Original Article Published On The JNS

They have performed in hundreds of synagogues in the United States and around the world, representing Jewish American culture, tradition, values and spirituality in the world of Americana roots music.

Thanks to the Jewish holiday of Shavuot and the Torah, Mount Sinai is the best-known mountain in Jewish history. If the husband-and-wife bluegrass team of Eric Lindberg and Doni Zasloff continue their climb through the music world, their Nefesh Mountain band may be the next mountain the Jewish and secular world is buzzing about. Their third full-length recording, “Songs for the Sparrow,” to be released on June 11, may help them in their quest.

“The music of Nefesh Mountain was new to me until last fall when I discovered them on social media and then quickly booked them for a performance at a Covenant Foundation event, and their performance did not disappoint,” reports Harlene Appelman, executive director of the Covenant Foundation, referring to their prestigious annual event—this year held virtually and attended by hundreds in the Jewish world. “The spirit and soul of their music lifted our spirits and added so much joy to our morning.”

Nefesh Mountain arrived on the bluegrass and American music scene in 2014. They have since performed in hundreds of synagogues in the United States and around the world, representing Jewish American culture, tradition, values and spirituality in the world of Americana roots music.

Zasloff and Lindberg spoke with JNS via Zoom from their home in Montclair, N.J., as they await the birth of a child later this month. Their love of music and each other is evident.

“We met playing music,” reports Lindberg. “It is a love story between friends who were in synch, finding common themes in our lives—between Jewish culture, spirituality, bluegrass and country music. We realized there is very little representation of Jewish culture in Americana music. We wanted to tell the story of what it means to be a Jewish American.

“Our challenge was to introduce banjos and bluegrass to the Jewish community over the years.”

‘Driving out the hatred’

Zasloff and Lindberg have been telling this story since their self-titled “Nefesh Mountain” album in 2016, which was followed by “Beneath the Open Sky” in 2018. Over the years, they have collaborated with and forged a kinship with such bluegrass luminaries as Jerry Douglas: (dobro), Sam Bush (mandolin) and Bryan Sutton (guitar).

The cover of their third album, “Songs for the Sparrows.” Credit: Courtesy.

“We’re so grateful to have these incredible musicians join us on these albums,” says Zasloff. “For them to throw their hearts and souls into this music and really understand this message of driving out the hatred that still very much exists in the world today, it’s so moving and emotional for us.”

Their third album, “Songs for the Sparrow,” was inspired by an August 2018 family trip to Eastern Europe. “We tracked down the towns where our families are from, and it was devastating to see the destruction of the Holocaust firsthand and to know that we’re not so far removed from that time,” they observed. The two say they were profoundly moved by the trip.

“The album is about love and was to comfort ourselves after the trip to Europe. The album is pouring musical love on hate,” recounts Zasloff. “People are in pain. This is meant to give a big hug. We all need it.”

Zasloff notes that in October, two months after their return from Europe, the mass shooting took place at the Tree of Life*Or L’Simcha Synagogue in Pittsburgh’s Squirrel Hill neighborhood. Eleven Jewish worshippers were shot and killed during Shabbat-morning services and six wounded in the most deadly act of anti-Jewish violence in America. “It flat-lined us,” reports Lindberg. “Being Jewish and part of a minority group is a scary thing.”

It prompted Zasloff and Lindberg to compose the song “Tree of Life,” a prayer and anthem to respect and honor those who were killed, their families and their fellow suffering Jewish communities.

The album’s title, “Songs for the Sparrows” was inspired by both the trip to Eastern Europe and the Pittsburgh shooting. “It comes from us thinking about the many groups of people who are horribly discriminated against in the United States. To us, sparrows represent a small but mighty voice. That’s why we chose to name the album for them—they’re often overlooked, but they’re beautiful and everywhere,” says Zasloff.

The pair is looking forward to resuming touring in September after being away from in-person audiences due to the year-plus-long coronavirus pandemic.

“Now that we’ve had the experience of playing to so many different audiences and hearing people tell us how much our music uplifts them, we know that it’s really working and fulfilling some kind of need,” says Lindberg. “Because of that, this album feels much bolder than previous records.”

