AI2010_04_15

THURSDAY, APRIL 15, 2010 1 IYYAR, 5770 SHABBAT: FRI 7:58 – SAT 8:58 CINCINNATI, OHIO

Yom HaShoah commemoration at the JCC

by Michael K. McCracken Assistant Editor

VOL. 156 • NO. 38 SINGLE ISSUE PRICE $2.00

NATIONAL Loving Israel is in the details Page 7

To mark 65 years after the end of WWII and the Holocaust, the Mayerson JCC hosted a community-wide Yom HaShoah commemoration on Sunday, April 11, 2010.

The event — attended by more than 500 people — featured prayer, music, candle lighting, special readings and a keynote presentation by New York Times journalist, Joseph Berger.

The ceremony opened with the Rockwern Academy Choir — led

by Idit Moss — marching in carrying the flags of both Israel and the United States. Assembled on the stage, the choir performed a beautiful and stirring rendition of “Zog

New York Times journalist, Joseph Berger.

Nit Ken Mol” — The Partisan Song.

In his invocation, Rabbi Eric Slaton of Beth Israel Congregation asked the question, “Who am I to speak about the holy memory of those who died?”

According to Rabbi Slaton, we must speak of their memory: “If we did not speak, they would be forgotten.”

He emphasized that it is everyone’s duty to “tell the story of those who survived and those who did not.”

Six candles, representing the six million lives lost, were lit by Holocaust survivors, and by children, grandchildren, and even great-grandchildren of survivors.

The candles were lit by: Ruth

Kropveld; Lilly Narusevich; Gail Constantini; Ann Lerhaupt, with her daughter and granddaughter, Karen and Alexis Klugo; Daniel and Asa Guigui; and Joseph Schneider with his granddaughter, Stephanie Zemboch.

Each candle lighting was followed by a reading: The Hope of Survival, by Elie Wiesel and read by Dan Ginsburg.

From Generation to Generation, read by Orly Segal.

The Struggle of the Next Generation and The Descendants’ Obligation, read by Maryanne Moore.

My Reflections, an original piece written and read by Amanda

JCC on page 21

Celebrate Israel Memorial, Independence Days INTERNATIONAL Kyrgyz Jews hold breath amid upheaval Page 10

CINCINNATI JEWISH LIFE JNF’s Attorney of the Year: Todd Bailey Page 12

Israel Memorial Day honors only female soldier killed in 2006 Lebanon War Israel Memorial Day, “Yom Hazikaron” observance will take place on Sunday, April 18, at Cedar Village Retirement Community.

The evening ceremony will include a memorial service and a film.

The memorial service will begin outdoors at the site of the Jerusalem stone— brought to Cincinnati in 1998 during the community’s 50th anniversary celebration of Israel’s independence.

The service will bring Americans and Israelis together in unity, “Achdut,” and will include

Andy’s outdoor ready, $25 Meal Deal awaits also Page 14

Israel Independence Day features Israeli Singing Star Dganit Daddo The Jewish Federation of Cincinnati’s Israel Independence Day community-wide celebration will take place on Monday, April 19 at the JCC. A brief tribute to the Jewish Foundation of Cincinnati for their decade of providing grants to over 1,200 teens and young adults for travel to Israel will begin the celebration.

Then Israeli singing star, Dganit Daddo, will take the stage in concert. Daddo is the star of the Israeli National Theater Habima. She will be performing traditional Jewish as

well as contemporary Israeli music.

The event will include an Israeli “shuk” (marketplace) featuring artists and products from Israel; an international food court—“A Taste of Kosher Cincinnati”—with Israeli and Indian food, sushi, bagels, chocolates and other desserts.

Beginners as well as “experts” can participate in Israeli dancing during the evening.

Children in attendance will be encouraged to take part in Israeli-themed games and arts and crafts projects.

The evening’s festivities honoring Israel’s 62nd birthday are free and open to the public.

Poland’s tragedy is our tragedy

by David A. Harris Jewish Telegraphic Agency

DINING OUT

the laying of wreaths by Cincinnatians who serve in the Israeli Reserves. The boys choir from Cincinnati Hebrew Day School and the Rockwern Academy Choir will sing.

Following the service, the documentary film, “She Touched the Sky” will be screened in the Religious and Cultural Center at Cedar Village. The film chronicles the life and death of Sergeant First Class Keren Tendler, an air force mechanic who was the only female soldier killed during the 2006 Second Lebanon War. She, with four other crew members, died when their helicopter was shot down shortly after deploying troops in Lebanon.

NEW YORK (JTA) — When the plane carrying Polish President Lech Kaczynski, his wife, and dozens of other officials crashed in the Katyn Forest near Smolensk, Russia on Saturday, this immense disaster was also a personal tragedy.

I lost friends in the crash that killed key leaders from the Polish government, economy, and military.

These friends represented democratic Poland, the country that emerged after a decade of

struggle led by Solidarity and KOR activists. And of all places for Polish leaders to meet their maker, why did it have to be Katyn, Poles ask, the site of the 1940 Soviet massacre of more than 20,000 Polish officers?

Let me share brief recollections of three of them.

I first met Lech Kaczynski when he was Warsaw’s mayor. He was eager for the renewal of Jewish life in Poland. He felt a kinship to Jews, whom he saw as an integral part of Poland’s fabric.

He said it was impossible to understand Poland without comprehending the Jewish role in its

life. That’s why he was supportive of the Museum of the History of Polish Jews, and why he was instrumental in launching it.

I later met him many times as president, most recently in February. A man of passion and principle, he seldom minced words. He knew where he stood and he didn’t try to mask his views from others.

Kaczynski was a friend of the United States. He wasn’t always so certain, however, that the friendship was reciprocated. Indeed, he feared that at times Poland’s loyalty was taken for granted. But he saw the United States as the only

real guarantor of global security -if, he said, Washington wouldn’t succumb to Russia’s siren song or Europe’s equivocation.

The president was a friend of Israel. He liked and understood it.

He instinctively grasped its security predicaments because he could personally relate to a vulnerable country in a tough neighborhood.

And he chastised those quick to judge Israel in order to curry favor with others, again seeing a parallel with Poland, whose own interests were sacrificed more than once on the altar of global power politics.

POLAND on page 21

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THURSDAY, APRIL 15, 2010

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Interfaith Shabbat program at Temple Sholom, April 25 On Sunday, April 25, Temple Sholom will sponsor an Interfaith Shabbat Program about the Shabbat service and Shabbat traditions for interfaith families.

This program is one of a series. Upcoming programs

include an interfaith program on Israel on Sunday, May 16; an Interfaith Picnic on Sunday, July 18 and an Interfaith High Holy Days Workshop on Sunday, Aug. 29.

Temple Sholom recently held

an Interfaith Passover program called “Last Supper=Passover Seder?”

These programs are open to the community without charge.

Call Temple Sholom for more information.

Gently worn shoes needed “Congregation B’nai Tikvah and Lakota West High School are partnering again,” said Rabbi Donna Adler of B’nai Tikvah.

Instead of collecting denim for those in need like they did last year, they are collecting gently worn shoes.

Joanne Ziolkowski, owner of Foot Solutions on Voice of America Drive in West Chester, has made her store an official collection site.

Adler, who is connected to the store as a customer and to the school as a substitute teacher, brought the project called “Soles4Souls” to West’s Student Government Association (SGA).

The drive will be pursued as a competition among the grades and will be spearheaded by Caitlin Lavon from SGA. Soles4Souls is a non-profit organization that began in the aftermath of the 2004 tsunami

that hit southeast Asia. Since then, Soles4Souls has helped victims as nearby as those from Hurricane Katrina and as far away as people in Africa suffering from parasites that come from walking barefoot. Since its inception, Soles4Souls has distributed over seven million pairs of shoes to 125 countries.

“With all the natural competition, there should be lots of soles for souls,” said Adler.

You are invited to AJC’s

Civic Achievement Award Dinner honoring

Kay Geiger Regional President, PNC Bank

Tuesday, April 27, 2010 6 p.m. reception 7 p.m. dinner & program Hilton Cincinnati Netherland Plaza Hall of Mirrors Please call 621-4020 for reservations by April 19.

Playhouse in the Park’s Rikki Tikki Tavi at the J On Sunday afternoon, April 25, Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park will perform “The Garden of Rikki Tikki Tavi” at the JCC. Based on Rudyard Kipling’s classic children’s tale “RikkiTikki-Tavi,” the comedy was adapted for stage by award-winning children’s playwright, Y York.

The production has appeared before audiences of all ages across the country. The cast consists of

eight professional young adult actors who were hand-picked from a group of about 2,000 applicants to participate in this year’s Bruce E. Coyle Intern Company at Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park.

This India-themed production features music by Mohenjo Daro, a Cincinnati-based Indian and Middle Eastern Fusion Music trio.

“This performance offers culture and life lessons, and it’s just

as entertaining for adults as it is for children,” said Mark Lutwak, education director for Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park. “This production, as well as the programs we offer at the JCC, accentuates our mission in getting the entire community more involved in the arts.”

For more information on the production and tickets, call the JCC.

Wise Temple hosts Shabbat on Jewish virtues, April 23 On Friday, April 23, Wise Temple members will have an opportunity to explore Jewish virtues at a “Synaplex” Shabbat.

The event will encourage congregants to come together in study, prayer and discussion in order to explore various ways to better understand and incorporate Jewish values into everyday life.

Offerings will include sessions for adults, teens and children and families.

Subjects to be discussed include courage, justice and mercy, joy and happiness, peace in the home, cleaving to friends and guarding the tongue.

Also, there will be a yoga session taught by Felicia Zakem.

The evening will begin with

light hors d’oeuvres in the lobby, followed by early sessions.

Congregants will then join together for worship and dinner.

After dinner, there will be additional sessions. The evening will end with ice cream in the lobby.

Synaplex participants can come and go as they please and just pick activities that spark their interest.

At Wise Temple, Synaplex evenings bring the community together on Shabbat to creatively explore important Judaic themes in a fresh way. Synaplex, according to a Wise Temple spokesperson, is about choices, connection and community. For more information, contact Wise.

The American Israelite is currently seeking a

WRITER Knowledge of AP Style preferred, but not required.

This position is part-time, flexible hours.

If interested, contact Ted at 621-3145 or send your resume to publisher@americanisraelite.com

FOR SHOW TIMES: MARIEMONT THEATRE (513) 272-2002 6906 Wooster Pike mariemonttheatre.com Cincinnati, OH 45227

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THURSDAY, APRIL 15, 2010

The Federal criminal NA’AMAT honors justice system at Edith Carter at a NHS, April 21 luncheon The federal criminal justice system will be the focus of Northern Hills Synagogue Congregation B’nai Avraham’s monthly HaZaK program for seniors on Wednesday, April 21.

The featured speaker will be Brett L. Handmaker, United States Probation Officer for the Southern District of Ohio. As a probation officer, he prepares pre-sentence investigation reports for District Court judges and supervises offenders on probation.

He has served in this capacity

for over 13 years, five years with the State of Florida and over eight years with the federal courts.

Specializing in drug offenders and youthful offenders, Handmaker is currently in the process of developing a Cyber Crime/Computer Monitoring Unit.

Lunch will be served.

There is no charge for the program and lunch.

For reservations or more information, please call the Northern Hills Synagogue.

On Tuesday, April 27 the Cincinnati Chapter of International Movement of Zionist Women, NA’AMAT, will honor Edith Carter for her commitment to the organization, to Cincinnati’s Jewish community and to Israel at a luncheon.

The speaker at the luncheon will be Cincinnati native Dr. Lee Shai Weissbach, Professor of History at the University of Louisville. The topic of his talk will be “Two Centuries of Jewish Immigration and Community Formation in Ohio.”

Carter was born 95 years ago in Czechoslovakia. She became a Zionist early in life, long before the founding of the State of Israel.

She was interested in moving there, but the rise of the Nazis made that impossible.

After the Nazis invaded Czechoslovakia, Carter and her husband were sent to Terezinstadt, where they spent two years in forced labor.

From Terezinstadt, they were transported to Auschwitz, and from Auschwitz, to separate work camps. Carter managed to escape while on a death march. She found her way back home, where she discovered that her parents, her siblings and all her other relatives had been killed.

Unfortunately, she learned her husband had died as well during an allied bombing raid of his work camp. She had spent almost a year waiting for his return.

