of Pennsylvania — is a sexuality educator, the co-director of the Modern Sexuality Training Institute, and an expert who’s worked on projects for Dove, Merck, and Pfizer. She’s written two books about parenting, and she’s a frequent guest on TV shows exploring sexuality. She’s also chair of the JFN-USA’s Caravan for Democracy leadership mission to Israel, and a proud and public Jew. She plans on putting those two parts of her identity together that night — but, she makes clear, those two parts of her identity always inform each other. “Being a Jewish woman is central to who I am,” she said. When it comes to sexuality, “we, particularly as women, don’t spend a lot of time thinking about the message we get growing up about what it means to be a girl or a woman, and whether those messages are helpful or harmful to us,” she said. “What does it mean to be a partner? What is it we really want from the world? What do we want from our sexuality? Because this isn’t only about sex. It’s about who we are in the world. “Often we wind up assuming those messages are true without even thinking about them, or about what we want.” If we do examine those messages, which surround us all our lives, “there is a great deal to be learned, no matter how old or young. The goal is that we find out who we authentically are, and that we value it.” All of it is about sexuality, at its core, because “sexuality is not just about what we do and how we do it,” she continued. “We are always sexual beings. It’s not just about our bodies; it’s about how we express ourselves, in and out of relationships. It’s about our identities.” She means sexuality, not gender, Dr. Levkoff continued. “Gender is about our bodies. The way we express gender is based on social norms. “Sexuality is far bigger than that. It has to do with self-perception, with the way we are with other people, with how we get pleasure. We get components of sexuality from the people in our lives, because they help us to shape the world we live in, how we see ourselves, and how we might want to change ourselves.” Given how much she talks about sexuality, and how vague it can seem at times, can you define it briefly and precisely, Dr. Levkoff? “The answer is no,” Dr. Levkoff 8 NEW JERSEY JEWISH NEWS NOVEMBER 25, 2022

Dr. Logan Levkoff

said. “We have a tendency to think that sexuality has to do with who we are attracted to and what we might or might not do in the bedroom or anywhere else. That is a very limited definition.” It’s good that it’s so difficult to define sexuality, because a definition would limit it. “We come into the world as sexual beings,” she said. “We are born with an assigned sex based on biology — chromosomes, hormones, et cetera — but we come into this world with bodies, even if we don’t have a conscious sense of who we are. And we are also impacted by the world around us, and what other people place on us. We also have a sense of pleasure as it relates to our bodies, which is why so many babies explore themselves. “But it’s not only about sexual pleasure. It is about who we are, not what we do. “Our sexuality includes all the ways that our bodies are, but also how we explain ourselves to the world, the way we communicate our body image and our self-confidence. It’s about the way we connect intimately with people, whether it’s platonically, romantically, or sexually. It’s about our interactions with other people. “A broader definition is more useful,” she continued. It can narrow your life to think about sexuality narrowly, instead of opening yourself to other ideas. “We are always told that there will be a magical time — like a switch being turned on — and you will have a magical relationship.” Cinderella comes to mind here, or any other fairy-tale princess, ignited with innocent almost-adulthood and ready for the happy-ever-after. “But men aren’t given that message. That sets us up for disaster.” Also, she added, “because we are told that there will be one moment, and one person in it, that also puts a lot of pressure on that other person.” What sexuality can give you, she said, “is confidence and the ability to communicate. You have a voice; you are allowed to use it.” That idea, that girls are born with voices and they should feel free to use them, both in childhood and beyond, isn’t always passed on, Dr. Levkoff said; in fact, generally it is not. “The message that we get, as

girls and women, doesn’t include empowerment or pleasure. It doesn’t encourage us to think about what might be fulfilling for us emotionally or sexually. When we don’t know how to use that voice, we inadvertently pass that message on through the generations.” Sometimes, though, that message can be handed on; at times it can skip a generation. “Sometimes it’s easier for grandparents and grandchildren to talk to each other,” Dr. Levkoff said. It’s an inherently Jewish message, she added. “Judaism teaches us the importance of constantly learning, of personal growth, and of relationships. Not just romantic relationships, either. “We are taught to challenge and teach and dive deeper. The world of sexuality and relationships requires that” — the challenging and teaching and willingness to take deep dives — “all the time. Nothing is ever just sitting on the surface. “And I am a firm believer in the idea that tikkun olam,” the work to repair the world, “doesn’t only mean healing the world for other people. It’s about starting with yourself. Being empowered yourself is a huge step to moving on outside.” Getting back to sexuality, “I never want people to be afraid of the subject,” Dr. Levkoff said. “I don’t ever want them to think that can’t ask questions or shouldn’t have concerns. There is no question — particularly in this world that is changing and expanding — that is a bad question. No matter how young or how old you are, there is no reason not to ask the question, and not to get an answer.” Okay. We should get answers. But from where? “Sexuality education should be ongoing,” Dr. Levkoff said. “It shouldn’t stop at puberty, or in high school. We are constantly evolving and learning. As adults, we don’t always have answers. Our world looks different today than it did when we were growing up. There are many resources, but it starts with knowing that you have the right to ask questions.” She touched on the idea of storytelling. It is important to tell our stories, she said. It’s important “to share our questions, to share our experiences, to validate other people’s concerns and questions. Then we know that we are not alone. We are all seeking the same kinds of answers. It is an ongoing journey, not a one-anddone. We have questions throughout our lives.” Remember, Dr. Levkoff said, “when we feel fulfilled on a holistic level, we engage with the world in a much more positive way.” Who: Dr. Logan Levkoff What: Will talk about sexuality Where: At Temple Beth Shalom in Livingston When: On Tuesday, November 29; dinner is at 6:30, and the program will follow Why: For JNF-USA of Central New Jersey For more information or reservations: email the Central New Jersey JNF-USA executive director, Celine Leeds, at [email protected], call her at (973) 593-0095, ext. 820, or go to jnf.org/ cnjpowerofwomen

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TOP SPANISH Food 23

Shalom Hartman Institute hires ex-Ramah Berkshires director JACKIE HAJDENBERG

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ix months after a lawsuit claimed that he mishandled an allegation of sexual assault between campers at Camp Ramah in the Berkshires, the camp’s former director, Rabbi Ethan Linden, has a new job. Rabbi Linden was placed on leave one week after the lawsuit was filed, and National Ramah Commission Director Amy Skopp Cooper, who lived in South Orange for decades, led Camp Ramah in the Berkshires last summer. On Nov. 1, Susie Charendoff of Englewood took over as its interim director. Rabbi Ethan Linden Rabbi Linden is now director of educational operations and The lawsuit alleged that Rabbi Lindesign for the Shalom Hartman Institute, the Jewish education nonprofit den and others overseeing the camp confirmed. The job involves supporthad “acted with deliberate indiffering Hartman’s educational programs ence” in the summer of 2018 after throughout the year in a “vital internal the camper alleged that she had been coordination and consultative role,” sexually assaulted by a male camper. according to a Hartman spokesperson. The lawsuit alleged that Linden did The Shalom Hartman Institute runs not inform the camper’s family of the more than 1,000 programs over the assault, and instead pressured her not course of a year, ranging from one-off to tell her parents and involved the lectures to convenings of thought leadpolice only after her parents learned ers to a gap year program in Israel. It about the alleged assault. also operates two high schools, one in The suit also claimed that Camp the United States and one in Israel. Ramah and National Ramah Commission, the organization that oversees all The spokesperson declined to say the Ramah camps, was aware of the whether Rabbi Linden would have alleged assault and how it was handled any contact with the teens involved in by at least January 2019, and that they Hartman’s programs but said in a statement, “We maintain rigorous processes allowed Rabbi Linden to remain in for screening and evaluating prospeccharge. Both groups said in a statement tive employees for competence and in May that the camp had previously character in our commitment to the cooperated with law enforcement. excellence of our work.” The camp told families on Oct. 16 The new job caps a tumultuous that Rabbi Linden had resigned, saying, period for Rabbi Linden, who was one “We wish him all the best and know of three parties named in a lawsuit that we will miss his many talents, his filed in early May by a former camper energy and spirit, his warmth, and his at Ramah in the Berkshires, where passion for Jewish camping.” he had been director since 2016. The He had worked as a rabbi at Shir camp and Rabbi Linden told the court Chadash Conservative Congregation in in August that they had reached a setMetairie, Louisiana, and at three other tlement with the former camper, which Ramah camps. JEWISH TELEGRAPHIC AGENCY was finalized last month.

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Around the Community Tuesday NOVEMBER 29 JNF women’s program: Jewish National Fund-USA hosts “Empowering Women from Generation to Generation” at Temple Beth Shalom in Livingston. Dr. Logan Levkoff, Ph.D., a sexuality educator, relationship expert, and author, is the speaker. 6:30 p.m. [email protected] or (973) 593-0095.

Women’s Foundation of New Jersey, a philanthropic giving circle that supports women and girls in local communities. 7 p.m., at a private home in Montclair. RSVP, pgreenwood@ jfedgmw.org or JWFNJ.org.

Friday DECEMBER 2

Shacknai memorial lecture during services. Festive oneg. 7:30 p.m. www.Temple BethTikvahNJ.org

Saturday DECEMBER 3 Casino night in Wayne: Shomrei

“Careful” by Paula Borenstein

Torah has a casino night with tricky tray, 50/50 raffle, refreshments. 7-11 p.m. Admission fee includes casino money for betting. Tova.Friede@ gmail.com.

Sunday DECEMBER 4

Art in Elizabeth

Naomi Adler

Hadassah CEO in Wayne: Naomi Nancy Jo Sales

Social media and women: Bestselling author, New York Times journalist, and filmmaker Nancy Jo Sales will discuss “The Impact of Social Media on Girls and Women” for the Jewish

Adler, Hadassah International’s CEO and the wife of the shul’s rabbi, Rabbi Brian Beal, talks about “Israel Today — A Light Unto the Nations World Leadership and Advances in Science, Technology and Medicine” for Temple Beth Tikvah’s annual Rabbi Shai

Florian Schantz Jazz

Great American songbook: The Florian Schantz Jazz Combo offers “Songs from the Great American Songbook Concert,” in person and on Zoom, for the Jewish Heritage Museum of Monmouth County. 2 p.m. www. jhmomc.org.

Paula Borenstein of Elizabeth is the featured artist at the Elizabeth Public Library through December. Ms. Borenstein is one of the founders and directors of the Elizabeth Arts Council. She is known for her fabric collages and assemblages, which often show her family’s immigrant journey. Her work has been on view at various venues including the Jewish Museum of New Jersey. For information go to www.elizpl.org.

Shuttered Jersey City shul distributing its memorial plaques to families

Lisa Vick and JVS’s CEO, Michael Andreas COURTESY JVS

Several months ago, the board of trustees of B’nai Jacob in Jersey City made the difficult and sad decision to close the synagogue’s doors permanently. As they do so, they are safeguarding the community’s most valuable physical objects. The sanctuary’s stained-glass windows were installed in a new home at Temple B’nai Shalom of West Orange. Now, memorial items from the building, including wall and bench memorial plaques and the tags from the tree of life, are being removed, and B’nai

Jacob’s leaders hope that the plaques can be claimed by the families whose members they memorialize. The plaques will be at the Jersey City synagogue on Tuesdays and Thursdays in December and January from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m., and Thursday evenings from 4 to 7 p.m. (They cannot be shipped.) B’nai Jacob’s leaders are looking for volunteers to help distribute the plaques. For more information, email [email protected] or call the office at (201) 435-5725.

