Every family has its own story, its own journey worthy of care and attention. In this case, Dad was a sales executive, earning $350,000 a year, until he abruptly got sick and landed in the hospital. He could no longer work, forsaking the joy and pride of providing for his family. Mom was a fitness instructor who made roughly $60,000 a year. Typically, she’d teach three sessions a week, but due to Dad’s health concerns, she had to take a work hiatus in order to take care of her husband. Mom and Dad have three children: a thirteen-year-old daughter and two sons, ages fifteen and eighteen. Mom had her hands full, whipping up delicious dinners every night, helping with homework questions, and imparting her kids with essential life lessons; however, the home structure suddenly flipped from comfort to chaos. Mom and Dad had too much on their plates to be present for their kids, to shower them with the love they deserve. The youngest child wasn’t doing well in school, the middle child didn’t even want to attend (and protested by misbehaving), and the oldest child was worried because high school graduation was looming and he needed life guidance. Putting her pride aside, Mom knew exactly whom she needed to turn to; she needed the full-package assistance that SBH provides. Knowing when to reach out for help is the first step, and being strong enough to make the call is just as important. Mom demonstrated bravery by heeding to a community volunteer member’s advice and contacting the SBH Client Services Division.

SBH’s mission statement is threaded in hope, assurance, and a guarantee that they will do their absolute best to mitigate family crises and take the form of a complete support network. Mom was vulnerable with SBH’s intake coordinator and opened up to them regarding her family’s recent struggles. The coordinator conducted an initial assessment of the case and made sure that the specific case fit the criteria.

“Here’s how the client service structure works,” the intake coordinator explained to Mom. “Each family that goes through our system is assigned a case worker and a community volunteer (referred to as a “captain”). That is the team that will walk families through crises, collaboratively creating both short-term and long-term goals. We employ a holistic approach for the entirety of this process. The holistic model enables us to cater to both the individual and the family as a whole. We work as a collective, as a team.”

Mom nodded with appreciation and was grateful for SBH’s dedication to help.

The intake representative continued to detail the confidentiality aspect. SBH would never disclose the names of its clients. Plus, before someone is ocially assigned a team, which consists of a social worker and a captain, SBH verifies their names with that individual to ensure that they are comfortable having them on the case. Assigning the right team to the right client is vital. SBH wants to cater to every family’s needs and find everyone the perfect match. The entire process is laced in compassion and understanding.

Later on, the team was confirmed with Mom, and they began their services by conducting a house visit. The social worker noticed disarray. Mom and Dad were behind on their bills and were drowning in their mortgage. There was a lot of financial stress. The team agreed that it would be important to attend to the family’s physical needs and mental health needs. The goals are as follows— working towards providing Mom with more daily structure, facilitating Dad’s eventual return to his job, and ensuring that each of the children reach a homeostasis and return to a healthy lifestyle.

The dominoes were then set into motion and SBH began to enlist their many incredible departments. The SBH Food Division sent over meals for dinner. The sbh medical division aided Dad with his recuperation process to make sure he was recovering properly and seeing the best doctors. The SBH volunteer division tutored and helped the kids with their homework; they also drove Dad to and from his appointments. The SBH Young Adult division assigned mentors to both sons to direct them through crucial formative years. Dad and Mom were referred to SBH’s counseling center, addressing anxiety and all the circumstantial uncertainty. SBH assisted with some of the family’s pressing bills, provided aid towards grocery shopping, and aimed to get Mom and Dad back to their normal routines. The SBH clothing division bought Dad a new suit and SBH career services helped polish his job resume, aiming towards getting him job ready. The SBH SEARCH program assigned a coach to their family that guided Mom and Dad on how to deal with a teenager that acts out.

Not only does SBH excel at collaborative problem-solving, but they highlight the importance of maintenance through weekly check-ins.

“Mom, how is everything progressing? Hey Dad, what are some skills we can accentuate to prepare you for a job interview? Are things running smoothly?”

As portrayed, there are numerous moving parts to this client service process, a harmonious intermingling of divisions, and a strong army of people who are eager to help alleviate families from crises. SBH provides an unparalleled level of care and guidance to those in need.

Your family may look dierent than the one depicted, every member undergoing their own journeys and hurtling over their own obstacles,
but the message remains — SBH is a pillar of support for every step of the way. Help yourself by letting us help you. With a case manager and captain guiding the process with love, care, and comfort we can get through some of the toughest treks.

“We have to begin to explain the truth that if you support Palestinianism, you’re supporting an evil. You’re not supporting a good.” –
Alan Dershowitz

DAVE GORDON

Alan Dershowitz, the prominent Jewish American lawyer and law professor, known for his work in U.S. constitutional and criminal law, had a few choice words about New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani.

