Amira's Posts

Original Article Published on The Jewish Ledger

NEW HAVEN — Elie Wiesel, Abraham Joshua Heschel and Rabbi Hillel would have been proud.

The Jewish Community Relations Council (JCRC) and the Jewish Federation of Greater New Haven assembled a group of Jewish, Christian and community groups for a rally at New Haven City Hall, on Dec. 10, Human Rights Day, to focus attention on the atrocities in the Darfur region of the Sudan.

Dr. Milton Wallack, chairman of the JCRC, served as moderator of the rally which featured eight speakers, including rabbis, ministers, an alderman, and an aide to Rep. Rosa DeLauro. “We are here to stop the inhumanity, to express outrage, to appeal to the government to do even more,” explained Wallack. “More than 70,000 people have been killed due to the fighting, disease and malnutrition since March, 2004; two million people have been driven from their homes; and 350,000 are expected to be killed in future months.” Wallack continued, “We cannot and will not accept inhumanity to mankind. That is why we have assembled this interfaith, intercommunity group.”

Sydney Perry, executive director of the Jewish Federation of Greater

New Haven, delivered a passionate address which recounted atrocities of the past century and stressed the Jewish imperative to “remember.” “I have been to Auschwitz-Birkenau four times and I ask, NOT Where was God?’ but Where was man?’” Perry stated. She told the crowd it is time for decisive action to stop “wholesale destruction of villages, poisoning of wells and government backed killing militias.”

Rev. Eric Smith, president of Interfaith Cooperative Ministries, reminded the group that “people of all faiths stand for righteousness” and that we must “stand up for justice.” Rabbi Rick Eisenberg, spiritual leader of Congregation B’nai Jacob and a member of the board of the JCRC quoted from the Torah and Abraham Joshua Heschel and offered hope that “the lights of Chanukah and the Christmas season will help brighten these dark days of late autumn and early winter. We pray for the determination to bring light and hope to alleviate suffering in Darfur.”

Other speakers, including Alderman Yusuf Shah, Yale student and Yale Daily News columnist James Kirchick, and David Waren, executive director, Connecticut Regional Office of the Anti-Defamation League, offered history, stories and calls to action to address the situation in Darfur.

According to various information packets distributed at the rally, Darfur is an impoverished region in western Sudan. Darfur is part of a longstanding civil conflict over land, resources and political power. The Sudanese Government has backed Arab militias, known as the Janjaweed. The Janjaweed reportedly “ride into villages on horses and camels, killing men, raping women, destroying the villages and stealing whatever they can find.”

Rally leaders reminded the group that the rally was being held on Human Rights Day. They said that humanitarian agencies have run into roadblocks, including lack of funds from the international community and Sudanese bureaucratic obstacles.

At the conclusion of the rally, attendees were encouraged to sign petitions “calling upon the Government of Sudan and the United Nations to take immediate steps to alleviate the human suffering and to urge the international community to take decisive action to end the atrocities and to allow humanitarian aid to reach the starving, injured and displaced refugees of the region.”

For more information, call the JCRC at (203) 387-2424 ext. 318.

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Original Article Published On The Jewish Ledger

NEW HAVEN — By the time Jason Lieberman, director of community and government affairs for Yachad, the National Council for Jewish Disabilities, finished telling the story of Miri and the horse, the men, women and children of the Westville Synagogue were in tears.

Lieberman spoke of 26-year-old Miri, who always wanted to ride a horse, but had always been denied the right due to poor muscle control. One day, reports Lieberman, the Yachad group went horseback riding. The advisors heard Miri’s pleas to ride a horse and saw her tears, so they moved into action.

“With one advisor in front of Miri, and one behind her, and two advisors on either side, we got Miri on the horse,” Lieberman recalled. “It took 25 minutes to get her on and 25 minutes to get her off, and she rode for all of five minutes, but Miri finally realized her dream. Her mother called the office later that day, in tears, to express her appreciation.”

Westvillle Synagogue recently hosted members of Yachad for this Shabbaton weekend, which included an evening of Carlebach-style davening, dinner, divrei Torah, singing and dancing.