JFS of MetroWest hosts parent academy Jewish Family Service of MetroWest NJ offers “Sibling Rivalry: The More the Merrier?!!” a free parent academy, beginning on December 2. It will be facilitated by Andrea Olitzky, LCSW, JFS clinician, who offers individual and family counseling for children, adolescents, and adults at JFS. The workshop will be

at the Twisted Tulip, a coffeehouse in Livingston, at 10 a.m. The series is for parents of children of all ages, from toddlers through adolescents, and it will meet throughout the school year. For more information and to register, go to www.jfsmetrowest.org/ parentacademy.

10 NEW JERSEY JEWISH NEWS NOVEMBER 25, 2022

JVS welcomes new career services director Lisa Vick is the new director of career services at Jewish Vocational Service of MetroWest. Ms. Vick brings years of leadership experience and commitment to nonprofits, including her most recent role as career service manager at the National Council of Jewish Women’s Essex Center for Women, where she worked with hundreds of clients in career and business development, job placement, public speaking, training, and mock interviews. At JVS, she will work with clients from all JVS departments, including people from the MetroWest community

who find themselves downsized and/or are looking for a career change, adults over 50, people with disabilities, immigrants, and others who are trying to overcome barriers to employment. She has extensive experience in employment skills evaluation, client goals and skills assessment, job search strategies, mock interviews, resume development, job placement, and cultivating new relationships with employers. To make an appointment with Ms. Vick, call her at (862) 704-2292 or go to www.jvsnj.org.

Around the Community Caring for an aging family member Jewish Family Service of Central New Jersey offers a twopart online program, “Caring for an Aging Loved One,” with clinical psychologist Dr. Irit Felsen, on November 29 and December 13 at 7 p.m. Dr. Felsen, who specializes in trauma, will offer guidance on how to manage caregiver burnout, and practice self-care and resilience. She is an adjunct professor at Columbia University and at Yeshiva University’s Ferkauf Graduate School of Psychology. The program is sponsored Dr. Irit Felsen by JFSCNJ, the Jewish Federation of Greater MetroWest NJ, COURTESY JFSCNJ and the Jewish Federations of North America. Email [email protected] or call (908) 352-8375 to register; registrants will get a Zoom link on the day of the program.

Senator Cory Booker visits Rutgers Hillel to discuss antisemitism on campus In the past few years, the AEPi fraternity house at Rutgers University has been the target of antisemitic attacks during Yom HaShoah and Rosh Hashanah. In response, Senator Cory Booker (D-NJ) offered his support to AEPi’s president, Josh Brown, and to all Jewish students on campus. Mr. Booker went to Rutgers to discuss ways to stand up to antisemitism and to prevent it; he stressed the importance of

kindness and deepening people’s understanding. He promoted open mindedness, and the importance of acknowledging our shared humanity. “I’m grateful to Rutgers Hillel for hosting me and to the students for an enriching conversation,” Mr. Booker said. “Hearing from them left me energized and hopeful about a path forward that overcomes division and hate and celebrates our connections.”

Yeshiva University Library Book Talk Dr. Steven Less with daughter Leah and wife Veronique.

Researching a rabbi who moved from Germany to Millburn The Less family of Heidelberg, Germany, came to the Jewish Historical Society of Greater MetroWest to research the papers of Dr. Max Gruenewald, which had been in the collection of Congregation B’nai Israel of Millburn. Rabbi Gruenewald had been the rabbi of the Haupt Synagogue in Mannheim, Germany, when it was destroyed during Kristallnacht in 1938; later, after he and his parents

escaped to the United States, he led B’nai Israel. In 1950, two stones from the Haupt Synagogue were retrieved and placed in the walls of the sanctuary. Documents in the collection detail the work done to locate and ship the stones from Mannheim to Millburn. To see this and other collections at the JHS, email archivist Jill Hershorin at [email protected] or call (973) 929-2995.

Rabbi Dr. Mordechai Schiffman, assistant professor of Jewish education at YU’s Azrieli Graduate School and assistant rabbi of the Kingsway Jewish Center in Brooklyn, will give an online book talk on Monday, December 5, at 8 p.m. He will discuss his book, “Psyched for Torah – Cultivating Character and Well-Being Through the Rabbi Dr. Mordechai Weekly Parsha,” which includes Schiffman tools for finding psychological themes in Jewish texts to help us lead happier, more fulfilling lives. Register at yu.edu/psychedbooktalk. For more information about the book and to get 25% off, go to https://kodeshpress.com and enter promo code WINTER2022.

Special needs webinar — what comes after the diagnosis? The Sinai Schools Community Education & Support Webinar series continues with “We Have a Diagnosis. Now What?” on Wednesday, November 30, at 8 p.m. It will be led by Rabbi Dr. Yisrael Rothwachs, the dean of the Sinai Schools, and Judi Karp, the associate dean. Receiving a diagnosis is the first step in the journey of a parent or caregiver of a child with learning challenges or

special needs. Rabbi Rothwachs and Ms. Karp will discuss frequently asked questions, including whether parents should reset goals for their child’s future, how they should talk about it with family and friends, and how they should make decisions and keep their child moving forward. Submit questions in advance to webinars@sinaischools. org. For information, go to www.sinaischools.org/webinar2. Rabbi Dr. Yisrael Rothwachs and Judi Karp NEW JERSEY JEWISH NEWS NOVEMBER 25, 2022 11

Around the Community The JCC of Central NJ receives Heller family endowment In partnership with the Jewish Community Foundation of Greater MetroWest NJ, the Jewish Community Center of Central New Jersey has been given a $2 million endowment from the family of Isaac and Helaine Heller z”l to provide ongoing financial assistance to JCC members in need. In recognition of the gift, the JCC has named its scholarship program in memory of Isaac and Helaine Heller. The Isaac and Helaine Heller Financial Assistance Endowment, the first of its kind for the JCC, enables the JCC to expand its financial assistance program and deepen and broaden its impact for individuals and families in need. “The doors at the JCC of Central NJ are always open to anyone who wants to participate in life-enriching programs and meaningful Jewish experiences,” Mike Goldstein, the JCC’s executive director, said. “The Isaac and Helaine Heller JCC Financial Assistance Program will ensure that we can deepen our commitment to helping all to participate,

and welcome even more members of our community to the JCC, regardless of ability to pay.” “Securing this major gift was possible through the strong partnership our JCC has with Jewish Federation of Greater MetroWest NJ and the commitment we, as an agency, have to philanthropy,” the JCC’s board president, Stacie Friedman, said. “The JCC is grateful to the daughters of Isaac and Helaine Heller for this beautiful gift that will honor their parents’ memories today and for many years to come.” The Heller Endowment will support financial assistance to 75 to 100 individuals and families each year, helping them with membership dues, preschool, kindergarten, afterschool, camp, and other JCC programs. “Our parents cared a lot about ensuring that families could access quality Jewish programs, regardless of ability to pay,” Laurie Kaufman of Marlboro, one of the Hellers’ daughters, said. “The JCC Central is really an incredible

Lisa Salko speaks at the program.

organization that offers so many wonderful programs, and it’s located right in our hometown where our parents lived for decades and helped build the Jewish community. This felt like a natural fit to all of us to honor our parents in this way and strengthen this agency and this community into the future.” Ms. Kaufman and her sisters, Audrey Romberg, Hollie Heller, and Hillary Granfield, made the gift possible. The gift supports the historic Centennial Campaign of the Jewish Federation of Greater MetroWest NJ, the largest fundraising initiative in the community’s history, which honors the federation’s 100th anniversary, upcoming in 2023. The JCF is the federation’s planned giving and endowment arm. Ike and Helaine Heller were longtime Scotch Plains residents and generous supporters of the former Jewish Federation of Central NJ, which merged with MetroWest in 2012 to become Jewish Federation of Greater MetroWest. Mr. Heller died in 2015, and Ms. Heller died

in 2020. Ike Heller, who went to a one-room schoolhouse during the Depression and worked as a radio technician in the U.S. Navy, became an entrepreneurial success as co-founder of Remco Industries. The company became one of the largest U.S. toy manufacturers. He later founded the Edison-based Heller Industrial Parks, which now has more than 16 million square feet of commercial real estate throughout the nation. Together, Ike and Helaine Heller supported scholarships to broaden participation for young people in Jewish educational programs. The Union of Reform Judaism’s high school in Israel is named Heller High, in recognition of a major endowment supporting scholarships for students to attend that program each year. For information email the JCC’s executive director, Mike Goldstein, [email protected], call him at (908) 889-8800, ext. 218, or go to jccnj.org/ financialassistance.

PHOTOS BY JERRY SISKIND

Livingston shul marks Kristallnacht During a program commemorating Kristallnacht at Temple Beth Shalom of Livingston, Lisa Salko explained how she and other family members recovered her grandfather’s and two great-uncles’ drivers’ licenses. Nazis in Lichtenfels, Bavaria, Germany had

confiscated them in 1938. The program, “13 Jewish Drivers Licenses,” was part of a new TBS initiative, the Heritage Center, formed to acknowledge, preserve, and celebrate the unique Jewish American heritage at TBS and the larger Jewish community.

Posters highlighting the 13 people mentioned in the program

12 NEW JERSEY JEWISH NEWS NOVEMBER 25, 2022

Families participate in a tech-free weekend retreat.

COURTESY OSC

Families take Tech Sabbath to spend Shabbat in the woods Oheb Shalom Congregation in South Orange planned a weekend retreat in the Poconos for young families to connect, make new family friends, and have some seasonal fun. To keep members engaged during the technology-free Shabbat, Rabbi Abigail Treu, Cantor Eliana Kissner, and the shul’s education director, Gavin Hirsch, provided interactive programs for the families. They sang together, studied

Torah, participated in a Shabbat meditation circle, and recited prayers. They also took advantage of the expansive facility at Camp Harlem and went hiking, played board games, made sand art, and relaxed by a bonfire. The retreat was supported by the Grunt Family Fund and a grant from One Happy Camper NJ of Jewish Federation of Greater MetroWest NJ.

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Cover Story Remembering a flying hero Gerry Gersten’s story is about harrowing WWII bombing raids over Germany In 2017, the Jewish Standard published a story about Gerald Gersten. He was an Army Air Force radio operator aboard B24 Liberator bombers in World War II, and told his story in a documentary, “Bagels Over Berlin,” that was screened locally that year. We are reprinting that story now. Mr. Gersten died on November 9, at 98; his burial, with full military honors, was on Veterans Day. His wife, Rosalind, died in 2019, at 86. The Gerstens had been married for 65 years. He was survived by his three children and their spouses — Barry and Merryl Gersten, Shari Gersten and David Rosenblatt, and Lisa Gersten and David Gerwin — and by seven grandchildren, Jessica, Mikaela, Sam, Yardena, Arielle, Zeke, and Adina. We are retelling his story now because it’s extraordinary, and we should not forget heroes like Mr. Gersten. We also are retelling his story now because it is Thanksgiving. We — as American Jews, as Jews, and as Americans — have much for which to be thankful. Among those reasons for gratitude are lives like Gerry Gersten’s; lives offered, and often sacrificed, to save the rest of us. And lives lived by real people — funny, surprising, brave, smart people, normal people who because far more than normal because circumstances demanded it of them, rose to those circumstances. So here is our story, presented to you, our readers, again, in thanks to Mr. Gersten and in celebration of Thanksgiving.

