Howard will be on a panel with members of the Muslim and Christian communites as the share insights and suggestions on celebrating rites of passage for people with disabilities.
https://us06web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_GRHwxqlKQTWOLxitJgFUZQ
View the original article on Jewish News Syndicate
Dead Sea in Israel. Credit: samirsmier/Pixabay.
For decades, the eighth-grade trip to Israel has been a central component of the Jewish day-school experience. The capstone tour traditionally brings students to Israel for a week or more to interact meaningfully with the people and the land, which they have been learning about throughout their elementary and middle school years. The trip also serves to bond classmates and sets the tone for what educators and parents hope will be a lifetime of positive Jewish and Israel experiences. It also serves as a recruitment tool for students to stay in day school for the high school years: ninth through 12th grades.
Planning and executing the eighth-grade Israel trip has usually been straightforward with school administrators working with tour providers and tour educators to customize the itinerary, book rooms, arrange for a guide, driver and security guard, and work out costs. In recent years, the COVID-19 pandemic and skirmishes in Israel have proved challenging for Jewish schools wishing to provide a visit that is not only safe but provides access to museums and sightseeing spots on their itineraries.
This year, as the war in Israel starts its 17th month, Jewish day schools across the country are carefully weighing a number of factors as they assess whether or not such trips can go ahead as planned. Options include proceeding with tweaked itineraries, postponing until later in the year or next year, and considering non-Israel trip options, often to destinations in the United States.
According to Paul Bernstein, CEO of Prizmah: Center for Jewish Day Schools, consensus exists among schools as to the importance of the visits. “Jewish day schools in the Prizmah network across North America are deeply committed to their Israel trips. The opportunity to offer such a meaningful experience in middle school is an integral and important part of the educational journey of their students,” he tells JNS.
That said, differences in age groups are a factor, with the younger set ranging from 12 to 14, though Bernstein says that “leaders are again determined to go ahead with the trips if they possibly can.”
Still, administrators try hard to make such trips happen, even during difficult times.
Bernstein notes that last year, “schools did everything they could to maintain the trips. Many went ahead, and even in the face of acute situations like the Iranian missile attack last spring, they continued with the programs—carefully advised by the Israeli security professionals—to keep their faculty and students safe.”
Some schools tried even harder than in the past to create opportunities for community members to get to Israel.
According to Bernstein, “we saw schools that previously did not have organized trips launch student and parent missions, increasing the number of Jewish day schools visiting Israel at such a crucial time, standing with the state, bearing witness in the crisis and volunteering across the country to support agriculture and other important causes.”
‘A modified itinerary’
Decisions about moving forward with Israel trips this spring, summer and fall are even more complicated—and not just because of safety precautions. The sheer challenge of finding flights to and from the Jewish state since airlines other than El Al have limited or halted their routes is a pressing concern, as is keeping costs down at a time when tourism in Israel is more expensive than ever.
To help schools through the process, Prizmah has convened meet-ups for decision-makers at various levels as they undergo the process of determining if and how to proceed with their trips. Bernstein also tells JNS that “parents are being brought into the process in an active way.”
While some schools are planning to go ahead as planned, others spoke of alternative trips to places like New York and New England, as well as possible social-justice work in Oregon with the Tivnu organization that explores the Pacific Northwest. One even mentioned Panama.
Sara Weiss, dean of middle-school students at the Seattle Hebrew Academy, recalls being a participant in the school’s very first eighth-grade trip to Israel back in 1990. While she notes that a few trips have been postponed in past years, she says the school has worked hard to make them happen. “We have heard from so many of our alumni how impactful the eighth-grade trip was for them,” she tells JNS.
Weiss is hopeful that the trip will happen, “though likely with a modified itinerary.” She continues to monitor how colleagues at other Jewish day schools across the country are grappling with the issues, noting that plane tickets for the students have been purchased.
Chris Aguero, head of school of Ezra Academy in Woodbridge, Conn., says it seems “eerily familiar to where we were during the pandemic.”
He hoped that his nine eighth-graders would get to go to Israel this March, though at the same time acknowledged that he wishes the trip would take place even earlier, in the sixth or seventh grade. “As lovely as it is to be a culminating trip,” he says, “it would be more strategic to go then so they can come back inspired and with a greater appreciation of the Hebrew language.”
Aguero notes that the impact is clear: “You hear it in their graduation speeches, and you see it in their faces.”
