THURSDAY, JANUARY 28, 2010 13 SHEVAT, 5770 SHABBAT: FRI 5:37 – SAT 6:37 CINCINNATI, OHIO VOL. 156 • NO. 27 SINGLE ISSUE PRICE $2.00
SPECIAL SECTION Mature Living Page 11
Super Sunday is this Sunday, Jan. 31 This Sunday may be the single most important day of the year for Jews everywhere. It’s the Jewish Federation of Cincinnati’s Super Sunday, when the community gathers to raise funds for itself, Israel and Jews in need worldwide. The event is now in its 29th year. For those who may have missed it in years passed, volunteers phone members of the community asking for donations. Last year, with the economy in collapse worldwide, Cincinnati raised over $328,000. Perhaps even more important is that Cincinnati donors are uncommonly faithful in meeting their pledge obligations — the rate of failure is less than 1 percent. The pledges will not be due until Dec. 31, 2010. This year, PNC will join the effort. It will match every new gift
Volunteer raising funds for the community.
of $180 as well as donations from repeat donors who have increased their donation by 20 percent. What do the needs look like judging from 2009? According to Tedd Friedman, campaign co-chair, services last year for the Jewish community saw significant increases. For Jewish Family Service Food Pantry saw an increase in use of 80 percent, and there was a 45 percent increase in demand for emergency funds. At the J, Meals on Wheels, a program that provides meals for homebound seniors, experienced a 60 percent increase while meals for seniors at the J experienced a 46 percent increase. Finally, Jewish Vocational Services saw an increase of 70 percent in clients using their career network.
Where do the funds go? According to Friedman, the breakdown is as follows: 44 percent to Israel and Jews worldwide 25 percent to local programs for Jewish learning and living 18 percent to local programs for families and youth 11 percent to local programs for seniors 1 percent to the greater Cincinnati community 1 percent to community reserves at the federation, their financial cushion With Super Sunday, the Chicken Soup Cook-Off up the street at Wise and the second day of the Jewish and Israeli Film festival, this Sunday offers many reasons for Jews in Cincinnati to gather among fellow members of the tribe and lend a hand.
Chicken Soup Cook-Off this Sunday NATIONAL Israeli aid effort helps Haitians—and Israel’s image Page 7
ISRAEL Spitting on Christians in Jerusalem raises eyebrows Page 10
For Jews, is there a food more important than chicken soup? How many jokes have been written about it...“A Jewish woman had two chickens. One got sick, so the woman made chicken soup out of the other one to help the sick one get well.” (Henny Youngman). Its curative powers are legendary — “Bubbiemycin” — and recipes for it abound. So, it is not surprising that Wise’s brotherhood organized a major annual fundraiser around chicken recipes with a huge collateral benefit — gallons of soup for
Bangkok Terrace features good food, inviting ambience Page 14
Barbara Hahn at last year’s Chicken Soup Cook-Off.
concept into so many exciting creations.” The team of judges is assembled from the Wise Temple and the larger Cincinnati communities. “Having our friends and families participate turns this into a real community event,” explained Rissover. “The chefs really rise to the opportunity to share their gifts with others and discover how truly talented they are.” On Sunday, Jan. 31, all of this will come together between 12:30 and 2 p.m. Call Wise for more information.
Pope seeks to mend ties in synagogue visit by Ruth Ellen Gruber Jewish Telegraphic Agency
DINING OUT
the Over-the-Rhine Soup Kitchen. Last year the event produced over 132 gallons — nearly 2,000 servings, according to event organizers. This year, in addition to chicken soup recipes designed to declaw competitors, entertainment will be by Shir Chadash. A silent auction will be held as well that includes jewelry and art work. “The sheer inventiveness of our amateur participants amazes me every year,” said Dr. Jay Rissover, chairman of the event. “I love sampling the ways in which the amateurs transform the basic
ROME (JTA) — When Pope Benedict XVI visited this city’s main synagogue, sparring between the pope and Jewish leaders over Pope Pius XII’s role in the Holocaust grabbed headlines. But the emotion-charged visit Sunday held broader significance, as Jewish leaders and the Germanborn pontiff sought to mend strained relations and reaffirm a commitment to Christian-Jewish dialogue. “Despite a dramatic history, the unresolved problems and the mis-
understandings, it is our shared visions and common goals that should be given pride of place,” said Rome’s chief rabbi, Riccardo Di Segni, speaking to a packed sanctuary from in front of the ornate ark. “The image of respect and friendship that emanates from this encounter must be an example for all those who are watching.” Benedict’s visit came in the wake of tensions sparked most recently by his decision last month to move Pius XII closer to sainthood. A year ago, the pope triggered an outcry by revoking the excommunication order on a traditionalist bishop who denied
the Holocaust. Critics accuse Pius of having turned a blind eye to Jewish suffering in the Holocaust. Rabbi Giuseppe Laras, the president of the Italian Rabbinical Assembly, boycotted the synagogue ceremony to protest Pope Benedict’s move on Pius. Rome Jewish Community president, Riccardo Pacifici, whose grandparents died in Auschwitz, acknowledged the concern over Pius in his welcoming address to the pope and repeated calls for the Vatican to open its secret archives to resolve the issue.
But he also paid tribute to individual Catholics and Catholic institutions that had helped Jews — and choked back tears describing how his father and uncle had been saved in a Catholic convent. “Because of this, the silence of Pius XII in the face of the Shoah still hurts like a missed opportunity,” Pacifici said. “Maybe he could not have stopped the death trains, but he could have sent a signal, a word of extreme comfort, of human solidarity, for our brothers who were transported to the ovens of Auschwitz.”
POPE on page 19