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here are things that Gerald Gersten of Fort Lee doesn’t know, and probably never will know. Some of them are small and personal, and some of them aren’t. Why did the U.S. Army Air Force pick him? Why did it decide to train him as a radioman? Why did the heart murmur that made him undraftable vanish undetected three months later? Why did the United States, under-airplaned and under-airman-trained and underprepared for an air war, eventually win the war? Why did 19-year-old Gerry and the eight other men in his team survive? Why did two of them die young soon afterward? Why was he able to go on to have a very good, prosperous life, a happy, loving, and still-flourishing 14 NEW JERSEY JEWISH NEWS NOVEMBER 25, 2022

JERRY SZUBIN

JOANNE PALMER

marriage, three children who would make anyone proud, and many beloved grandchildren? There are other things that he does know — stories, and details, and hunches. He knows what it was like to be Jewish in the U.S. Army Air Force; how antisemitism revealed itself and how in the end it didn’t get in the way of the bonds that unlikely people formed and maintained. He knows how to live having seen things that no one should ever have to see, much less someone barely out of adolescence. He knows how to take joy from the moment, particularly when you don’t know what the next moment might bring. He knows what it feels like to fly a bombing mission over Germany. And well he should — he flew 33 of them. Gerry’s parents, Sam and Anna, both came from Bukovina, one of the central European places that was traded between more powerful neighbors; in its case, those neighbors included, at different times, Romania, Ukraine, Poland, the Austro-Hungarian empire, and

the Soviet Union. (It’s now part of Ukraine.) It wasn’t a great place for Jews, so Sam and Anna, like many of their extended family, left. “One Easter, my father and his friend hid up in a tree, and when they came to beat up the Jews, my father and his friend jumped them and beat them up,” Mr. Gersten said, retelling a family story. His father’s quick removal to the United States followed, not coincidentally. Anna’s father became a butcher in Boston, and Sam’s father had a newspaper stand on East 116th Street, near Park Avenue, in Harlem. “His customers were all Mafia members,” Mr. Gersten said. Sam and Anna were distantly related, but they didn’t meet until Anna’s mother met Sam on a train, bound for the same family wedding, determined their relationship and from it his eligibility, and said, “Have I got a girl for you!” (“Have I got a boy for you!” she later told her daughter.) The newly married couple started their lives together in Boston, where Gerry Gersten was born on October 25, 1924; when he was six months old, his parents moved the family to the Bronx. Sam Gersten became a grocer. The family moved from neighborhood to neighborhood; Gerry started high school at James Monroe and finished at Morris. “I had just finished high school,” he said. “I’ll never forget it. I was at the 92nd Street Y, and somebody yelled ‘Hey, the Japs just bombed Pearl Harbor,’ and I said, ‘Where’s Pearl Harbor?’ “Everyone was dying to join the army,” he added. Mr. Gersten always wanted to be in the Air Force; from the time he was a kid, “I would rather fly than anything else,” he said. He took a course the Air Force taught; it was serious, but it did not offer enlistment; in fact, it guaranteed nothing. He passed the course and the stringent examination that followed, but when he went for the physical that would lead to enlistment, he was rejected. “They said I had a heart murmur,” he said. So he lived at home and worked in his father’s grocery store. “When they told me I had a heart murmur, I thought I was going to die,” he said. Not that the heart murmur would kill him, but that the disappointment and embarrassment about having to stay home while all his friends were going off to war would do him in. Three months after the Air Force rejected him, Mr. Gersten was drafted. This time, the physical showed no heart murmur. “I don’t know what happened,” he said. The physical was for the Army; recruiters for the

Old U.S. Navy planes in flight over Miami

COURTESY ALAN FEINBERG

Marines approached some of the young men waiting their turn, offering them a chance to try for that service rather than the bigger, less glamorous Army. “The Marines wanted only the strongest,” he said. He was strong and rugged; the Marine sergeant made a play for him, but Mr. Gersten said no. He was inducted instead into the United States Army. Induction began with a whole series of shots; the administration of that battery of jabs did not particularly take the recruits’ comfort in mind. “The guy in front of me was very rugged looking,” Mr. Gersten said. “They stuck him with the needles and he fell flat on his face, with teeth and blood all over the place. He broke his jaw — and I was next. They sent a guy with a mop and a broom to clean up. “I didn’t feel anything,” he said. “I was numb.” But later “I got sick from all the shots.” He went home to pack all his stuff; he had to report in the next day or two. “My parents were sorry about my leaving, but that was that,” he said. “There was a war on. My mother was crying, my father shook my hand — and that was that.” He went to camp, still sick from the injections, Mr. Gersten said. “I went to sick call, the doctor said I should take tomorrow off, I asked for it in writing, and the next day the sergeant came in and told me that I was on KP.” Kitchen patrol. “I said that I couldn’t because I

Inset: Airman Gerry Gersten

was sick, and he said, ‘You’re on KP.’ “And then he said, ‘Boy, you better give your soul to God, because your ass belongs to me.’ “He was from South Carolina, and people from South Carolina hated New Yorkers like poison. And Jews were like poison.” The next day, he was sent to the kitchen, “and I was on pots and pans. The pots were 50-gallon pots, and when they made coffee they took shovelfuls of coffee. They gave you GI. soap to wash those pots.” The soap had a lot of lye in it, “and not only did it peel off the dirt, it also peeled off your skin.” But things changed unexpectedly. (They always do.) “A guy walks by and says, ‘Is there a Gersten here?’ I said yes, and he said, ‘You’re shipping out.’ I had to give in all my stuff and they gave me new stuff, a parka, snow boots, equipment for the far north. “And then I had to get on a train with all that equipment. I couldn’t figure it out, because the guy in charge was an Air Force lieutenant. And the next thing you know, I wind up in Miami. “I had to give all that stuff back.” Snow boots and a parka were not useful in Miami. So why the charade? “It was army secrecy,” Mr. Gersten said. “They were afraid of spies.” He was housed in a hotel in Miami Beach for basic training. “Some people in the hotel didn’t want to give up

their rooms when the Army asked if they could rent them,” Mr. Gersten said. “So every morning at 5 or 6, a 12-piece band would walk down Collins Avenue, playing. “P.S. They rented the rooms.” Toward the end of basic training, he and other servicemen took a battery of tests. “There were maybe about 1,000 guys in the room, and they sent out audio signals,” he said. “They asked if they were the same or different signals. I was the only guy in the room who got them all right. “The next thing I know, they ship me off to Sioux Falls. To radio school.” He knows why he got into radio school, but not why he was in the Air Force in the first place. “I never found out how they picked me,” he said. “I never figured it out.” From Miami Beach, Mr. Gersten went to Sioux Falls, where “it would snow in May. And they had a crazy arrangement, where the bathroom was separate from the shower room, which was about a block away. So we would take a shower and wear shorts and a towel to go from one to the other. “There were about 10,000 students, and about 8,000 got pneumonia. I was there for two days when I NEW JERSEY JEWISH NEWS NOVEMBER 25, 2022 15

Cover Story got pneumonia too.” If he had healed as he should have, Mr. Gersten would have shipped out with the 15th Air Force. Everyone in his class went, and “everyone in that class got killed,” he said. It was a bungled raid, and he still is angry at the pointless, mindless waste. But Mr. Gersten, as the result of some shenanigans with a white lab coat and the ensuing friendship with a doctor, “was invited to a party. It was a very big party, and I had a relapse and was back in bed,” he said. He eventually was shipped to Langley field in Virginia, and there “they lined up the pilot, copilot, navigator, bombardier, engineer, four gunners, and a radio operator. We were crewed up.” One of the 10 of them eventually left the unit, but the remaining nine guys stayed together, one tight, bonded unit. They were sent to England, the 392nd bomb group of the 8th Air Force. The unit sounds like the cast of a World War II movie, Catholics and a Baptist and even “a Norwegian,” Mr. Gerstein said. “We had two guys from North Carolina who had never met a Jew,” he added, but he was not the only Jew in the unit. “I spent a lot of time showing everyone that Jews are human,” Mr. Gersten said. “When you are past Pennsylvania, a Jew is like a devil. We had to make people realize that Jews are human beings.” And he did. “Someone called me a Jew bastard, and my engineer flattened him,” Mr. Gersten said. If a unit were to become cohesive, it could not afford the distractions that come from warring worldviews, and if there were distractions,

Roz and Gerry Gersten

they all would die. (Even without such distractions, it was entirely possible that they all would die anyway, as all of them knew.) “Combat flying was voluntary,” Mr. Gersten said. “That’s because we lost so many men. But if you wouldn’t fly, if you couldn’t fly, they would put you in the infantry.” At first, flying was hard for him. He would throw up every time he went up in the air. But eventually he realized, as

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counterintuitive as it seemed, that if he would eat before taking off, he’d be fine. And you had to be actively terrified of flying before you’d want to go back to the infantry. “There was no such thing as rank in our unit,” Mr. Gersten continued. “The pilot was the head, but we were one unit.” There were nine men; “so they would always send us a radar operator on each mission. “I was 19, the engineer was 19, the tail gunner was 18, the navigator was 23, the bombardier was 23, the pilot was an old man, he was 29. He was the best pilot there was. And he taught us how to fly.” Most of the men in the unit could do most of the other jobs in the unit. His pilot was called Short Round, after the “bullet that is too short to go through a gun. That’s what it’s called,” Mr. Gersten said. “He was one of those little guys who said, ‘I’ll show you.’ His real name was Dale W. Enyard.” The navigator was called Bucket Butt Smith. “I don’t know his real first name,” Mr. Gersten said. Gerry Gerstein became Gert. After the crews were assigned and they learned to fly together, they were told to fly from Connecticut to England. “We were flying the biggest plane there was,” he said. “It was a four-engine B24. A bomber. “So we shipped out, and we had no idea where we were going. There were 50 planes and some brilliant genius decided that we would have to radio in so they could tell us where to go. There are two channels in radio, tone and CW. CW —carrier waves — is not as strong as tone.” But they all were supposed to use CW. “And visualize 50 guys trying to get through on one little channel. “So I said the hell with it, and I went on tone. And I got in. “We went to Goose Bay, Labrador, and five of those 50 planes didn’t make it. “From there we went to Iceland, then to Wales, and then to England, to our base there. We had a few practice missions. “And then we had our first bombing assignment.” This was in 1944. “In Germany, we bombed almost every city except Berlin,” he said. “The Germans were far superior to us,” he continued. “We were far behind until we came out with the P51 fighter, and that was an absolute failure in the beginning. And then the British said, ‘Why don’t you use our engines?’ and we did, and it became the finest fighter plane in the whole world. “Most of our pilots were horrible,” Mr. Gersten said. “It takes a year to get a pilot’s license, but in less than a year they had to learn to fly a four-engine bomber. And we would fly in high formation, and planes would crash into each other. It was the most terrible thing to see a plane going down. They would fall down like leaves. “And a piece of you would go down with it, every time.” Much of what Mr. Gersten describes straightforwardly, dryly, almost without emotion — or without visible emotion, which is not at all the same thing — is terrifying. “On one mission, there was a lot of flak,” he said. “Flak was like BBs, little pellets that would be packed into a shell. The pellets would be white hot, and they would go through the skin of the plane and right into your skin, right though your bones. There were millions of pieces of flak flying, and we would fly right into it.

