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The original article is published in Relix Jan/Feb, 2023. Page 17


“Steely Dead started as a big ‘what if’ question,” explains founder and lead guitarist Dave Abear. “We’ve all been playing Dead songs forever,” adds drummer Chris Sheldon. “At the same time,” Abear jumps back in, “we were always big Steely Dan fans.” Sheldon, Dave, Dave’s brother Matt Abear (bass) and Dylan Teifer (keys) first came together five years ago. After drawing a few hundred fans to their initial shows in Colorado, the musicians had a break-through moment when they sold out Phil Lesh’s Terrapin Crossroads shortly before COVID hit.

Though Steely Dan’s tightly scripted songs and the Grateful Dead’s long-winding improvisational jams may seem like an unnatural match, those bands actually shared an intertwined history long before Abear started his project. The Steely Dan hit “Kid Charlemagne” even references Owsley “Bear” Stanley, the Dead’s legendary sound engineer and LSD chemist. “We like to say we Dead down the Dan and Dan up the Dead,” Dave says. “We stretch out the Dan stuff and tighten up the Dead.” The band pairs songs based on their feel. Classic combos like “Dealin’ in the Years,” a swirl of “Deal” and “Reelin’ in the Years,” “just work so well together,” says Dave, noting their perfect match of “grooves and keys.” The tune-which often serves as a set closer-starts and ends with “Deal,” sandwiching the Steely Dan melody in the middle. Other prearranged combos include “Fezeree” (“Fez” and “Sugaree”) and “Truck Friday” (“Truckin’ and “Black Friday”).

Similar to many jambands, their sets are determined on the fly, with band members using hand signals or audibles to indicate the next song. Some mashups are determined live onstage, so “you might not hear the same combo every time,” says Chris. And the fans are kept guessing about the second half of each number. Chris, though, is used to the challenge, as the longtime drummer in mashup band DeadPhish Orchestra. Does the band ever get stuck trying to find a perfect match for a given song? Absolutely, admits Dave, who
says there’s only one solution. “We just ask ourselves, ‘What would Jerry do?””

steelydead.com

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The original article is published at JPost.com

“Our key turning point was when Nate was a high-school junior, and I was a sophomore when we did experience some antisemitism.”

Two English brothers on the Brown University heavyweight crew team are making it fashionable to stand up for Israel on campus at a time when such support is not always in vogue.

Nathan (23) and Asher (22) Swidler, passionate Zionists and advocates for Israel, knew they needed to do something in the wake of the October 7 terrorist attacks and what they describe as the “worryingly hostile climate for Jews and Zionists” across college campuses.

The handsome, charismatic brothers, born 14 months apart and both seniors at the prestigious Ivy League school known both for its academics and its nationally ranked rowing team, had an idea that would make Israel “in fashion” around the Providence, Rhode Island campus. They designed a blue-and-white unisuit, a tight-fitting rowing and all-purpose exercise outfit, with the Star of David on the front and “Am Yisrael Chai” on the back – and made it easy for fellow rowers, classmates, and Israel supporters everywhere to sport the outfit.

Asher and Nathan – or Ash and Nate – each spent a post high school gap year in Israel on the Aardvark Israel program and drew inspiration for the unisuit from events they experienced living on both sides of the pond, including November’s March for Israel and a high school encounter with antisemitism.

“We were invigorated by the crowds of supporters marching in Washington, DC, but troubled that as varsity athletes, we could not attend. We felt desperate to champion the cause in a way we knew how to spread positivity both on and off the water.”

Brown University’s John Carter Brown library (credit: CHENSIYUAN/WIKIMEDIA COMMONS)

Both boys attended the 1,300-student Eton College boarding school in England. Asher quickly points out an earlier inspiration for their willingness to stand up for Israel and Jewish causes.

“Our key turning point was when Nate was a high-school junior, and I was a sophomore when we did experience some antisemitism.”

He recounts an incident when a student hung a Nazi flag in his room. When Ash confronted him, the boy said, “It was just a joke,” and accused Ash of “taking himself too seriously.” The boys brought it to the attention of the administration, which, after an investigation, decided not to put it on the boy’s record.

