Uncategorized
A new portrait collection showcases 90 Holocaust survivors who lived long and full lives
(JTA) — Werner Reich had his opening line ready when he sat down for B.A. Van Sise to take his portrait.
“Before I could say anything, he said, ‘Everybody comes to me and they want me to talk about the Holocaust. What am I supposed to say? I went to Auschwitz. It was lousy,’” Van Sise said, recalling that Reich’s comment felt like a joke, not a lament.
But instead of dwelling on the horrors of the Nazi concentration camp, the two men spoke about magic, a refuge for Reich as a Jewish teenager trying to survive. The resulting portrait shows a man in his 90s wearing retro glasses, a cloud of smoke floating a few inches above his open palm, in a picture vibrating with life and with enchantment.
Van Sise’s portrait of Reich is the first in “Invited to Life: Finding Hope After the Holocaust,” his new portrait collection of 90 Holocaust survivors. The accompanying text acknowledges Reich’s experience at Auschwitz, but it focuses more on Reich’s life after the war and his long career in magic — striking a balance that Van Sise says is core to his project.
“This is not something that people are inclined to talk about because it’s not always bombastic. It’s not the part that you sell movie tickets to,” Van Sise said. “You can make, and people have, a hundred movies about Jewish people being imprisoned, tortured, and enslaved. Why doesn’t anybody talk about them thriving afterwards?”
Holocaust survivor and hiking enthusiast Sam Silberberg poses for “Invited to Life”. (Courtesy of B.A. Van Sise / Design by Grace Yagel)
Van Sise is far from the first photographer to capture the faces of survivors in the decades following the end of the Second World War. Famed portrait photographers Martin Schoeller and Mark Seliger, both known for their iconic celebrity portraiture — Schoeller for his uniform, stylized close-ups and Seliger as a magazine photographer who also recently photographed Jerry Seinfeld in a fashion shoot — have also set their cameras in front of Holocaust survivors. Countless other photographers have done the same. But what Van Sise says is sometimes missing from survivor photography is a focus on the postwar lives, many of them joyous, that the subjects have experienced over the last 70-plus years.
“I suspect that one person might see these folks and see victims,” Van Sise said. “And I see them as survivors.”
Holocaust survivor and Park East Synagogue Rabbi Arthur Schneier poses for “Invited to Life”. (Courtesy of B.A. Van Sise / Design by Grace Yagel)
“Invited to Life” was inspired by a 2015 photo assignment Van Sise took on for the Village Voice. Motivated by the anti-immigrant, anti-refugee rhetoric of then-candidate for president Donald Trump, he realized that a particularly cohesive cohort of refugees to come to the United States had arrived more than 75 years ago, at the end of the Second World War, and a photographic retrospective on their lives in America could be a valuable project. He reached out to the Museum of Jewish Heritage in New York to be put in touch with a dozen survivors for the story. He ended up taking more than 30 portraits. When the alternative newsweekly ceased publication in 2017 (it was revived in 2021) before he could publish the photos, the museum invited Van Sise to turn the portraits into a solo exhibition, in what became the museum’s first-ever public art installation.
Then the pandemic arrived, and like many photographers whose everyday work required travel, Van Sise was out of a job.
“It had never been a marquee project for me,” said Van Sise, who is Jewish but has no familial connection to the Holocaust. “I kept coming back and thinking about them, and about the fact that these people had been through the worst there ever was, the worst that ever has been, the worst there ever might even be.”
Holocaust survivor and painter Fred Terna poses for “Invited to Life”. (Courtesy of B.A. Van Sise / Design by Grace Yagel)
Van Sise spent the better part of 2020 driving around the United States, getting COVID swabs every three days so he could safely photograph 140 elderly survivors, 90 of whom ended up in the book. (He was insistent with his publisher that the final number of portraits in the book be a multiple of 18, the Jewish numerical symbol for “life”.)
