AI2010_07_01

Adath Israel Wise Temple Hazak wins award annual meeting

Xavier Rabbi to speak at dedication of Berlin Wall monument

In Spring 2001, Adath Israel Congregation initiated a fledgling program designed specifically for the enjoyment of its senior members. It began with a group of 30 and has grown over the last nine years to an enthusiastic following of over 400 with a dedicated board of 14 volunteers. In August 2003 the group was officially chartered as HAZAK, a Cincinnati Chapter of the United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism. “We do not charge dues,” said Hazak president, Miriam Elfenbaum, “and we welcome all senior members of the Cincinnati Jewish community to our quarterly programs.

“We offer a wide variety of programs, lectures, music concerts, book review, and an overnight excursion every other year, all with Jewish interests at the core. Since we do not have a professional staff nor any grant to underwrite our programs, we rely on a strict budge and by charging minimum fees for each program,” Elfenbaum continued.

In September 2009 the Adath Israel Hazak board applied

Wise Temple had its Annual Meeting on June 17 and approved a new slate for the Board of Trustees for 20102011. The Installation of the Board was conducted on Friday evening, June 25 at Wise Center.

The Nominating Committee consisted of Billy Bie, Frank Chaiken, Debbie Friedman, Ann Margolis, Robin Newland, Jody Tsevat and Board president Mark Kanter.

Mark Kanter is continuing into his second year of a twoyear term as Board president.

Newly elected Board members are Jonathan Chaiken, Scott Joseph, Paul McOsker and Amanda Rosenberg. In addition, Sue Ransohoff is now a member by presidential appointment.

Andy Markiewitz is the new president of Brotherhood elected to a two-year term. Scott Joseph has finished his term as president.

Nathan Markiewitz is the new president of (e)YGOW (Youth Group of Wise) and Ellen Pittman has finished her

Twenty years after it was torn down, a piece of the Berlin Wall is going back up – this time as a monument to freedom.

On July 3 from 5:30-9:30 p.m., the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center will dedicate a graffiti-covered 4-by-12-foot section of the Berlin Wall as a monument to its fall in 1989. “Freedom without Walls” will feature German dancers, a dedication ceremony, Beethoven’s “Ode to Joy,” hors d’oeuvres, dinner, jazz with the Kathy Wade Trio, and a musical finale.

Xavier University’s Abie Ingber, founding director of the Office of Interfaith Community Engagement, will offer the prayer for the occasion. “The fall of the Berlin Wall represented a critical moment in our modern history when, symbolically, the totalitarian repressive Communist regime collapsed,” Ingber said. “I was linked to this event as a child of Holocaust survivors and as one who worked for human rights

ADATH on page 21

WISE on page 21

RABBI on page 19

Oren ‘clarifies’: Pollard spied for Israel

by Ron Kampeas Jewish Telegraphic Agency WASHINGTON (JTA) — Israel’s ambassador to Washington “clarified” that Jonathan Pollard spied for Israel and was not run by rogues, as he had said earlier.

Michael Oren in an interview Tuesday on the Washington news station WTOP was answering questions about whether Israel still ran spies in the United States.

He was making the case that such allegations are long out of date.

“Israel does not, does not, I stress, collect information on the United States. Jonathan Pollard occurred in the mid-1980s,” Oren

Strong majority rates Israel ‘important’ to U.S. interest

said, referring to the former U.S. Navy analyst who has been serving a life sentence for espionage since 1986. “Now we’re talking about an event that was run by a rogue organization in the Israeli intelligence community. That was, what, 25 years ago?”

In fact, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu acknowledged in 1998, during his last term, that Pollard was spying on behalf of Israel.

Oren’s comment spurred an angry response from Pollard’s wife, Esther.

“I don’t know from where to draw strength to tell my husband that the country he so loves and

for which he worked with such self-sacrifice is once again knifing him in the back,” she said in a statement.

Oren released his clarification Tuesday afternoon, reportedly under pressure from Netanyahu.

“Ambassador Michael Oren wishes to clarify that, in responding to a journalist’s question, he attempted to emphasize that the Pollard incident occurred over 25 years ago by a unit that no longer exists, for which Israel took full responsibility,” the statement said. “As has been stated, Mr. Pollard worked for and on behalf of Israel, and the ambassador hopes for his earliest release.”

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CINCINNATI JEWISH LIFE

DINING OUT

FASHION

Jewish sparklers light up the Fourth

Yom Hashoah Commemoration at the Mayerson JCC

Sugar n’ Spice — everything is nice

The Wearing of the Green

By Ron Kampeas Jewish Telegraphic Agency WASHINGTON (JTA) — A strong majority of Americans views relations with Israel as extremely or fairly important to the U.S. national interest, a poll showed.

The Wall Street Journal/NBC poll published June 23 showed 39 percent of respondents said relations with Israel were “extremely important” and 26 percent said they were “fairly important” — a total of 65 percent.

Those answering “just somewhat important” counted for 25 percent of respondents and those responding “not important at all” were 7 percent, with 3 percent not sure.

Asked “Are your sympathies more with Israel or more with Arab nations?” 61 percent of respondents chose Israel, 12 percent chose Arab nations, 5 percent said both, 11 percent said neither and 11 percent were not sure.

Respondents also were asked INTEREST on page 21

THURSDAY, JULY 1, 2010 19 TAMMUZ, 5770 CINCINNATI, OHIO S HABBAT C ANDLE L IGHTING T IMES : F RIDAY 8:50 – S ATURDAY 9:50

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The Cincinnati Community Kollel’s annual event, honoring Gene and Elise Mesh

(L-R) Gene Mesh, Elise Mesh, Dr. Charles Mesh, Aaron Mesh, Allison Mesh, Jordan Mesh, Governor Ted Strickland, Akiva Harris, Dr. Michael Harris, Chaim Yehuda Harris, Yaakov Harris, Racheli Harris, Sarah Rina Harris, Sydney Harris, Larry Mesh

(L-R) Gene Mesh, Elise Mesh, Governor Ted Strickland

(L-R) Elise Mesh, Gene Mesh

(L-R) Rabbi Meir Minster, Steve Rosedale, Elise Mesh, Governor Ted Strickland, Gene Mesh, Dick Weiland, Rabbi David Spetner

(L-R) Gene Mesh, Governor Ted Strickland

(L-R) Rabbi Meir Minster, Gene Mesh, Rabbi David Spetner

(L-R) Sydney Harris, Chaim Yehuda Harris

(L-R) Dr. Michael Harris, Yaakov Harris, Sydney Harris, Gene Mesh, Elise Mesh, Sarah Rina Harris, Racheli Harris, Chaim Yehuda Harris, Larry Mesh

(L-R) Rabbi Binyomin Spiro, Roberta Fisher, Elise Mesh, Iris Diamond, Sylvia Slovin

(L-R) Rabbi Binyomin Spiro, Gene Mesh, Elise Mesh

LOCAL

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Holocaust Studies for Educators course named in honor of local survivors Roma and Sam Kaltman experience but also about what students can do to fight injustice. I demand that everyone understand the vulnerability of humans. To help us remember that vulnerability, we must never forget the Shoah.” Thanks to the Isidor and Kaltman families, educators in Cincinnati never will.

Each year, the Holocaust Studies for Educators Summer Institute (HSE) equips 25-30 educators in public, private and parochial schools with content

knowledge, resources and processes to advance Holocaust and tolerance education. Skilled presenters, field-tested materials and motivated educators combine to ensure that the HSE Summer Institute gives educators the tools and resources to effectively teach the Holocaust and its lessons through an innovative, interdisciplinary approach. There are hundreds of graduates and this gift ensures hundreds more will participate in the program.

The 2010 class of Holocaust Studies for Educators, with the Kaltman family. Roma is seated third from the right, and her daughter Sandy is next to her. Her son-in-law John Isidor is kneeling.

CINCINNATI — The Center for Holocaust and Humanity Education marks the 15th year of Holocaust Studies for Educators, a graduate level course designed to equip teachers with the tools to teach about the Holocaust and its lessons. It is significant that as the course reaches this milestone it is being named in honor of Holocaust survivors Roma and Sam Kaltman by their daughter and son-in-law, Sandy Kaltman and John Isidor.

Sam and Roma Kaltman met in

Lodz, Poland—the city of their births and site of one of the most infamous ghettos in Nazi-occupied Europe. After Roma borrowed a book from Sam, the two began a romance that would be interrupted by Roma’s deportations to Auschwitz and Stuthoff, and Sam’s to Auschwitz and Dachau. Miraculously surviving, the two were eventually reunited and married, picking up where they had left off in Lodz, this time with considerably brighter prospects.

Eager to create a new life together, Sam and Roma moved to Cincinnati, where they raised their children Sandy and Jerry, and became active in the community.

Both are known for their deep commitment to Holocaust education. Sam served as president of the Survivors of Nazism, the predecessor of The Center for Holocaust and Humanity Education. He passed away in 1990.

As Roma writes, “I have spoken in the Cincinnati community for many years not only about my

Writings of the first American ambassador to Israel discussed in program at Wise Temple CINCINNATI — As part of the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum’s dedication to bringing Holocaust educational programming to communities nationwide, museum archivist Stephen Mize discussed the recently published writings of American diplomat James Grover McDonald at a free public program, held on June 28 at Isaac M. Wise Temple.

Through a number of key diplomatic posts – from League of Nations High Commissioner for Refugees in the 1930s to the first U.S. Ambassador to Israel in 1949 – McDonald closely interacted with many of the day’s leading personalities. His diaries, only discovered in 2004, record meetings with Presidents Hoover,

Roosevelt and Truman; Hitler and Mussolini; Cardinal Pacelli, the future Pope Pius XII; and Israeli leaders such as David Ben Gurion, Chaim Weizmann and Golda Meir; among many others. His writings eventually filled more than 10,000 pages and offer a unique firsthand glimpse into events of World War II, the Holocaust and the creation of the State of Israel.

Mize discussed McDonald’s papers, their historical significance and how a combination of detective work and serendipity led to their being donated to the museum. Indiana University Press, in association with the museum, is publishing McDonald’s papers in a projected three-volume set. The second volume, “Refugees and

Rescue, The Diaries and Papers of James G. McDonald, 1934-1945,” was published in April 2009.

“Very few individuals interact with such a stunning array of historical figures and events,” said Mize. “McDonald had access to the highest levels of governments in the U.S. and abroad for almost three decades. Early on, he recognized the threat that Nazi regime posed to European Jewry and worked tirelessly to warn governments and organizations of the coming danger.”

This free program was presented by the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum’s Midwest Regional Office in partnership with Isaac M. Wise Temple and the Center for Holocaust and Humanity Education.

The American Israelite is currently seeking an

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This position is part-time, flexible hours.

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Local men receive prestigious international scholarship

Schottenstein Chabad House executive director, Rabbi Areyah Kaltmann, thanks Mr. Samuel Boymel for his support with a gift of shmura matzah.

Boymel’s generosity makes seders possible Hundreds of Jews across central Ohio had the opportunity this spring to experience the warmth and beauty of Passover because of one man’s generosity and desire to honor his beloved wife.

In March, Sam Boymel of Cincinnati sponsored Passover Seders on The Ohio State University Campus, in Bexley and at the Lori Schottenstein Chabad Center in New Albany.

As a result, every new American, OSU student and other member of the central Ohio Jewish community had a “home” for the holiday.

“We are so grateful to Mr. and Mrs. Boymel,” Schottenstein Chabad House executive director, Rabbi Areyah Kaltmann said.

“Without them, we could not have created the haimishness that is the hallmark of the Passover holiday. We feel very blessed to have such generous and dear friends.”

The Boymel family has a long history of supporting efforts to

“Mr. Boymel has seen how easy it is for our Jewish heritage and culture to slip away and he is committed to making sure that never happens.”

Rabbi Kaltmann

ensure Jewish continuity in central Ohio and beyond. Their commitment stems from their firsthand exposure during the Holocaust to the near-annihilation of European Jewry. In addition to sponsoring this year’s Passover Seders, Boymel was the founding sponsor of the Jewish day camp Camp Gan Israel in Columbus 13 years ago.

It is the Boymel’s personal mission to fulfill the Passover for students at The Ohio State

University. In this way, they hope to inspire them and ensure the celebration of this special holiday in our Jewish heritage by the generations to come.

“Mr. Boymel has seen how easy it is for our Jewish heritage and culture to slip away and he is committed to making sure that never happens,” Rabbi Kaltmann said. “For that, every single Jew, regardless of his or her level of observance, owes him a debt of gratitude.”

The Jewish Foundation for the Righteous (JFR) has selected 37 educators from 13 states and from two European countries — Croatia and Poland — as well as South Africa and Canada to be Alfred Lerner Fellows.

Among those chosen are two Cincinnatians from the Center for Holocaust and Humanity Education (CHHE): Jeffrey Stayton, who teaches Social Studies at Summit Country Day School; and Kyle Funk, a Social Studies teacher at Colerain High School.

As Alfred Lerner Fellows, Stayton and Funk will learn about the history of the Holocaust and explore new ways to teach it during a five-day program at Columbia University from June 27 through July 1, 2010.

According to Sarah Weiss of the CHHE, the JFR chose the Cincinnati organization as a “Center of Excellence.” As a result of this designation, the CHHE was able to send “two of the best local educators” to New York for this program.

In describing the Cincinnati honorees, Weiss said that “Jeff Stayton has taught for many years and is a role model for the teaching of the Holocaust. Mr. Funk is a newer teacher who is very dedicated to teaching the history of the Holocaust. We are excited about being able to send them both to New York for this program.”

The JFR program is an intensive academic seminar in which participants are exposed to Holocaust survivors such as Roman Kent, and to noted Holocaust scholars including, Jeffrey Burds, Henry Feingold, Peter Hayes, Samuel Kassow, Harry Reicher, Nechama Tec, Debórah Dwork and Robert Jan van Pelt. The program is designed to allow participants to meet in small groups following each lecture to share teaching concepts and to develop approaches that will help students connect to the subject matter.

Educators selected for the program must be English or social studies teachers at the middle or high school level, must have taught at least five years, must be SCHOLARSHIP on page 22

LET THERE BE LIGHT

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

by Isaac M.Wise VOL. 156 • NO. 49 Thursday, July 1, 2010 19 Tammuz, 5770 Shabbat begins Fri, 8:50 p.m.

