Benjamin Scheinkopf, a Poland-born Jew who worked at his Chicago barbershop until he was 97, has died. He survived the Holocaust by cutting hair.

Scheinkopf, who moved to the United States in 1954, died Saturday, Nov. 18 at the age of 98 after working for more than 80 years as a barber, the Chicago Sun Times reported in an obituary. He was known by many in the city as “Ben the Barber.”

He and his brother Josef, who also trained to be a barber, were assigned to cut other inmates’ hair at Auschwitz, the former Nazi death camp in Poland, he recalled in testimony he gave to the USC Shoah Foundation.

“Everybody asked the same questions… everybody wants to know where [their] family is,” he recalled.

“I said, ‘Family—you’re not going to see it anymore,’” he said in his testimony.

He grew up in the Polish city of Plonsk, birthplace of David Ben-Gurion, the first prime minister of Israel. His father Avrum was a cobbler.

His father wanted him to be a cobbler because he thought it would provide security. “You always need shoes,” he told young Ben. But Scheinkopf and his brother wanted to cut hair.

“The fact he and his brother chose to be barbers saved their lives,” Jeffrey Scheinkopf, Benjamin Scheinkopf’s son, told the Sun Times.

Being a barber meant Scheinkopf was not beaten by the Germans as other prisoners were. But his weight dwindled to 65 pounds on starvation rations at the camp.

His brother tried to camouflage his emaciation. Once, “he hid him on a stack of dead bodies” so they wouldn’t send him to the crematorium, said Jeffrey Scheinkopf.

After the Soviets liberated Auschwitz, Benjamin Scheinkopf lived in a camp for displaced persons in Germany, where he met Emily, who would become his wife of 66 years.

He had an older brother, Moishe Aaron, who’d ventured to Chicago in 1920. He sponsored Scheinkopf’s immigration to America in 1954.

Of nine Scheinkopf siblings, only two others survived the war: Josef, who wound up in Israel, and Brana, who settled in France.

In addition to his wife Emily and son Jeffrey, he is survived by his sons Danny and Joe and three grandchildren. His granddaughter Jennifer, who had a brain tumor, died before him, as did his siblings who perished in the Holocaust: Herschel, Chayim, Yosef-Behrl, Yiddis and David. (JTA)

AMSTERDAM (JTA)—Henny Goudeketting, a 95-year-old Holocaust survivor, is ailing and preparing to leave the world.

Goudeketting, who was sterilized in Nazi medical experiments at Auschwitz, has neither children nor other relatives to care for her. Now, after multiple infections and recurrent falls, she’s readying to say goodbye.

“It’s kind of strange,” Goudeketting says. “I know I have no future and I’m ready to die, but I’m still afraid of actually dying.”

The Amsterdam native returned to the city at 23 after surviving Auschwitz.

“My biggest sorrow is not being able to have children,” says Goudeketting, who had worked for decades as a seamstress.

Last month she was admitted to Immanuel, a small but upscale eight-room facility for the terminally ill. It is Europe’s only Jewish hospice, according to Tel Aviv University’s Kantor Center for the Study of Contemporary European Jewry.

While such facilities are common in the U.S.—the National Institute for Jewish Hospice, which was established in 1985 in New York, lists no fewer than 225 accredited Jewish hospice programs—they remain rare on the continent, where the Jewish community was decimated by the Holocaust.

Funded with private donations, as well as patient fees and some subsidies, the hospice was built by the Dutch Jewish community for survivors like Goudeketting to receive top end-of-life care.

“I’m not sure whether this is real, the luxurious treatment I’m getting here,” she says. “I’ve never experienced anything like this in my whole life.”

Take the on-demand room service.

“If I want a fried egg, or anything else, all I have to do is buzz,” says Goudeketting, whose stay at Immanuel is covered by her insurance. “They come round in seconds to terribly spoil me.”

The Netherlands, which last year was No. 1 on Europe’s index of public health systems, has 146 hospices nationwide with an average guest satisfaction rating of 9.1 out of 10. And whereas Immanuel’s on-demand room service is a standout amenity, patients at other hospices receive similar conditions—all for a daily rate of less than $70 covered by the government or basic insurance policies.

But Immanuel is the only hospice in Europe for guests like Goudeketting who keep kosher, although there are other hospitals with palliative programs that offer kosher food.

It’s also the only hospice where the staff and volunteers “already know the special issues connected to caring for the generation of Holocaust survivors,” says Sasja Martel, the institution’s founding director. That’s crucial, she says, “because at the last stage of life, it’s often too late to start explaining” what those special issues are.

Rabbinical or other spiritual counseling is available to guests, as is counseling on accepting death, mostly by volunteers. That’s an issue for many survivors who are conditioned to “fight death at all costs,” Martel says.

The hospice, which has an annual budget of approximately $500,000, is subtly adorned with Jewish symbols ranging from mezuzahs, menorahs and, atop one piece of furniture in the main hall, a small pile of stones of the kind that Jews place on cemetery headstones.

“The significance of little things is amplified near the end,” Martel says. “Many guests feel a need to touch their identity, reconnect with it, even if only through the symbols. Or the typical Ashkenazi Jewish chicken soup we serve, that they remember from their grandmother, or the white tablecloth on Shabbat and the candle lighting. Or just a Jewish joke.”

At Immanuel, staff are trained to accommodate the special needs of survivors like Goudeketting, who have no family, adds Martel.

“We need to be conscious that for many of our guests we are all that they have, which is not necessarily the case in other hospices,” she says.

There are other sensitivity issues. For example, the hospice decided not to hire a nurse who had a German accent, Martel said at a symposium on hospice care in Judaism in honor of Immanuel’s 10th anniversary.

“If it was discrimination, it was a positive one for our guests,” she says.

