By Linda Wisch Davidsohn

Some call him “the Mayor” at the Legacy Willow Bend. At the TJP, we are always overjoyed when Bob Weinfeld stops in for a visit and shares an update or two at about what’s going on at the Legacy Willow Bend or one of the many other organizations with which he’s involved.
If you know Bob, then you know he is a bundle of energy and a program planner extraordinaire. On tap at next week’s current events discussion, Bob has lined up two amazing American patriots and war heroes, U.S. Navy Seal Commander Mark Waddell and Bronze Star U.S. Amry Infantry Officer Samuel Brown to share their experiences. The program is at 2:15 p.m., Wendesday Oct. 2, in the sanctuary at the Legacy Willow Bend, 6101 Ohio Drive in Plano.
Waddell led U.S. Navy Seal missions working with or in 96 nations on six continents for 25 years. He is decorated for heroism, combat valor, merit and acheivement. In addition to his stellar millitary career, Waddell has been a spokesperson for post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and traumatic brain injury (TBI). He will talk about his life and the challenges faced by troops coming home after serving our nation.
Brown served as an infantry officer and combat leader. He was serverly wounded from an enemy IED in Kandahar, Afghanistan. His recovery required three years of medical procedures and rehabilitation. He is a special spokesman for Sons of the Flag Burn Foundation due to the life-threatening burns he received. Brown trained at West Point for five years before deployment. He is a U.S. Army Ranger and was awarded a Bronze Star and an Army Acocomomodation Medal for combat valor on the battlefield leading his 34-man platoon. The Current Events Series is an ongoing program at the Legacy Willow Bend. There is no charge and the community is invited to attend.

JFS and UTSW host annual Janis Ablon Professional Conference

Jewish Family Service and UT Southwestern Medical Center are joining forces for the 17th annual Janis Ablon Professional Conference on Family Violence Sunday and Monday, Oct. 6 and 7.
Featured keynote presenters will be Kerry Kelly Novick and Jack Novick, Ph.D., psychoanalysts, psychologist and authors of “Emotional Muscle: Strong Parents, Strong Children.” The two-part event will be held at Congregation Shearith Israel, 9401 Douglas Avenue. The first of this two-part series will take place on Sunday from 7-9 p.m. This is a program for parents and professionals and a part of the Dr. Sol Lurie Community Education Program. Free to the community, Sunday’s event is entitled “Building Emotional Muscle in Children, Parents and Community.”
Part two will run from 8 a.m.-4:30 p.m. on Monday, Oct. 7 and is called “Children in the Shadow of Violence: Engaging in the Cycle of Bullying.”
CEUs, CMEs and certificates of attendance will be given for both events.
For additional information regarding registration, contact Ariela Goldstein, LCSW at 972-437-9950 or conference@JFSdallas.org. As a reminder, October is both Bullying Awareness Month and Domestic Violence Awareness Month.

