Jewish don’t want our parents’ p. 8 David Moss teens: designs‘We Grace After Meals in comicJudaism’ book form p. 22
THE DAYTON Published by the Jewish Federation of Greater Dayton
July 2019 Sivan/Tammuz 5779 Vol. 23, No. 11
OBSERVER
The Miami Valley’s Jewish Monthly • Online at daytonjewishobserver.org Photos: Corine Fairbanks
When anti-Zionism becomes antisemitism
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Counterprotesters attempt to ignite an Israeli flag, then tear and step on it at Third Street in Dayton next to Courthouse Square, site of the KKK-affiliated Honorable Sacred Knights of Indiana’s rally, May 25
Was student display at prep school antisemitic?
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Devorah Schwartz
Palestine display at Miami Valley School World Affair
Our dual heritage of liberty
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Federation, congregations facilitate tornado relief projects, collections The Jewish Federation has opened a Tornado Relief Fund, with donations to be split between Miami Valley Community Action Partnership and the Dayton Area Chapter of the American Red Cross, which are both helping local tornado victims rebuild their lives. To donate, go to jewishdayton.org or call 610-1555. Jewish Family Services, an agency of
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the Federation, has been responding to its clients’ needs since immediately after the Memorial Day tornadoes. Dayton area Jewish congregations and Chabad have also taken up collections of needed items, have helped clear debris, and are reaching out to those in need of food and assistance. Contact information for these organizations is on Page 16 of The Observer.
Beth Abraham decade by decade Shabbat As part of its 125th anniversary celebrations, Beth Abraham Synagogue will present its next decade by decade Shabbat beginning at 9 a.m., Saturday, July 13. The program will focus on the 1970s Cantor Jerome B. Kopmar through 2008, with Cantor Emeritus Jerome B. Kopmar leading the Musaf service; he and Rabbi Emeritus Samuel
B. Press will share their memories at the kiddush lunch immediately following services. Kopmar and Press served the congregation over the years when the Conservative movement Rabbi Samuel transitioned to full B. Press egalitarianism. Beth Abraham is located at 305 Sugar Camp Cir., Oakwood. R.S.V.P. for the kiddush to 293-9520.
Youth chorale reunion at Cantors Assembly Alumni from Beth Abraham Synagogue Cantor Emeritus Jerome B. Kopmar’s youth chorales in Dayton and Akron — along with cantors in the field — came together for a special concert in honor of Kopmar, May 19 at the Cantors Assembly Convention in Louisville. The Cantors Assembly billed it as a tribute “to one of the most remarkable accomplishments in synagogue music during the second half Cantor Kopmar’s Ohio youth chorales reunion. Back (L of the 20th century.” Kopmar to R): Ilana Kopmar Teeter, Lisa Freeman Wolfe, Wendy led the youth choir at Beth El Lipp, Trudy Weiss Craig, Jane Bodenstein Garfield, Congregation in Akron prior Janice Cohen Krochmal, Cantor Jerome B. Kopmar, to becoming Beth Abraham’s Goldye Kopmar, David Rosenberg, Anne Davis, Karen Mellman-Smith, unidentified. Front: Bracha Kopmar cantor, where he led its youth Bluman, Yosepha Kopmar Solomon, Elaine Scheuer chorale from 1971 to 1983. Arnovitz, Carrie Saeks Goldhoff, Candice Karsch-Jacobs The Beth Abraham Youth Chorale garnered a national reputation described it in Beth Abraham’s Bulletin: for its excellence. Each season, Kopmar “I believe that this honor bestowed on commissioned, premiered, and recorded Cantor Kopmar achieved its intent. That new Jewish works with his youth chowas precisely to allow him to witness rales. Beth Abraham’s Cantor Andrea how impactful the experience of the choRaizen, in the audience for the concert, rale was on so many Jewish children.”
IN THIS ISSUE A Bisel Kisel.....................................19
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Family Education............................21
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THE DAYTON JEWISH OBSERVER • JULY 2019
DAYTON Corine Fairbanks
No violence or arrests at Klan rally, but counterprotesters destroyed Israeli flag By Marshall Weiss The Observer It’s not surprising that an Israeli flag was destroyed at the May 25 rally of nine members of the KKK-affiliated Honorable Sacred Knights of Indiana, held at Dayton’s Courthouse Square. Except the Klan didn’t destroy the flag: people in the counterprotest section did. That afternoon, a series of photos showed up on Sara Stathes’ Facebook page showing counterprotesters first attempting to burn an Israeli flag, then tearing it and stomping on it. Sara and Gus Stathes are owners of The Barrel House, a few blocks east of where the
counterprotest area on Third Street was set up. Earlier that day, the couple put the message “Jewish Owned” on the signboard in front of their bar. Sara Stathes said the message was her husband’s idea. “He’s not Jewish but he’s supportive,” she said. “We wanted to make the point that we’re not going to be intimidated out of running our business and living our lives in our city.” She was shocked to see the Israeli flag desecration show up on her Facebook page. “I saw some counterarguments (in the comments) as to why they might have done that, but at the same time it’s totally Corine Fairbanks
Counterprotesters attempt to set an Israeli flag on fire near the Klan rally at Dayton’s Courthouse Square, May 25
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unacceptable,” Stathes said. “It made me feel sick.” According to the Israel Action Network of Jewish Federations of North America, Students for Justice in Palestine equates Zionists and the KKK as fascists. Native American rights activist Corine Fairbanks of Dayton took the series of photos, which have circulated widely on social A counterprotester tears an Israeli flag on Third Street in Dayton next to media. Fairbanks posted Courthouse Square, site of the KKK-affiliated Honorable Sacred Knights of them at her Facebook Indiana’s rally, May 25 page just before the end of the rally and counterrally, with the heading: “More Allies, and Palestinian Relatives, wanting to burn flag – FREE PALESTINE!! Deport the KKK.” 590 Isaac Prugh Way – 937.298.0594 Jen Mendoza, with the Cincinnati Palestine Solidarity Coalition, is a friend of Fairbanks. Mendoza is shown in the images wearing sunglasses and attempting to set the Israeli flag on fire with a cigarette lighter. Mendoza told The Observer the incident occurred after she saw three young men with an Israeli flag and entered into what she described as a confusing discussion with them. “And so recognizing the state of Israel as being of the same ideology (as) American capitalist imperialist settler colonialContinued on next page
- Deborah Lipstadt
c O Menachem
Two days after the May 25 Klan rally came and went in Downtown Dayton without arrests, violent incidents, citations issued, or use of force by police, our region was hit by the devastating tornadoes of Memorial Day. That unprecedented Marshall crisis rightfully moved all other issues to Weiss the margins, as traditional and new media did their best to connect those in need to those providing services. While we’ll be recovering and rebuilding for some time to come, it’s important to note the disturbing anti-Israel and antisemitic incidents that did occur in connection with the rally (see story above). And they weren’t perpetrated by members of the Klan. The increasing antisemitism we have been reading about across the country is most definitely here in the Dayton area and this should be no surprise. A refrain I hear from the perpetrators is that to be anti-Israel is not the same as being anti-Jewish. This issue has even come up at a local independent private prep school. Full disclosure about our coverage of that story: my daughter is enrolled there and receives a scholarship as part of its Judaic track program.
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THE DAYTON JEWISH OBSERVER • JULY 2019
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DAYTON Counterprotesters
Marshall Weiss
HSK from HSK for colonial imperialism.” supporters, who “I’m American Indian,” were placed sevshe said. “To say I’m against Continued from previous page eral city blocks ism, and seeing that flag on our America and the United States apart. Some government and what they’ve side (counterprotester area) counterprotesters done to indigenous people, yes was jolting,” Mendoza said of brought assault definitely. So I am in solidarity her reaction at the sight of the rifles to the with indigenous people worldIsraeli flag. event. At the ralwide. I know there’s a complex “One of them said that he ly were members history with the indigenous was from Israel. And then the of the New Black people and what’s happening other two boys looked Arab,” Panther Party, in Israel, I understand there’s she added. “The other kid, he antifa protestors, a complexity that’s very difwas the one doing a lot of the church groups, ferent from what’s happening talking, he made comments LGBTQ supporthere, but there’s also a lot of about God giving them the ers, and people commonality between Native land, and at that point I was of all ages and like, ‘Well, you’re on the wrong American people here and the Beth Abraham Synagogue’s Rabbi Joshua Ginsberg backgrounds. indigenous people there.” side of this fence if that’s what sounds the shofar ‘to wake us from our moral Dayton City Fairbanks added that the flag you believe.’” slumber’ as Temple Beth Or’s Rabbi Ari Ballaban, Manager Shelley then also director of Dayton’s Jewish Community of the state of Israel “has nothMendoza said that after the Dickstein said at Relations Council, looks on, at Dayton’s Courthouse ing to do with Judaism.” conversation went on and he Square, May 26, the day after the Klan rally a press conferThe May 25 Klan rally came said “some extremely Zionist, ence after the racist things,” he asked her if he and went without arrests, vioWhaley added that the local May 25 rally she estimated the lent incidents, citations issued, should throw it on the ground situation is part of a larger cost to the city for security was or use of force by police. and stomp on it. national conversation, particuabout $650,000. Between 500 and 600 counShe told him she’d be happy larly because of social media, “The Supreme Court has terprotesters — with 720 to burn it for him. the ability to organize through mandated that speech may not police officers in their midst “And then he flipped and it, and the legal right to carry — overshouted members of the be financially burdened (just) was like, ‘Yeah, let’s burn this assault rifles in Ohio. Madison, Ind.-based Klan at the because it offends many,” Dickflag right now,’” Mendoza “When you have a law in stein said. 1 to 3 p.m. rally. The nine Klan added, “and he helped tear it this state that people can carry Dayton Police Chief Richard apart — and then he told us that members were behind a fenced assault rifles willy nilly, that’s a Biehl said the day’s events clear- danger,” Whaley said. “And we off area at the square. Officers he was doing a social experily presented a safety challenge were brought in from cities ment to find out where people have to be serious about that.” to Dayton and its residents. across Ohio to assist the effort. really stood on fascism. And Biehl added that the consent “We knew there was a need Chain link fences divided then he began chanting ‘Free decree the Klan entered into to provide a perimeter around those who came to protest Palestine.’” with the city of Dayton May 13 Corine Fairbanks that area (Courthouse Fairbanks said a provided his department with Square) based on some woman in the crowd tactical advantages. Klan memvery concerning intelliyelled at those destroybers agreed to only carry side gence gathered over time arms and were escorted in and ing the flag, saying, that suggest the potential out of Dayton by police. “What are you? Against for elevated threat, clearly Jews?” Had the Klan failed to of significant weapon “And I remember comply with any element of possession and display,” them (the young men) the consent decree, Biehl said, Biehl said, “and also saying that no, they the rally would have been shut individuals who were weren’t against Jews, down, and HSK would have expressing some interest they wanted Palestine to been responsible for any costs in engaging in violence be free,” Fairbanks said. related to the rally. related to this event Fairbanks said she At the same time as the directed at police and/or responded along with downtown rally and counterAfter failing to ignite an Israeli flag, tearing it others that “No one’s rally, the NAACP hosted a block instead, counterprotesters step on it near the Klan those in attendance.” Dayton Mayor Nan against anyone except party-style alternative at McInrally at Dayton’s Courthouse Square, May 25 tosh Park, a mile west across the Great Miami River. About 200 people showed up. The city and law enforcement urged people Sara Stathes When Sara Stathes opened The Barrel House the morning of the to stay safely away from downrally, friends flooded in, either for a beer to calm their nerves or for town. The Jewish Federation of a hug to say “I love you.” She went from hugs to seeing two people Greater Dayton was among the in Nazi uniforms pass by on bicycles. “I have never in my life felt numerous coalition partners for the way that I felt today, and never thought I would have to,” she the NAACP event. shared on social media. She posted her Jewish Owned signboard at Members of the Dayton Jewher Facebook page and at the Barrel House’s Instagram site. That ish Chorale, comprising singers day, The Barrel House donated a dollar per pint to the National from Dayton-area synagogues Conference for Community and Justice of Greater Dayton. Two loand temples, sang Od Yavo cal businesses each matched the dollar per pint. “People came out Shalom Aleinu, Peace will come strong to support that,” Stathes said. A week upon us yet, led by Beth Abralater, she began receiving hate-filled messages ham Synagogue Cantor Andrea connected to her Jewish Owned post at InsRaizen at McIntosh Park. Signboard in front of The Barrel tagram. Two were from the same person and On Sunday afternoon, May House, the day of the Klan rally then a third jumped in. One wrote, “Disgust26, the NAACP led a ritual with ing.” Another, “Absolutely f---ing nasty f---ing local clergy to cleanse hate from Kikes,” along with swastikas. Stathes blocked them and reported the posts Courthouse Square, which it to Instagram for hate speech and hate symbols. Instagram didn’t ban the performed 25 years ago at the accounts, indicating the posts didn’t violate their community guidelines. “I same site, the last time a Klan can’t believe in 2019 that this is a thing,” Stathes said. — Marshall Weiss Sara and Gus Stathes rallied in Dayton.