Zasloff adds, “This album is very much a celebration; it’s about adventure and endurance and pushing through the difficult times. We’re looking at some painful things in these songs, but it always comes back to the idea of persevering and letting love be your fuel.”

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Original Article Published On The JNS

The 20-year-old got off to a fast start, only to get injured and have to sit out 18 games, as the Washington Wizards went to the playoffs, eventually ceding to the Philadelphia 76ers.

 A little more than six months ago, Israel and the basketball world had high hopes for 19-year-old Deni Avdija. The 6-foot-9-inch former Maccabi Tel Aviv small forward was No. 9 in the first round of November’s NBA draft by the Washington Wizards. He hit the ground running. He endured strict NBA coronavirus restriction protocols, a grueling travel schedule and being far from family, friends and country.

Avdija got off to a fast, fairly successful start. The young rookies started in 15 games, averaged 6.3 points, 4.9 rebounds and 1.2 assists in the 54 games he played this season.

Almost five months to the day of his draft date—April 21—Avdija’s promising rookie season came to an abrupt end. He landed awkwardly on his right leg in a game against the Golden State Warriors on April 21. Avdija left the court in a wheelchair and was diagnosed with a right fibular hairline fracture.

While expected to make a full recovery following a 12-week rehabilitation process, he was deemed out for the season and would miss the team’s unexpected entry in the playoffs. Avdija has been seen from time to time in a walking boot. He was also observed putting up some shots in a seated position prior to the Wizards facing the Boston Celtics in the NBA play-in tournament. But he has not spoken to the media, and the Wizards haven’t shared much on his progress.

That changed on June 3.

Following the Wizards being eliminated in five playoff games by the No. 1 seeded Philadelphia 76ers, Wizards team general manager Tommy Sheppard and coach Scott Brooks spoke with the media for nearly 90 minutes. This final media session of the season addressed the season as a whole; star players Bradley Beal and Russell Westbrook; their young players and frequently injured players; and the future of Brooks whose five-year contract is about to expire. They also spoke about Avdija.

Early in the press conference, Sheppard reported, “Deni is in week six of an injury. I think he will be cleared after 12 weeks. The most important thing to me is his therapy. He was with us on this last road trip; I watched his therapy, I watched him out on the floor. I am pleased with his progress. Our hope is to have him 100 percent healthy by the time summer league rolls around, but it is not imperative that he play in summer league. We’ll make that evaluation at the right time.”

He noted that Avdija missed the last 18 games of the season and was not able to join in the team’s short-lived playoff run.

‘We have a lot of hope in his future’

Brooks has been supportive of his young Israeli player throughout the season and has high hopes for him. He has also offered a realistic assessment of Deni after each game. “I like his potential. He played a good number of minutes this year,” he said.

“There were some really good moments and some when you could really tell he was 19 [he turned 20 during the season]. But we have a lot of hope in his future,” said Brooks. “It is unfortunate he got injured and is going to miss 10 to 12 weeks, and a chance to be in the playoffs. He is a big body. He is a pretty good athlete. He shows toughness. He is a good rebounder, and his shooting is developing itself.”

Brooks said he has enjoyed watching his star players Bradley Beal and Russell Westbrook take Avdija and other rookies under their wing. “They like these young players,” he noted, and have served as mentors to Avdija and others.

Sheppard reported that “Deni is doing fine. He is out of the boot and able to do spot shooting.” He added that the team is having him avoid jumping during workouts to help assure a complete recovery and that he is also working on his cardio, which can be difficult while recovering from a lower-body injury.

Other than that, “he is doing fantastic,” reassured Sheppard. “I think Deni is on track to be an impact player in the future.”

It seems clear that Avdija will be back with the team next season, ready to continue growing and developing as a second-year player in the NBA. Sheppard stopped short of reassuring fans that Brooks would be back with the team next season.

It was an up and down season for the Wizards. They started 0-5, and along the way, dealt with COVID-19, had several weeks without games or practices and went on to 17-32 record. Avdija was one of several players to face injuries.

