$8,255 needed to fix destruction caused by twister

By Shirley Rovinsky
Special to the TJP
For those who live in the devastation area of the recent tornado, experiencing the loss of homes and properties, our hearts go out to you. As the community begins the long journey toward healing — while not on the same level — the South of Forest Eruv is in the midst of the destruction area and has sustained major damage.
As the tornado tore through North Dallas it also destroyed perimeters of the eruv, which covers a six-mile area. Part of the west perimeter damage extends from Royal Lane south, past St. Mark’s School to Mimosa. Part of the east perimeter extends from Mason Dells to Northaven behind the homes on Valleydale. This part of the eruv had used the fences along the spillway which are no longer there.
The utility company, approved by Oncor Electric, has been busy repairing lines for homes and businesses and is now able to address the eruv. I worked with this company when construction began on the eruv in 2015. They are now replacing the wiring and have extended payment for 30 days.
The cost for the repair is $8,255.00.
The reconstruction is being supervised by Rabbi Deon Nathan, who also checks the eruv weekly to ensure it is “up” and kosher. He is working closely with the utility men indicating where the wires need to be placed on each of the poles. It has been a pleasure to work with both Rabbi Sholey Klein and Rabbi Nathan these past four years to keep the eruv up and running.
I am reaching out to friends and members of the community to consider a contribution.
The South of Forest Eruv is a 501(c)3 and all gifts are deductible and will receive a letter for tax purposes. Contributions may be sent to: The South of Forest Eruv in care of Shirley Rovinsky, 7023 Northaven Road, Dallas, TX 75230-3504. If you have any questions, please call 214-739-6181.
The South of Forest Eruv has been a vision that came to fruition not only for my own family but also for others in the area who use an eruv as well. As the volunteer administrator, I emphasize that it is only through the generosity of community that the South of Forest Eruv continues.
Those in the community who use it every Shabbat and holiday, thank you in advance for any consideration.

Lakehill 7th grader showcases Hanukkah on holiday episode Dec. 3

By Nicole Hawkins
A Dallas seventh grader is making her dreams come true one meal at a time as a contestant on the cooking show “Chopped Junior,” set to air Dec. 3 on Food Network.
Sabina Chamoy, 12, was chosen from thousands of applicants to compete during the holiday episode of the show. Food Network flew Chamoy and her mother, Rita, to New York City in July where Chamoy competed against three other junior chefs.
“This is a dream come true,” Chamoy said. “I never thought that this would happen to someone like me.”
Chamoy began cooking three years ago at Sur La Table, a cooking and dining retailer in Dallas, where she took cooking classes and private lessons, some from celebrity chef Tre Wilcox, who has competed on Bravo’s “Top Chef” and “Top Chef Masters.”
“I have a really strong passion for cooking,” Sabina Chamoy said. “I think I started cooking because I was watching all of these [cooking] shows…then I started cooking and I just fell in love with it.”
During the rounds of competition, the chefs prepared holiday meals. As the only Jewish competitor, Chamoy prepared Hanukkah dishes while her competitors cooked Christmas meals.
“She was really proud to represent her faith and the Jewish people and her upbringing and all the traditions that she enjoys all of her life at Hanukkah,” Rita Chamoy said. The Chamoys are members of Congregation Shearith Israel.
“I loved being the only one for Hanukkah,” Sabina Chamoy said.
While Chamoy and her competitors were walking on set, the producers would announce “chefs walking,” she said.
“We’re just kids but they called us chefs,” Sabina Chamoy said, laughing.
Despite her love for cooking, Chamoy has her eyes set on a different career path for the future.
“I really love cooking and I think being a chef would be awesome but I do love STEM and science and all of that,” S. Chamoy said. “If I had a second choice it would be cooking.”
“[Cooking is] more like a hobby that I have a great passion for,” she said.
Chamoy said if she were to give advice to a future “Chopped Junior” contestant it would be to set their expectations high.
“I would tell them to expect the greatest because that’s what I did and it was amazing,” she said.
The “Holiday Hoopla” episode of “Chopped Junior” will air Dec. 3 at 7 p.m. on Food Network.