‘I can’t believe in 2019 that this is a thing’
PAGE 4
Editor and Publisher Marshall Weiss MWeiss@jfgd.net 937-853-0372 Contributors Scott Halasz Masha Kisel Candace R. Kwiatek Rabbi Levi Simon Advertising Sales Executive Patty Caruso, plhc69@gmail.com Proofreader Rachel Haug Gilbert Billing Sheila Myers, SMyers@jfgd.net 937-610-1555 Observer Advisor Martin Gottlieb Published by the Jewish Federation of Greater Dayton Bruce Feldman President David Pierce Immediate Past Pres. Todd Bettman President Elect Joel Frydman Foundation Chair Dr. Heath Gilbert Treasurer Beverly Louis Secretary Dan Sweeny VP, Resource Dev. Mary Rita Weissman VP, Personnel Cathy Gardner CEO The Dayton Jewish Observer, Vol. 23, No. 11. The Dayton Jewish Observer is published monthly by the Jewish Federation of Greater Dayton, a nonprofit corporation, 525 Versailles Dr., Dayton, OH 45459. Views expressed by columnists, in readers’ letters, and in opinion pieces do not necessarily reflect the opinion of staff or layleaders of The Dayton Jewish Observer or the Jewish Federation of Greater Dayton. Acceptance of advertising neither endorses advertisers nor guarantees kashrut. The Dayton Jewish Observer Mission Statement To support, strengthen and champion the Dayton Jewish community by providing a forum and resource for Jewish community interests. Goals • To encourage affiliation, involvement and communication. • To provide announcements, news, opinions and analysis of local, national and international activities and issues affecting Jews and the Jewish community. • To build community across institutional, organizational and denominational lines. • To advance causes important to the strength of our Jewish community including support of Federation agencies, its annual campaign, synagogue affiliation, Jewish education and participation in Jewish and general community affairs. • To provide an historic record of Dayton Jewish life.
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THE DAYTON JEWISH OBSERVER • JULY 2019
DAYTON
Jewish families dismayed prep school won’t denounce student display as antisemitic Devorah Schwartz
By Marshall Weiss The Observer When the Sinai Scholars program established a Judaic studies track at The Miami Valley School in 2009, a goal of its founders was to prepare Jewish high school students to defend Judaism and Israel against negative attacks when they would go to college. But in May, Jewish high schoolers at the private, nonsectarian prep school in Washington Township experienced a taste of these negative attacks on their own campus. At a student-led World Affair program during the school day, Friday, May 10, a high school senior’s Palestine table featured a series of maps on a poster indicating that all land in the state of Israel was stolen from Palestinians. Next to the heading “Land Theft,” the student wrote, “Not only is the land stolen from Palestinians...so is their cultures and identity...By stealing from various Arab countries, Israel is confirming what it is: an outsider with no respect for cultural boundaries and a start-up colonial nation with aspirations to imperial grandeur, rather The Palestine table at Miami Valley Upper School’s May 10 World Affair presented than what it so desperately wants to maps indicating that all land in the state of Israel was stolen from Palestinians be seen as: local.” A second poster showed a map of Palestine covering could tell that this is something that bothered them the area including the modern state of Israel, and a sec- not just necessarily as a political issue. They felt very tion about Jewish anti-Zionists, “Being Jewish is not the insecure or very unsafe in that environment. I think it led them to question their whole Jewish identity.” same as being Zionist!” Schwartz said the land theft display tried “to make Although the school has criticized the “political” nature of the display, indicating the posters did not “share us look evil and like we’re trying to cover up who we really are.” the spirit of the event, which was meant to celebrate She added that other than taking photos of the Palescultures from around the world,” Jewish students and their parents — along with clergy and donors who lead tine booth with her phone, students at the Israel booth didn’t approach the students at the Palestine display. the Sinai program — share frustration that the school “We were all kind of scared,” Schwartz said, “behas not denounced the display as antisemitic. cause we were nervous that if we were to walk over Jewish students in the high school, including those in the Sinai program, saw the Palestinian display from and even just look at it, the student would lash out at us. There was no direct quarrel or anything like that.” the Israel booth they had put together for the event. Nine of the 11 Sinai students in the high school met “We knew it was going to happen, but to see it in with Head of School Elizabeth F. Cleary the following person was most surprising, and Monday — the next school day — along with the upper to really see the hate and just the school’s director, Blair Munhofen. antisemitism that was being dis“We all voiced that we were scared and we were played was just mind-boggling and confused at how something like this could happen,” it was really difficult,” said Devorah Schwartz said. “And we felt like, in a safe space like Schwartz, a sophomore at the time. our school is supposed to be, we did not feel safe. We Schwartz recalled there was a didn’t feel welcomed. Especially on a day where we Palestine booth at last year’s World were all about celebrating our values and the things Affair too but no one did anything that make us different.” about it. Cleary declined several requests from The Observer MVS student “I think it was because Rabbi E Devorah Schwartz to be interviewed in person or by phone for this story, came because we were supposed though on May 20 she did reply to a series of questions to have a Sinai lunch that day,” Schwartz said. “But he decided he just wanted to come The Observer emailed her. “We listened hard to their concerns and they were and check out our booth. He saw it (the Palestine disvery articulate in voicing that they seek community unplay) and said, ‘That’s not OK.’” derstanding and education,” Cleary wrote in her email “Rabbi E,” Rabbi Elchonon Chaikin, is the teen and about her first meeting with the Sinai students. young adult program director for Chabad of Greater She added that she and Munhofen spoke to the stuDayton; with his wife, Mussie, he administers the Sinai Sunday program and brings kosher lunch for the Sinai dent who made the posters and “the student is aware of the impact of the posters.” students at Miami Valley nearly every week. “The students were very upset,” Chaikin said. “I Continued on next page
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PAGE 5
DAYTON
Miami Valley School
this. They’re going to face this critical need to listen. in a college setting. It’s almost a Cleary added in the email that “due to the end of the year guarantee.” Bloom said at first he tried to exams and final projects, there is little time left in the school year have all the Sinai parents sign Continued from previous page his letter but couldn’t get evto plan a meaningful event this When asked if there was a eryone on the same page about year.” faculty or staff member assuggesting a plan of action for “We felt like we could resigned to oversee the World the school. ally talk to her and voice our Affair event, Cleary responded “She (Cleary) might have gotfeelings,” Schwartz said of that there was not. Cleary’s initial meeting with the ten a lot of different voices on The school’s plan moving her,” he added. students. “But I think forward, she indicated, was to A second letter from there could have been create a forum for understandthe school, emailed to more action other than ing and education for the next families of all students just listening. It felt school year. in the high school on “We will work with students as if it was just being June 7 (minus Cleary’s pushed off and I think and faculty again in the fall to name), referred only that’s where a lot of help shape this,” she wrote. to Jewish students The school also issued a state- people are still upset, coming forward with because they feel like ment to The Observer: “The Mi“deep concern” over ami Valley School has a unique, even though she said “two posters made by she understood what rich, and long history of reliMiami Valley one student” that did we were feeling, what Head of School gious diversity since its foundElizabeth F. Cleary not share the “spirit of we wanted to do, it ing in 1964. Members of our the event,” and that the seems like she’s trycommunity know and cherish school “should have properly ing to sweep it under the rug this. Current board members, screened the posters” since it almost. We really want action faculty, and students are Jewwas not meant to be a “political now.” ish, and events throughout the event.” Schwartz said that action is year are planned to celebrate all Bloom said he was frustrated cultures and religions. Our mis- to teach the rest of the student body about antisemitism, about that Miami Valley didn’t desion is to educate compassionnounce the antisemitic nature of Judaism, and the culture of ate global citizens. Therefore, the posters. we always have and always will values it embodies. “You have to address those “We’re not murderers or land embrace and embody diversity. issues to move forward,” he thieves as the girl put on her We succeed in this regard by said. poster,” she said. adhering to our core values of “I saw this as blatant antisemParents Amy and Mike grit, celebration, integrity, and Bloom and parents of two other itism,” Rabbi Nochum Mangel, kindness in honoring all tradiSinai students in the high school director of Chabad of Greater tions.” Dayton, said of the posters. emailed Cleary that her reCleary’s responses to The Mangel has also served as chair sponse was inadequate. Observer formed the basis for of the Sinai Scholars initiative “It could have easily been a a letter she emailed May 21 to since its inception. parents of Sinai Scholars. Fami- very positive learning experi“I would like to believe that ence for kids and for the school lies of Jewish students in the this is ignorance,” Mangel said. and for the parents,” Mike upper school who aren’t in the “And then we have the obligaSinai program were not includ- Bloom said. “The kids handled it at the beginning and that was tion — and I hope the school ed in that communication. the goal, to let them take the The email said the school front line in this and deal with would hold a symposium for the next school year that would the school and not have the focus on civil discourse and the parents helicopter-parenting
accepts that suggestion — that there should be in-teacher training. The teachers should understand what the issues are here and why this is considered antisemitic and not just another narrative about some other political issue: that when you have a picture of the Middle East of Palestine with no Israel, what does that suggest? That suggests Jews have no place.”
‘The school should do more’
Mangel added that his guide to determine if criticism of Israel is antisemitic is the “3D test” as delineated by Natan Sharansky (below). “There’s a consensus that this school should do more,” Mangel said. “The hope from all of us is that the school uses this as an opportunity to teach the rest of the school what the real issues are and why this is antisemitism.” In a May 23 email to Cleary and Miami Valley School’s board president, Doug Jenks, Mangel went so far as to question the school’s motives for not distancing itself from the display. “Is it possible that as the leaders of the school you receive pressure from the Palestinian community who insist that you refrain from making such a simple statement of the school’s non-endorsement, and if that is the case I wonder are the Sinai students, parents and benefactors taken for granted that it is OK to ignore their concerns and cave to others?”