The photos are all in black and white, but beyond that, they are as diverse as Sise’s subjects. Some incorporate backgrounds, some are solo portraits; some are serious, some are silly; some include children, grandchildren, husbands, wives, props; some are in profile, and some are shot straight on. The subjects are Nobel Prize-winning chemists and homemakers; pilots and psychologists; haberdashers and teachers; famed rabbis and partisans-turned-conmen.
All of them, Sise says, were photographed with a sense of generosity.
“A person who wants to be critical of me — which is fair — might say that I’m overly charitable,” Van Sise says of his own work, acknowledging that no photographer can avoid bias completely while behind the camera. (It didn’t help that many of the survivors he photographed were eager to feed him cookies, as he frequently recalls.)
In the nearly three years since Van Sise began photographing the subjects of his book, the reality of working with more than 100 elderly people set in. Several of the survivors, including Holocaust educator René Slotkin, Budapest-born legal secretary Kathy Griesz and Reich died before they got the chance to hold a copy of the book in their hands, much to Van Sise’s dismay.
“As a writer, you carry them with you,” he said. “So for me, there were a few where I got pretty rattled.”
Holocaust survivor and educator René Slotkin poses for “Invited to Life”. (Courtesy of B.A. Van Sise / Design by Grace Yagel)
The photographs reflect acknowledgment by all involved that the survivors in the pictures are all nearing the ends of their lives. Many of his subjects chose to include their children, grandchildren, or great-grandchildren in their portraits, and the photographer was intentional in closing the book with a portrait of Irving Roth, a longtime Holocaust educator, with his 3-year-old great-granddaughter Addie sitting on his lap. In the text, Roth remarks on the origins of his Hebrew name, Shmuel Meir, which came from his great-grandfather and imagines what life will be like for Addie when she turns 103, and what she will remember of him.
Roth passed away in February 2021 at age 91.
“Those stories don’t end in 1945,” Van Sise said. “These people have lived for, now, 77 years since and have done plenty with that time. And that’s worth exploring, because that’s the part they have control over.”
Reflecting on different styles of Holocaust survivor portraiture at a discussion at the Museum of Jewish Heritage, the original home of Van Sise’s portraits, German photographer Martin Schoeller remarked on his own preference for images of older faces.
Holocaust survivor and educator Irving Roth and great-granddaughter Addie pose together for “Invited to Life”. (Courtesy of B.A. Van Sise / Design by Grace Yagel)
“They have more life in them. You see the wrinkles and you feel that there’s more to discover in the face, in an old face. So they almost feel like they’re telling the story of the suffering of the Holocaust more visually, because they’re older faces,” Schoeller said.
“But then, it’s been 75 years since the end of the war,” he added. “So these people have lived 75 years; so to say, ‘Now I see the horror in this old man’s face’ feels a little bit — I don’t know if that’s really true. I leave it up to the people looking at the pictures.”
—
The post A new portrait collection showcases 90 Holocaust survivors who lived long and full lives appeared first on Jewish Telegraphic Agency.
Uncategorized
Blood Spilled After Anti-Israel Mob Breaches IDF Event Near Toronto Metropolitan University
Anti-Israel mob moments before it shattered glass door to storm Jewish event featuring IDF soldiers near Toronto Metropolitan University. Photo: Provided by witness of incident
Members of Toronto Metropolitan University’s Students for Justice in Palestine chapter on Wednesday led a mob that spilled blood and caused the hospitalization of at least one Jewish student after forcibly breaching a venue in which the advocacy group Students Supporting Israel had convened for an event featuring veterans of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF).
The former soldiers agreed to meet Students Supporting Israel (SSI) to discuss their experiences at a “private space” on campus which had to be reserved because TMU denied the group a room reservation and, therefore, security personnel that would have been afforded to it. However, someone leaked the event location, leading to one of the most violent incidents of campus antisemitism since Hamas’s Oct. 7, 2023, massacre across southern Israel sparked a surge of anti-Jewish hostility in higher education.
By the time the attack ended, three people had been rushed to a local medical facility for treatment of injuries caused by a protester’s shattering the glazing of the venue’s door with a drill bit, a witness, TMU student Ethan Elharrar, told The Algemeiner during an interview.