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With flotillas, marches and vigils, Jews press for Shalit’s release

Gili Yaari / Flash 90 / JTA

Led by Gilad Shalit’s family, thousands of Israelis began a march to Jerusalem from northern Israel to press for the release of the captive soldier, June 27, 2010.

By JTA Staff Jewish Telegraphic Agency NEW YORK (JTA) — Some 100 to 200 passengers in all, they came as members of a selfdescribed True Freedom Flotilla intent on promoting a Middle Eastrelated humanitarian mission.

Instead of breaking the Israeli blockade of Gaza, however, as was the goal of the flotilla of ships that was intercepted May 31 by the Israeli Navy in the Mediterranean Sea, this flotilla sought to call attention to the plight of Gilad Shalit, the Israeli soldier held captive in Gaza.

Two ships set sail from Pier 40 on Manhattan’s West Side to the waters of the East River near the United Nations, on the other side of Manhattan Island. They were joined by several motorboats.

“We have to point it out in a dramatic way to get the message out,” said Malcolm Hoenlein, executive vice chairman of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, which organized last week’s flotilla. “We can’t just write another letter to the president.”

The flotilla was one of several initiatives around the world over the last few days calling attention to the plight of Shalit, who was taken captive in a cross-border raid four years ago this month.

At a time when the world appears to be more focused on Israel’s blockade of Hamas-run Gaza and the Palestinian population inside Gaza, organizers of the Shalit events said they wanted to shift attention back to Hamas’ refusal to release Shalit or even allow him a visit by the International Red Cross.

Hamas and Israel have been unable to reach accord on a deal to free Shalit, who was taken captive on June 25, 2006 in a raid along the Israel-Gaza border.

Calling their ship the True Freedom Flotilla was one way the organizers of the Shalit events sought to recast the interpretation of events in the Middle East to portray Hamas as the true aggressor, not Israel.

The name True Freedom Flotilla was meant to “point out the exact hypocrisy of the terminology that they used,” Hoenlein said. “This is what the real flotilla is about.”

In Chicago, Jewish groups held a candlelight vigil for Shalit, drawing some 500 people, and called on users of the online social networking sites Facebook and Twitter to change their profile pictures to one of the captive Israeli soldier and to promote his release in status updates.

“It’s nice to express your views on things and not just be sitting at home and watching a movie all night,” 12-year-old Meital Hoffman, a student at the Solomon Schechter Day School in Skokie, Ill., said at the vigil, according to Chicago JUF News.

“It’s good to do something and be noticed and make a difference.”

In Rome, the floodlights illuminating the ancient Colosseum were turned off at 11 p.m. — midnight in Israel — on the day four years ago that Shalit was taken captive.

Floodlights were turned off as well at the Castello Sforzesco in Milan and the Mole Antonelliano in Turin, a towering building that is the symbol of the city and originally was designed, but never used, as a synagogue.

In Paris, thousands who turned out for pro-Israel demonstrations called for the release of Shalit, who holds dual French-Israeli citizenship.

In Washington, the U.S. House of Representatives marked the anniversary of Shalit’s capture by unanimously passing a resolution calling for his release. U.S. Rep. Gary Ackerman (D-N.Y.) initiated the House bill.

“These allegedly religious militants are just thugs — nothing more,” Ackerman said of Hamas in his floor speech introducing the nonbinding resolution. “They hold up all kinds of banners and they champion all sorts of causes and they claim all kinds of mandates.

But their real goal is power, and their true intention is the destruction of Israel.”

In Israel, Shalit’s family and at least 2,000 supporters were marching to Jerusalem from the family’s home in Mitzpe Hila, near the IsraelLebanon border, to demand Shalit’s release. The 120-mile walk, under the slogan “Gilad is still alive,” is expected to take 12 days and stop at sites significant to the family.

Once in Jerusalem — where on the anniversary of Shalit’s capture Mayor Nir Barkat ordered the lights around the walls of the Old City to be turned off in solidarity — the family will sit in a protest tent erected across from the Prime Minister’s Office.

The Jewish Community Relations Council of New York said it had collected more than 10,000 messages of support for Shalit to send to the Red Cross demanding that Hamas allow the Red Cross to visit him. The JCRC also encouraged rabbis to speak about Shalit in their Shabbat sermons, sending out a draft sermon by Rabbi Joseph Potasnik, the executive director of the New York Board of Rabbis, that could be adapted locally.

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Jewish sparklers light up the Fourth

by Edmon J. Rodman Jewish Telegraphic Agency LOS ANGELES (JTA) — Millions of Fourth of July fuses waiting to be lit are a good sign for Bruce Zoldan and his family business, the B.J. Alan Company, the second largest importer and wholesaler of consumer fireworks in the United States.

But it’s already been a pretty hectic year thanks to their unwanted role in the failed Times Square bombing: The consumer-grade firecrackers that were used in the car bomb were purchased from a B.J. Alan distributor in Pennsylvania.

“The M88 he used wouldn’t damage a watermelon,” Zoldan was quoted as saying in an Associated Press story. “Thank goodness he used that.”

Using video from the store, the company was able to help the FBI identify the suspect, according to one of B.J. Alan’s vice presidents, Bill Weimer.

“Bruce and I were talking about it recently,” Weimer told JTA. “Here we are, trying to help celebrate freedom, and idiots like this were trying to use the products to do harm.”

The company, based in Youngstown, Ohio, imports and markets cleverly packaged fireworks that spark, boom or whistle under its two main trade names, Phantom and Wolf Pack. And it turns out there is a very Jewish tint to the “the rocket’s red glare” – namely all five of the company’s principals: Zoldan and his wife, Rori, a sabra who runs the advertising and public relations; his brother Alan and first cousin Jerry Bostocky, who both serve as vice presidents, and Weimer.

“I’m the only one who is not part of the family,” Weimer says.

Established in 1977 by Bruce Zoldan, the company has retail stores and showrooms in 13 states, and up to 1,250 additional seasonal sales outlets in 17 others.

In 2009, the American Pyrotechnics Association reported revenues for the fireworks business at $945 million. That same year, gross sales for B.J. Alan totaled approximately $100 million.

Phantom sells aerials, rockets and missiles with names like Flying Aerial Circus and Shagadellic Mojo Blue, and fountains and cones with names like Moondance, described in catalogue prose as emitting “purple pearls and glittering crackling chrysanthemums.”

Additionally they sell wheels, firecrackers and sparklers — everything you might need to light up a Fourth of July night.

The company also owns

B. J. Alan Company of Youngstown

Bruce Zoldan standing in the Youngstown, Ohio, retail showroom of his fireworks company.

Diamond Sparkler, which according to Weimer is “the last continually producing sparkler factory left in the U.S.” On the company Web site, Zoldan says that “I just can’t envision something as American as sparklers, with its association with the 4th of July, not being made in this country.”

“We employ 400 people year round,” Weimer said. “We are a small company that around the Fourth of July expands itself to 2,500.”

How did the family get into the business?

Weimer tells the story: “Bruce, along with his uncle, was in the rack goods business, keeping stores supplied with various items, and one of their customers asked for sparklers. Bruce filled the order. For the next six or seven years he expanded from that until he met a broker from Hong Kong and bought his first container of fireworks.”

On occasion, the company leaders have integrated their love of sparks into Jewish life.

No, they have yet to market a spark emitting Havdalah candle.

But at family bar and bat mitzvahs, and even at a wedding rehearsal dinner, the folks who run the company have had “outdoor

and indoor pyrotechnic displays,” Weimer says.

They also have put on fireworks shows for the local American Cancer Society’s fundraiser, “Relay for Life.”

“We feel it’s important for Jews to be out in the community,” Weimer said.

On its Web site, Phantom fireworks invites recognized religious groups and 501(c)(3) charitable organizations to sign up and sell the company’s product line as a way to “earn significant amounts of money.”

“We get a lot churches and Little League groups,” Weimer said.

Though fireworks, both aerial and ground based, are legal in many states, some states and cities have either severely regulated or banned them, often citing safety concerns. In response, the company has been heavily involved with consumer safety.

“We are one of the founders of the American Standards and Fireworks Laboratory,” Weimer noted, adding that this month, the company is organizing its first fireworks safety classes, in Florida and Ohio.

In a bid to expand their product line, the Zoldans and company

have made a connection with the Gruccis, a renowned fireworks family that has been in the business for six generations. Part of the Gruccis’ fame comes from running the Fourth of July New York Harbor fireworks show.

Phantom now licenses and produces consumer versions of some of the Grucci family’s pyrotechnics.

Considering Bruce and Alan Zoldan’s parents came to the United States from Russia and Austria-Hungary, one of their Grucci collaborations, the “New York Harbor Fountain,” might best illustrate the “coming to America” spirit illuminated by the family stories behind both companies.

Pictured on the label is the first thing many immigrants saw upon entering New York Harbor: the Statue of Liberty — in this rendering, showered with red, white, blue and golden sparks.

Burst by burst the fountain, a popular item, illuminates the night and the journeys of the millions who have come to the United States through New York Harbor in a spectacularly American way.

(Edmon J. Rodman is a JTA columnist who writes on Jewish life from Los Angeles.)

National Briefs U.S. calls flotillas to Gaza ‘irresponsible’ WASHINGTON (JTA) — The Obama administration said seabound aid to Gaza is “irresponsible.”

“Mechanisms exist for the transfer of humanitarian assistance to Gaza by member states and groups that want to do so,” a U.S. State Department release said Wednesday, in response to a reporter’s question about Lebanese plans to ship aid to the Gaza Strip.

“Direct delivery by sea is neither appropriate nor responsible, and certainly not effective, under the circumstances.”

Israel last month raided an aid flotilla attempting to breach its blockade of the strip, imposed to squeeze the Hamas terrorist leadership. Five boats were rerouted peacefully, but clashes aboard a sixth Turkish-flagged ship resulted in the deaths of nine passengers and the wounding of seven Israeli troops, setting off an international incident.

Since then, Israel has loosened the blockade to allow in all goods except for those that potentially could provide Hamas with arms.

The State Department statement said the policy of transferring assistance through Israel had the backing of the international community through the Quartet, the grouping of the United States, the European Union, the United Nations and Russia that guides the Middle East peace process.

“We, along with our partners in the Quartet, urge all those wishing to deliver goods to do so through established channels so that their cargo can be inspected and transferred via land crossings into Gaza,” it said.

“There is no need for unnecessary confrontations, and we, along with our partners in the Quartet, call on all parties to act responsibly in meeting the needs of the people of Gaza.”

Mass. group pushes antiIsrael resolutions WASHINGTON (JTA) — A group in Massachusetts is campaigning for localities to pass nonbinding resolutions questioning Israel’s democracy.

“Shall the state representative from this district be instructed to vote in favor of a nonbinding resolution calling on the federal government to support the right of all people, including to non-Jewish Palestinian citizens of Israel, to live free from laws that give more rights to one people of one religion than another?” says the ballot question proposed in at least four localities by a group called Mass. Residents for International Human Rights, the Associated Press reported this week.

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THURSDAY, JULY 1, 2010

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Israeli doctors set aside emotions in treating flotilla passengers

By Adam Kredo Guest Author WASHINGTON (Washington Jewish Week) — The call came early on a recent morning: A helicopter carrying those wounded during a deadly raid on a Gaza-bound flotilla would soon arrive at the Hadassah Medical Center in Jerusalem.

But as doctors began unloading the injured, they quickly realized it

wasn’t Israeli soldiers who had been rushed to their facility for emergency treatment.

“In a few minutes, we understood that they are really the terrorists who were brought to our hospital,” Dr. Shlomo Mor-Yosef, Hadassah’s director general, recalled in a recent interview.

The medical team was tasked with providing care to about seven severely injured Turks who had suf-

fered injuries to their extremities and lungs after engaging in a deadly clash with Israeli Navy commandos in the early morning of May 31.

Would the Israeli medical staffers be able to uphold their Hippocratic Oath and treat patients who had attacked Israeli soldiers just hours earlier?

“For me it was not an issue,” said Mor-Yosef, who was in Washington on June 15 to attend a symposium at

the National Guard Association. “I didn’t respect [the Turkish patients] and I don’t agree with what they did ... but at the same time I wanted to provide them the best treatment possible and to cure them.”

Mor-Yosef says his staff — some of whom performed life-preserving surgery on several of the wounded boat passengers — felt similarly.

“Nobody said, ‘I don’t want to

treat them.’ Nobody found an excuse to go to other places,” he recalled.

“Everybody knew the helicopters were on their way and came to the trauma unit. And the minute they knew [the patients] were from Turkey, the treatment was [delivered] as expected on a professional level.”

Apparently not all of the hospital’s donors agreed with the impartial EMOTIONS on page 22

‘The Man Who Saved Tel Aviv’ to get his due in D.C.

By Tom Tugend Jewish Telegraphic Agency LOS ANGELES (JTA) — As the sun slowly sets over the U.S. Marine Corps War Memorial grounds outside Washington on July 6, ex-U.S. Marine and Israel Air Force fighter pilot Lou Lenart will be on the reviewing stand flanked by generals and saluting as the precision marching drill teams and bands pass by.

No doubt the scene will seem like a fantasy for Lenart, 89, looking back at his arrival in the United States as Layos Lenovitz, a 10year-old farmboy from a small Hungarian village near the Czech border who came with his family to live in the Pennsylvania coal-mining town of Wilkes-Barre and was mocked for his odd accent.

That farmboy, the regular target of anti-Semitic taunts, would go on to fly missions in Okinawa and on the Japanese mainland for the United States, clandestinely join the effort to smuggle war planes into prestate Israel in anticipation of its struggle for independence and fly salvaged World War II fighter planes while evading the British blockade.

One Israeli newspaper in a headline dubbed Lenart “The Man Who Saved Tel Aviv” for his exploits fighting against a superior Egyptian force in May 1948.

The hourlong Sunset Parade will start against the background of the 32-foot high bronze Marine War Memorial, adjacent to the Arlington National Cemetery, of five Marines and a Navy corpsman raising the flag on Iwo Jima.

Before the parade, Brig. Gen. Michael Brogan, commander of the Marine Corps Systems Command, will briefly recount Lenart’s services to the United States and Israel.

(The ceremony is open and free to the public.)

Lenart says the hour on the reviewing stand will be a highlight of a very full life.

