THURSDAY, MARCH 4, 2010 18 ADAR, 5770 SHABBAT: FRI 6:16 – SAT 7:16 CINCINNATI, OHIO VOL. 156 • NO. 32 SINGLE ISSUE PRICE $2.00
SPECIAL SECTION Wonderful Weddings Page 11
Jewish Hospital sale to Mercy completed After months of planning and preparation, The Jewish Hospital sale to Mercy Health Partners (MHP) has been completed. “The closing of this purchase agreement concludes a two-year process of finding the best possible hospital system to take ownership of Jewish Hospital, and the transition has been seamless for patients, doctors and staff,” said Gary Heiman, president of the Jewish Foundation of Cincinnati. “With the sale of Jewish Hospital, one chapter of our history has ended and a new one has begun for our Jewish community,” Heiman continued. “More than 150 years ago, Jewish leadership determined that the community needed to build
and operate our own hospital because Jewish patients were often unable to gain access to quality medical treatment. Jewish doctors generally were not welcome on the staffs of other hospitals. Thankfully, today that is no longer the case, and the Jewish community has similarly urgent, but different, needs.” Throughout its history, the Jewish Hospital has been recognized nationally for the innovations it introduced in medical treatments. The hospital will continue to provide high-quality health care now that it is part of Mercy Health Partners’ strong, stable medical system. The Jewish Foundation and its affiliates will now focus on their primary charitable missions – to sup-
port, promote, advance and strengthen the Jewish community and Jewish causes in Greater Cincinnati and throughout the world – and to promote and advance benevolent, charitable, educational and scientific purposes. “Mercy is an ideal owner for Jewish Hospital. Both the Jewish and Mercy Hospitals were founded upon rich, faith-based traditions of healing and providing quality health care to people of all backgrounds,” said Heiman. Mercy will continue to use the Jewish Hospital name and maintain Jewish traditions, including Jewish symbols and indicia and observing Jewish holidays. Mercy recognizes that Jewish Hospital’s top-quality doctors, nurses and med-
ical staff are responsible for the great, quality care at The Jewish Hospital. Therefore, the Mercy leadership has announced that they will retain all current Jewish Hospital employees. “We are delighted to welcome The Jewish Hospital into the Mercy family,” said James May, president/CEO of MHP. “The hospital’s ongoing dedication to providing exceptional medical care, combined with its rich history and tradition in Cincinnati, makes it a perfect fit for our organization. This expands the services we provide and makes it more convenient than ever for our patients to get comprehensive care
HOSPITAL on page 19
Party Planning Showcase 2010 this Sunday by Avi Milgrom Assistant Editor
NATIONAL Can Iran’s democracy clock outpace its nuclear clock? Page 6
INTERNATIONAL Fishing for Jews in Russia’s muddy waters Page 9
DINING OUT Stone Creek is fine dining with a happy twist Page 14
The entire community is invited to this year’s Party Planning Showcase at the J — Sunday, March 7 from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Unlike any other party planner in the city, this one is especially well-suited for planning Bar/Bat Mitzvahs and weddings. The showcase gathers all the vendors for event planning in one place, so that an event can be put together —right there. This has become an important community resource because of
how complicated it is to pull off a successful event — especially on a budget! So whether the party planning is delegated to a planner or not, it is important to see and touch a wide array of party elements and to learn what is now in fashion. At this year’s showcase, sponsored by The American Israelite newspaper and Artrageous Desserts, visitors will be able to explore their party ideas with professionals from this ever-burgeoning industry. Parties are almost always a public event, no matter how discreet the intentions. In the end you will
know if your party is successful – and so will everyone else. So planning is imperative. For many experienced planners, the most critical element in a successful party is the DJ and accompanying dancers, because “you gotta get people participating” — or so the thinking goes. This means everyone has to be active – usually dancing. The death knell for a party is guests who sit around. Choosing the theme for the event is also important. Themes structure the entire event and reflect much on the hosts. Who to invite is another neces-
sary decision – usually limited by the event’s budget. For a Bar/Bat Mitzvah, the photographer is critical for the star of the party because kids — like everyone else — love videos about themselves. Finally, hiring a professional party planner must be considered. If you are going to go it alone to save money, lack of funds can be made up with creativity—but be certain you are creative! Admission is free, food is free, parking is free and there will be door prizes. At 1 p.m. there will be a fashion show.
Sex scandal splits Orthodox Zionist world by Nathan Jeffay Jewish Telegraphic Agency TEL AVIV (Forward) — Israel’s influential Orthodox Zionists have divided into two camps following a sexual-abuse scandal involving one of their most renowned and charismatic leaders, stoking fears for the future of rabbinic authority. Takana, a rabbinic forum established in 2003 to clamp down on sexual misconduct by Orthodox educators, went public Feb. 15 with allegations that Rabbi Mordechai “Moti” Elon had taken advantage of his influence over male students and performed “acts at odds with sacred and moral values.”
The panel later said that two people, whose complaints alleged acts from about 25 years ago, had been under 18 at the time. More recent alleged acts involved students of Elon who were 18 or older. Since its initial disclosure, the panel said it has received one more complaint of an alleged underage encounter, but the complaint has yet to be reviewed. Orthodox leaders and activists have split between those wishing to discuss the allegations openly and support the secular authorities investigating them, and those urging silence, lest the principle of rabbinic authority, which Elon embodied, come into question. “I am telling everybody keep
silent,” the head of Jerusalem’s Ateret Cohanim Yeshiva, Rabbi Shlomo Aviner, told the Forward. He said the affair must not be allowed to undermine the rabbis’ authority. But in deference to the stature of the Takana panel that exposed the allegations against Elon, Aviner also said, “I think we have to trust these and these — and respect these and these,” referring to Elon and the rabbis on the panel. Other religious Zionist public figures are lauding the Takana rabbis as courageous, saying that making public allegations against one of their own is an important step in the right direction. Jerusalem-based novelist Naomi
Ragen told the Forward that while the affair is “tragic and heartbreaking,” she thinks that “the positive aspect is that we see a new era in that things which years ago would have been swept under the carpet are being brought into the open.” Efforts by the Forward to reach Elon were unsuccessful. But he has publicly denounced the allegations against him as “a blood libel, a complaint without foundation.” Elon is almost unique in his ability to so deeply cleave the religious Zionist community. The son of former Supreme Court justice Menachem Elon, and brother of former lawmaker Benny
SCANDAL on page 20