By Linda Wisch-Davidsohn

‘StandWithUs Israeli Soldiers’ Stories’ to be presented in Dallas

Two former Israeli soldiers, Ben and Daniel, will make multiple appearances in Dallas next week as part of the StandWithUs Israeli Soldiers Stories program. They will be at the Moishe House at 7:30 p.m., Feb. 13, and at the BBYO International Convention Opening Ceremonies at 8:30 p.m., Feb. 14 as well as the Oneg from 9:45 to 10:30 p.m. The BBYO convention is being held at the Hyatt Regency downtown.
They are also scheduled to speak at The Watermark Church on Feb. 12.
Daniel is an alumnus of the StandWithUs Israel Fellowship of 2012 at Tel Aviv University, and has a degree in computer science and economics. He served in the Israeli Air Force as a surveillance and reconnaissance operator. He is currently in active reserve service as a captain, serving 70 days of reserve duty every year, and has also worked abroad in more than five countries as a UAV (unmanned airplanes vehicle) instructor. Daniel served in the IDF during the 2008-2009 Operation Cast Lead against Hamas in Gaza. He provides perspective of what it was like to have a bird’s-eye view of rockets flying out of the Gaza Strip at innocent Israelis in Southern Israel. In his spare time, Daniel loves sports, dancing and exploring the world.
Ben is a native of Denver, Colo. and moved to Israel at the height of the second intifada in September 2001, at the age of 13 with his family. He joined the IDF at the age of 18 in 2007 and served his mandatory three-year service in the elite special forces unit of Maglan. Today Ben is a student of Political Studies and Urban Studies at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and is a graduate of The StandWithUs Israel Fellowship of 2012.
Dan and Ben will recount their personal experiences of serving in the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) as StandWithUs, the international Israel education organization, launches its sixth and largest “Israeli Soldiers Speak” (ISS) tour. They are among 13 soldier-citizens who will tour from February through April 2014, share their backgrounds, interests and life in Israel and answer questions.
“Israeli Soldiers’ Stories” is an innovative program featuring a diverse group of reserve duty Israeli college students. Their mission is to educate, inform, and delve into conversations about the Israeli-Arab conflict by putting a human face to the IDF uniform. Participants have combat experience and are members of the StandWithUs Israel Fellowship, an elite public diplomacy program in its eighth year for student leaders at six major Israeli universities.

‘Lawyers without Rights’ exhibit continues

The highly-acclaimed international exhibit, “Lawyers Without Rights: Jewish Lawyers in Germany under the Third Reich,” continues through Feb. 13.
The showing at Temple Shalom is sponsored by the Temple Shalom Brotherhood and Dallas Holocaust Museum/Center for Education and Tolerance in conjunction with the American Bar Association and German Federal Bar. The exhibit has been shown in more than 40 cities in Germany and throughout the world, and is making its first trip to the Dallas area.
The idea for the exhibit was conceived in 1998 when an Israeli lawyer asked the regional bar of Berlin for a list of Jewish lawyers whose licenses had been revoked by the Nazi regime.
“The regional bar decided not only to research a list of names but also to try to find out more about the fates behind all those names,” said Axel Filges, president of the German Federal Bar. “Some were able to leave the country after the Nazis came into power, but very many of them were incarcerated or murdered. The non-Jewish German lawyers of those days remained silent. They failed miserably, and so did the lawyers’ organizations. We do not know why.”
After the Berlin bar transformed its research into an exhibit, other regional bars began asking whether they could show it and add their own research. “So, like a puzzle, a portrait of the fate of Jewish lawyers in Germany has emerged step by step,” Filges said.