Only about half of the hospice’s guests are Jewish, however. Anyone diagnosed as being terminally ill can ask to be referred here. And though capacity is limited because of Immanuel’s small size, the high turnover—the average stay is 11 days— means frequent openings.

“When we set up this home, we decided as a matter of policy that it wouldn’t be a place for Jews only,” Martel says. “We didn’t want to send anyone away.”

- Cnaan Liphshiz

Over many decades of creating choreography that conveys an emotional story, Elbert Watson, Norfolk Academy dance director, has covered many searing topics. Most notably, he has developed dances that explore aspects of African- American history, from slavery to the Civil Rights Movement.

Although Watson possessed an active interest in exploring the role of prejudice and ethnic hatred in creating a climate in Europe that led to the persecution and murder of six million Jews by the Nazi regime and its collaborators, he had never created a solo dance about the Holocaust.

This summer, Watson attended the Educators’ Conference at Norfolk Academy, which was sponsored by the Holocaust Commission of the United Jewish Federation of Tidewater. The creative spark was kindled by one of the authors who spoke at the conference: Alexandra Zapruder, who spent more than a decade creating Salvaged Pages: Young Writers’ Diaries of the Holocaust.

Watson began reading the volume and got hooked. He decided to create a dance inspired by the diary entries of Klaus Langer about a young German girl’s experience of Kristallnacht, the Night of Broken Glass. In November 1938, Kristallnacht was an organized wave of anti-Jewish attacks that took place in Germany and Austria, when rioting mobs looted thousands of Jewish businesses and pillaged or torched 267 synagogues, with an estimated 30,000 Jewish men arrested by the Gestapo.

The dance was featured in Norfolk Academy’s fall dance concert with Mary Alice Russell ’18 as the soloist. Russell has acted in school plays and taken dance lessons with Watson since her Lower School years. She performed last year as Glinda the Good Witch in Norfolk Academy’s Winter Musical, The Wizard of Oz. Watson says that Russell’s experience was crucial.

“I needed a dancer who could act,” he says. “Many dancers are afraid to immerse themselves in the acting process.”

Still, the harrowing aspects of the situation posed an incredible, even exhausting challenge, Russell notes. “I am usually a happy, positive person. I have played happy roles and some sassy roles. I had never played someone who faced, and will face, oppression.”

The dance takes place on a bare stage, save for a large, plush armchair at the center, where a young girl reads a magazine. She seems entertained, until something catches her eye as she flips the pages, and her mood briefly darkens. After an interval, she puts down the magazine and twirls around the room, seeming to delight in her solitude; at one point, she seems to hear some disturbance but decides to ignore it.

As she returns to the chair and appears to doze off, the theater fills with the sound of shattering glass; as the girl leaps about the room in panic, the audience shares her fear, as the crackling, crunching sound of glass continues for several unbearable minutes. When the girl tips over the chair and hides behind it, the audience fully appreciates the depth of her terror.

Watson acknowledges that those moments, and the actions of the dancer stuffing her suitcase frantically and then heading out the door, are not beautiful to watch. “I have seen pieces done about the Holocaust, and some of them are moving, but they are also sometimes pretty,” he says. “You have to bring the ugly! You have to do that to create the empathy.”

Watson says that he plans to continue developing the dance about Kristallnacht, and perhaps get one of the dancers in his professional troupe to perform it. For Russell, even after stepping out of that character, the impact of the dance shapes her thinking about world events and even personal activism.

“It is hard for me to think about how the character is fighting for her life.… Her life, as she has known it is over,” she says. “It was a terrible, terrible thing. It cannot happen again.”

- Esther Diskin

For more than 20 years, the Virginia Arts Festival has brought renowned artists from around the globe to Hampton Roads. In addition to the packed schedule of world-class performances, the Festival reaches out to students each year. In fact, during the past school year, more than 39,000 area students saw performances and many even interacted with artists, allowing them to experience worlds beyond the classroom.

Virginia Arts Festival’s WorldClass® Education programs offer opportunities to explore the beauty and the power of the arts. Special student matinees allow students to feel the thrill of live performance in a theater or concert hall,  and then incorporate the experience into class discussions and projects that open students’ minds to new ways of learning. The Festival also schedules in-school performances or master classes that bring these renowned artists into the classroom to share their gifts, their knowledge, and their experiences.

“We take a very collaborative approach to our programs, working with teachers to supplement and enrich their curriculum,” says Christine Foust, director of education and community engagement at the Virginia Arts Festival. “We listen to their goals, needs, and concerns and work together to prepare students for our education programs.”

The Festival can bring a string quartet into a school where a student who is studying cello may hear their instrument performed at a professional level for the first time, says Foust. “When a young thespian or dancer attends a performance, it can open their eyes to the possibilities of what they are studying. It is a really meaningful and motivating experience that students might not get otherwise.”

WorldClass® Education programs set for 2018 include Macbeth with the American Shakespeare Center on Tour ( January 17); storyteller Charlotte Blake Alston (February 8); Rhythm Live! (February 23); Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater (March 2); Birmingham Royal Ballet’s Romeo and Juliet with the Virginia Symphony Orchestra (April 20); and the Virginia International Tattoo (April 25–27). Dozens of in-school performances, workshops, and master classes are also planned. For full details on these programs and more information, visit www.vafest.org/education.

- Alli Focke

I grew up in a not so religious American Jewish household in a heavily Orthodox section of Brooklyn in the 1980s. I felt disconnected from my culture and outcast from the community, even though it surrounded me. Only a few generations removed from an Orthodox ancestry, I have learned more about my great grandparents’ Eastern European roots, their (cultural) arrival in the U.S., and in particular, my grandmother’s early life growing up on Lower East Side of NYC. She lived through the Great Depression, the fall of Nazi Germany, and was a staunch advocate for civil rights including women’s empowerment and community activism. She died not to long into 5776, and her 92 years can be characterized by the image of a physically small 85-year-old great-grandmother taking a city bus to diverse areas of Brooklyn to assist with campaigning on the street leading up to the 44th Presidential election.

