"Look of Love" at Birmingham Museum

By Lee J. Green

Birmingham will get to experience a rare gem as the first major exhibition of lover’s eye jewelry opens Feb. 7 at the Birmingham Museum of Art.

The Museum debuts “The Look of Love: Eye Miniatures from the Skier Collection,” which will be displayed through June 10. Exquisite in craftsmanship, unique in detail and few in number, lover’s eye miniatures are small-scale portraits of individual eyes set into various forms of jewelry from the late 18th and early 19th century England.

Featuring 96 pieces, this collection is considered the largest of its kind, with only 1,000 lover’s eye miniatures thought to be in existence worldwide.

The exhibit comes from the collection of Birmingham’s Nan and David Skier, involved members of the local Jewish community. It was organized by Dr. Graham Boettcher, the William C. Hulsey Curator of American Art at the Birmingham Museum of Art.

These customized tokens depicting one another’s eyes became part of a trend that began with Britain’s Prince of Wales, who became King George IV. Clandestine lovers exchanged these, as such a feature might only be recognized by persons of the most intimate familiarity.

The Skiers began their lover’s eye miniature collection with a ring purchased at a 1993 antiques show. Over the past several years, they built the largest collection in the world.

“These rarities are at once works of art, precious jewels and fragments of history. How poignant it is that each eye represents an actual person and an actual story of love or bereavement,” said Nan Skier.

The collection includes lockets, rings, watch keys, toothpick cases, brooches, pendants and jewelry boxes.

The museum will also present a related event featuring a day of jewelry appraisal featuring Gloria Lieberman, vice president of Skinner Auctions of Boston. Trinket or Treasure will be Feb. 25.

Lieberman founded Skinner’s Fine Jewelry Department in 1980 and is considered one of the world’s renowned experts on antique jewelry.

That day appraisals will be held between 10 a.m. and noon, and 1 to 4 p.m. Lieberman will deliver a public lecture at noon. There will be fees for items appraised. But “The Look of Love” exhibition is free and open to the public during normal museum hours.

Update: AJT Publisher Stepping Down After Assassination Column

Andrew Adler, publisher and owner of the Atlanta Jewish Times, announced today that he will be stepping down from his role with the paper. As of now, media reports differ on whether Adler has decided to try and sell the 90-year-old paper. JTA reported that Adler wrote an email stating he is looking to sell, while according to CNN, AJT staffers said there was no announcement regarding plans to sell.

The controversy came in a speculative column that gave circumstances under which Israel, faced with a foot-dragging U.S. administration interested only in diplomacy, could consider assassinating "a president deemed unfriendly to Israel in order for the current vice president to take his place," which was universally seen as a reference to President Barack Obama. The Secret Service is apparently investigating.

The Jewish Federation of Greater Atlanta condemned the column and stated "a call for an immediate and public apology" was issued within days of publication. The Federation suspended its relationship with AJT -- which is independent of the Federation -- until several criteria are met "to ensure no further harm comes to our community."

The criteria include no further columns by Adler following the apology this coming week, appointment of an editor-in-chief to oversee content, convening of an advisory committee of community members and leaders and to provide guidance on any change of control of the AJT, or if there is no new editor-in-chief and advisory committee, Adler selling the AJT.

Over the weekend, Atlanta Interfaith Broadcasting aired an emotional interview with Adler where he apologized to Obama, Israel and the Atlanta Jewish community, stating he intended to generate more interest in the threat Israel faced from a nuclear Iran.

Among the organizations applauding his resignation was B'nai B'rith International, which stated "The damage inflicted on Israel and perhaps on U.S.-Israel relations is incalculable. We hope that Adler’s swift resignation will help quell any fallout from his outrageous scenario."

Meanwhile, Atlanta Jewish News announced today that it will begin a print edition of what had previously been an online-only presence. “The time is right for Atlanta Jewish News to publish a print edition,” said Marcy Levinson-Brooks, founder and editor-in-chief. “Atlanta benefits from a quality, comprehensive Jewish newspaper with insightful content, and our online success has laid the foundation for our move to print.”

The Atlanta Jewish News has had to deal with a slew of irate calls, emails and tweets after several media outlets, including the Forward, Jerusalem Post and the Anti-Defamation League confused the News with the AJT.

Firestorm over Atlanta Jewish Times Publisher's Column Suggesting Israel Consider Obama Assassination

An international firestorm has erupted over a column written by Atlanta Jewish Times Publisher Andrew Adler which suggests a scenario where Israel should consider assassinating President Barack Obama.

