ATLANTA SYNAGOGUE GUIDE PAGES 16-29
A SECRET
DONOR SENDS
YOUNG ISRAEL
A SURPRISE.
Page 16
BETH SHALOM
RESTORES A
HOLOCAUST
TORAH.
Page 17
CHECK OUT OUR
METRO AREA
SYNAGOGUE
DIRECTORY.
Pages 20-22
INTERIM RABBIS
JOIN SHEARITH
ISRAEL AND DOR
TAMID.
Pages 26-27
Atlanta
VOL. XC NO. 31
WWW.ATLANTAJEWISHTIMES.COM
AUGUST 21, 2015 | 6 ELUL, 5775
Israel Aims
To Close
Consulate
T
They Are the Champions
The Atlanta boys 14-and-under Maccabi basketball team celebrates winning the gold medal Aug. 6 in Dallas. The team
consists of (front row, from left) Sam Bronfman, Josh Edelman, Simon Ben-Moshe, Eric Malever and David Perchik and
(back row, from left) Cody Kaplan, Phil Malever, Leo Sachs, Billy Snyder, head coach Brian Seitz and assistant coach Jacob
Gluck. Also on the team is Chase Engelhard, who missed the tournament because of an injury.
More Maccabi results, Pages 34-35
NO ON IRAN DEAL
The Jewish Federation of
Greater Atlanta announces
its position that the United
States should try again in
nuclear negotiations with
Iran. Page 7
ASIA IN ATLANTA
Marilyn and Sam Eckstein
have filled their home
with jade, ivory and other
treasures collected during
their many trips to the Far
East. Page 32-33
INSIDE
Calendar 2 Simchas 30
Candle Lighting
3 Home 32
Local News
5 Sports 34
Israel 8 Obituaries 35
Opinion 10 Crossword 38
Leo Frank
12 Marketplace 39
he Israeli Consulate in Atlanta
is targeted for closure under the
budget Prime Minister Benjamin
Netanyahu’s Cabinet approved Aug. 6.
The Consulate General to the Southeast joins the consulates in Philadelphia
and San Francisco and at least four embassies on the chopping block in an effort to cut 55 million shekels ($14.3 million) a year from the Foreign Ministry’s
budget, according to The Jerusalem Post.
Ambassador Judith Varnai Shorer,
who took over as consul general this
month, thus faces her first challenge.
Israel has floated the idea before,
but not since dozens of Israeli businesses
have found homes in the Southeast and
the consulate has scored such state legislative successes as purchases of Israel
Bonds and boycotts of Iran.
The consulate serves the Carolinas,
Tennessee, Georgia, Alabama and Mississippi. If it closed, the nearest Israeli diplomats would be in Miami and Houston.
Conexx CEO Guy Tessler credited
the consulate with putting those six
states on the map for U.S.-Israel business
ties and noted recent business-generating missions to Israel from Georgia, Mississippi and South Carolina. Shorer is
joining Tennessee Gov. Bill Haslam on a
trip to Israel at the end of August.
“This level of activity can only come
when there is a strong focus on this region,” Tessler said.
The budget faces several Knesset
votes before final approval, due by midNovember. Letters of support can be
mailed to the consulate at 1100 Spring
St., Suite 440, Atlanta, GA 30309, or sent
to [email protected]. ■