Jewish Herald-Voice (Houston, Tex.), Vol. 105, No. 21, Ed. 1 Thursday, August 16, 2012 Page: 4 of 20
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Page 4
Jewish Herald-Voice
August 16, 2012
Up Close
Jewish glory, frustration mark London Olympic Games
By JTA STAFF
(JTA) - The London Olympics may
have “lit up the world,” as organizing
committee head Sebastian Coe put
it, but for many Jews, the two-and-a-
half weeks offered healthy doses of
frustration and glory
On the plus side, new medalists
such as America’s Aly Raisman gained
the spotlight with her grace, which
included a floor routine to “Hava
Nagila,” en route to a U.S. women’s
team gold in gymnastics. She followed
that with an individual gold for floor
exercise and a bronze on the balance
beam.
Meanwhile, New Zealand’s Jo
Aleh brought home a gold for Kiwi
fans in the women’s 470 regatta and
Australian kayaker Jessica Fox won
a silver medal in the slalom Kl. They
joined in their glory with previous
medalists, such as U.S. swimmer
Jason Lezak, who helped his relay
team win a silver in the 4xl00-meter
freestyle in what was likely the last of
his four Olympics.
Yet, the Game’s opening ceremony
ended hopes that the International
Olympic Committee officially would
recognize, with a moment of silence,
the 11 Israeli athletes murdered 40
years ago at the Munich Games by
Palestinian terrorists. An international
campaign for a moment of silence had
the support of U.S. President Barack
Obama and numerous other world
leaders.
Israel’s athletes, for the first time
in 24 years, went home without a
single medal, which has prompted
conversation about the country’s
lack of commitment to Olympics
excellence. Israel’s rhythmic
gymnastics team made it to the finals,
but on Aug. 12, it finished last among
the eight teams in the all-around group
competition.
Two Israeli citizens, however, are
coming home with some Olympic
glory. David Blatt, an American Israeli,
coached Russia’s bronze-winning
men’s basketball team, and Aleh soon
will make a family visit to the Jewish
state.
Blatt, the coach of Israel’s Maccabi
Tel Aviv team, has helped rebuild
the Russian national squad since
being brought in as head coach in
2006, Sports Illustrated reported. He
took the team to a 2007 European
Championship.
He played for Princeton University
from 1977 to 1981 and on the gold-
medal-winning U.S. team in the
1981 Maccabiah Games. After the
Maccabiah Games, Blatt played for
several Israeli teams until he was
injured in 1993 and took up coaching.
The disappointment in Israel over
the lack of a national delegation medal
may be behind what Yuli Edelstein,
minister of Diaspora affairs, told
Raisman last week, as she accepted
his invitation for the Raisman family
to be his guests in Israel.
“Making your first visit to Israel
is not only important because it is
the homeland of the Jewish people,
but also because you can contribute
from your experience to the young
generation of Israeli athletes,”
Edelstein said, according to The
Jerusalem Post.
Expected to beat her to the Jewish
state, however, is Aleh. After a parade
back home to celebrate New Zealand’s
success at the London Games, she
reportedly is heading to Israel for the
Bat Mitzvah of her half-sister.
The greatest disappointment of
the Games for many Jews, however,
was the failure of the international
campaign to have the Munich 11
remembered. It included a petition
launched by the Rockland JCC in
suburban New York that garnered
nearly 111,000 names, a private
meeting with two Munich 11 widows
and IOC president Jacques Rogge,
and the backing of President Obama
and political leaders from Australia,
Canada, Germany, Italy and elsewhere.
One widow of the Munich 11
had biting words for Rogge when
he attended the London Jewish
community’s memorial for the
murdered athletes and coaches.
“Shame on you, IOC,” said Ankie
Spitzer, widow of fencing coach Andre
Spitzer, who died in the attack. “You
have forsaken the 11 members of your
Olympic family. You discriminate
against them only because they are
Israelis and Jews.” □
Ej From Page 1
Beth Torah in Humble, Texas, also
participated in NewCAJE3, as both an
attendee and a session leader.
Some 500 Jewish educators from
across North America attended the
gathering that has had a tremendous
impact over the past three decades on
the landscape of Jewish education in
the U.S. and beyond.
Special acknowledgements were
given at the start of the conference
to one of CAJE’s co-founders,
Houstonian Shirley Barish, who
died this past December. Marvin
Barish, Shirley’s husband, honored
his wife’s memory and pioneering
contributions to Jewish education by
providing scholarship funds to send
the large Emanu El delegation to the
conference. The Jewish Federation of
Greater Houston also assisted.
NewCAJE3 served up nearly
200 presentations, workshops and
programs that focused on a wide
variety of topics, many with digital
technologies and social media in
mind.