French Consul General thanks 94-year-old for his service

By Deb Silverthorn
Kol hakavod, brava honneur and great honor to Dallas resident PFC Frederick “Fred” Klein, who on Nov. 11, Veterans Day, received the Chevalier de la Légion d’Honneur — the Knight of the French Legion of Honor — medal. Decorated with the award by French Consul General Alexis Andres, Klein stood among family and community at Dallas City Hall.
“Seventy-four years ago World War II ended and I hope nothing like it will ever occur again,” said Klein, who turns 95 on Dec. 20. In addition to this honor, Klein has received the Bronze Star, European African Middle Eastern, Good Conduct and World War II Victory medals. At the ceremony, the City of Dallas gave Klein a commemorative coin marking the 75th anniversary of the invasion of Normandy. “I appreciate this award and know we helped bring freedom to the French people as well as to many others in Europe,” Klein said
For Andres, presenting the award is one of the greatest joys of his role. Klein is one of 300 Texans in the last 10 years to receive the honor. “Frederick was very young when he was sent to war and most of those young men had never traveled, never been abroad, never been to Europe,” said the consul general of France, based in Houston. “I was born in the region that was liberated by this division and, with my countrymen, am forever grateful for the contribution to peace. Frederick and his men were nothing less than heroes.”
The Légion d’Honneur award is an order of distinction, established by Napoleon Bonaparte in 1802, to honor extraordinary contributions to France. The award is given only to veterans still alive, and to those who meet a strict criterion of application, including fighting in either the liberation of France, Normandy, Provence/Southern France or Northern France.
A native of the Bronx, New York, Klein is the son of Jeanette and Jules Klein and younger brother of Florence and Leonard, all of blessed memory.
After graduating from high school, Klein was drafted and began basic training in June 1943, his Military Occupational Service, the Infantry Scout 761. In January 1944 he left for England, where he was trained in combat intelligence to plot maps for the powers that be to determine their course of action. With the 83rd Infantry Division, he joined the fight in Normandy, France.
In August 1944, Klein’s unit moved to the Brittany Peninsula, overtaking the Germans in many towns including the capture of the Fortress Paula on Hill 48. The division then moved to the Loire Valley, Luxembourg, Hurtgen Forest, Ardennes, Rhineland, Heart of Germany and Elbe River crossing.
After returning to the United States, and receiving an honorable discharge, Klein attended and graduated from Long Island University’s Brooklyn College of Pharmacy, following in the professional footsteps of his father. In 1954, Klein, his brother and father opened Lister Pharmacy while he also worked as a pharmacist for a vitamin company.
Klein left the family pharmacy, then developing the first national mail-order prescription program as a benefit sponsored by unions, companies and state and federal governmental agencies. He retired in 2003.
Klein and his wife, Marcia, moved to Dallas in 2006 and recently celebrated 66 years of marriage. They were first introduced by a mutual friend. The couple are the parents of Jody (Barry) Klein-Saffran and Marc (Angela) and the grandparents of Adam and Debbie Klein and Alex and Jay Saffran.
“The whole family is very proud of Dad, and this ceremony and honor are both well-deserved and incredible to be a part of,” said Marc. “It is nice to have the memories to share, and the legacy that he has lived noted. His example to our family, and to everyone, is very special.”
World travelers, the couple have been to 104 countries, to each continent, and they’ve seen the Seven Wonders of the World. “I’ve always enjoyed traveling, except of course in the case of my service — that wasn’t ‘traveling,’” said Klein. “I wanted to see as much of this world as I could before I leave it.”

As his tenure at JDC helm concludes, his impact is felt worldwide

By Jeremiah Jensen
Special to the TJP

On Thursday, Nov. 21, JDC, the global Jewish humanitarian organization, will host an event to honor its president and one of the men who has shepherded its mission toward ever more effective and efficient benevolence across the world: Stan Rabin. Rabin will conclude his four-year term as president of the organization.
JDC works in 70 countries to lift lives and strengthen communities, according to its mission statement. It rescues Jews in danger, provides aid to vulnerable Jews, develops innovative solutions to Israel’s most complex social challenges, cultivates a Jewish future and leads the Jewish community’s response to crises.
“Stan Rabin is one of the finest — a man whose high intellect, impeccable judgment, and broad experience have benefited so many — nationally, internationally, and here in our own community,” says Frank Risch, current board chair of the Dallas Holocaust and Human Rights Museum and Rabin’s close friend.
Over his career, Rabin served in the military, as an engineer at G.E. and finally as the CEO of multinational corporation Commercial Metals. He worked at Commercial Metals for 38 years and served as CEO for 28 of them.
Rabin has served on JDC’s board of directors since 2007. He served as its president since 2016. More than this, Rabin’s heart for service extends well beyond one organization, and he has brought his considerable leadership expertise to bear on the boards of United Way Foundation of Metropolitan Dallas, Texas Health Resources, the Dallas Symphony Orchestra, Temple Emanu-El of Dallas, the Dallas Jewish Community Foundation, and the Dallas Holocaust Museum, as well as the Board of Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion and the Board of Governors of the American Jewish Committee.
Stan’s impact globally and locally is immeasurable,” says Jewish Federation of Greater Dallas President and CEO Mariam Shpeen Feist. “It’s quite possible that we won’t know his total impact for many years. He is a pillar of not just our Dallas Jewish community, but around the world.”
The early years
Rabin was born in the Bronx in 1938, the son of Jewish refugees. His father came to New York from Belarus at the age of nine in 1908, his mother from Ukraine at age six in 1914.
He grew up in a Jewish neighborhood, with an Italian neighborhood and an Irish neighborhood bookending the blocks and corners he called home.
Rabin and his family lived on the fourth story of an apartment building that housed 97 Jewish families. Though it was a humble upbringing, it was wholesome. His mother, father and family had little in the way of formal learning, but they understood its power and pushed young Rabin to pursue his education.
“I was very fortunate in my own life and the things I’ve done…reflect that,” Rabin says.
“My whole generation…so many of us graduated from college, and when I look back it was pretty remarkable. I didn’t think so necessarily at the time, but when I look back how remarkable that was and that we were pushed by our parents, my parents or aunts and uncles, to get a great education and then move on from there and be able to do things in that first generation.”
Rabin attended the prestigious Bronx High School of Science, a New York City public school that opened the year Rabin was born. There, he received an education a cut above the rest. He excelled and went on to gain admission to Columbia where he studied metallurgical engineering. He graduated in 1959 and worked for the military in the Oakridge nuclear program in Tennessee. Rabin and his friends would often travel down to Atlanta to fill their social calendars, and it was during one of these weekend excursions that Rabin met the woman who would help him meet the woman who would become his wife.
Rabin met his wife, then Barbara Benjamin, in California after finishing his stint with the military and moving there to begin his career with G.E. in 1964. Shortly after arriving in the Golden State he called the Atlanta woman to see if she knew anyone he should meet in California. Though she was expecting a call of a different nature, her kindness prevailed, and she told him about Barbara.
Barbara grew up in Borger, a small town in the Texas panhandle, and had a very different upbringing than her New York beau. Though the two shared a strong Jewish heritage, their childhoods were worlds apart. Whereas Rabin was immersed in Jewish culture with Jewish people everywhere he looked, she grew up in small-town Texas with only 10 other Jewish families around. She went to the University of Texas at Austin for two years before deciding there had to be more to the world than Texas, packing her bags, and transferring to the University of California at Berkeley.
“No comment about Stan can be made without citing the critically important role that his wonderful wife Barbara has played at every step of the way, in both his business life and his charitable good work around the world. She too is an ‘upstander’ in every way,” says Risch.
Rabin fell in love with the Texas belle and the two married in 1965. They opted to stay in California and had both their children there. Together, they have become pillars of the local, national and international Jewish community, epitomizing the concept of mensch and leaving everything they touch better than they found it.
“Barbara is Stan’s partner in everything that he does, he would admit his better half, and nothing happens without the quiet voice and strength of Barbara behind him,” says former Federation President Bradley Laye. “She herself is a tour de force and a real spitfire…she’s not a wallflower.”
Their children are now grown, 53 and 51, and have given Barbara and Rabin five grandchildren.