A total of 175 congregants, Yachad members and college students from Yeshiva University and Stern College’s “Torah Tours” came together for Shabbat dinner at the synagogue together before members of the shul, who had opened their homes to 35 New York and Boston area Yachad members, had to rush to the synagogue to shuttle their guests to their homes minutes before Shabbat began.

Adults from the synagogue ate, sang and danced together at the Friday night dinner and children stayed in shul all day to interact with the Yachad group. The Shabbaton continued when everyone returned to the synagogue one hour after Shabbat for a magic show, musical performance and ice cream sundaes.

At an address to the congregation, Jason Lieberman, who ascended the bimah with his two metal crutches, shared the history of Yachad and its range of services to members of the Jewish community with special needs. He spoke of the philosophy of inclusion and what it truly means to be inclusive.

Lieberman thanked the congregation for making the participants at the

New Haven Shabbaton feel so included.

“Yachad means together,” said Lieberman. “That is what Yachad is all about!”

Nechama Cheses, Yachad’s New England coordinator, is a veteran of such Shabbatons. She helped coordinate a similar Shabbaton three years ago and contacted the synagogue to see if another larger Shabbaton might be possible.

“We wanted to bring the two groups together, to interact with their counterparts in another city,” notes Cheses. Program Director Sarah Galena of Rayim Yachad, the group for Yachad members over age 25, agreed.

“Yachad’s purpose is to bring the community and people with disabilities together,” reports Galena. “The Westville community welcomed us, accepted us and embraced us.”

Community member Larry Pinsky stopped by to visit with his brother, Steve, who was a participant on the Yachad Shabbaton. And Yachad members, Mordechai David, 39, and his wife of four years, Tova David, summed up their favorite part of the Shabbaton by saying, “The best part of the Shabbaton was meeting new people!”

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Original Article Published On The Jewish Ledger

GUILFORD – For the Greenberg family, Thanksgiving is all of the Jewish holidays rolled into one.

“This is our holiday!” says Wendy Greenberg, mother of Adam Greenberg, an outfielder who has thus far played on Double and Triple A teams in the Chicago Cubs organization.

“With Adam on the road ten months of the year, it is hard to celebrate the September holidays and Passover together as a family,” notes Wendy, who said she and husband Mark were pleased that four out of five of their children were together this Thanksgiving.

Max, 20, had a good excuse or not being there – he his studying abroad in Australia. His absence was partially offset by the attendance of new brother-in-law Mike Ball, who joined the family in June when he married Keri, the Greenberg’s oldest daughter. Adam 23, is finally home after what he describes as “ten months straight of baseball, baseball, baseball.”

This is Greenberg’s time to “rest mind and body” and otherwise “regroup.”

As a member of a small group of Jewish ballplayers which includes Sandy Koufax, Hank Greenberg and current players Shawn Green and Gabe Kapler, Greenberg, with his obviously Jewish name, has heard all of the usual questions.

“Are you related to Hank Greenberg?” he is frequently asked.

“It is always put in my face,” Adam says. “The truth is – my grandfather’s name was Hank Greenberg. So, yes, Hank Greenberg is my grandfather (but no relation to the famous baseball player). But, until I saw the movie about the baseball player, which was pretty amazing, I hadn’t realized what he had to go through (as a Jew) when he played baseball – with the fans, his service in the military, etc.”

At Guilford High, Adam excelled on the baseball, soccer and basketball teams. He was the first player in Connecticut history to be named to four All-State teams, and he graduated with honors. Even with his busy schedule and dedication to sports, Greenberg found time to attend Hebrew school at Temple Beth Tikvah in Madison, where he celebrated his bar mitzvah.

Following graduation, Greenberg attended the University of North Carolina, where he was a scholar/athlete, majoring in communications.

Following Adam’s career has been a family affair for the close-knit, athletic clan. Various family members trekked to North Carolina to see Adam’s baseball games. And the family speaks with Adam daily during the season.

