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Jewish Journal

Jewish Journal •

In Marblehead, Temple Sinai leaders sing praises of new cantor/spiritual leader Batya Ellinoy

Around age 10, her family began spending weekends in Palo Alto, Calif., to attend Shabbat services at Congregation Kol Emeth, about an hour and a half away from their home in Monterey. Some of her earliest role models were these rabbis and lay leaders.

“I would particularly look at a couple of the rabbis and be like, ‘I want to be like them when I grow up,’” she recalled. “And not necessarily in a rabbi way – they just embodied such chesed, such love, and patience. I was very inspired by them.”
Jewish Journal •

Holding pain within joy.

Shortly before the pandemic lockdown of 2020, the late Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks posted a message on social media: “We will not be defined by our enemies,” he wrote. “We will live with the threats and even laugh at them because what we can laugh at, we cannot be held captive by.”

That, he said, is what the joy of Purim is about – surviving and thriving, even as darkness looms over us.

Rabbi Sacks passed away just about eight months after that post. This Purim on March 23-24, as the community g
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As anti-Israel furor escalates, Jewish students face crisis of faith on campus

Among non-Jewish students on American college campuses across the country, 29 percent do not want to be friends with students who support the existence of Israel as a Jewish state.

This is one of many findings from a new study by Eitan Hersh, funded by the Jim Joseph Foundation. Hersh, with the survey and analytics firm College Pulse, surveyed about 1,000 Jewish students ranging from religiously affiliated pro-Israel activists to secular/unaffiliated and unpolitical self-identifying Jews, as we
Jewish Journal •

A match made in heaven: Rabbi David Wilfond joins Andover’s Temple Emanuel

From Kyiv to London to Jerusalem – and now, to Andover: World-roving Rabbi David Wilfond has been unanimously approved by Temple Emanuel as the next spiritual leader.

“We are so excited to welcome Rabbi Wilfond to Temple Emanuel,” said Dana Katz, president of the Andover temple’s board. “Because of his deep knowledge of and passion for synagogue life, he’s a tremendous teacher who brings warmth and experience to his rabbinate, he shares his passion for Judaism with his sermons, exceptional educ
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HBI to host Israeli leader in talk about gender-based violence on Oct. 7

“Such silence is not just deafening, it’s damning,” said Cochav Elkayam-Levy, international law and human rights expert, before the UN Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women. “It traces the haunting question: are Israeli women and girls protected under international law? Is there international law for them?” she asked. “I urge you not to look away.”

Elkayam-Levy recently founded the Civil Commission on Oct. 7th Crimes by Hamas against Women and Children. This
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Y2I postponed until December in wake of Israel-Hamas war

Lappin Foundation has an­nounced that its annual summer Israel trip, Y2I (Youth to Israel) will be postponed until December 2024 because of the ongoing war in Israel and Gaza.

Back in October, in what would have been the height of Y2I’s usual recruitment season for the trip, Lappin’s staff began to consider whether the trip would be able to happen in the summer. After several postponements of information sessions and consulting with other Israel-teen-trip-planners, they made the decision to pos
Jewish Journal •

‘Auschwitz. Not Long Ago. Not Far Away.’ A groundbreaking exhibit coming to Boston

“When you were forced to undress in the dressing room of the gas chambers, that is, in some way, the last agency you still had,” said Dr. Robert Jan van Pelt, one of the world’s leading experts on the Holocaust.

He described the scene at Auschwitz: People gathered together, fingers on the buttons of their shirts, pants, removing their clothing with their own hands to make their deaths easier for their Nazi murderers.

This is a moment that, in concept, has stuck with van Pelt in his scholarship
Jewish Journal •

Holocaust Torah scroll at Temple B’nai Abraham in Beverly symbolizes resilience and hope

In February 1964, 1,564 Czech Torah scrolls were rescued from a warehouse in Prague, where they’d been stored during the Holocaust, and brought to the Westminster Synagogue in London.

On Feb. 4, 2024, one of those scrolls was cradled in the arms of bnei mitzvah students at Temple B’nai Abraham in Beverly as they celebrated the 60th anniversary of the scrolls’ rescue. Around 1,400 are currently on loan at congregations around the world.

The people in the room – around 25 in total, ranging from
Jewish Journal •

Wayland temple carries out mission to go green

Sometime in 2020, a whole lot of people began to care about air quality.