During his time in California, Rabin went to night class and earned his MBA from the University of California Santa Clara. Then, he began looking for his next step in the corporate world.
He stayed with G.E. until 1969; family ties and new opportunities called him to Texas. He joined Commercial Metals, a multinational steel manufacturing and scrap-metals processing corporation, and moved to Dallas in 1970.
A worldwide leader
Rabin worked at Commercial Metals for more than 38 years, serving as its CEO for 28 of those years. Throughout his career, he dedicated what time he could to Jewish and non-Jewish nonprofit work, but he always had a desire to give more. He was involved in the Jewish Federation of Greater Dallas for years during his career. It was in his service there that he began to create ties with the JDC. Its mission was the work he longed to do, and as he approached retirement, he began to take more and more active roles in the JDC, garnering a board position in 2007 before retiring from Commercial Metals in 2008, eventually becoming the JDC’s president and tone-setter in 2016.
“I just can’t think of words to describe specifically how incredible he is,” says Laye. “What he’s done in his life, self-made, educated, hard-working, titan-of-industry as the CEO of Commercial Metals, professionally, to do all he’s done as a philanthropist and a volunteer leader…it is rare to have someone as incredible as Stan Rabin in your community.”
Under Rabin’s guidance, the JDC has accomplished incredible things.
As with any corporate entity — for-profit or not-for-profit — future-proofing and efficiency are at the forefront of any leadership team’s agenda.
The JDC’s mission is to preserve and build Jewish life. All of its work takes place overseas in places where Jews can still face many challenges including anti-Semitism, poverty, and a pressing need to find innovative ways to build Jewish life for the next generation — places like Argentina, Venezuela, and former Soviet Union countries like Ukraine and Moldova. The bulk of the ongoing work takes place in Eastern Europe where many Holocaust victims still live and where many Jews were so oppressed under the Communists that they have hidden or forgotten their Jewish heritage for survival’s sake.
Supporting the poor, Jewish elderly in the former Soviet Union is a gargantuan undertaking that represents roughly a third of the JDC’s annual budget. JDC CEO David Schizer says this year that sum was $130 million. Of that $130 million, $105 million of it comes from the German government via the Claims Conference as restitution for the country’s role in the Holocaust. The other $25 million is used to take care of the non-Holocaust-victim Jewish elderly population.
The youngest survivor is now 75 years old. Eventually, as the survivors pass away, the funding will dry up. On the surface, this does not appear to be a problem. But it actually poses a great challenge to the way JDC’s mission is carried out in that region. Rabin was among those who spotted the problem and was critical to finding a solution for it.
Schizer says Rabin’s experience running a multinational company was critical in the plans to right-size JDC’s care model in the former Soviet Union to ensure ongoing aid for the elderly poor in these areas long after German funding dries up.
To combat the suppression of Jewish identities in Eastern Europe, JDC built a summer camp, Szarvas, in Hungary outside of Budapest. This camp is where many young Jews in Central and Eastern Europe first learn about Judaism. The camp is designed to create leaders who are proud of their Jewish identity and heritage, then empower them to lead their communities back home. It has been so successful that if one were to ask any leader in an Eastern European Jewish community under 40 years old if they went to Szarvas, their answer is “yes” more often than not.
The event honoring Rabin Nov. 21 will serve as a fundraiser for the Szarvas as it seeks to fund a much-needed renovation.
“One of our large donors to that camp once said: ‘You know it’s more than a camp. It’s a concept. It’s a dream. It’s a vision. It’s a mission. It’s a bridge between past and present. It’s a portal to the future. It’s a sanctuary. It’s a place to smile. It’s a place to sing. It’s a place to pray. It’s a place to play. And it’s a place to hope,’” Rabin recalls. “Those aren’t my words; they’re someone else’s, but it’s just an indication of the kinds of things that you can do.”
As Rabin looks back on his life, he is astounded at the hand of God and encouraged to see the impact one person can make in one lifetime.
“If we look on any given day how many thousands of lives in the world we’re helping make much better, and I’m talking from a pretty fundamental level, that gives a lot of satisfaction in terms of the kinds of things that we do but [also] that an individual can do in terms of giving back within their own life,” Rabin says.
Laye sums up Rabin’s efforts and his impact perfectly.
“Stan is known around the country in Jewish philanthropic circles…he’s done so many things. Locally, there’s very few large organizations in the Jewish and general community that haven’t felt Stan’s touch and internationally, there’s no question his role as president of JDC is a legacy that’s a great source of pride, not just for Stan and his family, but for the city of Dallas.”