The student who put together the Palestine booth, who has since graduated, shared her views on the display in an Instagram post: “Being against a government is different from being against a people. And my sincerest apologies that the posters didn’t fit the ‘vibe’ or ‘spirit’ of the event but when celebrating the culture of the Palestinian people the struggles and ethnic cleansing of the people will not go dismissed. Support of a nation whose culture is violently and belligerently being destroyed, stolen, and disbanded should be presented, shown, and discussed and respected. The over looking of this conflict and this specific point of view is terribly common and fiercely misunderstood and the advocacy of the Palestinian story and people is absolutely vital in having a ‘richly diverse institution.’” Lee Schear, who along with his wife, Patti, established and has funded the Sinai Scholars program since its beginning, said he is also concerned that non-Jewish students in the high school might go forward thinking “this kind of antisemitism is permissible.” “MVS has chosen to handle this matter internally whereas we see the impact of the incident as external and insufficiently addressed after almost four weeks of prodding,” Schear emphasized. Since 2010, the Sinai Scholars program has provided scholarships to more than 50 students at the Miami Valley School,
When does anti-Zionism become antisemitism?
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Israel Action Network, Jewish Federations of North America
Anti-Zionism becomes antisemitism when it: • Denies the legitimacy of the state of Israel and the right of the Jewish people to sovereignty in any portion of its ancient homeland. • Applies a double-standard by denying the Jewish state, but no other state, the right to express its national identity. • Uses Holocaust and other antisemitic imagery to prove its point. • Demonizes Israel, its Jewish citizens, or Jewish people globally entirely for nuanced issues like the IsraeliPalestinian conflict. • Portrays Jews as white European colonial invaders of the land of Israel. This gross historical inaccuracy denies the indigeneity of Jews in the land for millennia and erases the stories of more than half of Israel’s Jewish citizens who are people of color. • Focuses on the Israel-Palestinian conflict to the exclusion of all else that is going on in the Arab world or the larger region. Moral integrity is linked to moral consistency. Critiquing some while ignoring the wrongs of others is a sign of bias, such as failure to criticize Palestinians and Arab countries for wrong behavior, or for the very same things for which Israel is criticized.
3D test of antisemitism, Natan Sharansky (2004), former member of Knesset, former head of Jewish Agency for Israel
• The first D is the test of demonization. When the Jewish state is being demonized; when Israel’s actions are blown out of all sensible proportion; when comparisons are made between Israelis and Nazis and between Palestinian refugee camps and Auschwitz — this is antisemitism, not legitimate criticism of Israel. • The second D is the test of double standards. When criticism of Israel is applied selectively; when Israel is singled out by the United Nations for human rights abuses while the behavior of known and major abusers, such as China, Iran, Cuba, and Syria, is ignored — this is antisemitism. • The third D is the test of delegitimization: when Israel’s fundamental right to exist is denied — alone among all peoples in the world — this too is antisemitism.
THE DAYTON JEWISH OBSERVER • JULY 2019
THE WORLD funding for the Judaics electives students feel a threat to their in the middle and high schools, identity,” Gardner said. “It makes them shut down. There and has sponsored a Sunday program for any Jewish middle have to be safe places for Jews and high school students in the and non-Jews to have critical Dayton area, which now contin- discussions about Israel where ideas, policies and facts are ues at the high school level. discussed.” In 2018, the Schears announced they were transitioning away from the Sinai program Part of a national trend at Miami Valley in favor of Gardner said the incident scholarships at Hillel Academy at The Miami Valley School is Jewish day school, which serindicative of what’s happening vices students in kindergarten across the country. through sixth grade. “At first, we were seeing it They’ve committed to seeing predominantly on college camthe 11 current Sinai Scholars puses,” Gardner said. “We need at Miami Valley through their to create relationships in our graduations in 2021. community so that we “We feel that the are acting as part of a in-school Sinai work whole and not outside with the rabbis and of it.” with Harry Berkowitz Devorah Schwartz, (world civilizations now a rising junior at and Sinai electives Miami Valley, isn’t in instructor at Miami the Sinai program but Valley) and his prehas participated in the decessors has been Sunday program and Sinai Scholars outstanding and has last fall took the Sinai Initiative Chair changed the lives of elective, Generations Nochum our scholars and their Rabbi of Jerusalem, at Miami Mangel parents for the better,” Valley. Schear added. She said that though parents Sinai electives offered each and rabbis were trying to help semester focus on the history of the students, she thought there Judaism and Israel. was a huge disconnect between Cleary has cited student what the students wanted and confidentiality as a key reason what the adults wanted. why the school has decided not “And even though they were to address the World Affair situ- just trying to help, sometimes it ation publicly. seemed like they were just not Jewish Federation of Greater helping,” Schwartz said. “They Dayton CEO Cathy Gardner de- were kind of doing the opposite scribed the Palestinian display because we were communicatas “deeply distressing” and said ing to Ms. Cleary that we just it does constitute a community wanted to educate. We didn’t issue. She reached out to open a want punishment. We just want dialogue with Cleary. to make our school better.” “The biggest problem that When it comes to the I see is when opinions are put high schoolers as a whole at forth in a manner that makes the 45-minute World Affair,
Mark S. Feuer
Schwartz said a lot of them didn’t care because they don’t understand the issues. But she also said “there are a lot of students that share the same views about Israel” at Miami Valley as the senior who put together the Palestine display. “This has been an ongoing thing where they will say things like, ‘Israel is illegitimate’ or ‘We wish we could nuke Israel,’” Schwartz said. “I’ve heard that before. They (faculty and staff) don’t do anything. It’s a shame we have to deal with that at all among other students.” Even so, Schwartz described her experience as a Jewish student at Miami Valley as “amazing.” “We’re really, really a tightknit group of kids,” she said. “We don’t let each other fall. We are always there for one another. We’re really proud of our Jewish heritage. We make announcements frequently about the holidays, we proudly tell people ‘We’re going to Sinai today and we’re getting pizza bagels.’” About the coming school year, Schwartz said, “None of us are letting this go away until there is a solution. We’ve all said that next year we are going to be adamant about making sure there is a symposium or presentation of some sort where we can get our point across. We can do what we need to do.”
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Are you reading this? So is the entire Jewish community. Contact Patty Caruso at plhc69@gmail.com to advertise in The Observer.
Our Century: Dayton Area Collects
Attorney at Law For your business & personal needs. Tax & Business Planning & Transactions Tax Controversies Employee Benefit Solutions
Taft Stettinius & Hollister LLP 40 North Main Street, Suite 1700 Dayton, Ohio 45423-1029 641-1735 mfeuer@taftlaw.com • www.taftlaw.com
June 29–September 22 daytonartinstitute.org/ourcentury
THE DAYTON JEWISH OBSERVER • JULY 2019
PAGE 7
Active Adults S u n d ay, A u g u s t 1 8
Active Adults Annual Brunch
THE WORLD
Jewish teens: ‘We don’t want our parents’ Judaism’ New surveys shed light on overlooked segments. Bindelglassphoto
10:30AM - 12 Noon @ Woman’s Club of Dayton (225 N Ludlow St. Dayton, Ohio 45402) Entertainment provided by Jessica Michna as Eleanor Roosevelt. RSVP by August 11. Your payment is your reservation. $15 in advance/$20 at the door. Jewish Education Project’s David Bryfman (L) and teens discuss the findings of a major new study of Gen Z attitudes
Reservations can be made at jewishdayton.org or by calling (937) 610-1555. A kosher meal can be provided with advance notice, by the RSVP deadline.
J E W I S H FA M I LY S E R V I C E S o f G R E AT E R DAY TO N
PAGE 8
By Shira Hanau New York Jewish Week They are coming of age with Parkland and Pittsburgh and the hyper-polarized politics of Washington. And whether you call them the iGeneration or Gen Z, today’s teens and young adults — feeling at once vulnerable and empowered — are entering adulthood poised to upend the Jewish community in unexpected ways. A major new survey of Jewish teens affiliated with youth organizations suggests that, influenced by today’s toxic political moment, the generation following millennials is already displaying characteristics that could reshape Jewish life in the coming years. At a time of rising antisemitism, perhaps most striking is this generation’s views on the recent lethal attacks on schools and synagogues. “There’s a sense that they are vulnerable just every day, in their schools, just as a teen in America today,” said Arielle Levites, co-author of the new survey of more than 17,000 Jewish teens conducted in collaboration with 14 youth-serving organizations across the Jewish denominational spectrum. “So the shootings in the (Tree of Life) synagogue, they unearthed a special kind of fear and anxiety and sorrow and trauma, but it’s scary just to go to high school. They’re afraid of getting shot at school.” In addition to school shootings, teens worry about white nationalism and the increasingly polarized political climate in which they’re living. “Some teens spoke about growing antisemitism or the unleashing of a latent antisemitism that had already been there,” said Levites. “But a lot of teens wanted to focus on a widening of the political gulf, a lack of civility generally, the current administration.” The survey was conducted online by The Jewish Education Project and Rosov
Consulting from December 2017 to January 2018 with follow-up interviews between September and November 2018. When it came to religious engagement, many teens expressed a greater affinity for Jewish culture than for traditional religious engagement. The teens surveyed displayed an interest in engaging in more than one type of Jewish expression, getting involved with multiple youth organizations across the denominational spectrum. Researchers even found that involvement in more than one youth organization predicted higher ratings on the outcomes measured by the study, such as connections to community. Alyx Bernstein, a senior at the Solomon Schechter School of Westchester, spoke on a panel at an event launching the report and in an interview. “You kind of have to meet Jewish teens where they are; you can’t impose something on us. We don’t want that — we don’t want our parents’ Judaism,” Bernstein said. “Looking at our Judaism as an individualized thing and not the same as everyone else is a really big difference in how we practice Judaism.” The findings paint a picture of a generation so universalist in orientation that some of its beliefs would be nearly unrecognizable to the generations that preceded it. David Bryfman, CEO of the Jewish Education Project, says that orientation — a world view that is more humanistic than specifically Jewish — is a natural result of trends affecting all teens today. The study confirmed that today’s Jewish teens, like American teens of all backgrounds, respect their parents and report less conflict with parents than previous generations. The closer relationships between parents and teens could influence the way teens shape their own values in relation to their parents. “It’s a liberal generation of parents,
THE DAYTON JEWISH OBSERVER • JULY 2019
THE WORLD and it’s an even more liberal generation of young kids,” said Bryfman, noting this generation of teens appears to hold onto the values instilled by their parents. “The kids you see today are going to be the Jewish community of tomorrow — all of the values that they hold really dear to them today are going to be the values of the community tomorrow.” That universalist tendency sets up a contrast between the current generation and the ones that preceded it on issues like antisemitism and Israel. “For the Jewish community to begin to understand that we’re raising a generation that cares as much if not more about humanity than they do about specifically Jewish life is not going to sit well with generations older than them and with the established community, and yet that’s the community we’re raising today,” said Bryfman. Teens’ attitudes toward Israel, according to the survey, were largely positive, with 71 percent agreeing or strongly agreeing with the statement, “I feel a strong connection to Israel.” But followup interviews showed that some teens felt that their Jewish education around Israel had not adequately prepared them for conversations about the conflict that they might encounter outside of exclusively Jewish environments. After switching from a Jewish day school to a public high school, Annabelle, one student interviewed in the survey, described her surprise when she learned that there were other perspectives on Israel. The authors of the report quote Annabelle: “I got to ninth grade and nobody at my school likes Israel, because of the whole Palestinian thing. I just felt stupid. I was like, ‘Why has nobody ever taught me this?’ I’ve been learning about Israel for years, but I’ve never heard anything about the other perspective.” For some teens, a mismatch between their politically liberal values and those espoused by the Israeli government was apparent. “In their lifetime, they’ve only known a non-socially progressive government in Israel, and therefore it’s only natural that when they apply their world views onto their understanding of Israel that it doesn’t always come out in support
of the orientation of the current Israeli administration,” said Bryfman. “The learners today need to be thought of as intelligent discerners of their own information, and the only way you can do that is presenting multiple perspectives and allowing kids to reach their own conclusions.” Teens’ attitudes toward antisemitism and violence against Jews in America revealed a similar multi-perspective approach. While many teens noted a rise in antisemitism as a problem uniquely affecting Jews, Bryfman noted a large group that connected rising antisemitism with white nationalism and felt equally, if not more fearful of school shootings. “Listen, I’m in school a lot more than I’m in synagogue,” said Bernstein, the Solomon Schechter School of Westchester senior. “I do try to attend synagogue a lot…but we’ve been seeing a lot of school shootings for a long time.” “Teens affiliate with different communities intellectually,” said Rabbi Micah Greenland, international director of the Orthodox Union’s National Council of Synagogue Youth, a participating group in the study. “They see themselves as part of the high school student community which is under siege and they see themselves as part of the Jewish community which is under siege.” Buffeted by these trends, the report concluded that today’s teens are well served by Jewish youth organizations. Survey participants were asked to rate themselves on 14 outcomes such as a strong sense of self, a sense of pride in being Jewish and connections to community. Researchers found that teens who were involved in Jewish youth organizations showed higher scores on 11 out of 14 outcomes, including outcomes that were not explicitly related to being Jewish. “These Jewish youth organizations not only help these kids be more Jewish, but help them become better human beings as well,” said Bryfman. “The purpose of being Jewish today is changing for this generation of young people; it’s not necessarily to just be more Jewish, but to become better versions of themselves and to help them thrive in the world.”