“This is what happens when we don’t stand up and show up,” Ash adds.

The boys continued “showing up” throughout their years at Eton.

Nate notes that he was one of 20 students selected to serve as a school ambassador. Ambassadors were expected to wear waistcoats (vests) with a pattern or insignia of their choosing.

“Some wore waistcoats with their favorite football team or animal. I wanted to wear one with the Israel flag,” said Nate, who proudly added that Ash followed suit when he was elected ambassador the following year.

“It showcased our willingness to stand out,” though Nate lamented that there was some “student pushback.”

“The Sri Lankan and English flags were okay, so we pushed to wear the flag of our nation-state.”

While Nate rowed at Eton and his team won the prestigious Princess Elizabeth Challenge Cup (the prestigious international high school rowing competition at Henley Royal Regatta), Ash was a latecomer to the sport. He joined the Brown team as a walk-on junior, a particularly impressive accomplishment as most rowers at Brown are recruited to join the team.

“I saw the joy and discipline that Nate endured from rowing at Brown. I love the fact that it is a humbling sport. The team is always so much more than the individual, and for Brown in particular, we are striving for a goal that is so much bigger than self-importance—a national championship.”

Nate’s memorable rowing moments include winning the Henley Royal Regatta in 2019, beating Harvard last year in the dual race, and rowing in the pair competition with his brother. He credits his father and an Eton housemaster for encouraging him to try rowing at age 15.

“The friends I’ve made and the bonds I’ve forged through the torturous pain, both the physical in the midst of training and the emotional in the wake of a loss, are some of the closest relationships I will treasure for the rest of my life.”

He also credits the sport for teaching discipline and loyalty.

At Brown, the Swidler brothers continue to team up both in the water and in their support of Israel and Jewish causes during what has become a difficult time for college students across the country to show support for Israel openly.

They teamed up to design, market, and distribute the uni and “got so much more support than we reckoned.” They assumed that the project would receive mixed support from the rowing team, so they polled each member of the team individually to see if they would consider wearing the uni.

“Thirty of the 50 team members said they wanted one – it warmed our hearts!”

A donor’s generosity allowed the whole team to don the pro-Israel swag

A donor enabled the Swidlers to give a uni to each member who wanted one. They are also available for purchase online [www.uniforisrael.com]; the website notes that they are for those who want to “show pride for Israel outside of the traditional ecosystem on college campuses” and for those who want to “stand in solidarity with fellow Jewish athletes in a sport that doesn’t typically offer ways to display it.” Ten dollars of each purchase is donated to Leket, the leading food rescue organization in Israel.

The Swidlers’ support for Jewish causes and Israel on campus includes Ash’s participation in NextGen and Start-Up Nation Mentorship, two projects of the World Jewish Congress. Both boys are also very active in Brown Chabad and have a close relationship with its directors, Rabbi Mendel and Chana Laufer, directors of Brown Chabad. They regularly eat Shabbat meals at Chabad and have proudly watched the number of weekly attendees grow during their time at Brown. Ash currently serves as the president of Chabad.

Rabbi Laufer praised both boys.

“They are amazing, very proud, committed and unapologetic Jews in our community. Ash takes being president very seriously. He is a great, active and compassionate leader.”

Nate and Ash note that Chabad has been a particularly important and safe place on campus for Jewish students in the aftermath of October 7. Fellow Chabad board member and president of Brown Students for Israel, Brooke Verschleiser, penned a March 10 editorial in the Brown Daily Herald entitled, “A Note to the Silent Majority” where she began, “The violent threats against the leaders of Brown-RISD Hillel have left the Jewish community sad, angry and disgusted. But even more troubling than the threats may be the absence of outrage from the campus community.”Verschleiser is proud of the Swidlers and their active pro-Israel stance.

“Seeing Ash and Nate stand up for Israel in the midst of adversity on campus is truly inspiring. It requires courage to boldly voice support for Israel in an environment where opinions may be unfavorable or misinformed. Their fortitude in defending Israel and proudly embracing their Zionism sets a powerful example for other students to advocate for the truth and stand up for what they believe in.”

