Orientations begin at 5:15pm & 6:15pm, Healthy Cooking Demo begins at 7:15pm

Now Shalom Family has a great new way for parents and babies to get connected to one another and the Jewish community.  Presenting Sensory Sunday: Stories, Songs and Fun for you and your Little One, private interactive playgroups that take place on the second and fourth Sundays of each month. These playgroups are FREE and feature the popular Miss Meliss, who keeps babies and their parents engaged and entertained with her unique brand of fun. Play dates always include a snack and take place from 2-3pm at The Gymboree in Mason. Dates and times are subject to change, please check the website for updates. RSVP at www.myshalomfamily.org. Sensory Sunday is a program of  Shalom Family, an initiative of The Mayerson Foundation.

The next Sensory Sunday Playgroup will take place on March 11th from 2-3pm and is open to families in the Jewish community with children two years and younger in which at least one parent is Jewish. Plus, two families will each win a $50 Target Gift Card at every event!

Jewish Telegraphic Agency

WASHINGTON (JTA) — The future of a key pillar of Israeli security could rest with the fate of a few dozen pro-democracy activists in Egypt.

After Egyptian authorities filed charges on Feb. 6 against 43 American and other foreign pro-democracy activists who worked in the country, leading members of Congress issued stern warnings about a possible cutoff in U.S. aid to Egypt. If that aid disappears, it could have significant implications for Israel-Egypt relations and U.S. influence in the region — the aid has been a crucial moderating lever keeping the peace between Israel and Egypt for more than three decades.

While the congressional threats to cut assistance to Egypt are just threats for now, the increasingly stern warnings from Washington underscore a deterioration in the U.S.-Egypt relationship amid the chaos of post-Mubarak Egypt.

The most potent threat to Egyptian assistance came from Rep. Kay Granger (R-Texas), the chairwoman of the foreign operations subcommittee of the U.S. House of Representatives Appropriations Committee.

“The harassment of Americans who are in Egypt trying to help build their democracy is unacceptable,” Granger said last week after the charges were filed in Egypt against 16 U.S. citizens, including Sam LaHood, the son of U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood. At least six of the Americans remain in Egypt and are barred from leaving the country, The New York Times reported.

“Not one more dollar should flow to the government of Egypt until the secretary of state can assure the American people that this issue is resolved,” Granger said.

U.S. officials have been scrambling to figure out who to deal with as Egypt has descended into disarray, with a soccer riot Feb. 1 devolving into a free-for-all that left at least 74 people dead. Administration officials have reached out to the Egyptian military government, to secular parties and to the Islamists who won the recent parliamentary elections. But a year after Mubarak’s ouster, Egypt’s future is still very much uncertain.

The stakes are high, with implications not just for the peace treaty that has kept Israel’s southern border mostly quiet for decades, but broader American capabilities in the region, including how the United States addresses tensions with Iran.

The immediate dangers are to U.S. influence in helping shape the outcome of pro-democracy movements elsewhere in the region that are likely to take their cues from Egypt, the most populous and historically most important Arab country. There also are tactical dangers to the access that U.S. forces have in a region where they might soon deploy to contain any Iranian threat to cut off oil supplies.

“The aid was not only supposed to undergird the peace treaty but security arrangements, U.S. overflights, Suez Canal access,” said David Schenker, a former Pentagon Middle East desk officer who is now an Egypt expert at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy.

In the short term, a cutoff in assistance to the Egyptian government would not precipitate a war with Israel, experts say; no party in Egypt, however hostile it is to Israel ideologically, wants to invite the uncertainty of conflict with a powerful neighbor.

“The Egyptians have their own reasons to keep the peace treaty and abide by its terms,” said Ed Abington, a former diplomat in the region who subsequently joined a Washington firm that lobbied for Arab governments.

But, he added, “if we cut off assistance, we jeopardize the relationship we’ve had since Anwar Sadat. That would be bad for Egypt and the United States. We don’t want to push Egyptians away.”