In this age of global connectivity and technology-driven collective knowledge, what it means to be a human is fundamentally changing. We must work to understand how these changes are both a function of, and contribute to, our fastpaced, instant-access world. I never had the opportunity to fully understand my Jewish identity during my childhood, and I can only wonder how I might be different today if technology and connectivity were so omnipresent three decades ago.

Life can be chunked into stages and at this point, I exist in a reality that allows me to impact not just my three children, but also the next cohort of change-makers and leaders of the world. I have worked my way through a semblance of a lowlevel managerial career, into a world of counseling and crisis intervention for at-risk children, and now predominantly university research and teaching students at the bachelors, masters, and doctoral levels. To a flaw, I have a passion for this work that transcends the standard 9-5 job, and although it may sometimes appear as workaholism, that is an oversimplification that serves no justice regarding why I do what I do and to the extent that I do it.

I have the privilege of working at Norfolk State University as a professor of psychology. I teach introductory level psychology courses, oversee the undergraduate practicum students getting real-world experience in the field, and assist with coordination and teaching doctoral students in the Virginia Consortium Program in Clinical Psychology, a collaborative partnership between NSU, ODU, and EVMS. I conduct research into quality of life issues, resilience and coping, and more recently cyber-psychology, and I am a research mentor for incoming Doctoral students who share common clinical and research interests. My position has allowed me to create new new curriculum in the area of conflict analysis and the development and coordination of a new masters degree program to be offered at NSU in the area of cyber-psychology.

Engaging in these activities has allowed me to develop friendships with like-minded people across the globe. I have been inspired by my grandmother’s acumen for facilitating change, humbled by the realization of not being able to change the world—a lesson learned daily while working with children and families in crisis—and motivated by my relatively new-found connectivity within the Jewish community. This latter point became undeniable after completing the Hineni Young Leadership Mission to Israel this past June, which was simultaneously the best and worst experience of my life, but ultimately motivated me to become more involved in boards and committees that affect Jews in this area. As part of the Community Relations Council and a member of the NSU community, the goal now is to help connect these two worlds through campus events and outreach activities.

Dr. Scott M. Debb, Licensed Professional Counselor and assistant professor of psychology and practicum coordinator and CyberPsychology director at Norfolk State University.

- Dr. Scott M. Debb

Year-end is often the most opportune time to consider financial and tax planning strategies. As this article is being written, Congress and the White House are negotiating significant changes in the tax laws that could, if enacted, impact financial strategies and tactics. This makes it more important than ever to meet with advisors to review your investment portfolio and consider tax, financial, and charitable giving strategies before December 31. Things may become clearer as year-end approaches, but this will require you to be flexible and prepared to act in a short timeframe. It appears that most changes in the tax code would be effective after the start of 2018.

Tried and true year-end tax strategies generally revolve around shifting some tax burden to a future year. Deferring receipt of a bonus payment to 2018, accelerating deductions into this year by prepaying a deductible expense, or making larger charitable gifts all can lower this year’s tax bill. Keep in mind however, that you may need to factor in the application of the alternative minimum tax (“AMT”) to determine if shifting income and deduction strategies provide maximum savings in your financial situation.

Comprehensive tax reform is expected to repeal the AMT for future years, but it will most likely remain in place for 2017 and would need to be addressed in your calculations. And if tax reform cuts back or eliminates other deductible items such as state and local income tax or property taxes, it may make sense to consider accelerating the payment of these items after factoring in the application of the AMT.

Keep in mind that for those who itemize their deductions, gifts of cash to public charities such as the Tidewater Jewish Foundation are fully deductible, up to 50 percent of adjusted gross income (AGI). Any excess can be carried forward and could be deductible for up to five years. Tax reform could increase this AGI limitation for cash gifts to 60 percent starting in 2018.

With the stock market at an all-time high, this year-end is an opportune time to review your investment portfolio and consider timing the recognition of capital gains and losses for assets held long-term (more than one year) and shortterm. Under most tax reform plans, it appears that most capital gains sales will remain “tax advantaged” with a top rate of approximately 24 percent. Part of your capital asset review could be consideration of a gift of appreciated securities to charities. For example, you can avoid paying capital gains tax on the value of securities transferred to TJF and may be able to receive a charitable deduction for the full fair market value of the securities at the time of the gift.

Remember that gifts of appreciated assets are fully deductible up to 30 percent of adjusted gross income. Again, any excess can generally be carried forward and be deductible for up to five years.

Donating appreciated stock, either to create a donor-advised fund (“DAF”) at TJF, or adding such securities to an existing DAF in 2017, is an excellent way to maximize tax saving from such gifts, as well as provide a vehicle from which you can make recommendations for future charitable grants. Currently, TJF offers a program where it adds $2,500 to a new DAF of at least $7,500, increasing the amount of future grants you can recommend.

Estate Taxes and Lifetime Giving
It is expected that any comprehensive tax reform plan will make significant changes (including potential repeal) to the estate tax, the generation-skipping transfer tax, and perhaps the gift tax. Such changes, if enacted, could dictate modifications to estate and bequest planning, as well as lifetime gifting strategies. Again, keep a close eye on Washington to see how tax reform could impact your current estate plan.

TJF professionals remain available to work with you and your other professional advisors to maximize the benefits of these and other tax planning strategies for you and the Jewish community.

For more information, contact Scott Kaplan, president and CEO of Tidewater Jewish Foundation at 757-965-6109.