“He shares his highs and lows,” reports Wendy.

There were a few lows at UNC, when Greenberg would hear negative comments from teammates about being Jewish.

“Most had never met a Jewish person. I did hear a few wisecracks, but most were just curious and wanted to learn. So I found myself explaining a lot about Judaism,” says Greenberg.

Greenberg, 5’9”, is able to play all three outfield positions, with a reputation as a solid lead-off hitter with a high on-base percentage.

In 2002, Greenberg was drafted by the Cubs in the ninth round of the First-Year Player Draft. He has spent several summers in the Florida State League with a team in Daytona. After a stellar season playing in the outfield and hitting.291 in 91 games, he was sent to West Tennessee, a Double-A team before being again promoted – this time, Greenberg was sent to the Triple-A Iowa team, for the playoffs.

Then he had a chance to compete for the big league job, when he was sent to the Arizona Fall League. There, he hit.328 and stole four bases in 67 at-bats with the Mesa Solar Sox.

Where will Greenberg be when spring training comes? “They don’t tell you until the day before you have to leave,” notes Greenberg.

As of now, Greenberg is still a member of the Cubs organization. But he was not

“protected” by the Cubs and is therefore not a member of their 40-man roster. This means that, under Rule 5, he is eligible for the one-day draft in December—where he may remain with the Cubs or be picked up by another team.

For now, Greenberg will enjoy his time home with his family and await word of where he will report come February.

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Original Article Published On The Jewish Ledger

Kosher – tasty, diverse and healthy – is all the rage

Believe it or not, there are now 82,000 kosher certified products available to consumers. This statistic is one of many fascinating “impressive facts” reported by Lubicon Marketing and Consulting studies and listed in the Kosherfest 2004 Official Directory and Buyers Guide.

Kosher is all the rage. It is increasingly tasty, trendy, diverse and healthy. And it is big business here and around the world.

Attendees at Kosherfest 2004, held Oct. 26-27 at the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center in New York, had a chance to read statistics (“the kosher market has a dollar value of $6,750,000,000), attend seminars (two examples: “The Low-Carb Scene: Passing Fad or Ethnic Opportunity,” and “Marketing Pareve to a Health Conscious Mass

Market”), see, touch and (most importantly) taste many new kosher products first hand. As this was my fourth Kosherfest, I entered with a “strategy” – I’d visit the Connecticut vendors, see what’s new from Israel, check out people who came from such faraway countries as Australia, Argentina and Hungary, stop by the folks from more unusual American states – including Kentucky, Iowa, Wisconsin and South Dakota – and finally see if I could spot new trends or unusual products.

Delegates are invited to sample foods, take a brochure (and often a freebie – magnet, pen, bag of chips, candy, etc.), and daven Mincha “every half hour, on the half hour” (as the signs advertise).

What follows is a subjective account of one reporter’s “day at the fest.”

Local Businesses

I was pleased to see two companies from the Nutmeg State who I had met last year.

Asian Menu Sauces (http://www.asianmenusauces.com) of Stamford, Conn., was again displaying their fine line of sauces, marinades and dips. And Bigelow Tea Company of Fairfield, Conn., (http://www.bigelowtea.com) was offering samples of their flavored teas. I was delighted to learn that flavored teas are now certified kosher for Passover.

Westport Baking Company and The Challah Connection (http://www.westportbakingcompany.com; http://www.challahconnection.com) a Westport, Conn., company started 10 years ago as a “challah subscription service” and now offering kosher baked goods all over the country, was passing out literature describing the many ways they can work with businesses to “make your baked goods purchases meet your business objectives.”

Vendors from Israel

Kosherfest attendees have all come to love the “Fine Foods from Israel” display which keeps getting bigger and better. This year, more than 40 different Israeli food and beverage companies were in attendance – and they represented hundreds of products – from ice cream, cookies and candies, to prepared meals, deli meats and wines.

The “Fine Foods from Israel” campaign is pleased that U.S imports have risen 60 percent in 2004, and food, beverage and wine production represented 30 percent of Israel’s industrial revenue, or more than $12 million.