Cover Story

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World War II servicemen at a seder.

“The Germans were so far ahead of us. It was a miracle that we won.” Of course, the Americans and the British flyers were able to see and critique each other’s habits, since both groups were stationed in England. “The Royal Air Force flew bombers called the Lancaster,” Mr. Gersten said. “It was the same size as ours, but it carried more than double our bomb load, because we had top turrets with gunners with machine guns on each plane. They had three to seven men on each plane, instead of 10, and they went on the bomb runs at night, when the Germans couldn’t see them and they had less of a chance of being shot down.” The Americans kept going. “In the beginning, if you flew 25 missions they would send you home,” Mr. Gersten said. “And then they upped it to 30 missions. Later they made it 35.” He flew 33, he said, because the war ended before his unit could get up for the 34th. He and his unit mates saw horrors, and often they escaped them for inexplicable reasons. Once, he said, they had a three-day pass, and planned to spend it in Brighton, a seaside town. “But it is always raining in England,” and who wants to go to the beach in the rain, “so we wound up in Scotland instead.” They had a less-than-exciting break. “And when we got back, the barracks were empty.” The others had gone up on a bombing run, “and they were shot down.” After each mission, “a number of guys would come back and put their jackets over their heads. They were crying. They didn’t want to do it anymore. It was too hard, with the planes crashing into each other and the bombs falling all over.” On one run, he nearly died. “We were flying in formation, and all of a sudden our number three engine conked out,” Mr. Gersten said. “That engine controls the hydraulics, so it is the most important engine on the plane. We were going to bomb the Henry Ford factory” — a factory the Germans named after the notoriously antisemitic American car magnate who donated money to print and distribute the forged and profoundly antisemitic “Protocols of the Elders of Zion” — “but we couldn’t lower our landing gear and we couldn’t open our bomb bay doors. We couldn’t keep up with the formation, and we had to turn back.

ALAN FEINBERG

That is called an abortion. When you come back without dropping the bomb, it doesn’t count as a mission. “When we came back, all of a sudden we saw a P51 coming at us.” The P51 was an American plane, but “the Germans would shoot them down and fly them to get information from us.” They’d fly under a false flag; at times the Americans didn’t know whose hands the planes were in until too late. “We were all flying with our guns pointing at it,” Mr. Gersten said. “And as he got closer, he lowered his landing gear. That means, ‘I surrender.’ And as we got closer, we were able to see that he was a Black man. He was one of the Tuskegee boys.” The so-called Tuskegee airmen were the African American soldiers who became fighter pilots and fought with great distinction. “He worked his way up to become a colonel,” Mr. Gersten said; like the Jews, Black people in the U.S. Armed Forces during World War II always had to prove themselves, over and over again. The Tuskeegee airmen accompanied Mr. Gersten and his group part of the way to their base, and then they had to turn back. The engine, of course, still didn’t work, and the plane by all rights should have crashed, but the pilot managed to land it, although “the bombs fall out, the wings start to crumble — the gasoline is stored in the wing — and the pilot lands the plane with the wheels hitting the runway, and the pilot gets into the grass. There are puddles of gas all over.” Because he had chosen to wear a backpack parachute instead of one strapped to his side, like most of the other guys, “I cannot get out of the plane,” Mr. Gersten said. He’s too big, particularly with the device strapped to him. “But the copilot gets me a parachute, it opens, and I bounce off the wing. The others are all running away from the plane. “And nobody got even one scratch that day.” There was another raid, when the Americans were supposed to take out a ball-bearing factory. “When the Americans found out that the Germans were working on a rocket plane that would be 100 miles an hour faster than any American planes, using ball bearings, they decided to get rid of the factory,” Mr. Gersten said. “They sent out three raids in three days.”

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Cover Story When the crew opened the airplane’s doors to drop a bomb, they had to fly straight for 10 minutes. That predictable path made a plane a prime target. “The bombardier said, ‘Open the bomb bay doors,’” Mr. Gersten said. “When the bombardier says open the doors, you open the doors.

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“So I didn’t hear him when he said open the doors. And then I heard and I opened it and I dropped my oxygen mask and my heated suit short-circuited. It was about 50 degrees below zero. Every 1,000 feet you go up into the air, the temperature drops by two degrees or more. So when you are flying at 30,000 feet, it’s 30 degrees colder. “So my heated suit was short-circuited and I didn’t have any oxygen. I looked up to the heavens. I was getting hypoxia. That makes you feel happy. I felt so happy! But when you have it, in five minutes you die. I looked up to heaven, and I said, ‘God, please don’t let me die, because if I do, my mother will kill me.’” Obviously, Mr. Gersten didn’t die. “My engineer was in the top turret, and he saw it. He jumped down and plugged me in and I got oxygen. My suit still was short-circuited and I got frostbite on my finger and my toes, and I lost all my nails.” The bomber crews were treated very well, Mr. Gersten said. “We had special food. We ate better than anyone else. We had steak and eggs and fries. And we had Milky Ways, and I took one with me. That Milky Way turned into a bar of ice.” It was really cold up there, he emphasized. “We had to wear three pairs of gloves. My father had a pair of silk gloves. Those were my base gloves. And then there was a leather glove, and then a gauntlet. With temperatures from minus 20 to minus 60, if you blew your nose, icicles would come out of your nose. If your nose ran, nothing

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ever came out. And even tears would freeze.” He is not quite sure how the Allies won the war, but his theory is that as the highly trained Germans ran through their aces, the Allies started learning how to get better at waging air war. “We were very fortunate in that we bombed the gasoline dumps, so the Germans began running low on fuel,” he said. “Their pilots were so far superior to ours. If one of our guys made 25 kills, he was a hot shot, but the Germans had guys who shot down 250 planes. “And then the war went on, and we kept shooting down their stars, and they started replacing them with greenhorns.” They had no one else. “And we went after their oil wells and we began getting their trains.” What did it feel like to be on their bombing raids? “We didn’t have emotions,” Mr. Gersten said. “Maybe you got a little excited. There was some fear — but there is a brave fear and there is a coward fear. We didn’t have the coward fear. We had the brave fear. “I used to say Shema Israel” — the Shema, the Jewish world’s central statement of faith and belonging — “before we took off on every mission, and then I would say the Ve’Ahavta,” the paragraph that follows. “One of the crew members asked, ‘What is that?’ and I said it again. And after a while, the whole crew said the Shema, and I said the rest of it.” Mr. Gersten spent about eight months overseas, and about 31 months in the Air Force. After V-E Day, he was sent to Sioux Falls, where he was an MP — a member of the military police force. After he was discharged, he went back home. “My family was sitting shiva for my Uncle Manny, who was discharged a couple of months before me and was killed by a bus in Birmingham, Ala. He went through the Battle of the Bulge without a scratch, and then he was killed by a bus.” After the war, Mr. Gersten went back to the Bronx, and then to Westchester County, moved from retail grocery to wholesale food distribution, married Roslyn, had children, eventually retired, moved to Fort Lee with Roz, and flourished. Recently, his daughter Shari asked him what he’d learned from his wartime experiences. “Bravery is an instinct,” he said. “Either you have it or you don’t. I come from a family of fearless people. We were gutsy people.” In 2016, film director Alan Feinberg released a documentary called “Bagels Over Berlin.” Mr. Gersten was featured in that film. It began when Mr. Feinberg became fascinated with the popular understanding of World War II. “I had heard that a large proportion of high school students in New York thought that the United States partnered with Germany to fight Russia in World War II,” he said. “This was some time in the 1990s. Ken Burns once wrote that ‘people don’t know history, they are not taught government, they don’t know civics, and they just don’t care. World War II is as far away from them as the Spanish-American War was to me.” What began as the germ of an idea for a film about World War II veterans quickly became a film about Jewish World War II veterans. When Mr.Feinberg started thinking about what he really wanted to say with his film, “Bagels Over Berlin,” “I realized that my motivation in filming these airmen was the antisemitism that they SEE GERRY GERSTEN PAGE 27

Our Children A&S Comics in Teaneck keeping old and new fans happy “We were really lucky during Covid,” said Alex De Marco, son of founder y own love affair Tony De Marco, who manwith comic books ages the Teaneck store. began with Betty “The collectible market and Veronica, the exploded as people were two girls from Riverdale doing hobbies at home. who competed for Archie We were lucky that we Andrews, the protagonist of were in the right business the Archie series. Betty was at the right time.” Their the pretty blonde, ponyweb orders increased tailed, sweet, and modest. A young comic book exponentially, and Alex Veronica, the raven-haired fan poses with the found himself driving beauty with the rich DadHulk in the newly around Bergen County dykins (her father) was a expanded Teaneck delivering books himself. bit full of herself and, when store. The expansion not filling her closet with includes a show-stopping the latest designer clothartistic creation. The wall in between the ing, had the attention of nearly all the Rivtwo stores has a Styrofoam Hulk breakerdale boys. ing through and another sculpture of Comic books re-entered my life with Venom protruding from the walls. The our own children, especially with our work was designed by Jasin Cadic and has son, Yehuda, who fell in love with Spibecome a site where visitors to the store der-Man (who didn’t?) and began collecttake pictures and post on their Instagram ing, becoming a major Marvel fan. That accounts. meant frequent trips to the comic bookAlex and his brother Matt grew up stores. Yehuda loved his comics and took in Bergen County with their father and lots of care of them. He deftly put those mother, Annette (Cohen) De Marco, and precious issues into clear protective resealwere raised Jewish. “I know. My name is able envelopes and shelved them in a speDe Marco, but I’m Jewish,” he quipped. cial order in his bookcase. The boys were raised in Ridgefield Park Then came the superhero movies, and attended Hebrew school for their bar which further fueled his fandom. mitzvahs. Comic books have meant so much to His father, Tony, a comic book lover children and adult fans. Much has been since he was a kid, began the business sellwritten about the history, cultural signifing comic books from his mother’s North icance, evolution, and even the Jewish Bergen porch in 1976. He began reading roots of comic books, as Jews helped build comics including the Classics Illustrated, the comic book industry. For example, the a series of comics which retold the stories first comic book was created by Maxwell of classics like “Romeo and Juliet,” “The Charles “M.C.” Gaines (Max Ginzberg), Three Musketeers,” and moved onto “The who reprinted the newspaper funnies Three Stooges,” “Abbot and Costello” and in 1934. Stan Lee (Stanley Martin Lieber) then “Batman.” created his superheroes for Marvel in the He partnered with his friend, Stephen 1960s. Capturing the public’s attention DeTitta (A&S — Anthony and Stephen) and were graphic novels (Art Spiegelman’s opened their first brick and mortar store groundbreaking “Maus”) in the 1980s. in North Bergen in 1985 — still open today Since its birth, the industry has been — and then another in Teaneck. Jewishly influenced. Between the two stores, which also But the appeal of comic books has sell cards and toys, there are more than always been a universal one. 70,000 titles, a mix of vintage and new Luckily, comic book lovers in Bergen comic books. County do not have to venture too far Most popular? to get their latest and greatest in comic Spider-Man, Avengers, other Marvel books. titles, and Batman (the great detective), Right here in Teaneck, A&S Comics has said Alex, 31. been keeping comic book lovers happy “Our customers run the gamut.” They since they opened shop here in 1989. range in age from kids to adults, even Recently, the store has doubled its space 90-year-olds. We even have customers and its collection at 563 Cedar Lane. who come in from my grandmother’s And when most businesses were forced porch days,” he said. to contract, or even close, during the “This is definitely a destination place,” Covid pandemic, A&S Comics found some Alex said. of its most profitable years because people And it looks like another chapter has were getting into their hobbies more and begun. collectibles found an exploding market.