This article is for informational purposes only and should not be construed as legal, tax, or financial advice. When considering gift planning strategies, always consult with your own legal and tax advisors.

- Scott Kaplan, president & CEO, Tidewater Jewish Foundation

The great and most colorful Joseph saga extends over four Torah portions and 13 chapters. How opportune it is as we celebrate the miracle of Hanukkah and the reading of Joseph’s awesome adventures, that the Jewish experience has often been to find ourselves like Joseph in the darkness of the pit without losing faith in the light of redemption yet to emerge.

Just like Joseph, the dreamer and interpreter of dreams (he should have kept some of them to himself!), the Jewish people have believed that noble, as well as disturbing dreams have the potential and power to transform reality. In the way of Joseph who was not accepted by his own immature kin—begrudging him his unique spirit and grandiose ideas of a youngster whose father’s favoritism put him at risk—we have felt isolated throughout much of history.

We have been rejected for insisting on living our own authentic lives as a minority. Our faithfulness to our faith and conscience has been interpreted as a negative reflection of aloofness, rather than one choice. Joseph, through his mind’s genius and heart’s compassion, was able to save both his adopted empire of Egypt and his family from small Canaan. In the process, he taught us that borders and feelings do not have to be obstacles to a constructive response to life and death issues.

Rather than dwelling on past hurts and injustices that could have crippled him and others, Joseph managed to transcend his personal insecurities and apprehensions to accomplish lasting goals, using his talents to society’s benefit. Joseph wisely chose the high road, becoming a great Egyptian, while also earning his status as a great Hebrew brother and leader. His early self-centered dreams turned into a blessed reality for all concerned through his maturity of character.

The ultimate challenge of this mighty ruler, second only to Pharaoh, was to conquer and control his own raging passions, which he had already proven with tempting and aggressive Mrs. Potiphar, earning him the rabbis’ honorific appellation “Hatzadik” (The saintly one). He was able to repeat it with his brothers at the pinnacle of his brilliant career with so much at stake for himself and for them. What a moving moment of victory it is for all concerned when Joseph can no longer hold back his tears and eagerly desires to reveal his true identity to his overwhelmed brothers, not quite realizing that they would never recover from the shock of the encounter and/or from the guilt that would continue to burden them.

Perhaps Joseph’s favorable decision to reach out to them was ultimately prompted by Judah’s display of sincere love for Brother Benjamin, as well as for father Jacob’s well-being. Earlier, Joseph learned of his brothers’ remorse and fear when being challenged by him, acknowledging their past wrongdoing. Upon reconnecting to his family he was ennobled and made whole. Joseph could have abandoned his Hebrew background, protecting his painfully acquired identity and status, but he knew that his remarkable life’s success had to carry a humbling message of healing and gratitude.

Joseph appeals to us in his humaneness which is not lost when he becomes powerful. His survivor’s skills of ascending from the pit to the palace inspire us, reflecting the historic Jewish challenge to survive and even thrive. He is the prototype model of the modern Jew, enlightening us about living in two worlds. He perceived God’s guiding hand in his tumultuous life, steeled and sensitized by adversity turned into advantage.

Joseph and the Maccabees of all ages have taught us that to be a Jew is to somehow make a difference, reducing darkness and rejoicing in the light’s promise.

—Dr. Israel Zoberman, founding rabbi of Congregation Beth Chaverim

Fay and Charles Silverman on the birth of their first grandchild, Frederick Quinn Silverman. Born November 17, 2017 to Sam and Nicole Silverman of Columbus, Ga., he is the nephew of Paul (PJ) Silverman. His grandparents are “thrilled, proud, and over the moon!”

Virginia Beach —Calvin Warren Breit died peacefully on December 4, 2017 at the age of 92 in Virginia Beach.

He was born on May 6, 1925 in East Orange, New Jersey to Albert and Henrietta (Kessel) Breit and was named after Presidents Calvin Coolidge and Warren Harding, but that did not stop him. Cal (or Callie as he was known to his favorite cousins) spent his young life traveling with his mother and father around the country during the Depression to various cities where his father found work, including Austin, Texas and Duluth, Minnesota, before they finally settled in Norfolk where his father ran a shoe store in Ward’s Corner.

Cal enlisted in the Army at age 18 during World War II and was shipped to France where he served in the 117th Infantry Division in the Lorraine Campaign, before being evacuated with injuries to London, England where he remained hospitalized for six months. He was awarded the Bronze Star, having been assigned to cross enemy lines alone during a fierce battle when his company was under siege, in order to report the need for assistance.

Upon returning to the U.S. after the war, Cal enrolled at New York University Law School where as a first-year student he was named to the Law Review. His law school education was interrupted when his father became ill; he returned to Norfolk to help manage the shoe business so that his older brother could finish medical school. He completed his legal education at William & Mary and established a law practice in Norfolk where he flourished, and garnered a reputation as one of the finest trial lawyers in Virginia. His skills in the courtroom inspired three of his sons to become lawyers, though trying to match his intellect and wit was always a fool’s errand for them.

Cal was also dedicated to his community. He was a founding member of Temple Israel, and an active member of the Jewish Community Center. He was a brave civil rights advocate who traveled to Mississippi during the civil rights movement to lend his support and counsel.

More importantly, Cal was an inveterate, doting grandfather. He loved each of his grandchildren without reservation, showered them with affection, and was a source of great pride to them, as they were to him.

Cal was blessed with the steadfast allegiance and love of his wife, Jakie, to whom he was married for 68 years, and who pre-deceased him in May of this year.

He is survived by his three sons, Mitchell (and wife Marjorie), Billy, and Jeffrey (and wife Suzy); his 10 grandchildren; and three great-grandchildren. His son Kevin and brother Harvey also pre-deceased him.