Josh Swidler is also pleased with his boys.

“My wife and I always taught our children to be proud of being Jewish, but ultimately it is up to each individual as to whether or not they want to lead. I am incredibly proud of my boys for their efforts both on the water and in the community at large, showing how proudly displaying your Jewish identity can be an example for others and that we are not afraid, even in these dark and challenging times.”

For now, the Swidlers must continue to focus on their studies and their rowing. Both boys expect to graduate from Brown this May. Nate, an economics and political science major, hopes to work after graduation in political speech writing, and Ash, an international and public affairs major, will be looking for work in public relations.

The Brown crew team will be participating in the upcoming IRA Sarasota Invitational, competitions against Northeastern, Dartmouth and Princeton, the Eastern Sprints, and hopefully the IRA Championships.

There are still many opportunities to sport their unis and show their unwavering support for Israel in the water and around campus.

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The original article is published at JNS.org

Julie Finkelstein of the Foundation for Jewish Camp says “there is lots of interest on the part of Israelis wanting to come, but they are still waiting,” due to the ongoing war with Hamas in Gaza.

When Jacob Cytryn, executive director of Camp Ramah in Wisconsin, was asked to share a story of the camp’s strong connections to Israel with the hundreds of delegates at the Foundation for Jewish Camp’s Leaders Assembly in Atlanta in December 2022, he recounted an emotional night in June 1967, just days after Israel’s stunning victory in the Six-Day War.

“Around midnight, the group of Israeli shlichim (‘emissaries’) descended from their rickety bus in the still, pitch-black Northwoods of Wisconsin after a trip that must have taken nearly 10 hours from the airport in Chicago and over a day since they departed from Israel. Exhausted, they walked into the auditorium, and the lights flicked on, and the entire camp erupted in cheers, song and dance. That June of 1967 changed the Jewish world. Many campers of that generation made aliyah and others felt forever connected to the promise of the modern Jewish state. And, 50 years later, their descendants in this room—in leadership and Jewish identity-building—still grapple with the miracle of Israel’s stunning victory and the thorny, complex and unresolved political and military morass it left in its wake.”

This summer, nearly 60 years after that war in Israel, Jewish summer-camp directors across North America are hoping that Israeli shlichim—an important source of inspiration, Israel education and experience, and labor—will show up this summer. If and when they do, the campers and counselors will be ready for them. After all, they, too, have had a challenging year. All three groups will arrive seeking the solace and sense of community that American Jewish summer camping has offered for generations.

Cytryn and fellow camp directors are hard at work preparing for a summer they hope will have Israelis on staff, as they have for decades.

Still, uncertainties remain due to Israel’s war in the Gaza Strip, “Operation Swords of Iron,” which started on Oct. 7—Shabbat and Simchat Torah morning—after the infiltration of Hamas terrorists across the border and into southern Jewish communities, murdering 1,200 men, women and children, and taking some 250 hostages (134 who still remain captive, with 32 confirmed dead).

At a summer camp run by the Union for Reform Judaism. Credit: URJ Camps.

And given the current realities in both Israel and North America, planning for this summer involves much more than recruiting Israelis, planning programs and outings, and purchasing food, basketballs and life jackets. Camps are also investing a great deal of time on staff training, camper and staff care, and security.

According to Julie Finkelstein, senior director of program strategy and innovation at the Foundation for Jewish Camp, “camps are moving full-steam ahead and want to hire Israelis, but they know the new shlichim are still up in the air due to the army/miluim [reservist service] and school. There is lots of interest on the part of Israelis wanting to come, but they are still waiting.”

The camps remain both optimistic and realistic, focusing on staffing since these issues affect operations.

“The camps are discussing how we responsibly tell the story of the past year with or without shlichim,” acknowledges Finkelstein.

The facilities are also bringing in security personnel to make sure that the grounds are as safe and secure as possible, and also working on an initiative with the Jewish Agency for Israel to bring 750 campers from areas near Gaza—along with staff and mental-health professionals—to Jewish camps this summer.

Still, Finkelstein notes, “there is less panic than you may think.”