Carter remained in Czechoslovakia until it fell under Communist rule in 1948. But after her family business was confiscated, she realized she had no future there.

In the end, she moved to Cincinnati, where she married her husband’s cousin, who had settled there at the beginning of the war.

Carter worked with him for more than 20 years in his business, Carter’s Variety Department Store, a fixture in Norwood for many years.

After her husband’s death, she worked in the library at Hebrew Union College for 17 years, retiring at the age of 75.

Carter’s experiences during the Holocaust cemented her strong support of Israel as the Jewish homeland. She believes

LET THERE BE LIGHT

The oldest English-Jewish weekly in America Founded July 15, 1854

by Isaac M.Wise VOL. 156 • NO. 38 Thursday, April 15, 2010 1 Iyyar, 5770 Shabbat begins Fri, 7:58 p.m.

Shabbat ends Sat, 8:58 p.m.

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Edith Carter, Holocaust survivor will be honored later this month.

strongly that Jewish families must make certain that their children have strong Jewish identities and know the history of the Holocaust, so that it will not be repeated.

HENRY C. SEGAL Editor & Publisher 1930-1985 MILLARD H. MACK Publisher Emeritus NETANEL (TED) DEUTSCH Editor & Publisher AVI MILGROM MICHAEL McCRACKEN Assistant Editors ALEXIA KADISH Copy Editor

After the Nazis invaded Czechoslovakia, Carter and her husband were sent to Terezinstadt, where they spent two years in forced labor.

The Cincinnati Chapter of NA’AMAT chose Carter as their Donor Luncheon honoree because of her long-standing dedication to Israel and to NA’AMAT’s mission of supporting the women and children of Israel.

To carry out its mission, NA’AMAT, through its sister organization in Israel, provides a broad range of social services, from day care centers to domestic violence shelters, from legal aid to alternative high schools.

For more information about the luncheon, please call the Cincinnati chapter of NA’AMAT.

JOSEPH D. STANGE Production Manager JUSTIN COHEN Advertising Sales LEV LOKSHIN JANE KARLSBERG Staff Photographers JANET STEINBERG Travel Editor ROBERT WILHELMY Restaurant Reporter MARIANNA BETTMAN NATE BLOOM RABBI A. JAMES RUDIN RABBI AVI SHAFRAN Contributing Writers CHRISTIE HALKO Office Manager

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THURSDAY, APRIL 15, 2010

NATIONAL

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Poll: Obama struggling with Jews, but not on Israel

by Ron Kampeas Jewish Telegraphic Agency WASHINGTON (JTA) — A new survey shows President Obama struggling with American Jews —but not on Israel-related matters.

The American Jewish Committee poll of U.S. Jews found that Obama's approval rating is at 57 percent, with 38 percent disapproving. That’s down from the stratospheric 79 percent approval rating among Jews that Obama enjoyed about a year ago, in May 2009. The AJC poll was conducted March 2-23 and surveyed 800 self-identifying Jewish respondents selected from a consumer mail panel.

Obama’s advantage among Jews versus the rest of the population appears to be eroding. The latest Gallup polling shows Obama with a national approval rating of 48, nine points below Jewish polling. Last May, general polling earned him 63 percent approval, 16 points below Jewish polling.

Despite the drop— and weeks of tensions with the Netanyahu government — Obama still polls solidly on foreign policy, with a steady majority backing his handling of U.S.-Israel relations, according to the AJC poll.

It is on domestic issues that the president appears to be facing more unhappiness.

Jewish voters are statistically split on how Obama has handled health care reform, with 50 percent approving and 48 disapproving. On the economy he fares slightly better. Jewish voters who favor his policies stand at 55 percent, while 42 percent disapprove.

The last AJC poll on the views of American Jews, released last September, did not address domestic issues, so there’s no measure to assess any change in support on the specific issues of health and the economy. Indeed, this is the first poll in at least 10 years in which the AJC has attempted to assess views on the economy and health care. However, Jewish voters in solid majorities describe themselves as Democrats and as liberal to moderate in their views, and traditionally list the economy and health care as their two top concerns in the voting booth.

Matt Brooks, who directs the Republican Jewish Coalition, said the relatively low score on domestic issues underscored what he said was a steady decline in Democratic support among Jewish voters.

“This indicates a serious erosion of support,” he said. “It’s a huge drop. There’s no silver lining” for Democrats.

Ira Forman, the director of the National Jewish Democratic Council, countered that the poll did not account for Jewish voters who might be disappointed with Obama

from a more liberal perspective — for instance, over his dropping from the reform bill of the socalled public option, which would have allowed for government-run health care.

Additionally, much of the AJC polling took place before Obama’s come-from-behind victory on March 21, when the U.S. House of Representatives passed health care reform, Forman said.

Since then, Democrats have said they see a turnaround in the president’s political fortunes. “The narrative was the president was in the tank,” Forman said. “This was when it was thought his initiative was dead.”

Obama fares strongly with Jews on homeland security, with 62 percent approving and 33 percent disapproving — a sign that Republican attempts to cast Obama as weak on protecting the nation have had little impact in the Jewish community.

He also scores 55 percent approval on how he handles U.S.Israel relations, which is virtually unchanged since last September, when his handling of the relationship scored 54 percent approval. At that juncture, the tensions between Washington and Jerusalem were kept at a low bubble and were confined to U.S. insistence on a total freeze of Israeli settlement, and the Netanyahu administration’s reluctance to concede.

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NATIONAL

National Briefs

CEO sued for anti-Semitic remarks WASHINGTON (JTA) – A former employee of an online baby equipment retailer is suing its CEO for allegedly making frequent antiSemitic remarks.

THURSDAY, APRIL 15, 2010

In his suit against retailer BabyAge, Shlomo Hecht claims that in January 2009 company CEO Jack Kiefer told Hecht “in an angry tone that he did not want a ‘Jew Boy Club’ in the office” and made it clear that he did not want

Hecht observing Jewish holidays, the Wilkes-Barre, Pa. Times Leader reported.

The suit further alleges that Kiefer and other executives “plotted to eliminate all Jewish employees in high level positions, and that Kiefer told Hecht a certain employee was fired because he was a ‘typical (expletive) Jew, that is corrupt through and through.’”

Hecht says he was let go last Aug. 25 because of his religion. He is seeking $225,205 for breach of contract and $11,925 for legal expenses stemming from a lawsuit brought by BabyAge in 2009 against Hecht that eventually was voluntarily dismissed.

Calls to BabyAge for comment were not returned.

Netanyahu drops out of nuclear summit WASHINGTON (JTA) — Israel’s prime minister will not attend President Obama’s Nuclear Security Summit next week.

No official reason was given for Benjamin Netanyahu’s last minute cancellation. An Israeli delegation headed by Dan Meridor, one of five deputy prime ministers, will attend.

Various media quoted Israeli officials as saying that Netanyahu backed out when he was made aware that Muslim nations at the summit would make an issue of Israel’s nuclear arsenal.

Muslim nations routinely make an issue of Israel’s nuclear capability; there was no notice that the topic would be out of bounds at this summit.

Israel maintains a policy of opacity, and will neither confirm nor deny the existence of its arsenal except to say that it will not be the first to launch a nuclear strike in the region.

Netanyahu was not scheduled to meet with Obama during the visit.

Netanyahu and Obama met a little more than two weeks ago at the White House for discussions that failed to resolve a diplomatic impasse over Israel’s announcement of plan for 1,600 new housing units in a Jewish neighborhood of eastern Jerusalem. Netanyahu had come to Washington to address the annual policy conference of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee.

The nuclear summit will deal with issues of nonproliferation and will include the participation of representatives from Pakistan and Saudi Arabia. Earlier this week, Obama said the United States would adopt a new nuclear policy that would commit the country to avoid using nuclear weapons against non-nuclear states in compliance with the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty, even if such states attacked America with nonconventional arms such as biological or chemical weapons.

Iran, which will be excepted from the new policy because it is in

violation of the treaty, is expected to be a major topic of discussion at the conference.

Israeli officials had indicated they were not concerned that no Obama-Netanyahu meeting was planned; they noted that Israel will be one of some 40 countries represented at the conference.

Obama waives laws on P.A. funds, office WASHINGTON (JTA) — President Obama issued waivers allowing the transfer of funds to the Palestinian Authority and extending the the stay of the PLO office in Washington.

Obama’s waivers, issued late Wednesday, set aside laws dating back to the 1980s banning a Palestine Liberation Organization presence in the United States, and more recent laws requiring strict reporting requirements for any funds transfer to the Palestinian Authority.

Obama’s predecessor, George W. Bush, in the final years of his presidency, raised funding for the Palestinians from occasional spurts of $20 million to $400 million annually.

Obama has budgeted $500 million in assistance for the Palestinians; much of this is directed to nonprofit groups, but about half of it goes directly to the Palestinian Authority.

As his predecessors have done, Obama cited national security concerns in announcing both waivers. The Obama administration is pressing forward with Palestinian-Israeli talks, in part as a means toward containing Iran and radical groups in the region.

The PLO office waiver must be renewed every six months.

N.J. gets involved in shaimos site (JTA) — The New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection has gotten involved in a “shaimos” site — a burial site for Jewish religious artifacts — on private property, which contravenes state law.

The state’s environmental regulators ordered the site to be cleaned up, following complaints by area residents, but it will allow the nearly 2,000 trash bags of religious texts and ritual clothing to be buried, according to the Asbury Park Press. The Jewish religious texts and clothing, called shaimos, was collected from Jewish residents of Lakewood for burial in the days leading up to Passover, according to the newspaper.

Wolf Skacel, the department’s assistant commissioner of compliance and enforcement, told the newspaper that the burial is a temporary solution until the department identifies a more “proper location.”

Creating a landfill requires a public hearing, county planning and a permit application to the Department of Environmental Protection.

NATIONAL

THURSDAY, APRIL 15, 2010

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Loving Israel is in the details

by Joel Chasnoff Guest Author NEW YORK (JTA) — In honor of Israel’s 62nd birthday, I’ll forgo the expected Op-Ed about Israeli government corruption, the BibiObama drama, or the Israeli Rabbinate’s stranglehold on marriage and divorce.

Instead, I offer this love letter to Israel: “Top 10 tiny details about Israel that make it the most wonderful country on earth.”

10. Egged Bus #394: The midnight ride from Tel Aviv to Eilat.

The trip begins in the gray-stucco slums of south Tel Aviv. Two hours later, you’re rolling through the desert beneath a blanket of stars.

You crack open the window. The desert smells dry and ancient, like an attic. At dawn, you pull into Eilat as the city comes to life.

9. The way Israelis refuse to cross the street on a red light.

Drivers blare their horns the instant the light turns green. Yet pedestrians refuse to cross the street until the sign turns green. I’ve witnessed this phenomenon at 3 a.m., the streets bare and not a car in sight.

8. The Jewish soul of even the most secular Israelis. I served in the

Israeli Army with kibbutz kids who were so anti-religious that they never even had a bar mitzvah. But on Friday nights, as the brigade sung the Sabbath Kiddush en masse, I could see my secular comrades mouthing the words.

7. Flush handles on Israeli toilets. Almost all Israeli toilets, both public and in homes, have two flush handles — one for “light” loads, and one for heavy ones. This saves Israel’s most precious natural resource: water. And it’s genius.

6. Drop-dead gorgeous Israeli soldiers. The men are hunky, the women beautiful. Try not to drool as you watch them strut down Ben Yehudah Street in their olive-green uniforms, M-16s slung across their backs. It’s not so much their physical beauty that charms us as what they embody: Jewish power.

5. Shuk Ha-Carmel on Friday afternoons. So many things about Israel drive me mad. The bureaucracy is crippling. Government offices operate when they want, for as long (or short) as they want, usually something like 8 a.m. until noon Mondays, Wednesdays and every other Thursday. Each week, another group goes on strike — schoolteachers, garbage men, postal workers,

phone operators, cable guys, bus drivers, doctors, nurses, paramedics, airport baggage guys, and the old men in blue jumpsuits who walk the streets of Tel Aviv stabbing pieces of trash with meter-long spears have all struck in the past year — so the country never runs at full power.