Seconds after pro-Hamas agitator, captured from behind in this still, shattered a glass door with what students described as a drill bit. He was attempting to invade the event. Photo: Screenshot
“No one should have known where this event was, but they were setting up when a couple of girls with keffiyehs walked in yelling ‘baby killers!’ and ‘free Palestine!’” Elharrar said. “Then more started coming in, and then we closed the door trying to make sure no one could come in, and then these individuals in masks then began banging on the door and trying to open the door.”
He added, “One of the individuals had a weapon he used, a drill bit. He used it to break and shatter the door … Two individuals were transported to the hospital because of this. One was really badly cut all his arms and legs, and he had to get stitches. Another is afraid to publicly disclose her injuries because she doesn’t want anything to happen to her.”
Five people have been arrested and charged with forcible entry, unlawful assembly, and obstruction of a peace officer, according to Toronto police. The suspects are reportedly expected to appear in court in early January 2026.
In a statement, the university said it was “deeply concerned” about what transpired.
“TMU condemns acts of aggression, intimidation, or violence,” it said. “The actions that took place on Wednesday are unacceptable and do not reflect the values of our community. Our thoughts are with any students who may have been injured during the incident.”
Aftermath of the breach. Photo: Screenshot.
Elharrar said Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) was continuing a pattern of anti-Jewish intimidation and harassment, one to which the university had declined to respond with disciplinary measures because it is committed to dealing with the antisemitism crisis as a “political issue,” Elharrar said.
“Our universities don’t care, and it comes down to our government, which won’t do anything about it,” he continued. “They don’t want to support us. I’ve had maybe a dozen calls with the human rights division at the university, and they told me specifically that they won’t help with anything having to do with Israel.”
Injury sustained by event participant. Photo: Screenshot.
On Wednesday, Hillel Ontario director Jay Solomon, who serves Jewish TMU students, told The Algemeiner that his organization has been pushing for the school to be more proactive in defending the campus Jewish community, but to no avail.
“For quite some time Hillel Ontario has been calling on the administration take action to prevent antisemitism and ensure that Jewish students on campus are safe and able to learn, work, and study on a campus that is free from harassment, and unfortunately the actions of the administration have been inadequate,” Solomon said. “What happened is another illustration of the very challenges that we’ve been warning them about for some time now.”
Wednesday’s incident is not the first time an SJP group attempted to storm a Jewish event this academic year. It also happened last month, when masked pro-Hamas activists nearly raided an event held on the campus of Pomona College, based in Claremont, California, to commemorate the victims of the Oct. 7. massacre.
Footage of the act which circulated on social media showed the group attempting to force its way into the room while screaming expletives and pro-Hamas dogma. They ultimately failed due to the prompt response of the Claremont Colleges Jewish chaplain and other attendees who formed a barrier in front of the door to repel them, a defense they mounted on their own as campus security personnel did nothing to stop the disturbance.
Pomona College, working with its sister institutions in the Claremont consortium of liberal arts colleges in California (5C), later identified and disciplined some of the perpetuators.
“Given the gravity of the alleged offense — and the published statement that has raised significant concerns about similar disruptions in the future — I have initiated an interim campus ban for both individuals, pending further inquiries, and in line with our policy,” Pomona College president Gabrielle Starr said in a statement. “The alleged behavior here is serious, and to ensure an appropriate adjudication is reached, the college is committed to maintaining a fair process.”
She added, “I assure you that Pomona hopes for — and will advocate for — an outcome that ensures our campuses are free of the kind of targeted harassment we witnessed.”
Follow Dion J. Pierre @DionJPierre.
Uncategorized
Shifka, a new pita shop on the Bowery, aims to be the Chipotle of Israeli cuisine
Fans of Sami & Susu, the Mediterranean-inspired Lower East Side wine bar and restaurant that opened during the pandemic, will be happy to know that its Jewish owners have opened a lower priced, more casual spinoff just a few blocks away.
Shifka at 324 Bowery offers elevated Israeli-style street food — like pita stuffed with schnitzel, Yemenite hot sauce, pickles, hot pepper and red cabbage, drizzled with creamy Har Bracha tahini.