In the end, parents were not all fully on board to send their kids, so a decision was made to go to Costa Rica in May, staying at a venue with kosher food and a place to keep Shabbat.
‘A meaningful alternative’
Rabbi Dov Lerea, head of Judaic studies at The Shefa School in Manhattan, is optimistic that his 43 eighth-graders will get to go to Israel. For Lerea and Shefa, the trip is part of a comprehensive plan throughout the grades to have students “engage with love and passion for the land and the State of Israel.”
He tells JNS that “the building of Jewish identity should include a sense of connectivity to the land of Israel and the dedication with which people returned to Israel to build a society.
When Lerea was tasked with creating a trip at the K-8 school for children with language-based learning disabilities, he had four principles in mind: love of the land, chesed (“lovingkindness”) spirituality and history. But he knows that “it’s gotta be fun, too.”
He is proud of the parent body that he describes as “deeply Zionistic” and “very supportive of the trip,” noting that even last year, “everybody was in. I didn’t get a single email asking how was I going to go to Israel?”
Last year, Lerea brought his students to the south instead of going to the Golan Heights, where at the time rockets were being fired by Hezbollah from Lebanon toward Israel’s north. This year, they also plan to spend time hiking in the south. Lerea notes that he will only cancel the May trip if their vendor explicitly says, “Don’t come.”
He is so determined to go that “if 35 families say, “we can’t do it,” I will say, “I understand and take five or so to visit hostage families, etc., and represent Shefa with pride.”
Others stick to the central part of the country—namely, Tel Aviv, Jaffa, Jerusalem, the Dead Sea.
Tamar Cytryn, director of Judaic Studies at the Chicago Jewish Day School, reports that her school’s 21 eighth-graders are on track to go to in mid-May. “We’ve already put money into the airline tickets,” she says.
However, “if we have to cancel, we will likely pivot” and find a meaningful alternative, she tells JNS: “Israel is supposed to be the capstone; if it doesn’t happen, we will create a final project that ties together all of their learning on Israel.”
During a similarly uncertain time, the school created “Israel in Illinois,” where they spent a week participating in parallel activities—from a hike to a water park—that approximated their scheduled Israel visit.
‘A range of solutions’
Rabbi Marshall Lesack, head of school at Jack M. Barrack Hebrew Academy in Bryn Mawr, Pa., said he is committed to students having an immersive experience in Israel. He points to the school’s traditional two-week spring trip in the eighth grade and its three-month program in the 11th grade as part of the Alexander Muss High School in Israel.
Following the Hamas-led terrorist attacks in southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, Lesack flew days later to the Jewish state to help bring the school’s Muss students back to the United States, as did many other groups of Americans. The 11th grade did not go to Muss in the fall of 2024 as the war in Israel continued.
He points to issues such as security; financial realities for each family; financial realities for the school if they commit to the trip and then have to cancel; parental concerns; and a possibly altered experience if the trip deviates substantially from its standard curriculum.
Nevertheless, he says, the school remains “deeply committed” to travel programs, saying the trips are meant “to unify and bind the grade.”
Given the school’s relatively early trip timed for March, coupled with the ongoing uncertainty in the Middle East, Lesack and his leadership team informed parents and 70 eighth-grade students just before winter break that the trip would not take place. Instead, the class will travel to Boston in early May for “a mix of bonding, fun and Jewish experiences,” as they did the year before when the middle-school trip was similarly canceled.
Lesack reiterates his school’s commitment to Israel and the Israel experience: “On one level, the trip is a capstone experience for the middle-school students. It is also a stepping-stone for their 11th-grade semester. We are looking for even more immersive experiences in the 11th grade.”
That said, a Zoom meeting on March 2 with parents went over plans for this fall’s return to Muss.
Bernstein tells JNS that “it is likely that there will be a number of alternative trips, which schools are determined should be educationally and Jewishly impactful, such as in Europe. We expect to see a range of solutions taking account of what is practical, the preferences of each school community and practical considerations such as supporting families with the cost of whatever the school plans.”
He says Prizmah’s Reshet (meaning “network” in Hebrew) communities serve as “a space for colleagues to seek information and support from one another. What we know is that to the extent that Israel trips are disrupted this year by insurmountable challenges, day schools continue to demonstrate their strong support for Israel and will resume visits as early as they possibly can.”