The Wizards battled back down the stretch and finished with the eighth-best record in the Eastern Conference. They earned a play-in berth and then qualified for the playoffs. After going down 3-0 in the playoffs with the Sixers, the Wizards won game four with an exceptional 122-114 win. The Wizards’ season came to an end with a 129-112 loss to the Sixers on Wednesday night.

Avdija and his teammates will benefit from the much-needed rest, say the coach and manager. Added Sheppard: “Our goal is to have Deni at training camp and have him a big piece of what we are doing.”

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Original Article Published On The JNS

Israel will be thrust into the international limelight when it hosts the final round of the inaugural UCI Track Champions League in December.

While Israelis were rushing for shelter in mid-May as thousands of rockets were raining down on them from Hamas in Gaza, Canadian-Israeli businessman and philanthropist Sylvan Adams was in Paris at a press conference featuring international biking-race organizers. He was helping promote and unveil plans to bring elite male and female riders to Tel Aviv at the end of the year for a new indoor cycling competition showcasing the world’s top track cyclists.

The Sylvan Adams Velodrome in Tel Aviv will serve as host to the final round of the inaugural UCI Track Champions League on Dec. 11. The other events will take place at velodromes in Spain, France, Lithuania and England between Nov. 6 and Dec. 4.

Adams, who made aliyah five years ago from Montreal, has been at the forefront of presenting Israel in a positive light in front of international audiences. In addition to bringing the UCI event to the Sylvan Adams National Velodrome, which will also host the 2022 UCI Junior Track Cycling World Championships, he has brought the prestigious Giro d’Italia bike race to Israel in 2018 and is also co-owner of the Israel Start-Up Nation cycling team. He brought soccer superstar Lionel Messi, and the national teams of Argentina and Uruguay, to Israel in November 2019, in addition to legendary singer Madonna to the Eurovision Song Contest in 2019.

Sylvan Adams. Credit: Courtesy.

Details of the innovative new bike-racing series were announced via a live digital event streamed from Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines near Paris and Bath in the United Kingdom. Discussing the details of the upcoming competition were president of the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI)—cycling’s world governing body—David Lappartient; Eurosport & Discovery Global Sports Rights & Sports Marketing Solutions president Andrew Georgiou; and François Ribeiro, the head of Eurosport Events. They were joined by ambassadors and track-cycling legends Kristina Vogel and Sir Chris Hoy MBE, plus key figures including businessman and, of course, Adams.

Adams praised his cycling colleagues from England, noting that “we are taking a page from Britain to become a preeminent cycling country.” He says he is hoping to use the indoor velodrome event “to offer an opportunity to bridge from the road-cycling experience.”

The 62-year-old billionaire then turned his attention to Israel, saying: “I am glad the Grand Finale will be in Tel Aviv; it is a very rich opportunity. I think of Israelis as winners. We win with anything we put our minds to.”

‘We already have developed some real track talents’

The elite competition will feature many of the world’s highest-profile riders. Many will be participating in the event only a few months after competing in the Tokyo Summer Olympic Games. The event is designed to build the global profile of track cycling beyond the four-year Olympic cycle.

The 36 male and 36 female riders vying for victory in the League’s Sprint and Endurance categories will be motivated by prizes totaling more than €500,000 (nearly $615,000).

Lappartient reports that “the launch of the UCI Track Champions League marks an important milestone in the history of track cycling—one of cycling’s historic disciplines and one that has been part of the Olympic Games since the first modern Games in 1896. I am very much looking forward to seeing this inaugural edition of the UCI Track Champions League take place in these iconic venues revealed today and to seeing the first four men’s and women’s winners of the 2021 UCI Track Champions League, celebrated in December in Israel.”

Adams notes that “our velodrome—the first such facility in the Middle East—is just over a year old, and we already have developed some real track talents, both men and women, who will get the opportunity to race against the world’s best on their home track. In a way, this will be our coming-out party to the rest of the track-cycling world, which will get to see our world-class facility, as the event is going to be beamed into living-room TVs around the globe by Eurosport.”

He topped his enthusiasm with a resounding message: “Looking forward to welcoming everyone to the great, exciting city of Tel Aviv.”

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Original Article Published On The Jerusalem Post

El Al has experienced a lot of growing pains and financial losses. But we need it.