He spoke on October 27^th at the second annual Rage Against the Hate conference at the Museum of Jewish Heritage in New York City. The event was organized by Shurat HaDin, the Israel Law Center. The conference focused on combatting anti-Semitism and anti-Israel sentiment through strategy sessions, legal action, and public opinion. Dershowitz was joined by former Mossad chief Yossi Cohen, Australian broadcaster Erin Molan, former IDF commander Yoseph Haddad (a Christian Arab-Israeli citizen who is a journalist and pro-Israel advocacy activist) Anne Bayefsky, President of Human Rights Voices, and other prominent figures in law and pro-Israel advocacy.

Dershowitz on the Jews and Mamdani

Dershowitz asked, “How did the new mayor gain a leading edge? The answer is Jews,” he proclaimed.

“We have a deep problem within the Jewish community. A troubling sense of self-criticism runs deep within the Jewish community today. I saw it when I taught at Harvard for 50 years. I saw it among the faculty. I saw it among the students. We’re now seeing it among the voters. It’s absolutely horrible.”

Dershowitz also blames Andrew Cuomo for not mounting a strong enough campaign.

The professor emeritus at Harvard law school, author, and civil liberties advocate, alleged that the Mamdani campaign was likely bankrolled by “Qatari money, other foreign money, George Soros money, and dark money (political spending from undisclosed sources).”

He pledged that he and his colleagues, will go into every rock to find the name of every contributor in order to follow the money.

Dershowitz said that what most frightens him is not Mamdani’s possible poor policy decisions. It’s the prospect that people will like him more if some of his policies do succeed.

“What frightens me most is that Mamdani may end up being a good mayor. Let me give you the analogy. I’m not analogizing Mamdani to Hitler, but I’m telling you that in 1932, many people – remember, he only got 32 percent of the vote, Hitler – many people voted for Hitler, not because he was an anti-Semite, but despite that fact, because Hitler promised to restore the economy and [reduce] unemployment. And for the first two years, he did that. He was successful,” Dershowitz said.

“And that’s what gave him the ability to turn people who didn’t care about anti-Semitism into overt anti-Semites because they liked what Hitler had done for the people of Germany.”

“Mamdani,” Dershowitz added, “has brought about international anti-Semitism.”

Dershowitz added, “What Mamdani says about Israel, could never in America or in American college campuses be said about other minorities. Indeed, when you accuse Mamdani of supporting terrorism because he refuses to denounce ‘Globalize the Intifada,’ his first response is Islamophobia.

“I can tell you one thing, that when you say, ‘Globalize the Intifada,’ you are encouraging people to do another 9-11 or another October 7th. And when you refuse to condemn globalizing the Intifada, you are complicit in terrorism.”

Nitsana Darshan-Leitner, Israel Law Center

Israeli lawyer Nitsana Darshan-Leitner, the founder and president of Israel Law Center, told conference attendees that her next litigation target is the Old Gray Lady, a nickname for the New York Times (which comes from the color of its pages). “The New York Times is aiding and abetting Hamas,” she said, making it clear her intention is to take them to court for “blood libel and defamation.”

Israel Law Center uses legal action worldwide to fight for the rights of victims of terror, and to seek compensation for violations of international law.

Cases include suits against Al Jazeera (a Qatari state-funded media conglomerate and news organization) over its alleged ties to Hamas, and a high-profile lawsuit against the Palestinian Authority and PLO in the U.S., which initially resulted in a $655 million USD award for terror victims (later overturned). Other notable cases include suing Airbnb over delisting Jewish-owned properties in Judea and Samaria, and legal action involving Facebook regarding incitement and hate speech.

Recurring Themes

A recurring theme surfaced throughout the talks – the need to combat lies, communicate the Israel story better, and be attuned to what Israel’s enemies seek to do.

“The first and most important thing that we need to do collectively is to listen what they (Islamists) themselves say,” said Jonathan Conricus, a Swedish Israeli spokesperson and media commentator. He served as an officer in the IDF, where her served for 24 years, and is the former international spokesman of the IDF. He is now based in Washington, D.C. and is a regular fixture in the media defending Israel’s position.

“Islamists,” Conricus said, “want to dominate and take control of Western countries, and that they’re not shy in achieving it. They are politically organized and disciplined. They are funded. They have powerful mouthpieces, some of them very eloquent and fluent in King’s English.” “Elected officials need to understand that Israel is the Off-Broadway show. The real show, the real Broadway, from a Muslim Islamist perspective, is the West,” said the senior fellow at the Washington-based think tank Foundation for Defense of Democracies.

Preventing radicalization is a part of what Conricus calls “the battle of narratives,” which he added “with great regret, Israel isn’t yet really fighting this battle well.”