The Knesset, Israel’s 15-party parliament, is trapped in a state of perpetual gridlock. And yet, when I step into the Carmel Market and hear the shopkeepers barking their wares, smell the mixture of frying lamb, goat cheese, and human sweat, and watch the people line up to buy flowers for Shabbat, I remember why I love Israel so much. It’s the excitement of the place, but also the Middle Easterness of it — the barking, the bargaining, the haggling that’s at once friendly and brutal. At pushcarts and stalls, middle-aged men with gold chains and raspy cigarette voices sell mangoes, lemons, whole and quarter chickens, cow lungs, cow tongues, cow testicles, sheep brains, 50-plus varieties of fish, calculators, knockoff Nikes, carnations, sponges, girdles, batteries, and men’s and ladies’ underwear.

Friday afternoons, with only a couple of hours until sundown, the

Roni Schutzer/Flash90/JTA

Israelis celebrate Israeli Independence Day on the Tel Aviv beach, April 28, 2009.

peddlers shout their last-minute preSabbath bargains: “Tangerines, 1 shekel, 1 shekel!” “Pita, hummus, chickpeas— yallah! Shabbat, Shabbat!” Whenever I walk through the shuk, I think about all those American diplomats who call Israel the America of the Middle East. If those diplomats really want to understand Israel, they should leave their fancy Jerusalem hotels and take a stroll through the Carmel Market.

4. Chocolate milk in a sack. Half a liter of Kibbutz Yotvateh chocolate milk sealed in a palm-sized plastic bag that you rip open with your teeth and then squeeze, causing the milk to shoot into your mouth in a way that makes you feel like you’re drinking straight from the udder of a chocolate cow. Need I say more?

LOVING on page 19

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NATIONAL

THURSDAY, APRIL 15, 2010

State condemns Palestinian incitement

by Ron Kampeas Jewish Telegraphic Agency WASHINGTON (JTA) — The Obama administration “strongly condemned” the naming of Palestinian streets after terrorists and rebuked Palestinian Authority figures for denying Jerusalem’s Jewish heritage.

“We are disturbed by comments of Palestinian Authority officials regarding reconstruction and refurbishing of Jewish sites in the Jewish quarter of Jerusalem’s Old City,” P.J. Crowley, the State Department spokesman, said Thursday. “Remarks by the

Palestinian ministry of information denying Jewish heritage in and links to Jerusalem undermine the trust and confidence needed for substantive and productive IsraeliPalestinian negotiations.

“We also strongly condemn the glorification of terrorists—honoring terrorists who have murdered innocent civilians either by official statements or by the dedication of public places hurts peace efforts and must end. We will continue to hold Palestinian leaders accountable for incitement.”

Two streets have been named for terrorists in recent weeks in Ramallah; the initiatives were

launched by Hamas officials on the town council, but without opposition — and in at least the first case, the encouragement — of P.A. officials. P.A. officials also have joined calls protesting Israel’s refurbishment of an ancient synagogue in Jerusalem’s Old City that had been gutted by Jordan’s army in the 1948 Independence War. Some mainstream Jewish groups, Republicans and a number of pro-Israel Democrats have said that the Obama administration has failed to condemn such actions, although it has made public its dispute with Israel over new building in eastern Jerusalem.

Obama nuclear plan raises questions about long-term impact

by Ron Kampeas Jewish Telegraphic Agency WASHINGTON (JTA) — President Obama’s proposal to reduce nuclear weapons is expected to have little immediate impact on Israel’s posture because of its caveats for enemies and allies.

In the long term, however, there is some concern that a new focus on transparency ultimately could pressure Israel to make its nuclear capabilities publicly known.

For the time being, Jewish groups are hoping that the policy’s noted exception of Iran will ratchet up the

pressure on the Islamic Republic to end its own opacity about its suspected nuclear weapons program.

Obama announced the planned policy shift on the eve of a new missile reduction treaty with Russia and just days before a Washington summit on nuclear security that will include Israeli leaders. The proposal would, for the first time, explicitly commit the United States to avoid using nuclear weapons against any state that abides by the nuclear nonproliferation treaty, even if such states attacked America with nonconventional arms such as biological or chemical weapons.

Pro-Israel groups were reassured by explicit and repeated assurances from the Obama administration that Iran and North Korea are exempt because of their rogue activities.

Robert Gates, the defense secretary, cast the exemption as sharpening the nuclear focus on those two states. The plan has a “very strong message for both Iran and North Korea,” he said in a news conference on Tuesday. “All options are on the table for countries in that category, along with non-state actors who might acquire nuclear weapons.”

Shoshana Bryen, the director of special projects for the Jewish Institute of National Security Affairs, said that by exempting rogue states like Iran and North Korea, the Obama administration is making it clear it will not be a pushover. “Carving out the exemption for Iran is to say, ‘We’re serious about this,’” Bryen said.

But Bryen expressed doubts about the long-term efficacy of the policy, saying that the strategy could bog down U.S. policymaking in seeking to please divergent interests.

“If we tie our behavior to others who have different needs and requirements, we won’t get rid of nuclear weapons,” she said.

Spokesmen for a number of proIsrael groups would not comment, saying they were still examining the

policy. One mainstream pro-Israel insider said the focus, for now, would remain on enhancing sanctions targeting Iran.

Israel’s nuclear weapons program would not be affected, because Israel is one of the few nations not to have signed on to the Nuclear NonProliferation Treaty. Although the Israeli government has never acknowledged that it has nuclear weapons, the government also maintains an explicit policy of never being the first to use nuclear weapons.

Avner Cohen, the author of “Israel and the Bomb” and a University of Maryland affiliate, said the plan’s emphasis on reducing ambiguity and more doctrinal explicitness eventually could pressure Israel to end its policy of opacity.

“It highlights the anachronistic nature of opacity,” Cohen said.

“Israel is the only nuclear weapon state that still cannot acknowledge having nuclear weapons, the very first condition of transparency.”

Obama also plans to further cut the U.S. nuclear arsenal and freeze development of new nuclear weapons. The idea behind the policy, called the Nuclear Posture Review, is to take a step toward making nuclear weapons obsolete and remove the incentives for other states to pursue nuclear weapons, Obama said in an interview Monday with The New York Times.

“We are going to want to make sure that we can continue to move towards less emphasis on nuclear weapons,” Obama said, to “make sure that our conventional weapons capability is an effective deterrent in all but the most extreme circumstances.”

In an Op-Ed distributed by the White House, Vice President Joe Biden sought to allay concerns that the new policy would harm the ability of the United States to defend itself or its allies.

NATIONAL

THURSDAY, APRIL 15, 2010

9

Shin Bet details efforts to bring Blau back to Israel

by Ron Kampeas Jewish Telegraphic Agency WASHINGTON (JTA) — Israel’s security service wants to question a Ha’aretz journalist about the whereabouts of 2,000 classified documents.

In an extraordinary and detailed statement on the Anat Kamm affair posted Thursday on the Shin Bet Web site, the agency said its efforts to negotiate the return of Uri Blau to Israel had arrived at a “dead end.”

The agency said it arrived at an agreement in September with Blau, an investigative reporter, to destroy 50 classified documents he had obtained.

The agreement included the destruction of Blau’s computer and a pledge by the Shin Bet not to charge him, not to force him to reveal his source, and not to charge his source should he or she be uncovered.

In its own statement, Ha’aretz confirmed the deal, which it said was signed on Sept. 15, adding that Blau handed over “dozens of classified documents in his possession.”

The Shin Bet statement goes on to suggest that its agreement with Blau was nullified when investigators allegedly discovered that Kamm — Blau’s alleged source — had appropriated 2,000 documents, many of them top secret, “including special operations, operational commands, operational and intelligence assessments, command forum summaries, ongoing security activity, documents having to do with means of warfare, deployment of troops. etc.”

Because of the “critical gap” between the 50 documents Blau handed over and the 2,000 allegedly appropriated by Kamm, the state attorney requested an interview with Blau, who has been overseas since December, the statement said. The Tel Aviv district prosecutor has negotiated the terms of his return over the last few weeks with Blau’s representatives, the statement said, but on April 6, the negotiations came to a “dead end.”

Ha’aretz’s statement confirmed the second set of negotiations, but added that, in its view, the Shin Bet had violated the terms of its deal with its continuing efforts to question Blau.

The newspaper’s statement does not specifically address whether Blau holds additional documents; it describes the papers returned by Blau in September as “documents he had used to pre-

pare his articles.” It also said the original deal was aimed at “preserving the newspaper’s sources of information and the freedom of a reporter to act without harming the nation’s security.” The statement also notes that Blau’s reporting passed the censor.

“Ha’aretz regrets the sudden about face in the Shin Bet’s position and its results, the substance of which is the placing heavy pressure and threats on a journalist fulfilling his role,” its statement said.

Blau, who left Israel in December on a honeymoon trip, is now believed to be in London.

Kamm had, as part of her military service, worked for Central Command. She subsequently was a media reporter for Walla, an online news site that was until recently partly owned by Ha’aretz.

Kamm, who had been placed under house arrest in December, was charged on Jan. 14 with “Grave espionage — relaying classified information with the intention of harming the state’s security, and the gathering and keeping of classified information with the intention of harming the state’s security,” the statement said.

Kamm has denied the charges.

The Shin Bet investigation was launched after Blau published documents in November 2008 showing that senior army staff approved targeted killings in 2007. Blau quoted legal experts to show that the assassinations violated Israeli Supreme Court rulings.

One memo said Lt. Gen. Gabi Ashkenazi, then as now the chief of staff, approved assassinations if troops determined that no more than one innocent would be killed; the Supreme Court had ruled that no innocents may be killed in such attacks. After the publication of the documents, the Shin Bet says in its statements, Ashkenazi requested an investigation.

One of Kamm’s lawyers, Avigdor Feldman, says that authorities are making Kamm a “scapegoat.”

“If she had been really interested to undermine state security, there would have been no shortage in hands and ears willing to accept that material and use to hurt the state,” Feldman told Ha’aretz in a story published Thursday.

“Someone just said to himself, ‘Let’s find a scapegoat.’”

The Shin Bet statement alleges that Kamm attempted to interest another journalist in the documents. It said that military intelli-

gence “assesses that exposing the documents to hostile forces could bring about substantial harm, a risk to life, and harm to the state’s

security.”

Israeli courts gagged news of the case and of Kamm’s arrest in December. The gag was lifted

Thursday after JTA and other news services not subject to the gag order published accounts outside of Israel.

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INTERNATIONAL/ISRAEL

THURSDAY, APRIL 15, 2010

Kyrgyz Jews hold breath amid upheaval

Making aliyah in the golden years

by Anna Rudnitskaya and Uriel Heilman Jewish Telegraphic Agency

by Dina Kraft Jewish Telegraphic Agency

MOSCOW (JTA) — As the capital of Kyrgyzstan erupted in violence last week, members of the Central Asian nation’s small Jewish community held their breath and sat tight.

The ORT school in the capital, Bishkek, shuttered its doors, sending students home just as they were returning from their Passover break on April 7. With public transportation suspended and the city in disarray, only three people made it to morning services at the local synagogue that day.

Meanwhile, Jewish community leaders exchanged frantic phone calls, updating each other about the situation on the street.

By the end of the day, opposition protestors had stormed the presidential compound, overwhelmed the police and taken control of the government.

The president, Kurmanbek Bakiev, had fled, and more than 40 people had been killed. The next day, a former foreign minister announced she was leading a new, transitional government, which would last six months.

It’s still not clear where this oneday revolution will leave the country — or its estimated 1,500 Jews, most of whom live in Bishkek.

Two days after the revolution, the head of the Jewish Agency for Israel’s FSU region, Alex Katz, arrived in Kyrgyzstan to assess the situation. He said the streets were calm, that a nighttime curfew was in effect and that the country’s airports were operational. The Jewish Agency said it is contact with the Jews there who are in various stages of their aliyah process and has extended assistance to others interested in immigrating to Israel.

“The situation in the city remains unstable, but the Jewish community has not suffered so far,” Kyrgyzstan’s chief rabbi, Arieh Reichman, told JTA last week. “All the community leaders keep in touch with each other and with the community members, mostly by phone. I have been contacted by an Israeli foundation that could pro-

NG SPRI ING AIL DET IALS SPEC

Svobodanews.ru

A police truck burns in front of the presidential palace in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan on the day opposition protesters overthrew the government, April 7, 2010.

vide us with humanitarian aid. But the situation is not as bad so far, and hopefully things will calm down in the near future.”