By Marcy Oster

JERUSALEM (JTA) — Dozens of rockets were fired on southern and central Israel after the Israeli army killed a senior Palestinian Islamic Jihad leader in Gaza.

The rockets began targeting Israeli civilians at about 5 a.m. Tuesday, an hour after what the Israel Defense Forces called a “surgical strike” on Baha Abu al-Ata. In a statement, the IDF said that Abu al-Ata was a “ticking time bomb” with plans to carry out rocket attacks and other terrorist activities against Israel “in the coming days,” and also was directly responsible for several cases of rocket fire from Gaza on southern Israel over the past six months.

The terrorist leader’s wife also was reported to have been killed in the attack on the room in which Abu al-Ata was sleeping.

“We had an opportunity and we took advantage of it,” IDF Spokesman, Brig.-Gen. Hedi Silberman said in the statement. He said the IDF was not adopting a renewed policy of “targeted killings.”

Code Red rocket alerts sounded in Israeli communities in southern Israel and in central Israel, including Tel Aviv, Holon, Bat Yam and Modiin. As of 1 p.m., about 150 rockets had been fired on Israel.

The Iron Dome missile defense system intercepted at least 60 of the rockets. Several homes sustained direct hits or damage from the rockets, as did a factory and a highway. No one was reported injured in the attacks.

Schools from communities on the border with Gaza in the south all the way to Tel Aviv in the country’s center were ordered closed on Tuesday, leaving more than 1 million children at home. Businesses also were ordered closed on Tuesday morning, though the ban on workers coming to their jobs in Tel Aviv was lifted as long as their business had a bomb shelter nearby.

Several hours after the rockets, the IDF carried out retaliatory attacks on Gaza, though it did hit at least one rocket launcher in northern Gaza on Tuesday morning. One Palestinian man was reported killed in that strike. The retaliatory attacks were aimed at Palestinian Islamic Jihad targets in Gaza, the IDF said.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a televised address to the nation that the Security Cabinet approved the strike on Abu al-Ata 10 days ago, saying the Palestinian terrorist leader was planning more and imminent rocket attacks on Israel. He said the IDF was told to strike when it found an opportunity.

Netanyahu informed Blue and White party head Benny Gantz, a former IDF chief of staff who is working to form a coalition government, of the plans to assassinate Abu al-Ata ahead of the strike.

Gantz offered his support for the assassination.

“The fight against terror is ongoing and requires moments in which difficult decisions must be made,” he said. ” The political echelon and the IDF made the right decision last night for all Israeli citizens and the residents of the South. Blue and White will support all appropriate decisions made for the security of the State and will put the security of all of its residents above politics. Every terrorist who threatens our security should know that he will end up dead.”

A meeting scheduled for Tuesday between Gantz and Avigdor Liberman, head of the Yisrael Beiteinu party, in the effort to form a government was postponed due to the day’s events.

The head of the Joint List of Arab parties, Ayman Odeh, in a tweet accused Netanyahu of ordering the strike to improve his political prospects, calling it a “scorched earth” action “in a desperate attempt to remain in office.”

President Reuven Rivlin offered his support to the Israeli military, saying in a statement that “I know that they and the Israeli government that approved the operation, have Israel’s security, and only that, in their minds.”

Rivlin added: “This is no time for political squabbles, and those who do so bring no credit to themselves. It is the time to stop such statements immediately.”