“I owe so much to the United States and the Marine Corps, which gave a young Jewish immigrant sanctuary and an opportunity to excel,” he said. “This climax is beyond my wildest fantasies.”

Tom Tugend

(L) Lou Lenart, a Hungarian immigrant, as a fighter pilot in the U.S. Marines at age 23 in 1945. (R) Lou Lenart as an Israeli fighter pilot in 1948, when he helped gain independence for Israel and Tel Aviv.

Lenart joined the U.S. Marines in 1940 at the age of 18, and after a year-and-a-half of infantry training he talked his way into flight school.

A midair collision nearly cost Lenart his life, but despite doctors predictions he was back in the cockpit. Lenart flew an F4U Corsair in the battle of Okinawa and took part in numerous attacks on the Japanese mainland.

After World War II Lenart learned that 14 relatives in Hungary had been killed in Auschwitz, so it took little added incentive for the ex-captain to clandestinely join the effort to smuggle war planes into prestate Israel in anticipation of its struggle for independence.

The job of flying salvaged World War II fighter planes while evading the British blockade was

harrowing enough. But when Lenart landed at a makeshift airfield in May 1948, the State of Israel was a week old and invading Egyptian forces were moving up the coast to Tel Aviv.

On May 29 of that year, some 10,000 Egyptians with tanks and artillery were 16 miles south of Tel Aviv, and in a desperate move Israel unleashed its entire air force: four Czech-made planes — the Avia S199, a bastardized version of the German Messerschmitt Me-109, whose 20 mm canons fired through the rotating propeller blades in World War I fashion.

The Egyptian troops, who had been assured that the Israelis had no aircraft, were so surprised and unnerved by the attack that they halted their advance on Tel Aviv.

Among the four pilots manning the planes, subsequently enshrined as the pioneer fathers of the Israel Air Force, were Ezer Weizman, later president of the state, and Lenart, the only living survivor among the four.

“I think it was for this precise moment in history that I was born,” Lenart said in an interview.

After the war, Lenart participated in the airlift of Iraqi Jews to Israel, flew for El Al Airlines and became a movie producer (“Iron Eagle” and “Iron Eagle II,” among others), dividing his time between his homes in Tel Aviv and Los Angeles.

He has left Israel another legacy in his daughter Michal, who followed in her father’s footsteps by serving in the Israel Air Force.

Lenart is continuing his mission to pass on his experiences to future generations as a lecturer, writer and consultant to movie projects.

Currently he is working with Dan Gordon, a Hollywood writer, who has completed the screenplay for “On Eagles Wings,” a feature film on the birth of the Israel Air Force.

Gordon says the headline about “The Man Who Saved Tel Aviv” is no exaggeration.

“In many ways, Lou was what Lafayette and Nathan Hale were to the American Revolution,” Gordon said. “If it hadn’t been for Lou and his three comrades, Tel Avivians would be speaking Arabic today.

“Or, perhaps better, is to paraphrase Winston Churchill, ‘Never in the field of human conflict was so much owed by so many to so few.’”

8

NATIONAL

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Congress passes new Iran sanctions In a race of Jewish candidates, the challenger targets Schakowsky on Israel

By Ron Kampeas Jewish Telegraphic Agency

WASHINGTON (JTA) — Congress overwhelmingly passed expansive new Iran sanctions.

The sanctions passed Thursday in both houses: 99-0 in the Senate and 408-8 in the U.S. House of Representatives, and now go to President Obama for signing.

The sanctions expand existing sanctions targeting investment in Iran’s energy sector to encompass trade with the energy escort and business with the banking sector.

“This legislation tells Iran and its trading partners that the United States means business about stopping Iran’s illicit nuclear activities,” U.S. Rep. Howard Berman (D-Calif.), the chairman of the

By Ron Kampeas Jewish Telegraphic Agency WASHINGTON (JTA) — Joel Pollak has traveled from liberal to conservative in his young lifetime, and now he hopes to take Chicago’s storied Lakefront with him.

The Harvard Law School graduate, 32, is running a quixotic campaign against U.S. Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D-Ill.), who has held the seat since 1999, winning 75 percent majorities in elections along the way.

Pollak’s emphasis has been the economy, but Schakowsky’s close ties to President Obama has made Israel an issue in this heavily Jewish district.

Making it more interesting: Pollak and Schakowsky are Jewish.

He’s Orthodox, she’s not. He has the support of Alan Dershowitz, she is backed by J Street and the Chicago-based pro-Israel, proabortion rights political action committee known as JACPAC. It’s a potent mix and potential proxy fight, reflecting at least on paper several Jewish demographic trends — most notably the increasing willingness of Orthodox Jews and some pro-Israel Democrats to line up behind GOP candidates.

Pollak has been quick to question Schakowsky’s bona fides on Israel.

“She plays a very cheap game of ethnic politics when it comes to Israel, but doesn’t understand the issues and the dangers,” Pollak said. “She’ll show up at the events and sign the letters when she’s pressured to do so.”

Schakowsky has said that her pro-Israel record is 100 percent, and pro-Israel insiders — including at JACPAC, the Joint Action Committee for Public Affairs — agree that she has been reliable on the issues that concern the community, particularly Iran.

She chided Pollak for making it a campaign issue.

“The strength of the U.S.-Israel relationship has been from the first minute the bipartisan support, and for a candidate to make it into a campaign issue without any warrant to do so is not helpful for Israel,” the veteran congresswoman said.

Pollak has picked at two areas where he thinks Schakowsky is vulnerable: She has accepted the endorsement of the upstart lobby J Street; and Helen Thomas headlined a Schakowsky fundraiser

JTA Photo

Jan Schakowksy

JTA Photo

just weeks before the longtime journalist’s career imploded after she said Israeli Jews should “go home” to Poland, Germany and the United States.

Schakowsky distanced herself after the Thomas incident, saying that the journalist’s views on Israel did not come up during the “power lunch.” In a statement, Schakowsky said it was time for Thomas to retire.

“I think it is fitting that she has resigned her position as a columnist for Hearst over her inappropriate and highly offensive remarks,” the statement said. “It is a sad ending to Thomas’ pioneering career — one that has been uplifting for women in journalism — but it is clear that there is no room for such deplorable bias, nor should there be.”

CANDIDATES on page 22

resisted, granting him a 12-month waiver, with the stipulation that he explain to Congress the reasons for waiving the sanctions and periodically report whether the sanctions-busters are falling into line.

The new sanctions also incorporate language introduced by Reps. Ron Klein (D-Fla.), Steve Israel (D-N.Y.), Steve Rothman (D-N.J.) and Mark Kirk (R-Ill.) targeting businesses that contract to the U.S. government. Such businesses must now certify that they do not do business with Iran.

The language drew support after revelations that the U.S. government had done at least $107 billion in recent years with contractors that do business with Iran.

The enhanced sanctions also target human rights abusers in Iran.

Chabad schools, gets schooled in diplomacy at D.C. confab

by Ron Kampeas Jewish Telegraphic Agency

Joel Pollak

House Foreign Affairs Committee said in a statement. “It greatly strengthens our nation’s overall sanctions regime regarding Iran, increasing the prospects that Iran will finally bear serious costs for its blatant defiance of the international community.”

By adding tough new reporting requirements, the enhanced sanctions also considerably restrict the president’s ability to ignore the sanctions; Presidents Clinton, Bush and Obama each bypassed the earlier sanctions passage passed in 1996.

President Obama had sought an blanket exemption in the new sanctions bill for countries that have joined the United States in multilateral sanctions through the U.N. Security Council; Congress

WASHINGTON (JTA) — Chabad emissaries usually associate Washington with their emphasis on education, but this year they got a taste of foreign policy suasion while handing out some, too.

Hundreds of emissaries from across the United States and the world descended on the U.S. capital for two days last week for a conference organized by American Friends of Lubavitch.

The highlight of the visit was a “drop-in” while the group was meeting with White House officials on June 17: Vice President Joe Biden came by the Old Executive Office Building conference hall and stayed for 40 minutes.

Biden acknowledged Rabbi Avraham Shemtov, the Philadelphia-based leader of the movement who befriended Biden during his decades-long tenure as Delaware senator.

The vice president reviewed Chabad teachings he had acquired over the years, including the necessity of combining “wisdom, knowledge and understanding,” and related them to the administration’s handling of the Middle East.

Biden suggested that the threat posed by Iran necessitated intensive peacemaking and it was important for the Jewish community to understand that context.

“As you’ve always taught me, the rebbe said, what we do for one day isn’t enough for the next day,” Biden said.

Rabbi Levi Shemtov, Avraham Shemtov’s son who heads American Friends of Lubavitch,

said that Biden’s framing of the issue with a Chabad precept touched those in the room “who might not see him eye to eye” on the issue.

“He resonated not as a condescending politician but rather as a real friend who was deeply anxious about certain developments,” Levi Shemtov said.

Shemtov was on the giving end of political persuasion the day previous, when no official from the Turkish Embassy appeared at a luncheon designed to couple the emissaries with diplomats from their countries.

Shemtov called the embassy and spoke to the deputy chief of mission, Suleyman Gokce.

“I asked him, ‘Are you trying to send a message to all the Jews in the world?’” Shemtov said. He referred to concerns that recent Turkey-Israel tensions would reverberate on Turkey’s Jewish community.

Gokce arrived at the cavernous Andrew Mellon Hall, along the National Mall, in time and took his seat next to the Istanbul emissary, Rabbi Mendy Citrik.

Shemtov took the microphone to welcome him.

“I say to you, we discussed your presence today and whether your chair next to your colleague would be empty,” he said. “I hope that you will go back and take a message to your mission, to the ambassador, the foreign minister, to the prime minister and the president, all of whom we have met over the years. We want to once again have that warm relationship of centuries, and we hope that the current difficulties will subside in due course.”

As a consequence, Murad Mercan, the chairman of the Turkish parliament’s foreign affairs committee who happened to be in Washington, attended the dinner that evening with Elie Wiesel. The Holocaust memoirist and Nobel Peace laureate focused his talk on remembering Mendel Menachem Schneerson, the Chabad-Lubavitch movement’s late rebbe.

The conference also included a breakfast with top Congress members, including Reps. Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) and John Boehner (ROhio), respectively the majority and minority leaders in the U.S. House of Representatives.

The days were marked as well by a typical Chabad phenomenon: Top government officials getting mushy about Judaism.

Jack Lew, the deputy secretary of state, abjured diplospeak at the luncheon and instead shared the difficulties of an Orthodox Jew serving a 24/7 political culture.

And after a briefing on education – the movement’s signature issue, recognized each March by a White House proclamation named for Schneerson – Shawn Maher, a key White House official liaising with Congress, withdrew a small green felt box.

Maher had been legislative director for Rep. Joe Kennedy (DMass.), who had chaired the House coinage subcommittee when Chabad lobbied for a Congressional Medal commemorating Schneerson.

Maher opened the box and, to gasps, produced his own version of the medal, saying he cherished it as one of the markers of his career.

INTERNATIONAL

THURSDAY, JULY 1, 2010

International Briefs Greek flotilla passengers suing Israel’s Navy ATHENS (JTA) — Greek citizens who sailed on a Gaza-bound flotilla are suing Israel’s Navy.

The more than 30 members of the A Ship To Gaza organization, as well as the two companies that owned boats that took part in the May 31 flotilla to Gaza, are suing the Israeli naval commando unit Flotilla 13, Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak, Chief of Staff Gabi Ashkenazi and Navy chief Eliezer Merom for the way the passengers were treated during and following their arrest in Israel following the flotilla’s interception

by Israel, which led to the deaths of nine Turkish passengers.

According to the complaint, announced by the activists’ lawyer in Athens, the activists want “Justice to be served for the inhuman way they were treated while on Israel soil.”

They also plan to sue the commandos and Israeli police that took part in the raid.

The complaint demands that the Israeli officials be extradited to Greece in order to stand trial in a Greek court.

Attack on Jewish dancers raises fears BERLIN (JTA) — Following an attack on dancers at a Jewish festival, Jewish leaders say they are worried about a possible upsurge in anti-Semitism among Muslim youth.

A group reportedly consisting mostly of children and teens of immigrant backgrounds threw stones at the Chaverim dancers from the Hanover Liberal congregation on June 19 and shouted “Jews out!” One dancer was slightly injured; the performance was canceled.

The stone throwers were mostly of Lebanese, Palestinian and Iranian origin, the Welt Online daily reported. Police have identified six suspects in the attack, five Arab immigrants and one German.

The city of Hanover has filed charges of slander and intent to cause grave physical harm.

Reportedly it was the first violent anti-Semitic incident this year in the greater Hanover area that was not committed by neo-Nazis.

Charlotte Knobloch, the president of the Central Council of Jews in Germany, said the incident reveals an urgent need to combat “vehement” anti-Semitism among Muslims in Germany, which she called the “new social challenge.”

Ozkan Aygul, minister of integration for the state of Lower Saxony, told Welt Online through a

spokesperson that she was “deeply dismayed” by the incident.

The Jewish community of Berlin has prodded local police recently to investigate hate-filled anti-Jewish propaganda on the Internet, which has been on the rise since Israel’s interception of a Gaza-bound flotilla in which nine passengers were killed.

Many educational programs in schools have been designed in the last several years to combat politically driven anti-Semitism among Muslim immigrants.

New Australian PM supportive of Israel SYDNEY, Australia (JTA) – Jewish leaders welcomed the appointment of Australia’s first female prime minister, who has been supportive of Israel.

Julia Gillard was elected unopposed in a Labor Party caucus meeting Thursday after Prime Minister Kevin Rudd agreed to a leadership ballot triggered by a slump in the polls.

Gillard, from Labor’s left faction, was widely considered an unknown quantity on Israel when she was elected deputy leader in 2006.

But she “stood like a rock during the Gaza incursion [in 2009], reiterating again and again that Hamas began the conflict by rocketing Israel,” said Michael Danby, a Jewish lawmaker in the Labor government.

Dr. Colin Rubenstein, executive director of the Australia/Israel & Jewish Affairs Council, agreed.

“Having been to Sderot, unlike so many of Israel’s critics, she understood and defended Israel’s right and need to defend its civilian population against repeated and indiscriminate missile attacks from Gaza,” Rubenstein said.

In a congratulatory letter issued Thursday, Executive Council of Australian Jewry President Robert Goot praised Gillard’s “principled stands” and “close understanding” of Jewish issues.

