By Sharon Wisch-Ray
sharonw@texasjewishpost.com

Thanks to Lynn Baskind, who reminded us that the Texas Jewish Arts Association invites eighth-to 12th-graders to participate in the upcoming Student Showcase to be held Oct. 11-18, at the JCC. Submission deadline is Sept. 24.
Please submit your applications to Wendy Cramer at Levine Academy: wcramer@levineacademy.org.
Entry forms are available on Facebook: www.facebook.com/texasjewisharts?fref=ts or
http://www.texasjewisharts.org/event/2015/8/12/tjaa-first-ever-student-showcase-beginnings

Juried art show

Beth Hickman was winner of the Texas Jewish Arts Association 2015 Juried Membership Show, juried by Kenneth Craighead of Craighead Green Gallery, Dallas. The exhibition ran Aug. 7–29 at the Fort Worth Community Arts Center, 1300 Gendy St. in Fort Worth.
Lynn Baskind shared, “Hickman says of her winning piece Eye of the Beholder, ‘I wanted to do a self-portrait telling the viewer that art is just what each of us sees in a painting.’ She holds a magnifying glass up to her eye.
“But a group of us huddled around her painting at the show opening. We saw something quite different. Someone suggested she was holding a decorative glass bottle to her eye. ‘There is a custom that a woman’s grieving tears are collected to measure the depth or her mourning.’
“One cannot pass this 36-inch by 36-inch highly novel painting without a gasp of curiosity and a compulsion to explore its beauty and meaning. Clearly Beth is in love with her palette of dancing colors, masterfully choreographed in her elegant oils.
“In her bio, Beth says, ‘My artist’s palette is my unifying element. It holds me together when thoughts and moods otherwise might change my direction. In fact I love my palette so much that I have several of them splotched with vibrant, varied oil paints in my studio refrigerator. They are available to me at a moment’s notice for mixing together to create new ideas.’ Clearly this lady is continually inspired!”
Runner-up winner was Jack Schecter with his meticulously balanced kinetic mobile.

New exhibit at Holocaust Museum

Dallas Holocaust Museum/Center for Education and Tolerance will open its new special exhibit, “Holocaust by Bullets, Yahad-In Unum — 10 Years of Investigations,” with a reception and lecture on Sept. 10. The exhibition is presented and sponsored by the Catholic Diocese of Dallas.
Based on 10 years of research and investigation by the French organization Yahad-In Unum, the exhibit chronicles the lesser-known side of the Holocaust in which approximately 2 million Jews were shot to death and left in unmarked mass graves across Ukraine, Belarus and Russia. “Holocaust by Bullets” will run through Dec. 31 and is presented in English and Spanish.
“Although many people are aware of the atrocities committed against people during the Holocaust in concentration and death camps, much less is known about the thousands and thousands of individuals killed by the bullets of Nazis and their collaborators throughout Eastern Europe,” said Mary Pat Higgins, the Museum’s president and CEO. “It is so important that we continue to study these sites and the testimonies of witnesses as, tragically, this method of killing continues to be used in genocides to this day.”
The mass killings of Jews (as well as the Roma, Hungary murders and the deaths of the disabled) started before the creation of concentration camps and gas chambers and continued until World War II’s end. More than 1,700 mass killing sites in Europe have been identified.
Modern-day massacres in areas such as Cambodia, Rwanda, Darfur, the Balkans and Syria frequently are similar to these village-by-village, on-site massacres perpetrated by the Nazis and their collaborators.
The exhibit created by Yahad-In Unum and its founder, French Catholic priest Father Patrick Desbois, uses eyewitness testimonies, photographs and maps to help viewers learn more about this aspect of history and challenge new generations to use this knowledge to face issues of anti-Semitism, hatred and violence today. “Holocaust by Bullets” details the five stages that were part of each massacre — the arrest, the road, the undressing, the shooting, and after the executions, the looting.
“We are grateful for the opportunity to bring this important and heart-wrenching exhibit to Dallas. ‘Holocaust by Bullets’ brings to light the profound work of Father Patrick Desbois to uncover the truth behind the gruesome and inhumane murders of 2 million Jews,” said Kevin J. Farrell, bishop of the Catholic Diocese of Dallas. “The exhibit’s unique design aims to draw the visitor in to become a ‘witness’ to the crime and therefore create a deeper understanding of the genocide.”
The exhibit’s opening reception will begin at 5:30 p.m. on Sept. 10. The talk will begin at 6:30 p.m. with opening remarks by Bishop Farrell. Yahad-In Unum Director Marco Gonzalez and Project Manager Alexis Kosarevskyi will provide a behind the scenes look at the organization’s operation.

AJC annual meeting

At its annual meeting from 7 to 9 p.m., Thursday, Sept. 10, AJC will install its 2015-2016 slate of officers. Featured speakers will be Consul General Eitan Levon, consul general of Israel to the Southwest, and AJC Director of Political Outreach and Office of Government and International Affairs Julie Fishman Rayman. Their topic will be “Healing Potential Rifts: How the Iran Deal Impacts the Jewish Community.”
The meeting is free and open to the pubic and will be held at Shearith Israel, 9401 Douglas Ave.
Dietary laws will be observed at the dessert reception. Please RSVP by Sept. 7 to Dallas@ajc.org or 972-387-2943.

The Hospitalist on tap at Hadassah Book Club

Members of Dallas Chapter of Hadassah have been reading The Hospitalist, a fictional medical thriller, by Plano gastroenterologist, Dr. Michael Weisberg.
The Hadassah Evening Book Club will welcome Dr. Weisberg at 7:30 p.m., Wednesday, Sept. 9, at the JCC, 7900 Northaven Road, for a discussion and book signing. Dr. Weisberg will discuss how the art of medicine has become a business in the 21st century and how that has impacted the doctor-patient relationship.
This meeting is open to all Hadassah members, their significant others and friends. For further information or questions please contact Jo Zeffren, jojerz@tx.rr.com or call 972-239-7643. Call or email and let us know you’re coming.

Noah E. Shafron receives national honor

Noah E. Shafron, son of Jackie and Larry Shafron, has been selected to become a member of The National Society of High School Scholars (NSHSS). Noah attends Texas Torah Institute in Dallas. The Society recognizes top scholars who have demonstrated outstanding leadership, scholarship and community commitment. The announcement was made by NSHSS Founder and Chairman Claes Nobel, senior member of the family that established the Nobel Prizes.
“On behalf of NSHSS, I am honored to recognize the hard work, sacrifice and commitment that Noah has demonstrated to achieve this exceptional level of academic excellence,” said Mr. Nobel. “Noah is now a member of a unique community of scholars — a community that represents our very best hope for the future.”
“We are proud to provide lifetime membership to young scholars to support their growth and development,” stated NSHSS President James W. Lewis. “We aim to help students like Noah build on their academic success by connecting them with unique learning experiences and resources to help prepare them for college and meaningful careers.” NSHSS members become lifetime members. At each step along the way — from high school to college to career — NSHSS connects outstanding young scholars with the resources they need to develop their strengths and pursue their passions.
Formed in 2002 by James W. Lewis and Claes Nobel, senior member of the family that established the Nobel Prizes, The National Society of High School Scholars recognizes academic excellence at the high school level and helps to advance the goals and aspirations of high-achieving millennials through unique learning experiences, scholarships, internships, international study and peer networks.
Currently there are more than 1 million Society members in 160 countries.