IDF Chief of Staff Aviv Kohavi said the Israeli military was planning for an escalation in violence from Gaza in the wake of killing of Abu al-Ata.

The Islamic Jihad military wing, the Al-Quds Brigade, said in a statement that its response to the assassination “will have no limits and will be equal to the size of the crime that the criminal enemy perpetrated.”

The Hamas terror organization, which controls Gaza, said it would not let the attack on Abu al-Ata pass without a “punishment.”

“We in Hamas affirm that the Zionist enemy will bear responsibility for all the consequences and ramifications of this escalation and dangerous attack,” Hamas said in a statement.

The European Union in a statement condemned the rocket attacks on Israeli civilians.

“The firing of rockets on civilian populations is totally unacceptable and must immediately stop,” the EU said. “A rapid and complete de-escalation is now necessary to safeguard the lives and security of Palestinian and Israeli civilians.”

Dallas Kosher BBQ marks 5th annual competition

The Fifth Annual Dallas Kosher BBQ Championship Oct. 27 brought more than 1,500 people together for a meaty celebration under sunny skies.

A record 12 teams fired up the smokers and grills after Shabbat and spent the night preparing brisket, chicken, turkey and beef ribs for the competition presented by the Congregation Beth Torah Men’s Club and supervised by Dallas Kosher.

As the crowd enjoyed the food and the festivities, judges from the Kansas City Barbecue Society meticulously evaluated the entries and awarded the Grand Champion Award to House Divided, the five-man team of Jason Wise, Ajay Patel, Brian Moe, Daniel Escaloni and Ellis Shwarts.

Savage Smoke came in second. In a more frivolous struggle, Albert Bravo won both the hot dog and pickle eating contests. Mallory Joy Rubenstein took the kids’ crown for hot dogs, while Chani Weinberger won the junior pickle championship.

“We’re really proud to combine our passions for barbecue and kashrut in an event that’s getting bigger every year,” said Brian Rubenstein, chair of the championship. “We’re grateful to everyone who pitched in and came out, and we look forward to making this a key date on Dallas’ kosher calendar for years to come.”

By Sharon Wisch-Ray
If you’ve ever met Laura Seymour, then you know she’s pretty laid-back.
The longtime JCC camp director, and her husband Jeff, are among those affected by the Oct. 20 tornado that ripped through Preston Hollow and decimated many homes near the JCC.
When the storm hit, Laura says she was watching the Cowboy game by herself, because Jeff was out of town. “I was watching the Cowboy game and they were doing so well. I happen to love watching the game. Not everyone thinks I’d enjoy football, but I do. And it was so exciting. But then the power went out and the alarms went off.”
Seymour explained that the sirens are right near the JCC and thus very loud at her home.
She decided to head to the lower bathroom in their split-level home.
“A friend of mine texted me and said, ‘There’s a tornado in your area, where are you,’ and I said, ‘I’m hiding in the bathroom.’ Two minutes later it went over and it was fast.”
Seymour says it was over before she could even think.
“I walked out and looked in the living room and saw the glass had blown out all the windows and Jeff was calling me. I walked upstairs and I said, ‘There’s no roof up there.’”
Seymour says she went outside to check on neighbors and people had begun to mill about. Once she realized that the neighbors were OK, she and a fellow JCC teacher who lived nearby walked over to the JCC to assess the damage. The outside was a mess and the walk over there was treacherous with power lines down and debris.
Although it was clear the JCC had sustained damage on the grounds, Seymour described what she found when they went inside.
“We walked into the J and it was fine. It didn’t sustain the kind of damage you would expect. The preschool looked great.”
With no roof on her house, Seymour had to decide her next steps.
“I walked home and charged my phone in my car and I came back up and slept at the J.”
Seymour said that their insurance company has been stellar. By Monday, they were in a hotel, and by Thursday, the company had moved them into a nearby townhome.
“We’ve been totally taken care of,” she says, grateful that there were no serious injuries and that everyone survived. “It’s only stuff.”
The Schlossers
When Cristie and Rodney Schlosser built their home, they incorporated a basement into the plans. That basement provided the necessary shelter when their home was pummeled by the violent tornado that ripped through St. Marks and then on to Tulip Lane. Rodney Schlosser said that his high school senior son, Lee, alerted him and Cristie to the approaching storm and “dragged us to the basement.” They just had moments to spare.
“We heard like a wet sheet baying and heard all this glass. That was stuff being thrown around once the windows broke.”
When they surfaced and surveyed the damage, they saw tiny glass shards everywhere.
“Glass, when it flies, it’s like shrapnel,” Rodney Schlosser said. “It’s embedded in upholstery, walls, floors, everywhere.”
Thankfully the Schlossers’ structure is fine, but most importantly they are grateful that no one was hurt.
“We feel very fortunate, there’s no loss of life or injuries,” he said. “We are very sad. We have shed some tears. There are things that are lost that you can’t find.”
Rodney Schlosser said he was particularly struck by the mobilization of the first responders. Not just police and firefighters, but workers from Oncor and Atmos as well, who worked around the clock to keep the neighborhood safe, restore power and repair leaks. Central Market, whose store at Preston Royal was devastated, moved their portable kitchen to the parking lot and fed first responders and affected residents three meals a day through Sunday.
The outpouring of support has been overwhelming for the Schlosser Family.
“There were three folks who showed up at our doorstep who walked blocks to get here because the whole area was cordoned off.” Those were Temple Shalom (where Rodney is the board president) members and Rabbi Andrew and Debbie Paley. They all pitched in to help the Schlossers begin the recovery process.
“It was touching,” he said.
The Israel Family
Nancy, Solomon and Serena Israel had just come home from having dinner at some friends’ sukkah. They were in a rush to get home and walk the dog before it started to rain. It was drizzling.
“We heard the sirens and we halfheartedly went to the guest bathroom with the cats and the dog. The power flickered and then it went out. And then we heard this crash. We felt the house shake. The pressure in our ears changed and then we sat in the dark waiting, literally holding our breath waiting to see if we were going to get ripped up by the tornado or if the house was going to come crashing in. What struck me most was the silence.”
As soon as the storm was over, Solomon Israel went out and said, “You have a tree coming through your kitchen.” The Israels’ beloved oak tree, which has been estimated to be between 120 and 150 years old, had crashed through their home.
“It’s like a death in the family. I know people have suffered so much worse, but I think everyone’s suffering is unique. I’m grateful that we still have a roof over our heads, but it just broke our hearts.” Nancy Israel explained that they bought their house because of that tree and when they renovated it, they went to great lengths to make sure that the tree would flourish.
She says that they will probably have to be out of their house for three to six months.
“You have to be grateful for what you have. We have our lives, we are safe, we are free. We are grateful for the outpouring of love from our friends.”
Nancy Israel says her neighbors immediately checked on them and have brought food by the house. They’ve gotten to know each other better.
“We hurt together, we will heal together,” she said. “It also made me realize that with all the tribalism that is going on in the news right now — in a disaster, nobody cares who you vote for. They just care about each other. I think that’s an important message.”