Funeral services were held at Temple Israel.

Contributions in Cal’s memory may be made to Jewish Family Service of Tidewater, Hospice and Palliative Care. Online condolences may be made to the family at hdoliver.com.

CHESAPEAKE—Eileen Sandra Gatling, 76, died December 5, 2017.

Mrs. Gatling was born in Portsmouth, Virginia to the late Harry and Evelyn Laderberg Hassett.

She was a long-time kindergarten teacher’s aide in the Chesapeake School System.

Left to cherish her memory are her loving husband of 35 years, Thomas A. Gatling; children, Joe, Evelyn, Connie, and Kathy; sister, Valerie; and a host of other family and friends.

Donations may be made to Sentara Life Care, c/o the Sentara Foundation, 6015 Poplar Hall Dr., Suite 308, Norfolk, Va. 23502. Express condolences to the family at www.altmeyerfh.com.

SAN FRANCISCO (J. The Jewish News of Northern California via JTA)—Naomi Lauter, who led Bay Area operations for the American Jewish Public Affairs Committee for more than half a century, has died.

Lauter died Dec. 4 in San Francisco, the city where she was born and lived most of her life. The cause was congestive heart failure, J. reported.

She was 87 and had retired only eight years earlier.

Lauter started as AIPAC’s chief volunteer recruiter in the 1950s, going on to open its Bay Area office in 1983 and serving as its first regional director. Approaching her 70s, she became a consultant in the late 1990s.

She also played a pivotal role in establishing the San Francisco Holocaust Memorial near the Palace of the Legion of Honor, helped launch services for the Bay Area’s Holocaust survivor population and co-founded the New Israel Fund.

Rep. Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., called Lauter “my cherished, close friend and an inspiring force in our community for civil rights, justice and meeting the needs of all people. As a pillar of the San Francisco Jewish community, she worked tirelessly to uphold and enhance the strong U.S.- Israel relationship not just in California but around the country.”

Doug Kahan, executive director of the Bay Area’s Jewish Community Relations Council, remembered Lauter’s commitment to civil rights, high-quality public education, strong Israel-American relations and Holocaust remembrance.

“Many will carry on her work because she was such an effective teacher—and that is her remarkable legacy. And, at the same time, this force of nature will be greatly missed,” he told J.

Naomi Ets-Hokin was born in San Francisco to a father who ran an electrical engineering firm and sat on numerous Jewish communal boards and a Hungarian-born mother who volunteered for Hadassah. There were nightly discussions at the kitchen table.

“There was never a night we didn’t go to the Encyclopedia Britannica,” she told J. in a 2010 interview.

While a student at Lowell High School, she met Robert Lauter on a blind date. Before long she joined him at the University of California, Berkeley. The two eventually wed and were married for 61 years.

I. L. (Si) Kenen, who in 1951 founded the agency that later became AIPAC, recruited Lauter to expand the organization’s volunteer base, and she remained one of its most active volunteers for decades. In 1983, she opened AIPAC’s Bay Area office, and after 16 years there she became the organization’s community consultant, traveling the country to train AIPAC staff. She visited Israel more than 35 times.

In addition to her Jewish community activities, Lauter became involved with the civil rights movement in the early 1960s, volunteering with the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee and later working to desegregate San Francisco schools.

In 2010, Lauter stepped back from the daily grind of her AIPAC duties, but she remained fully engaged with politics, the Jewish community and her growing family. Her husband died in 2012.

Lauter is survived by four children, David, Jonathan, Sarah and Sam Lauter; daughters-in-law Liz, Deborah and Stephanie Lauter; 10 grandchildren and four great-granddaughters. (JTA)

A serendipitous meeting in 2011 spurred a meaningful relationship between the Holocaust Commission and Bill Jucksch. We are so grateful that he allowed us to capture his story of liberating Gunskirchen Lager as World War II came to a close. The hour that he, as an impressionable 19 year old, spent in that pit of Hell, affected him for the rest of his life. He unselfishly opened up and enabled us to continue to share his experience, in his own voice, after he was gone. The world has lost a soft-spoken man of integrity, and the Commission has lost a good friend. May his memory be a blessing.
—Elena Baum, UJFT Holocaust Commission

Virginia Beach —William John “Bill” Jucksch, of Virginia Beach, passed peacefully into eternal rest at his residence Tuesday, November 28, 2017.

Bill loved life and lived it to the fullest and loved spending time with his family. Son of Edward and Frances Marie (Beavers) Jucksch, Bill was born in McAllen, Texas on October 29, 1925.

After spending his early years in urban centers of Chicago, Cleveland, Manhattan, and Jackson Heights, he returned to his maternal family’s rural roots in Neosho, Missouri. While living with his grandparents, John Bransford and Amanda Jane Beavers, he attended Neosho High School where he lettered in football and track.

During his senior year, Bill answered a call to serve his country during World War II . He did so honorably in the United States Army as an Observer/Infantry Liaison Radio Operator assigned to the Headquarters Battery, 607th Field Artillery Battalion, 71st Infantry Division of General George S. Patton’s 3rd Army. The 71st surged through France, Germany and Austria, breached the Ziegfried Line, assaulted rivers including the Rhine and Danube, and annihilated the German 10th SS Mountain Nord Division while capturing many cities, towns, and nearly 80,000 enemy troops.

In April 1945, Bill and the other members of the four man forward liaison element of the 5th Infantry Regiment discovered and liberated an estimated 10,000 near-death Jews from the death camp Gunskirchen Lager, poignantly documented in a powerful film made for the What We Carry project sponsored by the Holocaust Commission of the United Jewish Federation of Tidewater.

