News flash: There is no such thing as triskaidekaphobia in Judaism.
For those unfamiliar with that cumbersome clinical term, triskaidekaphobia is the fear of the number 13.
It was coined in the early 20th century by Isador Henry Coriat, an American psychiatrist and neurologist of Moroccan-Jewish descent.
But in Jewish circles, 13 is generally not considered an unlucky number at all. It marks the age in which a Jew becomes a son or daughter of the commandment and is accepted as part of a minyan. In gematria, or Jewish numerology, the words for love (ahava) and unity (echad) add up to 13.
The great Sephardic rabbi, philosopher and physician Maimonides famously wrote his 13 Jewish Principles of Faith, and the Thirteen Attributes of Mercy are at the core of the Selichot service held shortly before the start of the High Holiday season.
So despite our community’s alleged predisposition for phobias, the fear of 13 ain’t one of them.
In honor of what some consider Judaism’s “lucky number,” Jmore offers 13 of the best things about Jewish Baltimore, a completely subjective, unscientific and not definitive compendium of people, places and things that make our community a special place to live.
1. Anne with a E
OK, how cool is it that an Orthodox woman from Pikesville is the Biden administration’s top cybersecurity official?
A career intelligence officer, Anne Neuberger has served as deputy national security advisor of cyber and emerging technology at the National Security Council and White House since January of 2021. She previously served as the National Security Agency’s director of cybersecurity directorate at Fort Meade.
The granddaughter of Holocaust survivors, Neuberger, 45, who belongs to Pikesville’s Suburban Orthodox Congregation Toras Chaim, worked at the NSA for more than a decade.
A native of Brooklyn, N.Y., Neuberger and her family moved to the Baltimore area in 2005. Her husband, Yehuda, is the grandson of Rabbi Herman Naftali Neuberger, the late president of Pikesville’s Ner Israel Rabbinical College.
Interesting factoid: Anne Neuberger’s parents, Rivki and Mendel Yitzhak Karfunkel, were among the Air France passengers rescued by Israeli commandos from Uganda’s Entebbe Airport in 1976.
“My parents had American passports, but because my father wore a kippah they knew he was Jewish and decided to keep him, too,” she told The Forward in a 2018 interview. “A military operation brought my parents home. Sometimes, that’s the only option.”
Glad we’ve got Anne on our side.
2. Oasis Among Us
You might call the Mount Washington Arboretum a secret garden of sorts, or an oasis hidden in plain sight. Plenty of folks have driven by countless times but don’t know about it.
Begun in 1999 under the auspices of the Mount Washington Preservation Trust and maintained by a cadre of devoted volunteers, the one-acre arboretum — at the corner of Kelly Avenue and Lochlea Road — is a lovely collection of woody trees and shrubs featuring more than 250 yards of trails with hundreds of native plant species.
There’s also a pond with a waterfall, a teaching tent, benches, a water-collecting wheel, an entrance kiosk, a pergola and a meeting pavilion.
Truly a gem in our midst … and all nestled in a sylvan corner of Northwest Baltimore, only footsteps from Mount Washington Village. A great place to meditate, reflect, stroll around or simply enjoy the bounty of nature.
3. Native Son
The HBO miniseries “We Own This City” has gotten a lot of buzz lately, especially among Charm City residents and expatriates who enjoy seeing their hometown on TV (even if it’s about police corruption).
Among the stars of this acclaimed show is Josh Charles, a Jewish Baltimore native who’s done quite well for himself in Tinseltown.
Josh, 50, is the son of local advertising executive Allan Charles and nephew of PressBox publisher Stan “The Fan” Charles.
Josh made his film debut in fellow Baltimorean John Waters’ 1988 classic “Hairspray” when he was just 16, and went on to co-star with Robin Williams and Ethan Hawke in “Dead Poets Society.”
Among his better-known TV credits are leading roles on “Sports Night” and “The Good Wife,” for which he received two Emmy nominations.
“I love Johnny Unitas and I hate the Redskins, you know? Things you just can’t help if you’re from Baltimore,” he told Baltimore magazine in 2009. “Anyone who knows me knows that being from Baltimore is a big part of who I am.”
4. Back to the Gardens
For an ideal spot to get in touch with your “inner Zen” or commune with nature, there’s also the Baltimore Museum of Art’s Janet and Alan Wurtzburger Sculpture Garden and adjoining Ryda and Robert Levi Sculpture Garden.