Buying & Selling Video Games & Systems
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Thanks to our lead sponsors for helping to make the festival such a success! Businesses
Kettering Health Network’s Grandview Medical Center Louis S. Cantor, Rose Sorokin Cantor, Samuel L. Cantor and Lena Cantor Temple Israel and Jewish Federation of Greater Dayton, Inc. Fund Fort Washington Investment Advisors Groundskeeper Landscape Group The Ohlmann Group Jewish Federation of Greater Dayton The Barrel House • Bethany Village • Buck Run Doors Burke Orthodontics • Economy Linen & Towel Dr. Michael & Teri Halasz • Hart Restoration Services Marker & Heller Funeral Home • Rieck Services Automated Solutions Group, LTD • Brady Ware & Company Burhill Leasing • Evans Bakery • Noble Staffing Solutions
Ambassadors
Anonymous • Kay Cohen • Courtney and Chad Cummings Mitchell and Sara Faust • Jon, Heidi and Julia Freeman John and Elaine Gaglione • The Goldenberg Family Alan and Julie Halpern • Ralph and Sylvia Heyman Wendy and Jeff Horwitz • Joan and Charlie Knoll Rabbi Karen Bodney-Halasz and Scott Halasz Stuart Rose • The Saldoff Family • The Sobo family Andy and Sue Snow • Steve and Gail Walter Zerla Stayman
See you next year on June 7
130 Riverside Drive • Dayton, OH 45405 • www.tidayton.org
THE DAYTON JEWISH OBSERVER • JULY 2019
PAGE 9
OPINION
Legacy of the nakba Why communities must change everything to combat antisemitism & lies about Israel By Jackie Congedo and David Bernstein The resurgence of antisemitism on both sides of the ideological spectrum, exhibited in novel and sometimes deadly ways, demands that Jewish communities reevaluate priorities and create new strategies to combat it. In the latter part of the 20th century, American Jews enjoyed a welcome respite from history. Antisemitism plummeted. Many thought that at least in the United States, the oldest hatred had become a minor threat. Fast forward 25 years, and we now find ourselves fighting a battle against antisemitism on an unprecedented two fronts, with no end in sight. First on the left, with the end of the Camp David peace process and subsequent violence in the Palestinian territories in the early 2000s, we saw the beginnings of the “New Antisemitism” aimed primarily at the Jewish state. The birth of the BDS movement and a broader delegitimization campaign bore the hallmarks of bigotry rather than mere criticism of Israeli policy. And it’s only gotten worse. These same forces have exploited today’s intersectional discourse, further spreading antisemitism in far left-wing circles and threatening to break into the mainstream, as is evidenced in Europe. Then on the right, we are experiencing a revival of the old antisemitism, with deadly consequences. The “Unite the Right” rally in Charlottesville two years ago was a rude awakening as hundreds of white nationalists surrounded a synagogue chanting “Jews will not replace us.” Jews worshipped safely in the United States for 350 years until a gunman stormed the Tree of Life Synagogue in Pittsburgh. This terrifying “first” was followed only six months later by an attack in Poway, Calif., and now a series of arson attacks in Boston. Just like left-wing antisemitism, there is a danger that the virus will proliferate beyond its ideological quarters. Arguing over which “wing” of antisemitism poses a greater threat is an exercise in futility. Both are dangerous and, unfortunately, neither shows signs of abatement. America’s hyper-polarized political environment is fertile ground for all manner of extremist voices. The transition underway from an industrial to a postindustrial economy is wreaking havoc on traditional sources of income, generating further inequality, and exacerbating social tensions, all of which fuels bigotry, xenophobia and antisemitism. We should buckle up for the long-haul. Nonetheless, this moment calls for thoughtful strategy, not knee jerk responses borne out of hyperbolic panic about “history repeating itself.” While some draw parallels to the 1930s, Jews are, in fact, more “warmly” regarded by Americans than any other religious group, according to a recent Pew study. Our myriad allies stepped up in droves after the attacks in Pittsburgh and San Diego. A Jewish response rooted in misplaced hysteria undercuts our ability to strategically anticipate what is likely ahead, and to prepare for that reality. While antisemitism on the right and left are differ-
So, what do you think? Send your letters (350 words max., thanks) to The Dayton Jewish Observer 525 Versailles Dr., Dayton, OH 45459 MWeiss@jfgd.net Views expressed by columnists, in readers’ letters, and in opinion pieces do not necessarily reflect the opinion of staff or layleaders of The Dayton Jewish Observer or the Jewish Federation of Greater Dayton.
PAGE 10
ent, both require our attention. Here’s how we can transform our communities in order to effectively meet this serious challenge: 1. We need to adopt a culture of security. Anyone who has ever visited another Diaspora Jewish community knows that Jewish communities abroad invariably place a high premium on security. The American Jewish community has always been an exception. Many American Jewish communities have already invested heavily in security at local institutions and synagogues. Thankfully, with organizations like the Secure Community Network in place, local communities have the expertise they need to develop a culture of security. We can no longer be lax. 2. We need to strengthen and grow our civic alliances. Jewish communities need more friends on both sides of the political spectrum. We need stronger ties to Latinos, African Americans, Asian Americans, Catholics, Evangelicals, Mainline Protestants, city council members, governors, business leaders, law enforcement, university administrators, and others. We need to go deeper and wider. The more people we know, the more relationships we build, the more effective we will be in safeguarding the pluralistic society that has made America a uniquely welcoming place for Jews and other minorities. 3. We need to train and equip a generation of activists. To ameliorate hyper-polarization, which gives rise to antisemitism, we need to cultivate a generation of Jewish leaders who can go beyond their ideological bubbles and productively engage with people who think differently. We must all learn to hold multiple truths and to speak with nuance. We must help emerging activists understand that compromise, moderation, and civility — too often dismissed as qualities of the weak-willed — are actually exemplars of courageous and transformative leadership. 4. We need to become more sophisticated in publicly combating antisemitism. For many years, our only approach to fighting antisemitism was to condemn and marginalize. We denounced bigoted speech, hoping it would flee to the margins. But that approach fails us in certain contexts, and it’s time we expand our repertoire. We need to learn when to condemn, and when to engage. When to isolate, and when to accept a heartfelt apology. We need new approaches to educating the public about what we consider antisemitism — especially when it’s not clear-cut — before we censure the guilty party, because not everyone sees what we see. 5. We need to strengthen fundraising around security and community relations. With its network of relations with non-Jewish leaders and organizations, JCRCs are a Jewish community’s best vehicle for combating antisemitism. Federations can benefit by embracing their JCRCs and highlighting their impact in efforts to identify and energize donors. 6. We need to invest in local communities with smaller Jewish populations. Antisemitism flourishes in communities where there is not a strong Jewish presence. From there, it incubates and spreads. We need to support smaller Jewish communities with more resources, guidance, and tools to effectively combat antisemitism. We have our work cut out for us. It is a shift we must make. Jackie Congedo is director of the Jewish Community Relations Council of the Jewish Federation of Cincinnati. David Bernstein is president and CEO of the Jewish Council for Public Affairs. This piece was originally published at ejewishphilanthropy.com.
Progressive college students have come to believe that in 1948, Israel enacted a policy of ethnic cleansing and forcibly expelled 750,000 Palestinians in order to ensure a Jewish supermajority and make room for Jewish immigration. By Matt Stein Many students on college campuses these days hear the lie that Israel has murdered entirely innocent, peaceful, unarmed protesters in the Gaza Strip. They hear that the Israel Defense Forces specifically targets women and children as they displace Palestinians to make room for Jewish settlements. They hear these accusations from professors and student governments. Now they hear them from their politicians, too, including the widely criticized comments of Reps. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) and Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.), with the former accusing Israel of “hypnotizing the world” to ignore its “evil doings” in Gaza, and the latter planning to take U.S. legislators to the West Bank to meet displaced Palestinian refugees firsthand and hear the “truth” about the after-effects of wars with Israel (wars started by Arabs on Jews). What these students do not normally hear is that the vast majority of those killed and injured in the weekly “March of Return” riots are Hamas operatives or those with weapons attempting to infiltrate the Israeli border. That these so-called “peaceful protests” involve handheld weapons, incendiary devices and explosives, and that tires are burned to create a cover for those aiming to breach the border to attack Israeli civilians. It doesn’t help that they use women and children as human shields to hide these activities. Such facts are a few minutes of deliberate Google searches away, yet many students blindly assume that the wild accusations of Israel’s human-rights violations are true. The problem is that they aren’t armed with information. And the answer lies in knowledge of the nakba — the “catastrophe” that Arabs associate with the creation of modern-day Israel and the resulting attempt to destroy the sole Jewish state in the world. Progressive college students have come to believe that in 1948, Israel enacted a policy of ethnic cleansing and forcibly expelled 750,000 Palestinians in order to ensure a Jewish supermajority and make room for Jewish immigration. They also believe that Israel acted quite similarly, albeit on a smaller scale, in the Six-Day War. Thus, the modern blood libels of the targeting and mass murder of children, coupled with ethnically cleansing of Palestinians, leveled at the Jewish state become credible in the eyes of these students. If Israel committed ethnic cleansing and mass war crimes in 1948 — and continued to oppress and murder Palestinians in decades following it — then why should one question the stories of Israel’s horrible misdeeds today? Although the historical record shows that some Palestinians were expelled by Jewish forces at gunpoint, there clearly was not an “ethnic cleansing” operation to expel all Arabs out of a potential Jewish state. Rather, strategically located Arab towns were evacuated. Many Israel advocates overstate the extent to which Arabs (college students today hardly know there was a Continued on Page 23
THE DAYTON JEWISH OBSERVER • JULY 2019
Highlights JEWISH FEDERATION of GREATER DAYTON & ITS AGENCIES
JCC early childhood
ABOVE, LEFT: Getting into the swing of summer camp, (L-R) Adi Atzmon, Henry Roth, Emma Carroll and Bryce
Kopp enjoy time at the park with Camp Shalom K’tan. RIGHT: Slip slidin away, Jake Noe perfects his technique down the slide during a field trip. BELOW: Camp Shalom Gadol campers get their green on in the camp garden in Centerville (left) and with the Dragons at Fifth-Third Field (right)!
