Mock Trial of Abraham at Kol Ami in White Plains
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U.S. District court Judge Jed. S. Rakoff will step away from his usual courtroom in the Southern District of New York, to preside over the Trial of the Centuries—People v. Abraham at Congregation Kol Ami in White Plains on Friday, April 16 at 8 p.m. Judge Rakoff was appointed to the federal bench in 1966 by President Bill Clinton. His earlier career includes practice as a federal prosecutor and as a defense attorney in white-collar crime cases.
The mock trial of the Biblical patriarch for the attempted murder of his son, Isaac, more than 4,000 years ago, will be a highlight of Synaplex, a series of monthly Friday night events that explore the Jewish experience. “People think the Bible is too holy to wrestle with, but Jews have always wrestled with the text of the Torah,” said Rabbi Shira Milgrom of Congregation Kol Ami. “Sometimes it can be hard to reconcile our beliefs with the texts, so we jump into the ring and wrestle with them.” The Synaplex mock trial is very much in that tradition, she noted.
"We are honored to have as our presiding judge the Hon. Jed Rakoff, who has served with distinction since 1996 as a federal court judge in the Southern District of New York A graduate of Swarthmore College, Oxford University (M. Philosophy) and Harvard Law School, Judge Rakoff has experienced both public service-- as a federal prosecutor in New York, where he was the Chief of the Business and Securities Fraud Unit-- and private practice-- as a partner in two prominent Wall street law firms, specializing in white collar criminal defense. Judge Rakoff has been featured prominently in the news, most recently for his role in the SEC/Bank of America case involving the public disclosures made and not made concerning the Merrill Lunch bonuses in 2008, and for his decision in 2002 (later overturned) declaring the federal death penalty stature unconstitutional".
Representing Abraham will be Michael P. Zweig, litigation partner at Loeb & Loeb, and Ami G. Zweig, an attorney extern at the New York Legal Aid Society. The prosecution team includes Scott D. Musoff, litigation partner at Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meager & Flom, and Leslye B. Davidson, a partner at Davidson, Davidson and Kappel. The witnesses (as Sarah, Abraham, the servant, and Isaac respectively) will be Dr. Ellen Umansky, professor of Judaic Studies at Fairfield University, attorney Richard L. Veron, Ron Cole, a businessman and amateur actor, and David Bach, a junior at Ardsley High School. A six-person jury will hear arguments. A 1-hour New York Continuing Legal Education Credit will be offered.
Synaplex’s flexible format includes music, dance, spiritual exploration, children's programming, films, and other activities. The evening’s schedule opens at 5:00 pm with a choice of events. Explorations in Music with Cantor Mo Glazman and special guest Galit Dadoun will take place in the Main Sanctuary. A children’s crafts program will be held in the synagogue’s main building. In addition, there also will be a Shabbat service for families with young children at 5:30 pm., and a wine-and-cheese get together in Kol Ami’s main building following these activities.
At the heart of Synaplex™ at Kol Ami are the Friday night religious services ushering in the Sabbath. They will be in the main sanctuary are at 6:15 pm. Religious services are followed by teen, family, young-professional, and adults-only dinners at 7:30 p.m. After dinner, while adults attend the trial, young children have a choice of making sandwiches and snacks for a local homeless shelter, Supervised Sports and Games with Coach Stone, and/or attending the evenings Main Event, if age appropriate.
Synaplex™ events are open to both temple members and non-members. All events are free with the exception of the dinner, which costs $25 for adults and $15 for teens and $10 for children. Reservations are necessary for dinner. For more information or to make a dinner reservation, please call Ilene Miller at 949-4717 ext. 111.
One Expensive Storm
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Now that the trees have been cleared, wires put back into place and we’re all taking our electricity for granted, make a guess… how much do you think Scarsdale Village spent to clean up the storm? $50,000? $500,000? In fact, according to Village Manager Al Gatta, the answer lies somewhere in between. And in a year when village finances are severely strained and there is already an estimated shortfall in revenues of $90,000, where will this money come from?
At the March 23rd meeting of the Scarsdale Board of Trustees, Mayor Carolyn Stevens asked Gatta to give an accounting of the cost for the extra work done by fire, police, public works and parks personnel. The Village incurred costs for overtime, vehicles, supplies, and equipment for emergency services, property damage repairs, and tree and debris removal. In total, the Village answered 7,200 calls from Village residents in need of assistance. Gatta estimates that the total cost of the storm to Scarsdale was $358,000. If a state of emergency is declared for the area, Scarsdale will apply for federal aid to close the gap.