FJC sees these unusual times as an opportunity. “It’s been a while since we’ve had to focus not on health and safety, but on what we are about—mission, vision and values.” As part of this process, FJC has planned two Israel trips for camp professionals so they can “bear witness and understand what is happening,” as well as show solidarity and help them “better talk about Israel at camp.”

Kids at Camp Ramah in the Rockies. Credit: Camp Ramah in the Rockies.

‘Grow, develop and not worry’

For some camps, talking about Israel will be natural and close to home.

Alan Silverman, who lives in Alon Shvut—a Jewish settlement in Judea and Samaria—and has been serving as director of Camp Moshava in Honesdale, Pa., for 38 years, reports that his camp is filled with Israeli staff and kids, including families who live in Israel. This summer, he is also expecting to include two groups of 40 campers displaced from the communities near Gaza, accompanied by Israeli staff members.

They will naturally be able to share firsthand stories of the current realities of Israel; nonetheless, Silverman faces many uncertainties as he plans for June, July and August. “The adults who made aliyah and are not army-eligible, and their young kids who are too young to serve, they will come. For the others, we don’t know,” he says. “I have some excellent staff from the woodworking, education and ropes programs who were all called up for army service. And we started doing interviews—out of 50, 45 were women—most men are in the army now.”

Counselors at Ramah Day Camp in Nyack, N.Y. Credit: Ramah Day Camp in Nyack.

Silverman, who usually expects staff members to honor their commitments to camp, is prepared to be especially flexible this season: “Everybody has family, friends and boyfriends in the army. They may not want to come, or they may need to go back.”

He has a number of mental-health professionals on staff, including many who live and work in Israel, and “understand the Israeli psyche and speak Hebrew.” They include psychiatrists, clinical psychologists, social workers and those who have experience working with the army and with people grappling with post-traumatic stress disorder.

Silverman, who expects to have 1,600 people in camp for the first session—noting in the same breath that he almost never leaves camp during the summer—will also be concentrating on the Jewish state. “I have three boys in the army. If things heat up, I may have to fly back and forth. Luckily, I have wonderful staff.”

For now, he is focused on all things camp-related. He is recruiting staff, reviewing security protocols and shifting educational curricula. While educational programming usually follows a five-year cycle, this year they will move to their “Shevet Achim” curriculum, which incorporates knowledge of Israel and antisemitism.

Silverman and other camp directors have not lost sight of the goals and importance of camp, saying kids need it now more than ever. Still, he said, “we need it to be a safe environment so campers can learn about and practice Judaism, have a great time, grow, develop and not worry.”

Celebrating “Israel Day” at Camp Ramah in California. Credit: Camp Ramah in California.

‘Coming to get away from it all’

Helene Drobenare-Horwitz, executive director of the Young Judea Sprout Camps, agrees and is already planning a week where staff both “own” the current realities and put them aside so they can create a strong, sound environment for their campers.

“There’s never been a year like this,” she attests. “There has never been an Oct. 7 or a year like this in the United States with such an uptick in antisemitism.” While Drobenare-Horwitz is sensitive to and preparing for the needs of her Israeli staff and campers, she points out that “we are preparing to support all staff—not just Israelis. There has been trauma on both sides of the ocean.”

At camp, one full day will be devoted to MESH (Mental, Emotional and Social Health) training. Drobenare-Horwitz  is working closely with trauma specialists to help create a “space for staff to unpack it and actively work on how to move forward.”

She feels strongly about stating that “we, as a Jewish people, have been through trauma.”

Once staff members begin to understand that trauma and work through it, they will be prepared to offer campers the experience they are coming for. After all, “camp is a place for kids. Lots will happen over the summer. We don’t want staff stopping every 10 minutes to check the news. Parents are not sending their kids to camp for that. They are coming to get away from it all.”

Havdalah at a summer camp run by the Union for Reform Judaism. Credit: URJ Camps.

Drobenare-Horwitz shares the expectation that staff be “fully present” at the interview. “I tell them, ‘If you can’t do that, this may not be the camp for you.” In interviewing Israelis to work at camp, she asks more questions than in past years so she has a better understanding of where they have been this year and how they have been impacted by the situation in Israel. “Did they serve? If not, did they volunteer? How was their family affected?” And she is conducting all interviews in person.