Showcased were new curricula,
especially on Israel education and
advocacy, and free online resources,
dedicated to the causes of tzedakah,
social justice and women. Evening
entertainment at the conference
spotlighted Jewish musicians,
storytellers and comedians - some
established, some up-and-coming.
Fresh features of NewCAJE3
included a young professionals
program, as well as Makom sessions
that provided participants a more
intimate setting for in-depth
spiritual reflection, study and
artistic expression.
Duct tape tallit
A workshop on how to make
a duct tape tallit fit the bill for
teachers who like educational
playtime in the classroom.
The workshop included learning
how to tie the special fringes on the
prayer shawl’s four corners.
“It was fun and exciting and
something very different,” said
Emanu El’s education director,
Marna Meyer, who took the class.
“We’re going to do it with our high
schoolers this coming year.”
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The Emanu El NewCAJE3 delegation included Todd Weiss, Michael Duke, Amy Storthz, Jessica Danziger, Cathy Winter, Lisa Brooks,
Kris Clancy, Marna Meyer, Michael Kronman, Marci Walters and Stephanie Kamion.
Meyer’s duct tape tallit featured
geometric-patterned embellishments
and a pair of doves she cut out from
a stencil. It won praise from the
class and the session’s instructor,
Janie Grackin.
“I warn you, this can be habit
forming,” Grackin said at the
beginning of the workshop, and
noting that the activity appeals to
all ages and artistic skill levels.
Besides the tallit workshop,
Meyer said she took a great class
that introduced a new Hebrew
curriculum, the Wizard, that she
now plans to bring to Emanu El.
“It’s a brand new, out-of-the-box
Hebrew program that uses a camp-
style teaching method. I think it’s
going to be amazing for our school,”
Meyer said.
Chai time
Temple Beth Torah’s Rabbi Dan
Gordon taught a couple of sessions
and gave a performance on Jewish
storytelling at NewCAJE3.
Like Meyer, Rabbi Gordon
is a seasoned Jewish education
conference goer. This was his 18th
CAJE/NewCAJE conference.
“The big take away this year, for
me, was the chevra” Rabbi Gordon
said. “It was wonderful connecting
with so many other people who have
similar goals and who have similar
ideas. I was inspired by others’
enthusiasm.”
Meaningful, also, was a sense of
validation the rabbi received from
his teaching at the conference, he
said.
“One session I led was on
transforming reality into a blessing.
It focused on how working with
interfaith families can enhance
us. It was a very dynamic session,
in terms of sharing and openly
expressing the mixed feelings and
different approaches people have on
the subject,” Rabbi Gordon said.
Additionally, the rabbi said he
reveled in the arts programming at
NewCAJE3.
“Touching the creative soul
can be a big part of learning, of
spirituality and of our connecting to
our Judaism,” he said.
Visual prayer,
networking opportunities
A session on visual prayer
provided promising signs for new
lesson plans.
“We learned how to do the Shema
and a couple of other prayers in sign
language,” said Emanu El first-grade
teacher, Amy Storthz, who also
teaches at UOS Goldberg Montessori
School. “I feel like I can definitely
take this into my classroom and
teach it to the kids.”
For Kris Clancy, Emanu El’s
new director of youth engagement,
NewCAJE3 offered valuable
networking opportunities.
“It was great getting to meet
other educators, who work in the
same or similar positions at other
congregations across the country,
learning from their years of wisdom
and experience,” Clancy said.
Clancy spent the summer
working with Emanu El leaders
on developing new curricula for
Helfman Religious School. He and
Emanu El high school teacher, Lisa
Brooks, said they were impressed
with NewCAJE3’s Israel education
offerings - some that used flashy
online videos and another that
highlighted an Israeli gap-year
program.
Brooks said she also got a lot
out of a session for teachers that
gave tips on time management and
organization.
Sessions that highlighted free
online resources for teaching
lessons in tzedakah and social
justice also proved to be valuable,
Emanu El teachers said.
Beneficial experience
Marvin Barish wanted to honor
his late wife’s legacy by providing
funds to send local teachers to
NewCAJE3.
“Shirley felt that CAJE was so
important to teachers,” Marvin said.
“I wanted to make sure our
teachers had the opportunity to
benefit from the experience of a
CAJE conference. And, if the
teachers should benefit, then our
students, in turn, will benefit,” he
said. □
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Samuels, Jeanne F. Jewish Herald-Voice (Houston, Tex.), Vol. 105, No. 21, Ed. 1 Thursday, August 16, 2012, newspaper, August 16, 2012; Houston, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth544320/m1/4/?q=%22~1%22~1: accessed July 13, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; .