Shifka is named after the spicy, light green pickled pepper that’s a popular condiment at falafel shops across Israel. “It was supposed to be called The Pita Shop, but you can’t trademark that name — it’s too general,” said Amir Nathan, 39, one of Shifka’s store’s four owners and a co-founder of Sami & Susu. “I said, why don’t we call it after the pepper, like Chipotle. I like names that trigger curiosity. You need to think about the experience that you are about to have.”
Nearly a half-decade in the making — Nathan and his partner, executive chef Jordan Anderson, conducted years of pita sandwich experiments at Sami & Susu — Shifka opened its doors on Oct. 14, just after a fragile ceasefire between Israel and Hamas in Gaza began.
Throughout the development of Shifka, Nathan said that he and his partners were undeterred about opening another Israeli restaurant during a time of heightened antisemitism in New York. “When I see a crisis, I decide to do something positive,” said Nathan, who was born and raised in Beersheba, in southern Israel. “Opening Sami & Susu during the pandemic was a big one. And since Oct. 7, we emphasize more our Israeli and Jewish identity with the food that we do.”
Last winter, Nathan and Anderson took a “R&D trip” to Israel together. The goal, said Nathan, was to share Israeli cuisine with his partner, who was raised Jewish in New Jersey and had never visited Israel before.
“We went to classic pita shops in Israel but also toured the ASIF Culinary Institute and Arabic restaurants,” Nathan said. “How does a pita shop in Israel operate? How do they organize and order? Let’s be up to date with what is happening in the new generation of restaurants. It was a good introduction. We went to Akko to eat hummus and to a Druze restaurant in the north — all of the staples that together make this cuisine what it is.”
Nathan believes that their wide-ranging trip gave Anderson a better understanding of the flavors of the Middle East.
“Baguette, harissa, preserved lemon, hard-boiled egg — a Tunisian sandwich is what I ate in my school cafeteria in Beersheba,” Nathan said. “When I tried to explain to Jordan the idea behind it — now when he saw it in Machane Yehuda Market he said, ‘Wow, this is where it comes from.’ He saw food from Iraq to Yemen to East Jerusalem. The idea that a mash of those cultures can work together actually clicked.”
They also visited two restaurants that Anderson had read about: HaBasta, near the Carmel Market in Tel Aviv and known for the freshness and seasonality of its dishes, and HaKatan, a seafood restaurant in Tel Aviv’s Levinsky Market.
“These chefs are cooking like me,” Anderson, who has a French culinary background, said of his new inspiration.
“We do a lot of upscale food at Sami & Susu,” the 33-year-old added. “It’s refreshing to do sandwiches and fast casual and spread your mind that way.”
At Sami & Susu, the menu is seasonal and changes eight times a year. The menu at Shifka, by contrast, is streamlined and stable. Customers choose from stuffed pita sandwiches and bowls with an option of rice, freekeh — an ancient Middle Eastern grain imported from Israel — and or salad as its base. As for proteins, options include chicken marinated in yogurt, lamb kebabs drizzled with amba and shrimp served with tzatziki, roasted red peppers and red cabbage.
Of course, you can also order shifka peppers at Shifka; served as a side dish ($2), they are imported from Israel. Other sides include french fries coated in zaatar ($8), as well as muhammara, a walnut and roasted red pepper spread, or matbucha, a roasted tomato and smoked paprika salad ($8 each). Alcoholic beverages and dessert — like creamy, nutty soft-serve ice cream made with Israeli tahini ($8) — are on offer, too.
Nathan said he and his partners considered using kosher meat but ultimately decided it was too costly. “Kosher is part of our heritage and history, but it’s not the only way,” he said. “What we do here is not traditional. I hope that people see it as a voice of our new generation of Jews all over the world.”
He added: “We’re going to do breakfast here at some point, and we will have bacon, egg and cheese bourekas and it’s phenomenal. And a shakshuka in a pita — that’s how we want to eat.”
