Papers & Articles
Tessler Tapped to Lead Ra’anana Sister City Committee
Guy Tessler now serves as chair of the committee, taking over for Dr. Arnold Heller. A partnership between Atlanta and the Israeli city Ra’anana reached a new milestone this past year, in the midst of a change in leadership – celebrating more than 25 years of...
Alert: Tourists Headed to St. Simons Island – Beware Glynn County Police
Alert: Tourists Headed to St. Simons Island and the King & Prince Hotel – Beware Glynn County Police I drove 325 miles from Dunwoody, GA, to St. Simons Island (SSI) on April 14, 2026, and planned to stay at the King & Prince Hotel (K & P) for three nights....
America’s Dark Age and Great Aberration II: An Apology to Canada, the EU / NATO and Global Allies
Sorry for Trump’s Treatment of Our Good Friends and Neighbors. I am a retired American social studies teacher and I am distressed by the actions of my president. As a student of history, I view him as the worst American ever for he has harmed the country in countless...
Update: Unit 8 Middle East – Israel, Palestinians, Iran, Lebanon, Syria, Egypt, Saudi Arabia. Updated April 10, 2026
Introduction: Israel and the coming of John Wayne Judaism This group photo of American and Israeli Jewish and Arab students, taken Nov. 29, 1998, represented my hope for the Middle East – peace between Israel and the Palestinians and prosperity for the people of the...
High Street #4: Phase 2 Construction Begins with the Demolition of the Old AJC and Gold Kist Buildings.
High Street #4: Phase 2 Construction Begins with the Demolition of the Old AJC and Gold Kist Buildings I moved to High Street two years ago when the complex first opened and am a happy tenant. The nicely designed first phase has been so well managed by Windsor...
2025 Global Studies Update: Nationalism & Imperialism, Collective Security, International Trade, & Russia, China, India, US, Germany, Japan Comparisons; Updated April 25, 2025
Unit 4: Nationalism & Imperialism Russia invaded Ukraine on Feb. 24, 2022 to subjugate the EU and NATO-leaning nation and permanently keep it in Putin’s orbit. The Russian leader, believing that the 1990 Soviet break-up was the greatest tragedy of the 20th...
Sea Island’s Beach Replenishment Program’s Impact on St. Simons Island’s East Beach and Gould’s Inlet
Sea Island’s Beach Replenishment Program’s Impact on St. Simons Island’s East Beach and Gould’s Inlet. John “Coach” Allen (left) and I have been friends for about forty-five years. We are both retired social studies teachers, widowers, have one son, and share common...
2025 Holocaust Event: Rescue and Resilience
https://vimeo.com/1050431517 Join us for this special presentation focusing on Swedish diplomat RAOUL WALLENBERG, Righteous Among the Nations, and several survivors saved through his efforts. The program features testimonies from Eva Meisels, Robert Ratonyi, Haim...
2024 Global Studies Update: Nationalism & Imperialism, Collective Security, International Trade, & Russia, China, India, US, Germany, Japan Comparisons; Updated December 7, 2024
Unit 4: Nationalism & Imperialism Autocratic Russia invaded democratic Ukraine on Feb. 24, 2022 to subjugate the EU and NATO-leaning nation and permanently pull it back into Putin’s orbit. The Russian leader believed that the 1990 Soviet break-up was the greatest...
2024 Atlanta Sister Cities Annual Report
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High Street 3: Two Local Treasures for Residents to Discover, Explore, and Appreciate
Cox Corporate Headquarters Strand of Forest and Walking Trails High Street Atlanta is located a quarter of a mile from traffic-choked I-285, ever-busy Ashford-Dunwoody Road, and borders Hammond Drive and Perimeter Center Parkway West, two four-lane thoroughfares that...
High Street 2: A Great New Neighborhood, Village, and Destination Area is Taking Off
Also coming soon to High Street are the Rosetta Bakery, The Hampton Social, and Jaguar Bolera. The following photo of High Street and Velvet Taco was taken from across the street at the entrance to Perimeter Mall. My aim was to illustrate how this fast casual...
High Street Atlanta: Redefining Luxury Apartment Living in the Perimeter Area
If you’re looking for responsive maintenance, good visible security, fair fees and great design, head to HIGH STREET. Rendering of design and vision. The following picture of High Street’s progress was taken May 28, 2024. Phase 1 is complete, and restaurants and...