Betsalel Steinhart, director of education for Ramah Israel Institute, whose organization organizes trips for many Jewish day schools, spent last November visiting academic institutions in the United States. After returning to Israel, he confirmed that most were “in a holding pattern,” telling JNS: “My sense is that schools want to come, but it is hard to know how many will.”
He thinks that such positive signs as the ceasefires, airlines starting to resume flights to Israel, the start of the spring holidays, and Israelis in the north and south returning to their homes will help assure people that they can come to Israel, though he tells JNS that he understands why many remain “on the fence.”
As dates for the planned trips approach, Steinhart reports that “schools are starting to come back—many with hesitations and all with the desire to add volunteering to their already packed programs.”
He acknowledges that the decisions are complex and singular to each establishment, noting that “these programs are always built around trust, and they trust us to make the right decisions for them.”
View the original article on The Jerusalem Post
WADI REIR. Typical vegetarian dish of the Negev’s Bedouin. (photo credit: Courtesy the establishments)
The only detail not clarified in the title of Ron Diller’s new book, Savory Flavors: A Culinary Journey through the Middle East, North Africa, East Africa, South Asia, Balkans, and Caucasus Regions, is that all 67 of the ethnic restaurants it showcases are located in Israel.
Savory Flavors is part coffee-table book and part guidebook. The colorful sacks of spices and grains featured on the cover of the comprehensive and informative Savory Flavors hint at what is to come in the 19-chapter, 263-page book with 258 photos. It features fascinating conversations with the owners or chefs of the restaurants, along with essays about the history of the original regions and ethnicities of the dishes. It is not a book of recipes.The mouthwatering photos of dishes are an intrinsic part of Savory Flavors, along with old photos of Jewish communities. Maps are also provided to help find recommended off-the-beaten-track establishments, such as in Rahat, Ramle, Kfar Kama, Nazareth, and Peki’in.
The project, which took Diller two years to complete, is clearly a labor of love and the result of his life-long connection to unique food establishments.His grandparents, immigrants from Poland and Austria, opened Diller’s Strictly Kosher Restaurant in San Francisco, California, during the Great Depression. It became the largest and most popular kosher restaurant in the Fillmore District, with people driving over an hour from San Jose to sample its authentic Austro-Hungarian Jewish cuisine. The restaurant functioned for 35 years.
While a student at San Francisco State University, Diller wrote a never-published guide to small, ethnic, family-owned restaurants in San Francisco. The manuscript, titled A Cab Driver’s Guide to Gourmet Dining, featured what Diller described as “some 50 affordably priced, ethnic food, off-grid, hole-in-the-wall restaurants, including Chinese, Peruvian, Nicaraguan, and Salvadoran cuisines.”
In 1993, however, Diller set aside work on his book and moved to Israel. Subsequently, he wrote From Darkness to Light, a 2021 book featuring the testimonies of six Holocaust survivors who rebuilt their lives in Israel. He also founded Investor, a publication he describes as “the first English-language international venture capital tech magazine.”
Savory Flavors represents a return to Diller’s passion for out-of-the-ordinary restaurants. In the 24 months he spent researching it, he visited and dined at each of the 67 affordably priced venues and engaged the owners and chefs in conversations about their former lives in their motherlands, their immigration and absorption into Israel, and their ongoing connection to traditional family recipes.
The photos and captions accompanying each historical essay provide readers with a feeling of being in each place at that particular moment in history. There are even pictures of the Yemenite Quarter in Tel Aviv (est. 1906) from Israel’s National Photo Archives. One photo, on page 250 of Savory Flavors, is captioned: “Shlomo, working at his trade (as shoemaker) since 1932, outside his niche at the roadside entrance to Carmel Market Tel Aviv, circa 1975.” There are also pictures of “recently arrived children from Yemen in the Rosh Ha’ayin camp near Petah Tikva, circa 1949” and photos of Yemenite manuscripts and documents from 1580 and 1645 (page 258).
Diller makes delightful discoveries in each ethnic group. On page 91, to introduce the 12-page chapter on Georgian (Caucasian Region) cuisine, he provides a photo of 12 kippah-wearing boys and a bearded hat-wearing rabbi captioned: “Immigrant students from Georgia during a Hebrew lesson at the Chabad yeshiva school in Lod, circa 1971.” The chapter concludes with an essay by Eli Goldstein of Ashkelon Academic College titled “Historic Profile of Georgia’s Jewish History.”