The pair of terraced sculpture gardens, opened respectively in 1980 and 1988, are free and available year-round to the public.
The gardens — nestled on nearly three lush acres next to the BMA in a busy section of midtown — offer a glimpse into the past century of sculpture, from the figural to the abstract. They are home to 34 modern and contemporary sculptures by such world-class artists as Auguste Rodin, Alexander Calder, Jacques Lipchitz, Anthony Caro, Isamu Noguchi and Joan Miro.
The serene and well-landscaped gardens are among the loveliest settings in Charm City. And if you want to check out the BMA’s fabulous collections, or perhaps grab a bite at Gertrude’s Chesapeake Kitchen, they’re only footsteps away.
Make a day of it!
5. Hurray for Harrison
The next time you feel compelled to kvetch about the narcissism of the up-and-coming generations, take pause and think of Harrison Fribush.
A Stevenson resident and Friends School sophomore, Harrison, now 16, is the founder of Music United. He created the nonprofit in 2021 after developing his Chizuk Amuno bar mitzvah service project, Music Matters Now, which raised funds and awareness for music education programming in Baltimore City schools.
Music Matters Now united the middle school choirs of Pikesville’s Krieger Schechter Day School and the Cardinal Shehan School in Loch Raven. Under the direction of Harrison, a drummer, the choirs met for the first time on Jan. 18, 2019, for a morning of singing, collaboration and community-building.
The effort culminated in the release of a documentary, which garnered 100,000 views and launched a fundraising effort for two local music programs. Nearly $12,000 was raised, and the choirs appeared on ABC’s “The View” in January of 2020 with Broadway star Billy Porter.
Music United aims to promote an ongoing community-wide program. The collaboration kick-started an effort to unite additional school music and performing arts programs throughout the region.
“We aim to demonstrate the critical role music and performing arts play in connecting communities and bringing people together,” Harrison told Jmore. “We have an opportunity to bring Baltimore youth together through a medium that everyone can get behind.”
To paraphrase an old Who song, the kid is alright!
6. A Perfect Marriage
Baltimore’s Jewish community already had a special gem with the Pearlstone Retreat Center and Outdoor Education Campus in Reisterstown. But the announcement last year that Pearlstone was merging with the New York-headquartered Hazon, the nation’s largest faith-based environmental organization, was the stuff that Jewish progressives and idealists dream about.
The organizations’ board of directors unanimously approved merging Pearlstone and Hazon, with Jakir Manela serving as CEO. Manela has served as Pearlstone’s CEO since 2012 and helped launch Kayam Farm at Pearlstone in 2007 before taking over as Pearlstone’s executive director.
Located at 5425 Mount Gilead Road, Pearlstone, located in the sloping hills that once housed Camp Milldale and its surrounding bucolic area, is an agency of The Associated: Jewish Federation of Baltimore.
The national organization is called Hazon, with Pearlstone serving as the national headquarters and with offices in New York and additional hubs at the Isabella Freedman Jewish Retreat Center in Canaan, Connecticut, and Hazon Detroit.
The merger has made Jewish Baltimore the national leader in the field of Jewish strategies to sustainability transformation and environmental education.
7. Starry, Starry Night
It all seemed like a fairly simple concept: offer a religious service for people who might enjoy celebrating the start of the Jewish new year in a lovely outdoor setting — and tell ’em to bring picnic baskets, blankets, folding chairs and Frisbees, too.
Sponsored by Baltimore Hebrew Congregation — but free and open to all — the popular Rosh Hashanah Under the Stars has become a local tradition and a nationally recognized event, reportedly the largest of its kind.
BHC officials estimate that between 6,000 and 6,500 people annually attend RHUS at Oregon Ridge Park, at 13555 Beaver Dam Road in Cockeysville.
Since its inception in 2005, RHUS has become a highlight of the Jewish Baltimore calendar and a national model. This year’s service will be held on Sunday evening, Sept. 25, although folks are invited to come to Oregon Ridge a couple hours before the service to nosh, chill, play with their kids or catch up with old friends.
Last year, BHC’s Rabbi Elissa Sachs-Kohen compared RHUS to “what our ancestors might have experienced: a large group of people outdoors, amidst God’s creation, in a way that impacts not only our brains but also our bodies and our spirits.”
See ya there!