More than half of Bishkek’s Jews are on community welfare, receiving aid through the local Hesed center, which is sponsored by the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee. Asher Ostrin, the executive director of JDC’s operations in the former Soviet Union, said the community was working to ensure that its Jewish welfare clients experience no disruption during the unrest.

“When the rioting spread earlier in the week, and then escalated into a full scale revolution, we established immediate and ongoing contact with our sources in the community,” Ostrin said in a dispatch to JDC officials last week. “There were no reported injuries among the Jewish population. Critically, we were told that services to elderly clients were not interrupted.”

A security office at the synagogue, Valentin Sharov, said the violence came close but did not reach the shul.

“A shop just 100 meters from us was ravaged last night, but no one tried to attack the synagogue,” Sharov said.

After shuttering early on April

7, all the city’s Jewish institutions stayed closed for the remainder of the week, reported Vladimir Katsman, director of Bishkek’s ORT school.

“Yesterday we had to finish the lessons earlier than usual and to close the school until the situation gets more foreseeable. We even called the parents to come and take the children, because we were not sure the school bus that usually takes the children home could be safe enough,” Katsman said on April 8. “Our ORT school is under surveillance. It became more difficult and expensive to keep the security men on duty these days, but we managed to solve the problem.”

The Jews of Kyrgyzstan are comprised largely of the secondand third-generation descendants of Jews from Ukraine, Belarus and central Russia who fled here to escape the Nazis during World War II. Most returned home after the war, but enough remained to make an impression in Kyrgyzstan, where many of the Jews went into health care. Even during the era of Soviet state-sponsored anti-Semitism, there was little hostility toward Jews in this remote republic, local Jews said. When the country became KYRGYZ on page 22

M ARK K ALB

IS

TEL AVIV (JTA) — In 1948, Harold Levine of the Flatbush neighborhood of Brooklyn was rumbling through Israel’s Negev Desert in a mobile dental clinic servicing recruits of the fledgling Israeli army.

He did not know it would take him more than 60 years to fulfill his dream of making the country his home.

Last December, Levine finally made aliyah. Now 85 and living in Jerusalem, Levine is one of a growing category of immigrants to Israel from the United States: senior citizens. Some, like Levine, nurtured Zionist dreams of living in Israel over a lifetime and have refused to let age get in the way of that vision.

Motivating many is an additional bonus: joining children and grandchildren who already have moved to Israel.

“It’s very exciting and fulfilling to be here, and I’m enjoying the process of getting settled,” said Levine, whose two sons and their families live here. “It’s another adventure.”

It’s not his first here. The nowretired orthodontist helped smuggle weapons, including rifles and handguns, and primitive radar equipment for the Jewish fighting forces onto the freighter he sailed here on in 1948.

Nefesh B’Nefesh, the organization that oversees North American immigration to Israel, says it has seen a gradual rise over the past four years in the number of older people making aliyah from North America.

Joy Epstein, clinical supervisor for Nefesh B’Nefesh’s department of social services, which counsels seniors before they arrive on how to choose where to live, their finances and how to navigate the Israeli medical system, says these immigrants come from a range of financial backgrounds, ranging from the wealthy to those dependent on social security checks. The U.S. recession has played a role in the decision of some to make aliyah, she said: There are those who

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decide that if they are going to live with a measure of financial insecurity, it might as well be in Israel, where they have long wanted to live.

Once here, older olim tend to tap into a rich cultural scene of concerts, classes and travel, often geared specifically for English speakers, Epstein said. Many enroll in ulpan Hebrew-language classes.

One ulpan in Jerusalem caters to older English-speaking olim, who meet for classes three times a week for almost a year.

Among the recent arrivals to Israel is Harvey Brooks, 65, a wellknown bass guitar player who once played alongside such musical legends as Bob Dylan, Jimi Hendrix, the Doors and B.B. King. He says he caught the Zionist bug from his wife of 21 years, who for years took her daughters to Israel on backpacking trips and whose eldest daughter now lives here.

Through repeated visits, he became comfortable in Israel, and last summer he and his wife made aliyah from Tuscon, Ariz.

“I’m very relaxed here. I’m with my people,” Brooks said. Although he is not religious, Brooks said he feels spiritually connected to Judaism after long years where he felt music was his only religion.

He’s been checking in with the local Israeli music scene, meeting musicians, and he’ll be performing at a well-known club next month.

His wife, Bonnie, who continues to work in film production and had contemplated aliyah earlier in life, said they embraced the idea together of making such a big change.

“When it comes to deciding how to spend your last 25 years, what do you have to lose?” she said.

Eighty-eight-year-old Frances Greenberg waited a very long time to immigrate.

She had first thought she was coming when she boarded the illfated Exodus ship in 1947 along with some 4,500 other Holocaust survivors. At the time, she was alone in the world, the sole survivor of her Polish Jewish family.

She stared out in disbelief when the ALIYAH on page 22

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CINCINNATI JEWISH LIFE

THURSDAY, APRIL 15, 2010

Jewish National Fund/Judge Carl B. Rubin Legal Society Gala

ATTORNEY OF THE YEAR: TODD BAILEY

Ken Germain (Greenbaum Doll & McDonald) and Todd Bailey (2009-2010 Attorney of the Year; Frost Brown Todd, LLC; Legal Society Fellow) Todd Bailey (JNF/Judge Carl B. Rubin Legal Society Attorney of the Year, 20092010; Frost Brown Todd, LLC; Legal Society Fellow) and Morry Wiener (JNF Past President), with Michael Newman (Dinsmore & Shohl) in the background

L-R: Melissa Ann Fabian (JNF Southern Ohio Regional Director), Eddie Paul (JNF Past Zone and Regional President; National Board Member), Morry Wiener (JNF Past Regional President), Nina Paul (JNF Past Regional President; National Board Member), Jill Meyer (Frost Brown Todd, LLC), Louise Roselle (JNF Southern Ohio Regional President; 2007-2008 Attorney of the Year; Legal Society Fellow), Ann & Todd Bailey (2009-2010 Attorney of the Year; Frost Brown Todd, LLC; Legal Society Fellow), Jon Rubin (Grandson of Judge Carl B. Rubin; 3rd year law student at UC), Ann Schoen (Frost Brown Todd, LLC), Scott Gurney (Frost Brown Todd, LLC), Michelle Rothzeid (Frost Brown Todd, LLC), Jon Lieberman (VP of Legal Society; Lerner Sampson & Rothfuss; Legal Society Fellow).

Ann and Todd Bailey (2009-2010 Attorney of the Year; Frost Brown Todd, LLC; Legal Society Fellow)

Jon Lieberman (VP of Legal Society; Lerner Sampson & Rothfuss; Legal Society Fellow), Heather Campbell, and Todd Bailey (2009-2010 Attorney of the Year; Frost Brown Todd, LLC; Legal Society Fellow)

THURSDAY, APRIL 15, 2010

CINCINNATI JEWISH LIFE

13

Judy Levy (Hamilton County Domestic Relations Court; Legal Society Fellow), Michael Newman (Frost Brown Todd, LLC), and Kenneth Parker (Assistant US Attorney)

Jerry and Ann Schoen (Frost Brown Todd, LLC) with Jon Lieberman (VP of Legal Society; Lerner Sampson & Rothfuss; Legal Society Fellow)

Ken Germain (Greenbaum Doll & McDonald), Ann (Frost Brown Todd, LLC) and Jerry Schoen

Hilary Krieger (Keynote speaker; Washington Bureau Chief, Jerusalem Post) and Jill Meyer (Frost Brown Todd, LLC)

Sharon Casper, Kenneth Parker (Assistant US Attorney), and Jill Meyer (Frost Brown Todd, LLC)

Shelley and Steven Goldstein (Frost Brown Todd, LLC)

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DINING OUT

THURSDAY, APRIL 15, 2010

Andy’s outdoor ready, $25 Meal Deal awaits also

by Bob Wilhelmy Restaurant Reporter Working through the fall and winter, Andy’s Mediterranean Grille built a raised walkway that fronts the restaurant, and leads to a patio area. Now as the weather becomes more cooperative the patio area will be in full swing.

“We have made improvements that add more seating for people when they come to eat at Andy’s,” said Majed Hajjar, co-owner and operator of the eatery.

Another addition is that of beers on tap, and one being featured now is Shock Top, which is a domestic Belgian white wheat beer. “It is a real crowd-pleaser and goes really well with a meal because it is not a heavy beer,” he said. Yours truly was given a taste of the beer and it features an inviting flavor and a mild, pleasing finish.

Also, Andy’s is attracting patrons with its very own Stimulus Package, called the Great Two for $25 Meal Deal. The deal is in response to the economy, according to Andy Hajjar, Majed’s brother and partner, and the offer has been a hit with patrons.

The deal is a 3-course meal for two people, for $25. For starters, there is a choice of three appetizers, namely baba ghannouj, hummus or labneh. Then a salad sized for two, either the Lebanese or Greek variety. And the entrée features a double order of rice, two shish tawooks, one shish kafta, and one other choice shish as a substitute. “This is available at any time Monday through Thursday, and people really seem to like what they get,” he said. “Also, if they want, we can add a bottle of wine for $15 more. We have a 3-course lunch also, for one person, and that is $8, so they get a lot of food at a good price.”

Restaurateur Majed Hajjar of Andy’s Mediterranean Grille stands with wife Cherine at the bar, sipping Shock Top wheat beer, in the ethnic eatery’s Cedars Room, one of four expansions made in the last few years.

Andy’s. An ethnic favorite is the hashweh, not always available, but when it is, it features ground lamb and rice in a mix, and that is topped with chunks of lamb, for $25. Ethnics eat the dish with a side of yogurt, but you can hold that side if inclined.

We have a 3-course lunch also, for one person, and that is $8, so they get a lot of food at a good price.”

Majed Hajjar Hajjar said that several entrée dishes have been added to the menu, featuring sautés of various items. These dishes pick up on the French Mediterranean style of cooking, and are an addition to the kabobs and other east Mediterranean cuisine.

If you are going it alone instead of the 2-person meal deal, then you may want to approach the menu with the knowledge of the hottest entrée items among patrons at

A new star of the menu is the farrouj, which is one-half of a rotisserie roasted chicken, the skin delicately seasoned with an herb and spice marinade before going on the spit. The seasoning is traditional Lebanese and the accompaniments are house rice and hummus, along with Andy’s homemade pita bread.

This entrée is $14.

Two others on the hottest entrée hit parade are: the chicken shawarma, a sautéed breast

topped with tahini sauce and served with rice, for $17; and the falafel (veggie) platter of stuffed patties, for $16.

Clearly, one reason for the popularity of Andy’s is the portion sizes. Take, for instance, the jumbo combo. On the jumbo platter are the following: one shish kabob, a skewer of charbroiled beef tenderloin, green pepper, onion and tomato; one shish kafta, which is chopped steak, mixed with onion and parsley, then formed around the skewer and grilled; one shish kharouf, charbroiled lamb chunks on a skewer; and three shish tawooks, made up of marinated chicken chunks, charbroiled also.

Along with that array of shish items are the house rice and Lebanese salads. The whole deal is $33. It’s meant for two, and it’s a generous two at that.

When you go to Andy’s, we recommend you begin your meal with the Mediterranean sampler on the appetizer list. It’s $12, but it’s plenty for a table of four. The sampler features hummus, baba ghannouj, labneh, tabouli and baby brown and green olives. It is served with fresh, hot homemade pita bread, which now is available

every evening. I’d be surprised if your sampler plate is not wiped clean by the last scrap of pita bread. It’s that good.

Want simpler fare? Try the pita wraps, seven in total, and each a very tasty meal, ranging from $6 for the falafel to $10 charbroiled beef tenderloin with pickles and grilled tomatoes.

Whatever strikes the fancy of your palate, my sense is that Andy’s offers so much to enjoy, from the fresh-made pita bread to

the last drop of delicious highoctane coffee, that you’ll come away satisfied and pleased with your choice.

Andy’s Mediterranean Grille is open every day, from 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. (often later) Monday through Saturday, and from 5 to 8 p.m. on Sunday.

Andy’s Mediterranean Grille 906 Nassau Street Cincinnati, OH 45206 513-281-9791

OPINION

by Mark Wallace Jewish Telegraphic Agency WASHINGTON (JTA) — Iran’s president recently announced that his nation has started to process highly enriched uranium and is now a “nuclear state.” This is a chilling reminder of the threat Iran poses.