The exterior of Shifka, an new Israeli pita sandwich shop at 324 Bowery. (Courtesy of Shifka)
More than “just” an Israeli restaurant, Nathan stresses that Shifka’s influences are far flung. “Obviously, I’m from Israel but the influences are from all around,” he said. “We have tzatziki in a pita. We have lamb kebab, a hybrid of Romanian kebab combined with Yemenite spices. It is not just Israeli.”
Nonetheless, Nathan said that Sami & Susu — which garnered a Michelin Bib Gourmand award in 2022, 2023 and 2024 — has been subject to some anti-Israel vandalism during the two-year war between Israel and Gaza.
“We got tagged a couple of times,” he said. “People sprayed on our window.”
And yet, Nathan and Anderson say that the war in Gaza impacted their business in an unexpectedly good way.
“It actually gave us more business I think,” Nathan said. “More Jews are coming to Sami & Susu after Oct. 7. Hipster couples from Fort Greene to Upper West Siders. Maybe they are looking for that kind of food — I call it Mediterranean because it is actually not meant to be just Israeli but food of the Diaspora.”
He added: “Israel, as much as I love it, is not the only heritage we have as Jews. We have a long history before the country existed.”
Since its opening three weeks ago, Shifka has garnered rave reviews. According to the Infatuation, “Shifka makes lunchtime in NOHO so much better,” while Grub Street named Shifka to its list of the city’s best new restaurants.
“Knock on wood, said Nathan. “We are fortunate to have a good beginning on this project.”
And like Chipotle — which is named for a smoked, dried jalapeno pepper and operates 3,700 restaurants around the globe — Nathan and his partners are hoping to scale Shifka one day. Unlike the fast-casual juggernaut, which is primarily owned by institutional investors, Shifka’s partners’ plans are more modest.
“We are looking for small growth, not duplicating it dozens of times. We are planning to expand Shifka and move Sami & Susu to a bigger location,” Nathan said. “We never prevent ourselves from dreaming big and maybe expanding to other cities.”
For now, though, the focus is on the Bowery location. On a recent morning, Shifka’s kitchen was abuzz as staffers busily filled dozens of lunch orders for local businesses. By lunchtime, “the whole place is packed,” Anderson said. “Delicious food, fair prices, creative. No fear about all the hate that is going around the city right now.”
—
The post Shifka, a new pita shop on the Bowery, aims to be the Chipotle of Israeli cuisine appeared first on Jewish Telegraphic Agency.
Uncategorized
Kazakhstan set to join Abraham Accords as Trump seeks to reinvigorate initiative
Kazakhstan is expected to announce Thursday that it will join the Abraham Accords during President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev’s White House meeting with President Donald Trump, Axios and other media outlets reported, citing unnamed U.S. officials.
The move is reportedly aimed at reinvigorating the framework established during Trump’s first term linking Israel with Arab and Muslim-majority states after momentum stalled during the Gaza war.
While the step would expand the accords on paper, it won’t establish new ties: Israel and Kazakhstan have maintained full diplomatic and economic relations since 1992.
Tokayev is in Washington with four other Central Asian leaders as the United States courts a region long influenced by Russia and increasingly engaged by China.
Trump has sought to grow the accords to include Saudi Arabia, though Riyadh continues to condition normalization on a credible path to Palestinian statehood. Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman is slated to visit Washington later this month.
Kazakhstan served as a haven for Soviet Jews during the Holocaust. Today, its Jewish community of an estimated 2,500 is small, decentralized and largely led by Chabad. During unrest in 2022, synagogues temporarily shut their doors as the community tried to steer clear of politics and waited out the violence.
A Jewish comedian, Sacha Baron Cohen, thrust the country into pop culture prominence in 2006 with the release of his mockumentary “Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan.” The movie portrayed the country as backward and antisemitic and spurred a backlash from the government. Later, as the movie contributed to a tourism boost, the government embraced its association with Borat.
—
The post Kazakhstan set to join Abraham Accords as Trump seeks to reinvigorate initiative appeared first on Jewish Telegraphic Agency.