October 14, 2016

In this issue

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  Congratulations

  Thursday, October 13, 2016

  Congratulations – On Sept. 25, the Gan Adina Mikveh in Warwick was dedicated. The mikveh is named in memory of Andrea Adina Saltzman. The Baron family dedicated the meditation and entrance …

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  MAZAL TOV – Naomi and Dr. Jimmy Rotenberg

  Thursday, October 13, 2016

  MAZAL TOV – Naomi and Dr. Jimmy Rotenberg welcomed their first child, Dahlia Nori, on July 30. Dahlia is named for Naomi’s maternal great-grandmother Dorothy Zankel and her paternal …

• 

  Biden, remembering Peres, pleads for triumph of tolerance over bigotry

  Thursday, October 13, 2016

  WASHINGTON (JTA) – Vice President Joe Biden said Shimon Peres’ legacy should be one of tolerance at a time of rising bigotry.   “At a time when the currents of bigotry …

• 

  Temporary and permanent shelters

  Thursday, October 13, 2016

  One of the biggest themes of Sukkot is shelters, or dwellings. On Sukkot , Jews traditionally build a temporary dwelling, or booth, called a sukkah . Even the holiday is named after this important …

• Carolyn Cohen, 96

  Thursday, October 13, 2016

  PROVIDENCE, R.I. – Carolyn Cohen died Oct. 8. Born in Providence, a daughter of the late Edle and Sophie (Grossman) Cohen, she was a lifelong resident of Rhode Island. She was a life member of …

• 

  Bella Dubinsky, 96

  Thursday, October 13, 2016

  EAST PROVIDENCE, R.I. – Bella (Kroll) Dubinsky died Oct. 4 at home. She was the wife of the late Milton M. Dubinsky. She was born and resided most of her life in Providence.She was …

• Marcy Goldenberg, 98

  Thursday, October 13, 2016

  PROVIDENCE, R.I. – Marcy (Rosenberg) Goldenberg died Sept. 24. She was the wife of the late Simon Goldenberg. Born in Providence, a daughter of the late David and Bessie (Latt) Rosenberg, she …

• 

  Aaron Gotlib, 88

  Thursday, October 13, 2016

  DARTMOUTH, MASS. – Aaron Irving Gotlib died Oct. 1. He was the husband of Barbara (Kivowitz) Gotlib; they were married for 65 years. He was born in New Bedford, Mass., a son of the late Rose …

• Frances Bieler Horvitz, 87

  Thursday, October 13, 2016

  FALL RIVER, MASS. – Frances Bieler Horvitz died Oct. 7. She was the wife of the late Ephraim Fischel Horvitz. Born in Fall River, she was a daughter of the late Samuel and Rose (Federspiel) …

• Frances Perlow, 100

  Thursday, October 13, 2016

  WEST ORANGE, N.J. – Frances Perlow died Sept. 30 at Daughter of Israel Nursing Home. She was the beloved wife of the late Peter Perlow. Born in Providence, a daughter of the late John and …

• Tampa City Council approves fence around new JCC

  Thursday, October 13, 2016

  JTA – The Tampa City Council in Florida approved a 6-foot-high fence around the new branch of the Jewish Community Centers despite opposition by council members and community members. The …

• 

  Jewish cemetery in N.Y. vandalized with anti-Semitic graffiti

  Thursday, October 13, 2016

  JTA – A Jewish cemetery in New York state’s Orange County was vandalized with anti-Semitic graffiti. The outer wall of the cemetery in Warwick, a suburban town about 90 minutes north …

• 

  Sukkot reminds us that all lives matter

  Thursday, October 13, 2016

  Sukkot has become my favorite holiday. We actually didn’t have a sukkah in my boyhood. But when my kids were young, we took the old good-wood storm doors and windows from the cellar …

• 

  Sukkot shortcuts for a spectacular holiday meal

  Thursday, October 13, 2016

  JTA – By the time Sukkot arrives, we are three weeks into nonstop Jewish holiday mode. Some people might be a little tired of cooking, and I don’t blame them one bit.   But …

• 

  Two Rhode Islanders to compete for USA in Maccabiah Games

  Thursday, October 13, 2016

  Rhode Islanders Samantha Levin-Kent and Daniel Freeman are thrilled that they’ll be among those representing the United States in the Maccabiah Games, the Jewish equivalent of the Olympics, in …

• Which Major League Baseball team is the most ‘Jewish’?