The U.S. government has ramped up its efforts to rein in Iran’s nuclear ambitions. In February, the Obama administration expanded sanctions against companies affiliated with Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton urged neighboring countries to up the pressure on Iranian elites.

But government action hasn’t stopped Iran’s nuclear pursuits.

That’s why the private sector has a vital role to play. By severing economic ties with Iran, Western companies can reinforce the international community’s efforts to stop Iran’s nuclear weapons program.

And by insisting that companies fully disclose their interests in Iran, investors can hold firms accountable for their dealings.

Lest we forget, Iran’s government provides financing and safe harbor to terrorists. It violently suppresses political dissent. In January, more than 1,000 protestors were arrested during demonstrations in Tehran and other major cities. At least eight were killed.

Iran would be emboldened and far more dangerous with nuclear weapons.

Foreign investment flowing into Iran lines the pockets of political elites who use the lucre to strengthen their grip on power and further the regime’s dangerous activities.

Despite these realities, multiple Western companies conduct business in Iran. Such activity isn’t just morally suspect, it also could hurt shareholder value.

Investors should not stand by in the face of such risks. They should urge companies to change their behavior and give a full account of their exposure in Iran. To aid such efforts, United Against Nuclear Iran, a nonpartisan coalition dedicated to preventing the Iranian regime from acquiring nuclear weapons, has launched the Iran Disclosure Project (IDP).

By law, publicly traded companies — not just American businesses, but also international firms that avail themselves of U.S. capital markets — must disclose all “material information” related to foreign investments in their annual reports to shareholders and in their annual filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The law stipulates that any investments that

might affect firm performance are “material,” but the firms themselves are largely responsible for making that determination.

So companies effectively police themselves. Unsurprisingly, many are less than transparent about their involvement in Iran.

Eighteen states have taken steps to divest public pension funds from Iran. Other investors must follow their lead. They can start by demanding that firms accurately publicize their interests in Iran.

Such public pressure can prompt firms to act. In 2008, General Electric agreed to cease doing business in Iran. Just recently, both the German giant Siemens and the Italian energy company Eni committed to stop doing business in Iran once current contracts expire. In March, Shell announced it would halt all gasoline sales in Iran, and Ingersoll Rand said it would prohibit its foreign affiliates from selling products to Iran. Caterpillar, too, recently announced plans to sever ties with Iran.

Unfortunately, some companies are rebuffing calls for transparency.

Other companies admit to doing business in Iran but claim they aren’t working with the government. That’s unlikely. The Revolutionary Guards are involved in virtually every sector of the economy, particularly those with substantial foreign interest, like oil, gas and engineering. Doing business in Iran is effectively impossible without doing business with the Revolutionary Guards.

Private economic pressure is an important weapon in the global community’s drive to stop Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons. Trade sanctions already have left the country with sky-high inflation, unemployment and poverty. The Iranian people are deeply dissatisfied with their government.

Choking off the stream of foreign dollars would weaken the regime and set the stage for reform.

Sunlight is said to be the best disinfectant. Nowhere is that truer than in Iran.

We must have transparency with firms doing business in Iran. When confronted with the choice of admitting to their profiteering in the world’s major state sponsor of terror or pulling out, responsible firms will pull out. Economic pressure on Iran may be our last hope for preventing the country from developing nuclear weapons.

(Mark Wallace is the president of United Against Nuclear Iran. Most recently, he was the U.S. representative for U.N. Management and Reform.)

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR Do you have something to say? E-mail your letter to editor@americanisraelite.com

Dear Editor,

Dear Editor,

Julius Kasser wrote a phenomenal letter in your April 8 edition. I wish there were a thousand like him in this town, but there’s probably not 200. Many of us were concerned about Obama’s actions, associates and affiliates before the election, and nothing his administration has done since that time is surprising.

The Jews in Israel are our first line of defense if we wish to remain Jews, and I feel more spiritual kinship with American Christians about Israel than I do American Jews, especially Reform Jews. Liberal Jews keep thinking their government will protect them. Sure it will, just keep sending them your checks.

There will soon be more Muslims in this country than Jews, and most politicians are only interested in getting reelected. (Except one guy named Lieberman, but he’s Orthodox, isn’t he?) The ones likely to stand with Israel aren’t the ones Reform Jews have been trying to elect. Liberal politicians are the least least likely to stand with us when we need them.

Remember, Nazi Germany didn’t allow Jews to have guns, and most Jews were fine with that, right up to the end. Your bumper stickers won’t protect you.

It has been wonderful seeing the outpouring of letters to the editor putting an end to the liberal lies, bloviating, nonsense, double-talk and propaganda coming from the current administration. The African Americans have always bemoaned their “Uncle Tom.” We Jews now have Uncle Tom’s twin brother, sellout “Uncle Rahm.”

Obama has done more to destroy the USA relationship with Israel in 12 months than the past four administrations all totaled. Like him or not, George Bush stood by Israel through thick and thin! He never sold out the Israelis. Obama bows down to and kisses the hand of Arab leaders (caught on network video). What does he do to Israeli dignitaries? Last week in an unprecedented action, he walked out on a formal dinner with Netanyahu to leave the Israeli leader with Michelle and the kiddies.

Many of you (Jews were out front) remember marching hand in hand with oppressed African Americans during the civil rights marches of the ‘50s, ‘60s and ‘70s. This was a righteous thing to do. I was one of the marchers. The liberal education in the HBCU’s (Historically Black Colleges and Universities) today teach that the Jews owned the boats and

Garrett Levy Evendale, OH

insurance companies that shipped and insured the slaves out of Africa. They teach that the Jews were the cause of slavery in American history. Jew haters such as African American Malik Zulu Shabazz Esq. (J.D. Graduate of Howard University) and African American Steve Cokely, both are on the Simon Wiesenthal Center and Southern Poverty Law Center’s list of hate mongers and Anti Semites. Jesse “Hymietown” Jackson and murderer Al “Freddies Clothing Store” Sharpton are all associates of and current or former consultants to Obama. Fellow Jews, did you receive a feeling of exhilaration helping elect an African American to office? Well... your feelings were misplaced! Ken Blackwell, Walter Williams, Jonathon McWhorter, Alan Keyes, are African Americans who share our values, support Israel and would never turn their backs on us. Voting for a man because he is African American makes you a racist.

Vote for a man who will stand up for us, not sell us out as did Obama, Rahm Emanual, David Axlerod and the rest of the Jews who betrayed fellow Jews during the Holocaust.

The truth shall set us free.

Keep the letters coming!

Paul Glassman Deerfield Twp.

T EST Y OUR T ORAH KNOWLEDGE THIS WEEK’S PORTION: TAZRIA-METZORA (VAYIKRA 12:1—15:33) a.) Removed b.) It is scrapped off c.) Painted over d.) Pour water over the area

1. Which tree is mentioned in the Parsha? a.) Olive b.) Cedar c.) Shittim d.) Wilow 2. What is done with the tree? a.) Build a dwelling b.) Burnt in the Mishkan c.) Used to purify a person who had tzaraat 3. What is done with the stones of a house that has tzaraat?

3. A 14:40,41 The stones are put in an area where nothing that needs ritual purity is done.

4. A Actually, tzaraat was a hidden blessing. One it was an atonement for sins. Two, if the Canaanites hid a treasure in a home, it would be found when the home was destroyed because of tzaraat. Rashi 5. B 14:36

Shareholders must insist companies divest from Iran

THURSDAY, APRIL 15, 2010

4. Where can a house get tzaraat a.) Only in Israel b.) Only in the Diaspora c.) Anywhere 5. Is it permitted to live in a house with tzaraat? a.) Yes b.) No Answers 1. C 14:4 The person with tzaraat would take two birds, cedar wood,hyssop, and wool dyed red. Wood of the tall cedar would atone for haughtiness a root cause of tzaraat. Rashi 2. C 14:4-8

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Written by Rabbi Dov Aaron Wise

JEWISH LIFE

THURSDAY, APRIL 15, 2010

17

Sedra of the Week

by Rabbi Shlomo Riskin

Shabbat Shalom: Parshat Tazria Metzorah Leviticus 12:1-15:33

Efrat, Israel — “The sound of my beloved knocks” (Song of Songs 5:2).

From the perspective of more than six decades of national sovereignty, how can we properly assess the success – or lack thereof – of the restored Jewish State? After all, Theodore Herzl, in his groundbreaking work “Der Judenstaadt” expected that when Israel would become a nation like all other nations with its own homeland, such normalcy would bring in its wake the disappearance of antiSemitism and the acceptance of Israel within the family of nations.

One need only open up a daily newspaper to discover that such a normalization has not occurred; much the opposite, some of the most virulent anti-Semitism comes specifically in the guise of antiZionism, with the State of Israel being libelously charged with apartheid, ethnic cleansing and wartime atrocities.

But world reaction dare not be our criterion for success. The Midrash warned us a long time ago that: “From Sinai descended the sin’ah (Hebrew for hatred) of the nations against us.” Our message of the absolute morality of the Ten Commandments (especially “Thou shalt not murder”) caused resentment on the part of hypocritical nations who glory in murdering others for their own self-aggrandizement and concentration of power. No wonder they unfairly lash out against us, not even allowing us the privilege of self-protections against suicide bombers and destructive Kassam rockets specifically targeting innocent civilians.

If then we are to be condemned for not (yet?) having fulfilled our function as a “holy nation and a Kingdom of priest-teachers” of compassionate righteousness, moral justice and peace to the world, we must admit to being guilty as charged. However, as our prophets (Isaiah 2, Micah 4) testify; the successful discharge of our national, covenantal mission will only happen at the time of universal redemption. We seem to have a long way to go before reaching that goal.

My revered teacher Rav Joseph B. Soloveitchik, in his essay “Kol Dodi Dofek” (the Sound of My Beloved Knocks), masterfully interprets a passage in the Song of Songs to refer to the reaction of the Jewish people themselves to the

miraculous advent of the Jewish State. G-d is our eternal lover, who has guaranteed the we will eventually be worthy, that He will fulfill His covenant to us, and that “even if we were scattered to the ends of the heavens, from there will He gather us and from there will He take us up to the land of our ancestors’ inheritance, and pave the way for the ultimate redemption” (Deut. 30:4).

The Rav explained that in the year 1948 (5708) the Dod or Lover (as it were), the Eternal Shepherd, knocked at the door of Knesset Yisrael to signal His readiness. The timing was unexpected, historically absurd and incongruous; it was miraculous and critically necessary for Jewish survival. The Jewish communities of Eastern Europe had just been virtually obliterated, 80 percent of Jewish religious and cultural leadership were decimated in crematoria fires, and the drybones of the “musselmen” remnants of humanity seemed fractured beyond repair. Indeed, the venerated British historian, Arnold Toynbee, in the history he published in 1947, referred to Israel as “a fossil”; a nation which had ceased to be viable, but which still had ossified remains which could possibly illuminate past history, but nothing beyond.

And then came the great Divine Knock at the door in the guise of the United Nations Partition Plan of November 29, 1947, granting Israel statehood after close to 2,000 years of exile and persecution in every corner of the globe.

Other “knocks” at the door followed closely: Israel’s victory in the War of Independence, Ben Gurion’s seizing the moment of Britain’s exit from Palestine to declare the independent Jewish State, the United States of America and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republic atypically joining hands to ratify the new State, and of course what appeared to be the Divine imprimatur to our burgeoning republic; the lightening victory of the Six Day War, our return to the Western Wall, and the dizzying declaration of Motta Gur heard around the world, “The Temple Mount is in our hands.”

But what was the response of the masses of world Jewry to all of the Divine knockings at the door?

Did we open the door to let our Lover in? Did the beloved open the door to go out and join her Lover in the Land of Israel reborn? Or did we say, “I have taken off my dressing gown, how so can I get dressed again? I have cleansed off my feet,

how so can I make them muddied again? I have finally felt a respite from my persecution, I am about to retire after many long days of travail, can I legitimately be expected to start anew at this stage of my life? I have at least begun to refresh my wounded and exhausted body in my gilded diaspora ghetto. Can I legitimately be asked to resettle swamps, to wage wars, to brave battles?”

And then again, when the beloved nevertheless thinks of responding to the Divine call, and slowly gets up from her luxurious couch of silken coverlets and propped up pillows, she can barely open the door to let her lover in!

