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The Charlotte
JEWISH
Vol. 23, No. 2
Shevat-Adar 5761
February 2001
Praise for Professor Alan Dershowitz
Attorney and Harvard Law Professor to be Featured at
Federation’s ‘‘Main Event”
In letter after letter, and phone
call after phone call, communities
are raving about Professor Alan
Dershowitz — not only as a
charismatic and captivating speak
er, provoking much constructive
thought and discussion, but also as
a most gracious and accommodat
ing guest. He is always a tremen
dous draw and tailors his remarks
to the event. In Toronto, he spoke
to a sold-out crowd for the UJA
Federation, on the very timely
topic “Defending Israel in the
Media.” Associate Campaign
Director Jeff Springer called his
speech “brilliant” and said the two
standing ovations were unprece
dented. From Carl Hoffman, Shir
Ami Bucks County Jewish
Congregation in Newtown, PA,
“Professor Dershowitz’ appear-.
ance was the most successful
effort of its kind in the history of
our Congregation.” O
Alan Dershowitz
.Jemsh.
Of GteEATER Charlotte
Please join us for
THE MAIN EVENT
OF THE 2001 ANNUAL
CAMPAIGN
Defense of Judaism”
Guest Speaker
ALAN DERSHOWITZ
Saturday, February 10
7:45 PM
Temple Israel
A champagne dessert recep
tion will follow the program.
Couvert: $36
Temple Attire
You will have the opportunity
to make your commitment to
the 2001 Annual Campaign.
For more information,
call 944-6757.
Singer/Songwriter Craig Taubman to
Appear at Temple Israel
Sunday, March 4, 7:00 PM
Craig Taubman has established
himself as a unique voice in fami
ly entertainment, blending kid-
friendly themes with adult musical
appeal. He is a proven entertainer
who has been writing and per
forming music for children and
their families for over 22 years.
As a student at Los Angeles
Hebrew High School, Taubman
put his money where his mouth
was.
It wasn’t his money, actually.
“I had an administrator at the
school who saw how passionate I
was about my Judaism, and he
knew of my interest in music,”
recalls Taubman.
“So he took a chunk of the
school’s budget — $5,000 — gave
it to me and said, ‘Use your pas
sion for the good of you and your
peers.'”
Taubman used the money to put
out an album to reach out to other
Jewish kids.
Suddenly Taubman was a per
former.
“That album gave me credibili
ty,” says the Southern Californian,
who has since released many
Judaism-themed recordings.
These works have been invaluable
to parents who want their children
to learn Hebrew while acknowl
edging their Jewish heritage. The
hip-hot music makes the lessons
go down nice and easy.
Craig has been performing in
public since nursery school. Well,
actually, his wife, Louise, who
was a director of a nursery school,
invited her husband to share some
of his original tunes with her
charges one fateful day in 1987,
and children’s music has been a
better place ever since.
But his interest in music sur
faced long before that. He and his
three siblings had a preteen
singing group called The
NewMelody, but, Craig confesses,
they didn’t come from musical
parents. “Dad couldn’t carry a
tune in a bucket,” he recalls.
After forming a Jewish group
with his brother Gene and record
ing a couple of albums with sister
Caren Glasser (now a cantor), he
got the attention of the then-neo
phyte Disney Channel. Makin'
Music was filmed as a popular
Kaleidoscope concert special, fol
lowed by the release of Rock ‘n
Toontown, celebrating the open
ing of the Disneyland attraction. “I
was very fortunate. Extraordinary
exposure, resources and great
experience came from working
with Disney,” he says.
Initially, Craig wrote music
“that I was told parents and kids
wanted to hear and sing about.
Traditional family and car music.”
But after becoming a parent, he
started to “think about what kids
might be feeling.” Hence, two of
his most popular songs, “Haircut”
and “Mom’s Baby,” deal with real
feelings of fear, jealousy and
abandonment using clever lyric,
gentle reassurance and fresh per
spective. His two talented chil
dren, Noah, 10, and Abby, 9, sing
on his albums; his music compa
ny, Sweet Louise, is named for his
wife; and don’t be at all surprised
if their dog, cat and koi fish are
dancers in Craig’s live shows.
Craig enjoys a successful career
in television and film composing
as well. He has composed music
for Television Series on Fox,
Showtime, HBO, and PBS.