Diller worked hard to track down color and black-and-white photos from the establishments, archives, and collectors. These are meticulously footnoted and credited throughout the book. In addition to photos, each chapter includes a box describing several favorite dishes, as well as the venue’s address, phone number, year of establishment, opening hours, and kosher status, and a map of the neighborhood. Diller indicates the kosher status of each restaurant by using three categories for kosher: “Yes,” “No,” and “Yes (no certificate).”
The write-up for Little India, a kosher-certified vegetarian restaurant in Beersheba, established by Hanoch Stanker in 2006, features various types of samosa or pakora, and main courses, such as Malay kofta (dumplings), palak paneer (ground spinach), chana masala (chickpeas), and anda curry (curry potatoes) – accompanied by various roti (Indian breads) and ending with a dessert banufi (milk jam cake) or gulab jamun (milk powder ball).
Famed for its delicious food, Shimon the Soup King is located in the Yemenite quarter at 28 Yehya Kapah St. in Tel Aviv. It was established in 1973 by Shimon Sa’ada and is now run by his daughter Yonit. Savory Flavors features photographs of its various soups and breads that will catch your eye and whet your appetite.
Another example of a legendary fare Savory Flavors listing is Oren Sasson’s Istabach Kurdish restaurant (est. 2014) at 1 Hashikma St. in Jerusalem’s Mahaneh Yehuda market, illustrated with colorful pictures of Kurdish shamburak with flavorful fillings of meat and spices.
The clearly curious Diller has already set his sights on other projects, notably exploring the lives of Jews belonging to the 12 Lost Tribes of Israel.
His particular fascination is with the Bnei Menashe tribe, residing in India’s northeastern states Mizoram and Manipur, near the border of Myanmar.
Diller notes that there are many more remote places in the world where Jews have maintained hidden connections to Judaism. We look forward to further volumes with his fascinating stories about their history and food.
The reviewer is a freelance writer and contributor to The Jerusalem Post. He lives in New Haven, Connecticut. The book is available at Emek Refaim Books in Jerusalem.
View the original article on Jewish News Syndicate. Photo by Brian Garfinkel
When Elana Horowitz auditioned for a spot on the Philadelphia Eagles Cheerleaders squad, her Jewish identity, spunk and a bit of chutzpah—coupled with exceptional cheerleading, athleticism and dancing skills—helped her land this coveted job. Now, the 32-year-old high school math teacher who started dancing at age 2 is gearing up to celebrate the Eagles Super Bowl victory with the team and the city of Philadelphia in a victory parade scheduled to take place on Friday.
Horowitz, who flew from New Orleans on an Eagle’s charter flight on Monday and was back in her Delaware classroom on Tuesday morning, spoke with JNS after school that day about her Jewish identity and how it comes to play in cheering for the Eagles.
Horowitz was born in Phoenix to parents who were both very active in Young Judea. When the family moved to Chicago when she was 2, she began dancing. “I have been taking ballet forever,” Horowitz says.
She attended the Solomon Schechter Day School of Metropolitan Chicago from kindergarten through eighth grade and danced throughout, including a five-year stint with the Joffrey Ballet in the children’s cast of “The Nutcracker.” Horowitz also attended Camp Young Judaea Midwest for five summers. After she began attending Glenbrook North for high school, a public school, Horowitz reports missing her time at day school.
And so, she says, “I switched to Camp Ramah in Wisconsin so I could be with my Schechter friends.”
Ramah began to occupy an important part of her life. Horowitz was a camper for two years and spent a summer in Israel with Ramah Israel Seminar. She then served on the dance staff for three summers and eventually married Daniel Soler, a physical therapist and former division head at Camp Ramah in the Poconos.
In high school, Horowitz continued to dance. She was on the Poms team, which danced and participated in pre-game and half-time ceremonies. “I fell in love with poms and learned this style, which is in line with the style of most NFL teams,” she says.
Horowitz graduated from high school and spent a year in Israel on the Nativ program. While she enjoyed the gap-year program, she reports that “there were not many opportunities for dance.”
Fortunately, her college years at the University of Maryland offered opportunities to continue dancing, as well as the chance to be “very active” in Hillel and the Sigma Delta Tau sorority.
Horowitz double majored in math and education, and minored in Jewish studies. She joined Unbound Dance Team, the club dance team at the University of Maryland, where she noted that two of the dancers went on to cheer for NFL football teams. She began considering the possibility of trying out for one. “I was on the same dance team as them—I can do this,” she thought.