He suggested that more of Israel’s budget is needed for “narrative and media warfare” to “equip freedom fighters, defenders of democracy, [and] good people around the world, with data and information.”

British journalist Melanie Phillips said that Israel’s enemies “have been able to hijack the language and weaponize the West’s post truth, post moral culture, to push their agenda that Israel and the Jews are on the wrong side of just about everything that is good and right and true.”

The author and columnist in The Times said in her speech that the big lie that we are all up against is the notion that peace and justice in the Middle East will come with a Palestinian state.

Citing a need to “seize back control” of the narrative, it was her belief that those in the West must speak out against the media and governments that are lying to them.

Former news anchorman and Israeli government spokesman Eylon Levy (originally from England) said that the “anti-Zionist grip on institutional power hoodwinked the world into believing their libel, and they use that power to commit an industrial act of gaslighting,” – which he calls “Gazalighting.”

“They have trashed Israel’s global reputation, made it toxic. They have delivered Hamas a tremendous victory in the form of Israel’s tarnished global standing,” he said.

Shifting the Narrative

Ysabella Hazan, a young lawyer from Montreal, said that “the way to shift the narrative on campus is to meaningfully engage with narratives we face, and to completely shift the dynamic of being responsive.”

She added that Zionist engagement must be pro-active. “Our efforts are strong, but our messaging needs to reflect who we are as a nation and our indigenous connection to Israel, rather than pointing out anti-Semitic incidents and issuing strongly worded statements, in hopes of the administration doing something. Whatever we hope administrations will do won’t actually shift the culture. It’s a cultural problem.”

Dershowitz offered his own ideas for pro-active shifting of messaging.

“I think we have to start making a case against Palestinianism. I think we have to start beginning to tell the truth about how the Palestinians became Palestinians, how they rejected the two-state solution back in 1937, 1938, 1947, 1948, et cetera,” he said.

“If any group of people did not deserve a state, it’s the Palestinian people. The difference between Zionism and Palestinianism is Zionism is designed to build a state. Palestinianism is designed only to destroy the [Israeli] state.”

Dershowitz said he has offered a thousand dollars to any college student who can show any Palestinian demonstration in favor of a two-state solution. “Nobody has come to claim that $1,000. These demonstrations are not in favor of a Palestinian state. They’re not even in favor of Palestinians. They are only against Israel,” he said.

“We have to begin to explain the truth that if you support Palestinianism, you’re supporting an evil. You’re not supporting a good.”

Ellen Geller Kamaras

“Everyday life lights me up. Each morning, I say thank you to Hashem for my beautiful family, my amazing friends, and, of course, being able to do my work with seniors at DSN.” ~~ Sherry ~~

Please meet Sherry Schreiber. Sherry is a warm, passionate, and vibrant woman – a wife, mother, and grandmother. Her current niche and passion center on running the Deal Sephardic Network (DSN) seniors program and bringing joy and laughter to Jersey Shore seniors.

Of Syrian descent, Sherry was born Victoria Sherry and is the oldest daughter of Rae and Moishe Doueck. Sherry is named her after her maternal grandmother, Victoria. Rae added a less formal nickname, Sherry, as a middle name. “Sherry” stuck as the name she’s called by, ever since she was a baby.

Both Rae and Moishe were American born. Sherry has two older brothers, Jacques and Steve, and a younger sister Lisa Hidary. Sherry greatly values her close relationship with her siblings and their families.

“I was definitely not a serious or shy child.” Sherry says she was mischievous and very social. She loved being involved in Beth Teens, a Beth Torah Congregation youth group led by Gitta Sultan, a”h. “I participated in the plays and hesed projects organized by Gitta, a very special woman. After my mother, Gitta deeply influenced the woman I am today.”

Although Sherry liked school, she admits that she wasn’t the easiest student and didn’t always play by the rules. Then she became a teacher and had to enforce the rules herself.

Sherry’s childhood memories were formed in her home near Ocean Parkway and Avenue S in Brooklyn. By the time Sherry graduated eighth grade, she had attended four elementary schools including Ahi Ezer. Her mom had concerns about Sherry’s safety at her first school, so she enrolled Sherry in Ahi Ezer for a few years. Unfortunately, the Ahi Ezer building burned down, and Sherry moved to Boody Junior High School and then completed her grade school education at P.S. 238. Kudos to Sherry who was a resilient child and was able to make friends easily and complete her studies successfully. Two of her close friends today are women she met during fourth grade at Ahi Ezer.

After graduating from Lincoln High School early and with honors, Sherry obtained a teaching degree from Brooklyn College.

Her Essence

Sherry describes herself as funny, energetic, and giving of herself and her time. She loves to cook and feed people. She is also warm, bubbly, and a real people person.

