Asael at the Israeli airport

Tragedy struck Asael Shabo, when he was 10 years old, in 2002. He was at home with his three brothers, Nerya, 15, Tzvika, 12, and Avishai, 5, and his mother. It was a cool summer night, he and his brothers were watching TV, while his mom cleaned the kitchen.

At the same time a Palestinian terrorist was about to burst through the doors of their home, shattering his life forever. The terrorist murdered Asael’s brothers, and his beloved mother. Asael was badly hurt, but played dead behind the couch and waited for soldiers to rescue him. “I knew Avishai died, because I heard him stop crying,” said Asael.

Asael lived through the attack, but his leg had to be amputated. He thought he would never be able to do the things he loved again.

On The Stella Liniado Rainbow Foundation’s (SLRF) website, www.StellasRainbow Foundation.org it says, “When you lose your parents you are an orphan. When you lose your spouse you are a widow(er). There is no name for a parent who loses their child because it is just too unspeakable.”

Sadly, the SLRF began in February 2007 when six-and-a-half-year-old Stella Liniado lost her fight with Leukemia. “When Stella got sick it was hard to believe. She was not in pain and she never complained!” says her mother, Mary. “Stella always loved rainbows; she was all about rainbows. She was our rainbow.”

Recently, The Stella Liniado Rainbow Foundation held it’s Second Annual Rainbow Tournament featuring basketball and tennis for boys and girls in grades 9 through 12, at the home of Valery and Scott Dweck on Candy Lane.

Rabbi Dr. Elie Abadie, SCF Co-Chairman Haim Dabah and SCF Trustee Jeff Sutton presenting the Jacob Barsimon award to NYPD Commissioner Ray Kelly

New York City Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly recently visited members of New York’s Sephardic community at the Sephardic Community Federation annual board of directors meeting. He gave a top-level security briefing about the efforts undertaken by the NYPD to keep New York City safe and secure from terrorist attacks in the wake of the horrific events of September 11, 2001. At the event, Commissioner Kelly was presented with the Sephardic Community Federation’s Jacob Barsimon Award for his efforts on behalf of the Sephardic community. The SCF is the umbrella government relations and public policy organization of the Sephardic Jewish community.

The SCF’s annual event featuring Commissioner Kelly was hosted by Jeff and Rachel Sutton, who opened their home to the more than 100 Sephardic community leaders in attendance. The graciousness of the Suttons, who are prominent community leaders renowned for their hesed, enabled Commissioner Kelly and the other community leaders to enjoy a wonderful and informative evening.

Some of the world’s leading researchers will converge in Mexico City in September for an International Congress on Syrian Jewry in the American Diaspora. The schedule of speakers and topics promises to be one of the most enticing for Syrian history buffs.

Sponsored by Banque Safdie, the Congress is organized by Alianza Monte Sinaí (Damascus and Lebanese Jewish community); Comunidad Maguén David (Aleppan Jewish community); Universidad Hebraica (higher education institution of the Jewish community in Mexico); Jewish Culture Program at the Universidad Iberoamericana (program that fosters the development of Jewish culture at the Iberoamericana University); and the Sephardic Latin American Federation.

Lottie in her kitchen

Lottie Chalom A”H and her kitchen were good friends. She could always be found busy there, creating her latest dish. Throughout her lifetime, Lottie used her kitchen as her tool for hesed, giving to others. An acquaintance, friend, or family member would often find comfort and some humor served alongside one of her home baked pastries, usually fresh from the oven. A new bride called up Lottie for advice as she was having guests for the first time. Not only did Lottie share her ideas, she also made sure to drop off some of her own treats to help the young woman’s uneasiness with her first-time entertaining.

Lottie’s four daughters absorbed her message. When their dear mother passed away, Susan Menashe, Nina Cohen, Linda Dayan and Claudia Bildirici established Lottie’s Kitchen in Jerusalem, under the auspices of Ezer Mizion. Thousands upon thousands of people in Israel benefit from Lottie’s Kitchen, amongst them—the ill, the disabled, the elderly and of course, their families.

According to the National Association of School Psychologists, getting a new school year off to a good start can influence a child’s attitude, confidence, and performance both socially and academically. The transition from August to September can be difficult for both children and parents. Even children who are eager to return to class must adjust to the greater levels of activity, structure, and, for some, pressures associated with school life.