She remains keenly aware of the responsibilities that she and her team face this summer—much different than in other years. Namely, she states, the issue is how do we take care of the Jewish people?

“There are lots of different traumas coming to camp this summer—Israeli kids coming to camp, Americans who spent the year in Israel and (American) kids with stories of antisemitism,” she notes.

In the Reform movement, Ruben Arquilevich, vice president for Union for Reform Judaism (URJ) camps, National Federation of Temple Youth (NIFTY) and Immersives is proud that thousands of Israeli participants have cultivated deep friendships, community and sacred Jewish learning at our camps over the decades.

“These connections are year-round and lifelong,” he says.

In preparing for the summer, Arquilevich expects that the numbers of shlichim will be lower than in past years due to army reserve duty but points to “the great interest in Israeli teens joining Jewish camps across North America this summer.”

Celebrating Israel pride at Camp Ramah in the Poconos. Credit: Courtesy of the Foundation for Jewish Camp.

‘Boundaries, guidelines, tools, resources’

He explains that Campers2Gether (C2G)—a new partnership between the Foundation for Jewish Camp (FJC), the Jewish Agency for Israel and Mosaic United—aims to bring 75 groups of 20 Israeli teens (a total of 1,500) entering grades nine and 10, along with two group leaders and one MESSH support specialist per group, into second-session or post-camp environments for two-week visits to Jewish overnight camps across North America.

This program is designed specifically for teens who have been displaced from the Gaza Envelope in Israel’s south and the border with Lebanon in the north. In addition, the URJ Camps are continuing their longstanding partnership with the Israel Movement for Progressive and Reform Judaism (IMPJ), thanks to a generous anonymous donor, Reform and Progressive communities and congregations across Israel to URJ Camps for four-week camp experiences.

Passing around challah at a summer camp run by the Union for Reform Judaism Credit: URJ Camps.

Arquilevich says that “in preparation for the summer, we are developing culture and skills-building opportunities to create communities of belonging, including safety around diverse perspectives.” He stresses the need to provide a safe, educational environment for discussing Israel “while also setting clear boundaries, guidelines, tools, resources for staff in the camp environment.”

Back at Ramah Wisconsin, 57 years after those Israeli heroes of the Six-Day War arrived at camp, Jacob Cytryn is preparing for his Israeli delegation. Like his colleagues across the Jewish camping world, he acknowledges that he may not know until just before camp starts just how many Israelis will arrive.

Cytryn and his team are also preparing their “curricular response” to recent events in both Israel and North America. “I know cabin-age staff may want a break from the onslaught of the year, but I feel as an educator, we have a mandate to our parents to respond educationally.” While the details have not been fully worked out, he is clear about one thing: “We will adopt the theme of Kol Yisrael areivim zeh bah zeh—“All Jews are responsible for each other!”

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The original article is published at JPost.com

Broza performed Monday evening at a benefit at City Winery for Israel ParaSport Center, an organization he has been connected to since age seven.

David Broza has been performing for weeks in Israel and Spain, but he made sure to be back to New York in time to receive an award and play a very special acoustic show for an organization that has been dear to him from the days of his childhood in Tel Aviv.

Broza performed Monday evening at a benefit at City Winery for Israel ParaSport Center, an organization he has been connected to since age seven, when his father, who helped establish the center, regularly brought young David to hang out with Israelis with disabilities.

“I am still in touch with some of them until today,” Broza, 68, tells The Jerusalem Post minutes after landing in the US from Spain, three days ahead of his New York private show.

Thanks to his childhood experiences, the internationally renowned singer-songwriter, who has recorded over 40 albums and is best known for his 1977 song “Yihye Tov,” is as comfortable with people with disabilities as he is writing and performing songs for audiences around the world.

(credit: HADAS PARUSH)

Broza’s biography

BROZA WAS born in Haifa and grew up in Tel Aviv and Madrid, while also spending one year in England. His father, Arthur Broza, had a sister in England with cerebral palsy. This inspired his work with Moshe Rashkes, a close friend who was seriously wounded in the War of Independence. Rashkes went on to found and remain active with the center (known until 2021 as Israel Sport Center for the Disabled) for over 50 years, until his death six years ago at age 90.