Twister decimates Federation interior, J on Wheels

By Sharon Wisch-Ray

Two key Dallas Jewish community institutions suffered major damage from the EF3 Tornado that cut a 15-mile swath from I-35 to Richardson. The Aaron Family Jewish Community Center and the Jewish Federation of Greater Dallas which share the same campus at 7800-7900 Northaven Road were hit hard by the twister. 

Because it was Sunday night, the JCC was already closed when the storm hit and no one was in the building or on the campus. The JCC and Federation were already scheduled to be closed on Monday and Tuesday in observance of Shemini Atzeret and Simchat Torah.

The JCC, 7900 Northaven

JCC president and CEO Artie Allen ran through the significant damage that was known on Monday afternoon. 

“We have a lot of damage to the outside of the building. We lost our J on Wheels. It’s gone, we found it but it’s destroyed,”  he said referring to the JCC’s mobile unit which travels around bringing JCC programs to where Jewish people are out in the community at large. The state-of-the art trailer landed in the front yard of Bruce Birnbaum across Northaven from the JCC. The white pick-up truck which tows the trailer was also totaled thrown from the Federation parking lot into the fence that borders Northaven Gardens.

This is the second time in four months that the JCC has been pummeled by a severe storm. The June 9 windstorm damaged trees and fencing and knocked out power.

“This is much more devastating, much more devastating.” said Allen.

There is debris on the inside of the building that needs to be cleaned up he explained. The biggest issue is that the Donsky gyms took on water from gashes in the roof. There is standing water on the wood floors. All in all, Allen says he believes that the J was lucky because no one was on the campus or hurt. “Someone was looking out for us,” he said.

At press time Tuesday, the J planned to remain closed on  Wednesday. When it reopens will depend on when they can get power to the building which was still out Tuesday night.

The Jewish Federation of Greater Dallas, 7800 Northaven Road

While JCC will be able to restore operations in its own building as soon as possible, the interior damage to the Federation is extensive. 

“Our building is severely damaged. We won’t be back in it for a number of months,” said Mariam Shpeen Feist, Federation president and CEO. 

Federation COO Gary Wolff was the first on the scene about 7:45 Monday morning. Based on what he had heard about the damage at the JCC, he was expecting something similar at the Federation. “I walked inside the building and ceiling tiles were everywhere,” Wolff said. “As I walked around the Federation the sounds got louder [ water beneath his feet] and the water was more visible.” He estimates that there was approximately four inches of water.

Meeting Wolff at the Federation was Vincent Gammieri, the Federation’s director of Information Systems and Operations. The pair headed to the server room and began salvaging computer equipment.

Over the last four months, the Federation has been working on continuity planning in the event of needing to move their operations offsite in an emergency.

JFS was part of that plan, and the Federation will operate out of the JFS boardroom through Friday. Depending on when the JCC gets power restored, the next step would be to move to the Mankoff Center on the second floor of the JCC until next steps can be determined.

At press time, the Federation planned to be up and running Wednesday morning in the boardroom of Jewish Family Service through Friday. 