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George Liss George Liss, of Boynton Beach, FL, formerly of Pompton Lakes, NJ, and born in Paterson NJ, passed away peacefully on Tuesday, November 15 with family by his side. He was 81 years old. George was beloved and respected by his family, friends, and colleagues over a rich life defined by deep intelligence, leadership, and philanthropy. He was a self-made, highly successful businessman who co-owned and managed a privately owned investment banking firm. He was a leader in the Jewish community; past president of the Jewish Federation of Northern NJ, and led eight first-time missions to Israel. He liked to move with speed and enjoyed driving fast cars and riding motorcycles. He made time for countless hobbies, including golf, downhill skiing, art, woodworking, and building model trains. George was a foundational bedrock to his family. A loving, inspiring, and enduring role model to many people, he adored spending time with his grandsons. They treasure the unique ways that he connected with each of them and the memories of the traveling adventures that he meticulously planned and executed with joy. George is preceded in death by his parents, Sarah Guon Liss and Hyman Liss. He is survived by his wife, Hali Pine; his children Ira Liss (Lynn Liss) and Harley Liss Gantman (Marjorie Gantman); his grandsons, Hudson and Spencer Liss, and Eli Liss Gantman; as well as his sister, Linda Bauer (Robert Bauer); niece Jill Good (Adam Good), and his grandnephew Sean Good. A funeral was held on November 18 at Louis Suburban Jewish Chapels in Fair Lawn, NJ.

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NEW JERSEY JEWISH NEWS NOVEMBER 23, 2022 21

NJ-22

Editorial

Opinion

Happy Thanksgiving

W

It’s beginning to look like we have a problem

I

NJJN

t’s been a really weird year. Covid is over — except it’s really not over. So many people, including people I know — people who have been extremely careful but let their guards down momentarily, at what turned out to be the wrong moment — got sick with covid again, for the second or third or even fourth time. But — there’s usually a but here — they haven’t gotten nearly as sick as they would have without the vaccine. We’ve had the vaccine for almost two years now, and it’s been miraculous. The midterms are over, with all the loathing and feelings of apocalypse that they brought, but it just means that the 2024 election has begun. That makes me hear Glinda the Good Witch, in her awe-inspiring what-exactly-is-she-wearing black-and-so-very-white costume, telling Dorothy that she’s killed one witch, but the Wicked Witch of the East’s sister, the Witch of the West, is still around, and “she’s worse than the other one was.” There’s nothing like hope, is there? But the thing is, there really still is hope. I think about the cover story this week, the one about Gerry Gersten, the World War II pilot who survived 33 bombing raids over Germany and died at 98. Yes, antisemitism is on the upswing, but not like it was in 1943, when he was drafted. Americans didn’t know what was going on in Europe, what was happening to the Jews, but one of the most concentrated events of pure orchestrated evil in human history was going on there then. It’s not like that now. We have been given room, opportunity, and equality in the United States of America. We have much to be grateful for. I sit writing this now in the golden light of late afternoon in the late fall. (Okay, so late afternoon is not quite 4 o’clock, mid-afternoon six months from now, but whatever.) The light is so beautiful, so pure, that it almost makes me want to cry. Part of the beauty is in the sharpness of its

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shadows, part of it in my knowledge that it won’t last, and part in the accompanying understanding that it will be back tomorrow, just as gold, just as sharp, and just as ephemeral as it is today. I am grateful to the United States for allowing me to appreciate this beauty. I am grateful to it for taking in my grandparents and great-grandparents, and for all the immigrants from all around the world who’ve made their homes and sought their fortunes here. I understand it to be far from perfect — I think about the ships of Jews who were sent back to their deaths during the Holocaust, the children who have been separated from their parents since, the Dreamers who have spent their lives here but legally cannot yet and maybe never will be able to call it home. I am grateful for Thanksgiving, when we can get together with our families and once again giggle and eat and drink and reminisce and talk about almost everything and look at each other in person, not on screen, and gossip about the world together. As we gather our strength for the wearing season of other people’s joy that follows, here is a photo of a carpet store on Main Street in Metuchen. Its owners are Jewish, and if it could have a caption, it would be: “If Jews really did rule the world…” We wish all our readers a happy Thanksgiving weekend. —JP

Editor Joanne Palmer Community Editor Beth Janoff Chananie Our Children Editor Heidi Mae Bratt Copy Editor Jonathan E. Lazarus Proofreader David Lieberfarb

njjewishnews.com 22 NEW JERSEY JEWISH NEWS NOVEMBER 25, 2022

ith ThanksgivGreetings” or “Happy Holidays” ing behind us, we instead of “Merry Christmas.” should be looking A 2016 survey by the non-profit forward to ChanuPublic Religion Research Institute, kah, but many of us will do so with a for example, asked whether, out of sense of unease because of the ubiqrespect for other faiths, retail busiuitous holiday displays and their nesses of all kinds should rely only musical accompaniment that retailon the neutral greetings. Sixty-seven ers hope will attract shoppers to percent of Republicans said “No,” their stores for what they hope will while 66 percent of Democrats said be a sell-out holiday shopping season “Yes.” (Before the letter writers rush — but not our holiday season. for their keyboards, both Presidents That season began today, known Barack Obama and Donald Trump popularly as Black Friday. Philadelwere known to wish everyone a phia police began calling it that in “Merry Christmas.”) the early 1960s because the “huge While this is the season of discomfort for many of us, there are others crowds [of shoppers] created a headache for the police, who worked lonamong us who have chosen a differger shifts than usual ent route — and that is as they dealt with trafan even greater reafic jams, accidents, son for cringing as this shoplifting, and other season begins. That is issues.” (This quote because these people and more information have adopted an “if are online in www.briyou can’t beat ’em, join tannica.com’s piece, ’em” approach. “It’s “Why is it called black beginning to look a lot Friday?”) like Christmas,” goes Shammai Virtually every the popular seasonal Engelmayer municipality lights up song, but that can now for Christmas as well, be applied to Chanukah, as well, and way probably to entice beyond the strings of blue-and-white shoppers into local stores. These lights that now hang in all too many days, municipalities with significant Jewish windows each year. Jewish populations and even some Lowe’s, for example, sells a metal retailers throw in some Chanukah dreidel with LED lights to put on the decorations, but these are no match lawn that can be seen from 100 yards for the larger displays. away. It costs around $190. Amazon For many of us Jews, these display makes us feel more than a bit offers a cheaper alternative: an outdoor four-foot inflatable dreidel uncomfortable, as if they suggest with built-in LED Lights for around that we somehow do not belong $48. Chanukah wreaths to place on here. This feeling is intensified by the front doors range from around $35 growing “War on Christmas” debate to around $180. There are so many over whether stores and politicians, more such products to be found. especially, should say “Season’s Shammai Engelmayer is a rabbi-emeritus of Congregation Beth Israel of the Palisades and an adult education teacher in Bergen County. He is the author of eight books and the winner of 10 awards for his commentaries. His website is www.shammai.org.

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Production Manager Jerry Szubin Graphic Artists Deborah Herman Kelly Forbes

Opinion Then, of course, there is the “Chanukah bush,” which may have been the invention of the television and radio pioneer Gertrude Berg (the “Oprah of her day,” according to NPR’s Susan Stamberg). In an episode of her radio show, her character, Molly Goldberg, brings a “Chanukah Bush” into her home to placate her children, who felt like outsiders because everyone else had a Christmas tree. Make no mistake: Such displays are wrong on so many levels, but trying to copy the practices of adherents of other religions tops the list. Judaism has been against “copying the nations” ever since Moses’s time. Of immediate concern to Moses and to God, the Torah’s ultimate author, were the practices of Egypt, which Israel had only just left, and Canaan, the place to which it was headed. The prohibition against following either nation’s practices is stated in Leviticus 18:3. In Leviticus 20:23, which deals only with Canaanite practices, God explains the reason for the prohibition: It is because “I abhorred them.” In Deuteronomy 12:30, Moses adds another reason, the fear that copying some of these practices would lead Israel to adopt all of them. It is possible that what prompted this admonition was the sin of the Golden Calf. Some theories suggest that this abomination was meant to honor the Egyptian goddess Hathor, who was often depicted as a cow (not in the pejorative sense common today). There was a temple dedicated to her in the southwest Sinai Peninsula, along the probable route of the Exodus. According to the prophet Ezekiel, mimicking “the ways of the nations” was among the reasons for the destruction of the First Temple and the subsequent First Exile. (See Ezekiel 11:12.) The biblical prohibition led to a class of laws and regulations usually referred to as “chukat ha’goyim,” or laws and customs of the nations (meaning every nation but our own). The Talmud’s designation is darchei ha’emori, the way of the Amorites, in which the Amorites stand in for everyone else. (See the Babylonian Talmud tractate Shabbat 67a and b for some interesting examples, including a ban on husbands and wives exchanging names.) In brief, any “chukat goyim” that are idolatrous in nature, or are based on superstition that is rooted in idolatrous belief, are banned. (Warding off the evil spirits among the gods was apparently behind the spousal name-switching, which is why that is no longer included in the prohibition.) If a law or custom has nothing to do with religious ritual or worship, most authorities have no problem with mimicking that behavior. The same holds true for superstitions that have no religious underpinnings. Not all authorities agree, however. In the more religiously rigid communities, for example, the mode of dress is deliberately designed not to be similar to the non-Jews, even including an aversion to wearing ties in some communities. At least one clothing concern for most of us may be traced to “chukat goyim”: covering our heads during prayer. It is considered mandatory today (as it always should have been), but it was not always so. In talmudic times, “men sometimes cover their heads and sometimes uncover their heads.” (See BT Nedarim 30b.) Because in those days only the prayer leader