Last week, as the missiles continued to land in Israel from Gaza, I sat bleary-eyed at Ben-Gurion Airport, waiting to board my 3 a.m. flight to Newark. At Gate D8 in an eerily quiet airport, I drew one step closer to clarifying my complicated lifelong relationship with El Al Airlines.

My love/hate relationship with El Al started in the late 70s with my childhood rabbi-led ZOA mission and bar mitzvah trip. This flight to Israel was also my first time flying anywhere. It was important to fly El Al, we were told over and over again, since they had “the best security.”

I flew El Al on my summer teen trip at age 16, and for my college year in Israel for the same reason – even if the food, customer service and entertainment console left a bit to be desired. I began to suspect there were other options. Tower, for example, flew to Israel from 1983 to 2000. People seemed willing to forgo El Al security to save a few bucks. Some college friends even flew as couriers – traveling without any luggage so they could carry packages for others. Those days are long gone. And Tower no longer exists – they declared bankruptcy and were liquidated. I stuck with El Al for years, though ticket prices seemed to also include a certain unique El Al experience and attitude that was not for the weak. Only on El Al fights would flight attendants scream at, then allow religious passengers to congregate at the back of the plane to pray in a minyan, or socialize with passengers – comparing notes about growing up in Holon or serving in the IDF “with your sister.”

As an adult, I made the switch to real airlines like United, Delta or American. How convenient to take a flight directly from Philadelphia to Tel Aviv on American!

While the many Birthright trips I have led meant flying on Israel’s national airline, I felt liberated flying these other airlines on pleasure trips. These airlines could also provide kosher meals, they had better entertainment consoles, frequent flyer programs that made sense and were fair, competitive prices, and they could keep haredi passengers in check – patiently and skillfully handling the occasional passenger who refused to be seated next to a woman.

In my recent first post-COVID flight to Israel, United Airlines was clean, flight attendants enforced mask rules for everyone, and they even boldly announced, “If anyone needs to daven during the flight, please do it in your seat sitting down; do not congregate at the back of the plane.” 

Everyone listened.

I began to think it might be possible to never fly El Al again. Then, Operation Guardian of the Walls started. 

Immediately, all of the other airlines suspended service to and from Israel. Who kept flying? El Al! At first, they outsmarted Hamas by flying into Ramon International Airport in Eilat, and busing passengers the 313 km (3½ hours) to Ben-Gurion Airport. Within days, they resumed service into and out of Ben-Gurion. El Al shuttled passengers to and from Newark and JFK, Tbilisi, Zagreb, Addis Ababa and the Seychelles. 

For a week, they were one of the only airlines flying. My United flight was canceled twice. Loyal customers of Delta, United and American began to consider other options if they wanted to leave Israel. There was essentially only one option – El Al. As the bar mitzvah of my long-time students rapidly approached, even I jumped ship and got one of the last tickets on LY 25, El Al’s 3 a.m. flight on Wednesday morning.

As I waited for our 2:10 a.m. boarding time, it occurred to me just what makes El Al unique. El Al is the sabra of airlines. They are prickly on the outside – a bit rough with customers and not the best with customer service – but they have heart of gold, or at least a rich history and unwavering commitment to bringing Jews to and from the Promised Land.

They have been doing so since September 1948 when EL AL operated its maiden flight, bringing home Israel’s first president, Haim Weizmann, from a diplomatic visit to Geneva. In 1949, El Al participated in Operation Magic Carpet, bringing Jews of Yemen to Israel. In May 1960, EL Al transported the famous Nazi war criminal Adolph Eichmann from Buenos Aires to Jerusalem for the Eichmann Trial. During the 1973 Yom Kippur War, EL AL continued flying and assisted in airlifting military equipment.

In 1991, EL Al participated in Operation Solomon, transporting thousands of Jews from Ethiopia to Israel. Ever complained about lack of legroom on an EL AL flight? Remember that one of El Al’s flights from Ethiopia reportedly carried more than 1,088 people, including two babies who were born on the flight. 

El Al has experienced a lot of growing pains and financial losses since then. But this past week taught me a valuable lesson. We need El Al. They have managed to stay in the air through tough times, and they might just be taking steps toward becoming a real airline. 

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