David Broza reflects on how his father came to be involved with the Israel ParaSport Center in Ramat Gan, where 3,000 people with physical disabilities annually attend and compete in such competitive parasports as basketball, tennis, swimming and archery.

“He thought, if they [his sister and family members] ever came to Israel to live, they should have a club.”

Rashkes’s son, Arik, who with his wife, Orly, served as cochairmen of the New York event, recalls hearing stories of Arthur bringing his sister to the pool and “falling in love with the center.”

Arthur Broza regularly helped in many areas of the center, including fundraising and assisting with the yearly swim across the Sea of Galilee.

For young David, spending days and summers with people with disabilities “seemed natural and was fun.” He notes that “people with disabilities don’t feel sorry for themselves” and that they “fight to be active.”

He recalls pitching in at the club wherever he could be helpful. “I pushed and carried wheelchairs, picked up balls… there is no end to what a sports club needs people to do.”

Broza is proud of what the center offers people with disabilities and notes that “given the right environment, people can become successful.”

He fondly recalls participating in the yearly swim across the Sea of Galilee with participants from the center. “From the time I was seven or eight, I would swim across with them. My father and the executives were in a speedboat. It was a thrill and great fun to swim across with everyone!”

Broza also enjoyed attending summer camp with his sister, Talia, and with participants from the center. He emphasized that while neighborhood children attended camps with nondisabled children, he and Talia spent their summers with children with disabilities. “It was natural. It was a no-brainer!”

While spending so much time with people with disabilities was comfortable and natural for Broza, he notes that “society doesn’t look at it as natural.

“There is a lot of work to be done. The Israeli government needs to continue to work to bring awareness to what they [people with disabilities] need and to treat them as equals.” He emphasizes the need to “bring in funds” and “speak for them” and stresses that he will continue doing his part until he is no longer able to.

Each year, Broza returns to “Spivak” to perform for participants and their families. Many continue to refer to the Israel ParaSport Center as Spivak, a tribute to an early donor after whom a building is named. Broza notes that while the army has its own system of supporting soldiers who become disabled, there will likely be a 30% increase in people coming to the center for services and programs.

LORI KOMISAR, national president of Israel ParaSport Center, strongly believes that “David Broza is part of the center family.” She notes his father’s role as one of the center’s founders, that David has been coming to the center since age seven, and is pleased that he “has continued coming every year since.”

Komisar captures Broza’s active role during his visits. “David sits with the children on opening day, plays guitar, and sings with them. He is a source of inspiration and hope. He would probably say they are his source of inspiration and hope. David opens his heart and devotes his time and energy, and helps build awareness and support for us. But it goes beyond this and beyond the music. It’s all about the love for the children.”

Arik Rashkes, son of the center’s founder and a current board member, recalls also growing up at the center and receiving David Broza music CDs from his father, Arthur. Arik and David are now friends, and Arik stresses what “an integral part of the heart and soul of the center” Broza continues to be.

At the City Winery event, guests learned of the center’s impact from two elite wheelchair tennis players – Amit Vigoda and Ibrahim Baho. Israeli reservist Shalom Zoor, who recently returned to Tel Aviv after serving four months in Gaza, spoke of the important bond between Diaspora and Israeli Jews, and he thanked the audience for its continued support.

Rashkes then presented Broza with a piece of art as the Moshe Rashkes Heroes of Life Recipient. Broza then shared stories and performed a 10-song acoustic set, which included “Ha’isha She’iti,” “Bedouin Love Song,” and “Yihye Tov,” with an additional verse to reflect hope for the future in Israel.

Broza had planned to spend this past fall touring to mark the 40th anniversary of his album Ha’isha She’iti, but canceled the tour when the war broke out.

He has performed more than 200 shows in Israel since the start of the October 7 war. He similarly mobilized to entertain soldiers and others during previous times of difficulty in Israel, including the First Lebanon War (1982).

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