“From the outside view of everyone in the community, nobody will be able to tell the difference, said Federation Board Chair A.J. Rosmarin. “It’s a tribute to the staff. Everything will keep rocking along.”

Feist echoed the sentiment that the professional staff of both the Federation and other Jewish community organizations have been unbelievable.

This is about being there for the community to rebuild, our resilience and to be strong. I’m incredibly grateful to our agency and partner executive leadership. It’s been exemplary.

This year’s book, ‘In Another Time,’ engaging and thrilling

By Deb Silverthorn
Time machines may not be real, and time not always linear, but it’s the gaps in between Jillian Cantor’s “In Another Time” that offer a spinning story. Beginning at 7 p.m., Monday, Oct. 28, at the Aaron Family JCC’s Zale Auditorium, Cantor will introduce her book at the Tycher Library Community Read, part of the 2019/2020 Aaron Family JCC’s Margot Rosenberg Pulitzer Dallas Jewish BookFest.
“‘In Another Time’ is my idea of what the rise of the Nazis looked like in that moment — how many didn’t know what was happening and what day-to-day lives were like,” said Cantor, author of “Margot,” “The Hours Count” and “The Lost Letter.” This 2019 publication is a transporting love story, unfolding through decades and across continents, in alternating viewpoints.
In 1931 Germany, bookshop owner Max Beissinger meets Hanna Ginsberg, a budding concert violinist. As their love affair unfolds, the climate drastically changes as Hitler comes to power. Following Max in the years leading to WWII, and Hanna the decade after, “In Another Time” is a story of love and loss, passion and music and a family secret that may provide survival.
“I have loved Cantor’s work. She creates well-crafted page-turners and I’m looking forward to this,” said Linda Blasnik, a Tycher librarian for 10 years. “She creates a fantasy element, that is really thrilling.”
The author, who credits her fourth grade teacher for weekly assignments that introduced her to writing, enjoys Skyping and in-person discussions.
“I enjoy writing what I like reading,” said Cantor, a Philadelphia native, now living in Arizona with her family. “Music has always been a part of my life. Hanna’s character came to me while I was at the symphony during 2016’s election season. I listened, and thought, ‘no matter what happens, we’ll have beautiful music.’”
Rabbi Mordechai Harris, executive director of the Center for Jewish Education (CJE) & Rabbi in Residence at the Jewish Federation of Greater Dallas, will open the program co-sponsored by the CJE with support of the Jewish Book Council which is free and open to the public.
“This book is poignant and has such poetic flair. It’s beautiful. We’re happy to have Jillian here in person,” said CJE Coordinator of Projects and Administration, Karen Schlosberg. “The book is meaningful and her personal notes, of why she wrote it — that we can never forget our history — resonates.”
The Tycher Library, on the JCC’s third floor, houses 7,000-plus books, periodicals and more than 700 DVDs. In 1981, brothers Fred and Martin Tycher, of blessed memory, dedicated the library honoring their parents. The Tycher Library now pays tribute to the whole family’s dream to inspire Jewish learning through literature.
Texas Jewish Post contributor Harriet Gross helped launch the Community Read in 2006 after being inspired by citywide programs in Chicago and here in Richardson. Thirteen years later, the event is a go-to.
“The idea of a community reading and discussing one book was stimulating, to spark participation by asking groups to do something together with the book,” said Gross, who first shared it with then-librarian Joan Gremont. “Our first was ‘The Book Thief.’ Then, and ever since, we’ve shared good discussions and meaningful events and as the great ‘they’ say, the rest is history.”
Dallas’ Andrea Peskind Katz, reviewer of GreatThoughts.com and behind the Great Thoughts Great Readers Facebook book salon, with nearly 5000 readers and authors, is thanked by Cantor in her book’s acknowledgements. Katz says, “this is Jillian’s best, she’s a great speaker and ‘In Another Time’ is an on-target choice for the Community Read.”
The Tycher Community Read, and its Spring Read “Gateway to the Moon,” March 5, join this year’s BookFest schedule that includes themes of cooking, historical fiction, business entrepreneurship and fantasy.
For details, or to RSVP for “In Another Time” (by Oct. 23), visit jewishdallas.org/fallread. For overall BookFest details visit jccdallas.org/special-events/bookfest.

Duo connects through friendship, 1 ‘golden kidney’