(the “agent of the congregation,” the shaliach tzibbur) did the actual praying, BT Soferim 14:15 required them and the Torah readers to cover their heads so as not to recite God’s name bareheaded. That rule should have been extended to everyone in the congregation once prayer books became common. Yet even as late as the 16th century, when the Shulchan Aruch first appeared, there was no such mandate, although this law code does suggest doing so out of respect for God. (See the Shulchan Aruch, Orach Chayim 2:6. It also states there that Jewish men should not walk more than approximately six feet bareheaded, a rule first suggested by the Babylonian sage Rav Huna [see BT Kiddushin 31a.]) “Chukat goyim” enters the picture in the 17th century, precisely because non-Jews prayed while bareheaded. That caused David Halevy Segal (known as the Taz) to make it mandatory to cover our heads during prayer so as not to violate the Torah’s prohibition. (See his Turei Zahav commentary to Shulchan Aruch Orach Chayim 8:2). Despite his ruling, however, there was still no such mandate even in the 18th century, according to the Vilna Gaon (Rabbi Elijah Ben Solomon Zalman). In his comment to Orach Chayim 8:2, he said, “there is no prohibition on the uncovered head at all,” and “it is permitted to enter a synagogue [bareheaded] and to pray.” He added, however, that covering our heads is “a good moral practice.” That brings us to the Chanukah-Christmas conundrum. On the one hand, we have a minor Jewish festival that involves only one ritual—the lighting of an eight-branched menorah, or chanukiah. On the other, we have one of the two major observances of Christianity, this one involving the birth of that religion’s titular founder. There is no comparison, except that they both fall out at about the same time in most years. This year, the seventh day of Chanukah occurs on December 25. Among the Christmas traditions, in addition to the heavily decorated tree (itself a probable violation of the “tree of the field” commandment in Deuteronomy 20:19-20), is hanging wreaths on doors and windows; decorating homes with strings of lights and letters that spell “merry Christmas” ( Jews now decorate their homes with cut-outs of dreidels and strings of letters that spell out “Happy Chanukah”); and Christmas lights (for which we now have those “Chanukah lights” mentioned earlier). Let me be clear: Christmas is a religious holiday. Its customs and traditions are meant to enhance it; they are religious in nature and, therefore, covered by the “chukat goyim” prohibition. On the other hand, the Tosefta states that it is permissible to wish a non-Jew a happy holiday, “for the sake of peace.” (See its commentary to Mishnah Avodah Zarah 1:3.) Given the various surveys, though, including the one mentioned above, wishing someone a happy holiday could be viewed as a “war on Christmas” and thus more likely to start an argument. Chanukah is our gift to the world because it brought religious freedom into it. It gave others the right to celebrate their own sacred days as their beliefs dictate. We honor that gift for ourselves when we observe Chanukah as our beliefs dictate.

The opinions expressed in this section are those of the authors, not necessarily those of the newspaper’s editors, publishers, or other staffers. We welcome letters to the editor. Send them to [email protected]

My new hero — Steven Spielberg

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teven Spielberg has always been on my radar since I was an NYU graduate student in cinema studies. Like many of my generation, I still remember sitting in a movie theater, shaken by surprise when the shark suddenly appears in “Jaws.” I can still picture Dr. Jones (Harrison Ford) in “Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark,” when he didn’t engage with a swordsman — he pulls out his pistol and shoots him instead. Each time I watch “Always,” I get teary-eyed when Peter (Richard Dreyfuss), a dead spirit from beyond, connects his sweetheart Dorinda (Holly Hunter) with a new love to ensure her happiness. And many of Spielberg’s themes resonate with me, especially his emphasis on home. Remember when E.T. wants to phone home in “E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial”? How about when Viktor Navorski (Tom Hanks) has nowhere to go and sets up home at J.F.K. airport in “The Terminal”? Recall in Eric A. “Munich,” when the MosGoldman sad commander Ephraim (Geoffrey Rush) tells one of his operatives (Eric Bana), as they walk along New York City’s East River, to “Go home!” — to go back to Israel. The concept of home is so central to Jewish life! To date, the accomplished Spielberg has produced more than 165 films and directed 58. How remarkable! But for me, he always held a special place because of his comfort as an American Jew, and readiness to create Jewish projects without fear or hesitation. In fact, at age 75, he has made movies that touch on three of the most pressing issues for American Jewry today— the Shoah, Israel, and antisemitism in America. The Shoah: American cinema waited 13 years before truly tackling the Holocaust! Films like “The Young Lions,” “The Diary of Anne Frank,” and “Judgment at Nuremberg” were released starting no earlier than 1958. Twenty years later, NBC’s miniseries “Holocaust” treated the subject more fully, though some criticized it as too Hollywood-like. When Spielberg’s “Schindler’s List” was produced in 1993, it exposed the world to a more realistic, raw look at the Shoah. Spielberg easily could have continued making lucrative pictures, but instead he was committed to telling this story. Equally important, he funneled the film’s profits toward the establishment of the Survivors of the Shoah Visual History Foundation, now called the USC Shoah Foundation. No less than 55,000 survivors SEE SPIELBERG PAGE 24

Eric A. Goldman of Teaneck is host of “Jewish Cinematheque,” televised and streamed on the Jewish Broadcasting Service (jbstv.org). He is the author of “The America Jewish Story through Cinema” and an adjunct professor at Yeshiva University. NEW JERSEY JEWISH NEWS NOVEMBER 25, 2022 23

Opinion

The Palestinian Authority is falling apart Is Israel paying enough attention?

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he beautiful beaches of Israel’s Mediterranean and the bustling streets of Tel Aviv belie the dark clouds of a brewing storm just a few miles away in the Palestinian territories. Terrorism and hostilities there have risen sharply over the past year. Palestinians have killed 24 Israeli citizens and soldiers so far in 2022. In response, Israeli security forces have conducted operations in the West Bank that have killed more than 100 Palestinians, including five women and 24 minors. In the city of Nablus, the Israeli military recently raided a newly formed militant Palestinian group called the Lion’s Den, which has claimed credit for several recent attacks that killed Israeli soldiers. The raid resulted in 26 Lion’s Den members wounded and five dead, including one of the group’s leaders. Last month, during my latest visit Raphael to Israel, an Israeli military unit intercepted a group of Palestinians crossBenaroya ing illegally into Israel, and an Israeli commander was killed in the clash. Israeli security forces also thwarted several other hostile Palestinian acts in mixed Arab-Jewish cities inside Israel. Interestingly, the consensus of local security analysts was that most of the recent clashes in Israel and the West Bank were grassroots actions led by young Palestinians, not organized events led by known Islamist organizations. Nevertheless, Hamas and the Islamic Jihad are sure to benefit from the sharp rise of tensions and overt hostilities. As a result, it seems likely that both Israel and the Palestinian Authority may soon find it difficult to control future escalations of violence. Two underlying conditions have led to the current situation. First, the PA has lost control over large sections of the Palestinian territories, and the PA’s leadership, headed by Mohammad Abbas, has lost credibility with many Palestinians, especially younger generations. Second, with Israel heading into a fifth national election in less than four years, political leaders were

Spielberg

preoccupied with garnering votes and left Israel’s security forces to deal with the most recent Palestinian conflict by themselves. To elaborate on these points more specifically: • Abbas and the PA have failed to establish law and order in, and essentially lost control over, large population centers in the West Bank, including Jenin, Nablus, and Hebron. • There are indications that elements of the PA security forces are fomenting hostility toward their leaders and lack motivation to perform their jobs. • The Fatah movement has split into three factions, only one of which is fully controlled by Abbas. • Hamas and the Islamic Jihad oppose Abbas; they want to usurp the PA’s influence throughout the West Bank and East Jerusalem. • PA government institutions are dysfunctional, the PA parliament is ineffective, the PA’s budget does not adequately address the needs of Palestinians, and corruption within the PA is rampant. • The weakness of the PA and the uncertainty of its future leadership (Abbas is 87 years old) present an opportunity for extreme Islamist elements. No Palestinian leadership vacuum will last long. Accordingly, Israel better pay attention not just to its security forces, which are already fully engaged, but also to its political arm. • Israel has often relied on its security forces to defend itself, but the military is just one of four pillars that support national security, along with a healthy economy, effective foreign relations, and the quality of national institutions. Addressing the risk posed by Palestinian unrest requires all four pillars. Weakness in the quality of political institutions in particular is bound to risk cracking Israel’s national security structure. • Benjamin Netanyahu and other political leaders were absorbed in a bitter contentious process prior to the election and he now tries to pull together a governing coalition. Israel’s security forces have been bearing

the burden of handling the Palestinian hostilities. • Naturally, military leaders tend to view force as an appropriate and viable solution. But when force is applied to suppress hostilities, the reaction tends to be increased violence…which spurs an even stronger application of force…which leads to a vicious cycle of deadly conflict escalation. The stakes for both Israel and the PA are high — and growing. Israel can neither allow nor afford another Gaza to its east. No country can maintain peace when hostile actors, under dysfunctional governance, foment violence a stone’s throw from that country’s largest cities. So what is Israel to do? Israel must augment the use of force with long-term, political, strategic thinking. To address Palestinian unrest, Israel’s civilian political echelon must play a key role in developing and directing priorities, resources, and strategy for national security, working closely with the country’s security arm. When the political echelon is distracted, or missing from the table entirely, no quality bilateral discussion occurs, no civilian wisdom is applied, and security is potentially compromised. We should all hope that the just-concluded Israeli election produces a stable, strong, and functional government that lasts years (not the recent average of seven months). That Israeli government should engage in the current Palestinian conflict with greater foresight — to enable the PA to establish credible leadership, effective Palestinian social and economic institutions, and the PA’s own strong internal security force. Shoring up the leadership, effective governance, and security power of one of Israel’s chief adversaries may seem counterintuitive — but that’s what Israel’s newly elected government should do, sooner rather than later. Doing so will improve the security of both Israelis and the Palestinian people. Raphael. Benaroya of Englewood is an American businessman and philanthropist who has been active in national security matters for over 30 years.

filmmakers who are supportive of Israel have been criticized for making films showing the and witnesses recorded their testimony for that challenges facing the country. Spielberg, too, foundation. was vilified when creating his 2005 “Munich,” Israel: You would think that the story of because he portrayed both good Israelis and Israel would warrant the production of many good Palestinians in the film. Always a lover movies. In fact, very few have been made in and supporter of Israel, he stood firm in noting the United States, largely because the subject what he believed his movie required. Although has always been too contentious. When Leon he understood the risk of exposing Israel’s Uris wrote “Exodus,” the Hollywood studio flaws on the screen, he ignored the criticism, that owned the screen rights refused to make it; especially because of his deep commitment to only when Otto Preminger bought those rights the Jewish state. Paul Dano, Mateo Zoryna Francis-Deford and Michelle Williams Antisemitism: Now the septuagenarian finally was the film made. After “Cast a Giant Shadow,” are “The Fabelmans.” 2022 UNIVERSAL PICTURES AND AMBLIN ENTERTAINMENT has chosen to tell his own story in the semi-auwith stars like Kirk Douglas, John Wayne, tobiographical movie “The Fabelmans.” The Frank Sinatra, and Yul Brynner, lost money protagonist is a teenaged American Jew who had never for its investors, producer/director Melville Shavelson Over the years, it became increasingly problematic experienced antisemitism until he moves to the west advised future filmmakers, “Stay out of Israel — even to make a film about Israel. There has been pressure to coast. This film deals with Spielberg’s complex family if you’re Jewish!” represent Israel in only a positive light. Indeed, several FROM PAGE 23

24 NEW JERSEY JEWISH NEWS NOVEMBER 25, 2022

Opinion

Will the tail wag the dog in Bibi’s government?