Birth Injury Justice Center Resources
According to the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, children with disabilities are entitled to educational services. Children born with Cerebral Palsy will require specialized learning plans to meet their unique needs. Parents with special needs children...
2024 Holocaust Event: COURAGE AND CONVICTION
The Holocaust in Lithuania Keynote Speakers: Elly Gotz, Sylvia Foti, Grant Gochin https://vimeo.com/900022281
It’s Beginning to Look A Lot Like Chanukah
It’s beginning to look a lot like Chanukah Everywhere you go Take a look at the latkes fry, I’m winning all the gelt tonight When the dreidels spin to and fro Chanukah is my favorite time of the year. As a child, it was all about the gifts and the gelt. The first...
2023 Atlanta Sister Cities Annual Report
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Two Bridges Park: A Garden of Earthly Delights
I moved to the Lofts Apartments on Nov. 4, 2012. While directing the movers to my new apartment, I noticed a sign across the street that was standing before a long, deep strand of trees. Coming: Perimeter Center East Park. The park, as the years passed, and did not...
Proposal: Construct the Ashford Highline Viaduct, an Elevated Linear Park, to Transform Downtown Dunwoody
This proposal was first published on Dec. 12, 2014 after attending my 50th high school reunion in Newark, NJ and experiencing the Highline on a day trip into New York City. New York Highline up the West Side I loved the Highline’s ability to influence development...
2023 Holocaust Event – Nate Leipciger, Reflections & Remembrance
https://amyisraelchaiatlanta.org/reflections-and-remembrance/index.html
2022 Atlanta Sister Cities Annual Report
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Atlanta Sister Cities Commission Proposal to Mayor Dickens and the Office of International Affairs to Develop a Series of Murals in Atlanta City Hall
Introduction: Murals, according to Google: Traditionally beautify public and private spaces by adding splashes of color and meaning to bare walls Record and memorialize historical events Become a medium for political or social commentary over time Provoke and...
2022 Holocaust Remembrance: Faith & Fortitude – Ella Blumenthal
https://vimeo.com/669040888 ELLA BLUMENTHAL was born in Warsaw, Poland, on August 15, 1921. After the Nazi invasion of Poland, Ella and her family were deported to the Warsaw ghetto. Ella was a direct witness to the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising. She survived in hiding at...
2021 Annual Ra’anana / ASCC Report
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2021 Visions: What opportunities do you see in the Upcoming 5782 Jewish New Year?
My son Sasha Heller is an amateur DJ named Fried Sushi who showcases his drum and bass music mixes on web site www.deltadubproductions.com. His most recent dub step mix is a global hit called 2021 Visions that parallels this column’s theme of opportunities for...
Passover 2021: Celebrate Freedom from Four 2020 Plagues
Theme: What does freedom look like to me this year? The Passover holiday is symbolic for the Ten Plagues the Hebrews cast upon the Egyptians to win their freedom from Pharoah. The Passover holiday for 2021 is symbolic to me for freedom from four 2020 plagues: Donald...
America’s Dark Age and Great Aberration: The Trump Administration 2016 – 2021
Introduction: I salute American political cartoonists, M. Wuerker (Politico.com) and Mike Luckovich (AJC.com) in particular. Political cartoonists envision what we’re thinking and feeling in real time, sometimes at risk to themselves. I also thank,...
2020 Annual Ra’anana / ASCC Report
2021 Annual Holocaust Remembrance Event: Miracles & Memories – Stephen Jacobs, Holocaust Survivor
https://amyisraelchaiatlanta.org/miracles-and-memories/
Life During the Pandemic: A Ten-Month Long Blur of Days
The Atlanta Jewish Times, for major Jewish holidays, asks about forty Atlanta Jewish community leaders to submit 250-word columns on a common theme. For Hanukah 2020, the concept was; As a Candle Gives its Light to the Other, We Are Reminded How Our Own Light...
Black Lives Matter: Race – America’s Original Sin and Crucible
Google defines (1) original sin as Christians being inherently sinful because of Adam and Eve’s fall in the Garden of Eden. Original sin (2) is a wrong of great magnitude as in the case of American slavery that began in 1619. Crucible is a melting pot used for...