By Amy Wolff Sorter
Most people will give good friends just about anything, from advice, to money, to time, to the shirts off their backs. They’ll even give good friends chopped chicken liver, which is what Dallas resident Sheri Ido gives to her friend, Lisa Harris of Anna, each year at Passover.
But when put to the test, most people won’t step up and offer good friends a kidney. Yet, Harris did just that, giving her kidney to Ido, as the latter suffered from stage four of chronic kidney disease (CKD). The transfer of “the golden kidney,” as Ido dubbed it, improved her health, while further solidifying family and friendship bonds that began between the two families more than half a century ago.
In the Beginning
Lisa Harris, formerly Lisa Novin, and Sheri Ido nee Sheri B. Polunksy, weren’t strangers to one another during their formative years. “Sheri’s mother and mine met at Temple Emanu-El,” Harris said. “Because they were both originally from St. Louis, they hit it off really well.” The families regularly celebrated Jewish holidays together, and Harris was good friends with Sheri’s younger sister, Julie Polunsky. Meanwhile, Sheri would babysit her younger siblings, and the Novin kids, from time to time. “Julie and I were the friends,” Harris said. “Sheri was a few years older, but we hung out.”
Fast-forwarding several years, Harris’ older teenage son, Brandon, became fast friends with Ido’s son, Aaron. Neither mom realized the connection, until Brandon mentioned it to his mom. “My response was: ‘Huh. I know their parents,’” Harris said, with a laugh. In early 2017, the boys decided to attend the University of Kansas together. It was also the beginning of Ido’s health slide.
Mounting Issues
“I was never one to go to the doctor,” Ido acknowledged. However, burgeoning leg issues prompted her sister to take her to a specialist, who diagnosed her with rheumatoid arthritis. And, the doctor found additional problems with Ido’s blood, referring her to a urologist. The urologist, in turn, sent Ido to a nephrologist, who was blunt about his findings.
“He told me I was a very sick woman, that I had stage-four kidney disease,” Ido said. “It scared the heck out of me.” Healthwise, things went from bad to worse. A freak at-home accident led to a broken arm -— “I broke my humerus, which wasn’t so humorous,” Ido said. Following that, she ended up in the hospital with a ruptured bowel, which morphed into almost-fatal sepsis. Harris, as the mother of Ido’s good friend, helped take care of the Ido family, providing meals and other support. And, with husband Toby Harris, she ensured that Aaron and Brandon settled in at KU for their freshman years. “Sheri and I became closer, mainly because our boys were roommates,” Harris said.
Meanwhile, during Ido’s recovery and rehab, she underwent dialysis. “That was the worst thing I’d ever gone through,” said Ido, an RA patient, who experienced a ruptured bowel, and who almost died from sepsis.
Ido explained that, as soon as she was diagnosed with stage four kidney disease, her nephrologist told her to immediately get on a kidney donor list. “He said, you could be on a donor list and feeling great, and might not need it,” she said. “If the creatine is stable, you can pass it up.”
Creatine is a waste product in the blood, filtered out by the kidneys. Creatine levels for people with healthy kidneys don’t top 1.2 milligrams/deciliters. For a year, Ido’s baseline creatine levels were steady at 2.9. Then, in spring 2018, the level moved to 3.4. Right around the time when Harris visited Ido for an unrelated reason.
A chopped-liver connection
Every year for Passover, Ido makes homemade chopped chicken liver. Passover in 2018 was no different, though this year, Ido offered some to her friend, Harris, who gladly accepted. When Harris stopped by for the treat, Ido confessed that her creatine level was creeping up. Harris asked if anyone was providing a kidney. Ido told her friend that her husband, Leon, wasn’t a match, but wanted to do a kidney-for-kidney exchange. Her own family, in the meantime, had a history of kidney disease, leaving them out.
Then came the words that changed both women’s lives. “I told her I wanted her to have my kidney,” Harris recalled. Harris, in fact, had been prepared, according to Ido. “She told me she already talked to Medical City (the organization’s Kidney Transplant Program), talked to her employer and talked to her husband,” she said.
But Ido was skeptical. “I knew others, people who had offered me their kidneys, but it was like ‘if you can’t find anyone else, I’ll give it to you,’” she said. “When Lisa offered hers to me, I was kind of in denial, and I didn’t want to get my hopes up.”
But Harris was determined. “I had to go through a circle of stuff to get more information and to find out how to do this,” she said. “It’s not like there is a 1-800-I-wanna-donate number.” Harris was finally able to get the blood work done, and the news was very good. Harris, with O-positive blood type, was a universal donor, meaning her kidney was available to her friend.
The rest, as they say, is history. Following Harris’ months of tests, the transplant surgery took place Aug. 8. Both women are recovering nicely. Ido’s creatine level is below 1.0. And, Harris has returned to her position as lifestyle coordinator and member service coordinator at The Legacy at Willow Bend in Plano.
The urge to give . . .
It’s safe to say that Harris and Ido are adamant supporters of organ donation, when possible. “My biggest piece of advice is, indicate you’re a donor on the back of your driver’s license,” Ido said. “That way, loved ones don’t have to make that difficult decision if something happens. Most people don’t understand how easy that is.”
Harris, the donor, had other information to impart. Namely, anyone interested in donating a kidney should ensure a support system is in place for care, following the surgery — and that employers are OK with the necessary time off. Harris, herself, was out for six weeks, and is grateful to The Legacy Willow Bend for understanding. “They were beyond helpful and supportive in this decision,” she said.
Meanwhile, the link that began between the two families more than 50 years ago remains strong today. Ido has promised Harris chopped chicken liver each Passover. And, Harris stepped up as a friend, with the gift of her golden kidney. While Ido is beyond grateful for what her friend has given her, Harris doesn’t consider herself a hero.
“I believe God puts us on this earth for a reason,” she said. “It was something I felt I was asked to do.”