“Everyday life lights me up. Each morning I say thank you to Hashem for my beautiful family, my amazing friends, and, of course, being able to do my work at DSN.”

Her current job running the DSN seniors program with Stephanie Massry fulfills her greatly. “Stephanie and I work so well together. I love the way the seniors are excited to be at DSN. I love how their family members tell us how happy they are. They are all my family.”

Sherry’s mother is her key role model. “My mom, Rae Doueck, a”h, taught me never to be afraid to work hard, and to always put your complete self into everything you do. I learned hesed from my father, Moishe Doueck, a”h, who was always visiting someone, doing bikur holim. I think of him when I volunteer my time.”

Then Came Marriage

After graduating college, Sherry became a public school teacher and took a part-time job at Crazy Eddie, a long-gone electronics chain. She worked there during its heyday, in charge of cash collections and preparing sandwiches for employees at several of the stores.

Crazy Eddie was where Sherry met her naseeb, Howie Schreiber, a”h, the love of her life. Nine years older than Sherry, Howie was known as an outstanding salesman and for his fabulous smile. “He was loved by all.” Sadly, Howie passed away a year ago after a two-year illness stemming from complications from back surgery

Sherry and Howie shared the same upbeat and positive outlook. Howie was Ashkenazi, his parents were divorced, and he had few family members living in New York. He loved the Sephardic customs and adopted them fully. He was also friendly with many of his Sephardic colleagues.

Howie was with Crazy Eddie during the good years and left before the company’s problems surfaced.

The couple got married at Shaarei Zion Synagogue and lived in Brooklyn for a year and a half. They bought a house in Oakhurst in 1977. Sherry gave up her job, and they started their family. They were blessed with three daughters, three wonderful sons-in-law, and eleven grandchildren. Sherry’s children live in the Deal community. In memory of their father, the family donated three coffee carts to the West Deal Shul. Friends and family who go there can say, “We had coffee with Howie.”

After leaving Crazy Eddie, Howie worked in children’s wear for a couple of years and became Shomer Shabbat during that time. Sherry was excited to keep Shabbat.

It was around that time that Howie met Charlie Saka, a”h, a brilliant entrepreneur and magnanimous philanthropist at the West Deal Shul. When Charlie talked to Howie, he smiled at him and said, “I want you to work for me.” That began Howie’s 30 plus year career at Sakar International as Charlie’s first salesman and right-hand man.

Balancing Career and Home Life

When Sherry had two young children at home, she took over a Mommy and Me group from her sister and turned it into a summer preschool program called “Sherry Schreiber Playgroup.” For 27 years, she had over 20 children in her house and backyard from 9:30am to 12:30pm. Perks for the kids included a hot and healthy lunch and lots of love and fun. There was even a wait list to get into the playgroup. Sherry frequently bumps into adults who had been her students who still remember her.

Keeping several balls in the air, Sherry had a job as a receptionist in a Brooklyn hair salon in the afternoon after playgroup. She drew upon her mother’s example of not fearing hard work and achieved balance for her family.

Around seven years ago, Sherry received a call from DSN, asking if she would teach a weekly cooking class to seniors. Within a few months, she became the co-director of the seniors program along with Stephannie Massry.

Passions

Personally, Sherry is impassioned and immensely proud of her children and grandchildren.

Professionally, she thrives on watching the DSN seniors laugh and enjoy their lunch, chair exercise, and other activities. Hearing positive feedback from the families and caregivers gives Sherry an energy boost. During the pandemic, Sherry and Stephanie set up a Zoom program for seniors using donated iPad’s. They even got Yaakov Shwekey to sing for the seniors on Zoom.

One of Sherry’s biggest challenges is when one of the seniors passes away. “They become my family, and their loss really hurts.”

To enhance and maximize the seniors’ experience at DSN, Sherry uses her creativity to find fun giveaways as gifts for Bingo and other games.

Community volunteer work has always been a key component of Sherry’s life. She volunteers for the Morris Franco Cancer Center. She appreciates the amazing group of volunteers who help her at DSN.

“Our community is awesome and unique. They are there for everyone, in bad times and good times.”

Her key to success? “Always try to be happy and keep doing what I love.”

For relaxation and fun, Sherry plays Mahjong with friends and enjoys connecting with them for dinner.

Tips for Students

Try to follow your dreams. If you do what you love, it will never be work. As for family caregivers, enjoy your loved one while you can.

You can connect with Sherry at vs94@aol.com and follow DSN on Instagram.

Ellen Geller Kamaras, CPA/MBA, is an International Coach Federation (ICF) Associate Certified Coach.  Her coaching specialties include life, career, and dating coaching.  Ellen can be contacted at ellen@lifecoachellen.com.