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WIKIMEDIA COMMONS YONATAN SINDEL/FLASH90

YONATAN SINDEL/FLASH90

ith the Israeli and our own midterm elections behind us, it became apparent how differently American Jews and Israelis vote. Depending on what poll you read, American Jews voted between two-thirds to 75% for Democrats, and more than 60% of Israelis identify with rightleaning parties. But this year the disparity in political sensibilities were widened with the rise of the Religious Zionist coalition led by the ultranationalists Itamar Ben-Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich. Although their rhetoric has moderated in their pursuit of ministerial positions in the Netanyahu government, we should be concerned Itamar Ben-Gvir and right-wing activists protest in Jerusalem on March 29, 2022. Bezalel Smotrich in 2015. about their calls for changing the Law of Return, annexation, eroding the power forged compromises leading to reforms in of the judiciary, and giving a freer hand immigration and Social Security are replaced to the police in quelling riots. Their coalition is now the third largwith the vitriol spewed daily by partisans on est party and is leveraging as much both sides, with election deniers running for pull as possible to secure its share of statewide office throughout the land. Should power. Nevertheless, only 11% of Israewe ask if we should still support America? lis voted for it, in contrast to the 41% Similarly, on the pages of the Jewish Standard, an author equated any potential Israeli French citizens who voted for the Max L. annexation with Russia’s annexation of Crimea ultranationalist Marine Pen in the last and the Donbas region. Israel conquered this French election. Kleinman territory as a result of Jordanian attacks, while The rise of the Religious Zionists can Russia’s annexation was as a result of its brutal be attributed to concerns about security after the recent riots by Israeli Arabs, the spate invasion, killing tens of thousands. You may disagree Benjamin Netanyahu looks happy the morning of terrorist killings of more than two dozen people in on the disposition of the territories, but the facts speak after the Israeli general elections, Nov. 2, 2022. recent months, and the collapse of the more moderate loudly about how Israel acquired it. Yamina party, formerly led by Naftali Bennet. Netanyahu has said all the right things after his elecWhile there should be concern about how much influmost Jews living outside Israel. As it celebrates its 75th tion. “The elections are over and, as the dust of discord ence the Religious Zionists will have on the new governbirthday, Israel must remember the dangerous disunity between the political camps settles, we must come out ment, some of the reaction from the United States has sown when there was an attempt to change the Law of of the trenches and work together,” he declared. been near hysterical. It is led by Tom Friedman of the Return during its jubilee year. This is the right message, similar to President Biden’s New York Times, who declared that the Israel he knew As Israel seeks to enlarge the Abraham Accords on his inauguration. But will he deliver? was gone; he questioned whether people would quesbeyond its four Arab members, annexation must be Seizing and retaining power has been Bibi’s mantra tion their support of Israel. This came even before the off the table. Netanyahu, in probably his last term of throughout his career. This zeal for control led to his new government was formed and its guiding platform office, seeks an enduring legacy. Bringing Saudi Arabia reneging on the compromise on the Kotel fostered by was finalized. Well, the America I know is also gone. The into the Accords would mark perhaps the greatest dipNatan Sharansky to appease the ultra-Orthodox parties in his coalition. He also backed out of his promise lomatic coup of any prime minister. This quest hopedays when President Reagan and Speaker Tip O’Neill fully will help him to protect this guardrail. to rotate the premiership with Benny Ganz. This sense As Iran races for a nuclear bomb and tests its misof anyone but Bibi led to the last shaky government, siles’ efficacy on the Ukrainian civilian population, consisting of the far right and left and an Islamist party, Israel and the United States must be on the same page that lasted barely a year. dynamics while also evoking his sense of otheron confronting this existential threat for Israel. And But there’s another side to Bibi. He’s a true secular ness. Leaving his protected bubble in New Jersey American Jewry, as a member of K’lal Yisrael, also is conservative, who governs cautiously and has been and Arizona, the youth finds himself bullied in a strategic asset for Israel. We must ensure good comon the left flank of Likud, reining in radical calls from munication and avoid surprises that will upset the equinorthern California, simply because he’s Jewish. his right. As Michal Koplow wrote: “As prime minister, librium of the U.S./Israeli partnership and of Israel’s In these last several years, many of us who have he avoided major wars, pursued Gaza ceasefires and relationship with American Jewry. not encountered antisemitism are facing a new backroom deals to keep Hamas sated and the territory The months ahead will help determine whether the America. Spielberg sets his evocative fable up on quiet, did not annex West Bank territory or retroactively legalize illegal outposts despite a clamor in his tail of the Religious Zionists will wag the Netanyahu the screen so that all Americans and spectators party and coalition to do both.” As finance minister, government. Or will Bibi have his sights on his legacy around the world can be made aware of how that he unleashed the entrepreneurial spirit by lifting the and lead despite the slings and arrows he may encounintolerance feels. ter along the way? heavy shackles of an overbearing state-run economy The growing atmosphere of bigotry and hate in Let’s hope it’s the latter. in the 1990s. this country compelled this master filmmaker to There are some critical issues that will arise where make a statement in the medium that he knows so Max Kleinman of Fairfield was the CEO of the Jewish Bibi must protect the guardrails. well. The Steven Spielberg I have come to know, Federation of Greater MetroWest from 1995 to 2014. The Law of Return, the first legislation passed by the and whose work I largely adore, is a proud Jew, He is the president of the Fifth Commandment first Knesset, must be protected. This is the most tangiready to take on issues of import for himself and ble reminder that the State of Israel is there for the DiasFoundation and consultant for the Jewish Community for American Jewry. I am so inspired by what he pora. Israel must respect the religious identification of Legacy Project. has done. He justly is my new hero. NEW JERSEY JEWISH NEWS NOVEMBER 25, 2022 25

Opinion

There was that dream

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hen the dream abruptly ended, as dreams do, already I had planned the entire menu. Our four bubbies were coming for dinner. Since all of them had long since moved on to Olam HaBa, this was to be a special meal, a truly amazing, untrue, and unbelievable event. My own two grandmothers were going to break bread with my husband’s. What a feast it would be. And we would have much to talk about. Certainly they would have wanted to hear about their grandchildren and great-grandchildren and great-great-grandchildren. We could boast to an audience who would really kvell! And they did! Then they would want to know about life in America in the year 2022. After all, these ladies all had escaped Poland to come to the Goldena Medina, long before the Shoah. They were proud of their decisions even though they would all remember how difficult it had been to leave so many loved ones behind. We told them that America has been a troubled place in recent years. We told them about a despot named Donald Rosanne Trump, and we shared his criminal past Skopp and present. We had just learned that he was planning to run for president yet again. Not many Jews will support him, but the bubbies wanted to understand how any could. They were sympathetic, as only those who have lived in fear can be. Once the group had assembled for the meal, all of the table-talk was in Yiddish. I could understand most of it (after all, it was my dream). And the planning and cooking also were entirely mine. All four of them gazed at the kitchen, inquiring about the many unknowns, like the microwave, the air fryer, the food processor, the dishwasher, and any number of other totally modern inventions. They never before had known aluminum foil, plastic wrap, or Ziploc bags. Electric toaster ovens were simply miraculous. And the freezer. Ah, the freezer! Part of that newfangled refrigerator. Where was the huge chunk of ice anyway? The oven that cleaned itself. The electric hot tray, so useful for Shabbat. And the instant hot water. Wow! They especially loved the garbage disposer, speedily evicting all the peels from the sink. I heard repeated questions, framed thusly: Vas is dus? The sous-vide was a real conversation starter. They refused to believe that I could put a tough piece of meat into a pot of water and cook it low and slow for many hours and deliver a tender, rare piece of beef. I still can’t believe it myself. I knew I had to impress a fabled group of remarkably accomplished cooks. Each of our parents often had commented on the brilliant cooking skills of their own mothers. No one came from a home where the mama couldn’t cook. Not a one! I had to make this special meal perfect. I tried. Believe me I tried. It’s fair to say that I mostly failed. Had my dream turned into a nightmare after all? Maybe. I took out the good dishes. Every Jewish home

has many sets of dishes, and flatware, and all the accouterments. We started with that most popular Jewish food, loved by almost all members of the tribe, sushi. Perched on the middle of the table were beautifully plattered chunks of salmon and avocado, surrounded by rice and seaweed, and rolled into an enticing circle that was sliced and served with a nice kosher teriyaki sauce, not made from chicken bones like the treif sauce. We had all the garnishes plus the chopsticks. The wasabi was in an artistically contrived flower shape, looking tempting and tasting sharp. The ginger accompaniment was tangy and delicious. This first course was entirely pareve, and so appetizing to my husband and me, but I didn’t have to bother. We two, their grandchildren, already in our 80s, were the only takers. Those bubbies were just not into it. The Big Bubbie exclaimed she could never eat raw fish. Never! She, all five feet of her, had been a proficient gefilte-fish maker. Every Pesach she cooked endless seder meals that always started with gefilte fish, which always started with pike swimming around, very much alive, in her bathtub. So she had no aversion to raw fish, just to its consumption. She was entirely capable of slaughtering the creatures splashing around in the tub and then chopping them up, like a character in a horror movie. But she wouldn’t eat them raw. Sushi was not to be her friend. Clearing away the uneaten sushi. I was ready to serve the next course, chicken soup. I put the container of crispy croutons on the table and they wondered what they were, without getting too excited. They knew mandlen very well but this new iteration stumped them. Never mind. They did taste good. They asked how I prepared the soup. I showed them a package of frozen chicken thighs, stored in the freezer. Oy, Tevya, it is a new world! That’s chicken? Where are the feathers? Where is the alarming hanging head? Where are the feet? So good in soup! And where is the body, encasing the giblets, which are nowhere to be found? A chicken without the pupik? Are you kidding? And where are the eggs, those golden globes of utter deliciousness, the eggs that were always worthy of a good fight to decide which lucky family member would get to savor one? And why is the chicken so frozen? That just cannot be chicken! The bubbies clucked for a while about the chicken, while agreeing to taste the soup. I must admit that in my opinion, chicken soup is not as good as it used to be. The chickens of today may have lost their feathers and head and giblets and feet, but they’ve also lost their taste. I throw lots of stuff into the water, all sorts of vegetables, including a sweet potato that my mother always recommended, lots of chicken, an assortment of salt, pepper, and other spices and flavoring agents. Finally, after a few hours, I taste it. I am always disappointed. After all that parsing and peeling and poaching and patchkaing, it tastes like warm water. OK. Hot water.