Opening up the Floodgates to a New Normal
Published in the Atlanta Jewish Times, April 15, 2020 Last year I wrote that the Hebrew’s ten plagues was the first recorded use of applied terror to achieve political goals. The plagues brought about the Exodus from Egypt, and after the wandering, the ancient...
Mr. Darryl Aftel, Oct. 21, 1950 – Jan. 21, 2020: Memorial for a Beloved Teacher, Coach, and Registrar
I was a colleague of Darryl Aftel for over twenty years and attended a memorial held for him on March 8, 2020, at the Sutton Middle School. All came to celebrate his contribution to special education instruction, athletics, and Northside / North Atlanta High School’s...
2020 Annual Holocaust Remembrance Event
Am Yisrael Chai 2020 RESCUE and REFUGE Keynote speaker:Rabbi Bent Melchior The Am Yisrael Chai event, "Rescue and Refuge” was a powerful and meaningful program attended by more than 900 people. Keynote speaker, Rabbi Bent Melchior was outstanding. Thanks to Ella...
Memorial to Andrew Beard, 1947 – 2018: Publication of His Book of Poems Never to Catch a Butterfly
I only met Andy Beard three times so maybe it’s questionable why I am honoring his life with a memorial web page and publication of his book of poems, Never Catch a Butterfly. Regardless, Andy gave me his handwritten book of poems to read and he died before I could...
Myrna Cohen, Vice Chair, Visits Ra’anana November 14, 2019
Myrna Cohen, Vice Chair of the Atlanta – Ra’anana Sister City Committee, visited Ra’anana, Atlanta’s sister city in Israel, on November 14, 2019. The major aim of her visit was to support the Daffodil Project by planting five hundred daffodil bulbs to honor the memory...
Dunwoody, GA, 2019: My Ten Favorite Places Around Town
Given the popularity of my web page that lists ten good happy hour places in Dunwoody’s Perimeter Mall area – see www.arnoldheller.org/homepage/dunwoody-perimeter-area-ten-good-happy-hour-places.html – permit me to list my ten favorite places that make Dunwoody...
Chef Chris Lanter, Cache Cache, and Aspen, Colorado
My son Sasha Heller, a newspaper designer and journalist, lived in Denver, Colorado from August 2018 to January 2022. Sasha and I are pictured standing in front of Chris Lanter’s smoker eyeing delicious briskets to be sliced up in his Home Team BBQ restaurant in...
Forgiveness in the Dark Age of Trump
Psychologists define forgiveness as a conscious, deliberate decision to release feelings of resentment or vengeance toward a person or group who has harmed you (Google). On Yom Kippur, Jews ask God to forgive their sins and atone by fasting to learn that repentance is...
In Memory of Saul Cohen, 1933 – 2019, a Founding Member of the Atlanta – Ra’anana Sister City Committee
By Arnold Heller, Chair, Atlanta – Ra’anana Sister City Committee ...
2019 Annual Ra’anana / ASCC Report
Dunwoody, GA, March 12 – 28, 2019: Spring begins anew and my city again becomes a blooming beauty
Map of Dunwoody, GA, Dekalb County Spring across the Metro Atlanta area may occasionally begin as early as the third week of February if a prolonged warm spell prematurely triggers nature. Some years, 2018 comes to mind, spring arrived the...
Images of the Western Caribbean Region – Costa Maya, Mexico: The Rising Star of the Mahahual Coast
My first impression of Costa Maya as I disembarked was to ask Patty; “Is this place – Costa Maya of the Mahuhual – a cruise ship port fantasy or well-developed resort that’s keeping it pretty real?” Mahahual came into existence in 1959 when the nation of Mexico gave...
Images of Western Caribbean Region – Harvest Cay, Belize: ‘Margaritaville Island’ & Ecological Wonderland
It seems that each cruise line must build or purchase their own island and version of tropical paradise. Patty and I experienced Half Moon Cay in the Bahamas that’s owned by the Holland-America Line. For more information, please access...
Images of the Western Caribbean Region – Belize City & Belizeans: A Warm Smiling Mix of People with a Soft Welcoming Voice
My first awareness of this country was during an elementary school map lesson on Central America: British Honduras was a territory in the region’s northwest corner. Belize, the last United Kingdom colony on the American mainland to still maintain s strong tie with...