8. It’s ‘Bean’ Quite a Ride
You might call Hanan Y. “Bean” Sibel the elder statesman of Jewish Baltimore. For many of us, he’s just always been there, at seemingly every community milestone and event.
For decades, Sibel, now 89, has been a pillar and respected member of Baltimore’s Jewish, business and philanthropic communities.
“I think when you are able, there is an obligation to give back,” Sibel, a Pikesville resident and Beth Tfiloh congregant, told Jmore in 2019. “It’s been a personal commitment of mine to support causes, especially ones that help the Jewish community.”
A father of three and grandfather of seven whose wife, Carole, a noted community leader in her own right, passed away in 2015, Sibel is the co-author of a children’s book, “The Little Penny and the Pushke,” which teaches young readers about the importance of giving back.
“The pushke [tzedakah box] has been a tradition for many Jewish families,” says Sibel, who co-wrote the book with Allan Charles, founder and chief creative officer at TBC. “I have always had pushkes in my home and office, and I wanted to reacquaint these young children with that tradition. … Every penny counts.”
A Baltimore native, Sibel graduated from Baltimore City College before going to the University of Maryland. After college, he was drafted and spent two years in the military before heading back to the University of Maryland School of Law.
After graduating, Sibel joined his father-in-law’s business, Chaimson Food Brokerage. When his father-in-law retired, Sibel took over the company and served as chairman of the board, CEO and owner for 43 years.
Among Bean’s philanthropic endeavors have been serving in leadership roles at The Associated: Jewish Federation of Baltimore, the Jewish National Fund and State of Israel Bonds. He also is a major supporter of Friends of the IDF and co-founder of the Maryland/Israel Development Center.
9. The Ways of Winston
Some Chizuk Amuno congregants can’t recall a time when Winston Williams wasn’t a ubiquitous sight at the Pikesville shul.
Williams has worked as a custodian and member of the maintenance department at Chizuk Amuno and Krieger Schechter Day School for nearly 49 years. He is indisputably a respected and beloved member of the staff.
“I love the people, I love the kids and that’s why I’m still here,” said Williams, who came to Chizuk when he was 23. “And they treat me nice.”
According to Rabbi Moshe Schwartz, KSDS’s headmaster, Williams does anything “from fixing things that are broken, to ensuring that trash and recycling are collected and put in the proper bins outside, to setting up rooms before programs.”
In his easygoing, understated manner, Williams is always a welcoming face at Chizuk Amuno.
“He is much like a pillar, like a building block,” KSDS student Micah B. told Jmore recently. “The community really wouldn’t be the same without [him]. He works hard to help keep it clean and friendly.”
Says Vered Nusinov, chair of the KSDS Middle School English Department: “He is just that kind of person, one who cares about the building and the people who work there. Everything matters to him. He has a huge heart.”
Williams’ advice about succeeding in life? “Be humble and do what you have to do every day,” he says, “and everything will be alright.”
10. Gotta Have Soul
Experience. Engage. Exhale. Now, repeat.
One of Jewish Baltimore’s true treasures is The Soul Center, aka the Alvin and Lois Lapidus Center for Healing and Spirituality, based at Pikesville’s Beth El Congregation. In ways, it’s hard to imagine a time in the community without it.
“When you look at all Judaism has to offer, it’s impossible to believe we can’t find ways to make our religion relevant in the 21st century,” Beth El’s Rabbi Dana Saroken, co-founder and visionary behind The Soul Center, told Jmore in 2016 at its inception. “People are yearning for meaning and purpose, something bigger than themselves, whether that means authentic relationships, community, a higher power or God. And we want to grow. It’s when we’re growing that we feel truly alive.”
Since then, The Soul Center has lived up to its promise and delivered the goods as a “spiritual startup that focuses on mindfulness, healing, rejuvenation and growth, within a Jewish context,” in the words of Rabbi Saroken.
Among local Jewish seekers, the center has become a go-to destination, offering workshops, seminars, religious services, healing programs and classes designed to address the spiritual health and aspirations of members of the community. It is Torah meets yoga meets Mussar, all in an accessible and nourishing manner.
Open to all regardless of their synagogue membership or affiliation, The Soul Center offers a creative mix of free and fee-based programs. The center’s annual “Women, Wine & Wisdom” attracts hundreds of people and is a staple on the Jewish Baltimore calendar.
If you’re looking to re-plug into Judaism and its spiritual components, go no further than The Soul Center.