Gillard, who first visited Israel in 2005, led the Australian delegation in June 2009 to the inaugural Australia Israel Leadership Forum, a high-profile bilateral conference organized by the Australia Israel Cultural Exchange. She met Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Israeli President Shimon Peres and Defense Minister Ehud Barak in Jerusalem, and Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Salam Fayyad in Ramallah.

Rudd, a staunch supporter of Israel, recently had come under fire from Jewish leaders for expelling an official from the Israeli Embassy in Canberra over the Dubai passports affair. Gillard stayed largely silent on the controversial affair.

An election is likely later this year.

9

New Zealand Jews plan to fight for shechitah

By Dan Goldberg Jewish Telegraphic Agency SYDNEY, Australia (JTA) — Barring a last-minute policy reversal, Jewish leaders in New Zealand appear certain to launch legal action against the government over its controversial new law banning kosher slaughter.

Six Jewish leaders were granted a 30-minute meeting a week ago with Prime Minister John Key, the son of a Jewish refugee, to discuss the fallout from the May 27 decision to outlaw kosher slaughter, or shechitah. The meeting in Auckland concluded with the delegation informing Key, who does not practice Judaism, that the small Jewish community would be left with “no option” but to take legal action “if there was no solution forthcoming.”

The prime minister “acknowledged that this may be the only course open to us,” New Zealand Jewish Council chair Geoff Levy said in a statement.

It now appears likely that Key will face a potentially embarrassing legal showdown that has been described as a test case for shechitah.

The controversy erupted in late May when Agriculture Minister David Carter overruled advice from the National Animal Welfare Advisory Committee to exempt shechitah from a new animal welfare commercial slaughter code.

Whereas shechitah previously had been listed as exempt, just as it is under the Humane Slaughter Act in America, Carter decided last month to annul all exemptions.

Under the new code, which was made effective immediately, all commercially killed animals must be stunned before slaughter to “ensure that the animals are treated humanely.”

The move shocked the New Zealand Jewish community, which numbers fewer than 7,000.

Although kosher meat can be imported from Australia, no chicken is allowed in. Fewer than 100 beef cattle and lambs and several thousand chickens were slaughtered by shechitah annually.

Sydney-based Rabbi Moshe Gutnick, who supervises kosher certification of products in New Zealand, described the ban as “outrageous.”

“Hunting is still permitted for deer and ducks, and that is certainly not humane,” he said. “The government, using flawed science, institutes a new code and the only people affected by this are the Jews. People are wondering what their real motivation is.”

His comments came as the

Chickens being kosher slaughtered on New Zealand’s South Island in 2009. A new law banning shechitah is being challenged by the country’s Jews.

European Parliament voted to mandate that all kosher meat on the continent be labeled “meat from slaughter without stunning” – a move blasted by some Jewish officials as discriminatory.

Meanwhile, the dustup in New Zealand over shechitah has sparked a rift with Australian Jewish leaders over its crisis management strategy.

“I’m terrified they’ve mismanaged it,” a senior Australian Jewish organizational leader said of New Zealand Jewry on condition of anonymity. “They just don’t have the expertise.”

In a diplomatically worded statement, the Executive Council of Australian Jewry said, “They are handling things in their own way and we are closely monitoring the situation. The denial of fundamental rights to kosher consumers in New Zealand has the potential for adverse effects further afield, including Australia.”

Shechitah UK chair Henry Grunwald said his organization, as well as British Chief Rabbi Jonathan Sacks, had been asked to assist with religious, legal and scientific advice.

Describing the new code as “an insult,” Grunwald wrote in the Jewish Chronicle, “It succumbs to the popular myth that shechitah is painful, ignoring ample evidence to the contrary.

“The risk of other Western democracies following New Zealand’s example is real,” he warned.

Rabbi Jeremy Lawrence, a former rabbi of the Auckland Hebrew Congregation, told JTA, “The decisions made in New Zealand will have ramifications on how shechitah is viewed the world over. This is a significant test case which is important we do not lose.”

Levy said attempts to resolve the crisis were continuing.

“If we can settle the matter politically, so much the better,” he said.

A number of legal avenues remained open, he noted. The ban appears to violate New Zealand’s Bill of Rights, which protects freedom of religion. It also could be in breach of the Animal Welfare Act, which contains provisions for religious rights, as well as the Human Rights Act, which protects against discrimination.

Carter reportedly apologized to the Jewish community last week for his June 14 speech, in which he said, “We may have upset a relatively small religious minority, and I do appreciate their strong feelings for this issue. But frankly I don’t think any animal should suffer in the slaughter process.”

Other countries that have banned shechitah include Iceland, Norway, Sweden and Switzerland.

10

ISRAEL

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With BP’s spill in mind, Israel considers delivery of natural gas

By Dina Kraft Jewish Telegraphic Agency

Tsafrir Abayov / Flash90 / JTA

Following a winter of below-average rainfall, marijuana prices in Israel have skyrocketed, according to an Israeli newspaper.

Millionaires, marijuana and daily hugs

By Marcy Oster Jewish Telegraphic Agency

aires in Israel also rose in 2009 by 14 percent, from 73 to 83.

JERUSALEM (JTA) — Here is some recent news out of Israel that you may have missed:

The high cost of getting high Israel’s water shortage has caused a dramatic shortage in the amount of available marijuana, and the weed that is available is very expensive, according to a report.

The record-low rainfall is not the only reason that marijuana supplies are short in Israel, Haaretz reported. The newspaper noted the increased number of successful drug busts, fewer growers and the cooperation among Egyptian cartels in order to hike up prices.

Meanwhile, marijuana prices have soared by several hundred percent, according to Haaretz, which reported that the predrought price was roughly 75 cents per gram compared to about $9 today. The newspaper did not report its source for the price quotes.

If I were a rich man…

The number of Israeli millionaires grew faster than in all but two countries last year, apparently due mostly to planning and patience.

Israel ended 2009 with 8,419 millionaires, a rise of nearly 43 percent over the 5,900 in 2008, according to Merrill Lynch Israel.

The head of the company’s global wealth management, Sigal Shapira, told the Israeli financial daily Globes that the financial success of the new millionaires can be attributed mostly to longterm investment.

Worldwide, the number of millionaires reportedly increased in 2009 by slightly more than 17 percent. Israel had the third-highest rate of increase behind Hong Kong, at 104 percent, and India, at 51 percent.

Many of the millionaires on the 2010 list are newly rich, with some coming back to Israel after the government eased conditions for returning Israelis, Shapira told Globes. Others are returnees to the list. In 2008, the number of Israeli millionaires fell by 28 percent from the previous year due to the global economic crisis.

The number of multimillion-

A hug a day A group of young Israelis has begun a hugging campaign.

The students, mostly new immigrants from the United States, plan to gather next week on the Tel Aviv Promenade and offer unsolicited hugs to passersby. The event will be posted on YouTube. The Foreign Ministry has promised the group that it will help prepare and distribute

the clip.

Similar events have taken place in New York, Paris, Rome and other major cities worldwide.

Israelis viewing less sex, violence than Americans While Israeli television certainly is not devoid of sex and violence, it airs considerably less than American television, a study has found.

Israeli television airs 30 percent less sexual content and more than 80 percent less violence than major American networks, according to a study released last week by the Ariel University Center of Samaria. American television presents more suggestive sex scenes, according to the study.

But when it comes to full nudity in sex scenes, homosexual sex scenes and explicit sexual dialogue, Israeli television has American television beat by about 20 percent, according to the study reported in the Jerusalem Post.

Ariel University Center Communications professor Amir Hetsroni watched 77 hours of American television shows and 55 hours of Israeli television to arrive at his conclusions. His findings show that generally there is little sex and violence on television.

Violence on American TV — including assault with bare hands and weapons, torture, kidnapping, rape and war — comprises 103 seconds of every hour, compared to 17.4 seconds in Israel.

TELAVIV (JTA) — More than a year after a massive natural gas find in the Mediterranean Sea off the Israeli coast sparked hopes in Israel of a new era of energy independence, the project is running into concerns about how the gas can be delivered safely.

The BP spill in the Gulf of Mexico has raised concerns in Israel about processing the gas and its delivery within the country.

“You don’t just open the valve and everyone’s happy,” said Zeev Aizenshtat, a fossil fuels expert who works as a chemistry professor at Jerusalem’s Hebrew University. “In a country that has security problems... you need to makes sure the pipes are well protected.”

The question is how to bring the gas, which was discovered one mile below the sea floor approximately 50 miles off the Haifa coast, to Israel, and then how to distribute it throughout the country. Natural gas is highly flammable, and Israel also lacks the infrastructure of piping needed to distribute the gas nationwide.

If Israel finds a way to deliver it safely and efficiently, the treasure trove of some 24 trillion cubic feet of natural gas could be Israel’s ticket to energy independence, providing the country with some 70 percent of its energy needs for the next 20 years, according to experts.

The trove is a combination of two major gas fields — called Leviathan and Tamar, named for the granddaughter of Israeli energy mogul Yitzhak Tshuva. It was Tshuva’s Delek Group and a U.S. partner that were responsible for the drilling that led to the finds.

Israel’s energy needs are now provided mostly by coal. Israel imports natural gas from Egypt via a pipeline, and it imports coal and oil from countries around the globe, including Russia, Mexico and Norway.

“This discovery is nothing short of a geopolitical game changer,” Gal Luft, executive director of the Institute for the Analysis of Global Security, wrote earlier this month in the Haaretz newspaper.

But several challenges come first. Lebanon claims it has rights to the Leviathan find because they say the northern part of the find is in Lebanese territorial waters. Israel dismisses the claim, saying it is firmly within its own maritime boundaries.

“We will not hesitate to use our force and strength to protect not only the rule of law but the interna-

tional maritime law,” Minister of National Infrastructure Uzi Landau told the Bloomberg news agency.

Then there is the question of how to deliver the gas and avoid accidents like the BP spill especially if, as is now being considered, Israel builds a natural gas processing plant in the sea rather than on land.

The underwater plant has two potential benefits. It could offer the processing plant additional protection from attack by terrorists or enemy aircraft, and it could circumvent the not-in-my-backyard syndrome that stands as an obstacle to the construction of a processing plant near Israeli population centers along the coast.

Israelis are concerned that the gas power plants could become military targets or turn into fireballs, said Amit Bracha, executive director of the advocacy group Adam Teva V’Din, The Israeli Union for Environmental Defense.

“The not-in-my-backyard syndrome takes on new meaning in Israel, which is so small,” Bracha said.

Adam Teva V’Din supports the alternative option of establishing the plant underwater.

“No one can bomb it,” Bracha said, “and it’s safer because it’s not near any neighborhoods.”

But safety concerns attend to that option, too. A spill in the water would cause serious environmental damage, albeit less than a toxic oil spill. Even on land, Israel would have to build a network of pipes that would be secure and able to shut down automatically if there is a leak.

The government is conducting a survey to determine the best option for constructing the natural gas processing plant. In any case, the gas itself won’t be tapped until 2012 because it takes time to set up a distribution infrastructure.

In a statement to JTA, the National Infrastructure Ministry wrote that even if a decision is made to build an underwater plant, it does not preclude the possibility that one might also be built on land.

Aizenshtat said the natural gas find could help Israel achieve newfound independence.

“We were promised a land of milk and honey by God, but nothing was ever said about petroleum,” he said. “But the moment you do have it, people start looking at you differently.

“Energy today is a commodity that countries live and die by,” he said. “Whoever has control of the faucet can have a strong influence on the world. Politically this find is very important.”

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CINCINNATI JEWISH LIFE

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Yom Hashoah Commemoration at the Mayerson JCC

Gail Costantini and Ray Kanter light a candle as Orly Segal reads From Generation to Generation.

Daniel and Asa Guigui light a candle, as Amanda Keelor reads her original composition, My Reflections.

Lilly Narusevich and her grandchildren.

The Rockwern Academy Choir.

More than 550 people attended the Yom Hashoah commemoration at the Mayerson JCC.

Dan Ginsburg, grandson of Holocaust survivors, reads “The Hope of Survival,”

by Elie Wiesel at the 2010 Yom Hashoah commemoration.

THURSDAY, JULY 1, 2010

CINCINNATI JEWISH LIFE

13

Representing the next generations, Dan Ginsburg, Orly Segal, Maryanne Moore, Amanda Keelor, and Paula Mermelstein delivered readings during the commemoration.

Local students carried in the flags of Israel and the United States.

Holocaust survivor Mesel Wieder paid tribute to his family members at the 2010 Yom Hashoah commemoration.

Mitch Cohen leads the performance of the Adath Israel High Holy Days Choir.

Anna Lerhaupt, Karen Klugo, and Alexis Klugo light candles during the Yom Hashoah commemoration.

Mark Weisser, the Center for Holocaust and Humanity Education Board president and son of Holocaust survivors, welcomes the 550 individuals in attendance.

14

DINING OUT

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Sugar n’ Spice — everything is nice

By Marilyn Gale Dining Editor Sugar n’ Spice was always a familiar spot in Cincinnati—now it is all pink and pretty, refreshed and glowing. Steve Frankel, brand new proprietor, has rejuvenated a colorful, neighborhood eatery in Cincinnati. Call it a resurrection of a beloved diner. Frankel, the fifth owner of this landmark establishment, describes himself as more of a caretaker of an historic icon than a restaurateur.

“You don’t get rid of history,” said Frankel, “you just find a new use.” Indeed that is the case at clean, inviting Sugar n’ Spice.

“You don’t fix what isn’t broken,” added Frankel. The original stools have been retained and hooks for hanging purses remain under the counters. Huge food portions still exist and Frankel wisely has kept a few pieces of the original charm—the cash register that only goes up to $9.99 and reupholstered counter chairs in glittery red and green. The longevity and retention of the devoted staff can be studied in colleges under business management.

“Seventy years,” Frankel told me, like a proud papa. “Just because it is old, doesn’t mean it has to go away.” Frankel, an entrepreneur, formerly in charge of the third largest banking real estate in the country, was born and raised in Cincinnati. To the advantage of the community, he has adroitly layered his business acumen on top of a restaurant that has endured the test of time. Like a fine tapestry, he has pulled the durable strands through a modern vision and instead of unraveling, a breakfast and lunch spot convenient to city dwellers has reemerged.

For 70 years, Sugar n’ Spice has been delighting Cincinnati area diners with its secret recipe Wispy Thin Pancakes, huge fluffy omelettes, signature creative sandwiches and more. The breakfast and lunch menu has changed little since Mort Keller established the restaurant in 1941.