Dallas Holocaust Museum begins artifact drive

The Dallas Holocaust Museum/Center for Education and Tolerance has commenced the planning process for an expanded permanent exhibit that would be a part of a future, new home for the museum.
The desire is to make certain that the exhibit reflects the experiences of Holocaust survivors and liberators in North Texas. Thus, the community is invited to join the museum in launching its artifact drive before the exhibit is fully designed.
The DHM/CET needs original documents, photos, artifacts, diaries, travel papers, art, clothing or almost anything related to pre-war Jewish life, survival experiences, life in the ghettos, camps, and forests, anti-Semitism, liberation, life in the DP camps, post-war resettlement, immigration and the rebirth and continued vitality of Jewish life after the war.
Artifacts may be large or small — like a suitcase or a child’s doll. They may be three-dimensional or on paper. A Holocaust museum recently received a Talmud that was printed by the U. S. Army in Germany in 1948 for the spiritual rehabilitation of the Jewish people. Another museum got a Jewish star and a suitcase that a child carried with her as she obtained freedom in England. A cantor donated a “parochet,” the curtain covering the Ark that was taken from a synagogue on Kristallnacht and documents from the passports that Wallenberg issued in Budapest, to the currency with Rumkowski’s picture that was used in the Lodz Ghetto.
Concentration camp uniforms and Jewish Stars are needed as well as artifacts from the world — from Jewish life in Europe prior to the Nazi assault — and materials from the Holocaust years and even material from the post-Holocaust life of survivors in the United States and Israel. Artifacts need not be beautiful. If shown in an art museum, a painting must be beautiful; for a Holocaust museum, the object might be simple, beat-up, or worn, which gives the object extraordinary power to reach the visitor and to tell the story.
Artifacts can be found almost everywhere, and survivors know what they have. These may be prized possessions and the most important remnants of their life before and of their struggle during the Shoah.
Children of survivors may not know what their parents possess. They may come across this material, often written in a foreign language, as they help their parents move from their homes to a warmer climate or to assisted living facilities, or as they clean out their parents’ homes following their demise.
The National Yiddish Book Center was established because children and grandchildren were discarding the cultural treasures of the Jewish people that were written in a language that they do not understand. Please do not throw them away — call the DHM/CET. They will come to your location to examine the material and be responsive to your needs and wishes.

Rav Hanan Schlesinger will lead JSI study opportunities

One of Dallas’ most beloved rabbis, Rav Hanan Schlesinger, will be on hand throughout the year to lead classes through the Jewish Studies Initiative of North Texas. Schlesinger, JSI’s founder and director, returned to his home in Israel this summer, but will be flying back to Dallas once a month to continue the group’s educational programs. They will take place once a month over an eight-month period beginning Oct. 6 -9.
The classes are as follows:
“Mishna, Tractate Baba Kama” — Sundays, 2-4 p.m., at the home of Ilana Pomeranz, 5024 Thunder Road, Dallas, TX 75244
“Doug, Hanan and You: A Text-Based Conversation About Judaism, Christianity and Religion in America” — Sundays, 5:30-6:45 p.m., Northway Christian Church, 7202 W. Northwest Hwy., Dallas
“Maimonides’ — and Our Own — Confrontation With Modernity” — Sundays, 7:30-9:15 p.m., Congregation Beth Torah, 720 W. Lookout Drive, Richardson; Mondays, noon-2:30 p.m., Aaron Family JCC, 7900 Northaven Road, Dallas (includes lunch); Tuesdays, 7-8:30 p.m., at the home of Ora and Morti Tenenhaus, 12522 Sunlight Drive, Dallas, TX 75230
“Faiths in Conversation” — Mondays, 7-9 p.m., rotating houses of worship. The first event will be devoted to “Justice, Mercy and Forgiveness,” and will take place at the Northway Christian Church.
“The Most Important Talmudic Passages of all Times” — Tuesdays, 10 a.m.-noon, Congregation Adat Chaverim, 6300 Independence Pkwy., Plano; Wednesdays, 8:15-9:15 a.m., at the home of Liz and Robert Liener.
For more information, including the exact dates of all of Rabbi Schlesinger’s trips to Dallas and fees for the classes, visit, www.JewishStudiesInitiative.org.
To register for classes, email Schlesinger at ravhanan@sbcglobal.net or call 972-695-2411 before 2:30 p.m., Sundays through Thursdays. When the rabbi is in Dallas, he can be reached at 214-789-7241.

Calling all Jewish 5th-8th graders: Time for WhirlyBall

Dallas Kadima will host a Whirlyball event for all Jewish fifth through eighth graders from 1-3:30 p.m. on Sunday, Oct. 6 at WhirlyBall of Plano, 3115 West Parker Road.
Kadima is the name of the fifth through eighth grade youth groups at Congregations Anshai Torah, Beth Torah and Shearith Israel. This is the kick-off event. The $20 admission includes WhirlyBall, laser tag, drinks and snacks. CSI Youth Director Stephanie Buch will gladly take RSVP’s at sbuch@shearith.org. Let her hear from you before Oct. 4.