Her hands are perfumed, her fingers are so covered with oily creams and scented salves that the door-knob keeps slipping away from her grasp and the door refuses to open to her touch. “I get up to open for my lover, but my hands drip with myrrh, the myrrh passes through my fingers on the doorknob of the lock.” I finally open for my lover, but (alas, too late) because my lover has slipped away, gone… I look for Him but I do not find Him, I call out for Him but He does not answer me…”

(Ibid 5: 3-6).

Did we indeed miss the moment, overlook the opportunity? I hardly think so. Just as exile is a process of history, so is redemption a process– and this is only the “beginning of the sprouting of our redemption” (Shai Agnon). We have a great deal to show for these six decades: we have grown from 600,000 to close to six million strong, we have brought together exiles from every conceivable culture and of every conceivable color and ethnic background, melding together as one nation; we have fought interminable wars, suffered the sacrifice of our most committed and courageous, with our morale still high and our mission still intact. Yes, we remain a work-inprogress, and we certainly have a difficult and dangerous journey ahead of us. Our vehicle remains the messianic donkey, which moves ahead, stops inexplicably, goes backwards, but continues on his destination. And all of our prophets guarantee that we will eventually reach that destination, not only for the sake of the Jewish future, but also for the sake of world redemption.

Shabbat Shalom Shlomo Riskin Chancellor Ohr Torah Stone Chief Rabbi — Efrat Israel

MODERN ORTHODOX SERVICE Daily Minyan for Shacharit, Mincha, Maariv, Shabbat Morning Service and Shalosh Seudas.

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18

JEWZ IN THE NEWZ

Jewz in the Newz

by Nate Bloom Contributing Columnist HEBREWS ON THE DIAMOND PATHS The major league baseball season has begun and it is time to clue you into the Jewish major leaguers.

This list was prepared with the help of Jewish Sports Review newsletter. All the players below have at least one Jewish parent and were raised in a secular or religiously Jewish home. (Ausmus, Grabow, and Schoeneweis are the sons of Jewish mothers and non-Jewish fathers. Braun, Feldman, and Kinsler are the sons of Jewish fathers and non-Jewish mothers).

BRAD AUSMUS, catcher, Los Angeles Dodgers. Brad turned 41 this week, ancient for a major leaguer. A brilliant defensive player, Ausmus has played 18 major league seasons without being on the disabled list once. Ausmus was raised secular—but recently told a Jewish paper that many Jewish kids have told him that they have been inspired by him and that he was glad he could have a positive impact on these kids.

RYAN BRAUN, 26, outfielder, Milwaukee Brewers. The 2007 National League rookie of the year, Braun made the All-Star team in 2008 and 2009 and had another outstanding season in 2009—hitting .320, with 100 RBIs, 200 hits, 30 homers, and 20 stolen bases.

CRAIG BRESLOW, 29, relief pitcher, Oakland Athletics. The former captain of the Yale University baseball team, Breslow has a degree in biophysics and biochemistry. Many of his teammates, and many sports writers, have commented that he is the smartest player (in terms of general knowledge) that they have ever met. He’s also a pretty effective reliever.

SCOTT FELDMAN, 27, starting pitcher, Texas Rangers.

Feldman came into his own in 2009 with a record of 17-8. This is the most wins by a Jewish pitcher since 1980 when Oriole STEVE STONE won 25.

JOHN GRABOW, 31, relief pitcher, Chicago Cubs. An outstanding reliever with the Pirates, Grabow was traded to the Cubs in July. He had a very good 2009 season with both clubs. His Jewish mother was born in Lebanon.

Much of her extended family settled in Israel.

GABE KAPLER, 34, outfielder, Tampa Bay Rays. Kapler had a good season in 2009, with his extra base hit production and his ability to hit left-handed pitching making up for a so/so batting average.

Kapler has three “Jewish-themed” tattoos, including a Star of David.

IAN KINSLER, 27, second baseman, Texas Ranger. An out-

standing hitter, Kinsler was an Allstar team member in 2008 and was just beaten out for a spot on the team in 2009. Nonetheless, he racked up 2009 numbers that far eclipsed the player who got the AllStar spot. Kinsler joined the elite “30-30” club in 2009, with 31 home runs and 31 stolen bases.

JASON MARQUIS, 31, starting pitcher, Washington Nationals.

Now in his 11th season, Marquis had a outstanding season last year with the Cubs, winning 15 games and making the All-Star team.

Marquis, a Long Island native, had a bar mitzvah.

SCOTT SCHOENEWEIS, 36, relief pitcher, Boston Red Sox. An effective reliever over his 12 years in the majors, Scott’s 2009 season with Arizona was seriously interrupted when his wife died from a drug overdose. He thought of retiring, but came back to finish the season. Boston signed him in March and he performed well enough in spring training to make the team’s roster.

KEVIN YOUKILIS, 31, first baseman, Red Sox. An All-star in 2008 and 2009, Youkilis, now has to be seriously considered as the third best Jewish player of all-time, behind Hall-of-Famers HANK GREENBERG and SANDY KOUFAX. A great defensive player who holds the all-time record for most errorless games at first base, he has become a great hitter in the last few seasons. In 2009, he hit .305 with 27 home runs. Youkilis, who was born and raised in the Cincinnati-area, had a bar mitzvah.

He’s known to greet other Jewish players with happy (Jewish) holiday wishes.

NEW FLICKS Opening Friday, April 16th, are “City Island” and “The Joneses,” both of which could be called black comedies. “Island” stars Andy Garcia as Vince Rizzo, an aspiring actor and prison guard, who discloses a personal secret in acting class and thereby sets off a chain of events that throws his life and his family’s life into chaos.

JULIANNE MARGULIES, 43, co-stars as Garcia’s hot-tempered wife, with Oscar-winner ALAN ARKIN, 76, as his acting coach.

Demi Moore and DAVID DUCHOVNY, 49, co-star as a seemingly perfect couple (“The Joneses”) who move into an upscale community—along with their “perfect” teenage kids. The Jones family has the best of everything and their neighbors try to keep up. The neighbors don’t know the Joneses are actually employees of a stealth marketing organization.

(Duchovny, who was raised secular, is the son of a Jewish father and a non-Jewish mother).

THURSDAY, APRIL 15, 2010

FROM THE PAGES 100 Years Ago Dr. David I. Wolfstein (M.D.) is making quite a reputation for himself as a lecturer to non-professional audiences. He has addressed a number of lay assemblages lately and in every instance made a favorable impression.

Ten orthodox Jewish women have circulated petitions, which bore numerous signatures, the signers pledging themselves to abstain from beef, veal, lamb and other meats

until the prices are lowered. They went along West Sixth Street and Upper Central Avenue with the petitions. The kosher butchers claim they have to pay high prices for meats at wholesale, and will have to either charge on the same scale or close up until meat comes down. It was also stated that circulars in Yiddish have been sent to the various householders urging them to abstain from the use of meats until

prices come down.

A number of Jewish residents recently admitted to citizenship enjoyed a luncheon at the Jewish Settlement, Clinton Street, last evening. Judge Hollister was present and delivered an interesting address on the subject of “Conscientious Citizenship.” Other speakers were: Dr. Boris Bogen, Max Senior, Lester Rothschild, Robert Marx and Sidney Pritz. — April 14, 1910

75 Years Ago Paul Ashbrook, distinguished Cincinnati artist, will be the main speaker at the opening of the Sixth annual exhibit of the Jewish Art Club, Sunday, April 21st, at 3 p.m., at the Bureau of Jewish Education. Mr. Ashbrook, widely known for his paintings and etchings of scenes in foreign lands, will talk on “Sketching and Rambling Through Foreign Countries.” Dr. Jacob S. Golub will announce the prize winner.

The public will have the oppor-

tunity of viewing the most recent work of Floyd Berg and Bernard Segal, past winners of the national scholarship to the Art Students League in New York, and of Maurice Delegator, 1935 winner. Herman Zimmerman and Albert Sevay, students at the same institution, also will be represented.

Exhibitors include: Erna Bottigheimer, Melville Bernstein, Myron Benson, Maurice Browers, Ruth Guttman, Hannah Grad

Goodman, E.H. Huggins, Louis Kabrin, Fanny Kuller, Minnie Rosin, Anna Kaufman, Hannah Rauh, and Nelson Ronsheim.

Miss Ruth Munzesheimer, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Lawrence Munzesheimer, of Dallas, Texas, has chosen Thursday, May 2nd, as the date of her marriage to Dr. Walter B. Phillips, son of Mr. and Mrs. Godfrey P. Phillips, of Forest Avenue. The noon wedding will take place in Dallas. — April 18, 1935

50 Years Ago The Executive Committee of Phi Delta Epsilon Medical Graduate Club met at Jewish Hospital, Sunday April 3. Some 75 physicians are members. Officers are: President, Dr. Melvin Gillett; vice president, Dr. Irwin Albert; secretary, Dr. Jack Selzer,; treasurer, Dr. Lawrence Essig; national senator, Dr. Fred Elkus; graduate club liaison officer, Dr. Irwin Warth; undergraduate liaison officer, Dr. Richard Selzer; social chairman, Dr. Ben Friedman;

historian, Dr. Stanley Lucas.

Mrs. Ben L. Mandel, of the Belvedere Apartments, announces the marriage of her daughter, Miss Lois Mandel, to Mr. Richard Albert Meyer, of St. Louis, Sunday, April 3.

Rabbi Albert A. Goldman performed the ceremony at the residence.

Upon their return from a cruise to the West Indies, Mr. and Mrs. Meyer will live in St. Louis.

Philip J. Trounstine, 757 Clinton

Springs Avenue, passed away Tuesday, April 5.

Survivors include: his wife, Mrs. Stella Rollman Trounstine; two daughters, Mrs. John L. Reis, of Cincinnati, and Mrs. Sig Kriegsman, of Redding, Calif.; a son, Henry P. Trounstine, Cincinnati; and seven grandchildren.

He was a first cousin of Henry G. Morgentahua, Jr., secretary of the treasury in the Franklin D. Roosevelt administration.— April 14, 1960

25 Years Ago Mrs. Ida S. Malloy of Hamilton, Bermuda, passed away April 3 in Providence, R. I. She was 89.

She is survived by: two daughters and sons-in-law, Estelle and Aaron Levine of Cincinnati and Pauly and Irwin Strasmick of Providence; five grandchildren, Joseph of Santa Cruz, Calif; Deborah of Chicago, Jonathan of Cincinnati and Michael and Andy of Providence; and two great-grandchildren, Matthew and Rosalind.

She was the wife of the late Meyer M. Malloy.

Mauri Willis will be installed as the new president of the National Council of Jewish Women Thursday,

May 9, at a luncheon at Crest Hills Country Club.

Mrs. Willis’ past positions with NCJW include executive vice president, ways and means vice president, community services vice president, assistant treasurer, Thrift Shop cochairman, financial secretary and board member. She has also been a Big Sister, and served on the boards of Parents Anonymous and Temple Sholom Sisterhood.

Pulitzer and Nobel Prize winning writer, Saul Bellow, will be at Hebrew Union College’s College Store for informal conversation Friday, April 19, from 2-3 p.m.

The Canadian born author, after his studies, worked on the editorial staff of the Encyclopedia Britannica, taught creative writing at Princeton University and subsequently held a professorial appointment with the Committee on Social Thought at the University of Chicago, where he still holds office.

Mr. Bellow’s novel, “Dangling Man,” was the first of a large collection of highly acclaimed works, “Herzog,” “Humbolt’s Gift” and “The Dean’s December” among them. His latest book is “Him With His Foot in His Mouth and Other Stories.” — April 11, 1985

10 Years Ago Phyllis Heilbrun Marmer, 70, passed away April 2, 2000. She was born in Cincinnati, Ohio. She is survived by her husband of 51 years, Saul Marmer. Surviving children are: Lynn Marmer and her husband, Eugene Beaupre, of Cincinnati; Michael Marmer and his wife, Kathlyn of Morrow, Ohio; and John Marmer and his wife, Denise, of Spencer, Ind. Surviving grandchil-

dren are: Emily Beaupre of Cincinnati; as well as Jeremy Falls, Lauren Marmer, and Joel Marmer, all of Morrow, Ohio. Mrs. Marmer is also survived by a brother: Leonard Heilbrun and his wife, Marjorie, of Cincinnati.