Should matters deteriorate, congressional action may be inevitable. Adding their voices to Granger’s call were Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-Fla.), the chairwoman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, and Sen. Ben Cardin (D-Md.), the chairman of the Senate subcommittee on international development and foreign assistance. Cardin said the United States should “re-evaluate the status of our bilateral relationship” with Egypt.

“One of the benefits of assistance was that we were going to have insight and influence,” Schenker said. “If they’re going to be overtly hostile, Congress has its own prerogative. It is a lot of money for the American taxpayer to give to a country that is not a friend.”

Whether the prosecution of LaHood and others could trigger actual cuts in the approximately $1.5 billion in U.S. assistance to Egypt is unclear. Newly stringent language about U.S. aid to Egypt in the 2012 congressional appropriations specifies that Egypt must meet “its obligations under the 1979 Egypt-Israel Peace Treaty” and support “the transition to civilian government including holding free and fair elections; implementing policies to protect freedom of expression, association, and religion, and due process of law.”

Nor is it clear yet whether due process has been violated for the 19 Americans who face charges. Egypt watchers say the activists likely were targeted by Fayza Abul Naga, Egypt’s minister for international cooperation, a holdover from the regime of deposed President Hosni Mubarak who is known for her anti-Western animus. The activists may have created an opportunity for Naga by not obtaining the proper licenses and by violating a recent travel ban on U.S. aid workers.

That has led to a paradox, according to Schenker.

“If you look at this from the SCAF’s position,” he said, using the acronym for the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces, the interim military government in Egypt, “the White House has been beating them up for eight months for not democratizing enough, and now we’re asking them to intervene in the judiciary, which is supposed to be independent.”

If anything, the arrests pointed to a broader problem vexing U.S. attempts to engage with Egypt, Schenker said: The country’s transition is increasingly chaotic.

“We knew Egypt was going to be populist post-Mubarak, and this was to be anticipated,” he said. “The challenge for us is to try and maintain a relationship with this country.”

Thanks to the support of the Jewish Foundation, the Jewish Overnight Camping Program is expanding. “Once again the Jewish children of Cincinnati and their parents are immensely grateful to the Jewish Foundation for making the expansion of the Program possible. As a result of the generosity and support of the Jewish Foundation many Cincinnati children will be able to go to an overnight Jewish camp and return to it for a second year,” said Professor Getzel Cohen, director of the camping program.

The program, which provides grants for all Jewish youth from the greater Cincinnati area who want to attend Jewish overnight camps, is now providing grants for first year and second year applicants. The grants are available for all children, regardless of whether or not they have previously attended a Jewish overnight camp. Children can apply for a grant of up to $500 for a two-week summer session or a grant of up to $1,000 for a three-week or more summer session.

The application deadline for the Camping Program is May 15, 2012.

Jewish Telegraphic Agency

Courtesy of Eishockey Magazin Evan Kaufmann, a U.S.-born hockey player whose great-grandparents were killed in the Holocaust, is now representing the German national team.

WEST BLOOMFIELD, Mich. (JTA) — More than 65 years ago Kurt Kaufmann was liberated from the Auschwitz concentration camp. This weekend his U.S.-born grandson, Evan Kaufmann, is taking the ice for the German national hockey team.

After finishing a successful college hockey career at the University of Minnesota, Kaufmann tried out for several professional hockey clubs in the United States before being advised by his agent that his best option was to play for a German team in the Deutsche Eishockey Liga. Thanks to his late grandfather’s German roots, Kaufmann received German citizenship quickly and, together with his wife Danielle, relocated to Dusseldorf in 2008. This weekend, the 28-year-old forward will represent the German national team in the Minsk Cup, a four-nation tournament. He’ll also compete with the national team in May’s world championships, and hopes to have a chance to make the German Olympic squad that will compete in the 2014 games in Sochi, Russia.

During his first years playing for the DEG Metro Stars, Kaufmann kept his Judaism to himself and didn’t tell his teammates that he was the grandson of an Auschwitz survivor or that his great-grandparents perished in the Holocaust.