Herzl Hadassah to review ‘The Golden Medina’

Join Herzl Hadassah at the JCC Monday, Feb. 10, to hear co-author Nancy Reuben Greenfield review the new book, “The Golden Medina: 1914 New York City Jewish Family Saga Meets the Mafia.”
Rose Biderman keeps us all abreast of Herzl Hadassah’s news, and for that we are very grateful.
Rose states that “everyone is welcome to the Herzl meeting at 10 a.m., Monday, Feb. 10 at the Aaron Family JCC, to hear Dallas’ own Nancy Reuben Greenfield review her new book. Plans will also be discussed for the popular Lifesaver Luncheon, which will be held at 11 a.m., March 10 at the Legacy at Willow Bend. Transportation arrangements for the luncheon will be available at the February meeting. Members and guests will also have the opportunity to reserve their luncheon tickets and sign up for raffle tickets.”

Oscar talk at Beth Torah

Chris Vognar and Stephen Becker, two of Dallas’ leading film critics, will be the Sunday breakfast guests at Congregation Beth Torah Sunday, Feb. 16. The lox-and-bagel breakfast is jointly sponsored by the Sisterhood and Men’s Club at the Richardson synagogue.
Vognar, the long-time film critic for The Dallas Morning News, and Becker, a reporter, producer and critic for KERA radio, will chat about movies, preview the Academy Awards and discuss all things cinematic. Breakfast begins at 9 a.m., admission is $10, and the public is invited.
Beth Torah is located at 720 W. Lookout Drive in Richardson, near the crossroads of Central Expressway and Bush Turnpike. For more information, call the synagogue at 972-234-1542.

News and notes

• Makom, a project of Shearith Israel, was awarded a $20,000 Ignition Grant from the Covenant Foundation last month. The one-year grant is intended to expand and enhance Makom, an initiative designed to inspire and engage the next generation of Jewish adults and leaders in the Dallas metropolitan area.
Mazel tov to Rabbi David Singer and his leadership team of Brad Altman, Harlan Davis, Jess Dudley, Rachel Duitch, Dani Golan, Sarah Golman, Josh Kretchmer, Elana Lavi, Scott Pincus and Danielle Rugoff.
• When the Jewish Community Centers of North America convenes its 2014 Biennial, the Aaron Family JCC will receive two Zahav awards for its J HOTBOX Weekly E-blast and Parent Showcase week.
The Zahav Award recognizes truly outstanding, visionary initiatives with maximum impact or potential for change, which this entry certainly demonstrates. Sharing this entry with the field may have a transformative effect on the JCC Movement and all the people it touches.
• Collection for the Younger Set’s community mitzvah project continues through the Women’s Event on Feb. 14. Feminine hygiene items can be brought to the Women’s Event, or delivered to boxes around the community by Feb. 10.
Items needed are hairspray, body lotion, disposable razors/creams, shampoo/conditioner, mouthwash, toothpaste, toothbrushes, maxi pads, tampons, panty liners and adult feminine disposable underwear. All items must be new and unopened.
Items can be delivered to Aaron Family JCC Sports & Fitness and Preschool Entrances, Adat Chaverim, Akiba Lower/Upper School, Akiba Preschool, Anshai Torah, Beth Israel, Beth Torah, Chabad Intown, Chabad of Dallas, Chabad of Plano, DATA of Far North Dallas, DATA of Plano, Levine Academy ECC/Lower/Middle School, Moishe House, Shaare Tefilla, Shearith Israel, Temple Emanu-El, Temple Shalom, Tiferet Israel and Yavneh Academy.
• Did you know in 1998, Mitzvah Central began as a resource for students to find volunteer opportunities in the community to fulfill school service hours or for bar/bat mitzvah requirements? Mitzvah Central continues to fulfill that purpose, and it serves as a great resource for many adults as well.
Now in its fifteenth-anniversary year, “Mitzvah Central” lists volunteer opportunities from more than 110 Jewish and non-Jewish organizations throughout the Dallas area — from tutoring programs to summer camps to exotic wildlife sanctuaries.
The newsletter is produced three times a year and is emailed to numerous congregations and churches; to counselors at public, private and parochial schools; and to community-service staff in local school districts.