‘An Israeli dance in my own style’
The very determined Horowitz graduated from the University of Maryland in 2015 and auditioned for the Baltimore Shuckers, a professional minor league basketball team, and for the Baltimore Blast indoor soccer team (she cheered for them for four years and received “Rookie of the Year” honors). Horowitz also auditioned for the NFL’s Baltimore Ravens, where she “got good feedback” but “kept getting cut” from the cheerleading squad.
She was proud to be selected for the Playmakers, the Ravens promotional team, where she and the team “engaged and hyped up fans” in the stadium. Unfortunately, the program was eliminated. But it got her thinking seriously about her future. “Maybe this isn’t it,” Horowitz recounts. She had been teaching high school math and decided to begin a master’s degree program. She also decided not to abandon her cheerleading aspirations.
Horowitz really liked the Philadelphia Eagles’ approach, which focused on what each person brings to the team. “I figured I would audition and be willing to move to Philadelphia.”
She notes that her husband grew up in Voorhees, N.J., not far from Philadelphia, adding that “when we got married, we combined our loves—the Eagles, the Cubs and Liverpool!”
But first, Horowitz needed to make the squad. The first year of auditioning, she reports that she made it the interview round and got cut. She continued taking virtual dance classes and working on physical conditioning. Then, she had an idea that could have proven to be risky.
“I decided to lean into my Jewish identity,” she says. This included making an introductory video where I talked about being Jewish, picking the song “Hopa” by Israeli singer Omer Adam to go with the reassigned dance, and speaking candidly about being Jewish in her second-round interview. “When they asked, ‘Why are you auditioning now?’ I said, ‘Philadelphia has a thriving Jewish community, and not a single Eagles cheerleader is Jewish. Why can’t I be that role model?”
Horowitz was invited to proceed to the final round, which took place over two nights. She had to perform the same routine as the semifinals, though this time it was as a soloist and not as part of a group. For the second night, the requirement was to present a “meaningful” dance.
“I did an Israeli dance in my own style to “L’Olam B’ikvot HaShemesh,” she says. “I made the team!”
Horowitz is particularly proud of how much Judaism she has been able to share with the team. On the second night of Rosh Hashanah, Horowitz brought apples and honey for her teammates. “They were obsessed with the honey sticks,” she recalls. “They came up to me and thanked me so much for sharing.”
On Chanukah, Horowitz brought dreidels, gelt and an electric menorah.
Just before the NFC championship game, she volunteered to lead the pre-game huddle, explaining to her team a Jewish prayer: “We said the ‘Shehechayanu.’ Obviously, we won!”
As she looks back on the experience of bringing her Judaism to her fellow cheerleaders—many of whom are teachers, dental students and professionals from a wide range of fields—Horowitz reports that “it has been amazing to share my Jewish identity with the team. They embrace it!”
She was particularly moved when a fellow cheerleader came up to Horowitz to sheepishly tell her: “I am Jewish, too. I didn’t know about the apples and honey!”
But her biggest fan, she says, is her husband: “He is my No. 1 support system. He is so insanely proud of me and posts all the time on social media.” She also notes how useful it is to have a physical therapist at the ready who can help her with post-game recovery.
Horowitz still can’t believe how lucky she feels to be an Eagles cheerleader and member of the extended Super Bowl championship family. “The game was a truly amazing experience. Even though it didn’t feel like were home, most of the crowd was rooting for the Eagles. Our motto all season was ‘Not if, when.”
She recounts dancing with her team on the sidelines throughout the game and at the two-minute warning of the second quarter as victory was looking likely. She describes Gatorade thrown a bit early. “We then got together as a team, rushed the field and danced in the confetti. There is no feeling like it!” Horowitz was surprised to learn that each confetti piece was in the shape of the Vince Lombardi trophy awarded to the winner.
After the game, the cheerleaders went to the locker room to “clap it up.” After eating, they went to their hotel to change into “our winner’s dresses” and celebrate at the official Eagles after-party.
Horowitz says she is looking forward to the parade, to an off-season of appearances and to the yearly Eagles Autism Challenge event set to take place on May 17. The one-day bike ride and family-friendly 5K run-walk help raise money for autism. And, of course, she hopes to return to the cheerleading squad next year.
Rounding out her experience, she wants the world to know that “I got to dance for the Eagles—partly because of my Judaism. I pointed out what they were missing, and the Eagles saw that.”