(From left) JCRS Development Director Mark Rubin and board members Marty and Marilyn Englander, Hank and Dr. Harlan Pollack, Lisa and David Gurievsky, Lindsey and Josh Hochschuler, and JCRS Executive Director Ned Goldberg.
Compiled by Sharon Wisch-Ray
sharon@tjpnews.com
A Roger Friedman short story
Roger Friedman is well-known to many members of the Metroplex who grew up with him at Echo Hill Ranch. Friedman’s parents, Min and Dr. Tom Friedman, founded Echo Hill in 1952 and Roger assumed the mantle along with his wife Roz following the death of “Uncle Tom” in August 2002.
What you might not know about Roger is that he is a talented author. In August, he and co-authors Monte Akers and Nathan Akers released Tower Sniper: The Terror of America’s First Active Shooter on Campus, published by John M. Hardy Publishers of Houston.
The work explores the history and traumatic legacy of the mass shooting that occurred Aug. 1, 1966 in Austin by student Charles Whitman, from the observation deck of the University of Texas Tower.
Paul Sonntag, Friedman’s best childhood friend and his girlfriend Claudia Rutt, were among the 14 people killed on campus that day. The book honors the victims and heroes on this 50th Anniversary of the shooting, and hopefully brings some healing to everyone touched by a type of public tragedy that haunts across America to this day.
Roger will be reading his award-winning short story, A Diamond in the Rough, between 1-5 p.m., Sunday, Nov. 6 at Half Price Books, 5803 E. Northwest Hwy. A Diamond in the Rough won first place in the non-fiction biography division of the contest sponsored by Texas Association of Authors, which is also sponsoring the reading. Tower Sniper will also be on hand for purchase.
Dr. Roger S. Friedman is a licensed psychologist and social worker with more than 33 years of clinical experience in providing individual, couples and family therapy. He serves as adjunct faculty at the University Of Maryland Graduate School Of Social Work where he received the Dean’s Outstanding Teaching Award in 2012, 2014 and 2015 and teaches graduate courses in family therapy and psychopathology.
Dr. Friedman provides consultation, training and organizational development services with focus on clinical assessment skills, family-centered practice and the impact of secondary traumatic stress on helpers. He has consulted with the Maryland Office of Adult Services, the DHR State Office of Child Protective Services, many local departments of social services in Maryland and state child welfare systems in Georgia, Texas, Arkansas and Pennsylvania.
He has presented workshops at national conferences and published over 15 articles on secondary trauma in human services, organizational change and family practice in social work. He is a member of the National Association of Social Workers, American Psychological Association, and a Fellow of the Maryland Psychological Association. He serves on the Editorial Board of the Journal of Family Strength.
Roger and his wife Roz Beroza have three grown children.
Adat Chaverim Sisterhood Annual Paid-Up Membership Event
Enjoy schmoozing, a dairy lunch, and meet special guest Leah Lax, author of Uncovered for the 2016 Adat Chaverim Sisterhood Paid-Up Membership Event from 1 to 4 p.m., Sunday, Nov. 6 in the Adat Chaverim Social Hall.
Leah Lax’s debut memoir follows her life from Hasidic Jew to openly gay woman, relating her journey of self-discovery. The event is free for current Sisterhood members; or $18 for guests and non-members. For more information and to RSVP, go to sisterhood@adatchaverim.org to reserve your seat by Nov. 1. Checks should be made out to Adat Chaverim Sisterhood and sent to Adat Chaverim Sisterhood, 6300A Independence Pkwy., Plano, TX 75023 by the above deadline.
If you join Sisterhood within 60 days of this event, your cover charge will be applied to your membership dues ($45).
— Submitted by Sharyn Diamond
Beth Torah Scholar-in-Residence: Dr. David Patterson — Anti-Semitism: Just Under the Surface
Congregation Beth Torah in Richardson will welcome Dr. David Patterson, Hillel A. Feinberg Chair in Holocaust Studies in the Ackerman Center at the University of Texas at Dallas as its scholar-in-residence Nov. 4-5.
Patterson is a winner of the National Jewish Book Award as well as the Koret Jewish Book Award. He has published more than 35 books and 200 articles with his most recent books including The Holocaust and the Non-Representable (forthcoming); Anti-Semitism and Its Metaphysical Origins (2015); Genocide in Jewish Thought (2012); A Genealogy of Evil: Anti-Semitism from Nazism to Islamic Jihad (2011); and Emil L. Fackenheim: A Jewish Philosopher’s Response to the Holocaust (2008).
The schedule is:
- Nov 4 — Dr. Patterson will speak on “The Why of Anti-Semitism through the Lens of Judaism,” following 6:30 p.m., Shabbat services.
- Nov. 5 — Dr. David Patterson will continue his discussion with a d’var Torah during 9:30 a.m. services and discussion after lunch on “Contemporary Anti-Semitism: From Left-Wing Intellectuals to Islamic Jihadists.”
Cost is $36 for members, $45 for non-members and $10 for students.
For more information, contact Beth Torah at 972-234-1542. The synagogue is located at 720 Lookout Drive in Richardson.
Blue ribbon
Mazal Tov to Susan Gremm Alterman who took home a first-place blue ribbon from the State Fair of Texas for her needlepoint rug.