Check out more photos from Presidents Dinner on the back cover
THE DAYTON JEWISH OBSERVER • JULY 2019
PAGE 11
July events JEWISH FEDERATION of GREATER DAYTON & ITS AGENCIES MONDAY 1
JULY EVENTS & PROGRAMS SUNDAY 7
MONDAY 8
TUESDAY 9
TUESDAY 2
WEDNESDAY 10 MEN'S EVENT Beer, Brats & Baseball 5:30–10PM @ Fifth Third Field (220 N. Patterson Blvd., Dayton 45402) Men's Event at the Dayton Dragons. Cost is $20.
MON 15
SUNDAY 14 JCC JCC Day at the Dragons 2–4:30PM @ Fifth Third Field (220 N. Patterson Blvd., 45402) Join the JCC community for a day with the Dragons and support the J! Seats purchased after June 28 will be assigned at random. Cost is $12.
SUN 21
SUNDAY 28
MON 22
TUE 23
MONDAY 29
WEDNESDAY 3
WED 24
THU 25
TUESDAY 30
TUE 16
WED 17
THURSDAY 4
FRIDAY 5
THURSDAY 11
FRIDAY 12
THURSDAY 18 YAD (AGES 21-35) Stand Up Paddle Boarding 6–8PM @ Eastwood Metropark (1401 Harshman Road, Dayton 45431) Join YAD for a fun evening of paddle boarding & be prepared to get wet!
FRIDAY 26 PJ LIBRARY PJ Library Shabbat in the Park 5:30–7:30PM @ Activity Center Park (221 N Main St, Centerville, 45459) All ages welcome to splash & play! Vegetarian main dish & shabbat experience provided. Please bring a vegetarian & nut-free side dish to share. Contact rgilbert@jfgd.net for all questions or special needs.
SATURDAY 6
SATURDAY 13
FRI 19
SAT 20
SATURDAY 27
WEDNESDAY 31
SEE YOU IN AUGUST!
RSVPs due at least 1 week before event. Events with no price listed are free. FOR MORE INFORMATION OR TO RSVP (unless noted): 937-610-1555 www.jewishdayton.org
PAGE 12
TORNADO RELIEF
FUND
Come together with us as a Jewish community and help our neighbors. By opening the Tornado Relief Fund, we will collect donations to be gifted from the Jewish Community as a whole to the Community Action Partnership and the Red Cross. Both organizations are providing help daily to those looking for a path out of the wreckage to rebuild their lives. Donations to the Tornado Relief Fund will be equally split between these two agencies, on behalf of Dayton’s Jewish community. You can donate today online at jewishdayton.org or over the phone at 937-610-1555. We are collecting donations until June 28. Thank you for your support.
THE DAYTON JEWISH OBSERVER • JULY 2019
Announcements JEWISH FEDERATION of GREATER DAYTON & ITS AGENCIES
DAY
RDAY
SAT 20
Jewish Family Services Responds to Tornado-afflicted Clients, Helps Jewish Federation Establish Tornado Relief Fund Immediately following the tornadoes and severe weather that devastated parts of our community on Monday, May 27, Jewish Family Services sprang into action doing what it does best every day – information & referral and case management. Jewish Family Services met as a team and reviewed our list of clients and determined who was likely in the path of the storm. We started to make phone calls, but when we realized that the phone lines were down, our social worker started driving. She spent that first Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday driving and checking on our clients to assess their needs and either meet those needs or connect them to the proper community resources. Needs assessed included access to water, non-perishable food, refrigeration for medication, batteries for radios and/or flashlights and communication. We learned that our clients were safe and having their physical needs met. Neighbors, friends and family were taking care of each other. Members of the Jewish community provided us with names of those who were impacted by the tornadoes, and our client list grew. Back in the office, Jewish Family Services was culling the community resources that were quickly developing and evolving during the crisis response and relief phase. We wanted to ensure that everyone had access to the most comprehensive list of where to find help. We shared, and continue to share, those resources on our Facebook page. We are continuing to assist our clients who were impacted by the tornadoes, we know there will be long-term consequences. As Dayton moves from relief to recovery and then into rebuilding phases, Jewish Family Services will stay connected to our clients and Dayton. While JFS continues to help our clients, we as a Jewish community must help our neighbors. By opening the Tornado Relief Fund, we will collect donations to be gifted from the Jewish Community as a whole to the Community Action Partnership and the Red Cross. Both organizations are providing help daily to those looking for a path out of the wreckage to rebuild their lives. Donations to the Tornado Relief Fund will be equally split between these two agencies, on behalf of Dayton’s Jewish community. You can donate today online at jewishdayton.org or over the phone at 937610-1555. We will be collecting donations until June 28. Thank you for your support. Tara Feiner Director Jewish Family Services
Did YOU know? OVER
350
young adults from the Dayton area have participated in Birthright since 1999?! That’s 17 young adults every year experiencing Israel!
A Biss'l Mamaloshen Ku
| KU | Noun\Feminine\Pl. Ki:
A cow. Expressions with Ku : 1 Beser eyn ku in shtal eyder tsen in feld. A bird in
the hand is worth two in the bush (lit., Better one cow in the stable than ten in the field). 2 Alts iz nisht puter vos kumt aroys fun der ku. Not everything that comes from the cow is butter (an important lesson). 3 Der kus man iz an oks geven. The woman's husband was a boor (lit., The cow's husband was an ox).
Legacies, Tributes, & Memorials FEDERATION
THE RESILIENCE SCHOLARSHIP FUND IN MEMORY OF › Dan Weckstein Caryl and Don Weckstein UNITED JEWISH CAMPAIGN IN HONOR OF › Speedy recovery of Cindy Burick Bella Freeman IN MEMORY OF › Patricia and Rueben Wasserman Deborah Wasserman › Carolyn Caplan Edward Pocurull Donna and Marshall Weiss › Mike Shane Charlotte Greenblatt Mary and Dr. Gary Youra ENDOWMENT GENERAL FUND IN MEMORY OF › Carolyn Caplan Connie and Stanley Blum
JCC
JOAN AND PETER WELLS AND REBECCA LINVILLE FAMILY, CHILDREN AND YOUTH FUND IN HONOR OF › Special birthday of Norman Weissman Joan and Peter Wells CANTOR DJCC FUND IN MEMORY OF › Carolyn Caplan Barbara Sanderow CAROLE RABINOWITZ YOUTH JEWISH EXPERIENCE FUND IN HONOR OF › Special birthday of Norman Weissman › Special birthday of Fred Izenson › Special birthday of Lois Unger › Special birthday of Hy Blum Bernard Rabinowitz IN MEMORY OF › Mike Shane Carolyn Caplan Mother of Michael Roediger Bernard Rabinowitz
› Mike Shane Joan and Peter Wells THE THEODORE ARNOVITZ FILM FESTIVAL FUND IN MEMORY OF › Charlotte Greenblatt Gayle and Irv Moscowitz JEWISH FAMILY SERVICES JFS
IN HONOR OF › 90th birthday of Joe Bettman Claire and Oscar Soifer › 65th wedding anniversary of Joe and Elaine Bettman Claire and Oscar Soifer IN MEMORY OF › Mike Shane Charlotte Greenblatt Beverly and Jeffrey Kantor Claire and Oscar Soifer
THE DAYTON JEWISH OBSERVER • JULY 2019
FOUNDATION
JEREMY BETTMAN B’NAI TZEDEK FUND IN HONOR OF › 90th birthday of Joe Bettman Bella Freeman › 65th wedding anniversary of Joe and Elaine Bettman Bella Freeman IN MEMORY OF › Edward Pocurull Jean and Todd Bettman Would you like to honor or memorialize someone in your life, all while making a meaningful impact on the Jewish community? Consider making a donation to a Jewish Foundation of Greater Dayton Fund. Tribute and memorial donations can be made for a variety of reasons. Contact us at 937-610-1555 for more information.
PAGE 13
Upcoming events JEWISH FEDERATION of GREATER DAYTON & ITS AGENCIES
JCC Day at the Dragons Sunday, July 14 2PM @ Fifth Third Field Enjoy an afternoon at the ballpark with family and friends while supporting the JCC! Just $12 gets you a stadium seat and Dragons baseball hat. Best of all, half of all proceeds support programming at the JCC. RSVP at dragons@daytondragons.com by Friday, June 28, to guarantee seats in the JCC block. Tickets purchased after this date will be assigned random stadium seating.
Bring your swimsuit and enjoy a casual Shabbat potluck at a local park. For more information, contact Rachel Gilbert at rgilbert@jfgd.net or 937-610-1794. Rain location: Boonshoft CJCE
PRESENTED BY MEN'S PHILANTHROPY
Wednesday, July 10, 5:30–10PM
JULY 26
AUGUST 23
5:30–7:30PM Activity Center Park
5:30–7:30PM Orchardly Park
th
in p a
n e rs hip
Nosh on traditional ballpark fare and hear from Greg Rosenbaum, owner of the Dayton Dragons, in conversation with Marshall Weiss. $20/per person includes game ticket and food. Vegetarian options available. Cash bar. RSVP online at jewishdayton.org Bring your group of friends!
wi
PAGE 14
Fifth Third Field Dragon's Lair (220 N. Patterson Blvd., Dayton, 45402)
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CALENDAR OF EVENTS Classes
Temple Beth Or Classes: Sun., July 21, 11 a.m.: Tanakh w. Rabbi Chessin. 5275 Marshall Rd., Wash. Twp. 4353400. Temple Israel Classes: Saturdays, 9:30 a.m.: Lay led Torah Study. 130 Riverside Dr., Dayton. 496-0050.
Family
Temple Israel Prayer & Play Goes Exploring: Sat., July 13, 10 a.m. at Rabbi Sobo’s home. Morning prayer, craft, followed by picnic lunch at Sycamore Trails Aquatic Ctr. R.S.V.P. to 496-0050. PJ Library Shabbat in the Park: Fri., July 26, 5:30-7:30 p.m. Activity Center Park, 221 N. Main St., Centerville. Vegetarian main dish, challah, grape juice provided. Bring a vegetarian, nut-free side dish to share, bathing suits & towels. Free. R.S.V.P. to 610-1555.
Children & Youths
JCC Camp Shalom: Through July 19 grades K-7. Through July 26 preschool. Boonshoft CJCE, 525 Versailles Dr.,
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Centerville. 610-1555. Chabad Camp Gan Israel: July 22-Aug. 9, 9 a.m.-3:30 p.m. Ages 5-11. 643-0770.
Mon., July 1, 6 p.m. The Barrel House, 417 E. Third St., Dayton Rabbis answer your questions. First round on Temple Israel.
Young Adults
Beth Abraham Synagogue Opera Afternoon: Sun., July 7, 2 p.m. Bellini’s Norma presented by Mike Jaffe. 305 Sugar Camp Cir., Oakwood. Free. 293-9520.
YAD Stand Up Paddle Boarding: Thurs., July 18, 6-8 p.m. Eastwood MetroPark Lake, 1401 Harshman Rd., Dayton. Free. R.S.V.P. to 6101555.
Men
Jewish Federation Men’s Philanthropy Beer, Brats & Baseball: Wed., July 10, 5:3010 p.m. Dragon’s Lair, Fifth Third Field. W. Dragons owner Greg Rosenbaum. $20 includes game ticket & food (veg. options available). R.S.V.P. to jewishdayton.org or 610-1555.