The degree of adjustment depends on the child, but parents can help their children (and the rest of the family) manage the increased pace of life by planning ahead, being realistic, and maintaining a positive attitude. Here are a few suggestions to help ease the transition and promote a successful school experience.

Tisha B’Av, the Fast of the Ninth of Av, is a day of mourning to commemorate the many tragedies that have befallen the Jewish people, many of which occurred on the ninth of Av.

Tisha B’Av means “the ninth (day) of Av.” This year it begins at sunset on August 9.

Tisha B’Av primarily commemorates the destruction of the First and Second Temples, both of which were destroyed on the ninth of Av.

Israel Teitelbaum, cofounder of Parents for Free Choice in Education, recently had the opportunity to present Presidential candidate John McCain with the organization’s proposal for school choice legislation—the Civil Rights Act for Equal Educational Opportunity. This would require the states to provide equitable educational funding for children in public and non-public schools, while respecting the liberty of schools in hiring and provision of services.

This would fulfill what the Civil Rights Act of 1964 tragically omitted—education. While our leaders saw fit to require equitable treatment in housing, employment, travel and entertainment, they deemed education unworthy of such protection for those in private and religious schools, and we are suffering the bitter consequences.

Haran Yaffe

Twenty-five year old Haran Yaffe smiles. “It’s a miracle I’m alive,” he says. “I was the most severely wounded soldier during the second Lebanese War. They said my chances were slim, but here I am. They said I’d never walk, and now I dance. They said I’d never play my music again, and…” He takes up his guitar, and his eyes smile as his fingers move confidently over the strings.

“The surgeons saved my life, but the therapists at the Reuth Medical Center have saved my reason for living: my music,” says Haran, who grew up in Amirim, the musical stronghold of the Galilee in the 1980s, and was, in fact, working on his first album when he was called up on August 6, 2006. Haran’s family proudly acknowledges their arrival in Israel after the Spanish Inquisition and expulsion, and traces their roots to the Pinto and Angel families.

In the Israeli town of Sderot, parents cannot send their children outside to play on a beautiful day. Soccer fields are no longer home to after-school games. There is no sound of laughter or any other usual childhood noises. The streets are not filled with children riding bicycles but rather with an eerie silence.

As rockets launched from the nearby Gaza Strip continue to fall on Sderot, life is at a standstill, especially for the town’s 3,000 children, who are forced to remain indoors all day rather than risk the chance that they won’t be able to reach a bomb shelter quickly enough during a rocket attack.

For the second year in a row, the Sephardic community of New York and NJ has graciously chosen to open their homes and hearts to Israel’s children of fallen soldiers by hosting a group of Bar/Bat Mitzvah aged youth taking part in the Friends of the IDF Legacy Program. The children will be greeted by our generous community for a welcoming weekend in Deal, NJ, to be followed by 10 days of fun-filled activities at Camp Ramah in the Berkshires.

Center Playschool children

When Emily Tammam, age 4, of West Long Branch, was about to get her first haircut, she and her mother decided to make it a memorable event by donating 10 inches of her curly locks to Zichron Menachem, a Jerusalem-based organization that provides natural hair wigs to children who have lost their hair due to illness. When Emily’s classmates at Center Play School (CPS) at the Ruth Hyman Jewish Community Center in Deal Park heard about this special mitzvah, their teacher Mrs. Peggy Wolfe decided to donate their classroom tzedakah money to the organization.

Naomi was desperate: newly married and on precarious financial ground, she and her husband felt totally incapable of properlycaring for the child she carried. Their social worker agreed with her husband. Abortion was the only choice. She would or could not listen to family members who tried to dissuade her against taking this irrevocable step. Procedures were followed, forms were duly submitted and an abortion was scheduled for a few days later. Then word reached EFRAT.

What is EFRAT? EFRAT was established by Mr. H. Feingenbaum, a Holocaust survivor. After immigrating to Israel after the war, and seeing the few that had survived the Nazi horror, he realized one thing. The way to the continued survival and with G-d’s help, resurgence of the Jewish people, was to increase the numbers of Jews being born. Mr. Feingenbaum’s goal in founding the organization was to increase the birthrate in the Jewish State by preventing unnecessary abortions.