“At first I was pretty uncomfortable expressing that I was Jewish and speaking about my family’s background, but that was true even in America. It’s not something in the hockey world that is really talked about,” Kaufmann told JTA. “It’s not something I was comfortable sharing with most people. But I’ve found that the younger generation here in Germany is open to differences and from my experience they’ve all been interested in knowing more about being Jewish, including the holidays and traditions.”

Kaufmann married Danielle Liberman, whom he met at Adath Jeshurun Congregation in Minnetonka, Minn., the Conservative synagogue where their families are members. Rabbi Harold Kravitz recalls that “they took notice of each other in our sanctuary when they were at High Holiday services a few years ago and started to date. They married in our sanctuary a few years later.”

The couple is expecting their first child, a son, this June and will be relocating from Dusseldorf to Nuremberg, where Kaufmann recently signed a three-year contract with the local team, one of 14 in the German hockey league.

How did his parents react when he decided to play professional hockey in Germany? “They were a little unsure initially just because of everything that happened [in Germany], but they knew it was my lifelong goal to be a professional hockey player and I committed so much time to it,” Kaufmann said. “It’s an issue not just for them but for a lot of American Jews in general. Germany is so different today than it was back then. I wish more people could come over here today so they wouldn’t have to carry that stereotype forever.”

Being chosen to play for the national team carried with it mixed emotions for Kaufmann as well. “A lot of the time I was thinking whether my grandpa would be happy about this or sad or mad. The more I thought about it, I know he had plans to come back to Germany before he died. He wasn’t able to, but that helped me get over those initial fears. I feel more pride with the association of feeling German than I ever thought I’d have.”

Observing Judaism has been a challenge for the young Kaufmanns as well. “The first year we were in Dusseldorf, we went to a small Orthodox synagogue. We had a tough experience. We were taking photos from the outside and we were questioned and had to show our passports because there was an incident there a few years prior. That spoiled it for us.” The couple does make a point of trying to keep the Jewish traditions alive. They share holiday dinners together and observe Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, and the Passover seder.

Since becoming more open about his Judaism and his family’s ties to the Holocaust, Kaufmann’s teammates have become more curious. “They want to know what everything means for me compared to them. But ultimately, they know who I am as a person. Our friendships were established without religion so it doesn’t change anything. I was always hesitant to talk about it, but now that I’m being more public about it, I’ve become more comfortable with the history. I think it’s a good story to express.”

While his teammates tell him that anti-Semitism still exists in certain regions in Germany, Kaufmann hasn’t experienced any firsthand. “I don’t think it’s any different than in America or any other country. There’s always going to be people who have their own beliefs. Personally, I’ve only had good experiences in Germany.”

Kaufmann knows that he has his detractors in the Jewish community who find it troubling that someone who lost members of his family in the Holocaust could be playing for the German national team. “Initially there was a part of me that thought that way,” Kaufmann said. But, he added, “I’ve always been taught to give people a second chance.”

“Everything that happened was so long ago and in a country that was so different,” Kaufmann said. “Obviously, I never want to forget what happened and that’s why I tell my story. But to hold that against a whole country of people who had nothing to do with it would not be right.”

Kaufmann has considered that he could be competing against the United States in May at the world championships, but he’s not concerned. “I’m focused on helping this team and playing my role within the squad to help us win hockey games and I don’t think it matters who the opponent is.” In addition to fulfilling his dream of playing on the Olympic team in two years, Kaufmann also expressed his desire to get his son skating when he’s 3 years old, a year earlier than his own first time on the ice.

Then, swing by the Amberley Room to watch the Sweet 16 unfold on the GIANT 9ft x 9ft screen and enjoy food, drinks and fun. We’ll have wings & beer, Foosball, Ping Pong, and even a Nerf Basketball tournament of our own! Feel free to get a workout in beforehand either in Joey’s 6:30pm “Knock Out” class, playing some pick-up basketball, or doing your own thing. Non JCC Members are welcome to come too! Just click here to contact Josh Rothstein at and he’ll set you up with a FREE, no strings attached day pass!