PAGE 8B HERITAGE FLORIDA JEWISH NEWS, FEBRUARY 24, 2017
Eliezer Sobel's mother, Manya, reading his first book for
adults with memory loss, 'Blue Sky, White Clouds.'
By Lisa Keys
NEW YORK (JTA)--
The book is large and fits
comfortably on a lap. The
color photographs nearly fill
each page. Each image depicts
real people doing everyday
Jewish things---a young girl
eating matzah ball soup; a
bubbe and her grandchildren
lying in the grass; a man
wearing tefiUin, praying. The
sentences are in large print;
they are simple ("Mother says
the blessing over the candles")
and easy to read.
But the book is not for
young children learning how
to read, nor is it for parents
to introduce Judaism to their
preschoolers.
Rather it is designed for
those suffering from dementia
and Alzheimer's disease, a
progressive type of dementia
that causes a slow decline
in thinking, memory and
reasoning. The book--a
series of independent pictures
and captions--requires no
memory to read and follow
along, allowing those with
memory-loss issues to enjoy
and engage with each image
on its own terms.
"L'Chaim: Pictures to
Evoke Memories of a Jewish
Life," by Eliezer Sobel, is
probably the first book of its
kind--a Jewish-themed book
created explicitly for adults
with Alzheimer's or dementia.
"There's such a richness to
Jewish content and imagery
and history and culture,"
Sobel, 64, told JTA. "There
are so many Jewish people in
Jewish nursing homes, and
Jewish families with loved
ones who have dementia."
Sobers family is among
them. The author took
inspiration from his mother,
Manya, 93, a refugee who
fled Nazi Germany and has
suffered from Alzheimer's
for 17 years. As her memory
deteriorated, her language
slowly disappeared with it,
Sobel said. Eventually, a few
years ago, it seemed gone for
good.
However, "One day I walk
into the living room, and
she was thumbing through
a magazine, reading the
big print headlines aloud,
correctly," he recalled. "I said,
'Omigod! Mom can still read!'"
Sobel, who lives in Red
Bank, New Jersey, said he
headed to the local Barnes &
Noble to get her a picture book
for dementia patients.
"It seemed like the most
obvious thing in the world,"
he said.
Instead, he learned that
such a thing didn't really
exist. After unsuccessful
trips to bookstores and
searches online, Sobel called
the National Alzheimer's
Association. He said the
librarian he spoke with on the
phone was stumped at first--
she said that while there were
more than 20,000 books for
caregivers, she didn't know
of anything for the patients
themselves.
Eventually the librarian
turned up a few books for
Alzheimer's patients: Lydia
Burdick has a series of three
books for adults with the
disease, including "The
Sunshine On My Face." In
subsequent years a few more
have appeared, such as those
by Emma Rose Sparrow. Still,
the market for such products
is very small, even though
some 5.8 million Americans
have Alzheimers, according to
the Alzheimer's Association.
Inspired, Sobel--a writer
(previous books include the
novel "Minyan: Ten Jewish
Men in a World That is
Heartbroken") and leader
of meditation and creativity
retreats--published his first
book for adults with dementia,
"Blue Sky, White Clouds: A
Book for Memory- Challenged
Adults" in 2012. Like
"L'Chaim," the book is a series
of large color photographs of
things like birds, trees and
babies with captions such as
"The baby is fast asleep" and
"Snow covers the trees."
"If patients see the pictures,
say the names of the pictures,
make some comments or are
in any way affected by the
books, that's a good thing,
period," David Teplow, a
professor of neurology at
UCLA, told JTA. (Teplow
provided a blurb for "Blue
Sky": "It certainly appears to
be necessary to fill a void in
this areaofpublishing, namely
the realistic representation of
images and ideas for people
with memory and cognitive
impairment.")
Plus, Teplow added, "There
are lot of Jewish people who
have Alzheimer's disease and
other dementias. Certainly it's
an important project for the
Jewish community."
For Sobel, having a Jewish-
themed follow-up to "Blue
Sky" was a bit ofa no-brainer.
"It seemed natural to me,"
he said. "It's who I am; who
we are. Especially my mother,
the history of her Holocaust
experience--it was a big part
of my growing up, how she
and her family got out, what
they experienced."
Sobel's mother arrived in
the U.S. at age 14, shortly after
Kristallnacht in 1938. Though
she escaped Germany with
her immediate family--her
grandmother was left behind
and died in a labor camp--
she remained scarred by her
experiences and raised her
kids to be wary of outsiders.
"Fair Lawn, New Jersey,
was kind of like 'Leave It To
Beaver'--perfectly safe and
lots of Jewish families," Sobel
said of his hometown in the
New York City suburbs. "But
my morn kept an axe under
the bed when my dad wasn't
home."
The family kept kosher;
they had Friday night Shabbat
dinners and Sobel attended
synagogue on Saturdays with
his father.
"My mother's idea of
keeping Shabbat was she
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llemon, zestandjuice Gradually add in the
didn't clean the house; she'd
do something she enjoyed," he
recalled. "We'd drive--but not
past the rabbi's house."
Sobel said that while
he and his mother "were
at loggerheads for a lot of
my adult life," when her
Alzheimer's set in, she was
released from her terrible
memories.
"It was almost a blessing to
be around her; someone who
radiated love and welcoming to
everyone," he said. "I was freed
up to feel and express my love
for her, which had been bottled
up since my teenage years."
The books, he said, seemed
to provide her some comfort
and--just as important--
entertainment. Sobel's father,
Max, took care of his mother
until he fell and suffered a
traumatic brain injury himself
three years ago, on their 67th
weddinganniversary. (He died
in November.)
"I watched my father,
tearing his hair out, looking
for things to do with her,"
Sobel said. "There are so few
resources for that.
"If she enjoyed being with
the book in the moment, we
could do it again the next day,
or the next hour. We could
read it 100 times--it never
got old."
chicken broth, whisking as
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Add the lemon zest, juice,
chives and thyme. Bring to
a boil then allow to simmer
for 5 minutes until slightly
thickened. Season with salt
and pepper.
Top chicken with the sauce,
then bake in a 350-degree
oven for 15-20 minutes.
Serves six (approximately 12-
14 pieces of chicken)
The recipe pairs nicely
with the complexity ofa Napa
Valley Cabernet Sauvignon.
Busquaert, adds, "The secret
is to eliminate sweetness and
embrace tart flavors."
For more information
about Sequoia Grove winery
and its educational food and
wine tasting seminars, visit
sequoiagrove.com.
Use these helpful hints at
your next dinner party to
create a meal with the perfect
wine pairings.