  Thursday, October 13, 2016

  JTA – October marks the beginning of a new year, a time of fresh starts and second chances – and playoff baseball, the climax of a summer of (we still insist) American Jewry’s …

• From football helmet to yarmulke

  Thursday, October 13, 2016

  Last year, I heard Alan Veingrad speak at the Providence Kollel. For seven seasons, Veingrad played for the Green Bay Packers and the Dallas Cowboys in the National Football League. He won a Super …

• 

  Fitness Journey: 8 months in, I own new power

  Thursday, October 13, 2016

  If you had asked me when I started this journey where I thought I’d be eight months later, I would never have guessed here.    Since embarking on this commitment to fitness, I …

• A trip to Havana and the experience of a Cuban minyan

  Thursday, October 13, 2016

  I had a dilemma. My second day in Havana was fast approaching and I was getting anxious. Thursday was the 12th anniversary of my father’s yahrtzeit and I had no idea where I would say Kaddish …

• Havana then and now

  Thursday, October 13, 2016

  HAVANA – It took less than an hour to get here from Miami, but the flight catapulted me 58 years back. In fact, I felt a tie to something even deeper in the mists of time. I spent a day …

• Hillel exhibit features Poland’s Jewish past

  Thursday, October 13, 2016

  Brown RISD Hillel is excited to announce the inaugural exhibition of the updated and expanded collection of “Traces of Memory: A Contemporary Look at the Jewish Past in Poland” from the …

• Facebook exec, Rwanda survivor among 5 tapped for Holocaust memorial council

  Thursday, October 13, 2016

  JTA – A Facebook vice president and a human rights advocate who survived the Rwandan genocide are among five people appointed to the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Council. Elliot Schrage, the …

• Study shows how Jewish vote could play crucial role in key states

  Thursday, October 13, 2016

  BOSTON (JTA) – A new study, touted as the first-ever state-by-state, county-by-county Jewish population estimate, shows how the Jewish vote could play a crucial role in …

• On Sukkot, use King Solomon’s wisdom to endure the election season

  Thursday, October 13, 2016

  JTA – Building up to Sukkot , with its temporary, shaky sukkah , it’s easy to forget that the holiday comes with something more substantial: its own book, Ecclesiastes – Kohelet in …

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  Our task in life: To choose wisely and choose well

  Thursday, October 13, 2016

  The story of my life – as it is for most of us – is a quest for meaning and purpose on my journey toward inevitable death. Like every one of us, I was born with a one-way ticket, stamped …

• 

  Finding community in food

  Thursday, October 13, 2016

  The holidays often start with food. It brings us together to share bread and conversation and memories. My inbox has as many emails concerning seasonal food as it does those explaining customs, …

• Start the year with a good Jewish book

  Thursday, October 13, 2016

  What better way to start the Jewish New Year than with a Jewish book?  President Shimon Peres said, “I read when I get up in the morning, when I can during the day and every single …

• Rosh Hashanah surprises

  Thursday, October 13, 2016

  NEWPORT – There are often surprises at Touro Synagogue. Rosh Hashanah was no exception. On the first day of Rosh Hashanah, I settled into my second row seat, carefully positioned to have a …

• The sukkah: A house of prayer for all nations

  Thursday, October 13, 2016

  When I became a rabbi, I knew that I would be giving advice on how to build a sukkah someday, but I never imagined that it would be at the local church! It turns out that many Christians …

• Thrive RI strives to make us ever more mindful

  Thursday, October 13, 2016

  BY  The concept of “mindfulness” has emerged relatively recently as an important component of one’s well-being. Thrive RI, a new mindfulness meditation group, aims to …

• An issue without borders draws Israelis, Palestinians together

  Thursday, October 13, 2016

  On Sept. 22, Brown Students for Israel (BSI) heralded the start of the new school year with an event titled “Coexistence and the Environment: Cooperation at the Arava Institute.” The …

• Make an impact globally

  Thursday, October 13, 2016

  Building Jewish identity, supporting the needy, making a difference. That’s what funds from the Jewish Alliance’s Annual Campaign do in the local community as well as in Jewish …

• Congregation Beth Sholom families welcome fall with apple-picking and mysterious corn mazes

  Thursday, October 13, 2016

  On Sunday, Sept. 25, the children of Congregation Beth Sholom (CBS) had an a-maze-ing time at Dame Farm and Orchards in Johnston. In the first social event of the season sponsored by the newly …

• Who was Shikey Gotthoffer?

  Thursday, October 13, 2016

  On the evening of Nov. 18, 1933, a week before Thanksgiving, the SPHAS, the South Philadelphia Hebrew Association basketball team took the floor at their home court, the Broadwood Hotel at the corner …

• Haimish Havana

  Thursday, October 13, 2016

  HAVANA – A friendly welcome, a sense of joy, an air of need. This is what my granddaughter and I encountered on a recent visit to the largest synagogue in Cuba’s Jewish community, which once numbered 15,000 or more. But when Fidel Castro’s Revolution triumphed in 1959 and began confiscating businesses, most Jews fled. Today there are only 1,200, nearly all in Havana, where the main congregation is housed in this building with an impressive white front. There is a soaring arch, a Star of David and doors emblazoned with symbols of the Tribes of Israel.

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  Jacob Neusner, influential scholar of rabbinic Judaism, dies

  Thursday, October 13, 2016

    JTA – Jacob Neusner, one of the most influential voices in American Jewish intellectual life in the past half-century, has died. Neusner, one of the most published authors in …