Jack Kaplan, 86, passed away at the Montgomery Care Center on April 4, 2000. Mr. Kalan was born in the Price Hill section of

Cincinnati. He is survived by: his former wife, Blanche Kahn, and two daughters Miss Carol Kahn and Mrs. Arlen Sprague. He is also suvived by two grandchildren: Alison Alves and Laurel Alves. Mr. Kaplan is also survived by three great-grandchildren, as well as a brother, Al Kaplan of Philadelphia and a sister, Reva Kaplan, also of Philadelphia. — April 13, 2000

CLASSIFIEDS

THURSDAY, APRIL 15, 2010

COMMUNITY DIRECTORY COMMUNITY ORGANIZATIONS Big Brothers/Big Sisters Assoc.

(513) 761-3200 • bigbrobigsis.org Beth Tevilah Mikveh Society (513) 821-6679 Camp Ashreinu (513) 702-1513 Camp at the J (513) 722-7226 • mayersonjcc.org Camp Livingston (513) 793-5554 • camplivingston.com Cedar Village (513) 336-3183 • cedar-village.org Chevra Kadisha (513) 396-6426 Halom House (513) 791-2912 • halomhouse.com Hillel Jewish Student Center (513) 221-6728 • hillelcincinnati.org Jewish Community Center (513) 761-7500 • mayersonjcc.org Jewish Community Relations Council (513) 985-1501 Jewish Family Service (513) 469-1188 • jfscinti.org Jewish Federation of Cincinnati (513) 985-1500 • shalomcincy.org Jewish Foundation (513) 792-2715 Jewish Information Network (513) 985-1514 Jewish Vocational Service (513) 985-0515 • jvscinti.org Kesher (513) 766-3348 Plum Street Temple Historic Preservation Fund (513) 793-2556 The Center for Holocaust & Humanity Education (513) 487-3055 • holocaustandhumanity.org Vaad Hoier (513) 731-4671 Workum Summer Intern Program (513) 683-6670 • workum.org CONGREGATIONS Adath Israel Congregation (513) 793-1800 • adath-israel.org Beit Chaverim (513) 335-5812 Beth Israel Congregation (513) 868-2049 • bethisraelcongregation.net Congregation Beth Adam (513) 985-0400 • bethadam.org Congregation B’nai Tikvah (513) 759-5356 • bnai-tikvah.org Congregation B’nai Tzedek (513) 984-3393 • bnaitzedek.us Congregation Ohav Shalom

(513) 489-3399 • ohavshalom.org Golf Manor Synagogue (513) 531-6654 • golfmanorsynagogue.org Isaac M. Wise Temple (513) 793-2556 • wisetemple.org Isaac Nathan Congregation (513) 841-9005 Kehilas B’nai Israel (513) 761-0769 Northern Hills Synagogue (513) 931-6038 • nhs-cba.org Rockdale Temple (513) 891-9900 • rockdaletemple.org Temple Beth Shalom (513) 422-8313 • tbsohio.org Temple Sholom (513) 791-1330 • templesholom.net The Valley Temple (513) 761-3555 • valleytemple.com EDUCATION Chabad Blue Ash (513) 793-5200 • chabadba.com Cincinnati Community Kollel (513) 631-1118 • kollel.shul.net Cincinnati Hebrew Day School (513) 351-7777 • chds.shul.net HUC-JIR (513) 221-1875 • huc.edu JCC Early Childhood School (513) 793-2122 • mayersonjcc.org Mercaz High School (513) 792-5082 x104 • mercazhs.org Reform Jewish High School (513) 469-6406 • crjhs.org Regional Institute Torah & Secular Studies (513) 631-0083 Rockwern Academy (513) 984-3770 • rockwernacademy.org ORGANIZATIONS American Jewish Committee (513) 621-4020 • ajc.org American Friends of Magen David Adom (513) 521-1197 • afmda.org B’nai B’rith (513) 984-1999 Hadassah (513) 821-6157 • cincinnati-hadassah.org Jewish National Fund (513) 794-1300 • jnf.org NA’AMAT (513) 984-3805 • naamat.org National Council of Jewish Women (513) 891-9583 • ncjw.org State of Israel Bonds (513) 793-4440 • israelbonds.com Women’s American ORT (513) 985-1512 • ortamerica.org.org

LOVING from page 7 3. The incredible bond between Israelis. Maybe it’s a remnant of shtetl life in Europe, or perhaps it has something to do with living so close to your enemy. Whatever the reason, Israelis act as if everyone is everyone else’s next-door neighbor. The first time I experienced this unique bond was the week I arrived in Israel to begin my army service. I was driving to Tel Aviv in a rental car when a guy pulled up next to me at a stoplight and beeped his horn. “Hey, achi!” he called. “My girlfriend’s thirsty. You got water?” Beside me, on the passenger seat, was a bottle of water.

But it was half empty.

I held up the bottle. “It’s already open,” I said.

“No problem,” he replied, and stuck out his hand.

A week later, I was at my girlfriend, Dorit’s, family’s apartment with her parents. It was dinnertime and we had ordered pizza. Finally, after two hours, the pizza guy showed up on his motor scooter.

He was disheveled and sopped with sweat. “I got lost,” he whimpered.

“So come inside! Sit!” said Dorit’s mother, Tzionah. “Coffee or tea?”

“Coffee,” said the pizza guy.

“Milk and two sugars.”

While Tzionah made the coffee, Dorit’s father, Menashe, opened the pizza box. “Please take.” He offered a slice. The pizza guy waved him off. “Nu! You’re offending me!” said Menashe.

“What’s your name?”

“Oren,” said the delivery guy.

“Oren. I insist. Eat.” And I’ll be damned if Oren the pizza guy didn’t sit down at the kitchen table and eat the pizza he’d just delivered. As we ate, I thought about all those porno movies where the lonely housewife invites the pizza boy inside and seduces him on the kitchen table. In the Israeli version of the story, the pizza boy doesn’t make love to the housewife. Instead, he sits down with the family and eats pizza.

2. Dropping off a passenger at Ben-Gurion Airport. You pull up to the Departure door, hug your loved ones goodbye, and watch them walk into the terminal. Then you inhale a breath of sweet Israeli air, look up at the cloudless Tel Aviv sky, and think, “They have to leave...but I get to stay in Israel.”

1. I leave this one up to you.

What do you love most about Israel? E-mail me joel@joelchasnoff.com and I’ll post your responses on the blog page of my Web site.

(Joel Chasnoff is a stand-up comedian and the author of “The 188th Crybaby Brigade: A Skinny Kid From Chicago Fights Hezbollah,” about his year as a combat soldier in the Israeli army.)

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ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT

THURSDAY, APRIL 15, 2010

‘The Little Traitor’— A must-see Jewish movie

Proffy and Dunlop in a scene from “The Little Traitor.”

by Avi Milgrom Assistant Editor Dismissed by a few critics as “mawkish,” “simplistic,” “a muddled morality tale,” this comedylaced drama is none of these.

Now showing at Cincinnati’s Mariemont Theatre, the film follows a 12-year-old Israeli boy as he forsakes the trust of his playmates to form a relationship with the enemy—a British soldier—against the backdrop of the impending War of Independence.

Originally produced in 2007, “The Little Traitor” played the festival circuit until this February, when it began its national roll out.

Out of the gate, the film proved itself with the Audience Award for Best Feature Film at the Palm Beach Film Festival. Since then it won the Audience Award for Best Narrative Feature at the 2009 Atlanta Jewish Film Festival and the Third Annual Los Angeles Film Festival, as well as the Best of the Best at the Palm Springs International Film Festival.

Internationally, the film has been shown at Munich International, Rio de Janeiro and the Cannes Film Festivals.

Written and directed by television-movie veteran Lynn Roth (Changing Habits, The Paper Chase), the film explores the merits of enemies seeing past one another’s uniforms. What may appear at first as a simple premise, actually reflects years of contemplating Israel and its enemies by one of Israel’s most famous writer.

The film is based on the novel-

la, “The Panther in the Basement,” by the Israeli writer Amos Oz, and it is best understood by exploring Oz’ viewpoint.

The film is set in Jerusalem shortly before Nov. 29, 1947, the day when the Jews are unbound by British rule only to be faced by a war with Egypt, Syria, Transjordan, Lebanon and Iraq. It is this monumental cloud, the subject of much of Oz’ writings, that looms low over the film; and it is this that lends it gravitas that converts—what could be mistaken as a Hollywood “feel good” movie, into one that explores the complexities of holding Jewish values, of empathy in particular, in a sometimes evil world.

For years before Israel’s transition into statehood, the world was divided “into two parts — those places where the Jews could not live and those where they could not enter,” according to Israel’s first president, Chaim Weizmann. Thus there was, at this time, a growing spirit of willingness to confront the enemy among the Jews, a spirit that the central character, Proffy, displays as he plays with his red-capped British toy soldiers —hanging one from a noose at the head of his bed.

A very bright and spirited Israeli boy of 12, Proffy’s playtime fantasies carry him into the street to plot against the British with two friends, all bound by mutually declared trust into an organization named FOD — Freedom or Death. At one point FOD impedes British road movements with a swath of nails.

Make no mistake, this charac-

ter has the blood of Oz in his veins—he and his boyhood playmates would take gum from British soldiers only to turn against them with stones and shouts of “Nazi!”

— an image now associated with Palestinian youth.

“The Panther in the Basement” was published in 1995 and was inspired by the Oslo Accords, a time of optimism for Oz. Lingering beneath this optimism, however, was a dark view of the conflicted position that infuses Israel, as evidenced by his later work, “A Tale of Love and Darkness” published in 2003.

According to Oz’ daughter, a professor of history at Haifa University, this work of nonfiction acknowledges the agonizing position the Jewish state entered with statehood.

On one hand, Jews were not welcome in Europe. On the other, they were not welcome in Israel.

Oz reported in the 2004 New Yorker article that his father told him about graffiti in Germany, Russia and the Ukraine that said, “Jews Go Home to Palestine.”

Later, after statehood, Oz was confronted with signs that said, “Jews Out of Palestine.”

The founding of Israel was beyond a land dispute, beyond a sense of culture and tradition; it was a necessity of survival for the Jews. But this created for Israel its “original sin,” the displacement and resulting suffering of the Palestinians, according to Oz’ daughter.

Having fought in the 1967 and Yom Kippur Wars, Oz wrote from

the perspective of someone deeply affected by battle as well. He confessed in 2004, “It is difficult for me, either in an interview or in a book to talk about the experience of fighting. I have never written about the battlefield, because I don’t think I could convey the experience of fighting to people who have not been on a battlefield …It is hard to imaging the stench…This stifling mixture of burning rubber and burning metal and burning human flesh and feces, everything burning…”

So from where did this most engaging tale of a forbidden friendship between a young Israeli and his enemy emerge?

In a 2009 article in the New York Times, Oz explained that walking the streets of Jerusalem after the great victory of 1967, he could not share his fellow countryman’s joy. He was haunted by the thoughts of how the Palestinians felt. Indeed, it is this empathy that anchors Oz as a writer.

In this same article he described how he writes: “I get up in the morning, I drink a cup of coffee, I sit down at my desk and I start to ask myself, ‘What if I were him?

What if I were her? How would I feel? What would I say? How would I react?’”

Thus the basis for this seemingly simple tale, “The Little Traitor,” emerged from a mind keenly aware of both Arab and Israeli—their respective narratives and mindsets.

It is from this empathy that “The Little Traitor” offers a counterweight to the contemplation of Israel’s many burdens—that of an unexpected reality. As Proffy says at one point in the film, his enemy is a better friend than his friends. Maybe the enemy is worth knowing.

In the film, the first pivotal moment is when Proffy is caught out past curfew by the enemy, a large British soldier named Sergeant Dunlop. At first Dunlop tells Proffy he is under arrest. As Dunlop marches his prisoner off to jail, he suddenly changes his mind.

In a comical moment, he inexplicably decides to take the boy home — a direction that leads up a long set of steps.

This scene establishes a basic sense of Proffy’s character: Soon the overweight soldier comes to a panting stop some distance from the top of the steps. Proffy, in no way shackled to his enemy, just stands quietly, showing some concern for his captor’s welfare. There is no question that the young boy, who moves from place to place at a running pace, could flee. But he

doesn’t. He remains in place.

Moments later, as Dunlop drops his prisoner at his home, the soldier invites him for a visit in an obvious declaration of trust.

This Proffy does, and the ensuing relationship — and the acting of Ido Port as Proffy, and Alfred Molina as Dunlop—lifts the film to a poignant cinematic experience, as their charming relationship unfolds.