During occupation in Germany, Bill was instrumental in wiring the Nuremberg court, site of the war trials, with audio devices for translation purposes. He separated from service with the rank of Staff Sargent, Battalion Communications Chief, was awarded two battle stars and the French Croix de Guerre. Subsequently, Bill was awarded the distinction of Chevalier (Knight) of the Legion d’Honneur by the President of France. Bill was a true patriot and a life member of the VFW Post 392.

Following WWII , Bill earned a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering from the University of Missouri. He relocated to Waterford, Conn. where he began what became a more than 30-year career as an electronic scientist for the US Navy, employed by the Naval Underwater Sound Laboratory (NUSC). He conducted and led research and development related to underwater acoustics aboard over 30 United States naval submarines and surface ships in North and South Atlantic Oceans, Mediterranean, Norwegian, and Caribbean Seas, and the Gulf of Mexico. Along the way, he earned a master’s degree in electrical engineering from the University of Connecticut and a master’s degree in public administration from the University of Northern Colorado. He was awarded the coveted “Decibel” award from the Technical Director of the Navy Underwater Sound Laboratory. He concluded his civil service career as science advisor to the Commander in Chief, US Atlantic Fleet, Norfolk, where he served with distinction from 1979 to 1981. At the conclusion of his career, he received the Navy Superior Civilian Service Award, the highest honorary award the Chief of Naval Operations may bestow upon a civilian employee.

Predeceased by his parents and his brothers William Charles Jucksch and Raymond Jucksch, Bill is survived by his bride of over 60 years, Theresa Gemma (Cattalani) Jucksch, his two sons Jeff (wife Bekki) Jucksch, and Tom Jucksch, three grandchildren, Michael, Avery, and Logan Jucksch, and two great-grandchildren, Gemma and Finley Jucksch. Bill is also survived by brothers Ronnie, Gene, and Jimmy, and a multitude of nieces, and nephews.

Erin Zimmerman
Scenes from Israel
February

A writer, producer, and director for CBN Documentaries, Erin Zimmerman earned an M.A. in Broadcast Journalism from Regent University, then spent four years at CBN News, where she served as a segment producer and line producer for The 700 Club newscast. She has also worked as a line producer and writer for The 700 Club program and a producer, historical consultant, and scriptwriter for CBN’s animated program Superbook.

For the past seven years, Zimmerman has written, produced, and directed CBN documentaries about history and biblical archaeology in Israel, Jordan, Turkey, and Europe. Zimmerman is a two-time Emmy nominee for Outstanding Special Class Writing, for the documentary Made in Israel in 2014 and for the docudrama The Hope: The Rebirth of Israel in 2016. Her latest film is In Our Hands: The Battle for Jerusalem, released in theaters in May 2017. She currently lives in Jerusalem and is working on CBN’s new documentary To Life, which highlights Israeli humanitarian work around the world.

Zimmerman explores the architecture in Israel and the daily lives of the country’s citizens in this moving photography exhibit.

Proceeds from the sales of Zimmerman’s work will go to the cultural arts department of the Simon Family JCC.

Jewish Family Service and Edmarc
14th annual Grieving Children Art Show
March

Displaying the creative drawings and words of local grieving children and teens, Grieving Child demonstrates how loss affects all those touched by it and offers children and teens the opportunity to see they are not alone. This show provides an opportunity for children and teens to share their feelings with others and to see that they are not alone. The art show is open to any school-aged youth in Tidewater who has experienced the death of a loved one.

For more information on this project or services offered by JFS, contact Debbie Mayer, LCSW at 757-459-4640 or DMayer@jfshamptonroads.org.

For more information about the Leon Family Gallery and the exhibits shown, contact Melissa Eichelbaum, Simon Family JCC program associate, at MEichelbaum@ujft.org.

Celebrating Israeli culture and bringing communities
together through art and dance
March 9–16

More than 70 artists and guests from Israel, including former First Lady Miri Shafir Navon, will travel to Virginia as part of Art For Understanding next month. This collaboration and cultural exchange connects students from Minds In Motion, Richmond Ballet’s celebrated outreach program reaching nearly 2,000 students throughout Virginia and Israel, and Matter of Color, a group of artists from Israel.

The brainchild of Thomas Smith of Binns of Williamsburg, Art For Understanding resulted after an introductioin to Minds In Motion through the Virginia Israel Advisory Board. “I was inspired by all that Richmond Ballet does in both Virginia and Israel,” says Smith. “I have strong ties to Israel, and upon seeing how Minds In Motion uses the power of dance to break through barriers, connecting the Jewish and Arab communities, I wanted to help bring awareness to this incredible program.”

Matter of Color, led by instructor and curator Bruria Hassner of Tel Aviv, has been painting together for more than two decades. The group is comprised of approximately 120 women and a few men who paint weekly and explore a variety of themes through the creation and expression of their art. As part of the Art For Understanding exchange, Matter of Color artists have created an exhibition of more than 100 paintings tied to the theme of empathy and understanding. Through March 9, the artwork may be viewed by visiting many locations Virgina. Locations include, among others, the Carole and Marcus Weinstein Jewish Community Center in Richmond, the Reba and Sam Sandler Family Campus in Virginia Beach, Binns of Williamsburg, Richmond Ballet, and the SunTrust Center in downtown Richmond. All paintings are available for bid online at richmondballet.com/a4u.

In Virginia, the artists will travel throughout the state, meeting with groups and dancing and painting with Minds In Motion students. The public is invited to attend two special events with the artists. The first is a ticketed dinner event, An Evening of Empathy & Understanding on March 14 at Kingsmill Resort. On March 15, the cultural exchange will culminate at the Art For Understanding Exhibit, a celebration of Israeli art and culture at Binns of Williamsburg. The entire collection of paintings, as well as clothing and jewelry by Israeli designers, will be on view, 3–9 pm. This event will include an appearance by renowned Yemenite jeweler Ben Zion David and upscale clothing from noted Israeli fashion house Maskit. Proceeds from the art auction and related events will support the Minds In Motion programs.