On any given day, you might see a new or old BMW, Ford

truck, Cadillac and maybe even a Pinto in the parking lot. Throw in the occasional Jaguar, Honda and a Chevy, and you can get an idea of the diversity represented by this restaurant’s patrons. College and high school students frequently eat there. Good prices, fast service

depicting pancakes and omelettes, and a rosy pink exterior add a friendly tone to the restaurant atmosphere.

“The key at Sugar n’ Spice is the spirit. It is a team effort. The cooks, dishwashers and wait staff are passionately involved from

was over 25 years. A modest man, he denied the role of head cook, labeling himself as merely the most experienced.

“I care about what I cook, and I enjoy the compliments. When you got people at a restaurant just for a paycheck, the food won’t be

An omelette promises to satisfy even the largest appetite at Sugar n’ Spice.

and large portions lure retirees and families of all races and ages.

Frankel was quick to add that change isn’t always bad and that sometimes a little change makes things better. A newly painted décor complete with whimsical murals designed by Erica Hutchins, local Cincinnati artist,

open to close,” said Frankel. He raved about his staff, people who have remained with the restaurant during multiple changes of ownership.

One such loyal person was Donald Love, who couldn’t recall how long he had been the short order cook. He knew, though, it

right,” Love said.

A restaurant that has been in existence for nearly 70 years and amassed a group of regulars can be called generational. Folks who have been coming there since their teen years are now introducing their grandchildren to Mort Keller’s creations.

LUNCH - DINNER - COCKTAILS - CARRYOUT Free Valet Parking available

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Lunch: Mon-Fri 11:30-3 Dinner: Mon-Thu 5-9:30 Fri 5-10:30 • Sat 4:30-10:30

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Regulars come for the huge fluffy omelettes, wispy thin pancakes, fresh fruit cup or Love’s Salmon platter; two eggs, two salmon patties, choice of potato or grits, with a side of raisin toast or a muffin. I tried the omelette, very large, and it was enough for four meals. Frankel said the omelettes were made with “around 3 eggs,” but I suspect they were extra large ones.

You get a lot of food for the price because feeding people makes Frankel happy. Omelettes start at $5.25, plus $0.50 for each additional ingredient. For the vegetarian conscious customer, the choices are abundant. You can have spinach, mushrooms, broccoli, onions, zucchini, tomatoes, black olives, red, yellow, green peppers, banana peppers, jalapenos or salsa.

Choice of cheese is also plentiful.

You can easily eat the recommended five daily servings of vegetables in one meal!

Burgers intrigue me and I was glad to see that a popular item from baby boomer teen years still grace the menu. Of course, modern times have impacted the eatery so in addition to the beef patty, you can order grilled chicken, a turkey burger, or cotton pickin’ bar-b-que beef cooked on the large outdoor grill, shredded and bathed in a tangy sauce. Sandwiches start at $4.25.

Breakfast is served all day, starting at 7 a.m. until closing at 3 p.m. Given the popularity of Mort Kellar’s Wispy Thin pancakes, at $4 for four, or a half order for $3, the public would be in an uproar if they weren’t on the menu at all times. For an extra $0.50, you can have your pancakes bulging with blueberries.

We welcome the make over of this charming Cincinnati breakfast and lunch spot. The motto on the front door declares the restaurant’s goal is to exceed the customer’s expectations. In these tough economic times, it is indeed a worthy value.

Sugar ‘n Spice 4381 Reading Road Cincinnati, Ohio 513-242-3521

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DINING OUT

THURSDAY, JULY 1, 2010

15 Dine-In / Take-Out / Delivery

DINING OUT Andy’s Mediterranean Grille At Gilbert & Nassau 2 blocks North of Eden Park 281-9791

Johnny Chan 2 11296 Montgomery Rd The Shops at Harper’s Point 489-2388 • 489-3616 (fx)

Rusty’s Ristorante 8028 Blue Ash Rd Deer Park 793-6881

Aroma Restaurant & Sushi 7875 Montgomery Rd Kenwood 791-0950

K.T.’s Barbecue & Deli 8501 Reading Rd Reading 761-0200

Slatt’s Pub 4858 Cooper Rd Blue Ash 791-2223 • 791-1381 (fax)

Apsara 4785 Lake Forest Dr Blue Ash 554-1040

Kanak India Restaurant 10040B Montgomery Rd Montgomery 793-6800

Stone Creek Dining Co. 9386 Montgomery Rd Montgomery 489-1444

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Bangkok Terrace 4858 Hunt Rd Blue Ash 891-8900 • 834-8012 (fx)

Local 127 127 W. 4th St Cincinnati 721-1345

Sugar n’ Spice 4381 Reading Rd Cincinnati 242-3521

Bella Luna Cafe 4632 Eastern Ave Cincinnati 871-5862

Marx Hot Bagels 9701 Kenwood Rd Blue Ash 891-5542

Sukhothai Thai Cuisine 8102 Market Place Ln Cincinnati 794-0057

Carlo & Johnny 9769 Montgomery Rd Cincinnati 936-8600

MEI Japanese Restaurant 8608 Market Place Ln Montgomery 891-6880

Tandoor 8702 Market Place Ln Montgomery 793-7484

Embers 8120 Montgomery Rd Montgomery 984-8090

Mecklenburg Gardens 302 E. University Ave Clifton 221-5353

the Palace 601 Vine St Downtown Cincinnati (in the Cincinnatian Hotel) 381-3000

Ferrari’s Little Italy & Bakery 7677 Goff Terrace Madeira 272-2220

Noce’s Pizzeria 9797 Montgomery Rd Cincinnati 791-0900

Gabby’s Cafe 515 Wyoming Ave Wyoming 821-6040

Oriental Wok 2444 Madison Rd Hyde Park 871-6888

Izzy’s 800 Elm St • 721-4241 612 Main St • 241-6246 5098B Glencrossing Way 347-9699 1198 Smiley Ave • 825-3888 300 Madison Ave Covington • 859-292-0065

Parkers Blue Ash Grill 4200 Cooper Rd Blue Ash 891-8300 Pomodori’s 121West McMillan 861-0080 7880 Remington Rd Montgomery 794-0080

Through The Garden 10738 Kenwood Rd Cincinnati 791-2199 Trio 7565 Kenwood Rd Kenwood 984-1905 View Restaurant 2200 Victory Pkwy Cincinnati 751-8439

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TUE - 1/2 PRICE BOTTLE WINE • WED - 1/2 PRICE SUSHI(BAR) The American Israelite can not guarantee the kashrus of any establishment.

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GUEST APPRECIATION NIGHTS

OPINION

WWW.AMERICANISRAELITE.COM

As a member of NATO, Turkey has access to a wide array of American technology that, if compromised, could spell real danger for U.S. operations in the Middle East and Persian Gulf, and threaten allies that rely on American equipment and training. Turkey’s increasingly close relations with Hamas, Hezbollah, Syria, Iran and, recently, Russia, should cause the United States to monitor Turkey closely with an eye toward the damage that could be done to American interests.

Unfortunately, the U.S. has shown no interest in the radical reorientation going on inside of Turkey. The widespread arrest of past and present Turkish military figures along with a large number of others has not sparked even a comment from the State Department or Pentagon, and nor from the White House. The participation of the Turkish government with the IHH in the Gaza flotilla — and the corresponding inflammatory rhetoric that has emanated from the Turkish government — received even less attention. The result is that the Turkish government thinks it has a free hand with Israel, as well as with Iran — although it is peeved the U.S. did not back the Turkish-Brazilian deal for a portion of Iran’s nuclear materials.

A particular worry is the Turkish intelligence services, to which Prime Minister Erdogan has appointed two radical Muslim civilians to key positions: Hakan Fidan as head of Milli Istihbarat Teskilati (MIT), Turkey’s foreign intelligence service; and Muammer Güler as Undersecretary for Public Order and Security, which heads Turkey’s counterterrorism service. The intelligence services are playing a key role in separating the Turkish military from Israel and in the removal of those they see as a threat to the current government.

The big risk is that the intelligence services, conflating their very strong hatred of Israel with their support of Israel’s — and America’s — enemies, will grab equipment and information from the Turkish military and share it with those enemies.

No one can competently say what Turkey is discussing — or sharing — with Hamas and Hezbollah, or with Iran and Syria. Until the Gaza flotilla, Israel did not collect intelligence on Turkey, and it is unlikely the U.S. has paid much attention.

Turkey has the third largest air force in NATO (some 930 aircraft) after the U.S. and the UK. Of these, 230 are F-16s (Blocks 20, 40 and 50) and Turkey is a Level 3 partner in the forthcoming Joint Strike Fighter.

Like the U.S., Turkey has KC-135 refueling tankers, meaning that the Turkish Air Force can operate just about anywhere on a sustained basis (or could provide refueling to Iranian F-14s or Syrian Sukhois and MiGs).

Turkey also has four AWACS aircraft that can be used to direct air battles — their own or those of their new allies. This is a particular risk to the U.S. because it exposes all U.S. assets in the Gulf area to Turkish realtime surveillance, and it could give to the Iranians and Syrians a strong ability to actively target U.S. bases and operations, as well as U.S. air, naval and land assets in the region.

Turkey also has a relatively strong navy with a number of Germandesigned diesel electric submarines, modern torpedoes, and surface ships equipped with missiles and gun systems. Its navy is probably not capable of challenging the U.S., but Turkey could transfer sensitive systems to America’s adversaries. Among the systems in Turkish hands that could pose serious threats are the U.S. Harpoon missile, the Norwegian Penguin, the Exocet from France, Sea Skua from BAE systems, Hellfire II from the U.S. and others.

Turkey has a strong amphibious capability with an assortment of landing craft, mobile armor systems, selfpropelled guns, anti-tank systems and a range of equipment that, if in Iranian or Syrian hands, could spell real trouble. For example, Turkey has more than 850 Stinger missiles (now locally built). These missiles are the same ones the Mujahedeen used to great effect against Russian helicopter gunships. Also in the Turkish army are tens of thousands of LAW antitank rockets, TOW antitank missiles and the very effective Russian Kornet antitank missile. Any of these systems, but particularly the TOW missiles, if transferred would significantly strengthen the Iranians and Syrians.

There are countermeasures systems, night vision equipment, communications gear, command and control and capabilities from other countries, such as advanced Israeli drones, that in the hands of either the Iranians or Syrians, could tip the balance in the region and directly harm U.S. operations and leverage while also posing a serious operational threat.

At this time, the U.S. has not taken any steps to moderate the flow of technology, equipment, systems and supplies to Turkey. In fact, the reverse is true as the Obama Administration has been building its “pro-Muslim” foreign policy in large part around Turkey. And it is true that in some areas, most particularly in Afghanistan, the Turks are making a contribution. Turkey has a small contingent responsible for security around Kabul, and also assists in training the Afghan Army and police forces. But even this positive is a red flag, because Turkey’s close relationship to Iran could pose a serious risk if Ankara and Tehran expand their TACTICS on page 21

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

Dear Editor, Robert Byrd, Yimach Shemo.

Robert Byrd who died today was a grand wizard of the Ku Klux Klan. Jewish Democrats knew about his past but were silent about it unlike the Republicans who disavowed another Klansman David Duke from their party. Apparently party politics were more important to the Jewish liberal lawmakers than Byrd’s membership in the KKK and they were willing to look the other way. Byrd is not the only Jew hating Democrat, there are too many to mention like the accursed Jimmy Carter who “never met an Arab he didn’t like.” This is another example of Jews being blindly faithful to the Democrat party which is daily getting more hostile to Israel.

Sincerely, Ezra Kattan Cincinnati Dear Editor, My name is Zach Schneider.

I am 23 years old and was born in Cincinnati, Ohio. Four years ago, I had completed my first year of college at Ohio University. It was my second week working a summer internship and I was enjoying a normal summer just like any other average American college student.

An ocean away on the other side of the world, another 19year old guy just like me was going through a very different experience. An Israeli combat soldier named Gilad Shalit had been kidnapped in an Israeli army post on Israeli territory near the southern Gaza border

by Palestinian terrorists.

The terrorists went through underground tunnels to carry out the attack in which two of Gilad’s fellow soldiers were killed and several others were injured. Gilad Shalit was left with a broken hand and shoulder wound when his tank was hit with a rocket-propelled grenade.

Hamas has held Gilad Shalit captive for exactly four years now in the worst possible conditions, with Hamas refusing to allow the Red Cross to even come look at Gilad. In four years the only signs of life from Gilad have been a few letters he wrote and one very short video.

His health is undoubtedly diminishing every day.

Hamas, the radical Islamic terror group that took over Gaza in the same year Gilad was kidnapped, has the world under the belief that the Gaza Strip and its citizens are suffering and in dire need of humanitarian aid that Israel will not allow access to.

The truth is, Hamas has turned down truck loads of humanitarian aid every single day from Israel; in addition to aid brought from

Israel that does make it through.

As the Israeli Defense Minister, Ehud Barak has said, “There are 1.5 million people living in Gaza and only one of them really needs humanitarian aid.

Only one of them is locked in a tiny room and never sees the light of day. Only one of them is not allowed visits and is in uncertain health. His name is Gilad Shalit.”

In the last four years I have graduated from college a year early, worked several jobs, and visited Israel a few times. I have made aliyah, moved to Israel and become a dual citizen. I have been studying Hebrew immensely and soon will enter the Israeli Defense Force.

In the last four years Gilad Shalit has sat in one room, never seeing sunlight or stepping outside. His health has deteriorated and he hasn’t seen family or anyone who doesn’t have a gun to his head. Gilad has been all alone with only his thoughts to keep him company.

Israel is a country unlike any other. The true compassion, feelings, and loyalty every Israeli citizen has for their soldiers, brothers and sisters is unheard of.

Israel has in the past exchanged hundreds of captured terrorists in exchange for a kidnapped citizen, and also in other deals exchanged hundreds of terrorists for kidnapped soldiers’ dead bodies.

LETTERS on page 22

T EST Y OUR T ORAH KNOWLEDGE THIS WEEK’S PORTION: PINCHAS (BAMIDBAR 25:1—29:1) 1. How many people were still alive at the second census, who were counted in the first census? a.) None b.) Two c.) About 2% 2. Which event in the desert is mentioned twice in the Parsha? a.) The story of the spies b.) Moshe hitting the rock c.) Korach's rebellion 3. When did the census take place?