So, what’s “hot” from Israel this year?

Israel won several awards in the “new products” competition, including

Jerusalem Gourmet Rugelach (from Jerusalem Gourmet Products) in the Best New Dessert category, Tirat Tzvi smoked marble turkey in the Best New Meat or Deli Item category, and Kineret Nuggets with cheese in the “Best New Israeli Item” category.

Matzot Avid Ltd. of Bnei Brak won the award for its matzah storage box in the best new packaging design category.

I was impressed with the range of deli products displayed by Of Tov Products of Beit Shean, Israel. Of Tov is the largest and most modern state-of-the-art chicken and turkey plant in Israel and the Middle East. They are major suppliers of the McDonald’s restaurant chain in Israel.

Their range of schnitzel (breaded cutlets), grilled products (turkey shwarma, chicken shishlik, and hamburgers, to name a few), and tasty Hod Lavan deli meats (turkey pastrami, turkey breast, etc.) and frankfurters caught my eye. I could only dream of how tasty they would be with one of the many new wines from Israel – including Ella Valley Select Cuvee Semi Dry (Allied Importers) and the eight new selections from Israel’s Noah Winery, imported by the Abarbanel Wine Company.

Dairy food aficionados would be impressed with the range of sheep and goat milk products produced by Pastures of Eden, including goat milk cheese and sheep milk feta Balkan style.

If you are overwhelmed by the choices and momentarily forget which blessing to say after you eat a certain food, try purchasing the Food Blessing Pen, produced on Moshav Netaim. The pull-out blessing page is stored inside the pen and “rolls out” as needed.

Kosher products from around the world
Muller (http://www.mullerfood.com.ar) of Buenes Aires, Argentina, offers “Argentine Purest Kosher Beef,” and has such products as pastrami, meatballs in tomato sauce, Bolognese sauce, and roast beef in tomato sauce. The Muller brochure notes that “our meat comes in pouch packaging: it does not require refrigeration or special preservation methods. It is meant to keep for long periods of time while maintaining its original flavor.” The brochure then mentions what any kosher traveler likes to hear: “ideal for trips and outings, to take on vacation or for meals at home.”

When I came across Ron Gross and Arie Moses and their beautiful refrigerated display at the Canterbury Foods booth, I wondered how they could possibly get themselves and their wonderful line of Lemnos Foods (http://www.lemnosfoods.com) to New York – all the way from Victoria, Australia.

Of course the youghurts, haloumi, feta cheese, ricotta dip, paneer were all shipped and (luckily) arrived at roughly the same time as Gross and Moses.

The cheeses are dually certified, assuring both observant Muslims and Jews that they are in prepared accordance with their dietary laws.

Moses and Gross, like so many at Kosherfest, were in search of a distributor.

Not that Australia only produces kosher cheeses. Gigante Coffee of Victoria, Australia (http://www.gigante.com.au) proudly displayed their high quality coffee beans, and Beckett’s Flat Winery (“in the heart of the Margarent River Wine Region” of Western Australia) at http://www.beckettsflat.com.au displayed their kosher wines, including 2003 and 2004 Kosher Shiraz, Chardonnay, Cerise and Semillon Sauvignon Blanc. Their brochure indicates that they are “seeking international distribution.”

One way to judge the likely success of a new product is by the line at the vendor’s booth. The founder’s of Chip n Dip of Johannesburg, South Africa (http://www.chipndip.co.za) are marketing a rather simple concept: French fries in a cone shaped cup with various topping sauces available. From spicy ketchup to honey mustard to 1000 Island, to garlic and herb, hot chilli and mushroom, customers can enjoy fresh, hot French fries with their favorite toppings “pumped” on top.

Sadly, I didn’t see Danziger Gold from Julianstown, Ireland (http://www.danzigergold.com) and their line of alcoholic beverages, and I didn’t have time to visit kosher-certified vendors from France, Switzerland and the Netherlands.

The great States of the U.S.