Community Events
Songs of the Inspired Soul: Concert w. Northmont High School String Quartet. Presented by Chabad. Sun., June 30, 7 p.m. Town Hall Theatre, 27 N. Main St., Centerville. $10 donation. R.S.V.P. to chabaddayton.com/ rsvp. Temple Israel Torah On Tap:
2 0 1 9 D AY T O N JEWISH
Temple Anshe Emeth Shabbat Shira: Fri., July 12, 7:30 p.m. led by Mary Rogers & Steve Wyke. 320 Caldwell St., Piqua. Beth Abraham Synagogue Decade By Decade Shabbat: Sat., July 13, 9 a.m. 1970s through 2008. W. Cantor Emeritus Kopmar & Rabbi Emeritus Press. 305 Sugar Camp Cir., Oakwood. R.S.V.P. for kiddush lunch, 293-9520.
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SCREENWRITER ($500$999) Neil Friedman Rochelle & Michael Goldstein Cultural Arts Fund of the Jewish Foundation of Greater Dayton Richard Lapedes & Maureen Lynch Steve Renas ACTOR ($250 - $499) Theodore Arnovitz Fund of the Jewish Foundation of Greater Dayton Enrique & Ruth Ellenbogen Renate Frydman Felix & Erika Garfunkel Charitable Fund Joseph & Marsha Johnston Ed & Marcia Kress Todd & Gabriele Leventhal David London
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THE DAYTON JEWISH OBSERVER • JULY 2019
CREW ($18 - $99) Elaine & Joe Bettman Frieda Blum Bernice Ezekiel Brandt Dena Briskin Dr. Robert & Leslie Buerki Patty & Mike Caruso and family Judy & Alan Chesen Phil & Louisa Dreety Chuck & Dee Fried Barbara Gerla The Gold Family Helene Gordon Arlene Graham Skip Gridley & Karen Jaffe Henry Guggenheimer Lois Harris Meryl Hattenbach Clara Hochstein Emily & Jon Holt Larry Jones & Sandra WilsonJones Kim & Candy Kwiatek Cheryl & Franklin Lewis Teri Clark Linden Jan Maharam Ruthe Meadow Eleanor & Raymond Must Edie Pequignot Helen & Alan Ross David Rothschild George & Ann Schmidt Dan & Kim Shaffer Suzanne & Robert Thum
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RELIGION
CONGREGATIONS Beth Abraham Synagogue Conservative Rabbi Joshua Ginsberg Cantor/Dir. of Ed. & Programming Andrea Raizen Mornings, Mon. & Thurs., 7 a.m.; Tues., Wed., Fri., 7:15 a.m. Sundays, 8:30 a.m. Evenings, Mon.-Fri., 5:30 p.m. Sat. 9 a.m. w. Youth Service 10:30 a.m. 305 Sugar Camp Circle, Oakwood. 2939520. BethAbrahamDayton.org Beth Jacob Congregation Traditional Saturdays 9:30 a.m. Yahrzeit minyans available upon advance request. 7020 N. Main St., Dayton. 274-2149. BethJacobCong.org Temple Anshe Emeth Reform Fri., July 12, 7:30 p.m. 320 Caldwell St., Piqua. Contact Steve Shuchat, 937-7262116, AnsheEmeth@gmail.com. ansheemeth.org Temple Beth Or Reform Rabbi Judy Chessin Educator/Rabbi Ari Ballaban Fridays 6 p.m. Saturdays 10 a.m. 5275 Marshall Rd., Wash. Twp. 435-3400. templebethor.com Temple Beth Sholom Reform Rabbi Haviva Horvitz See Web site for schedule. 610 Gladys Dr., Middletown. 513-422-8313. thetemplebethsholom.com Temple Israel Reform Senior Rabbi Karen Bodney-Halasz Rabbi/Educator Tina Sobo First Friday each month 6 p.m. All other Fridays 6:30 p.m. Saturdays 10:30 a.m. 130 Riverside Dr., Dayton. 496-0050. tidayton.org Temple Sholom Reform Rabbi Cary Kozberg Fridays 6 p.m. 2424 N. Limestone St., Springfield. 399-1231. templesholomoh.com
ADDITIONAL SERVICES Chabad of Greater Dayton Rabbi Nochum Mangel Associate Rabbi Shmuel Klatzkin Youth & Prog. Dir. Rabbi Levi Simon, Teen & Young Adult Prog. Dir. Rabbi Elchonon Chaikin. Beginner educational service Saturdays 9 a.m. adults, 10 a.m children. Sundays 9 a.m. 2001 Far Hills Ave. 643-0770. www.chabaddayton.com Yellow Springs Havurah Independent Services 1st & 3rd Saturdays, 10-noon. Antioch College Rockford Chapel. Contact Len Kramer, 937572-4840 or len2654@gmail.com.
PAGE 16
Shabbat Shira at Anshe Emeth
In God’s presence By Rabbi Levi Simon Chabad of Greater Dayton “Modeh Ani, I offer thanks to You, living and eternal King, for you have mercifully restored my soul to me, your faithfulness is great.” These words are so important that they are the first words we utter every morning — while still in bed — and it is one of the
observance. This is the reason that none of God’s names are mentioned in it. With this insight, we gain a much greater appreciation for the prayer. We are not only thanking God for life but for returning the soul — a soul that is part of God in us. The sages of the Talmud teach us that this short prayer also contains many more life lessons. Life Lesson One: Simply, we must express our gratitude to God and to others, and it should first things that we teach our young children when we intro- be done right away. God’s gift of life by granting duce them to Jewish prayers. us another day must be recogAlthough we speak 15,000 words per day on average, these nized and acknowledged right in our first conscious moments. first few words hold a disproLife Lesson portionate signifiTwo: When one has cance: they are the something to offer, foundation and start whether a material of what we would object, knowledge, or like to accomplish words, we must not this day. keep it to ourselves Just as our eyes but must share it, open, we take even though this the time to realbelongs to us. ize that we are in Our soul that God God’s presence and has refreshed and hope to keep this restored does not conscious thought Rabbi Levi Simon belong to us. throughout every Nevertheless, each day God moment of the day, whether in school, at work, or wherever the gives us the opportunity anew to accomplish so much with it day brings us. through fulfilling the mitzvot The Lubavitcher Rebbe Mary Rogers and her father, Steve Wyke, will lead their fifth annual explains that with insight from (commandments) and Torah. Shabbat Shira (Sabbath of Song) service at Piqua’s Temple Anshe Life Lesson Three: Faith in Chasidic philosophy we gain a Emeth, at 7:30 p.m., Friday, July 12 followed by an Oneg. Rogers is choir perspective on how we can acthe coming of Moshiach (Mesdirector at Temple Beth Or in Washington Township and teaches music siah). Our morning restoration complish this. in its religious school and at Dayton’s JCC preschool. is an allusion to the Days of Chasidus explains that this Moshiach when God will resurshort, simple prayer of thanks rect the dead. Sages tell us that comes from one’s essence. sleep is 1/60th It is said of death; just as without God has given contemplaback our soul in tion, without the morning afawakening the ter sleep, so too love and awe Shabbat Torah will God faithof God that are Candle fully restore life always hidden Portions to the dead in deep within Lightings the future. one’s heart. July 6, Korach (Num. 16:1-18:32) July 5: 8:50 p.m. So, when It’s even said you wake up before one’s July 13, Chukat (Num. 19:1-22:1) July 12: 8:47 p.m. in the mornfull mental July 20, Balak (Num. 22:2-25:9) July 19: 8:43 p.m. ing and your and emotional soul is returned to you to see faculties are fully functioning, July 27, Pinchas (Num. 25:10-30:1) July 26: 8:38 p.m. another day, give thanks. Start before being refreshed with a your day with a prayer, recoghot shower or morning coffee. nizing God’s faith in you. He Our essential connection to trusts you enough to give you a God expressed in the Modeh Fast of the 17th of Tammuz July 21 precious soul. Use it gratefully Ani is not dependent on one’s (Delayed because of Shabbat) and well. deeds, knowledge, or level of Commemorating numerous calamities that fell on the Jewish people on this day, this fast is observed from dawn until dusk. Among the calamities were the breach of the walls Are you reading this? of Jerusalem by the Babylonians in 586 B.C.E. and by the So is the entire Jewish community. Romans in 70 C.E. Marks the beginning of the Three Weeks, a period of mourning for the destruction of the First and Contact Patty Caruso at plhc69@gmail.com Second Temples in Jerusalem, culminating on the Ninth of Av.
Perspectives
July • Sivan/Tammuz
When you wake up in the morning and your soul is returned to you to see another day, give thanks.
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LIFECYCLE
Friedman-Schubert Patti and Lee Schear are pleased to announce the engagement of their son Sam Schubert to Talia Friedman, daughter of Tammy and David Friedman, U.S. Ambassador to Israel. Talia and Sam both made Aliyah from the United States and presently reside in Tel Aviv.
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THE MARVELOUS MR. MAZEL John John Groger, a rising senior at The Miami Valley School, placed fifth overall in the National Academic Quiz Tournaments 2019 High School National Championship Tournament in May. Also on the MVS team were John John’s brother, William, and Max Mader, son of Jenifer and Joe
Scott Halasz Mader. John John and William are the sons of Dr. Kaili Fan and Dr. Richard Groger. Rachel Crafton, daughter of Connie and Billy Crafton, and Natalie Taylor, daughter of Shara and Steve Taylor, have been accepted to the visual arts program for the JCC Maccabi ArtsFest in Detroit this August. Visual arts is one of several specialties at ArtsFest, a weeklong series of workshops for Jewish teens, along with community service, social activities, and themes of Jewish heritage, community, and Israel. According to Connie, Rachel wants to pursue a career in graphic design. Natalie said she is looking forward to meeting other art enthusiasts. In conjunction with the JCC Maccabi Games, it’s a one-stop Maccabi experience. Aaron Dickstein was drafted by the Maryland Black Bears in the 13th round of the North American Hockey League, the only USA Hockey-sanctioned Tier II Junior League. The goalie appeared in 44 games for the Milwaukee Power, a
USA Hockey-sanctioned Tier III Junior organization playing NA3HL. He had a 24-17 record with a 2.93 goals-against average and a 90.5 percent save average. He is the son of Shelley and Gary Dickstein. Brandon and Alexis Wagenfeld, children of Hilary and Richard Wagenfeld, and grandchildren of Lawrence and Sheila Wagenfeld, Walter and Bonnie Rice, and Sarann Rice, graduated from Blaine High School in Blaine, Minn. Both earned National Merit Scholarships and will attend the University of Minnesota. Daniel Cohen received his law degree from William & Mary Law School May 12. While at William & Mary, Daniel worked at the law school’s special education clinic, representing families and students with disabilities so they could get the educational services that they needed. He was also the director of the graduate housing complex at William & Mary, a leader on the moot court team — helping to lead the team to back-to-back top10 national rankings — and worked as an editor for the William & Mary Bill of Rights Journal. At graduation, Daniel was inducted into the Order of The Barristers, honoring his achievements in intercollegiate moot court. Daniel will prepare for and take the Virginia bar exam this summer and then will begin a one-year term as a legal clerk for a judge in circuit court in northern Virginia. Daniel is the son of Nancy and Rich Cohen. Andrea Liberman graduated
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summa cum laude with a bachelor of science degree from Vanderbilt University in Nashville. She majored in cognitive studies and economics, with a minor in corporate strategy. She held leadership positions in Hillel, the Consulting Academy, Women in Business, and Kappa Delta Sorority. Andrea also volunteered with The Contributor, an organization helping the homeless in Nashville. In September, Andrea will start as an associate consultant with Bain and Company in its Dallas office. Andrea is the daughter of Ann and Scott Liberman of Washington Township. Jeffrey Bloom graduated from the Alabama College of Osteopathic Medicine June 1. He will complete his preliminary medicine year in New York at Mt. Sinai Hospital and then return to Dayton to complete his ophthalmology residency at Grandview Medical Center. Jeffrey is the son of Julie and Dr. Robert Bloom, the grandson of Emily Loewenstein and Beverly Bloom, Laura and the late Marty Bloom, and is the greatgrandson of Ida Monches. Laura Schear, daughter of Patti and Lee Schear, graduated magna cum laude from The Ohio State University with a bachelor’s degree in communications. She was inducted into Phi Beta Kappa and will attend The Creative Circus, a portfolio school in Atlanta for copywriting. Lauren Smith, daughter of Cindy and Sam Smith, graduated magna cum laude from Miami University with a bachelor’s in fine art in studio art. While at college, she was a member of the fencing club. She is pursuing a career in digital game design. The Ohlmann Group received three best-of-class trophies in this year’s American Advertising Federation of Dayton’s Mercury Awards competition. Linda Ohlmann Kahn, CEO of The Ohlmann Group, was honored as Best Media Buyer. Franklin T. Cohn won a silver medal in singles tennis at the 2019 Senior Olympics in Cincinnati. Send your announcements to scotthalasz1@gmail.com.