3. A 26:1,2 After the plague, Hasehm, like a shepherd wanted to know the number of the remaining flock. Rashi 4. C 29:35 Shmini Atzeret (Simchat Torah) is a private celebration between Hashem and his people. Rashi 5. A Under very specific circumstances, a person of spiritual stature can execute judgment himself. Talmud Sanhedrin

Suppose Turkey transfers U.S. technology, tactics to Iran, Syria

a.) After the plague by Baal Peor b.) After the daughters of Tzlapchad received a portion in Israel c.) After dividing up TransJordan 4. Which festival is listed last? a.) Passover b.) Succot c.) Shmini Atzeret 5. Was Pinchas justified in killing Zimri the Prince of Shimon? a.) Yes b.) No ANSWERS 1. B 26:65 By the men only two remained alive from the first census. However, the women were not affected because they showed love towards the land of Israel.

Therefore the decree to die in the desert did not effect them. Rashi 2. C 26:9-11, 27:3 The daughters of Tzlpchad mentioned their father was not part of Korach's rebellion, because he would not have gotten a portion in Israel. Rashi

16

Written by Rabbi Dov Aaron Wise

JEWISH LIFE

THURSDAY, JULY 1, 2010

17

Sedra of the Week

by Rabbi Shlomo Riskin

SHABBAT SHALOM: PARASHAT PINHAS

Efrat, Israel — “Pinhas the son of Elazar, the son of Aharon Hakohen turned back My wrath from upon the children of Israel when he zealously expressed My zealousness amongst them…therefore, I am giving him My covenant of peace” (Numbers 25:11,12).

Covenant of peace!?

At the end of last week’s portion, we read that a prince of the tribe of Shimon publicly cohabited with a Midianite princess in front of Moses and the weeping assemblage of Israel standing in front of the Tent of Meeting.

When Pinhas saw this brazen act, he seized a spear and pierced the fornicating man and woman to death in the very place of their transgression (Numbers 25:6-8).

This was the spontaneous act of a zealous man. Pinhas saw himself as the sole protector of the Faith; meting out punishment without resorting to the legal avenues of due process, and leaving the testimony of the entire congregation to emerge in a subsequent trial.

Is it not strange that Pinhas receives the Divine gift of a covenant of peace together with the covenant of eternal kehunah (priesthood)? A zealot may be credited with passion, commitment and conviction, but hardly with the desire for peace! Indeed, the Talmudic sages, when characterizing the qualities of Aaron the High Priest, emphasize the quality of peace: “Hillel would say, ‘Be among the disciples of Aaron: love peace, pursue peace, love humanity and bring them close to Torah’” (Avot 1, 12). Aren’t zealotry and the pursuit of peace two very different values?

To understand why G-d’s gift of peace is bestowed upon Pinhas the zealot, we need to turn to the Book of Judges and examine an incident from the later history of the Jewish people which highlights Pinhas as a mediating peace maker rather than a fanatical zealot.

Many years have passed, the Bible (Joshua 22) records that under Joshua’s leadership, the major conquest of the land has been accomplished, paving the way for the Reubenites, the Gadites and half the tribe of Menasheh to return to inhabit the land of Gilead on the eastern side of the Jordan River – good grazing

land for their cattle which they requested from Moses before the battles against the Canaanites began (Numbers 32).

These tribes arrive in their lands and immediately erect an altar near the Jordan, “…a large altar, for everyone to see” (Joshua 22:10), a veritable show piece.

The other tribes of Israel are incensed; they see the erection of a large altar in trans-Jordon – far from the central Sanctuary in Shiloh – as an act of rebellion against the G-d of Israel, a “declaration of independence” from the rest of the tribes. “And when the children of Israel heard of it, the whole congregation of the children of Israel gathered at Shiloh to rise up in battle” (Joshua 22:12).

But, before they declare a civil war, they dispatch none other than Pinhas the son of Elazar the Kohen, together with 10 heads of tribes, to find a peaceful resolution to the conflict. Brilliantly, Pinhas’ delegation reminds them of the disastrous plague that descended upon the entire nation when they first began to worship the Peor idol and to cohabit with Moabite and Midianite women.

This was clearly a reference to the idolatry which led to Pinhas’ act of zealotry. (Numbers 12:10-18).

Pinhas explains that the building of their altar separate from the central altar in Shiloh will cause repercussions, endangering the entire nation of Israel, a hint that the remaining 10 tribes would be forced to take action against them to prevent a disastrous plague from striking.

The underlying motif of Pinhas’ argument is the importance of remaining one nation – each responsible for the actions of the other – despite the distances that separate them. In the interest of unity, he tells these tribes that if they feel “defiled or contaminated” by their distance from the Sanctuary, the other 10 tribes are willing to take them back to the western side of the Jordan, even though it would mean giving up some of their own land in the redistribution of territory which would have to take place (ibid 19).

The response of two and one half tribes magnifies the theme of unity: this was not an act of rebellion and it was never their intention to replace the Sanctuary in Shiloh with their altar. They only intended their altar to serve as a symbol of the unity of faith and nationality between the tribes on

NUMBERS 25:10-30:1

both sides of the Jordan River.

Their sacrifices would be offered exclusively in the Shiloh Sanctuary.

Pinhas demonstrates that he is a successful mediator and peace maker, revealing the essence of his personality as a true Kohen and lover of peace who, when younger, had been forced by extreme circumstances to act out of character and behave as a zealot.

With this in mind, let us review the events in the Book of Numbers: the Israelites have begun to commit harlotry with the Moabite women, justifying their immorality by attaching themselves to the hedonistic, idolatrous philosophy of Ba’al Pe’or: “it’s good if it feels good, whatever is natural is positive.” G-d then instructs Moses, and Moses instructs the judges to execute all the leaders of this idolatrous wave.

But at that very moment, a prince of the tribe of Shimon publicly fornicates with a Midianite woman – daring Moses, whose own wife was a Midianite – to enforce a punishment against him!

Moses is momentarily paralyzed, unable to act or even to speak. The entire nation is aghast at the flagrant, impudent rebellion; the elders are weeping at the Tent of Meeting. Pinhas, usually a respected and peaceful mediator, understands that if he does not act at once, Moses and his Divine laws will have been silenced and Jewish history will end almost before it begins. This forces Pinhas to act out of character for the ultimate good – and peace – of Israel.

But perhaps there is an alternative perspective – perhaps Pinhas was always a zealot, but because, in a moment of truth, he acted in a way that saved the nation, G-d granted him the gift of peace which is truly the goal of Israel and the covenant of compassion.

Whatever the true character of Pinhas was, one message is clear.

Even if an exceptional, momentary act of zealotry is necessary in extreme circumstances, fanaticism must neither be our national norm, nor our national goal. Our norm and our goal must always be in line with G-d’s covenant of peace!

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.

Kiddush follows Shabbat Morning Services

RABBI HANAN BALK & ASSISTANT RABBI STUART LAVENDA

6442 Stover Ave • 531-6654 • golfmanorsynagogue.org

Over 125 years in Cincinnati and 10 years at Cornell.

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3100 LONGMEADOW LANE • CINCINNATI, OH 45236 791-1330 • www.templesholom.net Miriam Terlinchamp, Rabbi Marcy Ziek, President Gerry H. Walter, Rabbi Emeritus July 2 6:00 pm Shabbat Nosh 6:30 pm Shabbat Evening Service Sweet Beginnings with Rabbi Terlinchamp

July 9 6:00 pm Shabbat Nosh 6:30 pm Shabbat Evening Service

July 3 10:30 am Shabbat Morning Service

July 10 10:30 am Shabbat Morning Service

18

JEWZ IN THE NEWZ

Jewz in the Newz

by Nate Bloom Contributing Columnist BEND IT LIKE AANG Indian-American director M. Night Shyamalan (“The Sixth Sense”) has made six films since 1999, all of which feature a strong supernatural element. His new flick, “The Last Airbender,” doesn’t depart from his oeuvre. (Opens Friday, July 2) “Airbender,” like the Nickelodeon TV series it is based on, features elements of Chinese martial arts and magic, as well as Hindu and Buddhist mysticism.

The film is set in a world where there are four nations — Air, Water, Earth and Fire. The Fire Nation launches a war against the others. The hero is Aang (Noah Ringer), an “avatar” with mystical powers. He teams with Katara (newcomer Nicola Peltz), who also has some powers, to try and end the war.

SHAUN TOUB, 48, has a supporting role as Iroh, the uncle of Aang’s main Fire Nation enemy.

Toub’s most memorable roles include a Muslim-American shopkeeper in “Crash” (2004) and an Afghan Muslim in “The Kite Runner” (2007). Born in Iran, and raised in Britain, Toub now lives in Los Angeles where he is active in the Sephardi arts community.

By the way, the internet “message board” rumor is that Nicola Peltz is the daughter of Jewish billionaire businessman NELSON PELTZ and his non-Jewish wife.

The few bio details now available about Nicola (hometown, schools) are consistent with her being the daughter of Nelson.

CHECKIN’ IN WITH DRAKE The rap singer and composer who calls himself Drake confounds a lot of stereotypes about black rap music stars: he grew-up in a mostly white, affluent Toronto neighborhood; he went to Hebrew school, had a bar mitzvah, and was a teen TV star.

Drake, 23, was born AUBREY DRAKE GRAHAM, to a white Canadian Jewish mother and an African American musician father.

His parents split-up when he was young and he was raised by his mother (spending summers with his father). From 2001-2009, he co-starred on “DeGrassi: The Next Generation,” a Canadian show about a high school shown on American cable TV. Starting in 2007, he released his music via his Web site and, a year ago, two of his songs hit the top of the charts.

His first official CD was released in May and he’s now heralded as

the hottest rap singer around.

A few weeks ago, Drake gave an interview to “Heeb” magazine that covers his Jewish background.

DON’T JUMP TO CONCLUSIONS Large parts of the Jewish community media and the general Jewish community still assume that a Jewish celebrity is white and most often has a Jewish surname.

But Drake doesn’t fit those assumptions. If you rely on those assumptions, you can make the same mistake as the Los Angeles Jewish Journal — which just labeled American World Cup soccer player Jonathan Spector — Jewish — only because his paternal grandfather, pro basketball player Art Spector, was identified as Jewish in some sources.

However, Art Spector, my research uncovered, had a church funeral. Jonathan’s other grandparents weren’t Jewish either. If the younger Spector looked like President Obama or had a different surname — I am sure the Journal would have done a lot more research.

It’s an empirical fact that adoption, intermarriage and conversion have produced a lot more celebrities who identify as Jewish who are not “white” and/or don’t have a Jewish surname. The flip side is that there are an increasing number of celebs with a Jewish surname that don’t identify as Jewish.

Recently, actor ANTHONY HEALD discussed playing the title role in “The Merchant of Venice” at the prestigious Oregon Shakespeare festival. He called himself “Jewish” and I thought — “Heald doesn’t sound Jewish.”

The next week, Heald gave another interview in which he explained that he had converted to Judaism a few years ago. Heald and his wife (who was born Jewish) have been married for decades and both were secular going into the marriage.

But, as they aged, they began to look for a spiritual path and decided to try Judaism — which they both, he said, “felt close to.” A simpatico Oregon rabbi guided their religious studies and Heald’s conversion.

Heald, 65, is an actor whose face you’ll recognize. His best known roles include the prison psychiatrist who is Anthony Hopkins’ nemesis in “The Silence of the Lambs” and as an assistant principal on TV’s “Boston Public.” Heald, who grew up in the same Long Island town as JERRY SEINFELD, frequently appears on Broadway and has twice been nominated for a Tony.

WWW.AMERICANISRAELITE.COM

FROM THE PAGES 100 Years Ago Mr. and Mrs. Lawrence J. Mayer have returned from their wedding trip, and are now living with their uncle, Mr. Albert Moch, 3325 Reading Road, until their apartment in the “Virginia” is finished.

The prize offered by the AntiTuberculosis League for the best menu for a dinner or luncheon for a convalescent — not to cost more than thirty cents — was won by Mrs. Blanche Hart, of Glenwood Avenue, Avondale.

The automobile belonging to

Maurice Freiberg, which was stolen from in front of Hotel Havlin, has been recovered. It was found abandoned in an alley in Chicago. The two thieves have not yet been arrested.

Dr. and Mrs. David Phillipson, Dr. and Mrs. K. Kohler and the Misses Kohler, Dr. G. Deutsch and daughter, Rabbi Jacob Mielziner and Miss Mielziner and Dr. Julian Morgenstern left last Monday for Charlevoix, Mich., to attend the meeting of the Central Conference

of American Rabbis.

At the Democratic convention held at Columbus, O. last week the pleasant ask of nominating the Hon. Judson Harmon was, at the governor’s express request, delegated to Hon. Alfred M. Cohen, of Cincinnati, who put Mr. Harmon in nomination two years ago. This privilege was a distinguished honor for which there were several contestants, but Governor Harmon’s request that Mr. Cohen should nominate him put an end to all rivalry. — June 30, 1910

75 Years Ago Mr. and Mrs. Carl A. Mayer (Marion Bowman) are spending their wedding trip in the East, making a St. Lawrence and Saginaw River cruise. Their marriage was an event of Friday, June 28th.

Mr. and Mrs. Wallace Holzman have returned to their country home in Amelia, O., after spending several weeks in Eastland, Tex., with relatives.

Cincinnati General Hospital interns, entering their one-year

duties Monday, July 1st, include 18 Univeristy of Cincinnati College of Medicine graduates and 18 others. they are: Cincinnatians: Drs. Ben Felson, Julius Gelperin, Fred Goldman, Sander Goodman, Isaac Kawasaki, Joseph R. Kahn, Meyer Kurzner, John R. McBride, M. Louis McGowan, Cecil D. McIntire, William P. Montanus, David A. Nathan, Virgil Plessinger, Lawrence M. Quill, Leon Saler,

Matthias F. Strashun, George H. Wadsworth, and Armine T. Wilson.

Mrs. George W. Rosenthal has been re-elected president of the Home Gardeners. Mrs. Walter Foreman is vice-president; Mrs. Charles Siegel, corresponding secretary; Mrs. Morris J. Frieder, recording secretary; Mrs. Joseph Stern, treasurer; and Mrs. Albert Brown, auditor. The chairman of the Program Committee is Mrs. Irwin Krohn, Jr. — July 4, 1935

50 Years Ago It may be possible soon to provide suitable housing for elderly men and women of the Cincinnati Jewish community. With modern living quarters, many social, recreational and emotional needs of the healthy elderly can be met more easily.