“Art For Understanding provides an opportunity for our communities to meet each other personally, share and explore our similarities, and celebrate our rich cultural and personal differences,” says Brett Bonda, managing director for Richmond Ballet. “The Richmond Ballet mission is to uplift and awaken the human spirit, and I cannot think of a better way to do so than by bringing together communities through art and movement.”

Art For Understanding is sponsored by Binns of Williamsburg and the Virginia Israel Advisory Board. To learn more about Art For Understanding and Minds In Motion, or to bid on a painting, visit richmondballet. com/a4u.

Let the skies rejoice and sing a new song
Let the earth dance with glee
Let the oceans give a mighty roar
So their praise will echo through the tree
— Psalm 96:11, from A Mighty Roar,
track 3 in Beneath the Open Sky CD

What do you get when you mix the Tanakh’s 96th Psalm with banjo, fiddle, bass, mandolin and the clear mountain vocals of one of the hottest husband and wife duos in contemporary Jewish American music? The answer is Nefesh Mountain bluegrass band bringing their national “Beneath the Open Sky” tour to Tidewater.

On March 2, Doni Zasloff and Eric Lindberg release Beneath The Open Sky, their second full-length album after their critically-acclaimed self-titled debut, Nefesh Mountain. The recording was a hands-on undertaking for the couple, writing or arranging all 11 songs, and co-producing the entire project from start to finish. They recorded it with the instrumental backing of Sam Bush, Jerry Douglas, Tony Trischka and David Grier, aided by Nefesh Mountain’s touring band members, Alan Grubner on fiddle and Tim Kiah on bass. A dazzling picker in his own right, Lindberg provides lead guitar and banjo throughout, while Zasloff soars with some of the most melodic, incisive and soul-stirring vocals heard since Mary Travers first took the spotlight.

Using original material, along with four tracks drawing from the folk and old time traditions, Lindberg and Zasloff create a beautiful arc in Beneath The Open Sky. Their message is clear from the album’s opening track and rousing call for universal equality Bound For The Promised Land, to the closing of their haunting rendition of Irving Berlin’s Russian Lullaby. Throughout these songs, you can hear the foundational similarities between bluegrass and Jewish traditions, notably the lure of home, the love of nature and the comforts of a like-minded community. Jerusalem Ridge, Rocky Top, Flint Hill and Nefesh Mountain are clearly parts of the same eternal chain.

Ohef Sholom Temple, the Simon Family Jewish Community Center’s cultural arts and Jewish Life and Learning departments, as well as PJ Library, are presenting a weekend of Nefesh Mountain events.

Community Shabbaton*
Friday, March 9–Sunday, March 11
Ohef Sholom Temple
530 Raleigh Ave., Norfolk

Friday, March 9 Shabbat for Everyone
5:45 pm Family Friendly Bluegrass
Kabbalat Shabbat
6:30 pm Community dinner and teen social, $10, < age 13 no charge, RSVP required
7:15 pm Encore Children’s Concert with Mama Doni

Saturday, March 10
10:30–11:30 am Shabbat Morning musical worship with Nefesh Mountain, Cantor Jen
11:30 am–1:30 pm Spirituality through Bluegrass workshop and free
Mediterranean lunch, RSVP required
7 pm Concert at O’Connor brewing, Ghent

Sunday, March 11
11 am Wiggles & Giggles with Mama Doni, for infants, toddlers, and parents
12:45 pm Teacher Training—Music and spiritual education, $25 RSVP required

RSVP by March 7 to select events at reservations@ohefsholom.org.

*Made possible in part by a grant from the Tidewater Jewish Foundation, and co-sponsored by Ohef Sholom Temple and United Jewish Federation of Tidewater.

- Chris Kraus

Norfolk —Natalie Goodman Levinson, 88, died Tuesday, Feb. 6, 2018 in Norfolk. She was the eldest of two children born to Bessie Briskman Goodman and Samuel Goodman. Her parents and brother, Leroy Goodman, preceded her in death.

Natalie was a lifelong resident of Norfolk, attending Taylor, Blair, and Maury High School. She graduated Summa cum laude from Carnegie Mellon University, where she mastered French, Spanish, Italian, German, Latin, and Russian before marrying the love of her life, the late Seymour (Buddy) Levinson.

She devoted herself to her family, friends, and “fourth child,” Ohef Sholom Temple, where she was one of the first women Temple presidents. She also served as president of the Sisterhood and gave countless hours to the synagogue’s governance, committees, and events.

Natalie is survived by her son, Dr. Jules Levinson and his wife, Jessie of Boulder, Colo.; her daughter, Gail Ames and her husband, Robert of Newton, Mass.; her son, Robert and his wife, Pam of Norfolk; her granddaughters, Sherri and Lydia Ames and Hillary Levinson and many beloved nieces and nephews.

A funeral service was held at Ohef Sholom Temple. Donations may be made to the Levinson Torah Fund at Ohef Sholom Temple, Doctors Without Borders, or the Salvation Army. H. D. Oliver Funeral Apts., Norfolk chapel. Online condolences may be offered to the family through www.hdoliver.com.

Norfolk —Debra Ann Linden of Richmond, passed away after a brief illness on February 12, 2018.

She was born in Norfolk, Va.

Debra was preceded in death by her father, Gene M. Linden. She is survived by her mother, Sylvia Linden; sister and brother-in-law, Roberta and Richard Wiener; nieces and nephews, Jennifer and Steve Green, Jason and Sara Wiener, Janna Wiener and Jose Murillo; great nieces and great nephew, Hannah and Madeline Green, Natalie and Noah Wiener, and Ava Murillo.