THE DAYTON JEWISH OBSERVER • JULY 2019
A BISEL KISEL
Robbing mothers of their personhood, religious freedom “You’re a Jewish mother. You understand,” I said to a mosaic of the Virgin Mary in the University of Dayton courtyard. I sought the mothering spirit wherever I looked, mentally conversing with trees, flowers, with images of mothers on cereal boxes, bus ads, and billboards.
Masha Kisel Most of all, I was having conversations with babushka, my grandmother Rolana, who was no longer among the living. My own not-quite-immaculate conception took place a few days earlier in the sterile room of the Institute for Reproductive Health in Cincinnati. “We shouldn’t put in more than two,” our fertility doctor said. “You’ll probably only be able to do this once, but two is enough.” In the three years it took from deciding that we would have a child to being diagnosed with Stage IV endometriosis (an auto-immune condition in which endometrial tissue invades nearby organs and can impair fertility) to getting surgery on both ovaries to being told that I may not have any viable eggs, to starting in
vitro fertilization, I had grown so eager that had the doctor suggested implanting four embryos, I would have said yes. Now came the two-week waiting period. My desire animated the not-yet-beings I imagined as already my own, as my chosen ones. My thoughts walked a razor’s edge between jubilation and despair as I felt myself at the mercy of something bigger. The feeling was both painful and beautiful, as though I were a plucked string, vibrating at the frequency of the universe’s will. In those two weeks, I obsessively read infertility internet forums, staring into the computer screen as if it were a crystal ball that could tell me my future. The virtual walls were filled with emoji iconography of smiley angel faces chronicling failed IVF cycles, pregnancies lost. Online infertility groups are dominated by a Christian worldview with a dash of Disney. The forum participants wished each other “baby dust” — the macabre doublemeaning lost under an image of Tinkerbell sprinkling pixie
medicine specialist named Dr. Quack (yes, really), multiple surgeries, daily injections, painful egg retrieval, and a painful embryo transfer was the happiest moment of my life. It wasn’t an easy process but it was joyful because it was fueled by my individual will and by conscious choices we made as a couple. Even after I was pregnant, I had several miscarriage scares and weeks of stalled growth. Ultimately, I was very lucky, but many women face impossible decisions they could not have imagined when they finally attained a much-desired pregnancy. I met a woman in the doctor’s waiting room whose fetus was missing part of its brain. It would take a team of 12 to deliver it and it wouldn’t survive more than 24 hours. This woman, a devout Christian, made the choice to carry to term. I marveled at her emotional strength in following her deepest convictions. But I could not help but think that this being couldn’t have a say in how much pain it endured before its inevitable passing. It was bound to its mother’s choices and beliefs, just like all unborn. We enter a dystopian future when a horrific choice like this one will be made for the mother by the state. Rather than giving a voice to the voiceless, it will rob the mother of her personhood and of her religious freedom.
dust on future mothers. They talked about the last BD with their DH (baby dance with dear husband), how many frosties (frozen embryos) they had, and whether they got a BFN (big fat negative) or a BFP (big fat positive) on a pregnancy test. I shared a lot with these women, in our all-consuming desire for a child, in the medical procedures we had undergone, and in our past disappointments. But I was keenly aware of Masha Kisel pregnant with twins our differences too; they gave legislation spreads across names in utero and believed America, it desecrates the that a 200-celled blastocyst mother-hopeful’s communion would go to with the mystery of existence heaven. by imposing an unscientific, I, too, felt boundless love quasi-Christian answer to the question of when human life for the collecbegins. tion of cells Jewish law states that a fetus that might one is part of the mother until it day become emerges into the world and my children and would feel only then becomes a separate, “ensouled” person. Judaism terrible sadness if they did values the potential personnot come to be. hood of the fetus, but the mothI also under- er’s health remains a priority. The Ohio “heartbeat bill,” stood that they now law, bulldozes this tenet were not huof Judaism, granting a fetus man and the unknowability of personhood at six weeks of where their spirit resided was gestation and ripping away my sacred truth. the mother’s rights to her own The year was 2012 and I body. could comfortably observe our Finding out that I was distinctions without judgment, maintaining the integrity of my pregnant after restrictive “antiinflammatory” dieting, acuown beliefs. Today, in 2019, as anti-choice puncture, visits to a Chinese
The feeling was both painful and beautiful, as though I were a plucked string, vibrating at the frequency of the universe’s will.
Dr. Masha Kisel is a lecturer in English at the University of Dayton.
A world of opportunities. Now accepting applications for the 2019-20 school year. For Jewish students in grades K to 6. • Exemplary secular and Judaic education • Art and science professional residencies • Project-based learning and critical thinking • Hebrew language immersion via Tal-Am Hebrew Curriculum • Sinai Scholarships available to eligible new students
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PAGE 19
How to make the best falafel
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By Shannon Sarna The Nosher If you’ve never made falafel from scratch, I’m here to say it’s possible and it’s delicious. I was intimidated by the task until I jumped right in. But I couldn’t have done it without following a few expert tips.
Ditch the canned chickpeas.
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Every expert falafel fryer I spoke with agreed: You must use dried chickpeas to achieve the best, most authentic falafel. The easiest way to do this is to soak them overnight. Cookbook authors Vicky Cohen and Ruth Fox also suggest adding baking soda to the soaking chickpeas. “Adding baking soda helps soften the beans and is gentler on the stomach,” they shared with The Nosher. When you’re ready to begin putting your falafel mixture together, rinse the chickpeas well before processing. But one important note: Make sure to reserve some of the soaking liquid to use in the falafel mixture in case it is a tad dry. While you may not need any fancy tools for making falafel, you will need a decent-quality food processor to create the right consistency.
Add lots of bright herbs.
Don’t be scared of lots of fresh herbs in your falafel mix. Cookbook author Samantha Ferraro recommends using a mix of cilantro, parsley and mint for color and flavor.
Let it rest.
When you make matzah balls, it’s always crucial to allow the matzah ball mixture to rest in the fridge before rolling into balls and simmering. The same applies to falafel. After the mixture has come together
in the food processor, empty into a bowl or container and allow to sit for 30 minutes before frying.
Fry a test batch.
My Mom taught me to fry a small piece of meatball before frying all the meatballs to make sure the taste and consistency are right. And this rule also applies to falafel. To make sure your falafel will fry up, hold together, and is seasoned well, fry up a small piece before jumping in. Taste, and then adjust accordingly. If the falafel is not holding together, add some of the chickpea soaking liquid, one to two tablespoons at a time until the mixture holds together more firmly.
OK, get frying (but you can actually bake them, too).
You don’t need a deep fryer or any special tools to properly fry up falafel. You can use a cookie scoop, a large tablespoon or just your hands to shape into balls. Food writer Susan Barocas actually prefers to make her falafel into patties, which are easier to serve on their own as bite-sized appetizers, or for stuffing into fluffy pita pockets. She also swears you can bake your falafel instead of frying: Line the baking sheet with parchment, spray that with olive oil, and then put the patties on. Spray oil a bit generously on each patty and bake at 375 degrees for about 15 minutes or until crisp, then flip, spray a little more oil and bake another 12 to 15 minutes until crisp on both sides.
Joan Nathan’s Falafel Recipe
Reprinted with permission from The Foods of Israel Today (Knopf). 2 Tbsp. finely chopped fresh cilantro
Chopped tomato for garnish Soybean or vegetable oil for frying 2 Tbsp. finely chopped fresh parsley 4-6 Tbsp. flour 1 tsp. baking powder 1/2 cup roughly chopped onion 1 tsp. cumin 1 cup dried chickpeas Diced onion for garnish 1 tsp. salt Diced green bell pepper for garnish 1 tsp. dried hot red pepper Tahini sauce 4 cloves garlic Put the chickpeas in a large bowl and add enough cold water to cover them by at least 2 inches. Let soak overnight, then drain. Place the drained uncooked chickpeas and the onions in the bowl of a food processor fitted with a steel blade. Add the parsley, cilantro, salt, hot pepper, garlic, and cumin. Process until blended but not puréed. Sprinkle in the baking powder and four tablespoons of the flour, then pulse. You want to add enough bulgur or flour so that the dough forms a small ball and no longer sticks to your hands. Turn into a bowl and refrigerate, covered, for several hours. Form the chickpea mixture into balls about the size of walnuts or use a falafel scoop, available in Middle Eastern markets. Heat 3 inches of oil to 375 degrees in a deep pot or wok and fry one ball to test. If it falls apart, add a little flour. Then fry about six balls at once for a few minutes on each side or until golden brown. Drain on paper towels. Stuff half a pita with falafel balls, chopped tomatoes, onion, green pepper and pickled turnips. Drizzle with tahini thinned with water.