The pandemic brought about a renaissance for puzzles and sourdough, but it also made “HVAC” a colloquialism – suddenly the efficiency and quality of our air filtration systems became a serious concern to many who had never considered such a thing before.

Temple Shir Tikva in Wayland was one such group with these concerns. But what started as a need to address issues around indoor air quality and comfort ended with a radic
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Mayyim Hayyim takes modern approach to ancient Jewish practice

Mayyim Hayyim, Boston’s inclusive, open mikvah, is gearing up to offer a program to help participants wrestle with the controversial topic of niddah. Starting March 6, “Sacred Bodies, Sacred Spaces: Exploring Niddah in Our Jewish Tradition” will take place in-person and on Zoom at Mayyim Hayyim in Newton.

The program is cosponsored by Keshet, Hebrew College, Hadar, Kavod, the Hadassah Brandeis Institute, and BASE Boston. Participants will be asked to pay what they can on a sliding scale of $90
Jewish Journal •

A conversation in the laundry room leads to the chuppah for Dan and Mel Levin

It was 2013. Freshman Dan Levin found himself in the laundry room at Tulane University in New Orleans facing a dilemma: He did not know how to do laundry.

Thankfully, a fellow student was doing her laundry as well – Mel Ash (now Levin) took pity on Dan and helped him sort his clothes, despite a sneaking (and lasting) suspicion that his “ignorance” was really a ploy to talk to her.

To this day, Dan insisted, “It wasn’t a line! I wasn’t purposely hitting on her.”

Regardless, it still took a bit
Jewish Journal •

Local actor showcases mix of humor, family, and the Holocaust in ‘2.5 Minute Ride’

Allie Wittner, who grew up in Marblehead and Salem, is starring in playwright Lisa Kron’s one-person show about her family’s history, “2.5 Minute Ride.” The performances, directed by Mary Beth Brooker, runs through Feb. 4 at the Academy of Music in Northampton.

Wittner, who uses they/them pronouns, first got into the performing arts while at Lisa’s Dance Studio in Marblehead. The theater bug really took hold in high school, thanks to their theater teacher Barbara Whitney, and since, Wittner has
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‘The Einstein Effect’ reveals the humanitarian side of the genius

Somewhere in the mountains of West Virginia, there lives a rooster named Albert Einstein.

There’s also a chicken – Alberta. Both are Polish chickens, possessing a remarkable likeness to their namesake via a shock of white feathers on their heads.

The chickens’ namer and owner is Benyamin Cohen, who, in addition to being a chicken farmer with his wife Elizabeth, is the news director of the Forward, the man behind Albert Einstein’s very active social media presence, and the author of a recent bo
Jewish Journal •

These Hebrew schools have become joyful places where kids learn community

Sylvie Gordan and Noa Lewis are friends from temple. Sylvie, 10, lives in Beverly, and Noa, 11, in Gloucester, but on Tuesdays and Sundays, they find themselves in the same space at the Sylvia Cohen Family Learning Project at Temple Ahavat Achim in Gloucester.

On Tuesdays, it’s close to a 40-minute drive from the public school that Sylvie attends in Beverly, but it’s the only place that she gets to be with other Jews during the week. She knows only a couple of Jewish students at her school, and
Jewish Journal •

GEN Z: Katie Cohen, 22

Pronouns: She/her

Hometown: Peabody

Currently living in: Peabody

Alma mater(s): Temple Beth Shalom preschool, the Brown Elementary School in Peabody, Higgins Middle School, Peabody Veterans Memorial High School. I am currently attending Southern New Hampshire University, but I’ll be able to call that my alma mater in about five weeks.

Job: Student, server at a craft cocktail bar in Marblehead, and cofacilitator for the American Jewish Committee’s (AJC) Leaders for Tomorrow program.

Hob
Jewish Journal •

The Millennials: Yaniv Havusha, 38

Prounouns: he/him/his

Hometown: Swampscott

Currently living in: Salem

Alma mater(s): Cohen Hillel Academy (now Epstein Hillel), Swampscott High School, Curry College and Merrimack College (master’s degree in higher education and student affairs)

Job: Facilities manager for Epstein Hillel School

Hobbies: Reading, going to concerts and seeing live bands, seeing friends and family, being outside.