A graveside ceremony was held at B’nai Shalom Cemetery at Greenwood Memorial Gardens. Memorial contributions may be made to National Alliance on Mental Illness, www.nami.org or Temple Beth-El of Richmond.

Norfolk —Paul M. Lipkin died at home on Saturday, Feb. 10, 2018 at the age of 90. The son of Sam and Anna Lipkin, he was born in Norfolk, Va., became an Eagle Scout and graduated from Maury High School in 1945. He served two years in the Army in occupied Germany and then attended VPI and graduated from UVa at the top of his class with a degree in law (1952). While at UVa he was Notes Editor of the Virginia Law Review, elected to the Ravens Society and Order of the Coif and was president of Hillel. He was a partner in the Goldblatt, Lipkin, Cohen, Anderson and Legum firm for many years. Paul was a founding and lifelong member of Temple Israel.

Paul was active in his community his entire life. He was actively involved in the “One Man One Vote” fair legislative apportionment movement and ran for City Council in 1965 on the Progressive Party slate. He served as president of the Arnold Gamsey Lodge of B’nai Brith, the Norfolk JCC and Jewish Community Council (now United Jewish Federation of Tidewater). He won the Young Man of the Year Award of the Jewish Community Council in 1960 and with his wife, Ellie, the Arnold Gamsey Lodge Distinguished Service Award in 1970. Paul was an active and early supporter of civil rights and was regional chairman of the Anti-Defamation League. He was deeply involved with the Hope House Foundation for its entire existence, serving on the board and as president for many years. He served as an Election Judge and family mediator well into his 80s. Beyond these, Paul gave much of his time and expertise pro bono to many organizations and individuals.

Paul was known for his love of Sandbridge and for working the New York Times crossword puzzle in ink until the age of 87.

Paul is survived by his loving wife of 68 years, Eleanor Leon Lipkin, and their children Laura (Bill), Matt (Donna), Rhonda (Michele) along with eight grandchildren Tova (Joe), Jenna, Edwin, Barrett (Morgan), Devin (Lauren), Sarah, India, and Randy and one great-grandchild, Eliot. The family would like to thank the Freda Gordon Hospice.

Rabbi Michael Panitz officiated at the funeral service, which took place at H.D. Oliver Funeral Apts., Norfolk chapel. Interment followed at Forest Lawn. The family suggests donations in memory of Paul to the Hope House Foundation, Temple Israel or Beth Sholom Home.

Online condolences may be sent to the family at hdoliver.com.

Norfolk —Rosalin Newberg, 95, died peacefully on Tuesday, Feb. 13, 2018.

She was born in 1922 to Jenny and Jacob Wahrman, and later attended Blair and Maury High Schools. She was married 38 years to Sylvan Newberg who preceded her in death.

Left to cherish her memory are her children Judy Beck (Thomas), Celia Steingold (Stuart), Larry Newberg (Mitra) and Steve Newberg (Jackie), seven grandchildren, three great-grandchildren, and other relatives and friends.

Rosalin worked alongside her husband in various businesses. She also volunteered many years at both B’nai Israel and Beth Sholom Home. A spectacular seamstress, Rosalin worked magic with any fabric, yarn, or beads throughout her long life.

A graveside service was held at Forest Lawn Cemetery. Altmeyer Funeral Home-Southside Chapel is assisting with arrangements. Online condolences may be expressed by visiting www.altmeyerfh.com.

Memorial gifts honoring Rosalin may be made to Temple Israel.

Virginia Beach —Jordan Norman Rosenblum, 83, died peacefully on Tuesday, Feb. 6 in Florida surrounded by family. Although he was born in New York City, his family moved to Virginia when he was a few months old. He was the son of the late Samuel and Ruth Rosenblum of blessed memory and was predeceased by his loving brothers, Dr. Fred Rosenblum and Dr. Jerome Rosenblum.

Jordan is survived by his loving wife Eilene Halpern Rosenblum of 53 years and his beloved children, Dr. Scott Howard Rosenblum and his wife Ellen Peck Rosenblum, and Ruthmarie Rosenblum Behlman and her husband Adam Behlman of Miami, Fla. He adored his six grandchildren, Andrew James, Julia Paige and Jack Parker Rosenblum, and Cole Isaac, Logan Alexander and Mackenzie Peyton Behlman, each unique in their own way. He loved his nieces and nephews as well as his two sisters-in-law, Zena Herod and Barbara Rosenblum.

Throughout his life he had a love for the arts, particularly classical music and opera, which he began to listen to at an early age. He developed a passion for photography during his years in the Service. In the U.S. Army, he was stationed in Honolulu, Hawaii and while assigned to the 27th Infantry Wolfhounds Public Information Office he became the official photographer to Schofield Barracks.

He was an ardent golfer from the time he was a teenager, a skier which he loved doing with his children and a very competent single-handed sailor. Jordan was always competing against his own personal best.

Jordan joined his family business, Virginia Carolina Fur, Hide and Wool Company when he returned to Tidewater after the Army. He also opened B&R Realty operating primarily in the Norfolk Ghent section during the area’s revitalization period. Retiring at 50, he felt himself blessed to be able to travel and do the things he enjoyed.

A life-long member of Beth El Temple, services were officiated by Rabbi Jeffrey Arnowitz, Rabbi Arthur Ruberg, Cantor Wendi Fried and Cantor Jacob Tessler, a good friend. Services were held at Altmeyer Funeral Home on Greenwich Road, Virginia Beach. Burial followed at Forest Lawn Cemetery.

Donations are appreciated at Beth El Temple or Hebrew Academy of Tidewater. Altmeyer Funeral Home. Condolences may be shared with the family at www.altmeyerfh.com.