In his January 13 column entitled “What would you do,” Adler imagines Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu receiving a briefing that Hezbollah and Syria would launch an attack that rains 15,000 rockets and missiles into Israel, killing thousands; while Iran has reached nuclear capability and Israel can’t depend on U.S. assistance due to U.S. defense cuts and a continuing belief in diplomacy.

Adler suggests three plans of action, referencing the “Kobayashi Maru” test in “Star Trek” which is a no-win situation. First, pre-emptively strike Hezbollah and Hamas; second, go against U.S. preference and launch a full-scale assault on Iran’s nuclear capabilities.

His third scenario is “give the go-ahead for U.S.-based Mossad agents to take out a president deemed unfriendly to Israel in order for the current vice president to take his place, and forcefully dictate that the United States' policy includes its helping the Jewish state obliterate its enemies.”

He reiterates that the third item was not a typo, and that he feels even Israel has discussed this “Tom Clancy-type scenario.”

He concludes, “How far would you go to save a nation comprised of seven million lives...Jews, Christians and Arabs alike?

“You have got to believe, like I do, that all options are on the table.”

On Friday, Adler apologized for the column, telling JTA “"I very much regret it, I wish I hadn't made reference to it at all.” He will publish an apology in the next edition, and had received a lot of negative feedback.

Ophir Aviran, Israel’s consul general in Atlanta condemned the column “in the strongest possible terms,” saying he was “appalled at this deranged and morally repugnant assertion.”

The Anti-Defamation League denounced it as “outrageous and beyond the pale.” National Director Abraham Foxman said “An apology cannot possibly repair the damage,” and questioned Adler’s fitness to run a newspaper.

A Secret Service spokesman said “we will make all appropriate, investigative follow-up in regard to this matter.”

The Atlanta Jewish News, which as started in 2010 by a woman who was laid off by Adler shortly after he bought the AJT in 2009, condemned the piece and urged media outlets to not confuse the two — the Jerusalem Post was among those who mistakenly referenced the Atlanta Jewish News.

Marcy Levinson-Brooks, publisher of the Atlanta Jewish News, said “I am appalled by the nature, tone and overall insanity of Adler’s editorial column. My company absolutely condemns this printed insanity.”

Dov Wilker, director of the American Jewish Committee in Atlanta, said “While we acknowledge Mr. Adler's apology, we are flabbergasted that he could ever say such a thing in the first place. How could he even conceive of such a twisted idea?

"Mr. Adler surely owes immediate apologies to President Obama, as well as to the State of Israel and his readership, the Atlanta Jewish community."

The column first hit national prominence on Gawker.com, which said the AJT “appears to be a real community newspaper.”

One conspiratorial website latched onto the story, claiming the paper was soliciting donations to undertake such a hit on Obama, and that this flap would bring out the “truth” of Israel’s so-called “involvement” in the Sept. 11, 2001 terror attacks.

The AJT began as the Southern Israelite in Augusta, Ga., moving to Atlanta in 1925. In the 1980s it became part of the Buerger publishing empire, along with the Baltimore Jewish Times and Detroit Jewish News, among others.

In 2000, Buerger sold the Atlanta and Detroit papers to Jewish Renaissance Media, which also operated jewish.com. Though Atlanta and Detroit had similar-sized Jewish communities, the Atlanta paper had roughly half the subscription base of Detroit’s paper.

The AJT attempted a regional Jewish magazine, Jewish South, that produced four annual issues. By 2009, after an unsuccessful rebranding as JT, the Atlanta paper was sold to Adler, who had been publishing Metro Jewish News in Atlanta. At the time, it was reported that had he not bought the paper, the AJT was just days from closing its doors permanently.

According to reports, the AJT’s press run is currently around 3,000, less than one-third what it was a decade ago.

NOLA JFS Director Honored at White House

On Dec. 15, Deena Gerber was recognized as a Champion of Change during a ceremony at The White House in Washington. The executive director of Jewish Family Service of Greater New Orleans was one 10 honorees invited to share ideas “to win the future.”

The honorees were introduced as “ordinary citizens doing extraordinary things.”

The 10 honorees spoke on two panels of five during the ceremony. Gerber was asked about the role faith plays. She said JFS is “based on the Jewish principle that everyone can make changes in their lives.” While the agency has a “primary responsibility” to the Jewish community, it serves the entire community.