This is the important story behind the announcement earlier this month of a substantial gift to the Associated Jewish Agencies of Cincinnati from the Max, Martha and Alfred M. Stern Fund.

Stern Fund trustees have sug-

gested that the two Homes for the Aged and Sheltering Oaks Hospital work out at coordinated plan of services so that there is as little duplication of social services as possible.

Miss Rayna Davis, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Alex Davis, 3963 Warwick Avenue, was married Sunday, June 19, to Mr. Samuel Allan Frankel, son of Mr. and Mrs. Joseph Frankel in the Continental Room of the Netherland Hilton.

The bride was given by her father. Mrs. Norman M. Statman

served as her sister’s matron of honor. Miss Sydney Dine was maid of honor. The bridesmaids were the Misses Sue Bronster, Julie Slutz and Timmie Barg.

Mr. Robert Frankel, brother of the bridegroom was best man.

Ushers were Dr. Norman M. Statman and the Messrs. Bart Shallat and Dave Wolf, of Cincinnati; and Mr. Paul Rippner, Cleveland; Mr. Andrew Livingstone, Highland Park, Ill.; and Mr. Cliff Bregstone, Glencoe, Ill. — June 30, 1960

25 Years Ago The marriage of Luanne Buchanan and Michael H. Hoffheimer took place June 15 in Cincinnati.

The bride is the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Robert Buchanan, U.S. Foreign Service (Manila). She is on the faculty at Wittenberg University.

The bridegroom is the son of Charlotte O. Hoffheimer and Harry

M. Hoffheimer. Mr. Hoffheimer is an attorney with Frost and Jacobs.

Mrs. Esther Teller passed away June 22.

She is survived by: a daughter, Charlotte Hattenbach; a son, Jerome Teller; and six grandchildren, Daniel and Charles Teller of Cincinnati and Ruth Teller of San Francisco; Marion Bernstein of Houston; Ralph

Hattenbach of Los Angles; and Jonathan Hattenbach of Chicago.

Mrs. Teller was the wife of the late Louis Teller and the mother of the late David Teller.

Mrs. Teller was a member of Adath Israel Synagogue and Sisterhood, the Jewish Community Center Senior Adults, Amit Women and Hadassah. — June 27, 1985

10 Years Ago The American Jewish Committee Cincinati Chapter will host its annual meeting and picnic on Wednesday, July 12, at Dulle Park in Montgomery. The meeting will feature the installation of the chapter’s new executive board, to be headed by President-elect Ken Newmark, M.D. Newly nominated for threeyear terms on the executive Board are Katherine F. Claybon, Aaron Herzig, Amy Litwin, James Miller, and Jay Price. In addition, Amy Katzman, Deborah Kirshner, Ann

Safidi, David Lazarus, and Richard Weiland will be re-nominated to the board for three-year terms.

Matthew Abravaya, 74, passed away on June 23, 2000. He was born in the Bronx, N.Y., to Sarah and Morris Abravaya. He is survived by: his wife, Carolyne (Modiano) Abravaya; and his children, Sharyn and Marc Weiss, and Robyn Duvall.

Mr. Abravaya is also survived by his grandchildren: Sarah Nicole Duvall and Caryn Rochelle Duvall. Mr. Abravaya was the brother of Rae

Franco of the Bronx, N.Y., and the late Sam Abravaya.

At the age of 88, Ruth M. Phillips died on Wednesday, June 14, 2000. Born in Dallas, Texas, she moved to Cincinnati at the age of 16 to study voice and piano at the Conservatory of Music. After a long courtship, that was extended by the Depression, Ruth Munzesheimer married Dr. Walter B. Phillips. He passed away in 1975, a month short of their 40th wedding anniversary.

— June 29, 2000

CLASSIFIEDS

THURSDAY, JULY 1, 2010

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(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

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RABBI from page 1 in the Soviet Union. Modern Germany has been a tremendous exemplar of a new respect for dignity, pluralism and moral leadership in our world community.

On the eve of our Independence Day, this wall represents Freedom and the pursuit of liberty in our lifetime.”

Keynote speaker will be Malcolm Thomson. After a 27year career on Wall Street, he became an author, writing “Cleopatra’s Needle,” an espionage-thriller based on events leading to the 1967 Six Day War. Formerly senior director with Alliance-Bernstein, Thomson serves as chairman of the Open University Foundation (American Friends of the Open University) and as a member of the International Governing Council.

The Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. was the convocation speaker at Thomson’s rabbinical ordination.

Thomson served as the Rabbi of Temple Shalom in Greenwich, Conn., and has served on the Board of Trustees of Jewish Theological Seminary since 2002.

The 96-mile Berlin Wall was erected by the Communist East German government in 1961 to prevent residents of Communist East Berlin from getting to Democratic West Berlin. It divided families and friends, and was a symbol of the Cold War divisions between communism and capitalism. In 1990, East Germany voted to reunite with West Germany, and became the reunified Federal Republic of Germany, with Berlin as its capital.

Richard Schade, professor of

Courtesy of Xavier University

Rabbi Abie Ingber

German studies at the University of Cincinnati, and Cincinnati’s honorary consul for the German government, flew to Berlin as the wall was coming down in 1989.

He began efforts to obtain a wall segment from the city of Berlin.

Berlin’s only proviso was that Schade had to get the segment from Germany to Cincinnati.

Fabian Schmahl, president of ThyssenKrupp-Bilstein of America, a German-owned manufacturer of shock absorbers with an office in Hamilton, offered to include the segment with their regular materials shipment. The Munich Sister City Association of Greater Cincinnati aided Schade in obtaining funding for the design, installation and maintenance of the monument. Getting the segment to Cincinnati would not have been possible without ThyssenKruppBilstein, Kuehne+Nagel and Hosea Project Movers.

20

FASHION

WWW.AMERICANISRAELITE.COM

The Wearing of the Green Fashionably Late

By Stephanie Davis-Novak Fashion Editor In many ways, the green movement has become part of our daily lives. We recycle. We bring our own shopping bags to the grocery store. We no longer gawk at a Smart Car and wonder what in the world it is. It was really just a matter of time, then, that fashion was bound to go eco.

We Americans love our clothing. The Environmental Protection Agency estimates that in 2007, the average American threw away 68 pounds of clothing and textiles. But the impact to the environment doesn’t begin when we get rid of our clothes. According to Earth Pledge, a non-profit environmental consulting firm, it takes about 8,000 chemicals to turn raw materials into textiles, and about 25 percent of pesticides used on earth are used to grow non-organic cotton.

The manufacturing process for man-made fabrics, such as polyester, produces many potentially harmful gasses, solvents and other damaging byproducts. Fortunately, the fashion industry is looking for ways to create clothing that not only looks good, but is better for the environment.

You may be thinking that “fashion” and “environmentally friendly” are mutually exclusive terms, but the times have changed, notes Ashley Burnside, owner of Fetish Boutique in Hyde Park. She points out that just

Ensemble from Metalicus

a few years ago, the “green fashion” movement was more focused around sportswear, but the movement has transitioned toward creating sustainable fabrics that are also artistic and stylish. The result is a greater availability of higher-end fashion choices that are not as ecologically destructive. Certain designers, such as Stella McCartney, have been incorporating sustainability into their designs for years.

There are currently no specific criteria for what makes clothing environmentally friendly, and there are degrees of “green-ness” when it comes to fashion design. The most basic way for a label to approach sustainable design is to use lowimpact materials and fabrics. While the demand for man-made fabrics has been steadily increasing, “green fashion” designers are seeking to reverse this trend by using materials such as organic cotton, which is grown without the use of synthetic pesticides or fertilizers. Other fibers that are commonly produced organically are hemp (which produces fabric similar to linen), wool and silk. Bamboo is also becoming a material of choice for environmentally conscious designers, but there is a controversy over how sustainable it truly is. The fine accessories brand Ananas is an example of a natural-materials label. All of its bags are handmade in the U.S., using organic materials such as shells, wood and natural fibers.

Linda Loudermilk, who has been dubbed the “Vivienne Westwood of eco,” is well-known for her luxe designs that use natural materials, including corn and seaweed.

Other labels take a different approach to sustainability, and focus more on adopting “socially conscious” business processes. The high-end denim and t-shirt line Edun is an example of this: while the company does use some organic fibers in their products, they focus more on fair trade and humane conditions in their factories, which are located in countries such as Kenya, Peru and India. Stella McCartney is another designer who takes this more holistic approach to her work.

Not only does she use organic and recyclable materials, but no leather or fur are used in her designs. Her company also invests in “clean power” sources, and the bags used in her stores are made of corn and are completely biodegradable.

Luckily for Cincinnatians, beautiful and environmentally friendly clothing is available locally. While Burnside’s Fetish Boutique is not devoted exclusively to carrying environmentally friendly clothing, it carries several “green” clothing labels, many of them based out of Europe and Australia. Burnside was kind enough to show me some of her favorite selections from her store.

Australia-based Metalicus is the first label that she shows me. They use all natural fibers in their clothing, primarily cotton and merino wool. While she points out that their materials are not necessarily certified organic, these fibers are natural and biodegradable. In addition, merino wool is anti-bacterial, doesn’t pill, and has a kind of natural resistance to dirt and odor, which

linen. Fetish Boutique carries another eco-friendly basics line from designer Karen Lee. The pieces that Burnside shows are made of the sustainable, durable merino wool, and she points out that Lee’s design motto is, “For years, not seasons.”

Both lines have items that are simple and elegant in design, are soft and fluid, and make great layering pieces.

Ashley Burnside… deLux hats

means fewer washings and a longer garment life. Burnside has a mannequin dressed in a navy blue Metalicus jacket and dress. The pieces are not only appropriate for the office, but could easily make the transition to more casual wear as separates.

Slightly higher on the green scale is the line of hats by Canadian brand deLux. All of the hats are made from certified organic materials. The rack of hats that Burnside shows off are all very contemporary, perfect for running errands on the weekend, or a casual girls’ night out on the town.

Majestic Paris is a French clothing line that offers “essential basics that every woman needs,” as Burnside puts it. She pulls out some lovely tops that have a luxurious feel to them and drape nicely on the hanger. Organic cotton tends to be softer and more fluid than regular cotton, so it has a more “expensivefeeling” texture. Similar to Metalicus, Majestic Paris’ fabrics are not necessarily organic, but they do use low-impact fabrics, such as

But the highlight of Fetish Boutique’s green clothing options is the brand Feral Childe. Based in Brooklyn, Feral Childe uses locally sourced materials and fabrics such as organic hemp, soy and cotton.

This is also the most couture of the store’s eco-friendly lines, as nearly everything the label offers is custom-made: they hand-dye their fabrics, and even hand-cast their own buttons. Or as the designers behind the brand put it, “Feral Childe combines thoughtful choice of materials and attention to quality construction.” The pieces that Burnside selects are a lovely gray knit cardigan with an interesting mesh detail in the back, and the printed Basel blazer, made from organic hemp and cotton. Feral Childe’s designs are very contemporary and edgy.

While some items are more whimsical in nature, othere pieces in their collection, including the Basel blazer, are entirely office-appropriate.

Burnside points out that it is much easier to find higher-end environmentally friendly clothing now

than just several years ago. “The economy is actually helping the green movement. Everyone is looking to diversify and find their niche,” she stated, referring to designers who are looking for ways to capitalize on business trends.

Designers are looking for ways to “green” their products, reaching out to their environmentally-minded consumers. Sustainability is just good business. High-end retailers such as Barneys New York are requesting green clothing collections from the designers whose products they carry. Even designers whose collections aren’t typically green, such as Ralph Lauren and Behnaz Serafpour, are beginning to add pieces made from organic materials.

The market for “green fashion” definitely exists. According to the Organic Trade Association, organic cotton apparel and home textiles sales totaled over $4 billion in 2009, which was a 35 percent increase from the previous year. In a 2006 Cotton Inc. survey, nearly a third of consumers polled considered “environmental friendliness” to be an important factor to consider when purchasing clothing.

Market research has shown that nearly 80 percent of Americans are willing to pay an extra 10 percent for a product that is not harmful to the environment.

From Burnside’s perspective, she notes that the green fashion movement is still “up and coming” locally. “It’s still a unique concept to have stylish and green clothing,” she said. However, she finds that when she takes opportunites to educate her customers about environmentally conscious fashion, they are almost always interested and engaged. But again, it’s about blending style and sustainability: for most of her customers, being environmentally friendly has to be just one of the benefits of the item, not the only selling point. “It still has to have the fit, the cut, and the texture,” she said. But Cincinnati may be catching up with the trend: in three months, two Eco Go Go Fashion Shows have taken place in Cincinnati, highlighting stylish ecofriendly clothing from locally owned stores. In April, one show was held downtown at Fountain Square, while one was held this month in Oakley.

The green fashion movement doesn’t appear to be a passing fad, and experts estimate that it will only get bigger over time. Awareness and availability are the keys to the green clothing revolution. As consumers become more educated about the benefits of eco-friendly fashion, and the products become more available (and affordable), expect to see existing designers incorporating sustainability into their businesses, as well as up-and-coming environmentallyminded talent.

LEGAL

THURSDAY, JULY 1, 2010

21

How many DNA tests does one prisoner get?

Legally Speaking

By Marianna Bettman Contributing Columnist A fundamental axiom of a criminal trial is that the accused is presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. Once convicted and sentenced, though, many prisoners continue to try and establish their innocence through what is called post-conviction relief. An application for post-conviction relief is an attempt to reopen a case for a variety of reasons.

The vast majority of such requests are denied, and the legislature has really cracked down on how often these applications can be filed. The burden of proving the right to postconviction relief is on the convicted person.

Last month the Ohio Supreme Court tackled an interesting postconviction relief case involving ADATH from page 1 for the first time for a Solomon Schechter Programming Award and won the Gold Award in recognition of the excellence of its programming. This top prestigious

DNA testing. DNA testing has changed the face of criminal trials.

And the technology keeps getting more sophisticated. The case is State v. Prade. Here’s what happened.