11. Give ‘Em Something to Kibbitz About
Anytime you want to get an authentic taste of old Jewish Baltimore, there’s only one place to go: The Kibbitz Room at Attman’s Delicatessen in East Baltimore, just around the corner from the Jewish Museum of Maryland and the historic Lloyd Street and B’nai Israel synagogues.
True, the Kibbitz Room has “only” been open for a half-century, as opposed to Attman’s itself, which originally opened its doors in 1915 and has been at its current 1019 E. Lombard St. location since 1933.
But the dining room of the popular deli simply oozes with old-school, unpretentious charm and relaxed ambience, from the clustering of framed photos and articles about Attman’s and Corned Beef Row lining the walls, to the full-length mirrors that would make Bubbie or Tanta Molly envious, to the unique Bawlmer characters who often stop in for a bite. Not to mention the smells of all that delicious deli fare wafting through the room.
“You walk into Attman’s on Lombard Street,” wrote Jmore columnist Michael Olesker in 2020, “and the counter gang’s back-and-forth hollering takes on a kind of jaunty rhythm, and the photos on the wall — the neighborhood in its Corned Beef Row glory years — evoke an age and tribal memory.”
Though opened in 1972, the Kibbitz Room was renamed Stuart Attman’s Kibbitz Room after the sudden death in 1994 of the brother of the deli’s current owner, Marc Attman.
After three generations, Attman’s remains a family affair and reeks of “Attmansphere,” as the descendants of deli founder Harry Attman like to say. But if you want to grab a nosh and imagine the vintage sights and smells of what once was called “Jewtown” in less politically correct times, the Kibbitz Room is the place.
12. Fully Booked
“I love walking into a bookstore. It’s like all my friends are sitting on shelves, waving their pages at me.” —American author Tahereh Mafi
Independent bookstores may be somewhat of a vanishing breed, but they remain the backbone of any community. They’re a place for people to gather, enjoy the works and readings of local authors, grab a cup of coffee and simply celebrate the joys of reading. Plus, they bring a sense of color, culture and character that neither Amazon nor the big corporate chain retailers can ever offer.
A prime example is The Ivy Bookshop, at 5928 Falls Road in Northwest Baltimore. Emma Snyder, a Baltimore native who lives in Charles Village, became The Ivy’s sole owner in 2019. She also owns Bird in Hand, a bookstore/café in Charles Village.
Founded 20 years ago, The Ivy is housed in a late 19th-century building used as a private residence for decades.
The Ivy is far more than just a bookstore and haven for bibliophiles. It also has an upstairs meeting space/classroom and a one-acre lawn, as well as lush gardens, pathways and a covered patio. Activities include author talks, readings, children’s events and dinner gatherings.
“We have reimagined the space as a cultural center anchored by a bookstore,” Snyder told Jmore in 2020. “We see the outdoor grounds as a great partnering opportunity that benefits the community. It’s a beautiful, preserved piece of nature in the city.”
And with its friendly, knowledgeable staff and seemingly countless titles of new and classic fiction, nonfiction, history, biography, art, interior design, cooking and children’s books, The Ivy has much to offer. All in a tasteful, serene setting.
13. Let Them Eat Cake!
Years ago, ex-Charm City denizen Duff Goldman showed the world on his Food Network reality show “Ace of Cakes” that besides being delicious, desserts can be works of art and timeless objects of beauty.
Ellicott City resident Barbie Levy continues that tradition with her business, Flour BouqCakes. A longtime jeweler who always enjoyed baking as a hobby, Levy started her side business of creating eye-catching, mouth-watering, floral-decorated cakes and cupcakes at the outset of the pandemic.
Since then, Flour Bouq Cakes has hit the ground running, and Levy’s chocolate and vanilla creations have won awards and a loyal customer base due to their taste and aesthetic appeal.
“It’s a lot of fun,” says Levy, who took online courses and watched videos to learn the art of floral cake decorating. “I like making things that are pretty and make people happy. It’s very gratifying. I’ve always loved flowers and baking, so this was a chance to do both.”
Levy, who grew up in Pikesville, is a one-woman tour de force who bakes out of her home. Word-of-mouth and social media are her means of letting folks know about Flour BouqCakes, which is strictly by-order. (To place an order, call 410-207-8997 or visit facebook.com/FlourBouqCakes/.)
“It’s just taken off,” says Levy, who continues to run her jewelry business. “It’s all just evolved, and I love it.”
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