I was impressed to see some off-the-beaten-track states represented. Daniel Meuers of Roland Marketing of Fridley, Minnesota was displaying Franny’s Organic Jumbo Raisins. Great Skott Foods of Milwaukee, Wisconsin was displaying their line of premium nuts and dried fruits (I loved the dried peaches).

Eagle Ranch Pistachios of Alamogordo, New Mexico (http://www.eagleranchpistachiosm) was displaying their line of Heart of the Desert products, including pistachio nuts, pistachio brittle, pistachio caramel popcorn and pistachio crunch. And their pistachios now come in green lime and lemon-lime flavors!

My Family Farm of Fort Thomas, Kentucky

(http://www.myfamilyfarm.org) was giving out samples of their cookies and crackers, from Artic Bear Lemon cookies, to

Brown Bear Chocolate Dipped Vanilla Cookies, to Surf Snacks Pizza Baked Crackers to Captain’s Catch Cheese Baked Crackers (the closest kosher kids will get to goldfish crackers!). Not only were the products tasty, but they are certified organic and/or all natural, they contain no hydrogenated oils, artificial colors, flavors or preservatives, and the company has a mission: “to use earned income to help effective non-profit organizations obtain the resources they need to protect, nurture, and empower children.”

Solomon’s Finest Glatt Kosher Meats made the trek from Bridgewater, South Dakota, while the Agri Processors meat people made the slightly closer trip from Postville, Iowa. The Mitzvah Farms cheese people (owned by Jerry “Yoseph” Abrams) and represented at Kosherfest by Reuvein Jacobs, also came from Iowa. Their town of Waukon is right near Postville. Their cheeses, including A Bis’l Swiss’l, Muenster Mench, Yetta’s Chedda and Hava-Na Varti, and their five types of pizza may soon make their way to supermarkets on the East Coast.

World Harbors of Auburn, Maine (http://www.worldharbors.com) came to display their four “trendsetting sauces,” including Argentine Style Chimichurri, Cuban Style Mojo, Australian Style Bar-B Sauce and Island Mango.

Kosher Fly-Away LTd (http://www.kosherflyaway.co.uk) was asking, “Why shelp when we can ship?” Their company offers glatt kosher meals and Shabbat provisions delivered to your vacation or business destination in the United States, Europe, Ireland and the United Kingdom. And LaBriute, for the second year in a row, attracted crowds with their “portable, shelf-stable, self-heating TV dinners” (http://www.labriutemeals.com).

Healthy and KosherThere are more ways than ever to eat healthy, organic, low fat and low carb, and you can even take off a few pounds the “kosher way.” The Kosher Diet Club (http://www.kosherdietclub.com) promises ways to lose 7-10 pounds the first week and 20-25 pounds in a month through its 13 step program and its diet capsule. Underberg (http://www.underberg.com) offers a “natural herbal digestive” to be used after each meal. Navitco (http://www.navitco.com) offers you a chance to “live long and strong” by using their “new and advanced probiotic formulas.” Maxi-Health Research Inc. (http://www.maxihealth.com) offers “the path to a healthier future” through use of its kosher supplements. And Laundau offers vitamins, minerals and herbs.

Doctor B’s offers home-cooked, home-served kosherlite meals which are “low fat, low cholesterol and luscious.” (ww.drblite.com).

Luscious sugarfree cookies, brownies, cakes and loaves are available at http://www.bakedgoods.tv; you will also find a big selection of wheat free and low carb desserts.

Nana’s cookie bars (http://www.healthycrowd.com) offers a big selection of gluten-free cookies (also: no eggs, no cholesterol, no dairy, etc.) -sugar free, low carb, low fat pasta, pizza, base sauces and pesto/pastes are available at http://www.rosiesproducts.co.uk (rosie’s).

Ener-G Foods (w.ener-g.com) offers gluten, heat and dairy free products and has been manufacturing allergy restrictive foods for over 40 years.

There were a number of organic products on display including Ah!Laska certified organic chocolate syrup and syrup products, and there was a “be organic” display by the Organic National and International Certifiers (http://www.oranicnandi.com).

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