Favorite music: ‘90s and rock genre – I’m a huge Third Eye Blind fan, and go to as many of
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Chabad of Peabody offers a safe space for Jews to talk in a Jewish environment

Three years ago, Rabbi Nechemia and Raizel Schusterman of Chabad of Peabody found themselves seated in a folding-chair circle in a Peabody church basement. The church was playing host to Al-Anon, a 12-step fellowship program for those affected by another’s drinking, substance, or other addiction. They were the only visibly Jewish people there.

The Schustermans’ son, Mendy, was just beginning his journey of recovering from addiction, and as his parents, they were on a journey of their own. While
Jewish Journal •

Tensions remain high at Harvard after Gay’s departure

Claudine Gay has resigned as president of Harvard University, but the tumult of her departure has only just begun.

The news came during increasingly publicized and heated allegations of plagiarism in Gay’s scholarly work, nearly a month after the former president’s tepid responses in the Congressional hearing on antisemitism on college campuses, and after Harvard’s board assured the world she would remain in office. She is the second to resign of the three presidents who testified before Congre
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Donation helps North Andover synagogue welcome Brooksby Village residents

Earlier this year, Marc Freedman and Rabbi Idan Irelander went to Brooksby Village – a senior living facility in Peabody – to offer entertainment at the community’s Hanukkah luncheon. They left with $1,800 and 300 potential new members of Congregation Ahavat Olam in North Andover.

The two men are, respectively, the president and the rabbi/cantor of the inclusive synagogue. This was their second year performing at Brooksby for Hanukkah (some of their congregants’ parents are residents there, and
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Lappin Foundation trip to Holocaust Museum shows local law enforcement the dangers of antisemitism

Seventeen Massachusetts law enforcement professionals and town leaders recently returned from a Lappin Foundation trip to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, D.C., where they spent a full day learning about history, antisemitism, and the relevant lessons they can apply to their jobs.

Participants were Templeton Chief of Police Michael Bennett; Gloucester Chief of Police Edward Conley; Winthrop Chief of Police Terence Delehanty; Senior Advisor for Law Enforcement at the Ma
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GEN Z: Lauren Kagan, 22

Hometown: Salem

Currently living in: Salem

Alma maters: Epstein Hillel School, Gann Academy, UMass Amherst

Job: Deputy chief of staff for Israel on Campus Coalition

Hobbies: I love to travel, I love to read, and just spending time with family and friends … I love adventures.

Favorite music: Country

Favorite movies: “Legally Blonde”

Favorite TV show: “New Girl”

Favorite books: “Magnolia Parks” series, and “The Inheritance Games” series

Favorite travel destination: Israel, obviou
Jewish Journal •

A bold move for a Conservative synagogue: Shirat Hayam’s cantor performs interfaith weddings

Sarah Freudenberger has spent a lot of time being told “no.”

A year and a half out of college, the “no” came from cantorial schools when she applied for ordination. Months later, when she got engaged, it came from the three rabbis she had worked

with at a Reform temple in Florida, when she asked if they would officiate her wedding.

Both refusals were because – like 42 percent of the married American Jewish population surveyed in a 2020 Pew study – Freudenberger’s spouse is not a Jew. Peter,
Jewish Journal •

THE MILLENNIALS: Jeremy Meyer, 29

Hometown: Marblehead

Currently living in: Arlington, Va.

Alma mater(s): Cohen Hillel Academy; Marblehead High School, 2012; University of Iowa, 2016.

Job: Senior director at Make Plays Media.

Hobbies: I am big into family time, I enjoy reading books and exercising and watching sports as well – watching my alma mater, the University of Iowa, watching all Boston sports teams.

Favorite music: Classic rock. I grew up in a Bruce Springsteen household, so Springsteen, Billy Joel, and U2. And
Jewish Journal •

Elite colleges like Harvard and MIT face the ‘task of educating a generation’ about antisemitism

CAMBRIDGE – Talia Khan spoke on the phone from a hotel room in Brazil. She was there for a conference she attended as a graduate student at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and at the same time, she was fielding calls from the press.

Khan, it seems, has become the de facto speaker, public relations contact, and champion for Israel and Jewish students at MIT. “I get texts and emails every single day from current students, telling me about another antisemitic event,” she said from the c
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