Douglas Prade’s ex-wife, Margo, a doctor, was killed in her van while parked outside her medical office. At the time, Prade was a captain on the Akron police force. Prade was charged with Dr. Prade’s murder. At his trial, the key piece of physical evidence was a bite mark the killer had made on Dr. Prade’s arm, through her lab coat and blouse. Based on thenexisting technology, the DNA evidence tested excluded Prade as the biter. But there was significant additional evidence in the case, and Prade was convicted and sentenced to life in prison.

In 2003, the state legislature passed Ohio’s DNA testing statutes. Prade filed applications for post-conviction DNA testing in 2004 and 2008. He wanted a newer, more sophisticated DNA test. Under the law, an inmate cannot get a new DNA test if a prior DNA test was definitive. And even if the convicted can show the prior DNA test was not definitive, the inmate still can’t have the new test

unless he can also show that additional DNA testing would be outcome determinative in light of all the evidence — a very high standard to meet.

The trial court denied both of Prade’s applications for post-conviction DNA testing on the grounds that Prade had had a definitive DNA test the first time, and a new test could not be outcome determinative because Prade had been excluded as the source of the tested DNA, and still found guilty. The court of appeals affirmed this decision, but the Ohio Supreme Court reversed in a 4-2 decision (only 6 justices participated in the case due to the death of Chief Justice Moyer).

In an opinion written by Justice Evelyn Stratton, the majority first had to determine whether the original DNA test was definitive, since that is key to the right to a new test.

The law in effect at the time did not define the term “definitive.” When that happens, it is up to the court to provide the definition.

The trial court and the appeals court both ruled that the first DNA test was definitive because Prade was excluded as a result of the testing. But the Supreme Court took a much closer look at this finding,

and disagreed that the test was definitive. For a host of technological reasons too complex to detail here, the only DNA identified from then-available testing methods were those of the victim. So Prade was not excluded as the “biter” in any legally significant sense — the exclusion included everyone in the world except the victim herself.

For this reason the majority found the exclusion was meaningless, and therefore the test could not be deemed definitive. Newer DNA testing methods can now identify DNA from persons other than the victims in circumstances like those presented in this case. So the majority held that a DNA test is not “definitive when a new DNA testing method can detect information that could not be detected by the prior DNA test.”

Even though the high court reversed the trial court on the “definitiveness” issue, the Court felt the outcome-determinative part of the case had not been properly considered, and sent the case back to the trial judge for that purpose.

Despite the holding in this case, Justice Stratton made one thing crystal clear — the Court was not holding that every time new DNA testing evolves, inmates who ask

will get new tests. This decision is limited “to situations in which advances in DNA testing have made it possible to learn information about DNA evidence that could not even be detected in the earlier trial. ” Justice Terrence O’Donnell issued a very strong dissent in this case. He concluded that when the General Assembly passed the postconviction DNA testing statutes, it never intended to provide for “the constant re-examination of DNA samples based on scientific advancements.” He would interpret the word “definitive” as meaning “final.”

“A definitive DNA test is one that supplies a final answer in identifying the biological evidence tested,” he wrote. “The legislature could have provided for courts to consider advances in testing technology in determining whether prior tests were definitive, yet it chose not to do so. Instead, by barring applications for retesting when there has been a prior definitive test, the legislature signaled its intent to uphold the finality of convictions.” In this case, he agreed with the trial court that Prade had gotten his definitive DNA test, and would not allow him another.

award was presented at the USCJ International Biennial Convention held in Cherry Hill, N.J. in December 2009.

The opening program of the 2010-2011 season will be on Sept. 26 at 4 p.m. on the campus

of Hebrew Union College. Dr. Gary Zola, a Hazak favorite, will discuss the role of Cincinnati’s Jewry in the American Experience. For further information, please call the synagogue office.

WISE from page 1

Katz, Geri Kolesar, Cynthia Marmer, Howard Mintz and Michael Scheiber.

Exiting Board members include Dan Fagin, Dan Hecht, Matt Nitzberg and Ellen Pittman.

The Board extends great appreciation for their service and looks forward to their continued involvement in Temple programs and activities.

term as president.

Lorie Kleiner-Eckert continues into her second year as Sisterhood president.

The following individuals were re-elected to a two-year term as Board members: Jim Greenberg, Kathie Kaplan, Carol Kabel, Mark Kanter, Scott INTEREST from page 1 about Israel’s deadly raid last month on a flotilla attempting to breach its embargo on the Gaza Strip, which is controlled by the Hamas terrorist group. They were given a choice between two statements, and told they could say they didn’t know enough to render an opinion.

Those agreeing with the statement, “Israel was defending its interests in Gaza and their military actions were justified,” came to 34 percent, and those agreeing TACTICS from page 16

Standing: Penina Frankel, Esther Dine, Rita Wasserman, Robert Schneider, Miriam Elfenbaum, Arnold Wasserman, Stanley Elfenbaum, Fran Unger. Seated: Charlotte Hattenbach, Alberta Schneider, Rozlyn Bleznick. Not pictured: Dottie Fogel, Larry Unger, Betty Wayne.

relationship to cover the evolving situation in Afghanistan and connected with it, Islamic ideological collaboration.

Turkey is a powerful country for many reasons — its NATO mem-

that “Israel went too far and their military actions were NOT justified” accounted for 29 percent.

Those responding “don’t know enough” accounted for 32 percent, while those saying “a little of both” came to just 1 percent. Four percent were not sure.

The poll, by Peter Hart and Bill McInturff, canvassed 1,000 adults between June 17 and 21.

The poll had a margin of error of 3.1 percentage points; the margin of error for the flotilla question would be higher, as it was asked of just half the respondents. bership, its heavy investment in the military, its historical position in the region and its strong alliance with the United States. That the United States is standing by and waiting for the next example of Turkey’s turn away from the West to happen is narrow-minded and reckless.

22

OBITUARIES

DEATH NOTICES JACOBS, Barbara “Bobbie,” age 77, died on June 22, 2010; 10 Tammuz, 5770.

KAPSON, Sidney S., age 90, died on June 26, 2010; 14 Tammuz, 5770.

MILLER, Freda, age 88, died on June 28, 2010; 16 Tammuz, 5770.

EMOTIONS from page 7 policy, as Mor-Yosef said that since the flotilla incident, a few have threatened to pull their funding.

“Some of them said, ‘I don’t want to give money to a hospital that treats terrorists,’” he recalled.

Fiscal pressure from donors won’t force a change in hospital polCANDIDATES from page 8 It was the Thomas luncheon and the J Street endorsement that drew Dershowitz into the race — to endorse a Republican against a Democrat for the first time in his life. (He has endorsed Republicans in primaries against other GOP candidates.)

“I’m nervous about why she had Helen Thomas,” the Harvard law professor and best-selling author told JTA. “Even before Thomas revealed herself as a bigot, everyone knew she was virulently antiIsrael.”

Dershowitz said J Street’s “enthusiastic” support for Schakowsky also made him nervous. The outspoken advocate for Israel has clashed with J Street in the past, saying it should promote its dovish policies within existing pro-Israel structures rather than making such disagreements public.

Much more of a consideration for Dershowitz, however, was Pollak’s status as a former student and assistant.

“He was one of the best researchers I ever had,” LETTERS from page 16 The way Israel cares for each and every soldier is one thing that no other place in the world can come close to. Israel has offered over 1,000 jailed terrorists including many who themselves were

WWW.AMERICANISRAELITE.COM

at least four years from retirement and must currently teach the Holocaust in their classrooms.

The participants are nominated

by Holocaust centers throughout the United States that are part of the JFR’s Holocaust Centers of Excellence Program. International educators were invited to join the program in 2001 at the request of the U.S State Department.

“We consider all of the participants to be exceptional teachers who have an outstanding commitment to teaching the Holocaust,” said JFR executive vice president, Stanlee Stahl.

“This unique five-day institute was designed as a graduate level program that provides a necessary professional development opportunity for educators who teach the Holocaust in their classrooms.”

The fellowship program is named in memory of Alfred Lerner, the founding chairman and chief executive officer of MBNA Corporation, who died in October 2002. Lerner was a longtime advisor and supporter of the JFR. His deep commitment to the work of the JFR and his special interest in Holocaust education led to the program being named in his honor.

The Jewish Foundation for the

Righteous was created in 1986 to provide financial assistance to non-Jews who risked their lives and often the lives of their families to rescue Jews during the Holocaust. Today, the JFR supports more than 900 aged and needy rescuers in 23 countries.

The Foundation also runs a national education program that preserves the legacy of the rescuers and teaches the history of the Holocaust.

icy — no matter who you are, if you wind up in Hadassah’s emergency room, you’ll be taken care of, MorYosef said.

“We’re a humanitarian organization,” he explained. “We are not used to asking someone what you really did before you came to the hospital — if you wanted to blow us up ... or if you wanted to kill some-

one. The minute you are in the hospital, you are a patient like all other patients.”

Disgruntled donors who question the policy hear this response from Mor-Yosef: “This is your money, and donation is an option. [But] we’re not going to change our values.”

Either way, Hadassah’s doctors

have worked through much tenser circumstances, Mor-Yosef said.

“More than 25” of Hadassah’s employees lost relatives in violent clashes between Palestinians and Israelis during the second intifada, he said.

Despite the tragedies, Hadassah’s medical professionals “continued to work, and to put on the white coat.

And the minute they put on the white coat, they act like professionals and try to put emotions aside.”

The ability to effectively compartmentalize one’s feelings, MorYosef said, can only be cultivated through much time and training.

“It doesn’t come easy,” but it is a requisite skill, he said.

Dershowitz said. “He is a brilliant young man who has an important future.”

Dershowitz said Pollak helped him research his responses to Israel critiques by former President Jimmy Carter and Stephen Walt and John Mearsheimer.

Dershowitz headlined a sold-out lunch for Pollak that packed a room with more than 200 people and brought in $30,000 for the candidate.

On the same day, J Street ran an online fundraiser asking followers if they were “itching to send Dershowitz a message.” The campaign raised $35,000 for Schakowsky.

Schakowsky acknowledged that her relationship with J Street and her closeness to President Obama — she was one of the first lawmakers to endorse him — created opportunities for Pollak in a Jewish community that has been made nervous by disagreements between Obama and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

“I am a supporter of the president. That doesn’t mean on every aspect or everything he does I

might not have a nuanced difference,” she said, specifying Israel as an example.

Schakowsky said that at a recent closed meeting between Obama and Jewish Congress members, she and others raised “all the kinds of things we hear in the community.”

One issue, she said, was the public nature of the tensions with Israel over settlement building.

“We wanted to make sure he heard a lot of things we hear, that when you are friends you should share these things in a more quiet way — that when Israel is criticized, it shouldn’t be one-sided,” she said.

Schakowsky also noted Obama’s recent statements of support for Israel and his success in shepherding new Iran sanctions through the United Nations.

The questioning of her bond to Israel “pains me,” Schakowsky said. “It’s even more directly like family for people to question my lifelong allegiance to Israel.”

Pollak earned a brief flash of fame a year ago when he confronted another Jewish Democrat — U.S. Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass.),

the chairman of the U.S. House of Representatives Financial Services Committee.

Pollak said it irked him that Frank, addressing Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government, blamed only conservatives for the mortgage crisis.

“It happened under your watch,” Pollak said.

Pollak and Frank sparred for five minutes over whether Pollak had “accused” Frank of something and who had which facts right. The video got Pollak a post-battle appearance on the Fox News Channel. Pollak said he had once been a left-wing Democrat, but what he described as the tendency on the left to squeeze out dissent pushed him rightward.

“The orthodoxies became more and more radical over the years, less pragmatic after the Clinton era,” he said.

Pollak now opposes what he describes as big government spending, and he has been endorsed by the conservative Tea Party movement.

“I share its emphasis on controlling government spending and

restraining executive power,” he said.

Pollak says that’s the issue that could get him elected in November, and noted that the district in recent years has pushed west, where more conservative voters live, among them an enclave of Orthodox Jews.

“There is a backlash there, even in Lakefront areas,” the kipahwearing candidate said, adding that the Chicago metropolitan area has lost 250,000 jobs in recent years.

Jewish political insiders say that, if anything, Schakowsky is least vulnerable in this area — although anything could happen in a “Tea Party” year.

The incumbent is a formidable beat politician; she helped direct money to open a new commuter rail station in suburban Skokie.

“We’re running a strong campaign throughout the district,” Schakowsky said. “I’m home every weekend meeting with constituents and going to their meetings.”

She would not dismiss Pollak.

“I take every challenge seriously,” she said. “Joel is running an energetic campaign.”

involved in very deadly terrorists attacks on Israeli civilians in exchange for the release of Gilad Shalit. Hamas refused this offer.

The fact that Israel considers such a deal is truly remarkable and is probably the only country in the world to do this for a soldier.

Every single person in Israel hears one word, “Gilad” and everyone knows who this is and what this word means. Flags, banners, stickers and commercials for Gilad Shalit’s release are very evident throughout the country. From car flags to billboards, wall paintings, to even signs at sporting events the whole country is with Gilad Shalit in spirit, constantly thinking of him and yearning for his safe return home.

These days Israeli soldiers are constantly being looked down upon in the media. The truth is, no other army is as morale as the Israeli army. Its soldiers go way beyond the level of any other army in the world to be morale even when attacked by a terrorist non-stop.

I am very proud to be in Israel right now. At my age I could choose not to serve in the Israeli Army if I really did not want to.

I’ve had several jobs here in Israel, and have worked very hard to build a life of my own here.

Gilad Shalit is a true inspiration to me. Gilad Shalit is one of the biggest reasons why I am ready, willing and wanting to serve in the Israeli Defense Force. To me putting aside “normal life” to serve in the army is very welcome.

Family and friends of mine think I am crazy and just don’t understand why I would move from America to Israel; and also to serve in the army. The thing is, they just can’t understand. Even though there are stressful and tough times for me here with my

life, I couldn’t be happier with my decision.

It has now been exactly four years since Corporal Gilad Shalit was captured. Every day I join in the many thoughts and prayers for Gilad’s return home. Gilad has a mother, father, brother and grandparents who haven’t been able to see him in four years. It is been four very long and grueling years and it is time to end the captivity.

Please, Gilad come home.

(Note: Zach Schneider grew up in Cincinnati, Ohio and moved to Israel one year ago. He will be joining the Israeli Defense Forces within the next couple of months.)

SCHOLARSHIP from page 4

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