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My mother’s soup always tasted of chicken. It was luxurious and rich and coated with just the right amount of fat globules. It was inviting and very very delicious. And the bubbies, of course, were all famed for their own simply outstanding chicken broth. Here, bubbies, is mine, a bowl of hot water with some chunky carrots. Sprinkle in your croutons and wonder why the soup tastes so tasteless The bubbies are unimpressed with my soup. It has everything they remember putting into their own more succulent soup, except the missing ingredient, chickeny taste I proceed to the next course. This is a delicious roast, made in the sous-vide machine, tender, rare, and cooked to perfection. At last I have shown them my mettle. They love the tasty beef. They simply can’t get enough of it. I rejoice. The salad is a nice side, but they are not sure what to make of the mixed vegetables that I zap in the microwave. Ready so soon? Really cooked? For a starch, I go all out with a crispy, well-done potato kugel, which is something they recognize immediately. It looks and tastes just like their own. This finally is home. No need to tell them that I’ve avoided shedding any blood while preparing the kugel. No grater came near me. The trusted food processor does an impressive job. I even leave the potato peels on.

Then they would want to know about life in America in the year 2022. After all, these ladies all had escaped Poland to come to the Goldena Medina, long before the Shoah. Of course I’ve made a nice bread to consume with the meal, in my well used bread machine. I show them how it kneads the bread dough, and this really floors them. Could it be used for challah, they inquire. Of course. It kneads whatever you need, I explain! The meal ends before dessert, as I wake up at dawn and am instantly transported to 2022. The real balabustas are gone again. Hopefully they’ll soon return. And hopefully the political chat will turn out to be nothing more than a nightmare that will disappear when I am awake! Rosanne Skopp of West Orange is a wife, mother of four, grandmother of 14, and great-grandmother of three. She is a graduate of Rutgers University and a dual citizen of the United States and Israel. She is a lifelong blogger, writing blogs before anyone knew what a blog was!

Cover Story Gerry Gersten FROM PAGE 18

overcame, and the fact that people don’t know about the contributions the Jews made. It was a story about the Army Air Force. The air war was so primary in winning the war. We might not have won the land war. If the Germans already had jets in the air by the end of the war, or if the war had gone on six months longer, we could have lost it.” And Mr. Feinberg soon realized that the numbers of Jewish navigators and radio operators were disproportionate to their numbers in the population. There weren’t many pilots, he said; the image of the lone ace, the World War I hero sitting in magnificent isolation in his tiny, flimsy plane, his leather helmet strapped on, his scarf flying behind him (dangerously and ridiculously, you realize when you stop to think about it), his gaze firmly fixed on the horizon — that couldn’t be a Jew. But the brainy sidekick — well, that was another story. “Jews served in the military in a higher percentage than their presence in the population in the first place,” Mr. Feinberg said. “Some of them felt that they had more to prove because they were Jewish. Others were loyal and patriotic.” Of course, those two categories could overlap a great deal. “Some of them were overwhelmed by the antisemitism they grew up with, with quotas that made it hard to get into some schools and get some jobs, but above all they appreciated that they lived in a country that they loved and wanted to serve.

complicated concepts in a noisy, confusing environment. In “Bagels Over Berlin,” Mr. Feinberg tries to show the complications the Jewish airmen faced, and the courage and heroism they used to conquer them. “I interviewed about 30 veterans,” he said. “I pre-interviewed them on the phone, first to be sure that they still were lucid. I also wanted good stories, and I asked questions to elicit the lighter side. “There was a lot of humor, and I kept it in,” he added. “These guys are tremendous. There is both humor and sadness in the stories. “One surprise interviewee was Norman Lear,” Mr. Feinberg said. “He was a radioman and bomMr. Gersten’s dog tags and a commemorative medal, left, bardier, and he flew some 40 missions. He agreed and the French Legion of Honor medal. to be interviewed at the last second, and when I interviewed him he knew that what I wanted was not to talk about Hollywood or his fame, but “Most of them were the children of immigrants,” he about the war. added. “He is the one who said that I felt that I had more to The reason so many were navigators or radio operators — jobs that took brains and skill as well as courprove, because I was Jewish.” age and intuition — was because “the kids who were Mr. Feinberg learned a great deal from making this drafted or volunteered from the country in Alabama film. “It was a tremendous experience,” he said. Things or the cornfields of Iowa did not have the experience have changed a great deal between then and now, he of the large public high school that the Jewish boys said. “That’s why it is so important that we honor the had. They did not take algebra and calculus.” The heroes of the past. This film is about overcoming the Jewish servicemen might not have been smarter than difficulties of growing up in the 1930s and fighting for their rural non-Jewish counterparts, but on the whole, your country. they were more sophisticated and more ready to learn “They did it because they believed in it,” he said.

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Apts for Rent 1380 NORTH AVE. 1254 CLINTON PL. 20 ELM ST.

Three of Elizabeth’s finest elevator apt. houses. For immediate or future rentals in studios or spacious 1 or 2 bedroom apartments, please see Superintendent on premises or contact:

Legal Services

Furniture Wanted

BUYING 1950s-70s MODERN FURNITURE GEORGE NAKASHIMA PAUL EVANS VLADIMIR KAGAN

BROUNELL & KRAMER REALTORS (908) 686-1800

&

Driver Wanted

OTHER FINE DESIGNERS

Part-Time Drivers Friday mornings Drivers wanted for weekly bulk distribution of the New Jersey Jewish News. Two routes available - Morris/Essex and Union/Somerset. Papers are picked up or delivered to you on Friday morning (very early) and you’ll handle dropping bundles of papers at local establishments. Drops include shops, Jewish organizations, JCC’s, restaurants, diners, delis, synagogues etc. Valid drivers license and reliable transportation required. Moderate lifting of newspaper bundles (25 papers per bundle) Compensation is hourly rate plus mileage allowance. Email [email protected] and include your full contact information. Please include DELIVERY in your subject line.

Please call

973.486.0813

www.coopermodern.com

How Old is

Your Will? When was the last time you had your will reviewed by a professional? Let us help put your legal affairs in order: • Asset Protection • Wealth Preservation • Minimizing/Avoiding Estate Taxes • Avoiding Litigation • Streamlined Estate Settlements LAW OFFICES OF

STEVEN ROBERT LEHR 973.575.8002

www.lehrlaw.com

33 CLINTON RD. STE. 100 WEST CALDWELL, NJ 07006

NEW JERSEY JEWISH NEWS NOVEMBER 25, 2022 27

Classified

JunK reMovAL

CALL TODAY FOR A F

201-661cHaufferS

HoMe cAre

We’re monitoring the health of our employees daily

Jimmy the Junk Man

RESIDENTIAL & COMMERCIAL RESIDENTIAL & COMMERCIAL WE CLEAN OUT: BasementsJUNK • AtticsREMOVAL • Garages • Fire & Damage Construction Debris • Hoarding Specialists CLEANOUTS WE RECYCLE

WETODAY RECYCLE AND DONATE CALL FOR A FREE ESTIMATE CALL TODAY FOR A 20 1-66 1- 4940 FREE ESTIMATE

We do not transport solid or hazardous waste

201-661-4940 845-600-5941 We do not transport solid or hazardous waste

Stay safe at home

. Companionship . Personal Care

. Grooming . Bathing Assistance

. Errands & Shopping . Meal Prep

. Medication Reminders Call Today! Hourly, Daily & Live-In Care Available.

973.808.3475 Kosher Lifestyle Care Available

Owners Casey Holstein & David Katz www.synergyhomecare.com

We do not transport solid o

Antiques

WE LOVE ANTIQUES! ANS has been in this business for over 25 years. Our attention to detail and skilled knowledge of antiques makes us unique among buyers and sellers, ensuring each client receives accurate information about each item and each seller receives top dollar. We purchase entire collections as well as single items. We also do complete estate clean-outs. We will purchase the entire estate Call today to schedule a meeting. including real estate. We can also work with your favorite charity.

ANS Antiques

We pay cash for: Art Glass Antique Furniture Modern Furniture Modern Art Oil Paintings Bronzes Silver

Porcelain Mens & Ladies Watches Cameras Judaic Art and Silver Top Dollar for Any Kind of Jewelry& Chinese Porcelain Military Items

28 NEW JERSEY JEWISH NEWS NOVEMBER 25, 2022

Coins – Individual or Entire Collections Entire Home Contents Property/Real Estate Purchases – Fast Closings

We come to you • Free Appraisals 201-861-7770 • 201-951-6224 Visit us at www.ANSAntiques.com [email protected] Sam Guidan Shommer Shabbas

Classified

Handyman

Solution to last week’s puzzle.

Need A Man Around The House?

“

Being hungry affects your appearance, how you act. When I’m hungry, I’m not in the mood for anything.

“

Certified In-Home Safety Modifications Grab Bars • Handrails • Bathroom Safety & Repairs Lamp/ Light Repair • Locks • Furniture Assembly Various technical household repairs Insured, References from your neighbors upon request

Marty’s Home and Appliance Repairs

973-324-0429

Inspired by Jewish values and ideals, MAZON is a national advocacy organization working to end hunger among people of all faiths and

Hauling/Cleanouts

backgrounds in the United States and Israel.

GreG’s

Help us end hunger. Please donate today.

haulinG junk

& Clean-Up Service

10850 Wilshire Blvd. Suite 400, Los Angeles CA 90024 (800) 813-0557 | mazon.org

1-973-943-0018

We will haul anything away!

Senior Citizen discount

Antiques

TYLER ANTIQUES Thank You For Your Votes!

EST 1940

EST 1940

WE BUY • Jewelry • Oil Paintings • Silver • Watches • Judaica • Tiffany Items • Bronzes • Marble Sculpture • Porcelains • Oriental Rugs • Furniture • Chinese Objects

We Specialize In Estate Jewelry A Heimishe Family Business for Three Generations! SHOMER SHABBOS

201-894-4770 · 718-496-9484 [email protected]

Excellent references available!

NEW JERSEY JEWISH NEWS NOVEMBER 25, 2022 29

MAKE YOUR MARK AND INSPIRE OTHERS! WILL YOU AND YOUR FAMILY BE THE NEXT PHILANTHROPISTS TO STEP UP AND MAKE YOUR MARK? Now through Giving Tuesday (November 29), and then to the Giving Back Night on the fifth night of Hanukkah (December 22), you can set up your own peer-to-peer fundraiser on social media, teach your kids and grandkids about the meaning of philanthropy, and make people’s lives better in Greater MetroWest, in Israel, and around the world. We’ve made it easy! CREATE A FUNDRAISER IN 3 EASY STEPS:

Start Your Fundraiser

1. SCAN THE CODE OR GO TO: JFEDGMW.ORG/MAKE-YOUR-MARK 2. PERSONALIZE YOUR FUNDRAISER 3. SHARE YOUR LINK

Federation cares for people in need, builds Jewish community, and saves the world, one person at a time, every day. Building an inclusive community is a priority. Contact us and we will make every effort to meet your needs.

30 NEW JERSEY JEWISH NEWS NOVEMBER 25, 2022

NEW JERSEY JEWISH NEWS NOVEMBER 25, 2022 31