Craig’s music has also been in
films from Paramount, New Line
Cinema, as well as Disney. His
songs have been recorded by such
respected artists as Chita Rivera,
Whoopi Goldberg and Jennifer
Holliday.
(Continued on page 10)
Author of ‘The Ladies
Auxiliary,” Tova Mirvis
Brings Her Story to
Charlotte
In the tiny Orthodox Jewish
community in Memphis where
Tova Mirvis was raised, Yiddish
was spoken with a
Southern accent, and
fried chicken and
black-eyed peas
joined the Challah on
the Sabbath table. For
her first novel, Mirvis,
now based in New
York City, has recreat
ed this world as seen
through the eyes of its
female members, con
juring both its shelter
ing warmth and some
time suffocating insu
larity with affection
and sensitivity. “Everyone there
knows each other, everyone’s par
ents know each other, and every
one’s grandparents know each
other too,” recounts Mirvis, who is
still a practicing Orthodox Jew. “I
wanted to convey what it’s like to
be on the inside of such a close-
knit world, which I am, and also
what it’s like to not fit into this
world, which I don’t.”
The outsider in Mirvis’s novel
is 34-year-old Batsheva, a painter
and recent convert to Judaism who
moves to the neighborhood from
New York with her five-year-old
daughter, Ayala, after she is wid-
Tova Mirvis
owed. Batsheva’s free-spirited,
albeit deeply spiritual, interpreta
tion of the traditional Jewish
woman’s role quickly
draws both criticism
and admiration, even
tually embroiling the
community in a fight
for its very soul. “The
way that this world is
so interested in trying
to preserve itself is
true to the Memphis
where I grew up,”
says Mirvis. But she
notes that this way of
life also has its
“beauty and positive
aspects,” and uses the
religion’s elaborate, family-
focused holiday rituals to frame
the story.
Please mark your calendar for
Thursday, March 22, when the
Jewish Federation of Greater
Charlotte Women’s Division
brings Tova Mirvis to our commu
nity. Prior to the event on
Thursday, February 22 there will
also be a book discussion at the
home of Donna Lerner. For more
information on these events,
please call Mamie Moskowitz at
704-944-6764 or email her at
mmoskowitz@shalomcharlotte.or
g. ^
Joint Distribution
Committee to Help
Earthquake Victims in
El Salvador
As you know a major earth
quake that stmck San Salvador has
killed more than 600 people and
left some 4,000 others missing and
feared dead.
While the Jewish community in
San Salvador was spared any dam
age, many others were not as for
tunate. Tens of thousands of peo
ple have been left homeless
throughout the country, and now
the Health Ministry is worried
about the possible outbreak of
cholera from contaminated water,
dengue fever from mosquito bites
and respiratory infections.
Combined with the devastating
toll on human lives, the govern
ment estimates the earthquake
caused up to $1 billion in damage
in this $6 billion-a-year economy.
We cannot stand silently while
(Continued on page 14)
The Jewish Federation of
Greater Charlotte
2001 Campaign has reached
$1,418,000
Help us help Jews in Charlotte, in the U.S., in Israel
and all over the world. Please consider making
- your contribution when called upon.
Our goal is $2.3 million
Inside this issue .. .
My Trip to Eastern Mediterranean/Black Sea pp. 20-21
By Rita Mond
Solidarity Missions to Israel pp. 24-25
Mark Rabinovitz represented Charlotte in a UJC mission to Israel
T\i B’Shevat pp. 26-27
Happy Birthday to the trees and the rest of nature
Federation Page
page
4
CAJE
page
8
Lubavitch of North Carolina . .. .
page
9
Temple Israel
page
10
Jewish Family Services
page
11
Temple Beth El
page
12
Charlotte Jewish Preschool
page
13
Women’s Events
page
13
Jewish Traveler
page
14
Speizman Jewish Library
page
15
Charlotte Jewish Day School ...
page
18
Jewish Community Center
... .pages
22-23
Mazel Tov
page
29
Dining Out page
30-32
Connect!^ Families
Sustaining Tr^ition
840 FAMILIES &
INDIVIDUALS HAVE
MADE THEIR PLEDGE!
MAKE YOUR
PLEDGE TODAY!
See Page 19