In other news from the Village Board of Trustees, Board members and the community said their goodbyes to Trustees Sharon Lindsay and Dan Hochvert, both who have completed four years as Village Trustee. Kind words were exchanged by all about the enormous contributions both have made to the Board and to the Village. They will clearly be missed. Speaking for the Scarsdale Forum, V.P. Bruce Wells expressed his thanks for their dedication to Scarsdale and Jane Veron thanked both on behalf of the League of Women Voters. Kay Eisenman and Jonathan Mark have been elected to serve in their place and will begin at the first scheduled meeting in April.
Lowey to Speak at Global Hunger Shabbat
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Congresswoman Nita M. Lowey will join with Jewish communities nationwide to observe a Global Hunger Shabbat at Westchester Refrom Temple on Friday March 19. The service, beginning at 7:45 p.m., is open to the community and will be a source of solidarity, education, reflection and advocacy to raise awareness about global hunger.
Global Hunger Shabbat is part of the American Jewish World Service’s (AJWS) campaign Fighting Hunger from the Ground Up created to build awareness about the political roots of hunger. Scheduled to coincide with the Shabbat just prior to Passover, Global Hunger Shabbat will evoke the Passover message of all who are hungry, let them come and eat, on behalf of the more than a billion people suffering from hunger worldwide.
The speaker for the evening, Congresswoman Lowey, represents New York’s 18th District, including parts of Westchester and Rockland Counties. As a member of the powerful House Appropriations Committee, where she chairs the State and Foreign Operations Appropriations Subcommittee and is a senior member of the Homeland Security and Labor-Health and Human Services-Education Subcommittees, Lowey is an extremely effective, committed legislator with a substantial record of accomplishment.
This event is free and open to the public at Westchester Reform Temple, located at 255 Mamaroneck Road in Scarsdale, NY. For directions or information, call the Temple at 914-723-7727, email to [email protected], or visit the web at www.wrtemple.org.
Spring Offerings from the Scarsdale Adult School
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Dealing with clutter gets easier with Home Organization for Your Busy Life, taught by certified professional organizer Bonnie Joy Dewkett.
To learn how to get off the lose-and-gain weight seesaw with a unified plan for lifelong weight-management, the Scarsdale Adult School is offering Winning the Weight Loss Game, a four session workshop meeting on Tuesdays, starting April 6th from 7 - 8:30 pm at Scarsdale High School. Based on the latest research, the strategy presented by Karen Reznik Dolins EdD, RD, CSSD, CD-N, and a Board Certified Specialist in Sports Dietetics specializing in health promotion, sports nutrition and clinical dietetics will teach you how to balance diet and exercise. Discussion will focus on the effect of exercise on metabolic rate, how much exercise is needed to promote healthy weight loss, exercise intensity and fat loss, the role of strength vs. aerobic training, the number of calories to eat in a day and where to get those calories. In addition you will create individualized practical exercise and menu plans.
To register, or for information on all course offerings, visit www.ScarsdaleAdultSchool.org. Questions? Call 723-2325. Catalogs are available at the Scarsdale Public Library and Village Hall.
Feiner Wants to Call in the National Guard
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Greenburgh Town Supervisor Paul Feiner is calling on the National Guard to assist Greenburgh during future crises. The recent storm and resulting power outages have caused thousands of Greenburgh and Westchester residents to lose power for days. In response, Feiner has written to Brigadier General Patrick Murphy of the New York National Guard. Feiner is urging the New York National Guard to take steps so that the next time there is a serious storm that leaves homeowners without power the National Guard could be activated to help.
According to Feiner, the New York National Guard could be used to direct traffic at intersections where lights are out, to help cut down trees or stand guard near downed wires.
In a letter to Scarsdale10583.com, Feiner says, “Con Ed and local governments are trying hard to restore power but the amount of damage has made it impossible to get to everyone immediately. Some people will be out of power for six or seven days—which is unacceptable. Even after a power outage, there is significant work to do. It will take the town weeks to clean up the mess. We could use the help of the Guard. If the Guard becomes part of power outage emergency planning , Guard members will get terrific practical training and can help localities restore power quickly.”
Here is the current status of the restoration in Greenburgh from Con Edison: Of the more than 11,000 Greenburgh customers affected by the storm 5,400 remain without service as of 6:50 AM Tuesday morning. Today, Con Edison is cutting trees off wires, and removing fallen wires and broken poles so that state crews can restore the power.