But then matters become complicated. It is not so simple to know one’s enemy.

Eventually, the relationship is discovered by Proffy’s friends— and then by his parents and neighbors. The relationship is deemed treasonous, and he must answer for it. The tone throughout this, the major portion of the film, is true — gracefully balanced between light humor and emotion.

Running as a gentle counterpoint to the developing friendship, and all it kicks up, is Proffy’s emergence into manhood — a source of some humor itself.

But then Dunlop is sent home, along with the rest of the British, signaling the end of British rule and the nearing bloodshed of the war.

At this point, the focus shifts from the relationship between man and boy to the contrapuntal theme of emergence into manhood— Proffy’s interest in women.

This is the second, and last, pivotal moment.

Bridging the transition between the relationship and the emergence of manhood for Proffy, and statehood for Israel, is a plot twist that recalls the tribal advice that no one can take away that which is carried within—Proffy forges a path into manhood using wisdom gained from his friend — wisdom that gives him power as a man — comically so.

If the film is flawed, it is in this transition in which the intense tone of the relationship flags as the plot moves to a lighthearted episode.

In the end, with the war looming, the plot moves to an inevitable question: What becomes of this young boy who confronted the surprisingly joyous reality of friendship with his enemy, only to then confront the unimaginable stench of the battlefield? Did war turn him cynical?

That the story is set at a time when Israel moved from being “occupied to being the occupiers,” said Roth in a New York Times article last year, “…was one of the main reasons I wanted to do it…All you have to do is befriend one person of the enemy, and it changes your perspective.”

THURSDAY, APRIL 15, 2010

JCC from page 1 Keelor, a student at Summit Country Day School.

The Third Generation Remembers, read by Paula Mermelstein.

To assist the attendees in reflecting on the solemn occasion, the Adath Israel High Holy Day Choir, led by Mitch Cohen, sang two songs: Psalm 27, Trust in the Lord, by Mitch Cohen; and Oseh Shalom, by Debbie Friedman.

The keynote speaker was New York Times journalist, Joseph Berger, who has written for the New York Times since 1984 and has authored three books. His most recent book, Displaced Persons: Growing up American after the Holocaust, was chosen as a “New York Times Book of the Year.”

In his address, Berger talked about the 140,000 Jews who came to the United States between 1946 and 1953. While many settled in New York, others spread out all over the country. According to Berger, these people did not come to America for “streets paved with gold,” they came “because they POLAND from page 1 Rejecting Iran’s nuclear ambitions was a no-brainer for Kaczynski. Like many Poles, he and his family had witnessed man’s capacity for evil. In our meetings, he’d get right to the point: Isn’t it obvious what Iran is doing? Iran’s leaders can’t be trusted with a bomb. The world needs to get tougher with Tehran.

Mariusz Handzlik was another friend on the plane. A diplomat whom I first met in Washington years ago, he was serving as undersecretary of state in the office of Poland’s president.

Mariusz and I shared a deep admiration for Jan Karski, the Polish wartime hero who later joined the faculty of Georgetown University. While serving in the United States, Mariusz befriended Karski, becoming his regular chess partner. They were playing chess when Karski suddenly felt ill and died shortly afterward.

Together, Mariusz and I cried for this man who, at repeated risk to his own life, had tried to alert a largely deaf world to the Nazi’s Final Solution.

And when Mariusz was assigned to the Polish Mission to the United Nations, he proudly told me that now he would be in a position, together with his colleagues, to help Israel in the world body. He wanted the Israelis to know they had friends at the United Nations, which largely was

NEWS

21

had no place else to go.” Most of these new Americans were in their 20s and 30s, because few children and elderly had survived. The ones who did survive had to wait in Displaced Persons Camps (DP Camps) for up to five years for visas from countries like the U.S. and Australia.

He pointed out, however, that while they were waiting for their visas, the survivors in the DP Camps did not sit idly by. They built and ran schools and synagogues, they operated 70 different newspapers and many found new friends and even new mates.

Mr. Berger pointed out that these Jews were different from other American Jews — they had accents, wore different clothing and ate different foods. He said that these people “lived on the fly and had no one here to help them.”

Berger concluded his talk with this about the survivors who came to America: “They created a wonderful, warm culture, not subject to fear. They worked hard and became middle class. They raised their children to become productive citizens: educators, business people and lawyers.” seen as hostile territory for Israel.

Andrzej Przewonik was secretary-general of the Council for the Protection of Struggle and Martyrdom Sites.

I first met him when the Polish government and the American Jewish Committee joined together to demarcate, protect, and memorialize the site of the Nazi death camp in Belzec, located in southeastern Poland. In less than a year, more than 500,000 Jews were killed in an area barely the size of a few football fields. Only two Jews survived.

In June 2004, after years of planning and construction, the site was inaugurated. As the late Miles Lerman said at that solemn ceremony, “No place of martyrdom anywhere is today as well protected and memorialized as Belzec.”

That could not have occurred without Andrzej’s pivotal role. He helped make it happen, overcoming the multiple hurdles along the way. By doing so, he ensured that what took place at Belzec, long neglected by the Communists, would never be forgotten.

May the memories of Lech Kaczynski, Mariusz Handzlik, Andrzej Przewonik – and their fellow passengers – forever be for a blessing, as those of us privileged to have known them were ourselves blessed.

(David Harris is executive director of the American Jewish Committee.)

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OBITUARIES

DEATH NOTICES BERMAN, Bertram Isaac, age 86, died on March 30, 2010; 15 Nissan, 5770.

EGHERMAN, William Philip, age 56, died on April 3, 2010; 19 Nissan, 5770.

SCHAEFFER, Neil Joseph, age 76, died on April 5, 2010; 21 Nissan, 5770.

SCHWARTZ, Stephen, age 69, died on April 6, 2010, 22 NIssan, 5770.

FOX, Marlene, age 75, died on April 7, 2010; 24 Nissan, 5770 BANERJEE, Helen M. “Mitzi,” age 79, died on April 8, 2010; 24 Nissan, 5770.

NINIO, Maurice, age 90, died on April 8, 2010; 24 Nissan, 5770.

LANE, Dr. Joseph A., age 88, died on April 9, 2010; 25 Nissan, 5770.

OKUM, Vriginia F., age 89, died on April 10, 2010; 26 Nissan, 5770.

OBITUARIES EGHERMAN, William Philip William Philip Egherman, born October 3, 1953 in Cincinnati, Ohio, son of Harvey

and Juanita Egherman, passed away on April 3, 2010 in Gainesville, Fla. Dr. Egherman graduated from Walnut Hills High School in 1971.

He received his B.A. in anthropology from the University of Cincinnati and his M.D. from the University of Cincinnati Medical School in 1979. After his third year of medical school, he spent the summer in Kenya, working in a Leprosy Clinic, providing needed medical care, and gaining an appreciation of the local culture and traditions. Since his time in Africa, Dr. Egherman developed and maintained a lifelong love of African art.

After graduation, he proceeded directly to Good Samaritan Hospital for his residency in Internal Medicine for three years followed by a year of Chief Residency, leaving in 1993. He was board certified in both Emergency Medicine and Internal Medicine. He served as writer and editor of Emergency Reports, a landmark CME (Continuing Medical Education) publication during its early years. He worked clinically in the Emergency Departments at Good Samaritan, Dearborn County, Mercy Mariemont Hospital and Jewish Hospital. He moved to Gainesville, Fla. to work at the University of Florida Health Science Center (Shands Hospital).

Dr. Egherman was preceded in death by his father Harvey. He is survived by his mother, Juanita Egherman, two sisters, Rini

THURSDAY, APRIL 15, 2010

KYRGYZ from page 10

William Philip Egherman

(Allan) Gonsher and Leslee (Leonard) Meltzer, nieces Emily (Ari) Kahan and Marie Meltzer, nephews, Joshua, Benjamin and Zachary Gonsher, and five greatnieces and nephews. He also leaves behind his childhood and lifelong friend, Ronnie Margolin, of Chicago.

Dr. Egherman loved the arts and had an incredible collection of art as well as music. He enjoyed art festivals and often befriended the artists and commissioned their work. He had a true love of jazz and blues music, He would find jazz clubs wherever he went and even went on jazz cruises. He enjoyed traveling all over the world and enjoyed hanging out and talking with the musicians throughout his travels. He liked golf, tennis and fishing, a sport he shared with his father. He was a gourmet cook and was the designated cook on many camping and rafting trips. He had an incredible sense of humor – he enjoyed wit and satire and had an extraordinary vocabulary. He loved words and was a daily participant in “the word of the day.”

William Egherman was a beloved son, brother, uncle and friend and will be deeply missed by all who knew him.

Funeral services were held on Wednesday, April 7 at Weil Funeral Home.

Memorial contributions may be made to any Humane Society or to the University of Florida Hillel, 2020 W. University Ave. Gainesville, Fla., 32603, or the charity of your choice.

independent after the collapse of the Soviet Union, Jewish security remained good. Though three-quarters of Kyrgyzstan’s 5.5 million people are Muslim, radical Islam has not really gained a foothold in the country.

“We don’t feel any problems because of the Islamic environment,” Katsman said. “I haven’t heard of any anti-Semitic utterances because of the street violence so far.”

However, one journalist in the country told JTA about an encounter with a group of drunken young people demanding to know if the journalist was Jewish. The leader of the group made a disparaging remark about Jews. In another incident, an anti-Semitic banner was unfurled in a prominent location in Bishkek.

The closest Israeli embassy, in neighboring Kazakhstan, said it was tracking events closely.

The ousted government, while widely considered repressive, was also pro-Western, and the United ALIYAH from page 10 British authorities, then in charge of Palestine, forced the ship to sail back to Europe. The ship docked in Hamburg, Germany.

Greenberg remembers the sinking feeling at being turned back.

“I didn’t believe it. I thought it couldn’t happen after all this,” she said. “I realized we really were wandering Jews.”

In Hamburg, Greenberg, suffering from bad stomach pains, was taken to a hospital where she was reunited with a boyfriend who had wanted to go to the United States, not Palestine. He found her in the hospital and announced, “Francis, you’ve suffered enough,” and promptly told her they would marry and move to Pittsburgh where he had family.

Two years ago, soon after her husband died, Greenberg made aliyah herself. She knew she would eventually make it here, and she joins a daughter who immigrated

States has a large air base in Kyrgyzstan that’s critical to the NATO campaign in nearby Afghanistan. It’s not clear whether or not the U.S. friendliness toward the former regime — which the opposition denounced and which U.S. observers described as a stance borne of pragmatism — will cost the West in its relationship with the new Kyrgyz government, which has close ties to Moscow.

For the time being, the new government announced it would continue to allow U.S. planes to fly over the nation en route to Afghanistan.Opposition members who took control last week said they were interested in creating a government based on “justice and democracy.”

Kyrgyzstan is bordered by three other former Soviet Republics — Tajikistan, Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan – as well as China.

“Jews were treated good in Bishkek even in Soviet times, and we hope that whatever government is in power in Kyrgyzstan, this will remain the same and Jews will prosper here,” Reichman said. here many years ago.

“It’s not easy after all these years living in America, but I’m settling down here slowly,” she said, then joked that she could not afford to acclimate too slowly at her age.

Living in an independent living community in Raanana, near Tel Aviv, she attends an ulpan, but gets frustrated when people speak too quickly.

“It does feel different to be a citizen,” Greenberg said. Tapping into her new inner Israeli she adds: “I’m just not crazy about the politics here.”

Like Greenberg, Miriam Pollak and her husband, both Holocaust survivors, are also in Israel after a long and patient wait. They immigrated in 2007, settling in Petach Tikva, near Tel Aviv, from New Haven, Conn. They brought with them Miriam’s mother, now 90.

Pollak, whose family survived the Holocaust in a Hungarian village on false papers, had first wanted to immigrate in 1949. But her mother, devastated by the loss of her entire family except a sister in Montreal, insisted the family instead go to Canada.

In later years she and her husband, a chemistry professor, were repeatedly unsuccessful in finding work that would allow them to make aliyah. Two of their daughters live in Israel, and they have 17 grandchildren here and another 12 in the United States.

But Israel always seemed like it should be their home, especially after what they lived through, she said.

“We always felt Jews needed a place,” Pollak said. “We saw how during the Second World War nobody wanted us. We need Israel.”