Gerber has headed the agency since 1994. JFS provides mental health counseling, case management, educational programs and in-home services for older adults.

She and the agency were recognized for being one of the first social service agencies to reopen after Hurricane Katrina. In less than two weeks, JFS established emergency locations in Baton Rouge and Mandeville. The agency provided financial assistance, trauma counseling and crisis management to thousands after the storm.

In 2009, Jewish Family Service conducted a comprehensive study, funded by the Administration on Aging, on the psychological effects of Hurricane Katrina on older adults.

Gerber was most proud of the financial assistance distribution after Katrina. “People needed the money, but they also really need to talk,” she said. She emphasized that agencies should not underestimate the importance of having resources for mental health.

During the discussion, Gerber noted that she was inspired by her grandfather, even though he died in 1918. “His job in his little community in Lithuania was giving out on Friday afternoon the charity to the poor people in the community so they could celebrate the Sabbath,” she said.

While he might be baffled at the technology she uses in her work, such as her cell phone, “if I would tell him my job was to help those in need, he would very much know what I was doing.”

Restoring Osyka's Jewish Cemetery

Upon returning to New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina, Sandy Lassen, head of the Chevra Kadisha (burial society), checked on the Jewish cemeteries and found that, debris aside, they were in good shape.

Over the last year, she has made a point of taking care of a long-neglected Jewish cemetery over an hour away, where no Jewish community remained to deal with a tangle of downed trees and damaged stones that were left in Katrina’s wake.

The Osyka cemetery is located a stone’s throw south of the Mississippi border, just east of U.S. 51. The town itself is in Mississippi, but the cemetery and its neighboring historic Jewish cemetery are less than half a mile into Louisiana.

Bobbe Jacobs of California, who visits the area annually for civil war reenactments, contacted Rabbi Mendel Rivkin at Chabad of Louisiana about the cemetery after seeing its condition. He contacted Lassen, who around the same time heard from Jennifer Samuels about the cemetery.

Samuels and Lassen visited Osyka in June. “It was a mess,” Lassen said. “You couldn’t climb in there.”

She went to the New Orleans rabbinic council to tell them what she saw. “This is just terrible,” she said. “Our role as Jews is to take care of each other.”

She tried several avenues to get funding for a cleanup, but was unsuccessful. Finally, Richard Cahn, president of Dixie Mill in New Orleans, fronted enough money to get the cemetery cleared.

Michael Cahn, who was born in Osyka in 1917, was the founder of Dixie Mill.

Lassen’s small team met with the caretaker of the German cemetery next to the Jewish cemetery. He knew someone locally who could take down the trees for a reasonable rate, so 20 trees that were over 20 feet tall were removed, and the project cost just over $5000.

Jews came to the Osyka area in the 1850s, as the town was the end of a rail line. Most of the Jews were from Alsace, with others from Bavaria and Italy. They were accepted by the mostly-Protestant population in Osyka and nearby Kirksville.

Some of the Jews were cotton merchants, while others set up stores or were horse traders. They established a congregation that met in the home of Sam Wolf. Kirksville does not exist today except for the German cemetery, established in the 1860s, and the neighboring Jewish cemetery which had 27 markers a decade ago. Names included Cahn, Hart, Heuman, Wolf, Cerf, Levine, Levy, Moyse, and Dreyfuss.

The Jewish population was around 60 in 1878, but by the turn of the century the community was in decline. The synagogue and the German school many Jews attended closed by 1900. The railroad was extended away from the area and a yellow fever epidemic further lowered the population. Many Jews moved on to New Orleans and Baton Rouge.

Today Osyka has about 500 residents.

Now that the cemetery is navigable, Lassen wants to see it restored. She feels the area youth groups are a natural for taking it on as a project.

A brick wall surrounds the cemetery, but in many places the wall has fallen apart. She thinks some of the bricks should be used to make a path. Many of the stones are broken or missing. Great-grandchildren of the Harts that are buried there visited from Houston recently and were unable to find their family stone that had been there on a previous visit a decade earlier.

The problem? “I have no money to start with,” Lassen said, and she says she was lucky to get Cahn’s support. The clearing of Osyka’s cemetery should lead to something like “Save Our Cemeteries,” she said, adding that New Orleans is a natural to take the lead because of community ties to Osyka.

The gravestones in Osyka all originated in New Orleans and were shipped up by train, she added.

She also would like to see a tour of Jewish cemeteries, since there are several historic cemeteries within driving range of New Orleans.