THE DAYTON JEWISH OBSERVER • JULY 2019
JEWISH FAMILY EDUCATION
A heritage of liberty
and move without a soul.” Chafing under familiar but ever more oppressive English rule, the American colonies broke away from the British Empire in the pursuit of liberty. This very act is implied by the First Commandment, “I am and freeing the individual from the Lord your God who brought “The year was 2081, and evyou out of the land of Egypt, erybody was finally equal. They decision-making and responout of the house of bondage,” sibility, the government subtly weren’t only equal before God according to Daily Wire host Ben coerces subjugation. and the law. They were equal Shapiro in a speech at Liberty Then, sabotage the indievery which way,” begins Kurt University. Vonnegut’s short story Harrison vidual’s ability to learn and It says, according to Shapiro, think rationally and citizens will Bergeron. “Remove yourself from the arultimately accept and believe Supported by ever-expandbitrary bondage of the state and anything, cementing the goving amendments to the naplace yourself under a higher tional constitution, agents of the ernment’s power. set of commandments.” Such totalitarianism is The early architects of the naevident throughout history and tion attempted to secure liberty across the globe, from centralby avoiding a central governCandace R. ized rule during the Qin and ment altogether, setting up a Mauryan dynastic eras of the Kwiatek Chinese and Indians to popular loose confederation of states not unlike that of the ancient rule under Stalinism, Nazism, Israelites under Joshua and the and modern Islamism. Judges. Sadly, many of today’s national Handicapper General When chaos resulted, the increasingly secular Western ensured that nobody could societies have begun to embrace architects designed America as a think too deeply or differ in constitutional republic in which elements of totalitarianism as looks, intelligence, or abilities, the people and their elected well. As they lose touch with stripping the people of their freedom, individuality, and abil- their biblical roots, these nations representatives would hold the are also surrendering a founda- power. ity to reason. Even so, America’s founders Vonnegut’s totalitarian theme tional value of Western civilizarecognized government’s protion: liberty. is mirrored in the doublethink clivity for expansion and control Well-versed in the Bible, motto of The Party in George and worried about its threat to America’s founders certainly Orwell’s dystopian novel 1984: “War is peace/Freedom is slav- understood the notion of liberty. individual liberty. A modern adage by author Recognizing the connection ery/Ignorance is strength.” between Exodus and Sinai, they and talk show host Dennis When people focus on a Prager echoes their concern: saw liberty as the individual common but fictitious enemy, exercise of free will and freedom “The bigger the government, they’re less likely to notice the smaller the citizen.” from coercion, but constrained problems in their own society, by virtue, explains history pronotes psychologist and writer Natalie Frank in her exploration fessor Bradley Birzer. In a memorable analogy, of governmental mind control John Adams captured the same in 1984. sentiment, “Liberty can no more By defining what is good, exist without virtue and indeacceptable, or desirable as “the pendence than the body can live collective will of the society”
Our Dual Heritage
and they said: ‘All that the Eternal has spoken will we do, and obey.’” Finally, America’s early builders understood that liberty relied heavily on moral self-rule. “To suppose that any form of government will secure liberty or happiness without any virtue in the people,” James Madison commented, “is a chimerical idea.” Exodus fails without Sinai. As Shapiro concludes, “Rights To prevent tyranny and prewithout virtues lead to chaos. serve liberty, the framers of the Virtues without rights lead to Constitution therefore limited tyranny. Only by balancing pubthe enumerated powers of government, delegated all other lic rights with private virtues power to the states or individu- can we truly uphold freedom and pursue happiness.” als, and added a Bill of Rights. With its earliest roots in the “Our liberty can never be safe Bible, America’s heritage of but in the hands of the people liberty embodies notions of freethemselves,” Thomas Jefferson dom, the individual, and virtue. concluded. Although it’s imperfectly Liberty also implies the nonapplied, it’s an ideal toward coerced consent of the governed, a notion enshrined in the which we strive. It must be safeguarded. Declaration of Independence: “We hold these truths to be Princeton Prof. Robert self-evident, that all men...are George’s conclusions in the endowed by their Creator with video Why We are Losing Liberty certain unalienable Rights... lead me to observe that liberty That to secure these rights, can be taken away, but it can Governments are instituted also be given away out of sheer among Men, deriving their just ignorance or lack of virtue. If powers from the consent of the we want to understand liberty, governed.” to see what we’re missing, we Is it any surprise that the need only read the biblical acCovenant at Sinai also required counts of Exodus and Sinai. If the consent of the people? we want to get it back, we need “And he (Moses) took the only read America’s founding book of the Covenant, and read documents. All the liberty we it in the hearing of the people; ever wanted is there.
Literature to share Raisins and Almonds: A Yiddish Lullaby by Susan Tarcov. Based on a beloved Yiddish lullaby, this imaginative tale is about Bella’s journey to discover “the little white goat with his store” that is under her bed at night. Its gentle message is to face your fears — even if they might include a “monster under the bed.” With its whimsical illustrations and wonderfully repetitive language — “You never know. Why don’t you come and see?” — this is an excellent read-aloud. An added feature is the QR code at the book’s end that allows you to view a performance of the original lullaby in Yiddish. Delightful! Braided: A Journey of a Thousand Challahs by Beth Ricanati, M.D. As an internal medicine physician, Ricanati discovered that disease often arises when the body and spirit are disconnected, when women in particular unconsciously believe they don’t need to take care of themselves in order to take care of others. However, she discovered a unique prescription: a weekly time out for baking challah. Filled with anecdotes, personal reflections, and home and health benefits, this little gem also takes the reader step by step through the challah-making experience. Try it out using the quick to make, never-fail yeast challah recipe included.
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Arts&Culture
Indigenous & Jewish photographer wants to tell her people’s story before it’s too late By Josefin Dolsten, JTA At the age of 20, Kali Spitzer left her home in Victoria, British Columbia to travel north and immerse herself in the culture of her father, who is a member of the Kaska Dena, a First Nations people native to Canada. For around seven months, she lived among her relatives in and near the area of Daylu, where she learned traditional skills such as beading, hunting, fishing, trapping and tanning moose and caribou hides. “It was so beautiful and challenging and humbling,” the 31-year-old photographer told the Jewish Telegraphic Agency in a phone interview from her home in Vancouver. “And also there was a lot of sadness too that came from it, not being able to grow up immersed in my culture.” Spitzer, who until then had primarily been raised by her Ashkenazi Jewish mother, came back inspired and eager to teach others about indigenous culture. She found that the best way to do so was through a longtime passion of hers: photography. As part of a series titled An Exploration of Resilience and Resistance, Spitzer photographed a diverse range of women and gender non-conforming people, many of whom are either indigenous or mixed race. Images from that series have been exhibited internationally — including in Canada, the United States, England and Germany — and were recently featured in National Geographic. In exhibition, the large-scale photographs are accompanied by voice recordings of the subjects telling their stories. “The main objective is to make a safe space where we’re seen and heard, and I hope through doing that maybe some people would come into space that they wouldn’t usually and have a really human connection with the people in the images,” she said. Spitzer’s project explores the challenges of being mixed race. “Being Jewish and native, (I was) always having people tell me that they don’t think I look native, or things like that, or just my identity constantly being questioned,” she said. “Knowing that other people go through that too, I think it’s really important to show how diverse we are and that we all fit in, in some context.” Though Spitzer has mostly focused on her indigenous roots in her work, she also hopes to document her Jewish heritage in future projects, including by traveling to where her relatives came from in Romania and Poland. She says that even when her work does not directly
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Photographer Kali Spitzer uses a process that gives her work a weathered, antique look
address Judaism, it always lingers in the background. “I think my Jewish ancestry informed me as a human, so therefore (it informs) everything that I do,” she said. The Vancouver-based artist believes it is important to capture the stories of indigenous people before elders die — and with that, their culture. “I feel there’s more of an urgency for documenting our culture, our language and our people, because we’re kind of in a race against time in losing our knowledge,” she said. As a young child, Spitzer’s father was taken away from his family as part of a Canadian government policy in which indigenous youths were sent to church-run residential schools. The goal of the program, which ran until 1996, was to assimilate native children into Canadian society. “Children were forcibly removed from their homes and the land and placed in these really abusive institutions where the goal was assimilation and to kill the Indian and assimilate into white, religious culture,” Spitzer said. “I think that a lot of the time my work focuses more on that because it’s so recent.”
Spitzer has been doing photography since the age of 12. During her studies in Santa Fe at the Institute of American Indian Arts and Santa Fe Community College, she became interested in alternative photography processes. She started using a wet collodion or tintype process, in which a piece of metal or glass is coated with lacquer or enamel to develop a photograph. The result is a weathered, antique-looking image. In her work, Spitzer’s subjects appear almost illuminated, against a darker, sometimes splotchy or uneven background. “There’s a lot of different variables to it and it’s definitely possible to get a really clean image, but I also like those variables and not really knowing how it’s going to turn out,” she said. Spitzer said growing up Jewish and Kaska Dena came with heavy baggage. “There was definitely a lot of challenging parts of it, to come from two pretty oppressed people in different ways,” she said. But she sees no conflict between her roots. “I thought they were always both complementary of each other.”
Byron Flescher
Kali Spitzer
Kali Spitzer (L) was mostly raised in Victoria by her Jewish mother, Eloise (R)
THE DAYTON JEWISH OBSERVER • JULY 2019
Lies about Israel Continued from Page 10 time when Palestinians did not associate with themselves such a national identity) left of their own accord and at the behest of Arab leaders, which were also major factors of their own displacement. What sane civilian would stay in his house in the midst of a bloody war? Regardless of the exact percentage of Arabs who were expelled, fled out of fear or fled at the instruction of Arab leaders, it certainly was not “ethnic cleansing” by Israel, either deliberately or consequently. Indeed, there remains a 21 percent sizable minority of Arabs today. The fact that Arabs observe “Nakba Day” on Israeli Independence Day doesn’t help matters. College students are fed the Arab narrative of “ethnic cleansing,” even sometimes of genocide, an obviously absurd and incredibly offensive accusation. Yet they rarely seem to question it. Indeed, attendees of a student government council meeting at Williams College in Amherst, Mass., made this very charge, ultimately causing a prospective pro-Israel group to be denied registration as a registered student organization, the first group rejected in more than a decade (it met all
Hear
the requirements associated with new campus group). Indeed, the college group Jewish Voice for Peace runs a Facing the Nakba campaign on campuses, where students are taught about the “forced displacement” of 750,000 Palestinians and its “present implications in Palestine/Israel.” Notice that they call Israel “Palestine/Israel.” These lies told by JVP, Students for Justice in Palestine and other organizations ruin Israel’s image in the eyes of so many students and allows them to believe slanderous claims of Israel specifically “targeting women and children.” The college students who learn about the nakba subsequently believe horrible accusations against Israel today are true. These students are our leaders of tomorrow. If we want to preserve the wonderful relationship between the United States and Israel, the lie of the nakba should be fought every second on our college campuses. Matthew Stein, an honors economics major at Swarthmore College, is president of Swarthmore Students for Israel and Swarthmore Chabad. He is a CAMERA Fellow and a former fellow with StandWithUs.
OBITUARIES Martin (Marty) Bloom, 83 of Hilton Head Island, S.C., passed away June 2. He was born June 17, 1935 in Lima, Ohio to Yale and Anne (Silberman) Bloom. Mr. Bloom grew up in Lima and graduated from The Ohio State University. He was a successful group health insurance broker in Cincinnati. Mr. Bloom and his wife, Dr. Laura RosenbaumBloom, moved to Hilton Head in November 2001 with three cats and their dog, Ollie. He loved golf, the Buckeyes, the Reds, the Bengals, the Pops, Broadway shows, good food, and especially his family. Mr. Bloom was known for his quick wit. Mr. Bloom is survived by his wife, Dr. Laura RosenbaumBloom; three children, Dr. Robert (Julie) Bloom, Dr. Michael (Amy) Bloom, and Kim Bloom Asher; nine grandchildren, Jennifer, Jeffrey,
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Shirley Eincig Rosenberg of Monroe Township, N.J., formerly of Dayton, died June 2. Mrs. Rosenberg sang in the choir at Temple Israel and Beth Abraham Synagogue for many years. She was preceded in death by her husband, Dr. Harold Rosenberg, in 2011, and her daughter, Sandi, in 2012. She is survived by her daughters Karen (David) Blivaiss of East Brunswick, N.J., Janet (Stan) Shanedling of Minneapolis; and Judy (Micha) Kestecher of Netanya, Israel; nine grandchildren and 10 great-grandchildren. Interment was at Beth Abraham Cemetery. Memorial contributions may be made to Hadassah or a charity of your choice.
Sally Marie Farnbacher, 2/14/25 - 5/30/19, age 94. Born in Youngstown, she was proceeded in death by her husband, John M. Farnbacher; her parents, Harry and Marie Pitcarin; brother, Paul Pitcarin. Mrs. Farnbacher is survived by Beverly Farnbacher and her husband, Nagi Ahmed Nasr, Thomas Farnbacher and his wife Kimberly Farnbacher, child Thomas “TJ” Farnbacher and Barbara Farnbacher and her husband Paul Herbert, children Morgan and Michelle Herbert. Interment was at Calvary Cemetery. Please send donations to Our Lady of Mercy Church, 533 Odlin Ave., Dayton, OH 45405 or the Dayton Food Party to support the Memorial Day Tornado Relief Fund.
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Rachel, Adam, Sarah and Ellie Bloom, Andrew, Kallie and Aaron Asher. Mr. Bloom’s sister, Judi Bleich, passed away May 28, five days before him. Interment was at Six Oaks Cemetery, Hilton Head. Donations may be made to the American Kidney Fund.
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PRESIDENTS DINNER 2019